præcipiolum: or the immature-mineral-electrum the first metall: which is the minera of mercury. by joh. bapt. van-helmont. præcipiolum. english helmont, jean baptiste van, 1577-1644. 1683 approx. 29 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a43288 wing h1400a estc r221905 99833150 99833150 37625 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a43288) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 37625) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2171:07) præcipiolum: or the immature-mineral-electrum the first metall: which is the minera of mercury. by joh. bapt. van-helmont. præcipiolum. english helmont, jean baptiste van, 1577-1644. [2], 47-69, [1] p. printed for william cooper, at the pelican in little britain, london : 1683. signatures: [pi]² d e³. sold separately, but also intended to be issued as part of: "collectanea chymica", 1684. reproduction of the original in the bodleian library, oxford. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic 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2005-04 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2005-04 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion praecipiolvm : or the immature-mineral-electrum . the first metall : which is the minera of mercvry . by joh. bapt. van-helmont . london , printed for william cooper , at the pelican in little britain . 1683. electum minerale immaturum ( id est ) metallus primus est minera mercurii . take of the best argentum vivum , which you shall distil from its own minera , that is of the best hungarian minera which shall hold abundance of argentum vivum , one pound will hold twelve , thirteen or fourteen ounces of quicksilver , you shall distill this minera , ( first pulverized ) in a glass retort with a receiver , then you shall squeeze the mercury divers times through leather . if you cannot get any minera mercurii hungarici , take spanish mercury , which is the best after the hungarian , squeeze it through leather divers times . if you cannot get this spanish mercury , take of the best argentum vivum , that is to say , if you put a little of it into a silver spoon , and hold the spoon over glowing coals , and when the mercury flyes away it leaves a yellow or white spot in the spoon , this mercury will serve , but if the mercury leave a black spot , it is not good for any work. take the mercury which leaves a yellow or white spot in the spoon , wash it ten or twelve times with salt and vineger , and then squeeze it as many times through leather , that it may be purged from its outward foulness , the hungarian and spanish mercury are clean of themselves and need no washing . imprimis , y●u are to separate the mercurium coagulatum from the mercurius vivus , without any corrosiveness , and that the mercurius vivus shall be alive still , and so clear as a venice looking-gloss : which mercury coagulate paracelsus , and helmont calls praecipiolum or mercurius coagulatus , and that it shall be separated dead from its own minera , and that the mercury vivus shall be still alive after that the praecipiolum is separate from it , and that the corpus mercurii vivi is the praecipiolum minera , and that the electrum minerale immaturum ▪ is the mercurii vivi minera . item helmont & paracelsus mentions that when the argentum vivum or mercurius vivus shall come to his loca destinata , that then the argentum vivum shall leave his praecipiolum behind him in the form of a coagulated mercury , and the mercurius vivus will go away alive and remain a mercurius vivus . the loca destinata , where the argentum vivum shall leave the semen mercurii , and the praecipiolum is gold and silver , gold is the best place , by reason of the fixation and purity , and next to gold is silver . in this praecipiolum lyeth hidden the whole art of the true chymistry . if a chymist know not how to make or separate that praecipiolum from mercurius vivus , he will fail of the whole art. this praecipiolum is the matter whereof shall be made the philosophers mercury , that is , when it is reduced to his first matter , that is in a clear water , like the water which runs out of our eyes now and then , and is slippery : this water will eat and drink his own flesh and blood , and multiply it self with it ad infinitum , and this water will bring all gold and silver into their first matter , before praecipiolum is brought into his first matter , ( it is when it is prepared philosophically without corrosiveness ) it will cure triplicem hydropem , podagram , morbum venerium and also many more sicknesses . the philosophers call argentum vivum their wine , and the praecipiolum they call their tartar , both maketh the philosophers spiritum vini philosophicum , which they call now and then , astrum mercurii , spiritum mercurii , their fire their sal minerale & sal armoniacum , their horse-dung their , balneum mariae , and an hundred more names to deceive the people . processus compositus praecipioli . take in the lords name of the mercury which is well purged : ten parts of our gold or of our silver , ( not common gold or silver as the common-people make use of it ) take ours , that is to say , gold which is well refined through antimony , or if you will make it with silver refine it with lead , and purge those both very well from their dross and foulness : if you have ten parts of our mercury . take one part of our gold or silver made to fine leaves or made into fine powder with a file , and make an amalgama of them both in a warm glazen or marbel morter , and with a pestel of glass mix it well , and then put this amalgama into a retort ( as i shall give you direction below ) and put it into an earthen copel or earthen pan , with one part of clear sand , and three times as much sifted ashes , and cover it with another earthen pan , and put to it a little receiver , without luting , and then make fire in your furnace , and give an indifferent heat , and distil the mercurium from our gold and silver with an indifferent heat , now and then , then take the pan from it : if you see the mercury is distilled from the gold or silver , cover it again and let the fire go out . the next morning take your retort and receiver from the furnace or out of the sand , your mercury will lye some part in the receiver , and some part will hang in the neck of the retort , which you shall wipe off with a feather , to the other mercury which is in the receiver . if you will , you may now and then hold a glowing coal under the neck of the retort that the mercury may run into the receiver . when you have separated the mercurium , then scrape the gold which will lye at the bottom of the retort with a crooked iron , from the bottom of the retort , and take it out , and put it into a glass morter and powder it small , then mingle or amalgamate your mercury with it again by degrees or by little and little , and put your amalgama again into the retort , and if you shall find any powder that will not go into the mercury , do not cast it away , but put it with the amalgama into the retort ( or else you will lose your praecipiolum ) and distil it again as it is mentioned . now and then take the earthen pan from it to see if the mercury be almost gone over , and if it be almost gone over , let the fire go out , and cover with the earthen pan again , and let it stand until the next morning , and then take the retort and the recipient again from the furnace or out of the sand , and wipe your mercury again with a feather out of the neck of the retort into the other mercury in the recipient , and scrape again with your crooked iron , your gold out of the retort as you did before , and put it again into your glass morter , ( observe you shall distil so that the argent vive go from the gold , and that not any mercury may be found nor be seen by your gold which remaineth at the bottom of the retort . ) and then take your glass pestel , and powder again your gold very small , and amalgame your mercury again with your gold , by little and little , as before is mentioned . you will find that the gold and mercury will not well mix together as it did in the first and second time . then take it and put it again in the retort and distil it again as it is mentioned , not casting any powder away , which you will think to be faeces , if you do cast it away , you will i say lose your praecipiolum . and when the mercury is distilled away from the gold again , take your glass out of the furnace or out of the sand copel , scrape your gold with the crooked iron , again out of your retort and you shall find that your gold is much encreased , if you should weigh it ; the reason is your gold is the load-stone , which hath attracted the praecipiolum , or your gold is the cask wherein the philosophers wine hath let fall its tartar which paracelsus & helmont calls praecipiolum . now how shall the philosophical tartar or praecipiolum be separated from our gold ? take your gold which you have scraped out of the retort , and put it into your glassen morter , and pouder it very small with your glass pestel and mingle your mercury by degrees as by little and little . your mercury will hardly mix with the gold , the reason is , the gold is full of the praecipiolum , and then it is time to separate the praecipiolum from the gold and mercury , which is a womans work , when her cloaths , are foul , she washeth them from their foulness . the same way you must cleanse your praecipiolum from your gold and mercury as followeth . when you have the sign that your mercury will hardly mix with your gold , and your gold will not enter into your mercurium vivum , then power on it the clearest and fairest water ( distilled is best ) that it may go over three fingers breadth your gold and mercury , then wash it well , stirring it with your pestel the gold and the mercury and the water together which is in the morter , i say you shall wash it together very well , until you see your water is discoloured blewish black : then is the sign that the gold doth let fall the tartarum or praecipiolum in the water and maketh it blewish black , then power off the water into a glass ( observe that not any mercury may fall with the powring out the blewish water ) then powr more fresh water upon your gold and mercury , and wash it again as is mentioned , and when your water is blew again powr off the water to the former water in the glass , and thus continue washing till your water remain white , then power this water to the other water in the glass , and cover your glass very close , that not any foulness may fall into the glass . observe that your gold will go again into the mercury , when that praecipiolum is washed away as wax goes in melted butter . take your amalgama abovesaid , make it dry upon warm ashes very softly with a spunge , and by a little heat that the amalgama may be dryed and when it is dry put it again in the retort , and distil it as is before mentioned with the mercury as with cohobating ; that is to say in distilling your mercury , so often from the gold that the gold will hardly mix with the mercury , and this is the sign that the gold hath attracted enough from the praecipiolum , and then it is time to separate with washing your praecipiolum from your amalgama . now observe , i gave you charge that you should keep your glass wherein you put your blewish water : which will be clear , and a powder settled at the bottom , which is some of the praecipiolum . then power off the clear water from the praecipiolum without disturbing the water , as soon as you can into another glass : now when you have that sign , that your gold will not mix well with your mercury , or not without great trouble , then power the same water , which you powred off from your praecipiolum into another glass , as it is mentioned upon your amalgama , and wash it again , and when your water is blewish power off the water to your praecipiolum into another glass , as it is afore mentioned , upon your amalgama , and wash it again , till all your water hath washed away the praecipiolum , and then stop your glass again that no foulness fall into it , then take your amalgama and dry it again very gently , and distil again , as is mentioned , till you have the sign , and then you shall wash it again with the first water , and you shall find that your praecipiolum will augment or increase daily . thus stilling and washing shall you continue till the mercury is freed from its mercury coagulated or praecipiolum . observe if the water should grow less add to it now and then fresh water . now the sign is when the mercurius hath lost all its sperm , or its tartar , or its mercury coagulate , or its praecipiolum : the mercury and the gold will mix always well together , and if you should distil it a thousand times that gold and mercury the one from the other , and if you should wash it a thousand times the one from the other with fresh water , the water will be clear , not blewish and so long as the praecipiolum is in the mercury , the gold and mercury will hardly mingle one with another , and then when you would have it mix together you must wash it , and then it will lovingly mix again when it is washed : so i say when your praecipiolum is all separated from the mercury , if you should a thousand times distil your mercury from your gold , it will mingle always lovingly together , and you will not find any powder left , it will go all into the mercury and your water remain clear and white . now further to our intent , as to make or prepare your praecipiolum for a medicine , power your clear water , from the powder which lyes at the bottom , in the glass that no water may be left by the powder . put the glass upon a little warm ashes that the powder may be dryed , the powder will look blewish yellow ; also , put the powder into a little cucurbit glass , and distil five or six times spiritus vini from it , then your praecipiolum is made ready for a medicine . the dose two grains , or three at the most ▪ compositio aquae albuminum ovorum . take a good quantity of eggs , boyl them very hard , then take the whites and cut them very small , and distil them per cineres per alembicum very softly , till you have gotten all the water from the whites , then take the egg-shels , burn them to ashes , and put those in a retort , and power upon them their own water , and distil it per arenam very strongly , and then power this water upon the ashes again , and distil it again , thus continue five or six times , the water is ready for the praecipiolum , the mercurys coagulated salt. you may remember i gave you instruction , that you should pour off the clear water from the praecipiolum , and you should make dry the praecipiolum , and that praecipiolum bring to a medicinal powder , or you shall bring all mettals , principally his own body into his first matter , which cannot be done without the praecipiolum salt , which is hidden in the water you powred from the praecipiolum , the same water filter through a gray paper , and set the water to evaporate in a round glass very softly in ashes , when the water is evaporated away , you shall find at the bottom of the glass a yellow whitish salt , which is the salt of the praecipiolum , and the clavis of the philosophers , wherewith they do unlock the lock of the praecipioli , and bringeth the same to his first matter . if you know not this salt , you know nothing of the true chymistry : this salt doth decrease in the decrease of the moon , and increaseth at the full-moon , and one grain will purge very softly all podagrous , venemous and hydropical humors with two grains of your praecipioli prepared . how to bring the praecipiolum into his first or slippery matter . take your salt and twice as much of your praecipolum , when it is made dry first dissolve your salt in fair warm water , and power it upon the praecipiolum , and evaporate it away very gently in warm ashes with a gentle fire ; then take your praecipiolum with its one salt and put it into a little retort , nip the neck of the retort very close , or melt it together , or seal it with hermes seal , then put it into balneum vaperosum and let it stand six weeks in digestion or to putrifie , and it will turn to a slimy water , then take your retort , and open the neck , then lay your retort in a sand furnace and cover your retort with an earthen pan , and lay a receiver well luted , and first give a slow fire , then a stronger , and this continue till your spirits be well resolved into water , first your spirit will come in form of a white cloud , and at last in the form of red clouds or red smoak , and give fire so long till all your spirits be come over into clear white water , and when you have this sign , take your receiver from the retort , and stop the receiver very well with wax that no spirit may fly away : then let your fire go out , then take the matter which remaineth in the retort out of the retort , and put the same into a bolthead and stop it well , and set it in a warm place , then take your spirits which are in the receiver and rectifie them once , and keep those spirits very carefully . observe this ▪ you may remember , when the praecipiolon hath lost its mercury that the same mercury , will be so bright , as a venus lookinglass ; take the same bright mercury and dissolve him in your before-mentioned spirit , as now followeth . take one part of your bright mercury and put it into a bolthead , and power upon it two parts of your spirit of mercury , and stop it very close and let it stand in a little warmth , and the mercury will dissolve or melt in your spirit , and then distil it together through a retort in sand , and again take one part of your bright mercury and put it into a bolthead , and power upon it two parts of your spirit and set it in a warm place and the mercury will melt in the spirit ; then distil again through a retort in sand , and it will come over in the form of water ; this continue as long until the half part of your bright mercury is brought to a clear water , when you have this clear water , keep it very close stopped with wax , and take your powder , which i gave you to keep in a bolt-head , and place it very deep in a sand copel , and give it a very strong fire for twenty and four hours , then let the fire go out of the said copel , and stir the powder with a wooden-stick , and power upon it the half part of your clean mercurial water , and stop the glass or melt the glass-mouth together ; then shake it , and let it stand in a warm place for three or four days in digestion , powr off this into another glass , and powr upon the remainder of the powder another half of the water and stop or melt the mouth of the glass again , and let it stand again for three or four days in a warm place in digestion ; then powr it out to the former water , and stop the glass , or melt the mouth of the glass very close , that no spirit may fly out or fly away , and let it stand in your balneo vaporoso eight days , and then distil it through a retort , and if any stuff shall remain in the retort , which will be very little , powr upon it your spirit again , and distil it over until all is gone over . now is the salt with his own spirit mixt together and brought into the first matter , keep it very well stopped . this is the water that the philosophers have given divers , yea above a hundred names unto it as their horse-dung , their balneum mariae , their calx vive , and in short , this is the philosophers true fire , without this fire or water no man can do any true work in chimistry . the philosophers having brought forth this salamander , which salamander will never waste in the fire , the longer the stronger . this water will increase or multiply per infinitum , that is to say , if all the sea should be mercury it will turn the same into the first matter . first you must wash your mercury with salt and vinegar divers times , and at last with water to wash away the salt , then mix this mercury with calx vive and calcined tartar , and distil it in a retort in a sand furnace , and lay to it a receiver , filled almost half full with water , and when your mercury is dry , then squeeze him eight or ten times through leather , and then is your mercury well purged from his uncleanness . this is the mercury you shall use in multiplying your spirit or astrum mercurii . take of this mercury purged one part , and of your spirit or astrum mercurii two parts , put them together mixt into a bolt-head , stop well the bolt-head , and let it stand in a warm place one night , and your mercury will melt in your spirit or astrum mercurii , and turn it into water , and then distil it through a retort , and thus you may do by repeating your water with fresh mercury as long as you please . this water will bring or dissolve all stones and gold and silver into their first matter , item , it will bring gold and silver over with him , through a retort , and that gold and silver will never be separated one from the other . the reason is , gold and silver and all metals be of the same nature , and have beginning from the same water ; there is nothing in the world , but hath its beginning from it . the vniversal medicine . take of fine gold that is made fine powder ( that is to say , take the same gold , which did remain , when you made your praecipiolum ) one part of your finest silver , made to fine powder two parts , put every metal by it self into a glass , power upon each your astrum mercurii , that it may go over it one finger breadth , and stop each glass very close , and let it stand in a warm place for eight days together , and your gold and silver will be almost dissolved into water , then powr off the water every one by it self in a glass , and power more water to the gold and silver which did remain , and let it stand eight days in a warm place , and then powr your waters off to your former waters , and all your gold and silver will be dissolved into water , and there will remain some faeces ; then take of both these waters of each the fourth part , and put them together in a bolt-head , that no more of the bolt-head be empty then three parts , and seal your bolt-head or melt your bolt-head mouth very close , and put your bolt-head into an athanor with your matter into a continual warm heat until it do come to a fixed red stone or powder ; before it do come to a red powder , will appear in your bolt-head many colours , as black , green , yellow and red , and when it is red and a powder , then take your bolt-head and bury it in a sand copel very deep and give by degrees fire , and at last a very strong fire , and it will melt as wax , and let it stand one whole week , or the longer the better , then take it out and let it cool , and break your glass and you will find a fixt stone , or powder as red as scarlet , i did give you charge that you should keep three parts of your gold and silver which was dissolved into water , put both these waters together in a retort , distil them , and both the gold and silver will go with the water over through the retort , with which water you shall multiply your medicine . now take one part of your medicine made into fine powder , and put it into a little bolt-head , and poure upon it twice as much of your water , as of gold and silver , and seal it again , and set it into your athanor again , until it do come into a red powder , and then put it again into the sand , for to give him the fixation , that he may melt like wax : upon such a way you may multiply your medicine ad infinitum , and your powder will dissolve in any liquor . now as to make your astrum horizontale , or your golden fixt praecipitate . take the gold that remaineth over in the working of your praecipiolum , and make it into a powder , dissolve it in your astrum mercurii as much as you will , distil through the retort once or twice , and your gold will go over along with your water , and will never be separated one from the other , they are both of one nature . now take your praecipiolum which is made dry , ( i do not mean your praecipiolum which is made already dry to a medicine ) put it into a little glass cucurbit , and pour upon it your golden astrum mercurii , and distil it from it three or four times very slowly , and at last very strong , and your praecipiolum will be red and fixed , if you will you may do the same with mercury purged , it will fix the same to a red powder , and you may do this work with silver , and with your praecipiolum or argentum vivum purgatum . no man can find out all those secrets which are hidden in this philosophical menstruum . the oyl of gold. take one part of gold , five or six parts of the best mercury , mix them both together , and then distil the mercury from the gold , and then mix the same mercury again with the gold , and this continue until your gold will not mix with your mercury , then take the gold and grind it , and put it into a clean crusible and calcine it , till it be almost red-hot , and then extinguish your gold in the best rectified spirit of vineger , when it is extinguished pour off your vineger from the gold : make your gold dry , and then make it hot again , then again extinguish it in your former vineger , and this repeat five or six times , and then , take your gold and make it dry , and amalgame it again with the aforementioned mercury , and distil it again as at the first , and this do so long until the gold will not mix with your mercury , and then calcine your gold again , and extinguish it in the former vineger five or six times , if your vineger decay or waste you may add to it some more fresh vineger . and this you may continue until you think there is no strength left in your mercury : then you must take fresh mercury and go to work as before , and so continue , till you think you have enough from the gold. then take your vineger which is impregnated with the whole essence of gold , evaporate it , or distil it very softly off , and it will lye at the bottom , like a yellow salt , which you shall dissolve in fair distilled rain water ; filter it and evaporate it again softly , and then put it into a little retort , and place it in sand , with an indifferent large receiver for it , and give a fire by degrees and it will come over in a white spirit like smoak , and then it will come over red like saffron , and when it is resolved into a red liquor , let the fire go out and keep it for use , the dose is three or four drops . this is ( saith the author ) one of the greatest medicines under the sun , and you can hardly get a better . three drops , are able to extinguish any sickness , and in this oyl of gold is the greatest secret of nature . with this liquor reymond lully figureth mercury in exenterata natura . these processes was by a german given to mr. richard pratt , who lived some time in hantshire and cured the german of a sickness , for which kindness the german gave him these processes , protesting that they were some of van-helmonts , and mr. pratt gave them to mr. yalden minister of compton near godlyman in surry , who sent them to dr. salmon to print , which he neglecting , some years they were sent with dr. antonies's recipe of his aurum potabile to william cooper to print for the benefit of the publick , and since i receiv'd them , i find dr. salmon hath newly printed them in his doron medicum called liquor aureus , lib. 2 d. book 11. sect. 2. page 520 to 523. as for the electrum minerale immaturum which he calls idea , vide doron lib. 1. cap. 27. page 315. to 326. but so very much mangled and altered by putting in feigned names , when indeed he receiv'd all of them in their proper known names as you have them here printed one purpose to prevent mens being deceived , for mr. yalden is a man of so christian a temper , that he thirsteth to do all the good he could in this world , the truth hereof his poor parishioners and neighbours will sufficiently testifie . therefore to undeceive the world , and to save men from false broyleries and chargeable expenses , i have here printed the true copy as mr. yalden sent it to me , w. c. b. finis . a proposition for the advancement of experimental philosophy. by a. cowley. proposition for the advancement of learning cowley, abraham, 1618-1667. 1661 approx. 36 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 33 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a80720 wing c6684 thomason e2265_2 thomason e1856_3 estc r202043 99862466 99862466 170474 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a80720) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 170474) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 231:e1856[3] or 244:e2265[2]) a proposition for the advancement of experimental philosophy. by a. cowley. proposition for the advancement of learning cowley, abraham, 1618-1667. p. p. [2], 53, [11] p. printed by j.m. for henry herringman; and are to be sold at his shop at the sign of the blew-anchor in the lower-walk of the new-exchange, london : 1661. dedication signed: p.p. the last leaf is blank. a reissue of "a proposition for the advancement of learning", with title page cancelled by a² (new title page and dedication). annotation on thomason copy e.1856[3]: "march 1660"; imprint date crossed through. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng royal society (great britain) -history -early works to 1800. science -history -early works to 1800. philosophy -early works to 1800. education -early works to 1800. 2007-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-03 pip willcox sampled and proofread 2007-03 pip willcox text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a proposition for the advancement of experimental philosophy . by a. cowley . london , printed by j. m. for henry herringman ; and are to be sold at his shop at the sign of the blew-anchor in the lower-walk of the new-exchange , 1661. to the honourable society for the advancement of experimental philosophy . the author of the following discourse , having since his going into france allowed me to make it publick , i thought i should do it most right by presenting it to your considerations ; to the end that when it hath been fully examin'd by you , and receiv'd such additions or alterations as you shall think fit , the design thereof may be promoted by your recommending the practice of it to the nation . i am , your most humble servant , p. p. a proposition for the advancement of learning . by a. cowley . virg. o fortunati quorum jam maenia surgunt ! london , printed by j. m. for henry herringman , and are to be sold at his shop at the blew anchor in the lower-walk of the new-exchange , 1661. the preface . all knowledge must either be of god , or of his creatures , that is , of nature ; the first is called from the object , divinity ; the latter , natural philosophy , and is divided into the contemplation of the immediate or mediate creatures of god , that is , the creatures of his creature man. of this latter kind are all arts for the use of humane life , which are thus again divided : some are purely humane , or made by man alone , and as it were intirely spun out of himself , without relation to other creatures , such are grammar and logick , to improve his natural qualities of internal and external speech ; as likewise rhetorick and politicks ( or law ) to fulfill and exalt his natural inclination to society . other are mixt , and are mans creatures no otherwise then by the result which he effects by conjunction and application of the creatures of god. of these parts of philosophy that which treats of god almighty ( properly called divinity ) which is almost only to be sought out of his revealed will , and therefore requires only the diligent and pious study of that , and of the best interpreters upon it ; and that part which i call purely humane , depending solely upon memory and wit , that is , reading and invention , are both excellently well provided for by the constitution of our vniversities . but the other two parts , the inquisition into the nature of gods creatures , and the application of them to humane vses ( especially the latter ) seem to be very slenderly provided for , or rather almost totally neglected , except onely some small assistances to physick , and the mathematicks . and therefore the founders of our colledges have taken ample care to supply the students with multitude of books , and to appoint tutors and frequent exercises , the one to interpret , and the other to confirm their reading , as also to afford them sufficient plenty and leisure for the opportunities of their private study , that the beams which they receive by lecture may be doubled by reflections of their own wit : but towards the observation and application , as i said , of the creatures themselves , they have allowed no instruments , materials , or conveniences . partly , because the necessary expence thereof is much greater , then of the other ; and partly from that idle and pernicious opinion which had long possest the world , that all things to be searcht in nature , had been already found and discovered by the ancients , and that it were a folly to travel about for that which others had before brought home to us . and the great importer of all truths they took to be aristotle , as if ( as macrobius speaks foolishly of hippocrates ) he could neither deceive nor be deceived , or as if there had been not only no lies in him , but all verities . o true philosophers in one sence ! and contented with a very little ! not that i would disparage the admirable wit , and worthy labours of many of the ancients , much less of aristotle , the most eminent among them ; but it were madness to imagine that the cisterns of men should afford us as much , and as wholesome waters , as the fountains of nature . as we understand the manners of men by conversation among them , and not by reading romances , the same is our case in the true apprehension & judgement of things . and no man can hope to make himself as rich by stealing out of others truncks , as he might by opening and digging of new mines . if he conceive that all are already exhausted , let him consider that many lazily thought so hundred years ago , and yet nevertheless since that time whole regions of art have been discovered , which the ancients as little dreamt of as they did of america . there is yet many a terra incognita behind to exercise our diligence , and let us exercise it never so much , we shall leave work enough too for our posterity . this therefore being laid down as a certain foundation , that we must not content our selves with that inheritance of knowledge which is left us by the labour and bounty of our ancestors , but seek to improve those very grounds , and adde to them new and greater purchases ; it remains to be considered by what means we are most likely to attain the ends of this vertuous covetousness . and certainly the solitary and unactive contemplation of nature , by the most ingenious persons living , in their own private studies , can never effect it . our reasoning faculty as well as fancy , does but dream , when it is not guided by sensible objects . we shall compound where nature has divided , and divide where nature has compounded , and create nothing but either deformed monsters , or at best pretty but impossible mermaids . 't is like painting by memory and imagination which can never produce a picture to the life . many persons of admirable abilities ( if they had been wisely managed and profitably employed ) have spent their whole time and diligence in commentating upon aristotles philosophy , who could never go beyond him , because their design was only to follow , not grasp , or lay hold on , or so much as touch nature , because they catcht only at the shadow of her in their own brains . and therefore we see that for above a thousand years together nothing almost of ornament or advantage was added to the vses of humane society , except only guns and printing , whereas since the industry of men has ventured to go abroad , out of books and out of themselves , and to work among gods creatures , instead of playing among their own , every age has abounded with excellent inventions , and every year perhaps might do so , if a considerable number of select persons were set apart , and well directed , and plentifully provided for the search of them . but our vniversities having been founded in those former times that i complain of , it is no wonder if they be defective in their constitution as to this way of learning , which was not then thought on . for the supplying of which defect , it is humbly proposed to his sacred majesty , his most honourable parliament , and privy council , and to all such of his subjects as are willing and able to contribute any thing towards the advancement of real and useful learning , that by their authority , encouragement , patronage , and bounty , a philosophical colledge may be erected , after this ensuing , or some such like model . the colledge . that the philosophical colledge be scituated within one , two , or ( at farthest ) three miles of londòn , and , if it be possible to find that convenience , upon the side of the river , or very near it . that the revenue of this colledge amount to four thousand pounds a year . that the company received into it be as follows . 1. twenty philosophers or professors . 2. sixteen young scholars , servants to the professors . 3. a chaplain . 4. a baily for the revenue . 5. a manciple or purveyour for the provisions of the house . 6. two gardeners . 7. a master-cook . 8. an under-cock . 9. a butler . 10. an under-butler . 11. a chirurgeon . 12. two lungs , or chymical servants . 13. a library-keeper who is likewise to be apothecary , druggist , and keeper of instruments , engines , &c. 14. an officer to feed and take care of all beasts , fowl , &c. kept by the colledge . 15. a groom of the stable . 16. a messenger to send up and down for all uses of the colledge . 17. four old women , to tend the chambers , keep the house clean , and such like services . that the annual allowance for this company be as follows . 1. to every professor , and to the chaplain , one hundred and twenty pounds . 2. to the sixteen scholars 20 l a piece , 10 l for their diet , and 10 l for their entertainment . 3. to the baily 30 l besides allowance for his journeys . 4. to the purveyour or manciple thirty pounds . 5. to each of the gardeners twenty pounds . 6. to the master-cook twenty pounds . 7. to the under-cook four pounds . 8. to the butler ten pounds . 9. to the under-butler four pounds . 10. to the chirurgeon thirty pounds . 11. to the library-keeper thirty pounds . 12. to each of the lungs twelve pounds . 13. to the keeper of the beasts six pounds . 14. to the groom five pounds . 15. to the messenger twelve pounds . 16. to the four necessary women ten pounds . for the manciples table at which all the servants of the house are to eat , except the scholars , one hundred sixty pounds . for 3 horses for the service of the colledge , thirty pounds . all which amounts to three thousand two hundred eighty five pounds . so that there remains for keeping of the house and gardens , and operatories , and instruments , and animals , and experiments of all sorts , and all other expences , seven hundred & fifteen pounds . which were a very inconsiderable sum for the great uses to which it is designed , but that i conceive the industry of the colledge will in a short time so enrich it self as to get a far better stock for the advance and enlargement of the work when it is once begun ; neither is the continuance of particular mens liberality to be despaired of , when it shall be encouraged by the sight of that publick benefit which will accrue to all mankind , and chiefly to our nation , by this foundation . something likewise will arise from leases and other casualties ; that nothing of which may be diverted to the private gain of the professors , or any other use besides that of the search of nature , and by it the general good of the world , and that care may be taken for the certain performance of all things ordained by the institution , as likewise for the protection and encouragement of the company , it is proposed . that some person of eminent quality , a lover of solid learning , and no stranger in it , be chosen chancellour or president of the colledge , and that eight governours more , men qualified in the like manner , be joyned with him , two of which shall yearly be appointed visitors of the colledge , and receive an exact account of all expences even to the smallest , and of the true estate of their publick treasure , under the hands and oaths of the professors resident . that the choice of the professors in any vacancy belong to the chancellour and the governours , but that the professors ( who are likeliest to know what men of the nation are most proper for the duties of their society ) direct their choice by recommending two or three persons to them at every election . and that if any learned person within his majesties dominions discover or eminently improve any useful kind of knowledge , he may upon that ground for his reward and the encouragement of others , be preferr'd , if he pretend to the place , before any body else . that the governours have power to turn out any professor who shall be proved to be either scandalous or unprofitable to the society . that the colledge be built after this , or some such manner : that it consist of three fair quadrangular courts , and three large grounds , enclosed with good walls behind them . that the first court be built with a fair cloyster , and the professors lodgings or rather little houses , four on each side at some distance from one another , and with little gardens behind them , just after the manner of the chartreux beyond sea. that the inside of the cloyster be lined with a gravel-walk , and that walk with a row of trees , and that in the middle there be a parterre of flowers , and a fountain . that the second quadrangle just behind the first , be so contrived , as to contain these parts . 1. a chappel . 2. a hall with two long tables on each side for the scholars and officers of the house to eat at , and with a pulpit and forms at the end for the publick lectures . 3. a large and pleasant dining-room within the hall for the professors to eat in , and to hold their assemblies and conferences . 4. a publick school-house . 5. a library . 6. a gallery to walk in , adorned with the pictures or statues of all the inventors of any thing useful to humane life ; as printing , guns , america , &c. and of late in anatomy , the circulation of the blood , the milky veins , and such like discoveries in any art , with short elogies under the portraictures : as likewise the figures of all sorts of creatures , and the stuft skins of as many strange animals as can be gotten . 7. an anatomy chamber adorned with skeletons and anatomical pictures , and prepared with all conveniencies for dissection . 8. a chamber for all manner of druggs , and apothecaries materials . 9. a mathematical chamber furnisht with all forts of mathematical instruments , being an appendix to the library . 10. lodgings for the chaplain , chirurgeon , library-keeper and purveyour , near the chappel , anatomy chamber , library and hall. that the third court be on one side of these , very large , but meanly built , being designed only for use and not for beauty too , as the others . that it contain the kitchin , butteries , brew-house , bake-house , dairy , lardry , stables , &c. and especially great laboratories for chymical operations , and lodgings for the under-servants . that behind the second court be placed the garden , containing all sorts of plants that our soil will bear , and at the end a little house of pleasure , a lodge for the gardener , and a grove of trees cut out into walks . that the second enclosed ground be a garden , destined only to the tryal of all manner of experiments concerning plants , as their melioration , acceleration , retardation , conservation , composition , transmutation , coloration , or whatsoever else can be produced by art either for use or curiosity , with a lodge in it for the gardener . that the third ground be employed in convenient receptacles for all sorts of creatures which the professors shall judge necessary for their more exact search into the nature of animals , and the improvement of their uses to us . that there be likewise built in some place of the colledge where it may serve most for ornament of the whole , a very high tower for observation of celestial bodies , adorned with all sorts of dyals and such like curiosities ; and that there be very deep vaults made under ground , for experiments most proper to such places , which will be undoubtedly very many . much might be added , but truly i am afraid this is too much already for the charity or generosity of this age to extend to ; and we do not design this after the model of solomons house in my lord bacon ( which is a project for experiments that can never be experimented ) but propose it within such bounds of expence as have often been exceeded by the buildings of private citzens . of the professors , scholars , chaplain , and other officers . that of the twenty professors four be always travelling beyond seas , and sixteen always resident , unless by permission upon extraordinary occasions , and every one so absent , leaving a deputy behind him to supply his duties . that the four professors itinerant be assigned to the four parts of the world , europe , asia , afrique , and america , there to reside three years at least , and to give a constant account of all things that belong to the learning , and especially natural experimental philosophy of those parts . that the expence of all dispatches , and all books , simples , animals , stones , metals , minerals , &c. and all curiosities whatsoever , natural or artificial , sent by them to the colledge , shall be defrayed out of the treasury , and an additional allowance ( above the 120 l ) made to them as soon as the colledges revenue shall be improved . that at their going abroad they shall take a solemn oath never to write any thing to the colledge , but what after very diligent examination , they shall fully believe to be true , and to confess and recant it as soon as they find themselves in an errour . that the sixteen professors resident shall be bound to study and teach all sorts of natural , experimental philosophy , to consist of the mathematicks , mechanicks , medicine , anatomy , chymistry , the history of animals , plants , minerals , elements , &c. agriculture , architecture , art military , navigation , gardening ; the mysteries of all trades , and improvement of them ; the facture of all merchandizes , all natural magick or divination ; and briefly all things contained in the catalogue of natural histories annexed to my lord bacon's organon . that once a day from easter till michaelmas , and twice a week from michaelmas to easter , at the hours in the afternoon most convenient for auditors from london according to the time of the year , there shall be a lecture read in the hall , upon such parts of natural experimental philosophy , as the professors shall agree on among themselves , and as each of them shall be able to perform usefully and honourably . that two of the professors by daily , weekly , or monethly turns shall teach the publick schools according to the rules hereafter prescribed . that all the professors shall be equal in all respects ( except precedency , choice of lodging , and such like priviledges , which shall belong to seniority in the colledge ) and that all shall be masters and treasurers by annual turns , which two officers for the time being shall take place of all the rest , and shall be arbitri duarum mensarum . that the master shall command all the officers of the colledge , appoint assemblies or conferences upon occasion , and preside in them with a double voice , and in his absence the treasurer , whose business is to receive and disburse all moneys by the masters order in writing , ( if it be an extraordinary ) after consent of the other professors . that all the professors shall sup together in the parlour within the hall every night , and shall dine there twice a week ( to wit sundays and thursdays ) at two round tables for the convenience of discourse , which shall be for the most part of such matters as may improve their studies and professions , and to keep them from falling into loose or unprofitable talk shall be the duty of the two arbitri mensarum , who may likewise command any of the servant-scholars to read to them what he shall think fit , whilst they are at table : that it shall belong likewise to the said arbitri mensarum only , to invite strangers , which they shall rarely do , unless they be men of learning or great parts , and shall not invite above two at a time to one table , nothing being more vain and unfruitful then numerous meetings of acquaintance . that the professors resident shall allow the colledge twenty pounds a year for their diet , whether they continue there all the time or not . that they shall have once a week an assembly or conference concerning the affairs of the colledge and the progress of their experimental philosophy . that if any one find out any thing which he conceives to be of consequence , he shall communicate it to the assembly to be examined , experimented , approved or rejected . that if any one be author of an invention that may bring in profit , the third part of it shall belong to the inventor , and the two other to the society ; and besides if the thing be very considerable , his statue or picture with an elogy under it , shall be placed in the gallery , and made a denison of that corporation of famous men. that all the professors shall be always assigned to some particular inquisition ( besides the ordinary course of their studies ) of which they shall give an account to the assembly , so that by this means there may be every day some operation or other made in all the arts , as chymistry , anatomy , mechanicks , and the like , and that the colledge shall furnish for the charge of the operation . that there shall be kept a register under lock and key , and not to be seen but by the professors , of all the experiments that succeed , signed by the persons who made the tryall . that the popular and received errours in experimental philosophy ( with which , like weeds in a neglected garden it is now almost all overgrown ) shall be evinced by tryal , and taken notice of in the publick lectures , that they may no longer abuse the credulous , and beget new ones by consequence of similitude . that every third year ( after the full settlement of the foundation ) the colledge shall give an account in print , in proper and ancient latine , of the fruits of their triennial industry . that every professor resident shall have his scholar to wait upon him in his chamber and at table , whom he shall be obliged to breed up in natural philosophy , and render an account of his progress to the assembly , from whose election he received him , and therefore is responsible to it , both for the care of his education , and the just and civil usage of him . that the scholar shall understand latine very well , and be moderately initiated in the greek before he be capable of being chosen into the service , and that he shall not remain in it above seven years . that his lodging shall be with the professor whom he serves . that no professor shall be a married man , or a divine , or lawyer in practice , only physick he may be allowed to prescribe , because the study of that art is a great part of the duty of his place , and the duty of that is so great , that it will not suffer him to lose much time in mercenary practice . that the professors shall in the colledge wear the habit of ordinary masters of art in the universities , or of doctors , if any of them be so . that they shall all keep an inviolable and exemplary friendship with one another , and that the assembly shall lay a considerable pecuniary mulct upon any one who shall be proved to have entered so far into a quarrel as to give uncivil language to his brother-professor ; and that the perseverance in any enmity shall be punish'd by the governours with expulsion . that the chaplain shall eat at the masters table , ( paying his twenty pounds a year as the others do ) and that he shall read prayers once a day at least , a little before supper-time ; that he shall preach in the chappel every sunday morning , and catechize in the after-noon the scholars and the school-boys ; that he shall every moneth administer the holy sacrament ; that he shall not trouble himself and his auditors with the controversies of divinity , but only teach god in his just commandments , and in his wonderful works . the schòol . that the school may be built so as to contain about two hundred boys . that it be divided into four classes , not as others are ordinarily into six or seven , because we suppose that the children sent hither to be initiated in things as well as words , ought to have past the two or three first , and to have attained the age of about thirteen years , being already well advanced in the latine grammar , and some authors . that none , though never so rich , shall pay any thing for their teaching ; and that if any professor shall be convicted to have taken any money in consideration of his pains in the school , he shall be expelled with ignominie by the governours ; but if any persons of great estate and quality , finding their sons much better proficients in learning here , then boys of the same age commonly are at other schools , shall not think fit to receive an obligation of so near concernment without returning some marks of acknowledgement , they may , if they please ( for nothing is to be demanded ) bestow some little rarity or curiosity upon the society in recompence of their trouble . and because it is deplorable to consider the loss which children make of their time at most schools , employing , or rather casting away six or seven years in the learning of words only , and that too very imperfectly : that a method be here established for the infusing knowledge and language at the same time into them ; and that this may be their apprenticeship in natural philosophy . this we conceive may be done , by breeding them up in authors , or pieces of authors , who treat of some parts of nature , and who may be understood with as much ease and pleasure , as those which are commonly taught ; such are in latine varro , cato , columella , pliny , part of celsus , and of seneca , cicero de divinatione , de naturâ deorum , and several scattered pieces , virgil's georgicks , grotius , nenesianus , manilius ; and because the truth is we want good poets ( i mean we have but few ) who have purposely treated of solid and learned , that is , natural matters ( the most part indulging to the weakness of the world , and feeding it either with the follies of love , or with the fables of gods and heroes ) we conceive that one book ought to be compiled of all the scattered little parcels among the ancient poets that might serve for the advancement of natural science , and which would make no small or unuseful or unpleasant volumn . to this we would have added the morals and rhetoricks of cicero , and the institutions of quintilian ; and for the comoedians , from whom almost all that necessary part of common discourse , and all the most intimate proprieties of the language are drawn , we conceive the boys may be made masters of them , as a part of their recreation and not of their task , if once a moneth , or at least once in two , they act one of terences comoedies , and afterwards ( the most advanced ) some of plautus his ; and this is for many reasons one of the best exercises they can be enjoyned , and most innocent pleasures they can be allowed . as for the greek authors , they may study nicander , oppianus ( whom scaliger does not doubt to prefer above homer himself , and place next to his adored virgil ) aristotles history of animals , and other parts , theophrastus and dioscorides of plants , and a collection made out of several both poets and other grecian writers . for the morals and rhetorick aristotle may suffice , or hermogenes and longinus be added for the latter ; with the history of animals they should be shewed anatomy as a divertisement , and made to know the figures and natures of those creatures which are not common among us , disabusing them at the same time of those errours which are universally admitted concerning many . the same method should be used to make them acquainted with all plants ; and to this must be added a little of the ancient and modern geography , the understanding of the globes , and the principles of geometry and astronomy . they should likewise use to declaim in latine and english , as the romans did in greek and latine ; and in all this travel be rather led on by familiarity , encouragement , and emulation , then driven by severity , punishment , and terrour . upon festivals and play-times they should exercise themselves in the fields by riding , leaping , fencing , mustering and training after the manner of souldiers , &c. and to prevent all dangers and all disorder , there should always be two of the scholars with them to be as witnesses and directors of their actions ; in foul weather it would not be amiss for them to learn to dance , that is , to learn just so much ( for all beyond is superfluous , if not worse ) as may give them a graceful comportment of their bodies . upon sundays , and all days of devotion , they are to be a part of the chaplains province . that for all these ends the colledge so order it , as that there may be some convenient & pleasant houses thereabouts , kept by religious , discreet , and careful persons , for the lodging and boarding of young scholars , that they have a constant eye over them to see that they be bred up there piously , cleanly , and plentifully , according to the proportion of their parents expences . and that the colledge , when it shall please god either by their own industry and success , or by the benevolence of patrons ; to enrich them so far , as that it may come to their turn and duty to be charitable to others , shall at their own charges erect and maintain some house or houses for the entertainment of such poor mens sons whose good natural parts may promise either use or ornament to the common-wealth , during the time of their abode at school , and shall take care that it shall be done with the same conveniences as are enjoyed even by rich mens children ( though they maintain the fewer for that cause ) there being nothing of eminent and illustrious to be expected from a low , sordid , and hospital-like education . conclusion . if i be not much abused by a natural fondness to my own conceptions ( that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the greeks , which no other language has a proper word for ) there was never any project thought upon , which deserves to meet with so few adversaries as this ; for who can without impudent folly oppose the establishment of twenty well selected persons in such a condition of life , that their whole business and sole profession may be to study the improvement and advantage of all other professions , from that of the highest general even to the lowest artisan ? who shall be obliged to imploy their whole time , wit , learning , and industry , to these four , the most useful that can be imagined , and to no other ends ; first , to weigh , examine , and prove all things of nature delivered to us by former ages , to detect , explode , and strike a censure through all false monies with which the world has been paid and cheated so long , and ( as i may say ) to set the mark of the colledge upon all true coins that they may pass hereafter without any farther tryal . secondly , to recover the lost inventions , and , as it were , drown'd lands of the ancients . thirdly , to improve all arts which we now have ; and lastly , to discover others which we yet have not . and who shall besides all this ( as a benefit by the by ) give the best education in the world ( purely gratis ) to as many mens children as shall think fit to make use of the obligation . neither does it at all check or enterfere with any parties in state or religion , but is indifferently to be embraced by all differences in opinion , and can hardly be conceived capable ( as many good institutions have done ) even of degeneration into any thing harmful . so that , all things considered , i will suppose this proposition shall encounter with no enemies , the only question is , whether it will find friends enough to carry it on from discourse and design to reality and effect ; the necessary expences of the beginning ( for it will maintain it self well enough afterwards ) being so great ( though i have set them as low as is possible in order to so vast a work ) that it may seem hopeless to raise such a sum out of those few dead reliques of humane charity and publick generosity which are yet remaining in the world. finis . brief instructions for making observations in all parts of the world as also, for collecting, preserving, and sending over natural things : being an attempt to settle an universal correspondence for the advancement of knowledg both natural and civil / drawn up at the request of a person of honour and presented to the royal society. woodward, john, 1665-1728. 1696 approx. 62 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a67006 wing w3509 estc r7163 13713999 ocm 13713999 101528 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a67006) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101528) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 855:4) brief instructions for making observations in all parts of the world as also, for collecting, preserving, and sending over natural things : being an attempt to settle an universal correspondence for the advancement of knowledg both natural and civil / drawn up at the request of a person of honour and presented to the royal society. woodward, john, 1665-1728. [4], 20 p. printed for richard wilkin ..., london : 1696. written by john woodward. cf. dnb. reproduction of original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -methodology -early works to 1800. scientific expeditions -early works to 1800. scientific apparatus and instruments -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2005-03 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion brief instructions for making observations in all parts of the world : as also for collecting , preserving , and sending over natural things . being an attempt to settle an universal correspondence for the advancement of knowledg both natural and civil . drawn up at the request of a person of honour : and presented to the royal society . london : printed for richard wilkin at the king's head in st. paul's church-yard , 1696. imprimatur , decemb. 29. 1695. robert southwell , v. p. r. s. brief instructions for the making observations , and collections , in order to the promotion of natural history , in all parts of the world. i. at sea. keep a journal of the ship 's course : of the latitude , as often as taken : of the variation of the compass : of the soundings , observing what sorts of shells , sand , or other matter is brought up with the plummet . in calmes , or with any other opportunity , both at main sea , or elsewhere , sound to the bottom , if all the line or tackle you have will reach it ; but if not , only note what length of line you used . in the said journal also keep an account of the currents : of the brizes , and other winds , as well those which are settled and constant , as those which are accidental : of storms and hurricanes : of the rise and fall of the weather-glass : of the weather , heat and cold , fogs , mists , snow , hail , rain , spouts or trombs , vast discharges of water from the clouds , thunder , lightning , meteors , &c. observe whether some seas be not salter than others , or distant parts of the same sea differ not in saltness : whether the water of the sea be not warmer than ordinary , or suffer not some unusual bubblings or commotions before storms , or there do not some other like uncommon accidents forerun them , whereby they may be foreseen : what voragines or whirlpools appear at sea , to what distance the force of their flux or stream extends , whether they only receive and swallow in the water , or spue it forth , or , if both , with what periods , i. e. at what time doth each begin and end : what sorts of fowls occurr at main sea : what fishes , what weeds , shrubs , or other things . in brief , take notice of every observable natural occurrence throughout the whole voyage , and this too in as full and circumstantial a manner as may be . ii. upon the sea-shores . observe to what perpendicular height the sea rises at high-water : what space of time passes between the ebb and flood , and again , between flood and ebb : what kinds of fish reside near the shores , particularly what shell-fish : what fowl are most frequent there : what weeds , shrubs , &c. also what shells , are flung up by the sea : what shrubs , weeds , mosses , sponges , coralls , or coralline bodies , e. g. sea fans , sea-roses , &c. grow out upon the shores , rocks , or cliffs : what sorts of pebbles , flints , marchasues , or other stones , lie upon the shores , or are washed out of the cliffs , by the tides , and beating of the sea-waves : whether there be not found grains of gold , or silver , or lumps of other metalls , or minerals , amber , crystal-pebbles , agates , cornelians , or other stones that have somewhat observable in them , either for lustre , texture , or figure ; and particularly stones that resemble muscles , cockles , periwinckles , or other shells . but more especially take notice whether by great inundations , storms , or hurricanes , there be not thrown up out of the sea , some sorts of shells that are not flung up ordinarily , and at other times ; as also whether upon the seas beating down , and washing away the earth from the cliffs , there be not disclosed glossopetrae , teeth , bones , or shells of fishes , that were originally lodged in those cliffs , but since beaten and washed out , these being commonly somewhat decayed , as also more dusky , foul , and black , than those shells , &c. which are thrown up by the sea. in all such places where there is any sort of dyveing , and particularly for pearls , observe what sort of earth , sand , or other terrestrial matter , is found at the bottom of the sea : what weeds , shrubs , &c. what shells of all kinds , or other bodies , taking a particular account of all the several kinds of shell-fish that yield pearl ; as also at what distance from the shores the diveing is made : to what depth and how long the dyvers can endure under water . in the coral-fishing observe in what manner or posture the coral , particularly that which is shrubby , and the sea-fans grow ; whether upright , horizontally , or flatwise , or hanging with the heads downwards : to what bodies it grows or adheres : whether it grow only in such parts as are constantly covered by the sea water , or such only as are uncovered when the tide is down , or both indifferently : if constantly under water , whether in the the shallower , or deeper parts of it : and whether it grow chiefly in such places of the water that are calm , and still , or where it is more rough and agitated by beating against the rocks , cliffs , &c. of how many several colours it is : and to what bigness both the rude coralline mass , and the shrubs , and other coralline bodies ever arrive . the same directions may serve indifferently for the amber-fishers , with this only addition , that they carefully observe whether the amber be not also found in the earth , and cliffs , in all such places where it is found upon the shores : and whether that which is thrown up by the seas flood , may not justly be presumed to have been born down from the cliffs by its foregoing ebb. iii. at land. 1. take an exact account of the brizes , and other ordinary winds , with the quarter from whence they blow , what time they begin , and how long they last : also of other winds , storms , and hurricanes : as likewise of the weather , heat , cold , fogs , mists , snow , hail , rain , thunder , lightning , meteors , &c. with the seasons of the year most obnoxious to these rains , &c. their quantity : the time of their duration : keeping also a register of the weather-glasses , both thermometer and barometer . 2. the following experiment being of considerable importance , as serving to determine several difficulties in the natural history of rains , vapours , &c. and being likewise very easily tryed , it is desired it may be done with care and exactness in all parts of the world. get some vessel either of copper , wood , or earth , about 2. foot wide , ( or if wider the better ) and at least a foot and half deep ; be sure it be firm and sound , and that it do not leak in the least . fill it about ¾ full of water : cover it over with a net , or very thin fine wier-grate , to keep off birds , or other creatures from drinking the water ; and then set it forth , either upon the leads of some flat-roof't house , or in the midst of a garden , or some other fit place , where the sun may shine upon it all day from sun-rising to sun-setting , or at least as much as may be . then with some rule or measure take the just perpendicular depth of the water , noteing down the depth , and the day of the month , and so leave the vessel standing out . once or twice a week ( or oftner , if either the rain be so much as to fill the vessel , and endanger its running over , or the heat and drought such as to quite dry up all the water , for either of these accidents will elude the experiment ) visit the vessel , and take nicely the depth of the water , noteing that depth , ( in a register to be kept for the purpose ) and the day of the month ; and if it be dry weather , so that the water is evaporated and sunk lower than it stood when the vessel was first set forth , then put in just as much more water as will raise it to its original height : but if it hath rained , so that the water is raised higher than it was when first set forth , after that the just measure of it is taken , and noted down , take out so much of the water as to reduce it to the level at which it stood when first set forth . this experiment ought to be continued thus for one whole year at least , but longer if possible ; only during the time of frost , no observation need be made , the water in the vessel then neither rising nor falling . 3. let there be an account taken of all springs ; both the standing or stagnant ones , and those which emit forth their water , forming brooks , and rivers ; observing whether they rise out of high or low grounds ; whether they be turbid or clear : hot or cold : whether they ebb or flow : whether they incrust or petrifie sticks , straws , or other bodies that lie in them : whether they contain bitumen , petroleum , salt , nitre , vitriol , or other mineral matter in their water : upon what occasions , or at what seasons chiefly their water encreases or decreases . in the running springs observe the quickness of the stream , and quantity of the water discharged . 4. as to rivers , observe their ordinary depth , breadth , and the quickness of their stream : the several sorts of fishes , particularly the shell-fish in them : all sorts of plants that grow in them . on their shores take notice whether there be not amber , cornelians , or other stones valuable either for their colour , texture , or shape , and particularly whether any stones that in figure resemble the shells of muscles , cochles , perewinkles , or the like . the same directions for the main may serve for lakes and meers , only it were to be wished that these were carefully sounded , and their depths taken , in several parts of them . 5. observe the several sorts of marls , clays , loams , or other soils , at the surface of the earth : and whether there be not almost every where a coat of one or other of these at the surface , whatever else lyes underneath . take an account of the several sorts of metalls that the countrey yields : as also of the minerals , rock-salt , allum , vitriol , sulphur , nitre , loadstone , cinnabar , antimony , talk , spar , crystal , diamonds , amethysts , topazes , emeraulds , and other precious stones : their number , and the manner of their growth : likewise of marchasites , amber ( for it is found in the earth and at land as well as at sea ) selenites , belemnites , flints , pebles , &c. in what manner they are found , and at what depths : in what quantities , and whether the metalls and minerals are separate and pure , or mixt : of what figure they are , and whether the said metalls . minerals , precious stones , &c. lie in the beds of earth , cole , chalk , stone , &c. or in the veins , clefts , or perpendicular intervals , of the stone , marble , &c. endeavour to get information whether metalls or minerals have a natural growth , or a natural decrease , in any part of the mine : and what rules the miners give for the discovery of metalls and minerals latent in the earth ; or by what signs they find them . also take account of the several sorts of stone , marble , alabaster , cole , chalk , okers , sands , clays , and other earths : their depths : the thickness of their strata or beds : the order in which they lie : the situation of their beds , whether level or not . in deep quarries , mines , cole-pits , &c. observe in what manner the water comes in : in what quantity , and at what season of the year it abounds most : and whether it be clear and tasteless , or be impregnated with mineral matter . take an account of the damps : of what kind they are : what harm they do : at what season chiefly they happen : and whether there be not sulphur , or nitre , or both , in all places where there are damps . observe also the heat of mines , by assistance of the weather-glass , if to be had , both summer , and winter , noteing how much it exceeds , or falls short of the heat at the surface of the earth : and whether it be not greater at certain depths , than at others . and enquire whether in mines , colepits , deep grottoes , or caverns , the work men are not sensible of gusts of wind breaking forth of the b●owels of the earth . 6. get an account of all grottoes or natural caverns in the earth : their breadth , depth , length : what rills or rivers of water passes them : what metallick , sparry , or other mineral incrustations cover their stones , or hang down , like iceycles , from them . get an account likewise of the several mountains , and rocks : the stone , marble , or other matter , of which they consist ; what plants grow upon them : what metalls or minerals they yield : what springs or rivers issue out of them : the heighth of them : especially it is much to be desired that the height of pico teneriffe , of the highest alps , and pyrenaees , of mount atlas , of the mountain called the table , nigh the cape of good hope , of the armenian , persian , and chinese mountains , and of the andes , and other high mountains in america , were exactly taken by observation . enquire farther , whether they are not by little and washed away by rains , and so become lower : whether their tops be not covered with a fog , or mist ; especially before rain : whether some of the highest of them have not their tops covered with snow , a great part , or all the year : whether at some times great quantities of water do not burst forth of them ; with the season that this happens , and whether attended with heat , thunder , lightning , storms , or what other circumstances : whether some of them emitt not sulphureous , or other steams , flores sulphuris , nitre , or sal-ammoniack : whether any send forth heat , smoke , or flames , as aetna , and other volcanoes do : and whether near such there be not constantly thermae or hot-springs . 7. but in regard that sea-shells , teeth , and bones of fishes , &c. are found very plentifully in england , and many other countries , as well upon the surface of the earth , and the tops of the highest hills , as within the earth , in cole-pits , mines , quarries , &c. the said shells , teeth , &c. being lodged amongst the cole , in the mass and substance of even the hardest stone , marble , &c. 't is very extremely desirable that careful search be made after these things in all parts of the world , and an account kept where-ever they are found ; particularly search ought to be made after these shells , and other bodies , at the tops , and on the sides of rocks , and the stone of the said rocks be broken with hammers , or other fit instruments , to discover the shells lodged within the stone . and it would be of very great use if the top of pico teneriffe , and of the rest recited in the foregoing section , and indeed of all high mountains whatsoever , were thus well examined by those who have opportunity of doing it . search likewise ought to be made upon the surface of the earth for the aforesaid sea-shells , and for stones that resemble them , especially upon the higher grounds , as hills , and particularly those which are plowed , where these shells are very frequently found in great numbers , and this too at great distances from any sea. but above all , where-ever there is any digging for metalls , minerals , marble , stone , chalk , cole , gravel , marl , or in short any other terrestrial matter whatever , if due enquiry be made , there will be found of the abovenamed shells in the said marble , stone , chalk , marl , &c. and in the cole , and stone above it , are frequently found fern and other plants , and sometimes in other stone too , especially that which is very fine and compact . wherever these shells , teeth , plants , &c. are found , the enquirer may please to note , along with the place , what sorts of shells they are : and whether they be of the same kinds with those found upon the shores of those parts or not : in what numbers they are found : at what depths : and what earth , sand , or other matter , they contain in them . 8. in stone , marl , &c. there are sometimes found trees , of several kinds , buried , and , along with them , nuts , acorns , pine-apples , &c. but much more commonly are the said trees found buried in moores , boggs , and fenns , especially those out of which the peat-earth , or bituminous turfs are digg'd for fewel . where trees are thus found , be pleas'd to note what kinds of trees they are : and whether there be of the same sorts now growing in the country : what bigness they are : and whether they be intire , with roots , and branches , as well as trunks : in what numbers they are found : at what depth in the earth : in what kind of earth , or other matter , it is that they lye : and what else is found along with them . 9. take an account of the more observable and peculiar diseases of the country , with what seasons of the year are most subject to them : and of the other casualties , particularly earthquakes , noting all circumstances that precede , attend , and follow after them : e. g. the condition and temperature of the air , as to heat and cold , wet or dry , thick or clear , calm or windy , before the earthquake : and whether the springs are warm , turbid , or emitt sulphureous or other offensive steams : noting likewise the extent of the shock , to what distance it was felt , and whether in all places precisely at the same minute of time : how great was the force of the shock : whether it crackt and tore the earth : removed any tract of ground : raised , or sunk it in : whether any heat , fire , water , &c. issued out at the said cracks : whether , in case there be any vulcanoes , or burning mountains , near , they emitt not flames with greater violence and noise than usual , at the time of the earthquake , or a little before , or after it : or whether they spue not forth water : whether the water of the wells , springs , and rivers thereabouts do not become warm , turbid , or send forth more water than usual , at the time of the earthquake : whether the neighbouring thermae , or hot-springs , if any , become not more hot , and muddy , than before ; whether the sea adjacent does not become warm , or hot , and suffer great commotions , and extraordinary tides , at that time : whether there follow not great winds , rains , thunders and lightning after the earthquake is over : and whether fevers , and other distempers do not then invade the inhabitants of those parts , yea the very beasts , fowl and fish : whether lastly , earthquakes happen in any , unless mountainous , cavernous , and stoney , countries , and in such as yield sulphur and nitre . 10. as to the vegetable and animal productions of the earth , observe whether the country be fruitful or barren ; what kinds of trees , shrubs , and herbs it produceth that we have , and what kinds that we have not in england : whether in those countries that lye betwixt the tropicks , the plants be not all in perpetual verdure , without ever falling all their leaves : and whether they have flowers , green , and ripe fruit upon them all the year round : or whether there be any of those sorts of plants there which are called annual ones , and dye yearly : or any whose taps , and all , save their roots , dye away , and sink into the ground for some time , but afterwards spring forth and grow up afresh , as daffadils , tulips , and other bulbous plants , do here : also what fowls , what beasts , serpents , lizards : what flies , moths , locusts ; what beetles , grashoppers , spiders or other insects : what tortoises , snails , or other creatures cover'd with shells , are found living upon the earth . an appendix relating to the natives of guinea , monomotapa , and other the less known parts of africa : of the east , and west indies : tartary , greenland , or any other remote , and uncivilized , or pagan countries . 1. as to their bodies , observe the features , shapes , and proportions of them ; but more particularly the features of their faces : their eyes whether large , or small : their noses whether flat and low , or sharp and raised : their hair long , or short and curled or woolly : the colour of their skin whether white , brown , tawny , olive , or black : the colour of their infants when first born : whether white people removing into hot countries become by degrees browner , &c. and blacks removing into cold countries , paler : whether people that inhabit the countries which are hottest , be in complexion of all the blackest : whether there be true negroes natives of any parts of the world , besides guinea , and the adjacent parts of africa . observe also the size or bigness of their bodies : their strength , agility , &c : and to what age they commonly live . observe likewise whether they paint their bodies : what parts of them they paint , what colours they lay on : what figures they paint : and how they do it . 2. observe their tempers , genius's , inclinations , virtues , and vices . 3. enquire into their traditions concerning the creation of the world , the universal deluge , the people from whom they are descended , and the country from which they originally came . 4 enquire into their notions touching the supreme god , angels , or other inferiour ministers : whether they pay any worship or reverence to the sun , the moon , the earth ; to high mountains , to rocks , grottoes , or caves in the earth : to the sea , lakes , rivers , springs : to serpents , or other animals : to trees , woods , or groves : and whether they do not use to build their temples , and set up their altars , or images , in groves . enquire into all their other religious doctrines , and ceremonies : their sacrifices : whether they offer men , or children : their idols : their priests : their temples , altars , feasts : their lustrations , or purifying themselves by water : their sortileges , or casting of lots : their divinations , charms , and conjurations : also their opinions concerning the devil , and whether they pay any sort of adoration to him : likewise their doctrines concerning the soul ( its immortality , its transmigration into men , or other creatures , ) and a future state : their customs and usages at the birth of children , and in the education of youth : their ceremonies at marriages , at funerals , and whether they burn , or bury their dead : if the latter , whether they embalm the body , or dry it , and bury money , victuals , cloths &c. along with it : the form of their year : the time it begins : the method of their computation of time , and to how many years backwards their tradition reaches . 5. get an account of their laws , and civil government : their language , their learning : their letters , and whether they write on paper , the leaves of palms , or other plants , bark of trees , &c. or , instead of writing , use painting , and hieroglyphicks : their musick : their diet : their agriculture , or tillage : their methods of hunting , fowling , and fishing : their physick , surgery , and the simples they use : their poysons ; their navigation , and the make of their vessels : all their other arts , and sciences : their manufactures , traffick , commodities , money , weights and measures ; whether they understand the melting and ordering iron , and other metals : their apparel : their houses , and other buildings : their utensils and instruments , whether made of iron , stones , fish-bones , shells &c. their exercises , and sports : their government and discipline in war : their weapons , bows , arrows , darts , &c. their warlike instruments , drums , tambours , cymbals : their punishments , and executions . to be brief , make enquiry into all their customs and usages , both religious , civil , and military ; and not only those hinted in this paper , but any others whatever . directions for the collecting , preserving , and sending over natural things , from foreign countries . 1. in the choice of these things , neglect not any , tho' the most ordinary and trivial ; the commonest peble or flint , cockle or oyster-shell , grass , moss , fern , or thistle , will be as useful , and as proper to be gathered and sent , as any the rarest production of the country . only take care to choose of each the fairest of its kind , and such as are perfect or whole . as to the number , six or eight of each sort is enough ; but where so many of the same sort are not to be easily got , send one , two , or more as they can be procured . 2. for the time of making observations none can ever be amiss ; there being no season , nor indeed hardly any place wherein some natural thing or other does not present it self worthy of remark : yea there are some things that require observation all the year round , as springs , rivers , &c. nor is there any season amiss for the gathering natural things . bodies of one kind or other presenting themselves at all times , and in winter as well as summer ; only for amber , onyxes , and other stones that lye in the sea cliffs : as also for the glossopetrae , teeth , and shells that are there , search may be made to best purpose after storms , because they are then chiefly beaten and washed out of those cliffs . so likewise for the gold grains , stones of all sorts , and shells that are found upon mountains , search ought to be made especially after rains , because these wash of the soil , and so discover them . 3. it were very well that there were sent over hither some specimens of all natural bodies whatever : to begin with fossils ; let there be sent samples of all the several varieties of marble , ores of metals , native minerals of all kinds , e. g. of antimony , sulphur , nitre , alum , talck , sparr , &c. of the metallick , sparry , vitriolick , nitrous , aluminous , and other iceycles that are found hanging down in grottoes , and the fissures of rocks : the crystallized sparrs , salts and ores : common pebles , flints , marchasites , &c. i call that a variety wherein there is any difference as to colour or outward appearance , or in weight , in the quantity of the metallick or mineral matter or in the manner of its mixture . of the forementioned , three or four of each variety will be enough : but for agates , cornelians , amber , crystal , diamonds , amethysts , selenites , belemnites , or ( as the vulgar calls them ) thunderbolts , and the like , be pleased to send ( of those which are found single and loose ) six or eight of each , wherein there is any difference in figure , bigness or colour : but for those which grow together ( in clusters or bunches ) to the rocks , send samples of them with part of the rock to which they grow . as to those stones that resemble cockles , or other shells , be sure to send six or eight of each wherein there is any the least difference , &c. for the sea-shells , teeth and bones , that are found at land , on hills , &c. and those which are digged up out of the earth , and lye loose in gravel , chalk , marle , &c. six or eight of each sort will be sufficient ; but for those which are found lodged in marble or stone , and are not easily got out single , send pieces of the said marble and stone , of all sorts , with the shells so lodged in them ; choosing only to break off ( for these samples ) such parts of the stone that contain the fairest and most entire shells , and such wherein they lye thickest . the same likewise for the fern , and other plants found in cole , slate , &c. it were also not amiss that there were samples sent over of the nitre , sal ammoniac , flores sulphuris , cinders , and other bodies , that are flung forth of the vulcanoes . 4. in order to the sending over these stones , minerals , ores , fossil-shells , teeth , &c. each ought to be put up carefully in a piece of paper ( the place where 't was found being first noted thereon ) by it self , to prevent rubbing , fretting , or breaking in carriage : and then all put together into some box , trunk , or old barrel , placing the heaviest and hardest at the bottom . those minerals which are tender and easie to be broken , as also the tenderer kinds of fossil-shells , ought to be put up carefully together in a box that is not large , and ( besides the papers ) coton , chaff , or bran , put up with them , the better to secure them . 5. as to plants ( as well those that grow at sea , in rivers , and lakes , as those which grow at land ) four samples of each kind ( wherever there is any difference in colour , or figure , of the leaf or flower ) will be sufficient . where the plant is large , as in trees , shrubs , and the like , a fair sprig , about a foot in length , with the flower on , 〈◊〉 if that be to be had , may suffice : but of the lesser plants , such as sea-weeds , grasses , mosses , ferns , &c. take up the whole plant , root and all . chuse all these samples of plants when they are in prime , i mean in flower , head , or seed , if possible ; and if the lower or ground leaves of any plant be different from the upper leaves , take two or three of them , and put them up along with the sample . 6. to preserve these samples of plants , put them each separately , betwixt the leaves of some large book , or into a quire of brown paper , displaying and spreading them smooth and even . the next day , and afterwards three or four times at due distance , shift them into other books or paper , till they are sufficiently dryed , when a weight may be laid upon them to press and smooth them ; and so keep them , in some dry place , till they be sent over , sending them in quires of brown paper , and writeing on the outside in what country the inclosed collection of plants were gathered . for , both for these , and all other things , 't will be proper to put up the productions of each country apart , or at least with such distinction that it may be known whence they all came . 7. be pleased likewise to send samples of seeds of all kinds of plants , even the most wild and common . but gather them not till they are ripe , and then put each sort by it self in a piece of paper , and , along with it ( if to be had ) a leafe and flower of the plant off which 't was gathered , writing on the said paper the names ( if any ) by which the country people call the plants to which they belong'd , and the medicinal , or other uses , they make of them . also samples of such nuts , pods , berries , or other fruits , that will keep . but both these and the seeds ought to be well dryed before they are put up , and to be afterwards kept dry . i had like to have forgot to desire that patterns might be sent over of all such woods , barks , roots , gumms , rosins , nat. balsoms , &c. that are of any use , or have any thing remarkable in them : likewise of all sorts of fuss-balls , and mushrooms which are hardy and will keep , as most of those that grow out of trees will : but for the earth-mushrooms , which are more tender , they ought to be put up in glasses filled with rum or brandy ; many of them being so very elegant and curious , as well to deserve such care in the preserving of them . 8. in like manner roots of plants would be very acceptable . and there are many sorts of them that , with very little trouble , might be so ordered that they would grow again when brought over , and set here , tho after a long voyage . particularly those which are bulbous , tuberous , and fleshy ; such as the roots of tulips , of lillies , crocus's , onions , garlicks , squills , anaemonies , potatoes , yaums , &c. these , i say , and all like roots , may be sent as easily and safely as seeds , if taken up out of the ground , and laid to dry till the ships come away , and then only put in very dry moss , coton , or sand. then for all kinds of ferns , or brakes , maiden-hairs , polypodyes harts-tongues &c. which are indeed a very beautiful family of plants , their roots may be taken up , ( to be in readiness ) and laid again into the ground , and covered there , in some shady place , till the ships are ready to sail ; when each root need only be enclosed or wrapt up in a lump of clay or loame , and then put up into a box with moss , and so sent over . in the same manner may roots of gingers , turmericks , flower-de-luces , and the like be sent . as also of all sorts of arums , or cuckopints , herb-dragons , &c. 9. yea the very intire plants themselves will , several of them , keep so long that they may be securely sent over hither ; and will , if set , grow afterwards , and thrive well enough . such as all the kinds of aloes , semporvives house-leeks , prickley-pears , turks-caps , euphorbiums , torch-thistles , or indeed any others that are of a very juicey , crass , or thick substance . these need only be hanged up in the air , at the top of some cabbin , to keep them from rotting , and they will come safe without any further trouble . 10. for all larger creatures , whether beasts , fish , or fowl , 't will be best to take off their skins carefully and well , and send only one or two of each . but for the lesser creatures , such as small birds , and fishes , lizards , camelions , salamanders , serpents , and such like , they may be most of them well enough preserved by drying , especially if their guts and entrails be taken out . unless you rather think fit to put some of the more rare , curious , and tender , into small jarrs , filled with rum , brandy , or spirit of wine , which will keep them extremely well ; and you may safely put as many of them into the same vessel as it will well hold without crowding them , filling it up afterwards with rum , &c. and then carefully closeing it up . of each of these three or four will be enough . 11. as to sponges ; brain-stones , sea-fanns , sea-roses , corals of all sorts , crabs , lobsters , sea , river , and land shells , whether common or uncommon , great or small , send five or six of each , wherein there is any difference in figure , colour or bigness . of the shells , where they are easie to be got , chuse those that have the creatures still living in them ( which yet ought to be pluckt out , or they will putrifie and stink ) such being by much the freshest and fairest : but where such are not to be got , take the empty and dead shells as you find them ; only of the bivalves or double shells , endeavour to send both the upper and under shell together . the several sorts of starr-fishes , and of those round shells ( beset with spikes or prickles ) which are called sea-eggs , or sea-urchins , are all very beautiful , and deserve well to be preserved . the starr-fishes may be very easily dried , or put up into brandy , and so sent . but the sea-urchins are very tender and brittle , so that 't is not so easie to preserve them , especially with their spikes on , which 't is greatly desirable might be done ; and of all , those that are beset with the largest spikes , are the most rare and curious , so that too great care and exactness cannot be bestowed in preservation of them . if they will not dry well , they ought to be put up , each by themselves in vessels of brandy , e. g. gallypots just big enough to contain them , so that they may not shake , and be thereby dispoiled of their prickles . but if any of them are capable of being dried , they may be put up ( with their spikes on ) carefully with coton in pill-boxes that just fit them . at the fishings for pearl , amber , or coral , save samples , not only of the several sorts of pearl-shells ( as also of the pearls themselves of all sizes , figures , and colours ) of corals , and of amber , but any other thing , whatever it be , that either the divers , the nets , or the engines , bring up out of the sea along with them . these several sorts of shells , corals , &c. ought to be put up each in paper , and then all into some box , with coton , bran , or chaff , and great care taken of those that are small , tender , and brittle . 12. the greatest difficulty of all will be to preserve , and send over safe , the flies and insects , by reason of the great tenderness of them . endeavour to procure some of all the several sorts of these , not exceeding 3. or 4. of each . worms , grubbs , caterpillars , spiders , beetles , grashoppers , &c. will keep best if put up , as many as conveniently may together , in bottles with brandy , &c. but the several sorts of flies , bees , wasps , butterflies , &c. ought to be put upon pins , and stuck to the bottoms , sides , and tops of small boxes ; but care must be taken that they stick very fast , for if one of them fall off and get loose , 't will tumble about , and so break and destroy all the rest that are in the box. 13. it were likewise not amiss to send over some of the idols of the east or west indians , or any other of the less civilized nations , as also of their pictures : their writing , whether upon paper , or the leaves or bark of trees : their money , weights , measures : their instruments of any kind : their domestick utensils : their habits , or the things they wear , skins of beasts , feather-dresses , rings , beads , &c. their medicines : their poysons : their musical instruments : their weapons , bows , arrows , darts , especially those that are headed or pointed with flints , bones , or shells : their drums and tambours , &c. but for these , and especially for the natural things , that are thus sent over , great caution ought to be used that the boxes wherein they are , be not turned topsyturvy , or much tumbled and shaken in carrying to and from the ship. and above all , that the things be not broken , or risled and confounded by the custom-house officers and searchers ; which may be prevented by giving timely notice to your correspondents here to get a warrant , from the honourable the commissioners of the customs , that the cases and boxes may not be searched on ship-board , but brought into the custom-house ware-house , and that some careful person attend there at their opening , to see that no inconvenience or damage befall them . there remains now only one thing more to be hinted , and that is , in regard the observations to be made both at sea and land are very many , and the plants , minerals , and animals , to be collected , are also very numerous , 't is not expected that any one single person will have leisure to attend to so many things , and therefore 't is only requested that he make such observations and collections , more or less , as may be best suitable to his convenience , and to his business . if there be never so few observations made , or things collected , yet even they will be very gratefully received . but for such curious , and inquisitive persons who shall generously bestow a yet greater diligence and application in the promotion of these many of them so very useful and considerable parts of knowledge , the learned and better part of mankind will be so much the more highly obliged unto them . and here are many of these things , especially the gathering and preserving of insects , shells , plants , minerals , &c. may be done by the hands of servants ; and that too at their spare and leisure times : or in journies , in the plantations , in fishing , fowling , &c. without hindrance of any other business , the things herein desired being common , and such as ( one or other of them ) occur in almost all places . some additions to be inserted each in their proper places . whether some seas be not salter than others . ] this may be tryed partly by boyling or evaporating an equal quantity of the water of different seas , and then observing what proportion of salt each yields : and partly by finding the several gravities of the waters of the said seas by means of the instrument mentioned numb . 4. in the list beneath . by the same instrument may the weight of the waters of mineral-springs , hot-bathes , and lakes , be tryed ; which it were to be wish'd might be done in all places . but above all , enquiry should be made whether the sea , in some parts of it , and lakes , have not their water impregnated with nitre and other minerals besides salt. this may be discovered by the taste or smell of the water : by evaporating it , or some other proper means . the different colour , thickness , , and muddiness of the water of the sea and lakes ought likewise to be noted . what perpendicular height the sea rises at high-water . ] i mean how much it rises above the level of low-water . observe further at what time of the moon , and seasons of the year , the sea ebbs lowest , or flows highest in any place ; not neglecting to note all other accidents and circumstances of the tydes whatever they be . things flung upon the shores by the sea. ] amongst the rest look diligently for amber-gris , the natural history of which is yet very little known . 't is supposed to be cast out by the sea ; but whether it be so really , or be drawn out of the adjacent cliffs ( as many other bodies are , that were supposed to be owing to the sea ) is to be determined by future enquirers ; who would do well not only to make this a part of their consideration , but to observe likewise its colour , smell , and taste : the quantity of it : what other bodies are mixt with it , or lye near it : also the condition of the sea thereabouts , whether turbulent usually , or calm : whether the water be frothy or oyly ; and , to be short , all other circumstances that may give any light into this matter . of winds . ] also of the different effects , constitutions , and temperatures of winds , which hot , which cold : which moist , or attended with mists , or rain : which dry , &c. of springs . ] and whether there do not sometimes happen extraordinary eruptions , or vast discharges of water out of them , without any externally apparent cause . the same also concerning lakes : as likewise concerning grottoes . rivers . ] and whether these do not also suffer sudden and unusual eruptions of water forth of their sources : whether they have not periodical inundations , occasioned by the great rains that fall at certain seasons , as the nile , ganges , and several other rivers have : how high the tides rise at their ostia or outlets , and how far they flow up them ; with the periods , of the flux or reflux . mines . ] how deep are the deepest mines and colepits : whether there be not water continually draining and ouzing through the ores of metals , and the spar , and other minerals that lie in the clefts of the stone : what are the peculiar diseases that attend the miners : what mines are chiefly detrimental to health , and whether there be not some that are observed considerably to shorten the lives of the miners : also whether the smoke , ashes , &c. that fall upon the grass near the forges and smelting-works be not hurtful to the cattle that feed upon it : lastly , whether the very waters of the springs , rivers and brooks near , especially about lead-mines , are not sometimes infected with the mineral steams , so as to be likewise noxious to the cattle which drink of them . a list of such instruments , and other things , as may be serviceable to those persons who make observations , and collections , of natural things . 1. the weather-glass now lately contrived by robert hook , m. d. professor of geometry in gresham college , and s. r. s. of use at sea as well as at land. 2. the common barometer . 3. the common thermometer . 4. the hygrobaroscope , or small glass instrument , with the neck or stemm graduated into small divisions , serving to try and compare the gravity of liquids , waters , &c. 5. a dipping-needle ; in order to observe the several degrees of its inclination in all parts , both at sea and land. 6. a large quadrant , for taking the height of mountains , &c. also for the making astronomical observations , &c. 7. a level , whereby to judge of the situation ( in respect of the horizon ) of the beds of earth , stone , marble , cole , &c. in mines , quarries , cole-pits , &c. 8. a two-foot-rule , or other like measure , exactly graduated , as well to take the depth of the water in the experiment related above page 3. as for other uses . 9. hammers , bigger and smaller , to break , and examine the interiour constitution of ores , native minerals , stones , &c. with a chissel wherewith to dissever or strike off shells from the mass of stone , marble , &c. conf . pag. 6. and pag. 11. above . 10. crucibles , fluxing-powders , &c. for melting and tryal of ores . 11. an eradicator , or small iron instrument to take up the roots of herbs out of the earth . 12. several quires of brown paper to dry and keep plants in . 13. several nests of dutch , or pill-boxes : also deal boxes of several sizes , in which to put up , and send over natural bodies . 14. bottles , jars , gally-pots , or other like vessels , wherein to put the more tender creatures , with spirits &c. 15. spirit of wine , rum or brandy , to preserve the said creatures , e. g. insects , lizards , serpents , &c. 16. a solution of mercury sublimate ; or the same in powder , a small part of which may be dissolved in a little water , by boiling it gently in a pipkin ; which pipkin ought to be kept for this only purpose , it being dangerous to put it to any other use , the sublimate being a poison . when the liquor is cold , a little spirit of wine may be added to it , if to be had . the use of this solution is to chase and rub upon the insides of such animals whose entrails are taken forth ( as page 14. above ) in order to dry and preserve them ; this serving to fence off worms and insects from preying upon them , preventing also the falling off of the hair or feathers , and securing them against putrefaction , stinking , &c. it would be of incredible advantage to this design , were all the thermometers and hygrobaroscopes used in it adjusted nicely and exactly after some one common standard . which would be a thing very easie to be done , were they all bought of the same person . nor can i , if i may presume to recommend one for this purpose , nominate a fitter than mr. hunt , operator to the royal society at gresham college ; who will not only procure the two mentioned , ( graduated very carefully ) or indeed any of the other instruments , but likewise be ready to direct any one , who shall desire it , in the method of using them ; or to advise and assist them in any other thing tending to the promoting of this design . for the thermometers , were they thus all of them , adjusted to the same standard , ( to be kept constantly in the repository at gresham college , where any man might have recourse to it ) 't were easie to make a true and certain estimate of the heat or cold in any part of the world where these thermometers were used , for they would all of them constantly answer to one another , in what country soever they were . by this means the heat or cold of all places in the same climate or under the same latitude may be compared and known , for any , or all , seasons of the year . the same way may a comparative judgment be made of the heat or cold of climates tho never so different and distant : the heat of one countrey or place may be conferred with another ; of one mine , cole-pit , grotto , or other ●●bterranean cavern , with another : the temperature of valleys or ●lains with that of higher ground , and with the sides or tops of mountains ; which would be a thing of real and very great use in many respects . so likewise for the hygrobaroscopes : were they all adjusted after the same standard , there would be a fixt and standing rule whereby to judge of the gravity of fluids all over the world where-ever these instruments were used . the gravity of the water of one sea might be compared with that of another : of the northern with the southern seas : of the seas under the aequinoctial , with those at the poles . so also of different parts of the same sea , the shores with the main , or the waters of the very same place , taken up at different depths , with each other . in the same manner may be examined the water of lakes , of rivers , of mines , cole-pits , &c. of springs of all sorts , both the mineral ones and others , all over the world. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a67006-e230 observations to be made ●t sea. upon the shores. directions to the dyvers , for pearl , coral , and amber . observations of the weather at land. an experiment to be made . observations concerning springs . concerning rivers and lakes . concerning metalls , minerals , stones , earths , &c. of water , of wind , and of heat in mines : also of damps . concerning grottoes , and mountains . ☞ of sea-shells , and other marine bodies , at land , in stone , &c. ☜ concerning trees found buried in the earth . of diseases , casualties , earthquakes . concerning plants and animals . their manners . their traditions . their religion , &c. their laws and government , their arts and sciences , with their customs both civil , and military . what things to choose , and how many of each . all places and seasons afford somewhat worth the observing and collecting . minerals : and fossil-shells , of all sorts , to be sent . how to be packed up . plants of all sorts to be sent over : and how to gather them . plants how to be dried , and preserved . seeds , and fruits , of all sorts , to be sent . roots of many plants may be so ordered as to grow when brought over into england . particularly of the fern-kind . some whole plants will grow when sent over hither . beasts , fish , fowl , serpents , &c. to be sent , and how . coralls , and shells to be sent . star-fishes , and sea-urchins . directions to the fishers for pearl , amber , and corall . shells , and corals , how to be put up , and sent over . flies , and insects , how to be sent . some of the idols , pictures , money , &c. of the savages to be sent over . a caution about the sending the boxes to and from the ship : and about the officers of the customs . the conclusion , to the collectors of these natural things . pag. 1. line 18. pag. 2. line 2. ibid. line 5. pag 3. line 17 pag. 4. line 10. ibid line 2● . pag. 5 , line ●● a further discovery of m. stubbe in a brief reply to his last pamphlet against jos. glanvill. glanvill, joseph, 1636-1680. 1671 approx. 93 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42815 wing g811 estc r23379 12068225 ocm 12068225 53421 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42815) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53421) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 70:8) a further discovery of m. stubbe in a brief reply to his last pamphlet against jos. glanvill. glanvill, joseph, 1636-1680. stubbe, henry, 1632-1676. [4], 34 [i.e. 35] p. printed for h. eversden ..., london : 1671. "to the reader" signed: j. glanvill. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -early works to 1800. 2002-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-10 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2002-10 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-12 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a further discovery of m. stubbe , in a brief reply to his last pamphlet against jos. glanvill . london , printed for h. eversden , and are to be sold at his shop under the crown tavern in smithfield . mdclxxi . to the reader . i writ the following letter in a present warmth , upon reading of m. stubbe's last pamphlet ; but being called by my occasions to oxford , and london , i perceiv'd , that he is now known , and consequently , that my work is at an end : for he hath proved , to the satisfaction of all sober men , by his talk , and by his writings , that the harshest things i said of him were just , and true , and hath so managed matters , as if he had design'd to save me further labour to expose him : upon this consideration , i resolved once , to have laid by these papers , judging that it could not he expected that any man in his w●…ts should have more to do with such an adversary ; especially since all he hath said , or is like to say for ever , is already answer'd in my former account of his spirit , and performances : but some worthy men ( who yet have the opinion of m. s. that ●…e deserves ) advised , that since i had written , i should publish , and give him this other blow , that so while he was staggering under the former , he might he laid flat by this . i have now complied with the advice ; but am inclined , for the future , to let the impertinent talk alone : for i think a man may with as much reputation write against the wits of bedlam , as against this crackt fop of w●…rwick . 't is like i shall scarce take so much notice of him henceforth , as to read what he scribles further . i said indeed in my former book ( and have mentioned the same designs in this ) that i would examine his quotations , and give another account of the ignorance and impertinency of his reasonings : but i find all sober men are well satisfied already ; and when i sate down to consider matters closely , i saw , that though all he pretends were granted to be true , yet the design and substance of my first book is sa●… ; and all i should have to do , would be to shew how he perverts the sence of authors , and how foolishly , and to no purpose he argues from them . of both these i have already given proof enough , so that those that consider , and read my books without prejudice , are convinced ; and for those that do not , it would be to little purpose 〈◊〉 amuse my self with them . for this answer , it will not take up much of his time , that hat●… a mind to peruse it ; and those that have not the humour to read , need not be concern'd ; i writ it by the intervals of three days , which i mention not to boast my expedition , but because i would not have it thought , i make dealing with this prate-rost any part of my bu●…ness . the printing was deferr'd till now , upon the account of my irresolution after i had written . i have dealt somewhat plainly with him in some places , to try whether down-right chastisement will bring him to himself ( if he be not most himself , when he is most extravagant ) what is railing when 't is unmerited , is honesty when ' 〈◊〉 deserv'd , and needed ; and if in any case in the world , sharp reproof is blameless , it ought to be allowed in this . it would be look'd upon as flatness , or fear , if i should d●…l softly with such an adversary , who , like the other enemy of mankind , goes up and down , seeking whom he may devour : i have therefore treated him with plainness of reproof ; and if any thing bite in my expressions , 't is their truth . those that know the merits of m. stubbe , will justifie this way of proceeding with him ; and those that judge without knowing the cause , may conclude what they think fit . london , feb. 14. j. glanvill . a letter to m. stubbe . m. stubbe , i have received two letters from you , since the coming forth of my book ; but i gave them no answer , because there was nothing in them to be answer'd , but the old vertues , falshood , impudence , and impertinence : and indeed i forbore for this reason also , because it is dangerous , for a man to trust himself with such a malicious calumniator , in private : since you make so little reckoning of traducing publique writings , what can be expected in your accounts of transactions , that are without witness ? this day , jan. 12. i received your last pamphlet in which i am concern'd : how long it hath been abroad , i know not ; it came to me by accident , out of the countrey ; but by some things , i guess , it hath been a pretty while extant . i mention this , that you may not brag , according to your fashion , that i have taken a great deal of time ( forsooth ) to answer you : good man ! there needs no study , but to consider , whether 't is prudent to have any more to do with such an hair-brain'd impertinent , or not : and i must confess , i have been kept in some irresolution between solomon's seeming contradictory advices , of not answering , prov. 26. 4. and answering , ver . 5. i determine now on the side where charity to you lies , whatever prejudice i may do my self , by wrestling with one , whom a man cannot touch without defilement . when i writ my last book , i foresaw what i must expect : if those eminent persons that never descended to provoke you , are branded with such infamous scurrilities in your pestilent , inve●…med scribli●…gs ; what may i look for , that have so little of their worth to secure me ; and have done so much to exasperate your malice , and to provoke your most direful displeasure ? if dr. wallis , dr. spratt , m. henshaw , m. evelyn , dr. merrett , and now dr. more , with the royal society in common , and all that dare to differ from your opinion , are so often , and v●…hemently stigmatized by you , for gross 〈◊〉 , illiterate fools , prattle boxes , liars , contemptible adversaries , impostors , catch ▪ potterels fops , lories , cheats , and poor devils ; and cart-loads more of such di●…t , ●…e heaped upon them ; what could i think would be my portion , after i had so stung , and exposed you by my reflections ? i assure you , i look'd for the dregs of your venom , and all the names , and epithets of ●…ility , and reproach that are yet behind in your dunghil-fat invention . accordingly , you take care not to disappoint my expectations . by your foaming , and tearing , i perceive my arrows stick in your sides , and i look for more raging yet : all this is but moribundi animal●…li indicium . for your private letters , i let them lie , because they were private ; only i admonish you , when you write again , to endeavour to write sence ; for both your letters abound with palpable non-sence , and false english , though i had taken notice , and admonish'd you of several of those ●…lts in your books . but i doubt you think your self too learned to stoop to common se●…ce , and will despise this advice . my present business is with your last preface against m●… ▪ and pray , m. praefacer , how many praefaces do you intend ? you quote a praeface against glanvil , in your censure of the history of the royal society : the animadversions on plus ultra area kind of praeface , ( though to no body ●…nows what ) in your letter to dr. merrett you threaten a praeface again against glanvil , and the rest , when that against him is publish'd ; and here 's a praeface too . prith●… , harry , which of the praefaces is this ? distinguish them , that we may know when we have all , and then tell us , where are the houses , for these large gates . you begin these ignorant , and foul papers with a charge against my method of dealing with you : and if you had answer'd what i say to render such a procedure fit and necessary , in my praeface , your complaint might have signified more ; but now 't is idle , and precarious . i●… did not , you say , beseem a christian , much less a divine of the church of england , [ p. 34. ] we have seen too much of the genius of your case-divinity , good sir , to believe you without proof [ see my praeface ] why , i pray , was such a course misbecoming such relations ? if a christian , and a divine of the church of england , be assaulted with publique slanders and reproaches , may he not endeavour , in his ow●… defence , to weaken the credit of the slanderer , by letting the world see , how foul a mouth he hath , and how little his cal●… are to be regarded ? if such an infantous p●…son set himself to rail at , and disgrace a great body of worthy and ingenious men , and so to beget enmity between them , and other venerable , and learned societies , if he shall causelesly reproach them with designs destructive to the government in church and state , and of fatal tendency to the famous fountains of learning , the universitie●… of the kingdom ; may not a christian , and a divine of the church of england , endeavour to prevent the mischief such bold falshoods may do , by representing , that those charges are malicious , and that the libeller hath been ever a spightful inveigher against all the most sacred interests , and hath publickly , and fiercely endeavoured the destruction of all those things , for which he now pretends so zealous , and concern'd a kindness ? if a boutesew , or common barreter attempt to set all where he comes together by the ears , and to beget hatred , and animosities between those , that were friends , and at peace ; may not one that knows his practices , though a christian , and a divine of the church of england , warn his neighbours to beware that they heed him not , and tell them ( to hinder the storms that he might raise ) what his temper is , and what pranks he hath plaid in other places , and times ? if any of the sheep should fawn upon the wolf in sheeps clothing , and follow him where he leads ; may not a good shepherd pluck of the disguise , and shew the flock what he is ? what think you , m. casuist , may a christian , and divine lawfully do thus , or not ? if so , i am justified ; i have done no more ; and i proceeded that way with you , for those ends : but if you say not , produce your proof . but you intimate further , [ ib. ] that i have viola●…d the act of indempnity . if you think so in earnest , the law is open , take your course . it is the common method of the enemies of the government to clamour against those that mind them of their villanies , and the miseries of the late times ( though with a pious design , to prevent the like for the future ) as violaters of the act of indempnity . they would fain have all that is past , be forgotten , that they ●…ight do the same things , and promote the same designs again . we must by no means acquaint the growing generation with the base tricks , and barbarous actions of the patrons of the cause , that the nation may forget how , and by whose ●…ans the deluge of ruine came upon us ; and so may be induced to hearken to the same pretences , and to be led into new miseries by the same spirit , and practices . 't is become an usual thing to upbraid ministers with the breach of the act of indempnity , when upon the ▪ thirtieth of january they warn the people of the danger of re●…ellion , and those pretences that lead to it , by the example of the late times , and the villanies of the projectors , and maintainers of the horrid war : and just after this manner have i broken the act of indempnity . the sence of what i have writ as to ●…his matter , is , hearken not to m. stubbe's pretences for monarchy , the church , universities , and learning ; his kindness is to be suspected of hypocrisie , and falshood : for see what he hath done against them , in the times of their distress and ruines ! for your other pretences against my way of dealing with you , they are equally frivolous . it may ( say you ) raise discontents , and jealousie in others , whose crimes transcended yours . if you judge modestly , you need not fear that ; 't is to be hoped there are scarce any such on this side charing-cross , tyburn , and tower-hill : but if there be , and they have the impudence to promote turbulent and seditious designs , under a pretext of a great zeal , and concern for the king , and church ; 't will be fit that those , who are in danger of being abused by them , should be made acquainted with their former good inclinations , and practices , when their pretences were as specious , as now . for others that hav●… offended , and demean themselves modestly , as becomes pe●…tents , they have no reason to apprehend any thing from such a course taken with you , who are so infinitely distant from modesty , and all things else , that beseem a convert . but 't was strange , you say , to find as it were st. paul upbraided with what he did , at the death of st. stephen [ ib. ] the just exposing you , is , as it were , an upbraiding of st. paul : strange indeed ! i am glad you have so good an opinion of st. paul , as to compare your self with him . pray how long hath the apostle been so much in your favour ? bu●… in earnest , is what i have done like upbraiding st. paul ? have you such evidences to shew for your conversion ? have you given such proofs of it ? or rather , have you afforded any demonstration of your repentance , besides the repetition of your crimes ? read my pr●…face , good st. harry , and be silent for ever after , as to this matter . you proceed , [ to aggravate the malignity of my temper , 't is mad●… my fault that i defend m. h. in some grammatical questions , against a member of the royal society , p. 35. ] the malignity of your temper is not inferr'd from your defence of m. h. but from your malicious , scurrilous opposition of so learned a man as dr. wallis , and the vile names of contempt you fasten on him , as is evident , p. 31. & 32. of my praefatory answer , where some of the foul , slanderous stuff is exposed to view : so that this period is a gross ●…alshood ; and 't is impossible for you to make any shew of defence , bu●… by taking refuge in lying , and impertinence . this you do again , in the immediate next words [ i am revil'd with opposing m. b. in his holy commonwealth , and key for catholicks . ] this is an untruth also : 't is not the opposing m. b. that is the thing objected ; but your scurrilities towards him , are mentioned as another instance of your civility . look again into my book , p. 33. and ( if possible ) blush at this lying , and palpable impudence . but , as if you could not speak a word without falsifying , you add [ and to shew how bar●…arous my demeanour was towards him , after the elogies of reverend , learned , and ingenious , he is said to be a person worthy of great respect ; and our eccholius adds , that he can scarce forbear affirming concerning him , as a learned doctor of our church did , that he was the only man that spoke sence in an age of non-sence . ] m. stubbe , have you forsworn to speak truth ? and will you give your self the trouble to prove further , what ●…very one believes of you already ? did i , to shew the bar●…arousness of your demeanour , give m. b. the elogies of lea●…ned , and ingenious , and add the other passage you mention , to that purpose ? pray borrow a pair of double spectacles from your friend m. cross , and look again into my book , where i represent your demeanour ; if you find those elogies there , or the other passage , i 'le be bound to believe you , yea even when you romance about jamaica . what you cite , is in my philosophia pia , which was written before any thing against you , and when you were not at all in my thoughts : how is it then , you have the impudence to publish , that those passages were to shew the barbarousness of your demeanour to m. b ? what an obnoxious falsifier are you ? in the next period you say [ i shall not recriminate upon m. glanvil ; there is disloyalty which extends beyond writing ; it may be found in praying , preaching , and communicating with rebellious schismaticks . ] do you mean to vent two or three gross untruths more in this place ? or do you only write at your usual rate of impertinence ? if you mean , that i am guilty of any disloyalty in preaching , praying , and communicating with schisntaticks , or ever were , 't is a s●…andalous , shameless falshood , as many hundreds can witness . how disloyal my preaching is , you may see , if you please , in my sermon on the ●…gs murder , printed two or three years ago ; and how quite contrary the truth is , to what you would maliciously insinuate , both in this , and the other particulars , all men that ever knew me since i preach'd , can attest . and i never was in a pulpit above four or five times till the return of the king , though i was master of arts some years before . so silly a romancer are you ; or if you will not own it here , you must confess that you meant nothing to the purpose by your words . in the following sentence [ p. 37. ] you phancy you may have the advantage of the excuse of education , and being bred in ill times , as well as i : but , my friend , there is di●…rence between a negative loyalty , and active ui●…lany , between only living , and breathing in a bad air , and endeavouring to spread the infection of it further , and to make it more pestilential , and fatal . i say no more ; you understand me . well! thus i aggravated the malignity of your temper , and thus you have answer'd . but what 's become of all the other instances of your ridiculous boastings , abominable s●…urrilities , treasonable invectives , impious endeavours to destroy laws , religion , and learning ? you think 't is the best way to cover them with silence , and to insinuate to those that have not read my book , that when i talk of the malignity of your temper , i mean only , that you writ a defence of m. h. in some grammatical questions , and opposed m. b. in his holy commonwealth , and key for catholicks . cunning shu●…er ! but when you mention these instances , why don't you add , what mighty things you boasted of your self , and what vile names you call'd dr. w. in your defence of m. h ? and why don't you tell your reader , that when you opposed m. b. in his holy commonwealth , and key for catholicks , it was only in those things in which he opposed sir h. v. and the most extravagant phantasticks ? but this was not for your purpose , and therefore mum. you opposed m. b's holy commonwealth , you say ; and some , you phancy , may think , that you writ against the errors of that recanted book : so that hereby you would in●…uate a good opinion of your self , and a bad one of me , as making your writing against such a discourse , an instance of the malignity of your temper . you have no other way to defend your self , but by either downright falshood , or such tricks of legerdemain , and cousenage . to go on with you ; you tell your reader [ ib. ] that i give no reparation to the physician●… for my injurious words [ plus ultra , pa. 7. 8. ] had i spoken any there about physicians , or , did i think that any one physician , that doth not want physick himself , understands me to have as much as meant any thing to their prejudice , i should give them what reparation they can expect : but all that you have objected about the cut-finger , and the injury done your faculty , i have proved to be meer impertinent malice , that longed to pick a quarrel . and i shall now give you a further account of that whole paragraph you have transcribed , and raised such clamours against . if in discoursing of it i can shew , that the substance of those periods , and the most obnoxious passage there , is to be found largely , and often insisted on by so great , learned , and wise a man as my lord bacon , i hope i may be excused for having spoken after so profound , and celebrated a philosopher , that was no enemy to physicians , or any sort of learned men. i repeat my periods as you have cited them : [ the modern experimenters think that the philosophers of elder times , though their wits were excellent , yet the way they took was not like to bring much advantage to knowledge , or any of the uses of humane life , being for the most part that of notion and dispute , which still runs round in the labyrinth of talk , but advanceth nothing . plus ult . p. 7. ] i say , the experimenters think , and undertake to represent the sence of some of those philosophers , as i apprehended it . my thoughts were chiefly on my lord bacon . let us see now whether that great man hath not declared what i say the experimenters think . [ antiquis au●…horibus suus constat honos , atque adeo omnibus ; quia non ingeniorum , aut facultatum inducitur comparatio , sed viae , nov. organ . aph. 32. ] again , aph. 61. [ nihil illis ( sc. antiquis ) detrahitur , quum de via omnino quaesti●… est . ] thus you see , without detracting from the wits of the ancients , he questions the way they took , for the advancement of knowledge ; and that he thought it to be unfr●…ful , appears further from almost his whole book ; 〈◊〉 , from the praef. p. 2. de utilitate dieendum est , sapientia●… istam , quam à grae●… po●…issimùm hausimus , pueritiam quandam scientiae vid●…ri , atque habere quod proprium est puerorum ; ut ad garriendum prompta , ad generandum invalida , & immatura ●…it ; controverst●…rum ferax , operum eff●…ta est : ] and so he goes on comparing that state o●… learning to the fable of scylla . again , aph. 71. scientiae quas habem●… ferè à graecis fluxerunt , erat autem scientia graecorum professoria , & in disputationibus e●…usa ; quod genus inquisitioni veritatis adversissimum est ; ] and he proceeds to the same purpose . thus you see , that that famous experimenter thought , that the way of the ancients , was not like to bring much advantage to knowledge , being that of notion , and dispute . and that this runs round in a labyrinth of talk , advancing nothing , the same great author saith , [ si — id minimè eventurum fuisset , quod per annos his mille jam fieri videmus : nempe , ut scientiae suis hereant vestigiis , & in eodem fere statu maneant , neque augmentum aliquod memorabile sumpserunt ; quin potius , in primo authore maximè floru●…rint , & 〈◊〉 declinaverint . aph. 74. ] and aph. 94. he encourageth philosophical hope with this consideration , that the little progress that is made in knowledge , is not from the difficulty of the thing , so much , as from the error of the way . thus that great philosopher justifies the former part of the recited paragraph to a tittle , and you see i had reason , when i writ , that the experimenters thought as i said . but you quote me further : [ and the unfruitfulness of those methods of science , which in so many centuries , never ●…ought the world so much practical beneficial knowledge ●… would help to cure a cut finger , is a palpable argument , that there were fundamental mistakes , and that the way was not right . ] my lord bacon makes this the grea●… sign of the error of the ancient ways , aph. 74. and in divers other places ; they produced disputes , but not works , praef. p. 2. aph. 71. and he gives the reason of their 〈◊〉 ; 〈◊〉 enim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habem●…s , 〈◊〉 al●…d sunt qu●…m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inventarum , non modi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 de●…gnationes 〈◊〉 operum , aph. 8. ] how much less is this , than what i said ? and upon the supposition of these things , i might well add , [ if the moderns cannot shew more of the works of their philosophy in six years , than the aristot●…lians can produce of theirs , in thrice so many hundr●…d , let th●…m ●…e loaded with all the contempt , which is usually the reward of vai●… ; and u●…profitable projectors . ] it is apparent , and i have shewn , that the way by experiments hath produced works ; but my lord ●…acon , and the reason of the thing say , the way of ●…otion can produce none . and now , m. caviller , did you ever read my lord ●…acon , or did you not ? if not , for all your boasts of great reading , you are not acquainted with some of the authors of greatest note ; and 't is a shame for you to write against the experimental philosophers , and not to have read the founder and one of the chiefest men of that way . if you have read him , you know he said all this that i write the experimenters thought ; and why did you pass it by in him , who was the author ; and insisted so largely upon it , and so malici●…usly censure it in me , that spoke after him in two , or three tran●…ent passages ? if these periods in my book were th●… oc●…asion of the quarrel , as you say , why was not the quarrel begun before ? are the physicia●…s more injur'd by my writing those things , than by my lord baeon's ? is my saying what he thought , a greater affront to the ancients , than his declaring to the world the same himself ? no , no , m. stubbe , 't is evident from hence , that this was not the reason of your writing , but the occasion that you made ; you knew that your cavilling could not injure my lord bacon , but thought it might expose me , and other friends of the experimental way , to the displeasure of the ignorant , envious , and misinform'd ; 't was not any concern for the honour of the ancients , and your faculty , that ingaged you ; for then you would have end●…avoured their vindication against my lord bacon , ( if you had thought them so injured by those sayings ) but 't was a malevolent , envious humour against the royal society , and its friends , was the cause of your impudent assaults . and 't is further apparent , that what you pretend was not the reason of your beginning this war ; for no man alive , but you , can perceive any the least reflection upon the physicians in those periods . i speak of the ancient methods of philosophising in physiology , and with the excellent ver●…lam , complain , that they were notional , and unfruitful : so that i meant the particular hypotheses , and not the more general principles , and rules , of which you speak , which were raised from observation , and experiment : these , no doubt , all the ancient physicians used , and with happy success ; and 't is the very method of the modern experimental men ; so that i could not be supposed to mean this . i spake of the natural philosophers , and their methods , which were made up of notion , and ministred to everlasting disputes . but you pretend to have demonstrated , that even this way was much more advantageous , than i allow it , [ p. 38. ] i wish you would tell us , where we might find the demonstrations against those complaints of my lord bacon . you talk of the doctrine of the e ; e , emts being the occasion of plaisters , of galen's regulating of mixtures , and discoveries by those principles , [ p. 38. 40. ] and of druggists explaining the use of medicaments according to this doctrine , [ animad . on plus ult. pag. 159. ] these , forsooth , you have demonstrated ; that is to say , physicians have chosen the materials of their compositions , hot , or dry , cold , or moist , as they found them for their purpose , according to this degree , or another ; and have used these common words of elements , qualities , and degrees , to express themselves by : therefore the hypotheseis of naked materia prima , substantial ●…orms , and real qualities is not unprofitable : who can chuse but take such arguments , for demonstrations ? well! the conclusion follows [ p. 39. ] from whence it is demonstrated , that since not only cut fingers , but even all diseases were cured by them , ( viz. galenical physicians ) 't is unjust , and intolerable for us to be upbraided with the sterility of that philosophy — ] who ever denied that diseases were cured by these physicians using reason , experience , and general rules ? but when do you prove , that the doctrine of first matter , and forms did directly , and of it self lead to any discovery , by which they were assisted in their cures ? this , i told you , was my meaning in the words , which you force to the sence which best fits your malicious purpose ; and to what end then , do you keep such a vapouring , and impertinent ad●… about the peripateticks , that have been inventors , and the galenists , to whom we have been obliged ? but you have a mind to find your self work , though it be but to pick straws . you recite my answer to your clamorous , and impertinent opposition of the fore-quoted paragraph ; viz. that i ●…oké not of the methods of physick , or chirurgery , or any practical arts ; but of the way of notion and dispute , which , i said , produced no practical , beneficial knowledge , by its own proper , native virtue ; i said , i denied not , that the peripatetical , and other notional philosophers had practical knowledge , or were discoverers ; but that they learnt their knowledge , or made their discoveries by the disputing methods of physiology ; these were the things i denied . i quot●… my lord bacon for my negative ; and i have proved it from the nature of those principles ; in my answer to dr. mer. causubon , and elsewhere : i now confirm it from the authority i cited ; thus then that philosopher speaks [ nov. organ . aph. 8. ] opera quae jam inventa sunt , casui debentur , & experientiae , magis quam scientiis . ] and if that illustrious man be to be believed in what he saith of the aristotelian philosophy , no works can be expected from it . aristotelis philosophia , postquam caeteras philosophias ( more ottomanorum erga ●…res suos ) pugnacibus confutationihus contrucidasset ; de singulis pronunciavit ; & ipse rursus quaestiones , ex ●…bitrio suo subornat , deinde conficit , ut omnia certa sint & de●…ta . [ aph. 76. ] and elsewhere , the speaks thus of aristotle , : philosophiam naturalem dial●…ctocâ sua corrupit magis uhique sollicitus quomodo quis respondendo se explicet , & aliquid reddatur in verbis positivum , qu●…m de in●…ernâ rerum veri●…e , [ aph. 63. ] i suppose i need not spend time to shew how little fruit we can reasonably expect from a philosophy so temper'd : and when you , m. stubbe , have proved , that the peripatetick hypotheseis of materia , forma , privatio , &c. have any direct tendency towards the making useful discoveries , you may have leave to vapour , as much as you please , without controul . but my defence , you say , is false , and you endeavour'd to prove it by the same impertinent allegations , which i cited from you before . you add , 't is strange , that i declare i spoke not of the methods of physick and chirurgery , or any practical art , since the aristotelians and galenists did not act as pure empericks , but as men guided by a series of principles , and a theory which they deem'd scientifical [ p. 41. ] they proceeded , no doubt , by general rules , drawn from observations in their art , and therefore acted not as pure empericks ; p●…ricks that the scientifical theory they were directed by , was any hy●…eseis in philosophy , you must prove ; till then , i shall be unconcern'd in your goodly demonstrations . at the end of your long impertinence about my affronting the physicians , you say , 't is not possible for you to divine what i mean by notion , [ p. 42. ] when i speak of the way of notion , and dispute . are you in earnest , m. stubbe , and is it impossible for you to divine ? i perceive then you are no c●…rer : for i told you as plainly , as i could speak , what i meant ; and you recite my words [ p. 40. ] in which i told it you . have you been all this while disputing against wh●… i said , and y●… say at last , that you do not know what i m●… ? you demur , whether it were peripatetick physiology , or logical , or metaphysical disputes ; after you have recited my words , where i tell you i meant the disputing methods of physiology , you dispute against this meaning , and when you have done , say , 't is impossible for you to divine . if you had looked but a leaf back in your own book , you need not have been put to the trouble of d●…ning : but your hot-head hath not the patience to consider any thing . thus have you endeavour'd to render me odi●… to physici●… , b●… with so little sueces●… , that i never heard of any p●… els●… , that thought his faculty concern'd in the p●…agraph on which you fasten . your next at●…mpt is to confirm your slander of my di●…ction to the universities ; than which , nothing is more unjust , and false . for what have i ever said , or done that can be ground for such a c●… ? did i ever endeavour to expose the 〈◊〉 to the ●…ry of wild p●…sticks in the days of their danger ? did i ever write against them , their degrees , habits , and l●…arning , as popi●… , and a●…tichristian ? did i ever print 〈◊〉 for the overthrow of their a●… con●…s ? if i had done any of this ( as you know who did ) there had been some colour for the imputation . but on the contrary , i always esteemed them , as one of the greatest blessings our p●…ous ancestors had bequeathed to us ; as the lights of the kingdom , and the great instruments of some of the happiest priviledges we enjoy above the ●…arbarous nations ; i have always heartily prayed for their prosperity , and depre●… their mu●…es ; i have expressed my affections in publick pr●…ons , and in private good wishes : now what could i have done more to testifie my respects , duty , and g●…titude to the universities ? and what have i done to deserve so foul , and odious a character , as that of an enemy to those illustrious nurseries of knowledge ? all that you , that is , malice it self , do , or can pretend , is , that i have writ against the perip●…cal philosophy , and given a d●… or two against affected , and insignificant terms of art ; and that i think meanly of those notional studies , in comparison of the practical , experimental philosophy : this is the sum of the paragraph you quote out of my plus ultra , in which i endeavour to secure the university-establishments from diminution , and confess the usefulness even of those studies to some purposes , among the acade●…ick youth . hence you conclude , according to your usual logick , [ p. 45. ] that i take the universities for assemblies of an ignorant , and stupid sort of men , that were to be amused , and deceived by equivocations . why so , i pray you ? because i profess an esteem for the venerable 〈◊〉 , [ ibid. ] you fancy , i perceive , i meant the ●…enches : a pre●…ty equi●… indeed ▪ and i style them fountains of learning , but tell not what those words import ; you ask me , whether it was not , because the new philosophy was so much promoted , and the royal society as it were 〈◊〉 there ? i thought there had not been need of my explaining , what i meant by learning , when i styled the universities the fountains of it . for your satisfaction , sor●…pulous sir , i tell you now , that i meant moral philosophy , anatomy , mathematicks , languages , history , and divinity , of all which parts of learning there are publique professors there ; and all which are studied by many worthy members of those venerable bodies , which from time to time ●…e and do send abroad men famous in those useful sorts of knowledge . these studies i esteem as i ought , and honour the universities highly on the account of the advantages they afford for the attainment of those profitable and excellent kinds of learning . as for the natural philosophy , and metaphysicks that are taught the junior students , my thoughts of them , i confess , are di●…erent ; but yet i say they are not to be thrown off , [ letter con●… . arist. p. 2. ] because the statutes require exercises in them , and 〈◊〉 are dangerous . on this you comment , and intimate , that i make them useless as to all other purposes ; which is false , and injurious . in my letter concerning arist. [ p. 2. ] i have acknowledged other uses of those first studies : i here transcribe some of those periods . [ i should never have been so disingenuous , and undutiful as to form a project so inconvenient , and hazardous in the event , as to discourage young students from a method of studies , the constitutions of the place they live in , hath enjoyn'd them ; which indeed , considering the circumstances wherein things stand , 't is in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they should be verst in , since that philosophy is ●…rought into the 〈◊〉 theology of europe ; which therefore could not be comprehended , without an insight into those hypo●…eseis : nor can a man make a reasonable choice of his ●…rin-ciples : 〈◊〉 he have some knowledge of all that offer themselves candida●… for his favour 〈◊〉 and a 〈◊〉 mans belief i●… not ch●…nce , 〈◊〉 ele●…on ; besides which , it enlargeth , and e●…nobles the minds of men , to furnish them with variety of conception , and takes them off from doating on the beloved conclusions of their private and narrow principles . [ answ. to white , p. 18. ] you see , m. prater , that i have declared my approbation of those pr●…inary studies as to other purposes , besides compliance with statutes ; and therefore your malice is toothless . i gave those studies their due , though i did not allow them useful , either for the giving an account of nature , or promoting any works for the uses of life . aud when i considered , that these ought to be the ends of the real ●…hilosophy , i diverted from the notional , about which my first thoughts had been imployed . this is the sum , and sence of these passages you quote from me to render odious , [ p. 44. ] you force from them several vile consequences which you kindly bestow on me , as if they justified those that discouraged gentlemen from the universities , and intended to overthrow the ancient , and necessary education of this island , [ p. 47. ] which things , how well they follow , i leave to any man to consider , that will judge impartially of what i have said . is there nothing ( think you ) to be done at oxford , or cambridge , as you quaery , [ p. 46. ] if peripatetick philosophy be useless as to discoveries , and inventions ? doth it signifie nothing to capable , and ingenious youth , to have their minds exercised in a way of reasoning , though about things , that will not signifie in the world of business ? is there nought else to be learnt in the universities , besides the niceties about 〈◊〉 , and forma , and dependent notions ? will it do young gentlemon any hurt to be instructed in morality , history , mathematicks , and other such useful matters ? and are not these worth their going to oxford , and cambridge , though they should not receive much benefit for their purposes from the peripatetick philosophy ? for shame , m. stubbe , leave this course of malicious cavilling ; and consider whether by such suggestions , which speak as if there was nothing to be learnt in the universities , but a few notions about ens , and materia prima , you do them not more disparagement , than you can prove any virtuoso ever did , or intended . and let me ask you , whether you think in earnest , that whoever judgeth the peripatetick principles notional , and useless in the sence i have declared , ought ipso facto to be reputed an enemy to the universities , and their learning ? if so , what think you of my lord bacon ? either acquit the virtuost with him , or condemn him with the virtuosi . the things that follow under this head are contemptible , and are either answer'd already , or deserve no answer . i have sufficiently shewn in the beginning of my praeface , that the account i gave of you out of your writings was no digression , as you term it , [ p. 48. ] but most necessary to be done as an introduction to an answer : what becomes me to do more , i have promised at my first convenient leisure . you might , methinks , content your self with the morsel i have already given you ; but the rest shall follow . my sallies against m. cross , which you object to me [ ib. ] were very requisite ; for you are the squire to that knight of the sp●…acles . you say 't is a year and half since i began to collect your books . perhaps so ; but i could not procure them all till after your animadversions were extant . i received that book of yours against me in june , as i take it ; and the month following my answer was in the press ( though the praeface and post-script were written after ) it could not be finish'd before the end of the term , and so it slept all the long vacation ; and the beginning of next term it had some stops put to its finishing , by some extraordinary occasions of my printer . so that it was not the work of so much time , and labour as you pretend , m. tell-troth : and when you say , [ ib. ] that i omitted to preach at bath for many weeks , excusing my self by the pretext of writing against you . i reply , that i never omitted preaching twice a week , when i was at home , ( besides very frequent occasional sermons ) ever since i was a publick minister , except when i have been sick , or lent my pulpit to a friend : i never excused my self from preaching , by my writing , or any other business whatsoever ; nor did i ever decline it in 〈◊〉 own parishes , when any accidental occasion required my labours in that kind . 't is true , i did not preach at bath during the time of my writing against you ; but 't was because bath was not then the place of my residence , but my other pari●… , and i divide my time between them : 〈◊〉 was then in my course at froome ; but never omitted preaching : as many hundreds can witness . so that what you say here , is either a down-right falshood , or a silly , impertinent equivocation . what hard fortune have i , to be sorced to deal with an adversary , whose whole strength is in cavilling , and lying ▪ but it follows , that after all , i understood not the state of the question , [ ib. ] i understood , impertinent , that the first q●…estion between m. cross , and me , was , whether the moderns had not gr●…atly advanced knowledge , since the days of aristotle ? i gave accounts in my plus ultra of modern improvem●…nts ; in a c●…llection of remarkable instances . you fall foul upon that book , but say nothing to the question ; only you carp at errors of the press , and voluminously oppose some accidental passages , catching at a word here , and another there , and fight against the shadows of your own imagination , the malicious interpretations which you make but my 〈◊〉 will not afford ; so that in the whole menage , you have prov'd your self a pr●…tling i●…pertinent : this i have shewn by instances in my praefatory answer . and whatever was the question between m. cross , and my self ( of that i have given accounts elsewhere ) the question between you and i is , whether you are not impertinent in all you have said against plus ultra ? this i affirm , and have beg●… the proof : for the particular things you mention , i engaged to give in my accounts of them in due time ; but this i must tell you , let them be determined , which way they will , the first , and main question about modern improvements , will not be concern'd in the decision ; for if antiquity was not so shy of , and altogether unacquainted with anatomy ; if the graecians , and followers of aristotle did know chymistry ; if the ancient a●…otelian philosophy hath advanced some practical knowledge ; if the inventions attributed to the virtuosi belong not to them ; if the moderns cannot shew ●…ore fruits of their philosophy in a short time , than the aristotelians of theirs in so many hundred years , which you say are the questions , [ p. 48 , 49. ] i say , if these fall as you would have them , yet it follows not , that anatomy , and chymistry have not been much improved in latter ages ; it follows not , that the aristotelian philosophy is as operative , and useful as the experimental ; it follows not , that the virtuosi have been no inventors , nor improvers ; in fine , it follows not , that knowledge is not highly advanced beyond its ancient stature ; and so consequently , upon the whole , it follows not , that m. stubbe is not a cavilling impertinent ; or that i am bound to follow him in all his wild-goose chases . so that , gentle sir , i have not mistaken in my beginning with you , but stand upon my old ground , that that useful knowledge is much advanc'd , in the instances i have produced , and by the persons i have mentioned ; and that we may probably expect greater ●…mprovements of it from the royal society , and other experimental philosophers . except you disprove me in these particulars , my main cause is safe , and you will shew your self but a caviller , though you write as long as your head is hot . you say , all the learning i flourish with , is but the remains of a treacherous memory , which some years ago studied something , [ p. 49. ] though my memory , m. stubbe , be not so good as yours , yet i am contented , since i have not so much need of a good memory , as you . and i had much rather have my learning in my judgment , than in my memory . flourishing with quotations , where they are not necessary , i always looked upon as a piece of pedantry , and vain ostentation . but you fall severely on two passages in my new book . the first is , my making fust , or gothenberg to have found out printing ; whereas , you say , i might have learn'd out of hadrianus junius , that it was found out by another at harlem , [ p. 49. ] but i am inform'd by polydore virgil , that the author was jo. g●…tenberg of mentz , to whom dr. hackwell adds the authorities of palmerius , melchior guilandrinus , chasaneus , veigni●…r , bibliander , arnoldus , and munster : but peter ramus , and others ascribe it to jofust of mentz also ; and why might not i mention these as the authors of printing , after such authorities ? and why must i be bound to believe hadrianus junius concerning the man of harlem , before those other famous writers ? this is one of your cavilling tricks , when i affirm any thing , though f●…om never so good authors , if you can find any one to speak otherwise , his is presently made the infallible authority , and i am upbraided with illiterateness , and want of reading . by the same course i could prove you as illiterate an 〈◊〉 , as ever spoild paper . the second passage , from whence i am concluded very illiterate , is my mentioning of flavius goia , as the discoverer of the compass . this is an error of the press ▪ it should have been flavius , or goia . i am confident it was so in my copy : for i was sensible of the mistake committed about it elsewhere . and you confess some ascribe it to one , and some to the other . now you tell your reader [ p. 50. ] that you have added 〈◊〉 to satisfie all men , that i am not at all acquainted with books . whether i am so , or no , i will not dispute ; but whether this ca●… be inferr'd from the premises , let the reader judge . illiterateness ▪ and unacquaintance with books , are the imputations of course against all , that you call the virtuosi . you design , no doubt , by the charg●… , to insinuate , that you are the only man of reading , and that no man may pretend to learning , but your self . we must always premis●… , when we speak before such wise men ●…s you , [ a●… a fool may say ] this you say is for the benefit of ordinary conversation ; and 't would be equally beneficial , for you to premise when you quote authors , [ a●… i learn'd from such an index ] and when you reason , [ a●… a madman may discourse . ] but the great exploit is behind , and you thus express your self , [ p. 51. ] that i may give the world an instance of that impudence , with which m. glanvil demeans himself in this effort of a desperate ignorance , i shall set down what he replies to me about the deceitfulness of telescopes . ] you gave instances just now about the authors of printing , and the compass , to satisfie all men of my unacquaintance with books : and now you intend to give a great one of my ignorance , and impudence : but see to it , that i●… hold good , or else the instance will be an undeniable one of your own . you said then , as you repeat here ▪ that if m. cross was in an error , about the deceitfulness of telescopes , you were sure , m. boyle 〈◊〉 in the same . the error that i object to m. cross , as to this matter , which you attempt to vindicate , is set down [ p. 65. of my r●…us ultra ] and it was ▪ that dioptrick glasser were all fal●… ▪ and deceitful , presenting us with objects that were not ▪ now if it can be inferr'd from m. boyle's discourse , that he aff●…rmed all telescopes to be thus deceitful , you have reason for saying , he was in the same error with m. cross : if this cannot be proved , you must seek another instance to shew my ignorance and impudence , and to justifie your own modesty and knowledge . let us briefly examine the matter then : your reason of m. boyle's being in m. cross's error , is in short this ; he sought the maculae and faculae solares , but could not discover them in many months , though some other astronomers that ●…it before him , did pr●…nd to see them every day ; and yet he wan●…ed not excellent telescopes , nor omitted any requisite circumstance . this is the sum of what you repeat , [ p. 52. ] hence you would argue ( if you intend sence ) that all telescopes are deceitful ; otherwise you cannot prove by it , that m. b. was in m. cross's error . to this i reply [ p. 176 , 177. of my pref. answ. ] to this purpose , m. boyle saith nothing , in the place quoted by you , that tends to the proving the deceitfulness of telescopes ; or that he believes them fallacious ( i spoke indefinitely , and meant of all telescopes ) for that was the error of m ▪ c. which i mentioned [ plus ●…tra p. 65. ] and which you undertook to justifie . to prove this , i say , that he imputes it not ●…o the glasses , that he could not see those macul●… and 〈◊〉 , but seems a little to blame those 〈◊〉 , that 〈◊〉 so ●…itten of them , as to make their readers presum●… that some of them are always to be seen 〈◊〉 . but m. b. i said , 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 many months discover 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 they appear'd so much seldomer then , it s●…ems , ●…han they did before . these are his words , [ phys. e●…ays , p. 103. ] which is a ridiculous argume●…t to prove the deceitfulness of telesc●… . this is 〈◊〉 sum of my 〈◊〉 ▪ which you repeat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to the 〈◊〉 , you tell us , that the solidi●…y of yours ●…ay appear . you cite m. boyle's words 〈◊〉 , to the 〈◊〉 ●…tis to be supposed . i study brevity , and 't would be too long to recite it ●…fter you ; in short , he saith , that even mathematicians do sometimes deliver ●…bservations that do not hold 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 . when they are without the bounds of purely mathematical discipline . and he suggests two reasons of their failing , viz. the nature of the 〈◊〉 , matter , and its affections ; and the necessary imper●…ion of the instrument●… they use . under the first head he delivers the instance of his missing the 〈◊〉 and faculae in the sun , as 't is evident [ p. 103. ] those objects 〈◊〉 inconstant ; they appear'd , he saith , it seems seldomer than they did before ; they were not there , at least in tha●… degree , the one sort of lightsomness , the other of darkness , as when others had sought them : for this reason he 〈◊〉 them ; and not because his glasses did deceive him , as i answered before . and that he imputed this to the objects , not the instrument , 't is apparent : for he mentions the difference in observations that ariseth from their imperfections , after he had done with this instance , and evidently supposeth what he said of the maculae , and faculae to appertain to the first head , in these words , and as the nature of the material object wherewith the mathematician is conversant , may thus deceive the expectations grounded on what he delivers , so may the like happen by the reason of the imperfection of the instruments — ib. ] 't is most apparent ●…rom hence , that my answer to your impertinency was solid , and invincible . the reason m. boyle could not see those spots and brightnesses , was because their appearance was inconstant ; they were not in the sun when he look'd after them , or not so considerable as to be visible ; and not because his telescopes were d●…ceitful . so that , my friend , you are i●…verably lost ; and what you add , [ p. 55. ] after the period repeated out of m. boyle , is lamentably impertinent . 't is evident , you say , out of his discourse , that he believes , that mathematicians , when they consider matter with its figure , quantity , and other affections ; are not so accurate , as in those other parts of pure mathematicks . here first you evidently misrepresent m. boyle ; he saith [ p. 102. ] that they are not so accurate when they deliver observations , concerning such things , wherein 't is not only quantity , and figure , but matter , and its other affections , that must be considered : you say , 't is evident m. boyle believes the mathematicians no●… so accurate , when they consider matter with its figure , quantity , and other affections , [ p. 55. ] but ( 2. ) they are not so certain indeed when they deal in matter , and its affections ▪ for these are variable , and uncertain : and to this m. boyle refers his discourse of the maculae and faculae , as i have proved . but you argue , that m. boyle confesses , that observations taken by telescopes cannot but be subject to many imperfections , upon the account of their being made by instruments , that ar●… framed by the hands , and tools of men ; and therefore , he did not believe such a certainty in telescopes , as exemp●…s from f●…llacy , [ ib. ] this is a new argument , and not that you undertake to defend ; and whatever is like to become , of it , the other is 〈◊〉 , and de●…perate . but to this also i say , first , when i affirm telescopes are not so deceitful as the spectacle-philosopher phancled , i mean , that the ●…est , and most perfect are not ▪ and i hope you will give me leave to use that logical rule ( as your self does elsewhere ) analogum pe●… se positum , stat pro famosiori ●…gnificato . ( 2. ) when i said , that ●…elescopes do not deceive , i meant , that they do not 〈◊〉 ably imp●…se upon us in ●…epresenting objects which are not . this was the error i apprehended in m. cross's discourse , who would not allow the modern discoveries in the heavens , upon the account of the pretended deceitfulness of telescopes . and he seemed to suggest , that those tubes shew us things , that were no where , but in the glass , when they represent the new phaenomena we talk of , such for instance , as the satellites of jupiter , the ring about saturn , and the spo●…s in the s●… . and now will the argument you bring from m. boyle , from the imperfection of material instruments , in●…er such a 〈◊〉 in telescopes , or argue that that excellent philosopher thought them so fallacious ? if not , as certainly even you have not the impudence to affirm , then you have not yet proved , that m. boyle was in the same err●…r with m. cross. but you return again to the old argument ; m. boyle doth not say , they , viz. the spots , and brightnesses , were not there ; but that he could not see them of a long time . indeed , m. harry , either your eyes are as defective , as you pretend m. boyle's telescopes to have been ; or you think it not fit to report after them : for m. boyle doth say , they were not there ; his words are , as i have often cited them , which have , during many months at least , appeared so much sol●…mer , than it seems they did before . when i read this period , as 't is quoted by you , i was surprised ; for you recite it thus , [ i could not detect any of those solar spots which having dured many months at least , appeared so much seldemer , than it seems they did before , [ p. 53. ] at the former part of the words , [ which having dured many months at least ] i was startled ; for they had the appearance of something in your favour , which i had not observed , and i could not imagine , how m. boyle should know they had dured for many months , if they did not appear . i turn'd therefore to the passage in m. boyle's own book , and there i found you had falsified his words , and that the saying which made me wonder , was not his , but yours . was there now ever such a piece of impudence as this , in quoting authors ? you undertake to give the world an instance of that impudence with which , you say , i demean my self in the effort of a desperate ignorance , and that the world may see the solidity of your answer , as you brag ; you cite my words , and a long discourse from m. boyle , in which is the thing in controversie between us , [ p. 52. ] you say , 't is not your intention to abuse the reader with false citations , or amuse him with a great confidence , grounded upon an author that he hath not at hand , [ p. 53. ] thus you praeface to your citations from m. boyle , and conclude it thus , i have set down the passage faithfully , without changing an expression , [ p. 56. ] and after all this , would not any one think , you do it faithfully ? could it be supposed that you would misquote your author's words to make him speak to your purpose , after your having called the world to observe how you would order me here , and shew my ignorance , and impudence ; after such pretences of fair dealing ; after you had pr●…fessed against false citations , and twitted your adversaries for accusing you with such dealing ? could it , i say , be imagined that you should falsifie so known an author as m. boyle , and when you cite a long discourse from him , and have an adversary concern'd that is not quite stupid ? i protest , though i know you , yet i did not imagine you could be so frontless , a●…d therefore pored upon the passage in your citation a good while , before i could suspect you so much , as to turn to the original . well let this stand for a most remarkable instance of your faithfulness in quoting authors ; and henceforth be not so imp●…dent , as to pretend , that the virtuosi abuse you in the charge of falsifying in quotations . but i return to your arguments : you ask , to what purpose was the discourse about the deceivableness of op●…ioks , if m. boyle supposed his glasses true , and that the spots were absent at that time , [ p. 56. ] here you again impose upon your reader , and in●…nuate another falshood , viz. that m. boyle was discoursing about the deceivableness of opticks , when it is nothing so ; this was not his design here , he is only shewing that math●…aticians may be deceived in their observations about material objects , upon the account of the nature of the things , and the imperfection of the instruments he useth ; as 't is evident , [ p. 102. ] and the instance under debate is produced to shew the former , as i have proved . thus are you unfortunate in all your attempts to vindicate your self from the charge of impertinence . and now let the reader judge , whose ignorance and impudence you have discovered , mine , or your own . let this be an instance , how you can reason , and how well you are able to understand and use the authors you cite . i see how i am like to be an●…wer'd , where i discover your other imper●…cies , and fo●…es . this you pitch'd upon as a thing , wherein you could shame me , as you phancied : in the other instances you were not sure to make the matter so evident , and give such clear proof of your advantages ; and therefore this is chosen ; with your performances here , you will stand , or fall . and now , go thy ways , pratling impertinen●… , and n●…ver pretend to reason more ; swagger on , and call names , and boast great performances , and quote seraps by indexes , and pervert authors : but take care of coming to close arguing , or of pretending any more to speak to purpose ; thes●… ar●… not suitable to the abilities of whi●…ing scriblers , and red-hot heads . the things you talk to have demonstrated about telescopes [ p. 56. ] i have demonstrated already to be impertinent ; and i am no ways concern'd in them : i never denied , but that there was great difference in the representations o●… objects made by telescopes , as they are longer , or shorter , of purer , or of darker metals , &c. and there is no doubt , but a great reason of the difference between astronomers about the celestial phaenomena , ariseth from the difference between the telescopes they imploy . i never said , that they were all perfect and infallible in minute particulars ; but that all were not deceitful , and did not present to us meer phantastical objects , that had nothing real : so that in all your argumentations here , you have spent your strength upon shadows . let the reader compare , as you would have him , and judge . i have done with your argumentative part . that which follows is very pretty . you desired me , you say , that i would not multiply lies . indeed ! but don't you remember , m. stubbe , when i upbraided you to your face at bath , in the presence of dr. c. with sundry gross falshoods you had printed , of the bishops reprimand ; of the uirtuost's contributing to my book ; and o●… their , or some other correctors , sending it home to me blotted , and altered , &c. do not you remember how little you could say for your self , and how unable you were to justifie those reports ? don't you remember the guinny you paid me for one of your tales , which i disprov'd after a wager ? these things you know well , and cannot defend your self ; and therefore endeavour to divert mens eyes from your own faults , by impudently charging me with them . i never said any thing of you , that i will not justifie to a tittle ; and i have enough behind unsaid , to shame any man in the world , but you. but i 'le consider a little , how you make good your charge : you have demonstrated , you say , to the royal society , under a notaries hand , that your head is not red , though i say it . did i so ? i pray where ? if i never said this , as you relate it , pray who is the liar then ? i said in my praeface , that your head was red hot ; is there no difference between colour , and degree of heat ? you writ me , that you had convicted me to my lord brounker for a lyar in this instance , and made your self ridiculous at oxford , by plucking off your periwig , and shewing your head to every freshman , to demonstrate your charge of lying against me : but you were so much mistaken , that thereby you demonstrated what i said true ; for every one took it for an evidence that your head was red-hot . you convey'd ( as i hear ) locks of ●…lair into divers parts , to convince the world by experiment of the lies of the virtuosi ; you sent it , you say , by a publick notary to the royal society . if any one else had told me this , but your self , i should have thought he had abused you . did ever a crackt-brain'd noddy do any thing more ridiculous than this ? have you not demonstrated , how fit you are for bedlam by it ? did you not perceive how every one laugh'd you to scorn for your demonstration ? i protest , i pity you , and am afraid that some will thin●… , that i am not well in my wits , because i seriously answer such a lom of bedlam . and having said this , i must expect next to be branded for a liar , for the expression ; and you will , 't is like , send the royal society a certificate from the clerk of the parish where you were christned , that your name is not ●…om . this will be as necessary to clear you , as the lock of hair , with the hand of the publick notary : and i can look for no less from such an hair-brain'd impertinent . but , mischief on 't , i 'm fallen again under your correction , and must expect you should demonstrate to the next coffee-house , that i told a lie , when i gave you the epithet of hair-brain'd , by shewing your almost bald pate ; and what pity it is , that you can't send your head to the royal society by the next carrier , to convince them ! they will at least expect a certificate from the barbers of warwick . but after all your demonstrations , if i had said your head was red , i had not been such a liar neither ; it was direct carrot , last time i saw it : but perhaps jamaica , and a periwig have metamorphos'd your noddle since . well! this is one instance of my falsifying , which you triumph in much , as a sensible confutation of the virtuosi . another instance is , my abusing you for styling your self physician for his majesty in the island of jamaica , [ ib. ] in a letter to me you insist much on this ; you tell me what stipend the king gave you ; that you had his majesti●…s warrant ; and that , my lord this body , and sir that body , knows ; you write me , you 'l print the warrant , and inform me where it is to be seen . pray in the next letter tell me who gave you the licence to sell chocolate in jamaica ; and by all means print the warrant : for without that , the world will never be convinc'd that my raillery [ praef. p. 9. ] is lying . well! these are the great instances to prove that neither my duty to god , nor regard to the ministry could restrain me from the exorbitances of lying , [ p. 57. ] you have , you say , collected more instances , though they are not such great ones , it seems , as these ; and call upon me vehemently in your last letter , to know where i will be convicted : you have one lie you tell me notorious to be proved ; and you will cause oath to be made , that you were never entertain'd with dear welcom at m. cross ' s house . alas ! that 's pity : you were there , you say ; and will any one swear that you were not welcom ? i hope your friend told you , you were welcom ; and will any swear the contrary ? take heed of producing that affidavit , good sir , for it will prove m. cross a liar , as well as the virtuoso . but to return to your praeface : one lie , you say , you must take notice of briefly , and 't is this ; that m. cross did hire you to oppose ecebolius , [ p. 58. ] what ecebolius was that , who said so ? i writ no such words : i insinuated what i thought , and had heard in other terms ; and if i lied , it was in thinking , and hearing , and giving some hints of what was reported , and was likely enough to be believ'd . but you say , you never call'd him old ; and yet confess , you said you would in part rescue the poor old man : how much different is this , pray , in substance from my report ? i writ , that you said , m. cross had been asleep these forty years , and knew not what the world bad been doing : but you ●…em to insinuate that i spoke falsly here ; for you said , he had been as it were asleep , or buried for these thirty or forty years , — and knew not the transactions of the learned world , [ p. 58. ] what a strict casuist are you ? the altering of a word in the report of a saying , though the sence be retain'd , is a lie. 't is to be suppos'd you have another case-divinity for your self , and your friends : but remember , you confess you said m. cross hath been as it were asleep these thirty or forty years : and was he not as it were asleep , when he neglected to bid you welcom at his house ? if your witness will swear that you took him napping , it may signifie something to prove that you were not entertain'd with dear welcom . what follows in this page is to inform the reader , that m. cross gave you but village-entertainment at his house , only a bottle or two of wine at bath ; and did never make you a present . i thought there was somewhat in 't , that you now publish him for a seven sleeper , that knows not the transactions of the learned world , and one that needs you to res●…ue him . however it falls out , 't is like you thought he would be more grateful , when you began in his quarrel , and when the first kind intercourse of letters past between you . but no more of this . you nibble at the sincerity of the witne●…es to my relation ; they are both scholars , masters of arts , and persons whose veracity hath never yet been call'd into question : so that you cannot prejudice the reputation of their truth with those that know them . and if two capable , and ingenuous persons , who were attentive to a conference , cannot tell , when the main particulars of it are recited to them , whether they were so , or not , their memories must be very bad : and if they shall attest known falshoods , their inclinations must be worse . but the testimony needs no more words to confirm it . the remainder of your praeface is after your old rate of impudence , and folly , and requires only to be laugh'd at ; and indeed the whole needed not any other answer from froome , jan. 16. your friend to chastise you , j. g. post-script . i had almost forgot to take notice of your kindness , in styling me chaplain to m. rous , a member of the rump-parliament . ] to shew the feebleness of your malice , i add a little concerning this . being not related to any foundatio●… in oxford , but living there a commoner , i resolved , as soon as i had taken my degree of master of arts , to remove to london ; accordingly an opportunity was offered , and i was invited to live with m. francis rous , as his chaplain : i accepted the offer : but knew , and had heard no more of that gentleman , but that he was a very grave and learned man , and pro●…ost of eaton-college . in his house i lived somewhat above half a year , in a private way of following my studies , without being concern'd in any publique matters . that my patron was a member of the rump-parliament , i n●…ver heard , but from you , and do not know how true it is yet . he died a good while before the name of rumpp●…rliament was started , and i believe was too honest and intelligent to have any active hand with those men , in their destructive projects . but in whatever he was concern'd as to the publique , i was unacquainted with those affairs , and was so young , as that i did not then understand the state of the case between the king , and parliament , and had been hitherto bred under such invin●…ible 〈◊〉 , that without being miraculously inlightned , 't was impossible i shoul●… know the villany of those , that had be●…n in rule ever since i could well remember ; for at the time of my being with m. rous , i was not above 22 years of age. and pray now , m. rous , how am i obnoxious for living with m. rous ? was this like serving sir h. vane in a publique , malicious , impious , and treasonable opposition of monarchy , ministry , universities , churches , and all things civil , and sacred ? i tell you , m. stubbe , i n●…ver did any thing , and to my best remembrance never said any thing in the late times , in which i was a child , that could need any favour from an act of indempnity ; and i dare say , there is not a man born since 1636. less obnoxious to the church and government : and therefore , my friend , you shall not draw me into a copartnership with you in your guilt . and you might have spared calling me rene●…ado presbyter , as you do [ p. 34 , the first of your praefaces , ] i never concern'd my self about the disputes of church-gouernment , till the year before the king 's coming in , when , upon inquiry into the matter , my judgment voted for episcopacy , and accordingly i suddenly took orders upon his majesties return , from the bishop of lincoln ; but never was in any before : so that you might with as much justice have call'd me quaker ( which another huff did ) as presbyterian . but now i remember , you are not to mind what truth , or justice there is in the imputations you bestow : if they signifie reproach , 't is sufficient for your purpose . and that you regard nothing else in the characters you bestow , 't is further evident from your styling me ecebolius , who was a shuffling apostate , and one that i should say was like a physician of warwick , but that he repented . and why ecebolius , i pray ? i never joyn'd my self with any of the sects ; i never frequented their meetings ; i never espoused their principles ; i never received sacrament , or orders , or preferment from them . on the contrary , i overcame the prejudices of education even in those times ; and as soon as ever i had inquired , pleaded for the constitutions of the church of england , and declared against the practices and opinions of the prevailing parties , though it were against my interest , and exposed me to the displeasure of those that could prefer or ruine me . this i did , when there were no hopes of better times : and how come i then to be ecebolius ? but cry you mercy sir , now i think on 't , you are not to be ask'd a reason for any thing you say , or do ; reason is too cold a thing for your temp●…r of head. to shew that your stock of scurrilities was not out , notwithstanding all your vast expences in this kind , you fall anew upon the virtuosi , with the titles of lor●…es , second sort of worthless fanaticks , alumbradoes in religion , and all sciences , [ reply , p. 21. ] in a letter to me , you say all your adversaries are ●…enegadoes , and that the royal society understand neither history nor sence . you write in that letter , that you will tell foreigners of their cheats , and destroy their repute ; which is never to be saved but by timely submission — you have made them , you say , to disclaim their history , [ reply , p. 21. ] and add , that you will make them , not only to disown the book , but the contents thereof , [ ib. ] don't you think that every man that shall read this , will look upon you as distracted ? what do you mean to give me the advantage of so many new arguments of your madness , when i have abundantly too many already ? 't is pretty to observe , how your wild rage vents it self against dr. more . you represented him as one that had deserted the royal society , and commended him then : but when he disproved your falshood in that , and other particulars , you recane your commendations , and rail against him with all imaginable rancour , and vehemence . you had said ; he was a member heretofore of the royal soci●…ty , but allows nothing to it now : and would not any one have interpreted the meaning of these wor●…s to have been , that he was not of it now ? what else doth peretofore signifie ? this dr. more disproved ; and in his letter to me , added the other sence of the latter part of your words , on which you now insist , viz. his allowing nothing to the weekly contributions ; which indeed is a possible , but i thought a ridiculous meaning . dr. more call'd it a skue and crooked quibble , confess'd it to be true , but did not think it meant ; and i avow , i was so far from believing this to be your sence , that i thought it almost ridiculous to suppose it ; and therefore i le●…t out the whole passage . this i answer to what you say to me for the omission , in one of your letters . m. stubbe , i have almost done with you for the present ; only give me leave to ask you a few questions between you , and me . your great pretences are the interests of monarchy , and religion ; pray do you remember what a certain physician for his majesty in jamaica , advised col. d. in that island ; and when he was slighted by that loyal gentleman , what he counsell'd my lord m. in the same place ? do you remember who talk'd of several hundred gospels that were of old , and made those we have to owe their credit to chance , in a discourse to me and two others of oxford ? can you call to mind who told me at sir j. l's table at bath , that being sick , he prepar'd himself for death with lucretius , and beregardus , and being ask'd , whether he had not the bible to help prepare him , made a pish of it , and said , that he had not seen a bible in seven years before , and that it was good for nothing but to make folks humorsom ? do you remember who affirm'd to me , in the presence of sir f. h. and other gentlemen , that there was no more reason to believe there is a god , than to believe there is none ; that he believ'd it , because he could not help it ; and could not help it , because he was carried by an unaccountable impulse ; that the arguments to prove a deity , drawn from that wisdom , beauty , order , and usefulness that is in the frame of the creation , signifie nothing , because we cannot tell what is wisdom , beauty , or order ? do you not know the gentleman that discours'd thus ? and have you not forgot the letter that my lord m. hath of the same person 's , and with what carnestness he beseech'd his lordship not to let it be seen by the virtuosi , for fear of his being ruined by it ? are you not acquainted with the ecebolius that hath done , and said these things si●…ce his conversion , and confirmation ? if you are , advise him to talk no more for shame of his zeal for monarchy , and religion . you see what i could say . put these passages into your hint-box , or into your snuff-box , if you think flt . i thought here to have left you , but i must add a paragraph or two more . in the praeface of my last answer i say , that your ap●…logy of serving a patron , would justifie faux , ravillac , and the stubbes that were hang'd for treason in former reigns : and you seem very angry in your letters , that i thus disgrac'd your family , and challenge me to give an instance of any stubbes that were hang'd : i perceive by it , that you are not acquainted with your own pedigree ; i 'le therefore inform you , that you are not the first of the name who hath deserved well of monarchy . in m. heath's chronicle of the civil wars of england , p. 856 , 857. edw. 2. you will find among divers others convicted of a conspiracy against the king , bishops , and government , one francis stubbes , a cheesemonger , was executed with his accomplices , and quarter'd as a traytor . and another name-sake of yours , john stubbes , had his right hand cut off on a scaffold erected in palace-yard , for a seditious book , intituled vorago , in which he vented abominable reproaches against the queen , and for that was so punish'd , as you may see in cambden's elizabeth . you may thank god , and a gracious king , that you have had a better fate than those others of your name : i wish you may never meet with the reward of your deserts , as those other stubbes did ; but may repent , and be wise on this side the place , where many friends part . finis . lectures de potentia restitutiva, or, of spring explaining the power of springing bodies : to which are added some collections viz. a description of dr. pappins wind-fountain and force-pump, mr. young's observation concerning natural fountains, some other considerations concerning that subject, captain sturmy's remarks of a subterraneous cave and cistern, mr. g.t. observations made on the pike of teneriff, 1674, some reflections and conjectures occasioned thereupon, a relation of a late eruption in the isle of palma / by robert hooke ... hooke, robert, 1635-1703. 1678 approx. 106 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 30 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a44322 wing h2619 estc r38967 18202145 ocm 18202145 107034 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a44322) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 107034) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1125:2) lectures de potentia restitutiva, or, of spring explaining the power of springing bodies : to which are added some collections viz. a description of dr. pappins wind-fountain and force-pump, mr. young's observation concerning natural fountains, some other considerations concerning that subject, captain sturmy's remarks of a subterraneous cave and cistern, mr. g.t. observations made on the pike of teneriff, 1674, some reflections and conjectures occasioned thereupon, a relation of a late eruption in the isle of palma / by robert hooke ... hooke, robert, 1635-1703. papin, denis, 1647-1714. young, james. sturmy, samuel, 1633-1669. g. t. 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2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion lectures de potentia restitutiva , or of spring explaining the power of springing bodies . to which are added some collections viz. a description of dr. pappins wind-fountain and force-pump . mr. young's observation concerning natural fountains . some other considerations concerning that subject . captain sturmy's remarks of a subterraneous cave and cistern . mr. g. t. observations made on the pike of teneriff , 1674. some reflections and conjectures occasioned thereupon . a relation of a late eruption in the isle of palma . by robert hooke . s. r.s london , printed for john martyn printer to the royal society , at the bell in st. pauls church-yard , 1678. tab. v. a hypothes is d. i chr. i wren . equ . potentia restitutiva , or spring . the theory of springs , though attempted by divers eminent mathematicians of this age has hitherto not been published by any . it it now about eighteen years since i first found it out , but designing to apply it to some particular use , i omitted the publishing thereof . about three years since his majesty was pleased to see the experiment that made out this theory tried at white-hall , as also my spring watch. about two years since i printed this theory in an anagram at the end of my book of the descriptions of helioscopes , viz. ceiiinosssttuu , id est , vt tensio sic vis ; that is , the power of any spring is in the same proportion with the tension thereof : that is , if one power stretch or bend it one space , two will bend it two , and three will bend it three , and so forward . now as the theory is very short , so the way of trying it is very easie . take then a quantity of even-drawn wire , either steel , iron , or brass , and coyl it on an even cylinder into a helix of what length or number of turns you please , then turn the ends of the wire into loops , by one of which suspend this coyl upon a nail , and by the other sustain the weight that you would have to extend it , and hanging on several weights observe exactly to what length each of the weights do extend it beyond the length that its own weight doth stretch it to , and you shall find that if one ounce , or one pound , or one certain weight doth lengthen it one line , or one inch , or one certain length , then two ounces , two pounds , or two weights will extend it two lines , two inches , or two lengths ; and three ounces , pounds , or weights , three lines , inches , or lengths ; and so forwards . and this is the rule or law of nature , upon which all manner of restituent or springing motion doth proceed , whether it be of rarefaction , or extension , or condensation and compression . or take a watch spring , and coyl it into a spiral , so as no part thereof may touch another , then provide a very light wheel of brass , or the like , and fix it on an arbor that hath two small pivots of steel , upon which pivot turn the edge of the said wheel very even and smooth , so that a small silk may be coyled upon it ; then put this wheel into a frame , so that the wheel may move very freely on its pivots ; fasten the central end of the aforesaid spring close to the pivot hole or center of the frame in which the arbor of the wheel doth move , and the other end thereof to the rim of the wheel , then coyling a fine limber thread of silk upon the edge of the wheel hang a small light scale at the end thereof fit to receive the weight that shall be put thereinto ; then suffering the wheel to stand in its own position by a little index fastned to the frame , and pointing to the rim of the wheel , make a mark with ink , or the like , on that part of the rim that the index pointeth at ; then put in a drachm weight into the scale , and suffer the wheel to settle , and make another mark on the rim where the index doth point ; then add a drachm more , and let the wheel settle again , and note with ink , as before , the place of the rim pointed at by the index ; then add a third drachm , and do as before , and so a fourth , fifth , sixth , seventh , eighth , &c. suffering the wheel to settle , and marking the several places pointed at by the index , then examine the distances of all those marks , and comparing them together you shall find that they will all be equal the one to the other , so that if a drachm doth move the wheel ten degrees , two drachms will move it twenty , and three thirty , and four forty , and five fifty , and so forwards . or take a wire string of twenty , or thirty , or forty foot long , and fasten the upper part thereof to a nail , and to the other end fasten a scale to receive the weights : then with a pair of compasses take the distance of the bottom of the scale from the ground or floor underneath , and set down the said distance , then put in weights into the said scale in the same manner as in the former , trials , and measure the several stretchings of the said string , and set them down . then compare the several stretchings of the said string , and you will find that they will always bear the same proportions one to the other that the weights do that made them . the same will be found , if trial be made , with a piece of dry wood that will bend and return , if one end thereof be fixt in a horizontal posture , and to the other end be hanged weights to make it bend downwards . the manner of trying the same thing upon a body of air , whether it be for the rarefaction or for the compression thereof i did about fourteen years since publish in my micrographia , and therefore i shall not need to add any further description thereof . each of these ways will be more plainly understood by the explanations of the annexed figures . the first whereof doth represent by ab the coyl or helix of wire , c the end of it , by which it is suspended , d the other end thereof , by which a small scale e is hanged , into which putting weights as fghiklmn , singly and separately they being in proportion to one another as 12345678 , the spring will be thereby equally stretcht to o , p , q , r , s , t , u , w , that is , if f stretch it so as the bottom of the scale descend to o , then g will make it descend to p , h to q , i to r , k to s , l to t , m to u , and n to w , &c. so that xo shall be one space , xp , 2 , xq , 3 , xr , 4 , xs , 5 , xt , 6 , xu , 7 , xw , 8. the second figure represents a watch spring coyled in a spiral by cabbbd , whose end c is fixed to a pin or axis immovable , into the end of which the axis of a small light wheel is inserted , upon which it moves ; the end d is fixed to a pin in the rim of the wheel yyyy , upon which is coyled a small silk , to the end of which is fixed a scale to receive the weights . to the frame in which these are contained is fixed the hand or index z ; then trying with the former weights put into the scale e , you will find that if f put into the scale e sinks the bottom of it x to o , then g will sink it to p , and h to q , i to r , k to s , l to t , and z will point at 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 on the wheel . the trials with a straight wire , or a straight piece of wood laid horizontal are so plain they need not an explication by figure , and the way of trying upon air i have long since explained in my micographia by figures . from all which it is very evident that the rule or law of nature in every springing body is , that the force or power thereof to restore it self to its natural position is always proportionate to the distance or space it is removed therefrom , whether it be by rarefaction , or separation of its parts the one from the other , or by a condensation , or crowding of those parts nearer together . nor is it observable in these bodys only , but in all other springy bodies whatsoever , whether metal , wood , stones , baked earths , hair , horns , silk , bones , sinews , glass , and the like . respect being had to the particular figures of the bodies bended , and the advantagious or disadvantagious ways of bending them . from this principle it will be easie to calculate the several strength of bows , as of long bows or cross-bows , whether they be made of wood , steel , horns , sinews , or the like . as also of the balistae or catapultae used by the ancients , which being once found , and tables thereof calculated , i shall anon shew a way how to calculate the power they have in shooting or casting of arrows , bullets , stones , granadoes , or the like . from these principles also it will be easie to calculate the proportionate strength of the spring of a watch upon the fusey thereof , and consequently of adjusting the fusey to the spring so as to make it draw or move the watch always with an equal force . from the same also it will be easie to give the reason of the isochrone motion of a spring or extended string , and of the uniform sound produced by those whose vibrations are quick enough to produce an audible sound , as likewise the reason of the sounds , and their variations in all manner of sonorous or springing bodies , of which more on another occasion . from this appears the reason , as i shall shew by and by , why a spring applied to the balance of a watch doth make the vibrations thereof equal , whether they be greater or smaller , one of which kind i shewed to the right honourable the lord viscount brounker , the honourable robert boyle esq and sir robert morey in the year 1660. in order to have gotten letters patents for the use and benefit thereof . from this it will be easie to make a philosophical scale to examine the weight of any body without putting in weights , which was that which i mentioned at the end of my description of helioscopes , the ground of which was veiled under this anagram , cediinnoopsssttuu , namely , vt pondus sic tensio . the fabrick of which see in the three first figures . this scale i contrived in order to examine the gravitation of bodies towards the center of the earth , viz. to examine whether bodies at a further distance from the center of the earth did not lose somewhat of their power or tendency towards it . and propounded it as one of the experiments to be tried at the top of the pike of teneriff , and attempted the same at the top of the tower of st. pauls before the burning of it in the late great fire ; as also at the top and bottom of the abby of st. peters in westminster though these being by but small distances removed from the surface , i was not able certainly to perceive any manifest difference . i propounded the same also to be tried at the bottom and several stations of deep mines ; and d. power did make some trials to that end , but his instruments not being good , nothing could be certainly concluded from them . these are the phenomena of springs and springy bodies , which as they have not hitherto been by any that i know reduced to rules , so have all the attempts for the explications of the reason of their power , and of springiness in general , been very insufficient . in the year 1660. i printed a little tract , which i called , an attempt for the explication of the phenomena , &c. of the rising of water in the pores of very small pipes , filtres , &c. and being unwilling then to publish this theory , as supposing it might be prejudicial to my design of watches , which i was then procuring a patent for , i only hinted the principle which i supposed to be the cause of these phaenomena of springs in the 31 page thereof in the english edition , and in the 38 page of the latine edition , translated by m. behem , and printed at amsterdam , 1662. but referred the further explication thereof till some other opportunity . the principles i then mentioned i called by the names of congruity and incongruity of bodies . and promised a further explanation of what i thereby meant on some other occasion . i shall here only explain so much of it as concerns the explication of this present phaenomenon . by congruity and incongruity then i understand nothing else but an agreement or disagreement of bodys as to their magnitudes and motions . those bodies then i suppose congruous whose particles have the same magnitude , and the same degree of velocity , or else an harmonical proportion of magnitude , and harmonical degree of velocity . and those i suppose incongruous which have neither the same magnitude , nor the same degree of velocity , nor an harmonical proportion of magnitude nor of velocity . i suppose then the sensible universe to consist of body and motion . by body i mean somewhat receptive and communicative of motion or progression . nor can i have any other idea thereof , for neither extention nor quantity , hardness nor softness , fluidity nor fixedness , rarefaction nor densation are the proprieties of body , but of motion or somewhat moved . by motion i understand nothing but a power or tendency progressive of body according to several degrees of velocity . these two do always counterballance each other in all the effects , appearances , and operations of nature , and therefore it is not impossible but that they may be one and the same ; for a little body with great motion is equivalent to a great body with little motion as to all its sensible effects in nature . i do further suppose then that all things in the universe that become the objects of our senses are compounded of these two ( which we will for the present suppose distinct essences , though possibly they may be found hereafter to be only differing conceptions of one and the same essence ) namely , body , and motion . and that there is no one sensible particle of matter but owes the greatest part of its sensible extension to motion whatever part thereof it ows to body according to the common notion thereof : which is , that body is somewhat that doth perfectly fill a determinate quantity of space or extension so as necessarily to exclude all other bodies from being comprehended within the same dimensions . i do therefore define a sensible body to be a determinate space or extension defended from being penetrated by another , by a power from within . to make this the more intelligible , imagine a very thin plate of iron , or the like , a foot square , to be moved with a vibrative motion forwards and backwards the flat ways the length of a foot with so swift a motion as not to permit any other body to enter into that space within which it vibrates , this will compose such an essence as i call in my sense a cubick foot of sensible body , which differs from the common notion of body as this space of a cubick foot thus defended by this vibrating plate doth from a cubick foot of iron , or the like , throughout solid . the particles therefore that compose all bodies i do suppose to owe the greatest part of their sensible or potential extension to a vibrative motion . this vibrative motion i do not suppose inherent or inseparable from the particles of body , but communicated by impulses given from other bodies in the universe . this only i suppose , that the magnitude or bulk of the body doth make it receptive of this or-that peculiar motion that is communicated , and not of any other . that is , every particle of matter according to its determinate or present magnitude is receptive of this or that peculiar motion and no other , so that magnitude and receptivity of motion seems the same thing : to explain this by a similitude or example . suppose a number of musical strings , as abc+de , &c. tuned to certain tones , and a like number of other strings , as a , b , c , d , e , &c. turned to the same sounds respectively , a shall be receptive of the motion of a , but not of that of b , c , nor d ; in like manner b shall be receptive of the motion of b , but not of the motion of a , c or d. and so of the rest . this is that which i call congruity and incongruity . now as we find that musical strings will be moved by unisons and eighths , and other harmonious chords , though not in the same degree ; so do i suppose that the particles of matter will be moved principally by such motions as are unisons , as i may call them , or of equal velocity with their motions , and by other harmonious motions in a less degree . i do further suppose , a subtil matter that incompasseth and pervades all other bodies , which is the menstruum in which they swim which maintains and continues all such bodies in their motion , and which is the medium that conveys all homogenious or harmonical motions from body to body . further i suppose , that all such particles of matter as are of a like nature , when not separated by others of a differing nature will remain together , and strengthen the common vibration of them all against the differing vibrations of the ambient bodies . according to this notion i suppose the whole universe and all the particles thereof to be in a continued motion , and every one to take its share of space or room in the same , according to the bulk of its body , or according to the particular power it hath to receive , and continue this or that peculiar motion . two or more of these particles joyned immediately together , and coalescing into one become of another nature , and receptive of another degree of motion and vibration , and make a compounded particle differing in nature from each of the other particles . all bulky and sensible bodies whatsoever i suppose to be made up or composed of such particles which have their peculiar and appropriate motions which are kept together by the differing or dissonant vibrations of the ambient bodies or fluid . according to the difference of these vibrative motions of the incompassing bulks . all bodies are more or less powerful in preserving their peculiar shapes . all bodies neer the earth are incompassed with a fluid subtil matter by the differing velocity of whose parts all solid bodies are kept together in the peculiar shapes , they were left in when they were last fluid . and all fluid bodies whatsoever are mixed with this fluid , and which is not extruded from them till they become solid . fluid bulks differ from solids only in this , that all fluids consist of two sorts of particles , the one this common menstruum near the earth , which is interspersed between the vibrating particles appropriated to that bulk , and so participating of the motions and vibrations thereof : and the other , by excluding wholly , or not participating of that motion . though the particles of solid bodies do by their vibrative motions exclude this fluid from coming between them where their motions do immediately touch , yet are there certain spaces between them which are not defended by the motion of the particles from being pervaded by the heterogeneous fluid menstruum . these spaces so undefended by the bodies and vibrative motion of the particles , and consequently pervaded by the subtil incompassing heterogeneous fluid are those we call the insensible pores of bodies . according to the bigness of the bodies the motions are , but in reciprocal proportion : that is , the bigger or more powerful the body is , the flower is its motion with which it compounds the particles ; and the less the body is , the swifter is its motion . the smaller the particles of bodies are , the nearer do they approach to the nature of the general fluid , and the more easily do they mix and participate of its motion . all solid bodies retain their solidity till by other extraordinary motions their natural or proper motions become intermixed with other differing motions , and so they become a bulk of compounded motions , which weaken each others vibrative motions . so that though the similar parts do participate of each others motions , whereby they indeavour to joyn or keep together , yet do they also participate of an heterogeneous motion which endeavours to separate or keep them asunder . and according to the prevalency of the one or the other is the body more or less fluid or solid . all bodies whatsoever would be fluid were it not for the external heterogeneous motion of the ambient . and all fluid bodies whatsoever would be unbounded , and have their parts fly from each other were it not for some prevailing heterogeneous motion from without them that drives them more powerfully together . heterogeneous motions from without are propagated within the solid in a direct line if they hit perpendicular to the superficies or bounds , but if obliquely in ways not direct , but different and deflected , according to the particular inclination of the body striking , and according to the proportion of the particles striking and being struck . all springy bodies whatsoever consist of parts thus qualified , that is , of small bodies indued with appropriate and peculiar motions , whence every one of these particles hath a particular bulk , extension , or sphere of activity which it defends from the ingress of any other incompassing heterogeneous body whilst in its natural estate and balance in the universe . which particles being all of the same nature , that is , of equal bodies , and equal motions , they readily coalesce and joyn together , and make up one solid body , not perfectly every where contiguous , and wholly excluding the above mentioned ambient fluid , but permitting it in many places to pervade the same in a regular order , yet not so much but that they do wholly exclude the same from passing between all the sides of the compounding particles . the parts of all springy bodies would recede and fly from each other were they not kept together by the heterogeneous compressing motions of the ambient whether fluid or solid . these principles thus hinted , i shall in the next place come to the particular explication of the manner how they serve to explain the phaenomena of springing bodies whether solid or fluid . let ab represent a line of such a body compounded of eight vibrating particles , as 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and suppose each of those particles to perform a million of single vibrations , and consequently of occursions with each other in a second minute of time , their motion being of such a velocity impressed from the ambient on the two extreme particles 1 and 8. first , if by any external power on the two extremes 1 and 8 , they be removed further asunder , as to cd , then shall all the vibrative particles be proportionably extended , and the number of vibrations , and consequently of occursions be reciprocally diminished , and consequently their endeavour of receding from each other be reciprocally diminished also . for supposing this second dimension of length be to the first as 3 to 2 , the length of the vibrations , and consequently of occursions , be reciprocally diminished . for whereas i supposed 1000000 in a second of the former , here can be but 666666 in this , and consequently the spring inward must be in proportion to the extension beyond its natural length . secondly , if by any external force the extreme particles be removed a third part nearer together than ( the external natural force being alway the same both in this and the former instance , which is the ballance to it in its natural state ) the length of the vibrations shall be proportionably diminished , and the number of them , and consequently of the occursions be reciprocally augmented , and instead of 1000000 , there shall be 1500000. in the next place for fluid bodies , amongst which the greatest instance we have is air , though the same be in some proportion in all other fluid bodies . the air then is a body consisting of particles so small as to be almost equal to the particles of the heterogeneous fluid medium incompassing the earth . it is bounded but on one side , namely , towards the earth , and is indefinitely extended upward being only hindred from flying away that way by its own gravity , ( the cause of which i shall some other time explain . ) it consists of the same particles single and separated , of which water and other fluids do , conjoyned and compounded , and being made of particles exceeding small , its motion ( to make its ballance with the rest of the earthy bodies ) is exceeding swift , and its vibrative spaces exceeding large , comparative to the vibrative spaces of other terrestrial bodies . i suppose that of the air next the earth in its natural state may be 8000 times greater than that of steel , and above a thousand times greater than that of common water , and proportionably i suppose that its motion must be eight thousand times swifter than the former , and above a thousand times swifter than the later . if therefore a quantity of this body be inclosed by a solid body , and that be so contrived as to compress it into less room , the motion thereof ( supposing the heat the same ) will continue the same , and consequently the vibrations and occursions will be increased in reciprocal proportion , that is , if it be condensed into half the space the vibrations and occursions will be double in number : if into a quarter the vibrations and occursions will be cuadruple , &c. again , if the conteining vessel be so contrived as to leave it more space , the length of the vibrations will be proportionably inlarged , and the number of vibrations and occursions will be reciprocally diminished , that is , if it be suffered to extend to twice its former dimensions , its vibrations will be twice as long , and the number of its vibrations and occursions will be fewer by half , and consequently its indeavours outward will be also weaker by half . these explanations will serve mutatis mutandis for explaining the spring of any other body whatsoever . it now remains , that i shew how the constitutions of springy bodies being such , the vibrations of a spring , or a body moved by a spring , equally and uniformly shall be of equal duration whether they be greater or less . i have here already shewed then that the power of all springs is proportionate to the degree of flexure , viz. one degree of flexure , or one space bended hath one power , two hath two , and three hath three , and so forward , and every point of the space of flexure hath a peculiar power , and consequently there being infinite points of the space , there must be infinite degrees of power . and consequently all those powers beginning from nought , and ending at the last degree of tension or bending , added together into one sum , or aggregate , will be in duplicate proportion to the space bended or degree of flexure ; that is , the aggregate of the powers of the spring tended from its quiescent posture by all the intermediate points to one space ( be it what length you please ) is equal , or in the same proportion to the square of one ( supposing the said space infinitely divisible into the fractions of one ; ) to two , is equal , or in the same proportion to the square of two , that is four ; to three is equal or in the same proportion to the square of three , that is nine , and so forward ; and consequently the aggregate of the first space will be one , of the second space will be three , of the third space will be five , of the fourth will be seven , and so onwards in an arithmetical proportion , being the degrees or excesses by which these aggregates exceed one another . the spring therefore in returning from any degree of flexure , to which it hath been bent by any power receiveth at every point of the space returned an impulse equal to the power of the spring in that point of tension , and in returning the whole it receiveth the whole aggregate of all the forces belonging to the greatest degree of that tension from which it returned ; so a spring bent two spaces in its return receiveth four degrees of impulse , that is , three in the first space returning , and one in the second ; so bent three spaces it receiveth in its whole return nine degrees of impulse , that is , five in the first space returned , three in the second , and one in the third . so bent ten spaces it receives in its whole return one hundred degrees of impulse , to wit , nineteen in the first , seventeen in the second , fifteen in the third , thirteen in the fourth , eleven in the fifth , nine in the sixth , seven in the seventh , five in the eighth , three in the ninth , and one in the tenth . now the comparative velocities of any body moved are in subduplicate proportion to the aggregates or sums of the powers by which it is moved , therefore the velocities of the whole spaces returned are always in the same proportions with those spaces , they being both subduplicate to the powers , and consequently all the times shall be equal . next for the velocities of the parts of the space returned they will be always proportionate to the roots of the aggregates of the powers impressed in every of these spaces ; for in the last instance , where the spring is supposed bent ten spaces , the velocity at the end of the first space returned shall be as the root of 19. at the end of the second as the root of 36. that is , of 19 + 17. at the end of the third as the the root of 51. that is of 19 + 17 + 15. at the end of the fourth as the root of 64. that is of 19 + 17 + 15 + 13. at the end of the tenth , or whole as the root of 100. that is as √ 19 + 17 + 15 + 13 + 11 + 9 + 7 + 5 + 3 + 1 , equal to 100. now since the velocity is in the same proportion to the root of the space , as the root of the space is to the time , it is easie to determine the particular time in which every one of these spaces are passed for dividing the spaces by the velocities corresponding the quotients give the particular times . to explain this more intelligibly , let a in the fourth figure represent the end of a spring not bent , or at least counterpoised in that posture by a power fixt to it , and movable with it , draw the line abc , and let it represent the way in which the end of the spring by additional powers is to be moved , draw to the end of it c at right angles the line c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 d d , and let cd represent the power that is sufficient to bend or move the end of the spring a to c , then draw the line da , and from any point of the line ac as bb. draw lines parallel to cd , cutting the line da in e , e , the lines be , be , will represent the respective powers requisite to bend the end of the spring a to b , which lines be , be , cd will be in the same proportion with the length of the bent of the spring ab , ab , ac . and because the spring hath in every point of the line of bending ac , a particular power , therefore imagining infinite lines drawn from every point of ac parallel to cd till they touch the line ad , they will all of them fill and compose the triangle acd . the triangle therefore acd will represent the aggregate of the powers of the spring bent from a to c , and the lesser triangles abe , abe will represent the aggregate of all the powers of the spring bent from a to b , b , and the spring bent to any point of the line ac , and let go from thence will exert in its return to a all those powers which are equal to the respective ordinates be , be , in the triangles , the sum of all which make up the triangles abe , abe . and the aggregate of the powers with which it returns from any point , as from c to any point of the space ca as to bb , is equal to the trapezium cdeb , cdeb , or the excesses of the greater triangles above the less . having therefore shewn an image to represent the flexure and the powers , so as plainly to solve and answer all questions and problems concerning them , in the next place i come to represent the velocities appropriated to the several powers . the velocities then being always in a subduplicate proportion of the powers , that is , as the root of the powers impressed , and the powers imprest being as the trapezium or the excess of the triangle or square of the whole space to be past above the square of the space yet unpassed ; if upon the center a , and space ac , ( c being the point from which the spring is supposed let go ) a circle be described as cggf , and ordinates drawn from any point of ca the space to be past , as from b , b , to the said circle , as bg , bg , these lines bg , bg , will represent the velocity of the spring returning from c to b , b , &c. the said ordinates being always in the same proportion with the roots of the trapeziums cdeb , cdeb for putting ac = to a , and ab = b , bg will always be equal to √ aa — bb , the square of the ordinate being always equal to the rectangle of the intercepted parts of the diameter . having thus found the velocities , to wit , bg , bg , af , to find the times corresponding , on the diameter ac draw a parabola chf whose vertex is c , and which passeth through the point f. the ordinates of this parabola bh , bh , af , are in the same proportion with the roots of the spaces cb , cb , ca , then making gb to hb as hb to ib , and through the points ciif drawing the curve ciiif , the respective ordinates of this curve shall represent the proportionate time that the spring spends in returning the spaces cb , cb , ca. if the powers or stiffness of the spring be greater than what i before supposed , and therefore must be expressed by the triangle cdea . then the velocities will be the ordinates in an ellipse as c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 n , greater than the circle , as it will also if the power be the same , and the bulk moved by the spring be less . then will the s-like line of times meet with the line af at a point as x within the point f. but if the powers of the spring be weaker than i supposed , then will c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ee+a represent the powers , and c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 o the ellipsis of velocity , whose ordinates b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ao will give the particular velocities , and the s-like line of time will extend beyond n. the same will happen supposing the body ( moved by the spring ) to be proportionately heavy , and the powers of the spring the same with the first . and supposing the power of the spring the same as at first , bended only to b2 , and from thence let go b2ea is the triangle of its powers , the ordinates of the circle bgl are the lines of its velocity , and the ordinates of the s-like line bif are the lines of time . having thus shewed you how the velocity of a spring may be computed , it will be easie to calculate to what distance it will be able to shoot or throw any body that is moved by it . and this must be done by comparing the velocity of the ascent of a body thrown with the velocity of the descent of gravity , allowance being also made for the resistance and impediment of the medium through which it passes . for instance , suppose a bow or spring fixed at 16 foot above a horizontal floor , which is near the space that a heavy body from rest will descend perpendicularly in a second of time . if a spring deliver the body in the horizontal line with a velocity that moves it 16 foot in a second of time , then shall it fall at 16 foot from the perpendicular point on the floor over which it was delivered with such velocity , and by its motion shall describe in the air or space through which it passes , a parabola . if the spring be bent to twice the former tension , so as to deliver the body with double the velocity in a horizontal line , that is , with a velocity that moves 32 foot in a second , then shall the body touch the floor in a point very near at 32 foot from the aforesaid perpendicular point , and the line of the motion of the body , so shot shall be moved in a parabola , or a line very near it , i say very near it , by reason that the impediment of the medium doth hinder the exactness of it . if it be delivered with treble , quadruple , quintuple , sextuple , &c. the first velocity it shall touch the floor at almost treble , quadruple , quintuple , sextuple , &c. the first distance . i shall not need to shew the reason why it is moved in a parabola , it having been sufficiently demonstrated long since by many others . if the body be delivered by the spring at the floor , but shot by some angle upwards , knowing withwhat velocity the same is moved when delivered , and with what inclination to the perpendicular the same is directed , and the true velocity of a falling body , you may easily know the length of the jactus or shot , and the time it will spend in passing that length . this is found by comparing the time of its ascent with the time of the descent of heavy bodies . the ascent of any body is easily known by comparing its velocity with the angle of inclination . let ab then in the fifth figure represent 16 foot , or the space descended by a heavy body in a second minute of time . if a body be shot from b , in the line bf with a velocity as much swifter than that equal motion of 16 foot in a second , as this line bf is longer than ab the body shall fall at e ; for in the same space of time that the oblique equal motion would make it ascend from bd to ac , will the accelerated direct motion downward move it from ac to bd , and therefore at the end of the space of one second , when the motions do equal and balance each other , the body must be in the same horizontal line in which it was at first , but removed asunder by the space be , and for the points it passeth through in all the intermediate spaces this method will determine it . let the parallelogram abpq then represent the whole velocity of the ascent of a body by an equal motion of 16 foot in a second , and the triangle pqr represent the whole velocity of the accelerated descending motion , pb is then the velocity with which the body is shot , and p is the point of rest where the power of gravity begins to work on the body and make it descend . now drawing lines parallel to aqr , as s tu , st gives the velocity of the point t ascending , and tu the velocity of the same point t descending . again , pbst signifies the space ascended , and ptu the space descended , so that subtracting the descent from the ascent you have the height above the line bd , the consideration of this , and the equal progress forwards will give the intermediate velocities , and determine the points of the parabola . now having the jactus given by this scheme or scale , appropriated to the particular velocity , wherewith any body is moved in this or that line of inclination , it will be easie to find what velocity in any inclination will throw it to any length ; for in any inclination as the square of the velocity thus found in this scale for any inclination is to the square of any other velocity , so is the distance found by this scale to the distance answering to the second velocity . i have not now time to inlarge upon this speculation , which would afford matter enough to fill a volume , by which all the difficulties about impressed and received motions , and the velocities and effects resulting would be easily resolved . nor have i now time to mention the great number of uses that are and may be made of springs in mechanick contrivances , but shall only add , that of all springy bodies there is none comparable to the air for the vastness of its power of extention and contraction . upon this principle i remember to have seen long since in wadham colledge , in the garden of the learned dr. wilkins , late bishop of chester , a fountain so contrived as by the spring of the included air to throw up to a great height a large and lasting stream of water : which water was first forced into the leaden cistern thereof by two force pumps which did alternately work , and so condense the air included into a small room . the contrivance of which engine was not unknown to the ancients , as hero in his spiritalia does sufficiently manifest , nor were they wanting in applying it to very good uses , namely , for engines for quenching fire : as vitruvius ( by the help of the ingenious monsieur claude perraults interpretation ) hath acquainted us in the twelfth chapter of his tenth book , where he endeavours to describe ctesibius his engine for quenching fire . not long since a german here in england hath added a further improvement thereof by conveying the constant stream of water through pipes made of well tanned and liquored leather , joyned together to any convenient length by the help of brazen screws . by which the stream of water may be conveyed to any convenient place through narrow and otherwise inaccessible passages . the ingenious dr. denys pappin hath added a further improvement that may be made to this ctesibian engine by a new and excellent contrivance of his own for making of the forcing syringe or pump , which at my desire he is pleased to communicate to the publique by this following description , which he sent me some time since . dr. pappins letter containing a description of a wind-fountain , and his own particular contrivance about the forcer of its syringe . since the artificial fountain you have seen at mr. boyles ( which was of my making upon his desire ) hath been so pleasing to you as to make you desire to see my description thereof , i cannot doubt but the same will be as grateful also , and well received by the publick , especially when they shall therein find a remedy for one of the greatest inconveniences of forcing pumps , which are of so great use for raising of water , and quenching of fires . this was the occasion of my sending you this present description , which would not have been thus prolix had it been only for your self . in the figure then aa is the receptacle or body of the fountain careful sodered in all places , bb is the pump , cc the plug or forcer , d a pipe in the middle of the plug , which is perfectly shut and stopped when the plate ee is forced down upon it , ee is the plate with a hole in the middle , upon which is sodered a pipe f , which serves for a handle to move the plug up and down . g is a cock at the top of the pipe , which serves to moderate the jetto or stream . hh is a valve at the bottom of the pump , which openeth outward for the passage of the water out of the pump into the fountain or receptacle . ii is a cross at the top of the plug to hinder the plate ee from being drawn or separated too far from the hole d in working it to and fro . kk are two pins serving both to force down and keep open the valve hh . ll are two appendices sodered unto the top of the pipe ff , serving both for a handle to the rod of the forcer , and also to keep down the forcer . mm are two other appendices or buttons fastned at the top of the two small pillars nn , so as to turn upon the same , and serve to hasp or button down the ends ll of the handle of the forcer that it be not driven up again . oo is the basin for receiving the water that falls from the jet or stream from which it may be forced again into the fountain or receptacle . for charging this machine the basin oo must first be filled with water , and then the pump must be worked to and fro . in doing of which , when the plug is drawn upwards the water in the basin runs in through the cross ( through which the rod ff passes , ) where finding the hole d open it fills the spaces of the bottom of the pump ; then the pump being thus filled , the plug is to be forced downwards , whereby the plate ee being closely applied to the brims of the hole d hinders the water from returning back again through the same , but is forced through the valve hh into the fountain aa . and by repeating this operation all the water of the basin oo is easily forced into the aforesaid fountain , whereby all the air that was therein contained is compressed more or less according as more or less water is forced in , and kept in that compression by the valve h h , which hinders the water that it cannot return through the same . but when you desire to have it return , you force down the plug hard against the bottom or plate , which by the help of the aforesaid pins or appendices kk force , and keep open the valve hh , and the rod f being kept fast down in this posture by the aforesaid buttons or hasps mm , upon opening the cock g the water returneth through the valve hh , so kept open , through the hole d , and through the whole length of the pipe f. this way of putting a valve into the plug of forcing pumps will be of great use for all such as serve for supplying towns with water , and for quenching of fire , as preventing a great inconvenience to which the common pumps are usually subject from the air which is apt to be generated within them , which air upon working the said pump remaining below the forcer , and by its expansion when the plug is drawn upwards , hindring the water from filling the whole cavity beneath it , and by its condensation when the plug is forced downwards , losing a great part of the strength of the force , much of the effect of the said machine is frustrated . for preventing of which inconvenience care is to be taken that the water in all these forcing pumps be admitted by the top thereof as in the present machine , whereby whatever air shall be generated below the plug , will readily rise into the hole d as being the highest place next the plate ee , from whence when by the drawing up of the plug the plate is lifted from the brims of the hole d the air will readily slip up , and the water as readily descend and fill all the parts of the pump below the plug . as i have often experimented in this present machine . some persons may object against these kind of valves , assupposing the pressure of the water to be on the wrong side thereof . but it is easie to be noted that this objection is groundless , since it is the same thing whether the plate be pressed against the rim of the valve , or the rim of the valve against the plate . in common valves the pressure of the water forceth the plate against the rim : but in this the rim against the plate ; for the remaining solid rim of the valve , being made thrice as big as the hole or cavity thereof , the pressure of the water against that rim forceth the said rim against the plate in the middle three times harder than if the pressure of the water lay only on the plate of the value , the same would be pressed against the rim. to this discourse of an artificial fountain i thought it not improper to add an ingenious discourse of m. james young of plimouth conteining his own observations and opinion concerning natural fountains and springs . sir , having now gained time , from my other avocations , i have drawn up those observations . i told you i had made in my travels , which had confirmed in me the opinion of my lord bacon , that fountains and springs were the percolation of the sea ; not ( as your self , mr. ray , &c. do assert ) from the rains descent into the earth , i now represent them to your consideration , rather as an apology ( because they seem rational ) to excuse , than arguments to justifie and avow the presumption of my dissent . the first shall be the phaenomena , i observed at isle de mayo , which lieth in the torrid zone , about thirteen degrees and 30 minutes , north from the equator . it 's about six leagues long , and four broad , the wind bloweth constantly north east , or thereabout , and without rain , except three weeks in july , when it hath many showers ; i here send you a map of the island , as exactly as i could draw it . i was there two voyages , and each remained a full month , the best part of which i spent in hunting , and ranging the island ; there runneth through the middle of it a rivulet , of very pure water ; it takes its rise from the bottom of two hills , which lie on the north east end ; the stream at the place marked d , is about fourteen foot wide and two deep ; other than which there is no fresh water on the whole island , except what our people dig out of the sand between the ocean and the salt pond . the said pond is in a large bay , at the west side of the island , which hath from one point to another a bank of sand , about two or three foot above water , covering the bay like a string to a bow , the said bank in the flemish road is about 150 foot wide , at the english road it is as broad again ; there is never any sensible ebbing or flowing of the sea , only at full moons , or a day before . it riseth in high billows , which break over the bank , at the north end of the pond , where it is lowest : by which means the pond is replenished with water , which condenseth into salt in two days . the sand dividing the said pond and the sea is very fine and loose . now because the before-mentioned rivulet disembogues far from the roads at an inconvenient place for boats , they are constrained to dig wells , in the midst of the bank of sand , between the pickle of the salt pond and the sea , the manner thus : they first dig a pit about eight foot deep , and therein lay two hogsheads , the one on the top of the other , the head out of both save the lowermost of the deepest ; the sides of both are also full of gimlet holes , and the sand laid close to them : after twenty four hours they have three or four foot of very clean water in them , which being dipped out , you plainly see the new water strain gently through those holes in the sides of the cask : after which , in a days time , one man attending it , may draw about ten hogsheads or more of water , a little tasting of salt , not so much but that it is drinkable , and very fit to boyl meat in , and is used by those that come there to load cattle , for their common drink . i have in the map placed the sign o where our well was made . the next observations , pertinent to this subject i made at the island lipari , near sicily , about sixteen leagues from messina ; it is famous for the best raisins in the mediterranean ; there is on it a large castle , a small town , many vineyards , and about one hundred families , besides some religiose . i judge it wants a fifth part of the bigness of the isle de mayo , it is mostly very high land , especially one mountain , on which stands a watch tower , whence a man may see a monstrous distance at sea , as is confirmed by de ruyter . in the relation he gives the states of holland , wherein he tells them , that from that place they discerned the french fleet 's approach long before they could from any other part , either of their own or the other island . i am sure it is much higher than either that at the isle de mayo , or any i have seen in england , and yet on this fair fruitful island springs not one drop of water , the inhabitants storing themselves with rain , which falling very frequently , they are careful to preserve in cisterns , divers essays have been made in the most promising part of it to find springs by digging wells , one of those which i saw was without doubt the deepest in europe , i remember not the exact profundity as they related it , but i have not forgot , that throwing in a stone it was long ere it got to the bottom , and then returned such a noise as it had been the discharge of a musquet . the cause of this driness was by the people thought to be subterranean heats , absuming the water , but no such thing appearing , to the sense of those that digged the wells , i gave no faith to that persuasion ; they fancy such heats partly from the want of water , but mostly because the four adjacent islands , stromboli , vulcano , vulcanella , and m. aetna , are constantly burning , and very near them . the obvious earth of this place is loose , and in all apparent qualities very good , but by the heaps that had been thrown up , in digging the wells , i saw the inferiour earth was clammy , or like clay , that had some greasie gummous matter commixed , this the religious told me was the very kind of sulphur which constantly boyled out of the burning cranny on vulcanella ; and wherewith all those islands abounded , not excepting their own , though it were not yet kindled . for my third observation , i will go no farther than the place of my present abode , plimmouth , in which on a kind of piazza , commonly called the new-key , ( a plat of ground got in from the sea ) is a well , which ( before the ever famous sir francis drake by cutting a rivulet of thirty miles procured us water in great plenty ) was of common use , having ( as at this day ) a pump in it ; about seven years since ( being before the key was inlarged ) the well was not above eight foot from the edge thereof , over which the sea would frequently flow , when a high outwind and a spring tide concurred , i say this well , though so near the sea , yieldeth clean water , and as sweet as a mixture of three parts fresh and one of salt water would be . about an hundred yards from that , on ground a little rising , is a very large well , which supplieth three or four brew-houses , by whose drink it is evident that the water hath not wholly quitted its salt . it is to be noted , that plimmouth lieth on a peninsula three miles long , and two broad , the isthmus about two thirds of a mile wide , and not very high from the surface of a full sea. there are many wells in it , those near the sea are saltish , those farther from it the less so . my fourth observation i take from the late famous french traveller monsieur taverner , who in his first volume , discoursing of the coast of coromandel , &c. he saith they there want fresh water , and are constrained to make pits of two foot deep in the sand by the sea to find it . the fifth observation , and which i would call the most significant , were i assured of its truth , i had from a very ingenious chirurgeon , who had used the west indias , that there is in that sea an island called rotunda , of a figure agreeable to its name , which , though very small , hath on it , arising in the middle , a spring of a very large stream of water , at which our ships frequently furnish themselves in their navigation , he affirmed that it raineth there but once a year , as at the isle de mayo ; saying withal , that the island is so short of a proportion big enough for the stream , that if it constantly rained , it could not be supply enough to maintain so large an efflux . my sixth and last , is the relation of dr. downes concerning barbadoes , viz. that all their springs were formerly very near the sea ; that up in the country they supplied themselves from the rains by digging pits in the earth , able to contain great quantities , and there preserving it ; which they did a very long time ( the rains being there as unfrequent as at the isle de mayo ) and that without any sensible diminution by penetrating and descending into the earth ; and to prevent the loss thereof by the exhalations of the sun they covered it with leaves , &c. but that now by digging deeper they find springs so plenty that no plantation is without one . from all these observations the following consectaries do mechanically result . from the first it appeareth that some springs have manifestly their source from the sea ; that sand sweetens transcolated sea-water , and that even pickle strained through it loseth much of its saltness thereby , all which is evident from the well therein mentioned , whose water could not possibly be other than what soaked in from the pond and the ocean . hence also is manifest , that constant and large fluxes of water may be made for eleventh months without rain to refill the subterranean cisterns , supposed by you to supply them ; this appears from the river running through the island , by whose banks i found ( it being april when i was there , at which time they had been ten months without rain ) thsh after their showers it could run but little larger that it did after so tedious a want of them . i had forgot to intimate in the relation , that those two hommets , a. are craggy rocks , whereon live a great number of goats , and are consequently very unfit , if not incapable , either to receive , or contain the magazine for the supply of the rivulet . from the second it is manifest , that higher mountains of earth , and consequently more likely to receive and contain sufficient quantity of rain-water to beget and supply springs and rivers have not always that effect , although there was one great advantage more added here , viz. a clammy tyte earth in the bottom to make the supposed cistern the better able to contain the store . i say , that frequent rain to fill , high mountains to contain , loose pervious earth to receive , and a well luted bottom to support and retain ( being all the qualifications and circumstances supposed necessary to make and continue springs according to the modern hypothesis ) though all here concurred , did notwithstanding fail of producing that effect . from the same it is also manifest , that where springs fail , without want of the causes that hypothesis supposeth necessary to produce them , the occasion hath been from an apparent defect in the other ( that is the imperviousness of the earth through which the water must pass before a spring can be produced ) both these appeared at lipary , where the general effect a spring or fountain was wanting , together with the causes of our hypothesis , though those of the other were manifestly existent , and with all the advantages necessary : it seeming to me a very rational conjecture , that the greasie clammy sulphur , wherewith that earth was impregnated , did by oppilating it hinder the insinuation of the sea into it . from the third observation you have the first deduction confirmed , viz. that springs are sometimes manifestly from the sea ; that earth sweetens sea-water by percolation ; and that the nearer springs are to the sea , the more they retain of their pristine saltness , and lose it by sensible degrees , as they insinuate farther through it . by the fourth the same is confirmed . the fifth proveth , that large streams flow without any possibility of being supplied by rain , both for want of such rain , and of dimensions to receive and contain it . the sixth doth evidence , that rain doth not penetrate the surface of the earth , even in a very dry parched country , and in the torrid zone , and yet that springs are under it , which at once proves ours , and refutes the other opinion ; the former appears by the water in those made ponds , lying there for a long time without any sensible loss thereof by its leaking into the earth : the later by the wells near the sea , and those found since under that impervious land. he that is not altogether a stranger to the weight , pressure , and elasticity of the air , the ascension of liquors through filters , and some other resembling phaenomena , would not account the like motion of the transcolated water to high hills , to be an objection of any force against this hypothesis , but sure such solutions are no less beyond my ability than design . finding i have paper enough left , i will presume to trouble you with one rare appearance more , that occurred to one mr. brasey of this town , an aged and very fat man , who by taking spirit of vitriol in his mornings draughts ( to which he was advised as a remedy to asswage the exuberance of his belly ) found that it had no effect on his body ; but that a bundle of keys , which he used to carry always about him , and that wonted to be very smooth and bright , of a sudden became black and rusty , though he never handled the spirit , nor carried it in his pocket , so that we concurred in opinion that the sudorous effluvia of his body , impregnated with the acid spirit , had occasioned it . if so , it 's very wonderful , that so small a quantity thereof , when diluted with so much juice as is contained in such a corpulent man , should even insteam and the insensible emanations make impressions on smooth iron , mauger the perpetual attrition , by carrying them in his pocket , whereby such an effect ( one would think ) should be prevented , or soon rubbed of . — i was going to make some reflections on this notable accident , but i consider , &c. — plimmouth may 5. 1678. james young. the original of springs is that which hath exercised the pens of many learned writers , and very various have been the conjectures concernning it . but amongst all i have met with i conceive none more probable than that which seems to fetch its original from the history of the creation mentioned in holy writ ; that is , that there is a magazine of waters above as well as a receptacle of waters upon or beneath the surface of the earth : and that the air is that firmament which separates between the upper and lower waters , and between these two is the circulation of waters ( or bloud of the microcosm , if i may so call it ) performed . the water being sometimes by a particular constitution of the air assisted by heat , rarified and separated into minuter parts , and so reduced into the form of air , and thereby being divided into particles really smaller than those of the air in compassing , and agitated with a greater degree of motion , they take up more space , and so become lighter than the ambient , and are thereby elevated and protruded upwards till they come to their place of poise or equilibrium in the air ; at other times by a differing constitution of the air and deficiency of heat they lose their agitation , and many of them again coalesce , and so having less motion they condense and revert into water , and so , being heavier than the incompassing air , descend down again to the earth in mists , rain , snow , hail , or the like . that there is such a circulation i think there is none doubts , but still it remains a difficulty ( with those persons that grant this ) that all rivers and springs should have their original from the water that falls or condences out of the air. to persuade such persons it may not possibly be unsuccessful to mention : first , that the great inundations or overflowing of rivers manifestly proceed either from the rain that immediately falls , or from the melting of snow or ice that hath formerly fallen on the more eminent parts of mountains ; to confirm which , histories enough might be brought were it necessary of nilus , niger , &c. secondly , that it hath been observed and computed that communibus annis & locis ; there falls water enough from the sky in actual rain , snow , or hail upon the surface of england to supply all the water that runs back into the sea by the rivers , and also all that may be supposed to evaporate ; nay , though the quantity of the first be supposed twice as much as really it is . this i have been assured by those that have both experimented and calculated it . thirdly , that there is not yet certainly ( that i know or have heard of ) any other way of making salt water fresh , but by distillation ; which , had there been such an art , it would in all probability have been made use of , and so there is little probability that the springs at the top of a high hill should proceed from the sea-water strained through the earth . but were there such a filtration known i hinted in my attempt , published anno 1660 about filtration , how somewhat of that kind might be explained . fourthly , that this operation is constantly and most certainly performed by nature both in exhaling and drawing up fresh steams and vapours from the sea , and all moyst bodies , and in precipitating them down again in rain , snow , hail , but of the other we have no certainty . fifthly , i have observed in several places where a tree hath stood upon an high hill , singly and particularly at the brow of box hill near darking in surry , that the body of the tree is continually wet , and at the root some quantity of water , which is always soaking and gliding down from the branches and body of the tree , the leaves , sprigs , and branches of the said trees collecting and condensing continually the moyst part of the air , the same being indeed a true and lively representation of a river . nor has it been my observation alone , but the same is mentioned by divers authors : and it is affirmed by some authors , that there are some islands in the torrid zone which have no other water in them than what is condensed out of the air by the trees at the tops of the hills , and converted into drops of rain . sixthly , that it is generally observed , whereever there are high hills there are generally many springs round about the bottoms of them of very fresh and clear water , and often times some which rise very near the tops of them , which seems to proceed from their great elevation above the other plain superficial parts of the earth , whereby the air being dashed and broken against them , they help to condense the vapours that are elevated into the higher and cooler regions of the air , and so serve like filtres to draw down those vapours so condensed , and convey them into the valleys beneath , and hence it is very usual in countries where there are high hills to see the tops of them often covered with clouds and mists , when it is clear and dry weather beneath in the valleys . and in the passing through those clouds on the top i have very often found in them very thick mists and small rain , whereas as soon as i have descended from the higher into the lower parts of the hills , none of that mist or rain hath fallen there , though i could still perceive the same mists to remain about the top . consonant to this observation was one related to me by an ingenious gentleman mr. g. t. who out of curiosity with other gentlemen whilst he lived in the island of teneriff , one of the canaries made a journey to the top of that prodigious high mountain , called the pikc. the substance of which ( to this purpose ) was , that the caldera or hollow cavity , at the very top thereof he observed to be very slabby and moyst , and the earth to slip underneath his feet , being a very moyst soft clay or lome like mortar . and farther , that at a cave , not far from the top , there was a great quantity of very fresh water , which was continually supplied , though great quantities of ice were continually fetch'd from thence , and carried down into the island for cooling their wines . consonant to which observation was that which was related to me by the inquisitive mr. edmund hally made in st. helena whilst he stayed there to observe the places of the stars of the southern hemisphere , in order to perfect the coelestial globe . having then placed himself upon one of the highest prominences of that small island , which he found to be no less than 3000 foot perpendicularly above the surface of the sea next adjoyning , supposing that might be the most convenient place for his designed observation ; he quickly found his expectation much deceived as to that purpose for which he chose it ; for being gotten so high into the air the motion of it was so violent as much to disturb his instruments ; but which was more , he found such abundance of mists and moysture that it unglued the tubes , and covered his glasses presently with a dew ; and which was yet more , the foggs and mists almost continually hindred the sight of the stars . but upon removing to a lower station in the island he was freed from the former inconveniences . i could relate many histories of this nature , whereby it seems very probable , that not only hills , but woods also , do very much contribute to the condensing of the moysture of the air , and converting it into water , and thereby to supply the springs and rivulets with fresh water : and i am confident , whosoever shall consider his own observation of this nature , and compare them with this theory , will find many arguments to confirm it . however , nullius in verba , let truth only prevail , and theories signifie no further than right reasoning from accurate observations and experiments doth confirm and agree with them . having thus delivered here somewhat of my own thoughts concerning springs and rivers , finding among some of my papers a relation , wherein a very strange subterraneous cistern is mentioned , i have here subjoyned it as i received it from mr. thomas alcock from bristol who together with sir humphry hooke was by whilst captain samuel sturmy made this inquiry , and who by interrogatories made to him , penn'd this relation for him as it follows verbatim . in pursuance of his majesties commands to me at the presenting of my mariners magazine , i have with much diligence , some charge and peril endeavoured to discover that great concavity in the earth in glocestershire , four miles from kingrode , where his majesties great ships ride in the severn . and i find by experience that what has been reported of that place is fabulous , whilst i thus describe it . upon the second of july 1669. i descended by ropes affixt at the top of an old lead oare pit , four fathoms almost perpendicular , and from thence three fathoms more obliquely , between two great rocks , where i found the mouth of this spacious place , from which a mine-man and my self lowerd our selves by ropes twenty five fathoms perpendicular , into a very large place indeed , resembling to us the form of a horse-shoo ; for we stuck lighted candles all the way we went , to discover what we could find remarkable ; at length we came to a river or great water , which i found to be twenty fathoms broad , and eight fathoms deep . the mine-man would have perswaded me , that this river ebbed and flowed , for that some ten fathoms above the place we now were in we found the water had ( sometime ) been , but i proved the contrary by staying there from three hours floud to two hours ebb , in which time we found no alteration of this river ; besides , it's waters were fresh , sweet , and cool , and the surface of this water as it is now at eight fathom deep , lies lower than the bottom of any part of the severn sea near us , so that it can have no community with it , and consequently neither flux nor reflux , but in winter and summer , as all stagna's , lakes , and loughs ( which i take this to be ) has . as we were walking by this river thirty two fathoms under ground , we discovered a great hollowness in a rock some thirty foot above us , so that i got a ladder down to us , and the mine-man went up the ladder to that place , and walk'd into it about threescore and ten paces , till he just lost sight of me , and from thence chearfully call'd to me , and told me , he had found what he look'd for ( a rich mine ; ) but his joy was presently changed into amazement , and he returned affrighted by the sight of an evil spirit , which we cannot perswade him but he saw , and for that reason will go thither no more . here are abundance of strange places , the flooring being a kind of a white stone , enameled with lead oare , and the pendent rocks were glazed with salt-peter which distilled upon them from above , and time had petrified . after some hours stay there , we ascended without much hurt , other than scratching our selves in divers places by climing the sharp rocks , but four days together after my return from thence i was troubled with an unusual and violent headach , which i impute to my being in that vault . this is a true account of that place so much talk't of , described by me samuel sturmy . having given you a relation of something very low within the bowels of the earth , i now shall add , an account of a iourney made to the highest part of the earthby my ingenious friend mr. g. t. as i collected it out of the memorials which he writ at the time of making it ; the particulars whereof were , that august the twentieth , 1674. about nine in the morning , in company with dr. sebastian de franques , mr. christopher prancis , mr. thomas proudfoot , together with a guide , and two other men with horses to carry themselves and necessary provision for the journey , he set out from they passed up a hill , which was very steep , till they came to the pinal or wood of pines . this wood lieth very high in the island , and extendeth it self from one end of the island to the other , and is in many places of a great breadth , and is very frequently covered with a bruma , fog , or mist , which is so thick as to darken and hinder the appearance of the sun through it , and so moyst as to make one wet in passing through it . through this wood they rode by a pretty steep ascent near two leagues , crossing it till they came to the further or _____ side , where alighting they rested themselves under a pine , and dined . and the fog , which had accompanied them through the whole wood , here left them , and the sun appeared . from hence they parted about one in the afternoon , and after an ascent of about half a mile of very bad stony way they came to a sandy way , which for about the length of a league was pretty plain ; but then they began to ascend a sandy hill , which for half a league farther was pretty steep , which having passed they arrived at the foot of the pike . here they alighted , and then rested themselves for some time , then taking horse again , they began to ascend the pike it self . this part of it was so steep that the way up it is made by several turnings and windings to and fro to ease and alleviate the steepness of the ascent , which were otherwise unpassable for horses . all this part seems to be nothing else but burnt stones and ashes , which may have formerly tumbled down from the higher parts of the pike . at this place they alighted , and unloaded their horses of the provision of victual and water which they were forced to carry with them for their own accommodation , as also of the provender for their horses . and presently set themselves to provide against the inconveniences of the ensuing night by getting together in the first place a good quantity of the wood of a small shrub , called retamen , not much unlike our english broom , which grows there pretty plentifully , and when dry burns very well ; then , having gotten wood enough , they endeavoured to shelter themselves against the piercing cold wind by heaping up a wall of stones on the windward side , and making a good fire of the dry shrubs they had collected to warm themselves . but so furious was the wind which came pouring down from each side of the mountain that it blew the smoak and ashes into their eyes , and forced them ( though much to their regret by reason of the extreme piercing coldness of the air ) to remove their fire farther off . and to keep themselves as warm as they could by lying down upon the ground very close together . thus they passed the night together as well as they could , but with very little sleep , partly by reason of the cold , and partly for the continual expectation they had of the moment when their guide would call them to be mounting up the pike , which is usually about two or three hours before day , to the end that they may get up to the top before the rising of the sun. for at the rising of the sun the air is the most clear , and all the islands of the canaries round about may be then plainly discovered . but at two a clock , when they should have been on their journey , the wind continued to blow with such violence , that their guide would by no means venter to go up for fear least in the climbing up some steep places the wind should encounter any of them , and hurl them headlong down , so that they were forced to continue and shelter themselves in their bad lodgings till the sun arose , and had got some mastery of the wind . about six a clock therefore they set forwards on their enterprise , having first taken each of them his dish of chocolatte to fortifie their stomachs the better against the cold , so with their bottle of strong-water in their pockets , and staves in their hands , they began to mount the pike , the way being just such as they had passed the night before , but much more steep , and continued on till they came to the mal pays , or stony way , which may be about half a mile from the place where they lay ; this stony way lieth upon a very steep ascent , and is compounded of abundance of stones which lie hollow and loose , some of them of a vast prodigious bigness , and others of them smaller , in such manner as if they had been thrown up there by some earthquake , as the author conjectures with very great probability . in the clambring up these stones they took great care in placing their steps on such of them as were more firm for fear of slipping or tumbling so as to break their legs or arms. with this difficulty they ascended till they came to the cave which he conjectures to be about three quarters of a mile distant from the beginning of the stony way . at this cave they found several persons who were come thither to get out ice to carry down into the island , some of which were below in the cave , digging ice which was very thick , others remained above . they found the mouth of the cave about three yards high , and two yards broad ; and being all of them desirous to descend into it , by a rope fastned about their bodies under their armpits they were all one after another let down into it till they came to set their feet upon the ice , which is about sixteen or eighteen foot from the mouth . the cave is not very large , but full of water and ice , which at the time when they were there lay about a foot under the surface of the water , though the men that usually go thither said that at other times they found the ice above the water , which makes many to suppose that it ebbs and flows by means of some secret entercourse that it may have with the sea , they averring that they have seen it emptying of it self . but this gentleman so soon as ever he came down fixt his eye upon a stone that lay just above the superficies of the water , and observed very diligently but could not in all the space that he staid there , which was half an hour , find it either increase or diminish , which makes him believe that the fulness or emptiness of the water may rather proceed from those thick fogs and mists which are generally on the top , and which hinder the pike from being seen sometimes for twenty , thirty , nay , forty days together ; except only just at the rising or setting of the sun , though at some other times it happens also that the air is clearer , and the pike may be seen perhaps for a month together . from these mists he conceives at some times much water may be collected at the upper parts of the pike , and soaking down may not only supply , but increase the water in the cave ; and consonant to this hypothesis he observed whilst he was there , that there was a continual gleeting and dropping of water in six or seven places from the sides of the cave , which droppings he supposes may be greater or less according as those fogs do more or less encompass it , or stay about it a longer or shorter time ; he judges also that there may be some other more secret ways both for the conveying water into and out of the said cave than those droppings , but supposes them to proceed from the aforesaid fogs . hence he concludes when the air is clear , and none of those fogs condensed about the hill , the water in the cave must necessarily decrease . and that wich confirmed him the more in this opinion was that when he came to the very top of the pike , he found the earth under him so very moyst , that it was like mud or morter , and might be made into paste as by experiment he found which he conjectures could no ways be caused by the wind or clear air , which is rather drying and consuming of moisture , but must proceed from the fogs or mists which are above the very top of the pike . he further took notice in the cave that upon the sides and top thereof there grew a snow-white furring like saltpeter , which had a kind of saltish taste , some of which he gathered and brought back with him to england to have it examined . after about half an hours stay in the cave , which they found warmer than without in the open air , they were all pulled up again , and proceeded forward in their journey by continuing to clamber up the stony way , which lasted till they came to the foot of that part of the mountain which is called the sugar-loaf , by reason that at a distance from the island it appears of that shape , as it doth also even when you are at it . the distance of this place from the cave they judged to be about half a mile , but the way much more steep and ascending than the former part of the stony way , and extreme troublesom to pass , their feet sinking and slipping down again almost as much as they could stride upwards , so that they concluded it the most painful of all ; however , persisting in their endeavours , after many times resting themselves , they gained the top , which they conceive might be about half a mile higher . the very top they found not plain , but very rocky and uneven , and in the middle thereof a deep hole ; the outside of this top this gentleman conceived might be about a quarter of a mile round about on the outside . this hole he conceived to be the mouth of a vulcano which hath formerly been in that place , for even at that time whilst they were there much smoak ascended out of several holes and chinks of the rocks , and the earth in divers parts was still so very hot as to be very offensive to their feet through their shooes , and he observed brimstone thrown up in several places , of which he collected some , and brought back with him to england . from this place may be seen in a clear day all the six adjacent islands , but the weather being then somewhat thick and hazy , they could discover none but the grand canaries , palm , and the gomera , which last , though distant near eight leagues from the bottom of the pike seemed yet so near unto them as if it had been almost under them . the rest of the islands they could discover whereabout they lay by means of a kind of white cloud hanging on them , but they could not discern the islands through those clouds . here they tried their cordial waters which they carried in their pockets , but found them not to abate of their usual strength , and become cold and insipid as fair water , as several had positively averred to him that they had found it , but he conceived them to be very much of the same nature and strength that they were of before they were carried up , which he supposes to be by reason of their arriving at the top so late . after they had stayed on the top about an hour , and satisfied themselves in observing such things as they were able , they descended again with very much facility , and came to the stancia about eleven of the clock , where they dined , and thence about one in the afternoon set forwards for the villa , where they arrived that afternoon about five that evening . after their return they found their faces ( by reason of the heat of the sun , and the parching subtil wind ) to cast their skins . he did not measure the perpendicular height of the hill himself , but says that he hath been informed by divers skilful seamen , ( who by their best observation have taken the height of it ) that it is between three and four miles perpendicularly above the sea. in this relation it is very remarkable : first , that this prodigious high hill is the product of an earthquake , and seems heretofore to have been a vulcano , or burning mountain , like those of aetna , vesuvius , hecla , &c. though at present it hath only fire enough left to send forth some few sulphureous fumes , and to make the earth of the caldera or hollow pit at the very top thereof in some places almost hot enough to burn their shooes that pass over it . and possibly in succeeding ages even this little fire may be quite extinct , and then no other sign thereof may be left but a prodigiously high rock or spiring mountain , which in tract of time may by degrees waste and be diminished into a hill of a more moderate height . now as this hill seems very evidently to be the effect of an earthquake , so i am apt to believe that most , if not all , other hills of the world whatever may have been the same way generated . nay , not only all the hills , but also the land which appears above the face of the waters . and for this i could produce very many histories and arguments that would make it seem very probable , but that i reserve them in the lectures which i read of this subject in gresham colledge in the years 1664 , and 1665. which when i can have time to peruse i may publish therein i made it probable that most islands have been thrown up by some subterraneous eruptions . such is the island of ascension , the moluccas , &c. secondly , that most part of the surface of the earth hath been since the creation changed in its position and height in respect of the sea , to wit , many parts which are now dry land , and lie above the sea , have been in former ages covered with it ; and that many parts , which are now covered with the sea , were in former times dry land. mountains have been sunk into plains , and plains have been raised into mountains . of these by observations i have given instances , and shewed that divers parts of england have in former times been covered with the sea , there being found at this day in the most inland parts thereof sufficient evidences to prove it , to wit , shells of divers sorts of fishes , many of which yet remain of the animal substance , though others be found petrified and converted into stone . some of these are found raised to the tops of the highest mountains , others sunk into the bottoms of the deepest mines and wells , nay , in the very bowels of the mountains and quarries of stone . i have added also divers other instances to prove the same thing of other parts of europe , and have manifested , not only that the lower and plainer parts thereof have been under the sea , but that even the highest alpine and pyrenean mountains have run the same fate . many instances of the like nature i have also met with in relations and observations made in the east as well as in the west indies , of all which strange occurrences i can conceive no cause more probable than earthquakes and subterraneous eruptions which histories do sufficiently assure us have changed sea into land , and land into sea , vales into mountains sometimes , into lakes and abysses at other times ; and the contrary — unless we may be allowed to suppose that the water or fluid part of the earth which covered the whole at first , and afterward the greatest part thereof , might in many ages and long process of time be wasted , by being first raised into the atmosphere in vapours , and thence by the diurnal , but principally by the annual motion thereof be lost into the aether , or medium through which it passes , somewhat like that wasting which i have observed to be in comets , and have noted it in my cometa : or unless we may be allowed to suppose that this fluid part is wasted by the petrifaction and fixation of such parts of it as have fallen on the land and hills , and never returned to fill up the measure of the sea , out of which it was exhaled , for which very much may be said to make it probable that the water of the earth is this way daily diminished . or unless ( since we are ascertained by observations that the direction of the axis of the earth is changed , and grown nearer the polar star than formerly ; that the magnetism or magnetical poles are varied , and do daily move from the places where they lately were , and that there are other great and noted changes effected in the earth ) we may be allowed to conceive that the central point of the attractive or gravitating power of the earth hath in long process of time been changed and removed also farther from us towards our antipodes , whence would follow a recess of the waters from these parts of the world to those , and an appearance of many parts above the surface of the water in the form of islands , and of other places formerly above the sea now in the form of mountains , so to continue till by the libration or otherways returning motion thereof it repossess its former seat and place , and overwhelms again all those places which in the interim had been dry and uncovered with the return of the same water , since nothing in nature is found exempt from the state of change and corruption . further , it is probable that earthquakes may have been much more frequent in former ages than they have been in these latter , the consideration of which will possibly make this assertion not so paradoxical as at first hearing it may seem to be ; though even these latter ages have not been wholly barren of instances of the being and effects of them , to convince you of which i have hereunto subjoyned a relation and account of one very newly which hapned in the isle of palma among the canaries . next , the clearness of the air is very remarkable , which made an island which lay eight leagues off to look as if it were close by . to this purpose i have often taken notice of the great difference there is between the air very near the lower surface of the earth , and that which is at a good distance from it ; that which is very near the earth being generally so thick and opacous that bodies cannot at any considerable distance be seen distinctly through it : but the farther the eye and object are elevated above this thick air , the more clear do the objects appear . and i have divers times taken notice that the same object seen from the top and bottom of a high tower hath appeared twice as far off when seen at the bottom as when seen at the top : for the eye doth very much judge of the distance of objects according as the density of the air between the eye and object doth represent them . hence i have seen men look of gigantick bigness in a fog , caused by reason that the fog made the eye judge the object much farther off than really it was , when at the same time the visible angle altered not . this great thickness of the lower air is sufficiently manifest in the coelestial bodies , few of the fixt stars or smaller planets . being visible till they are a considerable way raised above the horizon . the third remark about the moistness of the fogs , and the production of water at that height i have before insisted on . only the almost continual fogs that this gentleman observed in the wood they passed is very remarkable for the origine of springs . nor shall i say any thing concerning the vast perpendicular height of the same , but for a close of this present collection i shall add the short account of the eruption which lately hapned in the palma . a true relation of the vulcanos which broke out in the island of the palma novemb. 13. 1677. saturday the thirteenth of november 1677. a quarter of an hour after sun-set hapned a shaking or earthquake in the island of st. michael de la palma , one of the canary islands , from the lower pyrenna , and within a league of the city unto the port of tassacorte , which is accounted thirteen leagues distant along the coast , but more especially at or about a place called fuencaliente , being seven leagues from the town to the southwards . the trembling of the earth was observed to be more frequent and violent than elsewhere , and so it continued till wednesday the 17. ditto . the people thereabouts were much affrighted , for besides the earthquake there was often heard a thundring noise as in the bowels of the earth on a plain called the canios , which is before you come to the great descent towards the sea , where the hot baths stand , or the holy fountain ; likewise at the ascent from the aforesaid plain upwards at the great and wearisom hill , called cuesta cansada , and until the mountain of goatyards , and the same day in and about the said places mentioned , the earth began to open several mouths , the greatest of them upon the said goat mountain , being distant from the sea a mile and an half , and from the said opening came forth a very great heat and smell of brimstone ; and the same day , an hour before sun-set at one of the mouths of the wearisom hill was a trembling thereabout with more violence than any of the four days before ; and a great and black smoak came forth with a terrible thundring noise , opening a very wide mouth , and throwing out much fire , with melted rocks and stones ; and immediately after at another place eighty paces below hapned the like terrible noise and sight , and in less than a quarter of an hour after there opened to the quantity of eighteen mouths towards the foot of the said mountains , and there issued out fire , melted rocks , and other bituminous matter from all the said mouths , and was presently formed into a great river of fire , which took its course over the first mentioned plain , slowly going down towards the said holy fountain ; but it pleased god , being come within eight spaces of the brink of the said great descent , it turned a little on the right side , and took its course with a very great fall towards the old port , which is that which was first entred by the spaniards when they took the islands . friday the nineteenth at two a clock in the afternoon in the aforesaid mountain of goats , on the other side of tassacorte , there opened another mouth with much smoak and stones of fire , and so closed again . but the next day ( the twentieth ) it began again to smoak , and continued with great trembling and noise in the bowels of the earth until sunday the twenty first at noon , when with many flashings of fire , and a greater thundring noise it finished that opening of that monstrous birth , casting up into the air both fire and stones , and at night the smoak ceasing , the thundring noise , fire and stones increased , forcing great fiery stones so high into the air as we lost sight of them ▪ and with such violence sent them upwards that according to the best judgment they were five times longer in falling down , which stones or rocks were observed to be bigger than a hogshead , ; and what was most to be admired was , that these breaking in the air , and changing into many several shapes , distinctly appearing , yet notwithstanding did reunite again in falling down . munday the twenty second it began again to cast forth black smoak for two hours time , and after to thunder , and throw up fire and stones with great violence . tuesday the twenty third at noon it smoaked again , and from thence until night there was terrible thundring noise , and casting up of fire and stones more fierce than before ; and about nine of the clock at night a very great trembling of the earth was felt , and presently after followed three great stones of fire in the form of globes which were forced about half a league in height , and then like granadoes broke in the air with very great noise . wednesday the twenty fourth it was for an hours time very quiet , and after it began with greater force than ever before , by reason that some of the lower and first mouths were partly stopt , with which the aforesaid river of fire ceased from running , after it had dammed up the bay of the old port , with burnt and melted rocks and stones , and other matter wherewith the said river had run , and had forced the sea backward above a musquet shot at random , and near twice as much in breadth . it ran into the sea above sixty paces . what fell into the sea went congealing with a great smoak , what came after , forced and ran over that which went before , so that the smoak was very great many paces within the sea , as far as seven fathoms depth , which caused many men to imagine that some such like vulcano had opened under the sea in the said seven fathoms depth . this night it cast up some stones like great fiery globes as the former . thursday the twenty fifth it proved yet more violent than ever with thundring noise and flashes of fire . friday the twenty sixth , the mouth that was at the foot of the mountain began again to cast up as much fire and stones as ever , and formed two other rivers ; the one taking its course to leeward of the first river leading toward the rocks called de los tacosos ; and the other took its way to windward of the first , directly towards the bathes or holy fountain ; and in this entrance the mouth of the monntain was observed to be more quiet , though it cast up much ashes like black small sand . what dammage appears to have been done from its beginning to this day the twenty sixth of november , being of thirteen days continuance , hath been about nine or ten country houses burnt , besides out-houses , and great cisterns for water , which are the poor peoples only remedy in those parts , and upwards of three hundred acres of ground are quite spoiled , being covered with rocks , stones , and other rubbish and sand ; and if , ( which god defend ) the said vulcano do longer continue , the damage must be far greater , especially if any other mouth should break out higher , as it is much feared , by reason the earth in some places doth open with appearances as at first , so that all about that circuit of the fuencalliente will be lost ; and for what already hapned , and yet continues with much terrour , besides the fears of more in other parts thereabout , the inhabitants do leave their habitations , and like poor distressed people seek relief at the city , and many leave the island to seek their fortunes in the others . from the twenty sixth of november , that the aforesaid relation was sent for teneriff by the chamber of this island unto the general , the said vulcano continueth fierce ▪ and without ceasing , rather more than less , with a terrible thundring noise , casting up fire , stones , rocks , and black ashes , and the three rivers of fire still running into the sea , and hath now dammed up all the baths and holy fountain , to the great detriment of the island , that yearly received a great benefit thereby , besides many damages dayly added to the former . several other mouths have since opened in the like dreadful manner near about the same place , we see the great smoak by day , and hear the thunder and noise , like the shooting off of many cannons , and by night see also much of the fire very high in the air from this city , which is one and twenty miles from it . we are now at the eleventh of december , and fear we shall have more to write to you by the next . other letters of the thirtieth of december mention , that it then contined much at one as before ; and since others of the nineteenth of january say , it is yet as dreadful as ever , and little likelihood of ceasing ; from the thirteenth of november that it began to the nineteenth of january is about ten weeks that it hath burnt ; and the last letters mention abundance of ashes or black sand forced into the air , and carried all over the island , falling thick like rain , and frequently gathered in the city , in the streets , houses , and gardens , though seven leagues off . finis . errata . page 10. line 15. read the other , viz. the vibrating . l. 16. participates . l. 17. & 18. r. vibrationsh thereof , but all solids do exclude that menstruum , or participate not of its motion . p. 14 , l. 11. for length r. number . l. 12. r. occasions will be . p. 15. l. 6. r. lmno . l. 12. r. have of elasticity is . p. 18. l. 29. r. equal to ten . p. 42. l. 12. r. from oratava . l. 12. r. or southeast side . p. 42. l. 9. for prancis r. francis. the novum organum of sir francis bacon, baron of verulam, viscount st. albans epitomiz'd, for a clearer understanding of his natural history / translated and taken out of the latine by m.d. novum organum bacon, francis, 1561-1626. 1676 approx. 112 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a28309 wing b310 estc r38681 17890949 ocm 17890949 106723 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a28309) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 106723) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1115:7) the novum organum of sir francis bacon, baron of verulam, viscount st. albans epitomiz'd, for a clearer understanding of his natural history / translated and taken out of the latine by m.d. novum organum bacon, francis, 1561-1626. m. d. [4], 32 p. printed for thomas lee ..., london : 1676. reproduction of original in the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -methodology. natural history -pre-linnean works. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 kirk davis sampled and proofread 2002-06 kirk davis text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the novum organvm of sir francis bacon , baron of verulam , viscount st. albans . epitomiz'd : for a clearer understanding of his natural history . translated and taken out of the latine by m. d. b. d. london , printed for thomas lee at the turks-head in fleetstreet . 1676. licens'd jan. 26. 1675. roger l'estrange the preface to the reader . i need not recommend to your perusal this useful treatise , seeing that it proceeds from such a genius , whose most trivial conceptions have obtained the esteem of his age , not inferiour in learning to any of the former . he was a person of a sound judgement , sharp wit , vast comprehension , and of extraordinary abilities both natural and acquir'd . but i need not run over the praises of a person so well known amongst us to oblige my reader to a kind reception , and favourable interpretation of this obscure , but useful book : for the things therein contained are so excellent in themselves , and so well designed , that we may be inclinable of our own accord to embrace and peruse them . the authors purpose , as you may 〈◊〉 , is to censure the limitations of sciences to the bounds prescribed to us , by the shallow pates of some of former ages , to discover the mistakes of our understandings , to point at the sources from whence they proceed , to rectifie the common errours of men , backed by ill grounded axioms , to direct us to a right interpretation of nature's mysteries , and oblige us to settle our judgements , upon better and sounder principles than ordinary ; his purpose is to open to us a gate to a greater proficiency and improvement in all kind of learning , to pull down the wals of partition , and remove the non plus ultra , that we might sail to those indies full of gold and jewels . i mean the sciences not yet discovered to our world , and fetch from thence all the rarities , the knowledges , and inventions , that might pleasure and benefit our humane life . for that purpose he adviseth us not to take things and notions too much upon trust , but to ground our belief upon practice , and well ordered experience . he layes down several principles , which may seem strange and new ; but if they be rightly examined , we shall find them naturally proceeding from the nature of things . i confess the most excellent conceptions are wrapped up in obscure terms , and in such new contrived expressions , that king james at the first perusal judged this novum organum to be past all mans understanding . but we may consider , that a new method , and new things and principles deserve new expressions , and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaks not to the vulgar , but unto the 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he 〈◊〉 other lands never found out 〈◊〉 and adviseth them in 〈◊〉 to seek and to proceed on without minding the discourage 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 of our predecessors in learning . this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 upon as a seasonable addition to his matural history , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 have made it too 〈◊〉 , i have been desired to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and directions as might be answerable to that subject . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , after a serious perusal , i did scarce know what was to be set aside ; for all the things things therein contained , are so material and seasonable , that i have wondred , that our english curiosi have not had the desire to study and understand the directions that are 〈◊〉 given 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their mistaken 〈◊〉 . in such a case , that this novum organum might be the better intelligible , a meer interpretation is not sufficient , in regard of the authors difficult and new found expressions , a comment weuld be required , which if it were well and judiciously composed according to the authors true meaning and intent , i am perswaded every one 〈◊〉 be of my judgement , that it is the best and most useful treatise of our dayes for the purpose that is designed . i am perswaded that it might be of a singular use to such vertuosi amongst us , as are not perfectly acquainted with the latine tongue , and yet imploy their time and studies in the improvement of their abilities , and finding out inventions useful to the life of man , for it would supply them with such principles as their 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 might wonderfully improve in new discoveries . i was sorry 〈◊〉 my , pen was limited to so few sheets , and that i had not the liberty to make the whole organum appear in our language . for brevity sake therefore i have in some places shortened the authors expressions . 〈◊〉 this will be sufficient to give a taste of the whole , which such 〈◊〉 understand the language of the learned may peruse at their leasure , vale. m. d. part of the novum organum , or , aphorisms of the interpretation of nature and kingdome of man. taken out of the first book . man , natures minister and interpreter , acts and understands only so much of the ordering of nature , as he hath observed by the assistance of experience and reason : more he neither doth , nor can apprehend . neither the hand alone , nor an understanding eft to it self , can do much . things are performed by instruments and helps , which the 〈◊〉 needs as much as the hand . now as 〈◊〉 instruments assist and govern the hands motion , likewise the instruments of the understanding prompt and advise it . humane knowledge and power are co-incident in the same , or happen to be alike , because ignorance of the cause renders the effect unintelligible : for nature is not overcome without submission , and that , which in contemplation stands instead of the cause , in operation serves as a rule . as to operation , man can do no more but only apply or remove natural bodies . the rest nature willingly compleats . the mechanick , the mathematician , the physitian , the chymist , and the magician are variously concerned in natural operations , but as it happens at present their attempts are but slight , and their successes inconsiderable . it were an extravagancy , and a plain contradiction to expect the accomplishment of those things , which were never yet done unless by means never yet attempted . even those operations which are found out are rather to be ascribed to chance and experience than to sciences ; for the sciences , which are now professed amongst us , are nothing else , but an adorning and a setting forth of things formerly invented , not the modes of invention or the desigments of new operation . the cause and origine almost of all the mischiefs , that happen in sciences , is this alone , that we too much admire and set up the strength and power of our understanding , and we neglect the true helps and aids thereof . natures subtilty far exceeds the subtilty of our sense , or that of our understanding ; so that the delicate meditations of mankind , their speculations and inventions are but foolish things , if they were narrowly searched into . as siences commonly so called are unprofitable for the invention of operations , so the logick now in use is not conducible to the finding out of true sciences . the logick , which we now use tends to the establishment and confirmation of errours , which are founded in vulgar notions rather than to a serious enquiry after truth , therefore it is more hurtful than profitable . a syllogisme is not used amongst the principles of sciences , and in medial axioms it is imployed in vain , for it falls much short of natures subtility . it hath therefore a command over assent , not over the things themselves . a syllogisme consists of propositions , propositions of words , words interpret notions , therefore if notions , the basis of things be confus'd , and rashly abstracted from things , nothing will be firm that is built upon them , therefore our only assurance is in a right induction . there is no soundness in logical and physical notions , neither substance , nor quality , action , passion , nor being it self , are proper notions , much less heavy , light , thick , thin , moist , dry , generation , corruption to attract , to expel element , matter , form , &c. all these are phantastical and ill designed . the notions of the lower species , as a man , a dog , a dove , and the immediate apprehensions of our senses ; namely , hot , cold , white , black , don't much deceive us , and yet nevertheless by the fluidity of matter and m●xture of things they are sometimes confounded . all other notions , which men have hitherto used are aberrations , and are neither duely nor truely abstracted , and raised from the very things themselves . the things that are already invented in sciences , are such as most commonly depend on vulgar notions . if any will search into the more inward , and remote mysteries of nature , he must make use of notions and axioms , abstracted from things in a more certain and solid manner , that the working of the understanding may be better and surer . there are and may be two ways of searching and finding out truth : one from sense and perticulars leads to the most general axioms , and out of those principles and their unquestionable authority judges and finds out middle axioms . this way is much in use . the other raiseth axioms from sense , and perticulars by a continual and gradual ascent it proceeds at last to generals . this is a true way but not yet attempted . the understanding left to it self goes the former way , observing a logical method ; for the mind delights to leap to generals , that it might acquiesce there , and after a little stay it loaths experience . but these evils are now at length augmented by logick for the pomp of disputations . an understanding left to it self , accompanied with sober , patient , and grave wit , if not hindred by former 〈◊〉 , essays the other way , which is right but not successful ; because when the understanding is not directed and assisted , is but weak , and unable to overcome the obscurity of things . either way derives its beginning from sense and perticulars , and acquiesces in things most general . but yet they differ very much , for the one does lightly run over experience and perticulars ; the other converses in them in a right and methodical manner . again the one layes down at first , certain abstract and un profitable generals . the other rises by degrees to these things , which indeed are more known to nature . it can never be that axioms framed by arguing , for finding out new operations , should be of any value , because the subtilty of nature doth far surprise the acuteness of disputation . but axioms rightly abstracted in order from perticulars , do easily discover and shew forth other new perticulars , and therefore by that means sciences became active . the axioms now in use sprang from small and slender experience , and a few common perticulars , they are for the most part made and enlarged according to their measure , so that it is no wonder , if they lead not to new perticulars . now if by chance any instance not observed or known before , offer it self , the axiome is salved by some friviolous distinction ; whereas it is more proper , that the axiom it self should be mended . that humane reason , which we use in natures assistance , we are wont to call anticipations of nature , because it is rash and hasty . but that reason , which is rightly extracted out of things , we call interpretation of nature . an icipations are strong enough to gain consent , seeing that if all men were equally and conformably made , they would agree well enough among themselves . to speak plainly , no right judgement can be made of our way , nor of those things which are found out agreeable unto it by anticipations , i mean by the reason now in use : because we cannot desire any one to stand to the judgement of that thing which is it self called in question . it is no easie matter to deliver , or explain those things which we have produc'd ; because things new in themselves are to be understood by the analogy they have with old ones . borguas tells us of the french expedition into italy , that they came with chalk in their hands to mark out their inns , and not with arms to break through them . our design is the same , that our doctrines might be admitted by well disposed and capacious souls , for there is no need of confutations , where we disagree in the very principles , notions , and forms of demonstration . their reason , who held non-comprehension , and our way do in some sort agree in the beginning , but they vastely differ and are opposite in the end , for they absolutely affirm , that nothing can be be known , but we say not much can be known in nature , in that way as it is now handled . they by their assertion destroy the authority of sense and understanding , we study and give remedies to help them . idols , mistakes , and mis-apprehensions , which now possesse , and are deeply rooted in mans understanding , so besiege the minds of men that truth can hardly get admission , but if it should they would hinder and disturb the restoration of sciences , unless men being fore warned would arm themselves against them , as much as they could . there are four sorts of idols or false images , which besiege mens minds : we , for distinction sake , have called them first idola tribus . 2. idola specus . 3. idola fori . 4. 〈◊〉 theatri . the raising notions and axioms by true induction is doubtless a proper remedy to drive away and remove these idols , yet their indication is of great use , for the doctrine of idols conduces to the interpretation of nature ; even as the doctrine of sophistical arguments doth to vulgar logick . idola 〈◊〉 are founded in humane nature it self , and in every family and stock of mankind . for humane sense is safely affirm'd to be the measure of things . on the contrary , all the conceptions both of sense and reason are taken from the analogy of man , not the analogy of the universe . humane understanding is like an unequal looking-glass to the rayes of things , which mixing its own nature with the nature of things , doth wrest and infect it . idola specus are the mis-apprehensions of every individual man. for every one hath besides the mistakes of humane nature in genéral , a den or individual cave , where the hight of nature is obscured and corrupted . this happens either through every mans singularity ; or through education and conversation among others , or by reading of books and the authorities of them who are honoured and admired by every one , or through the different impressions which occur in a prepossessed and predisposed , or in a calm and equal mind , or the like : so that the spirit of man , as it is placed or qualified in every man , is a various , a troubled , and a fortuitous thing ; wherefore heraclitus said well , that men sought after siences in lesser worlds , and not in the great and common world. there are also idols or mis-apprehensions arising from the mutual contracts , and also ciations of men , which by reason of humane commerce and society we call idola fori : for men are associated by speech , but words are imposed according to the vulgar capacity ; therefore a vitious and an improper imposition of words doth wonderfully mislead and clog the understanding . neither the definitions and explications , wherewith learned men are wont to defend and vindicate themselves in some things , do mend the matter for words , do plainly force the understanding and disturb all things , they lead men into many idle controversies and foolish inventions . lastly there are idols or misapprehensions , which are entered into mens minds from divers opinions of the philosophers , as also from the 〈◊〉 laws of demonstrations : these we call idola theatri . because all the kinds of philosophy , which have been invented and received we look upon as so many fables produced and acted to make fictitious and senical worlds . neither speak we of those amongst us , or only of the ancient philosophers and sects ; seeing many the like fables may be composed and made , because the causes of the different errours are for the most part common ; neither do we understand this only of universal philosophy , but also of many principles and axioms of sciences which have prevailed by tradition , credulity and neglect . but of all these kinds of idols we must speak more largely and distinctly , that so the humane intellect may take more heed . humane understanding is inclinable of it self to suppose a greater order and equality in things than it finds . and whereas many things in nature are monodical and altogether unlike , yet it appropriates to them parallels , correspondencies , and relatives , which are not from hence , are derived those figments . in coelestial bodies all things are moved by perfect circles . in the mean time they reject spiral and serpentine lines , retaining yet the names : from hence it is , that the element of fire is introduced to make a quaternion with the other three , which are within the reach of our senses . to the elements also , as they call them , fancy ascribes to them a double proportion of excess in their mutual rarefaction , and such like dreames are invented . nor is this vanity predominant in opinions only , but also in simple notions the humane understanding attracts all other things to give its suffrage and consent unto those things which once please it , either because they are received and believed , or because they delight . and though a greater strength and number of contrary instances occur , yet it doth either not observe , or contemn them , or remove , or reject them by a distinction not without great and dangerous prejudice , by which an inviolable authority remains in those former conceptions . therefore he gave a right answer , who , when a list of the names of such as had paid there their vows for escaping the danger of shipwrack , was shewn to him hung up in a temple , and when he was questioned whether he did not acknowledge the deity of the gods ? he in answer demanded what was become of their pictures who had perished after that they had paid their vows ? there is almost the same reason for all superstition , as in astrological dreams , presages , &c. men delight in such vanities , they mind the events when they come to pass , but when they fail , which is very often , they neglect and pass them by . but this evil more subtilly invades philosophy and sciences , wherein that which once takes , infects and corrupts the rest , though more firm and better . but in case this delight and vanity were wanting , yet it is a proper and perpetual error in humane understanding , to be rather moved and stirred up by affirmatives than by negatives , although in truth it ought to be indifferent to both : yet on the other hand the strength of a negative instance is greater in constituting every axiom . humane understanding is for the most part moved with those things , which suddenly and at once effect and reach the mind , and wherewith the fancy is wont to be filled and puffed up . as for the rest it supposes and fancies to have them in a kind of inperceptible manner , even like those few things that possess the mind . but as to that quick running over remote and heterogeneous instances , whereby axioms are tried as it were by fire , the understanding is altogether slow and unable , unless severe laws and violent commands be imposed upon it . humane understanding cannot rest , but still desires more and more , though all in vain . therefore it is not to be imagined that heaven should hear any extream or extime parts ; for it may be alwayes necessarily urged , that there is something further . again it cannot be conceived how eternity hath run along until now , because there is a common distinction usually admitted , that it is infinite a parte ante & a parte pòst , which can in no wise be proved , for then it would follow that one infinite is greater than another , and that an infinite consumeth and tends to a finite . the like nicety occurs through the weakness of our imagination concerning lines alwayes divisible , but this mental infinity more dangerously interposes in the invention of causes : for whereas universals chiefly ought to be in a positive nature , as they are found out , being not really causable , yet the humane understanding being unable to rest , still desires things more known , but whiles it tends to further things it falls back to nearer ones , viz. final causes , which indeed arise rather from humane nature , than the nature of the universe . out of this fountain philosophy is strangely corrupted . but he is equally an unskilful and a slight philosopher , who seeks out a cause in primary universals , as he who desires it not in subordinate and subaltern things . humane understanding is not an ignis fatuus a meer light , but it receives an impression from the will and the affections , which produces the reason why it desires sciences , for what a man had rather have true , that he resolves to believe . therefore he rejects difficult things , through impatiency of inquiry ; sober things , because they confine the hope ; the high mystery of nature , because of our natural superstition ; the light of experience , because of an arrogancy and pride , least the mind should seem to converse in vile and transitory affairs , he rejects paradoxes being too much over-ruled by the mistakes of the vulgar . lastly affection qualifies and infects the soul many wayes which cannot be conceived . but the greatest hinderance of the humane understanding , and its most dangerous errors proceed from the dulness , unsufficiency , and deceptions of the senses : those things which make impressions on the senses are of a greater weight than others of a higher nature , that do not affect them : therefore contemplation most commonly ends with the sight , insomuch that there is little or no observation made of invisible things . therefore the actings of the spirits shut up in sensible bodies are hid from us . and all subtil transformation , that happens in the parts of the grosser things , which we commonly stile alteration , but is in truch a subtil metaschematism escapes also our knowledge . nevertheless , if these two that we have named be not found out , there can be no great matter performed in the works of nature . again the nature of common air , and of all bodies which in thinness surpass the air , they being many in number are almost unknown , for sense in it self is a weak and an erroneous thing , nor do the organs conduce much to enlarge or sharpen the senses , but the truest interpretation of nature is made by instances , and by fit and proper experiments , when sense judges of the experiment , the experiment of nature , and of the thing it self . the humane intellect is by its own nature carried on to abstracts , and those things which are unstable it fancies to be constant . but it is better to dissect nature than abstract her , which was done by democritus's school . by that means he searched further than the rest into nature . for that purpose we must rather examine matter , its schemes and transformations , its pure acts and the law of action and motion . forms are but the invention of mens brains , unless you will call the laws of the act forms . of this kind are those false imaginations , which we call idola tribus , they proceed , either from the equality of the substance of the humane spirits or the prepossessions , coarctations , and turbulent motions thereof , or from the inspirations of the passions , or disagreement of the senses , or the manner of impression . idola specus proceed from the proper nature of every individual mind or body , as also from education , custome or other casualties , which kind though various and manifold , yet more especially we propound those which require most caution , and have greatest power to defile the understanding , and render it 〈◊〉 contemplations of nature and most simple bodies only disturb and impair the understanding , but contemplation of nature and of bodies compound , and in their configuration astonish and dissolve the intellect , this is most evident in the school of hencippus and democritus compared with other philosophy , for it so much considers the particles of things , that it almost neglects their frames : and others so amazedly behold them , that they cannot arrive to natures simplicity . these contemplations therefore are to be altered and interchangeably assumed , that the understanding at the same time , may be made penetrating and capable , and those inconveniencies we speak of be avoided with the false notions proceeding from them . let therefore your speculative prudence be so disposed in expelling and removing the idola specus , which proceed either from the predominancy , or excess of composition and division , or from our affection to the times , or from large and small objects . in general let every one , who studies the nature of things , chiefly suspect that which captivates his understanding , and so much the greater heed is to be taken in these opinions , that the understanding may be kept equal and pure . but idola fori are the most troublesome of all , which , by a confederacy of words and names , have 〈◊〉 themselves into the understanding . for men believe that their reason governs words , but so it happens that words retort and reflect their power upon the understanding . this hath made philosophy and sciences sophistical and unactive . now words are for the most part accommodated to vulgar capacities , and by lines most apparent to common apprehensions they divide things . but when a sharper intellect , or more diligent observation would transfer those lines , that they might be more agreeable to nature ; words make a noise : from hence it comes to pass , that the great and solemn disputations of learned men , often end in controversies concerning words and names , with which , according to the custome and prudence of mathematicians 't were a wiser way to begin , and to reduce them into order by definitions . and yet definitions in natural and material beings cannot remedy this evil because they also consist of words , and words beget words , so that it is necessary to have recourse to perticular instances , and their ranks and orders , as we shall presently shew , when we come to the manner and reason of constituting notions and axioms . mis-apprehensions forced by words upon the understanding are of two sorts . 1. the names of things which are not : for as there are things which through inadvertency wanting a name , so are there names without things , through a phantastical supposition . 2. or the names of things which are but confused , ill determined , rashly , and unequally abstracted from things . of the first sort are fortune , the primum mobile , the planetary orbs , the element of fire , and such like fictions arising from vain and false speculations . this kind is easier cast out , because it is exterminable by a continued abnegation and antiquation of such speculations . but the other sort is perplex'd and deeply rooted , proceeding from an ill and unskilful abstraction . for example sake , take any word , humidum if you please , and let us see how its various significations agree , and we shall find this word humidum to be nothing else but a confused note of divers actions enduring no constancy or reduction ; for it signifies that which easily circumfunds it self about another body , and is in it self indeterminable and inconsistent , that which easily gives place on all sides , and easily divides and dissipates , and as easily collects , and reunites it self , that which easily flowes and moves , easily adheres to another body and moistens it , that which is easily reduced into a liquid , or melts , having been before consistent or solid : therefore if you consider the predication and imposition of this word taken in one sense the flame is moist , in another sense the air is not moist . in one sense again small dust is moist , in another glass is so . whence it is evident , that this notion was only rashly abstracted from waters and common liquors without any due verification . in words also there are certain degrees of pravity and error , less vitious are the names of some substances , especially the lowest species well deduced , for the notion of chalk and clay is good , the notion of earth bad , more vitious are the actions of generation , corruption , alteration : the most vitious qualities , excépt the immediate objects of sense , are heavy , light , rare , dense , &c. and yet even among these it cannot be helped but some notions will be better than others , accordingly as more copious matter supplies humane sense . the other mistakes named idola theatri , are not innate , nor secretly wrought in the understanding , but by fabulous speculations , and the perverse laws of demonstrations plainly infused and received . but in these to undertake or endeavour a confutation is not agreeable to what we have spoken . for seeing that we neither agree in our principles nor demonstrations all disputation it taken away . but this is good luck for the ancients , that they may preserve their reputation , for nothing is detracted from them , seeing the way is so questionable . because a lame man , as they say , in the way , out goes a racer out of the way , for t is evident the stronger and nimbler he is , the greater is his aberration , whiles he is out of the way . but such is our manner of inventing sciences , that we attribute not much to the sharpness and strength of wit , and yet we almost equalize them , for even as the describing of a right line or perfect circle much depends on the 〈◊〉 and exercise of the hand , 〈◊〉 it be done meerly by the hand , but if a rule or compasses be used , there is little or no such dependancy upon the hand : so fares it exactly with our reason , although there be no particular use of confutations , 〈◊〉 yet we must say something of the sects and kinds of these theories , and afterwards of their outward signs , because they are in a bad condition , and lastly of the causes of so much unhappiness , and so long and general a consent in error , that truth may have an easier access , and the humane understanding may be more throughly purged , and rid of these mistakes . idola theatri or theoretical mistakes are many , and may be more , and in time to come will be , for unless mens wits had been employed about religion and divinity during many ages , and also about civil governments , especially monarchies , they had 〈◊〉 such novelties in contemplations . so that men addicted unto them , ran the hazard of their fortunes , not only deprived of a reward , but also exposed to contempt and envy . doubtless many more sects of philosophy , and theories like to those , which once in great varieties flourished amongst the grecians , had been introduced : for as upon the etherial phoenomena's more figures of heaven may be formed , likewise many more various opinions may be as easily founded and established upon the phenomena's of philosophy : now the fables of this theater are like those that are acted on the poetical stage , whence it comes to pass , that scenical and 〈◊〉 narrations are more quaint and elegant than those taken out of true history , and better please the readers . in general either much out of little , or little out of much is assumed into philosophical matter , so that on all sides , philosophy is founded on the too narrow basis of experience , and natural history , and determines out of fewer things than it ought ; for the rational sort of philosophers snatch from experience several vulgar things , and they to neither certainly found out , nor diligently examined or tried , the rest they place in meditation , and the exercise of wit. there is another sort of philosophers , who have bestowed a great deal of pains in few experiments , and from thence have presumed to draw and frame a philosophy strangely wresting all other things thereunto . there is also a third sort of them , who intermingle divinity , and traditions of faith and adoration amongst whom the vanity of some has inclined them to seek and derive sciences from spirits and demons . therefore the stock of errours and false philosophy is threefold , namely sophistical , emperical , and superstitious . of the first kind aristotle is an evident example . by his logick he corrupted natural philosophy made the world consist of categories attributed to the humane soul , a most noble substance , a genus made up ofsecondary notions , transacted the business of dense and rare , whereby bodies under go greater or 〈◊〉 dimensions or spaces by the cold distinction of act and power . he asserted only one proper motion to be in all bodies , and if they had any other , that he said was from another ; many more things he affirmed according to his fancy , which he imposed upon nature , being every where more solicitous how he might explain himself in answers , and make any thing positive in words , than of the internal truth of things . this plainly appears if you compare his philosophy with others famous amongst the grecians , for the homoiomera of anaxagoras , the atoms of lencippus , and democritus , the heaven and earth of 〈◊〉 , the discord and concord of empedocles , heraclitus's resolution of bodies into the adiaphorous nature of fire , and the replication of them to density , have something of natural philosophy in them , and a relish of nature and experience : whereas aristotles physicks are nothing but logical notions , which under a more specious name , not nominal but more real he retracts in his metaphysicks , nor let not that move any one , that in his books of animals , in his problems and other treatises he frequently useth experiments . for he first decreed them , neither did he rightly consult experience in establishing his determinations and axioms , but after he had determined them according to his pleasure , he made experience a slave to his fancies : and upon this account he is more to be blamed than his modern followers , i mean a sect of scholastical philosophers , who have altogether forsaken experiments . but the emperical kind of philosophy brings forth more deformed and monstruous opinions than the sophistical or rational , because it is not founded in the light of common notions , which though slender and superficial is notwithstanding in some measure universal and conducive to many things , but in a few narrow and obscure experiments . and therefore to those who daily converse in such experiments , and have thereby corrupted their fancy , this philosophy seems probable and certain , but to others incredible and vain . a notable example whereof we find in the chymists and their opinions , but now scarcely any where else , unless in gilberts philosophy . however we must by no means omit a caution concerning this philosophy , because we inwardly foresee and presage that if men awakened by our precepts , shall at last betake themselves to experience , bidding adieu to sophistical doctrines , they will sustain some damage , through a praemature and inconsiderate haste of the understanding , by soaring too soon to generals and principles , which evil we ought to prevent . but the corruption of philosophy through superstition and intermixed divinity extends it self further , and works much mischief , both to philosophy in general and particular . for the humane understanding is no less obnoxious to the impressions of fancy , than to the impressions of vulgar notions . for the contentious and fallacious kind of philosophy ensnares the understanding , but the other kind being phantastical , swoln and poetical doth rather flatter it . for there is in man a certain ambition of the understanding as well as in the will , especially in sublime and elevated wits . of this kind you have an example amongst the grecians , especially in pythagoras , but joyned with gross superstition , but more dangeroufly and subtilly in plato , and his school . this kind of evil is found in the parts of other philosophers ; by the introduction of abstract formes , final causes , first causes , and frequent omitting the medial , and the like . wherefore take great heed to this matter , for it is the worst of evils to defie errors , and to adore vain things may be well accounted the plague of the understanding . some modern men guilty of much levity , have so indulged this vanity , that they have essayed to found natural philosophy in the first chapter of genesis , the book of job , and other places of holy writ , seeking the living among the dead . now this vanity is so much the more to be check'd and restrained , because by unadvised mixture of divine and humane things , not only a phantastical philosophy is produced , but also an heretical religion . therefore it is safe to give unto faith with a sober mind , the things that are faiths . hitherto our excellent author hath spoken of the bad authority of philosophy , founded in vulgar notions , a few experiments , or in superstition : he examines next the depraved matter of contemplation especially in natural philosophy . he proceeds next to discover to us by what means demonstrations lead us into errors and mistakes , and concludes that experience is the best demonstration , if it be founded upon mature experiments . he discourses afterwards of the several sorts of philosophers among the greeks , and takes notice of their imperfections , of their ignorance in ancient history , and in cosmography , so that they could not be acquainted with so many experiments , as the learned of our dayes . afterwards he discourseth of the causes of errors , and of their long continuance in credit in the world , that none might wonder how it comes to pass that some in these last ages , find so many mistakes in the learning and wit admired in former ages . the first cause of the small prosiciency in sciences , he saith , is the streights of time , and their ignorance of former times : for their observation had not scope enough , nor sufficient assistance from true history , to gather right and judicious experiments . in the second place another cause of great moment certainly offers it self ; namely that in those times , when the wits of men and learning flourished most or but indifferently , natural philosophy had the least share in humane contemplations : nevertheless this ought to be accounted the great mother of sciences : for all arts and sciences , pluck'd away from this root . may perhaps be polished and accommodated to use , but they will never grow . now it is evident , that since the christian faith was embrac'd and encreas'd the most part of the rarest wits applied themselves to divinity . to this end large rewards were propounded , and all manner of helps plentifully afforded . this study of divinity took up the third part or period of time amongst us europeans , and the more because about that time learning began to flourish , controversies touching religion did wonderfully increase : but in the preceding age , during the second period among the romans , the chiefest meditations and studies of philosophers were imployed and spent in moral philosophy , which was then the heathens divinity . moreover the greatest wits in those dayes for the most part applied themselves to civil affairs , by reason of the roman empires greatness , which required the labours of many men . but that age wherein natural philosophy seem'd chiefly to flourish among the grecians was a parcel of time of small continuance , for even in ancienter times , those seven , called wisemen , all except thales , applied themselves to moral philosophy and politicks . and in after times , when isocrates had brought down philosophy from heaven upon earth , moral philosophy prevailed further still , and diverted mens thoughts from physiological speculations . that very period of time also , wherein physick enquiries flourished was corrupted and spoiled with contradictions , and new determinations . wherefore natural philosophy in every one of those periods , being greatly neglected or hindred , 't is no wonder men profited so little in it , seeing they altogether minded other things . add moreover , that those who studied natural philosophy , especially in these modern times , did not wholly addict themselves thereunto , unless perhaps you may alledge the example of some monk in his cell , or nobleman in his country house . so at length it was made but a passage and draw-bridge to other things . this , this famous mother of sciences , was basely thrust down into servile offices , and made a drudge to wait upon medicine , or the mathematicks ; and again to wash the immature wits of young men , and give them a superficial mixture , that they might afterwards be the better qualified to receive of another . in the mean while let no man expect a great progress in sciences , especially in the practical part , unless natural philosophy be produced to particular sciences , and those again reduced to natural philosophy : for hence it comes to pass , that astronomy , opticks , musick , many mechanichal arts , physick it self , and what is more wonderful , even moral philosophy , politicks , and logick , have for the most part no considerable depth , but languish in the surface and variety of things , because when once these particular sciences are divided , they are no longer nourished by natural philosophy , which out of the fountains and true contemplations of motions , rayes , sounds ; texture and figuration of bodies , affections , and intellectual apprehensions , communicates new strength and augmentation to them . and therefore 't is no wonder , that sciences grow not since they are separated from their roots . another great and powerful cause , why sciences are so little advanced , is this , that race cannot rightly be run , where the goal is not rightly placed and fixed . now the true and legitimate mark of sciences is to enrich mans life with new inventions and forces . but the greater number of men know nothing of this , because they are mercenary and professory , unless it happens that some artist of a sharper wit , and ambitious of glory , studies some new inventions , which commonly tends to his own undoing . therefore most men are so far from propounding to themselves the advancement of arts and sciences , that even out of those things that they have , they seek no more than what may be converted into professory use , gain , reputation , or the like advantages . and if any one amongst the multitude seeks knowledge ingeniously and for it self , yet you will find he doth this rather to obtain variety of contemplations and precepts , than for the rigid and severe inquiry of truth . again suppose another more severely enquires after truth , yet even he propounds to himself such conditions of truth as may satisfie his mind and understanding in reference to the causes of things known long ago , not those which may give fresh pledges of operations or new light to axioms , the end therefore of sciences being not yet rightly defined , or well assigned by any body , no wonder if error and mistakes attend those things which are subordinate thereunto . the noble author condemns next the erroneous wayes which conduct to sciences ; namely obscure traditiòns , giddy arguments , the windings of chance or unclean experience ; and wonders that none yet have recommended sense , and well ordered experience , which he supposes to be partly caused by a great mistake . that the majesty of humane understanding is impaired with long conversing in experiments and particular things , subject to sence , and determined to matter ; especially seeing these things are laborious in the inquiry , ignoble in the meditation , harsh in discourse , illiberal in the practice , infinite in number , and full of subtilty . again the reverence of antiquity , and the authority and consent of those who have been accounted great men in philosophy , has detained and inchauted men from making any progress in sciences . as for antiquity the opinion which men entertain of it , is idle and incongruous to the word it self , for the old age , and great age of the world are terms equivolent to antiquity , and ought to be attributed to our times , not to the youthful age of the world , that wherein the ancients lived . for that age in respect of ours was greater and ancienter , in respect of the world it self , lesser and younger : and therefore in like manner , as we expect a greater knowledge in humane affairs , a more mature and a riper judgement from an old man than from a young man , by reason of his experience , and the variety and plenty of things which he hath seen , heard , observed , and understood , so also far greater matters may rationally be expected from our age , than from the ancient times , if it would but know its strength , and were willing to try and mind things , because we live in the worlds old age , and are stored with infinite experiments , and advanced in our noble observations . the discoveries of other lands unknown to former ages are no small helps to our experience . besides it is a great weakness to attribute so much to ancient authors , for truth is the daughter of time not of authority , and the ancientest times are the youngest in respect of the world. the other cause of mens mistakes is their admiring the operations which can shew grey hairs , and a too great esteem of liberal arts and learning already found out , which is an act of simplicity and childishness . but the greatest damage hath happened to sciences through pusilanimity ; and the smalness of those tasks , which humane industry hath proposed to it self , and yet , what is worst of all , that pusilanimity is accompanied with arrogance and disdain . moreover natural philosophy in all ages hath had a troublesome and harsh enemy ; namely superstition , and a blind immoderate zeal of religion . lastly the way to all reformed philosophy hath been blocked up by the unskilfulness of some divines , who were afraid least a deeper enquiry should dive into nature beyond the bounds of sobriety , traduce and falsly wrest those things , which are spoken of divine mysteries in the sacred writings , against searchers of divine secrets : others cunningly conceive , if the means be unknown , which they think greatly concerns religion , all things may more easily be referred to the deity . others from their example fear least motions and mutations in philosophy should terminate in religion . again all things in the manners and institutions of schools , universities , colledges ; and the like places destimated for learned men , and getting learning , are found to be against the advancement of sciences , &c. but the greatest obstacle in the progress of sciences , and new undertakings thereof is discerned in the dispairing of men , and a supposed impossibility , for even wise and grave men are wont to diffide in these things , pondering with themselves the obscurity of nature , shortness of life , deception of the sences , weakness of judgement , difficulty of experiments , and the like , &c. we must take our beginnings from god , in what we are about , for the excellent nature of good therein it manifestly from god , who is the author of good , and father of lights . the foundations of experience , for we must descend to them , have hitherto been either none at all or very weak ; neither hath a sufficient system of particulars been any wayes as yet found outand congested , either in number , kind , or certainty , able to inform the understanding . in the plenty of mechanical experiments , there is discovered a great want of such as assist or tend to the information of the understanding , &c. not onely a greater plenty of experiments is to be sought , and procured , differing in kind from what ever was yet done . but also another method , order and process are to be introduc'd , for the continuing and promoting of experience . for wandring experience , guided by it self , is a meer cheat , and doth rather amaze men than inform them . but when experience proceeds regularly , orderly , and soberly , there may be some better hope of sciences . seeing there is such a great number , and as it were an army of particulars , but so scattered and diffused , that they disgregate and confound the understanding , we can expect no good from the skirmishes , light motions , and transcursions of the understanding , unless by fit , well disposed , and exact tables , there be an instruction , and co-ordination of those things which appertain to the subject of our enquiry : and the mind be applyed to the preparatory and digested helps of these tables . but when this plenty of particulars is rightly and orderly placed before our eyes we must not presently pass to the inquisition , and invention of new particulars or operations , or if we do we must not rest in them , &c. we must not permit the understanding to leap or fly from particulars to remote and general axioms , such as are called the principles of arts and things , or by their constant verity to prove or discuss medial axioms . but then men may hope well of sciences , when by a true scale , and continual not intermitted degrees , we ascend from particulars to lesser axioms , then to medial , for some are higher than others ; and lastly to universals ; for the lowest axioms differ not much from naked experience , but the supressive and more general which occur , are rational and abstracted , and have no solidity . the medial therefore are those true solid and lively axioms , wherein mens fortunes and estates are placed , and above those also are those more general , if not abstracted , but truely limited by these medial or middle axioms . therefore the humane understanding needs not feathers but lead and weights to hinder its leaping and flying . but this is not yet done , when it is we may have better hope of sciences . now in constituting an axiom another form of induction contrary to what was formerly , or is now used , is found out , and that not onely to prove or invent principles , as they call them , but also lesser and medial axioms , ye all . for that induction , which proceeds by simple enumeration , is a childish thing , and concludes precariously , being exposed to the danger of a contradictory instance . and yet most commonly it gives judgement from fewer instances than it ought , or from those onely which are at hand . but that induction which would induce to the invention and demonstration of arts and sciences , must separate nature by due rejections and separations , and , after sufficient negatives , conclude upon affirmatives , which thing is not yet done , nor so much as attempted , unless by plato only , who indeed , to examine definitions and ideas , doth in some measure use this form of induction . but for the good and lawful institution of such an induction or demonstration . many things are to be used , which never yet entered into any mortal mans heart , so that greater pains is to be taken herein than was ever yet spent in a syllogism . now the help of this induction is not onely to be used in finding out axioms , but also in terminating motions , for certainly in this induction our greatest hope is placed . far more and better things , yea and in shorter time , are to be expected from the reason , industry , direction , and intention of men , than from chance the instinct of animals , which hitherto have given the beginning to inventions . this also may be brought as an encouragement , that some things which are found out , are of that kind , that before their production it could not easily come into mans mind to imagine any thing of them , for every body despised them as impossible , as the use of guns the invention of silk , the seamans needle , &c. therefore we hope there are in natures bosome many secrets of excellent use , which have no alliance nor paralellism , with the things already invented , but are placed out of fancies road , not as yet found out , which doubtless after many revolutions of ages shall at last come forth , even as those former did . but by the way we now declare , they may speedily and suddenly be both anticipated and represented . we must not omit another thing , which may raise up our hope . let men reckon the infinite expence of wit , time , and money , which they are at in things and studies of far lesser use and value ; the least part whereof , were it converted to sound and solid things , would conquer all difficulty . had we a man among us , who would de facto answer nature's queries , the invention of all causes and sciences would be the study but of a few years . some without doubt , when they have read over our history and tables of invention , may object that something is less certain , or altogether , false in our experiments , and therefore perhaps will think with himself , that our inventions are founded on false foundations , and dubious principles . but this is nothing , for such things must needs happen at first , for it is all one as though in writing or printiug some one letter or other should be misplaced , which does not usually hinder the reader , for such errors are easily corrected by the sence , &c. many things also will occur in our history and experience , first slight and common , then base and mechanical , lastly too curious , meerly speculative , and of no use , which kind of things may divert and alienate the studies of men . now for those things which seem common , let men consider , that they themselves are wont to do no less than refer and accommodate the causes of rare things to these which are frequently done , but of things daily happening they enquire not the causes , but take them for granted . and therefore they inquire not into the causes of weight , coelestial rotation , heat , cold , light , hard , soft , slender , dense , liquid , concistent or solid , animate and inanimate , similar dissimilar , nor lastly organical , but dispute and judge of other things , which happen not so frequently and familiarly by these as being evident , manifest , and received . but we , who know well enough , that no judgement can be made of rare and notable things , much less new things be brought to light without the causes of vulgar things , and the causes of causes rightly examined and found out are forced necessarily to receive the most vulgar things into our history : furthermore we perceive nothing has hindred philosophy more , than because things familiar and frequently happening do not stay and detain the contemplation of men , but are entertained by the by , and their causes not inquired into , so that information of unknown matters is not oftner required than attention in known things . now as touching the vileness and dishonesty of things , they are no less to be entertained in natural history than the richest and most precious things , nor is natural history thereby polluted , for the sun does equally visit pallaces and sinks , and yet is not defiled . again we do not build or dedicate a capitol or pyramid to the pride of men , but we found an holy temple for the worlds pattern in humane understanding . therefore we follow our copy for whatsoever is worthy of essence is worthy of science , which is the image of science , but vile things subsist as well as costly ones . moreover , as out of some putrid matters , as musk and civet , sometimes the best odours come , even so from low and sordid instances sometimes excellent light and information flowes . before all things we have and must speak first of this thing , viz. that we how at first setting out , and for a time , seek only lociferous not fructiferous experiments , according to the examples of divine creation , which only produced light on the first day , and bestowed a whole day upon it , not intermingling with it , in that day , any material work. if any one therefore think these things are of no use , it is all one as if he should think light useless , because it is indeed no solid nor material being ; for we may truely affirm , that the light of simple natures being well examined and defined , is like light which affords passage to all the secret rooms of operations , drawing after it all the companies and troops of operations , and potentially comprizing the fountains of most noble axioms , yet in it self it is not of so great use : thus the elements of letters of themselves and separately signifie nothing , neither are of any use , but yet are like the first matter in the composition , and preparation of every word . thus the seeds of things strong in power are as to use , except in their increase of no value , and the scattered beams of light unless they unite together , become unbeneficial to men . some also will doubt rather than object , whether we speak only of natural philosophy , or else of other sciences ; namely , logick , ethicks and politicks to be perfected according to our way . but we surely understand what we have said of all this , and as vulgar logick , which rules things by syllogism , belongs not onely to natural , but to all sciences . so ours , which proceeds by induction , compriseth all things ; for we make an history and inventory tables , as well of anger , fear , modesty , &c. as of politick examples , and so of the mental motions of memory , composition and division , judgement and the rest , no less than of heat and cold , or light and vegetation , &c. but as our method of interpretation after history is prepared and ordered , doth not only behold mental motions and discourses , as common logick , but also the nature of things . so we govern the understanding , that it may apply it self in a perfect and apt manner to the nature of things . but that ought by no means to be doubted , whether we desire to destroy and demolish the philosophy , arts , and sciences which we use , for we on the contrary willingly allow their use , cultivation , and honour ; nor do we any wayes hinder , but that those which have been in credit , may nourish disputations , adorn orations , be used in professory employments . lastly , like currant money , be received among men by consent . but how truely we profess this very thing , which we mention concerning our affection and good will towards allowed sciences , our publick writings , especially our books of the advancement of learning declare and attest . it remains that we now speak somewhat cóncerning the excellency of the end. had we before treated 〈◊〉 these things , our expectations probably had better succeeded , but now we are in hopes , that all prejudices being removed , these matters may perhaps be of more weight . for though we had perfected and compleated all things , nor had called others to share in our labours , yet should we have refrained these words lest we might be thought to proclaim our own merits , but seeing the industry of others is to be sharpened , and their minds to be stirred up and inflamed , 't is fit we put men in remembrance of some things . first then the introduction of noble inventions seems to carry the greatest sway amongst humane actions , as former ages also have judged ; for they gave divine honor to the inventors of things , but to those who were meritorious in civil affairs , as the founders of cities and empires , lawgivers , 〈◊〉 of their countreys from temporal evil , destroyers of tyranny &c. they only decreed heroick honor . inventions also , are the new creations , they are man's glory , they cause him to be a god to the rest of mankind . new inventions are of a wonderful consequence as the art of printing , gun-powder , and the sea mens compass . these three have changed the face and state of affairs in the whole world. first , in learning . secondly , in warfare . thirdly , in navigation . there are three sorts of ambition , the first desires to enlarge man's own power over countries and people , this is common and ignoble , the second , endeavours to enlarge other mens , as our prince's dominions , this hath more dignity , but no less desire . but if any one endeavours to restore and inlarge 〈◊〉 power and dominion of mankind , over the university of things , doubtless this ambition is sounder , and nobler than the other two : now mans dominion over things consists onely in arts and sciences , for nature is not trusted , but by obedience . it is now high time that we propound this art it self of interpretating nature , wherein though we suppose we have given most true and profitable precepts , yet we do not attribute unto it any absolute necessity or perfection , as though nothing could be done without it . for we are of opinion if men had by them a just history of nature and experience , and would diligently study it , and could command themselves in two things ; first in putting away received opinions and notions . secondly , in forbearing a while generals and subgenerals , they would by the proper and genuine strength of the understanding , without any art , light upon our form of interpretation ; for interpretation is the true and natural work of the mind , all obstacles being first removed : but certainly our presents will make all things more ready and sure . nevertheless we do not affirm that nothing can be added unto them . on the contrary we , who consider the mind not only in its own faculty , but as it is united with things ought to determine , that the art of invention may grow and increase with things invented . part of the novum organum , or , aphorisms of the interpretation of nature and kingdome of man. taken out of the second book . it is the business and intent of humane power to produce and superinduce a new nature , and new things upon a body given to it ; but it is the business and purpose of humane science , to find out the true form of this body , or the right difference , or the essence of nature , called natura naturans , or the fountain of emanation : these words we use , because they express the thing , and discover it best . now to these works of the first rank there be two of a second and inferior sort , that are subordinate . to the first , the transformation of concrete bodies from one to another within possible limits . to the second , invention in all generation and motion of a secret proceeding continued from an apparant efficient and vissible matter to a new form ; as also the invention of an hidden schism of resting bodies not in motion . although the ways leading to the power and humane science , be nearly allied and almost the same , nevertheless it is the safest , because of that old and pernicious custome , of spending time in abstracts to begin and raise sciences from their very foundations , which look upon the active part in order , that it might consume and determine the active part , therefore we must see to some nature to be superinduced upon another body , what precept or direction any should require for that purpose , and that in an easie and plain expression . for example , suppose any should desire to cover over silver with the yellow colour of gold , or give unto it an increase of weight , with a regard to the laws of matter , or to make an obscure stone become transparant , or glass gluttinous , or to cause a body not vegetable to grow ; we must see in such a case what direction or deduction may cheifly he desired , first a person would doubtless wish for something of a like experiment to be shewn unto him , which might not fail in the operation , nor deceive in the undertaking . secondly , he would desire some directions which might not bind him , and force him to certain mediums , and particular ways of acting , for it may be , that he may be unable to purchase , and procure unto himself such mediums , therefore if there be any other mediums and other methods of acting , besides that direction of producing such a nature , it may perhaps be of such things , as are in the power of the worker ; yet notwithstanding he may be excluded from the 〈◊〉 of such , things by the narrowness of the rule , so as that he shall meet with no 〈◊〉 . thirdly , he may desire , that 〈◊〉 may be shewn unto him , which may not be altogether so difficult , as the operation that is in question , but that comes nearer to the practise . therefore it is 〈◊〉 , that every true and perfect rule of working be certain , 〈◊〉 , and well designing , or in order to action : therefore this is the same as the invention of a true form , for the form of any nature is such , that when it is supposed the nature it self must needs follow , therefore it is always present , wherever that nature is , it be speaks it in general and 〈◊〉 it . such is the form of a thing that when it is taken away the 〈◊〉 of the thing is removed . therefore it is always 〈◊〉 from it , when that nature is absent , and is in it alone . 〈◊〉 , a true form is such , that it deduceth the nature of a thing out of the fountain of being , which is common to many , and more 〈◊〉 than the nature , as they speak , than the form . therefore the rule of knowing a true and perfect axiom is this , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 found out which might be convertible with the nature given , and yet be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a more known nature , like as of a true genus . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the one active , the other speculative , are the same in effect , and what is most useful in operation is most true in speculation . but the rule or axioms of transforming bodies are two fold . the 〈◊〉 consider'd a body , as a troop or conjugation of simple 〈◊〉 , as in 〈◊〉 these things do meet , that it is yellow , weighty , and of such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be beaten thin and drawn into wire , of such a bigness that it is not volatile , and that it loseth nothing by fire , that it is to be run in such a manner , that it is to be separated and loosned by such means , and the like of the other natures or properties of gold. therefore such an axiom deduceth the thing from the forms of the simple 〈◊〉 or properties , for he that knows how to bring new forms and methods of yellow , of weight , of fluidity , &c. he will see and take care of their graduations and means , that all these be conjoined in one body from whence transformation into gold may be expected . therefore this manner of marking belongs to the primary action , for there is the same method required in bringing forth one simple nature , as many ; onely man meets with more difficulty in working , when he is to joyn together many natures , which meet not of themselves unless by the ordinary and usual ways of nature ; nevertheless we may affirm that the method of working , which considers the 〈◊〉 natures , though in a concrete body , proceeds from those things , which in nature are constant , eternal , and universal , and open a wide door to mans ability , which as affairs are now manag'd our humane understanding can scarce comprehend or represent . but the second kind of axioms , which depends from the invention of a secret proceeding , acts not by simple natures , but by concrete bodies , as they are found in natures ordinary course ; for example , suppose an inquisition is made from what beginnings , how , and in what manner gold , or any other metal , or stone is generated from its first matter and deform substance until it comes to a perfect mineral , likewise in what manner herbs grow , form their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the sap in the earth , or from the seed until it riseth up to be a plant with all the succession of motion , and the divers , and continued endeavours of nature . likewise of the ordinary generation of animals from their conception to their birth , in like manner of all other bodies . but this inquisition relates not onely to the generation of bodies , but also to other motions and workings of nature ; for example , suppose an inquisition be made into the universal series , and continued manner of nourishment , from the 〈◊〉 reception of the food , until it turns into the substance of the body ; likewise of the voluntary motion in animals , from the 〈◊〉 impression of the fancy , and repeated endeavours of the spirits , to the movings and turnings of the arters , or of the outward motion of the tongue , and lips , and other instruments to the giving of articulate 〈◊〉 ; for these things relate to concrete or collegious bodies , and in operations they are lookt upon as particular and special custom of nature , not as fundamental , and common laws , which constitute forms . but we must needs 〈◊〉 , that this method seems to be the most expedite , the most likely and 〈◊〉 and more than the other primary . 〈◊〉 wise the operative part , which answers this speculative , doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , working from those things , which are commonly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things near at hand , or from those things to other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 highest and radical operations upon nature depend 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 axioms . moreover , when man hath not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but onely of knowing and beholding , as in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are not within mans reach he cannot change nor alter them . 〈◊〉 the inquisition of the fact it self , or of the truth of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the knowledge of causes and agreements , relates to the primary and universal axioms of simple 〈◊〉 as the nature of voluntary relation , or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the load stone , and many others ; which are more common than the 〈◊〉 : neither can any body hope to terminate the question , whether in the daily motion , the earth doth in truth come round , or the heavens unless he understands 〈◊〉 the nature of voluntary rotation . the hidden proceeding , which we have mentioned , is otherwise , so that our humane understanding , as it is now wrapt up in 〈◊〉 , cannot easily search into it ; neither do we 〈◊〉 certain measures , 〈◊〉 , or degrees of proceeding visible in bodies , but that continued proceeding , which for the most part is not subject to our senses . for example , in all generation and transformation of bodies , we must inquire what is last , and what flies away , what remains , what is added , what dilates it self , what is drawn to it , what is united , what is separated , what is continued , what is cut off , what means , what hinders , what commands , and what yields , and many other things . again , neither are we to enquire after these things in 〈◊〉 and transformation of bodies , but in all other alterations and motions we are likewise to enquire , what proceeds , and what succeeds , what is most fierce , and what is most remiss , what gives the motion , what commands , and the like . all these things are unknown to , and never handled by the sciences , which are composed by the grossest and the unablest wits . seeing 〈◊〉 natural action is transacted by the least beginnings , or by such as are so small , that they are not to be perceived by our senses , no body can hope to rule or turn nature , unless he can comprehend and take notice of them in a due manner . out of the two kinds of axioms , which are already mentioned , philosophy and sciences are to be divided , ( the common received words which approach the nearest to the discovery the of things , being applied to our meaning ) namely that the inquisition of forms , which in reason according to their own laws are eternal and unmovable , constitutes the metaphysicks ; but the inquisition of the efficient , of the matter , of the secret proceeding , and hidden schismatism , all which things regard the common and ordinary course of nature , not the foundamental and eternal laws , should constitute the physicks . now to these are subordinate two practical sciences , to physick the mechanick is subordinate , and to the metaphysicks , the better sort of magick , in regard of its large ways and greater command in nature . now that we have thus described our doctrine we must proceed to the precepts in a right and orderly manner ; therefore the discovery of the interpretation of nature contains chiefly two parts . the first tends to the drawing out and raising axioms from experience ; the second teacheth how to take and derive experiments from new axioms . the first part is divided in a threefold manner into three ministrations ; into that which relates to sense , into that which relates to the memory , and to that which relates to the mind or understanding . first we must have a natural and experimental history ; sufficient and good , which is the foundation of the thing : it must not be feigned or contrived onely , but we must find what nature doth , or bears . but the natural and experimental history is so various and scattered that it confounds and disturbs the understanding ; unless it be limited and placed in a right order ; therefore we must form some tables and ranks of instances in such a manner and order , that the understanding may work upon them . which , when it is done , the understanding left to it self , and moving of it self , is not sufficient , but unable , for the working of axioms , unless it be ruled and assisted ; therefore in the third place a lawful and true induction is to be brought in , which is the key of the interpretation ; we must begin at the end and proceed back-wards to the rest . an inquisition of forms proceeds in this manner , first , upon nature given , we must bring to the understanding all the instances of notes , that agree in the same nature , though by different matters ; therefore such a collection is to be historical , without any hasty contemplation or greater subtilty than ordinary , for example in the inquisition of the form of hot. convenient instances in the nature of hot. 1. the sun beams chiefly in summer ; and at noon . 2. the sun beams beaten back and pressed together ; specially between mountains , walls , and through burning-glasses . 3. all fiery meteors . 4. fiery thunderbolts . 5. the bursting forth of flames out of the caves of mountains , &c. 6. all flame . 7. all solid bodies of fires 8. hot and natural baths . 9. all liquids heated or boiling . 10. vapors and hot smoak , and the air it self , which receives a strong and furious heat , when it is shut up , as in all places of reflection . 11. some kind of storms , by the constitution of the air , when there is no respect to the time of the year . 12. the air shut up in subterraneous caves , chiefly in winter . 13. all hair and shag , as wooll , the skins of beasts , feathers , have something of heat . 14. all bodies , as well solid as liquid , as well thick as thin , as the air , may be heated for a time . 15. sparks of fire out of iron or steel , when they are struck out . 16. all bodies rubb'd together as a stone , wood , cloth , &c. so that the axle-trees , and wheels of carts sometimes are enflamed . and the custome amongst the western indians is to make fire by rubbing . 17. all green herbs , and moist , shut up close together , as roses , pease in a basket , and hay , if it he laid up wet will often take fire . 18. lime watered . 19. iron when it is first dissolved by strong waters , in glass without any assistance of fire , and likewise pewter , &c. which is not so hot . 20. all animals chiefly in their inwards , though the heat in insects , because of the smalness of their bodies cannot be perceived by our feeling . 21. horse-dung and the new excrements of such like creatures . 22. strong oil of sulphur and vitriol performs the office of heat in burning linning . 23. the oyl of wilde majoram , and the like , doth the office of heat in burning bones and teeth . 24. the strong spirit of wine well rectified performs the office of heat , so that if the white of an egg be cast into it , it will thicken and whiten almost in the same manner , as when it is boiled , and cloth being cast into it will burn , and be brown as a toasted piece of bread . 25. all sweet sents , and hot herbs , as dragon wort , cresses , &c. although the hand feels not their heat , neither when they are entire , nor when reduced to ashes , but when they are chewed a little , they heat the tongue , and the pallet , as if they did burn . 26. strong vinegar , and all things acide or sharp , are hot in a member , where there is no * epidermis , as in the eye and tongue , and in a wounded part , or where the skin is taken off , they cause pain like to that of heat . 27. also extroardinary cold seems to be burning . 28. garlick . this list we are want to name the table essence and presence . secondly , we must examine with our understanding the instances which are deprived of * nature given . the instances at hand which have not the nature of heat . the beams of the moon , of the stars , and of the comets seem not to be hot to our feeling , for we may observe that the greatest frosts are in the full moon , but the fixed and bigger stars , when the sun goes under them , or draws near them , they are thought to be heated by the heat of the sun , as when the sun is in leo , or in the dog days . the sun beams , in the middle region of the air , are not hot : the reason is , because that region is not near enough to the body of the sun , from whence the beams burst forth , nor to the earth that reflects them back ; therefore this is plain , upon the tops of mountains , which are not the highest , snow abides upon them alwayes . but on the contrary , some have taken notice , that on the top of the pick of tenerif , and on the top of the mountains of peru , there is no snow to be seen , but upon the sides of these hills snow remains ; therefore the air on the top of those mountains is not cold , but subtil and sharp , so that in the mountains of peru it pricks and offends the eyes with its sharpness , and the stomack , so that it makes men inclinable to vomit . the ancients have taken notice , that , on the top of mount olympus , the air is so subtil , that such as climb up to the top , must carry with them spunges dipt in water and vinegar , and often put them to their mouths and noses , because the air is there so subtil , that it sufficeth not for respiration . they say also that there is there so great a calm , free from all rain , storms , snow and winds , that some who sacrificed there , upon jupiters altar , having made with their fingers an impression in the ashes upon the altar , the next year the same letters and impression were to be seen without the least alteration . and such as venture up to the top of the pick of tenerif go by night and not by day , they are called upon a little after the rising of the sun by their guides to hasten down again , because of the danger , as it seems , caused by the subtilty of the air , for fear that it should stiffle the spirits . the reflection of the sun beams near the northern pole are very weak and inefficacious in matter of heat . let this experiment be tried , take a looking gloss made contrary to the burning-glasses , and put it between your hand , and the sun beams , and take notice whether it don't diminish the heat of the sun , as the burning-glass increaseth it . try this other experiment , whether by the best and strongest burning-glasses it is not possible to gather together the beams of the moon in one point , and cause thereby a small degree of warmth . try also a burning-glass upon any thing that is hot , but not luminous or shining , as upon hot urine , or hot stone , which is not fiery or upon boiling water or the like , and see whether it increaseth not the heat , as at the rayes of the sun. try also a burning glass before the flame of the fire . the comets have not always the same effects in encreasing the heat of the year , though some have observed that grievous droughts have succeeded them . bright beams , and columns , and * chasmata , and such like meteors appear more frequently in the winter than in the summer , and especially in great frosts , when the air is very dry . thunder and lightnings seldom happen in winter , but in the time of great heats . but falling stars are thought to consist for the most part of a thin substance , bright and kindled , near a kin to the strongest fire . there are some lightnings that yield light but don't burn , such happen alwayes without thunder . the breaking out , and eruptions of flames are to be seen in cold regions as well as in hot , as in istandia , greenland , as the trees which grow in cold countreys are more combustible , more full of pitch , and rosom , than others that grow in hot regions . all flame is hot , more or less : nevertheless , they say , that ignus fatuus , which lights sometimes against a wall , hath but little heat : it may be like the flame of the spirit of wine , which is mild and soft ; but that flame is yet milder , which some credible and discreet historians affirm to have been seen about the hair and heads of boys and girls , which did not so much as singe the hair , but did softly wave above them . every thing that is fiery , when it turns into a fiery red , when it should not yield any flame , it is always hot . of hot baths , which happen by the scituation and nature of the sun , there hath not been sufficient inquiry . all boiling liquors in their own nature are cold , for there is no liquor to be toucht , which is so naturally , which remains always hot ; heat therefore is given to it for a time , as an acquired nature or quality ; so that the things themselves , which are in their operations most hot , as the spirit of wine , some chymical oiles , and the oyl of vitriol , and of sulphur , and the ike , which at the first touching are cold , but soon after they burn . there is a doubt whether the warmth of wool , of skins , and of feathers , and the like , proceed not from some small inherent heat , as it riseth from animals , or whether it proceeds not from a fatness and oyliness , which is agreeable to warmth , or whether it comes not from the inclusion and fraction of the air. there is nothing tangible , or yielding spirit , but is apt to take fire : yet many things differ in this , that some receive heat sooner , as air , oyl , and water ; ohers not so quickly , as stone , and metals . there can be no sparks struck out of stone , or steel , or out of any other hard substance , unless some minute parts of the substance of the stone or metal be also struck out . there is no tangible body to be found , but becomes warm by rubbing ; therefore the ancients did fancy , that the heavenly globes had no other warmth or vertue to cause heat , but that which was derived to them from the 〈◊〉 of the air , when they were rowled about in their swift and surious course . some herbs and vegetables , when they are green and moist , seem to have in them some secret heat ; but that heat is so small , that it is not to be perceived by feeling when they are single , but when they are heaped together , and shut up , that their spirits cannot escape out into the air , but encourge one another , then the heat appears , and sometimes a flame in convenient matter . new lime becomes hot when it is sprinkled with water , either because of the union of heat , which before was dispersed . or by the irritation and exasperation of the spirits of water and of fire ; for there is a kind of conflict and antiperistasis . how the heat is caused will easily appear , if instead of water , oyl be cast into it , for oyl , as well as water , unites the spirits shut up , but it will not irritate or anger them . all dung of animals , when it is old , hath the power of heating , as we may see in the fatting of ground . aromatick substances , and herbs sharp at the taste , are much hotter when they are taken inwardly ; we may try upon what other substances they discover any hot vertue . the seamen tell us , that when heaps and lumps of spices or aromatick substances , are long shut up closs , and then opened , there is some danger for such as stir them , or take them out first ; for the fumes that arise from them are apt to inflame the spirits , and to give feavers . likewise an experiment may be tried , whether their dust will not be able to dry bacon , and other flesh hung over it , as over the smoak of a fire . there is an accrimony or penetration in cold things , as vinegar , and oyl , of 〈◊〉 , as well as in hot , as in the oyl of wilde marjoram , and the like ; therefore they cause a like pain in animals , and in inanimate substances they dissolve , and confirm the parts . in animals there is no pain but is accompanied with a certain sense of heat . cold and hot have many effects common to them both , tho produced in a different manner ; for snow seems to burn the hands of children , and cold preserves flesh from putrefaction , as well as fire , and heat draws together some substances to a lesser bulk as well as cold . a table of degrees , or of such things as are comparatively hot . we must first speak of those things , which seem not to the feeling to be hot , and yet are so potentially afterwards : we shall descend to mention such things as are actually , or at the feeling hot ; and to examine their strength and degrees of heat . 1. amongst the solid and tangible bodies , there is none found , which is hot naturally or originally , neither stone , nor metal , nor sulphur , nor any mineral , nor wood , nor water , nor the carcase of any anima ; but in baths there is hot water by accident , either by subterraneous flames , as fire ; such as is in etna , and many other mountains , or by the conflict of bodies , as heat is produced in the dissolution of iron and pewter . therefore our feeling cannot be sensible of any degree of heat in inanimate substances , but they differ in their degrees of cold , for wood is not so cold as metals . 2. but touching things that have heat potentially in them , and that are ready to kindle , there are many inanimate substances of that nature , as sulphure , naptha , salt-peter , &c. 3. those things which before were inflamed , as the horse dung , by an animal heat , or lime , ashes , and soot ; by the fire they yet retain certain relicks of their former heat . therefore there are certain distillations , and separations of bodies , effected by the heat of horse dung ; and the heat is raised in lime by water , as we have already said . 4. amongst the vegetables there is no plant , nor part of a plant as the droppings , or sap , which seems to our feeling to be hot . 5. there is no part of dead animals nor any thing separated from them , which appears hot , nor the horse dung it self , unless it be shut up , and buried close . but nevertheless all dung seems to have heat potentially in it , as may appear by the improvement of the ground . likewise the corpses of dead animals have the same secret heat potentially ; therefore in church-yards , where they are daily buried , the ground hath by that means acquired a secret heat , which soon consumes a carcase newly buried , and sooner than other earth . 6. whatsoever fatness the ground , as all sorts of dung , chalk , sea-sand , salt , and the like have a secret disposition and tendency to heat . 7. all putrefaction hath some beginnings of a little heat , though not to that degree as to be perceived by feeling 8. the first degree of heat of those things , which are to be felt . to be hot by feeling is the heat of animals , that have a great latitude of degrees ; for the lowest degree , as in insects , is not to be perceived by touching . the highest degree scarce attains to the degrèe of heat of the sun beams in the hottest regions and times : nevertheless it is reported of constantine and of several others , that they were naturally so hot , and their constitution so dry , that in several violent feavers their bodies did burn so much , that when any did but touch them with the hand it would seem to burn a while after . 9. all animals do encrease their heat by motions and exercise , by wine , good chear , and venery , and in burning feavers , and pain . 10. all animals in the intervals of feavers are ceased with cold and shivering at first , but a little after they burn the more . 11. we may further inquire and compare the heat of several animals , as of fishes , four footed beasts , serpents , birds , and according to their several species , as in a lyon , in a kite , or a man ; for , according to the common opinion , fishes are inwardly less hot , birds most , especially , pigeons , hawks , and austriches . 12. let us inquire further of the heat compared in the same animal with the several parts and members , for milk , blood , seed , eys , are of a moderate degree of warmth , and less hot then the exterior flesh of animals , when it moves and is stirred about , but what degree of heat is in the brain , stomack , heart , and other parts , was never yet found out . 13. all animals , during the winter and in cold storms , are outwardly cold , but inwardly they are thought to be hotter than in summer . 14. the coelestial heat , in the hottest regions , times of the year , and day , is not so hot as burning wood , straw , or linnen , neither doth it burn but through a glass . 15. the astrologers inform us , that some stars are hotter th another , amongst the planets , next to sol , mars is the hotest , afterwards jupiter , then venus , but luna is thought to be cold , and saturn colder : amongst the fixed stars sirius is the hottest , then cor leonis or regulus , afterwards the dog star , &c. 16. the sun warms most when he is nearest to our zenith , over our heads ; the same we may think of the other planets , according to their degree of heat , for example , jupiter is hotter when he is under cancer or leo , than when he is under capricornius or aquarius . 17. the coelestial heat is increased three several ways , namely , when the globe is over our heads , when it draw near by proplnquity , and by a conjunction or association of several stars . 18. there are several degrees of heat in flames , and fires in strength and weakness . 19. i judge that the flame , that bursts forth and proceeds from certain imperfect metals , is very strong and fierce . 20. but the flame of thunder seems to be fiercer than all other flames , for sometimes it hath dissolved iron it self into drops , which all other flames cannot do . 21. in things set a fire there is also a different degree of heat , we esteem the weakest to be burn'd linnen , or tinder , touch wood or match ; after them the weakest fire is that of a burnt coal , and laths set a fire : but the hottest we think to be metal inflamed , as iron and copper , &c. 22. motion increaseth heat , as we may perceive by blowing with bellows : for some of the harder sort of metals are not to be dissolved , or liquefied by a dead fire , unless it be stirred up by blowing . 23. we judge that the great fires that happen , when the wind blows hard , do struggle and strive more against the wind than they do yield to it , for the flame in such a case flies back with a greater fierceness when the wind yeilds than when it drives it . by the common fire , especially by the subterraneous fires , which are the remotest and shut up clossest from the rayes of the sun , you may expel the caelestial nature from the form of hot . by the heating of bodies of all sorts , i mean of minerals , of vegetables , and of the exterior parts of animals , of water , of oile , &c. in drawing them nearer to the fire or any hot body you may expel all variety , and subtil texture of bodies . by iron or other fiery metals , which may heat other bodies without minishing ought of the weight or substance , expel the mixture of the substance of another hot thing . here follows several other directions and precepts most useful , if well understood ; but because i am limited i proceed to the other helps of natures interpretation recommended by the worthy author . first , he placeth prerogatives of instances . secondly , helps of induction . thirdly , arectification of induction , &c. amongst the prerogatives of instances the solitary instances are first . they are such as discover the nature , which is inquired after in such subjects , which have nothing common with other subjects , except that nature . and again , such as discover not the nature inquired for in such subjects , which are like in all things with other subjects , unless it be in the nature it self , for example , if the nature of colour , is inquired into , the solitary instances are gems of christal , which yeild not not only a color in themselves , but cast it upon a wall. they have nothing common with the fired colours in flowers , coloured gems , metals , wood , &c. unless it be the colour ; from whence it may easily appear , that colour is nothing else but a modification of the image of light cast into , and received in the first kind , by divers degrees of lightning upon the body ; in the second , by the textures and various schesmatisms of the body . the second are the instances called migrantes , they are such in which the nature inquired for passeth to the generation , when before it was not , or contrariwise passeth to corruption , when it was before these instances are useful for a right understanding of the nature of things , and to direct us to practise ; for example , suppose the nature of whiteness be inquired into , the instance putting to generation is whole glass , and glass beaten to with powder , likewise simple water , and water stirred about into froth , for whole glass and water are transparent , not white , but glass beaten and water turned into froth , are not transparant , but white ; therefore we must inquire what happens from that change or passage to glass or water ; for it is evident that the form of whiteness is conveighed in by the contusion of the glass , and the stirring of the water , and there seems to be nothing added besides the communition of the parts of glass and water , and the mixture of the air . by these instances we may understand such as pass , not onely to generation and privation , but such as proceed to majoration and minoration ; for they tend also to discover to us the true forms of things . the third assistances are named offensive , they are such as discover the nature inquired , for nakedly and in it self also , in its rise , and highest degree of power , free from all impediments ; for as every body receives the forms of many natures conjoyned , so as that in the concrete one weakness depresseth , breaks , and binds another , by that means every form is obscured : now there are some subjects to be found in which the nature sought for is above the rest in its full vigor , either by the absence of the impediment , or by the predominancy of its vertue . these instances do chiefly discover the nature of forms . for example , if you inquire for the nature of weight take quick-silver , which is the heaviest of all other things beside gold , which is not much heavier : but the instance of quick-silver is more proper to discover the nature of weight , than gold ; because gold is solid and close , but quick-silver is liquid and full of spirits ; nevertheless it is heavier than diamonds , and the most solid things , from whence we may understand the form of weight , which consists in the abundance of the matter , not in the compactness and closeness of the thing . the fourth instances are named clandestine . they shew the nature inquired for in its lowest power , and as it were in the cradle and beginning , rising and hid under a contrary nature that domineers over it . these instances are of great consequence to find out the forms of things , for example , if we inquire for the nature of solid ; the clandestine instances are such as discover a weak , and lowest degree of consistency , a solidity in a fluide substance , as in a buble of water , which is as a thin skin of solidity determined and made of a watery body . by this example , and by snow , froth , and melted metals , we may understand that liquid and solid , are but ordinary notions , agreeable to the sense , for in truth there is in every body a liquidity which is weaker and more infirm in bodies homogeneous , as water , but stronger in heterogenious , therefore the conjunction to an heterogeneous body unites and joyns together , but the insinuation of the homogeneous dissolves and loosens . the fifth sort of instances are named constitutive . they are such as constitute a species of the nature inquired into , as a lesser form , for as the lawful forms which are convertible with the natures sought for , are hid in secret , & are not easily to be found , the thing it self and the weakness of our intellect requires that the particular forms be not neglected , but be diligently inquired into , for whatsoever unites nature , although in an imperfect manner , it shews a way to find out forms . for example , if any desires to understand nature of memory , or that which excites or helps memory , the constitutive instances are order and distribution , which evidently help our memory , also places in an artificial memory , &c. so that there are six lesser forms of those things which help memory ; namely ; limitation , a reducement of intellectual matters , to a sensibility an impression into a strong affection , an impression into a pure and disingaged mind , a multitude of helps and a former expectation . the sixth are consormable instances or proportioned , for they shew similitudes , agreements , and conjugations of things , not in the lesser forms , as the constitutive instances do , but in a concrete body . they shew and discover a certain agreement between bodies , although they don't much 〈◊〉 to find out 〈◊〉 , nevertheless they are very beneficial to reveal the fabrick of several parts of the universe , and in its members they make a kind of dissection , and therefore they lead us , as it were , by the hand to high and noble axioms . for example , these are conformable instances , a looking glass and an eye , the make of the ear , and the places where the eccho sounds , but of which conformity , besides the observation of resemblance , which is very useful for many things , it is easie to gather and form this axiom , viz. that the organ for the senses , and the bodies , that send back the sounds to the sense , are much alike . again , the understanding being from hence informed , may easily rise to another axiom higher and more noble ; namely , that there is no 〈◊〉 between the consents , or sympathies , of sensible bodies , and such as are inanimate without sense , unless it be that in the former , there is an animal spirit in the body , fitted to receive and entertain it , but in the latter there is none . therefore as many consents as there are in inanimate bodies , so many senses there might be in animals , if there were as many holes or perforations in the animate body , for the animal spirit to move and fly to the member rightly disposed , as a right organ , &c. another conformable instance is the root of a plant , and the branches . every vegetable swells and pushes out its parts round about as well downwards as upwards neither is there any difference between the roots and branches , but only that the root is shut up in the earth and the branches , spread in the air and the sun , for if any one will but take a tender branch that grows , and turn the top towards the ground , though it toucheth not the earth , it will push forth a root and not a branch . and on the contrary , if the earth be put upon a plant , and be prest with a stone or other hard substance that might hinder the plant from spreading up , it will bring forth branches in the ground and underneath . other conformable instances are the gum of trees , and the most part of the gems of rocks , for either of them are but the exudations and sweatings , the first out of the sap of trees , the second out of rocks , from hence proceeds the clearness and splendor of both . namely from the thin and subtil percolation from hence it is also that the hairs of animals are not so beautiful and of such a lively colour as the plumes of birds , for their sweat is not so fine when it issues out of their skin as when it comes out of a feathers . other conformable instances are the fins of fishes , and the feet of four footed beasts , or the feet and wings of birds unto which aristotle adds four circles in the motion of serpents . therefore in this great fabrick of the world the motion of living creatures seems to be performed by four arters or flexions . also in terrestrial animals the teeth , and in birds , their bills are alike , from whence it is evident that in all perfect animals there is a certain hard substance that draws to the mouth . the seventh are irregular instances , such as discover bodies in their whole , which are extravagant and broken off in nature , and do not agree with other things of the same gender , but are only like to themselves , therefore stiled monodicae . they are useful to raise and unite nature , to find out the genders and common natures , to limit them by their true differences . neither are we to desist from an inquisition until the properties and qualities , which are found in such things as are thought to be miracles in nature , may be reduced , and comprehended under some form or certain law , that all irregularity and singularity might be found to depend upon some common form . such instances are the sun and moon amongst the stars , the loadstone among the stones , quick-silver amongst metals , the elephant , amongst the four footed beasts , &c. the eighth sort of instances are named diviantes , because they are natures errors , and monsters , when nature declines and goes aside from its ordinary course . the use of these is to rectifie the understanding , to reveal the common forms ; neither in these ought we to desist from the inquisition until we have found out the cause of the deviation . but this cause doth not rise properly to any form , but onely to the hidden proceeding to a form , for he that knows the ways of nature , he shall with more ease observe its deviations . and again , he that understands its deviations can better discover its ordinary ways and methods . the ninth sort of instances are named limitanea , such as discover the species of bodies , which seem to be composed of two species , or the rudiments between one species and another : such are flies between rottenness and a plant , certain comets between stars and fiery meteors , flying , fishes , between birds , and fishes , &c. the tenth are instances of power , which are the noblest , and the most perfect , as the most excellent in every art ; for as this is our business chiefly , that nature should be obedient and yield to the benefits of men ; it is fitting , that the works , which are in the power of men , as so many provinces , be overcome and subdued , should be taken notice of , and reckoned specially such as are most plain and perfect , because from them there is an easier and a nearer way to new inventions , never found out before . the eleventh instance are stiled comitatus and hostiles . they are such as discover a concrete body such in which the nature inquired after , doth always follow it as an individual companion , and on the contrary , in which the nature required doth always fly from it , & is excluded out of its company as an enemy : for out of such instances propositions may be formed , which may be certain , universal , affirmative , and negative , in which the subject shall be such a body in concrete , & the predicate the nature it self that is sought , for example if you seek for hot the iustantia comitatus is the flame , &c. the twelth are subjunctive , &c. the thirteenth are instances of union which confound and joyn together natures , which are esteemed to be heterogeneous , and for such are noted and confirmed by the received divisions . for example , if the nature required is hot . that division seems to be good and authentick , that there are three kinds of heat ; the coelestial , the animal , and that of the fire . these heats especially one of them being compared with the other two , are , in essence and species , or by a specifick nature , differing and altogether heterogeneous ; for the heat of the coelestial globes , and the animate heat , encourage and help generation ; but the heat of the fire corrupts and destroyes . it is therefore an instance of union . this experiment , is common enough when the branch of a vine is brought into the house , where there is a continual fire , by which the grapes will ripen a month sooner than those that are in the air : so that fruits may be brought to maturity when they hang upon the tree by the fire , whereas , this seems to be a work proper only to the sun. therefore the understanding is perswaded from hence to inquire , what are the differences which are really between the heat of the sun and that of the fire ; from whence it happens that their operations are so unlike , and they nevertheless partake of the same common nature . the differences are found to be four . first , that the heat of the sun in respect of the heat of the fire is a degree much milder and more favourable . secondly , that it is conveyed , to us through the air , which of it self is humide . thirdly , and chiefly that it is very unequal , sometimes drawing near and increasing in strength , anon departing and diminishing , which very much contributes to the generation of bodies . fourthly , that the sun works upon a body in a long space of time ; but the working of the fire , through mens impatiency , performs the business in a shorter time . if any will be careful to attemper and reduce the heat of the fire to a more moderate and milder degree ; which may be done several ways , if he will besprinkle it , and cause it to send forth something of humidity ; cheifly if he imitates the suns inequality . lastly , if he stayes a little , by this means , he shall imitate or equal , or in some things cause the fires heat to be better than the suns . the fourteenth sort of instances are the judicial , which is when an inquisition is made , and the understanding is placed in an equilibrium , in an uncertainty where to assign the cause of the nature inquired for . for example , suppose any man seeks the cause of the flux and reflux of the sea twice a 〈◊〉 . this motion must needs proceeds from the progress and regress of the waters , in the manner of water troubled up and down in a bason , which when it toucheth the one side of the bason , it leaves the other . or it must proceed from the rising and falling of the waters in the bottom , as boiling water : now there is a doubt unto which of these causes the ebbing and flowing , or flux and reflux of the sea is to be assigned ; which if the first of these be asserted , then it will follow , that when the flux is on this side , the 〈◊〉 will be at the sametime on the other . but acosco with some others have found after a diligent inquiry , that upon the coast of florida , and upon the coast of spain , and africa , the ebbing and flowing of the sea happens at the same moment of time . this question is further examined in the original . the fifteenth sort of instances are of divorce , because they discover the separations of those 〈◊〉 which often meet . the sixteenth are the instances of the lamp , or of the first information , which assist the sense , for as all interpretation of nature begins by the sense , and from the perception of the sense leads by a right and straight-way to inform the understanding , which are the true notions and axioms ; it must needs be , that the more copious and exact the representations of the senses are , so much the better and the happier all things must succeed . the seventeenth sort of instances are stiled of the gate , because they help the immediate actions of the senses . amongst the senses , it is certain that the sight is the chief , in regard of information ; therefore we must seek assistances to this sight . the eighteenth are instances called citantes , which deduce that which is not sensible to be sensible . the nineteenth are named instances of supplement , because they supply the understanding with a right information when the senses fail , therefore we must fly to them , when we have no proper instances . this is done in a two fold manner , either by gradation , or by analogy . for example , the medium is not to be found which stop the load-stone in moving the iron , neither gold , if we put it between , nor silver , nor stone , nor glass , nor wood , &c. nevertheless after an exact tryal , there may be a certain medium sound , which might dull its vertue more than any thing else comparatively , and in some degree , as that the loadstone should not be able to drawiron to it self through gold of such a thickness , &c. the twentieth sort are stiled instances persecantes , because they cut nature asunder , &c. the one and twenty sort are instances of the rod , or of non ultra . the two and twentieth are called instances curriculi . they measure nature by the moments of time , as the instances of the rod measure it by the degrees of space . for all motion and natural action is performed in a time , some quicker , some softer , &c : the three and twentieth sort are instances quanti , &c. the four and twentieth sort are instances of predominancy , the 25. sort are called innuentes , because they discover and design the benefits of men . the six and twentieth sort are named instantiae polychrestas . the seven and twentieth are the magick instances . they are such in which the matter or the officient is but little and slender , if compared with the greatness of the work , or of the effect that follows , in somuch that though they are common , they are looked upon as miracles , &c. i am forced to out short , and abbreviate many excellent directions , and to pass over several weighty observations , because i am limited . however this abbreviation may give the reader 〈◊〉 of the whole . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a28309-e2080 * or skin to cover such as covers the body . * natura data . * gaping of the firmament . a discourse of a method for the well guiding of reason, and the discovery of truth in the sciences discours de la méthode. english descartes, rené, 1596-1650. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a35745 of text r22748 in the english short title catalog (wing d1129). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 123 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 69 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a35745 wing d1129 estc r22748 12125249 ocm 12125249 54569 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a35745) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54569) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 92:1) a discourse of a method for the well guiding of reason, and the discovery of truth in the sciences discours de la méthode. english descartes, rené, 1596-1650. [10], 127 p. printed by thomas newcombe, london : 1649. translation of: discours de la méthode. written by rené descartes. cf. bm. reproduction of original in cushing collection, yale university medical school library. eng science -methodology -early works to 1800. a35745 r22748 (wing d1129). civilwar no a discourse of a method for the well-guiding of reason, and the discovery of truth in the sciences. descartes, rené 1649 24615 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 b the rate of 2 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-04 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a discourse of a method for the well guiding of reason , and the discovery of truth in the sciences . london , printed by thomas newcombe . mdcxlix . to the vnderstanding reader . the great des cartes ( who may justly challenge the first place amongst the philosophers of this age ) is the author of this discourse ; which in the originall was so well known , that it could be no mans but his own , that his name was not affix'd to it : i need say no more either of him or it ; he is best made known by himself , and his writings want nothing but thy reading to commend them . but as those who cannot compasse the originals of titian and van-dyke , are glad to adorne their cabinets with the copies of them ; so be pleased favourably to receive his picture from my hand , copied after his own designe : you may therein observe the lines of a well form'd minde , the hightnings of truth , the sweetnings and shadowings of probabilities , the falls and depths of falshood ; all which serve to perfect this master-piece . now although my after-draught be rude and unpolished , and that perhaps i have touch'd it too boldly , the thoughts of so clear a minde , being so extremely fine , that as the choisest words are too grosse , and fall short fully to expresse such sublime notions ; so it cannot be , but being transvested , it must necessarily lose very much of its native lustre : nay , although i am conscious ( notwithstanding the care i have taken neither to wrong the authours sense , nor offend the readers ear ) of many escapes which i have made ; yet i so little doubt of being excused , that i am confident , my endeavour cannot but be gratefull to all lovers of learning ; for whose benefit i have englished , and to whom i addresse this essay , which contains a method , by the rules whereof we may shape our better part , rectifie or reason , form our manners and square our actions , adorn our mindes , and making a diligent enquiry into nature , wee may attain to the knowledge of the truth , which is the most desirable union in the world . our authour also invites all letterd men to his assistance in the prosecution of this search ; that for the good of mankinde , they would practise and communicate experiments , for the use of all those who labour for the perfection of arts and sciences : every man now being obliged to the furtherance of so beneficiall an undertaking , i could not but lend my hand to open the curtain , and discover this new model of philosophy ; which i now publish , neither to humour the present , nor disgust former times ; but rather that it may serve for an innocent divertisement to those , who would rather reform themselves , then the rest of the world ; and who , having the same seeds and grounds , and knowing that there is nothing new under the sun ; that novelty is but oblivion , and that knowledge is but remembrance , will study to finde out in themselves , and restore to posterity those lost arts , which render antiquity so venerable ; and strive ( if it be possible ) to go beyond them in other things , as well as time : who minde not those things which are above , beyond , or without them ; but would rather limit their desires by their power , then change the course of nature ; who seek the knowledge , and labour for the conquest of themselves ; who have vertue enough to make their own fortune ; and who prefer the culture of the minde before the adorning of the body ; to such as these i present this discourse ( whose pardon i beg , for having so long detain'd them from so desirable a conversation ; ) and conclude with this advice of the divine plato : cogita in te , praeter animum , nihil esse mirabile . a discourse of a method , for the wel-guiding of reason ; and the discovery of truth in the sciences . if this discourse seem too long to be read at once , it may be divided into six parts . in the first , are divers considerations touching the sciences . in the second , the principall rules of that method which the author hath studyed . in the third , some of those in morality , which he hath drawn from this method . in the fourth , the reasons whereby the existence of god and of the humane soul is proved ; which are the grounds of his metaphysicks . in the fift , the order of these physicall questions , which he hath examined , and particularly the explication of the hearts motion ; with some other difficulties relating to physick ; as also the difference between our souls and those of beasts . in the last , what he conceives requisit to make a further inquiry into nature , then hath hitherto been made . and what reasons induc'd him to write . part . i. right understanding is the most equally divided thing in the world ; for every one beleevs himself so well stor'd with it , that even those who in all other things are the hardest to be pleas'd , seldom desire more of it then they have ; wherein it is not likely that all men are deceived : but it rather witnesseth , that the faculty of right-judging and distinguishing truth from falshood ( which is properly call'd , understanding or reason ) is naturally equal in all men . and as the diversity of our opinions , is not , because some are more reasonable then others ; but only that we direct our thoughts several ways , neither do we consider the same things . for 't is not enough to have good faculties , but the principal is , to apply them well . the greatest souls are as capable of the greatest vices , as of the most eminent vertues : and those who move but very slowly , may advance much farther , if they always follow the right way ; then those who run and straggle from it . for my part , i never presum'd that my minde was more perfect in any thing then an ordinary mans ; nay , i have often wish'd to have had my thoughts as quick , my imagination as clear and distinct , and my memory as large and as ready as some other men have had . and i know no qualities which serve more then those to the perfection of the minde ; for as for reason or understanding , forasmuch as it is the only thing which makes us men , and distinguisheth us from beasts , i will beleeve it to be entire in every one , and follow herein the common opinion of the philosophers , who say , that there is only more or less among the accidents , and not amongst the forms or nature of the individuals of one species . but i shall not stick to say , that i beleeve my self very happy , in having encountred from my youth with certain ways which have led me to considerations and maximes , from which i have found a method ; whereby methinks , i have the means by degrees to augment my knowledg , and by little and little to raise it up to the highest pitch , whereto the meaness of my capacity , & the short course of my life can permit it to attain . for i have already reaped such fruits from it , that although in the judgment i make of my self , i endevour always rather to incline to mistrust , then to presumption . and looking on the divers actions and undertakings of all men , with the eye of a philosopher , there is almost none which to me seems not vain and useless . yet i am extremely satisfied with the progress , which ( as it seems to me ) i have already made in the search of truth , and do conceive such hopes for the future , that if among the employments of men , purely men , there is any solidly good , and of importance , i dare beleeve it is that which i have chosen : yet it may be that i deceive my self , and perhaps it is but a little copper and glass which i take for gold and diamonds . i know how subject we are to mistake in those things which concern us , and how jealous we ought to be of the judgment of our friends , when it is in our favor . but i should willingly in this discourse , trace out unto you the ways which i have followed , and represent therein my life , as in a picture , to the end , that every one may judge thereof ; and that learning from common fame , what mens opinions are of it , i may finde a new means of instructing my self ; which i shall add to those which i customarily make use of . neither is it my design to teach a method which every man ought to follow , for the good conduct of his reason ; but only to shew after what manner i have endevoured to order mine own . those who undertake to give precepts , ought to esteem themselves more able , then those to whom they give them , and are blame-worthy , if they fail in the least . but proposing this but as a history , or if you will have it so , but as a fable ; wherein amongst other examples , which may be imitated , we may perhaps find divers others which we may have reason to decline : i hope it will be profitable to some , without being hurtfull to any ; and that the liberty i take will be gratefull to all . i have been bred up to letters from mine infancy ; & because i was perswaded , that by their means a man might acquire a clear and certain knowledg of all that 's usefull for this life , i was extremely desirous to learn them : but as soon as i had finish'd all the course of my studies , at the end whereof men are usually receiv'd amongst the rank of the learned . i wholly changed my opinion , for i found my self intangled in so many doubts and errors , that me thought i had made no other profit in seeking to instruct my self , but that i had the more discovered mine own ignorance . yet i was in one of the most famous schools in europe ; where i thought , if there were any on earth , there ought to have been learned men . i had learnt all what others had learnt ; even unsatisfied with the sciences which were taught us , i had read over all books ( which i could possibly procure ) treating of such as are held to be the rarest and the most curious . withall , i knew the judgment others made of me ; and i perceiv'd that i was no less esteem'd then my fellow students , although there were some amongst them that were destin'd to fill our masters rooms . and in fine , our age seem'd to me as flourishing and as fertile of good wits , as any of the preceding , which made me take the liberty to judg of all other men by my self , and to think , that there was no such learning in the world , as formerly i had been made beleeve . yet did i continue the esteem i had of those exercises which are the employments of the schools : i knew that languages which are there learnt , are necessary for the understanding of ancient writers , that the quaintness of fables awakens the minde ; that the memorable actions in history raise it up , and that being read with discretion , they help to form the judgment . that the reading of good books , is like the conversation with the honestest persons of the past age , who were the authors of them , and even a studyed conversation , wherein they discover to us the best only of their thoughts . that eloquence hath forces & beauties which are incomparable . that poetry hath delicacies and sweets extremly ravishing ; that the mathematicks hath most subtile inventions , which very much conduce aswel to content the curious , as to facilitate all arts , and to lessen the labour of men : that those writings which treat of manners contain divers instructions , and exhortations to vertue , which are very usefull . that theology teacheth the way to heaven ; that philosophy affords us the means to speake of all things with probability , and makes her self admir'd , by the least knowing men . that law , phpsick and other sciences bring honor and riches to those who practice them ; finally that its good to have examin'd them all even the falsest and the most superstitious , that we may discover their just value , and preserve our selves from their cheats . but i thought i had spent time enough in the languages , and even also in the lecture of ancient books , their histories and their fables . for 't is even the same thing to converse with those of former ages , as to travel . it s good to know something of the manners of severall nations , that we may not think that all things against our mode are ridiculous or unreasonable , as those are wont to do , who have seen nothing . but when we employ too long time in travell , we at last become strangers to our own country , and when we are too curious of those things , which we practised in former times , we commonly remain ignorant of those which are now in use . besides , fables make us imagine divers events possible , which are not so : and that even the most faithfull histories , if they neither change or augment the value of things , to render them the more worthy to be read , at least , they always omit the basest and less remarkable circumstances ; whence it is , that the rest seems not as it is ; and that those who form their manners by the examples they thence derive , are subject to fall into the extravagancies of the paladins of our romances , and to conceive designes beyond their abilities . i highly priz'd eloquence , and was in love with poetry ; but i esteem'd both the one and the other , rather gifts of the minde , then the fruits of study . those who have the strongest reasoning faculties , and who best digest their thoughts , to render them the more clear and intelligible , may always the better perswade what they propose , although they should speak but a corrupt dialect , and had never learnt rhetorick : and those whose inventions are most pleasing , and can express them with most ornament and sweetness , will still be the best poets , although ignorant of the art of poetry . beyond all , i was most pleas'd with the mathematicks , for the certainty and evidence of the reasons thereof ; but i did not yet observe their true use , and thinking that it served only for mechanick arts ; i wondred , that since the grounds thereof were so firm and solid , that nothing more sublime had been built thereon . as on the contrary , i compar'd the writings of the ancient heathen which treated of manners , to most proud and stately palaces which were built only on sand and mire , they raise the vertues very high , and make them appear estimable above all the things in the world ; but they doe not sufficiently instruct us in the knowledg of them , and often what they call by that fair name , is but a stupidness , or an act of pride , or of despair , or a paricide . i reverenc'd our theology , and pretended to heaven as much as any ; but having learnt as a most certain truth , that the way to it , is no less open to the most ignorant , then to the most learned ; and that those revealed truths which led thither , were beyond our understanding , i durst not submit to the weakness of my ratiocination . and i thought , that to undertake to examine them , and to succeed in it , requir'd some extraordinary assistance from heaven , and somewhat more then man . i shall say nothing of philosophy , but that seeing it hath been cultivated by the most excellent wits , which have liv'd these many ages , and that yet there is nothing which is undisputed , and by consequence , which is not doubtfull . i could not presume so far , as to hope to succeed better then others . and considering how many different opinions there may be on the same thing , maintain'd by learned men , and yet that there never can be but one only truth , i reputed almost all false , which had no more then probability in it . as for other sciences , since they borrow their principles from philosophy , i judg'd that nothing which was solid could be built upon such unsound foundations ; and neither honour nor wealth were sufficient to invite me to the study of them . for ( i thank god ) i found not my self in a condition which obliged me to make a trade of letters for the relief of my fortune . and although i made it not my profession to despise glory with the cynick ; yet did i little value that which i could not acquire but by false pretences . and lastly , for unwarrantable studies , i thought i already too well understood what they were , to be any more subject to be deceived , either by the promises of an alchymist , or by the predictions of an astrologer , or by the impostures of a magician , or by the artifice or brags of those who profess to know more then they do . by reason whereof , as soon as my years freed me from the subjection of my tutors , i wholly gave over the study of letters , and resolving to seek no other knowledge but what i could finde in my self , or in the great book of the world , i imployed the rest of my youth in travell , to see courts and armies , to frequent people of severall humors and conditions , to gain experience , to hazard my self in those encounters of fortune which should occurr ; and every-where to make such a reflection on those things which presented themselves to me , that i might draw profit from them . for ( me thought ) i could meet with far more truth in the discourses which every man makes touching those affairs which concern him , whose event would quickly condemn him , if he had judg'd amisse ; then amongst those which letter'd men make in their closets touching speculations , which produce no effect , and are of no consequence to them , but that perhaps they may gain so much the more vanity , as they are farther different from the common understanding : forasmuch as he must have imployed the more wit and subtilty in endeavouring to render them probable . and i had always an extreme desire to learn to distinguish truth from falshood , that i might see cleerly into my actions , and passe this life with assurance . it s true , that whiles i did but consider the manners of other men , i found little or nothing wherein i might confirm my self : and i observ'd in them even as much diversity as i had found before in the opinions of the philosophers : so that the greatest profit i could reap from them was , that seeing divers things , which although they seem to us very extravagant and ridiculous , are neverthelesse commonly received and approved by other great nations , i learn'd to beleeve nothing too firmly , of what had been onely perswaded me by example or by custom , and so by little and little i freed my self from many errors , which might eclipse our naturall light , and render us lesse able to comprehend reason . but after i had imployed some years in thus studying the book of the world , and endeavouring to get experience , i took one day a resolution to study also within my self , and to employ all the forces of my minde in the choice of the way i was to follow : which ( me thought ) succeeded much better , then if i had never estranged my self from my country , or from my books . part . ii. i was then in germany , whither the occasion of the wars ( which are not yet finished ) call'd me ; and as i return'd from the emperors coronation towards the army , the beginning of winter stopt me in a place , where finding no conversation to divert me and on the other sides having by good fortune no cares nor passions which troubled me , i stayd alone the whole day , shut up in my stove , where i had leasure enough to entertain my self with my thoughts . among which one of the first was that i betook my self to consider , that oft times there is not so much perfection in works compos'd of divers peeces , and made by the hands of severall masters , as in those that were wrought by one only : so we may observe that those buildings which were undertaken and finished by one onely , are commonly fairer and better ordered then those which divers have laboured to patch up , making use of old wals , which were built for other purposes ; so those ancient cities which of borough● , became in a succession of time great towns , are commonly so ill girt in comparison of other regular places , which were design'd on a flatt according to the fancy of an engeneer ; and although considering their buildings severally , we often find as much or more art , then in those of other places ; yet to see how they are rank'd here a great one , there a little one , and how they make the streets crooked and uneven , one would say , that it was rather fortune , then the will of men indued with reason , that had so disposed them . and if we consider , that there hath always been certain officers , whose charge it was , to take care of private buildings , to make them serve for the publique ornament ; we may well perceive , that it 's very difficult , working on the works of others , to make things compleat . so also did i imagine , that those people who formerly had been half wilde , and civiliz'd but by degrees , made their laws but according to the incommodities which their crimes and their quarrels constrain'd them to , could not be so wel pollic'd , as those who from the beginning of their association , observ'd the constitutions of some prudent legislator . as it is very certain , that the state of the true religion , whose ordinances god alone hath made , must be incomparably better regulated then all others . and to speak of humane things , i beleeve that if sparta hath formerly been most flourishing , it was not by reason of the goodness of every of their laws in particular , many of them being very strange , and even contrary to good manners , but because they were invented by one only , they all tended to one end . and so i thought the sciences in books , at least those whose reasons are but probable , and which have no demonstrations , having been compos'd of , and by little and little enlarg'd with , the opinions of divers persons , come not so near the truth , as those simple reasonings which an understanding man can naturally make , touching those things which occurr . and i thought besides also , that since we have all been children , before we were men ; and that we must have been a long time govern'd by our appetites , and by our tutors , who were often contrary to one another , and neither of which alwayes counsel'd us for the best ; it 's almost impossible that our judgment could be so clear or so solid , as it might have been , had we had the intire use of our reason from the time of our birth , and been always guided by it alone . it s true , we doe not see the houses of a whole town pull'd down purposely to rebuild them of another fashion ; and to make the streets the fairer ; but we often see , that divers pull their own down to set them up again , and that even sometimes they are forc'd thereunto , when they are in danger to fall of themselves , and that their foundations are not sure . by which example i perswaded my self , that there was no sense for a particular person , to design the reformation of a state , changing all from the very foundations , and subverting all to redress it again : nor even also to reform the bodies of sciences , or the orders already established in the schools for teaching them . but as for all the opinions which i had till then receiv'd into my beleef , i could not doe better then to undertake to expunge them once for all , that afterwards i might place in their stead , either others which were better , or the same again , as soon as i should have adjusted them to the rule of reason . and i did confidently beleeve , that by that means i should succeed much better in the conduct of my life , then if i built but on old foundations , and only relyed on those principles , which i suffer'd my self to be perswaded to in my youth , without ever examining the truth of them . for although i observ'd herein divers difficulties , yet were they not without cure , nor comparable to those which occurr in the reformation of the least things belonging to the publick : these great bodies are too unweldy to be rais'd , being cast down , or to be held up when they are shaken , neither can their falls be but the heavyest . as for their imperfections , if they have any , as the only diversity which is amongst them , is sufficient to assure us that many have . custome hath ( without doubt ) much sweetned them , and even it hath made others wave , or insensibly correct a many , whereto we could not so well by prudence have given a remedy . and in fine , they are alwayes more supportable , then their change can be , even , as the great roads , which winding by little and little betwixt mountains , become so plain and commodious , with being often frequented , that it 's much better to follow them , then to undertake to goe in a strait line by climbing over the rocks , and descending to the bottom of precipices . wherefore i can by no means approve of those turbulent and unquiet humors , who being neither call'd by birth or fortune to the managing of publique affairs , yet are alwayes forming in idea , some new reformation . and did i think there were the least thing in this discourse , which might render me suspected of that folly , i should be extremely sorry to suffer it to be published ; i never had any designe which intended farther then to reform my own thoughts and to build on a foundation which was wholly mine . but though i present you here with a modell of my work , because it hath sufficiently pleased me ; i would not therefore counsell any one to imitate it . those whom god hath better endued with his graces , may perhaps have more elevated designes ; but i fear me , lest already this be too bold for some . the resolution only of quitting all those opinions which we have formerly receiv'd into our belief , is not an example to be followed by every one ; and the world is almost compos'd but of two sorts of men , to whom it 's no wayes convenient , to wit , of those , who beleeving themselves more able then they are , cannot with-hold themselves from precipitating their judgments , nor have patience enough to steer all their thoughts in an orderly course . whence it happens , that if they should once take the liberty to doubt of those principles which they have already received , and to stray from the common road , they could never keep the path which leads strait forwards , and so , would straggle all their lives . and of such who having reason and modesty enough to judg that they are less able to distinguish truth from falshood then others , from whom they may receive instruction , ought much rather to be content to follow other mens opinions , rather then to seek after better themselves . and for my part , i had undoubtedly been of the number of those latter , had i never had but one master , or had i not known the disputes which have alwayes hapned amongst the most learned . for having learnt from the very school , that one can imagin nothing so strange or incredible , which had not been said by some one of the philosophers ; and having since observ'd in my travails , that all those whose opinions are contrary to ours , are not therefore barbarous or savage , but that many use as much or more reason then we ; and having consider'd how much one man with his own understanding , bred up from his childhood among the french or the dutch , becomes different from what he would be , had he alwayes liv'd amongst the chineses , or the cannibals : and how even in the fashion of our clothes , the same thing which pleas'd ten years since , and which perhaps wil please ten years hence , seems now to us ridiculous and extravagant . so that it 's much more custome and example which perswades us , then any assured knowledg ; and notwithstanding that plurality of voices is a proof of no validity , in those truths which are hard to be discovered ; for that it 's much more likely for one man alone to have met with them , then a whole nation ; i could choose no man whose opinion was to be preferr'd before anothers : and i found my self even constrain'd to undertake the conduct of my self . but as a man that walks alone , and in the dark , i resolv'd to goe so softly , and use so much circumspection in all things , that though i advanc'd little , i would yet save my self from falling . neither would i begin quite to reject , some opinions , which formerly had crept into my belief , without the consent of my reason , before i had employed time enough to form the project of the work i undertook , and to seek the true method to bring me to the knowledg of all those things , of which my understanding was capable . i had a little studyed , being young , of the parts of philosophy , logick , and of the mathematicks , the analysis of the geometricians , and algebra : three arts or sciences which seem'd to contribute somewhat conducing to my designe : but examining them , i observ'd , that as for logick , its sylogisms , and the greatest part of its other rules , serve rather to expound to another the things they know , or even as lullies art , to speak with judgment of the things we are ignorant of , then to learn them . and although in effect it contain divers most true and good precepts , yet there are so many others mixed amongst them , either hurtfull or superfluous , that it 's even as difficult to extract them , as 't is to draw a diana or a mercury out of a lump of marble , which is not yet rough-hewn ; as for the analysis of the ancients , and the algebra of the moderns ; besides that , they extend only to matters very abstract , and which seem to be of no use ; the first being alwayes so tyed to the consideration of figures , that it cannot exercise the understanding , without very much tiring the imagination . and in the latter they have so subjected themselves to certain rules and cyphers , that they have made a confus'd and obscure art which perplexeth the minde , in stead of a science to instruct it . for this reason , i thought i ought to seek some other method , which comprehending the advantages of these , they might be exempt from their defects . and as the multitude of laws often furnisheth excuses for vice ; so a state is fair better polic'd , when having but a few , they are very strictly observ'd therein : so , instead of the great many precepts whereof logick is compos'd , i thought these four following would be sufficient for me , if i took but a firm and constant resolution not once to fail in the observation of them . the first was , never to receive any thing for true , but what i evidently knew to be so ; that 's to say , carefully to avoid precipitation and prevention , and to admit nothing more into my judgment , but what should so clearly and distinctly present it self to my minde , that i could have no reason to doubt of it . the second , to divide every one of these difficulties , which i was to examine into as many parcels as could be , and , as was requisite the better to resolve them . the third , to lead my thoughts in order , beginning by the most simple objects , and the easiest to be known ; to rise by little and little , as by steps , even to the knowledg of the most ●●xt ; and even supposing an order among those which naturally doe not precede one the other . and the last , to make every where such exact calculations , and such generall reviews , that i might be confident to have omitted nothing . those long chains of reasons , ( though simple and easie ) which the geometricians commonly use to lead us to their most difficult demonstrations , gave me occasion to imagine , that all things which may fall under the knowledg of men , follow one the other in the same manner , and so we doe only abstain from receiving any one for true , which is not so , and observe alwayes the right order of deducing them one from the other , there can be none so remote , to which at last we shall not attain ; nor so hid , which we shall not discover . neither was i much troubled to seek by which it behooved me to begin , for i already knew , that it was by the most simple , and the easiest to be discern'd . but considering , that amongst all those who formerly have sought the truth in learning , none but the mathematicians only could finde any demonstrations , that 's to say , any certain and evident reasons . i doubted not , but that it was by the same that they have examin'd ; although i did hope for no other profit , but only that they would accustome my minde to nourish it self with truths , and not content it self with false reasons . but for all this , i never intended to endevour to learn all those particular sciences which we commonly call'd mathematicall ▪ and perceiving , that although their objects were different , yet did they nevertheless agree altogether , in that they consider no other thing , but the divers relations or proportions which are found therein ; i thought it therefore better to examine those proportions in generall , and without supposing them but in those subjects , which might the more easily serve to bring me to the knowledg of them . but withall , without any wayes limiting them , that i might afterwards the better fit them to all others whereto they might be applyed . having also observ'd , that to know them , it would be sometimes needfull for me to consider every one in particular , or sometimes only to restrain them , or comprehend many together ; i thought , that to consider them the better in particular i ought to suppose them in lines , for as much as i find nothing more simple , nor which i could more distinctly represent to my imagination , and to my sences ; but to hold or comprehend many in one , i was oblig'd to explain them by certain cyphers the shortest i possibly could , and that i should thereby borrow the best of the geometricall analysis , and of algebra , & so correct all the defects of the one by the other . as in effect i dare say , that the exact observation of those few precepts i had chosen , gave me such a facility to resolve all the questions whereto these two sciences extend ; that in two or three months space which i employed in the examinanation of them , having begun by the most simple and most generall , and every truth which i found being a rule which afterwards served me to discover others ; i did not only compasse divers truths which i had formerly judged most difficult , but me thought also that towards the end i could determin even in those which i was ignorant of , by what means and how farr it was possible to resolve them . wherein perhaps i shall not appear to be very vain if you consider , that there being but one truth of every thing , who ever finds it , knows as much of it as one can know ; and that for example a child instructed in arithmatick having made an addition according to his rules , may be sure to have found , touching the sum he examined , all what the wit of man could finde out . in a word the method which teacheth to folow a right order , and exactly to enumerate all the circumstances of what we seek , contains , whatsoever ascertains the rules of arithmatick . but that which pleas'd me most in this method was the assurance i had , wholly to use my reason , if not perfectly , at least as much as it was in my power ; besides this , i perceived in the practice of it , my minde by little and little accustom'd it self to conceive its objects more clearly and distinctly ; and having not subjected it to any particular matter , i promised my self to apply it also as profitable to the difficulties , of other sciences as i had to algebra : not that i therefore durst at first undertake to examine all which might present themselves , for that were contrary to the order it prescribes . but having observ'd that all their principles were to be borrowed from philosophy , in which i had yet found none that were certain , i thought it were needfull for me in the first place to endevor to establish some , and that this being the most important thing in the world , wherein precipitation and prevention were the most to be feared , i should not undertake to performe it , till i had attain'd to a riper age then xxiii . which was then mine . before i had formerly employed a long time in preparing my self thereunto , aswel in rooting out of my minde all the ill opinions i had before that time received , as in getting a stock of experience to serve afterwards for the subject of my reasonings , and in exercising my self always in the method i had prescribed . that i might the more and more confine my self therein . part . iii. but as it is not enough to pull down the house where we dwell , before we begin to re-edify it , and to make provision of materials and architects , or performe that office our selves ; nor yet to have carefully laid the design of it ; but we must also have provided our selves of some other place of abode during the time of the rebuilding : so that i might not remain irresolute in my actions , while reason would oblige me to be so in my judgments , and that i might continue to live the most happily i could , i form'd for my own use in the interim a moral , which consisted but of three or four maximes , which i shall communicate unto you . the first was to obey the lawes and customes of my country , constantly adhaering to that religion wherein by the grace of god i had from mine infancy bin bred . and in all other things behaving my self according to the most moderate opinions and those which were farthest from excesse , which were commonly received in practice by the most judicious men , amongst whom i was to live : for beginning from that very time , to reckon mine own for nothing , because i could bring them all to the test , i was confident i could not do better then follow those of the deepest sense ; and although perhaps there are as understanding men amongst the persians or chineses as amongst us , yet i thought it was more fit to regulate my self by those with whom i was to live , and that i might truly know what their opinions were , i was rather to observe what they practic'd , then what they taught . not only by reason of the corruption of our manners , there are but few who will say , all they beleeve , but also because divers are themselves ignorant of it ; for the act of the thought by which we beleeve a thing , being different from that whereby we know that we believe it , the one often is without the other . and amongst divers opinions equally receiv'd , i made choise of the most moderate only , as well because they are always the most fit for practice , and probably the best , all excess being commonly ill ; as also that i might less err from the right way , if i should perhaps miss it , then if having chosen one of the extremes , it might prove to be the other , which i should have followed . and particularly i plac'd amongst extremities , all those promises by which we somwhat restrain our liberty . not that i disapproved the laws , which to cure the inconstancy of weak minds , permit us when we have any good design , or else for the preservation of commerce , one that is but indifferent , to make vows or contracts , which oblige us to persevere in them : but because i saw nothing in the world remain always in the same state ; and for mine own particular , promised my self to perfect more and more my judgment , and not to impair it , i should have thought my self guilty of a great fault against right understanding , if because i then approved any thing , i were also afterwards oblig'd to take it for good , when perhaps it ceased to be so , or that i had ceased to esteem it so . my second maxime was , to be the most constant and resolute in my actions that i could ; and to follow with no less perseverance the most doubtfull opinions , when i had once determined them , then if they had been the most certain . imitating herein travellers , who having lost their way in a forrest , ought not to wander , turning now this way , and then that , and less to abide in one place ; but stil advance straight forwards , towards one way , and not to change on slight occasions , although perhaps at first chance only mov'd them to determine that choice : for by that means , if they do not go directly whither they desire , they will at least arrive somewhere where they will probably be better then in the midst of a forrest . so the actions of this life admitting often of no delay , it s a most certain truth , that when it is not in our power to discern the truest opinions , we are to follow the most probable : yea , although we finde no more probability in the one then in the other , we yet ought to determine some way , considering them afterwards no more as doubtful in what they relate to practice ; but as most true and certain ; forasmuch as the reason was so , which made us determine it . and this was sufficient for that time to free me from all the remorse and repentance which useth to perplex the consciences of those weak and staggering minds , which inconstantly suffer themselves to passe to the practice of those things as good , which they afterwards judge evill . my third maxime was , to endevour always rather to conquer my self then fortune ; and to change my desires , rather then the order of the world : and generally to accustome my self to beleeve , that there is nothing wholly in our power but our thoughts ; so that after we have done our best , touching things which are without us , all what 's wanting of success in respect of us is absolutely impossible . and this alone seem'd sufficient to hinder me from desiring any thing which i could not acquire , and so to render me content . for our will naturally moving us to desire nothing , but those things which our understanding presents in some manner as possible , certain it is , that if we consider all the good which is without us , as equally distant from our power , we should have no more regret for the want of those which seem due to our births , when without any fault of ours we shall be deprived of them , then we have in wanting the possessions of the kingdoms of china or mexico . and making ( as we say ) vertue of necessity , we should no more desire to be in health being sick , or free being in prison , then we now do , to have bodies of as incorruptible a matter as diamonds , or wings to fly like birds . but i confess , that a long exercise , and an often reiterated meditation , is necessary to accustom us to look on all things with that byass : and i beleeve , in this principally consists , the secret of those philosophers who formerly could snatch themselves from the empire of fortune , and in spight of pains and poverty , dispute felicity with their gods . for imploying themselves incessantly in considering the bounds which nature had prescribed them , they so perfectly perswaded themselves , that nothing was in their power but their thoughts , that , that onely was enough to hinder them from having any affection for other things . and they disposed so absolutely of them , that therein they had some reason to esteem themselves more rich and powerfull , more free and happy then any other men ; who wanting this philosophy , though they were never so much favoured by nature and fortune , could never dispose of all things so well as they desired . lastly , to conclude these morals , i thought fit to make a review of mens severall imployments in this life , that i might endeavour to make choice of the best , and without prejudice to other mens , i thought i could not do better then to continue in the same wherein i was , that is , to imploy all my life in cultivating my reason , and advancing my self , as far as i could in the knowledge of truth , following the method i had prescribed my self . i was sensible of such extreme contentment since i began to use this method , that i thought none could in this life be capable of any more sweet and innocent : and daily discovering by means thereof , some truths which seemed to me of importance , and commonly such as other men were ignorant of , the satisfaction i thereby received did so possesse my minde , as if all things else concern'd me not . besides , that the three preceding maximes were grounded only on the designe i had , to continue the instruction of my self . for god having given to every one of us a light to discern truth from falshood , i could not beleeve i ought to content my self one moment with the opinions of others , unlesse i had proposed to my self in due time to imploy my judgment in the examination of them . neither could i have exempted my self from scruple in following them , had i not hoped to lose no occasion of finding out better , if there were any . but to conclude , i could not have bounded my desires , nor have been content , had i not followed a way , whereby thinking my self assured to acquire all the knowledge i could be capable of : i thought i might by the same means attain to all that was truly good , which should ever be within my power ; forasmuch as our will inclining it self to follow , or fly nothing but what our understanding proposeth good or ill , to judge well is sufficient to do well , and to judge the best we can , to do also what 's best ; to wit , to acquire all vertues , and with them all acquirable goods : and whosoever is sure of that , he can never fail of being content . after i had thus confirmed my self with these maximes , and laid them up with the articles of faith , which always had the first place in my belief , i judg'd that i might freely undertake to expell all the rest of my opinions . and forasmuch as i did hope to bring it the better to passe by conversing with men , then by staying any longer in my stove , where i had had all these thoughts : before the winter was fully ended , i returned to my travels ; and in all the nine following yeers i did nothing but rowl here and there about the world , endeavouring rather to be a spectator , then an actor in all those comedies which were acted therein : and reflecting particularly on every subject which might render it suspected , or afford any occasion of mistake . in the mean time i rooted out of my minde all those errours which formerly had crept in . not that i therein imitated the scepticks , who doubt onely to the end they may doubt , and affect to be always unresolved : for on the contrary , all my designe tended onely to fix my self , and to avoid quick-mires and sands , that i might finde rock and clay : which ( me thought ) succeeded well enough ; forasmuch as , seeking to discover the falshood or uncertainty of those propositions i examined , ( not by weak conjectures , but by clear and certain ratiocinations ) i met with none so doubtfull , but i thence drew some conclusion certain enough , were it but onely this , that it contained nothing that was certain . and as in pulling down an old house , commonly those materials are reserved which may serve to build a new one ; so in destroying all those my opinions which i judg'd ill grounded , i made divers observations , and got severall experiences which served me since to establish more certain ones . and besides i continued to exercise my self in the method i had prescibed . for i was not only carefull to direct all my thoughts in generall according to its rules , but i from time to time reserv'd some houres , which i particularly employd to practice it in difficulties belonging to the mathematicks , loosening from all the principles of other sciences , which i found not stable enough , as you may see i have done in divers explain'd in my other following discourses . and thus not living in appearance otherwise then those who having no other business then to lead a sweet and innocent life , study to separate pleasures from vices , and use honest recreations to enjoy their ease without wearinesse ; i did not forbear to pursue my design , and advance in the knowledg of truth , perhaps more , then if i had done nothing but read books or frequent learned men . yet these nine years were vanished , before i had engaged my self in those difficulties which use to be disputed amongst the learned ; or begun to seek the grounds of any more certain philosophy then the vulgar : and the example of divers excellent men , who formerly having had the same designe , seem'd not to me to have succeeded therein , made me imagine so much difficulty , that i had not perhaps dar'd so quickly to have undertaken it , had i not perceiv'd that some already had given it out that i had already accomplished it . i know not whereupon they grounded this opinion , and if i have contributed any thing thereto by my discourse , it must have been by confessing more ingeniously what i was ignorant of , then those are wont to do who have a little studyed , and perhaps also by comunicating those reasons , i had to doubt of many things which others esteem'd most eminent , rather then that i bragg'd of any learning . but having integrity enough , not to desire to be taken for what i was not , i thought that i ought to endeavour by all means to render my self worthy of the reputation which was given me . and 't is now eight years since this desire made me resolve to estrange my self from all places where i might have any acquaintance , and so retire my self hither in a country where the long continuance of the warre hath established such orders , that the armies which are intertain'd there , seem to serve onely to make the inhabitants enjoy the fruits of peace with so much the more security ; and where amongst the croud of a great people more active and solicitous for their own affaires , then curious of other mens , not wanting any of those necessaries which are in the most frequented towns , i could live as solitary and retired as in the most remote deserts . part . iiii. i know not whether i ought to entertain you with the first meditations which i had there , for they are so metaphysicall and so little common , that perhaps they will not be relished by all men : and yet that you may judge whether the foundations i have laid are firm enough , i find my self in a manner oblig'd to discourse them ; i had long since observed that as for manners , it was somtimes necessary to follow those opinions which we know to be very uncertain , as much as if they were indubitable , as is beforesaid : but because that then i desired onely to intend the search of truth , i thought i ought to doe the contrary , and reject as absolutely false all wherein i could imagine the least doubt , to the end i might see if afterwards any thing might remain in my belief , not at all subject to doubt . thus because our senses sometimes deceive us , i would suppose that there was nothing which was such as they represented it to us . and because there are men who mistake themselves in reasoning , even in the most simple matters of geometry , and make therein paralogismes , judging that i was as subject to fail as any other man , i rejected as false all those reasons , which i had before taken for demonstrations . and considering , that the same thoughts which we have waking , may also happen to us sleeping , when as not any one of them is true . i resolv'd to faign , that all those things which ever entred into my minde , were no more true , then the illusions of my dreams . but presently after i observ'd , that whilst i would think that all was false , it must necessarily follow , that i who thought it , must be something . and perceiving that this truth , i think , therefore , i am , was so firm and certain , that all the most extravagant suppositions of the scepticks was not able to shake it , i judg'd that i might receive it without scruple for the first principle of the philosophy i sought . examining carefully afterwards what i was ; and seeing that i could suppose that i had no body , and that there was no world , nor any place where i was : but for all this , i could not feign that i was not ; and that even contrary thereto , thinking to doubt the truth of other things , it most evidently and certainly followed , that i was : whereas , if i had ceas'd to think , although all the rest of what-ever i had imagined were true , i had no reason to beleeve that i had been . i knew then that i was a substance , whose whole essence or nature is , but to think , and who to be , hath need of no place , nor depends on any materiall thing . so that this me , to wit , my soul , by which i am what i am , is wholly distinct from the body , and more easie to be known then it ; and although that were not , it would not therefore cease to be what it is . after this i considered in generall what is requisite in a proposition to make it true and certain : for since i had found out one which i knew to be so , i thought i ought also to consider wherein that certainty consisted : and having observed , that there is nothing at all in this , i think , therefore i am , which assures me that i speak the truth , except this , that i see most cleerly , that to think , one must have a being ; i judg'd that i might take for a generall rule , that those things which we conceive cleerly and distinctly , are all true ; and that the onely difficulty is punctually to observe what those are which we distinctly conceive . in pursuance whereof , reflecting on what i doubted , and that consequently my being was not perfect ; for i clearly perceived , that it was a greater perfection to know , then to doubt , i advised in my self to seek from whence i had learnt to think on something which was more perfect then i ; and i knew evidently that it must be of some nature which was indeed more perfect . as for what concerns the thoughts i had of divers other things without my self , as of heaven , earth , light , heat , and a thousand more , i was not so much troubled to know whence they came , for that i observed nothing in them which seemed to render them superiour to me ; i might beleeve , that if they were true , they were dependancies from my nature , as far forth as it had any perfection ; and if they were not , i made no accompt of them ; that is to say , that they were in me , because i had something deficient . but it could not be the same with the idea of a being more perfect then mine : for to esteem of it as of nothing , was a thing manifestly impossible . and because there is no lesse repugnancy that the more perfect should succeed from and depend upon the less perfect , then for something to proceed from nothing , i could no more hold it from my self : so as it followed , that it must have bin put into me by a nature which was truly more perfect then i , and even which had in it all the perfections whereof i could have an idea ; to wit , ( to explain my self in one word ) god . whereto i added , that since i knew some perfections which i had not , i was not the onely being which had an existence , ( i shall , under favour , use here freely the terms of the schools ) but that of necessity there must be some other more perfect whereon i depended , and from whom i had gotten all what i had : for had i been alone , and depending upon no other thing , so that i had had of my self all that little which i participated of a perfect being , i might have had by the same reason from my self , all the remainder which i knew i wanted , and so have been my self infinite , eternall , immutable , all-knowing , almighty ; and lastly , have had all those perfections which i have observed to be in god . for according to the way of reasoning i have now followed , to know the nature of god , as far as mine own was capable of it , i was onely to consider of those things of which i found an idea in me , whether the possessing of them were a perfection or no ; and i was sure , that any of those which had any imperfections were not in him , but that all others were . i saw that doubtfulness , inconstancy , sorrow and the like , could not be in him , seeing i could my self have wish'd to have been exempted from them . besides this , i had the ideas of divers sensible and corporeall things ; for although i supposed that i doted , and that all that i saw or imagined was false ; yet could i not deny but that these ideas were truly in my thoughts . but because i had most evidently known in my self , that the understanding nature is distinct from the corporeall , considering that all composition witnesseth a dependency , and that dependency is manifestly a defect , i thence judged that it could not be a perfection in god to be composed of those two natures ; and that by consequence he was not so composed . but that if there were any bodies in the world , or els any intelligences , or other natures which were not wholly perfect , their being must depend from his power in such a manner , that they could not subsist one moment without him . thence i went in search of other truths ; and having proposed geometry for my object , which i conceived as a continued body , or a space indefinitely spred in length , bredth , height or depth , divisible into divers parts , which might take severall figures and bignesses , and be moved and transposed every way . for the geometricians suppose all this in their object . i past through some of their most simple demonstrations ; and having observed that this great certaintie , which all the world grants them , is founded only on this , that men evidently conceived them , following the rule i already mentioned . i observed also that there was nothing at all in them which ascertain'd me of the existence of their object . as for example , i well perceive , that supposing a triangle , three angles necessarily must be equall to two right ones : but yet nevertheless i saw nothing which assured me that there was a triangle in the world . whereas returning to examine the idea which i had of a perfect being , i found its existence comprised in it , in the same manner as it was comprised in that of a triangle , where the three angles are equall to two right ones ; or in that of a sphere , where all the parts are equally distant from the center . or even yet more evidently , and that by consequence , it is at least as certain that god , who is that perfect being , is , or exists , as any demonstration in geometry can be . but that which makes many perswade themselves that there is difficulty in knowing it , as also to know what their soul is , 't is that they never raise their thoughts beyond sensible things , and that they are so accustomed to consider nothing but by imagination , which is a particular manner of thinking on materiall things , that whatsoever is not imaginable seems to them not intelligible . which is manifest enough from this , that even the philosophers hold for a maxime in the schools , that there is nothing in the understanding which was not first in the sense ; where notwithstanding its certain , that the ideas of god and of the soul never were . and ( me thinks ) those who use their imagination to comprehend them , are just as those , who to hear sounds , or smell odours , would make use of their eys ; save that there is yet this difference , that the sense of seeing assures us no lesse of the truth of its objects , then those of smelling or hearing do : whereas neither our imagination , nor our senses , can ever assure us of any thing , if our understanding intervenes not . to be short , if there remain any who are not enough perswaded of the existence of god , and of their soul , from the reasons i have produc'd , i would have them know , that all other things , whereof perhaps they think themselves more assured , as to have a body , and that there are stars , and an earth , and the like , are less certain . for although we had such a morall assurance of these things , that without being extravagant we could not doubt of them . however , unless we be unreasonable when a metaphysicall certainty is in question , we cannot deny but we have cause enough not to be wholly confirm'd in them , when we consider that in the same manner we may imagine being asleep , we have other bodies , and that we see other stars , and another earth , though there be no such thing . for how doe we know that those thoughts which we have in our dreams , are rather false then the others , seeing often they are no less lively and significant , and let the ablest men study it as long as they please , i beleeve they can give no sufficient reason to remove this doubt , unless they presuppose the existence of god . for first of all , that which i even now took for a rule , to wit , that those things which were most clearly and distinctly conceived , are all true , is certain , only by reason , that god is or exists , and that he is a perfect being , and that all which we have comes from him . whence it follows , that our idea's or notions , being reall things , and which come from god in all wherein they are clear and distinct , cannot therein be but true . so that if we have very often any which contain falshood , they cannot be but of such things which are somewhat confus'd and obscure , because that therein they signifie nothing to us , that 's to say , that they are thus confus'd in us only , because we are not wholly perfect . and it 's evident that there is no less contrariety that falshood and imperfection should proceed from god , as such , then there is in this , that truth and falshood proceed from nothing . but if we know not that whatsoever was true and reall in us comes from a perfect and infinite being , how clear and distinct soever our idea's were , we should have no reason to assure us , that they had the perfection to be true . now after that the knowledge of god , and of the soul hath rendred us thus certain of this rule , it 's easie to know ; that the extravaganceys which we imagin in our sleep , ought no way to make us doubt of the truth of those thoughts which we have being awake : for if it should happen , that even sleeping we should have a very distinct idea ; as for example , a geometritian should invent some new demonstration , his sleeping would not hinder it to be true . and for the most ordinary error of our dreames , which consists in that they represent unto us severall objects in the same manner as our exterior senses doe , it matters not though it give us occasion to mistrust the truth of those ideas , because that they may also often enough cozen us when we doe not sleep ; as when to those who have the jaundies , all they see seems yellow ; or , as the stars or other bodies at a distance , appear much less then they are . for in fine , whether we sleep or wake , we ought never to suffer our selves to be perswaded but by the evidence of our reason ; i say , ( which is observable ) of our reason , and not of our imagination , or of our senses . as although we see the sun most clearly , we are not therefore to judge him to be of the bigness we see him of ; and we may well distinctly imagine the head of a lion , set on the body of a goat , but therefore we ought not to conclude that there is a chimera in the world . for reason doth not dictate to us , that what we see or imagine so , is true : but it dictates , that all our idea's or notions ought to have some grounds of truth ; for it were not possible , that god who is all perfect , and all truth , should have put them in us without that : and because that our reasonings are never so evident , nor so entire while we sleep , as when we wake , although sometimes our imaginations be then as much or more lively and express . it also dictates to us , that our thoughts , seeing they cannot be all true by reason that we are not wholly perfect ; what they have of truth , ought infallibly to occur in those which we have being awake , rather then in our dreams . part . v. i should be glad to pursue this discourse , and shew you the whole series of the following truths , which i have drawn from the former : but because for this purpose , it were now necessary for me to treat of severall questions , which are controverted by the learned , with whom i have no desire to imbroil my self , i beleeve it better for me to abstain from it ; and so in generall onely to discover what they are , that i may leave the wisest to judge whether it were profitable to inform the publick more particularly of them . i alwayes remained constant to my resolution , to suppose no other principle but that which i now made use of , for the demonstration of the existence of god , and of the soul ; and to receive nothing for true , which did not seem to me more clear and more certain then the demonstrations of geometry had formerly done . and yet i dare say , that i have not onely found out the means to satisfie my self , in a short time , concerning all the principall difficulties which are usually treated in philosophy . but that also i have observed certain laws which god hath so established in nature , and of which he hath imprinted such notions in our souls , that when we shall have made sufficient reflections upon them , we cannot doubt but that they are exactly observed in whatsoever either is , or is done in the world . then considering the connexion of these laws , me thinks , i have discovered divers truths , more usefull and important , then whatever i learn'd before , or ever hop'd to learn . but because i have endeavoured to lay open the principall of them in a treatise , which some considerations hinder me from publishing ; i can no way better make them known , then by relating summarily what it contains . i had a designe to comprehend all what i thought i knew , before i would write it , touching the nature of material things . but even as painters , not being able equally well to represent upon a flat all the severall facies of a solid body , chuse the principall of them , which they place towards the light ; and shadowing the others , make them appear no more then they do to our sight : so , fearing lest i should not bring into this discourse all which was in my thoughts , i onely undertook to set forth at large my conceptions touching the light ; and upon that occasion to add somewhat of the sun , and of the fix'd stars , by reason that it proceeds almost all from thence ; of the heavens , because they transmit it ; of the planets , of the comets , and of the earth , because they cause it to reflect ; and in particular , of all bodies which are on the earth , whether for that they are either coloured , or transparent , or luminous ; and last of all , of man , because he is the spectator thereof . as also , in some mnner to shadow out all these things , and that i might the more freely speak what i judg'd , without being obliged to follow , or to refute the opinions which are received amongst the learned , i resolved to leave all this world here to their disputes , and to speak onely of what would happen in a new one , if god now created some where in those imaginary spaces matter enough to compose it , and that he diversly and without order agitated the severall parts of this matter , so as to compose a chaos of it as confused as the poets could feign one : and that afterwards he did nothing but lend his ordinary concurrence to nature , and leave her to work according to the laws he hath established . thus first of all i described this matter , and endevoured to represent it such , that me thinks there is nothing in the world more clear , or more intelligible , except what was beforesaid of god , and of the soul . for even i expresly supposed that there was in it none of those forms and qualities which are disputed in the schools ; nor generally any thing but that the knowledge thereof was so naturall to our understandings , that we could not even feigne to be ignorant of it . besides , i made known what the laws of nature were ; and without grounding my reasons on any other principles , but on the infinite perfections of god , i did endeavour to demonstrate all those which ●●ght be questioned , and to make them appear to be such , that although god had created divers worlds , there could have been none where they were not observed . afterwards i shewed how the greater part of the matter of this chaos ought , according to those laws , to dispose and order it self in a certain manner , which would make it like our heavens : and how some of these parts were to compose an earth , and some planets and commets , some others a sun and fix'd starrs . and here enlarging my self on the subject of light , i at length explain'd what that light was , which was to be in the sun and stars ; and thence how it travers'd in an instant the immense spaces of the heavens , and how it reflected it self from planets and commets towards the earth . i added also divers things touching the substance , situation , the motions , and all the several qualities of these heavens and these stars : so that i thought i had sa●● enough to make known , that there is nothing remarkable in those of this world , which ought not , or at least could not appear altogether like to these of that world which i described . thence i came to speak particularly of the earth ; how , although i had expresly supposed , that god had placed no weight in the matter whereof it was composed ; yet all its parts exactly tended towards its center : how that there being water and air upon its superficies , the disposition of the heavens , and of the starrs , and chiefly of the moon , ought to cause a floud and an ebb , which in all circumstances was like to that which we observe in our seas ; and besides , a certain course aswel of the water , as of the air , from east to west , as is also observed between the tropicks : how the mountains , the seas , the springs and rivers might naturally be form'd therein , and metals run in the mines , and plants grow in the fields , and generally all bodies be therein engendered which are call'd mixt or composed .. and amongst other things , because that next the stars , i know nothing in the world but fire , which produceth light , i studied to make all clearly understood which belongs to its nature ; how it 's made , how it 's fed , how sometimes it hath heat onely without light , and sometimes onely light without heat ; how it can introduce several colours into several bodies , and divers other qualities ; how it dissolves some , and hardens others ; how it can consume almost all , or convert them into ashes and smoak : and last of all , how of those ashes , by the only violence of its action , it forms glass . for this transmutation of ashes into glass , seeming to me to be as admirable as any other operation in nature , i particularly took pleasure to describe it . yet would i not inferre from all these things , that this world was created after the manner i had proposed . for it is more propable that god made it such as it was to be , from the beginning . but it 's certain , and 't is an opinion commonly received amongst the divines , that the action whereby he now preserveth it , is the same with that by which he created it . so that , although at the beginning he had given it no other form but that of a chaos ( provided , that having established the laws of nature , he had afforded his concurrence to it , to work as it used to do ) we may beleeve ( without doing wrong to the miracle of the creation ) that by that alone all things which are purely material might in time have rendred themselves such as we now see them : and their nature is far easier to conceive , when by little and little we see them brought forth so , then when we consider them quite form'd all at once . from the description of inanimate bodies and plants , i pass'd to that of animals , and particularly to that of men . but because i had not yet knowledge enough to speak of them in the same stile as of the others ; to wit , in demonstrating effects by their causes , and shewing from what seeds , and in what manner nature ought to produce them ; i contented my self to suppose , that god form'd the body of a man altogether like one of ours , aswel in the exteriour figure of its members , as in the interiour conformity of its organs ; without framing it of other matter then of that which i had described ; and without putting in it at the beginning any reasonable soul , or any other thing to serve therein for a vegetative or sensitive soul ; unless he stirr'd up in his heart one of those fires without light which i had already discovered ; and that i conceiv'd of no other nature but that which heats hay when it s housed before it be dry , or which causeth new wines to boyl when it works upon the rape : for examining the functions which might be consequently in this body , i exactly found all those which may be in us , without our thinking of them ; and to which our soul ( that is to say , that distinct part from our bodies , whose nature ( as hath been said before ) is onely to think ) consequently doth not contribute , and which are all the same wherein we may say unreasonable creatures resemble us . yet could i not finde any , of those which depending from the thought , are the onely ones which belong unto us as men ; whereas i found them all afterwards , having supposed that god created a reasonable soul , and that he joyn'd it to this body , after a certain manner which i describ'd . but that you might see how i treated this matter , i shall here present you with the explication of the motion of the heart , and of the arteries , which being the first and most general ( which is observed in animals ) we may thereby easily judge what we ought to think of all the rest . and that we may have the less difficulty to understand what i shall say thereof , i wish those who are not versed in anatomy , would take the pains , before they read this , to cause the heart of some great animal which hath lungs , to be dissected ; for in all of them its very like that of a man : and that they may have shewn them the two cels or concavities which are there : first that on the right side , whereto two large conduits answer , to wit , the vena cava , which is the principal receptacle of bloud , and as the body of a tree , whereof all the other veins of the body are branches ; and the arterious vein , which was so mis-call'd , because that in effect its an artery , which taking its origine from the heart , divides it self after being come forth , into divers branches , which every way spred themselves through the lungs . then the other which is on the left side , whereunto in the same manner two pipes answer , which are as large , or larger then the former ; to wit , the veinous artery , which was also il named , forasmuch as it s nothing else but a vein which comes from the lungs , where it s divided into several branches interlaid with those of the arterious vein , and those of that pipe which is called the whistle , by which the breath enters . and the great artery , which proceeding from the heart , disperseth its branches thorow all the body . i would also that they would carefully observe the eleven little skins , which , as so many little doors , open and shut the four openings which are in these two concavities ; to wit , three at the entry of the vena cava , where they are so disposed , that they can no wayes hinder the bloud which it contains from running into the right concavity of the heart ; and yet altogether hinder it from coming out . three at the entry of the arterious vein ; which being disposed quite contrary , permit only the bloud which is in that concavity to pass to the lungs ; but not that which is in the lungs to return thither . and then two others at the entry of the veinous artery , which permits the bloud to run to the left concavity of the heart , but opposeth its return . and three at the entry of the great artery , which permit it to go from the heart , but hinder its return thither . neither need we seek any other reason for the number of these skins , save only that the opening of the veinous artery , being oval-wise , by reason of its situation , may be fitly shut with two ; whereas the other , being round , may the better be clos'd with three . besides , i would have them consider , that the great artery and the arterious vein are of a composition much stronger then the veinous artery or the vena cava . and that these two later grow larger before they enter into the heart , and make ( as it were ) two purses , call'd the ears of the heart , which are composed of a flesh like it ; and that there is always more heat in the heart then in any other part of the body . and in fine , that if any drop of bloud enter into these concavities , this heat is able to make it presently swell and dilate it self , as generally all liquors do , when drop by drop we let them fall into a very hot vessel . for after this i need say no more for to unfold the motion of the heart , but that when these concavities are not full of bloud , necessarily there runs some from the vena cava into the right , and from the veinous artery into the left ; for that these two vessels are always full of it , and that their openings which are towards the heart cannot then be shut : but that assoon as there is thus but two drops of bloud entred , one in either of these concavities , these drops , which cannot but be very big , by reason that their openings whereby they enter are very large , and the vessels whence they come very full of bloud , are rarified and dilated because of the heat which they find therein . by means whereof , causing all the heart to swel , they drive and shut the five little doors which are at the entry of the two vessels whence they come , hindering thereby any more bloud to fall down into the heart , and continuing more and more to rarifie themselves , they drive and open the six other little doors which are at the entry of the other two vessels whence they issue , causing by that means all the branches of the arterious vein , and of the great artery , to swel ( as it were ) at the same time with the heart : which presently after fals , as those arteries also do , by reason that the bloud which is entred therein grows colder , and their six little doors shut up again , and those five of the vena cava , and of the veinous artery open again , and give way to two other drops of bloud , which again swell the heart and the arteries in the same manner as the preceding did . and because the bloud which thus enters into the heart , passeth thorow those two purses , which are call'd the ears ; thence it comes , that their motion is contrary to the heart's , and that they fall when that swels . lastly , that they who know not the force of mathematical demonstrations , and are not accustomed to distinguish true reasons from probable ones , may not venture to deny this without examining it , i shall advertise them , that this motion which i have now discovered , as necessarily follows from the onely disposition of the organs ( which may plainly be seen in the heart , ) and from the heat ( which we may feel with our fingers , ) and from the nature of the bloud ( which we may know by experience , ) as the motions of a clock doth by the force , situation and figure of its weight and wheels . but if it be asked , how it comes that the bloud of the veins is not exhausted , running so continually into the heart ; and how that the arteries are not too full , since all that which passeth thorow the heart dischargeth it self into them : i need answer nothing thereto but what hath been already writ by an english physician , to whom this praise must be given , to have broken the ice in this place , and to be the first who taught us , that there are several little passages in the extremity of the arteries whereby the bloud which they receive from the heart , enters the little branches of the veins ; whence again it sends it self back towards the heart : so that its course is no other thing but a perpetuall circulation . which he very wel proves by the ordinary experience of chirurgians , who having bound the arm indifferently hard above the the place where they open the vein , which causeth the bloud to issue more abundantly , then if it had not been bound . and the contrary would happen , were it bound underneath , between the hand and the incision , or bound very hard above . for its manifest , that the band indifferently tyed , being able to hinder the bloud which is already in the arm to return towards the heart by the veins ; yet it therefore hinders not the new from coming always by the arteries , by reason they are placed under the veins , and that their skin being thicker , are less easie to be press'd ; as also that the bloud which comes from the heart , seeks more forcibly to passe by them towards the hand , then it doth to return from thence towards the heart by the veins . and since this bloud which issues from the arm by the incision made in one of the veins , must necessarily have some passage under the bond , to wit , towards the extremities of the arm , whereby it may come thither by the arteries , he also proves very well what he sayes of the course of the bloud through certain little skins , which are so disposed in divers places along the veins , which permit it not to pass from the middle towards the extremities , but onely to return from the extremities towards the heart . and besides this , experience shews , that all the bloud which is in the body may in a very little time run out by one onely artery's being cut , although it were even bound very neer the heart , and cut betwixt it and the ligature : so that we could have no reason to imagine that the bloud which issued thence could come from any other part . but there are divers other things which witness , that the true cause of this motion of the bloud is that which i have related . as first , the difference observed between that which issues out of the veins , and that which comes out of the arteries , cannot proceed but from its being rarified and ( as it were ) distilled by passing thorow the heart : it s more subtil , more lively , and more hot presently after it comes out ; that is to say , being in the arteries , then it is a little before it enters them , that is to say , in the veins . and if you observe , you will finde , that this difference appears not well but about the heart ; and not so much in those places which are farther off . next , the hardnesse of the skin of which the artery vein and the great artery are composed , sheweth sufficiently , that the bloud beats against them more forcibly then against the veins . and why should the left concavity of the heart , and the great artery be more large and ample then the right concavity , and the arterious vein ; unless it were that the bloud of the veinous artery , having bin but onely in the lungs since its passage thorow the heart , is more subtil , and is rarified with more force and ease then the bloud which immediately comes from the vena cava . and what can the physicians divine by feeling of the pulse , unlesse they know , that according as the bloud changeth its nature , it may by the heat of the heart be rarified to be more or lesse strong , and more or lesse quick then before . and if we examine how this heat is communicated to the other members , must we not avow that 't is by means of the bloud , which passing the heart , reheats it self there , and thence disperseth it self thorow the whole body : whence it happens , that if you take away the bloud from any part , the heat by the same means also is taken away . and although the heart were as burning as hot iron , it were not sufficient to warm the feet and the hands so often as it doth , did it not continue to furnish them with new bloud . besides , from thence we know also that the true use of respiration is to bring fresh air enough to the lungs , to cause that bloud which comes from the right concavity of the heart , where it was rarified , and ( as it were ) chang'd into vapours , there to thicken , and convert it self into bloud again , before it fall again into the left , without which it would not be fit to serve for the nourishment of the fire which is there . which is confirm'd , for that it s seen , that animals which have no lungs have but one onely concavity in the heart ; and that children , who can make no use of them when they are in their mothers bellies , have an opening , by which the bloud of the vena cava runs to the left concavity of the heart , and a conduit by which it comes from the arterious vein into the great artery without passing the lungs . next , how would the concoction be made in the stomach , unlesse the heart sent heat by the arteries , and therewithall some of the most fluid parts of the bloud , which help to dissolve the meat receiv'd therein ? and is not the act which converts the juice of these meats into bloud easie to be known , if we consider , that it is distill'd by passing and repassing the heart , perhaps more then one or two hundred times a day ? and what need we ought else to explain the nutrition and the production of divers humours which are in the body , but to say , that the force wherewith the bloud in rarifying it self , passeth from the heart towards the extremities of the arteries , causeth some of its parts to stay amongst those of the members where they are , and there take the place of some others , which they drive from thence ? and that according to the situation , or the figure , or the smalnesse of the pores which they meet , some arrive sooner in one place then others . in the same manner as we may have seen in severall sieves , which being diversly pierc'd , serve to sever divers grains one from the other . and briefly , that which is most remarkable herein , is the generation of the animal spirits , which are as a most subtil wind , or rather , as a most pure and lively flame , which continually rising in great abundance from the heart to the brain , dischargeth it self thence by the nerves into the muscles , and gives motion to all the members ; without imagining any other reason which might cause these parts of the bloud , which being most mov'd , and the most penetrating , are the most fit to form these spirits , tend rather towards the brain , then to any other part . save onely that the arteries which carry them thither , are those which come from the heart in the most direct line of all : and that according to the rules of the mechanicks , which are the same with those of nature , when divers things together strive to move one way , where there is not room enough for all ; so those parts of bloud which issue from the left concavity of the heart tend towards the brain , the weaker and less agitated are expell'd by the stronger , who by that means arrive there alone . i had particularly enough expounded all these things in a treatise which i formerly had design'd to publish : in pursuit whereof , i had therein shewed what ought to be the fabrick of the nerves and muscles of an humane body , to cause those animall spirits which were in them , to have the power to move those members . as we see that heads a while after they are cut off , yet move of themselves , and bite the ground , although they are not then animated . what changes ought to be made in the brain to cause waking , sleeping , and dreaming : how light , sounds , smels , tasts , heat , and all other qualities of exteriour objects , might imprint severall ideas by means of the senses . how hunger and thirst , and the other interiour passions might also send theirs thither . what ought to be taken therein for common sense , where these ideas are received ; for memory which preserves them ; and for fancy , which can diversly change them , and form new ones of them ; and by the same means , distributing the animal spirits into the muscles , make the members of the body move in so many severall fashions , and as fitly to those objects which present themselves to its senses ; and to the interiour passions which are in them , as ours may move themselves without the consent of the wil. which wil seem nothing strange to those , who knowing how many automatas or moving machines the industry of men can make , imploying but very few pieces , in comparison of the great abundance of bones , muscles , nerves , arteries , veins , and all the other parts which are in the body of every animal , will consider this body as a fabrick , which having been made by the hands of god , is incomparably better ordered , and hath more admirable motions in it then any of those which can be invented by men . and herein i particularly insisted , to make it appear , that if there were such machines which had organs , and the exteriour figure of an ape , or of any other unreasonable creature , we should finde no means of knowing them not to be altogether of the same nature as those animals : whereas , if there were any which resembled our bodies , and imitated our actions as much as morally it were possible , we should always have two most certain ways to know , that for all that they were not reall men : the first of which is , that they could never have the use of speech , nor of other signes in framing it , as we have , to declare our thoughts to others : for we may well conceive , that a machine may be so made , that it may utter words , and even some proper to the corporal actions , which may cause some change in its organs ; as if we touch it in some part , and it should ask what we would say ; or so as it might cry out that one hurts it , and the like : but not that they can diversifie them to answer sensibly to all what shall be spoken in its presence , as the dullest men may do . and the second is , that although they did divers things aswel , or perhaps better , then any of us , they must infallibly fail in some others , whereby we might discover that they act not with knowledge , but onely by the disposition of their organs : for whereas reason is an universal instrument which may serve in all kinde of encounters , these organs have need of some particular disposition for every particular action : whence it is , that its morally impossible for one machine to have severall organs enough to make it move in all the occurrences of this life , in the same manner as our reason makes us move . now by these two means we may also know the difference which is between men and beasts : for 't is a very remarkable thing , that there are no men so dull and so stupid , without excepting those who are out of their wits , but are capable to rank severall words together , and of them to compose a discourse , by which they make known their thoughts : and that on the contrary , there is no other creature , how perfect or happily soever brought forth , which can do the like . the which happens , not because they want organs ; for we know , that pyes and parrots can utter words even as we can , and yet cannot speak like us ; that is to say , with evidence that they think what they say . whereas men , being born deaf and dumb , and deprived of those organs which seem to make others speak , as much or more then beasts , usually invent of themselves to be understood by those , who commonly being with them , have the leisure to learn their expressions . and this not onely witnesseth , that beasts have lesse reason than men , but that they have none at all . for we see there needs not much to learn to speak : and forasmuch as we observe inequality amongst beasts of the same kind , aswell as amongst men , and that some are more easily managed then others ; 't is not to be believed , but that an ape or a parrot which were the most perfect of its kinde , should therein equall the most stupid child , or at least a child of a distracted brain , if their souls were not of a nature wholly different from ours . and we ought not to confound words with naturall motions , which witness passions , and may be imitated by machines aswell as by animals ; nor think ( as some of the ancients ) that beasts speak , although we do not understand their language : for if it were true , since they have divers organs which relate to ours , they could aswell make themselves understood by us , as by their like . it s likewise very remarkable , that although there are divers creatures which express more industry then we in some one of their actions ; yet we may well perceive , that the same shew none at all in many others : so that what they do better then we , proves not at all that they have reason ; for by that reckoning they would have more then any of us , and would do better in all other things ; but rather , that they have none at all , and that its nature onely which works in them according to the disposition of their organs . as wee see a clock , which is onely composed of wheels and springs , can reckon the hours , and measure the times more exactly then we can with all our prudence . after this i had described the reasonable soul , and made it appear , that it could no ways be drawn from the power of the matter , as other things whereof i had spoken ; but that it ought to have been expresly created : and how it suffiseth not for it to be lodg'd in our humane body as a pilot in his ship , to move its members onely ; but also that its necessary it be joyned and united more strongly therewith to have thoughts and appetites like ours , and so make a real● man . i have here dilated my self a little on the subject of the soul , by reason 't is of most importance ; for , next the errour of those who deny god , which i think i have already sufficiently confuted , there is none which sooner estrangeth feeble minds from the right way of vertue , then to imagine that the soul of beasts is of the same nature as ours , and that consequently we have nothing to fear nor hope after this life , no more then flies or ants . whereas , when we know how different they are , we comprehend much better the reasons which prove that ours is of a nature wholly independing from the body , and consequently that it is not subject to die with it . and that when we see no other cause which destroys it , we are naturally thence moved to judge that it 's immortall . part . vi . its now three years since i ended the treatise which contains all these things , and that i began to review it , to send it afterwards to the presse , when i understood , that persons to whom i submit , and whose authority can no lesse command my actions , then my own reason doth my thoughts , had disapproved an opinion in physicks , published a little before by another ; of which i will not say that i was , but that indeed i had observed nothing therein , before their censure , which i could have imagined prejudiciall either to religion or the state ; or consequently , which might have hindred me from writing the same , had my reason perswaded mee thereto . and this made me fear , lest in the same manner there might be found some one amongst mine , in which i might have been mistaken ; notwithstanding the great care i always had to admit no new ones into my belief , of which i had not most certain demonstrations ; and not to write such as might turn to the disadvantage of any body . which was sufficient to oblige me to change my resolution of publishing them . for although the reasons for which i had first of all taken it , were very strong ; yet my inclination , which alwayes made me hate the trade of book-making , presently found me out others enough to excuse my self from it . and these reasons on the one and other side are such , that i am not only somewhat concern'd to speak them ; but happily the publick also to know them . i never did much esteem those things which proceeded from mine own brain ; and so long as i have gathered no other fruits from the method i use , but onely that i have satisfied my self in some difficulties which belong to speculative sciences , or at least endeavoured to regulate my manners by the reasons it taught me , i thought my self not obliged to write any thing of them . for , as for what concerns manners , every one abounds so much in his own sense , that we may finde as many reformers as heads , were it permitted to others , besides those whom god hath established as soveraigns over his people , or at least , to whom he hath dispensed grace and zeal enough to be prophets , to undertake the change of any thing therein . and although my speculations did very much please me , i did beleeve that other men also had some , which perhaps pleas'd them more . but as soon as i had acquired some generall notions touching naturall philosophy , and beginning to prove them in divers particular difficulties , i observed how far they might lead a man , and how far different they were from the principles which to this day are in use ; i judg'd , that i could not keep them hid without highly sinning against the law , which obligeth us to procure , as much as in us lies , the general good of all men . for they made it appear to me , that it was possible to attain to points of knowledge , which may be very profitable for this life : and that in stead of this speculative philosophy which is taught in the schools , we might finde out a practicall one , by which knowing the force and workings of fire , water , air , of the starrs , of the heavens , and of all other bodies which environ us , distinctly , as we know the several trades of our handicrafts , we might in the same manner employ them to all uses to which they are fit , and so become masters and possessours of nature . which is not onely to be desired for the invention of very many expedients of arts , which without trouble might make us enjoy the fruits of the earth , and all the conveniencies which are to be found therein : but chiefly also for the preservation of health , which ( without doubt ) is the first good , and the foundation of all other good things in this life . for even the minde depends so much on the temper and disposition of the organs of the body , that if it be possible to finde any way of making men in the generall wiser , and more able then formerly they were , i beleeve it ought to be sought in physick . true it is , that which is now in use contains but few things , whose benefit is very remarkable : but ( without any designe of slighting of it ) i assure my self , there is none , even of their own profession , but will consent , that whatsoever is known therein , is almost nothing in comparison of what remains to be known . and that we might be freed from very many diseases , aswell of the body as of the mind , and even also perhaps from the weaknesses of old age , had we but knowledge enough of their causes , and of all the remedies wherewith nature hath furnished us . now having a designe to employ all my life in the enquiry of so necessary a science ; and having found a way , the following of which me thinks might infallibly lead us to it , unless we be hindred by the shortness of life , or by defect of experiments . i judg'd that there was no better remedie against those two impediments , but faithfully to communicate to the publique , all that little i should discover , and to invite all good wits to endevour to advance farther in contributing every one , according to his inclination and power , to those experiments which are to be made , and communicating also to the publique all the things they should learn ; so that the last , beginning where the precedent ended , and so joyning the 〈◊〉 and labors of many in one , we might all together advance further then any particular man could do . i also observ'd touching experiments , that they are still so much the more necessary , as we are more advanc'd in knowledg . for in the beginning it 's better to use those only which of themselves are presented to our senses , and which we cannot be ignorant of , if we do but make the least reflections upon them , then to seek out the rarest and most studied ones . the reason whereof is , that those which are rarest , doe often deceive , when we seldome know the same of the most common ones , and that the circumstances on which they depend , are , as it were , always so particular , and so small , that it 's very uneasie to finde them out . but the order i observed herein was this . first , i endevoured to finde in generall the principles or first causes of whatsoever is or may be in the world , without considering any thing for this end , but god alone who created it , or drawing them elsewhere , then from certain seeds of truth which naturally are in our souls . after this , i examined what were the first and most ordinary effects which might be deduced from these causes : and me thinks that thereby i found out heavens , starrs , an earth ; and even on the earth , water , air and fire , minerals , and some other such like things , which are the most common , and the most simple of all , and consequently the most easie to be understood . afterwards , when i would descend to those which were more particular , there were so many severall ones presented themselves to me , that i did beleeve it impossible for a humane understanding to distinguish the forms and species of bodies which are on the earth , from an infinite number of others which might be there , had it been the will of god so to place them : nor by consequence to apply them to our use , unless we set the effects before the causes , and make use of divers particular experiments ; in relation to which , revolving in my minde all those objects which ever were presented to my senses , i dare boldly say , i observed nothing which i could not fitly enough explain by the principles i had found . but i must also confesse that the power of nature is so ample and vast , and these principles are so simple and generall , that i can observe almost no particular effect , but that i presently know it might be deduced from thence in many severall ways : and that commonly my greatest difficulty is to finde in which of these ways it depends thereon ; for i know no other expedient for that , but again to seek some experiments , which may be such , that their event may not be the same , if it be in one of those ways which is to be exprest , as if it were in another . in fine , i am gotten so far , that ( me thinks ) i see well enough what course we ought to hold to make the most part of those experiments which may tend to this effect . but i also see they are such , and of so great a number , that neither my hands nor my estate ( though i had a thousand times more then i have ) could ever suffice for all . so that according as i shall hereafter have conveniency to make more or fewer of them , i shall also advance more or lesse in the knowledge of nature , which i hop'd i should make known by the treatise which i had written ; and therein so clearly shew the benefit which the publick may receive thereby , that i should oblige all those in general who desire the good of mankinde ; that is to say , all those who are indeed vertuous , ( and not so seemingly , or by opinion only ) aswell to communicate such experiments as they have already made , as to help me in the enquiry of those which are to be made . but since that time , other reasons have made me alter my opinion , and think that i truly ought to continue to write of all those things which i judg'd of any importance , according as i should discover the truth of them , and take the same care , as if i were to print them ; as well that i might have so much the more occasion throughly to examine them ; as without doubt , we always look more narrowly to what we offer to the publick view , then to what we compose onely for our own use : and oftentimes the same things which seemed true to me when i first conceived them , appear'd afterwards false to me , when i was committing them to paper : as also that i might lose no occasion of benefiting the publick , if i were able , and that if my writings were of any value , those to whose hands they should come after my death , might to make what use of them they think fit . but that i ought not any wayes to consent that they should be published during my life ; that neither the opposition and controversies , whereto perhaps they might be obnoxious , nor even the reputation whatsoever it were , which they might acquire me , might give me any occasion of mispending the time i had design'd to employ for my instruction ; for although it be true that every man is oblig'd to procure , as much as in him lies , the good of others ; and that to be profitable to no body , is properly to be good for nothing : yet it 's as true , that our care ought to reach beyond the present time ; and that it were good to omit those things which might perhaps conduce to the benefit of those who are alive , when our designe is , to doe others which shall prove farr more advantagious to our posterity ; as indeed i desire it may be known that the little i have learnt hitherto , is almost nothing in comparison of what i am ignorant of ; and i doe not despair to be able to learn : for it 's even the same with those , who by little and little discover the truth in learning ; as with those who beginning to grow rich , are less troubled to make great purchases , then they were before when they were poorer , to make little ones . or else one may compare them to generals of armies , whose forces usually encrease proportionably to their victories ; and who have need of more conduct to maintain themselves after the loss of a battail , then after the gaining one , to take towns and provinces . for to endeavour to overcome all the difficulties and errours which hinder us to come to the knowledg of the truth , is truly to fight battails . and to receive any false opinion touching a generall or weighty matter , is as much as to lose one ; there is far more dexterity required to recover our former condition , then to make great progresses where our principles are already certain . for my part , if i formerly have discovered some truths in learning , as i hope my discourse will make it appear i have , i may say , they are but the products and dependances of five or six principall difficulties which i have overcome , and which i reckon for so many won battails on my side . neither will i forbear to say ; that i think , it 's only necessary for me to win two or three more such , wholly to perfect my design . and that i am not so old , but according to the ordinary course of nature , i may have time enough to effect it . but i beleeve i am so much the more obliged to husband the rest of my time , as i have more hopes to employ it well ; without doubt , i should have divers occasions of impending it , should i publish the grounds of my physicks . for although they are almost all so evident , that to beleeve them , it 's needfull onely to understand them ; and that there is none whereof i think my self unable to give demonstration . yet because it 's impossible that they should agree with all the severall opinions of other men , i foresee i should often be diverted by the opposition they would occasion . it may be objected , these oppositions might be profitable , as well to make me know my faults , as if any thing of mine were good to make others by that means come to a better understanding thereof ; and as many may see more then one man , beginning from this time to make use of my grounds , they might also help me with their inventions . but although i know my self extremely subject to fail , and do never almost trust my first thoughts ; yet the experience i have of the objections which may be made unto me , hinder me from hoping for any profit from them ; for i have often tried the judgments as well of those whom i esteem'd my friends , as of others whom i thought indifferent , and even also of some , whose malignity and envie did sufficiently discover what the affection of my friends might hide . but it seldom happened that any thing was objected against me , which i had not altogether foreseen , unless it were very remote from my subject : so that i never almost met with any censurer of my opinions , that seemed unto me either less rigorous , or less equitable then my self . neither did i ever observe , that by the disputations practised in the schools any truth which was formerly unknown , was ever discovered . for whilest every one seeks to overcome , men strive more to maintain probabilities , then to weigh the reasons on both sides ; and those who for a long time have been good advocates , are not therefore the better judges afterwards . as for the benefit which others may receive from the communication of my thoughts , it cannot also be very great , forasmuch as i have not yet perfected them , but that it is necessary to add many things thereunto , before a usefull application can be made of them . and i think i may say without vanity , that if there be any one capable thereof , it must be my self , rather then any other . not but that there may be divers wits in the world incomparably better then mine ; but because men cannot so well conceive a thing and make it their own , when they learn it of another , as when they invent it themselves : which is so true in this subject , that although i have often explain'd some of my opinions to very understanding men , and who , whilest i spake to them , seem'd very distinctly to conceive them ; yet when they repeated them , i observ'd , that they chang'd them almost always in such a manner , that i could no longer own them for mine . upon which occasion , i shall gladly here desire those who come after me , never to beleeve those things which may be delivered to them for mine , when i have not published them my self . and i do not at all wonder at the extravagancies which are attributed to all those ancient philosophers , whose writings we have not ; neither do i thereby judge , that their thoughts were very irrationall , seeing they were the best wits of their time ; but onely that they have been ill convey'd to us : as it appears also , that never any of their followers surpass'd them . and i assure my self , that the most passionate of those , who now follow aristotle , would beleeve himself happy , had he but as much knowledge of nature as he had , although it were on condition that he never might have more : they are like the ivie , which seeks to climb no higher then the trees which support it , and ever after tends downwards again when it hath attain'd to the height thereof : for , me thinks also , that such men sink downwards ; that is to say , render themselves in some manner lesse knowing , then if they did abstain from studying ; who being not content to know all which is intelligibly set down in their authour , will besides that , finde out the solution of divers difficulties of which he says nothing , and perhaps never thought of them : yet their way of philosophy is very fit for those who have but mean capacities : for the obscurity of the distinctions and principles which they use causeth them to speak of all things as boldly , as if they knew them , and maintain all which they say , against the most subtill and most able ; so that there is no means left to convince them . wherein they seem like to a blinde man , who , to fight without disadvantage against one that sees , should challenge him down into the bottom of a very dark cellar : and i may say , that it is these mens interest , that i should abstain from publishing the principles of the philosophy i use , for being most simple and most evident , as they are , i should even do the same in publishing of them , as if i opened some windows , to let the day into this cellar , into which they go down to fight . but even the best wits have no reason to wish for the knowledge of them : for if they will be able to speak of all things , and acquire the reputation of being learned , they will easily attain to it by contenting themselves with probability , which without much trouble may be found in all kinde of matters ; then in seeking the truth , which discovers it self but by little and little , in some few things ; and which , when we are to speak of others , oblige us freely to confesse our ignorance of them . but if they prefer the knowledge of some few truths to the vanity of seeming to be ignorant of nothing , as without doubt they ought to do , and will undertake a designe like mine , i need not tell them any more for this purpose , but what i have already said in this discourse : for if they have a capacity to advance farther then i have done , they may with greater consequence finde out of themselves whatsoever i think i have found ; forasmuch as having never examined any thing but by order , it 's certain , that what remains yet for me to discover , is in it self more difficult and more hid , then what i have already here before met with ; and they would receive much lesse satisfaction in learning it from me , then from themselves . besides that , the habit which they would get by seeking first of all the easie things , and passing by degrees to others more difficult , will be more usefull to them , then all my instructions . as i for my part am perswaded , that had i been taught from my youth all the truths whose demonstrations i have discovered since , and had taken no pains to learn them , perhaps i should never have known any other , or at least , i should never have acquired that habit , and that faculty which i think i have , still to finde out new ones , as i apply my self to the search of them . and in a word , if there be in the world any work which cannot be so well ended by any other , as by the same who began it , it 's that which i am now about . it 's true , that one man will not be sufficient to make all the experiments which may conduce thereunto : but withall , he cannot profitably imploy other hands then his own , unlesse it be those of artists , or others whom he hires , and whom the hope of profit ( which is a very powerfull motive ) might cause exactly to do all those things he should appoint them : for as for voluntary persons , who by curiosity or a desire to learn , would perhaps offer themselves to his help , besides that commonly they promise more then they perform , and make onely fair propositions , whereof none ever succeeds , they would infallibly be paid by the solution of some difficulties , or at least by complements and unprofitable entertainments , which could not cost him so little of his time , but he would be a loser thereby . and for the experiments which others have already made , although they would even communicate them to him , ( which those who call them secrets would never do , ) they are for the most part composed of so many circumstances , or superfluous ingredients , that it would be very hard for him to decypher the truth of them : besides , he would find them all so ill exprest , or else so false , by reason that those who made them have laboured to make them appear conformable to their principles ; that if there were any which served their turn , they could not at least be worth the while which must be imployed in the choice of them . so that , if there were any in the world that were certainly known to be capable of finding out the greatest things , and the most profitable for the publick which could be , and that other men would therefore labour alwayes to assist him to accomplish his designes ; i do not conceive that they could do more for him , then furnish the expence of the experiments whereof he stood in need ; and besides , take care only that he may not be by any body hindred of his time . but besides that , i do not presume so much of my self , as to promise any thing extraordinary , neither do i feed my self with such vain hopes , as to imagine that the publick should much interesse it self in my designes ; i have not so base a minde , as to accept of any favour whatsoever , which might be thought i had not deserved . all these considerations joyned together , were the cause three years since why i would not divulge the treatise i had in hand ; and which is more , that i resolved to publish none whilest i lived , which might be so general , as that the grounds of my philosophy might be understood thereby . but since , there hath been two other reasons have obliged me to put forth some particular essays , and to give the publick some account of my actions and designes . the first was , that if i failed therein , divers who knew the intention i formerly had to print some of my writings , might imagine that the causes for which i forbore it , might be more to my disadvantage then they are . for although i do not affect glory in excess ; or even , ( if i may so speak ) that i hate it , as far as i judge it contrary to my rest , which i esteem above all things : yet also did i never seek to hide my actions as crimes , neither have i been very wary to keep my self unknown ; as well because i thought i might wrong my self , as that it might in some manner disquiet me , which would again have been contrary to the perfect repose of my minde which i seek . and because having alwayes kept my self indifferent , caring not whether i were known or no , i could not chuse but get some kinde of reputation , i thought that i ought to do my best to hinder it at least from being ill . the other reason which obliged me to write this , is , that observing every day more and more the designe i have to instruct my self , retarded by reason of an infinite number of experiments which are needful to me , and which its impossible for me to make without the help of others ; although i do not so much flatter my self , as to hope that the publick , shares much in my concernments ; yet will i not also be so much wanting to my self , as to give any cause to those who shall survive me , to reproach this , one day to me , that i could have left them divers things far beyond what i have done , had i not too much neglected to make them understand wherein they might contribute to my designe . and i thought it easie for me to choose some matters , which being not subject to many controversies , nor obliging me to declare any more of my principles then i would willingly , would neverthelesse expresse clearly enough , what my abilities or defects are in the sciences . wherein i cannot say whether i have succeeded or no ; neither will i prevent the judgment of any man by speaking of my own writings : but i should be glad they might be examin'd ; and to that end i beseech all those who have any objections to make , to take the pains to send them to my stationer , that i being advertised by him , may endeavour at the same time to adjoyn my answer thereunto : and by that means , the reader seeing both the one and the other , may the more easily judge of the truth . for i promise , that i will never make any long answers , but only very freely confesse my own faults , if i find them ; or if i cannot discover them , plainly say what i shal think requisite in defence of what i have writ , without adding the explanation of any new matter , that i may not endlesly engage my self out of one into another . now if there be any whereof i have spoken in the beginning , of the opticks and of the meteors , which at first jarr , by reason that i call them suppositions , and that i seem not willing to prove them ; let a man have but the tience to read the whole attentively , and i hope he will rest satisfied : for ( me thinks ) the reasons follow each other so closely , that as the later are demonstrated by the former , which are their causes ; the former are reciprocally proved by the later , which are their effects . and no man can imagine that i herein commit the fault which the logicians call a circle ; for experience rendring the greatest part of these effects most certain , the causes whence i deduce them serve not so much to prove , as to explain them ; but on the contrary , they are those which are proved by them . neither named i them suppositions , that it might be known that i conceive my self able to deduce them from those first truths which i have before discovered : but that i would not expresly do it to crosse certain spirits , who imagine that they know in a day al what another may have thought in twenty yeers , as soon as he hath told them but two or three words ; and who are so much the more subject to erre , and less capable of the truth , as they are more quick and penetrating ) from taking occasion of erecting some extravagant philosophy on what they may beleeve to be my principles , and lest the fault should be attributed to me . for as for those opinions which are wholly mine , i excuse them not as being new , because that if the reasons of them be seriously considered , i assure my self , they will be found so plain , and so agreeable to common sense , that they will seem less extraordinary and strange then any other which may be held on the same subjects . neither do i boast that i am the first inventor of any of them ; but of this indeed , that i never admitted any of them , neither because they had , or had not been said by others , but only because reason perswaded me to them . if mechanicks cannot so soon put in practise the invention which is set forth in the opticks , i beleeve that therefore men ought not to condemn it ; forasmuch as skill and practice are necessary for the making and compleating the machines i have described ; so that no circumstrance should be wanting . i should no less wonder if they should succeed at first triall , then if a man should learn in a day to play excellently well on a lute , by having an exact piece set before him . and if i write in french , which is the language of my country , rather then in latin , which is that of my tutors , 't is because i hope such who use their meer naturall reason , wil better judge of my opinions , then those who only beleeve in old books . and for those who joyn a right understanding with study , ( who i only wish for my judges ) i assure my self , they will not be so partiall to the latin , as to refuse to read my reasons because i expresse them in a vulgar tongue . to conclude , i will not speak here in particular of the progresse i hoped to make hereafter in learning ; nor engage my self by any promise to the publick , which i am not certain to perform . but i shall onely say , that i am resolved to employ the remainder of my life in no other thing but the study to acquire some such knowledge of nature as may furnish us with more certain rules in physick then we hitherto have had : and that my inclination drives me so strongly from all other kind of designes , chiefly from those which cannot be profitable to any , but by prejudicing others ; that if any occasion obliged me to spend my time therein , i should beleeve i should never succeed therein : which i here declare , though i well know it conduceth not to make me considerable in the world ; neither is it my ambition to be so . and i shall esteem my self always more obliged to those by whose favour i shal without disturbance enjoy my ease , then to them who should proffer me the most honourable imployment of the earth . finis . academia scientiarum, or, the academy of sciences being a short and easie introduction to the knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences, with the names of those famous authors that have written on every particular science : in english and latine / by d. abercromby ... abercromby, david, d. 1701 or 2. 1687 approx. 176 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 110 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a26553 wing a77 estc r6380 11966133 ocm 11966133 51707 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a26553) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 51707) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 46:4) academia scientiarum, or, the academy of sciences being a short and easie introduction to the knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences, with the names of those famous authors that have written on every particular science : in english and latine / by d. abercromby ... abercromby, david, d. 1701 or 2. [24], 179, [12] p. printed by h.c. for j. taylor, l. meredith, t. bennet, r. wilde ..., london : 1687. english and latin on opposite pages. first ed. cf. wing. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng knowledge, theory of. philosophy -early works to 1800. science -early works to 1800. intellectual life. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-04 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion licens'd , feb. 23. 1687. r. midgley . academia scientiarum : or the academy of sciences . being a short and easie introduction to the knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences . with the names of those famous authors that have written on every particular science . in english and latine . by d. abercromby , m. d. london , printed by h. c. for j. taylor , l. meredith , t. bennet , r. wilde , booksellers in st. paul's church-yard , amen-corner , and ludgate-hill , 1687. to alex. campbell , of calder the younger , eldest son to sir hugh campbell , knight baronet , and baron of calder . sir , being of a temper quite contrary to the flatering genius of this age , i shall not follow the example of most writers of dedicatory epistles , and try your patience with long encomiums either of yourself , or of your family , since the histories , and publick records of the kingdom of scotland , have given the publick so clear , and so full an account of its antiquity ; as likewise of the vertue , generosity , great atchievements , and unshaken loyalty of your illustrious ancestors yet i hope i shall not offend your modesty , if i say , 't is the general opinion of all your acquaintances , both at home and abroad , that as you follow in your greener years so closely their footsteps through the temple of vertue , to that of honour and glory , so you may perhaps , impove ( if possible ) to a higher pitch , those very great and heroick qualities they first excell'd in . may not i then b● allowed to say , without the least suspicio● of flattery , that you are not only th● la●ful successor of the most ancient , mo● noble , and loyal family of the thai● of calder , and of their estate and for ▪ tune , but also , that you are already possess'd of these good and great endowments both of body and mind , which made them capable of the great employments they were intrusted with , and enabled them on all occasions to render the kings of scotland and great britain such signal services , as can never be forgotten . but not intending a panegyrick , which i know would be uneasie to you , who hates the least appearance of flattery , i shall not insist on this subject ; i must only tell you , that this small treatise , since 't is the academy of sciences , could not but claim a peculiar right to your patronage , since you have given so singular and convincing proofs of your being thoroughly acquainted with the subject it treats of ; for having seen by a lucky chance , before i had any acquaintance with yourself , your very learned and accurate book , i found it to contain in short , almost all kind of useful learning , the systems both of the new and old philosophy , the choicest flowers of rhetorick ; as likewise evident marks of a not ordinary piety and loyalty , especially when you conclude the whole with your father's , as well as your own dutiful asserting and declaring for his sacred majesty , who now reigns , ( then duke , ) his undoubted right of succession , in expressions full of affection and zeal to his person and service , and that at a time when loyalty and duty of subjects to the royal family , were not only seasonable , but seem'd to be necessary ; and you being hardly past the sixteenth year of your age , i could not but be surprised , instead of promising buds , to find so early fruits both of vertue and loyalty . while this directed me whither i should send this small present , it rais'd my thoughts in revising of it with a paulo majora canamus , to reform it so as to make it suitable to your character , and give it the better pretence to your acceptance . only i hope , that as travellers find some pleasure when settled at home , to review in a small map , those vast and pleasant countries they have visited abroad , so it may perhaps , prove some diversion in your spare hours , to consider now and then those very many arts and sciences , which both at home and abroad you have practised , and so successfull studied in larger volumes . though i treat nothing a fond , as the french speak , or thoroughly and to the bottom , yet besides some not despicable hints of the material principles of most arts and sciences , i do point every where at the famed authors , and greatest masters of every art and science , that they may supply you with what my design'd brevity , and the scope of this treatise , would not allow me to enlarge upon ; and so this not unpleasant method , whatever you think of the performance , may perhaps reconcile you to my design , of adding , though but little , to your greater improvements , while at the same time i shew to the world with what zeal i am , sir , your truly affectionate friend , and humble servant , d. abercromby . nobilissimo , clarissimoque domino . d. alex. campbell , a calder juniori , d. hugonis campbell , equitis baronetti , & baronis calderae , filio natu maximo . nobilissime domine , cum proclivem adeo in adulationem hujus saeculi genium omnino oderim praeter orum fere omnium morem qui mecaeati suo opusculum quodpiam inscri●nt , neque in tuas ipsius , neque in familiae tuae laudes multis excurram , cum praesertim historia ipsa publicaque regni scotiae instrumenta , non antiquissima solum ejusdem stemmata , sed & virtutem , fortitudinem , ingentia sacta , inconcussamque semper in reges nostros illustrium majorum tuorum fidem nec semel , nec paucis divulgarint . nihil tamen , spero , proferam quod prae modestia aegrius ferre debeas , si dixero cum omnibus sive britannis , sive exteris quibus non de facie tantum notus es , eorum te vestigia quamvis adhuc tantum aerate florentem per templum virtutis ad templum honoris & gloriae , tam presso pede insequi , ut quibus illi aliquando dotibus claruere , has rerum a te gerendarum splendore illustriores forte aliquando fore , nec immerito , nec solus conjiciam . quidni igitur hoc loco absque ulla adulationis suspicione liceat mihi profiteri te non modo conspicuum antiquissimae , nobilissimae , fidissimaeque regibus nostris familiae , ac thannorum calderae , opumque , quibus potiuuntur , legitimum haeredem , sed videri etiam donatum a natura iis sive corporis sive animi ornamentis , quae ipsis ad sublimia quaeque regni munera additum aperuerunt , quibus ii recte administrandis insignia regibus tum scotiae , tum magniae britanniae obsequia nulla proinde oblivione delenda pro re nata praestitere . sed cum nullam hic panegyrim mihi proposuerim , utpote quae tibi vel levissimam adulationis speciem refugienti ingrata foret , huic argumento pluribus non immorabor ; hic tantum dicam tractulum hunc , cum academia scientiarum sit , vel eo nomine tuo deberi patrocinio quod illius argumentum intime te , penitusque nosse indiciis haud obscuris non ita pridem demonstraveris , cum enim propitio mihi casu in librum a te sane perquam docte eleganterque conscriptum prius quam mihi notus fores , incidissem statim eo paucis , compendioque animadverti contineri non veteris modo novaeque philosophiae systemata , sed & omnem fere utilorem & alicujus momenti doctrinam , flosculosque etiam eloquentiae selectiores , nec non conspicua pietatis in deum , fideique in regem ubique indicia , ibi praesertim ubi sub finem operis , tuo ipsius patrisque tui nomine , regis nunc regantis ( tum ducis eboracensis ) certissimum avitum ad diadema jus , spirantibus ubique tuum in ipsum amorem verbis pro officio declaras , eoque tempore quo debitae regiae familiae fidei , obedientiaeque declaratio non opportuna tantum , sed & necessaria omnino videbatur ; cumque annum jam sextum supra decimum vix implevisses non potui non mirari maturos adeo tuo in hortulo solidae virtutis fructus , e quo teneriores tantum adhuc flosculi habita aetatis ratione expectari poterant . dam haec me impellerent ut tuo tractatulum hunc nomini inscriberem novam mihi provinciam imposuerunt ut eum scilicet ad limam denuo revocarem , quo jam tuo dignior aspectu quantumvis tibi semper impar , faciliorem ad te aditum inveniret . illud tantum sperare mihi liceat , ut qui longinquas regiones peragrarunt , domum reduces non absque voluptate aliqua exigua eas in mappa revisunt , ita futurum tibi negotiis magis seriis libero non injucundum contemplari varias illas scientias artesque quas tanto successu grandioribuse voluminibus conquisitas , domi ●orisque foeliciter exercuisti . caeterum licet nihil hic penitius attingam , praeter non contemnenda artium plerarumque , ac scientiarum principia , celebriores ubique authores indico , ut ea tibi pluribus subministrent , quae paucis tantum proposita mihi brevitas ipseque tractatuli hujusce scopus a me exigebant ; hac itaque non injucunda scribendi methodo , quicquid de opere ipso censeas , forte fiet ut & concilium meum probes , & propositam mihi metam ; eo enim hoc opusculo collimavi , ut quidpiam quamvis modicum praeclaris animi tui ornamentis adderem , dum interim palam profiteor quam non ficte haberi velim tibi , tuoque ubi res feret , obsequio addictissimus . david abercromby . the preface . because of the shortness of humane life , and the little leisure of most men to read large volumes , an accurate and easie method for attaining to a general , and yet in some measure , sufficient knowledge of most arts and sciences , has been long wish'd for , but never , for ought i know , undertaken , or at least , so compendiously , and so usefully performed , by any perhaps , either at home or abroad . for , 1. i have set down in these papers , a part of what i judg'd most material in every science ; as likewise fittest for every common capacity , that so this treatise may prove of a more general use . 2. i have called it the academy of sciences , because here , as in an academy , you may learn most of the noblest arts and sciences , especially if you peruse often what is offered to you in these few sheets : but if you desire to know more , though perhaps most gentlemen will think this enough , i have supplied you with good authors , who will give you a further , instruction , if you are at leisuure to consult them . 3. the virtuosi are concern'd in this treatise , because it contains an abridgment of what they have already learn'd , together with the names of the famed authors that have treated of the subject ; which is no inconsiderable advantage , the learned as well others , being sometimes at a loss when they write books , what authors treat of this or that subject ; wherein by having this treatise at hand , they may be soon satisfied . i have written it both in english and latine , to gratifie such as understand but one of the said tongues . 4. for methods sake , in the order of the sciences set down here , i have followed the alphabet as far as conveniently i could , beginning with those whose first letter of their names is a , and then with those whose first letter is b , &c. which engag'd me to keep the greek and latine names , as the most known , and the fittest for this purpose . i need not now tell you , that this treatise is of singular use to all sorts of persons , of what condition soever , and not to scholars only , but likewise to masters , who have here in a few lines , what they may teach such as are committed to their trust ; yea , the very ladies themselves , by the perusal of this treatise , and a little help , may be furnish'd with such a variety of knowledge , as may supply their not being bred in universities . praefatio . cum per humanae vitae brevitatem , otiumque ingentia evolvere volumina plerisque hominum non liceat , accuratam , facilemque methodum qua generalem quis , & tamen quae aliquatenus sufficiat , artium praecipuarum scientiarumque notitiam assequeretur , diu multumque plurimi exoptarunt , quam tamen indigenarum nemo , quod sciam , aut etiam alienigenarum scribendam adhuc suscepit , aut eo saltem , quo hic tradita est , compendio , fructuque forte hactenus conscripsit : primo enim quicquid praecipui quavis in scientia momenti , & quicquid communem ad captum magis appositum judicavi , idcirco adduxi in medium ut eo pluribus tractatulus hic usui foret . 2. academiam scientiarum inscripsi ; hic enim velut in academia artes plerasque , scientiasque nobiliores discere poteris si praesertim saepius relegas quae breve hoc scriptum tibi proponit : at si penitius omnia , pluraque scire volueris , quamquam nobilium plerique sat multa haec forte existimaturi sint , probatos tibi suggessi authores , qui te plura docebunt si quidem per otium eos consulere tibi liceat . 3. jam eos quoque qui ingenuis artibus ingenium excoluere opusculum hoc spectat , utpote eorum compendium quae jam didicere , complexum , celebriorumque propofito super argumento nomina authorum : quod non exiguae quid utilitatis est cum etiam docti aliquando , perinde atque alii nesciant , dum libros scribunt , quis de hac , illave re egerit ; quod seposito hujuscemodi ad usum hoc libello cito discent . caeterum tum anglico eum , tum latino idiomate eo consilio scripsi , ut ●is inservirem qui alteram linguarum ●llarum non intelligerent . 4. methodi gratia in serie scientiarum hic exhibita , alphabeti ordinem , quantum commode potui secutus sum , initio ab iis ducto quarum homina littera a , tum ab iis quarum homina littera b inchoat , &c. unde factum est ut voces graecas & latinas , utpote maxime notas , huncque in scopum magis idoneas retinuerim . frustra jam hic subjungerem tractatulum hunc summe utilem fore omni hominum generi , aetati , conditioni , neque discipulis tantum , sed & magistris quae hic perpaucis habent quae suae commissos curae docere queant : quin etiam ipsae faeminae hujus tractatuli lectione exiguaque docentis opera eam cognitionis varietatem compare sibi poterunt , quae educationis , qua carent , academicae , supplementum quoddam videri possit . some books printed for , and sold by john taylor , at the ship in st. paul's church-yard . a free enquiry into the vulgarly receiv'd notion of nature , made in an essay , address'd to a friend . in english and latine , for the benefit of forreiners . by r. b. fellow of the royal society . the declimations of quintilian , being and exercitation or praxis upon his twelve books , concerning the institution of an orator . translated ( from the oxford theater edition ) into english , by a learned and ingenious hand , with the approbation of several eminent schoolmasters in the city of london . the happy ascetick , or the best exercise ; with a letter to a person of quality , concerning the lives of the primitive christians . by anthony horneck , d. d. preacher at the savoy . the academy of sciences . academia scientiarum . section i. algebra . algebra , or the analytical doctrine , is the art of finding an unknown magnitude , taking it as if it were known , and finding the equality between it and the given magnitudes : it implieth then a dissolving of what is suppos'd to be compounded , which is meant by the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or resolution : this name may upon this account be given to the common operations of arithmetick ; as for instance , to what we call substraction , division , extraction of roots , &c. for substraction is nothing else but a dissolution or resolution of what is suppos'd to be compounded , or made up by addition ; and division a resolution of what is suppos'd to be made up by multiplication ; as likewise extraction of the square root , is a resolution of what is supposed to be made up by squaring : but such resolutions being easie , are not called algebra , for the resolution of things , whereof the composition is more intricate , is more properly understood by this harsh word . the arabs call it algibr walmokabala , from the first of these two words we call it algebra , which taken together , imply the art of restitution and resolution . lucas de burgo , the most ancient european algebrist , calls it the rule of restauration and opposition . and indeed , this is its chief work ; a quantity unknown , which they commonly call root , is supposed by additions , substractions , multiplications , divisions , and other like operations , to be so chang'd , as to be made equal to a known quantity compared with it , or set over against it ; which comparing is commonly called equation , and by resolving such an equation , the root so changed , transformed or luxated , is in a manner put into joynt again , and its true value made known , for the word giabara , from which the word algebra is derived , does signifie , to restore or set a broken bone or joynt . theo says , that algebra was invented by plato ; however the chief writers of algebra are those whose names i have set down here , to gratifie such as would learn this noble art. lucas pacciolus , or lucas of burgo , a minorita fryer , wrote an italian treatise of algebra , in venice , 1494. a little after the invention of the art of printing ; there he mentions pisanus , and several others that had written on the same subject before him , but their works are not extant . harriot , oughtred , descartes , huddenius , gelleus , billius , and lately the fam'd dr. wallis has written a large volume on this subject . sectio prima . algebra . algebra sive doctrina analytica est ars inveniendi magnitudinem incognitam eam accipiendo quasi cognita foret , inveniendoque aequalitatem eam inter , datasque magnitudines . sonat itaque resolutionem ejus quod compositum supponitur , hicque graecae vocis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , sensus est : hoc proinde nomen tribui poterit communibus arithmeticae operationibus , puta substractioni , divisioni , extractioni radicum quadratarum , &c. substractio enim nihil aliud est quam resolutio ejus quod ex additione supponitur emersisse , compositi , divisio quid ? nisi resolutio ejus quod ex multiplicatione supponitur emersisse , compositi , extractioque radicis quadratae nil aliud est quam resolutio ejus quod ex quadratione supponitur emersisse , compositi : sed hujuscemodi resolutiones utpote faciliores algebrae nomine intelligendae non veniunt , difficilium enim compositionum resolutio barbara hac voce , & magis proprie intelligitur . arabibus dicitur algiabr walmokabala , a priore voce nos algebram dici mus , geminae eae voces simul sumptae artem restitutionis , ac resolutionis sonant . lucas burgensis antiquissimus inter europaeos algebrista algebram restaurationis & oppositionis regulam vocat . et reipsa praecipuum hoc ejus opus est , quantitas adhuc incognita quam vulgo radicem dicunt , quibusdam additionibus , subductionibus , multiplicationibus , divisionibus , aliisque ●d genus operationibus ita supponitur mutata , ut tandem aequalis fiat quantitati notae eidem comparatae , aut e regione ejusdem collocatae , quae comparatio aequatio dici solet : hujus autem aequationis resolutione radix hunc in modum mutata , aut quasi luxata , priori rursus , ut ita dicam , situi restituitur , verusque ejus valor innotescit , vox enim giabara unde algiabr desumitur , fracti ossis restaurationem sonat . inventam asserit a platone algebram theo ; ut ut sit praecipui algebrae scriptores hi sunt quorum nomina hic appono in eorum gratiam qui nobilem hanc artem discere voluerint . lucas pacciolus , aut burgensis , italicum de algebra tractatum scripsit venetiis anno nonagesimo quarto supra millesimum quadringentesimum ●aulo post inventam typographiam ; ●bi commemorat pisanum , aliosque ●on paucos qui de eodem argumento ●rius scripserant , at eorum opera jam ●on extant . harriotus , oughtredus , cartesius , huddenius , gelleus , billius , ●c nuperrime celeberrimus vallisius ●oc super argumento amplum volu●en edidit . sect. ii. arithmetick . arithmetick is the art of numbering ; 't is either practical or speculative ; the speculative arithmetick contains some general truths relating to numbers : as for instance , unity is the beginning of every number ; a number is a multitude compounded of unites . an even part of a number is that which by multiplication produceth that number . as 2 is an even part of 10 , because 2 multiplied by 5 , give 10. an uneven part of a number is that which by multiplication produceth not that number . thus 3 is an uneven part of 10 , because however multiplied , it shall never produce this number 10. the proportion of numbers is either according to their excess , defect , or equality , for that thing has some proportion to another that is either less , greater , or equal . a perfect number is that which is equal to all its even parts : the first perfect number is 6 , for all its even parts are 1 , 2 , 3 , which together give 6. the next perfect number is 28 , for all its even parts are 1 , 2 , 4 , 7 , 14 , which by addition give 28. these ensuing notions likewise may be referr'd to the speculative part of arithmetick , to multiply one number by another , as 4 by 2 , is to take the multiplicand 4 as many times as the unity may be taken in the multiplicator 2 , and so 4 being multiplied by 2 , the product must be 8. to divide one number by another ; as for instance , 8 by 2 , is to find out how many times 2 are contained in 8. a plain number is the product of two numbers multiplied the one by the other ; 12 then is a plain number , because it is the product of 6 multiplied by 2. a solid number is the product of three numbers multiplied , such is 24 , because 't is the product of those three numbers multiplied 2 , 3 , 4 , for multiplying 2 by 3 i have 6 , and 6 by 4 i have 24. a square number is the product of two equal numbers muitiplied by one another , or of the same number multiplied by itself . 4 is a square number , as being the product of 2 multiplied by 2 , and 2 is called the square root . a cube is the product of three equal numbers , or of the same number thrice taken ; for if you multiply 2 by 2 , you have 4 ; and if you multiply 4 by ● again , you have 8 , and 8 is called th● cube root . that part of arithmetick that relate● to the practice , contains , first addition , which is the gathering of man● numbers into one sum ; as if i add ● to 6 , the whole is 8. secondly substraction , as if i take 4 from 6 , ther● remains 2 ▪ thirdly , multiplication as if i enquire how many are four time● six , and i find 24. fourthly , division , as if i enquire how many times ● are contained in 24 , and i find the● to be contain'd four times in 24. fifthly , the fractions . sixthly , th● decimal fractions , invented to supply broken numbers , very troublesome to practitioners . seventhly , the extraction of roots , cubic and square ▪ eighthly , the four rules of proportion , of society , alligation , falshood , the doctrine of progressions . we may reckon the ensuing authors among the best arithmeticians . simon stevinius invented the decimal fractions ; neper supplies troublesome and intricate divisions by his rabdologick plates , and his logarithms ; and tacquet has given us both the theory , and the practice of arithmetick ; euclid in the 7 , 8 , 9 , and 10 of his elements of geometry ; jordanus , nemorantius , francis maurolycus , barlaamon , &c. sectio secunda . arithmetica . arithmetica est ars numerandi ; est autem practica aut speculativa ; haec manifeste vera quaedam , & generalia de numeris pronunciata complectitur : cujuscemodi ea sunt quae sequuntur . omnis numeri principium est unitas ; numerus est multitudo ex unitatibus composita . pars aliquota numeriea est quae numerum metitur . ita numerus hic 2 est pars ●iquota numeri hujus 10 , quinquies ●im 2 sunt 10. pars aliquanta numeri est ea quae ●umerum non metitur . ita numerus ●ic 3 est pars aliquanta numeri hujus ●o ; ter enim sumptus dat 9 , & qua●er dat 12. proportio numerorum est nume●orum consideratio juxta excessum , defectum aut aequalitatem : illud ●nim ad aliud proportionem habet , quod aut minus , aut majus , aut aequale est . perfectus numerus dicitur qui omnibus suis partibus paribus aequalis est . primus perfectus est 6 , illius enim omnes partes pares seu aliquotae sunt 1 , 2 , 3 , quae simul additae dant 6. secundus est 28 ; nam illius omnes partes aliquotae seu pares sunt 1 , 2 , 4 , 7 , 14 , quae simul additae 28 producunt . subsequentes pariter notiones ad arithmeticam speculativam referri poterunt . unum numerum per alium ●ultiplicare seu in alium ducere ut 4 ●n 2 est toties sumere multiplicandum ● quoties sumi potest in multiplicatore ● unitas : quare si 4 ducas in 2 , summa ●utura est 8. unum numerum divi●ere per alium ut 8 per 2 nihil aliud est quam invenire quoties 2 conti●eantur in 8. numerus planus a duo●us numeris in se invicem ductis producitur , 12 igitur est numerus planus quia producitur a numero 6 in 2 ducto . solidus numerus a tribus numeris multiplicatis oritur : ejusmodi est 24 , ex tribus enim hisce numeris multiplicatis emergit 2 , 3 , 4 ; si enim 2 duco in 3 habeo 6 , & si duxero 6 in 4 , ha●eo 24. numerus quadratus producitur a duobus aequalibus numeris inse invicem ductis , cujusmodi est 4 : oritur enim a numero 2 in 2 ducto , qui radix quadrata dicitur . cubus oritur ex multiplicatione trium numerorum aequalium , aut ejusdem numeri ter assumpti ita 8 cubus primus ex multiplicatione numeri 2 ter assumpti , producitur , si enim 2 ducas in 2 habes 4 , & si 4 rursus ducas in 2 habes 8 , & 2 radix cubica dicitur . pars illa arithmeticae quae spectat praxim complectitur primo additionem quae est plurium numerorum in unam summam collectio , ut si addam 2 huic numero 6 summa integra futura est 8. secundo , substractionem ut si 4. subduco e numero 6 , supersunt 2. tertio , multiplicationem , ut si inquiram quot constituant quater 6 , comperiam 24. quarto , divisionem ut si inquiram quoties 6 contineantur in 24 comperioque in 24 quater contineri . quinto , fractiones . sexto , fractiones decimales ad supplementum fractionum practicis permolestarum excogitatas . septimo , extractionem radicum cubicarum , ac quadratarum . octavo , regulas proportionum , societatis : alligationis , falsi , & doctrinam progressionum . annumerare possumus sequentes authores primis arithmeticis . simo●em stevinium fractionum decemalium ●nventorem ; neperum scotum qui divisionis molestiam laminis suis rabdologicis , & logarithmis omnem sustu●it ; tacquetum qui arithmeticae , & theoriam , & praxim tradidit ; eucli●em 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , elementorum , jor●anum , nemorantium , franciscum maurolicum , & barlaamontium , &c. sect. iii. judiciary astrology . judiciary astrology is that science , by the help of which men pretend to judge of things to come , and more especially of mens good and bad fortunes . the judiciary astrologers do ascribe considerable vertues to the different conjunctions amd aspects of the stars . they distinguish five kinds of mutual aspects among the planets : the first is called a sextile , when one planet is distant from another the sixth part of the circuit of the heavens , that is to say , 60 degrees . the second is called a quartile , when the distance is but the fourth part of the circle or 90 degrees . the third is called a trine , when the distance is but the third part of the circle , or 120 degrees . the fourth is called an opposition , when the two planets are in the two opposite points of the circle , and distant from one another 180 degrees . the fifth is called a conjunction , when the two planets are in the same sign of the zodiack . astrologers divide the heavens into twelve equal parts , which they call houses ; they say that every planet has eight dignities , viz. house , exaltation , triplicity , term , chariot or throne , person , joy , face . they say the stars were not only made to give light : hence 't is they take the station , direction and retrogradation ( as they speak ) of a planet to be a certain reeling , or spinning of fates and fortunes : they distinguish all the constellations into so many triangles or trigones : the first is the fiery trigone , comprehending aries , leo , sagittarius ; the second is the earthly , comprehending those ensuing constellations , taurus , virgo , capricornus ; the third is the aerial , comprehending gemini , libra , aquarius ; the fourth trigone is the watery , comprehending cancer , scorpius , pisces . if you desire to know more particularly the principles of this science , you may consult these following authors . vannius , butler , cardan , gadbury , albottazen , haly , julius firmicus , johannes jovianus pontanus , pezelius , &c. secttio tertia . astrologia judiciaria . astrologia judiciaria ea est scientia cujus ope de rebus futuris homines pronunciant , ac praesertim de faelici aut infaelici cujusque fato . astrologi judiciarii insignes ascribunt virtutes diversis conjunctionibus , aspectibusque planetarum . quinos distinguunt aspectus planetarum . primus dicitur sextilis cum distat planeta unus ab alio sexta parte circuli , hoc est 60 gradibus . secundus vocatur quadratus cum distant invicem quarta parte ejusdem circuli , hoc est 90 gradibus . tertius dicitur trigonus quando tertia tantum parte , seu 120 gradibus . quar●us oppositionis cum uterque planeta sibi oppositi sunt , disjunctique 180 gradibus . quintus est conjunctionis cum duo planetae sunt in eodem signo zodiaci . universum coeli ambitum secant astrologi in duodenas partes aequales , quas vocant domos seu domicilia . octonas planetarum dignitates numerant , quae sunt domus , exaltatio , trigonus , terminus , carpentum , persona , gaudium , facies . stellas dicunt non creatas tantum ad orbem illuminandum : unde aiunt stationem , directionem & retrocessum planetae esse nescio quam fatorum revolutionem , ac quasi netionem : constellationes omnes distinguunt tot in triangula seu trigona : primum trigonum igneum dicitur , complectiturque arietem , leonem , sagittarium ; secundum terrestre appellatur , continetque taurum , virginem , capricornum ; tertium aerium est complexum geminos , libram , aquarium ; quartum appellatione aqueum , continet cancrum , scorpium , pisces . si propius hujus scientiae principia intueri volueris , consulere poteris hos sequentes authores , vannium , butlerium , cardanum , gadburium , justinum , philippum melanctonum , origanum , ptolomaeum , albohazen , haly , julium firmicum , johannem jovianum pontanum , pezelium , &c. sect ▪ iv. astronomy . astronomy gives us an account of the motions of coelestial bodies , of of their distance , order , bulk , &c. the babylonians will have belus to have been the inventor of it , the aegyptians mercury , the moors atlas and hercules , the grecians jupiter , orpheus and atreus , the scythes prometheus . we may divide it into two parts , the one spherical , and the other we may call systematical the spherical is that part of astronomy which treateth of the sphere , whether artificial or natural ; the artificial sphere is made up of ten circles , whereof six are great ones , because they divide the whole sphere into two equal parts , such we reckon the horizon , the meridian , the equator , the two colures , and the zodiack . the little circles are those that divide the sphere into two unequal parts , as the two tropicks , and the two polar circles : every circle is divided into sixty parts , which they call first minutes ; and each minute likewise into sixty parts , which we call second minutes . the natural sphere , or the coelestial globe , besides the foregoing circles , offers to our view divers constellations : the antients reckon'd eight and forty , comprehending in this number all the stars to be seen in greece , and all the known parts of the world ; 12 of those constellations are contain'd in the zodiack , 21 are to be seen toward the north , and 15 towards the south ; but of late there are twelve other constellations discovered towards the south . the systematical astronomy , which others call the theorical , is that part which by the help of some engines and orbs , offers to our view those coelestial motions which are not so obvious to every common understanding . this part of . astronomy comprehends several hypotheses , as that of anaxagoras and democritus , who allowed a free motion to the stars , but of no first mover , or primum mobile : neither did they admit any second motion towards ihe east , but a simple motion only towards the west ; so in their opinion , those stars only could be said to move toward the east , that moved more slowly towards the west . there is another hypothesis that considers the stars as tied to solid spheres ; and who hold this hypothesis , hold likewise the earth to rest in the centre of the world. copernicus allows motion to the earth ; he fixeth the sun in the centre of the world , though it turns round about its own axis within seven and twenty days , as 't is manifest by the motion of its spots . 1. in this system , the orb of the sixed stars is immoveable . 2. mercury turns round the sun in almost three months . 3. venus in four months and a half , and the earth itself in twelve months , and round the earth the moon tarneth every month . 4. mars's revolution round the sun is ended in almost two years , as jupiter's in twelve years , and saturn's in thirty . tycobrahe orders his system thus : first the firmament , or the sphere of the fixed stars , the earth being the centre of the world ; then the orbs of saturn , jupiter and mars ; venus and mercury turn round the sun , and the moon round the earth . the old system was ordered thus : the earth was the centre of the world , above it were plac'd the planets and heavens in this order ; the moon , mercury , venus , the sun , mars , jupiter , saturn , the two chrystalline heavens , and the primum mobile . authors . ptolomy , aratus , eudoxus , calippe , tycobrahe , gassendy , de billy , courcier , de sacrobosco , fracastorius , galilaeus . sectio quarta . astronomia . astronomia describit corporum coelestium motum , distantiam , ordinem , magnitudinem , &c. illius inventorem babylonii volunt esse belum , aegyptii mercurium , mauri atlantem & herculem , graeci jovem , orpheum & atreum , scythae prometheum . eam dividere possumus geminas in partes , alteram sphaericam , alteram appellare possumus systematicam . sphaerica est ea pars astronomiae quae agit de sphaera , sive arte facta , sive naturali : sphaera arte facta constat 10 circulis quorum 6 sunt majores quia dividunt sphaeram in duas partes aequales ; cujusmodi numeramus horizontem & meridianum aequatorem , colurosque duos aequinoctii , & solstitii , & zodiacum . minores circuli sunt ii qui sphaeram in duas partes inaequales dividunt : cujusmodi sunt duo tropici , totidemque polares : quivis circulus dividitur in gradus 360 , & quivis gradus in 60 particulas , quas prima minuta vocant ; & minutum primum in sexaginta partes quas secunda minuta dicimus . sphaera naturalis , seu globus coelestis praeter commemoratos circulos aspicientibus exhibet varias constellationes : antiqui octo supra quadraginta constellationes numerabant : quo numero comprehendebant omnes stellas in graecia conspicuas , atque in omnibus cognitis tum mundi partibus : 12 constellationes continebat zodiacus , 21 apparent ad boream , 15 ad austrum , versus hanc partem duodecim nuper aliae detectae sunt . astronomia systematica quam alii theoricam vocant est ea astronomiae pars quae aspectui nostro exhibet ope quarundam machinarum orbiumque eos coelestes motus qui omnibus non aeque obvii sunt . haec astronomiae pars varias complectitur hypotheses cujusmodi est hypothesis anaxagorae ac democriti , qui motum astris liberum assignabant sed nullum admittebant primum mobile ; neque ulla proinde solidis sphaeris alligabant sydera : nec ullum secundum in ortum concedebant motum , sed simplicem tantum in occasum : ita juxta eorum sententiam ea tantum sydera moveri dicuntur in ortum , quae lentius moventur in occasum : alia quaedam est hypothesis quae sydera , ut solidis alligata sphaeris intuetur ; quique hanc hypothesim tenent terram in centro mundi quietam volunt . copernicus motum terrae attribuit ; solem constituit in centro mundi immotum , licet proprium circa axem moveatur spatio viginti septem dierum ut patet e motu ejusdem macularum in hoc systemate . 1. orbis fixarum immotus est . 2. mercurius spatio fere trium mensium circa solem vertitur . 3. venus intra quatuor menses , & semissem , terraque ipsa duodecim mensibus , circaque terram quolibet mense gyrat luna . 4. martis periodus circa solem absolvitur duobus fere annis , ut jovis duodecim , saturnique spatio triginta annorum . suum tycobrahe systema ita constituit . firmamentum , seu coelum fixarum primo loco statuit : mundi centrum terra est ; fixarum coelo succedit coelum saturni , tum jovis , & martis , venus & mercurius circa solem gyrant luna circa terram movetur . antiquum systema ita se habebat : terra mundi centrum occupabat ; supra illam erant aqua , aer , & ignis , succedebant planetae coelique hoc ordine , luna , mercurius , venus , sol , mars , jupiter , saturnus , firmamentum , duo coeli chrystallini primum mobile . authores . ptolomaeus , aratus , eudoxus , calippus , tycobrahe , gassendus , billius , courcierius , de sacrobosco , fracastorius , galilaeus . sect. v. military architecture . architectonica militaris , or military architecture , is the art of fortifying . this art teacheth us how to encline towards the angles of a poligone , that is , a figure of many angles , certaines lines upon which the fortress is to be built in such a manner , that the enemy by whatever side he makes his approach , may be beat back by the lesser number . every point of the circumference of the fortress must be defended by some other part of the same . according to the holland method of fortifying , the angle of the bastion , or the flanqued , and defended angle exceeds always by 15 degrees the half of the angle of the polygone ; upon this account 't is that the angle of the bastion is never streight , or of 90 degrees , unless in a place defended by 12 bastions ; but in places defended by more than 12 , it is always streight . according to tht french method , if the polygone be a triangle , the angle of the bastion contains 45 degrees ; if it be a pentagone , or of five angles , it contains 78 degrees ; if the polygone have more than five sides , the angle of the bastion is streight , or is open 90 deg . authors . errard of barleduc , samuel marolois , adam fritach , stevin in italian , de lorini , del cavallero francisco tensimi , del cavallero alessandro barone , de groote , herigone . sectio quinta . architectonica militaris . architectonica militaris est ars muniendi , ars autem muniendi docet qui inclinare debeamus ad angulos polygoni hoc est figurae variis terminatae angulis lineas quasdam super quibus propugnaculum aedificandum est , ita ut hostis quacumque parte invadat , minoribus viribus repelli possit . omne punctum in procinctu munimenti debet defendi ab alia parte . juxta methodum muniendi hollandicam angulus propugnaculi , aut defensus excedit semper quindecim gradibus semissem polygoni , quamobrem angulus propugnaculi nunquam est rectus nisi locus duodecim propugnaculis defenditur , quoties autem locus pluribus , quam duodecim propugnaculis munitur , rectus semper est . juxta gallicam muniendi methodum si munitum polygonum triangulum fuerit , angulus polygoni est graduum 46 , si pentagonum fuerit , angulus propugnaculi est gradibus 78 ; si polygonum constet pluribus quam quinque lateribus , angulus propugnaculi est rectus , aut 90 graduum . authores . errardus barneto-duceus , samuel marolois , adamus fritachius , stevinius italice , de lorini , franciscus tensimi , herigonius , &c. sect. vi. the military art. the military art of the greeks and the romans was on several accounts different from that of this age. of old an ordinary grecian army did contain 28672 , among whom we reckon not those that were upon the elephants , who were sometimes in greater numbers , sometimes in lesser . this army was divided into horse and foot : the foot was divided again into oplites and psiles , the oplites were those that wore a heavy armour , the psiles were slightly arm'd . the number of the oplites was always double of the number of the psiles , and the psiles double of the number of the cavalry . all the oplites of the phalange were put in one battalion , whereof the front contained 256 men , and the wing 16. of all the psiles of the phalange , the grecians made two battalions , each having 128 men on a breast , and 8 in the slanks ; all the cavalry of the phalange was divided into 16 squar'd turmes or troops , whereof each did contain 64 men . in a grecian army made up of four phalanges , there were four battalions of oplites , 8 of psiles , and 64 troops of horse . in a roman legion there were four different sorts of men , not only as to age , riches , warlick science , but likewise on the account of their arms , and way of fighting ; for of the younger and poorer sort ( as polybius assures us ) they made their velites ; those that were somewhat above them upon the account of their age and riches , were halbardeers , or hasteries ; such as were richer , and in the full vigour of their age , were princes ; and the oldest and most experimented , were the triaries . the number of the soldiers of every one of those different sorts , was different in different times , according as the legion was less or more numerous . when the legion did amount to 4200 , as it did in polybius his time , there were 600 triaries in the legion , and 1200 of every one of the three other sorts , to wit , of princes , hastaries , and velites . when the legion was more numerous , those three different sorts were likewise encreased , the triaries only excepted , who were always the same number . in the militia of this age , there is no such repartition observed , the armies being not always divided into parts made up of the samo numbers ; for some regiments have 10 companies , others 15 , others 20 , &c. likewise the compapanies have not always the same number , some being a hundred men strong , others one hundred and twenty , others one hundred and fifty , &c. in this age an army is drawn up in battel , or three lines , and the french divide sometimes every line into several little bodies ; the turks give sometimes to their army the figure of a cer●sont . the camp , especially if the enemy be near , ought to be in some place where there is a great abundance of water , and provisions : and if the army is to make a long stay , 't is to be observed if the air be good . ye are not to encamp near a hill , which being taken by the enemy , might incommode your camp. authors . polybius , stevin , herigone . sectio secta . ars bellica . ars bellica , seu militaris tum graecorum , tum romanorum varie discrepabat ab hodierna recentiorum . communis graecorum exercitus numerabat 28672 , quibus non annumeramus qui elephantis insidebant qui non eundem semper numerum conflabant , sed interdum majorem , minorem interdum . hic exercitus dividebatur in equites , peditesque , pedites rursus in oplitas & psilos , oplitae erant gravis armaturae milites , psili levis armaturae . numerus oplitarum duplus erat numeri psilorum , & psili equitum numerum geminabant . omnes oplitae unius phalangis uno colligebantur in agmine cujus frons constabat 256 , & ala 16. ex omnibus psilis phalangis constituebant graeci duo agmina , a fronte stabant viginti octo supra centum , a latere octo . omnes equites phalangis distribuebantur in turmas quadratas sedecim , quarum quaelibet quatuor supra sexaginta milites continebat . in exercitu graeco ex quadruplici phalange conflato quatuor erant agmina oplitarum , octo psilorum , & sexaginta quatuor turmae equitum . romana legio quatuor complectebatur hominum genera diversa non aetate tantum , divitiis , scientiaque bellica , sed & armis , modoque pugnandi : ex junioribus enim , pauperioribusque , ut testatur polybius seligebantur velites , ex proximis hastarii , ex aetate florentibus principes , senioresque , & magis experti seligebantur in triarios . numerus militum ex quibus diversi illi ordines constabant diversis temporibus diversus erat ; prout legio magis , minusque numerosa erat . cum legio constabat ducentis supra quatuor millia , ut temporibus polybii constabat ; sexcenti erant triarii in legione , ducenti supra mille in quovis ordinum reliquorum , scilicet principum , hastariorum , & velitum : at numerosiore jam legione tres varii ordines numerosiores omnes reddebantur , exceptis tantum modo triariis quorum numerus idem semper erat . in militia hujus saeculi nulla hujusmodi distributio observatur , cum exercitus non dividatur in partes eodem semper numero constantes : quaedam enim legiones constant 10 cohortibus quaedam 15 , quaedam 20 , paucioribus aut pluribus ; cohortes pariter non semper eodem constant numero : quaedam enim constant 100 militibus , aliae 120 , aliae 150 &c. hoc saeculo exercitus pugnaturus in tres ordines distribuitur ; galli unumquemque ordinem in varia agmina quandoque distribuunt , turcae exercitum interdum ordinant in formam lunae crescentis . castra , maxime si in propinquo fuerit hostis debent figi in loco tuto ubi magna adsit aquarum copia , commeatusque , & si diuturnior esse debeat exercitus mora , videndum an aura illic salubris sit . cavendum autem imprimis ne castra prope montem statuantur , qui ab hoste occupatus exercitui noxius esse posset . authores . polybius , stevinius , heregonius . sect. vii . cosmography . cosmography is a description of the world , and its chief parts .. the world is the highest heaven , and whatever it contains , it is divided into the sublunary region , and the coelestial : the sublunary region is obnoxious to divers changes , and is contained in the concave surface of the orb of the moon : it contains the four elements , the earth , the water , the air , the fire . the semi-diametre of the earth contains about 3436 italian miles . the ordinary depth of the sea is 500 geometrical paces . the surface of the earth is almost equal to the surface of the sea , and somewhat higher , because we see that rivers from their first rise to the sea go always downwards . the divines think that the earth was entirely round , and surrounded with waters on all sides , but after god had commanded the waters to retreat , so many hills were made as there are concavities to receive the seas . the coelestial region is that part of the world which is extended from the concave surface of the heaven of the moon , to the convex surface of the highest heaven ; which space comprehends the heavens of all the stars . astronomers distinguish three sorts of spheres ; the first is streight , when the equator maketh streight angles with the horizon ; the second is oblique , when the intersection of the horizon and equator makes oblique angles ; the third is the parallel sphere , when the equator and the horizon are joyned together . astronomers conceive ten points , and ten chief circles in the concave superficies of the first mobile : the points are the two poles of the world , the two poles of the zodiack , the two equinoctial , and two solsticial points , zenith and nadir . the circles are the horizon , meridian , equator , zodiack , the colures of the equinox , and the colures of the solstice . the cancer and capricorne , the arctick and antarctick circles ; by zenith and nadir we understand two points , the first directly answering to our heads , and the second to our feet . astronomers fancy divers motions in the heavens : the primum mobile turns round with it all the other orbs in 24 hours . they allow to the other heavens under the first mobile a motion of libration from the north to the south , and from the south to the north. the eclipse of the moon is a real privation of its light , by the interposition of the earth between it and the sun. the eclipse of the sun is not a real privation of light , because the sun eclips'd , is only hid from our eyes by the interposition of the moon . all the eclipses of the moon are universal , or seen by all such as see the moon ; all the eclipses of the sun are particular ones , or not seen by every one that sees the sun. there are five zones , one torrid , two temperate , and two cold ones . the torrid zone is comprehended between the two tropicks ; its breadth is 47 degrees , if we reckon according to the common calcul 23 ½ on each side of the equator ; the two temperate zones are contain'd between the tropicks and the polar circles , whereof one is south , and the other north ; the breadth of both is 43 degrees . the cold zones are contain'd within the polar circles , distant from the poles of the world 23 degrees ½ . authors . peter aerte his world , in five vol. herigone , garcy , adrianus metius . sectio septima . cosmographia . cosmographia est descriptio mundi , praecipuarumque ejusdem partium . mundus est caelum altissimum , & quicquid eo comprehenditur , dividitur in regionem sublunarem , & coelestem , regio sublunaris variis est obnoxia mutationibus , contineturque concava caeli lunaris superficie , quatuor complectitur elementa , terram , aquam , aerem , ignem . semi-diameter terrae quadringenta fere & triginta sex supra tria millia , milliaria ilalica complectitur . communis marium altitudo est passuum geometricorum quingentorum . superficies terrae est fere aequalis superficiei maris , atque aliquanto altior , quia animadvertimus flumina ab ipsa origine ad mare descendere , seu deorsum tendere . putant theologi terram initio rotundam fuisse , atque aquis undique circumcinctam : sed postquam deus aquas recedere jussisset , tot erupere montes , quot sunt concavitates aquis marinis recipiendis idoneae . regio coelestis est ea pars mundi quae porrigitur a superficie concava coeli lunaris ad superficiem convexam altissimi coeli , quod spatium coelos omnium stellarum comprehendit . astronomi triplicem sphaeram distinguunt prima est sphaera recta quando aequator rectos cum horizonte angulos constituit ; secunda est obliqua cum intersectio aequatoris , & horizontis constituit obliquos , tertia est parallela cum aequator , & horizon sibi congruunt , aut conjunguntur . astronomi in concava primi mobilis superficie concipiunt 10 puncta , totidemque primarios circulos : puncta sunt duo mundi poli , duo poli zodiaci , duo puncta aequinoctialia , duo puncta solsticialia , zenith & nadir . circuli sunt horizon , meridianus , aequator , zodiacus , colurus aequinoctiorum , colurus solstitiorum , tropicus cancri , & capricorni , duoque polares : his vocibus zenith & nadir intelligimus duo puncta ex diametro opposita , alterum , scilicet zenith vertici nostro imminens , alterum nempe nadir , pedibus oppositum . astronomi varios concipiunt in coelis motus . primum mobile reliquos secum coelos 24 horarum spatio circumducit : reliquis sub primo mobili coelis addunt motum librationis a septentrione in austrum & ab austro in septentrionem . eclipsis lunae est vera luminis privatio interjectu terrae lunam inter & solem : eclipsis solis non est realis privatio luminis . sol enim deficiens tegitur tantum ab oculis nostris interpositu lunae . omnes eclipses lunae sunt universales aut conspicuae omnibus corpus lunare eo tempore intuentibus ; omnes eclipses solis sunt particulares , aut non conspicuae omnibus qui solem ipsum intueri possunt . quinque sunt zonae , una torrida , duae temperatae , duaeque frigidae , torrida zona comprehenditur duobus tropicis : ipsius latitudo est vulgari calculo 47 graduum ; nempe 23 ½ cis , ●ltraque aequatorem ; duae temperatae comprehenduntur tropicis , & polari●us circulis quorum alter meridiona●is alter borealis est , utriusque latitudo est graduum 43 ; frigidae zonae comprehenduntur polaribus circulis dissi●is a mundi polis grad . 23 ½ . authores . petrus de aerte , seu mundus ipsius ● voluminibus , herigonius , garcaeus , adrianus metius . sect. viii . catoptrick . catoptrick is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a looking-glass , because it treats of the rays , as being reflected by polish'd bodies . this science demonstrates these following propositions . 1. if a ray falling upon a glass , make equal angles , 't is reflected into itself . 2. rays reflected from plain and convex glasses , do neither come together , nor are equi-distant . 3. heights and depths seem to be overturned in convex glasses . 4. in convex glasses , what is on the left hand , appears to be on the right ; and what is on the right hand , appears to be on the left . 5. if the eye were in the centre of ● concave-glass , it would see nothing but itself . authors . euclid and peter herigone have written on this subject . sectio octava . catoptrica . catoptrica derivatur a graeca voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , quod speculum sonat , quia agit de radio ut reflexo a laevigatis corporibus , sequentes propositiones demonstrat . 1. si radius in qualecumque speculum cadens aequales facit angulos ipse in seipsum reflectitur . 2. radii a planis , convexisque speculis reflexi neque mutuo concurrent , neque erunt paralleli . 3. altitudines & profunditates in convexis speculis inversae apparent . 4. in speculis convexis sinistra videntur dextra , & dextra sinistra . 5. si oculus ponatur in centro speculi concavi seipsum tantum cernet . authores . euclides , & petrus herigonius hoc super argumento scripserunt . sect. ix . chymistry . chymistry is the art of analysing , or resolving bodies by the operation of the fire into their compounding principles . the chymists do generally affirm mercury , salt , and sulphur to be the compounding principles of all compounded things ; which doctrine is learnedly and solidly confuted by the english philosopher , i mean the famous robert boyle in his sceptical chymist . yet it cannot be denied but that it is useful and necessary likewise to mankind , upon the account of those many excellent medicines it prepares to the great advantage of physicians , and ease of their patients , whereof these ensuing are some of the most considerable . 1. aurum fulminans , or thundering gold ; a very good sudorifick ; it may be taken in the measles from 2 grains to 6 in any convenient electuary ; it stops vomiting , and is a hindrance to the activity of mercury , or quick-silver . 2. vitriolus lunae taken inwardly , is prevalent against the dropsie , and the head-ach , of what sort soever ; you may take it from 2 grains to 6 in any specifick water ; it is likewise a moderate purger . 3. sal jovis , is a great drier . 4. magisterium bismuth , softeneth the skin , and is good against scabs and itch , if you mix a drachm of it with 4 ounces of water , because it is a great destroyer of salts and acids , two general causes of most distempers . 5. sal saturni taken inwardly , prevaileth against the squinancy , the overflowing of the flowers , piles , dysentery ; you may take it from 2 grains to 4 in plantain-water . 6. oleum saturni cleanseth and drieth up ulcers . 7. spiritus ardens saturni resisteth powerfully putrefaction ; it is beneficial to such as are troubled with too much melancholy . you may take it from 8 to 16 drops , in any convenient liquor , a fortnight together . 8. crocus aperitivus martis has a a peculiar vertue against all distempers occasioned by obstructions ▪ you may take it from 2 grains to 2 scruples in lozenges or pills . 9. crocus martis astringens is of a peculiar vertue against the glitting of the yard , the overflowing of the monthly flowers and piles ; you may take it from 15 grains to a drachm in lozenges or pills . 10. mars diaphoreticus cures effectually the most melancholy distempers , as likewise quartan-agues ; you may take it from 10 to 20 grains in pills , or any convenient liquor . 11. sublimatum corrosivum eats up superfluous flesh , and drieth up ulcers . 12. sublimatum dulce , or aquila alba , is very good against all venereal distempers ; 't is a great deobstruent , and killer of worms ; it may be taken in pills from 6 grains to 30 : 't is a mild purger . 13. praecipitatum rubrum drieth up wounds , and consumeth superfluous or proud flesh . 14. turbith minerale , or the yellow praecipitate , is a strong purger , and worketh both upwards and downwards ; 't is good against venereal distempers ; you may take it in pills from 2 gr . to 6. 15. crudum antimonium is a sudorifick , but if you boyl it in any acid liquor , it will provoke you to vomit . 16. regulus antimonii purgeth upwards and downwards , if mixed with any cathartick or purger . 17. vitrum antimonii is the strongest vomitory that is made of antimony . 18. antimonium diaphoreticum resisteth powerfully poison , and is likewise good against contagious distempers , and against the measlles . 19. flores antimonii provoke to vomit ; and rubri flores antimonii as yet more ; you may take them both from 2 gr . to 14 , taking every quarter of an hour a spoonful of broth wherein you have boyl'd a competent quantity of the cream of tartar. 20. sulphur antimonii is prevalent against the distempers of the breast ; you may take 6 grains of it in any appropriated liquor . authors . paracelsus , beguinus , helmontius , and the deservedly renowned robert boyle , &c. sectio nona . chymica . chymica est ars reducendi corpora vi ignis in ea ex quibus constant principia . fatentur chymicorum plerique , asseruntque mercurium , sal , sulphur , esse tria ut loquuntur , prima , seu constituentia omnium rerum compositarum principia : quam doctrinam erudite more suo , ingenioseque ac solidis argumentis confutat philosophus britannicus celeberrimus merito boylius in chymico suo sceptico . nemo tamen inficias ierit chymiam & utilem esse generi humano , & necessariam ob tot generosa quae parat medicamenta non mediocri medicorum emolumento , magnoque commissorum ipsis aegrorum levamine : quae hic subjunguntur , quaedam sunt ●e praecipuis . 1. aurum fulminans sudores provocat ; adhiberi potest adversus morbillos , minima dosis sit gr . 2 maxima gr . 6 sistit vomitum , obstatque activitati mercurii . 2. vitriolus lunae interius sumptus praevalet contra hydropem , & quemcumque capitis dolorem : dosis minima gr . 2 maxima 6 in quacumque aqua specifica ; leniter quoque purgat . 3. sal jovis valde desiccat . 4. magisterium bismuth , emollit carnem , valetque contra scabiem & pruriginem si illius drachmam quatuor unciis aquae commisceas , quia salia , & acida , geminas plerumque morborum causas destruit . 5. sal saturni , si sumatur interius praevalet contra anginam , immoderatum menstruorum fluxum , haemorrhoides , dysenteriam ; dosis minima gr . 2 , summa 4 , in aqua plantaginis . 6. oleum saturni purgat , exsiccatque ulcera . 7. spiritus ardens saturni potenter resistit putrefactioni ; nimia melancholia dejectis prodest : dosis 6 , 8 aut 16 guttae in quovis conveniente liquore per quatuordecim dies . 8. crocus aperitivus martis peculiari virtute pollet adversus morbos ab obstructionibus ortos : dosis minima gr . 2 summa scrupuli duo in trapeziis , aut pilulis . 9. crocus martis astringens peculiariter valet contra stillicidium penis , nimium menstruorum fluxum , & hoemorrhoides ; dosis ima gr . 15 , summa , drachma in trapeziis , aut pilulis . 10. mars diaphoreticus reipsa curat plerosque morbos a melancholia ortos , atque febres etiam quartanas ; dosis 10 aut 20 gr . in pilulis , aut conveniente quopiam liquore . 11. sublimatum corrosivum exedit superfluam carnem , exsiccatque ulcera . 12. sublimatum dulce , aut aquila alba pollet adversus omnem veneream intemperiem : insigniter deobstruit , vermiumque excidium est ; si in pilulis sumitur ; minima dosis gr . 6 summa gr . 30 ; leniter purgat . 13. praecipitatum rubrum exsiccat vulnera , consumitque superfluam carnem . turbith menerale , aut praecipitatum flavum valide purgat superne & inferne , valet adversus morbos venereos ; dosis ima in pilulis gr . 2. summa gr . 6. 15. crudum antimonium est sudorificum , sed si illud in acido quopiam liquore concoquas , vomitum provocabit . regulus antimonii cathartico cuipiam immixtus superne , inferneque purgat . 17. nihil ex antimonio fit , quod po●entius vitro antimonii vomitum ex●itet . 18. antimonium diaphoreticum re●istit potenter veneno , valetque contra morbos contagiosos , & morbillos . 19. flores antimonii vomitum pro●ocant fortiusque , adhuc , rubri flores antimonii ; amborum dosis ima gr . 2 ●umma 15 , sume interim quovis qua●rante horae cochleare jusculi in quo ●remoris tartari sufficiens mensura ●octa fuerit . 20. sulphur antimonii pollet adversus omnes pectoris morbos ; dosis ●r . 6 in quovis idoneo liquore . authores . paracelsus , helmontius , beguinus , meritoque celeberrimus ubique boy●ius . sect. x. dioptrick . dioptrick is that part of astrology that searcheth out by instruments the distance of the sun , moon , and other planets . if you take it more generally , its chief end is to shew the apparent changes of our sight , and of visible objects look'd into through prospective glasses . it treats of the broken or refracted rays of light , and this is its chief principle : when a ray passeth through a thin middle into a thicker , it breaks in the superficies of the thicker towards the perpendicular line ; and when it passeth through a thick middle , or medium , to a thinner it deviates from the perpendicular line , which this obvious experiment demonstrates . lay an image , or any other visible object , in the bottom of a vessel , and then go back till it vanish out of your sight ; now if you fill this vessel with water , it shall presently be visible again , because the ray coming from your eye , breaks downwards in the superficies of the water , as the same going streight up to the superficies of the water deviates from the perpendicular , because of the thinner air towards the eye , which renders the object visible again . this science treats likewise of convex and concave glasses , as they may work some change in the sight , and may help it . it gives ▪ an account of those whom aristotle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , who see remote things distinctly , and nearer objects confusedly ; and why those whom we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , see both the remote and nearer objects confusedly . it teacheth likewise amongst other things , 1. that those whom we call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 see distinctly some things that are represented by convex glasses in a streight situation . 2. that they see not distinctly through a convex glass any of those objects that are overturn'd . 3. it sheweth the influence of glasses applied one to another upon our sight . authors . kepler , maurolycus , euclide , &c. have written of this curious science . sectio decima . dioptrica . dioptrica ea astrologiae pars est quae instrumentis quibusdam distantiam solis & lunae , aliorumque planetarum indagat . eam in genere si spectes , praecipuus ejusdem scopus est indicare apparentes visus mutationes , objectorumque per vitra optica ut microscopia , megaloscopia inspectorum , agit de radio fracto ; hocque primarium hujus scientiae principium est : cum radius lucis progreditur a tenuiore medio ad dentius , frangitur versus perpendicularem in superficie spissioris ; cumque progreditur a medio spissiore ad tenuius , deviat a perpendiculari . quod obvio hoc experimento manifestum fit : imaginem aut quodvis aliud conspicuum objectum infundo vasis cujuspiam colloca : tum recede donec objectum non amplius appareat : jam si vas hoc aqua impleas , oculis se mox imago oggeret : quia radius lucis ab oculo ad fundum vasis porrectus frangitur deorsum in superficie aquae versus perpendicularem , ut idem ad superficiem ascendens ob tenuiorem aerem deviat a perpendiculari versus oculum , unde fit ut objectum rursus conspiciendum se praebeat . insuper haec scientia agit de convexis concavisque vitris , quatenus visum aut variare , aut juvare possunt . redditque pariter rationem cur ii quos aristoteles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocat , remota distincte videant , propinqua confuse ; & cur ii quos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicimus tum remota , tum propinqua objecta confuse videant . inter alia pariter docet , 1. eos quos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicimus , quaedam videre distincte quae a vitris convexis recto in situ exhibentur . 2. minime eos videre distincte per vitra convexa ullùm eorum objectorum quae eversa sunt . 3. ostendit vitrorum sibi invicem junctorum in visum nostrum operationem . authores . keplerus , maurolycus , euclides , &c. de curiosa hac scientia scripsere . sect. xi . moral philosophy . ethica is that art which directs us how to act always conformably to right reason : it s chief principle is this , do as you would be done by . it teacheth us that god is our last end , because he only is bonum sufficiens , the sufficient good , nothing else being able to content us . it teacheth likewise that we can never love any thing but under the shew and appearance of good , whereof it offereth three sorts , honour profit and pleasure . god alone is our objective beatitude or happiness , ( as they speak in the schools , ) our formal beatitude is that operation of the mind by which we possess god , which is the intuitive vision or contemplation of god. this art sheweth that the internal principles of humane actions are either natural , as powers ; or acquired , as habits : that the understanding moves the will to act , and the will our understanding ; that a habit being generated by the repetition of acts , giveth the soul not the real power of acting , but only enables it to act more easily . authors . aristotle , seneca , plato , cicero , &c. sectio undecima . ethica seu moralis philosophia . haec ea est ars quae nos ad agendum in omnibus conformiter rectae rationi dirigit : primarium ipsius principium hoc est , quod tibi vis fieri , & alteri feceris . docet deum esse ultimum nostrum finem quia ille solus est bonum sufficiens , cum nihil aliud beatos nos efficere queat : docet pariter nihil nos amare posse nisi sub specie boni , cujus triplex genus proponit jucundum , utile honestum . beatitudo nostra objectiva , ut loquuntur scholae , solus deus est , formalis nostra beatitudo est ea mentis operatio qua deum possidemus , intuitiva scilicet dei visio . hic habitus docet principia interna actionum humanarum , aut esse nobis congenita , cujusmodi sunt potentiae ; aut acquisita , cujusmodi sunt habitus ; docet intellectum movere voluntatem ad agendum , & vice versa ; habitum actuum repititione productum , animae tribuere non ipsam quidem agendi facultatem , seu potentiam , sed majorem quamdam facilitatem . authores . aristoteles , seneca , plato , cicero , &c. sect. xii . geography . geography is the description of the earth , and its chief parts .. because geographers talk much of the longitude and latitude of a place , 't is of some use to know what is meant by these two words . the longitude then of a place , or its distance from the east , is an arch of the equator intercepted between the semicircle of the first meridian , and the meridian of the place , according to the order of the signs . the latitude of a place , or its distance from the equinoctial line , is the arch of the meridian , intercepted between the equator and the place proposed , being always equal to the elevation of the pole , which is the arch of the meridian intercepted between the conspicuous pole and the horizon , because the latitude of a place , as likwise the height of the pole , together with the arch of the meridian intercepted between the pole & the zenith , are equal to the fourth part of the meridian or the quadrant . the whole world is now divided into four parts , europe , asia , africa , and america : europe is bounded towards the north by the hyperborean sea , towards the west by the atlantick sea , and the herculean by the streights of gibraltar and by the ocean ; towards the east by the egean sea , the hellespont , propontis , bosphorus thracius , the streights of caffa , the meotide lake , the river tanais , &c. till you come to a little town called ●uria , from whence 't is bounded by a white line till you come to the white sea. the chief parts of europe are germany , spain , france , great britain , switzerland , the low countries , ireland , denmarck , norway , swedeland , poland , italy , croatia , sclavonia , dalmatia , albania , grecia , thracia , bulgaria , servia , bosnia , russia , hungaria , transylvania . asia is bounded towards the north by the scythian sea , towards the east by the sea called eoum , towards the south by the indian sea or the red sea , towards the west by the arabick sreights and the interne sea. africa is joyn'd to asia by an isthme , or a narrow piece of ground dividing two seas : 't is bounded by several seas , towards the east by the red sea , towards the south by the ethiopian sea , towards the west by the atlantick sea , towards the north by the interne sea. the chief parts of africa we reckon to be those following , barbary biledulgeride , sarra , the countrey of the negroes , egypt , ethiopia both superior and inferior , the kingdom of the abyssins . america was wholly unknown to the antients till about the year 1492 , it was discovered by christopher columbus , a genoese , in the name of ferdinand king of castile . 't is called america from americus vespucius , a florentine , who the first after columbus , in the year 1497 , under the auspices of the king of portugal , discover'd that part of it that lyes beyond the equinoctial line . america is divided into two parts , the one norrhern , and the other southern , or the peruane america ; they are both divided by an isthme . the northern america is called the mexican , from its chief city mexico . we know only those countreys that lye near the shore , as canada , the land of labrador , the adjacent islands , new france or norimbegra , virginia or apalchen , florida , new spain , new grenade , california , quivira , ananian , jucatan , guatimala , hondura , nicaragna . in the southern america you have castile , the golden peru , chili , chica , the countrey of the pantagons , brasilia , caribana , guiiana , biquiri or the countrey of the amazons , paguan , picoram , moxos , uram , charchas . authors . ptolomy , the great atlas , the english atlas , ortelius , strabo , solinus , pomponius mela , philipp cluvier , &c. sectio duodecima . geographia . geographia est descriptio terrae praecipuarumque ejus partium . quia geographi multum loquuntur de longitudine ac latitudine loci , utile fuerit scire quid reipsa sint . longitudo itaque loci , aut ipsius distantia ab ortu , est arcus aequatoris inter semicirculum primi meridiani , & meridianum loci secundum ordinem signorum interceptus . latitudo loci aut ejusdem distantia a linea aequinoctiali est arcus meridiani interceptus aequatorem inter , & locum propositum , estque semper aequalis elevationi poli , quae est arcus meridiani horizontem inter , & conspicuum polum interceptus , quod tam latitudo loci , quam elevatio poli cum arcu meridiani inter polum & zenith intercepto , aequent quadrantem meridiani . totus terrarum orbis nunc dividitur in quatuor partes , europam , asiam , africam , americam : europa terminos habet a septentrione mare hyperboreum , aut septentrionale , ab occidente mare atlanticum , fretum herculeum , & oceanum , ob ortu mare aegaeum , hellespontum , propontidem bosphorum thracium , bosphorum cimmerium , lacum maeotim , tanais fluenta usque ad oppidum tuia , inde lineam rectam ad sinum usque granduicum , seu mare album . praecipuae europae partes sunt , germania , hispania , gallia , magna britannia , helvetia , belgium , dania , suedia , polonia , italia , croatia , sclavonia , dalmatia , albania , graecia , thracia , bulgaria , servia , bosnia , russia , hungaria , transylvania . asia terminatur versus septentrionem mari scythico , versus ortum mari eoo , versus meridiem mari indico , aut rubro , versus occidentem sinu arabico & mari interno . africa isthmo jungitur asiae , terminos habet varias circum maria , ab ortu mare rubrum , a meridie aethiopicum , ab occasu atlanticum , a septentrione internum . praecipuas africae partes sequentes numeramus , barbariam , biledulgeridem , sarram , regionem nigritarum , aegyptum aethiopiam utramque superiorem & inferiorem , regnum abyssinorum . america antiquis prorsus incognita fuit , donec sub annum quadringentesimum nonagesimum secundum supra millesinum detecta fuit a christophoro columbo genuensi nomine ferdinandi regis castiliae . america dicitur ab americo vespucio florentino qui primus post columbum anno 1497. sub auspiciis regis lusitaniae eam partem continentis detexit quae ultra lineam aequinoctialem jacet . america dividitur duas in partes alteram septentrionalem , meridionalem alteram aut peruanam ; utraque isthmo dividitur , septentrionalis america vocatur mexicana a praecipua ejusdem civitate mexico ▪ regiones tantum littoribus adjacentes novimus , nempe canadam , terram laboratoris , atque insulas adjacentes , novam franciam sive norimbregram , virginiam sive apalchen , floridam , novam hispaniam , novam granatam , californiam , quiviram , ananian , jucatan , guatimalam , honduram , nicaragnem . in meridionali america sunt castilio aurea , peruvia , chili , regio pentagonum , brasilia , caribana , guiiana , biquiri , paguam , picoram , moxos , uram , charchas . authores . ptolomaeus , magnus atlas , ortelius , strabo , solinus , pomponius mela , philippus cluverius . sect. xiii . geometry . this science teacheth us how to measure the earth , and to set limits to every mans lands ; 't is entirely contain'd in the fifteen books of euclid's elements : the first thirteen are acknowledg'd by all to be undoubtedly of this author ; the two last are ascrib'd by some to hipsicles of alexandria . euclid's elements may be divided into four parts ; the first part , contain'd in the first six books , treats of plains ; the second , consisting of the three other following books searcheth into the properties of numbers ; the third part of euclid's elements , consisting of the tenth book only , treats of commensurable and incommensurable lines ; and lastly , the fourth part comprehending the remaining books , treats of solids , or bodies . the first part of euclid's elements is again threefold ; the first four books treat of plains absolutely considered , of their equality and inequality ; the fifth treats of the proportion of magnitudes in general ; the sixth sheweth the proportion of plain figures . geometry may be divided into these three subordinate parts , altimetry , planimetry , and stereometry ; altimetry is the art of measuring streight lines , planimetry is the art of measuring surfaces , stereometry is the art of measuring solids or bodies . a line is measured by a line of a known magnitude , and a superficies or surface by a square of a known magnitude , and solids are measured by a cube of a known bulk . authors . euclid , hero mechanicus ▪ fournierius , malapertius , maginus , clavius , nicolaus tartalea in italian , adrianus metius , samuel marolois , simon stevin , and daniel sant bech . sectio decima tertia . geometria . haec scientia docet nos qui terram metiamur , atque unius cujusque praediis limites praescribamus : integra continetur quindecim libris elementorum euclidis : priores tredecim sine ulla controversia euclidi ascribuntur ab omnibus , posteriores vero duo , a quibusdam hypsicli alexandrino tribuuntur . elementa euclidis dividi possunt in quatuor partes ; quorum prima pars sex prioribus libris contenta , agit de planis ; secunda , quae ex tribus sequentibus conflatur , affectiones numerorum examinat ; tertia pars elementorum euclidis , quae solo libro decimo constat , de lineis commensurabilibus , ac incommensurabilibus agit ; quarta denique pars , quam residui libri constituunt de solidis , aut corporibus disserit . prima pars elementorum euclidis rursus triplex est ; priores enim qua●uor libri agunt de planis absolute spectatis , de eorum aequalitate , aut inaequalitate ; quintus disserit de proportionibus magnitudinum in genere ; sextus planarum figurarum proportiones exponit . geometria dividi potest in has tres partes subordinatas , in altimetriam , planimetriam , & stereometriam ; altimetria est ars dimetiendi lineas rectas , planimetria est ars dimetiendi superficies , stereometria est ars dimetiendi solida , sive corpora . lineas metiuntur lineae notae magnitudinis , superficiem metitur quadratum mensurae notae , solidaque metitur cubus notae molis . authores . euclides , hero mechanicus , fournierius , malapertius , maginus , clavius , nicolaus tartalea italice , adrianus metius , samuel marolois , simon stevinius , daniel sant bechius . sect. xiv . the art of dialling . gnomonica is the art of dialling , or of making sun-dials . of sun-dials there are two sorts , some are pendulums , and others are fix'd ones . the pendulums are those that being hung up , or held up , shew the hours by the height of the sun , as the astrolabe , the cylinder , the quadrants , the astronomical rings , and others of the same kind . the fixed-dials require a certain situation , to shew the hours by the motion of the sun from east to west , and upon this account they are more exact than the pendulums . the centre of the dial , is that point of the plane of the dial in which the axis of the world is cut by the plane . the perpendicular style is a streight line drawn from the centre of the earth to the plane of the dial : the centre then of the world , or of the earth in a dial , is the top of the style , which is perpendicular to the plain of the dial. the pole of the plane of the dial , is the pole of a great circle equi-distant from the plane of the dial. in all astronomical dials , that part of the style which by its shadow sheweth the hour , must be in the axis or axle-tree of the world. the italians reckon 24 hours , beginning from the setting of the sun ; the babylonians reckon as many from the rising of the sun , to the going down of the same ; but in the old dials , the hours of the day , and of the night , are reckon'd separately , viz. 12 from the rising of the sun , till the going down of the same ; and as many from the setting of the sun , till the rising of the same . authors . maurolycus , ptolomaeus , kircherus , &c. sectio decima quarta . gnomonica . gnomonica est ars construendi horologia solaria . horologia solaria dividuntur in pendula , & fixa : pendula sunt ea quae appensa , aut manu suspensa , horas indicant ope altitudinis solaris : cujusmodi sunt astrolabium , cylindrus , quadrans , annuli astronomici , aliaque ejusdem generis . horologia stabilia , seu fixa , requirunt situm quemdam ut ostendant horas ope motus solis ab ortu in occasum , ideoque accuratiora sunt pendulis . centrum horologii est punctum plani horologii , in quo axis mundi secatura plano . stylus perpendicularis est recta a centro terrae ad planum horologii ducta , unde centrum mundi , sive terrae in horologio est vertex styli plano horologii normalis . polus plani horologii , est polus magni circuli paralleli plano horologii . in omni horologio astronomico ea pars styli quae umbra horam ostendit , debet esse in axe mundi . itali numerant horas 24 initio ducto ab occasu solis ; babylonii numerant totidem initio ducto ab ortu solis ; sed in antiquis horologiis horae diei , noctisque separatim enumerantur , duodecim scilicet enumerantur ab ortu solis ad occasum , totidemque ab occasu ad ortum . authores . maurolycus , ptolomaeus , kircherus , &c. sect. xv. grammar . grammar is the art of writing and speaking well ; it treats of words and the construction of words . this art considereth two things in words , the letters , and the syllables ; as likewise two sorts of letters for some sound alone , and are called vowels , as a , e , i , o , u , ; others sound not alone , but together with some other letter , and they are called upon this account consonants , as these following , b , c , d g k , p , q , t , which letters are called mutes , as f , l , m , n , r , s , x , z are called half vowels . a syllable that has a full sound is made up either of a vowel and a consonant , or of vowels and consonants . in words , grammar considereth their accent or tone , whether acute , or grave , or mean ; their derivation and etymology , their composition and simplicity ; their numbers ; if the word be a noun , plural , singular ; their cases , nominative , genitive , dative , accusative , vocative , ablative : if the word be a verb , it considereth the tenses , as present , imperfect , perfect , future or to come . it teacheth the art of construing words one with another , as the adjective with the substantive , in order to make a congruous speech ; either continued or interrupted : it distinguisheth the sentences by three notes , which we commonly call comma , semicolon , colon , or as the latins speak , punctum . the first is a short pause of respiration , which we express thus ( , ) the second is a longer pause , which we express thus ( ; ) the third is a full pause , and finisheth the sense , which we mark thus ( . ) chief authors . alvares and despauter . sectio decima quinta . grammatica . grammatica est ars recte loquendi , scribendique ; agit de vocibus , vocumque constructione . duo contemplatur in vocibus literas & syllabas , ut pariter duo genera literarum quaedam enim solitarie sonant , & vocales dicuntur , ut a e , i , o , u , ; quaedam solitarie non sonant , sed simul cum alia quapiam litera , & propterea consonantes dicuntur , cujusmodi sunt hae literae oppositae b , c , d , g , p , q , t , quae literae dicuntur mutae , ut f , l , m , n , r , s , x , z dicuntur semivocales . syllaba quae integrum habet sonum , constat vel unica vocali , vel vocali addita consonante , vel vocalibus simul & consonantibus . in vocibus grammatica considerat accentum , seu tonum , sive acutum , sive gravem , sive medium , earum derivationem , originem , atque etymologiam , compositionem , simplicitatem , numeros , si quaestio de nomine sit , singularem , pluralem ; casus , nominativum , genitivum , dativum , accusativum , vocativum , ablativum ; si quaestio de verbo sit , considerat tempora , ut praesens , imper●ectum , praeteritum , futurum . docet qui voces simul construere debeamus , ut adjectivum cum substantivo , ut fiat oratio congrua , continua , aut interrupta ; distinguit sententias tribus hisce notis , quas designamus appellationibus hisce comma , semicolon , colon , aut ut latini loquuntur , punctum . prima nota indicat brevem a respirando cessationem , quam exprimimus hunc in modum ( , ) secunda est diuturnior cessatio quam exprimimus hunc in modum ( ; ) postrema est plena cessatio , sensumque absolvit , quam ita notamus ( . ) authores primae notae . alvares , despauterius , &c. section xvi . hydrography . hydrography is a description of the waters , especially the seas . the sea is the general collection of waters , 't is divided into the ocean and mediterranean sea : the ocean is that sea which surrounds the whole earth , 't is divided into the great ocean , gulfs and streights . the ocean hath four different names , from the four opposite points of the world , from the east , 't is called the eastern sea ; from the south , the southern ; from the north , the northern ; 't is divided into three vast seas , indian , or red sea ; the atlantick sea , so called from atlas , a hill in mauritania ; and the pacifick sea. the indian sea reacheth from the islands of sumatra and java to the promontory of good hope , its chief gulfs are the ganget●ck gulf , or the gulf of bengala , whose longitude is 120 deg . latitude 16 deg . the persick gulf , or elcatif sea , whose longitude is 76 deg . latitude 26 ; the arabick gulph , or the red sea , commonly called mar di meca , whose longitude is 70 deg . latitude 20 ; the barbarick gulf , whose longitude is 70 deg . latitude 4. these are the chief islands of the ocean , lerne , or madagascar , or the island of st. laurence , longit . 75 deg . lat 20. discuriada , or zocotara , longit . 48 deg . lat . 11. the maldives , longit . 105. lat . 5. nanigeris , commonly called zeilan , longit . 113. lat . 6. taprobana , sumatra , longit . 130. lat 0. java the great , longit . 140. lat . 10. we reckon among the chief islands of the atlantick sea , albion , or great britain , longit . 22. lat . 52. ireland , longit . 13. lat . 54. hesperides , or the islands of the cap vert , longit . 353. lat . 17. cuba , longit . 295. lat . 22. jamaica , 298. lat . 18. the pacifick , or southern sea , lies between asia , america , and the magellanick gulf ; its chief islands are japan , longit . 170. lat . 36. the molucs , longit . 157. lat . 1. salomon's islands , longit . 195. lat . 10. authors . herigone , ortelius , pomponius mela , joachim , vadiam , fournier . sectio decima sexta . hydrographia . hydrographia est descriptio aquarum , maxime marium . mare est generalis aquarum collectio , dividitur in oceanum , & mare mediterraneum : oceanus est mare quod universam terram ambit , dividitur in vastum , sinuosum , & fretum . oceanus quatuor sortitur appellationes a quatuor cardinalibus mundi partibus , ab oriente eous dicitur , ab occidente occiduus , a meridie australis , a septentrione septentrionalis ; dividitur in tria vasta maria indicum , sive rubrum , atlanticum a● atlante mauritaniae monte sic dictum , & in pacificum . oceanus indicus porrigitur ab insulis sumatra , & java usque ad caput bonae spei : ejus praecipui sinus sunt gangeticus , sive bengalensis , cujus longitudo 120 graduum , latitudo 16 graduum . sinus persicus , cujus longit . 76 graduum , latitudo 20 graduum . sinus arabicus , aut mare rubrum , vulgo mar di meca , cujus longit . 70. lat . 20. sinus barbaricus , sive mare asperum , cujus longit . 70. lat . 4. primariae oceani insulae sunt lerne , aut madagascar , seu insula sancti laurentii , cujus long . 75. lat . 20. discuriada aut zocotara , cujus long . 48. lat . 11. maldiviae , longit . 105. lat . 5. nanigeris , vulgo zeilan , cujus longit . 113. lat . 6. taprobana , sumatra , longit . 130. lat . 0. java major , longit . 140. lat . 10. praecipuae insulae maris atlantici sunt albion , sive magna britannia , ●ujus longit . 22. lat 52. hibernia , ●ujus longit . 13. lat . 54. hesperides , ●ut insulae promontorii viridis , longit . ●arum insularum 353. lat . 17. cuba , ●ujus longit . 295. lat . 22. jamaica , ●ujus longit . 298. lat . 18. mare pacificum , sive meridionale ●cet inter asiam , americamque , & ●retum magellanicum ; praecipuae ejus ●nsulae sunt japonia , cujus longit . 170. ●t . 36. molucae , longit . 157. lat . 1. ●nsulae salomonis longit . 195. lat . 10. authores . herigonius , ortelius , pomponius me● , joachimus , vadiamus , fournierius . sect. xvii . logick . logick is the art of disputing wel● the three operations of the min● make up its whole object , which are apprehension , judgement or affirmation and illation . it teacheth , that the truth of any of those three operations consist● in their confirmity to their objects : s● this compounded apprehension , go● almighty , is true , because i apprehen● god to be , what he really is , that i● almighty ; you may easily apply this t● the other two operations . it s two chief principles are these dictum de omni , and dictum de nullo : the first signifieth , that whatever 〈◊〉 generally affirmed of any thing , m●… likewise be affirm'd of whatever is contain'd under that thing , as if i s●… every animal is a living creature , th●… it follows , that a bird is a living cre●tur● ▪ the second signifieth , that what ever is generally denied of any thing is denied likewise of whatever is contain'd under that thing ; as if i say no animal is a stone , then i may , an cught likewise to say , no bird is stone , no man is a stone , &c. logick teacheth the art of making syllogism , which consisteth of three propositions , whereof the first two being granted , the conclusion must necessarily b● granted , because it was already implicitely admitted by him , who admitted of the premises : as 't is evident in this syllogism , every man is a living creature , peter is a man , ergo , peter is a living creature . logick is natural to all mankind , because 't is nothing else but the use of our reasoning faculty . artificial logick is made up of some rules and precepts that help our reasoning faculty . authors . aristotle , arriaga , ruvius , guilminot , &c. sectio decima septima . logica . logica est ars recte disserendi : ipsius objectum sunt tres mentis ●perationes ; apprehensio , judicium ●ut affirmatio , & illatio . docet ●eritatem illarum operationum in ea●um cum ipsis objectis conformitate esse positam ; ut composita haec apprehensio , deus omnipotens , est vera , ●uia apprehendo deum , ut reipsa est omnipotentem : quod reliquis operationibus applicari facile potest . duo praecipua logicae principia sunt ista , dictum de omni , & dictum ●e nullo : prius significat quicquid generaliter affirmatur de re quapiam , affirmari idem posse de omnibus sub eadem contentis , ut si dicam , omne animal est vivens , licebit dicere omnis volucris est vivens . posterius ●nnuit , quicquid generaliter negatur de quapiam re , negari posse idem de omnibus eadem comprehensis ; ut si dicam , nullum animal est lapis ; licebit etiam dicere , nulla volucris est lapis ; nullus homo est lapis , &c. logica docet artem conficiendi syllogismi , qui constat tribus propositionibus : quarum duae primae si semel admittantur , tertia necessario admitti debet , quia jam tacite admissa est ab eo qui duas primas admisit , ut patet in hoc syllogismo , omnis homo est animal , petrus est homo , ergo , petrus est animal . logica congenita est humano generi , cum nihil aliud sit quam facultatis nostrae rationalis exercitium . artificialis logica sunt praecepta quaedam hanc facultatem juvantia . authores . aristoteles , arriaga , ruvius , guilminotius , &c. sect. xviii . metaphysick . this science considers beings , as abstracted from all matter ; and is so called , because it treats of things somewhat besides , above , or beyond nature . it considereth two things in a being , 1. it s essence , which seems to have a real being , though it does not exist , as a rose in the midst of winter . 2. it s existence , which is actually in being , or by which a thing is actually in being , as the existence of a rose is that by which it now is . it considereth three properties of every being , its unity , goodness , and truth ; unity is that by which a thing is one , and not many . truth or verity , is the conformity of any thing to its real or consistent principles , as true gold consists in its conformity to the principles of this metal . the metaphysical goodness of things , is that essential perfection which is agreeable to them . this science treats likewise of powers , acts , principles , and causes , and proves , in opposition to aristotle , and other ancient philosophers , that the world was not eternal . authors . aristotle , vasques , suares , valentia , &c. sectio decima octava . metaphysica . haec scientia considerat entia , ut abstracta ab omni materia , nomenque hoc trahit inde quod agat de rebus aliquatenus praeter , vel supra , aut ultra naturam . duo in ente contemplatur , 1. essentiam , quae videtur esse verum ens licet non existat , ut rosa media hyeme . 2. existentiam quae actu in rerum natura est , aut vi cujus aliquid actu existit , ut existentia rosae est id vi cujus rosa nunc existit . contemplatur tres in quovis ente proprietates , unitatem , bonitatem , veritatem : unitas est id vi cujus quidpiam est unum , & non multa . veritas est conformitas unius cujusque rei cum principiis veris , & constituentibus , ut veritas auri , aut aurum verum est ejusdem conformitas cum constituentibus hujusce metalli principiis . metaphysica bonitas rerum est essentialis illa perfectio quae rebus congruit . haec scientia agit pariter de potentiis , actibus , principiis , causis , contraque aristotelem , aliosque antiquos philosophos , probat mundum non fuisse aeternum . authores . aristoteles , vasques , suares , valentia , &c. sect. xix . musick . musick is a science which teacheth us what belongs to the theory and practice of harmony . melody is that which has a certain order compounded of sounds and intervals . this science treats of these seven ensuing things , of sounds , of intervals , of genders , of constitutions or systems , of tunes , of changes , of the making of melody . the sound is a gentle falling of the voice upon the note . the interval is comprehended under two sounds , the one sharper than the other . authors . guido aretine , in the year 1028 , invented these six syllables , ut , re , mi , fal , sol , la , of which mi , fa , or fa , mi , imply a half tune , and the others following one another signifie a greater or lesser tune ; euclid , ptolomy , aristoxenus , faber stapulensis , boetius , john kepler , salinas , zarlins , and vincentius galilaeus in italian . sectio decima nona . musica . musica est scientia quae theoriam praximque harmoniae docet . concentus est id quod certum habet ordinem ex sonis & intervallis compositum . haec scientia de septem hisce sequentibus agit , de sonis , de intervallis , de generibus , de constitutionibus , de tonis , de mutatione , de melopaeia . sonus est concinnus vocis casus ad unam extensionem : intervallum est id quod continetur duobus sonis acumine , & gravitate differentibus . authores . guido aretinus , anno salutis 1028 , invenit has sex syllabas , ut , re , mi , fa , sol , la , quarum mi , fa , vel fa , mi , dimidium tonum significant , ac sequentes sese invicem aliae tonum absque discrimine majorem aut minorem ; euclides , ptolomaeus , aristoxenus , faber stapulensis , boetius , joannes keplerus , salinas , zarlinus , vincentius galilaeus italice . sect. xx. the mechanicks . this science considereth the quantity of moving forces , and of duration of the time in which the motion is performed . the gravity of a body , is a certain capacity of falling downwards ; the center of gravity , is that place or point from which if we conceive the body to be suspended , whatever situation you may give it , it shall retain the same . the center of magnitude , and of gravity , are not always the same , as 't is evident in a bowl half lead , half wood. the pendula diameter of gravity , or the handle , is a streight line drawn through the center of gravity perpendicularly to the horizon . no weight can rest , unless the pendula diameter of gravity , or handle , pass through the place upon which it leans , or from which the weight is suspended . in all planes , the center of the figure , is likewise the center of gravity . this art teacheth in general , how to find out the ponderousness of every thing , and how to move things with little strength . we must not forget in this place a sort of mecbanism , the knowledge whereof is of great concern for the good of mankind ; i mean that of trusses , and instruments fit for restoring by degrees , any part of the body to its natural place and situation . the burst peritonaeum sometimes gives way to the intestines , at other times to the caul . and not seldom , to both , to get out of their natural place , into the groins , or the scrotum , there causing a rupture , called enterocele , or hernia intestinalis ; if the bowels come out , an epiplocele , or hernia omentalis ; if the omentum or caul be out . the peritonaeum is made up of two strong , but soft membranes , which do so contain whatsoever is included in the belly , that , when sound , nothing can fall out . in women , the os pubis is its utmost limit . in men , its outermost membrane reacheth further , and constitutes the first proper coat of the testicles . in the groin , it comprehends the seminal vessels , as in a sheath , called processus , which being stretched or inlarged , or coming to burst , is the immediate cause of the lately mentioned ruptures . we must not nevertheless imagine , that the peritonaeum cannot be distended , and burst in other places , and therein to cause a rupture . the causes which make the peritonaeum to burst or dilate , are falling , leaping , beating , bearing of heavy burthens , strong vomitings or coughing , obstipation of the belly , winds pent in , and vehement motions of the body . but i can do no greater service to the publick , than to inform the world of two of the best artists i know of in this kind , both living together in black fryers , in london , i mean the famed robert smith , a scotch gentleman , and his son-in-law , thomas jewel , who give daily succesful proofs of their skill in this kind of mechanism , their trusses of what kind soever being so light , so easie , and so fitted to all the motions of the body , that they are not at all troublesome . they likewise cure effectually any deformity in humane bodies , occasioned by the preternatural bending outwards , inwards , or downwards , of any part thereof , and by such ingenuously contrived engines , as force nature gently into its first place and situation . authors . aristotle , henry monenthole , joseph blancan , guid ubald , stevin , hero , robert vulturius , cedren , john baptista porta , joseph boillot , ranelli , barbette , brown , &c. sectio vigesima . mechanica . mechanica est scientia quae quantitates virium moventium , & temporum in quibus fit motus considerat . gravitas corporis est quaedam potentia ad descensum . centrum gravitatis est punctum ex quo vel sola cogitatione suspensum corpus , quemcumque situm dederis retinet . centrum gravitatis , & centrum magnitudinis non sunt semper idem , ut patet in sphaera plumbo ▪ lignea . pendula gravitatis diameter , aut ansa est linea recta ducta per centrum gravitatis acta horizonti perpendicularis . nullum pondus quiescere potest nisi pendula gravitatis diameter , aut ansa transeat per locum cui innititur , aut e quo suspenditur corpus . in omni plano figurae centrum , centrum quoque gravitatis est . haec ars docet in genere modum reperiendae ponderationis , rerumque exiguis viribus movendarum methodum . non est praetermittendum hoc loco aliud genus mechanismi cujus notitia non parum humano generi profuerit ; de mechanismo loquor , fasciarum , instrumentorumque , aut machinarum quibus paulatim quaevis corporis pars ad debitum a natura situm reducatur . rupto peritonaeo interdum intestina , omentum interdum , saepe & intestina , & omentum loco naturali excidunt in inguina , aut scrotum , ibique hernia producitur , dicta enterocele , aut intestinalis , si prolabantur intestina , vel epiplocele , aut hernia omentalis si omentum excidat . peritonaeum gemina valida quidem sed molli constat membrana , quae ita concludit quicquid imo ventre comprehenditur , ut cum sanum corpus est nihil procidere possit . peritonaeum in mulieribus osse pubis terminatur : in viris tunica exterior ulterius procedit , ac testiculorum involucrum primum proprium constituit . in inguine vasa seminalia comprehendit , instar vaginae , processus dictae : processus hic laxatus , dilatatus aut ruptus est immediata herniarum mox commemoratarum causa : non est tamen existimandum peritonaeum non posse distendi , rumpique etiam aliis in locis ibique herniam producere . causae peritonaei rupti , aut dilatati hae fere sunt , lapsus , saltatio , percussio , gravium onerum gestatio , vomitus violentior , aut tussis , constipatio ventris , flatus reclusi , vehementiorque omnis corporis motus . sed nihil forte utilius rei publicae praestitero , quam si hic nominatim indica vero duos peritissimos quos quidem norim hujusmodi mechanismi artifices simul conviventes londini in ea regione urbis quae black fryers , dicitur ; sunt autem ii celebris robertus smith scotus , ejusque gener thomas jewel , qui quotidiana magnoque successu suae hoc in genere mechanismi peritiae experimenta exhibent : ipsorum enim fasciae cujuscumque generis , sive contra hernias intestinales , sive omentales , sive umbilicales , sive ventosas , aut contra aquosas , adeo leves sunt , gestatuque faciles , omnique corporis motui ita obsecundant , ut nihil omnino molestiae gestantibus secum afferant . reipsa quoque praenominati tollunt quamcumque humanorum corporum deformitatem a praeternaturali partis cujuspiam extrorsum , introrsum , aut deorsum distentione ortam , instrumentisque ac machinis ingenii ejusmodi quibus natura suaviter ad pristinum situm reducatur . authores . aristoteles , henricus monentholus , josephus blancanus , guidus ubaldus ' stevinus , hero , robertus vulturius , cedrenus , joannes baptista porta , josephus boillotus , augustus ranelli , paulus barbettus , johannes brownius , &c. sect. xxi . medica : or the art of conserving and curing humane bodies . hermes trismegistus , a fam'd physician in egypt , invented this necessary art : 't is either empirical , that is , grounded upon meer experience ; or dogmatical , that is , grounded both upon reason and experience : hippocrates and galenus were the chief masters of the dogmatical part . this art is either speculative or practical ; the former considereth , 1. the nature , and the outward causes of distempers , as the six things that are called not natural , because they are not the constituent parts of our bodies , such we reckon the air , meat , drink , sleep , watching , motion and rest , what we throw off , and what we retain , excreta & retenta ; our passions , plethora , or fulness , cacochymy , or an ill habit of our bloud . 2. it searcheth into the internal causes of our distempers , as wind , worms , acids . the practical part of this noble and useful art relates to the method of curing , which is either performed by alteration or evacuation . whether this evacuation be wrought by bleeding , vomiting , stool , urine , sweat , or insenble transpiration ; and upon this account , its true object is the whole materia medica , or whatever may be subservient to the physician 's intention in either of the three kingdoms , i mean , animal , vegitative , and mineral . the whole materia medica may be reduc'd to the ensuing heads . 1. the attenuating remedies , as elicampe roots , wormwood leaves , camomile flowers , the hot seeds , juniper , and lawrel berries , old tallow , and grease , especially that of a wolf , and of a bear , most oyls , as of bitter almonds , walnuts , &c. the plaisters of betony , diachylon , oxycroceum , &c. 2. the softening , as marsh mallow roots , briony roots , &c. 3. such as dissolve clots , as the roots of round birthwort . 4. the deterging , as the roots of gentian , and birthwort . 5 the epicerasticks , that by a moderate moisture take off the sharpness of the humour , as mallow , and marsh-mallow roots . 6. alexipharmaca , that resist venome , as angelica root . 7. the thickening , as the roots of bugloss and plantain . 8. the cathartick , which either purge the bile , as cassia , manna , tamarinds , &c. or the phlegm , as carthamy , wild saffron , agarick , turbith , jalep , or the melancholy , as sena oake-fern , or the watery humours , as dwarf elder , elder-seed , bark , juice , mechoaca . 9. the vomitory , whether milder ones , as sarabacca leaves bruised in dill water , or stronger ones , as the spirit of tobacco , the infusion of tobacco , crocus metallorum , &c. 10. diureticks , as radish roots , parseley roots , &c. 11. the sudorificks , as harts horn , diascordium , angelica roots , &c. 12. the repelling remedies , as the sloe-tree roots , tormentil roots , &c. 13. the emplasticks that stop the passages of the body , as lilly roots , wild comphry roots , &c. 14. the absorbing remedies , which by a great faculty of drying , consume the moisture , as all cenders , vineger , brine , &c. 15. the blistering , which raise blisters , as the cantharides , mustard , garlick , water-cresses . 16. the suppurating , that generate matter , as marsh-mallow roots , white lilly roots . 17. the vulnerary , as tormentil roots , the roots of both comphreys . 18. the sarcoticks , that remove whatever may hinder the breeding of flesh , as the roots of birthwort , tragacanth , dragons bloud , sarcocolla , &c. 19. the epuloticks , that generate a callus , or scarr , as dragons bloud , myrtle leaves . 20. the anodines , as marsh-mallows , and lilly roots . 21. the narcoticks , which take away all feeling , as oyl of palm , laurel , turpentine , opium , &c. 22. the hypnoticks , that cause sleep , as requies nicolai , diascordium , laudanum opiatum , &c. 23. such as stop bleeding , as corals , the bolus , seal'd earth . 24. the cephalicks , as the roots of birthwort , betony leaves , galanga . 25. the errhina , that purge the brains and the breast , by bringing down the superfluous pituite lying about the meninges , as the juice of betony , the powder of white and black hellebore . 26. the ophthalmicks for the eyes , as eye-bright , and celadine water , and also their juices . 27. otica , that ease the pains of the ears , as laurel leaves , leeks , radishes . 28. the cardiacks , as the roots of zodoaria , great leopards bane , thistle , and balm water . 29. the bechick , that render the humours contained in the lungs and the breast , fit to be thrown up , as the syrup of ground ▪ ivy. 30. the aromaticks , as roots of cyperus . 31. splenica , such as cure the spleen , as the powder of style , valerian roots . 32 , the nephritcks , that help the reins , as marsh-mallow roots , sal prunella , &c. 33. the lithontripticks , that break the stone , as elecampane roots , galanga , &c. 34. the hystericks , that cure hysterical fits , as purslain seed , the seed of agnus castus , the trochisques of myrrh , &c. 35. the arthriticks , that prevail against the gout , as elecampane roots , night-shade , plaintain , marsh-mallow leaves . authors . hippocrates , galen , trallian , actuarius , cornelius celsus , avicenna , sennertus , riverius , macasius , regius , willis , barbette , harvey the inventor of the circulation of the bloud . sectio vigesima prima . medica : sive ars conservandi & restaurandi humani corporis . hermes trismegistus celebris apud aegyptios medicus necessariae hujusce artis inventor dicitur : est autem aut empirica , hoc est quae mera experientia , aut dogmatica , quae ratione & experientia nititur : medicinae dogmaticae praecipui magistri extitere hippocrates & galenus . est aut speculativa aut practica ; prior considerat , 1. naturam , causasque externas morborum , ut sex res dictas non naturales quia non sunt partes corporis humani constituentes , cujusmodi censemus aerem , cibum , potum , somnum , vigilias , motum , & quietem , excreta , & retenta , animi pathemata , plethoram , sive plenitudinem , cacochymiam , sive pravum sanguinis habitum . 2. scrutatur internas morborum causas , puta flatus , vermes , acidum . practica pars nobilis hujus , utilisque artis methodum medendi spectat , quae posita est in evacuatione , & alteratione , quocumque demum modo evacuatio contingat , sive venae sectione , sive vomitu , dejectione , sudore , urina , aut insensibili transpiratione ; quocirca verum ipsius objectum est tota materia medica , aut quicquid in regno animali , vegetabili , & minerali , medici scopo inservire poterit . porro totam materiam medicam ad sequentia capita reducere fere possumus . 1. attenuantia , ut radices aenulae campanae , folia absinthii , flores camomillae , semina calida , baccae juniperi , lauri , axungiae vetustiores maxime vulpina , & ursina , olea pleraque , ut amygdalarum amararum , nucum , &c. emplastra de betonica , diachylon , oxycroceum , &c. 2. emollientia , ut radices altheae , bryoniae . 3. grumos dissolventia , ut radices aristolochiae rotundae . 4. detergentia , ut radices gentianae , aristolochiae . 5. epicerastica quae moderata humidate acrimoniam humorum obtundunt , ut radices malvae , & altheae . 6. alexipharmaca quae resistunt veneno , ut radix angelicae . 7. condensantia , ut radices buglossae , & plantaginis . 8. cathartica que vel purgant bilem , ut cassia , manna , tamarindi , &c. vel phlegma , ut carthamus , crocus sylvestris , turbith , jalap , vel melancholiam , ut sena , polypodium quercinum , vel humores aquosos , ut sambuci , & ebuli semen , cortex , succus , mechoaca . 9. vomitoria , sive mitiora , ut asari folia , aut validiora , ut spiritus nicotianae , infusio nicotianae , crocus metallorum . , &c. 10. diuretica . ut radices raphani , apii . 11. sudorifica , ut cornu cervi , diascordium , radices angelicae . 12. repellentia , ut radices pruni sylvestris , tormentillae , &c. 13. emplastica quae corporis meatus obstruunt , ut radices symphiti , & liliorum . 14. absorbentia , quae valida exsiccandi vi absumunt humorem , ut omnes cineres , acetum , muria . 15. vesicatoria , quae vesicas excitant , ut cantharides , sinapi , allium , nasturtium . 16. suppurantia , a quibus pus generatur , ut radices althaeae , liliorum alborum , &c. 17. vulneraria , ut radices tormentillae , consolidae utriusque . 18. sarcotica , quae removent quicquid carnis generationem prohibet , ut radices aristolochiae , tragacantha , sanguis draconis , sarcocolla . 19. epulotica , quae callum generant , aut cicatricem , ut sanguis draconis , folia myrthi . 20. anodina , ut radices althaeae , radices liliorum . 21. narcotica , quae omnem sensum tollunt , ut oleum palmae , lauri , terebinthinae , &c. 22. hypnotica , quae somnos conciliant , ut requies nicolai , diascordium , laudanum opiatum , &c. 23. sanguinem sistentia , ut coralliae , bolus , terra sigillata , &c. 24. cephalica , ut radices aristolochiae , galangae , folia betonicae . 25. errhina , quae cerebum purgant & thoracem , educta superflua circa meninges pituita , ut succus betonicae pulvis albi & nigri hellebori . 26. ophthalmica , ut aquae & succi euphrasiae , & chelidoniae . 27. otica , quae levant aurium dolorem , ut folia lauri , radices porri , raphani . 28. cardiaca , ut radices zedoariae , doronici , aquae cardui benedicti , & melissae . 29. bechica , quae humores in thorace , & pulmone conclusos ad faciliorem tussiendo ejectionem disponunt , ut sirupus & succus hederae terrestris . 30. aromatica , ut sirupi absinthii , & betonicae . 31. splenica , ut pulvis ex chalybe , radices valerianae . 32. nephritica , ut radices althaeae , sal prunellae . 33. lithontriptica , quae calculum frangunt , ut radices aenulae campanae , galangae . 34. hysterica , ut semen agni casti , portulacae , trochisci de myrrha . 35. arthritica , quae valent adversus podagram , & chiragram , ut radices aenulae campanae , folia solani , plantaginis , althaeae . authores . hippocrates , galenus , trallianus , actuarius , cornelius celsus , avicenna , sennertus , riverius , macasius , regius , willisius , barbetius , harveius circulationis sanguinis inventor , &c. sect. xxii . the art of sailing . ars nautica , or histiodromica , is that art which teacheth how to direct a ship through the seas , to the propos'd harbour . this art requireth the knowledge of the mariners compass , and the lead , of the sea-coasts , capes , rocks , promontories , harbours , of the distances of one place from another , of the ebbing and flowing of the sea , of the latitude and longitude of every place . it requireth likewise the knowledge of several instruments fit to take the latitude of a place , as of the cross-staff , of the quadrant , of the nocturnal , of the plane scale , of gunter's scale , &c. the mariners compass is a round plane , whose circumference is divided into 32 equal parts , by streight lines , called rhombs , passing through the center . the height of the pole , of so great benefit to sailers , is found out thus : observe first the height of the sun at noon-day , with an astrolabe , or some other instrument of that kind ; then take the declination of the sun , from the height , if the sun declines from the equator towards the northern pole ; or add the declination of the sun , to the observed height , if the sun declines towards the southern pole ; the remaining number , or the sum made up by addition , gives you the height of the equator , whose complement to 90 degrees ( as they speak ) is always the height of the pole. thus if the height of the equator above our horizon be 60 deg . the height of the pole is 30 deg . because 30 added to 60 , make up 90 ; and if the pole be elevated but 10 deg . the height of the equator is 80 , because this number is the complement of that . if their could be an hour glass , or ● clock , so contriv'd , as to fall but very little short of the measure of time ▪ with the help of this clock , to the great advantage of sailers , the differences of the longitudes might be found after this manner : when the ship sets off , let the clock shew the hour in the place from whence you sail'd , without discontinuing : if then we would know the longitude of the place in which we now are , let us , by observation of the sun , find the hour in that place we chance to be in ; which if it be the same pointed at by the clock , or shewn by the glass , 't is certain we are in the same meridian we were in at our first setting out ; but if we find by observation , more hours than the clock pointeth at , we have made a progress towards the east ; if we find fewer hours , we are gone towards the west ; and the differences of the longitudes may easily be known , if the differences of the hours be converted into degrees , and minutes of degrees . authors . seller , everard , wright , &c. sectio vigesima secunda . ars nautica . ars nautica , sive histiodromica ea est quae docet qui dirigi debeat navis per maria ad propositum portum . haec ars requirit notitiam pyxidis nauticae , & bolidis , orae maritimae , promontoriorum , rupium , portuum distantiarum inter loca , aestuum maritimorum , latitudinis & longitudinis cujusque loci , instrumentorum pariter variorum ad investigandam syderum altitudinem , ut baculi decussati , quadrantis , nocturnalis , scalarum planarum , scalarum gunteri , &c. pyxis nautica est planum rotundum , cujus circumferentia in 32 partes aequales dividitur rectis lineis per centrum transeuntibus quae rhombi dicuntur . altitudo poli navigantibus adeo utilis sic invenitur : observa primo meridianam solis altitudinem ope astrolabii , aut alterius cujuspiam instrumenti , tum substrahe declinationem solis ex altitudine jam inventa solis , ope instrumenti , si declinatio solis versus polum conspicuum sit , aut adde declinationem solis observatae altitudini si sol declinaverit versus polum meridionalem , residuum aut summa futura est altitudo aequatoris , cujus complementum est semper altitudo poli : itaque si altitudo aequatoris supra horizontem nostrum sit graduum sexaginta , altitudi poli futura est graduum triginta : quia si addas 30 ipsis 60 , summa futura est 90 ; & si polus 10 tantum supra horizontem gradibus extet , aequator supra eundem extabit 80 , quia hic numerus est complementum illius . si posset construi clepsydra , aut horologium quod ab accurata mensura temporis parum aberraret : illius ope inveniri possent hoc modo longitudinum differentiae : aptetur horologium ita ut dum solvit navis ostendat horas loci unde discedimus , deinde inter navigandum nunquam cesset : cumque libuerit scire longitudinem loci in quo sumus , ex observatione coelesti inquiratur illius loci hora , quae si omnino convenerit cum hora quam horologium indicat , certum erit nos esse sub eo unde discessimus meridiano , si vero plures horas observatione invenimus , quam horologium indicet , progressi sumus versus ortum , si pauciores defleximus versus occidentem , dignosceturque differentia longitudinum , si reducantur differentiae horarum in gradus , & minuta graduum . authores . sellerius , everardus , wrightius , &c. sect. xxiii . opticks . the opticks , or optica , gives us an account of various appearances of objects . this science treats of the streight ray , as the catoptrick of the reflected , and the dioptrick of the refracted or broken ray. these following definitions belong to the opticks . the proper objects of sense , are those that can be known but by one sense ; and the common objects , such as may be known by more than one sense . light and colour , are the proper objects of our sight ; the light , upon its own account ; and the colour , by the help of light. these following things , are the common objects of our senses , bulk , figure , place , situation , distance , continuity , discontinuity , motion , and rest. the visuel rays , are the streight lines , by which the frame of the visible object is in a manner carried to the eye . we may reckon among the chief principles of this science , these following . the visible object radiates from all its least parts , to all the least parts of the medium , to which one may draw a streight line . that is seen , and that only , from which to the eye the visuel ray may be eztended . the more bodies there appear between the eye and the object , the more remote the objects appear to be . the convergent rays , are those that departing from the object , come together : such are , the rays of diverse parts of the object , which cut one another in the chrystalline humor . the divergent rays , departing from the object towards the eye , recede from one another : the rays of every point of the object , are divergent , till they come to the chrystalline humour , beyond which they come together again towards the retina . we may reckon these following propositoins amongst the most considerable of the opticks . no visible object is seen at first altogether , and perfectly . magnitudes being in the same streight line , the remoter seem to be the lesser . parallel intervals seem to be nearer one another , the farther they are from the eye . rectangle magnitudes being seen at a distance , seem to be round . equal magnitudes being under the eye , those that are farthest from the eye , seem to be highest . authors . you may reckon amongst the best masters of the opticks , euclid , aquilonius , scheiner , vitellio , alhazane , herigone , &c. sectio vigesima tertia . optica . optica variae objectorum apparentiae causas demonstrat . agit de radio recto , ut catoptrica de reflexo , & dioptrica de refracto . ad opticam spectant sequentes definitiones . propria objecta sunt ea quae ab uno tantum sensu percipi possunt . communia sunt ea quae a pluribus sensibus percipiuntur . lumen & color sunt propria visus nostri objecta , lumen quidem ratione sui , color ope lucis . communia visus objecta sunt ea quae sequuntur , quantitas , figura , locus , situs , distantia , continuitas , discontinuitas , motus , & quies . radii visorii rectae lineae sunt , quibus forma aspectabilis objecti ad visum porrigitur . inter praecipua hujus scientiae principia sequentia numerare licet . visibile radiat e quolibet sui puncto ad quodlibet punctum medii ad quod recta duci potest . id omne & solum videtur a quo ad oculum radius opticus extendi potest . quo plura corpora oculum inter , & objectum apparent , eo remotius existimatur objectum . convergentes radii sunt ii qui recedendo ab objecto simul coeunt . ejusmodi sunt radii variorum punctorum objecti qui se mutuo in humore chrystallino secant . divergentes radii progrediendo ab objecto versus oculum recedunt a se invicem donec ad humorem chrystallinum pervenerint ultra quem versus retinam coeunt . annumerare possumus praecipuis opticae ; propositiones sequentes . nullum visibile objectum simul totum , & perfecte videtur . magnitudinum in eadem recta quae remotiores videntur , minores apparent . parallela intervalla eo magis ad se invicem accedere videntur quo sunt remotoria ab oculo . rectangulae magnitudines procul visae apparent rotundae . aequalium magnitudinum sub oculo quae remotiores , videntur altiores . authores . inter praecipuos opticae doctores censere possumus euclidem , aquilonium , alhazenum , scheinerum , vitellionem herigonium , &c. sect. xxiv . perspective . perspective representeth every object seen in some diaphane , or transparent medium , through which the visual rays are terminated or bounded on the object ; and generally what ▪ is seen through something , as through the air , water , clouds , glass , and the like , may be said to be seen in perspective . the chief contents of this science , may be referred to these following heads . the ray is a streight line drawn from the eye to the glass perpendicularly . that point is called primary , on which falls a perpendicular line drawn from the eye to the glass . the projection of a line , is not a crooked line . the object being a point , there is but one visual ray drawn from the object to the center of the eye , and this ray is called the axis , or centrical , as being the most vivid , and the strongest of all . if the object be a streight line , the visual rays make a triangle . if the object be a surface , plane or spherical , the visual rays represent a pyramide . ichonography is the pourtraiture of the platform or plane upon which we would raise any thing . orthography is the pourtraiture of the fore part of the object . scenography representeth the object wholly elevated and perfect , with all its dimensions and umbrages on all sides . the horizontal line in perspective , is taken from the height of our eye : this is the chief piece of the picture , and which ought to be the rule of the dimensions and height of the figure . the point of perspective , or sight , is made by the centrical ray above the horizon . authors . amongst the chief writers of perspective , you have roger bacon , john baptist porta , stevin , marole , john cousin , daniel barbaro , vignola , serlio , du cereau , salomon de caus , guidus ubaldus , niceronius , &c. sectio vigesima quarta . perspectiva . perspectiva quodlibet objectum exhibet conspectum permedium quodpiam diaphanum , per quod radii visorii transeuntes terminantur ad objectum , & generaliter loquendo quicquid per aliud quidpiam videtur , ut per aerem , per aquam , per nubes , per vitrum , & quaecumque alia sunt ejusmodi , dici possunt videri in perspectiva . quae praecipui momenti haec scientia continet ad sequentia capita reduci queunt . radius primarius est recta ab oculo in vitrum ad angulos rectos ducta . primarium punctum dicitur id in quod cadit perpendicularis ab oculo in vitrum ducta . projectio lineae non est linea curva . cum objectum est punctum unicus tantum est radius visorius ab objecto ad centrum oculi ductus , hicque radius dicitur axis , aut radius centricus , estque omnium vivacissimus , ac fortissimus . si objectum recta sit linea , radii visiorii conflant triangulum . si objectum sit superficies plana , aut sphaerica , radii visiorii conficiunt pyramidem . ichonographia est delineatio plani super quod erigere quidpiam volumus . orthographia est delineatio anterio●is objecti partis . scenographia exhibet objectum omnino elevatum , perfectumque una cum omnibus ejusdem dimensionibus , um●risque undique . linea horizontalis in perspectiva ●ucitur ab altitudine oculi : haec prae●pui in pictura momenti est , regu●que esse debet dimensionum , altitu●numque figurae . punctum perspectivae , aut visus fit ●entrico supra horizontem radio . authores . inter praecipuos perspectivae scriptores hi censentur rogerius bacco , johannes baptista porta , stevinius , marolus , johannes cousinus , daniel barbaro , vignola , serlio , du cereau , salomon de caus , guidus ubaldus , niceronius , &c. sect. xxv . poetry . poetry is the art of making verse and poems : in order to this , 〈…〉 teacheth the quantity of syllables , whether they be short or long , doubtful 〈…〉 common , i mean , either short or long 〈…〉 pleasure . it teacheth what feet every verse compounded of , that feet are made syllables of different quantities , as spondee consists of two long syllables ; for instance , doctos , and pyrrichius ; of two short , as rota ; a dactyle consists of one long , and two short , as pectora . a poem implieth a fiction : upon this account , verses that contain no fiction , are not strictly considered ▪ a poem ; and he that gives a meer matter of fact , without any ingenious fiction adapted to the subject , is rather styl'd a versificator , than a poet. verses are either denominated from their inventors , as sapphick verses , from the greek poetress sappho , the first inventress ; as pindarick , from pindarus , or from the feet whereof they consist ; as iambick , from the iambick● of which they are compos'd , or from th● matter they express ; as heroick , from the praises of great men ; as elegiack from sad narratives , or from the number of feet , as hexameter , and pent● meter , the first having six , and the othe● five . the scansion of a verse , is the measuring of a verse by its feet . the cesure is the making of a short syllable long at the end of a foot . authors . aristotle , horace , alvares , despauter , waller , cowley , dryden , & . sectio vigesima quinta . poetica . poetica est ars pangendorum carminum quem in scopum docet quantitatem syllabarum an scilicet sint longae , breves , dubiae , aut communes , hoc est pro arbitrio , breves aut longae . docet ex quibus pedibus quilibet versus constet , pedesque constare ex syllabis variae quantitatis , spondaeum puta , duabus longis , ut doctos , pyrrichium ; ex duabus brevibus , ut rota ; dactylum ex una longa & duabus brevibus , ut pectora . poema fictionem necessario requirit : quare versus nullam fictionem complexi stricte loquendo poema dici nequeunt : qui rem absque ingenioso ullo commento , ut reipsa contigit , carmine describit , versificator potius quam poeta dicendus est . versus denominantur aut ab inventoribus , ut sapphici versus a puella graeca quae sappho dicebatur , prima inventrice , ut pindarici a pindaro ; aut a pedibus ex quibus constant , ut iambici ab iambis , ex quibus fiunt ; aut a materia quam exprimunt , ut heroici a laudibus heroum , elegiaci a maestis narrationibus ; aut a numero pedum , ut hexameter , & pentameter a numero pedum sex , & quinque . scansio versus est ejusdem ope pedum dimensio . caesuta est productio syllabae brevis sub finem pedis . authores . aristoteles , horatius , alvares , despauterius , &c. sect. xxvi . philosophy . philosophy , if we take it generally , is the love of wisdom ; if more particularly , the knowledge of natural bodies , or of the natural causes of things : the aristotelian philosophy acknowledgeth three principles of every thing , matter , form , and privation ; for we can conceive nothing to be generated without these three ; for if i conceive the generation of fire in wood , i must of necessity apprehend the wood as the matter , as likewise the privation of the fire in the wood , and also the form of fire taking place of that of wood. this philosophy resolveth all difficulties relating to bodies , by matter , privation , and form , occult qualities , and such like pretences to humane ignorance : so every mixt , according to aristotles principle , is compounded of matter and form : this matter , the peripateticks call the subject of all forms ; and this form , the act of matter ; and both together , the two compounding principles of all compounded things aristotles followers teach , that nature is such an enemy to a vacuum , that to shun it , she forceth heavy things upwards , and light things downwards . the new philosophy holds but two simple principles of all things , matter , and motion ; that , as the material cause ; this , as the efficient . the formal cause of things , which school-men call a substantial or accidental form , being nothing else , according to the modern philosophers , but a certain texture of the compounding particles ; and by the variety of textures every where obvious , or by the various modifications of matter , they give us a rational account of all the differences we observe among corporeal beings . authors of the school philosophy . aristotle , and all his commentators , as averroes , alexander aphrodisaeus , &c. authors of the new philosophy . descartes , verulam , the honourable robert boyle , who in not a few things , has out-done them both , and is deservedly styl'd abroad , the english philosopher ; he being indeed , the honour of his nation , as well as of his family . sectio vigesima sexta . philosophia . philosophia si latius sumatur , amorem sapientiae sonat , si propius & specialius , est corporum naturalium , aut naturalium causarum cognitio . philosophia aristotelica agnoscit tria rerum dum generantur principia , materiam , formam , & privationem . nihil enim generari concipimus nisi haec tria concipiamus : si enim concipio generationem ignis in ligno , necessario concipio lignum , ut materiam , & privationem pariter ipsius in ligno , formamque ignis formae ligni succedentem . haec philosophia omnes fere difficultates ad corpora spectantes ope materiae , privationis , & formae resolvit , atque occultarum qualitatum beneficio , aliisque humanae ignorantiae velamentis ; unumquodque igitur mixtum juxta aristotelica principia componitur ex materia , & forma : hanc materiam vocant peripatetici subjectum omnium formarum , & hanc formam actum materiae , componentiaque duo principia si simul sumantur , omnium rerum compositarum . aristotelis sectatores docent naturam vacuo adeo esse inimicam , ut illius vitandi gratia gravia sursum cogat , & levia deorsum . nova philosophia duo admittit simplicia omnium rerum principia materiam , & motum , illam ceu causam materialem hanc ut efficientem . formalis enim rerum causa , quam scholastici formam substantialem vocant , aut accidentalem , nihil aliud est juxta philosophos recentiores , quam textura quaedam partium componentium . hacque contextus varietate ubique obvia , aut variis materiae modificationibus , rationalem , facilem , obviamque nobis reddunt rationem omnium quae observamus , corporea inter entia discriminum . authores philosophiae scholasticae . aristoteles ejusque commentatores , ut averroes , alexander aphrodisaeus , &c. authores novae philosophiae . gassendus , cartesius , verulamius , illustrissimus robertus boylius , qui in multis his omnibus palmam praeripuit , meritoque philosophus britannicus cognominatur ; est que reipsa nationis suae , & nobilissimae familiae ornamentum & decus . sect. xxvii . rhetorick . rhetorick is the art of speaking well ; the duty of a rhetorician , is to speak pertinently to the subject , in order to perswade , and his chief scope must be to perswade by his discourse . rhetorick consists of four parts , invention , disposition , elocution , and pronounciation : invention is the contriving of an argument fit to perswade , and those arguments are always taken from some of these ensuing heads . 1. from the definition , when we declare what the thing is . 2. from the division , when we distribute a thing into all its parts . 3. from the etymology , when we shew its origine and signification . 4. from the species , when we frame an argument from that particular kind of thing the subject we treat of , belongs to . 5. from the genus , when we bring some proof from that general thing the subject we treat of , is contain'd under . 6. from the similitude . 7. from the dissimilitude . 8. from contraries . 9. from opposites , that can never concur together . 10. from comparison . 11. from the four causes , efficient , material , formal , and final . 12. from the antecedents and consequents of a thing . disposition is the orderly placing of the things invented : this orderly placing consists of five things ; exordium , by which the speaker prepares the minds of his auditors , to what he is to say . proposition , when the orator declares what he intends to make out . narration , when he relates the matter of fact , with all its circumstances . confirmation , when he proves his proposition . peroration , when the orator endeavours to move the affections of the hearers , by a fit elocution . elocution , made up of tropes , as they speak in the schools , by which words change their signification ; and of figures , which are an elegant , and not vulgar manner of speaking , is the ornament of speech . pronunciation relates to the voice , and the gesture ; by the first , we please the ear ; by the second , the sight . these forementioned things ( necessary to the compleating of an orator ) being seldom found together in any eminency , gave occasion to cicero to say , that we scarce find a good orator in a whole age. authors . aristole , cicero , suarez . sectio vigesima septima . rhetorica . rhetorica est ars bene dicendi ; officium rhetoris est loqui apposite ad scopum hoc est ad persuadendum ; praecipuus enim ipsius scopus est persuadere dictione . rhetorica quatuor constat partibus , inventione , dispositione , elocutione , pronunciatione : inventio est excogitatio argumenti ad persuadendum idonei ; haec autem argumenta ducuntur semper ab aliquo sequentium capitum . 1. a definitione , cum declaramus quid res sint . 2. a divisione , cum rem distribuimus in omnes partes . 3 , ab etymologia , cum indicamus ejusdem originem & significationem . 4. a specie , cum argumentum quodpiam ducimus a particulari illa rerum specie , ad quam res , de qua agimus spectat . 5. a genere , cum probationem de sumimus a generali illa re , sub qua id quod sub litem cadit , continetur . 6. a similitudine . 7. a dissimilitudine . 8. a contrario . 9. ab oppositis , quae nunquam concurrere queunt . 10. a comparatione . 11. a quatuor causis , efficiente , materiali , formali , & finali . 12. ab antecedentibus & consequentibus . dispositio est ordinata rerum inventarum collocatio : haec ordinata collocatio his quinque constat , exordio , quo parat orator auditorum animos ad ea quae dicturus est . propositione , cum orator quid probaturus sit exponit . narratione , cum materiam facti omnibus vestitam appendicibus enarrat . confirmatione , cum propositionem suam probat . peroratione , qua conatur orator auditorum animos apta elocutione movere . elocutio , composita ex tropis , quibus voces ad alienam significationem traducuntur , & figuris quae sunt elegantes , & non vulgares loquendi formulae , est totius orationis ornamentum . pronunciatio spectat vocem , & gestum , ista recreamus aurem , hac oculum : praememorata haec quae in perfecto oratore requirimus cum vix uspiam simul summo in gradu concurrant , impulerunt ciceronem ut dicere● vix singulis aetatibus singulos tolerabiles oratores extisse . authores . aristoteles , cicero , suares . sect. xxviii . the doctrine of the sphere . sphaerica is a science which treats of the sphere , whether artificial or natural . the sphere is a solid figure comprehended under one surface , to which all the streight lines drawn from one of those points that are within the figure , are equal one to another . the center of the sphere , is the forementioned point . the axis of the sphere , is a streight line drawn through the center , and terminated on each side in the surface of the sphere ; about which the sphere turneth round . the poles of the sphere , are the two extreme points of the axis . this science demonstrates these following propositions . 1. the sphere toucheth but in one point the plane by which it is not cut . 2. in the sphere , great circles cut one another into equal parts ; and if they divide one another into equal parts , they are great circles . 3. in the sphere , the pole of a great circle is distant from the circumference of the same circle , a full quadrant , or a fourth part of the great circle . 4. in the sphere , parallel circles are about the same poles ; and circles that are about the same poles , are parallel . 5. in the sphere , there are no more than two circles , both equal-distant and equal . this science teacheth how to find the center , and the pole of any sphere , and sheweth likewise all the properties of the circles of the sphere . authors . theodosius , maurolycus , sacrobosco , clavius , mestlinus , blancanus . sectio vigesima octava . sphaerica . sphaerica est scientia quae agit de sphaera , sive arte facta , sive naturali . sphaerica est figura solida comprehensa una superficie , ad quam ab uno eorum punctorum quae intra figuram sunt , omnes rectae lineae ductae sunt aequales inter se. centrum sphaerae est punctum praememoratum . axis sphaerae est recta per centrum ducta & utrimque terminata in superficie sphaerae circa quam volvitur sphaera . poli sphaerae , sunt duo extrema puncta axis . haec scientia sequentes propositiones demonstrat . 1. sphaera planum a quo non secatur , non tangit in pluribus punctis uno . 2. in sphaera , maximi circuli sese mutuo bifariam secant , & qui sese mutuo bifariam secant , sunt maximi . 3. in sphaera , polus maximi circuli abest a circumferentia ejusdem circuli quadrante maximi circuli . 4. in sphaera , paralleli circuli circa eosdem polos sunt , & qui circa eosdem polos in sphaera sunt , sunt paralleli . 5. in sphaera non sunt plures circuli aequales , & paralleli quam duo . haec scientia praeterea docet qui centrum , polumque cujuscumque sphaerae invenire possimus , indicatque pariter proprietates circulorum sphaerae . authores . theodosius , maurolycus , sacrobosco , clavius , mestlinus , blancanus . sect. xxix . divinity . theology , or divity , is wholly directed to the glory of god , and salvation of mankind . the speculative part of it , proposeth to us things that we are to believe , as whatever concerns gods attributes and perfections , the immortality of our souls , and whatever is contain'd in the apostolick creed . the practical part , proposeth to us things that we are to do , viz. whatever is contain'd in the decalogue . the immediate object of divinity , as it relates to christians , we reckon whatever concerns christ , directly , or indirectly ; as in general , the old and new testament . and in particular , the prophecies relating to his coming , his miracles , his doctrine , and the conversion of the world by his apostles : if then , a man knew no other divinity , but that which gives an account of gods attributes , he is not upon this account a christian divine , but a philosopher , or deist . christian divinity , besides the aforesaid things , teacheth all kind of vertues , as charity , humility , patience , chastity , adoration , prayer to , and praise of god , faith , obedience , repentance , &c. it will have us moreover to pardon and love our very enemies ; which no other religion commands : it offers to us the fundamental points of christian religion , christs godhead , passion , death , resurrection , &c. and ( as i was saying ) whatever is contained in the creed . authors . the master of sentences , thomas aquinas , scotus , hammond , lightfoot , and several other doctors of the church of england . sectio vigesima nona . theologia . thologia ad dei gloriam , salutemque animarum tota dirigitur . speculativa pars proponit nobis credenda , ut quae spectant ad attributa divina , immortalitatem animae , quaeque in symbolo apostolorum continentur . pars practica facienda nobis proponit , quaecumque scilicet decalogus nobis exhibet . theologia prout spectat christianos , immediatum habet objectum quicquid refertur ad christum directe , aut indirecte ut in genere tum antiquum , tum novum testamentum ; & magis speciatim prophetias ad ipsius adventum spectantes , miracula , doctrinam , hominumque ab apostolis conversionem : quocirca si nullum quis aliam noverit theologiam quam quae divinorum attributorum reddit rationem non hoc nomine christianus theologus , sed philosophus potius , aut deista merus dici debet . theologia christiana praeter superius commemorata docet omnia virtutum genera , humilitatem , patientiam , castitatem , adorationem , orationem , laudem dei , fidem , obedientiam , paenitentiam , &c. vult insuper nos non tantum remittere injuriam , sed & diligere inimicos : quod nulla nisi christiana religio injungit . proponit nobis religionis christianae fundamenta , christi deitatem , passionem , mortem , resurrectionem , &c. atque ut superius dicebam quicquid in symbolo continetur . authores . majister sententiarum , thomas aquinas , johannes duns scotus a patria , hamm●ndius , lightfootius , aliique quam plurimi ecclesiae anglicanae doctores . sect. xxx . spherical trigonometry . spherical trigonometry teacheth us to measure spherical triangles , that is triangles in the surface of the sphere , made by the arches of great circles . those sides of a spherical triangle are of the same kind that both exceed , or both fall short of 90 degrees ; but they are of a different sort , if the one exceed , and the other fall short of 90 degrees . this science demonstrates these following propositions . 1. in all spherical triangles , any side whatsoever , is less than a semi-circle . 2. in all spherical triangles , any two sides , howsoever they be consider'd , are greater than the third . 3. of a spherical triangle equilateral , if each side be a quadrant , or of 90 deg . all the angles are streight ; and if each side be less than the quadrant , all the angles are obtuse . 4. in all spherical triangles , when the angles are all acute , all the arches are less than the quadrant . 5. in all spherical triangles , the three angles are greater than two streight angles , and lesser than six . authors . kepler , afraganius , julius higinus , garcaeus , robert hues , adrianus metius . sectio trigesima . trigonometria sphaerica . trigonometria sphaerica docet nos modum dimetiendi triangula sphaerica , hoc est triangula ex tribus arcubus maximorum circulorum , in superficie sphaerae composita . latera ea trianguli sphaerici ejusdem sunt affectionis quae simul excedunt , aut deficiunt a quadrante , aut nonaginta gradibus , sed non sunt ejusdem generis si unum latus excedat , & alterum sit infra nonaginta gradus . haec scientia sequentes hasce propositiones demonstrat . 1. in omni triangulo sphaerico quodvis latus quomodocumque sumptum est minus semi-circulo . 2. in omni triangulo sphaerico duo latera reliquo sunt majora quomodocumque sumpta . 3. omne triangulum sphaericum aequilaterum , si singula latera sunt quadrantes , habet singulos angulos rectos , si vero quadrante minora , ob , tusos . 4. in omni triangulo sphaerico cujus omnes anguli sunt acuti arcus singuli quadrante minores sunt 5. omnis trianguli sphaerici tres anguli duobus quidem rectis sunt majores , sex vero rectis minores . authores . keplerus , afraganius , julius higinus , garcaeus , robertus hues , adrianus metius . sect. xxxi . the rectiline trigonometry . the rectiline trigonometry teacheth us how to measure triangles made of streight lines . a streight line , is the shortest way between two extremes . between two extremes , there can be but one streight line . two streight lines can not cut one another , but in one point . an angle is measured by degrees , so a streight angle is an angle of 90 degrees , an acute angle is an angle of fewer than 90 , as an obtuse angle contains more than 90 degrees . a line falling even down upon another line , without inclining either to the one side , or to the other , is called a perpendicular line , and makes two streight angles . parallel lines , are those that are equidistant one from another . this science demonstrates this proposition , of great use in mathematicks , that the three angles of all rectiline triangles , are equal to two streight ones . all the angles of a triangle , may be acute , but there can be but one streight , or obtuse . if one of the three angles of a triangle be streight , the two others are equal to a streight angle . who knows the degrees of two angles , knows the degrees of the third , because all three make up 180 degrees . all the angles of a triangle being equal , all the sides are likewise equal . authors . euclid , clavius , arnauld ; malapertius , fournier , &c. sectio trigesima prima . trigonometria rectilinea . trigonometria rectilinea docet qui triangula ex rectis lineis composita metiri oporteat . linea recta est brevissima duo inter extrema via . duo inter extrema unica tantum duci potest recta . duae rectae nequeunt se invicem nisi in puncto secare . angulum metiuntur gradus , angulus rectus est angulus 90 graduum , acutus angulus graduum pauciorum , angulus obtusus plures nonaginta gradibus gradus continet . linea in aliam utrimque incidens ex aequo perpendicularis dicitur , duosque utrimque rectos angulos constituit . lineae parallelae , sunt lineae aequo a se invicem intervallo dissitae . haec scientia non exiguae mathematicis in disciplinis utilitatis hanc propositionem demonstrat , omnis trianguli rectilinei tres anguli duobus rectis sunt aequales . omnes anguli trianguli rectilinei possunt esse acuti , sed unus tantum rectus esse potest , aut obtusus . si unus trium angulorum trianguli sit rectus , duo reliqui recto aequales sunt . qui novit duorum angulorum gradus tertii anguli gradus novit , simul enim tres anguli conficiunt numerum 180. quoties omnes anguli trianguli sunt aequales , omnia latera quoque aequalia sunt . authores . euclides , cicero , clavius , arnauld , malapertius , fournierius , &c. an appendix , pointing at some of the chief authors of this , and the foregoing ages . by authors , here are meant , those that are really such , and the first inventors of any useful piece of knowledge . reader , thou mayest rest satisfied with this very short and imperfect account of some of the chief new inventions , either of this , or of the past ages , since i design , at more leisure , to write a larger treatise of this subject , as likewise to set down the particular times every thing was printed in , that so the unjust dealing both of domestick and foreign transcribers , who have so often stolen the greatest , or ( at least ) the best part of their writings from the honourable robert boyle , hook , descartes , gassendi , and others , may to their confusion , be discovered ; and to the great encouragement of all ingenious men , who shall the more willingly venture abroad their notions , and new contrivances , in what kind soever , if they ▪ are once secured from usurping authors . i shall begin with the deservedly famous robert boyle , though i may dispatch in one word , what relates to this noble author , if i say , as truly i may , that whatever he has publish'd , is in every respect new , both as to the subject it self , the arguments he proposeth , and the particular method : but because the curious reader will not be satisfied with this general account , i come to particulars , but shall speak but of a very few things , as designing , at greater conveniency , a more accurate history of this great author's new contrivances , whether notions , engines , or experiments . as likewise whatever the natives of this island have invented towards the promoting of useful learning . the famous air-pump was invented by the honourable robert boyle : he giveth a full account of it , in his discourse of physico mechanical experiments ; by the help whereof , he proves the elastick power and spring of the air , and several other wonderful phaenomena's relating to the nature , spring , expansion , pressure , weight of the air , &c. he contrived the experiment concerning the different parts and redintegration of salt-peter ; whence he concludes , that motion , figure , and disposition of parts , may suffice to produce all secondary affections of bodies , and so banisheth the substantial forms and qualities of the schools . but because i design a larger account in another treatise of this noble author's new inventions , i shall only tell you here , that his physiological and experimental essays , his sceptical chymist , his usefulness of experimental philosophy , his history of cold , his experimental history of colours , his hydrostatical paradoxes , his origine of forms and qualities , his free enquiry into the receiv'd notion of nature , his reconciliableness of specifick remedies to the new philosophy , his history of humane bloud , his discourse of final causes , not yet published ; as likewise all his other treatises contain as many new notions and exepriments almost as lines . i shall not forget in this place , what that very learned and ingenious gentleman , sir robert gordon , of gordistoun , has lately invented ; i mean , his famous water-pump , a piece of mechanism , far beyond the contrivances of all foregoing ages , in this kind , as i shall easily make out by the following account of this useful engine . this new pump draweth twice as much water as any other ; it is wrought with half the force , and costs half the price , and takes up but half the room . the experiment , performed at deptford the twenty second of march , in presence of my lord dartmouth , and the commissioners of the navy ; appointed to give account of it to the king , was as follows . in a sixth-rate frigat , this new pump did fill the gaged cistern of two tuns , in one minute and forty five seconds ; and the shippump did the same in six minutes and some more , each pump being wrought by four men . in a fourth-rate frigat , this pump being wrought by twelve men , did fill the cistern in thirty one seconds ; and the ship-pump , being wrought by six men , fill'd it in four minutes and some more . the chief authors of new discoveries in anatomy , we reckon to be these following : fabricius ab aqua pendente discover'd the valve of the veins , as the valve at the entrance of the great gut colon was found out by bauhinus ; the milky veins of the mesentery , by asellius ; the receptacle of the chyle , hy pequet ; the ductus virsungianus , by george virsung , of padua ; the lymphatick vessels , by dr. joliffe , bartholin , and olaus rudbeck ; the internal ductus salivaris in the maxillary glandule , by dr. wharton , and dr. glisson ; the glandules under the tongue , nose and palate ; the vessels in the nameless glandules of the eye ; the tear glandule , by nicolas steno ; a new artery , called arteria bronchialis , by frederick rusch ; the circulation of the bloud , by dr. harvey , though some , upon no very good grounds , ascribe it to paulus venetus , and others to prosper alpinus , and andreas caesalpinus . the act of making salt water fresh , was lately invented in england , whereof the deservedly famous r. boyle gave a very rational account , in a letter written upon this subject . arithmetick was either invented , or much promoted by pythagoras , by euclid , not the euclid that was contemporary to plato , and hearer of socrates , but the famed mathematician of that name , who was after aristotle , and at ninety years distance from the former ; by diaphantus , psellus , apuleius , cardan , gemma frisius , clavius , &c. neper invented the logarithms , by the help whereof we perform all the operations of arithmetick by addition and substraction . he invented likewise an easie , certain and compendious way of accounting by sticks , called rabdology , as also computation by neper's bones . the telescope was invented by james metius , of amsterdam , though commonly ascribed to galile , who indeed , improved it . torricellius found the barometer , whereby we weigh the air itself . printing , according to polidore vergile , was found by john cuttemberg , of ments , in germany , though others give the honour to one fust , of the same city ; and some , to lawrence , a burgher of harlem . the chineses knew this art before the europeans . flavius goia , of amalphis , in the kingdom of naples , is thought to be the inventor of the mariners-compass , three hundred years since . finis . appendix , quosdam e praecipuis hujus , superiorumque saeculorum authoribus indicans . hic nomine authorum intelliguntur ii , qui reipsa ejusmodi sunt , hoc est primi utilis cujuscumque scientiae , seu cognitionis inventores . aequi bonique consulet lector brevem hanc imperfectamque descriptionem eorum , quae sive hoc , sive praeterita saecula invenerunt ; cum enim per otium licebit , statui ampliorem hoc super argumento conscribere tractatum , ipsumque denotare tempus quo quidlibet e prelo in lucem prodiit , eo consilio ut transcriptores tum domestici , tum extranei qui toties ties illustrissimo boylio , hookio , cartesio , aliisque maximam aut praecipuam saltem lucubrationum suarum partem surripuere meritas ipso detecti furti pudore luant paenas : quo fiet ut ingeniosi quique quaecumque de novo excogitant , facilius in lucem emissuri sint si tutos se ab authoribus aliena usurpantibus noverint . initium ducam a roberto boylio jure merito jam ubique celeberrimo , quamvis quae hic nobilem hunc authorem spectant verbo absolvere queam , si dixero ut vere possum , quicquid ab ipso in lucem editum est esse omnino novum , sive argumentum ipsum spectes , sive rationes ab ipso propositas , sive denique peculiarem ipsius methodum : sed quia his in genere dictis lectoris curiositati factum satis non fuerit , propius quaedam attingam paucissima tantum commemoraturus , ut qui per otium accuratiorem scribere decreverim historiam tum eorum quae magnus hic author primus adinvenit puta notionem machinarum , experiment orum , &c. tum eorum quae indigenae hujus insulae ad utilium scientiarum propagationem excogitarunt . celeberrima antlia aeria ab illustrissimo roberto boylio excogitata fuit : plenam ejusdem descriptionem tradit ibi ubi de experimentis physico-mechanicis ; illius ope elasticam aeris virtutem , atque elaterem probat , variaque alia , quae merito miremur , phaenomena ad naturam , elaterem , expansionem , pressionem , gravitatemque aeris spectantia . primus ille author experimenti est de diversis partibus , & redintegratione salispetrae , unde concludit motu , figura , partiumque dispositione secundarias omnium corporum affectiones produci posse , proscribitque proinde substantiales scholarum formas , & qualitates . sed quia fusius alibi scribere statui de iis quae nobilis hic author primus invenit , hic tantum suggeram , physiologicis ipsius tent aminibus , atque experimentalibus , chymico sceptico , utilitate experimentalis philosophiae , historia frigoris , experimentali historia colorum , hydrostaticis paradoxis , origine formarum & qualitatum , libera in receptam naturae notionem disquisitione , concordia remediorum specificorum & novae philosophiae , historia humani sanguinis , dissertatione de causis finalibus , nondum edita ; variisque aliis ejusdem operibus , tot novas contineri notiones , experimentaque fere quot versus . non praetermittam hoc loco quod doctissimus , ingeniosissim usque rob. gordonius , a gordistoun eques , nuper● adinvenit ; notissimam scilicet jam ubique hauriendis aquis antliam , mechanismi quoddam genus , quod superiorum aetatum hoc in genere arte facta longe exsuperet , ut sequente utilis hujusce machinae descriptione facile demonstrabo . nova haec antlia duplo plus quavis alia aquarum trahit ; & dimidiis tantum viribus dimidioque solum constat pretio , & dimidium tantum modo implet locum . experimentum hoc deptfordii vigesimo secundo martii coram comite darmouthensi commissariisque classis regiae , ad rem ut reipsa erat regi referendam constitutis ita se habebat . imposita nova haec antlia navi bellicae sexti ordinis mensuratam duorum doliorum cisternam minuto uno , secundis quinque supra quadraginta implevit : notaque navis antlia idem sex minutis & aliqua parte septimi praestitit , utramque autem quatuor tantum operarii agebant . navi bellicae quarti ordinis imposita coopera●tibus interim duodecim operario cist●ruam secundis triginta , & uno implevit , navisque antlia ope sex nautarum cand●●● quatuor minutis , & aliqua parte quinti implevit . praecipuos rerum anatomicarum detectores sequentes numeramus , vid. fabricium ab aqua pendente , qui detexit valvulas venarum , ut valvula , sub introitum magni intestini quod colon dicunt inventa fuit a bauhino ; venae lacteae mesenterii ab asellio , receptaculum chyli a pequeto , ductus virsungianus a georgio virsung paduensi ; lymphatica vasa a doctore joliffeo , bartholino , & olao rudbeckio , internus ductus salivaris in glandula maxillari a doctore whartono , & doctore glissonio , glandulae sub lingua , naso , palato , vasa sub innominata glandula oculi , glandula lacrymalis a nicolao stenone ; nova arteria bronchialis dicta a frederico ruschio , circulatio sanguinis ab harvaeo ; quamvis alii quidam non sat probabiliter eam ascribant paulo veneto , ut nonnulli prospero alpino , & etiam andreae caesalpino . ars aquae salsae dulcorandae inventa nuper in anglia est , de qua celeberrimus merito boylius conformia omnino rationi in epistola quadam hoc super argumento scripsit . arithmeticam aut invenerunt , aut multum promoverunt sequentes authores , pythagoras , euclides , non is qui coaevus fuit pl●toni , auditorque socratis , sed celeberrimus mathematicus hujus nominis qui post aristotelem floruit , annis post priorem nonaginta ; diaephantus , psellius , apuleius , cardan●s , gemma frisius , clavius , &c. neperus invenit logarithmos quorum ope omnia arithmeticae praescripta exequimur sola additione , & substractione . invenit pariter facilem , certam , brevemque numerandi methodum ope baculorum , quam rabdologiam dicunt , aut computationem per ossa neperi . telescopium inventum fuit a jacobo metio , amstelodamensi licet vulgo galilaeo tribuatur , qui quidem perfectius illud multo reddidit . torricellius invenit barometrum quo instrumento aerem ipsum metimur . ars typographica teste polydoro vergilio inventa fuit a johanne cuttembergio , moguntiano , licet quidam hunc honorem tribuant cuidam fustio ex eadem civitate , & nonnulli laurentio civi harlemensi . sinenses hanc artem prius aeuropaeis noverant . flavius goia , ab amalphi , in regno neapolitano creditur jam trecentis abhinc annis pyxidem nauticam invenisse . finis . a philosophical essay declaring the probable causes whence stones are produced in the greater world from which occasion is taken to search into the origin of all bodies, discovering them to proceed from water and seeds : being a prodromus to a medicinal tract concerning the causes and cure of the stone in the kidneys and bladders of men / written by dr. thomas sherley ... sherley, thomas, 1638-1678. 1672 approx. 185 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 80 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a60020 wing s3523 estc r10626 13293118 ocm 13293118 98859 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a60020) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 98859) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 439:9) a philosophical essay declaring the probable causes whence stones are produced in the greater world from which occasion is taken to search into the origin of all bodies, discovering them to proceed from water and seeds : being a prodromus to a medicinal tract concerning the causes and cure of the stone in the kidneys and bladders of men / written by dr. thomas sherley ... sherley, thomas, 1638-1678. [16], 143 p. printed for william cademan ..., london : 1672. advertisement on p. 141-143. reproduction of original in bodleian library. marginal notes. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng petrogenesis -early works to 1800. science -early works to 1800. 2003-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-04 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2003-04 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a philosophical essay : declaring the probable causes , whence stones are produced in the greater world. from which occasion is taken to search into the origin of all bodies , discovering them to proceed from water , and seeds . being a prodromus to a medicinal tract concerning the causes , and cure of the stone in the kidneys , and bladders of men. written by dr. thomas sherley , physitian in ordinary to his majesty . london , printed for william cademan , at the pope's head , in the lower walk of the new-exchange . 1672. to the illustrious , george , duke , marquis , and earl of buckingham ; earl of coventry , viscount villiers , baron whaddon of whaddon , lord ross of hamlock , belvoir , and trusbut , &c. master of the horse , knight of the most noble order of the garter , chancellor of the university of cambridge , and one of his majesties most honourable privy council . may it please your grace , t is not the sublime condition in which you are , nor the eminent , and great honours with which you deservedly shine , ( as a bright star , of the first magnitude , in our little world , ) that hath induced me to address this ensuing discourse to you ; but the great , and excellent knowledge of natural beings your grace hath acquired by a constant , and curious anatomizing of all sort of concrets in your laboratory ; a way certainly the most likely to give you a faithful and solid account of the nature of things , by discovering to you the real principles of which they are constituted . this it is , which made me conclude , i should have done a great injustice , had i put this tract under any other protection than yours . and indeed , at whose feet can a subject of this nature be so fitly plac'd as at your grace's , you being so great an experimental philosopher ? but lest i prove tedious , i will conclude this epistle , with assuring you , that not only this book , but the author of it , are both dedicated to your graces service , by him that in all humility subscribes himself , my lord , your graces most obedient , and faithful servant , tho. sherley . to the reader . reader , custome , which hath the power to make , and establish laws , hath obliged me to comply in this particular of writing to thee . otherwise i was resolved to suffer this ensuing discourse to appear naked , and without an advocate , [ as philosophical subjects ought to do : ] that so the minds of the studious , being free from preposession , might be the better able to judge of the truth of the matter in hand , and of the validity of the arguments i produce to evince it . this , i say , i would have done , could i have been assur'd , that this book should have fallen under the censure of none but philosophical , and knowing men , to whom i should have thought my self happy to have submitted my labours in this kind ▪ to which sort of inquisitive , and industrious men , i pretend not to have done any further service in these lucubrations ; then by having laid together those arguments , and experiments , which did readily occurr to my mind ▪ and which i thought might conduce to prove the matter in hand , a subject ●it to be seriously look'd into ; and though i seem in some places to be determinate , yet i declare ▪ [ once for all ] i have not the vanity to think i have put such a ne plus ultra to the inquiries into this subject , that ●o further discoveries are to be made ; nothing less . for though the subject be rough , and hard , yet it is far from being unfruitful . and if by my endeavours i shall prove instrumental , [ by giving of hints , &c. ] to put other industrious philosophers , who are fitted with better parts , and more time , to digg deeper in these quarries , i shall think it glory sufficient , to have been thus far serviceable to the common-wealth of learning : and if by the endeavours of such w●rthy men , i shall find my self confirm'd in my opinion , i shall rely upon it with the greater security . but if by their inquirius , other , and truer causes shall appear ; i shall not scruple to a knowledge , that i will willingly become a proselyte to truth , though at the same time it is discover'd it convince me of having been erroneous in my opinion . but at present , thinking i defend a verity , i shall not easily recede from my opinion , without my iudgment be convinc'd , by the same means i make use of , to proselyte others : that is , both by reason , and experiments . and likewise let me add this , that i shall expect the same candid , and civil dealing from such who intend to confute me , which i have shew'd to those whose opinions i reject . for otherwise i shall conclude a railing adversary fitter for my slight , than reply ; i knowing a better use of my time , then to spend it so unfruitfully . as i court not applause , which is a vanity anbefitting a philosopher ; so , having [ as i suppose ] appear'd in a good cause , that is , the defence of a philosophical truth , [ viz. that the matter of stones , and all other bodies , is water , and their efficient seed ] i shall not fear censure , though i must be exposed to that of any man , which shall take the pains to peruse my book ; i am not ignorant of the proverb , so many men , so many minds : nor of that other , haben●●sua fata likelli : and therefore cannot expect that impossibility of pleasing every body ; but that i may be as useful as i can to those readers , which though they may have large souls , have yet been little conversant with things of this nature ; i say , that i may be as instructive as i can , and that my meaning may not be mistaken , i shall therefore inform them of these things following . first , that there are many men , of great natural parts , which yet want the advantage of understanding the greek , and latin● ●ong●●s ; for whose sakes , i have [ that i might be the more useful ] translated into the english , all those quotations which i make use of , from authors which have writ in those learned ▪ languages , and that [ for the most part ] verbatim , [ though sometimes i only deliver their sense . ] and to satisfie the scrupulous , yet learned sort of readers ] of my integrity , i have almost constantly given them the very words , and in the same language they are delivered by those i qu●te ▪ together with the book , and for the most part , page , where the original words may be found , [ marked in the margin . ] secondly , if it shall be objected , that i am very frequent in quotations , [ a thing much out of fashion ; ] and that therefore it may be supposed , i have said little but what will be found expressed by others ; i shall acknowledge i have wilfully done so , because i had a desire to get my self strongly seconded in my opinion by the determinations of learned men ; [ and of the testimony of such only have i made use ] for i verily believes that if an angel himself should avouch any thing singly , and as his own opinion , he would not be believed by some men. but however the reader will have these advantages by it , first , those things are here contracted , and brought under their proper heads , which are dispersed in many voluminous ▪ authors ; which will save him time in searching many books . secondly , he may find the pith , and substance of what others have written in their languages , delivered in his own . and thirdly , here are , besides , many experiments , and observations of my own , very conducible [ i suppose , ] to clear , and explicate those philosophical principles i have undertook to defend in this discourse . thirdly , if any man shall be so much a mo●us , as to repine at the j●st commendations i often give to van helmont , and mr. boyl ; i must needs say , that i think his ill nature proceeds from his want of throughly knowing these authors : for if he had taken the pains to search the depth of these two , as i have done , i doubt not but he would acknowledge , i have fall'n short of giving them their deserved praise , [ they having merited so much from all inquisitive , and learned men. ] lastly , i think it necessary to tell thee , how i would have to be understood those two words of seed , and water , the principles upon which i have built this discourse . first then , by seed i understand a fine , subtile substance , [ imperciptible by our gros● organs of s●os●tion ; ] in which god hath impressed a character of that thing he will have it produce from the matter it is to work upon : which it doth perform by putting the parts of matter into such a peculiar motion as is requisite to produce the intended effect . and this we may illustrate thus . a woman with child , by a strong desire , forms in her spirits an idea of some fruit she longs for ; and by the powerfull motion of that idea working on the child , she forms a real e●●igies of the said fruit upon that member of the child which corresponds to that of her own body she touched with her hand ; which , as experience teacheth us , will vegetate , grow ripe , and wither , according to the several mutations the fruit it resembles undergoes . and we are told by esdras , that god , before he made the world , did consider the things he intended to make ; and then produced them . by which expression , i think may well be understood , the creation of all those spiritual , and seminal beings , containing in them , not only an idea of the thing to be made ; but also a power to move the matter after a peculiar manner , by which means it reduceth it to a form like it self . and as a painter doth first conceive in his mind a spirituall idea of the picture he intendeth to draw ; and afterwards by pecultar motions of his hand , which are guided by the said idea , he produceth a perfect picture corresponding with that in his mind : so likewise , by putting matter into peculiar motions , the seminal idea makes it self visible . by water , the material principle of all concrets , i understand , a fluid body , consisting of very minute parts , and variously figur'd atoms , or corpuscules , the mass of it being full of pores , and therefore subject to be contracted into less room : and upon the same account it doth easily , and readily submit to those motions it is put into by seminal beings : from which moving of matter all the visible , and tangible bodies of the world , have their result . and therefore i have , all along this ensuing discourse , took care to explicate the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the origin of bodies , by the mechanical principles : that is , by the motion , shape , size , scituation , and connexion of the parts of matter . but though this be a way commonly used , in explicating things , by the philosophers of our age , yet most of them leave out the first principle of natural motion ; viz. the seminal principle , which i have taken in , to compleate my hypothesis . and now 〈◊〉 said they 〈◊〉 i shall say this further , [ and let it not be counted a vanity ] that i think , and hope , i have in some considerable measure made out the truth of those principles i have assumed to defend . it hath cost me some pains to collect , and draw into proper sections , the body of this discourse : which i have also strengthned by the authority of the best philosophers , and learnedst of men , both ancient , and modern . all which i here present thee with : heartily wishing all ingenious m●n may see the usefulness of , and receive as much satisfaction in this doctrine ; as i do , who am a friend to all that industriously search after the truth , and nature of things . tho , sherley . from my house , in newton-street , over against new south-hampton building , in high holborn . ian. 27th . 1672. the reader is desired to correct as he reads , these errors of the press , as likewise any other he shall find . errata . page 12. in the margin , leg . consensus . p. 13. lin . 2. read concurrere . page 15. lin . ult . leg . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 33. dele these words [ or intire . ] p. 34. lin . 5. leg . a priori . ib. lin . 8. leg . springy . p. 35. lin. 11. dele whilst , and they . p. 16. dele [ . p. 38. in the margin , leg . elementis . p. 40. lin . 23. leg . faeces . p. 103. lin . 25. leg . seminal . p. 126. lin . 26. leg . apposition . p. 124. lin . 24. leg . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 110. lin . 28. leg . those . p. 137. lin . 1. leg . least . p. 129. lin . 1. leg . etherel . p. 114. lin . 1. leg . [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ] p. 119. lin . 9. leg . ovtov . the first essay : being a discourse intended to demonstrate , that not only stones , but all other bodies , owe their original to seeds , and water . section the first . having , in complyance with the impottunate desires , or rather commands , of many of my worthy , and ingenious friends , obliged my self to acquaint the world with my thoughts concerning the most probable cause of the stone , both in the kidneyes , and bladder 〈…〉 the greater world ] in general : and i was encouraged the more to do so , by a passage ▪ i met with in the works of that noble philosopher , mr ▪ boyl whose words are there . since we know very little a prior● ▪ the observation of many effects manifesting , that nature doth actually produced them so , and so , suggests to us several wayes of explicating the same phaenomenon , some of which we should , perhaps , never have else dreamed of ; which ought to be esteemed no small advantage to the physitian : and again ; he that hath not had the curiosity to inquire out , and consider the several wayes whereby stones may be generated out of the body , not only must be unable , satisfactorily to explicate , how they come to be pro●uced in the kidneys , and bladder ; ●ut will perhaps , scarce keep himself from embracing such errors , ( because authoriz'd by the suffrage of eminent physitians ) as the knowledge i am recommending , would easily protect him from . let us then , in the first place , examine , how nature produceth stones without the body of man ( that is , in the greater world ; ) after which we will see , if the causes of generating stones in the bodies of animals , be not the same ; or at least , bear some analogy , or resemblance thereunto . which that we may the better be enabled to do , i shall relate some choice histories of petrifications , taken out of approved authors ; and then examine the causes by which they were performed . gabriel falopius mentioneth a river , called else , which receives into it self the torrent of the river sena ; into which , wood , herbs , or any other thing being ●ast , it converts it into stone . albertus magnus relates , that in the danish sea , near lubeck , in his time , there was found an arm of a tree , with a nest , and young birds in it , the wood , nest , and birds being all converted into stone . domitius brusonius tells us ( not upon hear-say , but upon his own knowledge ) that the branches of trees , with their leaves , being cast into the river of sylar , do turn into stone . marbodius acquaints us , that there is a fountain in gothia [ or guthland ] that changeth whatsoever is put into it into stone ; and that the emperour frederick being incredulous of the thing , did send his glove thither , sealed with his ring ; & that that part of the glove , with the seal , which was immersed in the water , was in a few dayes converted into stone ; the other part remaining leather . iohannes kentmannus , concerning fossils , writes , that arms of trees , with the leaves , bark , wood ; also gloves , and divers other things , being cast into a certain fish-pond , near the castle of schellenlerge , in misnia , are turned into stone . bartholomaeus à clivola affirms , th●re is a lake betwixt caesarea , and tuana , two cities of capadocia , into which part of a reed , or stick being put , it by degrees is changed into stone , that part which is out of the water remaining what it was before . anselmus boethius declareth , that in england , near the river dee , by west-chester , there is a great cave , into which whatsoever water flows , is turned into stone . thomas moresinus relates , that in moravia there is a dark water , in which there doth not at all appear any viscous matter ; which water , nevertheless , coagulates into stone . iohannes petrus faber giveth us a wonderful account of a spring in the suburbs of claremont , in the county of avernia . it flows [ sayes he ] out of a rock , and in its very coming forth it produces rocks , and white stones ; and the inhabitants of this city , when they would make a bridge to go over any of the small rivulets , which are made by this fountain , that so they may visit their fields and gardens , do thus : they cause the water of this fountain to glide over certain planks , made arch-like , and within twenty four hours they have a solid stone bridge ; by the help of which they can pass dry-foot over the rivers . the water of this fountain is visibly changed into stone , yet nevertheless it alwayes flows as other springs do : this water is exceeding clear , nor doth it differ in colour , or clearness from other springs ; beasts will drink of it if they be not hinder'd ; but if they do , it coagulates in their stomacks into stone , from whence death follows , by reason of a collick caused from thence , which kills with cruel torments all the beasts that have drunk this water . wherefore the inhabitants take care to drive their cattel far enough from this fountain ; for it is a present poyson to all sorts of living creatures that drink of it . when it is taken from the spring , it is quickly turned into stone ; the truth of which the inhabitants do make manifest [ to all that doubt thereof ] by many experiments ; they fill a glass with this water , and presently it is converted into stone , which retaineth the shape of the glass : so likewise if earthen vessels be filled with this water , it is suddenly congealed into stone , which keeps the form and figure of the vessel that contained it . this wonder of nature [ sayes he ] every body admires , but i believe hardly any body will be found , that shall be able to render the natural reason of this thing . thus far he . gassendus tells us , that peireskius [ according to his usual custom in the summer ] going into a stream of the river rhosne , to wash himself ; he observed once the ground to be hard under his feet , and uneven , [ which had at all times before been soft , and smooth ] being full of knobs , and balls ; about the bigness , and likeness of eggs boyled hard , and the shells pilled off ; which he looking upon as somewhat strange , took some of them up , and cartied them home ; but a few dayes after he was surprized with a greater admiration : for , going again into the same place of the river , he found those soft , and yielding lumps , he had left there , turned into perfect pebble stones ; and also viewing those he had laid up at home , he found them likewise turned into true pebbles . helmont likewise affirms , that [ contrary to the proverb , gutta cavat lapidem , a drop by often falling doth hollow a stone ] there is a spring in the monastery of zonia , near brussels , that breeds stones so fast , that the monks are daily forced to break them off with crooks and hatchets . and i my self have seen a spring near wrixham , in north-wales , that in a short space of time would convert sticks , straws , leaves , leather , or any other subject , put into it , into stone . and of this nature are divers other springs to be found , both in ireland , and england . our industrious countrey-man , gerard , assureth us , he knew several springs of this nature , both in england , and wales : as in bedford-shire , in warwick-shire , near newnam regis ; and another near knasborrow , in york-shire ; he likewise tells us , he knew divers pieces of ground , into which astake being struck , that part in the ground would be changed into stone , the other part remaining wood. libavius relates , that a certain hen sitting on her eggs , being struck with a gorgonick spirit , was transformed into stone , with her eggs likewise . crollius relates , that in a certain place of moravia there is a stupendious den , in which are to be found divers , and admirable sportive works of nature : for the drops distilling from the upper part of the cave , into the hollow of it , do there form many intricate labyrinths in the mountain , and do presently [ of their own accord ] convert into stone , by the help [ as he thinks ] of the spirit of salt ; and in their falling from on high , they form various figures , and statues of stone . aristotle sayes , that in the metalline grots of lydia , about the city pergamos , certain workmen , in the time of war , having fled into them to hide themselves , and the mouth of the cave being stopp'd ; they perished there ; but afterwards being found , not only their bones , but their veins , with the humours contained in them , were found to be turned into stone . aventinus also writes thus : in the year 1348. by an earthquake , more than fifty country men , with their milch cows , and calves , being killed and stifled by an earthy saline spirit [ as he supposeth ] they were reduced into saline statues , [ such as lots wife : ] and this happened amongst the carini [ a people of germany ; ] which similitudes or images of men , and beasts , were seen both by him , and the chancellor of austria . to the like purpose , helmont tells us of a whole army , consisting of men , women , camels , horses , doggs , with their armour , weapons , and waggons , which were all transmuted into stone , and remain so to this day , [ a horrible spectacle ; ] and this , saith he , happened in the year 1320. betwixt russia and tartary , in the latitude of 64. degrees , not far from a fen of kataya , a village , or horde , of the biscardians ; which he very rationally concludes to have happened from a strong hory petrifying breath or ferment , making an eruption through some clefts of the earth , the land being stony underneath ; and the winds having been silent for many dayes . he that desireth more examples of this kind , let him consult gorgius wernerus , de ungaricis . godfrid . smoll ▪ in lib ▪ princip . philosoph . et medic. antiquitatis . cap. 10. f. leander albertus in descript . italiae . andreas laurentius , lib. 2. de strumis . cap. 2. georgius agricola , lib. 7. de natura fossil . cap. 22. johannas wigandus , in libell● de succino : lobelius , in fine observat. caelius , &c , but i suppose what i have here related sufficient ; and therefore i think it now time to inquire into the causes of petrification , and the efficients of these transmutations . sect . section the second . the doctrine of the four elements [ with their qualities , concutring , as is suppos'd , to the production of bodies , which was intorduced by the authority of aristotle , and hath since prevailed with most men even to this age of ours , ] hath been the cause , why we have hitherto received but an unsatisfactory account , not only of the origine of all concretes , but more particularly concerning stones ; and that not only in relation to the material cause , but also to the efficient , of petrifications in general . for , they seem to think it sufficient , to have crudely told us , that stones [ and all other minerals , and metals ] are made of earth , with a slight mixture of the other three elements , as the material ; and by the assistance of heat , cold , moisture , and driness , as the external , and efficient cause . for perceiving the weight of minerals , and stones , to exceed the weight of water , they therefore assign the matter of minerals , and stones , to be chiefly earth ; and without any further controversie , or search after the matter , they are content to believe , and would have us do so too , that all sorts of stones are nothing but earth , from which the other three elements are forced by heat ; by which means it becomes baked into a stone . and this they [ viz. the aristotelians ] think they prove by alleadging the example of potters earth , which being burnt gains a stone-like hardness . and because neither stones nor earth do commonly melt in the fire , they therefore conclude stones are made of earth . but there being on such heat in the superficies of the globe , much less in the bottom of the water [ where commonly stones are bred , ] i must confess i can receive but little satisfaction from this account . and i find the learned sennertus is as unsatisfied with this doctrine as my self : for he will by no means allow the elements , or their qualities , to be the primary efficients of stonification . his words are these ; licèt vulgò multi é qualitatibus primis calculorum concretionum & coagulationum causas deducere conantur ; tamen frustrae laborant . nam neque exsiccati● , nec calor , nec frigus , hîc locum habere possunt , ut primariae causae , [ nam , ut causam sine qua non , concurre posse , non negamus ; dum scilicet aquam , quae concretioni obstat , absumit ; ] neque à quoquam hactenus commonstrari potuit , quomodo calor nudus talem concrescendi dispositionem generare , & succum lapidescentem producere possit . imo fit hoc etiam , ubi omnis calor abest , & in frigidis etiam membraneisque locis , item & in infantibus , ubinullus concedatur caloris excessus , sed manifesta potius cruditatis indicia deprehendantur , in vesi●a generantur calculi ; & quomodo , quaeso , in fontibus frigidis , in quibus ligna immersa in lapides transformantur , succus lapidescens à calore producitur ? deinde , frigus quod attinet , non semper in loco frigido , vel minus calido , calculi concrescant , cùm & in capite , & in pulmonibus , circa basin arteriae magnae , in cordis arteriis , imo in corde reperti sint : uti legimus in observation . cornel. gemmae , lib. 1. cosmocritic . cap. 6. anton. beniven . de abdit . morb. & sanat . causs . cap. 24. fernel . 5. p●tholog . cap. 12. hollerii , 1. de morb. internis , in schol . cap. 29. & 50. et in balneis etiam calidissimis trophos at stirias saxeas concrescere , ubi frigus nullo modo admitti potest , experientia compertum habetur : in english , thus ; though it hath been much endeavour'd by many to deduce the causes of the concretion , & coagulation of stones , from the first , or primary qualities , yet hath their labour been in vain : for neither can drought , heat , or cold , be here allowed as a primary cause , [ but we do not deny , that they may concur as a cause , sine qua non , so that it may , for example , waste the water , which hinders concretion ; ] neither could it hitherto be demonstrated by any body , how heat of it self could be able to generate such a disposition of compaction ; and that it could produce a lapidescent juice : nay , this is performed where all heat is wanting , and that in cold and membranous places ; as also in infants , who are not allow'd to have any excess of heat , but are rather found to have manifest crudity , the stone is generated in the biadder : and how , i pray , is the stonisying juice produced in cold fountains , into which wood being cast is changed into stone ? then , as to cold , stones do grow in the head , in the lungs , about the basis of the great artery , in the arteries of the heart ; nay , they are in the heart it self . also there grows in hot baths , as experience sheweth , sandy stones , & stony isicles , where cold can by no means be admitted . thus far he : by which you see he is clearly of opinion , that neither heat , nor cold can be the primary , or chief cause of petrification ; contrary to the axiom which aristotle layes down , to this effect ; of those bodies which adhere together , and are hard , they are wont to be thus affected ; some by the fervour of heat ; some by cold ; that drying up the moysture , this pressing it forth . let us then inquire what the chymical philosopher's opinion is in this point : ( and the rather because it is constantly affirmed by most of them , that the art of pyrotechny is the only true means of informing the mind with truth , and acquainting it with realities ; and we shall find , that they hold salt to be the principle of solidity , and the genuine cause of coagulation , in all bodies ; [ as also of stonification : ] for , say they , if you consult experience , all those things that are compact , or solid , do contain salt ; and where there is no salt , there can be no hardness . and for this reason they esteem salt to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of solidity : which they that deny [ say they ] are obliged to shew some other cause ; from which salts have that aptitude to coagulate themselves , and become solid bodies . for , it is manifest , that the salts of vegetables , as crystals of tartar , &c. also nitre , allom , vitriol , salt gemm , [ and divers other of this nature ] do coagulate themselves , not only into hard , but even brittle bodies , in the bosome of the water ; and to this end they alleadge , that if the salt be washed from ashes , no heat of fire will make them hard ; but if the salt be left in them , [ and they be mixt with a little water ] the fire will not only quickly make them become hard ; but if they be strongly press'd with it , turn them into glass . the learned kircherus is also of the same opinion with the ghymists , [ viz. that salt is the cause of stonifying ] and giveth us this experiment to confirm it . si saxum [ inquit ] quodcunque in tenuissimum p●llinem resolveris , & aqua perfectè commixtum , per manicam hippocratis colaveris , illa nil prorsus saxeum , sed preter arenaceum solummodo sedimentum nil relinquet ; si verò nitrum , vel tartarum , aqua perfecté commixtum addideris , illa quacunque tetigerint intra subjectam concham posita sive frondes , similiaque , post exiguum temporis curriculum aeri exposita , vel in saxum ejusdem generis conversum si non totum , saltem cortice saxco vestient . if [ saith he ] you reduce any sort of stone into a most subtile powder , and mixing it throughly with water , you strain it through hippocrates's bagg , therewill nothing of it remain that is stony ; nor will it leave any thing of it behind , but a certain sandy sediment ; but if you shall add to this , nitre , or tartar , perfectly dissolved in water , whatsoever body they shall touch , being placed in the same dish , whether it be the twiggs of a vine , or the like , after a little while being exposed to the air , it will be turned into stone ; or at least it will be covered with a stony crust . and though this opinion be held by crollius , hartman , quercetanus , severinus , and sennertus , [ who are but neoterick , or late writers ] yet is it no new opinion , but hath been asserted by the venerable ancients , as long agoe as the time of hermes tresmegistus , [ who is said to have lived in the age of ioshua ] who in his smaragdine tables [ as they are called ] hath left us these words . salis est , ut corporibus in mundum prodituris , soliditatem coagulando praestet ; sal enim corpus est , mercurius spiritus , sulphur anima , that is ; t is from salt that bodies are produced in the world ; it causeth coagulation , and solidity : for salt is the body , mercury the spirit , and sulphur the soul. this doctrine , though much more rational than the former , and seeming to be confirmed by experiment , and to be verified by the account our senses give us of it , cannot yet gain my full assent to it , so far as to allow salt to be the primary , either matter , or efficient of solidity in bodies , or the cause from whence stones are produced . for it is observabe , that salts are reducible into liquors , [ and do seem to lose their solidity ] either by being mixed with water , or exposed to the air , in which many of them run per deliquium . but , to let this pass ; what salt can be supposed to be communicated to quick-silver , when it is coagulated by the fumes of melted lead , by which it becomes so solid , that it may be cast into moulds , and images formed of it ; and when cold , is not only hard , but somewhat brittle , like regulus of antimony ? . what access of salt can be fancied is added to the white of an egg , [ from whence the whole chick is formed ] which is a liquor so near water , that by beating it with a whisk it is reduced into so fluid a substance , that it will easily mix with water , and is hardly distinguishable from it ? and yet this white of the egg , by the assistance of a gentle heat , to stir up its seminal principle , and enable it to turn , and new shuffle the parts of that liquid substance , [ by the means of which motion divers of its parts are broken into shapes and sizes fit to adhere one to another ] is all of it turned into solid bodies , some of them very tough , as the membranes , and nerves ; and some of them hard and brittle , as the beak , bones , claws , &c. [ of the chick ; ] and all this without any new addition of salt . 't is likewise remarkable , that very credible witnesses assure us , that corral [ though it grow in salt water , at the bottom of the sea ] is yet , whilst it remains there , soft , like other plants ; [ and juicy also : ] neither will the example of kircherus , alleadged above , avail much ; sinceit is commonly known , that the powder of plaster of paris , or burnt alabaster , if it be mixed with water , without any sort of salt , will coagulate into an entire stony lump , or mass. i do not deny but that salt may very much conduce towards the coagulation of some bodies , as we see in the curdling of milk with runner , spirit of salt , oyl of vitriol , juice of limmons , and the like ; but then this happens but to some bodies , and is caused from the shape and motion of its small parts , which entring the pores of some bodies that are naturally fitted to be wrought upon by it , it fills up many of the cavities of such bodies ; and also affixing it self to the particles of them , it causeth them , not only to stick to it self , but also adhere closely one to another . i say , salts do this to some bodies [ not to all , ] for to some other bodies , instead of being an instrument , either to cause , or confirm their solidity , it by dissociating the parts , of which they consist , and putting them into motion , doth reduce them into the appearance of liquor ; as we see in the action of corrosive saline spirits , both upon metals , and stones . now , for that argument , that salts do shoot even in the water into hard , and brittle crystals , if i should say they do so upon the account of a seminal principle , i should not , perhaps , be thought to have much mistaken the cause , by those that have well consider'd the curious and regular figures [ yet constantly distinct from each other , ] which their crystals shoot into : which certainly cannot proceed from chance ; for they do as constantly keep their own figure [ as for example , that of nitre alwayes appears in a sexangular form , that of sea-salt in a cubical : ] as wheat produceth wheat , and the seed of a man , a man. philosophers hold , there are two sorts of agents ; one they stile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , the principal cause , or agent ; from which immediately , and primarily , the action depends , and by whose power the thing is made ; and this [ as we shall prove in its due place ] is an architectonick stonifying spirit , or petrifick seed . the other cause they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or the adjuvant , or assisting cause , [ of which sort there are many ] by which the principal agent may be furthered in its acting upon matter ; of which last sort of causes [ of the solidity in bodies , viz. the helping , or assistant ] we will not deny but that salt may be one , as being such a praevious disposition of the parts of matter , as renders them more apt to be wrought upon by the first kind of agent , viz. the seed . so that in some sence we may [ for the reasons above alloadg'd ] allow the chymist to think salt is [ though nec prima materia , nec efficiens . yet ] proxima ma●eria , & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 soliditatis . the proximate matter , and adjuvant cause of solidity . but since not only salt , but the whole tria prima , or three first principles of the chymists , as also the quaternary , or four elements of the peripateticks , are justly enough denyed to be the first elements , or constitutive principles of all bodies , [ they themselves being further resolvable into more simple parts , as we shall prove by and by , ] i say , since it is so , i must be excused , if denying my suffrage to both their doctrines , [ in that large sence they propose it in : ] i offer to render other causes , by which not only solidity , but petrification also may be introduced into matter . section the third . the doctrine i am now about to affirm , is no novel conceit ; but so ancient , that we shall find that it was held , [ and by them transmitted to posterity ] not only by plato , timaeus locrus , parmenides , pythagoras , &c. philosophers of the academick , and italick sect ; but also by orpheus , thales the milesian , and also by mochos , and sanchoniathon , the great , and ancient phoenitian philosophers ; nay , by that divinely illuminated man , moses . i urge this point of the antiquity of the doctrine i am now going to affirm , because i know it is the custom of some men , to disgust any philosophical truth , that cannot shew it self to be as ancient as aristotle's time ; but to please such , let them consider , that the hypothesis we intend to make use of in this ensuing discourse , beareth an equal date with the world , and was at first deliver'd to man by the ancient of dayes himself . this doctrine then [ which hath of late years been revived , and assumed by the noble helmont , and other great wits , ] i now am come to lay down , and explain ; and in the next place shall endeavour to prove , and confirm it ; first , by rea●on , then by experiment , and lastly , by authority . the hypothesis is this , viz. that stones , and all other sublunary bodies , are made of water , condensed by the power of seeds , which with the assistance of their fermentive odours , perform these transmutations upon matter . that is , that the matter of all bodies is originally meer water ; which by the power of proper seeds is coagulated , condensed , and brought into various forms , and that these seeds of things do work upon the particles of water , and alter both their texture , and figure ; as also , that this action ceaseth not , till the seed hath formed it self a body , exactly corresponding with the proper idea , or picture contained in it . and that the true seeds of all things are invisible beings , [ though not incorporial ; ] this i affirm , and shall endeavour to prove . but to make this the better to be understood , i shall praemise some generals , and then descend to particular proofs of what i assert . first then , nothing is produced by chance , or accident . and therefore in every generation , or production , there must necessarily be presupposed some kind of seed which hath a power , or faculty , to alter the matter , and dispose it to such a being , and form , as god and nature have design'd to produce . secondly , all seeds ( in some degree ) ▪ are endow'd with life , and a power of acting : for nothing that is not vital can promote it self to perfection . and if bodies are distinguishable from their internal efficients , and are specificated by them , then must they be allowed to contain a seed . these positions will not [ p●rhaps ] be denyed to animals , nor vegetables ; because their supposed feed is visible . for the seed [ or rather , sperm ] of perfect animals , is an efflorescence of the best parts of the blood [ elaborated in the testicles ] and impregnated with spirits from all parts of the body ; in which resideth the vis plastica , or efficient ; [ and this indeed is the real seed , or geniture , though it be invisible ] which containeth in it self the image , or type of the thing to be made ; which it performs by a fermental odor , or aura , and by breathing upon those proper juices it finds in a female womb ; it first coagulates them , and then by degrees explicates it self , working this female matter into a body exactly corresponding with its own pre-conceived figure : the grosse body of the male-seed all this while being but a vehicle , to convey with safety this subtile fermentative breath to its proper place of action ; which being done , the body of the sperm is ejected from the womb , as useless to generation . that this is so , hath been proved by the industrious and curious dissection of divers sorts of beasts , made at several seasons after their conceptions ; and continued till the formation of the foetus ; and yet no vestigiae , or foot-steps of the male-sperm could be found in the womb . this is asserted by that incomparable man , dr. harvy ; to whom i refer him that desireth further satisfaction in this point . the sperm of man , if but for a moment it be exposed to the touch of the external air , becomes dead , and unprolifick ; and that by reason of the subtilty of the spermatick ferment , [ it being very apt to desert the body of the seed . ] this is a truth so generally known , that the virtue of that lady is justly suspected by all rational men , who pretended to have conceived with child , by attracting the seed of a man which floated in a bath , wherein she bathed her self . as to vegetables ; they also take their beginnings , are propagated , and do fructifie , from the like invisible cause ; viz. a fermentative odor , [ or aura ] which also contains the idea of the plant to be produced . the body of the seed , or grain [ which is the casket that contains this invisible workman ] being committed to the earth [ its proper womb ] is softened by the nitrosulphurous juice of the soyl ; that the vis plastica [ which is the efficient of the plant ] may , being loosened from its body , be at liberty to act . which being done , the body of the seed , or grain , is destroyed ; according to the sacred writ : [ except seed , committed to the ground , dye , it produceth no fruit : ] but the architectonick spirit being now at liberty , ferments , by its odor , the liquors it finds in the earth , converting them into a juice , fit to work the plant out of it , which it by degrees performs . [ this liquor in the earth , is by paracelsus , and helmont , by a barbarous name , call'd leffas terrae ; and is the proximate matter of all vegetables . ] for proof of what i seem to have with some boldness asserted in this place ; let any sort of grain be put for a small time in an oven , [ or any analogous hea● , ] that the external warmth may suscitate and excite this ferment of the seed to take wing , and desert its body ; this grain , though entire to sight , if it be committed to the earth , shall never by any art be brought to produce its like . as vegetables , and animals have their original from an invisible seminal spirit , or breath ; so also have minerals , metals , and stones . to this purpose dr. iordan tells us , there is a seminal spirit of all minerals in the bowels of the earth , which meeting with convenient matter , [ what that is , we shall shew in its place ] and adjuvant causes , is not idle , but doth proceed to produce minerals , according to the nature of it , and the matter which it meets withal ; which matter it works upon as a ferment , and by its motion procureth an actual heat , as an instrument to further its work ; which actual heat is increased by the fermentation of the matter . the like we see in making of malt , where the grains of barley being moyst'ned with water , the generative spirit in them is dilated , and put in action ; and the superfluity of the water being removed [ which might choak it ] and the barley laid up in heaps , the seeds gather heat , which is increased by the contiguity of many grains lying one upon another . in this work natures intent is to produce more individuals , according to the nature of the seed ; and therefore it shoots forth in spires ; but the artist abuses the intention of nature , and converts it to his ends , that is , to increase the spirit of his malt. the like we find in mineral substances , where this spirit , or ferment , is resident , as in allom , and copperas-mines ; which being broken , exposed , and moystned , will gather an actual heat , and produce much more of these minerals than else the mine would yield ; as agricola , and thurniser do affirm , and is proved by common experience . the like is generally observed in mines , as agricola , erastus , libavius , &c. do avouch out of the daily experience of mineral men ; who affirm , that in most places they find their mines so hot , as they can hardly touch them ; although it is likely , that where they work for perfect minerals , the heat , which was in fermentation whilst they were yet in breeding , is now much abated , the minerals being now grown to their perfection . and for this heat we need not call for the help of the sun , which a little cloud will take away from us ; much more the body of the earth , and rocks ; nor for subterranean fires . this imbred heat is sufficient , as may appear : also by the mines of tinglass , which being digged , and laid in the moyst air , will become very hot ; so antimony and sublimate being mixed together , will grow so hot as that they are not to be touched . if this be so in little quantities , it is likely to be much more in great quantities , and huge rocks . heat of it self differs not in kind , but only in degree , and therefore is inclined no more to one species , than to another ; but as it doth attend , and serve a more worthy superiour , such as this generative spirit is . thus far he . moreover , that minerals , and metals have their proper seeds , hear further what a mystical chymist , ( but a very rational man ) cosmopolita sayes , semen minerale , vel metallorum , creat natura in visceribus terrae ; propterea non creditur tale semen esse in rerum natura , quia invisible est . nature doth create the mineral , or metalline seed , in the b●wels of the earth ; therefore it is not believed , that there is such a seed in nature , because it is invisible . and the same author again , thus : et quam praerogativam vegetabilia prae metallis habent , ut deus illis semen inderet , & haec immeritò excluderet ? nonne ejusdem dignitatis metalla apud deum , cujus & arbores ? hoc pro certo statuatur , nihil sine semine crescere ; ubi enim nullum est semen , res est mortua ; that is , and what prerogative have vegetables above metals , that god should put seed into them , and undeservedly exclude these ? are not metals of the same dignity with god that trees are ? this may be held for certain , that nothing doth increase without seed : for where there is no seed , that thing is dead . so that it is plain , you see , by the afore-cited authorities , that minerals , and metals have seed , & that this seed is invisible ; and that it works by the help of its ferment , or as a ferment . that stones grow , common experience teacheth us ; as also the tenth history alleadged , in the first section of this present essay ; and consequently must be endowed with seed , and ferment ; so that here is , at least , an analogous way of production to that of animals , and vegetables ( which we have declared above ) and was the thing we intended here to prove . but before i proceed , that i may be the more clearly understood , i shall declare what i understand by the ferment of the seed . the word fermentum , which signifieth leaven , is by ● some esteem'd to be quasi fervimentum , or a thing made hot ; and generally is used to denote , not only a turgescence , and dilatation of the parts of matter , ( as in leavened bread , &c. ) but also signifieth the working of any sort of liquor , till it become maturated , and exalted into a generous , and sprightly drink . fermentation is thus defined by the learnned dr. willis : fermentatio est motus intestinus particularum , seu principiorum cujusvis corporis , cum tendentia ad perfectionem ejusdem corporis , vel propter mutationem in aliud ; fermentation is an intestine [ or intire ] motion of the principles , or particles , of which day body consists , with an intent to perfect the said body , or change it into another . ferments then are subtile , tenuous bodies , [ which we generally call spirits ; for as to leaven , yeast , &c. they are but the cloathings of these spiritual , and finer substances ; as we before shewed the grains of vegetables , and the sperm of animals were : ] which fine subtile breath ( the ferment ) hath an expansive power ; by which , being immersed in any matter , or substance , it desiring to dilate it self , variously agitates the small particles of that matter it is joyned to , and making excursions through all parts of the subject it is resident in , it adhering intimately to every small part of the matter , doth first by the peculiar motion it hath put them into , alter and break the particles into new shapes , and sizes ; and then by conveneing together with them , constitute a new texture of that matter ; and thus a new concrete is made by the power of the ferment . so that , in truth , the ferment of a seed , [ i mean natural ferment ] is not any substance distinct , or separable from the seed it self ; since it is connatural with it , and intimately the same , [ and is indemonstrable à priore , as well as the seed , and may be thus defined . a ferment is an expansive , elastick , or springy power of the seed of any thing ; by which motion of its self it also moveth the smallest particles of that matter in which it is immersed : by which motion also [ which is of divers kinds , according to the variety of seeds ] the particles of matter acquire new shapes , sizes , and postures amongst themselves ; and so a new texture of the whole is produced , agreeable to the peculiar nature of the seed , and correspondent to its idea ; [ which idea we shall explain in its place . ] we have likewise declared often , that seeds do operate by odors , or scents ; which we think is not said without cause : for if it be well observed , it will be found , that no seeds do generate ; but in the time of their acting upon the matter there are specifick odors produced ; that is , while they are in fermentation , and the work incompleat : for , when the concrete is perfected , the odor is much abated : [ as , not to instance in artificial things , making of malt , the fermenting of beer , and wine , in the barrel , and the leavening of dough , &c. ] for 't is observable , that the grains of wheat , or other vegetables , sown in the ground , when their invisible seed begins to ferment , do send forth odors ; so also the eggs of birds , on which the hen hath sat . and that minerals , and metals , whilst in their making they do send forth such plenty of stinking odors , that many times the workmen in mines are suffocated therewith , no body can be ignorant . now these odors are fine and subtile effluviums , [ or small particles of the matter now put into motion by the power of the seed , ferment : which having extricated themselves from their companions , and roving in the air , do at last strike against those parts of our noses that are fitted by nature to be sensible of the touch of such very small bodies . odors then are a sign of fermentation begun , and are nothing but small particles of matter got loose from their fellows , begun to be alter'd , and specificated by the seed ; and therefore are very various , according to the diversity of seeds , and their ferments , from whence they proceed . having before declared , that all bodies proceed , and are made from seminal beings ; and that the real seeds , and ferments of things are invisible ; and having declared , what i would have understood by a seedy fermen● , and odor ; and also having hinted above , that all bodies are materially [ and primarily ] nothing but water ; i shall now endeavour to prove the same more fully , and clearly ; the which i shall do by three sorts of arguments . the first is grounded upon tha● philosophical axiom ; viz. quaesunt prima in compositione , sunt ultima in resolutione : et quae sunt ultima in resolutione , sunt prima in compositione . that which is first in the composition , is last in the resolution : and those things which are last in the resolution , the same are first in the composition . the second argument is grounded upon another axiom commonly received . that is , nutrimur iisdem quibus constamus . we are nourished by those things of which we are constituted , or made . the third argument shall be to shew , and prove a necessity of all bodies being formed out of water ; because neither the four elements of the peripateticks , nor the tria prima , or three principles of the chymists , can possibly concur to the constituting of bodies , as either the efficient , or primary matter ; they being themselves but great disguised schemes of one and the same catholick matter , water , from whence they were made , and into which they are ultimately to be resolved , and uniformly to be reduced , either by art , or nature . all which assertions i hope to prove , both by experiment , and reason , and shall likewise endeavour to strengthen by good and sufficient authorities . section the fourth . as to the first argument , founded on that axiom , that all bodies are made of that matter into which they are ultimately resolved , and è contra ; this maxim is agreed upon of all hands , both by the aristotelians , the old chymists , and the new ones ; and that almost upon the same ground . for the first supposed all bodies reducible at last into fire , air , water , and earth ; and therefore held the quaternary of elements , [ which , by the way , they could never yet sufficiently prove . ] and the second believed salt , sulphur , and mercury to be the first principles of all bodies . and the last sort , the modern chymists , hold spirit , oyl , salt , water , and earth , to be the true primary principles of bodies , for the same reason ; viz. because many concrets are resolvable by fire into the first three , if not into the last five , distinct substances before named . but that all bodies are by art to be brought back , uniformly , into water ; hear what that learned man , helmont , saith . nostra namque operatio mechanica mihi patefecit , omne corpus [ pu●a saxum ] lapidem , gemmam , silicem , arenam , marcasitam , argillam , terram , lapides coctos , vitrum , calces , sulphur , &c. transmutari in salem actualem , aequiponderantem suo co pori , unde factus est : et quod iste s●l aliquoties c●hobatus , cum sale circulato paracelsi , suam omnino fixitatem amittat , tandem transmutetur in liquorem , qui etiam tandem in aquam insipidam transit : et quod ista aqua aequiponderet sali suo , unde manavit . — plantam verò , carnes , ossa , pisces , &c. quicquid similium est , novi redigere in mera sua tria , unde post modum aquam insipidam confeci ; metallum autem , propter sui seminis anaticam commistionem , & arena [ quellem ] difficilimè in salem reducuntur . cum igitur arena , sive terra originalis , tam arti , quam naturae resistat , nec queat ullis [ unico duntaxat gehennae artificialis igni excepto ] naturae vel artis , à primaeva sui constantia recedere ; sub quo igne artificiali , arena sal ●it , ac tandem aqua ; quia vim habet agendi super sublunaria quaevis absque reactione , &c. for our handy-craft operation [ that is , his liquor , alkahest ] hath manifested to me , that all bodies [ to wit , the rocky stones ] the pebble , the precious stone , the flint , sand , marcasits , clay , earth , brick , metal , glass , lime , and brimstone , &c. may be reduced into a real salt , equal in weight to its own body from whence it proceeded : and hat salt being often cohobated with the circulated salt of paracelsus , doth altogether lose its fixedness , and is transmuted into a liquor , which also at length becomes insipid water ; and that water is of equal weight to the salt of which it was made . — but plants , flesh , bones , fish , &c. and every such thing [ saith he ] i know how to reduce into its three first principles , from whence afterwards i have made an insipid water : but metal , by reason of its strict , and exact commixture with its seed , and the sand [ quellem ] are most difficul●ly reduced into salt : for sand , or the original earth ▪ doth resist as well art , as nature , neither will by any means [ the only artificial ●ire of gehenna excepted ; that is , the alkahest ] be made to recede from its first-born constancy , &c. [ under which artificial fire the sand is made salt ; and at last water ] because it hath a power to work upon any sublunary body , without its re-acting upon it again . he likewise tells us , in his tract , entituled , co●plexionum atque mistionum figmentum . novi enim aquam [ quam manifestare non libet , &c. for i know a water [ which it is not sit to discover , meaning the alkahest , ] by whose help all vegetables are changed into a distillable j●ice , which leaveth no feces in the bottom of the glass : which distilled juice , if it be mixed with alkalies , [ or fixed salts ] is reduced totally into insipid and elementary water . and a little further in the same tract , he tells us : that he took an oak-charcoal , and mixing it with an equal weight of the liquor alkahest , he put it in a glass , hermetically sealed , which being kept in a balneo for three dayes , it was in that time turned into a couple of diaphanous liquors , of different colours , which swam upon each other ; which being distilled together [ in sand ] by a heat of the second degree , it left the bottom of the glass as clear , as if it had never been used . the two liquors of the coal might be distilled with the heat of a bath , but the dissolving liquor , [ or menstruum ] in that degree of heat would remain at the bottom of the glass , not impaired in its weight , or virtue . and that the aforesaid two liquors of the coal , being mixed with a little chalk , at thrice distilling , did ascend of the same weight as before ; but having lost all their distinguishing qualities , it became undiscernable from rain-water . the operations of this liquor [ which you have heard ] in reducing all bodies uniformly into water , is , i think , of very great force to evince , what i have here affirmed , viz. that all bodies were originally water . but after all this stress i lay upon these experiments of he●mont's , it may be objected by some , that they not being possessors of this liquor , may be allowed to doubt of the truth of what he hath deliver'd concerning it . to which i answer , first , that i think it no cogent argument , to conclude there is no such thing , because many men are not possessors of it ; and if this should be admitted , all other arts and things , that are possessed by any man [ and not known to the common people ] would be liable to the same exception ; and every cobler , or ploughman would conclude the impossibility of the effects produced by most mathematical auromatons , or engines , because he either knoweth not , or hath not seen the con●rivance of the thing , or else is not able to conceive the reason of its operation : and if every man [ that knoweth more than the vulgar ] would make it his own case , they would , i suppose , think it an unreasonable and hard way of judging of things . secondly , the man is so consentaneous to himself ●n his experiments , that that very thing to me appeareth an argument of his truth . and as to his veracity in those things he delivers as matter of fact , [ and upon his own knowledge , ] i do not find that even his enemies have detected him of falshood ; and i am sure , i have hitherto found him most true , in whatsoever he hath delivered us as his own experience [ though possibly many of those things do not at first sight seem over-probable . ] but lest i may seem over-partial , i will give you a testimony of him [ that may be instar omnium ] and that shall be from a man , of whom the world is fully satisfied , not only as to his candid temper , but also of his ability to judge , both of men , and things ; and the unwillingness of his nature to encourage falshood : and that is the inquisitive , and honourable mr. boyl , who saith thus both of him , and the alkahest . if our chymists will not reject the solemn , and repeated i estimony of a person [ speaking of helmont ] who cannot but be acknowledged for one of the greatest spagirists they can boast of , they must not deny that there is to be found in nature another agent , able to analyze compound bodies less violently , and both more genuinely , and more universally than fire : and for my own part , i have found helmont so faithful a writer , even in divers of his improbable experiments , that i think it somewhat harsh to give him the lye , especially to what he delivers upon his own proper tryal . and i have heard from very credible eye-witnesses some things , and seen some others my self , which argue so strongly , that a circulated salt [ or a menstruum , such as it may be ] may by being abstracted from compound bodies , whether minerals , animals , or vegetables , leave them more unlocked than a wary naturalist would easily believe ; that i dare not confidently measure the power of nature , and art , by that of the menstruums , and other instruments , that even eminent chymists themselves are as yet wont to imploy about the analyzing of bodies . thus far he . besides , he that had laboured more than thirty years in the fire , and making experiments , in all probability might attain this secret : since geber , and many of the arabian philosophers had it before him ; as also basil valentine , raymund lully , and paracelsus . nor can i believe so grave and great a man , would in his old age , near his death , impose falshoods and lyes upon the world. but without the assistance of this liquor , this doctrine may be made out ; though by more troublesome , and tedious wayes ; as we shall now proceed to shew . the same worthy man , helmont , saith , [ and i have found it true by experience ] olea & pinguedines , per ignem separata ; adjecto pauco sale alkali , saponis naturam assumunt , atque in aquam elementalem abeant . [ and again , thus : ] omne alkali , addita pinguedine , in aqueum liquorem , qui tandem mera & simplex aqua fit , reducitur [ ut videre est in sapone , &c. ] quoties per adjuncta fixa , semen pinguedinis deponit ; that is , that fats , and oyls distilled by fire , a little of an alkaly , [ or fixt salt ] being added , do become soap , and at last , may be turned into elemental water . — all alkalies , fats being added , are converted into watry liquors , which at last is made and reduced into mere simple water [ as it is to be seen in soap , &c. ] as often as by a fixed adjunct , [ such as chalk ] it shall be made to lay aside its seed , and fatness . and again , omne oleum distillatum , in salem est mutabile , & in aquam per adjuncta . all distilled oyl is to be changed into salt , and by adjuncts into water . also , the best spirit of wine , which is totally inflamable , if it be joyned with salt of tartar , will be transmuted into mere water : which salt of tartar it self , by the help of oyls [ as is above declared ] will at last be reduced into water . all vegetables are reducible by distillation into water , oyl , and salt ; the water cohobating upon chalk becomes merely elemental ; the oyl and salt may , as is said above , be made to unite into a saponary body , which distilled , yield a stinking water , which being oft re-distilled from chalk [ or some such body ] having laid aside its seminal qualities , is indiscriminate from common water : the salt it self [ which is accounted the most permanent principle ] yet by the help of fire , well contrived vessels , and proper adjuncts , it may be reduced into a volatil menstruum , which being put to act upon bodies , as a dissolvent , it loseth its saline acrimony , and by repeated operations it is totally converted into insipid water . all animals upon the face of the earth are remigrable into water [ of which they were formed ] and first , as to snakes , vipers , ee●s , froggs , &c. these being perfect animals , as consisting of organical parts , as hearts , stomacks , livers , galls , eyes , &c. [ not to mention worms , and other insects ] some of them accounted hot creatures , and so full of vivacity and life , that several of them will survive after the taking their hearts out of their bodies some hours , [ not to say , dayes ; ] i say one would little suspect by their out-side , these creatures should abound with moysture as they do . for , if any of them be put to distillation , you shall perceive them to boyl in their own juice , and to afford an incredible quantity of phlegmatick liquor , which being cohobated upon dry bodies , as is directed in the reduction of vegetables , returneth to water ; also their oyls , and fatty substances , being joyned with an alkaly , and made into a soap , then distilled , they yield a stinking water , which cohobated , as the other , doth likewise return into water . all other sorts of living creatures are , by the help of fire , to be dissected into oyls , a fixt , and a volatile salt [ though they yield most of the latter ] an empireumatical spirit , and phlegm : all which by the above-said helps , and the like repeated operations , will at last be brought into water . middle minerals , and mineral salts , by art are reducible into corrosive spirits ; which acting upon bodies , are dispoil'd of their acrimony ; and , at last , return to the shape of water . as for minerals , and metals ; if they be fluxed with alkalies , they are thereby rob'd of their sulphurs ; to which if you add oyl , it is made soap , and then to be dealt with as is above directed , by the example of both vegetables , and animals : or else the sulphurs of minerals , separated from the alkalizate salt , may be burnt , and the fume caught by a glass-bell , [ as is usual in making oyl of sulphur per campanam ] it will be turned into a corrosive spirit , which will be reduced into water ; as i have shewed above , other corrosive spirits may be by acting upon bodies . metalline mercury , or quick-silver , [ that peerless body for homogeneity , and likeness of parts ] which exceedeth water in weight at least fourteen times , [ the parts of it being so forcibly compressed by the power of its seed ] may yet totally be reduced into water , in purposely contrived vessels , and a skilfull management of the fire ; as raymund lully doth witness , and experience with him . nay , nature her self doth in time [ by the help of putrefaction , and ferments residing in the earth , ] reduce into water the bodies of vegetables , and animals , whether fish , or flesh ; also salts , ashes , stones burnt to lime , &c. witness the dunging of land by these things . nay , metals themselves in time , having past their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or prime , degenerate into middle-minerals , and salts ; and then return to water . so that you see , all bodies have water for their first matter ; and are by art and nature reducible into it again at last . paracelsus [ a person hardly inferiour to any man in the knowledge of metals , and minerals ] giveth us his opinion of the production of metals , and stones , from water , in these words . sic ergo mirabili consilio deus constituit , ut prima materia naturae esset aqua , mollis , levis , potabilis ; et tamen foetus seu fructus ipsius est durus ; ut metalla , lapides , &c. quibus nihil durius est . so therofore god hath ordered , by a wonderful counsel , that the first matter of nature should be water , soft , gentle , potable ; and nevertheless the off-spring , or fruit of it , is hard ; as metals , and stones , &c. than which nothing is harder . plato also is of the same judgment with him ; for he tells us . aquae genera duo sunt praecipua , unum humidum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , alterum fusile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : there are two sorts of waters , one moyst , the other fusil , or to be melted . and presently after , he explaineth what he meaneth by fusil waters . ex his veró quas aquas fusiles appellavimus , quod ex ten●issimis , levissimisque , fit densissimum , uniforme , splendidum , flavumque , & praetiosissima res est , aurum florescens per petram compactum est : but of these , which we call fusil waters , [ or to be melted ] gold flowering through the rock is compacted ; for it is , of a most soft , fine , and tender thing , made most hard , uniform , splendid , and yellow , and is a most precious thing . the seeds of minerals , and metals are invisible beings ; [ as we have shewed , above , the true seeds of all other things are ; ] but to make themselves visible bodies they do thus : having gotten themselves sutable matrices in the earth , and rocks , [ according to the appointment of god , and nature ] they begin to work upon , and ferment the water ; which it first transinutes into a mineral-juice , call'd bur , or gur ▪ from whence by degrees it formeth metals . to which purpose i shall give you a testimony , or two . the first we borrow from that book , entituled , arcae arcani artificiosissimi apertae , beginning thus : igitur no● andum● est , &c. which because the passage is long , we will only give you in english , thus : therefore it is to be noted , that nature hath her passages and veins in the earth , which doth distill waters , either salt and clear , or else turbid . for it is alwayes observable by sight , that in the pitts , or groves of metals , sharp , and salt waters distill down ; therefore while these waters do fall downwards , [ for all heavy things are carried downwards ] there doth ascend from the centre of the earth , sulphurous vapours , which do meet them . wherefore if so be , the waters be saltish , pure , and clear , and the sulphurous vapours pure also , and both of them do strictly embrace each other in their meeting , then a pure metal is produced ; but in defect of such purity , [ that is , of the water , and vapour ] then an impure metal is generated : in elaborating of which nature spendeth near a thousand years before she is able to bring it to perfection ; and this happeneth either by reason of the impurity of the salt , mercurial waters , or the impure sulphurous vapours . when these two do embrace each other , shut up close in rocky places ; then by the operation of natural heat there doth arise from them a moyst , thick , fat vapour , which seateth it self where the air cannot come , [ for else it would flye away : ] of this vapour a mucil●ginous , and unctuous matter is made , which is white like butter ; mathesius calls ▪ it gur : it will spread like butter , which i also can shew in my hand , above , and out of the earth . and the same author again , thus . the matter of metals before it be coagulated into a metalline form , is like butter made of the cream of milk , which may be clam'd , or spread as butter , which he [ he meaneth mathesius ] calleth gur , which i also [ saith the author ] have found in the mines , where nature hath produced lead . and that industrious metallurgist , webster , [ who hath likewise noted the same passages out of this author ] assureth us , that he hath in his possession some pounds weight of this metalline liquor , called gur. to which i will also add my own testimony ; which is , that about eighteen years past , having made a visit to a friend , who dwelt upon the borders of derby-shire ; and who had at that time newly discover'd a lead-mine in his ground : i remember , that being at the said mine i saw upon the work-man's breaking a stone of lead-ore , a bright shineing liquor spurt forth ; which in a little while did coagulate , and become solid . and that worthy man , helmont , confirms what we have related of this metalline juice , in these words : non rarò nempe contingit , quod metallarius , in fodinis , saxa diffringens , dehiscat paries , & rimam det , unde tantillum aquae , subalbidae , virescentis , manavit , quod mox concrevit instar saponis liquidi [ bur voco ] mutatòque deincepa pallore subvirtdi , flavescit , vel albescit , vel saturatius viridescit . sic enim visum est , quod alias intus , absque saxi vulnere , fit ; quia succus ille interno efficiente perficitur . est ergo prima seminis metallici vita in condo , sive promptuario loci , homini plane incognita : at ubi semen in lucem , liquore vestitum , prodit , et gas incaepit sulphur aquae inquinare , vita est seminis media ; ultima verò , cum jam indurescit : that is , it many times happeneeh , that a mine-man , in the pits , breaking stones , the wall is opened , and a chink is made ; from whence a little water hath flowed , of a whitish greeness , which presently hath thickned like soft soap . [ i call it bur , saith he , but i suppose it should be written gur ] and by and by the somewhat greenish paleness being changed , it groweth yellowish , or whitish , or more fully greenish : so that that is brought to sight , which nevertheless was made within , if the ●tone had not been broken ; because that juice [ or liquor ] is brought to perfection by an internal efficient ; therefore the first life of the metallick seed is hid in the little store-house , [ or cellar ] of the place , altogether unknown unto man : but when the seed is brought to light , invested with a liquor , and the gas hath begun to defile the sulphur of the water , it is then the middle life of the seed ; but the last life is , when it is now grown hard , [ that is , become a true metal . ] and again , that this metalline juice , which he calls bur , [ and other authors gur , which is the true proximate matter of all metals ] was originally nothing but water , coagulated by the power of metalline seeds ; hear what the same author sayes : in terra nimirum fracescens aqua , semen locale vel insitam acquirit , ideoque vel in liquorem , [ leffas ] ad omnem flantam , vel insuccum [ bur ] mineralem transit , juxta species , per directionem seminum electas : indeed the water , by continuing in the earth , growing putrid , doth obtain a local , or implanted seed ; and by that means it is changed either into the liquor [ leffas , ] for all plants [ to be made out of it ] or else into the mineral juice [ bur ] according to the particular kinds , chosen by the direction of the seeds . but that you may not think , that lead alone is formed from this buttery , or soap-like substance , which we have been speaking of ; but also that all other metalline , and mineral bodies are produced from the same ; i shall give you an instance , or two ; erastus , as i find him quoted by webster , saith , i have two stones of iron , one of them of an ironish colour , the other of the colour of the shell of a ripe chesnut ; altogether soft , and fatty , that may like butter be wrought with the fingers ; from which , notwithstanding , hard , and good iron was extracted by the fire . concerning the generating silver from such a mineral-liquor , that honourable person , mr. boyl , tells us [ from gerrhardus ] thus . item aqua ( aerulea inventa est annebergae , aubi argentum adhuc erat in primo ente , quae coagulata , reducta in calcem fixi & boni argenti : also that at anneberge a blew water was found , where silver was yet in its first being , or ens , which coagulated , was reduced into the powder , or calx of fixed and good silver . as for gold , and antimony , paracelsus saith , it is to be found in its ens primum , or first being , liquid , and in the form of a red liquor , or water , which afterwards is coagulated and exalted into gold. again , he sayes of the primum ens lege solis , that it is a fugacious spirit , as yet consisting in volatility , as an infant in the womb of a woman , and is sometimes like a liquor , and sometimes it is found like an alcool , or subtile powder . 't is a common known thing , that those men which bore the ground to find out coal-mines , do , when they come near the mine , bring up in their borer a sort of matter they call soap-stone , which is like fat clay , but of a black colour , and will , when new taken out of the ground , spread like butter , as gur will do ; but in the air will soon become so hard , that it will not cut with a knife . i might here take notice of what rulandus hath said of the medulla lapidis , which the germans call steinmarck ; some of which is white , some red , and some of other colours ; and most of it in substance like the forementioned gur : but to avoid being tedious , i forbear . and of this sort of coagulated water were those pebbles made , which peireskius found soft under his feet in the river rosne ; as is related in the tenth history of petrification , in the first section of this discourse . so that , i think , it is evident , first , by the afore-cited authorities , which hold that all bodies were made of water , and seed ; and secondly , by the alleadged experiments , teaching the reduction of all bodies into water again ; that the original of all concrets , [ even those solid ones of metals , and stones ] is water . and i do not find that very ingenious man , mr. boyl , to be against this opinion : for he saith thus ; yet thus much i shall tell you at present , that you need not fear my rejecting this opinion ; since however the helmontians may in complement to their master , pretend it to be a new discovery , yet though the arguments be for the most part his , the opinion it self is very ancient . i have now done with the first argument , that is , that all bodies are made of those things into which they are at last to be resolved , and that i have proved to be water . i now proceed to the second argument , viz. that all bodies are nourished by that of which they are constituted . section the fifth . that vegetables are nourished by water , will plainly appear from hence , that no plants do either grow , or increase without the assistance of water ; either by the way of rain , or dew , or else by the overflowing of some spring , or river ; for if they be destitute of water , they dye , and wither . and it is commonly known , that the tops of rosemary , marjoram , mint , baume , penny-ryal , crows-foot , and many other plants , will thrive , flourish , and grow to a large bulk [ without being planted in the earth , ] if they be only put into a glass with fair water in it ; into which they will shoot out springy roots , and from whence they will gather sufficient nourishment to become large plants . to confirm which i shall relate a couple of very remarkable passages ; the one borrowed from that honourable philosopher , mr. boyl ; the other from that learned naturalist , helmont . mr. boyl tells us , that he caused a certain quantity of earth to be digged up , baked in an oven , and weighed ; and then put into an earthen pot , in the which he set the seed of a squash , which grew very fast , [ though planted too late , viz. in the moneth of may ] it being watered only with spring , or rain-water : in october [ by reason of the approaching winter ] he caused it to be taken up , and the weight of it , with its stalk , and leaves , was found to be two pounds , twelve ounces ; and the earth [ in which it grew ] being baked as before , it was found to be exactly the same weight . helmont's relation is this : he took , he saith , two hundred pounds weight of earth , which was dryed in an oven , and putting it into an earthen pot , he moystened it with rain-water , and in it he planted the trunck of a willow-tree , which weighed five pounds , [ covering the pot with an iron cover , which had a hole for the tree to grow out at , ] and at the end of five years , he took up the tree , and found it to weigh one hundred sixty nine pound , three ounces ; and the earth being dryed , was of the same weight as at first . now if this be throughly consider'd , from what can we possibly suppose , the bulk of the swash , and this great addition of 164. pounds weight to the tree , did proceed but from meer water ; there being nothing else added to either of them ? and no doubt , nature observeth the same course in producing all other vegetables ; whether springing up from their innate seeds , or transplanted into other soyls : for the earth is only a receptacle to receive the seeds of things , [ and to sustain the weight of minerals , animals , and vegetables : which seeds conceive in the water ; where they beget themselves bodies , and from which all plants arise ; and by the power of the architectonick spirit of the seed , fermenting the particles of water , do proceed the stalks , wood , leaves , flowers , fruit , grain , [ or casket of the real seed ] as also the colours , odors , tastes , and all the specificate qualities of the plant , according to the idea wrapt up in the bosom of the seed . animals also are nourished by water ; some immediately , others mediately . immediately , from meer water , as salmon , sturgeon , and several other sorts of fish , in whose stomacks no food , that i know of , was ever yet found . and to confirm this ; rondeletius [ an author of good credit ] affirms , that his wife kept a fish in a large glass , and fed it with nothing but water [ so long ] till it grew so big , that it could no longer be contained in the glass ; which they were forced to break to get it out . those living creatures that are nourished immediately by water and vegetables , are most sort of cartel proper for food ; so that in these beasts , which feed upon corn , grass , and other herbs , [ which are really but water , once removed from its primitive simplicity by the power of seeds , ] water is a second time transmuted , by the ferment of a beasts stomack , by which it is changed into chyle , blood , milk , urine , flesh , bones , fat , sinews , &c. and all these different one from another , according to the species of the beasts that feed upon them . now these creatures , and their parts [ as the flesh and milk of beasts ] serve for food to those animals that are nourished mediately from water ; such are men , and divers wild beasts , who live upon the flesh , milk , and blood of cattel , and by the ferments of whose stomacks these things are again transmuted into another kind of chyle , blood , flesh , bones , milk , urine , &c. which juices of our bodies are still but water , disguised by the operation of different feeds , and ferments ; which is quickly discovered by distilling them : for , if our blood be distilled , five or six parts of seven will rise in phlegm [ which is easily reducible into simple water , as we have shewed in the last section before this . ] nay , the sperm of man [ by which we propagate our selves ▪ ] is nothing but water [ originally ] altered by the several ferments of the body , and ci●culated in the seminal vessels . upon this subject there is much good matter to be found in that ingenious man , simpson , in his hydrologia . it now remains , that we prove the growth , and nourishment of metals and stones from water : which that we may the better do , i think it necessary , in the first place , to discover , whether they do really grow , and increase or no ; for some men believe , that god created them at first , when he formed the world ; but that since they do neither grow , nor increase : which error we shall endeavour to confute by several good observations , taken from approved authors . almost all the mystical chymists have handled this point so obscurely , that though they have asserted , that metals and stones do grow and increase , and that they are generated from a seminal principle ; yet have they proved nothing clearly ; but left it as a principle to be granted , without any further dispute . 't is a known truth in cornwall , that after all the tin , that could be found in a mine , hath been taken out , and the mine filled up with earth ; yet within thirty years they have opened them again , and found more tin generated : of which dr. iordan doth take notice also , and in the above-cited place he sayes thus : the like hath been observed in iron , as gandentius merula reports of ilna , an island in the adriatick sea , under the venetians , where iron is bred continually , as fast as they can work it ; which is confirmed also by agricola , and baccius . ●he like we reade of at saga in lygiis , where they dig over their mines every ten years . and of ilna it is remembred by virgil , who saith , ilnaque inexhaustis chalybum generosa metallis . john mathesius giveth us examples of almost all sorts of minerals , and metals , which he had observed to grow , and regenerate . the like examples you may find in leonardus thurnisserus ; erastus affirms , that he did see in st. joachim's dale , silver grow upon a beam of wood , which was placed in the pit to support the work ; and when it was rotten , the work-men coming to set new timber in the place , found the silver sticking to the old beam. also he reports , that in germany there hath been unripe , and unconcocted silver found in mines , which the best workmen affirmed would become silver in less than thirty years . the like modestinus , fucchius , and mathesius , affirm , of unripe , and liquid silver ; which when the workmen find , they use to say , we are come too soon . and rulandus saith [ speaking of silver that is to be found naturally purified in the mine ; ] sed hoc axgentum pu●um tenuissimis bracteis amplectitur lapidem ; interdum etiam prae se fert speciem capillorum , interdum virgularum , interdum globi fert speciem , quasi filis convoluti candidis , aut rubris ; interdum prae se fert speciem arboris , instrumenti , montium , herbarum , & aliarum re●um . and this pure silver doth embrace the stone with most ●ine plates ; it sometimes also doth bear the shope of hair , sometimes of little twiggs , sometimes of a globe , as though wrap'd about with thred , white , or red ; sometimes it appeareth in the shape of a tree , mountain , instrument , herbs , and of other things . mr. boyl tells us from gerrhardus , thus . in valle ioachimacae &c. [ saith he ] in the vale of joachim , dr. shreter is a witness , that silver , in the manner of grass , had grown out of the stones of the mine , as from a root , the length of a finger ; who hath shewed these veins , very pleasant to behold , and admirable , at his own house , and given of them to others . and to shew you , that metals do grow even like vegetables , it is very remarkable what is quoted by webster , out of ' peter martyr , councellour to the emperour charles the fifth , in these words : they have found by experience , that the vein of gold is a living tree , and that the same by all wayes spreadeth , and springeth f●om the root , by the soft pores and passages of the earth , putteth forth branches even to the uppermost part of the earth ; and ceas●th not till it discover it self to the open air ; at which time it sheweth forth certain be●utiful colours in the stead of flowers : round stones of golden earth , instead of fruit , and thin plates in stead of leaves : th●se are they which are dispersed through the whole island [ he is speaking of hispaniola ] by the course of the rivers , eruptions of the springs out of the mountains , and other falls of the floods : for they think , such grains are not ingendered where they are gathered , ●specially on the dry land , but otherwise in the rivers . they say , than the root of the golden tree extendeth to the centre of the earth , and there taketh nourishment of increase ; for the de●per that they digg , they find the trunck the bigger , as far as they may follow it for abundance of water , springing in the mountains : of the branches of this tree , they find some as small as a thread , and others as big as a mans ●inger , according to the largeness , or stre●ghtness of the rifis , and cl●fts ; they have sometimes lighted upon whole caves , sustained , and born up , as it were , by golden pillars , and this in the way by which the branches ascend : the which being filled with the substance of the trunck , creeping from bene●th the branch , maketh it self way , by which it may pass out . it is oftentimes divided by incountring with some kind of hard stone ; yet is it in other clef●s nourished by the exhalations and virtue of the root . to which i might add what fallopius saith of sulphur , [ viz. ] sunt enim loca , è quibus si hoc anno sulphur effossum fuerit , intermissa fessione per quadriennium , redeunt fossores , & omnia sulphure , ut antea , rursus inveniunt plena : for there are places , from whence if this year the sulphur be digged out , and forbearing to dig , by the space of four years , the mine-men return , and find them all full of sulphur , as before . and that salt-petre groweth , and increaseth , our common salt-petre-men will justifie ; for after they have extracted all the salt that they can get out of the earth that yieldeth it , in two or three years after , they work the same earth [ which for that purpose they carefully lay up ] over again ; and it yields them a considerable quantity of salt-petre , as before . and concerning table-salt , matthias untzerus produceth many testimonies from credible authors , that besides that which is made of salt-springs , there are in spain , the indies , and divers other parts of the world , large mountains of salt , which as fast as they can be digg'd , grow again , and are quickly filled with salt. and for lead , [ besides what galen observeth of its increase , both in bulk , and weight , by being kept in a damp cellar , ] ●occatius certaldus , as he is cited by mr. boyl , saith thus of its growth : fesularum mons , &c. of the mountain of fesula , a village near florence , that it hath lead-stones ; which if they be digg'd up , yet in a short space of time they will be supplied afresh , and generated anew . i might instance in many more particulars , but i think these sufficient . that stones do grow , and are made since the creation , every mans observations will sufficiently acquaint him : and the histories cited in the first section of this discourse do confirm ; and that they are nourished by water , is apparent from the scituation of rocks in the sea , the production of pebbles in the bottom of rivers , and that both mountains , and also gravelly places , are never destitute , or unaccompanied of springs and rivulets . and paracelsus , i remember [ somewhere ] giveth us this experiment , to prove that stones do grow , and are nourished by water ; viz. that if a flint , or p●bble be put in a glass vessel , and rain , or spring-water put upon it , and distilled from it , if this be oft●n repeated , it will cause the stones to grow so bigg , that at last it will fill up the glass that contained it . that metals , and minerals are nourished by water , is more than ptobable from hence , that no considerable mines are found without a great conflux of waters ; which the work-men are forced to make drains and pumps to carry away , that they may work dry . and there is an experiment , written by monsieur de rochas [ a considerable french author , and transcribed from him by the honourable , mr. boyl ] which i shall here insert . having [ saith he ] discerned such great wonders by the natural operation of water , i would know what might be done with it by art , imitating nature ; wherefore i took water which i well knew not to be compounded with any other thing than the spirit of life ; and with a heat artificial , continual , and proportionate , i prepared it , and disposed it , by graduations of coagulation , congelation , and fixation , untill it was turned into earth ; which earth produced animals , vegetables , and minerals : ●he animals did eat , move of themselves , &c. and by the true anatomy i made of them , i found they were composed of much su●phur , little mercury , and less salt : the minerals began to grow , and increase , by converting into their own nature one part of the earth ; they were solid , and heavy ; and by this truly demonstrative science , namely , chymistry , i ●ound they were composed of much salt , little sulphur , and less mercury . according to this experiment , minerals were generated out of , and nourished by water . from what hath been related , both in this and the fore-going section , concerning the growth , increase , and vegetability both of metals , minerals , and stones ; as also concerning those mineral , metalline , and stony juices , called gur , [ or bur ] soap-coal , and the medulla lapidis , &c. i think it will appear , that both metals , and stones , are made , do grow , and are nourished , daily , and at this time ; and that from water , of which they were at first made , by the power of their seeds : and this is the reason , that metals , and mines are now usually found in those places where for many years before there were ; as both sandivogius , and helmont assure us . inde fit , quod hodie reperiantur minerae in locis ubi ante mille annos nullae fuerunt : from hence it is come to pass , that minerals may be found in plac●s , where before a thousand years since , there have been none . and helmont , thus : loca enim quae fodinis caruêre olim , suo quandoque die , maturato semine , foenora reddent , ditioribus non imparia ; quia radices , sive fermen●a mineralium , sedent in loco immediat● , ac in dierum plenitudinem fine fastidio anhelant : quam ubi semen complevit , tum gas obsidens quam ibidem , semen à lo●o suscipit , quod aquae sulphur dein impregnat , aquam condensat , atque sensim aquam mineralem transplantat : for places which have wanted [ or had no ] mines in times past , will in their own time , their seed being ripened , restore usury , equal to the richer sort [ of mines ] because the roots , or mineral ferments , are seated immediately in the place ; and their full time being come , they [ pant ] or breathe without [ weariness ] or loathing : and when it hath gained a compleat seed , then the gas which is seated in the water of that place , receiveth that seed of the place , which afterwards begets the sulphur of the water with child ; condenseth the water , and by degrees turneth , or transplants it into a mineral water . and , to conclude this section , i will give you the judgment of that great naturalist , helmont , by way of confirmation ; because i find him exactly to correspond with all that i have hitherto delivered . his words are these , which you shall find in his imago fermenti ; which because they are long , i will only give you their sence in english. and indeed because the schools have been unacquainted with ferments , they have also been ignorant , that solid bodies are framed only of water , and ferment : for i have taught , that vegetables , and grain , and whatsoever bodies are nourished by them , do proceed only from water : for the fisher-man never found any food in the stomack of a salmon ; if therefore the salmon be made of water only , [ even that of rivers . ] he is also nourished by it . so the sturgeon wants a mouth , and appeareth only with a little hole below in his throat , whereby the whole fish draweth nothing besides water . therefore every fish is nourished , and made of water , if not immediately , yet at least by seeds , and ferments , if the water be impregnat therewith . from the salt sea every fresh fish is drawn ; therefore the ferment [ of the fish ] turneth salt into . lastly , shell-fish do form to themselves stony shells of water , in stead of bones ; even as also all kind of snails do ; and sea-salt , which scarce yieldeth to the force of a very strong fire , groweth sweet by the ferment in fishes ; and their flesh becometh volatile : for , at the time of distributing the nourishment , it is wholly dissipated , without a residence , or dreg . so also salt passeth over into its original element of water ; and the sea , though it receive salt streams , yet is not every day increased in saltness . so the most unmixed , and most purest water , under the equinoctial line becometh hory , and stinketh : strait-way it getteth the colour of a half burnt brick , then it is greenish , then red , and quakesh very remarkably , which afterwards of its own accord returns to it self again : truly this cometh to pass by reason of the conceived ferment of that place , which being consumed , all these appearances cease . so the most pure fountain-water groweth filthy , through the musty ferment of the vessel ; it conceiveth worms , breedeth gnats , and is covered with a skin . fenns putrifie from the bottom , and hence arise frogs , shell-fish , snails , horse-ieaches , herbs , &c. also swiming herbs do cover the water , being contented with drinking only of this putrid water . and even as stones are from fountains wherein a stony seed exists ; so the earth stinking with metallick ferments , doth make out of water , a metalline , or mineral bu● ; but the water being in other places shut up in the earth , if it be nigh the air , and stirred up with a little heat , it putrifieth by continuance , and is no longer water , but the juice leffas of plants ; by the force of which hory ferment , a fower is conferred on the earth of budding forth herbs . for that putrifying juice by the prick of a little heat doth ascend in smoak , becomes spungy , and is compassed with a skin , because the ferments therein hid require it . therefore that putrefaction hath the office of a ferment , and the virtue of a seed , and by degrees it obtaineth some measure of life , and hasteneth by the virtue of its seeds into the nature of archeuss . therefore this putrid juice of the earth , is leffas : from whence springs every plant not having visible seed , which nevertheless bring forth seeds , according to their destinations . therefore there are as many rank , putrid , musty smells , as there are proper savours of things . for odors are not only the messengers of savours , but also their promiscuous parents . the smoak leffas being now comprest together , doth first grow pale , then somewhat yellowish , and presently after is of a whitish green colour , and at last fully green . and the power of the several species being unfolded , it gains divers marks , and different colours : in which course it imitates the example of the water under the equinoctial line . yet in this it differs , that those waters have borrowed too spiritual and volatile a ferment from the stars , and place , without a corporal hory putrefaction ; and therefore through their too frail seed they presently return into themselves . but leffas is constrained to finish the act , [ and obey the power ] of the conceived seed . therefore rain conceiving a hory ferment , is made leffas , and is s●cked in by the lustfull roots : 't is experienced also , that within this kitchin [ of the root ] there is a new h●ry putrefaction produced by the ferment which is tenant there ; by and by it is brought from thence to the bark [ which is as it were the liver of the plant , ] where it is inriched with a new ferment of that part , and is made a herby , or woody juice ; and at length it being come to maturity , it is made wood , an herb , or becometh fruit. if the arm , or stem of a tree shall be putrefied under the earth , then the bark or rinde becometh d●y , and cleaveth assunder , and sendeth forth a smoak by its own ferment , which in the beginning is spungy , byt at length hardens into a true root : and so planted branches become trees by the abridgment of art. therefore it is now evident , there is no mixture of elements , and that all bodies primitively , and materially are made of water , by the help of seeds , and their ferments ; and that the seeds being worn out ▪ and exhausted by acting , all bodies do at length return into their ancient principle of water : yea , that ferments do sometimes work more strongly than fire , because that fire can turn great stones into lime , and burn wood into ashes , but there it stops ; but notwithstanding , if they shall assume a ferment in the earth , they return into the juice of leffas , and at last into simple water . for stones , and b●icks , do of their own accord decline into salt-petre . lastly , glass which is unconqu●red by the fire , and uncorrupted by the air , in a few years putrifieth by continuance [ in the earth ] and undergoes the laws of nature , &c. having now gone through the two first arguments , by which i proposed to prove the doctrine i have asserted , which arguments were grounded on two generally received and allowed axioms , [ viz. ] those things which are the last in the resolving , [ or retexing ] of a body , the same are found to be the first in its composition . secondly , we are nourished by those things of which we are made , [ or consist . ] and having , i hope , sufficiently proved by both of them , that water is the original matter , and seeds the efficients of all bodies ; i am now come to the third , and last argument , which was to shew , and prove a necesssity of all bodies being formed out of water ; because neither the four elements of the aristotelians , nor the three principles of the old chymists , no , not yet the ●ive of the modern chymists , can possibly concur to the constituting of bodies , as either their primary matter , or efficient ; they being themselves but great disguised schemes of one and the same catholick matter , water , from whence they themselves were made ; and into which they are ultimately to be resolved , and uniformly to be reduced . section the sixth . and first for the chimical principles ; i have shewed [ in the fourth section of this discourse , ] that the oyls of vagetables , and their fermented spirits , which are their sulphurs ; that the fat 's , and oyles of animals , which are their sulphurs , and also the sulphurs of minerals , and mettals , are all of them reducible into water : as are also both mineral , animal , and vegetable salts . and as to the mercury of animals , and vegetables ( improperly enough so called , ) they being but of a loose contexture , are easily made to remigrate into water , ( as i have taught in the same place : ) as also is [ though with somewhat more reluctancy , because of its strong compression by its seed , ) true mettallin mercury , or quicksilver , as my own experience hath assured me : which is also confirmed by raymundus lullyus , the ingenious mr. boyl , and divers others . all this may be performed two ways , that is , either by the means prescribed in the sorecited pages , or else more solemnly , speedily , and universally ▪ by the help of that rare . solve the alkahest : the manner of whose operating upon bodies , i have described from the r●lation of that worthy man helmont [ in the fourth section . ] now as to the two other principles added by the modern chymists ; the one of them , viz. earth , doth properly belong to the school of the stagyr●t ; and therefore i speak to that , when i come to discou●se of the four supposed elements of bodies . but as to the other , viz. spirits ; they are all of them of one of these two classes ; either vinous , and made by fermentation ; or saline , and made without . now for the vinous , they are totally inflamable bodies , and therefore to be ranked under the classis of sulphurs ; and may be reduced to water , as i have shewed you above : other sulphurs , and spirit of wine it self may . the other sort of spirits , viz. saline , are nothing but volatlle salts , diluted with phlegme or water ; and therefore by repeated distillations , and careful rectifications , will be brought to constitute a lump or mass of dry salt : wherefore it is not an other principle , distinct from the former three of the old chymists ; and by the same handycraft-means may at last be reduced to water , as i have before shewed the three principles of the chymists may be . nor indeed can any of these three bodies , called salt , sulphur , and mercury , pretend to be the principles of all concretes , excxept only mercury , or water ; for it is proper for principles , that they be primary , and not further resolveable into more simple parts : but both salts , and sulphurs [ as i have made out above ] being further reducible , viz. into water ; they therefore cannot [ whilst such ] deserve the name of principles . besides , it is very much questioned by those two great phylosophers , helmont , and boyl , whether the fire indeed be an adequate and fit instrument to anatomise bodies ? and whether or no those distinct schemes , into which the common chymists resolve the matter of bodies by fire , [ and which they call their three principles ] were indeed really existing , in those bodies , from which they were educed ▪ [ that they were matterially there , no man will deny , they being themselves composed of water ? ] but whether they were resident in the concr●te that yielded them , in the same f●●gures , and shapes , that the fire exhibites them to our sendes , is very disputable ? and it may easily be imagined , that the fire acting upon a body that it can master , [ for some it cannot ] doth not only put the small parts , of which that body consisted , and which were before [ in some measure ] at rest amongst themselves , into a tumultuous motion ; by means of which , they are sent hastily off into the receiver ; but doth also break by forcing them asunder , those small particles of that body into other shades , figures , and sizes : upon which account they do conyene together after new manners ; and so the fire may present us with new bodies , which were not prae-existent in the concrete , when first exposed to its action . but because this point is throughly , and learnedly handled both by helmont , and my excellent friend mr. boyl , in his sc●ptical chymist , i shall spare my self the pains of expatiating upon it ; and refer the inquisitive to those two authors , for full satisfaction in this point . only i think it very necessary in this place , to examine the arguments which are brought by a very learned man , and eminent physitian , to evince the real existence of the chymical principles in bodies , and to prove that they are not products of the fire . and i the rather take notice of it here ; first , because they are not bare ratiocinations of this learned mans , but experiments ; upon which he hath built very much : and secondly , should i omit to examine these experiments , [ which indeed do seem weighty ] they might perhaps be produced against the doctrine i desend : and some might likewise object , that i had not dealt candidly with the chymist ; in that i had taken no cognisance of the best weapon they have to defend their cause . this learned man then intending to prove the real existence of salin and sulphurous principles in bodies , before the action of the fire upon them , produces experiments nevertheless , that are made by the fire . his sence is this : for the first , [ viz. salt ] it is commonly known , that if the salt be once washed out of the ashes of any vegetable , if they be again calcined , they will yeild no more salt. moreover , if any concrete being distilled , shall yeild a very sharp , and acid liquor , their calces [ or ashes ] do remain less salt ; and è contra , that is , where the salt is vblat●zed , and become a liquor , and doth ascend by the alimbec , you shall in vain seek for it in the caput mortuum : that which vindicates the existence of the principle of sulphurs in vegetables , is this ; take gua●acum , or any other sort of heavy wood , in pieces or shavings , and putting it into a glass-retort , distill it by degrees ; and it will give you , together with a sowet liquor [ which is the saline latex ] a blackish oyl [ which is its sulphury part ] in a great quantity . that this was at first in the distilled body , and not all produced by this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , appeareth from hence , because if you do proceed another way , by which the sulphur may be taken from the concrete , b●fore it be distilled , the liquor which cometh forth , will be almost totally deprived of its oylyness : wherefore , if you shall pour spirit of wine upon the shavings of this wood , this menstruum will extract a great quantity of pure rozin from it , which is the same sulphury parts ; and if afterwards you take these shavings that are left , and wash them with common water , and being dry , put them in a retort , and distil them [ as at first ] you shall have but a little oyl . but that which is more to be wondred at , and which doth more fully confirm this truth , is , that several bodies which have little of spirit , or sulphu● in them [ they being for the most part found amongst volatils ] and which chiefly consist of salt , earth , and water , and are separated into these elements by distillation , which being again mixed together , doth restore us the same sort of mixts , marked with the same sort of qualities as before ; v. g. if you distil vitriol in a reverberating furnace , you shall have a phlegme , almost insipid , which is its watry part : then a very sower liquor , or rather a ●luid salt , and in the bottom remains a red earth of a pleasant purple colour : these being rightly performed , if the two distilled liquors be poured back upon the caput mo●tuum , we shall have the same vitriol as before , revived of the same colour , taste , and almost of the same weight . the like may be done with nitre , sea-salt , salt of tar●ler , and perhaps , with alome , and other mineral bodies , which you may proceed withal with the same success ▪ so that those concrets that consist of fixed and stable elements , may , like mechanical engins be taken to pieces , and put together again , without any prejudice . thus far he . first then , he saith , that if salt be washed from the ashes of a vegetable , though the ashes be afterwards never so much calcined , yet will they yeild no more salt ; and also that those things that yeild a sower liquor , have little or no fixt salt in their a●hes . the matter of fact i do not deny , but the inference from thence , i suppose i may . for it is no necessary consequence , that●a thing was really existing in that form , in the body that yeilded it , in the which art presents us with it , when separated from the said body : as for example , who ever believed , that a cole was ever really existent , [ as a cole ] in wood , any otherwise than materially ; and it is sufficiently known , that the cole is a product of the fire , which hath dissipated some parts , of which the wood consisted and new modified the rest ? from which action of the fire , the new body of the cole resulted : from which cole , if it be fluxed with an alkalizat-salt , may be obtained a perfect , true , and totally inflamable sulphur , no way distinguishable from common brimstone , [ as i have often proved : ] which brimstone is a body very different from that of salt , which the same cole , if burnt to ashes , will yeild us in the room of this brimstone . and if it shall be objected , that this brimstone is the oyl of the wood or ▪ plant , which this learned man is pleased to call the sulphury principle , and which he afterwards tells us may be obtained [ together with an acid saline liquor , upon which it swimmeth ] by distillation from guajacum ; if this be objected , i desire it may be considered , first , that the oyl of the wood was before sent off into the receiver ; and that a much greater stress of fire is required to burn the wood into a cole , then is needful to separate all its oyl from it . and secondly , that after it hath afforded all the oyl which the fire can make of it , yet then at last this brimstone may be made out of it . and thirdly , that it be taken notice of , that it is not a sufficient ground [ nay , that it is a liberty not to be allowed ] to give different bodies the same denomination , because they agree in some one quality : as this oyl , and the sulphur do in that of inflammability , when they differ in so many others , as is obvious to every man. and as to that part of the experiment alledged by this learned man ; in the first place , viz. that these concrets , which yeild in distilling a sower spirit , which is [ saith he ] their salt volatised , and brought into the form of a liquor ; and therefore , as he ●aith , in vain to be sought for in their ashes , in which very little will be sound : it proveth no more but this , that according as bodies are differently made up , so the fire acts diversly upon their matter : as is to be seen in wax and clay , the former of which the fire melts , and the last it hardens . nor doth it appear , that this saline liquor was such , whilst it recided in the concrete , and before the action of the fire upon it ; any more than it doth , that there is really , and actually residing in the body of wheat , or barly , before they be made into mault , and afterwards brewed and fermented , a vinous , and inebriating spirit : which when they are so managed we find there is . but if otherwise these grains of barly , or wheat , shall be ground into flower , and made into bread , they then become wholesome food ; of which a great quantity may be eate without procuring drunkenness , which their fermented liquors will cause . and yet from this very substance of the grain , which affordeth two such bodies , as drink , and bread ; by a different managing of it , may be made a liquor which is so far a corrosive , that it will draw tinctures , [ which are solutions of the small parts of bodies ] from divers minerals , mettals , and stones , and that many times without the help of external heat . nor can it with more justice be affirmed , that these salts [ whether fixt , or volatile ] were really and in that form , existing in the wood , or other concrete ; then it may be said , and believed , that there is actually in bread-corn , the flesh , blood , bones , sinews , hair , nailes , &c. of a man ; because we see , that by the action of a humane stomach , these things are made out of bread. and as to what is alledged concerning the oyl of guajacum , it yieldeth if it be distilled per se , but if it be in●used in spirit of wine , it will impregnate it with a certain rozin , or gum. and the wood after this extraction , if it be committed to distillation , will not then afford the same quantity of oyl as before it would have done : that i easily grant , but then it will quite destroy the inference for which this learned man brings it ; viz. that oyl was in that form a constituant principle of the mixt . for there is a vast difference betwixt rozin , and oyl , the one being a firm body that will admit of pulverisation , the other a fluid , and unctious body . and besides many other specifical differences , [ which , not to be tedious , i purposely omit , ] the rozin is a product of nature , the oyl , of the fire . for the rozin or gum , is to be seen in the wood before distillation ; and is only taken up , and dissolyed in the spirit of wine , which being evaporated , it appears again in its own form . but the oyl is , i grant , substantially , and materially the same with the rozin ; and therefore , that being for the greatest part , or totally taken away , the fire produceth either lesse , or no oyl : because if the rozin be left in the wood , when it is committed to the fire , the fire doth spread abroad , break , and new alter the texture of the rozin , and elevating , and making a new combination of its parts ; it constitutes that body which we call oyl ; which is in this case a real and new product of the fire , and was not before formally existing in that body . and it is plain , besides the instances before cited , that by a different mannagement of one and the same concrete , i will cause the fire to exhibite very different substances from it ; as for example , take any herb , as wormwood , mint , &c. and having bruised them , add yest to them , or by any other means , procure a fermentation in the matter ; and then commit it to distillation , it will afford you an oyl , and a ●inous spirit [ which rectified , are both of them totally inflamable ] but if the same herb be bruised , and suffered to lie upon the flore some dayes , without fermenting , and if it be thus put to distillation , instead of yielding a vinous spirit , and an oyl , as the other did ; it will afford an urinous or armoniack spirit ; which being carefully rectified , will coagulate totally into a mass of salt ; and that every man knows , is very different both from an oyl , and a vinous spirit : for this salt is not only brittle , but also absolutely uninflamable . and lastly , as to what this author instances , concerning vitriol , saltpeter , tarter , and alome , yeilding of saline spirits , which being poured back upon their caput mortuums , do redent●grate ; and return to the same bodies as they were before . the matter of fact i allow to be true ; but withal , must be allowed to say , that it proveth not what he brings it for ; nor doth evince , that salt ▪ and sulphur , are principles in all bodies ▪ for 't is the effect of their seeds , that forms these bodies out of water : for salts somtimes are the products of s●eds ; as i have proved from the regular figures , into which these concrete juices do constantly shoot ; as in section the second of this discourse . so that it is not strange , that the smaller parts of these saline juices , being by fire divorced from the grosser , upon their being put together , do hastily run into , and lodge themselves in the cavities of their own bodies , from whence they were forced by the fire . and to conclude , there are many bodies which the fire cannot force to confess they are constituted so much as of two of the five modern chymical principles ; as to instance in gold , talk , silver , &c. and yet by the operation of the alkahest , even these are at last reducible to water , of which they were made by the power of seed ; and the afore-said oyls , salts , and concrete juices , are to be all of them returned to water by the means prescribed in the fourth section of this discourse . and here i must again take notice of two things , first , that this learned doctors experiments are all made by the fire ; which of it self alone i deny to be a proper agent , to analize bodies , and to discover to us the truth of those principles of which they are constituted ; and that for these reasons , because it doth not work uniformly upon all bodies exposed to its action ; for , as i have said before , it cannot of it self separate any one of these supposed principles , from gold , talk , sand , silver , and many other concrets ; and yet of some other bodies it will frame , not only oyles , salt , spirit , ashes , [ or earth , as he is pleased to call it ] but also a cole , brimstone , and at last glass : which three last , no man i suppose will imagin , were really existing , in those bodies of which they are made ; and yet are they made by the same agent , and from the same subject , of which the fire produced salts , oyls , ashes , &c. and therefore upon the same ground , may as justly plead for the prerogative of being the constituent principles of bodies . the second thing i would have considered is this : that those different shapes and appearances , into which the fire hath put the matter of any concrete ▪ viz. salts , oyl , ashes , spirits , all of them are yet so compound , that they may be yet ●urther returned and divided into more simple parts ; viz. into water , which is indeed the only , and true material principle [ deservedly so called , ] for it is a primary , and simple body , into which at last , all concrets , [ and even the other four supposed principles of this learned mans ] are reduced both by art , and nature ; and of which they were made . so that we may truly affirm with the antient philosophers , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; one is many , and many one. so that though this learned doctor , shewed much witt in building so fair and specious a philosophical structure , from these five supposed principles , yet can it be no safe dwelling in it ; because the foundation is unsound . i have been the fuller in discussing the experiments brought by this great man , in favour of his five chymical printiples ; first , because indeed they have a very fair appearance , till they be throughly examined . and secondly , i would be very loath to have it thought , i would e●deavour inconsiderately or upon slight grounds , to diminish the ●ame this ingenious man hath already gained in the world by his writings . and now having examined not only the tria prima [ or three first principles of the old chymists ] but also the five principles of our modern chymical philosophers ; and not being able to allow them the title of principles , for the reasons above alleadged ; i will likewise examine the quaternary , or four elements of the aristotelians , and see , whether they can plead any better title to be allowed , and established , the principles , or elements , of which all bodies are made . section the seventh . the quadriga , or four elements of the peripateticks , hath for a long time gained the priviledge , of being esteemed the constituent principles of all concretes : [ which therefore are usually stilled compound bodies ] for they say of fire , air , water , and earth , all sublunary bodies are made , and from the divers mixtures of these , do arise all generations , corruptions , alterations , and changes , that happen to all sorts of bodies . and first for the element of fire , [ placed by aristotle under the globe of the moon , but never yet seen by any man , ] certainly it is nothing else but heat ; and that we know is caused by the violent and nimble agitation of the very minute-parts of matter : and though there be heat , [ and consequently a kind of fire ] in the bodies of animals , yet this is no radical principle but a product of vital fermentation . the like of which we see is produced by the sermentation of wines in the barrel , to whose bung , if the flame of a candle be held , the subtil vapours of the wine take flame and burn ; which vapours , if they be otherwayes debarred of all vent , they by their brisk motion , cause an intense heat ; and sometimes burst the vessels that contain them . and this hapneth not only to wines , but even to water it self ; for it hath been observed in long voyages [ which somewhere is also taken notice of by mr. boyl ] that our thames water , being kept close stopt , assisted by the motion of the ship , and its own secret fermentation , a candle being brought near the vent , upon the opening of it , hath set all the cavity of the vessel into a flame . there is the like reason for the bursting forth of flame from wett and closely compressed hay ; as also from the action of dissolvents upon mettallin bodies , &c. in which action , if the glasses be stopt , they break with great violence : from the incoercible nature of which , we may conclude , that fire [ if there were such an element ] can never enter , as a constituant principle , into the composition of bodies ; but it is rather , as helmont stiles it , destructor seminum , the destroyer of seeds , and is a fitter instrument to analize , and take bodies in pieces , by not suffering their parts to be at rest amongst themselves , [ to which purpose it is generally employed ] than to constitute any . and therefore in this particular , paracelsus was grosly mistaken , where he unde●takes to teach us a way to separate the element of fire from bodies , and afterwards pretends to make a new separation of elements from them again . for , if we will suppose an element of fire , yet if that be further reducible , it must of necessity lose both the name and nature of an element . but fire is but an accident , [ no distinct substance , or radical principle of bodies ; ] for fire , or heat , as i have said before , doth result from the m●tion , which the small parts of matter are put into by the power of their seeds , and ferments . for fire cannot subsist of it self [ as matter can , and doth ] but neces●arily requireth some other body , to which it may adhere , and upon which it may act : which bodies are either of a vinous nature , as the sermented spirits of vegetables ; or their rozinous , and brimstony parts ; or else of an unctuous , and fatty nature , as the grease , and fatts of animals ; or else of a bituminous substance , as the sulphurs of minerals and mettals are . and that all this is but disguised water , which hath got new textures by the operati●n of seeds , and ferments , i hope i have sufficiently evinced before . so that without we will much injure truth , we must degrade fire from being an element or principle , in the constituting of bodies . nor doth air enter bodies , as an element of which they are composed ; though it be not only useful , but absolutely necessary both to animals , and vegetables ; without which , neither of them live , or grow , and by the means of which , the circulation and volatization of the blood in animals is p●omoted : by the help of which , also the motion of every part is performed . it also doth not only afford a convenient help to the vegetation of plants , by its compressing the surface of the water , and so forcing it to ascend into the stringy roots and fibers of trees and herbs ; but also by acting the part of a separator , [ for it is , contrary to the received opinion of the aristotelians , a very dry and tenious body , ] it , in its passage over the surface of the water , inbibes and takes into its cavities , store of water , which it transports to distant places [ where springs and rivers are wanting ; ] and then being no longer able to suspend it , by reason of its plenitude , and weight , it returns it to the earth , where it proves a fit nourishment for plants , and a proper matter for all sort of seeds to form themselves bodies out of . an other use of the air , is to be a receptacle , to receive vapours ascending from the water , through the pores of the earth , where finding many cavities , these vapours rove about , till by the cold of the place , or the great extencion of them , the seminal principle contained in them , and by which they were specifically distinguished from water , is forced to desert the body of the vapour ; and so at last it returns to the earth , in the form of the catholike and universal matter , water . it likewise serveth as a fit body for the stars to glide through , and move in ; and also by its elatery spring , pressing equally upon all parts of this terraqueous globe , it keeps it firmly supported in its place ; and doth the same office , which i suppose zoreastes means by his prestor . these are some of the offices , and uses , that god and nature hath designed the expansum , or firmament , or etherical air for , but that air we live in , and enjoy , is very far estranged from the nature of pure ether , it being filled and defiled , with the subtil steames and effluviums of all sorts of bodies , which are there in a constant flux , by which means particles of matter differently figur'd , [ and as yet retaining some slight touch , as i may say , of their seminate natures , ] meeting together by their action and reaction upon each other , generate metors ; which having spent themselves , return to the bosome of the catholick matter , water . but before i take leave of this subject , give me leave to take notice of a great mistake in the aristotelians ; who affirm , that air may be transmuted into water ; which change was never yet performed , either by nature or art. for , if it be to be done , by their own confession it must be performed by the means of compression , or condensation . but compression will not do the feat , as is manifest by winde-guns ; in which the air is forcibly compressed [ into , somtimes the twentyeth part of the space it possessed before ; ] yet for all that , it is so far from being transmuted into water , that by the help of this compression , it hath its elastick or springy faculty so far advanced , that it will with as much impetuosity and vigour throw forth a bullet , as gunpowder set on fire would do . nor will condensation serve the turn . for the moysture which we see affix it self to the walls of cellars , and caves , or any other subteranious places , is not air transmuted ▪ but the vapours of water lodged in the cavities of the air ; which being compressed by the cold of those places , becoms drops too bigg , and heavy for the air to keep up ; and so falling down , they settle in their pristin shape of water . and as air is not transmutable into water , neither is water into air. for it is manifest in distillations , that though water be converted into very subtile vapours , yet by the touch of the cold air , it returns again into water as before , and so distils into the receiver . and i have shewed above , that in natures circulations , though water be so distended as to become a most subtile vapour , or gas , it doth yet constantly at last return , in its own shape , to its own fountainwater , from whence it sprang . from what hath been said , it will follow , that though we do allow air to be a very great body , and a considerable part of the universe , and also exceeding useful to all bodies , we cannot yet afford it to be a material principle , or element , out of which any sublunary body is constituted or made . lastly , let us examine whether the earth have any right to be counted an element or principle , of which bodies are constituted , for although the aristotelians [ as well as the chymists ] pretend to resolve all concretes into their first principles by fire ; which they think they evince , by the example of burning wood . for , say they , that which supplies the flame , is fire . that which sweats forth of the ends of the wood , is water ; and that which ascends in smoak , is air ; but that which remaines fixed [ viz. the ashes ] after the fire hath disbanded the other parts , is earth . yet if we examine this experiment of theirs , it will be found too gloss , to make out what they endeavour to illustrate by it . for first , the phlegme of the wood is not a simple water ; but contains a sower salt , and doth both need , and will admit of a further division to reduce it to elementary water . nor were those parts which are converted into flame , fire ; but roziny , or [ as the chymists phrase it ] oyly , or sulphury parts : which i have before shewed to be far from an elementary simplicity . neither is the smoak , which is seen to arise in the conflagration● air. for it will affix it self to the funnel of the chimny in the form of soot ; after which it may be divided into water , oyl , salt , and earth , [ as they call it . ] and the ashes [ which they are pleased to take the liberty to call earth ] every wash-maid knows , are far enough from being so ; since they are yet so compound a body , that they contain very much of a lixiviate and fixt salt. so that in reason it cannot be called an element : [ for elements ought to be pure , and simple bodies , not capable of a further reduction into different parts . ] and here it is necessary to remember my promise , and to take notice , that the modern chymists , after they have washed the salt from these ashes , do not scruple to call it earth , and allow it the place of one of their five principles , of which they affirm all bodies are compounded , and framed . but , as i declared before , so i do now again affirm , that the separating of these parts from concrets by the force of fire , is not a true analisis , or proper way of taking bodies to pieces ; and therefore is no genuine reduction of them ; but a forcing of their parts asunder by the fire , by which new combinations of the parts of matter are made ; and consequently the products of the fire , are not to be looked upon as principles , which were existing in bodies under that form , in which the fire presents them us . besides , were fire an adequate and proper agent to dissolve the texture of bodies , and to present us with their real principles , it would act uniformly upon all bodies , and exhibit to us the same schemes of matter , with certainty from all alike ; which it doth not do . for [ as for example ] from gold , silver , talk , diamonds , rubies , common stones , sand , and many other bodies , who ever separated ? not to say the four elements , or the five chymical principles , but even any two of them ; and yet if we may credit that worthy man helmont , all these bodies , by the operation of his alkahest , are to be reduced into simple water , equal to their own weight . so that this soluent , must [ from the uniformity of its operation ] be allowed to be a much more fit instrument to discover what bodies are composed of , then fire alone can be supposed to be . and if we strictly examine the business , we shall find , that earth doth not enter any natural body , as a constitutive principal thereof ; but indeed earth , or ashes , may help to compose artificial bodies , such as pots , and glasses . for all sorts of earths are but various coagulations of water , diversified by different seeds , and ferments , and are as much the products of water , as i have shewed mineral salts , middle minerals , stones , &c. to be . all which , as helmont assureth us , are reducible to water , by his great solvent , [ the alkahest ] which possibly i have somwhat more reason to affirm , than i am willing to declare . earth i confess , to me appeareth to be the first product of the water , and is designed by nature as a firm foundation , [ or pedestal ] to support the weight of animals , vegetables , and minerals , and to afford proper wombs for the water to deposite its seeds in . for the earth produceth nothing of its self ; but all things by the assistance of water , impregnated with seeds ; which it depositeth in its bosome . and that the earth was the first product of the water , is confirmed by the testimony of moses , in the first chapter of genesis , at the 9th . verse ; where describing the creation of the earth , he says no more but this : god commanded the water together into one place , and the dry land appeared . from what hath been said , it is i think , very clearly made out , that water , and seeds , are the true and only principles , of which all bodies are made , and that neither the tria prima of the old chymists , . nor the five principles of the chymists of our age , no nor yet the four elements of the aristotelians , can rationally be allowed to be the principles , or elements of bodies . so that as helmont sayes , ruit totum quaternarium elementorum praetor aquam : the whole doctrine of the four elements falleth to the ground : excepting water only . having now in some measure , made out the truth , or at least probability of these principles i assumed to defend , both by reason , and experiment ; it remains , that according to my promise , i strengthen these assertions by authority . and shew this is no noval opinion ; but that it was held , and believed by the antientest philosophers : such as moses , sanchoniathon , mochus , orpheus , thales , pithagoras , timaeus , locrius , plato , &c. after which i shall make some short examination of the histories of petrification , alledged in the first section of this discourse , and so put an end to this essay . section the eighth . that moses held water to be the first and universal matter , will appear from what he tels us in the first chapter of his book of the creation , called genesis , verse the second , where he acquaints us , that the first material substance out of which god made this beautiful and orderly frame of the world , which from its beauty the greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , was water . his words are these ; and the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters . where it is to be observed , that the word which our translation renders moved , is in the original hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , moracephet ; which properly signifieth not a bare motion , but such a motion as we call hovering , or incubation , as birds use to do over their eggs to hatch them . by which expression we have not only an account of the first matter out of which the world was afterwards made ; but also of the efficient , by which this matter was wrought into so great a variety of bodies . for in all probability , the sence of the expression is , that at that time , [ viz. in the beginning ] god infused into the bosome of the waters , the seeds of all those things , which were afterwards to be made out of the waters , setting them their constant laws , and rules of acting [ and thus was nature created , that is , the order , and rule of those things were established , which god designed to make : ] and by the power of the words , increase and multiply , they had a faculty given them , to continue themselves in the same order , till the world shall be destroyed by fire , [ the great destroyer of seeds ; ] at which time all seminal beings shall desert their gross bodies , and return to their first fountain , and great exemplar god , on whom they have at this time a constant dependance . for according to the apostle , in him and to him , and through him , are all things ; and in him we live , move , and have our being . sanchoniathan , the great phenician philosopher , [ whom some chronologers make contemporary with gideon ] some part of whose works are yet to be met with in philo-biblius , and 〈◊〉 sebius ; and a good account of whose works we may also find in the writings of that learned , and ingenious man , mr. gale. this sanchoniathan i say , exactly corresponds with moses . for he says , in the beginning there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which in the phenitian tongue , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , chauth ereb ; that is , night or evening darkness . then he further sayeth to this purpose ; from the commixtion of the spirit with the chaos , was produceds mot , which some call [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] that is matter , or watery moysture : out of this was produced the whole seed of the creation , and the generation of the whole . also mochus , an other pheni●ian philosopher , who continued the philosophick history , begun by sanchoniathon , [ and who is said to have written long before the tr●jan war , ] was also of the same opinion , as bochard affirms . and that thales of miletus , [ who is held the first philosopher that writ in greek ] taught that the world was made out of water , no body can be ignorant . and that , which sanch●niathan calls mot , fluid matter , he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ water . and tully affirms , that thales held water to be the begining of things : and that god out of water framed all things . orpheus also is of the same judgment , and tells us , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; of water , slime was made . and apollonius says , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . earth , of slime was make . and the scholiasts give a good explication of these words ; for they affirm , that the chaos , of which all things were made , was water , which coagulated it self , and became slime ; and that slime condensed , became solid earth . thus you see , that thales's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or water ; and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. watery moysture , of sanchoniathon , and m●chus , was believed and held by them to be the first principle of all things : from which the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of pythagoras , and plato , differs not ; as i will shew by and by . pherecides [ an antient greek philosopher ] who was pythagoras his master , and who we are told , was one of the first greeks that held the immortality of the soul ; though he seem to differ from thales , and orpheus in some things , yet agreed with them in the main , or the thing taken for granted by them all , viz. that water was the first matter of all things . also pythagoras , the founder of the italick sect of philosophers , corresponds exactly in opinion with moses , concerning the origin of the world , and its first matter . for he positively held , that the world was made by god ; and by him adorned with an excellent order , harmony , and beauty in all its parts ; and therefore he was the first that called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ to adorn or beautisy : secondly , his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or first matter , was the same with sanchoniathons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; and thales and orpheus their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , viz. water : agreeable all of them to moses , genesis the first . thirdly , pythagoras , and all the antient philosophers before him , held , that the divine providence , which they stile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , did inspire and influence the whole creation , governing , and directing all things to their proper and peculiar offices , functions , and ends. and this providence was by them somtimes stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the soul of the world ; by which , sayth seranus , they understood nothing else but the fire , spirit , or efficacy , which is universally diffused in the symmetry of the universe ▪ for the forming , nourishing , and fomenting all things according to their respective natures : which vivifick principle plato calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , effective fire ; but this they never understood , or meant to be a material part of any body ; but is the same which moses calls . the spirit of god. and now in the last place , i am come to give you the mind of plato , and his ●onformity with moses ; his judgment hath always been so●esteemed , that men , to express the reverence they had of him , did usually call him the divine plato : and in delivering his opinion , i shall also at the same time give you that of timaeus locrius , that great philosopher , and disciple of pythagoras ; from whom plato borrowed much . first then , plato tells us that the world was made : for he puts the question whether the world had a beginning , or was made ? to which he answers , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it was made . then as to the first matter , of which the world , and all the bodies in it were made , he says thus , [ in his timaeus ] it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ the genus or species out of which every thing is composed ; and he calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or first matter , and is indeed the same with sanchoniathans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mot , &c. and thales , and orpheus's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; and all of them the same with moses his chaos and water , as will appear by comparing their descriptions together . thus first , moses calls his first matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●ohu , without from ; which rabby kinchi calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [ as fabius tells us ] which is the same word that plato uses to express his first matter by ; and differs little , in sound , but less in the sence from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of sanchoni●thon , which philo biblius stiles mot , from the hebrew , and phenitian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mod , which signifieth matter : yea , plato expresly calls his first matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , somewhat without form ; just like moses his bohu . and in his timaus he tells us , that god out of this first matter [ w●ter ] commonly called cha●s [ because disordered , and irregular ] 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beautified , ordered , and figured , or form'd the universe ; and as moses says , the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters : so plato affirmeth , that god made the world , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , by an importunate m●tion , fluctuating , and not quiescing upon the matter . and as for plato's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or soul of the world , we are assured by ludovieus vives , he mean● by it the same spirit of god which moses says moved upon the waters in the beginning ; and which the psalmist calls the breath of his mouth : ( psalm 33. verse 6. ) for , according to platoes philosophy , [ as well as that of moses ] god is the executive cause , and productive efficient of all things , and therefore he usually stiles god , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the supream fabricator , perfector , and essentialisor of all things . and as to the manner , how all things were made , he says , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ every thing was essentialised by certain prolifick , or efformative words , which the stoicks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a spermatick , or seedy word : which agrees exactly both with moses his fiat , and with that of st. paul ; the worlds were framed by the word of god ; that is , gods fiat was the creator of all the seminal and prolifick principles of all things ; and those created seeds were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ the efficients ; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , water , was the matter of which they were all made . these seminal or efficient principles of things do contain within themselves certain pictures or images of those things which they are to make out of the matter , [ viz. water . ] to which purpose let us here what plato says of his ideas , which is to this effect ; there are two sorts of worlds ; one , that hath the form of a paradigm , or exemplar , which is an intelligible subject , and always the same in being : but the second , is the image of the exemplar , which had a beginning , and is visible . by his intelligible world , plato means the divine decrees ; which are inherent in the mind and wisdom of god : and these original idea's , he says , do produce a secondary sort of idea's [ that is , the seeds of things ; ] and these he makes to be the more immediate delineation , or image of the whole work ; somtimes calling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an exemplar ; somtimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an image : his words run thus ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : making use of this exemplar , he frames the idea , and powers ; that is , the seeds of things . so that he makes the first , and original idea , [ which is resident in the divine wisdom or mind of god , and which divines call the decrees of god ] to be much more noble than the latter , or secondary idea , or seed , and to be the cause of it . and this last idea and seed , contains the picture of the thing to be made ; and depends upon the primary , or original idea , and exemplar , which is seated in god himself . which doctrine rightly considered , we have a satisfactory account of the cause , why the last idea's , viz. the seeds of things do proceed so regularly , constantly and unerringly in the producing their likes . for , if we consider , that the seeds of things do depend upon their paradigmes , and that they are inherent in the mind of god himself , who is a god of order ; this will appear not so abstruse , as it hath hitherto done . and though we , out of pride , and self-love to our own nature , are unwilling to afford any creature , that is not of our species , the priviledg of doing any thing by a principle of reason ; that is , with a design , tending towards the accomplishment of such an end ; yet it is certain , that all creatures , even those that we count inanimate , do enjoy , upon the account of their seminal principles , not only life , but even reason in some measure : which , wanting the use of languages , they do nevertheless plainly declare [ to heedful and inquisitive men ] not only by their regular , [ and consequently designed ] working the parts of matter , till they have produced such a distinct sort of body ; but also by those affections which wee call sympathy and antipathy ; and , for want of this knowledg , have hitherto referred to occult or hidden causes , the usual sanctuary of ignorance ; by which sympathy , and antipathy of theirs , it is very manifest , they have hatred and love ; and have a knowledg of those things , which are either pleasing or agreeable too , or else unpleasant or hurtful to their natures . and this is not only to be observed in beasts , and visible moving creatures , but also in all other sorts of creatures , which we very injuriously call dead , or inanimate . but to return from whence i digressed , i shall in short say thus much of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or manner how the ideas and seeds do work upon matter , and form themselves bodies ; which they perform on this manner : first , by their fermentative faculty , [ or springy power ] they put the body of the water into a peculiar sort of motion , by which they congregate those particles , which are most agreeable to their design , and consequently fittest to adhere , and stick to each other . secondly , they break the rest into convenient shapes , and sizes : and thirdly , by this motion they also put these particles into commodious postures , and scituations amongst themselves , and by these means frame themselves bodies , exactly corresponden● to their own praeconceived figures . by this declaration of my thoughts , i hope it will plainly appear , that i am no enemy to that rational way of explicating the phaenomena of nature , used by the atomical , cartesian , or corpuscularian philosophers ; for certainly , they do give us not only an very ingenious , but also a very true account of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or manner how , matter is , or may be modified ; to which , if they would please to add , as some do , the powerful efficacy of seeds upon matter , by which indeed all the several 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ or various shapes of matter is produced , we might then hope to receive some satisfactory account of that hither to perplexed subject , the generation of natural bodies : which principle if it were received , and taken into the philosophy of our age , i am apt to believe it would silence many litigations , now daily commenced by men of parts against each other ; and oblige them to love truth more then the desire of being accounted witty disputants ; truth being so desirous a thing , that porphyry in the life of pythagor as [ though a heathen ] tells us ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is , truth only can make men near to god. now therefore , though rude and unguided motion , will naturally have some kinds of result upon matter , as we see the springy motion of the air , or some more subtile body doth form of the water , of rain , and dew , round drops , by equally compressing it ; yet because this general kind of motion doth something , we are not from thence to conclude it doth all things . for , this were a sophisme , fitter to impose upon fooles or children , then upon men of mature reason . nor can such kind of motion be ever able to forme such bodies , as imply a wise councel , and curious contrivance ; as , for example [ to say nothing of living creatures ] the strong and useful bodyes of metals , minerals , and stones , and the beautiful branches , flowers , and fruits of blants , are . wherefore we must in all reason acknowledge and confess , that there is an internal mind , virtue , and idea , contained in the seeds of things , which workes rationally , [ that is , to a designed end ; ] by which principle , the matter is put into a peculiar motion , and usefully guided , till it be changed , and formed into a body , such as the idea was designed by god to make , who still governes these seedy principals : and therefore in scripture , we are told , he giveth is every seed , it s own body . thus then , i hope , i have proved , that i am of the same judgement with the antientest , and best philosophers ; viz. that there is but two principles of all things , efficients , and matter ; seeds , and water . and now having cleared the doctrine proposed ; i intend in the last place , to inquire , how those transmutations of different bodies into stone , the historyes of which you will find set down in the first section of this discourse , were performed : upon which , i will only touch , and so conclude . it is the opinion of some men , that the change of leaves , mosse , wood , leather , and other substances , into stone , [ wrought by those petri●ying waters , and caves , i have mentioned in the first section of this essay ] are no real transmutations of those bodies into stone , by the operation of a petrifying seed ; but that they are nothing else , but the opposition of certain small stony particles , hid in the water , to those bodies immersed in them ; and that by this means they become crusted over with a stony coat or bark , and so they become increased both in bulk , and weight , by continual addition . but if this were so , then indeed the leaves , wood , &c. cast into these waters , would not be really transchanged into perfect stony nature ; but only seemingly so . nevertheless , if we look warily into the thing , we shall have cause to believe , that there is , not only an aggregation of these small stony particles , and an incrustation upon the outside of those things put into the water ; but even that the smallest atomes of the wood , leather , &c. are really petrisyed ; in so much , that we can discern them to be no other then stones , not only by our eyes alone , but by them assisted with the best microscopes . nor if they be examined by the fire , will they make any other confession : for they will not burn like wood , but calcine like stones ; and though great peices of wood , and trees , will not be so soon converted into stone , as twiggs , leaves , or moss , are ; yet by continuance of time , great bulkes of wood will be stoni●yed totally , both within , and without ; so that by these kind of waters , bodies are not only crusted over with stone , but the wood , leaves , &c. are really and truly changed into stone . i do not deny , but that there may be an affixing of some stony corpuscles latent in these waters , which may increase both the bulk and weight of those things changed by them ; but that this is all , that i deny . for , if so , then those bodies thus changed , would not be altered into a true stony nature , per minima , and in their smallest parts , internally , as experience shews they are ; and though the expl●cating , how this change is wrought , is somewhat difficult , yet in all probability it is thus . the saxeous , or rocky seed , contained in these waters , [ which is so fine , and subtile a vapour , that it is invisible ; as i have before shewed all true seedes are , ] doth penetrate those bodies which come within the sphere of its activity ; and by reason of its subtilty , passeth through the pores of the wood , or other body , to be changed : by which permeating those bodies , it doth these four things : first , it extruds the globuli aetherai [ as the cartesians phrase it ] or the airy particles lodged in their pores : secondly , it puts the particles of those bodies into a new and different motion , from that they were in before ; by which meanes they become broken into figures , and sizes , and obtain new and convenient situations . thirdly it intangleth and lodgeth it self intimately amongst the smallest parts of those bodies ; by which meanes their parts being drawn closer together , they obtain a greater weight and solidity : and lastly , it acts as a ferment , and by reason of its contiguity , and touch with every small part of the matter it doth , as leaven useth to do , [ though mixed with a much greater quantity of dough , then it self ] convert the whole into its own nature . so also this stonifying seed , by its operating ferment , doth transchange every particle of the matter it is joyned unto , into perfect stone ; according to its idea or image , connatural with it self . as to those conversions of animals into stone , related in history , the 13 , 15 , 16 , and 17 , of the first section of this essay ; they also are wrought by the same powerful operations of a petressent seed or vapour ; and by the same circumstances , and contrivances : which sheweth , that the strength and power of a petrifying seed is above , and beyond all other : for , other sorts of seeds do require , that the subject matter be reduced into a sequatious juice , or obedient liquor , and consequently doth require , that the figure , and shape of the precedent concrete be destroyed , or else they cannot act. but the petrifying seed , the human , or other living cretures figure being still intire , without any intervening putrefaction , or dissolution of the matter , doth transchange [ totum per totum ] the whole , throughout the whole ; that is , as well the bones , as the blood , and skin : so that here is not an incrustation of the stony matter upon the external parts , [ only ] but a real change , intrinsically , and throughout , of the bony , fleshy , and sinnewy parts of the animal into a stony substance . by the same operations water it self is converted into stone , [ viz. by , the power of petrifying seeds ] as we may see by the 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , and fourteenth history of the first section : as also doth appear by the relation of those that have seen those famous grots in france , called , les caves goutieres , where the drops falling from the top of the cave , doth [ even in its falling ] coagulate before your eyes into little stones . now this transmutation of water into stone , by a petrescent seed , is not only much more usual , than the change of other substances is , but also much easier : for water is a primary , simple , liquid , tremulous body , consisting of very minute parts , already in motion , and therefore readily obeying the command of all sorts of seedes . nature is uniforme in her manner of produceing bodies , and therefore , as i have demonstrated in the body of this discourse , as she usually , nay constantly produceth , both animals , vegetables , and mettals , from liquid principles , viz. water , so doth she most commonly stones ; which before their becomming such hard bodies , were at sometime in principiis solutis , that is , their matter was in a loose , open , and fluid forme : and , as i have shewed , the spiritual seedes of vigetables , do assimilate , and change water , into mint , rosemary , &c. according to the diverse ideas , and characters of their peculiar kindes ; so also the stony seedes , do form themselves bodies out of water ; and these of very different figures , compaction , and colours ; and this is done sometimes suddenly , sometimes slowly , and by length of time : now , the difference of compaction , and hardness , that we find in stones , as also their sudden or slow coagulation , depends chiefely upon the plenty , or paucity of the stony seed , or spirit , in respect to the quantity of the matter to be wrought upon , and changed by it . but the difference of the figure , is chiefely to be referred to the peculiar nature of the seed , and its idea ; [ as we see in christals , and other stones , which have a determinate figure : ] and sometimes it is to be referred to the vessel , or place , containing the water , or other liquor , before its conversion into stone , and for the colour , that is also chiefely caused by the operation of the peculiar sort of stony seed ; which in its working upon the water , hath given it a determinate texture , and superficies ; by which it reflects and modifies the light , after a peculiar manner . but sometimes it is to be referred also to the waters being impregnated with the tinctures of some mineral or mettallin bodies , before its coagulation . as granets containe the tincture of iron in them ; and therefore are drawn by the loadstone . but to put it out of all doubt , that stones were at first water ; [ or at least , some liquid matter ] i will cite a passage or two out of the works of my often mentioned , honourable friend , mr. boyle . his words are these : and here i will confess further , that i have oftentimes doubted , whether or no not only consistent bodyes , but some of the most solid ones in the world , may not have been fluid in the form , either of steemes , or liquors , before their coalition and their concretion either into stones , or other mineral bodies . and then speaking of the opinion of some men , who will have it , that stones , and mettals , [ were indeed created at the beginning of the world by god , but that since they ] are neither made , nor do grow , and increase : he further saies [ viz. that they were once in a fluid forme ] thus : of this , besides what we elsewhere deliver concerning it , we shall anon have occasion to mention some proofs ; and therefore we shall now only mention two or three instances : the first whereof shall be , that we saw , among the rarities of a person , exceedingly curious of them , a stone flat on the outside , on one of whose internal surfaces was most lively ingraven , the figure of a small fish , with all the finns , scales , &c. which was affirmed to have been inclosed in the body of of that stone , and to have been accidentally discovered , when the stone chancing to receive a rude knock upon its edge , split a sunder . i remember also that a while since a house-keeper of mine in the countrey informed me , that whilest a little before , he caused in my absence one of my walls to be repaired ; the masou , i was wont to imploy , casually breaking a stone , to make use of it about the building , found in it [ to his wonder ] a peece of wood , that seemed part of the branch of some tree , and consequently was afterwards inclosed with that solid case wherein he found it . this example seemes to me a more cogent proof of the increase of stones , then some others , that eminent naturalists much rely on , for reasons discoursed of in an other place . and again , he tells us in the same place , that he hath seen several large stones , such as they make statues of , that when they were sawed , and broken , had caveties in them , which contained mettals , and other substances : and i my self have observed pebbles inclosed in great free stones . and it is commonly known , that spiders and toads have been found upon the breaking of great stones , inclosed in their innermost substance . and now i have shewed you , how agreeable i am with this learned person in this doctrine concerning the matter , and growth of stones ; i will also shew you his opinion , as to their efficient : for he says ; i know that not only profest chymists , but other persons who are deservedly ranked amongst the modern philosophers , do with much confidence entirely aforibe the induration , and especially the lapidescence of bodies , to a certaine secret internal principal , by some of them called a forme , and by others a petrifying seed , lurking for the most part in some liquid vehicle : and for my part , having had the opportunity to be in a place , where i could in a dry mould , and a very elevated peice of ground , cause to be digged out several christalline bodies , whose smooth sides , and angles , were as exquisitly figured , as if they had bin wrought by a skillful artist a cutting of precious stones ; and having also had the opportunity to consider divers exactly or regularly shaped stones , and other minerals , some digged out of the earth by my friends , and some yet growing upon stones , newly torn from the rocks , i am very forward to grant that [ as i elsewhere intimate ] it is a plastick principal implanted by the most wise creator , in certain parcels of matter , that doth produce in such concretions , as well the hard consistance , as the determinate figure . thus far he ; then which , what more consonant to the doctrine i have asserted in this discourse ? conclude we then [ and i hope at last upon probable grounds ] since we have not only the before cited authorities , both of the best antient , and modern philosophers ; and also are taught by the experiments , and manual operations laid down in this discourse , which shew us the reduction of all bodies ultimately into water ; and their nourishment from thence ; as also from the inaptitude of at least two of the four aristotalian elements [ viz. fire , and aire ] to concur to the constituting of bodies ; and likewise from the compound nature , of two of the old chymical principles , viz. sulphur and salt : and from the same compound nature of four of our moderne chymists principles , viz. oyle , salt , spirit , earth , which all of them are further reducible into water , and therefore not to be allowed for principles ; as i have before demonstrated : let us then , i say , conclude in , and acknowledge the truth of the moysaick , platonick , and helmontian doctrine . that is , that all bodies consist but of two parts , or priniciples , matter , and seed ; that their universal matter is water : that the seedes of things do from this matter , [ by the help of fermentation ] alter , break , and new compose the particles of which it consists , till they have formed a body , exactly corresponding to the images , or idea's contained in themselves : also that the true seedes , of all things , are of a very subtle nature , and invisible , and are secundary idea's and images ; and that they are connexed to , and depend upon their primary idea's , and exemplars ; which are inherent and resident in god himself : and that for that reason they act with designe , and to a purposed end , which they constantly , and regularly accomplish ; and this is somewhat analogous to reason in them . lastly , that nature , or the law of kind , is uniforme in its productions thus far , that it makes all bodies out of water , by the power of invisible seedes ; so that the matter of all bodies is identically the same . and that they are all of them reducible into the same matter at last : but that their seeds are various , and therefore produce different effects upon the same matter : yet do they all agree in this , viz. that they are all invisible beings , and all of them have a dependance upon their exemplars , which are the decrees of god , and are constantly inherent in him . finis . an advertisement . there is lately printed , a book , in which is shewed the necessity that lies upon all honest , discreet , and conscientious physitians , to resume that antient , and laudable custom of making , and dispencing their own medicines ; with the advantages thereby accrewing to the patient : both as to saving of charges ; and the speedy cure of their distempers . in which the new way of prescribing bills , [ or making medicines with the pen ] is shewed to be destructive to the interest , both of the patient , and physitian : it exposing them to the fraudulent dealing of practising apothecaries , in which you will find the marrow of what hath been writt upon this subject , by dr. cox , dr. merrit , dr. goderd , and others ; together with certain new , and cogent arguments not formerly made use of . the subject i conceive , of such general concern , that i thought it is very fit to give notice of it here . the title of it is praxis medicorum antiqua , & nova , or the ancient , and modern practice of physick examined , stated , and compared , &c. it was written by the industrious , and ingenious dr. everrard manewring . and is to be sold by william cademan bookseller , at the sign of the popes head , at the little door of the new exchange , next durham yard . clarks examples in two volumes in fol. bacons natural history in fol. reynolds of murther in fol. cozens's devotions in 12. playes . cambyses king of persia in 4. island princess in 4. town shifts in 4. juliana in 4. cataline in 4. rivals in 4. flora's vagaries in 4. marcelia in 4. imperial in 4. fortune by land and sea in 4. unfortunate mother in 4. hamlet in 4. cum multis aliis . to be sold by william cademan , at the signe of the popes head in the new exchange . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a60020-e1070 boyl , usefull , of experiment . philosephy , p. 31. history 1. falopius de metal ▪ & fallilibus . 2. 3. 4. d ▪ lapid , ex alberto . lib. 1. mineral . cap. 7. 5. de fossilibus . 6. in lib. de baluis . 7. lib. 2. de lapid . & gem. cap. 300. 8. history 9. in lib. hydrogr . spagyr cap. 14. 10. in vita peireskli . lib. 1. 11. de lithiasi . cap. 1. 12. 13. history of plants . lib. 3. p. 1586. 14. in apend . synt●g . arcan . chym. cap. 32. 15. in praefat. lib. de signat . rerum . 16. 17. in hist●r ▪ bavar . lib. 7. id ▪ est ▪ in anal. bavar . 18. de lithiasi cap. 1. notes for div a60020-e2630 sennertus , in lib. concens . cbymis . cum ga●enist . cap. 2. in meteorologicar . lib. 4. cap. 8. kircherus in mund. subter . gassendus , lib. 4. anno dom. 1624. mr. boyl . essay of fermness . notes for div a60020-e3440 dr. harvy . de generat . ex ov● . dr. iordan of natural bathes . cap. 2. p. 58 , 59. nov. lum . chym. tract . 6. p. 319. notes for div a60020-e4510 helm●nt in tract . de elementa . ss . 11 , 12. p. 43. & deterra . p. 45. ss . 15. helm●nt . complex . atque mistion , figment . p. 88. ss . 27. scept . chymist . carmades dialogus p. complex . & mistion . elem. sig● . p 86 ss 12. paracel . liber de miner . tract . 1. p. 342. plato timae . p. graec. 488. latin. p. 718. theatrum chym. vol. 6. p. 305. arcae arcan . p. 318. m●tallograph . p. 50. helmont in mogn . oport . p. 127. helmont , in element . p. 43. metal . p. 44. scept . chym. p. 360. paracelsus , in lib. de ren. & restor . p. 43 , 44 , 45 & chyrurg . mag. p. 117 143 , ●44 . de renov . p. 45. rer. natur. lib. 8. p. 104. scept . chym p. 218. notes for div a60020-e6660 scept . chymist . p. complex . & mist. fig. p. 88. ss . 30. 100 nat. bath . cap. 11. p. 51 , & 52. in sarept . conc. 3. p. ii , &c. alchym . mag. de metallis . p. 17 , & 19 lex . alchym . p. 56. peter martyr . d●cad . 3. c●p. 8. p. 139. 〈◊〉 , p. 48. 〈◊〉 de sale. cap. 7. p. 33 , 34 , & 35. nov. l●m. ●hym . tract 4. p. 314. helm●n , in mag. oport . p. 127. ●s . 39. helment , imag. ferment . p. 94. ss . 29 , 30 , 31. notes for div a60020-e8270 dr. willis de se●m . cap 20. p. 10. pl●to . hipp● , & an●x●g . notes for div a60020-e10180 court of the genti●s . part 〈◊〉 . p. 55 tully de natur. deorum . lib. 1. cap. 2d . lud. vi●●s in com super epistle to the heb. cap. 11. verse 3. plato timaeus . fol. 49. boyl in his essay of ferm . p. 281. essay of ferm . p. 275. a reply unto the letter written to mr. henry stubbe in defense of the history of the royal society whereunto is added a preface against ecebolius glanville, and an answer to the letter of dr. henry more, containing a reply to the untruthes he hath publish'd, and a censure of the cabbalo-pythagorical philosophy, by him promoted. stubbe, henry, 1632-1676. 1671 approx. 216 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 41 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a61893) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 58715) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1515:14) a reply unto the letter written to mr. henry stubbe in defense of the history of the royal society whereunto is added a preface against ecebolius glanville, and an answer to the letter of dr. henry more, containing a reply to the untruthes he hath publish'd, and a censure of the cabbalo-pythagorical philosophy, by him promoted. stubbe, henry, 1632-1676. sprat, thomas, 1635-1713. history of the royal society of london. 32, [2], 34-79, [1] p. printed for richard davis, oxford : 1671. "a reply to a letter of dr. henry more (printed in mr. ecebolius glanvil's pæfactory answer to hen. stubbe) with a censure upon the pythagorico-cabbalistical philosophy promoted by him" has special t.p. "part of the controversay concerning dr. thomas spiat's the history of the royal society"--nuc pre-1956 imprints. imperfect: pages stained with loss of print. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng glanvill, joseph, 1636-1680. more, henry, 1614-1687. science -early works to 1800. 2002-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2002-06 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a reply unto the letter written to m r. henry stubbe in defense of the history of the royal society . whereunto is added a preface against ecebolius glanvill ; and an answer to the letter of d r henry more , containing a reply to the untruthes he hath publish'd , and a censure of the cabbalo-pythagorical philosophy , by him promoted . — spissis indigna theatris scripta pudet recitare , & nugis addere pondus . oxford , printed for richard davis . 1671. the letter to m r. henry stubs concerning his censure upon certain passages contained in the history of the royal society . sir , when i was ( lately ) at warwick , i purposed to have waited upon you , but i was told by a person of quality and of your acquaintance that you were gone to oxford , with a great carriage of books , to write against the royal society , and the reason of this enterprize was given to your disswading friends , that the society did design to bring in poperty . the accusation ( 1 confe§ ) seemed to me very strange , but what was more wonderful , is such mighty zeal for any one religion and against that . this calleth to my mind a discourse which you made one day at white-hall to a christ-church man and my self immediately after your return from jamaica , where you told us of a provincial of the dominicans , who being a prisoner there , had perswaded you to go and live with him in the spanish plantations , as being a place , in wich you might very gainfully practice physick ; and nothing , as you said , hindred your complyance with his overtures , but only this , that you could not have carried away hereafter the effects of your estate , but must have left it , if you had left the country . in all which account of the transactions betwixt that provincial ( who was of the inquisition ) and your self , you skewed so much gentle calmne§ of mind in the affair of changing religion , that i was almost ready to have pronounced , that some one had stoln your name and put it to the censure ; till i was better informed that your quarrel to this assembly is so unappeasable , that you would fall out with any religion , which they favoured , and that if they had of each kind amongst them , you would entertain no sort at all . i must profe§ i always esteemed you ( by your printed papers ) a man of excellent contradicting parts , and i thought you would in this book have done as good service to aristotle , as a grave dignitary of canterbury hath lately rendred to him , when he very industriously maintains that the philosopher in his ethicks did teach , what is the summum bonum , as well as david could , when he set himself on purpose to treat of the same argument in the first psal. or that you would have repeated some of the least natural experiments , laught at them , and then with very good conduct of stile made all the rest appear ridiculous . but you 'l say that may be done hereafter , but a present religion , religion is in danger , and therefore you must succour your dear mother the church of england . it is done like a good child : and further i must commend you as a generous enemy in your censure of the historian . he is a clergy-man , and herein you challenge him at his own weapon : and if you vanquish him in this encounter , you may expect to make both your reputation and his lo§ very considerable , being that in england a church-man suffers more for being popishly affected , then for being a favourer of the new philosophy . but i 'le tell you what falls out very unluckily . this history was not licensed ( as could have been wisht ) by the president of the royal society : for then a man might have charged every impious and pernicious paragraph upon that large body of men , but so it is that it comes abroad into the world with an imprimatur from secretary morrice , of whom we cannot perswade the people to believe otherwise , but that he stands two or three removes off from popery . but now at last give me leave as a by-stander to lock over your game , and privately to advize you where the other side may espy any advantage . as the first instance of a passage in the history destructive to the religion and church of england , viz. while the bishops of rome did assume an infallibility , and a sovereign dominion over our faith , the reformed churches did not only justly refuse to grant them that , but some of them thought themselves obliged to forbear all communion , and would not give them that respect , which possibly might belong to so antient , and so famous a church , and which might still have been allowed it without any danger of superstition . if any one should undertake a defence against your censure , it is probable that he would say somewhat to this purpose , that by communion there mentioned the author did not mean , that the reformed churches should joyn with them in all or the most important acts of worship , being that hereby they must at all adventures yeild to the points of the controversie , wich the roman infallibility would thrust upon them , for he tells us that our churches did justly refuse to grant them that , but he explains what he intends by communion , when he doth immediately add that they refused to give them that respect , &c. now who can say that communion if taken for divine worship can be the same with respect that it stewed to a society of men ; and whereas you seem to argue from the notion of the word communion , as if it were the same with the lords supper , it may by replyed , that the one sence , wherein it may be understood throughout the whole scripture is , a friendly and charitable action , and from this we cannot except that verse , which you alledge , and in this sence it is not impious to say that we should not forbear all communion , or deny to give that respect which possibly might belong to so ancient , and so famous a church . nor can i see that these titles bestowed on rome are so faulty , since there are methods of speech in our language suitable hereunto , whereby we call that antient and famous , not which is so at present , but what was such a long time ago , and continued the same for a great while . but i will grant that this is not the necessary , but only the possible meaning of this historian ; yet at least if the contrary intimation be so hainous , good nature should oblige to understand the phrase in the most favourable manner : but supposing he thought that rome even at the reformation of others , ( though it self was not amended ) might neverthele§ be called a church , he said no more then what the most learned amongst the german divines , though warm with disputes , did readily acknowledge . it was usual with them to say that the church of rome was truly a church , notwithstanding that it abounded in many and dangerous errours , seeing that they retained the main doctrines of christian religion , and they indeavoured to clear their assertion by comparing it to a diseased body , which yet is as truly a humane body , as it is a diseased one . and if it may be termed a church , it is without doubt very antient and famous too , for what it hath been of old as to the piety and learning of many inhabitants of that city ; and still is famous for that precedency , which any herauld would assign to it in a free assembly of western bishops . so that from what hath been discoursed in this matter may be inferred , that though the authour meant not , that we must communicate with them in the distinguisting offices of adoration , yet ( for any thing i perceive ) he needs not to account them of that church to be unto us as heathens , or of such a number of men with whom we may not so much as eat , but that we may maintain a communion of friendship with the professed of that religion , whose morals may afford an example , or whose learning might advance our knowledge . and the reformed must still keep the hearty charity for the romanist , that after succe§le§ debates , though managed with reason and temper , he should still indeavour to improve him in all the uncontroverted instances of goodne§ and vertue ; such an exercise of friendship and charity as this is a noble and religious communion , it is an exhorting one another in our most holy faith , it is an exact obedience to ihat command ; that as far as we have already attained we should walk by the same rule . as to the next exception which you have against the same passage , viz. his mistake in making the papal infallibility to be the grand occasion of the differences betwixt the reformed religion and papist , i must tell you that he may well enough defend himself , though indeed you pre§ closer in this then in the former objection against all communion with rome . you say that only parasitical canonists did ascribe to the pope such a sovereign dominion over our faith : i suppose you mean at the reformation , though you cite many authours much later , and if so i shall only referr you to the report , which cassander gives of those days , in his judgement which he passes on the controversies , viz. that then they made the pope but little le§ then god , that they set his authority not only above the church , but above the scriptures to , and made his sentences equal to divine oracles , and to be an infallible rule of faith , and ( as he further proceeds ) though there was another sort of people in the church , yet they were such as were obscure and concealed . again though it were granted that infallibility lay in a councel , yet the pope had the executive power of those decrees and canons , which passed by so high an authority , and hereupon might be troublesome with an infallibility derived from others , and impose little things as absolutely necessary in their own nature : and this practice of the bishops of rome ( amongst others ) caused those of germany to stand off from the roman church . but for a fuller proof against the authour of the history , you alledge , that erronious doctrine about indulgences was the primary occasion of introducing protestancy . what you say is so far true , the first occasion of luthers publick invectives against the court of rome , but for a good while after he maintained communion as a member of that church . this is manifest to any one , that is but in a small measure acquainted with the histories of those times ; but at last when he saw there was no hopes of reformation in this and other instances of gross abuse , he utterly leaves them as past all likelyhood of recovery . so that i have now prepared the cause depending betwixt you and him , and made it ready for a tryal , and it may be determined by finding out the true account of the grand hinderance of a reformation at rome . your adversary might give a very fair proof , that it was mainly a reputed infallibility . this is evident in the impartial history of the councel of trent , where we read of a consultation held by pope advian vi. with some cardinals for an amendment of what was amiss , more particularly about the matter of indulgences , after that much had been said by himself and another against the mistakes and ill practices in that affair , and after that he had declared his resolution for the regulating thereof , he was soon turned from his former purpose by cardinal soderinus an old politician , and one who well understood the frame of that church . this man informs the pope that any reformation was dangerous for rome , because that this would implicitely yeild that somewhat was amiss , and that possibly they might erre in more , whereas the successes of rome , against such opposers were obtained by vouching for what ever was blamed and by proceeding against them as hereticks . this made adrian to bewail the unhappy condition of popes , who might not reform at home , if they would . and now at last you seem to make infallibility so small a thing even in their own esteem , that as you cite the words of a late writer amongst them , their infallibility is limited to tradition , and is spiritually assisted in the faithful reporting of what hath been delivered . it is easie to see thorough this harmless pretence of your judicious authour . for to be the sole and undoubted witness in their own cause on which sentence must follow in course is equally advantagious , as if they were taken for infallible judges . thus the jews who did so highly advance the credit of their rabbinical traditions as thereby to make void the law of god , doe not ( as we see in abravanel ) own any more then only that they expound and stew the articles of faith ; yet that jew , who shall despise or jeer at the teachers of those traditions , shall not ( according to their fundamentalls ) have a part in the life to come . and at the same rate may the former sort of men denounce anathema's if you believe not their report , though in matters , which are not only , not certain , but withall are unreasonable , ridiculous and impossible . another passage in the history is brought in by you , and deaply charg'd to be contrary to the analogy of faith and scripture ( to wit ) he ( the natural and experimental philosopher ) will be led to admire the wonderful contrivance of the creation , and so to apply and direct his praises aright , which , no doubt , when they are offer'd up to heaven from the mouth of one that hath well studied what he commends will be more suitable to the divine nature , than the blind applauses of the ignorant . this ( you say ) makes the acceptableness of all mens prayers to depend more or less on the study of natural phylosophy . but the authors words may by asserted by the whole contexture of that section , that he therein answers an objection , and clearly shews that the study of experimental phylosophy is not injurious to the worship of god ; he supposeth the person already a christian ; and then he praises god more beartily for some examples of power and wisdom , which he by inquiry hath found out , but others have not ; for when a man praiseth god with understanding for what he discovers particularly in the wonderful works of gods own hand , his praises must needs be more suitable on the same subject , then are those general thanksgivings , wherein a man that hath not meditated on the works of creation , blesses god still for them , but cannot say how far these exceed the utmost productions of art , or the improved power of natural causes . thus the commendation of any workmanship , if given by a great master in that art , is more satisfactory to the artificer , then the admiring noise of the multitude , who probably may misplace their greatest wonder upon that wich is the least thing in it . and now ( pray ) what harm in all this , and yet the authour ( as far as i can see ) speaks no worser , but much very well , in the following clauses , against atheism . but if i may ask you to what end do you change his words praises into prayers ? was it , that you might prove ( as you do ) that christ is our mediator ? he never did deny it . but , methinks , this would be a pritty medium to prove the not-suitableness of experimental philosophy to a christian. you then proceed to make an apology for ignorance , because that of those who were first called , there were not many wise after the flesh . to which may by replyed , that this will avail little , if it be considered , that by the phrase , wise after the slesh , is meant subtle and designing persons , who by their politick managery of a cause though not good , might propagate and spread it for self ends , so that it should find a general entertainment in the world . there was no such thing as this in the first advancement of christian religion . but that the ignorance of the professors hereof was not acceptable to the authour of our faith , is manifest ; for that he endowed his scholars with the gift of tongues and such utterance , which their enemies were not able to resist . you add immediately after the text , that it was intended of the virtuosi , why so ? is it , because they are wise ? i am confident you will not say that this is the reason . they have taken that course , that will scarce ever make them appear wise to the half-witted world , they are too timerous in what they affirm , they lay by much of that wordy philosophy , which furnishes men with expressions hard to be understood and therefore is admirable , it makes a brave found to the ear , nay more then all this , it supplies one with such useful distinctions that he may affirm plausibly whatsoever he will , but instead hereof they practice a plain trades-man like profession in philosophy , instead of axiomes and good old sayings concerning nature and matter and substantial forms , which have salved a thousand difficulties , nothing will serve them for proof in physicks , but experiments and some what that is obvious to the sences ; they must have new fashion'd telescopes wherewith to gaze upon the heavens , and glasses invented to espy atomes , and furnaces for dissolution of bodies , and for other unheard of curiosities , and yet though they do dissolve the compositum into its constituting parts they would never yet reveal to the aristotelian what kind of a thing their substantial form is , which ( they are well assured ) is one principle in that body . whereas ( sir ) you have a nearer way to learning then that wherein they go on . you became an excellent . astronomer by reading a systeme of the ptolomaean hypothesis , and have no reason to suspect or search further as long as you believe nothing about the doctrine of the sphere , out what you have learn'd from those institutions , you need not to pore with a microscope upon those minute figurings of bodies , thereby to guess how they produce such & such effects . you can answer any ordinary question in nature , by the 4. first qualities & their seconds ; by the conjugation & symbolicalness of the qualities , by natures abhorrency of a vacuum , by the keen appetite , which the first matter ( of which we know very much negatively ) bears towards a form. nay further , if any man should demand a resolution of the greatest problems , as of the loadstone or the like , you are not constrained to make such a pittifull reply , as many others must do , you can readily inform them , that it is either done by familiarity of substances , which causes similar attraction , or by a sympathy , and that the loadstone and the iron do earn till they arrive at their mutual embraces ; but if any one be so much a novelist , as to urge , that such affections as these cannot be found , except there be in these bodies at least a sensitive life , you can bid them then take this answer for your last , i say it is performed by an occult quality . there is yet another piece of learning that is chymistry , in which with a little adoe you can equal their attainments had through a process and tedious course . for the whole of what they pretend in this drudging art , is no more then the solution and coagulation of bodies : by the first of these they with a great deal of cost indeavour to separate their three elements , but you ( sir ) more cheaply can shew your four elements parting asunder at the dissolution of the mixt body . it is but laying of a green stick upon the other fuell already inflamed , immediately the element of air comes away in smoak , that of fire in the warm blaze , the elementary water is that hissing juice at the end of the stick , and the element of the earth is the remaining askes , which if it be in the grate will by its own inward propensity ( if it can ) slide away down to the hearth , because the hearth is nearer to the center of the earth then the grate is ; for it is well known that every weighty body hath a great affection to that center . so that i think now you have outdone them at this trick , and you will not be behind them at the other , to wit , coagulation . they are pleased to say that they coagulate a body when they bring it from a liquid or humid to a solid substance . this fine feat you so well understand and it is so much beneath you that you leave it to the apothecaries boy , when you prescribe troches for colds , besides rose-water and sugar , &c. to make this solid , you appoint white starch q. s. and then refer it to the discretion of the lad to be made s. a. and here is so good a coagulation that you never desire to learn any other kind of it as long as you live , except it be the secret of making the hard sea-bisket . no more at present of the comparison betwixt your philosophy and theirs . as i read on further in your censure i saw you were angry with this authour , whom you have chosen for an adversary , because he saith that religion ought not to be the subject of disputation ; in the sense wherein he speaks it , he is not singular , nor left almost alone , he discourseth of those divines , who have mixed and kneaded into one lump the doctrines of christian religion , and the notions of the peripatetick philosophy , and hereby have twined into a dispute much of that which primitively was matter of practical holine§ : yet on the other side there is a sort of men , who would le§ regard religion , if it were not the subject of disputation , like hunts-men who are better pleased in following then in catching the hare ; you further tax him with introducing hereby a popish implicite faith , whereas a little observation will discover , that this sort of faith hath grown , and a better hath decayed upon the general respect , which the philosophy now blamed by him hath found amongst those , whom we call divines of the schools . , more usually and properly then doctors of the church . a man doth then implicitely believe , when he doth not cleerly and distinctly apprehend . so that he that speaks not so , as to be plainly understood , causes either that nothing which he saith should be believed , or else that it should be received as true in the popish fashion , that is he bestows his vote and assent to be disposed on by another at pleasure . so that hence you may judge who it is , who draws on a novice in religion the nearest towards wrapping his belief up within the faith of another , whether he who contends for so much plainne§ , that the things propounded need not to be the-subject of disputation , or rather he who seems profound and wise in his sentences , yet doth so darken his wisedom with words , that the person to be instructed hath by this means no other way left but to believe that which he cannot understand . you produce some sacred testimonies to evince a necessity of divine illumination , yet do not apply them to the present discourse of the authour , which is concerning school divinity ; but had you meant it of this , i must have said with you that the obscurity of those writings would have made such a revelation necessary , had not the smalne§ of their worth rendred them almost usele§ . it seems to me but reasonable , that as all the books of christian religion hope for acceptance , because they profe§ to be agreeable to the truths of scripture ; so further if they design publick benefit , they should imitate the perspicuity and openne§ of the evangelick style . there is one argument against the authour not inconsiderable , to which you have some reference , ( that is ) the study of such controversies , distinctions , and terms are of great use when we have to deal with a papist disputant . it s very true , yet it proves not any excellency in that knowledge of it self , but meerly in relation to the adversary ; though we have fresh instances of worthy persons amongst us , who have with good advantage managed the debate in behalf of our church against that of rome , without much help from those schools : yet that sort of learning , even for this reason , may still be maintained , in the same manner as tradesmen who lie on the english borders towards wales , usually keep a servant to jabber welsh ( though no learned language ) to the brittains their customers . the next words of the history r. s. which receive a check are these , the grounds whereon the church of england proceeds , are different from those of the separatists , and also of the church of rome : and they are no other but the rights of the civil power , the imitation of the first uncorrupt churches , and the scriptures expounded by reason . though i cannot find any such passage in the page to which you send the reader , yet i will take it upon trust , seeing that you have not till now misrecited any thing out of his book , that which offends you is , that he would have the scripture expounded by reason . this appears to you like socinianisme , but i remember the calvinists direct to as much as this implies . they say that we must expound particular passages in scripture by the main tendency of the whole discourse , that we must consider the phrase , whether literal or figurative , that we must observe all the circumstances of person , time , place , and what else is of any moment , and now ( pray ) say whether these directions can be practised but by reason , and if not , whether be who expounds scripture by these rules , may not be truly said to expound it by reason : he doth not say that a man should not acknowledge scripture , if it teach any thing more then those sentiments which reason had entertained before it was acquainted with divine writings . you would have them to expound the scriptures by the authority of the ancient fathers , when they see why they should do it , they at the same time expound by reason , if without cause given , they take up the fathers sence in that implicite faith against which you did lately declaim . the last objection which you offer against this history , is about what he saith of wit , that it may be borrowed from the bible , that this wit is ( as he represents it ) magnificent , appears to the diligent and judicious reader : and that it may without offence be borrowed is as manifest to him , who gives himself the pleasure to peruse the greek and latine divine poems both antient and modern , which fetch their or naments as well as materials from the bible . but you 'l say however scripture-expressions ought not to be applyed ( as our authour would ) to natural things . i see no reason which binders , especially when natural things become the occasion of divine praises , and furthermore , where as many scripture expressions were by way of accomodation transferred higher from things natural , they lose not their original suitablene§ , and when they are brought back and lower in our discourses , it may rather be said of them , that they are repaid then that they are borrowed ; nor doth the meanest of the matter to which any saying is fitted out of scripture , straightway make it unlawfull to be lent for a while ; as for example the primitive ignatius in one of his genuine epistles , which was written ( if i mistake not ) to the tralliani applies otherwise these words of our saviour to his disciples concerning those extraordinary assistances which they needed to receive from him : without me ye can do nothing . and affirms that as our saviour spake these words to his disciples , so a bishop may say to his presbyters , without me ye can do nothing . yet i must profe§ that i am very sensible of the indignities and scorns which the sacred word of god suffers from a sort of persons , whose quality is better then their converse , they are such who are scarce ever guilty of wit or raillery , but when they are ingeniously prophane or blaspemous . the intemperance of these should lay a resiraint upen the sober & discreet least by an innocent use of a little liberty , they should unawares give any countenance to other mens extravagancies . you tell us upon this argument , how severe the jews are in this case . the most that wee meet with neer this purpose concerning them discovers not so much a holy reverence , as a stupid folly . they pronounce ( as in a former instance so on this ) that no few shall have a part in the world to come , who shall spit out , when he names god , or shall speak the tetragrammaton in a forreigne tongue out of the sanctuary . there is one thing at the end of your censure which is very unkind , and contrary to the law of common humanity ; i speak of your sharp reflexion on an excellent person deceased mr. cowley , these younger fancies ought not after death to becomes his reproach , especially since he left a charge , that what was offensive in his poems might be omitted : though it was judged by others , that he had written nothing , but what ( with his own sober correction of himself , and an equitable allowance of charity ) might well pa§ abroad in publique . you know that those who weeded out the worst of beza's youthful verses , and presented them in one bundle to the world , purchasd more shame to themselves then to the poet. it is now time that i should put an end to this tedious letter , and i must request that you would excuse my plain dealing ; do not suspect that ( upon some account of friendship or acquaintance ) i am too inclinable to vindicate the authour of this history . i dare assure you i know him not otherwise then by face , and printed books , one of which is against sorbiere , whom ( though a piece of a virtuoso ) he handles very smartly , examining the condition of his life and actions . what apprehensions then might you have , least if he should happen to have nothing else to doe , be should write the history of your life , and herein ( as is usuall ) describe your person , and enquire into physiognomy , what temper of mind you must profess , and give a catalogue of books written by you , and shew in how many press-warrs you have served as a volunteer : but now that i have done , i have time to think , what a deal of needless labour i have bestowed to write , more then what you will have patience to read . i therefore take leave , and am , your , &c. finis . a defence of the censure of the history of the royal society , against the reply of the virtuosi . after so many moneths respite , so much deliberation , in a case nearly relating to the welfare of the religion and good learning of this monarchy , and even of the government it self , i expected at least from the virtuosi something of wit and solidity in their reply : i knew the justice of my side too well , and the grounds i proceeded upon , to fear it might be worsted ; but i thought it no unreasonable matter to promise my self florid language , and a plausible , though not satisfactory , apology . but though an entire cabala of the r. s. did consult upon this responsory letter , though a learned person of that society did peruse it , yet can i find nothing in it that should have deserved my serious animadversions , except the quality of those persons who revised and allowed it : and 't is my respect to their dignity , that i put once more pen to paper about this subject . 't is out of a regard to their quality , not performances ; and i more suspected they would interpret my silence as a contempt , then my answer as arrogant . it had been more prudential for them not to have entermedled a second time in this contest , but to have enjoyed the benefit of that distinction which i made betwixt the honorary members of the r. s. and the comediants , then to mix with so insipid a generation , whose thoughts are not to be elevated by indignation , and whom learning it self , should it change parties , could not rescue , or protect . i must renew those protestations which their ignorance hath made me so frequently to use , and avow , that 't is a troublesome affair to deal with men that understand so little ; they know neither how to state a case , nor how to oppose , or answer pertinently : i am affronted with naked assertions of men that deserve no credit : my conclusions are denyed , and the premises not invalidated : and to convince the world how little i injure them herein , i reprint the first censure upon their history , their defense , and my present rejoynder . the anonymous author of the letter begins with an admiration , that i should have so mighty a zeal for any one religion ; and why against popery ? but that i know weak persons are surprised at small occurrents , and that their astonishment doth not proportion it self to the greatness of the cause , but the deficiencies of their intellectuals : i profess it would trouble me , that having lived a life hitherto ( as the age goes ) not very culpable , and having always professed my self of the reformed religion , and having united my self to the church of england upon its restauration ( preserving always before that a non-communion with the several schismaticks and sects of this nation ) that it should still be wondered at , why i should be concern'd for any religion , or engage in opposition to popery ? but this surmise argues onely the vanity and folly of the objectors ; for were it in general indifferent unto me what religion were national amongst us ; yet considering our circumstances , and that dismal revolution which impends over my native country , upon the restitution of that religion , a man who is concern'd for his own repose and tranquility , and desires not to be involved in the calamities of a change , can not want prudential motives to induce him to oppose such an alteration : any man that hath but reflected seriously upon the consequences which have attended the change of religion , especially into popery , any man who is not unacquainted with our english histories , or ignorant of the politick cautions which wise states-men have left unto us upon record , will justifie my demeanour , without further inspecting into my conscience . but to allow these men of no reading or consideration , to allow them as ignorant of these things , as of the sweating sickness : why should they wonder at my being concern'd against popery , since i had united my self to the church of england ? is there any thing more repugnant to our liturgy , articles of religion , and homilies of our church ? was there ever any action of my life could give them ground for this conjecture , that i would openly adhere to any thing , and avow my doing so , and yet desert it rashly ? i do not use to deliberate after resolutions taken , whatever i do before : it had better become those of the r. s. who are under many obligations to confront the romish religion , to have acted my part in this contest , then to malign , discourage , and disparage me , for a work which the apostle would have congratulated me for , though i had attempted it meerly out of envy , strife , or pretence . beyond this reply i know not what to answer unto this passage , because i have to do with adversaries with whom protestations , appeals to god and conscience , are ridiculous , and more insignificant then a sobriety of life , taken up neither out of affectation , nor design of gain , or honor . the next period relates an history of what passed betwixt me and a dominican provincial , and inquisitor , about my removal from jamaica to mexico and peru. i shall not deny the general truth of the narration ; but since the alteration of a word or two may vary much the odium or truth of a story , i must remind this adversary that the person i design'd to accompany ( but was hindred with sickness ) was a carmelite , not a dominican : and that he never so much as proposed to me the change of my religion ; the strictness of the spaniards there not being such as in europe : and i did , upon particular inquiry from some that had been there , receive assurances , that physicians , chirurgions , and gunners , were so necessary there , and so welcome , that a prudent person of those qualifications , needed not to apprehend the danger of any inquisitor : indeed the power of that sort of men is not the same within the patrimony of the king of spain ( so those territories are called ) and in the patrimony of s. peter . had i , as the virtuosi , and others do , propos'd a voyage to spain , or italy , doth it infer a design of changing my religion ? yet in all this story , as it is represented by themselves , there is no more said by me , then would have been convincing in those other cases , were the argument good . oh! that a cabinet of the virtuosi should reason thus pittifully ! surely ignorance is infectious ; and 't is possible for men to grow fools by contact . that which follows hereupon is so ridiculous , that were my dreams but so incoherent and impertinent , i would apprehend some eminent distraction , and cause my self to be let blood : and i advise my adversaries speedily to transfer themselves from arundel house to bedlam , or convert the appartments which they enjoy now into convenient receptacles for such franticks . should i grant the truth of the story , with all the advantages they could wish to have been added thereunto , doth it follow , that because i might intend to change my religion at mexico , that therefore i would alter it in england , considering the posture of our nation ? not at all , but with such as the virtuosi , those prudent persons , that understand men and reasons of state so well . nor are they more imprudent in that suggestion , that my quarrel to the r. s. was so unappeasable , that i would fall out with any religion which they favored ; and that if they had of each kinde amongst them , i would entertain no sort at all : i say this suggestion becomes not intelligent persons ; for how great soever my quarrel were against them , 't is to be supposed i would prosecute it by befitting means , and such as were subservient to my ends ; but to fall out with any religion they should favor , if it were not untrue , destructive to the monarchy , laws , and nation , were to defeat and overthrow my intentions : and consequently such a procedure was not to be fixed on me , except they had first proved that i was a member of the r. s. i adde , that if my animosity against them had transported me so far as they represent , if i were resolute to oppose whatsoever religion any of theirs held , i must consequently renounce atheism , and all irreligion ; those being , as 't is to be fear'd , the important qualifications of some of the comediants : and assert protestancy , that being the religion from which many of them are averse ; and for which , as it is established in the church of england , others are not over-zealously concern'd . that which ensues hereupon , is very dull and flat : the course how to attacque and overthrow these ignorants , was not to be prescribed unto me by them : and methinks 't is great impudence in them , after that i have published these other pieces , besides the censure , to upbraid me as if they were not extant ; and whatever relates to their experiments , their vanity , and falshood , and plagiarisme , were still un-printed . it was not my design to give precedence to the censure : but they having procured a stop upon the promulgation of the other books , i inverted the method , making them odious first , and then ridiculous . but if i had done it voluntarily , am i to be blamed for preferring the advancement or continuance of protestancy , before that of natural philosophy , though the last were better improved then these comical wits can ever attempt ? i think that reverend divine of canterbury merits our good esteem for his generous respects to deceased aristotle : however his age and different studies incapacitated him to carry on the quarrel so far , as to over-throw totally these innovators : yet since it was not my intent to defend the truth , but the utility of the aristotelian physiology ; i shall not suffer my self to be engaged beyond my first thoughts , or permit that the original and primary controversies sink into oblivion by any excursions and digressive contests . my adversaries confess , that a church-man in england suffers more for being popishly affected , then for being a favourer of the new philosophy . — it is my judgement therefore , that they ought to be very sollicitous how they incur any such scandal , and endeavour timely to remove it . i am not conscious to my self at all , of having mis-represented the words of the historian , or having imposed on him other sense then the words will , or do bear : i now come to consider , what the history is unto the virtuosi ? and how far i may conceive them interested in its tenets . my adversaries say , that the history was not licensed by the president of the royal society , for then a man might have charged every impious and pernicious paragraph upon that large body of men : but so it is , that it comes abroad into the world with an imprimatur from secretary morrice , of whom we cannot perswade the people to believe otherwise , but that he stands two or three removes off from popery . — if that the r. s. had made an authentick declaration of this point , it had been material : but the profession of a nameless pamphlet concludes not the body . when olaus borrichius was at london , and familiarly conversed with the generality of the virtuosi , even the most eminent of the number , the intelligence which that inquisitive person gives to bartholinus , is thus expressed . sociorum nemo posthac quicquam in lucem emittet , nisi prius communi suffragio approbatum , ne aliorum praesertim vitilitigatorum ungues reformidet . this letter bears date , 1663. aug. 10. londini . and contains that account of the r. s. which he was , from their own mouthes , to communicate unto foreigners : and in confidence of this promise of theirs ( which is divulged every where in germany ) certain foreigners of great learning have expostulated with me for avowing ( and proving ) them to be so negligent . but since my adversaries will here allow no other book to be entitled unto the r. s. but what is licensed by their president , i will digress a little to shew their failure , even where the authentick brouncker , p.r.s. is prefixed : and that is in mr. evelyns book of forrest trees . i think i may with confidence aver , from his own cidermaker , that the account of sir p. n's . cider is not perfect , & right : i am sure , that sundry persons of quality have spoiled much cider within this three years , in following the directions of that book , which was read to the r. s. and published by their special command : but whether it be exact now , i have not had leisure to enquire . there are also a multitude of errors and impertinencies in that book , which i have not time to pursue , being continually interrupted by the attendance upon my present practice : yet to shew how much they have fail'd in their undertaking , i will instance in the sap of the birch-tree , as a liquor i have had the opportunity to consider , and frequently use these fourteen years : having tapped seventy , and eighty , at one time . though none be more communicative naturally them my self , yet the r. s. having not merited any civilities from the hands of a physician , or a protestant , i hope i shall be excused from not divulging more then is pertinent to the matter . mr. evelyn saith , he is credibly informed , that out of the aperture there will in twelve or fourteen days distill so much of the sap , as will preponderate and out-weigh the whole tree it self , body , and roots . — i never saw any ground for an opinion approaching near to this ; except you make the exposition to be this , that if the collection of all that runs in many years be computed together , it may amount to so much ; which , i believe , may be true : but this seems not the genuine import of his words : and in no other sense are they to be verified . i have in large trees inserted two taps , yet did they not run twenty gallons . his account is very defective : the time he proposes to draw it , is about the beginning of march : but i avow , that who stays so long may sometimes lose his opportunity . i have known , in an early spring , when the beginning of february hath been warm , the tree to run on the tenth of that moneth , and usually about the twenty fourth day 't is time to look after it : but in the great frost , when i came first to the lord mordant's at parsons-green , i could not get them to run till the thaw and warm weather prevail'd , which was in the end of march , or beginning of april : then the sap ascended speedily , ran thicker , and in greater quantities ; but lasted i think but ten days . the truth is , the ascent of the sap , and its running , depends much ( when it runs ) upon the weather ; it abates , intermits , and multiplies , as that varies : of which , these observators speak not a word . there is also ( which is contrary to mr. evelyn ) a great difference in the taste , and colour , and consistence of the sap of several trees ; some differs not from common water , and ( whatever he say ) hath neither smell nor taste of the tree : some is a little vinous ; some more milky , and resembling aqua lactis . his friend from whom he promiseth much , says , he never met with the sap of any tree , but what is very clear and sweet . as to other trees , i cannot tell ; but as to this , 't is certain he little understands the birch tree : for some at first have run lacteous ; all that ever i saw , towards the latter end , run thick , have a fracid or sowre smell and taste ; and at last in a geltinous body , stop the tap : for the truth hereof , i appeal to that ingenious observing person , mr. willoughby , who seconded my observations with his own , in the presence of the lord bishop of chester , at astrop-wells . i adde , that this water or sap , contains in it such a saccharine essence , that if one evaporate it , or consider the faeces upon distillation , they will appear in consistence , and taste as a most perfect syrup : and if you adde yeast to a quantity thereof , and set it to work , it will cast off a great deal off black barm , and come to an alish drink ( and sometimes resemble a little the mum of brunswick ) to be kept as other ale in bottles ; but 't is no longer saccharine , or like metheglin , which i purposed to produce by this experiment . this saccharine quality degenerating into an acidity , is that which renders the keeping of it so difficult , if not impossible : to set it in the sun , whatever mr. evelyns friend say , is the way to hasten its degenerateness ; for i have an hundred times set it in the sun in bottles close stopped , and it turns sowre , and smells fracid suddenly : and on the top there gathers a concretion of the birchy particles , white , with which the liquor was impregnated , which i have known turn ligneous . i shall not give any account of what i have brought it to by long insolation , nor what way may be propos'd to stop its degeneration into acidity in order to its brewing ( which is no difficulty ; ) nor by what ways it may be brought to a wine ( without heterogenous mixtures ) by a peculiar sermentation of its own in certain vessels : 't is enough to have shewed , that the prefixing of great names cannot secure us , when a virtuoso writes . i now entreat my readers pardon for this digression , which is very material to the main controversie , though not so much to the paragraph instanced in : and i proceed to examine the credit of this history . in the year 1664. in september , theodorus jacobi a silesian , writes to his friends in germany from london , where he had a great familiarity with theodor. haak , mr. oldenburgh , and many others of the r.s. he having told his friends much of this most glorious institution , addes , interim lucem brevi videbit tractatus anglice conscriptus , in quo rationem instituti sui orbi literario reddere decreverunt . if any have a mind to entertain himself with the fabulous representations by which they insinuated themselves into the esteem of foreigners , let him read the passages in sachsius , till any one can oblige the world with the original letter of theodorus facobi , that abused silesian . this tractate which they promised to him in english , was no other then this history ; of which such expectation was raised , and such miracles spoken , before it came out , as all england knows . but to convince the world further about this history , take the authors own words . they thought it necessary to appoint a two secretaries , who are to reply to all addresses from abroad , and at home , and to publish whatever shall be agreed upon by the society . these are at present dr. wilkins , and mr. oldenbourgh , from whom i have not usurp'd this first employment of that kinde ; for it is only my hand that goes , the substance and direction came from one of them . how much one of those two were interessed in the compiling of this history , doth appear hence , and from that character with which he recommended it to the world ; of which none but the deaf and insensible can be ignorant . that the r. s. did not publickly and personally read it , i am apt to grant : the comediants had not patience to read it , or any book of that bulk ; but , as in other cases , gave their assent and applauds upon trust . but that the r. s. did own it , any man knows that was in london at its publication : not to mention the character which mr. glanvill and the transactor fix on it . moreover , when the first brute of my designing to write against the r. s. did reach london , sir r. m. writ to the lady e. p. to inform them of my intentions ; adding , that there was nothing in which the r. s. as a body , could be concern'd , excepting this history : and if i would civilly represent unto them any defaults therein , they would take it kindly , and amend them . hereupon i writ unto him , as a person whom i greatly honor , and who hath in all his undertakings and employments ( which have been neither mean nor facile ) expressed a wit , prudence , and conduct that is uncommon : to which , if i adde those other imbellishments , which his mathematical and other natural studies , have qualifyed him with , this age can hardly equal him : to him i writ , complaining of the indignities put upon my faculty by mr. glanvill , and their history , represented the pernicious tendency of those books , in reference to the monarchy , religion , and learning of this kingdom : and demanded that the r. s. should disclaim both of them by some authentick declaration , or i would not desist , whatsoever might befall me : but no repeated desires or sollicitations of mine could prevail with them to disclaim the history : the other they were less concerned for , saying , he was a private person , and that the sense of the r. s. was not to be collected from the writings of every single member . thus could i not extort from their grandeur any just declaration whereby to satisfie either the kingdom in general , or to oblige the physicians in particular . after that they had denyed me the returns of common equity , i proceeded in that manner which i need not relate : the concerns they all along express'd , were more then a little tenderness for a fellow of the r. s. the menaces they made , and which were noised thorow court and city , shewed that i had greater opponents then the author of the history . what meant the resolution , ( i do not say vote ) of the r. s. to give me no other answer ; but that three or four of their ingenious young-men should write my life : how comes this great concern for a book in which they are not interested ? when the censure came out , why did several eminent members presently report , and represent to the ___ that i had thereby libelled his majesty , and pressed to have me whipped at a carts-tail through london ? that censure touches not the r. s. but only reflects on the historian , and that modestly , though severely . and to what heighth their exasperations and power might have carryed things , i know not : but a generous personage ( altogether unknown to me ) being present , bravely and frankly interposed , saying to this purpose , that whatever i was , i was a roman ; that english-men were not so precipitously to be condemned to so exemplary a punishment , as to be whipped thorow london ; that the representing of that book to be a libel against the king , was too remote , and too prejudicial a consequence to be admitted of in a nation free-born , & governed by laws , and tender of ill presidents . thus spake that excellent english man , the great ornament of this age , nation , and house of commons ; he whose single worth ballanceth much of the debaucheries , follies and impertinences of the kingdom ; in whose breast that gallantry is lodged , which the prevalence of the virtuosi made me suspect to have been extinguished amongst us . after all this , who can judge that the r. s. is so little engaged in the controversie , as this pamphlet suggests ? but to see to what a period they have brought things ? the whole effects of the victory are yielded unto me : for the design i pursued , and which i said i would make them to doe , was the disclaiming of their history : and having done this , i am sure i have performed a considerable service to my country ; and all other disputes are but circumstantial , and such as conquerors often meet with , after an entire rout , to be encumbred with some parties of the scattered enemy , and to be amused with retrenchments , and passes . but this renunciation contents not me , because it is not avowed , nor solemn , and in such form as to conclude them beyond their pleasure : i will make them not only to disown the book , but the contents thereof , as not containing their sentiments ; and to adde , that they condemn all such , as under pretence of new and experimental philosophy , or any mechanical education , do decry all learning , and vary that breeding which is absolutely necessary to the welfare of our monarchy , religion and kingdom . let them but declare this effectually , and i shall impose a silence upon my self , and willingly sink under their malice and obloquy for the publick utility . having thus acknowledged , that the r. s. are not concern'd to avow the history , my adversaries proceed to give some account of the passages i had chosen to censure . in the first passage i am to complain , that since the author of the history , and another eminent person , read over this piece , yet the sence of them which writ the history is not represented : the question still remaining , what the authors meant ? 't is here said , i will grant that this is not the necessary , but the possible meaning of this historian : yet at least , if the contrary intimation be so hainous , good nature should oblige to understand the phrase in the most favorable meaning . ___ if that the historian had not been of the champerty , this passage had been more plausible : but ( oh! virtuosi have a care how you mention good nature ! ) it had been an excess of charity , and culpable , whil'st that our jealousies are such as they are , and that the credit of the history remained entire , to have passed by those words which were so inconsistent with our church , and the religion established , without demanding an explication , or renunciation of them . i adde , that the sense of my adversaries is not consistent with the words , and therefore not possible : nor could any goodness of nature , but meer insensibility , subject a man to this construction . if that by communion may be meant ( without further import ) a friendly and charitable action , then by the doctrine of equipollency , if those words be substituted instead of the other , the sense will be entire : but our experimentators never essayed this : i will assist them in this , as in other cases . it is natural to mens minds , when they perceive others to arrogate more to themselves , then is their share ; to deny them even that which else they would confess to be their right . and of the truth of this , we have an instance of far greater concernment then that which is before us : and that is in religion it self . for while the bishops of rome did assume an infallibility , and a soveraign dominion over our faith : the reformed churches did not only justly refuse to grant them that , but some of them thought themselves obliged to forbear all friendly and charitable acts towards them , and would not give them that respect which possibly might belong to so ancient , and so famous a church ; and which might still have been allowed it , without any danger of superstition . i demand now of my adversaries , which of the reformed churches ever did think themselves obliged to forbear all friendly and charitable actions towards the papists ? i have not read , to my knowledge , any such thing in the harmony of confessions : and 't is but just to expect the judgement of churches should be demonstrated out of church-acts . i profess it is news to me ; and so it is to hear , that one sense wherein the word communion may be understood throughout the whole scripture is , a friendly and charitable action . — i desire him to try only these texts , 1 cor. 10. 16 , 18 , 20.2 cor. 6.14 . & he will abate of the generality of his assertion ; which indeed is such , that i never heard of it before , though i have had some acquaintance with the scripture , and ecclesiastical history : but if the word might bear any such analogical sense ( as it does not , i think ) yet , to see the mischief of our old logick , i did suppose that analogum per se positum stat pro famosiore analogato . when our virtuosi henceforward talk of cocks and bulls , we know by this how to understand them . i shall not enlarge much upon the rest of this discourse , but refer my self to the judgement of my reader ; repet tions are tedious , and here needless , if he have perused the censure it self . he saith , that the historian in calling the church of rome a true church , said no more then what the most learned amongst the german divines , though warm with disputes , did readily acknowledge . — i would he had instanced in the authors , that i might have taken their words and learning into consideration . but reader , take notice , that i enquire not whether the established religion of germany , but that of england be here overthrown ? i enquire whether the author of the history , or any else in holy orders , can avow such words without violating their subscription to our articles and homilies . 't is true , i was told by — that he was not well versed in the homilies : how did he subscribe them then ? or , how can he press others to subscribe to he knows not what ? i will not expatiate beyond the question in debate : hic rhodus , hîc saltus . in the next paragraph , where he should have proved against me , that the infallibility assumed by the bishops of rome , and their soveraignty over our faith , was the cause of the reformed churches separating from the papists : i find not one word of such proof offered ; and indeed it is notorious to any man that hath but a little insight into the history of those times , and the grounds of the romish religion . all he alledgeth is a saying of cassander ( not citing the place and words , and so i cannot well judge of them ) to this effect . that then they made the pope but little less then god that they set his authority not onely above the church , but above the scripture too ; and made his sentences equal to divine oracles , and an infallible rule of faith , and ( as he further proceeds ) though there were another sort of people in the church , yet they were such as were obscure and concealed . ; — i answer , that this proves not , that the bishops of rome assumed an infallibility and soveraign dominion over our faith , ( which is the point in question ) but that some ascribed it unto him : cassander must be understood in relation to the canonists , which agrees with my assertion , ( yet were not all the canonists of that minde , for in the council of pisa , which began at millaine , there philippus decius , and others , did defend the superiority of a council above the pope ) or else what cassander says is evidently false : for the superiority of the council above the pope , and the limited power of the papacy , were the general tenets , and universally taught at the time when the reformation began : and before it immediately , as any man that traceth the history of the councils of constance , basil , and pisa , may inform himself . cajetan himself , who was a cardinal , and legate against luther , though he prefer the pope to a council , yet teacheth this : resistendum est ergò in faciem papae publicè ecclesiam dilaniantis , &c. nor do i find any such tenet avowed by franciscus victoria , professor at salamanca at the first beginning of the reformation . in france you will never read that such a power was ascribed to the pope there , as cassander speaks of ; nor in venice ; no nor so much as in swizzerland , as hottinger avows . it can onely be thus far true what cassander says , that the canonists , who at rome sway in the execution of the papal jurisdiction , might teach so : but not that it was any way the tenet of the divines : and there was then an opposition betwixt those two sorts of men , as now with us betwixt the courts spiritual and temporal . and the theologicians did not hold themselves concluded by the sentiments of the canonists , nor the people neither , further then was requisite to peace and order of government . this being thus false , and the relation of pope adrian impertinent ( for the papacy is thereby confess'd fallible , though for prudential reasons not to be amended as affairs then stood ; ) i have nothing to adde further , then to desire my adversaries , whensoever they write , to think of the point in question . it is an useful way w ch is practised in the schools of oxford , for the respondent to repeat a second time the syllogism of the opponent , and so to frame his answer , when he is certain he comprehends the argument . i could wish my adversaries had been used a little to that custom in their youth ; their being habituated to such a method , would have qualified them better then their beloved curiosities in opticks and magnetismes for the managing of controversies : if it be too tedious to them to resume any academick studies , i must recommend unto the imitation of the r. s. what i have read of as to the exchequer . there is an officer in the exchequer , who though sitting with the barons on the bench , hath no power to vote with them , nor interposeth his judgement as decisive in any cause , but observing silence in pleading , speaketh sometimes as to the regulation of the time , how it passeth away . what he should have said concerning the religion of adam in paradise , and his mustering of all creatures together , i understand well : but what he doth say , it is not so easie to comprehend how it is much to the purpose . the question is , whether the acceptableness of our praises to god ( i added prayers also ; but took notice of the praises ) depends upon the authors being an experimental philosopher ? i see not that he saith any thing against me therein , but that the historian doth suppose that his experimentator is a christian , and engrafted into christ ; and that the accessional of his merits shall sanctifie his praises , yet shall the praises he shall make be more suitable to god , being framed according to the genuine texture of the almighty artist , then the more general thanks givings , wherein a man that hath not meditated on the works of the creation , blesses god still for them , but cannot say how far these exceed the utmost productions of art , or the improved power of natural causes . — i am sure he changes much the odiousness of the words of the historian , who saith , that the praises of god celebrated by an experimentator , shall be more suitable to the divine nature , then the blinde applauds of the ignorant ; that is , of such as are not experimentators . if it were possible for us ever to come to that perfection of discerning the operations of nature , and the utmost productions of art , i see the virtuosi will prove beneficial to the church , and 't will be necessary the convocation desire them to alter the te deum , &c. and to contrive new anthymns to render our church praises more suitable to the divine nature : and dr. more 's canto's will put down david's psalms , as well as hopkins & sternhold . i wonder christ & moses , both faithful in their charge , forgot so important a recommendation as this of the virtuosi : i see now that the scriptures cannot make a man perfect , thorowly furnished unto all good works , or compleatly wise unto salvation , through faith that is in christ jesus . all that follows upon this subject , hath no original from any thing i said : if to write thus be not a kinde of extravagance and madness , i know not what is . i did not at all in the censure compare the new and old philosophy : i no where else avow the truth , but the usefulness of the hippocratical and aristotelian phylosophy in reference to physick . the whole digression is not only impertinent , but silly : he tells me of ways by which i attain'd knowledge , which i never pursued ; and of solving difficulties , which i never used ; being always more ready to profess ignorance , then to yield an unsatisfactory reason . i must renew my protestations , that 't is nothing to the purpose of the censure , before i digress against this ensuing harangue . for my exception against them lies thus : the apostles did not enjoyn the study of natural-experimental philosophy ; christ when he inspired the disciples with that which was necessary to bring them into all knowledge , and when they by imposition of hands did confer the holy ghost , and those spiritual gifts by which some were qualified with hymns and spiritual songs , they were not at all inspired with , or directed to this study of nature , so celebrated by the virtuosi : therefore i say it is not requisite to the making of our praises more suitable to the nature of god , that we go about to reform the psalmes of david , or otherwise busie our selves about experimental philosophy , thereby to render our anthymns and praises more suitable and pleasing unto the incomprehensible god of heaven : we may acquiesce in scripture-expressions , though more conformable to vulgar sentiments then the corpuscularian hypothesis ; those praises suit best with the divine nature , which are consonant to his word , and uttered with true faith in jesus christ. thus i oppose the letter of the historian ; and am repay'd with an excursion concerning the virtuosi , their pains and industry in comparison of the peripateticks . he says the virtuosi are timerous in what they affirm : this is not true : but amnot i so too ? do not i scruple to say any philosophy is true ; or can be exactly and sensibly demonstrated ? do i avow any more then that the hippocratical and peripatetick notions are useful ? why am i upbraided with the ptolomaick systeme ; and ridiculous determinations of the cause of magnetick phaenomena ? i am not obliged to reply hereunto ; yet i say that the ptolomaick systeme produceth us true predictions in astrology , and as good almanacks as the other : and our navigation is not improved by any new hypothesis of the nature of the load-stone . he tells me what i can answer about sundry natural occurrents : give me leave to reply for my self , and i assure our virtuosi , that i am always better content to profess my own ignorance , then to render an unsatisfactory account of things , except it be in an exoterical and popular way , and where the notions made use of are as useful to practise , as if true . he tells me i became an excellent astronomer , by reading a systeme of the ptolomaean hypothesis . this is news to me , and i profess i learnt from hippocrates not to be sollicitous much about those enquiries : yet they might have known i was not so great a stranger to galileo , and ricciolus , as some of the virtuosi . he proceeds to upbraid me with chymistry , but with so much incoherence of thoughts , that i understand not the reflection . there is yet another piece of learning , that is chymistry , in which , with little adoe , you can equal their attainments had through a long process and tedious course . for the whole that they pretend unto in this drudging art , is no more then the solution and coagulation of bodies ; by the first of these , they , with a great deal of cost , indeavour to separate their three elements : but you , sir , more cheaply then they , can shew your four elements parting asunder at the dissolution of the mixt body . it is but laying of a green stick upon the other fuel all ready inflamed , immediately the element of air comes away in smoke ; that of fire , in the warm blaze : the elementary water , is that hissing juyce at the end of the stick ; and the element of the earth is the remaining ashes . — were i concern'd in the truth of the elementary hypothesis ( to the defence whereof i will not now be drawn ) i would tell them , that 't is unjust to upbraid a peripatetick with an argument of this nature , who will not avow that on earth there is to be found any such thing as any of the four elements un-mixed , or separate and sincere : and therefore he will never , in rigour of speech , make any such assertions as are here ignorantly imposed on him : 't is true , that gunter billichius , a man well versed in chymistry , doth endeavour rudely , by this way of argumentation , to evince the doctrine of the four elements . take notice , that this writer was an excellent chymist , the scholar of angelus sala ; and also that quercetan in the anatomy of celandine , resolves it into water , air , earth and fire : nor do the chymists deny the four elements . moreover , beguinus doth endeavour to demonstrate the chymical principles by as facile and cheap an operation , as our virtuosi here impose upon the peripatetick : for he writes thus , exordiamur à lignis viridibus , quae si cremes , egredietur primò aquosum quiddam , quod ignis flammae concipiendae plane inidoneum est , & in fumum conversum si colligatur , in aquam resolvitur , diciturque mercurius : deinde exibit oleaginosum quiddam — vocaturque sulphur : tandem remanet siccum & terrestre — salisque nomen obtinet . but i proceed to demand of our virtuosi , why do they say , that all that the drudging art of chymistry aims at , is by solution of bodies , to separate their three elements ; and by coagulation , to bring a liquid or humid body to a solid substance ? is there no other operation in chymistry , but solution and coagulation of bodies ? enquire into the chymical tyrocinia , 't will trouble you to reduce all their operations of calcination , digestion , fermentation , distillation , circulation , sublimation , and fixation , to these two . have those artists no other end but the discovery of their three elements in their laborious processes ? what think you of the opus magnum , the preparation of medicaments , &c. about which they are very solicitous , without any such aim as this chymical analysis ? what do ye mean when ye speak of only three elements of the chymists ? do not they separate an inutile insipid phlegme , or water also , and a terra damnata ? and , what is more then all this , have not i demonstrated , that chymistry owes its original and improvements to the peripateticks ? i adde , 't is not oriously false that all chymical coagulation is the reducing of an humid and liquid body to a solid substance : since there are coagulations in chymistry , wherein the body coagulated comes not to a solidity , but continues still liquid ; as any man knows to appear upon the mixtures of liquors in the making of lac virginis , &c. a cold posset comes not to a solid consistence . but our grangousiers enlarge themselves upon coagulation . this fine feat you so well understand , and it is so much beneath you , that you leave it to the apothecaries boy , when you prescribe troches for colds , besides rose-water and sugar , &c. to make this solid , you appoint white starch , q. s. and then refer it to the lad to be made s. a. and here is so good a coagulation , that you never desire to learn any other kinde of it so long as you live , except it be the secret of making the hard sea-bisket . — is not this a most excellent parade , and a good account of the three moneths study of so many eminent wits to contrive this harangue ? they are most excellent diviners : they tell what i doe , and what i acquiesce in , with as much vanity and falshood , as if 't were one of their experiments . physicians do indeed put starch into some troches for coughs , but 't is not to coagulate it meerly , but as an operative part of the medicament ; otherwise we can boil the sugar high enough to coagulate without starch , or use the mucilage of gum dragàcanth , &c. but that we understand no other coagulation , or desire to know none else , is a saying becoming the virtuosi , and none else . how many ways had the ancients of separating the caseous part of the milk , and making of whey ? is there not any of us inquifitive how to make a sack-posset , or cheese ? could not we coagulate oyle and red lead into a cere-cloth , nor give consistence to plaisters with wax , before these insolents ? did not we understand the making of common salt , salt-peter , and alcalisate salis , &c. before these pig-wiggin myrmidons appear'd ? to conclude , since chymistry and its several operations were the discovery of the peripateticks , as i have largely proved elsewhere ; 't is not for the r. s. to upbraid them with the ignorance thereof thus : nor for the virtuosi to pretend to any praise therefrom , till they discover more then they have yet done in that science , which my adversaries here , you see , understand not at all . pittiful scriblers ; i am concern'd for the honour of our nation , least it suffer more then ever by such defenses as these . i assure the virtuosi , i could not wish a sharper revenge upon them then to publish such writings as these . whatever folly and ignorance i charge upon them , they furnish me with new arguments to prove it : i advise them hereafter to write against me in the universal character , that the ignominy of our nation may be more conceal'd : or to retire into some deserts ( fit receptacles for such plagiaries , cheats , and tories ) least this second sort of worth-less fanaticks , these alumbrado's in religion and all sciences ( for 't is now manifest , that they understand chymistry as little as the languages , rhetorick , logick and history ) continue the infamy of our kingdoms . there needs no more to be said to this paragraph ; and as to the next , i desire onely that my reader would compare this answer , and my censure , and see how material the one is , and how superficial the other : and let him take notice of the great usefulness which he ascribes to doctors of divinity . there is one argument against the author not inconsiderable , to which you have some reference , that is , the study of such controversies , distinctions , and terms , is of great use when we have to deal with a papist-disputant . it 's very true , yet it proves not any excellency in that knowledge of it self , but meerly in relation to the adversary : though we have fresh instances of worthy persons amongst us , who have with good advantage managed the debate in behalf of our church against that of rome , without much help from those schools : yet that sort of learning , even for this reason , may be still maintained in the same manner , as trades-men who lye on the english borders towards wales , usually keep a servant to jabber welsh ( though no learned language ) to the brittains their customers . — this is the great acknowledgement our doctors have for dubbing any of the virtuosi : the universities ( who are mainly in the colleges design'd for that study , ) are in a fair way to be sold , though at present they may be continued . this defense is pretty , and i think justifies my imputation that they are enemies to the universities , and would change the education of england . i am astonished to finde such a passage as this , in a juncture when the r. s. is under so great an odium . the next passage i have nothing to say unto beyond the censure : onely he tells me , that he could not find any such passage in the page i refer unto . the reason is , because he never looked the truth is , the history is there wrongly paged , and there is twice 362 ; and that which i cite is the second 362 , following after 369. how accurate are these men , not to know thus much in their own books ? i argue according to the church of england ; how they answer , and how pertinently , let others judge . the last passage under debate , is the application of scripture to common raillery . let any man weigh the words of the historian , and the form of my censure , and he will find my reprehension just . i had expected all analogical senses , when used by the fathers and others upon weighty and pious occasions : he might have transcribed out of the censure , passages as much to the purpose as that out of ignatius ; and i granted the fathers used it frequently : but we must distinguish betwixt the anagogical and mystical accommodations of scripture to pious harangues , and the using of it in raillery . the question is , whether it be lawful and fitting to accommodate scripture-sentences and the sacred phrase to the subjects of common and light discourse ? such are amorous poems , or discourses of natural philosophy . i instanced in mr. cowleys poems , not to injure or upbraid the dead , but because he at his decease having repented of such offensive poems , desired the author of the history to dispunge them in the second edition , which was recommended to his care : and since , notwithstanding this request of his deceased friend , he thought fitting to continue them ; i expounded him by himself , and fairly instanced in those passages as the raillery , commended by himself , and conformable to what the ancient poets practised in honour of their gods and religion . i have no reason to recede from my censure yet : but much greater perswasions then before , that i did a necessary work ; and whatsoever their malice may create me of trouble , or inconvenience , i never shall repent it . the conclusion of the letter threatens me with the history of my life , to be written after the manner that dr. sprat writ against sorbier . i never pittyed that french man , because he had so flattered the r. s. and was himself a member of it , and recorded for such in their history . but when a greater man then this epistoler made me the like threat , i laugh'd thereat , and said , that as for my physiognomy whatsoever it was , he made us , and not we our selves ; and that i had observed worse faces in their society : and for any passage in my life , 't is not clogg'd with these circumstances , that i took the covenant , or engagement ; or was a visitor of oxon ; or councellor to cromwel and his son : i shall not have any pindarick ode in the press , dedicated to the happy memory of the most renowned prince oliver , lord protector : nothing to recommend the sacred urn of that blessed spirit to the veneration of posterity , as if his fame like men , the elder it doth grow , will of it self turn without what needless art can do . i never compar'd that regicide to moses , or his son to joshua : when other mens flatteries did thus exorbitate , you will find my resentments for the church of england to have been of another nature ; and as i most associated my self with the episcoparians ; so in the decpest he at s that engaged me for my patron 's service , i did not decline to give them the elogy of judicious and learned , and to plead for their toleration in these words . to conclude , i should here become an humble suppliant for those of the episcopal divines , who understanding the principles of that church-way which they profess , have learned in all conditions to be content : and in their prosperity were neither rash in defining , nor forward in persecting soberly-tender consciences . it is certain , that we owe much to their learned defenses of protestancy against the papists , and several other their labours : and may reap much more benefit thereby , if they may have a greater security ( paying the respect which they ought to their governors , and praying for them , that they may live peaceably under them ) then at present they enjoy in their walkings . — i did there ( in the preface ) cast my self at their feet ; and made my timely submissions to the right reverend father in god , the lord bishop of winton : i receiv'd from his hands a confirmation in this church , and never joyned with any other in communion : you will never find me in a presbyterian-pulpit , nor leagued with the sectaries : whatever was offensive in my writings , i voluntarily abandoned ; and have done more in publick for the church and religion of england , without any further intent then the glory of god and welfare of the nation , then others to be dignitaries : and have not onely endeavored to fix others to the preservation of the monarchy , but some ways signalized my self by testimonies of particular loyalty , well known to the principal secretary of state. i speak not this to inodiate others : i would they had given me happy presidents for doing so much , or been exemplary that i might perform more . but they ( who perhaps are not so much as confirmed ) having attempted nothing of this kind , multiply discouragements upon me ; and would depress a son of the church , because he once followed a different party . is it thus that they would express their affection to the present government ? is it thus that they imitate him who would not quench the smooking flax , or break the bruised reed ? do they envy me the grace of god ? or would they have me adde obstinacy to my other faileurs ? such procedures do not become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 divine : and i desire god in his mercy to prevent the inconveniences , which so scandalous and unchristian demeanour may occasion to the church , which must needs suffer in the publick miscarriages of the clergy . finis . a reply to a letter of dr. henry more ( printed in mr. ecebolius glanvil's praefatory answer to hen. stubbe . ) with a censure upon the pythagorico-cabbalistical philosophy promoted by him . with a preface against ecebolius glanvil ; fellow of the royal society , and chaplain to mr. rouse of eaton , late member of the rump parlament . by henry stubbe physician at warwick . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oxford , printed for richard davis . 1671. a preface . had the presse been so much at my disposall as i could have wished , i had not suffered ecebolius glanvill to have enjoyed the triumph of a few weeks : but since it is impossible to dispatch a particular answer before the approaching holy-dayes , i must begge pardon of the world for that short respite . it will not seem strange that , omitting him , i hasten out a reply to dr h. more , for the other is but a zany to this pythagorean , and the defamations of so ignominious and scandalous an algerine as mr glanvill , do not reach so far , as the aspersions of his master , which hath some repute for learning , and more for integrity , though his demeanour be such now , that i am necessitated to recant my judgment of him , and so not disoblige him by a second elogy for piety . the prefatory answer of mr. glanvill is no other then i expected , though severall others could not believe it possible that any such resolve could be taken or suffer'd to be put in execution . but though the performance did not beseem a christian ( much less a divine , of the church of england ) yet i knew it would agree with the genious of a renegado-presbyter turnd latitudinarian ; and that some of the virtuosi would doe what no paynim or ancient philosopher would imagine : i had had frequent experience of this truth , and had learned by their defamations and menaces of an assassination or bastinado ( not to mention the suit at law , whereunto dr. ch. m. was obliged by certain persons of — ) that neither generosity , morality , or religion had any tye upon them superiour to their revenge . not the relation that the virtuosi pretend to have unto his majesty could reclaim my adversaries from violating that amnesty , the indulgence whereof signalizeth him to all ages , and the inscription whereof he dignifieth with the honour of his royall motto : not conscience , which is still engaged to an utter oblivìon by the act , though the penalty be determined : not civill prudence , which might have represented unto them how fatall this president might prove , by raising jealousies and seeds of discontent in the breasts of others whose case might be the same erelong , and whose crimes had transcended mine , as much as the actions i had done to efface my offences did exceed their performances . t was strange to find as it were s. paul upbraided with what he had done at the death of s. stephen ; and to see that i was upbraided not only with what i had formerly writ , but blamed for contradicting my self , though the contradiction amounted to a profession of loyalty to the king , obedience to the church , and regard to the universities . was there ever indiscretion transported thus far ? if that decision be true of aerodius , that t is in vain to pardon offences , if the party so gratified may be upbraided therewith afterwards : may i not adde , that t is in vain to expect any compliance from the discontented and non-conformists , if their conversion shall be reckoned to their disparagement , and their ignominy aggravated thereby . thus hudybras is come to court ? a wise objection , & becoming such as have transcended mee in their actings and schismaticalness . to aggravate the malignity of my temper , t is made my fault that i defended m. h. in some grammatical questions against a member of the royal society , one much more criminall than i could be . i am reviled with opposing mr. b. in his holy common-wealth and key for catholicks : and to shew how barbarous my demeanour towards him was , after the elogies of reverend , learned , and ingenious , he is said to bee a person worthy of great respect : and our ecebolius addes , that hee can scarce forbear affirming concerning him as a learned doctor of our church did , that he was the only man that spoke sense in an age of non-sense . — as may be demonstrated out of the evangelium armatum . i shall not recriminate upon mr. glanvill : there is a disloyalty which extends beyond writeing : it may be found in praying , preaching , and communicating with rebellious schismaticks : and if education , and the being bred in ill times may excuse him , what is it that deprives me of that accessional alleviation ? but since what i have said , hath been satisfactory to my prince , and is more than many of my adversaries can pretend , i shall now insist upon no other excuse . after our impertinent hath spent three parts of his book in this unchristian satyre , and which i had effectively prevented , that which hee saith to the controversies in agitation is very little , and his performances very meane . hee gives no reparation to the physicians for these injurious words . the moderne experimenters think , that the philosophers of elder times , though their wits were excellent , yet the way they took was not like to bring much advantage to knowledge , or any of the uses of humane life : being for the most part that of notion and dispute , which still runnes round in a labyrinth of talke , but advanceth nothing . and the unfruitfulness of those methods of science , which in so many centuries never brought the world so much practical , beneficial knowledge , as would help towards the cure of a cut finger , is a palpable argument , that they were fundamental mistakes , and the way was not right . for , as my lord bacon observes well , philosophy , as well as faith , must be shown by its works . and if the moderns cannot shew more of the works of their philosophy in six yeers , then the aristotelians can produce of theirs in more than thrice so many hundred , let them be loaded with all that contempt , which is usually the reward of vain and unprofitable projectors . that this procedure hath effected more for the information and advantage of mankind , then all the ages of notion , the records of the royal society alone , are a sufficient evidence , as the world will see when they think fitting to unfold their treasure . this passage , as it gave first occasion to the controversy in hand , so the indignity therof ought alone to continue it , though no further incentives had been added . for what physician can with patience endure to heare so great a contumely done to all our ancestours from hippocrates and aristotle down to the latter days , when our most eminent galenists did flourish in london ? of the methods of ancient science there were two , the one consisting of more general principles , or rules ; the other making up a particular systeme or hypothesis , such as the aristotelian and galenical philosophy ( with its variations and discrepancies ) accommodated to physick , and that part of it especially which is called materia medica . amongst the more general rules , i doe comprehend the art of reasoning , and method : as also those other preliminaries of aristotle , and galen : that the final determination of philosophical truthes ( relating to material beings ) is sense : that we ought never to relie so far upon any prejudicate reasons as to desert the convictions of our senses : that physick , as well as the more universal philosophy of nature , did subsist upon two leggs or props , viz. reason and experience : that though in obscure cases analogismes had their place , yet that t was always best to relye on direct experience , where it was to be had . now this being so ancient a method of science , and so received by the physicians , and which is agitated in the disputes of our writers , i doe justly complain that our virtuoso should say , that the way they took was so unfruitful , and brought so little practical beneficial knowledge , as t would not help towards the cure of a cut finger . for they could from things experimented demonstrate their abilities that way : as i evinced . as to the particular hypothesis , called aristotelian or galenical , that even that was of much more advantage than our virtuoso allowed it , i demonstrated hereby , that the doctrine of elements , of the first , second , and third qualities , as they were explicated and disputed , had been the occasion of most of our compositions , be they plaisters , or other medicaments , that they were invented at first , or used afterwards : that according to those principles of old , galen , and afterwards his successours generally ( till of late ) did regulate themselves in their new mixtures , and discoveries : and this way continues still amongst the † spanyards and italians , then whom the world never produced better physicians : and in france till the days of quercetan and mayerne , the practise was regulated by these principles , and in the contest betwixt the chymists and colledge at paris , upon the notions of formes , qualities , and galenical or aristotelian temperament , was the controversy agitated : and upon the introduction of any new medicament , as of quicksilver for the pox , or lignum vitae , or sassafras , or the like , the physicians for the use of them were usually regulated by that hypothesis : from whence it is demonstrated , that since not only cut fingers , but even all diseases were cured by them ( as well , or better then by the chymists : as appeared upon publick tryals before the parlament at paris ) t is unjust and intolerable for us to be upbraided with the sterility of that philosophy , as if it had contributed nothing to beneficial practical knowlege , but ranne round in a labyrinth of talk , advanceing nothing . i evidenced , that notwithstanding the rhodomontade of our ignoramus , most of the glorious discoveries ascribed to our moderns , did referre to the peripateticks , and their philosophy . that for anatomy we were more obliged to aristotle , erasistratus , herophilus , galen , and the late galenical projectors , than to any of these new corpuscularians . that the natural history of bathes , plants , minerals , had been prosecuted by them : and accommodated to use upon those grounds : they not having , or not relying upon any other . and certainly impudence never discover'd it self in a greater effort , then when m. glanvil writ his plus ultra : and hee must be undeniably ignorant , that can say that eighteen centuries of peripatetick philosophers have not produced so much of works , as these last six yeers of our virtuosi . i shewed that the arabians were disputing followers of aristotle and galen , and regulated their speculations by his philosophy : yet these disputers invented much of chymistry , some part of it being known to aristotle , & his followers : that t is not the discovery of any old aegyptian hermes , but the name and original is of a much later date than the peripatetick foundations at alexandria : that the beginnings of it there were cultivated by the sarracens , and so far improved by the peripateticks downwards , that paracelsus invented little or nothing of it , but stole all he had from the aristotelians . the doctrine of the atmosphere was advanced by alhazen : and the gravity of the air ( how it was only comparatively light ) asserted by aristotle , and averroes , and claramontius : who weighed it in a bladder . i adde now that avi●enna in his fen , and sanctorius upon him , doe maintain the same tenet : and this sanctorius was he who found out the thermometer , or weather-glass , proceeding upon the peripatetick notions of elements , heat , cold , rarefaction , condensation &c. to all this mr. glanvil answers . doe i speak of the methods of physick , chyrurgery , or any practical art ? if i had so done , mr. stubbe had had reason : but it was nothing thus , i had not to doe with any thing of that nature , but was discoursing of the infertility of the way of notion and dispute , concerning which i affirmed , that it produced no practical , useful knowledg . viz : by its own proper native virtue : & my sense here was the same as it was in that expression of my , vanity of dogmatizing [ pag. 132 edit . sec. ] i would puzle the schooles to point at any considerable discovery made by the direct sole manuductiom of peripatetick principles . so that i never dreamt of denying , that those philosophers of elder times , that went that way , had practical beneficial knowledg : yea , or that they were discoverers of many excellent and useful things : but that they learnt that knowledg from the disputing methods of physiology , or made their discoveries by them . these were the things i denied ; and i have the excellent lord bacon with me in the negative . — this is his defense of that innocent sentence : which how false it is , any man may judge by what i have said , or by looking into our herbals , where the nature and use of our plants is explicated by the elementary qualities of hot , & dry , cold , and moist : and into our books de composit . medicament . where we are generally directed by no other principles then these , and the like ; not to mention that the foundation of our practice was , contraria contrariis curantur , which contraries were explained peripatetically . nor would our schooles bee puzled to point at any considerable discovery made by the direct sole manuduction of peripatetick principles : since so many medicaments have been discovered thereby ; since that the weighing of the aire , and the thermometer were a pure and entire result of that manuduction ; as you may see in sanctorius . but mr. glanvil saith , hee speaks not of the methods of physick and chirurgery , or any practical art ? this is a strange evasion considering that the aristotelians and galenists did not act as pure empericks , but as men guided by a series of principles , and a theory which they deemed scientifical : and so they were in chirurgery also ; for those two professions were commonly united , and by few so separated , as that the chirurgical cures and medicaments were not regulated by the same principles : as appeares from our book of chirurgery . i i shall not enter upon the dispute whether physick ( a branch whereof is chirurgery ) bee an act , or no : some holding the affirmative , some the negative : no dogmatists ever held but that it was an operative knowledge , or an art guided by certain rules and observations to effect its end . there were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the physicians , to whose judgment aristotle thinks fit men submit : and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or such as by continual and diligent observation and reading had acquired the skill of curing , not being devoid of the dignosticks , prognosticks , and method of curing , and tryed medicines : but being absolved from , or ignorant of any philosophical theory : and for these the stagirite declareth a respect . the galenists and disputing ages adhered to the former , and only reputed him a physician who could give a peripatetical account of the cause , and cure of the disease : and except m. glanvil can demonstrate that the physicians have for eighteen centuries acted blindly and empirically ( without the guidance of aristotelian and galenick principles ) what he saith is most false . but to wave this discourse about art and science , which is all one , to overthrow the insolence of our virtuoso ; hee saith hee was discourseing of the infertility of the way of notion and dispute , that it produced no practical , useful knowledg by its own proper native virtue : this is the first time i heard that disputations fittingly managed ( & i am not to suppose men to be mad , or fooles , ) produce no useful knowledge , if the subject debated be of that nature as to refer unto use : t is apparently false in point of physick , as a man that reads a spanish or italian consultation , will see . but it is not possible for me to divine what this insupportable talker means by notion . for if it be the peripatetick physiologie , what hee saith , is untrue : if hee mean logical , or metaphysical disputes , who was obliged to understand him about them , when the question was about natural philosophy , and practical knowledge ? hee might as well have said , that arithmetick , or astronomy , or grammer , or musick , did not by their own proper native vertue produce any practical useful knowledge , in order to the curing of a cut finger . so that my exception , and indignation was just against this insolent , and all physicians ought to joyn with me in demanding reparation : nor will my lord bacon's authority advantage our virtuoso , for his credit is valid perhaps in law , but not in physick , i am sure . as the physicians have received no amends from our insolent for the outrage hee and the historian did us ; so neither doe i yet find any better sentiments in my adversaries for the universities then they expressed heretofore : yet hath mr. glanvil the impudence to protest their great respects for those illustrious nurseries of youth : have they authentickly disclaimed the history , or any part thereof that was prejudicial to the church and universities ? have not they rather added to the former indignities by that new contumely against all the doctors and divines in the universities ? there is one argument against the author not inconsiderable , to which you have some reference , ( that is ) the study of such controversies , distinctions , and termes is of great use , when we have to deal with a papist disputant its very true , yet it proves not any excellency in that knowledge of it selfe , but merely in relation to the adversary : though we have fresh instances of worthy persons amongst us , who have with good advantage managed the debate in behalfe of our church against that of rome , without much help from those schooles : yet that sort of learning even for this reason , may still be maintained , in the same manner as tradesmen who lye on the english borders towards wales , usually keep a servant to jabber welsh ( though no learned language ) to the brittaines their customers . certainly the most bitter enemy that ever was to the universities could hardly have expressed himself worse than doth this virtuoso : hee doth not allow any excellency to , or acknowledge controversial divinity to be a learned study , though it include so much of reading , not only in school-divines , but ecclesiastical history , canon and civil law , and critical knowledge : and though the defense of our religion against more than papists , and the explication thereof to our selves , depend ordinarily upon those studies , yet the maintenance of such as are eminent therein , is founded upon the same reason , that the tradsmen near wales keep brittish servants to talk and trade with the customers of that nation . and for such a reason the lands of the university given to the educating such divines may be continued to that employment . may they not also be sold ? as for ecebolius , hee referres us to what hee hath writ in his plus ultra , and his letter against aristotle , there we may find the highest expressions of love and zeal towards the universities , that were within the compass of his poore and narrow invention . i will oblige him so far as to repeate his words , though i doubt the universities will scarce afford him their thanks for his kind respects . i have said nothing to discourage young academinas from applying themselves to those first studies which are in use in the universities . their statutes require exercises in that way of learning ; and so much knowledge of it , as inables for those duties , is requisite and fit . nor doe i deny , but that those speculations raise , quicken , and whet the understanding , and on that account may not be altogether unprofitable , with respect to the more useful inquisitions ; provided it keep it self from being nice , aiery , and addicted too much to general notions . but this is the danger , and the greatest part run upon this rock . the hazard of which might in great part be avoided , if the mathematicks and natural history were mingled with those other studies , which would indeed be excellent preparatives and dispositions to future improvements . and i adde farther , that the young philosophers must take care of looking on their systematick notions as the bounds and perfections of knowledge ; nor make account to fix eternally upon those theories , as established and infallible certainties : but consider them in the modest sense of hypotheses , and as things they are to take in their passage to others that are more valuable and important . i say the peripatetick studies thus tempered , wil not i suppose , be disallowed by the men of the practical method ; and so the university establishments can receive no prejudice from the spirit that dislikes a perpetual acquiescence in the philosophy of the present schooles . this is the result of his most calme & temperate thoughts , after a repentance for having mispent his time in the academick studies at oxford , that exercise the brain in the niceties of notion and distinctions , and afford a great deal of idle imployment for the tongue in the combates of disputations . " after i had spent some yeers in those notional studies , perhaps with as good success as some others , i began to think cvi bono , & to consider what those things would signify in the world of action and business : i say i thought but could find no encouragement to proceed from the answer my thoughts made me : i ask'd my self what account i could give of the works of god by my philosophy , more then those that have none , and found that i could amaze & astonish ignorance with distinctions , and words of art , but not satisfy ingenious inquiry by any considerable and material resolutions . i considered i had got nothing all this while , but a certain readiness in talking , and that about things i could not use abroad without being pedantick and ridiculous . i perceived that that philosophy aimed at no more , than the instructing men to notion and dispute that its designe was mean , and its principles at the best uncertain and precarious . — " these things then i pondered , and in the heat of my thoughts , and a youthful indignation , i drew up the charge , and gave in the full of those bold accounts to the publick in a letter about aristotle , which perhaps you will not doe amiss to consider . thus the great impediment was removed , and the prejudice of education overcome : when i thought farther , that useful knowledg was to be looked for in god's great book the universe , and amongst those generous men that had conversed with real nature , undisguised with art and notion . and still i saw more of the justice of the excellent poet's censuro of the sonnes of aristotle , when hee sayth , ; ; — they stand lock'd up together hand in hand ; every one leads as he is lead , the same bare path they tread , and dance like fairies a phantastick round ; and neither change their motion , nor their ground . from this philosophy therefore , and these men , i diverted my eyes and hopes , and fixed them upon these methods that i have recommended , which i am sure are liable to none of those imputations . — i appeal to any person of common intellectuals if this virtuoso hath not expressed a wonderful love and zeal for the universities . this is that just and most sincere esteem for those venerable seats , and fountaines of learning , which hee solemnly protests to bear . hee doth most chearfully own , and is ready to celebrate the great advantages they affoord for all sorts of knowledge , and hee verily believes that the other members of the royal society have like sentiments of them . surely our experimental philosopher takes the university for assemblies of an ignorant and stupid sort of men , that were to be amused and deceived by equivocations : he professes an esteeme for the venerable seates ; are they not highly honoured ? he styles them fountains of learning , but tells us not what those words import . is it because that the first new philosophy was so much promoted , and the r. s. as it were embryonated there ? and from that fountaine issued those waters which have served to quoddle our virtuoso ? certainly there is nothing but imposture in this complement , & they must be very easy souls that are deluded therewith . the character he hath given of his first studyes , and the abuses which under the person of mr. crosse , are put upon all vniversity-men [ plus ultra pag. 120. ] are so detestable , that he must not expect upon the profundities of the philosophical course taught there , he should retain any esteem or regard for those venerable seats . he expatiates you see upon all the first studyes , which contain grammer , rhetorick , logick , physics , ethics , metaphysics . he recommends the study hereof to the young academians , not because they are usefull , but because they are required by the statutes ; and adviseth them onely to inable themselves for the performance of their exercises ; this is requisite , & fit. but for any thing more , if any man designe that , t is uselesse abroad in the world of action , & renders the owner pedantick & ridiculous : & he must , by example of our heroe , repent thereof . doth not this excellenly justify those harangues of sundry virtuosi who every where disswade the nobility and gentry from resorting to the universities , and mispending their time in notions , which affoord a great deale of idle emploiment for the tongue in combates of disputation ? have not these gentlemen the same sentiments with the rector of bathe ? if this censure upon our academick studyes were true , who would resort thither except to gaine a scholarship , or fellowship ? and submit to that education , unlesse it were to rise by it ? from that philosophy , and these men , who would not with mr. glanvill , divert his eyes and hopes , and fix upon those methods which plato & the faecundity of the cartesian principles doe instruct us with ? what should any noble man doe at oxford or cambridge ? those are not the residence of those generous men , that have conversed with real nature , undisguised with art & notion : the seats are more venerable then the present possessors . did i injure these persons by representing them as such , who would overthrow the ancient and necessary education of of this island ? could any thing be more seasonable , then those reasons l alledge in behalf of our vniversity-breeding against the mechanical project ? t would be too tedious an excursion for me now to confute this whole resvery ; l desire onely that the reader would take notice how in the end of the paragraph first cited , he turns his displeasure upon the academick physiology onely , and saith it may be used as an hypothesis , but not acquiesced in : and then he believes t will be allowed of to us . why ? will it then cease to be notional , and steril in the world of action & businesse ? and will he retract his retractation , if we doe so ? l know none that look on their systematic notions as the bounds and perfections of knowledge : if mr. glanvil were of that opinion ever , he was not taught it in his time at oxford . who did ever tell him that there was any absolute or compleat knowledg to be acquired in this life ? or was so impudent as to give the lye unto the apostle teaching us , that we see here but as in a glasse ; and know but in part ? there are indeed some systematick notions that are of real use to guide us in our ratiocination , & regulate us in our inquiries that we be not imposed on by the resemblances of things . the distinctions of materialiter , & formaliter , secundum quid & simpliciter ; the eduction of formes out of the bosome of matter ; the primum incipiens in motion ; the logical tricks about shuffling & ordering propositions & forms of syllogism , are speculations that will seem wonderful , useful & significant , as long as there is any sense in this nation , and that we are not debauch'd into superlative folly , by such illiterate , ignorant , and impertinent virtuosi as mr. glanvill , and his adherents . had he been such a proficient as he insinuates in academick studies , he would never have argued as he does , or concluded a discourse of this nature , with this epilogism . " and so the university-establishments can receive no prejudice from the spirit that dislikes a perpetual acquiescense in the philosophy of the present schools . let us hereafter judge of these men rather by their actions , than words : or if we must lend an ear to what they say , let us esteem of them by their serious discourse , not by what they rally or flatter with : let us believe of them , as of such as innovate the education , undermine the foundations of our religion and monarchy , supplant the universities , destroy physick , endanger all professions and trades : let us place the saddle upon the right horses back ; and not be deluded with the ambling of the saddle , into a conceit that the horse doth not trot . all the digression about my life and writings , is but a demonstration that he could not justifie himself against the imputation of ignorance ; and therefore he amuseth his reader with matters impertinent . it had become him to shew which of those instruments , microscope , telescope , thermometer , and the barometer , was the discovery of the r. s. for he had told us , that some of those were first invented , all of them exceedingly improved by the royal society . he complains for want of time to do what most imported him , and yet wastes that he hath in frequent sallys against mr. crosse. it is a year and an half since he first began to collect my books : he omitted to preach at bathe for many weeks , excusing himself by the pretext of writing against me , and the result of all his industry and study might have been included in two sheets . all this deliberation could not qualifie him so , as to understand the right state of the question betwixt us : which is not , whether aristotle did know all things ? nor , whether the latter ages knew more then the precedent ? but , whether antiquity was shie and unacquainted with anatomy ? whether the grecians , disputing ages , and sectators of aristotle , did know any thing of chymistry ? in fine , whether the ancient aristotelian philosophy hath advanced nothing of practical and beneficial knowledge ? and whether all the inventions that he attributes to the virtuosi , belong to them ? and that the moderns can shew more of the works of their philosophy in six years , ( this restrains the notion of the moderns to the r. s. ) then the aristotelians can produce of theirs in thrice so many hundred ? these being the questions , 't is not enough for him that i grant this or that discovery to be modern , but he is to prove it the invention of a novelist , or new philosopher , if not of a virtuoso . thus , if chymistry descend from the alexandrine peripateticks and arabians ; if anatomy , were the particular eminency of erasistratus and herophilus ; if caesalpinus or harvey discover the circulation of the blood , 't is for the credit of the man of stagyra , and this glory appertains unto the aristotelians , whom mr. glanvill represents as meer notionists , who still run round in a labyrinth of talk , but advance nothing . 't is a hopeful preface or introduction to his answer , thus to mistake in the beginning : but he is irrecoverably lost as to all learning ; all that he flourisheth with , is but the remains of a treacherous memory , which some years agoe studied something ; or some collections out of vossius's writings concerning , the history of sciences , or translated out of pancirollus and his commentator , without being able to judge of their faileurs , by what others have censured in them . this new book makes fust , or gothenberg , to have found out printing : whereas he might have learned out of hadrianus junius , that 't was found out by another at harlem . and that flavius goia discovered the compass . whereas i am confident that no good author ever styled him flavius goia , but either flavius a seaman of amalfi , or johannes goia , or gira of melfi : the places are distinct ; and some ascribe it to one , some to the other . some say that paulus venetus did bring it with him from china , in 1260. but most certain it is , that albertus magnus , and vincentius belluacensis , do speak of the polarity of the load-stone , and say , that the sea-men used them in navigation ; and that the knowledge they had of it , was derived from a treatise of aristotle's de lapidibus , which is lost , and perhaps was but the writing of an arabian peripatetick . i adde this to what i have already published , thereby to satisfie all men , that this arrogant prating virtuoso is not at all acquainted with books , no not such as are of best note amongst the modern writers , as my margin shews you ; and 't is by chance , not any solid learning he hath , if ever he uttereth any truth about such subjects of discourse : and i appeal unto all serious men , whether it be not for the benefit of ordinary conversation , that these kinde of men should either refrain to speak of learned subjects , or premise always when they interpose , as a fool may say , or one that is unacquainted with history and books . ecebolius doth find fault with a protestation of mine , & thus descants on it . 't is a rare protestation that follows : i protest in the presence of almighty god , that if there be not great care taken , we may be in a little time reduced to that pass , as to believe the story of tom thumb . — p. 11. ] doth mr. stubbe seriously think this , or doth he not ? if so , he is more ridiculous then one that believes tom thumb already : if he be not serious in what he saith , he is impious in it : and if it were another man , one might ask him how he durst in that manner use the name of god , and protest a known and ridiculous falshood in his presence . — i do own the seriousness of my protestation , and yet fear not the inconvenience i am threatned with by this dilemma . i have lived to see dr. more credit the miracles of pythagoras , that he speaking to a river , the river answered him again with an audible and clear voyce , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , salve pythagora . that he shewed his thigh to abaris the priest , and that he affirmed it glistened like gold , and thence pronounced that he was apollo . that he was known to converse with his friends at metapontium and tauromenium ( the one a town in italy , the other in sicily , and many days journey distant ) in one and the same day . you will find more to the same purpose there : and i mention this , because mr. glanvil's patron admits of miracles in a false religion : so did another virtuoso in a sermon well known : so that i need not say that what i writ is justified by both s. austin and calvin , and most protestants that have writ de signis ecclesiae . the same dr. more saith , that the most learned have already agreed , that all the whole creation was made at once . as for example , the most rational of all the jewish doctors , r. moses aegyptius , philo fudaeus , procopius , gazaeus , cardinal cajetan , s. augustine , and the schools of hillel and sammai , as manasseh ben israel writes . that doctor affords us in his works an hundred stories , which who so credits is fairly disposed to credit the fable of tom thumb . and our ignoramus would perswade us that tertullian blamed a famous physician of his time [ herophilus ] for dissecting men ; that the romans held it unlawful to behold the entrails . that the grecians , and disputing ages , were ignorant of chymistry : with many such untruths , which informe us of the dangers our approaching ignorance will betray us into . but my animadversions on the history , and plus ultra , will convince any man of this assertion ; so that i need not transcribe the discourse about the sweating sickness , or what relates to the hero 's being worshipped with temples and altars . let our bravo boast as much as he please of what future reply i may expect , i know the grand questions there discussed , are never to be revived by him , except he make such an empty flourish as this is . 't is more easie to talk of falsifications , then to prove them : such virtuosi as he could do nothing , if they could not talk : this pretended experimental philosophy is degenerated into words , lyes , or stoln experiments . that i may give the world an instance of that impudence with which mr. glanvill demeans himself in this effort of a desperate ignorance , i shall set down what he replies to me about the deceitfulness of telescopes : the which point i have so demonstrated in opposition to every particular assertion of his , as 't is undenyable . i added , that if mr. crosse was in an error there , that i was sure mr. boyle was in the same : and i cited the place according to the latine edition which i had then onely by me . let us see upon what ground he built his confidence in this first instance by which he impugnes telescopes : why m. boyle complains , that when he went about to examine those appearances in the sun , called maculae , and faculae solares , he could not make the least discovery of them in many moneths , and yet other observators pretend to see them every day : yet doth mr. boyle professe that he neither wanted the conveniency of excellent telescopes , nor omitted any circumstance requisite to the enquiry . thus the animadverter ; and hence he is sure that mr. b. is in the same error with mr. c. that telescopes are fallacious . let this be an instance how this swaggerer quotes authors , and let the reader look into the place cited from mr. boyle : if he do so , he will see that that honorable person saith nothing there that tends to the proving the deceitfulness of telescopes much less that he believes them fallacious . i have not the latine translation of those essays , but in the second edition of the original english , i find the discourse to which mr. stubbe refers , p. 103. where the excellent author imputes it not to the glasses that he could not for several moneths see the maculae or faculae solares , but seems a little to blame those astronomers , who have so written of the spots and more shining parts , — as to make their readers to presume that at least some of them are almost always to be seen there , which he conjectured was occasioned by their so often meeting such phaenomena in the sun , [ ibid. ] . but these for many moneths our learned author could not discover by his telescopes not because of their fallaciousness , but because for so many moneths they appeared so much seldomer then it seems they did before . these are the words of that honorable gentleman [ ubi sup . ] and now how doth it appear hence that mr. boyle is in the same error about the deceitfulness of telescopes , with mr. cross ? is it sure that he thought those glasses fallacious , because he could not see the maculae and faculae in the sun , when they were not there ? what are we to expect from this man in reference to the other authors he cites , when he so grosly and impudently mis-reports so known a one of our own , who is yet alive , and sees how maliciously the caviller perverts him ? i shall examine his carriage to other writers in my next book ; and in that , shew that most of the arguments he brings to argue the fallaciousness of telescopes , prove only the diversity and changes of mediums , and of the celestial phaenomena , not the deceit of those glasses . ; ; i have repeated mr. glanvills words at large , that the solidity of my answer may appear : for 't is not my intention to abuse the reader with false citations , or amuse him with great confidence grounded upon a bare reference to an author which he hath not at hand : thus these virtuosi may prepossess the unwary into an ill opinion of their adversaries , whereas they that know them as well as i do , will suspend their assent till more diligent enquiry convince them . haveing informed my reader that this book , caesalpinus , sir h. savils lectures , and many others , have no index's , i proceed to repeat the entire discourse of mr. boyle out of the edition my antagonist follows , pag. 102 , 103. but to say no more of the contingent observations to be taken notice of in tryals medical , i could tell you that i have observed even mathematical writers themselves to deliver such observations as do not regularly hold true . for although it hath been looked upon as their priviledge and glory to affirm nothing but what they can prove by no less than demonstration ; and though they use to be more attentive and exact then most other men , in making almost any kind of philosophical observations ; yet the certainty and accurateness which is attributed to what they deliver , must be restrained to what they teach concerning those purely-mathematical disciplines , arithmetick and geometry , where the affections of quantity are abstractedly considered : but we must not expect from mathematicians the same accurateness when they deliver observations concerning such things wherein 't is not only quantity and figure , but matter and its other affections , that must be considered . and yet less must this be expected , when they deliver such observations as , being made by the help of material instruments , framed by the hands and tooles of men , cannot but in divers cases be subject to some , if not many imperfections upon their account . divers of the modern astronomers have so written of the spots and more shining parts , or ( as they call them ) faculae , that appear upon or about the sun , as to make their reader , presume , that at least some of them are almost always to be seen there . and i am willing to think , that it was their having so often met with such phaenomena in the sun , that made them to write as they did . and yet , when i first applyed my self to the contemplation of these late discoveries , though i wanted neither good telescopes , nor a dark room to bring the species of the sun into , yet it was not till after a great while , and a multitude of fruitless observations made at several times , that i could detect any of those solar spots , which having dured many moneths at least , appear'd so much seldomer then it seems they did before , that i remember a most ingenious professor of astronomy excellently well furnished with dioptrical glasses , did about that time complain to me , that for i know not how long he had not been able to see the sun spotted . and as for the faculae , which are written of as such ordinary phaenomena , i must profess to you , pyrophilus , that a multitude of observations made with good telescopes at several places and times , whil'st the sun was spotted , has scarce made me see above once any of the so look'd for brightnesses . and as the nature of the material object wherewith the mathematician is conversant , may thus deceive the expectations grounded on what he delivers ; so may the like happen by reason of the imperfection of the instruments , which he must make use of in the sensible observations whereon the mixt mathematicks , ( as astronomy , geography , opticks , &c. ) are in great part built . this is but too manifest in the disagreeing supputations that famous writers , as well modern as ancient , have given us of the circuit of the terrestrial globe , of the distance and bigness of the fixed stars , and some of the planets , nay and of the heighth of mountains : which disagreement , as it may oftentimes proceed from the different method , and unequal skill of the several observers , so it may in divers cases be imputed to the greater or less exactness and manageableness of the instruments employed by them . and on this occasion i cannot omit that sober confession and advertisement that i met with in the noble tycho , who having laid out , besides his time and industry , much greater sums of money on instruments , then any man we have heard of in latter times , deserves to be listned to on this theam ; concerning which , he hath ( among other things ) the following passage . facile , saith he , lapsus aliquis pene insensibilis in instrumentis etiam majoribus conficiendis subrepit , qui inter observandum aliquot scrupulorum primorum jacturam faciat ; insuper si ipse situs & tractandi modus non tam absoluta norma perficiatur ut nihil prorsus desideretur , intolerabilis nec facilè animadvertenda deviatio sese insinuat . adde quod instrumenta usu & aetate à primâ perfectione degenerent . nihil enim quod hominum manibus paratur ab omni mutatione immune undiquaque existit . organa enim ejusmodi nisi è solido metallo affabre elaborentur , mutationi aëreae obnoxiae sunt ; & si id quoque datur ut è metallicâ materiâ constent , nisi ingentia fuerint , divisiones minutissimas graduum non sufficienter exhibent , dúmque hoc praestant , suâ magnitudine & pondere seipse ita aggravant , ut facilè tum extra planum debitum aut figuram competentem dum circumducuntur declinent , tum etiam suâ mole intractabilia redduntur . quare magis requiritur in instrumentis astronomicis quae omni vitio careant construendis , artificium pari judicio conjunctum , quàm hactenùs à quamplurimis animadversum est . id quod nos ipse usus & longa docuit experientia , non parvo labore nec mediocribus sumptibus comparata . out of this discourse of mr. boyles , t is evident that he doth believe that mathematicians when they deale in those disciplines , which are not purely-mathematical , but consider matter with its figure , quantity , & other affections ' , are not so accurate & certain in what they converse with , as in those other parts of pure-mathematicks : and this is much lesse to be expected , when they deliver such observations as , being made by the help of material instruments framed by the hands and tooles of men , cannot but in divers cases be subject unto some , if not many imperfections upon their account . the assumption is easy , viz. but opticks are a part of the mixt mathematicks ; and the telescopes are material instruments framed by the hands and tooles of men , and consequently cannot but in divers cases be subject unto some , if not many imperfections : therfore in opticks , and about telescopes , mr. boyle doth not believe there is such a certainty as exempts us from fallacy : which is the thing now in question . to evince the deceitfulnesse in mixt-mathematicks , our iudicious author proceeds to instance in the spots and brightnesses related by scheiner , galileo , & zucchius &c. to be in the sunne : of which those writers pretend to be so assured by reiterated experiments , that they have described their number , figures , & determinate motion , which they most regularly observe . mr. b. finds himself disappointed upon inquiry , though made my good telescopes , and all other requisite circumstances observ'd . and many fruitlesse essayes passed , before he effected any part of his designe . he doth not say , they were not there : but that hee could not see them of a long time : nor did the phaenomenon then agree to the accounts of scheiner , ( whom zucchius doth justify by modern observations . ) and to what purpose was this discourse with pyrophilus , about the deceivableness of opticks , if he supposed his glasses true , and that the spots were absent at that time ? i profess i doe not understand the coherence of the introduction with what follows , if he meant as mr. glanvil imposeth on him . what hath the variation of the object to doe with this remarque of his ? are mixt-mathematicks & opticks deceitful , because the telescopes shew those maeulae & faculae in the sunne , when they are there , & omit them when they are not there ? are our eyes fallacious when they represent the object accordingly as it alters ? or would not any man argue hence for proof of their certainty . i have set down the passage faithfully , without changing an expression , as mr. glanvil does : and leave it to every mans tryal , if he can impose any other meaning on these words , then that either the telescopes of those other astronomers , or those of mr. b. were fallacious . if none can ; then is it true that he as well as mr. crosse did believe that opticks might deceive our judgements , & that telescopes were not so certain as mr. glanvil sayes they are : as for what mr. glanvil addes that he will shew that most of my objections to argue the fallaciousness of telescopes prove only the diversity and changes of the mediums and celestial phaenomena , not the deceit of those glasses , t is a vain rhodomontade , and not to be made good by one that is unacquainted with those studyes . it is undenyably true , that long telescopes shew more spots then the shorter : and that some telescopes doe take of those radiations which others doe continue : and t is no lefse manifest , that the most judicious men doe complain that the telescopes did deceive their adversaryes , as not being good , whilest theirs did represent at the same time the same object under a different phasis . i have demonstrated this so largely , that i need not pursue the discourse farther : and whosoever reads what i have written , will see that mr. glanvil mistook himself in saying indefinitely , that telescopes are as certain as our eyes : and that they alter the objects in nothing but their proportions . for this is false , except you limit the saying to some telescopes employed upon some objects ; and that here on earth . and if the ordinary telescopes ( against which i have alledged so many complaints ) were as certain as our eyes , how comes it to passe that so many men differ about the celestial phaenomena totally , betwixt whom there would be no disagreement about terrene objects . but if they were as certain as our eyes ( which i have demonstrated they are not here on earth ) yet the employing of that only sense would never assure us of what we see . i remember not long agoe two miles distant from any town , in a dark night i observed some thing on the ground that very much resembled a glow-worme , but the light was not so pale , and the body seemed a little bigger . being surprised at this unusual sight , i lighted from my horse , and found the supposed glow-worme to be a piece of lighted touch-wood , which through the bedewed grasse had deluded me , a baker having sate down there to smoak a pipe . i did then call to mind that saying of galileo , that notwithstanding all our telescopes , t will be more easy for us to conceive that which is not in the moon , then that which is . but i leave the reader to compare both our writings , and judge how satisfactory his answers are ; and how foolishly he now defends the letter of his plus ultra . i will not anticipate my compleat answer by insisting upon any more passages of this nature : i adde only that i did long agoe request of mr. glanvil , that he would not give me any trouble by multiplying of lies ; for though i knew that the refutation of them would be to my advantage against him , yet i had too much busyness amidst my practice to pursue it . but neither his duty to god , nor regard to the ministry ( which suffers in him ) could restrain him from these exorbitances . he hath promised to be my vassal and victime , if he doe not prove all he sayes against me : yet l have demonstrated to the r. s. under a notaries hand , that my head is not red ; though he say it . and whereas he abuseth me for styling my self in one book , physitian to his majesty in the island of jamaica ; l was honoured with that title by the king , and as such received 200 lb. at my goeing thither , his majesty being graciously pleased to specify in the warrant ( preserved in the signet-office ) that he intended me for his physitian there . i have collected several more untruths in my answer , & intend to demand the performance of his so solemn promise : if he fail not of his word , i will take care he shall live better , preach better , and write better . one lye i must now take notice of briefly , and t is this , that mr. crosse did hire me to oppose our ecebolius ; and by treating me at bathe , and entertaining me divers times at his house with deare welcome , gain'd a person to his rescue , who before contemned him . i doe profess in the first place that my tongue was never guilty of those expressions he sets down . i never call'd him old — nor said i would rescue the poor fellow . i did say that i would rescue in great part the poor old man. and that he had been as it were asleep , or buried for these 30 or 40 years in the country , and knew not the transactions of the learned world . neither doth he pretend thereto , as our ignorant virtuoso does . but this doth not diminish that respect which is due to him as a divine , and as such , not unlearned . i have heard the b. of chester give him a much greater character then mr. glanvil allows him : and t is notoriously known how eminent his repute was at lincolne college , and what esteem many honorable and understanding persons have for him . i adde , that he neither hired me , nor treated me at bathe , except with one or two bottles of wine ( for i did not dine with him , ) nor was i ever but once at his house , where the entertainment was such as the village affoorded , and my unexpected coming permitted : and then was the book finished and almost all printed . i never had the least present from him in my life : nor did i see his book till mine was all finished , except what relates to the world in the moon , & a voyage thither , of which mr. glanvil writes nothing now , nor informs us where those wings are to be bought that may supply so much as the flying coaches . i found that most of mr. crosses book was personall , and i did not understand what to conclude about so different reports as i met with about that conference , till hee , in whose house it was informed me , that all mr glanvill said was not true : and i am not yet convinced by the certificate , how it was possible for those to warrant the exactnesse & sincerity of the relation , since that the meeting was impremeditated ; the discourse without designe , & desultory , & interrupted by others that were there , and hath received much of inlargement in the writing beyond what was there spoken . but i leave that to their consciences , which if they beare any proportion to that of m r glanvills , neither shall m r crosse , nor i , suffer in our reputation for any thing that such persons utter , or certify . upon occasion of what ecebolius sayth concerning the mercenarinesse of my penne , & that i was hired to this performance : i shall say in vindication of severall others , that i was neither at first put upon the work , nor hired thereunto by any . what mr glanvill sayth mr crosse engaged me unto , dr merrett sayth the apothecaryes did bribe me to undertake : but there is as litle truth in what that virtuoso relates , as in the reports of the rectour of bathe . others of the r. s. have told it publiquely , that i was incited unto it by severall reverend and learned persons in the universityes . but neither did any one there know of it , till i had undertaken the worke , & writ some of it . i first acquainted the r. s. and after that , had printed & shewed some papers to their president , before i divulged them in either university : so that nothing of that report can bee true , except the virtuosi doe apprehend , that the approbation & reception of my papers have met with all are demonstrations that i was put upon it : whereas this doth rather evince the generall odium they have drawne upon themselves ; and i could wish they would endeavour effectually to remove those umbrages , in which i placed my cheifest strength ; & i did presume to finde all intelligent persons my abettours , but i tooke my measures from their common interest , aud not from any speciall assurances given unto me . there is another reverend person so unfortunate as to suffer by their malicious intimations , as if hee had hired me to the undertaking , because hee was so unhappy as upon another occasion to present me lately with a piece of plate . there is not any course which i see these virtuosi will not pursue thereby to ruine me : t will bee a conspiracy against the r. s. shortly for any one to employ me as a physician ; and each fee will be reported as a bribe , and the donor esteemed as an enemy to the experimentall philosophers . this is the method they now take , & thereby imagine they shall deprive me of all commerce or correspondence with persons of quality and interest . how generous & brave these contrivances are , how becoming the name of a royall society , how suitable rather to a company of poltrons ; i leave to the judgement of all mankinde . it may not be amisse here to professe that respect for the royall society which doth become me : i doe avow all just esteeme for the institution ; though i cannot rise so high in its commendation , as the historian : i think it might have added to the glory of his majesty , and beene of great advantage to learning , had the designes of the royall founder , and those persons of honour which joyn'd with it , been diligently & prudently pursued . their purpose being at first , to make faithfull records of all the works of nature or art , which can come within their reach : that so the present age , and posterity , might be able to put a mark on the errours , which have beene strengthned by long prescription : to restore the truthes , that have laine neglected ; to push on those which are already known , to more various uses : and to make the way more passable to what remaines unrevealed . it was never my intention to detract from the laudable purposes of my prince , nor to derogate from those of quality who were honorary members of it : nor to enterfere with any learned men in it . but if a sort of comedians under pretense thereof , doe overthrow that education which is necessary to the church & monarchy , undermine the established religion , and insult over the faculty of physitians ; i hope it will never prejudice me in the favour of any patriot here to interpose my selfe : nor will any serious man interpret the greatest testimonies i can render of my loyalty , conformity , and peaceableness , for so many demonstrations of the malignity of my temper , hypocrisy , and sinister designes . i have offered to desist several times , would they but make such a declaration as the publication of their history , and mr. glanvils books , hath made necessary . if they will force me to extend the quarrel beyond seas , and acquaint forraigners with the abuses that have been put upon them by a fabulous description of the r. s. if i must protest against this sort of virtuosi ; that the nation is not to be valued by their abilityes , or performances : t is their default , not any contentiousness in me . would they be pleased to contribute what they ought to the repose and tranquillity of the kingdome , i can tell how to employ my idle minutes in more pleasing studyes , and such as shall have lesse of personal hazard and disquiet then what i now attend on . a letter to dr. henry more , in answer to that he writ and printed in mr. glanvil's book . sir , i profess that i read with a more than usual surprise your printed letter . i wondered at the contents , and that you should publish any thing of that nature without giving me notice of it : the long acquaintance i have had with you , the respect wherewith i mention you , and the place i hold in the esteem of a family which you honour , should have moved you to a more civil procedure : and i must reckon this deportment as a new ethicks , which if your enchiridion teach , the world will not be much obliged by the author . when i was busie in animadverting upon the history of the r. s. and mr. glanvil , you happened to be at ragley ; and upon some incidental discourse about the virtuosi , i asked of you how you could adhere to them , since they had published such passages in their writings as did overthrow our religion ? that all your ethicks would signifie as little as those disputative ones of aristotle and the stoicks , if that a mechanical education would supply in some part the usual morality , and have a surer effect in the composing and purifying of our thoughts , than all the rigid precepts of the stoical , or empty distinctions of the peripatetick moralists : that , if to pass an hard censure on the religions of all other countries , be dishonorable ; certainly you were extreamly to blame who had writ so much , and so severely against popery : that , if the mechanical and corpuscularian hypothesis deserve credit , all your late documents about the world , that its phaenomena were vital , and not mechanical , must be grosly erroneous . after the exchange of some such words , you call'd for the history it self , and determined to read it more exactly over than you had formerly : and as you perused it , you affixed several marks ( as 't is your custom ) to the sides of the book with your leaden pencil , according as you approved , or disliked them : the book is yet to be feen in the library there , and the passages i animadvert upon are there condemned by you : you , your self , was pleased particularly to shew me the place , pag. 312. and to censure it , according to what i say , and indeed as became franciscus paleopolitanus to do . i told you that mr. glanvil did inform the world , that we might be secure that the r.s. would no way endanger religion , since so many pious clergy-men were members of that body ; amongst which , dr. h. more is recounted : but now it was apparent , that , notwithstanding those venerable and worthy ecclesiasticks , our fears were not so panick and causeless , as the rector of bathe reputeth of them . i urged you to renounce the r. s. and employ a preface of your next edition of the enchiridion ethicum against the history : you expressed much of dis-satisfaction with the history , and extenuated your admission into that society , by laying it on the violent perswasions of others ; adding , that you seldom came there , though in london ; and did not pay any of those contributions which are usual in the members thereof . i confess , i was so vain after such discourses , as to think that you might be wrought upon to testifie in print your dissent , and you must pardon me if i expected no less from a man who pretends to such an uninteressed piety and zeal , as dr. h. more . but i now perceive the injustice of that opinion , that you are , as other men , deceivable : you will rather not be a christian , then no platonist ; you will abandon truth , to gratifie your passion ; and to preserve your zany , most barbarously endeavour to destroy your friend . all i said of you , is this , dr. moor , albeit a member of this society heretofore ( for he allows nothing to it now ) yet a pious one , professeth , that this mechanical philosophy doth lead to atheism : neither would he approve of those deductions as necessary , but ridiculous , when i upbraided him lately with that non-sensical and illiterate history . — these are the words that so exasperated you , and raised in an hypochondiac such fumes as to blinde his reason . i say , that you were a member heretofore of the r. s. but allow nothing to it now ; meaning thereby , that in declining the weekly contributions , you seemed to have relinquished it ; but i say not that you had formally left it . and you had this sense upon your thoughts , when you made that harsh reflection upon me ; yet with that mental reservation , which would better have become a jesuit , you urge me with that sense , which the conclusion will seem to sound unto all men at the first reading . was not this candidly done , when your memory ( not half so treacherous as your heart ) could tell you what i otherwise meant , and had discoursed of unto you , and which was not grosly false . neither is that a gross mistake in me , that you charge me withall in the second place . it is a gross mistake in him , that he looks upon that mechanick philosophy which i oppose , to be the philosophy which the royal society doth profess , or would support . — impudence it self never uttered a greater untruth , and it had better become mr. glanvill , then dr. more . i appeal to the history , which how authentick it is , i have elsewhere shewed ; & 't is evident that the r. s. have not , nor will be brought to renounce it ; and since the authors thereof may be presumed to understand the principles of the virtuosi , better then franciscus palaeopolitanus , and are secretaries of that body , 't were folly not to believe them , but to enquire at bathe , or in the philosophical bower , what the royal society profess . dr. wren produced before the society , an instrument to represent the effects of all sorts of impulses , made between two hard globous bodies , either of equal or of different bigness , and swiftness , following or meeting each other ; or the one moving , the other at rest . from these varieties arose many unexpected effects ; of all which , he demonstrated the true theories , after they had been confirmed by many hundreds of experiments in that instrument . these he proposed as the principles of all demonstrations in natural philosophy : nor can it seem strange , that these elements should be of such universal use ; if we consider that generation , corruption , alteration , and all the vicissitudes of nature , are nothing else but the effects arising from the meeting of little bodies , of differing figures , magnitudes , and velocities . — this paragraph doth not indeed confine supernatural productions to the rules of mechanism : but as for all the ordinary phaenomena of the universe , and particularly those of generation , corruption , alteration , they are said to be nothing else but the effects arising from the meeting of little bodies , of differing figures , magnitudes , and velocities ; and the principles of all demonstrations in natural philosophy , are recommended unto us to be deduced from such theories . out of which it is manifest , that they suppose not onely that the material part of every thing in the corporeal universe is body , or corpuscularian , but that the vicissitudes and phaenomena occurring therein , even in the generation of man , are the result of corpuscles moving mechanically : for if it be not granted , that every part of the corporeal universe , or this great aggregate of bodies , do move in certain lines , according to the determinate figures thereof , and that without the particular concourse of an immaterial incorporeal being , putting such corpuscles into this or that particular motion , and continuing it therein mechanically , then doth the whole systeme of the mechanical philosophy falls to the ground ; and the demonstrations cease to be any longer such . the very word mechanism imports thus much : it being an allusion to the conformation of machines , wherein each part contributes to the effect according to its scituation , size , and the geometrical proportion it bears to the other parts , of which the machine is composed : and if the machine do not produce its effect entirely , by vertue of such a geometrical frame , we do not say that the phaenomenon is mechanical . thus the motion of a water , or clock , when it ariseth from its fabrick purely , then it is mechanical : but when a man doth winde it up , 't is not a mechanical motion , except it do also appear that man is also a machine , and that what he operates at that time , is purely mechanical . i would not insist upon this argument from the denomination of the philosophy , if it were not manifest that they that profess it , did not desire to be understood so : for the whole hypothesis of the cartesians doth depend hereon : and sir k. digby , in his vegetation of plants ( a discourse made in the r. s. ) as well as in his other books , proceeds on these grounds : nor do they , or any mechanical philosophers , demand any more than that god should at first create matter in such a quantity , such parts , and such motions , thereby to folve all the phaenomena of nature , without specificating forms , plastick virtues , or his particular concourse to the action , or production in an immaterial way . thus the floating corpuscles of salt or nitre , are mechanically , or by the geometrical necessity of their own figures and motions , together with the impulse of other corpuscles in the air , liquor , or vessel , acting in the same geometrical subordination of causes , precipitated and sized into their peculiar crystals of salt and nitre : thus plants are said to be generated , and the actions of animals produced , and all the vicissitudes of nature to be nothing else . and i am willing to allow your quibble , that this is the mechanical belief of credulity ; but you must not go about to perswade me , that this is not also that philosophy which is properly mechanical , and which your historian doth assert : you understand not the state of the question , nor what you have done , or you prevaricate when you fay , that the mechanical philosophy you oppose , is such a mechanical one as professeth , that matter having such a quantity of motion as it has , would contrive it self into all the phaenomena we see in nature . for these philosophers do not ascribe prudence or contrivance unto matter , or say that matter can operate upon , or alter it self , being both agent and patient , but that god hath so altered the world , and so contrived matter and its motions , that it runs into all these phanomena by a geometrical necessity arising from the fabrick . and upon this philosophy you spend your arguments , and enlarge into this censure . dr. more 's censure of the cartesian and mechanical philosophy . after he had exploded the cartesian philosophy , by the name of not onely purely mechanical , but of the mechanick philosophy , which professeth the mechanical deduction of causes in the explication of the phaenomena of the world , by an hypothesis as close and necessary , as mathematical sequels : after he had charactered des-cartes for a person of the greatest-wit ( for the extraordinary handsome semblance he makes of deducing all the phaenomena he has handled a necessarily and mechanically , and for hitting on the more immediate material causes of things to an high probability ) and of the greatest folly that ever yet trod the stage of this earth : and he reputes him so egregious a fool , because he is so credulous , as not only to believe that he has necessarily and purely mechanically solved all the phaenomena he has treated of in his philosophy and meteors , but also that all things else may be so solved , the bodies of plants and animals not excepted . after he had pretended to have demonstrated not only that des cartes-mistook about gravity , but that all mechanical solutions thereof are impossible , it being so manifestly repugnant to the confessed laws of mechanicks . the dialogue is thus continued . hyl. it is very true . cuph. that may seem a demonstration for the present , which to posterity will appear a meer sophistical knot , and they will easily see to loose it . bath . i believe by the help of some new-improved microscopes . philop. nay , but in good earnest , o cuphophron , ( if you will excuse my freedom of speech ) though i have not that competency of judgement in philosophical matters , yet i cannot but deem you an over-partial mechanist , that are so devoted to the cause , as not to believe demonstration against it , till mechanicks be farther improved by posterity . it is as if one would not believe the first book of euclid , till he had read him all over , and all other mathematical writers besides . for this phaenomenon of gravity is one of the simplest that is , as the first book of euclide one of the easiest . not to adde what a blemish it is to a person otherwise so moral and virtuous , to seem to have a greater zeal for the ostentation of the mechanical wit of men , then for the manifestation of the wisdom of god in nature . sophr. excellently well spoken , o philopolis . as in water face answers to face , so the heart of man to man. you have spoken according to the most inward sense and touch of my very soul concerning this matter . for i have very much wondered at the devotedness of some mens spirits to the pretense of pure mechanism in the solving of the phaenomena of the universe , who yet otherwise have not been of less pretensions to piety and vertue . of which mechanick pronity , i do not see any good tendency at all . for it looks more like an itch of magnifying their own , or other mens wit , then any desire of glorifying god in his wise and benign contrivances in the works of nature ; and cuts off the most powerful and most popular arguments for the existence of a deity , if the rude career of agitated matter would at last necessarily fall into such a structure of things . indeed , if such a mechanical necessity in the nature of matter were really discoverable , there were no help for it : and the almighty seeks no honor from a man's lye. but their attempts being so frustraneous , and the demonstrations to the contrary so perspicuous , it is a marvel to me , that any men that are virtuously and piously disposed , should be so partially and zealously affected , in a cause that hath neither truth , nor any honest vsefulness in it . out of all which , as 't is evident , that you understood by mechanical the fame thing that i do , viz. a geometrical way of explaining of the phaenomena of nature , according to matter and motion : so it is no less evident , that you do absolutely explode it as having neither truth , nor any honest vsefulness in it . and it is no less manifest , that you do oppose herein that philosophy which the r. s. do profess and would support : as appears by that passage i animadverted upon in their history . had not some base ends , some particular indulgence to your zany , malice against me , or inclinations to gratifie some of the virtuosi , transported you , you would never have writ as you do now . i fay , that you have refuted that philosophy which proceeds upon pure mechanism , in opposition to what the royal society lays down in their history . view but your antithesis , and blush at your ignorance iu logick . it is a gross mistake in him , that hee looks upon that mechanick philosophy which i oppose , to be the philosophy which the royal society doth profess , or would support . it were happy for you , if the world thought you distracted , and that bedlam , not cambridge , were the place of your residence . i say , you oppose that philosophy which the royal society lays down in their history . you neither deny the truth of my allegation out of the history , nor that they owned it ever : but tell me , that 't is not the philosophy which the royal society doth profess , or would support ; if the history be owned by them , they do profess it ; if they do not , what you fay is not contradictory to my averment . less of plato , less of mathematicks ( yet have you not much thereof ) and more of aristotles logick , would have prevented this , and a thousand other mistakes in your writings . what i do animadvert upon , is the assertion at least of dr. sprat , and his assistants : your puppet saith , that geometry is so fundamentally useful a science , that without it , we cannot in any good degree understand the artifice of the omnipotent architect in the composure of the great world , and our selves . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , was the excellent saying of plato ; and the vniverse must be known , by the art whereby it was made . — i do not know what can be more positive then this , that god is an omnipotent architect , and that he made the world by geometry . 't is news indeed , that creation should be a geometrical procedure : but he is inconsiderate in his assertions , aud consequently the fitter for your esteem . but i adde , that dr. j. wallis in his discourse about motion , gives this definition of mechanism : mechanicen appello , geometriam de motu , & per mechanicen eam geometriae partem intelligimus , quae motum tractat , atque geometricis rationibus , & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , inquirit , quâ vi quisque motus peragatur . this definition , as well as the book , hath met with general approbation in the r. s. and agreeable thereunto , that philosophy is mechanical , which proceeds to salve the phaenomena by a geometrical deduction of mechanical causes : such 't is that you oppose ; but that which you assert , and would insinuate for the r. s. as if it were also mechanical , doth not deserve the name of mechanism : you equivocate therein , as you do in all this enterprise against me : and when you seem in your wits , you do deny the conduct of the world to be mechanical . viz. the primordials of the world are not mechanical , but spermatical or vital ; not made by rubbing and filing , and turning and shaving , as in a turner's or black-smith's shop , but from some universal principle of inward life and motion , containing in it the seminal forms of all things , which therefore the platonists and pythagoreans call the great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the world. — can any man read these passages , and imagine that dr. more would be esteemed an abettor of mechanical philosophy , and not an opposer of it . i think i may securely acquiesce in my citations , since they are so well grounded : but to shew that there is nothing secure from the attempts of impudence , or the ignorance of some of these virtuosi , give me leave to represent unto you the following words . i believe indeed most of us , i am sure my self does conceive , that generation , corruption , alteration , and all the vicissitudes of corporeal nature , are nothing else but unions and dissolutions ( i will adde also , formations and deformations ) of little bodies or particles of differing figures , magnitudes , and velocities . but this thus bounded is not the mechanick philosophy , but part of the old pythagorick , or mosaick philosophy , so far as i can see by any history . so that 't is very unskilfully done of your antagonist , to bring me in as opposing , or clashing with the royal society in a thing of this great consequence , and so to make them patrons of that , which neither sound philosophy , nor true religion can allow . — dr. more , i have been heretofore friendly unto you , i shall not give you now the advise of an adersary ; but haste into the state of silence , or henceforward crust over the present vehicle of your soul with the habit of a mad man , and attire your self in that guise whensoever you come into company . i dare swear not one of eminence in the r. s. will own this philosophy at all ; and not any , that 't is mechanical . your formations and deformations are two canting terms , equal to any of the peripateticks , and becoming hippocrates , plato , or severinus danus , and not a virtuoso . here is not one word to tell us wherein the geometry of the omnipotent architect doth consist , nor how those unions and dissolutions are performed . what will dr. wrens hypothesis about the rules and measures of motion signifie in your systeme ? what goodly principles of demonstrations in natural philosophy will there be , when an immaterial deity , acting by the power of his will , or a spirit of nature must bear a part in the deductions ? but where is my unskilfulness in bringing you in as opposite to the r. s. you tell me what you conceive , and what you believe they do : but since , you do not make the last evident against my presumptions , and the letter of the history ; 't is unskilfulness in you to conclude so peremptorily , and not to reminde that caution i gave to such virtuosi as you , to forbear all conjunctions causal , or illative . i now haste to that remark with which you conclude this passage , viz. that neither any sound philosophy , nor true religion can allow of that hypothesis , which though it allow the creation , solves all the phaenomena of nature mechanically . they are redevable to you for this letter ; and your vindication of them , signifies as much as when you talk of the learning and eloquence of dr. sprat ; or the parts , judgement and vertue of mr. glanvill . your last exception against me , is , that i should say , you did not approve of those deductions of dr. sprat , as necessary , but ridiculous . i shall recite your words , because as serious as the case is , i can approve of them as ridiculous . which deductions , says your antagonist , i would not approve of as necessary , but ridiculous : truely , if i had said so , i should have made my self ridiculous ; for how could i approve of deductions , especially in so serious a point , as , or quatenùs ridiculous ? for there is no man , let him be never so pious , unless he be a fool , that can approve of deductions for their being ridiculous in so serious a cause . but it seems he having a mind to monopolize all the wit in the world to himself , is content to repute me for pious , so he may remonstrate me to all the world to be a fool , and such as he may play the fool withal , as he has done in all this page you have pointed unto me . — i might here excuse the wording of that passage by my own haste , and the disorders which happened in the printing , the sense intended by me , being , that you did not approve those deductions to be necessary , but esteemed them as ridiculous : and that this was my purpose , is so manifest , that all that you say is but the cavil of an angry hypocondriack ; and who is also so ignorant , as not to know there is a sort of zeugma , wherein the latter part of the sentence is not construed , nor related with the preceding verb , but depends upon another , which is to be understood according as the sense requires . this , and much more you will learn in greek and latine , when you and some others of the r. s. are provided of an able school-master . i meet with very evil retributions for all my kindness to some of your friends ; that motion for to supply you with an able antiquary and grammarian , might have become the best of your adherents ; had it been mentioned sooner , and the proposal took effect , h. o. and mr. glanvill , dr sprat , dr merret , had you , and not committed such childish errours , as you runne now into . but , you grant you might approve of those deductions as smooth & plausible , though not as necessary , but something of a lubricous and doubtfull aspect : but you know very well , you could not approve of them as ridiculous . here then , most argute hypochondriack , lyes the question , whether it be possible for a man to approve of any passage as ridiculous where the subject is serious ? and for the proofe hereof i do referre my selfe to all that have read hudybras , whither serious subjects are not there debated by such deductions , as any man will approve of as ridiculous , but not as serious . i have in the cabbala , which you so admire , read a thousand deductions which i could approve of as ridiculous . such is the gematria of shilo expounded to be the messiah , because the letters of both words make up the same numbers 358. such is that jewish argument of the worlds being created in september related in schickard ; that every mans soule must animate three bodyes , is prettily proved in that adam's name consists of three letters in the hebrew , viz. a. d. m. & from those three letters t is likewise demonstrated that the soul of adam must animate david , and the messiah , because that after a follows d. and then m. and s. cyprian's reason is no lesse pleasant , when he proves that adam was made up out of the four quarters of the earth , because the initial letters of the foure quarters of the world in greek doe make up his name ? 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . in your works , dr. more , especially your cabbala i can finde an infinity of passages which upon no other account gain my approbation . they are pleasant instances of folly disporting in paralogismes . you collect out of des cartes and other philosophers what your phansy approves , & this you represent for a mosaical cabbala , and prove it thus , in the expounding of moses , i think i may lay this down for a safe principle , that there is no considerable truth in nature or divinity , that moses was ignorant of , and so if it be found agreeable to this text [ by any distortion ] i may very well attribute it to him . at least the divine wisdome wherewith moses was inspir'd , prevents all the inventions of men. having laid down this principle whatever chimaeras the imagination of des cartes furnished you with , or the mysterious non-sense of the platonists and pythagoreans , you presently impose upon the sacred text , and demonstrate them thus . — hee that is but a little acquainted with french philosophy understands the business plainly . as in case of the celestial matter ; — for the celestial matter doth consist of two plainly distinguishable parts , to wit the first element , and the second , or the matcria subtilissima , & the round particles , as i have already ready intimated out of des cartes . — thus for the waters above which are mentioned in genesis ; these are the seminal formes : the pythagoreans called them naides or water-nymphs . where for the watery powers ( as porphyrius also calls these nymphs ) it is not at all harsh to conceive , that they may be here indigitated by the name of vpper-waters . see porphyrius de antro nympharum . are not these goodly deducations ? all you say there almost from mee gaines no more then the approbation of ridiculous . but i thinke it highly concernes the church and magistrate to put a stoppe to the further publication of such extravagancies , whereby the authority of the scripture is disparaged , and only a truth of appearance allowed to the scripture , whilest the platonicks and pythagoreans are avowed to retaine the true sense and hypothesis of the creation . thus you remove at once the credit of the scripture and whole church , and by giving so great advantages to the pythagoreans and platonists , endanger the rejection of the whole bible in comparison of that philosophy , which is the most ridiculous of all , and the most opposite to christianity . instead of the law and the prophets , you alledge pythagoras , plotinus , porphyrius , and i may justly retort upon you , habes pythagoram pro mose , pro prophetis platonem , pro paulo porphyrium . methinks the mention of porphyrius should fill you with horrour : no man ever writ so bitterly against the christian religion : thirty fathers , are said to have writ against him ; his books were every where destroyed by them , nor had this antrum nympharum been transmitted to us , but that an unhappy casualty preserved it under the name of malchus : the fathers , eusebius , theodoret , and s. jerome speak not of him but with detestation : quibus religio fuisse videtur nomen porphyrii absque execratione proponere : and when the christian emperours would make the arians compleatly odious , they commanded them to be called porphyriani . he was either the author or encourager of the persecutions under diocletian and decius : that party were the worst adversaries that ever christianity had : those names you reverence are no other then hierocles , iamblicus , amelius and plotinus . t was that pythagorical philosophy which gave encouragement to the ethnick idolatry and magick : t was that philosophy whereby julian the apostate did justify paganisme , and those of that sect were principally caressed by him above any peripateticks or stoicks , as maximus , priscus , and chrysanthius . eâ de causa platonicis vacabat julianus , quia ejusmodi philosophia faciebat ad genios , ad sacrificia , aruspicinum , auguralia , quorum omnium fuit studiosissimus . that pestilent pythagorisme produced those sects of simonians , valentinians , marcionists , gnosticks , maniches ; and what troubles origon did oecasion in the church , what divisions and heresies issued from him , and his way of expounding scripture , is a thing so notorious upon record , that i am amazed to see that dr. more 's works should meet with a licencer , and not rather the author , and his zany glanvil sinke under ecelesiastical censures . the commendations by which you in the conelusion of the philosophick cabbala endeare pythagoras and his followers to the esteem of all men , are such as may betray the unwary to believe them true : though to ascertain you one thing , i believe never did man more abuse history , argue worse , or lesse understand what he said , then you doe . and t was upon that consideration i gave you the elogy of pious , but not of learned : this was the matter that exasperated you ; to be pious , was no character for a virtuoso ; to undeceive the world herein you resolved to turne lyer ; i did not without some scruple give you that other title : i doe now recal it . you wonder that any man of piety and virtue should own the mechanick philosophy , it being such as no true religion can allow of : yet have jugled in favou of them that doe , and endeavoured to oppose him that had with so much peril contested therewith . you mention with praise for virtue and learning those that have asserted it . i shall here represent unto the world your harangue in behalf of des-cartes . the ummannerly superstition of many is such , that they will give more to an accustomed opinion , which they have either taken up themselves , or hath been conveyed unto them by the confidence of some private theologer , then to the authority of either fathers , churches , workers of miracles , or what is best of all , the most solid reasons that can be propounded ; which if they were capable of , they could not take offense at my admittance of the cartesian philosophy into this present cabbala . the principles , and the more notorious conclusions thereof , offering themselves fo , freely , and unaffectedly , and so aptly and fittingly taking their place in the text , that i knew not how with judgement and conscience to keep them out . for i cannot but furmise , that he has happily and unexpectedly light upon that , which will prove a true restauration of that part of the mosaical philosophy , which is ordinarily called natural , and in which pythagoras may be justly deemed to have had no small insight . and that des-cartes may bear up in some likely equipage , with the fore-named noble and divine spirits , though the unskilfulness of men commonly acknowledge more of supernatural assistance in hot unsetled fancies , and perplexed melancholy , then in the calm and distinct use of reason ; yet for mine own part ( but not without submission to better judgements ) i should look upon des-cartes as a man more truly inspired in the knowledge of nature , then any that have professed themselves so this sixteen hundred years : and being even ravished with admiration of his transcendent mechanical inventions for the solving the phaenomena of the world , i should not stick to compare him with bezaleel and aholiab , those skilful and cunning workers of the tabernacle ; who , as moses testifies , were filled with the spirit of god , and they were of an excellent understanding to finde out all manner of curious works . nor is it any more argument , that des cartes was not inspired , because he did not say he was , then that others are inspired , because they say they are : which to me is no argument at all . but the suppression of what s● happened , would argue much more sobriety and modesty , when as the profession of it with sober men , would be suspected for some spice of melancholy and distraction ; especially in natural philosophy , where the grand pleasure is the evidence and exercise of reason ; not a bare belief , or an ineffable sense of life , in respect whereof , there is no true christian but he is inspired . i desire you would compare this passage with that censure which you fix upon the whole cartesian philosophy in your divine dialogues , and tell me , how you will avoid the imputation of levity and instabilitie of judgement ? how will you reconcile two so different sentiments ? that he is inspired in the knowledge of nature ; and that he is a prodigy of folly : that he hath not demonstrated any one phaenomenon in nature to be purely mechanical , but hath failed every where : and , that he is to be compared ( in your judgement ) to bezaliel and aholiab , for his transcendent mechanicall inventions , whereby to solve the phaenomena of the world. i am confident the world will condemn you with blasphemy for that comparison betwixt those inspired artisans , and your des cartes : that they were inspired , the scripture assures you ; you have not so much as probability to esteem so of the other ; yet do you not stick to compare them , and him. you cannot but surmise that cartesianism will prove a true restauration of that part of mosaical philosophy , which is ordinarily called naturall : you know not how , with judgement and conscience , to exclude his principles out of that cabbala of yours , which you advance so much above the letter of the sacred word of god , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 transcendeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or reality exceeds appearance . consider dr. moor , consider whom you thus celebrated : a man so infamous for , and impudent in his lusts , that he makes no other apology for his transgressions of that kinde , then that he had not vowed chastity ? so impious in his metaphysicks , that he was condemn'd by the reformed universities in harderwick and vtrecht , as a pestilent writer : and his whole philosophy prohibited to be taught or defended in leyden and herborne . take notice what character you have imposed on the papists , and remember withall , that des cartes your alumbrado , is of that number . i must protest unto you , that the serious animadversion upon these passages of yours , makes me scrupulous how to allow dr. more the attribute of pious : and my doubts multiply upon me , when i observe that you deduce your cabbala from the pythagoreans , and relie more on the mysteries of their members , then the plain text , and authority of the universal church . you dignifie pythagoras so far as to ascribe unto him a power of working miracles , as moses and the succeeding prophets did ; which skill ( dare you to call it skill ! ) empedocles , epimenides , and abaris having got , they grew so famous , that empedocles was sir-named alexanemus ; epimenides , cathartes ; and abaris , aethrobates , from the power they had in suppressing storms and winds , in freeing cities from the plague , and in walking aloft in the air : which skill inabled pythagoras to visit his friends after that manner at metapontium , and tauromenium in one and the same day . you represent plato as a divine man for knowledge , and vertue : though it appear otherwise in the records of his life : and plotinus must be sainted , though he were a magician , though he stiled christianity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and blamed origen for defending it . good god! how far doth prejudice transport you ? how different are your sentiments concerning those men , from what the fathers , and the most authentick records of history , relate about them ? those that you almost idolize , were no others then idolaters and sorcerers ; and julian the apostate is redevable unto dr. more , for assigning them a better qualification . thus plotinus and dr. more ; porphyrius and glanvill , are mutually ingratiated ; and the creation better explained by the allegories of the platonists , then the mosaical writings in genesis . i finde that simplicius denies the scripture to be of divine authority , becaufe it is erroneous about the original of the world : 't is granted by our cabbalists ! and if we extenuate the assertions of gods word , from concluding in matters of natural philosophy , and astronomy , how shall we any longer reject the alcoran , and talmud , for errors therein ? with what justice shall we deny them the benefit of that excuse , which we make use of our selves ? but i finde my self to enlarge beyond the designes of a letter : i beseech you , sir , to follow that advise i have heretofore suggested unto you ; consult books , and not your phansy ; enquire better into the foundations of the cabbala , and the repute you give to the pythagorical philosophy : you will finde after a better scrutiny , then your narrow reading as yet qualifies you for , that your confidence is but weakly supported , and that upon prejudicate opinions you desert the sacred text , and obtrude upon us your own conceits for mosaical ; and with greater impudence then any jew , you obtrude for such what you never received as such : and lay down this extravagant position : in the expounding of moses , i think i may lay down this for a safe principle , that there is no considerable truth in nature or divinity , that moses was ignorant of ; and so if it be agreeable his text , i may attribute it unto him . at least the divine wisdom wherewith moses was inspired , prevents all the inventions of men. — by this rule , it is impossible for any thing considerable to be newly invented : neither need we contest with the virtuosi whether one of them , or a peripatetick were author of this or that ; 't is certain moses was acquainted with every thing considerable , and the spirit of god , which inspired him , doth prevent all the discoveries of men. thus you attribute to moses the opinion that the earth is a planet . for , as i have elsewhere intimated , moses has been before-hand with cartesius . the ancient patriarchs having had wit , and by reason of their long lives leisure enough , to invent as curious and subtile theorems in philosophy , as ever any of their posterity could hit upon , besides what they might have had by tradition from adam . — most excellently argued , a posse ad esse . thus you make the three elements of des cartes to be plainly distinguishable parts in the matter first created . and when you write again , the elasticity of the air , and its ponderousness , will at least become ingredients in your cabbala ; and the authors are obliged unto you , if you do not attribute the barometer , thermometer , and air-pump , &c. unto the first patriarchs , who had so much wit and leisure . did ever madness arise to such a heighth ? or was there any man who more grosly transformed scripture into a nose of wax . sir , you will pardon me for being earnest with you in a case of such importance : i would believe you , but that in so doing , i should dissent from god almighty . i was inclined to believe you were an hypocondriack , and that your opinions were not the result of your judgment , but of your temperament ; but you have no intervals : and in the explication of your preexistence , you make the bible not your rule , but pretence : and what you have asserted and consented unto in the church , you regard not in comparison of the pythagorical tenets . give me leave to tell you , that where the foundations of government are dissolved , there can be no piety . our laws oblige you to the 39 articles ; and they to the scripture : if such glosses be put upon them , 't is in vain to expect that any thing can binde , or that the act of vniformity can take place : it is much better that such as you were cast out of the church , then continued in ; and an open enemy were better then such a friend . it concerns the parlament to look after such latitudinarians ; and if what your apologist saith , may take place , that men by no professions or subscriptions are obliged further , then not to contradict the articles of religion ; all england will soon be distracted with variety of opinions , some not crediting half so much as others ; and an explanation must be made of the words assent and consent . sir , these considerations do allay very much the esteem i had for your piety ; and i ascertain you , that if you will pardon me this time , i will not give you a second cause of that nature for exceptions . and i am the more resolute herein , because i finde you thus interposing in the behalf of men whom no proposals or supplications of mine have been able to reduce unto a declaration , concerning those controverted points in the history : and you are pleased so to interest your self , as to maintain vntruths concerning them , and to inodiate me most maliciously , who threw my self upon the action without any other expectation then that of certain ruine . had you had any sense of piety ; had the divine life fixed in a divine body ( and transcending dry reason , in the guidance whereof , a man should either immediatly feel and smell out by an holy sagacity , what is right and true , and what false and perverse ; or at least , he shall use his reason aright to discover it : ) had this swayed in you , my vndertaking had became dr. more : but since your actions are a greater evidence against you , then any specious words can be for you ; since mr. glanvills honour is dearer unto you then truth , and the church of england , i do conclude with this advise , that instead of a new enchiridion metaphysicum , you would write a retraction of your printed works , and leave off to play , as it were , at boe-peep with atheism , by defending christianity with ridiculous arguments . when the manichees , those pythagorick and cabbalistical christians did arise and oppose orthodoxy , even diocletian did make a law , nequis religionem christianam deterioribus religionibus impugnaret . sir , your complyance with this suggestion , will very much oblige me to be your humble servant , hen. stubbe . warwick , nov. 30. 1670. postscript . sir to require the intelligence you give me of the enchiridion metaphysicum , and of your gallant performances and experiments of the virtuosi , to be discovered there ; shall requite your kindness , with somewhat you may impart from me to your correspondents . i intend next terme to publish my full answer to your ecebolius : & an appendix containing the standard of latine , eloquence or m. glanvill's epistle to the clergy of sommerset : some papers of m. henry o●denburgh , the secretary & vindicator of the r. s. as also some letters of ortuinus a renowned virtuoso of germany , whose epistles were written a little before the time that the royal society proposed first the transfusion of blood there will be also the travailes of another virtuoso , who past over the river tanais at mentz , aud in a gallery saw the twelve caesars , viz. julius caesar , augustus , aristides , themistocles &c. he travail'd with my lord arundel to vienna : and i may as well reckon these for virtuosi , as they doe others for to be inventours , and of the r. s. i have also a treatise concerning f — and fi — in agitation , like to my lord bacons historia ventorum : 't wil be of great improvement to experimental philosophy and physick ; but some tryalls in consort i must recommend to your friends , and some experiments about belching to dr. more . i have some proposals of imbodying these meteors of the microcosme into vehicles , and to try if it will give any light for the producing that divine temper of body , which is requisite for a pythagorean and cabbalist : oblige me by putting this into your hint-box . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a61893-e810 pag. 1. philip. 1. 15 , 16 , 17 , 18. pag. 2. pag. 2. pag. 3. th. bartholin . epist. med. centur. 4. cap. 92. p. 538. pag. 72. edit . 2 d. pag. 73. pe : sachs : gammarolog . p. 68. a in the relation of sachsius they speak of 10 secretaries , with many other notorious untruths . h. r. s.pag . 94. h. r.s. p. 47. pag. 4. pag. 5. pag. 6. guicciardin . hist. 1.9 . carol. molin . annot . in deoii consil . 37. cajetan . de potest : papae . supra concil . c. 27. inde etiam francise . victoriae relect . 4. de porest : papae & concil : pag. 194. hottinger : method : legendi hist. helvet . p. 543. 't is very observable , that this pope adrian sending to the princes of germany at the diet at noringberg , to suppress luther , confess'd many abuses in ecclesiastical government , and doubled not to give cheregat his nuncio instructions to say , in hâc sanctâ sede aliquot jam annis multa abominanda fuisse , which he therefore promised by degrees to redress . ld herbert , hen. viii . anno 1521. where was now the question of the popes infallibility ? the question is most easily demonstrated on my side , by ●●mparing the times of the council at pisa , which exalted a councel above the pope , in 1512. and the reformation by luther , began in 1518. at what time the generality of germany inclined to refer things to a council , and not to depend on the papal determinations . so did charles v. hold , and other princes , as is manifest in the history of the council of trent , pag. 683. and calvin ( not to mention zwinglius , in 1518. ) appear'd in 1536. 't is impossible from hence to phansie , that the case was such as is represented out of cassander , without an unimaginable metamorphosis in the divines , which are contradistinct from the canonists . ephemeris parliamentar : in the preface . pag. 9. 2 tim. 3. 15 , 17. pag. 11. dicere nescio , est tranquillitas animae meae . proverb . persic . l. warner . prov. 37. pag. 12. pag. 13. g. billich . thessal . chym. c. 10. sect . 108. quercetan . l. de med . spagyr . pre . sect . de vegetab . c. 2. beguinus tyrocin . chyml . 1. c. 2. pag. 13. pag. 15. pag. 16. pag. 17. defense of the good old cause , p. 131 , 132. notes for div a61893-e12650 pia philosoph . p. 111. 112. plus ultra p. 7 8. calen. method . med . lib. 9. c. 6. & ibid. lib. 6. 2. a vide simon . à tovar de compos . medicam . exam . & hieron . mercurial . de compos . medic . non habemus antiquiorem firmico , qui alchymiae mentionem fecerit , jos. scalig. ad manil . l. 4. sancthr . in prim . fen. not the schooles of physitians : and t is impertinent for to urge such a demand upon those of theology , or logick . the historian says that the peripateticks and their successours have been alwayes wandring in fruitless shades : that their physicks were utterly useleless for the use of mankind . and m. glanvil forgets what hee hath written , in talking thus . quippe praecedere oportet eam quae a verâ methado proficiscitur , remediorum inventionem ; huic vero experientiam ad certiorem etiam fidem subscribere . galen . method . med. l. 6. c. 2. ars est habitus cum recta ratione effectivus . a letter to h. s. in defense of the history , p. 15. this can be but understood of some general debates against the papists ; for many particular and great controversies as transubstantiation , image-worship , imputed rightecusness merits &c. cannot be handled without the aid of the schooles . praef. answ . p. 72.73 . ibid. p. 123. this is the usual depariment of several virtuosi , they declaime in general against the periteticks , & notions : & being pressed to instances of their deficiency , they fly to the old scholastick theology , or the aristotelian physicks , as if our . universities were so employed as in the days of sarisburiensis . they crye that phylosophy doth not fit them for action : and if you demand what action , what world they are not thereby prepared for : their reply only is , you cannot learne hence the sophistication of wines , the art of dying & such like mechanick trades . is not this rationally objected ? plus ultra . p. 10 . p. 122. hadrian . junius bataviae . c. 17. ricciolus hydrograph . l. 10. c. 18. sect . 1. id . ibid. perieget . l. 3. c. 21. sect . 10. gilbertus de magnete . l. 1. c. 1. cabeus de magnet . philos. l. 1. c. 6. pref. answ. p. 142. defense of the philosoph . cabbala , p. 186 , 187. calvin . pref. ad institut . ad reg . gall. hottinger . dissert . theolog. de signis eccles . ibid. p. 150. prof. answ. p. 176. tycho brahe , lib. 2. de cometa , ann. 1577. p. 133. vel sola inconstantia , quae patet in scheineri experimentis argumentum est fallaciae . ricciolus astronom . l. 1.de sole . c. 12. § 15. p. 161. pag. 181.190 . i suppose he means old fool . notes for div a61893-e21690 histor. r. s. p. 341. ibid. p. 63. agaiust glanvill . pag. 173. hist. r. s. pag. 312. a dr. you never minded what you read in des cartes , when you said this : for he mistook even his own mechanism in his account of tydes . divine dialogues , part i. chap. 12. the fond and indiscreet hankering after the impossible pretensions of solving all phaenomena mechanically , freely and justly perstringed . prov. 27.19 . plus ultra , p. 25. d. wallis , de motu . p. 1 , 2. divine dialogues , p. 1. c. 10. cavillatio , ut caius i.c. definit , est subdola , ratio , quam conscii nobis mendacii , vincendi tamen caus● proferimus . happeruschim bechinath . p. 63 def . of the philos . cabbala . p. 138. ibid. p. 138. ibid. p. 146. lucas holsten . de vitâ & script . porphyrii . c. 16. paganin . gaudent . de philcog . juliani c. 15. n. b. he holds that pythagoras , and empedocles , and abaris did miracles . divine dialogues . part . i. c. 8. introduct . to the defense of the cabbala . p.101 , 102 , 103 , 104. jac. du bois in praefat . adu . wittichium . desense of the philosoph . cabb . p. 138. id. ibid. p.138 . ibid. p. 151. plus ultra, or, the progress and advancement of knowledge since the days of aristotle in an account of some of the most remarkable late improvements of practical, useful learning, to encourage philosophical endeavours : occasioned by a conference with one of the notional way / by jos. glanvill. glanvill, joseph, 1636-1680. 1668 approx. 253 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 96 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42822 wing g820 estc r14223 12336109 ocm 12336109 59785 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42822) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 59785) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 211:9) plus ultra, or, the progress and advancement of knowledge since the days of aristotle in an account of some of the most remarkable late improvements of practical, useful learning, to encourage philosophical endeavours : occasioned by a conference with one of the notional way / by jos. glanvill. glanvill, joseph, 1636-1680. [36], 149, [6] p. printed for james collins ..., london : 1668. errata: p. [1] at end. advertisements: p. [6] at end. reproduction of original in yale university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -early works to 1800. science -history. 2002-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-07 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2002-07 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , tho. tomkyns , rr mo in christo patriac domino d no gilberto divinâ providentiâ archiepisc . cant. à sacr. dom. plus ultra : or , the progress and advancement of knowledge since the days of aristotle . in an account of some of the most remarkable late improvements of practical , useful learning : to encourage philosophical endeavours . occasioned by a conference with one of the notional way . by ios. glanvill . london , printed for iames collins at the kings-head in westminster-hall . 1668. to the right reverned father in god , william lord bishop of bathe and wells . my lord , t is a common , and vain pretence in dedications , that the name of the great person is prefixed to keep off censure : and if it would do so in earnest , the author might secure himself upon easie terms ; and those that write books , need not complain so much of the tongues of the envious , and the ignorant : but the worst on 't is , they that use the courtship , intend it for no other ; and know , that they are no more secure under the title of their patron , than a man in battle is behind a target made with a paper-picture of st. george . but , my lord , though i contemn those silly , romantick kinds of flatteries , yet i have a real need of your lordship's name , which , without this vanity , i may use in my defence : since the angry gentleman , that gave occasion to the following discourse , hath usurp'd it to give colour to his reproaches . what are the particulars , i have told your lordship , and have mentioned them in some of the nearest ensuing leaves . and since the man of disputations hath accused me for an infidel , and framed a story concerning your lordship to confirm it , i think it not sufficient to confute the charge , but must also shame the legend : which , no doubt , your name here prefixt , and the assurance you were pleased to give me that it was not true , will do effectually . it becomes not me , my lord , to suggest any reflections to kindle your displeasure for this invention , to which certainly your lordship owes no great acknowledgments : but to decline all things that look like envy or revenge , i humbly implore on his behalf , your pardon of the forgery ; and on my own , your permission to deal with this disputer . this perhaps some may judge a bold offer , in one that pretends not great matters , to undertake the man of gath ; but i have no dread of the formidable bulk of his name and arms ( and some think , most of the famed giants , were indeed but men of ordinary stature . ) for the reputation of a great disputant , which my assailant hath in this country , it signifies no more with me , than that of a good cudgel-player , or master of fence : and what this doughty man 's art and force is , i have seen so much , as instructs me , that there is no great reason to apprehend mighty dangers from his puissance . my lord , i have no contempt of any mans parts or person , that keeps himself within the bounds of modesty and civility : but for those that are confident , imperious , abusive , and assuming , i confess 't is hard for me to speak of them with much complement or respect . and having taken the boldness to say all this , some perhaps may expect that i should have the duty and justice to say a great deal more ; and that i should celebrate your lordship after the manner of dedications : but i began with reproving one of those usual vanities , and shall not end in the practice of another . those epistolary praises are mostly intended for little , and go for nothing ; for flattery and poetick youth have strain●d them to such a ridiculous height , that wise men judge of them by the same measures , as they do the courtships of common amours . i dare not therefore offer your gravity and wisdom such vulgar● and obnoxious trifles ; but instead of those fooleries , i give your lordship the serious assurance of my affectionate duty , with the most grateful acknowledgment of your favours . and that your aged head may be crowned with all the blessings of a long time , and after that , with the full glories of an happy eternity , shall ever be the prayer of , my lord , your lordships obliged and dutiful servant , jos. glanvill . the preface to the reverend clergy of the diocess of b. and w. fathers and brethren , the respect i owe you , and the relation the following discourse hath to a reverend man of your number , make me reckon my self obliged , in point of civility and decorum , to give you an account of this engagement ; not that i think so meanly of you , or of my cause , as to endeavour to bribe or flatter you into any partiality of judgment in my favour , which no doubt you would disclaim , and , i hope , i shall not need : but i judge an information in some particulars , may be necessary to a free and unprejudiced examination of the things contained in these papers . and i begin with the desire , that you would consider me as a person that contemns all wranglings , and vehemencies of dispute ; and there is somewhat of hell in all wars : especially i dislike and lament all publick controversies among those of the sacred function , by which , great disrepute and reproach have been brought both upon them and it ; besides the other numerous mischiefs they have done religion , and the peace of men. and in those differences , in which eager theologues have been engaged , i have much pitied the meanness and disorders of their spirits , in the disingenuity and violence of their assaults ●●on one anothers reputations , in ●●hich the question was not concern● ; but the cause of each , much dis●●ved by their respective abuses . by ●hich premisals , you may perhaps ●●ink , that i am drawing up a charge against my own discourse , which relates a controversie , and one with a divine , that some possibly may judge too , not to savour in the menage of it , of so much candour and modest sweetness as i seem to recommend . the answer of this , will be the first business of this preface . therefore , for the publishing the matter of a dispute , and that which was privately begun , i have to say , that the grave man gave me occasion enough of displeasure and complaint , by the dreadful and most injurious censure of atheism , charged upon me , for saying no mo●● than that [ the scripture not writ after the way of 〈◊〉 methods ; and , that god 〈◊〉 those holy oracles did app●● himself much to the imagin●tion of the prophets . ] t●● former of which sayings , is so evide●● to one that considers the inspire● writings , that it will no doubt re●● dily be granted by wise men of a●● denominations in religion ; and should much wonder it is by an● one made a question , but that we ar● fallen into an age in which n● truth and evidence can secure an●● thing from the captiousness of dis●puters . for the other , i have th● suffrage of all that ever pretended to understand any thing of the prophetick spirit , as i could at large make appear , if i thought any needed information and conviction in this mat●● , besides my reverend anta●●nist : or , if i had neither evi●●nce nor authority to vouch me in ●ose sayings ; yet the charge of ●●heism , is like the bolt of one ●●at throws hard words in haste , and without aim or judgment . so that i had cause enough to be ●ngry at an imputation so little agree●ng with the discretion of a wise man , ●he charity of a christian , or the ci●●ility of a gentleman ; and yet i did ●o more at first , but signifie to my assailant , in a very modest and mild letter , that i supposed he did not judge of me in his cold and conside●ate thoughts , according to all that ●●verity he vented in the heat of pas●sion , upon the account of which , i was ready to pass by those undeserved vehemencies of expression , and to entertain a civility and respect for him . this letter the grave ma● received , but never returned me an answer , but what i had from p●●lick frame , which brought me dai● notice of his declaring me an ath●ist in all places and companies . the● foul indignities for a while i though● my self obliged to bear meekly , as b● came a christian , and one that taugh● others patience ; and accordingl● sate down quietly under the infam●● of that tongue , expecting when 〈◊〉 would have spent its fury , and hav● done : but it was not content to 〈◊〉 lifie me abroad , but come into my parish to wound me nearer , and a●fixt on me the same horrid imputation , before some of the people o● my charge ; as if my persecuter had designed , not only to undo my re●putation , but also to defeat the success of my labours . these carriages i thought very strange , and very unbecoming one who preacheth that charity that thinketh no evil ; and yet still i bore , and did not repay in kind , hoping that time and greater matters would at last have taken off the fierce assailant from the persecution of my name : but it seems the gentleman could find nothing else so powerfully to ingage his thoughts ; and therefore he multiplied stories , and set his invention on work , when matter failed . he gave out , that my lord bishop had writ him a gratulatory letter for his egregious uindication of the scriptures against me , and had also reproved my atheism and infidelity , in another . i was glad he spoke good things of our reverend diocesan , though at my cost : but knew , as to what concerned my self , that it was the overflowing of his good-will towards the bishop , who never spake or writ a● word to me of any such matter . and for the other part , i ask'd his lordship , and he was pleased to assure me , that he never understood any thing of such a business , before my inquiry . besides which , he storied , as i am credibly informed , that i had sent him a recantation ( for that interpretation he made of the respect of my letter ) and if it had been so indeed , he hath much added to the credit of his own ingenuity and veracity , in publishing me for that , which he saith i have retracted and disowned . when therefore i saw , that a little truth , which gave the colour and occasion , and a great deal of what was not so , for which there was no reason , were set on work to bespatter and traduce me ; when i perceived that my patience was abused , and my civility made an argument of cowardice and unmanly compliance ; when i saw my name exposed ( for which i ought to have a concernment upon another account , besides that of self-love ) and the effect of my ministry like to be hindred by my silence and tameness under those peproaches ; i thought it a duty both to my self , and those of my charge , to give publique accounts of the whole matter , that they who are capable of judging , may see how little cause some men have for their railing insultations and triumphs . i therefore resolved to prepare a letter , i had writ to a private friend about it , for the publick ; and i have in such a way ordered my castigations , that they make up a discourse upon a very seasonable and general subject : so that my assailant hath only given the occasion of the me●thod . and so tender i am of troubling others with my personal matters● that i suffered my thoughts severa● times to cool , and should perhaps have reduced my mind to an idle indifferency under those former slanders , had not my reverend adversary taken care to quicken the laziness of my humour , and to war● my intentions of proceeding , by the continued abusive liberty of his language ; the report of which , daily coming to my ears in fresh gusts as i was writing , did i confess excite in me a great contempt of that kind of spirit , and occasioned me to express less deference and respect , than otherwise i should have done to this assailant this . i mention for your pardon , because of his profession ; the consideration of which indeed did urge me sometimes to more indignation , when i reflected , how unlike ●uch rough , injurious demeanour was , ●o what may be expected from those ●hat minister in the gospel of peace and love. so that though i am one that resent a certain ungentility ( besides the other unhandsom things ) in bitterness of expression , yet i thought smartness of reproof to be here necessary and seasonable . and whoever shall consider the mild carriage of my pen , when 't was ingaged in a defence of one of my books , against the assault of the famous albius , will see there , that i use it not as an offensive weapon of war , and that my humour is not fierce and abusive . i therefore crave your candour in those periods , where i may seem less smooth to my angry antagonist ; for i think it not proper to complement , when he strikes . and yet i am not at eye for eye , and tooth for tooth ; nor do i study strict retribution : but having a great aversion in my nature and my principles , to the rude , disputing censorious , and implacable spirit , cannot forbear giving my style a●tincture of the disesteem , not to say contempt , i have for that genius . i had here added some other things , which i thought fit for your notice , concerning the matter of the black charge ; and such as i conceive will help me to a better place in your thoughts , than the dispute● would provide for me : but those considerations would have swell'● this preface to a disproportionate bulk● and therefore i have cast them into the latter end , where i hope you will take the pains to find them , and do me , and others that may be concerned , that right , as to weigh deliberately those apologetical remarques . and having signified this my desire , proceed to observe what more ●early relates to the main subject of ●he discourse it self , the chief design of which is , to encourage the freer and better disposed spirits , to vigour and indeavour in the pursuits of knowledge ; and to raise the capable and ingenuous , from a dull and drowsie acquiescence in the discoveries of former times ; by representing the great encouragements we have to proceed , from modern helps and advancements . of these i have given some instances in the more remarkable particulars : for i intend not a full and accurate history of all the late improvements of science ; but so much as may serve my aim of confuting the fond saying of my antagonist , and exciting of philosophical endeavours . in which , i confess , i had a principal eye upon the royal society , and the noble purposes of that illustrious assembly , which i look upon as the great ferment of useful and generous knowledge ; and have said enough , i think , to justifie that apprehension , in the following sheets● . and because some pious men are afraid of an institution they have heard but imperfectly of , and are jealous of what they have not had opportunities to understand , i have therefore given a succinct account of the reason , nature , and designs of that establishment , for the information of such as have not met with their excellent history . besides which , i think fit to add here , that we of the clergie have no reason to apprehend danger from that constitution , since so many pious , learned , and excellent persons of our order , are members of that body . and for the prevention of those panick , causeless terrours , i shall take the boldness here to name some of those venerable and worthy ecclesiasticks . i find therefore in their catalogue , the most reverend the lords archbishops of canterburie and york , the right reverend the lords bishops of ely , london , rochester , sarum , winton ; and those other reverend doctors , dr. iohn wilkins dean of rippon , dr. edward cotton archdeacon of cornwall , dr. ralph bathurst president of trin. coll. oxon . dr. iohn pearson margaret professour of cambridge , dr. iohn wallis professor of geometry in oxford , dr. william holder , dr. henry more , dr. iohn pell ; and i reserve for your nearer notice , an excellent person of your neighbourhood and number , dr. iohn beale , who in an age that usually cools and sinks , as to the more active designs , doth yet retain the vigour and vivacity of sprightly youth , with the judgement of the ripest years , and is unwearied in the noblest activities and most generous prosecutions . and now i hope that there is none of you guilty of so great an immodesty and irreverence , as to judge those designs to have an evil aspect upon religion , which are subscribed and promoted by so many great and grave divines , of such known piety and iudgment . and the mention of those celebrated names , may serve to remove another groundless suspicion which some have entertained , viz. that the universities are undermined by this new philosophick society : for whoever phancieth or suggests that , casts a black character upon the sagacity and faithfulness of those reverend men , who all have been eminent members of one or other of those schools of learning : and most of them do still retain a relation to those ancient and venerable bodies . but to supersede further discourse about this here , i owe some things else to my self , which is to answer the objection , of my opposing the great name of aristotle . concerning it , i have said . some things in this book , and more in others ; for the present therefore i shall content my self to suggest , that i am very ready to give chearful acknowledgements to his rhetorick , history of animals , and mechanicks , and could wish that these were more studied by his devoted admirers : but for the notional and disputing parts of his philosophy , it hath deeply troubled me , when i have considered how much they have taken up that time , and those endeavours , which should have been imployed in surveying the works of god ; that magnifie and discover their author , from which only the true philosophy is to be obtained : and the zeal i have for the glory of the almighty discovered in his creatures , hath inspired me with some smartness and severity against those heathen notions which have so unhappily diverted learned men from the study of gods great book , universal nature ; and consequently , robb'd him of that honour , and those acclamations that are due to him , for those admirable results of his wisdom and goodness . and now 't is high time to draw up to the last requests i have to you , which are , that you would please to do me that right , deliberately to weigh my following accounts , which though i have designed to express with all imaginable perspicuity and clearness , yet i cannot expect that they should presently enter into minds , that most ordinarily converse with another sort of matters , upon an hasty and careless perusal . i say therefore , i appeal to the reflecting and considerate thoughts of attentive and judicious men , but for the hair-brain'd half-witted censurers , that only tell the leaves of books , and pass definitive sentences at a venture , i except against their verdicts , and contemn them . you see upon the whole , that i have dealt openly with my antagonist , and have said all to himself and the publick , and more than ever i did on any private occasion : though i believe , that he that hath endeavoured skulkingly and by envious arts to traduce me , would be ashamed to own that in the face of the light , and mine , which he hath reported in corners . whether he intends to answer my relations and reflections , or sit down in a grave silence , i cannot tell . if he doth the former , i look that he should shew , either that there are no such instances of improvement in knowledge , since aristotle , as i have reckoned ; or , that they are no advantage for the increase of science . if he proves either of these , his return will be an answer ; and i shall admire his wit in an eternal respect and silence : but if he offers any thing else for a reply , i appeal to you , whether it be like to be to purpose ? or , whether i shall have any need to trouble my self to rejoyn to an impertinence ? but on the other hand , if his sageness resolve to sit down , and gravely to say nothing in return ( which 't is like his wisdom will counsel him to be best ) i expect from such an ingenuity as his , that he should fall again to his little arts of calumny , and deal with my book as he hath with my person , assault it behind with dirt and hard-names , and confute it with a pish , or a great word or two , among his private admirers . this no doubt will be the easiest way of answering ; and those that have got great reputation by artifice , chance , uapouring , or the ignorance of those they converse with , have commonly the prudence not to put it to the hazard of publick tryals . i do not say , this is the case of the reverend disputer ; let those that know , judge . however 't is , my antagonist being of long standing in these parts , is like to have the wind here ; and whether his reply be publique or not , i reckon he will blow the dust upon me : but if i have the sun , as i hope , i shall have no reason to regret his advantage . the truth is , i desire to conflict in an open champaigne , where there may be less danger of guile , treachery , and ambush : but i perceive my adversary is for fighting in dirty-lanes and among the cole-pits , like the irish among their boggs . let him enjoy the empire of learning in those places , and whatever triumphs over me he pleaseth . if you , sirs , and the intelligent world favour the iustice of my cause , which , without disparagement to yours i cannot doubt , i have enough , and shall be content to permit the disputer to clap his wings , and crow at home , till he be ashamed and weary of his fond and causeless orations . these are the things i thought fit to premise to my discourse , to which now i remit your eyes , without adding more , but the respect and service of , reverend sirs , your humble honourer and servant , j. g. modern improvements of useful knowledge . to a friend . chap. i. the introduction . sir , the inquiry of your last was very obliging , as it signified an affectionate concernment for me : and in testimony of my resentment of the kindness , i shall be large and particular in my return ; which i intend as full as my affairs will permit , because i owe you some account of the modern way of philosophy , and the royal colledge of philosophers : and i do not yet know , but that i may have an occasion of making these things publick . not tha● i am so fond to think my little contrasts fit subject for general entertainment ; nor am i so tender and over-weening , as to make it a business to complain in print of my private injuries : but i foresee , the relation i am about will afford me fit and ample opportunity to discourse things , which perhaps you may think worth your labour to consider . and what i have to say , tends either to the direct recommendation of the ways of vseful knowledge , or to the detecting the immorality , weakness , and vanity of the spirit that opposeth it . briefly then , as to your inquiry about the conference i had with the grabe person you mention ; you may please to know , that not long since i lighted into the company of that reverend man , who , i suppose you have heard , hath a reputation for learning among his neighbours , and is accounted a philosopher in the peripatetick way . i was glad of an opportunity of his acquaintance , and approach'd him with that respect which i judged due to a person of that gravity , and of whom i had heard advantageously . he had been speaking before i came , about aristotle and his philosophy ; and after our first civilities were over , he renewed the discourse , and applied it all to me . i confess i was not willing to begin an acquaintance in a dispute , in which i foresaw there might be danger of heat and animosity . this i intimated , and would have declined the occasion ; because , though i love modest and temperate discoursing , yet i am a profess'd enemy to all captious and resolv'd oppositions , which for the most part run into wild rambles , and end in quarrels . but the gentleman , it seems , had warm'd himself by the concernment he took in the discourse , and was forward to prosecute the argument in vindication and praise of beloved aristotle : which carriage , though i thought somewhat too young for the gravity of that appearance , and more becoming the pertness of a sophister , than the sagess of a reverend divine ; yet i abstain'd from any displeasing reflection , and should quietly have permitted him to have satisfi'd himself in his venerations of that name , without interruption or disturbance : for i count it not civil to trouble any one in his worship , or to profess to his face , a contempt of another mans gods . but the grave gentleman could not be content only to celebrate and admire his aristotle ; but was pleased to take an occasion to make comparisons , and to diminish the royal society . this passage , i confess , i thought not handsom . and methinks the reverence we owe to the royal fovnder and patron of that establishment , and the respect that is due to princes , privy covnsellors , and prelates ; to the most learned men of all sorts and professions , mathematicians , chymists , physicians , anatomists , antiquaries , and philosophers ; to the prime nobility , and so many of the learned and ingenious amongst the gentry : i say , i thought that the regard , which is a debt to such persons as make up that honourable assembly , had been enough to procure it civil usage among all that had but an indifferent proportion of modesty and breeding . and if there were nothing else to oblige men to respectful discourse of this generous company , i should think the consideration of their noble aims , which no doubt are some of the greatest , most august , and most hopeful that ever were , should be sufficient to obtain them at least good words from all that are capable of understanding their catholick intendments and prosecutions . and these , sir , are not the little projects of serving a sect , or propagating an opinion ; of spinning out a subtile notion into a fine thred , or forming a plausible system of new speculations : but they are designs of making knowledge practical , and accommodating mankind in things of vniversal benefit , by searching into the creatures of god as they are in his world , and not criticizing upon the images of them as they lye in that which the phansies of men have contriv'd . this my reverend assailant either did not know , or did not consider . but supposing that this society had a design against adored aristotle , or not so great an apprehension of him as he had been wont to instil into his pupils , thought fit to bring it under his corrections ; and at his disrespectful discourse of that assembly , i felt my self concerned . i therefore took occasion to speak from somewhat he had newly said , which was to this purpose , [ that aristotle had more advantages for knowledge than the royal society or all the present age had , or could have ; and for this strong reason , because he did totam peragrare asiam . ] this , sir , you perceive was said in haste , when consideration was not at home . and i was much surprised to hear an assertion from one that had not lived in a cell , which were scarce excusable in a recluse , who had seen or known nothing of the world , but the antique venerable images of a religious house . and you will be sensible of the injustice and incogitancy of this saying , and conceive better things of the later ages , when you reflect and think how many . arts , instruments , observations , experiments , inventions and improvements , have been disclosed to the world since the days of aristotle , which are vast advantages for knowledge , and all noble and vseful inquiries . but before i come to instance in these particulars , i must premise , that the royal society , and those of that genius , are very ready to do right to the learned ancients , by acknowledging their wit , and all the useful theories and helps we have from them : but they are not willing that those , however venerable sages , should have an absolute empire over the reasons of mankind . nor do they think , that all the riches of nature were discovered to some few particular men of former times ; and that there is nothing left for the benefit and gratification of after-inquirers . but they believe , there is an inexhaustible variety of treasure which providence hath lodged in things , that to the worlds end will afford fresh discoveries , and suffice to reward the ingenious industry and researches of those that look into the works of god , and go down to see his wonders in the deep . this , no doubt , the modesty and justice of the ancients themselves would have confess'd . but besides this , the modern experimenters think , that the philosophers of elder times , though their wits were excellent , yet the way they took was not like to bring much advantage to knowledge , or any of the vses of humane life ; being for the most part that of notion and dispute , which still runs round in a labyrinth of talk , but advanceth nothing . and the unfruitfulness of those methods of science , which in so many centuries never brought the world so much practical , beneficial knowledge , as would help towards the cure of a cut finger , is a palpable argument , that they were fundamental mistakes , and that the way was not right . for , as my lord bacon observes well , philosophy , as well as faith , must be shewn by its works . and if the morderns cannot shew more of the works of their philosophy in six years , than the aristoteleans can produce of theirs in more than thrice so many hundred , let them be loaded with all that contempt which is usually the reward of vain and unprofitable projectors . but now , that this procedure hath effected more for the information and advantage of mankind , than all the ages of notion ; the records of the royal society alone are a sufficient evidence ( as the world will see , when they shall think fit to unfold their treasure . ) i say then , the mordern philosophers arrogate nothing to their own wit , above that of the ancients : but by the reason of the thing , and material , sensible events , they find they have an advantage by their way . and a lame child that slowly treads the right path , will at last arrive to his journeys end ; while the swift footman that runs about in a wood , wil lose himself in his wandrings . chap. ii. the ways of improving useful knowledge proposed . the advantages this age hath from the great advancements of chymistry and anatomy , and having said this , i come to encourage your hopes in the present philosophical endeavours ; and to discourse more largely , what i could but suggest to the reverend disputer . and here i am to represent in as many material particulars as i can now call into my thoughts , the advantages for vseful knowledge , which the later ages have beyond those of the days of aristotle , and remoter antiquity . and in order to this , i consider , that there are two chief ways whereby knowledge may be advanced , viz. ( 1. ) by inlarging the history of things : and ( 2. ) by improving intercovrse and commvnications . the history of nature is to be augmented , either by an investigation of the springs of natural motions , or fuller accounts of the grosser and more palpable phaenomena . for the searching out the beginnings and depths of things , and discovering the intrigues of remoter nature , there are three remarkable arts , and multitudes of excellent instrvments , which are great advantages to these later ages ; but were either not at all known , or but imperfectly , by aristotle and the ancients . the arts in which i instance , are chymistry , anatomy , and the mathematicks : the instrvments , such as the microscope , telescope , thermometer , barometer ; and the air-pvmp : some of which were first invented , all of them exceedingly improved by the royal society . to begin with the consideration of the arts mentioned , i observe , that these were very little cultivated or used in aristotles times , or in those following ones in which his philosophy did most obtain . for the first , chymistry , it hath indeed a pretence to the great hermes for its author ( how truly , i will not dispute ) from him 't is said to 〈◊〉 come to the aegyptians , and from ●em to the arabians ; among these it was ●●●nitely mingled with vanity and supersti●●ous devices : but it was not at all in use ●ith aristotle and his sectators . nor ●oth it appear that the grecians , or the ●●sputing ages , were conversant in these ●seful and luciferous processes , by which nature is unwound , and resolv'd into the minute rudiments of its composition ; and by the violence of those artful fires it is made confess those latent parts , which , upon less provocation , it would not disclose . and now , as we cannot understand the frame of a watch , without taking it into pieces ; so neither can nature be well known , without a resolution of it into its beginnings , which certainly may be best of all done by chymical methods . and in those vexatious analyses of things , wonderful discoveries are made of their natures , and experiments are found out , which are not only full of pleasant surprise and information , but of valuable use , especially in the practice of physick ; for it directs medicines less loathsome and far more vigorous , and freeth the spirits , and purer parts , from the clogging and noxious appendices of grosser matter , which not only hinder and disable the operation , but leave hurtful dregs 〈◊〉 the body behind them . i confess , sir , tha● among the aegyptians and arabians , th●● paracelsians , and some other moderns chymistry was very phantastick , unintelligible , and delusive ; and the boasts , vanity , and canting of those spagyrists , brought 〈◊〉 scandal upon the art , and exposed it to suspicion and contempt : but its late cultivatours , and particularly the royal society , have resin'd it from its dross , and made it honest , sober , and intelligible , an excellent interpreter to philosophy , and help to common life . for they have laid aside the chrysopoietick , the delusory designs and vain transmutations , the rosie-crucian vapours , magical charms , and superstitious suggestions , and form'd it into an instrument to know the depths and efficacies of nature . this , sir , is no small advantage that we have above the old philosophers of the national way . and we have another , ( 2. ) in the study , vse , and vast improvements of anatomy , which we find as needful to be known among us , as 't is wonderful 't was known so little among the ancients , whom a fond superstition deterr'd from dissections . for the anatomizing the bodies of men , was counted bar●arous and inhumane in elder times : and 〈◊〉 observe from a learned man of our own , that the romans held it unlawful to look on the entrails . and tertullian severely cen●ures an inquisitive physician of his time , for this practice , saying , that he hated man , that he might know him . yea , one of the popes ( i take it 't was boniface 8. ) threatens to excommunicate those that should do any thing of this then-abominable nature . and democritus was fain to excuse his dissection of beasts , even to the great hippocrates . nor does it appear by any thing extant in the writings of galen , that that other father of physicians ever made any anatomy of humane bodies . thus shie and unacquainted was antiquity with this excellent art , which is one of the most useful in humane life , and tends mightily to the eviscerating of nature , and disclosure of the springs of its motion . but now in these later ages , anatomy hath been a free and general practice ; and particularly in this it hath received wonderful improvements from the endeavours of several worthy inquisitors , some of them ingenious members of the royal society , as sir george ent , dr. glisson , and dr. willis . i instance in the most remarkable of their discoveries briefly ; and those i take noti●● of are , the valves of the veins , discover'd by fabricius ab aquapendente ; th● valve at the entrance of the gut colon● found , as is generally thought , by bauhinus● the milkie veins of the mesentery , by ●●●sellius ; the receptacle of the chyle , b● pecquet ; and the lacteae thoracicae , by th● same discoverer ; the glandulae lacte● lumbares , by bartholin ; a new ductusi● the testicles , by dr. highmore ; the ductus virsungianus , by io. george wirsung o● padua ; the lymphatick vessels , by dr● ioliffe , bartholin , and olaus rudbeck ; th● internal ductus salivaris in the maxillar● glandule , by dr. wharton , and dr. glisson● the external ductus salivaris in the conglomerated parotis , the ductus of the cheek● the glandules under the tongue , nose , and palate , the vessels in the nameless glandul● of the eye , and the tear-glandule , by nich● steno ; the sinus of the veins , and their vse , by dr. willis ; the ductus renales , by laurentius bellini ; a new artery , called arteria bronchialis , by fred. ruysch . i add , the origination of those nerves which were of old supposed to arise out of th● substance of the brain , but are found by late anatomists to proceed from the medull● oblongata . and though the succus nutritius be not yet fully agreed upon by physicians , yet it hath so much to say for it self , that it may not unreasonably be mentioned among the new inventions . but of all the modern discoveries , wit and industry have made in the oeconomy of humane nature , the noblest is that of the circulation of the blood , which was the invention of our deservedly-famous harvey . 't is true , the envy of malicious contemporaries , would have robb'd him of the glory of this discovery , and pretend it was known to hippocrates , plato , aristotle , and others among the ancients : but whoever considers the expressions of those authors , which are said to respect the circulation , will find , that those who form the inference , do it by a faculty that makes all kind of compositions and deductions , and the same that assists the enthusiasts of our days to see so clearly all our alterations of state and religion , to the minutest particulars , in the revelation of st. iohn . and i think it may be as well concluded from the first chapter of genesis , as from the remains of those ancients ; who , if they had known this great and general theory , how chance they spake no more of a thing , which no doubt they had frequent occasions to mention ? how came it to be lost without memory among their followers , who were such superstitious porers upon their writings ? how chance it was not shewn to be lodg'd in those authors , before the days of dr. harvery , when envy had impregnated and determined the imaginations of those , who were not willing any thing should be found anew , of which themselves were not the inventors ? but 't is not only the remotest ancients , whom time hath consecrated , and distance made venerable , whose ashes those fond men would honour with this discovery : but even much later authors have had the glory fastned upon them . for the invention is by some ascribed to paulus venetus ; by others , to prosper alpinus ; and a third sort give it to andreas caesalpinus . for these , though either of them should be acknowledged to be the author , it will make as much for the design of my discourse , as if harvey had the credit ; and therefore here i am no otherwise concerned , but to have iustice for that excellent man : and the world hath now done right to his memory , death having overcome that envy which dog's living virtue to the grave ; and his name rests quietly in the arms of glory , while the pretensions of his rivals are creeping into darkness and oblivion . thus , sir , i have done with the instances of anatomical advancements , unless i should hitherto refer the late noble experiment of transfusion of the blood from one living animal into another , which i think very fit to be mention'd ; and i suppose 't is not improper for this place : or however , i shall rather venture the danger of impropriety and misplacing , than omit the taking notice of so excellent a discovery , which no doubt future ingenuity and practice , will improve to purposes not yet thought of ; and we have very great likelihood of advantages from it in present prospect . for it is concluded , that the greatest part of our diseases arise either from the scarcity , or malignant tempers and corruptions of our blood ; in which cases transfusion is an obvious remedy ; and in the way of this operation , the peccant blood may be drawn out , without the danger of too much enfeebling nature , which is the grand inconvenience of meer phlebotomies . so that this experiment may be of excellent use , when custom and acquaintance have hardned men to permit the practice , in pleurisies , cancers , leprosies , madness , vlcer , small-pox , dotage , and all such like distempers . and i know not why that of injecting prepared medicines immediately into the blood , may not be better and more efficacious , than the ordinary course of practice : since this will prevent all the danger of frustration from the loathings of the stomach , and the disabling , clogging mixtures and alterations they meet with there , and in the intestines , in which no doubt much of the spirit and virtue is lost . but in the way of immediate injection , they are kept intire , all those inconveniences are avoided , and the operations is like to be more speedy and succesful , both these noble experiments are the late inventions of the royal society , who have attested the reality of the former , that of transfusion of blood , by numerous tryals on several sorts of brute animals . indeed the french made the experiment first upon humane bodies , of which we have a good account from monsieur dennis : but it hath also since been practiced with fair and encouraging success , by our philosophical society . the other of injection , if it may be mentioned as a different invention , was also the product of the same generous inventors ; though indeed more forward foreigners have endeavoured to usurp the credit of both . this latter likewise hath succeeded to considerable good effects , in some new tryals that have been made of it in dantzick , as appears in a letter written from dr. fabritius of that city , and printed in the philosophical transactions . chap. iii. another great advantage of late times , from the improvements of mathematicks ; particularly of arithmetick , algebra , and geometry , discourst by instances . i proceed now to my third instance of arts ( if the reverend logician will give me leave to use the word in this large sense ) which are advantages for deep search into nature , and have been considerably advanc'd by the industry and culture of late times , above their ancient stature . and the instance was , ( iii. ) the mathematicks . that these are mighty helps to practical and useful knowledge , will be easily confest by all , that have not so much ignorance as to render them incapable of information in these matters . and the learned gerand vossius hath proved it by induction in particulars . and yet it must be acknowledged that aristotle , and the disputing philosophers of his school , were not much addicted to those noble inquisitions : for proclus the commentator upon euclide , though he gives a very particular catalogue of the elder mathematicians , yet hath not mentioned aristotle in that number . and though diogenes laertius takes notice of a book he inscribed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , another , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and a third , yet extant , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; yet it appears not that these were things of very great value ; and aristotle's metaphysical procedure , even in physical theories , the , genius and humour of his principles , and the aiery contentions of his sect , are huge presumptions that this philosopher was not very mathematical . and his numerous succeeding followers , were certainly very little conversant in those generous studies . i have elsewhere taken notice , that there is more publish'd by those disputing men on some paultry trifling question about ens rationis , and their materia prima , than hath been written by their whole number upon all the vast and useful parts of mathematicks and mechanicks . there was a time when these were counted coniurations ; and i do not very well know the reason of the reverend disputers displeasure at my discourse about dioptrick tubes ( of which you will hear in the process ) except he was under the dread of some such phansie , and believed there was magick in opticks . it would require much skill in those sciences , to draw up the full history of their advancements ; i hear a very accurate mathematician is upon it : and yet to fill up my method , i 'le adventure at some imperfect suggestions about the inventions and improvements of this kind : and i begin , ( i. ) with arithmetick , which is the handmaid to all the other parts of mathematicks . this indeed pythagoras is said to have brought from the phoenicians to the graecians : but we hear no great matter of it till the days of euclide : not the euclide that was the contemporary of plato , and hearer of socrates ; but the famed mathematician of that name , who was after aristotle , and at 90 years distance from the former . this is the first person among the ancients , that is recorded by the exact vossius to have done any thing accurately in that science . after him it was advanced by diophantus , methodized by psellus , illustrated among the latins by l. apuleius , and in later times much promoted by cardan , gemma frisius , ramus , clavius , and divers more modern artists , among whom i more especially take notice of that ingenious scot the lord napier , who invented the logarithmes , which is a way of computing by artificial numbers , and avoiding the taedium of multiplication and division . for by this method all those operations are performed by addition and substraction , which in natural numbers were to be done those longer ways . this invention is of great use in astronomical calculations , and it may be applied also to other accompts . besides this , the same learned lord found an easie , certain , and compendious way of accounting by sticks , called rabdology ; as also computation by napier's bones : both these have been brought to greater perfection by others , since their first discovery ; particularly by vrsinus and kepler . to them i add the decimal arithmetick , which avoids the tedious way of computing by vulgar fractions in ordinary accompts , and sexagenaries in astronomy ; exceedingly and lately improved by our famous oughtred , and dr. wallis a member of the royal society . ( if i should here subjoyn the helps this art hath had from the works and endeavours of anatolius , barlaam , maximus palanudes , nemorarius , florentinus bredonus , pisanus , orentius ; and in this age , from those of adrianus romanus , henischius , cataldus , malapartius , keplerus , briggius , crugerus , and a vast number reckon'd up by vossius , i should be tedious on this head ; and therefore i pass lightly over it , and proceed , ( ii. ) to algebra , of universal use in all the mathematical sciences , in common accompts , in astronomy , in taking distances and altitudes , in measuring plain and solid bodies , and other useful operations . the first noted author in this method was diophantus , who lived long since the idol of disputers . he , and those other ancients that used it , performed their algebraical operations by signs and characters suted to the several numbers , and powers of numbers , which they had occasion to use in solving problems : but the later mathematicians have found a far more neat and easie way , viz. by the letters of the alphabet , by which we can solve many problemes that were too hard for the ancients , as far as can be discovered by any of their remaining works . for there were many affected aequations ( as they call them ) that did not equally ascend in the scale of powers , that could not be solv'd by the elder methods ; whereas the acute vieta , a mathematician of this last age , affirms , he could resolve any probleme by his own improvements . besides him , our excellent oughtred another , lately mentioned , did much in this way . but the inimitable des cartes hath vastly out-done both former and later times , and carried algebra to that height , that some considering men think humane wit cannot advance it further . i will not say so much : but no doubt he hath performed in it things deserving vast acknowledgment , of which you shall hear more anon . and from hence i step , ( iii. ) to the consideration of geometry , which is so fundamentally useful a science , that without it we cannot in any good degree understand the artifice of the omniscient architect in the composure of the great world , and our selves . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , was the excellent saying of plato ; and the vniverse must be known by the art whereby it was made . so that what galileo notes of aristotle , is a great sign of his defects , viz. that he reprehended his venerable master for his geometrical sublimities , accusing him that he receded from the solid methods of philosophizing , through his too much indulging that study ; which is so far from being likely , that geometry is little less than absolutely necessary to solid and real philosophy ; and as i intimated , 't is next to impossible to be a judicious and accurate philosopher , and want it . upon which account , plato admitted none to his school , but those that were acquainted with that science : which practice the mentioned excellent modern , notes to be directly opposite to the peripatetick genius ; and some he knew great men of that way , dehorted their disciples from it ; which he introduceth one applauding as a wise counsel , since geometry would detect and shame the futilities of that national way . but not to take too large a compass , this is certain , that geometry is a most useful and proper help in the affairs of philophy and life . 't is almost as clear from those former intimations , that aristotle was not much enclined that way ; and we know that his late sectators , have very seldome applied themselves to geometrical disquisitions . the result of which is , we must expect the advantages of this science , from the declining of his and their empire ; and i need not say expect it , they are both in present view . and if after this you require accounts of the improvements geometry hath received , since the foundation of that tyranny by the man of stagyra , i shall offer you the best i have ; and though i am conscious that they will be scant and defective , yet i hope sufficient for my present purpose . i note then from the celebrated vossius , that euclide was the first that brought geometry into a method , and more accurately demonstrated those principles , which before were scattered among the greeks and aegyptians , and not so cogently or carefully proved . and proclus reckons this famous man as the compiler and demonstrator , not as the inventor of the elements ; and two of these books ( viz. 14. & 15. ) are ascribed to apollonius pergaeus , who was his nearest successor in fame for mathematical abilities . this geometrician improved the science by four books of conicks , publish'd of old ; and three more have been lately ( in the year 1661. ) translated out of an arabick manuscript in the duke of tuscany's library , and are now abroad . this manuscript iacob golius procured out of the east . besides which , this magnus geometra , as he was called , illustrated euclide by his learned commentary upon him . but archimedes of syracuse , was a person of the greatest renown for geometrical and mechanical performances ; concerning which , polybius , valerius , plutarch , livy , and others , have recorded prodigious things . this great wit carried geometry from general and idle speculation , to the use and benefit of mankind ; whereas before him it was an ancient and perverse opinion , that this knowledge ought not to be brought down to vulgar service , but kept up in abstractive contemplations : upon which score archytas and eudoxus , those great geometricians before euclide , were scared from the mechanical and organical methods , to the great hindrance of beneficial improvements in that way . but the excellent syracusian understood , that this science is not debased , but promoted and advanced by such accommodations ; and evinc'd the usefulness and excellency of geometry , in his admirable paradox proposed before king hieron ( datis viribus datum pondus tollere ) [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] this mathematician flourish'd 160 years after the time of aristotle , who hath the name of the most ancient that writ in mechanicks , though that book of his be not mentioned either by archimedes , athenaeus , hero , or pappus , mechanical authors ; and cardan and patricius affirm that work to be none of aristotle's : whos 's ever it was , the performance hath praise from the learned , as explaining the general causes of mechanical geometry . but archimedes was more practical and particular : and though plutarch in the life of marcellus affirms he writ nothing ; yet the contrary is abundantly proved by gerard vossius , who hath shewn that the books extant under his name , that contain so many great maxims of mechanicks , are genuine ; and both strabo and pappus mention them as his . the design of archimedes , of combining mechanism and geometrick theory , was after happily promoted by hero the elder of alexandria , who invented those ingenuous automata , that move by air and wyres ; concerning which he writ a book that was translated by fredericus commandinus , as also he did another de machinis bellicis , by which he well improved geometrick mechanicks : and pappus particularly celebrates his exactness in solving the deliaick problem , de cubo duplicando , acknowledging that he took most of his own accounts about that matter , from that exquisite man. next him , i mention theodosius of tripoli , who very much improved geometry by his three books de figur a sphaerica , which afforded great assistance to ptolomy , pappus , proclus , and theon , in their mathematical endeavours . menelaus also , who lived in trajan's time , contributed very much to the perfecting the doctrine of sphaericks , as vitellio well knew , who was famous for those things which he borrowed from that author . the performances also of ctesibius , who lived in the time of ptolomaeus physcon , are much celebrated by pliny . he invented many things in hydraulicks , and according to athenaeus , he was the first contriver of musical organs . these were mechanical : but geminus rhodius the master of proclus lycius , applied logick to geometry , out of particular elements abstracting vniversals . he demonstrated , that there are only three similar species of all lines , viz. right , circular , and cylindrical : and perseus following his steps , enrich'd geometry with the invention of three kinds of crooked lines , the parabole , hyperbole , and elipsis ; for which he express'd his extatick joy , as thales , pythagoras , and archimedes did upon like occasions , in a sacrifice to the gods. but to be briefer , pappus improved the sphoericks ; theon more methodically digested the elements of euclide ; serenus antinsensis discover'd , that the section of a right cylindre , is the same with the elipsis of a right cone ; copernicus improved the doctrine of triangles ; ramus corrected and supplied euclide , where his principles were defective ; maurolicus writ first of secant lines ; clavius much illustrated and promoted the doctrine of tangents , secants , triangles , right lines , and sphaericks , besides what he did in his comment upon euclide . i might mention with these , the worthy performances of cusanus , pitiscus , snellius , ambrosius rhodius , kepler , franciscus à schoten , and others , who contributed very eminently to the perfections and advancements of geometry , and were late men . but none have done in it like the excellent persons whom i reserve for my last mention ; the chief are vieta , des cartes , and dr. wallis . chap. iv. improvements in geometry by des cartes , vieta , and dr. wallis . in order to my giving an account of some of their performances , i must premise , that no great things can be done in geometry , without the analytical method ; and though some learned men conceive the ancients were acquainted with this way of resolving problems , yet their skill in it went no higher than the quadratick order of aequations , which they demonstrated by circles and right lines , which they call'd loca plana : but they were able to do nothing in the cubical aequations , or any of the superiour orders ; though they endeavour'd to cover their defects in this art , by recourse ad locos solidos , ( viz. conick sections ) and lineares , as they called them , such as the helix , conchoeides , and those of like nature . but those tortous and curved lines being described mechanically by compound motions , the problems resolv'd by them are performed organically by the hand and eye , not geometrically . this was the state of the analytick art , as long as learning flourish'd in greece ; when that was subdued by the barbarians , their learning with their country passed to the arabians , and also to the persians , as we have it from hottinger and bullialdus : but these successors of the greeks did not advance their learning beyond the imperfect stature in which it was delivered to them . in that condition it remained till cardan and tartaglia , who made some small addition towards the perfection of it ; for they gave some rules for solving cubical aequations , which were certain in some cases , but not in all . their invention some other mathematical men endeavoured to advance , laying down rules for solving some cubick and biquadratick aequations ; but could never find an universal way , that might reach all such : yea indeed they utterly despaired , and held it impossible . at length appears vieta , who by inventing the method of extracting roots in the most numerous aequations , and by converting the signs used by the ancients into letters , brought algebra to a very great perfection , as i have noted above ; and by enriching the analytical art , by the accessions of his exegetice numerosa , and logistice speciosa , he hath contributed infinite helps to geometry . after him , divers other learned men polisht and adorned his discourses ; among whom i mention chiefly our countrymen harriot and oughtred , who altred vieta's notes to advantage , and invented canons to direct our operations in the extracting of roots , both in pure and adsected aequations . but after these had thus improved the analytick art , and well assisted geometry by it , des cartes appears , one of the greatest wits that ever the sun saw , a person too great for praise , designed by heaven for the instruction of the learned world , and who no doubt will be the object of its admiration , as long as there is any learning in it . this wonderful man in a few pages , opens a way to mighty performances : he shews us how all the problems of geometry may be brought to such terms , that we shall need nothing to the construction and demonstration of them , but the knowledge of the length of certain right lines ; and that , as all the operations of arithmetick are performed by addition , substraction , multiplication , division , and extraction of roots ( which is a species of division ) so in geometry , for the preparation of lines that they may be known , nothing needs more to be done , than that others be added to them , or substracted from them ; or if the line be single ( which that it may be the better referred to numbers , may be called vnity ) and beside that , two other lines , that a fourth be found which shall have the same proportion to one of these lines , that the other hath to vnity , which is the same with multiplication ; or else , that by them a fourth be found , which may have the same proportion to one of them , which vnity hath to the other , which is the same with division ; or lastly , that there be found between vnity , and some other right line , two or more mean proportionals , which is the same thing with the extraction of quadratick and cubick roots . and that he may justifie the introducing of terms arithmetical into geometry , he observes , that the avoiding thereof was an occasion of much perplexity and obscurity in the geometry of the ancients ; of which he could give no other conjecture , but because they did not sufficiently understand the affinity and cognation of those sciences . but if i should intend an exact history of all his performances , i must transcribe him ; for he hath said so much in little , that 't is impossible to abridge those his close composures . i shall therefore only hint some principal things , referring you to his writings for the rest . and i take notice first , that he hath proposed an vniversal method for the solution of all problems ; not only those propounded in right lines , plains , and solids : but also all that are made in angles , a thing of most general service in all parts of mathematicks . by it he resolves the famous proposition in pappus , which was too hard for euclide , apollonius , and all the ancients . he discourses the nature of crooked lines , and shews which are fit to be used in geometrical demonstrations ; gives rules for the place where to apply our selves in the demonstration of any problem ; and tells us , that a problem after it is brought to an aequation , and reduced to its least terms , and the unknown quantity is quadratick , or of two dimensions , that then it may be demonstrated by a right lines and circles : but if the aequation , after it is reduced to its least terms , leave the unknown quantity , cubick or biquadratick , it must be demonstrated by some one of the conick sections . whereas again , if after the aequation reduced , the unknown quantity remain of five or six dimensions , or more , in infinitum , then the demonstration must be performed by lines more and more compound , according to the degree of composition in the unknown quantity of the aequation . but because the way by lines is perplext and tedious , he gives rules to reduce aequations of many dimensions , to fewer . he shews how to fill up defects , when any terms are wanting in the aequation ; how to convert the false roots into true , to avoid fractions , and to lessen aequations . he hath demonstrated by a circle and parabole the famous problems so much agitated among the ancients , viz. the trisection of an angle , and the finding two mean proportionals between two lines given , with more brevity and expedition than any that went before him . and this , sir , shall suffice by way of intimation , concerning that prince of mathematicians and philosophers . since him , others have improved his method . schotenius hath demonstrated the loca plana of apollonius : hadderius hath added inventions of use and pleasant speculation in his tract of reduction of aequations . florimundus de beaune hath writ ingenious and profitable things de natura & limitibus aequationum . but 't would be endless to attempt full accounts of the modern advancements of this science , or indeed those accessions of growth it hath had since vieta . and whoever should go about it , must reckon to begin anew as soon as he hath finish'd what he intended , since geometry is improving daily . i shall therefore add no more here , but only do right to an excellent person of our own nation , dr. iohn wallis , a member of the royal society , to whom geometry is exceedingly indebted for his rare discoveries in that science . particularly , he hath propunded a method for the measuring of all kind of crooked lines , which is highly ingenious ; and put an end to all future attempts about squaring the circle , which hath puzzled and befooled so many mathematicians , that have spent their thoughts and time about it . this he hath brought to effect as neer as it can be done , and shew'd the exact performance by rational numbers impossible ; he hath proposed excellent ways for the measuring all kinds of plains , and all multangular and solid bodies . but 't is time now to proceed to the consideration of the next mathematical science , viz. chap. v. the late improvements of astronomy . ( 4. ) astronomy , one of the grandest and most magnifique of all those that lie within the compass of natural inquiry . i shall not look back to its beginning among the chaldaeans , aegyptians , and eldest graecians , in which times it was but rude and imperfect , in comparison to its modern advancements . for the great men among the greeks are taken much notice of , but for very ordinary and trite things in this science : as anaximander milesius , for teaching , that the earth was globous , and the centre of the world not bigger than the sun : anaximines for affirming , that the moon shone but with a borrowed light ; that the sun and it were eclips'd by the earths interposal ; and , that the stars move round our globe : and pythagor as was the first that noted the obliquity of the ecliptick . this philosopher indeed was a person of a vast reach , and said things in astronomy very agreeable to late discoveries : but the disputers omniscient aristotle made very odd schemes , not at all corresponding with the phaenomena of the heavens , as appears from his hypotheses of solid orbs , epicycles , excentricks , intelligences , and such other ill-contrived phancies . besides which , if i should descend to consider his now palpable mistakes about the nature of comets , the galaxy , the sphere of fire under the moon , and numerous other such , i should oblige my self to a large ramble . wherefore to be as close as may be in these notes , i observe , that after aristotle , astronomy was cultivated and improved by theophrastus , aratus , aristarchus samius , archimedes , geminus , menelaus , theon , hipparchus , claudius ptolomaeus , and infinite others among the greeks , among later authors , considerable things have been done in this way by both latins and arabians : to omit the latter , i shall give you some particular instances of the other . iohannes de sacro bosco ingeniously and methodically explained the doctrine of the sphere . thebit first found the motion of trepidation . regiomontanus published the first ephemerides , and did excellent things in his theoricks of the planets . wernerus stated the greatest declination of the sun. albertus pighius directed the way to find aequinoxes and solstices . baersius framed perpetual tables of the longitudes and latitudes of the planets . copernicus restored the hypothesis of pythagoras and philolaus , and gave far more neat and consistent accounts of the phaenomena . ioachimus made ephemerides according to the copernican doctrine . clavius invented a most useful demonstrative astrolabe , and writ an exquisite comment upon sacro bosco . but i conclude the last century with the noble ticho brahe , who performed the glorious work of restoring the fix'd stars to their true places , the assignation of which before him , was rather by guess , than any competent rules ; and the mistakes here , were the very root and foundation of most errors in astronomy . for which reason it was , that copernicus left that earnest advice to his scholar ioachimus , that he should apply himself to the restitution of the fix'd stars ; for till this were done , there could be no hopes of attaining to the true places of the planets , nor doing any thing to purpose in the whole science . this ingaged the noble tycho to this enterprise , and he made it the foundation of all the rest . the method he used is described by gassendus . by the help of this noble performance he reformed the elder astronomical tables , both the ptolomaick and copernican . and from his observations of the new star of 1572 , and six others in his time , he asserted comets into their place among heavenly bodies , shattering all the solid orbs to pieces ; and he hath done it with such clear conviction , that even the iesuits , whose thraldom to the church of rome , deters them from closing with the motion of earth , confess a necessity of repairing to some other hypothesis than that of ptolomy and aristotle . i might add to this , that this generous nobleman invented and framed such excellent astronomical instruments , as were by vast odds for use and convenience far beyond any of former times : himself hath a treatise concerning them . he hath also made exquisite tables of the difference that refractions make in the appearance of the stars , and done more great things for astronomical improvement , than many ages that were before him ; for which reason i could not pardon my self in a curt mention of so glorious an advancer of this science . the next age after him , which is ours , hath made excellent use of his discoveries , and those of his elder , the famed copernicus ; and raised astronomy to the noblest height and perfection that ever yet it had among men . it would take up a volume to describe , as one ought , all the particular discoveries : but my design will permit but a short mention . therefore briefly , i begin with galilaeo , the reputed author of the famous telescope ; but indeed the glory of the first invention of that excellent tube , belongs to iacobus metius of amsterdam : but 't was improved by the noble galilaeo , and he first applied it to the stars ; by which incomparable advantage , he discovered the nature of the galaxy , the 21 new stars that compose the nebulosa in the head of orion , the 36 that conspire to that other in cancer , the ansulae saturni , the asseclae of iupiters , of whose motions he composed an ephemeris . by these lunulae 't is thought that iupiters distance from the earth may be determined , as also the distance of meridians , which would be a thing of vast use , since this hath always been measured by lunar eclipses , that happen but once or twice a year ; whereas opportunities of calculating by the occultations of these new planets will be frequent , they recurring about 480 times in the year . besides , to hasten off , galilaeo discovered the strange phases of saturne , on while oblong , and then round ; the increment and decrement of venus , like the moon ; the spots in the sun , and its revolution upon its own axis ; the moons libration , collected from the various position of its maculae ; and divers other wonderful and useful rarities , that were strangers to all antiquity . shortly after galilaeo , appears christopherus scheiner , who by greater telescopes viewed the sun with a curled and unequal superficies , and in or near the horizon of an elliptical figure . he found also , that that supposed uniform globe of light , was of a different complexion in its several parts ; some brighter than the main body , as the faculae ; others darker , as the maculae . he made more than 2000 observations of them , and described their number , magnitude , situation , figure , and revolutions . but i must contract . kepler is next , who first proposed the elliptical hypothesis , made very accurate and luciferous observations about the motions of mars , and writ an epitome of the copernican astronomy , in the clearest and most perspicuous method , containing the discoveries of others , and divers considerable ones of his own ; not to mention his ephemerides , and book about comets . ant. maria shirlaeus , with a new telescope of a larger diameter than ordinary , discovered five other stars more remote from iupiter than his satellites , and a kind of vapid atmosphere about that planet . franciscus fontana observed the same star , with nine others never leaving it more than ten of its diameters ; and in 1636. and 1643. with 8. anno 1645. with 5 , 1646. with 7. on other days with 6. varying their distances one to another , and not to be seen about mars nor saturn , nor without extending the telescope more than was fitting for fix'd stars . these satellites are observed to suffer a defection of their light , when iupiter interposeth between them and the sun ; whence it is inferr'd , that they have their light from it , and that iupiter hath none of his own to impart to them . but to pass on lightly , longomontanus described the world according to all the hypotheses of ptolomy , copernicus , and ticho brahe . iansonius blaeu made far more perfect and exact celestial globes than any were extant before . gassendus writ judiciously of the stars about iupiter , and of mercury in the sun , and gave the world most excellent astronomical institutions . ismael bullialdus inrich'd the science with a new method to find and easily compute the paralaxes of solar ellipses . hevelius drew a graphical description of the moon in all its phases , as it appear'd in the telescope , accurately delineating its spots , and shewing the inequality and mountanous protuberances of its surface , which lends light to a vast theory . both these last named are fellows of the royal society . of the selenography of hevelius , ricciolus made an improvement , both as to the number , figure , magnitude , site , colour of the maculae , and the eminencies , profundities , and asperities of the lunar superficies . martinus hortensius found mercury to have variety of phases , like the moon ; as , now horned , then gibbous , and at other times round . but i conclude this account with the most worthy and learned prelate dr. seth vvard , now lord bishop of sarum , who among his other excellent performances in astronomy , hath demonstratively proved the elliptical hypothesis , which is the most plain and simple , and performed by fewer operations than either of the other . this indeed was first discours'd of by kepler , advanced by bullialdus , but demonstrated by this accomplish'd and venerable bishop , an honourable member of the royal society . chap. vi. improvements of opticks and geography . i come next ( 5. ) to consider the opticks , whose improvements are of great importance in the matters of general philosophy and humane life ; since the ●●formations of sense are the ground of ●oth , and this science rectifies and helps the ●oblest of them . concerning it , there was once a book of aristotle's extant , according to laertius : but it hath submitted to time. since him , this science hath been cultivated by euclide , and the celebrated archimedes , who is said to have done strange things by it , upon the ships of marcellus : as proclus , who improved the archimedean artifices , destroyed a fleet by his specula vstoria , that besieged constantinople . ptolomy of alexandria made considerable improvements of opticks ; and alhazenus the arabian , is famous for what he did in it. from these , vitellio drew his , and advanced the science by his own wit , and their helps . stevinus corrected euclide , achazen , and vitellio , in some fundamental propositions that were mistakes ; and in their room substituted considerable inventions of his own . roger bacon our fam'd countryman , whom picus mirandula calls the phoenix of his age , and vossius , one learned to a miracle , writ acutely of opticks . he was accused of magick to pope clement iv . and thereupon imprisoned : but the accusation was founded on nothing but his skill in mathematicks , and the ignorance of his accusers . after these , the dioptricks were improved by kepler , gassendus , mersennus , and the noble and incomparable des cartes , who hath said the most clear , useful , and improvable things about it , that ever were extant on the subject . but nothing hath so much advanc'd the science , as the invention of the telescope by metius ; and that other of the microscope , concerning which i have to say in the following instances . i pass therefore to the last i shall mention in the mathematicks , which is , ( vi. ) geography . in this the ancients were exceedingly defective . and aristotle knew the world , by the same figure his scholar conquer'd it . 't is noted by the ingenious varenius , that the most general and necessary things in this science were then unknown ; as , the habitableness of the torrid zone ; the flux and reflux of the sea ; the diversity of winds ; the polar propertie of the magnet ; the true dimension of the earth . they wanted descriptions of remote countries , concerning which both the greeks and romans had very fabulous relations . they knew not that the earth was encompassed by the sea , and might be sailed round . they were totally ignorant of america , and both the north and south parts of this hemisphere ; yea , and understood very little of the remoter places of their own asia . iapan , the iava's the philippicks , and borneo , were either not at all known , or exceeding imperfectly of old : but all these are familiar to the latter times . mexico and peru , and the vast regions of those mighty empires , with the many isles of the great sea are disclosed . the frozen north , the torrid line , and formerly unknown south , are visited , and by their numerous inhabitants found not to be so inhospitable and unkind to men , as antiquity believed . the earth hath been rounded by magellan , drake , and candish . the great motion of the sea is vulgar , and its varieties inquiring every day : the diversities of winds stated , and better understood : the treasure of hidden vertues in the loadstone , found and used . the spicy islands of the east , as also those of the remote south and north , frequented , and the knowledge of that people and those countries transmitted to us , with their riches ; the most distant being parts travell'd and describ'd . our navigation is far greater , our commerce is more general , our charts more exact , our globes more accurate , our travels more remote , our reports more intelligent and sincere ; and consequently , our geography far more perfect , than it was in the elder times of polybius and possidonius , yea than in those of ptolomy , strabo , and pomponius mela , who lived among the caesars . and if it was so short in the flourishing times of the roman empire , how was it before , in the days of aristotle and the graecians ? we have an instance of it in the great macedonian , who thought the bounds of his conquests to be the end of the world ; when there were nations enough beyond them , to have eaten up the conqueror , with his proud and triumphant armies . so that here also modern improvements have been great ; and you will think so , if you compare the geographical performances of gemma frisius , mercator , ortelius , stevinus , bertius , and guil. blaeu , with the best remains of the most celebrated geographers of the more ancient ages . chap. vii . that useful knowledge is to be aided by instruments . modern instances of such . of the telescope , microscope , and thermometer . thus , sir , i have touched upon some of the improvements of the arts that search into the recesses and intrigues of nature , with which latter ages have assisted philosophical inquiries . and in these i see i have struck farther than i was aware , into the account of those things also which lead us to the grosser phaenomena ; and my remarques about geography are all of that nature . however i shall not alter my method ; but after i have discours'd the instrvments i mentioned for useful knowledge , i shall consider somewhat of natvral history , which reports the appearances , and is fundamentally necessary to all the designs of science . as for the instrvments then , that are next , before i come to give you the notes i intend concerning them , i observe , that the philosophy that must signifie either for light or vse , must not be the work of the mind turned in upon it self , and only conversing with its own idaeas ; but it must be raised from the observations and applications of sense , and take its accounts from things as they are in the sensible world. the illustrious lord bacon hath noted this as the chief cause of the unprofitableness of the former methods of knowledge , viz. that they were but the exercises of the mind , making conclusions , and spinning out notions from its own native store ; from which way of proceeding , nothing but dispute and air could be expected . 't was the fault that great man found in the ancients , that they flew presently to general propositions , without staying for a due information from particulars , and so gradually advancing to axioms : whereas the knowledge from which any thing is to be hoped , must be laid in sense , and raised not only from some few of its ordinary informations ; but instances must be aggregated , compared , and critically inspected , and examined singly and in consort . in order to which performances , our senses must be aided ; for of themselves they are too narrow for the vastness of things , and too short for deep researches : they make us very defective and unaccurate reports , and many times very deceitful and fallacious ones . i say therefore , they must be assisted with instruments that may strengthen and rectisie their operations . and in these we have mighty advantages over aristotle and the ancients ; so that much greater things may well be expected from our philosophy , than could ever have been performed by theirs , though we should grant them all the superiority of wit and vnderstanding their fondest admirers would ascribe to those sages . for a weak hand can move more weight by the help of springs , wheels , leavers , and other mechanick powers , than the strongest could do without them . and that we really have these advantages , must be shewn by instance : i mentioned five that are considerable to that purpose , which i took notice of among many others ; and they were the telescope , microscope , thermometer , barometer , and air-pvmp . ( i. ) the telescope is the most excellent invention that ever was , for assisting the eye in remote discoveries . the distance of the heavens is so vast , that our unaided senses can give us but extreamly imperfect informations of that upper world ; and the speculations that antiquity hath raised upon them , have for the most part been very mean , and very false : but these excellent glasses bring the stars nearer to us , and acquaint us better with the immense territories of light : they give us more phaenomena , and truer accounts ; disperse the shadows and vain images of the twilight of naked sense , and make us a clearer and larger prospect . by these advantages they inlarge our thoughts , and shew us a more magnificent representation of the vniverse : so that by them the heavens are made more amply to declare the glory of god , and we are help'd to nobler and better-grounded theories . i have mentioned in my account of the advance of astronomy , some of the most remarkable discoveries that have been made by these tubes , which exceedingly transcend all the imaginations of elder times ; and by the further improvement of them , other things may be disclosed as much beyond all ours . and the present philosophers are so far from desiring that posterity should sit down contented with their discoveries and hypotheses , that they are continually sollicitous for the gaining more helps to themselves , and those that shall follow , for a further progress into the knowledge of the phaenomena , and more certain judgments upon them . so that these glasses are exceedingly bettered since their invention by metius , and application to the heavens by galilaeo ; and several ingenious members of the royal society are now busie about improving them to a greater height . what success and informations we may expect from the advancements of this instrument , it would perhaps appear romantick and ridiculous to say ; as , no doubt , to have talk'd of the spots in the sun , and vast inequalities in the surface of the moon , and those other telescopical certainties , before the invention of that glass , would have been thought phantastick and absurd . i dare not therefore mention our greatest hopes : but this i adventure , that 't is not unlikely but posterity may by those tubes , when they are brought to higher degrees of perfection , find a sure way to determine those mighty questions , whether the earth move ? or , the planets are inhabited ? and who knoweth which way the conclusions may fall ? and 't is probable enough , that another thing will at last be found out , in which this lower world is more immediately concerned , by telescopical observations , which is , the most desired invention of longitudes ; upon which must needs ensue yet greater improvements of navigation , and perhaps the discovery of the north-west passage , and the yet unknown south . whatever may be thought of these expectations by vulgar and narrow minds , whose theories and hopes are confin'd by their senses , those that consider , that one experiment discovered to us the vast america , will not despair . but 't is time to pass from this , to a second modern aid , whereby our sight is assisted , which is , ( ii. ) the microscope . the secrets of nature are not in the greater masses , but in those little threds and springs which are too subtile for the grosness of our unhelp'd senses ; and by this instrument our eyes are assisted to look into the minutes and subtilties of things , to discern the otherwise invisible schematisms and structures of bodies , and have an advantage for the finding out of original motions ; to perceive the exactness and curiosity of nature in all its composures ; and from thence take sensible evidence of the art and wisdom that is in its contrivance ; to disclose the variety of living creatures that are shut up from our bare senses , and open a kind of other world unto us , which its littleness kept unknown . this instrument hath been exceedingly improved of late , even to the magnifying of objects a thousand times , and many useful theories have been found and explicated by the notices it hath afforded ; as appears by the microscopical writings of those ingenious mechanicks , members of the royal society , dr. power and mr. hooke . but ( iii. ) the thermometer was another instrument i mentioned , which discovers all the small unperceivable variations in the heat or coldness of the air , and exhibits many rare and luciferous phaenomena , which may help to better informations about those qualities , than yet we have any . and as to this , i observe with the great verulam , and the other bacon the illustrious mr. boyle , that heat and cold are the right and left hand of nature . the former is the great instrument of most of her operations ; and the other hath its interest . and yet the philosophy of aristotle hath neither done nor as much as attempted anything toward the discovery of their natures ; but contented it self with the jejune , vulgar , and general description , that heat is a quality that gathereth together things of a like nature , and severs those that are unlike ; and cold congregates both . but now if we will know any thing deeply in the business of rarefaction and condensation , the doctrine of meteors , and other material affairs of nature , other accounts about these things must be endeavoured ; and the bare informations of our senses , are not exact enough for this purpose ; for their reports in this kind are various and uncertain , according to the temper and disposition of our bodies , and several unobserved accidental mutations that happen in them . this instrument therefore hath been invented to supply their defects ; and it gives far more constant and accurate , though perhaps not always infallible relations : but the justest are afforded by the sealed thermometer . and besides the vses of this instrument i suggested , it will help very much in framing the history of weather , which may be applied to many excellent purposes of philosophy , and services of life . chap. viii . of the barometer and air-pump , and what advantages we have and may further expect from these instruments . but ( iv. ) the barometer is another late instrument very helpful to vseful knowledge . that there is gravity even in the air it self , and that that element is only comparatively light , is now made evident and palpable by experience , though aristotle and his schools held a different theory : and by the help of quicksilver in a tube , the way is found to measure all the degrees of compression in the atmosphere , and to estimate exactly any accession of weight , which the air receives from winds , clouds , or vapours . to have said in elder times , that mankind should light upon an invention whereby those bodies might be weigh'd , would certainly have appeared very wild and extravagant ; and it will be so accounted for some time yet , till men have been longer and are better acquainted with this instrument : for we have no reason to believe it should have better luck than the doctrine of the circulation , the theory of antipodes , and all great discoveries in their first proposals . 't is impossible to perswade some of the indians that live near the heats of the line , that there is any such thing as ice in the world ; but if you talk to them of water made hard and consistent by cold , they 'l laugh at you as a notorious romancer . and those will appear as ridiculous among the most of us , who shall affirm it possible to determine any thing of the weight of the wind or clouds . but experience turns the laugh upon the confident incredulity of the scoffer ; and he that will not believe , needs no more for his conviction , than the labour of a tryal . let him then fill a tube of glass of some feet in length , with quicksilver ; and having sealed one end , let him stop the other with his finger , and immerge that which is so stop'd into a vessel of mercury , the tube being perpendicularly erected ; let him then substract his finger , and he will perceive the quicksilver to descend from the tube into the subjacent vessel , till it comes to 29 digits or thereabouts ; there , after some vibrations , it ordinarily rests . the reason that this remainder of the mercury doth not descend also , is , because such a mercurial cylinder is just equiponderant to one of the incumbent atmosphere that leans upon the quicksilver in the vessel , and so hinders a further descent . it is concluded therefore , that such a cylinder of the air as presses upon the mercury in the vessel , is of equal weight to about 29 digits of that ponderous body in the tube . thus it is when the air is in its ordinary temper : but vapours , winds , and clouds alter the standard , so that the quicksilver sometimes falls , sometimes rises in the glass , proportionably to the greater or less accession of gravity and compression the air hath received from any of those alterations ; and the degree of increase beyond the standard , is the measure of the additional gravity . this experiment was the invention of torricellius , and used to little more purpose at first , but to prove a vacuum in nature ; and the deserted part of the glass tube was by many thought an absolute void , which i believe is a mistake : but it hath been since improved to this design of weighing the degrees of compression in the air ; a thing that may signifie much , in giving us to understand its temper in several places , on hills and in caves , in divers regions and climates , which may tend to the disclosing many excellent theories and helps in humane life . and the air is so catholick a body , and hath so great an influence upon all others , and upon ours , that the advantage of such an instrument , for the better acquainting us with its nature , must needs be very considerable , and a good aid to general philosophy . and who yet knows how far , and to what discoveries this invention may be improved ? the world a long time only rudely star'd upon the wonders of the loadstone , before its use was found for the advantage of navigation ; and 't is not impossible , but that future times may derive so much benefit one way or other from this invention , as may equal its esteem to that of the compass . the royal society , by their care and endeavours in the using this instrument , give us hopes , that they will let none of its useful applications to escape us . and i know not whether we may not mention it as the first great benefit we have from it , that it was an occasion of the invention of mr. boyle's famous pneumatick engine : and this is the other instrument i noted , and call'd ( v. ) the air-pvmp , concerning the usefulness of which , that excellent person himself hath given the best accounts , in his discourse of physico-mechanical experiments made in that engine , by which he hath discovered and proved a rare and luciferous theory , viz. the elastick power or spring of the air , and by this , hath put to flight that odd phancy of the fuga vacui , and shewn , that the strange effects which use to be ascribed to that general and obscure cause , do arise from the native self-expansion of the air. the extent of which elastical expansion , he hath found divers ways to measure by his engine , which also discovers the influence the air hath on flame , smoke , and fire ; that it hath none in operations magnetical ; that it is probably much interspersed in the pores of water , and comprest by the incumbent atmosphere , even in those close retreats ; what operation the exsuction of the air hath on other liquors , as oyl , wine , spirit of vinegar , milk , eggs , spirit of vrine , solution of tartar , and spirit of wine ; the gravity and expansion of the air under water ; the interest the air hath in the vibrations of pendulums , and what it hath to do in the propagation of sounds ; that fumes and vapours ascend by reason of the gravity of the ambient , and not from their own positive levity ; the nature of suction , the cause of filtration , and the rising of water in siphons ; the nature of respiration , and the lungs illustrated by tryals made on several kinds of animals , and the interest the air hath in the operations of corrosive liquors . these , and many more such like beneficial observations and discoveries , hath that great man made by the help of his pneumatick engine ; and there is no doubt but more , and perhaps greater things will be disclosed by it , when future ingenuity and diligence hath improved and perfected this invention . ( for what great thing was absolute and perfect in its first rise and beginning ? ) and 't is like this instrument hereafter will be used and applied to things yet unthought of , for the advancement of knowledge and conveniences of life . chap. ix . the credit of optick-glasses vindicated , against a disputing man , who is afraid to believe his eyes against aristotle . thus , sir , i have performed the first part of my promise , by shewing what advantages the latter ages , and particularly the royal society , have for deep search into things both by arts and instrvments newly invented or improved , above those enjoy'd by aristotle and the ancients . to my discourse about the dioptrick tubes , the telescope and microscope , the reverend disputer replied , [ that our glasses were all deceitful and fallacious . ] which answer minds me of the good woman , who when her husband urged in an occasion of difference , [ i saw it , and shall i not believe my own eyes ? ] replied briskly , will you believe your own eyes , before your own dear wife ? and it seems this gentleman thinks it unreasonable we should believe ours , before his own dear aristotle . for an assurance of the credit of those glasses , i told him he might try them upon objects near , and easily visible by the unassisted sight ; and if he made the tryal , he would find they altered the objects in nothing but their proportions , which are represented larger for the advantage of vision in things small and remote ; and we have all the like reasons to distrust our eyes , as these glasses ( for their informations are the same in all things , but the mentioned difference ) and there is no man so much a fool , as not to make allowances for that . never was any yet so grosly deceived by the microscope , as to be perswaded that a flea is as big as a lobster ; nor did the telescope ever make any one believe that the moon was at the end of his tube : but if the former represents that little creature as bristled and ja●ar'd , and the other makes the planet mountanous and uneven , we have no reason to believe but that their reports are sincere , though our unaided senses are too gross to perceive either the one or other ; since , if the mentioned bristles and ja●ars are in the glass , and nor in the animal , they would appear in like manner in all the small creatures which in the same light and position are look'd on through the microscope : and if the ruggedness of surface were in it , and not in the moon , the same would be seen upon all other distant objects , that are view'd through the other optick instrument . and if there be deceit in those glasses , seamen had need beware how they trust them , since the flags which appear to be those of their friends in the perspective , may be really the colours of their enemies . upon these accounts , sir , which afford plain and sensible evidence , i wondered much at the disputers strange suspicion , which had been scarce pardonable in a vulgar head ; and i know not what to call it in one , that would be thought a philosopher : but the wary man gave a reason , which made me as much wonder at his argument , as his doubt . and to this attend ye philosophers of the royal colledge , and prepare your selves to answer a demonstration from experience , against your glasses ; raise your expectations for a wonderful , convictive experiment ; let the mountains travel , and the birth will follow . [ take two spectacles ( saith the experimental sage ) use them at the same time , and you will not see so well as with one singly . ] therefore your microscopes and telescopes are impostors . this man , sir , is a logician , and no doubt you perceive so . o how i admire this rare faculty of arguing ! how dull are our wits , to those subtile , eagle-ey'd schoolmen , who see conclusions so far off , through the more unerring telescopes of their own piercing understandings ? did ever old man before make this use of his spectacles ? but to leave wondring , let 's endeavour to understand this philosophy of chue . how a man may see by spectacles , that perspectives are deceitful . [ we can see better through one pair , than two ] saith the deep philosopher . most sagely observ'd ! the argument begins strongly : but in the name of aristotle , whence comes the consequence ? therefore perspectives are fallacious . one proposition for sence , and th' other for convenience . this fits his purpose to discredit new discoveries , 't is no matter how it follows . this gentleman , you must know sir , useth to have his word taken among his admiring neighbours , and so is not wont to be put to the trouble of proving : but i was so unmannerly as to expect it , chusing rather to see with mine own eyes , than his infallible spectacles . we can see better — saith the disputer . how doth he know that ? if perspectives deceive us , though naked sense witness for them , why may not his single spectacles be as deceitful as they ? these represent things bigger than they are to the unaided sight ; and the philosophical glasses do but the same thing , in a higher degree of magnifying the object . but we allow him the benefit of his single spectacles , though he will not be so courteous to our glasses , and confess his reverend experiment of the use of two , but are inquisitive about the consequence . the reason of which certainly must be ( if any be intended in it ) that our telescopes and microscopes have a glass at each end , which the man of sapience thinks answers the two pair of spectacles , and therfore must render the representation deceitful . if this philosopher had spared some of those thoughts to the profitable doctrine of opticks , which he hath spent upon genus and species , we had never heard of this objection , which is as much a reason against the credit of all perspective glasses whatsoever , as the philosophical ones he would discredit . and without more opticks than those of natural vnderstanding , he might , if it had pleased him , have known , that we see better through the two glasses in perspectives , than any single one ; because they are so fashioned and ordered , that the visive rays are better gathered and united by them for the advantage of sight : but in the two spectacles , the case is contrary . these things i suggested , and some others from the dioptricks , in which this sage person was pleased then to conceal his knowledge ; and how great that was in these matters , will appear by the learned problem he proposed at this period of our discourse , viz. [ why we cannot see with two pair of spectacles , better than with one singly ? for , saith the man of axioms , vis unita fortior ? ] a pleasant piece of philosophy this ; and i 'le shew the disputer how strongly he infers from his maxim , by another question like it . why cannot he write better with two pens , than with a single one , since vis unita fortior ? when he hath answered this quaere , he hath resolved his own . i said in the discourse , that the reason he gave why one would expect it should be so , is the reason why 't is not ; and this is plain enough to sense , from the confusion of vision , which shews , that the rays are not united after the way requisite for the aiding the sight ( as i just now intimated ) and how that should be , i had here shewn , but that i am ashamed to add more in earnest about a grave foolery . and i confess , sir , i account these personal matters a kind of digression from the main thing i intended . to return therefore to my subject . chap. x. our advantages for knowledge ; from modern improvements of natural history . having discourst the modern help● vseful knowledge hath for deep research , i am next ( 2. ) to recount what aids it hath received from our better acquaintance with the phaenomena . for this i must consider natural history more particularly , which is the repository wherein these are lodg'd . how this may be compiled in the best order , and to the best advantage , is most judiciously represented by the immortal lord bacon ; and to shew how highly it hath been advanced in modern times , i need say little more , than to amass in a brief recollection , some of the instances of newly-discovered phaenomena , which are scatter'd under the heads of the arts and instruments i have discours'd , with the addition of some others : as , in the heavens , those of the spots and dinettick motion of the sun , the mountanous protuberances and shadows in the body of the moon , about nineteen magnitudes more of fixed stars , the lunulae of iupiter , their mutual eclipsing one another , and its turning round upon its own axis ; the ring about saturn , and its shadow upon the body of that star ; the phases of venus , the increment and decrement of light among the planets , the appearing and disaprearing of fixed stars , the altitude of comets , and nature of the via lactea . by these discoveries , and more such , the history of the heavens hath been rectified and augmented by the modern advancers of astronomy , whom in their place i have cited . in the air its spring , the more ●ccurate history and nature of winds and meteors , and the probable height of the atmosphere , have been added by the lord bacon , des cartes , mr. boyle , and others . in the earth , new lands by columbus , magellan , and the rest of the discoverers ; and in these , new plants , new fruits , new animals , new minerals , and a kind of other world of nature , from which this is supplied with numerous conveniences of life , and many thousand families of our own little one are continually fed and maintained . in the waters , the great motion of the sea , unknown in elder times , and the particular laws of flux and reflux in many places , are discover'd . the history of bathes augmented by savonarola , baccius , and blanthellus ; of metals by agricola ; and the whole svbterraneous world described by the universally learned kircher . the history of plants much improved by matthiolus , ruellius , bauhinus , and gerard , besides the late account of english vegitables publish'd by dr. merret , a worthy member of the royal society . and another excellent virtuoso of the same assembly , mr. iohn evelyn , hath very considerably advanced the history of fruit and forest-trees , by his sylva and pomona ; and greater things are expected from his preparations for elysium britannicum , a noble design now under his hands : and certainly the inquisitive world is much indebted to this generous gentleman for his very ingenious performances in this kind , as also for those others of sculpture , picture , architecture , and the like practical , useful things with which he hath inrich'd it . the history of animals hath been much inlarged by gesner , rondeletius , aldrovandus , and more accurately inquir'd into by the micrographers : and the late travellers , who have given us accounts of those remote parts of the earth , that have been less known to these , have described great variety of living creatures , very different from the animals of the nearer regions ; among whom the ingenious author of the history of the caribbies deserves to be mentioned as an instance . in our own bodies natural history hath found a rich heap of materials in the above-mentioned particulars of the venae lacteae , the vasa lymphatica , the valves and sinus of the veins , the several new passages and ●landules , the ductus chyliferus , the ori●ination of the nerves , the circulation of ●he blood , and the rest . and all the main heads of natural history have receiv'd ●ids and increase from the famous verulam , who led the way to substantial wisdom , and hath given most excellent directions for the method of such an history of nature . chap. xi . the advantages of late ages for spreading and communicating knowledge . three great instances of it , in printing , the compass , and the royal society . thus , sir , i have dispatch'd the first part of my method proposed in the beginning ; but stand yet ingaged for the other , which is to shew , ( ii. ) that the later ages since aristotle have had great advantages of him , in respect of opportunities and helps for the spreading and communicating knowledge , and thereby of improving and enlarging it and methinks the very mention of age● and aristotle , by way of comparison in this case , hath so much of absurdity in it , tha● i am almost ashamed to proceed further in the proof of such a proposition as this , viz. that the advantages of mankind in the succession of two thousand years , are more than those of a single person who lived but sixty three . certainly those that have the fondness to think the contrary , have a faith that exceeds all the extravagancies of fiction : for never any romance was so absurdly vain , as to feign an heroe whose single strength and valour exceeded armies of other mortals . and 't is not less absurd to suppose the wit of one man , and he an idolater and an heathen , to transcend the joynt understandings of all the wiser world , though assisted by his knowledge , the light of christianity , and the aggregated informations and endeavours of many learned ages : but my reverend opposite had this belief , and hath thereby out-done the largest excesses of poetry . for his sake therefore , and those others that are of this more than hyperbolical faith , i add the second part of my proposed method , though what i have said already upon the first , is , i judge , more than sufficient for that purpose ; and yet i think it not impertinent to subjoyn those other considerations , both because they will further discover the unreasonable vanity of the doating spirits , that oppose all generous endeavours for the advance and improvement of knowledge ; and ( which may signifie more ) will excite and encourage hopes of modern attempts : and hope is the fuel of activity and endeavour . i descend to demonstrate then by palpable and undeniable instances , that we have advantages above aristotle , and , which is much more , above all elder times , for mutual communications , and impartments of our notices , observations , experiments , and performances for the increase of science . my instances are three , printing , the compass , and the royal society . for the first , printing , it was , according to polydore vergil , the invention of iohn cuthenberg of mentz in germany , though others give the honour to one fust of the same city , and some to laurentius a burger of haerlem . but whoever was the author , this is agreed , that this excellent art was first practiced about the year 1440. and was utterly unknown i● elder times ; at least in all the parts of th● world that are on this side the kingdom o● china , which they say had it more early but it signifies not to our purpose . now by reason of the ancients want of this invention , copies of excellent things could not be so much dispersed , nor so well preserv'd either from the corruptions of tim●● or design . the charge of books was very great , forgeries frequent , and mistakes o● transcribers numerous . they were quickly swept away out of those few libraries in which they were , by fire and violence , o● spoiled by dust and rottenness . and in th● absence of this art , 't was easie enough fo● one aristotle to destroy the most considerable remains of the ancients , that the power of his great scholar put into his hands which , 't is credibly reported of him , tha● he did , to procure more fame for his own performances : as also to conceal his thefts and injurious dealings with those venerable sages , whom he seems to take a great delight to contradict and expose , as i have elsewhere proved . but now , by this excellent invention , the knowledge that is lodged in books , is put beyond the danger of such corruptions , forgeries , or any fatal inconvenience . we communicate upon easie ●terms at the remotest distance , converse with the wisemen that went before us , and se●●rely convey down our conceptions to the ages that shall follow . so that by this means knowledge is advantageously spread and improved ; especially since the assistance modern ingenuity hath brought us , in that other admirable invention , ( 2. ) the compass . how defective the art of navigation was in elder times , when they sailed by the observation of the stars , is easie to be imagin'd : for in dark weather , when their pleiades , helice , and cynosura were hidden from them by the intervening clouds , the mari●ner was at a loss for his guide , and exposed to the casual conduct of the winds and tides . for which reason the ancients seldom or never durst venture into the ocean , but steer'd along within sight of the safer shore . so that the commerce and communications of those days were very narrow ; their famed travels in comparison were but domestick ; and a whole world was to them unknown . but it hath been the happy priviledge of later days to find the way to apply the wonderful vertues of the loadstone to navigation ; and by the direction of the compass we securely commit our selves t● the immense ocean , and find our path i● the vastest wilderness of waters . so tha● commerce and traffique is infinitely improved , the other half of the globe disclosed and that on this side the great sea better understood . the religions , laws , customs and all the rarities and varieties of art and nature , which any the most distant clim● knows and enjoys , are laid open and made common ; and thereby the history of nature is wonderfully inlarged , and knowledge is both propagated and improved . who it was that first discovered this excellent mystery , is not certainly known ● but one flavius goia of amalphis in the kingdom of naples , is said to be the author ; and to have found this incomparable rarity about 300 years ago . 't is pity that one of the greatest benefactors to mankind that ever was , should lie hid in so neglected an obscurity ; when the great troublers of the world , who have vex'd it by the wars of the hand and of the brain , have so dear and so precious a memory . for my part i think there is more acknowledgment due to the name of this obscure fellow , that hath scarce any left , than to a thousand alexanders and caesars , or to ten times the number of aristotles . and he really did more for the increase of knowledge , and advantage of the world by this one experiment , than the numerous subtile disputers that have lived ever since the erection of the school of talking . and methinks it may not be improper for me here to take notice of that other great german invention , that useth to be mentioned in the company , viz. that of gvnpowder and artillery , which hath done its service also for the help and propagation of knowledge , as you will perceive , when you shall consider ; that by the assistance of these terrible engins of death , the great western indies were presently subdued , which likely had not been so easily effected by the ancient and ordinary methods of war. 't was this thunder and lightning , and the invisible instruments of ruine , that destroyed the courage of those numerous and hardy people , took away the hearts of the strongest resisters , and made them an easie prey to the conquering invaders . and now by the gaining that mighty continent , and the numerous fruitful isles beyond the atlantick , we have obtained a larger field of nature , and have thereby an advantage for more phaenomena , and more helps both for knowledge and for life , which 't is very like that future ages will make better use of to such purposes , than those hitherto have done ; and that science also may at last travel into those parts , and inrich peru with a more precious treasure than that of its golden mines , is not improbable . and so these engines of destruction , in a sense too are instruments of knowledge . of the first author of this experiment we know no more , but that he was a german monke , who lighted on it chance , when he was making some chymical tryals with nitre , near about the time of the invention of the compass ; but his name and other circumstances are lost . now whoever considers , with the noble verulam , how much the state of things in the world hath been altered and advanced by these three experiments alone , will conceive great hopes of modern experimental attempts , from which greater matters may be looked for , than those which were the inventions of single endeavourers , or the results of chance . and of all the combinations of men that ever met for the improvement of science , therewere never any whose designes were ●etter laid , whose encouragements were greater , whose abilities were more promising , or whose constitution was more judiciously or advantageously formed , than the royal society . chap. xii . of the royal society . the reasons of the institution , and their designs . an answer to the question , what have they done ? this noble institution , sir , was the third advantage i mentioned , that the modern world hath for the communication and increase of knowledge . and just as i am come to this particular of my method , i find i am happily prevented , and see i need not say much about it ; for their history , that is newly come abroad , gives so full and so accurate an account of them and their designs , that perhaps it may be superfluous to do more in this , than to recommend that excellent discourse to your perusal , which i do with some more than ordinary zeal and concernment , both because the subject is one of the most weighty and considerable that ever afforded matter to a philosophical pen , and because it is writ in a way of so judicious a gravity , and so prudent and modest an expression , with so much clearness of sense , and such a natural fluency of genuine eloquence : so that i know it will both profit and entertain you . and i say further , that you may remember to do your self this right , that the style of that book hath all the properties that can recommend any thing to an ingenious relish : for 't is manly , and yet plain ; natural , and yet not careless : the epithets are genuine , the words proper and familiar , the periods smooth and of middle proportion : it is not broken with ends of latin , nor impertinent quotations ; nor made harsh by hard words , or needless terms of art : not rendred intricate by long parentheses , nor gaudy by flanting metaphors ; not tedious by wide fetches and circumferences of speech , nor dark by too much curtness of expression : 't is not loose and unjointed , rugged and uneven ; but as polite and as fast as marble ; and briefly , avoids all the notorious defects , and wants none of the proper ornaments of language . i say , proper ; for styles are cloathes that must be fitted to the subjects they are upon , and altered according to the different kinds of things they describe and express . thus , sir , you see i am not infected with that base envy , that always speaks detractingly or sparingly of the most worthy performances of contemporaries . and because of this general ill nature in mankind , few men can bear large commendations of others , though they are never so just ; but will endeavour to find all the faults that malicious wit can suggest , against any thing which hath a great character of worth upon it , especially if it be of modern date ; a baseness which no doubt hath been a great discouragement to many noble designs and endeavours . for my part , i thank god , i am inclined by my particular complexion , as well as by my reason , to take as much pleasure to do right to the deserts of excellent things and persons , as some are to malign and defame them ; and in what i have said on this occasion , i have not only gratified that humour , but i hope done you a kindness , by disposing you to a careful reading of what i have so earnestly recommended : and in that you will see what were the reasons of forming such a combination as the royal society , what is the nature of that constitution , what are their designs , and what they have done . you 'l find there a collection of some ( among numerous others that are in their repository ) of the experiments , observations , and instruments which they have invented and advanced for the improvement of real , useful knowledge , and a full vindication of the design , from the dark suspicions and objections of jealousie and ignorance . but that i may not wholly refer you , which may look lik a put-off , i 'le here offer you something for a present stay to your appetite , concerning this establishment , as it is an advantage for the communication and increase of science . i say then , that it was observed by the excellent lord bacon , and some other ingenious moderns , that philosophy , which should be an instrument to work with , to find out those aids that providence hath laid up in nature to help us against the inconveniences of this state , and to make such applications of things as may tend to universal benefit . i say , they took notice , that instead of such a philosophy as this , that which had usurp'd the name , and obtained in the schools , was but a combination of general theortes and notions , that were concluded rashly , without due information from particulars , and spun out into unprofitable niceties , that tend to nothing but dispute and talk , and were never like to advance any works for the benefit and use of men . this being consider'd , the deep and judicious verulam made the complaint , represented the defects and unprofitableness of the notional way , proposed another to reform and inlarge knowledge by observation and experiment , to examine and record particulars , and so to rise by degrees of induction to general propositions , and from them to take direction for new inquiries , and more discoveries , and other axioms ; that our notions may have a foundation upon which a solid philosophy may be built , that may be firm , tite , and close knit , and suted to the phaenomena of things : so that nature being known , it may be master'd , managed , and used in the services of humane life . this was a mighty design , groundedly laid , wisely exprest , and happily recommended by the glorious author , who began nobly , and directed with an incomparable conduct of wit and iudgment : but to the carrying it on , it was necessary there should be many heads and many hands , and those formed into an assembly , that might intercommunicate their tryals and observations , that might joyntly work , and joyntly consider ; that so the improvable and luciferous phaenomena , that lie scatter'd up and down in the vast champaign of nature , might be aggregated and brought into a common store . this the great man desired , and form'd a society of experimenters in a romantick model , but could do no more ; his time was not ripe for such performances . these things therefore were consider'd also by the later virtuosi , who several of them combined together , and set themselves on work upon this grand design ; in which they have been so happy , as to obtain the royal countenance and establishment , to gather a great body of generous persons of all qualities and sorts of learning , to overcome the difficulties of the institution , and to make a very encouraging and hopeful progress in their pursuits . for the account of which particulars , i refer you to the history , and only take notice , how ignorantly those rash and inconsiderate people talk , who speak of this assembly as a company of men whose only aim is to set up some new theories and notions in philosophy ; whereas indeed , their first and chief imployment is , carefully to seek and faithfully to report how things are de facto ; and they continually declare against the establishment of theories , and speculative doctrines , which they note as one of the most considerable miscarriages in the philosophy of the schools : and their business is not to dispute , but work. so that those others also that look on them as pursuing phancyful designs , are as wide and unjust in their ill-contriv'd censure : since their aims are to free philosophy from the vain images and compositions of phansie , by making it palpable , and bringing it down to the plain objects of the senses ; for those are the faculties which they employ and appeal to , and complain that knowledge hath too long hover'd in the clouds of imagination . so that methinks this ignorant reproach is , as if those that doated on the tales of the fabulous age , should clamour against herodotus and thucydides as idle romancers . for the main intendment of this society is to erect a well-grounded natural history , which takes off the heats of wanton phansie , hinders its extravagant excursions , and ties it down to sober realities . but this , sir , i only touch en passant ; and though i am not close upon the main thing i intend , yet i cannot forbear taking notice of an insulting objection that we hear frequently in this question , what have they done ? to this i could answer in short ( as i have once already suggested ) more than all the philosophers of the notional way , since aristotle opened his shop in greece . which saying may perhaps look to some like a fond and bold sentence : but whoever compares the repository of this society , with all the volumes of disputers , will find it neither immodest nor unjust . and their history hath given us instances sufficient of their experiments , observations , and instruments , to justifie a bolder affirmation . but i insist not on this : the thing i would have you observe is , that those who make the captious question , do not comprehend the vastness of the work of this assembly , or have some phantastical imaginations of it . they consider not the design is laid as low as the profoundest depths of nature , and reacheth as high as the uppermost story of the vniverse ; that it extends to all the varieties of the great world , and aims at the benefit of universal mankind . for could they expect that such mighty projects as these should ripen in a moment ? can a cedar shoot up out of the earth like a blade of grass ? or an elephant grow to the vastness of his bulk , as soon as a little insect can be form'd of a drop of dew ? no ; the true knowledge of general nature , like nature it self in its noblest composures , must proceed slowly , by degrees almost insensible : and what one age can do in so immense and undertaking as that , wherein all the generations of men are concerned , can be little more than to remove the rubbish , lay in materials , and put things in order for the building . our work is to overcome prejudices , to throw aside what is useless , and yields no advantage for knowledge or for life ; to perswade men that there is worthier imployment for them , than tying knots in bulrushes ; and that they may be better accommodated in a well-built house , than in a castle in the air. we must seek and gather , observe and examine , and lay up in bank for the ages that come after . this is the business of the experimental philosophers ; and in these designs a progress hath been made sufficient to satisfie sober expectations : but for those that look they should give them the great elixir , the perpetual motion , the way to make glass malleable , and man immortal ; or they will object that the philosophers have done nothing : for such , i say , their impertinent taunts are no more to be regarded , than the little chat of ideots and children . chap. xiii . an account of what hath been done by the illustrious mr. boyle for the promotion of useful knowledge . but , sir , i think i am fallen into things of which the ingenious historian hath somewhere given better accounts , and therefore i draw off ; though before i quite take leave of this head of my discourse , i think fit yet further to shew the injustice of the reproach of having done nothing , as 't is applied to the royal society , by a single instance in one of their members , who alone hath done enough to oblige all mankind , and to erect an eternal monument to his memory . so that had this great person lived in those days , when men godded their benefactors , he could not have miss'd one of the first places among their deified mortals . and you will be convinc'd that this is not vainly said , when i have told you , i mean the illustrious mr. boyle , a person by whose proper merits that noble name is as much adorned , as by all the splendid titles that it wears . and that this honourable gentleman hath done such things for the benefit of the world , and increase of knowledge , you will see , if you converse with him in his excellent writings , where you will find the greatest strength and the gentilest smoothness , the most generous knowledge and the sweetest modesty , the noblest discoveries and the sincerest relations , the greatest self-denial and the greatest love of men , the profoundest insight into philosophy and nature , and the most devout , affectionate sense of god and of religion . and in saying all this , i do not fear the envy that great praise excites ; for that cannot be so impudent to deny the justice of this acknowledgment . but , sir , i consider the commendation of this incomparable person was not the thing i undertook ; but a succinct and general representation of his philosophical performances : and to that i now address my self , without more preface . ( i. ) in his book of the air , we have a great improvement of the magdeburg experiment , of emptying glass vessels by exsuction of the air , to far greater degrees of evacuation , ease , and conveniences for use ; as also an advance of that other famous one of torricellius , performed by the new engine , of which i have said some things above , and call'd the air-pvmp . by this instrument ( as i have already intimated ) the nature , spring , expansion , pressure , and weight of the air ; the decrease of its force when dilated , the doctrine of a vacuum , the height of the atmosphere , the theories of respiration , sounds , fluidity , gravity , heat , flame , the magnet , and several other useful and luciferous matters , are estimated , illustrated , and explain'd . and ( 2. ) the great doctrine of the weight and spring of the air is solidly vindicated and further asserted by the illustrious author , in another book against hobs and linvs . ( 3. ) in his physiological and experimental essays , he nobly encourageth and perswades the making of experiments , and collecting observations , and gives the necessary cautions that are to be used in such designs . he imparts a very considerable luciferous experiment concerning the different parts and redintegration of salt-petre ; whence he deduceth , that motion , figure , and disposition of parts , may suffice to produce all the secondary affections of bodies ; and consequently , that there is no need of the substantial forms and qualities of the schools . to this he adds a close history of fluidity and firmness , which tends mightily to the elucidating those useful doctrines . ( 4. ) in his sceptical chymist he cautions against the sitting down and acquiescing in chymical and peripatetical theories , which many do , to the great hinderance of the growth and improvement of knowledge . he therefore adviseth a more wary consideration and examen of those doctrines , before they are subscribed ; and for that purpose he assists them with many very considerable observations and experiments . ( 5. ) in his vsefvlness of experimental philosophy he makes it appear how much that way tends to the advance of the power and empire of man over the creatures , and the universal benefit of the world ; confirming and illustrating his discourse with innumerable new and useful discoveries . ( 6. ) in his history of cold , he hath to wonder cultivated that barren subject , and improved it ( as is noted by the philosophical transactions ) by neer 200 choice experiments and observations . he hath there given an account of the defectiveness of common weather-glasses , the advantages of the new hermetical thermometers , and an inquiry concerning the cause of the condensation of the air , and ascent of water by cold in the ordinary weather-wisers ; all which afford valuable considerations of light and use . but these are only preliminaries : the main discourse presents us with an account what bodies are capable of freezing others , and what of being frozen ; the ways to estimate the degrees of coldness ; how to measure the intenseness of cold produced by art , beyond that imploy'd in ordinary freezing ; in what proportion water will be made to shrink by snow and salt ; how to measure the change produc'd in water between the greatest heat of summer , the first degree of winter-cold , and the highest of art ; how to discover the differing degrees of coldness in different regions . a way of freezing without danger to the vessel . what may be the effects of cold , as to the preserving or destroying the texture of bodies . whether specifick vertues of plants are lost through congelation , and then thawing . whether electrical and magnetick vertues are altered by cold. the expansion and contraction of bodies by freezing ; how they are caused , and how their quantity is to be measured . the strength of the expansion of water freezing , and an inquiry into the cause of that prodigious force . the sphere of activity of cold. how far the frost descends in earth and water . an experiment shewing whether cold can act through an hot medium . a way of accounting the solidity of ice , and the strength of the adhesion of its parts : what liquors are its quickest dissolvents . an experiment of heating a cold liquor with ice . these , and many more such instructive and useful things , are contained in that excellent discourse : to which is annex'd a very ingenious examination and disproof of the common obscure doctrine of antiperistasis , and mr. hobbs his notion of cold. ( 7. ) in his experimental history of colovrs , he hath laid a foundation in 150 experiments at least , for grounded theory about these matters . he hath shewn the grand mistake of the common belief , that colours inhere in their objects ; and proved they depend upon disposition of the external parts , and the more inward texture of bodies . he hath stated and explained wherein the disparity consists between the real and exphatical ; explicated the nature of whiteness and blackness ; rectified some chymical principles ; compounded colours by trajecting the solar beams through tinged glasses ; shewed how by certain tinctures it may be known , whether any salt be acid or sulphureous . hath proved , there is no necessity of the peripatetick forms for the production of colours , by making green by nine kinds of mixtures ; compounded colours real and phantastical ; turned the blew of violets by acid salts into a red , and by the alcalizate into a green ; and performed many other extraordinary things on this subject , for the advantage of knowledge and the uses of life . ( 8. ) in his hydrostatical paradoxes he shew'd , that the lower parts of fluids are press'd by the upper ; that a lighter may gravitate upon one that is more ponderous ; that if a body contiguous to it , be lower than the highest level of the water , the lower end o● the body will be press'd upwards by the water beneath ; that the weight of an external fluid sufficeth to raise the water in pumps ; that the pressure of an external fluid is able to keep an heterogeneous liquor suspended at the same height in several pipes , though they are of different diameters ; that a body under water that hath its upper surface parallel to the horizon , the direct pressure it sustains is no more than that of a columne of water , which hath the mentioned horizontal superficies for its basis. and if the incumbent water be contained in pipes open at both ends , the pressure is to be estimated by the weight of a pillar of water , whose basis is equal to the lower orifice of the pipe paralles to the horizon ) and its height equal to a perpendicular , reaching to the top of the water , though the pipe be much inclined , irregularly shaped , and in some parts broader than the orifice ; that a body in a fluid sustains a lateral pressure from it , which increaseth in proportion to the depth of the immerst body in the fluid ; that water may be made to depress a body lighter than it self ; that a parcel of oyl lighter than water , may be kept from ascending in it ; that the cause of the ascension of water in syphons , may be explained without the notion of abhorrence of a vacuum ; that the heaviest body known will not sink of it self , without the assistance of the weight of the water upon it , when 't is at a depth greater than twenty times its own thickness , though it will nearer the surface . this is the sum of the general contents of that discourse , which contains things very useful to be known for the advantage of navigation , salt-works , chymistry , and other practical purposes . ( 9. ) in his book of the origine of forms and qvalities , he delivers the minds of men from the imaginary and useless notions of the schools about them , which have no foundation in the nature of things , nor do any ways promote knowledge , or help mankind ; but very much disserve those great interests , by setting the understanding at rest in general obscurities , or imploying it in aiery niceties and disputes , and so hindring its pursuit of particular causes , and experimental realities . in this treatise he lays the foundations and delivers the principles of the mechanick philosophy , which he strengthneth and illustrates by several very pleasant and instructive experiments . he shews , that the most admirable things which have been taken for the effects of substantial forms , and are used as proofs of the notional hypotheses , may be the results of the meer texture and position of parts ; since art is able to make vitriol , as well as nature ; and bodies by humane skill may be produced , whose supposed forms have been destroyed . he gives many very ingenious instances to prove , that the mechanick motions and order of the parts is sufficient to yield an account of the difference of bodies , and their affections , without having recourse to the forms and qualities of the schools ; as in the restoration of camphire to its former smell and nature , after its dissolution and seeming extinction ; in the changes of the colour , consistence , fusibleness , and other qualites of silver and copper ; in the odd phaenomena of a certain anomalous salt , and those of the sea-salt , dried , powder'd , and mix'd with aqua-fortis ; and in the sal mirabilis , in the production of silver out of gold by his menstruum peracutum , in the transmutation of water into earth in a certain distillation of spirit of wine and oyl of vitriol . i say , this excellent gentleman hath by experiments rare and new about these subjects , made it evidently appear , that the internal motions , configuration , and posture of the parts , are all that is necessary for alterations and diversities of bodies ; and consequently , that substantial forms and real qualities are needless and precarious beings . chap. xiv . a further account of what that gentleman of honour hath by him , not yet publish'd , for the advantage and improvement of real knowledge . the reasons we have to hope great things from the royal society . these , sir , are some brief and general hints of those great things this incomparable person hath done for the information and benefit of men ; and besides them , there are several others that he hath by him , and the inquisitive expect , in which real philosophy and the world are no less concern'd . i received a late account of them from an ingenious friend of his , mr. oldenburgh , secretary to the royal society , who also renders himself a great benefactor to mankind , by his affectionate care , and indefatigable diligence and endeavours , in the maintaining philosophical intelligence , and promoting the designs and interests of profitable and general philosophy . and these being some of the noblest and most publick imployments , in which the services of generous men can be ingaged , loudly call for their aids and assistances , for the carrying on a work of so universal an importance . but i shall have a fitter place to speak of this , and therefore i return to the illustrious person of whom i was discoursing . and for philosophical news , and further evidence of the obligation the world hath to this gentleman of honour , i shall give you the list of what he hath more , yet unpublish'd for its advantage and instruction . and i take the boldness to do it , because himself hath been pleased to quote and refer to those discourses in his publish'd writings ; concerning which , the generous secretary's account is more particular , and he receiv'd it from the noble author's immediate information . it speaks thus . ( i. ) another section of the usefulness of experimental philosophy , as to the empire of man over inferiour creatures ; where he intends to premise some general considerations about the means whereby experimental philosophy may become useful to humane life ; proceeding thence to shew , that the empire of man may be promoted by the naturalists skill in chymistry , by his skill in mechanicks , or the application of mathematicks to instruments and engins ; by his skill in mathematicks , both pure and mixt : that the goods of mankind may be much increased by the naturalist's insight into trades ; that the naturalist may much advantage men , by exciting and assisting their curiosity to discover , take notice , and make use of the home-bred riches and advantages of particular countries , and to increase their number , by transferring thither those of others ; that a ground of high expectation from experimental philosophy is given , by the happy genius of this present age , and the productions of it ; that a ground of expecting considerable things from experimental philosophy is given by those things which have been found out by illiterate tradesmen , or lighted on by chance ; that some peculiar and concealed property of a natural thing , may inable the knowers of it to perform , with ease , things , that to others seem either not feisible , or not practicable without great difficulty ; that by the knowledge and application of some unobvious and unheeded properties and laws of natural things , divers effects may be produced by other means and instruments than those one would judge likely ; and even by such , as if proposed , would be thought unlikely ; that the knowledge of peculiar qualities , or uses of physical things , may inable a man to perform those things physically , that seem to require books , and dexterity of hand proper to artificers ; that the uses of scarce one thing in nature , to humane life , are yet thorowly understood ; that a great inducement to hope for considerable matters from experimental philosophy , may be taken from the mutual assistance that the practical and theorical part of physick may be brought to afford each other ; that we are not to make our estimates of what may be hoped for hereafter , when men shall be assisted with the history of nature , a method of imploying it , and true principles of natural philosophy , and associated endeavours , by what is already performed without any of those assistances . ( 2. ) he hath also in a manner promised essays touching the concealments and disguises of the seeds of living creatures . ( 3. ) an appendix to the physico-mechanical treatise concerning the air. ( 4. ) something concerning heat and flame . ( 5. ) the sceptical naturalist , shewing the imperfections of natural philosophy as we yet have it . ( 6. ) a discourse of improbable truths . ( 7. ) the production of qualities by art. ( 8. ) several useful series of inquiries and directions of his , whereof divers are extant in the philosophical transactions ; as , ( i. ) general heads for a natural history of a country small or great . ( 2. ) observations and directions about the barometer . ( 3. ) inquiries touching the sea ; and , ( 4. ) about mines . ( 5. ) quaeries and tryals proposed , for the improving of that grand experiment , for the transfusing blood out of one live animal into another . ( 6. ) others for the finding the effects of the rarifying engine exhausted , in plants , seeds , and eggs of silk-worms . besides these , he hath a great many other unpublish'd inqui●●es , and series of experiments and obser●●tions of the most considerable parts of ●●tural philosophy . as , ( i. ) about pre●●us stones . ( 2. ) fermentation . ( 3. ) heat 〈◊〉 flame . ( 4. ) an account of a new kind 〈◊〉 baroscope , which he calls statical , and 〈◊〉 advantage it hath above the mercurial . ● 5. ) a new experiment , shewing how a ●onsiderable degree of cold may be sudden●y produced without the help of snow , ice , ail , wind , or nitre , and that at any time ●t the year , viz. by sal armoniack . ( 6. ) a ●ay of preserving birds taken out of the ●ggs , and other small foetus's this , sir , is the account i received of ●hat noble persons further designs , for the ●dvantage of useful knowledge ; and ●●ough he hath not made an absolute pro●ise of those discourses to the publique , ●et he is known to have such , and they are with probability expected , since he is too generous to detain from the capable and in●●uisitive those his excellent discoveries , which tend to the common benefit . and thus i have said what may suffice for general information about the royal society , and the hopes we may justly conceive of this constitution . and in what i have discoursed , i have not so much declined from the proof of my undertaking which was to shew the advantage that th● latter age hath , for the promotion and i●● crease of knowledge , above those of fo●● mer times : for by describing the reason● nature , and some of the effects of th● establishment , i have not obscurely suggeste● the helps that the world hath and ma● expect from them , for those grand and c● tholick purposes ; and 't is easie to see in th● very frame of this assembly , that they ar● fitted with opportunities to amass togethe● all the considerable notices , observations and experiments , that are scattered up an● down in the wide world ; and so , to mak● a bank of all the useful knowledge that is among men . for either by their whole bo● dy , or some or other of their particul●● members , they hold a learned correspon● dence with the greatest virtuosi of all th● known universe , and have several of their own fellows abroad in forreign parts , by reason of whose communications , they know most of the valuable rarities and phaenomen● observed by the curious in nature , and all considerable attempts and performances of art , ingenuity , and experiment . to which consideration , if you add the inquisitiveness of their genius , and the way of their pro●edure , by particular and cautious observa●ion ; the coldness and shiness of their as●ent , and the numbers of judicious men that ●urefully examine their reports ; i say , if ●hese particulars be weighed , it will appear ●o the unprejudiced , that the world had ●ever such an advantage for the accumula●ing a treasure of substantial knowledge , as 〈◊〉 hath by this constitution ; for single inquisitors can receive but scant and narrow ●nformations , either from their own expe●ience , or converses ; and those they have , ●e frequently very imperfect , or very mista●en : there is often either vanity or credulity , ●norance or design in their relations , which ●herefore are many times false in the main ●atter , and oftner in the circumstance : so ●●at the histories of nature we have hither●● had , have been but an heap and amassmen ●f truth and falshood , vulgar tales and ro●antick accounts ; and 't is not in the pow●● of particular unassociated endeavours to ●●fford us better . but now , the frame of ●his society suggests excellent ground to ●ope from them sincere and universal re●●●●tions , and the best grounded and most ●seful collection of the affairs of art and nature , that ever yet was extant . and ●s they have peculiar priviledges for the gathering the materials of knowledge , 〈◊〉 they have the same for the impartment a● diffusion of them . and by this time i ho●● you will acknowledge , that i have ma●● good also what i undertook in this 〈◊〉 last and great particular . chap. xv. the absurdity of making comparis● between the advantages aristot●● had for knowledge , and those later ages . thus i have shewed in plain and m●terial instances , the vanity and wea●ness of the disputer's affirmation a●● belief , that aristotle had more advantag● for knowledge than all the later ages . an● so i have done with his proposition : but h● reason also is to be considered , and th● was , aristotle had these advantages above ● the world , because he did totam pe●agrare asiam . how wisely said an● concluded this was , will appear after ● have taken notice , that his reason is defective both in what it affirms , and in what it would infer . for the first , 't is evident , that aristotle and the ancients did not know all asia ; for that part which lay beyond the river , was in a manner a terra incognita unto them : so that they knew scarce any thing of the indies that lie on the other side of ganges , little or nothing of the vast kingdom of china , nothing of iapan , or the numerous oriental islands , besides the defects in the ancient geography , noted above ; and these made a great if not the best part of asia ; of which though aristotle might have heard , yet we have no shadow of reason to believe he had any information from thence . and then i consider , ( 2. ) that the account he had from the best survey'd regions , were but from hunters , fowlers , fishermen , and such kind of inquisitors , who were like enough to make vain and mistaken reports , and he was fain to depend upon the credit of their relations ; and therefore his history of animals contains many things that are frivolous , and many that are palpably false . to which i add , ( 3. ) the observation of my lord bacon , that though aristotle made some use of those experiments and observation she had from those informers , yet it was after he had concluded and decreed . for he did not use and imploy experiments for the erecting of his theories : but having arbitrarily pitch'd his theories , his manner was to force experience to suffragate , and yield countenance to his precarious propositions . and on this account , the great man saith , he was less excusable than the schoolmen , who altogether quitted and neglected the way of particular industry and experiment . thus then aristotle neither knew all asia , nor had certain relations of that part thereof , of which he had the best informations ; nor did he use those he had as he ought ; which were enough to bring the disputers reason to nothing . but i consider further , that though these things had been otherwise , and as much for the interest of his affirmation as he could wish , yet , ( 2. ) his inference must fail , since the latter ages have a much larger world than aristotle's asia ; we have the america , and the many new lands that are discovered by modern navigators ; we have larger and more perfect geography even of the old world , infinitely more acquaintance and better correspondence in all the parts of the vniverse , by our general traffique , than the ancients , whose commerce was narrow , and knowledge of remote parts consisted but in hearsays and doubtful rumors . we have besides , new heavens as well as a new earth , a larger and truer prospect of the world above us . we have travell'd those upper regions by the help of our tubes , and made discoveries more becoming the wisdom and magnificence of our creatour , and more agreeable to the appearances of things , than the arbitrary phansies and conjectures of aristotle and his schools . we have a greater world of arts , instruments , and observations , as in all particulars my discourse hath made good . and what are aristotle's peragrations of asia , to all these ? to the great western indies ; to the full and clearer knowledge of the ancient lands ; to those nobler accounts we have of the heavens , and universal nature ; to our vast improvements of chymistry , anatomy , arithmetick , geometry , astronomy , geography , opticks , natural history , navigation , and all things else of benefit and instruction ? i say , what are the gleanings of a few mercenary hunters , fowlers , and fishermen , over one part of asia , to these advantages ? and what are the reports of a few ordinary fellows , and the tryals of a single person , to the learned inquiries and endeavours of many sagacious inquisitive ages , and the performances of a numerous company of deep , wary , diligent , and eagle-ey'd philosophers , who have the help of those observations , and the addition of an infinite number more ? upon these accounts , sir , the disputer , you see , will need a great deal of logick to make any thing of his proposition or his reason , both of which are very lame , and i know not where he can find a prop for their feebleness . i shall not therefore imploy more force to overthrow such sickly reasonings , that have not strength enough to bear their own weight ; but out of pity to those infirmities , shall let them go without further castigations . and i hope you have not so understood me , as if the aim of what i have said hitherto , was only to disprove this disputer ( which were a poor project , and would signifie but very little . ) but my design is , by representing the advantages and hopefulness of the modern way , to kindle an ardour in you towards the generous experimental researches , to vindicate philosophy from the imputation of being notional and unprofitable , and to keep you from adhering to that which is so , and hath been the occasion of the scandal . and as for those that yet stick there , i have some things to observe concerning the reasons of their devotion to that aiery disputative philosophy , and their enmity to the practical . chap. xvi . the reasons of some mens superstious adherence to the notional way ; and of the disputer that gave occasion to this discourse i consider then , that easie youth in its first addresses to learning , is perfectly passive to the discipline and instructions of its teachers , whose documents are promiscuously received with ready submission of understandings , that implicitely depend on their authority . we suck in the first rudiments as we do the common air [ facili haustu ] as my lord bacon expresseth it , without discrimination or election , of which indeed our tender and unexercised minds are not capable . and , i confess , 't is necessary we should do so ; nor were there any hurt in this innocent easiness , did not most men all their lives worship the first thing they saw in the morning of their days , and ever after obstinately adhere to those unexamined receptions . but this is the mischief , we infinitely believe every thing when we are children , and most examine little when they are men , but settle in their first impressions , without giving themselves the trouble to consider and review them . and these prejudices by custom and long acquaintance with our souls , get a mighty interest , and shut them against every thing that is of a different colour from those images of education . this is a general fault and infirmity of humane nature , and from hence it comes to pass , that the tutour'd youth sides easily into the belief of the first principles of philosophy , which they are taught , and are confirm'd in them by their exercises and disputes , and books and converses : by these their vnderstandings , which before were white-paper , are dyed and deeply tinctured by the colour they have imbibed ; and these infusions insensibly grow as 't were into the very substance of the mind , and are upon all occasions appealed to as its unprejudiced , unsophisticate dictates . so that having spent some time in learning and trimming those notions , the most divert to business or other studies , without troubling themselves with any more philosophical pursuits ; but being satisfied with those notices which their first education lodg'd in their minds , they seek no further , nor do care to be wiser in those matters , than they were in the disputing infancy of their knowledge . all this while no other hurt is done , but that men thus are injurious to themselves , and hinder their own improvements . but 't is much worse when they fondly fix these as the pillars of science , and would have no body else go further than their laziness or their cares will permit them to travel ; but rail spightfully at all endeavours for the advancement of philosophick wisdom , and will be angry with every one that hath out-grown his cherry-stones and rattles , speak evil at a venture of things they know not , and like mastives are fiercer for being kept dark . these are the great enemies of the useful , experimental methods of philosophy : they take it ill that any thing should be accounted valuable , in which they are uninstructed . being loth to learn in an age wherein they expect to dictate ; and the satyrist hath told them another reason . — turpe putant parere minoribus , & quae imberbes didicêre , senes perdenda fateri . i will not say how much of this i take to be the case of our reverend disputer ; only this , he imployed his younger studies upon the philosophy of disputation , and , 't is like , gained an ability to out-talk many of his contemporaries in that way . he confirm'd himself in these notions by instructing others in them , and upon these foundations hath built himself the reputation of a great scholar and a disputant among his country-admirers . so that you are not to wonder that he is vehemently displeased with the royal society , and experimental philosophers , since their designs take away the honour of his craft , and in this way he is upon the same level with those that are but beginning ; the thought of which must needs be distasteful to a self-assured and imperous mind . and yet because you shall not think that i say any of this out of envy to his fame , i shall do him all the right i can , by acknowledging , that i take him for a person that understands the quiddities and haecceities , the praecisiones formales and the objectivae , the homogeneities and heterogeneities , the catagorematice's and the syncatagorematice's , the simpliciter's and the secundum quid's . he knows , no doubt , that first matter that is neither quid , nor quale , nor quantum ; and that wonderful gremium materiae , out of which forms were educed that were never there . he can tell you fine things of the fiery element under the moon , and the epicycles of the stars ; can resolve all questions by the compendious way of formalitèr , materialitèr , fundamentalitèr , and eminentèr ; tell you the difference between quodam modo and modo quodam , and shew the causes of all things in sympathy , antipathy , combination of the elements , and insfluences of the heavens . he sees clearly by his spectacles , that the milky-way is but a meteor , and comets only kindled vapours , in spite of the contrary information of the deceitful telescopes . he can , no doubt , dispute roundly about the composition of entia rationis and vniversals , the praedications of genus and species , and the manner of their conservation in individuals ; of the number of the praedicaments , and what being is in this , and what in another ; of the inherence and propagation of accidents , the real essence of relations , the nature of vbi and quando , and a thousand other logical tricks about shuffling and ordering propositions and forms of syllogism . in physiology he can discourse of the nakedness of first matter , the eduction of forms out of its bosom ; shew , that the want of a being is a principle of it , how forms of elements are refracted in mix'd bodies ; dispute subtilly about the primum incipiens in motion , the instantaneousness of generation , the maximum quod sic , and the minimum quod non , and infinite more of such wonderful , useful , significant speculations . and in the metaphysicks i acknowledge him in the words of the incomparable droll ; he knows what 's what , and that 's as high as metaphysick wit can fly . these , and other such profundities , are some of the main things of that philosophy to which our disputer is so zealous a votary . but for the mechanick , that attempts material and intelligible accounts of things , and is in its grounds much ancienter than that of aristotle which he admires , for the experimental methods and late improvements of useful knowledge ; as for these , i say , i had no reason to judge by his discourse that he had any acquantance with them ; nor doth he , as far as i can perceive , pretend it : but having it seems concluded , that nothing more was to be known , than he knew , when he disputed in the schools , he hath sate down ever since , and hugg'd himself in his own omniscience and infallibility , without caring to be informed , what the inquisitive world hath been doing in this late age of inquiry . and if it be any thing more than what he hath understood in his circle of disputations , 't is phantastical and unprofitable , and not worthy his care or notice , which is very prudently concluded ; for if it should be otherwise , the disputer would lose the credit of his superlative learning . chap. xvii . of the peripatetick philosophy , and aristotle , as he concerns the universites . and on this occasion , sir , i observe the incompetency of their judgements who are enemies to the real experimental philosophy , in that they do not ( as i intimated ) at all , or very little , understand what they condemn . this i have some reason to say , since in the whole compass of my acquaintance , which is not very narrow , i profess i know not one who opposeth the modern way , that is not almost totally unacquainted with it . and on the other side , upon the most careful turn of my thoughts among my philosophick friends , i cannot light on one of all those that are for the free and experimental procedure , but who have been very well instructed in the peripatetick doctrines , which they have deserted , and most of them much better than those who are yet zealous contenders for them . and for my own part , i must confess , that in my younger and talkative age , i was much delighted with those subtilities that exercise the brain in the niceties of notion and distinctions , and afford a great deal of idle imployment for the tongue in the combates of disputation : in which i acknowledge i was none of the most backward , but being highly pleased with those engagements , i found as much diversion in them , as in my dearest recreations : yea , and in this recital methinks i feel a kind of sweet relish upon my mind , of those past complacencies . but after i had spent some vears in those notional studies , perhaps with as good success as some others , i began to think cvibono , and to consider what these things would signifie in the world of action and business , i say , i thought ; but i could find no encouragement to proceed from the answer my thoughts made me : i ask'd my self what accounts i could give of the works of god by my philosophy , more than those that have none , and found , that i could amaze and astonish ignorance with distinctions and words of art , but not satifie ingenious inquiry by any considerable and material resolutions . i consider'd i had got nothing all this while , but a certain readiness in talking , and that about things which i could not use abroad , without being pedantick and ridiculous . i perceived that that philosophy aimed at no more , than the instructing men in notion and dispute ; that its design was mean , and its principles at the best uncertain and precarious ; that they did not agree among themselves , nor at all with nature . i examined the best records i could meet with about the author of those current hypotheses , but could not be assured that aristotle was he . i saw many reasons to believe , that most of the books that bear his name , are none of his ; and those that are most strongly presumed to be so , are mightily altered and correupted by time , ignorance , carelesness and design . i perceived that the commentators and late disputers had exceedingly disguised and changed the sense of those very writings , and made up a philosophy that was quite another thing from that which those books contain . so that by these means i was by degrees taken off from the implicit veneration i had for that learning , upon the account of the great name of aristotle which it wore . and in the process of my inquiries , i lighted upon several excellent authors , who said and proved very evil things of that philosopher himself ; as , that he was impious in his life and many of his doctrines , a persecutor of the most venerable sages , and corrupter of the wisdom of the ancients ; that he was of no such superlative account in the wisest times , but much opposed and slighted by the first fathers ; that he grew into his magisterial authority by chance , in times of blackest ignorance , and held an unjust empire over the free-born minds of men , who since they are enlightned by the rays of the glorious gospel , have less reason to bow down to the dictates of an idolater and an heathen . i say , i found these things , and many more , urged against the school-philosopher , by men of great learning and name . nor could i ever light on any thing in his most devoted admirers , that tended to the answering or disproof of any of those grand accusations , most of which seemed to me to have too much evidence , to be easily disabled ; not to mention how many reasons i saw my self for the worst of those characters , in the books that are ascribed to him , if really they are his . these things then i ponder'd , and in the heat of my thoughts , and a youthful indigntion , i drew up the charge , and gave in the full of those bold accounts to the publick , in a letter about aristotle , which perhaps you will not do amiss to consider . thus the great impediment was removed , and the prejudcie of education overcome , when i thought further , that useful knowledge was to be look'd for in god's great book the vniverse , and among those generous men that had converst with real nature , undisguised with art and notion . and still i saw more of the justice of the excellent poet's censure of the sons of aristotle , when he saith , they stand lock'd up together hand in hand : every one leads as he is led , the same bare path they tread , and dance like fairies a phantastick round ; but neither change their motion , nor their ground . from this philosophy therefore , and these men , i diverted my eyes and hopes , and fixt them upon those methods that i have recommended , which i am sure are liable to none of those imputations . and here i think fit to add a caution which i have given in another discourse , and do it once more to prevent a dangerous misunderstanding , viz. [ and it is , that i have said nothing of this to discourage young academiasn from applying themselves to those first studies which are in use in the vniversities . their statutes require exercises in that way of learning ; and so much knowledge of it , as inables for those duties , is requisite and fit . nor do i deny , but that those speculations , raise , quicken , and whet the vnderstanding , and on that account may not be altogether unprofitable , with respect to the more useful inquisitions ; provided it keep it self from being nice , aiery , and addicted too much to general notions . but this is the danger , and the greatst part run upon the rock . the hazard of which might in great measure be avoided , if the mathematicks and natural history were mingled with these other studies which would indeed be excellent preparatives and dispostions to future improvements . and i add further , that the young philosophers must take care of looking on their systematick notions as the bounds and perfections of knowledge ; nor make account to fix eternally upon those theroies , as establish'd and infallible certainties : but consider them in the modest sense of hypotheses , and as things they are to take in their passage to others that are more valuable and important . i say , the peripatetick studies thus temper'd , will not , i suppose , be desallowed by the men of the practical method ; and so the vniversity-establishments can receive no prejudice from the spirit that dislikes a perpetual acquiescence in the philosophy of the present schools . chap. xviii . some things else debated by the author with the disputer , about the prophets and the scriptures . the imagination was ordinarily the immediate subject of prophetick influx . i have now done with the philosophical considerations i intended here , and am so fond as to believe , that i have said enough about the main business of our conference ; from which the disputer at last shew'd an inclination to draw off , and endeavour'd to engage me in other things that were aside and irrelative to our discourse : particularly , i perceived he made towards the controversies between the calvinists and remonstrants , and offer'd me several temptations to fall in there . i knew it was a design to draw me into his road of talking , and consider'd that our spirits were too much moved , and our time too short for those deep and endless debates . and i have long since resolved never to treat with any one about them , that is not very free , thoughtful , modest , and benign , without which praedispositions in the subject , i know the clearest and greatest evidence in the world can make no impressions . upon these accounts i declined the bait ; but in the process of our rambling talk , was insensibly led into a discourse as extrinsick , which was concerning the method of the scriptures . about this i said , that those holy oracles were not written methodically ; meaning , not according to the rules of our methods ; especially i instanc'd in the prophetick writings , which are very little suted to the ways of our order . and in consequence of this , i affirmed , that god was pleased in those inspirations to apply himself much to the imagination of the prophets ; which faculty , i said , was desultory , and did seldom tie it self to strict coherence . this was the sum of all from whence the disputer took occasion for loud out-cries . he told me , [ that my affirmations were atheistical ; that god was the god of order , and not of confusion ; and dealt with the noblest faculty , which is the understanding ] i was astonish'd at the haste of the wilde and groundless censure , and answered to the argument , that he might as well conclude , that all the blades of grass , and flowers of the field , should be placed in knots , and a garden-order , and the stars set in rank and file , because god is the god of order , as the other proposition he would infer . i said there was no doubt but that the divine wisdom , which had made all things in number , weight , and measure , had an order and idea to it self , according to which it framed them : but then i added , that as his ways were above ours , so were many of the methods of his working besides them ; and consequently , i thought it somewhat too bold and presumptuous to bring down infinite wisedom to our rules , upon that score reproving the custom of some formal preachers , who spend much pains to little purpose , in finding long series of connection , where many times none were intended . this is the whole substance of what i said in this affair , and at this period of the conference the disputer lost all patience , and with sufficient spight and rage told me , that i was an atheist ; that he had indeed desired my acquaintance , but would have no more on 't ; and so turn'd his back , and went away , giving me time only to answer , that i had no great reason to lament the loss of an acquaintance that could be so easily forfeited . thus , sir , you have the sincere account of those sayings , about which the disputer hath raised such tragical stories . in them he hath accused me of atheistical assertions , and affirmed that i said , the scripture was only written to mens phansies : which proposition he hath so ordered , as that many impious absurdities are deduced from it , and those must go for my opinions . when as 't is so far from being true , that that proposition came from me , that i understand not what it means : only i can collect from it the disputers wrath , or somewhat he would be less willing to acknowledge . for either he really believes the proposition he reports , to be the sense of mine , or he doth not ; if really he doth , i cannot excuse his vnderstanding ; if not , i wonder at his conscience . but that i may together explicate what i meant , and defend it , i add a brief account of my saying , [ that god did much apply himself to the imagination of the prophets ; ] as to which , i observe , that both the schoolmen ond others usually divide prophesie into intellectual and imaginary . the former is from a light immediately infused into the vnderstanding ; the latter , when the prophetick spirit makes its first impressions on the imagination , by sensible and material representments . as for the first , it was so rare , that not above one or two instances are produced by the learned in the kind , viz. moses and st. pavl . now commonly the degree of mosaical inspiration was distinguish'd from the prophetical ; and the difference is plainly enough express'd deut. xxxiv . x. and there arose not a prophet since in israel like unto moses , whom the lord knew face to face . for the other prophets , god saith , i will make my self known unto him in a vision , and will speak unto him in a dream : my servant moses is not so , with him i will speak mouth to mouth , num. xxii . v , vi . — intimating a transcendent priviledge to moses above the prophets , in the immediate way of application to his mind , without the mediation of sensible impressions . and upon this account 't is said in the new-testament , they have moses and the prophets ; implying the difference of the dignity and degree of their inspiration . as for the second instance of st. paul , his case mentioned ii cor. xxii . was extasie , and may be omitted in our discourse that concerns prophetick revelation ; but admitting it , this must be granted however , that the immediate intellectual way was very rare , and therefore by way of eminency and distinction , 't is among the rabbins call'd the gradus mosaicus . but for the second kind , viz. the imaginary and sensible , this was the ordinary sort of inspiration , and this the meaning of my assertion . that it was the usual way of influx upon the prophets , appears from the mentioned place of deut. xxxiv . and i will make my self known unto him in a vision , and speak unto him in a dream ; which was most evidently fulfilled in the latter days of prophesie , when the prophetick illuminations went much this way . it might seem superfluous labour to give particular instances in ieremiah's boyling pot , his rod , his basket of figs — in daniels tree and four beasts — in ezechiel's chariot , wheels , living creatures — and such like , which in the prophetick writings scarce leave a page without example . now it will not i conceive be denied by any one that understands what he saith , that these representations were made upon the stage of imagination , and those visa imprest on the phancy . upon this account it was that the enthusiasms of later prophets were much in similitudes , parables , and allegories ; and so ezechiel complains , ah lord , they say of me , doth he not speak in parables ? and a lapide gives it for a general rule , prophetarum visions & revelationes communiter fuerunt sensiles , sive imaginarie . rabbi albo calls prophesie an influence from god upon the mind by the mediation of the phancy ; and maimonides saith , that all the degrees of prophesie are contain'd in those two , a dream and a vision ; and ioel ii . xxviii . mentions these as comprehensive of all the degrees of prophesie . but this thing is every where so clear in the scripture , in the rabbins , and the writings of all learned men that deal in those matters , that i think i need not say much more for proof . only i take notice , that 't was the general belief of the iewish writers , and of the christian fathers and schoolmen universally , confirm'd by the authority of scripture , that angels were ordinarily the immediate efficients by whose ministry the scene of prophetick representations was drest and order'd . this hath been evidently proved by the learned mr. smith , in his discourse of prophesie ; and from hence i could infer , if there were need of more , that their menage of this affair doth reasonably infer , that the imagination had such a concern in it as i affirm . for 't is generally denied by the schoolmen , whose authority no doubt is great with our disputer and others , that angels can immediately imprint conceptions and apprehensions on the vnderstanding ; which indeed , among other absurdities that i omit , would infer , that they have that grand prerogative of the omniscient , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , knowledge of hearts , which the scripture every where vindicates and appropriates to god only . what they do therefore , must be by phantasms and idea's imprest on the phancy . they are the internuncii and immediate causes which present the prophetick visa ; and consequently , the imagination and sense are the chief stage of their representations . now this was done divers ways , and the noble picus mirandula hath collected out of maimonides no less than eleven , all which he calls gradus imaginarii , in opposition to the gradus mosaicus , which is the intellectual . but 't is not proper for me to insist longer on a thing that is extrinsick to the main design of my discourse . and it was too but the conclusion and smallest part of our conference ; though the disputer ( as far as i can hear ) reports nothing else as the matter of our difference , but these two things , about the method of scripture , and gods applying to the imagination of the prophets ; either because he is ashamed to own the main discourse , or else hath a design to throw the odium upon me of heterodoxy in religion . when as indeed these came in but accidentally , and we had but a short contrast about them , which i have faithfully related . the conclusion . containing observations about the censure of atheism , applied to philosophical men ; and the authors apology to the royal society , and other generous philosophers . by this i believe you see how little reason there was in the disputer's discourse , and how little iustice in his foul imputation ; upon the occasion of which , if you are not quite tired already , i shall by way of conclusion offer you a remarque or two concerning the charge of atheism , of which some fierce people are very liberal . about it i take notice , that philosophical men are usually dealt with by the zealous , as the greatest patrons of the protestant cause are by the sects . for as the bishops and other learned persons , who have most strongly oppugned the romish faith , have had the ill luck to be accused of popery themselves ; in like manner it happens to the humblest and deepest inquisitors into the works of god , who have the most and fullest arguments of his existence , have raised impregnable ramparts with much industry and pious pains against the atheists , and are the only men that can with success serve religion against the godless rout ; these , superstitious ignorance hath always made the loudest out-cry against , as if themselves were guilty of that which they have most happily oppugned and defeated . and the certain way to be esteemed an atheist by the fierce and ignorant devoto's , is to study to lay the foundations of religion sure , and to be able to speak groundedly and to purpose against the desperate cause of the black conspirators against heaven . this i confess hath been one of the chief imployments of my time and thoughts ; and on this account i reckon , i must be content with my share in the abuse , when greater , and better , and deeper men have been pelted with this dirt , while they have been labouring in the trenches , and indeavouring to secure the foundations of the holy fabrick . but besides i observe , that narrow , angry people take occasion to charge the freer spirits with atheism , because they move in a larger circle , and have no such fond adherence to some opinions which they adore and count sacred . and for my own part , i confess i have not superstition enough in my spirit or nature , to incline me to doat upon all the principles i judge true , or to speak so dogmatically about them as i perceive confident and disputing men are wont . but contenting my self with a firm assent to the few practical fundamentals of faith , and having fix'd that end of the compass , i desire to preserve my liberty as to the rest , holding the other in such a posture , as may be ready to draw those lines , my judgment ment informed by the holy oracles , the articles of our church , the apprehensions of wise antiquity , and my particular reason , shall direct me to describe . and when i do that , 't is for my self , and my own satisfaction ; but am not concern'd to impose my sentiments upon others : nor do i care to endeavour the change of their minds , though i judge them mistaken , as long as vertue , the interests of religion , the peace of the world and their own are not prejudiced by their errours . by this modest indifference i secure charity for all the diversities of belief , and equally offer my friendship and converses to the several sects and perswasions , that stick to the plain principles of the gospel and a vertuous life , overlooking their particular fondnesses and follies . this is the temper of my genius , and this some warm folks , who have more heat than light , are apt to call scepticism and cold neutrality : but that it deserves better names , i have made appear in some other . papers ; and i have a little interest to remarque further , that 't is the misfortune of men of philosophical inclination , where they escape the reproach of the more desperate atheism , at least to meet the imputation of a bordering impiety , the contempt of the holy scriptures . i am not to answer for all the pretenders to philosophy : but this i can say , that those of the graver and better genius , have such an apprehension of the divine oracles , as will effectually secure them from suffering diminution from any disclosures in nature : and that is , that those holy records speak for the most part in the language of sense , being suted to plebeian capacities , and intended for instructions in life and manners ; not for nicer informations in things of deeper speculation and theory . upon which accounts they reckon , that we are not to expect from them the propositions of philosophy , nor to wonder or be stumbled though the literal text do not answer philosophical exactness , which is not the thing the inspired book intends . so that whatever discoveries are made by the inquirers into nature , the sacred authority stands firm , while they judge by this rule of interpretation . but of this again in a fitter place , at present my own concerns call upon me to say somewhat for my self ; since my enrag'd antagonist hath from our discourse ( how justly we have seen already ) reported me an enemy to the scriptures . and now one would think it should be very needless and improper , that one who ministers in the eternal gospel , should say any more than what he doth twice every week in those publick instructions drawn from the sacred volume , to justifie his being no despiser of it : but there are a sort of people with whom one perverse , illogical , uncharitable deduction of their own will signifie more , to fasten an odious thing upon him that dissents from them , than a thousand professions of his to the contrary can do to clear him from the malicious charge . for such , 't is an happy turn that we are to be judged by a more equal tribunal than theirs , and they would be loth to be tryed themselves by such measures . were these the only persons i have to deal with , i should spare my self these pains ; for i know , what i write will not be more plain and credible than what i say . but others are to be consider'd , of more christian and candid tempers , upon whom envious traducers may fasten some odd thoughts and suspicions : to such i declare , that in my first education i was continually instructed into a religious and fast adherence to every thing i was taught , and a dread of dissenting in the least article . this discipline i underwent in my younger days , and thought very strangely of those that believed any thing different from the opinions of my instructors . but advancing in years , and coming to a freer exercise of mine own mind , i began to make reflexions upon the vast diversities and variety of apprehensions and religions in the world ; i consider'd , that they were all as confident in their way , as i in that wherein i was instructed ; and the greatest part had nothing but their education for their inducement . i thought how easie we are in our first age ; and that though children must believe , yet men , especially those bred in the way of study , must try. i consider'd what i should first advise an heathen or mahometan to do , who had been bred up to idolatry and fables ; and upon the consult with my self , concluded , that it should be to look about him , and to examine other religions , regarding his own with the same eye of indifferency and suspension , as if he had never been born under that faith , which was a thing extrinsick and accidental , and therefore not fit to make an argument to ingage a reasonable belief ; and when i had so thought , i turned the tables , and took the same counsel my self . i therefore bent my chief studies and endeavours to know the truth of the christian faith ; and after the foundations laid , in the settling the grand article , the being of a god , and the consequent doctrines of natural theology , i sate me down to inquire about the authority of the holy scriptures ; not that i positively doubted or distrusted their veracity , but that i might have a firm bottom , and be able to give an account of my faith and hope . in my inquiry , the first discourses i met with on the subject did not at all satisfie , but seemed weak and hugely obnoxious : but in the progress of my search , i lighted on those grounds which ( i thank god ) . quieted my mind , and gave me the most demonstrative assurance that the nature of the thing could bear , of the truth and certainty of those sacred writings , which undoubtedly contain the fullest discoveries of the divine wisdom and perfections , which i infinitely admire ; and shall eternally adore that goodness that blest the sons of men with such clear discoveries of his will. and though i perceive that the follies and superstitions of sects , who have the holy oracles always in their mouths , and press them for the service of their conceits , have prejudiced some of the pretenders to reason against them ; yet this i see , that the wiser , freer , better , and more reasonable any man is , the greater still is his veneration of those holy records , and the relish of them increaseth with our improvements in vertue and goodness . this testimony i must give here , and more i have to say in another place . and now i had ended your trouble , but that upon the cast of my thoughts back i have considered , that my main business being the recommendation and advancement of the modern vseful knowledge , i need make an apology to the generous friends of that way , and particularly the royal society , for my discourse of them , and those their great designs , in a treatise that contains matter of difference and contest , which are so fundamentally contrary to their spirit and endeavours ; and it may perhaps be feared , that some will take occasion hence to look on the neoterick philosophers as but a new sort of disputers . to which i say , that for my publick appearance in a controversie , i have already given such an account , as may , i hope , satisfie the candid and ingenious of the necessity that inforced it ; and for the apprehension of raising mean and injurious thoughts of the practical philosophers , by defending them in a book of difference , i hope it is causeless , since i have from first to last represented their aims and designs as things very different , yea perfectly opposite to that spirit and genius ; and i shall now for a close assure you again , that there is nothing tends more to the undermining and supplanting the humour of disputing , than ( the experimental and free philosophy . for this inlargeth the mind , and gives it a prospect of the vastness of things , and the imperfections of our knowledge , the difficulties that are to be incountred in the search of truth , and our liableness to deception , the stumbles of confidence , the prejudices of education , the shortness of our senses , the precipitancy of our vnderstandings , and the malign influence of our affections ; i say , the free and real philosophy makes men deeply sensible of the infirmities of humane intellect , and our manifold hazards of mistaking , and so renders them wary and modest , diffident of the certainty of their conceptions , and averse to the boldness of peremptory asserting . so that the philosopher thinks much , and examines many things , separates the certainties from the plausibilities , that which is presumed from that which is prov'd , the images of sense , phansie , and education , from the dictates of genuine and impartial reason . thus he doth before he assents or denies ; and then he takes with him also a sense of his own fallibility and defects , and never concludes but upon resolution to alter his mind upon contrary evidence . thus he conceives warily , and he speaks with as much caution and reserve , in the humble forms of [ so i think , and in my opinion , and perhaps 't is so — ] with great difference to opposite perswasion , candour to dissenters , and calmness in contradictions , with readiness and desire to learn , and great delight in the discoveries of truth , and detections of his own mistakes . when he argues he gives his reasons without passion , and shines without flaming , discourses without wrangling , and differs without dividing . he catcheth not at the infirmities of his opposite , but lays hold of his strength , and weighs the substance without blowing the dust in his eyes . he entertains what he finds reasonable , and suspends his judgment when he doth not clearly understand . this is the spirit with which men are inspired by the philosophy i recommend . it makes them so just , as to allow that liberty of judgment to others , which themselves desire , and so prevents all imperious dictates and imposings , all captious quarrels and notional wars . and that this is the philosophick genius , may be shewn in a grand instance , the royal society , which is the great body of practical philosophers . in this assembly though it be made up of all kinds of dispositions , professions , and opinions ; yet hath philosophy so rarely temper'd the constitution , that those that attend there , never see the least inclination to any unhandsom opposition or uncivil reflexion , no bold obtrusions or confident sayings . the forbearing such rudenesses is indeed a law of that society , and their designs and methods of inquiry naturally form men into the modest temper , and secure them from the danger of the quarrelsome genius . this is palpable evidence of the sweet humour and ingenious tendencies of the free philosophy ; and i believe 't will be hard to shew such another example in any so great a body of differing inclinations and apprehensions . thus the experimental learning rectifies the grand abuse which the notional knowledge hath so long foster'd and promoted , to the hinderance of science , the disturbance of the world , and the prejudice of the christian faith. and there is no doubt but as it hath altered and reformed the genius in matters of natural research and inquiry ; so it will in its progress dispose mens spirits to more calmness and modesty , charity and prudence in the differences of religion , and even silence disputes there . for the free sensible knowledge tends to the altering the crasis of mens minds , and so cures the disease at the root ; and true philosophy is a specifick against disputes and divisions . thus i might run out into a large discourse on this subject ; but i have said enough for my present purpose , and i doubt too much for your patience ; and therefore i shut up with the assurance of my being , sir , your faithful friend and servant , jos. glanv●ill . errata . page 26. line 6. for philophy read philosophy . p. 30. l. 11. for elipsis r. ellipsis . id. l. 19. p. 33. l. 18. for adserted r. affected . p. 39. l. 5. r. anaximenes . p. 43. l. 16. r. one . id. l. 24. r. christophorus . p. 65. l. 26. r. vegetables . p. 133. l. 24. r. 2 cor. xii . the contents . chap. i. the introduction . page 1. chap. ii. the ways of improving vseful knowledge proposed . the advantages this age hath from the great advancements of chymistry and anatomy . p. 9. chap. iii. another great advantage of late times , from the improvements of mathematicks ; particularly , of arithmetick , algebra , and geometry , discourst by instances . p. 19. chap. iv. improvements in geometry by des cartes , vieta , and dr. wallis . p. 31. chap. v. the late improvements of astronomy . p. 38. chap. vi. improvements of opticks and geography . p. 46. chap. vii . that useful knowledge is to be aided by instruments . modern instances of such . of the telescope , microscope , and thermometer . p. 51. chap. viii . of the barometer and air-pump , and what advantages we have and may further expect from these instruments . p. 59. chap. ix . the credit of optick-glasses vindicated , against a disputing man who is afraid to believe his eyes against aristotle . p. 65. chap. x. our advantages for knowledge from modern improvements of natural history . p. 71. chap. xi . the advantages of late ages for spreading and communicating knowledge . three great instances of it , in printing , the compass , and the royal society . p. 75. chap. xii . of the royal society . the reasons of the institution , and their designs . an answer to the question , what have they done ? p. 83. chap. xiii . an account of what hath beeen done by the illustrious mr. boyle , for the promotion of useful knowledge . p. 92. chap. xiv . a further account of what that gentleman of honour hath by him , not yet publish'd , for the advantage and improvement of real knowledge . the reasons we have to hope great things from the royal society . p. 102. chap. xv. the absurdity of making comparison between the advantages aristotle had for knowledge , and those of later ages . p. 110. chap. xvi . the reasons of some mens superstitious adherence to the notional way ; and of the disputer that gave occasion to this discourse . p. 115. chap. xvii . of the peripatick philosophy , and aristotle , as he concerns the universities . p. 122. chap. xviii . some things else debated by the author with the disputer , about the prophets and the scriptures . the imagination was ordinarily the immediate subject of prophetick influx . p. 128. the conclusion , containing observations about the censure of atheism , applied to philosophical men ; and the author's apology to the royal society , and other generous philosophers . p. 137. books newly printed for james collins at the kings-head in westminster hall. ablow at modern sadducism , in some philosophical considerations about witchcraft . to which is added , the relation of the fam'd disturbance by the drummer , in the house of mr. iohn mompesson . with some reflections on drollery and atheism . by a member of the royal society . 8 o. a loyal tear drop'd on the vault of our late martyr'd sovereign , in an anniversary sermon on the day of his murther . 4 o. two discourses of toleration , by dr. perrinchief : in answer to two discourses of mr. corbet's . 4 o. a discourse of subterraneal treasure . 12 o. the practice of serious godliness : affectionately recommended and directed in some religious counsels of a pious mother to her dear daughter . 12 o. the triumphs of rome over despised protestancy . 8 o. a sermon preached before the peers , in the abby-church at westminster , octob. 10. 1666. being the fast-day for the late fire . by seth lord bishop of exon. 4 o. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a42822-e10 ex aed . lamb. maii 2. 1668. the abyssinian philosophy confuted, or, tellvris theoria neither sacred not agreeable to reason being for the most part a translation of petrus ramazzini, of the wonderful springs of modena : illustrated with many curious remarks and experiments by the author and translator : to which is added a new hypothesis deduced from scripture and the observation of nature : with an addition of some miscellany experiments / by robert st. clair ... defontium mutinènsium admiranda scaturgine tractatus physico-hydrostaticis. english ramazzini, bernardino, 1633-1714. 1697 approx. 240 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 154 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a57681 wing r199 estc r3670 13459737 ocm 13459737 99636 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57681) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99636) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 473:10) the abyssinian philosophy confuted, or, tellvris theoria neither sacred not agreeable to reason being for the most part a translation of petrus ramazzini, of the wonderful springs of modena : illustrated with many curious remarks and experiments by the author and translator : to which is added a new hypothesis deduced from scripture and the observation of nature : with an addition of some miscellany experiments / by robert st. clair ... defontium mutinènsium admiranda scaturgine tractatus physico-hydrostaticis. english ramazzini, bernardino, 1633-1714. st. clair, robert n. [77], 208 p. fold pl. printed for the author and sold by w. newton ..., london : 1697. signatures a7-8 and a10-11 are tightly bound; a9 is torn with loss of text; a1 is missing in filmed copy. beginning-b7 and c5-b1 photographed from bodleian library copy and inserted at end. reproduction of original in national library of scotland (advocates') created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to 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if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng burnet, thomas, 1635?-1715. -telluris theoria sacra. science -early works to 1800. springs -italy -modena. creation -early works to 1800. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-07 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-08 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2002-08 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the abyssinian philosophy confuted : or , tellvris theoria neither sacred , nor agreeable to reason . being , for the most part , a translation of petrus ramazzini , of the wonderful springs of modena . illustrated with many curious remarks and experiments by the author and translator . to which is added , a new hypothesis deduced from scripture , and the observation of nature . with an addition of some miscellany experiments . by robert st. clair , m. d. non mihi , sed rationi , aut quae ratio esse videtur . milito securus quid mordicus hic tenet , dut hic . scaliger . london , printed for the author , and sold by w. newton , over against st. bartholomew-close-gate , in little-britain , 1697. to the truly honourable sophronius philalethes . this treatise of the wonderful springs of modena , publisht in latin by bernard rammazzini physician of that town , & translated by me , tho● it has upon view had the approbation of the most knowing mr. beside the most eminent physicians of the colledge , and others , as the most admirable piece of natural history that hath yet seen day in our english world ▪ for therein are at once discovered the changes that nature hath not made but in some thousand of years ; yet i thought it not adviseable for me to expose this stranger , how ingenious , soever to the publick view , and consequently censure , without providing him a friend before-hand ; especially seeing he is to appear against an author , whose reputation for learning , and this his hypothesis is so far establisht , that he has already brought it to many impressions . among all that i have the honour to be acquainted with , worthy sir , i thought i could not address my s●lf , to a fitter patron than your self . whether the dignity of the subject , or the modesty and ingenuity with which the author sets it out , be considered , this treatise will merit your approbation . suffer therefore , worthy sir , amidst the croud of your other more important affairs , this curious searcher of nature , and stranger , under your patrociny , to do that service to the lovers of knowledge , that sir matthew hales makes the clock-maker to do to the philosophers ; for he supposes that in a country abounding with several sects of philosophers , yet unacquainted ●i●ll then , with the noble invention of watches and clocks , a curiously contriv'd clock were exp●s'd to publick view , yet so that they should have no access so look into the inside of it , the epicureans would likely attribute it to the fortuitous concourse of atoms , the p●rpate●ick to the contemperation of the four elements and the cartesian to his three principles , every one according to the fancies he was prepossest with , but the clock-maker , whom he supposes behind the curtain to hear all they say , steps out , and by opening the clock , shews how wide they a● all of the truth , by letting them see the spring , and the contrivance of the wheels , on which the motion of his engine depends , and that it was he who made it . in the same manner , nature her self , by the pen of this observing italian , seems modestly to give a check to the presumption of her pretended interpreters , who will pass a iudgment on her most hidden works , where they never could pretend to make the least observation , on which to found their iudgment . the respect the author shews to scripture authority , is the rather remarkable in him , that he is a roman catholick , who by us are charged with the contrary vice , which makes the fault of the theorist , a professed protestant , more black , that is so bold in contradicting it , and making it speak untruth to accommodate it self to the capacity of the vulgar , which tho' some p●ous divines have allowed in passages of scripture , where the phaenomena of nature are spoken of by the by , ( which yet i prove to be a mistake in the confutation of the theory ) yet to make the whole first chapter of genesis , wherein the spirit of god does è composito , give an account of the creation false , is a piece of presumption few have been guilty of besides our theorist . as for the confutation of the theory , tho' the performance may be short of what the subject requir'd , yet i hope the design will please you , which is to vindicate the truth of the scriptures , for which i know you have a great veneration , from the false glosses and perversions of some that seem to have studied divinity , for nothing else but to ridicule it , which they do the more remarkably , that almost in the same breath they pretend a great respect to it , in which i endeavour to prove , that the passages the theorist cavils at , are to be understood to speak according to the truth of the thing , and not according to the false opinion of the ignorant vulgar . if in this my small endeavour , i may find your patrocin , i shall not care for the displeasure of these men of ephesus , whose made it is to make shrines to this their diana of hypothetical philosophy , i mean who in their closets make systems of the world , prescribe laws to nature , without ever consulting her by observation and experience , who ( to use the noble lord verulams words ) like the spider , with great labour , spin a curious cob-web out of their brains , that is good fo● nothing but to be swept down , which tho' it has a great shew of reason , in effect , has no better right to that venerable title , than the fancies of those who are said to make wind-mills in their head. i have given the whole book the title of the abyssinian philosophy confuted , because as the preface is a confutation of the theory , so if you read rammazzini from page 88 , at the end , to page 102. you will find that the theory is much the same with the abyssinian philosophy , if not taken from it , which being evident to be a mere fiction , is ground enough for the title , and confuta●●●n enough tho' i should say no more . i shall not farther incroach upon your time , but here make an end , after i have subcribed my self , worthy sir , your most affectionate , and devoted servant . ro● st. clair . to the reader . when this book came first to my hand , by the favour of a friend , who about a year and a half a go , brought it from italy , after once reading i was so taken with the principal matter of fact therein contained , and the ●●genious things with which the author illustrates it , that i would not part with it till i could send it abroad in an english dress , as being better than any other argument , to shew the vanity of these mens labours , that would describe to us a world of their own fancying instead of one of god's making , who when they have set it out to the best advantage , can discover to us at the best , but a bare conjecture , which leaves the mind uncertain , instead of satisfying it with solid reason , and is unprofitable either as to life or religion ; yet if that were the worst of it , might be born with as other luxuriances of humane wit , that oftenspends it self on superfluities , when it is not sufficient for things of real use . hoc habet ingenium humanum ut cum ad solida , non sufficit in superracua se effundat . verulum . but when they come to overturn the scripture , to establish their own prophane fancies , as our theorist has done , in favour of a spurious brat , of which he will needs be counted the father ; in this i think every one according to his ability ought to oppose it . yet what satisfactory account can we expect from such , of the old world , and its great change , so remote from us , that can give us so little account of the present world , and the things in it , which yet would be by far more useful to us . the theorist has indeed set out this fiction of his , with all the advantages of a smooth stile , which i believe hath procur'd it so good a reception with the generality , who are more taken with fine words , than plain , tho' solid reasons ; but if we may judge of the buyers inclination by the tendency of the book , i am yet willing to have the charity for the theorist , that 't was not the design of the author ; they are the same persons , who pretend they will not believe many things in scripture , because they cannot see a reason for them , and yet they do greedily entertain this theory , and the fictions of des cartes , which differ little from the abyssinian fiction or hypothesis , as will appear to any that compares both , with what is in this book translated from the italian , only they have new vamp'd it , and set it out in another dress to make it pass for their own . but after i had taken a nearer view of the author's opinion , and what he advances in favour of it , i found it so full of contradictions to scripture and reason , yet join'd with a very high conceit of his own fancies , ( a fault i find very common among the abyssinian philosophers ) that i had once thought of not meddling with it , as an endless labour , upon which account also , i have not meddled with a book printed at oxford , anno de antris laethiferis , especially seeing the learned and pious mr. warren has already done it so fully , that he has left little to be added to it ; but considering that the bigness of his book might obstruct the attaining of the end for which he design'd it , viz. to undeceive the generality of readers , who being the least considering , perhaps have not allowed themselves time to read so large a treatise , or at least so attentively as it deserves ; upon this consideration , ( i say ) i resum'd my former thoughts , with design to be as brief as possible , yet without omitting any thing material in the theory that deserv'd an answer . the author begins tell. theor. ch . iv. the form of the antediluvian earth , was different from the present form of it , which that he might not seem to dictate with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he promises to prove first from scripture , secondly by reasons , both a priori & posteriori . now that we may see if the performance answer to so great undertakings , we shall first examine his main arguments from scripture , and especially that of st. peter , 11. ch . 3. 5 , 6. ver . for this they willingly are ignorant of , that by the word of god the heavens were of old , and the earth standing out of the water and in the water . v. 6. whereby the world that then was , being over flowed with water , perished . vpon this rock ( says the theorist , prophanely alluding to our saviours words to st. peter ) do we chiefly build the theory as to scripture authority ; and we always thought this an unmoveable foundation , which yet we shall find upon a due search , to be unstable as water , and therefore cannot hold . the words of the text the theory explains thus , the apostle manifestly distinguishes between the old world and the new , and especially because of the different natural states , or their different shapes and qualities of mat●er . secondly , he intimates that the ●orm of the antediluvian world was ●he cause of the deluge . thirdly , he says expresly , the world perisht in ●he deluge . the authour himself ●ays , that the sacred ●riters , when they treat ●f natural things , do not thereby intend to instruct us in natural philosophy , but to infuse into our minds holy affections , and a veneration of the god of israel , whom they preach . may we not thence infer , that to have prosecuted this noble design , would have been fitter for a divine , than thus to abuse the scriptures to another end , than that for which they were written , when he founds a point of philosophy upon this text ; and farther , that seeing what he founds upon it , was contrary to the common opinion of the times that the apostle wrote in , the theorist has mist the meaning of the text. for whom among the writers of the apostles time , or before , can he produce that was of the opinion , that the earth did encompass the waters , as an egg-shell does the white and yolk ; surely , seeing he seems so conversant in antiquities , he might have thought it his interest to find at least one passage among them , to favour this paradox of this , that it might not be reproach'd with being the opinion of one dr. only . and further we may infer , that as the pen-men of the scripture , did not write to teach us philosophy , so neither does the apostle here reprove men for ignorance in a point of philophy , ( especially abyssinian ) but for atheistical principles , as first in denying god's providence , v. 3. there shall come in the last day scoffers , walking after their own lusts , and saying where is the promise of his coming , for since the fathers fell asleep , all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation . where the apostle reproves scoffers , who imagin'd that things went on by chance , and continued so in this first state from the creation , without god's direction , which he carries yet higher , that they disown the power of god in the creation , for this they willingly are ignorant of , that by the word of god , &c. and as the charging of men with wilful ignorance in a point of philosophy , that there was no possibility of knowing , before this new found philosophy , would have been very unjust , so it would have been a coque à lasne , to have thus past from his subject and design of reproving atheists , to reprove ignorance in a point of natural philosophy , and that without giving any notice of it before hand , and such a reproof would have been no more suitableto the scope of the apostle , than to have reproved them for ignorance of such a place as america , which was discovered but of late . but farther , this text which the abyssinian makes his unmoveable foundation , if the scope be seriously considered , gives a strong foundation of an argument against him . the apostle ( as we have already proved ) reproves those who are willingly ignorant of the power of god , and who either denied it altogether , as the epicureans did , who were a famous sect at that time , and who disputed with st. paul at athens , acts 17. 18. or else such as pretended to give an account of the first formation of all things , without taking notice of the power of god in it , which was or among the greek philosophers in those times ; now this is the fault the theois guilty of in the account creation , all the six days works are in scripture said to be performed by the word or power of god , but in the theory all is said to be carried on by the laws of gravitation , without any mention made of the power of god , which is the very thing that is ●ere condemned by the apostle , and ●herefore what the theory thinks ●o make most for it , militates most against it . this charge is justify'd from the theories own words , tell. the. ch . 6. i have followed the most common laws of gravitation and levity , and by their guidance alone , we have seen the promogenial mass after one or two alterations , and an unconstant shape , to have come into that stable form of the earth built upon the waters , that was to continue for some ages . seeing therefore the theorist has willingly left out any mention of the power of god in his whole theory , contrary to the tenour of the scriptures , which ascribes all the works both of creation and providence , to the wisdom and power of god , he may be said to be willingly ignorant of both , and to have written rather like a disciple of orpheus , than a disciple of moses . and yet his laws of gravitation , if rightly considered , will not answer the phaenomena of the creation , for the world was then but a making , and might be then compar'd to the materials of a clock , before an ingenious artisicer , which could never point out the hours and strike , imitate the motions of the sun and moon , as some are made to do , till the artificer had first made the several wheels , &c. in due proportion , and fitted them together , and last of all put a spring or motion to them , which i judge to have been compleated about that time , when he said all was very good , which motion has been continued ever since , except when he hath been pleased by his finger , to put a stop to some of the wheels , as he did when the sun and moon stood still , or to make them run backward , as he did when the shadow went back on the dial of ahaz , or to accelerate their motions more than ordinary , among which may be reckon'd this of the deluge , of which , and the creation , 't is as easie for the theorist to give an account , as if he had been one god almighty's counsel at that time . one might think that the sense of our natural blindness , even in things that most concern our selves , and that we have daily in our hands , might give a check to this presumption , but vain man would be wise . beside this achillean argument and foundation of the theory , from which ●he author hopes never to be beat , he has others , which at the first view , ●nd as he is pleas'd to explain them , ●eem to favour his cause very much , yet after examination , will be found to make no more for him than the former . one is taken from psal. 24. 2. for he hath founded it upon the sea , and establisht it upon the floods , or upon the rivers . what could one think of , more favourable for the theory than this ? but if we compare this with other places of scripture , it will not be found to make for his purpose ; for example , psal. 2. ver . 3. and he shall be like a tree planted upon the rivers ; no body i believe , will make a philo●ophical argument of this , to prove that trees in david's time were planted upon the surface of rivers , but contenting himself with the scope of the psalmist , which is to hold forth by this simile , the flourishing condition of the righteous , will never once call it in question , if trees did grow on the surface of rivers , and take it for granted , that by upon , the psalmist meant upon the banks of rivers , in which sense we say , lands lye upon such seas as they are adjacent to , and houses or cities , seated upon the banks of rivers , to stand upon the rivers : for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the original , imports this , and in this sense may be explain'd , prov. 6. 27. when he set a compass upon the face of the deep , of which the theorist says , if i rightly understand the matter , this is the place of the earth firmly encompassing the abyss , and what else can be understood by this girth , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with which god is said to have encompass'd the abyss , what is there in the present form of the earth that can answer it , or to the bounds or globe which he hath put about the sea. yes the theorist might have found another meaning in , iob 38. who hath shut up the sea with doors , &c. ver . 11. and set bars and doors , and said , hitherto shalt thou come , and no farther , and here shall the pride of thy waves be stay'd ; these bars or bounds are by all judged to be the sea shore , by which god hath limited the sea , that it shall no more return to overflow the earth as it did before , as in psal. 104 , 9. thou hast set bounds that they pass not over , that they turn not again to cover the earth . and in the common way of speaking among our hydrographers , this bounds is called a girth , so they call the coast round about england , the girth of england . since the theorist contrary to his own position , will adduce scripture to prove his philosophical paradoxes , by the same liberty we from ver . 5. of this psalm , who hath laid the foundation of the earth , that it should not be removed for ever . infer that the theorists foundation is none of god's making , since it is suppos'd by him to have been removed , by falling under the abyss , whereas before it was above it . and may not we infer from god's challenge to iob , ch . 38. ver . 4. where wast thou when i laid the foundation of the earth ? declare if thou hast understanding , v. 6. whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened ? ( the very thing the theorist pretends to tell ) and to which iob ( whom without disparagement to the theorist , we may imagine both a better man and a philosopher than he ) answers , chap. 42. ver . 3. therefore have i utter'd that i understood not , things too wonderful for me , which i knew not ; may not we ( i say ) infer , that the theorist is very presumptuous in thus taking up the argument against god almighty ? and may not we without breach of respect say , theorice quid animum minorem aeternis consilijs fatigas ? this is the philosophy the apostle paul bids us beware of , col. 2. 8. beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceits , which will be very clear if we consider , that the hypothetical was at that time the philosophy in vogue among the grecians , to whom being puft up with a conceit of their own knowledge , the gospel appeared foolishness ; surely , the apostle does not hereby condemn him that studies to know the nature of things , with their causes , &c. vt varios usus meditando extunderet artes . which is natural philosophy ; for solomon the wisest of kings , is in the scripture commended for this , or him that studies the nature of , and way to manage his own spirit , and its thoughts , &c. which is metaphysicks and moral philosophy , both in their places very subservient to religion ; but he condemns the abyssinian philosophy , or the imposing of poetical fictions instead of solid truth , on the understandings of people . now that we have view'd the theorist's strongest holds , and i hope beat him out of them , i think it will not be worth while to seek him out any where else , as to his pretences to sacred authority ; we come next to view his philosophical holds , i hope though it be war time , we may view them without danger from canons or grenades , or at the worst they will be but paper ones , and will do no great hurt ; and this comes in course , for after the author has made the best he can of this place in st , peter he distrusts the strength of his own argument , for in the beginning he confesses , that the meaning of these words seems not to be so express and open , that the form of the anted●luvian earth may be thence concluded ; & therefore he has recourse to his abyssinian philosophy a very good second , as we shall find : dignum patellâ operculum . he supposes the chaos to have been made up of particles , different as to shape , bulk , weight , &c. and that the grossest solid particles by their weight falling downward , suddenly toward the center , formed the kernel of his primogenial earth , and that immediately there followed a new division of the remaining part into two , and no more , viz. fluid and volatile , or air and water , of which the thinnest and lightest part keeping uppermost , made the air , and the grosser the water , out of which were separated the oily parts , which being lighter floated above it ; and last of all he supposes another purgation of the air , from its earthy particles , which falling upon the oily particles , were by their viscidity entangled , and thus hindred from descending into the abyss , and these earthy particles he supposes by the heat of the sun , to have been burnt ●nto a hard crust , which made the shell of the primogenial earth . this is the substance of the hypothesis , from which as a corollary , tho' not heeded by the theorist , we may infer , a new sett of principles , viz. oil and earth , unknown to the learned world before this abyssinian philosophy . now may paracelsus keep to himself his three principles salt , sulphur and mercury , aristotle his four elements , des cartes his three principles of materia subtilis , globuli secundi elementi , & materia tertii elementi , and the most experienc'd van helmont , his axiom of water and seminal principles all things are made ; tho' experience taught him , and others since him , that not only oil , but also salt , earth , &c. are made of water , which is known à posteriori , or by the effect , or experiment ( the foundation of all the knowledge we have of nature . ) but as for the antediluvian world , since it doth not so much concern us now , i shall leave the consideration of its principles to the abyssinian philosophers , who demonstrate all things à priori . and yet in these separations , the theorist is not so philosophical as he pretends to be , for his division of the chaos , into fluid and volatile , water and air , this is purely abyssinian or fictitious , the air being own'd by all philosophers eluid as well as water , nay rather more . but the fifth and last separation of the earth from the air , is contradictory to common sense , as well as his own laws of gravitation ; for how could it come to pass that there remain'd so much earth in the air ( which is 1000 times lighter than water ) after the four separations mention'd , as to be sufficient to make up the crust of the antediluvian earth ? why was it not carried down toward the center , as fast as the water , or at least the oil ? the simile of snow and hail falling down from the air , will not answer the case in hand , for they rise into the middle region of the air in form of a vapour much rarify'd , by which ●●refaction the surface of every particle of water , being made larger , the body becomes lighter than so much air , and so ascends till it come to the middle region , where by its cold , 't is condens'd , and so falls down in rain , hail or snow , according to the different degrees of cold ; that i may not seem to say this gratis , i shall illustrate ●t with an experiment , that will quadrate better with what i have said , than the theorist's simile ; let us suppose a small carps bladder , with the air squeezed out , and the mouth close tyed , to be thrown into a wide mouth'd glass full of water , it will sink to the bottom , but if the vessel and all be put into the pneumatick engine or air-pump , and a receiver fitted to it , upon exhausting the air from the receiver , that little which remains inclosed in the bladder , will expand i● self very much , and so both togethe● will make an aggregate , lighter than water , upon whic● it will rise to the top , because it has more surface expos'd to its pressure , than it had before . now if the theorist can prove that his earthy particles were thus capable of expansion and dilation , this assertion of his , tho' but the opinion of one dr. shall have place among the probable ones , otherwise we will take it for no other than abyssinian , or fictitious . but suppose it to be true , we have no reason to think fabulous or strange pliny's and livy's stories of showers of flesh , stones , &c. seeing the whole earth , the mother of all did this shower down out of the air. and since our author is arbitrary in supposing , i think he might as well have suppos'd the abyss to have been shut up in a bag of raw hides , which would have supported the earth from falling into his abyss , till by being bak'd into a hard crust , it had been able to support it self ; and this will better fit his interpretation of ps. 33. 7. where the sea is by him said , to be gathered as in a bag , for the hard crust of the earth might be better compar'd to a bottle than to a bag. i would not have the theorist think i put a jest upon him , in mentioning this of the raw hides , because notable feats , past belief , in the laying of foundations have been perform'd by this means , a memorable instance of which is to be seen to this day in the english church at vtrecht , where is a great massy pillar that was thus founded ; the account i had of it when i was at vtrecht was this , when the bishop of vtrecht was building the church , as they digg'd to lay the foundation of this pillar , they came to a quick-sand that swallowed up every thing that was put upon it , so that the raising of it was look'd upon as unpracticable , till the bishop proposing a great reward to any that could bring the foundation to bear , a friezlander found out the way , and being overjoyed at the discovery , he told it to his wife , which his son hearing , told it to his play-fellows in the street , by this means it came to the bishop's ears , so that when the ingineer came to demand his reward , he refus'd to pay him , saying , he knew it already , which so incens'd the cruel friezelander , that he kill'd his child and wife for divulging his secret , and the bishop for defrauding him of his reward ; in memory of this there is a picture of an ox upon the pillar , with this inscription , accipe posteritas quod per tua saeculaa nerres , taurinis cutibus fundo solidata columna est . upon a pillar at the end of the church , are twenty or thirty hexameter verses , giving an account of the whole story . the theorist needs not object , that the heat of the sun , which is suppos'd to bake the earth into a hard crust , might burn the hides , for the water in the abyss will secure him from this fear , a confirmation of which may be seen in buchanan's history , where he gives an account of a way practis'd in these times for boiling of meat in raw hides , by which they became hard like iron , and were not burnt . but if we admit that the after-birth of the earthy particles , did ( in the order suppos'd by the theorist ) fall upon the oil , and there were by the heat of the sun , bak'd into a hard crust , how will this agree with the scripture ? gen. 1. 9 let the dry land appear , and it was so ; ver . 10. and god called the dry land earth , &c. how was the earth hardened by the heat of the sun that was not yet made ? for the earth was made on the third , and the sun on the fourth , ver . 16. god made two great lights , the greater 〈◊〉 rule the day , and the lesser to rule the night . but suppose the sun could do this under the line , how came it to be so soon bak'd under the poles , ( where according to the theory's supposition of the poles , of the ecliptick and aequator coinciding ) the sun could never rise above the horizon ? seeing now tho' the sun shines half a year to these places , the air is always very cold , and the earth covered with snow . but let us suppose the earth to have been thus hardened by the heat of the sun and winds , then it must be granted , that it hardened sooner under the line , than towards the poles , and that before the crust was hard enough to support it self from falling into the abyss , it had acquired some considerable weight , by reason of which pressing on the surface of the abyss , it would , according to the nature of all fluids , give way , and rise towards the poles ; where by reason of the greater rawness of the crust , the water would meet with less resistance , and so break the continuity of the egg-shell ; for i do not see by any thing the theorist advances , how the water which in the natural ballance alters its place with the 1 / 200000 of its weight , more on one side than on another , should in this case hold firm , except by the above mentioned supposition of the raw hides . methinks i see the oil'd cake or crust , thus falling in at the sides , and rising towards the poles , and so the whole fabrick of the egg-shell spoil'd : and therefore gentlemen i will by your leave take the liberty to entertain you with another hypothesis , while the theorist is making a surer and better foundation than water for his primogenial earth , or egg-shell , but first crave leave to make an end of this search . the theorist does not tell in what proportion the earth was mixt with the oil , for nature does all her work in proportion ; this the apothecaries know in making their plaisters , where according to the rule of art , there is of oil and wax each an ounce , and of powders half an ounce , for a soft plaister ; and for the hardest plaister there is one ounce of oil , two ounces of wax , and powders six drachms , which being cold makes a mass hard , almost like a stone ; but this , seeing it melts again with the heat , will not answer the end ; the good women know a certain proportion of butter and flower , which , tho' i am ignorant of , yet seeing it bakes into a very hard substance , might do here , were it not very brittle . the theorist may think this a ridiculous comparison , yet this i may be bold to say , and can make out if needful , that a good woman that makes butter'd cakes to sell them again , does more service to the publick , than the doctor has done by his theory . but he does very well to decline this , as being a thing impracticable , except he had been then on god almighty's council , or dispens'd out the ingredients ; for if he had been then present , and but a bare spectator , he could have done no more than now , i. e. to make a conjecture good for nothing . but farther , the oil must have been of some depth , to incorporate so great a quantity of earth ; now the theory does not tell where so great a quantity of earth did stop in the oil , whether near the surface , in the middle , or near the bottom , if they settled to the confines of the oil and water , the heat of the sun , even under the torrid zone could not reach so far as to bake it into a hard crust , except he be suppos'd to have been far more vigorous in his actions , in his own , and the world's infancy , than he is how in his old declining age ; for at sea , within the tropicks , we do not find now , that the sun-beams penetrate much below the surface of the water , this is known by the experience of the seamen , when ( under the line ) they let down their plumets ; for after they have been some time under water 200 fathom deep , they bring them up so cold , that one cannot long hold his hand upon them , which observation the mariners have improved to the cooling of their liquors , better than we do here with ice and snow . it will be most convenient therefore , in my judgment , to suppose this forming of the crust , on or near the surface of the oil ; but by this means 't is very likely there would be a great quantity of oil under that never incorporated with the earth , or was never bak'd , so that when the egg-shell broke , the sea would be covered with it , like so much fat broth , which , there being no more earth to rain out of the air to incorporate with it , must have continued so to this day , except consum'd with the superfluous waters after the deluge . yet further the egg-shell or crust was made before the fishes and fowls were produc'd out of the water , which was on the fifth day , gen. 1. 20. and god said , let the waters bring forth abundantly , the living creature that hath life , and the fowls , &c. ver . 23. and the evening and the morning were the fifth day . now how can this be consistent with a crust of the earth encompassing the abyss , in which there must be no opening or hiatus ? or else how could the crust when it was first forming , be kept from falling in ? in which case this abyss must be a very improper place for fishes to live in , far more for their encreasing and multiplying ; for 't is observ'd now in fish-ponds , if the water be quite frozen , that the fish dye for want of air , and therefore in holland where they have a great many fish ponds about their houses , and great frosts , they break the ice from time to time , lest their fish should dye for want of air. 't is remarkable that the plants were produc'd the same day with the earth , before the sun and moon , but the living creatures , viz. the fishes and fowls were not made till after the fourth day , in which the luminaries were made , that they might have the benefit of the sun and moon to direct them by their light , in their removing to and fro to seek their food ; but the plants which receive their nourishment standing still in the ground , had not so great need of that light , and therefore were made before . from this we may infer , that the order kept in this short history ; is not only to comply with the weak capacities of the ignorant people , but to tell the matter of fact , and that there is no less reason for the order of all the other parts of the history , tho' the theorist has the confidence to ridicule it , as being fitted only to the capacities of ignorant slaves , newly come out of aegypt . but supposing fishes might live there for 1600 years as the faetus does in the mothers womb , shut up in darkness , from the air , and the prolifick heat of the sun ; how can our theorist give an account of the production of fowls out of the water , that is consistent with the scripture , for the earth was made the third day , and firm enough to produce plants , how , or at what ●ent got the fowls out into the open air ? suppose they could make their way through the egg-shell , in places nearer the poles , where 't was still but like mudd ; or was our oil'd cake not strong enough by this time to keep the birds from flying out ? if not , surely they would be so daub'd with oil or earth , that they would never be able to raise themselves out of the mudd , or when raised , to fly . but again , if the fishes were thus inclos'd within the crust , how could the blessing of god upon man take place ? ver. 28. viz. that he should have dominion over the fishes of the sea , seeing for 16 hundred years they were so far remov'd from his habitation , likely some hundreds of miles , the whole crust of the earth being interpos'd between him and them . and expand it self with heat , which would be derogatory from the subtlety of the cartesian aether , upon which he and seignor spoletti the venetian ambassadour's physician , were pleas'd to honour me with a visit at my chamber ; the experiment was this , i had a glass pipe , such as they make the baroscopes of , blown into the shape of a round ball at the end , that was hermetically seal'd and bended into a syphon , whose legs were parallel ; but distant from another three inches , so that the leg on which the ball stood , was nine inches long , but the other two feet long ; the shorter leg , and the intermedial pipe i fill'd quite with water , to the lower end of the great leg , so that there was no air left in the space , then i put into it some filings of steel , about a drachm and an half , and after the filings were laid along in the intermedial pipe , i put to it oil of vitriol 30 or 40 drops , which mixing with the water ( for otherwise strong oil of vitriol does not work upon the filings ) did immediately corrode the iron , and sent up to the ball so great a quantity of this generated air as to fill it , and half the shorter leg in a very little space , in which it was remarkable , that applying my warm hand to the ball , it did expand it self in an instant , so much as to drive out the water at the longer pipe , but on with-drawing my hand , it contracted it self into half the ball , where it has stood ever since december last year , now it 's november ; another thing very remarkable in this is , a considerable heat that is to be observ'd ever since , on the top of the ball , such as is observed in the great end of fresh eggs , and this tho' the water , the other half , be very cold , and at the same time some of the vapours got out into the open air. at the first it had a saltish taste on the top of the ball , which i could not observe in the summer , but now in november i observe it very remarkable with the heat , and so it appeared to a young gentleman that was with me at that time . before i come to apply this to the subject in hand , it will be necessary to remark from scripture , gen. 7. 11. that there were then and still are , great cavities in the bowels of the earth , full of water , to which agree the testimonies of the authors mentioned in ramazzini . these cavities , seeing the scripture says nothing to the contrary , we may suppose to have been made from the beginning , not as deformities , but for noble and excellen● uses , and that by taking off the upper crust from some parts of the earth , and laying it on others , the everlasting mountains , and a bed for the ocean were fram'd at the same time , and thus a passage was open'd for the waters , that before encompass'd the earth , to run into these cavities : 't is not material for our purpose , whether this was all done in one day , as the theory objects , or whether the water could run so fast away from the inland places , as to leave them quite bare , it is enough , if in that day the dry land did appear , as doubtless a great part of it did . the theorist thinks this a very laborious work : as if it were a hard thing for the author of nature ( who tells his servants , that if they had faith but as a grain of mustard-seed , they might remove mountains into the sea ) to remove the mountains out of the sea. 2. that this abyss did communicate with the ocean , which is a consequence of the first , and supported by the testimonies of ram. p. 125 , 158. 3. that in these cavities might be generated minerals and metals , ram. p. 32. and that by the colluctation of several contrary salts in the abyss , might be generated an air and sometimes so suddenly as to make explosions ; of which , and the first supposition , earthquakes , and the rocking of the earth seem to be a pregnant instance , vid. brit. bac. p. 73. where 't is related that the earth rose nine foot high , and was thrown some distance off , which sure was from an exhalation or wind pented in , and suddenly expanded . 5. we may allow also that there were mountains in the beginning , which seems to be plain by psal. 90. 2. in which the formation of the earth , and the mountains are mention'd as coaeval , and therefore are called everlasting mountains , gen. 49. 26. this may be by good consequence also inferr'd from the second chapter of gen. wherein 't is said , there were rivers , one of which , viz. euphrates is to this day known by the name that it had then : from whence we may safely conclude , that the same rivers had the same mountains , from which they descended , that they have now . now if we suppose , that at the time of the deluge there happen'd such a conflict of contrary salts , acid and alcali , as we have now mention'd in the bowels of the earth , there would be an air generated , which in many places being penned up , might cause earthquakes , and at the same time some of this exhalation might escape into the open air , from which might proceed the great rains of forty days continuance , accompanied likely with great thunder , lightning , &c. to strike the greater terror into the wicked , that in their fright they might not find the way to the ark they had formerly so much despis'd , and that if they had thought of such things , they might be hindred by the great rains ; by the air inclos'd in the ●owels of the earth we may ( as it happens in our experiment ) imagine , that the water of the abyss was dislodg'd , and so came out to overflow the earth : ( by which we may interpret the opening of the great depths ) and this at the passages by which the abyss and ocean did communicate , which so swell'd by degrees , till the top of the highest mountains were covered ; further we may infer , that the antediluvian air being infected with the mineral seams , and in a great measure compos'd of them , might occasion that shortning of man's life , which happen'd quickly after the deluge ; which tho' it did not so visibly affect the stronger constitutions of noah and his sons , might lay such a foundation of infirmities in their posterity , as might in moses days shorten their life to 70 or 80 years . we may suppose likewise that ( as in our experiment ) when the heat of the effervescence was over , the water fell in the greater pipe , and rose in the shorter , so when this ebullition was over in the bowels of the earth , the waters returned by degrees into the bowels of the earth , and so the ocean into the bounds set to it by god , as in psal. 104. 6. thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment : the waters stood above the mountains . ver . 7. at thy rebuke they fled , at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away , ver . 8. they go up by the mountains , they go down by the valleys , unto the place which thou hast founded for them , ver . 9. thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over , that they turn not again to cover the earth . one might represent the whole of this to the eye thus , let there be a round ball to represent the earth , ( with a hole at the end , standing for the north pole , at a , which kircher supposes the ocean to circulate thro' the earth ) of glass f f f , full of risings to represent the mountains b b b , let the ball be fill'd with water , and at the hole insert a pipe g g g , which cement to the neck , throw in by this pipe some filings of steel , after which some oil of vitriol , and keep the ball inclining , so that the steams arising may not get out at the hole , but being pented in may drive out the water at the pipe , which if the ball were the center of the earth , would over flow all the surface of the glass , and cover the mountains of it , but this being wanted , we may imagine another glass c c c divided in two as you see , so that they may be cemented together when the other glass ball is inclos'd , all the water that runs out at the mouth of g g g , will over-flow the hills b b b , &c. this is the substance of what i have to say of my hypothesis , which if furnish'd with a good library , with large indexes , it were easie to make swell into a volume big enough to deserve the title of a theory ; among which i might perhaps find , even in the relicts of the fidler orpheus himself , so much esteemed by our theorist , or at least among the other placita philosophorvm , enough to favour it . sed non equidem hoc stude o bullatis ut mihi nugis pagina turgescat , dare pondus idonea fumo . and with this i leave the theory at present , hastning to make an end . of perpetual lamps . there has been much written of perpetual lamps , said to be found in burying places of the old romans ▪ which at first seems past all belief ; for how can it be that a lamp should have fuel for some hundreds of years , to maintain it in life ? and if it had fuel how could it in those close vaults escape being suffocated in its own smoke ? i believe that the appearing of some light by the work-mens tools , hitting against some hard stone or brick in the dark , and so striking fire , might give rise to the first report , which fame ; that never loses by going , has increas'd almost to a miracle . for they say of them , that upon the air 's coming to them , they , contrary to all other fires , do presently die . or they might have met with such an ▪ observation as a noble lord told me he had communicated to him when at rome , by a gentleman of that place who made it ; and it was this , that searching roma subterranea for antiquities , he came to a brick-wall , which ordering to be digg'd thro' , he found to be the wall of a vault , or burying-place , in which before the light was brought in , he observ'd something like a candle burning , which he lost sight of as soon as the candle was brought in : and therefore removing it again , and directing himself by his hand kept between the light and his eye , he found it , and by the description i had of it from that noble person , it was of the nature of mr. boyl's glacial noctiluca , for it was solid , and in a fortnights time did run per deliquium . but whatever be of truth in it , the ingenious have made many conjectures about the salving of this wonderful phaenomenon . des cartes has attempted it by applying his principles to it , but seeing they are abyssinian , i. e. precarious , and the explication hardly intelligible , we pass it in silence . athanasius kircher , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 has given us his conjecture , which seeing it depends upon a mechanical principle , is by far more intelligible than any we can expect out of the mint of a mere abyssinian . he supposes that these lamps are seated upon the opening of a vein of petrol●um ▪ running under ground , of which italy and other hot countries afford many ▪ and the wick to be made of linu● asbeston which never wastes in the fire ; so that nature constantly furnishing fresh fuel , and the wick never ●alling , the flame may continue forever . but how plausible so ever this conjecture be ▪ it will be of small use , because it cannot be had every where . therefore the ingenious dr. hooke has contriv'd , and imparted to the world several pre●●y ways , which are found to answer very well ; for by the poysing of his lamp ▪ he orders it so , that the oil may always be kept to the same height , upon the wick , and consequently the flame , and that therefore the wyck can never waste , because always in the flame , for it wastes not tho' in the midst of the flame , till it be expos'd to the open air ; of which one may see more at large in his treatise of lamps : but with submission i am of opinion , that the weight of the oil when the lamp is full , will make the lamp move heavily , and also make it wear out quickly . i have therefore a good while ago , thought these inconveniencies might be prevented by some hydrostatical contrivance , seeing the main thing sought for here , is to keep the flame at the same height on the wyck ; my way is this , let a vessel a a a , be shap'd after the fashion here mark'd , an inch or more deep , and as broad as you may think fitting for the quantity of oil you are to burn , let also a pipe b b b , coming from the bottom almost as high as the cistern , be filled first with water c c c , so high as to cover the hole of the pipe at the bottom , that the oil d d d poured in afterwards may not get out at the pipe b b b , and so be lost ; let the vessel being almost brimsul , have a cover'd pierc'd with as many holes as 't is design'd to have wycks , be fitted to the mouth of the vessel , when the wycks are lighted , if water falls in by drops at the pipe , it will keep the oil always to the same heighth , or very near ( the weight of water to that of oil , being as 20 8 / 11 to 19 ) which in the depth of an inch or two , will make no great difference of height in the oil , if the water runs faster than the oil wastes ; it will only run over at the top of the pipe , what does not run over coming under the oil , will keep it to the same height , this it will do perpetually without any fear of rub or let , the cover will keep the soot of the lamp from falling in●● the oil , and keep it from thickening with it , the main use of such a contrivance is , where there is occasion for long digestions with a gentle heat . some thoughts about the way of making oil of sulphur per campanam . sulphur at all times has been counted a wonderful product of nature , and therefore by the greeks is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . several attempts have been hitherto made by chymists to analyse it , which they have hitherto done but in part ( that i know of ; ) yet by this they have discovered it to be a mineral oil , coagulated by a mineral acid , and also the same is made evident , by the composition of it ; for if you mix oil of sulphur with oil of turpentine , they will coagulate into a gummy substance which being sublim'd , give true brimstone . the main experiment insisted on is the making of oil of sulphur p. c. only two or three ounces of genuine oil , can be had this way out of a pound , and all the 〈◊〉 seems lost , which i believe mostly to proceed from a defect in the way of making it . it is about fifteen years ago since first reading le 〈◊〉 preparation of ol. sulph . p. c. i thought it might be improved to the catching of all , or most of that which flies away thus . suppose a ●at glass cup , b b b , to have two or more pipes coming in at the bottom , and rising pretty high in the glass a a a , suppose likewise another shap●d like a matrass , fitted to the mouth of b b b , with a ring at the bottom c c c , to keep it from falling into the cup , and that the same matrass is wide enough at top to admit of a crooked pipe e e e , to come into it , and to be luted to it , to which must be fastened adapters , with some water in them , that the acid spirit passing , may find in the way wherewith to embody it self : now if brimstone be put into a cup , and so put into the glass below , with the cautions usual in that case , and so kindled , and the matrass fitted to it , the air coming in by the pipes will keep the flame in life , and carry up the lighter fumes by the neck , into the adapters f f f , which with the water may condense into an acid spirit . this experiment might be varied , by inserting the neck into the wall of a very large room , made tight for the purpose , as they do for flower of br●mstone , to see what dry flowers it gives , and of what nature they are . of phosphorus . i have seen in the parisian memoirs , lent me by the curious dr. sloane , an experiment said to be made by one mr. homburg , about producing phosphorus out of quick-●●me and 〈◊〉 armoniack ; 't is that which i casual●y lighted on , when living with the honourable and never to be forgotten mr. boyle ; for after i had by the force of the fire melted these two together into an opack glass , and the pieces of it were still hot in my hand ( during which time they are very hard ) i had the curiosity to see what the pieces which were very hot would do , if strock against one another in the dark , and was su●priz'd to see it not only strike fire , but also to retain a glimmering light in the places where the pieces hit one another , which i judge to proceed only from the sea salt of the sal-armoniack remaining with the quick-lime , p●t in a violent motion by the collision , and perhaps deserves no more the name of a phosphorus , than the sea water that shines in the dark night , or refin'd sugar , when 't is scrap'd ; a proof of which seems to be the dark spots that appear in the shining parts , which is in all probability from the greater quantity of the quick-lime in the mixture , for of two 〈◊〉 there is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iv. of the glass , so that only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iv. of the sal-armoniack may be concluded to be there . this when cold ; runs p. d. which it continues for a long time ; and when set to evaporate , does retain its fluidity while upon fire a long time , but when removed , in an instant it coagulates into a hard mass , which upon the least heat melts again , and therefore by mr. boyle was called the fusible salt. i will not say that mr. hemburg had that from mr. boyle , or any of his friends ; for why might not he ●all on it by chance , as well as we , tho' this account was printed two years after the honourable mr. 〈◊〉 death ? but to pass this , this liquor is very remarkable for dissolving sublimate corrosive , in the cold of which it dissolves its own weight . 〈◊〉 makes a spirit of this solution thus , 〈◊〉 of this liquor , p. 111. dissolve in it sublim . 〈◊〉 p. 1. imbibe the solution with brown paper , and destill , it comes over in form of a brownish colour'd spirit , smelling like musk ( says my anthor ) some of the mercury is reviv'd in the receiver : three drops of this liquor taken in a convenient vehicle , do greatly purifie the blood , as he says ; as for the smell , 't is so far from having the smell of musk , that rather it stinks of an empyreuma ; and as for its use in physick , 't is so far from having the promis'd effects , that i have known it given from three to sixty drops , without any visible effect , and also that a woman , to whom an hundred drops were given in a venerial distemper , had such pricking pains all over the body following , as could hardly be removed again : yet this , with all its mistakes , has a famous plagiary in town , copied out in a book called the lond. dispens . this man it seems has no regard to what he writes , so he make a bulky book , i could instance many cases in which this rhapsodist has thus without any judgment play'd the plagiary , if time would permit ; it were to be wished that a severe censure were put upon such , who for a little lucre ; will thus set out a wild-fire to lead people into dangerous mistakes , instead of setting up beacons for them , by which they may be guided in so important a business as the practice of physick , at least an index expur gatorus , made by an impartial and judicious pen , might remedy the ill effects of such books , and prevent the multiplying of them for the time to come . errata . page 44. in the margin , tab. 11. f. p. 69. in the margin , tab. 11. f. 2. p. 70. l. 14. r. the water overflowing and falling . ibid. l. 23. or being , r. are . p. 81. l. 18. by hidden passages , and the sand it self . the abyssinian philosophy confuted : or , tellvris theoria neither sacred , nor agreeable to reason . being , for the most part , a translation of petrus ramazzini , of the wonderful springs of modena . illustrated with many curious remarks and experiments by the author and translator . to which is added , a new hypothesis deduced from scripture , and the observation of nature . with an addition of some miscellany experiments . by robert st. clair , m. d. non mihi , sed rationi , aut quae ratio esse videtur . milito securus quid mordicus hic tenet , aut hic . scaliger . london , printed for the author , and sold by w. newton , over against st. bartholomew-close-gate , in little-britain , 1697. the author's preface . if the searchers after nature , of which this age has not a few , whose study is spent about things of greater concern , and therefore are deservedly admired ; if , i say , these found it as easie to search into the inner parts of the earth , as 't is to the anatomists to take an exact view of the bowels of a man , and other living creatures , the one needed not envy the other ; and we should have as full a knowledge of the earth , as we have now of living animals , by the industry of anatomists . we know now , yea to our own no small satisfaction , with our eyes we see , how the blood circulates , what is the motion of the chyle , the lympha ; and other fluids ; so that now to use hippocrates his own words , the fountains of humane nature , and the rivers with which the body is watered , seem to be open'd . but as for the earth , out of whose treasures we draw our nourishment , we can observe nothing but its outward side , and therefore we are ignorant of the more beautiful things that are hid ; and , which is to be grieved for , there is no way by which they may be known . for although the miners have gone down into the bowels of the earth many fathoms , yet they have never gone much deeper than half a mile , which by agricola is said to be the greatest depth of the mines . but what is that to the depth of the earth , whose seme . diameter is said to be 3600 mile . wherefore , to tell the truth , we know the body of the earth only superficially , and not within : yet 't is lawful to judge , that 't is neither a sluggish nor unshapely body , nor yet that all its dignity is plac'd in its outward surface , as in statues , but that its more beautiful parts are inward ; yea , we must think that 't is so shap'd and figur'd by the great creator , as to contain a specimen of the vital o economy , and that the wonderful functions thereof are perform'd in its bowels , by a law no less certain than unknown to us , especially the circular motion of the waters ; of which , though they cannot be demonstrated to the senses , yet by what appears outwardly , 't is evident that the matter is so ; neither has the wit of men stopt , till they had by all art searcht into the state and condition of the subterraneous regions , as far as could be . but seeing there is no other way by which we enter into the earth , but by such apertures , as either nature has made of her own accord , or by mines and wells , which the covetousness of men has digged for metals , or necessity has put them on , for finding veins of waters ; and seeing that in this city there is a frequent digging of wells to a notable depth , ( as much as can be in a very plain place , and remote from mountains ) from which a wonderful spring of water rises ; i thought good therefore to examine these secrets of nature , and to communicate to the professors of natural knowledge , what i have observed of them , and my thoughts threupon , seeing none has written of these things expresly . i am not ignorant that some idle men will speak ill of me , and others will not be wanting who will accuse me , as having spent may time about a thing of no moment : but that does little disquiet me , seeing i have the examples of the most learned , who have been taken up with the most minute things , of whom virgil says , in tenui labor , at tenuis non gloria — but i can answer such men with the words of seneca treating of natural philosophy , you will say , what profit is there in these things ? no greater can be ; to know nature . neither has the treating of this subject any thing more beautiful , seeing it contains many things that may be useful , than that its greatness takes up a man ; nor is it followed for profit , but for its wonderfulness . of the wonderful source of the springs of modena . chap. 1. the structure of these fountains is described , and the most curious things which appear in the digging of the wells , and when the water springs up , are remarked . but that i may not keep the reader longer in suspence , you must know for a certain truth , which many thousands of experiments have already confirmed , that in any place within , or without the city , for some miles round , one may open a spring which shall constantly send forth most pure water . and seeing every citizen may take out of this great stock , as much vvater for his private uses as he pleases , without fear of wronging the publick , or being fin'd for it : therefore when any will have a spring in his own house , he calls some vvorkmen , and having agreed for the price , which for the most part does not exceed the sum of forty crowns , he shews them the place which he thinks most fit , and they without further consideration dig a well in a place mark'd out for them ; and when they have come to the depth of about 63 foot , they pierce the bottom with a great auger , which when it has been driven down 5 foot deep , immediately the vvater gushes out with so great force , throwing up stones and sand , that almost in a moment all the vvell is filled to the top , and the vvater flows out thence constantly . moreover , that which in digging these wells gives the greatest trouble to the vvorkmen , is , the great abundance of vvaters flowing from the sides , by which they are sometimes much troubled , till they come to the depth of 28 foot , where first the potters clay begins to appear : and therefore to keep off these vvaters which are none of the cleanest , when they first break earth , they make a vvell pretty large , drawing out the vvaters that flow together on every side , till they come to the bed of clay ; then they build upon it , as on a solid foudation , a vvall round about of lime and well-burnt bricks , made for the purpose , that so the vvell may be narrower ; and they carefully plaster the outer surface of it with clay , well wrought , pressing it with their feet ; and thus they continue to do till they come to the surface of the earth : for by this means they hinder the influx of vvaters from the sides , which being done , as if all were safe , and there were no more fear of the vvater coming from the sides , they carry on their digging to the lowermost place so successfully , that from the appearing of the clay , they observe no more water to drop ; yea , which is wonderful , they are forc'd sometimes to moisten the earth with vvater , that it may be more easily digged . 't is also no small disadvantage to the diggers , before they come to the beginning of the chalky or clayie ground , that the soft earth falls in upon them by the force of the side-vvaters ; which impediment is not overcome but with great labour : but when at length they come to the bed of clay , and from thence to the greatest depth● there is nothing to hinder them form getting by the usual boring the usual eruption of vvater . for no case is remembred in any place whatsoever within the city , or without the city , for some miles , in which upon opening a hole , and giving vent to the inclosed vvaters , they did not immediately spring up on high . for the diggers do with as great assurance and confidence fasten down their augers in the bottom of the vvells , as one being to draw vvine , would pierce a hogshead when 't is full . i was often present when this phlebotomy , if i may so call it , was practis'd ; and i always observed the vvater to break out almost with the same force , which at the first is muddy and full of sand , but the next day it appears clear enough . but when the vvater has broke out , and the borer is pulled out , sitting on the arms of the auger , immediately two or three vvorkmen that are about the mouth of the vvell draw out the vvater with all possible diligence ; for seeing at that time the force of the vvater drives out much sand and gravel , they say that by this means the course of the vvater is promoted , and the vvells are made to send forth vvater more plentifully ; neither can the stuff settling to the bottom stop the hole . the diggers of the vvells say , that some new-made fountains have thrown up sometimes so much vvater with the gravel and sand , that the ground giving way on every side , and threatning the ruine of the adjacent buildings , they have been forc'd to fill up the fountain again with earth and hewn stones . but the pebble stones , which are thrown up by the force of the vvater , differ not much from those which are seen in the adjacent rivers ; neither are they small , but some of them weigh 3 or 4 ounces : some of these are adorn'd with veins of gold , and pretty hard ; others are harder , and like the rudiments of pebble stones . in some places where the situation of the city is lower , the vvater arises above the plain , from whence it runs easily down , but in higher places it stops below the surface of the plain ; so that 't is necessary to make conduits under ground , thro' which it falls into the publick canals , which afterwards meet into one canal that is navigable , and by which they sail conveniently enough even to venice . for this canal falls into the scultenna , and the scultenna into the po. the number of these fountains is very great , so that now almost every house has one ; and their numbers being increas'd , the old fountains become fewer , as may be seen in the most illustrious family of the sadalets , now belonging to the castelvitrys , where the pipes that now send forth no more vvater , are higher than those that at present do . these fountains also are in the gardens about the town , and in the adjacent villages , some of which rise above the surface of the earth . moreover , the diggers of the vvells say , that they have on trial found them seven miles from the city , beyond scultenna : for having made an hole with an auger , they say the vvater did boil up freely enough , throwing up sand and gravel . vvherefore the limits of this hidden spring are not known enough ; yet 't is reasonable to think , that it is extended farther from east to vvest , than from north to south , seeing in this tract they are not found extended above four miles . this is remarkable , that when the hole is bor'd , and the vvater begins to break out , the next fountains cease from running for some time ; yet after a little time they run again . i have been told by a person of credit , that when a vvell was bor'd in the cloysters of the nuns of st. francis des sales , he saw in another vvell near it the vvater sunk in a moment , which afterward ascended , till both the vvells being in an equilibrium , the vvater settled in the same horizontal surface . i have often observed this decrease , but not with so great swiftness , in which the vvater did not sink so deep on a sudden , but rather by degrees ; and raising a few bubbles , i observed it to decrease ; but when the new well was filled , it ●ose again to its former height . having often understood by the diggers of the wells , that they heard a great noise of the water running under the bottom of the wells , and that when it first begins to be heard they take it as a sign , that 't is time to bore . to be assur'd of this , i went down into the bottom of a well in the beginning of february , holding a lighted candle in my hand , the well being built in a place of no great light ; having staid there a little , i perceived a manifest murmur and noise , yet not such as i expected . then i stampt on the ground with all my force , upon which the ground made a hideous noise , so that i thought i had to do with hell , and therefore quickly gave notice to those that were above , to pull me up with all possible speed , remembring that once the force of the water throwing up the earth prevented the boring . but though i did not stay long there , seeing nothing beside occurred to be observed but the oise of the water , yet i felt so great a heat there , that i did run down in sweat ; and it was no small pleasure to me to observe , when i was drawn up from that thermometer , in so small an interval of time , so many gradual changes of heat and cold. at another time i try'd what was the temper of these wells , in their greatest depth , by letting down a thermometer in the midst of winter , and i found that it differ'd little from the heat of the dog-days in our climate . the diggers perceive no less cold in the summer-time in these wells , and upon that account they refuse to undertake such a work in the middle of summer ; seeing , beside the great cold which oppresses them , such a difficulty of breathing also seises them , that they are almost suffocated ; a great quantity of smoke rises likewise at the same time , so as to put out the candles , which never happens in the winter , for then they breath easily enough , and the candle stands unmoved . the diggers complain much of a bad smell , when they dig in the wells in a hot season ; especially when they light on stumps of trees : for the rotten wood sends forth a most vile stink , which in the winter-time they do not experience , though at that time they perceive a great heat in these wells . but seldom are these wells digged , in which they do not meet with several sorts of trees , as oaks , walnut-trees , elm , ash , some of which stand upright , and some lie along . but it appears not by any mark , that they have been cut by men's hands ; and therefore we must think that these woods were only the habitations of wild beasts in former times . these trees when they are cut by the diggers are soft enough , but when they are exposed to the air , they grow hard like coral . when they were making such a well as this in the middle of april , i observed the rising of such a smoaky exhalation , that the digger could scarcely be observ'd in the bottom ; who also said he was very cold ; and that he could hardly breath ; and at the same time was troubled with a cough : but when the air on a sudden was changed to cold , immediately the said exhalation evanisht , and the digger could breath freely enough ; and he said , he felt a moderate heat . being to try what temper these wells were of in the months next to the summer , i went down into a well which a french jeweller was digging in his house about the end of may , before it was bor'd , and i found such degrees of cold , as are observ'd in this climate about the beginning of winter . during the time that i staid there my chest and my breast was so straitned , that my heart did pant very much . i did not perceive a great noise of waters in this as in others , yet the ground being beat , did give a frightful sound as before . while i was writing this , i thought fit to try the temper of the subterraneous air in a well that was then digging , by letting down into it at the same time a thermometer and barometer to several depths , and marking the difference that is between the open air , and that which is in the wells when they are a digging ▪ and especially in the summer months , in which the workmen seldom undertake such a business , by reason of the inconveniences afore-mentioned . wherefore i have set down the following table , that it may be better known what is the difference between the subterraneous and the open air ; which would be also very convenient and curious , if try'd in the vvinter time : but i do not doubt but the quite contrary things happen then which i will try with the first opportunity . the 12 day of june . the 23 day of june . the 27 day of june . the 1 day of july . the height of the liquor in the thermometer without the well , g. 80. the height of the liquor in the thermometer without the well , g. 77. the height of the liquor in the thermometer , g. 74. the height of the liquor in the thermometer without the well , g. 78. in the well to the depth of 18 feet , g. 64. in the well to the depth of 30 feet , g. 51. in the well to the depth of 45 feet , g. 44. in the greatest depth of the well , g. 40. the height of the mercury in the barometer , g. 80. the height of the mercury in the barometer , without the well , g. 80. the height of the mercury in the barometer , without the well , g. 78. the height of the mercury in the barometer , without the well , g. 79. in the well to the depth of depth of 15 feet , g. 82. in the well to the depth of 30 feet , g. 84. in the well to the depth of 45 feet , g. 85. in the greatest depth of the well , g. 86. 't is also fit to be known , that no force of man is able to drain such wells dry : for if the water should be drawn incessantly with great buckets , it were very much if the water should be depress'd 6 or 8 feet ; the more the water is drawn out , these fountains run more briskly : so that ● it happen at any time , that any of these flow something flowly they draw out the water as fast as they can ; and by this kind of remedy ( even as in men's bodies the blood is taken away , that it may move more quick through its passages ) the load being as 't were taken off , they easily drive away the sickness of these fountains which is their flowness of motion for the same end , they also either make a new hole , or open the old one with an instrument made of many wooden cylinders , which they let down into the wells with great auger fastned in the end of it . but these fountains are subject to no other fault ; they maintain the same purity of their waters uncorrupted ; and as in moist seasons they feel no increase , so in the greatest droughts ( such as we observ'd in these last years , in which the whole region on this and the other side of the po did exceedingly want water ) they suffe no decrease . moreover , these waters are very warm in winter , so that they send forth a smoak ; but in summer they are very cold . some days after the eruption is made , when the water has setled , they usually cover the well with a marble stone , and as it were seal it , and afterwards convey the water by earthen pipes from the same into vessels of marble , or of stone , from which afterwards the water is , by other conduits , continually bed of clay is about 11 feet , and sometimes 't is full of cockle-shells ; it ends therefore about the depth of 39 feet ; after that there appears another bed of marshy earth , about 2 foot thick , compos'd of rushes , leaves of plants , and branches . this marshy bed being taken away by the diggers , another bed of clay of the same thickness with the former , presents it self , which terminates in the depth of about 52 foot ; which being digg'd up , another bed of marshy ground , not unlike the former , is seen ; which being removed , another bed of clayie ground of the same nature with the former two , but not so thick , appears ; which lies upon another bed of marshy earth , which at last terminates on that last plain , in which the auger is fix'd , which is soft , and sandy , and mixt with much gravel , and sometimes full of sea-products . these several beds , with their intervals , are observ'd in all the wells , as well within the walls of the city , as in the suburbs , in a constant order . seeing in digging they often fall on stocks of trees , as i have frequently observed , which gives great trouble in the boring , to the undertakers , 't is a manifest proof that this ground was once expos'd to the air ; but i could never observe those stocks of trees in the beds of chalk , but in the marshy ones only , or in that space which lies between the foundation and the beginning of the clay . there have been also found in the greatest depths of these wells great bones , coals , flints , and pieces of iron . i do willingly pass by many things here , which the common people report , of extraneous things cast up by the violence of the waters at their first breaking forth , as leaves of oaks , chesnut , millet , bean-husks , and many other things ; contenting my self with telling those things only of which i have been an eye-witness , or have heard from persons worthy of credit . these are the things which belong to the history of the wells of modena , and which i have observ'd as i had occasion . chap. ii. that these are not standing , but running waters ; upon this occasion some things are brought in from the hydrostaticks . seing the nature and original of this hidden source deserves to be as much enquir'd into , as that of the nile did formerly , let us pass through these subterraneous vvaters with the sails of our reason , seeing we cannot do it otherwise . first , we may freely affirm , that these waters are not standing , as they are when shut up in a hogshead , but are in con●inual motion , and that pretty quick : for the noise of that wa●er which is heard before the per●oration in the bottom of the wells ●oes make it manifest enough . neither can any object , that even stagnant vvaters are subject to great commotions , as is known of the vulsinian lake , thrasumenus and benacus , of which the chief of the poets says , teque adeo assurgens aestu , benace , marino ! o benacus , which like the ocean roars ! for that is not constant ; yea , these lakes for the most part are very still : but the noise of the vvater before the terebration is constantly heard , which i always perceiv'd distinctly as oft as i descended into these wells ; and to this agree the undertakers of these wells who by the noise of the vvater guess that they have done with digging . but seeing the vvate rises so suddenly to the height 〈◊〉 68 feet , casting forth sand and stones with force , 't is most certain that these subterraneous vvaters descend from a high place , and are continually prest on by others that follow . neither do i think that such a sudden rising of the vvater can be attributed to the weight of the superincumbent earth , which drives the vvater upward by its pressure . i know indeed , that vvater may be elevated above its surface , when 't is driven up by some force lying upon it ; as scaliger , writing against cardan , demonstrates , by the example of a cylindrical vessel with pipes on both sides , and a plug fitted exactly to its capacity ; into which , being full of vvater , if you force down the plug , it will raise the vvater in the pipes , above the surface of the vvater that is in the vessel . but if , by the weight of the incumbent earth , these vvaters were elevated , the earth so superincumbent would be broke off from the rest , which is altogether improbable , there appearing no marks of it . beside , by what way could it come to pass , that these waters should be so excellent , as to surpass all others , if they were without motion , and kept as it were captive ? for every body knows , that standing waters do no less differ from those that are moved , than dead bodies differ from live ones , seeing we commonly call such as run , living waters . these waters therefore do move , and stand not still here , but run down constantly either to the sea , or are swallowed up in some gulph . but whilst i conclude these vvaters to be running , an objection of no small value does occur , and 't is this : if the vvaters run away so violently , there seems to be no reason why these wells being digged , they should rise upwards . but it may be demonstrated by a physical experiment , that the water cannot ascend in such as case . for let there be a vessel full of water , at whose side near the bottom , a pipe is inserted at right angles pierc't with many holes , efg ; and in the lower part let it have a slit , hi . if now you give the water free vent to run out , not only it will not ascend at the holes , but neither will it descend at the slit , but will all run out at the wide mouth of the pipe ; and it will be pleasant to see the water hang out at the slit , and not fall , ( till at the latter end ) the vessel being almost empty , the water will no more run out at the wide mouth , but will all run down through the slit. if therefore this experiment hold , the supposed running of the waters to places farther off , and their manifest ascent into these wells at the same time , seem not to agree with the laws of hydrostaticks : for if they flow freely , and without stopping , without doubt they cannot rise on high ; which is confirmed by what the most learned , scaliger says in his exercitations , who , enquiring whether vvaters may run under other waters , says , that near the river o●tus there is a well on a high hill , and that at the bottom a stream runs swiftly and with great noise . altho' all this seems to be true and obvious to the senses , yet the further progress of these waters may in our case consist with the rising in these wells ▪ which may be demonstrated in the same first figure . for if you put your finger to the mouth of the pipe d , yet so as not to stop it altogether , the water will leap out on high at the same time , by the holes e , f , g , and flow down by the slit h , and withal at the mouth of the pipe , the one action not hindring the other ; and so according as there is more or less of the orifice of the pipe stopt with your finger , more or less water will be raised by the said holes ; but it will never be rais'd to that height it would be , if the mouth were quite stopt . it does not therefore disagree with the laws of hydrostaticks , if these subterraneous waters are running and go further , that at the fame time they should be raised to the height of 68 feet in the wells , yet so as not to exceed the height of the cistern from whence they come , because the passage at which they flow out is not large enough . 't is convenient that some account be given of these phaenomena , observ'd hither to by none that i know , seeing there is no part of philosophy more curious , yet less cultivated , than hydrostaticks . first therefore , 't is no wonder that the water ( while it has a free course and passage through the wide mouth of the pipe ) does not run also at the holes ; yea , of necessity it must be so : for the water has a free descent , neither does it meet with any obstacle to make it rise , as it does in pipes bended upwards ; so neither will it descend by the cleft , because of the pressure and the force it has acquir'd in descending , like a solid body , which suffer it not to turn from its course ; in the same manner as bodies thrown , are carricd in a horizontal line for some space , while the force continues . but the reason why the orifice of the pipe being straightned , the water presently leaps on high , and runs down through the slit , in my opinion is this : that when the lower parts of the water are pressed by the upper ( as the most famous mr. boyle has made evident in his hydrostatical paradoxes ) and are urged with violence to run out , the passage being straitned , by applying the finger to the mouth of the pipe ; some of the water when it cannot overcome the obstacle , seeks a passage to it self where it can : from whence it comes to pass , that the less the water runs out at the mouth of the pipe , with the greater force it runs out at these holes . but when the pressure is abated , and the vessel is almost empty , none runs out at the mouth of the pipe , but what remains , runs slowly through the slit , being the shorter way . from hence it appears , that the direct pressure must be estimated by the weight of the pillar of water , whose base is equal to the horizontal surface it rests on , and its height equal to the perpendicular depth of the water . for example : in a vessel constituted in a horizontal plain , any part of the bottom that can be assigned may be a base to a pillar of water of the same height with the whole water in the vessel . and in the foregoing figure , when it flows freely through the pipe c d , 't is prest by a pillar of water , which has the same base with the orifice of the pipe cd ; which pillar of water forces it self by a lateral pressure into the pipe , and so to run out ; by the force of which pressure it comes to pass , that all the water in the vessel runs out by this imaginary pillar . many things are said of this pressure of the water by hydrostatical vvriters , to wit , that the under parts are prest by the upper , and the upper parts are prest by those that are under . moreover , they are prest side ways by one another ; which diversity of pressures they endeavour to prove by several experiments ; and in effect , every one may experience this lateral pressure in himself , when he is in the watery up to the neck ; for he will feel a pressure on every side , and some difficulty of breathing , which yet is not to be thought to proceed only from the lateral pressure of the water , but another cause : for when the expansion of the chest is necessary to respiration , 't is not so easily perform'd in the water element , as in the air , by reason of its grossness : for as fishes need a greater force for swimming , than birds for flying , as borellus demonstrates , by reason of the grosser body of the water , which must be moved out of its place , and circulate into that left by the fish : so a man sunk in the water up to the neck , needs a greater force for opening his chest , than if he were in the air. and from hence it is , that inspiration in the water is more difficult than expiration . this happens only because the pressure is unequal ; for the pressure of the pillar of air and water on the chest without , exceeds the pressure of the pillar within the chest , that is only of air , so much as the weight of the pillar of water which covers the chest , exceeds the weight or pressure of the pillar of air within the lungs , and of the same height with the water about the chest ; for fluids press only according to the perpendicular heights , and not the grosness of their pillars , as is plain in syphons , in whose legs , tho' of different thickness , the liquor rises but to the same horizonal height . likewise all do agree , that not only the bottom , but also the sides of the vessel are prest ; which pressure some say is considerable , but others not . tho. cornelius thinks it to be equal to the perpendicular pressure : for supposing the water to press by inclin'd lines , and that a body sliding down by inclin'd lines , acquires as great a velocity as if it fell down by a perpendicular , equal to the height of the plain , he thinks the lateral pressure to be equal to the perpendicular . on the other hand , becher , in his physica subterranea , says , that the water presses directly on the bottom , but far less on the sides ; which conjecture he grounds on this , that the little ramparts of earth sustain the pressure of the ocean it self , that it overflows not the adjacent fields ; yea , he endeavours to make it out by a mechanical experiment , that the pressure of the water is only upward and downward . if mr. becher had considered that hydrostatical axiom , viz. that fluids press only according to their perpendicular altitudes , he would not have been frighted by the extent of the great sea at amsterdam , from owning so evident an hydrostatical truth as this is , that the lateral pressure of fluids is equal to the perpendicular : for suppose the banks there to be three fathom , or eightteen feet , above the harlem meer , and the adjacent lands , which they defend from the inundation of the sea , and that the weight of every cubical foot of water is 76 lb. 9 ℥ ½ , and 48 gr . this multiplied by 18 f. the perpendicular height will amount to 1381 ½ lb , ℥ 1. g. 384. which is the weight or lateral pressure that lies on a square foot at the bottom , which a rampart of earth , made strong for the purpose , and 100 foot thick , may be well allowed able to support . 't is true , this computation is made for fresh water ; but the addition of salt in the sea-water , which is about 1 lb of salt to 41 lb of water , will not so much alter the reckning . for my part , as i do not believe the lateral pressure of the vvater to be equal to the perpendicular , so i do not think it despicable ; for it may be shown , that the lateral pressure is less than the perpendicular , by taking notice of this only , that there is a greater endeavour of the vvater to descend by a perpendicular line than an inclin'd one : but suppose that some parts in the sides of the vessel suffer a pressure , equal to the perpendicular pressure , as are these which be at the bottom , and in which those inclin'd ones would end , which have the same depth with the whole vvater ; yet in other parts the lateral pressure cannot be admitted so great . the author here seems like one groping in the dark for the truth , and yet when he has got it between his hands he lets it slip : for he supposes , that the pressure by inclin'd lines is , at the bottom , equal to the pressure by perpendicular lines ; yet he will not own the same in the intermedial parts . indeed the pressure by inclin'd lines in the intermedial parts is not equal to that perpendicular pressure which is at the bottom ; but 't is equal to that perpendicular pressure which is on the same horizontal surface , which may be made evident thus : take a glass tube , such as they use for baroscopes , but open at both ends , a b ; stop the upper end a with your finger , and so immerse it into the vessel e f g h , filled with water to m l , inclining , till it come to the horizontal surface i k , and then take your finger off , the water will rise by the pressure at the orifice b , till it has come to the surface m l , which is the same height it would have come to if the pipe had been perpendicular , as in c d. farther , suppose a pipe bended in the end at the right angles p q , immersed to the same surface i k , as before ; upon taking away your finger form p , it will rise up as high as before , to the surface m l : now 't is evident to any that considers the figure of the pipe , that the pressure at q is lateral , and as forcible as if it were perpendicular : this may be made more pleasant to the eye by putting oil into the pipe , as the honourable mr. boyle shews in his paradoxa hydrostatica , paradox . 7. and yet 't is not to be thought so little of as becherus says : for seeing the sides of vessel are no small hindrance to the fluid that it descends not , the force which the fluid exerces on the sides cannot be small . seeing then , as was before said , the parts of a fluid are crowded on one another , as if they were in a press , 't is not without reason that moderns from this do fetch a solution of that old , yet difficult , problem , which has wearied subtile vvits , vvhy a diver , in the bottom of the sea , is not opprest by the incumbent vvater . they commonly say that it happens , because the diver is lifted up by the water under him , and on the sides the parts of his body are prest with the same force ; neither can they be driven inward , seeing all is full ; so that there is no fear of the luxation of a member , or painful compression . yet the most ingenious mr. boyle thinks the difficulty is not answered enough ; for though by reason of the equal pressure of the ambient fluid , there follows no luxation , yet there appears no reason why there is no pain felt by the compression of the parts one against another . vvherefore the same author recurs to the strong texture of the animal , which can resist the pressure . it might be solv'd thus . there is an air lodged in the pores of all animal iuices , which two together keep distended and full the fibres , which are tubulous , as sir edmund king has very ingeniously discovered long ago ; and it is by the pressure of the ambient fluid ( which is equal on every side ) that this air being forc'd into less compass , the sides of the fibres come closer together , which causes no more pain to the fibres , than the bladder , ( which yet is a very sensible part ) suffers upon its being contracted , when the urine is expelled . if it were not rashness to think any thing can be added to the reasons of so many most famous men , i would say , that seeing the body of a living man is specifically lighter than vvater , tho' not much ; and therefore being more prest by the collateral vvater , according to the principle of archimedes , the syphon in which the diver is that is less prest ought to be lifted up , and therefore he ought to feel no pressure . but because the diver under water may be diversly considered , either as he descends by a perpendicular line , or ascends by it , or is moved by inclining lines , or as being fastned to the bottom , and sticking on a rock , he remains immovable ; in any of these cases he cannot be subject to a dolorous pressure . i have learned from a skilful diver , that when a swimmer will descend perpendicularly , and go to the bottom in a straight posture , he drives the water upward with his hands as with oars ; and when he will rise again , driving the water with his hands towards the bottom , he returns the same way . from whence it comes to pass , that such as are unskilful in swimming , when they strike the water contrary ways , are stifled . it is worth the while to enquire into the reason of these effects , having never seen them in any author , tho' there were need of a delian swimmer here , as they say . i think then , that when a swimmer drives the superincumbent water with his hand upward , he therefore descends ; because such a syphon being so smitten is less prest , and therefore is lifted up , the other being deprest in which the swimmer is ; just as in a scale suspended , and put in an aequilibrium , if one of the scales be hit below , that will be lifted up , and the other of necessity will descend . therefore the body of the swimmer being put in the pillar that is more prest , will of necessity descend ; but when at the same time he does this with both hands , he makes his descent more easie . but when he will rise perpendicularly , and in a straight posture from the bottom , by striking the water with his hands toward the bottom , he makes that syphon more prest ; and therefore the swimmer being plac'd in the other , must of necessity ascend : just as when the scale is put in an aequilibrium , if i hit the scale in the hollow part , that will be deprest , and the other lifted up . the same reason holds , when he ascends or descends by lines inclin'd to the horizon . therefore whether he ascend or descend , or whatever way he move , he ought to be under no dolorous pressure , how deep soever the water be . for seeing , according to the most ingenious borellus , bodies do not appear heavy but when they are in rest ; a● appears in an example given by him of two sacks of wool , one of which being put on the other , does not exerce its weight , or press it , but when 't is resting , and not when it descends . therefore the swimmer descending in the water perpendicularly , ought not to suffer any pressure in the vvater descending with the same swiftness . but when he is carry'd up by the same way , seeing by his body he thrusts upward the vvater lying upon him , which he does not by his own strength , but by the help of the collateral syphon , and therefore needs no help of his muscles to overcome the resistance of the superincumbent vvater ; neither ought he to have the sense of a dolorous pressure , to which the circulation of the ambient fluid coming in behind , does not a little contribute , by not suffering any part of the body to be mov'd out of its place . upon the same account he ought not to feel any dolorous pressure , if he ascend or descend by inclin'd lines , or stick without motion to the bottom : for the other collateral syphon being more prest , does always exerce its force , and the subjacent vvater lifts up the diver , that is specifically lighter than its self upward . the author here supposes the body to be specifically lighter than water , which i judge to proceed from the air inclosed in the chest ; for when that is out , the body sinks by its own weight ; and this gave perhaps the first rise to anatomists to discover whether a child was still-born , or not ; for if its lungs do swim in the water , 't was not still born , but has breathed the air ; but if they sink , then they conclude the child to have been still-born . as for the divers rising or falling by the motion of his hands , 't is the same case as in an oar , when the blade of it moves with greater force than the water , it makes resistance to the oar , which therefore not advancing , the boat of necessity must : so when a man presses the water quickly downward , it makes resistance to his hands ; and therefore the water not giving way fast enough , the body must be thrust upward ; just as in the air , if a man between two chairs did forcibly thrust them down with his two hands , he must be lifted up , because they do not give way . the author says , the pressure is not felt when the diver is ascending or descending , because the water being in motion , does not press upon the body : but it might be made manifest that it does ; and experience makes it beyond contradiction , that they feel no pressure when the water is at rest ; and the divers do own , that they feel a pressure rather in the going down in the diving-bell , than afterward ; as the honourable mr. boyle told me be had communicated to him by the laird of melgum , who practis'd this way of diving , in these words ; the compression of the air being such , as going down did hurt me ; but below , and staying there , was as familiar to me as that above . chap. iii. that these fountains cannot be derived from a subterraneous river . seing then that it is clear enough from what was said before , that the flowing of these vvaters toward the sea , may consist with their rising here , and in any place , it seems to follow , that there is a great subterraneous river under it , from which these fountains do spring : and truly this is the common opinion among us , which yet i cannot assent to . i am not ignorant , that there are some rivers that hide their head under ground , and after some time do rise again . some again there are that never rise above ground , as it happens in the veins of the body ; some do appear in the surface , and some do never . of this seneca speaks very well . nature governs the earth as it does our bodies , in which are veins and arteries ; and nature hath so formed it like our bodies , that our ancestors have call'd them veins . pliny says , that the nile is often swallowed up in gulphs , and after a long time is spew'd up again . they report the same of niger , a river of aethiopia , which rising out of the same lake that the nile does , and running towards the vvest , when it meets with a chain of mountains , it finds hidden ways ; and appearing again on the other side of the mountains , discharges it self into the atlantick ocean . in like manner , tigris in mesopotamia being stopt by the mountain cancasus , hides it self under ground , and is lost in a great cave ; but afterward breaking out near to babylon , is mixt with euphrates . to say nothing of alphaeus , a river in achaia , whom the poets feign to pass a great way not only under ground , but also under the sea it self , and to rise again in the fountain called arethusa : this is known by the offals of the sacrifice , which being thrown down the river , were , every fifth summer , at the time of the olympiack games , cast up by this fountain . and also the seas themselves are thought to communicate by occult passages , as the mediterranean with the red sea , and the caspian with the euxine , as the most learned kircher makes out by good conjectures . father avril a iesuit , in his travels into tartary , says , that 't is more probable that it discharges its self into the persian gulph , of which this is his main proof ; that they who inhabit about the persian gulph , do every year at the end of autumn observe a vast quantity of willow-leaves : now , in regard this sort of tree is altogether unknown in the southerin part of persia , which borders upon that sea ; and for that quite the contrary , the northern part , which is bounded by the sea of kilan , or the caspian-sea , has all the sea-coasts of it shaded with these trees ; we may assure our selves with probability enough , that these leaves are not carried from one end of the empire to the other , but only by the water that rowls them along thro' the caverns of the earth . so far father avril . who further , for establishing a circulation of vvaters from pole to pole , describes a great vvhirlpool under the north pole , of which also olaus magnus and helmont have written , by which a great quantity of vvaters is absonb'd , which falling into the bowels of the earth , is return'd by the south pole. some say that this changes its course once in half a year , going in at the south pole , and coming out again at the north. tho' all this be true , supposing also that within the bowels of this earth there is exercised something like an animal o economy ; and that one may , not without reason , imagine divers ebbings and flowings of vvaters , seeing , as seneca says , the whole earth is not folid , but hollow in a great many parts ; yet i cannot allow as some do , that this is a great broad river , from which these fountains break forth . this opinion of a great river has so firmly possest the minds of all men , that if a little earth quake happen , the inhabitants are in great foar lest the town , which otherwise is greatly shaken with earthquakes , should be swallow'd in a moment of time ; imagining it to be plac't on the arch'd roof of a great river . i confess the conjectures are not slight , on which may be grounded the opinion of such a subterraneous river , which gives water to these fountains ; especially the noise of the vvaters in the bottom of the well before the perforation , and the assurance men have , that in every place where a well is digg'd , water will boil up , casting up sand , pebbles , and many other things ; which seem to evidence its being some great river , or at least some great receptacle . but one reason , to wit , the super-exceeding greatness of this imaginary river , which must be admitted of necessity , is of so great weight , that it overturns all conjectures that would seem to confirm the opinion of so great a river running under this ground . for europe has no river so big as this subterraneous river must be , to which neither the po , nor the rhine , nor the danube , are to be compared . 't is known well enough by what we have before said , and all the inhabitants are convinced , that not only within the compass of the city , which is a mile in diameter , in any place , may be made a fountain , which will constantly send forth water ; but also without the town for some miles , without having any regard to the situation , such fountains may be made , but especially by the aemilian way ; as also beyond the river scultenna a great plenty of these springs and fountains is observ'd . therefore the breadth of this subterraneous river ( unless its course were along this way , in which case it would be extended 4 miles ) should be extended 6 or 7 miles . but who can believe that under this plain , on which this city is plac'd , a river of so great extent should continually flow , with so great a weight lying upon it ! i will not deny , that from south to north the source is not so much extended , seeing these fountains are not observ'd above 4 miles ; which , whether it be for want of experience , or that this is truly its bounds , i dare not affirm . but if we will suppose a subterraneous river , which hath a channel of 4 miles , every one i think will doubt it : nor will he so easily give credit to this opinion , especially seeing this arch that must keep up so great a vveight 68 feet deep , is not of flint or pumice-stone , but altogether made up of earth gathered by degrees . truly , if this prodigy of nature were situated in a mountainous region , i should not be much against admitting the greatest subterraneous width . for if we take notice of the caves and subterraneous recesses which are fam'd in geographers , we shall find them to be made amongst the rocky and steep caverns of the earth , seeing rocks and stones are the bones and strength of it . from whence ovid says , magna parens terra est , lapides in corpore terrae , ossa reor dici — the earth is our great mother , and the stones therein contain'd , i take to be her bones . vve find the corycaean cave in cilicia ( of which pliny , solinus , and others write , that being a very large promontory with a wide mouth , and full of woods within ; 't was 52 miles broad , so as to be very light , and both a cave and a port ) to have been plac'd in the mountain corycus . the river tigris , which we have often mention'd , hides its head , and as often rises again , but only when he sees himself stopt with a chain of mountains . for disdaining that any stop should be put to his swiftness , from which he takes his name , he finds himself a way by the wide bowels of the mountains , and runs hid , till being swell'd with the accession of vvaters , he runs out into the open plain . the river timavus , famous enough among the old poets ( about whose true place , whether 't was near padoua , or tergeste in istria , there were so many contentions among the learned of the last age , as may be seen in leander ▪ albertus , bernardinus scardeomus , iohannes candidus ) though he seem to draw all his water from ●ine fountians , as breasts sticking out in the mountain timavus ▪ yet he borrows them from another place , viz. a subterraneous river , discharging it self by the cavernous vvindings of the mountains , into the sea ; for which he is so proud as to be called , the father and fountain of the sea. seeing we have made mention of timavus , and wonderful things are told of him by vvriters , viz. that he ebbs and flows according to the motion of the sea ; and that he increases so much , as to overflow the adjacent country ; but in the ebbing of the sea he runs gently enough , and carries with himself the sweetness of his vvaters even to the ocean , without mixture . ut doris amara suam non intermiceat undam . ecgl. 10. that doris mix not her salt wa●●es with thine . as the chief of the poets did formerly say of alphaeus : therefore i am willing to 〈◊〉 the contemplation of so curious things . the most learned kircher does very well explain the cause of this prodigious increase , and how the river keeps its vvaters free from saltness , even to its mouth . for he says , that a great abundance of vvater is cast out from the bowels of a mountain near a village called st. cantians , about 14 miles distance from the nine fountains of timavus , and that there 't is swallowed up by a manifest gulph , nor does it appear more : he thinks therefore , that the vvater being swallow'd up by hidden channels , runs into the sea ; and that therefore in the flowing of the sea ; the salt vvater drives back the fresh that meets it with great violence , as being of less force ; and so this subterraneous river is stopt in its course , which not finding room to which it may retire , breaks violently out at the foremention'd fountains in the mountain timavus , communicating with the same subterraneous river . vnde per or a novem vasto cum murmure montis , it mare praeruptum , & pelago praemit arva sonanti . aen. i. 1. whence through nine mouths a sea from mountains raves , which the whole country drowns in foaming waves . by this means 't is not hard to understand , how according to the ebbing and flowing of the sea , there appears so proportionate a vicissitude of ebbing and flowing in timavus . and yet the waters remain fresh : for the sea does not beat back the waters of timavus , nor stop his course in the surface , but meeting the subterraneous river swallowed up in the foresaid valley , forces it to flow back , and throw out its waters by these nine mouths ; and from hence is the prodigious increase of the river timavus . but when the sea ebbs , and gives leave to that subterraneous river to run , timavus also at the same time , when that great regurgitation of the water ceases , runs quietly enough , and with all his sweetness , into the adriatick . neither kircher nor falloppius , determine what sea they suppose to flow into these cavities ; for the mediterranean does not rise high enough to answer the case , seeing it flows but a foot at the most , which is in the adriatick ; if they meant the atlantick , which in some places is observ'd to rise 9 fathom , in many to 2 1 / 2 , to 3 or 5 ; yet perhaps that will not answer the case neither ; for it has a great way to come , before it can come to reach the place ; and when it has swelled to the height there , considering the nine mouths of timavus are in a mountanous countrey , which may be justly supposed elevated far above the sea when at the highest , this solution of the phenomen will not hold . it seems to me more rational to explain it thus : i suppose the water comes from st. cantians , to run under ground in a canale 〈◊〉 , which it fills quite ( so that there is no passage for the air that way ) till it come to the basin a b c , which it fills so , as to overflow into the sea below , and that this basin is not much lower than the mouth of timavus ; for thus the ascent of the water into these nine mouths will be more easily procured . i suppose likewise , that this basin a b c has another passage g h ▪ by which the outer air communicates with the water in this basin , and by which the water in the flux of the sea runs out at h ; then the water that overflow● and fall into the sea when it is at the ebb , because the air gets out at the holes below near the surface ; when the surface of the sea k k k is elevated by the waters flowing into this lower basin through subterraneous passages , and the holes near its surface ( by which the air got out before ) being now stopt , the air is crowded between the surface k k k below , and that in the basin , and thus ▪ acquires a greater elasticity than the air that presses the surface within the pipe g h ; and therefore , according to the laws of hydrostatisks , the water in that pipe must ascend : now if the sea flow two eathom below , it may raise the waters in the pipes g h near as much , so that it may run out at h. i think , the flowing of springs and lakes , such as the ingenious mr. vvalker told me is reported to be found in cornwall on the top of a hill , and in other places , may be explained very well after this manner . our countrey-man falloppius gives a reason of this surprizing phaenomenon of nature , not much differing from this , whose words i thought fit to add here : but you must note , that although the river th●n abo●nd with water , yet that water is fresh , as ●tis also when it decreases ; for 't is always fresh ; but from whence does that come ? you must understand , that in the country of carni there is a castle called st. cantians , from whence rises a great quantity of water , which when it has scarcely appear'd , is swallow'd up by the earth , and appears no more . now the village of st. cantians is 14 miles distant from the river timavus . i believe therefore that the water flowing from the mountain in abundance , is the cause of the increase of timavus ; for i think that this water flows plentifully by these subterraneous passages , which meeteth with other secret passages , by which the sea runs into the mountain next to the river ; and that so there is a congress made , and dashing of the sea water against the other , which runs down from the mountain farther off ; and seeing the flowing of the sea is more forcible than the fresh water , ( for the salt water is more gross than the fresh ) it happens that the fresh water flowing from the high mountains , yields to the other when it meets with it ; from whence it comes , that when in cannot run to the sea , it recoils up to the top of the mountain ; and from hence 't is , that all the mountain abounds with water , and the timavus increases and decreases . such phaenomena of nature sporting it self , may be more easily observ'd in the mountainous countries than elsewhere , seeing the mountains , because of their solid texture , have empty spaces and kettles , which serve not only for cisterns of water , but also for receptacles of fire , as in sicily ; which therefore aristotle calls , full of caverns . so virgil , describing aristaeus going down into the secret places of paeneus , a river in thessaly , running between olympus and ossa , wrote these verses . iamque domum mirans genetricis & humida regna , speluncisque lacus clausos , lucosque sonantes ibat , & ingenti motu stupefactus aquarum , omnia sub magna labentia fl●mina terra spectabat diversa locis . — in english thus : he wandring goes thro' courts , and chrystal realms , loud groves and caves , which water overwhelms ; and with tumultuous waves ●stonisht found all the great river's running under ground . there are many of these subterraneous rivers in this and other countries : there is one very remarkable at bourdeaux in france , which runs under the church of st. sorine ; and it seems under or near a pillar of that church , in which there is made a hole large enough to put in ones head , which has another , hole at the bottom going down thro the pillar to the river , to which if you apply your ear , you may hear the noise of the water falling down , even at the time when the organs ( which make a great noise ) are playing : there is upon the right hand a broad pair of stairs , with a great arched gate , that take down to this subterraneous river , from which they force water into a marble cistern that stands in the church-yard covered with another great stone , yet open on the sides , at which the ignorant people take up water ; believing , by the insinuation of the crafty priests , that 't is by the gift of st. sorin an excellent collyrium for sore● eyes this water as they force into the cistern by the pipes laid under ground on the waxing of the moon , so they let it gradually out by other pipes on the wane of the moon ; which makes the people think that it depends on the course of the moon . populus vult decipi . let us hear seneca , speaking to the purpose ; there are also under the earth less known laws of nature , but as sure ; believe the same to be below , that is above : there are also great caves , there are great vaults and wide places formed by the mountains hanging over them . then although we must confess , that in some places rivers of great bigness flow under the earth , we must not therefore believe that in this great plain on this side the po , there is so great a subterraneous cavity , and that fields of so great a largeness could stand without ruine for so long time . i must add moreover , that the depth of this river , in respect to its breadth , ought not to be small , because nature builds all her caves and subterraneous passages archwise ; which all must have a depth proportionable to the breadth , otherwise they lose their force ; and commonly they are of a circular figure , or coming near to it , i. e. as deep as they are broad , which in this case must be at least 4 mile . but this cavity is of no depth almost , yea , but a few feet , viz. as much as the auger had made in boring : for passing an iron rod throw the hole , the bottom is presently found , as i have often try'd with others that have been with me . moreover , seeing the diggers in the very terebration , often fall on stocks of trees , as my self have often observed ; we must confess therefore , that these trees have been before in open air : and seeing in the bottoms of these wells are often found bones , coals , and pieces of iron , we are likewise forc'd to believe , that people have formerly liv'd on that ground ; or we must think , that this great river at that time had a cover of 6 or 8 foot , and that this our plain did afterwards grow higher , by the daily descent of waters from the apennine , and the paring off of the upper ground . but the above mention'd difficulties do still occur . but let us suppose this great river runs this way , and that hitherto he has suffer'd a bridge ; from whence , i pray , comes so great a plenty of water to fill this great cavity , which we must always suppose to be full , to make the water rise up in the wells ? seeing to sustain the royal dignity of the po , scarcely so many rivers running into it from the apennine and the alps are sufficient ? and on the other hand , we may affirm that the po comes far short of this subterraneous river . lastly , if this river must be 4 miles broad , i do not see why in all the extent of this source , the depth of the wells is always found the same ; for the wells which are digg'd near the sides of this great arch , would be deeper than those elsewhere : but there is almost no difference in the depth of these wells . we cannot therefore give way to the vulgar opinion of this subterraneous river , notwithstanding the conjectures mentioned , which we shall shortly answer . and far less must we believe , that there are many subterraneous streams flowing from the same cistern , and distinguish'd by intervals , which give water continually to these fountains . for how can it be , seeing there are so many thousands of fountains , and continually such wells are made both in the city and suburbs , that the undertakers never fell upon such interstices in the boring ? as i have often told ; and which one can never admire enough , there is no need of any caution here ; no need of diligence in choosing a place , seeing any place markt out either in the city or without , for many miles , is fit for the building of these wells ; and all the difficulty in digging these wells , is in keeping out the side-waters , which sometimes flow in in great quantity , so that they need a wall of bricks to keep it out : but when the vvorkmen have come to this last bottom , then as having got their wish , they begin their perforation with as great assurance of getting vvater by their auger , as if they had moses his rod. neither is the opinion of some to be entertain'd , who think that the subterraneous spaces from which these vvaters flow , were formerly the channels of scultenna and gabellus , between which two rivers modena is now plac'd ; which rivers , as they imagine , after they had descended from the apennine , did join their waters in this place ; and therefore , through length of time , the mountains decreasing and the fields rising , the water rises to this height in these wells when they are digg'd ; or in a hole made with sand wet with water , which is supply'd from these rivers by hidden passages ; and the sand it self , that they may give credit to so plausible a thought , they give an example ; for they say , that near a stream , a hole being made in the sand , tho' dry on the surface , the vvater appears ; which also by the observation of pliny the younger , is known to be done in the sea-shore . for after this author , with his accustomed elegancy in a letter to plin. gallus , described the pleasantness of his countrey-village by the sea-side , in the end of his epistle he makes this relation , as worthy to be taken notice of : it has wells , or rather fountains ; for the nature of all that shore is wonderful ; in whatever place you move the ground , you meet with water ; and that so fresh , as not to have the least saltness from the vicinity of the sea. by these words the most learned man seems to give some specimen of our fountains , seeing there also , in whatever place the ground is digg'd , there is moisture : yet 't is gather'd , by the same pliny's words , that the vvaters of these vvells did not spring up . i believe the same will happen in any sea-coast , except some bed of clay intervene , for the vvaters do easily follow the sand : therefore 't is no wonder , that in any place of pliny's countrey-house the vvater appears fresh , being strain'd through the sand from the nearest sea , and so depriv'd of its saltness . but 't is no way probable , that the case is so in our ground : for tho' i do not deny that these rivers did formerly run in deeper channels , yet that that they give vvater to this spring , i can no ways be induc'd to believe . for these springs are perpetual , neither do they know any increase or decrease ; when yet these rivers , not only in summer , but also sometimes in vvinter , have their sands dry , as we have seen of late years , by reason of the hot season ; seeing all the vvells except these , tho' digg'd deep , gave no vvater in the neighbouring countreys , to the great loss both of men and cattel . but the flowing of a most pure vvater from these fountains is so uniform and constant , that 't is improbable they should depend on the unconstant and unequal state and course of these rivers ; for the vvater decreasing in the deeper veins , the pressure would also decrease , and so these fountains would be diminished . moreover , seeing the countrey of rhegium , parma , and all on this side the po , is plac'd in the same plain ; and many rivers descending from the apennine , glide over these countries . i do not see , why they do not enjoy the same prerogative when vvells are digg'd deep in them . but no where that i know of are such fountains observ'd , so everlasting , and subject to no alteration . therefore we may lawfully judge the cistern that furnishes vvater at the same rate to this source , to be perpetual , never failing , and not temporary . chap. iv. of the ancient state and form of the countrey on this , and the other side of the river po. therefore having discuss'd the opinions which take most among our countrymen , of the nature of this hidden source , it may be thought fit that i should now tell my own : but before i do that , i think it worth while to enquire , and as far as conjecture will allow to discover , what was in those times the outward face of this countrey which we inhabit ; seeing by the digging of these vvells in the land of modena , 't is known enough , that the situation of this countrey , which is called gallia cispadana , and transpadana , was very low and deprest in old times , in comparison of what 't is now . plato , when he brings in critias speaking , writes , that there are two things which bring great and sudden changes in the earth , and totally abolish the monuments of the most ancient countreys . the vvorld felt the first calamity in the universal deluge , the other being reserved against the day of judgment , and the destruction of wicked m●n , as peter says , when a new heaven , and a new earth shall appear . 't is most certain , that the face of the whole earth was most notably changed , in that universal drowning and overturning of all things . but some think that such a change follow'd , that the state of the vvorld before the flood was quite different from what 't was afterwards , which yet i cannot assent to . there is lately come from england a book , whose title is , the sacred theory of the earth , by thomas b●●net . this learned man endeavours to demonstrate , that the earth before the deluge in its first original , had another form than now it appears to have ; so that there were neither seas nor isles , nor mountains nor valleys , nor rivers any where , but the whole body of the vvaters lodg'd in the caverns of the earth . now he feign'd such a face of the earth , to the end that it may be perceiv'd without the creation of new vvaters , from what store-house a quantity of vvater may be drawn sufficient to cover the face of the earth , tho' it had mountains , which we must imagine to have been higher by far than the present ones : so that , according to his reasoning , neither rains , how great soever , nor theo●● rabbah of moses , viz. abyss of vvaters hid in the caverns of the earth , could be sufficient for that universal deluge . but he thinks that the mountains , valleys , seas , isles and rocks , might have appeared in that great cleaving of the whole body of the earth , pieces of it being broke off here and there , and swallow'd up in the great gulph ; while those , which stood in their former state , made a shew of isles , mountains , and rocks ; but these which were wholly covered by the vvaters , had the name of sea and lakes ; and so the earth appeared after the deluge all broken , torn , and of a quite different aspect . this fancy , however it may be taken for new , yet certainly is not the fiction of our times , but more ancient by far . franciscus patritius , a man famous enough for learning , in a certain book of his , of the rhetorick of the ancients , written in italian , and printed at venice by franciscus senensis , anno 1562. the first dialogue has a pleasant story , which he says iulius strozza had from count balthazzar castillon , and he had from a certain abyssine philosopher in spain . this wise abyssinian did say , that in the most ancient annals of aethiopia , there is a history of the destruction of mankind , and the breaking of the earth : that in the beginning of the world the earth was far bigger than now 't is , and nearer to heaven , perfectly round , without mountains and valleys , yet all cavernous within like a spunge , and that men dwelling in it , and enjoying a most pure aether , did lead a pleasant life ; and that the earth brought forth excellent corn and fruits without labour . but when , after a long flux of ages , men were puft up with pride , and so fell from their first goodness , the gods in anger did shake the earth , so that a great part of it fell within its own caverns ; and by this means the water , that before was shut up in dark holes , was violently squeez'd out , and so fountains , lakes , rivers , and the sea it self , took its original : but that portion of the earth , which did not fall into these caverns , but stood higher than the rest , made the mountains : that the isles and rocks in the midst of the sea , are nothing but segments of the earth remaining after the sudden fall of its mass. i am willing , for the satisfaction of the curious , to give the author 's own words , as more tending to our purpose . in the first ages , said the reverend old man , after the last renovation of the vvorld , the earth we dwell on was not of that form , nor so little as 't is at present , but far greater , and of a perfect roundness ; because then it did take up as much place , as it now takes up with the whole vvater and air together : so that between it and heaven there was not any thing interpos'd , but a most pure fire , which is called aether , being of a most pure and vital heat . the earth then was of so large an extent , and so near to heaven . but within , and in the surface , 't was very cavernous , within which were scattered the elements of air and vvater ; and towards the center was scattered a fire , to warm the places remotest from heaven , and therefore obscure and cold . because the other caverns nearer the surface of the earth were illuminated from heaven by the openings above , and by its vvarmth filled with life ; and all these caverns were inhabited by men , and other animals , for the use of which the vvater and air were scattered over the caverns . the earth then was like a spunge , and men dwelt within it ; their life was very happy , and without any evil , because there was not among men either war or sedition . nor did they live inclos'd in cities , as they do now , for fear of wild beasts and other men ; but they liv'd promiscuously , and the earth produc'd its fruits for their necessity , without any labour of theirs . further , the mildness of the air and aether were so great , that the seasons did not vary as they do now : and knowing then the truth and the vertues of all things , they found they were good ; they knew also the vertues of the stars , their senses being nourished in a most pure aether , from whence they had the knowledge of things celestial and elemental . 't is come to our knowledge , that in the most ancient annals of aethiopia , among many others , were found aegypt , aethiopia , persia , assyria , and thracia . now hearken , o count , says the aethiopian , attentively , what occasioned the fall of the earth , and the ruine of mankind . the men of assyria knowing all things , and by means of their vvisdom doing vvonders , were well pleased with it ; from this self conceit grew in them a great love of themselves ; by which the flower of their vvisdom being darkned by degrees , they waxed proud , and began to think themselves gods , and to compare themselves to saturn , that then had the government of the vvorld ; who , as he is slow to anger , and ripe in counsel , was not at all moved at the first : but when their pride increas'd , he in anger depriv'd them of the influxes of his mind ; from which privation there grew in them ignorance , from which flow pride and insolence ; and they began to seek how to get up into heaven , and dethrone him : which when saturn saw , being in his great vvisdom unwilling to defile his hands with humane blood , of himself resigned the government , and gave it into the hand of iupiter his son ; who , after he had taken on him the government of the vvorld , being born to action , made a league with his brother pluto , who reign'd in the roots of the vvorld toward the center : the one began to shake it terribly below , and the other to thunder upon it from above , with which terrible shaking and thundering , the earth open'd in many places , and broke , so that it fell into its own caverns , which by that were raised and filled up . from whence it came to pass , that it both became less , and infinitely further off from heaven , and was buryed in its self , with all the things contained in it . and the elements which stood highest , were , by its weight and restriction , squeez'd out , the lighter and purer did fly higher , and drew nigher to heaven ; but of them which were shut up in the ruins , and were before lodg'd in the caverns , part remain'd below , and part chang'd their place . and it came to pass , that where the great bulk of earth fell , and could not be swallowed up of the caverns , it remained on high , and afterwards being prest hard together by its own weight , and condens'd by the cold , because of its distance from heaven , became mountains and rocks ; and where in the fall great pieces of thick earth were swallowed up , the vvaters were by this discovered , from whence came seas and lakes , rivers and fountains , great and little isles , and rocks scattered up and down the wide sea. the gold , the silver , and other metals , which in the beginning had been most fair and precious trees , were covered in the ruins . but there are some remains of the seeds shak'd off at that time , which now are digg'd with so great labour , being neither so pure , nor of great vertue , as formerly : and the diamonds , carbuncles , rubies , emeralds and chrysoliths , saphires , topazes , and other jewels , which be now found , are the thickning of the rocks of the first age ; and they are , in memory of these first times , to this day had in great esteem , admir'd and reverenced as the most ancient things . the porphyres , the alabasters , serpentines , and other fair marbles of different colours , are no other than some particles of the virgin earth , which was nearest to heaven , and in the fall were thickned , and united , either by their own weight , or some other , or by cold : from whence 't is , that by the searchers after metals and marble , there have been found many both sea and land animals , turn'd into stone and volatils ; yea , many times mens bodies that have been all taken hence , inclos'd in their first shape in most solid stone , without any opening . and from hence 't is , that there are seen so many thousands of fishes , oysters , and cockles congealed , and figure of divers animals ; which some through ignorance of things pa● admir'd so much . these terrible things did at that time hap●pen on the earth ; but the animals and men that were foun● dwellers in the caves , remain'● all bury'd by the earth falling o● them ; and an infinite numbe● of those who dwelt in the oute● parts , by the terrible shaking be● neath , and the frightful nois● above , died of fear ; and amon● the others , all the assyrians . i● the other countries few remained alive , and these also conti●nued , either by the fall , or thro● fear , many days in a transe● and without pulse . but afte● they were recover'd , they con●tinued astonisht and full of grea● fear , that shortned their ow● life , which at the first was ve●ry long , and their childrens there was also among men a stupidity , which made them ignorant of all things , and was the effect of the first astonishment after the fall of their first fathers ; and yet if they seem'd to know any thing , they saw it through a thick cloud . moreover , since the fall , if a man had the truth revealed to him by chance , fear made him keep it secret ; for in all remain'd a memory , the knowledge of truth being the occasion of their parents pride , and that of their ruine . for if any had the boldness to discover it , he darkned it a thousand ways , for fear of being reproved , and severely punisht by another . for this reason the sciences have been taught in dark sayings , in fables , in figures and numbers , in sacred rites , and in a thousand other hidden ways . and from thence 't is belike , that princes and others , who would be powerful in the earth , have chosen to follow the opinion of the common people , and have persecuted with all rigour those that would tell the truth . fear therefore having possessed all men , by which they were disperst , such as remain'd began to join themselves together , and to beget children , to help them and defend them ; they encompast themselves with fences and ditches , in which time they reverenc'd and perform'd obedience to the aged . after this as the number of their posterity increas'd , and the ties of affinity decreas'd , they divided their goods that were hitherto common , and so parted friendship . after which all things went into confusion , every one robbing , cheating , and killing another , and inventing new tricks to defraud his neighbour : from this , as boldness grew in those that were of fiercer spirits , and more ingenious to hurt , others became more fearful ; which fear sharpned their wit , so that consulting together , they found out the name of peace and justice . afterward they contrived a long chain of words , with which tying justice and peace by the feet , by the arms , by the middle , and by the neck , in a thousand ways , they thought to keep her , that she should not depart from their state , committing the keeping of these chains , which they call'd laws , into the hands of wary men , and of their own temper , which they called judges and magistrates . by these artifices did the timorous secure their lives and goods from the injuries of the more powerful ; till at length one that was bolder than the rest , associating himself with the fearful and weak , became their patron . these also were thrust from their place . after this rate have the societies of men been managed hitherto , and so they are at present , and will be for the time to come . when the timorous join'd themselves together , there arose counsellors ; and when they were called into judgment , there arose judges . this now , noble sir , is the great history which the wise abyssinian told the count , worthy to be had in great veneration , and highly to be esteem'd . helmont seems to have entertain'd an opinion about the face of the earth before the deluge , not unlike to this ; his words are these : from whence i conceive the earth to have been in one piece , and undivided ; for asmuch as 't was be-water'd with one fountain ; and lastly , to have had no isles , but the whole globe was sea on one side , and earth on the other . this was the face of the world before the deluge , after which the earth did open into several shapes , and out of the abyss of these chinks did the waters break out . but let us leave the opinion , no less disagreeing with the interpretation of the sacred scriptures , than with nature it self . scaliger speaking of the asserters of that opinion , about the generation of the mountains , says , that they piously dote , who have told , that the earth was pulled out of , and sav'd from the deluge . yet 't is certain , that the earth in that universal deluge did not suffer an ordinary change , so that the fortune of things being changed , thetis and vesta chang'd their places ; from whence ovid says , quodque fuit campus , vallem decursus aquarum fecit , & eluvie mons est deductus in aequor , e'que paludosa siccis humus aret arenis . in english thus : torrents have made a valley of a plain , high hills by deluges born to the main ; steep standing lakes suckt dry by thirsty sand , and on late thirsty earth now lakes do stand . i believe it has not happened otherwise to this countrey of ours : for i conceive , that in the first beginning of the world , all this plain , than which italy has not a greater , and which the po does now divide into gallia cispadana , and transpadana , was once a sea , and a part of the adriatick . so in the universal deluge , the mountains being par'd off , and bar'd , so that they lookt like bodies extenuated by a disease , as plato wrote of the atlantick island ; we have reason to think that this bay of the sea was filled with sand , and so became a valley ; and afterwards , in process of time , by continual descent of waters from the apennine , and the alps , and other particular deluges , ( such as was that which happen'd anno 590. in gallia cisalpina , than which 't is thought there has not been a greater since the days of noah , as pa●●●vin●us says in his fifth book of the antiquities of verona ) this ground did grow up by degrees , and by many lays or beds , to the height we do now see it of . both ancient and modern writers judge the same of the most famous and greatest plains in the earth , as in egypt , &c. which aristottle says formerly was a part of the sea ; and herodot calls it , the gift of the nile ( seeing the etymology of nile is derived from limus , slime ) which he likewise says of the countreys about ilium , teuthrania , and ephesus , to wit , that they were sometime a part of the sea : yea , the same herodot hath left it in writing , that if the nile turn'd its course into the arabick gulph , it would at length cover it all with slime . polybius says , that the lake maeotis and the euxine sea are constantly fill'd with plenty of sand , which great rivers do continually bring into it , and that the time would be when they should be made even with the continent ; taking an argument from the taste of the water , viz. that as maeotis is sweeter than the pontick , so the pontick is sweeter than the euxine . modern writers think no less of the great and plain countreys , among whom is the most learned kircher , who in his mundus subterraneus , says , from the arabick antiquities , and other observations , that the great plain , which lies between the arabick and persian gulph , before the common deluge , was covered with sea-waters . and he also thinks , that the sandy desarts of tartary were formerly the place of waters , and all one with the caspian sea , and afterwards in length of time to have been rais'd to a greater height , and turned into great fields . neither need we to go so far off for examples . we understand by history , that ravenna , as well as venice , was plac'd in the sea ; but seeing now 't is 5 miles from the sea , no body knows how much land has accrew'd to it by the retiring of the sea ; a prodigy truly worthy of wonder , that where ships did sail before , now there are groves of pine-trees . upon the same account may we call the land of ferrara , the gift of eridanus , by reason of the slimy water which this royal river did by many mouths discharge into the adriatick for some ages ; by which it came to pass , that a colony of fishes was by a true metamorphosis chang'd into an habitation of men ; for which ovid says , — vidi factas ex aequore terras , et procul à pelago conchae jacuere marinae . i 've seen the seas oft turned to a plain , and lands were tilled where was before the main . tho' i dare not absolutely say , that all the countrey which lies between the apennine and the alps , was a sea formerly ; yet by what is observ'd in the digging of the wells , oyster-shells , and other sea products being found in their greatest depth , it may be not without ground conjectured , that the adriatick did at least come thus far , or that the bays communicating with the sea , did stagnate here . yet 't is without doubt from the writings of the ancients , that between the ● aemilian way ( in the middle of which is seated modena ) and the po , there was a lake reaching from the adriatick even to placentia , which , from the neighbourhood of the po , they called padusa , into which many rivers descending from the apennine , discharg'd a great quantity of waters . virgil makes mention of this lake in these verses : — piscosove amne padusae dant sonitum rauci per stagna loquacia cygni . or murmuring swans that sound their fanning wings padusa's fishy banks upon , or ecchoing springs . but iohn baptista aleottus , in his most learned book against caesar mengolus of ravenna , shews , by strong reasons and authorities , that no river from splacentia to the coast of the adriatick sea , did come into the channel of the po , but that they all discharged themselves into this padusa ; for which he brings the authority of strabo , who writes , that this lake was a great hindrance to hannibal , when he would have pass'd his army into etruria ; which lake being not long after , by the diligence of m. scaurus the surveyor , dried up , was turned into most fruitful fields , many rivers being brought within their own banks to enter into the po , as tarus , parma , entia , gabellus , scultenna , the rheine , and other rivers of no small note . upon this account we may reasonably think , that the po was not so famous of old , nor had the name of royal , till by the accession of so many rivers he had enlarg'd his power . and therefore herodot , a most ancient writer , deny'd that there was any river found , called eridanus ; which was no small matter of admiration to pliny , that when herodot wrote his history at thurium in italy , he knew no river by the name of eridanus . but seeing herodot , as pliny relates , made his history 310 years after the founding of rome , we may thence conjecture , that the po did at that time run with less glory , and in a straiter channel ; or that the historian spoke of another river . there is distinct enough mention made of this lake in the forecited iohan. de argenta , and especially in leander albertus in his description of italy , who measures the length of this lake from lamon by ravenna , even to scultenna , and tells all the rivers which within this space descended from the mountains into this lake , and there ended their course ; and that hercules , the first duke of ferrara , suffered the bononians to bring the rheine within his banks , that so he might enter into the po ; by which it came to pass , that many valleys of ferrara , and also bononia , were turned into most fruitful lands . but when afterward the rheine had broke over his banks in the time of hercules the second , when the fields were again turn'd into water , and many contentions arose among the bononians and ferrarians ; at length the same prince granted , that the rheine might be again brought into the po. therefore we must observe , that the situation of this countrey , in which modena is now plac'd , was very low , seeing this countrey border'd upon padusa , into which so many rivers did run ; of the lowness of which rushes , coals , bones , stocks of trees , found in the depths of 63 feet , are most sure proofs ; all which make it evident , that this ground was sometime exposed to the air , and that it had no other aspect than now the valleys of como have . therefore 't is not without cause , that cluverius , in his description of italy , thinks a certain place o● pliny deserves amendment . for pliny , when he had described certain islands floating in several places , like the cyclades , as in the caecuban lands , the reatine , the lake of vadimon , writes , that the same is observ'd in the land of modena . but cluverius for matiensis plac'd mutinensis ; forasmuch as one may see such floating islands made of slime and reeds in the valleys of como . yet 't is out of all question , that the situation of this town , together with the adjacent lands , in the space of 1800 years , has grown 14 foot ; for in this depth causways of flint , and shops of artificers are found by digging , which certainly then was the plain of the town , when the colony of the romans was brought hither : further , when i was writing this , there was found a piece of adrian the emperours coin , of corinthian brass , in the depth of 18 feet . history testifies , that mantuae at that time was not far from the marshes ; for appianus alexandrinus tells us , that marcus antonius and pansa , in the siege of mutina , did fight amongst the fenns , and in grounds overgrown with reeds ; and afterwards near mutina , in a little isle of the river labinius , ( when at that time the land of modena was extended so far ) the triumviri met , and establisht that horrible banishment of their countrymen ; when yet in this our age there are no vestigies either of fenns or islands , only most pleasant fields are to be seen . so that with the prince of poets we may cry out , tantum aevi long inqua valet mutare vetustas . such wondrous changes great length of time does bring . yet this growing up of the ground , which is observ'd by the great depth of these wells , ( i do not speak of the deeper parts , whether humane industry cannot reach ) was but slowly made , and by slices , as it were , through length of time , as the several lays of earth do witness , which are observed in all wells constantly in an equal order and distances when they are digged ; so that this growing up of the ground so well distinguish'd , and so remarkable in the digging of all wells , ought to be thought rather the product of so many ages , than the tumultuary and confus'd work of the common deluge . this doubtless then was the face of the countrey on this and the other side of the po , which being formerly covered with waters , and not habitable , now is remarkable for its largeness , and the fertility of its fields , and has in it many towns and cities : for if we turn over old authors , we shall find no mention made of towns or cities below brixillus and cremona , near the po , even to the adriatick ; but as many as were , and yet are in the region on this side the po , were built either near the roots of the apennine , or not far from them , as bononia , modena , regium , parma , &c. but we may infer , both from what was said before , and also from the little that this sandy bed , through which these subterraneous waters do run , wants of being in the same level with the sea , that the sea did cover this countrey in the beginning of the world. for if , according to the observation of aleottus de argenta , a most diligent hydrographer , whom we before cited , the rheine , from the foot of the hills near bononia to the po , into which it does now no more run , has a declivity of 123 feet , 7 inches ; and the po from thence to the sea has a descent of 15 foot 7 inches ; and therefore the whole declivity of the rheine , and perpendicular height to the sea-shore , will be 139 foot , omitting the smaller measures , the plain out of which these fountains spring , and that mutina stands on ( which is distant about 10 mile from the roots of the mountains ) will differ no more than 20 or 40 foot from the level of the sea , as one may conjecture , seeing i have not leisure to examine these matters exactly , nor is it any great matter : but if we might dig further down , other beds would doubtless appear , till we meet at last with the plain , which was formerly the bottom of the sea. but 't is better to search into other things , and to get out of these profound abysses , if we can go no further . chap. v. what is the nature and condition of this hidden spring . as in the works of art , 't is not so safe from the similitude of effects which fall under our eye , nor without fear of a mistake , to infer the same artifice of mechanical parts ; as may be seen by the example of two vvatches , which tho' they have the same outward form , and exactly perform the same operations as to time , yet may have the inward structure quite different ; so 't is less safe to make the same judgments of the curious vvorks of nature , and to determine what instruments it uses , and what is its ways of working : vvherefore 't is much , as aristotle says , if things obscure and hid to our senses be explained by possibilities . seeing i am come so far , that i must at length tell what i think of the nature of this admirable spring , i believe i have done the part of a good guesser , if by sounding this ford , i can tell things probable and agreeable to the laws of nature , instead of things certain . vve may therefore conjecture , that the sea in this our countrey had secret commerce with the appennine , to which it was adjacent in the beginning of the world , and that it still has ; and that it laid a foundation by several subterraneous passages in its bowels for several storehouses of waters , of which this may be believed to be one , from whence these fountains derive their original , and that the water is expanded over all this vein of sand , in which such a spring is discovered : but when the stop is taken away , and the flood-gates are opened , it rises on high as in aqueducts . and this thought of mine , as it does not contradict nature , so it shuns those difficulties , which the foremention'd opinion of an immense space , through which a subterraneous river flows , does incur . that a great abundance of vvaters may secretly flow a long way , through sand , is neither against reason nor experience , seeing 't is the property of sand easily to drink up vvater , and therefore has the name of sinking sand. pliny and solinus say , that the nile , the greatest of rivers , being swallowed up in the sands , runs hid a great way , tho' nothing of that is known in our times . seneca also testifies , that some rivers fall into caves , some are by degrees consumed , and never appear again . the most learned kircher says , that in westphalia , near the village altembechem , there is a certain sandy plain , in which every day the water breaks out with great violence , so as to overflow the whole countrey , and afterwards sinking into the sand , disappears , the surface of the sand remaining dry . the river guadiana in spain , as some relate who have observ'd it , when it has come to a certain plain , is gradually swallowed up , and without noise of the earth ; which is a most certain proof , that this river does not fall into a gulph , but runs away by these beds of sand. in like manner i do believe , that the vvater descends by secret passages from a cistern in the roots of the adjacent mountains , that communicates with the sea , till it come into this deep sandy plain , mixt with much gravel ; so that there is no need to conceive any plain of great width and depth , by which these subterraneous waters may constantly run down , but a few intersperst spaces may suffice , because of the mixture of sand and gravel . helmont says , that sand is original earth , and the seat of the vvaters , but that the rest of the earth is the fruit of this original earth , and that not without reason , seeing the reducing of this sand into vvater is more difficult than of any other body . this same author makes this sand the last bounds of digging , beyond which to proceed were lost labour , because of the continual conflux of sand and vvater . but he thinks that this sand is extended from the shell of the earth to the center , and abundance of water lodges in it ; so that the water which is kept in it is a thousand times bigger than what is in the whole ocean . all seas , rivers and fountains , even in the top of the mountains , owe their original to this invisible ocean , so that the water does every where follow the vital sand. telesus seems to have been of the same judgment , who said , the bottom of the sea was a fountain of that interiour ocean , which agrees with that opinion of plato concerning the gulph , from whose bosom all waters go out , and into which they all fall back again . whatever be of truth in this opinion , of an invisible ocean lurking in the sand , which helmont conceiv'd ingeniously , and upon probable enough arguments ; yet i think none will deny , but water may run a long way through beds of sand ; and when some passage is open , may be rais'd again , especially if it be urg'd by water descending from a higher ground . and i think that 't is probable the matter is so in our fountains , to wit , the water flows out of some cistern plac'd in the neighbouring mountains , by subterraneous passages , where the earth is firm and hard ; but when it has come into the plain , it expatiates far over the sand , and in the way is lifted up to this height when a hole is made with an auger , according to the laws of hydrostaticks . and i think this is a more expeditious and easie way of explicating the nature of this never-enough-admired spring , than to imagine a great vault , ( of which there are no marks ) and a town with a whole countrey hanging over it . to give some specimen how ●his flowing of the water may be according to my explication : suppose , as in fig. 2. that there is a cistern in the bowels of the apennine , drawing water from the sea , and that the water is carry'd by subterraneous pipes from the same cistern , and spread over this deep and sandy plain a b c , mixt with much gravel ; which sandy plain being brought into much lesser bounds , the water is forc'd to run down by a more narrow space than it had in the beginning , and to follow its course till it come into the sea , or some great gulph . therefore wells efgh being digg'd , without any choice in all the tract lying upon this spring , and a hole being made by the auger , the water of necessity must be lifted up on high , being forc't by another , which descending from a higher ground , presses on that which goes before , and drives it up . by this means these waters receive a plentiful supply from their father apennine , as does the well of waters which flows from lebanon , of which there is mention in the sacred history . but 't is , by far , more probable , that the water is sent from the sea into such a cistern , than from showers , or melted snows , seeing rain and snow-waters run away for the most part by rivers above ground ; neither can they enter into the ground so deep ; as seneca also testifies , that there is no rain so great , which wets the ground above ten foot : for as he says , when the earth is glutted , if any more fall , it shuts it out . and truly , how could it come to pass , that they should flow at the same rate as well in moist as in dry seasons , if the rain-water came hither , and they did not rather get their vvaters from the sea , which being strained through the sand , and deprived of all salt , they return to the sea again with interest . truly , i could never yet understand , how that secret cistern , from which vvaters are sent to these fountains , should not be unconstant , if they received moisture for a time from the rains and snows ; and sometimes increase , sometimes decrease ; and therefore , according to the increase and decrease of the pressure , some alteration should appear in these fountains . but the beds of clay , which divide the impure from the most pure vvaters , as most strong fences , do hinder the rain vvaters from being mix'd with these subterraneous vvaters . and plato thought , that a clayie ground was the last bounds of digging in the search of vvell-waters , obliging every one to dig to the chalk ; and if there was no vvater found in that depth , he suffer'd as much to be taken from the neighbours as they had need of , to which pliny subscribes , saying , that when potters clay appears , there is no more hopes of getting water , nor need men dig longer ; which yet agrees not with what is observed here . as i have deduc'd the original of this vvater from the sea , so i do not deny , that many fountains owe their originals to rains and melted snow ; yet with this difference , that the fountains which have their spring from the sea by hidden passages continue perpetual , but those which rise from showers and temporary springs at some time of the year , are diminished , and quite dry up ; as happens in great droughts ; such as baccius mentions to have been anno 1556. in which not only all the fountains , but also great rivers dried up . the countrey on this and the other side of the po did experience such a season almost for two years together , viz. in 1687. and 88 in which time the lands were unpleasant because of the drought , and vvells were digg'd in other places , but to no purpose ; yet little alteration was to be observed in these our fountains , nor yet in the moistest season of all ; which made the year 1690. fatal for dearness of provision , and epidemick diseases ; so that these our fountains seem to be of the same nature with that fountain in tyanus , consecrated to iupiter , of which philostratus says , that it suffer'd neither increase nor decrease ; and therefore by the natives is called vnquenchable . or like the vvell of aesculapius , which as aelius aristides , a most famous orator , relates , was a vvell of pergamus a city of asia , of such a nature , that it was always full to the brim ; and how much soever was drawn from it , it never decreas'd . neither have we reason only to think , that many fountains take their original from the sea , but also many lakes communicate with it . the lake of the vulsinians , whose depth is not yet found out , for discovering of which i have seen between narthana and bisentina ropes let down for some hundreds of fathoms , but in vain . this lake , i say , both summer and vvinter , discharges it self by the river martha perpetnally into the tyrrhenian sea , neither does it receive any rivers , and the mountains which encompass it are never white with snow . beside , in the same lake , when the air was very calm , and the surface of the vvater was smooth , i observed often intestine motions like currents in the ocean , which was known by the fishermens nets , which being sunk under water , were snatcht violently from their hands ; an evident proof of some hidden commerce with the sea. iulius obsequens , in his book of prodigies , relates , that the lake albinus , in the consulate of valerius and m. valerius , was suddenly raised up , when no rain fell from heaven , neither could there be known any cause of so sudden a swelling . i cannot be ignorant that the original of fountains and rivers from the sea is called in question . gaspar bartholinus , who follows the glorious footsteps of his ancestors , printed a treatise at hafnia , wherein he endeavours to prove that opinion to be absurd , which deduces the original of fountains and rivers from the sea ; so that all fountains , as well temporary as perpetual , according to him , owe their original to rain . suppose , as he ingeniously endeavours to prove , that for maintaining the perpetuity of the fountains in a dry season , a collection of the water of the precedent rains in some receptacle within the cavity of the mountains is sufficient . but truly , i cannot see how in some fountains their regularity and equal flowing can hold out for so long a time , as is observ'd in ours for so many ages ; seeing in whatever season , either dry or moist , there appears no sign of increase or decrease . but scaliger answers to those things which use to be objected against the opinion of the original of the fountains and rivers from the sea , in opposition to cardan , saying , there is no reason why the sea-water , before it come to the mountains , does not break out every where , in these words : but , o cardan , he whom in the 2d of genesis , the divine man says to have finisht all things , was so good an architect , so wise a water-bailif , that julius frontinus is nothing to him : he therefore did so skilfully join the pipes of his aqueducts , and fit them for bearing the burthen , as to free you from this fear . but truly , this difficulty which is objected about the sufficient strength of the subterraneous passages , gives no less trouble ( excepting the greater distance ) to the asserters of the other opinion , who attribute the original of fountains and rivers to rains. but how water is furnisht to the fountains from the sea , which being heavy of its own nature , must flow back into the sea from whence it came , making as it were a circle , is not agreed upon among those , who admit the original of fountains to be from the sea , as may be seen in gaspar schottus , who rehearses many opinions of the ancients and moderns , and examines them . so true is it what aristotle says , that 't was an old doubt , why seeing so great a quantity of water runs to the sea , it does not thereupon become bigger . some think that the sea-water ascends above its own original by the attractive force of the earth , some by shaking and the sea-tide , some by force of the inclosed spirit , which drives up the water to the top of the highest mountains ; others do attribute it to the pressure of the air , which by perpetually breaking down the surface , lifts the vvater up on high ; some recur to the divine providence : there are others who say , that the sea-water flows with a natural motion , whether from the bottom of the sea , or the sides , to the springs of fountains plac'd in the most high mountains , because the sea is higher than the earth , as the same schottus thinks . but i like better the opinion of des cartes , of which was also our countrey-man falloppius , who thinks that the sea-water , by reason of the subterraneous heat , is raised in form of a vapor to the highest mountains ; and there , by reason of the ambient rocks condens'd into water , as is usual in chymical distillations , so that the mountains are like heads of the alembicks , by the cold of which the exalted vapors are condensed into water , which afterwards breaks out into springs . iulius caesar recupitus tells , in his history of the burning of vesuvius , that at the same time it did send forth two streams , one of fire towards the shoar , another of water on the other side that looks to the plain of nola , the fire not only keeping time with the waters , but also producing them : for 't is to be thought that by force of the violent heat diffus'd over the mountains , so great a quantity of waters was exhaled from some cistern that held the sea-water , that it was sufficient for making a torrent . perhaps it might be as convenientby deduc'd from the rarefaction of the air inclos'd within the bowels of the mountains , pressing down the surface of the water , and so forcing it out another way . neither do the beds of stone and chalk , which bartholine objects , withstand the lifting of the vapors upward : for supposing the mountains are , as all confess them to be , cavernous within , such beds as these might afford this use , to stop the vapors lifted upward by force of the heat , and let them fall down by various chinks as veins , to which these beds , especially such as are gravelly and stony , are passable ; from whence the fountains arise , which are called mouths of the veins . therefore 't is a more ready way , and more agreeable to the laws of nature , to draw the original of fountains , which are perpetual , and subject to no alteration from the sea , by the continual ascent of vapors in the great receptacles of nature . and 't is reasonable to think it so in our case , both from the old state of the countrey on this side the po , and also the perpetual fires that the neighbouring mountains maintain , which at their wide mouths sometimes throw up much fire and ashes , with stones , with so great a noise and crashing , that it is heard sometimes 12 miles off ; which truly is not new , seeing pliny mentions this , who writes , that in the land of modena the fire comes out on set days ; and tells it as a prodigy , that two mountains met together , smoke and fire coming out ; and that in the day time a great multitude of roman horsemen and travellers were looking on . but that is especially seen in mount gibbius , where there are many fountains , from which petroleum flows . an account of some very remarkable ones i had from my brother who saw them , and was confirmed to me by seignior spoletti , physician to the late ambassadors from venice , and professor of physick at padoua , when he was at my chamber . they be seen on a side of one of the apennine mountains , half way betwixt bologna and florence , near a place called petra mala , about five miles from fierenzola ; 't is in a spot of ground of three or four yards diameter , which incessantly sends up a flame rising very high , with no noise , smoak , or smell , but gives a very great heat , and has been observed to be thus in all times , except of great rains which put it out for a while ; but when that is over , it burns with greater violence than before ; the sand about it when turn'd up sends forth a flame , but within 3 or 4 yards round about it there are corn fields . the people that live near to it , believe that there is a deep hole there ; but he found it to be firm ground . there are 3 or 4 more of those near , but they do not burn so vehement by as this . when i was thinking on a more exact history of these fountains of petroleum , than is in writers . i understood by letters from malliabecchius , ( to whom , as prince of the learned ) whatever happens new in learning is presently brought ) that the most learned d. olinger , the kings professor at copenhagen , had lately published a book , which he found among some manuscripts , under the name of franciscus areostus , of the oil of mount zibinius , or the petroleum of modena , which book that most renowned author dedicated to the same malliabecehius , with a preface to the reader : a great reproach of our floth , who stay till some rise from the remotest countreys to illustrate our matters by our own writings . though i derive the original of our fountains from the sea first , then from some cistern of vvater plac'd in our mountains , into which the vapors , sent up by the inclos'd heat , are returned in form of vvaters . i would not thence infer , that this cistern is plac'd in the tops of the apennine mountains , but i believe rather that 't is plac'd in the foot of the mountain , than in the top ; for though , as i show'd before , 't is not always , necessary , that the vvaters , though inclos'd within pipes , should reach to the height of their cistern , which happens as often as their passage being stratinted , they have not free liberty to flow out , as in fig. 1. but if we should place this cistern in the tops of the apennine mountains , probably the vvaters might rise higher in them , when yet they do not rise to the surface of the ground . but i cannot certainly conjecture in what part , whether near the foot of the mountain , or in their inner parts , this cistern of vvaters is plac'd by the divine architect . i have spar'd no labour nor experiences to find out the head of this spring , and therefore i diligently viewed not only the plain towards the mountains , but the mountains themselves , and could find no marks of it . i observ'd indeed some small lakes , but such as dry up in the summer , and so become pasture for cattel ; of the number of which is the lake paulinus , 25 miles distant from this . i thought best therefore to fetch the original of these waters from another source , viz. from some secret cistern of water plac'd in the inner parts of the apennine mountains . and it is certain , that the inner parts of the mountains are cavernous , and that there are in them cisterns of water , from whence fountains and rivers draw their original . lucan feign'd to himself a great cistern of water in the heart of the apennine , from which all the rivers of italy did flow , that run into both the seas . i am willing to bring in here his verses , seeing to reason in so abstruse matters with the philosophers , or to conjecture with the poets , is the same thing . fontibus his vastis immensos concipit amnes , fluminaque in gemini spargit divortia ponti . in laevum cecidere latus veloxque metaurus , crustuminumque rapax , & junctus sapis isauro , quoque magis nullum tellus se solvit in amnem , erldanus fract as deducit in aequora silvas ; dexterior a petens montis declivia tybrim vnda facit — hence from vast fountains do great rivers flow , and into double seas divorce do slide in several channels , down on the left side metaurus swift and strong crustumium flow . isapis join'd to isaurus , sonna too , and aufidus the adriatick beats . eridanus , than which no river gets more ground , whole forests rowls into the sea o'return'd . but seeing 't is known enough by what we have related in the history of these fountains , that this spring is not so old as the world , seeing the last plain in which the auger was fastned was formerly in the open air , as the trees in it make evident . if in the beginning of the world these waters had flown as they do now , the force of the water would easily have thrown off that weight , as it happens sometime when the boring is delay'd . then one will say , when , and how had this admirable source its original ? to this i may answer , that there are no monuments of this , nor can it be absolutely known when these waters began to flow ; yet 't is certain , that this accumulation of the ground hath not happen'd but after great land-floods , they leaving a great deal of mud here ; otherwise , as i was saying , the force of the water would have thrown off the weight . therefore i am inclin'd to believe , that after the plain was thus rais'd , some new ways were open'd by a great earthquake , so that the waters might flow from the cistern placed in the adjacent mountains , which receives them by a continal evaporation from the sea , and so might flow from that sandy ground , and so to have kept their course for many ages , before the wit of man reach'd hither , and open'd the veins of the earth with the auger as with a launce . and 't is known by many observations , that some fountains die by earthquakes , and some rise ; as ovid says , lib. 15. met. hic fontes natura novos emisit , & illic clausit , & antiquis tam multa tremoribus orbis flumina prosiliunt , aut excaecata residunt . in english thus : here nature , in her changes manifold , sends forth new fountains , there shuts up the old ; streams , with impetuous earthquakes , heretofore have broken forth , and sunk , or run no more chap. vi. the progress and end of these waters is enquired into , and a reason is given of those things which are observ'd in the digging of the wells . 't is worth the enquiry , what is the progress of these our waters that flow under ground , and whether they go ? but here i stick , and there is no place but for conjecture . i have often enquir'd of the undertakers , whether they felt the auger to be carried by violence to any side ; but i could understand nothing certain of them . but seeing the length of this source is far greater than its breadth , i think it more agreeable to truth , that these waters flow from east to vvest , according to the lenghth of the aemilian way , which tract of ground is six mile long , and but four broad , as far as i have had occasion to observe ; but when it has pass'd the way , we may judge that either 't is sunk into these wells of the earth , or by secret turnings and windings falls into the sea , according to the laws by which the water circulates in the body of the earth , which we read described by ecclesiastes in these words , all rivers enter into the sea , yet it does not overflow ; the rivers return to the place from whence they came , thither they return again . and the heathen poets , as lucretius , in these verses , lib. 1. debet ut in mare de terris venit humor aquai . in terr as itidem manare ex aequore salso . as rivers run from earth , and fill the main , so some through secret pores retur● again . but also is proved by the most grave and modern vvriters , with many reasons , as arias montanus , varenius , vossius , becher , and many others , whom the most famous lanzon , physician of ferrara , cites in his animadversions , full of variety . it may be doubted , and that not without reason , whether the course of these waters must be for ever . and truly , seeing from the times of the roman common-wealth , even to this age , there hath been so great an accumulation of the earth , as well in the city as in the adjacent lands , and in the channels of rivers , there is no place left of doubting , but the course of these fountains will at length cease , the causes continuing the same , to wit , while the next rivers take away with them the spoil of the mountains , and therewith cover the plains that lie under . therefore , as these fountains for a far better use did rise many feet above the surface of the earth , but now rarely reaches its surface ; so we must think , that the time will come in which these waters must stand in their vvells , having no descent by which to run down : and these changes , which succeed in great length of time , and without a vvitness , if we consider the present state of things , hardly deserve credit ; yet the thing it self speaks that they have truly happened , and will still follow : but because ( to use aristotile's words ) the things are done in great length of time in respect of our life , they are hid from us , and the ruine of all nations does happen before the change of these things , is told from the beginning to the end . but this is the common fate of cities that are plac'd in the plains , that after many ages they are almost half buried ; or , ( as the egyptian priest in plato says of the cities of greece ) are carried by the force of the rivers into the sea ; though on the other hand , towns which are plac'd on the tops of the mountains , their foundations being par'd , do tell the injuries of time : a sure proof , that there is nothing constant and firm in this world , but that we must look for the city that is on high , and is to continue for ever . but why these fountains , seeing they are supposed to take their original from the sea , have no ebbing or flowing , as some fountains , of which writers take notice ; as is that which pliny the younger mentions in the land of como , which ebbs and flows three times in a day . i think this to happen , because water is furnisht to these fountains from the sea , by the ascent of vapors ; which evaporation , though it be not always equal , because of the subterraneous fires sometimes weaker , sometimes stronger , yet 't is enough if it be such as is sufficient to keep the cistern full always to the same height , on which depends the equality of flux of these our fountains for so many ages , whatever come of the water that sometimes overflows , and is dispersed another way . but why some fountains at certain times flow , and at other times ebb , many causes are brought , of which ( i mean those which draw their source from the sea ) the cause is the ebbing and flowing of the sea , by force of which it comes to pass , that as the sea ebbs and flows , these fountains are sometimes observed full , and sometimes empty . we said , that in the winter-time a great heat was perceiv'd in these fountains , and in the summer time a great cold ; as appears also by the the● mometer let down to several depths , and the table before marked shews : which observations seem not a little to favour the defenders of an antiperistasis ; and so much the rather , that these observations were not made in a mountanous , but in a champion countrey . for i do not think it safe to try it in mines , and the caverns of the mountains ▪ because of the metallick exhalations , and divers salts and kinds of marcasites , with which they are pregnant ; for when such substances are sprinkled with water , they grow hot like quick lime , and raise divers exhalations , which the mineral waters do testifie that break out hot ; to which you may add , there are many store houses of fire , which may not a little alter the subterraneous region , which happens not in great plains , as is the countrey on this and the other side of the po. indeed , the most learn'd mr. boyle has gathered many things of the temper of the air under ground ; all which yet he says he had from such as made observations on many mines ; where he also relates , that in the same places , and at the same times of the year , there is found a different temper of the subterraneous regions , because of the different nature of salts . and he says , that from some mines are felt hot effluvia in the summer-time . and 't is observed , that not only out of the caverns of the mountains , hot exhalations breath in the summer-time , but also frequently a most cold air. in etruria , near the lake of the vulsinenses , near the town martha , is a little cave at the foot of a most high mountain , which is not above 6 or 8 feet deep ; but in the side of the cave at a little chink the wind blows so cold that it may be compar'd to the coldness of the north winds . the fathers of the order of the mimims of st. francis de paula , who have a church with a monastery near it , use this cave as a vault for their wine ; and in the summer-time draw their wine from thence as cold , as if it had been in snow ; yea , if they keep their summer fruits there sometime , they draw them out sprinkled with a cold dew , as i have observed , during my stay with them , in the dog days . but in the great plains where all the earth is solid , and does not keep so many kinds of salts or fires inclos'd , if we might go down deeper by digging , a greater certitude might be had of this subterraneous temperature . but in these vvells of ours i perceived this reciprocation of heat and cold sensible enough , as often as i descended into them at different times ; but that there might happen no deception by the senses being preposses'd with heat or cold , i observed it manifestly by a thermometer exactly sealed . but whatever is the nature of cold or heat , ( for 't is not proper in this place to enquire whether they are bare qualities or corpuscles causing such a sensation in us . ) antiperastis , as i think , ought not to be banish'd out of the schools ; for it may be explained right enough both ways . whether therefore , according to the diversity of climates and countreys , there be a different temper of the air under ground , yet 't is certain that the thermometer being let down , does speak with distinct notes , that there is at least in the first region of the earth , ( whatever be of the deeper and central parts of the earth ) this reciprocation of heat and cold , according to the different changes of the year ; and always in a quality opposite to that which the external air , in which we live , hath : so that here may be used that sentence of the noble hippocrates , lux orco tenebrae iovi ; lux iovi tenebrae orco . but before we come out of these vvells , it will be fit to give the reasons of some phaenomena that are observ'd in the digging of them . it was said before , that there is a great rest in the air in the vvinter-time , so that the candles continue burning ; there is no smoaky exhalation , and they easily draw their breath ; but in the summer-time there is raised a thick cloud , the lights are put out , and the diggers are almost kill'd . but from whence this ? vvhen rather in the winter-time , because of the heat , more intense at that time , and equal to the summers heat , it might seem consonant to reason , that in a moist place a smoaky exhalation should be rais'd , which should trouble the air , and put out the lights ; but in the summer , by reason of the cold which lodges in these vvells , not much unlike the cold in the vvinter , it would seem reasonable that the air should be more pure , nor so intangled with gross vapours , as to be unfit for respiration ! vvhether 't is that the heat , which in the vvinter-time is in these wells by reason of an antiperistasis , being greater , hath force to dissipate these vapors ; but in the summer-time , by reason of the cold , they cannot be dissolved ! or rather , that the exhalations in the winter , that are raised by the heat in these vvells , are lighter than the external and thicker air , and so do ascend more easily , but in the summer are heavier than the external air ; and therefore stagnating there , cause a difficulty of breathing , and put out the lights when kindled . but here i cannot but wonder , why in the mines , though of great depth , as are those in hungary , the miners continue any time of the year with their candles lighted , and that in any season ; nor do they feel so great an inconvenience in breathing : but in our wells that are in the open air , and communicate with the open air , not by turnings , but in a streight line , the vvorkmen in the summer-time are almost suffocated , and their lights put out ; so that in the dog-days there is no hiring of them to work . perhaps this falls out , because the mines in the mountains and dry places have not so gross an air , but such as is sufficient for respiration ; but these being digg'd in a champion countrey , and moist ground , send forth streams more plentifully ; so the air being filled with them is unfit for respiration . i deny not but in the mines the miners are sometimes troubled with shortness of breath , partly by reason of their own breaths , and partly because of the metallick exhalations ; yea , are sometimes killed ; so that to prevent the danger of being stifled , they use air-pumps , for taking up the fowl air , and letting in fresh ; a description of which you may see in agricola . beside , they dig a pit some distance from the mine , tending downwards , from which a mine is extended to the place where the diggers work , which serves for a wind pipe ; and by bringing in fresh air , and driving the old to the mouth of the pit , does much refresh the vvorkmen , and frees them from the danger of being stifled ; but that is only done in the deeper mines , as agricola and mr. boyle relate . the lights therefore are put out in the summer-time in these vvells , and the diggers are seiz'd with a great difficulty of breathing , because the air in it is fill'd with gross vapours ; which thick and ponderous vapors cannot ascend in the hotter and lighter air , but are to lodge there by reason of their weight . but the vital light requires of necessity a thinness , and empty spaces in the air , in which it may lay down its fulginous effluvia , and needs fresh air for its food , otherwise it quickly dies . it was observed before , in rehearsing the curious things that occur in the digging of these vvells , that there are three beds of clay two of 11 foot , another below it of less thickness , with marshy beds between them of two feet thick . i have often times studied to find out the generation of these-beds , examining with my self how they are distinguish'd in this order of time thro' the whole tract . i know there have been amongst our countreymen some who think , that these beds of clay are the product of the universal deluge . but this author , whose name i now pass in silence , lest i should seem to contend with the ghosts , ( for he died this year ) tho' he was born in this countrey , yet having liv'd always abroad , was surely never present at the digging of those wells , but hath had from others all that he says of them : for if he had seen the structure of these fountains , he would never have written , that the clay in these vvells was 24 feet deep , and the marshy ground as thick : for there are three beds of clay , two of 11 foot apiece , and one less , with their beds of marshy ground between of two foot a piece . therefore this conjecture for the truth of the universal deluge , taken from the thickness of the clay , is of no weight . i am perswaded therefore , that after the universal deluge , whose vestigies are perhaps deeper , these beds of clay were produc'd by three particular floods , yet great and most ancient ; so that from one flood to another much time interceded , in which the stagnation of the water , and the ground putrifying together with the leaves and roots of reeds , gave original to these intermedial marshy beds . i can easily believe , that this bulk of clay was made of the earth drawn down from the mountains , by the hasty descent of the waters into these valleys ; seeing for gathering of clay for the potters , 't is usual with us to convey the vvater into pits made by art , out of the rivers scultenna and gabellus , by which means the water being exhaled by the heat of the summer , there settles much clay in them , which the potters afterwards use for making their vessels . and pliny testifies , that the potters art excelled in this city of old , because of the excellency of the clay , and its toughness , saying , that modena was famous in italy for potters work ; when at that time , as he says , luxury had come to that height , that potters work cost more than porcelline . and we have reason to think , that this diversity of beds , which is seen in great plains , has been made by several inundations and accumulations of the ground : but from whence that diversity of beds comes , which is also found in the mountains , is not so easie to determine . agricola says , there were sixteen beds of different colours in the mines of the mountain melibochus , and of different heights ; but if one could dig deeper , doubtless a great many others would appear . if we would stick to the opinion of our faloppius , 't will not be a hard matter to understand the generation of these beds , and their diversity in the mountains ● for he thinks , that the mountains were made by a dry exhalation shut up in the bowels of the earth , which he gathers from their pyramidical figure ; yea , he thinks they are nourished by such an exhalation , and grow by peace-meal ; from whence it comes to pass , that , as in sublimation of antimony , flowers of different sorts are gathered according to the diversity of the pots , so he thinks the same to happen in the caverns of the mountains , according to the different generation of metals and fossils . but when in the creation , mountains were built by the great artificer , 't is fit to own they were made in their whole perfection ( as being the first former of all things ) and with so many beds for various uses . bartholine , in the discourse before cited , shews ingeniously the use which these beds give , especially those of clay , for the generation of fountains , whether they be made of rains , as the temporary ones ; or of sea-water , as the perpetual or regular ones : for these beds are of special use for the collection of waters into one receptacle , and likewise for their running a long way , otherwise they should be lost ; neither would there be any reason , why they should break forth in one place more than another ; which use , without doubt , these beds of clay perform in these fountains ; for while these waters run through the sandy plain , 't is reasonable to think , that there is another bed of clay lying under ; so that being shut up above and below , they follow their course as it were thro' a pipe , except when they break out into the air , a way being open'd to them by these wells . therefore supposing the hidden expansion of these waters over the sandy and gravelly plain , 't is no wonder if a noise be perceiv'd in the bottom of these wells , while the water runs through the gravel , ( which gravel 't is more probable to be there made of the sand , than to fall from the mountains , ( seeing a great part of it is so soft , that by the only rubbing of your fingers it is broke ) and if the water be rais'd in all the wells to the same height , seeing there is the same cause which drives it on high , to wit , the pressure of the water descending from an higher place , and from the same receptacle . and lastly , if they be equally pure and wholsom , seeing they are of the same disposition . for the same reason the same waters are the more lively , the more is drawn from them , and their slowness is corrected when it happens ; because by the sand thrown up , and sinking to the bottom , the hole made with the auger is sometimes stopt ; a sure proof that these vvaters run through a sandy plain , but not at all through an immense wide space ; which may be further known by the depression and failing of the ground , that is observed sometimes to happen when too much water and sand has run out . chap. vii . the proportious inquir'd into , that the elevation of water in a streight pipe , inserted into a horizontal one , has to the height of its cistern . the nature of fluid bodies is so abstruse and intricate , that it could never be enough explained by the most solid wits . among the ancients archimedes has left us a few theorems , but of great moment , in a book which he has written , de insidentibus humido , of things that float ; which book , that i may use tully's own words of crantor's books , is not great , but golden . among the moderns , the honourable mr. boyle , galilaeus , sterinus , borellus ; and lastly , d. guilielminus , a noble mathematician of bononia , have chiefly cultivated this most noble part of philosophy ; who though they all , by many observations and hydrostatical experiments have dived far into the wonderful properties of fluids , yet have left room for a further enquiry : for if in any case seneca's words are of value , 't is in this the greatest and most intricate of all , in which even when much is done , the age following will find something more to do . seeing then , according to our hypothesis , the waters of this hidden source are movable and running , and withal ascend on high ; because , as was said before , the passage by which they go out , and fall into a gulph , is straitned ; and seeing the ascent into these wells is constant and perpetual , nor can be done without some proportion to the height of their cistern ; because this cistern is supposed by us to be in the foot of the nearest apennine mountains , and higher by far than the elevation of these waters from the bottom of the wells to the top ; therefore i thought it would not be unprosftable nor unpleasant , if i endeavoured to shadow out , if not exactly to describe , such a proportion . suppose then there be a vessel abc full of water , to which a pipe de is fastned in a horizontal line , and whose orifice is half shut , so that the water does not flow with a full stream : let there be likewise in the middle of the pipe d f another glass pipe hi inserted perpendicularly ; therefore granting a free passage to the water , i say , that the water will be lifted in the middle pipe hi to such a height , that if the height of the water contain'd in the vessel be of eight parts , the elevation of the water in the streight pipe hi shall be of six parts ; and such a proportion will answer to any division of the mouth of the pipe d f. for if the orifice of the pipe d f be wholly shut , so that no water runs down , none is ignorant that the water in the pipe hi of its own nature must place its self in the same horizontal line with the water contain'd in the vessel , to which effect two things doubtless concur with equal force , to wit , the pressure of the water contain'd in the vessel , and the resistance of the obstacle that wholly obstructs the hole in the pipe , which stop is eqvivalent to a power pressing with equal force against the water stagnating in the vessel ; if then the elevation of the water in such a case is a produce arising from two causes equally working , to wit , the pressure of the water , and the resistance of the stop , it will follow , that when the orifice of the same pipe d f shall only be stopt in part , the ascent of the water in the intermedial pipe h i , whatever it be , will be a product of the same pressure , as in the first case , and the virtual pressure of the stop , but working unequally ; from hence it comes to pass , that when the pressure of the superincumbent water in the vessel that presses it to flow out , is in the same degree and energy as before ; and on the other hand , the force of the stop is removed , the water cannot be lifted up so high in the pipe erected perpendicularly , as to reach the height of the water contain'd in the vessel , but must of necessity be under it ; so that if the height of the water were in supposition eight foot , and operated with such a pressure as were equal to that height , but the stop should not act but half , i. e. as four ; these two working together , and making the ascent of the water , there cannot but happen an effect , which is between these two agents , as 6 is between 8 and 4 , i. e. in an arithmetical proportion ; and therefore in the supposed case the water will be only raised in the streight pipe h i to 6 parts , which elevation is half the aggregate of the height of the water contain'd in the vessel , and the power of the stop. this was my reasoning before i try'd whether the thing agreed to it ; which i did , by inserting a wooden and square pipe into the side of the vessel , as in fig. 3. and fitting a glass pipe divided into 8 parts , and erected perpendicularly to the same pipe ; then putting a stop to the pipe , which might only obstruct the half of it , i let the water run out , and observed that the water did rise in the glass pipe in the same proportion , to wit , as 6 to 8 : yet i must confess , that the ascent of the water did not so exactly answer to the greater or lesser obstacles put to the hole of the pipe , because perhaps of the difficulty of fitting divers doors to the orifice , and because of the undulation of the water produc'd in the glass pipe from the impetus , where 't is observed to go out . having therefore communicated these my observations to the most famous bocchabadatus , mathematician to the great duke , and my intimate friend from our childhood , ( for i always thought it the part of an ingenuous man , that i may use pliny's words , to confess by whom i have profited ) he prompted me with a method by which i might obtain my desire . when therefore he thought that the diversity of stops might be supplied , if to the hole of the pipe , from whence the water should come out , another streight pipe of the same bigness were set , but with a proportion to the height of the cistern . i made trial , and the thing succeeded according to my desire . so in fig. 4. supposing the altitude of the water in the vessel to be of 8 parts , and the pipe mn to be only of 4 parts , by which means 't is equivalent to an obstacle that takes up half the breadth of the aperture , letting the water run out , and the vessel always remaining full , the water in the pipe hg appear'd suspended in e , to wit , in the height of 6 parts , which is half the sum of 8 and 4 , the height of the water and the resistence of the obex . in like manner in fig. 5. when the pipe is of the height of 6 parts , the water in the glass pipe e f was seen to rise to s , to wit , to 7 parts the same was observed ( as in fig. 6. ) when the pipe e h pouring forth the water , was of ● parts , i. e. equivalent to an obstacle stopping the fourth part of the orifice ; for in the glass pipe the water stood in t , i. e. in part 5. and that as exactly as physical experiments will admit , as every one may easily try . i do not doubt but the same will happen in any other case ; therefore reason and experience do sufficiently prove , that the water is raised in a middle arithmetical proportion between the force of the obstacle , and the height of the water in the cistern . while on this occasion i diverted my self in making various hydrostatical experiments in the dog-days , i happened to make a very curious observation , to wit. that though the height of the water be the same in the vessel , and the same horizontal pipe be inserted into it ; yet in the perpendicular pipes , according to the difference of their situation , there is a notable difference of the altitude of the water in one and the other , as in fig. 7. let the vessel a b c d be full of water , the pipe d h be inserted into it , and shut in the extremity , and let f g h i be the glass pipes erected perpendicularly , but m the pipe pouring out water . therefore in the pipe f g , according to what was said before , the water will rise to o , i. e. to parts 5. for the height of the pipe m pouring out the water is suppos'd 2. and the height of the water contain'd in the vessel is as 8. but if the pipe f g be transferred to h i ( the orifice where it was fastned being stopt ) the water will be raised higher , i. e. to n , to almost 7 degrees ; which would likewise happen , if at the same time two glass pipes f g h i stood upright , and the pipe m should pour out water , the vessel being always full ; for this different height of waters is perceiv'd well enough in every case . one may try the same , not only when the pipe that pour'd out the water is longer or shorter , but also when many pipes of different lengths , and with proportion to the height of the water contain'd in the vessel , send forth water at the same time , and many glass pipes are interjected , seeing many cases may be fain'd according to every ones fancy . but seeing there is no small undulation in the glass pipes , because the water running out at m , falls back upon its self ; this inconveniency will in some measure be shunned , if the pipe f h be something bended , that so both the glass pipes , and the pipes sending forth the water be inclin'd to one side ; for in this case there will happen less undulation , and the different heights of the water may be more easily viewed . the reason of this phaenomenon i judge to be , that the impetus of the water running from the cistern out at m , withdraws some of the water from the pipe f g , so that it cannot rise so high ; and the same impetus coming to h i , finding now no vent , makes it rise higher , even to n. this new observation i communicated to the same boccabadatus , who , as he did not a little wonder at the novelty of the thing , so being a most ingenious and exact searcher into natural things , he did not cease to enquire into the cause of it ; yea , afterwards he told me he had the demonstration of it , which he said he would insert into his work which he is to publish , about mechanick force . i thought fit to propose this phaenomenon to the lovers of hydrostaticks , thinking it worthy of the consideration of the more acute vvits , to the end it may be discovered from whence this diversity of pressures proceeds . chap. viii . about the goodness and excellency of the wells of modena . therefore having sail'd over these subterraneous waters , according to the best of my understanding , as far as i could in a dark navigation , in which neither the stars nor the needle did guide me , it remains that i furl my sails , and hasten to the land. georg. 4. but that i may not pass over with a dry foot the nature of these fountains , so far as they are useful to men ; and lest , as the custom is of those that are thirsty , i drink quietly . i shall touch only at some things relating to this subject , though it seem to be beyond my purpose . 't is an old dispute , what in the class of simple waters is most wholsom ? seeing some prefer rain-waters , others prefer fountain-waters ; in some places river-waters are most preferred , in others well-waters . hippocrates seem'd to prefer rain-waters to all others ▪ for these he called the sweetest ▪ the thinnest , and the clearest of all ; seeing what is thinnest and lightest of the water is exalted and drawn up by the sun : yet 't is certain hippocrates spoke of rain waters in the summer-time , which they call horaiae , i. e. early , seeing among waters that want art , he commends these , which in the summer time ▪ fall down from the sky when it thunders ; but these that fall in storms he pronounces bad . celsus , galen , avicenna , paulus , and others , following hippocrates , judge the same . on the other hand , pliny does greatly discommend rain-waters ; yea , he is so angry , that he thinks the o pinion which commends them , to endanger men's lives ; neither does he think it an argument of levity that they have been raised to heaven , seeing stones also have been rais'd to heaven ; and further , vvaters , when they fall from the clouds , may be infected by the exhalations of the earth , so that fountain-water to him seems preferable to them , when plenty of them may be had . but if the thing be duly considered , there will be no place left to dispute ; for all rain-waters , as also fountain-waters being not of the same goodness , seeing every countrey has not the same atmosphere , nor the same ground thro' which the water passes , seeing also ; according to theophrastus , such as the earth is , such is the water ) it often happens , as co●taeus adverts , that in some places for the purity of the air , the rain-waters are better , but in other places the fountain or river-waters are the best ; as the water of the river nile , whose much wish'd-for inundation keeps all egypt every year solicitous . but 't is no wonder that the water of the nile excels in goodness all others , seeing running a long way over a countrey burnt with the heat of the sun , 't is concocted , and is tossed by sudden falls from the highest mountains , and attenuated . hence athenaeus testifies , that when philadelphus king of egypt betroth'd his daughter berenice to antiochus king of assyria , he willed her to take with her the water of the nile . yet when other things do not agree , it seems the fountain-waters ought to be preferred to rain-waters , and all others ; for rain-waters are drawn from all sorts of filth , dung and dead bodies themselves ; and though hippocrates judged them best , yet he adds , that they have need of being boil'd and strain'd . wherefore 't is not without reason , that some do disprove making of syrup of poppeys with rain-water ; and they think that hippocrates spoke according to reason , and not experience . so among the moderns , the most experienc'd etmuller says , that rain-water kept always something earthy behind it , though distilled a hundred times . but so will any water do as well as rain water . but well-waters , seeing they have no motion but when they are stirred , and in the bottom have much slime , and rain-waters being gathered of snow and rains , and running over divers kinds o● earths , and are therefore by hippocrates call'd disagreeing , cannot have that purity and simplicity which the fountain-waters have , which are concocted by the heat pent up in the bowels of the earth , and are strain'd through the same earth . therefore our most pure fountain-waters , as they have the first place in the rank of plain waters , so they yield to none of the most famous fountains of our times ; for as much as the marks , by which the most sincere waters , and fittest for humane use , are commended , do appear in these in a most eminent manner . the chief quality that is wanted in water , and which contains the rest , by way of excellency , is , that it partake most of the nature of the air. so pliny hath written , that wholsom water ought to be most like to the air. on which account cassiodorus commended the virgin water , so famous then at rome , that running most purely it resambled the air. for water ought to be pure , like the air , light and clear , free of smell and taste , thin , and susceptible of heat and cold. but the waters of these fountains are such ; for they are clear like the air , free of smell and taste , do most quickly receive any other quality , and being weigh'd are lighter than any others . though physicians do not seem to value much the argument taken from the lightness ; and the divine master calls these light , which are soon hot and soon cold . and pliny writes , that 't is in vain to examine by the balance the goodness of the waters ; seeing it seldom happens that one is lighter than the other ; which brasavolus try'd in several kinds of waters , before hercules the second duke of ferrara : yet seeing there are not wanting more subtile ways of knowing even the least difference of weight in waters , according to the doctrine of archimedes , levity is not altogether to be neglected , for levity signifies the absence of the terrestrial parts , and is a sure proof of greater simplicity . truly 't is without doubt , that if there were two vessels of the same capacity , and full of the same water , and in one of these , divers kinds of salts were dissolved in a certain quantity , though the water did not grow in bulk , yet the one will be of greater weight than the other , and will be filled with strange qualities ; wherefore gravity and ▪ levity are not to be slighted . i will not deny , that some waters naturally light , are worse than others that are heavier , because of the evil qualities of the soil through which they pass . athenaeus says , that the waters of amphiaraus and e●treria being compar'd together , do not differ in weight , yet the one is wholsom and the other not . so tit●aresius , a river of which homer speaks , running into penaeus , is not mixt with it , but swims over it like oil : yet pliny says , his waters are deadly . and he says , that penaeus refuses to suffer his silver-colour'd waters to be mix'd with the others deadly waters . if we infuse a whole glass of antimony in water , otherwise light , no weight will be added to it to judge of ; but none is ignorant what disorders it raises in the body . and it is necessary to confess these things to be true of the lightness of the water considered alone , but if with other marks of goodness there be lightness join'd , it will be no small accession to its goodness . herodotus describes a fountain of aethiopia , the water of which he says was of such lightness , that nothing could swim in it , no , not a stick , nor what was lighter than a stick ; and such as used those waters were called macrobii , i. e. long-liv'd . gelen himself commends the lightness of the water for a probable conjecture of its goodness . but if the lightness be alone , says he , 't will not be a sufficient mark of good water : which one may also say of all the other signs , seeing none of it self , and separately is a sufficient mark of its goodness . but a surer mark of the goodness of water is , if it be not heavy in the bowels ; for this is truly the lightest , and this kind of lightness is more to be esteemed than that which may be try'd with the scale . for we must not presently , because 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. deprived of all quality , so as to be pure , clear , void of smell and taste , give sentence , and pronounce it innocent ; but we must bring another proof , viz. how they affect the bowels ; for it may be that it has all external marks of goodness , yet has a more secret noxiousness , which cannot be found out by the external sense . this therefore will be the true and safer judgment of waters , which is brought from experience it self : and truly that water is to be thought light by the effect , which makes not the bowels feel any weight in passing ; for which kind of lightness the waters of modena are very commendable , as not weighting the stomach when one drinks a full draught of them , but easily pass through the whole body , and are voided by sweat and urine . but above all these , hippocrates chiefly commends these fountains , whose waters come forth of deep springs , which are cold in summer , and warm in winter ; but all these things are observed in these fountains , seeing they rise 68 foot high ; and in summer are very cold , but in winter are warm , yea , exhale some small vapors . neither must we refer the heat which is found in these waters in the winter-time to metallick exhalations , or a mixture of salts with an acid mineral , seeing that is perceiv'd only in the winter-time by an antiperistasis . all know that there are as many differences of waters as of places ; for fountain and well-waters do easily drink up the different qualities of the ground , through which they pass , which are innumerable ; yet those waters are thought more wholsom , that run through thick sand and gravel , because they carry nothing from such a matter upward , which cannot be said of that which runs through clay and soft sand. but the waters of these fountains flow a long way through sand , which is called male , a proof of which is a great abundance of dross , sand , and gravel , which these fountains use to throw up at their first coming forth . moreover , these waters , according to my observation , and of many others , continue without corruption for a long time . for it is found by experiment in long navigations , that the water of neuceria did stink , but ours continued pure . i am not ignorant , 't is a question among physicians no less curious than worthy to be known , whether the sudden corruption of the water be a mark of its goodness or badness ? perhaps hippocrates himself gave cause of doubting , who , after he had commended rain water , says , they soon putrifie , except they be boil'd and strained again . galen , paulus , avicenna , and some of the ancients ; amongst the moderns , ioubertus , salius , augenius , bruvierinus , and many others , take the waters readiness to putrifie for a sign of goodness , providing other notes agree . for the chief property of water is , say they , that they be quickly altered by any external cause ; and from thence they think its inclinableness to putrefaction to arise : but these which continue long free of corruption , say they , partake of an aluminous nature : such are the waters of tyber , which are kept in earthen vessels for months and years , under ground , without corruption . on the other hand , there are some who think an inclinableness to putrefaction among the faults of water ; among whom is costaeus , who says , that it is a mark of the best water , that they do not so easily corrupt : and is deservedly oppos'd to avicenna , who thought that rain-waters were soon corrupted , because they were thinner : for rather from thinness of the substance one might argue , that their substances are less subject to corruption , as is known of distilled waters , and spirits of vvine , which truly is thinner than vvine , and not only does not putrifie it self , but also preserves other bodies free from corruption . seeing then experience it self makes it plain , that those which are most simple do less putrifie , but those which have a greater heterogenity , because of the disagreement of the internal parts , and a continual fermentation , are more easily corrupted . therefore i am easily induc'd to believe , that the curruption of the water is rather to be attributed to its pravity , than goodness . but the reason why the rain waters sooner putrifie , may be this , that when by the heat of the sun the water is rais'd from the earth , all sorts of filth are raised with it , and a great quantity of volatile salts is mixed with it : which made becher say , that all rain-waters being putrified and distilled , did give an ardent spirit . but if promptitude to putrefaction were a sign of goodness , why may we not say the same of eatables , which naturally do soon putrifie ; such as are fleshes , fishes , vvorts , early ripe fruits , and the like , viz. that these aliments are better than those which do not so soon putrifie , seeing they are sooner alter'd by the concocting faculty . weaker foods have a shorter life . hippocrates , as valesius interprets , says , they make men's lives shorter ; and such as cat these meats are infirm and weak , and cannot live so long . so bread of wheat well fermented , and well bak'd , gives a most excellent nourishment , and long life , to sound bodies ; and bread of all food does least putrefie . upon which account 't is , that levinus lemnius commendeth it . for ( says he ) bread long kept does indeed grow mouldy , and grows dry , but does not putrefie . therefore 't is not a little to the praise of our fountains , that they do not corrupt ; so that having other marks of goodness , they are to be reckon'd the best of waters . 't is an old commendation of waters , if pulse be quickly boil'd in them , as pliny , athenaeus , vitruvius , galeus , paulus ; and among the modern physicians , langius , costaeus , bruvierinus , and others , do testifie . but 't is known , that this also is common to unwholsom waters ; for the difficulty of boiling some pulse is not always by the fault of the waters , but very often of the grains themselves , as they have grown in this or the other ground , as theophrastus testifies , when he said , that there are many places which always bring forth pulse that are easily boil'd , others there are which bring forth grains hard to be boil'd yea , plutarch says , that of two furrows join'd together , one brings forth a hard crop , the other not . the women themselves know that well enough , who if they have pulse that are not easily boil'd , use to macerate them a night in water with a sack full of ashes , by which means the close texture of the grain is open'd by the force of the salt in the ashes . and i think none will look upon the water , so made lixivial , as simple ; or will commend it for daily drinking in whole bodies . yet i cannot deny , that salt and crude waters , very far distant from the best , may be for some sickly natures ; or in a neutral state of health , instead of medicine , which hippocrates hath taught expresly in these words : but whatever are salt and crude , are not fit for all to drink of ; yet there are some natures to whom such waters are convenient to be drunk . whatever were hard to be boiled , the greek call'd ateramnia , transferring likewise the same word to a stubborn and inflexible mind . so grains hard to be boil'd were call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , such as are those which theophrastus says , grow in a thick tough earth , and as it were clayie ; as at philippi , when the pulse which egypt bears , both by reason of the nitrous soil , and the heat , are easily boil'd . likewise water , in which grains were hardly boil'd , was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which word hippocrates us'd to signifie the crudity of water in many occasions , of which erotianus hath in his onomasticon made a collection . therefore , as the difficulty of the pulses being boil'd is not always the fault of the waters , so their being easily boil'd is not a mark of their goodness ; which sometimes is proper to the seeds , sometimes to the vvaters ; yea , more effectual in some waters that are not of the best ; seeing in nitrous and lixivious water pulse , roots , and worts are sooner boil'd . upon this account in rain-waters , as being full of saline particles , all kind of grains are sooner boil'd than in fountain-water , which is more pure and defecated . upon this account horatius augenius , preferring rain-water to others for making of ptisan , when he had taken notice that barley did sooner boil in this , than in spring-water , of his own accord confesses , that the rain-vvaters are not sincere ; which made him go into this opinion as a paradox , that the purer the water is , and less mixt , the less 't is fit for the use of life . but in our fountain-waters , pulse of all sorts is easily enough boil'd , and any other kind of aliments , which , as i dare not discommend in them , so i think is no way to be taken for a mark of the best . but certainly that is a greater criterion for judging of the goodness of plain vvaters , which , as vitruvius says , is taken from the habit of men's bodies that live about those waters ; to wit , if they be robust , clear complexions , sound , and not blear-ey'd . now 't is known enough , that both citizens , and such as live in the suburbs here , are of a good habit of body , and subject to none of these distempers ; and the good health which those of modena enjoy beyond other towns on this side the po , is not so much to be ascribed to the wholsomness of the air , as to the goodness of the waters ; as in egypt , where their long life , according to alpinus , is attributed to the water of the nile . seeing therefore in the most strict censure , the waters of these fountains are not only innocent , but wholsom , truly this city has nothing in which it may envy any other as to this point ; yea , seeing its waters are carried to the neighbouring places in the summer-time , the nucerian water is now out of use , to the great benefit of the sick . so in the summer-time they run to these fountains in all kinds of fevers , ( for the use of water , that i may not say the abuse , is grown so frequent , that it seems the only febrifuge ) and chiefly to the fountain which is called abyssus , as to the vvell of esculapius , of which we spoke before . vvherefore i need not fear to make use of what claudian says of aponus , that they are at least amongst our countrey-folks . — commune medentum auxilium , praesens numen inempta salus . physicians common aid , a present help , a powerful deity , and an unpurchas'd health . and so much may suffice concerning the nature and properties of the vvells of modena ; and if i have said something like probable , 't is well ; but if not , then both for the dignity and the difficulty of the matter , volutatum est dolium in cranio . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a57681-e490 theor. l. 1. p. 114. tell. th. l. 1. c. 5. tell. th. c. 5. p. 35 , 36 , 37. ☞ ram. p. 58 , 76. notes for div a57681-e4340 fig. 1. exer. 100. de motu anim . p. 1. prop. 215. notes for div a57681-e5270 ☜ ☜ notes for div a57681-e7150 ep. 2. lib. 4. notes for div a57681-e9590 lib. 5. hist. nat. c. 9. c. 35. lib. 3 quaest. nat. c. 28. cant. 4. l. 3. quae. nat. c. 7. de leg. dial. 8. notes for div a57681-e11180 lib. 7. de re metallica . notes for div a57681-e11830 in lucul . notes for div a57681-e12580 5 aph. 26. lib. 31. n. 11. c. 3. one may rather say saline . in thal. de bonit . aq . c. 1. a præfatory answer to mr. henry stubbe, the doctor of warwick wherein the malignity, hypocrisie, falshood of his temper, pretences, reports, and the impertinency of his arguings & quotations in his animadversions on plus ultra are discovered / by jos. glanvill. glanvill, joseph, 1636-1680. 1671 approx. 303 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 117 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a42823 wing g821 estc r23393 12068301 ocm 12068301 53427 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a42823) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53427) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 70:13) a præfatory answer to mr. henry stubbe, the doctor of warwick wherein the malignity, hypocrisie, falshood of his temper, pretences, reports, and the impertinency of his arguings & quotations in his animadversions on plus ultra are discovered / by jos. glanvill. glanvill, joseph, 1636-1680. [16], 212, [4] p. printed by a. clark for j. collins ..., london : 1671. first ed. cf. bm. advertisements (p. 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't is the nature of those animals , and that 's the only account can be given . m. stubbe hath kept a noise ever since he could open , against all men , except m. hobbs , and the republicans ; and all things , but quakerism and democracy . he hath faln with a vehemence suitable to his nature upon monarchy , ministry , universities , and humane learning ; provoking all men to whom those interests were dear . but perceiving he had the fate of old alexander ross , to be despised by those , he had affron●ed ; and seeing that no one thought him worthy of confu●ation , he turns about and confutes himself : he pu●s on a mighty zeal for those things , which he had endeavour'd to w●rrey ; and there being nothing of note left which he had not assaulted before , he falls at last upon the r. s. with his usual noise and vehemence : he clamours , that this institution is destructive to monarchy , church of england , universities , and all ancient literature ; and follows his confident accusations with loud outc●ies , and restless importunities , and numerous reproaches ; persecuting that illustrious company with such wild ravings , and impetuous eagerness , as if it were an army of painims that had invaded us , and he the only man that saw the danger , and was concern'd for the common safety . by his earnest noise , he frights some that know not the nature of the creature ; and hath possest divers , who are not well informed concerning the institution of the royal society , with terrible apprehensions of it . this is all m. stubbe ha●h or c●n do : his main force is in the boldness and vehemence of his accusations ; his pretences of proof are contemptible and ridiculous , and can perswade none but those he hath scared into an incapacity of right judgment . for this reason i have thought it requisite to begin my answer in an account of his temper and genius out of his own writings ; and when that is known , his greatest force is disabled : for his impudent censures will be no longer heeded , in which his chief power lies . and therefore it is not here , as in ordinary cases , when reflections that expose the person , signifie little to the cause . but on the contrary , the representation i have made of this adversary , is one of the most proper services can be done it ; and if i should say nothing else , it were an answer . for he that proves an accuser to have been a continual p●st to his neighbours , a constant slanderer , and malicious teller of untruths , doth enough to assert his vindication against his enemies unproved accusations . i say , i thought ●it to endeavour this fi●st , since by it i shall break that part of his strength which consists in those slanders and contempts which he pours upon the experimental philosophers ; aud after that , his other arguments ● will prove like swords of flags and spears of bulrush , as will appear in that part where i make tryal of their strength . this my design , of which i have now given the reason , might , 't is like , be some occasion of the figment over which he so couragiously insults , viz [ that the uirtuosi intended to write his life ; ] when i dare say , there was never more thought of ●o this purpose , than some such collection out of his writings and i have made ; and therefore he might have forborn the complements of mean spirits , and pitiful , ridiculous mechanicks , which he bestows on them on this occasion : for there are none of those gentlemen but scorn to be so dirty , impertinent , and so like m. stubbe , as to meddle with any passages of his life , which do not tend to the weakening him in that unworthy cause in which his pride and spight have engaged him . but he is resolved , he saith , to prevent the virtuosi , and to write his life himself ; and 't is like the comical wits will thank him for a story that would ou● do guzman and don quixot . but , alas ! they are not to expect it ; he is too modest to do himself right . what he hath done as to his life , is a de●ence of those passages that he apprehended most ●bnoxious , and i shall here animadvert upon his apology , by which he thinks he hath prevented that part of my account which relates to his egregious exploits in the late times . let us consider that a little , and see what his defence signifies . it might have been expected from one , that hath trampled on the ashes of his martyr'd sovereign , defended and adored his murtherers , stiled all our kings a succession of usurpers , endeavour'd the extirpation of monarchy , and the planting a democracy of independents , anabaptists , fi●th monarchy men , and quakers , in its room : that hath represented the meekest , justest , and best of kings , as an hateful tyrant , and called our now sovereign an usurper ; that hath written maliciously against ministry , universities , churches , and humane learning ; and vindicated the quakers , and the rest of the wildest and most dangerous phanaticks . i say , it might have been expected that such a man as this , when he would be thought a convert , should renounce those horrid villanies , and humble himself by deep professions of repentance , and declare his shame for those abominable treasons and impieties , and beg pardon of god and good men for those detestable enormities . but these were below the gallantry of m. stubbe's spirit ; he hath another method to express his repentance : he falls with his old rage upon his majesty's institution , out of a pretended concern for monarchy and religion . the king , he phancies , hath erected a society that will undermine monarchy ; and those bishops and divines that are imbodied in it , are managing a design to overthrow religion : therefore m. stubbe stands up in a mighty zeal , and defends monarchy against the king , and religion against the divines ; no doubt with a purpose to do a mischief to both . this is one way of his repentance , to act as much as he dares , for the same ends he served before . and another is to justifie himself in all that he hath done ; which in a swaggering , insulting way he impud●ntly attempts in the preface to his book against the history of the royal society : and he hath done it so , that 't is hard to say which is the greater crime , his confest wickedness , or his apology . the sum of it is this : he served his patron sir hen. vane , by whom he was transcendently obliged , and he is ashamed that he hath done so little , rather than that he hath done so much for him . he confess●th himself a uassal and a slave , and such he saith are exempt from ignominy , though their masters might be accounted traytors . he pleads the example of the friend of gracchus , who justified his treason by his friendship , and said he should have burnt the capitol if gracchus had bid him . thus he tells us he hath apologized for himself a thousand times . and having said this , he is whole , the virtuosi are prevented in the design of writing his life , and none of his former pranks must be mentioned , though in another way he is doing the same things again . how little ado will serve to wipe off the foulest guilt from m. stubbe ? and how easily can he translate it upon the clearest innocence ? but , by his leave , i shall a little reflect on his apology , though he is pleased to say that the virtuosi understand not the grounds of his actions , nor have they learning enough , or skill in casuistical divinity to condemn them . [ pref. to his legends . ] for however ignorant they were of his grounds before , he hath now inlightned them with that knowledge , though his casuistical divinity is yet in the dark to them . the ground of all is , [ he served a patron : ] and doth this justifie him acco●ding to the rules of his casuistical divinity ? could the favours of any particular benefactor null his obligations to his sovereign , his religion , his country ? might not the most hellish villanies be excused this way ? and might not such an apology be made for fau● , ravi●●a● , and the stubbe's that were hanged for treason in former reigns ? could not the black executioner of the blessed k. charles the martyr , have justified his accursed parricide by the same apology ? and if iudas had been transcendently obliged by any of the scribes and pharisees , he was blameless , according to this apologists casuistical divinity . such a divinity as this indeed , 't is to be hoped the virtuosi do not understand ; 't is a sort very fit for such a conscience as he hath that pleads it : and what a divinity must that be , that will justifie iudas and m. stubbe ? let him propagate it as fast as he is able , he will need no other engine to effect the bravest of his purposes . if the remaining regicides have any projects to equal their former , m. stubbe will furnish any man with an apology , that dare● venture upon the execution of them : he shall be exempt from infamy , though he out-do the powder treason , as long as he served a patron : and thus even witches are justified for serving the devil , while he gratifies and obligeth them . come hither then , o ye sons of rebellion and mischief : here 's a casuist for your purpose : your outrages and treasons are gallantries , if you served a patron : m. stubbe hath a divinity that will defend and absolve you ; a divinity , in which there is no such thing as conscience towards god ; 't is all gratitude to patrons and benefactors ; and though they were traytors and regicides , you are exempt from ignominy or blame . is not this man now very penitent for his vile practices , when he bailds his glory upon them , gives them in as proofs of his gallantry , and calls them brave acknowledgments ? doth he not deserve favour and forgiveness , when , after his blaspheming the best of kings , and libelling the most excellent of governments ; after his endeavours to bring in eternal anarchy and confusion into his native country , and vile attempts to overthrow all learning , order and religion to gratifie paricides and usurpers ; he hath the confidence to tell the world , that he is ashamed he hath done so little ? when those patrons have occasion for him again , he 'll do the rest , if any thing more be possible . what a penitent is this , who is sorry that his crimes ( which were highly capital ) had not been more and greater , and that laies a foundation for the defence of the blackest villanies , in his very repentance and recantations ? but he hath a president to warrant him : blessius pleaded his friendship to gracchus to justifie his seditions , and would have burnt the capitol if gracchus had bid him : thus m. stubbe saith , he hath apologized for himself a thousand times : he served sir h. vane , and was ( as he owns himself ) his slave , and so he is cleared from all imputations : yea , if his patron had bid him , he would have kill'd his father , and murder'd his sovereign . this is the sense of his apology . what poor , easie fools doth he suppose his readers , when he endeavours to reconcile himself to their good opinion by such silly and such vile excuses ? these are some of the expressions of m. stubbe's repentance . and yet farther to shew what a friend he is to monarchy , notwithstanding the former practices , in the same preface against the history of the royal society , p 3. he tells his reader , that 't is prudence in every particular person to contribute all he can to the support of the monarchy against all anarchical projects , and democratical contrivances , whereof a debauched and ungenerous nation is not capable . 't is prudence to endeavour the support of the monarchy now as things are , not duty . the want of vertue and generosity , makes the nation incapable of democracy for the present : but when 't is reclaimed from its debauches , and grown generous , ( as it was in the times of m. stubbe●● former patrons ) then democracy will be the only proper government . monarchy may serve for a debauched and ungenerous nation ; but democracy is the government of the vertuous and generous . this is the interpretation of the quoted period ; and thus m. stubbe cunningly recommends himself to his democratical friends , even when he is pretending friendship to monarchy : so that should his old patrons return again to their insolent reign , ( which heaven forbid ) there is no doubt but this paragraph would be pleaded to prove , that he never deserted their principles ; and there is a quotation in the margin of the same page , to assure his kindness to democracy , even when 't was prudent to make a shew for monarchy ; — ut verissime dixerit cosinus medices cardinali salviato , in tanta opum i●●qualitate , morumque corruptione florentinam rempublicam non esse amplius libertatis capacem , quae optati potius , quam spera●i debeat . you see , o ye patriots of the good old cause , m. stubbe is constant to you ; democracy is the only liberty , 't is the government to be desired , though little to be hoped for in such a corruption of manners : your slave doth but jest with monarchy , and shew his prudence in flattering it a little , till a good occasion shall serve for him to return again to you , his patrons and benefactors : yea , he intimates what he could do for you in the words that immediately follow his apology , [ i think this defence the most proper and seasonable that i can now make : ] in a ●itter time he could justifie his obsequiousness to sir h. vane and the cause , after another manner than by this come off , that he served a patron : he could lay all things that have the name of royal , as fla● as the royal society : but he prudently tells you , [ ib. prae. p. 12. ] i will not suffer my self to be ingaged in any disputes that may contribute to the dissetlement of this nation , and monarchy . ] if he wou●d dispute , he could shake our monarchy and setlemen●s : but the nation is not yet vertuous and generous enough to deserve his favours : other justifications would be better than this of a patron , but they would not be seasonable nor proper for this time . was ever villany so impudent when it sought pardon ? did ever confidence flout a government so , when it pretended to plead its cause ? can we desire greater proof of m. stubbe's hypocrisie and disloyal inclination , than he gives in this preface ? and will he not despise the silly easiness of those , that shall accept of his apology ? certainly he must needs swell with venome , that cannot forbear spitting in the face of that government which 't is his present interest to ●latter . this 't is evident enough he hath done in the recited periods , and it would have appeared farther , if those who had his book to license had not expunged some more impudent passages . m. stubbe made a great stir in the country with his complaints that the royal society had castrated his book , and deprived it of its strength . i was lately told by a licenser , one of my lord of londons chaplains , that it was well for him that those things were blotted out , for he assured me they were such as deserved the gaol , and a pillory at least . for he impudently upbraided the king with the example of queen elizabeth in forbidding the king of france to build ships ; jeer'd the illustrious duke of york about his sea-engagement with the dutch : and twitted his majesty with the management of that war. these were the things that were put out , but not by the royal society , ( as m. stubbe fabled ) but by other licensers to whom he owes thanks for the present possession of his ears . this is the zealous defender of the government against the virtuosi ; let him now put his malicious , cavilling wit upon the tenters ; let him improve every dream of a shadow , and fetch what consequ●nces he can from every little appearance ; and if after all , he can shew that the royal society have ever said or done any thing so ●adutiful , or disrespectful to the government , as any one of these passages , which he vents in his greatest fit of kindness to it , i 'll for ever renounce the virtuosi , and become his humble proselyte . upon the whole carriage , for my part i am perswaded that m. stubbe intends no more in his present pretences for monarchy , than to jeer it , and to try whether the friends of the government are such pitiful ignoramus's as to be satisfied with his ridiculous and almost treasonable excuses . if there be any he can content so , there is no doubt but he will laugh with his democratical friends at the good nature of those tender-headed people that will be so easily ca●oll'd . and those others that are less soft and fa●il , must needs laugh at him , when they see how ridiculously the pretence of loyalty sits upon him , and how he over-acts in his zeal . in testimony of his great love and devotion to the king , he thus subscribe● the title of his rare book of chocolata , by hen. stubbe physician for his majesty in the island of iamaica ; now ( no doubt ) he is physician for his majes●y too in the town of warwick ; and he intends to be physician for his majesty in the city of london , when he hath run down the royal society : for then , he saith , he will remove thither , and get all the practice . but further , in testimony of his loyalty , he calls one sort of his chocolet , chocolata royal ; this was that chocolata that was the universal medicine which cured all diseases in iamaica , when he made and sold it there ; and he thinks fit to honour monarchy by calling it royal . i have an hundred very pleasant things to say of this chocoletman of iamaica ; as of his spitting fire in a fever , and reading by the light of his spittle , and other such wonders , which he did and saw : but they are not for my present purpose . and now when i reflect upon the impudence , and weakness , malignity and impiety of m. stubbe's apology for his former vile writings , i cannot but wonder much at the strange incogitancy of some , that take the excuse of his serving a patron , and go away contented with it ; when this plea is pregnant with infinite villanies and mischiefs , and is one of the most shameless apologies that ever was offered in the world . this i suppose i have proved : but if any have so much favour for m. stubbe , upon the account of his present undertakings , as to swallow such a morsel , i shall no further oppose their kindness , but only to desire them , to look a little forward into my book , and to see there what the things are for which he needs their candour and pardon ; and if , after they are informed , they shall take the excuse of serving a patron for a justification of his crimes , let them but consider too , whether it be not probable he is serving some patron now , and whether any heed be to be given to the ranting vehemencies and clamours of a confest mercenary scribler . and thus i think i have sufficiently chastised his apology , by which he thought he had secured himself against all designs to represent him : this i have undertaken , for caution to those that might otherwise be in some danger of heeding him , and of being misled by his pretended zeal for monarchy and religion , into an ill opinion of the royal institution , which he maliciou●ly slinders ; and having done this , my following representation of his pestilent spirit and temper will bear , and i hope signifie to the purpose for which i intend it . 't is true , personall matters in controversies should , as much as is possible , be avoided , and i dislike them much ; but m. stubbe hath made them necessary in this ; and the account of him which i am to give , will not be without its pleasure , since 't is a description of a very strange animal , and such a one as is seldom seen out of africa , or the country of cannibals . having thus defeated m. stubbe's excuses , it may be thought fit that i make one for my self : for the bare recital of the abominable things he hath disgorged , cannot but raise a stench that is loathsom and offensive ; but , i hope , it will be considered , that i could not have given sufficient caution against the malignity of this troubler of men , without opening those ulcers , and letting the world see what filth and venome there is under the fairness of his pretences . if any man think i have handled this adversary with too much bitterness and severity , he seems to forget that i have to do with m. stubbe ; russians and swaggering hectors are not to be treated with gentleness and soft words ; and , i know , should i deal with this antagonist in a way of lenity and smoothness , it would incourage his insolence , and make him phancy that he is feared . i have therefore thought sit to express my self here with more smartness , than i do allow of towards men of common civility and good manners ; and 't is not my passion , but judgment prompted me to it . and now , lest it should be suspected that my dealing so much with m. stubbe hath infected me with the spirit of detraction , i shall next give him those acknowledgments that i think may be his due . i confess therefore that he is a man that hath read ; he was for some years sub-librarian at oxford , and so by his imployment was chained among the books : from thence he got great knowledge of titles and indexes ; and by that can , upon any occasion , let out a great apparatus of authors , and fill his margin with quotations : this must be acknowledged , and it is no small advantage for shew and vain-glory ; and by this means he will seem to have the better of any man he shall oppose , among such as are not able , or not concerned to examine how he useth his authors , and how he applies them . but whoever doth this , will find , that notwithstanding his pretence to great reading , he reads by indexes , and only collects those passages from authors which he can suborn to serve his mischievous purposes : that he understands not , or wilfully perverts the writers he cites : that after he hath swaggered with their names , and recited several scraps out of their works , his quotations prove nothing but that m. stubbe is malicious and impertinent , and makes the sayings and opinions he fights against : of all this , i have given specimens of proof in divers of the ensuing sheets ; by which it will appear , that this confident man is one of the most notorious impertinents that ever writ a book . and whoever attentively considers his writings , and observes the way of his discourse , must needs see , that whatever he pretends to reading , he is extreamly defective in judgment , and understands not the way of close , coherent reasoning : nor indeed can it be expected from one of his temper of brain ; his head is red-hot , and consequently his thoughts are desultory and flirting ; so that he affirms suddenly whatever comes into his phansie , not considering how it agrees with what he said before ; what it makes for his purpose , or how it may be well proved . he hath not the patience to ponder any thing deeply , nor the judgment and staidness to weigh consequences ; and therefore writes and speaks in a vein of infinite impertinence and inconsistency . this i may be permitted to say here , because i have proved it in the following papers . and now what can such a mans pretended learning signifie ? it may make him proud and troublesom , captious and censorious , but will never inable him to serve the world with any useful informations : nor is any mans reading any further to be valued , than as it improves and assists his reason ; where it doth not this , 't is either a feather in a fools cap , or a sword in a mad-mans hand ; a vain glorious impertinence , or an instrument of mischief . but i perceive my preface begins to swell , and therefore i only add further , that whereas m. stubbe reports in several places of his books , that the virtuosi contributed to my plus ultra , i will acquit those gentlemen from being concerned in the composure of a discourse against which the impertinent animadverter raiseth such a clamour ; and assure the reader , that this his report is false . and whereas in his book against doctor sp●att , he saith , that some some saw my papers remitted to me blotted and altered , this affirmation is a gross untruth also , or a contemptible impertinence . if he means ( as he designed to insinuate ) that the virtu●s● remitted them to me blotted and altered by them , or any other person , 't is a loud falshood . no man , except my transcriber , ever saw my book till it was printed , nor did i alter any one word upon any man● suggestion ; so that his report in that sense , which would have signified to his purpose , is a shameless legend : in an other sense indeed 't is true , but impertinent ; my papers were sent home to me blotted and altered ; but they were remitted by my aman●ensis , as i sent them to h●m blotted and altered by my own hand , without any other● knowledge or direction ; and what can malice make of this ? 't is a pretty artifice i observe in m. stubbe , to intitle every thing any man doth in favour of the royal society , to that whole body , or at least to a club of the vi●tuosi ; that so , if he gain any advantages over any private member , it may redound to the disparagement of the society , and raise the glory of his performances ; and therefore i must expect that much of this following account shall be imputed to the assistance and contributions that he will say i had from the virtuosi : but to prevent his belying those gentlemen in this , and the concerning them in any of my failures , i declare i consulted none of them for any of these reflections ; i did not submit my copy to their alterations , nor did they , or any other person , ever see these papers till they were printed : so that whatever wrath they kindle in him , it ought all to be directed against me ; and i assure him i despise both his displeasure and his favour . i had other things to have added here , but i cast them into the postscript ; and i advertise but this more , that there is a late printed letter of the learned doctor meric causabons , written to doctor peter du moulin , upon the occasion of my plus ultra , and containing some reflections on it : i have answered the strictures of that reverend man in a particular discourse , which i think to publish when i next reckon with m. stubbe . to my much honoured friend francis godolphin , esq ; sir , i was just upon the close of a short treatise of the religious temper and tendencies of the modern philosophy , when m. stubb's book against me came to my hands . i was glad to see that this adversary at last appeared in the open light. for i love not sculking and base assaults in the dark . i had much rather be call'd to an account for any thing i have written , before the learned and judicious , than to be confuted in corners , among those , whose judgments are either prepossest or incompetent ; this latter hath for some time been my hard fate . for after m. crosse's fardel against me , was rejected by the licensers both at oxford and london for its incomparable railing , and impertinence ; he endeavour'd to expose me among his cronies and confederates by the manuscript libel . he carrried it about from place to place , and like a scotch merchant , opened his pack at each house in his circuit : he told his tales to every country-farmer , and acquainted every mechanick with his mighty deeds and purposes : so that for a time , there was no other subject handled on ale-benches , and in coffee-houses , in all this neighbourhood . besides which practices , he pelted me with doggerel rhimes innumerable ; and a pretended answer to the chuè gazett was read privately to those that had a mind to hear such stuff , and so i was confuted : but great care was taken that i should not know in what , for fear i should spoil the triumphs , and write a second part of the legends of the disputer . much after the same manner m. stubb for a year and upwards dealt with me , and divers excellent persons , with whom i am not worthy to be mention'd . he travelled up and down to tell his stories of the royal society , and to vent his spite against that honourable assembly . he took care to inform every tapster of the danger of their designs ; and would scarce take his horse out of an hostler's hands , till he had first let him know how he had confuted the virtuosi . he set his everlasting tongue at work in every coffee-house , and drew the apron-men about him , as ballad-singers do the rout in ●airs and markets : they admir'd the man , and wondred what the strange thing call'd the royal society should be ; till at last being informed by this zealous patriot of religion , they saw clearly that they were a committee of projectors to bring in popery : he assured them that the first design was laid by a iesuite , and discovered the whole plot upon religion , which he declared his pious resolutions to vindicate against this dangerous combination . all this time while he fought ( like his masters of the good old cause ) with vulgar rumours , which he raised , he was impregnable . there 's no contending with spectres and apparitions . but at last he renders himself more palpable and consistent , so that now he may be dealt with : and since he hath made me the first object of his fierce wrath , in this quarrel with the royal society , i shall endeavour to make my defence , and to disarm the fury of this guy of warwick : by which , i hope , i shall let the world see that this hector is so far from being a competent adversary for that illustrious company ; that all the force his rage and malice can raise , is not able to oppress , or as much as hurt the least considerable member of that body . this i intend in a full and particular answer to his book against my plvs vltra , and shall let this man of battels ( who is used to triumph before he strikes a blow ) see , that he hath nonplus'd me no where , but in his title . but my affairs will not permit me to fall on that work , so soon as i am willing you should have an account of this undertaker ; and therefore i shall now send you a few general remarques concerning the author and his work : by which you will perceive , that it is not at all to be wondred at , that he treats so many excellent persons with such insolence and scorn , so many taunts of ignorance , illiterateness , and what comes next ; since i shall shew , that this is his constant , natural style , and hath always been his use in his early oppositions of some of the most famous men of our nation : so that you are to reckon that the reproachful characters he gives , import only , that the man is angry ; and ignorant and illiterate in his mouth and pen signifie but one that is not of his mind , or at least not of that mind , which he hath a present humour and interest to oppose . and yet i must confess that after i heard of m. stubb's intentions of falling on my book , i expected more railing and greater vehemence , more opprobrious names , and spightful sayings ; because i knew the man and his genius : and though some perhaps can scarce apprehend a greater excess in these good qualities , then are to be met in this piece , yet i can very well conceive such , as are incomparably greater , having so lately been made acquainted with the civilities of m. cross , in comparison to whom , this adversary writes like a christian and a gentleman ; and that you may see how much there is of these , in this author , and judge of the other by him , i shall now immediately give you the account of m. stubb , reserving that of m. cross to another season . that i may proceed distinctly , i shall represent him in ( 1. ) his temper , ( 2. ) designs , and ( 3. ) management of them in his last book . in describing these i shall not have recourse to such base artifices , as he , and his friend m. cross have used against me , viz. idle legends and fictions of their own brains : nor shall i reflect upon those infinite discourses he hath had in very publick places often , and sometimes in my hearing , from which a character full enough might be drawn of him , ( for i think it not generous or handsome to make them more publick than he hath done himself , except i am unavoidably forced upon it ) but i shall take all my accounts of the undertaker out of his publisht writings , and give you him in his own words , nakedly as they are , quoted to a page . in order to which , i think fit to present you with a list of those books he hath written , with a short touch of the subjects that are handled in them . one of the first of his essays , while he was yet but a youngster in oxford , was a defence of m. hobbs against the reverend dr. wallis , the learned and famous geometry-professor of that university . the subject we have in the account he gives of his performance , [ p. 18. of the second alphabet ] where he saith he hath proved irrefragably , that cum is the proper preposition of the ablative of the manner : that praetendit scire is no anglicism : that he hath demonstrated , that motus & magnitudo — consideravimus is good latin : as also , that propositiones falsae sunt — & multa ejusmodi is elegant : that he hath evinced tanquam to signify as if ; and that tanquam si is not one word : that he hath said so much about adduco , that nothing is wanting but pantagruel ' s hug : that the professour may learn of him to put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 together in composition : that n may come before a labial , and particularly before p : that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a visible point , and used for a mark with a hot iron . these exploits he hath done , and these , he saith , are the points he undertook to maintain . weighty matter for a publick quarrel ; and so weighty , it seems , the undertaker accounted it , as to be worthy his passion , which broke out upon the doctor in these expressions of civility , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , pigmy , quacksalver , and mountebank ; critical bravo , witty-poll , of no credit , lost to all persons of learning , and a contemptible adversary , ignorant , intolerably ignorant ; and a world more to the same purpose , of which in its due place , with the references to the particular page . how fit a man is this to undertake the vindication of m. cross ? but i must go on with the catalogue of his works . the next is an essay in defence of the good old cause ] the most glorious cause in the world , accompanied with no less success , p. 2. of the second alphabet . [ and a vindication of the honourable sir hen. uane ] whom not to honour and admire is to be an enemy to all that is good and vertuous , p. 7. second alphabet [ from the false aspersions of m. baxter ] a philistim , shimei , rabshakeh , p. 11. 2d . alph. a letter to an officer of the army concerning a select senate ; which is to consist , according to his model , of independents , anabaptists , fifth monarchy-men and quakers ; excluding all papists , prelatical , and presbyterian persons . p. 61. a light shining ovt of darkness , a book against ministry , p. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , &c. vniversities , p. 92 , 93. and 139 , 140. school-divinity , and knowledge of tongues , 94 , 95 , 96. humane learning , p. 101 , 102. aristotles philosophy , p. 105. publick churches , 106. church-yards , 110. division into parishes and tiths , p. 112 , 113. bells , 138. vniversity habits , and degrees , p. 14.2.143 . black coats , p. 147. gowns , 148. respect of persons , complemental addresses , and your servant , p. 163. swearing before a magistrate , p. 165 , 166. containing also an express apology for the quakers , p. 55.56 . i quote from the second edition . an accovnt of chocolata , by which he wholly obligeth manking . [ pref. p. last . ] an accovnt of m. greatarick , who wrought real miracles , p. 8.10 . and did things that never man did , except christ and the apostles , p. 27. these miraculous things he wrought by the temperament and composure of his body , p. 11. and antient miracles and modern ones have been wrought by the efficacy of a corporal touch , p. 11. this of m. greatarick did not indeed always succeed , and there were some diseases , as well as some devils , which even the apostles could not cast out , p. 5. a censvre upon certain passages contain'd in the history of the royal society , which he saith are impious and pernicious , p. 1. contrary to the analogy of faith and scripture , p. 36. a congeries of gross vntruths , tending to the dishonour of god , and the destruction of the protestant religion , introducing a popish implicit faith , or something that in effect is the same , but attended with more ridiculous circumstances , p. 40. directly contrary to the constitutions of our church , and better becoming a socinian from poland and amsterdam , than a divine of our church , p. 53. hath not religion and the church of england , think you , an excellent champion , in this defender of m. hobbs , sir hen. uane , and the quakers ? but lastly , he hath writ a specimen of some animadversions vpon the plus ultra of m. glanvill ; in which he proves , that the antients were able to cure cut fingers ; as particularly podalirius and machaon in homer ; and galen compounded several medicines to that purpose , as diapalma , tripharmacon , and another hard word , p. 3. and again 159. that 't is a very difficult iourney to the moon , and a great way , p. 175. and many other things , that are as much to his purpose , as these , as will be shewn in the sequel . for the present i only say , concerning this piece in general , that with a great deal of noise and labour , the animadverter hath proved nothing ; for all his force is imployed either against castles in the air of his own raising , or incidental passages that are little or nothing to the cause i undertook , and of no concern to the main body of my book . and yet i must confess that when i compare this adversary with my other antagonist m. cross , i think there are acknowledgments due to him , for the reading , and shew of learning , that i find in his discourse ; and i may say of it , as one did of an impertinent disputer , that was very brisk and fluent in his argument , bene disputat , sed nihil ad rem . but the papers of my other assailant deserve not as much as this ; for they contain nothing , but opprobrious names , gross falshoods , and contemptible puerilities ; no learning , nor any shew of any , but such , as a boy of 18 would despise . thus briefly , and in general of the writings of this aggressor : out of them i now come to give you some more particular accounts of his spirit and temper . and because i resolve to abstain from all expressions that look like the rhetorick and civility of m. cross , and his champion m. stubb , i shall not give those hard names to the qualifications i discover , that every man else will think they deserve : but only make a kind and sober enquiry after some of the remarkable virtues he discloseth in his works . i shall only insist here on two . and because he tells his reader in the first page of the preface to his light shining out of darkness , [ edition the first ] that he is one that desires to lie low in his own eyes , i shall begin these enquiries by taking notice , ( 1. ) of his singular modesty ; this is exceeding eminent in every leaf of his writings : in his attempts , while but a boy , upon the reverend dr. wallis , and m. baxter ; and now he hath made it more remarkable by his assault upon the royal society his majesties institution , and an assembly , consisting of persons of the greatest honour , gravity , and learning , while he is yet but a young country physician ; as he styles himself in his preface against my book , plus ultra : and above all , it is notorious , what a modest man this is , in his early oppositions of monarchy , and proposals of a model for the government of three nations , and extirpation of those antient laws , which had had been made and confirmed by the wisdom of so many kings , and successive parliaments , in his impugnations of ministry , vniversities , chvrches , hvmane learning , and all orders , and constitvtions whatsoever , as popish and antichristian . but let us take a view of his singular humility and lowness in his own eyes , in some expressions in his writings ; i shall recite a few instances among numerous others , which for brevity i must omit , by which you may judge , how he excels in this virtue . in the first page of his book against dr. wallis in defence of m. hobbs , he expresseth himself to his friend in these words , i have pen'd a further discourse upon that subject , which you may suppress from going any further , if you find that my early repute abroad doth not call for the publication , nor the applause of the ingenious , whose praises were the more to be regarded , because they were directed to the piece which was publick , not the author that was concealed . it seems he had writ an anonymous book , which , he tells the world , raised him an early repute , and the applauses and praises of the ingenious . very modest ! and as lowly is that other saying , p. 5. if i find the doctor produce more grammars against us , i will allow him two to one , and venture my reputation against his no credit : great odds ! m. stubb ' s reputation , that early reputation abroad against the no credit of dr. wallis ! he must needs be certain , that would lay such a wager . well! the geometry-professor of oxford is a person of no credit , and the young man of christ-church attaqu'd and weakned it : this he tells us he had done , in his preface , p. 3. he valiantly attaqu'd nothing , and made it as weak , as water : and sooner he had done it , but for a good reason ; 't was long , saith he , ere my laughter upon the reading of dr. w. would permit me to use a pen , ibid. and what should the man do , while the fit of laughter was upon him ? as soon as he could for laughing , he assures us , he prepared for triumph . and being then rather to proclaim my victory , than to gain one , i supposed i might have a greater time to prepare for triumph , than had been otherwise necessary to the dispute , ibid. p. 3. well! but what need of so much triumph , and such preparations for it , if this adversary were so ridiculous ? he tells us in the words that follow , nor do i now go about to triumph over the single doctor , ( the conquest is too mean ) no doubt modest harry ! but over all those whose interest or ignorance may lead them to approve his writings , who are numerous at least ; and since the vogue of the people will have them deserving too , i have thought them worthy the passion of thy affectionate friend and servant . so he concludes to the understanding reader : but that friend of his may ask , that since the approvers of the doctors writings are numerous , and they have the vogue of the people for deserving too ; how should it come to pass that he is a person of no credit , as p. 5. and a contemptible adversary ? as [ p. 8. second part. ] if he had made his address to the courteous instead of the vnderstanding reader , some of that sort probably might not have observed this fit of forgetfulness : and he that doth , must pass such slips over , or he 'l find work enough for his patience on this account , as well as others , in the writings of the vndertaker . but 't is not my business to note any of these here ; his modesty and the lowliness of his mind , ( for which he would have recommended himself to those meek ones of the earth , lambert's army , and the committee of safety ) are my present subject : of these but an instance o● two more . he tells us in his preface to his animadversions on my book , p. 5. that the comical wits , ( so he pleaseth to call the fellows of the royal society ) were so alarm'd at the specimen of his animadversions on dr. sprat and m. glanvill , that they imployed all their artifices to divert him : great sir gvy ! how that host trembles before thee ! how do their spirits fail , and their courage sink at thy summons ! how they weakly fly to artifices to put by thy formidable force , when they have not strength to stand before it ! well may they fear that redoubted arm that hath slain so many monsters ; antichrist , and all his limbs , monarchy , churches , vniversities , ministry , and the rest : this pigmy troop cannot stand under one blow of thy more than herculean club. therefore the cowards , mean spirits , pitiful mechaniciens , ( as with valiant despight he calls them ) endeavour to wave the combat by disingenious proceedings , ibid. contrary ( it seems ) to all generous laws of chivalry ; they treacherously design ( he tells us ) not only upon his fortunes , but life : they cannot be secure while he is above ground . well! but he knows his advantages , and assures us that they are at his mercy ; the obligation ( as he saith ) would be lost in sparing them , he resolves therefore to take the daring counsel ; and though they should oppress him by treacherous power , it would be said , that he fell their uictor and their martyr , [ ib. p. 5. ] thus dying samson pluck'd the house upon the philistims . and no doubt m. stubb is as much a victor , as he is like to be a martyr . for , what a conquerour is he in title-pages and prefaces ? with what ease doth he get victories ? vidi , vici ; he only laught at dr. wallis , and prepares for triumph , as soon as the merriment was over : he dispatch'd a specimen of animadversions against dr. sprat , and m. glanvill , and presently the royal society are at his mercy ; and i , for my part , am reduced to a non-plus in his first sentence , and designed for a sacrifice to publick obloquy , in the second leaf of his preface . it seems he hath the wind of publick fame in a bag , and can direct reputation or reproach as he pleaseth . the general sense of mankind depends upon his pen , which is none of the common ones , to which from henceforth i am to be given up , as he threatens , p. 2. now i see with how much reason he saith , that the expectation of all men was impatient to see his animadversions , [ pref. p. 7. ] no doubt 't was that they might know what they were to judge of the virtuosi . he hath at last obliged mankind with them , as he promiseth to do by his observations about chocolata , [ disc. of choc . pref. p. last . ] and now he expects without question , that the comical wits should be odious to the kingdom , as he tells us he designed to make them . [ non-plus , pref. p. 4. ] the kingdom , 't is like , will love and hate as he would have it . he gives the stamp of odious or amiable , and the character is indelible . this , sir , is a short description of the modest man , that was so low in his own eyes , when he stood before his patrons of the good old cavse . and from this remarkable virtue of his we may pass to an enquiry about another as eminent , viz. ( ii. ) his civility and dutiful demeanour towards his betters : of this he gives great instances in his expressions towards all sorts of superiours . concerning our kings he saith , that their whole succession was a continued usurpation , [ pref. to the good old cause , p. 2. ] of the glorious king charles the martyr ; that all his evil council did ride upon one horse , ibid. and adds , that the patriots of the long parliament and army executed iustice upon him. [ vind. against m. baxter , p. 59. ] our present soveraign he styles an usurper , and mates him with cromwel in the infamy of that title ; for speaking of the day of the tyrants death , he saith , it was famous for the vanquishing of one , and the death of an other usurper . [ against m. baxt. p. 53. ] and every one knows that was the third of september , the day also of the kings final overthrow at worcester . and in his letter to an officer of the army , p. 14. speaking of a cloud out of the north , which ( he saith ) was more dreadful to tender consciences , than the romish inquisition ; he adds , that in comparison thereof , the return of charles stuart and his bishops would prove a moderate desire : in which expression he thought , no doubt , he had rais'd the dreadfulness of that cloud to the most hyperbolical height possible , and much beyond the comparison with the inquisition . and whether that may not go for a civility to his majesty , ( since he is return'd by happy and miraculous providence with his bishops ) which he prates of [ p. 21. of his late book against me ] let the reader judge . to set off the advantages aristotle had for the compiling of his history of animals ; he speaks of the greatness of alexander , his impatience to effect his purposes , his generosity in acknowledging services , his vnderstanding what was done and omitted ; and then our author intimates that the royal society have not such a patron in the king , as aristotle had in alexander : how much respect and affection to his majesty was meant by this comparison , let those think , that consider the approved loyalty of this defender of the good old cause . and having spoken of his civility to our kings , ( if you do not like that sort ) i may here acquaint you , that he had another kind for sir hen. uane , and his accomplices in the cause , which in m. stubb's opinion , was the most glorious in the world. [ p. 2. against m. baxt. ] these conducted us in our way to freedom , p. 3. and a glorious freedom they led us to , for by their help we were delivered from the norman yoke . [ pref. to good old cause , p. 10. ] and how heavy and intolerable that was , he expresseth [ ibid. ] in these words , i often communing with mine own soul in private , use to parallel our bondage under the norman yoke , and our deliverance therefrom , to the continuance of the children of israel in aegypt , and their escape at last from that slavish condition . this put him in mind to compare our deliverers ( forsooth ) to moses , and 't was not , he saith , one moses , but many illustrious personages , whose memory ( he prophesies ) shall live , when that of thrasybulus , timoleon , epaminondas , brutus , valerius , or any worthies greece or old rome could ever boast of , shall cease to be mention'd . [ against m. b. p. 3. ] what a seer was m. stubb ! their memories live , and will , no doubt , continue as long as the records of tybourn : and till all trading fail there , those patriots of the long parliament and army , who executed iustice upon the late king , shall never cease to be mention'd . thus he celebrates the illustrious regicides . and of sir h. uane he saith , that not to have heard of him is to be a stranger in this land ; and not to honour and admire him , is to be an enemy to all that is good and virtuous , [ vind. of sir h. v. against m. b. p. 7. ] and adds further , that he is one , whose integrity , whose vprightness in the greatest imployments hath secured him from the effects of their hatred , in whom his sincere piety , zeal for the publick , and singular wisdom may have raised envy and dread . [ ibid. ] and in the following page he assures us , that sir h. hath discovered the most glorious truths that have been witness'd unto these 1500 years and more , in a manner as extraordinary ; i mean ( saith he ) not in the persuasive words of humane wisdom , not in the sophistry of school-learning , not as the scribes and pharisees , but as one having authority , and in the evidence and demonstration of the spirit , viz. like christ iesus , and the apostles working miracles for the evidence and demonstration of their doctrines ; so that here sir harry is advanc'd to a kind of equality with christ and the apostles , as they elsewhere are brought down by him to a level with m. greatarick . [ in his miraculous conformist ] and now sir h. uane being a person of such a character , we need not wonder , that respect should be due to him from all the world , as he tells us it is , in the preface to his vindication . and little less in his opinion is due to m. harrington for the commonwealth-model in his oceana , of which , he saith , in the preface to his good old cause , p. 16. i admire his model , and am ready to cry out , as if it were the pattern in the mount. and [ p. 26. ] he declares his judgment for the promoting m. harrington's model , in the praises whereof ( saith he ) i would enlarge , did i not think my self too inconsiderable ( an humble fit ) to add any thing to those applauds , which the understanding part of the world must bestow upon him , ( they must and can not chuse , since m. stubb hath profest to admire it ) and which , as he goes on , though eloquence it self should turn panegyrist , he not only merits , but transcends . 't is pity but m. stubb had made some provision in his elogy for the change of times , as no doubt he would , could he have foreseen , that his eloquence might have had an occasion to turn panegyrist for monarchy . the wary modesty of m. p. had been worth his imitation here ; who concludes some of his immortal poetry with this excellent distich , this was the opinion of william p. in the year of our lord one thousand six hundred thirty three . but who could have thought that a nation delivered from the vassallage of the norman yoke , would again have chosen a linsy woolsy monarchy , [ vind. of sir h. v. p. 42. ] rather than the pattern in the mount ? who would have dreamt that we should have preferr'd charles stuart and his bishops [ ut supr . ] to the patriots of the long parliament and army that executed iustice upon the late king ? [ vind. of sir h. v. p. 59. ] that the same should befal us as did the children of israel after they had cast off pharaoh ' s yoke , [ vind. of sir h. v. p. 3. ] yea , that at last , we should return not to goshen , but the most dismal parts of aegypt , rather than proceed to our felicity . [ p. 5. ] these things were so far from being likely , that notwithstanding all the discouragements the good old cause met with , which are parallel'd to those befel the israelites in their iourney , p. 4. yet our prophetick rumper heartens himself in these words , i assure my self that these are but the pangs of that birth , in which we shall at last cry out , a man-child is born , [ p. 4 , 5. ] for confirmation of which he adds , that god will not lose his own mercies , and all is but as the wandring iews in the desert , or as the going back of the sun upon the dial of ahaz ten degrees , which was a sign of recovery to disconsolate and languishing hezechias , p. 5. and so he grows confident of the final issue of things , and the prisoners of hope shall receive double satisfaction , and the ransomed of the lord shall return , ib. this is the man , sir , that cries out in astonishment at my puritanism and fanaticism [ p. 11. of his book against me ] because i call some of the aristotelian doctrines , heathen notions . but i have not yet done with his courtships of his friends of the cause ; those i have mention'd concern the grandees and patriots : the people in common have their share also of his favours , these he calls the good people , the salt of this land , [ pref. to good old cause , p. 32. ] the faithful ones , pref. p. 30. the honest party , p. 31. the true anointed ones of the lord , [ vind. of sir h. v. p. 2. ] honest and faithful souls , [ pref. to good old cause , p. 16. ] and infinite more of such elogies he bestows upon them . but nothing of all this is fanaticism , nothing like my canting in calling some of aristotle's dictates , heathen notions . this brief specimen i have given you of m. stubb's best kind of civilities . i shall now offer you some further account of those of the first sort. dr. wallis you know , is a person of great and deserved fame for learning both at home and abroad : upon that excellent man m. stubb first fastned in a defence of m. hobbs against him ; i had occasion before to touch some instances of his courtships bestowed on this learned doctor ; then i promised more , and with the particular quotations of those ; this i intend now briefly . in the preface he tells his reader , that the doctor is one , who hath so merited by his scurrility and obscenity , that his english writings may become appendixes to pasquil ' s iests , or the merry tales of mother bunch , p. 1. the doctor is one of his comical wits , no doubt . and p. 2. he saith , one of us two is grosly ignorant , viz. either dr. wallis , the man of no credit , p. 5. or m. stubb one of early reputation abroad . p. 2. let the understanding reader judge which it is ; and that he may not mistake , our author kindly directs his judgment , [ p. 6.49 . and second part , p. 1.3.5.8 . ] in which and other places , he chargeth the doctor with ignorance , want of learning , intolerable ignorance , and ignorance in the principles of his profession : so that the reader , if he be not grosly blind , must needs see which of them two it is that m. stubb thinks to be grosly ignorant . and further to express his civility and favourable opinion of the doctor , he saith , he hath afforded us nothing hitherto , but falsities and falsifications , p. 5. calls him peevish doctor , p. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pigmy , p. 20. witty-poll , p. 24. quacksalver , and mountebank , p. 25. critical bravo , p. 49. tender-fronted theologue , [ p. 5. of the second part ] contemptible adversary , p. 8. scribe among the pharisees , iourny-man to adoniram , p. 9. full of impertinencies , paralogisms , and gibberish in divinity ; so notorious a falsificatour and teller of vntruths , so void of humanity in this contest , and ordinary civility , that i can scarce hold ( saith he ) from telling you , you are of your father the devil , ib. and he goes on to mind the doctor of his pride , ambition , and disgraceful speeches against the godly party , and that remnant the army , which under the conduct of the lord of hosts upheld the cause , ibid. thus briefly of some civilities towards dr. wallis , the first of those comical wits , whom m. stubb undertook to make ridiculous and odious to the kingdom , ( to speak in his phrase . ) let us see next with what ingenuity and fairness he carried himself towards m. baxter in his defence of sir h. v. against him. this reverend divine was another of those he resolved to sacrifice to publick obloquy , as he hath done me , [ pref. of n. p. ] but let us see what way he takes to do it ; his old method no doubt , and so we find it . let us hear him rhetoricate then ; one that is no scholar at all , not skilled in latin , greek , or hebrew , not versed in ecclesiastical history , or philosophy , &c. but a meer glow-worm in literature , who borrowed his light from the darkness of the night , and the ignorance of those he converseth with . [ p. 32 , 33. of the pref. to good old cause , ] whifler in theology , p. 33. one that transcribed aulicus , and the grub-street pamphlets to frame a legend for the catholicks of kederminster , p. 32. a philistim , or shimei , or rabsha●●h , [ vind. of sir h. v. p. 11. ] whose language against the vanists may justly deserve that reply of michael to the devil , the lord rebuke thee , ibid. tedious , impertinent , p. 13. state-tinker , p. 37. retailer of other mens readings , and quoter of quotations , p. 43. his discretion cannot be so little , but his abilities are less , ibid. he chargeth him with ignorance , in the preface to the good old cause ; and ( which is very pleasant ) he saith , he remits it to others to demonstrate the charge . and before i have done with him , i shall make him wish , he had taken the same course , in reference to the virtuosi . he saith , [ p. 18. of his vindication of sir h. v. ] that he may suppose m. baxter is totally ignorant of syriack and arabick , and that his skill in hebrew is as little , which he referrs to m. robertson to prove , and thereupon he takes it for granted , insulting in these following words , dare he boast unto the world , what time he spent in impertinencies , viz. reading the fathers and schoolmen , p. 13. and yet be ignorant of that , which is almost the unum necessarium in his function ? viz. hebrew . but why m. harry must that be the almost vnum necessarium to m. baxter's function , which not one of the fathers in the nicene council ( whose creed is so famous ) understood ? as you tell us in your apology for the quakers , [ p. 85. of light out of darkness . ] but hebrew and other langu●ges shall be necessary or not , as the saying this , or the contrary will serve his turn . and 't is pretty to see how he chargeth m. baxter with ignorance in syriack and arabick , which , he saith , are of great vse for the vnderstanding the scripture , [ ibid. p. 18. ] and yet implicitely affirms , [ quer. 13. of his light out of darkness , ] that the knowledge of tongues leads us to many senses of scripture , and to put our trust in man : and again , [ qu. 18. ] that the first christians were ignorant of humane learning , and heathenish authors , and that it was not only the effect of julian the apostates malice , but christian prudence , that went about to keep the people of god from reading heathen writers : and yet these two books , speaking such contradictory things , bear date the same year ; onely indeed , the designs were very different , and m. stubb was to serve a divers interest in them ; in the one to recommend himself to the quakers and other wild fanaticks ; and in the other to vent his malice against m. baxter : and things in his divinity must be affirmed or denied , as there is occasion . he is still consistent with one principle , self ; but never was yet steady to any other . besides the civilities mention'd , i might recite innumerable others ; but i must hasten from this head : therefore of some few more briefly . he calls sir k. digby , that eminent virtuoso , the pliny of our age for lying , [ p. 161. of his animad . upon plus vltra . ] and yet p. 20. he lays much stress upon the authority of pliny . he styles the excellent history of the r. s. a nonsensical and illiterate history , p. 173. and pr. p. 4. he saith , he observed the tendency of it to be so pernicious , that , if the first provocation ( viz. that which he had from my book . ) had made him angry , he was now become obstinate , and he goes on , in that famed work i encountred with so many illiterate passages , that the credit of our nation seemed concern'd in the refuting it ; yea , he adds , that the interest of the present monarchy , the protestant religion , and the emolument of each private person was concerned ; and when these were at stake , was it fit for m. stubb to be silent ? his zeal for the credit of the nation , monarchy and religion would have destroyed him , if it had not had vent ; he must speak or burst ; and all this zeal was kindled by a sense of duty , ( as we may believe ) for he tells us , he ought not to be silent ; and those that know him may think , 't were impossible ●e should . but for an instance or two more , des-cartes his book de homine is ridiculous , p. 18. and the mathematicians in a cluster are reckon'd with the illiterate , p. 115. let illiterate persons and mathematicians be swayed against plain proof , by these arguments . any arguments will sway mathematicians ; for they seldom if ever prove metaphysicians , religieuse , or otherwise of tolerable ratiocination ; p. 17. for the geometricians either reject as false , frivolous , and indemonstrable those reasonings and studies according to which humane affairs are regulated ; or else ignorantly run into whimsies and phantastical ways of arguing , ibid. and therefore the mathematicks in general are concluded less necessary , and inutile , ibid. what pity 't is now that aristotle should be a geometrician ? as p. 18. and how come the mathematicks to be so inutile , as they were just now , p. 17. when in this 18th . 't is said , that aristotle supposeth his scholars not ignorant in geometry , since without that knowledge they could not understand his analyticks , nor that part of his ethicks , where he illustrates iustice by arithmetical and geometrical proportions . well! the methods of ratiocination laid down by aristotle are general , as to publick and private use , p. 17. those methods cannot be known without geometry according to aristotle himself , p. 18. and yet mathematicks are inutile , p. 17. for m. stubb to rail at that in one book , which he cries up and defends in another , we must allow him ; he affirms and denies what comes into his head next to serve his present spight and interest ; and we are not to look for any more consistency in his books , than in his dreams : but some would expect that the same treatise , or at least the same leaf should be consistent with it self : this may chance to happen , but he hath good luck when it doth ; for he tells us in his prefaces , that he sends away some sheets before others are written , and a man may judge by his writings that he no more remembers what he pen'd last week , than what he dreamt last night was twelve-month . but the most pleasant complement of all is behind . in the preface to his book against me , p. 3. he calls the virtuosi , prattle-boxes , and p. 1. mentions one , who , as 't is usual ( saith he ) with that sort of virtuosi , instantly usurp'd all the discourse , and , no doubt , he made hast ; but where did that wonderful virtuoso dwell , that could usurp the discourse , when m. stubb was present ? certainly 't was one of the most nimble among the prattle-boxes , there cannot be such another in the whole set : one would wonder what m. stubb should be doing , when the virtuoso usurp'd the discourse ? he tells us this was done at a person of honour's table , and that it was at the very beginning of dinner , it appears , in that the gentleman usurp'd the discourse instantly ; so that we may judge that m. stubb's teeth would not give his tongue leave ; but as soon as that was at liberty , he paid the barbarous opiniatour , p. 3. for usurping his province . if m. stubb had hated all vsurpers , as he doth the vsurpers of discourse , we had never had a defence of the good old cause . but why should he be so much concerned about this sort of usurpers ? their discourse can no more be heard in the lurry of his , than a soft voice can , amidst the clutter and noise of a mill ; so that he hath no need of the wax and wooll he prescribes against the buzze of the prattle-boxes ; his tongue will better defend his ears from that danger ; ( though i cannot promise that it will never expose them to other and worse hazards ) and he is never like to meet such an vsurper of discourse , as the virtuoso at the person of honours table did ; except the doctor of warwick could meet harry stubb of christ-church . thus i have given some account of the rare civilities of the courtly anti-virtuoso , and upon review of them , i cannot but wonder , that this man , who had so early a reputation abroad , as he told us , and was so applauded by the ingenious , should sully his fame by the choice of such pitiful adversaries : dr. wallis was ignorant , grosly ignorant , intolerably ignorant , ignorant in his own profession : m. baxter , no scholar at all , not skill'd in latin , greek , or hebrew , ecclesiastical history , or philosophy , a whiffler in theology , and glow-worm in literature : dr. sprat's history , illiterate and nonsensical ; the virtuosi , prattle-boxes , and ignoramus's ; and i , ignorant of every thing . what means this man of renown to choose out such despicable adversaries ? why doth he disparage his puissance by imploying it against such feeble foes ? what poor quarry are these for such a noble bird of prey ? he told us , heretofore , that it was zeal for the cause ; and now 't is the interest of monarchy , protestant religion , the church of england and vniversities , that have engaged this publick-spirited man to so great condescensions ; and how much reason we have to believe , that these were the true motives to his assaults , we shall see by and by . i shall now shut up this head by taking notice , what a fit second this is for m. cross : they are nobile par , and extremely alike in sundry particulars of their genius and performances ; only it must be confess'd , that m. stubb hath as much the more learning , as he is guilty of the less scurrility ; and indeed the civilities of this kind , which the physician of warwick hath bestowed upon all his adversaries , are not equal to those my other antagonist hath liberally given me singly . and though i pass immediately from looking over the collection of complements i have presented you from m. stubb , yet when i cast my eyes from it upon m. crosses papers , ( a transcript of which i have ) i cannot choose but bless my self , and cry out in astonishment . for there is scarce a word of reproach in the dictionary , but he hath found it for me ; yea he hath made divers that are span-new , to serve his purpose , and ventured upon barbarisms to miscall me by , when all the usual names of disparagement and infamy were spent . but i shall have a fitter place to reckon with that billingsgate oratour . i return to his patron m. stubb ; and having given you a short representation of his spirit and genius , out of his own publish'd writings , i come next to ( ii. ) his designs ; of these i shall briefly give his own account out of his latest books . they were ( if we may believe him ) the securing and promoting the interest of the present monarchy . [ pref. against plus vltra , p. 4. ] protestant religion [ ibid. ] and the church of england , [ title , pref. &c. against dr. sprat . ] school-divinity , [ p. 1. against plus vltra . ] universities . [ p. 1.2.13 . ] in order to the carrying on these great intendments , he design'd further to make the virtuosi really ridiculous and odious to the kingdom , [ pref. p. 4. ] to avenge his faculty upon m. glanvill , and by sacrificing that virtuoso to publick obloquy to establish general repose and tranquillity . [ pref. p. 3. ] smile not ô tres-haute & tres-agreeable comediants . [ pref. 6. ] m. marchamont stubb is the pillar of monarchy , and the patriot of protestant religion ; but you must not ask how long he hath been of this loyal and religious inclination ? he hath no longer a concern for sir h. vane , [ disc. of choc . ] you may choose whether you 'l admire him now , and yet be no enemy to all that is good and virtuous ; nor is he concerned for the other patriots of the long parliament and army , that were to be so famous , when the worthies of greece and old rome should cease to be mention'd : ut supra , tower-hill and tybourn have alter'd the case . the good old cause ceaseth to be the most glorious in the world ; and monarchy to be the norman yoke , more intolerable than the aegyptian bondage : our kings are not now a succession of usurpers ; nor is their government the most dismal part of egypt : we hear no more of charles stuart and his bishops compared to the inquisition ; nor of executing iustice upon the late king . no , the interest of the present monarchy , and the church of england are now the cause , the glorious cause , ( and next to the good old one ) no doubt the most glorious that ever was . m. politicus is better informed , his eyes are opened , and now monarchy may be as good a government as m. harrington's model , that was so like the pattern in the mount ; and general monk may be as good a patriot as sir h. vane , and the rumpers . thus we hear sir hudibras is turn'd zealous royalist ; and our sir. marchamont will pay the comical wits for the prejudice they do the present monarchy and the church of england . how like it is ( 1. ) that the interest of monarchy should be one ground of m. stubb's quarrel with the virtuosi we have seen already ; or if it do not yet fully appear from what hath been recited before , give me leave to propose to your further consideration a paragraph of his in the beginning of his vindication of sir h. v. p. 1.2 . the age ( saith he ) wherein we live , hath been all miracles ; and the coming forth of the woman out of the wilderness hath been attended with so many wonders , that a pious heart can never want imployment in its contemplation . we have seen , and our eyes bear witness of the actings of our god , the overturning of a monarchy setled upon the foundation and vsage of many hundreds of years , strengthened by what humane policy could contribute to its establishments , and what of buttress a complying clergy could assist it with out of the pulpit ; yet have we seen a change so brought about by our iehovah , that he may in extraordinary acknowledgments be proclaimed wonderful counsellour , the mighty god , the everlasting father , prince of peace : we have seen the most glorious cause in the world , accompanied with no less success , and the lord in his mercy to us , and iustice to them , hath bound our kings in chains , and nobles in fetters of iron , such as wherewith they had formerly opprest the good people of this land. this honour have all his saints , ( psal. 149.9 . ) vengeance hath he returned upon their heads , and their own shame hath covered them . the true anointed ones of the lord have appeared , for their sakes hath he rebuked monarchs , and the former have repeated the fruits of that holiness , and sacriety , whereunto the latter vainly pretended . in this strain he goes on , in imitation of the reformed style of those times , which is not canting , but the holy language of the anointed ones , for whose sake our king was bound in chains , and our nobles in fetters of iron . and are we not to believe that this anointed rumper is a zealot for the interest of the present monarchy ? we have his word for 't , and he hath told me , that he can say more for monarchy than all the virtuosi : no doubt ! it would be very much , if m. stubb could not say more for any thing than the ignoramus's . he knows the man , that useth to brag , what he can say for mahomet , and what an inclination he hath to write the life of that brave fellow ; and if turcism were among us , i know where the alcoran would have a defender , and one that can say as much for it , as for monarchy , or the church of england , if he may be credited himself ; but of that no more now . we have seen some things whereby we may judge , how dear the interest of monarchy is to our anti-virtuoso ; and how much reason we have to believe that to be one ground of his quarrel with the royal society . let us inquire next , ( 2. ) how probable it is , that he should be kindled against them by the consideration of the church of england and religion . there was a time , you know , when the church of england was in a worse condi●ion , than it is in now ; and religion in a more ruinous posture . independents , anabaptists , fifth monarchy-men , and quakers were as formidable people to both , as the virtuosi ; and all things were fallen under their destructive power . what did this pious vindicatour of the church of england and religion in that unhappy season ? no doubt , his zeal burnt like fire ; and he was sensible then , as he is now , [ pref. p. 4. ] that he ought not to be silent . then it was that his light broke out of darkness , that disclosed truths little less admirable than those sir h. vane discover'd , that were the most glorious that have been witness'd to these 1500 years , and more , [ ut sup . ] they are proposed modestly in queries , for he tells us , they are from one who desires to lie low in his own eyes . but the testimonies and proof are all for the heterodox part , for which he declares he had the most esteem ● and that he had a tender regard to those , who made the subject of those queries their assertions ; these passages make part of the preface to the first ; but are in the conclusion of the second edition , which i now use . we shall see in these queries , how he shewed his friendship to religion , and the church of england in the time of their greatest extremity . the first query is this , q. 1. whether there be any certain or peculiar name in the new testament , that signifies a minister ? or any name whence an office may be convincingly inferr'd ? if there be not , ( as there is just cause to doubt ) whether the present ministers are not to blame , while they pretend to an office and function grounded upon divine right , which hath no other foundation , than the hay and stubble of humane invention . p. 12. in the second query thus , ( they are too large for me to transcribe all ) q. 2. is it not an act of arrogance in them , who would be the apostles successors in ordinary , — ordinary ambassadors from the most high , to assume a name of greater latitude than that of apostle , or ambassador extraordinary ? or at least is it not as absurd , as if the ant should assume the single name of animal ; and the lacquey that of servant . p. 3 , 4. query 5. thus. q. 5. whether the present ministry , ( supposing them generally presbyterians , or episcoparians ) do not pretend to be ministers of the church catholick ? whether there be any mention of such a church in scripture , or in any antient creed of the first ages ? and whether luther did not place in stead thereof in his creed the christian church ? whether any body can tell what is the determinate meaning of that word ? whether the ordainers and ordained now-adays deal conscientiously in giving , or receiving , and acting really by virtue of a power from and over the catholick church , whilst the existence and signification thereof is so controverted amongst themselves and others ? p. 19. q. 6. whether ecclesia ( which is a word signifying a church ) be not a law-term deduced from free-states , in which common-wealths , the supreme popular assembly acted organized by the archon and proedri ( as a church formed and presbyterated by a minister and elders ) which did not rule but preside , p. 27. q. 7. whether such a sense of the word ecclesia , or church doth not unchurch all the parochial churches in england , and unminister all their ministers ? ibid. q. 8. whether the ministers do well to derive their succession unto christ by the means of antichrist ? p. 29. q. 9. whether the arguments of the first● reformers about their vocation do not justifie any , that shall take upon them to preach ? p. 52. q. 20. whether the first christians had any churches , or did not assemble only in private houses ? whether their want hereof can be attributed to their being under persecution , since they never made that excuse for themselves to the pagans , who objected it to them ? p. 106 , 107. q. 21. whether christianity it self be not termed heresie in scripture ? whether tertullian do not frequently call the christians a sect ? and whether the christian emperours do not so likewise in their constitutions even against hereticks ? whether the meeting-places of the first christians were not termed conventicles ? p. 107. q. 22. whether if there were heresies in the apostles days and schisms , it doth follow that there are any hereticks and schismaticks now , when there are n● apostles ? — p. 108. q. 23. whether they used in the primitive times to bury in places such as we now call church-yards ? and whether the introducing of such a custom had not a superstitious original ? p. 110. q. 24. — whether , if to preach publickly be to teach , as it is now practis'd , the apostles did ever teach publickly ? p. 112. q. 25. whether the division into parishes was not introduced by the pope dionysius ? and whether the antient christians payed tithes ? if they did , whether they did not pay them as alms ? ibid. q. 29. whether the predecessors of the protestants , and those who have so honourable a mention in our books of martyrs , and other writings for witnessing against popish and other antichristian abuses , did allow of tithes , and their divine right ? p. 120. q. 30. whether they had the vse of bells in the primitive times ? and whether the bells in england that remain ever since the reformation , have not been popishly and superstitiously christned ? p. 138. q. 31. whether it were not an act of superstition in former times to build churches and chappels in the form or fashion of a cross ? whether it were not a sin of the like nature in antient times to build their churches east and west , that so the people might bow and pray towards the east ? — and whether both these superstitions have not been renewed , and practised lately in one of the reformed colleges of oxford , viz. brasen-nose college , as in the margin . p. 139. q. 42. whether the ministers do well to go in black , or the vniversities to command it ? p. 147. q. 43. whether there were not of old amongst the iews a sort of men called cheramims , or black coats ? whether those were the people of god ? and whether the translatours of the bible did well to conceal the true meaning of this word by putting another for it , or the very word it self in english letters ? p. 148. q. 47. whether those things which had a good original and vse ( if they be not still necessary or commanded by god ) when once they have been abused to idolatry , and superstition , are not quite to be abolished ? p. 149. q. 48. whether the singing of david ' s psalms be a part of divine worship ? whether that practice was introduced in england for a spiritual end , or only to preserve the estimation and knowledge of the laudable science of musick ? p. 151. elsewhere called fidling . q. 41. q. 50. whether it be not a very great abuse put upon the independents , to say that they or their tenents came from amsterdam ? do not the doctors that are got among them , their stickling for the upholding the present formalized university , and a tithe-receiving ministry , ( whom yet not long ago they stiled abominable ) and parish priests , and their demeanour toward the quakers in oxon ( agreeable to a persecuting rather than a persecuted spirit ) sufficiently acquit them from having any affinity with those other pretious souls ? p. 156. q. 53. whether it be a peculiar practice of our modern anabaptists and quakers , that they will not swear , no , not before a magistrate ? or whether it were not an opinion of the waldenses antecessors of the protestants ? p. 166. what sort of persons these queries were intended to gratifie , 't is very easie to apprehend . but lest those friends he had a mind to make , should be so dull as not to perceive it ; he writes an express apology for the quakers beginning at p. 55. continued to p. 92. in which he tells us , that he durst not condemn the quakers , whether they reprove openly or walk naked through the streets , denouncing woes and menaces , p. 91. and he goes on ; it is a sufficient argument for me , that what god bids is not undecent , nor do they any thing for which they have not a like example , and ( possibly ) resembling commands . did not the protestant martyrs so disturb the popish priests , as the present ministers are disturbed ? and that when the laws were against them ? yea many of the first christians dealt so with the heathens and their priests . ib. and again , p. 92. if balzac or rutgersius had written his character of the antient christian , the quaker would not have stood in need of an apology . whether these passages , and the discourse were more intended to recommend the quakers , or to make the first christians , protestants , and martyrs , contemptible and ridiculous by the comparison ; let those that know m. stubb , and have ever heard him discourse about religion , judge . for my part i am satisfied . 't is a pleasant passage and to the same purpose , which i meet in his vindication of sir hen. vane , p. 36. he tells m. baxter that it was ignorantly said of him , that the quakers had no being in the world till a few years ago : and in contradiction to it , he saith , as to the generality of their opinions and deportment i do avow it out of as sure and good records , as any can be produced , that they can plead more for themselves for the first 270 years , then m. baxter for the present orthodox religion laid down in the saints everlasting rest , or the confession of the assembly . you may please to mark that he speaks not of any particular opinions of m. baxter and the assembly , which have less to be said for them out of primitive antiquity , than the quakers , but of their religion . and when m. stubb hath proved what he hath here avowed , men are like to have as good an opinion of christianity , as he can wish : and how good a one that is , i am loth to call in the vouchee he cites for m. cross , viz. general fame , to testifie . he declares it too frequently in the whole contexture of his light out of darkness ; and since , in his account of greatarick , he gives hint enough of the degree of his faith. christ iesus , and his apostles appeal continually to their works , those miraculous ones they performed , as evidencing the divineness of their commission , and the truth of their doctrines ; and m. stubb tells us , [ p. 10. ] that all religions have had their real miracles ; and so let them dispute , or fight it out as they can , miracles must be tried by truth , not truth by miracles , [ ibid. ] but how the truth shall be tried , viz. that of a divine commission , or authority : 't is not for the interest of one of his principles , or rather of his no principles , to tell us . and when he hath taken away the testimony of the spirit in miracles , he knows well enough what will become of christianity : this he endeavours here , by many very odd suggestions . m. greatarick did things miraculous , [ p. 8. ] and these he performed by the temperament and composure of his body , [ p. 11. ] so that healing miracles are the effects of the effluvia of a particular ferment , [ p. 11. ] and so christ jesus shewed nothing of divinity in curing diseases by his touch. yea , m. greatarick is mated with him , and the apostles , [ p. 26. ] he did the things that never man did , but christ and his apostles ; he cured diseases by the temperament and composure of his body , [ ut sup . ] but no man ever did so besides ; only the son of god , and his disciples had the priviledge . and yet [ p. 10. ] this in express words is plainly contradicted ; for we hear there of others that did the same things with christ iesus , and m. greatarick , the alexicaci , salutatores , or bensedevios , that cure by anointing with spittle , and by breathing and stroaking of the patient . [ p. 10. ] and in turky also and africk they have persons of the like qualifications , [ ibid. ] but 't is nothing for m. stubb to affirm contradictions , and i wish that were the worst could be justly laid to his charge ; i have a great deal more to say of his friendship to religion , which i keep for a reserve . he tells us , p. 15. of his book against my plus vltra , that mahomet taking advantage of the brutal lives , and ignorance of the catholicks depending upon the patriarch of constantinople , did advance the sect of christians called mahometans : i wish some do not think that a certain defender of religion and the church of england , is a christian by the same figure as are those disciples of mahomet . if a man of learning , and tolerably in his wits endeavour to make the first christians , martyrs , and reformers like the quakers in their opinions and deportment , he cannot be supposed primarily to design the crediting those distracted enthusiasts , but to vilifie all christians , except some of m. stubb's sort called mahometans ; and our defender of religion knows well enough that the testimonies he alledgeth to prove those sick-brain'd people to be like all the best christians , will prove as much , that the best christians were like them ; and so a more desperate enemy than the quakers is gratified : how far he intended this , let those conjecture , who have heard of his kindness and concern for m. hobbs : and how far he designs the promoting the interest of religion , and the church of england , let the most charitable man alive judge upon the whole . i , but ( 3. ) he tells us how much he is for school-divinity , and how far some great matters of faith are concerned in it ; we derive great benefits from controversal divinity , for the quieting the conscience , and convincing our adversaries ; and whoever hath any sense of these must detest the enterprise of m. glanvill , [ non plus , p. 1. ] this he did because he had a value for the peace of his conscience , which is to be setled by school-divinity . but how different from this was his opinion of it , when he writ against m. baxter , then school-divinity was apt to create everlasting disputes rather than rest , and made no part of the rest of the primitive , whether christians , or antichristians ; these are his words , [ p. 18. ] m. stubb had another way to quiet his conscience at that time , but now school-divinity is the only expedient . and whereas in the same first page of his book against me , he tells us , the distinction of the trinity , of essence , and personality , the hypostatical vnion of the two natures in our saviour , and the meritoriousness of his death ( which depends thereupon ) are undermined with school-divinity . in that he writ against m. baxter , he saith of it , that it is an upstart study , unknown to the purer times , model'd and profess'd by that order , which now manageth the inquisition , and was at first erected for the suppressing the truth in the albigenses ; [ p. 13. ] m. stubb in his last book greatly applauds metaphysicks , if he can find any distinctions in that learning to solve his own contradictions , he shall have my vote for the greatest metaphysician in the world. he doth so directly and in terms every where almost affront himself , that i cannot possibly write more point-blank against him , than harry doth against stubb ; and some think , that if he be let alone , the next time he scribbles he 'l reduce even his last book to a non-plus , and confute this also , as he hath already done by most of his other writings . the truth is , m. stubb hath wanted an adversary to appear publickly against him , and therefore he hath challeng'd , and provoked all men that came in his way ; but those he hath assaulted have been of opinion , it seems , that 't is no good fighting with dray-men in a puddle , and therefore have received his dirt and pass'd by : this , no doubt , hath troubled him much , and that he might not want exercise , and imployment for his humour , when no body else would undertake him , he hath faln upon himself , and tried his fists one against another . but these remarques are only ●n passant . to return . school-divinity creates everlasting disputes , rather than rest , and is an upstart study model'd by those that manag'd the inquisition , and erected for the suppression of truth ; when m. baxter lays any claim to it ; and presently it supports christianity , and affords the benefits of quieting the conscience , and convincing adversaries ; when the virtuosi shew less inclination for that sort of learning . we may judge by this what a zealot m. stubb is for school-divinity . and yet , that we may see a little further , how probable it is that the interest of this sort of knowledge did contribute to inflame him against me , and the rest whom he calls the comical wits ; let us cast our eyes into his light out of darkness ; he there recites several testimonies out of luther and melancthon against it , [ p. 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , &c. ] viz. melancthon saying , as for vniversities we need not trouble our selves at them , the very school-divinity , which they uphold , shews that all such schools are heretical . p. 93 , 94. and m. stubb adds , [ may not one upon the like conviction speak as irreverently of oxford or cambridge ? ] he cites melancthon further calling the vniversities the dwellings of lies , priests , monks and schoolmen ; pharisees and sadducees , and giving the epithete of wicked to school-divinity , [ ibid. ] and as the articles of martin luther , he gives us these , 1. that scholastical divinity is a misunderstanding the holy scripture and sacraments , and hath exiled us from the sincere and true divinity . ( 2. ) when the school or mock-divinity began , then was the divinity of the cross of christ rendred of no effect , and all things became perverted . ( 3. ) it is now almost 300 years since the school-divines have corrupted the scriptures , to the incomparable detriment of the church . [ p. 95. ] to this he annexeth melancthon's apology for luther in opposition to the censure of the sorbonists against those articles , containing much to the same purpose , spoken with all contempt and vehemence imaginable against that divinity ; in which he saith , that if once it be admitted , there is nothing safe , nothing sound in the church of god , the gospel is obscured , faith extinguish'd , free will and good works introduced , and instead of professing christianity we become not followers of the law , but adherents of aristotle . — [ p. 96. ] m. stubb concludes their testimonies thus , believe it , reader , if thou art of this judgment , thou hast the most glorious martyrs , the most renowned christians , and as learned men as any to defend thee , [ ibid. ] and therefore his query is , p. 95. whether school-divinity be not a novel thing , slighted and condemned by learned and godly men in all ages since it was first introduced ? if it were not , in m. stubb's opinion it deserved to be so , for he calls it the iargon of the schoolmen in his preface against dr. wallis , p. 2. where also he tells us of the burlesque of the fathers , and the gallimaufrey of critical learning . thus we see how serious also we may believe him to have been in his designs for school-divinity . but ( 4. ) the universities and their learning are much beholden to him ; and he writes against the new-fashion'd philosophers , because it was a work necessary to the vniversities and all learning . [ non plus , p. 2. ] now because m. stubb pretends himself a defender of the vniversities , as well as of monarchy and religion ; and would fain expose the royal society , and the favourers of that institution , as enemies to those antient nurseries of knowledge , i shall enquire briefly , what reason there is to think , that the virtuosi have any enmity to the vniversities , or that m. stubb hath any friendship for them. as for the first , whatever may be suggested by those that are prompted to think amiss of them either by malice , or vnacquaintance with their designs , there is certainly no good pretence for the censure . for they have done nothing to the vniversities prejudice , nor spoken any thing to their disparagement ; they declare upon all occasions their esteem for those learned foundations , and endeavour to vindicate their own institution from being any ways prejudicial or offensive to those ; the greatest part of them have been members of the vniversities , and some at this time have eminent relations to them. the very way of knowledge they are in , cannot well be improved to any great purposes , without the preparative academical studies ; and these philosophers acknowledge general notions necessary for the regulating and using particular observations and enquiries ; upon which accounts i must pronounce , that 't is either spight or ignorance , that creates and foments iealousies in the vniversities , of an innocent as well as honourable assembly , that loves and respects them heartily , and no way interferes with them or their concerns , but i dare say would be most ready to serve them in any of their publick interests . of this inclination ( if i may not mention the glorious gift of our most munificent and learned archbishop , an illustrious member of the royal society , to the vniversity of oxford ) yet i may give the instance of the most noble the lord henry howard's favour to the same vniversity , in bestowing upon it those rare and celebrated pieces of antiquity the marmora arundeliana , with which the area of the theatre is adorned , and the affectionate kindness of that learned and excellent person m. evelyn in his effectual solicitations to procure them : and you know , sir , that both that illustrious lord , and this ingenious and accomplish'd gentleman , are members of the royal society , zealously concerned for its interests . i might mention further , what care is taken in the history of the society to clear it and its designs from all thoughts of its being hurtful to the vniversities , and their useful learning : he that hath a mind to know , may see there himself ; and he that is resolved he will not be informed , is not like to be convinced , though i should transcribe that ingenious and satisfactory apology . as to what concerns my self , m. stubb and his admirer m. cross are resolved that i shall go for an enemy to the vniversities , say what i will ; they both know , what frequent and publick professions i have made of the great honour i have for those famous schools of piety and knowledge ; particularly in the entrance of the letter concerning aristotle ( which m. stubb saith he hath answered ) they may find the highest expressions of love and zeal towards the vniversities , which were within the compass of my poor and narrow invention , and my solicitous endeavours to defend my self from the vile suspicion of my being guilty of so base an ingratitude , as these ingenuous adversaries would fain fasten on me . 't is true indeed , i have opposed the peripatetick physiology , and made some remarques on aristotle ; but when i have done thi● , i have declared also , that i intended only to persuade men off from implicit adherences to aristotle's bare word , and authority , not to discourage the reading of his works , or receiving any useful informations from him : to dissuade capable and ingenious spirits from fixing upon the peripatetick notions , as the immoveable foundations of truth and certainty , without enquiring into god's works , or any other of the methods of natural knowledge , not to dishearten the youth from studying those hypotheseis , the uses of which in the vniversities i have acknowledged . so that the academical education is not at all concerned in what i have said , and intended only for men , who were past those preliminary studies . to this purpose i have spoken in my defence against the learned white , in my letter concerning aristotle , and also in my plus vltra : if , for all this , i must be reckon'd as an enemy to the vniversities , who can help it ? but let m. stubb , and his confederate m. cross think what they please , i care as little what they think , as they do what they say ; and as little for what they say , as for the hoo , hoo , of the next broad-faced bird , that sits in an ivy-bush : and , i believe , most that understand them value their thoughts and sayings at the same rate , as i do . but because there are those that do not know this rare pair of authors , and so may be in danger of believing them ; i solemnly protest that i have a just and most sincere esteem for those venerable seats , and fountains of learning , the vniversities ; and do most cheerfully own , and am ready to celebrate the great advantages they afford for all sorts of knowledge , and i verily believe that the other members of the royal society have like sentiments of them . but now whether their defender m. stubb be so much their friend , as those their pretended enemies and vnderminers , is to be our next enquiry ; in the management of it i assure you ( as i did once before ) that i shall not fly to fictions and bold slanders after the manner of this antagonist and legendary m. cross , but ( as i have done all along ) take accounts from his publick writings . let us consult then his light out of darkness ; and in that we shall see his affection to the vniversities , in a season when they needed no enemies , viz. in the short reign of the medley-iunto , that consisted of those whom m. stubb would have had our perpetual senators , independents , anabaptists , fifth-monarchy-men and quakers , [ ut supra . ] his 32d . query in that book is , whether the primitive christians had any universities , or other schools of learning , than such as origen did catechise in at alexandria ? and he concludes his citations thus , nor indeed have i ever heard of an university of the albigenses , or waldenses , and bohemians , p. 139. again , qu. 33. whether antient times , ( and those not very antient neither ) record any more than that of bologna , paris , and salamanca ? and whether christianity at that time were not of farther extent , than the kingdoms those stood in ? p. 140. and qu. 34. whether it were not the design of the reformers in king edward the sixth's days to put down universities ? whether the dean of christ-church had not a design to reduce oxford to one or very few colleges ? p. 140. well! if the primitive christians , and the predecessors of the protestants had no vniversities ; antient times , since them , had but four ; and the first reformers among us designed to put them down ; what must we think our friend of vniversities would have his patriots conclude ? the answer to this question will be clear enough in the following queries . qu. 35. whether the rise of our present fashion'd universities and university habits was not from dominicans ; an order instituted by the pope to suppress the waldenses those predecessors of the protestants ? whether this be the spot and attire of god's children ? and whether they have not the spirit , as well as garb of persecutors , and man of sin ? [ p. 142. ] his masters answer , no doubt ; and so down with this limb of antichrist . qu. 36. whether the institution of doctoral degrees be not novel and accounted antichristian by the reformed churches in scotland , france , holland , switzerland , and the calvinists in high germany ? and whether they have any in those countries , or any constant peculiar habits in their vniversities ? p. 143. he answers , that forein divines have told him , that the reformed churches esteem them as antichristian , ibid. and adds , that the degree is as popish as the divinity whereunto it referrs : a divinity erected in 1220 , and which is acknowledged to have been the subversion of christianity . a doctor that is no teacher , he is a dumb dog , an insignificant piece of formality in the vniversity , reserved by the reformers ( as it were ) upon such grounds as constantine in the demolishing of statues , preserved some heathen idols , that posterity might know what beasts their fathers had worshipped . [ p. 143 , 144. ] o excellent patron of universities ! how did his anointed ones , those pretious people of the cause , hug him for this goodly language ? well! but if this be not enough , he is resolved he will have their favour ; therefore have at antichrist again . qu. 37. whether there are not in our , as well as other antichristian universities beyond sea , the same or rather more popish , idolatrous and superstitious habits , ceremonies and customes ? nay , whether they do not rather exceed them in pomp , as well as number ? his answer to the queries follows thus ; here i am ready to cry out , come and see ! come and see ! not john the baptist in the wilderness , nor john the divine in pathmos ; but our theologues in their pontificals at oxon , view their habits , their ceremonies , their processions , the respect due to them by statute , and you will find that petition from the well-affected in oxon , was not groundless , which desired the abrogation of them . [ p. 145. ] we must give the lie to general fame , [ as he speaks , non plus p. 20. ] or believe that m. stubb was the author of that petition : i remember there is as rare stuff in it as any here , but i have not that paper by me , nor do i need it ; i have more than enough , if i were to write a volume of this proteus . but he goes on [ ibid. ] come and see the scarlet-whore represented in a glass multiplying doctors : come and see the difference between presbytery and popery ; since they apply that expression to democracy , so often , let me style them in comparison of the romish antichrist , the more many-headed beast ; if the other strive to make the kings of the earth drunk with the cup of fornication ; these catch at crowns and half-crowns . make good sense of this piece of wit , who can : i cannot guess , except this be it . presbytery is worse than popery , because rome only makes the kings drunk ; presbytery makes them pay their forfeit , which it unconscionably raiseth from groats to crowns and half-crowns . but let that go , he proceeds , as for the lost sheep of israel , the poor and the weak whom god hath chosen , unless the salary be good , they seem to be under as great a prohibition from preaching to them , as the apostles from going to bithynia , [ p. 145 , 146. ] but he hath not yet done with the popery and antichristianism of our vniversities , and their fashions ; therefore it follows . qu. 38. whether the university hood be not the product of the old monkish melote spoken of by cassian de institutione monachorum , and grounded upon the superstitious exposition of that place in heb. 11. they wandred about 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in sheep-skins ? whether it were not a religious habit , it being a badg of monkery according to cassian and hierome , ibid. qu. 39. whether it be not a superstitious and detestable exposition of that scripture , stand fast having your loins girt , &c. to accommodate it to the episcoparian girdles , with which they tie in their canonical coats ? ibid. qu. 40. whether it be not a pretty foundation for the oxford doctors to stand booted and spurred in the act ; because there is mention made in scripture of being sh●d with the preparation of the gospel ? p. 146. q. 41. whether the vniversity of oxford do well to give for their arms the book with seven seals ? is not that a gross abuse of what is laid down in the revelations : as if the seven liberal arts ( two whereof are grammar and fidling ) were typified by those seals , which none were worthy to open , but the lamb ? [ p. 146 , 147. ] q. 46. whether any of the ceremonies and habits now used in the vniversities had a very good original , or have been imployed to a good vse since ? p. 149. q. 47. whether those things which had a good original and vse ( if they be not still necessary or commanded by god ) when once they have been used to idolatry , and superstition , are not quite to be abolished ? ibid. here is the upshot and conclusion of the matter : yov know and own this glorious truth , o ye our deliverers from aegypt , and from babylon , from all soul-oppression and conscience-distressing persecution . [ vind. of sir h. v. p. 57. ] and you know that vniversities are some of the hay and stubble of humane invention , and not commanded by god ; nor are they necessary , the primitive christians and first protestants had them not ; soul-saving truths are not taught by the words of mans wisdom ; christ chose illiterate men for disciples ; the gospel of st. john is as bad greek as the quakers english ; [ light out of darkness , p. 87. ] god hath chosen the foolishness of this world to confound the wise. [ ibid. ] you see , o ye patriots those schools of humane learning are not necessary , yea , they were erected by popery , and are antichristian , popish , superstitious ; down with them therefore , down with them to the ground ; destroy babylon , and the garments of the whore , away with the idols , dumb dogs , and beasts , that our fathers have worshipped this is the sense of the whole , and a grand expression of m. stubb's friendship to the vniversities . but he is a zealot , no doubt , for the learning that is taught there , so he pretends by his eager oppositions of what he calls the mechanical education , [ non plus , p. 13. ] now contradistinguish'd , as he tells us , from the vniversity-learning , this he here recommends and celebrates ; and would fain persuade his reader , that the royal society have a desire to triumph over the antient education of the kingdom . [ pref. p. 6. ] all which are mere chym●ra's and malicious or proud devices , to effect his purpose of rendring the virtuosi odious , as he declares it , [ pref. p. 4. ] or the other design of dignifying himself as the great patron of antient learning . for the royal society doth no way disturb or meddle with vniversity-learning and education : the art of reasoning , the validity of consequences , the unfolding of critical syllogisms and fallacies , the general doctrine of topicks , the moral philosophy and foundations of civil prudence , civil and ecclesiastical history and languages , which m. stubb himself reckons up as the learning of the vniversities , [ p. 17. ] will proceed all in the same way , notwithstanding the study of experimental philosophy ; which though it may use some of them , as they are already taught , yet it contradicts none . and by the same reason , that m. stubb suggests the mechanical way to be prejudicial and contrary to the vniversity-learning , he might say , that all practical arts , as chirurgery , architecture , limning , and the rest , have an antipathy to those academical studies also : such a logician is m. stubb as not to distinguish between contrary and divers : what an impertinent thing is proud malice ? but let us see how much m. stubb hath declared himself a friend to vniversity-learning , and all sorts of literature , in the time when they were despised , and their utter extirpation zealously attempted . concerning the first sort , languages , he queries thus , q. 13. l. d. whether the knowledge of tongues leads us to one sense of scripture or many ? whether all such dealings lead us not to put our trust in man ? can any matter of faith be built upon the strength of a criticism ? [ p. 97. ] and critical learning is call'd a gallimaufrey , [ pref. against dr. wallis . ] q. 18. whether the first christians were not against humane learning , and heathenish authors ? and whether it was more an effect of julian the apostate ' s malice , or christian prudence , that went about to keep the people of god from reading heathen writers ? [ p. 101. ] for the affirmative of the query he alledgeth divers testimonies ; and concludes , the greek church is owned for a true christian church , and highly magnified by protestants in opposition to the pope , yet neither they nor the picards , or waldenses in bohemia did value learning , so far were they from esteeming of it , as a prop of true religion , p. 105. this was the way to recommend learning to the religieuse of those times , whose favour our anti-virtuoso then courted . and even in this last book , he hath given proof of his kindness to one sort of vniversity-learning , mathematicks ; they are less necessary and inutile , [ p. 17. ] and a little before geometricians seldom , if ever , prove metaphysicians , religieuse , or othe●wise of tolerable ratiocination ; but are said ignorantly to run into whimsies , and phantastical ways of arguing . this is the great friend and patron of learning . but what doth he think of aristotle , who m. cross tells us in his book , was artium partiumque uir , fundator artium , maximus hominum ? his credit our author kindly undertakes in part to readvance . [ title p. to non plus . ] and he did it , when he q●eried in his light out of darkness , p. 105. q. 19. whose sepulchres do our vniversity-men build up , whilst they uphold aristotle's philosophy , which hath been so generally condemn'd of late , and heretofore by popish assemblies , and particular men of that way ; as also by the first christians , and honest men of all ages ? in his discourse upon this query he tells us , that whatever it be now adays to urge philosophy among them , viz. the primitive christians , was either to be an heretick or gentile . he goes on , but i refer my reader to la●noy's discourse , — there he will find aristotle not only condemned by the fathers , but burnt by after-ages , — and in the following words he extends the apostle's prohibition to the condemning of all philosophy whatsoever ; if any shall say , that the apostle by prohibiting philosophy and vain deceit , doth rather establish than prejudice what is true , i shall not only desire that person to ascertain me of what is true in philosophy ; but further demand , whether this dealing in making that distinctive , which is exaggerative , be not like to what gregory de valentia alledgeth in the behalf of that worship that is paid to the host in the mass , that the apostle in condemning of abominable idolatries , doth not prejudice idolatries which are not abominable , ibid. p. 106. and so farewell this sort of vniversity-learning with the rest . for this query and its appurtenances m. stubb falls under the corrections of his friend m. cross. his book i told you , could not be licens'd , and therefore i should not have publish'd any passages of those papers , but that he hath endeavour'd to do it himself in all places , and will , no doubt , take it very kindly to be quoted , especially on an occasion , in which his zeal for aristotle may appear : i shall therefore gratifie him , and shew how m. stubb's insolence against the vir artium and partium may be chastis'd with m. crosses rod , with which he ●irks me and the rest of the hogs of epicurus ' s stie ( as he calls the dissenters from aristotle . ) quantum sudatum è quot uini amphorae epotae nocturnis comessationibus ab hoc spermologo [ me scilicet ] ( ne dicam reliquis ab epicuri harâ porcellis ) in aristotele exterminando , exsufflando , epotando , exsibilando ? — and again a little after quantum sudatum , epotatum , eructatum , ut vir hic , semo potiùs & heros , philosophiae , temporibus longè doctioribus , facilè princeps ; stipes , stultus , nihil audiat ? you may perceive how much this man knows me , or how little he cares what he saith , by his telling me so much of fudling ; if i had been any ways guilty of this fault , m. cross , of all men , should have taken care how he had accused me . but he goes on , and enquires by whom it is that aristotle is so hiss'd at , drunk down and exploded ; nam & hoc solatium est & augurium , à fungis combibonibus , severae eruditionis osoribus acerrimis summis ; such are all the deserters of aristotle : and hence the good man prophesies a happy issue to that philosopher : ergo senex hic , aevi sui decor , sequentium stupor , reviviscet , nam revixit multoties : erit tandem rumpente se epicuro , democrito , gassendo , cartesio , erit quod fuit , summorum & eruditissimorum virorum iudicio , philosophiae rursus facilè princeps : artium partiumque vir , artium quotquot ingenuarum liberarium fundator , de naturâ & philosophiâ optimè meritus , & quo minor est quisquis maximus est hominum , — hey for aristotle ! here 't is like m. stubb would have asked , how all this was to be proved ; but that is no sit question to be put to m. cross , he never useth to give himself that trouble . m. stubb charged m. baxter with ignorance , and tells us , he would leave it to others to prove it ; and m. cross makes aristotle a demi-god , and the anti-aristotelians more than demi-brutes , let him prove either that can ; proof is a thing out of this disputers way , he hath a maxim ready to stop you , if you expect it , contra negantem principia — but let us hear him talk on in his dream . an tamen unquam disputabitur , ut me iuvene a●xiè disputatum est oxonii , nempe , an aristoteles plus debuerit naturae , an natura aristoteli ? did ever any man else hear of such a nonsensical and impious question , than which nothing can be phansied more ridiculous , except it be the second , which follows , vt & an quispiam sit scripturus librum de salute aeterna aristotelis , ut olim colonienses ? are not these worshipful enquiries , and much beyond those of the virtuosi ? what would a man give to be informed , whether aristotle owes more to nature , or nature ( which indeed is god ) to him ? or whether any one will write a book to prove his eternal salvation ? the questions are deep , and the modest man will not undertake to determine them , but adds , in catalogo rerum curiosarum repono . i wish we could see a catalogue of the rest of the things , which he thinks most worthy our enquiries ; hitherto the world have troubled themselves about trifles , 't is great pity but m. cross should be the general proposer of matters fit for philosophical disquisition . but he proceeds in his zeal , and saith of me , that i arrived to that degree of madness , as to write contra aristotelem , quem nemo unquam vituperavit , nisi cui pro corde pepo est , nemo contra scripsit sobrius , nisi forte insanus ; very good ! no sober man , except he were mad ; such sober mad-men were several of the first fathers , and divers great moderns ; his friend will tell him honest men in all ages condemned that philosopher , and some burnt his writings ; how bedlam m●d were that sort of sober men ? but he hath not done vindicating aristotle in his way , viz. calling all those names that dissent from him , he sputters on against me . hic est ille , qui scripsit prius contra aristotelem ; quid impudentiae & stultitiae ausurus non est , qui jamdudum perfricuit frontem , & scripsit contra aristotelem ? what a rare defender of aristotle is this ? o brave aristotle ! aristotle a demi-god , a hero , prince of philosophy , a man of arts and parts , founder of arts , greatest of men ! o the hogs , drunkards , vain eablers , dolts , pot-companions , haters of learning that explode and throw off aristotle ! o the madness of one that writ against aristotle , against whom no sober person ever writ , except he were a mad-man ! here is one that writ against aristotle , what impudence and folly will he stick at that writ against aristotle ? are not these , sir , strong arguments , and is not aristotle well defended ? this i assure you is the sum of what m. cross saith for him , and the reasonings of his book throughout are of the same sort . i have not pick'd these passages , as an instance of ridiculousness to expose him , but took them up in my way , for a little mirth sake , and to give you a taste of this authors way of arguing , which is every where the same . and i have done it the rather , because the learned dr. casaubon in his letter to dr. du moulin about my plvs vltra , accuseth me [ p. 7. ] of reproaching my adversary for his love to , and esteem of aristotle ; by this i would let that reverend man see , that it is not my adversaries love and respect to aristotle i deride ; but the ridiculous expressions of his fond admiration , which he sufficiently discovered in that conference , that was the occasion of my book . but enough of m. stubb and m. cross as to this particular ; 't is evident enough that the former hath not that kindness for aristotle he pretends , to serve his designs against the modern philosophers ; and the other can say nothing on his behalf , more than what freshmen use to talk of that new great name they are taught to admire ; whatever love he hath for him. and now as to what concerns the modern experimental philosophers , i dare say they are slandered much by those their adversaries , that represent them as such enemies to aristotle ; for i know they have a due esteem of him , and allow him an eminent place among the wise men of antient times ; they acknowledge the helps he hath afforded us , and pay respects to his writings , as they do to those of other venerable authors ; they refuse not , nor discourage the reading of his books , nor do they reject any of his discoveries , that may aid us in the uses of knowledge or life ; yea , they embrace them cheerfully , and are glad when any useful truth hath such an authority to recommend it . thus much i dare undertake for all the philosophers of the practical way , of whom i have any knowledge . but to make aristotle a dictator in philosophy , and to give him an absolute empire over our minds ; to admire him , as if in him were hid all the treasures of natural wisdom and knowledge , and to be scrupulous in acknowledging that he was ignorant of any thing in nature , as dr. casaubon saith fabricius was , [ in his reflections on my plus vltra . ] such fondnesses as these , those philosophers by no means approve , but look on them as extremely prejudicial to the advance of knowledge , and the respect that is due to other excellent authors both of elder and later times . and i think by their modest judgment of that philosopher , they rather secure the just praise and regard to aristotle's authority that is his due , than any way diminish it . for those that raise the commendations of any man much beyond the proportion of his merit , and lay more stress upon his authority , than it will bear , do indeed give an occasion to the contempt of such an over-valued person , and the degrading him below that respect , which his worth might claim : so that in earnest those doting men that talk such childish , incredible things of aristotle , as i lately quoted from m. cross , are his real enemies , and expose him to scorn and opposition ; whereas the modern philosophers , who give him just , but less excessive and flaunting applauses , do more really serve the interest of his name ; and what i particularly , have writ against him , hath been designed chiefly , to lessen the hyperbolical admirations of the little enslaved sectators ; not to discourage any from the study of aristotle , or a modest value of his authority . and that my sense of him and his writings was the same then , that i declared but now , to be the experimental philosophers inclination in reference to that philosopher , may be largely seen in my defence of the vanity of dogmatizing against that famous adversary the learned albius , especially , p. 7. i have spoken there to the same purpose ; but 't is too much for my laziness to transcribe . and now , sir , methinks , upon the review of the whole it seems to me very pretty , that one , who labour'd so industriously , and inveighed so bitterly against monarchy , ministry , churches , universities , aristotle , and all humane learning , when some of these were actually overthrown ; and all in imminent danger of ruine ; that put on the fanatical vsurpers ( that needed no spur ) by gross , canting flatteries of them ; and deadly , malicious reproaches and oppositions of those great concerns of the kingdom , to complete the destruction they had begun ; that this man , i say , should talk , as if he were the only zealous person for the interest of monarchy , religion , vniversities , and old learning , and the only patriot that could defend them , is a confidence more than usual ; and such , as very well becomes m. stubb . and on the other hand , 't is as pleasant to hear this writer representing a society , that is a royal institution , and consists of a great number of the most loyal nobility and gentry ; and several of the most venerable fathers of the church , archbishops , bishops , and divers other ecclesiastical governours , and men of eminence among the clergy ; i say , 't is very fine , to hear m. stubb setting out such an assembly as an enemy to monarchy , religion , vniversities , and learning : and we must believe upon the word of the anti-virtuoso , that a great part of that body are driving on designs destructive to the interests of religion and the kingdom ; and that the loyal and religious men of the royal society are so dull as not to perceive it , while the more sagacious doctor of warwick sees those dreadful projects clearly , and therefore cannot be silent , but must warn the nation of the danger . upon the consideration of the whole procedure , one would think that m. stubb had so great an ambition to gain the applauses of the envious and ignorant ( who are glad to see any thing that is worthy railed at and opposed ) that for their sake , he is resolved ( yet further ) to expose himself to the scorns of the sober and judicious . and really he writes at that rate , as if he were to defie the intelligent part of mankind ; and design'd only to be read by those that would believe any thing he said at a venture , because he writes against the virtuosi . the truth of this censure will appear , when i come to my particular remarques upon his book ; which i shall presently do , when i have taken a little notice of his other designs , which are yet behind , viz. to represent the uirtuosi as ridiculous and odious to the kingdom ; and to sacrifice me to publick obloquy . to effect the former , he clapt his own cap on the virtuosi , and calls them prattle-boxes , and then without any more ado , they are ridiculous : he describes them by the other part of his own character , as persons of irreligious and dangerous inclination , and then they must be odious . and when the virtuoso-mastix hath proved that these are not complements , but that his comical wits are so really like himself ; all men , no doubt , will say , that they are as he designed to represent them . but if m. stubb be no better at making characters , than he is at giving names , the virtuosi , i doubt , will leave him without their company , to enjoy the honours he projects for them : for why of all things , must they be called the comical wits , i trow ? how came this to ramble into the mans head ? of all the names that courtly m. cross bestowed on me , there is scarce any that suits less ; and yet now i remember , 't is not improbable but that m. stubb might borrow this from that great repository of titles ; for that master of ceremonies calls me , and all things i do , at every turn , romantick ; and when he had studied a long time to know what i was good for , at last he finds this ; that i might be capable of serving a stage ; hence 't is like his friend took the hint , and the virtuosi are presently dub'd the comical wits ; and the tres-haute and tres-agreeable comediants . but it may be too this was intended for a figure , lucus à non lucendo : for there are no men more averse to the profess'd drolls ; none that value their wit less , than those that are most concerned for the institution and designs of the royal society ; nor hath any sort of enemies been more injurious to those generous undertakings of the experimental philosophers , than the buffoons and comical wits that have still endeavour'd by their malicious flouts to render them contemptible in coffee-houses and taverns ; and have filled the land with ridiculous stories of their designs and performances . yea , these are the men , that m. stubb gratifies by his book , which ( to give him his own language ) will please none , but shallow-brain'd and comical wits . [ p. 115. ] how shallow-brain'd , i think those of the common drolling sort , and how prejudicial to religion , government , and knowledge , i have sufficiently declared in a short discourse at the end of my considerations about witch-craft , called a whip for the droll , fidler to the atheist . if m. stubb think fit to look into that appendix , he will see reason there to take me out of the number of the comical people ; and if i sometimes make a little merry with him in these papers , 't is because i would try , whether i have any of the comical faculty in me or no ; if i have , 't is fit that he who first let me know it , should have it first imployed in his service . and indeed m. stubb is such a pleasant object , as would make a man comical , though his genius be never so little disposed to that iollity of humour . the sick man that was dying of an impostume , broke into a loud laughter , when he saw the ape set the grave , gold-laced night-cap upon his head ; and 't is very hard for one to contain , that sees m. stubb puts on a pretence for monarchy and religion . if he thinks there is any thing of rudeness in the application of that ridiculous passage , let him thank his friend m. cross who gave occasion to the comparison ; that renowned author spends a great deal of serious pains to prove that i was an ape , or very like one , and made such philosophical observations upon the nature of that animal , that i could not choose , when i lately read it , but think of a certain anti-virtuoso ; and that thought run into my pen before i was aware . but i have done with this design of our projector also , to make the comical wits ridiculous and odious : how far he hath effected it , he will see when time and experience have acquainted him , what he hath made himself . the last of his great intendments that i took notice of was , to sacrifice me to publick obloquy to settle the general repose and tranquillity . pref. p. 3. i think i have generosity enough , or at least i desire so much , as to be content to be so sacrificed upon such an occasion : but will that do it ? will the sacrificing me , is he sure , establish the general repose ? i fear there are other comical wits will be left , when i am gone , to disquiet such peaceable men , as this : and except m. stubb will assure me , that all the world will be quiet when i am faln , i will not be sacrific'd by him ; yea , though he should non-plus me in ten title-pages more , yet , i doubt , i shall disturb him , if he goes on to settle our tranquillity in the way he hath begun . well! but publick obloquy is hungry , and must have a sacrifice to feed it : m. stubb takes hold of me , and resolves i shall be the offering , he spits at me , and scratches me with his nails , and i fall a victim without any more ado ; but let him look to it , and make sure of that , or else publick obloquy will catch him by the back , and make this her priest , himself the sacrifice . but without allegory , m. stubb designs to expose me to publick reproach , and to make the virtuosi odious and ridiculous , and so one would think that reads his book . how he hath demeaned himself in it for the effecting of these , and his other mighty purposes , i come to consider next , and it was the third general head of which i proposed to treat . i cannot now fall upon the particular examination of all things in his work , but shall only give you those sudden observations i made upon a cursory reading , the more large and punctual confutation shall follow . ( iii. ) then as to the management of his designs , i take notice , i. that the pretended reason of his falling on my book , is very idle and impertinent . forsooth , a gentleman at a person of honour's table avowed , that all the antient methods of science were vain and useless to a physician , and did not as much as contribute to the cure of a cut finger , [ pref. p. 1. ] this the gentleman avowed to be the positive and dogmatical averment even to a syllable of m. glanvill and other virtuosi , p. 1 , 2. m. stubb's beginning brings to my mind what i heard last year at oxford ; being there with a learned and ingenious knight at the house of a doctor of divinity of great note , upon the occasion of some discourse concerning our author , the doctor , who knew him very well , spoke to me to this purpose , m. stubb , said he , is so great a — that if he tell you he was at such a gentleman's table where this or that discourse hapned ; you are not to believe as much as that he knows that gentleman , or ever saw him . i should not have mention'd this passage , but that it fell so pat in my way ; whether we have the more reason to believe the doctor concerning m. stubb , or m. stubb concerning the gentlemans discourse at the person of honours table , i shall not here dispute : but for peace sake i shall be so courteous at present , as to suppose that there was such a rencounter , and that m. stubb ought to take as an instance of candour , and a very large charity . be it so then for once , there was an admirer of the institution of the royal society that talked so in the anti-virtuoso's company : but he paid him for his insolence , and shewed as he tells us , that the antient philosophy had not been so sterile in reference to physick , but that it had been the foundation of the healing of cut fingers , and green wounds . [ pref. p. 2. ] and thus he sacrificed that virtuoso to the obloquy of the table : but yet his wrath was not appeas'd so , he goes on ; i still retained a sense of the injury i supposed done to me , and all rational physicians by this barbarous opiniatour ; i determined to avenge my faculty on m. glanvill for this , [ p. 3. ] and so i am to be made a sacrifice as well as the chymaerical gentleman . here was the provocation i gave m. stubb , and this book his revenge . one of the first things h● falls upon in it , is to make it appear by demonstrative proof that the antients could cure cut fingers , [ book p. 3. ] for here he receiv'd the injury , for which he determined to avenge his faculty . he proves this mighty truth by many testimonies and great instances , podalirius and machaon in homer could do it ; hippocrates writ about wounds and vlcers , and therefore , no doubt , he could cure cut fingers ; yea , aristotle was descended of the line of aesculapius , and 't is not to be question'd , but he could prescribe a plaister for such an occasion . and how little the antients stood in need of modern discoveries and aids to cure cut fingers , any man may judge that knows , what scribonius and galen have written , and how this last author compounds several medicaments to that purpose , [ ibid. ] those galenical medicaments for cut fingers he there also names . and he assures us farther [ p. 159. ] that he that shall proceed according to the notions of elements , &c. in compliance with the antients , shall not stand in need of any novel method from the virtuosi to salve a cut finger . forsooth ! this , sir , is one of the first blows he gives the victim , which must needs fall under such fatal strokes . but what a serious impertinent is this ? the man , no doubt , can prove by force of argument , a man 's no horse . hudib . he puts me in mind of a certain preacher , that i once saw , who , at a funeral , very largely undertook to prove , that all men must die , this he did in m. stubb's method , by instances and authorities : adam died and eve too , as did abraham and sarah , isaac and rebekah , iacob and rachel , the good men and the good women ; so it befel moses and aaron , david and solomon , cyrus and nebuchadnezzar ; and so he went on to reckon up who had died , till his glass hasten'd him to his authorities ; where he shewed his learning , and proved his proposition by the testimony of poets , philosophers , and fathers ; and by that time he had done with virgil and ovid , aristotle and plato , st. bernard and st. ambrose , 't was time to make an end . m. stubb writes at the rate that the reverend man preach'd . for can he think in earnest that either i , or any body else ever believed or said , that none of the antients could cure a cut finger ? or , if i had , was such an assertion fit to be learnedly disproved ? if one should affirm , that the moon is a green cheese , or that m. stubb is sound in his head ; would a wise man argue seriously against such an absurd asserter . 't is true indeed these words are mine , the vnfruitfulness of those methods of science , which in so many centuries never brought the world so much practical beneficial knowledge , as would help towards the cure of a cut finger , is a palpable argument that they were fundamental mistakes , and that the way was not right , [ plus ultra , p. 7 , 8. ] but what ? do i speak of the methods of physick , chirurgery , or any practical art ? if i had done so , m. stubb had had reason : but it was nothing thus , i had not to do with any thing of that nature , but was discoursing of the infertility of the way of notion and dispute , concerning which , i affirmed , that it produced no practical useful knowledge , viz. by its own proper native virtue ; and my sense was the same here , as it was in that expression of my vanity of dogmatizing , [ p. 132. of edit● second . ] 't would puzzle the schools to point at any considerable discovery made by the direct sole manuduction of peripatetick principles . so that i never dreamt of denying , that those philosophers of elder times , that went that way , had practical beneficial knowledge ; yea , or that they were discoverers of many excellent and useful things ; but that they learnt that knowledge from the disputing methods of physiology , or made their discoveries by them ; these were the things i denied ; and i have the excellent lord bacon with me in my negative , as i may have another occasion to shew . i grant therefore to m. stubb ( since he is so zealous to secure this honour to them ) that machaon and podalirius in homer could cure cut fingers , and that galen might make diapalma and other medicaments for that purpose ; but unless he can prove they did it by the direct help and conduct of the notional disputing physiology , he will not sacrifice me to publick obloquy here , nor say any thing in which i am at all concern'd . you see , sir , we are like to have great matters from an undertaker that begins with a ridiculous cavil ; and the general repose and tranquillity , you may think , will be well establish'd by one , that maliciously perverts an innocent sentence , to make it an occasion of a quarrel . thus he enters hopefully ; and if i might pass a general censure on his work , as he doth upon my letter concerning aristotle , [ p. 11. ] it should be this , that 't is an elaborate , spightful impertinence : this i now say , and if i do not prove it , let me be in your esteem , the same that my adversary is in the opinion of all sober men . it will i suppose sufficiently appear to you in the following observations , and particularly in this next , viz. ii. he doth not at all by any thing he hath said , prejudice the main design of my book , which was , to shew , that knowledge hath been highly advanced in these later ages , beyond its pitch in more antient times , and consequently , that there is no reason we should acquiesce and sit down in the dictates of aristotle , or any other of the ●lder philosophers ; but being encouraged by many excellent helps and advancements , we should endeavour its further improvement . i gave instances of the increase of knowledge in chymistry , anatomy , arithmetick , geometry , astronomy , opticks , geography , and natural history ; and shewed what advantages we have from modern philosophick instruments , and from the institution of the royal society ; of all these i discours'd as far as i thought necessary to my purpose , without arrogating to my self great ma●●ers in any of those sorts of knowledge , or designing ostentation of learning , as m. stubb accuseth me , [ p. 2. ] but my aim only was to prove , and to illustrate my subject by such of the main instances of modern improvements as i could collect ; and of these i gave an account in the way of an historian from authors of note , though i seldom name them , but shall hereafter in my answer in those particulars , where m. stubb attaques me ; and i hope , give you to see , that i affirm nothing from mine own head in reciting matters of fact , in which fiction would be impudent and ridiculous . thus i have told you the design of my book , and the chief things treated of in it . and now one would think , that nothing less should be worthy the courage of such a valiant wight as m. stubb , than the main subject . you will expect , no doubt , he should attempt to prove , that the antients had greater advantages for knowledge , than latter times ; that the things i mention as modern improvements were known to remote antiquity ; or that they are not helps for the increase of knowledge . this should have been the work of one that promiseth such mighty things ; that was resolved to readvance the aristotelians , and to make the virtuosi odious . but he hath not thought fit to attaque the comical wits this way ; he designed to make them ridiculous , and for that he thought something less would serve , than confuting them . he falls upon the errata of the press , and then crows over the author of plus vltra ; he carps at some little things about the philosophical instruments , chymistry , and anatomy , and in his phansie breaks them to pieces , and then forsooth , all the other parts of my book , which he hath not touch'd , like glass-bubbles fall to dust : he cavils at some by-passages that relate not to the main business , and instantly plus vltra is reduced to a non-plus : he confutes his own imaginations , and then wonders at my ignorance : he takes the credit of the inventions i mention from the authors to whom i ascribe them , and gives it to others of the same age , or not far from it ; and so the antients are readvanced , and the virtuosi undone . this is the man of great deeds , that will set up , and pluck down what , and whom he pleaseth ; that will erect the credit of those authors , who are so happy as to have his favour , and lay the royal society ( as he elegantly and modestly useth to express himself ) as flat as a pancake . but that those mention'd are all the exploits he hath done , notwithstanding his boasts , i shall shew under the next head , to which i shall pass presently , after i have taken notice , that the other anti-virtuoso m. cross , durst not attempt as much as this . no , he found an easier way , he betook him to his dunghil , and charged me stoutly from thence , he pick'd little critical quarrels with the latin of a single sheet of mine , written for a private purpose , and containing nothing of the main controversie ; he endeavours to shew largely that i am like an ape ; and that i have not the knack of writing solemn epistles ; for my plus vltra , he saves himself from the trouble of answering it , by telling his reader in short , that the modern improvements i mention in chymistry , anatomy , arithmetick , geometry , algebra , geography , astronomy , opticks , and natural history , are no more , than what every bookseller knows , and so it is not fit for a man of his learning , to spend his time so impertinently , as to say any thing about them . this , sir , is the most pleasant antagonist that ever any man had : but we shall have an occasion of saying somewhat more of him anon , therefore i now pass forward with m. stubb , and come to prove concerning his animadversions , that iii. they are mere cavils , and that he affirms groundlesly and falsly , and talks impertinently , and reasons weakly : these i shall prove by instances , and there is scarce any thing in his book , but falls under one or other of those censures . but first i crave your leave to mark how my adversaries are disagreed among themselves , about my account of modern improvements ; dr. meric casaubon in his reflections on my book , [ p. 35. ] saith , that it is an exact account of late discoveries : m. cross makes them such known things that every bookseller is acquainted with them , whereas m. stubb reckons them false and fictitious . for the censure of the sober , learned man , i can with no modesty own it ; i intended no exact account ; nor am i able to give such a one , as can pretend to be accurate ; i only collected such instances , as i thought sufficient for my design to encourage philosophical hope and endeavours . for m. crosses judgment of them ; either every bookseller knows them to be true or false ; if this latter , why had he not got some bookseller to have informed him , that he might have proved it , and confuted me ? but if every bookseller knew them to be true , what becomes of his friend m. stubb ? and how will he answer my inference of the great advantage the later times have from those improvements , above the helps that were enjoyed by aristotle and high antiquity ? but i must leave m. cross to reconcile himself to his champion , and the interest of his own assertion , as well as he can , and descend to the proof of what i have affirmed concerning m. stubb's performance . this , it is true , makes a formidable shew of invincible strength , and he marches in the van of an host of authors , but with them he fights chimaera's , and takes castles in the air , that his imagination built . he directs his force against things that i never said or meant , and most of his authors shoot besides me ; so that with mighty stroaks he cuts the air ; and hurts his own arm by his strength , but doth prejudice to no other adversary with his mightiness . this will appear by the particulars , which i come now to represent , and i observe , ( 1. ) that in the entrance of his reflections , he affirms confidently a thing which he doth not know , whether it be so or not ; and which would be impertinent to his purpose , though it should be granted . it is in these words , [ p. 2. ] the authors he mentions he never saw . roundly affirmed ! certainly , he hath dealt with some spirit ; or with his familiar m. cross , for this ; how else should he know what authors i have seen ? who can tell this but my attendant genius ? or the seer of chuè , who knows all things belonging to me by dreams , and an occult quality . this divining man indeed affirms in his libel , that i have no books in my study , but plays and romances ; whenas he never saw my study , nor any man else of his acquaintance , that could inform him ; and as luck would have it , i have not one ( in english ) of either sort ; this 't is like was m. stubb's intelligencer , for m. cross writes of me with as much confidence , as if he had been at my christning , and stood by me ever since ; and with as much truth , as if he had never seen me or known more concerning me , than he doth of the man in the moon . well! but if it be so , that i never saw the authors i mention , what is that to m. stubb's purpose ? i was giving an historical account of the improvers of several sorts of knowledge ; and might i not from other good and approved writers name the inventers or advancers of this or that discovery , except i had seen it in the original author ? is there no credit to be given to the testimony of learned men ? may not one write an history of things and actions that he never saw ? and have not most of the historians that ever were , done thus ? may not i say that columbus discover'd the new western world ; or that fust or gothenberg found out the mystery of printing , or flavius goia the compass , except they had told me so themselves ? and if it be usual among the most unexceptionable relaters to collect their accounts from other testifiers , what can m. stubb make of it , if he could prove that i never saw most of the authors i mention ? how much he himself is acquainted with the books he quotes , we shall anon find some things whereby to pass a judgment . thus m. stubb begins with a peremptory assertion of a thing which is false in the latitude of his affirmation ; and which he could not possibly know , whether in any more restrain'd sense it were true or not . and his immediate next words contain another most gross and confident falshood , [ and all his discourse about the mathematicks and mathematicians procured him no other acknowledgments from a learned and reverend prelate ( to whom he sent one of his books ) than a reprimand for intermedling with what he understood not . ibid. ] i have heard from credible persons , that m. ieanes the polemick writer ( who was well acquainted with m. cross ) was wont to call any lusty — by a name , which for the sake of some worthy persons , i shall not mention on this occasion . m. stubb's friend of chuè knows what i mean. he may do well to advise him to take care of such broad , unconscionable falshoods ; though i confess a man of his practices is the most improper person in the world for such a service . the period i last quoted from m. stubb is a gross vntruth ; i sent my plus vltra but to one bishop , besides that reverend father to whom it was dedicated ; and that learned and excellent person was so far from sending me a reprimand , ( to use m. stubb's word ) that he was pleased to write me a most obliging letter of thanks ; and my own venerable diocesan accepted of that book , and the direction of it to him , with a great deal of candour and kindness , and never signified the least dislike to me of it . so that i should have wondred much at this clause , and divers others of like kind , if i had not heard a character of m. stubb at oxford , and did not know him , and his familiarity with m. cross ; but now i shall not be surprised though every sentence were a legend . but ( 2. ) he offers something for proof of his first saying , viz. that i never saw the authors i mention , as it follows , [ ib. p. 2. ] who ever heard of such men as maximus palanudes , achazen , and orentius ? and who ever heard of such things as errata of the press ? if i had a mind to play at this little sport , and would retort , i might ask him , who ever heard of such people as the abbigenses spoken of in his vind. of sir h. v. [ p. 13. ] or of such a man as i●lice , mention'd p. 113. of this book ; no doubt he 'l lay the fault at the printers doors ; and why did he not see that the names he quotes from me are like errours ? doth he not know there were such persons as maximus planudes , alhazen , and orontius ? and there is not one of these that differs more , then a letter from the names , over which he so much insults . the latter he charitably supposeth to be a mistake , because he thought he could make the man ridiculous , and disable him from signifying to my purpose ; but of that by and by : if he could have found that the other two had been pitiful fellows also ( as he pretends this was ) then palanudes should have been corrected by planudes , and achazen by alhazen . and 't is very strange that m. stubb could not see that achazen was a mistake of the press , when as alhazen stands within five lines of him in my book ; whar a blind thing is malice , when it hath no mind to see ? well , there were such men as planudes , orontius , and alhazen ; and vossius saith enough of the least considerable of them to justifie my transient mention of their names . anno 870. eluxit maximus planudes , qui diaphanti arithmeticen commentariis illustravit . voss. de scient . mathem . p. 311. and even of orontius he speaks thus , celebre nomen fuit orontii finei delphatis , qui arithmeticae practicae publicavit libros quatuor . p. 316. but m. stubb saith of him in scorn , he was so famous a geometrician , that when sir h. savil ( as i remember ) was to seek of an instance of a pitiful fellow , this was the man he fixed on . [ ib. p. 2. ] would not any one from these words , and their relation to those that go before , conclude that i had reckoned orontius among the improvers of geometry ? to what purpose else doth the animadverter speak of him as a contemptible geometrician ? but if he will look again into my book , he will see , that i mention not orontius under that head , but name him ( and only so ) among the authors in arithmetick : and have not i as much reason to say , that m. stubb never reads the books he writes against ; as he to affirm , that i never saw the authors i mention ? but m. stubb could not give his studies so much diversion as to consider what he said . well , i name orontius among the arithmetical writers , and 't is an evident argument i never saw him , because he is a pitiful fellow at geometry ; is this logick old or new ? 't is a sort m. stubb useth often , but i believe he can shew us nothing more pitiful in orontius . but if vossius may be believ'd , orontius did not need so much of m. stubb's pity , even in geometry . he tells us , anno 1525. ac 30 proximis claruit orontius fineus qui de geometriâ scripsit libros duos , item demonstrationes in sex libros priores euclidis . ad haec de quadraturâ circuli inventâ & demonstratâ ; de circuli mensurâ , & ratione circumferentiae ad diametrum , de multangularum omnium , & regularium figurarum descriptione , aliáque de sc. math. p. 65. and that his performances in these , were not altogether so contemptible as the anti-virtuoso would insinuate , we may see a reason to think , from the place he held among the mathematicians of his time , according to the same author , primus hic matheseos regius in galliis professor fuit . [ ibid. ] but let orontius be what he will in geometry , m. stubb is impertinent in what he saith about him , and i am not concerned . for the other author ( achazen in one line , but alhazen within five lines before ) confidence it self hath not the face to deny that there was such a man , or that he was a great author in opticks , for which i mention his name there , where m. stubb found achazen to make a wonder of . you see , sir , what an adversary i have , that will not suffer the misprinting of a letter to escape him ; excellent corrector of the press ! what pity 't is that m. cross had not found out these three errata , that he might have had something to say ! thus i am to be sacrific'd to publick obloquy . the pertinent discourse about curing cut fingers follows , but of that i have given an account before . i proceed to remark ( 3. ) upon that note of his , [ p. 3 , 4. ] but as for the telescope , he confesseth that to have been invented by metius , and galilaeo , which confession of his though it take from the society all pretences to the invention thereof , yet it is unbecoming an inquisitive person , who might have had better intelligence from borellus . here the anti-virtuoso carps again at a meer accidental passage ; and though we should grant him what he saith about the inventers of telescopes , it would be nothing contrary to my design , since the persons he mentions were late men . my words were , [ so that these glasses are exceedingly bettered since their invention by metius , and application to the heavens by galilaeo , plus vltra , p. 55. ] whatsoever m. stubb finds in his borellus , i am sure i have authority enough to justifie me in this passing glance at the inventer of telescopes . the excellent renatus des-cartes ascribes the invention to metius in the first page of his dioptricks , and is particular in the account of the occasion of his finding it . hujus summa voluptas erat specula & vitra ustoria formare ; nonnulla etiam hyeme componens ex glacie ; — quum igitur hâc occasione multa , ●áque variae formae vitra ad manum haberet , prospero quodam fato duo ●imul ocul● objecit ; quorum alterum medium paulò crassius habebat quàm extremitates , alterum vice versâ extremitates quàm medium multò tumidiores ; & adeò feliciter illa duabus tubi extremitatibus applicuit , ut primum de quo loquitur telescopium indè extiterit . des-cartes dioptr. p. 1. and the learned gerard vossius ascribes this invention to the same metius , [ adriani hujus frater iacobus metius fuit , qui tubum opticum , sive telescopium invenit . hujus ope in siderum doctrinâ plus scitur hodie quàm omnis novit antiquitas . de scient . math. p. 201. ] the same author justifies my other hint of their application to the heavens by galilaeo : for thus , [ p. 112. ] ac postremò de tubi● , sive telescopiis inventis ab hollandis , ad ●idera verò applicatis à galilaeo de galilaeis . but this even m. stubb confesseth to be generally written ; and if so , pray why might not i mention it so lightly without any further enquiry , it being a thing that was incidental , and of no importance to my design ? yea , if it had , i was upon sure ground , for i say no more then what m. stubb and all men will grant , viz. that telescopes were applied to the heavens by galilaeo ; i did not say first , and so his pretence from borellus is impertinent , and opposeth only the shadow of his own imagination : galilaeo's application of telescopes to the heavens was first famously taken notice of , and those tubes upon that account have been call'd his glasses ; and therefore i might well enough express my self in such a passage as that , saying , that those glasses were bettered since their application to the heavens by galilaeo , though m. stubb's author must be believed before des-cartes , vossius , and most others that have written about this matter ; if any one besides the animadverter be of that mind , i shall not trouble his opinion ; for m. stubb , i must see a reason ere i can believe him before any man , but m. cross ; and for borellus , when i know what he saith , i may perhaps tell this antagonist what i think . thus , sir , you see something of this mans notorious cavilling and impertinence ; and i might have taken notice further , that he misquotes me too in the recited period , for i say not that the telescope was invented by galilaeo : but m. stubb makes me say what he thinks fit , and when he hath confuted his own mistake , he phansieth he hath reduced me to a non-plus . the passage likewise that follows may be justly censured , viz. that my confession takes from the society all pretensions to the invention of the telescope . ] this supposeth that the society assumes this credit , or at least that it is like to do so ; which supposition is a mere chimara , or be it what it will , his refutation of it is an impertinence . for if it were so , that the royal society did or were like to challenge this invention as theirs , one might ask the logical man , how my confession that it was found out by metius and galilaeo , should take from the society all pretences to it ? what an author doth he make me , or what a reasoner doth he make himself ? either my authority must be infallible , or his reason will be contemptible . if i say metius or galilaeo is the inventer of telescopes , your pretensions , o ye virtuosi , are ruined , such a careless scribbler is our confident bravo . ( 4. ) he next cavils at some passages of mine concerning the barometer , i introduce my discourse about that philosophical instrument thus , [ that there is gravity even in the air it self ; and that that element is only comparatively light , is now made evident and palpable by experience , though aristotle and his schools held a different theory : and by the help of quicksilver in a tube — ] in opposition to this he saith , that there is gravity even in the air it self ; and that that element is only comparatively light , was of old made evident by the man of stagyra . [ p. 7. ] but how did aristotle make that evident ? it was by the experiment of a blown bladder ; as [ p. 4. ] let us remember this , and observe how he goes on : m. glanvill neither understands what he opposeth , nor what he asserts ; but why so i pray ? enter the reason : for in the beginning he speaks of the gravitation of the element of air , whereas the instrument called the barometer proposeth only a way to measure the degrees of compression in the atmosphere , in which region i believe no man ever denied , but that the aqueous and terrestrial corpuscles interspers'd had their weight and pressure , [ p. 7. ] now i look back , and return the complement ; m. stubb neither understands what he opposeth , nor what he asserts , this i prove by his own argument ; for he saith aristotle proved the gravitation of the element of air , and that by the experiment of a blown bladder , in which i believe no man ever denied , but that the aqueous and terrestrial particles intersperst had their weight and pressure . in short , i propose this dilemma to m. stubb to be consider'd ; when he affirms , in my words , concerning aristotle , that he proved the element of air to be only comparatively light , he meant either the supposed , pure , or the mixed air ; if the former , let him shew how the man of stagyra proved that to ponderate by the bladder ; if the latter , why might not i mean the same ? there is no reason but this , m. stubb would be interpreted as he means ; and i shall be understood , as is fit for his design . yea , the caviller might easily have known , ( and no doubt he did so ) that by element of air i meant that of the atmosphere , since he cannot suppose , that one of his virtuosi should hold a pure peripatetical element of air , except he will call the aether by that name : so that here the animadverter wilfully mistakes me , to make an occasion to vent his impotent spight . 't is m. hooks opinion of the air , that it is a kind of tincture and solution of terrestrial and aqueous particles dissolv'd in the aether , and agitated by it ; micr . p. 13. i am of the same mind , and never dream'd of such a thing in what i said , as an unmixed , peripatetical element . and thus his malice here also is nonsensical and impertinent , for he saith , i begun with the gravity of the element of air , whereas the barometer is an instrument to weigh the degrees of compression in the atmosphere ; and hence he would have it clear , that i know neither what i oppose , or what i assert : and it is evident on the other hand , that the caviller either knows not what he saith , or saith what he knows to be idle and inconsequent . yea , in the words that follow a little after he represents aristotle alike impertinent as himself , for he proves the air to ponderate , p. 4. and this is a body which no man in his wits ever denied to be ponderous , p. 8. and yet p. 5. in the margin he tells us , that many peripateticks ( naming only one , claramontius ) held that the impure air of our atmosphere doth gravitate , it seems others of them did not hold s● . but i ask again , what air , good m. stubb did aristotle weigh ? the impure air of the atmosphere , no doubt , for sure he did not catch the pure element in a bladder ; that air no man in his wits ever denied to be ponderous ; and was not aristotle as well imployed as m. stubb , when he proved , that the antients could cure cut fingers ? but what must become of all the peripateticks that held not the air to be ponderous ? claramontius , p. 5. and averroi● , p. 7. are excepted , and many other peripateticks , he saith , held the impure air to gravitate ; but who those many were he tells us not , nor how much the rest were in their wits that belonged not to that number . what feats would this man do against the virtuosi , if he had any real advantage , when he ventures every where to make himself ridiculous and absurd , rather then he will let the least passage go against which he can form the appearance of an objection ? ( 5. ) i take notice next , that he falls upon me [ p. 10. ] for the epithete of heathen given to some of aristotles notions : my words are these , [ and the zeal i have for the glory of the almighty discover'd in his creatures , hath inspired me with some smartness and severity against those heathen notions , which have so unhappily diverted learned men from the study of gods great book , universal nature . — [ pref. to plus vlt. ] if i had chanced to have left out that epithete , or to have put another in its place ( either of which might have been done , and my discourse , yea that very period had not been concerned ) the caviller had lost an opportunity of very learned animadversions ; and a minute verbal alteration of about a dozen other sentences in my book , would make all he hath said against me useless and insigni●icant ; so little hath he touch'd the main parts and design of my discourse . but i must let that pass , the general impertinence is notorious every where , and this is one of the least of m. stubb's imperfections ; i note a worse fault here , his stricture is a falshood , the words are [ he inveighs bitterly against aristotle for his heathen notions , p. 10. ] i recited my period , from whence the caviller takes this occasion , before , let any man judge whether i inveigh against aristotle for his heathen notions , or whether the word heathen bears any great stress in that sentence . but m. stubb makes what he confutes . he implies p. 11. that this was the motive that swayed me to anti-aristotelism , viz. the heathenism of his notions , which is a mere invention of his own brain , and such a one as he knows to be a gross vntruth , for he pretends to have confuted my letter concerning aristotle , which contains several of my motives , but makes this none ; and my scepsis s●ientifica , and even this last book gives an other account of my withdrawing from the peripatetick doctrines . but he hath not done persecuting the poor epithete ; [ alas ! he is troubled at his heathen notions ! oh! rare puritanism ! and afterwards it follows , nothing hath more of the presbyterian and fanatick than this topick , ib. p. 11. ] say you so m. harry ! suppose one should call vniversities , churches , church-yards , bells , — antichristian , idolatrous , popish , superstitious , as one m. stubb did in his light out of darkness ; would there not be more of the fanatick in that ? or should he speak against all humane learning and heathenish writers , as the same author , would there not be as much of fanaticism in such talk ? 't is puritanical and presbyterian , it seems to inveigh against heathen notions , but not so to decry heathenish authors and heathen writers . l. d. [ p. 101. ] but however it is , i am not at all concerned , for i no where inveigh against heathen notions , but in m. stubb's book , ( not i mean because they are heathen ) though i speak against those of them , which i judge either false , uncertain , or useless . so that the questions that follow about atoms , corpuscles , mathematical terms , languages , &c. are impertinent , and the man only disputes with himself in his dream . ( 6. ) in the same paragraph my letter about aristotle is confuted in short , for those exceptions against him are nothing but lies , [ ibid. p. 11. ] what ill luck hath m. stubb to have controversie with none but liers ? dr. wallis was a notorious falsifier ; m. baxter a great calumniator and lier ; the royal society have yet invented nothing but a lie ; [ ubi sup . ] dr. sprat is a legendary historian , and my animadversions on aristotle are all lies . it seems as soon as m. stubb makes any man his adversary , he commenceth lier , ipso facto ; and this i think , that ( as he said to dr. wallis ) one of us two is grosly ignorant , he may to every other antagonist , one of us two is a gross teller of lies ; this i have proved in part already , and it will appear further in some of the following notes . but as to my reflections on aristotle , if they are lies , they are none of mine , the matters of fact are reported from patricius , picus , gassendus , lord bacon , laertius , suidas , aelian , arrian , plutarch , eusebius , and such like authors ; if these are all liers too , there are no tell-troths but m. stubb . but 't is a rare protestation that follows ; i protest in the presence of almighty god , that if there be not great care taken , we may be in a little time reduced to that pass as to believe the story of tom thumb , — p. 11. ] doth m. stubb seriously think this , or doth he not ? if so , he is more ridiculous than one that believes tom thumb already ; if he be not serious in what he saith , he is impious in it ; and if it were an other man , one might ask him , how he durst in that manner use the name of god and protest a known and ridiculous falshood in his presence . but who can tell what m. stubb thinks of god ? he saith enough sometimes to give occasion to conjecture ; who knows but that all religion is with a certain anti-virtuoso like the story of tom thumb ? and he might do well to inform us how far he extends his expression of the legends and falsifications of history . i shall not here to tell you what i have heard him say . but he goes on [ this philosophy fairly disposeth us thereunto . ] viz. to believe tom thumb and the legends . if so , i hope he will excuse it from the so often objected guilt of scepticism ? but these philosophers one while dispose men to believe every thing ; and at the next turn to believe nothing . and yet one would wonder , how the philosophy of the virtuosi should incline men either to the one or the other . it deals in the plain objects of sense , in which , if any where , there is certainty ; and teacheth suspen●ion of assent till what is proposed , is well proved ; and so is equally an adversary to scepticism and credulity . but m. stubb tells us , [ ibid. ] that it makes men so credulous by taking them off from the pedantism of philology and antient reading , — it takes men off indeed , as philology takes them off from philosophy , and one sort of studies takes men off from an other , which they are not able to pursue at the same time with it : but this is no more discredit to the modern philosophy , then 't is to all other sorts of learning , and indeed none to any . if m. stubb means more than this , and would insinuate that experimental disquisitions into nature , have any direct antipathy to philology or antient reading , he speaks what is false and groundless ; and is not able to say any thing to purpose , to make such a censure good . he tells us indeed he is resolved to charge the enemy home , and he doth it by confident falshoods and bold affirmations without proof : his whole force is in noise and clamour ; and did he not keep a great stir , and raise the dust about him , he would scarce engage any to look towards him , or to take notice what he doth or saith . ( 7. ) he proceeds to animadvert upon me thus , [ he tells us that the aristotelian philosophy aims at no more than the instructing men in notion and dispute , that its design was mean , — p. 12. ] he quotes not the place whence this is taken , and 't is well he doth not , for he mis-reports my words , and affirms that which is false , for i was not speaking there of the aristotelian philosophy , but of the modern peripatetick way , which i affirm in that very page to be now quite another thing from the philosophy which aristotles books contain , and have frequently spoke to the same purpose elsewhere : now let any one look into the voluminous physicks of ariaga , hurtado , pontius , oviedo , carlton , and the rest of the late peripatetick writers , and let him then tell me what they aim at more , than the instructing men in notion and dispute . to talk here as the caviller doth , of aristotle's books of animals , and theophrastus about plants , and such like things , is toyish , impertinent , and like m. stubb ; and all the rest of the chat that comes in upon this occasion turns to wind and insignificant prattle . this is the man that would charge the enemy home ; we are like to have good doings in his quotations of other authors , when he perverts even the words of his antagonist . he is at the same sport again , [ p. 14. ] if notions might be rejected for being first proposed , and used by heathens , then is not aristotle in a worse condition than epicurus , democritus , plato , or pythagoras , — p. 15. he desires me to acquit paracelsus from being impious in his life . at this rate , there will be no end of animadversions , and 't will be impossible to escape the anti-virtuoso ; who said that notions might be rejected for being first proposed , and used by heathens ? or what hath m. glanvill to do with paracelsus ? but further [ ibid. p. 15. he saith , aristotle was of no such superlative esteem in the wisest times ; but he tells us not what those most wise times were , when he was in disesteem ] what need i ? i said not that he was in disesteem in the most wise times ; but of no such superlative account , as he himself quotes my words in one line , and makes quite another thing of them in the next . for is there no difference , doth he think , between not being of superlative account , and being in disesteem ? such gross slips as these in a virtuoso would have afforded matter for endless insultings , and charges of ignorance . he proceeds to prove that aristotle was in esteem in wise times ; and what then ? it follows clearly , that m. stubb can demonstrate , what no body denies . but was he in the most superlative account then ? he doth not say so , for that had been to his purpose : or were those times when his esteem was superlative , the wisest ? he shifts from this too ; he had not read of more wise people , than greece , rome , and the mahometans , — and all these admired him at several times ; but was their admiration superlative , when the times were wisest ? otherwise what he saith is not to purpose . he confesseth [ ibid. ] that he was much opposed and slighted by the first fathers ; and in his light out of darkness , p. 105. he saith , that aristotle was condemned by the first christians , and honest men of all ages . and i think the times of the first fathers during the glory of the roman empire , were some of the wisest times ; and i mention in my letter concerning aristotle , the observation of gassendus , that in the flourishing times of rome , and athens , the academicks and stoicks were more in esteem , than the sectators of aristotle ; and instance in cicero , pliny , and quintilian , who though they had a great esteem of aristotle , did yet prefer plato before him . so that in those most wise times , and among those wise men , aristotle's account was not superlative , if gassendus , or m. stubb himself be to be believed . and methinks it proves much , that the wisest men and times had the most superlative account of aristotle ; because they divided into platonists and aristotelians , as they did into catholicks and arrians , and the arrians were aristotelians , ibid. aristotle was of best account , because the catholicks followed plato , and the arrians were aristotle's followers . doth not this tend to the re-advancing the credit of aristotle ? if this will not do it , aristotle shall be re-advanc'd by and by ; it follows , [ p. 15 , 16. ] mahomet's successors the caliphs did wholly imploy themselves to improve the doctrines of aristotle , and the peripateticks : so that aristotelism , arrianism , and mahometanism issued out of the same parts of the world , viz. alexandria , and the adjacent countries . — this the virtuoso could not see , because so much history was above his reach , p. 16. and the reasoning is as much above it as the history . he next quotes another passage of mine , relating to the same business , viz. that since the minds of christians are enlightned with the raies of the glorious gospel , they have less reason to bow down to the dictates of an idolater and an heathen . ] hence m. impertinent concludes , that we must bid farewel to the rhetorick , and other works of aristotle , which i had afore recommended ; and he adds that we must shake hands with seneca , epictetus , and plato , p. 16. this follows like the rest , because we may not bow down , and give an implicit veneration to an heathen authority ; therefore we must bid farewel to all the works of those authors ; as if there were no difference between using their works , and servilely adoring them . ( 8. ) he perstringeth a passage cited out of plato , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; and what i add , viz. that [ the universe must be known by the art , by which it was made . ] here i am sent to answer dr. more 's dialogues , where he explodes the mechanism of nature . ibid. p. 16. ] before i descend to the particular answer to this , i take notice , that m. stubb runs up and down , and flirts from some things to others , which have no coherence among themselves , or in my book . he falls upon my discourse about philosophical instruments ; and then , without any occasion given , suddenly steps back against a passage in my preface , that hath no relation in the world to his discourse , as p. 10. in the same paragraph he leaps forward again to the 124. page of my plus vltra , and largely confu●es a sentence or two there . the next motion is back to a passage , p. 25. that had nothing to do with what he was saying ; and so every where he writes , as he dreams . but to omit other instances of this here , i come to shew the impertinence of this last cavil . by plato's saying , i understood no no more , than that god made all things in number , weight , and measure ; and i suppose that mechanism may be used , as far as it will go . now geometry assists men in mechanical disquisitions , which are helps for the knowledge of nature and causes : this was all i intended , for i do not believe that all the phaenomena are merely mechanical : so that dr. more 's dialogues do no way oppose my sense ; he explodes not the mechanism of nature , ( as m. stubb tells us ) but such a mechanism , as is supposed to suffice for all the effects of nature , without help from any immaterial agent . this may be seen easily by those , that read the book , and endeavour to understand it ; but m. stubb reads by indexes and catches , which is enough for the purposes of a caviller . having thus explained my meaning , i need not be concerned in what he adds in his review , p. 170. &c. for all his arguments are impertinent in reference to my sense , and i may take occasion , ex abundanti , hereafter to prove that they are trivial and childish in reference to any other . for they can do no execution even upon the mere mechanical hypothesis . but ( 9. ) to let that alone now , i cannot forbear noting here the intolerable impudence and lying of this man , p. 173. where he goes on with the impertinence he begun , p. 16. he tells us there , that his opinion had been amply maintain'd of late by dr. hen. more in opposition to what the royal society lays down in their history , viz. that generation , corruption , alteration , and all the vicissitudes of nature are nothing else , but the effects arising from the meeting of little bodies of differing figures , magnitudes , and velocities . than which opinions , saith he , there can be nothing more pestilent and pernicious ; and dr. more albeit a member of this society heretofore , ( for be allows nothing to it now ) yet a pious one , professeth that this mechanical philosophy inclines to atheism : neither would he approve of those deductions as necessary but ridiculous , when i upbraided him lately with that nonsensical and illiterate history . upon my reading of this paragraph i resolved to write to dr. more , to know whether he had deserted the society , or whether those other passages were true ; i writ accordingly , and that learned doctor was pleased to return me the following answer , in which you may see the insufferable impudence of this prodigious romancer . a letter from dr. more to i. g. giving an account how m. stubb belies him . p. 173. sir , i thank you for yours , which i received by the hand of your friend and neighbour m. c. before i received your letter i had not read half a page in your antagonists book , for i had only seen it once by chance in one of our fellows chambers , but had no leisure as yet to read it , my time being taken up with other matters ; and therefore i was wholly ignorant of those passages , p. 173. till your letter gave me an occasion to enquire after the book , and to read all there that concerns my self : at which i must confess i was much surprised ; especially at that particular passage , which was pointed me to by another letter from a friend , the day after yours ; that passage i mean , wherein he makes as if i were not still a member of the royal society , but had left it ; grounding his assertion upon this reason , [ for he allows nothing to it now ] it was a great marvel to me , that he should pretend to know better than my self , whether i be still of the royal society , or no. for i take my self still to be of it , and i am sure i have not left it . and as for the reason he would build his conclusion upon , in that sense as it will seem to sound to all men at the first reading , namely , that i allow them no respect , nor have any esteem for them now , it is grosly false . for the great opinion i have of their experimental philosophy , i have at least two moneths ago amply testified in my preface to my enchiridion metaphysicum , when i did not at all dream of any such passage of your antagonist concerning me in his book . and do particularly note how serviceable their natural experiments in matter are to the clear knowledge and demonstration of the existence of immaterial beings : so far are they from tending to atheism . and 't is invidiously done of your adversary to commend me for piety , with an unworthy and odious reflection on the society , as if men were less pious for being thereof : whenas i dare say there are as pious persons of that society , as there are out of it ; and it is a gross mistake in him , that he looks upon that mechanick philosophy which i oppose , to be the philosophy the royal society doth profess , or would support . but the philosophy which they aim at , is a more perfect philosophy , as yet to be raised out of faithful and skilful experiments in nature , which is so far from tending to atheism , that i am confident , it will utterly rout it and the mechanical philosophy at once , in that sense which i oppose , namely , as it signifies a philosophy that professeth , that matter having such a quantity of motion as it has , would contrive it self into all those ph●nomena we see in nature . but this profession cannot rightly be called the mechanical philosophy , but the mechanical belief of credulity . for it has no ground of reason in the earth to support it . but there are many and most palpable demonstrations against it , as all the world shall see in my enchiridion metaphysicum . wherefore it is a very high injury of your antagonist , to father so absurd a profession upon a society of such learning and judgment as the royal society is . i believe indeed most of us , i am sure my self does conceive , that generation , corruption , alteration , and all the vicissitudes of corporeal nature are nothing else but unions and dissolutions ( i will add also the formations and deformations ) of little bodies or particles of differing figures , magnitudes , and velocities . but this thus bounded is not the mechanical philosophy , but part of the old pythagorick or mosaick philosophy , so far as i can see by any history . so that 't is very unskilfully done of your antagonist to bring me in as opposing , or clashing with the royal society in a thing of this great consequence , and so to make them patrons of that , which neither any sound philosophy , nor true religion can allow . nor can i have so low a conceit of your parts , judgment , and virtue , as to think , when you magnifie d●s-cartes his philosophy so highly as you do , that it is for that hasty presumption of his , that upon the supposal that matter was possest of so much motion as there is in the world , it would necessarily at length contrive it self into all such phaenomena , as we see in the universe ; but because several of his conceptions concerning the figures of the particles of such and such bodies are exceeding plansible , and probable : amongst which that of the globuli seems to me so far to surpass all other hypotheses about light , that i stand to him close against his most able opposers in that point in my enchiridion metaphysicum , so far forth as concerns the mechanical part of light and colours . but mere mechanism does not exhaust all in those phaenomena neither , as i there prove in a long chapter on that subject . by this time i think it is plain , what mechanical philosophy that is , that may incline men to atheism , and that it is not the experimental philosophy , which the royal society professes , that is , that philosophy which inclines men to atheism , but quite contrary , as i shall manifestly demonstrate in my exhiridion metaphysicum . i think there is nothing now that concerns me in the page you point me to in your letter , but my judgment touching that large passage of the learned and eloquent dr. sprat , and the deductions therein contained , which deductions , says your antagonist , i would not approve of as necessary , but ridiculous ; truly if i had said so , i should have made my self ridiculous ; for how could i approve of deductions , especially in so serious a point , as , or quatenus ridiculous ; for there is no man , let him be never so pious , unless he be a fool , that can approve of deductions for their being ridiculous in so serious a cause . but it seems he having a mind to monopolize all the wit in the world to himself , is content to repute me for pious , so he may remonstrate me withal to the world to be a fool , and such as he may play the fool withal , as he has in all this page you have pointed me to . i might indeed approve of those deductions as smooth and plausible , though not as necessary , but something of a lubricous and doubtful aspect ; but i know very well i could not approve of them as ridiculous . but i add further , that there are such experiments made by us of the royal society , that do not only plausibly invite us to , but afford us most forcible and evident demonstrations for the belief of the existence of immaterial beings , and such as your antagonist can never be able to elude the force of● by pretending that we do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as will appear in my enchiridion metaphysicum . sir , by this i suppose you see how much i am concerned in this page you point me to in your letter ; i have nothing more to add but that i am your affectionate friend and servant hen. more . this letter i publish , because my reverend and learned friend hath given me leave to print it , and he writes that he is much offended , that m. stubb should pick him up as a sensless clod in the high-way , to pelt so honourable a society with , of which he is a member . you may judge by this , sir , how far we are to believe m. stubb , when he tells us how many have deserted the royal society , when the very first person that he names , disproves the impudent falshood . what a man is this that dares bely so reverend a person in the face of the world ? and what am i to expect from him ; if one , of whom he pretends to speak well , be thus used ? by this you may see what mechanism of nature it is , that dr. more explodes , and how impertinently and maliciously the animadverter urgeth this learned man against the mechanick philosophy of the royal society , and that which i have recommended . and there is no doubt but were the other authors , which he quotes , alive , and able to do themselves right , they would most of them disclaim the senses , which this perverter of their meaning puts upon them , to serve himself in his cavilling . ( 10. ) but i am charged with this very fault , [ p. 19. ] and m. stubb will have it , that i have mis-reported the first discourse between m. cross and my self ; he prefaceth to what he saith in the behalf of the disputer thus , nor will i engage particularly in the dispute between him and m. cross ; and as soon as he had told us he would not do it , he begins in the immediate next words , and proceeds to do it , in several of the following pages . i am informed , saith he , that the relation is very false ; and 't is like he was so informed ; his friend m. cross told him so . but i would have both these adversaries know , that i scorn to report any matter of fact publickly , which i cannot sufficiently , and substantially prove . i have two good witnesses to attest the truth of the relation i made in my plus vltra , of the discourse between m. cross and me : they are both masters of art , and both of the same college to which the grave man formerly belong'd ; and that they may see i am not such a legendary reporter of things , as i have in part already , and shall yet further prove them , i here produce the attestation . we whose names are underwritten were present at the conference between m. cross , and m. glanvill at bath , and do attest , that the discourse was exactly , and sincerely such as it is reported by m. glanvill in his book plvs vltra . io. a court. will. allen. these same witnesses have attested the falshood of m. crosses relation of the discourse , in all the material , yea , even in most of the minute particulars also ; and have proved him guilty of sixteen gross untruths in that account he gives in his book which was rejected the press . but their attestation here , is too large to insert ; i have it in a latin answer to m. c. which lies by me , and any man that hath a mind shall see it . thus i have proved my relation for m. stubb's satisfaction ; and there is no other matter i have related concerning either of them , but i shall make it good , whenever i am call'd upon to do it ; yea , if they please , i am ready to lay the issue of all here ; if i cannot prove every matter of fact , that i have printed about them ; i shall humbly lay my neck at their feet : and if on the other hand , either of these adversaries can prove one of those reproachful things they have alledg'd against me , i 'll be their uassal and their uictim . before i have done , you will see , that this is no dangerous offer . but i must pass these things over briefly . he is so kind to m. cross , [ p. 20. ] that he is willing to venture the being found in an errour with him ; for he saith , i profess my self in an errour , as well as m. cross , if it be not true that aristotle had sundry advantages to pen his history of animals , which our virtuosi want . but the mischief is , this kindness will not signifie to his friend ; for he doth not say , that aristotle had more advantages to pen his history of animals than the virtuosi only ; but more advantages for knowledge , than the later ages : if m. stubb will undertake his cause here , he may do him a favour , otherwise , his kindness is as impertinent , as his reasonings use to be . in the next words he attempts to prove the advantages aristotle had for his history of animals , and he doth it by the authority of pliny , which author he makes a lier to an instance , [ p. 161. ] where he saith of sir kenelm digby , that he was the pliny of our age for lying : but any authority shall be heard against the virtuosi . i am perstringed [ p. 21. ] for not knowing what authors writ well upon the several subjects , in which i pretend the moderns have outdone the antients : this he proves , because i mention sava●orol● among the improvers of the history of baths ; and a man that knew authors as well as m. stubb , hath named him among those natural historians , the person is dr. hackwel in his apology , p. 283. but the animadverter discovers my ignorance further , for he never heard any man commend blanchellus on that subject , viz. concerning baths , [ p. 22. ] but i can tell him , that the just mention'd learned doctor commends him on that subject . [ ibid. ] for he reckons him and savanorola among those , who had written parts of natural history more exactly : i speak of no more improvers of this sort , than those he mentions , because i was only to give some few instances , and was not obliged to an exact and full account . i omit dr. iordan , because he pretends not to improve the history of baths , and the animadverter is malicious in urging this as a defect , and argument of my not knowing him ; if i had named him on this occasion , i had been besides my subject ; and if i had troubled my self to collect and recite the names of all improvers , i must have been tedious and impertinent ; for i had not obliged my self to any such task , nor did my design require it . but he mentions another great omission of mine , with which , he saith , he is surprised , viz. because i do not make the moderns to surpass the antients in architecture , sculpture , picture , and several other arts of ingenious luxury . [ p. 24. ] but why should he expect that ? i proposed only to discourse such things as were helps and advantages for the advance of vseful knowledge ; as he might have seen , [ p. 9. ] and in other places of my plus vltra . nor was i bound to mention every thing ; i intended no perfect history , and the instances i alledged were enough to carry my cause , and to encourage philosophical endeavours , though a great many others that might have been very pertinent , were omitted ; and several that m. stubb would have had there , designedly left out , because they were not proper for my purpose : and i do not believe , that the moderns surpass the antients in architecture , sculpture , picture , or the arts of ingenious luxury ; so that m. stubb need not have been surprised at my omission . ( 11. ) but to shew how unsupportable such kind of men , as the virtuosi , are in all judicious and intelligent company , he sets down my discourse with m. cross about dioptrick tubes . [ ibid. p. 2.4 , &c. ] and the first remark he makes upon it [ p. 27. ] is , that i have little or no insight into opticks ; this he remarks roundly , but doth not shew us how he inferrs it from my discourse , but adds immediately , the solution of m. crosses fallacy , if it were his , by that interrogatory , why cannot he write better with two pens than with a single one ? is ridiculous , since there is no uis unita there . — but who told m. stubb that my instance of the two pens , was a solution of m. crosses fallacy about the two spectacles ? let him but look back upon the words that he had newly recited , and he will see , that i alledge this to shew the ridiculousness of m. crosses argument ; i do not say there is a vis unita in the two pens ; but this i do , that there is as much of it there , as in the two spectacles , and consequently , we may as well inferr , that a man can write with two pens better than with one singly , because uis unita fortior ; as , that one can see better with two pair of spectacles , than with one , for that reason ; which was m. crosses argument ; that is , there is no consequence in either . so that i first shew the absurdity of my antagonists reasoning by the instance of the pens , and then solve his fallacy by denying there is any vi● unita in the two pair of spectacles , as it follows immediately in the words that m. stubb cites from my book , the reason he [ m. c. ] gave , why one would expect it should be so , viz. that a man should see better with two pair , than one , is the reason why 't is not , namely , because there is no vis unita in the two , as i had intimated before , and do again in the words immediately following . so that m. stubb here either wanted spectacles , or saw what i said through the double ones of his pride and malice , that mis-represented my discourse to him . but that which follows in the same period is yet more marvellous , my solution of the fallacy by the two pens he had said is ridiculous , since there is no vis unita there , to which he adds in the immediate next words , and in one sort of tubes , though the rays be united in the first convex glass , and brought to a convergency , yet must the sphaerical cavity of the next dilate it again , and dispose them fittingly to effect the expected vision in the retina . how doth this prove that my solution of m. crosses fallacy by the two pens is ridiculous ? what distant things ramble together into this mans wild phansie ? but perhaps he had reference to something i had said before ; i will charitably suppose this , to try if i can make any sense of his arguing ; i had said that we see better through the two glasses in perspectives , than any single one , because they are so fashion'd and order'd that the visive rays are better gather'd and united by them for the advantage of sight : if this be not the thing he mutters against , i cannot imagine what he means ; or if it be , i cannot understand how it comes in here . but i need not wonder at the incoherence of m. stubb's reasonings ; this must be allow'd him , or we shall never have done remarking : let it be so then , in a sort of tubes the rays are brought to a convergency in the first glass , and again dilated in the second ; therefore the two glasses are not so order'd in perspectives that the visive rays are better gather'd and united for the advantage of sight . this is the argument in it's best prospect , and let him make the most of it . i suppose , i need not tell the intelligent reader how absurd it is , and how impertinent ; nor inform him , that by the vnion of the visive rays i do not mean their coincidency , but such an order among them as is fit for vision . but i may further animadvert on these things hereafter , if upon second thoughts i think them worthy of a further mention . after he had thus remarked my ignorance in opticks , and proved it irrefragably by the two arguments i have now recited , he attempts to bring off his friend m. cross. he is a generous man , and told a reverend person from whom at second hand i had it , that he would rescue the poor fellow out of my hands ; nobly and charitably designed ! but let us see how he succeeds in this design of rescue ; his first main attempt follows here , [ p. 28. ] as to what m. cross is said to have argued against telescopes , that the addition of one glass to another must hinder , rather than improve vision , because that the super adding of one pair of spectacles to another , rather weakens than amends the sight . i must say , that whosoever understands the form of an argument cannot except against the form of that , nor do the propositions so ill cohere together , as that one should be for sense , the other for convenience : all that excursion of our virtuoso shews his ignorance , not m. crosses . thus the defence begins , and is not m. cross like to be rescued ? the form of the argument is not to be excepted against : and pray m. impertinent , who talk'd of the form of the argument , or excepted against it ? doth m. stubb intend this for a defence , or doth he not ? if not , what makes it here ? if so , 't is a rare knack , by which any thing may be defended . for instance , m. stubb calls the members of the royal society , poor devils , [ campanella revived , p. 16. ] and thus , suppose he forms his arguments to prove it ; if the disasters of the late dutch war , the plague , and fire of london were less inconveniences than the perpetuity of the royal society ; then the members thereof are devils ; but the disasters of the late dutch war , the plague , and fire of london were 〈◊〉 inconveniences than the perpetuity of the royal society , [ camp. rev . p. 21. ] ergo , there is no excepting against the form of the argument ; conclusum est contra — again , if they are pitiful mechanicians , an illiterate company , impostors , mean spirits , &c. then they are poor devils ; but they are pitiful mechanicians , [ pref. against plus vlt. ] an illiterate company , [ camp. rev . p. 21. ] impostors , [ camp. rev . pref. ] mean spirits , &c. [ pref. against plus vlt. ] ergo , no one that understands the form of an argument can except against these ; nor do the propositions so ill cohere , as that one should be for sense , the other for convenience . whoever excepts against the arguments shews his ignorance , not m. stubb's , as i shewed mine , by excepting against the reason taken from the spectacles , not m. crosses . how easily can m. stubb prove a man guilty of ignorance ? well! this is said in m. crosses defence , and i believe he could have said as much as this , to defend himself . if he be called in question for the matter of his argument , m. stubb gives him up , and tells us , [ ibid. ] there is no defence to be made for him , if he urged this otherwise than to try the intellectuals of m. glanvill . thus the cause is quitted , and m. cross left defenceless , only this was a sort of knowledge that was not necessary for a divine , and he hath other , and better qualifications than carnal reasoning . but since m. cross cannot be brought off , i must be charged ; and that i as little understand the subject of knowledge i pretend to , he saith it is manifest from hence , that i might easily have denied the assertion of the spectacles , that two pair did not impede , but amend the sight in some eyes that are very weak : for there is an old gentlewoman , and a young gentlewoman of his acquaintance that use two , [ p. 29. ] i shall here tell m. stubb that there are very few things which i pretend to know : but whatever ignorance i am guilty of , m. stubb hath never the luck to discover it , nor to prove his charges against me of this kind . he remark'd that i was ignorant of opticks , because i intimate that the axiom , vis unita fortior , may be as well used to prove a man can write better with two pens , than with one ; as that he can see better with two spectacles , than a single pair . i am charged with ignorance for excepting against m. crosses nonsensical argument , which at last is given up as defenceless , and here it is manifest , that i understand not the subject of the knowledge i pretend to , by as good reasons . forsooth ! i might easily have denied the assertion of the spectacles , that two pair did not impede , but amend the sight in some eyes that are weak . the assertion was not that two pair did not , but that they did impede ; but we must pass by m. stubb's improprieties and nonsense ; and this period is not sense , as 't is worded . he means , i might have denied that two pair of spectacles hinder the sight , they amend it in eyes that are weak ; because i did not this i am ignorant in opticks . but if i had done so , i had been impertinent in answering ; for it must be granted , that two pair ordinarily hinder the sight , though in m. stubb's old gentlewoman and young , the case is different , and if i had allowed the consequence , this had been enough to have carried m. cross's cause against the two glasses in telescopes . thus i must be ignorant , because i was not impertinent . but doth m. stubb think that every one is unacquainted with opticks , who doth not know that double spectacles mend the sight in some whose eyes are weak , or dis-affected ? must all be ignoramus's that have not met with the old gentlewoman his acquaintance , and the young gentlewoman that he knows with cataracts in her eyes , who use two pair of spectacles ? or must he needs be ignorant that meeting two false propositions in a syllogism , contents himself to deny one , and that the denial of which most evidently tends to the nulling the argument , and rendring it ridiculous ? i propose not these questions to justifie my own knowledge , but to represent and shame m. stubb's childish , trifling , and malicious impertinence . 12. as to the large discourse that follows concerning telescopes , i shall treat fully on the subject , and answer the animadverter's cavills , in the book , where i particularly examine his authorities ; and in that all other things which are worth an answer shall be consider'd . for the present i take notice , that this whole discourse is an elaborate impertinence , for he proves not , that telescopes are no late invention , nor yet , that they are not helps for knowledge ; he pretends indeed to shew that their reports are sometimes uncertain , but yet will not be understood totally to discredit the use of telescopes in celestial discoveries , as he cautions , [ p. 47. ] and so , what he s●ys , is impertinent to the main business , though it may seem to confute some passages of mine concerning those glasses . but let m. stubb urge all he can for the f●lliciousness of telescopes , a sceptick will produce as much to prove the deceitfulness of our eyes , and i 'll undertake my self to offer such arguments against the certainty of sense , as m. stubb with all his sagacity shall not be able to answer . but how comes m. stubb to say in the entrance of this discourse , p. 29. that he was sure m. boyle is in the same errour with m. cross ? let us see upon what ground he built his confidence in this first instance by which he impugns telescopes : why , m. boyle complains that when he went about to examine those appearances in the sun call'd maculae & faculae solares , he could not make the least discovery of them in many months , which yet other observators pretend to see every day , yet doth m. boyle profess that he neither wanted the conveniency of excellent telescopes , nor omitted any circumstance requisite to the enquiry . thus the animadverter ; and hence he is sure that m. b. is in the same errour with m. c. that telescopes are fallacious . let this be an instance how this swaggerer quotes authors , and let the reader look into the place cited from m. boyle , if he do so , he will see , that that honourable person saith nothing there , that tends to the proving the deceitfulness of telescopes , much less , that he believes them fallacious . i have not the latin translation of those essays , but in the second edition of the original english , i find the discourse to which m. stubb referrs , p. 103. where the excellent author imputes it not to the glasses that he could not for several months see the macul● and faculae solares , but seems a little to blame those astronomers , who have so written of the spots and more shining parts , — as to make their readers to presume that at least some of them are almost always to be seen there , which he conjectures was occasion'd by their so often meeting such phaenomena in the sun , [ ib. ] but these for many months , our learned author could not discover by his telescopes , not because of their fallaciousness , but for that during many months they appeared so much seldomer than it seems they did before . these are the words of that honourable gentleman , [ ubi sup . ] and now how doth it appear hence that m. boyle is in the same errour about the deceitfulness of telescopes , with m. cross ? is it sure that he thought those glasses fallacious , because he could not see the maculae and faculae in the sun , when they were not there ? what are we to expect from this man in reference to the other authors he cites , when he so grosly and impudently mis-reports so known a one of our own , who is yet alive , and sees how maliciously the caviller perverts him ? i shall examine his carriage to other writers in my next book ; and in that shew that most of the arguments he brings to argue the fallaciousness of telescopes , prove only the diversity and changes of the mediums , and of the celestial phaenomena , not the deceit of those glasses . but i am concluded to be altogether unacquainted with telescopes , as well as ignorant of opticks , [ p. 46. ] because i say , that [ they alter the objects in nothing but their proportions . ] by which i meant , that they make no alterations in the figures of bodies , but represent them , as they are , only in larger proportions . and i am ignorant in telescopes , for saying so , for ( 1. ) some telescopes invert all objects , and ( 2. ) the dioptrick tubes represent the light and colours more dilute and remiss , ( 3. ) some represent some objects greater , ( 4. ) some no bigger , or rather less , ( 5. ) some objects are magnified , but not so much as others . these are arguments of my ignorance , or m. stubb's impertinence : for my ignorance , i have told m. stubb , that i am ready to confess a great deal more , than he can prove me guilty of ; and whether he hath shewn it here , as he pretends , let the reader judg . if some telescopes invert all things , that 's nothing to his purpose , for i spoke of the ordinary tubes ; nor is there any change of the figure of objects , when they are inverted . though in the largest tubes the light and colours are more remiss ; yet that makes no alteration of the object , and i said the glasses alter'd the objects in nothing but their proportions . though some objects in some tubes are represented no bigger , or rather less , than they otherwise seem ; yet that 's nothing against what i say , for telescopes ordinarily magnifie , 't is their remarkable property , and that for which they are used ; and though some objects are not magnified as much as others , yet they are confess'd to be magnified , and that 's sufficient ; or though some are not , 't were nothing , as i just now observ'd . i note these obvious things as my eye runs over my adversaries book . they are enough to justifie what i said , and to shew m. stubb's impertinence ; i shall discover it further , when i come to consider these things more deeply . i represent the easiest matters now , that all readers may see what a pitiful caviller this man is , that boasts such mighty matters , and counts all men ignorants , and fools , but himself . ( 13. ) and 't is notoriously evident in this next instance , i had said , [ chymistry hath a pretence to the great hermes for its author , ( how truly i will not dispute , ) but m. stubb will make me dispute whether i will or no. for after he had recited these words he saith , he can tell me what he is sure i am ignorant of . the egyptians did never attribute to hermes the invention of physick or any part of it , — p. 50. ] how doth this scribbler confute his own dreams ? who said that the egyptians attribute to hermes the invention of physick , or any part of it ? how easie is it to pile up authors against any writer , if a man may take this liberty of making him say what he pleaseth ? i say , chymistry hath a pretence to hermes for its author ; and m. stubb confutes me by proving the egyptians did never ascribe the invention of physick to him. and what then ? the usual conclusion follows , m. stubb is an industrious impertinent . but will he say , there is no ground for my affirmation that chymistry hath a pretence to hermes for its author ? he quotes vossivs for the derivation of the word from the greek , [ p. 51. ] if he had read out that leaf in vossius , he would have found a reason for that passage of mine . that learned man tells us , transiit alchymia disciplina ad nos ab arabibus , sive mauris , — mauros verò ab aegyptiis accepisse autumant , — egyptii rursum edocti existimantur ab hermete seu mercurio trismegisto , [ vos . de philos. c. 9. p. 68. ] this saying of vossius had been enough to justifie so transient a passage : but again , sennertvs is an author , against whom m. stubb saith , he hopes there is no exception , [ p. 58. ] this author he quotes in that page ; if he had here either read out the chapter , which he cites , he would have seen another reason , why i say , chymistry hath a pretence to hermes for its author . for thus that celebrated writer , post diluvium à plerisque sive inventio , sive propagatio chymiae ad hermetem trismegistum refertur , & ab eo ars chymica dicitur hodie ars hermetica , vas hermetis , & sigillum hermetis provulgantur , — omnes chymici hactenus censuerunt , ut scribit albertus magnus , quòd hermes fit radix , super quam omnes philosophi sustentati sunt , — [ sen. de natura chym. cap. 3. ] this is another instance how well m. stubb himself is acquainted with the authors he quotes , and an evidence that he reads only such scraps of them , as he thinks make for his turn . and may it not reflect shame upon a man of his pretences , that his adversary should be justified by the very books he himself cites , and even in the same chapter and leaf , whence he takes passages from them ; yea , and in a thing too that relates to his own profession . and here i cannot but take notice of an other instance of his knowledg● in the authors , with which he hath the most reason to be acquainted ; he tells us , [ p. 112. ] that dr. harvy in his two answers to riolanus , and his book of generation , no where asserts the invention ( viz. of the circulation , ) so to himself as to deny that he had the intimation or notion from caesalpinus , which silence ( saith he ) i take for a tacit confession , — how true this is , may be seen in the book he last mentioned , de generatione anim. edit . amst. p. 309. there dr. harvy in express terms assumes the invention to himself in these words , circvitum sangvinis admirabilem à me jampridem inventum , video propemodum omnibus placuisse , — m. stubb tells us , that his ambition of glory made him willing to be thought the author of a paradox he had so illustrated , — yet such was his modesty as not to vindicate it to himself by telling a lie ; [ ubi sup . ] this we see he did if cesalpinus was the author . that this last named person was the inventer of the circulation , m. stubb labours much to prove , and struts mightily in his supposed performance ; i shall not undertake to examine that matter now , only i cannot but take notice , that m. stubb is impertinent in all that discourse : for if caesalpinus be the author , the invention is however modern , for he writ his quaest. medicae not above eighty years ago , and in them it is pretended he discover'd the circulation . and i am the less concern'd in all the animadverters voluminous nothing about the author of that discovery , because i took care before to prevent such impertinences ; but i see m. stubb will be impertinent , do i what i can to prevent it . i ascribe the invention to d. harvy , as almost all men now do , except the animadverter ; but take notice withal , that not only divers antients , but some moderns have had the glory fastned on them , among these , i mention this caesalpinvs , and add , [ for these though either of them should be acknowledg'd to be the author , it will make as much for the design of my discourse , as if harvy have the credit ; and therefore here i am no otherwise concern'd , but to have justice for that excellent man , — plus ult. p. 16. ] but m. stubb's malice against dr. harvy , and spight against me would not permit him to discern that he had no reason here to fall on this controversie ; and 't is nothing to him whether he have reason , or not ; he follows the impetus , and writes on , if it happen to be to purpose , 't is well , if not , he cannot help it . and now , sir , i am quite weary of discovering the falshoods , and follies , and impertinences of this insulting man. the instances i have given are enough for my present purpose ; they will more abundantly appear in the further animadversions i intend , in those i shall take all things to task , in which i may be thought to be concerned . but for that work i must have time ; i have other things enow to do , which 't is more my concern and more my inclination to mind ; and that business will require me to examine a multitude of authors , which i have reason to be confident m. stubb hath mis-reported and abus'd ; i have given you a taste already of some of his dealings with the writers he quotes , i shall present the world with a great deal more of the same kind in my next ingagement . but that will be a thing of labour , and 't is not so agreeable to my humour neither , and therefore the execution of this my design will be the slower . i thought here to have added an account of my other antagonist m. cross ; but that adversary is to be pitied , all that he can do in the controversie is but to call names and invent stories , and make scurrilous rhimes ; these are the arms he hath used against me , ever since our controversie began ; i speak not this in a way of contemptuous abuse , but with all that seriousness , with which i can affirm any thing , which i do most heartily believe . this i say ( and i am sorry i can say no better of him ) hath been the course he hath taken : i represented the contents of his book in a private letter to dr. ingelo , that afterwards , coming to a friends hands in london was printed by him , and call'd the chue gazett , ( for m. cross lives at a place call'd chue . ) it was printed , but there were not an hundred copies of it , and those all given into private hands , that his shame might not be made publick . in that letter , i presented a collection of some of the names he had call'd me , which were as foul and scurrilous , as the most ill-bred ruffian could have vented in a distemper'd huff ; i recited about sixteen of his gross falshoods , which were the broadest and silliest that ever were framed , for they were so pitifully contrived , that every one that knows me , knew most of them to be false , and he himself could not but know , that they were notoriously untrue ; yea , some passages of things he had said , which he publickly denied again in his book , and with most solemn invocations of the name of god , have been attested to his face . so that i am as much astonisht at the prodigious indiscretion of this marvellous man , as at his matchless legends . and in him i see an instance how far rage and malice will carry a proud and intemperate spirit . he did not know nor care what he said , so he could gratifie his wild passion against me . if ever you chance to light upon that paper , you will see that this censure is sober and true . in the same letter i discovered the contemptible impertinency of his book , which doth not as much against mine , as m. stubb did , when he confuted the errata of the press . i give a specimen also of the learning he shews in schoolscraps , and little ends of verse , and childrens phrases , which are all the reading he discovers . these things are in brief represented in the gazett , and much more largely in a latin account of his performance , which i have ready by me . after my letter was abroad , to divert his trouble and disorder , he fell into a fit of rhiming , and writ scurrilous ballads to abuse me further ; upon this occasion he was so given to versifying , that he could not write a note but it must be in meeter . as for instance , sending to a neighbour minister to preach for him , he presents his request thus , good m. battin , you speak good latin , and so you do english too : your neighbour cross is taking horse , and you must preach at chue . with such poetry as this , my praises , and those of the city of bath , were celebrated . and so taken he was himself with his vein , that i have heard , he used to vaunt how much he was in a poetick dispensation above hudibras . but the likeliest course he ever took , was the ingaging m. stubb in his quarrel . he hath a pen that is always ready to be retain'd in pay . m. cross ( as i was told by the animadverter himself ) sent him his book , which he then despised ; and said even to me , that he was an old — that had been asleep these forty years , and knew not what the world had been doing ; but 't is like m. stubb did not know then , what advantage might be made of m. crosses friendship , by one that would undertake his rescue . the reverend disputer after this caress'd , and courted him highly ; treated him at bath , and entertain'd him divers times with dear welcome at his house , so that at last he was fastned . how like these two are in their genius's and performances , i may have an occasion to shew in a parallel . what assistance m. cross can afford his friend in the cause against the royal society , he shall not want : i am told , that he is doing that , which is sutable to his temper and abilities , viz. collecting the legends , that himself and his confederates have made and driven about concerning one of those , they call the virtuosi , to furnish m. stubb with them ; worthy work for a second cobler of glocester ! but their labour will be lost , and worse : that person despiseth their malicious figments ; and will make some body repent the infamous project . and now while i am speaking of legends , i remember one , by which i have been much abused to the gentry of wilts , as if i had spoken rudely and injuriously concerning them . you , sir , are of that county ; and i owe a iustification of my self to you , and those other ingenious and worthy persons , who have heard the fable . the occasion of the the false report , which 't is like you have been told , was this , i commended an honourable gentleman of your county , and particularly for his skill in mathematicks , adding , that i knew none other in the parts where i was then , ( being not in wiltshire ) so acquainted with those studies ; or to that purpose ; this hapned to be mistaken and mis-reported , and after coming to the ears of some , whose tongues are their own , they formed it into that abusive falshood that went about . i know you cannot believe me guilty of any thing so rude , or if i were capable of such folly or incivility , i should not have vented it against persons , by some of which i have been so highly obliged ; and when there are not three gentlemen , that i know there , for whom i have not a very great honour and esteem . and particularly for your self , i have all that respect and value , which so many and so great accomplishments both intellectual and moral , as you eminently possess , can claim from one , that is sensible , and obliged by innumerable civilities to be sir , your affectionate humble servant , jos. glanvill . postscript . mr. stubbe being resolv'd to charge the enemy home , ( as he told us ) hath publish't two other books , since that against me ; the first he calls legends no histories , against dr. spratt , and m. henshaw ; the other he names campanella reviv'd , design'd to prove , that the royal society is managing projects to introduce popery : in these worthy works i cannot tell which i shall admire most , his impudence , or his impertinence ; the former will sufficiently appear in the bare recital of some of his expressions , which i shall present for a taste ; the other vertue will require animadversions , which i suppose the gentleman concern'd may bestow upon the legends ; and the other pamphlet i may perhaps take an occasion to examine . the shorter work i undertake now , as a supplement to my account of m. stubbe's modesty , and civilities . and the first thing i take notice of , is , that this doughty man of warwick sends publick defiances before-hand , to those he intends to assault , and , as i have read somewhere of the great turk , in the pride of his puissance gives solemn warning where he intends to make war : 't is unbecoming his mightiness to surprise an enemy . he therefore informs m. evelyn , and dr. merrett what he intends against them [ camp. rev . ] which is somewhat less , it seems , then he could do , should he give himself the trouble ; for he saith , he could make m. evelyn ' s account of the birch tree appear as ridiculous , as the history of salt-petre ; 't is like he understands that tree , he experimented something more than ordinary of it at oxford ; and perhaps if he had right done him , he would have more experience of another tree . but i must not stay , to remark here . he gives out , that he will make the lord bishop of chester smart , and writ to one ( as i am credibly told ) that he was making inquiries into his lordships learning , parts , and qualifications for a bishop . how fit is he to be a visitour of bishops ? but to confine my self to what is printed . he gives notice in the preface of his legends of several books more , that he hath coming , in pursuance of the projects of his former ; particularly he threatens one against my letter concerning aristotle ; a design suitable to the grandeur of m. stubbe's mind . that short discourse was first only a private letter , written when i was not 23 years of age , and printed six , or seven years ago . let the mighty man , in the glory of his conquests , insult over an essay of a green youth , and take six years time to write against two sheets of paper , which for ought he can tell the author by this time disrellisheth himself . but the truth is , i do not know , whether i have any reason to do so , or not , having not read it over since . whatever other faults there may be in the composure , i 'm sure there is no lying , as m. stubbe chargeth it , according to the usual way of his civility . i reported no matter of fact concerning aristotle or his philosophy , but from some good and approved author ; though perhaps i should find trouble now in the particular citations , because i want the opportunity of those books that i then used , and i have lost the notes that i took from them . whether it will be worth my labour to answer what m. stubbe shall write against that young exercise of my pen. i cannot certainly foresee , but i shrewdly guess . perhaps the sole consideration of my youth , when i writ it , will excuse more faul●s than m. stubbe's wit , and spight together can discover , or as much as pretend to find there . if he confutes that letter with the like ignorance , and impertinence as he hath used in his animadversions on plus ultra , t will be answer enough to print it again . the lyes he pretends it guilty of , will , i may expect , be disproved by some that are so indeed , for his authors must sp●ak what he would have them say , and he tells a gross one in the few words in which he mentions the design of confuting me , when he saith , that i have never as much as read over diogenes laertius , which were impossible he should know , though it were true . i only take notice further , concerning this , that according to that little cunning which i mentioned before , he would fain draw in the royal society to be concern'd in that letter of mine , that so his intended triumph might be greater , and the virtuosi prejudiced by his pretended advantages against it . the letter ( forsooth ! ) is joined to the edition of my sc●psis scientifica , which bears the arms , and is dedicated to the royal society , [ pref. to leg. ] that book was indeed dedicated to the society , but i was not then a member of it : and are patrons of books responsible for their imperfections ? if so , 't were very bad news for the modest dr. willis to whom the cleanly discourse of chocolate is directed . the prefixing the societies arms to my dedication was the stationers conceit ; and the mention of it , puts me in mind of a ridiculous offence that was once taken against another book of mine : the printer had set a flourish at the beginning over the dedication , 't was a cut of henry 8. lying by a tree , which some took for an emblem of protestantism coming out of his codpiece ; just such arguments m. stubbe useth to prove that the royal society have a design to reduce us to popery : and i remember , when the theatre at oxford was newly built , he very sadly told me , ( and made a deal of tragical talk about it ) that they had pictured god the father in the midst of the cieling in the shape of an old man ; when the figure he meant was but a mythological picture ; what particularly , i have forgot . i wonder this was not insisted on to prove that the society designs popery ; no doubt it had been as good a one , as any he hath produced . but i am a little stept besides my design of presenting some instances of his rare modesty , and civility , in his last books , i shall now do it briefly . he calls the royal society trojan horse , [ pref. to camp. ] and an illiterate company [ p. 21. ] the members of it , great impostors [ pref. 10 c. ] fopps [ pref. to leg. ] and poor devils , in his letter to sir n. n. viz. sir nicholas nemo . and p. 21. in his postscript , speaking of the overthrow of the royal society , he expresseth himself thus — which not only all doctors , but all good men o●ght to endeavour ; that the disasters of the late dutch war , the plague , and fire of london were less inconveniences than their perpetuity ; that these calamities admitted some remedy hereafter ; but the evils they are likely to occasion us , would never be corrected by any humane providence , and i doubted not whether god would support us by his prudence , when they had debauched the nation from all piety , and morality , as well as civil wisdom ; this was , he saith , part of the purport of another discourse of his about the errors and cheats of the virtuosi . i now begin to repent that i have troubled my self so much with this hot-headed impertinent , for i perceive that no one is so fit to answer him , as the keeper of bedlam . i begin to pity him , and to wish , that the colledge of physicians to requite him , for that grandeur , he saith , he designs for them , would prescribe somewhat for him ; for certainly there is much ground to think , that the phansie of his supposed great exploits , hath blown him up to a great distraction : let us hear how he swaggers on , [ it is said that my animadversions on m. glanvill contain little of matter , to which i answer , that they contain enough to have made twenty uirtuost famous , and would h●ve acquired them a memorial of ingenious , and noble experimentators : they contain enough to shew the ignorance of that person , who had so insulted over all vniversity-learning , and particularly over the physicians : they contain enough , since they contain more then they all knew , and think i have done great service to the learned , in shewing that these virtuosi are very great impostors — to the reader in camp. ] again , in the dedication of his legends to the vniversities , thus , i have stooped the talbots their supporters for them , and if ever they hunt well hereafter , this age knows whom they are obliged to ] in a letter to dr. merrett , which is after inserted , he rants thus , if you will proceed with them , you must be trampled on with them● who are irrecoverably lost ; to the same 〈◊〉 he speaks , in his epistle to sir nicholas nemo , p. 18. the removal of these , viz. ( the royal society ) will not derogate from , but illustrate [ the kings ] renown , and confirm england in the reverence of his generosity , and their detestableness ] . by the way , what sense is this ● the reverence of their detestableness ? m. stubbe saith in the preface to his legends , that if there be any person worthy of his indignation , that will justifie the rhetoricalness of the history of the royal society , he will write about that , and make the comical wits renounce the antient orators , as they do now the philosophers . ] a rare censor of rhetorick , and oratory this , that doth not himself write grammatical sense ! this i should offer to him , if he were recover'd , and fit to be discours't soberly with . that i will shew more gross non sense in his writings , than he can of pretended mistake● in all the virtuosi that ever writ ; i do not mean in the stupidity , ignorance , and incoherence of his reasonings only , but in the frame of the very words . but for a little more of his vapouring . [ i have a thousand faults more to charge them with , but i reserve them for another treatise , which if they do not submit to the coll●dge of physicians , and the two universities , i will publish . in his letter to his friend sir n. n●mo . p. 16. ] submit o ye virtuosi , for fear of that dreadful treatise ! if that be once publishe● , you are more then irrecoverably lost ; for he hath told you , you are so far gone already . how he would have you submit he expresseth in camp. rev. p. 15 viz. you must declare solemnly to the world that you understand nothing of ancient , or modern writers , that is the best way he saith , to secure y●ur credit , from being thought plegiaries , and cheats , ibid. ] non-sense again ; but that 's no news . he adds , if they would but get any one to teach them latin , and greek ● it would have saved me some trouble , as you will see in my animadversions on their history . neither is this period , true english. if any one had taught m. stubbe to write sense , he might have saved me trouble , as any one may see in my animadversions on his . but for a passage or two more ; [ as for m. glanvill ' s book , it was perused by several of their members , and corrected by them ( a broad falshood , as i have shewn in my preface ) and how much we are red●vable to a society , that could allow of that , and would not at my reiterated importunities , call it in , or disclaim it , let all physicians judge , pref. to camp. ] and again , p. 15. they might have appeased me , ( goodly ! ) would they have call'd 〈◊〉 these two books , ( viz. the history of the royal society and plus ultra ) but since they would not do that , i suspect their intentions , that they drive on campanella●● project ; why else should they scruple at it ? ] if they will not call in and renounce all books that offend m. stubbe , 't is evident they drive on campanella's projects● there can be no other reason why they should scruple it . further , in the preface thus , [ nor would i have any man believe that there are so many eminent physicians of the royal society , for neither is the number of those admitted considerable , ( i find 30 doctors of physick in the last years catalogue , and many if not most of them of the colledge , ) few of note , but have deserted it again ; the rest approve not of it , so that all the talk will not amount to three understanding persons . ] i am assured , that 't is false that any of note , except one or two have deserted it , and m. stubbe should tell us , how those that remain have signified their disapproval . among several other very ingenious persons of the faculty of physick , i remember these of note in the number of fellows of the royal society , sir geo. ent , dr. glisson , dr. goddard , dr. willis , dr. whistler , dr. walter needham , dr. iasp. needham , dr. clerk , dr. allen , dr. horshaw , dr. merrett , dr. croon , dr. power , dr. trustan : one or two of these are understanding persons , m. stubbe saith , not three ; would he tell us now which are the one or two that have understanding among them ; at this rate m. stubbe makes the colledge of physicians as illiterate a company , as the virtuosi ; and let any one in that famed body of learned men , be named in opposition to any thing he shall think fit to say , and that person , be he who he will , shall be cast among the fools , and illiterate . i have more reason for this saying then i 'le mention here . all the famous doctors named excepting one or two , are prattle-boxes and ignoramus's ; who can scape the lash of such a tongue ? but i had almost forgot , that to shew his candour and good nature he acknowledgeth some of the society . for he saith in the preface to his legends , that he must be insensible of all merit that can derogate from sir rob. moray , dr. wren , and dr. wallis , and it doth not ( he tells us ) become any one that knows m. boyle , to think that he would abet a design to subvert piety , and the protestant religion . it seems he allows sir r. m. dr. wren and dr. wallis to be understanding persons , and rather then leave out m. boyle , he shall be brought in too , though but for a negative merit . these are the excepted persons that have the hon●●r of some place in his favour : the rest are virtuosi , and deserve all that contempt with which we depretiate the illiterate and fools . but how comes dr. wallis that was branded by him with so many charges of illiterateness and ignorance , and all things else of contempt , as we have seen , how comes this gentleman now to be so highly in his books ? it seems the doctor is exceedingly improved in 10 or 11 years , and hath got a great stock of merit , since m. stubbe writ against him ; or rather men shall have merit when m. stubbe pleaseth , and when he pleaseth , they shall have none . 't is to be hoped that the rest of the virtuosi in ten years more , may get a little merit too , and obtain from him at least a negative commendation . and now what can any one think that reads these passages , but that m. stubbe is over-heated in his head ? this is the most charitable thought can be entertain'd of him . i expect that hereafter he should make it his excuse , and certainly 't will be a better apology then that of serving a patron . i lately received a letter of his which he writ to dr. merrett , with a desire that i would print it in this postscript ; 't is very pleasant stuff , and i here present it to the reader for a little further entertainment . a letter from m. henry stubbe to dr. merrett doctor of physick and fellow of the colledge of physicians . dr. merrett , having not yet seen your book , wherein i am concern'd , i cannot tell how far i am to resent it : but i understand you are exasperated against m. starky , about a postscript , bearing my name . sir , there is nothing therein spoken positively , but upon supposition — if one may judge of your abilities , by what you have writ against the apothecaries then — these words are not ●ctionable , at least till the case be decided in physick : and 't is but fi●ting that you suspend your process , till i appear against you in print , which i will do next term , and appeal in the judgment of the colled●e , or what members thereof you 'l choose● it is all one to me , for whosoever differ● from my judgment , where i oppose you , will but injure himself and betray his ignorance in physick . but sir , to let you see how civil i am to my own faculty , if you will desert the royal society , and endeavour to adjust the differences , rather then to widen them betwixt physicians , and apothecaries , and joyn in the common interest , and support of our profession , against the quacks , and virtuosi , i will be ready so far to gratifie the desires● of some of your friends , and mine , as to add , aft●r the debate betwixt you and me upon the case , that i do believe your haste , and passion might occasion the miscarriage , and that your abilities are not to be measured of by any single failure . i beseech you consider the interest , and honour of our profession in your quarrels , and let us not , out of passion against the apothecaries , destroy our selves , and give advantage to the multitude of quacks , under the protection of the royal society , and the pretence of making their own medicaments . you see with what success , i have managed the quarrel , in behalf of physick , against the uirtu●●t . desert these ignorant , and insolent persons , and let me not be blown up behind by the divisions of the colledge , the grandeur whereof is my design . if you will comply herein i will treat you civilly enough ; if you will proceed with ●hem , you must be content to be trampled on with them , who are irrecoverably lost . you s●● what miserable apologies the wit of dr. spratt , and the revi●ing of the bishop of chester hath produced : what man of common s●nce would associate with such partisans ? 't is your interest , and 't is for your credit to abandon thes●●atch doterels . i know my advan●ages over that book of yours , which i write against , ●nd your repute will extreamly depend ( considering the odium you are under ) upon my ●ibility to you . the world will laugh to see our pens revenge themselves in westminster-hall . let us not divert any eye from scorning the royal society : that is the interest of every english man , i 'm sure . you may tell them from me , that their dull letter to me is answered ; and that i will bestow a preface on glanvill , and the rest , when that against you is publish't ; which is not yet gone to the press , because i attend the news of your dep●rtment , who i hear are upon disclaiming the royal society ; the declaration thereof will be enough to make me your very humble servant , h. stubbe . warwick , aug. 16. 1670. dr. merrett sent me his answer to this letter , and i had made it publick ( having his permission to do so ) but that my postscript swells to too great a bigness ; nor indeed doth it need any de●●ant to render it contemptible , and ridiculous . only this i think ●it to ins●rt out of the doctors remarks ; that whereas the quack of warwick saith , he hears he is de●e●●ing the royal society , ( to which he threatens , and invites him ) the doctor professeth his great , and just esteem of that honourable assembly in the words that follow [ i shall save my self the labour of apologizing for the royal society , whose repute with foreign princes , and learned men of all sorts , witnessed by their pens , and the imitation of the like societies by them● the resort of ambassadors to their meetings , and the many books publisht by the members thereof , evidence to the world the ignorance and insolence of this pitiful scribler . he goes on , owning his relation to them with great respect , and though he confesseth , that for a year or so , he hath by his occasions been often diverted from their meetings , yet adds that he hopes to frequent them more for the future . thus we see , in another instance , how impudently m. stubbe romanceth in his stories of persons withdrawing from the royal society . he names but two , of those he pretends to be declining from it , viz. dr. more , and dr. merrett , and i have , i suppose , presented such effectual confutations of his bold falshood , from both these learned gentlemen , as would make any man blush , but m. stubbe . — i shall make no other remarks upon the recited letter ; every reader will make enough for the credit of the writer . he tells us in one of his last books . that he hath some vertues of the most celebrated times ; i hope he doth not mean veracity , or modesty . if he would let us know what the celebrated times were , in which the qualities i have noted from his writings , were vertues , 't would be a discovery ; and i 'le assure him none of the virtuosi would take the honour from him , of finding out the new vertues , or being the most eminent in them . but now i remember , he hath already given hint enough for the discovery ; for in the preface to his la●e book of chocolate , he saith of presbytery , that it is malice , and disingenuity heightned with all the circumstances im●ginable in men this 〈◊〉 hell. we know he celebrated the times in which the creatures , and supplanters of presbytery reigned , and there is no doubt but they abounded as m●ch with those good qualities which he makes the essence of presbytery , as any men , this side the place he speaks of ; and since those were his celebrated times , we may learn easily what were the vertues ; and in how high a degree m. stubbe p●ss●sseth ●hem , he is blind that doth not see . for my part , however ignorant i am otherwise , he hath suf●●ciently informed me in this ; and there is no doubt , but after what i have done in the foregoing account , i must expect further exercis● of his celebrated vertues towards me . i● his r●ge and ●●ight were ●o kindled only ●y a cut finger , how will he be inflamed by the wounds my representation of his impudence , falshoods and impertitencies hath given him ? let him now raise his malicious pride to it● most ridiculous height , and spit his most spightful scorns , and contempts upon me , from it : let him set his cavilling invention on work for more falshoods and sland●rs to vilifie and debase me , and call in his friend m. cross to help him , out of his storehouse of l●g●nds , and reproache● . let him wrest my 〈◊〉 and confute his own dreams , and the e●●ata of the press , to stuff up a book of m●re folly and impertin●nce ; or , which it may be he may think the wiser course , let him ne● give me up to the common pens ( as he threatens ) to be laught at , and leave them to prove what he hath couragiously affirmed , as he did in the case of m. baxter . these returns i may expect from one , that hath so many good qualities of his celebrated times . in this way he can write on for ever , for such proceedings are most suitable to his parts and virtues : by them he will make himself the admiration of envious fools , but the scorn of the wise and intelligent ; which latter he hath sufficiently done already . and therefore i shall leave him to the appl●●d● of hi● friends , and the contempts of the friends of vertue , and wisdom ; after i have justified my self in a thing , which is like to be objected by this antagonist . i am told he will answer all that i have produced out of his writings to shew the hypocrisie of his pretenses for monarchy , and the church of england , by recharging me with compliance with those times ; an answer befitting such a writer ; and let him make the most of that charge . my great fault was that i was born in that unhappy season , and bred in those dismal days● but can he accuse me of any thing i ever said or did , that was disloyal ? did i write a defence of the cause of regicides , and vsurpers ● or defame kingly government , or blaspheme my persecuted soveraign , or promote anarchy , and publick ruine ? if m. stubbe cannot prove any of th●se ( as i da●e him to offer at it ) he cannot recriminate ; and his charges of this kind will b● contemptible ● and like all the rest . he had best write against me for coming into the world in an ill time , and for being born a child ● i have not the least offence besides to answer for● in reference to the government ● except what i apologized for before , the recital i have made of his former tr●asons and impieties . i have now done for the present with m. stubbe ; but must add this to some silly sneaks , who think he hath written things not to be answer'd ● that impudence and non-sense are the most troublesom things to answer in the world . i have prov'd already● and shall yet more fully shew , that the argumentative part of his book against me , is so far from being unanswerable , that it cannot deserve any other answer then a smile , and silence : for most of that he saith , is lamentably inconsistent and impertinent . he tells us he sends the things to the press that were suggested as he travell'd ; and one may judge by their incoherence that he rid upon a trotting horse ; upon which i leave him pursuing the virtuosi , and add this advertisement . if any man hath a design to write his life , and further to describe this sir hudibr●s and his steed ; he will do well to hold his hand a while , for m. stubbe's friend m. cross hath writ a book call'd biographia , which gives rules , how lives are to be writ ; this will be printed , if the licensers will permit the good man to spoil so much paper , and so make himself publickly ridiculous ; and the h●storian had no● best begin , till he hath m. c. directions , for fear he transgress the rules , and incur the lash of the methodical pedant . this book , it seems , is intended to correct the learned and pious dr. ●ell , for his way of writing the life of dr. hammond , and 't is m. c. revenge upon that excellent person , for his denying licence to the scurrilous and non-sensical book he writ against me . i have not heard many particulars of it , but only this , he calls that reverend divine who hath been long doctor of divinity , presides over the chief colledge of oxford , is dean of that diocess , and hath govern'd the vniversity as vice-chancellor , with singular wisdom , diligence , and applause , i say , he calls that venerable man , iubenis ; and i believe that name of diminution doth not go alone ; but the reverend person from whom i had this , lighted on that by chance as he cast his eye upon the disputer's papers , which he carrie●h about for a shew . 't would be well for an old man i know , if he had this excuse of being young , for his weakness , and puerilities , for which there can be no apology made , except he confes● himself arriv'd to his second childhood . and so i take leave of him out of pity , and , for ought i know , for ever . finis . advertisement concerning the errata , and some passages liable to be mistaken . that m. stubbe may not trouble himself to write more animadversions on the errata of the press , i give notice , that when i speak of his reporting the design of the roy●l society to be laid by a iesuite , p. 2. or 3. it should be , by a fryar . the mistake was the persons that told i● me , who said , a iesuite , thinking , it seems , that campanella was of that order . in dr. more 's letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , is se● instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i know not whether the mistake be the printers , or transcribers ; 't was not mine , i never writ out that letter . there are several other small errors i took notice of in running over my printed papers , as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , pigmy , which should have had no comma between , and the like ; but i have not my book now at hand to note them particularly , and therefore must lye at m. stubbe's mercy . but these following things were noted , while my papers were by me , to prevent mistake . [ p. 174. ] when i say , it must be granted that two pair , viz. of spectacles ordinarily hind●r 〈◊〉 sight , i would not be understood , 〈◊〉 they do so , when used by those of great●● age. for two pair to them have but the power of one . [ p. 178. ] when i say telescopes represent ●●jects as they ar● , only in larger proporti●ns ; i mean as they are , for figure , and only represent them larger then they appear to the 〈◊〉 eye . [ p. 179. ] when i grant what m. stubbe saith , that in the longest tubes the colours of objects are more remiss ; whatever he mean● , i would not be understood , as if the length of the tubes made the remissness o● the light , for that is caused by the number of the glasses , or ●he darkness of their metal . books printed for and sold by james collins , at the kings-arms i● ludgate-street neer the west end of st. paul's , and at the kings-head in westminster-hall . a discourse of the religious temper and t●ndencies of the modern , experimental philosophy , which is profest by the royal society . to which is annext a recommendation and defence of reason in the affairs of religion . by ios. glanvill . in octavo . observations upon military and political affairs ● written by the most honourable george d●ke of albemarle , &c. published by authority . in folio . a private conference between a rich alderman and a poor country vicar , made publick . whe●ein is discoursed the obligation of oaths which have been imposed on the subjects of england . with other matters relating to ●he present state of affairs . in octavo . praxis medicinae : or the universal body of physick . containing all inward d●seases incident to the body of man. explaining the nature of every dis●ase , with proper remedies assigned to them . very useful for physicians , chi●urgeons , and apothecaries , and more ●specially for such who consult their own health . written by that famous and learned physician walter bruell . in quarto . the christians victory over death . a sermon at the funeral of the most honourable george duke of albemarle , &c. in the collegiate church of st. peter's westminster on the 30. of april , 1670. by seth lord bishop of sarum . preached and published by his majesties special command . in quarto . the episcopacy of the church of england justified to be apostolical , from the authority of the antient primitive church : and from the confessions of the most famous divines of the reformed churches beyond the seas . being a full satisf●ction in this cause , as well for the necessity , as for the iust right thereof , as consonant to the word of god. by the right reverend father in god thomas morton late lord bishop of d●resme . before which is prefixed a preface to the reader concerning this subject , by sir henry yelverton baronet . in octavo . letters and divers other mixt discourses in natural philosophy many of which were formerly published in the philosophical transactions of mr. oldenburg, and part in the philosophical collections of mr. hooke and else where : all which are now revised, augmented, and to them are added very many other matters of the same nature, not before published : also an intire treatis of the nature and use of colours in oyl. painting / written by m. lister, f. of the r.s. lister, martin, 1638?-1712. 1683 approx. 277 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 117 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48704 wing l2528 estc r231302 12246152 ocm 12246152 56944 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48704) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56944) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1507:18) letters and divers other mixt discourses in natural philosophy many of which were formerly published in the philosophical transactions of mr. oldenburg, and part in the philosophical collections of mr. hooke and else where : all which are now revised, augmented, and to them are added very many other matters of the same nature, not before published : also an intire treatis of the nature and use of colours in oyl. painting / written by m. lister, f. of the r.s. lister, martin, 1638?-1712. 137 p., 47 leaves of plates : ill. printed by j. white for the author, york : 1683. imperfect: pages badly stained, with print showthrough and considerable loss of print. imperfect : t.p. and all after p. 40 lacking. pages torn, with some loss of print. best copy available for photographing. reproduction of original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng natural history -pre-linnean works. science -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2005-04 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion letters , and divers other mixt discourses in natural philosophy , many of which , were formerly published in the philosophicall transactions of mr. oldenburg , and part in the philosophicall collections of mr. hooke , and else where . all which are now revised , augmented , and to them are added very many other matters of the same nature , not before published . also , an intire treatis of the nature and use of colours , in oyl painting . written by m. lister , f. of the r. s. york , printed by j. white for the author . 1683. some observations concerning the odd turn of some shell-snailes , and the darting of spiders , communicated to mr. j. w. and published in the philosophicall transactions n. 50. 1669. sir , i can deny you nothing , and you may do what you please with the notes i send you . you would know of me ( you say ) what i have observed concerning the odd turn of some shell-snailes with us in england , and the darting of spiders . i will tell you then of the first , that i have found two ( a ) sorts of them , easily to be distinguisht one from the other , and from all besides , because the turn of the wreathes is from the right hand to the left , contrary to what may be seen in common snailes . they are very small , and might therefore well escape thus long the more curious naturalist ; neither of them much exceeding , at least in thickness , a large oat-corne . the first i thus describe : the open of the shell is pretty round , and the second turne of wreaths is very large for the proportion , and the rest of the wreaths , about the number of six , are still lesson'd to a point . this turbin or conical figure is well near a quarter of an inch ; the colour of the shell is duskish , yet when the shrunk animall gives leave , you may see day through it , and then it is of a yellowish colour . these shells are extream brittle and tender , so that i cannot send them in a letter : you may guess at the figure , if i tell you , they are som●thing like those of aldrovandus de testaceis , markt p. 359. turbinum levjum . of the second sort ( b ) i send you inclosed at aventure halfe a dozen ; ( you see , in that i can so plentifully repair the loss of the former , that they are not very rare ; ) they seem to be much stronger and thicker shel'd ; they are well near halfe as long again as the other , and as slender they have the exact figure of an oat-corn , being as it were pointed at both ends , and the middle a little swelled . the open of the shell is not exactly round there being a peculiar sinus in the lower part thereof . i think , you may number above 10. spires , having their turn from the right hand to the left . the colour of the shell is of a dark and reddish brown . there are two sorts of this make described , and with their respective cutts , in fabius columna ; but ours agree not with them in any thing more than the odd turn : though it 's true , that the other , the third there described , and call'd by him cochlea terrestris turbinata et stirata , ( c ) is very frequent in the road 'twixt canterbury and dover , and likewise in some woody parts of the woles in lincoln-shire . there are odd differences in this very snaile very remarkable , as its having but one pair of horns ( if i mistake not , ) as also a hard shelly cover ; its manner of wearing that cover &c. which i leave to another opportunity and place . and to return to our two new described snailes , they , when they creep , lift up the point of their shells towards a perpendicular , and exert with part of their body two pair of horns , as most of their kind do . in march they are still to be found in paires , aristotle affirms all these kind of creatures to be of a spontaneous birth , and no more to contribute to the production of one another , then trees , and therefore to have no distinction of sex. i have no reason to subscribe to his authority , since i have seen so many of them pair'd , and in the act of venery . that they engender then , is most certain ; but whether those , that are thus found coupled , be one of them a male , and the other female , or rather , as you first observ'd , and published to the world in the catalogue of plants growing wild about cambridge , that they are both male and female and do in the act of generation both receive into themselves , and immit alike penis ( as it seems probable to any man that shall part them ) i leave to further and more minute discovery to determine . moreover we find in aristotle a circle of other parts , but of those we find no mention at all . however the romans knew something extraordinary of these kind of animals , that made them so choice of them as to recken them among their most delicate food , and use all care and diligence to breed and fat them for their tables at large discribed to us by varro . their tast and relish is none , methinks , of the most agreeable . of late , comparing bussy's historire amoureuse de gaule with petronius arbiter , out of whom i was made to believe , he had taken two of his lettes word for word , beside other love intrigues ; i find , in running him over , what satisfied me ; not a little in this very subject of snailes ; viz. that these very animals , as well as other odd things in nature , as truffs , mushroms , and no doubt too the cossi or great worms in the oak ( another roman dainty ) were made use of by the antients to incite venery . you 'l there find , that the distressed and feeble lover prepares himself with a ragoust of snailes necks , ( cervices cochlearum ; ) and indeed in this part it is that these strange penes's are to be found . mr. hook does as it were promise the anatomy of this insect . it were surely worth his paines , and the learn'd world would be obliged to him for a piece of this nature ; nothing , accuratly done of the inward part of any insect , being yet published * these snailes are to be found frequent enough under the loose barke of trees , as old willows , and in the ragged clefts of elmes and oak &c. and in no other places else , that i could observe . you tell me , that it is generally concluded by phylosophers , that the reason of the usuall turn of snailes from the left to the right , is the like motion of the sun , and that especially more north-ward , there have not been hitherto discovered any in our parts of the contrary turn to the sun's motion . but this is not the only case , where they are out , who consult not the stores of nature , but their own phancy . what i am further about to tell you concerning spiders , is as evident an instance against them . the long threads in the aire in summer , and especially towards september , have been a strange puzel to the wiser world. it would ●●ert you , though you know them as well as i , if i 〈◊〉 ●●ckoned up the ridiculous opinions concerning them ; but i omit them , and proceed to tell you the certain and immediat anthors of them , and how they make them . i say then , that all spiders , that spin a thread , ( those which we call shepherds or long-legged spiders , never doe ; ) are the markes of these threds , so much wondred at , and in such infinite quantities every where . i sent you the last summer a catalogue of thirty sort , of spiders , that i had distinguisht here with us in england ; and i must confess , i had well near compleated that number , with many other experiments concerning them , before i discovered this secret . you must not expect from me any thing more , then what you demanded of me ; for as for other experiments , i reserve them till our meeting . i had exactly marked all the way of weaving , used by any sorts of them , and in those admirable works i had ever noted that they still let down the thred they make use of ; and draw it after them . happily at length in neerly attending on one , that wrought a nett , i saw him suddenly in the mid-work to desist , and turning his taile into the wind to dart out a thread with the violence and streame , we see water forced out of a squirt or syring pipe : this thread taken up by the wind , was in a moment emitted some fathoms long , still issuing out of the belly of the animal ; by and by the spider leapt into the aire , and the thread mounted her up swiftly . and after this first discovery , i made the like observation in all the sorts of spiders , i had before distinguished ; and i found the air filled with young and old , sailing on their threads , and undoubtedly seizeing gnats and other insects in their passage ; there being often as many fest signes of slaughter , as the leggs , wings of flyes &c. on those threads , as in their webbs below . one thing yet was a wonder to me , viz. that many of these threads , that came down out of the air , were not single , but snarled and with complicated woolly locks , now more now less ; and that on those i did not elways find spiders , though many times i had found two or three upon one of them : whereas when they first flew up , the thread was still single , or but little tangled , or , it may be , thicker in one place then in another . in the end , by good attention i plainly found , what satisfied me abundantly , and that was this ; that i observed them to get to a top of a stalk or bough , or sum such like thing , where they exercise this darting of threads into the air , and if they had not a mind to sail , they swiftly drew it up again , winding it ●p with their fore-feet over the head into a lock , or brok it off short , and let the air carry it away . this they will do many times together , and you may see of them , that have chaines to these locks or snarled thread before them , and yet not taken flight . again , i found , that after the first flight , all the time of their sailing they make locks , still darting forth fresh supplyes of thread to sport and saile by . it is further to be noted , that these complicated threads are much more tender , then our house-webbs . in winter and at christmas i have observed them busy a darting , but few of them saile then , and therefore but single threads only are to be seen ; and besides , they are but the young ones of last autumns hatch , that are then employed ; and it is more than probable , that the great ropes of autumne are made onely by the great ones , and upon long passages and summer weather , when great numbers of pray may invite them to stay longer up . but i cease to be tedious : i have many experiments by me to satisfy many doubts , that may be made , viz. infinite number of these insects , and their numerous increase ; and besides how strangely they are able to furnish and husband great quantities of matter out of so small a bulk &c. you may expect all from me after another summers leisure , which at least i think necessary to confirm to me these ; and other things concerning their generation and poison . what i have said at present , is such as i have certainly observed ; and you may take the truth of these observations for excuse of the ill texture of them . note , ( a ) i have since also found one sort of snaile of this turn , amongst the aquatik or fresh water kind : see my book . ( b ) this i have caused to be elegantly drawn in the plate , published in the appendix to that book , 1680. ( c ) of this see the said book . extract of a letter , written to mr. oldenbourgh , and published in the philosoph : transactions , n. 68. 1670. about an insect , which besides pismiers , may probably yield an acid juice . also about the winter bleeding of the sycamore tree . sir , concerning the acid liquour of pismiers , i have very lately received from mr. wray the account ( i suppose you have it by this time , ) that was sent him from mr. fisher and mr. jessop ; wherein these two last gentlemen make this further inquiry , whether there be any other insect , or animal , flesh or fish , that will afford an acid juice ; they having with great industry tryed many species amongst insects , and other animals , without lighting on the like acid liquor . i am of the mind , there are ; and a ready way to find such out , may be , that having observed , that a pismire bruised and smelt to , emits a strange fiery and piercing savour , like the leafe of the herb , by botanists called flammula , broken at one's nostrills ; by this means i have , since mr. wray put the question to me , found an insect , which i suspect , may yeild an acid liquour ; as well as the pismire ; and that is the long and round-bodied lead-coloured julus , distinguished from all other multipeds in that their innumerable leggs are as small as hair , and white and in going they are moved like waves ; not rare amongst drier rubbish ; no scolopendra , ours being an harmless insect , and not armed with dangerous forcipes . the body of this julus being bruised strikes the nostriis exceeding fiercely ; but i have not yet any opertunity to furnish my selfe with any quantity of them for farther trials . the change of colours in flowers , &c. is a subject i have a little considered , and you shall have my thoughts an experimen●s about it more a leisure . as to the bleeding of sy●amore ; the last year i winter'd at nottingham , where i pierced a sycamore about the begining of november ; the turgescence of the buds invited me thereto , and some hopes in improving the notion of winter-bleedings , so happily discover'd by mr. willughoby and mr. wray . this succeeded so well with me , that i did afterwards engage my selfe in keeping a journal throughout the whole winter ; from which journal , i think i may note ; 1. that the wounded sycamore niver bled , neither in november , december , nor january , nor february , nor march , ( which yet they did above 40. several times , that is , totally ceasing and than beginning a new , ) unless there preceded a sensible and visible frost ; for i had no other way of recording the temper of the air. 2. that the frost did not always set a bleeding the wounds , they found made before they came , though sometimes they did ; but upon their breaking up , or very much relenting , the wounds either made in that instant of time , or made many months before , did never fail to bleed more er less . 3. that particularly upon the breaking up of the two great and long frosts ( the first of which hapn'd that year in that country to be on the third of january ; the second , about the 12 th . 13th . 14th . of february , ) all the wounds ra● mist plentifully : so that such times may be looked upon as the most proper season of gathering great quantities of juyce from this tree . removing into cravon the latter end of march , and thence to london , my journal was discontinued ; i had yet , ●pon my return from london unto craven , some leasvre to prosicute it . those , i there wounded the latter end of may , did not bleed neither the remaining part of that month , nor the following months of june and july , but had the orifice of the wounds , made with a small auger , in a manner quite grown up , and would scarce admit a pigeons feathers . wherefore the 30 th . of july i cut out a square piece of about two inches of the barke of a large and well-grown sycamore , about my hight in the body of it : this wound began to run the next morning about 9 a clock , so as to drop ; and that was all , and dryed up by 11 in the morning . it continued in like manner the 21 days following , that is as long as i had the oppertunity of observing it . the like cut i made in a young sycamore the 8th of august ; which in like manner bled the next morning , but stopp'd before 9 a clock . it did so for 2 or 3 days , but then totally drying . afterwards removing to york , the first of november i here pierced , and otherwise wounded two sycamores ; and having observ'd them my self at times , when , according to my former observations made in nottingham shire , i might wel expect to have found them bleeding ; yet they never stirr'd , that we could observe , to this day . since mr. wray hath assured me , that those of warwick-shire bled the 16th of november last past copiously ; and since the walnuttres also . and so much for matter of fact . to what cause we may truly refer this anomalous bleeding , is not easie to say . for my part , i am not apt to think , that there is such a sudden and extemporary ascent of sap , at such time as these trees are most disposd to bleed ; but rather , that the sap , already in all parts of the tree , is some ways notably alter'd in its temper and consistance : and this bleeding by stress of weather may in these trees probably be look'd upon as a violence done to their natures from an unkind climate ; considering the walnut and sycamore as strangers , and not natives of england . 't is indeed true , there are many sorts of english plants , which will bleed in winter ; but note also , that such plants never refuse to do so at any time of the year , no more than a man , who may bleed a vein when he pleaseth , but let the hypothesis be what it will , i am perswaded , we shall have but dark and imperfect notions of the motion of the juyces in vegetables , until their true texture be better discover'd . to conclude this subject , i now put these two quaries ; 1. whether the juyce of trees , whil'st alive & vegete , can properly be said , at any time of the year , to descend , or to be wanting in any part , or not to be therein in a much like quantity ? 2. what condition the soil is of , where such trees are planted , that shall either bleed or refuse to do so ; whether sandy , as that of nottingham ; or a wet clay , as that of the two trees , i have observ'd here at york . an extract of another letter written febr. 8th . 1670. containing some experiments about the bleeding of the sycamore , and other trees ; as also , a considerable note of pliny about the mulberry-tree . ibidem . concerning the bleeding of the sycmore , let me acquaint you with the following experiment . the first instant it froze , the wind at north ; the frost and wind continued ( some little snow and rain falling ) the 2d , 3d , 4th , 5th , 6th , until the 7th in the morning , when the wind came about to the south-east , and the weather broke up a pace . the sycamores bled not all this while , but the 7th about noon all trees of that kind bled very freely , both at the twigs and body , and i struck above a dozen . at this same critical season i was willing to repeat the experiment upon other trees ; and to this end i forthwith struck the hawthorn , hazel , wild-rose , gooseberry-bush , apple-tree , cheery-tee , blather-nut , aprickcock , cherry-lawrel , vine , walnut ; yet none bled but the last-named , and that faintly in comparison of the sycamore . this is consonant to our former experiments : and if it did happen ( as i said in my former letter , ) that these sycamores bled not all this winter afore at the wounds made the first of november , i do now think , that if new wounds had been still made at every break of frost , some signes , at least of our york-shire bleeding , might have been discover'd before now . but i affirm no more , than i have seen and tried . in all the monuments of the antients , collected by the great industry of pliny , i find but few instances of this nature . amongst those few , there is one that is rgistred with two or three remarkable circumstances to our purpose . he tells us , that the physitians of old , when they had a mind to draw the juyce of the mulberry-tree , were wont to strike it skin-deep only , and that about two hours after sun-rise . this experiment is twice mentioned by him , and in both places as a strange phoen●menon . we might make our comment upon the places , but for this time are content only to transcribe the text. lib. 16. c. 38. mirum ; hic ( cortex ) in moro , medicit succum quaerentibus , ferè horâ diei secundâ , lapide incussus manat , allius fractus ficcus videtur . lib. 23. c. 7. mora in aegypto & cypre sui generis , ut diximus , largo succo abundant , summo cortice desquamato , aeltiore plagâ siccantur ; mirabili naturâ . extracts of divers letters , touching some inquiries and experiments of the motion of sap in trees , and relating to the question of the circulation of the same . phi. traus . n. 70. 1. january . 28. 1670. york . you may be pleased to put this quaerie also , concerning the bleeding of the sycamore : what condition the soil is of , where such trees are planted , that shall either bleed , or refuse to do so : whether sandy , as that of nottingham , or a wet clay , as that of the two trees , i have observed here at york . * 2. febr. 8. 1670. york . concerning the bleeding of the sycamore , be pleased that i acquaint you with the following experiments of very late date . the first instant it froze , the wind at north ; the frost and wind continued ( some little snow now and then falling ) the 2d , 3d , 4th , 5th , 6th , until the 7th in the morning , when the wind came about to the south-east , and the weather broke up a pace , the sycamores bled not all this while ; but the seventh about noon , all trees of that kinde bled very freely both at the twigs and body , and i struck above a dozen . at this same critical season , i was willing to repeat the experiment upon other trees , and to this end i forthwith struck the haw-thorn , hazel , wild-rose , gooseberry-bush , apple-tree , cherry-tree , blathen-nut , apricock , cherry-lawrel , vine , wal-nut ; yet none bled but the last nam'd , and that but faintly in comparison of the sycamore . this is consonant to our former experiments : and if it did happen , as i said in one of my former letter * , that these sycamores bled not all this winter afore at the wounds made the first of november , i do now think , that if new wounds had been still made at every breach of frost , some signes at least of our york-shire bleeding * might have been discovered before now : but i affirm no more than i have seen and tried . 3. febr. 15. 1670. york . to continue our experiments concerning the motion of the sap in trees ; febr. 11th , all was here cover'd with a white frost betwixt 9 and 11 in the morning . the weather changing i made the experiments , which follow , upon the sycamore , watnut , maple . a twig cut asunder would bleed very freely from that part remaining to the tree ; and , for the part separated , it would be altogether dry and shew no signs of moisture , although we held it some prety time with the cut end downward ; but , if this separated twig was never so little tipp'd with a knife at the other end , it would forthwith shew no moisture at both ends . the same day , late in the after-noon , the weather very open and warm , a twig cut off in like manner as in the morning , would shew no moisture at all from any part . these experiments we repeated very many times with constant and like success on all the trees abvoe-mentioned . i enter'd this experiment with these quaries for the next opportunity . 1. whether a twig , or the small part of a root cut asunder , will not bleed faster , upon the breaking up of a frost , from the part remaining to the tree , than from the part seperated ; and whether the part seperated will bleed at all , and shew no more signes of moistule , than a twig cut from the top of the tree , unless that small root be likewise cut off at the other end also ? 2. whether when it shall happen , that a sycamore shall be found to bleed upon the setting in of a great frost , the top twigs and small roots will not both of them bleed freelier from the parts separated , in proportion to their bigness ? 3. and if it shall not so prove in the tryal , that in cold weather the sap moves inwards from root and branch to the trunk to the extremities of both root and branch ; i say ; if this prove not so , whether there be any different motions of sap at a time in the divers parts of one and the same tree ; and where such motions of sad begin , and whither they tend ? 4 whether the sap , when it will run , moves longer in the branches than in the roots ; or whether it begin not to move in all parts of a tree at a time , and rest every where at a time ; 5. when it rests , whether it retires to the body of the tree , from the roots and branches , or sinks down to the root , or is any way spent by insensible steams , or is quiet and lodged in every part of the tree in proportion ? i shall long to hear the success of your experiments in the question of the circulation of the sap. i have many years been inclin'd to think , that there is some such motion in the juyces of vegetables . the reasons which induced me , are ; 1. because i finde , that all the juyce of a plant is no extravasate and loose , and like water in a spunge ; but that there are apparent vessels in plants , analagous to veins in animals : which thing is most conspicuous and clear in such plants , whose juyce is either white or red , or saffron colour'd ; for instance , in each kind of juyce we propose latuca , atractilis , cbelidonium majus . 2. because that there are very many plants ( and these last named are of the number ) whose juyce seems never to be at rest , but will spring at all times iteely , as the blood of animals , upon incision . the way of ligature by metalline rings , by you mention'd is an expedient i have not used ; but other ligatures i have , upon a great number of our english plants , not without the discovery of many curious phenomena . the success of an experiment of this nature upon cataputia minor lobel . was as followes : i tied a silk-thread upon one of the branches of this plant , as hard as might be , and not break the skin ; there follow'd no greater swelling , that i could discern , on the one side than on the other ; although in often repeating the experiment , some silks were left hours and dayes unloosed , and yet the dimple which the thread had made in the yielding branches , had a little raised the immediate sides , but both alike : the plant in like manner would bleed very freely both above and under the tye. this was also , i thought , very remarkable , amongst other things , in this experiment , that in drawing the rasour round about the branch just above or below the tye , the milky juyce would suddenly spring out of infinite small holes , besides the made orifice , for more than half an inch above and below the tye : which seems to argue , that though there was no juyce intercepted in appearance from any turgescence , ( as in the like process upon the members of a sanguineous animal ) yet the veins were so over-thronged and full , that a large orifice was not sufficient to discharge the sudden impetus and pressure of a some-ways streighten'd juyce . i have endeavou'rd many wayes to discover the configuration of the veins of vegetables and their other constituent parts and texture ; but enough of this in one letter . 4. march 17. 1670. york . to the end that i might satisfie my self about some of the doubts i sent you , i have been most concern'd , according to former thoughts and inclinations , in examining the truth of these quaeries , viz. whether saps are not to be found at all seasons of the year in a much like consistence and quantity in the respective parts of a vegetable ; and what communication one part of a plant may have with another in relation to the ascent and decent of sap ? now , because sap is then said to ascend from the root , when it is found to move in tapping ; i lopp'd off certain branches of a sycamore , the morning betimes of a hard frost ( febr. 21. ) before they would bleed , or shew any signe of moisture . this i did to vary the efficient , not willing to wait the change of the weather , and the suns heat ; but brought them within the air of the fire : and by and , as i expected , they bled apace , without being sensibly the warmer . the experiment repeated afforded me divers phoenomena , which follow ; and proved almost an universal way of bleeding all sorts of trees , even those , which of themselves would not shew any signes of moisture . 1. poles of maple , sycamore and walnut , cut down in open weather , and brought within the warmth of the fire , did bleed in an instant . also willow , hazel , cherry , wood-bind , blather-nut , vine , elder , barbery , apple-tree , ivy , &c. whicking egge-berry tree ( i. e. padus theophrasti ) tried in the same manner in craven . 2. briar and rasberry-rcds were more obstinate . ash utterly refused , even heated hot . 3. branches , that is , poles with their tops entire and uncut bled also when brought to the fire side ; but seem not so freely to drink up their sap again when inverted , as when made poles . 4. the same willow-poles , left all night in the grassspot , and returned the next day to the fire-side , bleed afresh . 5. maple and willow-poles , bleed and cease at pleasure again and again , if quickly withdrawn and balanced in the hand , and often inverted to hinder the falling and and expence of sap : yet being often heated , they will at length quite cease , though no sap was at any time sensibly lost . and when they have given over bleeding , that is , shewing any moisture , by being brought within the warmth of the fire , the bark will yet be found very full of juyce . 6. an hard ligature made within a quarter of an inch of the end of a wood-bind rod , did not hinder its bleeding at all when brought within the warmth of the fire . 7. maple and willow-poles , &c. quite bared of bark , and brought to the fire , will shew no moisture at all in any part . 8. one barbery , or pipridge-pole bared of its bark , brought to the fire , did shew moisture from within the more inward circles , though not any from the outward . 9. maple and willow-poles , &c. half bar'd of bark , woud bleed by the fire , from the half onely of those circles , which lay under the bark . 10. maple and willow-poles , split in two and planed , would not shew any moisture on the planed sides , but at the ends only . 11. a pole of ivy did of it self exudate and shew a liquid and yellowish rosin from the bark and near the pith ; but when brought to the fire-side , it bled a dilute , thin and colour-less sap from the intermediat wood circles . 12. a pole of willow ( for example ) bent into a bow , will ouse its sap freely , as in bleeding either spontaneously or by the fire . extract of a letter , written from york , april 8. 1671. both in relation to the futher discovery of the motion of juyces in vegetables , and removing some difference noted the in next fore-going letter . sir , yours of the 4th instant came safe to my hands . this last month hath been a busie time with me in my private concerns , so that i have but a few things to return to what you have been pleased to communicate to me , in relation to the further discovery of the motion of juyces in vegetables . and i must acquaint you , that these notes following are above 14 dayes old ; for i have scarce busied my head , or put my hand to any experiment of later date . one or both ends of the pith of a willow-pole seal'd up with hard wax , will yet freely bleed by the warmth of the fire . this was tried , when the last experiment , i sent you , were ; and was then , i think , omitted . march 23th , was the greatest frost and snow we have had this winter in these parts about york . some twigs and branches of the very same willow-tee , as formerly , and likewise of many other willow-trees , taken off this morning , march 23th , when brought within the air of the fire . would shew no moisture at all ; no not when heated warm , and often and long turn'd . march 24th , the same willow-branches , which yesterday would not bleed , and were thrown upon the grassspot all night , ; did , both they and others , new cut down by the fire-side , freely shew moisture and bleed this morning upon the breaking up of the frost . ash-poles and branches this day , nor yesterday , would by the fire-side , be no more moist , than when i formerly tried them . the same morning march 24th , a twig of maple , which had had the top cut off the 7th of february last past ▪ and which then bled , this day being quite taken off from the tree , and brought within the air of the fire , and held with the formerly cut-end down-wards , did not run at all at the end , but held on in that posture , it did run apace at the other new-cut end uppermost , so as to spring and trickle down . note , that this doth well agree with my experiments made the last year at nottingham , where i observ'd wounds of some months standing to bleed apace at the breaking up of every hard frost . for first , in these parts there hath been no hard frost this year , not comparable to the last year . again , those nottingham-trees i wounded in the trunk , and they stood against a brick-wall , and the wounds were on the side next it ; and besides had horse-dung stopp'd in all of them for some reasons ; which things did undoubtedly defend them much from the air and winds , and keep the wounds still green and open : wheras the tops of these maple-twiggs , spoken of in the last experiment , were expos'd in an open hedge to the air and winds ; as also the two sycamores here at york mention'd in my former letter to have been wounded in november last , and not to have shew'd any signes of moisture , for that very cause , that they were not fresh struck at bleeding times . concerning the bleeding of poles and entire branches held perpendicular , mr. willboughby is in the right , and some experiments in my last to you of march 17th confirm it . yet it is very true what i observ'd , though the cause i did not then well take notice of , when i first made the experiment and sent you an account of it . for , i held the twigs , which i had cut off , a slope , joyning and holding up the cuts together in my left hand , that i might the better observe , which part or cut would bleed or not bleed the faster ; and because i found , that the cut of the separated twig did not in that posture ( holding it upwards , as i said , for the advantage of my eye ) bleed at all , when as the cut of the branch remaining to the tree did freely bleed ; i therefore inverted the separated twig and held it perpendicular with the cut end downward , and found , that that little they were expos'd to the air in an upright posture , had so very much check'd the motion of the sap , that i concluded they would not bleed at all ; and yet striking off their tops , and making poles of them , i found some of them , if not all , that i chanc'd to try , as i remember , would shew moisture : but i am convinced since , that it was was rather some unheeded accident , as violently bending them , or perhaps the warmth of my hand and season , or place , which caused this new motiom of sap , than meerly the striking off their tops . some observations , touching colours , in order to the increase of dyes , and the fixation of colours 15. 1670. two things , i conceive , are chiefly aimed at in the inquiry of colours , which subject you desire my thoughs of ; the one , to increase the materia tinctoria , and the other , to fix , if possible , those colours we either have already , or shall hereafter discover for use . as to the first , animals and vegetables , besides other natural bodies , may abundantly furnish us . and in both these kinds some colours are apparent , as the various colours of flowers , and the juices of fruits , &c. and the sanies of animals : others are latent , and discovered to us by the effects , the several family 's of salt and other things may have upon them , concerning the apparent colours of vegetables and animals , and the various effects , of different salts in changing them from one colour to another ; we have many instance in mr. boyle . and if we might , with the good leave of that honourable and learned person , range them after our fashion , we should give you at least a new prospect of them , and observe to you the conformity and agreement of the effects of salt on the divers parts of vegetables : viz. 1. that acid salts advance the colours of flowers and berries , that is , according to the experiments of mr. boyle , they make the infusious of balaustium or pomgranat-flowers , red-roses , clove-jilly flowers , meserion , pease-bloom , violets , cyanus flowers , of a fairer red ; also the the juices of the berries of ligustrum , of black cherris , buck-thorn-berries , of a much fairer red : and to the same purpose acid salts make no great alterations upon the white flowers of jasmin and snow-drops . 2. that vrinous salts , and alcaly's , on the contrary , quite alter and change the colours of the same flowers now named , and juices of the said berries also , from red to green ; even jasmin and snow-drops . 3. again , that in like manner vrinous spirits and alcaly's advance , at least do not quite spoyle the colours of the juices of leaves of vegetables , of their wood and root . thus mr. boyle tells us , that vrinous spirits and alcaly's make the yellow infusions of madder-roots red ; of brazil-wood , purplish ; of lognum nephriticum , blew ; the red infusion of leg-wood , purple ; of the leaves of sena , red . 4. that on the contrary , acid salts quite alter and change the said infusions from red or blew , to yellow . in the next place we would note to you the effects of salts upon animals in the production and change of colours ; but the instances are very few or none , that i meet with in any author ; the purple-fish being quite out of use , and cochineil and kermes are by most questioned , whether they are animals or no ; but i think , we may confidently believe them both to be insects , that is , worms or chrysalys's of respective fly 's in proxima faetura . we find then , and have tried concerning cochineil ( which of it self is red , ) that upon the affusion of most the oyl of vitriol , that is , an acid salt , it striks the vivid crimson that can be imagined ; and with vrinous salts and alcaly's it will be again changed into an obscure colour 'twixt a violet and a violet and a purple . pliny somewhere tells us , that the gaules in his time could dye with vegetables , what the romans with so much danger and pains sought for in the bottom of the sea. indeed , we find many plants mentioned by the same author , for dying which either are not known to us at this present , or neglected . to what we have briefly observed out of authors , we will subjoyne some of our own considerations and tryals , and first , concerning the apparent colours in flowers , we think we may insert ; 1. that generally all red , blew and white flowers are immediately , upon the affusion of an alcaly , changed into a green colour , and then , in process of no long time , turned yellow . 2. that all the parts of vegetables , which are green , will in like manner strike a yellow with an alcaly . 3. that what flowers are already yellow , are not much changed , if at all , by an alcaly or vrinous spirit . 4. the blew seed-husks of glastum sylvestre old-gathered and dry , diluted with water , stain a blew , which upon the affusion of lye striks a green , which green or blew being touched with the oyl of vitriol dyes purple ; all these three colours stand . 5. on the tops of fungus tubulosus , so called by m. wray in his late catalogue of the plants of england , are certain red knots ; these , upon the affusion of lye , will strike a purple , and stand . as for the latent colours in vegetables and animals ; to be discovered to us by the affusion of salts ; they likewise , no doubt , are very many . we will set down only a few instances in both kinds , which have not been , that we know of , discovered or taken notice of by others . latent vegitable colours , 1. the milky juice of lactuca sylvestris costâ spinosa , and sonchus asper & laevis upon the affusion of lye , will strike a vivid flame-colour or crimson , and after some time quite degenerate into a dirty yellow . 2. the milk of cataputia minor , upon the affusion of lye , especially if it be drawn with a knife , and hath any time stood upon the blade of it , will strike a purple or bloud-red colour , and by and by change into an ignoble yellow . latent animal dyes , 1. the common hawthorn-catter-pillar will strike a purple or carnation with lye , and stand . 2. the heads of beetles and pismires , &c. will with lye strike the same carnation-colour , and stand . 3. the amber-coloured scolopendra will give with lye a most beautiful and pleasant azure or amethystine , and stand . lastly , we might consider the fixing of colours for use ; but we are willing to leave this to more experinced persons , as also the philosophizing on the particulars we have produced , to better heads . some obvious inferences we may venture to take notice of ; 1. that in all the instances above mentioned , whether vegetable or animal , there is not one colour truly fixed , however there may , i conceive , be some use made of them , as they are . i say , truly fixed , that is , proof of salt and fire ; for , what seem to stand and be lye-proofe , are either wholly destroyed by a different salt , or changed into a much different colour ; which must needs prove a stain and blemish , when it shall happen in the use of any of them . 2. that both the apparent and latent colours of vegetables are fixable : an instance whereof we may observe in the seed-husks of glastum , and the use diers make of the leaves after due preparation . 3. it is probable from the same instance , that we may learn from the colour of some part of the fruit or seed , what colour the leaves of any vegetable and the whole plant might be made to yeild for our use . 4. that the latent colours are praeexistent , and not produced ; from the same instance of wood , and likewise from this that the milky juyce of lactuca silvestris doth afford it self a red serum . 5. that the change of colours in flowers is gradual and constant . 6. that the colours of flowers , which will not stand with lye , seem to be wholly destroyed by it , and irrecovrable : thus it happens in the experiment ; that one part of a violet-leaf , upon the affusion of lye , is changed very soon into yellow , and will never be revived into a red by an acid salt ; but if another part of the same leaf be still green , it will be revived , 7. that the dryness seems to be a means , if not of fixing , yet bringing the vegetable colour into a condition of not wholly and suddainly perishing by the otherwise destroying alcaly . 8. that those plants or animals that will strike different and yet vivid colours upon the affusion of different salts , and stand , as the cochinel and glastum , are probably of all others to be reckoned as the best materials . it would have been a much safer way , to have put these inferences in the quaeri't ; but besides that i affirm no more but matter of fact , it is lawful for our encouragement ( as my lord bacon advises ) to set up rests by the way , and refresh our selves with looking back , though perhaps we have not much advanced . you will be pleased to excuse the little cohaerence that i have used in these notes , and attribute it to the readiness and affection i have to answer such inquiries as you put to me . i never yet did make this subject any part of my businese , but the desire i have to search after and examine the medicinal qualities of things iu nature , hath by the by presented me with such phoenomena , as i was not willing to leave unnoted , nor to refuse them you , though in a confused way , because you desire them . to conclude , how immethodical and barren these papers may seem ; yet the consideration of them hath led me to a way of fixing colours , which i willingly forbear to relate , until i may have an oppertunity of shewing the experiment before the r. society . i have found out a colour most exquisitely black , & comparable to the best ink ; even in the use of the pen , and which will not change by fire or salt. this an english vegetable yielded me , and for ought i know ( for i have not repeated the trial on any thing else ) the like method will succeed to good purpose , i am , &c. an observation concerning certain insect husks of the kermes-kind may 22. 1671. philosophical transactions . n. 71. i gave you a short account formerly * of certain matrices or insect-husks , of the kermes-kind , which i had some years since observ'd on plum-trees . this instant may hath afforded me the same observation , and some little improvement of it . i have observed the same patellae . husks indifferently on vine-branches , cherry-laurel , plvmb-trees , and the cherry-tree , also on the apricock-tree . the figure of the husk is round , save where thy cleave to to the branch ; for bignes , somewhat more than the half of a grey pea . these , i say , cleave to their branches , as patellae do to the rocks : for colour ; they are of a very dark ches-nut , extreamly smooth , and shining membran-like . they adhere most commonly to the under side of a branch or twig , and so are best secur'd against the injuries of weather , as too much sun and rain . they are well fastned to the branches single , and some will be double and sometimes many in company . they are seldom found without vermin , as pismires , &c. which , i guess , pierce them and pray upon them . thus much for the entire coccum . if you open one of them , that is , cut off dextrously the top of the husk with a rasor , you 'l find somtimes five or more small white magots of the wasp or bee-kind , that is , sharp at both ends . when these are carefully taken out , you will further observe the remainder of their provision of meat , and a partion 'twixt them and the branch , where , what they excerne , is reserv'd . lastly , if , when you have clear'd the husk of maggots , bee-meat , and excrements , you then rub the inside of the empty membran upon white paper it will freely and copiously tinge the paper with a beautiful purple or murrey . at the date of this , none of the maggots were yet in nympha , so that you cannot expect from me a description of the bee or wasp they will turn to , when they come to perfection . before the season be over , the curious may satisfie themselves forthwith about it , and verifie and improve it . few cherry-trees , i suppose , in any place , but will yield them some of these berries . however , if they shall not be so fortunate as to light on them , i shall furnish you with them , &c. york . jan. 10. 1670. a viviparous fly. inquiries and a table about spiders . philosophical transactions . n. 72. sir , i return you thanks for your obliging letter of the third of january , and have sent you the viviparous fly and the sett of inquiries you desire of me . the fly is one , if not the very biggest , of the harmless tribe that i have met with in england ; i call them harmless ; because that they are without that hard tongue or sting in the mouth , with which the oestrum-kind , or gad-flyes , trouble and offend both man and beasts . this fly is striped upon the shoulders grey and black , and as it were checkered on the tail with the same two colours : the female may be known by a redness on the very point of the tail . the very latter end of may 1666 , i opened several of them , and found two baggs of live white worms of a long and round shape , with black heads ; they moved both in my hand and in the unopened vescicles , backwards and forwards , as being all disposed in the cells , length-ways the body of the femal , like a sheaf of arrows . some such thing is hinted by aldrovandus lib. 1. de i●sect . p. 57. edit . bonon . tiro cùm essem ( saies he ) è grandioribus muscis unam albis pict●m lineis , specie illectus , cepi ; ea , in vola manus aliquandiu retenta , plusculos edidit vermiculos candidos , mobilitate propria insignes . this is the only fly i have observed with live and moving worms in the belly of it ; yet i guess , we may venture to suspect all of this tribe to be in some measure viviparous . with these flyes i have sent you a paper of those odd turned snails * mentioned in my former letter , which perhaps you may think will deserve a place in the repository amongst the rarities of the r. society . some general enquiries concerning spiders 1. what sorts of spiders to be found with us in england , and what is the best method to distinguish them and to reduce them to classes ? 2. whether spiders come not of spiders , that is , of creatures of their own kind ? and whether of spiders are bred grashopper , cicadae , &c. as interpreters falsly make aristotle to say , first aldrovandus , and lately kircher ( v. arist. hist. nat. lib. 1. cap. 19. confer interpret . the : gazae , scaliger , aldrov . ) 3. whether spiders are not male and female ; and whether female spiders growing bigger than the male , be sufficient to distinguish sexes . 4. whether all kinds of spiders be alike , as to the place and number of penis's ; and whether all the thread-yeilding kinds , are not furnished with a double penis , that is , if the cornicula or certain knobbed horns , by which all males are best distingushed , be not each a penis , and used in the coit alternatively ? 5. whether the eggs in spiders be not formed , and very large before the time of the coit ? 6. what spiders breed in spring , and what in autumn ? what spiders are content with one brood in the year , and to lay all their eggs at a time ? what seem to breed every summer month , at least to have many subordinate broods ; and whether the eggs be accordingly distinguishable in several matrices or cells in the body of of the female . 7. whether spiders do not take their form and perfection in the egg , and are not thence hatched necessarily at a stated and set time , that is , after a certain number of days , as 21 , compleat animals of its own kind ? and whether the presence of the female be necessary in order to the hatching the eggs , at least for three days , as the ancients seem to affirm ? 8. whether the perfectly-round eggs of spiders ought to be called and esteemed worms , as aristotle and pliny will have them , that is , in swammerdam's phrase and doctrine , whether they be puppets in the egg , and undergo all alterations accordingly , before they be thence hatched perfect spiders ? 9. what different colours observable in the eggs of spiders , as well of pulps as shell , as white , yellow , orange , purple , greenish ? and what respective tinctures they will give , or be made to strike with the several families of salts ? 10. whether there be not eggs of some sorts of spiders , which the worms of certain slender wasps ( the kind in general being called by mouffet muscae tripiles ) delight to feed on ? and whether the fable of vespae iehneumones , told us by the ancients , be not to be made out by the same observation , of these wasp-worms feeding on the eggs , and perfected into wasps in the very webs of spiders ? 11. after what manner do spiders feed ; whether in sucking they devour not also part of their prey ? how long can they live without food , since they store up nothing against winter ? 12. whether spiders feed only of their own kind of creatures , as of insects , that is , of flyes , beetles , bees , scolopendrae and even of one another ? or whether they kill snakes too , as the ancients affirm , for food or delight ? 13. whether some of them choose not to feed on one sort of fly or other insect only ; and what properties such have ? 14. when , and how oft in the year they cast their skins , and the manner of their casting it ? what variety of colours immediatly after the shifting the hackle in one and the same species of spider , that may , if not well heeded , make the history of them more confused ? 15. what mean the ancients by spiders casting their threads , which aristotle compares to porcupins darting her quills , or bark-starting from a tree ; and democritus to animals voiding of excrements ? 16. whether the thread be formed in the body of the animal such as it comes from it ; i mean , whether it be , as it were , unwound of a stock or clew , as i may say , and which indeed to me seems to have been aristotles meaning ; or whether it be drawn off of a liquid mass , as in spinning of glass or melted wax , which seems to have been democritu's sense , in saying it was excrement corrupted or fluid at certain times ? 17. whether the spiders-thred being glutinous , every thing sticking to it upon the lightest touch , be not so much the reason of the spiders taking his prey , as the figure of the net. 18. whether a web be not uninflammable ; and whether it can be dissolved , and in what menstruum ? 19. what difference 'twixt the thred of spiders , and that of the silk-worm or caterpillars ? what strength a spiders thread is of , and what proportion it bears with the like twist of silk ? whether there be not stronger thread from some sort of spiders than from others , as there are threds from them of very different colours , as white , greenish , blewish , dark hair-colour , &c. whether the strength of the barmudo nets to hold a thrush , mentioned in one of the transactions , consist in the thickness only , or much too in the nature of thred ? 20. whether its being to be easily drawn out at any time and at what length one pleases , and many threds together in spight of the animal , be not as advantageous to the working of it up and twisting , &c. as the unravelling the cods of silk-worms . 21. whether either the viscous substance of their bodies or webs be healing to green-wounds , &c. as the ancients have taught us , and we use vulgarly ? and whether some one kind of them be not preferable , for this purpose , before others ? 22. what use may be made of those animals , which devour spiders for their daily food , as wrens , red-breast , & c. ? whether spiders be a cure for sick poultry , as the good wives seem to experiment ? 23. whether the reason why spiders sail not in the air until autumn , be not because they are busily emplyed the summer months in breeding , or what other reasons may be assigned ? the first article of enquiry i have in part answered , by sending you enclosed a scheme , which , after some years observation , i have corrected and enlarged to what it is : yet i must acquaint you , that such draughts will be ever lyable to change and improvement , according to the measure of knowledge a continued observation may bring us to . however it is the first , that i know of , that will be extant , on this subject , and it may be acceptable to the curious . araneorum angliae tabula . aranei octonoculi aucupes à me dicti ; qui scilicet muscas capiendi causâ tendunt reticula scutulata antiquis dicta ; scil . universis maculis in eodem plano dispositis in modum cujusdam scuti sive orbitae . numero x. conglobata ; scil . maculis crebris in omnes in circuitu dimensiones precedentibus . num. vi. telas linteoformes ; scil . reticulorum filis densè inter se contextis in modum veli sive panniculi . num. viii . venatorii , qui aperto marte muscas insectantur ; cùm tamen aliàs texere possunt ; nimirum telas ad nidificationem & ad hyberna . lupi propriè sic dicti . num. iv. cancriformes . num. ii. phalangia , sive aranei pulices assul●im ingredientes . num iv. binoculi , ferè longipedes , opiliones quibusdam dicti , telis digitatis sive forcipatis , cancrorum marinorum more armati . numero iv. may 30. 1671 ; concerning an insect feeding upon henbain , together with the colour yeilded by the eggs of the same , &c. sir , you may please to annex a late observation to the last i sent you : both being chiefly concerning the improvement of colours , and from the insect-kind . there is a cimex of the largest size , of a red colour spotted black , and which is to be found very frequently and plentifully , at least in its season , upon henbain : i therefore in my private notes have formerly intitled it , cimex ruber maculis nigris distinctus super folia hyoscyami frequens . this insect in all probability doth feed upon this plant ( on which only we have yet observed it ) if not upon the leaves by striking its trunk ( the note of distinction of the kind of insect from the rest of the beetle-kinds ) into them , and sucking thence much of its substance , like as other sorts of cimices will upon the body of man yet upon the unctuous and greasy matter , with which the leaves seem to touch to abound . it is further observable , that that horrid and strong smell , with which the leaves of this plant do affect our nostrils , is very much qualified in this insect , and in some measure aromatick and agreeable , and therefore we may expect , that that dreadful narcosis so eminent in this plant , may likewise be usefully tempered in this infect ; which we refer to tryal . about the latter end of may and sooner , you may find adhering to the upper side of the leaves of this plant , certain oblong orange-coloured eggs , which are the eggs of this infect . note 1. that these eggs yet in the belly of the females are white , and are so somtime after they are layd ; but as the young ones grow near their time of their being hatched , they acquire a deeper colour , and are hatched cimices , and not in the disguise of worms . 2. as to the colour , these riper eggs yeild , if they be crushed upon white paper , they stain it of themselves ( without any addition of salt ) with as lively a vermilion or couler de seu , as any thing i know in nature ; cochneil scarce excepted when assisted with oyl of vitriol . whether this be not precisely so , i refer to the tryal and judgment of the curious . i have sent you a couple of the cimices themselves , though you will scarce find a henbain-plant without them . i add concerning the purple-husks , whereof i gave you an account in my last , that i have found them since on rose-tree-twiggs also , and that very dark coloured ones , yeilding an exquisit murrey : so that i conclude , that the tree they may be found on , scarce contributes any thing to the colour or vertue of the husks , but they are the sole work and product of the mother-insect , indifferently choosing a twig of any tree in order to the convenient placing and hiving her eggs. two letters of june 14. 1671 and july 5 , 1671. concerning the kind of insect , hatched of the english ke●mes . the first letter . june 10th , i found several of the patellae kermi formes hatched in a box , where i had purposely put them . they prove a sort , as i guessed by the figure of the worm , of bees , but certainly the least , that i ever yet saw of that tribe as not much exceeding in their whole bulk the half of a pismire . they are very compact and thick for the bigness ; of a cole-black colour . they seem to want neither stings , nor the three balls in a triangle in their fore-head ; which yet are things to be referred to the testimony of a microscope . that which is very remarkable to the naked eye , is a white or straw-colour large and round spot on the back : of their four wings the upper pair are shaded or darked-spotted , the undermost pair are clear . we may entitle them , according to our custom , apiculae nigrae , maculâ super humeros sub-●lave scente insignitae , è patellis sive savis membranaceis , veri kermes similibus , suâque itidem purpurâ tingentibus , cerasi aut rosae aliarumve arborum virgis adtextis , exclusae . this of the purple-husks , and the other history of scarlet-staining eggs * i present you as parallels of our english store to kermes and cocheneil ; i mean , additaments to encrease the number of agreeable tinging● materials and not medicaments , unless wary and safe tryal shall discover to us if they have any medicinal qualities , as use and custom hath made us believe the exotic have in an high degree . one of the husks , i sent you , ad hered to a rose-tree-twig , and other to a cherry-tree . but a rose-bush since hath afforded me some scores of these patellae , many of which are hatched in the box i put them . it is to be further observed , 1. that those that look the blackest , yield the deepest and best purple : 2. that as the bees come to maturity the dye seems to be spent , and the husks grow dry . 3. that the young ones make their way out at several small holes ; whereas the true kermes husk seems to be pierced but in one place . the second ; the discovery of our english kermes hath very much pleased some of it the curious in these parts ; who resolve upon tryals of it the next season . i think i advertised you formerly , that that deep purple or violet , with which the insides of the husks are lin'd , is much spent , if the husks be not taken whilest the bees are in vermiculo ; and the blackest husks are richest in colour . yesterday in very good company we compar'd our english purple-kermes with the scarlet-kemers or grains of the shops , and found them in every point to agree save in the colour of their juices ; and particularly ( finding in some parcels of the shops many yet sticking to little twigs of the ilex , ) we confidently affirm that those as well as ours are only contiguous to the ilex-branches , and are not excrescencies of the tree , much less fruit or berries ; by which abusive names they have been too long known ; but that they are the artifice and sole work of the mother-bee in order to the more convenient hiving and nourishment of her young . concerning vegetable excrescencies , july 17. 1671. from york . n. 75. p. t. i understand by yours of the 13 th instant , that m. ray cannot without much trouble retrieve the letter , wherein i gave him formerly my opinion concerning vegetable excrescencies ; and yet not wholly to deny you the satisfaction of what you seem much to desire , i am willing to think again upon the same subject , at least to recollect part of my former thoughts , as my memory will serve me . the occasion then of that letter was upon the account given us by you in numb . 57 , of the opinion of the italian f. redi ; viz. that some live plants or their excrescencies do truly generate some insects . to which opinion of f. redi i told my friend , as i remember , that i indeed had observed , that the by-fruits of some vegetables , as of the oak and wild rose , for example , did grow up together with their respective worms in them from small beginnings to fair and large fruit , some of them emulating even the genuin off-spring of the plant , — & miratur non sua poma , and further , that i did believe , the worms were furnished with food in and from them ; but not by any navilconnexion , as that author fancies , and which i said , to me was unintelligible , and that i should be glad of a notion , which might make out to me such monstrous relation , as half animal half vegetable , or which is all one , vegetable vessels inserted into an animal , or , the contrary . strange oeconomy ! that it had never been my good fortune ( what ever diligence i had used ) to discern eggs in the center of galls , but a worm constantly , even at the very first appearance , as near at least as my fortune led me . yet i would not deny , but that diligence might one day discover the egg it self , which i was of opinion was affixed to or near the place by the parent-insect , where the gall rose . that i ever found the worms in all the excrescencies , that i had yet met with , perfectly at liberty ; and for the filaments , our author mentions , it was very possible he might be mistaken , it being very hard , and a matter not yet treated of in my publick paper , which and what are the vessels that enter into the texture of a vegetable , as of a large tree , for example ; much more hard would it be to say , this is a vessel in a small gall. that there were many by-fruits of different figure and shape ( though perhaps of a like texture ) upon one and the same plant , every one of which did nourish and produce a different race of insects : whence , i told him , i thought might rather be argued the diverse workmanship of different insects , then one and the same principle of vegetation to be author of several sorts of animals . that the animals themselves , produced of such excerscencies , were of such a genus many of whose species were well known to us to be otherwise generated of animal parents , and therefore it was probable , that these were so too , as well as their tribe-fellows . that the insect-animals produced of such excrescencies were male and female ; and that , if so , we might argue with aristotle ( lib. 1. c. 1. de generat . animal . ) that nature made not such in vain , and that , if from the coit of these animals , which have their birth from no animals , animals should be born , they would either be like their parents and of the same species with them , and if so , it would necessarily follow ( since in the generation of all other creatures it so comes to pass ) that their very parents had such origin too : or unlike them , and if so ( if these also were male and female ) of this second unlike off-spring a third race of different animals or species would be begot , and of them a fourth , and so in infinitum . and that these insects , which he and i had observed to be produced of the excrescencies of some vegetables , we had good cause to suspect they were male and female , since some of them had slings and were tripilous , and others not ( vide catalog . plant . cantab . ad rosam caninam & alibi . ) these were some at least of the arguments , as far as i remember i used , when i formerly wrote on this subject to my friend ; but since that letter , i have perused the book of f. redi it self , and do find , that the said opinion is barely proposed as thing not unplausible , but the proofs thereof are reserved , till the publishing of a curious piece , concerning the excrescencies of the oak ; and therefore i shall be less earnest in the refutation of that opinion , which perhaps a more accurate search into nature will in time make the author of it himself find erroneous . i presume not to venture to decide this controversy , my experience in these matters being too insufficient , and my leisure and health but little to hasten a convenient stock of particulars , and a due examination of them ; yet before i leave this subject , i am willing to run over and present you with a few abreviated instances of some of the several kinds of vegetable excrescencies , and likewise some un-obvious ways of insects feeding on plants ; and these i shall deliver in confirmation of the following propositions . 1. that all are not truly vegetable excrescencies that are reputed such . and here we may justly name the purple-kermes , for example , whose history you were pleased to publish in numb . 73. this , i say , both gives a clear light to the discovery of the nature of the scarlet-kermes , ( a thing wholly unknown to the ancients , as far as we can see by their writings , and no less ignored by the moderns , and yet , which is admirable , in very great esteem and continued use for some thousands of years , ) and also is an evident instance , that some things , confidently believed vegetable excrescencies , are no such matter , but artificial things meerly contiguous to the plant , and which have no other relation to it than the patella-shellfish to the rock it cleaves . 2. generally , insects eggs laid upon the leaves of plants , or their respective feeding on them do not accasion or raise excrescenies . this truth every body , that hath been the least curious , is an eye-witness of . thus , for example , the eggs of the common red butter-fly , laid upon the nettle , are thereon hatched without blistering the plant into an excrescence , and the stiff haired or prickly catterpillars hatched from them eggs , feed upon the leaves without any ill impression , puncture , or prejudice , save that they make clean work , and eat all before them . i could produce some hundreds of instances , if this were to be doubted of . 3. some insect-eggs , laid upon the leaves or other parts of plants , do , as soon as hatched , pierce and enter within the plant to feed . to give you a convincing instance of the truth of this proposition , take this from my notes . may 22 , i observed on the back or underside of the leaves of atriplex olida , certain small milk-white oblong eggs , on some leaves four , on others fewer , or more ; these eggs were on some plants yet unhatched , but on many of the same plants i found the egg-shells or skins yet adhering to the leaves , and the little maggots already enterd ( through i know not what invisible holes ) within the two membranes of the leaf , and feeding on the inward pulp or substance of the leaf : in other leaves of that plant , ( he that shall make the observation after me , will find plants enough of this species seized on , to vary , as i did , the observation in one day , ) i found those maggots grown very great , and yet the two membranes , that is , the uppermost and undermost skin of the leaf , entire , but raised and hollow like a blather . note 1. that those maggots were of a conick shape . 2. that in july they shrunk into fly chrysalis's and accordingly came to perfection , &c. to this unobvious way of feeding we may refer all worm-eaten fruits , wood , &c. 4. worms feeding within some of the parts of some plants do cause excrescencies . thus the head or seed-vessels of papave . spont . sylv. ger. emac. &c. are disfigured for having worms in them , and grow thrice as big , as the not seased ones . this is also plain in the excresc . of pseudo teucrium , and barbarea , &c. 5. the substance or sibrous part of many vegetable excrescencies is not the food of the worms to be found in them . the instances given in confirmation of the last proposition do also confirm this : neither is an oak-apple properly worm-eaten , or the shagged galls , or sponges of the wild rose , or the smooth ones on the leaves of the same plant , or the baggs upon the leaves of the yellow dwarf willow or the elm , &c. this is the sum of what i to say at present concerning this subject being very unwilling to advance further , than my own private observations will suffer me . york august 25 1671. confirming the observation in n. 74. p. l. about musk sented insects ; adding some notes upon d. swammedam's book of insects , and on that of m. steno concerning petrisy'd shells . sir . i have observed the two insects , which mr. ray saith , smell of musk , which indeed they do in an high degree . the small bees are very frequent in the wooles in lincoln-shire , and about the latter end of april are to be found in pastures and meadows , upon the early-blown flowers of a sort of ranunculus , as you have been rightly inform'd ; but it is something improper to say bees feed on flowers : and likewise the same bees are no less frequent on the flowers of dens leonis , &c. the sweet beetle , is a very large insect , and well known about cambridge . all the trials i have made to preserve them with their smell , have proved ineffectual : for , both sorts of these insects will of themselves in very few weeks become almost quite sent-less . to these i shall add another sweet-smelling insect , which is a hexapodeworm feeding on gallium luteum . the observation of the vespae ichneumones , as it hath relation to spiders , i willingly reserve for other papers : yet i may tell you in general , that this kind of insect is one of the greatest puzzels † in nature ; there being few excrescencies of plants , and very many births of insects , wherein these slender wasps after divers strange ways are concerned . though i be at present from my books , yet i well remember the passage , which mr. willoughby refers you to in musset * . and he is well able to judge , whether the observation be made upon the same sort of insect . i conceive it a fault not consistent with ingenious spirits , to pass by in silence the industry of moderns as well as ancients writers ; according to that of c. celsus : oportet neque recentiores viros in his fraudare , quae vel repererunt , vel rectè secuti sunt ; & tamen ea , quae ab antiqui-oribus posita sunt , authoribus suis reddere . you can best inform me , what d. swammerdam does in a matter of this nature : when i read in the account given us by you of his book , numb . 64 ; that snails are both male and female ; that catterpillars may teach us , by their feeding , the correspondence of the vertues of plants , i am defirous to know , whether he quote mr. ray for the former , as having publish't the observation ten years ago at least ; and for the latter , the learned and noble fab. columna , who did propose the way of essaying the vertues of plants by the palats of insects in the beginning of this age. but i leave this , and proceed to a remark of my own ; and it shall be , if you please , concerning petrified shells ; i mean such shells , as i have observed in our english stone-quarries . but sir , let me premise thus much , that i am confident , that you at least will acquit me , and not believe me one of a litigious nature . this i say in reference to what i have lately read in steno's prodromus , that , if my sentiments on this particular are somewhat different from his , it proceeds not from a spirit of contradiction , but from a different view of nature . first then , we will easily believe , that in some countries , and particularly along the shores of the mediterranean sea , there may all manner of sea shells be found promiscuously included in rocks or earth , and at good distances too from the sea. but , for our english-inland quarries , which also abound with infinte number and great varieties of shells , i am apt to think , there is no such matter , as petrifying of shells in the business ( or , as steno-explains himself p. 84. in the english version , & alibi , that the substance of those shells , formerly belonging to animals , hath been dissolved or wasted by the penetrating force of juices , and that a stony substance is come in the place thereof , ) but that these cockle-like stones ever were , as they are at present , lapides sui generis and never any part of an animal . that they are so at present , is in effect confessed by steno in the above cited page ; and it is most certain , that our english quarry-shells ( to continue that abusive name ) have no parts of a different texture from the rock or quarry they are taken , that is , there is no such thing as shell in these resemblances of shells , but that iron-stone cockles are all iron stone ; lime or marble all lime-stone and marble ; sparre or chrystalline-shells all sparr , &c. and that they never were any part of an animal . my reason is : that quarries of different stone yeild us quite different sorts or species of shells , not only one from another ( as those cockle-stones of the iron-stone quarries of adderton in york-shire differ from those found in the lead-mines of the neighbouring mountains , and both these from that cockle-quarrie of wansford-bridge in northampton-shire , and all three from those to be found in the quarries about gunnerby and béavour-castle , ) but , i dare boldly say from any thing in nature besides , that either the land , salt , or fresh water doth yeild us . 't is true , that i have picked out of that one quarry of wansford very resemblances of murices , telinae , turbines , cochleae , &c. and yet i am not convinced , when i particularly examined some of our english shores for shells , also the fresh waters and the fields , that i did ever meet with ( n. b. ) any one of those species of shells any where else , but in their respective quarries ; whence i conclude them lapides fui generis , and that they were not cast in any animal-mold , whose species or race is yet to be found in being at this day . this argument perhaps will not so readly take place with those persons , that think it not worth the while exactly and minutely to distinguish the several species of the things of nature , but are content to acquiesce in figure , resemblance , kind , and such general notions ; but when they shall please to condescend to heedful and accurate descriptions , they will , i doubt not , be of that opinion , which an attentive view of these things led me into some years ago . though i make no doubt , but the repository of the r. society is amply furnished with things of this nature ; yet if you shall command them , i will send you up two or three sorts of our english cockle-stone of different quarries , nearly resembling one the other and all of them very like a common sort of sea-shell , and yet if there shall not be enough specifically to distinguish them , and hinder them from being sampled by any thing of the spoils of the sea or fresh waters or the land-snails ; my argument will fail , and i shall be happily convinced of an errour . another letter , from york sept. 13 1671. enlarging his former communications in numb . 75. about vegetable excrescencies , and ichneumon-wormes . in my last paper about vegetable excrescencies , i was wholly-silent of the opinion , which mr. willoughby is pleased to favour ; and because that worthy gentleman hath so far made it probable , that now it seems only to depend upon the good fortune of some lucky observer , i am willing to reassume my former thoughts , that all those odd observations , we have made of the births of ichneumons , do but beget in me a strong belief , that they have a way yet unheeded , whereby they do as boldly , as subtly , convey their eggs within the bodies of insects and parts of vegetables . a fifth and last proposition of that paper * was , that the substance of many vegetable excrescencies seemed not to be the food of the worms to be ●ound in them . my meaning was , that the substance of the vegetable excrescencies in which those ichneumon worms were to be found , was rather augmented , than diminished or worm-eaten . and the like conformity of their feeding within insects is well observed by mr. willoughby * , that the impraegnated caterpillars seem not to be concerned , though their bodies are full of insects of a quite different kind , but go on as far as they may towards the atchievement of the perfection of their own species . thus i have seen a poppy-head fwoln to a monstrous bulk , and yet all the cells were not receptacles of ichneumons , but some had good and ripe feed in them . i shall not refuse mr. willoughby ( though you know upon what grounds i have twice done it to you ) the satisfaction of an answer to my 10 th quaere , by him resolved negatively : it is true , the swarms of the ichneumons , coming out of the sides of caterpillars , do immediatly make themselves up into bunches , and each particular theca , from the cabbage-catterpillar ( for example , ) is wrote about with yellow silk , as those from the black and yellow jacobaea-catterpillar with white ; but as for web to cover those bunches of theca's , i never observed it but in the green catterpillar so common in our lincoln-sheir , heaths , which are affixed to bents or other plants . these in truth never deceived but my expectation , for i verily thought i had found , when i first observed them , a caterpillar equivalent to the indian silk-worm ; but having cut them in two , and expected to have found a caterpallars chrysalis in the middle , there presented themselves a swarm of ichneumons . these are as large many of them as my thumb , that is , at least four times bigger then the folliculus or egg-bag of any english spider that i ever saw yet . by good fortune i have not thrown away the boxes , wherein i made the observation concerning ichneumons feeding upon the eggs of certain spiders . i have had them in several boxes , some 8 , some 10 , some 12 days in vermiculo , feeding upon the very cakes of spiders-eggs , before they wrought themselves theca's for further change ; and they seldome exceeded the number of 5 to one cake of eggs , &c. so that you may assure mr. willoughby , this is no conjecture , but a real observation accompanied with more circumstances , than i am willat present to relate . some additions about vegetable excrescencies , and ichneumons wasps ; together with an inquiry concerning tarantula's , and a discovery of another musk-sented insect : from york in two letters , of octob. 16. and 28. 1671. the extract of one of these letters that this letter may not be all matter of philosophy , you may take an occasson to put this quaere to your correspondents of italy , viz. whether the tarantula be not a phalangium ( that is , a six-eyed skipping spider ) as matthiolus and others seem to tell us ? if so , whether some later authors impose not on us by giving us a cutt of the figure of a net or reticulm orbiculatum , which our english phalangia are never ( that i know of ) observed to weave or make use of in hunting ? and whether the person bit by a tarantula , be not ever , when on his feet , disposed to and actually dancing after the nature of a phalangium , which seldom or never moves , but by skipping ; even as it happens with such that are bitten by a mad dog , who have been sometimes observed to bark like a dog , &c. and if so , what we are to think and credit concerning such and such musical tunes , said to be most agreeable and tending to the cure of persons bit by a tarantula ? but next among other things , i had the good fortune to present mr. willoughby giving me the honour of two visits , with a musk-ant * an insect observed by me not many days before his first visit : and though i cannot send you the insects themselves , as having parted with all i had , yet i will the note , viz. septemb. 2. i found in a sandy ditch-bank , the first hollow beyond the ring-houses in the high-road to london about a mile and an half from york , a sort of exceeding small pismires ) by which note alone i think they may be sufficiently distinguish't from all at least that i have seen . ) those without wings were of a light-yellow or flaxen , and being broken at on 's nostrils they emitted , like others , an acid or sowre sent ; but those of the same bank with wings , were cole-black , and these , bruised and smelt to , emitted so fragrant a smell like musk , that i must confess they were too strong for me to endure : yet having kept them some time by me , the more delicate sex were not displeased with the smell . and an apothecary in this city , famous for his diligence in chymical operations , did compare them ( unseem and not yet made known to him ) to an excellent balsom , he is wont to prepare . mr. willoughby inform'd me , that he had found the goat chafer or sweet-beetle * out of season as to that smell ; and thereupon asked me , what i had observed as to the time of their sweetest and strongest smelling ? i answer'd , that i believed it to be at the time of the coit , for asmuch as at that time , when i took them highly perfumed , i had observed the female full of egg. the extract of the other letter : i send you a second paper about vegetable excrescencies ; the shortness of the former * and some things therein , perhaps liable to exception , obliging me thereto . concerning the fifth and last proposition of the first paper , it might be more intelligibly experssed thus , viz. that the substance or fibrous part of many vegetable excrescencies seems not to be the food of the worms found in them : my meaning is , that the worms in those vegetable excrescencies , which produce ichoneumons ( to which kind of insect we would limit this proposition , and therefore expunge all other instances , ) these worms , i say , do not seem to devour the substances or fibrous part of them , as other worms eat the kernels of nuts , &c. but that ( what-ever their manner of feeding is , and we doubt not but that they are nourish't in and upon some part of them , ) the vegetable excrescencies still mightily increase in bulk , and rise as the worms feed . it is observable ( to endeavour a solution ) that some of the ichneumons delight to feed of a liquid matter , as the eggs of spiders , the juices ( if not eggs ) within the bodies of caterpillers and maggots : whence we conjecture , that those of the same genus , to be found in vegetable excrescencies , may in like manner suck in the juices of the equivalent parts of vegetables . and this the dry and spongy texture of some of those kind of excrescencies , seems to evince : for , if you cut in pieces a wild-poppy-head , for example , ( or the great and soft balls of the oak ) you 'l find in those partitions , wherein these worms are lodged , nothing but a pithy substance like that of young elder ; and if there chance to be any cells yet unseised , ( which i have sometimes observed ) the feeds therein will be found yet entire and ripe . whence very probably they feed upon or suck-in by little and little the yet liquid pulp of the tender seeds , and leave the substance or fibrous part to be expanded into an excrescence . as for matter of fact , to clear the truth of that opinion , that the divers races of ichneumons are generated by their respective animal-parents , and particularly that which the divers excrescencies of vegetables produce , are not plantigenous , i am in great hopes , the instance of poppy-heads , swoln into excrescencies , will favour us the next season . my expectation is chiefly grounded upon the condition and nature of that plant ; which is such , that nothing can pierce the skin of it and wound it but it must necessarily leave a mark of its entry , the milky juice springing upon the lightest puncture , and drying and concreting suddainly into a red scar : and this , i think , i may affirm , that of the many heads grown into excrescencies , which i gathered this summer , all had more or less of those marks upon them . but our aim is heer only to make way for the observation against the next season ; to which purpose also we propose the following quaere's ; 1. whether the shagged balls of the wild rose are not excrescencies grown from the bud and very fruit of the plant ; like as the wild-poppy-heads are apparently not for worms but seed . 2. whether the large and soft balls of the oak are not in like manner the bud and acorn with all the parts of a sprouting branch , thus monstrously perverted from the first design of nature ? 3. upon what parts or juices the ichneumons-wroms , supposed to be thrust into caterpillars and other maggots can be thought to feed : and whether there be not actually eggs in caterpillars and maggots ( as there are to be observed in their respective chrysalis's ) sufficient to serve them for food ? concerning the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 although i could willingly refer you to mr. ray , who is another hesychius ; yet for present satisfaction i shall transcribe what the excellent critique g. vossius saith ( c. 16. de inimicitia ; ) ichneumon ( i.e. mus pharaonis sive aegyptiacus ) crocodili & aspidis ova indagat , unde illi ichneumonis nomen , quasi dic●s indagatorem ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) reperta utriusque ov● conterit ; ut est apud oppianum in 30 de venation● : nicander tamen ait , cum aspidis ova humi mandare . now a like observation of certain insects of the wasp-kind , made no doubt by some of the ancients , occasioned the application of that name to wasps , as well as to that aegyptian mouse . yet cannot i remember to have met with , in any of the ancients , of more than one text concerning those wasps ; viz. aristot de hist. anim , 5. c. 20. which pliny ( vid. lib. 11. c. 21. ) hath rendred in a manner verbatim , thus : vespae , quae ichneumones vocantur ( sunt autem minores quàm aliae ) unum genus ex araneis perimunt , phalangium appellatum , & in nidos suos ferunt ; deinde illinunt , & ex iis , incubando , suum genus procreant . how far this relation is true , and agreeable to modern observations , we shall have perhaps occasion to discourse of else-where ; our design here is only to tell you , that we have enough to make us believe , that those very insects , we have been treating of , are for kind , the ichneumons of the antients . a letter . york , januar. 10. 1671. containing an account of veins observ'd in plants , analogoue to humain veins . sir , i am very much pleased , when you give me to understand , that somthing is published of the anatomy of vegetables , and that more is designed by that excellent person signior malpighi * . and since the receipt of your last , i have perused the very ingenious book of dr. ●rew and , as far as i have observed these matters , all things therein are faithfully delivered , and with great sagacity . in turning over my notes , made some years agoe , i find , among other things of this nature , some few observations concerning the veins of plants , or such duct●●'s as seem to contain and carry in them the noblest juices of plants . of these there is little or no mention made in this curious tractate , unless under the notion of pores . and because i am of the opinion , that they will prove vessels analogous to our hu man veins , and not meer pores , they shall , if you please , be the subject of your entertainment in this letter ; and the rather that , if they prove veins ( as i little doubt them ) they are not to be passed over in silence , but are early to be accounted for in the anatomy of vegetables . to avoid ambiguity ; those parts of a plant , which pliny ( lib. 16. 38. ) calls by the names of venae and pulpae , are nothing else , in my opinion but what our late author , dr. crew , calls fibres and insertments , or the lignous body interwoven with that which he takes to be cortical , that is , the several distinctions of the grain . now , that the vessels , we are about to discourse of , are not any of the pores of the lignous body ( to use the doctors terms ) is plain in a traverse cut of angelica sylvestris magna vulgatior j. b , for example ; the veins there very clearly shew themselves to an attentive view to be distinct from fibres , observable in the parenchyma of the same cortical body together with themselves ; the milky juice still rising besides and not in any fibre . also in the like cut of a burdock in june , the like juice springs on this and on that side of the radii of the woody circle , that is , in the cortical body and pith only . again , where there is no pith , there is none of these veins as in the roots of plants , and trunks of trees ; but ever in the bark of either . i need not here enumerate the many plants , wherein these particulars are most plainly observable , as in sphondylium , cicutaria , many of the thi●sle kind , &c. further , neither are they probably of the number of the pores , described by our author in the cortical body , or pith. not surely of those pores extended by the breadth , because the course of the juice in these vessels is by the length of the plant ; as i have sometimes very plainly traced in the pith of a dryed fennel-stalk , following them by dissection quite through the length of the pith . it remains , that , if pores , they are of those pores of the cortical body , that are supposed to be extended by the length thereof ; which yet seems ( to me at least ) not enough , but we think them vessels invested with their own proper membranes , analogous to the veins of our humaine body ; for these reasons : 1. because they are to be found in the pith , and sometime in the cortical body of a plant , not included within the common tunicle of any fibres , as is above noted : ( that fibers , or the seminal root are cloathed , is most plain in some plants , as in fern and geranium batrachoides , the fibres of the former are coated , at least in some parts of the plant , with a black skin , in the latter likewise with a red one : ) and in these cases , had they not , i say , their own proper membranes , we see no cause , why the very porous and spongy body of the pith and cortex , should not be in all places filled alike with the juice , and not rise ( as most plainly it doth ) in a few determinate and set places only , that is , according to the position and order of these vessels . 2. again the experiment i made , which you were pleased to publish * , concerning the effect of a ligature on cataputia minor l●bel . viz. the sudden springing of the milky juice out of infinite pores besides the incision : ( the cause of which phoenomenon i take be , the dissected veins impetuously discharging themselves of part of their juice within the porous panenchyma of the bark ; ) whence it is probable , that , if there was no coated vessel to hold this milky juice , we might well expect its springing upon the bare ligature , as when we squeez a wet sponge ; the external cuticle of the plant , as this experiment shews , being actually perforated . in the next place it is very probable , that these vessels are in all plants whatsoever . for as it is truth-like of all the other substantial parts of plants , though specified by divers accidents in figure and texture ; so of these veins , which , though they be discernable mostly in those plants where they hold discouloured juices , yet we may very probably think , that they are not wanting , where the eye finds not that assistance in the challenging of them . and in these very plants , where they are least visible , there is yet a time when they are , if not in all , yet in some parts of these plants , plain enough to the naked eye : the tender shoots of the greater and lesser maple , in may , are full of a milky juice ; viz the known liquor of these veins . again to this purpose , if you apply a clean knife blade to a travers cut of the like shoots of elder , the gummy liquor of these veins will be drawn forth into visible strings , as is the nature of bird-lime of the bark of holly , or the milk of cataputia minor lobel . further , the leaf stalks of our garden rubarb do sometimes shoot ( by what accident , we enquire not here ) a transparent and very pure chrystallin gumm , though the veins , that held this gummy juice , are by no ordinary means visible in them , and yet by comparing the nature and properties of this gum , with that of the gums of other vegetables to be of theirs , by the same comparative anatomy . lastly , we think , that even mushromes ( that seemingly inferiour and imperfect order of vegetables ) are not exempt and destitute of these veins , some of them yielding a milky juice , hot and fiery , not unlike some of the spurge kind , or euphorbium . it might be expected , that i should add somethings at least , concerning the original and productions of these veins , if not an exact description of them , the course of the juices in them , and their more immediate and primary uses in the matter of vegetation : but i must acquaint you , that ( besides the season is not now proper to improve and verifie , if i had leisure , the observations formerly noted , and that they were things thrown into my adversaria without other order , than that nothing should slip from me in the quest of medicaments , that might be of light ) although i find indeed many scattered particulars ( besides them already delivered ) concerning the position , order , number , capacity , distributions , differences , figure , &c. of these veins ; you will be pleased to take it in good part , if i think fitting to reserve them until the opportunity of another summers review : it seeming to me no small matter , to have fairly hinted the existence of them to such curious persons as shall have the leisure , and find themselves in better circumstances , than i can pretend to , as to those great advantages of glasses . designing , &c. to conclude with the primary use of these veins ; which is , in my opinion , to carry the succus nutritius of plants , because , where they are not , there is no vegetation ; as it is seen , if an ingrafted branch or arm be bared and stripped off the clay , &c. in june , all the course of vegetation will appear to have been made only by the bark , and not by the wood , that is , in the place only , where these veins are . a secondary use is the rich furniture of our shops ; for , from these veins only it is , that all our vegetable drugs are extracted , and infinite more might be had , by a diligent enquiry , and easy means , which i have not unsuccefully put in practice ; witness the black resin , i not long since sent you a specimen of . an account of a stone cut out from under the tongue of a man ; sent in a letter to his grace the lord arch-bishop of york . may it please your grace , in obedience to your grace's commands , i have penned the circumstances of a not common medical observation , viz. the excision of a stone from under the tongue . and i here with present your grace also with the stone its self , as i had it from the person it was taken . * as to the occasion and time of its birth , he tels me , ( my lord , you may be pleas'd to give firm credit to every particular , that he hath answered me at your grace's instance ) it was from a winter sea-voyage , which lasted much longer than he expected , and wherein he suffered an exceeding cold ; and that , not long after his landing , he found a certain nodus or hard lump in the very place whence this stone was cut . there was about 8 years betwixt its breading and being taken away . as to its growth , and the inconveniences thence enensuing ; he further saith , that upon all fresh-cold taking , he suffered much pain in that part especially ; and yet , that cold once being over , that part was no more painful than the rest of his mouth . he adds , that towards the 7 th and 8 th year it did often cause sudden swellings in all the glanduls about the mouth and throat upon the first draught of beer at meals ; which yet would in a short time fall again . lastly , as to the particulars remarkable at the time of its being taken away , he relates ; that it began its work with a sudden vertigo ; which vertiginous disposition continued more or less from spring 'till august ; in which month , without any praevious cause save riding , the place where it was lodged suddainly swelled , and ran purulent matter at the aperture of the duct●●● whartouianus : that it suddainly stopped of its running ( which he cannot attribute to any thing but cold , ) and swelled with a great inflammation , and very great danger of choaking ; it being scarce credible , what pain the party suffered in endeavouring to swallow even beer or any liquid thing . this extremity lasted 5 days , in all which time , the party had so vast a flux of spittle runing from him , that it was not possible for him to repose his head to sleep , without wetting all the bed about him ; insomuch as that it was very much questioned by some friendly visitants , whether he had not of himself , or by mistake , made use of mercurial medicines . the varieties or degrees of this spontaneous salivation were such , that he urged me not to omit them in the relation i was to make to your grace , as thinking them very notable . the first day , the saliva ran thin and transparent , almost like water without any bubles . the 2 day it ran frothy ; it tasted salt , ( which yet he is apt to think hot rather , than really salt , because that day the inflammation was at the height ) . the 3 day it roaped exceedingly ; on which day a small pin-hole broak directly over the place of the stone and ran with purulent matter as formerly . the 4 day the saliva ran insipid , sensibly cold in the mouth ; ( which again confirms me in that opinion , that the former sharp tast was the effect of heat , and not the immediate quality of a salt humour ; ) very little forthy . the 5 day ( which was that of the incision , ) it ran as on the 4 th but left an extream claminess on the teeth , insomuch that they often clave together , as though they had been joyned together with glue . upon the inci●ion , which proved not wide enough , the membrances or baggs , wherein the stone lay , came away first . as to the stone it self , it was so hard as to endure the forcipes in drawing it forth : it was covered over with grass green matter , which soon dryed , and left the stone of a whitish colour , as it is to be seen . it is but light in proportion to its bulk , weighing about 7 grains ; and it s much of the shape of our ordinary horse-beans . there are visible impressions upon it of some capillary and small vessels , it was bred amongst . lastly , it is scabrous or rough , sand-like , although the substance is tophaceous . the accidents accompaning the working away of this stone , ( for the incision was meerly obstetrical , ) and the place of its birth give occasion to call the distemper a ranula . yet in truth this was nothing else but one of those tumours called atheroma , and therefore we will name it lapis atheromatis . an extract of a letter from york april 12. 1672. concerning animated horse-haires ; rectifying a vulgar errour . sir. i cannot discover any thing new and rare in natural philosophy , but i must forthwith make you participate of my good fortune ; and i assure you , the relation , i am about to make you , is of a thing very surprising . it hath been credibly reported , that horse-hairs thrown into water will be animated ; and yet i shall shew you by an unquestionable observation , that such things as are vulgarly thought animated hairs are very insects , nourished within the bodies of other insects , even as ichneumons are within the bodies of caterpillars . i will premise the particulars concerning this ainmal , as i find them collected by the industry of aldorvaudus , and save you the trouble of that voluminous author . this insect ( saith he ) seems to have been unknown to the ancients ; as it is called by the moderns seta aquatica or vermis set●rius , either from the most slender figure of the body ; or because it is thought to be generated of an horse-hair putrifying in water . the germans call them by a name rendred vituli aquatici . it is bred in corrupt waters ; perhaps of horse-hair , for ( saith albertus upon his own frequent trial , as i find him quoted by aldrovandus , ) these hairs , put into standing water , move and are animated or , as he words it , vitam & spiritum accipiunt , & moventur . other have thought them to have their birth from weeds hanging down from the banks into ponds and rivers . others from locusts and grashoppers ( ex bruchis ; ) which last though it be near the matter , yet it is rejected by aldrovandus himself , as the most unlikely . they have been fouud in cold and good springs , and elsewhere , ( which is a wonder , saith aldrovandus , ) upon a leafe in a garden . and this , which was there found , was 5 or 6 fingers-breadth long ; the thickness of a bristle horse-hair , with a duskish back , and a white belly ; and the tail on every side white . i saw ( saith aldrovandus ) a black one thicker than the whitish one . other authors otherwise descibe them , as bertruius , albertus , &c. some affirming them to have been a cubit long ; others , two cubits others , 9 inches long at the least : that they are white of colour , and so hard as scarce to be crushed with ones foot : to be every where of the same thickness : that they move not as wormes move , but snake-like , and knit themselves up into knots : that their skin is one continued thing without incisures ; and therefore some would exclude them from the insect-kind : that they have no head , but swim both waies , and therefore may be called amphisbaena aquatica : that they are poyson , drunk down into the stomack , but not venom to touch . and thus much out of aldrovandus concerning the name of this insect , the place of its birth and original , the place where they are to be found , its description , different species , nature , poyson &c. our observation is this . april . 2. there was thrown up out of the ground of my garden , in digging amongst other things of this nature , a certian cole-black beetle of a midle size , and flat shape , and which i have observed elsewhere common enough . these beetles i dissected upon the account of some curiosity , wherein i had a mind to satisfy my self . but i was surprised to find in their swollen bellies of these hair-wormes , in some three , in others but one onely . these particulars we carefully noted : 1. that upon the incision they crawl'd forth of themselves . 2. that putting them into water , they lived in it many daies , and did seem to endeavour to escape by lifting up their heads out of the water , and sastning them to the side of the vessels ; very plainly drawing the rest of their body forward . 3. that they cannot be said to be amphisbaena , but do move forward only by the head , which is fairly distinguishable from the tail by a notable blackness . 4. that the three , i took out of the body of one beetle , were all of a dark hair-colour with whitish-bellies , somewhat thicker then hoggs bristles ; but i took out of the body of another beetle one that was mu●st thicker than the rest ; much lighter coloured ; and by measure just five inches and a half long ; whereas all the rest did not exceed three inches three quarters . an extract of a letter enlarging and correcting the former notes about kermes ; and withal insinuating a conjecture of cochincil's being a sort of kermes . sir , we must correct as well as enlarge our notes concerning kermes * ; and yet there will be much difficulty in resolving the question concerning the original and efficient of kermes . these things are certain . 1. that we have this year seen the very gumm of the arpicok and cherry-lawrel-trees trausudated , at least , standing in a crystal-drop upon some ( though very rarely ) of the tops of these kermes . 2. that they change colour from a yellow to a dark-brown : that they seem to be distended and to war greater , and from soft , to become brittle . 3. that they are fill'd with a sort of mites ; that small powder ( which i said to be excrement , ) being mites as well as that liquamen or softer pulp ( which i took to be bees-meat ; ) concerning both which particulars i am pretty well assur'd by my own , and also by my ingenious friend , dr. johnsou of pomsret's more accurat microscopical observations . 4. that the bee-grubbs actually feed on mites , there being no other food for them . 5. that there are other species of beesor wasps besides those by me described ; which are sometimes found to make these mites their food : dr. johnson having open'd one husk , with one only large maggot in it . 6. that there are probably different sorts of mites in these huskes , making possibly different species of kermes : for , some i have found to hold carnation-colour'd mites , enclosed in a fine white cotten , the whole husk starting from the twiggs , shrivelling up , and serving only for a cap or cover to that company of mites , other mites i have seen white , and ( which is most usual ) the husks continuing intire and not coming away from the twigg they adhere to , and but little cotton at the bottom . those of the first sort are the white cob-webbs on the vine , described by mr. hook micrograph . obs. 56. 7. that shrivell'd cap to be found upon the mites inclosed in cotton , as also the whole husk it self , if taken early in april , while so●t , will dried in the sun , shrink into the very figure of coch●●●il : whence we guess , that cochineil may be a sort of ker●●● taken thus early and sun-dried . hitherto 〈◊〉 summers ▪ 〈◊〉 ●●concerning kermes , this advantage at least we may have by 〈…〉 the ●●count , taken from m. verney by dr. 〈…〉 publish 't in one of the tran●●●● 〈…〉 is made more intelligible : the small scarlet powder , there mention'd , being to be understood of those mites ; and they to be distinguish't from the bee-grubbs ; which are chang'd into the ●●●●ping fly , that is , the bee , ( for kind at least ) by us described formerly , i am , &c. york octob. 9. 1671. a description of an odd kind of mushr●●● 〈…〉 milky juice , much hotter upon the tongue than pepper , &c. novemb , 15. 1672. the 18 of august last ▪ i passed through 〈◊〉 woods under pinno-moor in craven : in the wood● i then found an 〈◊〉 number of mushroms , some wither'd , and 〈…〉 . they were of a large 〈…〉 redgilled eatable 〈◊〉 or 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 of their shape , that is , with a perfectly found 〈◊〉 or 〈…〉 we vulgarly call it , ) thick , fleshy , not 〈…〉 and round foot stalk , of about 6 fingers breadth 〈◊〉 above ground , and ordinarily as thick as my 〈…〉 if you cut any part of this mushrom , it will bleed exceeding freely a milk-white juice , concernig which 〈◊〉 1. that this milky-juice tasts much hotter upon the tongue than pepper . 2. that it is not clammy to the touch . 3. that the 〈◊〉 not much discolour it , on the bl●de of a knife ; as is usual with most vegetable juices . 4. that it became in the glass viol , i drew it into , suddenly concret and stiff , and did in some daies dry into a 〈◊〉 cake . 5. that it then also when well dried , retain'd its fierce biting tast and white colour . fu●●er , i observ'd these mushroms , 〈◊〉 of juice , not to be endured upon our tongues , to abound with fly-maggots . also , the youngest and tendrest of them , that is , such as are most juicy , to have been very much eaten by the grey meadow naked snail , lodging themselves within the sides of the plant . concerning this kind of biting mushrom , i find in a certain late discourse of the state of russia these words ; groozshidys fungorum maximi , palmam lati , instar omasi bibuli sunt , crassi & candidi ; dum crudi sunt , succo cla●●● putà ) abundant . eos sicut tithymallum muriâ corrig●●● r●them ; aliter fances & gu●ter 〈…〉 . ipse se●el 〈…〉 assato● 〈…〉 non 〈…〉 periculo . the reference to the cuts or figures is here confused , and the description too concise , to say that ours agrees in any thing with theirs , save the great ac●imony of the juice they both yeild . i may sometime acquaint you with the medicinal uses , i have caused to 〈◊〉 made of this white 〈…〉 the mean time i shall only mind you of the great 〈…〉 hath with euphorbium . since this letter the author thereof was pleased to give us this further account in an other of decemb. 17. viz. — mr wray return'd me this answer to my letter about the biting mushrom ; at my return to midleton i found a letter from you , containing the description of a mushroms by you discover'd in marton-woods unde pinno moor . i doubt not but it is that described in joh. ba●bin 1. 40. c. 6. under the title of fungus piper at us alb●● , lacteo succo turgens . only he saith ; 1. that it doth in bigness exceed the champignon ; whereas you write , that there are few of them much bigger than that : but yet in saying so , you grant them to be bigger . 2. he saith , for their bigness they are not so thick as that ; you describe yours to be thick in flesh . in all other points the descriptions agree exactly . for the colour , of that it is white , gills and all ; for the place , that it grows in woods ; and for the tast , that its hotter than pepper . several particulars mention'd by you , are not observ'd or not mention'd by him . i cannot say , that i have as yet met with this mushrom . a futher account concerning the existence of veins in all kind of plants ; together with a discovery of the membranous substance of those veins , and of some acts in plants resembling those of sense ; as also of the agreement of the venal juice in vegetables with the blood of animals , &c. communicated in a letter of januar. 8. 1673. and exhibited to the r. society . sir , we have formerly given you certain reasons for the existance of veins , ( analogous to those in animals ) in all plants whatsoever , not mushromes excepted : to which we might add others of later notice ; as the skin of a plant may be cut sheer off with part of the spongy parenchyma , and no signs of milky juice follow , that is , no breach of a vein . again , we have stript the plant of its skin , by pulling it up by the roots , and exposing it to the wet weather , untill it became flaccid as a wet thong , without any injury to the veins , which yet upon incision would freshly bleed . these experiments , i say , make against the general opinion of one only sap loosely pervading the whole plant , like water in a sponge . and though we have made these and many other experiments to facilitate an ocular demonstration of these veins ; yet we have not been able to effect it to our mind , and subject them as nakedly to our eye as we could wish , for a through-information of their use , and a minute and accurate discovery of all the particular accidents belonging to them as such vessels . this , i say , is a work of much labour and patience ; and that which renders matters very difficult , is the infinite number , smallness and perplexity of these veins . in the transverse cuts of plants , we see as it were a certain order and number the bloody orifices of dissected veins . we observe also in a leaf , which we take to be the simplest part of a plant . 1. that the veins keep company with the ribbs and nerves ( as we vulgarly call them , ) and are distributed into all the parts of the leaf , according to the subdivisions of those nervous lineaments , and are disposed with them into a certain net-work ; whether by inosculations or bare contact only , we pretend not to determine . 2. that in a transverse cut of a leaf , the middle fibre or nerve , for example , seems to yeild one big drop of a milkie juice , springing as it were from one vein ; yet the miscroscope plainly shews us , that there are many veins which contribute to the making up of that drop . 3. that if a fibre or nerve be carefully taken out of the leaf , the veins will appear in it like so many small hairs or pipes running along and striping the nerve . 4. that those many veins are all of an equal bigness , 〈…〉 to be more certain of the ra●●ifications of the fibres , wherein those veins are , we yet are so , that those veins do any where grow less and smaller , though probably it may be so . that which makes us doubt it , is the exceeding smallness of these veins already , even where we might probably expect them to be trunk veins and of the largest size ; and being there also in very great numbers and running in direct lines along the fibre , we guess , that one or more of them may be distributed and fall off on either hand with the subdivisions of the fibres , and not suffer any diminution in their bulk . 6. that we cannot discern any where throughout the whole plant larger or more capacious veins , than those we see adhering to the fibres of the leaves ; which do also appear from comparing the bleeding orifices in a transverse cut . i have found it a difficult and laborious task , to trace and unravel them throughout the whole plant . our opinion is , that these veins do still keep company with their respective fibres . and as all the fibres of the leaf are joined in the stalk of the leaf , and that stalk explicated in cloathing the twig or stem of the plant , ( which we take to be the reason of the orderly breaking forth of the leaves . ) so do we think of the veins , their perpetual companions . and , as we have said , the fibres of the leaves are joined in the twig ; so are those of the twigs in the branches ; those of the branches in the trunk or body of the tree : the like also in an inverted order we seem to observe in the several coats and ramifications of the root . this the several circles of bleeding orifices in tranverse cuts seems to confirm . but more in the roots of plants , if a simple coat be separated and exposed betwixt your eye and the light , the veins appear to be strangly intangled and implicate , and not in the simple order , as in the leaves . the like we think of the bark of the bodies of trees , which we cannot distinguish from the roots of plants ; though there is , indeed , something ( at least at certain seasons of the year ▪ ) in the root , which is not to be found in any part of the plant besides . from what hath been said , it may well be doubted , whether there is any sinus or common trunk , into which all the veins are gathered ? but rather , each existing apart by it self . we indeed have found it very difficult so to exhaust the plant of its milkie juice , as to kill it , though we have given it very many incisions to that purpose . divers other instances there are , which favour the discontinuance of the veins , and the little relation and intercourse they have with one another ; as one branch of a tree having fair and well grown fruit , before the other branches of the same tree and fruit blossom or have leaves ; from the different situation and other circumstances of culture ; the indefinite and perpetual growth of a tree ; the cyon governing , &c. and thus far we have taken our information concerning these veins , partly by the appearance they make in transverse cuts , and partly by the help of a microscope ; which last indeed has shewed us something of their number , magnitude , order , distributions , &c. and yet neither of these helps in our hands has satisfactorily discovered to us other particulars belonging to these vessels , as external figure , coats , cavitie , &c. the substance of these veins seems to be as truly membranous , as the veins of animals : a leaf will not give way and be extended , but the veins in a leaf , if freed of all the woody fibres , will be stretched out to one third part at least , and vigorously restore themselves again , just like a vein , gut , or any other membranous ductus of an animal . again these membranous pipes are exceeding thin and transparent , because they suddainly disappear and subside after their being exhausted of their juice ; and particularly in that we see the liquor , they hold , quite through our veins , or ( in chelidonium majus , for example ) a tincture of saffron in crystalline pipes . concerning the external figure of these veins and cavitie , as well as other accidents , we thought , they would have been made more apparent to us , if it were possible to coagulate the juice they hold without much shrinking the plant . we were in hopes , freezing would have effected this ; which though it did not succeed as we promised our selves , in respect of the manifestation of these accidents ; yet it gave us some further light into the nature of the juice of these veins . in the keenest frost , which hapned the other winter , we dissected the frozen leaves of the garden spurge . here we observed , that all juice ( besides that which these veins hold ) was , indeed , frozen into hard ice , and to be expressed out in the figure of the containing pores ; but the milkie-juice was as liquid as ever , but not so brisk as in open weather . this experiment we take to be good proof of the perfection of this milkie juice , and that it hath within it self so great a degree of fermentation , that it preserves it self and consequently the whole plant from the injuries of the weather ; that is , the plant owes it life to it . thus we have seen insects ( as hexapode-worms , &c. ) ly frozen upon the snow into very lumps of ice , which did not only cause the glass to ring we struck them against , but did endanger the breaking of it : and yet , put under the glass and exposed to the warmth of the fire , they quickly recovered their legs and vigour to escape ; which we think could not be , unless the vital liquor of their veins , as in this instance of plants , had been untouched and little concerned in the frost . further , we hence also argue the different vses as well as natures of these juices , and look upon the frozen icicles or that copious dilute and limpid sap as alimental ; the milkie and not frozen juice , as as the only proper venal . as to the motion of these juices , these things are certain ; 1. that the milkie ▪ juice alwaies moves and spring● briskly upon the opening of a vein ; the limpid sap but at certain seasons , and as it were by accident , and not ( as i judge ) from any vital principle or fermentation of its own . 2. the vena● juice hath a manifest intestine motion or fermentation within it self ; witness ( besides what hath been just now said of it ) its contributing ( and the long continuance of ) that motion to the most insensible liquors ; and likewise its thick and troubled bleeding , sike the rising of yeast , which yet in a few hours after drawing falls , and the juice becomes transparent , as the gum of the virginian rhus , &c. i shall not desire any person to acquiesce wholly in a bare fermentation ; but endeavour a happy discovery of the frame of all the parts of a plant , on which perhaps this motion may much depend . in the mean time we must indeed needs think ( according to the knowledge we yet have of the parts of plants , ) that these juices move by a far different contrivance of parts from that of animals ; not yet here discovering any uniting of veins into one common trunk , no pulsation , no sensible stop by ligature , no difference in veins , &c. all which difficulties notwithstanding may , i hope , in time may be happily overcome ; and the analogie betwixt plants and animals be in all 〈…〉 opening of flowers ; the 〈…〉 of the heads of poppies from a pendulous posture , and particlarly the vermicular motion of the veins when exposed to the air . again , the veins of plants may indeed be different , though at present we cannot tell wherein they are so . the arteries within our heads are hardy to be known by the eye from the veins . further there are natural and spontaneous excretions or venting of superfluous moisture in plants , visible and constant , in the crown imperial , rorella , pinguicula , &c. as to the ligature , as it hath been hitherto applied by us , it is not to be relyed on for discovery of this motion ; the veins only of plants being the parts probably distendable . lastly we shall not omit to tell you , that either we must take that away from the other reasons given of the necessity of the circulation of the blood in animals , viz. the hindring of its breaking and clodding ; or we must grant the same motion to the venal juice in plants : we having undeniable experiments to shew , that the venal juice of plants and the blood of animals agree in this , that they both , when they are once drawn from their respective veins , do forth-with break and coagulate , and that the serum in the one as well as in the other becomes a stiff gelly by a little standing . but of the different natures of the juices of these viens in divers plants and their motion we will remain your debtor , and acquit our selves when we shall find it convenient ; at present ; only acquainting you , what variety of experiments hath taught us , that probably more useful preparations and certainly a truer analysis and 〈…〉 and parts of vegetable drugs may be 〈…〉 whilst they are bleeding and liquid , than after they are once become concrete and have lost their natural fermentation . i am &c. a letter dated may 21. 1673. in york , concerning the unalterable character of the whiteness of the chyle within the lacteal veins ; together with divers particulars observed in the guts , especially several sorts of worms found in them . — i come to your letter , where the analogy betwixt the veins in plants and the nerves in animals , hinted by dr. wallis , is a considerable notion , and i shall set my self a task e're long to examine them both again on purpose , and to give you my thoughts . in the mean time , i will entertain you , if you please , with some anatomical observations and experiments . it hath been long in my thoughts and desires to have discovered the actual passage of the chyle into the lacteal veins ; of which yet i never doubted , as i find some do at this day . the difficulty lyes in the certain and unalterable character of the chyle's whiteness , especially when received into those veins . and yet it is as certain , that in a diabetes the urine retains all the qualities of the liquor drunk . also in that famous instance of those that eat the fruit call'd the prickle-pear ( if i remember aright , ) their urine hath affrighted the eater with the colour of bloud , that is , with the not-alter'd colour of the juice of the fruit. in these instances at least we cannot doubt but the chyle , even in the lacteal veins , was qualified according to the food and drink . to effect then something to this purpose , we have formerly , and that very often , repeated the experiment of injecting highly tinged liquors into the guts of a live animal . it would be too tedious and impertinent , to write down the circumstances of many different tryals : we will only in short tell you the manner of performing it and the success . we laced the skin of the abdomen of a dog loosly for a hands breadth , and then opening it underneath the stitches , we took out either the duodenum , or any other of the tennia intestina . the gut , took out , we open'd with a very small orifice , and having ready the tinged liquor luke-warm , we injected it upward and downward : carefully stitching up the gut , and then drawing the lace , we unloosed two of the dogs feet , laying him on his side for what time we thought convenient . the tinged liquors we used , were good barbado's indigo , in fair water , and filtrated ; also lumps of indigo thrust down his throat ; good broath ( as they call it ) of a blew fat ; indigo in milk ; saffron in milk. again , we tried in some dogs fed before hand , and injected the liquors in the very hight of the chyle's distribution ; into others yet fasting , and that for a longer or shorter time . the success was so constant , that we cannot say , we ever did find the least discolouring of chyle on the other side the guts , that is , within the lacteous veins , but ever white and uniform . whence we judge it not very feasable to tinge the venal chyle in a well and sound animal . and he that would demonstrate the matter of fact to the eye , must probably do it by giving him some such thing in the food , as shall cause a diabetes , or some distemper equivalent to it . though we have observ'd many odd things in the several exercises of this nature ; yet we shall not trouble you at present with any other particulars , than what we have further observ'd in the guts , to which we shall confine our paper . of these we shall proceed to speak though possibly the the things may be better known to you already . as 1. of the glandul● miliares † of the small guts , which may also in some animals be well call'd fragiformes , from the figure of the one half of a strawberry , and which yet i take to be excretive glanduls , because conglomerate . 2. the vse of the intestinum cae●um , subservient to that of the colon and rectum ; manifest in such animals , where nature intends a certain and determinate figure to the excrements . 3. of some sorts of vermin , we found in the guts . and first of the lumbrici lati or tape worm . of these , i say , we found in the guts of one dog , perhaps more than an hundred in all . the duodenum was exceedingly stuffed out and extended with them . which also well agrees with an other observation i made in a mouse , where i found the duodenum to be far bigger than the stomach it self , by reason of the great numbers of these worms for kind , which were contained in it : for kind , i say ; for these tape-worms were of a quite different shape from those of the dog , or any that i have ever yet seen . to proceed , we found them also in the dog 's jejunum and ileon ; but not any one lower than the valv● a coli , nor any higher than the duodenum or within the pilorus . below the duodenum they lay at certain distances one from another , though sometimes by pairs or more of them twisted together . near them was constantly to be observed an excrement of their own , distinct , for colour ( the observation being made in a dog plentifully fed for other purposes ; ) just as we find in worm-eaten tracks of wood , where the coss● leave behind them the wood which hath pass'd through their bodies : these worms lay mostly with the small ends upward , as feeding upon and expecting the chyle in its descent . these lumbrici lati were none of them above one foot long , and most of them of an equal length and bigness . the one end was as broad as my little finger-nail , and pointed like a lancet ; the other end , coming small gradually for the whole length of the animal , was knoted , or ended in a small button like a pin-head . they were every-where and in all parts of them alike milk white , of a flat and thin substance like fine tape , divided into infinite rings and incisures ; each incisure having sharp angles , on both sides , looking to the broader end standing out beyond each other : else the sharp corners of the annuli would necessarily hinder the ascent of the animal ; whereas , if the contrary be true , they serve to keep it up . each ring hath also on the one side only , and that alternately , one small pro●uberance , much like the midle feet of the body of some caterpillers . after i have thus described them to you , i desire you to view the cut of tulpius in the last years edition of his medic. observat. l. 2. 42 ; where he retracts the first figure , given us in the edition of that book in the year 1652. and yet i cannot say , that all in this last is true ; for , to me , the rictus and eye in the there supposed head of the animal seem to be the meer fancies of the painter ; not to say , that probably the smaller end is the head , which , indeed , is in this cut wholly neglected . comparing our animals with that cut of tulpius , it was not very easy for me to observe , because of the great resemblance , the specifick difference of the lumbrici lati of men , and those of this animal . i was not so happy as to discover any motion in any part of them , in water or out of it , nor did they seem , if pricked or otherwise hurt , much if at all ) to contract themselves or shorten the annuli , so that they then appea'd to me as things without motion or sense . there is an other sort of lumbrici lati to be met with very ●requently also in dogs , called cucurbitini from the likeness each annulus or link hath to a cucumber seed . i have found of them about half a foot long , but more often broken into shorter pieces . the former by us discribed is undoubtedly a compleat and entire animal ; but there is great reason of suspition , that this is a chain of many animals linked together . these animals for kind have been observed to have been voided by men , and found enclosed in a gut or membrane of a prodigous length : and ( which is more notable , ) a person of great integrity and worth , mr , f. i. affirmed to me , that he once assisted at the opening of a dog , in which one of the kidneys was observed to be quite wasted and become a perfect bladder , and in that bladder they found something like an animal of a monstrous shape , which being dissected , was nothing else but a skin full of these lumbrici cucurbitini . † it were to be desired , that such as have the oppertunity of such rare phaenomena , as of snakes , lizards , beetles , catterpillers , toads and such like things , as we read of in medicinal histories to have been vomited , whether they are not the like disguises of this sort of worms , much assisted by the surprised fancies of the first observers . and because these sort of wormes are sometimes said to be found out of the guts , their most proper place , we shall conclude with a very recent observation of the last month in this city . a chirurgion brought me about 20 worms , which he had just then taken out of an ulcerated ankle of a girle of about eight years old . i had the curiosity to go my self and see it . i found the leg found all but the ankle , which was vastly swell'd , and the girle otherwise hearty and well coloured , she had been in great misery for some months ; had been sent up to london , where she was touched and dressed for the evil. sometimes after her return , her pain continuing , a young puppy was opened and applyed to the soars . the chirurgeon , who took off the puppy , found it , to his great admiration , full of worms , at least 60. in number , what those he found in the body of the puppy , and what he drew out of the soar ankle ; into which , he said , they crawled down as worms do into the ground . the same puppy was again applyed , and it was then ( at the second taking of the puppy ) that i made the visit , and saw only one worm got out into the puppy , but a very live and stirring one . many were afterwards kill'd injections . these worms i affirm , according to my best knowledg , ( and i had the oppertunity of comparing them ) were of the very species of the lumbrici teretes , which children familiarly void from the guts . they were betwixt three and four inches long ; all , about the matter , of an equal bigness , as of one brood ; something thicker than a ducks quill ; very sharp at both ends ; stiff , and exactly round ; without incisures , visible at least , and yet could move and twist themselves readily enough . all the difference was in the colour , these being much whiter than any i have seen from the guts . vid. barthol . in hist. 60. cent. 5. where neer twenty worms , as long as my finger , were found in a lady's arm , probably of this species too . i beg your pardon for my , &c. some papers written about the same time to mr. oldenburgh , in whose hands they remained unpublished . 1. paper . the passage of the chyle through the intestines , into the lacteous veins , is a thing hitherto demonstrated to the eye by none . dr. lowar ingeniously confesses the ill successe he had in trying with air or tinged spirit of wine , by neither of which he was able to force a passage . and j. wallaeus is very positive that however the chyle in the intestines may be diversly coloured , yet it is still white in the lacteal veins . ( v. epist. de mot● ) chyle . to this purpose diembroock in his late anatomie * affirmes " chylum semper album " inveniri in vasis lacteis mesenterij , & thoracic is — viridem verò rubrum alteriusve coloris in jis à nemine hactenus visum fuisse . p. 37. notwithstanding which , and my own insuccessfull tryals , i did not doubt , but some happy experiment would shew the contrary ; and a purposely coloured chyle might find admittance into the lacteal veins , though not by force , yet by the consent and introduction of nature her self . the successe of some late experiments we made to this purpose , we shall further acquaint you with . 1. experiment , i caused a dog to be fed , and after 4 hours , or therabouts ( having ready by me a cleer tincture of indigo dissolved in fair water filtred ) i opned the abdomen , and making a small incision in the jejunum , ( as was formerly discribed ) i injected one ounce or two . this done , the gut and all we stitched up again , and the dog turned upon his leggs . after one hour and one quarter we cut the stitches , where we beheld a copious distribution of chyle and turgid lacteal veins , but as white as ever ; and yet carefully searching the guts , we perceived none of the liquor injected any where . 2. experiment , an other dog which was kept fasting 40. houres , a very little flesh , without water , given him , some 5 houres before the injection of the tincture of indigo , which was done after the same manner , as before related , only the tincture was well warmed , and some 12. ounces throughn up the duodenum , and down the ileon . here were empty guts , nor the least appearance of any lacteal veins in the mesenterie . after full 3 hours the stiches were cut again ( some occasional businesse hindring me from doing of it sooner ) and carefully examining the mesenterie , we found many lacteal veins of an azure colour , and cutting some of the biggest of them asunder we did plainly see a thick blewish chyle to issue forth , and to spread it self over the transparant membrane of the mesenterie . this is a very truth , which the chirurgion , i imployed to assist me in the experiment can well witnesse , and whose eyes i used as well as my own in carefully examining these matters . whence , although it hath been doubted of by some , yet it is most evident , that the lacteal veins receive , what they carry , from within the cavitie of the intestines . as to the bunches of glandulae within the guts , i have observed them in several kinds of animals at divers times , and do therefore think them natural and not adventitious or morbous , as some were pleased to object . these glandulae protuberate , and are thereby visible in any part of the small guts , where they are to be found . in the duodenum of a dog , i have seen many clusters of them , some as broad as my nail , and all disposed in an oval figure , like the half of a strawberry , or mulberry . they are very visible in the guts of mice , where each grain seems much larger than in a dog. again the part , where these glandulae are , seems more thin than the rest of the gut , and therefore the gut slit , and held betwixt the light of your eye these grains are very conspicuous . further these glandulae ( like the rest of the conglomerate kind ) empty themselves into the guts , which is manifest by the comparison of them , and therefore serve for the excretion of some saliva-like juices , but whether they may not also introduce the chyle , i will not determine here . a second letter writ about the same time ; 1673. to the same person . i did not think of explaning my sense of the use of the caecum until i had had the leisure and opportunty of purposely examining the i●testines of most kind of animals . but because i am much mistaken by the person , who , as you tell me , is desirous to be anonimous to me , him i mean who raised the scruples you sent me , upon the second paragraph , which says , the use of the intestinum caecum to be subservient to that of the colon , and rectum ; manifest in such animals where nature intends a certain , and determinate figure to the excrements . i shall be forced to tell you , what i presume may prove , as neer the truth , as any one of the many conjectures extant in authors , about the unknown use of this part . i understand by determinate figure . first , the excrements divided into many small parts of a like shape , such as sheep , deer , conies , rats , mice , horses catterpillers , some snailes &c. doe void . secondly , in a greater latitude , i oppose figured excrements to liquid , as c. celsus in some place doth ; thus the dung of pigeons , and geese , of men , dogs , cats , &c. may be said to be figured . now the caecum , in my opinion , is subservient in some measure to the figuration of both , but most manifestly in the first kind . my meaning is that probably the use of the caecum is to keep the excrements , that passe into its cavitie ( and i believe all , or most part of them do in sound animals ) so long , until they are sufficiently drained , baked , hardned , or of a due consistence , ( as clay is temperd for the mould ) to receive the figure to be given from the colon and rectum . this use i say of the caecum , seems to me to be much more manifest in such animals , as have figured excrements of the first kind . in ratts for example , ( whose excrements are the most elegantly and constantly a like figured , of any sanguineous animal i have met with ) the caecum is more large , and capacious , than the stomack it self , and perhaps than all the small guts put togather . but its use in receiving the excrements or exhausted chyle , is not more apparent , from its large capacity ; than that other of further draining and tempering them to a stiffnesse , for the service of the colon , from the admirable contrivance , and structure , of this latter gut , which is a phaenomon that deserves further consideration : it is i say to be noted , that immediately under the value of that gut , in this animal , are certain spiral fibres , which make a kind of screw . now it seems to me , that the excrements , after they are brought to a due consistence by the necessarie stay they make in the caecum , and being carried out thence into the spiral folding , or screw of the colon , cannot descend in a perpendicular , as formerly through the small guts , but still gently glide very leisurly by the vinding of the screw ; whence arises their figure . and i am apt to believe , that if the caecum of a ratt , or any of the first kind of animals mentioned , was tyed up , or otherwise hindred from its receit , the animals would unavoidably fall into a diarrhaea : there being , i say , no reason , that i can foresee , why the yet liquid excrements or exhausted chyle , such as we constantly find it , even at the very bottom of the small gut , should slop at the entrance of the colon , and not speedly glide through the screw , in a down right descent , that is , elude the devise of nature , and make the configuration of that so curiously contrived part uselesse , we i say supposing the experiment to have taken away the necessarie diverticulum and repositarie of the unprepared excrements , in tying up the caecum . i know not , whether the observation will hold good in general terms , because i say , i have not yet purposily examined divers animals in nature , viz. that the more accurately figured the excrements of any animal are , the more capacious is the caecum , and on the contrary the lesse figured and liquid they are , the lesser the caecum , or none at all . this is true certainly that some animals , which are naturally loose have no caecum at all or very little , as the talpa , the echinus terrestris the gulo , a certian kind of voracious woolfe , mentioned by bartholine in his observations . we shall not trouble you at present with our observations concerning the different figure of excrements in the divers species of animals already by us examined , nor of the place and of their becoming so figured . also we shall passe by our thought for the present of the manner of the caecums reception and preparing the excrements . for the colon , we likewise sorbear to offer some doubts we have , concerning natures end , in the necessarie figuration of excrements in some animals , as first to prevent diarrhaeàs ; secondly to abide hunger the better ; thus snails in winter rest with full intestines ; thirdly to heighten the firmentation and digestion of the stomack and small guts . what we have hastly writ at present , being only intended for the better uuderstanding of that paragraph , and not all that this subject would incite me to say . if it shall be objected , that grant the reception of the exhausted chyle to be made in the caecum , before it passe into the colon : yet it seems that either we must give a power of choice to the caecum , or what just comes in , will first be thrown out , it still being uppermost , that is , the lesse prepared excrement . i answer , that i do not conceive , what choiee or distinction sheep , can make of the meat not ruminated , in the stomack , from that , which is but just now ruminated , and swallowed down , since all the many stomacks of a sheep are but one stomack and but one gula , that is , in that respect of ruminating the stomack and gula of a sheep or cow , is an other caecum ; and yet in ruminating nature has its aime , and chews not things oftner over , than needs must ; the like we think of the office of the caecum , which parts only with what is duly prepared , and retains the yet liquid excerment . 3 paper . some probable thoughts of the whitenesse of chyle ; and what it is after it is conveyed within the arteries : communicated much about the same time with the former . n. b. i am not altogether of the same opinion now ; yet , they were my thoughts than . 1. in digestion of meat in the stomack , there is made a separation or solution of urinous salts ; no otherwise , than in the rotting of animals , or plants . 2. the chyle is hughly impregnate with this urinous salts . 3. the whitenesse of the chyle is from the fermentation it hath from its mixture with urinous salts ; and that if desolv'd with fair water , it is wholly deprived of that colour , the firmentation ceasing . 4. the salt chyle is conveyed into the venal blood , and with it enters the heart ; and it is thence thrown out , chyle as it comes in by a continued pulsation into the artery . 5. that as oft as it enters the emulgent arteries , it there leaves behind it part of its salinous liquour or urine , and consequently abates of its colour . 6. that when sufficiently freed of its urinous salt , it becomes a lympha ; which we think nothing else , but the residue of the chyle , not yes made into the nature of blood , as not sufficiently depurate of its saline particles . 7. that probably it circulates long under the nature of a lympha ; after visiting all the parts of the body by the arteries , and returning again to the hart , partly by its own vessells , and partly by the veins . 8. that in defect of chyle ( for we cannot constantly feed ) nature continually supplys the masse of blood with the lympha , or old chyle . 9. that upon every supply of fresh chyle , much of the old stock or lympha is ( according to the necessitie of parts ) converted to this or that use : and not till than . 10. that there is ever , more lympha in the masse of blood , than there is need off for the diluting of it . the arterial blood ( be the animal never so much exhausted by hunger ) always parting with some upon extravasation and coagulation . 11. in the coagulation of extravasate blood there is no praecipitation of parts , as in curdled milk &c. for if the chyle be freshly distributed into the masse of blood , it will again separate it self , as oyl will from water ; and in like manner is it with the lympha or old chyle , neither of them being as any essential part of the blood . 12. the venal and arterial blood have probably both a like quantity of lympha to dilute them ; but the arterial in coagulating involves within its crassamentum more than the venal : the reason may be , for that the arterial is fuller of air , which rarifies and renders the arterial crassamentum more porous and capacious , of lodging the lympha : which yet as it subsides by long standing , parts with and le ts goe more and more lympha . 13. the great instrument of circulation is the systole or vibration of the heart ; which yet would not be sufficient from hindring the coagulation of the blood , without a continual supply of lympha to dilute it . an account of two uncommon mineral substances , viz. of bitumen , and a white liquor . january 7. 1674. sir , that this letter may be the more acceptable to you , i shall communicate some excerpta , taken out of the letters , which that inqusitive and learn'd gentleman mr. jessop is pleased to honour me with . i will give , ( saith he ) the best answer i can in short to the questions , you put to me in your last . 1. the fungus subterraneous , i sent you a large quantity of , was gotten in a rocky lime-stone ground , on a common about two miles distant from castleton in the peake of darby-shire , 15 or 16 yards deep , in the old man ( as they call a mine formerly wrought and stopt up ) covered with earth , that had either fallen or was thorwn in . there is no coal-bed that is knowu of within five or six miles of the place . of this fungus , by mr. jessops procurement , i received a good quantity ; and yet i am not able to say , in what form it grows . it does not seem to me to have any constant shape ; at least the pieces that i receiv'd are much like pears or turff , cut up in the high moosr , bothe in the sooty colour and inward substance ; this ouly is more clammy and tough , and dries not . and some of the fungous substance is very soft and like gel●y . in and about the more solid pieces , ( of which i have some , half a soot square , ) are many big lumps of a bituminous substance . this bitumen is very inflammable like rosin ; it is very light , it breaks firm , and shines like good aloes ; and for colour , it is not much unlike it , save that it is more dark color'd and purplish ; yet there is much of it of a dark green colour . we distill'd a parcel of it , which yielded us an acidulous limpid water ; then , a white liquor , which was , i guess , from some of the oily parts precipitate . and in the last place , a copious yellow oyl , not unlike that of succinum or pitch . in the neck of the retort we could discern no volatil salt , as in the like process upon amber . whether this ows its original to a vegetable , or is truly a concret mineral juyce and a fossil bitumen i forbear to determine . i have not read of any such fungous earth , in which bitumen naturally grows and adheres : and the finding of it in an old mine doth much favour the first opinion of being a vegetable substance ; either the very substance of the props of wood , they make use of in lining and supporting the grooves , thus alter'd , or certain fungus's growing out of them . that birch , ( of which there is great plenty and hath been vast woods all these mountanous parts of england over ) will yeild a bitumen , as limpid as the sap is which runs from it by tapping , if we now had the skill to extract it , pliny is very express , l. 16. c. 18. bitumen ex betula galli exc●quunt . and more-over it is certain , that much of that wood , if not all , which is dugg up in the high moors of craven , and which the people there call and use for candle-wood , is no other than birch , as it appears from the grain and bark ; and yet this wood kindleth flames , and exudats a rosin , which makes many pronounce it very firr-wood . whatever this bitumen is , which this fungus subterraneous yeilds , it much differs from the asphal●um of the shopps ; and you may command a specimen of it , that it may be better examin'd by more skilful naturalists . 2. there is an other mineral juyce in these parts of england , which i have much inquir'd after , and longed to see ; and now i am likely to be satisfied , as you may think by mr. jessops words : captain wain , ( saith he ) a diligent and knowing person in mines , gave me a white liquor , resembling cream both in colour and consistance , which he found in great quantities at the bottom of a coal-pit , 49 yards deep , which i reserve for you . but this is not all the information that hath been given me about this white liquor . mr. george plaxton , a curious and very intelligent person , writes thus to me from sheriff hales in shropshire : i shall trouble you with an observation , i lately met with in our iron-mines , especially that which the country people here call the white mine , which yeilds the best iron-stone . the miners do commonly , upon the breaking of a stone , meet with a great quantity of a whitish milky liquor , inclosed in the center of it ; they sometimes find a hogshead contain , d in one cavity . 't is in taste sweetish ; only it hath a vitriolick and iron-like twang with it . a description of certain stones , figured like plants , york novemb. 4th . 1673. in this paper i send you an account of some of the parts of certain stones figured like plants ; which argicola ( 5 fossilium ) calls trochitae , and the compound ones entrochi ; we in english , st. cutberds beads . agricola will have them akin for substance to the lapides judaici ; and , indeed , these are of an opaque and dark coloured sparr ; though i have of them from some parts of england of a white sparr or cawke , as our miners call it : they all break like flint , polished and shining . put into vinegar ( saith he ) they buble : atque etiam reperitur interdum qui se tanquam astroites moveat de loco . but this is true of all fossils of what figrue so ever , that vinegar will corrode and dissolve as a menstruum ; provided they be broken into indifferent small grains , and the bottom of the vessel hinder not , they will be moved from place to place by it . the figure of the trochitae is cylindrical ; the outmost round or circle ( we speak of one single joynt , which agricola calls trochites ) is in general smooth , both the flat-sides are thick drawn with fine and smal rayes , from a certain hole in the middle to the circumference . from the shooting of these rayes like antimonie , and because a large peice of this stone of many joynts resembles the bole of a tree , aldrovandus ( who yet elsewhere discourses of this stone , after agricola and gesner , under the name of trochitae and entrochi ) not improperly terms it ( musae : metallici lib. 1. pag. 188. ) stelechites stibii facie ; and there gives us a true ●igure of it . two , three , or more of these trochitae joyned together , make up that other stone , which he calls entrochos . the trochite or single joynts are so together , that the rayes of the one enter into the other furrows , as in the sutures of the skill . hitherto we agree to what agricola , gesner , boetius , aldrovandus , and wormius have said of them : we proceed upon our own observations , which go much further . the places where we find them very plentifully , are certain scarrs in braughton and stock , little villages in craven . the stones of the abovesaid described figure , as many as have yet come to my hands from those places , have afforded us these particulars . as to their bigness , i never yet met with any much above two inches about ; others there are as small as the smallest pinn , and of all magnitudes betwixt those proportions . these are all broken bodies ; some shorter pieces , some longer , and of them , indeed , trochitae , that is , but single joynts . i never fonnd one intire piece much above two inches long , and that very rarely too ; in some of which long pieces , i have reckned about 30 joynts . and as they are all broken bodies , so are they found dejected and lying confusedly in the rock , which in some places , is soft and shelly ( as they call it , ) that is , rotten and perished with the wet and air . and though in some places they are but sprinkled here and there in the rock , yet there are whole bedds of rock of vast extent , which are made up of these , and other figured stones , as bivalve , serpentine , turbinate , &c. as at braughton . as to the injuries they have received in their removal from the natural posture , if not place of their growth and formation , they are manifest . for , besides their being all broken bodies , we find many of them depressed and crushed , as if the joynt of a hollow ▪ cae should be trod under foot : these crushes being also real cracks of a stone or glass . again these stones consisting of many vertebrae or joynts , they are many of them strangely dislocated ; sometimes two , three , or more of the joynts in a piece are slipped and out of order or rank , and sometimes a whole series of joynts , as when a pack of crown pieces leans obliquely upon a table . futher , others i have that are twisted like a cord , if this possibly may be reckoned amongst the injuries . lastly , some have their joynts , indeed , even and in file , but are yet stuffed with a forrain matter , as when bricks are layed in motrer . there is great variety as to the thickness of the trochitae or single joynts : some are so thin , that they are scarce the full of the 24 th . part of an inch ; others are a full quarter of an inch thick ; of these latter i only found at stock : these , i say , are the extream proportions , as far as my observations have yet gone ; there are joynts of all measures betwixt those two extreams . this is true in divers pieces , for mostly the joynts are of an equal thickness in one and the same piece . note , that there are slender and small entrochi or pieces , which have as thick joynts , as the biggest and fairest pieces . there is also some difference in the seames or closing of the joynts : some are but seemingly joynted ; which appears by this , that if they be eaten down a while in distilled vineger , the seeming suturs will vanish , as in some i had out of stafford-shire , from about beresford upon the dove : others and all here at braughton and stock are really joynted , and the sutures indented ; which indentures being from the terminating of the rayes , they are more fair or large , according to the differenc of the rayes , but even , equal , and regular . we have said , that generally the outmost circle of each joynt is flat and smooth ; yet are there many other differences to be noted as to that part : very porbably because they are parts or pieces of different species of rock-plants . 1. that the smooth-joynted ( to say no more of them here ) are of different thicknesses as to the joynts . 2. on some entrochi betwixt , suture and suture in the middle of each joynt , are certain knots in a circle ; the joynts thus distinguished are very deep and large , and are very frequent at stock . 3. there are likewise of these with a circle of knots , which have many knots besides upon each joynt and look rugged . 4. some with much thinner joynts , which yet have a circle of knots in the middle of joynt ; and this also looks as though it was all over knotted , and these are found at braughton only , as far as i know . 5. as some have but one circle of knots , others , are knotted all over the joynt and rought ; so are there some others , which have a circle of larger knots in the middle of each joynt , and a circle of lesser on each side close adjoyning to the border or verge of the suture . this is huge pretty , and they are found at stock . 6. others betwixt suture and suture in the middle of each joynt rise with a circular edge . 7. a smooth entrochos with a large or much risen edg on the middle of one of the joynts , and a much smaller on the middle of an other joynt and that atlernatively . 8. the same alternate difference , the joynts only much rounder and blunt , and here the joynts are visibly one thicker than the other . 9. the same with alternate edges knotted . 10. a double edg in the middle of every joynt ; this makes the joynts look as though they were exceeding thin and numerous , but indeed they are not so . 11. a double edg in the middle of every joynt knotted by intervals , or as it were serrate edges . and these are some of the differences , that i have at present been able to make out . some of the pieces of most , if not all , of the differences of these entrochi are ramous , having lesser branches deduced from the greater , and that without order . some have but few branches on a piece ; others i find so thick of branches , that they resemble a ragged staff. these branches are deep inserted within the stemm , and by being separated , leave great holes in the sides of it . the rayes in the joynts of the branches run cross to the rayes of the stemm . on thick stemms , are somtimes very small branches , but mostly the bigger the stem the thicker the branches . some of these branches are branched again : yet i find not any of them above one inch intire , and yet adhering and inserted into its stock o bole , and for the most part not above a joynt or two . the branches are known from the stemm , by being a little crooked and something tapering or conic. we meet but with few pieces ( besides the branches ) that are not exactly cylindrical , setting aside the injuries above mentioned , that is , that are not as thick at one end as at the other , and perfectly round , notwithstanding that we said , that there are of them of all degrees of magnitude within the proportions above-named . and , as we said , it is rare to meet with a piece , that is not exactly cylindrical ; so amongst those few that are not so , some we find tapering at both ends , and much swelled in the middle . and this is the other species of this stone , according to the division of agricola : entrochi duae sunt species ; aut enim aequaliter teres est ; aut teres quidem , sed par● ejus media tumet , utrumque caput angustius est . but this must not be understood , as though both ends were compleat ; for these , are but broken pieces , as the rest , more swelled in the middle . others there are figured like a kind of fruit , or lapis judaicus ; but these also are truly entrochi , and are joynted notwithstanding this shape . upon a small stalk of two or three joynts is suddainly raised an oval bottom , broken off also at both ends . to these we shall add what seems to have been summitates or fastigia ; long and slender pieces with a little jointed buttom , hollow on the very top ; which top seems not to have been divided or broken off from any thing else . i must not forget , that as they are hollow in the middle ( and so it was easy to string them like beads , which gave occasion to the english name ; ) so these hollows are someetimes filled with earth , and sometimes an other entrochos is inclosed like a pair of screws , and which is ( as it were ) pith to the other . of these inward entrochi some i have which are transparent . note , that the hollows or piths are of different bores , but most are round . and yet there are of them in great plenty at stock , whose hollow in the middle is in the elegant fashion of a cinquefoil ; and the rayes of the joynts of entrochi are much deeper and fewer in number , than of any other yet observed by me . these are smooth-joynted . this is most surprising , and i know not any vegetable , whose pith is perforate in such a manner . lastly we in these rocks find rude stones , of the bigness of walnuts , which have many impressions of trochitae upon them , as though they had been the roots of them . and when these have been a little cleansed in vinegar , these impressions appear more than casual ; for , the substance that covers them ( if not the stones themselves ) is sparr , and the impressions are round holes , which , we said above , the branches made in the sides of the stock , when broken out from them . agricola makes mention of these also : saepenumero lapis informis reperitur unà cum trochite & entrocho , rotae in se continens figuram ; quae in eo quasi quaedam radix , trochitis jam abruptis , remansit . although there are indeed certain lapides informes , which may with some colour be thought to have been the roots , from whence some entrochi have been broken ; yet are not all such lumps of stone , on which we discern the vestigia of entrochi to be called lapides informes , some of them being most elegantly figured . one or two of them , which i found intire and compleat at stock , amongst very many others strangely shattered and defaced , i shall describe to you . 1. the first is in the fashion of a pine apple or cone , with a hollow bottom : on the very top is the round figure of an entrochos broken off ; round about the bottom or basis are five single feet at equal distances , in the figure of crescents . this stone is incrustate or made up of angular plates ; viz. the bottom is composed of five plates , which we call feet ; the middle of the stone of five other plates , all of a sexangular figure ; and the top stone . all other plates are smooth on the outside . 2. the sccond is a large stone of the bigness of a walnut , much after the pyramidal fashion of the other ; the bottom convex , about one inch and a quarter over ; on the top is the lively impression of an entrochos broken off , or rather a trochites yet remaining ; round the basis are five double points or feet at equal distances , all broken of somewhat in the figure of crescents . this stone also is incrustate or covered with sex-angular plates , which are rough . i can compare the inc●ustating of these stones to nothing so well , as to the skins of the piscis tringularis , which margravius describes : cujus cutis ( nam caret squamis ) figuris trigonis , tetragonis , pentagonis , hexagonisque mire distinguitur & notatur . of these figured plates i find so great variety in the rocks , both as to the number of angles and other beautiful ornaments , that it has caused in me great admiration . and it will not be amiss ▪ since they manifestly belong , as parts , to the above described stones , to enumerate them , at least , as many as have yet come to my hands . some of these angular plates , i said , are yet visible in their natural place and posture in the described stones : but i find the greatest part of them broken up and heaped together in great confusion in the rocks . and it will be as hard to set them together , as to skill to tell you , what the figure of an intire entrochos ( or the stone to which all the above described parts seem to belong ) is : but we will omit no part , that we can justly say belongs unto it . we shall begin with pentagonous plates . 1. the first is a pentagonous stone , as broad as my thumb-nail ( we speak of the fairest of them , ) hollow on the one side , like a dish ; convex on the other side , where are certain eminent knots , about the bigness of small pinn-heads , set iu a kind of square order : this plate is somewhat thinn at the edges and yet blunt . 2. the second is also pentagonous , and not much narrower than the other : it is , indeed , somewhat convex above , but not hollow underneath ; it is smooth on both sides , at least without those eminent knots , which are so remarkable in the other plate : the edges of these are as thinn as of a knife , and sharp . 3. the third pentagonous plate is not near so broad , as either of the former ; yet one i found amongst a 100 of this sort , that is full as any of the above described : these are all convex on the one side and somewhat hollow on the other ; thick edged ; one of the 5 sides only is indented ; the indented side is ever the thinnest , and the stone is most sloped towards that side . note , that there are many amongst these last indented sorts of plates , which are channelled on the concave side and otherwise notched . 4. all these pentagonous plates are to be found plentifully at braughton or stock . but i shall not omit in this place the mentioning of one , i by chance espied amongst certain figured stons , which i had out of the quarrie near wansford-bridg in northamptonshire , and it probably belongs to these kind of plates i am now in hand with . it has one of the five sides thick indented ; the convex part has in the middle a raised vmbo , like some antient shields , and round about the sides list of smaller studds . we have since had some plates much like this from bugthorp under the woolds in york-shire . we proceed to remarke some differences in the sexangular plates . 5. all these stones are but small , save here and there one : the first of them is but little hollow on the one side , and convex-side most elegantly wrought with raised or embossed work , that is , with an equilateral triangle bestriding each corner , and a single right line in the midst ; or , if you will , two triangles one within another . these we found at ●raughton-fear only . 6. that plate-stone which is most common in these rocks , there being a 1000 of these to be found for one of the other , is sexangular , a little hollow on the one side and convex side or scabrous only ; some are much thicker than others ; some being as thick as broad , but most are plate-like ; the sides are very unequal , as in crystals ; sometimes five broader sides and one very small ; again two sides broad and four much narrower , and infinite other differences as to the inequality of sides . words are but the arbitrary symboles of things , and perhaps i have not used them to the best advantage . good design ( and such is that i send you , done by that ingenious young gentleman and excellent artist , my very good friend , mr. william lodge . ) or the things themselves , which i have all by me , would make these particulars much more intelligible and plain to you . the explication of the figures . see tab. i. 1. a trochites or single joynt with very fine and small rayes . 2. a trochites or single joynt with the pith bored through , in the fashion of cinquefoil . 3. a trochites or single joynt , of an oval figure , the rayes scarce apparent and a very small point in the place of the pith . 4. a single joynt or two of a middle size , with the pith exceeding large . 5. a pack of single joynts dislocated , and yet adhering in their natural order . 6. a very long entrochos or a piece of many smooth joynts with the branches broken off . 7. an entrochos with smooth joynts not branched . 8. the biggest entrochos i have yet seen , with stumps of branches . 9. a smooth entrochos with very thin and numerous joynts . 10. the largest or deepest joynted entrochos , save the oval one noted in the third figure . 11. an entrochos with very many disorderly knots in each joynt . 12. an entrochos with one only single circle of knots in the middle of each joynt . 13. an entrochos with three circles of knots . 14. a smooth entrochos , with a large and much risen edge in the middle of each joynt . 15. alternate joynts round or blunt . 16. a double edg in the middle of each joynt . 17. alternate joynts , edged . 18. 19. 20. certain other differences noted in the paper , but not pefectly exprest in the design . 21. an entrochos with a branch of a good length . 22. a branch of an entrochos knocked off . 23. an entrochos fruit-like . 24. a fastigium or summitas . 25. a radix of an entrochos in prospective : where a is a joynt or trochites yet remaining , whence an entrochos was broken off . c. e. f. d. are four of the double feet ; the 5 th . being hid . 26. the same radix to be seen at the best advantage : a the trochites or basis : c. b. d. e. f. the five double feet . note also the sex-angular rough plates , which incrustate the stone or cover it all over . 27. a smaller radix with smooth plates and five single feet : h. the top stone . i. one of the five feet . k. one of the five angular plates which incurstate the middle of the stone . g. the basis , also the same stone in prospective . g. the same with the hollow bottom upwards . figures of plates supposed to incurstate divers roots . 28. a pentagonous plate knotted . 29. a thinn edged smooth pentagonous plate . 30. an indented pentagonous plate . 31. the northamptonshire pentagonous plate . 32. a large pentagonous smooth plate . 33. an hexagonous plate imbossed with angles 34. an hexagonous plate , as deep as broad . 35. 37. odd figured plates . 36. a quadrangular plate ribbed and indented . a letter concerning snails , with tables about that sort of insects . york . march. 12. 1673. i herewith send you the first part of our tables of snails , and some quaere's upon that subject , i reserve by me the sea-shells and rock-stones . that part , i send you at present , being at a stand with me , these other increase upon my hands daily ; which though that be not a sign of perfection ( for there is undoubted work for many ages , ) yet it is of good advancement and progress ; this other of the copiousness of the subject . again , in that part of the tables , you have from me , authors are very little concern'd ; in the others of sea-shells and stone-like shells there are many authors , which are to be consulted and taken in , if possibly we can understand them treating of the same species . as for rcok-shells in particular , they come in to me in greater numbers , than i could ever have imagined . and i can assure you , that of near 30 species , i have now by me , found in this county alone , not any one can be sampled by any sea , fresh-water or land-snail , that i have , or ever saw . so that you see , i have still good reason to doubt of their original , besides many other arguments that my observations about fossils do afford , and which you may possibly one day see . and that there are the elegant representations of even bivalve-shells , which never ow'd their original to any animal , i can demonstrate ; and think none , that hath considered the thing with me , yet hath denyed : of which hereafter . but whether all be so or no , i choose this method , as the most convincing , viz. to give a comparati e view . some general quaere's concerning land and fresh-water snails . 1. whether there are other shell-snails at land , than turbinate ; 2. whether this kind of insect are truly androgyna , and equally participate of both sexes , as mr. ray first obseru'd ; and whether both them two , which shall be found in the act of venery , do accordingly spawn , or lay those perfectly round and clear eggs so frequently to be met with in the surface of the earth and in the water too ; and the circumstances of those eggs hatching ? 3. whether the way of fatting snails , in use amongst the romans , that is , to make little paved places incircled with water , be not also very expedient in order to the true noting the manner of their generation ? 4. what light the anatomy of this kind of insect may give to the rest ? 5. whether the black spots , observable in the horns of some snails , are eyes , as some authors affirm , and not rather parts equivalent to the antennae of other insect ; as the flat and exceeding thin shape , also the branched horns , in other species of snails seem to confirm ? 6. whether the coccinea snails , which some of our water-snails freely and plentifully yield , be not a saliva rather than an extravasated blood : the like may be thought of the juyce of the purple-fish , now out of use , since the great plenty of cochineil ? 7. in what sort of snails are the stones , mentioned by the antients , to be found ? and whether they are not to be found ( in such as yield them ) at certain times of the year ? and whether they are a cure for a quartan ; or what other real vertues they have ? 8. what medicinal vertues snails may have , as restorative to hectic persons ; and what credit the romans may deserve , counting them , especially the necks of them , highly venereal ; celsus also particularly commending them to be boni succi , and stomacho aptas . 9. also inquire concerning the mechanical uses of the saliva of these animals , as in dying , whitening of wax , hair , &c. cochlearum angliae tabula . cochleae fluviatiles testaceae , seu testis contectae . turbina●ae breviore figurâ , testae apertura clausa operculo è saliva confecto , tantùm ad hyemem . num. iv. operculo testaceo num. i. longiore figurâ , sive buccina , convolutae à dextrâ versus sinistram . num. iv. à sinistrâ versus dextram . num. ii. compressae num. iii. nudae , limaces quibusdam dictae . num. iii. terrestres turbinatae validiore testa , operculo testaceo clausa . num. iii. tenui , pellucid â , semper aperta ; convolutae à siextrâ in sinistram . num. iv. à finistrâ dextram versus . num. i. compressâ testâ , coccum sundentes . n. iii. bivalves , musculi quibusdam dict . num. iii. univalvis , patella dicta . num. i. some observations and experiments made , and in a letter communicated to the publisher , for the r. society . philosophical transactions , n. 10. i shall venture to entertain you at present with a few loose notes , which you will be pleas'd to take in good part , and dispose of them as you think fitting . i. of the efforescence of certain mineral glebes . i keep by me certain big pieces of crude allom-mine , such as it was taken out of the rock . i had also in the same cabinet like peices of the ordinary fire-stone or marcasite of the coal-pits , which here we call brass lumps . in process of time both these glebes shot forth tufts of long and slender fibres or threads ; some of them half an inch long , bended and curled like hairs . in both these glebes , these tufts were in some measure transparnt and crystalline . these tufts did as often repullulate , as they were struck and wiped clean off . herein these fibres differ'd in tast ; the all●minous very allomy and pleasantly pungent ; the vitriolick stiptique and odious . again , the allom-ones , being dissolv'd in fair water , raised a small ebullition ; whereas the vitriolick fibres dissolved quietly . the allom-fibres were generally smaller , and more opaque , snow-like ; the vitriolick larger , many fibres equalling an horse-hair in thickness , and more crystalline . the water , wherein the allom-fibres were dissolv'd did give no red tincture with gall ; not by all the means i could devise to assist them ; whatever hath ( and that with great confidence ) been said to the contrary , by some of the writers of our york-shire spaws : the vitriolick did immediately give a purple tincture with gall. having laid pieces of the same marcasite in a cellar , they were in a few moneths cover'd over with green copperas , which was these fibres shot and perhapps again dissolved by the moist air , clodder'd and run together . exposing other pieces of the same vitriolick glebe in my window , where the sun came , they were cover'd over with a white farinaceous matter , that is , with these fibres calcined by the rays of the sun and warm air , beating upon them . of what figure these fibres were , whether round or angular , i could not well discern . but i take these fibrous and thread-like shootings of allom and vitriol to be most genuine and natural ; and their angular shootings , after solution , into cubes and rhomboides , to be forc't and accidental ; salts of very different natures , as well vegetable as fossile , by a like process in crystallizing of them , being observ'd to shoot into like figures . but this is not my purpose at this time . ii. of an odd figured iris . i have not observ'd any rock or sort of stone , whether metalline or more vulgar , which hath not its different sort of sparr , shot in some part or other of its bed or seams . and these sparrs differ not only in their colours and other accidents , but eminently too in their figure . to pass by divers , which i have collected , i shall describe one of a very curious figure , and which ( though very common in our blew-lime-stone rocks , out of which plently of lead-ore is got , ) yet is not , that i know of , mention'd by any author . these crystals are mostly of a black water , like the black flint in chawk-hills ; but there are of them , which have a purplish or amethystine colour ; and there are as clear as crystal . they adhere to the seams of the rock , be it betwixt bed and bed , or where-ever there are cross and oblique veins through the very substance of the bed . the smaller the veins , the less the iris. you will find of them as small as wheat-corns , and others an hundred times bigger . they shoot from both sides the the seam , and mutually receive one the other . they are figured thus , viz. a column consists of three quin-angular plains , very little rais'd in the middle : these plains too are very unequal . let them hug one another , or be any ways straightned and compressed in their shooting ; yet the number of plains meution'd , both of the column and top , is most certain . the places , where infinite of them may be had , are rainsborough scarr upon the rible ; also in a stone-quarry near eshton tarne in craven . iii. glossopetra tricuspis non-serrata . mr. ray in his travels hath these words concerning the glossopetrae , pag. 115. of the glossopetrae ( saith he ) i have not yet heard , that there have been any found in england ; which i do not a little wonder at , there being sharks frequently taken upon our coasts . i have had out of the isle of shepy in the river of thames , very sharks teeth dug up there ; which could not be said to be petrifi'd ; though , at our first receiving them ; but they were white , and in a short time came to their natural colour . in the stone-quarries in hinderskels-park near malton , i had this stone ( the scheme whereof i send you ; ) the greatest rarity of this kind i ever met with , and which i took out of the rock there my self . it is a fair glossopetra with 3 points , of a black liver-colour , and smooth ; its edges are not serreate ; its basis is ( like the true teeth ) of a rugged substance ; it is carved round , the basis with imbossed work : it hath certain emiuent ridges or lines like rays drawn from the basis to each point . iv. of certain dactili idaei , or the true lapides judaici , for kind found with us . the stones call'd dactili idaei and lapides judaici , are brought over to us from beyond seas in divers shapes ; and some of them are described in authors . we have plenty of them for kind in these parts , as in the stone-qurries at newton near hemsley , and at hellingley by malton . there is some variety in the figure of them here also ; but the most common one in these rocks is after the fashion of a date-stone , round and long , about an inch , and sometime longer . they are a little swelled in the middle , and narrower towards each end : they are channelled the length-way , and upon the ridges knotted or purled all over with small knots , set in a quincunx-order . the inward substance is a white opaque sparr , and breaks smooth like a flint ; not at all hollow in the middle , as are the belemnites : v. of the electrical power of stones in relation to a vegetable rosin . it so hapned , that having occasion in july to view certain fossils , which i had dispos'd of into divers drawers in a cabinet made of barmoudos cedar , i observ'd many of the stones to be thick-cover'd over with a liquid rosin like venice turpentine . examining further , there was not a drawer , wherein there was not some more some fewer stones thus drenched . that this could be no mistake , as from dropping , the bottoms of the drawers are of oak . again , many stones , which were lapped up in papers , were yet wholly infected and cover'd with this rosin . besides , after diligent search there appear'd no manner of exudation in any part of the cabinet . two thing , i thoughts very remarkable : 1. that of the many sorts of stones i therein had , divers escaped , but not any of the haematites-kind ; having therein manganes , scistos , botryides , &c. which were all deeply concern'd . 2. that amongst perhaps 500 pieces , of the astroites here and there one or two in an appartment , and sometimes more , were seised , and the rest dry ; as it fares with people in the time of the plague in one and the same house . i further observed , that stones of a soft and open grain , as well as those of a hard and polish't supeficies , were concern'd in a manner alike . 't is certain , that the whole body of the turpentine of the cedar-wood was carried forth into the air , and floating therein was again condensed into its own proper form upon these stones . this makes it more than probable , that odoriserous bodies emit and spend their very substante . thus camphir is said , if not well secured , totally to fly away . again , it is hence evident , that there is great difference betwixt the distillation of vegetable juyces , and the emission of effluviums or this natural distillation ; that really separating and dividing the substance into different parts ; but this carrying out the whole entirely and un-alter'd in its nature . vi. of the flowers and seed of mushroms . the general received opinion of botanists concerning mushroms is that , which caspar bauhinus in his pinax expresses in these few words , viz. fungi neque plantae , neque radices , neque flores , neque semina sunt ; sed nihil aliud quàm terrae , arborum , lignorum putridorum , aliarumqe , putrilaginum humiditates superfluae . i am of the opinion , that they are plants of their owu kind , and have more than a chance original . we will instance b. the texture of the gills is like a paper prickt full of pin-holes . in august this is very frequent under hedges ▪ and in the middle of the moors in many places of this country . it seems to me ( and , no doubt , it will to any person that shall well examine it , ( that the gills of this mushrom , are the very slower and seeds of this plant. when it is ripe , the gills here are easily seperated from the rest of the head : eech seed is distinct from other , and hath its impression in the head of the mushrom , just as the seeds of an artichoak hath in the bottom of it . the bigger end of the seed is full and round ; and they are disposed in a spiral order just as those of the artichoak . the like we do think of all other mushroms , however differently figured . and if it shall happen to him that shall sow them , that these will not produce their kind , but be steril ; it is no strange thing amongst plants , there being whole genus's of plants that come up , and flower , and seed , and yet their seed was never known to produce plants of their kind , being naturally steril , and a volatil dust , as all the orchides or bee-flowers . we shall not here omit to tell you futher concerning this mushrom , that , when fresh gather'd , it is of a buff-colour inside outside ; and yet , cut through the middle , it will in a moment change from a pale-yellow to a deep purple or blew , and stain linnen accordingly . a drop of the juyce , leisurely squeezed out , will change , holding it betwixt your eye and the light , through all the colours of the rainbow , in the time of its falling , and fix in a purple , as it doth in the springing out of its veins . vii . of the speedy vitrifying of the whole body of antimony by cawk . the several vitrifications of antimony are either opaque or transparent . to the first kind i shall add one , which is in it self very curious , and hath these advantages above the rest , that it is done with great ease and speed ; and by it i have performed some things upon minerals and mettals , which with crude antimony alone i could not effect . take of antimony one pound ; flux it clear : have an ounce or two of the cawk-stone ( by and by to be discribed ) in a lump red-hot in readiness . put it into the crucible to the antimony ; contiune the flux a few minutes ; cast it into a clean and not greased mortar , decanting the melted liquor from the cawk . this process gives us above 15 ounces of vitrum of antimony , like polish't steel , and as bright as the most refined quicksilver . the cawk seems not to be diminish't in its weight , but rather increased ; nor will be brought incorporate with the antimony , though flux't in a strong blast . this cawk-stone is a very odd mineral , and i always looked upon it to be much a kin to the white milky mineral juyces , i formerly sent you a specimen of : and this experiment is demonstrative , that i was not mistaken ; for , the milky juyce of the lead-mines vitrifies the whole body of antimony in like manner . that this vitrification is from the proper nature of cawk , i little doubt ; for , i could never light upon any one mineral substance , which had any such effect upon antimony ; and i have tryed very many lapis calaminars , stone-sulphur ; or sulphur vivum , galactites , sulphur marcasite , allom-glebe , divers sparrs , &c. cawk is a ponderous white stone , found in the lead-mines ; it will draw a white line like chawk or the galactites : and though it be so free yet it is more firm , and hath a smooth and shining grain , sparr-like , yet not at all transparent . of the spirit , it yields by distillation , and the use that may be made of it , for casting of speculums without other mixture , another time . i am , york , novemb. 20. 1674. sir , your , &c. of the astroites , or star-stones jan. 19 1673. sir , you are pleased to tell me , that my notes concerning certain stones figured like plants , found in the mountains of carven , were well received * . this encourages me to give you the trouble of what i have observ'd of the astroites ; which are stones also jointed like the other , but not found , that i know of , in the same rocks . and we must cross the plain country , and seek for them hard under the york-shire woolds : for , what store i could porcure of them , were brought me from bugthorp and leppington . at the fromer place , my self have seen them dugg out of a certain blew clay on the banks a of smal rivulet , betwixt the town and the woolds . there are plenty of them washed into the brook ; but the most fair and solid are those we get out of the clay . i pretend not , to discover to you their original , no more than i did of the entrochi ; but having used some diligence in causing the places , where they are found , to be a little more searched than is usual , i was by that means furnish't with a good quantity of them ; which gave me the opportunity to make the following observations . what light may be hence had , i leave to more judicious persons , acknowledging my self at persent not to be able to demonstrate ( if they are not stones of their own kind , ) what they have been before petrification . it is very little and inconsiderable , what any author , that i have yet seen , hath said of them ; save a very brief description of them in gesner , and the like in wormius ; in the rest , all is transcribed . the matter and substance of these stones , if broken , is flint-like of a dark shining politure ; but much softer , and easily corroded by an acid menstrum . † ( a ) vinegar indeed , makes them creep ; but a stronger spirit , as of niter , tosses them . i doubt not , but they will readily calci●e , as the belemnites , to a very strong and white lime . these stones ( as we now find them ) are all fragments ; as we have noted of the entrochi : either one single joint , or 2 , 3 , or more joints set together , making a pentagonous cylindrical figure or five-sided column . and i have not yet had any piece much above one inch long , which consisted of 18 joints ; but i have seen one piece , somewhat shorter than the former , which had 25 joints . these last thin-jointed pieces are quite of a different make , as to all circumstances , from the other , as will appear . every joint consists of 5 angles , which are either drawn out and sharp , and consquently the sides of these pieces , made up of such joints , are deep-channeled ; ( and this is the condition of some of the thick-jointed pieces , as well as of all the thin-jointed ones ; ) or the angles are blunt and round , and the sides plain or very little hollowed . there are as big , and as smal pieces of this sort , as of any other more sharp-angled ; and therefore i account them a 3d. species of star-stones . and of this sort was , i guess , that piece which wormius describes ; which therefore , he saith , is more like the blown flower of pentaphyllum , than a star. besides , the manner of the engraving of the joints in every one of the 3 respective species is also very different , as will be declared . where the joints are thin or deep , they are so equally throughout the whole piece ; yet there are some , but very few , exceptions to this also , of pieces which consist of joints of the unequal thickness . many of thick-jointed pieces have certain joints a thought broader , or a very litle standing out at the angles , and thereby the joints are distinguish't into certain conjugations of 2 , 3 , or more joints : and these conjugations are very observable in the thin-jointed stones , and are marked out with a sett of wyers ; of which by and by . the thickest piece , which hath yet come to my hands , is not above one inch and a half about , and those very rare too : from which size to that of a smal pin , i have all the intermediat proportions ; and these so exceeding smal pieces are as exactly shaped , as the greatest . most peices , if not all , of any considerable length , are not straight , but visibly bent and inclining . all the pieces of any sort are much of an equal thickness , or but litle tapering ; yet one of the ends , by reason of a top-joint , is visibly the thickest . this top joint hath 5 blunt angles , and is not hatched or engraven , or but very faintly , on the outside . every joint else of a piece ( save the top joint ) is an intaglia , and deedly engraven on both sides alike ; and will accordingly serve for a seal . the middle of each angle is hollow , and the edges of the angles are thick furowed : the terminations of these hatchings are the indented futures , by which the joints are set together ; the ridges of one joint being alternately let into the furrows of the other next it . the hatchings of the flat-sided pieces are in circular lines ; but of the other two species , they are straight lines , or near the matter . in the very center of the 5 angles is a smal hole , conspicuous in most joints . note also , that in the middle of each joint , betwixt angle and angle ; in very future , is another such like smal pin-hole very apparent , if the stones be first well scoured . besides all the former particulars , there may be observ'd , in the deep-jointed pieces , just under the top-joint , above discribed , the vestigia of certain wyers rather than branches ; and sometimes 2 , 3 , or more of the joints of the wyers yet adhering . these wyers are ever five in number , viz. one in the middle or hollow part betwixt angle and angle . again in thin-jointed pieces there are ever five of these wyers , or a sett of them inserted into every conjugation of joints ; so that it were some representation of the thing , to imagine the stalk of asperula or equisetum . also i have seen , but that very rarely , ( not in one peice amongst 500 , ) a sett of wyers in the middle of a deep-jointed piece . one thin-jointed piece i have by me , where a wyer of 20 joints and upwards ( and how much longer they may be , i know not , ) lyes double within the hollow side , and by that accident was preserved in its natural place . further , some lumps of quarry i have from the same place above-nam'd , where the wyers as well as the stones themselves are seen in long pieces . it is no wonder , that these wyers are knocked off , and but very rarely found adhering to the stones they belong to , being very small and slender , of a round figure and smooth-jointed , being sett together per harmoniam and not indented future . nothing that i can think of , is so like these wyers , as the antennae of lobsters . lastly , some of these wyers are knotted , and others of them farely subdivided or branched . i have , by the assistance of mr. lodge , illustrated all these particulars with figures : of which this is the explication ; 1. the top-joint of an astroites , figur'd on both sides ; on the one it is deep engraven , on the other the hatches are scarce visible . also the ends of the 5 angles are very blunt . 2. a second or sharp-angled joint with fair hatchings on both sides . 3. a piece with very narrow and sharp angles . also the top-joint designed , as it naturally appears smooth and without hatchings . 4. a round-angled joint . 5. a flat-sided piece ; where the hatchings are somewhat circular . 6. a thin-jointed piece : where note also , that the angles are much narrower , and of a protracted oval figure . 7. the biggest piece i have yet seen . note also its bending . 8. the smallest piece i have yet met with . 9. the longest piece ; where every 4th joint is a thought bigger or more prominent than the rest ; as in the 7th fig. also is well designed . 10. a large and round-angled or flat-sided piece ; to which belongs that single joint noted fig. 4. 11. a flat or not hollow-sided piece ; of which sort also is the 5th figure : the 10th and 4th not much differing . 12. a thin-jointed piece ; where the conjugations are marked out by the vestigia of the several sets of wyers or branches . 13. a piece where the joints are un-equal in thickness . 14. a piece with some part of the wyers yet adhering in their natural order at the biggest end of the piece . 15. a thin-jointed ; where note on the left side a single wyer accidentally preserved in its natural place , though snapt asunder . 16. a thick-jointed piece with a set of wyrs in the middle of it . 17. a good long piece of a wyer , and a single joint thereof . † ( a ) i have said the same thing above of the entrochi , and it is true of all other stones in small fragments , which vinegar , or a stronger spirit will dissolve : but i neither s●y here nor there ( phi : tran. num. 100 ) that any sort of stone whatsoever will make an ebullition with vinegar , as dr. grew ( musae . r.s. p : 273 ) would have me , and i admire how he could fancy such a thing from my words , which are as plain and fairly limited , as can possiblie be writ : i appeal to the passage . of the vomiting of strange worms , philosophical transactions . numb . 117. a son of mr b. living not far from rippon , about nine years of age , in the month of february ●ast was afflicted with great pain in his stomach , and continual , 〈◊〉 . a powder was given , wherein 〈◊〉 a small quantity of 〈…〉 . he thereupon 〈◊〉 up several strange worms , two of which were brought to me at york , the one dead , the other alive , and which lived many daies after it came to my hands , and might have lived longer , but that i put it into spirit of wine , to preserve in it its true shape . these worms were very catterpillar with fourteen legs , viz. six small pointed , the eight middle stumps , and the thickness of a ducks-quill , thin haired or rather naked , with brown annuli , and a black head . the very same for kind that i have many times seen on plants , and no doubt , these ( as those others ) would in due time ( if the place had not hindered ) have shrunk into chrysalis's , and changed into moths . a letter containing an account of antiquities , &c. philosophical collections . numb . 4. in turning over my papers , i found notes of something i formerly writ to mr. oldenburg , and which i believed was lost ; it being sent much about the time of his death ▪ they relate to certain antiquities , which have , for ought i know , escaped the more curious antiquaries of this and the last age , when that study was much more in credit : but we shall treat of them here only in the relation they may have to the advancement of natural philosophy and arts. 1. roman vrnes are found in very many places throughout the whole kingdom ; but the different workmanship of these vessels , their composition , and places where they made them , have been little that i know of taken notice of by any . i have observed what follows of these matters : here then are found at york , in the road or roman-street without mickle-gate ; and likewise by the river side , where the brick kilns now are , urnes of three different tempers , viz. 1. of a bluish grey colour , having a great quantity of course sand wrought in with the clay . 2. others of the same colour , having either a very fine sand mixt with it full of mica , or catsilver , or made of clay naturally sandy . 3. red urnes of fine clay , with little or no sand in it . these pots are quite throughout of a red colour like fine bole. also many of these red pots are elegantly adorned with figures in basso relievo , and usually the workmans name , which i think others have mistaken [ burtons c. ant. it. p. 183 , 230. ] for the persons name buried therein , upon the bottom or cover ; as januarius and such like ; but that very name i have seen upon several red pots , found both here and at aldborough . after all , these are glazed inside and outside with a kind of varnish of a bright coral colour . the composition of the first sort of pots , did first give me occasion to discover the places where they were made : the one about the midway betwixt wilbersosse and barnbie on the more , six miles from york in the sand-hills , or rising grounds , where now the warren is . the other roman pottery on the sand-hills at santon , not far off brigg in lincolnshire , in the first place i have found widely up and down broken pieces of urnes , slagg , and cinders . at the latter place there are yet remaining , ( though it is a moveable sand , and burried every way by the wind , and has by that means covered the places all over ) some of the very furnaces ; whose ruins i take to be some of those metae or sandy hillocks . besides here are many pieces of pots and urnes of different shapes , and much slagg and cinders ; this potterie having taken up much ground , as to one that shall diligently view the place , it will appear . 't is remarkable , that both the above mentioned potteries are within less than a mile of the roman road , or military-high-way . nothing is remembred in either of those places , of any pottery that was known in those parts , nor indeed could i learn where any good clay for that purpose was to be had near those sands : which yet our modern potteries chiefly seek after , which has made them to be forgotten and disused ; the materials of our modern pots being much altered , and consequently the places . the roman urns above discribed differ in these particulars , from what pots are now usually made amongst us . ( 1 ) that they are without all manner of glazing with lead , which perhaps is a modern invention . ( 2. ) that a far greater quantity of sand is used than clay , which thing alone made it worth their while , to bring their clay to the sand-hills . ( 3 ) that they were baked either with more leisure after long and through drying , or immoderate contact of the flames : which i am induced to believe , because there seem to be fragments of such things to be found . 't is certain the natural colour of the clay is not altered by burning : so that both the degrees of heat and manner of burning might be different . and one of these potsherds as i have tried , baked over again in our ovens , will become red . as to the two last kind of urns , its likely the first of them with their particles of mica in it , were made of a sandy blue clay , of which nature there is good plenty among the western mountains of yorkshire , and particularly at carleton in oatley parish not far off ickley a roman station . the red urns seem to have been their master-piece , wherein they shewed the greatest art , and seemed to glory most , and to eternize their names on them . i have seen great varieties of embossed work on them . and lastly for the elegant manner of glazing , it is far ●eater indeed , and more durable than our modern way of leading , which is apt to crack and crase , both with wet and heat : and at the fire is certainly unwholsome , by reason of the fumes lead usually emits , being a quick vaporable metal . this ancient glazing seems to have been done by the brush , or dipping ; for both inside as well as outside of the urn are glazed , and that before the baking . and something of the materials of it seems to be remembred by pliny lib. 36. c. 19. fictilia ex bitumine inscripta non delentur . the painting of pots with bitumen is indelible . and again , tingi solidas exbi●umine statuas . lib. 35. c. 15. the bitumen he sayes sinks into the very stones and pots , which is something more tha● glazing . the great plenty of these urns found in many parts of england seems to argue them also of english manufacture , but where i cannot guess , unless wrought at the bole mines ( of which clay alone they seem to be made ) in cleveland ; for that that barren tract of land , called blackmoor , was well known to the romans , the jet rings taken up withthese vrns doth sufficiently testifie . now bole and jet are no where that i know of to be found with us in england but in that tract ; beings fossils peculiar to those mountains . of these jet rings some are plain , and others wrought , but all of them of an extraordinary bigness , being at least three inches diameter , and yet the inward bore is not above an inch and an half , which makes them too little for the wrists of any man , as they are much too big for the fingers , so that probably they were never worn either as armilla or anuli . one of each sort i have by me , which i carefully redeemed of the workman , besides many others which were broken , found about a sort of urns in york fields . and since we are upon the subject of plasticks , or the roman clay-work , we cannot but take notice of the opinion of cambden ; who will have the obelisks at burrow-briggs in this county artificial , when in truth they are nothing less , being made of a course rag , or milstone-grit ; but without doubt , the bigness of the stone surprized him , either not thinking them portable , or perhaps not any english rock , fit to yield natural stones of that magnitude : but roman monuments i suppose none doubt them , because pitched here by a very remarkable and known roman station , isurium . also two roman alters i have seen of this stone ; one the original of that at ickley mentioned in cambden ; another in the possession of that ingenious antiquary mr. thirsby late of leeds . and this i think sufficient to disprove that mistake of cambden , that the stones at burrow-briggs are artificial . there is but one only instance that i ever yet met with of the romans ever having used in these parts of england any other sort of stone ; yet is it not the common lime stone , but a certain stone had from the quarries about malton , because of the lapides judaici , by me formerly described to be seen in the texture of it . it is small but elegant alter with figures in basso relievo , of sacrificing instruments , &c. it has suffered an unlucky accident by the stupid ignorance of the masons , who were ordered by the late lord fairfax to place it upon a pedestal in the court of his house at york . yet the inscription which they had miserably defaced , was by chance preserved . i. o. m. dis . deabus que hospitalibus . pe natibus que ob conservatam salvtem suam . suorvm que p. ael . marcian us . praef . coh aram. sac . f. nc . d. an account of a monstrous animal cast out of the stomach by vomit ; phi : coll. num. 6. sir , i send you ( here inclosed ) the true and exact shape of a worm , which a man vomited up here the last week . i found it my self in the blood , which came up with it , having caused it to be washt for the more careful examination of it , much of the blood , being clods of a kind of skinny and fleshy substance , haud alitèr , quàm in mulierum molis excernendis accidere solet . of this kind of blood there was about two pound weight saved in the washing , and this odd animal amongst it ; which was easily discovered by me , being of a dark green colour like a horse-leech , and spotted not unlike some of them . i could perceive ( when i fouud it ) no life or motion it had ; the girle that washed the blood having almost beaten off a finn , and part of one of the forks of the tail ; and burst the belly of it ; yet it was curiously and regularly shaped in all its members , as is fully exprest by the pains of a most excellent artist , who limmed it by the thing it self , not two hours after i had it under my eye , that nothing might be added , but what was very true and natural . the spirit of wine in which i put it , has altogether changed it as to its colour : but yet it still remains perfect enough to satisfie any curious person . this honest man , a baker , imagined he drank it the last summer in pond water ; of which he was used to drink after sore labour in his calling . this is certain , he had about his stomach and right side a most exquisite and tormenting pain , for at least four months last past ; which many times threw him into horrours and chillness , ague-like ; and indeed when he vomited this up , he was the sickest-man i ever saw not to dye : he also voided blood by stool several dayes also , and now i do believe , he will recover , although his pains are not wholly ceased . to say what this creature is , i dare scarce venture . you know how long i have made it my diversion to search into the nature of in●ects , and it is no small progress i have made therein , yet i am at a loss where to place this animal ; for that it is not like any thing i ever yet saw in nature : however it makes me give more credit than i did to several stories of a like nature which we frequently meet with in medical history , and those recorded as very truths by sober , learned and industrious persons . but though i now believe there was much truth in most of them , yet i fear little care was taken to describe exactly the animals , otherwise than by memory , either in respect of the words or painting , which has gone a great way in rendring all such stories useless and and ridiculous . this animal was about four inches long , and in the thickest place three inches about ; it had three finns of a side , all near the head , and the upper pair most exactly and elegantly figured , as is described ; all these finns were thick and fleshy : but the forked tail was finny and transparent , and to be extended ; it was placed horizontally , not as that of most , ( if not all ) small fish , and even neuts and tadpoles or froggs in disguise , in which particular it differs from them all , as well as in the fleshiness of the finns . besides this odd animal i found the head of another of a different shape , as is exprest ; but of a dark green colour also as the other : the body of it had not been lost , or this other so ill treated , if i had expected to have found , what we never looked for . but what shall we say this monster was ? give me leave to speak my mind without prejudice , and with submission to the better sentiments of the honourable and learned society : i am apt to think ( and i believe few will deny it me ) that we often drink and eat what is alive ; and it is certain some things will live on in our stomacks in despight of concoction ; not to instance in the many sorts of gut-worms natural to us , and which are bred with us , perhaps in some children even before they are born ; these worms i say , do freely wander up and down the guts and stomach at pleasure , and receive no prejudice from the concoctive faculty of them : and for this reason we see insectivorous birds so solicitous to kill worms and all other sorts of insects , by drawing them again and again through their bills as canes through a sugar-mill , that they may be verliy dead before they swallowed them , and instinct is the great wisdom of undebauched nature : again , admirable instances there are of animals living within animals ; of which in the insect kind , the royal society shall ere long receive some notes of mine upon godartius . and yet i am of the mind that what was accidentally swallowed by us alive , and that shall have the power to live on within us , ( especially if it shall be young and tender , and yet growing ) may have its designed form and shape monstrously perverted , so as to appear to us quite another thing than naturally and really it is ; and this i take to be the case of this odd creature , the present subject of our discourse : and so this might have been the spawn or embryo of a toad or neut . but we must also account for the much fleshy substance or shinny lumps of blood vomited up with it , which i think easily intelligible thus ; that that spawn or embryo of a toad or neut might well venome the stomach or gut , in which part soever or wrinkle thereof it chanced first to rest or stick , and cause an inflammation there , and so have it self swelled aud closed up within a tumour of its own making , which in process of time might gather to this bigness , and at length burst in pieces and come up together . familiar and infinite instances of this nature , we see in by-fruits or wens which insects raise upon vegetables ; which by natural instinct know how to invenome a plant , and so compondiously to provide both food and housing for their young . york , march 1681. an account of a roman monument found in the bishoprick of durham , and of some roman antiquities at york , phil. tran. n. 145. i have with much trouble got into my hands a piece of roman antiquity , which was but a very few years ago discovered upon the south bank of the river tine , near the sheilds in bishoprick . it is a very large and fair roman alter of one entire stone . but after all my cost and pains , i am sorry to find the inscription very ill defaced , that much of it is not legible . and i believe it hath been mis-handled by those who endeavoured to read it ; whereas if the remainder of the letters had been exactly measured , and the face blackt and lightly washt off again , as in prints , some things more might have been spelled . as to the nature of the stone it self , it is of a course rag , the same of that with that of the pyramids at burrow-briggs . it is 4 foot high , and was ascended to by steps , which appeareth , in that all the sides , but the front , have two square holes neare the bottome , which let-in the irons that joyn'd it to the steps . i have carefully described it in all it's sides , and have given the plane of the top also ; which if you please we will survey in order . 1. the back-side , opposite to the inscription ; on which is ingraven in basse-reliefe , a flower pot furnished , i suppose with what pleased the stone-cutter , for these men need not to be more curious than the priests themselves , who were wont to make use of the herbs next hand to adorne the alters . and therefore verbenae is put for any kind of herb. yet if we will have it resemble any thing with us , i think it is most like , if not truly nymphaea , a known and common river plant. 2. one of the sides , which is somewhat narrower than the front or back : on this are engraved in bass-relieve , the cutting-knife ( cesespita ) and the ax ( securis ) . the knife is exactly the same with that on the other alter formerly by me mentioned in the philosophical collections of mr. hook ; but the ax is different ; for here it is headed with a long and crooked point , and there the head of the ax is divided into 3 points . 3. the other side ; on which are engraved after the same manner an eure ( vrceolus ) and a ladle , which serve for a sympullum . this i call rather a ladle , than a mallet , it being perfectly dish-wise and hollow in the middle , altho camden is of an other opinion in that elegant sculpt of the cumberland alter , and the very same utensil i have seen and noted on the ickley altar , which is yet extant at middleton grange near that town ; but the stone which cambden saies supports a pair of stairs there ( as at this day it does in the very road ) is but an ill copy of it , and not the original . 4. the plane of the top ; which is cut in the figure of a bason ( discus or lanx , ) with ansae on each side , consisting of a pair of links of a chain , which rest upon , and fall over two rowles ; and this was the harth . 5. the front ; which hath an inscription of nine lines in roman letters , each letter a very little more than two inches deep of our measure ; now remaining as in the prefixt sculpture , fig. 5. which i would read thus , dis deabusque matribus pro salute m. aurelii antonini augusti imperatoris — votum solvit lubens meritò ob reditum . the deae matres are well interpretted by selden . it is much his safety and return both vowed , should be so seperated in the inscription ; but i have not gr●er by me to compare this with the like . caracalla say the historians * after his fathers death at york , took upon him the command of the army alone , and the whole empire ; he went alone against the enemie , who were the caledonij inhabiting beyond the wall , which his father had built , he made peace with them , received their hostages , slighted their fortified places , and returned . and this seems to be confirmed by the inscription ; for undoubtedly upon this his last expedition of him alone , without his brother geta and mother , was this altar erected to him alone , at a place about two stations on this side the wall. so that the vow might be as well understood of his return from this expedition , as for his safetie and return to rome ; which mi-thinks should be true , or his mother and brother geta would scarce have been left out , at least so early . for yet the army declared for them both , according to their fathers will. further , it seems also to have been erected by those who flatter'd him , and who were afterwards killed by him ; and for this reason the persons names , who dedicated it , seem to me to be purposely defaced , the 6 and 7th lines of the inscription being designedly cut away by the hollowness of them , and there not being the least sign of any letter remaining , and this i suppose might be part of their disgrace , as it was usual to deface and break the statutes and monuments of persons executed , of which this monster made strange havoc . but since worn inscriptions admit of various readings , because some letters are worn out , and some more legible , whereby not prejudiced people may conceive them diversly , i will therefore tell you an other reading of part of the two first lines , which i do not disallow , but that it will agree well enough with the history of severus , tho his apotheosis , or solemn deification , was not performed till he came to rome , in the manner of which funeral pomp herodian is very large ; it was of that excellent antiquarie dr. johnson of pomfret conservato ri. b. pros &c. the rest as follows in mine , which shews the hight of flattery of those times . so that they paid their vowes to the lately dead father the conservator of britain , for the safety of the son ; and the story tells us how gladly he would have had him made a god long before , even with his own hand . i think it not amiss , if i give you the rest of my observations concerning these matters , which i have met with in this city . 1. a large pedestal of the same sort of stone , found deep in the ground , on the west side of the river , which by the stone , and its mouldings , was undoubtedly roman , and must have been for a pillar in some large building . 2. a broken inscription in the church-wall in all-saints north-street , with the figure of a naked woman in bass-relieve on the left side of it . the letters ( as many of them as remain ) are exceeding fairly cut , beyond any thing i have yet seen of roman antiquities in england , and the stone of a finer grain than ordinary . it is a monument of conjugal affection . --- -- ae ❧ an - s ❧ sec ❧ -- ene - i ❧ a o - co vgi the first stroak is the out-side of a great m , and is part of the dis manibus . the three last lines may be read thus , benè merenti antonio conjugi : yet it is hard to say , whether it was for the husband or wife , for it may be read antoniae . the points also betwixt the words are here very singular , but this was the caprice of the stone-cutter , who sometimes also use a leaf , hanging or erect , a hand , a feather , or such odd fancy for points . 2. a relation of a man biten with a mad dog , and dying of the disease called hydrophobia : philosophical trausactions . n. 147. i have formerly entertained the r. s. with odd cases in phisick ; as the stone cut from under the tongue of a man ; of lumbrici teretes found in the ancle of a child ; of a monsterous worm vomited , &c. and i therefore think by the kind acceptance of those , this i am about to relate of a man bit with a mad dog , and dying of the disease called hydraphobia , will be wellcome . it is by gods providence that it is a rare case , for gallen calls it omnium morborum pessimus : and since it is in that great physitians opinion the worst of diseases , it is an extraordinary blessing to mankind that it happens so rarely ; especially if we consider how infinitly fond we are of so poisonous a creature , and what vast numbrs we keep out of meer wantonness and pleasure more then any real use or service they can do us . james corton , a very strong and well built youg man , was bit with a mad dog in the right hand , the wound heal'd of it self , and the thing was forgotten by himself and wife ; but as he said ( after the disease of aquae pauor had seiz'd him , and that it was given him by me as a reason of his not drinking ) he told his wife he wondred why the dog , which used to be so familiar mith him , should then bite him . but this was all forgot ; and after about five or six weeks he complains of pain all over his bones , but especially his back and round about his stomack , looks very pale , hollow eyed , &c. the third day after this complaint , viz , sunday in the evening march 11 th . 1682 , he called for burnt brandy , drank it , went to bed , and vomited it up ; after this he had a restless night , and in the morning found himself very ill , with a strange rising in his stomack , and though no thirst , yet an impotence to drink , and even to swallow his spittle , which was death to him as he often said . diascordium and a bottle of cordial water was brought to him by an apothecary that morning , the diascordium he took , but was not able to drink of the cordial one spooufull . this on munday morning ; about one a clock that day i first saw him , and found him upon this bed , his pulse very slow , and sometimes unequal , but not unless frighted from the rising of his stomack ; his flesh cold , his tongue not dry , but flexable and moist , a little white . i caused him to rise off the bed , and set him full in the light ; and then because he mightily complained of i know not what sickness about his stomack , i offered him of the cordial , but he started , and trembled at the approch of it . this i exceedingly admired , whereof i called for a glass of wine or water , and a tumbler of water was brovght me up , which i gave him to drink ; but he vehemently startled at it , and his stomack swell'd and rise , after i knew not what odd and strange manner ; and i could then find his pulse very trembling and disturbed . i still urged him to drink ; but as i put it forwards to his mouth , he the more affrighted drew back his head , and sighed , and eyed it with a most gashly look , not without screeking and noise . this i most mightily admired , and was at a great loss what should be the cause of this strange symtom , when at length it providentially came into my minde , that this was aquae pavor ; and then i tryed him again and again to drink ; and found him more disordered at the sight , especially at the drink . wherefore i ask't his mother in law and the maid , who stood about him , where the wound was he last had had ; at which question they seemed concerned , and replyed , they wondred what i meant . i then told them he had been bitten by a dog ; it is true ( he said all in a fright , ) i was bit by such a neighbour's dog , about five or six weeks ago , here in my hand , but it has been long well . i then bid him lye down , and so left him , calling his wife and mother and friends to me below stares , and telling them that he would certainly dye , that there was but small hopes of his recovery , it being too late ; that none should be suffered to go to him but keepers , some strong man or two , &c. i forthwith ordred a vein to be opened in the arm which was bit , caused the wound to be scarified and drawn with vesicatories , and the same plaister to be applyed unto the neck and leggs and the inside of the arms ; i ordered the usual and famed antidotes to be given him as of theriaca , cinis cancorum , ruta , agaricus , &c. in bolus's . for it is to be noted , that solid things in a spoon he could take , but yet not without much trembling , and fear , and caution , and an earnest request that no body would suddenly offer them to him , but give them into his hand gently ; and then he would by degrees steal his hand softly towards his mouth , and of a suddain chop the spoon in and swallow what was in it , velut canis ad offam ; and this he did more greedily and readily then any other man could do . of these antidotes in bolus he took a dram every hour , and alwayes in this manner , for at least a dozen times taking ; and every like drink was profferred him in the night , but he could not see it without horrour , and the same motions from his stomack . nay he did affirm that as oft as he by chance swallowed any spittle it went to his heart , even as tho he should dy that very moment . this night passed wholy without any sleep or rest . tuesday morning i viewed his blood , which was both to the serum and cake well coloured , and in such proportion as is usual in healthful persons , and of good consistance . he had now a violent feavour upon him , and a very quick pulse . water was offered him by my order , but in vaine ; he begging he might dye unmolested , nothing being such a terror to him as the approach of any drink ; and that none might come suddenly upon him , or offer him any thing more , for all things frighted him ; and that he found he must shortly dye , for that his heart began to faile him ; and indeed he look'd exceeding pale and hollow and thin visag'd . i then with much difficulty perswaded him to cast himself cross the bed upon his belly ( for he had his cloaths loosely about him ) hanging his head over the other side ; perswading my self that this posture might be advantagious to his drinking , since that in the erect posture of a man he could not so much as endure the approach of liquor . in this posture then of a dog , he suffered a large bowl filled with small beer to be brought under his head , and imbracing it with raptures of joy , he declared he was infinitely refreshed with the smell of it ; that he now saw it with delight , and assured us he should be able soon to drink it all off . and he that now thought himself a dying man talked pleasantly , and said many passionate things to his brother , wife , &c. wonderfully extolling this invention , and thanking me for it . he endeavoured with great earnestness to put down his head to it , but could not ; his stomack rise as often as he opened his lips ; at length he put out his tongue and made towards it as tho he would lap ; but ever as his tongue never so little touched the surface of the beer , he started back affrighted . and yet all this while was pleased with the thoughts of drinking ; and would not suffer the maid servant to take it away from nuder his head ; and if she did a little withdraw it , he said he followed it by the smell with delight , snuffing with his nostrils . after a long time being mightily foiled , he alleadged that the faint smell of the small beer hindered him from drinking , and therefore desired a bowl of ale ; which was brought him ; but after much striving , and exerting his tongue a thousand times , he could not drink of it ; and lapping with great affrights , as oft as his tongue touched it he started back with his head , bringing it down again gently to the bowl a hundred times , but all in vain . and in this posture , what upon his belly and what upon his hands and knees , he kept himself at least an hour thus tantilizing himself ; but it was not in his power to drink . we than gave him a quill which consisted of two or three joints , the one end in his mouth and the other in the liquor ; but he could not manage it , nor suck no more than a dog. i perswaded him to give all over and lye down ; which he did ; and not long after my going away , he fell into a convulsion fit , bit and snarl'd and catch'd at every body , and foamed at the mouth . after this was over he took an elleborism in a bolus , which was taken like the rest , and very willingly by him ; it wrought about 3 or 4 times very plentifully , and he declared himself wonderfully at ease by it ; but yet now and then fell convulsed , and then always insensible . after four hours i returned to him again , and found the minister with him ; he talked very sensibly to him , prayed very earnestly with him , saying the prayers after him , and desired the sacrament , which in these cirumstances could not be given . he was again solicited to drink , and he now readily enough put himself into the former posture , and with as much earnestness as ever used all the little shifts to drink , while the bowl was under his head ; but all in vain . he had a little silver tumbler fill'd with drink put into his hands , which suddainly , when he had as it were stolen it near his mouth , he would have thrown it into his throat , as he did the bolus's , but it hit against his teeth & fell into the bowl . i cannot say he ever went to stool or made water all this time , and therefore had a glyster given him ; but upon parting with it , which he did immediatly almost as soon as given , he died convulsed : but his not making water , as well as a troublesome priapisme which he complained of , when upon his knees , might proceed from the blistering plaisters , as well as from his disease . that nothing may be omitted which relates to this case ; the day after his interment i accidentlly met with his cozen mrs. s. who told me that her daughter was in fear , for just that very day fornight before his death she had been at his house , and he would go home with her to her mothers ; that she remembred his hand trembled and his body shake'd , that he was in a cold sweat , and in a great disorder , so that she asked him what he ail'd : he told her , that after his work ( for he was an upholster ) it had been of late usual with him : and which was remarkable the very dog which bit him came at that time along with him to her mothers house ; and was alive and well at the mans death . to this we add that mr. widdow a mercer doth affirm , that about the very time that mr. corton was thought to be bit with suttons dog , a black dog , which he verily believes to be the same , came and bit a whelp of his in his shop . the next day the whelp ran mad up and down the house , and bit both him and the maid ; him in the hand , and the maid in the leg , and dyed that very day . about a month after he was bit he found himself not well , and was troubled with a pain at his heart , and had a fearfulness and trembling upon him , and got no rest for three nights , upon which he had had himself blooded , and found himself better ; his maid doth not yet complain of any harm . thus far for matter of fact , delivered with care in all circumstances that came to my knowledge . it is very hard to give a probable reason of this aquae pavor : what galen ( de theriaca ) says of their much coveting water , because of the intollerable thirst upon them , agrees not with our case . for this man was neither thirsty nor distracted , as he would have them ; he was all the time in his witts , did very well consider , and rationally discourse of the thing , and exceedingly admired at the impossibility of his drinking : was well satisfied with the minister who told him of his incapacity of the receiving the cup in the sacrament ; and did often say he was not thirsty , which appeared by the moisture and flexibility of his tongue , ( even after his taking many hot and piperate antidotes , ) for this was by me even to the last carefully viewed . besides , those who are very thirsty , and distracted in the most violent feavers , do not only drink readily enough without dread ; but on the contrary have an exceeding greedy appetite to it . nor can i well understand what julius palmarius ( de morbis contagiosis ) means by the third paroxism of an hydrophobia , before which he would have his never failing antidote to be given , which our dispensatory calls pulvis antilissus ; i suspect he took the disease , as he ownes he did the medicine , upon trust ; indeed it seems to me not to have many things in it of the nature of antidotes . this our man certainly had the disease of aquae pavor upon him continually from the first moment to his death , which was near 48 hours without any intermission ; for as oft as drink was shewed him , or he swallowed his own spittle , his disturbance was most grievous and terrible . dioscorides in this ( as in all things else he treats of ) is most sober , and to be credited ; quidam , qui jam aquae metum sentirent , sumpto helleboro , simul ac primum morbi impetum experirentur , sanati sunt : nam & jam vitio tentatos nemo unquam servare potest . this very well agrees with out case ; the latter person who had a sense of the evil , had it prevented by bleeding ; but our man which had the evil ; that is the aquae pavor upon him , not bleeding , or the most famed antidotes , or even hellebore could in the least save , tho not very untimely given him . the case indeed rarely occurs , and therefore cannot well be observed in all due circumstances in order to its clearer understanding , and consequently cure ; we shall venter however to lay down some few things to salve it by . first , that j. corton had some of the organic parts of his body transformed into , or affected after the nature of a dog , especially the gula , tongue so that what was offer'd to him in the erect posture of a man was very frightful , as well as difficult for him to take , because against his new nature , as much as it would be for us to get a dog to drink standing upon his hinder legs . but yet this is not all , for when he was turned upon his belly , and would have acted the dog , he yet could not drink ; and tho' he frequently put out his tongue and lapt , yet he could not endure to take any thing into his mouth of liquor , as tho something had hindred him within . therefore we may imagine he was also convulsed in those parts , or swelled : but this we cannot grant , for the contrary does plainly appear , because he could cast any thing into his mouth and swallow it ; as he did very many times stif bolus's , more nimbly , as to the swallow , then any man reasonably could be supposed to do , that was so weakened : for i saw no difference betwixt those he swallowed an hour or two before his death , and the very first he took . secondly , that his spittle was envenomed ; for as oft as he swallowed it , ( his stomack vehemently abhorring it ) it went to his heart ( as we say ) , and was even present death to him ; and so liquid things coming nearer to the consistance of spittle might the rather movere salivam , and therefore gave him a greater terror and difficulty to swallow , then solid things . and that his spittle chiefly was infected with the venome of the dog , seems also . 1. because the dog bit him , whose spittle alone to be venomous to the touch a there are many credible instances in medical history . 2. he was most like a dog in the mouth , viz. where are the proper organs of the saliva . 3. the bite of a man so bitten is alike in●●ctions ; but otherwise innocent . but it may be askt how comes it to infect his spittle , and not other humors and the blood . i answer , the blood in part was undoubtedly affected , as the symptoms arising before the aquae pavor ( which yet is the onely true pathogmonick ●f the disease ) demonstrate . again the blood is not one liquor ( as is generally thought ) , but many distinct liquors circulated together in one set of common vessels ; and so it might infect that liquor , which it was most a kin to , as the saliva of a dog to the saliva of a man. concerning the truth of that proposition , i have formerly writ some things to you ; and more i intend to entertain you with ; you will excuse me at present if i do not think it convenient to anticipate my papers . york , march 26. 1683. an account of part of a wall , built in the romans time. i carefully viewing the antiquities of york , and particularly what might relate to the roman empire ; of which this place had been a seat , and the dwelling of at the least two of the emperors , severus and constantine , i found a part of a wall , yet standing , which is undoutedly of that time ; it is the south wall of the mint-yard , being formerly an hospitall of s t. lowrance , looking towards the river ; it consists of a multangular tower , which did lead to bootham-bar , and about — yards of wall , which ran the length of conning-street : as he who shall attentively view it on both sides may discerne . but the outside towards the river is most worth taking notice of , it is faced with a very small saxum quadratum of about four inches thick , and laid in levells like our moderne brick-work : this sort of building vitruvius ( lib. 2. cap. 9. ) calls after the greekes , iso domum , cum omnia coria aequá crassitudine fuerint , structa ; but the length of the stones is not observed , but are as they fell out in hewing ; from the foundation twenty courses of this small squared stone are layd ; and over them five courses of roman bricks ; these bricks some of them are layed length-waies , and some end-waies in the wall ; and were called lateres diatoni . after these five courses of bricks , other twenty two courses of small square stones , as before described , are laid , which raise the wall 3 foot higher ; and then five more courses of the same roman brick are over laide ; beyond which the wall is imperfect and capt with modern building . note that in all this height there is no casement or loopehole , but one intire and uniforme wall ; from which we guess the wall to have been built some courses higher after the same order . the reason of this order of brick-worke intermixt with stone the same vitruius gives , and in this particular the romans after his time , and upon his admonition , and recommendation , in all probability , did imitate the greeks . longitudines coriorum ( saies he ) alternis coagmentis in crassitudinem instruentes , and a little further ; inter ponunt singulos perpetua crassitudine utraque parte frontatos ( latcres ) quos diatonos appellant , qui maximè religando confirmant parietum soliditatem ; these bricks were to be as throughs , or as it were so many new foundations to that which was to be superstructed ; and to bind the two sides together firmly ; for the wall it self is only faced with small square stones ; and the middle thereof filled with morter and pebles ; frentibus serviunt ( saith the same author ) & medio farciunt ; which vitruvius discomends in the romans of his time ; and therefore the later romans ( the builders of our wall ) did , as i said , correct this errour , and the greeks . and least it should seem strange , that bricks should give a firmness to stone buildings , the same vitruvius testifies , and therefore commends brick building before stone ( our men indeed , for wholesomeness , which also is true , and to be much considered in a cold and moist climate ) even for the duration ; and therefore in rome abatement was ever made for the use of sone building , none for that of brick , provide it kept its level and stood upright upon its foundation ; and therefore to excuse it he at large gives a relation why the romans , suffered not brick buildings to be made within the city of rome ; as a thing not of choice , but necessity . those brick buildings being certainly in that great architects opinion to be preferred , the law ( sayes he ) suffers not a wall to be made to the street ward ( for so give me leave to interpret communi loco ) above a foot and a halfe thick , and partition walls the same , least they should take up too much rome . now brick walls of a foot and a halfe thick , ( unless they were diplinthij , or triplinthij ) , cannot bear up above one story ; but in so vast and majestic a city ( as old rome ) there ought to be innumerable habitations ; therefore when a plain area , or building of one story could not receive such a multitude to dwell in the city , therefore the thing it self did compell them to it , that the houses might be raised higher , and therefore they had strange contrivances of out jetting , and over hanging stories , and belconies , &c. which reasons if rightly considered are great mistakes ; our men at this day have taught the world better things ; and have demonstrated that a firm building may be raised to many stories heighth upon a foot and a half thick wall . the oversight of the romans was the vast bigness of their bricks ; for the lesser the brick the firmer the worke , there being much greater firmness in a multitude of angles , as must be produced by small brick , then in a right line ; and this is the reason of the strength of butresses , and mult-angular towers , &c. these bricks are about 17 inches of our measure long and about 11 inches broad , and two inches and a half thick . this , ( hauing caused severall of them to be carefully measured ) i give in round numbers , and do find them very well to agree with the notion of the roman foot , which the learned antiquary greaves has left us , viz. of its being of halfe an inch less then ours ; they seem to have shrunk in the baking more in the bredth then in the length ; which is but reasonable , because of its easier yeelding that way ; and so , for the same reason , more in the thickness , for we suppose them to have been designed in the mould for three roman inches . now that this was properly the roman brick , we have the testimony of vitruvius , and pliny : of vitruvius , " fiunt laterum tria genera ; unum quod grece didoron appellatur , quo nostri utuntur , &c. " and of pliny ; " genera eorum tria didoron , quo vtimur longum sesquipede , latum pede ; " but we are to note , that the coppy of vitruvius , where it describes the measure of the didoron is vicious . and is to be corrected by pliny ; and had not vitruvius's commentatour been more a friend to his author , than to truth , he had not perswaded the contrary ; for the bricks themselves do demonstrate at this day plinie's measures to be right and not that of vitruvius , as they are extant : which makes me much wonder at the confidence of daniel barbarus affirming the bricks , now to be found are all according to vitruvius and not plinte's measures ; for all that i have yet seen with us in england , are of plinie's measures ; as at leister in the rome ruine there , called the jews walls ; at s t. albons , as i remember ; and here with us at york . and to goe no farther for arguments , than that chap. of vitruvius , the diplinthij parietes in rome were against law , and the single brick-wall was only allowed as standards ; viz. a foot and a halfe thick wall , or one roman brick a length , as was above noted . pliny , lived some time after vitruvius , and being a professed transcriber , and , as it appears from this very place , having taken the whole business of brick verbatim out of him and not differing in any one thing in the whole chapter , but in this ; viz. in the measure of the didoron ; and the bricks demonstrating the truth of that differance , it is but reasonable we should make vitru●ius's longum pede , latum semipede , a fault of vitruvius's coppiers . i shall conclude this differance with this remark : that proportion and a plaine uniformitie , even in the minutest parts of building , is to be observed , as this miseserable ruin of roman workman-ship shews : in our gothic buildings there is a totall neglect of the measure and proportion of the courses , as tho that was not much materiall to the beauty of the whole , whereas , indeed , in natures works , it is from the symmetrie of the very graine , whence ariseth much of the beauty of the thing . indeed , if i was never to come nearer a building , and to view it alwayes at such a distance , this might be excused as to me ; and so in artificiall things , as in pictures , and carvings to be seen on high : but yet in my opinion 't is but an excuse of laziness to tell me such and such rude dashes will have a marvelous effect at a distance ; as though things painted or carved to addorn our comparatively low roomes were distanced . and this noble art , in my opinion , has of late in nothing suffered so much with us as in admitting of this vile ( not to say impudent ) excuse , whereas indeed , what is well done and most exactly finished in the most minute parts of a thing painted ? i am sure if it pleaseth me near the eye , it will never displease me at a distance . 25 cochlea terrestris turbinata et striata fab col. 14. buccinum exiguum fasciatum et radiatum . gall nar . aldernensi insula . a. wallia floid . 39 buccinum exiguum pullum duodecim orbium . 46. cochlea cinereo rufescens fasciata leuiter umbilicata . pomatia gesneri cochlen pomatia , edulis gesneri . 47 cochlea hortensis nostra , fusca , maculata , et fasciata . 43 cochlea maculala , unica fascia fusca , per medium orbem insignita . 54. cochlea interdum unicolor , interdum uariegata , item uarijs fascijs depicta . 68. cochlea nostras umbilicata pulla . 78. cochlea compressa , umbilicata , fasciata compestris . 79. cochlea subfusca umbilicata , clauicula modicè producta . a a gall. nar. 56. cochlea alba leuiter umbilicata pluribus fascis circumdata , clauicula productiore . hisp gall. narb . cochleae nudae terrestres limaces quibusdam dicta ' . 101. limax paruus , cineteus 102. limax ater , 103. limax subrufus . 104. limax uanegatus , siue fascialus , cellarius . limax , succini colore , albidis maculis insignitus . 26. cochlea vivipara fasciata . fluviatilis . 32. cochlea papua , pellucida , operculo testacco ; cochleatoque clausa . an idem cum 21. 21. buccinum subflauum , pellucidum , sex orbium , clauicula admodum tenui , productiore . 22. buccinum subflauum pellucidum quatuor orbium , ore amplisimo mucrone acuto . 23. buccinum subflauum , pellucidum , trium orbium purpurae lacustres coccum fundentes . 41 cochlea pulla quatuor orbium . 42. cochlea fusca limbo circum scripta . 43. cochlea exigua , quinque orbium . 38. nerites fluviatilis è. coeruleo uirescens , maculalus , operculo subcroceo aculeatoque donatus . 39 patella fluviatilis , exigua subflaua , uertice mueronato inflexoque . sectio . 1. musculis ●luviatilibus . cardine dentato . à danubio 1. musculus ex slauo uiridescens medio dorso leuiter radiaius , admodum crassus . musculus fluviatilis è fluvio tamesi ad battersey . an uitium 2. 2. musculus angustior● ▪ ex flauo uiridescens medio dorso leuiter radiatus cardinis pinna siue denticulo birido . 3. musculus angustus . subflauus siue cirriaus . 4. musculus niger omnium longè crassissimus . conchae longae species gesn . aldrou . ● . musculus latus maxims et tenuissimtus è coeruleo iuridescens , ferè palustri : sectio . 2. de musculis cardine laevi 8. musculus tenuis minor subfuscus , latiusculus . 14. pectunculus subiuridis par●●●s . subglobosus . 15 pectunculus perpusillus , rostratus . virgin sectio . 1. cap 1 de pectinibus . exutraque parte aequaliter auritis , striatis . anglie 1. pecten magnus , albidus , circiter duodeoem strijs . multis minut i●que incienris exasperalis donatus . 9. pecten minor ex croco uariegatus asper et fere sinuosus et inequalis leuiter et admodum crebrò steiatus . 17. pecten sub●ufus strijs uiginti quatuor ad minimum donatus . 18. ●●em cum superiore 〈◊〉 17 23. pecten paruus ex croco uariegatus , tenuiter ad●modum striatue alteris ferè strys paulo minoribus . 27. pecten me●iecris latus , ex rufo uariegatus , circiter uiginti strys admodum striatis distuictus . 28. ●dem cum denticulis sub aure ; et non nisi altera et infima ualua est . sectio . 2 cap i. de ostreis a●op●vsi planà ●onga , recuruâ angulo acuto desinente . sulenta 〈◊〉 qualiter utrinque ad cardinem denticulata . 31 〈◊〉 altera ualua pla●●a . denticulata . sectio 2 cap 2 de ostracis apop●ysi breui , subter et quasi in occulto posita 36. ●estrea fere circinata , , subuiridis leuiter striata . 37. eadem supina . ostrea syluestris rondeleti 39. ostrea laeuis subpurpurea uel subaurea instar margaritae intùs et extrà resplendens . a j garnsey 69. pectunculus exiguus , albus , admodum tenuiter striatus . chama glycymeris bellonij . a. j. garnsey . 82. pectunculus ingens , u●riegalus ex rufo . 87. pectunculus cra●●iusculus , albidus . 88 pectunculus latus , admodum planus , tenuis , albidus . 100. pectunculus tenuis , leuiter purpurascens , radiatus , an idem cum superiore ? mare mediter : à. d. e. floid 105. pectunculus , superiore paulo planior . 108. pectunculus maximus subfuscus ▪ ualdè grauis . 120 pectunculus fuscus densè fa●ciatus elegatiti quadam pictura undulata insignitus . 122. pectunculus omnium crassissimus fascijs ex latere bullatis donatus . mar meciterr . 126. pectunculus rostro productiore capillaceis . fascy : donatus . 154 pectunculus exiguus , subfuscus . 161. pectunculus orbiculari● , fuscus strijs medijs ●u●ricatis . marc adrintico . 169 pectunculus subfuscus strys 〈…〉 171. pectunculus capite minore , rotundiore , et magis cequali niargin●● . 127. pectunculus dense fasciatus 〈◊〉 rubro uar●●egatus , et undatus . j. garnsey . 129. pectunculus subfuscus , tenuitèr admodùm fasciatus . 136. pectunculus planus cra●sus , ex rufo radi●tus . j garnsey 200. musculus subcoeruleus . ferè uirgatus . mytulus rondel 201. musculus paruus , subcoerulcus latus , rostro tenui , adunco 202 musculus paruus , albidus , tenuis , angu●tior , rostro tenui , recuruo . 217. tellina subfusca angustior , intus purpurascens . 218. an eadem cum superiore . 11. 216● menis 219. tellina purpurascens margine sinuoso . jamaic 232 tellina lata albida ex rubro radita . j. garnsey . 241. tellina ex rufo 〈…〉 exasperata 247 tellina fasciata , 〈◊〉 rubro ueriegata . j garnsey 248. tellina fasciata angustior intus lut●scens , extra radiata 249. tellina fasciata 〈◊〉 subaurca radiata . 250. tellina parua ▪ 〈◊〉 rubra ad alterum latus sinuosa 251. tellina leuis nitu● et extra rubra ad latus sinucsa . sectio . 9 solenis i. d. est . conchae tenuibus longissimisque . ab utraque parte naturalitèr hiantibus 255. solen major subfuscus ▪ rictus solen 〈◊〉 259. chama fusca , lata , planior . 264. chama subfusca augusti●●●na , ad solenes quodam ▪ mede acceden● . 271 chama fusca strys te●●sir●is donata 〈…〉 . sect. 1● cap. 2. chamae : pholad●bus 269. chamoe pholas , latus , ex alter● parte obfusus . scaber siue rugosus . 270. chamoe pholas fasciatus , ex altera parte intus ui●lacca . pholos striatus sinuatus ex a alterà parte . pholas latus , rugorus ex dimidio dorso et asper . pholas paruus , asper . pholadum tertia t●sta , aliarum cardin● superinjecta . saxum pheladibus foratum . sectio 2 conchis quinque testarum , anatifer●s plerisque dictis . 280 concha ana●●fe ra subrotunda bartholini . 〈◊〉 mediter 282 concha a natifera , margine muricata . 287 salanas paruus , striatus . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48704-e210 * when this was written , malpigius de bombyee was not not publisht . * of both which , see this observers experiments formerly communicated , no. 68. p. 2067 , 2608. * see no 68. p. 2●68 . * see the ground for this distinction in the same numb . 68. p. 2067. 2●● , . * march 17. 1671. i find in my notes ( saith he ) that some years ago i gather'd off our english oak round worm-husks very like kermes-berries , but i then made no tryal of them . again , i have often observed on plumb trees and cherry-trees ; also on the vine and cherry-laurel certain patellae or flat husks containing wo●ms , which ( or at least the husks ; for them only i had oppertunity of making the experiment on ) will strike a carnation ly and stand . * see numb . 50. 1011. aist. nat. lib. i. c. 27. lib. 3. c. 9. arist. hist. nat. ib. 5. cap. 20. arist. hist. nat. lib. 9. cap. 39. nu. 50. p. 795. * of which latter ▪ see numb . 72. p. 2176. 2177. † see more of this in my notes upon goedartious * see numb ▪ 74. p. 2221. coehlitz , or petrified shells examined . see numb . 75. p. 2254. * see above in this very tract . * see of two or three more musk-insects num 74. p. 2220. and numb . 76. p. 2281. * of which see numb . 74. p. 2220. and n. 76. p. 2281. * of which see numb . 75. p. 2254. * this learned and accurate philesspher hath already presented to the r. society , in a very obliging manner , his manuscript , containing the s●m of his observations and labours about the structure of plants ; and he hath also very generously engaged himself , that , upon the approbation of that illustrious body , he will enlarge his papers , illustrate all the particulars , therein contained , with scheams ▪ and the● publish the whole . * see numb , 70. p , 2122 , & 2123. * this stone is now in the custody of the r , society , to whom it was presented afterwards . * compare herewith , what was publish't in no ▪ p. 71. 2165 no , 72 , p. 2177 especially no. 73. p. 2196. see numb . 20. p. 362. † n. b. peyer●● did not publish his book of these glandul● til the year 1677. viz. more then 4 years after my discovery of them and publication in the philosophical transactions . † v. kerkring●● spic . anat. obs. 59. 79. * see n. 100. of these tracts . * xiphilinus herodianus &c. a gal. de locis affec . lib. 6. experimental philosophy, in three books containing new experiments microscopical, mercurial, magnetical : with some deductions, and probable hypotheses, raised from them, in avouchment and illustration of the now famous atomical hypothesis / by henry power ... power, henry, 1623-1668. 1664 approx. 287 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 109 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a55584) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 58849) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 191:12) experimental philosophy, in three books containing new experiments microscopical, mercurial, magnetical : with some deductions, and probable hypotheses, raised from them, in avouchment and illustration of the now famous atomical hypothesis / by henry power ... power, henry, 1623-1668. [24], 191, [2] p. [1] folded leaf of plates : ill. printed by t. roycroft, for john martin and james allestry ..., london : 1664. books [2]-3 have special t.p., dated 1663. "subterraneous experiments, or, observations about cole-mines" has half-title. errata: p. [2] at end. reproduction of original in university of michigan libraries. marginal notes. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -early works to 1800. physics -early works to 1800. microscopy -early works to 1800. microscopes -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-04 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , geo. stradling , s. t. p. rev. in christo patr. d. gilb. episc. loud . à sac. domestic . ex aed sab. aug. 5. 1663. experimental philosophy , in three-books : containing new experiments microscopical , mercurial , magnetical . with some deductions , and probable hypotheses , raised from them , in avouchment and illustration of the now famous atomical hypothesis . by henry power , dr. of physick . perspicillum ( microscopicum scilicet ) si vidisset democritus , exiluisset fortè ; & modum videndi atomum ( quam ille invisibilem omninò affirmavit ) inventum fuisse putâsset . fr. verulam . lib. 2. novi organi , sect . 39. hinc igitur facillimè intelligere possumus , quam stuliè , quam inaniter sese venditat humana sapientia , quóve ferantur nostra ingenia , nisi recta ratione , experientiáque ( scientiarum omnium magistra ) nitantur & opin●●●is salebras accuratè vitent . muffet . de insect . cap. 15. pag. 115. london , printed by t. roycroft , for john martin , and james allestry , at the bell in s. pauls church-yard . 1664. the preface to the ingenious reader . dioptrical glasses ( which are now wrought up to that height and curiosity we see ) are but a modern invention : antiquity gives us not the least hint thereof , neither do their records furnish us with any thing that does antedate our late discoveries of the telescope , or microscope . the want of which incomparable artifice made them not onely erre in their fond coelestial hypothesis , and crystalline wheel-work of the heavens above us , but also in their nearer observations of the minute bodies and smallest sort of creatures about us , which have been by them but sleightly and perfunctorily described , as being the disregarded pieces and huslement of the creation ; when ( alas ! ) those sons of sense were not able to see how curiously the minutest things of the world are wrought , and with what eminent signatures of divine providence they were inrich'd and embellish'd , without our dioptrical assistance . neither do i think that the aged world stands now in need of spectacles , more than it did in its primitive strength and lustre : for howsoever though the faculties of the soul of our primitive father adam might be more quick & perspicacious in apprehension , than those of our lapsed selves ; yet certainly the constitution of adam's organs was not divers from ours , nor different from those of his fallen self , so that he could never discern those distant , or minute objects by natural vision , as we do by the artificial advantages of the telescope and microscope . so that certainly the secondary planets of saturn and jupiter and his ansulary appearances , the maculae solis , and lunations of the inferiour planets , were as obscure to him as unknown to his posterity ; onely what he might ingeniously ghess at by the analogie of things in nature , and some other advantageous circumstances . and as those remote objects were beyond the reach of his natural opticks , so doubtless the minute atoms and particles of matter , were as unknown to him , as they are yet unseen by us : for certainly both his and our eyes were framed by providence in analogie to the rest of our senses , and as might best manage this particular engine we call the body , and best agree with the place of our habitation ( the earth and elements we were to converse with ) and not to be critical spectators , surveyors , and adaequate judges of the immense vniverse : and therefore it hath often seem'd to me beyond an ordinary probability , and somthing more than fancy ( how paradoxical soever the conjecture may seem ) to think , that the least bodies we are able to see with our naked eyes , are but middle proportionals ( as it were ) 'twixt the greatest and smallest bodies in nature , which two extremes lye equally beyond the reach of humane sensation : for as on the one side they are but narrow souls , and not worthy the name of philosophers , that think any body can be too great or too too vast in its dimensions ; so likewise , are they as inapprehensive , and of the same litter with the former , that on the other side think the particles of matter may be too little , and that nature is stinted at an atom , and must have a non ultra of her subdivisions . such , i am sure , our modern engine ( the microscope ) wil ocularly evince and unlearn them their opinions again : for herein you may see what a subtil divider of matter nature is ; herein we can see what the illustrious wits of the atomical and corpuscularian philosophers durst but imagine , even the very atoms and their reputed indivisibles and least realities of matter , nay the curious mechanism and organical contrivance of those minute animals , with their distinct parts , colour , figure and motion , whose whole bulk were to them almost invisible : so that were aristotle now alive , he might write a new history of animals ; for the first tome of zoography is still wanting , the naturalists hitherto having onely described unto us the larger and more voluminous sort of animals , as bulls , bears , tygers , &c. whilst they have regardlesly pass'd by the insectile automata , ( those living-exiguities ) with only a bare mention of their names , whereas in these prety engines ( by an incomparable stenography of providence ) are lodged all the perfections of the largest animals ; they have the same organs of body , multiplicity of parts , variety of motions , diversity of figures , severality of functions with those of the largest size : and that which augments the miracle , is , that all these in so narrow a room neither interfere nor impede one another in their operations . who therefore with the learned doctor , admires not regiomontanus his fly beyond his eagle , and wonders not more at the operation of two souls in those minute bodies , than but one in the trunk of a cedar ? ruder heads stand amazed at those prodigious and colossean pieces of nature , as whales , elephants , and dromedaries ; but in these narrow engines there is more curious mathematicks , and the architecture of these little fabricks more neatly set forth the wisdom of their maker . now as matter may be great or little , yet never shrink by subdivision into nothing ; so , is it not probable , that motion also may be indefinitely swift or slow , and yet never come to a quiescency ? and so consequently there can be no rest in nature , more than a vacuity in matter . the following observations seem to make out , that the minute particles of most ( if not all ) bodies are constantly in some kind of motion , and that motion may be both invisibly and unintelligibly slow , as well as swift , and probably is as unseparable an attribute to bodies , as well as extension is . and indeed , if the very nature of fluidity consist in the intestine motion of the parts of that body call'd fluid , as des-cartes happily supposed , and m r. boyle has more happily demonstrated , why may we not be bold both to think and say , that there is no such thing in the world as an absolute quiescence ? for 1. the greatest part of the world ( viz. the aetherial medium ( wherein all the stars and planets do swim ) is now confess'd by all to be fluid , and so , consequently , in a perpetual motion . 2. all the fixed lights of heaven are generally concluded to be pure fire , and so consequently fluid also , and then subconsequentially in motion also ; not to mention the dinetical rotations of their whole bodies , which every one is supposed to have , as wel as our sun : and as for the opace and planetary bodies of the vniverse , they are all porous , and the aetherial matter is continually streaming through them , their internal fire and heat constantly subliming atoms out of them , the magnetical atoms continually playing about them : not to mention also their dinetical motions about their own axes , and circumrevolutions about their central suns : so that , is it not , i say , more than probable , that rest and quiescency is a meer peripatetical notion , and that the supreme being ( who is activity it self ) never made any thing inactive or utterly devoid of motion ? hence wil unavoidable follow some other principles of the ever-to-be-admired des-cartes : 1. that as matter is made greater or less , by addition or subduction of parts , so is motion made swifter or slower by addition given to the movent , by other contiguous bodies more swiftly moving , or by subduction of it by bodies slowlier moved . 2. as the parts of matter can be transfer'd from one body to another , and as long as they remain united , would remain so for ever : so motion may be translated from one body to another ; but when it is not transfer'd , it would remain in that body for ever . but these sublime speculations i shall with more confidence treat of in another place ; the speculation of motion , and its origin , being , as i conceive , one of the obscurest things in nature . and therfore at present we shal keep within the compass of the microscope , and look at nothing further than what we can discover therein : the knowledge of man ( saith the learn'd verulam ) hath hitherto been determin'd by the view or sight , so that whatsoever is invisible , either in respect of the fineness of the body it self , or the smalness of the parts , or of the subtilty of its motion , is little enquired ; and yet these be the things that govern nature principally : how much therefore are we oblig'd to modern industry , that of late hath discover'd this advantageous artifice of glasses , and furnish'd our necessities with such artificial eys , that now neither the fineness of the body , nor the smalness of the parts , nor the subtilty of its motion , can secure them from our discovery ? and indeed , if the dioptricks further prevail , and that darling art could but perform what the theorists in conical sections demonstrate , we might hope , ere long , to see the magnetical effluviums of the loadstone , the solary atoms of light ( or globuli aetherei of the renowned des-cartes ) the springy particles of air , the constant and tumultuary motion of the atoms of all fluid bodies , and those infinite , insensible corpuscles ( which daily produce those prodigious ( though common ) effects amongst us : ) and though these hopes be vastly hyperbolical , yet who can tel how far mechanical industry may prevail ; for the process of art is indefinite , and who can set a non-ultra to her endevours ? i am sure , if we look backwards at what the dioptriks hath already perform'd , we cannot but conclude such prognosticks to be within the circle of possibilities , and perhaps not out of the reach of futurity to exhibit : however this i am sure of , that without some such mechanical assistance , our best philosophers will but prove empty conjecturalists , and their profoundest speculations herein , but gloss'd outside fallacies ; like our stage-scenes , or perspectives , that shew things inwards , when they are but superficial paintings . for , to conclude with that doubly honourable ( both for his parts and parentage ) m r. boyle , when a writer , saith he , acquaints me onely with his own thoughts or conjectures , without inriching his discourse with any real experiment or observation , if he be mistaken in his ratiotination , i am in some danger of erring with him , and at least am like to lose my time , without receiving any valuable compensation for so great a loss : but if a writer endevours , by delivering new and real observations or experiments , to credit his opinions , the case is much otherwayes ; for , let his opinions be never so false ( his experiments being true ) i am not oblig'd to believe the former , and am left at my liberty to benefit my self by the latter : and though he have erroneously superstructed upon his experiments , yet the foundation being solid , a more wary builder may be very much further'd by it , in the erection of a more judicious and consistent fabrick . henry power . from new-hall , near hallifax , 1. aug. 1661. microscopical observations . observat. i. of the flea . it seems as big as a little prawn or shrimp , with a small head , but in it two fair eyes globular and prominent of the circumference of a spangle ; in the midst of which you might ( through the diaphanous cornea . ) see a round blackish spot , which is the pupil or apple of the eye , beset round with a greenish glistering circle , which is the iris , ( as vibrissant and glorious as a cats eye ) most admirable to behold . how critical is nature in all her works ! that to so small and contemptible an animal hath given such an exquisite fabrick of the eye , even to the distinction of parts . had our famous muffet but seen them , he would not have spoke so doubtfully as he did : oculos ( saith he , speaking of flea's ) habere , verisimile est , tùm quod suos eligunt recessus , tùm quod appetente luce so subducunt . he has also a very long neck , jemmar'd like the tail of a lobstar , which he could nimbly move any way ; his head , body , and limbs also , be all of blackish armour-work , shining and polished with jemmar's , most excellently contrived for the nimble motion of all the parts : nature having armed him thus cap-a-pe like a curiazier in warr , that he might not be hurt by the great leaps he takes ; to which purpose also he hath so excellent an eye , the better to look before he leap : to which add this advantageous contrivance of the joynts of his hinder legs which bend backwards towards his belly , and the knees or flexure of his fore-legs forwards ( as in most quadrupeds ) that he might thereby take a better rise when he leaps . his feet are slit into claws or talons , that he might the better stick to what he lights upon : he hath also two pointers before which grow out of the forehead , by which he tryes and feels all objects , whether they be edible or no. his neck , body , and limbs are also all beset with hairs and bristles , like so many turn-pikes , as if his armour was palysado'd about by them . at his snout is fixed a proboscis , or hollow trunk or probe , by which he both punches the skin , and sucks the blood through it , leaving that central spot in the middle of the flea-biting , where the probe entred . one would wonder at the great strength lodged in so small a receptacle , and that he is not able onely to carry his whole armour about him , but will frisk and curvet so nimbly with it : stick a large brass pin through his tayl and he will readily drag it away . i have seen a chain of gold ( at tredescants famous reconditory of novelties ) of three hundred links , though not above an inch long , both fastned to , and drawn away by a flea . such a like one it seems as our muffet tells that one marcus an english-man made . nay hear what he saith further , accepimus item à fide dignis , pulicem sic catena alligatum , currum aureum perfectè suis numeris absolutum , nullo negotio traxisse , id quod & artificis industriam & suas ipsius vires multùm commendat : yea , we have heard it credibly reported , saith he , that a flea hath not onely drawn a gold chain , but a golden charriot also with all its harness and accoutrements fixed to it , which did excellently set forth the artifice of the maker , and strength of the drawer ; so great is the mechanick power which providence has immur'd within these living walls of jet . observat. ii. the bee. the eye of a bee is of a protuberant oval figure , black and all foraminulous , drill'd full of innumerable holes like a grater or thimble ; and , which is more wonderful , we could plainly see , that the holes were all of a square figure like an honey-comb , and stuck full of small hairs ( like the pores in our skin ) and which ( by blowing upon ) you might see waft to and fro ; all which neat particularities were more palpably discovered in the eye of a great humble-bee . now these holes were not absolute perforations , but onely dimples in their crustaceous tunica cornea ; which it seems is full of little pit-holes , like the cap of a thimble : for we cutt out the eye in a large humble-bee and crecket , and bared the shell or horney coat of the eye ; and laying either the convex or concave side upwards ( upon the object plate ) i could easily perceive the little holes or dimples formerly mentioned . so that , by the favour of our microscope , i have seen more in one hour then that famous bee-master aristomachus did in his fifty years contemplation of those laborious insects . if you divide the bee ( or humble-bee especially ) near the neck , you shall , without help of the glasse , see the heart beat most lively , which is a white pulsing vesicle . the stings in all bees are hollow and tubulous ( like a shoomaker's-punch ) so that when they prick the flesh , they do also , through that channel , transfuse the poyson into it : for if you take a bee , wasp , or humble-bee especially , and gently squeeze her tayl , so that you may see the sting , you shall perceive a drop of diaphanous liquor at the very end of it , which if you wipe off , you shall distinctly see it renewed again , that humour passing down the cavity into the end thereof . but if you would see their common-wealth , laws , customs , military discipline , and their skill in tacticks and architecture , then read our english butler , an experimental and not theoretical writer on that subject . observat. iii. the common fly. it is a very pleasant insect to behold : her body is as it were from head to tayl studded with silver and black armour , stuck all over with great black bristles , like porcupine quills , set all in parallel order , with their ends pointing all towards the tayl ; her wings look like a sea-fan with black thick ribs or fibers , dispers'd and branch'd through them , which are webb'd between with a thin membrane or film , like a slice of muscovy-glasse : she hath a small head which she can move or turn any way : she hath six legs , but goes onely but upon four ; the two foremost she makes use of instead of hands , with which you may often see her wipe her mouth and nose , and take up any thing to eat . the other four legs are cloven and arm'd with little clea's or tallons ( like a catamount ) by which she layes hold on the rugosities and asperities of all bodies she walks over , even to the supportance of her self , though with her back downwards and perpendicularly invers'd to the horizon . to which purpose also the wisdom of nature hath endued her with another singular artifice , and that is a fuzzy kinde of substance like little sponges , with which she hath lined the soles of her feet , which substance is always repleated with a whitish viscous liquor ▪ which she can at pleasure squeeze out , and so sodder and be-glew her self to the plain she walks on , which otherways her gravity would hinder ( were it not for this contrivance ) especially when she walks in those inverted positions . but of all things her eyes are most remarkable , being exceeding large , ovally protuberant and most neatly dimpled with innumerable little cavities like a small grater or thimble , through which seeming perforations you may see a faint reddish colour ( which is the blood in the eyes , for if you prick a pin through the eye , you shall finde more blood there , then in all the rest of her body . ) the like foraminulous perforations or trelliced eyes are in all flyes , more conspicuously in carnivorous or flesh-flyes , in the stercorary or yellow flyes that feed upon cow-dung : the like eyes i have also found in divers other insects , as the shepherd-flye or spinster-flye , which muffet calls opilionum muscam ; also in cantharides or french-flyes ; also in all sorts of scarabees , black and spotted ; also in all sorts of moth-flyes , called by muffet , phalaenae-papiliones ; also in the may-fly , butter-flyes , scorpion-tail'd-fly , twinges , and earwigs ; most clearly in the sloe-black eye of the crecket , and in the large eye of the dragon-fly or adderbolt . many more observables there are in common flyes , as their vivacity ; for , when they appear desperate and quite forsaken of their forms , by virtue of the sun or warm ashes they will be revoked into life , and perform its functions again . had domitian thus busied himself in the contemplation of this animal , it had been an employment , not sometimes unworthy of caesar. for , to conclude with muffet ; dei verò virtutem quàm validè animalcula ista , parùm sanè valida , demonstrant ? contemplare enim vel minimum muscilionem , & quomodò in tantillo corpore , pedes , alas , oculos , promuscidem , aliaque membra , omni filo minora , concinnè adaptavit altissimus , edissere ! observat. iv. the gray , or horse-fly . her eye is an incomparable pleasant spectacle : 't is of a semisphaeroidal figure ; black and waved , or rather indented all over with a pure emerauld-green , so that it looks like green silk irish-stitch , drawn upon a black ground , and all latticed or chequered with dimples like common flyes , which makes the indentures look more pleasantly : her body looks like silver in frost-work , onely fring'd all over with white silk : her legs all joynted and knotted like the plant call'd equisetum or horse-tayl , and all hairy and slit at the ends into two toes , both which are lined with two white sponges or fuzballs as is pre-observ'd in common flyes . after her head is cut off , you shall most fairly see ( just at the setting on of her neck ) a pulsing particle ( which certainly is the heart ) to beat for half an hour most orderly and neatly through the skin . observat. v. the butter-fly . this animal might well deserve our observation without the assistance of a microscope ; for who does not admire the variegated diversity of colours in her expansed wings ? which do not onely out-vye the peacock in all his pride , but does as far out-go the strip'd bravery of the tulip , as that did solomon in all his glory : but view them in the microscope , and you may see the very streaks of the coelestial pencil that drew them . for the wings of the butterfly seem like a great plume of feathers , with a glystering splendour exceeding pleasant to behold , especially if the wings be strip'd with several colours : yea that small meal and dust of their wings ( which sticks to your fingers when you catch them ) is all small little feathers , which grow out of their wings ; and you may plainly see the twills by which they stick to the wings , and the holes in the wings , out of which they were pluck'd . nature having imp'd her wings ( for her better flight ) with those plumeous excrescences ; which shews how vastly * they were mistaken , that held this mealy dust to be an exudation of atoms out of their wings . her eye is large and globular ( but somewhat flattish ) white like alablaster , diced or bespeck'd here and there with black spots ( like checker'd marble ) all foraminous , both the white and black parts of it . i mean in a white butterfly , for in a red-wing'd butterfly , her eye is all black and full of perforations as in a common fly. the probe ( which you see lyes in her mouth in spiral contorsions , wound up like a spring , or like the twining tendrils of the vine , and which you may with a pin draw out to its full length ) seems to be hollow , and supplies the office both of mouth and tongue : for you shall see it ( if cutt out and laid on the object-plate ) to winde and coyl it self up like a spring , and then open again a long time together , and to have a transparent kinde of hollownesse quite throughout . nature having made it of a considerable length ( when extended ) that she might reach her nourishment , else the length of her legs would hinder the stooping of her head : she hath also fitted it with that spiral or cochleary contrivance , that so being drawn up into an helix , and retracted into the mouth , it might be no hinderance to her flight . observat. vi. a louse . she appears the bignesse of a large crecket , the body diaphanous and transparent , with three legs on either side , and two horns in the snout , all transparent and of gauntlet-work , having here and there hairs and bristles ; her feet likewise are slit into toes . her two eyes were like two black beads , gogled and protuberant , standing somewhat backwards on the side of her head behind her horns : she is blackish about the shoulders ; if she be laid on her back , you may perceive her body to be of escallop'd protuberances , diaphanous also , very handsome to behold . in this supine position of hers , there are two bloody darkish spots discernable , the greater in the midst of her body , and the lesser towards her tayl . in the centre of the middle spot there is a white film or bladder , which continually contracts and dilates its self upwards and downwards from the head towards the tayl ; and alwayes after every pulse of this white particle or vesicle , then followes the pulse of the great dark bloody spot , in which , or over which , the vesicle seems to swim . this we observ'd two or three hours together , as long as the louse lived ; and this motion of systole and diastole is most palpably seen , when the louse grows feeble and weak . i prick'd the white vesicle with a small needle and let out a little drop of blood ; and then viewing her again in the microscope , we could not perceive any life or motion after . in a greater louse you might see this pulsation of her heart through her back also ; but the white film or vesicle you cannot see till she be turn'd with her belly upwards . the lower dark spot ( which is the lesser towards the tayl ) dr. harvey probably conjectures to be the excrements in the guts of the louse , there reposited just before exclusion . hear how neatly sir theodore mayhern delivers his observation of this animal , taken in a puny microscope ; pediculorum oculos prominentes ( ope conspicilii ) cernes , & cornua , & crenatum corporis ambitum , totam substantiam diaphanam , per quam cordis & sanguinis tanquam in euripo indesinenter fluctuantis motum . observat. vii . a wood-louse , or wood-mite . there is a little white animal ( which you shall finde usually running over the leaves and covers of books , and in rotten wood ) which in shape and colour is like a louse , onely it has a swift motion , and runs by starts or stages ; you may kill it with a very little touch with your finger : this animal being fastened to the object-plate , by a little spattle , looks like polish'd silver , her whole body cased in annulary circles , all full of silver hairs , especially towards her tayl , with six legs , three on each side , whose extremities are arm'd with two black tallons , which you might see to move distinctly of themselves : two long moveable horns were fastened to her head , but revers'd and pointing backwards towards her tayl , with little branches and twigs ( like bezanteliers ) springing out of them . she hath two pointers also before , like a pair of pincers , which she moved laterally , all full of hairs , and two round knobs at the ends of them . her eyes are very protuberant , and globular , of a pure golden colour , most admirable to behold , especially when varnish'd with a full light , and most neatly latticed or mashed like a net ( as hath been pre-observ'd in other insects . ) and she seemed to have this peculiar artifice , that she can put out or draw in her eye at her pleasure ; so that sometimes we could see them far more prominent then at others ; and sometimes again the one eye more then the other : insomuch that in one of our critical observations , i could see more then a hemisphere of the eye at once ; so that what the processus ciliares does to our eyes , either in retracting or protruding the crystalline humour ( for helping the sight ) the same does the optick nerve ( it seems ) to the whole globe or bulk of their eyes . observat. viii . the house-spider . now let us see what we can discover in ovid's lydian-spinstresse , that proud madam which pallas , for her rivalship , transform'd into the spider ; which hath not onely the character of aristotle , but of solomon himself , for a wise and prudent animal , and therefore a fit residentiary in the court of kings . of domestick spiders there are two sorts ; one with longer legs and a little body , and the other contrariwise . the first eminent thing we found in these house-spiders , were their eyes , which in some were four , in some six , and in some eight , according to the proportion of their bulk , and longity of their legs . these eyes are placed all in the forefront of their head ( which is round , and without any neck ) all diaphanous and transparent , like a locket of diamonds , or a sett of round crystal-beads : so that well might muffet say of those philosophers that held them blinde , sanè coecutiunt illi summo meridie , qui videre ipsas non vident neque intelligunt : far better might he have said it , if his eyes had had the assistance of our microscope . neither wonder , why providence should be so anomalous in this animal more then in any other we know of ( argus his head being fix'd to arachne's shoulders . ) for , first : since they wanting a neck cannot move their head , it is requisite that defect should be supplyed by the multiplicity of eyes . secondly : since they were to live by catching so nimble a prey as a fly is , they ought to see her every way , and to take her per saltum ( as they do ) without any motion of their head to discover her ; which motion would have scar'd away so timorous an insect . they have a very puffy light body of an oval figure , covered with a sleek thin skin : which they change once a moneth , sayes muffet ; though i hardly believe they cast their spoils so often . their skin is not pellucid , for i could never discover any pulsing particle within them : she hath eight legs , four on each side , split into small oblong fingers at the ends , by which she makes her curious web-work both body and limbs is all stuck over with small silver hairs , which the very ayr will waft to and fro , as you may see in the microscope . observat. ix . the little white field-spider with short legs . there is a little white short-leg'd spider ( which you shall find plentifully amongst new hey , or in a sweating hey-mough ) which is a glorious spectacle to behold ; for her body is like white amber imboss'd all over with black knobs , out of every one of which grow bristles or prickles like whin-pricks perfectly taper-grown . and ( which is most admirable ) we could most distinctly see six , in some eight eyes , ranged in this order ; the innermost least , and the outermost greatest , of a very quick and lively transparency or fulgour , like eagle's eyes ; every eye hath a pale yellow circle , which encompasseth a violet-blew pupill , most clear and most admirable , but not perforated at all . letting her lye on the object-plate for half an hour together , we perceived her eyes all of them to grow less and less , and a whitish kind of film or socket , by degrees , to cover part of them : i cutt her in the midst at first , and so layd onely her head with the upper part of her body , on the object-plate . observat. x. the field spider with long legs . this spider was a very pleasant spectacle : having cutt off her legs , and layd her flat with her belly upon the object-plate , i perceived a round knob erected perpendicularly upon the top of her back , which proved to be her head ( though at first i could not perswade my self into that belief ; ) for in it were fixed two jett-black protuberant ( but not foraminulous ) eyes , on either side one , which by diligent inspection we found to be of different parts , with a very black smooth pupil in the midst of either of them , more protuberant than the rest of the circumambient matter , which was of a coarser grain , browner and more rugged than the prominent pupil . she had before , two claws ( at a manifest distance from her head ) just like a crab's claws , with two black tips , like the chely's in crabs , which i could distinctly see to open and shutt ( exactly like those in a scorpion ) which were indented , or made ▪ saw-wise on the inside ( the better to keep fast what she had once laid hold on . ) there is a field-spider of a russet colour and long legs , of the same shape and figure . the head and eyes in all spiders are contrived with great variety . observat. xi . another field-spider . i took a field-spider under a stone , 13. of june , with a bag of eggs fastned to her tayl , bigger than all the bulk of her body ; i opened it , and saw abundance of blewish eggs in it , which in the microscope look'd white and round , like your counterfeit pearl , and i could most clearly see abundance of very minute spiders , newly hatch'd , no bigger , and just like mites in meal , with white hairs and bristles , especially in their tail , creeping and crawling amongst the eggs : the nett-work of the purse or bag seem'd all diaphanous ; a very pleasant spectacle , and of curious workmanship . i then made the like observation of a bag full of house-spider-eggs , which are round and white , just like white poppy seed ; and all things look'd whitish , and something transparent therein also : but the youngling spiders ( that were either hatching , or newly hatch'd ) were far bigger then the former , and white as alablaster , but shap'd like the parent with five legs on each side ( without hairs or bristles ) and not by far so active as the other . i could not see any heart beat in any of them all . observat. xii . mites in cheese . they appeared some bigger , some less ; the biggest appeared equal to a nutmeg ; in shape they seem'd oval and obtus'd towards the tail : their colour resembled that of mother of pearl , or common pearl , and reflected the light of the sun in some one point , according to their various positions , as pearl doth : so that it seems they are sheath'd and crustaceous animals ( as scarabees and such like insects are . ) i could perfectly see the divisions of the head , neck , and body . to the small end of the oval body was fastned the head , very little in proportion to the body , its mouth like that of a mole , which it open'd and shutt ; when open'd , it appear'd red within : the eyes also , like two little dark spots , are discernable : near to the head were four legs fastned , two on each side ; the legs were just like to those in a louse , jemmar'd and transparent : she has two little pointers at the snout ; nay , you may see them sometimes , if you happily take the advantage , like so many ginny-pigs , munching and chewing the cud : about the head and tail are stuck long hairs or bristles : some we could see ( as little , even in the glass , as a mustard-seed ) yet perfectly shap'd and organiz'd : we also saw divers atoms somewhat transparent like eggs , both in form and figure . nay , in these moving atoms , i could not onely see the long bristles formerly specified , but also the very hairs which grew out of their leggs , which leggs themselves are smaller than the smallest hair our naked eyes can discover . what rare considerations might an ingenious speculator take up here , even from this singular experiment ? of the strange and most prodigious skilfulness of nature in the fabrick of so minute an animal ( a thousand whereof do not weigh one single grain , ( for one seed of tobacco is bigger than any of them ) and yet how many thousand parts of matter must go to make up this heterogeneous contexture ? for , besides the parts inservient to nutrition , sensation , and motion , how small and thin must the liquours be that circulate through the pipes and vessels disseminated through those parts ? nay , how incomprehensibly subtil must the animal-spirits be , that run to and fro in nerves included in such prodigiously little spindle-shank'd leggs ? observat. xiii . mites in malt-dust and oatmeal-dust . they seem somewhat different from those of cheese , formerly described , yet of the same bulk , proportion , and colour ; onely besett with more and longer white bristles , especially in the tail : they are far more active and quick in motion than those inhabitants of case-bobby , some bigger , some lesser . some we saw so exceeding little ( yet perfectly organiz'd and shap'd like the rest ) that no bristles nor hairs could be discern'd , either because they had none , or else ( more probably ) because the glass failed in presenting them : for how small must that hair be , think you , which ( though so excessively augmented in the glass ) yet seems as small as any hair imaginable ? and upon an animal too , whose whole bulk to the bare eye is quite indiscernable . if you besprinkle the object-plate , upon which you view them , with a pretty quantity of oatmeal , you shall see what working and tugging these poor little animals make amongst it , running and scudding amongst it ; under it , over it , and into it , like rabbits into their burrows ; and sometimes casting it and heaving it up , ( as moles or pioners do earth ) and trolling to and fro with this mealy dust ( which seems something diaphanous ) sticking to them , as if it were a little world of animals , busying themselves in running this way and that way , and over one anothers backs ; which is a spectacle very pleasant to behold . observat. xiv . mites , bred amongst figs. they are in colour like other mites , but bodyed and shaped like scarabees , with two little short horns at the snout , and above them two very long ones : you may clearly see three leggs on either side the body : they are more sluggish and unweildy then meal-mites are , and not bristled like them . though i have seen some amongst them also full of white bristles , and shaped like those in oatmeal : the like common ( for so i may call them ) mites i have also found in hay , in the powder that falls off dryed roots , &c. observat. xv. the mites , in jujubes and sebesten's . from jejub's and sebesten's , being long kept , there falls a brownish kind of powder , which being laid upon the object-plate , you shall discover in it small whitish mites , very little ones , and all besett with bristles and hairs round over like a hedghog , but not of so quick and lively a motion as the other mites . observat. xvi . the red mite , found on spiders . there is a red mite which you shall often find feeding upon spiders ; she is bodied just like a tortoise , with a little head and six long small leggs , three on each side : about the leggs of the field-spider i have found many of these coral-mites or tortoises , and this thing i have observed of them , that they cling exceeding close to the animal whilst she is alive ; but when dead , they all fall off and creep away from her , as lice do from dying men , or other vermin from an old rotten falling house . observat. xvii . the mites or lice found on humble-bees . within that yellow plush or furre of humble-bees you shall often find a little whitish very nimbly-running animal , which hath the shape and form of a mite in the microscope : i remember the industrious kircher sayes , he hath found by his glasses lice upon fleas : either our fleas in england are not like theirs in italy for this property , or else i have never taken them in their lowsie season : but i see no reason to the contrary , but both fleas and lice may have other lice that feed upon them , as they do upon us . for since the minutest animal that comes within the reach of our microscope , is found to have a mouth , stomack , and gutts , for nutrition ; and most , if not all , the parenchymata for circulation and separation of excrements , there can be no doubt , but they have also a continual perspiration and exudation through the habit of their body : of which excrement of the third and last concoction , all these vermin that pester the outside of animals , are generated . observat. xviii . pond . mites . there are bred in most restagnant waters , pools and fishponds , in june and july , an innumerable company of little whitish animals , which move up and down the water with jerks and stops in their motion ; in which animals we could discover two little horns and leggs , but could never get to see it quick in the microscope : for as soon as ever it is taken out of the water , it is perfectly dead . neither may it seem strange to find these animals in restagnant fish-waters , since the very ocean it self in some places ( in summer time ) is full of living creatures . for our western navigators tell us , that in summer , in the west-indian seas ( about the coasts of virginia , hispaniola , jaimaca , cuba , &c. the sea swarms with maggots and grubs , which in a little time will so eat their very ships ( as far as they draw water ) that lye there at anchor , that they will be as brittle and as full of holes as a honey-comb , or a grater ; insomuch that we are forced to have them cased either with thin sheets of lead , or with flax , pitch and tarr , to secure them from that danger . nay , not onely the water , but the very air it self , may certainly at some times and seasons be full of living creatures ; which must be , most probably , when great putrefactions reign therein , as in the plague-time especially . now it were well worth the observation , if in such aerial putrefactions any kind of living creatures could be discovered , which probably may be done by glasses : for i am sure in my long telescope i can some days see a tremulous motion and agitation of rowling fumes , and strong atoms in the air , which i cannot see of other days ; of which i shall perchance more largely discourse in my telescopical observations . observat. xix . whey-worms , call'd by some , wheal-worms , or hand-worms , or barrows . these smallest of creatures ( being accounted by muffet as a species and kind of mites , bred upon animals , as the former sort are in cheese , meal , wax , rotten wood , &c. ) may very well be the subject of our next observation . in this small animal you may see an oval reddish head , and therein a mouth or prominent snout , arm'd with an appendent proboscis or trunk , consisting of many villous filaments in figure of a cone , wherewith it perforates our skin , and sucks the blood or aqueous nutriment from the pustules it is bred near . nay , you may discover feet , laterally ranged on both sides , and many hairy tufts on the tayl , with asperities , rugosities , and protuberances in the skin . to behold all which varieties of parts and organs in so minute a particle of matter ( as this living atom is ) , i know not whether it be more admirable to behold , or incredible to believe without an ocular demonstration . certainly scaliger and muffet would have far more admired this almost invisible sub-cutaneous inhabitant , had they had the happiness to have seen it in our microscope . hear their description , taken onely by the opticks of nature , syronibus nulla expressa forma , praeterquam globi ; vix oculis capitur ; magnitudo est tam pusilla , ut non atomis constare ipsum sed unum esse ex atomis epicurus dixerit : ità sub cute habitat , ut , actis cuniculis , pruritum maximum loso ingenerat , praecipuè manibus : extractus acu , & super ungue positus , movet se , si solis etiam calore adjuvetur . mirum est quomode tam pusilla bestiola , nullis quasi pedibus insidens , tam longes sub cuticula sulcos peragat . our famous mayhern ( who had the advantage of an ordinary microscope ) gives this short , but very neat description of this poor animal . imò ipsi acari , ( saith he ) prae exiguitate indivisibiles , ex cuniculis prope aquae lacum , quos foderunt in cute , acu extracti & ungue impositi , caput rubrum , & pedes quibus gradiuntur , ad solem produnt . and therefore it is not to tell in what a small particle of matter , life may actually consist , and exercise all the functions too , both of vegetation , sensation , and motion : so that , omnia sunt animarum plena , may have more of truth in it , than he could either think or dream of that first pronounced it . observat. xx. the gloworm or glassworm . her eyes ( which are two small black points or specks of jett ) are pent-hous'd under the broad flat cap or plate which covers her head ; which obscure situation , together with their exceeding exiguity , make them undiscernable to common spectators . yet in the microscope they appear very fair , like black polish'd jett or marble , semi-globular , and all foraminulous , or full of small but very curious perforations ( as in common flyes . ) her two horns are all joynted and degree'd like the stops in the germination of some plants , as hors-tail and canes : under which she hath two other small horns or pointers , of the same stuff and fashion . take hold of her horns , and you may draw out her eyes and cut them out , and so lay them on your object-plate and see them distinctly . this is that night-animal with its lanthorn in its tail ; that creeping-star , which seems to outshine those of the firmament , and to outvye them too in this property especially ; that whereas the coelestial lights are quite obscured by the interposition of a small cloud , this terrestrial-star is more enliven'd and enkindled thereby , whose pleasant fulgour no darkness is able to eclipse . observat. xxi . common grasshoppers . in those common grasshoppers , both great and little , which are so frequent at hay-time with us , there are some things remarkable . first , their eyes , which like other insects are foraminulous ; nay , we have taken the cornea or outward film of the eye quite off , and clensed it so from all the pulpous matter which lay within it , that it was clear and diaphanous like a thin film of sliffe or muscovy-glass , and then looking again on it in the microscope , i could plainly see it foraminulous as before . you shall in all grasshoppers see a green film or plate ( like a corslet ) which goes over the neck and shoulders , which if you lift up with a pin , you may see their heart play , and beat very orderly for a long time together . the like curious lattice-work i have also observ'd in the crustaceous cornea of the creckets eye , which i have carefully separated from all the matter which stuff'd it within , which certainly is their brain ; as hereafter shall be made more probable . observat. xxii . the ant , emmet or pismire . this little animal is that great pattern of industry and frugality : to this schoolmaster did solomon send his sluggard , who in those virtues not onely excels all insects , but most men . other excellent observables there are in so small a fabrick : as the herculean strength of its body , that it is able to carry its triple weight and bulk : the agility of its limbs , that it runs so swiftly : the equality of its motion , that it trips so nimbly away without any saliency or leaping , without any fits or starts in its progression . her head is large and globular , with a prominent snout : her eye is of a very fair black colour , round , globular , and prominent , of the bigness of a pea , foraminulous and latticed like that of other insects : her mouth ( in which you may see something to move ) is arm'd with a pair of pincers , which move laterally , and are indented on the inside like a saw , by which she bites , and better holds her prey ; and you may often see them carry their white oblong eggs in them for better security . observat. xxiii . of the little greenish grasshopper or locust , bred upon the backside of green leaves , especially the leaves of goosberries , sweet-briar , and golden muosear , in april and beginning of may. this pretty animal is a pleasant object to look upon in our glass , being of a light green , and in the full sunshine shews exactly like green cloth of silver ; hath two horns and four leggs , two on each side : her eyes are two such very little black atoms , that , unless to a very critical and smart eye , they are indiscernable ; yet if you advantageously place her , and view her with a full light ( transmitted through a burning-glass ( which artifice i sometimes use ) you shall fairly see them to be as bigg as two small black round beads , and drill'd through also with innumerable perforations ( as the eye in a fly ) which will try the exquisiteness both of your glass and eye to behold . observat. xxiv . the yellow locust . there is a pretty , but very little , white oblong insect , which sticks to the ribs and backside of rose-tree-leaves in august , which in the microscope looks of a pure white colour , and diaphanous like sugar-candy , with an annular body like a wasp , with some e●ght hoops or rims , and conical or rush-grown towards the tayl , with six long legs , every leg composed of three joynts , all besett with short hairs , especially in the annulary divisions and interstices of her body : her eyes were very globular , protuberant , and large ( as they are in all young animals ) white , like two crystal beads , and most neatly lattic'd , which i could most clearly discern . below the eyes ( as she lay upon her belly ) was two crook'd horns , which bended backwards towards her tayl , and was fasten'd in two sockets at the roots ; and , as i thought , i sometimes see her eyes more protuberant than others , as if she could thrust them out , and draw them in at pleasure , as we have formerly observ'd in the wood-louse observ. she has two pair of bristles or hairs ( like mustacho's ) at the snout , one bending one way ; and another , another . i could discover no mouth , though i turn'd her over and over . this puny insect i have observ'd to turn into a small yellow locust , with two white wings longer than the body , and to skip up and down the rose-tree-leaves in august ; and then ( when she was metamorphos'd into a locust ) i could discern no mouth in the microscope , but onely two pointers like a pair of closed compasses in her snout , which cannot be seen on her till she be winged , and then laid on the object-plate with her belly upwards . observat. xxv . of cuckow-spitt , and the little insect bred therein , in may. that spumeous froth or dew ( which here in the north we call cuckow spittle , and , in the south , woodsear ; and which is most frequently found in lavander-beds , hors mint , &c. ) looks like a heap of glass-bubbles , or a knob'd drinking-glass ; in which you shall always find a little grub , or animal , which in the microscope seems a pretty golden-coloured insect , with three leggs on each side ; and two horns , and two round fair goggle-eyes of a duskish red colour , like polish'd rubies ; which you may also see latticed and perforated in a clear light . her tayl is all jemmar'd with annulary divisions , which at last end in a stump , which she often draws up , or thrusts out , at her pleasure . muffet cals this insect , locustellam , or , a puny-locust ; and saith , that first it creepeth , then leapeth , and at last flyeth . she has two blackish claws , or pounces ( at the ends of her feet , ) which she can open and shut at her pleasure : we could discover no mouth at all , but a long reddish probe , between the fore-legs , through which , perchance , she suck'd her froathy nourishment . now , what this spumeous matter is , and into what animal this insect is at last shaped or transpeciated , are doubts that as yet have found no clear and experimental decision . that the spattle is a froathy kind of dew that falls from the air , i doubt not , whatsoever my lord bacon say to the contrary . for , first ; it is found upon most , if not all , plants whatsoever , but most copiously amongst our whinns , or prickly broom ; and generally about the joynts and ramulous divisions , because there it is best secured from the heat of the sun , which licks it off the open leaves , or else probably it is imbibed by the full grown and porous leaves of plants , as the mill-dew , and other honey-dews are . secondly , that it is the sole exudation and secrement of plants , i cannot believe : first , because it is never found upon their second growth , nor in eddish : secondly , how should an excrement of so many several plants , still breed one and the same animal , when as we see that all vegetables whatsoever produce their several insects ( as muffet in his 19. and 20. chapters has particularly enumerated . ) i shall not deny but the effluvium's that continually perspire out of all plants whatsoever , may advantage and promote the nutrition of the little insect that breeds therein . for that all vegetables have a constant perspiration , the continual dispersion of their odour makes out ; besides an experimental eviction i shall give you by this singular experiment : 23. of feb. ( — 61. ) we weighed an onyon exactly to two ounces , two scruples and a half , and hanging it up till the 6. of may next following ( at which time it had sprouted out a long shoot ) we then , upon a re-ponderation of it , had lost near two drams of its former weight , which was exhaled by insensible transpiration . observat. xxvi . the cow-lady , or spotted scarabee . it is a very lively and nimble animal : cut off the head , and erect it perpendicular upon the neck ( which must be fasten'd to a bit of soft wax ) and then you shall see those two little small black eyes it hath , sett upon a little short neck ( which is moveable within the former ) either eye sett between three white plates , like polish'd ivory ( two little ones on the one side , and one great one on the other ) her eyes are also foraminulous , and curiously lattic'd like those in a fly formerly describ'd . if you unsheath her body , and take off her spotted short crustaceous wings , you shall find under them another pair of filmy tiffany long wings , like those of flyes , which lye folded up , and cased within the former , of both which pair she makes use in flying ; which being removed , nothing remains to secure the bulk of the body but a thin tender black skin , under which you might most lively see the pulsation of her heart for twelve or fourteen hours , after the head and neck was separated . observat. xxvii . the water-insect , or water-spider . there is a black crustaceous insect with an annular body , and six hairy legs , which moves nimbly upon the water ; the two foremost legs are shorter than the rest by one half , and serve instead of hands to reach any thing to the mouth : she hath two hairy geniculated horns , knotted or joynted at several divisions like knot-grass , or hors-tayl : her body is like frost-work in silver : her eyes black , globular , and foraminulous . observat. xxviii . the wasp-like locust . there is a little small long black insect , which you shall find creeping and leaping amongst pinks , gillyflours , rose-leaves , &c. which in the microscope hath two fair long wings , and is bodied just like a wasp ( from whence i have given her the name of the wasp-locust ) with six or seven annulary divisions , of jett-black and yellow wings : she hath two horns , made of five or six white and black internodium's , very pretty to behold ; either of them arising from a black knobb'd root , with three black legs on either side , and two little black eyes , and , as i ghessed , latticed ; though what art can present distinct parts in that eye which is sett in an animal so small , that the whole bulk of it is no bigger then a little bit of black thread , or hair . they are kill'd with the least touch imaginable . i took them with a pint point dipp'd in spattle , and so glew'd them to the object-plate , as i do stronger insects with a touch of turpentine . observat. xxix . the sycomore-locust . there is a pretty little yellow insect , which is bred , and feeds on the sycomore-leaves , which at first hath no wings , but six leggs and two horns , and runs nimbly up and down : in the glass , i could not onely see its eyes , which are red , globular , goggled and prominent ; but also i could see them very perfectly latticed . she had two horns , which at the ends were slit and bi-furcated : i could , near her shoulders , see the stumps of her growing wings : this at last is transpeciated into a fly with two long wings ; or rather a locust : it consists of annulary circles , and has hairs towards the tayl . observat. xxx . of the little white eels or snigs , in vineger or aleger . they appear like small silver-eels , or little snigs , and some of them as long as my little finger , constantly wrigling and swimming to and fro with a quick , smart , and restless motion . in which smallest of animals these things are most remarkable : first , they are not to be found in all sorts of vineger nor aleger , but onely in such , probably , as has arrived to some peculiar temper or putrefaction , of which i can give you no characteristical signs ; for , i have found them in all sorts of vineger , both in the keenest and smartest , as well as in the weakest and most watrish vineger ; and in all these sorts , you shall sometimes find none at all ; and i have both found them , and also vainly sought them , in the former liquors , at al seasons and times of the year also . secondly , the manner and best way of observing them is , upon a plain piece of white glass , whereon two or three drops of the said liquors are laid ; and so laying that glass on the object-plate , and fitting your microscope to it , you may distinctly see them to play and swim in those little ponds of vineger ( for so big every drop almost seems ) to the very brink and banks of their fluid element . thirdly , nay you may see them ( especially in old aleger ) with the bare eye , if you put a little of it into a clear venice-glass , especially into those pure thin white bubbles , which they call essence-glasses ; you may then see an infinite company of them swimming at the edges of the liquor , nay and in the body of it too , like so many shreds of the purest dutch thread , as if the whole liquor was nothing else but a great shoal or mass of quick eels or hair-worms . i have another advantageous way of discoverance of them to the bare eye also , which is by putting a little of those liquors into a little cylinder of white glass , of a small bore and length , either sealed or closed up with cork and wax at the one end : therein , if you invert this glass cylinder , and often turn it topsy turvy , no liquor will fall out , onely a little bubble of aire will always pass and repass through the inverted liquor , and one pretty thing i have herein observed , that when this bubble has stood in the superiour end of the glass ( and sometimes it would do so for a pretty while together before it broke ) i have seen some of those small snigs or animals on the top of it , crawling over the smooth convexity of the bubble ( like so many eels over a looking-glass ) without breaking thorow the tender cuticle and film of so brittle and thin a substance . fourthly , that as the liquor ( dropt upon your object-plate ) spends and dries up , so you shall see those little quicks to draw nearer and nearer together , and grow feebler in their motion ; and when all the vineger or aleger is dried away , then they lie all dead , twisted and complicated all together , like a knot of eels , and after a little time dry quite away to nothing . fifthly , their heads and tails are smaller then the rest of their bodies ; which is best observed by the microscope , when the liquor wherin they swim is almost spent and dried up , so that their motion thereby is rendred more feeble and weak , or when they lie absolutely dead . sixthly , another remarkable thing , is , their exceeding exiguity ; for certainly of all animals they are the least that can be seen by the bare eye , which is helped and advantaged also by the refraction of the water wherein they swim . seventhly , if you take a spoonful of the foresaid vineger and heat it over a few coals , it presently destroys all the quick's in it , so that you may see them all stretched out at their full length , like a pencil chopt small , or little bits of hairs swimming up and down the liquor , which in a short time will precipitate and all sink down to the bottom of the glass . nay these poor vermin are not onely slain by actual heat , but by a potential one also : for , putting but a few drops of the oyle of vitriol into an essence-glass full of that vineger , it also shortly destroyed them in the same manner as the fire had done before . eighthly , now though heat hath that killing property , yet it seems that cold hath not : for i have taken a jar-glass full of the said vineger , and by applying snow and salt to it , i have artificially frozen all the said liquor into a mass of ice , ( wherein all these animals it seemed lay incrystalled ) though i could discover none of them in it ( though i have taken the icy-mass out on purpose to look at it ) so that now i gave them for gone for ever : yet when i came again ( about two or three hours after ) to uncongeal the liquor , by keeping the glass in my warm hand , when the vineger was again returned to its former liquidity , all my little animals made their re-appearance , and danced and frisked about as lively as ever . nay i have exposed a jar-glass full of this vineger all night to a keen frost , and in the morning have thaw'd the ice again , and these little vermin have appeared again and endured again that strong and long conglaciation without any manifest injury done to them ; which is both a pretty and a strange experiment . ninthly , i have filled an essence-glass half with the said vineger , and half with oyle ( which floated on the vineger ) in a distinct region by it self , and i have observed that in frosty weather when the vineger has been congealed , that all the little eels have run up into the super-incumbent oyle to preserve themselves there , and would not return till some warmth was applyed to the vineger again , and then they would always presently return down into their native liquor again . tenthly , their motion is very remarkable , which is restless and constant , with perpetual undulations and wavings , like eels or snakes ; so that it seems , that animals that come nearest the classis of plants , have the most restless motions . eleventhly , the innumerable number and complicated motion of these minute animals in vineger , may very neatly illustrate the doctrine of the incomparable des-cartes , touching fluidity : ( viz. ) that the particles of all fluid bodies are in a continual and restless motion , and therein consists the true nature of fluidity : for by this ocular example , we see there may be an intestine restless motion in a liquor , notwithstanding that the unassisted eye can discover no such matter , which likewise is evinced by observ. 13. of the mites in meal . observat. xxxi . of the great black snail . in this slimy animal ( the slow-paced engine of nature ) are very many rare and excellent observables . the first is his eyes , which are four in number , ( like black atramentous spots ) fixed to the end of their horns ; or rather to the ends of those black filaments or optick nerves , which are sheathed in her horns which she can retract or protrude , through the hollow trunck of her horns , as she pleaseth . if with your finger you take hold of the tip of her horn when fully extended , and draw out this nervous filament , or then nimbly clip off the extremities of her horns , you shall in the microscope see those 2. black spots to be semi-spherical eyes , like two large blew beads : and we could afterwards also , when she re-extended the stump , clearly perceive it with the bare eye to be tubulous and hollow . and therefore however , though the learned doctor brown ( my ever honoured friend ) hath ranked this conceit of the eyes of a snail ( and especially their quadruplicity ) amongst the vulgar errours of the multitude ; yet through a good microscope , he may easily see his own errour , and nature's most admirable variety in the plurality , paucity , and anomalous situation of eyes , and the various fabrick and motion of that excellent organ ; as our observations will more particularly inform him . if by a dextrous dissection you would see the internal fabrick of this animal , there are many excellent things that will recompence your curiosity . for first , you may find her heart just over against that round hole near her neck ( which doctor harvey ingeniously conjectures to be the place of their respiration ; which hole you may observe to open and shut as she moves or stands still , and out of which i have observed some salivous matter to be evacuated . we have observ'd her heart to beat fairly for a quarter of an hour after her dissection ; afterwards we took out her guts which were of a pure green colour , by reason of the thinness of their film , and transparency of the green juice of hearbs with which they were repleated . they were all diaper'd or branched over with pure white capillary little veins , which ( by help of the microscope ) we could discern to be hollow , with a blackish kind of pith running through the midst of the smallest of them , which doubtless was their nutrimental juice coagulated there , like the bloud starkn'd in the veins of dead animals . they are mouthed like a hare or rabbit , with four or six needle-teeth , like those in leeches . nay this poor animal ( how contemptible soever it may seem ) hath a whole sett of the same parts and organs with other animals , as heart , liver , spleen , stomach , guts , mouth and teeth , veins and arteries : yea and a pair more of the noblest of the senses ( the eyes . ) nay this animal doth autoptically evince us , that , as sanguineous and more perfect animals , have a circulation of their bloud within them ; so this more ignoble creature hath also a circulation of its nutritive humour , which is to it as bloud is to other animals . nay further ( which is the best remarkable of all ) this juice hath not onely a circular motion ; but also the very animal spirits ( by which she moves ) seem to have the like circulation . for , if you observe her with the bare eye to creep up the sides of a glass , you shall see a little stream of clouds , channel up her belly from her tail to her head , which never return again the same way , but probably go backwards again from the head down the back to the tail ; and thus , so long as she is in local motion they retain their circulation , which is a pleasant spectacle . and more pleasant , if you let her creep upon the lower side of your glass-object-plate , and so view that wavy current of spirits through the microscope ; which handsome experiment does not onely prove the spirit 's circular motion , but also ocularly demonstrates that the animal spirits are the soul 's immediate instrument in all loco-motion . now if you reply that it is onely the parts of her body , that moving by a kind of undulation protrude one another forwards , as palmer-worms ( which we call wool-boys , ) and some sort of caterpillars do : to this i answer , that do but intensly observe any one of the former spots or clouds , and you shall see it go quite along from the tail to the head , keeping alwayes an equal distance from the precedent and subsequent spot : so that it is far more ingenious to believe it to be a gale of animal spirits , that , moving from her head along her back to her tail , and thence along her belly to her head again , is the cause of her progressive motion . observat. xxii . of lampreys . the lamprey hath seven holes or cavities , on eiside three or four , and no gills at all , as other fishes have ; whence the common people , through ignorance of these cavities , and their proper use in nature , have affirmed them to be eyes ; an errour so gross and palpable , that it needs not the microscope to refute it : for these holes or sluces do indeed supply the defect of gills , and are assisted by the conduit in the head , for ( like cetaceous animals ) the lamprey hath a fistula , spout or pipe , at the back part of the head , whereat they spirt out water , so that both these cavities and the head-pipe together , do very neatly supply the defect of gills , and execute their office of receiving and ejecting water again . these sluces and the fistula , shoot themselves slopewise , and not straight forwards , into the cavity of her neck . the heart in this animal is very strangely secured , & lies immured or capsulated in a cartilage , or grisly substance , which includes the heart and its auricle , as the scull or pericranium does the brains in other animals ; it is of a horny and transparent substance , of an obtuse conical figure , cemented and glewed as it were on all sides to the pleura , or innermost skin of the thorax ; the cone or obtuse tip of this capsula , butts or shoots it self into the basis of the liver , which to give way thereunto has an oval cavity or hollowness exactly fit to receive it . in this cartilaginous pericardium , or purse of the heart , is likewise the auricle co-included , lying not upon the basis of the heart as in other animals , but laterally adjacent thereunto , insomuch that it being far more flaggy then the heart , they seem to represent the right and left ventricle of the heart . yet is the heart , not onely more solid , but seated in the right side , and the auricle in the left . if the lamprey be laid upon her back , and you gently lift up with a probe , the heart and auricle ; you shall see a fine thin membrane arise , which separates the heart from the auricle , as the falx cerebri does separate the left side of the brain from the right . from this auricle proceeds a little short channel , which perforates this separating membrane , and brings the bloud from the auricle into the heart , we thrust a probe just under this channel betwixt the heart and the auricle , to see the bloud passe from the auricle into the heart ; for at every pulse of the auricle you might see the bloud passe through this channel into the heart ; for alwayes , as the bloud passed through it was blew , and , when empty , pale , and transparent , that i could easily see the probe thorow it . whilest i had the probe in this position , with another instrument and it together , i quite stopped the channel on purpose to hinder the bloud from coming into the heart , which thereupon grew very pale , and in a short time ceased its motion ; the auricle in the interim swelled and was very red . i no sooner opened the channel to let the bloud have a free passage as formerly , but the heart began afresh to beat again . we pricked the heart while it was in its motion with a large pin into the cavity thereof , and at every systole or contraction , we plainly saw a drop of bloud squeez'd and ejected out of that hole . in this animal , you may easily distinguish between the motion of the heart and auricle , for there intercedes the time of a pulse twixt the motion of the auricle and the heart ; and the heart in every diastole is of a fair purple and ruddy colour , and in every systole pale and wan , as is observable in frogs and other fishes also ; where you may see the heart to shift colours by turns , as it receives or ejects the bloud in the performance of the circulation . now the reason of this cartilaginous capsula of the heart in this creature , might be its defect of bones and those costal ribs , which serve others to secure the heart from all external violence ; for , she wanting these , had not nature wisely secured and capsulated the heart in this gristle , it had been subject to all external injuries , which might have hindred the motion , and endangered the life of the animal . this horny capsula , also served instead of a diaphragm to part the lower venter from the thorax . the lamprey likewise hath no bones : for the spine or back-bone , it hath a cartilaginous flexible tube or channel , without any vertebrae or spondyls in it , hollowed or tubulous from one end to the other ; in which lay the spinal marrow , which was of a serous , thin , and milky substance . in some lampreys , i have found the liver ( as doctor brown writes ) of a pure grass-green colour , which remain'd and kept that tincture whilst the animal lived ; but when i had cut it out of the body , and layd it by , it presently turned into a faint olive-colour . besides i have in the beginning of april cut up many lampreys , whose livers were of no such colour at all , but a dull yellow , like that of eels and other fishes . so that in this animal , and snakes also , you may distinctly see the bloud 's circulation . observat. xxxiii . corns of sand , sugar , and salt. it is worth an hour-glass of time to behold the crystal sands that measure it ; for they all seem like fragments of crystal , or alum , perfectly tralucent , of irregular polyhedrical figures , not any one globular ; every corn about the bigness of a nuttmeg , or a walnutt : which from their unequal superficies refracting and reflecting the suns rays , seem here and there of rainbow colours . being layd of a row or train , they seemed like a cawsy of crystal stones , or pure alum lumps : so that now we need not so much wonder with the vulgar philosophers , how so clear and glorious a body as glass , should be made of so durty , opace , and contemptible materials , as ashes and sand ; since now we are taught by this observation that sand , and salt which is in the ashes , the two prime materials thereof , are of themselves so clear and transparent , before they unite into that diaphanous composition . observat. xxxiv . a small atom of quick-silver . an atom of quick-silver ( no bigger then the smallest pins-head ) seemed like a globular looking-glass ) where ( as in a mirrour ) you might see all the circumambient bodies ; the very stancheons and panes in the glass-windows , did most clearly and distinctly appear in it : and whereas , in most other mettals , you may perceive holes , pores , and cavities ; yet in ☿ none at all are discoverable ; the smallest atom whereof , and such an one , as was to the bare eye , tantùm non invisibile , was presented as big as a rounseval-pea , and projecting a shade ; nay , two other atoms of ☿ , which were casually layd on the same plate , and were undiscernable to the bare eye , were fairly presented by our microscope . observat. xxxv . mercurial powders . in those chymical preparations of mercury , which they call turbith-mineral , mercurius vitae , dulcis , sublimate , precipitate , and mercury cosmetical , you may most plainly and distinctly see the globular atoms of current and quick ☿ ; besprinkled all amongst those powders , like so many little stars in the firmament : which shews that those chymical preparations , are not near so purely exalted and prepared , as they are presumed to be ; nor the mercury any way transmuted , but meerly by an atomical division rendred insensible . that subtle and pure yellow powder of mercury , called mercurius vitae , looked like the yolk of an egge boyled hard and crumbled to a gross powder : in it and in that meal-like powder of mercurius cosmeticus , were globules of ☿ plainly discernable . observat. xxxvi . of the seven terrestrial planets , as the chymists call them . viz. ☉ gold , ☽ silver , ♂ steele , ♀ copper , ☿ quick-silver , ♃ tin , ♄ lead . look at a polish'd piece of any of these metals and you shall see them all full of fissures , cavities , and asperities , and irregularities ; but least of all in lead , which is the closest and most compact solid body probably in the world . observat. xxxvii . ribbans of all sorts of colours , silk , satten , silver and mixed . in the silk ribbans , you might plainly see the contexture , how the warp and the weft cross one another at right angles ; and how neatly they are platted , just as in this picture : in satten ribbans , one warp crossed over three or four wefts , most lively and pleasant in cloth of silver , the weft ( being flat wired silver ) that crosses the warp , it makes a fine chequered representation . observat. xxxviii . the small dust , powder , or seeds of the lesser moon-wort . that small pure yellow meal or dust , which you may shake off from ripe moon-wort , appears like a heap of little white round bugles , or seed pearl , and something transparent when the sun shined , like to some other small seeds , with a fiber about every one of them like the semi-circular ribbe in a pompion : so that this experiment hath decided the old quarrel in herbalism , which is the least of seeds ; for though mustard-seed do carry the vogue amongst the people , yet its exiguity is to be respectively understood , of such seeds as extend to large productions ; for we see that the seeds of sweet marjerom and wild poppy , are far lesse ; and the seeds of tobacco so small that a thousand of them make not above one single grain in weight : yet must all give place to the super-exiguity of this farinaceous seed of wort , which is indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the exiguity and smalness whereof may very well be one of the magnolia of nature , somewhat illustrating the great work of the creation , and vast production from nothing . observat. xxxix . the seeds of wall-rue , or white maydenhair . take one of the leafs of wall-rue , ( which hath the blackish scurff sticking to the back side of it ) and lay it upon the object-plate , and you shall see all the seeds look just like a sett of black buttons upon green taffata ; and every button or seed compassed with a circle or ribbe , somewhat resembling a catterpillar : it hath been the opinion of old herbarists , that the capillary plants had no seeds , which errour did rise mee●ly from a popular inadvertency ; for though these plants carry not their seeds in , visible husks , pods , spikes , fruits , &c. yet are they constantly to be found on the back side of their leafs . observat. xl. of the seeds of strawberries . t is strange to see , what several wayes nature produceth and secureth the several seeds of plants ; some are preserved in large pulps , as the seeds of all pomiferous plants . others , besides the circum-involving pulpe , are immured in shells , as all stone-fruit , &c. others , in the lesser pulp of their berries , as mulberries , rasberries , &c. but in strawberries , nature hath put out the seeds , as if they were sproutings from the pulp : for those small specks or protuberances on the outside of the strawberry , are the seeds thereof , and in the microscope look not unlike the strawberry ; some reddish , yellowish , and green colours , as the strawberries themselves are . observat. xli . corn poppy seeds . they are none of them globular , nor of a smooth surface , but all like kidneys in form , and of the seeming bigness of walnuts , and like an hony-comb on the surface , with regular sides and angles , making all of them pentagonal and hexagonal areola's ; and glistering in the sun-shine like tissue , or the foil on the backside of a looking-glass , as is presented in these two figures . some other seeds also looked not unlike them , as henbane , flower of bristow , &c. observat. xlii . the small dust or powder on the pendents of lillies . in all our common garden-lillies ( especially the red and white ) out of the middle of the flower groweth a long style or poyntel , beset round about with small chives , which are tipped with pendents , a single pendent on the head of every chivall pounced over with a small dust or powder , which will cleave to and smut your fingers : this powder ( taken from the yellow lilly ) looks very pleasantly in the microscope , of a golden colour , and somewhat diaphanous : where you may see every atom very distinctly to be of an oval figure , exactly like some sort of seeds : the powder of the white lilly pendents , looks of a pure pale yellow , and like so many pieces of polished amber . observat. xliii . the leafs of several trees and plants . the backside of a rose-tree-leaf , but especially of a sweet brier leaf , looks diaper'd most excellently with silver . the backside of the leaf of english mercury , called bonus henricus , looks , as if rough-cast with silver , and all the ribs are stuck full of round white transparent balls , like innumerable grapes , or oake apples , or a bracelet of crystal ; and we could discover little foot-stalks in many of them , by which they were fastned to the ribs and fibers of the leaf , which is a very pleasant spectacle . a leaf of rue looks all full of holes like an hony-comb . a sage leaf looks like a white rugge , or shagge , full of knots , tassel'd all with white silver thrums , and one or two fine round crystal beads or pendents , as big as peas , fastned to every knot . observat. xliv . pink-pendents . the chives which grow out of red pinks , and which are tipped with red pendents , besmeared over with a small mealy powder , look very pleasantly in the glass ; for every pendent looks like a red taffata cushionet , all beset and sprinkled over with round white beads , or grumwel-seed . observat. xlv . of nettles . look at the backside of a nettle-leaf , and you shall see it all full of needles , or rather long sharp transparent pikes , and every needle hath a crystal pummel , so that it looks like a sword-cutler's shop , full of glittering drawn swords , tucks , and daggers ; so that here you may autoptically see the causes , as well as you have formerly felt the effects , of their netling . something like them , appear the prickles on borrage-leafs and stalks . observat. xlvi . gilla theophrasti . it looks pleasantly , like a diaphanous heap of icycles or stiriated niter ; but not altogether so regularly figured : but most of them are oblong particles , angular , and pointed , which may perchance exstimulate the stomach , ( by its netling pungency ) like a heap of needles , and so promote its vomitory operation . observat. xlvii . a nitt . a nitt is an egge glewed by some viscous matter to the sides of the hair it sticks to ; it is oval in shape , white in colour , and full of transparent liquor or gelly , and seems to be cased in a brittle shell by the crackling it makes 'twixt your nails . in the same manner appears a nitt in a horse's hair : muffet will needs have it a quick , or rudely-shaped animal . thus discursive argumentation and rational probabilities mislead men in the wilderness of enquiry ; but he that travels by the clew , which his own sense and ocular observation has spun out , is likeliest to trace the securest path , and go furthest into the maze and labyrinth of truth . observat. xlviii . a line drawn upon paper . as these dioptrical glasses , do heighten and illustrate the works of nature , so do they on the other side , disparage and depretiate those of art : for as they shew the incomparable exactness of the former , so do they discover the flaws and deficiencies of the latter ; for a right line either printed or drawn never so neatly upon paper appears all ragged , indented , and discontinued by the rugosities and seeming protuberances of the paper , in which likewise you may see whole clouds , as it were , of raggs , the primitive materials thereof . i had a rarity bestowed on me by master taylor ( once a famous scrivener in these parts ) which is , the lords prayer and creed writ in words at length , and a breviate also of the ten commandments , and all couched ( but distinctly writ ) in the compass of a single penny . in the microscope you might read it all , as if it were writ in text hand , but all the letters appeared ( as we have observed of the line ) crooked and unhandsome ; so inartificial is art when she is pinched and streitned in her workmanship . observat. xlix . the sparks of flint and steel . take a good steel and flint , and strike fire over a white sheet of paper , and observe diligently where some eminent spark falls ; for there you shall find a little dark spot or moat , no bigger then a pins point , which through our microscope did appear to be a perfectly round ball polished like steel or glass , insomuch that i could see the image of the window , and the motion of my hand reflected from it . what this polished atom is , master hook has ingeniously conjectured , viz. that it is a parcel of the flint or steel , or both ; which by so violent a percussion is made so glowing hot , that 't is melted into glass : for first , i observed that it was perfectly globular , and exactly like those glassy cindars , which are melted at the iron-forges . secondly , that it was none of the atoms of the steel or stone , grated off by collision ; for those you might easily see were distinguishable from it ; now that so little a stroak , and so small a fire can vitrify , will be better understood by him that knows , how small a heat at a lamp-furnace will melt glass : i have small capillary glass-tubes , which will melt immediately like wax , if you hold them but near the flame of a common candle , without any blast at all ; by which artifice i make small syphons , for the tryal of many notable experiments , of which i have treated at large in our mercurial experiments . this further i shall adde of flint , that in it you shall see small sparks of diamonds angular , and growing out of the stone as out of a mineral bed . observat. l. of hair. we slit a black horse's hair with a rasor , and perceived it to be hollow , with a white streak like pith in the middle of it ; it seemed as big as a rush , and like a rush slit length-wayes into two . they are none of them cylindrical , but angular and corner'd , which you may even perceive by your fingers , by twirling a horse-hair in them : now though borrelius , and some of our anatomists , as bartholin , riolan , &c. say the like of the hairs of a mans head , that they also are hollow within , and angular and corner'd without : yet i could never perceive neither the one nor the other in any of the microscopes i have seen , though i have tried it in four excellent ones , the worst whereof i am confident was better then that of borrels : in all which , i could perceive nothing of an hair , but that it was like a thin horn something diaphanous ( especially in the full sun ) which diaphanity might perchance hinder the appearance both of its cavity and angularity also : for i my self have little glass pipes of so little a cylinder , and so small a bore , that their hollowness to the bare eye is utterly imperceptible . and since the bristles and quils in other animals are sensibly hollow , which are analogous to the hairs in a man ; i doubt not , but every one of our hairs is hollow also , which though our glasses ( by reason of their transparency ) cannot present , yet it is palpably evinced by an odde experiment in poland , where there is a disease ( they call the plica ) which makes the very hairs of their heads drop bloud at the ends , and if cut any where , to drop bloud there also ; which infallibly proves the tubulous cavity of them . besides , we see the hairs do grain and fork themselves , ( when grown too long ) which is a sign also of their hollowness . what , shall we judge them too small to be perforated by nature ? since we see she has perforated vessels within the body , as small as hairs , as the venae lacteae , and lymphae-ducts ; nay , since we see that art can blow a glass hollow , and yet as small as hair ; and your wire-drawers know , that if they take a short piece of wire , as thick as a quill , and drill it through , that then though they draw it out to the smalness of a hair , yet wil it still remain hollow quite through in despite of their wurdle : which is as great a miracle in that engine , as that the like wire once gilt , shall remain perfectly gilt all over , though it be drawn five hundred yards longer than it was at first ; which is an experimental truth , and the dayly practice of our wire-drawers in london . so that the conclusion of this observation may be this , that every hair of our head is as a little quill or horn , hollow and transparent . which seems to be further avouched also by the burning of hair ; for there you may perceive the same odour and smell , as of burnt horn ; and the chymists , as i remember , draw out of hair a volatile spirit , exactly like that of harts-horn : both which experiments do prove an homogeneity and similarity of their substance . observat. li. of aromatical , electrical , and magnetical effluxions . some with a magisterial confidence do rant so high as to tell us , that there are glasses , which will represent not onely the aromatical and electrical effluxions of bodies , but even the subtile effluviums of the load-stone it self , whose exspirations ( saith doctor highmore ) some by the help of glasses have seen in the form of a mist to flow from the load-stone . this experiment indeed would be an incomparable eviction of the corporeity of magnetical effluviums , and sensibly decide the controversie 'twixt the peripatetick and atomical philosophers . but i am sure he had better eyes , or else better glasses , or both , then ever i saw , that performed so subtle an experiment : for the best glasses that ever i saw , would not represent to me , the evaporations of camphire ( which spends it self by continually effluviating its own component particles ; ) nay , i could never see the grosser steams that continually perspire out of our own bodies , which you see will foil and besmear a polished glass at any time ; and which are the fuliginous eructations of that internal fire , that constantly burns within us . indeed if our diopticks could attain to that curiosity as to grind us such glasses , as would present the effluviums of the magnet , we might hazard at last the discovery of spiritualities themselves : however it would be of incomparable use to our modern corpuscularian philosophers , who have banished qualities out of the list of the predicaments . and truly , as the learned doctor brown hath it ; the doctrine of effluxions , their penetrating natures , their invisible paths , and unsuspected effects , are very considerable : for ( besides the magnetical one of the earth ) several effusions there may be from divers other bodies , which invisibly act their parts at any time , and perhaps through any medium : a part of philosophy but yet in discovery ; and will , i fear , prove the last leaf to be turned over in the book of nature . some considerations , corollaries , and deductions , anatomical , physical , and optical , drawn from the former experiments and observations . first , therefore , it is ocularly manifest from the former observations , that , as perfect animals have an incessant motion of their heart , and circulation of their bloud ( first discovered by the illustrious doctor harvey ; ) so in these puny automata , and exsanguineous pieces of nature , there is the same pulsing organ , and circulation of their nutritive humour also : as is demonstrated by observ . fourth , sixth , seventeenth , &c. nay , by observ . sixth , it is plain that a louse is a sanguineous animal , and hath both an heart and auricles , the one manifestly preceding the pulse of the other ; and hath a purple liquor or bloud , which circulates in her ( as the noblest sort of animals have ) which though it be onely conspicuous in its greatest bulk , at the heart , yet certainly it is carried up and down in circulatory vessels ; which veins and arteries are so exceeding little , that both they and their liquor are insensible : for certainly , if we can at a lamp-furnace draw out such small capillary pipes of glass that the reddest liquor in the world shall not be seen in them ( which i have often tried and done ; ) how much more curiously can nature weave the vessels of the body ; nay , and bore them too with such a drill , as the art of man cannot excogitate : besides , we see , even in our own eyes , that the sanguineous vessels that run along the white of the eye ( nay and probably into the diaphanous humours also ) are not discernable , but when they are preter-naturally distended in an ophthalmia , and so grow turgent and conspicuous . to which we may adde , that in most quick fish , though you cut a piece of their flesh off , yet will no bloud be discernable , though they be sanguineous animals ; but the bloud is so divided by the minuteness of their capillary vessels , or percribration through the habit of the parts , that either it has lost its redness , or our eyes are not able to discover its tincture . secondly , it is observable also from the former experiments , that in these minute animals their nutritive liquor never arises to the perfection of bloud , but continually as it were remains chyle within them , for want of a higher heat to dye it into that spirituous liquor : nay , you shall observe in perfect sanguineous animals a circulation of an albugineous chylie-matter ( before the bloud have a being ) if you take nature at the rise , and critically observe her in her rudimental and obscure beginnings . for view but an egge , ( after the second day's incubation , and you shall see the cicatricula in the yolk , dilated to the breadth of a groat or six-pence into transparent concentrical circles ; in the centre whereof is a white spot , with small white threads , ( which in futurity proves the heart with its veins and arteries ) but at present both its motion and circulation is undiscernable to the bare eye , by reason of the feebleness thereof , and also because both the liquor and its vessels were concolour to the white of the eggs they swum in ; but the heart does circulate this serous diaphanous liquor , before ( by a higher heat ) it be turned into bloud . and one thing here i am tempted to annex , which is a pretty and beneficial observation of the microscope , and that is , that as soon as ever you can see this red pulsing particle appear ( which doctor harvey conceited , not to be the heart , but one of its auricles ) you shall most distinctly see it , to be the whole heart with both auricles and both ventricles , the one manifestly preceding the pulse of the other ( which two motions the bare eye judges to be synchronical ) and without any interloping perisystole at all : so admirable is every organ of this machine of ours framed , that every part within us is intirely made , when the whole organ seems too little to have any parts at all . thirdly , it is peculiarly remarkable from observation xxxi . that not onely the bloud in perfect animals , and the chyle in imperfect ones ; but also the animal spirits have a circulation , which singular observation hath often provoked and entised our endeavours into a further enquiry after the nature of these spirits , as to their origin or generation , their activity and motion , with some other eminent properties belonging to them : we shall draw our thoughts together , and so present them to your view : i will not say , that our discourse hereon , shall pass for an un-controllable authentick truth ; it is all my ambition if it attain but to the favourable reception of a rational hypothesis at last . a digression of the animal spirits . first , then , we have not those narrow conceptions of these subtle spirits to think that they are onely included within the bodies of animals , or generated ( much less created ) there , but we doe believe that they are universally diffused throughout all bodies in the world , and that nature at first created this aetherial substance or subtle particles , and diffused them throughout the universe , to give fermentation and concretion to minerals ; vegetation and maturation to plants ; life , sense , and motion to animals ; and indeed , to be the main ( though invisible ) agent in all natures three kingdoms mineral , vegetal , and animal . and lest they should ( because of their exceeding volatility and activity ) be of little or no use , nature hath immersed them in grosser matter , and imprisoned them in several bodies , with which she has intermixed them , the better to curb the boundless activity of so thin and spirituous a substance , and therefore the spirits ( of all compound bodies especially ) ought to be considered under a triple notion : viz. under the state of 1. fixation . 2. fusion . 3. volatilization . first of fixation , when they are so complicated with the grosser particles of matter , and lockt therein so fast , that they can hardly be separated , and dis-imprisoned as in minerals , but most especially in gold. secondly , the state of fusion , i call that , when the spirits by any kind of help have so wrought themselves towards a liberty , that they are in the middle way to volatility , as in half-concocted minerals , fermenting vapours or liquors , and half-ripned fruits , &c. thirdly , the spirits are in their third state of volatility , when after a colluctancy with the grosser particles they have so subjugated and overcome them , that they are just upon wings , and ready to fly away ; as in wine when it is in the height of its fermentation , and in some part of our arterial bloud alwayes . now we observe that those bodies that relax and open the grosser composition of other bodies , do presently create a fermentation ; for , being like so many keys , they set the imprisoned spirits at liberty , which presently fall on working , and by attenuating the grosser parts , separating the heterogeneous , volatilizing some , precipitating of others , digesting of others , expelling of others , do at last mould it and work it to such a body , as the parts of it are fit to make up : in all which interval of time , there is a palpable and sensible heat produced : thus this spirit being embowelled in the earth , and meeting there with convenient matter and adjuvant causes , doth proceed to produce minerals , creating an actual heat , wheresoever it operates , as in allum or copperase mines , which being broken , exposed , and moistned , will gather an actual heat , and produce much more of those minerals , then else the mine would yield , as agricola and thurniseer do affirm , and is proved by common experience . the like is generally observed in mines , as agricola , erastus , and ●ibanius , &c. do affirm and avouch out of the dayly experience of mineral men , who affirm , that in most places they find their mines so hot , as they can hardly touch them ; although it is likely that , where they work for perfect minerals , the heat which was in fermentation whilst they were yet in breeding , is now much abated , the mineral being grown to their perfection , as the skilful and excellent doctor jordan very well infers . the like heat we observe constantly to be in our cole-pits : nay , we sometimes observe in our brass-lumps ( as our colliers call them ) which is a kind of marcasite , a very great heat ; for being exposed to the moist air , or sprinkled with water , they will smoak and grow exceeding hot ; and if they be layd up on a heap and watered , they will turn into a glowing red hot fire , as i have seen them my self . and it was a casualty once terrible to our neighbour-town of ealand ; for there , one wilson a patient of mine , having pil'd up many cart-loads of these brass-lumps in a barn of his , ( for some secret purposes of his own ) the roof letting rain-water fall copiously in amongst them , they all began to smoak , and at last to take fire , and burnt like red hot coals ; so that the town was in an uproar about quenching of them ; and one thing further i took special notice of in this unlucky experiment , that the water which drained from the quenching of them , left little pieces and crystals of copperase sticking all along to the piles of grass , that grew in the croft it run down . thus antimony and sublimate being mixed together , will grow so hot ( the one relaxing the fermenting spirit in the other ) that they are not to be touched . thus in the corrosion of mettals by aqua fortis , what a strong heat is there in the liquor , and what a steam constantly evaporates during their fermentation . in the commixtion of oyl of vitriol with oyl of tartar per deliquium , what a violent heat and effervescence do presently arise , besides a sharp and acrimonious vapour that strikes our nostrils . nay , and we see our subterraneous damps do sometimes with intermixtion with the moist air , grow to that over-height of fermentation , that they fire of themselves and strike down all before them . thus the spirit of niter mixed with butter of antimony , grows so hot , that it is ready to rise in a flame . thus certainly do all baths receive their heat from mineral vapours , or the minerals themselves , being in solutis principiis , and so the fermenting spirit sets a playing in them , as the learned doctor jordan did most rationally conjecture . this universal fermenting spirit does not onely play these feats in the mineral ; but also operates in the same manner in the vegetable kingdome , which we ocularly behold in the artifice of malt , where the grains of barly being moistned with water , the parts are relaxed , the internal spirits in them are dilated , and put into action ; and the superfluity of water being removed ( which might choak it ) and the barly being layd up in heaps , the fermentation and heat presently appears , with a kind of vinous steam and effluviums which passe from it , and therefore it shoots forth into spires . thus we see in wet-hay , how the spirits work not onely to a heat , but ( if they be not cooled and prevented by ventilation ) they break out into a flame also ; nay , in all vegetables there is this constant heat ( though it be below our sensation ) as it is in some fishes and colder animals also , and a constant steam and transpiration of particles , as we have experimentally proved in our xxv . observation . and now let us pursue these spirits into the animal kingdom , and we shall see that they have the like effects and operations there also , as is formerly observed ; onely , being there in greater plenty , and more purely refined , and in a constant state of fusion and volatility , they work nobler effects . now the spirits that are lodged in all the meats and drinks we receive , being more or less fixed therein ; what does the soul , but ( like an excellent chymist ) in this internal laboratory of man , by a fermentation of our nourishment in the stomach and guts , a filtration thereof through the lacteae , a digestion in the heart , a circulation and rectification in the veins and arteries : what does she , i say , by these several physico-chymical operations , but strive all this while to unfix , exalt , and volatilize the spirits conteined in our nutriment , that so they may be transmitted to the brain , and its divarications , and in that reconditory kept and reposited for her use and service . so that these we now call animal spirits are the purest , subtlest , and most volatile particles and activest atoms of the bloud , which by continual pulsation of the heart are carried with the bloud by the carotidal arteries up into the brain , and there by that lax and boggy substance are imbibed and separated from the bloud , and thence by the spinal marrow and nerves transmitted to all the parts of the body . now as the chyle is perfected in the stomach and guts , and their appendent vessels , the lacteal veins ; and as the bloud is perfected in the heart , and it s annexed vessels , the veins and arteries : so the animal spirits are separated , preserved , and perfected in the brain , with its continued trunk and branches , viz. the spinal marrow , nerves , and fibers , for the uses hereafter to be declared . now the two former liquors , the chyle and the bloud ( because of their grosser liquidity ) need to be conveyed in hollow pipes and channels ( viz. the veins and arteries ; ) but the spirits which is the quintessence of them both , can easily pass by a swift filtration , through the brain , spinal marrow , and nerves , membranes , and fibers , which are as it were the cords , sayls , and tackling , to move this engine or vessel we call the body . nay , though we can give you no sensible eviction of it , why may not all those long filaments of which the substance of the brain , spinal marrow , and nerves consists , be tubulous and hollow ; so that the animal-spirits may be channelled through them , as the bloud through the veins and arteries ? i am sure , we see by observation xxxi . and l. what infinitely small filaments and vessels there are in animals , and yet all tubulous and perforated ; so that the suddain inflation of all those capillary threads or pipes , may serve for motion of the body , and the constant though flower filtration of the spirits through their coats and cylindrical membranes may serve for sensation . so that it seems , this cottage of clay , with all its furniture within it , was but made in subserviency to the animal spirits ; for the extraction , separation , and depuration of which , the whole body , and all the organs and utensils therein are but instrumentally contrived , and preparatorily designed . just as the chymical elaboratory with all its furnaces , crucibles , stills , retorts , cucurbits , matrats , bolt-heads , pelicans , &c. were made for no other end by the ingenious chymist , than for the extraction and depuration of his spirits and quintessences ( which he draws from those bodies he deals with ) in the obtainment of which he hath come to the ultimate design of his indeavours . now as in minerals and vegetables the colluctancy of these fermenting spirits with the grosser matter , does both create a constant heat and evaporation of atoms : so in animals , the like is more eminently conspicuous , to wit the vital heat , or calidum innatum , and those fuliginous effluviums which pass constantly out of us by insensible transpiration ; which sanctorius hath proved to exceed the bulk and weight of all our sensible evacuations whatsoever . having thus demonstrated how the soul obtains these spirits after her several operations of digestion , chylification , sanguification , circulation , &c. the like now let us see what use she makes of so pretious a substance . first , therefore we affirm , that this thin and spirituous matter , which is called the animal spirits , is the immediate instrument of the soul , in all her operations both of sense and motion . first , for sense , it is plain by what is discovered in a vertigo ; for the brain it self is not of such a fluid substance , as to turn round , and make all objects to do so too ; wherefore t is a sign that the immediate corporeal instrument of conveying the images of things , is the spirits in the brain . secondly , that they are the chief engine of sight , is plain ; not onely because the eye is full of these livid spirits , but also because dimness of sight comes from deficiency of them , though the parts of the eye otherwayes be entire enough , as in sick and old persons , and in those troubled with an amaurosis , or gutta serena . i had the last year a patient , a young boy of seventeen years old , who fell casually stark blind of his right eye ; in which you could outwardly discover no fault at all ( the disease being an amaurosis , or obstruction of the optick nerve ) for , that nerve being by successful means disobstructed and relaxed , so that the animal spirits were able to flow done to the retina again , he shortly after perfectly recovered his sight again , without any relapse at all , to this present day . thirdly , if you cast a ligature upon any nerve , you destroy both the sense and motion of that part whither that nerve was propagated ( as by that pleasant experiment by tying the recurrent nerves in a living dogg , we have tryed ) till by relaxing the ligature the spirits may have the freedome to channel into the nerves again : which truth is also handsomely made out , by that ordinary example of a mans leg being asleep ( as we call it ) for by compression of the nerves , the propagation of the spirits into the part is hindred ; for , as sense and motion is restored , you may feel something creep into the leg , tingling and stinging like pismires ( as spigelius compares it ) which is the return of the animal spirits into that part again . fourthly , that spontaneous motion is performed by continuation of the animal spirits , from the common sensorium to the muscle , ( which is the gross engine of motion ) is sensibly evinced in dead palsies , where one side is taken away . to all which add , the former observation of the spirits circumundulation when the snail at any time moved , and of their joint quiescency together . having now shown you how these animal spirits are generated in our body , or , to speak more properly , disimprisoned and separated from our nutriment , and so from fixation , brought through fusion to volatilization ; having also shown you what use nature makes of them in sensation and motion : let us screw our enquiry a little further , and see if we can discover how the spirits move in the brain and nerves , to perform the same operations . first , therefore , we affirm that a lesser quantity and slower motion of the spirits is required for sensation , than there is for motion ; for in this the muscle swells that moves the part , which is a plain indication of a greater influx of spirits directed thither ; a greater , i say , for i do not deny but there is required to sensation a moderate quantity and diffusion of the spirits into all the parts of the body , else we should alwayes be benummed and stupid ( as when our leg is asleep ) by an interception of the spirits . secondly , that their motion is slower in sensation then motion ; the former experiment of the snail does also manifest : whose animal spirits never begin to undulate till she begin to move , whereas she is sensible when they are in quiescency , as you may , by pricking her with a needle , easily observe . thirdly , in the return of the spirits into the stupefied leg , we plainly perceive by the prickling , what a flow motion the spirits have . all which phaenomena do seem to favour our former conjecture , that for motion the spirits move impetuously down the nervous filaments , ( which are hollow ; ) but for sensation they onely creep by a filtration down their coats and membranes . now these spirits being so subtle and dissipable , the soul spends them every day in using of them , and they being much spent , she can hardly move the body any longer : the sense whereof we call lassitude ; for certainly , as doctor more very ingeniously inferrs , if it were an immediate faculty of the soul to contribute motion to any matter ; i do not understand ( that faculty never failing nor diminishing , no more than the soul it self can fail or diminish ) that we should ever be weary . thus are the phaenomena of sense and motion best salved , whilst we are awake ; now what happens when we sleep , is a matter of further enquiry : some have defined sleep to be a migration of all the spirits out of the brain , into the exteriour parts of the body ; whereas by our former observations , it may rather seem to the contrary ; that is , the retraction of the spirits into the brain , or at least a restagnation of them in the nervous parts , does ( till nature being recruited by a new supply and regeneration of them in the brain ) direct them into the spinal marrow and nerves , which being replenished with them again , they run their current as before ; so the whole animal thereby is made capable of feeling the impulses of any external object whatever ( which we call , walking ) and during this interval and non-tearm of sensation ( for so we may without a complement call sleep ) why may not the soul be retracted , and wholly intent upon , and busied about , her vegetative and plastical operations ? so that when she has locked up the doors of this laboratory the body , she may be busie in augmenting , repairing , and regenerating all the organs and utensils within , and painting and plaistring the walls without . this i am sure we observe to be the greatest part of her obscure employment in the womb , where the embryo for the most part sleeps , whilst the soul is in full exercise of her plastick and organo-poïetical faculty . now these animal spirits being continually transmitted from the brain , through the spinal marrow , nerves , tendons , & fibers , into all the parts of the body ( especially whilst we are awaking ) may , some of them at least , have a kind of circulation ; for those which perspire not , having lost their motion , may either mix with the bloud in habitu partium , or relapse into a kind of insipid phlegm , as chymical spirits do , that are not purely rectified , and to be returned back by the lymphiducts again . lastly , i have but one paradoxical and extravagant quaere to make , and that is this ; that since we have proved these animal spirits to be the ultimate result of all the concoctions of the body , the very top and perfection of all nature's operations , the purest and most aetherial particles of all bodies in the world whatsoever , ( and so consequently of nearest alliance to spiritualities ) and the sole and immediate instrument of all the soul's operations here , even in statu conjuncto ( the body and the organs thereof , being but secondary and subservient instruments to the spirits : ) these things being thus premised , may it not be probable enough that these spirits in the other world , shall onely be the soul's vehicle and habit , and indeed really that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mentioned by the apostle ; by a vital re-union with which , it may supereminently out-act all that ever she was able to do in this earthly prison and heavy cottage of the body ; since also ( which i may super-adde ) those volatile spirits ( being freed by a constant and perpetual dissipation from the body ) are diffused through this great aetherial ocean , as into their proper element , ready to be united to the soul at the instant of her separation . fourth deduction . fourthly , the physiologist also may gather something from the former observations , touching the nature of colours ; that they are indeed nothing but the various modification of light. for most , if not all , bodies in their minute particles ( through which the sun's rays have more freedome to penetrate ) seem to lose their colours , and grow diaphanous , as you may observe in the microscope . secondly , is it not shrewdly probable , that since motion is the cause of sight , ( which is nothing else , but the impulse that the luminous atoms make upon the retina : ) is it not , i say , shrewdly probable , that colours are nothing else but a various modification of this motion , since we see that they are both naturally and artificially made by light , to which we can imagine nothing to be added or deducted to super-induce those fine tinctures as in the rain-bow , the prisme , crystal pendents , glass-globes filled full of water , and in those arenulous atoms in the former experiment xxxiii . except some change in the motion of the luminous atoms , which must necessarily follow from the diversities of objects and mediums they either hit upon or pass thorow ; and so consequently do either accelerate or retardate the solary atoms in their dinetical and progressive motion ; whence arises both the diversity and variety of all colours whatsoever , as that profoundest master of mechanicks ( des-cartes ) hath both subtilly excogitated , and ingeniously illustrated by the prisme . to which we shall add some further experimental eviction : first , if the hole ( through which the species is transmitted into a dark room ) be covered with a leaf of beaten gold , it will not onely look of a pure green colour , but all the light trajected through it will put on the same tincture . secondly , if with a prisme you strike the rainbow-colours upon a wall , and observing where a red is projected , you there place an eye , the spectator shall judge it to be another colour ; because that the solary atoms , which shot through the prisme upon the wall , and there painted that colour , being again and again refracted by the diaphanous humours of the eye , must needs , in all reason , exchange their motion , and so consequently paint the retina with another colour : both which experiments shew , that colour is nothing else but the modification of light , which by the alteration of its motion is dyed into colours . the like artificial alteration of the colours may be made by interposing a burning-glass 'twixt the prisme and the light , and 'twixt the prisme and the paper . but this cartesian theory of colours we shall further make out by several experiments in the extraction , commixtion , and transcoloration of tinctures . first therefore , if into the infusion of violets you put some few drops of the oyl of tartar per deliquium , it will presently strike it into a green tincture : now , if instead of that oyl you put in oyl of vitriol , it strikes it into a purple colour : to which if you super-add some drops of spirit of harts-horn , it strikes it green again . secondly , if into the tincture of dryed roses ( drawn in hot-water with oyl of vitriol after the usual manner ) you drop a few drops of spirit of harts-horn , or of urine , or of oyl of tartar per deliquium , it will presently strike the red into a green colour ; which by a super-addition of the oyl of vitriol , you may re-tincture as before . thirdly , if into an infusion of copperose you shave a little gall , it presently puts on a sable inky colour ; into which if you put a few drops of the spirit or oyl of vitriol , it strikes out the colour immediately , and the water becomes white again ; to which if you super-add a few drops of oyl of tartar per deliquium , it re-denigrates it again . thus a glass of the sweet-spaw-water also , upon the infusion of gall , turns into a claret-colour : but if you drop but a little of the said oyl or spirit into it , it presently eats out the colour , and the water returns to its primitive clearness again . draw a faint tincture of brasil wood , bruised or rasped in luke-warm water , filter it , and clarifie it ; then if you add a little sharp vineger to a good quantity of it , it will strike it into the exact colour of good stale english beer , and it will partly have the smell of it also . secondly , if into another quantity of the said reddish infusion you add a few drops of the oyl of tartar per deliquium , it will turn it to a pure purplish red , like excellent claret . thirdly , if into this artificial claret you drop a few drops of the oyl of vitriol , it will turn it into a pale amber colour ( like sack as may be ) which with addition of fair water you may empale as you please . by which ingenious commixtion of spirits and liquors did floram marchand , that famous water-drinker , exhibit those rare tricks and curiosity's at london , of vomiting all kind of liquors at his mouth . for , first ; before he mounts the stage , he alwayes drinks in his private chamber , fasting , a gill of the decoction of brasil ; then making his appearance , he presents you with a pail full of luke-warm water , and twelve or thirteen glasses , some washed in vineger , others with oyl of tartar , and oyl of vitriol ; then he drinks four and twenty glasses of the water , and carefully taking up the glasse which was washed with oyl of tartar , he vomits a reddish liquor into it , which presently is brightned up and ting'd into perfect and lovely claret . after this first assay , he drinks six or seven glasses more ( the better to provoke his vomiting ) as also the more to dilute and empale the brasil decoction within him , and then he takes a glass rinsed in vineger , and vomits it full , which instantly , by its acidity is transcoloured into english beer ; and vomiting also at the same time into another glass ( which he washes in fair water ) he presents the spectators with a glass of paler claret , or burgundian wine ; then drinking again as before , he picks out the glass washed with oyl of vitriol , and vomiting a faint brasil-water into it , it presently appears to be sack ; and perchance if he wash'd the one half of the glass with spirit of sack , it would have a faint odour and flavour of that wine also . he then begins his carouse again , and drinking fifteen or sixteen glasses , till he has almost extinguished the strength and tincture of his brasil water , he then vomits into a vineger-glass again , and that presents white wine . at the next disgorgement ( when his stomack is full of nothing but clear water indeed ( which he has fill'd so , by the exceeding quantity of water which at every interval he drinks ) he then deludes the spectators by vomiting rose water , angelica water , and cinamon water into those glasses which have been formerly washed with those spirits . and thus was that famous cheat perform'd , and indeed acted with such a port and flowing grace , by that italian bravado , that he did not onely strike an admiration into vulgar heads , and common spectators , but even into the judicious and more knowing part of men , who could not readily find out the ingenuity of his knavery . the chymical elaboratories likewise do teach us this truth in fumes and smoaks , as well as liquors ( which indeed are but rarified and expaused liquors ; ) for niter it self , though nothing a kin to redness doth in distillation yield bloud-red fumes ( called by the chymists salamanders-bloud ) which fall again into a liquor which hath nothing of red in it . so soot ( though black ) yet when it is pressed and forced up into an exhalation by a strong fire , will fill the receiver with milk white fumes ; thus sall-armoniack , and black antimony , being equally mixed and gradually sublimed in an urinal , will exhibit a scene of colours , and will make a transition out of one into another with a delectable variety . by all which pleasant observations , it palpably appears that the nature of colours consists in the free admission , transition , refraction , or reflection of light , from the objects discoloured ; for first , you see several colours introduced into liquors by those ingredients , that neither had nor could communicate any such tincture . secondly , 't is as plain , that the minute particles and atoms of those bodies that were imbibed by the liquors , and filled up their smallest cavities or interstices , accordingly as they were altered in their site , position , and motion ; so were the luminous beams variously transmitted , refracted , or reflected , and so consequently thence resulted those several scenes of colours . thus when the atoms wherewith the liquor is fully impregnated do relax and open themselves , that the light may fairly penetrate , then is the liquor limpid and clear ; but if they draw up a little closer one to another , so that the light be refracted , then is the liquor yellow ; if closer yet to a greater refraction of the light , then is the liquor red : but if in this randezvouz they draw up into a very close body indeed , so that by reason of their contiguity , both in rank and file , no light can be trajected through them ; then opacity and darkness arises : if the rays cannot break the front of them , then is a milky-whiteness presented there . the fifth corollary ▪ anatomical considerations about the eye . our next reflections shall be made upon the eye , to admire as well as contemplate nature's variety in the constructure and conformation of so excellent an organ : the two luminaries of our microcosm , which see all other things , cannot see themselves , nor discover the excellencies of their own fabrick : nature , that excellent mistress of the opticks , seems to have run through all the conick sections , in shaping and figuring its parts ; and dioptrical artists have almost ground both their brain and tools in pieces , to find out the arches and convexities of its prime parts , and are yet at a loss , to find their true figurations , whereby to advance the fabrick of their telescopes and microscopes : which practical part of opticks is but yet in the rise ; but if it run on as successfully as it has begun , our posterity may come by glasses to out-see the sun , and discover bodies in the remote universe , that lie in vortexes , beyond the reach of the great luminary . at present let us be content with what our microscope demonstrates ; and the former observations , i am sure , will give all ingenious persons great occasion , both to admire nature's anomaly in the fabrick , as well as in the number of eyes , which she has given to several animals : we see the tunica cornea in most insects is full of perforations , as if it were a tunica vvea pinked full of holes , and whereas perfect animals , have but one aperture , these insects have a thousand pupils , and so see a hemisphere at once : and indeed 't is worth our consideration to think , that since their eye is perfectly fixed , and can move no wayes ; it was requisite to lattice that window , and supply the defect of its motion , with the multiplicity of its apertures , that so they might see at once what we can but do at several times , our eyes having the liberty and advantage to move every way ( like balls in sockets ) which theirs have not . secondly , we observe no diaphanous parts in those lattic'd eyes , since it is probable , that the horney coat of the eye serves also for a pericranium for their brain : for , that the brain of most insects lies in their eyes , seems to me more than a probability . first , because in flies , butter-flies , bees , &c. you can find no other place in their heads , wherein any matter analogous to the brain , can be lodged . secondly , in the eyes of those insects you shall alwayes find great store of a pulpous substance , like to be brain in those creatures . thirdly , the eyes in all insects are very large , and seem disproportional to so small bodies , if intended for no other use than vision . fourthly , why may not this lattic'd film of their eye be their tunica retina , which as it is concave in us , is convex in them ; and as it is made of the brain in us , so it is in them , and therefore lies contiguous to it , and may indeed be over-cast , by a transparent cornea , through which the net-work of this interiour film may thus eminently appear ; for certainly such animals as have distinction of senses , as seeing , feeling , &c. must needs have an animal-sensation ; an animal , i say , for i hold also a natural sensation , which is performed without a brain , and such an one is discoverable even in animals , and in our own selves ; for besides the animal-sensation ( whose original is in the brain ) the stomach , guts , and the parenchymata of the body , yea and the bloud too has a natural sensation of what is good , and what is bad for them , as doctour harvey has excellently proved , lib. de gener. and so some of the lowest rank of animals ( as the zoophyta and plant-animals ) may perchance be utterly devoid of animal , and have onely a natural sensation ; but this belongeth to some anatomical observations i have by me , where i may perchance prove that all vegetables ( as well as the sensitive and humble plants ) have this latter kind of sensation , as well as animals . but let us return to the eye again , of which curious organ i am tempted to say much more ; but that i have reserved that discourse as more proper for my telescopical observations . onely for the present , to encourage the lovers of free philosophy , and to let them see that even the greatest oculists and dioptrical writers , that the world ever saw , kepler , des-cartes , schemar , and hugenius , have not yet discovered all nature's curiosities , even in that organ ; i will here deliver one or two optical experiments : the first hints whereof , i must ingeniously confess , i received from some fragments and papers of our famous , and never to be forgotten country-man , master gascoign of midleton near leeds , who was unfortunately slain in the royal service for his late majesty ; a person he was of those strong parts and hopes , that not onely we , but the whole world of learning suffered in the loss of him . take a fresh eye , and , in a frosty evening , place it with the pupil upwards , where it may be frozen through , then in the morning you may cut it as you please . if you cut it with a plain parallel to the optick axis ( which section des-cartes thought impossible ) then shall you see all the parts , as he has pictured them pag. 92. and each part will be very different in colour , and remain in their natural site , which may be pricked forth in an oyled paper : by this trick also you shall find , that there is a double crystalline humour , one circum-included within the other ; if you do but thaw the crystalline you shall see the outward will pill off from the inward : the right figures of both which crystallines are monstrous difficult , if not impossible , to find out ; hence it follows that every ray of incidence is seven times refracted in the eye before it reach the retina , whatsoever scheinar says to the contrary . the second experiment , is one of the ingenious excogitations of m. gascoign's , and it is to delineate the prime parts of the eye ; after this manner : having a glass and table fitted to observe the eye's spots , place an eye with the horny tunicle either upwards or downwards , between the inmost glass and table ; so near the glass , as the eye will almost fill up the compass of the eye's image , then the representation of the eye will be very large ( proportionable to the eye's image ) upon the table , and thus you may prick out the three figures of the cornea , and the outward and inward crystallines . many other neat wayes with my dioptrical glasses can i take the figures of the prime parts of the eye , which shall be discovered in their fit places . and now having done with the fabrick , the observations lead us to the consideration of the number and plurality of eyes , that nature hath afforded some creatures . i must confess though i have been very curious and critical in observing ; yet i could never find any animal that was monocular , nor any that had a multiplicity of eyes , except spiders , which indeed are so fair and palpable that they are clearly to be seen by any man that wants not his own . and though argus has been held as prodigious a fiction as polypheme , and a plurality of eyes in any creature , as great a piece of monstrosity , as onely a single one ; yet our glasses have refuted this errour ( as observat. viii . and ix . will tell you : ) so that the works of nature are various , and the several wayes , and manifold organization of the body , inscrutable ; so that we had need of all the advantages that art can give us , to discover the more mysterious works of that divine architectress ; but especially , when she draws her self into so narrow a shop , and works in the retiring room of so minute an animal . lastly , many more hints might be taken from the former observations , to make good the atomical hypothesis ; which i am confident will receive from the microscope some further advantage and illustration , not onely as to its first universal matter , atoms ; but also , as to the necessary attributes , or essential properties of them , as motion , figure , magnitude , order , and disposition of them in several concretes of the world ; especially if our microscopes arise to any higher perfection : and if we can but , by any artificial helps , get but a glimpse of the smallest truth , it is not to tell what a fabrick of philosophy may be raised from it ; ( for to conclude with that patriark of experimental philosophy , the learned lord bacon , ) the eye of the understanding , saith he , is like the eye of the sense ; for as you may see great objects through small cranies or levels ; so you may see great axioms of nature , through small and contemptible instances and experiments . these are the few experiments that my time and glass hath as yet afforded me an opportunity to make , which i hasten out into the world to stay the longing thereof ; but you may expect shortly from doctor wren , and master hooke , two ingenious members of the royal society at gresham , the cuts and pictures drawn at large , and to the very life of these and other microscopical representations . the end of the microscopical observations . experimental philosophy , in three books . containing new experiments microscopical , mercurial , magnetical . with some deductions and probable hypotheses raised from them , in avouchment and illustration of the now famous atomical hypothesis . by henry power , d r. of physick . london , printed in the year 1663. liber secundus . mercuriall experiments . begun anno domini 1653. by henry power , m ae . d r. itaque sperandum omnino est , esse adhuc in naturae sinu , multa excellentis usus recondita ; quae nullam cum jam inventis cognationem habent , aut parallelismum , sed omnino sita sunt extra vias phantasiae , quae tamen adhuc inventa non sunt , quae proculdubio , per multos saeculorum circuitus & ambages , & ipsa quandoque prodibunt . fr. verulam , lib. 1. novi organi , sect . 109. the second book . these physico-mechanical experiments are of four sorts , hydrargyral , hydraulical , pneumatical , and mixt. such things as are requisite for the triall of these experiments , are 1. a quart at least of ( ☿ ) quicksilver . 2. several glass-trunks , or cylindrical glass-tubes , some open at both ends , and some exactly closed ; or ( as they phrase it ) hermetically sealed at the one end . all of several lengths and bores . 3. a glass-tunnel or two , with wooden dishes and spoons , for filling of the glass-tubes with mercury . 4. you must have no metalline vtensils about you , for fear they be spoiled with the mercury . 5. spread a blanket or carpet on the ground when you try these experiments , that so none of the mercury may be lost , but may be taken up again with wooden spoons . 6. you may have by you also glass-syphons , weather-glasses of several right and crooked shapes , &c. the more to advantage the experiments . mercurial experiments . chap. i. experiment 1. take a glass-tube of above 29 inches in length , as ab , closed at the end b , and open at a : fill it full of quicksilver , and so close the end a , exactly with the thumb ( as with a stoppel ; ) then reverse it , and putting it and your finger together into the wooden vessel d , fill'd about two inches deep with quicksilver , erect it perpendicularly therein ; then drawing away your finger from the orifice , your shall see a great part of the quicksilver in the tube to make a quick and smart descent into the external quicksilver in the vessel ; and after it hath , by several vibrations up and down , found out a certain point or degree , there to stand still and immoveable : so that all the upper part of the tube ( which the mercury has deserted ) viz. from e to b , will seem to be a vacuity . the first inventor of this noble experiment , was torricellius the eminent mathematician , and deserved successour to the famous gallilaeo , to whom all the common-wealth of learning are exceedingly oblieg'd , because thereby he has excited the greatest modern wits to higher and nobler experiments . in this torricellian experiment ( for so we shall alwayes hereafter call it ) let me give you notice of these rare observables : 1. if the tube be not longer then 29. inches , the quicksilver will not at all descend : this we have tryed in several tubes of 18 , 21 , and 26 ½ inches long . 2. in tubes of a greater length then 29. inches , the quicksilver will descend . 3. the quicksilver will not descend lower then 29. inches , or thereabouts ; that is , the cylinder of mercury in the tube will alwayes be 29. inches in height above the superficies of the restagnant mercury in the vessel . 4. the quicksilver descends neither more nor less in tubes of a greater or lesser bore , provided they exceed the length of 29. inches . 5. how long soever the tube be , the quicksilver will fall down to its wonted pitch and stint of 29. inches or thereabouts ; as we have tryed in tubes of 32 , 35 ½ , 37 , 45 , and 50 inches in longitude , and all of different diameters and bores . 6. if you add any more quicksilver to that in the vessel , then , that in the tube rises proportionally the higher : and contrariwise , if you take any quicksilver out of the vessel , that in the tube descends lower ; and so consequently , the internal quicksilver in the tube keeps alwayes the same height of that in the vessel . 7. that you may with great facility move the tube to and fro in the vessel'd quicksilver , but not draw it up towards the superficies of the external quicksilver in the vessel without some reluctancy . 8. that if you tilt or incline the glass-tube , you shall see the quicksilver gradually to ascend till it almost totally fill the tube , at which angle of inclination the atletus or perpendicular will be equal to 29. inches , let the tube be of what length soever . 9. that upon removal of your finger from the orifice , you shall see the quicksilver to make a very quick and smart descent six inches at least below the standard of its altitude in the glass of 45. inches long , and in others more or less ; and after a few vibrations up and down , to settle at its wonted pitch and altitude of 29. inches , or thereabouts . 10. that if any thing , considerably hot or cold , be applyed to the superiour part of the tube , the quicksilver therein will more or less ascend or descend , as the water in a weather-glass , though with farr feebler and more insensible effects : so that any time of the year it will not much desert nor surmount the determinate height and pitch aforesaid of 29. inches . 11. that this seeming vacuity in the tube would be judged by any one that came in at an adventure , to be nothing but such like illuminated ayr as this we breathe in . 12. if you dip your thumb into the vessel'd mercury , and close the orifice of the tube therin , and so gently reverse it , you shal see the quicksilver in the tube to move more swiftly ( though not without resistance , and ebullitions ) through that seeming vacuity ; and the mercury will pass with such shoggs towards the depressed extreme of the tube , as will make you apprehend that the tube will be either beaten out of your hand or broken : none of which phaenomena will appear , if you let in the outward ayr into the cavity unpossessed by the mercury . in which interim of motion , your thumb will be drawn and suck'd into the orifice of the tube , not without some considerable pain . 13. if before the removal of your thumb you reimmerge it again into the vessel'd quicksilver as before , & then draw the tube perpendicularly quite out of the vessell'd quicksilver , the quicksilver in the tube will rise to the top of the glass with such a violence as will indanger the knocking out of the head of the glass , and then the ayr will pass by a speedy ebullition through the quicksilver , and it will totally descend into the vessel . i once brake a glass-tube of near forty inches long , by plucking it suddenly out of the vessel'd mercury . 14. that you cannot so cautiously perform this experiment in any glass tube whatsoever , but some little air will be seen in the top of the tube , when reversed , and before the removal of your thumb , like the little cap of air in the obtuse end of an egge ; so that if you incline the tube to what angle soever ( as in the eighth observable aforesaid ) the re-ascending quicksilver will never totally and exactly fill the tube , but a little cap of air will still stand in the top thereof . 15. that , use all the artifice and industry you can , you cannot so cautiously fill the tube , but that the cylinder of quicksilver will seem cragged and itched , and never purely smooth and polished , ( though your glass be never so smooth and dry , and your quicksilver never so well purged ) which interstices are filled up with particles of air that lurk 'twixt the contiguities of the glass and quicksilver : and which after the descent of the quicksilver do bubble up , and shoot themselves little by little into that seeming vacuity ( as you may ocularly behold them ) and doubtless are the occasion and hindrance why upon inclination of the tube ( as in 8. observ . ) the quicksilver cannot totally replenish and fill the tube again . 16. we filled a tube of 27. inches with quicksilver , and after inversion of it into a vessel of quicksilver , as in the torricellian-experiment we perceived , just upon retraction of the finger , the little particles of air which remained lurking between the sides of the tube and the quicksilver , on the suddain to become more visible , by a violent and rapid dilatation , flying out like so many little springs wound up , and then all at once set at liberty . 17. if you immerge the tube into vessels of quicksilver of several capacities and larger surfaces , the descent of it will not alter . 18. observe that the height of the mercurial cylinder , which here with us is found to be 29. inches at the least ( if you order the tube handsomely in filling of it ) may seem greatly different from the french observations , and those of forrain experimenters , as parricellius himself , doctor pascal , roberual , doctor pettit , and pecquet , who all assign its altitude to be but about 27. inches . to this i shall onely at present answer , that this difference of the mercurial cylinder , may partly arise from the variations of the climates , the air being more thin and hot then ours , partly from the difference and altitude of the atmosphere here and there , ( as shall hereafter be made more intelligible ) and partly from the diversity of our measures and theirs , or from the club and combination of all these causes joyned together . to which i may well super-add , the negligence or inconsideration of those that try this experiment ; for you may alter the height of the mercurial cylinder , as you do rudely or cautiously tunnel in the quicksilver into the tube ; for i have some time with exact caution , made it to rise to 30. inches in altitude from the surface of the restagnant quicksilver in the vessel . i set down 29. inches as its determinate height , to which it will for the most mount , though you use but a careless kind of carefulness in the management of the experiment . chap. ii. that in the superiour part of the tube there is no absolute vacuity . before we proceed to any further experiments , we will first canvass the cause of this primitive one of torricellius , which has given occasion of trying all the rest ; and then we wil● deliver our hypothesis , which i hope will salve all the strange appearances , not onely in this , but in those stranger that follow . valerianus magnus , and some others are so fond to believe this deserted cylinder to be an absolute vacuity , which is not only non-philosophical , but very ridiculous . 1. for , the space deserted hath both longitude , latitude , and profundity , therefore a body ; for the very nature of a body consists onely in extension , which is the essential and unseparable property of all bodies whatsoever . 2. again we have the sensible eviction of our own eyes to confute this suppositional vacuity ; for we see the whole space to be luminous ( as by obser. ) now light must either be a substance , or else how should it subsist ( if a bare quality ) in a vacuity where there is nothing to support it ? 3. again , the magnetical efluxions of the earth are diffused through that seeming vacuity , as per experiment . 4. there is some air also interspersed in that seeming vacuity , which cannot be expelled upon any inclination of the tube whatsoever , as by obser. is manifest . 5. the most full evidence against this pretended vacuity is from the returgenscency of the empty bladder suspended in this vacuity ; for , how should it be so full blown from nothing ? as is by exp. most incomparably evinced . chap. iii. that it is not the efluviums of mercury that fill up that seeming vacuity . before we come positively to declare , what it is that supplies this seeming vacuity , let us draw some negative conclusions , and see if we can prove that it is not supplied with any spirits mercurial , or exhalations : and this we shall most fully do by an ingenious experiment borrowed from the mechanical wit of doctor pascal , which shall passe for the second in the bedroll of our experiments . doctor pascal's experiment 2. that the deserted part of the tube , is not filled up with any hydrargyral emanations , may be thus evinced ; because he hath found the same experiment to succeed in water onely , without any quicksilver at all : for he took a tube or lead-pipe of 46. foot in length , made close at the one end in casting of it ; and having filled it full of water , and reversed it into a paile of water , underneath about a foot deep , he found the water to fall within 32. foot of that in the vessel ; so that the deserted part of the pipe was 13. foot ; so tall a cylinder of that liquor , being it seems but aequi-ponderous to a mercurial cylinder of 28. inches . kircher and birthius , it seems , also have tried the like in a lead-pipe of a 100. foot long , and an inch diameter ; into which at the top was let in a short neck'd weather-glass , or bolt-head , and fastned so to , that no air could pierce the coement , that luted the glass and lead-pipe together , which lead-pipe at the bottome was also fitted with a turn-cock , which when it was once filled with water would keep it in till they had reversed it into a hogshead of water underneath ; and then , by a turn of the cock letting out the water , it deserted the bolt head , and superiour part of the tube , wherein appeared this seeming vacuity . experiment 3. but for a further confirmation of this truth , let me subjoyn another experiment , ( which shall here pass for our third ) of the same author 's . take a glass-syringe or squirt ; of what length you please , exactly fitted with a squirt-staff ; stop the mouth of your syringe close with your finger , and so drown it over head and ears with hand , and all , in a large vessel of water ; then draw back the squirt staff , and the syringe will appear a vacuity ( which will pain your finger by an introsuction of it in at the orifice ; ) but if then you erect the syringe perpendicular , and draw it all out of the water ( excepting that end closed by your finger ) and then open the orifice , you shall see the water suddainly arise and fill the deserted cavity of the syringe . both which experiments do sufficiently prove that this seeming vacuity may be exhibited without the help of any quicksilver at all , and therefore this imaginary space in the torricellian-experiment aforesaid , cannot rationally be supposed to be repleated with any mercurial effluviums . chap. iv. experiment 4. that it is not light onely , which supplies this seeming vacuity . take the barrel of a long gun , about 4. foot long , and bunging up the touch-hole , fill it easily with mercury , and reversing of it into the vessel'd quicksilver , as before , you may measure it , to observe the determinate height aforesaid , which you may easily perceive ; first , by the flushing out of the quicksilver , upon removal of your finger into the vessel where the restagnant quicksilver receives it : secondly , by the re-ascent of the quicksilver upon tilting or plucking the gun quite out of the restagnant mercury , as also by the forceable introsuction of your finger , if you close the muzzle of the barrel within the vessel'd mercury , and so draw it out and reverse it , as also by the plucks and shogs it will give in that action : thirdly , and most perceptibly , by the repletion of it with water , if you draw the tube gently out of the quicksilver in the vessel into a super-incumbent region of water ( which you first poured into the same vessel : ) for then if you stop the orifice with your finger , whilst it stands immers'd in the region of water , and so draw it out and reverse it , you shall perceive it full of water . the like , no doubt , will succeed in tubes of other mettals . again , if light onely ( onely i say , because we do not deny light to be there ) fill up that empty cylinder , it would be certainly far more luminous ( as containing nothing but the pure solary atoms ) than the external medium and region of the air about it , which is confusedly intermixed both with airy magnetical and coelestial particles , besides the halituous effluviums of all bodies whatsoever . but this contrary to observat . chap. v. that the evacuated cylinder in the tube , is not filled with atmosphaerical air only . by atmosphaerical air , i understand such as we constantly breathe and live in , and is a mixt body of luminous and magnetical effluviums , powdred with the influential atoms of heaven from above , and the halituous effluxions and aporrhoea's of this terraqueous globe below : and that no such air fills the superiour cavity of the tube , take this experiment to evince you . experiment 5. having filled , closed , and reversed the tube ab as before into the vessel'd quicksilver d , fill up the said vessel with water about 2. inches deep , then lifting the tube gently , but perpendicularly out of the vessel'd quicksilver into the region of water , you shall see the quicksilver and water rise to the top of the glass , and after a short ( but confused ) intermixion the one with the other , the quicksilver will totally descend into the vessel , and the water arise and fill the whole tube excepting a little cap of air in the top of the tube , formerly hinted at in obser. 14. now if that air in the tube was homogeneous to this in the atmosphaere , the water would never rise to thrust it out of its proper place , or , if it did , it could not squeese through the body of the tube ; but we plainly see the rising water does fill up the place ( as likewise the quicksilver does in the first experiment , where you tilt and incline it ) till it come to that particle of air , which indeed is of the same nature with ours ( and which we told you formerly lurked 'twixt the concave surface of the tube and the cylinder of quicksilver ) and that neither the rising water nor ascending quicksilver , can or does exterminate . this truth also is manifestly evinced from the twelfth observable annexed to the first hydrargyral experiment , which palpably shows that it is not common air which supplies that seeming vacuity . chap. vi. having drawn the former negative conclusions , and demonstrated , that it is not light onely , not mercurial spirits , not atmosphaerical ayr , which is diffused through that seeming vacuity , it will be expected we should deliver something positively , and demonstrate what it is . pecquet ( who i think follows roberuallius therein ) ingeniously conceives , that the whole mass of ayr hath a spontaneous eleter , or natural aptitude in it self to dilate and expand it self upon the removal of all circumambient obstacles ( which he calls the elastical motion of that element ) so that the particle of ayr may be understood to be as many little springs , which if at liberty , and not bound and squeesed up , will powerfully , strongly , and spontaneously dilate and stretch out themselves , not onely to fill up a large room , but to remove great bodies : so that he compares this vast element of air , circumfused about this terraqueous globe , to a great heap of wooll-fleeces or sponges , piled one upon another , the superiour particles of the ayr pressing the inferiour , and hindring their continual tendency to a self-dilatation ; so that all the particles of this atmosphaere ( especially the inferiour sort ) strive at all times to expand and dilate themselves : and when the circumresistency of other contiguous bodies to them is removed , then they flye out into their desired expansion ( or at least will dilate so far as neighbouring obstacles will permit : ) just like the spring of a watch ( which if the string be broke , presently flyes out into its fullest expansion : ) which elastick motion in the ayr then ceases , when it comes to an aequilibration with those circumjacent bodies that resisted it . that this is not onely an ingenious hypothesis , but that there is much of reality and truth in it , i think our following experiment will to safety of satisfaction demonstrate . onely we differ from pecquet in the strict notion he hath of rarefaction and condensation , which he supposeth to be performed without either intromission or exclusion of any other extraneous body whatsoever . now how ayr or any other body should diminish or augment its quantity ( which is the most close and essential attribute to bodies ) without change of its own substance , or at least without a reception or exclusion of some other extrinsecal body , either into , or out of the porosities thereof , sounds not onely harsh to our ears , but is besides an unintelligible difficulty . now though we cannot by sensible and mechanical demonstration shew how any new substance or subtler matter ( than ayr is ) which enters into the tube to replenish that seeming vacuity , and to fill up the aerial interstices ( which must needs be considerable in so great a self-dilation ) yet we must ( considering the nature of rarefaction aforesaid ) be forced to believe it : and perhaps some happy experimenter hereafter may come to give us a better then this speculative and metaphysical evidence of it . that the hollow cylinder in the tube is not onely fill'd up with the dilated particles of ayr , but also with a thin aetherial substance intermingled with them : 1. let us suppose therefore ( at random if you please ) that there is a thin subtle aetherial substance diffused throughout the universe ; nay , which indeed , by farr the greatest thereof : in which all these luminous and opace bodies ( i mean the starrs and planets ) with their luminous and vaporous sphaeres ( continually effluviating from them ) do swim at free and full liberty . 2. let us consider that this aether is of that subtil and penetrative nature , that like the magnetical effluviums , it shoots it self through all bodies whatsoever , whos 's small pores and interstices are supplyed and fill'd up with this aetherial substance , as a sponge with water . 3. let us add to the former considerations , that the ayr hath not onely a strong elatery of its own ( by which it presses continually upon the earth , and all bodies circuminclosed by it ) but it also ponderates , and is heavy , in its own atmosphaere . but because i am resolved you shall take nothing upon the trust and reputation of the best authour , take this experiment to prove the ayr 's gravitation ( in proprio loco ) as the vulgar philosophy cals it . experiment 6. take a wind-gun ( which new artifice is now common ) and weigh it exactly when empty , then by plying the pump-staff charge it soundly and weigh it again , and you shall find it much heavier then before ; yea , a large bladder , full blown , will weigh more then its self emptied , and manifest this inequality upon a ticklish pair of scales . now though this experiment seems onely to evince the gravitation of ayr condens'd , yet it consequentially follows , that ayr also in the liberty of its own sphaere , is proportionally ponderous ( though it is a difficult point mechanically to evince it , unless we were actually above the atmosphaere , or in a vacuity to weigh it there in a thinner medium then here we are able to do ; ) yet , if i mistake not , i have an experiment in banco which will give some mechanical evidence of this great mystery , which here , with all its consequences , i shall deliver . experiment 7. the 6. of may , 1653. i took two tubes , one of 45. inches , the other 35 ½ in length , and of different diameters ; and filling them both at the bottom of hallifax-hill , the quicksilver in both came down to its wonted pitch of 29. inches , thence going immediately to the top of the said hill , and repeating the experiment again , we found it there to fall more then half an inch lower then it did at the bottom or foot of the said hill. pecquet relates , that dr. pascal himself tryed this experiment upon a mountain of 500 perches high , near claramont , and he found quicksilver there at the hill to descend lower by three inches , and somewhat more , then it did at the bottom ; so that , according to the analogy & proportion of both , and some other considerable circumstances , we might not only mechanically find out the perpendicular height of our great hill here at hallifax , or any other mountain whatsoever , but venture notably at the height of the atmosphaere it self . for , to manage the principles we have formerly laid down , first , the reason why the quicksilver descends at all in the first experiment , is from its exceeding gravity . secondly , why it falls no lower then 29. because a cylinder of that weight does just aequipoise the elastick power of the ayr without , and therefore after a few vibrations up and down ( as is observable in all statick experiments ) they arrive at a counterpoise . but the reason now ( as to our particular mountain's experiment ) why the counterpoise should alter at the top from that at the bottom of the hill , and the descent of the quicksilver be so unequal , is not so much from any alteration in the elastick power and virtue of that ayr at the top , from that at the bottom of the hill ; as from the variation of the gravity of the superincumbent ayr : for , a longer , and so consequently , more weighty columne of ayr , presses upon the vessel'd quicksilver at the bottom of the mountain , and so makes the quicksilver in the tube , rise higher than at the top of the mountain ; which being so much nearer the top of the atmosphaere , a lesser weight of superponderant ayr makes a lesser quantity of quicksilver arise in the tube : and so come the mercurial cylinders to vary in their altitudes , viz. from the natural supergravitation of more or less of the superincumbent atmosphaere . so that it is more than probable , that the higher one rises in the ayr , to try this experiment , the quicksilver in the tube would fall down lower ; and if the experiment could be try'd at the top of the atmosphaere , no quicksilver at all would remain in the tube , but fall down to a level with that in the vessel . i could wish that some of our canary-merchants would get this experiment try'd at the top of the pike of teneriffe , which is deservedly famed for the highest hill in the world . object . 1. but i see you are ready to reply , and say , that the inequality of the mercurial cylinder ( in the mountain-experiment aforesaid ) may every whit as rationally be supposed to proceed from a change in the elastick property of the ayr , which may be more vigorous at the bottom , and more faint and feeble at the top of the hill , and so force a greater or lesser quantity of quicksilver up into the tube . object . 2. i know how harsh it sounds , that ayr should gravitate in its own sphaere , and we , and all other terrestrial inhabitants , be insensible of it ; and that which augments the improbability , is , that water we experimentally know ( which is a fluid and dissipable body , as ayr is ) does not gravitate in its own proper place ; for if we dive never so deep , it 's so far from depressing of them lower , or weighing on them , that it is readier to buoy them up again : and why should not we conclude the like of its next neighbouring element , the ayr ? to the first objection , i answer , that though i should grant that there should be some difference in the elatery of some of the aerial particles from others , yet to be so great in so small a distance as four or five furlongs , 't is not so easily credible . i shall answer your second objection with this following ( which may pass for the 9. ) experiment . fill the tube , as in the first experiment , and drown both it and the vessel of restagnant quicksilver ( by letting down all carefully with strings into a hogshead , or great cistern of water ) and you shall see that the deeper you immerge the tube , the higher still will the quicksilver in the tube arise . let the vessel of water be of a greater or lesser plane in the surface , it matters not ; because onely those parts of water that hang perpendicularly over the vessel'd quicksilver do gravitate upon it : we drown'd a tube to 25. inches in depth , above the superficies of the vessel'd quicksilver , and it raised the quicksilver in the tube about 1 ● / 4 above the stint of 29. inches , at which it formerly stood ; just according to the fore-observed proportion 'twixt the weight of the water and quicksilver : a cylinder of the former of 32. foot , being but aequiponderant to a cylinder of the latter of 29. inches . of which noble experiment , we must confess , the first hint was given us , by those acute and singularly accomplished gentlemen of townley-hall in lancashire , who were as judicious as honourable spectators of these our hydrargyral experiments ; and whose mechanical prognosticks seldom failed , but were still made good by the future event of the experiments . by which it most evincingly appears , that water does gravitate in its own sphaere ( as they phrase it ) which now we may retort upon the second objection , and say , that if water do gravitate , then why not ayr in their proper sphaere ? both being fluid , dissipable , and co-neighbouring elements ; and so consequently whether in ayr or water the experiment be tryed , this effect will follow , that the deeper you immerge the tube in either element , the higher will the mercurial cylinder rise : and contrariwise , as 32. foot of superjacent water would raise up a mercurial cylinder of 29. inches ; so the same cylinder of 29. inches is raised by a column of the height of the whole atmosphaere it self . but we may by a far more facile and cheaper experiment evince the gravitation of water in its sphaere , which is observable in the common experiment of a syphon ; through which , the water , by suction , being first set on motion , it is easily observable , that the flux in the extravasated leg of the syphon , is at first most strong ; and proportionally decreases , as the water in the vessel sinks lower and lower towards the bottom of that leg immerg'd in it : which cannot proceed from any other cause imaginable , but from the supergravitation of the high parts of the water upon the lower , which being thereby more strongly forced up the shorter leg of the syphon , the flux thereby is stronger in the longer ; and so faints , as the bulk of the superponderant continually decreases . chap. vii . the reasons of all those extravagant phaenomena , which we observed in the first experiment of torricellius . 1. because the smaller weight of quicksilver is not able to master the elastick pressure of the external ayr. 2. because then the cylinder of quicksilver superponderates and overpowers both the ayr 's elastick virtue and gravity . 3. because at that stint of 29. inches , the internal cylinder of quicksilver comes to an aequilibration with the external cylinder of ayr , which presses upon the vessel'd quicksilver . 4. and 5. because that in wider and longer tubes there is at first included a greater quantity of quicksilver , it does more strongly overpower the elastick resistence of the ayr , and so will come ( though with more vehemence and swiftness ) to its wonted altitude of 29. inches . 6. because by addition or diminution of the vessel'd quicksilver there is a change in the tube and vessel , but not in the mercurial cylinder in the tube ; for that alwayes keeps at an equal altitude from that in the vessel . 7. because the mercurial cylinder is very heavy , and quicksilver in quicksilver moves as easily as a bucket of water in the whole well . 8. because thereby there is onely a change in the tube , but not in the altitude of the mercurial cylinder ; for in that angle of inclination , the perpendicular is still 29. inches . 9. because the quicksilver , by its long descent , having acquired a greater motion than was requisite to bring it down to its determinate altitude , cannot suddenly stop there , but by several vibrations up and down , gradually comes back to its wonted altitude ; as we see pendents , which multiply their undulations before they rest in their desired perpendicularity . 10. because the atoms of fire and heat ( which is alone ) penetrating through the tube , do expand and dilate the aetherial ayr in that seeming vacuity , and so consequently depresse the mercurial cylinder ; or else , contrariwise , upon the approach of cold , some aetherial atoms pass out again through the glass , and so the mercurial cylinder mounts higher . 11. because it is a medium somewhat thinner than ayr alone is ; the reason of your finger's exuction may be the elastick pressure of the external ayr , without striving either to come in it self , or thrust any other body into the tube ; as also the tendency of the aetherial atoms within , to be a free and proportional commixtion with aerial particles without . 12. because when the continuity of the external and internal quicksilver is broke , the mercurial cylinder is by the elastick pressure of the ayr ( which then prevails ) forced up into the top of the tube ; which done , then the quicksilver , by its gravity overpowring , the atmosphaerical , or unexpanded ayr , falls down , and gives place to the lighter body . 13. because no contiguity , it seems , in dry bodies ( how close soever ) can exclude the interveniency of ayr. having in our last ( 9. experiment ) proved sufficiently the ponderosity of water , and its gravitation upon the external quicksilver in the vessel , we will now come to shew you likewise its gravitation upon the internal quicksilver in the tube . experiment 10. we took such a like ab ( as in the 1. eperiment ) near four foot in length , and fill'd it full of quicksilver , except a segment ( a of about 14. inches , which we filled up with water ; ) then reversing the tube , and holding it so long in that posture , till the quicksilver and water had exchanged their places , we then drown'd it in the vessel●d quicksilver d , and there withdrawing our finger ( as in the 1. experiment ) the quicksilver in the tube descended an inch , and more , lower than the ordinary stint , ( viz. within 2 ½ inches of that in the vessel : ) and this we try'd in glass-tubes of 40. and 45. inches in longitude : so that the tube will be replenished with three cylinders ( viz. ) of quicksilver , water , and ayr. in which experiment there are three or four remarkable appearances , which ought not to pass our observation : 1. that after inversion of the tube into the vessel'd quicksilver , before you draw away your finger from the orifice , you may observe continual bubbles of ayr to pass through the water by an ebullition , and so presently to create the little cap of ayr , formerly observed ( in our 14. observ. ) though in the interim the orifice a , be never so closely stopped . 2. that after the removal of your finger , and collapsion of the mercury to , as aforesaid , the volatile bubbles of ayr still pass through the region of water for a long time . 3. that if the cylinder of quicksilver , included in the tube , be not above 29. inches , besides that of the water , no effect at all will follow . 4. that if the cylinder of quicksilver , included into the tube , be but one inch higher than its ordinary pitch , then , upon making the experiment , it will fall proportionally lower , according to the weight of the supergravitating water . this experiment , with those considerable circumstances annexed to it , makes the water's gravitation more eminently appear : for , since 14. inches of water is almost aequiponderant to one inch of quicksilver ( as is evident by the statick tables of getaldi ) and the quicksilver in the tube being depressed by the superincumbent cylinder of water of 14. inches , it follows , that it would necessarily depress it one inch lower than the ordinary stint . but unless the cylinder of quicksilver be so great , ( or at least that of quicksilver and water to be so powerful ) as that it be able to overcome the elastick pressure of the atmosphaere , no effect at all will follow , because there can be no descent of either : and as for those aerial atoms which pass by bubbles through the body of the water , they are those formerly observ'd for to lurk 'twixt the contiguity of the quicksilver and tube ; nay , and perchance , and in the body of the quicksilver and water too , because they cease not after the collapsion and descent of the mercury . thus having mechanically evinced the gravitation of those two fluid elements , both water and ayr , in their proper places and regions ; we may come to make good the second part of our hypothesis , which is the air 's elastick virtue and property . for the demonstrating of which , take this following experiment . experiment 11. fill the tube ( as in the former experiment ) and let the segment a of 14. inches , which was formerly fill'd with water , be onely fill'd with ayr ; then , after you have revers'd it into the vessel'd quicksilver d , and withdrawing your finger , you shall see the quicksilver in the vessel so to fall , that it came down 16. inches lower then its wonted and determinate altitude : we fill'd the same tube , of 45. inches long , within two inches of the top , and then reversing it , as before , it descended two inches below the ordinary stint . we also tunnell'd into the tube a cylinder of quicksilver , but of five inches in altitude ( letting the ayr supply the other segment of 40. inches ; ) and reversing it , as before , it fell down within two inches of the quicksilver in the vessel . observe , that in these mixed experiments of ayr and quicksilver , or water and mercury , or all three together , that when you have revers'd the tube , you must hold it close stop'd so long perpendicular , till the several bodies have acquired their several respective and proper places . to this experiment likewise we must annex one considerable phaenomenon : first , that before you withdraw your finger , you shall perceive the internal quicksilver in the tube , to press so sensibly upon your finger , as if it would force an entrance out , both before and after it was immerg'd in the vessel'd quicksilver : which protrusion cannot possibly be supposed to proceed from any other cause , but the elatery of the included ayr ( for the pressure was far greater than the natural gravity of the whole tube of quicksilver could make ) which ( upon the removal of your finger ) having got some liberty to manifest it self , it depells the quicksilver so far below its determinate height : hence it appears , that ayr , besides its gravity , has a nobler rarefactive faculty , by which it forces the quicksilver to so considerable a descent , whereas water , by its weight onely ( as is manifest in the precedent experiment ) and no innate elatery , did depel the succumbent quicksilver in the tube . but because the ayr 's elatery is one of the chief parts of our hypothesis , we will not onely make it good by one , but confirm it by many more succeeding experiments . experiment 12. fill any manner of tube , not above 29. inches in length , half with quicksilver , and half with ayr , and then closing your orifice with your finger , and reversing it into vessel'd quicksilver , as in the former experiments , you shall ( upon removal of your finger ) see the quicksilver fall an inch lower then before , as being depell'd by the dilated ayr ; if then you pour water upon the restagnant quicksilver in the vessel , to about one inch deep , and draw the tube out of the quicksilver into the region of water above , you shall see the quicksilver hastily to arise some inches in the tube , and then the water and it confusedly to intermingle one with the other . lastly , ( the quicksilver being wholly descended into the vessel ) the water will arise to fill the one half of the tube . this we tried in glasses of 18 , 21 , and 27 inches in length . in the first it fell 1. inch , in the second it fell 3 ½ inches , in the third 5 inches , and more , from the first point it stood at , before you immers'd it in the vessel'd mercury . this experiment drew me on to the trial of another : for i thought if quicksilver would descend with a quantity of ayr included with it in tubes below the required pitch and standard of 29. inches , then probably some such like effect would follow in water and ayr ( included in any of the longer sort of tubes ) though much lower then 32. foot , which is found to be the standard of water in its ascent in pumps and other instruments ( as is besides delivered in exper. ) experiment 13. we therefore fill'd our glass-tubes of 45 inches , half with water , and the rest with ayr , and afterwards invers'd it into a pail of water , one or two inches deep ; the success was , that withdrawing your finger , as before , the internal water in the tube , did shoot about two inches lower then before , and with such like vibrations ( though far shorter than those in quicksilver ) lastly , if you immers'd the tube one foot deep in the pail of water , the water in the tube would rise somewhat higher than before . note , that in these two last experiments , the descent or fall of the quicksilver or water , was most notable about the midst of the tube , viz. when it was equally fill'd with ayr and quicksilver , or ayr and water . which experiments do not onely make good what is formerly delivered of the ayr 's elastick pressure , but also it renders doctor pascal's experiment , of the descent of water to 3● . foot , very creditable to those that want instruments to try it . experiment 14. we also tried that experiment of roberuallius , quoted by pecquet , pag. 50. i took one of those little bladders that are in fishes , ( that in the little fish , call'd with us , a graining , is best ) and after it had been a few dayes dried , i let out all the ayr of it , and tyed the mouth of it again so close , that no new ayr could re-enter ; then i gently wet it on the out side , and dropped it down to the bottom of the tube , that it might the better stick there , and not be buoyed up with the quicksilver poured in upon it ; then cautiously tunnelling in the quicksilver , and reversing the tube , as in the first experiment , we found that after the quicksilver was come down to its wonted pitch , the fish-bladder was full blown , and did swim on the top of the quicksilver ; which , upon the admission of the external ayr , grew instantly flavid and empty again . now , what else is the reason of the bladder's intumescences upon collapsion of the quicksilver to its wonted standard , but the spontaneous dilatation and elastick rarefaction of that little remnant of ayr , skulking in the rugosities thereof ; and then ( upon removal of the circumpressing quicksilver ) expanding it self in the bladder , as well as that does in the tube ? the reason of its flaccescency , upon admission of external ayr , is , because then the elater of the external ayr is so strong , that it forces the embladder'd ayr into its former extension and consistency again . but hold ; before i pass from this experiment , i must take pecquet in hand , who , upon confidence of this experiment , insults highly over those that admit not of his rarefaction , but will introduce a new aetherial substance to intermingle with the dilated ayr to fill up this seeming vacuity . object . 1. if any aetherial substance penetrate the glass-tube , it rushes in equally on all sides towards the bladder , pendent in the centre ; and so , in all probability , would rather press and squeese the vesicle on all sides closer together , than ( by an opposite motion , and re-action upon it self ) extend and dilate it . object . 2. again , since it enters in so freely at the pores of the bladder , what should improfen it there ? since the pores , which gave it admittance , are continually open , and manifest themselves so to be , when any external ayr is admitted into the tube , for then it seems the aether flyes out indeed , and the ayr is recondensed again into its natural and ordinary consistence . object . 3. again , if the quicksilver descending do impel the aether through the pores of the glass , to help the dilated ayr , in suppliance of that seeming vacuity ; why should not quicksilver totally descend , and fill the whole tube with aether , and so , consequently , quicksilver should descend in any tube ( though lower than the ordinary stint of 29. inches ) whatsoever contrary to experiment . object . 4. but if there be a superaerial region of aether , as much lighter and subtiller than ayr , as ayr is then water , how comes any part of it to be diffused , or dispersed throughout our elements ? or , if it be , why should not the aetherial particles fly all away to their proper sphaere ( or be rather forced thither by the continual pressure of these heavier bodies ? ) as we see no ayr will abide in water , but is forc'd up into its proper region and element above it . solut. 1. we grant , that the aether pierces equally in on all sides of the tube , and so likewise on all sides of the bladder ( into which it would not have entred ) had there been no ayr at all which had freely open'd in its dilation to receive the coming aether into its intimate recesses . solut. 2. why the aether hits not out again ( during the interim of the ayr 's expansion ) may be , because it has either changed its figure , or it and the aërial particles may be in a new motion , which may not cease till overpowred by the re-admission of new ayr. but what 's the reason in a bladder half-blown , and held to the fire , or laid in warm ashes , the internal ayr should rise and swell up the bladder , as in this experiment ? if you say , from the atoms of fire , or heat , which penetrate into the bladder ; the same objection i then make to you , ( as he there to me ) why could they not hit out , as well as in , through the same pores ? the like may be said of the ayr in a weather-glass , upon application of any thing that is hot to the head of the tube . solut. 3. now , why the quicksilver does not totally descend , we have told you , is from the resistence of the atmosphaerical ayr , which forces up a cylinder of quicksilver of that height of 28. inches ; but as we have since declared , if the experiment could be made at the top of the atmosphaere ( which is not very high ) then it would totally descend , and the aether there would fill the whole tube . solut. 4. it is every whit as probable , that aetherial atoms may be interspersedly diffused through all our elements , as that ayr may be , or the magnetical effluviums : the same we have made probable ( by its being in water and quicksilver ) and the latter , no man ( that knows any thing of magnetical operations ) doubts of . before we take our leave of these subtil and rare experiments , i will give you that ingenious , but very difficult experiment of auzotius , as quoted by pecquet , which shall bring up the rere in this muster-role of our experiments , and which will confirm all we have formerly delivered . experiment 15. of auzotius . take a long tube , with a head like a weather-glass , onely open at both ends , as a b , and with a circular ledge at b ( to tye a bladder about ) as also a little pipe g , which opens into the head thereof , reverse it , and into the mouth of the head let down a hollow cube of wood or ivory c , as large as the head will contain ; which with its four corners may rest upon the neck of the glass ( as in the second figure : ) then take a small cylinder of glass , of above 28. inches , and set it in the middle of the cube c , and close the mouth of the head b , and the pipe g with bladders , so that no ayr can get in ; then stopping the orifice of the long tube a , with your thumb , let another tunnel-in mercury at the top of the small glass-tube f , which will first fill the cube c , and then running over , and falling down the interstices , that the four angles of the cube c makes with the neck of the glass , shall at last come to fill both tubes : lastly , closing the orifice of the great tube a into the vessel'd quicksilver , and there withdrawing your finger , as in the former experiments , you shall see all the quicksilver in the small tube f b , to fall into the cubical vessel c , ( which being not able to contain it ) it , together with all the quicksilver , in the head and neck of the great glass-tube , will come down to its wonted pitch e 29. inches of that in the vessel . which shews , the descending quicksilver perpetually observes its sandard-altitude from what height soever . but the great business is , if you open the little pipe g , and let in any ayr , you shall not onely see it to depel the mercurial cylinder a e , but to force up the quicksilver out of the cube c , into the small tube b f , to its wonted altitude of 29. inches , and totally to expel the mercurial cylinder e a out of the tube : which ocularly demonstrates , that it is the atmosphaerical ayr that ( in the first experiment ) raises and keeps up that cylinder of quicksilver in the tube of 29. inches in altitude , or thereabouts . chap. viii . additional experiments made at townley-hall , in the years 1660. and 1661. by the advice and assistance of that heroick and worthy gentleman , richard tovvnley , esq r. and those ingenious gentlemen m r. john , and m r. charles tovvnley , and m r. george kemp . the last year , 1660. came out that excellent tractate of experiments of esq r. boyle's , with his pneumatical engin , or ayr-pump , invented , and published by him ; wherein he has , by virtue of that rare contrivance , outdone all that ever possibly could be performed by our late mercurial and experimental philosophers : and , indeed , to give a true and deserved character of that worthy production of his , i must needs say , i never read any tractate in all my life , wherein all things are so curiously and critically handled , the experiments so judiciously and accurately tried , and so candidly and intelligibly delivered . i no sooner read it , but it rubbed up all my old dormant notions , and gave me a fresh view of all my former , and almost-forgotten , mercurial experiments . nay , it had not that effect onely on me , but likewise it excited and stirr'd up the noble soul of my ever honoured friend , mr. townley , together with me , to attempt these following experiments . experiment 1. we took a long glass-tube , open at both ends , and put the one end into quicksilver about one inch deep ; then at the upper end we poured in water by a tunnel : the effect was this , ( as was presurmised ) that the water rise up to a cylinder of 14. inches above the surface of the quicksilver in the vessel , but then it would rise no higher , but brake through the restagnant quicksilver in the vessel , and swum upon the top thereof , which is consonant to the series and chain of our former experiments : wherein it is proved , that one inch of quicksilver is aequiponderant to above one foot of water ; and therefore there was reason that one inch of restagnant quicksilver should support a cylinder of 14. inches of water , but no more . but as touching this proportion of water and quicksilver , because we have formerly only given it to you upon trust from maximius gletaldi , we will now give you an experimental eviction of it . experiment 2. we fill'd a glass-vial ( being first counterpoised with mercury ) and then weighed it ; afterwards we weighed as much water in a glass-vial , of a known weight , as counterpoised the quicksilver , and then measuring the water in the mercurial vial aforesaid , we found it to contain near 14. times as much water as it did of mercury . experiment 3. we fill'd a tube with quicksilver , as in the torricellian-experiment , wherein much leisure and accurateness were used in filling the tube , to make a polite equal mercurial cylinder , and after immersion thereof into the vessel'd quicksilver , we put both the tube and vessel into a frame made for that purpose , and let it stand perpendicular therein for certain dayes together ( viz. ) from the 15. march , to the 20. april after , to observe if it would vary and alter its standard , which we found it do considerably ; for sometimes it was half an inch higher or lower then the mark and standard we left it first at . i think , according to the variation of the atmosphaere in its temperature : and if you observe strictly , you shall see that the quicksilver in the tube does never precisely observe the same standard not a day together , nay sometimes not an hour . experiment 4. again , we tried the torricellian-experiment aforesaid , in a glas-ssyphon of 46 ½ inches in length , and after immersion of both ends into two several vessels of quicksilver , the internal quicksilver fell down to its wonted standard of 29. inches in both shanks of the syphon : having applied warm clothes to the top of the syphon , the quicksilver descended in either leg the breadth of two barley corns lower than the ordinary stint . we gently lifted one of the legs out of the vessel'd quicksilver , and then the quicksilver in that leg rose violently up , so that part of it passed over into the other shank : then having speedily again drown'd the aforesaid leg into the vessel , we observ'd the quicksilver in both legs to have fallen much ( upon the admission of that ayr ) and to stand in both legs at an equal pitch and height , as it did again the second time , upon admission of a little more ayr , though the quicksilver then did not rise high enough to pass over into the other shank as before . experiment 5. we took the same syphon again ( as before ) and then only fill'd one of the legs with quicksilver , leaving the other full of ayr ; then stopping both orifices , reversed both shanks into two several vessels of quicksilver , as before ; then opening both orifices , the effect was , that the quicksilver fell in one tube , and new quicksilver rose out of the other vessel into the other tube to an equal altitude . experiment 6. we fill'd a tube ( though with much difficulty ) such an one as is here described , with quicksilver , then invers'd it into quicksilver , as before : the first effect was , it fell leisurably down out of the head h , and stood at d , 29. inches in perpendicular from the quicksilver in the vessel e. the second effect was ; ayr being let in 'twixt c and b , the quicksilver rose from d , its former standard , to a : so that from a to b , and c to e ( for so far as c it fell upon admission of ayr ) made up its wonted standard again . experiment 7. we took a glass-cruet , with a small spout , and fill'd it with water , and afterwards luted the great mouth a , so that no ayr could get in ; then turn'd the small spout downwards , but no water came out of the cruet into the open ayr , inversing likewise the small snout into oyl , no water descended , nor oyl , though a lighter liquor , ascended ; then filling the former cruet with milk , though upon inversion of the cruet none of it would fall out into the ayr , yet being inversed into water , these two liquors changed places , the milk descending in a little still stream , the water ascending in the same manner in two constant little streams , running counter one to another ; in the neck of the cruet we tinged the water with indico , the better to distinguish their streams . experiment 8. we fill'd the former cruet with quicksilver , and immers'd the snout into the water ( having first well luted the mouth of the vial ) but no exchange of place followed , unless by much shaking of the quicksilver , you forced it little by little out ; and so either water or ayr passed up instead thereof . chap. ix . experiment 9. april 27. ( 1661. ) we tryed the torricellian-experiment in the porch at the new church in pendle , ( which standeth upon a considerable height ) the weather being clear , fair , and moderate , about ten of the clock in the morning , the tube about 42. inches in length , which we fill'd with very much care and diligence , to make a polite mercurial cylinder , and there we then found the mercurial standard to be 28 / 4 inches . we tried the same experiment with the like accurateness , and in the same tube , at the beakon upon the very top of pendle-hill , on the same day betwixt twelve and one a clock , ( the ayr being there much colder then at bottom , or at new church aforesaid ) though the sky was as clear ; and there the mercurial cylinder was lower then before at new-church , by a just inch , being fallen precisely to 27 / 4 inches . about three a clock of the same day , the said trial was made ( with all the former circumstances ) at barlow , the lowest place ( for conveniency ) near the said hill , much lower then the place of the first trial , the ayr being very much hotter then at the time of the first trial ; and there the cylinder of quicksilver was equal to that in the first trial ( viz ) 28 / 4 inches . by which it appears , that ( if the ayr at barlow had remain'd of an equal temperature with that of new-church ) the quicksilver , in all probability , would have fallen lower then the inch we observed . experiment 10. at the top of the said hill , we put into the same tube ( which was divided into 102. equal divisions of spaces ) as much quicksilver , as being stop'd and inversed , the ayr remaining in the top of the tube , fill'd 50 / 15 , or thereabout , of the forementioned divisions , and the quicksilver , the remaining part of the tube . the tube being thus immers'd , and the finger withdrawn , the internal ayr dilated so as to fill of the above-mentioned parts 84 / 75. and there remain'd in the tube a cylinder of quicksilver containing in length 11 / 26 inches . we tried the same experiment at the bottom of the said hill , the tubes being fill'd , as above , and the ayr 50 / 15. dilated to 83 / 8. and the cylinder was in height 11 / 78. inches . experiment ii. we took another tube , containing in length from the superficies of the external quicksilver into which we immers'd it ( for so we measure all our lengths ) about 26. inches , containing equal divisions of space , 31. and about an half , represented here by ab , which we fill'd so with quicksilver , that being revers'd and stop'd at b , there remain'd 9. divisions fill'd with ayr from a to e : then the quicksilver being left at liberty to fall down into a dish underneath , it fell near to the mark 18 to l. so that the ayr dilated , fill'd the space a l , containing of these divisions 17 / 8 , and then the cylinder l b was in perpendicular height 13 / 86. inches . we brought this tube , with the same mountain-ayr in it , by the help of a long tube of wood , having a dish fastned to the open end of it , and both full of quicksilver , into which we put our tube , ab , ( which instrument you have here represented ) and at the bottom of the hill the quicksilver rose up unto the mark m , under the 17. division . so that the ayr dilated , fill'd of the equal parts 17 / 35 , and the quicksilver in b was in height 14 / 31. inches . then we put out this mountain-ayr , and let into the tube the same quantity of valley-ayr , which fill'd the part a e , containing also 9. of the equal divisions aforesaid ; and then the end of the tube b opened the ayr dilated to the mark n. so that it contain'd 17 / 58. parts , and the quicksilver in perpendicular height , 14 / 2. that you may at one glance behold all the varieties of these dilatations of ayr , and height of the mercurial standard , i have supposed the line ab to represent all the tubes . ae still represents the ayr left in them , ad the ayr dilated , bd the quicksilver . in the long tube . at the top of the hill. at the bottom of it at barlow . ae — 50 / 15 — 50 / 15 equal parts of spaces , inches . ad — 84 / 75 — 83 / 8 bd — 11 / 26 — 11 / 78 in the lesser tube . at the top of the hill. at barlow with ayr. at barlow with valley-ayr . ae — 9 — 9 — 9 ad — 17 / 8 — 17 / 35 — 17 / 58 bd — 13 / 86 — 14 / 31 — 14 / 02 now before we pass to any further experiment , we think it fit to make and denominate several considerable spaces of the tube in the mercurial experiments , which will avoid both confusion and multiplicity of terms for the future . let ab be the tube in which quicksilver ( in case it were totally void of ayr ) would stand in a perpendicular cylinder above the quicksilver in the vessel from b to c. so we shall call that line or space , bc the mercurial standard . but if in the tube there be left as much external ayr as would fill the tube from a to e , and that then the quicksilver would fall from c to d , and the ayr be dilated to fill the space ad , then we shall call bd — the mercury . cd — the mercurial complement . ae — the ayr. ed — the ayr 's dilatation . ad — the ayr dilated . where note , that the measure of the mercurial standard , and mercurial complement , are measured onely by their perpendicular heights , over the surface of the restagnant quicksilver in the vessel : but ayr , the ayr 's dilatation , and ayr dilated , by the spaces they fill . so that here is now four proportionals , and by any three given , you may strike out the fourth , by conversion , transposition , and division of them . so that by these analogies you may prognosticate the effects , which follow in all mercurial experiments , and predemonstrate them , by calculation , before the senses give an experimental thereof . experiment 12. we tried the pascalian-experiment in a tin-tube of 33. foot long , made of several sheets of tin , and closely soddered up with peuter : to the upper end whereof we fastned a long glass-tube , open at both ends ; then , having soddered up the lower end , we reared the tube to a turret at townley-hall , and fill'd it with water ; then closing the top of the glass-pipe , and immersing the other end of the tin-tube into a cistern of water a foot deep , we opened the lower end , and perceived the water to fall out of the glass-tube into the tin , but how far we could not tell , onely we conjectured to be about the proportion given by doctor pascal ; viz that a cylinder of water stood in a tube about 32 foot high : but presently our glass-tube , at the juncture to the tin , began to leak , and let in ayr ; so we could make no further process in the experiment : onely one thing we observed in filling of the tube , that after the water which we tunnelled in had gone down a pretty way into the tube , part of it ( by the rebounding ayr ) was violently forced up again , and shot out at the upper end of our glass-tube two or three foot high into the open ayr : which experiment may be a caution to pump-makers , & all artificers that deal in water-works , that they attempt not to draw water higher then 33 foot ( its standard-altitude ) left they lose both their credit , cost , and pains in so unsuccessful a design . for i remember in my lady bowles her new water-work at heath-hall , near wakefield , where the water is raised at least 16. yards high , the simple workman undertook first to do it by a single pump ; but seeing his endevours were frustrated , he was forced to cut his cylinder in two pumps , and to raise it , first , eight yards into a leadcistern , and then by another pump to raise it out of that other , eight yards , into a cistern above . chap. x. now to salve all these mercurial phaenomena , as also those mixed experiments of quicksilver and water , quicksilver and ayr , ayr and water , in single and double tubes and syphons of all bores , divers learned and ingenious heads have excogitated several neat , though different , hypotheses : for , to omit the whimsies of two grandees , that is , valerianus and hobbs , which so grosly philosophize : the former affirming the deserted space in the tube to be an absolute vacuity ; the latter , to be replenished with this very common ayr which we breathe in ; which creeping up 'twixt the contiguity of the glass and quicksilver , fills up that conceited vacuity . to omit these exorbitant conceits , i find two or three more intelligible and rational hypotheses . the first is of roberual and pecquet , of the ayr 's elasticity and gravitation , which we have formerly embrac'd , onely with this addition , that whereas they will have rarefaction and condensation to be performed without any increase or loss of quantity ( which can never be conceived ) we admit of an aetherial substance or matter intromitted and excluded , the bodies so chang'd as we formerly explicated . the second hypothesis is of the vacuist's ; such , i mean , as , though they hold this spring of ayr , yet in its dilation will admit of no aether or forrain substance to enter the pores thereof ; but the particles , so dilated , to remain so with interspersed vacuities : and this opinion hath many eminent advocates and avouchers , gassend , doctor ward , doctor charleton , &c. the latest novellist that hath undertaken this experimental philosophy , is one linus , aliâs hall , who hath excogitated a new principle of his own , whereby he not onely salves all the phaenomena in the torricellian-experiments formerly delivered ; but also all those stranger experiments discovered since by gerricus and boyl's pneumatical engines . ( his principles he thus layes down . ) 1. that there is an inseparability of bodies , so that there can be no vacuities in rerum natura . 2. that the deserted space of the tube ( in the torricellian-experiment ) is fill'd with a small film of quicksilver , which being taken off the upper part of it , is both extenuated and extended through that seeming vacuity . 3. that by this extended film , or rope ( as he calls it ) of dilated quicksilver , the rest of the quicksilver in the tube is suspended , and kept up from falling into the vessel . 4. that this funicle , or rope , is exceedingly rarefied and extended by the weight of the pendent quicksilver , and will ( upon removal of that violent cause which so holds it ) re-contract it self into its former dimensions again , and so draw up what body soever it hath hold of along with it ; as the effluviums of an electrick upon its retreat , plucks up straws , or any other thing with it that it is able to wield . 5. that rarefaction or condensation is perform'd without any increase or losse of quantity in the body so chang'd . 6. that this extension of the film of quicksilver , is not indefinite , but hath a certain limit , beyond which it will not be stretch'd ; and therefore if the tube be of an exceeding great height , the quicksilver will rather part with another film , and extend that , and so a third , or fourth , till it come to the standard of 29. inches , where it rests ; having not weight , nor power enough to separate another film from it self . upon reliance on , and encouragement from these principles , he undertakes all difficulties , and engages with three great experimental-philosophers , torricellius , schotus , and boyle , and resolves all the phaenomena of their engines . 1. as first , why the quicksilver in the tube , under 29. inches , descends not at all ? because it sticks with its uppermost surface so close to the top of the tube , that there is not weight enough to break that adhaesion : the reason whereof is , because there is nothing to succeed in the room of the descending quicksilver , and therefore it firmly sticks there , ne daretur vacuum . 2. in longer tubes it falls to that standard , because then the greater weight of the quicksilver is able to break that linck of contiguity or adhaesion ; and therefore the uppermost surface of the quicksilver being sliced off , is dilated into a tenuous column , or funicle , which supplies that seeming vacuity . 3. the reason why the internal quicksilver in the tube does ascend , upon plucking the tube out of the restagnant quicksilver , is , because then ( some of the quicksilver in the tube falling out ) the contiguity is not onely broke , but the quicksilver in the tube being made thereby lighter , the rope is able to pluck it up ; which it doth by retracting and shrivelling it self up to the smalness of its former dimension ; and thus by no violent distention , but spontaneous , you must perceive all the experiments of the weather glass to be performed by a tenuous funicle of ayr , and , in the pascalian-experiment , by a rope of water ; and so of other liquors , where this seeming vacuity is created . by this tast of philosophy you may easily imagine how he salves all the mercurial phaenomena , and those of the pneumatical engine . the arguments by which he strives to authenticate and make good his hypothesis , are these four negative ones ; by which he strives to impugn the doctrine of those that hold the ayr 's gravitation and elasticity . the first ( which is the main and herculean-argument ) is from the introsuction of the finger , so observable in the torricellian-experiment : which , saith he , proceeds from something ( that is at a stress ) within the tube , and from nothing that is at a full and free liberty without : this suction and attraction of the finger he proves to be not onely eminently sensible in tubes above the standard ( whether open at both ends , or closed at the one ) but also in tubes under the standard of 29. inches : for , saith he , take a small tube , under the standard , open at both ends , of 20. inches supposed in length , and fill it with quicksilver , stopping the lower orifice with your thumb , then closing the upper with your finger , and immerging the lower into restagnant quicksilver ( as in the torricellian-experiment ) you shall ( saith he ) upon removal of your thumb ( though no quicksilver fall out ) feel a palpable suction of your finger , and the tube will stick so close to the pulp of your finger , that you may quite lift it out of the vessel , and carry it ( with all the quicksilver pendent in it ) up and down the room . therefore ( saith he ) the internal cylinder of quicksilver in the tube is not held up by the preponderant ayr without ; for , if so , whence comes so strong a suction , and so firm an adhaesion of the tube to your finger ? for if the external ayr thrust the quicksilver upwards , it can never at the same time draw down the finger too . his second argument , that the standing quicksilver in the tube , is not held up there by the external ayr , is fetch'd also from another experiment in the same tube : for ( saith he ) fill the same tube almost full of quicksilver ( leaving a little space of ayr within it ) and then immerging it as before , you shall see the quicksilver to make a considerable descent in it , viz. as far as that little ayr could well be extended , also a strong introsuction of your finger as before : from whence he thus argues ; if the external ayr cannot hold up 20. inches of quicksilver ( as we here see ; ) how can it hold up 29. i pray you ( as in the torricellian-experiment ? ) this experiment , as appears by our mercurial-observations , we made many years ago . his third argument is from the non-gravitation of the mercurial cylinder : for , saith he , the quicksilver in that station ( viz. after it has fallen to its old standard ) is not all ponderous , as you may perceive by your finger to the orifice of the tube ; from whence , saith he , 't is plain , that the quicksilver is there suspended by that tenuous , but tenaceous , rope in the tube . his fourth argument is from the difficulty of suction of quicksilver up a tube , open at both ends , of what length soever ; through which , saith he , water is easily drawn up to the mouth : and why not quicksilver ? since here is nothing else required but the removal of the internal cylinder of ayr , which is easily done ( saith he ) by suction , as is manifest by the ascension of water , but cannot be performed in quicksilver ( which should as easily be thrust up ( to 29. inches at least ) by the superincumbent atmosphaere ) as the water which is repugnant to experience of the fire : he concludes , 't is not the external ayr that causes that effect , neither by its elasticity , gravitation , nor both . now for the positive arguments to avouch his principles by , he has none at all ; onely what he fetches à posteriori , from his commodious solution of difficulties , and salving the phaenomena better then others have done . for read him through , and you shall see he hangs so like a tumbler by this rope , that swing him which way you will , you cannot get him off ; though , i doubt not , but we shall prove his cord to be a mere rope of sand , and of his own twisting ; and reason will , sampson-like , break it easily in pieces . chap. xi . a confutation of this funicular hypothesis of linus ; by henry power , m ae . d r. object . 1. if you fill a tube of 45. inches in length ( as we have shewed you in experiment 11. ) except 15. inches ( which let the ayr supply ) and invert it , you shall perceive a greater protrusion of your finger by the erupturient quicksilver , than can possibly be imputed to the supergravitation of the quicksilver included in the tube : for , if the whole tube be fill'd with quicksilver , and inverted , it shall not make such a forcible pressure upon your finger ( as that cylinder of quicksilver and ayr does ) which can be imputed to no other cause , then the elasticity of the included ayr ; which , striving to dilate it self , detrudes the quicksilver ; and , when liberty is given , it forces it down much lower than its ordinary standard of 28. inches : which shewes , that there is no such thing as attraction in the ayr , but rather a contrary power of self-extending , and dilatation . now , i confess , this is but an argument quoad sensum , and therefore not so much to be insisted upon , because not mechanically demonstrable . object . 2. again , this is observable in all bodies , that are capable of extension , that still , as their extension is augmented or increased , so must the force or power be that extends them . as for example , in ropes or leather , the first inch of their forced extension is performed by a lesser power then the second inch would be , and that then the third , &c. now in the third of boyle's experiments , pag. 44. it is observed , that the sucker is as easily drawn down , when it is nearer to the bottom of the pump , as when it is much farther off ; which is contrary to the nature of forced extension , as is before delivered . object . 3. again , if ( according to linus ) the bladder's intumescency , in boyle's engine , did proceed from the forced extension of the ayr in the receiver ; then the first evacuation of the pump would extend the bladder more then the second , and that than the third &c. but the contrary is avouched by his fourth experiment , pag. 47. which proves against the funicular doctrine of linus , but neatly makes out the elasticity of the embladder'd ayr , which gradually increases , as the debilitated ayr in the receiver gives room for its expansion . object . 4. again , linus is refuted by the 19. experiment in boyle , which is an experiment of a four-foot tube , fill'd with water , and inclosed in the receiver ; by which he found that the water , included in the tube , did not at all subside after several exsuctions , till the elasticity of the included ayr was no longer able to support that cylinder of water ; but , according to linus , it should have subsided at the first exsuction , as well as the quicksilver did when the torricellian-experiment was included in the said receiver . object . 5. according to linus his principles , the mercurial standard should be the same at the top of any eminent hill , that it is at the bottom , especially if the temperature of the ayr be in both places alike ; but this is contrary to the experiments we tried at hallifax and pendle-hill ( as you may see in experiment 7. pag. 19. also experiment ii. pag. 45. ) where the coldness of the ayr was a disadvantage to our experiments ; and yet , for all that , you see how considerably the mercurial standard did vary . which objection linus has ingeniously confess'd to me himself ( when once i had the happiness to see him ) that he cannot as yet answer . object . 6. take a glass-tube above the standard , but of a small bore , ( that will not admit above a great pea , or cherry-stone ) let it be closed at one end , and fill this with quicksilver ( which you shall find no easie thing to do ; for i am sure we were a whole hour in filling one , and still were forced to thrust the quicksilver down into it with a small wire ) then reverse it very gently into a vessel of restagnant quicksilver , and after it has come down to its wonted standard , you may lift the tube out of the vessel , and carry it up and down with the quicksilver pendent in it ; which will neither fall out , nor rise up to the top , to fill up the reputed vacuity . now what sayes linus to this ? why does not his rope shrivel it self up , and pull up this mercurial cylinder in this tube , as well as in all others of a larger bore ? object . 7. take a glass-syphon a b , and having fill'd both legs with quicksilver , open the longer into the vessel'd quicksilver b ; the effect is , that the quicksilver in the longer shank will fall down to c ( its wonted standard ; ) but that in the short shank ad , being still close stopped with your finger , will remain full . now ( according to linus ) the funicle ac exercises the same power of pulling the mercurial surface a as c : and according to the principles of mechanick's , if cb be heavier than ad , it should pull over ad into the vessel b. and his answer ( which you may read , pag. 74. is nothing to the purpose ; for open the short end of the syphon into the vessel d , ( according to his salvo ) no quicksilver should still rise , because it is still as closely adherent to the vessel'd quicksilver , as it was before , to my finger ; and yet , upon experiment made , the quicksilver will rise all out of the vessel d , and go over a , into the vessel b. which experiment , as it confuteth his , so it clearly avouches our principles , of the elastical pressure of the external ayr upon the surface of the quicksilver in the vessel d , which forces it up to a , and so over into the vessel b. object . 8. we took an ordinary weather-glass ( this 15. octob. 1661. ) ab , of about two foot in length , and carrying it to the bottom of hallifax-hill , the water stood in the shank at c , ( viz. ) 13. inches above the surface of the water in the vessel b , thence carrying it thus fitted , immediately to the top of the said hill , the water fell down to the point d ( viz. ) 1¼ inch lower than it was at the bottom of the said hill : which incomparably proves the natural elasticity of the ayr. for the internal ayr ac , which was of the same power and extension with the external at the bottom of the hill , being carried to the top , did there manifest a greater elasticity then the mountain-ayr there did manifest pressure , and so extended it self further by cd , which it was not able to do at the bottom , because the valley-ayr there was of equal force and resistance to it : which experiment very neatly proves the elasticity of the ayr ( which linus would abolish ) as the torricellian-experiment ; which being carried to the top of the same hill ( differ'd ½ an inch ) did eminently prove the gravitation of the ayr. also about the end of january , 1661. we went again to the top of hallifax-hill , with divers weather-glasses of several bores , heads , and shapes ; and found in them all a proportional descent of the water , as in the former experiment at the top of the said hill respectively to what it was at the bottom , with this observable , that in the greatest-headed weather-glass ( which included most ayr in it ) the descent of the water was greater , as being most depress'd , by the greatest quantity of the included ayr. chap. xii . experiments in capillary tubes and syphons . experiment 1. take a small capillary glass-pipe , or tube , open at both ends ; and dipping the one extreme perpendicular into the water , you shall see the water spontaneously arise to a competent height in the tube , with a quick and smart ascent . note first , that the inside of the pipe ought to be very clean , as well from dust , and little bubbles , as films of water , which will remain in the pipe , when the water is blown , or suck'd out of it . secondly , it must be perfectly dry from any other liquors which will not mingle with water , as oyl , &c. thirdly , if you moisten the pipe first with water , before you try the experiment , the ascent of the water will be more quick and lively . fourthly , that not onely water , but milk , wine , oil , and other liquors , except quicksilver , will likewise rise to a certain height in the said pipes . fifthly , after the water has risen to its standard-height , if you take it out of the liquor , it shall not fall out at all ; if you invert the pipe , the included cylinder of water will fall down also to the other extreme : also the deeper you immerge it in the vessel of water , the higher still will it rise in the pipe , still keeping its standard-altitude above the surface of the water in the vessel : also if you suck it above the standard , it will still fall back to its wonted altitude . sixthly , that not onely water , but milk , wine , oyl , and all other liquors , will spontaneously arise in the said pipes ; but with this difference , that the heavier the liquors are , the lower their standard is , and the slower is their ascent to it : thus you shall see oyl of tartar will not rise , by one third , so high as water ; nor oyl of vitriol by ⅓ so high as it ; which may alter more or less , according to the goodness of the said oyls . seventhly , now if you take out a pipe ( wherein in either of the said oyls has first risen up to its wonted standard ) and immerge the end thereof into a lighter liquor ( as water ) you shall see the oyl fall gradually out into the water , and the pipe gradually fill with water , and arise to its own standard ; which is higher a great deal than the standard of either of the said oyls , as is before delivered : the like will follow in syphons . eighthly , the smaller bore that your tube is of , the higher will your water arise ; yet we could never get it to arise to the height of 5. inches ( as mr. boyle mentions ) though we have attempted it in tubes almost as small as hairs , or as art could make them . ninthly , if the tubes be of the bore of an ordinary quill , or bigger , no water at all will arise . tenthly , that little or no difference of the water's ascent in the former tubes is perceptible at the bottom , or top of our hill. experiment 2. bend one of these tubes into a little syphon ( which you may do by putting it into the flame of a candle ) and then putting the one extreme thereof into a vessel of water , you shall see it presently fall a running on its own accord . observe , 1. that the perpendicular height of the flexure of the syphon to the water's superficies , be shorter , or at least exceed not that standard-height , unto which the water would rise , were it a streight pipe onely . 2. that the pendent shank hang not onely lower then the water's superficies , but by such a determinate length ; for we have found , that if the pendent , or extravasated leg be shorter , or equal , or but a little lower then the superficies of the water in the vessel , no effect at all would follow ; but the pendent leg would hang full of water , without any flux at all . now what this determinate length is , we conceive the pendent shank must be longer from the flexure then the standard of the liquor would reach ; and then it will run as other syphons do which have a larger bore : so that you see , the mechanical reason ( which is so universally received by all men ) why the pendent leg in syphons must be longer than the other , to make the liquor run out ( viz. ) because the greater weight of water in the pendent leg , overpoises and sways down that in the shorter , as in a pair of skales ; is not universally true in all syphons whatsoever . 3. if to the nose of the pendent leg you apply a wet piece of glass , the water then will begin to come out of the pipe , and run down to the lowermost edge of the glass ; where , gathering it self into round bubbles , it would fall to the ground : but then you must observe that the nose of the pendent shank be lower than the surface of the water in the vessel . experiment 3. let both shanks of the syphon be fill'd with water , so that the pendent leg be longer than the superficies of the water ( and yet not so long neither as to set it on running ) then to the nose of the pendent leg apply a vessel of milk , and you shall see , that though the water would not break out of the pipe into the open ayr ( a medium far lighter , and more divisible than milk ; ) yet it did run out into the milk , and one might see it purl up again without mingling with the milk , at a little darkish hole , like a spring . observe : experiment 4. if you lift the vessel of milk ( with the pendent leg drown'd in it ) higher towards the flexure of the syphon , so that the superficies of the milk be nearer the flexure of the syphon than the superficies of the water , you shall ( after a considerable time ) see the milk rise up the pendent leg , and to drive back the water ; and having fill'd the whole syphon , to fall a running into the water-vessel , with this difference to the former experiment , that whereas the water in the former came to the top of the milk , the milk here sunk down to the bottom of the water , in a small stream like a curl'd white thread , and there setled in a region by it self . experiment 5. now , contrariwise , if you lift the vessel of water nearer the flexure of the syphon than the superficies of the milk is , then will the water rise over the syphon and beat out the milk , and fall a running , as in the third experiment . and thus you may at pleasure change your scene , and make the syphon fall a running , either with milk or water : which is a pleasant spectacle to behold , especially if the water be ting'd red with scutchenel . my worthy and ever honoured friend , mr. charles townley , upon confidence of these experiments , thought he had discovered that great , and long sought-for rarity amongst the mechanicks ( viz ) a perpetual motion : for the demonstrating of which , he devis'd this following experiment . m r. charles townley his experiment ; from which , he would deduce a perpetual motion . let the glass def be fill'd with two several liquors , so as they may remain in two distinct regions , one above another , as ab , without the least mixture ; ( which may be performed in milk and water , placing a broad piece of cork , or bread , that will swim so upon the milk , which must be the lower , as a , being heavier than water , that it may receive the force of the water's fal when you pour it upon the milk : ) this done , and the cork or bread being taken out , hang the syphon acb , first fill'd with milk , upon the stick dce , so artificially , that the longer end a may remain in the region of milk , and the shorter end b in the region of water ; with this caution , that the flexure of the syphon c be removed no higher from the milk , than it would naturally ascend to , if the syphon was streight : now ( saith mr. charles ) since in the former experiment the water would rise over the top of the syphon , and drive back the milk ; and afterwards rise to the top thereof , and there swim aloft : why here in the syphon acb , the like should not follow , ( viz. ) the water at b drive the milk , ( which is suppos'd first to fill the syphon ) back to c , then to a , where issuing out of the pipe ( as it did in the former experiment ) it would ascend to its proper region of water again , and so continue in a circular motion perpetually . now however this same problem of m. charles might seem probable in the theory , yet it will prove more than most difficult ( if not impossible ) in the practice . for , 1. we fill'd the glass def , half full of milk , and half full of water , as ab ; then hanging the syphon ( first fill'd with milk ) so artificially on the stick de , so that the longer shank might reach the milk a , and the shorter might open into the superincumbent region of water b , we observ'd this effect , that the milk did for a small time run out of the orifice b , and seem'd to fall into the inferiour region of milk ; but at last the milk ( or at least the serous or more watrish parts thereof ) so intermixed with the water ( which we could discern by the whiteness and opacity of the water ) that the flux was quite stifled . 2. contrary to mr. charles his prognosticks , the water did not rise up the short shank , and drive back the milk , but quietly permitted the milk to drill through it ; though i know it was not material which way the flux was performed , provided it would have been perpetual . the experiment failing in these two liquors , we attempted the same again in other two liquors ( which we were sure would not mix ; ) and to that purpose we fill'd the aforesaid glass with oyl of tartar per deliquium , and spirit of wine , which we tinged yellow with saffron , the better to distinguish the liquors ; and then adapting the syphon , as before , we wish'd for a happy event in the experiment . but experience ( which ought to be the mistress of wise men as well as fools ) shew'd us the quite contrary ; for the syphon would not run at all , but continued full , which we afterwards conjectured to proceed from the heterogeneity of the two liquors ▪ so that the oyl of tartar would not break out into the spirit of wine , no more than milk or water will do into the open ayr , where the pendent shank is shorter than the standard-height of those two liquors . so that , it seems , to effect this experiment indeed , two such liquors must be found out , as are in some wise homogeneous , and of a congruity , and the one considerably lighter than the other , which is tantùm non impossibile . for besides the former liquors , we have tried oyl and water , and no motion at all was perceived , for the same reason of incongruity formerly delivered . but these , and a hundred more experiments of this nature are every day excogitated and tried by our noble society of gresham-colledge , which in a little time will be improved into far nobler consequences and theories , than can possibly be done by the single endevours of any person whatsoever . the end of the mercurial experiments . experimental philosophy . the third book . containing experiments magnetical : with a confutation of grandamicvs . amicus , plato ; amicus , aristoteles ; grandis amicus , grandamicus : sed , magis amica , veritas . by henry power , d r. of physick . london , printed in the year 1663. a confutation of grandamicvs his magnetical tractate , de immobilitate terrae . the third book . chap. i. the three great demonstrations and magnetical discoveries that this authour so gloriously pretends to , are 1. a magnetical demonstration of the earth's immobility . 2. an universal meridian magnetically demonstrated . 3. a magnetical discovery of longitudes , or something equivalent thereunto . in the canvassing of these three great discoveries , we shall invert the order , and begin with the last first . but before we can conveniently fasten upon these three main pillars of his book , there are three other considerable errors of his , first to be removed ; which , though they lye more obscure and removed from our sight , and buried , as it were , under ground ; yet indeed are they the basis and foundation upon which his magnificent structure is built : and they are these positions following : 1. that the virtue of the magnet , and all magnetick bodies , is purely immaterial , and a bare simple quality . 2. that it proceeds intrinsecally from the proper form of the loadstone ; as he hath delivered , cap. 3. pag. 48. 3. that all the world , and consequently all the bodies therein , were made , by the divine providence , for the use of us and our habitation , this globe of earths which he has fixed in the centre of the world , and constituted us lords and masters of all the universe . grand . pag. 50. chap. ii. of the corporeal effluviums of the loadstone . doctor highmore tells us , that the magnetical exspirations of the loadstone may be discovered by the help of glasses , and be seen in the form of a mist , to flow from the loadstone : this , indeed , would be an incomparable eviction of the corporeity of magneticall effluviums , and sensibly decide the controversie under consideration . but i am sure he had either better eyes , or else better glasses than ever i saw ( though i have look'd through as good as england affords ) and the best of them all was as far from presenting these subtil emanations , that they would never exhibit to me those grosser , and far more material , effluviums , from electrical and aromatical bodies : nay , not the evaporations of camphire , which spends it self by continually effluviating its own component particles : nay , i could never see the grosser steams , that continually transpire out of our own bodies , and are the fuliginous eructations of that internal fire which constantly burns within us . indeed , if our dioptricks could attain to that curiosity , as to grind us such glasses as would present the effluviums of the magnet ; we might hope to discover all epicurus his atoms , des-cartes his globuli aetherii , and all those insensible corpuscles which daily produce such considerable effects in the generation and corruption of bodies about us : nay , might not such microscopes hazard the discovery of the aerial genii , and present even spiritualities themselves to our view ? but though both our natural and artificial eyes fail in this performance , yet have we another more intrinsick eye , that will yet discover their materiality , and that is the piercing eye of reason . for , 1. that the magnetical emissions and fluors , are not bare qualities , but indeed corporeal atoms , is deducible from hence ; that this virtue decayes in progress of time ( as all odours do ) and is totally destroy'd by fire in a few minutes , and is capable of rarity and density , whence it is more potent near at hand than further off : all which are the proper and incommunicable attributes of bodies . 2. again , it is further evinced by some parallel and analogical effects of electrical with magnetical bodies , that they both work by corporeal effluviums ; for a well polish'd stick of hard wax ( immediately after frication ) will almost as vigorously move the directory needle , as the loadstone it self ; onely there is ( amongst others ) these considerable differences 'twixt these eminent bodies , that the effluviums of the one , ( as being more gross and corporeal ) are intercepted by any medium ; but magnetical effluviums are hindred ( because of their exceeding tenuity ) by the interposition of no body whatsoever . secondly , whereas electrical fluors do presently recoyl by short streight lines to their bodies again , magnetical atoms do not so ; but do wheel about , and , by a vortical motion , do make their return unto the loadstone again , as des-cartes hath excellently declared . chap. iii. that the magnetical effluviums do not proceed intrinsecally from the stone , but are certain extrinsecal particles , which approching to the stone , and finding congruous pores and inlets therein , are channel'd through it ; and having acquired a motion thereby , do continue their current so far , till being repulsed by the ambient ayr , they recoyl again , and return in a vortical motion , and so continue their revolution for ever , through the body of the magnet . argument 1. this seems probable , first , from this , that if a magnet it self be made red hot in the fire , it not onely amits the magnetical vigour it had in it self before , but acquires a new one , according to the positional laws in its refrigeration ; so that by inverting the extremes ( as it came out of the fire ) you may alter the poles thereof ( at pleasure , ) nay , you may change the polarity of many feeble stones , by a long position , in a contrary posture to that which it naturally affects . both which experiments seem to shew , that the magnetical effluviums are not innate and congenial to the stone , but proceed ab extrinseco , &c. therefore do impregnate the stone again , upon their re-admission ; or do change its polarity , as the more powerful streams of atoms do prevail . the like experiment ( if it could be tried ) would doubtless hold good in the great magnet of the earth ; for the terrella we see in all other phaenomena , is avouched by her mother-earth . argument 2. the said argument we may assume from a certain section of the stone ; for if you divide the magnet through a meridian , or saw of a segment , parallel to the axis , the former axis and poles will quite vanish away ; and each segment , by this division , will acquire a new axis of its own : which shews , that the external magnetical fluors , which pass'd through the stone , all in one continued stream before , now passe by several currents through both stones , and so create a new axis and poles in either . argument 3. is from the disponent or directive faculty ( as they call it ) of the stone ; for to say , this polary direction proceeds from it self , is to put a soul , or intelligence , at least , into the stone ; which must turn it about ( as angels are fained to do the coelestial orbs : ) how much more credible is it , that the stream of atoms from without , by beating upon the stone , do turn it to and fro , till they have laid it in such a position as is fittest for them to run through it , as a stream of water turns a hollow trunk of wood , or a long stick , till it come to lye parallel to its current . argument 4. is from the different effects proceeding from all effluxions that come from all other bodies , besides magnetical , as electrical , odoriferous , &c. for all bodies that effluviate intrinsecally from themselves , their exspirations flye quite away into the open ayr , and never make any return again to the body from whence they proceeded , so that in time they do not onely spend their quintessential and finer particles , but even their whole bulk and substance , as is ocularly manifest in camphire : now 't is not so in magnetical bodies , whose exspirations are continual and permanent , because they return in circumgyrations to their bodies again . argument 5. if the magnetick rayes proceeded intrinsecally from the stone , there is most reason they should proceed from the centre , the stone being all of an uniform substance ; as the luminous rayes doe from the body of the sun , and as odours do from their original ; and so there would be no poles , nor inclinations of magnets more in one latitude than in another : but now since there are two poles , where the current of effluxions are strongest , it is a sign the magnetical fluors coming from without , doe strike a stream in at one pole ; and finding the grain and bait of the stone , to lye fit for their tranation , do channel through to the opposite part of the stone , and so continue their current in the ayr , so far , till they are resisted and forced to recoyl by a double whirlpool-motion round about into the magnet again . argument 6. that the magnetick fluors proceed not intrinsecally from the stone , to cause the self-direction in the magnet , is further evident from this new experiment : take a wedge of iron ( which the smiths call puncheons ) and heating it red-hot , you shall , according to the laws in its refrigeration , endue it with a polary verticity , as has been praeobserved by all magnetick writers : but that which will heighten the experiment further , is , that though it hath but acquired a feeble virtue by its refrigeration , yet if you take it up cold , and with a few smart strokes of a great mall , or hammer , you beat the one end of it , setting the other against some hard resisting matter , as stone , brass , iron , or hard wood , you shall thereby give it a most powerful magnetisme , so that it will then as actively move the needle , at a good distance , as the loadstone it self : now , say i , by those percussions you did so open and relax the pores in the iron-wedge , that the magnetical atoms could then enter in , with a full carriere , which before they could not ; and having once got so free a passage , they will maintein the current ever after . argument 7. since a constant , steddy , and polary direction of parts is onely observable in bodies magnetical , we have reason to think and believe , that these magnetical effluvia ( which are the cause of this peculiar direction ) are not only transmitted and channel'd through the earth , but through many other coelestial bodies also , as ☉ ☽ ♃ ♄ , and , perchance , the rest of the planets yea and fixed stars too , as by telescopical observations is now made very manifest in those bodies that swim within our planetary systeme . argument 8. take a rod of iron ( or a puncheon ) as before ; heat it red-hot , and according to the laws in its refrigeration , you may endue this or that extreme with whether polarity you please ; now afterwards by striking it with a hammer in the same posture that it was cooled in , you may much advance and invigorate its magnetical virtue , as we have formerly declared : but now the main observable of all , is , that after both the reception of the virtue by convenient refrigeration , as also the augmentation of it by percussion , you may by inverting and repercussing the extremes , alter the polarity of the iron at your pleasure ; and then , which is stranger , that if you strike the iron in the middle 'twixt the two extremes , it will destroy its formerly acquired magnetism . argument 9. if you bore with a wimble in any hard piece of wood , till you heat it soundly , you will communicate to it a strong verticity , insomuch that it will nimbly turn a magnetical needle ; but if with a dril of iron or steel you bore a piece of brass or iron till you heat it well , it will acquire so strong a magnetism thereby , that it will not only turn an equilibrated needle , but vigorously attract , and lift up a small needle : and i have observed the small filings and shavings which fall out of the drill-hole , to stick to the point of the drill , as if it had been to a magnet it self ; which shews , that the magnetical atoms did more easily by far enter into the drill or wimble , when the parts thereof were heat and set in motion , than before . which still seems to make out , that the magnetical atoms rather enter into , than proceed from those bodies we call magnetical , as the reaching soul of the renowned des-cartes hath happily supposed . chap. iv. that the world was not made primarily , nor solely for the use of man , nor in subserviency unto him and his faculties . as i would not derogate from the greatness and eminency of man ( as being a very noble creature ; ) so i would not have him arrogate too much to himself : for though it may be a pious , and morally good conception , to think that the whole world was made for him , yet i am sure 't is no real and physical truth . for first , how many glorious bodies of vast bulks , and immense distances , have appeared , nay , and may yet appear to future ages ( as comets and new stars ) which are now gone and vanish'd again , which no mortal man ever understood the reasons and causes of , nor received no good nor evil , either before or since their appearances ? nay , how many such comets may have been near the sun , whose first rise , continuation , and disappearance may have been made in six moneths time , of which ( by reason of the sun's vicinity to them ) we could never see nor know any thing ? who can be so irrational , as to think that those innumerable company of stars ( with which the via lactea is powdred ) and many other parts of heaven are throng'd ( as the pleiades ) in which very subconstellation i have seen above 20. stars of a considerable magnitude , and lesser ones innumerable , also the hyades , the stellae nebulosae , &c. were ever made for the use of us and our earth , since they are at that immense distance , and invisible to our eyes ; and had remain'd eternally so , had not the incomparable invention of telescopes relieved our eye-sight herein ? nay , to come nearer , who can imagine that any of the primary planets were wholly designed for the service of us and our earth ; whereas , if most of them were pluck'd out of the heavens , we should no more feel the want of them , than the countrey swain that already knows of no such wanderers ? what then must we think of the secondary planets , as the circum-saturnian , and the four jovialists , which are not onely indiscernable by us , and therefore were never designed for our use , but also have their peculiar motion about their primary planets ( which they orderly and punctually attend ) which shews other ends that god and nature has designed them for , to wit , to be as wholly subservient to their central planets of saturn and jupiter , as the moon is to us ? lastly , who is there that knows not the vast disproportion 'twixt this speck of earth , and the immense heavens , how that it is less than the smallest mote or atom , which we see to hover and play in the sun's beams , in comparison of the fixed stars ? so that if one stood but in the firmament , it could never be seen at all ; and if it were annihilated , would never be miss'd , being so small and inconsiderable a portion of the creation : nay , our modern philosophers have found , that not onely the earth , but the whole orbis magnus ( which is the earth's annual circle it describes about the sun ) is but a point , in regard of the immense distance of the fixed stars . nay , the noble and elastical soul of des-cartes , that has stretch'd it self yet a pin higher , has done the heavens and upper world more right yet , as to the magnificent vastness of its expansion , and has shown us that every fixed star is a sun , and is set in the centre of a vortex , or planetary system , as ours is , and that they are as far remote one off another , as ours is off them ; and that all our whole planetary vortex shrinks almost into nothing , if compared to those innumerable systems above us . what are we then but like so many ants or pismires , that toyl upon this mole-hill , and could appear no otherwayes at distance , but as those poor animals , the mites , do to us through a good microscope , in a piece of cheese ? let us not therefore pride our selves too much in the lordship of the whole universe , 't is more , i am sure , than we could challenge from our creatour , that he hath made us such noble creatures as we are , that he hath given us such a large inheritance , as the whole globe of the earth , that he hath subjugated all things therein to our use and service ; and lastly , that he hath endued our souls with such spiritual and prying faculties , that we can attempt and reach at the superiour and more mysterious works of his creation , and therein to admire those things we are not capable to understand . as for the earth being the centre of the world , 't is now an opinion so generally exploded , that i need not trouble you nor my self with it . and , indeed , what need i take pains to refute that which is but gratìs dictum , and which he neither hath , nor all the peripateticks in the world can ever prove . let us first see him do that , and then you shall see what i am able to say to it . chap. v. and now i come to his three great inventions ; and the first shall be of longitudes . to find the longitude of any place , or some thing aequipollent thereunto , is easily done ( saith he ) from these three data ; that is , the angle of magnetical inclination . magnetical variation . elevation of the pole. as for example : at rouen in france , the angle of north-easting variation of the compass is 2 gr . 30 ' the angle of septentrional inclination is 72 gr . the elevation of the north-pole there , is 49 gr . grandamicus his consequence from hence . now 't is impossible ( saith he ) that these three angles should be the same in any other determinate point of the earth , but at our city at rouen . to which we reply , first , that he runs upon a false assumption ; viz. that the angle of variation it self is perpetually the same in the same place of the earth , which is false ; for mr. burrows , ann. dom. 1580. made an exact observation of the needle 's variation towards the east at lime-house , near london , and found it to amount to no less than 11 gr . 15′ , and afterwards , ann. dom. 1622. mr. gunter , at the same place , observed it to be diminished to onely 6 gr . and 13′ . and gildebrand , ann. dom. 1634. in the same place found it to come yet lower , and not to exceed 4 gr . 6 min. so that in process of time it is very probable it will come to an exact meridionality , and , perchance veer as much on the other side of the meridian line ( viz ) westwards , as it hath done of this . doctor croone , my worthy and most ingenious friend , writes me word , that in june last , 1661. the magnetical variation at london , was found to be by the best observation 45′ 30″ westwards : so that it seems it has past the meridian already . and of this mystery of the variation of the variation , grandamicus himself was not ignorant ; but because it would spoyl his glorious invention , he therefore unhandsomly and unworthily asperses our english observations , with ignorance , error , and incertitude , cap. 4. pag. 73. whereas the observators nominated , were of that knowledge and perspicacity in the mathematicks , that i am sure 't is a credit to grandamicus to be inferiour to any of them . but we shall now tell him , that not onely the english , but his own countrey-men have found out this truth . so that the like decrease of the needle 's variation has been observed at paris by mersennus , and at aix by gassendus : so then this angle of variation being quite fallible , and alwayes variable , his other two angles will prove nothing at all ; for they are the same in the same latitude or parallel round about the earth . 2. but granting him his three data : i say , in the opposite point of the globe ( that is antipodes to rouen ) all these three angles are the same . if you reply , and say , that though the angles of variation and inclination be the same , yet they will be pointed out by the opposite points of the directory and inclinatory needles . to which we counter-reply , that the same point of the needle that pointed at the north-pole here , will there point at the south-pole ; therefore he can have no evidence of the needle of variation , as is manifest by carrying the needle from the one pole of the terrella to the other . and for the inclinatory needle , we see what a ticklish thing it is to make exactly , and though it be poized by a good artificer , yet will it miss one or more degrees in hitting the true point of inclination , which would be a considerable error , to a land-traveller at least . 3. for the profit and utility of this invention , 't is none at all : for to a traveller that sails in one and the same parallel ( which he may do many a thousand miles ) the angles of inclination and elevation will remain the same with those at the port from whence he set sail ; and though the angle of variation did alter ( as he would have it ) yet my marriner can tell nothing at all thereby , but onely thus , that he is not at rouen ; but how far he is gone from it , either east or west , he knowes not at all ; unless he foreknew the angles of variation in every longitude , which is yet unknown : and if they were all now known , yet were it of little or no use or benefit , because in process of time the variation it self varies , as we have pre-observed . chap. vi. and now we come to his second great invention , with which he thunders against the copernicans , and that is his great magnetical experiment to avouch the earth's immobability . to this experiment therefore drawn from the perpendicular position of the magnet , we answer , that the reason why the terrella does wheel about , and direct certain parts of its aequator , to certain and determinate points of the horizon , is , because it is overpower'd by the magnetical effluxions of the earth ; which , as a greater magnet , does violently reduce it to that situation , which probably is the same that those aequatorial parts had in their mineral beds : and therefore this great argument against the dinetical motion of the earth , is no argument at all , unless that he could prove to us that the terrella could play this trick ; it were removed out of the sphaere of the earth's magnetisme , which is beyond his philosophy ever to demonstrate . 2. again , if this motion of the magnet did proceed from an intrinsecal tendency that it has of its own , to bring all its parts to their right and determinate points , there to remain in a perfect stability , then would those parts constantly affect this ( and no other ) situation , howsoever the loadstone was posited ( provided it be at liberty to move it self to its desired position . ) but this is false ; for , in grandamicus his experiment , if you invert the poles of the magnet , and set the north-pole in the zenith , and the south in the nadir , you shall see the stone to counterchange its situation , and those aequatorial parts of the magnet , which before respected the east , shall now wheel about , and fix themselves in the west ; and the northern parts turn to the south : which shews , that the stone does not tack about from an intrinsecal principle and form of its own , but is turned by the extrinsecal effluxions of the whole earth ; or rather by the stream of those magnetical atoms , that strike not onely through the axis of the earth , but also through the body of every petty loadstone , accordingly as they are best received by the grain or bait of the said stone . and now i am engaged in this magnetick discourse , i must tell you that i think our famous gilbert has drawn a more prevalent argument from this magnetical philosophy , to prove the earth's motion by , than grandamicus has done to destroy it ; for since it is demonstrated of late , that all the whole earth is nothing but a great and globular loadstone , and that all the circles of the armillary sphaere , are really , truly , and naturally inhaerent in the earth , by virtue of the transcurrent atoms , how can we conclude otherwise but with gilbert ? quis in posterum eum de facto moveri dubitabit , quum ei omnia ad motum planè requisita , dedit natura ; i. e. figuram rotundam , pendulam in medio fluido positionem , & omnes terminos motui circulari inservientes , polos nempè , aequatorem , meridianos & polares circulos , & parallelos ? lastly , as for his universal meridian , it is likewise deduced from his anti copernican experiment of the loadstone swimming in a boat , with its poles vertically erected : for ( saith he , ) since the stone being horizontally-placed , does not shew the true meridian , but with an angle of variation , in most , if not in all places of the earth , if you set it with its axis perpendicular as before , it will ( after some undulations to and fro ) rest quietly , with certain parts facing the meridian ; which points must be exactly marked , and through them a circle drawn round about the stone ; by help of which , you may strike a true meridian-line , when and where you please . now , though we grant this experiment to be true , and , probably , to hold good in all longitudes and latitudes ; yet he that shall perpend ▪ how many ticklish curiosities , and nice circumstances there are to perform this experiment exactly , will find the invention only pleasing in the theory , but not in the practice : for , 1. it is very difficult to place the terrella in an exact perpendicular ; 2. when 't is so , 't is as difficult to keep it invariable under the same zenith ; 3. most difficult to draw an exact meridian-line from it : not to mention how hard a thing it is ; first , to find the two polary points in a globe-loadstone ; also to keep the boat in a fluctuation , parallel to the horizon . the end of magnetical experiments . subterraneous experiments : or , observations about cole-mines . by henry power , m ae . d r. a the cole-pit . b the vent-pit . cc the sow , that drains all the heads from water . ddd , &c. the vent-head , not above two yards broad . eeee the lateral heads , which are not above two yards broad . fff the prick'd lines , the thurl-vent ; that is , a vent driven through the lateral heads . gggg is walls or pillars of the whole cole-bed remaining ( which with us is not above two foot thick ) to hinder the roof of the pit for falling . the roof and seat is the top and bottom of the works , wherein they get coles , which is about two foot or more distant the one from the other . experiment 1. at the top of the cole-pit we took the weather-glass ab , whose shank eb was about 2 ½ foot long , of a small bore , and the head ae 2 ● / ● inches in diameter ; and heating the head thereof , and immerging it presently in the glass ful of water b ; the water , after a competent time , rose up to the point c ; where we let it stand for a while , till we saw that the external and internal ayr were come to the same temper and elasticity . then carrying the weather-glass ( so prepared ) in a scoop down to the bottom of the cole-pit ( which was not above 35. yards deep ) there the water in the weather-glass did rise up to the point d , viz. very near 3. inches higher than its former standard c. experiment 2. the sixth day of november , 1662. we repeated the same experiment , as before , in a pit of 68. yards deep , and there we found , that at the bottom of the said pit the water in the weather-glasse , did rise very near four inches higher than the point c : viz. one inch higher than the point d to f. now we observ'd , that in carrying down of the said glass in a scoop from the top to the middle of the pit , there the water did not rise so much as it did from the middle to the bottom , by half an inch ; so that it seems the rise of the water was not proportional to the glasse's descent in the pit. experiment 3. we took a very good arm'd loadstone , of an oval figure ( whose poles lay in the long diameter ) and at the top of the coal-pit we loaded the north-pole of it with the greatest weight it was able to carry , even to a scruple ; then taking the stone down to the bottom of the pit , and hanging on the same weight again , we could perceive no difference in the power of the stone at the one place from the other ; for it would neither lift more nor less there , than above : though to try this experiment precisely , and to minute weights , is very ticklish ; for the same stone in any place will sometimes lift a little more , and sometimes a little less . experiment 4. we took a thread of 68. yards long ( which is as long as the deepest pit is with us ) and fastening a brass lump of an exact pound weight to it , we counterpoiz'd both it and the thread with a weight in the other scale ; then fastning the other end of the thread to one of the scales , we let down the pendent weight near to the bottom , and there we found it to weigh lighter by an ounce at least than it did at the top of the said pit . we had tryed this with a bladder full of water , and other substances also , but that our thread by often untwining broke it self . experiment 5. the collyers tell us , that if a pistol be shot off in a head remote from the eye of a pit , it will give but a little report , or rather a sudden thump , like a gun shot off at a great distance ; but if it be discharg'd at the eye of the pit in the bottom , it will make a greater noise than if shot off above-ground . but these experiments are of a dangerous trial in our pits , and the collyers dare not attempt them by reason of the craziness of the roof of their works , which often falls in of its own accord without any concussion at all . every cole-pit hath its vent-pit digg'd down at a competent distance from it , as 50. or 80. paces one from another . they dig a vault under-ground from one pit to another ( which they call the vent-pit ) that the ayr may have a free passage from the one pit to the other ; so that both pits with that subterraneous intercourse , or vault , do exactly represent a syphon invers'd . now the ayr always has a motion , and runs in a stream from one pit to the other ; for if the ayr should have no motion ( or vent , as they call it ) but restagnate , then they could not work in the pits . it is not requisite that the vent-pit should be as deep as the cole-pit . now the vent , or current , of subterraneous ayr is sometimes one way , and sometimes another ; sometimes from the vent-pit to the cole-pit , and sometimes contrariwise ( as the winds ( above ground ) do alter ; ) and also weaker and stronger at sometimes than at others : and sometimes the vent plays so weakly , that they cannot work for want of ventilation . then to gather vent ( as they call it ) they straiten the vault , and wall part of it up ; so that the ayr ( which before run in a large stream ) being now crowded into a lesser channel , and forced to pass through a narrower room , gathers in strength , and runs more swiftly . now it is observ'd , that the subterraneous ayr is alwayes warm , and in the coldest weather , the warmest ; so that it never freezes in that pit , out of which the vent plays . of damps . there are three sorts of damps , or rather three degrees of the same damp ; viz. the common . viz. the suffocating . viz. the fiery . the common damp is that subterraneous steam , or exhalation , which coming out of the earth , restagnates in the heads and undergroundy-cavities , and hinders their candles for burning , so that they cannot work . 1. if they incline their candle downwards , towards their seat , it is observ'd , it will abide in the longer , and not sweal away , and stifle it self with too much tallow , as it would do above-ground . 2. though this damp be so great , as it extinguishes the candle , yet they can abide in it without suffocation . also the heavy vapour will restagnate there , and is not able to rise . 3. this damp is sometimes generated by the effluviums and perspirations that come out of their own bodies that work , if they sweat much ; and if the candle be within the sphaere of those effluviums , it will extinguish it as the former ; as the collyers observe that pass from one head to another that is working in another head . this damp is sometimes on the one side of the heads and not on the other ; and for the most part it runs all along the roof , so that a candle will burn , if set upon the seat : but if you lift it up into the superincumbent region of damp-vapours , it will be immediately extinguish'd . now besides the playing of the vent , they sometimes are necessitated to keep constant fires under-ground , to purifie and ventilate the ayr : sometimes the running of the scoops ( when they begin to work ) will set it into motion : sometimes , if the damp draw towards the eye of the pit , then they set it into motion by throwing down of cole-sacks . of the suffocating damp. the suffocating or choking damp is a more pernicious exhalation , or else a higher degree of the former ; into which no man is able to enter , but presently he is stifled and dyes . and it is observed , that the bodies of those ( which are so slain ) do swell , and are puffed up exceedingly , as if poyson'd . this damp is seldom here in our pits ; but if it be , then the first person that is let down into it , is presently kill'd : so that afterwards they try , by letting down dogs , when it is removed , and fit to enter into ; and most-part by letting down of lighted candles , which will be extinguish'd by the damp in the bottom of the pit , if any damp be restagnant there . of the fiery damp. the fiery damp is of all others the most dangerous , but is never seen in our pits , though in pits at leeds , which is not above 12. miles off , as also in the lancashire pits , and newcastle pits , i have heard much of it . it is a vapour , or exhalation , which comes out of the mineral , or out of the clifts in the mineral , and it sometimes comes out fired , and sometimes in the form of a smoke , which afterwards fires of its own accord , and then forces its way with that vehemence and activity , that it drives all away before it , and kils without mercy ; insomuch that i have heard , that not many years ago , three men in newcastle-pits were so shattered with it , that their very limbs were sever'd . this fiery meteor is observ'd to run all along the roof of the pit , so that if the collyers have the fortune to see it issuing out , there is no way to secure themselves , but to lye flat along to the seat of the pit , and so do sometimes escape so great a danger . sometimes it has taken its way up at the pit-eye , or shaft , with such vehemency , that it has thrown the turn quite away from the mouth of the pit , which is a cylinder of wood of a great weight , and has burnt and sindg'd the rope , as black as lightning does trees . this is that meteor , certainly , that paracelsus calls the coruscation of metals , which , he sayes , is a sign of metals in that place ; and , doubtless , is it that occasions earthquakes , whensoever it happens in any quantity , and can have no vent . the end of subterraneous experiments . the conclusion . to the generous virtuosi , and lovers of experimental philosophy . certainly this world was made not onely to be inhabited , but studied and contemplated by man ; and , how few are there in the world that perform this homage due to their creator ? who , though he hath disclaimed all brutal , yet still accepts of a rational sacrifice ; 't is a tribute we ought to pay him for being men , for it is reason that transpeciates our natures , and makes us little lower than the angels : without the right management of this faculty , we do not so much in our kind as beasts do in theirs , who justly obey the prescript of their natures , and live up to the height of that instinct that providence hath given them . but , alas , how many souls are there , that never come to act beyond that of the gazing-monarch's ? humanum paucis vivit genus . there is a world of people indeed , and but a few men in it ; mankind is but preserv'd in a few individuals ; the greatest part of humanity is lost in earth , and their souls so fixed in that grosser moity of themselves ( their bodies ) that nothing can volatilize them , and set their reasons at liberty . the numerous rabble that seem to have the signatures of man in their faces , are brutes in their understanding , and have nothing of the nobler part that should denominate their essences ; 't is by the favour of a metaphor we call them men , for at the best they are but des-cartes's automata , or aristotle's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but the moving frames , and zanies of men , and have nothing but their outsides to justifie their titles to rationality . pugs and baboons may claim a traduction from adam as well as these , and have as great a share of reason to justifie their parentage . but it is not this numerous piece of monstrosity ( the multitude onely ) that are enemies to themselves and learning ; there is a company of men amongst the philosophers themselves , a sort of notional heads , whose ignorance ( though varnish'd over with a little squabling sophistry ) is as great and invincible as the former . these are they that daily stuff our libraries with their philosophical romances , and glut the press with their canting loquacities . for , instead of solid and experimental philosophy , it has been held accomplishment enough to graduate a student , if he could but stiffly wrangle out a vexatious dispute of some odd peripatetick qualities , or the like ; which ( if translated into english ) signified no more than a heat 'twixt two oyster-wives in billings-gate : nay , these crimes have not onely stain'd the common , but there are spots also to be seen even in the purple gowns of learning . for it hath been a great fault , and , indeed , a solemn piece of folly , even amongst the professors and nobler sort of philosophers , that when they have arrived to a competent height in any art or science , if any difficulty do arise that their art cannot presently reach unto , they instantly pronounce it a thing impossible to be done ; which inconsiderable and rash censure and forestallment of their endevours , does not onely stifle their own further enquiries , but also hangs , to all succeeding ages , as a scar-crow to affright them for ever approching that difficulty . hence it is , that most arts and sciences are branded at this day with some such ignominious impossibility . thus came they to upbraid chymistry with the altahest , and philosophers-stone ; geography , with longitudes ; geometry , with the quadrature of a circle ; stereometry , with the duplication of the cube ; trigonometry , with the trisection of an angle ; algebra , with the aequation of three discontinued numbers ; mechanicks , with a perpetual motion ; and our own profession , with the incurability of cancers and quartans . nay , the spring and nepetides in natural philosophy , the doctrine of comets in astronomy , the terra incognita in geography , the heart's motion in anatomy , the forming of conick sections in dioptricks , the various variation in magnetical philosophy , are accounted as insuperable difficulties as the former , whose causes ( they say ) defie all humane industry ever to discover them . but besides this intestine war , and civil dissention that is 'twixt men of the same denomination and principles , there is one more general impediment , which is an authentick discouragement to the promotion of the arts and sciences , and that is , the universal exclamation of the world's decay and approximation to its period ; that both the great and little world have long since pass'd the meridian , and , that the faculties of the one doe fade and decay , as well as the fabricks and materials of the other ; which though it be a conceit that hath possess'd all ages past , as nearly as ours , yet the clamour was never so high as it is now : something , therefore , i shall here offer , that will abate and qualifie the rigour of this conception . an essay , to prove the world's duration , from the slow motion of the sun 's apogaeum , or the earth's aphelion . first , we take for granted , from the scripture-account , that the world is about 5000. years old . secondly , we take it for granted , that the sun 's apegaeum was at the creation set in the first point of aries ; for which you will anon see prevalent reasons . thirdly , from astronomical observation 't is now found , that the sun 's apogaeum is about the sixth degree of cancer . fourthly , by intervals of observation it is likewise found , that the motion of the sun 's apogaeum , in 100. years , is 1 gr . 42′ 33″ , which by retrocalculation will point out the time of the world's nativity to be about 5000. years ago , which very handsomely draws nigh to the scripture-account , as the famous longomontanus has ingeniously observed . now in all likelihood , he that made this great automaton of the world , will not destroy it , till the slowest motion therein has made one revolution . for would it not even in a common watchmaker ( that has made a curious watch for some gentleman or other , to shew him the rarity of his art ) be great indiscretion , and a most imprudent act , and argue also a dislike of his own work , to pluck the said watch in pieces before every wheel therein had made one revolution at least ? now the apogaeum ( if it move equally , as it hath hitherto done ) will not perfect one revolution under 20000. years , whereof there is but one quadrant yet spent , and 15000. years are yet to come . besides , what reason is there that god should respect the one hemisphaere of the earth , more than the other ? for , take the sun 's apogaeum now as it is , and the north hemisphaere of the earth hath eight days more of the sun's company than the south hemisphaere hath ( as is plain to every one's observation ) for it is eight dayes more from the vernal to the autumnal aequinox , then it is from the autumnal to the vernal again ; which inequality will be repaid to our antoeci in one revolution of the sun 's apogaeum : for 5000. years hence , both hemisphaeres will equally enjoy the sun 's illuminating presence ; and 5000. years after that , the southern hemisphaere will have the eight supernumerary dayes transferr'd to them ; and then at the period of the last 5000. years , both hemisphaeres will be equilibrated again : therefore , in all reason , those southern inhabitants may expect , and we must grant one revolution of the sun 's apogaeum , at least , ( which is 15000. years ) yet to come , to ballance our felicities in this world ; and who knows , but it may be continued many more revolutions ? thus much for the macrocosm : now what decay there is in the microcosm , we must be both parties and judges ; and how far our modern wits have outdone the ancient sages , the parallel 'twixt the few inventions of the one , and the rare discoveries of the other , will easily determine . but the learned hackwell's apology shall be mine at present , for not treating any further of this subject ; he having long since perform'd that task , to the conviction of prejudice it self . besides this catholick one , there are other remora's yet in the way , that have been accessory hindrances to the advancement of learning , and that is , a diffidence and desperation of most men ( nay even of those of more discerning faculties ) of ever reaching to any eminent invention ; and an inveterate conceit they are possess'd with of the old maxim , that nil dictum , quod non priùs dictum : by which despondency of mind , they have not onely stifled the blossoming of the tree of knowledge in themselves , but also have nipp'd the very buds and sproutings of it in others , by blazing about the old and uncomfortable aphorism of our hippocrates , of nature's obscurity , the life's brevity , the senses fallacity , and the judgement 's infirmity . had the winged souls of our modern hero's been lime-twig'd with such ignoble conceptions as these , they had never flown up to those rare inventions with which they have so enrich'd our latter dayes ; we had wanted the useful inventions of guns , printing , navigation , paper , and sugar ; we had wanted decimal and symbolical arithmetick , the analytical algebra , the magnetical philosophy , the logarithms , the hydrargyral experiments , the glorious inventions of dioptrick glasses , wind-guns , and the noble boyle's pneumatick engine . nay , what strangers had we been at home , and within the circle of our own selves ? we had yet never known the mesenterical and thoracical lacteae , the blood 's circulation , the lymphiducts , and other admirable curiosities in this fabrick of our selves . all which incomparable inventions do not only solicite , but , me-thinks , should inflame our endevours to attempt even impossibilities , and to make the world know there are not difficulties enough , in philosophy , for a vigorous and active reason : 't is a noble resolution to begin there where all the world has ended ; and an heroick attempt to salve those difficulties ( which former philosophers accounted impossibilities ) though but in an ingenious hypothesis : and , certainly , there is no truth so abstruse , nor so far elevated out of our reach , but man's wit may raise engines to scale and conquer it : though democritus his pit be never so deep , yet by a long sorites of observations , and chain of deductions , we may at last fathom it , and catch hold of truth that hath so long sitt forlorn at bottom thereof . but these are reaches that are beyond all those of the stagyrite's retinue , the solutions of all those former difficulties are reserved for you ( most noble souls , the true lovers of free , and experimental philosophy ) to gratifie posterity withall . you are the enlarged and elastical souls of the world , who , removing all former rubbish , and prejudicial resistances , do make way for the springy intellect to flye out into its desired expansion . when i seriously contemplate the freedom of your spirits , the excellency of your principles , the vast reach of your designs , to unriddle all nature ; me-thinks , you have done more than men already , and may be well placed in a rank specifically different from the rest of groveling humanity . and this is the age wherein all mens souls are in a kind of fermentation , and the spirit of wisdom and learning begins to mount and free it self from those drossie and terrene impediments wherewith it hath been so long clogg'd , and from the insipid phlegm and caput mortuum of useless notions , in which it has endured so violent and long a fixation . this is the age wherein ( me-thinks ) philosophy comes in with a spring-tide ; and the peripateticks may as well hope to stop the current of the tide , or ( with xerxes ) to fetter the ocean , as hinder the overflowing of free philosophy : me-thinks , i see how all the old rubbish must be thrown away , and the rotten buildings be overthrown , and carried away with so powerful an inundation . these are the days that must lay a new foundation of a more magnificent philosophy , never to be overthrown : that will empirically and sensibly canvass the phaenomena of nature , deducing the causes of things from such originals in nature , as we observe are producible by art , and the infallible demonstration of mechanicks : and certainly , this is the way , and no other , to build a true and permanent philosophy : for art , being the imitation of nature ( or , nature at second-hand ) it is but a sensible expression of effects , dependent on the same ( though more remote causes ; ) and therefore the works of the one , must prove the most reasonable discoveries of the other . and to speak yet more close to the point , i think it is no rhetorication to say , that all things are artificial ; for nature it self is nothing else but the art of god. then , certainly , to find the various turnings , and mysterious process of this divine art , in the management of this great machine of the world , must needs be the proper office of onely the experimental and mechanical philosopher . for the old dogmatists and notional speculators , that onely gaz'd at the visible effects and last resultances of things , understood no more of nature , than a rude countrey-fellow does of the internal fabrick of a watch , that onely sees the index and horary circle , and perchance hears the clock and alarum strike in it : but he that will give a satisfactory account of those phaenomena , must be an artificer indeed , and one well skill'd in the wheel-work and internal contrivance of such anatomical engines . finis . errata . in the preface , read daring , instead of darling art. p. 6. l. 5. opilionem . p. 11. l. 18. bulbe . p. 21. l. 26. strange atoms . p. 27. l. 17. observat. 7. p. 29. l. 27. adde sound . l. 28. adde found it had lost . p. 31. l. 14. rings . p. 47. l. 9. moon wort . and l. 13. of all things . p. 49. l. 17. chive , all . p. 51. l. 6. like . p. 68. l. 10. lucid . & l. 21. down . p. 70. l. 28. dele ( does . ) & l. 29. doth direct . p. 71. l. 22. and so . p. 72. l. 4. and indeed and reality . p. 78. l. 20. of that . p. 81. l. 17. sun's spots . & l. 21. sun's image . p. 82. l. 25. dele ( but. ) p. 91. l. 6. off . & l. 14 cathetus . p. 93. l. 2. etch'd . l. 30. torricellius . p 94. l. 2. their ayr. p. 99. l. 13. this is . ibid. observ. 11. experiment 1. p. 101. l. 9. elater . l. 12. particles . p. 102. l. 6. experiments will to satiety . l. 21. dele ( which ) p. 103. l 2. is by far the greatest part thereof . p. 108. l. 26. superponderant water . p. 110. l. 12. all one . l. 24. at a free . p. 111. l. 7. such a like tube . p. 112. l. 5. too . l. ult . dele ( and ) p. 114. l. 26. the orifice . p. 117. l. 1. intumescency . l. 25. imprison . p. 122. l. 20. about . l. penult . marinus ghetaldi . p. 128. l. 26. being open'd . p. 129. l. 11. with mountain ayr. p. 130. l. ult . experimental eviction . p. 132. l. 26. in the. p. 135. l. 7. conceive . l. 12. of his philosophy . p. 137. l. 15. dele ( of the fire ) and read , therefore . p. 168. l. 16. if it . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a55584-e370 d r. brown , relig. med. boyle his essays , pag. 10. notes for div a55584-e1030 muffet , de insectis , lib. 2 cap. 28. muffet , lib. de insectis , cap. 12. * dr. brown in his vulgar errors . in epistolâ dedicatoriâ , muffeti de insectis . muffet , cap. 24. de insect . lib. 2. in epistolâ prefatoriâ , ad muffet . de insectis . muffet , de insect . cap. 16. pag. 122. sir francis bacon nat. history exp. 91. an history of the constancy of nature wherein by comparing the latter age with the former, it is maintained that the world doth not decay universally in respect of it self, or the heavens, elements, mixt bodies, meteors, minerals, plants, animals, nor man in his age, stature, strength, or faculties of his minde, as relating to all arts and science / by john jonston of poland. naturae constantia. english jonstonus, joannes, 1603-1675. 1657 approx. 291 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 100 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a46233) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 59673) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 189:4) an history of the constancy of nature wherein by comparing the latter age with the former, it is maintained that the world doth not decay universally in respect of it self, or the heavens, elements, mixt bodies, meteors, minerals, plants, animals, nor man in his age, stature, strength, or faculties of his minde, as relating to all arts and science / by john jonston of poland. naturae constantia. english jonstonus, joannes, 1603-1675. rowland, john, m.d. [14], 180, [2] p. printed for john streater ..., [london] : 1657. translation of: naturae constantia. translator's dedication signed: john rouland. place of publication from bm. advertisements: [2] p. at end. reproduction of original in harvard university libraries. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2005-04 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an history of the constancy of nature . wherein , by comparing the latter age with the former , it is maintained tha● the world doth not decay universally , in respect of it self , or the heavens , elements , mixt bodies , meteors , minerals , plants , animals , nor man in his age , stature , strength , or faculties of his minde , as relating to all arts and science by john jonston of poland . printed for john streater , and are to be sold by the booksellers of london , 1657. to the right worshipfull and much accomplished gentleman george pit , esquire . right wor : i have for a long time had an earnest ambition to offer something unto you that might be , in part at least , worthy of your self ; and i hope you will make this present to be so , by your gracious acceptance , suffering it to wear your livery : the author of it was a very learned man , whose works can be no waies prejudiciall to any person of honour . the subject of this book is serious , and of great importance , i fear no objection but that it may not be judged so sutable for your younger thoughts . yet i presume you wil not be offended with me , that i should conceive such ripenesse and maturity of judgement in you beyond your yeers , as to tender a book to your patronage , whose subject may deservedly imploy , and stumble too , the apprehensions of the greatest sages , and learnedst rabbies of our times : for my own part i never much fancied poeticall strains , and flashe● of wit , that are commonly bare outsides and make a crackling noise in the world , having no solid matter containd in them . yet i know such empty vanities can hardly want patrons ; it were then great pity that such a rare piece as this should fail of a favourable maecenas . the question here agitated is , concerning natures constancy , ( and not concerning the inconstancy of vain mens manners ) which i wish idle brains would seriously reflect upon , viz. whether this age wherein we live , may not afford persons ( for man is the chief thing here considerable as famous for their valour , for skill in all arts and sciences , and all other noble qualities and endowments , as there were in former dayes . the author who maintains the affirmative , hath made it good , as i suppose , beyond all exceptions , and therein hath paralleld , and i may say , exceeded by force of argument , any that have maintained the contrary ; and that to the vindication of his own particular , in this excellent book of natures constancy . true it is , that there were many men formerly of great honour and renown in severall countreys , and men of our daies , are reputed generally to be as pigmies , compared with those giantlike heroes that were before us ; and in some particulars , i think it cannot be defended , but they might surpasse us . yet in regard we have the benefit of their labours and our own endeavours , we , though dwarfs , standing on their shoulders may see farther than they could . for since the flood , commonly men lived no longer than we do now , and they wanted the help of many things that we enjoy ; god hath been bountifull to every age in some notable discoveries never known before . for even in that very thing that learned archimedes , is so much magnified for , his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , our age can justly say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that we have exceeded him . martial in his epigrams complains of such who carped at those that were eminent for parts , in the times they lived in , and would give them no commendation because they were not antient. tu solos laudas mortuos poetas : nolo ut tibi placeam , perire . and in another excellent epigram he states it at large , taxing the malice and envy of detractors , from the then present age : esse quid hoc dicam , vivis quod fama negatur , et sua quod rarus tempora lector amet ? haec sunt invidiae nimirum , regule , mores : praeferat antiquos semper ut illa novis . sic veterem ingrati pompeii quaerimus umbram , et laudant catuli julia templa senes ennius est lectus salvo tibi , roma , marone . et sua riserunt secula maeonidem . rara coronato plausêre theatra menandro : nôrat nasonem sola corinna suum . vos tamen , ô nostri , ne festinate , libelli : si post fata venit gloria , non propero . i confesse the noblenesse and admirable worth of ancestours are as spurs to posterity to set them on upon some honourable designes , that may make them worthy of their progenitors ; so virgil hath it in his heroick verses . sis memor , & te animo rep●tentem exempla t●orū . et pater aeneas & avuncalus excitet hector . yet ovid clears it , that what they did afore times , will not ennoble us , if we tread not in their steps of honour and vertue . nam genus , & proavos , & quae non fecimus ipsi , vix en nostra voco , — we may , nay we shall honour our ancestours the more by endeavouring to go beyond them . for the men of israel & judah , had no undervaluing thoughts of posterity ; nor was king david displeased at it , when solomon was made king , that the people prayed that god would make his throne greater than the throne of his father david . paterculus a singular historian , seemes to hold the negative , but that is meant onely , as to the rising and falling of particular generations , that like to mans life , have their childehood , youth , vigour , and olde age . as physitians distribute the times of diseases , wherein are to be observed , the beginning , augmentation , state , and declination of them . for even as a man being to go up a hill , first comes to the foot of it & so mounts higher by degrees til he come to the top , and then he must of necessity go down again , as being able to go no higher . so there is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and top-point in all humane affaires , which being once gained , they fall back as far as the low rise they first had . we see this largely verified in severall ages , ( i will not be tedious to rifle histories to set them down here ) wherein we read , that learning and military arts , and purity of religion have flourished wonderfully , yet by degrees they have all failed and worne away , and as grosse ignorance and pusillanimity ; blindenesse and superstition have succeeded them , as can be imagined ; like to the seven yeers of famine in egypt , wherein the seven yeers of plenty were forgotten , as if they had never been . but that this is not so in the generall course of the world , that hath a continued revolution , and circular motion , is cleerly seen in the very change of the yeer ; for spring goes on to summer , summer to autumn , autum to winter , and so comes about again : no spring so good , but , if not the next , yet some yeers following , may present us with the like or better , however the declining autum , and cold hoary winters have passed between . i am of opinion that the author who maintained this theorem , not as a paradox , but as a reall truth , hath obliged our age to solemnize his memorie , for giving us this hint to exasperate our endeavours , and for chalking out the way , whereby we may be able to do more than any age before us . that they should not so much reflect on former times , as to forget that god had reserved somthing for them , if they would not be wanting to themselves . no hercules pillars are here set up , with a non ultra engraved upon them ; but we are to make use of charles the fifth his motto , and go on couragiously with a plus ultra , adding to what our forefathers shewed themselves honourable in . give me leave for a cloze to make this application , that as your worthy ancestours were highly honoured for their vertues , and for being good patriots to their countrey , so you may have the happinesse to exceed them all , and to raise up trophies of honor unto posterity , beyond your famous predecessours , improving by your goodness those gifts that god hath bountifully bestowed on you . which are the cordiall wishes of him who is , your worships in all honourable respects . john rouland . to the most illustrious and noble lords , d. andreas . d. raphael . earls of les●um , palatinat , belzen : d. george de konary slupecky , castellanidae lablinensi . my most gratious lords , health in all obedience . though there be nothing almost , most illustrious lords , that doth not defend the constancy of nature , yet amongst other arguments , your family may stand in the first place . from the dayes of dambrowca , that you have made poland happy , unto this present time , there are as many senatours of the kingdom , of your house as you have had grandfathers , and great grandfathers in former ages , and all of them of so great vertues , that all vertues seem to be bred in your courts . that there were pios men amongst them , the founding of monasteries , and their large bounty to the church can testifie , that they were magnanimous persons , appears by their laying aside the supreme honours , and undergoing meaner offices , for the publike good . your ancestours far before the lepidi , have out-run their yeers , by the celerity of their wife actions , and were made honourable senatours , at that age that scipio could not think of being consul . and why do i speak of former dayes ? your grandfather was for this very thing of most famous memory , who so raised piety and magnanimity to the height , that were his hereditary vertues , that he hath the name of the patron of the true religion , and seems to be an example of most prudent oratory . to say no more , the most illustrious lord your father lives , and i wish he might live alwaies , of whom so many & so great things may be said , that the slendernes of my wit cannot comprehend , nor my low style expresse . the church calls him , her nursing father and delight : the senate their eye , the nobility , the light of the common wealth , the muses their patron ; and to say what i would in brief ; men think that in his brest is bred , whatever vertue and prudence can be bred in any noble person . but most illustrious lords , what shall i say of you and your two brothers ? i look upon your illustrious and most noble mother , descended from the lesznii , and the dukes of sanguscii , and you proceeding from ●n honourable seminary of vertues , do shew forth some flowers in the spring of your youth ●or the good of the church and the common wealth , and there is no doubt but fruit will follow in the autum of your yeers . most illustrious lord slupeck , i have no need to say much of you , and your most noble family . the kingdom of poland knows the worth of it , and posterity shall thankfully remember your most honourable father . and you whilst ●ll your designes are honourable , and engraf●ed into the family of the lesznii , what may be ●aid of that family you justly seem to partake of it . it is yet in your power to preserv a golden ●ge in the church and state : and being so , most ●llustrious lords , this work of the constancy of nature , doth of right belong unto you , and being i am come into the patronage of your noble family , it is my duty to offer it unto you , whatever it is . wherefore i lay it at your feet , and i beseech you to pardon any weaknesse in its mean dresse . no man was ever unblamed to be wiser than his mean condition would suffer him ; and no man lost his ●abour that offered , though it were a mean gift to the gods. farewell , most illustrious lords ; and proceed and continue long to do good for god , for your country , and noble families ; and to shew favour unto me , that am most addicted to your honours . from leiden in holland , november : 1632. the most bounden to your most illustrious honours john jonston . i am of the number of those that admire the antients , yet i do not , as some do , despise our own dayes . for nature is not grown so barren as to bring forth nothing new , worth commendation . pliny l. 6. ep. 21. and as tacitus saith . there is a kinde of circle in all things , as the ages for manners turn about ; all things were not better in former times , but our times have produced some things worthy to be commended , and arts worthy imitation for posterity , annal. the table . the prologue . it is false that the world universally and perpetually doth grow worse . page 1 proposition . i. the world in respect of it self doth not alwaies run to worse . pag. 6. proposition . ii. the world in respect of heaven doth not grow worse perpetually . pag. 10 proposition . iii. the world in respect of the elements doth not grow to be worse . pag. 18 article . i. the elements in generally do not grow worse . pag. 18 article . ii. the element of the air is deficient in nothing . pag. 21 article . iii. the element of water is decayed in nothing . pag. 26 article . iiii. the elements of earth hath said in nothing . pag. 28 proposition . iv. the world , in respect of mixt bodies , both inanimate , ●nd animate creatures without reason , doth not grow worse . pag. 31 article . i. from meteors it cannot be proved that the world growes worse . pag. 32 article . ii. mineralls have not failed . pag. 37 article . iii. neither plants nor animals have decayed at all . pag. 39 proposition . v. the world in respect of man doth not grow worse . pag. 41 article . i. the age of man within these 3000 yeers hath not failed . pag. 42 article . ii. mans stature and strength , within the ●eers , are not decayed . pag. 52 article . iii. nothing is wanting to faculties of th● minde . pag. 6● the first branch . memory and judgement have not failed . pag. 6● part. ii. there is nothing decayed in the three fa●culties , divinity , law , or physick . pag. 7● part. iii. nothing is wanting in speculative phi●●osophy . pag. 8● part. iv. nothing is wanting in practicall phi●●osophy and history . pag. 8● part. v. nothing wans in tongues and arts. pag. 9● part. vi. mechanick arts and skill in navigation have increased . pag. 10● part. vii . vices were as great formerly , as they ar● now . pag. 17● point . i. the religion of the antients was too sottish p. 11● part. ii. there were many wicked lawes among th● antients . pag. 12● part. iii. the cruelty of the roman people wa● extream . pag. 12● part. iv. the covetousnesse of the people rome wa● exceeding great . pag. 13● part. v. infinite was the luxury of the romans fo● venery and drinking . pag. 14● point . vi. the gluttony of the romam●s in mea● was extrordinary . pag. 14● point . vii . the luxvry of the romans in the●● buildings was extream . pag. 15● point . viii . the luxury of romanes in their garments was extream . pag. 16● point . ix . the justice , fortitude , and prudence o● the romanes was nothing . pag. 16● point . x. and the last , it is probable as some thin● that the church shall be in greater glory upon the earth yet , than ever it was before . pag. 17● finis . john johnstons constancy of nature : a generall thesis . it is false that the world universally and perpetually doth grow to be worse . the prologue . reader , it is the common opinion , and is in every mans mouth , that this world , and all things therein contained , do run towards their end , by a universall and perpetuall declining to worse and worse ; and that there is nothing now in being , or can fall out , that may , i say not be prefer'd , but be compared to the dayes of our forefathers . that neither the uniformity of the heavens , is the same as it was of elder times , nor the fruitfulnesse of the earth , nor the same vigour is in plants and animals , nor is the statute or age of man so strong . the excellencies of arts , are , by reason of the worlds growing old , exhausted , and can do but little that is wonderfull , and but in few things . astraea is gone to the gods , & there is no man , in common society , that may be compared with aristides or socrates ; in policie with the fabii , scipio's , or marcelli ; in houshold government , with aeneas , the wives of the myniae , manlius , or junius ; in the church , with ambrose , hierome , augustine : in the schools , with aristotle , demosthenes , cicero , galen . in brief , all things run downward , and they come not back again . but how true these things are reported , i leave it to every cordial man to consider , in the fear of the lord. as for my own part , and what concerns those that i follow , i see that hereby the majesty of god is dishonoured , the commendable indeavours of men are hindered . for if the supreme god will not have it , that his name should be honoured with as much reverence , as it was formerly done , why then doth he require so much at our hand ? and if he will , wherefore doth he not bestow on us as great gifts , as he did on our predecessours . it cannot stand with his omnipotency , that the treasure of his power should be exhausted . as for mans industry , this is certain , that a preconceived distrust , will be able to do as much , as imagination can in women great with childe , that sets marks upon infants ; or the conceits of melancholy people , which being strongly printed in their minde , can torment them sometimes for many yeers , and sometimes bring them to their ends . this matter is confirmed not onely by the example of franciscus , marquiss of saluzzium , who being bewitched by the predictions that were written in favor of charles the fifth , degenerated from francis the first , from whom he received his marquisdom ; but also , all those learned worthies ( i say nothing of others who make such a pretence for their idlenesse , or ignorance ) who think they can bring nothing into the exchequer of learning , because they think they can say nothing which hath not been already said . wherefore quintilian speaks the truth ; if men had thought thus , that no man could exceed him that was the best , they that are so , had never been the best . lest therefore the truth should be in captivity , the majesty of god dishonoured , and the indeavours of men , and from thence their commoditie , should be shut up in prison ; i having borrowed matter , especially from a large treatise written in english , by that reverend man , d. george hackwil , s s t. d. concerning this thesis , yet preserving my own meaning , i thought fit to bring to publike view the principal things that are objected against it , and to communicate the same with the learned world . but while i deny that the world doth universally and perpetually run to worse and worse ; i understand by the world , the whole compasse of the heavens and the earth , and i mean an universall ruine to worse and worse , in respect of all bodies therein contained ; and i intend a perpetuall decaying , in respect of the duration from the beginning unto the end ; so that the meaning will be this , that this frame of heaven and earth with all bodies therein comprehended , by succession of time running along from the first to the last , doth not by nature slide and run to worse and worse . yet i grant that the elements are changed one into another , that mixt bodies are subject to alteration and diminution , that the earth hath lost something by the fall , and the flood ; that the manners of men and arts do vary ; that there is difference in the length of mens lives ; and that sometimes some arts are lost , but because . all things but for time adjourn , and what 's past , joyes to return , nor is there made any thing , but the end and beginning , touch each other in a ring . i think it can make nothing against the universall ruine of the world. there is a notable recompence in the element's fourfould qualities , which they dispense with most equall and just rules , according to their turns . the sea hath formerly taken away some islands , and we read in histories of some new ones come up in their rooms . god hath made fruitfulnesse , or barrennesse , neither in all places certain , nor yet perpetually . they are the words of barclay , those lands that were most fruitfull in former times , are now barren wildernesses , and dry sands ; and those countries that were once extream cold and unfruitfull , are not now onely fit to bear corn , but abound with those things that are for delight . formerly ireland was a mart for the muses , now , unlesse it were adorned by that one usher , and some other stars , we should esteem it to be almost a barbarous place . greece was formerly the famous place for wisdom , now it is despised for its idlenesse and ignorance . so all ages have their genius , that directs the minds of mortall men to certain studies : some ages are chiefly exercised in wars , then again all things are peaceable ; then people are in love with kingdoms , then with common-wealths ; sometime they are all born as it were barbarous , then again they grow more milde , and more easie of conditions ; and then again after some ages they return to their first blockishnesse . so the world hath often been adorned with the refined manners of men ; and afterwards , industry failing , vanisheth as it were in a cloud . moreover , there are times in all countreys , wherein men live either longer or shorter ; longer , most commonly when the times are barbarous , and the diet more plain , and more given to bodily exercise ; shorter , when they are more civill , and there is more luxury and idlenesse ; but these things have their turns , &c. and this is our opinion : but since the world is considered either in sprect of it self , or in respect of its parts in speciall , and these do contain more bodies under them , there must be many propositions set down in clearing this thesis ; and these are the propositions that seem to me , to appertain thereunto . i. that the world in respect of the whole , doth not alwaies grow worse . ii. nor in regard of the heavens . iii. nor in regard of the elements . iv. nor in regard of mixt bodies both inanimate , and animate without reason . v. nor in regard of man. wherefore our discourse shal be employed in the refutation of the contrary , and confirmation of these propositions ; and thou , christian reader , read this without prejudice , and consider with judgement . proposition i. the world in respect of it self doth not alwaies run to worse . this is most true . for the wisdome of solomon saith , that the spirit of the lord fills the whole world ; that which the platonists calls the soul of the world , is nothing else but the power of god , that manifests it self no lesse in preserving the frame of the universe , than it did in creating it . whence saith justin martyr , as that which is , had never been , unlesse he had commanded , let it be made : so would it not continue , unlesse he had given order to those things that do not perish , that they should alwaies abide ; and to those things that come and goe , that they should alwaies increase and multiply . and learned men in schools , compare the dependance of things created upon the creatour , partly to light , which is extinguished in the ayre , by the suns absence , partly to a vessel that contains the water within it , partly to a print made in water . ii. there are two principles that constitute naturall bodies ; namely , matter and form . that , because it is not generated , it is not corrupted ; for it is without any contrariety , and therefore cannot naturally be destroyed : but the nature of this , is , that when one departs an other succeeds in the same matter . — nothing born can die , but all things successively , are changed but formally . nor can it be otherwise in nature ; for it intends no annihilation , nor can she do that more than she can create ; nor where there is any augmentation , can any diminution happen . iii. but should we grant that some parts of the world do alwaies decrease ; other parts thereupon will increase , or else diminution or annihilation must follow , and if this be granted , an incredible disproportion will fall out between them ▪ and an infallible ruine must come upon that . and then for some thousands of yeers the influence of the heavens had faild , and transmutation of elements , and forces in mixt bodies . but solomon saith expresly , that there is a circular motion in things , and as a poet writes . the sun sets in the west , but he there takes no rest . to rise he doth his best . so we must judge of all other things . iv. lastly , by the rule of proportion it were an easie matter to foretell the day and the hour when it shall end . but that is false by the testimony of scripture , and of christ himself : and divers men diversly define the age of the world . liboravius , makes it 1666. ros●●nus , 1656. cusanus , 1700. or at least the space , that precedes the yeer 1734. copernicus is of an other minde . upon napere , baron of march , a mathematitian , that was second to none , owen makes this sporting epigram . ninety two yeers , this world must last you say , it seems to set the bounds : you are full wise . for had you set them at a shorter day , you might have liv'd to shame , for forging lyes . but it is objected , that esdras , the apostle , and cyprian a martyr , did intimate the decaying of things , and confirme that principle , every thing the more it is removed from its beginning , the more it faints and fails . it is true , and in expresse words in esdras . consider also that you are of lesse stature than those that were before you , and those that shall come after you , will be lesse then you are , for that the creatures now grow old , and are past the strength of their youth . it is certain , that the apostle writes , that the world is subject to vanity , and that it shall be freed from the bondage of corruption , into the liberty of the glory of the sons of god. we cannot deny but these are cyprians words , you must know in the first place , that the world is now grown old , that it stands not so strongly as it did stand , nor is it so vigorous as formerly it was , &c. in winter , there is no such plenty of showers to nourish the seed , nor in summer is the sun so beneficiall to ripen the corn ; nor are plants in the spring so prosperous by reason of temperate weather ; nor are trees so fruitful with fruit in autumn . there are fewer marble stones dug forth of the mountains that are worn out ; they afford lesse quantity of silver and gold ; metals are exhausted , and the slender veines daily grow lesse and decrease . the husbandman failes in the fields , concord in friendship , skilfulnesse in arts , discipline in manners , &c. all these things are true , yet this is most certain , that our tenent is nothing weakned by this , nor is the contrary any whit confirmed . first of all that book of esdras hath nothing but a false title , and is most injurious . what we found in the sixth chapter are mere fables , concerning behemoth and leviathan ; and that is false that is spoken of the consummation of the world . the apostle onely ●ntimates the impuritie and deformity that the creature contracted by the fall of man , and also the declining of individuals , and the hastening of the species to a totall and finall dissolution by fire ; lastly , the abuse of them , with the dishonour of the creatour , joyned with the wrong done to his servants , which are the things he complains of . it is no wonder also that cyprian writ such things . the times were then so bitter by reason of wars , famine and pestilence , that the christians of that age expected the end of the world to be at hand , & graserus writ that the opening of the second and third seal hapned in that time . but a few yeers after , that lamentation was turned into joy . for not only under galienus , otherwise a most cruel persec●tour , was peace restored by an edict sent forth to the churches ; but also under constantine was that woman in the apocalyps brought back into the clear light , which nero had driven into the desert , and which had lain hidden there for a time , times , and half a time , or 245. yeers . but also unto this , may be opposed the disciple of saint augustine , orosius , whose words are these . let them remember with me the times of their ancestors , that were most unquiet by reason of wars , most hainous for wickednes , most foul for dissentions , most miserable for a long continuance , which they may deservedly be afraid of , because they were , and they have need to beg that they may be no more ; to beg that of god onely , who then suffered his secret judgements to break forth , and now his mercies are manifest by removing them . and that that axiome is false , appears not only by the state of things , but also by the effusion of the grace of god by the incarnation of christ , in the yeer 3947. but that it must be understood of violent motion , is without all doubt . proposition ii. the world in respect of heaven doth not grow worse perpetually . if such a declining of things to worse should befall the heavens , it should either befall the substance of it , or the motion , or the light , or the heat , or the influence . but it falls upon none of these . not the substance ; for though it be granted , that the first matter of the heavens , and of the elements be the same , and that both in respect of want of action in them both , and for the needlesse bringing in of two matters . yet , that matter is joyned to such a form , that satisfieth the whole desire thereof , nor hath it any contrary , whereby it may become subject to any corruption , and though it be subject to corruption , ( which is the truth ) as we finde it in the psalme , and thence generation would follow , because that there appeared new stars , one in cassiopea in the yeer 1572. which lasted two yeers : and again , another in the brest of the hen , anno ▪ 1600. which is yet to be seen , and in 1604. one appeared in the sphere of saturn : yet this would make no more against our opinion , than the corruption of mixt bodies made of elements , can make . not the motion ; for we see , if we were minded to follow the common opinion , that not onely the primum mobile , by an eternall decree goes about from east to west , but the planets keep their courses as they are calculated by our ancestours , and when for certain yeers they have wandered in their latitudes , they will without doubt passe in the same tarces as they went before . the sun that runs with fire hot , the cold moon 's motion hindereth not ▪ nor doth the pole star ever drench her flames within the sea to quench , though others do , and vesper bright at certain times foreshwes darke night , but lucifer brings back the light. of saturn the planet we may say as truly now as cicero writ of it formerly . the star of saturne in its motion , effecting many things admirable , both anteceding and retarding , and by lying hid in the evening , and shewing it self again , in the morning , yet this makes no change in the large length of time , but in the same time it wil● do the same again . and should we maintain that the course of the starres were changed , how then could mathematicians foretell the yeer , day , hour , nay the very instant of oppositions , and conjunctions , and ecclipses , so many yeers before . lactantius concluded from thence that the stars are no gods , because they cannot alter or exceed their bounds or usuall motions . for were they gods they might wander here and there at pleasure , without any necessity , as living creatures do upon the earth , who because their w●lls are free , they go up and down where they please , and as their mindes lead them , thither they go . and plutarch wondering at this uniformity , such a great magnitude of things ( saith he ) such disposing of them , such a constancie in observing times and orders , could not either formerly be made without a provident artificer ; or remain so many ages , without a potent inhabitant ; or be governed for ever , without a knowing and skillfull ruler , as reason it self declares it . and if we would hold that the heaven's standing still , is agreeable to the scriptures , and to the opinions of the antient fathers , and should we assert that the starres onely are mooved by their proper motions , and that they are in the heavens no otherwise than living creatures are upon the earth , fishes in the water , and birds in the ayre ; yet would the matter be the same . not the light . for as at first the waters were dispersed over the face of the earth : so was the light through the firmament . and as the waters were gathered together into one heap ; so was the light bound up in one body : & as that was called the sea , so this was called the sun. as therefore the sea loseth nothing , though it water the earth with innumerable rivers ; so the sun loseth nothing by communicating of his light. and if it be true , that at padua tow pitchers were dug up , inclosed in one , which olybius maximus dedicated to plato , for they were full of a liquor wherein a light then burning , was preserved ▪ for many ages . and if that be not false also , that is written of another candle that was found burning in the sepulchre of tullia , what should we doubt of the heavenly light ? especially seeing that the father , according the opinion of those who hold the soul to be extraduce , loseth nothing of his own soul , when he communicateth a soul to his childe , but it is as light borrowed from light. as for the question concerning heat , this doth of it self belong to the stars ; yet god hath given this unto them , that they may be the cause of it , in things capable of heat . that they do it not by motion , is confirmed by the suns standing still in joshua's dayes , and the temper of the middle region of the ayre , that declines unto cold : but by their light , the beams whereof , if they fall perpendicular , if they be reverberated , then is it stronger , and this is almost a certainty . for the summer , and winter temperament of the ayre , and the effects of the artificiall glasses of archimedes and of proclus , seem to confirm as much . when therefore we shew that the light is not diminished , every man may easily know , what to think of the heat . we need not much troouble our selves concerning the influence . for if the substance remains entire , how can these operations ceose , that flow from the forme ? we may for maintaining of our theses otherwise , produce that which langi● hath written . i do not see , saith he , how any ma● can exactly calculate any mans nativity , seeing tha● the starres are hurried so violently about , day and night , so that the least moments of time will produc● mighty changes , which hardly any man can comprehend in his very thoughts . reginald pool pleaseth me well , who answers thus to one , who promised him great honours , from the scheme of his nativity . whatsoever is pretended in me , by my naturall generation , is changed , and restrained by a supernaturall generation made by the blood of my saviour . but you will object to the contrary , that in former times the torrid zone was unhabitable , that the sun is now neerer to the earth , and not so far remote toward either pole : and lastly , that the pole starre in the tail of ursa minor , is neerer to the pole ; and therefore the heavens are deficient . it is so ; for there are many that now live under the torrid zone , and there is merchandise for multitudes of commodities , from hence thither ; bodinus reports out of copernicus , rainoldus , stadius , and others , that the sun is now more neer to the earth , by 136. semidiameters , or 26600. miles , and philippus melancthon thought , that ought to be referred to the wasting condition of the earthly and heavenly bodies . it is the common opinion of astronomers , that the sun in winter is not so far from us toward the south , as he was in the dayes of ptolomie , and hipparchus ; and not so neer toward the north in summer . for ptolomie about the yeer of christ , 140. discovered the greatest declination of the sun , from the equinoctiall line , toward either of the poles , to be 23 , degrees , 51. minutes , 20. seconds , and because he found that account to agree with the observations of hipparchus who lived 130. yeers before christ , and of eratosthenes , who preceded him , he thence concluded that the suns greatest declination was immutable . but in the yeer of christ ; one thousand four hundred and thirty , the most learned astronomers of the arabians , found the same declination to be but 23. degrees 35. minuts . to whom albategnius subscribed , who lived in the yeer , 880. but in the yeer 1070 , arzachel an ethiopian born in spain , took the greatest declination , which he found to be 23 degrees , 33 minutes , 30 seconds ; and that he might salve the differences of observations , he invented a new hypothesis . copernicus afterward , following him , in the yeer 1520. concluded that the suns greatest declination was mutable , yet never greater then 23 degrees , 52 minutes , nor lesse than 23 degrees , 28 minutes , and he taught us that in the space of 1 thousand , seven hundred and seventy yeers , the sun would passe from the former to the latter ; and again , in so much space of time , the sun would go back again , from the latter to the former . therefore out of this hypothesis of copernicus , about 65 yeers before the birth of christ , the greatest declination of the sun was 23 degrees , 52 minutes , from which time , calculating backward , it hath ever grown lesse and lesse , untill about 1782. yeers before christ , the greatest declination 〈◊〉 but 23 degrees , 28 minutes , and from that , counting backward again as before , it increased , untill in the yeer , 3499 before christ , it grew to be 23 degrees , 52 minutes . lastly , molineus writes of the pole star , in the tayle of ursa minor , that in the days of hipparchus , it was 12 degrees distant from the pole of the world , and now a dayes it is hardly four degrees from it , and he supposeth , that when it shall come to stand in the poles place , ( which may be within 500 or 600 yeers , ) the period shall be , which god hath set to nature . i willingly grant all these things , yet i see not what inconvenie●ce will happen to our cause thereby . since they , that are of a faction against this , do defend a universall declining , they must also of necessity say , that the cold zones by the cold being increased , are become inhabitable , and that the forces of men are so worn , that they can by no means endure it . the suns neerernesse to us , is either founded upon false principles , or the suns declination is uncertain and changeable . for ptolomie about the yeer of christ , 140 placeth the distance of the sun from the earth , in 1210 semidiameters of the earth , but albategnius , about the yeer 880 found it to be 1146 semidiameters . copernicus about the yeer 1520 found it to be 1179. tycho brahe , about the yeer , 1600 calculated it to be 1182 diameters . but la●sburgius , keplerus , and others , suppose the sun is distant from the earth 3000 semidiameters . scaliger holds that opinion to be so absurd , that he breaks forth into these words . that which some have been bold to write , that the body of the sun is not far more neer than it was written to be by our ancestours , so that it may seem to have changed its place , in the body of the deferent orb ; their very writings ought to be wiped out with spunges , or themselves whipt with rods . as for the suns coming neerer to the south , or to the north , the most learned , doctor banbridge , astromonie reader in the famous university of oxford , thinks that the suns declination is immutable , and that the difference of some minutes , between us and ptolomie , might arise from some errour amongst the antients in their observations , whence it will follow that the sun is not farther removed toward the south , nor is he come neerer to the north. yet however , if we should grant that there were a mutability , it would follow , that as the sun was 65 yeers before christ , farther off toward the south , than it is now ; so in the yeers that went before those yeers it was not farther off . and when that the greatest declination is at the highest , the sun in winter wil be farther toward the south , and neerer in summer toward the north ; but when it is at the lowest , it will be all contrary . lastly , if any inconvenience may fall upon us thereby , that is recompensed by the convenience , that befalls them that live toward the south , and so nothing can be collected thence , for to prove an universall falling of the world from worse to worse . the opinion of that rare man is grounded on a weak foundation , for the pole star wil never remove to be in place of the pole of the world , or be so straightned that it cannot proceed forward . i grant indeed that after 50 yeers are gone , it will be very neer to it , but it will go back again , and it will become more northerly , as it is now southerly , and this seems to be most certain ; and if the comming neer , or going farther off from the pole , by other stars , do not shew the end of the world , what reason will perswade us that this star should shew it ? proposition iii. the world , in respect of the elements , doth not grow to be worse . being that the elements may be considered in generall , or in speciall ; that this article may be more exactly demonstrated , four other articles seem to belong unto it . i. that the world in respect of the elements in general doth not grow worse . ii. not in respect of the ayre . iii. not in respect of the water . iv. not in respect of the earth . we shall therefore shew all these in their order . the first article . the elements in generall do not grow worse . for if the elements considered in generall , should universally and perpetually grow worse , they should decay , either in respect of number , or qualities , or proportion , or transmutation . but it is not so in any of these . what concerns their number ; the common opinion is , that there are four , but three is the truth : for the fire is but the supronie part of the purer air , that is more subtile , hot , and free from exhalations . for since the scripture doth no where speak of fire , no not in genesis where things created are described , why should we maintain it ? and if that solid element of fire , should differ in subtility and thinnesse , from the sky , or the uppermost part of the air , a new refraction of the stars must needs follow , by reason of the fire , and we should be ignorant of their true places , which is false . moreover , nature in the chiefest things hath observed the number of three . for to say nothing of the supernaturall mystery of the trinity ; there is a trinity in mans sex , the male , the female , and the hermaphrodite : there are three first principles of naturall things , as matter , form , and privation : also there are three sensible principles , salt , brimstone , and mercury . there are three principall parts in man , and three kind of spirits ; the animall , vitall , and naturall : as also they have three channels , or vessels , namely , the nerves , arteries , and veins . there are three humours in the blood , as there are in milk. the buttery part of milk resembles the air , and so doth the cholerick part of the blood . the wheyish part of the milk , and the serene part of the blood , resembles the water . and the crudly part of milk resembles the earth , as doth the grosser choler of the blood , every man knows that this number is found now adays ; and in respect of the qualities , the earth is now the driest element , the coldest and the heaviest . the air is the hottest moistest and lightest . the water is cold and moist . aristotle makes the proportion between the elements to be ten degrees : but it is not so . for the circumference of the earth is 5400. miles , therefore the diameter is 1718 , the semidiameter is 859 , or 860 , which are chosen for to facilitate the account . moreover there are many emptie places of the earth that are without water , and where seas are , the earth is under the water , so that the depth of the sea , as is gathered by the observations of the most skilfull mariners , in many places scarce amounts to 80 , or a 100 pases , more seldome to two or 300 pases , and most seldom to 500 pases , but seldom or never to a 1000 pases , and that is but the fourth part of a germane mile : and if this be compared with the diameter or depths of the earth , it is as the height of a drop of sweat , compared with the whole body . moreover , experience shews , that air will be made of a few drops of water , that is by many degrees more than they . and who can deny , but that this proportion holds even at this day ? as for their transmutation : there is a notable compensation of the four fold forces in the elements , dispensing their courses by equal rules , and bounds ▪ for , as the circle of the yeer is distinguished by four quarters , one quarter succeeding after an other , and by the same circuit , untill the same time return again ; in like manner the elements of the world succeeding one the other in their courses , are changed , and you would say it were incredible : when they seem to die , they are made immortall , running the same race again , and again , and passing daily up and down the same way . for from the earth begins a rising way , which melting is changed into water , then the water evaporates into air , the air is rarefied til it he fire , & another declining way tends downward from the top ; the fire being put out sinks down into air , and the air becomes thick , and turns to water , and the moysture of the water becomes grosse till it be earth . true it is they are not otherwise mingled , than as islanders are with those that traffick with them ; yet this cannot be denied , but it is done for the great good of the universe . for pure water were unfit to drink , the earth would afford no moysture for corn , and we could not breathe in the air. hence saint augustine . the air on the top of olympus , is reported to be so thin , that it cannot nourish birds , nor yet men that happen to go up thither , can be nourished with the spirit of a grosser air , as they are wout to be , and is requisite for their nutriment . article . ii. the element of the air is deficient in nothing . if the aire had failed in any thing , it had faild in its temper . but if we credit historians , in former times the drinesse of the air was greater , and the infection of it more pestilentiall : chronicles write , that in the yeer 1234 , the winter was so cold , that in the adriatick sea , the venetian factours passed over the ice , loaded with their money . zona●us reports , that the like accident fell out in the pontick sea , and the sea adjoyning , under constantinus copronymus . in the dayes of charles the great , there was a great and most bitter frost , whereby the pontick sea for a hundred miles eastward was turned to ice , and was from top to the bottom , 50 cubits thick . in the yeer 1125 , the winter was so violent , that innumerable eels in brabant , by reason of the ice , went forth of the lake , which is strange , and got into hay ricks , and lay hid there , till by extream cold they rotted away , ( robertus de monte ) . and the trees at last scarce had any leaves put forth in may. but to speak of the drinesse , i read in livie , that in the yeer after rome was built 322 , that the rain from heaven , not onely failed , but the earth also wanted her inbred moysture , and had hardly enough to serve for the perpetuall rivers . and where fountains and rivers were dried up , and water failed , the cattell died for thirst . in the yeer 1153 ▪ the wood took fire , by extreame heat of the weather , and the fat earth burned , and no rain could extinguish it . the germane annals report , that in the yeer 1228 , the air was so hot , that the harvest was ended , ( to use their own words ) before the feast of saint john baptist. in the yeer 1473 , the wood in bohemia burnt 18 weeks , and the danow was so dry , that in many places it was fordable , and the same thing is written of the river of the thames in , the reign of henry the first . but in the yeer 1494 in the end of july , the lakes and waters were so bound up with ice , that all the fish died for want of water . you may adde to this , what tacitus writes of armenia , that the winter fell out so cruell , that the ground was so covered with jce , that without they dug , they could find no place for their tents . many mens limbs were scorched with extremitie of cold , and some upon their watch were found dead . and there was a souldier observed , who carried a bundle of wood , whose hands were so frozen , that they clave fast to the wood , and fell off from his arms that were thus maymed . as concerning the pestilent infection of the air , it was once so great in greece ( as thucydides observes ) that birds fell down with the infection , and birds of prey would not touch the carkases . in the government of vibius gallus and volutianus , as pomponius laetus , and zonara testifie , the plague continued without intermission fifteen yeers , and at alexandria no house was clear , and those that remained were not more than there were old men in former dayes . lipsius saith , he never read of a greater plague , for continuance , in any part of the earth . in justinians dayes , at constantinople , sometimes , 10000 have died . in numidia sometimes , as orosius reports , 800000 ; in the time of petrarch at florence , between march and july , a hundred thousand died . and it was so violent in italy , that of a thousand men , scarce ren remained , in the yeer 1348 the plague destroyed so many at london in twelve moneths , that in one church yard 50000 were buried . between january and july , there died 57374 , what shall i say of the english sweat , which thrice passed over the whole island ; the last was in the yeer 1551. nor must we think that the pox is now more violent than it was formerly , this very disease , saith fracastorius , will dy and be extinct , and again it will revive in our posterity , as it is credible it was seen by our ancestours , of which there are no small tokens yet remaining . but as for the scurvey , ( which is nothing else than a melancholique and malignant cachexie of the body ) and some suppose it to be proper to the inhabitants of the north , and the sea coast , it proceeds from obstruction of the milt , by melancholique dregs corrupted by some secret malignant quality , with weaknesse of the attractive , and the expulsive faculties , and is not without some great hurt of the rest of the bowels of the belly : whence ariseth an itchy rednesse of the gums , flagging , corruption and stinking , falling out of the teeth , or weaknesse of the legs , resolution , wannesse , and exceeding wearinesse , from a very small cause . that the ancients were ignorant of this , is most false . for hippocrates , as langius writes , doth describe it under the name of the ●liac passion , or volvulus haematites , in lib. de intern . affssect and also under great milts , in the same book . and lib. 2. prorrhetic , he confirms it . galen in lib. definit , describes the scurvie : that it is a kinde of palsie , that if men be affected with it , they cannot walk straight forward , but sometimes they reel from the right hand to the left , and they bring about their left foot against their right , and they are forced to knock their right foot against their left , and when they go forward ●hey lift up their leg . some again out of galen would call it the black morphew ; but true 〈◊〉 is , that a great plague , this time ten yeers , spread in england , italie , france , and other places : but what doth this make for a universall declining of air to a worse condition ? the violence of fires underground seem to have respect to this , which were very raging in former times , as we know for certain . when titus vespasian , and flavius domitian , were consuls , the mountain vesuvius in campania burned , and first breaking up the top of it , it cast forth stones , after such vast flames , that it set two towns on fire , herculaneum & pompeys towns ; and the smoke was so thick , that it obscured the suns light . lastly , it sent forth such abundance of ashes , that they covered the neighbour countrey , as if they were snow , which by the force of the winds were said to be carried into egypt , africa , and syria . the city julianum , they are the words of the most prudent historian , being joyned to us , was afflicted with an unexpected mischief . for fires breaking forth of the earth , laid bold of farms , fields ; villages , in many places , and they flew to the very walls of col●n , newly built , nor could they be extinguished by the falling of rain , or by river waters , or any other moysture ; untill for want of remedy , and for anger at the losse , some countrey men did cast stones on a far off , and as the flames gave way , they went neerer , and with strokes of clubs , and other things , they frighted them away as men do wilde beasts : last of all , they took off their clothes from their bodies , and threw upon them ; the worse they were and defiled with wearing , the better they served to put out the fire . that also was wonderfull that fell out in the kingdom of naples neer to puteoli , in the yeer 1538 , the 29 of september . the sea retreated 200 paces , and a mountain at two of the clock , at night , riss up , with a huge noise , and casting forth of burning stones , and with such a belching forth of ashes , that not onely almost all the houses were thrown down , but also the famous hot baths at tripergula . the mighty fires of aetna , and of some other mountains in india , are to be seen in my book of the * wonders of nature . let every man consider whether the like hath hapned in latter times . concerning that which is newly written of the mountain of coles in the countrey of misena , or of modernus in italy , that agricola speaks of ; or that which is written of hecla by bleshaenius , or of s. michaels island , which is one of the azores , seems not to be compared with them . article iii. the element of water is decayed in nothing . wee see at this day a threefold tide ; a daily , monethly , and yeerly tide , that posidonius ascribes to the sea. that it is salt , as formerly , is discerned by the taste . it sends forth rivers from it , and receives them again upon their return . if waters are seen now , where they never were before ; on the contrary , waters do fail from the places where they formerly were . it is manifest that in the yeer 1460 , a ship was found in the alps , with anchors , in a mine where they digged metals . and hierome writes that after the death of julian , ships were brought to the clifts of mountains , and hung there . and though no fountains last for aye but all rivulets still decay . yet the great rivers , indus , and ganges , danubius , the rhien , and nilus have not at all changed their courses , as is to be seen in the geographicall descriptions . especially the constant course of nilus for so many ages seems to be one of the wonders of the world. for it keeps its time so exactly , that if you take any of the earth about it , and neither moysten it , nor dry it , it will keep alwaies the same weight untill the 17 of june . from thence is the weight increased , as the river augments , and gives an infallible testimony of the ensuing flood . it is known that some mineral baths have perished , but it is no question , but others are risen in their rooms . necham writes most truly of the baths of england . for to releive old age decaid , ther 's none before our english baths were ever known . if men he be bruis'd or broke , or fainting lie , sick from a cold cause ; her'e 's the remedy . concerning the english spaws . see edmund dean , doctor of physick at yorke , his spadocrene . article . iiii. the element of earth hath faild in nothing . if the earth had faild in any thing , it must either be in quantity or fruitfulness . for aelian in his time , writes that aetna , parnassus , & olympus , did appear daily to grow lesse , as sea-men observed . but palaestina though it were but a small countrey , yet it was large enough , for thirty kings , that were idolaters ; and withall fed such multitudes of the israelites , that in a war between israel and judah , 1200000 men met ; to say nothing of the sacrifice made at the dedication of the temple , or of that other spoken of elsewhere in the chronicles . yet the conclusion cannot by any means be granted . for what is spoken of mountains , is not confirmed concerning the whole earth , which hath the same dimensions now , it formerly had . for , this falls out by reason of rain water and the sea , and what departs from the mountains falls upon valleys : whereupon anaxagoras , being asked whether the sea should ever overflow the mountains of lamsacum , he answered , yes , when time should fail . for as nothing is lost by the sea , when the rivers run from it , because they return again ; so the earth loseth nothing by things that grow from it , and are fed by it , because all turn at last into earth , as lucretius writes . therefore the earth hath gaind the mothers name . for all born of her , return to the same . that which is spoken of the holy land , it seems that we ought to ascribe that to the particular benediction of god ; and also to the promise made for the supply of the sabbatical yeer . but b●●cardus writes thus of it before 300 yeers were past . the corn growes and increaseth wonderfully upon the earth , not manured with dung and soil ; the fields are like gardens wherein there growes every where , fennell , sage , rue , rosen , and in brief , there are found all the worlds goods ; and the land truly flows with rivers of milk and honey . and though it be said , that it hath lost something of its wonted fruitfulnesse . yet on the contrary , other countreys here & there , & other places , have received new forces , to become fruitfull , & it is no doubt , but that did fal out by a singular curse from god , and for the wickednesse of the inhabitants . we , saith columella , assigne the businesse of husbandry to the basest of our servants , as to a hangman for punishment , whereas the best and noblest of our ancestours used it themselves . the earth did heretofore enjoy a plow with a garland and a triumphant plowman . we must do therefore as mises did , if we would have pomegranates as great as he offred to artaxerxes . should i ad to these that there was greater famine amongst our ancestours , and that the price of things were greater , i should not erre . in the yeer 1625 there was a mighty famine : and in 1630 , in poland , which otherwise is held for the granary almost of all europe . for , four bushells of corn , that were wont to be sold for three franks , were prized at 18 franks : but what is this to things past ? in the time of valentine , fathers , in a famine , sold their children , that they might avoid the hazard of death . in the time of honorius , they proclaimed in the market place , set price to mans flesh . livy writes that many of the common people at rome , that they might not pine away with lingering hunger , did cover their heads , and cast themselves into tyber . the same thing , hapned in england , in the yeer of christ 514 , in the dayes of cissa , king of the south saxons . as for the price , varro writes that l. axius a romane knight , would not part with a pair of pigeons , for lesse than 400 denarii , and it may be now sparrows are sold for lesse then a farthing . proposition iiii. the world , in respect of mixt bodies , both inanimate , and animate creatures without reason , doth not grow worse . a mixt body is divided into inanimate , and an animate body : under that , meteors and minerals are contained ; under this , plants , animals , and mankinde . wherefore it seems very necessary , that for the more perfect handling of this question , these things should severally be demonstrated . but because there is a proper article assigned for man by himself , by reason that he affords such plenty of matter , we set down here onely three articles . i. it cannot be proved , by the meteors , that the world runs to worse . ii. mineralls have not faild . iii. neither plants nor animals have decayed at all . article . i. from meteors it cannot be proved that the world growes worse . for neither have those things faild that serve for our profit ; nor are things hurtful , lesse hurtfull now , th●n they were formerly ; nor are they lesse frequent ; rain and snow do now as well make the earth fruitfull ; dew waters it ; the winde ventilates the air , and the fiery exhalations purifie it . do we not now see rain-bows and other meteors as well as formerly ? as for things hurtfull ; in the yeer n. c. 634 , when the jugurthine war began , it rained milk three dayes , and in the third yeer that the wars proved successefull against jugurtha , some write that it rained milk twice . see a rain of flesh in livie . albertus relates out of avicennas , that a great masse of iron , weighing a 100 pound fell out of the air , and of that afterwards the best swords were made . when hannibal with his army broke into italy , it rained fire-stones . when titus annius milo , pleaded his cause at rome , it raind burnt brick ; and it was recorded in the acts of that yeer . our age speaks no such things . it is true , the clowds fell in selesia , about goldeberga : but , was not a greater fall of them seen in franconie , anno. 1551 ? an infinite multitude , saith , bartholinus , of men and beasts were drowned by a sudden tempest , clowds falling unawares , and rain being powred forth in heaps ; so that the strongest walls of many cities , vineyards , & gallant buildings were destroyed utterly . what shall i speak of earthquakes , comets , winds , and thunder . there appeared , as the earl of north-hampton writes , four comets in four yeer : and beda , and paulus aemilius say , that in fourteen days , in the time of charles martell , there were two seen , one at the suns rising , the other at the suns setting . there was such a great one , when attalus raigned , that it was as large as that place in the heavens called via lactea . and in the yeer 1556. there was one so great , that not onely all light exspirations and dry matter , no nor all woods and groves , as many as are upon the face of the earth could serve for . fuel for its two moneths time wherein it shined . was there any such thing in our dayes ? truly i know no example of it : and should i meet with any such ; yet this would conclude nothing for the universall ruine of the world . for if when the exhalations are consumed , that trouble the aire , the aire grow clear ; if the vapours that ascend , being framed of a more fruitfull fatty substance ; can cause fruitfulnesse , when they are spread about the fields , and water them like dew ; if all matter that burns do not leave behind it stinking smells , after that it is extinguished ; a good temper of the aire , fruitfulnesse of the earth , and plenty of provision may succeed after comets ; and the prediction of evil may be recompensed with this good successe . concerning earth-quakes , we have heard almost nothing in these days ; if you except that which happened in apulia , anno. 1627 , that devoured 17000 men . also that was very strange that fell out in the yeer 1571 , about the twelfth of the calends of march in herefordshire in england . for then at night about six of the clock , the earth parted in the east quarter of that county , and a mountain put forth with a rock that was under it : ( first with a mighty noyse and roaring , that all that lived neer those parts heard it ) as if it had wakened out of some long sleep , and it riss to a higher place , leaving its deep den , and caried with it the trees that grew upon it , folds and flocks of sheep : some trees were swallowed up by the ground , others were carried along with the earth , and were by that means so united to it , as if they had rooted there at first . from the place it remooved ; it left a great empty cave , that was foury foot broad , and eighty ells long : the whole field was about twenty acres ; in the way it overturned a chappel . it removed a yew-tree that stood in the church-yard , from west to east ; and with the same violence it drove forward , the common wayes , sheep coats , and hedges with the trees planted in them . thus when it had wandred from saturday night till munday night , it stood still . yet formerly they were more frequent and greater . in the beginning of that yeer , when l. cornelius , and l. minutius , were consuls , livie writes that earth-quakes were so frequent , that men were weary , not onely of the thing it self , but , of the festivals ordained for the removing of it : and he reports that an earth-quake lasted 38. dayes . others say , some have lasted two yeers , and come at severall times again . in tiberius time , twelve cities in asia fell down . when constantine reigned , as many were destroyed . antiochia in the dayes of trajan with the places about it , was swallowed up . augustine writes , that whilst he lived , a. hundred cities in africa fell down . aeneas silvius , writes thus , of an earth quake to frederick the emperour . you shall understand by the bringer of these , what wonderfull and incredible damage hapned by an earth-quake in the kingdom of apulia : for many towns were utterly overthrown , and others fell down in part ; at naples , almost all the churches , and great palaces fell ; above 3000 are said to be killed in the ruines ; all the people now dwell in tents . the same may be spoken of winds and thunders . s. paul in a tempest saw neither sun nor stars , for many dayes . virgil describes a fight of the winds contrary , which now happens not . the east and west , and rainy south-west roar , fighting , they drive huge billowes to the sh●●● . what great shipwarks have been in former times , the life of solyman , and the approach of charles the fifth to argiers , and his departing thence , will manifest . he lost in a few howrs a 140 ships ( saith the history ) 15 gallions , besides men and horses , and other things that were destroyed . i saw , they they are the words of bellarmine , and had i not seen it , i had nere beleeved it , a great quantity of earth cast up by a most violent winde , and that was thrown upon a certain village , so that a very deep pit was left , where the earth was thrown out , and the whole village remained under ground almost buried , unto which that earth was brought . he that thinks this history to be of too late memory ; let him think upon that winde that happened in the dayes of william rufus , anno 1096 , at london , it threw down 600 howses ; to say nothing of the cover of the church , carried away with the arches , and main beams : six of these that were each twenty seven foot long , fell with so great a force , that they made a hole twenty three foot deep in the ground . article ii. mineralls have not failed . our purpose was to speak of mineralls in the second place . and these before any other things , if it were true , would discover the decay of the world . for the unsatiable covetousnesse of men , seeks for gold almost as low as hell ; and the cruel hunger they have after it , doth by an unrestrained sacriledge rob the earth of her treasures that ly hid in the bowels of her . but it is so far from winning any thing to the side of those that are patrons of the opinion we oppose , that these very bodies , are a most strong argument against them . the silesian earth is come to be added to the earth of armenia , and terra lemnia , and it is also better . the inventor of it , was one johannes montanus of silesia , who hath put forth a book of it , that it is gold trasmuted , by the providence of god and of nature , prepared for an excellent remedy , and changed , being properly good against venome , no lesse than medicaments are , that are prepared with great cost of the gold of hungaria . there is also at this day bole of toccavia in hungaria , that is like butter , and is good against catarrhs , and is preferd before the bole of armenia . also there is a red earth found neer to bergas in norway , not unlike to terra sigillata ; and it is a most present antidote against the scurvey . ii. also that minerals have a power in them , to multiply themselves , is almost out of all doubt . a vein of brimstone is repaired in four yeers . the earth salt peter is taken from , laid on a heap , will in five or six yeers yeeld salt peter again . in india there is a mountain , called oromenum , of naturall salt , whereout salt is cut , as quarries are , that growes again ; as caesalpinus relates : and the same may be said of stones ; and that is worth marking , that garzias ab horto writes of the diamond . diamonds that in the deep bowels of the earth should be perfected in many yeers , are bred almost on the top of the ground , and come to perfection in two or three yeers . for if this yeer you dig in in the mine a cubit depth , you shall finde diamonds ; after two yeers , dig there again , and you shall finde diamonds in the same place . nor are mettals out of this priviledge . for gold at corbachia in westphalia groweth and increaseth in heaps every fourth yeer . iron in silesia , at the town saganum , is dug up after ten yeers being bred anew . the same is spoken of ilva an island in the tuscian sea. caesalpinus reports , that the earth that is dug up with the mine , though it have no metall in it , in processe of time will be changed into the same mine . lastly , it is most certain , that in some countreys , even now some rich mines are found out . i will say nothing of the west indies , the wealth whereof fills the cantons of the spaniards , english , and dutch. norway alone can shew the same , if bartholinus , a man of credit , may be trusted . at this day , saith he , there is no place in the earth to fruitfull for silver , as some mountains are , that are discovered in the kingdom of norway , anno. 1623 , in the reign of christian the fourth , king of denmark and norway , my most bountifull lord , that if any man did formerly promise golden mountains , norway doth not onely promise silver mountains , but performes them . for great lumps are dug up that are most pure and the best silver , without any help of fire . in other parts it is more unconcocted ; but where scarce a fifth part was , now a third or fourth part is drosse . what shall i say of the veins of iron in sussex , and of tin in cornwall ? article iii. neither plants nor animals have decayed at all . i shall not need speak much of these , for if the earth have not failed , either in respect her fruitfulnesse , nor of other accidents , how then shall they fail ? the simples have now the same temperament , and the same operations , and animals are now described as aristotle described them . aristotle saith , horses lived but 18 yeers , and at the most but 50 yeers . albertus saith , he saw a souldier had a horse 60 yeers old . niphus saith , that in the stalls of ferdinand the first , there was a horse 70 yeere old . also buteo , a man commended by many writers , going about to shew by geometricall proportion , that the ark could hold so many cattell , and provision for a yeer , borrowes the foundation of his argument from the present dimension of the bodies of beasts , and their sufficient nutriment . goropius becanus , pererius , rawley and others subscribe to him . but what is spoken of an elephant in the book of the maccabees , junius shews , that must be understood of the indian elephants , that are greater than the rest of aethiopia . and they that have been in the kingdom of the great mogull , maintain there are some greater than those we see here . the influence of eclipses upon these inferiour bodies , and the greater frequency of them makes nothing to this matter . for first , since an eclipse is nothing but the interposition either of the moon , between us and the sun , or of the shadow of the earth between the sun and moon ; we have no more need to fear any danger from an eclipse , than we should by the interposition of some grosse clowd . this order will continue in all ages , that have such dayes , wherein the sun by interposition of the moon , is afraid to send forth all his beames . also it is false that eclipses ate now more frequent than formerly . for the sun moon and earth have the same substance and accidents they had ; and light and shadowes have the same being , they had formerly , and the moons way or latitude , from the eclipticke , is as it alwayes was . see bartholinus concerning these points , astrolog . problem . ultimo . also it is false , that they are greater than they were . for in the yeer 1133 , as cambden writes , the suns ecclipse was so great , that day was changed to night . anno. 1140. as malmburiensis relates , it was so great that men feared the old chaos would return . anno. 1415 , on the seventh of june , it was so terrible that birds fell to the ground . we shall conclude therefore that there is nothing in mixt bodies that can intimate unto us , that the world declines to worse universally and perpetually . proposition v. the world in respect of man doth not grow worse . man is the epitome of the whole world , a marriage of superiour and inferiour bodies , a microcosme of a macrocosme . but for as much as this consists not onely in the body , but also in the rationall soul , that is united to it , it is requisite that in respect of all things , some of each should be enquired into . but here principally we are to consider his strength , age , and faculties of his soul. and indeed our opposites maintain that in all these considerations , man is decayed . therefore under this proposition arise these articles , i. the age of man within these 3000. yeers hath not failed . ii. his force and stature are not diminished . iii. he wants nothing in the faculties of his soul. article i. the age of man within these 3000 yeers hath not failed . that the age of man hath not decaid since moses time , may be cleered by many arguments . for first , moses himself speaks expresly . our yeers are 70 , and if one so strong to come to 80 yeers , &c. and though he himself and aaron his brother surpassed this age , but because , as a learned man said , he spake of the generall condition , it is pertinent to our subject . hence also herodotus sets the longest bounds of mans life to be but 80 yeers . barzillay was said to be a very old man , and yet he was but fourscore : and david was full of dayes , yet but seventy yeers old . solomon , as divines conjecture , was not 60 , yet it is said ; when solomon was old . in all the records of the romane , greek , french , and german emperours , there are found onely four that lived to fourscore yeers . amongst the popes onely five , and they were immediately before our times . namely , john the twenty third , gregory the twelfth and thirteenth , paul the third and fourth ; and that which is most notable , elizabeth queen of england out lived all her predecessours from william the conquerour ; and she raigned as fortunately as augustus , as long as david . p●trus criaitus , affirms that egyptis by a subtile conjecture , taken from the weight of the heart , found out within what bounds the life of man was included , and he affirmed , that he could scarce live above a hundred yeers . for every yeer till fifty , it increased two drachmes , and from thence to 100 yeers it decreased as much . though this be rather curiositie than truth , yet it shewes what the antiens thought of the last end of man. varro also held the same opinion . they called the space of a hundred yeers , seculum , from senex , an old man , because they thought that was the longest time for men to live to be old : and seneca saith , we see that thou art come to the very utmost stage of mans life , thou art a hundred yeers old , i say nothing of trebellius pollio , who in his book to constantius ascribes to the longest age , but 120 yeers , by the opinion of mathematicians . moreover , the ancients well observed the secret stations and progresses of nature in mans body , not onely in respect of increasing in the wombes of their mothers , and in respect of their being born , but after their birth also . hippocrates , ascribes to the time of being born , the seventh , ninth , tenth , the eleventh moneth also sometimes ; and he reckons the eighth moneth to be dangerous . some divide mans age into three , others into four , five , six or seven parts , according to the consideration of the planets . philo produces solons elegiack verses of the seventh yeer , causing changes in mans body , young children when seven yeers do go about , renew their teeth that serve them to speak out . when seven more by gods decree are run , hair on their secret parts are first begun . and in thrice seven yeers , a soft hair down . with strength of yeers their beardlesse chin doth crown . macrobius , clearly explains the changes of every seventh yeer in mans age . that in the first , the teeth are shed ; in the second , hair breaks forth on their secrets ; in the third , their beard sprouts ; in the fourth , man ceaseth growing ; in the fifth , strength is given ; in the sixth , consistence ; in the seventh , declining . the observations of the learned say , the same is now done . and although as in health there are degrees of latitude , so here : yet it is sufficient if it be infallible , for the greatest part , and uniformity hold ; the other things being considered . at this time we hold the thirty fifth yeer to be the flower of mans age , as being the mean , between seventy ; and the age our savior died at , unto which the apostle in his epistle to the ephesians , seems to allude . so it was in former ages . for heraclitus , as plutarch relates , affirmed that thirty was the mean in mans age. the same may be said of climactericall yeers . whereof gellius writes thus : it hath been observed for a long time , and it hath been approved in most old men , that the 63d , yeer of their life was with some danger & hurt , either of their body , or with some great disease , or losse of their life , or grief of minde . see baptista codon chus , concerning these things in a speciall treaty , concerning climactericall yeers . to this may be added the age of his marriage and generation , which is the same now , as it was formerly . the third councill of carthage , chap. 9. ordained that readers in churches , when they came to fourteen yeers , should be forced to marry wives , or to vow chastity . quint. writes , that his wife dyed leaving two sons , being not full nineteen yeers old . epict●●us saith , that women , so soon as they are fourteen yeers old , men called them ladies . the civill lawes approve of women to marry at twelve yeers old . so doth the jews talmud , and the canons of the church . hesiodus 15. l. under tiberius , by the papian law , it was forbidden men at 60 to marry . and women , of 50 yeers old , were likewise forbidden . but that law was repealed in justinians reign . also the same may be proved by the taking of church offices , or military and civill offices : for anciently they were assoon admitted , and discharged assoon . parker writes , he that must be promoted to be a bishop , must not be under thirty . but now adays they are seldom under fifty . venerable bede who lived about 800 yeers since , was made a deacon at ninteen yeers old . origen , saith eusebius , was made a catechist at eighteen yeers . the levites were discharged after fifty . as for souldiers : the french at fourteen yeers , prepare their sons for war. ●n . pompeius , at eighteen ; augustus at nineteen , endured war. the romans at seventeen , made them take up arms. whence was the law of gracchus , a souldier must not be chosen under seventeen . yet livie writes , that when the second punick war was , it was decreed , that the tribunes of the people should publish to them , that all that were under seventene , that should take the military oath , should have their pay as well as if they were seventeen or more . the athenian law , discharged men at fourty , and took them on , for wars at eighteen . by the testimony of polyhistor , cajeta● , pererius . simeon and levi , were hardly twenty yeers old when they killed the sichemites : what shall i say of alexander , c. caesar , julian , and others ? as for civill affaires , as plutarch writes , romulus reigned thirty eight yeers , and died at fifty , therefore he began to reign at twelve . cicero , as cornelius nepos writes , made his oration pro roscio at twenty three yeers old . euripides , saith g●llius , at eightteen yeers old writ his tragedies . augustus at sixteen put on his toga virilis , and was made consull at twenty . josephus writes that when he was nineteen , he bare office in the common wealth . lastly , tertullian de veland . virgin. saith : also the heathen observe the seasons , that according to the law of nature , they may give lawes to severall ages . for they receive women at twelve , and men at fourteen , for employments . but here are two principall objections , especially against this . namely , that the patriarchs before the flood , lived very long : and that men now marry sooner then they did formerly . i answer briefly to this . i grant the first ; and say , that is most false that some maintain , that their yeers contained onely thirty six dayes . for were that true , it would follow that enoch and cain begat children at six or seven yeers olde at the most . for the scripture saith , this got children at sixty five , and the other at seventy yeers . nor had any of the patriarchs lived to ninety seven yeers old , and many now live above a hundred : and that would be false that the scripture writes , that abraham died ful of dayes , a good old man. for according to their account he should be but seventeen yeers old . and should we grant this to be most true , yet this would evince nothing for a generall decay of the world . for it seems that was done formerly for vertues sake , and the glorious profits they sought after , that is , for astrology , and geometry , or for the encrease of man ki●de . hence rabbi levi as genebrard quotes him , calls the long lives of the patriarchs , a work of providence and not of nature : or else by reason of their diet . hence roger bacon writes , that as they had great wisdom , they found out all regiment of health , and secret medicaments , whereby their old age was retarded , and by which when it came , it might be mitigated , and their children had this regiment , and experiments against old age ; for god gave them all wisdom , and so they might live long . moreover we finde by constant observation almost in all times , that in some countreys , there were some that lived longer than others , epimenides of crere lived a 150 yeers , gorgias siculus a rhetorician a 108 , hippocrates a 114. terentia wife to cicero , a 103. clodia daughter of osilius , a 115 though when she was young she had borne fifteen children . what shall i say of luceia or galeria copiola ? she lived not a little more than a hundred yeers ; for it is reported that for a hundred yeers , she played the jester upon the stage ; it may be at first she acted the maids part , and at last an old wives . isra , the player and dancer ; was in her youthfull dayes brought upon the stage : how old she was then , is not known , but after 99 yeers from that time , she was again brought upon the theater , not to act her part , but to be shewed for a miracle ; when pompey the great dedicated the theatre . also she was again shewed at the sports ordaind for to pray for the health of divus augustus . in scripture , we read that levi lived a hundred thirty seven yeers . phin●has , three hundred . job after his restitution , a hundred and fourty ; yet he had sons and daughters marriageable before his fall . anna the prophetesse , lived a hundred and six yeers : john the evangelist , as many . but the times of vespasian the emperour will best shew this , when the muster rowle was made . for then were there found in that part of italy , which lyeth between appe●inus and the river po , men that were a hundred yeers old , and others above a hundred twenty four . nor do the later times fail in this : for john of times , that was armour bearer to charles the great , lived 360 yeers . verstigan writes that at s●govia in spain , it was repor●ed that a woman lived a hundred and sixty yeers . franciscus alvarez , reports that he saw an archbishop of aethiopia , a hundred and fifty yeers old . buchanan , ●estifies that one laurentius , of the orcades , when he was a hundred and fourty yeers old , went a fishing in his boat in the coldest winter commonly . a few yeers since in the county of hereford , ( they are the words of the lord verulam ) for a may dance , there were eight men chosen , whose ages counted together , made eight hundred yeers compleat , so that what one wanted of a hundred , the other exceeded a hundred as much . lastly , the countesse of desmond , lived in the yeer 1589 , and after : she married in the dayes of edward the fourth , verulam saith , she thrice renewed her teeth , and lived a hundred and fourty yeers . to the cause taken from nutriment may be added , our dainty breeding now adayes , too soon marrying , and luxury . many dishes make many diseases . seneca , again , that great physitian , and inventer of this art , said , that women never shed their hair , nor did their feet ake : but now they want their hair , and their feet pain them , yet the nature of women is not changed , but their life . that which is spoken of their marrying too soon is commonly false . for when jacob descended into egypt , er and onan are numbered amongst judahs children , ( they were dead ) scheclak ; phares , and serak , and of sharer , hesron , and hamul . and judah was then at most but fourty yeers old , for joseph was thirty nine . and he was born at the end of the fourteenth yeer , when jacob lived in mesopotamia , and the other in the eleventh yeer . in that time therefore , judah had sons that married wives , they were er , and onan , and by the same thamar , he had pharez , that bare two children . ii. benjamin in the same chapter is said to be the father of ten sons , and he was then but twenty three , or twenty four yeers old . he was born in the hundred and sixth yeer of his fathers age . dinah , saith polyhistor , was ravished at ten yeers old . josias died at thirty yeers old , but his son eliakim was 25. when he began to reign . ahaz also lived but thirty six yeers , and hezekiah succeeded him at twenty five yeers , therefore he begat him at eleven yeers old : as for this example , junius and junccius seem to think the contrary , but hicrome in . epistol . ad vitalem , hath recourse to gods omnipotence . for nature can do nothing against the god of nature . article ii. mans stature and strength , within these three thousand yeers , are not decayed . what we said of age , the same may we speak of mans stature and force , and that very well , for first , if the stature and strength of man should universally and perpetually fail , it would follow that adam was the greatest of all men . yet that seems to be false . for what johannes lucidus speaks , he doth it from the vulgar translation of that place , hebron was afore time called cariath arbe . he saith , from thence it may be collected , adam the greatest among the anakims was placed there . it smells of fables of the rabbins , who report that the sea divided paradise , and that when adam was driven forth , he was forced to swim over . the place should be thus translated , he was the greatest man amongst the anakims . most also hold , that adam was not buried in hebron , but there where the new adam was to suffer . nephillim that were before the flood , were men , as the interlineary glosse expounds it , of huge bodies and proud mindes , great strength , unruly manners , yet is not the opinion of chrysostome against this , who saith that the scripture calls , noble strong and warlike men , gyants . ii. though we should grant that men before the flood were like gyants , yet this concludes nothing against our tenent , since there have been such in other ages ; nimrod is called a strong hunter before the lord , the names of rephaim , jumjummims , jamjummims , emims , and anakims , signifie the same . the prophet amos found one amongst the amorites whose heigth he compares to cedars , and his strength to a yoke of oxen. what think you of og , king of bashan , whose bed was nine cubi●s long , four br●ad , not according to his own measure ( as the chaldees pharaphrase and complutensia would have it ) for so the mesure were uncertain , but reckoning according to the common measure of a man , as tremelius , junius , and arias montanus interpret it . what shall we say of samson , goliath , and his brother ? in the dayes of augustus caesar , there were pusio and secundilla , who were nine foot and a half long , and their bodies were preserved in the sallustian garden . in claudius his dayes lived gabbara an arabian who was nine foot high : and in the dayes of theodosius one in syria was five cubits high . scaliger at millan saw a young man in an hospitall so tall , that he could not stand . goropius becanus saith , he saw a woman sixteen foot high . cassanian saith there was at burdeaux one so tall , that an ordinary man might stand upright between his legs . i saw at london the kings porter , who was seven foot high , and two fingers breadth . in china , some of the kings guard are fifteen foot high ; and the king is said to have five hundred such about him . in the countrey of paragonia they are commonly above thirteen foot high , and in symmatra some are twelve foot high . iii. among the ancients , a cubit , a foot , a fingers breadth , a hands breadth were constant and certain measures ; nor was it lawfull for every man to measure by his own measure . that appears by the amphora of the capitoll , and the romane congius ▪ and other things . and those measures were taken from a man of an ordinary stature . but because the bodies of men are different , in severall climates and countreys ; they began the measure from a certain principle , whence other measures were made , as from parts that were certain . wherefore geometricians make a barley corn atwhart to be the least measure that is , measuring the breadth of it . hence , a fingers breadth are sour grains . four fingers a hand breadth contains . a foot is four hand breadth , &c. since therefore the earth , in respect of fruitfulnesse is not decayed , and we use grains to weigh gold as our ancestours did , and the best architects observe vitruvius his measures , there can be no exception . wherefore the mean stature must be the same now as it was formerly . i confesse the jews had holy weights , or of the sanctuary that exceeded the ordinary weights , and the greeks had royall cubits ; yet i affirm that their ordinary and common ones did not exceed ours . for if the ark were measured by the common measure it amounted to 540 cubits , and shewed that it was capacious enough . and agricola lib. de mensur . writes that phya the wife pysistratus was accounted so tall , that they honoured her as minerva : yet was she not above four common cubits high . also artaches the chief officer in xerxes army , was reported to be very tall , yet was he but four royall cubits high , abating four fingers breadth . as for the romane measure , the same agricola writes , that a romane foot was lesse than a french foot , by two fingers ; and it is to be seen yet at rome , in the marble monuments , chiefly in the gardens of angelus coloccus . but goropius becanus , found so me that were measured to be shorter by four hands breadth , & yet he was but a short man in respect of ordinary men. lastly , nero , witnesse suetonius , mustered a new legion of italians that were sixe cubits high : he called that alexanders brigade . iv. the measure of diet , all things considered , was allowed for men , according to the proportion of their bodies , and questionlesse it was proportioned amongst the ancients , after the usuall custome , homer sets before hercules , a man of mighty stature , an ox for his dinner . capitolinus and cord●s allow maximinus , every meal fourty , and sometimes sixty pounds of flesh . athenaeus and theodorus hieropolitanus , assigne to milo of croton , twenty pound , and three gallons of wine . in the dayes of maximilian the first , emperour , there was a man at auspurg , who eat a whole calf raw , as surius writes . and the ancients allowed as much food . for the greeks as suidas reports , allowed a chaenix by the meal . whence clearchus calls trophis in homer . herodotus , saith the same was observed in xerxes his army , and as polybius writes , two thirds of a medimnus of fine wheat , amongst the romanes were allowed for every foot souldier by the moneth , that is four bushels ; for a medimnus contained six . and this is the same with the former . for four modii contained thirty two chaenices . but that which rabanus writes of the israelites , that three chaenices of manna , were allowed every man in the wildernesse , that was gods singular blessing , as junius expounds it . also a horsman amongst the romanes was allowed two medimni , as the same polybius writes , but it was because he had a servant or two as lipsius saith . v. lastly , weapons , gates , sepulchres , beds , &c. can shew as much , all which were anciently of the same dimensions . aristotle writes that beds in his time were but six foot long . magius who hath written a tract for the contrary opinion , reports that the tombs at pisa in italy are no longer than ours are , and he adds that at pisaurum , in a magazine for armour , he saw the helmets of the duke of urbine dug up in the fields , neer metaurum , where asdrubal was conquered by the romans ; his words are these , they were no greater than our souldiers more commonly . d. hawkewill saw in the church of the abbey at malmsbury , a tomb that was said to be king athelstanes , and it was not greater then ours . and in the place for dead bones in the monastery at glassenbury , there could no bone be found that represented any great stature . sands in his travels writes , that entring the pyramids he met with such low and narrow entrances , that he was forced to stoop as he went. and he adds that in a spacious place built of theban marble , that he saw a sepulchre seven foot long , and scarce four foot broad . it was reported to be the body of the founder , charops . i saw at leyden two dead bodies embalmed , that were buried before christ , one was of a small , the other of a bigger stature , but neither of them greater then ours . those arms that are sometimes shewed of a vast magnitude , as we saw in the castle of the earl of fenton in scotland , the sword of king robert , they were made to fright men , or to vaunt with , as appears by that alexander did in the indies . yet the altar of the tabernacle was said to be three cubits high . but if those cubits were then taken by the stature of the men then living , and men were then four cubits high , the priest was but one cubit above the altar , which was a cause of trouble , certainly , in his administration . solomons altar was ten cubits high , but it had steps from the ground . and though god may seem to have forbid men to go up by them , yet that was onely that their nakednesse might not be seen . against what we now have said , five things are chiefly objected . i. that ofttimes , sceletons of vast stature , and mighty great bones are commonly found . ii. the bible speaks much of samson and others ; and the heathen speak of diomedes , ajax , hector , hercules . iii. physicks were given in greater quantities formerly , and blood drawn in greater abundance . iv. the duodenum gut is called so by herophilus , formerly because it was twelve fingers broad in length ; and now a dayes , it is hardly four . v. that impurity is contracted in the seed by propagation in successive generations ; and , thence must necessarily follow diminution in magnitude and strength . yet though these seem brave arguments , they are not so co●siderable , that they can disprove our opinion . as for the first , we grant it is so . for plutarch out of gabinius , which strabo saith , is full of fables , reports , that in africa the body of antaeus , was found of sixty cubits ; fazellus saith , seventy . in the fourteenth yeer of the emperour henry the second , the body of pallas was found at rome entire , to the wonder of all men , that it had lasted so many ages uncorrupted . the wou●d that turnus gave him , was said to be four foot and a half . herodotus writes that the body of orestes was seven cubits , and for this gellius calls him a fabulous writer . orion's body was fourty cubits , and macrosyris a hundred . b●ccace writes , that one of his teeth weighed a hundred ounces , and his staffe a thousand five hundred pound . i will say nothing of that tooth s. augustine saw , which were it divided into parts , would make ten of ours . nor any thing of christopher , whose tooth ludovicus vives , on that place of augustine saith , he saw , bigger than a mans fist . i grant , it is so written . nor do i speak as boldly as becanus who writes ; i beleeve not that in pliny concerning orion , though l. flaccus , and metellus , who said they went to see it , should swear it by their heads . we must so deal with our ancestours , as we would have our posterity deal with us : but what doth all this make against us ? i. it is apparent that many things were not rightly understood : then , many things were added , that were hyperbolically spoken , when as the very antient writers did not beleeve what was reported . there might be some money found in the indies , was presently added that augustus his image was upon it . ii. these monstrous figures may be ascribed to naturall or artificiall causes , or to both joyntly . also great princes might make these things of ambition , or skilfull artificers of curiosity , or infernall devils of malice and deceit . truly that mad building neer amsbury , which the ancients call the gyants dance , seems to proceed originally from thence . what strange bodies a thousand artificers do often present us with , may be collected from the history of two maids that were taken away , in whose places other bodies were layd . iii. i know not whether it be wholly impossible for nature to make such bodies in the very bowels of the earth . for it is without doubt , that many bodies have been found that represented the parts of limbs , and others that were like entire living creatures . in the dioces of trevirs when caement was dug forth to repair buildings , they dug up black stones , like womens privities . diphyes , represents the genitals of both sexes , with a line to distinguish them , at salfelda in thuringia , a stone was dug up out of a pit that was twenty fathom deep , that was like a firme brest , a foot a half long , three hands broad , on the fore part ; where the ribs ended it was six fingers thick , and three where the whirlebands on the hinder part were pierced in the middle . the back bone was empty of that should represent the marrow ; also goropius becanus , saw in england , a stone cut out of the top of a mountain , that was exactly like to a perch , and not the least line wanted for its perfection . i will say nothing now of a turnep neer harlem that was dug up in the yeer 1583. it was like a mans hand with nails , and all the distinctions of fingers , and the lineaments ; i saw the picture of it at lyons , with cl. d. baudarcius my patron . i will say nothing also of that of agricola : we saw a small stature of a man , that carried a childe on his shouders , made of silver by nature . and if these things seem onely to be understood of the outward forms described , and the matter to be wholly different , let i beseech you fossill flesh answer that exception , which was reported to be found sometimes , and of which in the fifth classis of our thaumatographia , we spake some things out of libavius . iv lastly , d. hawkwill thinks that such vast bodies may be ascribed to the divels copulation with women . and truly , saith s. augustine , it is a most frequent report , and many say they have tried it , or heard it of others , of undeniable credit , that the sylvani and fauni , which they commonly call incubi , have commonly committed wicked actions with women , and have desired , and obtained to lie with them , and some devils which the french call dusii , do daily attempt and effect this uncleannesse ; and many such men affirm it , that it were great impudence to deny it . also tostatus , writes that of such monstrous copulations , proceed the strongest and tallest men. valesius and delrio agree with him . it is no doubt , but if any such things have hapned , it happened in the time of heathenisme especially , when the devil had most power , but not so after christ was come . for that the oracles ceased , and great pan was dead , not onely plutarch writes in a particular book , but the history of epitersis . shewes the proclaiming of his death about paxa . d. hawkwell rests in this opinion , but to speak truth , and to confesse ingenuously , i scarse dare agree with him . for though it were granted that the divels should lye with women , yet it followes not that they should conceive , and that for the unfitnesse of the prolifique matter . the divels are spirits and cannot have it of themselves . first therefore they must be succubi , and steal it ; and then incubi and inject it . and in the mean while the seed is spoiled of its inward heat and spiritall , as being easily dispersed : whence it is , that some witches say they felt it cold . further , that seems to be a work of imperfection . for if gyants exceed so much , in magnitude , that it hinders any actions , they are to be called monsters ; and truly , bartholinus calls him a monster , whose grinding tooth , augustine saith he saw . in the interim every man may think what he pleases . he that desires to know more exactly of the divels copulation with women , let him read , ambrose pareus , and caspar bauhinus concerning hermaphrodites . as for the second objection , it is no more forcible then the former ; for neither did the latter times yeeld to them , nor do our times fall short of them . tribellius pollio speaks the same of c. marius , capitolinus of maximinus , vopiscus of aurelianus , barletus of scanderbeg , and fazellus of galeotus bardesinus a noble man of cathay ; and others of tamberlane and ziska , &c. georg. le fuer writes , that anno. 1569. there lived at misni● , nicolaus klunherus the president of the cathedrall church , who without any help lifted a tun of wine out of a cellar . majolus saith , that at asta in the presence of the marques of pescaria , a man played with a pillar of three foot long , and one foot diameter , as another would play with a ball . he reports also that one of mantua , called rodomant , of a mean stature , would break a rope as big as a mans arm , like a thread . ernaudus burg , a spaniard , servant of the earl faux , as frostardus relates , carried an asse loaded with wood , up 24 staires into a chamber , upon his back . lobelius , a polander , writes in describing the things were done anno. 1582 , at the circumcision of mahomet , son to amurat , that one man took up a piece of wood so great as twelve men could hardly carry it , and he laid upon his brest a stone that ten men could not bear . forsbergius with his middle finger of his right hand could thrust any man out of his place . pothowa captain of the cossakes , sath leunclavius broak an iron spurr , as a man would tear paper : johannes romanus in england could carry an ox. lastly , anno. 1575 , there was a man kild of vast magnitude by james niazahilovius a polander , scythian . his forehead was twenty four fingers broad , and the rest of his body was so great , that his carcase lying on the ground , would reach as high as a mans navell , when he stood . the third cannot be granted . for i. goropius becanus speaks expresly . bodies will endure helle●●r now as well as they did formerly , in the same or greater quanlity , as i have tried in others . and jacchmus is of the same minde . ii. i remember , saith galen , that blood was drawn to six pound weight in some men , and so the fever was cured . but he took lesse from others . where the forces are strong and age will allow it , it is fit to draw blood till they faint . iii. pareus writes that in four dayes he drew seven pounds of blood from a man , and d. deodate affirms that from a man of seventy six yeers , in three dayes , he took sixty ounces of blood . also schenckius mentions strange bleedings at the nose , when sometimes eighteen , sometimes twenty , sometimes fourty pounds of blood have run forth . lastly , pasquier in epistol . ad turnerum observed , that blood was drawn , now more commonly than formerly ; for of old , to open a vein was dangerous before fourteen yeer old ; and it is usual . what concerns the gut , twelve fingers broad , it is true that archangelus picolominie concludes thence , that men were greater then , and lesser now ; but how truely , let him see to it . i. it is certain that pliny and tertullian ; mention herophilus , yet it is uncertain what age he lived in . and should we suppose that he lived a thousand yeers since , it will follow that two third parts of men are lost in their statures ; and if men be now five foot high , they were then fifteen . ii. if that happen to us by reason of those times , then that hapned to them in respect of former times . and it is wonder , nor galen , nor hippocrates should speak any thing of them . iii. riolanus seems to decide this controversie , when he writes , and take nothing from the ancient measure , unlesse you adde the more slender and narrow part of the ventricle which reacheth forth from the bottom below , to the very beginning of the windings of the guts , which i have often seen to be twelve fingers breadth long . laurentius , and many others , think that the antients took the pylorus with the duodenum . the last thing of the impurity of seed is false . for i. wee see sometime that sickly parents beget strong and healthy children . ii. the same may be said of animals : and doublesse men had faild by this time , and there had been an end of the dispute . iii. there are many examples , of women that have exceeded in bearing of children . vives relates of a countrey man in spain , whose progeny had fild a village of a 100 houses whilst he yet lived . in the temple of the marschall in essex , there is a sepulchre sen of one mary waters , who when she died hd of her legitimate posterity , three hundred sixty seven children , sixteen of her own , a hundred and fourteen of her childrens , two hundred twenty eight , in a third degree ; nine in a fourth . also that is common . the mother said to her daughter ; daughter , say to your daughter , that she must mourn for her daughters daughter . i let passe other examples . and i conclude , that strength and stature have not failed for some thousands of yeers . article iii. nothing is wanting to the faculties of of the minde . thus much is spoken hitherto concerning those things are principally to be considered in the body of man : now followes the rationall soul. wherein we are to consider whether the faculties thereof have failed in generall or in speciall ; that is principally known , both by the proceedings of arts , and manners ; yet not omitting those things that are requisite thereunto , as memory , judgement , imagination , wherefore these parts are to be considered . i. that memory and judgement have not failed . ii. nor any thing in the three faculties . iii. thirdly , nor in speculative philosophy . iv. nor in practicall philosophy and history . v. nor in languages and arts. vi. nor in m●chanicall arts , and navigation . vii . nor in manners . the first branch . memory and judgement have not failed . how have they failed , when as greater things have fallen out in the latter times , and in our own , than were the vast examples mentioned by the antients ? seneca the rhetorician saith , that he rehearsed two thousand words in the same order they were spoken ; and that he repeated from the last to the first , all the verses that each man propounded , that came to hear his master , and they were above two hundred persons . but marcus antonius muretus , reports of a certain young man of corsica , who studied the civil law in the university of padua , who could repeat thirty six thousand names without any staying , in the same order they were spoken . to which muretus adds , i know not any of the ancients i can oppose to this , unlesse it be cyrus : of whom pliny , quintilian , and the latine writers relate , that he remembred all the souldiers names . xenophor sayes , onely of his officers . but aenaeas sylvius testifies , that ludovicus pontanus a counsellour of spalato , did not onely repeat all the heads of the laws , but the whole body of them ; he died at thirty yeers old . famianus strada writes , that francis suarez , that famous jesuite , had so strong a memory , that he recited saint augustines works in the same words they were written . we have often ( saith he ) seen him readily to teach and shew with his finger the very place & page , wherein he spake of such a thing . greater , and more things may be spoken of johu raynolds , a famous divine in oxford university . for men say , he was so conversant in all classicall authors , that he might truly be called a living libray , or a third university . gentilis confessed , that he knew ▪ the laws better than himself , yet he was professour of them . to confirm the force of judgement and the other faculties , it shall suffice to instance in budaeus , tostatus , & scaliger . ludovicus vives saith , that france never brought forth any man that had a more sharp wit , strong jugdement , more exact diligence , or more learning ; nor yet italy in this age ▪ and indeed he had more knowledge of the latine and greek tongues , than of his own . wherefore what he writ in them was extemporary . if you read his books , de asse , you shall finde he had read all the philosophers ; and was imployed in publike affaires both at home and abroad . but this is the greatest wonder ; which he found in him onely ( they are the words of vives ) both the master and the scholler , and the method and reason of teaching , and the tenth part of those things men can hardly learn under other great masters , that he learned wholly , being his own master , from himself . tostatus in the 22 , yeer of his age had the knowledge almost of all arts and sciences , whence one writes of him , this the worlds wonder , knows all to be known . and metamorus writes further of him . had he lived in any age than in in that he did , we should never envie at augustine of hippo , nor hierome of stridon , nor yet any of the antients . by scaliger , i mean ioseph ( though his father was a man of so great learning , that lipsius reckons him to be the fourth , with those three that he admires amongst the antients ) whose commendation ●ounds in the mouthes of learned men , ( if you except schoppius , who was the shame and spot of his countrey . ) there is nothing ( saith casaubon ) that any man would learn , that he could not teach ; he had read nothing , ( and what had he not read ? ) but he presently remembred it ; there was nothing so obscure or difficult in any old author , greek , latine , or hebrew ; but if he were asked , he would presently answer to it . he readily remembred the histories of all nations , all ages , the successions of empires , and the estate of the ancient church . he held a record of all animals , plants , metals , and of the properties of all naturall things , with their differences and names , were they new or old . he knew perfectly the situation of places , the bounds of provinces , and the divers divisions of them , at severall times . he left none of the more weighty arts or sciences , that he attempted not to learn ; he had the knowledge of so many tongues , so exactly , that had he done nothing but this all his life time , it would worthily be accounted a miracle . the same is is witnessed of him by julius caesar bullingerus , a sorbon doctor , and professour at pisa , but in fewer words : for he writes thus . the yeer 1609 followeth , which was fatall by the death of joseph scaliger ; than whom our age brought forth no man of a greater genius , and ingenuity for learning ; and it may be the ages past , had hardly his equall for all kinds of learning . to these i may adde , that young man , who in the yeer 1445 was at paris , who though he were but twenty yeers old , yet was he very well versed in all arts and sciences , and therefore he was thought to be antichrist , and born of the divell . castellanus who then lived , writes thus of him . a youth i did behold but twenty yeers old who could all arts unfold . and the degrees uphold . he boasted that he knew what ever had been writ had he but once the view ; as a young antichrist . but if we consider the whole matter exactly and shall compare the condition of the later times with the former , we shall finde that we can do as much and more than they could . for we have many helps the antients wanted . amongst which the art of printing is the chief . for by this the prices of books are eased , which were so high in former ages , that plato paid three thousand florens for three books , and the books of the antients are preserved for our use . onely this is necessary , that we may employ lesse time in gaining languages , and that controversies in religion may be shortened , and that equall diligence may be used , and the like patrons may be found . aristole received from alexander , eight hundred talents to compose his naturall history : roscius the comoedian had a daily sallary of three hundred florens . aesop the tragoedian , left to his son 1500000 franks . how much hard labour can do , wee may learn by the example of joseph scaliger . for he in twenty one dayes time , learned all homer by heart , and in four moneths , he learned all contained in the greek poets besides . hence , saith vives , good wits grow in any place , if they may be adorned , it may be in some places more frequently , but every where some . and quintilian writes . nature hath not rejected us , that we should be slothfull , but we indulge more to our selves than we ought : so then , they did not so much exceed us in wit , as in resolution . in the mean while certain it is , that there is a circular motion also in habits ; for first , the egyptians floruished ; then the greeks ; at length , learning forsook athens , and passed into italy , and now in the principall parts of europe , there are most learned men. and i dare say with ramus , we have seen greater increase of learned men , and of their labours in one age , than our ancestours saw before in fourteen ages that are past . part. ii. there is nothing decayed in the three faculties , divinity , law , or physick . it is almost clear concerning divinity , that it is now in greater perfection . for i. the gentiles were employed in vain disputes concerning the number and nature of their gods ; they became vain in their imaginations . now women understand better the most secret mysteries that are worth the knowing and needfull , than formerly the greatest philosophers did . they were all alwaies eloquent in speaking against their vices ; we appear not in a habit , of wisdom , but in our mindes , we do not speak great matters , but we live so . ii. the church of the jewes had the oracles of god committed to them . but the thalmudist , cabalist , pharisees and essens , &c. did strongly wrest them . that they held a transmigration of souls , not onely appears by the opinion of herod and of others concerning christ , as though he had received the soul of john baptist or elias , but also the question of the twelve apostles declares as much . and that they supposed a temporall kingdom of christ , should be upon the earth , that question shewes after christs resurrection , concerning the restoring of the kingdom of israel . iii. the three former centuries are commended for their piety and martyrdom , the fourth for learning . for that age , if ever any , had most excellent and famous doctours . thence were arnobius , lactantius , eusebius , athanasius , hilarius , basilius , nazianzene , ambrose , epiphanius , theophilus , hieronymus , augustine , &c. yet tertullian , origen , cyprian , are condemned for their enormous errours ; and then the principall heresie concerning the trinity and christs incarnation was so rife , that in those dayes , it was an ingenious matter● to be a christian. and at that time was the opinion of the millenaries maintained : and that they were angels that were called the sons of god , in genesis , chap. 6. whence , peternus on the place . i am ashamed to speak what i am about speak here , concerning the best writers . iv. about the ninth century , men were so ignorant , that if any man studied philosophy , they commonly held him for a conjurer . genebrard saith , this is called an unhappy age , and drawn dry of men that were famous for wit and learning , wanting hoth famous princes and bishops . v. so soon as divinity was wrapt up with distinctions , there followed a great contempt of gods word . for albertus m. brought aristotle into the inmost and secret places of the church of god , whom former times had brought to the door . the men of former dayes , did onely equallize the sayings of the fathers of the church , with the word of god : but he with his followers took away that small reverence was left unto the word of god , and compared aristotles writings with it , as if these were founded upon demonstrations , and that concluded onely by probable arguments . hence the most famous graserus supposeth that the third viol in the apocalyps was then powred forth ; to this contempt was joyned a wonderful ignorance of tongues ; to understand greek was suspected ; and hebrew was almost heresy . remigius being ignorant of those languages , in his comment upon those words , 1 thes. 1. 8 , from you sounded out the word , saith , that paul spake something improperly , for he should have said divulged ; being ignorant that s. paul writ in greek . in a part of germa●y , as appears out of the rescript of pope zacharie to boniface bishop of germany , one baptized in this maner . ego baptizote in nomine patria & filia & spiritua sancta . king alfred in the pastoral preface prefixed to st. gregory , writes that in his dayes there was noe priest in the southpart of humber , who understood the sacred office written in latine , or could interpret it . and clemangus , they came not from their studies or schooles , but from the plough tail , and baser arts almost every where , to take charge of parishes who understood little more latine than arabick , and they could not read , and ( it is a shame to speak it , ) they could scarce distinguish alpha from bets : and if they had a little learning , their manners were naught , forasmuch as they were bred without learning in idlenesse , and followed nothing but ribaldry , playes , eating and drinking , and vain controversies . i shall here set down the example of du prat , a bishop and chancellour of france , wh● when he met with these words , in the letters of henry the eighth , king of england , written to francis the first , king of france , mitto tibi duodecim molossos , he thought he m●●nt mules by molossos ; and afterward observing his mistake , he mended the matter well , taking molossos for muletis , and so doubled his ignorance . but all men will excuse themselves with that saying of saint gregory . the words of the heavenly oracle must not be subject to the rules of donatus . he that would know more herein , let him read henricus stephanus , in his apologie on herodotus . vii . lastly , it is beyond all doubt , that no longer than about two hundred yeers did greek and hebrew begin to revive . and , as st. augustine said , before pelagius arose , the fathers spake more carelesly ; and that may be said also of the times that preceded luther . i need not speak much of the knowledge of the imperiall lawes , he that shall compare baldus , bartho . jason , accursius , with cujacius , alciat , ho●toman , duarenus , french men , he shall see the phrase more polite in these , and the method more exact , and the sense of the law more quick . for cujacius said , as thuan testifies , that govianus , of all the interpreters of justinian his law , as many as are or were , is the onely civilian , to whom the garland , must be ascribed , if the question were made concerning the best . yea pithaeus , in his epitaph made upon him , calls the same man the first and last interpreter of the romane lawes , from the first founders . massonius writes thus of him : jacob cujacius , dug up the romane lawes by the roots , and brought them to the light with so great care , that others before him may seem to be ignorant of them : he alone , after many men , seems to have sought them out more diligently , and more neerly to have discovered them . but if we enquire concerning the practick , from the decisions and judgements that now are at rome , naples , florence , genoa , bononia , mantua , at perussium in italy , spires in germany , at paris , burdeaux , gratianapolis in france , we shal easily perceive , to whether the goal must be delivered we acknowledge that physick flourished in the dayes of hippocrates , and was renewed as it were by galen , but that it is now come to the top point , may be demonstrated by most firm arguments . and i. anatomy or artificiall dissection of bodies was scarce known to the antients . for the aegyptians dissected and annoynted bodies to preserve them from corrupting ; the greeks burn'd them ; witnesse , herodotus and thucidides . plutarch intimates that the custome was to burn one womans body with ten mens , as being fatter ; and hippocrates speaks nothing of these things . democritus was found by him , dissecting many animals , and when he asked him the reason of it , he answered . i dissect these animals you see , not that i hate gods works , but to search out the nature of the gall and of choler . amongst the jewes , the custome was either to burn malefactours , or to stone them : if they were hanged they were buried the same day : it was sin to touch the bodies of the dead . amongst the romanes also , bodies were burnt ; the place where , was called , puticulae , or culina ; and the vessels their ashes were put into , urnae . and though cicero writes that sylla was the first , who amongst the senators of the cornelii , would be burnt with fire ; yet ovid , writes of remus . the limbs must burn he did annoint . and numa who was addicted to the sect of pythagoras , forbad men to burn his body . tully himself saith , that the lawes of the twelve tables forbad to bury a dead body in the city , or to burn it . and these were given in the 300. v. c. yeer . lastly , vignerius , shewes out of the eighth book of livie , that the body of the son of manlius the consull was burned in the fields , and that was done in the yeer , v. c. cccc . xii . before syllas death , cclxx. it was not lawfull for them to behold the entralls of man. this custome began to be antiquated after the antonini . macrobius saith , it began to fail in his dayes : yet fifty yeers after , the bodies of pertinax and severus , were burnt , as dion and herodian testifie . then lived galen , who , as some write , did dissect many apes and monkeys , & no bodies of men , unlesse perhaps he did one. whilst laurentius writes that he did that often : he saith onely , it is probable that he did so . as for the primitive church , tertullian calls herophilus a butcher rather then a physitian , who hated man , that he might know him . and augustine , though the diligence of some physitians be cruelty , yet those men call'd anatomists do butcher the bodies of the dead . boniface threatens those with excommunication , who should take out mens bowels ; which is not onely ( saith he ) made very odious in the sight of the majesty of god , but ought also , as being obvious to the eyes of men , to be exceedingly abhorred . therefore , in our and our predecessours dayes , that science began to be adorned , and it was adorned by vesalius , who was the restorer of it . valerius , sylvius , fallopius , columbus , riolanus , hieronymus fabricius ab aquapedente , remmelinus , spigelius , casserius , and others . ii. the knowledge of plants , though it were first known to theophrastus , after that to pliny , and most of all to dioscorides : yet in the age newly past , this also is brought to greater perfection : and this is not onely apparent by the peregrinations of ravilius , l●on●ardus , fuchsius , clusius , and americus , by the discovery of the new world , and by navigations into both the indies , which amongst the rest , have brought four most excellent sudorificks unto us , guaicum , china , sassaphras , and sarsaparillia : but also by the writings of mathiolus , thurnheuserus , lobelius , clusius , carrechterus , and bauhinus , who was fourty yeers composing his table of plants . to these i adde the most famous man , adolphus vorstius , the botanist at leiden university in holland , who was my tutour , whose skill i often wondred at , and that not without amazement . iii. to this , chymistrie may be joyned ; which though it were somwhat known to the antients : for sennertus writes it is probable that tubal cai● , was the first founder of it , and that it flourished in egypt and chiefly in arabia , as geber , avicenna , rhasit , &c. do witnesse . yet in these later ages it was most adorned , by lullius , rogerius , basilius , valentinus ; but above all by paracelsus , and his followers ; suchtenus , dornesus , thurnhes●erus , severinus and crollius , and also by those chymicall physitians , andernacus , quercetanus , sennertus , d●odate , and is brought now to this height . from whence divers medicaments have sprung , tinctures , spirits , extracts , salts , magistrals , praecipitates , glasses , reguli , flowrs , milks , sugars , gills , &c. and though it must be confest that some of them are dangerous to give ; yet this must not be denied , that it is onely when an unskilfull physitian useth them , and they are prepared by an unskilfull chymist . otherwise extracts and tinctures are stronger than syrups , decoctions , or infusions . for when the profitable parts are parted from the unprofitable , strange , grosse and earthy parts , or as schegkius saith , as it were from their excrements , and reffuse , as one may say , it cannot by any reason be denied , but they must be more effectuall , pleasing , and durable . to this belong magnetick cures , transplanting of diseases , cures of such as are lame , &c. of these the antients speak very little , but paracelsus , crollius , bargravius , taliacotius , petraeus , and others have spoke abundantly . wherefore quercetanus seems to have said well . if hippocrates , aristotle or galen , himself were now alive , he would be amused to see this art augmented and adorned with so many ornaments , enriched with so many new inventions , and confirmed with so many wonderfull operations . part. iii. nothing is wanting in speculative philosophy . what we said of the three faculties , we can boldly affirm of philosophie . but philosophie being either speculative , or practicall , and that we speak of in this part comprehends under it , metaphysicks , physickes , and mathematickes ; we must demonstrate this of each of them in particular . as for metaphysicks , after averroes , both the old scholiasts , and thomas , scotus , and the modern spanish philosophers , sanchiez , suarez , fonseca , masius , &c. have adorned it . and amongst other nations , very many are found , as shieblerus , timplerus , cornelius , and jacobus marnii , scharfi●s , lippius , jacchaeus , capsius , &c. who partly have included it in an exact method , and in part have illustrated it with most exquisite precepts , & in part have adorned it with most large disputations . if keckerman had finished his that he began , there could be nothing wanting , as many suppose , that were needfull to the perfection of a complete work , directed to its proper end . and i think that no man will deny but that sagittarius hath been a great help on his canals . a speciall part which others call pneumatica , is so illustrated and corrected out of the scriptures , that it may well be written on the altars of former ages , to the unknown god. the doctrine of angels , which many of the antient divines , thought to be corporeall , is admirably described . it is most certain that no writing of the antients , can be compared to that of delrius , de disquisitionibus magicis , of peucerus , and julius caesar , bullinger de divinatione . naturall philosophie is far more excellent now , than formerly it was . for i. in aristotle , innumerable speculations , concerning matter , the world , heaven , and other things are false . we have them now corrected by aslachus , danaeus , campanella , verulam , bartholinus , nollius , buthardus and many others . i know not whether drebbellius hath not exceeded the antients in his book of the elements . iii. naturall history before pliny his age began again to spring up , at length in his dayes it increased . yet because the new world was not then open , nor so great search made , all could not be discovered by pliny , that since that time hitherto is very exactly known by aldrovandus , gesner , agricola , the anatomists and others . boetius most accurately searched out the nature of stones . the wonder of the loadstone were searched by gilbertus and cabaus ; and gesner found out more cleerly the nature of coralls . iii. no man will gainsay that the chiefest of operations is that whereunto the knowledge of things naturall must be directed . he is the legitimate son of naturall philosophy , who knowes how to produce new metals , can multiply and increase windes , can make artificiall baths of vitrial , b●imstone , allum ; can let fall artificiall snow , rain , hail , frosts , &c. can produce new plants , and animals : but the practick part of philosophy was , till now , in the greatest darknesse ; at last in our age the way to it was opened by famous vernlam , vicount of s. albanes , chancellour of england in his new organum , his sylva silvarum , his historie of life and death , and of windes . and those that have afforded any thing notable therein , were either of the age newly past , or of our times . histories are full , that paracelsus , kelleyus , setonus , did transmute metals into gold. johannes hunniades a hungarian , the chief of all the chymists in england , our friend , did enliven a mettal that run . he shewed the same art , concerning whom , roger bacon speaks thus ; it is more easie to make gold , than it is to destroy it . which angelus de sola , thought to be impossible reason of the fixednesse of the mercury of gold , the maturity , and the so straight conjunction of it with the other substances of the same body , that it can never go back . i think but a few are ignorant what a polonian physitian did for the r●renewing of plants again . see more in rhodologia rosenbergeri . lastly , this winter an english man is reported to have found out a new and easie way to make salt of sea-water . as for the mathematicks , there is no doubt ▪ but our ancestors came short of us in knowledge of geography . for i. strabo oftimes refutes erastosthenes , hipparchus , polybius , and posidonius : so doth ptolomy , marinus tyrius ; yet they also are imperfect , being compared with mercator , merula , ortelius , maginus , cluverius , and carpenter . ii. in the time of pope clement the sixth , as robert avesburiensts testifies , when lodowick of spain was chosen to be king of the fortunate islands , and raised an army in italy and france , the english that were at rome then with the leger embassadour , departed , supposing him to be elected prince of england , as being one of the fortunate islands . iii. one ephorus an accurate greek writer , supposed spain which he called iberia , to be some mighty city . also the beginning of nilus was formerly unknown . but now adayes they are discovered . the originals of nilus are neer the mountains of the moon , not far from the promontory of good-hope . iv. of the antipodes , lactantiu● of old speaks thus . what doe they say that think the antipodes to be men , whose feet walk against ours , do they say any thing ? or is any man so foolish to think there be men whose feet are higher than their heads ? or that their weights ly against the places ours do , turne the contrary way ? that corn and trees grow downward , that rain , snow , hail , fall upwards upon the earth ? and virgilius , bishop of salisbury was condemned for this of heresie , by pope zachary . yet now adayes , we are sure there are such , i can speak no otherwise of astronomy . for i. the ephemerides were not known to ptolomy ; purbachius , was the first that brought them forth . ii. many instruments within these few yeers have been found out by tycho brahe galileus and o●hers , whereby new stars have been discovered , and milkie wayes , which reason of meteors was hid from aristotle and the antients . iii. the quadrature of the circle was a thing to be known in aristotle his days , b●t it was not known . scaliger writes , that he first found it out . yet pancirollus saith , not above thirty yeers since was that art invented , which contains in it some wonderfull secret . iv. lastly , the most learned brigs , late professour of geometry , in the famous universitie of oxford , saith , that the antients knew not these things so well . copernicus astronomy which teacheth us that the earth is the centre of the globe of the moon , and that the sun is the centre of all the other planets : which may be discerned by our sight by help of an optick glasse , lately invented , in venus and mercury , when they are in the lower part of their orbs. he sheweth also by the diurnall motion of the earth , the rising and setting of all the stars : and by the annuall motion of thesame in its great orb , to finde out far more easily , the motions and distances of all the planets , and their progresses in the heavens , their stations and retrogradations , than we can by the epicycles or other hypetheses , of ptolomy or of any of the antients . the four stars ( which galilaeus galilaei the florentine calles , medicea , who first found them out by his tuba optica ) are alwaies carried about the star of jupiter , and when they fall within the shadow of him they are eclipsed , jupiter intercepting the sun beams , as the earth doth when the moon is eclipsed . to find out the value of algebraic aequations of all things , if it be rationall : and if it be not , yet to expresse it next unto that in numbers absolute : and that as accurately , as we can do any side of a surd number , or the length of any irrationall line . any subtendent line being given in a circle , to finde out the subtendent of the third part of the circumference given ( whc . theos in his comment upon ptolomy thought to be impossible ) and not onely of a third part , but of any part , be it even or odde . the very subtendent line is found of an odde part ; but the very subtendent of an even part is not found at one operation , but onely the square of subtendent : and the greater the number of parts be , so much harder it will be to finde out the subtendent . the canons of right lines , tangents and secants to the circle , were not known to any of the antients . erasmus reinoldus first framed them ; and the canon of sines , ( that is far more commodious than the canon of subtendents in ptolomie ) was first discovered by johannes regiomontanus , and afterwards was most accurately calculated by many men . the totall doctrine of logarithms was first invented by john napier baron of merchiston , a scotchman ; whereof none of the antients ever so much as dreamt of , whereby many problems in astronomy , arithmetick and geometry are resolved with very little bour , which otherwise were thought to be impossible , or else to be exceeding hard , and not to be unfolded but with much toil and losse of time . thomas hariottus a most skilful geometrician was the first who taught men to find out the arpha of a sphaericall triangle , or the quantity of a solid angle ; no man before him attained this . the ignorance of this proposition deceived aristotle in his l. 3. de caelo c. 8. supposing that a solid place could be completed by a pyramis . and petrus ramus , committed the same errour , 16. & 4. lib. of his geometrie , who affims the same thing may be done also by an octaedron . he teacheth also to finde out the proportion of a segment of a circle , by that way which for subtill and accurate truth is equal to archimedes way ( prop. 31. and 33 lib. de conoidib . ) and for easinesse is far beyond it . thus far brigs , to these we might adde those things that the most famous gulielmus avianus , rector of the colledge thoman at lipsia , my honoured friend , of his own invention hath inserted in his universall directory . part. iiii. nothing is wanting in practicall philosophy and history . practicall philosophy without all doubt is in the same condition . for should we read the books written upon this subject , by lipsius , guazzus , althusus , thomas , henricus , timpler , keckerman , donaldson , &c. who writ in latine ; or verulam , montanus , the most reverend hall , robinson , feltham , gentius , wright , who writ in french or english , and should adde thereunto what verulam hath written in his augmentations of learning , we shall finde that seneca , epictetus , plutarch , and others of the antients fell short of them many degrees . as for the military art which is part of politicks , the romanes surpassed the greeks therein , and raughleigh is reported to have shewed that the romanes were surpassed by the english in edward the third , and henry the fifth his dayes : it is a question whether the low-countries fall short of antiquity . hunniades , temincharius , scanderbeg , ziska , polislaus of poland , henricus m. king of france . frederick or nassau , &c. nay be compared with julius cesar. for he fought fourty seven battels with successe , and was never put to the worst , except in the russian war , by the running away of one of the palatinate . but of the other , compared to alexander the great , pytheus , writes thus . which of you two the garland first should have ; the warlike world long strove ; at last it gave , the same to thee , henry ▪ by death thou wast . so made at once , the first captain and last . who of the antiens better knew the art of fortification , than the dutch and italians do ? who used more noble stratagems than the low countries , in taking breda and zutphane ? than the spaniard did in the interceptions of amboina : and the english in the conquering of the thundring navy . and as for fights at sea , not despising other nations , the dutch confederates have the preeminence given to them , in many mens judgements ▪ they would sail to heaven with their ships , if men could sail thither . history is three fold , naturall , ecclesiasticall , and civill : of that we spake already . this in old writers is full of fables ; now we have the works of baronius and ezovi●s , the centuries of the magdeburgenses , revised lately by luciu● , hospinians labours , concerning temples , feasts , jesuites , monks , the sacramentary war , &c. foxes martyrology , that is about to be enlarged : and it is no doubt , but some man will be found , that will accurately perfect i● . the civill part was of old written by many particular men : tacitus is most commended amongst them all . yet lipsius calls him , forgetfull , and one that writes contradictions ; and tertullian , a most babling lyar. nor doth guicciardine , cominaeus , cambden , thuan , and other , seem to fall short of him , who without anger or passion , writ the histories of their own times , melior adamus excellently described the lives of the learned : to say nothing of others who writ in their mother tongues . and if we speak of universall history , johannes cluverius , professour of the university of sora in denmark , hath excellently drawn that forth . yet c l ▪ conradus graserus , our reverend master , seems to outstrip him in some things . for to speak nothing of chronologie , deduction of histories , and the propheticall part of history , in the exotick part , he hath bound together the acts of the four monarchies , and of things concurrent , then from the destruction of solomons temple , unto the reign of ferdinand the first , by certain heads , according to lines drawn upon the statue of daniel , besides the holy writ , taken out of profane writers . also he hath most accurately deduced ecclesiasticall history according to the three sold period of the church by john the divine in his apocalyps , revealed by seven seals , trumpets and viols . he that shall joyn together these two parts , like to castor and pollux , i dare promise to him security in the ocean of history that otherwise is very unquiet . commentaries now hot under our hands , doe promise , if god please , a larger deduction . hitherto appertains chronologie the eye of history , which that it is now more augmented and more polished than it formerly was , is confimed by the writings of scaliger , pavellus , helvicus , calvisius , alsted , and others . the calculation of the yeer was along time uncertain amongst the grecians , and though it were first invented by meton , calippus , and hipparchus ; yet it was after that mended by julius cesar , and lilie is said to have mended his computation ; lastly for history , keckerman , alsted , and ( whom i name by way of gratitude ) the famous vossius have done excellently therein , who also hath set forth two incomparable volumes of greek and latine historians . part. v. nothing wants in tongues and arts. i need not say much of languages . every one understands latine ▪ greek in its own climate is rude & barbarous , but in our world , it flourisheth in most places . amongst the fathers of the primitive church , but two , namely hierome and origen , understood the eastern languages . but in these dayes innumerable are they that have great skill in them . amongst whom i place the buxtorsii , amama , hierome , avianus , l' empereur de dicu , as the chifest leaders . the christians hardly ever saw an hebrew grammer before caprio , scarce a chalday one before munster , or a syriac one before tremellius and masius . but now they are not onelo grammarians , but have set forth particular work themselves . and this will be demonstrated by hutters cube , which he set before his bibl● ; johnsons , that i saw hangd up in the library at leyden ; lubinus his clavis of the greeke tongue , mulfuretus his of the hebrew , the horologium of scikkardus , the circles of stephanus colerus ; the harmonia linguarum of cruciger , the lexicon of francus disposed by proper names . as much may be said of arabick , for before raphelengius , baptista , and erpenius , no man set forth a grammer of it . now men are excellently skilled therein , as golius professour at leyden , brodardus with the cadomenses , schikkardus with the tuingenses , and others . to arts i refer grammer , logick , rethorick , poesy . i have now explained the condition of the former . i adde onely this , that it was an admirable artifice that the irish fathers observed in their janua linguarum : but that is far before it , that johannes comenius , my friend , hath communicated in his . for he hath not onely in sentences set down the primitive words , but he hath so disposed them , that it seems as it were a synopsis of philosophy . the antients had notable skill in logick , and the scholiasts have writ many things concerning the precepts thereof very wittily , and subtilely ; yet we are nothing behinde them . for since the vertue of an instrument consists in the use thereof , and logick rules are but as it were certain measures of things , and such as are indivisible ; there is lesse due to that age that was overmuch in disputes , and neglected the use , calling the rules into question ; more to that time , in which the rules are directed to their use , and the use is diligently and accurately inculcated . but keckerman alone hath done this : his book of logick is of so great esteem , that in the university at glascow , it is expounded , and it is urged in the evangelicall schools in hungary , is extolled by the socinians themselves , and is in the hands of all their students . to passe over the testimony of johannes valentinus andreas , his own scholler alsted spake truly of him . i say of thee rare keckerman , that of three brests thou art a man. of aristole , ramus , and melancthon . melancthons brevity , ramus method , one ; that surpassed aristotle alone . to these we may adde the logick of the famous burgersdicius , philosopher in the university at lyons , wherein he hath corrected some errours of keckerman . the axioms of hunnius and sagittarius , the logicall works of alsted and pareus ; all these works are so written that they may shew the right use of logick . rhetorick and oratory , flourished in greece principally in demosthenes his age ; in italy , when tully and salust , lived , and some others : but now we must needs acknowledge that it flourisheth more , than it did formerly under monks and schollers . it is well known , what lipsius writ truly of himself , though he did it blushing : and there is no man ignorant of the modern oratours , putean , baudius , heiens●ius , vernuleius , barclay , &c. poetry excelled in homer amongst the greeks , in virgil amongst the latlne poets . virgil , saith scaliger , brought up to the top of perfection by his choiser studies and judgement , that art that was but rude when he received it . and again , i think that he onely knew what it was not to trifle : he is the onely poet amonst all the poets , and compared single , he may stand for all . if we speak of comaedians , plautus is admired by most . erasmus thinks there is more exact judgement in one comedy of terence , than in all plautus his works . but in the following ages , the art of poetry was hid as under cimmerian darknesse , and verses were written which , brand the age and the authors with a mark of infamy . king ethelberd his epitaph is this . rex ethelbertus his clauditur in poliandro . fana pians certus , christo meat absque meandro . and this was made on gervasius blessensis , abbor of westminster . de regum genere pater hic gervasius , ecce , est & defunctus ; mors rapit omne genus . venerable bede ▪ had this epitaph . presbyter h●c beda requiescit carne sepultus . dona christe animam in coelo gaudere per aevum . daque illi sophiae d' ebriari fonte , cui jam suspiravit ovans intentus semper amore . but we in the last age had two poets , ronsard and buchanan ( to say nothing of bartus who writ excellently in french , or of torquatus tassus in italian , or of spencer who writ in english , of kochonovivs in poles language , of opitius who is yet alive , who writ in the german tongue ) who might be compared to homer and virgil. of the former , pasquire speaks thus . wouldst thou virgils verses make or wanton catullus take . or delightfull petrarch shew , or pindarus modes renew . ronsard virgils verses can and wanton catullus skan . and pleasant petrach he doth with pindarus grace set forth . he doth so well pindar write , and as petrarch doth end●te . catullus , virgil , present , as if he to them had lent . virgil gravely he doth sing , like catullus in no thing ; then wanton catullus he , far from virgils poetry . hee 's virgil and catullus , and petrarch with pindarus . yet is ronsardus alone , besides him there can be none . if virgil and catullus , and petrarch with pindarus , and all poets were before should live again or'e and or'e , all could not ronsard aquall yet he alone doth them all . scaliger writes thus of bucha●an . unto the highest pinnacle was poesie come , but in thee it stands , can go no farther hence . scotland the bounds of romes empire was formerly , scotland the bounds shall be of romes eloquence . yet we have now adays , some that you may reckon amongst the laureate poets . amongst comedians , vernuleius and frischlinus are not the least . as for poeticall invention , the euphormio and argenis of barclay , sidneys arcadia , montgomeries urania , astraea , gurmannus de alfarache of alemannus , are as good as any written by the antients . to conclude , i will adde something concerning the art of teaching , which many men have adorned , principally in languages ▪ yet petrus glaumius seems to excell them all , who so taught the italian tongue in half a yeers space in the university giessena ▪ that his schollers would accurately controvert their theses , written of any matter in that language . the same did so instruct his schollers at halla in saxony in the doctrine of copy-holds in two weeks space , they having learned nothing but the principles of logick before , that they composed theses of the same matter and would defend the same miracuously , without any helper . i was informed of this by that famous friend of mine , master sigismund evens , who was as it were the rector of the colledge then , and directed all that businesse . also he shewed me some examples of the positions , with a table that glaumius had set before it . holstenius his scholler hath professed in a book he newly set forth , that he ca● do as much . part. vi. mechanick arts , and skill in navigation , have increased . but , it may be , manuall arts in these latter times have suffered some eclipse . for the art of painting was excellent amongst the romanes when their empire was at the height . whence horace ; now are we come to 'th top of fotunes wheel , we paint , wrestle , and sing full well , as nointed greeks more quaint . graving and casting were of old in the greatest perfection , as may also appear by the marmora arundeliana at london , set up in the garden of the illustrious earle of arundel , that were brought out of italy and greece . we saw , amongst many inscriptions urnes and statues , the statue of c. marius , vii . consul , of theseus , and of hercules , when he was young : i saw also the faces of scipio , ahricanus , seneca , socrates , aesop , &c. carved and cast to the life . amongst them all , the handsome proportion of the statue of hercules , is most commended , and of a certain feminine body ; also the head of a macedonian king , cast in brasse , and it was found in a pit at smyrna , by petty who lived there five yeers for such purposes . the english carvers do as it were by rule direct their chiefest works thereunto . one of the most excellent workmen of them in the art of casting , by the judgement of all the rest , confessed he could not equall the lineaments thereof . for that , though the the head were maimed , the earle of pembrok offered 300 pound , and it was refused , as d. junius the son of franciscus , a most courteous gentleman reported , who shewed to me these and many more rarities . lastly , for architecture , vitruvius is chiefly commended , nor are the pyramids , & obeliscks of the antients things forgotten . yet though these things be so : nothing can be concluded that can any way prejudice our opinion . for the art of painting declined afterwards , whence sylvius . i saw pictures of two hundred yeers standing , polished with no art . and again , if you look upon carved or painted works of two or three hundred yeers standing ▪ you will perceive them not to l●ok like men , but like monsters , and strange creatures . but in a few yeers after it grew up again , and michael angelus , and raphael u●binas were excellent in italy , durerus in germany , whom erasmus so highly extols , that he thinks , that if apelles had then lived , as he was free and friendly , he would have yeelded the bucklers to albertus , carving and casting , if they do not exced in our times , yet they are scarce behinde the antients , and in this is that axiome verified , that there is a certain circle in humane affairs . it is true that in architecture vitruvius is commended . but that must be understood for his rules in architecture . otherwise , politian writes of leo baptista alberti a florentin , that he so searched out the footsteps of the antients , that he both comprehended the antient manner of architecture , and made it exemplary . that others have done as much may be seen by magnificent structures , which are found about castles , monasteries , churches and other buildings , whereof the itin●rant and topographicall descriptions of countries are full . the pyramids and obelisks were works made onely to vaunt by , and not for any profit . yet the obelisk set up by sixtus v. anno. 1586 , is as good as any of them . it was 107 foot high , and 956148 pound weight . in the erecting of it from the beginning of may till the end almost of september , 900 men , and 70 horses were employed , and the charge came to 37975 crowns , as saith dominicus pontanus . but though there were nothing that could shew that the former times in this point come short of ours ; yet some artificiall works and inventions can shew this , that not very many yeers since were brought upon the stage of the world. the principall whereof , are supposed to be the art of printing , invention of guns , the mariners compasse , and some singular pieces . concerning the first inventor of printing . historians strive , yet cannot end this strife . scriverius seems to demonstrate by many arguments , that laurentius johannis , surnamed edituus , was the inventor of it . and t is true that the author of the chronicle of colen in their native tongue , set forth , anno , 1499 saith that the first prints were found in holland , and that the inhabitants of mentzs , from donatus that was printed there in the yeer 1450 , framed them to that forme we use them now adayes , but the words of mariangelus accursius are these donatus was first of all printed here . anno , 1450 : indeed , johannes faust , a citizen of ments , who first invented this art in copper prints , had his instructions from donatus printed before in holland , in a print of wood. but palmerius in chronicis , guilandinus , vignerius , bibliander , munster , contend for guttenbergius : if this contest can be decided , we may say , that at harlem were the first grounds of it laid ; and guttenbergius , whom polidor virgil makes the author of it , did bring it to greater perfection . but faustus was the first man , that first used the art as we do now . petrus ramus had tullies offices in print , with this inscription . this present most famous work of marcus tully was happily ended by me , john faust , a citizen of ments , not with inke and pen , or quills or brasse , but by a very gallant art , by the labour of my servant peter de gerneshem . it was finished , anno. 1466. the fourth day of february . yet whatsoever this may be , germany will never endure to lose the praise of it . beroa●dus . o germany that dist finde , and art usefull for mankinde , to write in print a mans minde . what is spoken of china , if it be true , yet every man must acknowledge , that all was worse , and more rude , not so neat and well trimmed , nor adorned with so comely variety of leters , as lem●ius saith . i doubt not but he would have said much more , had he seen the prints of the dutch , italians and others now adayes . every man may easily collect the great profit ariseth by this invention . polydore virgil annexeth this to his oration , de bibliothec. veterum . that was a very great blessing given to mankind , but it is no way comparable to that we have obtained now , since we found out a new way of writing . for one man will print as much in one day as many can hardly write in a whole yeer . all men know that books are now made chea●er , more common and more correct , than they were in former times . for to let goe the price , i spake of in another place , i will speak this one thing truly and boldly , ( they are erasmus words , ) i suppose that hierom's books making , cost him lesse , than they do us in restoring them ; and in the preface to augustines works . the rashnesse of idle people hath scarce dealt so ill with any other , as with the books of this sacred dr. at length warlike guns were invented , an. 1380 as magius wil have it , or an. 1400 as ramus saith , by one bartholdus s●wartz a monk of colen , or as salmuth writes , by constantine anklitzen of friburg . it is collected from platina in the life of vrban the fourth , that they were first used in the wars of the venetians , against the genoes ▪ but that seems to be an untruth , which some write that the indians , or salmoneus , or archimedes were the inventors of them . virgil writes of salmoneus thus . i saw salmoneus cruelly tormented because he ●oves thundering flames invented . through greece and elis sreets , in pompe he rode , requiring to be honor'd as a god. in his coach with four horses be did fly , shaking a burning lamp to mock the skie . mad fool , to think that clouds and thunder can , be made with ayre and horses by a man. but this seems to be nothing , but to make men afraid with the noise . and either plutarch or livie , or aegidius romanus , who in the reign of philip the fair writ of warlike instruments , anno , 1285. would have spoken something of archimedes . nor would mahomet have omitted this in his siege of constantinople , who for the managing of one instrument to beat down the walls , was constrained to employ fifty yoke of oxen , and 2000 men , as chalcondyla witnesseth . yet we cannot deny but that in the reign of richard the second king of england , in the battering of the castle at outwitch , the french had great cannon , whereby the walls and houses of the castle were cloven and broken in many places . but whether those engines were such as we use now , is uncertain . the marriners compasse was not known of old time , as blondus , bodinus , cardan , bellonius , acosta , turnebus , pancirolla testifie . had it been found in solmons dayes , he needed not to have consumed three yeers in going and coming , nor was he so wise as to know all things . the compasse , by plautus called versovia , alleadged by lemnius , and called the compasse , is supposed to be the helm that turns the ship , or a rope that turns the sail , as turnebus explains it . flavius melphitanus is thought to be the first inventor of it , though gilbertus saith that paulus venetus brought it from china ; and osorius saith , the portingalls took it from some barbarian pyrates neer the cape of good hope . also that secret of the lodastone , whereby friends may communicate their secret thoughts one to another at the greatest distance , is reported to be an invention of our times . but because famianus strada hath described it at large in the style and vein of lucretius . i will for the readers benefit , set it down in his own words . the load-stone is a stone in nature strong , for many needles toucht there with will change , and turn themselves to that star full right , that next the pole , above us doth give light . conspiring in their motion , far asunder , all move one way at once , t is a wonder . for if at rome one stir , the rest are guided , by the same course , nere so far divided . if then you would unto your friend endite your minde , to whom you know not how to write . make a plain circle large enough , and set on the circumference the alphabet . then let the needle in the middle play . toucht with the load-stone , that it easly may point to the letters ; and to this again , prepare another for a counterpain ; the needle must be touched with the same stone , as the former was to fit your frame . your friend that travells must one compasse take , and you must keep the other for his sake . but on the day and hour first consent , whereon you mean to shew your close intent . this done , observe the time prefixed , and as one , so will the other move or stand . move then your needle at that time when you , would have your friend to know the thing you do . and let the needles point mark ea●h letter softly , that he may understand the better . the words they make , of this you may be sure ; your needles motion will the same procure , in your friends needle : use your instrument thus till you have disclos'd your full intent . t is a graeat wonder for your friend to see , his needle travers o're the a. b. c. guided by yours , that so wide doth lye distant from his , and so to read thereby each word you there make , and if then he please , he may so send to you again with ease . when you have done , and when your style stands still . he can by 's needle write back what he will. i would this writing were once brought in use , then should our letters suffer no abuse , thei 'd need no posts , nor need they stop or stay , they 'd safely passe , and swiftly , no delay . from theevs , nor seas , nor rivers need we fear ; it were all one thing to be far or neere . then princes might their own dispatches make , with their own hands , what ere they undertake , we scribes that swim in inkes black sea might then , offer up to the load-stone every pen. thus for srtada . haseatefferus write , that the like may be done by blood drawn forth of the veins of two friends . as for particular inventions , many might be instanced in , that surpasse , architas his pigeon , archimaedes his globe of glasse , homers iliads writ in parchment and put into a nutshell , the ship and the chariot of myrmecidas ; that was covered with the wings of a little bee , this with the wings of a fly. albertus m. made a statue that spake , he was thirty yeers in making it , and thomas aquinas brake it . regiomontanus made an eagle that at norimberg met caesar maximilian , and hung over his head directly , and bore him company into the city . he made also a fly of steel , that flew out of his hands , and flew back again into his hands , when it had first flew round about all the guests , at a banquet , and in a manner saluted them all . a generous gentleman , johannes christophorus de berg , affirms that he hath an invention , that with one turn of a wheel , made by a boy of 16 yeers old , he would rayse 800. weight 60 foot high . the coach that saild with the winde , that stevinus invented is well known , of which grotius writes thus . typhis first made a ship with sails , which jove did soon translate amongst the stars above , but stevins brought it on the earth to sail . typhis and joves , may , stevin's shall not fail . he affirms elsewhere that he could run-with it seventeen miles in two hours . i beleeve also that cornelius drebbils wonderfull sphere is not unknown , wherein he did by vertue of a perpetuall motion , represent the constant and most apparent motions and laws of the heavens and the stars , and the predestinations of times , and motions in them . but what shall we think of that instrument , by means whereof he changeth himself into divers forms of trees , and living creatures , and makes an appearance as if the earth opened , and spirits came forth of it ; first , in the form of a cloud , and then changing themselves into another shape that he commands them , be it of alexander the great , or of some other king or prince . i will say nothing of his ship that swam under the waters , and an optick instrument , wherewith in a starlight night , he could read letters a quarter of a mile from him . jacobus metius , brother to adrian metius invented a perspective glasse , whereby he could take the heighth of any towre or body that was distant from him three holland leagues , as exactly as if he stood close by it ; and he could see cleerely into england from his own shore . and he discovered other things concerning the globe of the moon , of the milkie way , and of stars , which astronomers hitherto called cloudy stars , and of other wandring stars about jupiter , an invention now adayes which the ancients never knew of . galilaeus galileaei , hearing the fame of this instrument , saith , he came to the invention of such an other , by the help whereof he descried those observations in the body of the moon , and innumerable fixed stars , the milkie circle , clowdy stars , and the four planets , and their periods about jupiter . the same person mentioned before , proceded to search out with geat care and study an instrument of the like kinde , and he hoped to finde it , whereby out of our horizon in the opposite hemisphere , beyond the bounder of the hemispheres he might observe all the stars there , as if they were apparent in that part of the world we live in . what shall we say of that musicall instrument ? that by the perpetuall , moveable or moving vertue of the same ( as the artificer reported ) in a clear day , the sun shining forcibly , only by the sun beams , that musicall genius being , roused thereby , without touching the instrumentall parts with your hand ; would make most heavenly musick . but who is able to recckon up all ? if those things be true , that mormius hath set forth in his arcanis rosianis , lately at leyden in holland , ( but beleeve them that will ) his example were enough to oppose against all antiquity . as for the art of navigation , we need not prove it to be more perfect now , than formerly it was . i. the antients writ on hercules pillars , non ultra . and lucan writes thus of the first ships . first the white willow whilst the twigs were green . twisted into a ship , and covered with a hide , the bottome was on waters to be seen , the britans over seas in this would ride ▪ and the venetians on the river po. ii. fracostorius and acosta confesse that we read no where in antient writers that men did ever sail into the main ocean . but the phoenicians , carthagenians , tyrians and sidonians made choice of the shore . iii. lastly , in the times of our fathers , the whole world hath been compassed round by americus , drake , candish ; and in our times , by oliver van nort , schoutenius , spilbergen l'heremite , and strange voiages into the north parts have been undertaken by the english and dutch. moreover the precepts of the art of navigation are written by petrus medina , and baptista ramusius , and the publike lectures appointed by charles the fifth , are yet in use . but it cannot be granted to be true which vatablus ▪ and arias montanus say , with whom als●ed seems to agree , that ophir , from whence solomon fetched gold and elephants teeth should be peru , by transmutation of the letters . for in the west indies there are no elephants , and when under franciscus pizarrus , the countries of attabaliba were discovered , and the spanlards that understand not the language , described with their hands water or any thing they would have , the indian answered , peru , that is water . so juca●an , which montanus thinks had the name from joktan , is nothing else , but , what say you ? what seek you ? to rehearse the opinion of pineda , whereby he applies the name of tartessi to tartesso , in spain , is enough to answer it . for there are no veins of gold so plentifull , unlesse perhaps they were carried into the new world , and brought back again in their great gallions . since therefore it is so , it is most certain that arts by times succession have suffered no losse , but are come almost to the highest pitch ; we may then say with lactantius , god hath given every one wisdom in such a measure , that they may seek out things unheard of , and consider of things they hear . nor because they did precede us in time , did they also precede us in understanding ; which if it be given equally to all , it cannot be engrossed by those that went before us . it is pure as light , and the sun beams ; for as the sun is the light of the eyes , so is wisdom of the minde of man. wherefore since it is naturall to all men to be wise , that is , to seek after wisdom , they deprive themselves of wisdome that approve the inventions of their ancestors without using their own judgement and are led by others like bruit beasts . but this deceives them , that when they hear the name of antiquity they think it not possible for them to understand more , because they are called the younger , or that they could be mistaken who are called their ancestors . part. vii . vices were as great formerly , as they are now . having saild over the straits of the arts , we are now come into a large sea of manners . whose chief horrible waves and mighty storms drive forward those that maintain the contrary opinion . and though all things also at this day are full of vices , yet since in these last times almost the greatest part of the known world is converted to the christian religion , there is no reason that we should hold this to be the worst of all , being compared with the former . lactantius himself breaks forth into these words . god as a most carefull parent , when the last times drew on , sent an embassadour , that should bring back again the former age , and banished justice ; lest mankinde should alwaies be driven on with the greatest and continuall errours , wherefore the forme of that golden age is returned . yet it cannot be said that alwaies and in all places the honesty of men increaseth , but we must grant , that all things run in a kinde of circle ; and as times , so do manners change by course . there will be vices so long as there are men , but these are neither continuall , and amends is made by the interposition of better things . our ancestors , saith seneca , complained so , and we complain as they did , and our posterity will do the like ; saying , that manners are decayed , and wickednesse rules , that humane affaires grow worse , and fall into all mischief ; but these things stand at the same point , and they will stand , onely moving a little on this or that side , as waves that are brought in further by the tide , which going back leaves more room on the shore . now adultery is the chief sin , and chastity breaks the bridle ; another time men are mad in rioting , and the kitchin proves the fatall ruine of patrimonies ; sometime men take care for nothing but gay apparell , and to trim themselves fine , which shewes their minde to be ugly enough , &c. vices do not wait all in one place , but they are moveable , and at ods one with another , they jar together , and are driven away one by another . but because the contrary part hath taken strong arguments from this matter , we shall handle this question something more strictly and accurately . but since some vices are committed in religion , others in policie , and others in the common society of men , and , to compare all these severally with all nations , would be too tedious for us to undertake ; we shall therefore make our comparison with the romanes , whom historians and other writers report to have been the most vertuous and prudent people of all nations . under this branch therefore these points are contained . i. that the religion of the antients was too sottish . ii. that many of their lawes in policy were wicked . iii. that the people of the romanes were extreamly cruell . iv. that their covetousnesse was incredible . v. that their luxuriousnesse in venery and drinking was none the like ever heard of . vi. in meats . vii . in buildings . viii . in costly clothes . ix . that the justice of the roman people , prudence , and valour was not any thing . x. it is probable that the church shall be in greater glory than ever it was before . the i. point . the religion of the antients was too sottish . it may be easily understood that the religion of the antients , was vain , foolish , wicked , by their images , the number condition and adoration of their gods. that is first cleerly demonstrated out of that place of isaiah , to say nothing of jeremiah , and the wisdome of solomon . for in the framing of an idol the folly of man proceeds even so . the carpenter stretcheth forth his line , and mark 's it out with his square , he fits the corners of it , or he describes it with his compasse ; at length he makes it of the fashion of a man , and decks it in mans rayment , that it may be in the house . he heweth down cedars , and taketh the cypresse and the oke , which he strengthneth for himself , among the trees of the forrest ; he planteth an ash and the rain doth nourish it , then shall it be for a man , to be burnt , for he will take thereof and warm himself , yea he kindleth it , and baketh bread , yea , he maketh a god and worshippeth it ; he maketh it a graven image and falleth down thereto ; he burneth part thereof in the fire , with part thereof he rosteth flesh , he eateth thereof and is satisfied , yea he warmeth himself and saith , ah , ah , i am warm , i have seen the fire ; and the residue thereof he maketh a god , even his graven image ; he falleth down unto it , and worshippeth it , and prayeth unto it , and saith , deliver me for thou art my god , &c. but what madnesse think you is this , or to make such things that they should afterwards be afraid of , or to fear what they themselves made . if images could feel or move , men would voluntarily adore those they made . therfore seneca a heathen , speaks it , though it be in a scoffing way . they worship the idols of the gods , they kneel down and pray to them , they adore them ; and when they stand in awe of these , they despise the workmaster that made them . the number of the gods was so numberlesse amongst the heathen , that there were almost more gods than men . in boccace they are almost without number . crinitus hath numbred 30000 of them . varro reckoneth jupiters onely , to have been 300. for there were gods of the upper house , tutelary gods , village gods , houshold and closet gods so many , that pliny breaks into these words . the company of gods is thought to be more than there are men , when as every man makes what gods he pleaseth , and makes junos , and good angels which they adopt for them selves . of corn only , at divers times differing in the maner of it , there were goddesses made , called , segetia , tutelina , proserpina , nodotus , volutina , patilena , hostelina , flora , lacturtia , maluta , ruricina , i do not name them all , for it troubles me for that they were not ashamed of them . the condition of their gods , may make every man laugh . flora , when she had been a whore a long time , and by prost●tuting her body , had gained wealth , by making the common wealth of rome her heir by her testament , she gave the name to their feasts called floralia . iuno was both sister and wife of iupiter . fortune , fornax , muta , fear , palenesse , feavers , priapus and cupid , are not names of things to be adored , but of the crimes of such as adored them . but what shall i say of the crackings of the belly , of the privy gods , dunghill gods ? what of the trojans that adored a mouse ? of the egyptians that worshipped onions and garlick ? mephitis was in great honour amongst the heathens . for in the plundering of cremona , all the temples of the gods and goddesses were rifled , but the souldiers out of their superstition spared this onely . but this was the goddesse of stinks . the manner of worshipping in many was very cruell , in others very beastly . they offered men in sacrifices to the dead , and they fed the fire with mans blood as with oyl . that was a custome amongst the trojans and grecians , as virgil saith ; amongst the carthagenians as silicus ; amongst the french as lucan ; amongst the moabites , and canaanites as the scripture writes ; amongst the romanes , though when cornelius lentulus , and lucinus crassus were consuls , they abrogated this wicked custome . lastly , amongst the jews , as we read in the books of kings , it was a custome . lactantius reports from pescenius festus , that the carthagenians being overcome by agathocles king of sicily , fearing left the cause was because they had intermitted to adore saturne , they offered unto him two hundred noble children for one offering . moloch's statue amongst the jews was in the valley of gehennon , or tophet : children that were sacrificed were shut within the idol , and the fire was kindled ; and that they might not be heard to cry , they beat drums , and cymbals . their beastlinesse priapus and berecinthia may shew . the image of the first , was stark naked . of their beastly priests , it is said thus . nos pudore pulso stamus sub iove coleis apertis . when the sacrifice was ended they that were present fell to promiscuous venery . in brief ; this disease , that crime , this disgrace was professed in their adoration , that will hardly be confessed by torments in the vitious lives of men . before the horse-litter of berecinthia , on a solemn day , there were washings , and such songs were sung by the most wicked players , that i do not say the mother of the gods , but the mother of any noble persons , or any honest men , nay the mothers of the very comedians ought to be ashamed to hear . but the men of lyndus held those solemnities to be violated , if by chance at their times of performing these rites , any good word had dropt from any of their mouths . i will say nothing of their south-sayings , looking into entralls and other kindes of divinations , as also of the fooleries of the thalmudists , and cabalists . cato and cicero that were heathens laught at them themselves : petrus galatinus de arcanis catholicae veritatis , buxtorfius in synagoga judaica , have described these . since therefore the sacred worship of the antients was so simple , cruel , and obscene ; it is no wonder that seneca writ , if a man had leasure to see what they do and suffer superstitiously , he shall finde them so unseemly for honest persons , so unworthy of free men , so unfit for discreet men , that no man would doubt but they were mad , if they were mad in fewer numbers , but now they are so many that they are defended by their numbers from being thought to be mad . he that would read more of their gods , let him read gyraldus in syntagmate , dempster in antiquitat . roman . and selden de diis syris . part. ii. there were many wicked lawes among the antients . as we have shewed the religion of the antients to be daub'd with many vices : so , since a law is a sacred decree , commanding things honest , and forbidding the contrary , it will be very easie to shew the same things concerning their lawes . and because solon and lycurgus are said to have founded most famous common-wealths ; and plato and aristotle to have written the best platforms of them , if we can convince them of wickednesse and injustice , i think i shall give satisfaction in this point . in solons common-wealth , two things are chiefly observed . first , wherefore , for ease of the poor , he abolished all former contracts for debts ? secondly , by what law he would make them infamous , that , when there was sedition in the common-wealth , held with neither side . the first was unjust , because he did not enjoyne his friends to restore the great sums of money they had taken up before , upon trust , being forewarned by him what designe he had in hand ; and without examining the reasons of particular debts , he at once abolished them all . the other was so , because it takes away the means of repressing sedition in the common-wealth . for it must needs be that reconciliation be made by those that are mediatours between them both . lycurgus directed all his laws to valour , and to erect a warlike government . he published that it was lawfull for men to rob for victualls , and he would not have them punished though they were taken in the act . he decreed that boyes and girles should wrestle naked , in publike ; and that it should be lawfull for old mens young wives , to make choice of what young man they pleased , and to lie with them for to have children by them ; and as peace is not ordained for war , but the contrary way ; so the common-wealth should be instructed for peace , rather than for war. they that in their childhood are addicted to ill things , in their youth , having gained a custome , they will forbear none how great soever . that law that draws men on to deceive in some things , doth invite men to deceive in all , and as oft as we can : nor can robberies be better put in practice than under the protection of a law , that doth not punish a man for theeving , but for not doing it with dexterity . lastly , to prompt men to lust , and to permit adulteries , what an impiety this is ? plato hath deserved the same reward that lycurgus did , by the law he made for breeding up young men and maids in schools . and by that law he made , to have all things common , he decreed that forme of government that was contrary to nature . if marriages were taken away , and men might indifferently use what women they pleased , all naturall love between parents and children would be lost ; and upon quarrells , very brothers would murther one the other ; and those things sho●ld be honest and lawfull , that are wont to be adjudged hainous & filthy . the propriety of things contains matter both of vertues and vices , but the community of them contains nothing but a liberty of vices . aristotle seems the most absurd of them all . for i. he bade to cast forth deformed chilren ; but nature cannot desire the production of any thing , and not love that it produceth . can any man expect that they should spare the blood of other men , that do not spare their owne ? they cannot be thought innocent who cast their own bowels to the dogs for a prey , and as much as lies in them , they kill them more cruelly than if they had strangled them . ii. he enjoyned abortion . but , for that , at malta a woman was condemned to die . for she was thought to have taken away a citizen designed for the common-wealth . lastly , he commanded those pictures of the gods to be kept , in which custome allowed laciviousnesse , otherwise they were to be rejected . but men sin more by imitation of the gods. lucian confesseth plainly , that when he heard of the rapes and adulteries of the gods , he fell in love with the same . and cherea in terence saith , that when he saw the picture of jupiter descending into the lap of danae , in a golden showr , he was provoked thereby to do the like . but what god ? saith he , he that shakes the heavens with a noise , and should not i a contemptible man do the like ? yea , i did that , and willingly ; for men mark more what jupiter did , than what plato taught , or cato decreed . to this purpose are the saxon lawes , that are altogether as absurd . for in doubtfull causes , when there wanted manifest proofs to confirm the truth , sometimes they used duels , sometimes to make men touch burning iron , or scalding water , sometimes they cast them into the bottom of a deep river , or keel-haled them . they that were killed in duels were guilty ; the conquerour was disgraced , if he did not kill him that was worsted : they that escaped in the other punishments were acquitted ; they that were caried to the bottom , were held to be innocent , they that swam on the top were guilty , as if the water rejected them . part. iii. the cruelty of the roman people was extreame . but let us proceed to the wickednesse of the romanes , and let us observe whether they did not equall , or exceed the wickednesses of our times , or of those that went but little before us . but whether this or that do appear to be manifest , it will be false to conjecture from thence , that there is a generall decay of manners . first , therefore i shal speak of their cruelty , which i shall shew by the jewes , christians , and other nations , and from the romanes themselves , amongst themselves , as being invincible arguments . they killed of the jews in the siege of one only city , jerusalem 1000000. and they took captives 97000. in the time of trajan innumerable companies of them were slain , saith eusebius , iulius severus , being sent by adrian the emperour into judaea , did almost depopulate the whole countrey . for he beat down fifty most strong castles , burnt nine hundred eighty five cities & towns , and slew 50000 jews . as for the christians , it was their name only that was condemned , and not any fault they committed . whence at lyons there was a table carried before attalus , the martyr , this is attalus the christian. in asia they cried out against polycarpus ; polycarpus hath confessed himself to be a christian : and so great were the persecutions , that augustine compares them to the plagues of egypt . under nero , they were burnt for lights in the night . lactantius writes of dioclesian ; no man can write the cruelty of this savage beast , so much as it deserves , which lying but in one place , yet did rage with iron teeth , all the world over ; and did not onely dissipate the limbs of men , but brake their bones , and was mad against their ashes , that there might be no place for their buriall . hierom saith , that there was no day wherein there were not 5000 men slayn , thirty roman bishops were put to death from peter to sylvester , who dyed martyrs . and to speak all , i will , in three words , the whole world almost was polluted with the sacred blood of the martyrs , and it was never spilt more in any warrs . and if we should reckon up the kindes of torments we might boldly use these verses in virgil. had i a hundred tongues , and mouths likewise , a voice of iron , i could ner'e comprise their forms of pains , or names of torments shew . they were burnt in furnaces , they were cast into hot oyle , they had their eyes puld out , their tongues cut out , they were cast to beasts , they were wrapt in husks and given to the hogs , they were rosted at an easy fire , and they were basted with salt , and vineger , they were cast headlong from rocks , they were torn by trees bound down , and presently let loose , &c. to touch upon other nations . onely the second carthagenian war. in italy spain and sicily alone , it consumed above 1500000 in lesse than seventeen yeers . and what speak i of warrs that were either waged or led on with the good successe of many ? onely one caius caesar ( oh plague and ruine of mankinde● ) confesseth , and boasts of it , that he had slain in battails , 1192000 men . to him we may joyn q. fabius , who slew 1000000 french men ; and c. marius who destroyed 200000 danes ; and in this latter age aetius who in that notable sight in catalaunia , slew 160000 hungarians . what shall i now say of octavianus augustus , who at perusia , sacrificed on julius his altar 300 citizens ? what of caracalla , who at once almost destroyed all alexandria a most populous city ? what of volesus messala , who when he had beheaded 300 in one day , he passed amongst the dead bodies , looking proudly , as if he had done some brave action to be noted , he spake aloud in greek , o kingly action ? you shall finde in lipsius , the cruell fact of sulpitius galba . by a most damned treachery , he destroyed almost all portugall in a certain valley , by sending out his souldiers three wayes . nor were the bruit beasts free from the cruelty of the romanes . for polybius writes ; it is frequently seen , that when the romanes take cities , they do not onely kill men , but dogs also , and mangle other creatures . i will shew the cruelty they used against themselves , onely in their civil wars , the reigns of their emperours , and in their playings at sharps on the stage . for should i mention what is sufficient , my enchiridion would become a tedious volume . for seneca writes , that wickednesse was grown so common , and was so prevalent in every mans brest , that innocence was not to be thought , to be rare but not to be all . and tacitus speaks of those times onely . we read that when petus thrasca was commended by arulenus rusticus , and priscus helvidius by herennius senecio , that it was a capitall crime , and rage was not onely exercised upon the authors , but also upon their books , the office being committed to the triumviri , that the monuments of the most famous wits should be burnt in publicke assemblies and market place . for by that fire they hoped to abolish the voyce of the roman people , the liberty of the senate , and the conscience of man kinde ; in the mean time , they expelled all learned professours , and banished every laudable art , that nothing that was honest might remain . we shewed indeed a great proof of our patience : and , as the old common-wealth saw what was the height of liberty ; so we see what is the extremity of slavery , the very liberty of speaking and hearing , being taken from us by their inquisitions , that we had lost our very memories with our voice , if we had as much power to forget , as we have to hold our peace . what concerns civil wars , sylla most cruelly made the whole city , and all the parts of italy to overflow with rivers of mens blood in civil-wars . he recorded in the publike tables , four thousand 700 that had their throats cut by an edict of a cruell proscription , that the memory of so famous a businesse might not be forgotten . he would have the heads of miserable men that were cut off , brought before him , whilst their countenance was yet fresh with spirits , that he might feed on them with his eyes because he might not eat them without great wickednesse . he would not kill m. marius the praetor , ( who was drawn to the sepulchre of the family of lutatia by the cry of the common people ) before he had miserably plucked out his eyes , and broken all the parts of his body . also he presently butchered m. plaetorius , because he swounded at the punishment of marius ; a new tormenter of mercy , for with him it was held wickednesse , to be unwilling to behold wickednesse . moreover he commanded four legions of the contrary part , that kept their trust , to be slain in a publike place that was in campus martius , and they did not at all ask for mercy from his deceitfull hand . those whose lamentable cryes were heard in the city , their bodies were cut with the sword and cast into tyber , which was overburdned with the multitudes of them , and the waters ran like blood . and when the senate was amazed at that cry ; he added , senatou●s , let us do this ? a few seditious fellows are punished by command . this man was formerly a great officer under c. marius , though afterwards he proved to be his enemy , and caused marius his ashes to be dug up , and scattered into the river anio . the triumviri did not leave to follow his example , for they exposed to the like proscription 300 senators & 2000 gentlemen . it is no wonder therefore that saint augustine writes . that in that war between marius & sylla , besides those that fell in asia abroad , that in the very city the streets , market places , theatres , temples were full of dead bodies ; that it was hard to say , when the conquerors killed most , either before to get the victory , or afterwards , because they had obtained it . and lipsius useth these words : oh the wickednesse ! than which the sun nor did , nor can can see any greater from east to west ; let me perish , if you will not say that manity it self was perished in that cruell and savage age. it shall suffice for the emperours to mention caligula onely . for all the common shores of cruelty seem to have met in this man. he condemned many of good rank , first being deformed and stigmatized , to the mines , or to the keeping of high wayes , or to wilde beasts , or else he shut them up like four footed beasts in dens , or caused them to be sawn in sunder . nor were all used thus for great offences , but such as thought amisse of his government , or because they had never sworn by his g●nius ; he compelled parents to be present at the punishment of their children , and one of them excusing himself , because he was sick , he sent him a horsel●tter . another , so soon as he had seen the execution , he presently set to a banquet , and used all waies possible , to provoke him to rejoyce and be merry . he would not kill him that had the charge of his businesse , and hunting sports , till for some dayes together , he made him be beaten in his sight , as he was bound in chains , and that his brains being corrupted offended him with the stink of them . when he would have a senatour to be to●n in pieces , he suborned some that should run upon him suddenly , when he came into the court , and call him traitor , and should wound him with pen knives , and deliver him over to others to rend him ●n pieces ; and he would never be satisfied till he saw his limbs and bowels and joynts drawn through the streets , and then piled up upon heaps . he seldom suffered any man to be punished , but with frequent and small wounds , giving alwaies this common precept , that he should be so wounded that he might feel his death . being offended with the people that favoured not his actions , he cryed out ; oh that all the roman people had but one neck ! oft times when he eat or drank , he would cause men to be tormented before him , to make them confesse . a souldier that was the heads-man , cut off all mens heads that he pleased , that were imprisoned . at puteoli , when the bridge was consecrated , after he had called many men to him from the shore , he suddenly caused them all to be cast down headlong . at a great banquet he suddenly fell into a great laughter , the consuls that sate neer him , did ask him pleasantly what he laughed at ; at what else , saith be , but that i can with one nod cause you both to be strangled . as often as he kissed his wives or concubines neck , he added . so fair a neck shall be taken off , if i say the word ; and he also boasted withall , that he would search out by wracking from his caesonia , wherfore he loved her so much . wherefore seneca speaks rightly of him , i knew long since , that under him humane affairs would come to that condition , that to be killed would be an act of mercy . concerning c. piso : see the same author , de ira. sword playes on the theatre , were ordained to purge the spirits of great men , in which sports men fought naked , nor was their fighting so delightfull , as the various wounds they made . this kinde of celebration passed afterwards from the honoring of dead men , to honour living men with ; and at length , they used these sacrifices in memory of private men , that left legacies for that end . at last they ascended to multitudes . for caesar when he was aedilis , shewed 320 duels . gordianus sometimes 500. trajan , in space of 123 dayes without intermission , had 2000. nero caused 400 senatours , and 600 roman gentlemen , to fight it out with the sword . commodus himself was amongst these sword players . but at first onely slaves were put to it . yet that is most true that lipsius writes . that matter began not unfitly , from funeralls , which indeed was the funerall , and plague of the whole world. i beleeve , nay i know , that no war ever brought so great misery and desolation to mankinde , as these playes for pleasure did : think with your selves , of the number of the dayes , and the men i spake of : i am a lyar , if one moneth did not cost europe 2000 or 3000 mens lives . yet cicero testifies , that that kinde of shew was made and celebrated with great multitudes , and all sorts of men , and in that spectacle the multitude deligh●d most , they were often angry with the fencers unlesse one of the two were suddenly slain , and as if they thirsted after mans blood , they hated delays . this must not be understood onely of the people , but this cruelty was observed even in their vestall nuns . , decisions , and by the great troubles they put them to , that were admitted by them . in the mines of gold at ictimulum , there were 50000 to dig ; and in those that were by new carthage in spa●n there were 40000. how they were used , pliny describes at large . moreover it is known what verres did in sicilie , what c. graccus comming victor from sardinia , said . sylla out of the lesser asia every yeer had 20000 talents ; brutus , and cassius within two yeers exacted the tribute for ten yeers , and antonius did extort it in one yeers time . the sum amounts to 200000 talents , pleminius that was scipio his tribunus plundered the treasuryes of proserpina , that were untouched in any age before . sulpitius galba , when he had melted a crown of gold , taken out of the old temple of jupiter , and was given to him by the tarraconenses , whose weight was fifteen pounds , because there wanted three ounces in the weight , he compelled them to make it good . julius caesar when he was first made consul , rob'd the capital of 3000 pounds weight of gold , and he laid up so much guilded brasse in the treasurie . he took from ptolemy alone , in his own name , and pompeys , 6000 talents . nor did tiberius want this vice ; for it is clear enough that c. lentulus the augur , who was very rich , for fear and grief was made weary of his life by him , and that he must make no heir when he died , but him : but , what was the basest act , he compelled one by threats that when he was sick he should name him for his heir , and when he recovered afterwards he killed him with poyson . lastly , he went sometimes by heapes of gold and silver , and sometimes he would tumble naked in them . but it may be objected that it is no wonder that monsters had such vices . 't is true , yet vespasian who was counted a good emperour , was sick of the same disease . for he openly did exercise negotiations that a privtae man would be ashamed of ; by buying only somethings , that he might sell them afterwards for more . also it is beleeved that he was wont of purpose to promote the most greedy officers , that when they were grown rich he might condemn them ; and he was said commonly to use those for sponges , that when they were dry he might wet them , and when they were well wet , he might crush them out . i will speak nothing of his custome upon urine , which when his son titus accused him for it as disgracefull , he put to his nose a piece of silver collected from thence , and asked whether it stank of pisse at all : and he added moreover . that the smell of gain , was good from any thing . but it should seem that they were all subject to that vice . for when the aricini and the ardeates , had yeelded to make the romanes umpires in a controversie concerning land , they decreed the fields to be their own . also they receiving moneys from some cities to enjoy their liberties , they gave them not their monies back again , yet they exacted tribute from them cicero thought that so foul a fault in goverment , that he saith , it were better to trust pirates than the senate . wherefore salvian seems to speak trne . the unhumanenesse of covetousnesse was the proper vice of the romanes : and well may that of claudian to ruffinus be applied to them . a cruel man whose mind doth burn for gain , nor all the golden sands of tagus can suffice , pactolus wealth , and hemus in his eyes are small ; this drunk , he thirsts with greater pain . part. v. infinite was the luxury of the romanes for venery and drinking . i passe from their covetousnesse to their incontinence , which i suppose i shal shew sufficiently in their venery , drinking , eating , buildings , and apparell . that manifold and horrid venery they used , i will not speak of , that i may not offend chast ears . saint paul hath plainly noted that in his epistle to the romans . their feasts alone called floralia , may well shew that , wherein whores prostitutes under some ceremonies and rites , ran naked through the streets , using obscene words and gestures , and exposed themselves for all men to look upon them . ovid speaks thus , young maids and men and boyes are they that do gaze on them , and great part of th' senate too . t is not nough to hear them speak what 's naught , but we must see what 's worse , as we are taught . their drunkennesse is evidently detected by their long continued drinking , their great draughts , the multitudes of bibbers , and the love of them , and also by the measure of their cups . for continued drinking , they imitated the lawes of the greeks in drinking : whereof one was , to drink till the morning star rose . another , to drink so many healths as the maids names had letters in it , hence martiall . let navia six , justina seven bc , lycas five , lyda four , and ida three . the greatnesse of their draughts . nivellius torquatus , before tiberius drank three gallons at one draught , and thence he deserved to be called , three gallons . m. cicero the younger , drank two gallons at one tug . m. antonius writ of his own drunkennesse , and cicero writ of him . thou with those ●awes , those sides , that strong fencer-like force of thy body , drankst so much wine at the marriage of hippia , that thou wert forc't in the sight of the roman people to vomit the next day . what shall i say of cleopatra who at one draught drankup 3124 crowns ? what of clodius the son of aesop the tragedian ? horace speaks thus of him . the son of aesop from metella's ear took out a pearl that she was wont to wear , was worth ten solids , and the same he drinks dissolve'd in vineger , what ere he thinks . to cast it down the river were lesse fault , or to have thrown it in a stinking vault . also firmus drank two buckets full of wine . adrian the emperour speaks thus of b●nosus : he was not born to live , but to drink , and it was a common jear upon him when he was hanged , that a great vessell hangeth there , and not a man. maximinus as capitolinus writes , drank often in one day , a vessel of wine of the capitol measure , which containd eight gallons . phagon drank more than an orca , that is , a vessell for wine greater than the amphora was . lastly there is an epitaph made of one thus . drunken offellius buraetius is this ; who ever whilst he liv'd did either drink or pisse . as for the number of drunkards , and their love ; it is well known that tiberius gave to piso the praetorship , for drinking three nights continually together : and to pomponius flaccus the province of syria , and in his letters he called them the most pleasant friends he had for all times . he also did prefer a man that was unknown and sought for the quaestors office , before the most noble men , for pledging at a banquet , an amp hora of wine , that he drank to him . and at that time when the lex fannia was published , the matter was come so far , that many of the people of rome would come drunk into the senate house and so consult of the affaires of the common-wealth . also seneca writes thus of women . they do not watch lesse , they doe not drink lesse , and with oyl and wine they entise men , and they cast it up again by their mouthes , what they have taken in their entrals , refusing it ; and by vomit they measure the wine they drank , and they eat snow as well as men do , to cool their hot stomacks . as for their utensils , they used not onely great cups , but , as ammianus saith , very heavy handles , and they were adorned with most pretious emblems . two cups of this kinde made by mentor a●are workmen , cost 100000 sesterii . also there were some made of perfect jewels . hence pacatus in latin , unlesse that riot had ●banged the yeer , unlesse that winter roses swam upon the cups , unlesse muscadels had broken the summer ice in their capacious jewels . and cicero , also there was a wine vessell made of one jewel made hollow like a great mazer with a handle of gold . also seneca , i saw their crystall vessels , whose brittlenesse increased their price ; for the pleasure of all things , amongst ignorant people proceeds from that danger should make a man avoid them . i have seen murrine cups : for luxury were small , should not men vomit , and drink to one the other in capacious jewels . lastly , pliny , the luxury of that matter increaseth dayly : a murrine stone that cost 80 sestertii , was made a cup holding about three sextary . c. petronius is said to have broken one of this kinde that cost 300000 sestertii , that he might difinherit neros table . a matron not very rich is reported to have bought another for 150000 sestertii . what if i should say more ? juvenal writes . he drinks in a priapus made of glasse . and pliny . they delight to engrave their lust upon their cups , and to drink by obscene waies . point . vi. the gluttony of the romanes in meats was extraordinary . i shew the roman luxury in their meats , by four arguments chiefly , drawn from their vessels , servants , meats , and the quantities they eat . their vessels were of two sorts , their tables and their dishes . they had silver tables , & some of gold , & yellow ones that were made of earth dug out africa . tully had one cost 10000 sestertii asinius gallus had one cost 11000. also that wood was thought worth a senatours estate , which was 12000 sestertii ; the dearer , the more knots it had by the unhappynesse of the tree . and seneca had 300 such , as dion reports . the feet they stood upon , were of ivory ; and that was held so necessary as juvenal writes . a turbet or a doe , is nothing worth , and oyls and roses stink that are set forth . unlesse the table stand on ivory feet , and a tall libard yawning make them sweet . to passe to their dishes , drusillanus rotundus had one , ( he was free man of claudius the emperour , it was of silver , and weighed 500 pound weight , he had 8 more that weighed fifteen pound weight . whilst vitellius was emperour , he had one , that according to budaeus account , cost ten times h. s. and hottoman saith , 200 sestertii . it was so great that vitellius called it minerva's buckler . mucianus called vitellius , the more of dishes . as for the multitude of their servants , seneca cries out , good god , how many men doth one belly imploy ! for there were whole troops of unhappy boys , that after their banquets were ended , were for other disgracefull uses in their chambers . there were whole heards of those that were out of use , described by their nations and colours ; so that they might be all of the same age , and the first down of their chins alike , the same kind of hair of their heads , that none that had smooth hayr , should be set amongst curled locks : and that i may speak fully to the point , they did carefully ordain silver , and they diligently girded the coats of their exolete boyes , that they should be very careful , to see how the boare died when the cook killed him , how nimbly the smooth faced boyes , when the sign was given , ran after their businesse , with what art the sheep were cut into small peices , how curiously the unhappy boys did wipe away the spittle off those that were drunk . but that which is most wicked ; tiberius caesar promised to sup with sestius gallus , a ( voluptuous old man , full of lechery and prodigality , whom augustus formerly had marked with ignominy , and not many dayes before , tiberius had checked him before the senate● upon condition that he should not change or abate any thing of his common custome , and that they might have naked wenches to attend upon them at supper . to this , belongs their multitude of cooks , who first of all were hired at the rate of a horse , but at length they grew to that height , that hardly any mortall man was of more valew , than he that best knew how to drownd his i. s. estate . but apicius was the most famous of all those who professed to know kitchen affairs , who when he had spent a thousand sestertii in his kitchin , & had wasted so many princes donations , and a vast tribute of the capitoll , at severall banquets , when he was deep in debt , and oppressed by his crediditours , then he was first forced to look into his estate . and he found he should have , when he had paid his debts , a hundred thousand sestertii remaining for himself , and fearing that he must suffer great hunger if he should live with a hundred thousand sestertii , he poysoned himself and died . as for their meats they had variety , and very costly . for our world would be two narrow for their throats . for they valued their dainty meats not by the taste , but by the cost . they were content with no meats but those were brought from the farthest east , or from colchis , that was out of the bounds of the roman empire , or came from those seas that were noted for shipwracks ; and the greater price was , the more they were pleased with them . the common number of their messes of meat was seven . but heliogabalus , made such a feast , that had 22 courses of huge dainties . also it is reported that at a supper of his brother vitellius , made to entertain him , there were 2000 of the choycest fishes , and 7000 birds set upon the table . and he also exceeded this at the dedication of his great dish . for in this , there were the livers of giltheads , the brains of pheasants and peacocks , the tongues of crimson winged birds , the small guts of lampries , brought as far as from carpasium and the spanish seas , by marriners and gallies , and these he mingled together . i might adde to these one clodius the son of aesop the tragaedian , a young man was mightily luxurious ; for it is certain , that he bought at vast rates , the best singing birds , and served them up at supper for gnatsappers : and he was wont to dissolve pearls of great valew in vineger , and drink them , desiring by this means , as fast as he could , to cast away a large patrimony as a sore burden . what shall i say now of caligula , who in riotous expences exceeded the wits of all the prodigall persons that were , inventing most hideous kinds of meats and suppers , for he would sup up the dearest pearls dissolved in vineger , and would set bread and meats of gold before his guests , saying , that a man ought to be either very thrifty , or an emperour . what shall i write of asinius celer , who bought one barbel for 6000 sestertii ? of lucullus , who at one sudden supper , that he entertained tully and pompey at , who thrust themselves in to see what feasts he made , expended 50000 drachmes , that is 5000 crowns as budeus makes the reckoning ? lastly , what shall i say of octavius who bought a very great barbel for 5000 h. s. ( wherefore should i not set down the weight of it , and provoke the gluttonous throats of others ? they say it was four pound weight and a half . ) and by a new example , he bred guiltheads in the sea , like corn upon the ground . in a word . these things are incredible if we compare them with our age . yet the roman luxury was most wanton about fishes and birds . for as for them , to say nothing of that of juvenal . whether that oysters were neer sandwitch bred . in campania , or apulia fed , they knew by tasting once , and more , they 'd tell by sight which was echinus shore . i will speak nothing also of that in ammianus marcellius . at their banquets they often called for scales to weigh the fish and birds were brought to the table , and dormice , who were sometimes very great , which was tedious to those that were present , and formerly not used ; but now it is continually commended , especially when as there were neer thirty sc●iveners with their boxes and writing tables that assisted them . a barbel seemd not fresh enough , unlesse he died in the hands of one of the guests . wherefore the fishes swam in the chamber , and were ca●e●ed under the table , and are presently set upon the table . an elops in the banquets of severus , was brought in by servitors with crowns on their heads , and a trumpetter with them , as if it had not been a seast for delight but some triumph of the gods. also so great was their curiosity about their fish-ponds , that it is hard to set it forth . in their fish-ponds they had some fish would come when caesar was but named . hi●tius sold his manor house , that had many fishponds for 40000 s●stertia . cato the tuto . of lucullus sold the fish came out of his fish ponds , for as many . and if that price of the fish ponds columella mentions , be to be granted , it was for 400000. though they were something lesse curious about birds ; yet they were riotous enough . in the time of favourinus the governor . victuall●ng houses and luxury , held no supper to be costly , but where men eat freely ; then that should be taken off , and better and more costly meat should be set on . then that was accounted to be the principall part of the supper , amongst them , that made cost and loathing of meats to serve for sports . who denied that men ought to eat any bird except gnatsappe●s : as for other birds , and crambd fowls , they thought the banquet fordid and deficient , unlesse so much was set upon the table that they might fill their bellies with the hanches of them on the lower parts ; but those that eat the upper part of birds or crambd fouls , they thought they had no palate . they were most delighted with crimson coloured birds called phaenicopteri , peacocks , thrushes and pigeons . hence it was that they sed whole companies of these , and they set a vast price upon them . for peacocks , as varro reports , aufidius made above 60000 pieces of money in a yeer . 5000 thrushes were sold at three denarii , and that part of his far●m yeelded 60000. as for pidgeons , each pa●● of them in varroes dayes was wont to be sold for a thousand sestertii , and in columell● his dayes there were some that sold two birds for 4000 pieces of money . as for the quantities they did eat , maximinus sometimes eat fourty pounds of flesh in a day : cordus saith , sixty pounds . claudius albinus . eat so much as it is incredible . for he eat 500 d●i●d figs , which the greeks call callistruthi● ; & 100 peaches of campania , and ten melons of os●ia , and 20 pounds of grapes of le●ce , and a 100 gnatsappers , and fourty oysters . lastly , phago , of whom i spake before , eat at one dinner , a whole boar , a hundred loases , a wether and little a hog . i will say no more . though i might speak of their bread and their sauces , but i should be too tedious . for a conclusion , it may be observed that this force of luxury grew strong as the empire did . for in the time of the second panick war , cato complained , that a city could not stand , in which a fish was sold for more then bes : and tiberius complained that in his dayes three barbels , were sold for 3000 pieces of money . point . vii . the luxury of the romanes in their buildings was extream . their riotousnes in their buildings is seen partly in their publike , & partly in their private houses . amongst the transient publike houses , that offer themselves , in the first place , the excesse whereof would astonish us , are the theatre of marcus scaurus , and the bridge of caligula . that was a temparary work , and the use thereof was to be , scarce f●r one moneth , yet it had three floors , in which there were 360 marble pillars . the lowest part of the theatre was all of marble , the middle was of glasse , and the uppermost was guilded : the inferiour pillars were fourty foot long , and between them there were 3000 brazen statues . the whole theatre was so capacious , that it would contain 80000 men. caligula built a bridge , all the space through between the hot bathes , and the city puteoli almost 3600 paces , procuring from all places , merchants ships , and fastening them with ancres in a double row , and casting earth upon them , and making the forme of it like to via appia . he went upon this bridge forward and backward , for two dayes together . the first day he rid upon a horse with trappings , and crowned with a crown of oke , and with an ax , and a target , and a sword , and with a horsemans coat , very richly made . the next day following , he rode in the habit of a coachman , in a coach with two gallant horses , representing darius , a boy one of the hostages of the parthians , the praetorian troop , accompanying him , and in chariots were some bands of his friends . wherefore that work seems to have been made for that end , that it might be destroyed . caracalla also , wheresoever he did or purposed to stay in winter , caused amphitheaters , and playhowses to be builded , and suddenly they were to be demolished : amongst those that lasted , it shall suffice me to make mention onely of the theater of titus . a man could hardly see to the top of it , and a whole river of wealth was spent in the building of it , wherefore martial writes . caesar's amphitheater hath the name . let all give place , this doth deserve the fame . and though such stately structures consumed infinite wealth , yet if we regard the furniture , and such things as were employed besides , we shall finde that the cost they were at , would have served for great cities . and that the magistrate did prodigally wast in theatres , playes , wrestlers , fencers , and such kindes of men all their patrimony , that they might win the peoples liking for an howers time . in a word ; the workmanship was more than the matter . nero , to shew his wealth to thiridates king of armenia , covered all the theatre with gold . & the very hangings that hung up , were of purple , and bossed with golden stars , whence that was called a golden day , and lucretius all udes unto it . yellow and golden hangings commonly , and murry coloured in the theatres hung , twinckling like to stars within the sky . also caligula when he set forth some principall sports , he commanded that the floore round about , should be made with minium and chrysocolla ; probus commanded to let loose at once 1000 ostriches , 1000 stags , as many bears , 1000 dogs , with wild goats and many other beasts , and at these sports he gave them to the people by way of magnificence ▪ and it was free for every one to kill as many as he could : and to add to this ; the next day he caused to be shewed openly a 100 he lyons , a 100 leopards of africa , as many of syria , a 100 she lions , and 300 bears . and titus , who though he were called the delights of mankinde , did the like . all kindes of beasts , that on the mountains be , caesar , thy theatre affords to thee : the rocks did creep , the woods did run , men guesse , such was t●e wood of the hesperides . but heliogabalus was the maddest man of them all : for it is reported of him that he made at these sports , his ships store in channels that ran with wine . and carinus was not far short of him . for calphurnius writes thus of his playes . not onely monsters that in woods are fed but also such as in the seas are bred . i saw sea calves and bears , and horses fight , ill shapen creatures , yet their names were right . i will say nothing of those la●geries that were cast amongst the people of all kinds of things , when nero reigned , and this was done daily with some thousands of each . multitudes of all kinds of birds , tickets for corn , garments , gold , silver , jewels , pearls , painted tables , slaves , cattell , and wilde beasts made tame , and lastly ships , islands , fields . and if i shall add that private men did such things , that milo spent three patrimonies , in these vanities . junius messala gave his estate to stage playes , and not to his posterity ; will not all men think that they were mad ? vopiscus speaks thus , i therefore writ this that those who should set forth stage plays , and sports hereafter , might be ashamed , and that they should not defraud their heirs , & spend their estates on players and vaia fellowes . what i said of theatres , i may say the same of their baths and temples . for though they in artimedorus his dayes , were nothing else but passages to their feasts , and so they were in other ages too ; yet was there an infinite number of them , and the ornaments were too superfluous . agrippa when he was aedilis , built a 170 of them . pliny writes , that in his dayes they were infinite . cassiodorus saith , they were wonderful great . ammianus saith they were built in a provinciall way . dioclesian's contained 1600 seats , all made of polished marble . it appears by seneca his epistle , that their ornaments were superfluous . for when he had described the bath of scipio africanus , he breaks out into these words . but now who is there , that would be at the charge to be so washed ; he seems to himself to be poor and base , unlesse the walls shine with great and pretious circles ; unlesse marbles of alexandria be rough cast with pargeting of africa , unlesse it be painted over with a great deal of labour , and varied picture-like , unlesse the roof be covered with glasse ; unlesse the thasian stone , that was formerly a rare fight in any church , be layd round our fishponds ; unlesse the water run forth by silver cocks ; and yet i speak of onely common conduit pipes . what shall i say when i come to the baths of the libertines ? what multitudes of statues were there ? how many pillars that supported nothing , onely they were set for ornament , and for greater cause of expence ? we are grown so dainty , that we scorn to tread on any thing but jewels . rosinus adds further that their walls were annoynted with the most fragrant balsoms , and sprinkled with the sweetest oyls . there were at rome 421 temples . and they were all almost built of huge marble , shining with guilded roofs , wherein jewels shined forth , & appeared like stars , set at severall distances . augustus bestowed 16000 pounds weight of gold upon the seat of jupiter alone , set in the capitol , and 500000 sestertii , in jewels . and domitian adorned the capitol it self so richly that martiall thought , if that the heavens were for to be sold. and that the gods should morgage all they hold . yet could they not equall this largesse . he add's , augusta thou art forc'd to stay . for joves cantore hath not wherewith to pay . and indeed in gilding thereof he spent above 12000 talents ; and the gate was covered over with plates of gold , untill the reign of honorius . nor did the temple of peace , erected by vespasian come short much of this . for herodian writes , that it was not onely the largest and the most beautifull of all works in the city , but it was the richest , adorned with ornaments of gold and silver . but josephus saith , all things were conferred and disposed upon this temple , to finde which , men went before over all the world . lastly , pliny sait , of all things , i have spoken of , the most famous of all in the city , are now dedicated by the emperour vespasian in the temple of of peace . and because they thought that statues of brasse would make them continue for ever , they much affected them also , yet so that in them they discovered their luxuriousnesse . for at last they exceeded so much in them , that there were almost as many of these statues in the city , as there were living men . they were not onely laid over with plates of gold , but some were made of silver , and some of pure gold. domitian would let none be placed in the capitol for him , unlesse they were of gold or of silver and they must be of such a weight . and commodus had his image of a 1000 pounds weight . statius seems to intimate that weight , when he writes . give to the capitol of lasting gold , faces of hundred weights , we may behold . thus much for publike prodigality . two things principally shew their luxuriousnesse in private matters . their houses , and housholdstuffe . these were larger than some cities . they supposed their howses to be narrow , that were not larger than cincinatus his fields . some had orchards on the tops of their houses , and others had woods that grew upon their roofs ; from thence their roots sprung up , whence their aspiring tops would have but reached from the ground . vast naturally varied pillars brought out from egyptian sands , or from the desarts of africa , supported the galleries or large parlours of some of the common people . if you ask the number of them , martial speaks boldly , houses by hundred pillars are supported . if the price , crassus durst write , that ten pillars cost 100000 pieces of money . the house that gordianus built had 200 pillars for one walking place . the beams were guilded , and the roofs layd over with plates of gold , also their chambers & vessels were guilded . the vaults of their parlours were made to turn at pleasure , that one might succeed another , and so they changed their roomes so often as they changed their messes . i speak not of their groves which in their chambers spring ; wherein with war●ling notes in 's time each bird doth sing . heliogabalus in his feasting-rooms , loaded his parasites with violets and other howers , so that some of them died by it , when as they could not be drawn forth presently . but above all the rest , domitian , nero , and caligula were mad in their buildings . plutarch writes of him thus ; if any man admire this magnificent furniture of the capitol , how , should he but behold one gallery of domitian , or a palace , or a bath , or his room to sup in of so many inches , would he cry out with epicarmus ! he was not bountifull or liberall , but rather to be called prodigall . suetonius , thus sets forth , nero his golden house . the entrance of it was , where a colossus stood with his image , a hundred and twenty foot high . it was so large that the gallery was three miles , and there was a pool like to a sea , set about with buildings like cities . also there was the countrey diversfyed with fields , vineyards , pasture grounds and woods , with multitudes of all kinds of cattell and wilde beasts , in the other parts all things were daubed over with gold , adorned with jewels , and with cases of pearls . the vaulted parlours were set with ivory tables , that were made to turn , that flowrs might be scattered ; and they were made hollow that unguents might be sprinkled upon them . the chief of their dining rooms were made round , and they were carried about day and night as the world is . when he had ended such a house , and consecrated it , he commended it thus by saying , that now he began to dwell like a man. the same speaks thus of caligula , that he made foists of cedar , and their castles were of jewels , their sails of divers colours , with large baths , galleries , and parlours , and with great variety of vines , and apple trees , and in these he would sit at meat , & passe over the shores of campania in the day time , with dancings and musick . in the buildings of his countrey palaces , and mannors , he set all reason aside , striving most to do that which men though impossible to be done , and therfore buildings were made in troublesome and deep seas , rocks of the hardest flint were cut up , and plain fields were raised as high mountains , and tops of mountains were levelled like plain fields , all done with wonderfull expedition , for if they delayd , it cost them their lives . as for housholdstuff , it shall suffice to say that caesar lay in a bedsted of gold. and that heliogabalus had not onely a golden plough set with jewels , but he made water in vessels of myrrha stones and of onyx stones . antonius , in despite of nature vilified gold , a work hee deserved to be condemned for , by proscription ; and bassa did his excrements in gold. moreover it is true , that candlesticks have been sold for 400000 peices of money . and there is no doubt but that horatius had his whores in a chamber made of transparent glasse . of tiberius , suetonius speaks thus . he adorned his chambers with tables and prints of lascivions pictures and images placed here and there . point viii . the luxury of the romanes in their garments was extreme . i shall shew their luxury in clothing , by two arguments , namely , the trimming of their bodies , and the clothing of them . the former was so curious , that seneca writes , all that is left of good manners we deface by our levitie , and trimming of our bodies ; we exceed women in curiosity , we that are men put on whorish colours that civill matrons ought not to weare , we stop as we go , by a tender , and soft manner of going , and we do not so much go as creep . and julius caesar was not onely diligently shaved and barbed , but he was plucked also as some upbraded him ; nero was so shamelesse in his decking , and trimming of himself , that his locks were alwayes layd in order : and in his voyage into greece , he let them hang down behind the crown of his head . otto was wont to shave his face every day , and to smere it with wet bread , as the same authour reports , and that he used from the first putting forth of his downy hairs , that so he might never have a beard . what concerns their garments , hortensius thought it a capital crime , because a plait was changed upon his should er , from the place it should be . lucullus affirmed that he had 5000 short cloaks at home . it was their common custome to shift their clothes oftentimes in a day , & nero was never seen twice in one garment . a cloke called lacerna cost 10000 sestertii . nonnius had one ring , valued at 20000 sestertii . the custom was for all of them to adorn their fingers with rings , and to have a jewel on every joynt . charinus wore six upon every finger , and he did not lay them by in the night . and probus saith , that luxury had found out summer rings , and winter rings . and this was used promiscuously amongst all . women had silk garments , if they may be called garments , that could neither defend their bodies or their chastiry . when they had put on these , a woman almost naked would swear she was not naked . the trimming and garments of lollia paulina , the wife of caligula , and that at ordinary banquets sometimes , was valued at 400000 sestertii . hierome writes that one string of pearls was worth many mannours . tertullian saith , that upon one necklace 10000 sestertii were strung , and that her tender neck wore upon it , whole groves and islands . julius cesar bought one pearle , for 60000 sestertil , that was bought for servilia brutus his mother . and if you respect the multitude ; i see , saith seneca , pearls , not in every ear one ( for now their ears are used to carry burdens ) they are coupled together , and others are placed over them , womens madnesse cannot subdue their husbands sufficiently , unlesse they hang two or three patrimonies at their ears on both sides . if you seek for the place . tertullian saith , they wear them upon their feet also , and that not only on the latchets of their pantofles , but all over their startups . for it is not now sufficient to wear pearles , unlesse they may tread upon them , and walk upon them as they go . lastly , if we regard their looking-glasses , one cost sometimes more than the dowry of the antients was , that was publikely paid for the daughters of the poorer emperours . nor was that dowry sufficient for free-mens daughters , to buy them a glasse , which the people of rome gave to scipio his daughter . and that was 11000 pieces of money . and further , the glasses of servants cost somtimes 10 , somtimes 20000 pieces of mony . not to make profit by , as nicias the richest of the graecians was wont to do , but only to keep company with , when they went abroad . and thus much for the luxury of the romans , which c l. meursius , and the noble kobicrzycus have sufficiently described . as much might be spoken of their pride , boasting , flattery , ingratitude . for they called the city rome , a goddesse , and they placed their emperours amongst the gods ; and they expelled those that deserved excellently well of the common-wealth , camillus and scipio . the five cornelii are so many noted examples of an unthankfull countrey . but because authors are full of examples of these vices , and our age wants not the like to oppose against them , i passe them over . point . ix . the justice , fortitude , and prudence of the romanes was nothing . many suppose that the romanes went before other nations for their justice , prudence and valour ; but they are deceived . for if we regard these joyntly , all vertues are linked together , by a certain band , so that he that hath one cannot want the rest . but we have already shewed the many vices of the romanes , and if we take them severally , neither of them can truly be attributed to the romanes ; not justice . for how should they abstain from blood , who adored bloody gods , as mars and b●llona ? how shall they spare their own parents that adore jupiter that expelled his father ? or their own children , who worship saturn , that devoured his own ? how shall they keep chastity that adore a naked and an adulterous goddesse , and one that was a prostitute almost amongst the gods ? how should they abstain from rapine and deceit , who were acquainted with mercury his theeving qualities , who taught them , it was no deceit to deceive any man , but it was wit ? how should they refrain lust , who adored jupiter , hercules , bacchus , apollo , and the rest , whose whoredoms and adulteries , and villanies towards males and females , are not only known to schollers , but are also acted upon the stages , and are sung up and down , that all men may be well acquainted with them ? can there be any just men amongst these things ? who though they should be naturally good , yet their gods would teach them injustice ? for to please that god you adore , you must use those things you know that he is pleased with , and so it falls out , that their gods frame the mindes of those that adore them , to be as they are themselves : for the most religious worship is to imitate . as for their prudence , i dare say openly with the most generous gentleman andreas de rey. if the counsels of the romans , as they are in part described by livy , and partly by dion , and other very grave writers , should be compared with those , which since a hundred yeers have been invented and undertaken in spain , italy , and venice , in part since it was a common-wealth ; france , germany , england , poland , whether they concerned peace or war , and are noted by commineus , guicciardine , sleiden , and also by some new writers of the french history , m●taranus , and others in some parts we must confesse that this age for readinesse and acutenesse of invention , and exact dexterity of judgement , doth not onely equall but exceed antiquity . and indeed i cannot conceive how they were wise men , who destroyed the common wealth of their choisest men , in sword playes upon the stage , that powred forth vast treasures upon things of no valew , and exercised all manner of cruelty both upon their own people and strangers . as for their valour ; as it is not the punishment that makes a martyr ; so , not fighting , but the cause makes a valiant man. if justice be set aside , kingdoms are nothing but great thefts . wherefore pirats being asked by alexander , by what law they did it , they answered , by the same that he did . and the poet calls him , earths fatall mischief , for that he did strike , like unto thunder all the world alike , unluckie to the nations — the same may be applied to the romanes . for to passe over mithridates and galgacus , enemies to the romans , of whom he speaks in his epistle to arsaces . the romanes wage war with all , but they are more fierce against those where they hope to get the greatest booties , when they have conquered them . and galgacus saith to his confederates , these plunderers of the world , when they have plundered all they can on land , they rove the s●as ; if their enemy be rich , they are covetous ; if he be poor , they are ambitious ; for neither east nor west can satisfie them . the war they first made against the carthagenians was by reason of the mamertini ; it is certain almost that it was unjust . nor can a heap of cutthroats , win the name of a civill society , by their good successe , though they make a covenant . the same was don afterwards in sardinia , when the carthagenians had been compelled to pay 1200 talents . moreover if if we be not called the lesse valiant because we manfully endure troubles and sharp miseries , our martyrs may be preferred before the romans . for ( to let men passe ) children and maids have silently conquered their tormentors , and the fire it self could not make them grone . and eusebius speaks of dorotheus , of all those that ever were amongst the greeks , or barbarians , famous for the greatnesse of their mindes , and that are renowned in the mouths of men , none can be compared with the divine and notable martyrs of our age , dorotheus and his fellowes that were servants to the emperours . if they object their defending of their countrey , we shall presently answer them with the examples of the men of callis under philip valesius : and with the examples of the dutch and others ; who devoted themselves for their countreys good . again if we shall recollect the acts of the britains , french , germans , of pyrrhus , and of the carthagenians , against them , we shall finde these inferiour to them in very few things . he that desires to see an exact comparison between the britains and the romans , let him read rawleghs history of the world. moreover if unity be respected amongst vertues . it is most certain that there was no example of amity amongst the greekes or romans that may be compared with the examples of marcus tarvisanus , and nicolaus barbadicus , senatours of venice . alexander de galtis , hath described it , prefixing before it an historicall argument . point . x. and the last , it is probable as some think that the church shall be in greater glory upon the earth yet , than ever it was before . though the matter be as i have shewed , yet many places of scripture are objected , which seem clearly to speak the contrary of the last times . and indeed it is expresse in saint matthew , because iniquity shall abound , the charity of many shall wax cold . when the son of man comes shall he finde faith in the earth ? in saint paul , the spirit speaks expresly that in the latter times some shall fall from the faith . wicked men shall grow worse and worse , deceiving and being deceived . in saint peter , there shall come scoffers in the last days , walking after their own lusts , &c. but all this cannot evince so much as to subvert our opinion . and i may answer to those places , both in generall and in speciall . generally , i. for though it were true that about the end of the world , mens maners should grow worse , yet it follows not , that therefore , there was an universall perpetuall decay . ii. it cannot be understood how we shall expect a conversion of jews and gentiles , and yet mens manners should grow worse . iii. the last dayes seem not to mean those that are neerest to christs coming , but for all that time that is between his first and second ●●mming . so in isaiah . and it shall be in the last dayes , when the mountain of the house of the lord shall be set in the top of the mountains and lifted above the hills ; that all nations shall come unto it . man is a little world , and as his age is divided into many parts , so is the age of the world divided into many periods . therefore as old age onely may equall all the other periods past ; so may the last times also . nor may that seem strange , for the time from jobs restitution untill his death , is called his last age , though it comprehends a 140 yeers . iv. the last dayes may be taken for the latest , whence as joel speaks of prophesies , and it shall be after that , saith he . peter in the acts of the apostles pronounceth the same by saying , that shall be in the last times . and that appears most clearly in the prophecie of jacob preceding his death . for he promiseth to certifie unto his sons , what should happen in the last dayes . yet he sets , between those times , the taking away of the scepter from judah , and the comming of shiloh ; wherefore the last times seem not here onely to be meant , but also as a learned man explains it in his comment upon the epistle of jude , the kingdom of christ ; and thus much for the generall . in speciall , i. the praediction of s. paul , concerning forbidding to marry , is fulfilled in eustatius , the tatiani , marcionists , manichees catharists , and montanists . the same reason serves for the other . for he doth not compare his age with ours , but rather teacheth us what shall be the condition of the kindgom of christ. nor is that increase of wickednesse joyned with the succession of time , any thing to a universall and perpetuall ruine of nature . for as some fall off to wickednesse , others hold the faster to what is good . and s. paul himself saith , but they shall proceed no further , but their folly shall be made manifest unto all . ii. the prophesie of peter came to passe then in judes times : for jude useth almost the very same words , and the difference is no more but this , that one foretells it , and the other shews it fulfilled . iii. the predictions of christ are to understood , concerning the persecutions of the christian religion , and the subversion of the city of jerusalem , and in this sense , maldonat and aretius alleadge saint pauls words , 2 tim. 4. v. 6. those words in saint luke signifie nothing else , than that from the time that christ asscended into heaven , untill his coming again , men will be alwaies incredulous . divines interpret them , and jansenius saith , they do not onely signifie paucity , and want of faith in men , who shall be found alive in the last day , but also in men of all times . some things also are alleadged for the coming of antichrist : but of this subject you may read whitaker , downam , and others . the most certain argument ; is the removing of that which hindereth , or the overthrow of the romane empire , which the popish party , as thomas , lyra , ribera , and salmeron confess to be done already . who succeeded into his place , pasquier , matchiavel and sigonius shew . but the clearest of them all is lipsius , whose most memorable words are these . wonderfull is gods goodnesse to this city : when he took away the force of arms , he gave force to the lawes : when he would not let the sword rule , he granted power to the church ; and so also he made it to be the honour , the defence and the support of things . but they say that old senate is not ! not that , but an other , and behold in that purple , select judges , out of all our world , who are to be regarded for their manners , prudence , and arms. should the old cynick live again , & should see this assembly , he would make no question , to compare it with kings or noblemen . what are the tributes ? not so great but they are more innocent also , and more willingly paid . what are the embassies , of nations ? nor are they wanting , but they come from the known and unknown world , so wide doth this majesty spread it self and hence they fetch rights and lawes of sacred things . kings and princes come and how themselves , and submit their obedient heads to this one head . but as it is no doubt but that antichrist is come , and is also revealed to the world ; so , many places of scripture , according to some pious interpreters , seem to intimate the neernesse of his ruine , upon which they say , will follow such a peace of the church , as the like was never before . to this peace some adjoyne , a more full conversion of jewes and gentiles , to which the noble d. makovius , the light of his countrey amongst strangers , addes their return into the land of canaan ; the restitution of all things by elias , the ceasing of all heresies , forrain persecutions , and of all impiety . some adde further to this , the resurrection of the martyrs , and a reign with christ upon the earth for a thousand yeers . of that opinion are , carolus gallus professour formerly of the university at leyden , in his clavis prophetica nova apocalypseos . in which work he confesseth that he laboured twenty five yeers , in reading , meditating , searching , writing , and debating ; and also george hawkwell in his apologia providentiae divinae , out of which we have taken a great part of this small tract : as also mathias martinus , my master , in his epistle by way of answer to my letters , whererein i desired his opinion of this matter , anno , a thousand six hundred twenty eight . alsted and piscator are of this minde . but this man makes that kingdom to be in the heavens ; the other saith , it is not onely upon the earth , but makes the thousand yeers to begin about the yeer , a thousand six hundred ninety four . carolus gallus seems to joyn with them . for in his eighth observation , on the 20 chapter of the revelations , he writes thus . the propheticall spirit briefly doth prophesie in this revelation of s. john , of a singular , and wonderfull resurrection of the church , renovation and restitution thereof , namely , that in this last age it shall be conspicuous , consisting of jewes and gentiles , quick and dead , and it shall after a wonderfull maner revive , be renewed , restored , and flowrish again more gloriously than ever it did formerly , and that from those that were dead the very first death . if you enquire of their arguments , they are partly taken from the certainty of the conversion of jews and gentiles , partly out of some places in the scripture expresly promising peace , partly out of the prophecy of a thousand yeers , described in the twentieth chapter of the revelations , not yet fulfilled . and though that matter , as enigmaticall , cannot be decided before the event ; and if it might , it is beyond my abilityes , nor doth it concern this place : yet , i. it seems to be most true , that there shall be a more full conversion of jewes and gentiles , as keckerman and justus heurnius , have demonstrated out of the scripture . but after the ruine of antichrist , not onely that which shall oppose idolatry , but the matter it self doth shew it ; to say nothing of the shutting up of the devill , which is written of , after the casting of the false prophet and the beast into the lake . ii. no article of the faith should be violated , though we should maintain the coming again of elias , and the returning of the jews again into the land of canaan . for that which is spoken of elias by the evangelist , to come again and restore all things , christ did not ascribe to john the baptist. nor is that in micha spoken of him , ascribed to this man. to say nothing that the first coming of christ was not terrible , but joyful . the promise made to the israelites , deuteronomie 30 is too glorious ; and that it is not yet fulfilled , is apparent by the dispersion of the jewes nor yet restored . iii. it is very probable that the notable ruine of antichrist is hard at hand . for since it is evident that the history of the revelations describes unto us three periods of the church , and each of them is bounded with seventy seven yeers , and from thence it certainly followes that the denunciation of the ruine of babylon fel about the reign of charles the fifth , and there is nothing more written of the restitution thereof , but that those late tumults in that battell , described in the nineteenth of the revelations , seem to be prefigured , and the successe on that side , sheweth nothing else , than what appeared in carthage half destroyed . namely , that the bitings of beasts when they are ready to dy are most violent ; it can hardly be thought that it can last long . nor are all those prodigies ; presages , and predictions to be neglected , which are written to have fallen out both in former times , and in these last ten yeers . indeed they are more obscure than that they may be easily looked into , and too serious to be rejected with scoffing prejudice . and though i finde that ambitious and ignorant men challenge this to themselves ; yet men of better mindes hold it better to wait on the event with hope and patience , than by rash judgement to accuse the scriptures of falshood , and to make things false to be true , or to ascribe divinity to humane actions ; or supernaturall power to naturall things . i , though i had rather be silent , both concerning divinity and the truth , yet i professe that i have hardly found any thing in histories , i have read , that is not foretold either by divine or diabolick , or humane , or naturall predictions , or by them altogether . all the order of the four monarchies lies couched in daniels images , the brief of all the ecclesiasticall history is contained in the apocalyptick writings . and out of these the divell hath taken some things . the birth of christ was fore shewed by the sybils , oracles , and stars , besides the writings of the holy prophets . what figures of mens nativities , and what all the rest can do is taught by a work of julius caesar , bullinger de divinatione , and by the history of the duke of biron . yet there is a mean to be used in these things ; they must be made use of occasionally , and not fundamentally . iv. it is probable that the thousand yeers in the revelations are not yet fu●fill●d . for were they fulfilled , that must be , either in the first , second or third period . not in the first . for then the seven seals had their event , nor did then any thing fall out besides , but what is written of the womans driving away , and the battell with the dragon : also then there was an infinite number of hereticks , and a mighty flood of persecution . not in the second . for under that both anti-christianisme sprang up , and mahumetisme . not in the third . for then they say he was let loose . but then began the church to rise again , with the two witnesses that were slain in the former period ; and babylon began to decline . of the same opinion is dr. mede , a divine of cambridge my honourable friend , who is the author of the clavis apoca●yptica , fetched out of the innate and imbred characters of the visions , and demonstrated from them . the most reverend doctor usher primate of ireland saith that there is a two fold millenary . but martinius takes it for a long time by synccdoche , and more rightly . but i will say no more of this matter than i have said ; for i would shew onely what may be said thereof , and not what may be certainly said ; if you except the first and second . in the mean while i desire to be instructed of two things . namely , whether the ruine of antichrist shall be totall ? and whether after that satan is bound up so , there must needs follow a cessation of all heres●es , of all impiety , and of all persecutions in the visible church ? far be it from me any farther to favour the millenaries , that were defended by papia , ireneus , apollinarius , tertullian and lactantius , who dreamt of a glorious jerusalem upon the earth for a thousand yeers , after the resurrection , the blood of sacrifices , rest of the sabbath , circumcision , marriages , children , education , delightfull banquets , the obedience to them of all nations , the moon to shine as bright as the sun , and that the sun should shine seven fold cleerer than it doth . let us rather pray that god would be pleased to look upon his afflicted church with a gracious eye , and grant unto it what is for the good thereof . this is sufficient , if it be not too much . but , whether it be so or so , thanks be given uuto thee , o lord jesus . finis . books printed for john streater , and are to be sold by the booksellers of london . the vale-royall of england ; or , the county palatine of chester , illustrated . wherein is contained a geographical and historical description of that famous county , with all its hundreds , and seats of the nobility , gentry , and freeholders ; its rivers , towns , castles , buildings ancient and modern : adorned with maps and prospects , and the coats of arms belonging to every individuall family of the whole county . unto which is added , an excellent discourse of the island of man. the refinement of zion : or , the old orthodox protestant doctrine justified , and defended against several exceptions of the antinomians : methodically digested into questions , wherein many weighty and important cases of conscience are handled , concerning the nature of faith and repentance , or conversion to god. by anthony warton . de morbis foemineis : the womans counsellour ; or , the feminine physiian : modestly treating of such occult ▪ accidents , and secret diseases , as are incident to that sex. pharmacopaea : or , rhaenodaeus his dispensatory . treating of the whole body of physick : performing the office of an herball , as well as an apothecarie's shop . an history of the wonderful things of nature : set forth in ten several classes . wherein are contained , 1. the wonders of the heavens . 2. of the elements . 3. of meteors . 4. of mineralls . 5. of plants . 6. of birds . 7. of four-footed beasts . 8. of insects , and things wanting blood . 9. of fishes . 10. of man. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a46233-e1630 scion . l. 8. c. 6. quintil. orat. 12. seneca . philo de mand. incorruptibil . in icon. anim. c. 2 barclay l. c● veridam in hist. vitae & mortis . 2 pet ▪ 3. 1● boetius . mat. 24. 38. 1 thes , 5. ● ▪ ●sdras l. 4. ●5 . v. 54. ●●m , 8 : ● , 21. l. 3. exor , hist. e. 5. psal. 102. boetius . lactant. l. 2. insti . c. 5 , budet . in polo . bodinus . l. ●ult . theatr. natura . ●cal . exer●●t . 99. barthol . de element . c. 5. the same de aquis . l. 12. c. 5. philo demundi incorruptibilitate , august . de genesi ad liter . l. 7. c. 2. l. 4. histo. meigerius . tacit. annal . l. 13. lip. l. 2. 〈◊〉 constant . c. 22. oros. l. 5● c. 8. l. 2. de mor● . contag . lang. ep. 4. l. 2. galen . l. 3 de simp. caus . ● . 2. dion . cass. in histor. plin. jun. in epist. ad tacitum . tacit. l. 13. annal. sandius in itiner . * lately printed in english. in vita hilarion . pontan . l. 48. metror . prosper alpinus . 1 chron. 13. 3. 2 chron. 7 , 5. 2 chron. 17. 14. 2 chron. ●1 . 5. lucret. l. 2. deu. 11. 12 lev. 26. 3. lev. 20. 21 de terra sancta . p. c. 1. whether the earth were formerly more fruitfull . columella dere rustica . plin. l. 18. c. 3. aelian lib. 1. c. 33. novel . tit . 11. apud codic . theodos . jos. l. 6. annal . beda . l. 4 c. 13. varro l. 3. c. 2. l. 3. hist. plutarch in fab. maximo . barthol . l. 2. de meteor . c. 2. in. l. praedict . vener . senecá quaest . nat● . l. 2. c. 25. bodin . l. 2. thea. natur. cumanus . liv. l. 44. and 45. aristot l. 2. metcor . c. 8 plin. l. 2. c. 81. august . l. 2. de mirac ▪ s. s. sennert scient . natur . l. 5. c. 1. crato in epistol . petrejus dissert . harm , 38 fallop . de therm . cardan . l. 5 , de subtilit . de metal . l. 1. cap. 6. de simp. in india . nasc . l. 1. c. 47. l. 3. de metallis cap. 6. de cor. porib . perfectè mixtis inanim . c. 4. 1. mac. c. 37. seneca , l. 5. de benef . c. 6. in chron. regum , mannor . l. hist. novel . psal. 90. 11. 10. herodot in thalia . 2 sam. 19. 32. de honest . disciplin . l. 5. de lingua latina . in opere de fab . mundi . l. 1. de som. scip. c. 6. plutarch de oracul . cessat . gell. l. 25. noct. c. 7. proem . l. ● . enchirid. c. 55. digest . l. 9. de spons . buxtorf . synag . 3. lancel . l. 2. l. 11. sancinus 27. c. de nuptiis . in antiq. br●an . num. 8. 23. lib. 25. suetonius . whence it was the patriarchs lived so long . whether the yeers they lived were onely of 36 dayes . joseph l. 1. antiquit. c. 4. l. 1. chronol . verulam . in hist. vit . & mort . verulam in hist. vit . & mor● . epist. 95. whether we marry sooner now than of old time time . 2 king. 22. whether adam were the greatest of all men ? l. 1. de emend . temp . c. 4. in. lib. de paradiso . de gygant . c. 6. guaric . in gygantomachia . in polymnia . l. 6. l. 5. de mil. rom. c. 6. miscel. c. 4. exod. 27. 1 2 chro. 4. 1 exod. 20. 26. in vita sertorii . malmes . l. 2. c. 17. de gestis reg. angl. aug. de civit . dei l. 15. cap. 9. delrius in l. 9. mag. whether prodigious bodies like men can be framed in the bowels of the earth ? agricola . de civit : dei l. 15. c. 23. whether women may conceive by the devil ? in c. 6. gen. q. 6. vales. sac . phil. c. 8. delrio in disq . magic . phys. gener . 6. canicul . colloq . 6. camer . in medit. historicis . thuan. l. 6. ex leon. gerecio . whether physicks now a dayes may be given in as great a dose as formerly ? c. 14. de curat . per venae sect . ● . 9. c. 14. in observat . l. 2. lect . annot. whether the gut duodenum be now shorter than of old ? l. 2. antrop . c. 12. l. 6. c. 13. whether prolifick seed be now more impure than formerly ? in prooem . l. 1. controvers . l. 3. var. lect . in histor . concil basil . l. 1. academ . prolus. in 2. de c. d. c. 17. possev . in appar . bell. de eccles . script . de vivers . & doctis viris hispan . in praesat opus scalig. l. 2. hist. sui tempor . pasquir . l. 5. c. 38. orat. 2. 5. in praef . schol. mathem . minutius in octavio . math. 14. 2 john 9. 2. actor . 1. 6. erasmus . bell de r. l. l. 4. c. 12. chron. l. 4. l. 4. isag. exot. c. 14. 3 part decret . de consec . dist . 4. de corrupto ecclesiae statu . whether the ancients understood anatomy . 2 de legibus . 4 de fast. 2 de leg. pliny prooem . l. 28. libro de anima . de civit . dei 22. c. 24 de consensu & diss . chy & galen . senner . in pharmacopaea . in sec. plan . terrest . re divin . instit . l. c. 2● . nor is it yet known . what things were lesse known in the mathematicks by the antients ? histor. p. 1. 5. c. 9. l. sect. 1. whether our times in souldiery are short of antiqui●y ? in theatre scholastico . l. 3. poet. p. 1. ep. 1. l. 2. epist. 119. who found out printing ? cap. 26. de papyro in bibliotheca de communicatione linguar . c. de typis . in cosmographia . l. 2. c. 7. l. 3. de occult . natur . miracul . c. 4. de invent. rer. l. 2. c. 7. whether guns were known to the anti●nts ? nova repert . tit . 11. aeneid . l. 5. l. 3. de regim . princip . p. 3. c. 18 whether the ancients knew the marriners compasse . in mercatore scena 3. l ▪ 20. advers . c. 4. gilbert . de magnet . l. 2. pr●lus . 6. de ●utis affect . l. ● . cap. 3. vranckheimius in epist. ad burggravium . hegenitius iti● . p. 73. whether the antients were as well skilled in navigation as men are n●w . whether ophir be peru. l. 2. c. 8. divin . institut . l. 5. institut . c. 7. tacit. in annal. isay 44. vers . 8. jer. 9. 3. sapient . 11. v. 13. boccac . in geneal . deorum . crinitus de honest . disc . l. 3. c. 14. plin. l. 2. c. 7. tacit. 3. hist. c. 6. aenead 11. & 2. silic . l. 4. 2 reg. c. 16. l. 1. c. 21. august . de civ . dei . l. 6 c. 8. august . de civ . d. l. 2. c. 4. l. 1. c. 21. cicero de divin . l. 3. in fragment . lactan. l. ● . c. 23. lipsuis de constant. de civit . dei. l. 18. c. 52. tacit in annal. l. 5. c. 11. in epist. ad chrom . & heliod . sulpit. l. 2. sacra . histor. aeneid . l. 6. lips. l. 2. de const . c. 22. seneca l. 2. de ira. c. 5. admir . l. 4. c. 6. de iral . 2. c. 8. valer. l. 9. c. 2. de c. d l. 3 c. 27. de const. l. 2. c. 24. sucton . in calig . praefat. ad 4. natur. quaest . l. 1. c. 26. serm. saturn 1. 12. orat. pro sextio . lactant. l. 6. c. 20. l. 2. n. h. c. 63. l. 33. c. 4. sueton. in galba . c. 12 sueton. in julio c. 54. sueton. in tiberio c. 49. fulgosus . sueton in vespas . c. 16. l. 7. de providentia . philip 1. serm. 2. camer . cent . 1. c. 34 natural quaest . 4. c. 13. l. 22. plin. l. 33. ● in verrem . de benef . l. c. 9. l. 37. c. 2. plin. l. 13. c. 15. sutton . octav. 42. seneca dele benefic . l. 7. c. 9. plin. l. 33. c. 11. epist. 93. seneca de vitae brevitat . c. 12. sueton. in tiber. c. 42. seneca ad helvid . c. 10. petat in pa●eg . lampridius sueton. in vitel . c. 12. valer. l. 9. c. 1. seneca epist. 95. macrob. saturn . l. 3. c. 26. lib. 28. seneca natur . qu●st . l. 3. c. 17. macrob. satur. 3. 16. varro de re rustica c. 17. lib. 8. c. 16. g●ll. l. 13. c. 8. l. 3. c. 6. l. 3. c. 8. capitolinus vop●sc●● in aureli. no. sueton in tiber. c. 34. plin. l. 36. c. 15. sueton. in in caligula c. 19. ammian . sueton. in calig . c. 18 vopiscus . in probo . martial . lampridius sueton in neron . c. 11. vopiscus in carino . lib. 36. l. 16. olimpiad in excerptis . epist. 86. in antiq ▪ rom. dio 55. l. 7. excidii . l. 34. c. 8. cassiod l. 7. ●e . seneca de benef . 7. 10. valer. l. 4. c. 6. seneca epist 122. seneca epist . 115. valerius● capitol in gordiano . seneca epist . 50. lampridius c. 31. chap. 37 plin. l. 33. c. 11. lampridius plin. l. 33. c. 3. c. 43. natur. quest . 7. c. 31. sueton. c. 45. sueton c. 51. horat. ep. 9. plin. l. 37. 16. seneca de benef. 7. c. 9. in vita pauli eremit . de habitu muliebri . c. 9. suoton . c. 59. de benef . 7. c. 9. l. 2. c. 35. seneca . natur. quest . l. 1. c. 17. athen. 6. lactant instit . l. c. 10 de consil . & consultatione . tacitus in vita agricolae . l. 8. c. 6. l. 5. p. l. c. 5. 1. matth. 24. 12. luc. 18. 8. 1 tim. 4. v. 1. vers . 17. 2 peter . 3. isa. 2. 2. job 42. v. 12. 16. c. 2. v. 28. c. 2. v. 17. vers . 9. in memor . fran. l. 2. histor. flor. l. 3. de regno . ital. l. 4. in diatriba & chr●nol . in stella serpent . delegat . evangel ad indos . what is to be thought of the modern presages . in libro de succesione . dionis . alexand. the wisdom of god manifested in the works of the creation being the substance of some common places delivered in the chappel of trinity-college, in cambridge / by john ray ... ray, john, 1627-1705. 1691 approx. 330 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 130 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a58185 wing r410 estc r3192 13452200 ocm 13452200 99604 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a58185) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99604) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 474:1) the wisdom of god manifested in the works of the creation being the substance of some common places delivered in the chappel of trinity-college, in cambridge / by john ray ... ray, john, 1627-1705. [16], 248 p. printed for samuel smith ..., london : 1691. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng natural theology -early works to 1800. science -early works to 1800. creation -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-04 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the wisdom of god manifested in the works of the creation . being the substance of some common places delivered in the chappel of trinity-college , in cambridge . by john ray , m. a. sometimes fellow of that , and now of the royal society . london : printed for samuel smith , at the princes arms in s. pauls church-yard . 1691. to the much honoured and truly religious lady , the lady letice wendy of wendy in cambridgeshire . madam , two or three reasons induce me to present this discourse to your ladyship , and to make choice of you for its patroness : first , because i owe it to the liberality of your honoured brother , that i have this leisure to write any thing . secondly , because also your many and signal favors , seeing i am not in a capacity to requite them , seem to exact from me at least a publick acknowledgment , which such a dedication gives me an opportunity to make . thirdly , because of such kind of writings i know not where to chuse a more able judge , or more candid reader . i am sensible that you do so much abhor any thing that looks like flattery , that out of an excess of modesty you cannot patiently bear the hearing of your own just commendations , and therefore should i enlarge upon that subject , i know i should have but little thanks for my pains . indeed you have much better motives to do well , than the praise of men , the favor of god , peace of conscience , the hope and expectation of a future reward of eternal happiness ; and therefore i had rather write of you to others , to provoke them to imitate so excellent an example , than to your self , to encourage you in your christian course , and to fortifie you in your athletick conflicts with the greatest of temporal evils , bodily pain and anguish ; though i do not know why you should reject any consideration that may conduce to support you under so heavy pressures , and of so long continuance ; of which to ingenuous natures true honor , that is the concurrent testimony and approbation of good men , is not the meanest . no less man than s. augustine was doubtful whether the extremity of bodily pain , were not the greatest evil that humane nature was capable of suffering : nay ( saith he ) i was sometimes compelled to consent to cornelius celsus , that it was so , neither did his reason seem to me absurd ; we being compounded of two parts , soul and body , of which the first is the better , the latter the worser , the greatest good must be the best thing belonging to the better part , that is wisdom , and the greatest evil the worst thing incident to the worser part ( the body ) that is pain . now though i know not whether this reason be firm and conclusive , yet i am of accord with him , that of all the evils we are sensible of in this world it is the sorest ; the most resolute patience being baffled and prostrated by a fierce and lasting paroxysm of the gout or stone , or colick , and compelled to yield to its furious insults , and confess itself vanquished , the soul being unable to divert , or to do any thing else but pore upon the pain . and therefore those stoical vaunts of their wise mans being happy in perillus his bull , i utterly reject and explode , as vain rhodomontades and chimerical figments , for that there never was such a wise man among them , nor indeed could be ; yet do i not say , that the patience of a good man can be so far conquered by the sharpest and severest torments as to be compelled to deny or blaspheme god or his religion , yea or so much as to complain of his injustice , though perchance he may be brought with job to curse his day , yet not to curse his god , as his wife tempted him to do . now that the great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the most just judg and rewarder would be pleas'd so to qualifie and mitigate your sufferings as not to exceed the measure of your strength and patience , or else arm you with such an high degree of christian fortitude , as to be able to grapple with the most extreme , and when you have finished your course in this world , grant you a placid and easie passage out of it , and dignifie you as one of his victors , with a crown of eternal glory and felicity , is the prayer of , madam , your ladyships most devoted in all service , john ray. the preface . in all ages wherein learning hath flourished , complaint hath been made of the itch of writing , and the multitude of worthless books , wherewith importunate scriblers have pestered the world , scribimus indocti doctique : and — tenet insanabile multos scribendi cacoethes . i am sensible that this tractate may likely incur the censure of a superfluous piece , and my self the blame of giving the reader unnecessary trouble , there having been so much , so well written of this subject by the most learned men of our time ; dr. more , dr. cudworth , dr. stillingfleet now bishop of worcester , dr. párker , late of oxon , and to name no more the honourable robert boyl , esquire , so that it will need some apology . first therefore , in excuse of it i plead , that there are in it some considerations new and untoucht by others : wherein if i be mistaken , i alledge secondly , that the manner of delivery and expression may be more suitable to some mens apprehension , and facile to their understandings . if that will not hold , i pretend thirdly , that all the particulars contained in this book , cannot be found in any one piece known to me , but lye scattered and dispersed in many , and so this may serve to relieve those fastidious readers , that are not willing to take the pains to search them out : and possibly , there may be some whose ability ( whatever their industry might be ) will not serve them to purchase , nor their opportunity to borrow those books , who yet may spare money enough to buy so inconsiderable a trifle . if none of these excuses suffice to acquit me of blame , and remove all prejudice , i have two further reasons to offer , which i think will reach home , and justify this undertaking . first , that all men who presume to write , at least whose writings the printers will venture to publish , are of some note in the world , and where they do or have lived and conversed , have some sphere of friends and acquaintants , that know and esteem them , who it's likely will buy any book they shall write , for the authors sake , who otherwise , would have read none of that subject , though ten times better ; and so the book , however inferiour to what have been already published , may happen to do much good . secondly , by vertue of my function , i suspect my self to be obliged to write something in divinity , having written so much on other subjects : for being not permitted to serve the church with my tongue in preaching , i know not but it may be my duty to serve it with my hand by writing . and i have made choice of this subject as thinking my self best qualified to treat of it . if what i have now written shall find so favourable acceptance , as to ●ncourage me to proceed , god granting life and health , the reader may expect more : if otherwise , i must be content to be laid aside as useless , and satisfie my self in having made this experiment . as for this discourse , it is the substance of some common places ( so in the university of cambridge , they call their morning divinity exercises ) delivered in trinity-college chappel , when i was fellow of that society ; which i have enlarged with the addition of some collections out of what hath been since written by the forementioned authors upon my subject . i have been careful to admit nothing for matter of fact or experiment but what is undoubtedly true , lest i should build upon a sandy and ruinous foundation ; and by the admixture of what is false , render that which is true , suspicious . i might have added many more particulars , nay , my text warrants me to run over all the visible works of god in particular , and to trace the footsteps of his wisdom in the composition , order , harmony , and uses of every one of them , as well as of those that i have selected . but first , this would be a task far transcending my skill and abilities ; nay , the joynt skill and endeavours of all men now living , or that shall live after a thousand ages , should the world last so long . for no man can find out the work that god maketh from the beginning to the end . eccles. 3. 11. secondly , i was willing to consult the infirmity of the reader , or indeed of mankind in general , which after a short confinement to one sort of dish , is apt to loath it , though never so wholesome , and which at first was most pleasant and acceptable : and so to moderate my discourse , as to make an end of writing before he should be quite tired with reading . i shall now add a word or two concerning the usefulness of the argument or matter of this discourse , and the reason i had to make choice of it , besides what i have already mentioned . first , the belief of a deity being the foundation of all religion ; ( religion being nothing but a devout worshipping of god , or an inclination of mind to serve and worship him ; ) for he that cometh to god , must believe that he is : it is a matter of the highest concernment to be firmly settled and established in a full perswasion of this main point : now this must be demonstrated by arguments drawn from the light of nature , and works of the creation . for as all other sciences , so divinity proves not , but supposes its subject , taking it for granted , that by natural light , men are sufficiently convinced of the being of a deity . there are indeed supernatural demonstrations of this fundamental truth , but not common to all persons or times , and so liable to cavil and exception by atheistical persons , as inward illuminations of mind , a spirit of prophecy and fore telling future contingents , illustrious miracles and the like . but these proofs taken from effects and operations , exposed to every mans view , not to be denied or questioned by any , are most effectual to convince all that deny or doubt of it . neither are they only convictive of the greatest and subtlest adversaries , but intelligible also to the meanest capacities . for you may hear illiterate persons of the lowest rank of the commonolty affirming , that they need no proof of the being of a god , for that every pile of grass , or ear of corn , sufficiently proves that . for , say they , all the men of the world cannot make such a thing as one of these ; and if they cannot do it , who can , or did make it but god ? to tell them that it made it self , or sprung up by chance , would be as ridiculous as to tell the greatest philosopher so . secondly , the particulars of this discourse , serve not only to demonstrate the being of a deity , but also to illustrate some of his principal attributes , as namely his infinite power and wisdom . the vast multitude of creatures , and those not only small but immensely great : the sun and moon , and all the heavenly host , are effects and proofs of his almighty power . the heavens declare the glory of god , and the firmament sheweth his handy work , psal. 19. 1. the admirable contrivance of all and each of them , the adapting all the parts of animals to their several uses : the provision that is made for their sustenance , which is often taken notice of in scripture , psal. 145. 15 , 16. the eyes of all wait upon thee , thou givest them their meat in due season . thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing . matth. 6. 26. behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not , neither do they reap , nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly father feedeth them . psalm . 147. 9. he giveth to the beast his food , and to the young ravens when they cry : and lastly , their mutual subserviency to each other , and unanimous conspiring to promote and carry on the publick good , are evident demonstrations of his sovereign wisdom . lastly , they serve to stir up and increase in us the affections and habits of admiration , humility and gratitude . psalm 8. 3. when i considered the heavens the work of thy fingers , the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained ; what is man that thou are mindful of him , or the son of man that thou visitest him ? and to these purposes the holy psalmist is very frequent in the enumeration and consideration of these works , which may warrant me in doing the like , and justifie the denominating such a discourse as this , rather theological than philosophical . the contents . of the coelestial bodies pag. 2 , 3 , 4. 45. to 51. of terrestrial bodies p. 4. 52. the number of animals , vegetables , and fossils ; guess'd at p. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. the aristotelian hypothesis p. 12 , 13. the epicurean hypothesis p. 20. to 40. the cartesian hypothesis p. 20. to 40. all these considered and censur'd , from p. 12. to 40. a plastick principle above matter and motion , yet not god himself p. 32. to 37. the differences of natural and artificial things p. 41. the natures and divisions of bodies p. 41 , 42 , 43. the several textures , ends ; and uses of them p. 44. as of the sun p. 47 , 48. of the moon and other planets p. 48 , 49. the advantage of eclipses in chronology , and geography p. 51. of the fixt stars p. 49. 51. of fire p. 52. 54. of air p. 54 to 60. the respiration of the foetus in the womb explained p. 56. to 59. of water p. 60 to 62. of earth p. 62 , 63. of meteors p. 63. of rain p. 64. of winds p. 65. of stones p. 67. 70. transparent , colour'd , opaque , variously figur'd like parts of animals . load-stone , &c. ibid. of metals p. 70. to 73. of vegetation , and plants , their different parts , and uses : of their roots , fibres , bark , wood , vessels , leaves , claspers , prickles , gems , flowers , fruits , seeds , &c. from p. 74 to 86. of sensitive or brute animals , quadrupeds , birds , fishes , insects , their regular and peculiar methods , their actions , their various parts and uses from p. 86. to p. 112. 120. 122. from whence the uses of things p. 112. the study of nature recommended p. 114. 116. 122 , 123. prefer'd to other studies to 132. of the terraqueous globe , its figure and use ; its motion , posture , situation , constitution and consistency p. 135. to 150. of the body of man , its external and internal mechanism , the textures , situations , proportions , actions , and uses of the several parts ; many anaiomical , physical , and theological observations thereupon from p. 151. to 235. more particularly upon the head p. 169. the eye and vision p. 170. to 184. the suspensory or seventh muscle , and the membrana nictitans common to many beasts , yet wanting in man p. 133 , 184. the ear p. 185. to 187. the teeth p. 187. 197. the tongue p. 190. 192. the windpipe p. 203. the heart p. 204. to 209. the hand and the analogous parts in other creatures p. 209. to 213. generation and formation explain'd , from p. 217. to 223. observations on the propagations of several animals and plants ibid. many divine reflections and conclusions from p. 222. to the end . psalm 104. 24. how manifold are thy works o lord ? in wisdom hast thou made them all . in these words are two clauses , in the first whereof the psalmist admires the multitude of god's works , how manifold are thy works o lord ? in the second he celebrates his wisdom in the creation of them ; in wisdom hast thou made them all . of the first of these i shall say little , only briefly run over the works of this visible world , and give some guess at the number of them . whence it will appear , that upon this account they well deserve admiration , the number of them being uninvestigable by us ; and so affording us a demonstrative proof of the unlimited extent of the creators skill , and the foecundity of his wisdom and power . that the number of corporeal creatures is unmeasurably great , and known only to the creator himself , may thus probably be collected : first of all , the number of fixt stars is on all hands acknowledged to be next to infinite ; secondly , every fixt star in the now received hypothesis is a sun or sunlike body , and in like manner encircled with a chorus of planets moving about it ; thirdly , each of these planets is in all likelihood furnished with as great variety of corporeal creatures animate and inanimate as the earth is , and all as different in nature as they are in place from the terrestrial , and from each other . whence it will follow that these must be much more infinite than the stars ; i do not mean absolutely according to the philosophick exactness infinite , but only infinite or innumerable as to us , or their number prodigiously great . that the fixt stars are innumerable may thus be made out : those visible to the naked eye are by the least account acknowledged to be above a thousand , excluding those towards the south pole which are not visible in our horizon : besides these , there have been incomparably more detected and brought to light by the telescope ; the milky way being found to be ( as was formerly conjectured ) nothing but great companies or swarms of minute stars singly invisible , but by reason of their proximity mingling and confounding their lights and appearing like lucid clouds . and it 's likely that , had we more perfect telescopes , many thousands more might be discovered ; and yet after all an incredible multitude remain , by reason of their immense distance beyond all ken by the best telescopes that could possibly be invented or polished by the wit and hand of an angel. for if the world be , as des cartes would have it , indefinitely extended ; that is , so far as no human intellect can fancy any bounds of it , then what we see or can come to see must be the least part of what is undiscoverable by us ; the whole universe extending a thousand times farther beyond the utmost stars we can possibly descry , than those be distant from the earth we live upon . this hypothesis of the fixt stars being so many suns , &c. seems more agreeable to the divine greatness and magnificence : but that which induces me much to doubt of the magnitude of the universe and immense distance of the fixed stars , is the stupendious phaenomena of comets , their sudden accension or appearance in full magnitude , the length of their tails and swiftness of their motion , and gradual diminution of bulk and motion , till at last they disappear : neither do i think the universe indefinitely extended , as des cartes upon a false ground [ that the formal ratio of a body was nothing but extension into length , breadth and profundity , or having partes extra partes , and that body and space were synonimous terms ] assert ed : for it may as well be limited this way as in the old hypothesis ; which places the fixt stars in the same spherical superficies ; according to which ( old hypothesis ) they may also be demonstrated by the same mediums to be innumerable , only instead of their distance substituting their smalness for the reason of their invisibility . but leaving the celestial bodies , i come now to the terrestrial ; which are either inanimate or animate . the inanimate are the elements , meteors and fossils of all sorts , at the number of which last i cannot give any probable guess ; bur if the rule , which some considerate philosophers deliver , holds good ; viz. how much more imperfect any genus or order of beings is , so much more numerous are the species contained under it ; as for example : birds being a more perfect kind of animals than fishes , there are more of these than of those , and for the like reason more birds than quadrupeds , and more insects than of any of the rest ; and so more plants than animals : nature being more sparing in her more excellent productions . if this rule i say holds good ; then should there be more species of fossils or generally of inanimate bodies than of vegetables ; of which there is some reason to doubt . unless we will admit all sorts of formed stones to be distinct species . animate bodies are divided into four great genera or orders , beasts , birds , fishes and insects . the species of beasts , including also serpents , are not very numerous : of such as are certainly known and described i dare say not above 150. and yet i believe not many , that are of any considerable bigness , in the known regions of the world , have escaped the cognizance of the curious . [ i reckon all dogs to be of one species they mingling together in generation , and the breed of such mixtures being prolifick . ] the number of birds known and described may be near 500 ; and the number of fishes , secluding shelfish as many ; but if the shelfish be taken in , more than double the number . how many of each genus remain yet undiscovered one cannot certainly nor very nearly conjecture , but we may suppose the whole sum of beasts and birds to exceed by a third part , and fishes by one half , those known . the insects , if we take in the exanguious both terrestrial and aquatick , may in derogation to the precedent rule for number vie even with plants themselves . for the exanguious alone , by what that learned and critical naturalist my honoured friend dr. martin lister hath already observed and delineated , i conjecture , cannot be fewer than 1800 or 2000 species , perhaps many more . the butterflies and beetles are such numerous tribes , that i believe in our own native country alone the species of each kind may amount to 150 or more . and if we should make the caterpillers and hexapods from whence these come to be distinct species , as most naturalists have done , the number will be doubled , and these two genera will afford us 600 species . but if those be admitted for distinct species , i see no reason but their aureliae also may pretend to a specifick difference from the caterpillers and butterflies ; and so we shall have 300 species more , therefore we exclude both these from the degree of species , making them to be the same insect under a different larva or habit. the fly-kind , if under that name we comprehend all other flying insects , as well such as have four as such as have but two wings , of both which kinds there are many subordinate genera , will be found in multitude of species to equal if not exceed both the forementioned kinds . the creeping insects that never come to be winged , though for number they may fall short of the flying or winged , yet are they also very numerous ; as by running over the several kinds i could easily demonstrate : supposing then , there be a thousand several sorts of insects in this island and the sea near it : if the same proportion holds between the insects native of england , and those of the rest of the world , as doth between plants domestick and exotick , ( that is , as i guess , near a decuple ) the species of insects in the whole earth ( land and water ) will amount to 10000 , and i do believe they rather exceed than fall short of that sum . the number of plants contained in c. bauhin's pinax is about 6000 , which are all that had been described by the authors that wrote before him , or observed by himself ; in which work , besides mistakes and repetitions incident to the most wary and knowing men in such a work as that ; there are a great many , i might say some hundreds put down for different species , which in my opinion are but accidental varieties : which i do not say to detract from the excellent pains and performance of that learned , judicious and laborious herbarist , or to defraud him of his deserved honour , but only to shew , that he was too much sway'd by the opinions then generally current among herbarists , that different colour or multiplicity of leaves in the flower and the like accidents were sufficient to constitute a specifick difference . but supposing there had been 6000 then known and described ; i cannot think but that there are in the world more then double that number ; there being in the vast continent of america as great a variety of species as with us , and yet but few common to europe , or perhaps asrick and asia , and if , on the other side the equator , there be much land still remaining undiscovered as probably there may , we must suppose the number of plants to be far greater . what can we infer from all this ? if the number of creatures be so exceeding great , how great nay immense must needs be the power and wisdom of him who form'd them all ! for ( that i may borrow the words of a noble and excellent author ) as it argues and manifests more skill by far in an artificer to be able to frame both clocks and watches , and pumps , and mills , and granadoes and rockets , then he could display in making but one of those sorts of engines ; so the almighty discovers more of his wisdom in forming such a vast multitude of different sorts of creatures , and all with admirable and irreproveable art , than if he had created but a few : for this declares the greatness and unbounded capacity of his understanding . again , the same superiority of knowledg would be displaid by contriving engines of the same kind or for the same purposes after different fashions , as the moving of clocks or other engines by springs instead of weights : so the infinitely wise creator hath shewn in many instances , that he is not confin'd to one only instrument for the working one effect , but can perform the same thing by divers means . so though feathers seem necessary for flying , yet hath he enabled several creatures to fly without them , as two sorts of fishes , and the bat , not to mention the numerous tribes of flying insects . in like manner though the air-bladder in fishes seems necessary for swimming , yet some are so form'd as to swim without it ; viz. first , the cartilagineous kind , which by what artifice they poise themselves , ascend and descend at pleasure , and continue in what depth of water they list , is as yet unknown to us . secondly , the cetaceous kind , or sea-beasts differing in nothing almost from quadrupeds but the want of feet . the air which in respiration these receive into their lungs may serve to render their bodies equiponderant to the water ; and the constriction or dilatation of it , by the help of the diaphragm and muscles of respiration , may probably assist them to ascend or descend in the water , by a light impulse thereof with their fins . again , though the water being a cold element , the most wise god hath so attempered the blood and bodies of fishes in general , that a small degree of heat is sufficient to preserve their due consistency and motion and to maintain life ; yet to shew that he can preserve a creature in the sea , and in the coldest part of the sea too , that may have as great a degree of heat as quadrupeds themselves ; he hath created great variety of these cetaceous fishes , which converse chiefly in the northern seas , whose whole body being encompassed round with a copious fat or blubber ( which , by reflecting and redoubling the internal heat , and keeping off the external cold , doth the same thing to them that cloths do to us ) is enabled to abide the greatest cold of the sea-water . the reason why these fishes delight to frequent chiefly the northern-seas is i conceive not only for the quiet which they enjoy there , but because the northern air , which they breath being more fully charged with nitrous particles , is fittest to maintain the vital heat in that activity as is sufficient to move such an unwieldy bulk , as their bodies are with due celerity and to bear up against and repell the ambient cold ; and may likewise enable them to continue longer under water than a warmer and thinner air could . i come now to the second part of the words ; in wisdom hast thou made them all . in discoursing wherof i shall endeavour to make out in particulars what the psalmist here asserts in general concerning the works of god , that they are all very wisely contrived and adapted to ends both particular and general . but before i enter upon this task , i shall , by way of preface or introduction , say something concerning those systems which undertake to give an account of the formation of the universe by mechanical hypotheses of matter moved either uncertainly , or according to some catholick laws , without the intervention and assistance of any superior immaterial agent . there is no greater , at least no more palpable and convincing argument of the existence of a deity than the admirable art and wisdom that discovers itself in the make and constitution , the order and disposition , the ends and uses of all the parts and members of this stately fabrick of heaven and earth . for if in the works of art , as for example ; a curious edifice or machine , counsel , design , and direction to an end appearing in the whole frame and in all the several pieces of it , do necessarily infer the being and operation of some intelligent architect or engineer , why shall not also in the works of nature , that grandeur and magnificence , that excellent contrivance for beauty , order , use , &c. which is observable in them , wherein they do as much transcend the effects of human art as infinite power and wisdom exceeds finite , infer the existence and efficiency of an omnipotent and all-wise creator ? to evade the force of this argument , and to give some account of the original of the world , atheistical persons have set up two hypotheses . the first is that of aristotle , that the world was from eternity , in the same condition that now it is , having run through the successions of infinite generations ; to which they add , self-existent and unproduced . for aristotle doth not deny god to be the efficient cause of the world. but only asserts , that he created it from eternity making him a necessary cause thereof ; it proceeding from him by way of emanation , as light from the sun. this hypothesis which hath some shew of reason , for something must necessarily exist of it self ; and if something , why may not all things ? this hypothesis , i say , is so clearly and fully confuted by the reverend and learned dr. tillotson now dean of s. pauls london , in his first printed sermon , and the r. reverend father in god john late lord bishop of chester in book i. chap. v. of his treatise of the principles of natural religion , that nothing material can by me be added ; to whom therefore i refer the reader . the epicurean hypothesis rejected . the second hypothesis is that of the epicureans , who held that there were two principles self existent : first , space or vacuity ; secondly , matter or body ; both of infinite duration and extension . in this infinite space or vacuity , which hath neither beginning nor end , nor middle , no limits or extremes , innumerable minute bodies into which the matter was divided called atomes , because by reason of their perfect solidity they were really indivisible ( for they hold no body capable of division , but what hath vacuities intersperst with matter ) of various but a determinate number of figures , and equally ponderous do perpendicularly descend , and by their fortuitous concourse make compound bodies , and at last the world it self . but now , because if all these atomes should descend plum down with equal velocity , as according to their doctrine they ought to do , ( being as we said ) all perfectly solid and imporous , and the vacuum not resisting their motion , they would never the one overtake the other , but like the drops of a shower would always keep the same distances , and so there could be no concourse or cohaesion of them , and consequently nothing created ; partly to avoid this destructive consequence , and partly to give some account of the freedom of will ( which they did assert contrary to the democritick fate ) they did absurdly feign a declination of some of these principles , without any shadow or pretence of reason . the former of these motives you have set down by * lucretius in these words : corpora cum deorsum rectum per inane feruntur ponderibus propriis , incerto tempore fortè , incertisque locis , spatio discedere paulùm ; tantum quod momen mutatum dicere possis . and again ; quòd nisi declinare solerent , omnia deorsum imbris uti guttae caderent per inane profundum , nec foret offensus natus , nec plaga creata principiis , ita nil unquam natura creâsset . the second motive they had to introduce this gratuitous declination of atomes , the same poet gives us in these verses , lib. 2. — si semper motus connectitur omnis , et vetere exoritur semper novus ordine certo ; nec declinando faciunt primordia motûs principium quoddam quod fati foedera rumpat , ex infinito ne causam causa sequatur ; libera per terras unde haec animantibus extat , unde haec est , inquam , fatis avolsa voluntas ? the folly and unreasonableness of this ridiculous and ungrounded figment , i cannot better display and reprove than in the words of cicero , in the beginning of his first book de finibus bonornm & malorum . this declination ( saith he ) is altogether childishly feigned , and yet neither doth it at all solve the difficulty , or effect what they desire . for first they say the atomes decline , and yet assign no reason why . now nothing is more shameful and unworthy a natural philosopher [ turpius physico ] than to assert any thing to be done without a cause , or to give no reason of it . besides this is contrary to their own hypothesis taken from sence , that all weights do naturally move perpendicularly downward . secondly , again supposing this were true , and that there were such a declination of atomes , yet will it not effect what they intend . for either they do all decline , and so there will be no more concourse than if they did perpendicularly descend ; or some decline , and some fall plum down , which is ridiculously to assign distinct offices and tasks to the atomes , which are all of the same nature and solidity . again , in his book de fato he smartly derides this fond conceit thus ; what cause is there in nature which turns the atomes aside ? or do they cast lots among themselves which shall decline , which not ? or why do they decline the least interval that may be , and not a greater ? why not two or three minima as well as one ? optare hoc quidem est non disputare , for neither is the atome by any extrinsecal impulse diverted from its natural course ; neither can there be any cause imagined in the vacuity through which it is carried why it should not move directly ; neither is there any change made in the atome it self , that it should not retain the motion natural to it , by force of its weight or gravity . as for the whole atomical hypothesis , either epicurean or democritick , i shall not , nor need i spend time to confute it ; this having been already solidly and sufficiently done by many learned men , but especially dr. cudworth in his intellectual system of the universe , and the present bishop of worcester dr. stillinfleet in his origines sacrae . only i cannot omit the ciceronian confutation thereof , which i find in the place first quoted , and in his first and second books de naturâ deorum , because it may serve as a general introduction to the following particulars . such a turbulent concourse of atomes could never ( saith he ) hunc mundi ornatum efficere , compose so well ordered and beautiful a structure as the world is ; which therefore both in greek and latine hath from thence [ ab ornatu & munditie ] obtain'd its name . and again most fully and appositely in his second de nat. deorum . if the works of nature are better , more exact and perfect than the works of art , and art effects nothing without reason ; neither can the works of nature be thought to be effected without reason . for is it not absurd and incongruous ? that when thou beholdest a statue or curious picture , thou shouldest acknowledg that art was used to the making of it ; or when thou seest the course of a ship upon the waters , thou shouldest not doubt but the motion of it is regulated and directed by reason and art ; or when thou considerest a sun-dial or clock , thou shouldst understand presently , that the hours are shewn by art and not by chance ; and yet imagine or believe , that the world which comprehends all these arts and artificers was made without counsel or reason . if one should carry into scythia or britain such a sphere as our friend posidonius lately made , each of whose conversions did the same thing in the sun and moon and other five planets , which we see effected every night and day in the heavens , who among those barbarians would doubt that that sphere was composed by reason and art ? a wonder then it must needs be , that there should be any man found so stupid and forsaken of reason as to persuade himself , that this most beautiful and adorned world was or could be produced by the fortuitous concourse of atomes . he that can prevail with himself to believe this , i do not see why he may not as well admit , that if there were made innumerable figures of the 21 letters in gold , suppose , or any other metal , and these well shaken and mixt together , and thrown down from some high place to the ground , they when they lighted upon the earth would be so disposed and ranked , that a man might see and read in them ennius's annals ; whereas it were a great chance if he should find one verse thereof among them all . for if this concourse of atomes could make a whole world , why may it not sometimes make , and why hath it not somewhere or other in the earth made a temple , or a gallery , or a portico , or a house , or a city ? which yet it is so far from doing , and every man so far from believing ; that should any one of us be cast , suppose , upon a desolate island , and find there a magnificent palace artificially contrived according to the exactest rules of architecture , and curiously adorned and furnished ; it would never once enter into his head , that this was done by an earthquake , or the fortuitous shuffling together of its component materials ; or that it had stood there ever since the construction of the world , or first cohaesion of atomes : but would presently conclude that there had been some intelligent architect there , the effect of whose art and skill it was . or should he find there but upon one single sheet of parchment or paper an epistle or oration written , full of profound sense , expressed in proper and significant words , illustrated and adorned with elegant phrase ; it were beyond the possibility of the wit of man to perswade him that this was done by the temerarious dashes of an unguided pen , or by the rude scattering of ink upon the paper , or by the lucky projection of so many letters at all adventures ; but he would be convinced by the evidence of the thing at first fight , that there had been not only some man , but some scholar there . the cartesian hypothesis considered and censured . having rejected this atheistick hypothesis of epicurus and democritus , i should now proceed to give particular instances of the art and wisdom clearly appearing in the several parts and members of the universe ; from which we may justly infer this general conclusion of the psalmist , in wisdom hast thou made them all : but that there is a sort of professed theists , i mean mons. des cartes and his followers , who endeavour to disarm us of this decretory weapon ; to evacuate and exterminate this argument which hath been so successful in all ages to demonstrate the existence , and enforce the belief of a deity ; and to convince and silence all atheistick gainsayers . and this they doe , first , by excluding and banishing all consideration of final causes from natural philosophy ; upon pretence , that they are all and every one in particular undiscoverable by us ; and that it is rashness and arrogance in us to think we can find out god's ends and be partakers of his counsels . atque ob hanc unicam rationem totum illud causarum genus quod à fine peti solet , in rebus physicis nullum usum habere existimo ; non enim absque temeritate me puto investigare posse fines dei. medit. metaph. and again in his principles of philosophy , nullas unquam rationes circa res naturales à fine quem deus aut natura in iis faciendis sibi proposuit admittimus , quia non tantum nobis debemus arrogare ut ejus consiliorum participes esse possimus . and more expresly in his fourth answer , viz. to gassendus's objections ; nec fingi potest , aliquos dei fines magis quàm alios in propatulo esse : omnes enim in imperscrutabili ejus sapientiae abysso sunt eodem modo reconditi ; that is , neither can or ought we to feign or imagine , that some of god's ends are more manifest than others ; for all lie in like manner or equally hidden in the unsearchable abyss of his wisdom . this confident assertion of des cartes is fully examined and reproved by that honourable and excellent person mr. boyl , in his disquisition about the final causes of natural things , sect. 1. from pag. 10. to the end : and therefore i shall not need say much to it ; only in brief this , that it seems to me false and of evil consequence , as being derogatory from the glory of god , and destructive of the acknowledgment and belief of a deity : for first , seeing , for instance , that the eye is employed by man and all animals for the use of vision , which , as they are framed , is so necessary for them , that they could not live without it ; and god almighty knew that it would be so ; and seeing it is so admirably fitted and adapted to this use , that all the wit and art of men and angels could not have contrived it better , if so well ; it must needs be highly absurd and unreasonable to affirm , either that it was not designed at all for this use , or that it is impossible for man to know whether it was or not . secondly , how can man give thanks and praise to god for the use of his limbs and senses and those his good creatures which serve for his sustenance ; when he cannot be sure they were made in any respect for him ; nay , when 't is as likely they were not , and that he doth but abuse them to serve ends for which they never intended . thirdly , this opinion , as i hinted before , supersedes and cassates the best medium we have to demonstrate the being of a deity ; leaving us no other demonstrative proof but that taken from the innate idea ; which , if it be a demonstration , is but an obscure one , not satisfying many of the learned themselves , and being too subtle and metaphysical ro be apprehended by vulgar capacities , and consequently of no force to persuade and convince them . secondly , they endeavour to evacuate and disanul our great argument , by pretending to solve all the phaenomena of nature , and to give an account of the production and efformation of the universe , and all the corporeal beings therein , both celestial and terrestrial as well animate as inanimate , not excluding animals themselves by a sleight hypothesis of matter so and so divided and moved . the hypothesis you have in des cartes's principles of philosophy , part. 2. all the matter of this visible world is by him supposed to have been at first divided by god into parts nearly equal to each other , of a mean size , viz. about the bigness of those whereof the heavenly bodies are now compounded ; all together having as much motion as is now found in the world ; and these to have been equally moved severally every one by itself about its own center , and among one another , so as to compose a fluid body ; and also many of them jointly or in company , about several other points so far distant from one another , and in the same manner disposed as the centres of the fixt stars now are . so that god had no more to do than to create the matter , divide it into parts , and put it into motion according to some few laws , and that would of itself produce the world and all creatures therein . for a confutation of this hypothesis , i might refer the reader to dr. cudworth's system p. 603. 604. but for his ease i will transcribe the words : — god in the mean time standing by as an idle spectator of this lusus atomorum , this sportfull dance of atoms , and of the various results thereof . nay these mechanick theists have here quite outstripped and outdone the atomick atheists themselves , they being much more extravagant then ever those were . for the professed atheists durst never venture to affirm , that this regular systeme of things resulted from the fortuitous motions of atoms at the very first , before they had for a long time together produced many other inept combinations , or aggregate forms of particular things and nonsensical systems of the whole , and they supposedalso that the regularity of things here in this world would not always continue such neither , but that some time or other confusion and disorder will break in again . moreover that besides this world of ours , there are at this very instant innumerable other worlds irregular , and that there is but one of a thousand or ten thousand among the infinite worlds that have such regularity in them , the reason of all which is , because it was generally taken for granted , and lookt upon as a common notion , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as aristotle expresseth it ; none of those things which are from fortune or chance come to pass always alike . but our mechanick theists will have their atoms never so much as once to have fumbled in these their motions , nor to have produced any inept system , or incongruous forms at all , but from the very first all along to have taken up their places and ranged themselves so orderly , methodically and directly ; as that they could not possibly have done it better , had they been directed by the most perfect wisdom . wherefore these atomick theists utterly evacuate that grand argument for a god taken from the phaenomenon of the artificial frame of things , which hath been so much insisted upon in all ages , and which commonly makes the strongest impression of any other upon the minds of men &c. the atheists in the mean time laughing in their sleeves , and not a little triumphing to see the cause of theism thus betrayed by its professed friends and assertors , and the grand argument for the same totally slurred by them and so their work done , as it were , to their hands . now as this argues the greatest insensibility of mind , or sottishness and stupidity in pretended theists not to take the least notice of the regular and artificial frame of things , or of the signatures of the divine art and wisdom in them , nor to look upon the world and things of nature with any other eyes than oxen and horses do . so are there many phaenomena in nature , which being partly above the force of these mechanick powers , and partly contrary to the same , can therefore never be salved by them , nor without final causes and some vital principle : as for example , that of gravity or the tendency of bodies downward , the motion of the diaphragm in respiration , the systole and diastole of the heart , which is nothing but a muscular constriction and relaxation , and therefore not mechanical but vital . we might also add among many others the intersection of the plains of the equator and ecliptick , or the earth's diurnal motion upon an axis not parallel to that of the ecliptick , nor perpendicular to the plain thereof . for though des cartes would needs imagine this earth of ours once to have been a sun , and so itself the centre of a lesser vortex , whose axis was then directed after this manner , and which therefore still kept the same site or posture by reason of the striate particles finding no fit pores or traces for their passages through it , but only in this direction ; yet does he himself confess , that because these two motions of the earth , the annual and diurnal , would be much more conveniently made upon parallel axes , therefore , according to the laws of mechanism , they should be perpetually brought nearer andnearer together , till at length the equator and ecliptick come to have their axes parallel , which as it has not yet come to pass , so neither hath there been for these last two thousand years ( according to the best observations and judgments of astronomers ) any nearer approach made of them one to another . wherefore the continuation of these two motions of the earth the annual and diurnal upon axes not parallel is resolvable into nothing but a final and mental cause , or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , because it was best it should be so , the variety of the seasons of the year depending thereupon . but the greatest of all the particular phaenomena is the formation and organization of the bodies of animals , consisting of such variety and curiosity ; that these mechanick philosophers being no way able to give an account thereof from the necessary motion of matter , unguided by mind for ends , prudently therefore break off their system there , when they should come to animals , and so leave it altogether untoucht . we acknowledg indeed there is a posthumous piece extant , imputed to cartes , and entituled , de la formation du foetus , wherein there is some pretence made to salve all this by fortuitous mechanism . but as the theory thereof is built wholly upon a false supposition , sufficiently confuted by our harvey in his book of generation , that the seed doth materially enter into the composition of the egg : so is it all along precarious and exceptionable ; nor doth it extend at all to the differences that are in several animals , nor offer the least reason why an animal of one species might not be formed out of the seed of another . thus far the doctor , with whom for the main i do consent . i shall only add , that natural philosophers , when they endeavor to give an account of any of the works of nature by preconceived principles of their own , are for the most part grosly mistaken and confuted by experience ; as des cartes in a matter that lay before him , obvious to sense and infinitly more easie to find out the cause of , than to give an account of the formation of the world ; that is the pulse of the heart , which he attributes to an ebullition and sudden expansion of the blood in the ventricles , after the manner of milk , which being heated to such a degree doth suddenly and as it were all at once flush up and run over the vessel . whether this ebullition be caused by a nitro-sulphureous ferment lodged especially in the left ventricle of the heart , which mingling with the blood excites such an ebullition , as we see made by the mixture of some chymical liquors , viz. oil of vitriol , and deliquated salt of tartar ; or by the vital flame warming and boyling the blood. but this conceit of his is contrary both to reason and experience , for first , it is altogether unreasonable to imagine and affirm that the cool venal blood should be heated to so high a degree in so short a time as the interval of two pulses , which is less than the sixth part of a minute . secondly , in cold animals , as for example eels , the heart will beat for many hours after it is taken out of the body , yea tho the ventricle be opened and all the blood squeezed out . thirdly , the process of the fibres which compound the sides of the ventricles running in spiral lines from the tip to the base of the heart , some one way and some the contrary , do clearly shew that the systole of the heart is nothing but a muscular constriction , as a purse is shut by drawing the strings contrary ways : which is also confirm'd by experience ; for if the vertex of the heart be cut off , and a finger thrust up into one of the ventricles , in every systole the finger will be sensibly and manifestly pincht by the sides of the ventricle . but for a full confutation of this fancy , i refer the reader to dr. lower's treatise de corde , chap. 2. and his rules concerning the transferring of motion from one body in motion to another are the most of them by experience found to be false , as they affirm which have made trial of them . this pulse of the heart dr. cudworth would have to be no mechanical but a vital motion , which to me seems probable , because it is not under the command of the will , nor are we conscious of any power to cause or to restrain it , but it is carried on and continued without our knowledge or notice ; neither can it be caused by the impulse of any external movent , unless it be heat . but how can the spirits agitated by heat , unguided by a vital principle produce such a regular reciprocal motion ? if that site which the heart and its fibres have in the diastole be most natural to them , ( as it seems to be ) why doth it again contract itself , and not rest in that posture ? if it be once contracted in a systole by the influx of the spirits , why , the spirits continually flowing in without let , doth it not always remain so ? [ for the systole seems to resemble the forcible bending of a spring , and the diastole its flying out again to its natural site . ] what is the spring and principal efficient of this reciprocation ? what directs and moderates the motions of the spirits ? they being but stupid and senseless matter , cannot of themselves continue any regular and constant motion , without the guidance and regulation of some intelligent being . you will say , what agent is it which you would have to effect this ? the sensitive soul it cannot be , because that is indivisible , but the heart , when separated wholly from the body in some animals ; continues still to pulse for a considerable time ; nay when it hath quite ceased , it may be brought to beat anew by the application of warm spittle , or by pricking it gently with a pin or needle . i answer , it may be in these instances , the scattering spirits remaining in the heart , may for a time being agitated by heat , cause these faint pulsations ; though i should rather attribute them to a plastick nature or vital principle , as the vegetation of plants must also be . but to proceed , neither can i wholly acquiesce in the hypothesis of that honourable and deservedly famous author i formerly had occasion to mention ; which i find in his free enquiry into the vulgar notion of nature , p. 77 , 78. delivered in these words , i think it probable , that the great and wise author of things did , when he first formed the universal and undistinguished matter into the world , put its parts into various motions , whereby they were necessarily divided into numberless portions of differing bulks , figures and situations in respect of each other . and that by his infinite wisdom and power he did so guide and over-rule the motions of these parts , at the beginning of things , as that ( whether in a shorter or a longer time reason cannot determine ) they were finally disposed into that beautiful and orderly frame that we call the world ; among whose parts some were so curiously contrived , as to be fit to become the seeds or feminal principles of plants and animals . and i further conceive , that he setled such laws or rules of local motion , among the parts of the universal matter , that by his ordinary and preserving concurse the several parts of the universe thus once completed , should be able to maintain the great construction or system and oeconomy of the mundane bodies , and propagate the species of living creatures . the same hypothesis he repeats again , pag. 124 , 125. of the same treatise . this hypothesis , i say , i cannot fully acquiesce in , because an intelligent being seems to me requisite to execute the laws of motion . for first motion being a fluent thing , and one part of its duration being absolutely independent upon another : it doth not follow that because any thing moves this moment , it must necessarily continue to do so the next ; but it stands in as much need of an efficient to preserve and continue its motion as it did at first to produce it . secondly , let matter be divided into the subtilest parts imaginable , and these be moved as swiftly as you will ; it is but a sensless and stupid being still , and makes no nearer approach to sense , perception , or vital energy than it had before ; and do but only stop the internal motion of its parts and reduce them to rest , the finest and most subtile body that is may become as gross , and heavy , and stiff as steel or stone . and as for any external laws or established rules of motion , the stupid matter is not capable of observing or taking any notice of them ; neither can those laws execute themselves : therefore there must besides matter and law be some efficient ; and that either a quality or power inherent in the matter itself , which is hard to conceive , or some external intelligent agent , either god himself immediately , or some plastick nature . this latter i incline to , for the reasons alledged by dr. cudworth in his system , pag. 149. which are ; first , because the former , according to vulgar apprehension , would render the divine providence operose , solicitous and distractious : and thereby make the belief of it entertained with greater difficulty , and give advantage to atheists . secondly , it is not so decorous in respect of god , that he should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , set his own hand as it were to every work , and immediately do all the meanest and triflingst things himself drudgingly , without making use of any inferiour or subordinate ministers . these two reasons are plausible , but not cogent , the two following are of greater force . thirdly , the slow and gradual process that is in the generation of things , which would seem to be a vain and idle pomp or trifling formality , if the agent were omnipotent . fourthly , those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as aristotle calls them , those errors and bungles which are committed when the matter is inept or contumacious , as in monsters , &c. which argue the agent not to be irresistible ; and that nature is such a thing as is not altogether uncapable , as well as human art , of being sometimes frustrated and disappointed by the indisposition of the matter : whereas an omnipotent agent would always do its work infallibly and irresistibly , no ineptitude or stubbornness of the matter being ever able to hinder such an one , or make him bungle or fumble in any thing . so far the doctor . for my part , i should make no scruple to attribute the formation of plants , their growth and nutrition to the vegetative soul in them ; and likewise the formation of animals to the vegetative power of their souls ; but that the segments and cuttings of some plants , nay the very chips and smallest fragments of their body , branches , or roots , will grow and become perfect plants themselves , and so the vegetative soul , if that were the architect , would be divisible , and consequently no spiritual or intelligent being ; which the plastick principle must be , as we have shewn . for that must preside over the whole oeconomy of the plant , and be one single agent , which takes care of the bulk and figure of the whole , and the situation , figure , texture of all the parts , root , stalk , branches , leaves , flowers , fruit , and all their vessels and juices . i therefore incline to dr. cudworth's opinion , that god uses for these effects the subordinate ministry of some inferiour plastick nature ; as in his works of providence he doth of angels . for the description whereof i refer the reader to his system . secondly , in particular i am difficult to believe , that the bodies of animals can be formed by matter divided and moved by what laws you will or can imagine , without the immediate presidency , direction and regulation of some intelligent being . in the generation or first formation of , suppose the human body , out of ( though not an homogeneous liquor , yet ) a fluid substance , the only material agent or mover is a moderate heat . now how this , by producing an intestine motion in the particles of the matter , which can be conceived to differ in nothing else but figure , magnitude and gravity , should by virtue thereof , not only separate the heterogeneous parts , but assemble the homogeneous into masses or systems , and that not each kind into one mass , but into many and disjoyned ones , as it were so many troups ; and that in each troup the particular particles should take their places , and cast themselves into such a figure ; as for example , the bones being about 300 are formed of various sizes and shapes , so situate and connected , as to be subservient to many hundred intentions and uses , and many of them conspire to one and the same action , this , i say , i cannot by any means conceive . i might instance in all the homogeneous parts of the body , their sites and figures ; and ask by what imaginable laws of motion their bulk , figure , situation and connexion can be made out ? what account can be given of the valves , of the veins and arteries of the heart , and of the veins elsewhere , and of their situation ; of the figure and consistency of all the humours and membranes of the eye , all conspiring and exactly fitted to the use of seeing ; but i have touched upon that already , and shall discourse of it largely afterward . you will ask me who or what is the operator in the formation of the bodies of man and other animals ? i answer , the sensitive soul itself , if it be a spiritual and immaterial substance , as i am inclineable to believe : but if it be material , and consequently the whole animal but a mere machine or automaton , as i can hardly admit , then must we have recourse to a plastick nature . that the soul of brutes is material , and the whole animal , soul and body , but a mere machine is the opinion publickly owned and declared , of des cartes , gassendus , dr. willis and others ; the same is also necessarily consequent upon the doctrine of the peripateticks , viz. that the sensitive soul is educed out of the power of the matter . for nothing can be educed out of the matter , but what was there before , which must be either matter or some modification of it . and therefore they cannot grant it to be a spiritual substance , unless they will assert it to be educed out of nothing . this opinion , i say , i can hardly digest . i should rather think animals to be endued with a lower degree of reason , than that they are mere machines . i could instance in many actions of brutes that are hardly to be accounted for without reason and argumentation ; as that commonly noted of dogs , that running before their masters they will stop at a divarication of the way , till they see which hand their masters will take ; and that when they have gotten a prey , which they fear their masters will take from them , they will run away and hide it , and afterwards return to it ; and many the like actions , which i shall not spend time to relate . should this be true , that beasts were automata or machines , they could have no sense or perception of pleasure or pain , and consequently no cruelty could be exercised towards them ; which is contrary to the doleful significations they make when beaten or tormented , and contrary to the common sense of mankind , all men naturally pitying them as apprehending them to have such a sense and feeling of pain and misery as themselves have ; whereas no man is troubled to see a plant torn , or cut , or stampt , or mangled how you please . besides , having the same members and organs of sense as we have , it is very probable they have the same sensations and perceptions with us . to this des cartes answers or indeed saith , he hath nothing to answer ; but that if they think as well as we , they have an immortal soul as well as we : which is not at all likely , because there is no reason to believe it of some animals without believing it of all , whereas there are many too too imperfect to believe it of them , such as are oysters and sponges and the like . to which i answer that there is no necessity they should be immortal , because it is possible they may be destroyed or annihilated . but i shall not wade further into this controversie , because it is beside my scope , and there hath been as much written of it already as i have to say , by dr. more , dr. cudworth , des cartes , dr. willis and others , pro and con. of the visible works of god and their division . i come now to take a view of the works of the creation , and to observe something of the wisdom of god discernable in the formation of them , in their order and harmony , and in their ends and uses . and first i shall run them over slightly , remarking chiefly what is obvious and exposed to the eyes and notice of the more careless and incurious observer . secondly , i shall select one or two particular pieces , and take a more exact survey of them ; though even in these more will escape our notice than can be discovered by the most diligent scrutiny : for our eyes and senses , however armed or assisted , are too gross to discern the curiosity of the workmanship of nature , or those minute parts by which it acts , and of which bodies are composed ; and our understanding too dark and infirm to discover and comprehend all the ends and uses to which the infinitely wise creator did design them . but before i proceed , being put in mind thereof by the mention of the assistance of our eyes , i cannot omit one general observation concerning the curiosity of the works of nature in comparison of the works of art , which i shall propose in the late bishop of chesters words . the observations which have been made in these latter times by the help of the microscrope , since we had the use and improvement of it , discover a vast difference between natural and artificial things . whatever is natural beheld through that appears exquisitely formed , and adorned with all imaginable elegancy and beauty . there are such inimitable gildings in the smallest seeds of plants , but especially in the parts of animals , in the head or eye of a small fly ; such accuracy , order , and symmetry in the frame of the most minute creatures , a louse , for example , or a mite , as no man were able to conceive without seeing of them . whereas the most curious works of art , the sharpest and finest needle doth appear as a blunt rough bar of iron , coming from the furnace or the forge : the most accurate engravings or embossments seem such rude , bungling and deformed work , as if they had been done with a mattock or a trowel , so vast a difference is there betwixt the skill of nature , and the rudeness and imperfection of art. i might add , that the works of nature the better lights and glasses you use , the more cleaver and exactly formed they appear ; whereas the effects of human art the more curiously they are viewed and examined , the more of deformity they discover . this being premised ; for our more clear and distinct proceeding in our cursory view of the creation , i shall rank the parts of this material and visible world under several heads . bodies are either inanimate or animate . inanimate bodies are either celestial or terrestrial . celestial as the sun , moon and stars : terrestrial are either simple as the four elements , fire , water , earth and air ; or mixt , either imperfectly as the meteors , or more perfectly , as stones , metals , minerals and the like . animate bodies are either such as are endued with a vegetative soul , as plants ; or a sensitive soul , as the bodies of animals , birds , beasts , fishes and insects ; or a rational soul , as the body of man and the vehicles of angels , if any such there be . i make use of this division to comply with the common and received opinion , and for easier comprehension and memory ; though i do not think it agreeable to philosophick verity and accuracy ; but do rather incline to the atomick hypothesis . for these bodies we call elements are not the only ingredients of mixt bodies ; neither are they absolutely simple themselves , as they do exist in the world , the sea-water containing a copious salt manifest to sense ; and both sea and fresh-water sufficing to nourish many species of fish , and consequently containing the various parts of which their bodies are compounded . and i believe there are many species of bodies which the peripateticks call mixt , which are as simple as the elements themselves , as metals , salts , and some sorts of stones . i should therefore with dr. grew and others , rather attribute the various species of inanimate bodies to the divers figures of the minute particles of which they are made up : and the reason why there is a set and constant number of them in the world , none destroyed , nor any new ones produced , i take to be , because the sum of the figures of those minute bodies into which matter was at first divided , is determinate and fixt . 2. because those minute parts are indivisible , not absolutely , but by any natural force ; so that there neither is nor can be more or fewer of them : for were they divisible into small and diversly figured parts by fire or any other natural agent , the species of nature must be confounded , some might be lost and destroyed , but new ones would certainly be produced ; unless we could suppose , these new diminutive particles should again assemble and marshal themselves into corpuscles of such figures as they compounded before ; which i see no possibility for them to do , without some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to direct them : not that i think these inanimate bodies to consist wholly of one sort of atoms , but that their bulk consists mainly or chiefly of one sort . but whereas it may be objected that metals , ( which of all others seem to be most simple ) may be transmuted one into another , and so the species doth not depend upon the being compounded of atoms of one figure . i answer , i am not fully satisfied of the matter of fact : but if any such transmutation be , possibly all metals may be of one species , and the diversity may proceed from the admixture of different bodies with the principles of the metal . if it be asked , why may not atoms of different species concur to the composition of bodies ? and so though there be but a few sorts of original principles may there not be produced infinite species of compound bodies , as by the various dispositions and combinations of twenty four letters innumerable words may be made up ? i answer because the heterogeneous atoms or principles are not naturally apt to cohere and stick together when they are mingled in the same liquor , as the homogeneous readily do . i do not believe that the species of principles or indivisible particles are exceeding numerous : but possibly the immediate component particles of the bodies of plants and animals may be themselves compounded . of the heavenly bodies . first , for the celestial or heavenly bodies , the equability and constancy of their motions , the certainty of their periods and revolutions , the conveniency of their order and situations argue them to be ordained and governed by wisdom and understanding ; yea so much wisdom as man cannot easily fathom or comprehend . for we see by how much the hypotheses of astronomers are more simple and conformable to reason , by so much do they give a better account of the heavenly motions . it is reported of alphonsus king of aragon , i know not whether truly , that when he saw and considered the many eccentricks , epicycles , epicycles upon epicycles , librations , and contrariety of motions , which were requisite in the old hypothesis to give an account of the celestial phaenomena , he should presume blasphemously to say , that the universe was a bungling piece ; and that if he had been of god's counsel , he could have directed him to have made it better . a speech as rash and ignorant , as daring and prophane . for it was nothing but ignorance of the true process of nature that induced the contrivers of that hypothesis to invent such absurd suppositions , and him to accept them for true , and attribute them to the great author of the heavenly motions . for in the new hypothesis of the modern astronomers , we see most of those absurdities and irregularities rectified and removed , and i doubt not but they would all vanish , could we certainly discover the true method and process of nature in those revolutions . for seeing in those works of nature which we converse with , we constantly find those axioms true , natura non facit circuitus , nature doth not fetch a compass when it may proceed in a streight line ; and natura nec abundat in superfluis , nec deficit in necessariis , nature abounds not in what is superfluous , neither is deficient in what is necessary : we may also rationally conclude concerning the heavenly bodies , seeing there is so much exactness observed in the time of their motions , that they punctually come about in the same periods to the hundredth part of a minute , as may beyond exception be demonstrated by comparing their revolutions , surely there is also used the most simple , facile , and convenient way for the performance of them . among these heavenly bodies ; first , the sun , a vast globe of fire , esteemed by the ancienter and most modest computation above 160 times bigger than the earth , the very life of this inferiour world , without whose salutary and vivifick beams all motion both animal , vital and natural would speedily cease , and nothing be left here below but darkness and death : all plants and animals must needs in a very short time be not only mortified , but together with the surface of land and water frozen as hard as flint or adamant : so that of all the creatures of the world the ancient heathen had most reason to worship him as a god , though no true reason ; because he was but a creature , and not god : and we christians to think that the service of the animals that live upon the earth , and principally man , was one end of his creation ; seeing without him there could no such things have been . this sun , i say , according to the old hypothesis whirled round about the earth daily with incredible celerity , making night and day by his rising and setting ; winter and summer by his access to the several tropicks , creating such a grateful variety of seasons , enlightening all parts of the earth by his beams , and cherishing them by his heat , situate and moved so in respect of this sublunary world , ( and it 's likely also in respect of all the planets about him ) that art and counsel could not have designed either to have placed him better , or moved him more conveniently for the service thereof ; as i could easily make appear by the inconveniences that would follow upon the supposition of any other situation and motion , shews forth the great wisdom of him who so disposed and moved him . secondly , the moon , a body in all probability somewhat like the earth we live upon , by its constant and regular motion helps us to divide our time , reflects the sun beams to us , and so by illuminating the air , takes away in some measure the disconsolate darkness of our winter nights , procures or at least regulates the fluxes and refluxes of the sea , whereby the water is kept in constant motion , and preserved from putrefaction , and so rendred more salutary for the maintenance of its breed , and useful and serviceable for man's conveniencies of fishing and navigation ; not to mention the great influence it is supposed to have upon all moist bodies , and the growth and increase of vegetables and animals : men generally observing the age of the moon in the planting of all kind of trees , sowing of grain , grafting and inoculating , and pruning of fruit-trees , gathering of fruit , cutting of corn or grass ; and thence also making prognosticks of weather , because such observations seem to me uncertain . did this luminary serve to no other ends and uses , as i am perswaded it doth many , especially , to maintain the creatures which in all likelihood breed and inhabit there , yet these were enough to evince it to be the effect and product of divine wisdom and power . thirdly , as for the rest of the planets ; besides their particular uses , which are to us unknown , or merely conjectural , their courses and revolutions , their stations and retrogradations , observed constantly so many ages together in most certain and determinate periods of time , do sufficiently demonstrate that their motions are instituted and governed by counsel , wisdom and understanding . fourthly , the like may be said of the fixt stars whose motions are regular , equal and constant . so that we see nothing in the heavens which argues chance , vanity , or error ; but on the contrary , rule , order and constancy ; the effects and arguments of wisdom : wherefore as cicero excellently concludes , coelestem ergo admirabilem ordinem , incredibilemque constantiam , ex qua conservatio & salus omnium omnis oritur , qui vacare mente putat , noe ipse mentis expers habendus est . : wherefore whosoever thinketh that the admirable order and incredible constancy of the heavenly bodies and their motions , whereupon the preservation and welfare of all things doth depend , is not governed by mind and understanding , he himself is to be accounted void thereof . and again , shall we ( saith he ) when we see an artificial engine , as a sphere , or dial , or the like , at first sight acknowledg , that it is a work of reason and art : cùm autem impetum coeli , admirabili cum celeritate moveri vertique videamus , constantissimè conficientem vicissitudines anniversarias , cum summâ salute & conservatione rerum omnium , dubitare quin ea non solùm ratione fiant , sed excellenti quâdam divinâque ratione : and can we when we see the force of the heavens moved and whirled about with admirable celerity , most constantly finishing its anniversary vicissitudes , to the eminent welfare and preservation of all things , doubt at all that these things are performed not only by reason , but by a certain excellent and divine reason . to these things i shall add an observation , which i must confess my self to have borrowed of the honourable person more than once mentioned already , that even the eclipses of the sun and moon , though they be frightful things to the superstitious vulgar , and of ill influence on mankind , if we may believe the no less superstitious astrologers , yet to knowing men , that can skilfully apply them , they are of great use , and such as common heads could never have imagined : since not only they may on divers occasions help to settle chronology , and rectifie the mistakes of historians that writ many ages ago ; but which is , though a less wonder , yet of greater utility , they are ( as things yet stand ) necessary to define with competent certainty , the longitude of places or points on the terraqueous globe , which is a thing of very great moment not only to geography , but to the most useful and important art of navigation . to which may be added , which i shall hereafter mention , that they serve to demonstrate the spherical roundness of the earth . so that i may well conclude with the psalmist , psalm 19. 1. the heavens declare the glory of god , and the firmament sheweth his handy work. of terrestrial inanimate simple bodies . i come now to consider the terrestrial bodies ; i shall say nothing of the whole body of the earth in general , because i reserve that as one of the particulars i shall more carefully and curiously examine . terrestrial bodies according to our method before propounded are either inanimate or animate , and the inanimate either simple or mixt : simple , as the four elements , fire , water , earth , and air ; i call these elements in compliance ( as i said before ) with the vulgarly received opinion ; not that i think them to be the principles or component ingredients of all other sublunary bodies : i might call them the four great aggregates of bodies of the same species , or four sorts of bodies of which there are great aggregates . these notwithstanding they are endued with contrary qualities , and are continually encroaching one upon another , yet they are so balanced and kept in such an aequilibrium , that neither prevaileth over other , but what one gets in one place it loseth in another . first , fire cherisheth and reviveth by its heat , without which all things would be torpid and without motion , nay without fire no life ; it being the vital flame residing in the blood that keeps the bodily machine in motion , and renders it a fit organ for the soul to work by . the uses of fire ( i do not here speak of the peripateticks elementary fire in the concave of the moon , which is but a mere figment , but our ordinary culinary ) are in a manner infinite for dressing and preparing of victuals baked , boyled and roast ; for melting and refining of metals and minerals ; for the fusion of glass , a material whose uses are so many that it is not easie to enumerate them , it serving us to make windows for our houses , drinking vessels , vessels to contain and preserve all sorts of fermented liquors , destilled waters , spirits , oils , extracts , and other chymical preparations , as also vessels to destil and prepare them in ; for looking glasses , spectacles , microscopes and telescopes , whereby our sight is not only relieved , but wonderfully assisted to make rare discoveries : for making all sorts of instruments for husbandry , mechanick arts and trades , all sorts of arms or weapons of war defensive and offensive ; for fulminating engines ; for burning of lime , baking of bricks , tiles , and all sorts of potters vessels or earthen ware ; for casting and forging metalline vessels and utensils ; for destillations , and all chymical operations hinted before in the use of glass . for affording us light for any work or exercise in winter nights ; for digging in mines and dark carvens : and finally by its comfortable warmth securing us from the injuries of cold , or relieving when we have been bitten and benummed with it . a subject or utensil of so various and inexplicable use , who could have invented and formed , but an infinitely wise and powerful efficient ? secondly , the air serves us and all animals to breath in , containing the fewel of that vital flame we spake of , without which it would speedily languish and go out . so necessary is it for us and other land-animals , that without the use of it we could live but very few minutes : nay fishes and other water-animals cannot abide without the use of it : for if you put fish into a vessel of a narrow mouth full of water , they will live and swim there not only days and months but even years . but if with your hand or any other cover you stop the vessel so as wholly to exclude the air , or interrupt its communication with the water , they will suddenly be suffocated ; as rondeletius affirms he often experimented : if you fill not the vessel up to the top , but leave some space empty for the air to take up , and then clap your hand upon the mouth of the vessel ; the fishes will presently contend which shall get uppermost in the water , that so they may enjoy the open air ; which i have also observed them to do in a pool of water that hath been almost dry in the summer-time because the air that insinuated itself into the water did not suffice them for respiration . neither is it less necessary for insects than it is for other animals but rather more , these having more air-vessels for their bulk by far than they , there being many orifices on each side their bodies for the admission of air , which if you stop with oil or hony , the insect presently dies , and revives no more . this was an observation of the ancients , though the reason of it they did not understand ( oleo illito insecta omnia exanimantur . plin. ) which was nothing but the intercluding of the air ; for though you put oil upon them , if you put it not upon or obstruct those orifices therewith whereby they draw the air , they suffer nothing : if you obstruct only some and not others , the parts which are near and supplied with air from thence are by and by convulsed and shortly relaxed and deprived of motion , the rest that were untoucht still retaining it . nay more than all this , plants themselves have a kind of respiration , being furnished with plenty of vessels for the derivation of air to all their parts , as hath been observed , nay first discovered by that great and curious naturalist malpighius . another use of the air is to sustain the flight of birds and insects . moreover by its gravity it raises the water in pumps , siphons and other engines , and performs all those feats which former philosophers through ignorance of the efficient cause attributed to a final , namely natures abhorrence of a vacuity or empty space . the elastick or expansive faculty of the air , whereby it dilates itself , when compressed ( indeed this lower region of it by reason of the weight of the superincumbent is always in a compressed state ) hath been made use of in the common weather-glasses , in wind guns , and in several ingenious water-works , and doubtless hath a great interest in many natural effects and operations . against what we have said of the necessity of the air for the maintenance of the vital flame , it may be objected , that the foetus in the womb lives ; its heart pulsses ; and its blood circulates ; and yet it draws in no air , neither hath the air any access to it . to which i answer , that it doth receive air so much as is sufficient for it in its present state from the maternal blood by the placenta uterina , or the cotyledones . this opinion generally propounded , viz. that the respiration of the dam , did serve the foetus also ; or supply sufficient air to it , i have met with in books , but the explicit notion of it i owe to my learned and worthy friend dr. edward hulse , which comparing with mine own anatomical observations , i found so consonant to reason , and highly probable , that i could not but yield a firm assent to it . i say then , that the chief use of the circulation of the blood through the cotyledones of a calf in the womb , ( which i have often dissected ) and by analogy through the placenta uterina in an humane foetus , seems to be the impregnation of the blood with air ; for the feeding of the vital flame . for if it were only for nutrition , what need of two such great arteries to convey the blood thither ? it would ( one might rationally think ) be more likely , that as in the abdomen of every animal , so here there should have been some lacteal veins formed , beginning from the placenta , or cotyledons , which concurring in one common ductus , should at last empty themselves into the vena cava . secondly , i have observed in a calf , the umbilical vessels to terminate in certain bodies divided into a multitude of carneous papillae , as i may so call them , which are received into so many sockets of the cotyledons growing on the womb ; which carneous papillae may without force or laceration be drawn out of those sockets . now these papillae do well resemble the aristae or radii of a fishes gills , and very probably have the same use to take in the air. so that the maternal blood which flows to the cotyledons , and encircles these papillae , communicates by them to the blood of the foetus , the air wherewith it self is impregnate ; as the water flowing about the carneous radii of the fishes gills doth the air that is lodged therein to them . thirdly , that the maternal blood flows most copiously to the placenta uterina in women , is manifest from the great hemorrhagy that succeeds the separation thereof at the birth . fourthly , after the stomach and intestines are formed , the foetus seems to take in its whole nourishment by the mouth ; there being always found in the stomach of a calf , plenty of the liquor contained in the amnios wherein he swims , and faeces in his intestines , and abundance of urine in the allantoides . so that the foetus in the womb doth live as it were the life of a fish. lastly , why else should there be such an instant necessity of respiration so soon as ever the foetus is fallen off from the womb ? this way we may give a facile and very probable account of it , to wit , because receiving no more communications of air from its dam or mother , it must needs have a speedy supply from without , or else extinguish and die for want of it : being not able to live longer without air at its first birth , than it can do afterward . and here methinks appears a necessity of bringing in the agency of some superintendent intelligent being , be it a plastick nature , or what you will. for what else should put the diaphragm , and all the muscles serving to respiration in motion all of a sudden so soon as ever the foetus is brought forth ? why could they not have rested as well as they did in the womb ? what aileth them that they must needs bestir themselves to get in air to maintain the creatures life ? why could they not patiently suffer it to die ? that the air of it self could not rush in is clear ; for that on the contrary there is required a great force to remove the incumbent air , and make room for the external to enter . you will say the spirits do at this time flow to the organs of respiration ; the diaphragm and other muscles which concur to that action , and move them . but what rouses the spirits which were quiescent during the continuance of the foetus in the womb ? here is no appearing impellent but the external air , the body suffering no change but of place , out of its close and warm prison into the open and cool air. but how or why that should have such influence upon the spirits , as to drive them into those muscles electively , i am not subtil enough to discern . thirdly , water is one part , and that not the least of our sustenance , and that affords the greatest share of matter in all productions ; containing in it the principles or minute component particles of all bodies . to speak nothing of those inferiour uses of washing and bathing , dressing and preparing of victuals . but if we shall consider the great conceptacula and congregations of water , and the distribution of it all over the dry land in springs and rivers ; there will occur abundant arguments of wisdom and understanding . the sea , what infinite variety of fishes doth it nourish ? psalm 104. 25. in the verse next to my text. the earth is full of thy riches . so is this great and wide sea , wherein are things creeping innumerable , both small and great beasts , &c. how doth it exactly compose itself to a level or equal superficies , and with the earth make up one spherical roundness ? how doth it constantly observe its ebbs and flows , its spring and nepe-tides , and still retain its saltness so convenient for the maintenance of its inhabitants ? serving also the uses of man for navigation , and the convenience of carriage . that it should be defined by shores and strands and limits , i mean at first , when it was natural to it to overflow and stand above the earth . all these particulars declare abundance of wisdom in their primitive constitution . this last the psalmist takes notice of in the 6th , 7th , 8th , and 9th verses of this psalm . speaking of the earth at the first creation , he saith , thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment , the waters stood above the mountains . at thy rebuke they fled , at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away . ( the mountains ascend , the valleys descend ) unto the place thou hast prepared for them . thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over : that they turn not again to cover the earth . again , the great use and convenience , the beauty and variety of so many springs and fountains , so many brooks and rivers , so many lakes and standing pools of water , and these so scattered and dispersed all the earth over ; that no great part of it is destitute of them , without which it must without a supply other ways be desolate and void of inhabitants ; afford abundant arguments of wisdom and counsel . that springs should break forth on the sides of mountains most remote from the sea. that there should way be made for rivers through straits and rocks , and subterraneous vaults , so that one would think that nature had cut a way on purpose to derive the water , which else would overflow and drown whole countries . that the water passing through the veins of the earth , should be rendred fresh and potable , which it cannot be by any percolations we can make , but the saline particles will pass through a tenfold filtre . that in some places there should spring forth metallick and mineral waters , and hot baths , and these so constant and permanent for many ages ; so convenient for divers medicinal intentions and uses , the causes of which things , or the means and methods by which they are performed , have not been as yet certainly discovered ; how can we reasonably deny that they are the products and effects of profound counsel and understanding ? lastly , the earth , which is the basis and support of all animals and plants , and affords them the hard and solid part of their bodies , yielding us food and sustenance and partly also cloathing . how variously is the surface of it distinguished into hills , and valleys , and plains , and high mountains affording pleasant prospects ? how curiously cloathed and adorned with the grateful verdure of herbs and stately trees , either dispersed and scattered singly , or as it were assembled in woods and groves , and all these beautified and illustrated with elegant flowers and fruits , quorum omnium incredibilis multitudo , insatiabili varietate distinguitur , as tully saith . this also shews forth to them that consider it both the power and wisdom of god : so that we may conclude with solomon prov. 3 , 19. the lord by wisdom hath founded the earth , by understanding hath he established the heavens . but now , if we pass from simple to mixt bodies , we shall still find more matter of admiration and argument of wisdom . of these we shall first consider those they call imperfectly mixt , or meteors . of meteors . as first of all rain , which is nothing else but water by the heat of the sun divided into very small invisible parts , ascending in the air , till encountring the cold , it be by degrees condensed into clouds and descends in drops ; this though it be exhaled from the salt sea , yet by this natural destillation is rendred fresh and potable , which our artificial destillations have hitherto been hardly able to effect ; notwithstanding the eminent use it would be of to navigators , and the rewards promised to those that should resolve that problem of destilling fresh water out of salt. that the clouds should be so carried about by the winds , as to be almost equally dispersed and distributed , no part of the earth wanting convenient showers , unless when it pleaseth god for the punishment of a nation to withhold rain by a special interposition of his providence ; or if any land wants rain , they have a supply some other way , as the land of egypt , though there seldom falls any rain there , yet hath abundant recompence made it by the annual overflowing of the river . this distribution of the clouds and rain is to me ( i say ) a great argument of providence and divine disposition ; for else i do not see but why there might be in some lands continual successive droughts for many years , till they were quite depopulated ; in others as lasting rains , till they were overflown and drowned ; and these , if the clouds moved casually , often happening ; whereas since the ancientest records of history we do not read or hear of any such droughts or inundations , unless perhaps that of cyprus , wherein there fell no rain there for thirty six years , till the island was almost quite deserted , in the reign of constantine . again , if we consider the manner of the rains descent , destilling down gradually and by drops , which is most convenient for the watering of the earth , whereas if it should fall down in a continued stream like a river , it would gall the ground , wash away plants by the roots , overthrow houses , and greatly incommode , if not suffocate animals ; if , i say , we consider these things and many more that might be added , we might in this respect also cry out with the apostle , o the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of god! secondly , another meteor is the wind ; which how many uses it doth serve to is not easie to enumerate , but many it doth : viz. to ventilate and break the air , and dissipate noysom and contagious vapors , which otherwise stagnating might occasion many diseases in animals ; and therefore it is an observation concerning our native country , anglia ventosa , si non ventosa venenosa : to transfer the clouds from place to place , for the more commodious watering of the earth . to temper the excesses of the heat , as they find , who in brasil , new spain , the neighbouring islands , and other the like countries near the equator reap the benefit of the breezes . to fill the sails of ships , and carry them on their voyages to remote countries ; which of what eminent advantage it is to mankind , for the procuring and continuing of trade and mutual commerce between the most distant nations , the illustrating every corner of the earth , and the perfecting geography and natural history , is apparent to every man. to this may be added the driving about of windmills for grinding of corn , making of oyl , draining of pools , &c. that it should seldom or never be so violent and boisterous , as to overturn houses ; yea whole cities ; to tear up trees by the roots , and prostrate woods ; to drive the sea over the lower countries ; as were it the effect of chance , or meer natural causes not moderated by a superiour power , it would in all likelihood often do . all these things declare the wisdom and goodness of him who bringeth the winds out of his treasures . of inanimate mixt bodies . i proceed now to such inanimate bodies as are called perfectè mixta , perfectly mixt , improperly enough , they being many of them ( for ought i know ) as simple as those they call elements . these are stones , metals , minerals and salts , in stones , which one would think were a neglected genus , what variety ? what beauty and elegancy ? what constancy in their temper and consistency , in their figures and colours ? i shall speak of first some notable qualities wherewith some of them are endued . secondly , the remarkable uses they are of to us . the qualities i shall instance in are first colour , which in some of them is most lively , sparkling , and beautiful ; the carbuncle or rubine shining with red , the sapphire with blue , the emerauld with green , the topaz or chrysolite of the ancients with a yellow or gold colour , the amethyst as it were tinctured with wine , the opal varying its colours like changeable taffaty , as it is diversly exposed to the light. secondly , hardness , wherein some stones exceed all other bodies , and among them the adamant all other stones , being exalted to that degree thereof , that art in vain endeavors to counterfeit it , the factitious stones of chymists in imitation being easily detected by any ordinary lapidist . thirdly , figure , many of them shoot into regular figures , as crystal and bastard diamonds into hexagonal ; others into those that are more elegant and compounded , as those formed in imitation of the shels of testaceous fishes of all sorts , sharks teeth and vertebres , &c. if these be originally stones , or primary productions of nature in imitation of shels and fishes bones , and not the shels and bones themselves petrified , as we have somtimes thought . some have a kind of vegetation and resemblance of plants , as corals , pori and fungites , which grow upon the rocks like shrubs : to which i might add our ordinary star-stones and trochites , which i look upon as a sort of rock-plants . secondly , for the uses ; some serve for building and many sorts of vessels and utensils ; for pillars and statues and other carved works in relieve , for the temples , ornament of palaces , portico's , piazzas , conduits , &c. as freestone and marble ; some to burn into lime as chalk and limestone : some with the mixture of beriglia or kelp to make glass , as that the venetians call cuogolo , and common flints which serve also to strike fire ; some to cover houses as slates ; some for marking as morochthus , and the forementioned chalk , which is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , serving moreover for manuring land , and some medicinal uses ; some to make vessels of which will endure the fire ; as that found in the country of chiavenna near plurs . to these useful stones i might add the warming-stone , digged in cornwal , which being once well heated at the fire retains its warmth a great while , and hath been found to give ease and relief in several pains and diseases , particularly that of the internal haemorrhoids . i might also take notice that some stones are endued with an electrical or attractive virtue . i might spend much time in the discoursing of the most strange and unaccountable nature and powers of the loadstone , a subject which hath exercised the wits and pens of the most acute and ingenious philosophers ; and yet the hypotheses which they have invented to give an account of its admirable phoenomena seem to me lame and unsatisfactory . what can we say of the subtlety , activity , and penetrancy of its effluvia , which no obstacle can stop or repel , but they will make their way through all sorts of bodies , firm and fluid , dense and rare , heavy and light , pellucid and opake : nay they will pass through a vacuity or empty space , at least devoid of air and any other sensible body . it s attractive power of iron was known to the ancients , its verticity and direction to the poles of the earth is of later invention : which of how infinite advantage it hath been to these two or three last ages , the great improvement of navigation and advancement of trade and commerce by rendring the remotest countries easily accessible , the noble discovery of a vast continent or new world , besides a multitude of unknown kingdoms and islands , the resolving experimentally those ancient problems of the spherical roundness of the earth ; of the being of antipodes , of the habitableness of the torrid zone , and the rendring the whole terraqueous globe circumnavigable , do abundantly demonstrate ; whereas formerly they were wont to coast it , and creep along the shores , scarce daring to venture out of the ken of land , when they did having no other guide but the cynosura or pole-star and those near it , and in cloudy weather none at all . as for metals , they are so many ways useful to mankind , and those uses so well known to all , that it would be lost labor to say any thing of them : only it is remarkable , that those which are of most frequent and necessary use , as iron , brass and lead , are the most common and plentiful : others that are more rare , may better be spared , yet are they thereby qualified to be made the common measure and standard of the value of all other commodities , and so to serve for coin or money , to which use they have been employed by all civil nations in all ages . of these gold is remarkable for its admirable ductility and ponderosity , wherein it excels all other bodies hitherto known . i shall only add concerning metals , that they do pertinaciously resist all transmutation ; and though one would sometimes think they were turned into a different substance , yet do they but as it were lurk under a larva or vizzard , and may be reduced again into their natural form and complexions , in despight of all the tortures of vulcan or corrosive waters . note , that this was written above thirty years since , when i thought i had reason to distrust what ever had then been reported or written to affirm the transmutation of metals one into another . i shall omit the consideration of other minerals , and of salts and earths , because i have nothing to say of their uses , but only such as refer to man , which i cannot affirm to have been the sole or primary end of the formation of them . indeed to speak in general of these terrestrial inanimate bodies , they having no such organization of parts as the bodies of animals , nor any so intricate variety of texture , but that their production may plausibly be accounted for by an hypothesis of matter divided into minute particles or atoms naturally indivisible , of various but a determinate number of figures , and perhaps also differing in magnitude , and these moved , and continually kept in motion according to certain established laws or rules ; we cannot so clearly discover the uses for which they were created , but may probably conclude that among other ends they were made for those for which they serve us and other animals . it is here to be noted , that according to our hypothesis , the number of the atomes of each several kind that is of the same figure and magnitude is not nearly equal ; but there be infinitely more of some species than of others , as of those that compound those vast aggregates of air , water , and earth , more abundantly than of such as make up metals and minerals : the reason whereof may probably be , because those are necessary to the life and being of man and all other animals , and therefore must be always at hand ; these only useful to man , and serving rather his conveniences than necessities . the reason why i affirm the minute component particles of bodies to be naturally indivisible by any agent we can employ , even fire it self ( which is the only catholick dissolvent , other menstruums being rather instruments than efficients in all solutions , apt by reason of the figure and smalness of their parts to cut and divide other bodies , ( as wedges cleave wood ) when actuated by fire or its heat , which else would have no efficacy at all ; as wedges have not unless driven by a beetle : ) the reason , i say , i have already given ; i shall now instance in a body whose minute parts appear to be indissoluble by the force of fire , and that is common water , which destill , boil , circulate , work upon how you will by fire , you can only dissolve it into vapour , which when the motion ceases easily returns into water again ; vapour being nothing else but the minute parts thereof by heat agitated and separated one from another . for another instance , some of the most learned and experienced chymists do affirm quicksilver to be intransmutable , and therefore call it liquor aeternus . and i am of opinion that the same holds of all simple bodies , that their component particles are indissoluble , by any natural agent . of vegetables or plants . i have now done with inanimate bodies both simple and mixt. the animate are first , such as are endued only with a vegetative soul , and therefore commonly called vegetables or plants ; of which if we consider either their stature and shape , or their age and duration , we shall find it wonderful . for why should some plants rise up to a great height , others creep upon the ground , which perhaps may have equal seeds , nay the lesser plant many times the greater seed ? why should each particular so observe its kind , as constantly to produce the same leaf for consistency , figure , division , and edging ; and bring forth the same kind of flower , and fruit , and seed , and that though you translate it into a soil which naturally puts forth no such kind of plant , so that it is some * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth effect this or rather some intelligent plastick nature , as we have before intimated . for what account can be given of the determination of the growth and magnitude of plants from mechanical principles , of matter moved without the presidency and guidance of some superiour agent ? why may not trees grow up as high as the clouds or vapours ascend , or if you say the cold of the superiour air checks them , why may they not spread and extend their lateral branches so far till their distance from the center of gravity depress them to the earth , be the tree never so high ? how comes it to pass that though by culture and manure they may be highly improved , and augmented to a double , treble , nay some a much greater proportion in magnitude of all their parts ; yet is this advance restrained within certain limits ? there is a maximum quod sic which they cannot exceed . you can by no culture or art extend a fennel stalk to the stature and bigness of an oak . then why should some be very long lived , others only annual or biennial ? how can we imagine that any laws of motion can determine the situation of the leaves , to come forth by pairs , or alternately , or circling the stalk ; the flowers to grow singly , or in company and tusts , to come forth the bosoms of the leaves and branches , or on the tops of branches and stalks ; the figure of the leaves , that they should be divided into so many jags or escallops and curiously indented round the edges , as also of the flower-leaves , their number and site , the figure and number of the stamina and their apices , the figure of the style and seed-vessel , and the number of cels into which it is divided . that all this be done , and all these parts duly proportioned one to another , there seems to be necessary some intelligent plastick nature , which may understand and regulate the whole oeconomy of the plant : for this cannot be the vegetative soul , because that is material and divisible together with the body : which appears in that a branch cut off of a plant will take root and grow and become a perfect plant it self , as we have already observed . i had almost forgotten the complication of the seed-leaves of some plants in the seed , which is so strange that one cannot believe it to be done by matter however moved by any laws or rules imaginable . some of them being so close plaited , and straitly folded up and thrust together within the membranes of the seed , that it would puzzle a man to imitate it , and yet none of the folds sticking or growing together ; so that they may easily be taken out of their cases , and spread and extended even with ones fingers . secondly , if we consider each particular part of a plant , we shall find it not without its end or use : the roots for its stability and drawing nourishment from the earth . the fibres to contain and convey the sap. besides which there is a large sort of vessels to contain the proper and specific juice of the plant : and others to carry air for such a kind of respiration as it needeth ; of which we have already spoken . the outer and inner bark in trees serve to defend the trunk and boughs from the excesses of heat and cold and drought , and to convey the sap for the annual augmentation of the tree . for in truth every tree may in some sence be said to be an annual plant , both leaf , flower and fruit proceeding from the coat that was superinduced over the wood the last year , which coat also never beareth any more , but together with the old wood serves as a form or block to sustain the succeeding annual coat . the leaves before the gemma or bud be explicated to embrace and defend , the flower and fruit , which is even then perfectly formed ; afterwards to preserve the branches , flowers and fruit from the injuries of the summer sun , which would too much parch and dry them , if they lay open and exposed to its beams without any shelter ; the leaves i say qualifie and contemper the heat , and serve also to hinder the too hasty evaporation of the moisture about the root ; not to mention the pleasant and delectable , cooling and refreshing shade they afford in the summer time ; which was very much esteemed by the inhabitants of hot countries , who always took great delight and pleasure to sit in the open air under shady trees : hence that expression so often repeated in scripture , of every mans sitting under his own vine , and under his own fig-tree , where also they used to eat ; as appears by abrahams entertaining the angels under a tree , and standing by them when they did eat . gen. 18. 8. moreover the leaves of plants are very beautiful and ornamental . that there is great pulchritude and comliness of proportion in the leaves , flowers and fruits of plants , is attested by the general verdict of mankind , as dr. more and others well observe . the adorning and beautifying of temples and buildings in all ages , is an evident and undeniable testimony of this . for what is more ordinary with architects than the taking in leaves and flowers and fruitage for the garnishing of their work ; as the roman the leaves of acanthus sat . and the jewish of palm . trees and pomegranates ; and these more frequently than any of the five regular solids , as being more comly and pleasant to behold . if any man shall object , that comliness of proportion and beauty is but a meer conceit , and that all things are alike handsom to some men who have as good eyes as others ; and that this appears by the variation of fashions , which doth so alter mens fancies , that what erewhile seemed very handsom and comly , when it is once worn out of fashion appears very absurd , uncouth and ridiculous . to this i answer , that custom and use doth much in those things where little of proportion and symmetry shew themselves , or which are alike comly and beautiful , to disparage the one , and commend the other . but there are degrees of things ; for ( that i may use * dr. mores words ) i dare appeal to any man that is not sunk into so forlorn a pitch of degeneracy that he is as stupid to these things as the basest of beasts , whether , for example , a rightly cut tetraedrum , cube or icosaedrum have no more pulchritude in them than any rude broken stone , lying in the field or high-ways ; or to name other solid figures , which though they be not regular properly so called , yet have a settled idea and nature , as a cone , sphere , or cylinder , whether the sight of those do not more gratifie the minds of men , and pretend to more elegancy of shape than those rude cuttings or chippings of freestone that fall from the masons hands , and serve for nothing but to fill up the middle of the wall , as fit to be hid from the eyes of men for their ugliness . and therefore it is obvable , that if nature shape any thing but near to this geometrical accuracy , that we take notice of it with much content and pleasure , and greedily gather and treasure it up . as if it be but exactly round , as those spherical stones found in cuba , and some also in our own land , or have but its sides parallel , as those rhomboideal selenites found near st. ives in huntington shire , and many other places in england . whereas ordinary stones of rude and uncertain figures we pass by , and take no notice of at all . but though the figures of these bodies be pleasing and agreable to our minds , yet ( as we have already observed ) those of the leaves , flowers and fruits of trees , more . and it is remarkable , that in the circumscription and complication of many leaves , flowers , fruits , and seeds nature affects a regular figure . of a pentagonal or quincuncial disposition sir tho. brown of norwich produces several examples in his discourse about the quincunx . and doubtless instances might be given in other regular figures , were men but observant . the flowers serve to cherish and defend the first and tender rudiments of the fruit : i might also add the masculine or prolifick seed contained in the chives or apices of the stamina . these beside the elegancy of their figures are many of them endued with splendid and lovely colours , and likewise most grateful and fragrant odours . indeed such is the beauty and lustre of some flowers , that our saviour saith of the lilies of the field ( which some not without reason fuppose to have been tulips ) that solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these . and it is observed by * spigelius , that the art of the most skilful painter cannot so mingle and temper his colours , as exactly to imitate or counterfeit the native ones of the flowers of vegetables . as for the seeds of plants , * dr. more esteems it an evident sign of divine providence , that every kind hath its seed . for it being no necessary result of the motion of the matter ( as the whole contrivance of the plant indeed is not ) and it being of so great consequence that they have seed for the continuance and propagation of their own species , and also for the gratifying mans art , industry and necessities ( for much of husbandry and gardening lies in this ) it cannot but be an act of counsel to furnish the several kinds of plants with their seeds . now the seed being so necessary for the maintenance and increase of the several species , it is worthy the observation , what care is taken to secure and preserve it , being in some doubly and trebly defended . as for instance , in the walnut , almond and plums of all sorts , we have first a thick pulpy covering , then a hard shell , within which is the seed enclosed in a double membrane . in the nutmeg another tegument is added besides all these , viz. the mace within the hard shell immediately inveloping the kernel . neither yet doth the exterior pulp of the fruit or pericarpium serve only for the defence and security of the seed , whilst it hangs upon the plant : but after it is mature and faln upon the earth , for the stercoration of the soil , and promotion of the growth , though not the first germination of the seminal plant. hence ( as * petrus de crescentiis tells us ) husbandmen to make their vines bear , manure them with vine-leaves , or the husks of expressed grapes , and that they observe those to be most fruitful , which are so manured with their own : which observation holds true also in all other trees and herbs . but besides this use of the pulp or pericarpium for the guard and benefit of the seed , it serves also by a secondary intention of nature in many fruits for the food and sustenance of man and other animals . another thing worthy the nothing in seeds , and argumentative of providence and design , is that pappose plumage growing upon the tops of some of them , whereby they are capable of being wafted with the wind , and by that means scattered and disseminated far and wide . furthermore most seeds having in them a seminal plant perfectly formed , as the young is in the womb of animals , the elegant complication thereof in some species is a very pleasant and admirable spectacle ; so that no man that hath a soul in him can imagine or believe it was so formed and folded up without wisdom and providence . but of this i have spoken already . lastly , the immense smalness of some seeds , not to be seen by the naked eye , so that the number of seeds produced at once in some one plant may amount to a million , is a convincing argument of the infinite understanding and art of the former of them . and it is remarkable that such mosses as grow upon walls , the roofs of houses and other high places , have seeds so excessively small , that when shaken out of their vessels they appear like vapor or smoak , so that they may either ascend of themselves , or by an easie impulse of the wind be raised up to the tops of houses , walls or rocks : and we need not wonder how the mosses got thither , or imagine they sprung up spontaneously there . i might also take notice of many other particulars concerning vegetables , as , first , that because they are designed for the food of animals , therefore nature hath taken more extraordinary care and made more abundant provision for their propagation and increase ; so that they are multiplied and propagated not only by the seed , but many also by the root , producing off sets or creeping under ground , many by strings or wires running above ground , as strawberry and the like , some by slips or cuttings , and some by several of these ways . secondly , that some sorts of plants , as vines , all sorts of pulse , hops , briony , all promiferous herbs , pumpions , melons , gourds . cucumbers , and divers other species , that are weak and unable to raise or support themselves , are either endued with a faculty of twining about others that are near , or else furnished with claspers and tendrels , whereby as it were with hands they catch hold of them and so ramping upon trees , shrubs , hedges or poles , they mount up to a great height , and secure themselves and their fruit. thirdly , that others are armed with prickles and thorns , to secure them from the browsing of beasts , as also to shelter others that grow under them . moreover they are hereby rendred very useful to man , as if designed by nature to make both quick and dead hedges and fences , the great naturalist pliny , hath given an ingenious account of the providence and design of nature in thus arming and fencing them in these words . inde ( speaking of nature ) excogitavit aliquas aspectu hispidas , tactu truces , ut tantùm non vocem ipsius naturae fingentis illas , rationémque reddentis exaudire videamur , ne se depascat avida quadrupes , ne procaces manus rapiant , ne neglecta vestigia obterant , ne insidens ales infringat ; his muniendo aculeis telisque armando , remediis ut salva ac tuta sint . ità hoc quoque quod in iis odimus hominum causâ excogitatum est . as for the signatures of plants , or the notes impressed upon them as indices of their virtues , though * some lay great stress upon them , accounting them , strong arguments to prove that some understanding principle is the highest original of the works of nature ; as indeed they were , could it certainly be made appear that there were such marks designedly set upon them ; because all that i find mentioned and collected by authors , seem to me to be rather fancied by men , than designed by nature to signifie or point out any such vertues or qualities as they would make us believe , i have elsewhere , i think upon good grounds , rejected them ; and finding no reason as yet to alter my opinion , i shall not further insist on them . of bodies endued with a sensitive soul , or animals . i proceed now to the consideration of animate bodies indued with a sensitive soul , called animals . of these i shall only make some general observations , not curiously consider the parts of each particular species , save only as they serve for instances or examples . first of all , because it is the great design of providence to maintain and continue every species , i shall take notice of the great care and abundant provision that is made for the securing this end. quanta ad eam rem vis , ut in suo quaeque genere permaneat ? cic. why can we imagine all creatures should be made male and female but to this purpose ? why should there be implanted in each sex such a vehement and inexpugnable appetite of copulation ? why in viviparous animals , in the time of gestation should the nourishment be carried to the embryon in the womb , which at other times goeth not that way ? when the young is brought forth , how comes all the nourishment then to be transferred from the womb to the breasts or paps , leaving its former channel , the dam at such time being for the most part lean and ilfavoured ? here i cannot omit one very remarkable observation i find in cicero . atque ut intelligamus ( saith he ) nihil horum esse fortuitum , sed haec omnia providae solertisque naturae , quae multiplices foetus procreant , ut sues , ut canes , his mammarum data est multitudo , quas easdem paucas habent eae bestiae quae pauca gignunt . that we may understand that none of these things ( he had been speaking of ) is fortuitous , but that all are the effects of provident and sagacious nature , multiparous quadrupeds , as dogs , as swine , are furnished with a multitude of paps : whereas those beasts which bring forth few have but a few . that flying creatures of the greater sort , that is birds should all lay eggs , and none bring forth live young , is a manifest argument of divine providence , designing thereby their preservation and security ; that there might be the more plenty of them ; and that neither the birds of prey , the serpent , nor the fowler should straiten their generations too much . for if they had been viviparous , the burthen of their womb , if they had brought forth any competent number at a time , had been so great and heavy , that their wings would have failed them , and they became an easie prey to their enemies : or if they had brought but one or two at a time , they would have been troubled all the year long with feeding their young , or bearing them in their womb. * dr. more . this mention of feeding their young puts me in mind of two or three considerable observations referring thereto . first , seeing it would be for many reasons inconvenient for birds to give suck , and yet no less inconvenient if not destructive to the chicken upon exclusion all of a sudden to make so great a change in its diet , as to pass from liquid to hard food , before the stomach be gradually consolidated and by use strengthened and habituated to grind and concoct it , and its tender and pappy flesh , fitted to be nourished by such strong and solid diet ; and before the bird be by little and little accustomed to use its bill , and gather it up , which at first it doth but very slowly and imperfectly ; therefore nature hath provided a large yolk in every egg ; a great part whereof remaineth after the chicken is hatch'd , and is taken up and enclosed in its belly , and by a channel made on purpose received by degrees into the guts , and serves instead of milk to nourish the chick for a considerable time ; which nevertheless mean while feeds it self by the mouth a little at a time , and gradually more and more , as it gets a perfecter ability and habit of gathering up its meat , and its stomach is strengthen'd to macerate and concoct it , and its flesh hardened and fitted to be nourished by it . secondly , that birds which feed their young in the nest , though in all likelyhood they have no ability of counting the number of them , should yet , ( though they bring but one morsel of meat at a time , and have not fewer ( it may be ) than seven or eight young in the nest together , which at the return of their dams , do all at once with equal greediness , hold up their heads and gape , ) not omit or forget one of them , but feed them all ; which , unless they did carefully observe , and retain in memory which they had fed , which not , were impossible to be done ; this i say , seems to me most strange and admirable , and beyond the possibility of a meer machine to perform . thirdly , the marvellous speedy growth of birds that are hatched in nests , and fed by the old ones there , till they be fledg'd and come almost to their full bigness ; at which perfection they arrive within the short term of about one fortnight , seems to me an argument of providence designing thereby their preservation , that they might not lie long in a condition exposed to the ravine of any vermine that may find them , being utterly unable to escape or shift for themselves . another and no less effectual argument may be taken from the care and providence used for the hatching and rearing their young and first , they search our a secret and quiet place , where they may be secure and undisturbed in their incubation : then they make themselves nests , every one after his kind , that so their eggs and young may lie soft and warm , and their exclusion and growth be promoted . these nests some of them so elegant and artificial , that it is hard for man to imitate them and make the like . i have seen nests of an indian bird so artificially composed of the fibres , i think , of some roots , so curiously interwoven and platted together as is admirable to behold : which nests they hang on the ends of the twigs of trees over the water , to secure their eggs and young from the ravage of apes and monkeys , and other beasts that might else prey upon them . after they have laid their eggs , how diligently and patiently do they sit upon them till they be hatched , scarce affording themselves time to go off to get them meat ? nay with such an ardent and impetuous desire of sitting are they inspired , that if you takeaway all their eggs , they will sit upon an empty nest : and yet one would think that sitting were none of the most pleasant works . after their young are hatcht for some time they do almost constantly brood them under their wings , lest the cold , and sometimes perhaps the heat , should harm them . all this while also they labor hard to get them food , sparing it out of their own bellies , and pining themselves almost to death rather than they should want . moreover it is admirable to observe with what courage they are at that time inspired , that they will even venture their own lives in defence of them . the most timorous , as hens and geese , become then so couragious as to dare to fly in the face of a man that shall molest or disquiet their young , which would never do so much in their own defence . these things being contrary to any motions of sense , or instinct of self-preservation , and so eminent pieces of self-denial , must needs be the work of providence for the continuation of the species and upholding of the world. especially if we consider that all this pains is bestowed upon a thing which takes no notice of it , will render them no thanks for it , nor make them any requital or amends ; and also , that after the young is come to some growth , and able to shift for it self , the old one retains no such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to it , takes no further care of it , but will fall upon it , and beat it indifferently with others . to these i shall add one observation more , relating to this head , borrowed of dr. cudworth , system , pag. 69. one thing necessary to the conservation of the species of animals ; that is , the keeping up constantly in the world a due numerical proportion between the sexes of male and female , doth necessarily infer a superintending providence . for did this depend only upon mechanism , it cannot well be conceived , but that in some ages or other , there should happen to be all males , or all females ; and so the species fail . nay , it cannot well be thought otherwise , but that there is in this a providence , superiour to that of the plastick or spermatick nature , which hath not so much of knowledge and discretion allowed to it , as whereby to be able alone to govern this affair . secondly , i shall take notice of the various strange instincts of animals ; which will necessarily demonstrate , that they are directed to ends unknown to them , by a wise superintendent . as 1. that all creatures should know how to defend themselves , and offend their enemies ; where their natural weapons are situate , and how to make use of them . a calf will so manage his head as though he would push with his horns even before they shoot . a boar knows the use of his tushes ; a dog of his teeth ; a horse of his hoofs ; a cock of his spurs ; a bee of her sting ; a ram will but with his head , yea though he be brought up tame , and never saw that manner of fighting . now , why another animal which hath no horns should not make a shew of pushing , or no spurs of striking with his legs and the like , i know not , but that every kind is providentially directed to the use of its proper and natural weapons . 2. that those animals that are weak , and have neither weapons nor courage to fight , are for the most part created swift of foot or wing , and so being naturally timorous , are both willing and able to save themselves by flight . 3. that poultrey , partridge and other birds should at the first sight know birds of prey , and make sign of it by a peculiar note of their voice to their young , who presently thereupon hide themselves : that the lamb should acknowledge the wolf its enemy , though it had never seen one before , as is taken for granted by most naturalists , and may for ought i know be true , argues the providence of nature , or more truly the god of nature , who for their preservation hath put such an instinct into them . 4. that young animals , so soon as they are brought forth , should know their food . as for example , such as are nourished with milk , presently find their way to the paps , and suck at them , whereas none of those that are not designed for that nourishment ever offer to suck , or to seek out any such food . again , 5. that such creatures as are whole-footed or fin-toed , viz. some birds and some quadrupeds , are naturally directed to go into the water and swim there , as we see ducklings , though hatch'd and led by a hen , if she brings them to the brink of a river or pond of water , they presently leave her , and in they go , though they never saw any such thing done before ; and though the hen clocks and calls , and doth what she can to keep them out : so that we see every part in animals is fitted to its use , and the knowledge of this use put into them . for neither do any sort of web-footed fowls live constantly upon the land , or fear to enter the water , nor any land-fowl so much as attempt to swim there . 6. birds of the same kind make their nests of the same materials , laid in the same order , and exactly of the same figure , so that by the sight of the nest one may certainly know what bird it belongs to . and this they do , though living in distant countries , and though they never saw , nor could see any nest made , that is , though taken out of the nest , and brought up by hand ; neither were any of the same kind ever observed to make a different nest either for matter or fashion . this together with the curious and artificial contexture of such nests , and their fitness and convenience for the reception , hatching and cherishing the eggs and young of their respective builders ( which we have before taken notice of ) is a great argument of a superiour author of their and others natures , who hath indu'd them with these instincts , whereby they are as it were , acted and driven to bring about ends which themselves aim not at ( so far as we can discern ) but are directed to ; for ( as aristotle observes ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they act not by any art , neither do they enquire , neither do they deliberate about what they do . and therefore , as dr. cudworth saith well , they are not masters of that wisdom according to which they act , but only passive to the instincts and impresses thereof upon them . and indeed to affirm that brute animals do all these things by a knowledge of their own , and which themselves are masters of , and that without deliberation and consultation , were to make them to be endued with a most perfect intellect , far transcending that of human reason : whereas it is plain enough , that brutes are not above consultation but below it ; and that these instincts of nature in them , are nothing but a kind of fate upon them . 7. the bee , a creature of the lowest form of animals , so that no man can suspect it to have any considerable measure of understanding , or to have knowledge of , much less to aim at any end , yet makes her combs and cells with that geometrical accuracy , that she must needs be acted by an instinct implanted in her by the wise author of nature . for first , she plants them in a perpendicular posture , and so close together as with conveniency they may , beginning at the top , and working downwards , that so no room may be lost in the hive , and that she may have easie access to all the combs and cells . besides , the combs being wrought double , that is , with cells on each side , a common bottom or partition-wall could not in any other site have so conveniently , if at all , received or contained the honey . then she makes the particular cells most geometrically and artificially , as the famous mathematician pappus demonstrates in the preface to his third book of mathematical collections . first of all ( saith he , speaking of the cells , ) it is convenient that they be of such figures as may cohere one to another , and have common sides , else there would be empty spaces left between them to no use , but to the weakening and spoiling of the work , if any thing should get in there . and therefore though a round figure be most capacious for the honey , and most convenient for the bee to creep into , yet did she not make choice of that , because then there must have been triangular spaces left void . now there are only three rectilineous and ordinate figures which can serve to this purpose ; and inordinate or unlike ones must have been not only less elegant and beautiful but unequal . [ ordinate figures are such as have all their sides and all their angles equal . ] the three ordinate figures , are triangles , squares , and hexagons . for the space about any point may be filled up either by six equilateral triangles , or four squares , or three hexagons ; whereas three pentagons are too little and three heptagons too much . of these three the bee makes use of the hexagon , both because it is more capacious than either of the other , provided they be of equal compass , and so equal matter spent in the construction of each : and secondly , because it is most commodious for the bee to creep into : and lastly , because in the other figures more angles and sides must have met together at the same point , and so the work could not have been so firm and strong . moreover , the combs being double , the cells on each side the partition are so ordered , that the angles on one side , insist upon the centers of the bottoms of the cells on the other side , and not angle upon , or against angle ; which also must needs contribute to the strength and firmness of the work . another sort of bee i have observed , it may be called the tree-bee , whose industry is admirable in making provision for her young . first , she digs round vaults or burrows [ cuniculos ] in a rotten or decayed tree , of a great length , in them she builds or forms her cylindrical nests or cases , resembling cartrages , or a very narrow thimble , only in proportion longer , of pieces of rose or other leaves which she shares off with her mouth , and plats and joyns close together by some glutinous substance . these cases she fills with a red pap , of a thinner consistence than an electuary , of no pleasant taste , which where she gathers , i know not : on the top of the pap , she lays one egg , and then closes up the vessel with a cover of leaves . the enclosed egg soon becomes an eula or maggor , which feeding upon the pap till it comes to its full growth changes to a nympha , and after comes out a bee. another insect noted for her seeming prudence , in making provision for the winter , proposed by solomon to the sluggard for his imitation , is the ant , which ( as all naturalists agree ) hoards up grains of corn against the winter for her sustenance : and is reported by some to * bite off the germen of them , lest they should sprout by the moisture of the earth , which i look upon as a mere fiction ; neither should i be forward to credit the former relation , were it not for the authority of the scripture , because i could never observe any such storing up of grain by our country-ants . yet is there a quadruped taken notice of even by the vulgar for laying up in store provision for the winter , that is , the squirrel , whose hoards of nuts are frequently found and pillaged by them . the beaver is by credible persons eye-witnesses affirmed to build him houses for shelter and security in winter-time : see mr. boyl of final causes . besides these i have mentioned , an hundred others may be found in books relating especially to physick ; as that dogs when they are sick should vomit themselves by eating grass : that swine should refuse meat so soon as they feel themselves ill , and so recover by abstinence : that the bird ibis should teach men the way of administring clysters . plin. lib. 8. cap. 27. the wild goats of dictamnus for drawing out of darts , and healing wounds : the swallow the use of celandine for repairing the sight , &c. ibid. of the truth of which because i am not fully satisfied , i shall make no inference from them . thirdly , i shall remark the care that is taken for the preservation of the weak and such as are exposed to injuries , and preventing the encrease of such as are noisom and hurtful : for as it is a demonstration of the divine power and magnificence to create such variety of animals , not only great but small , not only strong and couragious , but also weak and timerous ; so is it no less argument of his wisdom to give to these means , and the power and skill of using them , to preserve themselves from the violence and injuries of those . that of the weak some should dig vaults and holes in the earth , as rabbets , to secure themselves and their young ; others should be armed with hard shels ; others with prickles , the rest that have no such armature should be endued with great swiftness or pernicity : and not only so , but some also have their eyes stand so prominent , as the hare , that they can see as well behind as before them , that so they may have their enemy always in their eye ; and long , hollow , moveable ears , to receive and convey the least sound , or that which comes from far , that they be not suddenly surprised or taken ( as they say ) napping . as for sheep , which have no natural weapons or means to defend or secure themselves , neither heels to run nor claws to dig ; they are delivered into the hand , and committed to the care and tuition of man , and serving him for divers uses , are nourished and protected by him ; and so enjoying their beings for a time , by this means propagate and continue their species : so that there are none destitute of some means to preserve themselves and their kind ; and these means so effectual , that notwithstanding all the endeavors and contrivances of man and beast to destroy them , there is not to this day one species lost of such as are mentioned in histories , and consequently and undoubtedly neither of such as were at first created . then for birds of prey and rapacious animals , it is remarkable what aristotle observes , that they are all solitary , and go not in flocks , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . no birds of prey are gregarious . again , that such creatures do not greatly multiply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . they for the most part breeding and bringing forth but one or two , or at least a few young ones at once : whereas they that are feeble and timorous are generally multiparous ; or if they bring forth but few at once , as pigeons , they compensate that by their often breeding , viz. every month but two throughout the year ; by this means providing for the continuation of their kind . fourthly , i shall note the exact fitness of the parts of the bodies of animals to every ones nature and manner of living . of this dr. * more produces an eminent instance in a poor contemptible quadruped , the mole . first of all ( saith he ) her dwelling being under ground , where nothing is to be seen , nature hath so obscurely fitted her with eyes , that naturalists can scarcely agree , whether she hath any sight at all or no [ in our observation , moles have perfect eyes , and holes for them through the skin , so that they are outwardly to be seen by any that shall diligently search for them ; though indeed they are exceeding small , not much bigger than a great pins head . ] but for amends , what she is capable of for her defence and warning of danger , she has very eminently conferred upon her ; for she is very quick of hearing [ doubtless her subterraneous vaults are like trunks to convey any sound a great way . ] and then her short tail , and short legs , but broad fore-feet armed with sharp claws , we see by the event to what purpose they are , she so swiftly working her self under ground , and making her way so fast in the earth , as they that behold it cannot but admire it . her legs therefore are short that she need dig no more than will serve the mere thickness of her body : and her fore-feet are broad , that she may scoup away much earth at a time : and she has little or no tail , because she courses it not on the ground like a rat or mouse , but lives under the earth , and is fain to dig her self a dwelling there ; and she making her way through so thick an element , which will not easily yield as the water and air do ; it had been dangerous to draw so long a train behind her ; for her enemy might fall upon her rear , and fetch her out before she had perfected and got full possession of her works : which being so , what more palpable argument of providence than she ? another instance in quadrupeds might be the tamandua or ant bear , described by marcgrave and piso , who saith of them , that they are night walkers , and seek their food by night . being kept tame they are fed with flesh , but it must be minced small , because they have not only a slender and sharp head and snout , but also a narrow and toothless mouth ; their tongue is like a great lute string ( as big as a goose-quill ) round , and in the greater kind ( for there are two species ) more than two foot long , and therefore lies doubled in a channel between the lower parts of the cheeks . this when hungry they thrust forth , being well moistened , and lay upon the trunks of trees , and when it is covered with ants suddenly draw it back into their mouths ; if the ants lie so deep that they cannot come at them , they dig up the earth with their long and strong claws , wherewith for that purpose their fore-feet are armed . so we see how their parts are fitted for this kind of diet , and no other ; for the catching of it and for the eating of it , it requiring no comminution by the teeth , as appears also in the chamaeleon , which is another quadruped that imitates the tamandua in this property of darting out the tongue to a great length , with wonderful celerity , and for the same purpose too of catching of insects . besides these quadrupeds , there are a whole genus of birds , called pici martii or woodpeckers , that in like manner have a tongue which they can shoot forth to a very great length , ending in a sharp stiff bony tip , dented on each side ; and at pleasure thrust it deep into the holes , clefts and crannies of trees , to stab and draw out cossi or any other insects lurking there , as also into anthills , to strike and fetch out the ants and their eggs. moreover they have short but very strong legs , and their toes stand two forwards two backwards , which disposition ( as aldrovandus well notes ) nature , or rather the wisdom of the creator , hath granted to woodpeckers , because it is very convenient for the climbing of trees , to which also conduces the stiffness of the feathers of their tails and there bending downward , whereby they are fitted to serve as a prop for them to lean upon and bear up their bodies . as for the chamaeleon he imitates the woodspite , not only in the make , motion and use of his tongue for striking ants , flies , and other insects ; but also in the site of his toes , whereby he is wonderfully qualified to run upon trees , which he doth with that swiftness , that one would think he flew , whereas upon the ground he walks very clumfily and ridiculously . a full description of the outward and inward parts of this animal , may be seen at the end of panarolus's observat. it is to be noted , that the chamelion , though he hath teeth , uses them not for chewing his prey , but swallows it immediately . ii. in birds all the members are most exactly fitted for the use of flying . first , the muscles which serve to move the wings are the greatest and strongest , because much force is required to the agitation of them ; the underside of them is also made concave , and the upper convex , that they may be easily lifted up , and more strongly beat the air , which by this means doth more resist the descent of their body downward . then the trunk of their body doth somewhat resemble the hull of a ship ; the head the prow , which is for the most part small , that it may the more easily cut the air , and make way for their bodies ; the train serves to steer , govern and direct their flight , and however it may be held erect in their standing or walking , yet is directed to lye almost in the same plain with their backs , or rather a little inclining , when they fly . that the train serves to sleer and direct their flight , and turn their bodies like the rudder of a ship is evident in the kite , who by a light turning of his train , moves his body which way he pleases . iidem videntur artem gubernandi docuisse caudae flexibus , in caelo monstrante natura quod opus esset in profundo . plin. lib. 10. cap. 10. they seem to have taught men the art of steering a ship by the flexures of their tails ; nature shewing in the air what was needful to be done in the deep . and it 's notable that aristotle truly observes , that whole-footed birds , and those that have long legs , have for the most part short tails ; and therefore whilest they fly , do not as others draw them up to their bellies , but stretch them at length backwards , that they may serve to steer and guide them instead of tails . neither doth the tail serve only to direct and govern . the flight , but also partly to support the body and keep it even , wherefore when spread , it lies parallel to the horizon , and stands not perpendicular to it , as fishes do . hence birds that have no tails , as some sorts of colymbi or douckers fly very inconveniently with their bodies almost erect . iii. as for fishes their bodies are long and slender , or else thin for the most part , for their more easie swimming and dividing the water . the wind-bladder , wherewith most of them are furnished , serves to poise their bodies , and keep them equiponderant to the water , which else would sink to the bottom , and lie grovelling there , as hath by breaking the bladder been experimentally found . by the contraction and dilatation of this bladder , they are able to raise or sink themselves at pleasure , and continue in what depth of water they list . the fins made of gristly spokes or rays connected by membranes , so that they may be contracted or extended like womens fans , and furnished with muscles for motion , serve partly for progression , but chiefly to hold the body upright ; which appears in that when they are cut off , it wavers to and fro , and so soon as the fish dies , the belly turns upward . the great strength by which fishes dart themselves forward with incredible celerity , like an arrow out of a bow , lies in their tails , their fins mean time , lest they should retard their motion , being held close to their bodies . and therefore almost the whole musculous flesh of the body is bestowed upon the tail and back , and serves for the vibration of the tail , the heaviness and corpulency of the water , requiring a great force to divide it . i might here take notice of those amphibious creatures , which we may call aquatic quadrupeds ( though one of them there is that hath but two feet , viz. the manati or sea-cow ) the beaver , the otter , the phoca or sea calf , the water-rat , and the frog , the toes of whose feet are joyned by membranes , as in water-fowls for swimming ; and who have very small ears , and ear-holes , as the cetaceous fishes have for hearing in the water . to this head belongs the adapting of the parts that minister to generation in the sexes one to another ; and in creatures that nourish their young with milk , the nipples of the breast to the mouth and organs of suction ; which he must needs be wilfully blind and void of sence , that either discerns not , or denies to be intended and made one for the other . that the nipples should be made spungy , and with such perforations , as to admit passage to the milk when drawn , otherwise to retain it ; and the teeth of the young either not spungy , or so soft and tender , as not to hurt the nipples of the dam , are effects and arguments of providence and design . to this head of the fitness of the parts of the body to the creatures nature and manner of living , belongs that observation of aristotle , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . such birds as have crooked beaks and talons , are all carnivorous ; and so of quadrupeds , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carnivora omnia . all that have serrate teeth , are carnivorous . this observation holds true concerning all european birds , but i know not but that parrots may be an exception to it . yet it is remarkable , that such birds as are carnivorous have no gizzard , or musculous , but a membranous stomach ; that kind of food needing no such grinding or comminution as seeds do , but being torn into strings , or small flakes by the beak , may be easily concocted by a membranous stomach . to the fitness of all the parts and members of animals to their respective uses may also be referred another observation of the same aristotle , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . all animals have even feet , not more on one side than another ; which if they had , would either hinder their walking , or hang by not only useless , but also burthensome . for though a creature might make limping shift to hop , suppose with three feet , yet nothing so conveniently or steddily to walk , or run , or indeed to stand . so that we see , nature hath made choice of what is most fit , proper and useful . they have also not only an even number of feet , answering by pairs one to another , which is as well decent as convenient ; but those too of an equal length , i mean the several pairs ; whereas were those on one side longer than they on the other , it would have caused an inconvenient halting or limping in their going . i shall mention but one more observation of aristotle , that is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , there is no creature only volatile , or no flying animal but hath feet as well as wings , a power of walking or creeping upon the earth ; because there is no food , or at least not sufficient food for them to be had always in the air ; or if in hot countries we may suppose there is , the air being never without store of insects flying about in it , yet could such birds take no rest , for having no feet , they could not perch upon trees , and if they should alight upon the ground , they could by no means raise themselves any more , as we see those birds which have but short feet , as the swift and martinet , with difficulty do . besides , they would want means of breeding , having no where to lay their eggs , to sit , hatch or brood their young. as for the story of the manucodiata or bird of paradise , which in the former age was generally received and accepted for true , even by the learned , it is now discovered to be a fable , and rejected and exploded by all men : those birds being well known to have legs and feet , as well as others , and those not short , small not feeble ones , but sufficiently great and strong and armed with crooked talons , as being the members of birds of prey . but against the uses of several bodies i have instanced in that refer to man it may be objected , that these uses were not designed by nature in the formation of the things ; but that the things were by the wit of man accommodated to those uses . to which i answer with dr. more in the appendix to his antidote against atheism . that the several useful dependencies of this kind , ( viz. of stones , timber , and metals for building of houses or ships , the magnet for navigation , &c. fire for melting of metals and forging of instruments for the purposes mentioned ) we only find , not make them . for whether we think of it or no , it is , for example , manifest , that fuel is good to continue fire , and fire to melt metals , and metals to make instruments to build ships and houses , and so on . wherefore it being true , that there is such a subordinate usefulness in the things themselves that are made to our hand , it is but reason in us to impute it to such a cause as was aware of the usefulness and serviceableness of its own works . to which i shall add , that since we find materials so fit to serve all the necessities and conveniences , and to exercise and employ the wit and industry of an intelligent and active being , and since there is such an one created that is endued with skill and ability to use them , and which by their help is enabled to rule over and subdue all inferiour creatures , but without them had been left necessitous , helpless and obnoxious to injuries above any other ; and since the omniscient creator could not but know all the uses , to which they might and would be employed by man , to them that acknowledge the being of a deity , it is little less than a demonstration , that they were created intentionally , i do not say only , for those uses . methinks by all this provision for the use and service of man , the almighty interpretatively speaks to him in this manner , i have placed thee in a spacious and well furnished world. i have endued thee with an ability of understanding what is beautiful and proportionable , and have made that which is so agreeable and delightful to thee ; i have provided thee with materials whereon to exercise and employ thy art and strength ; i have given thee an excellent instrument , the hand , accommodated to make use of them all ; i have distinguished the earth into hills , and valleys , and plains , and meadows , and woods ; all these parts capable of culture and improvement by thy industry ; i have committed to thee for thy assistance in thy labors of plowing , and carrying , and drawing , and travel ; the laborious ox , the patient ass , and the strong and serviceable horse ; i have created a multitude of seeds for thee to make choice out of them , of what is most pleasant to thy tast , and of most wholsom and pleasant nourishment ; i have also made great variety of trees , bearing fruit both for food and physick , those too capable of being meliorated and improved by transplantation , stercoration , insition , pruning , watering , and other arts and devices . till and manure thy fields , sow them with thy seeds , extirpate noxious and unprofitable herbs , guard them from the invasions and spoil of beasts , clear and fence in thy meadows and pastures ; dress and prune thy vines , and so rank and dispose them as is most sutable to the climate ; plant thee orchards , with all sorts of fruit-trees in such order as may be most beautiful to the eye , and most comprehensive of plants ; gardens for culinary herbs , and all kinds of salletting ; for delectable flowers , to gratifie the eye with their agreeable colors and figures , and thy scent with their fragrant odors ; for odoriferous and ever-green shrubs and suffrutices ; for exotick and medicinal plants of all sorts , and dispose them in that comly order , as may be both pleasant to behold , and commodious for access . i have furnished thee with all materials for building , as stone , and timber , and slate , and lime , and clay , and earth whereof to make bricks and tiles . deck and bespangle the country with houses and villages convenient for thy habitation , provided with out-houses and stables for the harbouring and shelter of thy cattle , with barns and granaries for the reception , and custody , and storing up thy corn and fruits . i have made thee a sociable creature , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for the improvement of thy understanding by conference , and communication of observations and experiments ; for mutual help , assistance and defence ; build thee large towns and cities with streight and well paved streets , and elegant rows of houses , adorned with magnificent temples for my honour and worship , with beautiful palaces for thy princes and grandees , with stately halls for publick meetings of the citizens and their several companies , and the sessions of the courts of judicature , besides publick portico's and aquaeducts . i have implanted in thy nature a desire of seeing strange and foreign and finding out unknown countries , for the improvement and advancement of thy knowledge in geography , by observing the bays , and creeks , and havens , and promontories , the outlets of rivers , the situations of the maritime towns and cities , the longitude and latitude , &c. of those places : in politicks , by noting their government , their manners , laws and customs , their diet and medicine , their trades and manufactures , their houses and buildings , their exercises and sports &c. in physiology or natural history , by searching out their natural rarities , the productions both of land and water , what species of animals , plants and minerals , of fruits and drogues are to be found there , what commodities for bartering and permutation , whereby thou maist be enabled to make large additions to natural history , to advance those other sciences , and to benefit and enrich thy country by encrease of its trade and merchandise : i have given thee timber and iron to build thee huls of ships , tall trees for masts , flax and hemp for sails , cables , and cordage for rigging . i have armed thee with courage and hardiness to attempt the seas , and traverse the spacious plains of that liquid element ; i have assisted thee with a compass , to direct thy course when thou shalt be out of all ken of land , and have nothing in view but sky and water . go thither for the purposes before mentioned , and bring home what may be useful and beneficial to thy country in general , or thy self in particular . i perswade my self , that the bountiful and gracious author of mans being and faculties , and all things else , delights in the beauty of his creation , and is well pleased with the industry of man in adorning the earth with beautiful cities and castles , with pleasant villages and country houses , with regular gardens and orchards and plantations of all sorts of shrubs , and herbs , and fruits , for meat , medicine or moderate delight , with shady woods and groves , and walks set with rows of elegant trees ; with pastures clothed with flocks , and valleys covered over with corn , and meadows burthened with grass , and whatever else differenceth a civil and well cultivated region from a barren and desolate wilderness . if a country thus planted and adorned , thus polished and civilized , thus improved to the height by all manner of culture for the support and sustenance , and convenient entertainment of innumerable multitudes of people , be not to be preferred before a barbarous and inhospitable scythia , without houses , without plantations , without corn-fields or vineyards , where the roving hords of the savage and truculent inhabitants , transfer themselves from place to place in wagons , as they can find pasture and forage for their cattle , and live upon milk and flesh roasted in the sun at the pomels of their saddles ; or a rude and unpolished america , peopled with slothful and naked indians , instead of well-built houses , living in pitiful hutts and cabans , made of poles set end-ways ; then surely the brute beasts condition and manner of living , to which , what we have mention'd doth nearly approach , is to be esteemed better than mans , and wit and reason was in vain bestowed on him . lastly , i might draw an argument of the admirable art and skill of the creator and composer of them from the incredible smalness of some of those natural and enlivened machines , the bodies of animals . any work of art of extraordinary fineness and subtlety , be it but a small engine or movement , or a curious carved or turned work of ivory or metals , such as those cups turned of ivory by oswaldus nerlinger of suevia , mentioned by joan. faber in his expositions of recchus his mexican animals , which all had the perfect form of cups , and were gilt with a golden border about the brim , of that wonderful smalness , that faber himself put a thousand of them into an excavated pepper corn , and when he was weary of the work , and yet had not filled the vessel , his friend john carolus schad , that shewed them him , put in four hundred more . any such work , i say , is beheld with much admiration , and purchased at a great rate , and treasured up as a singular rarity in the museums and cabinets of the curious , and as such is one of the first things shew'd to travellers and strangers but what are these for their fineness and parvity ( for which alone and their figure they are considerable ) to those minute machines endued with life and motion , i mean the bodies of those animalcula not long since discovered in pepper water by mr. lewenhoek of delft in holland , ( whose observations were confirmed and improved by our learned and worthy country-man mr. robert hook , ) who tells us , that some of his friends ( whose testimonials he desired ) did affirm , that they had seen 10000 , others 30000 , others 45000 little living creatures in a quantity of water no bigger than a grain of millet . and yet he made it his request to them , that they would only justifie ( that they might be within compass ) half the number that they believed each of them saw in the water . from the greatest of these numbers he infers , that there will be 8280000 of these living creatures seen in one drop of water ; which number ( saith he ) i can with truth affirm i have discerned . this ( proceeds he ) doth exceed belief . but i do affirm , if a larger grain of sand were broken into 8000000 , of equal parts , one of these would not exceed the bigness of one of those creatures . mr. hook tells us , that after he had discovered vast multitudes of those exceeding small creatures which mr. lewenhoeck had described , upon making use of other lights and glasses , he not only magnified those he had discovered to a very great bigness , but discovered many other sorts very much smaller than them he first saw , and some of them so exceeding small , that millions of millions might be contained in one drop of water . if pliny , considering such insects as were known to him , and those were none but what were visible to the naked eye , was moved to cry out , that the artifice of nature was no where more conspicuous than in these ; and again , in his tam parvis atque tam nullis quae ratio , quanta vis , quàm inextricabilis perfectio ? and again , rerum natura nusquam magis quàm in minimis tota est . hist. nat. l. 11. c. 1. what would he have said if he had seen animals of so stupendous smalness as i have mentioned ? how would he have been rapt into an extasie of astonishment and admiration ? again , if considering the body of a gnat , ( which by his own confession is none of the least of insects ) he could make so many admiring queries , where hath nature disposed so many senses in a gnat ? ubi visum praetendit ? ubi gustatum applicavit ? ubi odoratum inseruit ? ubi verò truculentam illam & portione maximam vocem ingeneravit ? quâ subtilitate pennas adnexuit ? praelongavit pedum crura ? disposuit jejunam caveam uti alvum ? avidam sanguinis & potissimum humani sitim accendit ? telum vero perfodiendo tergori quo spiculavit ingenio ? atque ut in capaci , cùm cerni non possit exilitas , ità reciproca geminavit arte , ut fodiendo acuminatum pariter sorbendoque fistulosum esset . which words should i translate would lose of their emphasis and elegancy . if , i say , he could make such queries about the members of a gnat. what may we make ? and what would he in all likelyhood have made had he seen these incredible small living creatures ? how would he have admired the immense subtilty ( as he phrases it ) of their parts ? for to use mr. hook's words in his microscopium p. 103. if these creatures be so exceeding small , what must we think of their muscles and other parts ? certain it is that the mechanism by which nature performs the muscular motion is exceedingly small and curious ; and to the performance of every muscular motion , in greater animals at least , there are not fewer distinct parts concerned than many millions of millions , and these visible through a microscope . let us then consider the works of god , and observe the operations of his hands : let us take notice of and admire his infinite wisdom and goodness in the formation of them : no creature in this sublunary world is capable of so doing beside man ; and yet we are deficient herein : we content our selves with the knowledge of the tongues , and a little skill in philology , or history perhaps and antiquity , and neglect that which to me seems more material , i mean natural history and the works of the creation : i do not discommend or derogate from those other studies : i should betray mine own ignorance and weakness should i do so ; i only wish they might not altogether justle out and exclude this . i wish that this might be brought in fashion among us ; i wish men would be so equal and civil , as not to disparage , deride and vilifie those studies which themselves skill not of , or are not conversant in ; no knowledge can be more pleasant than this , none that doth so satisfie and feed the soul ; in comparison whereto that of words and phrases seems to me insipid and jejune . that learning ( saith a wise and observant prelate ) which consists only in the form and pedagogy of arts , or the critical notions upon words and phrases , hath in it this intrinsical imperfection , that it is only so far to be esteemed as it conduceth to the knowledg of things , being in it self but a kind of pedantry , apt to infect a man with such odd humors of pride , and affectation , and curiosity , as will render him unfit for any great employment . words being but the images of matter , to be wholly given up to the study of these . what is it but pygmalions phrenzy , to fall in love with a picture or image . as for oratory which is the best skill about words , that hath by some wise men been esteemed but a voluptuary art , like to cookery , which spoils wholsome meats and helps unwholsome , by the variety of sawces serving more to the pleasure of tast , than the health of the body . it may be ( for ought i know , and as some divines have thought ) part of our business and employment in eternity to contemplate the works of god , and give him the glory of his wisdom , power and goodness manifested in the creation of them . i am sure it is part of the business of a sabbath-day , and the sabbath is a type of that eternal rest ; for the sabbath seems to have been first instituted for a commemoration of the works of the creation , from which god is said to have rested upon the seventh day . let it not suffice us to be book-learned , to read what others have written , and to take upon trust more falshood than truth : but let us our selves examine things as we have opportunity , and converse with nature as well as books . let us endeavour to promote and increase this knowledge , and make new discoveries , not so much distrusting our own parts , or despairing of our own abilities , as to think that our industry can add nothing to the inventions of our ancestors , or correct any of their mistakes . let us not think that the bounds of science are fixed like hercules his pillars , and inscribed with a ne plus ultra . let us not think we have done when we have learnt what they have delivered to us . the treasures of nature are inexhaustible . here is employment enough for the vastest parts , the most indefatigable industries , the fairest opportunities , the most prolix and undisturbed vacancies . much might be done would we but endeavour , and nothing is insuperable to pains and patience . i know that a new study at first , seems very vast , intricate and difficult ; but after a little resolution and progress , after a man becomes a little acquainted , as i may so say , with it , his understanding is wonderfully cleared up and enlarged , the difficulties vanish , and the thing grows easie and familiar . and for our encouragement in this study , observe what the psalmist saith , psal. 111. 2. the works of the lord are great , sought out of all them that have pleasure therein . which though it be principally spoken of the works of providence , yet may as well be verified of the works of creation . i am sorry to see so little account made of real experimental philosophy in this university , and that those ingenious sciences of the mathematicks , are so much neglected by us : and therefore do earnestly exhort those that are young , especially gentlemen , to set upon these studies , and take some pains in them . they may possibly invent something of eminent use and advantage to the world ; and one such discovery would abundantly compensate the expence and travel of one mans whole life . however , it is enough to maintain and continue what is already invented : neither do i see what more ingenious and manly employment they can pursue , tending more to the satisfaction of their own minds , and the illustration of the glory of god. for he is wonderful in all his works . but i would not have any man cross his natural genius or inclinations , or undertake such methods of study , as his parts are not fitted to , or not serve those ends to which his friends upon mature deliberation have designed him ; but those who do abound with leisure , or who have a natural propension and genius inclining them thereto , or those who by reason of the strength and greatness of their parts , are able to compass and comprehend the whole latitude of learning . neither yet need those who are designed to divinity it self , fear to look into these studies , or think they will engross their whole time , and that no considerable progress can be made therein , unless men lay aside and neglect their ordinary callings , and necessary employments . no such matter . our life is long enough , and we might find time enough , did we husband it well : vitam non accepimus brevem sed fecimus , nec inopes ejus , sed prodigi sumus , as seneca saith . and did but young men fill up that time with these studies , which lies upon their hands , which they are incumbred with , and troubled how to pass away , much might be done even so . i do not see but the study of true physiology , may be justly accounted a proper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or preparative to divinity . but to leave that , it is a generally received opinion , that all this visible world was created for man ; that man is the end of the creation , as if there were no other end of any creature , but some way or other to be serviceable to man. this opinion is as old as tully , for saith he , in his second book , de nat. deorum . principio ipse mundus deorum hominumque causâ factus est ; quaeque in eo sunt omnia ea parata ad fructum hominum & inventa sunt . but though this be vulgarly received , yet wise men now adays think otherwise . dr. * more affirms , that creatures are made to enjoy themselves , as well as to serve us , and that it 's a gross piece of ignorance and rusticity to think otherwise . and in another place , this comes only out of pride and ignorance or a haughty presumption , because we are encouraged to believe , that in some sence , all things are made for man , therefore to think that they are not at all made for themselves . but he that pronounceth this , is ignorant of the nature of man , and the knowledge of things . for if a good man be merciful to his beast , then surely , a good god is bountiful and benign , and takes pleasure that all his creatures enjoy themselves that have life and sense , and are capable of enjoyment . for my part , i cannot believe that all the things in the world were so made for man , that they have no other use . for it is highly absurd and unreasonable , to think that bodies of such vast magnitude as the fixt stars , were only made to twinkle to us ; nay , a multitude of them there are , that do not so much as twinkle , being either by reason of their distance or of their smalness , altogether invisible to the naked eye , and only discoverable by a telescope , and it is likely perfecter telescopes than we yet have , may bring to light many more ; and who knows , how many may lie out of the ken of the best telescope that can possibly be made . and i believe there are many species in nature , which were never yet taken notice of by man , and consequently of no use to him , which yet we are not to think were created in vain ; but it 's likely ( as the doctor saith ) to partake of the overflowing goodness of the creator , and enjoy their own beings . but though in this sence it be not true , that all things were made for man ; yet thus far it is , that all the creatures in the world may be some way or other useful to us , at least to exercise our wits and understandings , in considering and contemplating of them , and so afford us subject of admiring and glorifying their and our maker . seeing then , we do believe and assert that all things were in some sence made for us , we are thereby obliged to make use of them for those purposes for which they serve us , else we frustrate this end of their creation . now some of them serve only to exercise our minds : many others there be , which might probably serve us to good purpose , whose uses are not discovered , nor are they ever like to be , without pains and industry . true it is , many of the greatest inventions have been accidentally stumbled upon , but not by men supine and careless , but busie and inquisitive . some reproach methinks it is to learned men , that there should be so many animals still in the world , whose outward shape is not yet taken notice of , or described , much less their way of generation , food , manners , uses , observed . if man ought to reflect upon his creator the glory of all his works , then ought he to take notice of them all , and not to think any thing unworthy of his cognizance . and truly the wisdom , art and power of almighty god , shines forth as visibly in the structure of the body of the minutest insect , as in that of a horse or elephant : therefore god is said to be , maximus in minimis . we men , esteeming it a more difficult matter , and of greater art and curiosity to frame a small watch , than a large clock : and no man blames him who spent his whole time in the consideration of the nature and works of a bee , or thinks his subject was too narrow . let us not then esteem any thing contemptible or inconsiderable , or below our notice taking ; for this is to derogate from the wisdom and art of the creator , and to confess our selves unworthy of those endowments of knowledge and understanding which he hath bestowed on us . do we praise daedalus , and architas , and hero , and callicrates , and albertus magnus , and many others which i might mention , for their cunning in inventing , and dexterity in framing and composing a few dead engines or movements : and shall we not admire and magnifie the great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , former of the world , who hath made so many , yea i may say innumerable , rare pieces , and those too not dead ones , such as cease presently to move so soon as the spring is down , but all living , and themselves performing their own motions , and those so intricate , and various , and requiring such a multitude of parts and subordinate machins , that it is incomprehensible , what art , and skill , and industry , must be employed in the framing of one of them . but it may be objected , that god almighty was not so selfish and desirous of glory , as to make the world and all the creatures therein , only for his own honour , and to be praised by man. to assert this , were in des cartes his opinion , an absurd and childish thing , and a resembling of god to proud man. it is more worthy the deity to attribute the creation of the world to the exundation and overflowing of his transcendent and infinite goodness , which is of its own nature and in the very notion of it most free , diffusive , and communicative . to this i shall answer in two words . first , the testimony of scripture makes god in all his actions to intend and design his own glory mainly . prov. 16. 4. god made all things for himself . how , for himself ? he had no need of them : he hath no use of them . no , he made them for the manifestation of his power , wisdom , and goodness , and that he might receive from the creatures that were able to take notice thereof his tribute of praise . psal. 50. 14. offer unto god thanksgiving . and in the next verse , i will deliver thee , and thou shalt glorifie me . and again in the last verse , whoso offereth praise glorifieth me . so praise is called a sacrifice , and the calves of the lips , hosea 14. 2. esay 42. 8. i am the lord , that is my name , and my glory will i not give to another . esay 48. 11. and i will not give my glory to another . and to me it seems , that where the heavens and earth , and sun , and moon , and stars , and all other creatures are called upon to praise the lord ; the meaning and intention is , to invite and stir up man to take notice of all those creatures , and to admire and praise the power , wisdom and goodness of god manifested in the creation and designations of them . secondly , it is most reasonable that god almighty should intend his own glory . for he being infinite in all excellencies and perfections , and independent upon any other being ; nothing can be said or thought of him too great , and which he may not justly challenge as his due ; nay , he cannot think too highly of himself , his other attributes being adequate to his understanding ; so that , though his understanding be infinite , yet he understands no more than his power can effect , because that is infinite also . and therefore it is fit and reasonable , that he should own and accept the creatures acknowledgments and celebrations of those vertues and perfections , which he hath not received of any other , but possesseth eternally and originally of himself . and indeed , ( with reverence be it spoken , ) what else can we imagine the ever blessed deity to delight and take complacency in for ever , but his own infinite excellencies and perfections , and the manifestations and effects of them , the works of the creation , and the sacrifices of praise and thanks offered up by such of his creatures as are capable of considering those works , and discerning the traces and footsteps of his power and wisdom appearing in the formation of them , and moreover , whose bounden duty it is so to do . the reason why man ought not to admire himself , or seek his own glory , is , because he is a dependent creature , and hath nothing but what he hath received , and not only dependent , but imperfect ; yea , weak and impotent . and yet do i not take humility in man to consist in disowning or denying any gift or ability that is in him , but in a just valuation of such gifts and endowments , yet rather thinking too meanly than too highly of them ; because humane nature is so apt to err in running into the other extreme , to flatter it self , and to accept those praises that are not due to it ; pride being an elation of spirit upon false grounds , or a desire or acceptance of undue honour . otherwise , i do not see why a man may not admit and accept the testimonies of others concerning any perfection , accomplishment or skill that he is really possessed of : yet can he not think himself to deserve any great praise or honour for it , because both the power and the habit are the gift of god : and considering that one vertue is counter-balanced by many vices ; and one skill or perfection , with much ignorance and infirmity . i proceed now to select some particular pieces of the creation , and to consider them more distinctly . they shall be only two . 1. the whole body of the earth . 2. the body of man. first the body of the earth , and therein i shall take notice of 1. it s figure . 2. it s motion . 3. the constitution of its parts . by earth i here understand not the dry land , or the earth contradistinguished to water , or the earth considered as an element : but the whole terraqueous globe composed of earth and water . 1. for the figure , i could easily demonstrate it to be spherical . that the water , which by reason of its fluidity should , one would think , compose it self to a level , yet doth not so , but hath a gibbose superficies , may to the eye be demonstrated upon the sea. for when two ships sailing contrary ways lose the sight one of another : first the keel and hull disappear , afterward the sails , and if when upon deck you have perfectly lost sight of all , you get up the top of the main-mast you may descry it again . now what should take away the sight of these ships from each other but the gibbosity of the interjacent water ? the roundness of the earth from north to south is demonstrated from the appearance of northern stars above the horizon , and loss of the southern to them that travel northward ; and on the contrary the loss of the northern and appearance of the southern to them that travel southward . for were the earth a plain we should see exactly the fame stars wherever we were placed on that plain . the roundness from east to west is demonstrated from eclipses of either of the great luminaries . for why the same eclipse , suppose of the sun , which is seen to them that live more easterly , when the sun is elevated 6 degrees above the horizon , should be seen to them that live one degree more westernly when the sun is but five degrees above the horizon , and so lower and lower proportionably to them that live more and more westernly , till at last it appear not at all , no accompt can be given but the globosity of the earth . for were the earth a perfect plain , the sun would appear eclipsed to all that live upon that plain , if not exactly in the same elevation , yet pretty near it ; but to be sure it would never appear to some , the sun being elevated high above the horizon ; and not at all to others . it being clear then that the figure of the earth is spherical , let us consider the conveniences of this figure . 1. no figure is so capacious as this , and consequently whose parts are so well compacted and united , and lie so near one to another for mutual strength . now the earth , which is the basis of all animals , and as some think of the whole creation , ought to be firm , and stable , and solid , and as much as is possible secured from all ruins and concussions . 2. this figure is most consonant and agreeable to the natural natus or tendency of all heavy bodies . now the earth being such a one , and all its parts having an equal propension or connivency to the center , they must needs be in greatest rest , and most immoveable when they are all equidistant from it . whereas were it an angular body , all the angles would be vast and steep mountains , bearing a considerable proportion to the whole bulk , and therefore those parts being extremely more remote from the center , than those about the middle of the plains , would consequently press very strongly thitherward ; and unless the earth were made of adamant or marble , in time the other parts would give way , till all were levelled . 3. were the earth an angular body and not round , all the whole earth would be nothing else but vast mountains , and so incommodious for animals to live upon . for the middle point of every side would be nearer the center than any other , and consequently from that point which way soever one travelled would be up hill , the tendency of all heavy bodies being perpendicularly to the center . besides how much this would obstruct commerce is easily seen . for not only the declivity of all places would render them very difficult to be travelled over , but likewise the midst of every side being lowest and nearest the center , if there were any rain or any rivers , must needs be filled with a lake of water , there being no way to discharge it , and possibly the water would rise so high as to overflow the whole latus . but surely there would be much more danger of the inundation of whole countries than now there is : all the waters falling upon the earth , by reason of its declivity every way , easily descending down to the common receptacle the sea. and these lakes of water being far distant one from another , there could be no commerce between far remote countries but by land. 4. a spherical figure is most commodious for dinetical motion or revolution upon its own axis . for in that neither oan the medium at all resist the motion of the body , because it stands not in its way , no part coming into any space but what the precedent left , neither doth one part of the superficies move faster than another : whereas were it angular , the parts about the angles would find strong resistance from the air , and those parts also about the angles would move much faster than those about the middle of the plains , being remoter from the center than they . it remains therefore that this figure is the most commodious for motion . here i cannot but take notice of the folly and stupidity of the epicureans , who fancied the earth to be flat and contiguous to the heavens on all sides , and that it descended a great way with long roots ; and that the sun was new made every morning , and not much bigger than it seems to the eye , and of a flat figure , and many other such gross absurdities as children among us would be ashamed of . secondly , i come now to speak of the motion of the earth . that the earth ( speaking according to philosophical accurateness ) doth move both upon its own poles , and in the ecliptick , is now the received opinion of the most learned and skilful mathematicians . to prove the diurnal motion of it upon its poles , i need produce no other arguments than , first , the vast disproportion in respect of magnitude that is between the earth and the heavens , and the great unlikelyhood , that such an infinite number of vast bodies should move about so inconsiderable a spot as the earth , which in comparison with them by the concurrent suffrages of mathematicians of both perswasions , is a mere point , that is , next to nothing . secondly , the immense and incredible celerity of the motion of the heavenly bodies in the ancient hypothesis ; of its annual motion in the ecliptick , the stations and retrogradations of the superior planets are a convincing argument , there being a clear and facile account thereof to be given from the mere motion of the earth in the ecliptick ; whereas in the old hypothesis no account can be given thereof , but by the unreasonable . fiction of epicycles and contrary motions ; add hereto the great unlikelyhood of such an enormous epicycle as venus must describe about the sun , not under the sun as the old astronomers fancied ; so that whosoever doth clearly understand both hypotheses , cannot , i perswade my self , adhere to the old and reject the new , without doing some violence to his faculties . against this opinion lie two objections , first , that it is contrary to sense , and the common opinion and belief of mankind . secondly , that it seemeth contrary to some expressions in scripture . to the first i answer , that our senses are sometimes mistaken , and what appears to them is not always in reality so as it appears . for example , the sun or moon appear no bigger at most , than a cart-wheel , and of a flat figure . the earth seems to be plain ; the heavens to cover it like a canopy , and to be contiguous to it round about : a fire-brand nimbly moved round , appears like a circle of fire ; and to give a parallel instance , a boat lying still at anchor in a river to him that sails or rows by it , seems to move apace : and when the clouds pass nimbly under the moon , the moon it self seems to move the contrary way . and there have been whole books written in confutation of vulgar errours . secondly , as to the scripture , when speaking of these things it accommodates it self to the common and received opinions , and employs the usual phrases and forms of speech , ( as all wise men also do , though in strictness , they be of a different or contrary opinion , ) without intention of delivering any thing doctrinally concerning these points , or confuting the contrary : and yet by those that maintain the opinion of the earths motion there might a convenient interpretation be given of such places as seem to contradict it . howbeit , because some pious persons may be offended at such an opinion , as savouring of novelty , thinking it inconsistent with divine revelation , i shall not positively assert it , only propose it as an hypothesis not altogether improbable . supposing then , that the earth doth move , both upon its own poles , and in the ecliptick about the sun , i shall shew how admirably its situation and motion are contrived for the conveniency of man and other animals : which i cannot do more fully and clearly than dr. more hath already done in his antidote against atheism , whose words therefore i shall borrow . first , speaking of the parallelism of the axis of the earth he saith , i demand whether it be better to have the axis of the earth steady and perpetually parallel to it self , or to have it carelesly tumble this way and that way as it happens , or at least very variously and intricately : and you cannot but answer me , it is better to have it steady and parallel . for in this lies the necessary foundation of the art of navigation and dialling . for that steady stream of particles , which is supposed to keep the axis of the earth parallel to its self , affords the mariner both his cynosura and his compass . the load-stone and the load-star depend both upon this . the load-stone as i could demonstrate , were it not too great a digression ; and the load-star , because that which keeps the axis parallel to its self , makes each of the poles constantly respect such a point in the heavens ; as for example , the north-pole to point almost directly to that which we call the pole-star . and besides , dialling could not be at all without this steadiness of the axis . but both these arts are pleasant , and one especially of mighty importance to mankind . for thus there is an orderly measuring of our time for affairs at home , and an opportunity of traffick abroad with the most remote nations of the world , and so there is a mutual supply of the several commodities of all countries , besides the enlarging our understandings by so ample experience we get both of men and things . wherefore if we were rationally to consult , whether the axis of the earth were better be held steady and parallel to it self , or left at random , we would conclude it ought to be steady , and so we find it de facto , though the earth move floating in the liquid heavens . so that appealing to our own faculties we are to affirm , that the constant direction of the axis of the earth was established by a principle of wisdom and counsel . again , there being several postures of this steady direction of the axis of the earth . viz. either perpendicular to a plain , going through the center of the sun , or coincident , or inclining , i demand which of all these reason and knowledge would make choice of . not of a perpendicular posture . for so both the pleasant variety and great convenience of summer and winter , spring and autumn would be lost , and for want of accession of the sun , these parts of the earth , which now bring forth fruits , and are habitable , would be in an incapacity of ever bringing forth any , and consequently could entertain no inhabitants , and those parts that the full heat of the sun could reach , he plying them always alike without any annual recession or intermission , would at last grow tired or exhausted , or be wholly dried up and want moisture , the sun dissipating and casting off the clouds northwards and southwards . besides , we observe that an orderly vicissitude of things , doth much more gratifie the contemplative property in man. and now in the second place , neither would reason make choice of a coincident position . for if the axis thus lay in a plain that goeth through the center of the sun , the ecliptick would like a colure or one of the meridians , pass through the poles of the earth , which would put the inhabitants of the world , into a pitiful condition . for they that escape best in the temperate zone would be accloyed with long nights very tedious , no less than forty days , and those that now never have their night above twenty four hours , as friesland island , the furthest parts of russia and norway would be deprived of the sun , above a hundred and thirty days together . our selves in england and the rest of the same clime would be closed up in darkness no less than a hundred or eighty days : and so proportionably of the rest both in and out of the temperate zones . and as for summer and winter , though those vicissitudes would be , yet it could not but cause raging diseases , to have the sun stay so long , describing his little circles so near the poles , and lying so hot on the inhabitants , that had been in so long extremity of darkness and cold before . it remains therefore , that the posture of the axis of the earth be inclining not perpendicular nor coincident to the fore-mentioned plain . and verily , it is not only inclining , but in so fit a proportion , that there can be no fitter imagined to make it to the utmost capacity as well pleasant as habitable . for though the course of the sun be curbed between the tropicks , yet are not those parts directly subject to his perpendicular beams , either unhabitable or extremely hot , as the ancients fansied : by the testimony of travellers , and particularly sir walter ralegh , the parts under and near the line , being as fruitful and pleasant , and fit to make a paradise of , as any in the world. and that they are as suitable to the nature of man , and as convenient to live in , appears from the longaevity of the natives ; as for instance , the aethiopes called by the ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but especially the brasilians in america , the ordinary term of whose life is a hundred years , as is set down by piso a learned physitian of holland , who travelled thither on purpose to augment natural knowledge , but especially what related to physick . and reasonable it is , that this should be so , for neither doth the sun lie long upon them , their day being but twelve hours , and their night as long , to cool and refresh them ; and besides , they have frequent showers , and constant breezes or fresh gales of wind from the east . seeing then , this best posture which our reason could make choice of , we see really established in nature , we cannot but acknowledge it to be the issue of wisdom , counsel and providence . moreover , a further argument to evince this is , that though it cannot but be acknowledged , that if the axis of the earth were perpendicular to the plain of the ecliptick , her motion would be more easie and natural , yet notwithstanding for the conveniencies forementioned , we see it is made in an inclining posture . if any man shall object and say , it would be more convenient for the inhabitants of the earth , if the tropicks stood at a greater distance , and the sun moved further northward and southward , for so the north and south parts would be relieved , and not exposed to so extreme cold , and thereby rendred unhabitable as now they are . to this i answer , that this would be more inconvenient to the inhabitants of the earth in general , and yet would afford the north and south parts but little more comfort . for then as much as the distances between the tropicks were enlarg'd , so much would also the artick and antartick circles be enlarg'd too ; and so we here in england , and so on northerly should not have that grateful and useful succession of day and night , but proportionably to the suns coming towards us , so would our days be of more than twenty four hours length , and according to his recess in winter our nights proportionable ; which how great an inconvenience it would be , is easily seen . whereas now the whole latitude of earth , which hath at any time above twenty four hours day , and twenty four hours night , is little and inconsiderable in comparison of the whole bulk , as lying near the poles . and yet neither is that part altogether unuseful , for in the waters there live fishes , which otherwhere are not obvious , so we know the chief whale-fishing is in greenland : and on the land , bears , and foxes , and deer , in the most northerly country , that was ever yet touched , and doubtless if we shall discover further to the very north-pole , we shall find all that tract not to be vain , useless or unoccupied . thirdly , the third and last thing i proposed , was the constitution and consistency of the parts of the earth . and first , admirable it is that the waters should be gathered together into such great conceptacula , and the dry land appear , and though we had not been assured thereof by divine revelation , we could not in reason , but have thought such a division and separation , to have been the work of omnipotency and infinite wisdom and goodness . for in this condition the water nourishes and maintains innumerable multitudes of various kinds of fishes : and the dry land supports and feeds as great varieties of plants and animals , which have there firm footing and habitation . whereas had all been earth , all the species of fishes had been lost , and all those commodities which the water affords us ; or all water , there had been no living for plants or terrestrial animals , or man himself , and all the beauty , glory , and variety of this inferiour world had been gone , nothing being to be seen , but one uniform dark body of water : or had all been mixt and made up of water and earth into one body of mud or mire , as one would think , should be most natural : for why such a separation as at present we find should be made , no account can be given , but providence . i say , had all this globe been mire or mud , then could there have been no possibility for any animals at all to have lived , excepting some few , and those very dull and inferiour ones too . that therefore the earth should be made thus , and not only so , but with so great variety of parts , as mountains , plains , vallies , sand , gravel , lime , stone , clay , marble , argilla , &c. which are so delectable and pleasant , and likewise so useful and convenient for the breeding and living of various plants and animals ; some affecting mountains , some plains , some vallies , some watery places , some shade , some sun , some clay , some sand , some gravel , &c. that the earth should be so figured as to have mountains in the mid-land parts , abounding with springs of water pouring down streams and rivers for the necessities and conveniencies of the inhabitants of the lower countries ; and that the levels and plains should be formed with so easie a declivity as to cast off the water , and yet not render travelling or tillage very difficult or laborious . these things i say , must needs be the result of counsel , wisdom , and design . especially when ( as i said before ) not that way which seems more facile and obvious to chance is chosen , but that which is more difficult and hard to be traced , when it is most convenient and proper for those nobler ends and designs , which were intended by its wise creator and governor . add to all this , that the whole dry land is for the most part , covered over with a lovely carpet of green grass and other herbs , of a colour , not only most grateful and agreeable , but most useful and salutary to the eye : and this also decked and adorned with great variety of flowers of beautiful colours and figures , and of most pleasant and fragrant odours for the refreshment of our spirits and our innocent delight . a second particular i have made choice of , more exactly to survey and consider , is the body of man : wherein i shall endeavour to discover something of the wisdom and goodness of god. first , by making some general observations concerning the body . secondly , by running over and discoursing upon its principal parts and members . 1. then in general i say , the wisdom and goodness of god appears in the erect posture of the body of man , which is a priviledge and advantage given to man , above other animals . but though this be so , yet i would not have you think , that all the particulars i shall mention , are proper only to the body of man , divers of them agreeing to many other creatures . it is not my business to consider only the prerogatives of man above other animals , but the endowments and perfections which nature hath conferred on his body though common to them with him . of this erection of the body of man , the ancients have taken notice as a particular gift and favour of god. ovid. metam . 1. pronáque cùm spectent animalia caetera terrā , os hominum sublime dedit , coelúmque tueri jussit , & erectos ad sydera tollere vultus . and before him , tully in his second book de nat. deorum . ad hanc providentiam naturae tam diligentem támque solertem adjungi multa possunt , è quibus intelligatur quantae res hominibus à deo , quámque eximiae tributae sunt , qui primùm eos humo excitatos , celsos & erectos constituit , ut deorum cognitionem coelum intuentes capere possent . sunt enim è terra homines , non ut incolae atque habitatores , sed quasi spectatores superarum rerum atque coelestium , quarum spectaculum ad nullum aliud genus animantium pertinet . man being the only creature in this sublunary world , made to contemplate heaven , it was convenient that he should have such a figure or situs of the parts of his body , that he might conveniently look upwards . but to say the truth in this respect of contemplating the heavens or looking upwards , i do not see what advantage a man hath by this erection above other animals , the faces of most of them being more supine than ours , which are only perpendicular to the horizon , whereas some of theirs stand reclining . but yet two or three other advantages we have of this erection , which i shall here mention . first , it is more commodious for the sustaining of the head , which being full of brains and very heavy ( the brain in man being far larger in proportion to the bulk of his body , than in any other animal ) would have been very painful and wearisome to carry , if the neck had lain parallel or inclining to the horizon . secondly , this figure is most convenient for prospect and looking about one . a man may see further before him , which is no small advantage for avoiding dangers , and discovering whatever he searches after . thirdly , the conveniency of this site of our bodies will more clearly appear , if we consider what a pitiful condition we had been in , if we had been constantly necessitated to stand and walk upon all four , man being by the make of his body , of all quadrupeds ( for now i must compare him with them ) the most unfit for that kind of incessus , as i shall shew anon . and besides that we should have wanted , at least in a great measure , the use of our hand , that unvaluable instrument , without which we had wanted most of those advantages we enjoy as reasonable creatures , as i shall more particularly demonstrate afterwards . but it may be perchance objected by some , that nature did not intend this erection of the body , but that it is superinduced and artificial ; for that children at first creep on all four , according to that of the poet. mox quadrupes , ritúque tulit sua membra ferarum . ovid. to which i answer , that there is so great an inequality in the length of our legs and arms , as would make it extremely inconvenient , if not impossible , for us to walk upon all four , and set us almost upon our heads ; and therefore we see that children do not creep upon their hands and feet , but upon their hands and knees ; so that it is plain that nature intended us to walk as we do , and not upon all four. 2. i argue from the situs or position of our faces ; for had we been to walk upon all four we had been the most prone of all animals , our faces being parallel to the horizon and looking directly downwards . 3. the greatness and strength of the muscles of the thighs and legs above those of the arms , is a clear indication , that they were by nature intended for a more difficult and laborious action , even the moving and transferring the whole body , and that motion to be sometimes continued for a great while together . as for that argument taken from the contrary flexure of the joynts of our arms and legs to that of quadrupeds ; as that our knees bend forward , whereas the same joynt of their hind legs bends backward ; and that our arms bend backward , whereas the knees of their fore legs bend forward . although the observation be as old as aristotle , because i think there is a mistake in it , in not comparing the same joynts ( for the first or uppermost joynt in a quadrupeds hind legs bends forward as well as a mans knees , which answer to it being the uppermost joynt of our legs ; and the like mutatis mutandis may be said of the arms ) i shall not insist upon it . ii. the body of man may thence be proved to be the effect of wisdom , because there is nothing in it deficient , nothing superfluous , nothing but hath its end and use ; so true are those maximes we have already made use of , natura nihil facit frustra , and natura non abundat in superfluis , nec deficit in necessariis , no part that we can well spare . the eye cannot say to the hand i have no need of thee , nor the head to the feet i have no need of you . 1. cor. 12. 21. that i may usurp the apostles similitude . the belly cannot quarrel with the members , nor they with the belly for her seeming sloth ; as they provide meat for her , so she concocts and distributes it to them . only it may be doubted to what use the paps in men should serve . i answer partly for ornament , partly for a kind of conformity between the sexes , and partly to defend and cherish the heart ; in some they contain milk , as in a danish family we read of in bartholines anatomical observations . however it follows not that they or any other parts of the body are useless because we are ignorant . had we been born with a large wen upon our faces , or a bavarian poke under our chins , or a great bunch upon our backs like camels , or any the like superfluous excrescency , which should be not only useless but troublesome , not only stand us in no stead but also be ill favoured to behold , and burthensom to carry about , then we might have had some pretence to doubt whether an intelligent and bountiful creator had been our architect ; for had the body been made by chance it must in all likelyhood have had many of these superfluous and unnecessary parts . but now seeing there is none of our members but hath its place and use , none that we could spare or conveniently live without , were it but those we account excrements , the hair of our heads , or the nails on our fingers ends ; we must needs be mad or sottish if we can conceive any other than that an infinitely good and wise god was our author and former . iii. we may fetch an argument of the wisdom and providence of god from the convenient situation and disposition of the parts and members of our bodies : they are seated most conveniently for use , for ornament , and for mutual assistance . first , for use ; so we see the senses of such eminent use for our well-being , situate in the head , as sentinels in a watch-tower , to receive and conveigh to the soul the impressions of external objects . sensus autem interpretes ac nuntii rerum in capite tanquam in arce mirificè ad usus necessarios & facti & collati sunt . cic. de nat. deorum . the eye can more easily see things at a distance , the ear receive sounds from afar : how could the eye have been better placed either for beauty and ornament , or for the guidance and direction of the whole body . as cicero proceeds well , nam oculi tanquam speculatores altissimum locum obtinent , ex quo plurima conspicientes funguntur suo munere : et aures quoe sonum recipere debent , qui naturâ in sublime fertur , rectè in altis corporum partibus collocatae sunt ; itemque nares , eò quò omnis odor ad superiora fertur , rectè sursum sunt . for the eyes like sentinels occupy the highest place , from whence seeing many things they perform their functions : and the ears , which are made for the reception of sounds , which naturally are carried upwards , are rightly placed in the uppermost parts of the body ; also the nostrils , because all odors ascend , are fitly situate in the superior parts . i might instance in the other members . how could the hands have been more conveniently placed for all sorts of exercises and works , and for the guard and security of the head and principal parts ? the heart to dispense life and heat to the whole body , viz. near the center , and yet because it is harder for the blood to ascend than descend , somewhat nearer the head. it is also observable that the sinks of the body are removed as far from the nose and eyes as may be ; which cicero takes notice of in the forementioned place . ut in aedificiis architecti avertunt ab oculis & naribus dominorum ea quae profluentia necessariò essent tetri aliquid habitura , sic natura res similes procul amandavit à sensibus . secondly , for ornament . what could have been better contrived than that those members which are pairs , should stand by one another in equal altitude , and answer on each side one to another . and thirdly , for mutual assistance . we have before shewed how the eye stands most conveniently for guiding the hand , and the hand for defending the eye ; and the like might be said of the other parts , they are so situaté as to afford direction and help one to another . this will appear more clearly if we imagine any of the members situate in contrary places or positions : had a mans arms been fitted only to bend backwards behind him , or his legs only to move backwards ; what direction could his eyes then have afforded him in working or walking ? or how could he then have fed himself ? nay had one arm been made to bend forward and the other directly backward , we had then lost half the use of them , sith they could not have assisted one the other in any action . take the eyes or any other of the organs of sense , and see if you can find any so convenient a seat for them in the whole body as that they now possess . fourthly , from the ample provision that is made for the defence and security of the principal parts : those are , 1. the heart ; which is the fountain of life and vegetation , officina spirituum vitalium , principium & fons caloris nativi , lucerna humidi radicalis , and that i may speak with the chymists , ipse sol microcosmi , the very sun of the microcosme or little world , in which is contained that vital flame or heavenly fire , which prometheus is fabled to have stole from jupiter : or as aristotle phrases it , that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , divinum quid respondens elemento stellarum . this for more security is situate in the center of the trunk of the body , covered first with its own membrane called pericardium , lodged within the soft bed of the lungs , encompassed round with a double fence , ( 1. ) of firm bones or ribs to bear off blows . ( 2. ) of thick muscles and skin , besides the arms conveniently placed to fence off any violence at a distance , before it can approach to hurt it . 2. the brain , which is the principle of all sense and motion , the fountain of the animal spirits , the chief seat and palace royal of the soul ; upon whose security depends whatever privilege belongs to us as sensitive or rational creatures . this , i say , being the prime and immediate organ of the soul , from the right constitution whereof proceeds the quickness of apprehension , acuteness of wit , solidity of judgment , method and order of invention , strength and power of memory ; which if once weakened and disordered , there follows nothing but confusion and disturbance in our apprehensions , thoughts and judgments , is environed round about with such a potent defence , that it must be amighty force indeed that is able to injure it . first , a skull so hard , thick , and tough , that it is almost as easie to split a helmet of iron as to make a fracture in it . 2. this covered with skin and hair , which serve to keep it warm being naturally a very cold part , and also to quench and dissipate the force of any stroke that shall be dealt it , and retund the edge of any weapon . 3. and yet more than all this there is still a thick and tough membrane which hangs looser about it , and doth not so closely embrace it ( that they call dura mater ) and in case the skull happens to be broken doth often preserve it from injury and diminution : and lastly , a thin and fine membrane strait and closely adhering to keep it from quashing and shaking . i might instance ( 3. ) in the lungs , which are so useful to us as to life and sense , that the vulgar think our breath is our very life , and that we breath out our souls from thence . suteable to which notion both anima and spiritus in latine , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in greek are derived from words that signifie breath and wind : and efflare or exhalare animam signifies to die. and the old romans used to apply mouth to mouth , and receive the last gasps of their dying friends , as if their souls had come out that way . from hence perhaps might first spring that opinion of the vehicles of spirits ; the vulgar , as i hinted before , conceiving that the breath was , if not the soul itself , yet that wherein it was wafted and carried away . these lungs , i say , are for their bettter security and defence shut up in the same cavity with the heart . fourthly , in the abundant provision that is made against evil accidents and inconveniencies . and the liberality of nature as to this particular appears 1. in that she hath given many members , which are of eminent use by pairs , as two eyes , two ears , two nostrils , two hands , two feet , two breasts , [ mammae ] two reins : that so if by any cross or unhappy accident one should be disabled or rendred useless , the other might serve us tolerably well , whereas had a man but one hand , or one eye , &c. if that were gone , all were gone , and we left in evil case . see then and acknowledg the benignity of the deity , who hath bestowed upon us two hands , and two eyes , and other the like parts not only for our necessity but conveniency , so long as we enjoy them : and for our security in case any mischance deprive us of one of them . 2. in that all the vessels of the body have many ramifications : which particular branches , though they serve mainly for one member or muscle , yet send forth some twigs to the neighbouring muscles ; and so interchangeably the branches that serve these , send to them : so that if one branch chance to be cut off or obstructed , its defect may in some measure be supplied by the twigs that come from the neighbouring vessels . 3. in that she hath provided so many ways to evacuate what might be hurtful to us or breed diseases in our bodies . if any thing oppress the head it hath a power to free itself by sneezing : if any thing fall into the lungs , or if any humor be discharged upon them , they have a faculty of clearing themselves and casting it up by coughing : if any thing clog or burden the stomach , it hath an ability of contracting itself and throwing it up by vomit . besides these ways of evacuation there are siege , urine , sweating haemorrhagies from the nose and haemorrhoidal veins , fluxes of rheum . now the reason why nature hath provided so many ways of evacuation is because of the different humors that are to be avoided or cast out . when therefore there is a secretion made of any noxious humor , it is carried off by that emunctory whose pores are fitted to receive and transmit the minute parts of it ; if at least this separation be made by percolation , as we will now suppose , but not assert . yet i doubt not but the same humor may be cast off by divers emunctories , as is clear in urine and sweat which are for the main the same humor carried off several ways . fifthly , from the constancy that is observed in the number , figure , place , and make of all the principal parts ; and from the variety in the less . man is always mending and altering his works : but nature observes the same tenour , because her works are so perfect that there is no place for amendments ; nothing that can be reprehended . the sagacious men in so many ages have not been able to find any flaw in these divinely contrived and formed machins , no blot or errour in this great volume of the world , as if any thing had been an imperfect essay at the first , to use the bishop of chesters words : nothing that can be altered for the better ; nothing but if it were altered would be marred . this could not have been , had mans body been the work of chance and not counsel and providence . why should there be constantly the same parts ? why should they retain constantly the same places ? why should they be endued with the same shape and figure ? nothing so contrary as constancy and chance . should i see a man throw the same number a thousand times together upon but three dice , could you perswade me that this were accidental and that there was no necessary cause of it ? how much more incredible then is it that constancy in such a variety , such a multiplicity of parts should be the result of chance ? neither yet can these works be the effects of necessity or fate , for then there would be the same constancy observed in the smaller as well as the larger parts and vessels ; whereas there we see nature doth ludere , as it were , sport itself , the minute ramifications of all the vessels , veins , arteries , and nerves infinitely varying in individuals of the same species , so that they are not in any two alike . sixthly , the great wisdom of the divine creator appears in that there is pleasure annexed to those actions that are necessary for the support and preservation of the individuum , and the continuation and propagation of the species ; and not only so , but pain to the neglect or forbearance of them . for the support of the person it hath annexed pleasure to eating and drinking : which else out of laziness or multiplicity of business a man would be apt to neglect , or sometime forget . indeed to be obliged to chew and swallow meat daily for two hours space , and to find no relish nor pleasure in it , would be one of the most burthensome and ungrateful tasks of a mans whole life . but because this action is absolutely necessary , for abundant security nature hath inserted in us a painful sense of hunger to put us in mind of it , and to reward our performance hath adjoined pleasure to it . and as for the continuation of kind , i need not tell you that the enjoyments which attend those actions are the highest gratifications of sense . seventhly , the wonderful art and providence of the contriver and former of our bodies appears in the multitude of intentions he must have in the formation of the several parts , or the qualifications they require to fit them for their several uses . * galen in his book de formatione faetus , takes notice that there are in a humane body above 600. several muscles , and there are at least ten several intentions or due qualifications to be observed in each of these ; proper figure , just magnitude , right disposition of its several ends , upper and lower , position of the whole , the insertion of its proper nerves , veins , and arteries , which are each of them to be duly placed ; so that about the muscles alone no less than 6000 several ends or aims are to be attended to . the bones are reckoned to be 284. the distinct scopes or intentions in each of these are above 40 , in all about 100000. and thus is it in some proportion with all the other parts , the skin , ligaments , vessels , glandules , humors : but more especially with the several members of the body , which do in regard of the great variety and multitude of those several intentions required to them , very much exceed the homogeneous parts . and the failing in any one of these would cause irregularity in the body , and in many of them such as would be very notorious . now to imagine that such a machine composed of so many parts , to the right form , order and motion whereof such an infinite number of intentions are required , could be made without the contrivance of some wise agent , must needs be irrational in the highest degree . eighthly , some fetch an argument of providence from the variety of lineaments in the faces of men , which is such , that there are not two faces in the world absolutely alike ; which is somewhat strange , since all the parts are in specie the same . were nature a blind architect , i see not but the faces of some men might be as like as eggs laid by the same hen , or bullets cast in the same mould , or drops of water out of the same bucket . this particular i find taken notice of by pliny in his 7. book , cap. 1. in these words , jam in facie vultuque nostro , cum sint decem aut paulò plura membra , nullas duas in tot millibus hominum indiscretas effigies existere , quod ars nulla in paucis numero praestet affectando ; to which among other things he thus prefaces , naturae verò rerum vis atque majestas in omnibus momentis fide caret . though this at first may seem to be a matter of small moment , yet if duly considered , it will appear to be of mighty importance in all human affairs : for should there be an undiscernable similitude between divers men , what confusion and disturbance would necessarily follow ? what uncertainty in all sales and conveyances , in all bargains and contracts ? what frauds and cheats and suborning of witnesses ? what a subversion of all trade and commerce ? what hazard in all judicial proceedings ? in all assaults and batteries , in all murthers and assassinations , in thefts and robberies , what security would there be to malefactors ? who could swear that such and such were the persons that committed the facts , though they saw them never so clearly ? many other inconveniences might be instanced in : so that we see this is no contemptible argument of the wisdom and goodness of god. i have done with my general observations . i proceed now more accurately and minutely to consider some particular parts or members of the body ; and first the head , because it was to contain a large brain made of the most capacious figure , as near as could be to a spherical ; upon this grows the hair , which though it be esteemed an excrement , is of great use ( as i shewed before ) to cherish and keep warm the brain , and to quench the force of any stroke that might otherwise endanger the skull . it serves also to disburthen the brain of a great deal of superfluous moisture , wherewith it abounds ; and for a graceful ornament to the face . secondly , another member which i shall more particularly treat of , is the eye , a part so artificially composed , and commodiously situate , as nothing can be contrived better for use , ornament or security ; nothing to advantage added thereto or altered therein . of the beauty of the eye i shall say little , leaving that to poets and orators ; that it is a very pleasant and lovely object to behold , if we consider the figure , colors and splendor of it , is the least that i can say . the soul as it is more immediately and strongly moved and affected by this part than any other ; so doth it manifest all its passions and perturbations by this . as the eyes are the windows to let in the species of all exterior objects into the dark cels of the brain , for the information of the soul ; so are they flaming torches to reveal to those abroad how the soul within is moved or affected . these repre sentations made by the impressions of external objects upon the eye are the most clear , lively and distinct of any others . now to this use and purpose of informing us what is abroad round about us in this aspectable world , we shall find the structure and mechanism of the eye , and every part thereof so well fitted and adapted , as not the least curiosity can be added . for first of all , all the humors and tunicles are purely transparent , to let in the light and colors unfolded and unsophisticated by any inward tincture . it is usually said by the peripateticks , that the crystalline humor of the eye ( which they ineptly fansied to be the immediate organ of vision wherein all the species of external objects were terminated ) is without all color , because its office was to discern all colors , or at least to receive the species of several colors , and convey them to the common sense . now if itself had been coloured , it would have transmitted all visible objects tinctured with the same color ; as we see whatever is beheld through a coloured glass appears of the same color with the glass , and to those that have the jaundice or the like suffusion of eyes , objects appear of that same color wherewith their eyes are infected . this they say is in a great measure true , although they are much mistaken about the organ and manner of vision , and the uses of the humors and membranes of the eye . two reasons therefore may be assigned why all the membranes and humors of the eye are perfectly pellucid and void of color . first , for the clearness . secondly , for the distinctness of vision . i. the clearness . for had the tunicles and humors of the eye , all or any of them been colorate , many of the rays proceeding from the visible object would have been stopt and suffocated before they could come to the bottom of the eye , where the formal organ of vision is situate . for it is a most certain rule , how much any body hath of colour , so much hath it of opacity , and by so much the more unfit is it to transmit the species . 2. for the distinctness of vision . for , as i said before and the peripateticks observe well , were the humours of the eye tinctured with any colour , they would refund that colour upon the object , and so it would not be represented to the soul as in itself it is . so we see that through a coloured glass things appear as well more dim and obscure , as tinctured with the colour thereof . secondly , the parts of the eye are made convex , and especially the crystalline humour , which is of a lenticular figure , convex on both sides , that by the refractions there made there might be a direction of many rays coming from one point in the object , viz. as many as the pupil can receive , to one point answerable in the bottom of the eye ; without which the sense would be very obscure and also confused . there would be as much difference in the clearness and distinction of vision , where the outward surface of the tunica cornea plain , and the crystalline humor removed ; as between the picture received on a white paper in a dark room through an open or empty hole , and the same received through a hole furnished with an exactly polished lenticular crystal ; which how great it is any one that hath but seen this experiment made , knows well enough . indeed this experiment doth very much explain the manner of vision ; the hole answering to the pupil of the eye , the crystalline humour to the lenticular glass , the dark room to the cavity containing the vitreous humour , and the white paper to the tunica retina . thirdly , the uveous coat or iris of the eye hath a musculous power , and can dilate and contract that round hole in it , called the pupil or sight of the eye . it contracts it for the excluding superfluous light , and preserving the eye from being injured by too vehement and lucid an object , and again dilate it for the apprehending objects more remote , or placed in a fainter light ; tam miro artificio ( saith scheiner ) quàm munifica naturae largitate . if any one desires to make experiment of these particulars , he may , following scheiner and des cartes their directions , take a child , and setting a candle before him bid him look upon it : and he shall observe his pupil to contract itself very much , to exclude the light , with the brightness whereof it would otherwise be dazled and offended ; as we are when after we have been some time in the dark a bright light is suddenly brought in and set before us , till the pupils of our eyes have gradually contracted themselves : let the candle be withdrawn , or removed aside , he shall observe the childs pupil by degrees to dilate itself . or let him take a bead or the like object , and holding it near the eye , command the child to look at it , the pupil will contract much when the object is near ; but let it be withdrawn to a greater distance in the same light , and he shall observe the pupil to be much enlarged . fourthly , the uveous coat , and also the inside of the choroides are blackened like the walls of a tennis court , that the rays may be there suffocated and suppressed , and not reflected backwards to confound the sight : and if any be by the retiform coat reflected , they are soon choaked in the black inside of the uvea . whereas were they reflected to and fro , there could be no distinct vision ; as we see the light admited into the dark room we even now spake of , obliterates the species which before were seen upon the white cloth or paper . fifthly , because the rays from a nearer and from a more remote object do not meet just in the same distance behind the crystalline humour ( as may easily be observed in lenticular glasses , where the point of concourse of the rays from a nearer object is at a greater distance behind the glass , and from a further at a lesser ) therefore the ciliary processes , or rather the ligaments observed in the inside of the sclerotick tunicle of the eye , by a late ingenious anatomist , do serve instead of a muscle , by their contraction to alter the figure of the eye , and make it broader , and consequently draw the retine nearer to the crystalline humour , and by their relaxation suffer it to return to its natural distance according to the exigency of the object , in respect of distance or propinquity : and besides possibly the ciliary processes may by their constriction or relaxation , render the crystalline itself more gibbose or plain ; and with the help of the muscles a little alter the figure of the whole eye , for the same reason . to what i have said might be added , that the retiform tunicle is whitish , for the better and more true reception of the species of things . that there being a distance necessarily required for the collection of the rays received by the pupil , viz. those that proceed from one point of the object to one point again in the bottom of the eye , the retine must needs be set at a distance from the crystalline humour : and therefore nature hath provided a large room , and filled it with the pellucid vitreous humour most fit for that purpose . i must not omit a notable observation concerning the place of the insertion of the optick nerve into the bulb of the eye , and the reason of it ; which i owe to that learned mathematician peter herigon , nervus opticus ( saith he in his optica ) ad latus ponitur , ne pars imaginis in ejus foramen incidens picturâ careat . the optick nerve is not situate directly behind the eye , but on one side , lest that part of the image that falls upon the hole of the optick nerve , should want its picture . this i do not conceive to be the true reason of this situation ; for even now as it is situate , that part of the object whose rays fall upon the center or hole of the optick nerve , wants its picture , as we find by experience ; that part not being seen by us , though we heed it not . but the reason is , because if the optick axis should fall upon this center ( as it would do were the nerve seated just behind the eye ) this great inconvenience would follow , that the middle point of every object we viewed would be invisible , or there would a dark spot appear in the midst of it . thus we see the admirable wisdom of nature in thus placing the optick nerve in respect of the eye ; which he that did not consider or understand would be apt to think more inconveniently situate for vision , than if it had been right behind . another thing also concerning vision is most remarkable , that though there be a decussation of the rays in the pupil of the eye , and so the image of the object in the retina or bottom of the eye be inverted , yet doth not the object appear inverted , but in its right or natural posture : the reason whereof is because the visual rays coming in streight lines , by those points of the sensory or retina which they touch , affect the common sense or soul according to their direction ; that is , signifie to it that those several parts of the object from whence they proceed lie in streight lines ( point for point ) drawn through the pupil to the several points of the sensory where they terminate , and which they press upon . whereupon the soul must needs conceive the object , not in an inverted but a right posture . and that the nerves are naturally made not only to inform the soul of external objects which press upon them , but also of the situation of such objects , is clear , because if the eyes be distorted , the object , will we nill we , will appear double . so if the fore and middle fingers be cross'd , and a round body put between them and moved , it will seem to be two ; the reason is , because in that posture of the fingers the body touches the outsides of them , which in their natural site are distant one from another , and their nerves made to signifie to the soul bodies separate and distant in like manner , two fingers lying between them . and though our reason by the help of our sight corrects this errour , yet cannot we but fansie it to be so . neither is the aqueous humor , as some may supinely imagine , altogether useless or unprofitable as to vision , because by its help the uvea tunica is sustained , which else would fall flat upon the crystalline humor ; and fluid it must be , to give way to the contraction and dilatation of the uveous : and because the outermost coat of the eye might chance to be wounded or pricked , and this humor being fluid let out , therefore nature hath made provision speedily to repair it again in such a case . moreover it is remarkable that the cornea tunica , [ horny or pellucid coat of the eye ] doth not lie in the same superficies with the white of the eye , but riseth up as it were a hillock above its convexity , and is of an hyperbolical or parabolical figure : so that though the eye seems to be perfectly round , in reality it is not so , but the iris thereof is protuberant above the white ; and the reason is because that if the cornea tunica or crystalline humor had been concentrical to the sclerodes , the eye could not have admitted a whole hemisphere at one view , & sic animalis incolumitati in multis rebus minùs cautum esset , as scheiner well . in many things there had not been sufficient caution or care taken for the animals safety . and now ( that i may use the words of a late * author of our own ) the eye is already so perfect , that i believe the reason of a man would easily have rested here , and admired at his own contrivance . for he being able to move his whole body upward and downward and on every side , might have unawares thought himself sufficiently well provided for ; but nature hath added muscles also to the eyes , that no perfection might be wanting : for we have often occasson to move our eyes , our head being unmoved , as in reading and viewing more particularly any object set before us , by transferring the axes of our eyes all over it : and that this may be done with the more ease and accuracy , she hath furnished this organ with no less than six muscles , to move it upward , downward , to the right and left , obliquely and round about . i shall now consider what provision is made for the defence and security of this most excellent and useful part. first the eyes are sunk in a convenient valley , latent utiliter , and are encompassed round with eminent parts , as with a rampart , & excelsis undique partibus sepiuntur , * cic. so are defended from the strokes of any flat or broad bodies . above stand the eye-brows to keep off any thing from running down upon them , as drops of sweat from the forehead , or dust , or the like . superiora superciliis obducta sudorem à capite & fronte defluentem repellunt . cic. then follow the eye-lids , which fence them from any sudden and lesser stripes . these also round the edges are fortified with stiff bristles , as it were pallisadoes , against the incursions of importunate animals , serving partly as a fan to strike away flyes or gnats , or any other troublesome insect ; and partly to keep off superfluous light , munitaeque sunt palpebrae tanquam vallo pilorum , quibus & apertis oculis siquid incideret repelleretur . idem ibid. and because it was necessary that man and other animals should sleep , which could not be so well done if the light came in by the windows of the eyes , therefore hath nature provided these curtains to be then drawn to keep it out . and because the outward coat of the eye ought to be pellucid to transmit the light , which if the eyes should always stand open , would be apt to grow dry and shrink , and lose their diaphaneity , therefore are the eylids so contrived as often to wink , that so they may as it were glaze and varnish them over with the moisture they contain , and withal wipe off whatever dust or filth may stick to them : and this , lest they should hinder the sight , they do with the greatest celerity . cicero hath taken notice that they are made very soft , lest they should hurt the sight . mollissimae tactu nè laederent aciem , aptissimè factae & ad claudendas pupillas ne quid incideret , & ad aperiendas , idque providit ut identidem fieri posset maxima cum celeritate . secondly , if we consider the bulb or ball of the eye , the exteriour membrane or coat thereof is made thick , tough , and strong , that it is a very hard matter to make a rupture in it , and besides so slippery that it eludes the force of any stroke , to which also its globular figure gives it a very great advantage . lastly , because for the guidance and direction of the body in walking and any exercise , it is necessary the eye should be uncovered , and exposed to the air at all times and in all weathers , therefore the most wise author of nature hath provided for it a hot bed of fat which fills up the interstices of the muscles ; and besides made it more patient and less sensible of cold than our other parts ; and though i cannot say with cicero absolutely free from danger or harm by that enemy , yet least obnoxious to the injuries thereof of any part , and not at all , unless it be immoderate and extreme . to all this i might add the convenience of the situation of the eye in respect of its proximity to the brain , the seat of apprehension and common sense : whereas had they been further removed , the optic nerves had been liable to many more dangers and inconveniencies than now they are . seeing then the eye is composed of so great variety of parts all conspiring to the use of vision , whereof some are absolutely necessary , others very useful and convenient , none idle or superfluous , and which is remarkable , many of them of a different figure and consistency from any others in the body besides , as being transparent , which it was absolutely necessary they should be , to transmit the rays of light ; who can but believe that this organ was designed and made purposely for the use for which it serves ? neither is it to be esteemed any defect or imperfection in the eyes of man that they want the seventh muscle , or the nictating membrane , which the eyes of many other animals are furnished withal ; for though they be very useful , and in a manner necessary to them , considering their manner of living , yet are they not so to man. to such beasts as feed upon grass and other herbs , and therefore are forced to hold their eyes long in a hanging posture , and to look downwards for the chusing and gathering of their food , the seventh or suspensory muscle is very useful , to enable them to do so without much pain or weariness ; yet to man , who doth not , nor hath any occasion , indeed cannot hold his head or look long downwards , it would be useless and superfluous . as for the nictating membrane or periophthalmium , which all birds , and i think most quadrupeds are furnished with , i have been long in doubt what the use of it might be ; and have sometimes thought it was for the more abundant defence and security of the eye ; but then i was puzzled to give any tolerable account why nature should be more solicitous for the preservation of the eyes of brutes than men , and in this respect also be a stepmother to the most noble creature . but the hon ble author formerly mentioned , gives a probable account why frogs and birds are furnished with such a membrane . frogs , because being amphibious animals , designed to pass their lives in watery places , which for the most part abound with sedges , and other plants endowed with sharp edges or points ; and the progressive motion of this animal being to be made not by walking , but by leaping , if his eyes were not provided of such a sheath , he must either shut them , and so leap blindly and by consequence dangerously , or by leaving them open run a venture to have the cornea cut , prickt , or otherwise offended by the edges or points of the plants , or what may fall from them upon the animals eye : whereas this membrane ( being something transparent as well as strong ) is like a kind of spectacle that covers the eye without taking away the sight . birds are likewise furnished with it , because being destinated to fly among the branches of trees and bushes , their prickles , twigs , leaves or other parts would be apt otherwise to wound or offend their eyes . but yet still we are to seek why it is given to other quadrupeds , whose eyes are in no such danger . thirdly , the ear another organ of sence , how admirably is it contrived for the receiving and conveying of sounds ? first , there is the outward ear or auricula , made hollow and contracted by degrees to draw the sound inward , to take in as much as may be of it , as we use a funnel to pour liquor into any vessel . and therefore if the auricula be cut clear off , the hearing is much impaired , and almost quite marred , as hath been by experience found . from the auricula is extended a small long , round hole inward into the head , to intend the motion and so augment the force of the sound , as we see in a shooting trunk , the longer it is to a certain limit , the swifter and more forcibly the air passes in it , and drives the pellet . at the end of this hole is a membrane , fastned to a round bony limb , and stretched like the head of a drum , and therefore by anatomists called also tympanum , to receive the impulse of the sound , and to vibrate or quaver according to its reciprocal motions or vibrations ; the small ear-bones being at the end fastned to the tympanum , and furnished with a muscle serve for the tension of that membrane , or the relaxation of it according to the exigency of the animal , it being stretch'd to the utmost when it would hearken diligently to a lower or more distant sound . behind the drum are several vaults and anfractuose cavities in the ear-bone , filled only with what naturalists call the implanted air ; so to intend the least sound imaginable , that the sense might be affected with it ; as we see in subterraneous caves and vaults how the sound is redoubled , and what a great report it makes however moderate it be : and because it was for the behoof of the animal , that upon any sudden accident it might be awakened out of its sleep , therefore were there no shuts or stopples made for the ears , that so any loud or sharp noise might awaken it , as also a soft and gentle voice or murmur provoke it to sleep . now the ears for the benefit and conveniences of the animal , being always to stand open , because there was some danger that insects might creep in thereat , and eating their way through the tympanum harbour in the cavities behind it ; therefore hath nature loricated or plaistered over the sides of the forementioned hole with ear-wax , to stop and entangle any insects that should attempt to creep in there . but i must confess my self not sufficiently to understand the nature of sounds to give a full and satisfactory account of the structure and uses of all the parts of the ear. fourthly , the next part i shall take notice of shall be the teeth , concerning which i find seven observations in the honorable mr. boyls treatise of final causes , which i shall briefly recapitulate , and add one or two more . i. that the teeth alone among the bones continue to grow in length during a mans whole life , as appears by the unsightly length of one tooth when its opposite happens to fall or be pulled out ; which was most providently design'd to repair the wast that is daily made of them by the frequent attritions in mastication . here by the by i might advise men to be careful how they attempt to cure this blemish by filing or cutting off the head of such an overgrown tooth , lest that befal them which happened to a certain nun in padua , who upon cutting off a tooth in that manner was presently convulsed and fell into an epilepssie , as bartholine in his anatomy reports . ii. that that part of the teeth which is extant above the gums is naked and not invested with that sensible membrane called periosteum , wherewith the other bones are covered . iii. that the teeth are of a closer and harder substance than the rest of the bones , for the more easie breaking and comminution of the more solid aliments , and that they might be more durable and not so soon worn down by grinding the food . iv. that for the nourishing and cherishing these so necessary bones , the all wise author of things has admirably contrived an unseen cavity in each side of the jaw-bone , in which greater channel are lodged an artery , a vein and a nerve , which through lesser cavities , as it were through gutters , send their twigs to each particular tooth . v. because infants were for a considerable time to feed upon milk , which needs no chewing , and lest teeth should hurt the tender nipples of the nurse , nature hath deferred the production of them for many months in a humane foetus , whereas those of divers other animals , which are reduced to seek betimes food that needs mastication , are born with them . vi. the different figure and shape of the teeth is remarkable , that the foreteeth should be formed broad and with a thin and sharp edge like chizzels , to cut off and take away a morsel from any solid food , called therefore incisores . the next , one on each side stronger and deeper rooted , and more pointed , called therefore canini , in english eye-teeth , to tear the more tough and resisting sort of aliments . the rest called jaw teeth or grinders , in latin molares , are made flat and broad atop and withal somwhat uneven and rugged , that by their knobs and little cavities they may the better retain , grind and commix the aliments . vii . because the operations to be performed by the teeth oftentimes require a considerable firmness and strength , partly in the teeth themselves , partly in the instruments which move the lower jaw , which alone is moveable , nature hath provided this with strong muscles , to make it bear forcibly against the upper jaw . and thus not only placed each tooth in a distinct cavity of the jaw-bone , as it were in a close , strong and deep socket , but has furnished the several sorts of teeth with hold-fasts suitable to the stress that by reason of their different offices they are to be put to . and therefore whereas the cutters and eye-teeth have usually but one root ; ( which in these last named is wont to be very long ) the grinders that are employed to crack nuts , stones of fruit , bones , or other hard bodies , are furnished with three roots , and in the upper jaw often with four , because these are pendulous , and the substance of the jaw somewhat softer . viii . the situation of the teeth is most convenient , viz. the molares or grinders behind , nearest the center of motion , because there is a greater strength or force required to chew the meat , than to bite a piece ; and the cutters before , that they may be ready to cut off a morsel from any solid food , to be transmitted to the grinders . ix . it is remarkable that the jaw in men and such animals as are furnished with grinders , hath an oblique or transverse motion , which is necessary for chewing and comminution of the meat ; which it is observed not to have in those animals that want the molares . now if ( as gallen saith ) he that shall marshal a company but of 32 men in due order , is commended for a skilful and industrious person , shall we not admire nature which hath so skilfully ranked and disposed this quire of our teeth ? fifthly , the tongue is no less admirable for the contexture and manifold uses of it . first , it is the organ of tasting ; for being of a spungy substance the small particles of our meat and drink being mingled with the saliva , easily insinuate themselves into the pores of it , and so do either gratefully affect it , or harshly grate upon it , accordingly as they are figured and moved ; and hereby we discern what is convenient or inconvenient for our nourishment . it helps us likewise in the chewing and swallowing of our meat : and lastly , it is the main instrument of speaking , a quality so peculiar to man , that no beast could ever attain to it . and although birds have been taught to form some words , yet they have been but a few , and those learn'd with great difficulty ; but what is the chief , the birds understand not the meaning of them , nor use them as signs of things or their own conceptions of them ; though they may use them as expressions of their passions : as parrots having been used to be fed at the prolation of certain words , may afterwards when they are hungry pronounce the same . for this des cartes makes his main argument to prove that brutes have no cogitation , because the highest of them could never be brought to signifie their thoughts or conceptions by any artificial signs , either words , or gestures , ( which , if they had any , they would in all likelyhood be forward enough to do ) whereas all men , both fools and mutes , make use of words or other signs to express their thoughts , about any subjects that present themselves ; which signs also have no reference to any of their passions . whereas the signs that brute animals may be taught to use are no other than such as are the motions of some of their passions , fear , hope , joy , &c. hence some of the jewish rabbins did not so absurdly define a man animal loquens , a speaking creature . having had occasion just now to mention the saliva or spittle , i am put in mind of the eminent use of this humor , which is commonly taken for an excrement . because a great part of our food is dry ; therefore nature hath provided several glandules to separate this juice from the blood , and no less than four channels to convey it into the mouth , which are of late invention and called by anatomists ▪ ductus salivales , through which the saliva destilling continually , serves well to macerate and temper our meat , and make it fit to be chewed and swallowed . if a copious moisture did not by these conduit-pipes incessantly flow down into the mouths of horses and kine , how were it possible they should for a long time together grind and swallow such dry meat as hay and straw ? moreover it may be useful not only in the mouth but in the stomach too , to promote concoction . sixthly , to the mouth succeeds the wind-pipe , no less wonderful in its conformation . for because continual respiration is necessary for the support of our lives , it is made with annulary cartilages to keep it constantly open , and that the sides of it may not flag and fall together . and lest when we swallow , our meat or drink should fall in there and obstruct it , it hath a strong shut or valve called epiglottis , to cover it close , and stop it when we swallow : and for the more convenient bending of our necks , it is not made of one entire continued cartilage , but of many annular ones joined together by strong membranes , which membranes are muscular , compounded of streight and circular fibres for the more effectual contraction of the windpipe in any strong or violent expiration or coughing . and lest the asperity or hardness of these cartilages should hurt the oesophagus or gullet , which is tender and of a skinny substance , or hinder the swallowing of our meat , therefore these annulary gristles are not made round , or entire circles , but where the gullet touches the windpipe , there to fill up the circle is only a soft membrane , which may easily give way to the dilatation of the gullet . and to demonstrate that this was designedly done for this end and use , so soon as the windpipe enters the lungs , its cartilages are no longer deficient , but perfect circles or rings , because there was no necessity they should be so , but it was more convenient they should be entire . l●●●ly , for the various modulation of the voice , the upper end of the wind-pipe is endued with several cartilages and muscles , to contract or dilate it as we would have our voice flat or sharp ; and moreover the whole is continually moistened with a glutinous humor issuing out of the small glandules that are upon its inner coat , to fence it against the sharp air received in , or breath forced out ; yet is it of quick and tender sense , that it may be easily provoked to cast out by coughing , whatever may fall into it from without , or be discharged into it from within . seventhly , the heart which hath been always esteemed , and really is , one of the principal parts of the body , the primum vivens , & ultimum moriens , by its uncessant motion distributing the blood , the vehicle of life , and with it the vital heat and spirits , throughout the whole body , whereby it doth continually irrigate , nourish and keep hot and supple all the members . is it not admirable that from this fountain of life and heat there should be channels and conduit-pipes , to every , even the least and most remote part of the body ; just as if from one waterhouse there should be pipes conveying the water to every house in a town , and to every room in each house ; or from one fountain in a garden there should be little channels or dikes cut to every bed , and every plant growing therein , as we have seen more than once done beyond the seas . i confess the heart seems not to be designed to so noble an use as is generally believed , that is to be the fountain or conservatory of the vital flame , and to inspire the blood therewith ; ( for the lungs serve rather for the accension or maintaining that flame , the blood receiving there from the air those particles which are one part of the pabulum or fewel thereof , and so impregnated running back to the heart ) but to serve as a machine to receive the blood from the veins , and to force it out by the arteries through the whole body , as a syringe doth any liquor , though not by the same artifice : and yet this is no ignoble use , the continuance of the circulation of the blood being indispensibly necessary for the quickening and enlivening of all the members of the body , and supplying of matter to the brain , for the preparation of the animal spirits , the instruments of all sense and motion . now for this use of receiving and pumping out of the blood , the heart is admirably contrived . for first being a muscular part , the sides of it are composed of two orders of fibres running circularly or spirally from base to tip , contrarily one to the other , and so being drawn or contracted contrary ways do violently constringe and straiten the ventricles , and strongly force out the blood , as we have formerly intimated . then the vessels we call arteries , which carry from the heart to the several parts , have valves which open outwards like trap-doors , and give the blood a free passage out of the heart , but will not suffer it to return back again thither , and the veins , which bring it back from the several members to the heart , have valves or trap-doors which open inwards , so as to give way to the blood to run into the heart , but prevent it from running back again that way . besides the arteries consist of a quandruple coat , the third of which is made up of annular or orbicular carneous fibres to a good thickness and is of a muscular nature , after every pulse of the heart serving to contract the vessel successively with incredible celerity , so by a kind of peristaltick motion impelling the blood onwards to the capillary extremities , and through the muscles , with great force and swiftness . so the pulse of the arteries is not only caused by the pulsation of the heart , driving the blood through them in manner of a wave or flush , as des cartes and others would have it ; but by the coats of the arteries themselves , which the experiments of a certain * lovain physitian , ( the first whereof is galens , ) do in my opinion make good against him . first , saith he , if you slit the artery and thrust into it a pipe , so big as to fill the cavity of it , and cast a strait ligature upon that part of the artery containing the pipe , and so bind it fast to the pipe ; notwithstanding the blood hath free passage through the pipe , yet will not the artery beat below the ligature ; but do but take off the ligature , it will commence again to beat immediately . but because one might be ready to reply to this experiment , that the reason why when bound it did not beat , was because the current of the blood being straitned by the pipe , when beneath the pipe it came to have more liberty , was not sufficient to stretch the coats of the artery , and so cause a pulse , but when the ligature was taken off , it might flow between the enclosed tube and the coat of the artery ; therefore he adds another , which clearly evinces that this could not be the reason , but that it is something flowing down the coats of the artery that causes the pulse , that is , if you straiten the artery never so much , provided the sides of it do not quite meet , and stop all passage of the blood , the vessel will notwithstanding continue still to beat below or beyond the coarctation . so we see some physitians both ancient ( as galen , ) and modern were of opinion that the pulse of the arteries was owing to their coats ; though the first that i know of who observed the third coat of an artery to be a muscular body , composed of annulary fibres , was dr. willis . the mention of the peristaltick motion puts me in mind of an ocular demonstration of it in the gullet of kine when they chew the cud , which i have often beheld with pleasure . for after they have swallowed one morsel , if you look stedfastly upon their throat , you will soon see another ascend , and run pretty swiftly all along the throat up to the mouth , which it could not do unless it were impelled by the successive contraction or peristaltick motion of the gullet , continually following it . and it is remarkable that these ruminant creatures have a power by the imperium of their wills of directing this peristaltick motion upwards or downwards . i shall add no more concerning the heart , but that it and the brain do mutuas operas tradere , enable one another to work ; for first the brain cannot itself live , unless it receive continual supplies of blood from the heart , much less can it perform its functions of preparing and distributing the animal spirits ; nor the heart pulse , unless it receives spirits or something else that descends from the brain by the nerves . for do but cut asunder the nerves that go from the brain to the heart , the motion thereof in more perfect and hot creatures ceaseth immediately . which part began this round is the question . eighthly , the next part i shall treat of shall be the hand , this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or superlative instrument , which serves us for such a multitude of uses , as it is not easie to enumerate ; whereto if we consider the make and structure of it , we shall find it wonderfully adapted . first , it is divided into four fingers bending forward , and one opposite to them bending backwards , and of greater strength than any of them singly , which we call the thumb , to joyn with them severally or united ; whereby it is fitted to lay hold of objects of any size or quantity . the least things , as any small single seed , are taken up by the thumb and forefinger ; those a little greater , by the thumb and two fingers , which also we chiefly employ to manage the needle in sewing , and the pen in writing : when we would take up a greater quantity of any thing we make use of the thumb and all the fingers . sometimes we use one finger only , as in póinting at any thing , picking things out of holes or long and narrow vessels , sometimes all severally at one time , as in stopping the strings when we play upon any musical instrument . 2. the fingers are strengthened with several bones , jointed together for motion , and furnished with several muscles and tendons like so many pullies to bend them circularly forward ; which is most convenient for the firm holding and griping of any object : which of how great , constant , and necessary use it is in pulling or drawing , but especially in taking up and retaining any sort of tool or instrument to work withal in husbandry and all mechanick arts , is so obvious to every mans observation , that i need not spend time to instance in particulars : moreover the several fingers are furnished with several muscles to extend and open the hand , and to move them to the right and left : and so this division and motion of the fingers doth not hinder but that the whole hand may be employed , as if it were all of a piece , as we see it is , either expanded as in striking out , smoothing and folding up of cloths and some mechanick uses ; or contracted , as in fighting , kneading of dough and the like . it is also notable and indeed wonderful , that the tendons bending the middle joint of the fingers , should be perforated to give passage to the tendons of the muscles which draw the uppermost joynts , and all bound down close to the bone with strong fillets , lest they should start up and hinder the hand in its work , standing like so many bowstrings . 3. the fingers ends are strengthened with nails , as we fortifie the ends of our staves or forks with iron hoops or ferules , which nails serve not only for defence but for ornament , and many uses . the skin upon our fingers ends , is thin and of most exquisite sense , to help us to judg of any thing we handle . if now i should go about to reckon up the several uses of this instrument , time would sooner fail me then matter . by the help of this we do all our works , we build our selves houses to dwell in ; we make our selves garments to wear ; we plow and sow our grounds with corn , dress and cultivate our vineyards , gardens , and orchards , gather and lay up our grain , and fruits ; we prepare and make ready our victuals . spinning , weaving , painting , carving , engraving , and that divinely invented art of writing , whereby we transmit our own thoughts to posterity , and converse with and participate the observations and inventions of them that are long ago dead , all performed by this . this is the only instrument for all arts whatsoever ; no improvement to be made of any experimental knowledg without it . hence ( as aristotle saith well ) they do amiss that complain , that man is worse dealt with by nature than other creatures ; whereas they have some hair , some shels , some wool , some feathers , some scales , to defend themselves from the injuries of the weather , man alone is born naked and without all covering . whereas they have natural weapons to defend themselves and offend their enemies , some horns , some hoofs , some teeth , some talons , some claws , some spurs and beaks ; man hath none of all these , but is weak , and feeble , and unarmed sent into the world. why , a hand with reason to use it , supplies the uses of all these , that 's both a horn , and a hoof , and a talon and a tusk , &c. because it enables us to use weapons of these and other fashions , as swords and spears and guns . besides this advantage a man hath of them , that whereas they cannot at pleasure change their coverings , or lay aside their weapons , or make use of others as occasion serves , but must abide winter and summer , night and day with the same cloathing on their backs , and sleep with their weapons upon them ; a man can alter his cloathing according to the exigency of the weather , go warm in winter , and cool in summer , cover up himself hot in the night , and lay aside his cloaths in the day , and put on or off more or fewer according as his work and exercise is : and can as occasion requires , make use of divers sorts of weapons , and choice of such at all turns as are most proper and convenient ; whereby we are enabled to subdue and rule over all other creatures ; and use for our own behoof those qualities wherein they excel , as the strength of the ox , the valor and swiftness of the horse , the sagacity and vigilancy of the dog , and so make them as it were our own . had we wanted this member in our bodies , we must have lived the life of brutes , without house or shelter but what the woods and rocks would have afforded ; without cloths or covering ; without corn , or wine , or oil , or any other drink but water ; without the warmth and comfort , or other uses of fire , and so without any artificial bak'd , boil'd or roast meats ; but must have scrambled with the wild beasts for crabs , and nuts , and akhorns , and sallets , and such other things as the earth puts forth of her own accord . we had lain open and exposed to injuries , and had been unable to resist or defend our selves against almost the weakest creature . the remaining parts i shall but briefly run over . that the back-bone should be divided into so many vertebres for commodious bending , and not be one entire rigid bone , which being of that length would have been often in danger of snapping in sunder . that the several vertebres should be so elegantly and artificially compacted and joined together , that they are as strong and firm as if they were but one bone. that they should be all perforated in the middle with a large hole for the spinal marrow or pith to pass along ; and each particular have a hole on each side to transmit the nerves to the muscles of the body , to convey both sense and motion . that whereas the breast is encompassed with ribs , the belly is left free ; that it might give way to the motion of the midriff in respiration ; and to the necessary reception of meat and drink ; as also for the convenient bending of the body ; and in females for that extraordinary extension that is requisite in the time of their pregnancy . that the stomach should be membranous , and capable of dilatation and contraction , according to the quantity of meat conteined in it ; that it should be situate under the liver , which by its heat might cherish it , and contribute to concoction : that it should be endued with an acid ferment , or some corruptive quality for so speedy a dissolution of the meat , and preparation of chyle ; that after concoction it should have an ability of contracting itself and turning out the meat . that the bladder should be made of a membranous substance , and so extremely dilatable for receiving and containing the urine , till opportunity of emptying it ; that it should have shuts for the ends of the ureters so artificially contrived as to give the urine free entrance , but to stop all passage backward , so that they will not transmit the wind , though it be strongly blown and forced in . that the liver should continually separate the choler from the blood , and empty it into the intestines , where there is good use for it , not only to provoke dejection , but also to attenuate the chyle and render it so subtile and fluid as to enter in at the orifices of the lacteous veins . finally , that all the bones , and all the muscles , and all the vessels of the body should be so admirably contrived , and adapted , and compacted together for their several motions and uses , and that most geometrically , according to the strictest rules of mechanicks , that if in the whole body you change the figure , situation , and conjunction but of one part , if you diminish or encrease the bulk and magnitude , in fine if you endeavor any innovation or alteration , you marr and spoil instead of mending . how can all these things put together but beget wonder and astonishment ? that under one skin there should be such infinite variety of parts , variously mingled , hard with soft , fluid with fixt , solid with hollow , those in rest with those in motion , some with cavities as mortesses to receive , others with tenons to fit those cavities ; all these so pact and thrust so close together that there is no unnecessary vacuity in the whole body , and yet so far from clashing or interfering one with another , or hindring each others motions , that they do all friendly conspire , all help and assist mutually one the other , all concur in one general end and design , the good and preservation of the whole , are certainly arguments and effects of infinite wisdom and counsel ; so that he must needs be worse than mad that can find in his heart to imagine all these to be casual and fortuitous , or not provided and designed by a most wise and intelligent cause . i should now proceed to treat of the generation and formation of the foetus in the womb ; but that is a subject too difficult for me to handle ; the body of man and other animals being formed in the dark recesses of the matrix , or as the psalmist phrases it , psal. 139. 14. made in secret , and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth . this work is so admirable and unaccountable that neither the atheists nor mechanick philosophers have attempted to declare the manner and process of it ; but have ( as i noted before ) very cautiously and prudently broke off their systems of natural philosophy here , and left this point untoucht ; and those accounts which some of them have attempted to give of the formation of a few of the parts , are so excessively absurd and ridiculous , that they need no other consutation than ha ha he . and i have already further shewn , that it seems to me impossible , that matter divided into as minute and subtle parts as you will or can imagine , and those moved according to what catholick laws soever can be devised , should without the presidency and direction of some intelligent agent , by the mere agitation of a gentle heat , run itself into such a curious machine as the body of man is . yet must it be confest , that the seed of animals is admirably qualified to be fashioned and formed by the plastick nature into an organical body , conteining the principles or component particles of all the several homogeneous parts thereof ; for indeed every part of the body seems to club and contribute to the seed , else why should parents that are born blind or deaf , or that want a finger or any other part , or have one superfluous , sometimes generate children that have the same defects or imperfections ; and yet ( which is wonderful ) nothing of the body or grosser matter of the seed comes near the first principle of the foetus , or in some so much as enters the womb , but only some contagious vapor or subtle effluviums thereof . but to what shall we attribute the foetus its likeness to the parents , or omitting them to the precedent progenitors , as i have observed some parents that have been both black hair'd to have generated most red hair'd children , because their ancestors hair have been of that color , or why are twins so often extremely alike ; whether is this owing to the efficient , or to the matter ? these effluvia we spake of of the male seed , as subtile as they are , yet have they a great , if not the greatest stroke in generation , as is clearly demonstrable in a mule , which doth more resemble the male parent , that is the ass , than the female or horse . but now why such different species should not only mingle together , but also generate an animal , and yet that that hybridous production should not again generate , and so a new race be carried on ; but nature should stop here and proceed no further , is to me a mystery and unaccountable . one thing relating to generation i cannot omit , that is , the construction of a set of temporary parts , ( like scaffolds in a building ) to serve a present end , which are afterwards laid aside , afford a strong argument of counsel and design . now for the use of the young during its enclosure in the womb there are several parts formed , as the membranes inveloping it , called the secundines , the umbilical vessels , one vein and two arteries , the urachus , to convey the urine out of the bladder , and the placenta uterina ; part whereof fall away at the birth , as the secundines and placenta , others degenerate into ligaments , as the urachus , and part of the umbilical vein : besides which , because the foetus during its abode in the womb hath no use of respiration by the lungs , the blood doth not all , i may say not the greatest part of it , flow through them , but there are two passages or channels contrived , one called the foramen ovale , by which part of the blood brought by the vena cava passeth immediately into the left ventricle of the heart , without entring the right at all ; the other is a large arterial channel passing from the pulmonary artery immediately into the aorta , or great artery , which likewise derives part of the blood thither , without running at all into the lungs : these two are closed up soon after the child is born , when it breaths no more ( as i may so say ) by the placenta uterina , but respiration by the lungs is needful for it . it is here to be noted , that though the lungs be formed so soon as the other parts , yet during the abode of the foetus in the womb , they lie by as useless . in like manner i have observed that in ruminating creatures the three formost stomachs , not only during the continuance of the young in the womb , but so long as it is fed with milk are unemployed and useless , the milk passing immediately into the fourth . another observation i shall add concerning generation , which is of some moment , because it takes away some concessions of naturalists , that give countenance to the atheists fictitious and ridiculous account of the first production of mankind and other animals ; viz. that all sorts of insects , yea and some quadrupeds too , as frogs and mice , are produced spontaneously . my observation and affirmation is , that there is no such thing in nature , as aequivocal or spontaneous generation , but that all animals , as well small as great , not excluding the vilest and most contemptible insect , are generated by animal parents of the same species with themselves ; that noble italian vertuoso , francesco redi having experimented that no putrified flesh ( which one would think were the most likely of any thing ) will of itself , if all insects be carefully kept from it , produce any : the same experiment i remember doctor wilkins late bishop of chester told me had been made by some of the royal society . no instance against this opinion doth so much puzzle me , as worms bred in the intestines of man and other animals . but seeing the round worms do manifestly generate , and probably the other kinds too ; it 's likely they come originally from seed , which how it was brought into the guts , may afterwards possibly be discovered . moreover i am inclinable to believe that all plants too , that themselves produce seed , ( which are all but some very imperfect ones , which scarce deserve the name of plants ) come of seeds themselves . for that great naturalist malpighius , to make experiment whether earth would of its self put forth plants , took some purposely digged out of a deep place , and put it into a glass vessel , the top whereof he covered with silk many times doubled and strained over it , which would admit the water and air to pass through , but exclude the least seed that might be wafted by the wind ; the event was that no plant at all sprang up in it ; nor need we wonder how in a ditch , bank or grass-plat newly dig'd , or in the fenbanks in the isle of ely mustard should abundantly spring up , where in the memory of man none had been known to grow , for it might come of seed which had lain there more than a mans age. some of the ancients mentioning some seeds that retain their fecundity forty years : as for the mustard that sprung up in the isle of ely , though there never had been any in that country , yet might it have been brought down in the channels by the floods , and so being thrown up the banks together with the earth , might germinate and grow there . from this discourse concerning the body of man i shall make three practical inferences . first , let us give thanks to almighty god for the perfection and integrity of our bodies . it would not be amiss to put it into the eucharistical parr of our daily devotions : we praise thee o god for the due number , shape and use of our limbs and senses , and in general of all the parts of our bodies ; we bless thee for the sound and healthful constitution of them ; it is thou that hast made us and not we our selves ; in thy book were all our members written . the mother that bears the child in her womb is not conscious to any thing that is done there ; she understands no more how the infant is formed than itself doth . but if god hath bestowed upon us any peculiar gift or endowment , wherein we excel others , as strength , or beauty or activity , we ought to give him special thanks for it , but not to think the better of our selves therefore , or despise them that want it . now because these bodily perfections , being common blessings , we are apt not at all to consider them , or not to set a just value on them ; and because the worth of things is best discerned by their want ; it would be useful sometimes to imagine or suppose our selves by some accident to be depriv'd of one of our limbs or senses , as a hand , or a foot , or an eye , for then we cannot but be sensible , that we should be in worse condition than now we are , and that we should soon find a difference between two hands and one hand , two eyes and one eye , and that two excel one as much in worth as they do in number ; and yet if we could spare the use of the lost part , the deformity and unsightlyness of such a defect in the body , would alone be very grievous to us . again , which is less , suppose we only , that our bodies want of their just magnitude , or that they or any of our members are crooked or distorted , or disproportionate to the rest either in excess or defect ; nay , which is least of all , that the due motion of any one part be perverted , as but of the eyes in squinting , the eye-lids in twinkling , the tongue in stammering , these things are such blemishes and offences to us , by making us gazing-stocks to others , and objects of their scorn and derision , that we could be content to part with a good part of our estates to repair such defects , or heal such infirmities . these things considered and duly weighed , would surely be a great and effectual motive to excite in us gratitude for this integrity of our bodies , and to esteem it no small blessing , i say a blessing and favor of god to us ; for some there be that want it , and why might not we have been of that number ? god was no way obliged to bestow it upon us . and as we are to give thanks for the integrity of our body , so are we likewise for the health of it , and the sound temper and constitution of all its parts and humors ; health being the principal blessing of this life , without which we cannot enjoy or take comfort in any thing besides . neither are we to give thanks alone for the first collation of these benefits , but also for their preservation and continuance . god preserves our souls in life , and defends us from dangers and sad accidents , which do so beset us on every side , that the greatest circumspection in the world could not secure us , did not his good providence continually watch over us . we may be said to walk and converse in the midst of snares ; besides , did we but duly consider the make and frame of our bodies , what a multitude of minute parts and vessels there are in them , and how an obstruction in one redounds to the prejudice of the whole , we could not but wonder how so curious an engine as mans body , could be kept in tune one hour , as we use it , much less hold out so many years : how it were possible it should endure such hardship , such blows , so many shocks and concussions , nay such violences and outrages as are offered it by our frequent excesses , and not be disordered and rendred useless ; and acknowledg the transcendent art and skill of him who so put it together , as to render it thus firm and durable . secondly , did god make the body , let him have the service of it . rom. 12. 1. i beseech you , brethren , by the mercies of god , that you present your bodies a living sacrifice , holy , acceptable unto god , which is your reasonable service . 1 cor. 6. 20. glorifie god in your body , or with your body , and in your spirits , which are gods , and that not by redemption only , of which the apostle there speaks , but by creation also . rom. 6. 13. neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin , but as instruments of righteousness unto god. and again ver. 19. even so now yield your members servants of righteousness unto holiness . i shall instance in two members , which are especially to be guarded and restrained from evil , and employed in the service of god. first , the eye . we must turn away our eyes from beholding vanity , as david pray'd , god would his , psal. 119. 37. we must make a covenant with our eyes , as job did , job 31. 1. these are the windows that let in exteriour objects to the soul : by these the heart is affected : this way sin entred first into the world. our first parents saw that the tree and its fruit was pleasant to the eyes , and so was invited to take and eat it . there are four sins especially for which the eye is noted , as either discovering themselves in the eyes , or whose temptations enter in by , and so give denomination to the eye . 2. there is a proud eye . prov. 30. 13. there is a generation , o how lofty are their eyes , and their eye lids are lifted up . chap. 6. 17. a proud look is reckoned the first of those six things that god hates , psal. 18. 27. god ( the psalmist saith ) will bring down proud or high looks . psalm 101. 5. him that hath a high look and a proud heart ( saith david , ) i will not suffer . and in psal. 131. 1. he saith of himself , that his heart is not haughty nor his eyes lofty . by which places it appeareth that pride sheweth forth it self in the eyes especially , and that they are as it were the seat or throne of it . 2. there is a wanton eye , which the prophet isaiah speaks of in his third chapter , at the 16th verse , because the daughters of jerusalem walk with stretched out necks , and wanton eyes . the apostle peter in his second epistle , 2. 24. mentions eyes full of adultery . for by these casements enter in such objects as may provoke and stir up adulterous thoughts in the mind , as they did in david's , and likewise impure thoughts conceived in the heart may discover themselves by the motions of the eye . and therefore in this respect we should do well with holy job , to make a covenant with our eyes ; not to gaze upon any object which may tempt us to any inordinate appetite or desire . for our saviour tells us , it were better to pluck out our right eye , than that it should be an offence to us : which i suppose refers to this matter , because it immediately follows those words , he that looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart . 3. there is a covetous eye . by covetousness i understand not only a desiring what is another mans , which is forbidden in the tenth commandment , but also an inordinate desire of riches , which the apostle john seems to understand in his first epistle , 2. 16. by the lust of the eye . and covetousness may well be called the lust of the eye , because 1. the temptation or tempting object enters by the eye . so the seeing the wedg of gold and babylonish garment stirred up the covetous desire in achan . 2. because all the fruit a man reaps of riches more than will furnish his necessities and conveniencies , is the feeding of his eye , or the pleasure he takes in the beholding of them . eccles. 5. 11. when goods encrease , &c. what good is there to the owners thereof , saving the beholding them with their eyes ? fourthly , there is an envious eye , which by our saviour is called an evil eye . mat. 20. 15 : is thine eye evil because i am good . that is , enviest thou thy brother because i am kind to him . and 7. 22. one of those evil things which proceed out of the heart and defile a man is an evil eye . envy is a repining at the prosperity or good of another , or anger and displeasure at any good of another which we want , or any advantage another hath above us : as in the parable of the labourers in the vineyard , those that came in first envied the last , not because they received more than they , but because they received equal wages for less time . those that are subject to this vice cannot endure to see another man thrive ; and are apt to think his condition better than theirs when indeed it is not . let us then so govern our eyes , that we discover by them none of these vices . let the humility and purity of our minds appear even in our outward looks . let neither pride nor lust manifest themselves in the posture or motions of our eyes . let us have a care that these members be neither the inlets , nor outlets of any of the fore mentioned vices ; that they neither give admission to the temptation , nor be expressive of the conception of them . let us employ them in reading the word of god , and other good books , for the encrease of our knowledg , and direction of our practice : in diligently viewing and contemplating the works of the creation , that we may discern and admire the footsteps of the divine wisdom easily to be traced in the formation , disposition , and designations of them . let us take notice of any extraordinary events and effects of gods providence towards our selves or others , personal or national : that as they are the issues of his mercy or justice , they may stir up sutable affections in us , of thankfulness or fear . let those sad and miserable objects , that present themselves to our sight move us to pity and commiseration : and let our eyes sometimes be exercised in weeping for the miseries and calamities of others , but especially for our own and their sins . secondly , another member i shall mention is the tongue , which as it is the chief instrument of speech , so may it be well or ill employed in the exercise of that action , and therefore stands in need of direction and restraint . i remember i once heard from an ingenious anatomist of padua this observation , that there are but two members in the body that have a natural bridle , both which do very much need it ; the tongue , and another i shall not name . the signification whereof may be , that they are not to be let loose , but diligently curbed and held in . for the better government of the tongue , i shall note some vices of speech , which must carefully be avoided . first of all loquacity or garrulity . this the contrivance of our mouths suggests to us . our tongues are fenced and guarded with a double wall or mound of lips and teeth , that our words might not rashly and unadvisedly slip out . then nature hath furnished us with two ears , and but one tongue , to intimate that we must hear twice so much as we speak . why loquacity is to be avoided , the wise man gives us a sufficient reason , prov. 10. 19. in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin . and eccles. 5. 7. in many words there are divers vanities . to which we may add another , of great force with most men , viz. that it hath been always esteemed an effect and argument of folly. eccles , 5. 3. a fools voice is known by multitude of words . and on the contrary , to be of few words is a sign of wisdom : and he that is wise enough to be silent , though a fool , may pass undiscovered . besides all this , a talkative person must needs be impertinent , and speak many idle words , and so render himself burthensom and odious to company : and may perchance run himself upon great incoveniences , by blabbing out his own or others secrets ; for a word once uttered , fugit irrevocabile , whatever the consequence of it be . great need therefore have we to set a watch over our mouths , and to keep the door of our lips ; and not suffer our tongues * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; as isocrates phraseth it . secondly , lying or false speaking . there is difference between mentiri and mendacium dicere , that is lying , and speaking of an untruth , or thing that is false . mentiri is contra mentem ire , which though it be no good etymology of the word , is a good notion of the thing ; that is , to go again stones mind , or speak what one does not think . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as homer expresseth it , to conceal one thing in the mind , and speak another with the tongue . hence a man may speak an untruth , and yet not lye , when , he thinks he speaks the truth ; and on the contrary , may speak what is materially true , and yet lye , when he speaks what he thinks not to be true . the tongue was made to be the index of the mind , speech the interpreter of thought ; therefore there ought to be a perfect harmony and agreement between these two . so that lying is a great abuse of speech , and a perverting the very end of it , which was to communicate our thoughts one to another . it hath also an ill principle for the most part , proceeding either from baseness of spirit or cowardise , as in them that have committed a fault , and deny it , for fear of punishment or rebuke : or from covetousness , as in tradesmen who falsly commend their commodities , that they may vend them for a greater price ; or from vanity and vain glory , in them who falsly boast of any quality or action of their own . it is odious both to god and man. to god , prov. 6. 17. a lying tongue is one of those six or seven things that are an abomination to him . to men , as homer witnesseth in the verse preceding the fore-quoted . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. he that tells lies is as hateful to me as the gates of hell or death . — the practice of lying is a diabolical exercise , and they that use it are the devils children , as our saviour tells us . john 8. 44. ye are of your father the devil , &c. for he is a lyar , and the father of it . and lastly , it is a sin that excludes out of heaven , and depresses the soul into hell. revel . 21 , 8. all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone , which is the second death . thirdly , another vice or abuse of speech , or vicious action to which the tongue is instrumental is slandering ; that is raising a false report of any man tending to his defamation . this might have been comprehended under the former head , being but a kind of lying proceeding from enmity or ill will. it is a very great injury to our neighbour , mens reputation being as dear to them as life itself ; so that it is grown to be a proverb among the vulgar , take away my good name and take away my life . and that which enhances this injury is that it is irreparable . we cannot by any contrary declaration so clear the innocency of our neighbour as wholly to extirpate the preconceived opinion , out of the minds of those to whom our confession comes ; and many will remain whom the calumny hath reacht , to whom the vindication probably will not extend ; the pravity of mans nature being more apt to spread and divulge an ill report than to stop and silence it . i might instance in flattering of others , and boasting of our selves for two abuses of speech , but they may both be referred to lying , the one to please others , and puff them up with self-conceit , and a false opinion that they have some excellent quality or endowment which they want , or have not in such a degree , or that they are better thought of by others than indeed they are , and more honored : the other to gain more honor than is due to them . fourthly , obscene and impure words are another vicious effect of the tongue . those are principally the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , rotten speeches the apostle speaks of eph. 5. 29. such as chast ears abhor , which tend only to the depraving and corrupting the hearers : and are to be studiously and carefully avoided by all that pretend to christianity . ephes. 5 , 3. but fornication and all uncleanness let it not be once named among you . fifthly , cursing , and railing or reviling words are also a great abuse of speech , and outragious effects and expressions of malice and wickedness . psalm . 10. 7. the psalmist makes it part of the character of a wicked man , that his mouth is full of cursing . which passage we have quoted by the apostle rom. 3. 14. whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness . sixthly , swearing and irreverent using the name of god in common discourse and converse , is another abuse of the tongue ; to which i might add vehement asseverations upon sleight and trivial occasions . i do not deny , but in a matter of weight and moment , which will bear out such attestation , and where belief will not be obtained without them , and yet it may much import the hearer or speaker that his words be believed , or where the hearer would not otherwise think the matter so momentous or important as indeed it is , protestations and asseverations , yea oaths may lawfully be used . but to call god to witness to an untruth or a lye perhaps , or to appeal to him on every trivial occasion , in common discourse , customarily , without any consideration of what we say , is one of the highest indignities and affronts that can be offered him , being a sin to which there is no temptation : for it is so far from gaining belief ( which is the only thing that can with any shew of reason be pleaded for it ) that it rather creates diffidence and distrust . for as mult a fidem promiss a levant , so mult a juramenta too , it being become a proverb he that will swear will lie. and good reason there is for it ; for he that scruples not the breach of one of gods commands , is not likely to make conscience of the violation of another . lastly , for i will name no more , scurrilous words , scoffing and jeering , flouting and taunting , are to be censured as vicious abuses of speech . this scoffing and derision proceeds from contempt , and that of all injuries men do most impatiently bear ; nothing offends more , or wounds deeper ; and therefore what greater violation of that general rule of christian practice , to do to others as we would they should do unto us ? this injury of being derided the psalmist himself complains of , psalm 69. 11 , 12. i became a proverb to them . they that sit in the gate speak against me , and i was the song of the drunkards . and psalm 35. 15 , according to the church translation , the very abjects came together against me unawares , making mows at me , and ceased not . and the prophet jeremy , jer. 20. 7. i am in derision daily , every one mocketh me . and though there may be some wit shewn in scoffing and jesting upon others , yet is it a practice inconsistent with true wisdom . the scorner and the wise man are frequently posed in scripture . prov. 9. 8. and chap. 13. 1 , &c. it is a proverbial saying , the greatest clerks are not always the wisest men . i think the saying might as often be verified of the greatest wits . scorning in that gradation in the first psalm is set down as the highest step of wickedness . and solomon tells us that judgments are prepared for the scorners . you will say to me , how then must our tongues be employed ? i answer , in praises and thanksgiving unto god. psalm 35. 28. and my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praises all the day long . parallel whereto is vers. 24. of psalm 71. indeed the book of psalms is in a great measure but an exercise of , or exhortation to this duty . 2. we must exercise our tongues in talking of all his wondrous works . psalm 145. 5 , 6. i will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty , and of thy wondrous works . 3. in prayer to god. 4. in confession of him and of his religion , and publickly owning it before men , whatever the hazard be . 5. in teaching , instructing and counselling of others . 6. in exhorting them . 7. in comforting them that need it . 8. in reproving them . all which particulars i might enlarge upon ; but because they come in here only as they refer to the tongue , it may suffice to have mention'd them summarily . thirdly , let us hence duly learn to prize and value our souls ; is the body such a rare piece , what then is the soul ? the body is but the husk or shell , the soul is the kernel ; the body is but the cask , the soul the precious liquor contained in it ; the body is but the cabinet , the soul the jewel ; the body is but the ship or vessel , the soul the pilot ; the body is but the tabernacle , and a poor clay tabernacle or cottage , the soul the inhabitant ; the body is but the machine or engine , the soul that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that actuates and quickens it ; the body is but the dark lanthorn , the soul or spirit is the candle of the lord that burns in it : and seeing there is such difference between the soul and the body in respect of excellency , surely our better part challenges our greatest care and diligence to make provision for it . bodily provision is but half provision , it is but for one part of a man , and that the meaner and more ignoble too , if we consider only the time of this life ; but if we consider a future estate of endless duration after this life , then bodily provision will appear to be , i do not say quarter provision , but no provision at all in comparison , there being no proportion between so short a period of time , and the infinite ages of eternity . let us not then be so foolish as to employ all our thoughts and bestow all our time and pains about cherishing , accommodating and gratifying our bodies , in making provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof , as the apostle phraseth it ; and suffer our souls to lie by neglected , in a miserable , and poor , and blind , and naked condition . some philosophers will not allow the body to be an essential part of man , but only the vessel or vehicle of the soul ; anima cujusque est quisque . though i would not be so unequal to it , yet i must needs acknowledg it to be but an inferior part : it is therefore so to be treated , so dieted and provided as to render it most calm and compliant with the soul , most tractable and obsequious to the dictates of reason ; not so pampered and indulged , as to encourage it to cast its rider , and to take the reins into its own hand , and usurp dominion over the better part , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to sink and depress it into a sordid compliance with its own lusts , atque affigere humi divinae particulam aurae . this is our duty , but alas what is our practice ? our great partiality towards our bodies , and neglect of our souls , shews clearly which part we prefer . we are careful enough of wounding or maiming our bodies , but we make bold to lash and wound our souls daily ; for every sin we commit , being contrary to its nature , is a real stripe yea a mortal wound to the soul , and we shall find it to be so , if our consciences be once awakened to feel the sting and smart of it . we are industrious enough to preserve our bodies from slavery and thraldom , but we make nothing of suffering our souls to be slaves and drudges to our lusts , and to live in the vilest bondage to the most degenerate of creatures , the devil : we are thrifty and provident enough not to part with any thing that may be serviceable to our bodies under a good consideration , and we so esteem them , as that we will part with all we have for the life of them ; but we make little account of what is most beneficial to our souls , the means of grace and salvation , the word of god and duties of his worship and service , nay we can be content to sell our souls themselves for a trifle , for a thing of nothing , yea for what is worse than nothing , the satisfying of an inordinate and unreasonable appetite or passion . we highly esteem and stand much upon our nobility , our birth and breeding , though we derive nothing from our ancestors but our bodies and corporeal qualities ; and it is useful so far to value and improve this advantage , as to provoke us to imitate the good examples of our progenitors , not to degenerate from them , nor to do any thing unworthy of our breeding ; and yet the divine original of our souls , which are beams from the father of lights , and the immediate offspring of god himself , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , hath little influence upon us to engage us to walk worthily of our extraction , and to do nothing that is base or ignoble , and unsutable to the dignity of our birth . you will say , how shall we manifest our care of our souls ? what shall we do for them ? i answer , the same we do for our bodies . 1. we feed our bodies , our souls are also to be fed : the food of the soul is knowledg , especially knowledg in the things of god , and the things that concern its eternal peace and happiness ; the doctrine of christianity , the word of god read and preached , 1. pet. 2. 2. as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby . heb. 5. 12. the apostle speaks both of milk and of strong meat . milk he there calls the principles of the doctrine of christ , and again , 1. cor. 2. 3. i have fed you with milk and not with meat , for hitherto ye were not able to bear it . so we see in the apostles phrase , feeding of the flock is teaching and instructing of them . knowledg is the foundation of practice ; it is impossible to do gods will before we know it ; the word must be received into an honest and good heart and understood , before any fruit can be brought forth . secondly , we heal and cure our bodies , when they are inwardly sick , or outwardly harmed ; sin is the sickness of the soul , matth. 9. 12. they that be whole need not a physitian , but they that be sick , saith our saviour , by way of similitude , which he explains in the next verse , i am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance . for the cure of this disease an humble , serious , hearty repentance is the only physick ; not to expiate the guilt of it , but to qualifie us to partake of the benefit of that atonement which our saviour christ hath made , by the sacrifice of himself , and restore us to the favor of god , which we had forfeited , it being as much as in us lies an undoing again what we have done . thirdly , we cloth and adorn our bodies , our souls also are to be clothed with holy and vertuous habits , and adorned with good works . 1. pet. 5. 5. be ye clothed with humility ; and in the same epistle , chap. 2. 3. he exhorts women to adorn themselves , not with that outward adorning of plaiting the hair , and of wearing gold , &c. but with the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit , which is in the sight of god of great price . and in revel . 19. 8. the righteousness of the saints is called fine linnen . and the saints are said to be clothed in white raiment . matt. 23. 11. works of righteousness , and a conversation becoming the gospel is called a wedding garment . coloss. 3. 10. put on the new man. and again , put on therefore as the elect of god bowels of mercy , meekness , &c. on the contrary vicious habits and sinful actions are compared to filthy garments . so zechar. 3. 3. joshua the high-priest is said to be clothed with filthy garments ; which in the next verse are interpreted his iniquities either personal or of the people , whom he represented , i have caused thy iniquity to pass from thee , and will cloth thee with change of raiment . fourthly , we arm and defend our bodies . and our souls have as much need of armour as they : for the life of a christian is a continual warfare ; and we have potent and vigilant enemies to encounter withal ; the devil , the world and this corrupt flesh we carry about with us . we had need therefore to take to us the christian panoply , to put on the whole armour of god , that we may withstand in the evil day , and having done all may stand ; having our loyns girt with truth , and having the breast plate of righteousness , and our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace . above all taking the shield of faith , and for an helmet the hope of salvation , and the sword of the spirit , which is the word of god. ephes. 6. 13 , 14 , &c. he that with his christian armour manfully fights against and repels the temptations and assaults of his spiritual enemies . he that keeps his garments pure , and his conscience void of offence towards god and towards man , shall enjoy perfect peace here , and assurance for ever . tacitus saith of the finni , a northern people , that they were securi adversus homines , securi adversus deos. they need not fear what god or man could do to them , because they were in as bad a condition as could consist with living in the world : they could not be banished into a worse country , nor put into worse circumstances than they were in already . i might say of the man that keeps a good conscience , that he is secure against god and man ; not in that sense the finni were ; but secure of any evil befalling him , from either . god can do him no harm , not for want of power , but for want of will , which is regulated by his truth and justice . he is also secure in respect of men , because he is under the protection of the almighty : and if any there be that would do him harm , they shall either be restrained by the divine providence , or if they be permitted to injure him , it shall tend only to the exercise and improvement of his faith and patience , and enhancing his future reward at that great day , when the almighty shall dispense aureolae to those champions who have signalized their valour and fidelity by heroick actions , or patient sufferings of unworthy things for his sake . 3. a good conscience not only secures a man from god and men , but from himself too . there is no peace to the wicked , saith my god , no inward peace . such a man is at odds with himself . for the commandments of god being agreeable to the nature of man , and perfectly conformable to the dictates of right reason ; mans judgment gives sentence with the divine law , and condemns him when he violates any of them ; and so the sinner becomes an heautontimorumenos , a tormenter of himself . prima est haec ultio , quod se judice nemo nocens absolvitur . no guilty person is absolved at his own tribunal , himself being judge . neither let any profligate person , who hath bidden defiance to his conscience , and is at war with himself , think to take sanctuary in atheism , and because it imports him highly there should be no god , stoutly deny that there is any . for first , supposing that the existence of a deity were not demonstrably or infallibly proved , ( as it most certainly is ) yet he cannot be sure of the contrary , that there is none . for no man can be sure of a pure negative , namely that such a thing is not , unless he will either pretend to have a certain knowledg of all things that are or may be , than which nothing can be more monstrously and ridiculously arrogant ; or else unless he be sure that the being of what he denies doth imply a contradiction ; for which there is not the least colour in this case . the true notion of god consisting in this , that he is a being of all possible perfection . that i may borrow my lord bishop of chesters words in his discourse of natural religion , pag. 94. now if he be not sure there is no deity , he cannot be without some suspicion and fear that there may be one . secondly , if there should be a deity , so holy and just and powerful as is supposed , what vengeance and indignation may such vile miscreants and rebels expect , who have made it their business to banish him out of the world who is the great creatour and governour of it , to undermine his being , and eradicate all notions of him out of their own and other mens minds ; to provoke his creatures and vassals to a contempt of him , a sleighting of his fear and worship , as being but such imaginary chimaera's , as are fit only to keep fools in awe . certainly as this is the highest provocation that any man can be guilty of , so shall it be punished with the sorest vengeance . now a slender suspicion of the existence of a being , the denial whereof is of so sad consequence , must needs disturb the atheists thoughts , and fill him with fears , and qualifie and allay all his pleasures and enjoyments , and render him miserable even in this life . but on the other side , he that believes and owns a god ; if there should be none , is in no danger of any bad consequent . for all the inconvenience of this belief will be , that he may be hereby occasioned to tye himself up to some needless restraints during this short time of his life , wherein notwithstanding there is , as to the present , much peace , quiet , and safety ; and , as to the future , his errour shall die with him , there being none to call him to an account for his mistake . thus far the bishop . to which i shall add , that he not only suffers no damage , but reaps a considerable benefit from this mistake ; for during this life he enjoys a pleasant dream or fancy of a future blessed estate , with the thoughts and expectation whereof he solaces himself , and agreeably entertains his time ; and is in no danger of being ever awakened out of it , and convinced of his errour and folly , death making a full end of him . finis . books printed for and sold by samuel smith . jo. rais historia plantarum . 2 vol. fol. 1686. — synopsis methodica stirpium britannicarum , cum indice & virium epit. newton philosophia naturalis principia mathemat . 40. r. morton . exercitationes de phthisii . 8 o. 1689. g. harris de morbis acutis infantum . 8 o. 1689. pharmacopeia bateana , cum arcanis goddardianis , &c. 1691. shipton pharmacopeia-col . reg. londini remedia omnia . 12 o. 1690. plukenetii stripium illustr . & minus cognitarum icones . fol. 1691. haver's new observation of the bones , and marrow , of rheumatisms and gout , &c. 1691. practical christianity , or such holiness as the gospel enjoyns 8 o. an enquiry after happiness by the author of pract. christianity 8 o. human life ; being a 2. part of enquiry after happiness . 8 o. 1690. the duty of servants towards god , their masters , &c. by the same author . a sermon preached at mr. t. lamb's funeral , by the same author . a sermon about frequent communion , by dr. tho. smith . 4 o. a practical discourse of the causes , and remedies of the differences about religion ; which distract the peace of christendom . 4 o. the history of the persecutions of the protestants , by the french king , in the principality of orange . 4 o. the state of the church of rome , when the reformation began . 4 o. visions of pasquin , or a character of the roman court , religion and practices ; with a curious description of purgatory , and hell. 4 o. the school of the eucharist , or the miraculous acknowledgments which birds , beasts and insects have rendred to the holy sacrament of the altar . 8 o. art of divine converse , by d. abercromby . the life of st. mary magdalen of pazzi , a carmelite nun ; with the nature , causes and consequences of extasie and rapture , &c. 4 o. r. boyle's veneration man's intellect ows to god. 8 o. — hydrostaticks applyed to the materia medicam . 8 o. — effects of languid local motion ; and the causes of the insalubrity and salubrity of the air. 8 o. — natural and experimental history of mineral waters . 8 o. — vertues of specifick medicines , and the use of simple medicines 8 o. — of the porousness of animal and solid bodies . 8 o. — experimental history of cold. 4 o. — sceptical chymist . 8 o. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a58185-e1880 * de nat. rerum . l. 2. treat . of nat. religion . lib. 1. c. 6. * seminal form or vertue . * antidote against athism l. 2. c. 5. * isag. ad rem herbariam . * antidote against atheism . l. 2. c. 6. * agric. l. 2. c. 6. * d. more antid . l. 2. c. 6. antid . atheism . l. 2. c. 9. * plin. l. 11. c. 30. * antidote against atheism l. 2. c. 10. object . use. * antid . atheism . l. 2. c. 11. * bishop of chesters nat. rel. lib. 1. c. 6. dr. more antidote against atheism . * de natur . rerum l. 2. * boyl of fin. causes p. 53 , 54. * cartes epist. vol. 1. ep. 77. & seq . infer . 1. psal. 100. infer . 2. * runs before the understanding or wit. answers upon several heads in philosophy first drawn up for the private satisfaction of some friends : now exposed to publick view and examination / by william marshall, dr. of physick of the colledge of physicians in london. marshall, william, 17th cent. 1670 approx. 330 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 133 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a52075) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65524) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1531:3) answers upon several heads in philosophy first drawn up for the private satisfaction of some friends : now exposed to publick view and examination / by william marshall, dr. of physick of the colledge of physicians in london. marshall, william, 17th cent. [24], 237 p., 2 folded leaves of plates : ill. printed by t.l. for nathaniel brooke ..., london : 1670. errata on preliminary p. 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ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 simon charles sampled and proofread 2005-04 simon charles text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion answers upon several heads in philosophy , first drawn up for the private satisfaction of some friends ; now exposed to publick view and examination . by william marshall , dr. of physick of the colledge of physicians , in london . dij bene fecerunt in opis me , quodque pusilli . finxerunt animi , raro & per pauca loquentis : . hor. london , printed by t. l. for nathaniel brooke , at the angel in cornh●● near the royal exchange and at gresham colledge . 1670. to the right honorable william , lord viscount bronker president , and the rest of the learned members , of the royal society . to the incomparably learned dr. francis glisson president , and the rest of the learned fellows of the , colledge of physicians in london . to the worthily famous professors of gresham colledge in london . the author wisheth all happines , submitting these his philosophical answers to their grave censure . the things here presented , and which shall be hereafter presented of the like nature , will vindicate mee from both suspition in you , and expectation in the reader , of a dedicatory piece of flattery : i every where manifestly using a philosophical freedome . 〈…〉 so ill a servant either to 〈◊〉 honours , or to noble truths , which are the choice food of refined minds , to make this address unto you for the protection of any thing which may deserve a black censure . let every line bear its own fate in its own bosom . only being well assured , that these things in difference , and thus discussed between me and some friends ; as they have been contrarily taught by persons worthily had in singular veneration , both in the present and former ages ; so they concern some heads of philosophy , which are of no small consequence unto true learning ; and besides , lying deeper in the pit of obscurity then the first fadom , they ought to receive the ablest decision ; i knew not therefore how more candidly to strip my self of any concern pervicatiously to defend any thing in these papers , then by laying them and their fate at the feet of so noble and able judges . possibly the thanks of private friends may have begot in me a 〈◊〉 opinion of some of these things the● they may deserve : your judgment may correct the errour of their indulgence . as all that desire to learn , ought to wait upon you and your honourable societies , as being together with the famous universities and our law colledges , i mean our innes of court , as the soul and spirits of the nation ; so these papers wait upon you , not presuming in the least to inform , but submissely craving rather to learn of you what they ought to think of themselves : according to the noble method of philosophy in some of your societies lately instituted and pursued , not seeking for a precarious allowance , as a rogue and felone may find refuge and safety at an holy sanctuary ; but ( however without the overweening dotage of self opinion ) either by their own fair truth and clearness to be justifyed , or else willingly to embrace the flames , which their errours have deserved . i know you will pardon the hasty rude dresse , or rather nakednes , ( best suiting the pursuances of truth ) in which these answers to the questioning letters of some private friends , were first of all conceived : which without falsiifyng could not afterwards be altered : and their highest ambition then was only private satisfaction , though now , except i will leave those , for whose satisfaction they were first written , unsatisfied , they must proceed to put themselves upon the test for publick , either justification , or disallowance . the which i am the more easily perswaded to , observing it a method allow'd and practiced both by antients and moderns to preserve and deliver scattered points of philosophy by way of dialogues and epistles . and indeed this method hath this special advantage in it ; we may in a word present what we have to say that is new , without loading the reader with an unsavoury crambe , which hath been a thousand times before in the press . as if these paters be able , which i leave to your serious censure , to justify themselves : it is scarce possible for them to fall into the hands of any reader , who shall not herein , if he read them diligently and with understanding , find , not only somewhat which is new , but as well that is memorable , and beyond all doubting , certain , and perhaps neither by himself formerly thought of , nor possibly every where in that vast ocean of books , which are in the world , to be met with . in these philosophical oppositions , till i be called to account , i have for the honour i bear them , spared those great and venerable names both moderns and antients , which i have herein opposed : it being my method in private , to pursue what is publickly in you exemplary viz. to weigh controversies and questions in philosophy , not by parties and factions , time and continuance , or number and opinion , but as near as possibly i can , by observing how the scales bear between the opposite reasons : and i wish the method might be so happy , as to become more common . for the same reasons i have suppressed the names of my ingenious friends , in opposition to some of whose thoughts these things were first of all written . every day make your names more illustrious for clearness of judgment in the mysteries of nature . being the desire of all , and doubtless expectation of most and particularly of your orator and servant william marshal . to his worthy and learned friends with whom these things were first debated ; the authors apology for the publication of these his papers . to some of you the name of an apology might seem almost unintelligible , or little less then mockery : your interest being no less in the birth , then in the first conception of these philosophical discourses . your quaerying curiosity at first impraegnated the mind , with what your present importunity will not rest without committing to the press . to the rest of you , my wish is , that with the favour of others , i might not have stood in need of this apology . however let not the publication be mis-construed , as if i accounted all here debated to be peremptorily concluded , or all that i have opposed , conquered . the yet dissenting of several of you from several of the things here by me own'd , might make a more hardy confidence then , i hope , i shall ever be guilty of , ●o become modestly jealous of its own judgment . if the things here made publick should not be able to indure the piercing aire of this knowing age , however our free and mutual intercourse upon such and the like philosophical doubts cannot want its justification . the publishing sometimes of a mistake is an occasion of leading others into the right way . and because every one cannot see cross the mediterranean , we are not therefore to walk either with hooded eyes , or to dis-own the seeing of any thing at all , or what appearances things make unto us . though the mind , which is the souls bed , be neither in all of the samesize , nor in all equally luminous , or conceptive , yet each is equally concerned diligently according , to the proportion of his window , to take a view of the goodly scenes of nature . in these things't is better to erre then to be idle : as i am sure you are equally perswaded with your faithfull friend and servant william marshal . to the reader . the publishing these papers hath now made thee my judge and censor : and they were no otherwise designed , but for every one freely to exercise his judgment about them . most of these problemes are more frequently upon the anvile then they are found easily malleable into fair , clear , doubtless conclusions . therefore if we misse the goale , it is but allowing one more in these sublime things to run a planetary course . i shall in a word tell the worst , which can justly be laid to their charge ; some of the few things here discoursed , have left the commonly troden path ; not as affecting novelty , against which upon other oc●asions i appear for the antients , but as chusing to follow reason rather then the name of any authour . first therefore examine their reasons , and then give unbiassed judgment for the truth ; which for the truths sake i shall be ready to accept , though against me . for if those to whom and against whom , though in a vayled way , these papers were first written , are supposed not to be exempted from errour , there is no room left but only for weak minds in these secrets of nature to arrogate unto themselves an infallibility . if any complain of obscurity , as both hast , and brevity , and the subject matter , and the manner of writing , and the quality of the persons for whom these things were first of all pen'd , may make them thereunto lyable enough , however i shall be ready to give both my account , and if valuable , my assistance to any who shall des●re it relating either to the obscurity , or intricacy of any passage ; and to accept from them any reasons they shall be pleased to produce to the contrary , thine w. m. from my study in nags head court in gray's church street . a syllabe of the contents of these two sections . in the first section . in the first answer ; is treated concerning the several originals of springs . concerning the irregular ebbings and flowings of diverse particular springs . of chymical multiplication , or the encreasing of the quantity of liquours by destillation . of the possibility of a persons learning , in an hour or two , to write his mind in a language he is ignorant of : so as , what hee writeth in the unknown language , shall be constantly without errour in the grammatical concerns of it , and the sense good and continued . in the second answer ; is treated concerning sympathyes between several parts of animal bo●yes . particularly , of the sympathy which is between the breasts and womb : and whether it be founded upon inosculations of the epigastrick and mammary veins and arteryes . whether from view of the breasts , judgment may be made concerning the sex of an unborn conception ? of the sympathetick relation of parts of the same side . of the forming of the phases and shapes of the moon from its mutuatitious light , and the proportion in which it hath its situation to the eye : and why the moon appeareth to the eye rather plane then sphaeral . in the third answer . fresh-water springs are asserted at the bottom of the sea. whether by frequent transhaping , and working upon mercury , somewhat be not lost irrecoverably , beyond all possibility and hope of reduction ? that the doctrine of the four elements as uncompounded bodyes , cannot acquit it self , against many rational doubtings and material controversyes , to be a doctrine unquestionable . that the four elements cannot be the first elements . of the difficulty of bringing the firs● elements to view . that , in the doctrine of the ancients , seemeth a greater number of first elements asserted , then four . what may have been the true rational intendment of the ancients , in their introducing the doctrine of the four elements . in the fourth answer ; is treated of the sutures in the skull : and their distinctness according to their several kinds , number , and order . how in the distinction of the futures , both as to their number and order , is a certain latitude , admitting variety in the method of their account , and the anatomical doctrine of them . the like latitude is observable in several parts both of concrete , and abstract mathematicks . whether the praeeminence of right-side parts above the left , be natural or arbitrary . in the fifth answer ; is treated of the consistency of immense volatility with immense ponderousnes . of making tinctures by materation without addition . whether predictions may be concerning comets before their appearance ? what is her●in to be judged , of comets which are by new amassement ? what is her●in to be judged , of comets which are supposed to be permanent bodyes , and not to be new amassements . in the sixth answer ; is treated of the motion of the celestial bodyes about their particular axes . whether such their circumaxall motion afford a convictive demonstration and proof of the copernican systeme ? that the earths motion is not sufficiently proved , upon the hypothesis granted , that comets are nearest the earth , when they are in opposition unto the sun. in the second section . in the seventh answer , is treated concerning angles of contact . in order thereunto , are given several definitions of plane angles , and distinct names to them , according to those diversityes of their kinds and constitutions , which , in this question , are more especially material and necessary to be distinguished . the state of the question is set forth . it is shewn , that recto-convexe angles of contact are truly angles according to the definition of plane angles . that recto-convexe angles of contact are neither destitute of quantity , nor their sides coincident . in what several wayes , one quantity may be greater then another . of homogeneity . what kind of homogeneity it is , that is requisite for proportionals ? that angles have figuration , as well as quantity . that in angles is observable an homogeneity or heterogeneity which is mathematical , and also an homogeneity or heterogeneity which is not mathematical , nor any way concerning their quantity , but only their figuration , &c. how three angles being all equal ; the equality between the first and second , may be more absolute then the equality between the first and third being only respective . how some angles are constituted by the concrescency , composition , and annexion of several parts and angles , which are heterogeneal each to other . vvhether like angles , in unequal circles and in like segments of circles be alwayes equal ; that all equal angles are not like . that all like angles are not equal . vvhether this controversy about the recto-convexe angle of contact , belong to concrete or abstract mathematicks ? vvhat was the first mistake , that first ministred occasion for the starting of this controversy , which hath been so long reteined , in these learnings , in which nothing is more monstrous and unusual then pertinacious controversy ; these escapes of the press crave the help of the readers pen. viz , pag. 10. line . 11. read . aerial . p. 17. l. 2. r. heat . l. 16.17 . r. reason . p. 18. l. 10. r. easily . p. 14. l. 19. expunge the semicolon . p. 21. l. 28. r. sympathy . p. 22. l. 15.16 . r. tumultuous . l. 24. r. those . p. 23. l. 29. r. concerning . p. 24. l. 18. r. falls . p. 29. l. 7. r. confessedly . p. 33. l. penult . r. flushing . p. 35. l. 13. r. that that . l. 28. r. fire . p. 36. l. 13. r. us . p. 39. l. 1. expunge the colon : l. 16. r. foetid . l. 26. r. their . l. 27 r. the. p. 41. l. 7. r. with the string . p. 43. l. 12. r. to the violating . p. 44. l. 2. and 7. r. inanimates . p. 49. l. 3. r. seame p. 56. l. 9. r. certainly . p. 57. l. 15. for is regularly . r. irregugularly . p. 61. l. 7. for if seeming . r. it seeming . l. 19. r. exact . p. 69. l. 5. r. limited . p. 71. l. 3. r. the copernican . p. 75. l. 13. r. jago . p. 80. l. 19. r. lordships . p. 82. l. 17. r. like . p. 86. l. 5. r. ba . p. 89. l. 16. for mooving by . r. by mooving . p. 90. l. 2. r. an isoclitical . l. 28. r. be again . p. 92. l. 30. for ahh . r. ahf . p. 100. l. 6. r. even . l. 19. r. say . p. 101. l. 1. r. one or each . p. 124. l. 29. r. recto-concave . p. 155. l. 26. and 28. r. crooked-lined . p. 160. l. 18. r. not other . p. 187. l. 26. r. a mixt-lined secant angle or of p. 200. l. 26. r. crooked-lined . p. 232. l. 1. r. constant . the faults of the orthography are referred to the readers ingenuity . the first section of philosophical answers conteinihg the first six answers upon several heads in philosophy . by william marshal london , printed by t. l. for nathaniel brooks , at the angel in cornhil near the royal exchange . 1670. answers upon several heads in philosophy the first answer . concerning the original of springs : that all springs have not the same nor the like original : that all springs are not from the sea : that several things may by the way contribute as originals to the same spring , whether by way of dissolution , or condensation . also of the ebbings and flowings of particular springs : in some more especially observed to be in an unaccountable irregularity . also of chymical multiplication , or the distilling of liquors , so as by distillation to encrease their quantity to any given proportion . that mercury is not explicable by the doctrine of the four elements . that in an hour or two's time a person of indifferent parts , able to read and write his native language only , may be taught to write his mind in a forein language , so as what he writeth shall be true in the forein language , and the sense good and continued . as nature in generation worketh the first beginnings of things usually in a very dark loom , not permitting common eyes to have a view of its un●aught art in ordering and warping its first filaments , covering with shells and membranes and divers veils the mysterious nature of first productions : the same judgement may be of springs , which though every where obvious to the eye , by their pleasant murmurings , crystalline pureness , and perpetual flux , delighting the mind , as well as the sense ; yet whence these rise , and how they are fed , and wherewith furnished , is more obscure and aenigmatical than to be resolved , as many easily imagine , in a word . and yet i suppose , an erroneous hypothesis may be the chief ground of difficulty in this question , while many generally expect that all springs should be of the same or like original . but why is that more reasonable than to expect that all springs should send forth waters of the same taste , colour , or virtue ? too many instances , examples and experiments may be produced of springs owing their original to the sea , percolated thorow the earth , to deny , or call in question so evident a truth , without a manifest crazing of our own judgement : yet that the sea by such percolations is not the original of all springs , is as manifest , as true , and confirm'd by as many and weighty experiences ; not only of fresh springs near the sea , and in-land salt-springs ; but especially if we consider the numerous springs , which are in the tops , or sides of several mountains , vastly above the seas level ; and therefore not possible in any channel to be naturally raised so high , without all stay , or impediment of percolation . of which i have observed a special instance in a low , somewhat rocky , wedge-like mountain , situate along the brim of the full sea ; but on the land-side , at a little distance , set about with numerous and vast mountains : in which little wedge-like mountain , though most part immediately encompassed with a plain , very considerably above the level of the highest , aequinoctial , or other tides ; was a perpetual spring of most lympid , clear water , not unfamed for its singular medical vertues . it is scarce consentaneous to sense , reason and experience , to derive such fountains out of the sea only by way of percolation ; which though it be allowed to contribute , in some places , to the sweetning of the fountainous flux , cannot be conceived apt to raise the water to an higher level than it had before . not disallowing the former therefore in its place ; there is yet besides it some other original of springs to be inquired after . and how perpetual springs should come to be in the tops of the highest mountains of all , as the case of most difficult explication , cannot with greater reason and clearness be explain'd , than by bringing the waters thither , not in a watry form , but as vapours and exhalations , at leastwise the most constantly , and in the greatest proportion ; after the manner of a distillation , ordered and managed by the institutes of nature ; and this without espousing the tenets of our new platonists , that will have several perpetuous continued orbes of fires , diversly graduated , for special theological ends , contained still between two and two perpetuous and continued crusts , or sphaeral shels of earth , the one above the fire , the other beneath it , in respect of the earths center . and those that know how under the surface of the earth , whether plain , or mountainous , are frequent stores , both of materials , and naturally formed cavities , and other instruments , easily accommodable to such a work , will not conclude that to be a conjecture of fancy , which not only for its possibility , but the high degree of its probability , may justly claim to be entertain'd as a most real and undoubted physical truth . for what doubt can be made of subterraneous heats and fires ? and hot baths and springs , attest the , not only warmth , which is sufficient for our purpose , but even the actual , and frequently intense , heat , and ebullition of liquors within the caverns of the earth , and the perpetuity , or constant continuance of such ebullitions : and as the earth is well known to be furnished with many natural caverns , so in those caverns , for shape , proportion , situation , and other the like circumstances , we cannot but imagine there is great diversity . so how variously and plenteously the earth is watered with subterraneous juyces , and moistures , cannot be denied by the observant , who almost every where under ground find lesser veins of water dispersed up and down the body of the earth , and in many places large concealed rivers , elsewhere unfathomable vaults , and abysses : sometime seen rivers in their proper and perpetual channels , make a dark course and discharge of their waters into the unseen bowels of the earth . upon the whole , in the method of this explication , waters are , in the same manner secretly within the earth , raised to the top of the mountains , in which , to our view , they are raised in the open air to those regions , from whence they fall back again upon us in the form of rain . and in such vapid exhalations , it cannot be denied but in some places , and at some times , the mountain springs ranging in a much higher level , may by possibility be furnished from the percolated sea-water : but as the possibility of this is admitted , so the universal and absolute necessity of it , may not be averred : it seeming hard to say , that the mountain-springs what distance soever from the sea , have no other way of being furnished , but only from thence . and , i suppose , it will as uneasily obtain credit , that the sea should run as fast every way , under the earth , to the originals of springs , as the springs generally do in seeking out their way unto the sea. i doubt not , but besides the seas , there are under the earth many other liquors , contributing to the origination of springs , some having their first rise from dissolution , others from condensation , whence , and from the passages thorough which they run , and are percolated , rise very often those special vertues and dangers of some peculiar springs : and sometimes in a seeming praeposterous way , though very consentaneous to the true nature of things , springs adjoyning to the sea are fresh , and at a vast distance from the sea , in in-land countreys sometimes salt . but besides both the seas , & those other waters bred under the earth ; it s more than probable ▪ the rains falling down in showers from heaven , adde not a little to the flushing and continuance of the springs . so medical springs after rains are noted for a while to be of less virtue ; and in long droughts , 't is usual for very many springs to be quite dried up , till rains fall again : and where , by long obscure dens , caverns and passages under ground , access may be had to subterraneous rivers ; such rivers , though lying vastly deep under the earths surface , they are sound to swell at after rains , and by their accession unto the wonted stream , frequently do make a most hideous and horrid noise , full of terrour to those in the cave● mouth , and at other times unusual . from all which , seriously and impartially weighed , is made undeniably apparent , that rains , in no contemptible proportion furnish forth matter to be ordinarily by channelly veins convey'd , or else extraordinarily by a natural distillation wrought up into the springs . and as this much discussed question is resolved in these easie things , every where offering themselves to view in nature ; so i doubt not , upon the same principles might also many other things , seeming at first sight to be very mysterious , in the concern of springs , as that which with so much admiration is by the rude ignorant people cryed up and observed in some , having , as they term it , their ebbings and flowings in such irregular frequency as by no art can possibly be reduced to any certainty of account , or order : for the more special and clear observing of which they are wont to receive the water from the spring into some stone , or such like vessel proportionately bored in , or near the bottom : all which in truth is without any retrogradation and reciprocation of motion in its channelly veins ; being nothing else but an inaequality of the waters issuing from the spring in equal times , either by reason of its more plenteous filling at some times the channelly veins of the spring as it passeth , or else by reason it passeth with a greater or lesser impetus ; or possibly in some cases and places upon both grounds : which what it hath in it that is more admirable than the running of any ordinary brook , sometimes with a fuller channel , sometimes with a stronger stream , i do not yet understand : and how easily , upon the former principles , this is explicable any one may readily perceive : that we may more justly wonder how some grave authors came to be so transported with the sight or fame of some such springs , occurring up and down in the world , as in their reports to offer them to the thoughts of distant students , and succeeding times , as containing in them little less than miracle . and if the studious would observe diligently what is in nature , possibly many other things , seemingly as intricate , might be capable of as easie explications ; especially considering the vast way a spring may run under the earth before it break forth ; fairly insinuated to us by the pure fresh water springs , bursting up a great way within the floud marks of the sea ; clearly intimating to us , how two hills at a considerable distance may both be concerned in the same spring and its course . and whereas we number and place springs ac-according as we observe them to break forth and shew themselves unto the day ; in the true aestimate , and upon laborious search , it hath many times appeared quite otherwise ; that the original of the spring , has been at a great distance from the eruption , and the eruption has not been till after the confluction and meeting of , it may be three or four several springs , every one carrying in it sometimes the dissolution , sometimes the spirit , or somewhat of the first rudiments of some special mineral ; and altogether make up , not seldome , an almost inimitable composition . your other quaery concerning chymical multiplication , or the distilling of water from a pint to a quart , if my genius fail me not , when rightly proposed and understood , cannot want some affinity with the matters we have already been treating of . for if any would impose that the same water as by way of expansion , without other additional water or matter , might by distillation be brought to a double , treble , and so a thousand times as large dimensions as before , as wines , vinegars , and other liquors , have in them , without any further addition , so much phlegme , and so much spirit of such a strength , whether fixed , or volatile ; it would require a very credulous judgement to allow the veracity , or possibility of such a probleme : and i am clearly free , to disown the skill or power of any such chymistry ; which once admitted , were it not for the shortness of humane life , and the hopelesness of obtaining vessels , and instruments large enough for the work , and conveniency to place them , the world might be in danger of drowning from the lofty artist ; as once it was hypothetically threatned , with shaking by the noble and ingenious mechanist . but i had rather understand a probleme favourably , so as it may carry truth , possibility , and reason along with it : and so methinks may this be interpretable , to wit , subtilly to contrive , find out , and order expedients , ingenious helps , and advantages , to condense free , and open exhalations into a watery form with dispatch and expeditely , especially at any season , or time of the year : so as by this art out of the arrial vapours within a limited time to give any limited measure of water , which reason can expect from art , or without abjuring and putting off its own nature , handsomely make demand of . and that this is the philosophy of nature appears in every days dewes , the trickling moisture hanging on the chamber-side of the glass , when the air is very sharp , and full of a nitrous coldness without : and we cannot rightly conceive the idea of that famously known and frequently mentioned and in hot countries , though rare , yet sometimes by sad experience attested disease , the diabetes , without admitting both the possibility of such a chymistry , and of expedients for the more ready dispatch of it : for without an aptness to imbibe , attract and condense the vapid exhalations , which successively come to be near and about the patient , and that with very singular advantages for expedition , how possibly should the patients urine come in a few weeks to weigh more than all , both the drinks and meats taken by the patient all along that time , and all the weight of the body , whensoever it was heaviest during that time besides ? to contract all into few , the possibility of the probleme , according to this explication , needs not be doubted , being an every where obvious work of nature ; as in the other sense it seems vain and frivolous . and in researches about expedients for dispatch ; it is possible , here , as in other pieces of that ingenious art , several artists may have several methods and contrivances , to suck in still more vapours in a continued succession , and proportionably to condense them when sucked in ; also to dispose the vapours , before they are sucked in , for more expedite and easie condensation at after : as every one has his peculiar still , his peculiar solvent , bath , ferment and furnace . and that this point of philosophy were a little more cultivated were to be wished , for the advantage of natural philosophy , and the concernes of it in some practical arts : for so hereby the difference of the airs at several seasons , or at the same season in several places , might come in some measure to be known , by the taste and eye , as well as by the nostril : and the concerns of rokes , fogs , mists , and airs any wayes altered , or infected , may be hereby more happily discovered in relation to the health and sickliness of man , and so of other animals : so what difference there is between the breathings of several animals of the same , or several sexes and kinds , or of the same animal at several times of its age , rest , motion , fear , joy , hope , love , anger , health , sickness , peculiar conditions , or evacuations : and the discriminations between simple airs , and the airs altered by sprinklings , strewings , fumigations , from minerals , vegetables , animals , may be made more evident . your tying up mercury to the old elemental laws , is a true semblance of the old mezentian cruelty ; and i should pity the poor fugitive , were i not ascertained from his constant course , that as a slippery hocas , he will never leave transhaping himself till , to your own confession , he has slipt the collar . four qualities will assoon solve all questions , as four elements ; which some of the learned antients , vainly hoped , not to say , foolishly boasted , to do . as philosophers distinguish between the sights of age and time ; age first sees without , and after not without spectacles : time first sees with them , and after better without them : the elements were as spectacles in the beginnings of those times , when men first set themselves about the studies of arts , that helped them in a sort to conceive somewhat of bodies ; but now the eye of time grown clearer , seeth much more happily , as is by many supposed , without them . more crass and thin , solid and fluid parts are not denyed , but apparently to be seen , offering themselves to view in several plain and easie methods of analysing bodies ; but the simplicity of those parts , obtained in such analysmes , is not yet demonstrated . the strange monster reported with so much averment to you , which seems so much to have startled your patience , to wit , that a person of parts , educated only to read and write the language of the nation wherein he was born , may in an hours time be taught to set down any matter , secret , or other , in another language , as latine , greek , french , &c. and the latine , or other language to be true , and the sense good and continued ; believe me , though it be true , as it is , yet it is not to be esteemed worthy your least discomposure : it may be done many several wayes , and yet when all is done , it is but a slight of the brain ; like many of the mimical miracles , performed by nimble handed egyptians . that there may be no room for distrust of the truth of it , if affiance in me may so far prevail ▪ you may be assured , i have seen the whole model and systeme of it , in several languages , besides our own : and but that it would make my letter of too great a bulk , should herewith have sent you a transcript of one of them . in this , as in the foregoing probleme of multiplying chymistry ; in words speaking and containing truth , something seems to be offered to the understanding of the hearer , which is an herculian shot beyond it . pardon the length in which i have laboured discursively to send back all the quaeries and objections of your last fully answered . the second answer . wherein of sympathies between several parts of the same animal body in general and particularly of the sympathy which is between the breasts and the womb : and that the ground of that sympathy is not founded upon the inosculations of the epigastrick and mammary veins and arteries . that that sympathy instructs not from the sight of the breast concerning the sex of the unborn conception . yet parts of the same side more especially sympathize one with another , than those that are on contrary sides . that to found the sympathy between the breasts and womb ; is no necessity of vessels passing directly between the one part and the other : but the grounds of their sympathy may be several other wayes clearly explicable , by manifest arteries , sinews , and other vessels . that the several shapes of the moon have their original , forming , and alteration , from the parts of its mutuatitious light , and their situation in respect of our eye . that there is not one general original of all light . and why the enlightned part of the moon is still toward the sun. and why the moon appears plane and not sphaeral . i should wrong the truth , if i should not acknowledge , all your arguments and instances prove fairly the sympathies , which nature has lodged in us , between some special parts above others ; to which may be added by way of declaration ; that though no part in the whole animal body , but is of affinity and concern unto all the rest , yet some , besides their general relation as of the same animal body , have sometimes not only one , but several other more special grounds of sympathy , to tye & link them one to another ; whether from homogeneity of substance , or commonness of original , or unity and concurrence in the same work , or concern in the same branchings of vessels , whether arteries , sinews , or veins , of what kind soever ; each of which heightens the general relation which is between the parts : and the more of these are found inter-curring between any two parts , their relation is so much the more fortifyed . but of all other , the sympathy which you urge , between the breasts and womb , in animals is too universally known , and variously evident to be denyed , or doubted . how oft , among prying and suspitious women , has the state of the womb been discovered from the colour of the nipples , and condition of the breasts ? and the judgements of physicians justified and admired , when upon the manifest intercourse between these two parts , easily transferring humours , whether natural , or praeter-natural , from the one to the other , they have sometimes predicted long before the diseases of the breasts , or womb ? so upon expectation of the ones evacuation , the cure of the other has been ordered , and the event and time of recovery foreseen ? and observing how they grow and lessen together , heal and fade together , become firm & flaccid together , replenish and empty together , except when the one drains the other , the intercourse between them , and their common concern is manifest ; however the grounds and passages wherein this intercourse is founded and carried on , possibly may not be so very clear , as by many is presumed . and though i honour you for honouring the antients ; it is now especially less clear then ever ; that the undeniable consent and sympathy , which is between these two parts , has its foundation in the inosculations of the epigastrick veins and arteries with the mammeryes : except we will so farr degrade the examinations of reasons , and trials of experience , as to make what is antient , to be therefore indisputably authentick ; concerning the sympathy of the breasts and womb as held by the antients ) there are two things well deserving serious & further consideration : for hath not this sympathy been rackt beyond its nature , and tentered beyond the truth , of what it is able to bear , or discover ; when , upon the view of the breasts , declarations and predictions are made , not only of conceptions , & abortions in general , with a probable prognostick of the time and event of the feared abortion ; but also from the difference of the breasts on each side , the sexe of the conception , or abortion is peremptorily limited ; and when twins of several sexes have been conceived , the twin of whether sexe shall alone be aborted is foreshewn ; in that rare & unusuall case of aborting one twin , and compleating the due months of gestation with the rest ? not to alleadge more of these impertinent medical enthusiasmes ; such groundlesse and inconsequent deductions , as they are casily received by the superstitious , who yawn after things novel and strange , and blindly swallow what is offered without either praeexamining by the eye of reason , or proving them by the praemastications of experience : so i doubt not but to sober minds they will appear an apish overhugging the truth , to the ruine and destruction of it : an overchurning a serious , secret , true , observation of nature into ranckness and falsity ; and a praeposterous grafting a wild , wandering fancy upon the most cultivated stock of sober , true and certain observation . for since men have set their minds to learn out of natures unwritten books , as well as out of the writings of authours ; what hath been more usual than to find male and female conceptions indifferently on the one or other side , or horn of the womb ? and though against experience no argument ought to avail ; we shall not stiffe what they seem to have to say for themselves ; that the left praeparing vein riseth from the emulgent only , which may be suspected , to be a weakning of its power and influxion ; whereas the right praeparing , or spermatick vein riseth immediately from the great discending trunk , of which the aforesaid emulgent is but an offset . all this is generally and in most bodies true : and in former ages , with the glossiness of its probability , carryed away the minds and judgments of most : but now upon more curious searches made into the bowels , and heart of nature , the sophistry , & weaknes of the former argument manifestly appears : the spermatick veins , if any be so pleased to continue that name , being only reducing vessels , and carrying forth from the vital fountain nothing at all to the testicles , womb , ovaries , or other organes of generation ; as may appear by observing ; the motion of the juyces contain'd in them , notifyed from the side on which the tumour and fulnes suddenly upon an intercepting ligature gathereth . and the different rise of these spermatick veins is more aptly referred to the indirect situation of the discending trunk there ; which usually at the loins inclines a little rather to the right side , making the left emulgent accordingly , to be commonly a little longer than the right : so as for a long tender venal vessel to have had its original so obliquely remote , and sloping over the fore bodies of the rack bones , might not seem sufficiently secure ; however in the more strongly coated arterial vessels , it is not withstanding otherwise ; the right and left spermatical arteries both rising constantly from the descending branch of the aorta . that argument of the right side parts being , stronger , hotter , nimbler , &c. than those on the left side ; annexeth an incohaerent sequel , to a truth which is meerly accidental : the special strength of the right side parts not being any natural priviledge , but an advantage acquired by exercise , use and education ; and by the same method , as easily transferable to the other side . and if at any time twin parts be not equally concern'd , it is because there is not equall relation to the sides : so the ovary of that side to which the conception is more principally affixed , in many females is of a fleshy substance , of colour like sanders , or somewhat brighter , the other all the while remaining without any alteration as a cluster of watery blebs & vesicles . but more particularly in the copulations of mankind , all such considerations of sides must of necessity be obliterated ; the right side of the one parent being applyed to the left of the other , and so on the other side , the left to the right . in all this we deny not , but right side parts have more special relation to right side parts , where the parts twin , and are double : but to parts , which are single , and posited in the middle , twin parts have equall relation . so as upon the whole matter , the diseases of each particular breast are more prone to be transferred to the same respective side of the womb , and those of either side of the womb to the respective breast ; of which are most apparent footsteps in the fabrick of nature : for though in some vessels , as blood-veins , water-veins , chyle-veins , arteries , &c. this distinction of sides be again lost and confounded by insertion into some common trunk , before they can be traced from the one part , to the other collateral part ; yet in some other vessels without any such confusion in the midway , the same collateral vessels ramify themselves distinctly unto the parts all along on the same side : as is most manifest in the visceral sinew , or wandering pair : but yet hereby is not opened any window to see into the sex of unborn conceptions . and , as herein i desire to reverence antiquity , but follow reason ; so upon your more serious thoughts , i doubt not but you will judge , with me , another point upon this subject very well worthy calling in question : and that is the much noysed ground of this sympatly between the breasts and womb ; said , and formerly thought , to be the inosculations of the mammary veins and arteries with the epigastriks . it is well known , how many lateral heterogeneal inosculations , between arteries and blood-veins , have been introduced by closet anatomists ; while , in bloudless speculations , they formed nature according to their reasonings , to solve appearing phaenomena's ; instead of forming their reasonings according to what they ought first to have observed in nature : the verity and authority of all which , among anatomists at sharp , that carry their eyes in their hands , and will believe no more than they see , is at present not much ; however formerly solemnly , and for singular purposes , placed in and very near several of the chief bowels : yet the fumultous aestuation which this hypothesis continually placeth nature under , like the meeting of two contrary seas , may be sufficient , in reason also , to decry and discard it : for which reason also lateral homogeneal inosculations of bloud-veins with bloud-veins , as they are frequently found , so they may as easily in reason be admitted . but the inosculations in the question being final ; i wave these that are lateral . and final inosculations are on all hands , agreed to be in a manner impossible to be shewn ; because , when granted to be , yet there where they are , the vessels are so minute , and slender , that it neither can be easy for the quickest sight , nor the most cautions hand , either , without hurting them , to come at the vessels , where they are inosculated , or to distinguish the vessels when heterogeneal at their inosculation , or to discern a final inosculation , whether of vessels of the same , or of different kinds . so that this whole question about final inosculations being to receive its decision by the judgment of reason ; such final inosculations as are homogeneal , as of arteries with arteries , and bloud-veins with bloud-veins of the same trunk , such as in this point were understood and intended by the antients , are no way capable of desence , allowance , or justification at the barr of reason : for it experimentally , and to the eye , appears , that if any such inosculations should be supposed , the same humours at the same time , from the same place , should move two contrary ways , to wit , both to , and from the heart , and in vessels rising from , or gathered at after into , the same trunk : in which account , the lung vein , the hollow vein , and the port vein , though all of them bloud-veins , yet because of the diversity of their trunks , are to be esteemed as heterogeneal . and finall homogeneal inosculations generally , and therefore also between the mammaryes and epigastricks , being thus everted ; the old doctrine oncerning the ground of the sympathy between the breasts and womb cannot be retained . and if any think by a short alteration of , and putting heterogeneal inosculations for , the rejected homogeneal , the ground of this sympathy will remain firm and clear as of old ; to wit by making humours to be transferred from the womb by the epigastrick arteries and mammary veins to the breasts , and by the mammary arteries , and epigastrick veins from the breasts to the womb ; i suppose , that though such inosculations be not as the other , impossible , though undemonstrable to sense , yet upon mature considerations , these will not be judged sufficient to found this sympathy upon . if we lay the matter seriously in the ballance , even such heterogeneal and final inosculations do rather hinder the transferring of humours from the one part to the other : to be sure , look how much salls , or is any ways drawn into their capacities and cavities , cannot by them be so transferred , but is otherways disposed of : for the mammarie veins carry not to the breasts , but to the subclavians , and so to the heart , and the mammary arteries carry not to the breasts , but to the muscles and parts on the forebelly . in like manner the womb will appear equally unconcerned in those veins and arteries : for the epigastrick veins carry not bloud unto the womb but unto their collateral iliacks , and so to the heart : and the epigastrick arteries carry not bloud from the iliacks to the womb , but to the muscles lying on the fore part of the belly . and of themselves , neither mammary bloud-vessels reach the womb , nor either of the epigastricks the breasts : so as , notwithstanding any thing in these vessels , we yet seem to be in the dark as to the grounds of this confessed sympathy . not to add , that in many animals some , and , in some all , the breasts are quite out of the way of the mammaryes , on the same side of the epigastricks with the womb , and , on that side , as farr removed from the capillar terminations of the epigastricks and mammaries , as the womb it self . and professedly i understand not , upon what necessity the vessels founding , or contributing to the sympathy of these two parts , must needs pass directly between the one part and the other ; and may not as well here , as in the sympathy of other parts be admitted sufficient for this purpose , by their common concern and relation to some special branch , or general trunk , and vessells thus related , touching and terminating in these two parts , are not hard to be found in several kinds ; as arteries and sinews to convey like matter to both these parts : veins and sinews to reduce what is improper , superfluous , useless , or redundant in either , or meet and apt to be transferred from the one to the other : in which both cannot but be assisted by the agreement of their similar attractions , and that conformity of substance , which is either constant , or at some special times between some , or all of each of their parts : which as it may be a ground of the maturation & exalting of these parts together , so thereby the bodies , pores , and passages , of both , are alike open , for the reception of like humours : and the same conform substance may be the cause why those vital emanations & irradiations which the generative parts receive from the parts which are principal ; when , i say , those vital emanations come to be remitted and reflected back again from the generative parts to all the rest of the body ; then , above all others , the breasts gather into themselves powerfully those forces of nature , which are so reflected back again from the generative parts universally to the parts of the whole . and such a course , as i have hinted , is both plain by view , undeniably certain , and familiar in the usual method of nature ; the breasts , above other parts , being exonerated by the evacuations of the womb and the evacuations of the womb , more especially then of other parts , being diverted by the excretions of the breasts : so that these being the common and trodden paths of nature , there cannot but remain an open way also for the translation of other matters . and though by the mammaryes and epigastricks , whether inosculated , or not inosculated , i have above shewn , that such conveyances cannot be made ; yet nothing hinders , nay 't is very apparent , that such translations may be aptly enough made , nay no doubt are made , by the thoracick and preparing vessels ; to wit , by the arteries and some sinews directly , as bringing humours directly unto the parts , and by other sinews and veins more indirectly , as they are apt to carry , or not carry away what has by other vessels been transferred from one of these parts unto the other . i had discoursed these things shorter , if i had not been concerned to quit my self of rashness , with which you had attainted me for seeming herein to have made a defection from the antients . i should assoon defend the moons eclipsses to be a celestiall fainting , and planetary sickness , and to be cured by cymbals , drums , cornets and trumpets ; because the antients thought so . yet for the same truths sake i account my self bound to justify the old astronomers in the causes by them assigned of the several shapes of the moon , as depending upon its mutuatious light , the proportion in which it is received , and the positions from which it offers its self to our view ; all concerning the earth in the shapes of its lucid parts , save in its eclipsses sometimes when it is at the full , being the product merely of ignorance and want of observation . i am not of opinion with many , that there is but only one fountain of light , which is the sun ; to which by imaginary refractions , and reflections , and strange labyrinthaean windings they would referre all other lights ; sending the most glorious of the celestial bodies a borrowing to this fountain ; while evidently in these inferiour regions , in the mineral , vegetable and animal kingdoms , &c. not to speak of the caelestiall flames , several special fountains of light have been , and are frequently observed , though neither so full , nor durable , and perpetual as those above . however we cannot but confesse the sun to be the fountain of the principal lunar light ; as another more faint light discernable in all parts of its body at whatsoever age , so it be out of the combustion of the beams of the sun , which lye betwixt us and the sun , or the beams in vicinity to them , cannot be denyed to be innate unto it . and the roundness of the moons and suns bodies , being evident to the eye in every positure and revolution , and apparent in solar and lunar eclipses , besides several other demonstrations of their rotundity ; it follows from hence by necessary consequence that the moons body cannot be guilded all over , at the same time , with such luminous beams as it borrows from the sun : seeing in any two sphaeres , in whatsoever position , the one without the other , there is still a certain part of the surface of the one , unto which without penetrating its body from no point of the other can be drawn a straight line , as is easy to demonstrate . and the magnitude of the bodies of these two stars , being confusedly unaequal the one unto the other , and the suns the larger ; it follows in like manner by the same necessity , that though all the moon cannot be at once enlightened by the borrow'd solar light , yet at all times , more than half of the moons sphaeral surface , is so enlightened ; except in those cases when the interposition of the earth , or other opake bodies , obstructs the solar radiations from falling upon it . for if a lesser , and a greater sphaere be put and adapted into an isoscelary cone , whose axe is perpendicular to the circular base at its center , the lines in which the surface of the cone toucheth the surfaces of the sphaeres , shall be two circles less than the respective greatest circles , each of its own sphaers as is not hard to demonstrate . and it is as apparent , that the isorrhopical center of that part of the moons surface , which is so solarly enlightened , is still the point directly obverted to the sun ; thorow which point a straight line drawn between the centers of these two stars passeth . so as the enlightened part of the moon being still towards the sun , no wonder , if in their conjunction the moon cannot be seen at all ; as chiefly because of its combustion , so also because the enlightened side of it , is turned away from us towards the sun : that though , by descending into deep pits , stars above the horizon may be seen at noon day , yet the moon in this case cannot by such helps be in like manner seen , its dark side being towards us , and the most that our eye can at any time at one view see of the moons surface , being ever less then the half of it , as is demonstrable . upon the same grounds , at the opposition , i. e. full moon , the enlightened part of the moon as it is towards the sun , so it is towards us also , from whence follows , that all , that we can then see of the moon , is enlightened , and that much more of it is enlightened , than it can be possible for us to see . in the quadratures , whether of increase , or decrease , the state and positure of the enlightened , and unenlightened parts of the moon , in respect of the sun and us , offer themselves in a less entire , divided , middle manner : to wit , the parts of the moons surface obverted unto us are but , as it were , half obverted to the sun , and the parts of the moons surface obverted to the sun are but , as it were , half obverted to us : so as what is obverted to us in the quadratures is , as it were , half enlightened , and half unenlightned and at other not cardinal times , the nearer that the moon is to the full , so much the greater part of the moons surface obverted to us , is by the sun enlightened : and the nearer the moon is to its change , whether past , or to come , so much the lesser part doth the sun enlighten of the moons surface obverted to us . and that these things are really so , may be from hence confirmed : at whatsoever . age of the moons crescency , or decrescency , if you observe its luminous parts seen by us , however horned , or bunched , the sun is still on the luminous side of the moon . now the cause , why the moons luminous parts appear plain and flat , rather than bearing out , like a sphaeral surface , or a portion of a sphaeral surface , is because the inequality of the visual beams , between the eye and the several luminous points , is not so proportionate as to be discernable by our ordinary sight : for without such inequality , to be discerned in the visual beams , neither sense , nor reason can conceive true idea's of a spheral surface . and upon these hypotheses and principles all phaenomena's concerning the moons shapes , as to magnitude , proportion , continuance , situation , alteration , alternation , being perpetually and accurately solved ; the novelty which would dethrone this doctrine so apparent , so rational and unconvincible of the antients , as it is unworthy the acceptance of the considerate and judicious , so it cannot but be unmeet for them to impose and obtrude upon others ; to omit the grosse inconsistency involved in it , which i shall in my next at large unfold , if these things fall short of giving satisfaction . the third answer . that there are fresh watersprings at the bottoms of the most antient seas . whether mercury by frequent transhaping it self , and often reduction loose not somwhat of its powers and virtues ? that the doctrine and being of the four elements , as unmixed bodies by their mixture making up all other bodies , is not unquestionable . in the four elements may be allowed to be the general and most common lodges of the worlds first elements ▪ but themselves at the most can but be allowed to be only secondary elements . how nature may so ballance the first or second elements by some special symbolical properties among them , as to elude all the endeavours which art can possibly make for the bringing of the first elements to view and light . that the number of the four elements and of their properties or qualities singly or in conjugations ascribed to them seemeth insufficient to vest them in the right of first elements ; upon the knowledge of whose natures , all physical phaenomena should be capable of explication . that the antients seem to have allowed a greater number of first elements . a conjecture what the antients might rationally at first design at their first introducing the doctrine of the four elements . sir . that fresh water springs lye at the bottom of the seas , both frequent , and with flashing issues ; is to me upon several observations , not undiligently made , as absolutely certain , as to you it seems impossible : and this i judge not only in the seas , which have made inchroachments by inundation upon the antient bounders of lands , which before were plenteously up and down watered with springs ; but as well , there being the like reason , in those seas , which are able to plead the highest and most antient praescription , and cannot be any other wayes chargeable , then in their dayly fluxes and refluxes , with the least new invading of the earths bosome , and of those wells of coldboiling-natural nectar , with which it is usually there stored . and why should natures opening a vein of freshwater into the sea , seem such a sea monster when at land we ordinarily meet with divers springs , of different virtues and originals , meeting at after together in the same channel ; from their concourse and mixture conceiving secret virtues , manifest alterations , and special properties , as strange to the illiterate and unexperienced , and generally wondered at by the most , as the boiling heat appearing presently in the suddenly mixt oyles of tartar and vitriol , though cold , when poured together . i shall not urge , that some , would have the seas , proportionately to their depth , fresh at the bottom . i only move , if this be not more easy , to be assented to , then what is dayly seen , and therefore not to be questioned in point of truth , that the sea fishes &c. though continually living in that briny pickle remain still however fresh : many times the sea-fowle , that most-what fly but about it , sometimes swim in the surface of it , senting and tasting much stronger of the sea , than the fish that live deep and constant in it . but experience being the grand umpiress in the question , in assurance of its convictiveness , i forbear at present . for your reducing of mercury after all operations of fire , whether actual , or potential upon it , i have no reason to cherish suspitions of the truth of such performances : but that reduction shall be so perfect , as to give back the mercury as absolute in all virtues , as it was , or could at first be delivered , will not be easily consented to , by those that know that fire burns the chief wing upon which in amalgames mercury carryes along with it gold : and the force of fire upon it , is in the nature of a rape robbing it of that virgin treasure , to which the noble mettal is so sequacious ; which once lost , can never be restored again to the defloured mercury : as in all volatiles that which is of nimblest wing flyes first , and the highest spirit first : and when an impregnation is to be made by fire the work of philosophy is judged chiefly to lye in the governing , of the firing , that , like the sun , it may give enlivening heat , and not become , as a destroying element . the reason , why so few are acquainted with the excellency and praerogative of this pure mercury , is because generally it is a fire-burnt mercury , which is at first delivered to us . i omit that in a thousand instances , after art has separated the natural union of parts , though it may again unite them , yet that re-union will in many points fall short of the first natural union . but why does it seem so monstrous to you , to call in question the existence of the four elements , it being a doctrine , which in all ages has been attended with doubts ? if you think you can shew as air , and earth and water , yet what shew can you make of elemental fire ? and since the dissolution of the orbes , there being no concave of the moon , what region is designed and intended for it ? i presume both hearths , and altars , are too low , to be the proper sphaere of this high element . and upon the whole , as little can be said for any of the other three as for this : the state of the question and controversie being rightly understood . for it is not fire that is denied , or earth , or ayr , or water , but all as elemental . how great a share and proportion these have in making up this part of the worlds systeme , is too evident to sense to be called in question : many leagues of earth , or sea , answering to each single degree : but that these four are the first uncompounded compounding bodies , of which all others by their mixtion consist , and are made ; seems , from hence , to follow by a very sickly consequence . not without solid consideration , and sufficient cause , did the antients honour the earth with the style of the all-feeding-earth : what innumerable vegetables and animals spring , live and grow in its bosome , not to touch at the inestimable treasures lodged in its bowels ? others , and of the worlds sages , with honours not unequal , assign unto the water not only beauty's birth , but the rise and original of all things : and every moment convinceth the use and necessity of air &c. these are arguments of their universal use , concern and excellency , but do not prove their elementalness , no more then that one tree is the element of another , because the one is engrafted into the other , or that the mother is the element of the child , while it lives annexed unto her in the womb . that in these are the general and most common lodges of the worlds elements , from which each nature may furnish it self with what is convenient for its being , nutrition and growth , may easily be consented unto : but that these are the very elements unmixed and uncompounded , will be an herculean task to make forth by any argument , or experience , so long as each in its region appears replenished with all variety of beings . what a numerous diversity of earths are to be found in the earth , of diverse colours , weights , virtues ; some healing , some scouring , some binding , some alexipharmical , besides chalkes , and marles , and several clayes , sands and gravels , noble quarries , rich mines , coals , bitumes , marcasites , salts , minerals and metals ? so in water , all coagulable vapours and exhalations meet condensed with the alluvion and dissolution of various salts and other minerals , together with manifold subterraneous oyles and spirits ; whence the wonderful difference of their weights , sents , colours , tasts , consistence and operations . in like manner the air , what is it but an uncertain , unconstant , randome composition of all sorts of fumes and vapours , according to the nature and position of the atomes dispersed in it sometimes clear , sometimes cloudy , sometimes healthful , sometimes pestilent , sometimes delighting , at other times offending the senses ? and as difficult will it be to find and shew any uncompounded fire . but you will say , that though these be not elemental earth , fire , aire and water , it hinders not but there may be such beings and bodies ; i answer , i have no abhorrency against the opinion , if so by any practice , or in any dissolution these elements could but be shewn , and their sufficiency to explain the phaenomena of nature : but those parts , which , generally in dissolutions : are offered to be accepted for these elements , appear nothing lesse , and , beyond all dispute , very distant from uncompounded natures ; and the analogous parts in several dissolutions , as different one from another , as one of the elements can be from another element ; which is repugnant to the nature of first elements ; as is usually and truly urged against salts , sulphures and mercuries to put by their claim in first elementarinesse , in the mixtion of bodies : viz. that in several dissolutions , the analogous parts answer not in the least one to another , except it be in some very general , and external conformity ; but one is sowr , another sweet , another sharp , another faelid , another fragrant , thus expanding into all manner of variety , wherein should be nothing but the pure simplicity of a first element . in a good sense , and with fair explications , i have been ever ready to acknowledge their interest as secondary elements , as a doctrine consentaneons to the sacred traditions of theology ; or as before , as the principal lodges of the first elements : but neither that which fils the regions , nor that which remains after their dissolution of mixed bodies , could ever yet to me seem capable of the denomination of first elements . and possibly it may be one of natures mysteries never to permit us to see the first elements naked so curiously ballancing them in their connexions , that all attempts of art , for their discovery , shall be eluded : so any artifice to resolve and anatomize a natural body into its first principles , grounded upon the fixedness and volatility of the parts , is eluded , if first , or second elements of the same fixednes , or volatility be connexed : so if grounded upon dissolubleness in a certain menstrue , it is eluded by connexing several first , or second elements aequally dissoluble in that , or the like menstrue : so corrosious by separatories , fumigating , anointing , cementing are all eluded as to the bolting forth of the first elements , if they meet with several first , or other elements aequally passible in those operations . and the very number of the elements has not seldom rendered them unto me very suspitious , that they could not be first elements . for by what fair argument shal the quaternion of them be demonstrated ? if , as is usual , we argue from qualities , whether singular , or in symbolismes , i see not how this number can be maintained : more qualities , and more conjugations of them , ought by the same reason to prove a far greater number of elements and alas , how vainly light do they render themselves , that , by four conjugations of disputable qualities , seek to solve all the phaenomena which are in the world ; of the loadstones pointing northward , its drawing untoucht steel , the load-touched steels drawing of other steel , the bleeding of the slain at the presence of the murtherer , the moving of an untouched lute-string being unison , or in a strong consonancy string that is moved , the sinking of persons drowned the first dayes , and then floating to the top at after , they have layd soaking so long in the water , the cramp fishes astonishing the fishers hand at the long distance of line and angle , the strange ebbings and flowings of particular seas and springs , and a thousand other ? upon the old principles , how lame is the doctrine of solidness and fluidness , of opacity and transparency , in bodies sometimes of the same solidnes , sometimes of the same fluidnes , besides a million of other instances , whose resolution mateth the doctrine of the four elements ? however mis-understand me not , as if i denied elements , or first elements : these must either be allowed , or no mixtion ; of which we have lucide examples in every corner of the world : for it was a golden-rule in the school , which now i am opposing , that the same , or like , as so , working upon the same , or like , as so , cannot make any alteration : that i suppose i have good reason not to be forward to embrace the new received opinion , so much cherished by some persons of eminency and parts , that there is only one element of all things licked into several external shapes and forms . but this controversy not concerning your judgment , it were trouble now to pursue an impertinent . the rest i suppose , any where defensible , save at stagira ; where fire must burn , air poyson , earth bury , and water drown , whatsoever shall be suspected in , or alleadged against the traditions of the imperial philosopher . however my thoughts are still comported to yield up themselves to that doctrine upon the first clear and experimental demonstration of it ; if any such might be hoped . in the interim i want not fair footsteppings in the antients to induce me to think , that when they make bodies to be composed of that which is hot , and that which is cold , of that which is dry and of that which is moyst ; they mean nothing less then these four bodies , or rather vast amassements , vulgarly now known by the name of the four elements : but they rather intend , the true elements of nature , it may be seldom , or never seen alone ; in which , such qualities , or properties are specially eminent : and they are so far from restraining natural compositions to the at present received quaternary of elements , that constantly at the same breath they hint many other : adjoyning in their recitals of natural mixtions , temperaments , and compositions , to that which it hot , cold , moyst , dry , elements endowed with several other properties , as that which is salt , that which is sowr , that which is bitter , that which is sharp , that which is sweet &c. and the extremities and distempers intolerable unto nature , whether in general the animal nature , or more especially the humane nature , are made to be , when such elements sever from their mixture , and go apart by themselves to violating , and breaking up that sweet proportionate composition and harmony , which is so friendly and grateful unto nature . as the pyrotechnists analyse bodies , upon the consideration of several differences and contrarieties which are in their compositive parts , as that some will abide the fire , others not ; some be wrought upon by such dissolvents , or corroders , others not : so the antients to reduce all inanimate things to four heads , may have insisted on several contrarieties , paving the way to such a doctrine : viz. that such bodies are either firmly solid , or else fluid : and those that are fluid , are such , either in a grosse corpulent matter , or in fine exhalations : and those exhalations , either apt to conceive a flame , and burn , or else of a nature , thereunto indisposed . and according to such a distribution , many various bodies fall aptly enough under the same head of amassment : and all inanimals in the world may be easily reducible to some one of these four heads . but then these four heads are not particular first elements , uncompounded , and so constitutive of things in mixtion ; but general notions , unto which the inanimals of this lower part of the universe , are aptly reducible . favour these conjectures , which obtrude nothing , only labour what they can to justify the methods of the antients . send back my instruments and the last transmitted problemes with your first convenience . the fourth answer . concerning the seams of the skull , and the number of the seams by which the skullbones are joined one unto another , over and besides the three principal proper and true seams . that without contradiction , variety may be admitted both in the number and order of such seams . that neither abstruct nor concrete mathematicks are wholly exempt from a liablenes to such varieties . that the pre-eminence of right-side parts is no way natural in such as twin but only at pleasure . sir . the learned men were riper for controversy , than became the gravity of their profession , or else upon the point , which you have transmitted to me , held by each with so little real , though a manifest nominal difference , it had not been easy to have occasioned the hot language contained in your report . though the one make but five pairs of seams , by which the temple bones are joyned to the wedge bone , and also to the two crown bones , and those ( besides the three principal seams ) to the forehead bone , or bones , and to the nowl bone ; and the other , contrary to the general doctrine of the anatomick school , asserts that there are six ; and both make their appeal to autopsy and the skeleton ; i see not wherein either is disabled to maintain his assertion , as both agreable to truth and justifiable upon the view : only not without some rational ground for the difference , viz. either hath , as i suppose , his different method , upon which he insists in making up the account of the seams . for the number will differ according to the ground by which you will distinguish and make out the unity of each seam : as also according as the seams are accounted singly , or by pairs ; from which last manner of accounting may arise also a third different number of them , though still without any change in the thing and object . not being privy to the terms upon which this controversy was between them managed ; this reconciliation , though unquestionably true , and pertinent to the question , as by you in general proposed , may however possibly be inpertinent to it , as by them stated and defended : though i understand not upon what other terms the assertions of both can be capable of justification : and i am not willing to think otherwise , between persons , so eminently learned . it cannot be denied but in these nicer things observed in the head , and distinguished usually by numbers , as the seams , and holes of the scull , there has not wanted some seeming diversity and obscurity : while it has been thought , that merely at the pleasure of authors and of those that sit in the anatomical chair , sometimes one thing , at other times another , and not constantly the same thing , is made to give the order , unity , integrity and distinction of seams . so the nowlebones connexion with the crown bone , and temple bone of the same side , is generally construed to be two seams , and of two diverse kinds ; the one true , the other mendous , or defective : though so fair be the continuance of the one seam unto the other , that the one is usually known by the name of an additament unto the other : and yet in other seams diversity of bones doth not , with all , make multiplicity of seams ; as in the lepidoidal , or scaleseam where the templebone is joyned to the crown-bone and to the wedge-bone by a future , generally accounted but for one : so the connexion of the inner process of the forehead bone , to four several bones of the upper chapp , is by most accounted but for one common seam . the like , or worse perplexities occurre sometimes in the account of the holes in the head ; while some of the holes , which are common to several bones are accounted in each bone : others , in like manner common only in one of the bones , whence many times the number of the holes pertinent to each bone is left confused , and imperfect . for the reverence i bear unto the great artists , in whom these things may be ordinarily observed ; i am not willing to impute them any otherwise then to their great intentnesse upon matter and things ; by which they seem overborn into a certain negligence of names and appellations . and those whose study is rather to be anatomists , then so esteemed , and draw their institutes and observations from the body , more then out of books , will easily consent with me that in this whole doctrine , of the seams , and holes of the head , names and numbers are of less moment , so there be a clear understanding of the things themselves . so none , who has truly made use of his own eyes can deny some parts , or sides of the true seams of the skull to be mendous , and some parts , or sides of some of the mendous to be in a sort true : that in several of them the distinction of true from mendous , and sutures from harmonyes , seems to be oft more matter of name imposed at pleasure , without clear and sufficient ground for real and peremptory distinction . things thus standing , in the contest you mention ; how easy is it to make , on the same side , the seams , by which the temple bone and wedge bone are joyned one to another , and ( as before ) to the nowl bone , crown bone and forehead bone , to be at pleasure , either five in number , or if you please six ; for the one , or the other number follows , according as you shall take the connexion of the temple-bone with a crown-bone and the wedge-bone , to be one seams as it is most usually accounted ; or else to be two ; for which , being the connexions of two and two several bones , there wants not , as appears , some fair and probable ground . and thus though i would not charge with falsity , that whose truth is from real grounds so plainly defensible , howbeit somewhat varying from the ordinary methods , and systems of authors ; yet i judge it not meet we be too forward , by reason of our more clear insight into things , in altering , slighting and rejecting the terms , names , distinctions and methods , which have , time out of mind , been in continual use with learned men . for names , that were first coyned for distinction and instruction , if they should be dayly and hourly changed , would be sure to introduce confusion . and though in names and numbers the antients have used somewhat of authority , they have notwithstanding , in the same subject , fairly exercised their reason . so , with a very little allowance , this whole doctrine of the sutures , has been cast by them into a mould methodical enough : the sum whereof in few may be this . the sutures of the head either concern not , or else concern the bones of the upper chap : those which concern not the bones of the upper chap , are either largely toothed sutures , viz. the crown suture , the dart suture , and the lambda suture ; which may also receive another ground of distinction from their concerning the two crown-bones connexion one with the other , or with the forehead bones and the noul-bone : or otherwise ; other sutures , not concerning the bones of the upper chap , are not so fairly not deeply , sometimes scarce at all , at least not so manifestly dented , or not in the same manner ; as the lepidoidal connexting the temple-bone to the crown-bone and to the wedge-bone ; the connexion between the crown-bone and wedge-bone ; the connexion between the noul-bone and temple-bone , commonly called the additament of the lambdoidal ; the connexion between the nouls additament and the wedge-bone ; and the connexion between the fore-head-bone and the wedge-bone : which may also receive another ground of distinction from their concerning the connexion of the temple-bone and wedge-bone one with the other and with the noul-bone , crown-bones , and forehead-bone . so the sutures , which concern the bones of the upper chap , either concern some one , or more of them in common with some of the aforementioned bones ▪ or else they concern , the bones of the upper chap alone , as connexed mutually amongst themselves . the sutures which concern some one , or more of the bones of the upper chap , in common with some of the aforementioned , make connexion only with some of these , viz. the temple-bone , wedge-bone , or fore-head bone ; for the crown-bones and noul-bone are no where connexed to the bones of the upper chap : and they are particularly these ; viz. the connexion of the outer processe of the fore-head bone , with the inner processe of the first bone of the upper chap : the connexion of the first bone of the upper chap with the wedge bone : the connexion of the inner processe of the forehead-bone with the fifth , fourth , second and third bones of the upper chap , being in the order recited , connexed from within outwards : the connexion of the outer , or yoke processe of the first bone of the upper chap , with the yoke processe of the temple bone , in the middle of the yoke bone : which yoke bone is not a distinct and several bone , but made up of two processes of two several bones : and the last is the connexion between part of the upper , part of the dissepiment and the wedge-bone , lastly the seams which concern the bones of the upper chap only among themselves are the connexion of the first and fourth bone , the connexion of the second bone with the third and fourth , the connexion of the third and fourth bones , the connexion of the fourth and fifth bones , the connexion between the two fifth bones , the connexion of the fourth and sixth bones , the connexion between the two sixth bones , the connexion of the other part of the upper part of the dissepiment with the fifth bones , the connexion of the lower part , of the dissepiment in the plough-share bone with the sixth , i. e. the palat bones and some small part of the fourth bones . in all which , if somewhat at pleasure , they have used authority in the numeral order of the bones , and in the account and order of the seams , it is no more than is freely allowed to each artist in his art , so long as the authority they use , neither bears , nor creats any repugnancy to the subject matter . and so even in abstract mathematicks , somethings are determined , not by necessity , because they can be no otherwise , but by long usage and authority , because they may conveniently be as is determined . so arithmetical numerations , which are every where received and taught in decuple proportion ; with as much facility and mathematical accurateness might be instituted in undecuple proportion ; and then the usual probes , should not be by casting away of nines but of tens ; or in sexage cuple proportion ; and then the probes should be by casting away of fifty nines : or non cuple proportion , and then the probes should be by casting away of eights . and the like instances might be given in geometry ; and in several , if not most parts of concrete mathematicks . so in ordering the account of the brain ventricles , of the sides of the same bones , and sometimes of the branchings of sinews , veins , arteries , other vessels , and the like ; custome , and authority , commonly gives praecedency to the parts , cavities , or branchings , posited on the right side ; though without offence unto truth , all accounts might as exquisitely be compleated in a quite contrary order . but though these things might be , and as well , as what is ; yet what is , being as accurate , as what otherwise might be , it is sufficient to know that these things might be otherwise methodized , without renouncing the antients method . i have , you see , too high an opinion of the persons concerned , to imagine their difference could arise from , some peculiarities in unusual skulls ; in which it is not uncommon to find great difference in the numbers of bones , seams and holes , not only under diversity of age and sex , which , is so common , it is not otherwise to be expected ; but as well when no such causes can be alleadged , for the diversity : nay , many times in the main and principal , commonly called true seams we do not ever find a constant regularity and uniformity . but of those things , which seldome are , we are not to maintain controversy , as if they were the way of nature . this , sir , i have written not to inform , but confirm your judgement ; which i know so well versed in the syntaxe of this our humane body , that it cannot dissent from what is . the fifth answer . that immense volatility may consist with immense ponderousness . that tincturs may be altered by maturation without any addition , whether the appearing and motion of comets may be before their appearance predicted . that no such particular predictions can be made concerning the meteors which are in the atmosphear of the earth , nor of the first appearances of such comets as are supposed to have their original from new amassements of cometical matter in other atmospheares ; though after their first appearance , upon some observations accurately made , somewhat , though nothing so peremptorily as in other cases , may be predicted , relating to their future motion . that it is not impossible , but concerning comets which are permanent bodies , and not new amassements , predictions may be made long before , of their future appearances and motion . sir . i take your satisfaction , upon my last proposed , clear , and doubtless experiments , now since by you proved and approved , as a fair acknowledgment of that truth , which however to me upon its former evidences needed no farther confirmation : viz. that so different are the genuine notions and qualities of fixednes and gravity , that immense volatility may and is ordinarily consistent with an immense specifick ponderousness ; arising not from the moles and quantity of the bodies under consideration , but rather from their natures and kinds . that what in your first velitation you assumed as absurdly grosse , inconsistent , and impossible ; is now , upon your own acknowledgments , most easily and obviously demonstrable by experience . no less certainly is to be acknowledged , in what you propose for the tingeing of metalline bodies , only by ordering and attending them in the management of their maturations , without the addition either of body , or spirit , as being all the time of this operation under the sure seal . could i perswade my self it should not be resented as a grand unkindnes , to be silent in what you call for my thoughts in , in the close of yours ; viz. whether prognosticks at certainty , such as are of eclipses , of coitions , oppositions , motions of other starrs , whether , i say , such prognosticks and of like certainty , may not also be made of comets , of their appearances , common impediments removed , and of their motions ; i should , if it might be , herein , lay harpocrates finger upon my lip , and seal them up into a pertinacions silence . not but i am desirous to know , and willing to search after truth : only i fear me , these are secrets of nature , by their peculiar mysteriousnes , sinking themselves so low into the pit of obscurity , that the stock of observations and disquisitions about them , which the world as yet hath , is not able to raise them so high , and place them so near day , as to be within humane reach and discovery . what i now offer is a caesarean birth of the mind , not brought forth by me , but cut out of the womb by your importunity : if it want shape , licking and lineaments , accept it as an unripe abort , and either hatch it to perfection in your thigh , or give it a little dust to cover it . i take by way of praesumption , that in this quaery and question you mean not by comets , any of those more usual , less permanent is regularly moved meteors , bred ▪ gathered , fired , and burning in the atmosphaere of our earth ; after their appearance , there cannot be much certainty of their motion , though sometimes there may be conjectures probable enough , and in the event by observation justifyed , when the fuel , or fovent matter of such meteors , is manifestly , upon what account soever , known to be only , or most copiously situate and disposed some one particular way : but of the generation and first appearance of such meteors , particularly the moment when , and the point , or exact place where , they shall appear , much less of certainty , in such pronosticks is to be expected ; there being so much variety , contingency , and uncertainty , in the causes and meeting together of those causes , which contribute to their production . and though there are , and have been many praedictions in general , and rules of praedicting astrologically , or physiologically , from the seasons of the year , the temperature , and distemper of seasons &c. concerning such meteors in general ; yet in a matter so unallyed unto certainty , replenished with all manner of casualties , to promote , or retard such productions , i have not known any offer peremptory pronosticks of the kind of the meteor , its shape , magnitude , duration , motion , with absolute determinations of its time and places , at any time beforehand . the quality and condition of the subject matter , making it as impossible to bolt out scientifical and oracularly certain predictions of such meteors , as it is , a year before , to prove , or shew that in such an hour , and in such a quarter , shall be a rainbow , so colour'd , so continued , or discontinued and of such limited dimensions : or that , such a moment , from such a point of such an azymuth , shall a devolant star spring forth , which , in its fall , shall run obliquely thorow such and such azymuths , and expire at such an height above the horison ; or that such an hour , in such a longitude and latitude , shall in such altitudet and positions , and of such dimensions , be seen by day four suns , or by night three moons . to lay aside therefore the consideration of these , as supposed impertinent to our present purpose ; what may judiciously be concluded upon your questions concerning those other comets , which lye without the compasse of this earths atmospaere ? if there be not two sorts of such celestial comets ; there are at least two several and very different hypotheses and notions under which they are considered by artists : and artists of equal worth and fame , order their reasonings , some upon the one supposition , some upon the other : viz. some , as if comets were new made bodies , amassed , and gathered in some of the superior atmosphaeres ; many of which are , not without fair reason , supposed to be in those vastly remote aethereal regions : others , as if comets were coaeval to , and neither less permanent , nor more new , then the rest of the stars ; only seldome seen , and when seen , soon passing again out of sight , by reason of the line , upon which their center is moved : and nothing as yet appears hindering the truth of the possibility and consistency of both these opinions ; leaving it especially indifferent in the later hypothesis , to call such stars at pleasure by the name , either of comets , or new-stars , or rather seldome appearing stars . comets upon the first supposition , seem not to want some affinity with several , especially of the more eminent , meteors of our atmosphaere : yet allowing a vast difference between them in place , proportion , duration , motion , and the like circumstantials . and as our globe , though in its self large , is but a minute thing , compared with many of the caelestial bodies ; that the vast error of the earths semidiameter , by taking the earth for a small point , many times in astronomical , gnomonical , and other operations , creates not by consequence any perceiveable errour : so it is not unlike , but the atmosphaere of our globe is vastly disproportionable to the atmosphaeres of many of those heavenly lights : which may in a sort be gathered also , from the small power , which our atmosphaere has in the pressures which it makes upon moist and liquid bodies : as also from the common vastnes of cometical bodies , frequently accepted as much larger then all both our globe and its atmosphaere , and therefore requiring a proportionately immense place both for their being and motions . and that such huge dimensions are not groundlesly attributed to the cometical bodies , is rendered undoubted from the glorious and glaring light , with which eminently above most of other stars , they dazle , to admiration , the minds and eyes of mortals at so great distance , that some times little , or no parallax can be observed in them . as to these therefore to solve the questions , unto which you have tasked me ; i cannot but judge it improbable , with any assurance to make praedictions before hand , that in such limited moments of futurity , shall appear such comets , as are to be at after amassed , gathered , formed , and embodied in the atmosphaeres , which are above : if seeming no more wilde to give heed and credit to the superstitious auguries and soothsayings of the antients , then the most subtle reasonings upon which such predictions can be made , in a subject of this nature . yet though their first emerging and appearance cannot upon any calculation be foretold ; however at after they have a while appeared , and some , though not very many , curious observations have been made of the changes of place , and other circumstances , which they make in their several appearances , at such and such exalt distances of time ; it is fairly enough probable , that often , by an ingenious prognostick , the course of such a comet may be nearly traced , and set down before hand , as to way and speed , only with this limitation , if the substance of the comet do not first vanish , or dissolve , or by reason of its instant dissolution divert from , hasten , or retard its course : upon which score of their dissolubleness , and therefore their ere long to be expected dissolution , no prognosticks , upon them and their course , can be so absolute and peremptory , as those which may be made concerning such comets , as are properly couched under the second supposition . and the grounds why most what in these comets of the first constitution , or supposition , from past observations , a fair conjecture may be made of their future course notwithstanding their new production and amassement in atmosphaeres , are chiefly hereupon founded : that such cometical bodies , as they are demonstrably vast , and manifestly , and by their nature dissoluble , so their dissolution is not observed very momentaneous , but most what more , leisurely by degrees and in time ; in short , they flame forth of a sudden , but expire gradually ; so as to be able , for a while , to retain the impressions of regular motion , whether communicated from somewhat in the center of the same atmosphaere , or from the confluent efficacy of several agents all contributing constantly , each according to its nature , to the comets alone , or its and its atmosphaeres motion , whether by aequilibration , pulsion , traction , pressure , manifest , or secret ; or else inwardly wrought into the very substance and nature of the comet : especially the comets place being in those lofty aethereal regions , where are perpetual circumgyrations and every motion that is observable , the more accurately it is observed , it is found the more regular . and if it be urged here-against that the motion of comets seldome , or never answers the motion of any other starre , but commonly has a cross trajecting motion , whereby it moves asloope , athwart , transversely , or obliquely , varying from the usual , formerly observed motions . as this cannot be denyed , so it doth not at all infringe the possible regularity of such motions , which are observed to be most what in the same plain , though oddly posited : and that there are many and , diverse such undreamt of motions in the heavens , constant and regular , of which save by some such , or late discoveries , no hint hath as yet bin made forth unto us , may in as good reason be allowed , as that vast number of stars in the skyes acknowledged , of which , without the telescop , 't is impossible to have any discerning . and if we grant that in respect of its peculiar atmosphaere , the motion of a comet solely considered as in it , be not so strictly regular ; yet the regular circumgyration of the atmosphaere , in which the comet is carryed , in respect of the universe , cannot but with those that cant upon that hypothesis , enforce the confession of a great degree of regularity in the comets motion : and that comets , in what part of the heavens soever appearing , move in some conformity with other celestial bodyes , notwithstanding the contrariety or diversity of their proper , or peculiar motions from the rest , is , beyond all dispute , evident from their dayly moving , with the rest , from east to west . the manner of making observations , calculating to know the place , the distance , speed of such a comet , and when it is at nearest , or remotest in its course from us , is no other then in comets of the second supposition . and from this whole discourse is manifest ; the hypotheses , upon which calculations are to be made , in order to such praedictions , cannot be particularly in these comets known before hand , but in several such comets may be very different ; and are to be found out by curious , and diligent observations ; which , in each respective comet , must be accurate , and at least four in number : and i think predictions pretended from three observations , are over hasty , and , at best , can but be conjectural ; nay , in some cases , from four ; as if you be unsatisfyed , i shall be ready , by demonstrative instances , to remove your doubt . but if of these comets any should be found , to wander , so as the motion of its center cannot possibly be reduced any thing nigh unto the same plane , or regularity in change of planes , or that the motion of its center , in the same , or several planes , describe not a line regular , or near unto a regularity , it is not probably easy to make predictions at any certainty of truth , of the future course and motion of such comets . concerning comets of the later kind , or hypothesis ; possibly it is more easy to answer your queries in them , then effectually without a world of time , sagacity and diligence to accomplish and attain the purport of those answers . that the motion of such comets of the second sort , being not truly new , but rather seldom appearing , and soon disappearing cometical stars ; that , i say the motion of such , is not without some regularity , though it may not be concluded without long observations and frequent experiences of their motion had , which in such seldom appearing , and soon again disappearing stars is difficult enough to attain to ; yet if we consider the steady , unbiassed course , held by most , if not all the rest of the permanent stars without deviation , though in different periods and with many different latitudes and declinations , and great diversity of motions , it cannot be less then mightily probable , nothing in sense , reason , or experience appearing as yet able to demonstrate the contrary , but that a fair , celestial regularity may rationally be expected in those their perpetual motions , whether their centers be carryed in the same plane , or in a continual change , and alterations of planes . and in diverse respects in some , if not all of them , as in most other stars , the same center may be said to move regularly and perpetually in the same plane , and also without elenchtical contradiction to move regularly with an incessant change of planes : so the motion of any planet , or other starr , whose motion we are versed in , taken concretely and with complication of that mundane , or general circumvolution , which with all the rest it hath from east by south to west , though it be regular , yet it is not without a continual shifting of the planets , or stars center from plane to plane : whereas the proper motion of the same planet , or starr considered abstractly and severed from the general circumvolution it hath with the celestial universe , as it is regular , so it may keep the center of the planet , or star constant in the same plane . and the course , appearance , and returns of such cometical stars will be of much more easy calculation , if their motions , in the regularity , propriety and peculiarity of them , be any wayes reducible , as is abovesaid , unto the same plane ; of which plane by observations is to be decided , whether it pass thorough the center of the aequator and universe ; and if the center of the universe lye out of it , what is the perpendicular from the center unto the plane ; and in the plane , what regular figure , or journey is described by the motion of the comets center , and what are the diameters or axis of such figures , or centers of such motions in that plane : in the easiest , and plainest of all which cases , four observations are at least re-requisite : but where the regularity of the comets motion , being irreducible to the same plane , is in a continual shifting from plane to plane , there many more observations may scarce be enough , to clear up the regularity of the comets motion , sufficiently for easy calculation : and when a sufficient number of exquisite observations have been made , the calculation , as it will hardly be so accurate , so it will scarce be so easy , as in other cases the observations , in all cases and suppositions , are to make discovery of the exact place of the comets center at the moment of the observations , viz. of its longitude , latitude and altitude not in respect of azymuthal arches , but in right lines drawn between their center and the center of the universe . and the more exquisite the observations are , they make way for clearer calculations ; upon which may be founded so much the more assured predictions . to answer therefore your queries in relation to these comets of the second sort , or supposition ; i think it not impossible , but in time predictions may , it may be many ages beforehand , be made of the appearing , or rather re-appearing of such comets : according as , in the regularity of their motion , they come nearer or are removed farther off from us . so i remember a person of quality in the north , with an high measure of assurance reported to me , that one of the late comets appearance and emerging , was by a certain genoese praedicted at least two years before the emersion and appearing of it : which if so , is to be referred , i doubt not , to the principle and method , above insisted on . according to which , after different intervals of years , several comets may appear , one after another , and sometimes several such comets may appear all at once : and yet there is no clear necessity of the constant re-appearing of the same comet , in the same horizon , still at after equal spaces of time . and if the emerging of such comets may be praedicted before their appearance ; upon the same principles , the line of their motion , the casting of their train , and their future recess , may as well be praedicted , whether before , or after their first appearance : as also when , and where shall be their accelerations and retardations in motion ; especially , considering the advantage hereunto accruing , from their nearness to , or distance from the eye of the spectator : not that this makes inequality , or inequability to be , but rather only to appear , in their motion . upon the same accounts , the dayly rising , setting , and southing of comets may be calculated : as also what parallel , or spiral it describes : and how much it gains dayly in its proper motion : as also its place , as to longitude , latitude , altitude , above any limited horizon , at any limite moment : what constellations it shall pass thorough : and in what aspect it shall be posited to any planet , or other star : so of conjunctions , oppositions , quadratures , combustions , eclipses , and many such like affections , in common incident to comets with other stars , there may as clear predictions be made : as also when it disappears , not for its remotenesse from us , but as other stars dayly , because of the suns propinquity to it , and our view , the times of its not being seen by reason of the circumfusion of the greater light of the sun , being manifestly calculable ; though of other obscurations by clouds , and such like impediments and interpositions , no artificial prognostick can be made . so in the first approaches , or last recesses of comets , by falling into such circumfusions of solar light , the first appearance of the comet will be later then otherwise , and in the other case , its appearing cease sooner then might be expected : and predictions are accordingly to be ordered . if i have been unusually long beyond the proportion of a letter , suppose it to be the long train peculiar to such cometical , full-lighted , obscure-natured stars , as you are now quaering about . and not to dismisse you without a task ; it were a noble disquisition clearly to unfold , what it is in these cometical stars , alone , or also in their circumfused atmospheres , that enables the sun , more especially to affix such glorious , long luminous tayls unto them more then to other stars , whether constant , or new , or rarely appearing stars ; which in whatsoever position to the sun , are still seen without any such long , beamy , luminous trains . but i commit this and those other queries about the salts of the highest volatiles to your serious leisure . the sixth answer . that the motion of the celestial bodies about their particular axes , is not a satisfactory proof of their copornican systeme . that comets though supposed to be nearest to the earth , when they are in opposition to the sun , yet do not thereby prove the earths motion . i see that neither the currency of doctrines , nor the course of time , are able to beat off from you your old philosophical genius . you can swallow nothing upon the mere tradition of others , nor yet upon their reasons , till first examined , concocted , and digested in your own . your doubts seem not causeless which you move upon that point ; whether the motion of the celestial bodies turning themselves about , upon their own axes , may be allowed for a just proof of the copernican systeme . it is a golden and noble branch of intellectual justice , so far as is possible , mathematically and to a punctillio , to clear and set forth the bounders of truth : yet as your modesty delivers your judgement , i doubt not , by way of doubt ; so i desire you read my answer , as writ only in the same dialect ; that i , in like manner , may not appear a rash judger , of what it seems has been concluded by men of great parts and learning . the artfullness of the instruments , and diligence of the observers that , from several marks in several stars , have noted this their circumvolution , i love and honour : and am apt to conjecture , the like motions may in future be discovered in other stars , in which they have not as yet been noted : and shall be ready to improve the observation in all inferences authorized and recommended unto us by the necessity of their consequence . but as things , at first glance , commonly offer a fuller raye then they hold in constant ; so i suspect the glimmering probability of the earths motion according to the copernican hypothesis , upon the first discovery of this circumgyration of stars about their own axes , will , upon farther consideration and deliberation , grow still more faint . there being very few hypotheses , with which ( to give it a short name ) this circumaxal motion of the stars is expressely inconsistent ; it not being impossible , if all things else would consist and cohaere , but such a motion might be accomplished in the hypothesis of orbes and sphaeres , so the star were but unfixed and set lax and free to move according to its nature in its own orb , by a motion discharged , different and distinct from the motion of its orb : so in the old hypothesis , while they affixed and bound the starre unto its proper epicycle , yet in its larger orb they allowed it to be therein carryed sometimes progressively , sometimes retrogradely , and sometimes stationarily , according to the motion of the epicycle , or episphaere in the larger sphaere . and without any sense as yet , that it deserves a blush , i willingly profess , i want the lyncean eyes and judgment , from such a circumaxall moving of stars , to deduce the suns , or earths central , either rest , or motion : especially the vast distance , at which these bodyes are distant one from another , being on all hands yielded ; which if it do not necessarily , altogether amort , and abolish the powers , which one of these bodyes may possibly have upon the others , yet till such their powers over one another in this point of motion be fairly proved , it leaves it easily manifest , that any of these bodyes may be moved according to its own peculiar nature , without laying , by so long a reach , laws of necessity upon other bodyes , at so great a distance , for their motion . as for example the bodyes a. and b. either of the same general , or special nature ; they being severed and severally placed at competent distance one from another ; both , or either may be at rest , or in motion , neither inferring upon the other the analogy either of its rest , or motion , or to be suspected so to doe , till it be pregnantly either so observed , or proved : viz. that either has upon the other , even at distance , such a strong and efficacions power· and if the stress of the ratiocination hang upon this ; that otherwise there would not be a conformity between the motions of the earth , the sun , saturn , jupiter , &c. to my apprehension , nothing is more easy , then not only to turn the edge , but break the back and overturn the foundation of such an argument . for first the motions , or unmovednes of these bodyes , is not to be made conform unto our retired thoughts , and speculations in a close study , or to the motions , which we have observed , and justly concluded certain in other noble bodyes in the world ; but they are rather by all ingenions arts and instruments , to be each by its self particularly observed , how in truth they are , and so to be accepted and acknowledged in their appropriate sciences . and what greater necessity is there of making the sun , or the earth in rest and motion to be conform to saturn , jupiter , &c. then to be conform to them in shape , magnitude , respective distances , which on no hand is ascerted , but for the impossibility , and demonstrablenes thereof by observation , rather the contrary ? and why should there not be as great a necessity for them to be conform in rest and motion , to the stars passing generally under the notion and title of fixed , which has never yet been offered , because it is cl●●● it cannot be defended ? and what less necessity is there , why they should not conform in the celerity and nimbleness of their motion , as well as the form , kind and manner of it ? and what greater necessity for conformity of motion in stars , then in animals , in which some creep , some fly , some go upon feet , some swim ; neither in their supposed and called elements can any such necessity of the same kind of motion be observed , though in the same element . upon the same way , method and force of reasoning , when jacob is at the dancing , or fencing schools in oxford , joga must be galliarding or brandishing it at the like schools in salamanca . every stone has not in it the mysteryes of the magnet , and several jewels have their several splendours , virtues and properties : so several stars considering their several situations , shapes , magnitudes , distances and diversities of nature , cannot but in rest and motion each have something proper and peculiar : at least may not without cause be suspected to have otherwise , till it be possible by some medium to evince the contrary . and as the copernican systeme receives not much confirmation from the praecedent circumaxal motion of stars ; so that comets are nearest the earth when opposite to the sun ; with what greater strength doth it , as others urge , prove the earths motion ? wherein is requisite that the hypothesis it self , be confirmed by frequent observation in several comets , before it be allowed as general ; that as by way of induction may be inferred , that every comet when it is nearest to the earth , is then opposite to the sun , and when this is allowed and fairly proved , there is no necessity by which it follows , or can be inferred from hence , that the earth hath its annual revolutions about the sun : all that is in the allowed , and supposedly proved hypothesis , being many ways accomplishable , and as easily and clearly , the sun moving about the earth , as the earth moving about the sun , in which i doubt not your judgment . the second section of philosophical answers . conteining queries relating to the angle of contact . london , printed by t. l. for nathaniel brooke , at the angel in cornhil near the royal exchange . 1670. to the right reverend father in god , seth lord bishop of salisbury . to the right reverend father in god lord bishop of chester . my lords . although i know , the raw , untrained reader , upon this last answer above the rest , will be sure to pronounce his , quis leget haec ? and to bestow upon it , no other fate then thuris & scrombrorum ; judging all things impertinent , that lye not in the dirty troden way ; or cold , which his torpid dullness is unable , at least too slothfull to strike any fire out of ; and every thing to be destitute of a kernel , which is too hard for his delicate gum to crack the shell of : however , i fear not the rendering my self faulty beyond apology , in laying this answer , above all the rest divulged in this present manual , at your lordships feet . the singular happines of both your lordships in your studies , drawing in by way of divertisement , what multitudes of others study seriously and purposely for , and yet miss of , having made veneration to wait upon your judgment , and your minds so seemingly fruitful , in multitudes of as new as ingenious inventions ; hath too well acquainted your lordships , with the scufflings which have been in former ages , and between men of the clearest judgments , and most excellent parts , about these minute angles of contact ; being , by general confession , small beyond all proportion with rectilinearies ; and by others only denyed to be minute , because they think they have no quantity at all . like as in solar atomes , when myriades of them are before us , we cannot be peremptory in asserting a full sight of any one of them . and however i may have missed the corinth i first hoysed sayl for , i know when retiring from your higher-region'd speculations you are pleased to make unto your selves a platonick divertisement , upon a deigned perusall of this scrole to a friend , i doubt not but your lordships will justify the essay , and allow that by such sallyes , a firm comprehension may at last be attained of the mercurial niceness of this question , which hath so oft eluded the grasp of those wits , who have formerly thought they have had it so firm and sure . my lords , i know the admirable quality , and mighty merits of the persons that think and have thought otherwise , then i have delivered my thoughts here ; however i should have dealt faithlesly with my friend , if i should have returned him answer contrary to my judgment . and as i have been morally true to him , so what right , or injury i have herein done unto philosophical truths in this nice , and hitherto inexplicable subtilty , none can better decide then your lordships ; at whose feet it is left , by your lordships servant . w. m. the seventh answer . concerning angles of contact . that recto-convexe angles of contact are truly angles according to the definition of plane angles . that recto-convexe angles of contact are not destitute of quantity . how many wayes one quantity may be greater then another , what kind of homogeneity it is that is requisite for proportionalls . that angles have figuration as well as quantity . that in angles is observable a homogeneity or heterogeneity which is mathematical , and also a homogeneity or heterogeneity which is not mathematical , nor any way concerning their quantity , but only their figuration , &c. of several special properties of magnitudes and angles . how some angles are constituted by the concrescency and annexion of several parts and angles which are heterogeneal each to other . whether like angles in unequal circles , and in loke segments of circles be always equal ? that all equal angles are not like . that all like angles are not equal . though i cannot consent unto your thoughts about the angle of contact , i should be angry with my own rashness , should i be forward to blame your late speculations thereabout ; seeing so many noble and sprightly wits , and such as have deserved the honour of europe , siding with you . especially i honour your thorow-conversation in the learned persons works , whom i perceive you so largely to have gleaned after : you could not have plowed in these hard grounds with a more worthy assistant . but knowing it is not complement you expect in philosophy but reason ; i shall in as short , as the matter will bear , and as plainly as i can , summe up the grounds , why i as yet remain so farre dissatisfyed , that i cannot without injustice to my own judgment , desert the generous and learned dissenters from your opinion : or cease to averre angles of contact to be true quantities , equal ; or unequal one to another , though the highest multiplex of the greatest citradiametral angle of contact , be never able to exhaust , or equalize the least right-lined part of the most acute right-lined angle . and that we may not mistake each other about the state of the controversy ; and to be shorter , and more clear in the insuing discourse ; we shall first set down the definitions of certain termes , about which i suppose there will be no difference between us . as. 1 st . ( our discourse extending no further then to plain angles ) that by a right-lined angle , we understand a plane angle contained under two concurring sides , or lines , which are two right-lines not posited directly the one in the production of the other , nor parallel the one to the other . as in fig. 1. the angle b ac is a right-lined angle contained under the two right lines ba and ca ; ba and ca not being so posited at a as to make one right line : nor can they be parallel because of their rectitude and concurrence . 2 ly . that by a crooked-lined angle , we understand a plane angle , contained under two concurring sides , or lines , which are two crooked lines ; as in the fig. 2.3 4. the angle b ac is a crooked lined angle contained under the two crooked lines b a and c a. 3 ly . that by a crooked lined angle of concaves , or a concavo-concave angle , we understand a plane angle contained under two concurring crooked lines ; both which crooked lines obvert at the angle first of all inwards , the concave side of their curvature , towards the angle under then contained . so in fig. 4. the angle b ac is a crooked-lined angle of concaves , or a concavo-concave angle , contained under the two crooked lines ba and c a both which obvert the concave side of their curvature towards the angle under then contained . 4 ly . that by a crooked-lined angle of convexes , or a convexo-convexe angle , we understand a plane angle , contained under two concurring crooked-lines ; both which crooked-lines obvert at the angle first of all inwards , the convexe sides of their curvature towards the angle , under them contained . so in fig. 2. the angle bac . is a crooked-lined angle of convexes , or a convexo-convexe angle , contained under the two crooked-lines ba and ca , both which obvert the convexe sides of their curvature , first of all inwards , towards the angle under them contained . 5 ly . that by a concavo-convexe angle we understand a plane angle , contained under two concurring crooked lines ; the one of which , at the angle first of all , obverts the convexe side of its curvature inwards towards the contained angle , the other the concave side of its curvature . so in fig. the 3 d. the angle bac is a concave-convexe , or a convexo-concave crooked-lined angle , contained under the two crooked lines ba and ca , whereof the one ba obverts the convexe side of its curvature towards the contained angle , but the other ca obverts the concave side of its curvature towards the same contained angle . 6 ly . that by a mixed lined angle , we understand a plane angle , contained under two concurring lines ; whereof the one is a right line , the other a crooked line . so in fig. 5 th . 6 th . the angle bac is a mixed-lined angle , contained under the right line ca. and the crooked line b a. 7 ly . that by a recto-concave angle , we understand a plane angle , contained under two concurring lines ; whereof the one is a right line , the other a crooked line , having the concave side of its curvature obverted towards the contained angle , so in fig. 5. the angle b.a.c. is drawn a recto-concave angle , being contained under the right line c.a. and the crooked line b. obverting the concave side of its curvature towards the contained angle . 8 ly . that by a recto-convexe angle , we understand a plane angle , contained under two concurring lines ; whereof the one is a right line , the other a crooked line , having the convexe side of its curvature obverted towards the angle contained , so in fig. 6 th . the angle bac . is drawn a recto-convexe angle , being contained under the right line ca. and the crooked line ba . obverting the convexe side of its curvature towards the contained angle . 9 ly . that by an angle of contact we understand a plane angle , contained under two concurring lines ; which two lines are neither one and the same line produced , nor yet in their present positure and inclination can possibly cut one another , how farr soever either , or both of them be produced . so in fig. 7 th . and fig. 8 th . the angle b ac . being an angle of contact , if in either figure the crookd-line ba , be produced beyond the point of contact a , unto d , and in fig , 7 th . the crooked-line ca , in figure 8 th . the right line ca. be produced beyond the point of contact a unto e ; in neither the line c ae can fal into the production of the line bad , nor in either shall the line c ae cut the line b ad. and 10 ly . from the figuration , positure and properties of the sides of such angles of contact ; that by a recto-convexe angle of contact , we understand a plane angle being recto-convexe , as above defined , and being also an angle of contact . so in fig. 8 th . if in the recto-convexe angle bac , the right line c a touch and cut not the convexe arch b a the angle bac is a recto-convexe angle of contact . 11 ly . that , by a recto-concave angle of contact we understand a plane angle of contact , which is also recto-concave , as above defined . as in fig. the 8 th . if in the recto-concave angle eab the right line ea touch and cut not the concave arch ba , the angle eab is a recto-concave angle of contact . 12. that by a concavo-convexe angle of contact we understand a plane angle of contact , being also concavo-convexe , as above defined . so in fig. 12 th . if r ah being a concavo-convexe angle , the arch ra touch and cut not the arch h a then the angle r ah is a concavo-convexe angle of contact . 13. that by a citra-diametral-concavo-convexe angle of contact , we understand a plane concavo-convexe angle of contact , both whose conteining arches lie on the same side of the right line tangent , which toucheth both the arches in the same point of contact , as in fig. 12 th . the concavo-convexe angle of contact h ar , having both arches h a and r a lying on the same side of the right line tangent b a , which toucheth both the arches in the same point a , the concavo-convexe angle of contact h ar is citradiametral . 14. that by an ultra-diametral concavo-convexe angle of contact , we understand a plane angle of contact being concavo-convexe , and having the one arch on the one side of the diameter passing thorow the contact point , and beyond the right line tangent which toucheth the arches in the same point ; but having the other arch on the other side of that diameter , and on the other side of the right line tangent . so in fig. 12 th . the two circles f ah and adk touching in the point a , and ak being their common diameter and ab being a right line tangent to both , the concavo-convexe angle of contact dah is ultra-diametral . 15. that by a mixed crooked lined angle , we understand a plane angle contain'd under two concurring crooked lines , of such several curvatures that it is impossible for them to be coapted from the angular point the one unto the other , or the one , or its production to be coapted to the other , or its production , at and from the angular point , by any circumduction whatsoever , so in fig. 9.10.11 . the angle b ac , being a mixed crooked lined angle , ab as being of a different curvature from ac , can no way possibly be coapted by any circumduction to ac from the angular point a : and if b a be produced to d and ca to e the crooked-line ab , because of its different curvature can neither be coapted to the crooked line ac nor to its production ae : nor the crooked line ac to the crooked line ab , nor to its production ad , by any circumduction upon the angular point whatsoever . 16. that by the isoclitical sides of an angle , we understand two such lines , whether right , or crooked , containing a plane angle , as according to their present site and positure , without inversion when crooked , moving by the sides nearer one to another , will by such motion at last come to be coincident with and coapted exactly the one unto the other : and that by an isoclitical angle we understand a plane angle , contained under such isoclitical sides . so every right lined angle is manifestly isoclitical ; and its sides are isoclitical , the sides by such motion on the angular point one towards another being manifestly coincidible and coaptable so also in fig. 3d. if in the concavo-convexe crooked lined angle bac . the crooked-lined side b a by moving upon the angular point a towards the other crooked lined side ca , will at last coapt and become coincident with the crooked lined side c a then are b a and c a isoclitical sides and the angle b ac anisoclitical angle . 17. that by the anisoclitical sides of an angle we understand two such lines , whether the one right & the other crooked , or else both crooked , and whether both of the same or different curvatures , containing a plane angle , so as according to their present site and positure , without inversion of either when crooked , by moving the sides nearer one another , by the continuance of such motion they can never be brought to be coincident with , and coapted exactly the one unto the other and that by an anisoclitical angle , we understand a plane angle contained under such anisoclitical sides . so all crooked lined angles of concaves , though having sides of like curvature , all crooked lined angles of convexes , though having sides of like curvature , all concavo-convexe angles , whose sides are of different curvatures , all mixed lined angles , whether recto-convexes , or recto-concaves , all mixed crooked lined angles whatsoever , are all of them manifestly anisoclitical angles , and their sides anisoclitical . so in fig. 4 th . though ab and ac . be supposed to be of uniform answering and equal curvatures , and likewise in fig. 2 d. though ab and ac again supposed to be of uniform , answering and equal curvatures , and in fig. 3 d. fig , 5 , 6 , 9 , 10 , 11. supposing ab and ac not to be of uniform , answering and equal curvatures , by moving the sides ab & ac in that their present fire & positure upon the angular point a , without the inversion of either , when both are crooked , to bring the sides nearer the one to the other , it is manifest that by the continuance of such motion they can never be brought to a coincidence with , and to be coapted exactly the one unto the other , and such also are all angles of contact whatsoever , as in fig. 7 , 8 , 11. ab & ac are as uncoincidable and uncoaptable as in the former , except only ultradiametral , concavo-convexe angles of contact , which are of equal and answering curvatures . 18. that by an angle of curvature , or coincidence we understand a plane angle , contained by any two parts of a crooked line at the point of their concurrences any where to be imagined , or taken in crooked-lines . so in the 7 th . fig. let bad be the circumference of a circle , parabola , hyperbola , ellipsis &c. at the mean point a , the sides ba and ad contain an angle of curvature , or coincidence . 19. that by autoclitical curvature , and so by an autoclitical crooked line , we understand such a crooked line , as passing from the angular point of a right lined angle , between the two sides , by the inclination of its curvature , keepeth the convexe side of its curvature , constantly obverted to one of the sides , and the concave side of its curvature constantly obverted to the other . as in fig. 17. in the right lined angle bac , the crooked line aef keeping its convexity constantly obverted to the side ab , and its concavity to the side ac , or so much of it as is intercepted between the intersection at f and the angular point at a the crooked line aef is autoclitical , i. e. the convexity is all on one side , and the concavity all on the other . 20. that by antanaclitical curvature and so by an antanaclitical curve line , we understand such a crooked line , as passing from the angular point of a right-lined angle , between the two sides , by the inclination of its curvature , hath the convexe part of its curvature , sometimes towards the one side of the right lined angle , and sometimes towards the other side of the right lined angle , i. e. the convexeness and the concaveness are not constantly on the same several sides . as in fig. 17. in the right lined angle bac , the crooked line agh obverting the convexity at g towards ab , and at h towards ac is antanaclitical . these definitions praemised , to give now the true state of the controversy ; let there be , as in fig. 12. two equall circles ahh and adk touching in the point a : and let ag be the semidiameter of the circle adk : and ab be a right line tangent touching both the circles in the point a : and let ael be a greater circle then either , touching both the former , and also the right line tangent in the point a : and from the point a draw the right line ac at pleasure , cutting the circle adk in the point d , and the circle ael in the point e : now therefore whereas you say that the recto-convexe angles of contact bae and b af are not unequal , and that neither of them is quantitative ; and that the crooked-lines e a , da , ha are coincident , sc. so as to make no angle with the right line ab , or one with another ; and that the right-lined right angle b ag is equal to the mixt-lined , i. e. recto-concave angles of the semicircles e ag and d ag severally , and that those angles of the semicircles e ag and d ag are equal the one unto the other ; and that the mixed lined recto-convexe angle f ag is severally equal to all , or any of the former ; and that there is no heterogeneity amongst plane angles , but that they are all of them of the same sort , and homogeneal and undevideable into parts specifically different , distinct and heterogeneal in respect of one another , and the whole ; and that to any mixt , or crooked lined angle whatsoever that is quantitative it is not impossible to give an equal right lined angle : i acknowledge for all these things you have disputed very subtilly ; yet i must with a clear and free judgment own and declare a dissent from you in them all , for the reasons to be alleadged in the insuing discourse . to clear all which , nothing can be of higher consequence in this question , then truly to understand the nature of an angle , what an angle is , what is an angle , and what is not . and to exclude the consideration of angles herein unconcerned ; they are plane angles i. e. such as are contained by lines , which lye wholly , and both in the same plane , the disquisition of whose nature we are now about . and such is the affinity , which the inclination of one line hath to another in the same plane , with the nature of an angle , that without it a plane angle cannot be defined , or conceived . for where there is rectitude and voidness of inclination , as in a right line and its production , there never was justly suspected to be any thing latent of an angular nature ; nor between parallels , for want of mutual inclination . but yet the inclination of line upon line in the same plane , is not sufficient to make up the nature of an angle : for in the same plane one line may have inclination to another , and yet they never meet , nor have in their infinite regular production any possibility of ever meeting ; as the circumference of an ellipsis , or circle to a right line lying wholly without them , without either section , or contact ; or the asymptotes in conjugate sections , which though ever making a closer appropinquation to the circumferences of the conjugate figures , yet infinitely produced , never attain a concurrency . and though by possibility the inclined lines might meet , yet if they do not , an angle is not constituted : only there is possibility of an angle when being produced they shall meet . so as to make up the nature of an angle two lines must be inclined one to another , and also concurre , or meet to contain on their parts a certain space , or part of the plane between their productions from their point of concurrence , or their angular point . and this being the general , and proper nature of a plane angle ; as it is manifest , that in a right line there is no angle , so it is dubious what is to be judged of those curve , or crooked lines , whose curvature is either equall , uniform , or regular : sc. whether in such lines there be not at every mean point an angularness , the lines still lying in the same positure . it is clear in a right line no mean point can be taken , at which the parts of the right line in their present position can be said to have any inclination one to another : that though the parts concurre , yet they want inclination : but in the circumferences of circles , ellipses , hyperbola's , parabola's and such like curve , or crooked lines , being of equal uniform , or regular curvature , no point can be assigned at which the parts in their present position have not a special inclination one to another . so as , as before , inclination of lines and concurrency making up the nature of an angle ; it seems not reasonable to deny angularity at any point of such crooked lines , however their curvature be either uniform , equal , or regular . but i know it will be said that such crooked lines of equal , uniform & regular curvature are but one line , and therefore , by the definition of an angle , cannot contain an angle ; which requires two lines to its constitution . to which i answer , that in like manner , two concurring right lines may be taken for one line continued though not in its rectitude , and then the consideration of angularity between them is excluded : however by reason of the inflexion and inclination at the point of incurvation , there is an aptitude in that one produced line , there to fall , and distinguish it self into two , with inclination of one unto the other , and so to offer the constitutive nature of an angle : and so it is at every point of such crooked lines , whose curvature is equal , or uniform and regular ; being one , or more lines , according as by our conceptions they are continued , or distinguished and as a continued rectitude , such as is in right lines , is most inconsistent with the nature of an angle , so what should be judged more accepting of the nature of angularity , then curvature is , being thereunto contrariously opposite , and by all confest most what to be so , saving in the aforesaid cases when curvature is equal , uniform , or regular . but why should equality , uniformity , or regularity of curvatures , be so urged in the concern of angularity , by none of which is angularity either promoted , or hindered ? for there cannot be greater equality , uniformity , or regularity , then is to be found in rectitude as well as angles , in right lines as well as circles ; the things constitutive of the nature of an angle , being things quite different from them , viz. inflexion or inclination and concurrence ; which are indifferently found in all curvatures equal and unequal , uniform , or not uniform , regular , or irregular : and besides are inseparable from them : curvature and a concurrent inflexion , or angularity being but as two notions of the same thing , considered as under several respects : viz. curvature is the affection of a line considered as one : the same being angularity and inclination , when from any point of the curvature the same line is considered as two : so two concurrent right lines are said to be one crooked line : but when a right-lined angle is said to be contained by them , they are then considered as two from the point of their incurvation , or inclination : and equality , and uniformity , and regularity of curvature implying equality , uniformity and regularity of inflexion , or inclination , it is so far from concluding against angularity , that it inferrs it with an additament , viz. of equal angularity , uniform angularity , and regular angularity ; as might be at large declared in the special properties of several crooked lined figures . and in several uniform , and regular crooked lined figures , there are some special points , offering even to view and sense a clear specimen of a more then ordinary angularity , without any such loud calling for the strong operations of the mind ; as the vertical points in conjugate figures , in parabola's , and the extream points of either axes , in ellipses , and the like , and in the definition of a plane angle , all the inclination , which is required in the concurring sides , is only , that their inclination be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. so as the sides make not one and the same right line , as it is generally understood : however so far are we from imposing upon any against their judgements , this special sort of angles , that we readily acknowledge , if the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in the definition of a plane angle , be forced from the commonly received sense , of the sides not lying in the same right-line , to signify the non-coincidency of the production of the one side with the other , then according to that gloss upon the definition of plane angles , this whole sort of angles is to be rejected ; wherein every one is freely left to his own judgement ; the difference being a question and quarrel about words , more then matter , and not concerning the present controversy . however from the whole it out of controversy appears , that recto-concave angles of contact are true angles , contained under two inclined sides , concurring : also that ultradiametral concavo-convexe angles of contact , whether less equal , or greater then two right right-lined angles are true angles , for the sides are inclined and concurr : of their concurrence can be no doubt : and that they are inclined must of necessity be yielded , seeing they neither lye in rectitude , nor which to some might be a causeless scruple , the one in the production of the other : so as their angularity is clear beyond all doubt : the inclination understood in the definition of an angle being generally any positure of one line with regard to another in the same plane , so as both neither fall in one right line , nor be situated parallel one to another , nor under such a manner of oblique extension , as may render their concurrence impossible : it is not only the oblique positure of one line in reference to another , as contradistinguished from perpendicularness in acute and obsuse inclinations : but such is the comprehensiveness of its sense , in the present acceptation , that every perpendicularness it self is taken for an inclination . so likewise it cannot reasonably be denyed but those special angles of contact , which are the chief subject of this present controversy , i mean recto-convexe angles of contact , are truly angles ; except either the inclination of their sides , or their concurrence could be called in question ; nothing else being requisite unto the nature , or comprized in the definition of an angle : and the like is to be judged of all other concavo-convexe and convexo-convexe angles of contact . but you said that in the recto-convexe angle of contact the right-line tangent and circumference make no angle , because the tangent is not inclined to the circumference , but coincident with it . what mystery of reason , or force of argument should be in this deduction ? if you say it is coincidence , you mean by non-inclination ; i readily yield , where two lines , become coincident , their former angle is thereby extinct ; as thereby they come under the consideration but of one line : as when two right-lines , or two isoclitical crooked lines , are , one of each of them , so moved about the angular point , till the two lines become one . but where is any such coincidency between right-line tangents and circumferences ? or what possibility is there of any such coincidency : a crooked line and a right-line may no doubt be commensurate , or proportionable in length , but in position it is impossible : and if we imagine the tangent bowed to such a coincidence , then it is not any longer a tangent , or right-line , but a circumference . and though as you urge , a right-line circumduced about any middle point in the side of a regular polygone , at last becomes coincident with the side , and looses all inclination and angularity with the side ; what doth that concern , or how doth that prove the non-inclination of the tangent to the circumference ; your selves sometimes in every point , save only in the point of contact acknowledging an inclination ; and as is else where hinted , in the point of contact alone , and abstractedly , the inclination it self , which is the habitude of the concurring inclined sides , is not to be sought , but only the particular termination of their inclination there . but you will say , it is non-secancy which is meant by this coincidency : and what i pray is that more then the lateran bells to the concern , or constitution of angles ? are there not many regular curve lines produced , some infinitely without section , in which especially the circumferences of circles , you are pleased sometimes every where to think you have cause to imagine an angle . it were meet to know the meaning of such odly connext terms , before reasonings upon them be regarded in questions of weight . that the contact of the angular sides , is as different from coincidency , as from secancy , is most unquestionably apparent in angles of such sides , as are capable of all three , viz. contact , secancy , and coincidence . for example in fig. 16. let there be two arches of equal circles daf and bac . touching one another in the point a. if the arch daf be circumduced about the point a as an unmoveable center ; at after an infinite succession of secancies , at last all will terminate in a manifest coincidency , and the arch af be coincident with the arch ab , and the arch ad be coincident with the arch ac . so as secancy , contact , and coincidency are distinguishable one from another with as much ease and cleareness , as an odde number from an even . but if it be urged , that you assert not a coincidency between the arch . d af and the arch bac , but only that gh being a right line and touching the arch b ac in the point a , that i say the right line gh and the arch bac are coincident . the vanity of this may be evinced ; in that by the same reason it followes , that the right line gh must be coincident with the arch daf , and so the arch daf coincident with the arch b ac ; the contrary of which is above-shewn and confessed : and besides hereupon should two arches b ac and daf being convexo-convexely posited , and the right line tangent gh be all coincident ; which i leave for others to say rather then my self . when a right line tangent and many crooked lines of different curvatures , all touch together in one and the same point , as in fig. 13 ; you say , though without the angular point of contact the sides are variously divaricated one from another , yet in the point of contact , they have not several inclinations , for you say they have no inclination at all . the truth is the angular point of its self is not capable of inclinations , nor for the indivisibility of its nature can by any possibility comprehend them : yet that lines concurring in one only point , and presently after receding each from the other , should not be inclined each to other in or at the point of their concurrency , whether it be by contact , or section , though in the case of contacts the inclination be less , then can be expressed by the inclination of any right-line upon a right-line , is absolutely unconceiveable , there being no lineary coincidence , but only of one point between them . for as else where , in the same plane , neither of point to point , nor of point to line , nor of point to plane can be any inclination : but in the present case of plane angles , inclination must be of lines , and may be of them in the very point of concurrence ; or else from the point of concurrence they would not part several wayes : for it is their diverse inclination at that point , which makes their departure one from another when they depart from thence . and as even in the angular point of right-lined angles the lines have the same inclinations as else where , so in all other angles , save only such angles of contact , as are less then the least right-lined angles , by drawing right-lined tangents to the arch , or arches at the angular point , is shewn in right-lines , either the very inclination of the sides , in , or rather at the angular point , or else the least right-lined inclination , which is greater , or the greatest right-lined inclination , which is less : for though they may differ much in their distance and divarication one from another , without the point of their concurrence ; in the point of their concurrence , without much absurdity , they may be said to be equally distant , i. e. not at all distant there one from another , for there they are not indeed at all distant any of them from the rest : yet it doth not hence any way follow , that in like manner it may be said of them without absurdity , that in the point of concurrence they have equal inclinations , i. e. no inclinations one to another : for though in the point of concurrence it is truth , they have no distance , yet it no wayes as may appear to those that will consider equally follows , that they should there have no inclination . besides , that the urging of the coincidency of the sides in recto-convexe angles of contact is most directly opposite to the nature and properties of the special lines under which such angles are contained . for , t is the special propertie of some lines that they can touch , but they can no way be-coincident ; as arches of unequal and unlike curvature : and a right-line and a crooked line : some can be coincident , and can no way touch , as right lines : some can both ; as arches of equal and answering curvature , which set concavo-convexely , and citradiametrally cannot touch , but will fall into a coincidence : but posited convexo-convexely , cannot be coincident , but may construct an angle of contact . so as the chimaera of the coincidency of the sides in recto-convexe angles of contact , if persisted in , is worth laughing at , and like his philosophy who when every one was at his high lavolta's , denyed the possibility of motion in the world : but to justify the non-inclination of the sides against the eye and reason , this horridly distorted monster of their coincidency was introduced . indeed if they be coincident they make no angle : but it will cramp the understanding of an oedipus to declare how either a right-line , or a crooked-line , touching another crooked-line in one only point and no more , should ever be conceived , notwithstanding to be coincident with the production of the other crooked-line , whether the tangencie of the crooked-lines be concavo-convexe , or convexo-convexe , i. e. the one within the other , or else the one turned away from the other . but you 'll say , you assert coincidency only in the point of contact . i answer , that 's frivolous , not to say ridiculous and impertinent ; for coincidency in the present question of angles is taken as opposed to inclination , which is an affection and propriety of the concurring sides of the angle , not only of the angular point taken by it self abstractedly . as inclination cannot be in a point , though it may be at a point , so a point cannot be said to be inclined unto a line , especially it self being in the same line : it may be said to hold such and such a distance from the line , when it is without it , but not to be inclined unto it . and if the being of the point of contact , generally as a point of the one side , in the tangent line , as in the other side , whether right , or crooked , make a coincidency destroying inclination ; then all inclinations and angles whatsoever are destroy'd ; and every where will be a coincidency , for that is common to every angle to have the angular point still common to both sides : and the secant angles might as well be said coincident , as the tangent angles , for what you say , that it is tangency as opposed to secancy , that you mean by coincidency ; i answer the glosse is improper and besides the anvil and tangency undenied , but in this case impertinently by you alleadged , till it be proved that tangency in one only point , and no more , doth quite annul and destroy the inclination of the lines , though on both sides of the contact clearly receding the one from the other : till which be done happiness to my friend and no longer . i might adde that it is touching which is only mentioned in the definition of plane angles ; but i shall dispatch all by setting the case before you in this diagramme in fig. 12. if the right line ba touch the arch la in the point a and the right-line lb be so drawn as to touch the arch la in the point l , here now is a plane on every side bounded by two right-lines , viz. bl and ba and one crooked-line , viz. the arch la. that lba is an angle will not be doubted : and because the three lines perfectly bound in and limit a plane on all sides ; the arch la can neither be coincident with the right line lb , nor with the right-line ab , and in the angle lab , the lines la and ba ; and in the angle alb , the lines la and bl concurring without coincidency , and without lying in the same right-line , or the one , so much as , in the production of the other ; inclination , and so the true nature of an angle , cannot be denyed them ; according to the most severe limitations and hardest glosses , that can with any reason be deduced from the definition of a plane angle . and to make all clear let a paper , or other plane be cut in the form of the mixed-lined triangle alb and the wildness of questioning the angularity of the two recto-convexe angles of contact lab and bla will be clear to all persons both rude and learned . i take it therefore for granted ; that , all suspicion of coincidency and non-inclination , in whatsoever pertinent sense , of contact-angle sides , being evicted and sent of the scene , all recto-convexe angles of contact are truly angles . to passe now unto another of your thesis's in which you peremptorily conclude recto-convexe angles of contact to be devoyd of all quantitativeness ; when i urge their quantitativeness , i mean not that they can at pleasure be devided into parts in any given and limited proportion , or by a mathematical homogeneity holding any proportion with the angle of contact devided ; only that from the angular point between the sides of the least recto-convexe angle of contact infinite other lines may be drawn , dividing the angle , though heterogeneally . and certainly its being an angle of contact cannot in the least prejudice its quantitativeness : for it is most apparent that a convexo-convexe angle of contact contained under arches of equal curvature , may be divided into two mixed-lined , i. e. recto-convexe angles of contact , which hold proportion of equality one with another , and each of them is in subduple proportion to the convexo-convexe angle of contact , which was divided : and infinite numbers of contact-angles of several sorts may be adjoyned one unto another , distinct in their situation , without drowning and extinguishing one another and each lying without the other : which is not true of indivisibles when they are adjoyned to , and touch one another . besides the recto-concave angle of contact is greater then the greatest right-lined angle , at the angular point of contact having a manifest inclination of the sides ; for concurring , they neither are one right-line , nor one crooked-line . moreover ultra-diametral concavo-convexe angles of contact may be equal to two right right-lined angles , or greater sometimes : as in fig. 12. if the two circles fah and adk be equal and touch in the point a , and ak be diameter : and ar be another arch falling beyond the diameter ak and beyond the right line tangent ab : it is manifest that the concavo-convexe ultra-diametral angle of contact dah is as to the recesse of the sides equal to two right-lined angles : for the recto-concave angle of contact bah is equal to two right right-lined angles , deducting the recto-convexe angle of contact has : and the recto-convexe angle of contact bad is equal to the recto-convexe angle of contact h as ; therefore the ultradiametral concavo-convexe angle of contact d ah is equal to two right right-lined angles : and therefore the ultra-diametral concavo-convexe angle of contact d ar is greater then two right right-lined angles . and then , what greater monster is discoverable in the doctrine of the quantitativeness of the recto-convexe angle of contact ? it is demonstrated that between the right-line tangent and the arch which it toucheth , no right-line can passe : i. e. the recto-convexe angle of contact is less then the least right-lined angle : but why should hence be inferred that the recto-convexe angle of contact hath no true quantity ? you will say , because a right-lined angle is infinitely divisible into less and less parts , and therefore must at last be less then the recto-convexe angle of contact , if the recto-convexe angle of contact be a true angle , having truth of quantity . i answer , after all possible divisions of a right-lined angle into parts of its owne kind , i mean such as are made by right lines , the least part is still a right-lined angle ; then which the recto-convexe angle of contact is most fairly demonstrated to be ever less : i. e. the inclination of its sides is eve● less : and the convexe arch will still at the angle fall within : so as truly from thence may be inferred , that the recto-convexe angle of contact can never be either a right-lined angle , or equal to it , or greater than a right-lin'd angle : but that therefore it is no angle , and hath no true quantity at all , because it hath not the quantity of a right-lined angle , is a wild and perverse inference , and else-where disproved . and why should the quantitativeness of the recto-convexe angle of contact be called in question , because it is demonstrated less then the least right-lined angle ? if between the right-lined tangent and the arch a right-line could be drawn , then you would confesse the quantitativeness of it as undeniable : and why doth not the passing of a thousand crooked-lines from the angular point , between the sides of the recto-convexe angle of contact , as well prove its quantity and divisibility , as the passing of one right-line between them could : there being equal force of proof from the one , as from the other ? and when a right-line & two equal circles , all three touch in the same point ; there are two equal recto-convexe angles of contact adjacent the one continuedly to the other , and situate the one without the other : which in indivisibles is impossible . and when the question is of the quantity of angles , what is it we enquire , but only , what is the inclination of the sides , especially at the angular point ? and in recto-convexe angles of contact , the answer is ; there is no inclination at all as of a right-line to a right-line , but only as of a crooked-line to a right-line : that it were wildness to say ; because in recto-convexe angles of contact , there cannot be the inclination of a right-line to a right-line , that therefore the sides meeting and parting one from another , and not lying both in a right-line , do make no inclination one to another . and seeing the convexo-convexe angle of contact contained under two arches of equal curvature is dividable into two equal parts by a common right-line tangent to them both ; angle of contact , and of both the recto-convexe angles of contact , clearly appears ; though the quantitativenes of every one of them be demonstrable to be less then the quantity of any the least right-lined angle whatsoever : because right-lines cannot contain a less angle then is agreable to the inclinations they possibly can have one to another : whereas in crooked lines generally , these are the constant properties of curvature ; though the angles of coincidence , or curvature , as we for method , brevity and distinction sake named them , may be very unequal one to another , according to the degrees of the inflexion , inclination and curvature ; yet constantly the angle on the concave side , from any point of the curvature manifestly if it be equal , uniform and regular , is still greater then any the greatest acute , right , or obtuse right-lined angle : and the angle between the convexe arch and a right-line tangent , at the same point , is constantly less then any right-lined angle : and yet either may be made still infinitely less , or greater , the recto-convexe angle of contact still remaining less then the least right-lined angle , and the angle of curvature , or coincidence greater still then the greatest right-lined angle : which is as much as to say , that in curvatures the difference between the angle of curvature and two right right lined angles , cannot be a right-lined angle ; as in truth it cannot , nor is in reason so to be expected , but of necessity it must be a mixed-lined , sc. a recto-convexe angle : and is the recto-convexe angle of contact at the same point . and that a recto-convexe angle of contact , by no multiplicity can equal , or exceed a right-lined angle ; doth not disprove either its angular nature , or its quantitativeness , both which are otherwise cleared , but it is rather a confirmation of the heterogeneal difference , which is between the angles of the one sort and the other . and in my judgement there needed no greater argument of the quantitativeness of recto-convexe angles of contact , then the absurdity following upon the contrary doctrine ; that the angle of a semi-circle , and a right right-lined angle are equal , viz. the whole and a part , the one being a mixed-lined and the other a right-lined angle ; and in the indeavour of coaptation , and being coapted on one side , the other side all the way falls within , or without the other , so as both the sides of the one angle are impossible to be coapted to both the sides of the other , but will both still lye within both the sides of the other . and the angles of semi-circles must either be confessed unequal in unequal circles , or the curvature of unequal circumferences , be manifestly against the truth asserted to be equal . and if still they be averred to be equal , its desired their equality should be demonstrated , and the way of admeasuring their equality shown . but you will say , if recto-convexe angles of contact be quantitative , why can they not exhaust any other angle whatsoever contained under the very same sides ; for possibly you will urge , that we should not question the homogeneity between such angles ? to this i answer , without examining what homogeneity may in other respects be between them ; that a quantitative and mathematical homogeneity can with no reason between them be imagined : because the difference which is between them is a right-lined angle , to which all angles of contact whatsoever are heterogeneal ; and your self will not assert any mathematical homogeneity , or at least proportionablenes which as to this purpose is all one between any recto-convexe angle of contact and a right-lined angle . as in fig. 18. let kab be a recto-convexe angle of contact , and kaf another recto-convexe angle under the very same sides : and let ad be a right-line tangent upon the arch af : therefore the recto-convexe angles of contact d af and kab being equall , the right-lined angle kad is the difference of the recto-convexe angle of contact kab and the other recto-convexe angle kaf under the divarication of the very same sides . so as it is impossible to divide this , or any other angle whatsoever , which is not isoclitical , to divide , i say , all of it into any numbers at pleasure given of parts , which shall be homogeneal all of them one unto another : for how many soever be homogeneal , the angle of contact , or that which is taken out of it , or that unto which it adhaeres , will have and make heterogeneity . and if you say , how can recto-convexe angles of contact be said to be parts of such concrete and composite angles , if unable by any multiplicity to exhaust the composite angle ? omitting the answer that parts are sometimes essential and of the definition , and yet by no multiplicity can equalize the whole ; as four angles in the definition of a tetragone , and a foot line in the definition of a foot cube : i answer chiefly , that where the integral is heterogeneal as here , and made up , and properly and naturally resoluble into several heterogeneal parts , and connot be divided into any numbers at pleasure of parts all homogeneal , there some parts may never be able by any multiplicity to equalize the whole , or some other heterogeneal parts . and elss-where that under the same coaptable sides may be angles different in their ultimate kind in some further respects , though not without proportionableness in this instance , is most apparent among right-lined angles , by comparing a right right-lined angle , and an acute right-lined angle , and an obtuse right-lined angle together ; which all receive their specifick differences from the specifick differences of their inclinations : in right right-lined angles the inclination being no more one way then the other , no more from the angle side , then to the angle side , sc. perpendicular : in acute angles the inclination being to the angle side : and in obtuse angles the inclination being more especially from the angle side . and yet though we defend the quantitativeness of recto-convexe angles of contact we are equally obliged to assert their improportionableness to right-lined angles : nor will there be any difficulty in answering that suggession you cast , though in anothers name ; that a recto-convexe angle of contact is in proportion less then a right lined angle , as being both homogeneal ; and that by the multiplicity of the recto-convexe angle of contact , an angle may be made equal to a right lined angle , or greater , only by changing its kind , sc. into a right-lined angle : viz. in the same manner , as an acute right-lined angle , being less then a right , or any obtuse right-lined angle , by its multiplicity may with change of its sort and kind become equal , or greater then a right , or any given obtuse right-lined angle . to which may be answered , omitting what kind of distinction it is which is between acute , right and obtuse right-lined angles , as not pertinent to the present controversy ; it would be well done to shew what multiplex of any recto-convexe angle of contact , is equal to what right-lined angle , that so a right-lined angle might , upon that proportion , be formed equal to , or less then the recto-convexe angle of contact ; contrary to what has been clearly demonstrated , and is generally by all consented to in geometry . though acute and right right-lined angles are less then any obtuse whatsoever that are right-lined ; however they hold proportion one with another : but recto-convexe angles of contact cannot be demonstrated to hold any proportion with any right-lined angle , but clearly the contrary . and as by the divarications of the sides of an acute right-lined angle is made a genesis of a right and infinite obtuse right-lined angle : there cannot so by the divarication of the sides of a recto-convexe angle of contact be effected any genesis of right-lined angles , but only of recto-convexe mixt-lined angles , whose sides concurre by way of section ; and between which and the recto-convexe angle of contact is no proportion , as there is between the divaricated acute right-lined angle and the other right-lined angles created from that divaricacation . the reason of which is clear , for that the recto-convexe angle of contact being demonstrated of it self to be less then any right-lined angle whatsoever , by the divarication of the sides of it , there are continually greater and greater right-lined angles added to it , so creating an improportionality between the one , and the other . the comparison made between cyphers and angles of contact , to draw the one , as well as the other into the notion of nullities , is unhappy enough : for single and several cyphers are not greater , or less in power one then another ( though they may make other figures to be so ) as the angles of contact are , and may be made larger , or lesser , and many of them one without or within another , contiguously and continuously conjoyned together , with enlargement , or diminution of their angularity ; which is impossible in indivisibles , and unappliable to , and unintelligible of , mere nullities . that your lemma is without exception , and without proof might have been admitted : viz. that two quantities by the ordinate application , or motion of a line , or plane , increasing , or decreasing proportionably , whether by a proportionality in the same , or different powers , when the ordinate application , or motion attains the end , and bounding term of the one quantity , it at the same moment reacheth & hath attained the bounding term of the other , and when it hath passed the one it hath passed the other . but the objection against the quantitativeness of the recto-convexe angle of contact , which you would hereupon found , hath no reason to expect the like allowance . you say , the right-lined right angle at the point of contact contained under the right-line tangent , and the diameter of a circle , equally with the circumference intercepted , increaseth , or decreaseth by the motion of the diameter upon the point of contact , as a center ; which is true and acknowledged : and whereas you say , that therefore when the diameter leaves nothing at all of the circumference in its circumvolution about , un-run over , but attains the last bounder and termination of it , in the point of contact , then as the circumference is quite exhausted and vanished , so is the angle too : this also we acknowledge to be undeniable . but whereas when the diameter is come so near the right-line tangent in its circumvolution upon the angular point of contact , as to intercept nothing at all of the circumference between them , you then imagine still an angle remaining , which you say , is either the recto-convexe angle of contact , or not less then it ; you herein forget the force of your own manifestly true lemma , which you took so much pains to prove ; except against geometrical demonstration you could discover a possibility of dividing a recto-convexe angle of contact by a right-line : for it is out of doubt and in geometry , as above demonstrated , that when the diameter in such circumvolution intercepts nothing of the circumference between its self and the right-line tangent , the diameter is then coincident , and the same right-line with the right-line tangent ; and of the former angle therefore , hath lest nothing at all , because of the coincidency of the two right-lines , whose parts can in that positure have no inclination one unto another : and therefore there is not so much as the least angle of contact , or any other angle whatsoever , left after this circumvolution : so as the whole argumentation is a long arrow out of a strong bow , but quite besides the mark . it is a seeming weighty objection that which is urged out of opticks , and the usage in that science , to demonstrate in conical figures , the angles of incidence and reflexion to be equal , only with respect to the right-line tangent , touching the figure in the point of incidence and reflexion , without special respect to the curvature in the conical section . but hereto without wrong , either to truth , nature , or that noble science , may be upon good grounds answered . 1. that opticks is not pure geometry , and obstructed stereometry , and mathematicks ; wherein quantities , mensurations , and proportions are considered merely as in themselves without relation to matter , and the uses to which in other faculties they are applicable : but in opticks , is an improvement of what in nature may be observed about luminous and visual beams , and luminous mediums and objects , by mathematical demonstration and assistance . now 2 ly . nature doth not tye it self in its wayes so strictly to an indivisible , absolute , vertical punctilio , that if it cannot reach , without impediments , that mathematical exquisitenes , it will not act at all . if heavy things on the clive side of an hill cannot descend in a direct line towards the center , however they will seek it in the nearest oblique line possibly they can , so long as the motion brings them nearer : all animals are not formed in the same mould , or with equal strength of body , or vigour of spirit . so as in these optical instances , the brave authors sell not in the least short of their task , when they had demonstrated the most equal right-lined angles which nature could cast it self into , in the alledged cases , viz. angles of incidence and reflexion equal , if compared with a right-line tangent at their point . for as elsewhere , they are but very few points in most conical sections , where , by a right-line , their angularity can be divided into equal parts : nature therefore when it cannot attain its prime and general design , which is a perfection and absoluteness in its work , it doth not therefore slugge and do nothing , but seeks to approach its first design as near as possible : and that is in making with right-lined beams equal angles respectively to the right-line tangents at the points concerned ; which angles so formed at those points with respect unto the right-line tangents , are as is elsewhere shewn , either the least of the greater right-lined angles , or the greatest of the less right-lined angles : that in such curvatures with great judgement the quality of the angles of incidence and reflexion , in beams passing by right-lines , as affected for their directness and shortness , and as near as possible endeavoured by nature , is in demonstration referred to examination at the right-line tangents of the same points ; an absolute equality by right-lines to be made , being most what impossible , and that demonstrably in such curvatures : so as causeless was the exception which was made against the demonstrations of the noble perspectivists : nor stood , either they , or nature in need of that improper , lame solution and help , by making recto-convexe angles of contact to be neither angles , nor quantitative . the truth of the angularity and quantitaveness of recto-convexe angles of contact thus asserted ; however , the rest of the things in this controversy cannot be determined without a clear understanding of what homogenealness it is that is requisite for proportionals , and which is mentioned in the definition of proportion . to bring our selves unto the right understanding of which , know there are three wayes whereby one thing may be said to be greater then another . 1 st . improportionably , and by the whole kind ; as in heterogeneals : in which sometime the least of the one is still , beyond all proportion , greater then the greatest of the other : as the least surface is greater then any line ; for a longer line may be drawn in the least surface , then any the longest line , that can possibly be given : and so the least body is improportionably , and heterogeneally , and by the whole kind greater then any surface : for by the dividing , or altering the figuration of the least body , it may be made , by its perimetry , to exceed the quantity of the greatest surface , that possibly can be given : so a point , or a circle of a foot diameter , is said to be less then the whole world ; which is to be understood , as by the whole kind , and without proportionableness . and so i doubt not , but it will be confessed , that the least recto-convexe angle of contact , is greater then the greatest acute , right or obtuse right-lined angle : and the least right-lined angle , then the greatest recto-convexe angle of contact . 2 ly . one thing is greater then another infinitely , or , if you please , indefinitely : so an infinitely , or indefinitely inlarged line , is longer then any given line , without limitation , and so consequenely without proportion . or , 3 ly . one thing is greater then another , rateably and according to the proportion , which they hold at the same standard , whereby they are after the same manner measured , in the same kind in which they are compared . so one lenght , or line is longer then another , according to such a proportion of length when both are measured as lengths at the same standard upon an indefinite line ; and this , whether the lengths , or lines be , one , both , all , neither , or none of them directly , or indirectly posited , in right , or crooked lines ; and whether the one be a depth , and the other a height , or another a breadth , or a fourth a periphery . so one number is greater then another number , according to such a proportion : and , though it is well known to be determined in philosophy , that numbers are of different kinds , yet for the proportion they hold one to another in their common nature , there cannot be denied unto them the truth of a mathematical and analogical homogenealness . and as things are said to be several wayes one greater then another ; so homogeneity wants not its several acceptations . what homogeneity is , is not at all any where expressely defined in the mathematicks ; but we are left at large , rationally to collect , what is by that term in those faculties to be understood . the most usual acceptation of the word homogeneity in philosophy is to compare any divisible being with the parts into which it may be divided : those things being said to be homogeneal , which cannot be separatingly divided into parts of any other name , or nature then the whole is : as the least separable part of water is said to be water ; of wine , wine : and the least separable part of a line , a line : and those things are said heterogeneal , which by possibility may be separatingly divided otherwise ; viz. into parts of different name and nature from the whole . all which , as appears , hath its dependance upon the similar , or dissimilar natures of the whole and parts . so all solids , surfaces , lines , and plane angles may be said to be homogeneal ; for by dividing and separating them part from part , every part of the solid is a solid , of the surface a surface , of the line a line , and of the plane angle a plane angle : and by taking number in a large sense , every part of a number may be said to be a number . but then if you descend lower in numbers and angles , even and odde numbers , &c. and right-lined and mixed-lined and crooked-lined angles will scarce be able to defend their homogeneity at this touch : for even numbers may be divided into parts that are odde : and a right-lined plane angle may be severed into parts whereof the one may be a recto-concave angle of a semi-circle , the other a recto-convexe angle of contact ; of which last mentioned severed part you say , it is no angle , and therefore it must be heterogeneal : and we assert it heterogeneal , because it is improportionable , and its quantity not mensurable after the same manner , that the quantity of right-lined angles is measured . and with reference to the same acceptation , two distinct beings , being compared together , as to homogeneity and heterogeneity , they are then said to be homogeneal , when both having the same name and nature , the one may be the severed part of the other , or both together the severed parts of an integral of the same both name and nature . so all solids are homogeneal : all surfaces : all lines : all plane angles and all numbers whatsoever . but sometimes also in an abusive acceptation , the agreeing , or disagreeing of things in some general , or special kind and nature , passeth for a certain kind of homogeneity or heterogeneity among them : so bodies and surfaces and lines in respect of their common agreeing in quantity , continuity , longitude , latitude and profundity , are partly homogeneal , partly heterogeneal : so numbers in respect of their general quantitativeness , parity , imparity , symmetry and a symmetry &c. are partly homogeneal , partly heterogeneal ; and so solid , sphaerical , and plane angles , and all their several kinds are partly homogeneal , and partly heterogeneal . so as from any of the former acceptations it is no way possible to determine what is that mathematical homogeneity which is every where hinted unto us in the definitions of proportion ; for the bolting forth of which we shall be constrained of necessity to betake our selves to another course , in the quest of which , it is not likely but we shall meet with some abstruseness and difficulty . to make therefore an essay ; proportion being the habitude of the compared magnitudes according to quantity , it is an homogeneity in quantity which is only herein required ; not an homogeneity in substance , quality , site , or other kinds and manners of being : for heterogeneity in any of those other respects , as substance , quality , site , or other kinds of being , doth not hinder , but they may notwithstanding be one proportionable to another , if any quantitative homogeneity be to be found amongst them . so the heterogeneity of figure and figuration , which is between a circle , pentagone , square , triangle , surface of a pyramide , &c. hinders not , but they may be compared and hold proportion in respect of their area's and superficial contents ; wherein they retain a quantitative homogeneity : and those of them which are meerly bounded planes , also have a homogeneity in respect of their perimetries , or the like quantities which they hold in common . so crookednes and rectitude are different kinds of positure , and make an heterogeneity in situation ; yet a right line and a crooked-line , hold still a quantitative homogeneity , in respect of their longitude and extension . so the different positures of the surfaces in a sphaere , and in a cone , and in a plane , hindereth not their analogy in area and quantity . but further to pursue this diquisition ; though it be homogeneity in quantity , which is herein understood yet it is not the being quantities , or magnitudes in general that doth make up , or can compleat the homogeneity hinted in the definition of proportion : for then lines , and bodies , and numbers , and surfaces , being all of them magnitudes and quantities , there should be a proportionablenes between lines and bodies , bodies and surfaces , surfaces and numbers ; which in such a general-homogeneity it were vanity to look for . in like manner , though plane , sphaerical and solid angles be all angles , yet i think there are very few , that because of that their general homogeneity will expect a proportionablenes amongst them . besides as little necessity is there of restraining this homogeneity of magnitudes , unto their very last , and in every respect , ultimate kinds : except you will understand it to be in respect of some indefinite , most pure abstracted quantity , in which the compared magnitudes are to be each of them measured . for though some referr all numbers unto quantity , distinguishing them into several kinds , not only from their parities and imparities , with all their variations thereupon , but making every number to be of a different kind , receiving its specification from the last unite ; as some also referr unto quantity all lines , which they distinguish into several kinds , & the like specifick distinctions are made by others of surfaces and bodies : yet between proportionals , for their homogeneity , is not , we confesse , in this sense required , that both magnitudes be of the very same ultimate kind : for hyperbolar , parabolar , elliptical , circular arches , and right-lines are homogeneal in length , extension , and as lines , so holding analogy , though in respect of rectitude and curvature , and their several kinds of curvature they be heterogeneal . so all numbers , even , odde , commensurable , or incommensurable , however , as above is said , heterogeneal , yet as multitudes and numbers in general , and the accounts how oft an unite and its parts is posited , or how far in account is proceeded , whether retrogradely or progressively from an unite ; so , all numbers are homogeneal , holding mutual analogy one to another . so notwithstanding the distinction between acute , right , and obtuse , right-lined angles , all truth and exquisitenes of proportion , as the measure of their quantitative relation , is most apparent amongst them . which again doth further shew unto us what and how great is the difficulty of limiting the homogeneity expressed in the definition of proportion ; so as neither to set it uselesly too high , nor sink it lower then is necessary for proportionality . for right right-lined angles are proportionate , one to another , but there can be amongst them no proportion of inequality : and no given acute right-lined angle can have so small a proportion to any acute right-lined angle , as it may have and hath to a right right-lined angle , or to any obtuse right-lined angle : and though all even numbers hold analogy and proportion one to another , yet even numbers are not capable of all diversities of proportion ; as in uneven numbers , duple and subduple proportions are impossible : nay numbers in general , i mean unbroken and integral numbers , are not capable of all kinds of analogy ; as particularly not of such proportions as are asymmetral . but not to be nice in my thoughts to my friend , i never in this point and question understood any other thing to be meant by homogeneity in the definition of proportion , then a mensurablenes of the quantities of two , or more magnitudes in the same indefinite quantity for kind , as the measure of their quantity and of the quantity of all their homogeneals , the mensuration therein still being according to that same kind of quantity of which the indefinite quantity is . and so proportion is the rate and habitude , which the rateable magnitudes hold mutually one to the other in respect of the same way of measuring their quantities , or in respect of the same kind of indefinite quantity in which their quantities are measured . and upon this gloss as the true and genuine meaning of this mathematical homogeneity , i ever understood that postulate to be founded in which is required and granted , so to multiply any given quantity , as to exceed any other given quantity whatsoever of the same kind . for if that mensurablenes in the same indefinite quantity , as a measure , and according to that same kind of quantity of which the indefinite measure is , were not the very thing designed by mathematical homogeneity , the matter of the postulat were not fit to be granted without proof : for it is because they are measured in the same indefinite quantity for kind , and according to the same kind of quantity , i. e. they have the very same way of measuring in the same indefinite quantity ( which is their homogeneity , by necessity of consequence creating a proportionablenes between them ) that the less by multiplying may be made greater then the greater , and the greater by a continual cutting off still more then half may be made less then the less . and though hereby homogeneity and proportionablenes be not made to be the very same thing , however in the mathematicks , where the physical natures of things are not inquired into , the one by a necessary consequence doth immediately flow from and is annexed unto the other ; and because of their necessary connexion , in usual speech and acceptation , the one may be allowed to be taken for the other . and when in the definition of proportion , proportion is said to be the mutual habitude of magnitudes of the same kind according to quantity , or if you please multiplicity ; the meaning is no other , but that proportion is the mutual habitude of magnitudes , which have their mensuration after the same manner , according to quantity , or multiplicity ; taking the word multiplicity in a large sense : i. e. according to the quantity and multiplicity , which they have each to other in the same indefinite quantity and measure , upon which they are in the same manner and according to the same kind of quantity measured . however in natural philosophy for very weighty reasons homogeneity and proportionablenes are to be acknowledged of very distant and different natures . so i presume in mathematicks it would be taken for a solaecisme to say a body and a line were homogeneals and of the same kind , because all separable parts of each agree in their being all of them continuous quantities ; though in the physiological school that they do concenter and meet in the same general nature is not deniable ; and so they may carry a seeming shadow of homogeneity , so far as homogeneity may be abusively wrested to denote any such common agreement in a general notion and nature . so it would be a solaecisme in mathematicks to say , that a solid angle , a sphaerical angle and a plane angle were all homogeneal , because they are all angles and every separable part of each is an angle : but to pro●e mathematical homogeneity , the mensurablenes of the quantity of the compared magnitudes in the same indefinite quantity , or measure for kind , and according to the same kind of quantity with the indefinite measure is to be made out : for that all are quantities , or all angles , makes them not in the mathematical school homogeneal ; except by reason of this mensurability of the quantity of both in the same indefinite quantity , or measure , according to the same kind of quantity , the less by multiplying can be made greater then the greater , and the greater by dividing less then the less . and indeed this is the true homogeneity , not denoting a general conveniency in their natures in respect of some abstracted notion , but rather a special identity by reason of their mensurablenes in the same substrate kind of quantity and measure , only with difference , or proportionablenes of magnitude between both the wholes , and all the least , or greatest , proper , i. e. homogeneal parts of each : as if one be a line , so is the other , and the greatest and least proper , i. e. homogeneal or homometral parts of each are lines and proportionable to either . for , if besides the mensurablenes of the quantity of the compared magnitudes in the same indefinite quantity , or measure , be not also added that condition , that in that indefinite quantity , or measure they are also mensurable according to the same quantity for kind , of which the indefinite measure is , and so consequently proportionable one to another ; by nothing will it yet be determinable , whether all angles be not homogeneal : for in every angle , though of several kinds , every part of each angle is an angle : nor will it be determinable , whether all continuous quantities be not homogeneal ; for every part even of heterogeneal continuous quantities is a continuous quantity : nor will it be determinable whether all numbers be not homogeneal ; for that all numbers are of the same kind will be found a doctrine of very hard digestion any where save in the mathematick school : yet according to this explication of mathematical homogeneity , notwithstanding the diversity of their kinds in other philosophical considerations , they have in them a clear mathematical homogeneity : and even an unite , which in other parts of philosophy is not passable for a number , will fall also within the verge of the same homogeneity ; as will also all the parts of an unite , whether commensurable , or incommensurable . and this explication of mathematical homogeneity will be allowed its due right and justification more easily , by those who note how the main matter and design of mathematical definitions is but exegetical to clear up what is meant by the terms in those sciences used : for what other occasion could there be in the mathematicks to intermeddle with homogeneity , but to explain the noble points of proportion and proportionality . and yet though in mathematicks there be such a grand affinity between the proportionablenes and homogeneity of magnitudes and in common use and spee●h the one may be put for the other , yet as above the notions are easily distinguishable by the understanding : viz. two , or more magnitudes are said homogeneal chiefly in respect of the same way of measuring them , or in respect of the same kind of indefinite quantity in which they are both mensurable : but they are said proportionable in respect of the mutual habitude and quantitative relation which is between themselves upon such their mensuration , in the same way , or according to the same kind of quantity . so all finite lines are homogeneal , as mensurable in the same indefinite line ; but that one finite line is double to another is the habitude of the one to the other declared upon that mensuration . that upon the whole matter mathematical homogeneity doth not insist only upon identity in kind at large , or restrain unto identity in kind at all points , and in every respect and consideration ; but it is identity in quantity and therein particularly in the manner of the mensuration of their quantities , in which the homogeneity of magnitudes is chiefly lodged : and that is that which i ever understood in those words ( according to quantity , or if you please , rather quotuplicity ) which are in the definition of propo●tion , viz. quantity and quotuplicity in the same way of measuring . and if you urge here , according to this account i must conclude all incommensurables to be heterogeneal ; i answer , not in the least : for though they may have no common measure , which can by possibility exactly measure both or all , yet there may be a common indefinite measure , in which each may exactly measure forth its own quantity . as for example in fig. 24. let a and b be incommensurable lines , and dc . an indefinite line , beginning at d , and on the part of c infinitely produced : from the point d in the line dc take the line de equal to the line a : and also in the line dc take the line df equal to the line b. here in the line dc as a common indefinite measure of their homogeneity , the two lines a and b , though incommensurable , have measured forth themselves by the lines de and df. so in fig. 1. upon a the angular point of the right-lined angle bac , as center , draw the arch dfe cutting the line ab in the point d , and the line ac in the point f , and the right-line ae in the point e , so as the arch df be incommensurable to the arch fe . here the two right-lined angles d af and f ae are incommensurable , yet have a common way of measuring their quantity and proportion , viz. by arches of circles drawn upon the angular point , as center , intercepted respectively between the sides : as by the arch dfe , the one being in that arch measured by the arch , df , the other by the arch fe . so as by mathematical homogeneity is understood an homometricalnes , or autometricalnes with the necessary consequent of a rateablenes therein , without any necessity of symmetricalnes between themselves at all . for still , if in homogeneity besides homometricalnes in the same indefinite quantity be not also included , that the mensuration of both be according to the same kind of quantity , of which the indefinite quantity , in which they are measured , is ; a point and a line may measure themselves in an indefinite line , and a line and a surface may measure themselves in an indefinite surface , and a surface and a solid may measure themselves in an indefinite solid . but true mathematical homogeneity is when two , or more quantities being mensurable in the same indefinite quantity , or measure , and according to the kind of the indefinite quantity are by consequence rateably , i. e. proportionably and homometrically equal , or the one bigger then the other , not the one infinitely bigger than the other , as an infinite line is longer then a finite line , for between such it is acknowledged there is no proportion nor mathematical homogeneity ; nor the one bigger then the other by the whole kind , as every solid is bigger then any surface , and every right-lined angle then any recto-convexe angle of contact : and proportion is the rate , or quantity of their mutual habitude in that their homogeneity , or homometricalnes : i. e. proportion is the rate , quantity , or account of their proportionality . and applying our minds rightly to conceive of homogeneity as mathematical ; of necessity such , and no other can be the notion of it , thereby making two quantities to be rateably , i. e. proportionably equal , or the one bigger then the other , and according to their capacity and possibility in any rate and proportion so to be constituted and set out . for the genuine well known notion of homogeneity in general , what is it but that all and each of the proper , i. e. homogeneal parts , and the whole , fall under the same denomination and nature , as if one be a line , all the rest to be lines , if one be water , or stone , or oyle , &c. all the rest of the parts and the whole to be so also ? and in the mathematicks what is said properly and homogeneally to be a part of any magnitude , but only such lesser magnitudes separable from it as are able to measure out , i. e. by their multiple to exhaust the first magnitude ? for a surface is not said to be an homogeneally proper part of a solid : nor a line of a surface . and by such measuring forth of the integral magnitude by its homogeneally proper , i. e. exhausting parts , is not understood the symmetry of the parts , and whole , for the whole and its true homogeneal parts , may be incommensurable ; but that which is understood is the true mathematical homogeneity of the whole and the parts in respect of their common way of measuring , and the proportionality , which is thereupon lodged between them so as by laying these undeniable remarks together , mathematical homogeneity in respect of the same integral magnitude , is that every part thereof being proper , i. e. mensurable in the same indefinite measure according to the special kind of its quantity , and therefore able to exhaust the whole , be all of them only in respect of their quantitativenes , not their figuration , or other respects , of the same nature and denomination , and any proportion whatsoever ( according to the capacity of such kind of quantities ) possible to be constituted amongst them . and by consequence several magnitudes are then said to be mathematically homogeneal , when being the one able to exhaust the other , & so in proportion one unto another , both and all the proper parts of each , all of them , as being of the same nature fal● under the same quantitative denomination . and here it is worth our noting , how some magnitudes are so homogeneal , that they cannot be separatingly divided into parts , or magnitudes which are heterogeneal ; but all the parts into which they are separatingly divided will still be homogeneal , both one with another and with the whole : so a line can no way be separatingly divided into parts which are magnitudes , but each is a line homogeneal to the whole and to all parts whatsoever of whatsoever other line : neither can a body and surface be separatingly divided , but into bodies and surfaces ; each of whose parts are still able to exhaust the whole and are thereunto proportionable . but such an absolute homogeneity is not in all other magnitudes , especially in heterogeneally concrete magnitudes , but that the whole may be divideable into parts separable one from another , which yet are heterogeneal : as in the present case of angles a right right-lined angle is divideable into a recto-convexe angle of contact , and the recto-concave angle of the semi circle ; which are separable one from another , and therefore truly parts ; yet neither of them is homogeneal to the whole , nor one of them unto the other : for neither can the whole right right-lined angle , nor the recto-concave angle of the semi circle ever be exhausted by any number whatsoever of such heterogeneal parts , as is the recto-convexe angle of contact : nor ever any equality , or other proportion can possibly be shewn between the right right-lined angle , and the recto-concave angle of the semi circle , because there is no way possible in which their quantities can be proportionably mensurable . for not without very good reason unto all magnitudes are to be allowed their special properties ; as to all positures and figuration , theirs . to angles these things are peculiar , being otherwise in other magnitudes : viz. in angles which are truly and on all hands confessedly homogeneal , you cannot to any given angle , set forth another of the same kind in any given proportion at pleasure : for every right-lined angle by a necessity of nature , must be less then two right right-lined angles : and in a plane all the angularity at any point cannot exceed what the circumjacent space , or plane is capable of ; which is only four right right-lined angles . that as number cannot be infinitely divided without fraction ; so angularity cannot at pleasure at the same point , in the same plane , be inlarged : whereas some other quantities have both infinite divisibility and infinite multiplicability . so another property of the magnitude of angles is , that it may not only in notion and speculation , but in truth and severingly , be divided into parts either able , or unable to exhaust the whole : as when a right right-lined angle is divided into the recto-concave angle of a semi circle , and a recto-convexe angle of contact : you may sever them the one from the other : and angularity is equally , if not much more apparent in the recto-convexe angle of contact , then in the recto-concave angle of the semi circle ; yet the one of them is demonstrated and confessed unable ever to exhaust the right right-lined angle , the other not . a further property of the magnitude of angles is , that sometimes the same part , which hath already been severed from it , cannot exactly and immediately again by its equal be severed from it on the same side , though the remaining angle be by the whole kind greater . so after a recto-convexe angle of contact is taken out of a right right-lined angle , there cannot again immediately on the same side , be severed from the remaining angle another angle equal to the recto-convexe angle of contact , which was before severed from it . if it can , let it be performed . also the divisibility which is in the magnitude of all angles , though boundles and infinite , in some however , leaves the dividing of the angle into two equal parts , impossible : as notwithstanding the perpetual divisibility of lines , the side and diameter of a square are left incommensurable . so some other angles may be divided into two equal parts , but it is impossible to divide them into three equal parts : as convexo-convexe angles of contact , with infinite other convexo-convexe angles and concavo-concave angles being contained under equal , uniform and answerable arches . to consigne this point , the principal thing we have laboured herein to dilucidate , & as we doubt not have effected is , that mathematical homogenealness is not an homogeneity of all the parts whatsoever , that are in the magnitudes , which are homogeneal in respect of some special way of measuring their quantities ; or an undivideableness of such homogeneal magnitudes into parts otherwise heterogeneal according to which acceptation the word is chiefly taken in other parts of philosophy : for there is no right-lined angle whatsoever , nor any other angle whatsoever , but as is up and down herein shewn may be separatingly divided into heterogeneal parts : but mathematical homogeneity is homogeneity in the way of measuring the quantity of the compared magnitudes , sc. in the same indefinite measure and quantity , and according to the kind of the indefinite measure , and which thereupon follows , a proportionality between them , in respect of their common way of measuring : and of this mathematical homogeneity , fair foot-steppings are to be found every where in the deducing of those demonstrations which concern proportions and proportionals . that , such magnitudes as have no common way of measuring their quantity , as weights and measures , are heterogeneal : or if they have a common way of measuring in which they may measure themselves , but therein do not measure themselves according to the same kind of quantity with the indefinite measure , and so want proportionality , yet notwithstanding they are heterogeneal : as all recto-convexe angles of contact , all recto-concave angles of semi circles , all recto-convexe angles of semi circles , all acute , or right right-lined angles , these may all measure themselves , and in what order their sides fall within , or without in any obtuse right-lined angle whatsoever : yet because this their homometry is only of the situation , or order , in which the sides part from the angular point , but not of their quantity in an indefinite measure and according to the denomination of the same quantitative measure , so as to lodge a proportionality between the magnitudes so compared together in their common way of measuring ; they are not , nor can thereby be vindicated from their otherwise innate mathematical heterogeneity : which concerning some of them is confessed on all hands and is without the verge of the controversy . and as follows , angles are of a concrete nature , having in them something quantitative and something not quantitative : whereas that which is to be the indefinite measure of homogeneal quantities is to be considered abstractly as quantity without heterogeneal concretion : so it is the circumference of a circle that measures all right-lined angles . and when all plane angles are said to be homogeneal , it is not in respect of a common indefinite quantity by which they are all measured , which the recto-convexe angles of contact doe sufficiently evince , but as is manifest it is only because of the position and situation of the sides in the same plane ; which homogeneity is of no concern unto quantity , nor by any necessity can thereupon infer the consequent of proportionableness . but to proceed ; as is said , besides the former mathematical and quantitative homogeneity and heterogeneity there is also an extramathematical and extra-quantitative homogenealnes and heterogenealnes in angles every where observable in their shapes , figures , positure of their sides , such like schematismes and other respects . in general as is above hinted , every part of a plane angle is a plane angle , even the recto-convexe angle of contact , however you deny it to be an angle and quantitative : but then this is not a mathematical homogeneity , but only in respect of a certain figuration , in respect of the positure and situation of the surface in which those angles are ; shewing how all plane angles from the greatest to the least , agree in that particular of their general figuration , viz. of having their containing sides to lye still in the same plane ; whereby they distinguish themselves from all other superficial angles , which are heterepipedal , whose containing lines , or sides lye in several planes : such as are all sorts of sphaerical , cylindrical and conical surface-angles . but if ever a mathematical and quantitative homogeneity be proved among all plane angles , you that know that it is not my use to start from my word , shall hereby rest assured , upon the first summons i will give up this cause . and we are not to think strange , that a figuration is asserted to be in angles ; for if we seriously consider , wee shall find there is shape and figure in angles , as well as quantity ; as lines , and surfaces , and bodies have their figurations , the positure of their parts , their shapes and forms , as well as their quantities and magnitudes : in each , their figuration being manifest ; viz. in lines , in respect of their lineary positure : in surfaces , in respect of their superficial positure : in bodies in respect of their solid positure : and in the casting of each of their schematismes quantity is involved , as length , breadth , depth , viz. their quantities , and the quantities which are compounded of several , or all of them together . and here by the figuration which we assert in angles , we cannot be thought to mean that any right-lined figure can be compleated , perfectly to bound up a plane on all sides , by one angle ; it being beyond the power of two : and three , being the least number of angles , requisite so to constitute and perfectly limite out a right-lined plane figure . and though some plane figures are perfected , and perfectly bounded , without any such angles as are contained by sides concurring by way either of section , or contact , as namly all circles and ellipses ; yet the angularity of curve coincidence is every where found , or at pleasure assignable in the bounders of such figures . but our meaning is , a plane angle , though most what it do not by the continuation and production of its sides , perfectly bound in and limit out a certain plane and space on evry side , however being the mutual habitude of concurring lines , it gives an imperfect figuration to the plane and space on its part . and as a bounded plane cannot be without some kind of plane figure , so a limited angle ever implies in it an imperfect figuration of some sort , or other . for figuration is the consectary of material finiteness and limitation in the position of lengths , breadths , depths , surfaces and solidities ; that every angle having its limits and bounds cannot be thereof destitute . and if the name of figures be so frequently given to hyperbola's , parabola's , and the like , which neither do , nor ever can by any possible production perfectly bound in their planes ; what reason is there then why angles should be denied an imperfect interest in the name . besides as a plane in its own general nature at large doth not denote any special plane figure ; but the rise of figures , i mean plane figures , is from the bounding of the plane : so it is in angles , as they by the mutual habitude of their concurring sides give imperfect limits and bounds unto the space and plane , so they therein make an imperfect figuration . that in angles something of form and figure is to be noted as well as magnitude . and one line cannot concurre with and be inclined upon another , but an imperfect figuration will arise from that their mutual inclination . and the same two angles may have the inclination , i. e. the recesse of their respective sides one from another equal , though there be no analogy between the figurations of the angles , or the shapes in the which the sides are inclined in the one and in the other . for by reason that in angles form and figure are to be observed as well as quantity ; crooked-lined and right-lined angles may be equal in some particular quantity , yet other-wise not of the same kind : they having equality in some magnitude , but being distinct in the manner of their forming , figuration and constitution : as equality may be between a square and a triangle , though figures altogether different in kind . and in respect of such their figurations , plane angles receive distinction , either from the diverse manners in which their containing sides do concurre , or else from the diverse natures , and figurations of the lines under which they are contained , or , which is tantamount from the diversity of the inclinations and inflexions , or rather inclinablenesses and imflexiblenesses by which they are inclined each to other , or from several of these grounds of distinction taken together . plane angles from the different manner of their sides concurring , may aptly be thus distinguished , viz. into angles , whose sides concurre by way of section ; or else that have their sides concurring only by way of touch in some single singular point without mutual section ; or else their concurrence is in curvature , where , after the meeting of their sides in the angular point , the sides do not in their productions depart one from another , neither by way of touch , nor section ; but become , the production of the one side coincident with the other side ; so as this kind of angles may aptly be called angles of coincidency , or angles of curvature : and in these lies the genuine ratio and true account of the curvature . from the diverse figuration of the lines , under which a plane angle is contained , very many differences of angles may arise , according to the various distinctions , of which lines themselves are capable , i mean such lines , as fall not without the capacity and comprehensivenes of the same plane : as that some are helicoidal , some parabolar , some elliptitical , &c. but as of lines , so hence of angles , the chief and primary distinctions are especially these , viz. that plane angles are either right-lined angles , contained under two inclined right-lines ; or not right-lined angles . not right-lined angles , are either mixed lined angles ; contained under one right-line , and one crooked-line : or crooked-lined angles contained under two crooked-lined sides . and from the several kinds of special , or ordinary curvatures , as circular , elliptical , hyperbolar , &c. the mixt-lined , and crooked-lined angles , are capable of many farther and more particular distinctions ; but especially from the site of the convexeness , or concaveness of the lines to , or from the angle side : though all such secondary distinctions rising from these two last mentioned heads , are as properly and pertinently referable to the other ground of distinguishing plane angles , taken from the differences which may be in the inclinations of the one containing side to the other . for a vast difference is in the inclination of a crooked-line , by obverting the concave , or convexe side to any other line . so the constituting a circular , or elliptical arch &c. for one side , makes a vast difference in the inclinations , because of the difference in their curvatures . also another principal distinction of angles from their sides , may be into angles , whose sides are coaptable , and by possibility may be coincident one with another : or else such as have between them no possibility of coaptation and coincidence . of the former sort are all right-lined angles , and all concavo-convexe angles contained by arches of equal homogeneal , uniform , regular , or answering curvatures : of the later sort are all other ; whether mixt lined angles , or crooked-lined angles ; whether they be mixed crooked-lined angles , or unmixt crooked-lined angles . and consequently thereupon , besides the numerous distinctions of angles in respect of their different inclinations , such as above mentioned ; one is more eminently material above the rest , that the inclination of the sides , is sometimes with an equability all along their production ; though imagined to be infinitely extended , in such lines as by possibility may with reason be imagined so to be : and sometimes there is nothing of equability to be found in the inclination of the several parts of each side to the other ; though it may be one of the sides be a right-line , or an arch of most equal , uniform , regular and homogeneal curvature . and this equability and inequability of the inclination of the sides , strangely alters the properties of angles . as in right-lined angles , for the equability of the inclination of the sides , no parts of the one side are more inclined then the rest unto the other side : and so in concavo-convexe angles of equal curvatures , no parts of the one arch are more inclined then the rest unto the other ; but the one arch is all along inclined unto the other , as at the angular point ; and the inclination , which the one bears unto the other at the angular point , is obviously expressable as to the quantity of the recesses , which they make one from another , by the inclination of a right-line to a right-line , except when the inclination of the arches is equal to , or greater then two right right-lined angles . and in such crooked-lined angles , whose sides have equability of inclination , the points , which from the angular point are at equal distances along the arches , are also absolutely at equal distance from the angular point , along the chords : and right-lined tangents at any two such homologal points , where ever taken , alwayes meet and contain a right-lined angle , equal as to the quantities of the recesses of the sides , to the crooked-lined angle contained by the two arches ; as is obvious to demonstrate , especially in circular arches . and the right-lined angle contained under the two right-lined tangents touching at the two homologal and answering points , which is equal to the isoclitical crooked-lined angle , if the two right-lined tangents occurre on that side of the right-line connecting the homologal points on which the isoclitical angle falls , then it is the angle contained by the two right-lined tangents into whose space part of the space comprized between the two arches at first falls , which is equal to the crooked-lined isoclitical angle : but if they occurre on the other side of the right-line connecting the two homologal points , i. e. aversely from the crooked-line isoclitical angle , then it is the complement of such an angle , which is equal to the crooked-line isoclitical angle : but if the two right-lined tangents occurre in one of the homologal points , the angles either way contained under the two right line tangents are equal , viz. right right-lined angles ; either of them making forth what is herein asserted . as in fig : 19. under the two circular isoclitical arches bda and acn let there be constituted the isoclitical angle bac ; and let the right-line ag touch the arch acn in the point a : and let the right-line af touch the arch adb in the point a : so making the right-lined angle fag equal to the isoclitical concavo-convexe angle bac . then take in the arch adb any point at pleasure , viz. the point d : and draw the chord ad . then in the arch acn take the arch ac subtended by the chord ac equal to the chord ad . therefore because of the isocliticalness of the circular arches the two points d and c are two homologal , i. e. answering points the one in the one arch , the other in the other , viz. the point d in the arch adb and the point c in the arch acn . then draw the right-line dc connecting the two homologal points d and c. also draw the right-line de touching the arch adb in the point d ; and the right-line ce touching the arch acn in the point c. and let de and ce the two right-line tangents be produced till they meet in the point e ; which in this figure is on that side of the right-line dc on which the concavo-convexe angle cab lyeth . i say therefore that the right-lined angle dec contained under the two right-lined tangents de and ce touching the arches respectively at the homologal points d and c is equal to the right-lined angle fag , contained under the two right-line tangents fa and ga touching the arches respectively at a the angular point of the isoclitical concavo-convexe angle . for the right-lined tangent fa cutting de the other right-lined tangent of the same arch adb in the point h ; and the right-lined tangent de of the arch adb cutting the chord ac in the point k ; upon this construction the right-line da is equal to the right-line ac ; and the right-line tangent dh is equal to the right-line tangent ha : therefore the right-lined angle adh is equal to the right-lined angle dah and so to the right-lined angles ace and cag severally . and therefore the right-lined angle ahe being equal to the two right-lined angles hda and dah taken together , and the right-lined angle hda being equal to the right-lined angle cag ; the right-lined angle ahe is equal to the two right-lined angles cag and dah taken together . therefore that which maketh each equal to two right right-lined angles ; the two right-lined angles hka and hak taken together are equal to the two right-lined angles hak and dal taken together . therefore the right-lined angle hka is equal to the right-lined angle dal . therefore the right-lined angle cke is equal to the right-lined angle dal . and therefore that which makes either equal to two right right-lined angles , the two right-lined angles kce and kec together taken are equal to the right-lined angle dag , which is equal to the two right-lined angles dac and cag taken together : and the right-lined angle cag is equal to the right-lined angle kce : therefore the right-lined angle kec is equal to the right-lined angle dac : therefore because the right-lined angles dah and cag are equal ; also the right-lined angle kec s c. dec is equal to the right-lined angle hag s c. fag , which was to be demonstrated . but if the two right-lined tangents de and ce as in fig. 20. do not occurre towards the concavo-convexe angle bac , but on the other side of the right-line dc in the point e ; then is the right lined angle dec contained under the two right line tangents de and ce touching at the homologal points d and c , not equal to the concavo-convexe isoclitical angle bac , or the right lined angle , equal unto it , fag , but to its complement unto two right right-lined angles , viz. unto the right lined angle fal ; the right line la being the production of the right line ga . for as before by construction , the right line chords da and ca to the homologal points d and c are equal : and the right line fa cutting the right line de produced in the point h , the right lines dh and ah being two right lines tangents of the same circle adb , occurring , are equal . and let the right line ac produced , occurre with the right line de produced , in the point k. as appears ; the right lined angles adh , dah and cag , as before , are equal ; and the right lined angle ahe is equal to two right right lined angles , all but the two right lined angles hda and had that is , all but the two right lined angles cag and had . therefore the right lined angle ahe being equal to the two right lined angles hka and kah ; the two right lined angles hka and kah are equal to two right right lined angles all but the two right lined angles cag and had . therefore two right right-lined angles are equal to the four right lined angles cag and had and hka and kah . therefore out of equals taking equals , the right lined angle hka , which is the right lined angle cke is equal to the right lined angle dal . therefore what on either side remains to make up two right right lined angles on either part ; the two right lined angles kce and kec are together equal to the right lined angle dag , which is equal to the two right lined angles dac and cag taken together . and producing the right line ec till it cut the right line ag in the point g ; the right lined angles cag and acg and kce are equal . therefore the right lined angle kec is equal to the right lined angle dac . and because the right-lined angle dah and cag are equal , therefore adding the common angle fac , the two right lined angles dac and hag are equal . and therefore the right lined angle kec is equal to the right lined angle hag . and therefore their complements unto two right right lined angles , viz. the two right lined angles dec and hal are equal ; which was to be demonstrated . so in fig. 22. if the right line tangent de passe directly unto the other homologal point c , as it doth when the isoclitical concavo-convexe angle is equal to a right right lined angle , and the homologal points d and c are taken at quadrantal or other distances from the angular point ; then most manifestly the right-lined angles dcg and fag are equal , being under the two and two respective right lined tangents ; and between the angles and their complements unto two right right lined angles is no difference , as appears by what is in the former demonstrations . so in fig. 23. if the homologal points d and c be so taken , that the chords da and ca be the diameters : then producing the right line tangent ce till it occurre with the other right line tangent de in the point e , and with the other right-line tangent fa in the point f ; the right lined angles cfa and fag are equal . and in the trapezium def a the two right lined angles eda and daf are each of them a right right-lined angle , therefore the right-lined angle dec is the complement of the right lined angle efa unto two right right-lined angles , i. e. it is the complement of the angle fag unto two right right lined angles ; which was to be demonstrated . and like demonstrations may be formed upon every other case . but where the isoclitical arches are not circular the demonstrations must vary according to the propriety of every several curvature , notwithstanding its equability and isocliticalness . but to return , in angles contained by sides whose inclination each to other is without any such equability , ( except only in unmixt crooked-lined anisoclitical angles ) the account of the homologal points along the chords and along the arches is still different : but in none of them do the right line tangents from the two and two homologal points , still in their meeting make the two same angles which are made by the two right lined tangents at the angular point ; nor can any right line angle expresse the inclination , which the sides have each to other at the angular point . hence is manifest how the same angle may from several of the grounds of distinction here proposed be referable to several heads , or kinds . so right lined angles as isoclitical , have alwayes equability of inclination ; and the concurrence of their sides is alwayes by way of section and cannot be by contact , or coincidency . so mixed lined angles being anisoclitical have always inequability in the inclination of their sides ; and their concurrence may be either by contact , or section , but never by coincidence . and in crooked lined angles , their sides may have either equability , or inequability of inclination : and accordingly the concurrence of the sides may be by section , or contact ; and with , or without possibility of coincidence sc. isoclitical crooked-lines , but they must be posited convexo-convexely , or anisoclitical crooked-lines posited whether convexo-convexely , or concavo-convexely , or a right-line and a crooked line , any two of these may touch without cutting , and so the angular sides have inclination tangent and not secant , so isoclitical concavo-convexe angles may have sides circumducted to coincidence : but the same sides posited concavo-concavely , or convexo-convexely become anisoclitical in the circumduction , one in respect of the other ; yet either is isoclitical sometimes and in some cases with the production of the other . from these things though distinguishing angles into their several kinds , only with respect to the diversity of their figuration , may however more abundantly appear how unmanageable a task they take upon themselves , who to exclude recto-convexe angles of contact from being angles , and from quantitaveness , would force all plane angles to be of the same kind , allowing no specifick difference possible among them . not here to pursue what other diversities in kind may be observed among angles ; how can the inclination of a crooked-line upon a right-line differ less then in kind from the inclination of a right-line upon a right-line ? for as a right-line and a crooked-line agree as lenghts and in lineariness and are therein mathematically homogeneal , but as right and crooked differ in kind and have therein heterogeneal figuration ; the crookedness of the crooked-line having no analogy to the rectitude of the right-line , nor the rectitude of the right line any proportionableness unto the curvature of the crooked-line ; so the inclination of a crooked line upon a right line , and of a right line upon a right line they agree in the common nature of inclination , and the one may be greater and the other less as the respective sides fall within , or without : but this relation of greater , or less is without any proportionableness , and only by the whole kind , depending upon the passing of the respective sides , the one within , or without the other . for these two inclinations differ so far in kind that neither the curvature of the mixt lined inclination hath any thing in it conform , or proportionable to the rectitude of the right-lined inclination , nor the rectitude of the right-lined inclination to the curvature of the mixt lined inclination . in a word , so different is the inclinableness of a crooked line upon a right line , from the inclinableness of a right line upon a right line , that it is impossible for the one ever to be either equal , or any way determinately proportionable unto the other : because the coaptation of a right line as a right line , to a crooked-line , as a crooked iine is against the properties of their figurations , kinds and natures . and for what reason should there be lesser difference between a crooked-lined inclination and a right lined inclination , then there is between a crooked-line and a right line ? yet all this their distinctness concerns only an heterogeneity in their figuration and not at all , or not primarily their quantities . the argument , if they be angles , or plane angles , they are homogeneal and of the same kind , is of no more force then this consequence ; if they be quantities , or continuous magnitudes , they are homogeneal and of the same kind . and they that deny all heterogeneity in angles , because they are all angles ; will find it an hard task upon the same ground to maintain an analogous homogeneity , or any other considerable homogeneity , between right lined angles and sphaerical angles , or any other angles , made by planes cutting the heterepipedal surfaces of solids , and especially solid angles , of what sort soever . and to yield that all plane angles are homogeneal ; for it is true : and the most absolute , proper and genuine homogeneity is among plane angles : i. e. no part of a plane angle can be any other then a plane angle , how great , or little soever , and whether proportionable , or improportionable one to another , i. e. whether mathematically homogeneal , or heterogeneal : yet if we seriously consider what is this homogeneity which is among plane angles , that all their parts are plane angles , it is not as is said any quantitative , or mathematical homogeneity , the contrary of which is plentifully demonstrated in geometry to be possible ; nor any such homogeneity in respect of the manner of their positure and figuration , as to exclude all farther distinguishableness in respect of figuration ; but only denotes that in every plane angle , and in every part of every plane angle , the sides lye still in the same plane : which homogeneity , as is plain , excludes neither heterogeneity , in respect of figuration , nor in respect of proportion and identity in the way of measuring their quantities . to the objection that in fig. 12. the recto-convexe angle of contact baf can be added to the right right-lined angle bag , so making the outer angle of a semi circle f ag ; or taken out of it , sc. the recto-convexe angle of contact bad out of the same right right-lined angle bag , so making the inner angle of a semi circle gad : and that therefore the recto-convexe angles of contact f ab and b ad and the right right-lined angle bag , and the two angles of the semi circle gad , and fag , are all of them homogeneal and of the same kind ; i answer . first what need is there of such endeavours , for you to prove their homogeneity , it being geometrically demonstrated and confessed that there is no analogy , or proportion between them ; i mean between the recto-convexe angles of contact and either the right right lined angle , or either of the angles of the semi circles ? and according to your opinion that which is added or taken out is said to be nothing . but especially its thought strange , why there should be such doubting , that heterogeneals can be added and laid up together as into one repository ; it being with as easy connexion performable , as is usual in the addition of incommensurables and specious quantities of which it is not known , whether they be homogeneal , or heterogeneal . and out of an heterogeneal sum , as a store-house , why cannot some of the heterogeneals be subducted , the rest remaining ? and what is more usual then the adding of heterogeneal figures one unto another ? and subducting out of a given figure some other figure , which is quite heterogeneal to the first given figure ? so to adde together numbers , and measures , and weights ? the sum of which may be divided , multiplyed , increased , or lessened , notwithstanding its heterogeneity . as supposing a b , c , d , all heterogeneal , as is usual in analyticks , the half , or third part , or any proportionable part of this heterogeneal sum may be given : and any one of the heterogeneal magnitudes subducted , the rest remaining : or a fifth heterogeneal magnitude added to the former sum : or any algorythme , ever speciously , sometimes compleatly and absolutely thereupon performed . besides upon geometrical demonstration and your own confession , all recto-convexe , convexo-convexe and citradiametral concavo-convexe angles of contact must necessarily by your own principles be allowed to be absolutely heterogeneal to all right-lined angles whatsoever ; your self acknowledging that neither in equality , nor in any kind of multiplicity , or submultiplicity is any proportionableness possible amongst them . and where between angles a mathematical homogeneity is confessed and allowed , yet heterogeneity in respect of their schematismes and figurations is undeniable . the things therefore constituting and distinguishing plane angles in respect of their figuration are , as above , their sides , their inclinations , or rather inclineablenesses , and their concurrence . that when two angles have all these in the same respective kinds , the angles are upon good reason in this sense concluded to be homogeneal : but when between two angles is an heterogeneity in any of these things , which are of the essence and constitution of an angle , those angles may justly be judged in this sense to be heterogeneal . and that such a specifick heterogeneity may be in each of these , may easily be declared as above . as first in lines which are the containing sides , how easy is it to discover such an heterogeneity ? for though a right line , and a crooked-line agree undeniably in the general nature of a line , and of length , and of extension , yet the rectitude of the one and the curvature of the other , are several kinds of positure , into which the length of the one , and of the other is disposed : that except , in contrarieties , we can see nothing but homogeneity , such an heterogeneity must needs be acknowledged between them . and whereas homogeneity , as to sides , inclination and concurrence , is required to the homogeneal figuration of angles ; the heterogeneity of the sides hinders the possibility of ever making them out to be such ; or that by any altering their divarication , keeping their present properties they can be coaptable . and that angles contained by heterogeneal sides may be equal , proves only the equality of the inclinations in either , but not the homogeneity of the figuration of the angles , or inclinations ; as the equality between a square and triangle in respect of their equal perimeters , area's , heights , bases , proves not in the least the homogeneity of their figures . and as right-lines and crooked-lines are heterogeneal , as above , not possibly to be coapted , with the precedent limitations ; so also are all curve lines , whose curvature is unequal and unlike , nay though it may be they be but several parts of the same line , or though the curvature of both , be every way , and every where equal and like , yet if the convexe and concave parts of the one be not alike posited as in the other , there will be a manifest heterogeneity in them , and an impossibility of coapting them , observing the limitations as above . and why doth the heterogeneity in the sides make heterogeneity in the angles , but because thereby is founded an heterogeneity in the inclinations , or rather in the inclinablenesses of the one side to the other ? for here , it is not the several degrees of the same kind of inclination that is intended ; for then all unequal right-lined angles should be altogether heterogeneal one to another : but it is a more then gradual , a specifick distinctness in their inclinablenesses , which we are now discovering to make the figuration of the angles more fairly and fully heterogeneal . and as inclination is the habitude of line to line , not being posited in the same right line , nor parallel , for even perpendiculars are in this sense here said to be inclined ; so , as above , from the heterogeneity of the lines will arise an heterogeneity of inclinations : and indeed for no other reasons do heterogeneal lines make heterogeneal angles , but because their inclinations are necessarily heterogeneal . and , as above , heterogeneal inclinations being respectively equal , as in some right lined and crooked lined angles , this doth not in the least annul the heterogeneity of their inclinations ; as a right line and a crooked line may be equal , yet as to the positure of their extension they are heterogeneal . and as heterogeneity of sides , or inclinations makes heterogeneity of angles , so likewise doth any heterogenealnes in the other point requisite to the nature of an angle ; which is the manner of the sides concurrence . and there are only three wayes in the concurrence of the sides of angles , according to which they can be heterogeneal one to another . for either the production of the one concurring side becomes coincident with the other concurring side , or else it departs from it on the same side on which it did occurre ; or else it departs from it on the contrary side to that on which it did occurre : all which are clearly not several degrees of the same manner of concurrence , but several kinds of concurrence : viz. the one by way of contact , the other by way of section , and a third by way of curvature , or coincidence . that as these are diversified in angles , i mean from kind to kind , not from degree to degree , so there is thereby lodged in their figurations an heterogeneity , though in some mathematical respects , neither sides , nor inclinations can sometimes be denyed to be however homogeneal . so particularly angles of contact in respect of their figuration must necessarily be acknowledged clear of another kind , then all other angles : because the inclination of their sides is tangent , concurring only in a punctual touch , whereas the inclination of the sides of all other angles is secant , and at the point of their concurrence by reason of their inclination they cut one another , or else they are coincident ; then which , what can make a more material difference in the inclination of the sides ? and as more especially relating to that so much urged analogy between right-lined angles and angles of contact ; the inclination of the conteining sides in every angle of contact is such as is impossible to be between the sides of any right-lined angle : for the sides of no right-lined angle can touch without cutting . and what more manifest and material difference can be in the inclinations made upon , or unto a right-line , then if in the one case a right-line be inclined unto it , and in the other a circumference , or other crooked-line ? yet further to clear that differency of kind , which is between angles of contact and other angles ; i think on all sides it will be judged unreasonable to make those angles of the same kind ; which have neither one common way of measuring , nor are coaptable , nor any way proportionable one to another , nor can any way by the contraction , or dilatation of their sides be made equal one to another ; and this we shall find to be the condition of many angles one in relation to another . however mis-understand me not , as if i made any commensurability a full mark of a full homogeneity : for as before crooked-lined and right-lined angles may be equal and of different kinds ; having their inclinations different in the kinds of their figurations , though equal in the recesses of the sides . and thus having at large deduced the grand difference which is between the mathematical heterogeneity of angles , and their heterogeneity in respect of their figurations , it will now be easy for us to extricate our selves out of all the difficulties with which former disquisitions upon this subject have been involved . as first what is to be understood by the equality , which is asserted to be between right-lined , and isoclitical concavo-convexe angles . for it is out of controversy and on all hands yielded , that to any right-lined angle given may be given also a concavo-convexe isoclitical angle equal ; and that also , in a thousand varieties ; as is most manifest , in the circumferences of any two and two equal circles , or any two and two equal arches . and so in a converse manner ; to any isoclitical concavo-convexe angle given , whose sides make their recesse one from the other by an arch less then a semi circle , may be given an equal right-lined angle : although in the infinite number of right lined angles , it is impossible to find any more then one right-lined angle equal to the given concavo-convexe angle ; because in rectitude there can be no diversity , as there may and is in curvatures . now in the above recited cases , why is equality between such different angles asserted possible ? and what is meant by their equality ? and whence , and how is the equality of them to be demonstrated ? of necessity it must be founded upon some special method of measuring angles , or of somewhat which is in some , if not in all angles ; of which in common both these different sorts of angles are naturally and indifferently capable . and to be short , particular and plain ; all the mysteriousness of this their equality is founded upon this : that these two sorts of angles , right lined angles , and concavo-convexe angles of equal arches , they both have in common one special property , of which all other sorts of plane angles whatsoever are destitute . viz. that each in their kind are isoclitical angles , and the sides in each are isoclitical , and in each angle the one side by the adduction , contraction , and drawing together of the sides will be coincident and coapted unto the other . and as the coincidence of right lines the one upon the other makes a right lined angle of contact impossible , so the coincidence of isoclitical crooked-lines the one upon the other makes an isoclitical angle of contact impossible , except only in an ultradiametral positure . and as the mensuration of right lined angles is by the arches of circles drawn upon the angular point intercepted between the two isoclitical sides , to shew how far they are departed from their coincidence ; so in isoclitical crooked lined angles , by the same way of mensuration an account may be taken of the departure , which each isoclitical side hath made from the other since their coincidence : and this is the point in which their equality consists and is accounted , and which founds the mathematical homogeneity which is between them . to instance in the case which is most manifest ; in fig. 18. from the angular point a , let the two arches abc . and afh of equall circles constitute and contain the isoclitical concavo-convexe angle caf , and let the arches abc and afh be equall : then thorow the points c and h draw the two right-lines ad and ag. according to what is above delivered ; it is on all hands agreed , that the isoclitical concavo-convexe angle c ah is equal to the isoclitical right-lined angle cah : as is copiously demonstrable from the equall arches of circles drawn upon the angular point as center , cutting all the four lines : viz. the arches comprized between the two isoclitical crooked-lines , are still equall to the respective arches comprized between the two isoclitical right-lines . for example in the chord ah take any where at pleasure the point i and from the center a draw the arch ib cutting the arch afh in the point f and the right-line aec in the point e and the arch abc in the point b. the arch bf between the two isoclitical arches abc and afh is still equall to the arch ei intercepted between the two right-lines da and ga. for the arches abc and afh being equall in equall circles , the right-lines ac and ah are equall : and also ae semidiameter is equall to ai semidiameter : and by the converse of the same ratiocination ab arch is equall to af arch : so as in short by superposition , or adaptation the arch be will appear to be equal to the arch fi : and therefore adding the common arch ef ; the arch bf intercepted between the two isoclitical crooked-lines abc and afh is equall to the respective arch ei intercepted between the two isoclitical right-lines : and this wheresoever the point i be taken in the right-line ah . so as by this common way of mensuration , common to both these sorts of angles , by reason of the isocliticalness , and the coaptability and coincidibleness of the sides in each , the one being an isoclitical concavo convexe angle is copiously demonstrated to be equal to the other being a right-lined angle . but now after what manner are we to understand this equality asserted between such right-lined and isoclitical concavo-convexe angles ? it is not an every way absolute equality which is between the angles , such as is between two equall squares , or two like and equall triangles , or any two regular and equall figures of the same kind or , to come nearer to the matter , it is not such as is between two equall right-lined angles , or between two equall , isoclitical , concavo-convexe angles , all whose four sides are all of them isoclitical each in respect of all the rest : but as things that are like each other , are like only in some things , and unlike it may be in many others ; such is the equality between any two such angles ; viz. only a respective equality , such as is possible among heterogeneals , and inferring a necessity of some other respective inequalities . and such an equality may be between two mere heterogeneals ; they may be of equal length , and different breadth , or weight : so a triangle , and a square and a circle may be all equal , either in perimetry , or surface , but not in both ; so a right-lined angle , and an isoclitical concavo-convexe angle may be equal in respect of the recesses which the isoclitical sides make each from other and from their coincidence and coaptation , but in other respects they want not their manifest inequalities and heterogenealness . as a solid to a solid may have equal proportion that a line to a line , yet solids and lines are heterogeneal : so a crooked-line from a crooked-line may make equal recesses , as a right-line from a right-line , and yet in many other things much heterogenealness may be in the angles which they constitute . you will say wherein ? i answer in the rectitude and curvature of the containing sides . and in these different respects two isoclitical concavo-convexe angles may be both equal and unequal the one unto the other , viz. equal in the recesses of the sides , but unequal in the curvatures of the sides : in the same manner as two figures may be equal in their perimetry , or superficial , or solid content , and yet be figures of different kinds under diverse inequalities : as the one a rhombus , the other a square , the one a cylinder , the other a dode●aedron . so a thousand concavo-convexe isoclitical angles may be equal in respect of the recesses of the sides , yet each of a several kind : as a thousand figures different in kind may be equal in perimetry , height , base , superficial , or solid content . but you 'll say , what is the rectitude , or curvature of the containing sides to the nature of angularity ? i answer , they are of essential concern to the limiting and determining the nature of angles : angularity being the habitude of concurring lines each in respect of the other , as to their concurrence and inclination . and though the inclination of isoclitical crooked lines may be equal to the inclination of right-lines one upon another , in respect of the equal recesses and departures which the isoclitical lines make each from the other ; yet there still remains a vast inequality , dissimilitude , and unanalogableness between the angles and their inclinations , in respect of that little of figuration , without which neither can an angle be constituted , nor an inclination made : in a word the sides may make equal recesses , yet be unequal in their curvature , and unlike in their figuration : and neither by imagination , nor circumduction , nor any other operation can the one possibly be reduced , or coapted to the other , without setting the homologal points at improper and undue distances and positures one from another ; which shews a specifical difference between the two inclinablenesses of the one and the other : besides that a right-lined angle can continue its inclination between the sides infinitely , but many isoclitical concavo-convexe angles thereunto equal by the necessity of their curvature must terminate within a very little space : circumferences and several other arches , not being possible to be produced beyond their integrity ; so as some three given angles constituting a given triangle as to its angles , cannot , in like manner , constitute a triangle of any given magnitude ; which is otherwise in right-lined angles . and that the equality between isoclitical concavo-convexe and right-lined angles is not so absolute as to make them every way alike , equal , and of the same kind , may appear especially in this , which is elsewhere demonstrated ; viz. that an ultradiametral concavo-convexe angle of contact , being isoclitical , is alwayes equal to two right right-lined angles , which no one right lined-angle can be : and if it be anisoclitical of the larger , it is ever greater then two right right-lined angles can be , which is impossible also for one right-lined angle to be . and the difference between mathematical heterogeneity and the heterogeneity of angular figurations being as above discovered ; the nature as well of anisoclitical crooked-lined and mixt-lined secant angles will as clearly appear : viz. that comparing them with right-lined angles they are compound and concrete angles constituted of right-lined angles and angles of contact ; which are demonstrated every way heterogeneal : and such anisoclitical secant angles cannot be divided into any number at pleasure of parts homogeneal either mathematically , or in respect of their figuration , but of necessity some of them must be both wayes heterogeneal . this is manifest , because the fluxe , or circumduction of angles of contact or of one of their conteining sides addes only a right-lined angle to them : after the same manner as the four right right-lined angles , which compleat the space in any plane , about any given point , may be exhausted by the circumduction of a crooked , concave , or convexe autoclitical , or antanaclitical line , as well as by the circumduction of a right-line . and that this ties not both angles to be of the same kind , may easily appear from the heterogeneity between lines and their fluxes , which are superficial ; or surfaces and their fluxes , which are solid . no wonder therefore if by the fluxe of an angle of contact , or of one of its sides , be created another kind of angle , holding no analogy with the former : the heterogeneity and improportionableness of right-lined angles and angles of contact having been demonstrated . so upon the same ground we may be assisted to look into the special properties , considerable in the several kinds of angles peculiar unto some and incommunicable unto others , for example . in right lined angles , neither the greatest possible angle , nor the least possible angle can be given ; though all usually said to be within the compasse but of one kind . but to pursue the difference which is in angles ; angles of contact , except such as are contained under lines of the same rectitude and curvature are every one of a several kind , either mathematically , or in respect of their figuration , or both . and except convexo-convexe angles of contact of equal arches , which may be divided into two equal angles by common right-lined tangents ; all other angles of contact are , every one , both the greatest , and least possible , of their special kind : and every angle of contact contained under the convexe side of its arch , or arches , is the least possible under those sides ; which i suppose was the speculation unhappily missed by those learned men , who would have imposed upon the world , upon that their mistake , the dream of the coincidence of the sides in such angles . again a right-line may be drawn dividing a convexo-convexe angle of contact , whether it divide it equally , or unequally , but a right-line cannot be drawn dividing either of the recto-convexe angles of contact into which the former was so divided ; whether the two recto-convexe angles of contact be of the same , or different kinds : as is up and down demonstrated in geometry . in citradiametral concavo-convexe angles of contact , either the arches are of unequal curvature , or which is tantamount , though they be of equal curvature , yet they touch not at homologal and answering points , being not all over of equal curvature ; which makes them notwithstanding the respective but not answering equality of their curvature to be anisoclitical . and between their arches containing the angle of contact , a right-line cannot be drawn ; but infinite crooked-lines in number may be drawn , bearing in like manner their convexity towards the concave which is inward , and their concavity towards the convexe of the other side , which is also inward . concavo-convexe angles concurring by way of section , and having two right-line tangents drawn upon the arches at the angular point are equal unto the right-lined angles contained under those right-lined tangents ; adding respectively to each right-lined angle one of the recto-convexe angles of contact , and subducting out of it the other recto-convexe angle of contact : and when those two recto-convexe angles of contact are equal , as they are , when the sides are isoclitical , then the concavo-convexe angle is exactly equal to the right-lined angle : but when the two recto-convexe angles of contact are unequal , as they are when the sides of the concavo-convexe angle are anisoclitical then the concavo-convexe angle and the right-lined angle are unequal . concavo-concave angles concurring by way of section ( as all such ever do ; or by coincidence , and then one right-lined tangent gives the analysme of them , shewing the two recto-convexe angles of contact , by which the angle of coincidence is less then two right right-lined angles ) are by two right-lined tangents at the angular point reduced into the right-lined angle ; which is the least of those right-lined angles that are greater then it , exceeding it only by two recto-convexe angles of contact to be taken out of it . convexo-convexe angles concurring by way of section are by two right-lined tangents at the angular point reduced into a right-lined angle ; unto which to make it equal to the convexo-convexe angle , are to be added two recto-convexe angles of contact . and the right-lined angle is the greatest of all the right-lined angles that are less then the convexo-convexe angle . recto-concave angles concurring by way of contact are the greatest angles possible under those two sides . recto-convexe angles concurring by way of contact are the least angles possible under those two sides . if we compare recto-concave angles of contact with right lined angles , they are less then two right right-lined angles by one only recto-convexe angle of contact . and the least recto-concave angle of contact is greater then the greatest right-lined angle whatsoever . recto-concave angles concurring by way of section compared with right-lined angles which are constituted , i. e. compleated by the right-lined tangents drawn upon the arches at the angular points ; are less than such respective right-lined angles by a recto-convexe angle of contact . recto-convexe angles concurring by way of section compared with right-lined angles which are constituted , i. e. compleated by right-line tangents drawn upon the arches at the angular points ; are greater then such right-lined angles by a recto-convexe angle of contact . every angle of curvature , or coincidence , having a right-line tangent drawn upon the angular point , appears to be less then two right right-lined angles by two recto-convexe angles of contact . the inclination of the sides without the angular point at any two respective , or other points , the one taken in the one side , the other in the other , is very nearly shewn , and as nearly as is possible in right-lines , by the right-line tangents of those respective points : but in mixed lined and mixed crooked-lined angles by several wayes of accounting , several points are made to answer one another , as by accounting by distance from the angular point , or by accounting by equalness of lines along the sides &c. mixed lined angles of contact , when they can be , and are , divided by a right-line , the parts are heterogeneal and unequal : and one of the unequal parts is a right-lined angle . every recto-convexe , and convexo-convexe , or citradiametral concavo-convexe angle of contact is the least possible under those sides . rectilineary mensurableness in mixt lined , crooked-lined angles concurring by way of section , begins from the recto-convexe angle of contact : as in right-lined angles from coincidence . a convexo-convexe angle of contact , in respect of dividableness by right-lines is an angle made up only of heterogeneal parts , when it is a mixt-crooked-lined angle : but when it is an unmixt crooked-lined angle , it hath some parts which are homogeneal , viz. two equal recto-convexe angles of contact , which are therein added the one unto the other . and those two equal recto-convexe angles of contact , as they are homogeneal , i mean of the same kind one with another , both mathematically and in respect of their figuration ; so mathematically they are homogeneal and of the same kind with the convexo-convexe angle which was divided ; but in respect of it , as to their figuration , they are heterogeneal and of another kind . the most simple angle may be divided into heterogeneal parts : i. e. the inclinableness of the one side to the dividing line both in respect of figuration and proportion may be specifically different from the inclinableness of the other side to the same dividing line : as a pentagone may be divided into a tetragone and a triangle , so a recto-convexe angle of contact may be divided into two parts heterogeneal the one to the other , and to the first angle of contact , both in respect of figuration and proportion : viz. into a new recto-convexe angle of contact , and a concavo-convexe angle of contact . therefore no angle can be said homogeneal in that sense , as if it could not be divided into parts heterogeneal ; whether you please to understand it , in respect of mathematical homogeneity , or positure , and figuration , or what respect soever else that limits and distinguisheth plane angles one from another . and to give a brief and general account of the comparative admensuration of angles , as not being right-lined , yet by way of comparative admeasurement , they may in respect of their rectilineary parts be reduced and referred to those that are right-lined ; the containing sides not being right-lines , at the angular point draw right-line tangents touching the arch , or arches in the angular point ; and the right-lined angle contained by those right-lined tangents will be , as to the recesses of the sides at the angular point , either equall unto the first proposed angle , or the least right-lined angle greater then it , or the greatest right-lined angle lesser then it : or if two right-lined tangents cannot be thus placed at the angular point , either the first proposed angle was a mixt-lined angle of contact , said , if a recto convexe to be less , if a recto-concave to be greater then any right-lined angle ; or else it is a crooked-lined angle of contact , which if convexo-convexe , or concavo-convexe and citradiametral is less then any right-lined angle , but if concavo-convexe and ultradiametral , is greater then any right-lined angle , nay sometimes equall to , or greater then two right right-lined angles : or else it is an angle of coincidence , or curvature . all which is to be understood to shew the inclination of the sides at the angular point , as the chief for use in geometry , but not necessarily else-where . so crooked-lined , or mixed lined angles are compared with right-lined angles by drawing at the angular point right-lines touching the arches there , and comparing the crooked or mixed lined angle with the right-lined angle so constituted , respectively adding , or subducting the recto-convexe angles of contact hereby created : and this , whether the arches be isoclitical , or anisoclitical , or however posited . so all crooked , or mixed-lined angles concurring by way of section may have a right-lined angle given , which if it fall short of equality is either the least of the right-lined angles that are greater , or the greatest of the right-lined angles that are less then the first crooked-lined , or mixed lined angle . and so an analysme may be made of the greater angle into its heterogeneal parts ; and the crooked lined , or mixed-lined angle may be reduced unto , or compared with right-lined angles , only with the addition , or substraction of recto-convexe angles of contact , being angles less than the least right-lined angle whatsoever . all angles have their inclinations compounded of the inclinations of the interjacent lines each to other in order : and of the inclinations of the sides to the lines next adjacent to them ; which composite inclination may be heterogeneal , as well as homogeneal in respect of the inclinations of which it is , or may be compounded . equally arched convexo-convexe , or concavo-concave angles , may by a right-line be divided into equal parts mathematically homogeneal , but heterogeneal in respect of their figuration : but such angles cannot be divided into any more , or any other equal parts , for the reason immediately to be subjoyned . heterogeneals taken together in several concretes proportionably , s c. each respectively in the same proportion , they hold exact proportion , concrete to concrete : as double cube and double line , are double , to single cube and single line , viz. the concrete to the concrete : but set them out of the same respective proportions and the concretes are no way proportionable , or in analogy , concretely to be compared : as double cube and treble line , are in no proportion , to single cube , and single line . so double number , and double weight , and double measure , the whole concrete , is double , to single number , single weight and single measure : but setting them out of the same respective proportions ; double number , and double weight and treble measure , being alltogether concretely taken , are mathematically heterogeneal and improportionable to single number , single weight and single measure ; being in like manner concretely taken : because the heterogeneals in the one concrete ●old not the same respective proportions to the answering heterogeneals in the other . so convexo-convexe , or concavo-concave equally arched angles being secant , hold proportion when divided equally , as they may , by right-lines : but they are merely heterogeneal and without proportion , when divided by a right-line unequally . the ground of which is the heterogeneity of the parts , of which such concrete angles are made up when compared with angularity constituted by right-lines ; which heterogeneal parts , when the angle is divided equally in two by a right-line , are in the concretes , each respectively in the same proportion ; so making the concretes , though of heterogeneal parts , to be mathematically homogeneal and proportionable one unto the other : but when the angle is unequally divided ; in the two concretes the heterogeneal parts , of which they are made up , are not respectively in the same proportion ; for the recto-convexe angles of contact , in the concrete angle , are divided equally , and the right-lined angle , which is in the concrete angle is divided unequally : so making the parts of the divided angle mathematically heterogeneal and improportionable ; because the compounding heterogeneal parts are not respectively according to the same proportion divided . the least possible angle under any two given incoincidible lines is the least angle of contact which is possible under them . recto-convexe , and citradiametral concavo-convexe angles of contact as they are the least angles possible under their sides ; so they are indivisible into parts holding all each to other any thing of mathematical homogeneity , or proportionableness : like unites they may be multiplyed to any proportion as whole numbers , and separately set : but cannot at pleasure be divided , nor at all into parts which are all of them mathematically homogeneal : nor can any number of them be at pleasure adjoyned one to another . so to any right-lined angle another may be imagined in any proportion , but sometimes it must be the composition of seseveral angles , and more then can stand at the space circumjacent about any one point . it not being possible for above four right right-lined angles to stand about the same point . as to a given point , other points may be given in any proportion , as whole numbers ; but they must not then be adjoyned one to another : but properly by the dividing of a point , farther proportions are not to be expected . so in such angles , though heterogeneal divisions be infinitely possible ; homogeneal , i mean mathematically , being impossible , are not , as above , to be expected . two unequal anisoclitical angles contained under the same two anisoclitical sides , though in respect of their figuration , both are formed upon the same inclinableness of the sides one to another , yet they are mathematically heterogeneal : because being two concrete angles made up of heterogeneals , viz. of the angle , or angles of contact and right-lined angles ; in the two concrete angles , the angles of contact are in the proportion of equality , and the right-lined angles in the proportion of inequality : so as the concrete angles can have no proportion the one to the other . the half of the inclinableness of any arch upon its self , i. e. upon another arch like and equal , is still comprehended and contained under the inclinableness of a right-line upon the same arch : that though their figurations are ever heterogeneal , and their inclinations can never be equal , yet they may be mathematically homogeneal : as different numbers are alwayes unequal though ever proportionable . to no anisoclitical angle , whether of contact , or concurring by way of section can any right-lined angle be made equal . and generally between isoclitical and anisoclitical angles equality is impossible . and when anisoclitical angles are compared with those that are isoclitical as greater , or lesser ; it is not to denote in both any mathematical homogeneity , and that so by possibility they are reducible to a true , compleat and analogous equality ; but the intent is only to declare , whether of them hath , or can have the containing side , or sides falling within , or without the other ; which is only from their inequality by the whole kind . so though anisoclitical angles may be greater , or less then a right-lined angle , yet between the one and the other there is neither common way of measuring , nor any proportion , though both of them be quantitative plane angles . there is no common way of measuring them , because of the anisocliticalness , and if there could be any proportion between them , then might a right-lined angle be given equal to such anisoclitical angles ; the contrary of which is otherwise clearly demonstrable . so as a thousand angles quantitative by conf●ssion and having right-lined angles lesser and greater then themselves , yet can have no right-lined angle equal to them . a right-lined angle cannot have its inclination at the angular point , much less all along the sides divided equally by a crooked-line , whether autoclitical , or antanaclitical , or of what curvature soever : though any such crooked-line may from any angle divide equally the plane bounded within a right-lined triangle : for if in fig. 17. bac be a right-lined angle : i say , no crooked-line &c. can divide it at the angular point equally . if it be possible let it be divided into equal parts by the arch age whether autoclitical , as when it is conceived to be part of the arch agef , or antanaclitical , as when it is conceived to be part of the arch agehd . then let the right-line ad divide equally the right-lined angle bac . it is manifest , if the crooked-line ag never occurre with the right-line ad , that then it doth not divide the angle b ac equally ; for the right and crooked-lines cannot be coapted . let therefore , if they do occurre , the place of their first meeting , or occurrence be at e. therefore the arch age falleth within the angle bad and therefore divides the whole angle bac unequally , whether it be autoclitical , or antanaclitical . and by the same demonstration appears that it is as impossible for it to divide the inclination all along the sides equally . and though a crooked-line may divide any right-lined figure , because of its perfect bounds , from any angle into equal parts ; yet this no way evinceth any possibility of dividing a right-lined angle by a crooked line into equal parts : and though from any point of such a dividing crooked line , lines might be drawn making up a figure , whose parts divided by the crooked line from the angle are equal ; yet this is no more then is performable upon any point of any crooked line drawn between the sides of a right-lined angle at randome , whether the parts of the angle be homogeneal , or heterogeneal , equal , or unequal . difference of curvature by a perpetual necessity infers difference of inclination , whether the curve line be inclined upon a right-line , or upon a curve line ; for still the one of the curve lines will fall within , or without the other . so let inclination upon a right-line be in a recto-concave angle of contact , recto-convexe angle of contact , recto-concave , or recto-convexe secant angles ; by no right-line can any of those inclinations be made upon the first right-line , nor by any other crooked-line : but still the lines will fall either within , or without ▪ and all angles of contact under lines of different curvature and rectitude , as they are of ● thousand mathematically and extra-quantitatively different kinds one from another , so they are 〈◊〉 manifestly distinct in kind from all right-lined angl●● whatsoever . and as every number is a different kind , in like manner as to positure and figuration is every line a distinct kind differing from all other not agreeing with it in rectitude and curvature ; whether the curvatures be homogeneal , i. e. every where equal , as in circles , or heterogeneal , i. e. unequal in the several parts , as in ellipses , hyperbolas , parabolas , &c. and accordingly judgment is to be made of the sides under which angles are contain'd , and the angles contain'd under them : alter the kind of either side , and the kind of the angle is chang'd ; ever , in respect of figuration ; and most what , mathematically ; because the former inclinablenes of the sides is taken away , and a new kind of inclinablenes introduced between them . hence appears ; no two recto-concaves , no two recto-convexes , no two concavo-convexes , no two convexo-convexes , being all angles of contact can be equal , except their sides have the very same rectitude and curvature . in general , equality is not to be asserted between angles , except either for the mensurablenes of both in some common way of measuring , or at least because they can be so cast into a coaptation , as that either shall contain all the quantity which is in the other . and as he erred in squaring the superficial content of a circle , that in his quadrature left out a small lunular figure ; so neither can he be justifyed to have given one anisoclitical angle equal to another , who , as he must of necessity , takes in , or leaves out an angle , or some angles of contact which are in the one and not in the other . particularly no mixed lined , nor mixed crooked lined angles whatsoever , whether secant , or of contact , can by any possibility , either by right-line , or crooked line be divided into equal parts , or angles , whether of the same , or of different , kinds . and in few , those angles , which cannot be divided into two equal parts cannot be divided into three , fower , five , or any other number of equal parts . the comparative admensurement , as above , of right-lined and not right-lined angles is as well of their heterogeneal inequality , when heterogeneal , as of their homogeneal equality and proportionablenes when homogeneal . all not right-lined angles comparatively admeasured , to right-lined angles , only with the addition , or only with the subduction of any angle , or angles of contact , are heterogeneal to all right-lined angles , as also , if when one angle of contact is to be added , and another subducted , the two angles of contact be unequal . and as is manifest , of several not right-lined angles , that is still the greater , whose comparative and relative admeasurement is made to the greater right-lined angle : and of those , whose comparative admeasurement is unto equal right lined angles , they are greater , or equal , or less according to the equality , or inequality , and comparing together of their angles of contact ▪ and of concavo-concave angles the right-lined angle cannot be given , which is the greatest of those right-lined angles that are less then the concavo-concave angle : nor in convexo-convexe angles can be given a right-lined angle , which is the least of those right-lined angles which are greater then the convexo-convexe angle : nor in recto-concaves the greatest of the less : nor in recto-convexes the least of the greater : whereas in concavo-convexe angles , the right-lined angle to which the comparative admeasurement is made , may according to the case be either equal , as when the sides are isoclitical ; or the greatest right-lined angle that is less , as when the concave side is of less curvature ; or the least of the greater , as when the concave side is of greater curvature . from these things may appear how that objection is to be answered , in which you urge that there is a proportion between mixed lined angles , whose sides are seca●● , and right-lined angles , because the one by its multiple may exceed the other ; and that therefore an homogeneity , mathematically to be understood , is to be acknowledged amongst them . to this is answered that all anisoclitical angles whatsoever having their sides concurring by way of section when compared unto right-lined angles are heterogeneal compositions of angularity , i. e. cannot be divided into any number at pleasure of parts all equal ; but as is manifest , they in that their relative nature are concrete and composite angles , formed of right-lined angles by adding to them , or subducting from them mixed lined angles of contact : so as the right-lined part of the secant anisoclitical angle , or any the least part of it hath true proportion with all right-lined angles ; and the whole being heterogeneal , yet hath a semblance of proportion with right-lined angles , because of those parts which it hath which are homogeneal with them ; but between the other heterogeneal part which is the mixt-lined angle of contact , and right-lined angles , neither is , nor can be any proportion : and it is because of this part that it is not a true , but a seeming proportion only , which is between the whole concrete heterogeneal , composite anisoclitical angle , and right-lined angles : for if it were a true proportion and proportionablenes which were between them , it should then be possible to give a right-lined angle equal to such an anisoclitical secant angle ; which when done , i have no more to say , being well assured i am able to demonstrate the contrary upon whatsoever right-lined angle shall be offered under that notion . and whereas it is urged that a right-lined angle is , and may be equal to a mixed lined angle ; all their difference being only in this , that the sides of the one are more spread and divaricated then the other ; what is this else but to say , that they are equal , saying that the one is bigger then the other . for angles of contact can divide angularity , or space equally , or unequally into more , or fewer parts : and they are not indivisible , because every one contains innumerably more in it : and by the definition of an angle , lines have a sufficient inclination to constitute an angle , if in the same plane , they lye not both in the same right-line . and to all other cases and objections of the like nature grounded upon them athematical heterogeneity of the parts , of which such special angles are constituted in respect of right-lined angles , like answers may be addressed . though a right-lined angle cannot be divided into equal parts of the same kind mathematically , or in shape by a crooked-line , nor a mixed , or crooked-line angle by a right-line into parts of the same kind in respect of figuration ; yet some crooked lined angles may be divided into parts exactly equal of the same kind one with another , and with the whole mathematically by a right-line . for it is apparent , there may be between magnitudes a sufficient homogeneity for proportionablenes without excluding all further discriminableness between them : as between equal arched convexo-convexes , or concavo-concaves and their parts when they are equally divided . so between lines of all kinds , and numbers of all kinds , is proportionality . yet still their proportionality is in respect of somewhat which is homogeneal in them . viz. that they are all resoluble into parts that are homogeneal , or parts into which the rest are homogeneally resoluble , or after the same manner mensurable , as equal arched convexo-convexe angles into two equal recto-convexes : yet notwithstanding the proportionablenes between the convexo-convexes and the recto-convexes ; such an heterogeneity is in their figuration , that by no divarication of sides can they ever be made equal . and though the equal arched convexo-convexes and concavo concaves may be divided by a right-line into two equal parts ; by no lines whatsoever can they be divided into any more equal parts nor their recto-convexes by any line whatsoever into two equal parts ; such parts of such angles being more impossible to be given in geometry , then the square roots of unsquare numbers , or cubicke roots of uncubical numbers are in arithmeticke . as any two points , or any two indivisibles may have some few proportions amongst them , but no more : the latitude of proportionablenes being limited by the special natures and kinds of things : so between special kinds of numbers cannot be all proportions : nor between special lines all angles , or all proportions in all angles . hence also we may clear the possibility of that speculation of the learned persons by you named , that in heterogeneals there may be a passing from greater to less , and from less to greater in a continuous manner without , ever passing thorow equality ; however you are pleased to bestow upon it a contemptuous smile , if not an hiss : viz. that we should assert that mixed lined , or crooked lined angles can pass by the divarication of the same sides from being greater to be less then given angles , or contrarily by their contraction , and yet in that transit , never be equal . what is more obvious then to give instances of anisoclitical angles , less then a given isoclitical angle , and by divaricating and distending the sides of the anisoclitical angle , it may be made to exceed the first given isoclitical angle ; yet in all the way they could never be equal the one to the other ; the one being isoclitical , the other anisoclitical : coaptation and the passing of the sides from the angular point every where prove their inequality : and let those that assert their equality any way shew and admeasure it . and the sober understanding of those sayings , that such angles passe from less to greater without ever being equal , is not to assert any homogeneity , or proportion of any kind between them , or common way of measuring their quantity in and according to the same indefinite quantity , but only to shew how the sides may pass within and without each other ; but because of their anisocliticalnes and difference in respect of rectitude and curvatures , they can never be brought to be coincident . and why should this appear so monstrous , that transitions should be , in the sense abovesaid , made from greater to less , without passing thorow equality ? seeing it is most manifest that though a crooked-line circumducted about the angular point of a right-lined angle makes infinite divisions of the right-lined angle ; yet they are ever unequal , and never by possibility can be equal : though notwithstanding , the same crooked line may divide a crooked lined isoclitical angle equal to the given right-lined angle into equal parts ; which besides plentifully shews the heterogeneity which is between equal right-lined and crooked-lined isoclitical angles , notwithstanding their equality : yet by making up the right-lined angle into a compleately bounded figure , the crooked-line may divide the plane of it into equal isoepipedal and isorrhopical parts : as is more easy to demonstrate then that there should be any need to set it down . and it is not to be stranged at , that we assert a crooked-line can divide a right-lined triangle into equal parts , but not any of its right-lined angles : for the figuration of the one is compleat , and the production of the crooked-line , as well as of the lines containing the right-lined angle , in the triangle are limited ; all which are quite otherwise in mere angles , being in many kinds of angles and inclinations very alterable by the production of the lines . and if you will pertinaciously say that a crooked-line may divide equally a right-lined angle , shew their equality , and your way of admeasuring the equality of the parts : both coaptation of sides , in whose habitude the nature of angles chiefly consists , and also the way of measuring by interjected arches demonstrating and declaring the contrary : nay sometimes in quantities among which there is true proportion , the special differences of their kinds may be the authour of little less . so commensurable quantities , being in their commensurability infinitely divisible , may be continually increased , or lessened by quantities vastly , less then any given quantity ; yet as they pass from less to greater never can hit equality with any the like quantities of the same general kind , being incommensurable . so in the present question , heterogeneity of sides makes an impossibility to coapt , though by straitning and divaricating they may fall within , or without , and so be less , or greater , but being impossible to coapt , and incapable of any other common way of measuring , equality cannot be conceived in them ; in which is praesupposed a common way of measuring to declare and prove their asserted proportion and equality . and in this whole matter what is more said then that the cutting inclination of a right-line upon a right-line , and of a right-line upon a crooked , or of a crooked-line upon two crooked-lines being all of different curvature , may any of them be greater , or less then one another heterogeneally , but can never be equal ; as to those that will consider , is most clearly manifest and necessary . and this is no more strange , then that odde numbers may be less , or greater then any even number , at least above two , yet by their constitutive nature , they can never be equal : and for the same reason magnitudes commensurable and incommensurable may be greater , and less then one another , and by a less quantity then any quantity that can be given ; yet , for the specialty of their natures , they can never be equal , remaining so distinct in their ultimate kind : and however they have many general things in which they agree , yet they are not accountable specially , but by several wayes and algorythmes . and as it is the binding up of numbers to the specifick properties of evenness , or oddness , and of magnitudes to commensurability , or incommensurability , that makes equality between their kinds impossible ; so it is the incoaptablenes and want and impossibility of a common way of measuring , which is between the two and two sides of such heterogeneally unequal angles , keeping all along the properties of their inclination , that renders equality between their kinds impossible ; though either may sometimes truly and manifestly be greater or less then the other , however without proportion . for in heterogeneals may be a two fold inequality , either an inequality according to proportion , or an inequality without proportion : and though they be heterogeneals , if it be a true limited , determinate proportion of inequality which is between them , as between an odde number and an even , a commensurable magnitude and an incommensurable , they are then considered as some way , or according to something which is , homogeneal , not heterogeneal , in both : but if their inequality , though real and apparent be without any true and homogeneally determinable proportionablenes , as between right-lined and anisoclitical angles , then the consideration had of them is in their heterogeneity . so to the objection , that right-lined angles , and recto-convexe angles of contact have proportion of greater and less , and are therefore homogeneal , if any quantitativenes be to be asserted in the recto-convexe angles of contact ; and so of the rest : i answer , there is not a proportionable inequality between right-lined angles and recto-convexe angles of contact , and the like ; but an inequality , which is improportionable : as when the earth is said to be intruth greter then a point ; though in many particular hypotheses contrarily conceived , for the better observing and accounting several phaenomena , and the better accommodating of instruments for the making of observations . so in the genesis of quantities and figures , when one quantity hath its genesis by the fluxe , or motion of another , the quantity formed by that motion is greater then the quantity moved , though still without any proportion : so by the divaricating of the sides , by the motion of one of the sides , of a recto-convexe angle of contact , is a genesis of recto-convexe angles of section ; and the recto-convexe angles of section are still greater then the recto-convexe angle of contact , or it s respectively moved side : and all still without any proportion . and inequality without proportionality being so usually asserted , and familiar between mere heterogeneals , doth easily acquit it self from the reproach you charge it withal , of being a contradiction in the very terms ; for finite and infinite never were denyed to be unequal , yet never can be made out to be mathematically homogeneal and proportionable . for though all proportion is either of equality , or inequality ; that hinders not but an inequality in heterogeneals may be admitted , without an asserting of proportion between them . so as mathematical homogeneity is not proved by inequality , till proportionablenes be as well proved as inequality ▪ of the same leaven is that strange kind of reasoning you use ; to any right-lined angle a crooked-lined angle may be made equal ( we confess a thousand several crooked-lined angles may be made equal to any one right-lined ) angle ) but you from thence inferre that therefore all crooked lined angles and right-lined angles are of the same kind ; without adding as well , that to any crooked-lined , or mixed lined angle , a right-lined angle also might be made equal ; which can never be done ; the contrary thereof being confessedly demonstrated in geometry : or if any be so opinionated that it is either easy , or feasible , let them give a right-lined angle equal to an anisoclitical angle , whose sides concurre by way of section or to an ultradiametral convexo-concave angle of contact : and trye whether the equality of the two angles be not disproveable . in the same manner inequality without proportion , is asserted between both the recto-concave and recto-convexe angles of the semi-circle , i. e. the inner and outer angles of the semi-circle , and a right , or any other right-lined angle ▪ but to return , from the concrete and composite nature of not right-lined angles , when compared with right-lined angles ; the enigmaticalnes of the proposition , that magnitudes of one sort may be greater , and less then a given magnitude of another , but never equal , becomes most clear and doubtles : as infinite solids may be given greater , or lesser then the heterogeneal concrete magnitude of a cube foot and a foot-line ; but never can any solid be given thereunto equal : so likewise infinite heterogeneal concrete magnitudes consisting each of solids with the accrescency , or annexion of a foot-line , may be given greater , or lesser then a cube elle ; but in such comparisons , never can the concretes of the heterogeneal magnitudes be equal , or in proportion to any solitary , single , one , of the heterogeneals . in like manner it manifestly appears what is to be thought of that often pretended equality between the two angles of a semi-circle and a right right-lined angle : for by coaptation and the goings forth of the lines from the angular point it appears otherwise . and how will they that assert their equality demonstrate it ? and by what way will they admeasure it ? for interjacent and intercepted arches of circles drawn upon the angular point as center , can in these angles contribute nothing to the admeasuring of them : and coaptation makes against their equality : and is so farre from making a right right-lined angle to be the constant standard of all angles of semi-circles , that it manifestly shews the angles of greater semi-circles to be greater and of less , lesser . the objection , that unequal circles , semi circles , and segments of equal degrees , cannot be judged like and homologal figures , except all their respective angles be equal , as well as the sides homologal : this may be easily answered ; viz. that it is like genesis that makes like figures , which in all right-lined figures makes the answering angles equal , and in all figures the sides to be homologal , and the difference of the homologal angles to be less then the least right-lined angle . in circles the same genesis , by the circumduction of the semi-diameter about the center , which makes the figures like , and the sides homologal , makes in unequal circles the curvatures , angles of coincidence , the angles of the semi circles , and of homologal segments , necessarily unequal . or , then figures 〈◊〉 be judged like when in a concentrick 〈…〉 the perimeter , sides and lines of the 〈…〉 proportionable to those in the other , 〈…〉 or may be placed parallel , or 〈…〉 those in the one , to those in the other ▪ , 〈…〉 which in right-lined figures , t is true , th●●● alwayes follows equality between the answering angles , but not so in other lined figures . and because equality of angles in like right-lined figures is so much urged ; the difference of the case of angles in like right-lined and like crooked-lined figures may plainly appear in another remarke ; viz. that in like right-lined figures , the sides of the answering angles may from the answering angular point be exactly coapted one to another ; which in unequal circles , though never so like figures , is most apparently impossible : that it cannot but be unreasonable to expect as absolute a conformity between the answering angles in like crooked lined figures , as there is in like right-lined figures ; being so manifestly against both the eye and demonstration . and therefore like segments of circles , are not defined by equality of angles contained between their arches and their chords ; but by the equality of the angles contained in them ; the one being certain , constant in all , and demonstrable ; the other in most cases , not only doubtful , but impossible . so the objection , from the asserted equality of alternate angles , made by a right-line cutting parallel circumferences ; is readily answered by denying the truth of what is presumed in the objection , as never by any demonstrated , or ever possibly demonstrable , viz. that the alternate and vertically opposite angles , made by a right-line cutting parallel circumferences are equal . and the tyranny of forcing lines out of their natures and special properties , may appear in that very instance of compelling the parallelisme of curve lines to answer the consectaries and idioms of the parallelisme of right-lines : in which , to omit the alleadged instance , as by you unproved , and for good reasons by us to be denyed , a right-line tangent of the lesser concentrick circle cuts the circumference of the greater , and infinite right-lines cutting the greater , neither cut , nor touch the lesser , which is repugnant to the nature of parallelisme in right lines . that that which is so much contended for , that a crooked-line and a right-line are homogeneal as to length and their general lineariness , was , or ought never to be denied , there being all possibility of equality , and truly proportionable inequality between them , what kind of curvature soever the crooked-lines bear : but that they are homogeneal as to the positure of their longitude ; the site and manner of their extension , hath unto me been alwayes unconceivable : whence the truths on both hands clearly follow , viz. that an arch and a right-line may be equal and hold alwayes a true limited , exact proportion one to another , but the arch and it s chorde never can be equal , i. e. there never can be equality between a right-line and a crooked-line , both posited between the same two terminateing points , nor any analogy between the rectitude of the one and the curvature of the other . and the seeking to prove the equality of angles contain'd under homologal lines , the one curve , the other a right-line from your usual fancy of a regular polygone of infinite angles in every circle , is too wild to be perswasive : for though at any mean point in curve lines , the two parts of the curve-line may be conceived specially to meet as several parts and lines , and so to have inclination the one to the other , and so to constitute an angle ; which we call the angle of curvature and coincidence , not reasonably to be denyed by those , with whom it is so ordinary to make such suppositions , and especially such as can so usually against possibility imagine angles in a right-line remaining a right-line : yet that angles should be without sides , and a perimeter of any figure conceived at once to be all angular points and no lineary sides , clearly ●●●●stes the perimeter of the nature of a line : 〈◊〉 to me it seems far from the nature of a ●●●ular figure , that hath nothing but points ●●stead of lines to bound it : but which is most material ; that a number actually infinite should be so easily given , is hard to allow : and that indivisibles , as points , should be so adjacent 〈◊〉 to another , one without another , with●●● coincidence , identity and unity , is new ●●●●osophy , and not easily capable of any in 〈◊〉 defense . therefore that argumentation 〈◊〉 , that such a regular polygone of in 〈◊〉 whether sides or angles is either a circle , 〈◊〉 inscribable in a circle , is too vain : for it can be neither , being nothing , because there neither is , nor can be any such thing : for if any such were allowed they must of necessity have equal and infinite perimeters ; which is too gross to be admitted in it self , and besides renders the whole matter unapplyable to circles , which are acknowledged , to be some less then others . so as all discourses of a regular polygone of infinite angles , are discourses not only of a non-entity , but an absolute impossibility , which renders all suppositions thereof unjustifiable . and of the same fineness are those sayings , that the magnitude of an angle is not to be judged of from the divarication which the sides have without the angular point , or point of concurrence , but from the divarication which they have in the point of concurrence ; as if in an indivisible point they could have any divarication at all . but as if it were resolved that even this should be transcended in monstrosity , for the justifying of the equality of mixed lined angles contain'd by homologal sides in unequal circles , by an instance from the coapting of unequal hexagones to the same line , as a common side in them all , divided equally by a perpendicular passing thorow the centers of all , a right-lined angle is strangely constituted either of three right-lines concurring , but not in the same point , or of two lines without any concurrence , or else the instance must be void of all pertinency to the question . so to all those objections seemingly founded upon that proposition , or postulate , that what is less then any positive quantity whatsoever is not any quantity at all , is justly answered ; that the proposition or postulate is most true and reasonable , and cannot by any of sound mind be denyed , or doubted : but no force of objection could be made out of that , if other things of a less veritable nature had not been taken in ; as in most of them the fancyed possibility of a regular polygone of infinite angles ; and frequently that a circle is that regular polygone . but besides , though what is less then any positive quantity whatsoever be not any quantity at all ; yet this hinders not , but quantityes may be mathematically heterogeneal and improportionable one to another : so every surface is less then any solid : and angles of contact are not less then any quantity whatsoever , for there is in the least of them an endles , unexhausted divisibility ; which how it can consist with a nonquantitativenes , let those that have a mind to be serious solemnely consider . to the objection that would prove , neither semi-circumference to contain an angle with the right-lined tangent of it in its extreem point , because the two semi circumferences contain no angle at that point , but are one regularly continued line , and the circumference and right-lined tangent are lines coincident , at least as to the point of contact ; manifest and reasonable answers cannot be to seek out of what hath already been said . for first what hinders the reasonable conceiving of angularity at any point of a curve-line , where is both concurrence , inclination and divisibility , more then the notion of divisibility at any mean point of a right-line ? and not to doubt but a curve line may be conceived reasonably as one continued line , as well as two , or more , inclined and concurring right-lines ; yet that the right-line tangent and curve-line which it toucheth , should be said to be coincident lines , in such sense as to exclude angularity ; or that any two lines can be so coincident in one only point , as to exclude angularity , and the inflexion of one to , or from the other , except both lye in one and the same right-line ; hath , as elsewhere , been plainly and abundantly answered to . to the objection that the area of a circle is equal to a rect-angle under the semidiameter and semi circumference ; and that therefore the semidiameter in a circle is perpendicular to the circumference in a circle and makes at the circumference four equal right-angles ; is answered , that the whole objection is a manifest paralogisme . for it is not denyed but in the right-lined rect-angle under the semidiameter , and a right-line equal to the semi circumference , is presumed , and by the definition of a rect-angle inferred , that the angle under those two right-lines is a right right-lined angle : besides it is not denyed , but the diameter falls perpendicularly in the circle upon the circumference : and that the four angles made by the falling of the semidiameter upon the circumference differ from one another less than the least right-lined angle : however that cannot force the falling of the semidiameter perpendicularly upon the circumference into the properties of perpendicularness between right lines , which still divides the space at the angular point into four angles always , every way alike , and equal ; which in right lines perpendiculars upon curve lines in the same plane , is impossible to be , and therefore impossible ever to be demonstrated . it will not be unuseful here to enquire wherein the likeness and unlikeness of angles doth consist , and whether there be any such thing as likeness and unlikeness in angles , or whether the likeness , or unlikeness of figures be only in the similitude , or dissimilitude of the sides . and that by a circumspect consideration of the nature of mathematical similitude in other cases , we may be the better guided into the true and most rational notion of similitude in angles , let us remember what hath already been judged in this point , and what is herein confessed on all hands . first , in right lined figures , those figures are judged like , whose answering angles are equal , and the answering sides and other lines proportionable ; and if they be equal , they may be coapted , homologal side to homologal side , and answering angle to answering angle ; or whether they be equal , or unequal , all the sides and other answering lines of the one may be set , as from the same center , each at parallelisme , or coincidency with the answering sides , or lines of the other , so as in like right lined figures is proportionablenes ▪ in the answering sides , equality of the answering angles , coaptability of all the answering sides into either coincidence , or equidistance , and a proportionate distance of the answering angles , each from the other . but now the similitude of figuration which is in circles founded upon the like genesis of all circles is in the equidistance , or coincidence of their circumferences , when the center of the one is coapted to the center of the other ; and that equal angles from the center intercept proportionable parts of the circumferences , and that proportionable parts of the circumferences are connected by proportionable chords , and contain and sustain equal right lined angles . and the like speculations might be pursued in other figures both plane and solid . in a rational application of which to the disquisition of angles , it may be first enquired , whether there be any such thing as similitude & dissimilitude to be own'd or observ'd among angles ; and if so , how that similitude is to be understood ; and whether it be inconsistent with inequality in the answering angles . to clear all which we must know , that in unequal but like right lined figures , the homologal angles are always equal , being contained in both figures under right lines : but in unequal , and like mixed lined and crooked lined figures , the homologal mixed lined , or crooked lined angles , neither are , nor can be equal ; only their difference is ever less than the least right lined angle ; and their similitude hath never rationally yet by any been questioned but with good reason according to the following gloss is to be justified . the more clearly to demonstrate all which in fig. 21. upon the common center a. draw two unequal circles , viz. heg. the lesser , and bcd . the greater . then from any point b. in the greater circle bcd . draw the right line beafk . thorough the common center a. cutting the circumference of the lesser circle heg. in the point e. then take af. equal to be. and upon the center f. and semidiameter fe . draw another circle eckd . equal to the greater circle cbd . here on all hands is agreed , that the lesser circle heg. and the greater circle cbd . are like figures , and that therefore the two mixed lined recto-concave angles abd . and aeg . are like angles . and by the construction it is apparent that the two recto-concave angles abd . and aed . are equal : and that the two recto-concave angles aeg . and aed . are unequal : and that the recto-concave angle aed . is greater than the recto-concave angle aeg . and in all like cases it is always so ; however the difference of the two angles must necessarily be less than any right lined angle , because all such citradiametral concavo-convexe angles of contact , as ged . are always less than any right lined angle ; as is consequent to what hath been demonstrated in geometry , which was to be shewn . whence we may clearly observe that similitude of figures lies chiefly in the proportionality and like positure of homologal sides , in respect of parallelisme and coincidence , without imposing any other necessity for the equality of answering angles , then as it may consist with the proportionating and like positing of the homologal sides and lines . and such inequality of the answering angles , as is requisite to the proportionating and alike positing of the homologal sides and lines in like and unequal mixed , or crooked lined figures , is so far from being inconsistent with their figurative similitude , that they cannot without it , under inequality keep similitude in their figuration . and though the inequality , which is between angle and angle be less then that which is , or may be , between the homologal sides and lines ; yet the inequality of the angles is more different , being an inequality without proportion , whereas the inequality of the homologal sides and lines is ever according to proportion . upon the whole , it is not equality that generally makes angles to be like , for a right lined , and an isoclitical concavo convexe may be equal angles , but never can be like , nor were ever suspected to be so : but that which makes angles to be like is rather their being contained under homologal sides , posited so as to construct a like & homologal figuration . and this whole matter depends upon what i before hinted , viz. the figuration of lines and angles ; sc. rectitude , being one single , simple , figuration of lines incapable of any variety , like angles under right lines are always equal , and never can be unequal : but 〈◊〉 , being infinitely variable , those 〈…〉 are said to be like , i. e. homologal , ●hose construction is like , so as in like figure● upon a common center , to set homologal sides and lines proportionably equidistant , or coincident ; as circumferences of like though unequal circles , ellipses , &c. and so under a thousand inequalities such mixed and crooked lined angles may be like : as in fig. 21. the recto-concave angles aeg . and aed . being unequal , are both like to the angle abd . and so is every angle how different soever , if contained under a diameter and a circumference . and indeed the figuration of angles , being incompleat , and the length of their sides undetermined , neither parallelisme , nor coincidency , nor proportionality , nor homologal positure , can , when they are unequal , be conceived in their sides , without special relation to some compleat figure and its center : so the recto-concave angles aeg . and abd in fig. 21. are like , as conceived to be each contained respectively under a diameter and a circumference , and so upon a common center positable into parallelisme , coincidence and proportionableness , and all possible likeness and homologalness of figuration . in right-lined angles , where homologal and like angles are always equal ▪ for the same reason every angle equal to a right-lined angle , is not presently a like angle : 〈◊〉 a thousand equal angles , are all , ever , and to all purposes , unlike ; as two equal isoclitical right lined and crooked lined angles , because they can never be coapted to be answering angles , in like figures , or to set their containing sides homologally , and in parallelisme , or coincidence . that equality of answering angles is not so of the essence of like figures , as proportionality of sides , and answering lines , with their parallelisme , or coincidency : only from the propriety of like plane figures , follows an equality in all like right-lined angles ; and in like curve lined figures , that their inequality is ever less than the least right-lined angle . hence therefore appears that from the similitude which is in unequal circles , the equality between angles of semi-circles & right right-lined angles is not effectually proved . and notwithstanding any thing in those arguments tendred and proved , every recto-concave angle contained under a concave arch of a circle and a right-line , which is perpendicular to the right line tangent of the arch at the angular point , is greater than any right-lined acute angle , and less than a right right-lined angle : and the recto-convexe angle contained under the convexe arch and the right lined tangent is less than any right lined angle whatsoever : and the other recto-convexe angle contained under the convexe arch and the right line , which is perpendicular to the right line tangent at the angular point , is greater than a right right-lined angle , and less than any obtuse right-lined angle whatsoever . and whereas you object that if , as in fig. 12. the right line kg a. be the diameter of the circle k ad. and ab the right line tangent , then kab is a right right lined angle : and the recto-convexe angle of contact dab is no part of the right right lined angle kab . that therefore the angle of the semicitcle kad is still equal to a right right lined angle , because what is taken out of it was no part of it . i answer , the recto-convexe angle of contact dab is indeed no proportionable part of the right right-lined angle kab , but yet it is truly a part , though improportionable , and so mathematically heterogeneal : for if it had been no part at all , and nothing , then the angle of the semicircle kad . ( nothing being taken out of the right right-lined angle kab , but the recto-convexe angle of contact d ab , which is said by you to be nothing , and no angle ) it should ●●ill remain a right right-lined angle ; which is not by any asserted , the contrary being so manifest : besides that the separability of the recto-convexe angle d ab from the recto-concave angle kad makes clear and certain , the truth of its being a part of the right-lined angle kab . and likewise from what hath been before declared in our opening the nature of a plane angle may clearly appear , that we are not to understand that a plane angle is meerely the angular point , or meerely in the angular point , as contradistinguished from the containing sides , though it there terminate , or thence have its rise ; but angles are in the habitude of the concurring , containing and inclined sides : viz. the habitude which they hold each to other all along their tendency unto the angular point , or their rise from thence , if we would have the full notion , inclination and figuration of an angle . for there is often a great inequality and vast imparity between the inclination , sometimes of one part of the containing side to the other containing side , and the inclination thereunto , of other parts of the same first containing side ; as may appear in all mixed lined , mixed crooked-lined and all other anisoclitical angles . and the nature of an angle consisting in inclination as well as in concurrence , though concurrence may be and is in a point , and inclination at a point , yet inclination must be in the lines and of the lines , and cannot be in a point separately . and methinks the nature of an angle , and its inclination , is scarcely so fully held forth , when the inclination of the two lineary sides containing it , as if the sides were not therein concerned , is ordered to be observed only in the angular point , and not out of it : because , as you say , though you urge it to the contrary , many times out of the angular point in the containing sides , no two points can be shewen in the one side , where it hath the same inclination unto the other . certainly in an indivisible , such as is the angular point , if abstractly considered , it were vain to expect and impossible to observe any inclination : and no doubt as the magnitudes inclined are without the angular point , so is also the inclination : though as they terminate in the angular point , so doth the inclination . so the angle of a semi circle is not the common terme of the diameter and the semi circumference , excluding the diameter and the semicir-cumference for then in an abstracted point it should be possible to observe an inclination ; and a point being indivisible should be inclined unto its self ; which is not convenient to assert : but rather the angle of a semi circle is the inclination of the semi circumference to the diameter , terminated in the angular point , which is common to both . and whereas it is said that out of the angular point , no two points can be shewen in the diameter , at which the diameter is equally inclined to the semi circumference , nor in the semi circumference where it is equally inclined to the diameter ; all is allowed and averred as glosseably true , and this is that which makes the great difference between anisoclitical and isoclitical angles , and renders it so impossible to give an anisoclitical angle equal to an isoclitical angle . for in isoclitical angles the inclination of the sides , the one unto the other , is at all points the same without any variation ; as every where appears by the interjected arches of circles drawn upon the angular point as center : but in anisoclitical angles , at every several point , the one containing side hath several and different inclinations to the other containing side : which is the cause that isoclitical angles may possibly and easily be given , sometimes greater , and sometimes lesser then anisoclitical angles , but never equal : because in the one the inclination of the containing sides still varieth , in the other not at all . and if the whole nature of an angle lye in the angular point , without extending the habitude of it farther into the production and figuration of the containing sides ; it will not only be necessary for us to yield unto you that recto-convexe angles of contact are not quantitative ; but besides both you and we , contrary to what we have alwayes hitherto judged , shall be constrained to acknowledge that there is no quantitativenes neither in crooked-lined , nor right-lined , nor any other angles whatsoewer , whether superficial , in one , or several plaines , or solid . and can any thing be more horrid then to say , the quantity of angles is not to be measured by the divarication of the sides at the angular point , but by their divarication in the angular point , where they have none at all ? but yet though it is thus evident , that the inclination of the sides at the angular point , may and frequently is much less or greater then the inclination of the same sides at other points ; which , as is above hinted , is not to be left out in the full , genuine and clear consideration of the nature of angles , their kinds , figurations and quantities : however the inclination of the sides at the angular point , is that which is most usually enquired after , and most useful to be searched and observed in geometry ; for the discoveries which are from thence made of lines , how they fall coincidently , or within , or without others . to the objection that in fig. 12. the right-lined tangent ab and the arch al make all one and the same equal inclination to the right-line secant ac in the common angular point a ; and that therefore the right-lined angle bac under the right-lined secant ac and the right-line tangent ab is equal to the mixed-lined recto-concave angle eal under the right-line secant ac and the arch al ; i answer as before , inclination is not in the angular point abstractly considered without regard to the sides passing out of it , but inclination is the relative situation which the concurring sides have at the angular point : at least that is their inclination there : for a point to a line can have no inclination : it may have distance from the line , but cannot be inclined unto it , because of its indivisibility . and having already shewn the inclination of side to side to be of the essence , notion and nature of an angle ; a little may be reply enough to all those hypersceptical objections which are sounded upon the imagination of an angle in a right-line , or any inclination , or angularity imagined between a right line and a point , especially the point being in the right-line . and equality , or inequality of angles is not , nor can be judged of by the so abstractly considered angular point ; in which a thousand several sides of several and unequal angles may meet indifferently ; but the judgment of the magnitude and equality and inequality of angles is from the sides , and the order of the divarications , in which they passe , especially first of all , from the angular point . besides how strangely is it taken for granted , without proving , th●● the right-line tangent ab and the arch al are equally in the angular point a inclined unto the right-line secant ac ? if that could be once proved , the concern of it would turn the scales of the controversy : but demonstration is so clear to the contrary , that as without proof it is not fit to be admitted , so for the proof of it , i know nothing can be produced besides an utter despair of ever making it out . for if the congruency of the sides terminatively in the angular point , were sufficient to constitute equality in angles , it appears not how any angles meeting in the same or different angular points could be unequal : every point by reason of its indivisibility being incapable of inequality , as well as inclination . and if all such angles so constituted by the falling within , or without of the sides , shall be doubted and questioned whether they be true and quantitative angles , and whether the addition , or subduction of them be able to diversify other angles and their quantities ; all the pains of the geometricians to prove the intracadency and extracadency of the angular sides from the same angular point , were vain and to no purpose ; the angles remaining altogether the same and equal , whether such angles of contact be added to them , or taken from them . but yet though the true , 〈◊〉 and genuine nature of an angle consist in the mutual habitude and inclination of the containing and concurring sides , it is not ever necessary to consider it with such a largenes in geometry . the inclination which the sides bear mutually each to other at the angular point is out of doubt that which is of most constant necessity , highest concern and usefulnes in all angles to be observed . it is true in isoclitical angles , the inclination of the two containing sides being every where the same and equal , it is indifferently by geometricians taken by a circle whose center is in the angular point , of what diameter soever thereunto applyable , and at what same distance soever from the angle , or at what same longitude soever from thence in the sides the points be , at which their inclination is observed by intercepted arches : and the same two points , terminating the intercepted arches at which their mutual inclination is observed , constantly offer themselves together , whether you take points at equal distance from the angular point , or intercepting in the sides equal longitudes between them and the same angular point but in anisoclitical angles ; the inclination of the anisoclitical sides varying still in the continuity of their production , if we use the former method of measuring the inclination of the sides by intercepted arches of a circle drawn upon the angular point as center ; in them therefore geometricians concern themselves little further then to observe the mutual inclination of the sides at the very point of their angle : and not at any other points in the anisoclitical sides , save only the point of their concurrence ; because of the constant variation of their inclination , both in respect of such , and every other method and way of measuring , according to the continuity of their production . and by arches of circle drawn upon the angular point as center , it is impossible to measure the inclination of the anisoclitical lines at the point of their concurrence ; the only way therefore which remains unto geometricians to measure such anisoclitical angles , i. e , the inclination of their sides at the point of their concurrence , is by observing the lines in what order they depart from the angular point : viz. which line falls within , which without , and which is coincident with that unto which it is compared . so in fig. 12. if ahf and adk be equal circles touching in the point a : and g the center , and agk the diameter of the circle adk : and ael the arch of a greater circle touching both the former circles in the same point a and with its concave side at a respecting the center g , and with its convexe side at a respecting the circle haf : also if ab be a right-line tangent touching all the three former circles in the point a , and the right-line adec cutt the circle adk in the point ● , and the circle ael in the point e : here the geometrician demonstrates the angle k ab to be a right right lined angle , and that the arch afh passeth out of the angular point a without and beyond the right-line tangent ab , and without the right right-lined angle k ab : and that the arch ael passeth from the angular point a within , or on this side of the right-line tangent ab , and within the right right-lined angle kab , but without the arch adk , and without the angle of the semi circle kad : and that the right-line adec passeth from the angular point a within the arch adk , and within the angle of the semi circle k ad. and this is all which is intended in geometry when recto-convexe and such like angles of contact are said to be less then the least right-lined angle : not that there is any proportion between any angles of contact and right-lined angles ; for there is none : but that the sides of any such angle of contact are coaptable , both of them within any the least right-lined angle . in like manner when one angle of contact is said to be greater or lesser then another ; it is not the intendment of the geometrician to assert any proportionablenes between them , but only to set down in what order the inclined lines pass , each in respect of the rest , from the angular point , or point of concurrence : and how each is conseque●●ly more , or less inclined in that respect , to any one of the rest , though by the whole kind and without proportion , and without a common way of measuring their quantities in some indefinite quantity , according to the kind of the measuring , indefinite quantity ▪ the semblablenes of saying , one angle of contact is greater , or less then another being only in this , that when one side is coapted , the other falls within , or without ; or when neither sides can possibly be coapted , both fall within , or both fall without , so as the one is really greater , or less then the other , not in proportion , but by the whole kind and heterogeneally , as a two foot right-line is lesser then a four foot square , and a two foot right-line cannot be contained in an inch square , though in an inch square may be drawn a line ten thousand times longer , only out of rectitude . and to prove such an heterogeneal inequality , whether of the greater , or of the less between angles , is that which is frequently sufficient for many geometrical purposes . only two things now remain of all your objections and scrupulous quaeries . viz. first , why in some quantities , between the homogeneals , to a given quantity you cannot give another in what proportion you please greater or less , the answer is clear out of the foregoing discourse : because some quantities have but a limited extensibility : and other quantities have but a limited divisibility . all proportions at pleasure with respect to any given quantity , are only assigneable in those homogeneals whose quantityes have both an unlimited extensibility and an unlimited divisibility ; either of which failing , though they cannot be , save in a limited proportion one to another , and to every given homogeneal , yet they cannot be in any proportion , at pleasure , to any given homogeneal . and 2ly . for your other quaery ; whether this controversy about the recto-convexe angle of contact concern abstract mathematicks , whose glory used to be that it was devoid of controversy , locking forth and keeping out all unpeaceful bickerings with the diamond-key of doubtless demonstration ; or whether it concern concrete mathematicks , which for its concretion unto matter cannot so well free its self from the intanglements of doubts and disputes ? and if it concern the more abstract part of the mathematicks ; what was the first slip that drew so unworthy a disparagement upon that most noble piece of learning ? in the preceding discourse you may observe , i have been free and clear in my judgement concerning this ; that it is a controversy of the purer and more noble part of the mathematicks : and therefore of the higher concern , that it be brought to a fair decision and irrefragable diremption : and that the first spark from whence all this heat afterward arose , was at first struck out of the dubiousnes and aequivocation of the word homogeneity , mentioned in certain mathematical definitions and postulates ; but of it self no where expressely defined in the mathematicks ; except we shall take one of the pustulates , for its definition cast into the form of a postulate ; or as cryptically implying that definition and the postulate to be thereupon immediately formed : especially when they compared homogeneity in a mistaken sense , with some mathematical conclusions , which they had observed to be fairly demonstrated . pardon this my zeal on the behalf of the old learned romane professour . and if these papers seem long , remember yours were not short ; and the question hath long troubled the world : and in matters that are new , and scarce yet well understood , to inculcate once and again the same things , is not only justify'd as allowable , but judged expedient and in such cases necessary . if you please , let the whole passe for a fuse comment upon this ; that in recto-convexe angles of contact is the inclination required for an angle by the definition of an angle ; and therefore they are angles and their sides not coincident : and they are angular parts of acknowledged angles separable from the remaining angular parts ; and there is an infinite divisibility in them , so as they must be quantitative : and yet it is demonstrated that they are improportionable to all right-lined angles ; therefore they are heterogeneal : which inference is the more necessary , when upon examination we find nothing so convenably to set forth unto us the nature of mathematical homogeneity , as the homometricalnes and the thence arising proportionablenes of the magnitudes , and of mathematical heterogeneity as their heterometricalnes and improportionablenes . naturall philosophie reformed by divine light, or, a synopsis of physicks by j.a. comenius ... ; with a briefe appendix touching the diseases of the body, mind, and soul, with their generall remedies, by the same author. physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae synopsis. english comenius, johann amos, 1592-1670. 1651 approx. 353 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 152 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a34110 wing c5522 estc r7224 11968721 ocm 11968721 51776 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a34110) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 51776) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 23:3) naturall philosophie reformed by divine light, or, a synopsis of physicks by j.a. comenius ... ; with a briefe appendix touching the diseases of the body, mind, and soul, with their generall remedies, by the same author. physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae synopsis. english comenius, johann amos, 1592-1670. [46], 256 p. printed by robert and william leybourn for thomas pierrepont ..., london : 1651. translation of: physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae synopsis. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng physics -early works to 1800. science -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-02 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2005-04 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion naturall philosophie reformed by divine light : or , a synopsis of physicks : by j. a. comenius : exposed to the censure of those that are lovers of learning , and desire to be taught of god. being a view of the world in generall , and of the particular creatures therein conteined ; grounded upon scripture principles . with a briefe appendix touching the diseases of the body , mind , and soul ; with their generall remedies . by the same author . london : printed by robert and william leybourn , for thomas pierrepont , at the sun in pauls church-yard , mdcli . to the truly studious of wisdome , from christ the fountain of wisdome , greeting . jacobus acontius , a most excellent man , offended at the evill disposition of our scribling age wished that it might be provided , that none should write and publish any thing , unless it were some new thing ; which should both be of his own observation , and might make for the glory of god , and the aedification of the church , and from whence so much fruit might be hoped , that what time is bestowed on the reading of it , the readers could not bestow it better elswhere : that so nothing might be done which was already done , but what was yet to be done . for few writers ( says hee ) bring any thing of their own : but onely steal , things and words , of which they make books , &c. which they know to be most truly spoken , who are to peruse that farrago of books , wherewith we are yearly little less then overwhelmed . for if you look on the titles , you shall have them always new and very specious : if on the thing , it is always the same boiled over and over above a thousand times , and coleworts crammed in , even to nauseating . and though something of new observation be offered , yet to what purpose is it , that whole books should therefore be written , and those new things found out so buried in things ordinary , that either a man hath no mind to enquire , what of new observation is in them , or cannot do it without tediousness of spirit and loss of time . but it is not my business to inveigh against this disorder in many words . i come now to declare why i my self come out in publick . and i wil lay it open in a word i bring something new , and different from the common way of philosophie : and i bring it so , as that i hope , it will be without any ones hinderance or molestation , as conteining in a very few leaves , matters of very great moment . and i bring it to satisfie the desires of others this way . for whereas i had the year last past , given a proof of my philologicall endeavours , janua linguarum reserata , ( or a seminary of arts and languages ) which was courteously received , and that with applause , and approved almost by all mens verdict , ( as severall letters , dated either to my self or my friends , touching that matter do testifie , ) some ( of the number of those , who at this time bend their desires , thoughts and dedevours , to rectifie the method of studies ) began to solicit mee , to put out my philosophicall works , or at least to desire a communication of my conceptions , especially in physicks . having no other minde therefore , but to bring something for mine owne part that may be profitable , if it may be : or else that others may have occasion by me , to bring better matters ; i purposed with my self to expose to the light , this same synopsis of physicks , lately dictated in this schoole , that publick censure might be made of this also , as well as of my former work. which that it might be , it seemed meet to give some further intimation of the occasion and scope of our undertaking , to those that wil offer themselves to be our censors . after that the calamitous lot of exile had thrust mee , who was by calling a divine , back to the services of the school , wherein i was desirous to beare my self , not slightly , but so as that i might discharg the trust committed to me ; it chanced that i hapned , among other things , upon ludovicus vives his books , detradendis disciplinis . in these when i had found most wholesome counsels , for the repairing of philosophie , and the whole course of studies , i began extreamly to grieve , that a man of so piercing a wit , after he noted so many most evident errours , had not put to his hand to make those rough things smooth , but the judgment of one touching this excellent writer , that vives saw better what was not then what was , made mee to consider , that it is usuall with the wisdome of god to communicate things by degrees . yet i thought with my self that others should take this as an occasion to labour to designe one certain and infallible way among so many deviations discovered unto them : which i wondred that men were so backward to essay for full a hundred years . ( for i knew not whether any one had gone about it . ) but it hapned , that a certain learned man , to whom i communicated these complaints of mine in a more familiar manner , shew'd mee a book call'd , prodromus philosophiae instaurandae by thomas campanella an italian : which i read over with incredible joy , and being inflamed with an exceeding great hope of new light , i greedily turn'd through his realis philosophia epilogistica ( for so hee calls it ) set forth in foure books , as also the books de rerum sensu , where ever i could get them . whereby i found my desires in some sort satisfied , but not throughout . for his very foundation , that all things were made up of two contrary principles onely , offended me ( for i was already most fully perswaded of the number of three principles out of the divine book of genesis : and and i remember out of hugo grotius , disputing against the manichees , that of two things fighting one with the other , destruction might follow , but an ordinate construction could never follow . ) and besides i observed that campanella himself was not very certaine of his own hypotheses : as one that began to waver in his assertions towards the positions of galilaeus touching the earths mobility , and yet to call them in doubt himself : as it is evident ●enough in his apologie for galilaeus . but when i chanced afterwards upon a piece of sir francis bacon baron of verulam , chancellour of england , entituled inst aur atio magna ( an admirable work , and which i look upon no otherwise , then as a most bright beam of a new age of philosophers now arising ) i understood that in some particulars also of campanella , such solid demonstrations , as the truth of things requires , were wanting . yet it grieved me again , that i saw most noble verulam present us indeed with a true key of nature , but not open the secrets of nature , onely shewing us by a few examples , how they were to be opened ; and leave the rest to depend on observations and inductions continued for severall ages . yet i saw nevertheless , that my hopes were not quite left in suspense : in as much as i perceived my minde so enlightned by the light which it received from those severall sparks , now grown welnigh to a torch , that some great secrets of nature , and very obscure places of scripture , ( the reason of which i knew not before ) were now plain , as it were of their own accord , to the exceeding great content of my mind . for now with those , that have lighted upon a more sound way of philosophie in this age , i saw and rested in it ; i that the onely true , genuine and plain way of philosophie is to fetch all things from sense , reason and scripture . ii that the peripatetick philosophie is not onely defective in many parts , and many ways intricate , full of turnings and windings , and partly also erroneous , so that it is not onely unprofitable for christians , but also ( without correction and perfection hurtfull . iii that philosophie may be reformed and perfected , by an harmonicall reduction of all things that are and are made , to sense reason and scripture , with so much evidence and certainty ( in all such things as are of most concernment , and have any necessity ) that any mortall man seeing may see , and feeling may feel , the truth scattered every where . of all and every of which observations , least we should seem to have dreamed somewhat , there will be some thing to be said more at large . and for the first we make three principles of philosophy , with campanella , and his happy interpreter tobie adams , sense , reason and scripture : but so joyntly , that whosoever would not be left in ignorāce or doubt , should rest on no one of these without the others , otherwise it wil be a most ready precipice into errors . for sense , though it make an immediate impression upon us of the truth imprinted upon things : yet because it is very often confounded , either by reason of the multitude of things in a manner infinite , and the strange complications of formes : or else wearied and tired , sometimes with the distance of the objects , and so consequently dazeled and deceived . reason must of necessity be imployed , which may conclude alike of like things , and contrarily of contrary things , by observing their proportion , and so supply the defect of sense , and correct its errours . but then because many things are remote both from sense and reason ( which we cannot in any sort attein unto by sense , nor yet by reason firmly enough ) we are indepted to the grace of god , that he hath by his word revealed unto us even some secrets which concern us to know . therefore if any one desire the true knowledg of things , these three principl●s of knowing must of force be conjoyned . otherwise , he that will follow the guidance of sense onely , will never be wiser then the common sort ; nor be able to imagine the moon lesse then a starre ; the sun greater then the earth ; and that again sphaericall , and every way habitable . on the contrary if a man contemplate on abstract things and consult onely with reason without the testimony of sense , he will be rapt away with meer phantasines , and create himself a new world : like the platonicall and aristotelicall , &c. lastly , they that heed the scripture onely , and hearken neither to sense nor reason are either carried away beyond the world ( by the sublimity of their conceptions ; ) or else involve things they understand not with the colliers faith ; or following the letter , propound unto themselves things , though never so absurd and superstitious , to be believed ; as papists do in that most absurd transubstantion of theirs , &c. so then the principles of knowing , must be conjoyned , that divine revelation may afford us belief ; reason , understanding , sense , certainty . and they must be used in this order ( in naturall things i say ) as that we begin with sense , and end in revelation ( as it were the setting to the seal of god : ) for by this order every subsequent degree will receive receive from the antecedent , both evidence and also certainty , and emendation . for as there is nothing in the understanding which was not first in the sense : so there is nothing in the belief , which not first in the understanding . for he that believes , must know what is fit to be believed . hence the scripture frequently invites us to hear , see , tast , consider ; and affirmes that faith too comes by hearing . i said certainty too . for by how much the neerer reason is to sense ( that is by how many the more experiments of the senses it may be demonstrated ) it is so much the more reall : and on the contrary again , the further it recedes from sense , by so much the more vain speculation and naked imagination it hath . but by how much the neerer divine revelation may be reduced to understanding , and the testimonies of experience , so much the more strength it findes . i said further , that the precedent degrees were corrected by the subsequent : and so it is . for where sense fails or mistakes , it is supplied and corrected by reason : and reason by revelation . for example , when the sense judgeth the moon to be bigger then saturn , or an oare to be broken under the water , &c. reason rectifies it by certain documents of experience . so when reason hath gathered any thing falsely of things invisible , it is amended by divine revelation . yet that emendation is not violent , and with the destruction of the precedent principle : but gentle , so that that very thing which is corrected , acknowledgeth , and admits it of its own accord , and with joy , and soon brings something of its own , whereby the same corrected truth may become more apparent . for example , reason brings nothing to correct sense , whereof it is not soon ascertained by sundry experiments , and affirmes it self , that so it is , ( as that an oare is not broken under water , the touch teacheth : as also the sight it self , looking on it after it is drawn out . ) faith holds out nothing , which is contrary and repugnant to reason , ( though it bring that which is beyond and above reason : ) but all things such as reason not onely yields being overcome by authority , but also finds of a truth to be in things , and so seeks and finds out some thing of its own , which may serve to confirme and illustrate the same truth . therefore let it be taken for true , that sense is not onely the fountain of knowledge , but also of certainty , in naturall things : but that the understanding is the organ not onely of knowledge , but also of certainty in revealed things . let us come then to the purpose . some deny , that holy scripture is to be drawn to philosophie , because it teacheth not the speculation of outward things , but the way of eternall life , i confess , that the scripture was given by inspiration of god , to teach , reprove , correct , and instruct in righteousness : that the man of god may be perfect , throughly furnished unto all good works . ( 2 tim. 3. ) i confess , i say , that this is the ultimate end of the scripture . yet who knows not , that there are for the most part more ends of one thing ? even in humane things , much more in divine , where the wisdom of our adored god hath wholly wound up it self , with an artifice scarce to be found out of us . truly , if wee finde that artifice all over nature , ( and so it is ) that every creature , and part of a creature , and part of a part , serves for severall uses : i see no reason why we should deprive the book of god of this character of the highest wisdome . but i see reason why we ought to determine , that most sufficient complements of all things , whereunto sense and reason were insufficient ( and yet wee were concerned to know them ) are extant in that most holy book . for did not god bring man into the school of the world , to contemplate his manifold wisdome ? did not hee command him to behold his invisible things by these things that are seen ? ( rom. 1. v. 20. ) surely this must be acknowledged to be the end both of making the world and placeing man therein . now it is cleere through all nature , that , to whatsoever end god hath ordained any thing , he hath conferred means upon it to be tein it . hee hath therefore conferred means upon man to contemplate his wondrous things : which as wee must acknowledge that they are sense and reason , so we must needs acknowledge that they are not every where sufficicient . for our senses leave us in the knowledge of eternall things , and those things which are placed quite out of sight , and done when we are not present . but where sense fails , reason fails also : being that this is nothing but an universall knowledge of things , gathered from particulars acts of sense ; that this or that is , or is done , either so or so . when as therefore both sense and reason doe very ordinarily fail us , shall we believe , that the most gracious father of lights , would not supply this defect some other way ? his most liberall and in every respect approved bounty towards us , will not permit us to suspect that . but if god have some way or other provided for us , let it be shewen what it is , or where it is to be sought for , if not in that sacred volume of oracles ? and i pray , was it in vain , or onely in respect of our eternall salvation , that god said of his law. this is your wisdome and understanding in the sight of the nations , which shall heare all these statutes and say . surely this is a wise and understanding people . ( deut. 4. 6. ) or did david boast in vain ? i have more under standing then all my teachers ; because thy testimonies are my meditations ( psal. 119. 99. ) or the sonne of sirach say in vain : the word of god most high is the fountain of wisdom ? ( eccles. 1. 5. or was it in vain that salomon call'd god , the guide unto wisdome , and the corrector of the wise ? wisd. 7. 15. ) see here a correctour ! but how doth he correct , but by dashing over our vain cogitation with his word ? and to what purpose , i pray is all that is frequently mētion'd concerning the beginning of the world and the order of the creation , and properties of the creatures , if the parent of nature , who is also the dictatour of the scriptures , meant to teach us nothing of nature ? they say it is to this end , that we may learn to know and admire , love and fear the maker of all things . right : but how the maker without his work ? does not any one so much the more admire and praise the ingenuity of the painter , if he be excellent , by how much the better he understands the art of painting ? surely yes . a superficiall knowledge will never raise either love or admiration . and then i demand , those things , which wee meet with in the scriptures concerning the creatures ( by similitudes also drawn thence ) are they true or false ? if true ( for who can determine otherwise without blasphemie ) why may we not conferre them with those things that are manifest by sense & reason ? that so we may finde out that harmony of truth , which is in things , and in the mouth of the author of things ? truly , if the words of the wise are as goades and nails fastened : ( as salomon testifies , eccles. 12. 11. ) what shall we think of the words of the all-wise god ? but this , that though they raise us up with another end , and by the by , yet they contein nothing but most solid truth and all manner of-wisedome . in vain therefore may some one say : i finde no mention in the scriptures , much less precepts of grammar , logicke , mathematicks , physicks , &c. for there is as much distance betwixt divine writings and humane , as betwixt god himself and man. man that is limited with time , place and objects , at one time and in one place can do but one thing : but god that is aeternall , omnipresent , and omniscient , at once sees , rules and governs all things , always and every where . and the same character do their writings retein on either part . humane writings do some one thing with expresse endeavour , handling one object in one place , and that in such a way as is most pleasing to mans understanding : but divine writings like an universal treasury of wisdome stay not upon one particular matter , ( unlesse it be in things pertaining to theologie ) but contein variety of matter under severall sayings . whence a divine , a moralist , a politician , a housholder , a philosopher , a philologer , &c. may take out every of them , what each hath use of . and this breadth & depth of the scripture is its prerogative before humane writings , that so it may be in truth an inexhaustible fountain of all wisdome . for whatsoever matter is to be handled , the scripture affords always , either a rule , or some sayings or examples : as john henrie alsted ( sometimes my honoured master ) shews in his triumphus biblicus , and much more might be discovered by a very accurate diligence : which that so it is , for a good part of it , shall appear also in these our physicall meditations . rightly therefore said cassiodorus : the scripture is an heavenly school , wherein we learn whatsoever we are either to learn or to be ignorant of . and piously t. lydiat : it is most absurd , that heathen philosophers should seek for the principles of all arts in one homers posie , and that we christians should not do the same in the oracles of god , which are a most plentifull and most clear fountain of wisdome . ( about the end of his physiological disquisition . ) those most christian philosophers are therefore deservedly to be praised , who have endeavoured to render unto god the parent of things that praise that is due unto him , franc. valesius , lambert danaeus , levinus lemnius , thomas lydiat , conradus as●acus , otto casmannus ; who have not doubted to asseverate , that the seeds of true philosophy are conteined in the holy book of the bible , and to derive their maximes of philosophy from thence ( though with different successe . ) let it stand therefore , that philososophy is lame without divine revelation . whence wee have this consequence , that aristotle is not to be tolerated in christian schools , as the onely master of philosophie : but that we should be free philosophers , to follow that which our senses , reason , and scripture dictate . for what ? are not we placed as wel as they in natures garden ? why then do we not cast about our eyes , nosthrils and ears as well as they ? why should we learn the works of nature of any other master , rather then of these ? why do we not , i say , turn over the living book of the world instead of dead papers ? wherein we may contemplate more things , and with greater delight and profit then any one can tell us . if we have any where need of an interpretour the maker of nature , as we have said , is the best interpretour of himself . if a monitour or suggestour , we have more and better then aristotle , experience ( of the various and occult maeanders of nature ) being multiplyed in the processe of so many ages . for as all humane things get up to perfection from rude beginnings , so philosophy hath had its grouths too . in aristotles age it was scarce out of its infancy : in the ages that followed after , ( especially in ours ) it was so increased stil with new observations , that the aristotelick tenets savour of obscurity & uncertainty in cōparison of these , nay , they hold out open falsities . be it then ( writes rod. goclenius to nic. taurellus ) that nature hath shewed all the acutenesse of humane ingenuity in aristotle ; let aristotle be a man that hath deserved well of all humane wisdome beyond and above all other mortall men besides ; let him be the father and captain of our wisdome ; let him be the supream dictatour of wisdome , the generalissimo of philosophers , the eagle of the philosophicall kingdome , wisdome and praise of literature ; let him be the hercules , the prince , the tribunall of truth ; let him be the deity of philosophers ; let him be lastly a man greater then all praise , and above all calumny ; which titles julius scaliger sets him out with : yet this miracle of nature is not the rule of truth , seeing that hee hath not every where traced truths footsteps . thus goclenius . now hee that will may see campanella and verulamius , ( for it may suffice , to have shewed these hercules , who have happily put to their hands to the subduing of monsters , and cleansing augias stables ; and to have opposed them to those , whom the authority of aristotles vainly swelling philosophy holds bewitched : ) and feel how farre aristotles assertions are often from the truth , and this is the cause why it seems convenient , that aristotle with all his heathenish train should be excluded from the sacred philosophy of christians ; least they should any more entangle the truth in errours , and involve and obscure those things with intricate disputations , which are of themselves plain by the lamp of the word of god , and of sound reason . for is it not very absurd , that christians , who are trained up in the true knowledge of the true god , and taught by his holy voice , concerning the originall causes , end , and manne of subsistence of all things visible and invisible ; to whom also the very mysteries of aeternity are revealed ; whom the anointing of god teacheth al● things ; to whom christ hath imparted his mind ( 1 john 2. v. 27. 1 cor 2. 16. ) that they , i say , should see for the truth of things amongst th● heathen , that are destitute of all the●e and have no other helps , but those of reason , and of the senses , which are common to us with them ? is it so indeed that there is not a god in israel , that we go to enquire of the gods of ekron ? is the light of hierusalem so put out , that we must needs borrow lamps at athens ? it is well known that origen was the man that first of all joyned heathen philosophy with christian religion : with no ill intent perhaps , but sure it is with very bad event . the good mans purpose without doubt was to put some externall splendour upon christian religion , as then contemned by reason of its simplicity , that so christians might be well appointed to buckle with the gentile philosophers at their own weapons . but whither or no came this perswasion from him , that hath called us out of darknesse into his marvellous light , and commanded us to beware of vain philosophy after the tradition of men , after the rudiments of the world , and not after christ. ( gal. 5. 8. 1 pet , 2. 9. colos. 2. 8. ) and indeed the most sad estate of the church a little after shews what fruit we had in coupling aristotle what christ ; when all was ful of the noise of disputations , ( for slippery quaestions , and an itching desire of controversie is the very soul of peripateticisme ) and haeresie sprung out of haeresie , till at length the fumes of humane opinions had so quite darkned the brightnesse of the divine wisdom , that all things degenerated into antichristianisme . where in forging articles of faith , and ordaining rules of life , aristotle had an aequall share with christ , that i may not say he had the sole dictatourship : of which thing our school divinity will give us a very cleer sight . if origen then a man of so sublime a wit , in vain attempted to piece out christian religion with that same heathen philosophy ; and thomas scotus nor no man else had any better successe , why then do we tolerate it ? why do we not slip our wits out of those snares ? why do we not throw away those spectacles which present us with fancies instead of things ? some are afraid , least , if they should let go peripatetick philosophy , they should have none at all . as if when hagar were cast out , there would have been none to bless abraham with issue ! or that the israelites would have been sterved with hunger , when they . had left the aegyptian flesh pots ; or that moses must needs have grown blockish , when he was out of the company of the wise men of memphis ! nay rather , that promised grace will come at length , at length that heavenly manna will rain down , at length we shall be truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taught of god , when turning away our ears from humane opinions , we shall hearken to god alone speaking by nature , and by his word . and then how solid , easie , and delightfull will all things be ! when as the whole course of philosophy will not consist in opinions but in truth . but greater care was to be had of method : that all things should be delivered to the learners in such a way , that they may finde knowledge to flow into them , not to be stuft in ; always beginning with those things that are best known , and ending in things no lesse known then they . for why should we think that impossible in physicks , which is so excellently atchieved in mathematicks ? whereall demonstrations ( n. w. ) are brought to the very sight : and all is so contrived together of things that go before and are better known ( always beginning with such common things that it is taedious to the unskilfull to heare them ) in such an order , as that which is in the middest is never skipt over , nor place , given to that which is more unknown , whence it comes to passe , that you must of necessity assent as well to that which is last , as to that which is first . and truly there is reason to wonder why the like hath not been yet assayed in metaphysicks , physicks , and theologie , ( for ethicks and politicks concern more contingent things . ) i am not ignorant that there is more evidence in numbers , measures and weights , then in qualities , by which nature puts forth its strength after a hidden manner : yet i will not say that there is greater certainty in them , seeing that all things are done alike not without highest reason , in a continued order , and as it were by an aeternall law . and yet in mathematicks all things are not alike plain , yet they are assayed sundry wayes till they can be reduced to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or very sight , as i said before , and delivered scientifically . for he sayes nothing in philosophicall matters that proves nothing : and he proves nothing that doth not so demonstrate it , that you cannot contradict it . and now i beseech you let this be our businesse , that the schools may cease to perswade , and begin to demonstrate : cease to dispute and begin to speculate : cease lastly , to believe , and begin to know . for that aristotellicall maxim , discentem oportet credere , a learner must believe is as tyrannicall as dangerous ; and that same pythagorean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ipse dixit . let no man be compell'd to swear to his masters words , but let the things themselves constrain the intellect : nor let a master have any more credit given him , then hee can demonstrate in very deed , that hee is to have . for in a free common-wealth there ought to be no kings , but dukes or generalls ; no dictators , but consuls . and those that profess the art of instructing men , are the fathers of men , not the carvers of statues . o when shall we see that day ! that all things which ought to be known shall offer themselves so to a mans understanding , that there wil be nothing but what may be understood for the very cleerness of it , nothing call'd in doubt for certainty : the truth of things making such an impression upon the senses with its light . for hee doth not see truly , who must yet be perswaded by arguments to make him believe that hee sees : as wee have been hither to dealt with for the best part . i could not choose , because i seemed to see light in the light of god , but assay calling god to my aid , to reduce these new hypotheses of naturall things into a new method , and dictate them to the schollers of this school . and thence sprang this , which i now offer , representing a draught of the lineaments of some new , ( and as i hope truly christian ) philosophie . not that i would crosse the design of great verulam ( who thought it the best way to abstein from axiomes and method , till full inductions could be made , of all and every thing throughout all nature : ) but to make an experiment in the mean time , whether more light might be let into our minds by this means to observe the secrets of nature the more easily , that so praise might be perfected to god out of the very mouth of infants , and confusion prepared for the gain saying enemie ; as david having comprised the summe of physicks in a short hymne for the use of the unlearned ) speaks . ( psal. 8. ) i have entituled it a synopsis of physicks reformed by divine light : because philosophy is here guided by the lamp of divine scripture , and all our assertions are brought to the attestation of the senses and reason , with as much evidence as could be possible . now both those come under the name of divine light . for as david said , thy word is alanthorne unto my feet : so said salomon the spirit or mind of a man is the candle of the lord searching all things . ( psalm 119. 105. and proverbs 20. 27. if any one object : that these things here delivered , are not yet of that certainty or evidence , as to be preferred before aristotles so long received doctrine ; i will answer , that is not my drift at present : but onely i propound this as an example , that a truer way of philosophie may be set out , by the guidance of god , the light of reason , and the testimonie of sense , if philosophers would labour more after god and the truth , then after aristotle and opinion . in the mean time , these should be the more acceptable , and had in more reverent esteem of us , if it were for nothing but this , that they are taken from the oracles of god , and aime at a more abundant knowledg of god. for my part truly i had rather ( in that mind i now am : and that it may so continue , strengthen me , ô god ) i had rather i say erre , having god for my guide , then having aristotle : that is , i had rather follow the voice of god , though not throughly understood yet , so i follow it , then be carried away from the sacred testimonies of my god , to the devices of the brain of man. i confesse my self , that something more were to be desired here yet , to that rule of certainty and evidence which i spake of before : yet because i trust that these things may be brought to a fuller 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 [ exactnesse ] by reiterated meditations , ( of mine own or some others , ) i doubted not to follow the counsell of great acontius : if thou hast made any rare observation , sayes he , which never any one before made ( whither the thing be a new invention , or some new way of former inventions ) although much be wanting as yet , which is above thy strength , neverthelesse if thou shouldest not make it publick , it would argue either too much cowardize , or too much haughtinesse of thy mind , and however that thou art no lover of the common wealth . and why should not these things be accounted as new inventions ; that ternarie of principles so clearly demonstrated from scripture , reason , and sense ? why not that admirable scale of substances , by a septenarie gradation ? why not the doctrine of spirits ( as well separate as incorporate : ) of motions also and qualities , laid down more accurately and plainly then ever before , & letting in a quite new light into the knowledge of natur all things ? to say nothing of smaller matters scattered all over the book . every of which in particular though i dare not defend tooth and nail , for some things perhaps are still the reliques of common tradition : and others it may be , not yet sufficiently established upon the foundations w ch we have laid down ) yet i am perswaded that they are the groundworks of unmoved truth , and avail much to the more exact observation of particular things . and that i may speak in a word , i hope there is so much light in this method of physicks here delivered , that very little place is left to doubts and disputations : so that it makes something towards the taking away the controversies of authours , the opinions of all ( whatsoever of truth either aristotle hath ; or galen , the chymicks , campanella and verulamius do reasonably alledge against him ) being reduced to an harmony ; which may be made plain by the example of the principles of which they make bodies to consist , ( which aristotle would have to be the four elements ; the syagyricks salt , sulfur and ☿ . nay more , that by this means a gate is opened in a new kinde of way , not onely to the understanding of arts and humane inventions , but also to multiply them : which could never be , unless the foundations of truth were found . perhaps i speak more , then the reader will think he finds in my writings . but if he saw but the streams ( the delineation of that pansophia christiana , which wee have in hand ) that are derived , from this fountain , as also from that of our didacticks and metaphysicks , hee would not hold it vainly spoken . but because those are not yet brought to light , i set down this as a law for these that are : if any thing be not sufficiently deduced from sense , reason , and scripture ; if any thing cohere not harmoniously enough with the rest ; if any thing be not evident enough with its own perspicuity , let it be taken as not said at all . which law standing in force it may be lawful for my self & all others , both to doubt always , and every where whether every thing be so as it is delivered to be : and also to enquire why it is , as it is found to be ; by which two courses , that the lowest foundations of truth , will in time be discovered no body needs to doubt . therefore let none of vs seeke after any thing else , but how the truth may best be maintained on all hands which if it happen not to be on our side , and that we are deceived with appearances of truth , ( as it is very usuall in humane affaires , ) i beseech all those that are more sharp-sighted , for the love of truth courteously to shew us our way , which we have lost , and where our demonstrations come not together . but if these savour of truth something neer , that then they would not disdain to joyn their endevours with ours for the illustration thereof : that all of us being the children of truth may compose and sing hymnes of prayse together to god the father of truth . thou therefore o christ the fathers glory bright , of this great world the onely light ; on us some beams of light bestow , that are thy servants , thee to know . amen , lord make me to see ! here indeed thy externall light shining upon , and internall informing thy creatures , but there in [ in heaven ] aeternall and uncreated ! amen , amen . and so christian readers farewel . j. a. c. march the 12th . 1650. imprimatur john downame . a table of the heads of this book . prolegomena , of the nature and use of physick . i an idea of the world to be created and created . pag. 9 ii of the principles of the world , matter , spirit and light. 20 iii of the motion of things . 38 iv of the qualities of things . 49 v of the mutation of things . 69 vi of the elements . 78 vii of vapours . 96 viii of concretes 114 ix of plants . 148 x of living creatures . 159 xi of man. 210 xii of angels . 228 an appendix to physicks , of the diseases of the body , mind and soul , aad their remedies . 243 errata . page 53. for softness read saltness , p. 63. for softness r. saltness , p. 247. line 12. for run r. noisome , p. 250. l. 4. for veins r. reins , ibid. l. 28 dele by . prolegomena . touching the nature , foundation and use of physick . i physick is the scientiall knowledge of naturall ▪ things . ii that thing is naturall , which is by nature , not by art for whatsoever this visible world hath , comes all , either from nature or from art those things are from nature which god brought forth in the beginning , or w ch are to this very time begotten : by a virtue implanted in things , as , the heavens , the earth , the sea , rivers , mountains , stones , metals , hearbs , living creatures , &c. those things are from art which men have shaped , by putting a new form upon natural things ; as , cities , houses , ponds , channels , statues , coines , garments , books , &c. that is by the work of mans ingenuity and hands . physicks have nothing to do with these things ; these are put over to the arts . now seeing that nature is before art : ye that art imitates nothing but nature , for as much as it doth nothing but by the strength of nature : it necessarily follows , that nature is to be laid for a foundation to arts , and that nature must first be knowne by those that are studious of arts , what things , and by what vertue it operates every where ▪ for when this is known , the secrets of all arts open of their own accord , without this in arts and prudentials all wil be blinde , dumbe , and maimed : therefore physick is so necessary to be premised before the mathematical , and logical , and also the prudentiall arts , that they who do otherwise , may be thought to build castles in the air . iii the nature of things is , the law of being born and of dying , of operating and of ceasing , which god the workmaster hath laid upon all things that are . for all things are born and die : all things operate somewhat , and all things cease again : in an order and manner proper to every creature ▪ which order and manner being that it is with most excellent reason , could not be disposed , but by the supream wisdome , inasmuch as it is found constantly to be imposed by way of a law upon things ▪ now it took the name of nature from the first degree of mutation of every thing , which is , to be borne . iv the knowledge of nature is to be obtein'd by searching into nature it self . by searching i say . for no one should spend his time in physicks , to that end , that he might have his mind taken up with anothers conceits ; but that he may put forward himself to the through and intimate knowledg of things , otherwise the intellect will not be illustrated with the nature of things , but obumbrated with the speculation of phantasms in naturall things , therefore we are to seek for guides who may make us scholers , not of themselves , but of nature , and exhibite unto us not their own fond reasons , but nature . v to search nature , is to contemplate , how , and wherefore , every thing in nature is done . to contemplate i say . for as we do not see the sun , but by looking on the sun : so we do not learn nature , but by looking into nature ; which is that the scripture counsels us . ask the beasts , and they shall teach thee , and the fouls of the aire , and they shall tell thee , or talk with the earth , and it shall answer thee , and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee . ( job 12. 7. ) therefore the learners of naturall philosophy , cannot be more happily and easily instructed , then if they be taught by ocular demonstration , wheresoever it is to be had : i say to contemplate every thing , that so we may sift out the reasons and causes of all things every where . for it is certain that nature doth nothing in vain , even in things of least moment , yea sometimes in the very least things much wisdome lies stored up . and which is more , we cannot attain to the knowledg of great things , but by the knowledg of lesser things , which the following aphorisme will teach us . vi nature unfolds her self in the least things , and wraps up her self in the greatest things . that is , in the more excellent creatures many things are wound up and woven together with such an occult artifice , that neither the beginning nor the endings of actions and accidents can easily be discerned , but in all courser creatures , all things are clearly manifest , which is the cause why the nature of compounds cannot be knowne , unlesse the nature of simples be first known : so consequently we are to begin with these speculations , and to proceed by degrees from simpler things to the more compound : which very order we shall see that the creator himself observed , in producing and twisting together the nature of things . vii wee are to studie naturall phylosophie by the guide of sense , and light of the scripture . for sense is the beginning not onely of knowledge , but of certainty and wisdome ; for as there is nothing in the intellect which was not first in the sense , so if there be any thing obscurely or doubtfully in the intellect , we are to have recourse to the sense for evidence and certainty . but wheresoever sense or reason faileth , ( as in things remote either in place or time ) we are indebted to the grace of god , that he hath deigned to reveale many things unto us exceeding sense and reason . for example , the first production of the world , and the constitution of things invisible . he that neglecteth either of these principles is easily intangled in errours : for by how much the more of imagination any thing hath , by so much the more vanitie it hath , and is the more remote from the truth : again , by how much the lesse any thing participates of revealed wisdome , by so much the lesse it partakes of the truth . and such for the most part is the philosophy of the gentiles , and therefore vain and barren , we will follow the guidance of moses , ( who described the generation of the world by the command of god : ) yet always heedfully observing the attestation of the senses , and of reason . for wisely doth lud. vives ( as we have set down under the title of this book ) recall christians from the lamp of the gentiles , which yeilds an obscure and maligne light , to that torch of the sun , which christ the light of the world brought into the world , attributing much wit indeed , but little profit to the inventions of aristotle . nay further campanella and verulamius most christian philosophers ( that are acquainted with that way of philosophy from sense and scripture ) have demonstrated , that all aristotles doctrines are nothing but a nurserie of disputations , ( that is , of obscurities , haesitancies , contradictions , strifes , and wranglings ) and fighting hood-winckt , and that they hinder rather then advance our meditation of things , and withall have afforded us a light , whereat we may kindle more clear torches of inquiring out the truth . following vvhose footsteps ( yet laying strong foundations from the scripture ) vve vvill dresse out a little theatre of nature , not for disputation , but for speculation ; and vve vvill go through nature silently , yet not vvithout our eyes , and that again according to the counsel of great vives : here is no need of disputations , ( saith he ) but of a silent contemplation of nature : the scholars shal enquire and ask rather then contend : if any be more slow they wil need more ful commonstration not disputation , and a little after , again i say , here is no need of wrangling but of looking on , so this study wil be the delight of the rich , and a refreshing of the mind to those that deal either in publike or in private affairs : for when shal we easily find any other delight of the senses , to be compared with this , either in the greatness or in the variety , or in the continuance of it ; for when we bestow our labour upon this contemplation , wee need not seek for any other recreation , nor desire sawce for this meat , the walk it self , and the quiet contemplation is both a school and a master , as that which always affords something , which thou mayest admire , wherein thou mayest delight , which may increase thy knowledge . therefore let us resolve upon this , vve that vievv naturall things , to rest upon no other authority besides that of the work-master of nature , and of nature her self ( as she holds forth her self to be touched and felt ) the scriptures , sense and reason , shal be our guides , wìtnesses and dictators , to the testimonies of vvhich he that assents not , shevvs himselfe very foolish and vain . chap. i. an idea of the world to be created and created . the eternall deitie , our god that is to be adored , after the infinite glories which hee enjoyes in his immense eternity , was of his exceeding goodnesse propense to communicate himselfe out of himself ; and by his exceeding wisdome saw that his invisible things might be expressed by certain visible images ; and to execute that , had his omnipotencie at hand , he decreed not to envie entitie to those things , wherein he might be expressed , and wherein his power , wisdome and goodness might be revealed : therefore he produced intelligent creatures , by whom he might be known & praised angels and men : both after his own image : but the first pure minds , the other clothed with bodies for whom he built a dwelling place , and as it were a school of wisdome , this universall world with other creatures of inferiour degree almost infinite : all and every of which , cry out after their manner , hee made us , and not wee our selves . now then we go about to unfold in what order so great a work proceeded , and with what art all things were contrived , and with what strength they are held together , yet by his guiding who alone is able to testifie of himself and of his works ; for thus , says he , by his secretary moses . gen. 1. i in the beginning god created the heaven , ( v. 1. ) that is , the heaven of heavens with the angels : whom as morning stars first produced , he made spectatours of the rest of his works . ( joh. 38. v. 7. ) ii and the earth ) that is this visible world , which notwithstanding he did not finish in the same moment , therefore it is said . iii and the earth was void , & without form , and darknesse was upon the face of the deep . v. 2. that is , the matter of this world was first produced , a certain chaos without form and darke , like a black smoake arising out of the bottomlesse pit of nihilitie , by the beck of the almighty , and this was matter , the first principle of this visible wo●ld . iv and the spirit of god moved upon the water , ) that is a certaine strength was introduced by the spirit or breath of god into that same darke , and of it selfe confused matter , whereby it began to stirre . hereby then is understood the second principle of the world , that is , the spirit of life diffused throughout , whereof the universal world is hitherto ful ; which insinuating it selfe every where through all the parts of the matter , cherishes and rules it , and produces every creature , introducing into every one it s own form , but being that this work-master had need of fire to soften and to prepare the matter , variously for various uses , god produced it . for , v god said let there be light and there was light , ver . 3. ) this is described , as the third principle of the world , meerly active , whereby the matter was made visible and divisible into forms , the light , i say , perfecting all things which are , and are made in the world , therefore it is added . vi and god saw the light that it was good , ver . 4 ) that is , he saw that all things would now proceed in order . for that light being produced in a great masse , began presently to display its threefold virtue ( of illuminating , moving it selfe , and heating , ) and by turning about the world , to heat and rarifie the matter , and so to divide it . for hence followed first of all from the brightnesse of that light the difference of nights and days . vii he divided the light from darkness , and called the light day , and the darknesse he called night , and the evening and morning were the first day , ver . ● . ) that is , that light when it had turn'd it self round , & compassed the world , with that motion made day and night . the second effect of light was from heat , namely , that which way soever it pass'd , it rarified and purified the matter , but it condensed it on both sides , upward and downward . whence came the division of the elements , this moses expresses in these words . viii and god said , let there be a firmament , that it may divide betwixt the wa●er above and the waters below , ver . 6. ) god said , that is , he ordained how it should be . let there be a firmament , that is , let that light stretch forth the matter , and let the thicker part of the matter melting and flying from the light thereof , make waters on this side and on that . above , as they are the term of the visible world ; but below , as they are a matter apt to produce other creatures , under which the earth as thick dregs came together . that was done the second day . xi therefore god said , let the waters be gathered together under heaven into one place , and let the dry land appear . and it was so ; and god called the dry land , earth , and the gathering together of the waters he called seas , and he saw that it was good . ver . 9 , 10. ) and so on the third day , there came the foure greatest bodies of the world out of the matter already produced , aether , ( that is , the firmament or heaven ) aire , water and earth ; all as yet void of lesser creatures . therefore said god. x let the earth bud forth the green herb , and trees bearing seed or fruit every one according to his kinde ver . 11. ) this was done the same third day , when as now the heat of coelestiall light having wrought more effectually began to beget fat vapours on the earth , whereinto that living spirit of the world insinuating it self , began to cause plants to grow up in various formes , according as it pleased the creator . this is the truest original and manner of generation of plants hitherto , that they are form'd by the spirit with the help of heat . but as the heavens did not always equally effuse the same heat , but according to the various form of the world , one while more midly , another while more strongly ; the fourth day god disposed that same light of heaven , otherwise then hitherto it had been , namely , forming from that one great masse thereof divers lucid globes , greater and lesser , which ( being called stars ) he placed here and there in the firmament higher and lower , with an unequall motion , to distinguish the times , and this moses describes v. 14 , 15 , &c. thus . xi and god said , let there be light made in the firmament of heaven , that they may divide the day and the night , and may be for signes , and for seasons , and for days , and for years , that they may shine in the firmament , and enlighten the earth , therefore god made two great lights , and the starres , &c. ) this done , then after , all the face of the world began to appear beautifull , and the heat of heaven more temperate , began to temper the matter of inferiour things together , after a new manner ; so that the spirit of life now began to form more perfect creatures , namely moving plants , which we call animals , of which moses thus . xii god said also , let the waters bring forth creeping things , having a soul of life , and flying things upon the earth , &c. v. 20. ) the waters were first commanded to produce living creatures , because it is a softer element then earth : first reptiles , as earth-wormes , and other worms , &c. ) because they are as it were the rudiment of nature , also swiming things , and flying things , that is , fishes and birds , animals of a more light compaction ; that was done on the fift day with a most goodly spectacle to the angels ; but on the sixth day , god commanded earthly animals to come forth , namely of a more solid structure , which was presently done , when the spirit of the world distributed it self variously through the matter of the clay : for thus moses . xiii god said , let the earth produce creatures , having life according to their kind , beasts , and serpents , and beasts of the field , and it was s● . v. 24. ) so now the heaven of heavens had for inhabitants , the angels ; the visible heaven , the starres , the air birds , the water fishes , the earth beasts , there was yet a ruler wanting for these inferiour things , namely , a rationall creature , or an angel visibly clothed , for whose sake those visible things were produced . therefore at the last when god was to produce him , he is said by moses to have taken counsel ; in these words . xiv then god said , let us make man after our own image , and likenesse , who may rule over the fishes of the sea , and the fouls of the air , and beasts , and all the earth , &c. therefore he created man out of the dust of the earth , and breathed in his face the breath of life , &c. v. 26. and cap. 2. v. 7. ) so man was made , like to the other living creatures by a contemperation of matter , spirit and light ; and to god and the angels , through the inspiration of the mind , a most exquisite summarie of the world , and thus the structure of the universe ought to proceed , so as to begin with the most simple creature , and end in that which is most compound but both of them rationall ; that it might appear , that god created these onely for himself , but all the intermediate for these . lastly , that all things are from god , and for god , flow out from him , and reflow to him . but that all these things might continue in their essence , as they were disposed by the wisdome of god , he put into every thing a virtue , which they call nature , to conserve themselves , in their effence , yea , & to multiply , whence the continuation of the creatures unto this very day , and this moses intimated , adding touching animals . xv and god said , increase and multiply , v. 22. ) by the virtue of which command and words , let there be made , let it produce , let it put forth , &c. things are made and endure hitherto , and would remain ( if god would ) without end unto aeternity . gods omnipotency concurring no longer immediately unto particular things , ( as before ) but nature it self , always spreading forth her vertue through all things . which thing derogates nothing from the providence of god , nay rather it renders his great power , wisdome , & goodnes , more illustrate . for it comes from his great goodness , that the greatest and the least things are so disposed to their ends , that nothing can be , or be made in vain ; from his wisdome , that such an industry is put into nature to dispose all things to their e●ds , so that it never happens to erre , unlesse it be hindred : lastly , from his power , that such an immutable durability can be put into the universe , through such a changeable mutabilitie of particulars , so that the world is as it were aeternall . therefore the veins of the strength , artifice and order of this nature must be more throughly searched ; that those things which we have here in few words hinted out of moses , may be more illustrated by the constant test●mony of scripture , reason and senses , and a way made to observe one thing out of another . an appendix to the first chapter . we have said that it may be gathered out of those words of moses . in the beginning god created the heaven : that the invisible world was the beginning of the works of god , that is the heaven of heavens with the angels . now that by this heaven is to be understood the heaven of heavens , and the invisible , or angelicall world appeares plain . i. out of scripture , which 1 mentions the heaven of heavens every where ; but their production no where , unlesse it be here . 2 moses testifies that the invisible heavens were stretched out the second day , and the fourth day adorned with starres , therefore another heaven must necessarily be understood in this place ; namely a heaven that was finished in the same moment , for that the particle autem inferres , hee created the heavens and the earth ; terra autem , but the earth was without form , &c. iii this reason evinces the same , those things which are made by god are made in order , now an orderly processe in operation , is this , that a progresse be made from more simple things , to compound things , therefore as the most compound creature man was last produced ; so the most simple and immateriall creatures , ( heaven and the angels ) first of all . iii and what would we have more ? god himself testifies expresly ; that when he made the earth , the angels stood by him as spectators , for so saith he to job ; where wast thou when i founded the earth , when the morning starres sang together , and all the sonnes of god shouted . ( job . 38. 4 , 7. ) calling the angels morning starres , because they were a spirituall beam , and that newly risen : sonnes of god , because they were made after the image of god. therefore when we hear , that the earth was founded the first day , it must needs be that the angels were produced before the earth : and if the angels , then certainly the dwellings of the angels , the heaven of heavens ; and that in full perfection , with all their hosts , as it were in one moment , aud this is the cause why moses speaks no more of that heaven , but descends to the forming of the earth , that is the visible world : ( how the creator took unto himself six dayes to digest it ) as we will also now descend . chap. ii. of the visible principles of the world , matter , spirit and light . we have seene , god shewing us , how the world arose out of the abysse of nihilitie ; let us now see how it standeth , that so by seeing we may learn to see , and by feeling to feel , the very truth of things . and here are three principles of visible things held out unto us , matter , spirit , and light , that they were produced the first day , as three great but rude masses , and out of those variously wrought , came forth various kinds of creatures , therefore we must enquire further , whether these three principles of all bodies , have a true being , and be yet existent . least any errour be perhaps committed at the very entrance , by any negligence whatsoever , but now seeing that no more doubts of matter , and light , this onely comes to be prooved , that by that spirit which hovered upon the face of the waters , a certain universall spirit of the world , is to be understood , which puts life and vigour into all things created , for the newnesse of this opinion in physicks , and the interpretation of that place by divines with one consent of the person of the holy spirit , give occasion of doubting . but chry●ostome , ( as aslacus cites him ) and danaeus acknowledgeth , that in this place a created spirit , which is as it were the soul of the world , is more rightly to be understood ; and it is proved strongly . i by scripture , which testifieth that a certain vertue was infused by god through the whole world , susteining and quickening all things , and operating all things in all things ; which he calleth both a spirit and a soul , and sometimes the spirit of god , sometimes the spirit of the creatures . for example ( psal. 104. v. 29. 30. ) david saith thus ; when thou receivest their spirit , ( that is the spirit of living creatures , and of plants ) they die , and return to their dust : but when thou sendest forth thy spirit ( that is the spirit of god , ) again , they are recreated , and the face of the earth is renewed , but job ( 27. 3. ) says thus ; as long as my soul shall be in me , and the spirit of god in my nostrils ; see the soul of man , and the spirit of god are put for the same ! which place compared with the saying of elihu , the spirit of god hath made me , and the breath of the omnipotent hath put life into me . ( c. 33. v. 4. ) opens the true meaning of moses ; namely that the spirit of god stirring upon the waters , produced the spirit or soul of the world , which puts life into all living things . now that this is disposed through all things , appears out of ezechiel : where god promising the spirit of life unto the dry bones , ( ezech. 17. v. 5 , 14. ) which he cals his spirit , bids it to come from the four winds ( v. 9 ) therefore augustine , ( lib. imperf . sup . gen. ad lit . ) and basil ( in hexamero ) call this spirit , the soule of the world . and aristotle ( as sennertus testifies ) says that the spirit of life is a living and genitall essence diffused through all things but the testimony of elihu , is most observable , who speaks thus . who hath placed the whole world ? if he ( namely god ) should set his heart upon it , and should gather unto himself the spirit thereof , and the breath thereof ( or : his spirit and his breath : for the hebrew affix is rendred both ways ) all flesh would die together , and man would return unto dust . job 34. v. 13 , 14. so , if god should take his spirit out of the world , every living thing would die . 2 by reason and sense , it is certainly evident , that herbs and animals spring out of a humide matter , even without seed . but whence had these life , i pray you , but from that diffused soul of the world ? wee finde by experience , that bread , wine and water , yea aire , are vitall to those that feed upon them , but whence have they that vital force , i pray you , if not from this diffused soule ? but now if a certaine spirit be diffused in that manner through all things , it follows necessarily , that it was created in the begining in its whole masse , even as the matter & the light were first produced , in that its great and undigested masse : so that there was no need that any thing should be created afterwards , but be compounded of those three , and distinguished with forms . which god intimated , in esay 42. v. 5. where declaring himself the creator of all things , he divides them into three parts , namely , into the heavens , ( that is light the earth , ( that is matter ) and a quickning spirit , and just so in zachary 12. v. 1. let us therefore hereafter beware so great an absurdity , ( that i may not say blasphemy ) as to put the person of the holy ghost amongst the creatures . now there may three reasons of this thing be given , why moses called that quickning spirit , produced in the beginning , the spirit of god. namely , that it is taken in that sense , wherein els-where it is spoken of ●he mountains of god , ( psal. 36. v. 7. ) and trees of god ( psal. 104. v. 16. ) and ninive was called a citie of god : that is , by reason of their greatness and dignity . 2. because it was produced immediatly by god ; not as now it is , when that spirit passeth from one subject to another . 3 because it was a peculiar act of the holy ghost . for the analogie of our faith teacheth us to believe , that the production of the matter out of nothing , is a work of gods omnipotencie , and is attributed to the father ; that the production of light ( by which the world received splendour and order ) is a work of wisdome attributed to the son , ( john 1. v. 3 , 4. ) and lastly , that the virtue infused into the creatures is a work of his goodnesse , which is attributed to the holy ghost . ( psal. 143. v 10. ) and so must that place ( psal. 33. v. 9 & 6. ) be altogether understood , ( for it will not bear any other sense ) he spake and they were made ; he commanded , and they came forth : the heavens were established by the word of god , and all the virtue of them by the spirit of his mouth also wee must note , ( gen. 1. v. 1 , 2 , 3. ) that three words are added to the three principles , he created , he said , and he moved himself ; that they may be signs of his absolute power , of his word , and of his spirit . also we must note this , that in both those places the holy ghost with his work is placed in the midst ; ( as also in esay 40. v. 13. ) because he is the spirit , the love , and the mutuall bond of both , but this we speak after the manner of men let it stand therefore for certain , that all the principles were created the first day , every one in its masse ; and that all things were afterwards composed out of them , which may be declared to children ( for their more full understanding ) by a similitude thus : an apothecary or confectioner being to make odoriferous balls , takes sugar in stead of matter ; rose-water , or syrrup , or some other sweet liquour for tincture or conditure ; last of all taking some of this lumpe thus made , hee imprints certain shapes upon his work . so also god first prepared his matter : then tempered it with a living spirit ; then brought light into it , which by its heat and motion might mix and temper both together and bring it to certain forms . also even as a mechanick must have matter , and two hands to work withall ; the one hand , to hold ; and the other to work with : so in the framing of the world , there was need , first of matter , then of a spirit to frame the matter , and lastly of light , or heat to inactuate the matter under the hand of the spirit . and what need many words ? we see in every stone , hearb , and living creature : first a certain quantity of matter ; secondly , a certain inward virtue , whereby it is generated , it groweth , it spreads abroad its savour , and its odour and its healing virtue ; thirdly , a form or a certain disposition of parts with divers changes , which come from the heat working within . for , matter is a principle meerly passive , light meerly active , spirit indifferent , for in respect of the matter it is active ; in respect of the light , passive . the difinitions of the principles . matter , is a corpulent substance , of it self rude and dark , constituting bodies . spirit , is a subtile substance , of it self living , invisible and insensible , dwelling and growing in bodies . light , is a substance of it self visible , and moveable , lucid , penetrating the matter , and preparing it to receive the spirits , and so forming out the bodies . therefore by how much the more matter , any thing hath it hath somuch y e more dulnes , obscurity & immobility : as the earth . vigour and durability : as an angell . form , & mobility : as the sun. spirit , light , note also ; that matter , is the first entitie in the world ' ; spirit , the first living thing ; light , the first moving thing ; so that every body in the world is of the matter , by the light , in the spirit : which he would have to be his image , from whom , by whom , in whom are all things , blessed for evermore , amen . rom. 11. v. 36. of the nature of matter . truly said one ; no diligence can be too much in searchingout the beginning of things . for when the principles are rightly set down ; an infinite number of conclusions will follow of their own accord , and the science wil encrease it self in infinitum ; which the creation of things doth also shew . for god having produced the principles the first day , and wrought them together with most excellent skil , made afterward so great variety of things to proceed from them , that both men and angels may be astonished . therefore let us not thinke over much , to frame our thoughts yet of all the principles of the world apart . let the following aphorisms be of the matter . i the first matter of the world , was a vapour or a fume . for what means that description of moses else ? when he calls it earth , waters , the deep , darkness , a thing void , and without form ? and it appears also by reason . for seeing that the lesser bodies of the world , clouds , water , stones , metals , and all things growing on the earth are made of vapours coagulated ( as shall appeare most evidently hereafter : ) why not the whole world also ? certainly the matter of the whole can be nothing else , but that which is found to be the matter of the parts . ii the first matter of the world , was a chaos of dispersed atomes , cohering in no part thereof . this is proved 1 by reason , for if they had cohered in any sort , they had had form : but they had not ; for it was tohu vabohu , a thing without form and void . 2 by sense , which satisfies , that the elements are turned unto atomes . for what is dust , but earth reduced into atomes ? what is vapour , but water resolved into more subtile parts ? the air it self , what is it but a most small comminution of drops of water , and unperceiveable by sense ? yea , all bodies are found to consist of most extream small parts , as trees , barke , flesh , skins , and membranes , of most slender strings or threds ; but bones , stones , metals , of smal dust made up together , into which they may be resolved again . and this shews also , that those threds or haires , are of atomes , as it were glued together , that when they are dried they may be pouldred . wherefore the whole world is nothing but dust , coagulated with various glutinous matters into such or such a form . 3 by scripture for the aeternall wisdom it self testifies , that the beginning of the world was dust . ( prov. 8. v. 26. ) out of which foundation many places of scripture wil be better understood : ( as gen. 3. v. 14. ) dust thou art , and into dust thou shalt return . for , behold , man was made of the mud of the earth ! yet god being angry for sin , threatens something more , then returning to dust , namely utmost resolution , into the very utmost dust , of which the mud of the earth it self was made : and wee see it to be truly so , that a man is dissolved not onely into earth , but into all the elements , ( especially those that perish by fire ) and is at last scattered into very atomes . read and understand , what is said ( job 4. v. 19. ) item 19. v. 9. esay 26. v. 19. psal. 104. v. 29. ) therefore , democritus erred not altogether , in making atomes the matter of the world : but hee erred in that hee believed , 1 that they were aeternall , 2 that they went together into forms by adventure , 3 that they cohere of themselves : by reason that he was ignorant of that which the wisdom of god hath revealed unto us , that the atomes were conglutinated into a mass , by the infusion of the spirit of life , and began to be distinguished into forms , by the comming in of the light . iii god produced so great a mass of this matter , as might sussice to fill the created abysse . for with the beginning of the heaven and the earth , that vast space was presently produced , wherein the heaven and the earth were to be placed , which place moses cals the abysse , which no creature can passe through by reason of its depth and vastness . now the aphorism tels us , that all this was filled up with that confused fume , lest wee should imagine any vacuum . iv the matter is of it self invisible , and therefore dark , for darkness is seen after the same manner when the eyes are shut , as when they are open ; that is , they are not seen at all . and this is it , which moses says : and darkness was upon the face of the abysse . v the matter is of it self without form yet it is apt to be extended , contracted , divided , united , and to receive every form and figure , as wax is to receive every seal . for we have shewed that all the bodies of the world are made of these atomes , and are resolved into them , therefore they are nothing else but the matter clothed with severall forms . which the chymicks demonstrate to the eye , reducing some dust one while into liquour , another while into a vapour , another while into a stone , &c. vi the matter is aeternall in its duration through all forms , so that nothing of it can perish . for in very deed , from the making of the world untill now , not so much as one crum of matter hath perished , nor one increased . for in that bodies are generated , and do perish that is nothing else , but a transmutation of forms in the same matter , as when vapour is made of water , of that vapour a cloud , of the cloud rain , and of the rain drunk in by the roots of plants an hearb , &c. vii the principall virtue of the matter of the world is , are indissoluble cohaerence every where , so that it can endure to be discontinued in no part , and a vacant space to be left . notwithstanding perhaps this virtue is not from the matter , but from the spirit affused : of which in the chapter following . vii from this matter , the whole world is materiall and corporeall , and is so called . for all the bodies of the world , even the most subtle , and the most lightsome , are nothing but form , partly coagulated , partly refined . now after what manner it is coagulated or refined , shall appear in that which follows . of the nature of the spirit , or soule of the world. the spirit of the world , is life it self infused into the world , to operate all things in all . for whatsoever any treature doth or suffers , it doth or suffers it by virtue of this spirit . for it is given to it . i to inhabite the matter . for as in the beginning it moved it self upon the waters , so yet it is not extant , but in the matter ; especially in a liquid and subtile matter . whence in the body of a living creature , those most subtile , sanguine vapours , and as it were flames , which are the charriot of life , are called spirits . and chymicks , extracting a spirit out of herbs , metals , stones like a little water , call it the quintessence , because it is a more subtile substance than all the four elements . but not water it self , as it is water , but that living virtue of the creature , out of which it is extracted , inhabiting in it . which being that it cannot be altogether separated from the matter , is preserved in that subtile form of matter . for how fast the spirit inhaeres in the matter , shall be taught about the end . ( hap . 9. 10. ii to move or agitate it self through the whole matter to preserve it . hence it is , 1 that no vacuum can be in the world . for all bodies , even the most subtile , ( as water , air , the skie ) being indued with this spirit , delight in contiguity and continuity . for as a living creature will not be cut , so also water , air , yea the world it self ; by reason of that universall spirit , uniting all things in it , which also when a separation is made ( as in the wounds of living creatures , in the cutting of the water , in the parting of the air may be seen ) makes the matter close again . 2. that every creature putrifies , when that spirit is taken away , ( as if you extract the spirit of wine out of wine , or suffer the spirit to evaporate out of an hearb , &c. ) but is preserved , yea made better , if the spirit be preserved . for example ; wine kept in any solid vessel under the earth , or water , though it be an 100 years ; grows still the richer : the spirit stirring and moving it self in it , and by that meanes , still moulding the matter more and more , and more and more purifying it from crudities . iii to keep the particular ideas or forms of things . for one & the same spirit of the universe , is afterwards diduced into many particularities , by the comand of god ; so that there is one spirit of water , another spirit of earth , another of metals , another of plants , another of living creatures , &c. and then in every kind again severall species . now then that of the seed of wheat , there springs not a bean , much lesse , a walnut , or a bird , &c. is from the spirit of the wheat , which being included in the seed , formeth it self 〈◊〉 body according to its nature . from the sam● spirit is the custody of the bounds of nature for example ; that a horse grows not to the bignesse of a mountain , nor stays at the smalnesse of a cat . iv to form it self bodies , for the use of future operations . for example , the spirit of a dog being included in its seed , when it begins to form the young , doth not form it wings , or 〈◊〉 or hands , &c. because it needeth not those members : but four feet , and other members , in such sort , as they are fit for that use , to which they are intended . because some dogs are for pleasure , others to keep the house , or flocks , others for hunting ; and that either for hares , or wild bores , or water foul , &c. ( namely , according as the creator mingled the spirit of living creatures , that they should have sympathy or antipathy one with another ) every ones own spirit doth form it a body fit for its end . whence from the sight of the creatures onely , the use of every one may be gathered , as the learned think ; because every creature heareth its signature about it . of the nature of light . i the first light was nothing else but brightnesse , or a great flame , sent into the dark matter to make it visible and divisible into form . for in the primitive language , light and fire are of the same name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , whence also comes the latine word vro . and verily the light of heaven , doth really both shine and burn , or heat . ii god put into the light a threefold vertue : 1 of spreading it self every way , and illuminating all things . 2 of moving the matter with it being taken hold of , by burning and inflaming . 3. of heating , and thereby rarifying and attenuating the matter . all these things our fire doth also : because it is nothing else , but light , kindled in the inferiour matter . iii. but when as that light could not extend his motion upwards and downwards , ( for it would have found a term forthwith ) it moved it self , and doth still move in a round : whence came the beginning of dayes . iv and because the matter rarified above heat being raised by the motion of the light , the grosser par●s of the matter were compelled to fall downward , and to conglobate themselves in the middest of the vniverse : which was the beginning of the earth and water . v the light therefore by this its threefold vertue , light , motion , and heat ) introduced contrariety into the world. for darknesse was opposite to light ; rest , to motion ; cold , to heat : whence came other contraries besides , moist and dry , thin and thick , heavy and light , &c. of which c. 4. vi from the light therefor is the disposition and adorning of the whole world. for the light is the onely fountain both of visibility , and of motion , and of heat ▪ take light out of the world , and all things will return into a chaos . for if all things lose their colours and their formes , in the night when the sun is absent ; and living creatures and plants die in winter , by reason of the suns operation being not strong enough , and the earth and the water do nothing but freeze : what do you think would be , if the luminaries of heaven , were quite extinguished ? therefore all things in the visible world throughout , are , and are made , of the matter , in the spirit , but by the fire or light . chap. iii. of the motion of things . the principles of things being constituted , we are to see the common accidents of things : which are motion , quality , and mutation . for our of the congresse of the principles if the world , came first motion ; out of motion , came quality : and out of quality again , came various mutations of things : which three are hitherto in all created things , as it shall appear . i motion is an accident of a body , whereby it is transferred from place to place . the doctrine of naturall motions , how many they are , and how they are made , is the key to the understanding of all naturall actions : and therefore most diligently to be observed . ii motion was given to things , for generation , action , and time . for generation : for nothing could be ●gotten without composition : nor composed without comming together : nor come together without motion . for actions : because there could be none without motion for time : that it might be the measure of the duration of things . for take the sun and the starres out of the world , nothing can be known , what , where , when : all things will be blind , dumb , deaf . iii motion is either simple or compound . iv simple motion is either of spirit , or of light , or of matter . v the motion of the spirit is called agitation , whereby the spirit agitates if self in the matter seeking to inform it . for the living spirit would not be living , if it should cease to agitate it self , and strive to subdue the matter in any sort whatsoever . this motion is the beginning of the generation , and corruption of things . for the spirit in every thing ( in flesh , an apple , a grain , wood , &c. ) doth by agitating it self , soften the parts , that it may either receive new life , or it may fly out , and the thing purrifie . vi the motion of the light is called diffusion , whereby the light and the heat diffuse themselves into all the parts . for fire , were not fire , nor heat , hear , if it should cease to diffuse it self , and liquifie the matter and from this motion of the fire , all the motion of the matter draws its originall . as the experience of the senses testifies . for grosse and cold things , as wood , a stone , ice , &c. want motion of themselves , which notwithstanding when fire is put to them , they forthwith obtein , as it may be demonstrated to the eye . let there be a kettle full of water , put wood underneath it ; behold all is quiet ! but kindle the wood , you shall presently see motion : first in the wood , flame , smoak , and starting asunder the coals : by and by in the water , first evaporating , afterwards turning it self round , at length , boyling and galloping . but remove away the fire again , all the motion will cease again by little and little . so in a living body ( an animall ) take away heat , forthwith not onely motion , but also mobility will cease , the members waxing stiffe . furthermore , although there be divers motions in things , yet the originall is every where the same , heat or fire : which being included in the world is moved circularly : being kindled in the air , as it darts it self forth , this way or that way , as the matter is disposed , or the wind sits ; included in a living creature , as the strength of the phantasie forceth it this way or that way . vii the motion of the matter is eightfold of expansion , contraction , aggregation , sympathie , continuitie , impulsion , libration and libertie . whereof the first two are immediately from the fire , the four following from some other bodies ; the two last from it self , but by the mediation of the spirit of the universe . which if it seems harsh , will soon appear plain by examples . viii the motion of expansion is , that whereby the matter , being rarified with heat , dilate sits self of its own accord , seeking larger room . for it is not possible that the matter being rarified , should be conteined in the same space : but one part thrusts another , that they may stretch forth themselves , and gather themselves into a greater sphear . you shall see an example , if you drop a few drops of water into a hogs bladder , and having tied the neck thereof , lay it over a furnace , for the bladder will be stretched out , and will swell : because the water being turned into vapour , by the heat seeks more room . ix the motion of contraction is , that whereby the matter is contracted , betaking it self into a narrower space by condensation . for example ; if you lay the foresaid bladder from the furnace into a cold place ; for the vapour will return to water , and the swelling of the bladder will fall . or if you put a thong into the fire , you shall see it wil be wrinkled and contracted because the softer parts being extracted by the fire ; the rest must needs be contracted : from the same reason also , the chinks and gapings of timber and of the earth come . x the motion of aggregation i● , when a body is carried to its connaturals . for example , our flame goes upward , a stone goes downward : for the flame perceives , that its connaturals ( that is subtile bodies ) are above ; a stone that its ( that is heavy things ) are here below . note well , that they cōmonly call this motion naturall , who are ignorant of the rest . but though it appear most in sight , and seem to be most strong and immutable , yet indeed it is weak enough ; because it gives place to all the rest that follow , and puts not forth it self , but when they cease : which will of it self appear , to one that meditates these things diligently yet i will adde this . a drop of ink fallen upon paper , defends it self by its roundnesse ; yet put a moist pen to it , you ●●ll see the drop run up into into it . see , it ●●es not downward , ( as it should by rea●●● of its heavinesse ) but upwards , that it ●●y joyn it self to a greater quantity there●● . xi the motion of sympathie , and antipathy , ●hat , whereby a like body is drawn to its like , 〈◊〉 driven away by its contrary . now this similitude is of the spirit that habits in it . this motion is very evident in ●●ne bodies , ( as in the loadstone , which ●●aws iron to it , or else leaps it self to the 〈◊〉 ) in others weak , and scarce sensible , as 〈◊〉 example in milk , the cream whereof se●rates it self by little and little , from the hevie parts , and gathers it self to the top ) some things , it is as it were bound ; un●●sse it be losed some way or other , that ap●ears in melted brasse : wherein metals are ●●parated one from another , by the force of 〈◊〉 fire , and by the virtue of sympathy eve●● thing gathers it self to its like , ( lead to ●●ad , silver to silver , ) and flows together in 〈◊〉 peculiar place . xii motion of continuity is , that whereby ●atter follows matter , shunning discontinuity . as when you suck up the air with a pipe , ●●tting one end thereof into the water , the water will follow the air , though it be up●ward . for we said before , that the world ▪ a living creature would not be cut , the livin● spirit uniting all things . xiii the motion of impulsion ( or cession● is that whereby matter yeelds to matter , th● presseth upon it . so water yeelds to a stone that com● down into it , that it may sink ; so a ston● to the hand that thrusts it , &c. for a bod● will not endure to be penetrated , it had rather yeeld , if it can . if it cannot all , the pa●● yeeld , as wee may see it happen in eve● breake , bruise , rent , wearing , cutting for the weaker yeelds every where to th● stronger . xiv the motion of libration is , that where in the parts wave themselves too and fro , th●● they may be rightly placed in the whole . as when a ballance moves it self , now this , now that way . xv the motion of liberty is , that whereby a body or a part thereof , being violently move● out of its place , and yet not plucked away , returns thither again . as when a branch of a tree bent forcibly and let go again , betakes it self to its positure . a scheame of motions . motion therefore is of spirit light which is called the motion of agitation . diffusion . matter which is caused by the fire and is called the motion of expansion . contraction . some body drawing by connaturalitie , as of aggregation . a secret virtue , as of sympathie . connexion , as of continuitie . thrusting or inforcing , as of impulsion it self , ( that it may be well with it self ) as the motion of libration . libertie . an example of all these motions in the f●●tion of the macrocosme or great world. first , the spirit moved it self upon the●ters with the motion of agitation . then light being sent into the matter , penetra● it every way with the motion of diffusion and by the matter above , where the li●● passed through , being heated and rarif●● dilated it self with the motion of dispa●● but below , it coagulated it self with the●●tion of contraction . and all the more su●● parts gathered themselves upwards , the 〈◊〉 downwards , with the motions of agregation and sympathy : ( for a more o●● sympathy and antipathy was put in things afterwards . ) and whither soever o● part of the matter went , others followed 〈◊〉 the motion of continuity : or if one rush● against others , they gave way by the motion of impulsion . but the grosser parts did poi●● themselves , ( flying from the heat whic● came upon them from above ) about th● center , to an exact globosity , with th● motion of libration . there was no motion o● liberty , because there was no externall violence , to put any thing out of order . an example of the same motions in the microcosme , or little world. in man , ( and in every living creature ) the food that is put into the belly , grows hot with incalescency ; here you have the motion of expansion , then by the motion of sympathie every member attracts to it self , that which is good for it : but by the motion of antipathy superfluous things are driven forth , as unprofitable and hurtfull to them . then the blood is distributed equally to the whole body upwards and downwards by the motion of libration . and being assimilated to the members , it is condensed , that it may become flesh , a membrane , a bone , &c. by the motion of contraction , lastly , the air in breathing drawn in and let forth , shews the motion of continuity , and contiguity . ( for when the lungs are distended , the air enters in , ( least their should be a vacuum ; ) but when the lungs contract themselves , the air gives way . ) the motion of liberty will appear , if you either presse down , or draw up your skin : for as soon as you take away your hand , it will return to its situation . lastly , if you fall from any place , there will be the motion of aggregation , for you will make toward the earth , as being weight and earth your self . xvi if motions be infolded , they either increase or hinder one anothers force . you have an example of the first , if you cast a stone towards the earth , for here the motion of aggregation and impulsion , are joyned together . of the latter , if you cast a stone towards heaven : for here the motion of impulsion striveth against the motion of aggregation , in which strife , the stronger at length , overcomes the weaker ; the naturall that which is but accessory . xvii compound motion is in living creatures , when they doe of their own accord , move themselves from place to place . namely , birds by flying , fishes by swimming , beasts by running : of which we shall see chap. 10. how every one is performed . also , naturall philosophers call that a compound motion , when a thing is wholly changed , either to being or not being , or to another kind of being , though it continue in the same place , but we call these mutations , and they are to be handled in a pecuculiar chapter , the third from this . chap. iv. of the qualities of things . the matter is variously mingled with the spirit , & light , by these various motions , and from this various mixture , come various qualities , so that this thing is called , & is such a thing , that such a thing , again , another such , or such a thing : which we must now consider ; & these talities , or qualities , are some of them generall , common to all bodies ; others speciall , proper to some creatures only . the first are to be laid open here together for all once , the other hereafter in their places . i a quality is an accident of a body , in regard of which every thing is said to be such or such . ii there are qualities in every body , as well intangible , spirituall , and volatile , as grosse , tangible , and fixed . for a body is ( as we saw cap. 2. in the description of matter , aphor. 8. and of the spirit aphor. 1. either intangible , or nolatile , which they also call spirituall , as breath , air . tangible namely , water , and all fluid things . earth , and all consistent things . the qualities therefore , which we will treat of , shall be common to all these . for it may be said , both of a stone , and of water , and of air , and of the spirit that is inclosed in a body , that it is fat or raw , hot or cold , moist , or dry , thick or thin , &c. iii the qualities are the grounds of all forms in bodies . for the former causes a living creature to differ from a stone , a stone from wood , wood from ice , and the forme consists of qualities . therefore the doctrine of qualities is exceeding profitable , and as it were the basis of naturall science ; which because it hath been hitherto miserably handled , the light of physicks hath been maimed , and by that means obscure . iv a quality is either intrinsecall , and substantiall , or extrinsecall and accidentall . of the substantiall qualities , sulphur , salt , and mercury . v a substantiall quality arising from the first mixture of the principles is threefold . aquosity which the chymicks call mercury oleosity sulphur consistency salt. n. 1 these flow immediately from the combination of the first principles . fire sulphur salt spirit matter mercury . for as in the beginning the spirit conjoyned with the matter , produced the moving of the waters ; so mercury is nothing but motion , the first fluid thing , which cannot be fixed , nor conteined within alimit ; and salt is dry and hot , and uncorruptible , just as spirit and fire ; it is preserved by fire , it is dissolved with water , or mercury , but turns neither to flame , nor smoak , though it is a most spirituall creature , and every way incorruptible . and sulphur , what is it but matter mixt with fire ? for why doth it delight in flame , but that it is of a like nature ? and in compound things , it is the first thing combustible , or apt to be inflamed . n. 2. but beware that you understand not our vulgar minerall salt , sulphur , and mercury , ( or quicksilver . ) for these are mixt bodies : salt earth , sulphurie earth , mercurial water : ( that is , matter wherein salt , sulphur , and mercury , are predominant , yet with other things adjoyned ; for salt hath parts apt to be inflamed , and sulphur some salt , and some mercury , but the denomination is from the chiefest . ) those qualities cannot be seen as they are in themselves , but by imagination ; but they are in all things , as chymicks demonstrate to the eye : who extract crude and watery parts out of every wood , stone , &c. and other fat and oily parts ; and that which remains , is salt , that is ashes ; so the thing it selfe speaks , that some liquor is mercurious ; ( as vulgar water and flegme ) other sulphury ; ( as oil and spirit of wine ) other salt and tart ( as aqua fortis ) also we find by experience , in the benummings and aches of the members ; that some vapours are crude , others sharp . vi god produced the qualities intrinsecally , that the substance of every body might be formed . for ☿ sulphur salt giveth unto things fluidity , coition , crudity . 〈◊〉 , cleaving together , fatnesse . consistency , hardness . aptnesse to break . and from thence incōbustibility , inflammability incorruptibility . that mercury giveth fluidity , and easie coition of the matter , appears out of quicksilver , which by reason of the predominancy of mercury , is most fluid : so that it will not endure to be stoped or fixed . it is also most crude , so that it can neither be kindled nor burned : but if you put fire to it , flees away into air . now that the coagulation of bodies is from sulphur , as it were glue , appears from hence that there is more oil , in dry , solid , and close , bodies , then in moist bodies ; also because ashes ( after that the sulphur is cousumed , with five ( if you power water on them clear not together in a lump , but with oil or fat , they cleave together . now chymicks extract oil out of every stone , leaving nothing but ashes , no part cleaving one to another any longer . and that salt gives consistency , appears by the bones of living creatures , out of which chymicks extract meer salt , also all dense things leave behind them much ashes ( that is salt . ) god therefore with great counsel tempered these three qualities together in bodies . for if mercury were away , the matter would not flow together to the generation of things : if salt , nothing would consist together , or be fixed ; if sulphur , the consistency would be forced , and yet apt to be dissipated . lastly , if there were not sulphur in wood , and some other matters , we could have no fire , but solar , on the earth ( for nothing would be kindled ) and then what great defects would the life of man endure ? of the accidentary or extrinsecall qualities of bodies . so much of the substantiall qualities : the accidentary follow . vii an accidentall quality is , either manifest , or occult . viii a manifest quality is , that which may be perceived by sense , and is therefore to be called sensible . as heat , cold , softnesse , roughnesse . ix an occult quality is , that which is known only by experience , that is by its effect , ( as the love of iron in the loadstone , &c. ) therefore it is called insensible . n. the manifest qualities proceed from the diverse temperatures of the elements , & substantificall qualities ; the occult immeditely from the peculiar spirit of every thing . x the sensible quality is five fold , according to the number of the senses , visible , audible , olfactile , gustatile , tangible : that is colour , sound , odour , savour , tangour . let not the unusuall word tangor , offend any ; it is feigned for doctrines sake ; and analogy admits it , for if we say from caleo , calor ; from colo , color ; from sapio , sapor ; from amo , amor ; from fluo , fluor ; from liquo , liquor ; from clango , clangor ; from ango , angor ? why not also from tango , tangor ? of the tangible quality . xi the tangible quality ( or tangor ) is such , or such a positure of the parts of the matter in a body . xii the copulations thereof are twelve ; for every body in respect of touch , is , 1 rare or dense , 2 moist or dry . 3 soft or hard . 4 flexible or stiffe . 5 smooth or rough . 6 light or heavy . 7 hot or cold . of every of which , we are to consider accurately , what and how they are . xiii rarity , is an extension of the attenuated matter through greater spaces : density on the contrary , is a straighter pressing together of the matter into one . for all earth , water , air , and spirit , is sometime more rare , sometime more dense ; and we must note that there is not any body so dense , but that it hath pores neverthelesse , though insensible . that appears in vessels of wood and earth , which let forth liquors in manner of sweat ; also in a bottle of lead filled with water , which if it be crushed together with hammers , or with a presse , sweats forth a water like a most delicate dew . xiv humidity ( or humour ) is the liquidnesse of the parts of the body , and aptnesse to be penetrated by one another ; siccity on the contrary is a consistency , and an impenetrability of the parts of the body . so a clot hardned together either with heat or cold , is dry earth , but mire is moist earth , water is a humid liquour , but ice is dry water , &c. xv softnesse is a constitution of the matter somewhat moist , easily yeilding to the touch : hardnesse is a drynesse of the matter not yeelding to the touch . so a stone is either hard or soft , also water , spirit , air , &c. xvi flexibility , is a compaction of the matter with a moist glue , so that it will suffer it self to be bent : stifnesse is a coagulation of the matter with dry glue , that it will not bend but break . so iron is stiffe , steel flexible . so some wood is flexible , other stiffe , but note that the flexible is also calld tough , the stiffe brittle . xvii smooth is that which with the aequality of its parts doth pleasantly affect the touch : rough is that which with the inequality of its parts doth distract and draw asunder the touch . note , in liquid things , the smooth is called mild , the rough tart ; so marble unpolished is rough ; polished it is smooth . water is rough , oile is mild ; a vehement and cold wind is rough and sharp ; a warm air is mild . so in our body , humours , vapours , spirits , are said to be mild or sharp . xviii lightnesse is the hasting upwards of a body by reason of its rarity and spirituosity : heavinesse is the pronenesse of a dense body downwards : as that appears in flame , and every exhalation , this in water and earth . n. w. i how this motion is made upwards and downwards by a love of fellowship , or of things of the same nature , hath been said cap. 3. 2 the inaequality of heavinesse or ponderosity , is from the unequall condensation of the matter . for look , how much the more matter there is in a body , so much the more ponderous it is : as a stone more then wood , metals more then stones , and amongst these gold , quicksilver and lead most of al , because they are the most compacted bodies . 3 amongst all heavy things , gold is found to be of greatest weight : spirit of wine , or sublimated wine of least . and the proportion of quantity betwixt these two , is found not to exceed the proportion of 21 parts : so that one drop of gold is not heavier than one and twenty drops of spirit of wine . xix heat is a motion of the most minute parts of the matter reverberated against it self , penetrating and rending the touch like a thousand sharp points : but cold is a motion of the parts contracting themselves . n. w. 1 it appears that heat and cold , are motions and fixed qualities : 1 because there is no body found amongst us perpetually hot or cold , as there is rare and dense , moist and drie , &c. but as a thing heats or cools ; the which is done by motion . 2 because sense it self testifies , that in scorching the skin and members are penetrated and drawn asunder , but in cold they are stopped and bound , therefore it is a motion . 3 because whatsoever is often heated , ( though it be metall ) is diminished both in bignesse and in weight , till it be even consumed , and whēce is that , but that the heat casting forth a thousand atomes doth weare and consume away the matter ? now it is called a motion of parts , and that reverberated against it self : for that which is moved in whole , and directly ( not reflexedly ) doth not heat ; as wind , a bird flying , &c. but that which is moved with reverberation , or a quick alteration , as it is is in the repercussion of light ; in the iterated collision of bodies , in rubbing together friction , &c. 3 but we must distinguish betwixt calidum , calefactivum , and calefactile , calidum or calefactum , is that which is actually hot , and scorcheth the touch , as flame , red hot iron , seething water , or air ( which also receiveth amost violent heat , ) &c. n. w. among all things that are known to us , fire is most hot ; wee have nothing that is most cold but ice ; which notwithstanding is farre off from being opposed in its degree of cold to the degree of heat in fire . calefactivum is that which may stirre up heat ; as motion , and whatsoever may procure motion ; namely fire ; and pepper , and all sharp and bitter things , taken within the body : for motion is from fire , and fire from motion , and heat from them both . for as fire cannot but be moved ( else it presently goes out , ) so motion cannot but take fire ; as it appears by striking a flint , and rubbing wood something long . therefore both are calefactive , but fire is further said to be actually hot , calefactive things are commonly called hot in potentiâ . calefactile is that which may easily be heated as air , and after air fat things ( oile , butter , ) then wood , then water . for in these because the parts are somewhat rare , they are the more easily moved to agitation . stones and metals because they have their matter compacted , do not easily admit of heat ; but retain it the longer after it is admitted , because it cannot easily exhale by reason of the straight pores . and this is the cause , why all things consisting of small particles , as feathers , hairy skins , and all rough things , ( yea , and all sorts of dust ) do either alwayes retein heat , ( by a certain agitation of the aire inclosed ) or at least easily receive it , by some transpiration raised only from a living body . 4 we must also note , that all these tactile qualities , may be said of the same body in a diverse manner ; namely , in respect of another body , as water in respect of air , is a dense and heavy body ; in respect of earth , or a stone , rare and light ; yea and by reason of the touch thus and thus disposed , it seems to be on this , or that manner ; for example , warm water seems cold to a hot hand , hot to a cold hand . 5 the diverse effects of heat , are to be considered also according to the diversity of the object . the perpetuall effect of heat is attenuatiō : but after different manners in a matter that is liquid sulphury , which it kindleth , turnes to flame , and snatcheth upward . mercuriall , which it rarifies , and stretcheth forth , as may be seen in the evaporation of water : also in the desiccation or drying up of earth , wood , &c. in which all the humour & moisture that is , turnes and evaporates into air . consistent which if it have parts that are glutineus or sulphury , it forces them to melt , as may be seen in suet , wax , metals . ashy or salt , it forces them to be condensed , by the drying up of the moisture : and also to break if you force them the more ; as wood , a clot , a tile , &c. ( and so hardning is an effect of heat by accident . ) of tasts . xx the gustatile quality is called savour or taste ; which is a tempering of the first qualities by heat and cold .   temperate sulphur giveth sweetnesse .   adult . bitternesse . for salt of its own nature . giveth softnesse . for the mordaity of all these , argues salt. combust . sharpnesse . indifferently sowernesse . cooled . bitternesse . extreamly cooled . & austerity . it appears therefore , whence herbs , fruits , parts of living creatures , and minerals have their savours ; namely , from salt and sulphur , diffused every where , whereof every creature sucketh in more or lesse according to its nature . mercury is of it selfe without taste ; ( as we note in flegme ) but the others are soaked thereby , as ▪ also by the severall degrees of cold or heat , so that they are more or lesse sweet , bitter , salt , &c. of smels . xxi the olfactile quality is called odour ; which is a most thin exhalation of the taste . yet sulphury things yield more smell then salt things and hot things more then others ; because heat attenuates , and spreads into the air . hence gardens and ointment boxes , are so much the sweeter , by how much the hotter the air is ; yet by how much the sweeter they are , so much the sooner they lose their smell , that odiferous sulphureous quality being exhaled by little and little . of sounds . xxii the audible quality is called sound ; which is a cleaving of the air sharply stricken , flowing every way . every motion of the air doth not give a sound , but that motion whereby the air is suddenly divided and parted . now a sound is either acute or obtuse ; pleasing or displeasing ; according as the body , that smiteth the air , is acute or obtuse , smooth or rough . the naturall kinds of sound are : tinkling , when the air blows through some sharp thing . murmur of running water : ratling of thunder : rustling of leaves : bellowing or lowing of oxen : roaring of lions ; hissing of serpents : and the voices of other living creatures . of colours . xxiii the visible qualitie is called colour ; which is light diversly received in the superficies of bodies , and tempered with the opposite darknesse , as whitenesse , blacknesse , greennesse , &c. obser. 1. that colour is nothing in it self , but light diversly reflected from things , appears ; 1 because as it is not seen without light , so it is not found to be any thing by any other sense , or by reason : neither is it therefore . 2 because colours as well as light diffuse themselves through the aire , and are in the eyes of all beholders . now we saw before , that the diffusive motion was proper to the light , therefore colour is indeed nothing , but light diversly tinct with the diverse superficies of things . 3 because light being reflected after severall manners in the same matter , produceth severall colours . we see that , for example sake , in a cloud , which is in it self like it self , yet it appears to us sometimes whitish , sometimes blackish , sometimes ruddy , according as it is opposed to the light . in like manner we see in the rainbow ( which is nothing else but the resolution of a cloud into most small drops of water ) yellow , green , flame and sky-colour , as it appears also in chrystall dust turned towards the light ; which shew plainly , that colour is nothing else but a different tincture of light from the different incidencie thereof . but there ( in the rainbow and glasse ) the colours passe through ; because the matter it selfe is fluid and transparent : in fixed bodies , colours are also fixed ; but after a way known to god , rather then to us . obser , 2. that from the receptibility of colours , a body is called pellucid , or opacous . pellucid ( transparent and diaphanous ) is that which gives the light a passage through it , and is therefore neither coloured nor seen , as air : and in part water , glasse , chrystall , a diamond , &c. ( that air is not coloured , that is tinct with light , appears in a room close shut up on every side , if you let in a beam of the sun at a hole , for that will passe through the whole room , and yet will appear no where , but on the opposite wall or pavement : or unlesse you interpose your hand or some other dense thing : or the dust be raised , and the atomes of it flie in that quantity as to reflect the light . ) opacous is that which doth not give the light a passage , but reflects it , and therefore it is coloured and seen : as earth , wood , a stone , gemme , and waters coloured : and this light reflected from an opacous body , is properly called colour : of which there are six kinds , white , yellow , green , red , skie-colour , black . white , is light reflected with its own proper face . yellow is light tinct with a little darknesse . green , is light in a middle , and most pleasing temperature of light and darknesse . red , is light more inclining to darknesse . skie-colour , is light more then halfe dark . black , last of all , is the non-repercussion of the light , by reason of a dark superficies . every of these colours hath under it diverse degrees and species , according to the various temperature thereof with the others ; which we leave to the speculation of opticks and painters . xxiv there remains a quality which is perceived by two senses , touch and sight , namely figure ; whereby one body is round , another long , another square , &c. but the consideration of this is resigned to the mathematicks . of an occult quality . xxv an occult quality is a force of operating upon any otber body , which notwithstanding is not ●iscovered , but by its eff●ct . for examp . that the loadstone draws iron : that poisons assaile , and go about to extinguish nothing but the spirit in bodies : that antidotes again resist poison , and fortifie the spirit against them ; that some herbs are peculiarly good for the brain , others for the heart , others for the liver , and such like . such kind of occult qualities as these god hath dispersed throughout all nature , and they yet lie hid for the better part of them , but they come immediately from the peculiar spirit infused into every creature . for even as one and the same matter of the world , by reason of its diverse texture , hath gotten as it were infinite figures in stones , metals , plants , and living creatures ; so one and the same spirit of the world , is drawn out as it were into infinite formes , by various and speciall virtues , known to god , and from these occult qualities sympathies and antipathies of things do properly arise . chap. v. of the mutations of things , generation , corruption , &c. from the contrarieties of the qualities , especially of cold and heat , ( for these two qualities are most active ) those mutations have their rise , to which all things in the world are subject : which we shall now see . i mutation is an accident of a body , whereby its essence is changed . namely , whither a thing passe from not being to being ; or from being to not being ; or from being thus to being otherwise . ii all bodies are liable to mutations . the reason , because they are all compounded of matter , spirit and fire : which three are variously mixed among themselves perpetually . for both the matter is a fluid and a slipperie thing , and the spirit restlesse , always agitating it self ; and ( heat raised every where by light and motion ) doth eat into , rent , and pluck asunder the matter of things . from thence it is , i say , that nothing can long be permanent in the same state . all things grow up , increase , decrease , and perish again . hence also the scriptures affirm , that the heavens wax old , as doth a garment , psal. 10● . v. 27. iii the mutation of a thing , is either essentiall or accident all . iv essentiall mutation , is when a thing begins to be or ceases to be : the first is called generation , the other corruption . for example ; snow , when it is formed of water , is said to be generated , when it is resolved again into water , to be corrupted . v an accident all mutation of a thing is , when it increases or decreases , or is changed in its qualities : the first is called augmentation , the next diminution , the last alteration ( which we are now to view severally how they are done . ) of the generation of things . vi generation is the production of a thing , so that what was not , begins to be . thus every year , yea every day infinite things are generated through all nature . vii to generation , three things are required , seed , a matrix , and moderate heat . these three things are necessary in the generation of living creatures , plants , metals , stones , and lastly of meteors , as shall be seen in their place . viii seed is a small portion of the matter , having the spirit of life included in it . for seed is corporall and visible ; therefore materiate , and it is no seed , except it contein in it the spirit of the species , whose seed it should be : for what should it be formed by ? therefore seeds out of which the spirit is exhaled , are unprofitable to generation . ix the matrix is a convenient place to lay the seed , that it may put forth its vertue . nothing is without a place , neither is any thing generated without a convenient place ▪ because the actions of nature are hindred . now that place is convenient for generation , which affordeth the seed . 1 a soft site . 2 circumclusion , least the spirit should evaporate out of the seed being attenuated . 3 veins of matter to flow from elsewhere . n. w. and there are as many matrixes or laps , as there are generations , the aire is the matrix of meteors ; the earth of stones , metals , and plants ; the womb of living creatures . x heat is a motion raised in the seed , which attenuating its matter , makes it able to spread it self by swelling . for the spirit beng stirred up by that occasion agitateth it self , and as it were blowing asunder the attenuated parts of the matter , disposeth them to the forme of its nature . this is the perpetual processe of all generation , and none other . from whence hereafter ( under the doctrine of minerals , living creatures , plants ) many things will appear plainly of their own accord . yet we must observe that some things grow without seed , as grasse out of the earth , and worms out of slime , wood , and flesh putrified : yet that is done by the vertue of the spirit diffused through things ; which wheresoever it findeth fit matter , as a matrix , and is assisted by heat , presently it attempts some new generation , ( as it were the constitution of a new kingdom ) . but without heat ( whither it be of the sunne , or of fire , or the inward heatof a living creature it matters not , so it be temperate ) there can be no generation , because the matter cannot be prepared , softned , or dilated , without heat . of the augmentation of things . xi everything that is generated , increaseth and augmenteth it self , as much as may be : and that by attraction of matter , and ●ssimilation of it to it self . for wheresoever there is generation , there is heat : and where there is heat , there is fire ; and where there is fire , there is need and attraction of fewell . for heat , because it always attenuateth the parts of the matter which exhale , seeks and attracts others wherewith it may sustein it self : ( as we see it in a burning candle ) and a portion of matter being attracted and applyed to a body , taketh its form by little and little , and becomes like unto it , and is made the same . for by the force of heat , of heterogeneous , things become homogeneous : the spirit of that body , in the mean time , attracting also to it self somewhat of the spirit of the universe , and so multiplying it self also . so stones minerals , plants , living creatures , &c. grow . of diminution xii whatsoever hath increased , doth at some time or other cease to increase , and begin to decrease and that for and through the arefaction of the matter . namely , for because the heat increased with the body , increasing , doth by little and little and little consume the thin and fat parts thereof , and dry up the solid parts , so that at last , they are not able to give assimulation to the matter flowing in , and that for want of gluten , and therefore the body fadeth , and withereth and at length perisheth . of the alteration of things . xiii no body doth always retein the same qualities , but changeth them variously . for example , wood when it grows , is thin and soft , afterward it is condensed & hardned , especially being dried : fruit on the contrary , as it ripens grows rare and soft , changing its colour , savour and smell for it is the law of the universe to be subject to vicissitudes : as also to corruption , of which it here follows . of the corruption of things . xiv every body is liable to corruption . because compounded of a decaying matter , and an agitable spirit ; which may be disposed according to the mutation of the heat . therefore seing that alterations cannot be hindred , neither can perishing . and hence perhaps every materiall thing is called corpvs , as it were corrupus , because it is subject to corruption . xv all corruption is done , either by arefaction or putrefaction . for we speak not here of violent corruption , which is done by the solution of some continued thing , ( as when any thing is broken , rent , bruised , burnt , &c. ) but of naturall corruption , which brings destruction to things from within , i● it is manifest that this can be done no way , but by arefaction or putrefaction . xvi arefaction is when afflux of matter is denied to a body , and the heat included , having consumed its proper humour , dries and hardens the rest of the parts , and at length forsakes them . so hearbs , trees and living creatures , &c. wither . xvii putrefaction is when the spirit is exhaled from a body , and the parts of the matter are dissolved , and return into their het●rog●neous parts . for then the watery parts are gathered to themselves ( therefore putrefied things give an evill sent ) the oily parts to themselves , whence putrefied things have always some unctuosity ) the dregs to themselves ( whence that confusion in putrified things and unpleasant tast , &c. ) and hence it is easie to finde the reason , why cold , salt and drying hinder putrefaction ? namely , because cold stops the pores of a body , that the spirituall parts cannot go out and exhale : but dryed things are exhausted of th●se thin parts , which might be putrefied : salt last of all bindeth the parts of the matter within , and as it were holds them with bands , that they cannot gape , & let forth the spirit . again , it may easily be gathered from hence , why hard and oily things are durable ? namely , because hard things have much salt , which hindereth putrefaction ; but they are destitute of humidity ( the provocation of putrefaction . ) and oily things , because they do not easily let go their spirit , by reason of their well nourishing and gentle usage of it : ( suet and fat putrifie , because they have loose pores , and some aquosity . ) n. w. we must neverthelesse observe , that not onely soft things ( herbs , fruits , flesh ) putrifie , but also the hardest bodies , namely , stones and metals . for the rust of these is nothing else but the rottennesse of the inward parts , spreading it self abroad through the pores , xviii out of that which hath been said , it may be gathered , that the world is eternall potentially . for seing that not any one crum of matter can perish , nor the spirit be suffocated , nor the light be extinguished , nor any of them fly forth out of the world , and must of necessity be together , and passe through one another mutually , and act upon one another , it is impossible but that one thing should be born of another , even without end . for that old axiome of philosophers is most true ; the corruption of one is the generation of another . the architect of the world in that manner expressing his aeternity . chap. vi. of the elements ; skie , air , water , earth . we have hitherto contemplated the generall parts of the world , namely , the principles with the common accidents thereof : now follow the species of things , which are derived from the said principles by divers degrees . where first elements come to be considered , as which being framed of the first congresse of the principles , are as it were the bases and hinges , of the whole order of the world . i an element is the first and greatest body in the world of a simple nature . a body , or a substance , for though we called matter , spirit , and light substances also , ( cap. 2. ) because they are not accidents ; yet because none of them existeth of it self , and apart , but do joyntly make up other substances , the elements and the creatures that follow may with better right be so called . now an element is said to be of a simple nature , in respect of the substances following , which have compound natures , as it shall appear . ii the constitution of the elements is made by light . for light being sent into the world , by its motion and heat began to rouse up the chaos of the matter of the world ; and when it turned it selfe round , ( as yet it turnes ) it purified part of the matter , and made it more subtile , the rest of the matter of necessity setling and gathering it selfe into density elsewhere . iii there are foure elements , skie , air , water , earth . that is , there are four faces of the matter of the world reduced into formes , ( for at the first it was without form ) differing especially in the degree of rarity and density . note . the peripateticks put the sublunary fire , for skie , and call the skie a quintessence . but that same sublunary fire is a meer figment ; the heaven it selfe , furnished with fiery light , is the highest element of the world ; as after the scripture the senses themselves demonstrate . he that is not satisfied with these of ours , but seeks more subtile demonstrations , let him see campanella , verulamius , and thomas lydiat of the nature of heaven , &c. and he will acknowledge the vanity of this aristotelicall figment . iv the skie is the most pure part of the matter of the world , spread over the highest spaces of the world . it is vulgarly called the visible and starry heaven , and by an errour of the greeks ( who , thinking that it was of a solid substance , like chrystal , called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the firmament : but little agreeably to the truth . more conveniently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is , light and fire , quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( that is fire above ) and so from burning : as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to burn . for it burneth with an inextinguable light of the stars , whereby it is also purified . the notation of the hebrew word favours this , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fire and water . the nature of the heaven is to be liquid in the highest degree volatile and hot . v air is a part of the matter indifferently pure , spread over the lower spaces of the world . the nature of it is to be breathable and passable every way . vi water is a grosser part of the matter of the world reduced into fluidity . the nature of it is to be fluid and moistning . vii the earth is the most grosse part of the matter , as it were the dregs and setling gathered together at the bottom . the nature of it is to be dry and immoveable . viii the elements therefore are all one matter of the world , distinguished by degrees of density and rarity . for where the light is wheeled about , there the matter is most rarefied and pure : below that more grosse , then grosse and fluid , at length in the bottome dregs and a thick setling . therefore this is a meer gradation . for earth is nothing else but thickned and hardned water : water , nothing but thickned air : air , subtilized water : water , liquified earth . but from this difference of density & rarity there ariseth another difference of the same elements , namely , in regard of motion and rest , heat and cold . the water is moveable . ( for it flows ) the air more yet ( for it transfuseth it self here and there ; ) the skie doth nothing but whirle about most swiftly , & that perpetually . also the heaven by reason of its perpetuall motion is hot , ( yea burneth ) perpetually ; the earth by reason of its perpetual rest is cold perpetually : except where it is warmed by the fire of heaven coming upon it , or inclosed in it . ix the elements are transmutable into one another . that is , because the heat raised in the matter may extend and condense it . in the water and air we see that come daily to passe . for who knoweth not , that water doth evaporate , and is turned into air ? that water is made again of vapour , the rain teacheth us . but we may also procure the same mutation in our hand : or in vulgar alembicks in which waters or wines are distilled . let theie be an alembicks void of all matter , filled onely with air . to the long pipe of this that hangeth out apply some narrow mouthed glasse , and stop the pipes mouth carefully , that no air may any way get forth : you shall see that when it cannot dilate it selse locally , it will be coagulated into water in the utmost and coldest corner of it ; ( that is in the glasse . ) you shall see ( i say ) that glasse sweat and distill drops , into which the air heated and rarified in the alembick contracted it selfe . but remove away the fire , you shall see those drops vanish by little and little , and return into air . x aristotle thought that the elements were in a tenfold proportion to one another ; but later men have found them near an hundred-fold that is , that of one drop of earth is made by rarifaction ten drops of water ; and of one of water ten of air . the truth of the latter assertion is easie to be demonstrated , thus . let one take a bladder ( of an oxe or an hog ) and having cleansed it , anoint it with oile to stop the pores , that the air may not get out . to the neck of this ( but having first crushed out all the air ) let him tie the neck of some little glasse , with about an hundreth part of the water which the bladder might contein . let this instrument be set in the hot sun , or in a very hot stove , where the water is by the heat turned into air , it will appear that the bladder will be full . but bring the same bladder swelled with air into the cold , you shall see it ( the vapour turning again into water ) fall again . note . the same hundreth proportion , or near upon , is also observed among colours , for one drop of ink or red will colour an hundred drops of water , not on the contrary ; and that because blacknesse represents the earth in density ; whitenesse the heaven in rarity . but this very proportion varies , because the air is in it selfe somtimes thicker and grosser , somtimes more rare and thin . xi the matter of all the elements , as it is made up of atomes , so it is turned again into atomes : by so much the more subtlely as it is the more subtle in its masse . for example , the earth and every dry and hard thing , is brought into a dust almost indivisible , which may be sifted through a sieve , but cannot penetrate . the water may both be strained and penetrate . for example , through vessels of earth and wood , yea , and of lead as chap. 4. aphorisme 13. we have set down an example . air and fire penetrate also through thicker bodies : as heat through furnaces . xii the elements are the four greatest bodies of the world , of which others are generated . that the lesser bodies of the world , which are infinite in number , and in forms , are really compounded of the elements , resolution shewes . for when they are corrupted , they return into the elements . and sense teacheth . for all things have some grossenesse , from the earth ; some liquour from the water ; some spirituosity from the air : some heat from heaven ; and because all things that live , are nourished by these , they are thence called elementa quasi alimenta , as if you should say nourishment , as in bohemian ziwel or ziwent . xiii the elementary matter occupies a place in the world according to its degree of density and rarity . for the earth resteth at the bottome : the water swims upon that : the air fleets above the water : and lastly the skie is in the highest place : you shall see the like spectacle if you pour clay , water , wine , ( especially sublimated ) and oile into a glasse : for every one of these , will occupie a place accotding to its nature . xiv therefore the elements make the four visible regions or sphears of the world . for the earth is a globe ; which the water naturally encompasseth round ; the air it : the skie the air : after the same manner as in an egge the yelk is encompassed with the white ; and that with the skin and shell . xv of the elements there are two extreams , the skie and earth ; as many 〈◊〉 air and water . they are called extream aad mean both in regard of their sites , and of their accidents . for the skie is in the highest place , most thin and hot : the earth in the lowest , most thick and cold : skie the first moveable ; earth the first resting . the air and water as they partake of the extreams , so of their accidents : being somtimes either lesse thick or thin , moving or still , hot or cold . xvi but because the elements were prepared not for an idle spectacle , but for strong operation upon one another ; the creatour did somewhat change that order , and commanded two sorts of water to be made , and two sorts of fire . xvii for part of the water is placed above the highest part of the skie : and on the contrary , part of the fire is taken from the skie , and shut up into the bowels of the earth . both these may seem paradoxes : and therefore need demonstration . and as touching the waters it is manifest by the testimony of moses , that god made ( the second day ) the expansum of the heaven , which might divide betwixt the waters which are under the expansum , & the waters above the expansum , gen. 1. 6 , 7 , 8. what can be more clear ? now whereas some modern divines interpret it of the waters of the clouds , that is too cold . they say that jer. 10. 13. the rain waters are signified by the name of the water in heaven ; and therefore here also . but i answer . 1 that the waters in heaven are one thing , and the waters above heaven another : rain might be called water in heaven : because the air was by the hebrews called the first heaven : but it cannot be called the waters above heaven , as these of which moses speaks . 2 that the waters of the clouds are not waters in act , but vapours : but moses speaks of waters . for he sayes expresly , that in the first seven dayes there was no rain . ( cap. 2. ver . 5. ) but he sayes that those waters above the expansum were presently made the second day ; therefore they are some thing else then rain water . 3 he sayes , that the waters were seperated from the waters , but the waters of the clouds are not separated from the waters of the sea , and of rivers . for they are perpetually mingled : vapours ascending , rain descending . 4 he sayes , that the expansum was in the middest betwixt the waters and the waters : but how can that be said of the clouds , which are below the expansum , and reach not to the thousandth part of its altitude ? lastly , psalm . 148 placeth the waters above the heaven , next of all to the heaven of heavens , v. 4. but reckons up clouds and rain afterwards , among the creatures of the earth , ver . 8. what need we any other interpretation ? reason perswades the same thing most strongly . for setting down the principles of the world in that order , wherein we see them set down by moses ; it was necessary , that the matter being scattered by the light rolling about ; should flie hither and thither , and coagulate it selfe at the terms of the world on both fides , that in the middle where the light went , ( and goes yet ) there should be pure skie ; but that on both sides above and below , the mathardning it self , should grow thick . we see it done here below : why not above also ? especially god himself intimating it . let it be so , because naturally it cannot be otherwise . but that there is fire included in the earth 1 the eructations of fire in aetra , vesuvius , hecla , &c. do shew . 2 the springs of hot waters every where , 3 the progeneration of metals , even in cold countreys : and other things which can come from nothing else but from fire , which shall be looked into in that which follows . 4 lastly there is a testimony extant in the book of job chap. 28. v. 5. bread commeth out of the earth , and under it is turned up as it were fire . let the reader see thomas lydiats disquisition concerning the originall of fountains , and there he shall see it disputed at large , and very soundly . xviii the waters above the heaven are there placed for ends known to god , but the use of fire under ground , is well enough known to us also . yet we may say something of these waters by conjecture . as namely , that it was meet , that there should be visible termes of the visible world : and that the heat of the frame ever rolling , had need of cooling on the other side also : and the like . but that of the fire under ground , mountains and valleys , and caves of the earth are produced , and also stones , metals , and juyces generated , and many other things we shall see in that which follows : for without heat , there is no generation , because there is no motion . of the skie in specie . xix the skie is the highest region of the most vast world , the dwelling place of the stars . xx the skie is the most liquid part of the whole world , and therefore transparent , and most moveable . for by the motion and heat of the sun always present , it is perpetually attenuated to an exceeding subtlety . xxi the whole skie is moved about , because that burning and ever flying light of the stars , hurries it about with it . that appears , 1 by reason : for if the starres were moved in the heaven immoveable ( after that manner that birds are carried in the air , and fishes in the water ) that penetration of the heaven would not be without violence ; neither could it be performed with so great celerity , nor with so aequable a course , by reason of the resistance . therefore the starres are carried in heaven in all respects , as clouds in the air , that is , with their charriot . 2 by sense , for we see that our fire carries away with it the matter which it hath caught and attenuated , namely , vapours , smoaks , flames : why not the heavenly fire also ? which comets also shew to the eye , of which we shall see more : chap. 8. 3. the same is to be gathered out of moses words accurately considered . ( gen. 1. v. 14. & 17. of the air . xxii the air is the lowest region of the expansum , the abode of the clouds and birds . in scripture , it is signified by the name of the first heaven . yet it penetrates water and earth , to fill up their cavities because there is no vacuum . xxiii the air is of a middle nature betwixt the heaven and the water , in respect of site and qualities . yet it is thicker where it joyns to the earth and water ; and thinner towards heaven . therefore in the highest tops of some mountains , neither men can live , nor trees grow , because of the thinnesse of the air , by reason of which it is neither sufficient for the breathing of living creatures , nor for the growth of plants . xxiv the air neer the earth in summer is hot , ( by the vehement repercussion of the suns verticall beams : ) in winter , ( by reason of the obliquity and obtuse reflexion of the beams ) it cannot be heated : above it is always cold , yet most in summer , when it is pend in on both sides with the heat of the heaven , and of the earth . of the water . xxv water is thickned air . washing and and moistning the earth ; the abode of fishes . xxvi water of its own nature is onely moist and fluid : to the rest of the qualities indifferent . obs. 1. the fluidity of the water is such , that if you give it never so little declivity , it runs . but the humidity is unequall according to the degree of rarity and density . for a ship sinks not so deep in the sea , as in a river : because the sea water is thicker and drier . obs. 2 they adde commonly , that water is naturally cold , by a twofold argument 1 because it cooleth . 2 because it extinguisheth fire , but i answer it cools not by its coolnesse , but by its crudity . but it quencheth fire after the same manner , as hot water and wine , do , though they be hot , not because they are contrary to fire , but because fire is nourished with the thinner parts of the wood , but if abundance of water be cast on ( or any fluid thing , even oyl ) the pores are stopped , and the fire is quenched . otherwise fires are made of bitumen , ( which is not a porous matter ) that burn in the very water , which we see done also in lime . lastly , great fires are nourished with water . we see also that there is sometime hot , sometime cold water , not onely in rivers , but also breaking out of fountains , according as it is affected ; yet it may not be dissembled in the mean time , that air is more prone to heat , by reason of its rarity ; water to coldnesse by reason of its thicknesse . xxvii the water at first covered the earth round about ; but ( on the third day of the creation , it was gathered into certain channels , ( which are called seas , lakes , pooles , rivers , &c. ) that this was done at the command of of god. moses testifies in these words . let the waters be gathered together into one place , that the dry land may appear gen. 1. v. 9. but david ( relating the processe of the creation ) describes the manner also . ps. 1●4 v 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. that thunders were raised , by which the mountains ascended , the valleys descended , but the waters were carried steep down into their channels : and that in this sort , a bound was set them , that they might not return to cover the earth . whence it is very likely , that that discovery of the surface of the earth , was made by an earthquake : but that the earthquake was produced by the fire sunk into the earth ; which giving battle to the cold there conglobated , shook the earth , and either caused it to swell variously , or rent it asunder . whence those risings a●● fallings in the surface of the earth ( that is mountains and valleys ) were made : but within caves and many hollow places . this done , the waters of their own accord betook themselves , from those swelling eminencies to thc low and hollow places . this pious conjecture will stand so long , as no more probable sense can be given of this scripture . and what need many words ? common sense testifies , that mountains are certainly elevated , valleys and plains depressed . therefore of necessity that was sometime so ordered ; but not in the first foundation of the earth the second day ; for then the grosser parts of the matter flowing about poised themselves equally about the center , therefore it was about the third day , when the face of the earth appeared , and the waters flowed into their channels . but besides perhaps god doth therefore permit earthquakes yet to be sometimes , and by them mountatains and valleys and rivers to be changed , that we may not be without a pattern , how it was done at the first . xxviii the water then is divided into seas , lakes , rivers and fountains . xxix the sea is an universall receptacle o●●●aters , into which all the rivers of the earth unburthen themselves . which uery thing is an argument that the sea is lower then the earth : for rivers run down , not up again . xxx the sea is one in it self ; because it insinuates it self into the continent here and there , as it were with strong arms , it hath gotten severall names in severall places . that great sea encompassing the earth is called the ocean , those armes dividing the continent , bayes , or gulfs . for all those gulfes are joyned to the ocean , except the caspian or hyrcanian sea in asia : yet that is thought to have channells within the earth , whereby it joyned to the ocean . xxxi the sea is cf unequall depth commonly srom an hundred , to a thousand paces : yet in some places they say , that the bottome cannot be found . hence the sea is called an abysse . it is probable that the superficies of the earth covered with the water , is as unequal as this of ours standing out of the water , namely , that in some places are most spacious plaines , in other places valleys and depths , and in other places mountains and hils , which if they stand above the water are called islands , but if they be hidden under the water shelves . xxxii the water of the ocean faileth not , because huge rivers and showres continually flow into it ; neither doth it , cverflow becruse it doth always evaporrte upwards in so many parts of it . of the earth . xxxiii the earth is the most dense bedy of the world , as it were the dregs and setling of the whole matter . and therefore gross , opacous , cold , heavy . xxxiv it hangeth in the middle of the universe , encompassed with air on every-side . for being that it is on every side encompassed with the heaven , and is forced by the heat thereof on every side , it hath not whither to go , or where to rest , but in the aequilibrium of the universe . xxxv the earth is every way round . for the forme which at the first it received from the light of heaven wheeling about it , it yet retaineth : except that in some places it is elevated into mountains and hils , by the thunder which was sent into its bowels the third day , in other places again it is pressed down into valleys and plains , for the running down of the rivers : but that doth not notably hinder the globosity thereof . xxxvi the better part of the superficies of the earth is yet covered with water : the lesser part stands out of the water , where it is called dry land , or continent : or if it be a small portion , an island . there are seven continents of the earth ; europe , asia , africa , america peruviana , america mexicana , magellanica , ( or terra australis ) and terra borealis : but there are islands innumerable . xxxvii the earth is in its outward face in some places plain , in others mountainous : but within in some places solid ; in others hollow . that appears in mountains and mines of metal , where is to be seen here stones or clay very close compact , there dens and most deep caves , and endlesse passages , which must needs be thought to have been the work of the thunder , sent into the earth the third day of the creation , ( which penetrating and piercing its bowels so tore them . ) now there are in the earth not only spacious caves and holes , but an infinite number of straighter veins , and as it were pores , which is plain enough by experience . xxxviii the cavities of the earth are full of water , air , fire . for being that there are cavernes , passages and pores , they must needs be filled ; and that with a thin matter . of air no man will doubt . but that there are waters in the cavernes under ground , appeares in the mines of mettall ; and is proved by the testimony of the scripture , which in the history of the deluge , saith that all the fountains of the great deep were broken up ; ( gen. 7. v. 11. ) lastly , that there is fire under the earth , we have already seen aphorism 16. which it is credible , is the relicks of the lightning raised within the bowels of the earth the third day of the creation , ( psalm . 1●4 . v. 7. ) left there for the working of minerals ; but nourished with sulphureous and bituminous matter , spread through the bowels of the earth . chap. vii . of vapours . if the light of heaven had wrought nothing else upon the matter , but melt it together into the formes of the elements , as it was variously rarified or densified , the world had remained void of other living creatures . but it ceaseth not passing through the elements themselves to scorch them , and scorching them to attenuate them , and attenuating them , to resolve them into vapours : of which condensed again , many severall species of things are progenerated . now then the nature of vapours shall be laid open in the following aphorismes . i vapour is an element rarified , mixed with another element . for example ; the vapour of water , what is it but water rarified and scattered in the air ? smoak , what is it , but an exhalation of wood or other matter resolved ? ii vapour is generated of the grosser elements , earth , water , air ; as of all mixt bodies . of water the matter is evident . for being set to the fire it evaporates visibly ; set in the sun it evaporates sensibly , because even whole pools , rivers , lakes are dried up by little and little , by the heat of the sun . that the earth exhales , you may know by sense , if you put a clot into a dish , ( of earth or pewter ) and pour in water so oft upon it , and let it evapourate with the heat , till there is nothing left , neither of the water , nor of the clay . for what is become of the clot ? it is sure enough turned into aire , with the parts of the water . the vapour of air is invisible ; yet it appears , that there is some . 1 in a living body , where all acknowledge that there are evaporations through the skin and the hair . for then the vapours that go out , what are they but the vapours of the inward vapours , far more subtle then the vapours of water ? 2 fruits , herbs , spices , &c. dried , yea very dry , spread from them an odour , now an odour what is it but an exhalation ! but not ( in this place ) a watery exhalation ( being that there is not any thing watery left in them : ) therefore airy . that mixt bodies do vapour is without doubt : forasmuch as the elements of which they do consist do vapour . understand not only soft bodies ( sulphur , salt , herbs , flesh , &c. ) but the very hardest . for how could a thunder-bolt be generated in the clouds , if stony vapours did not ascend into the cloud ? and it is certain that stones exposed to the air for some ages , ( as in high towers ) grow porous : how , but by evaporation ? and what is the melting of metals , but a kind of vaporation ? for though the metall return to its consistency , yet not in the same quantity , because something is evaporated by putting to the heat . iii heat is the efficient cause of vapour ; which withersoever it diffuseth it selfe , attenuating the matter of bodies , turns it into vapour . for this is the perpetuall virtue of heat , to rarifie , attenuate , and diffuse . iv all is full of vapour throughout the world . for heat , the begetter of vapours , is no where wanting : so that the world is nothing else but a great vaporarie , or stove . for the earth doth alwayes nourish infinite store of vapours in its bowels : and the sea boiles daily vvith inward vapours , and the air is stuft full of them every vvhere . and vve shall see hereafter , that the skie is not altogether free from them . but living bodies of animals and plants , are no●hing but shops of vapours , and as it vvere a kind of alembecks perpetually vaporing , as long as they have life or heat . v vapours are generated for the progenerating of other things . for all things are made of the elements , as it is vvell known , stones , herbs , animals , &c. but because they cannot be made unlesse the elements themselves be first founded , they must of necessity be melted ; vvhich is done vvhen they are resolved into vapours , and variously instilled into things , to put on severall formes . and hence it is that moses testifies , that the first seven days of the world , when there was yet no rain , a vapour went up from the earth , to water the whole earth : that is all things growing out of the earth . read with attention , gen. 2. ver . 4 , 5 , 6. vi vapours are the matter of all bodies . for vvho knoweth not , that vvaters and oiles are gathered out of the vapours of alembicks ? vvho seeth not also , that smoak in a chimney turns into soot , that is black dust ? yea that soot gets into the wals of chimneys , and turnes into a stony hardnesse ? after the same manner therefore that clouds , rain , hail , stones , herbs , are made of the condensed vapours of the elements , and living creatures themselves , ( and in them bloud , flesh , bones , hairs ) are nothing but vapours concrete , vvill appear more clear then the light at noon day . vii vapours then are coagulated , some into liquid matter , ( as water , spittle , flesh or pulp ) some into consistent matter , ( as stones , bones , wood , &c. ) that appears , because those liquid things may be turned into vapours , and consistent things into smoke ▪ which they could not , if they were not made of them , for every thing may be resolved into that onely , of which it is made . viii the motion of vapours with us is upwards , because among the thicker elements , they obtein the nature of thinner . for certainly the vapour of water is thinner then water , it self , yea , thinner then the very air : which though it consist of smaller parts , yet they are compacted . and therefore vapor suffers it self to be prest neither by water nor air , but frees it self , still getting upwards , & hence it is , that plants grow upwards , because the vapour included spreading it self , tends upwards . ix one vapour is moist , another dry ; one thin , another thick ; one mild , another sharp , &c. for those qualities which are afterwards in bodies , are initially in their rudiments , that is vapours ; which we may know by experience . for dry smoak pains the eyes : which a humid vapour doth not : there you have sharpnesse : smels also , ( which are nothing but exhalations of things ) do not they sufficiently manifest sharpnesse , sweetnesse , & c ? and chymicks gather sulphur , salt , and mercury out of smoak . therefore all qualities are in vapours more or lesse : whence the bodies afterwards made of them , get such or such an habit or figure . x vapours gathered together , and not coagulated , cause wind in the air , trouble in the sea , earthquake in the earth . of winds . xi wind is a fluxe of the air , ordained in nature for most profitable ends for winds are 1 the besomes of the world ; cleansing the elements , and keeping them from putrefying . 2 the fan of the spirit of life , causing it to vegetate in plants and all growing things . 3 the charriots of clouds rains , smels , yea , & of heat & cold , whether soever there is need that they should be conveyed . 4 lastly , they bestow strong motions for the uses of men ( as grinding , sailing ) xii the ordinary cause of wind is store of exhalations one where , enforcing the air to flow elsewhere . we may in our hand raise a kind of wind four manner of ways ; namely by forcing or compressing , rarifying and densifying air , ( which shall be shewed by examples by and by ) and so many wayes are winds raised in the world , yet they are all referred to that first cause , vapours , as shall be seen by and by . i said that wind may be raised by us by forcing , compressing , rarifying , or densifying ; that may be shewn to children by ocular experiments , for if you drive the air with a fan , doth it not give a blast ? if you presse it when it is drawn into the bellows , doth it not breath through the pipe ? if you lay an apple or an egge into the fire , doth not the rarified humour break forth with a blast ? but this last will be better seen in a bowle of brasse ( which hath but one hole ) put to the fire : especially if you drop in some drops of water . for the air shut in with the water , when they feel the heat , will presently evaporate , and thrust themselves out with a violent blast . which may be also seen , if you put a burning wax candle into a pot well stopped ( having a small hole left at the side ) &c. the fourth way is by condensation of air : if for example , you lay the foresaid bowle of brasse very hot upon ice , and force the thin air included to be condensed again with cold , you shall perceive it to draw it again from without , to fill up the hollownesse of the bowle . therefore so many ways winds are made under heaven ; either because the air is rarified with the heat of the sun , and spreads it self ; or because it contracts it self with being cold , and attracts from elsewhere to fill up the spaces ; or because a cloud scattered , or falling downward ; or else blasts somewhere breaking out of the earth compresse the air , and make it diffuse : or lastly , because one part of the air being moved , drives others before it , ( for here you must remember what was said before . 1 that a drop of water turned into air , requires an hundred times more space . 2 that the air is a very liquid and moveable element : and therefore being but lightly pushed , gives back a long way ▪ ) but yet it is plain that all those motions of the air take their first rise from vapours . now because the world is a great globe , it affordeth great store of blasts also , both the heat of the sun above , and the parching of the fire under ground , begetting various vapours . hence it is understood , why after a great fire there arises a wind presently , ( even in the still air ? ) namely , because much solid matter , ( wood and stone , &c. ) is resolved into vapours , and the air round about is attenuated by the heat of the fire , that it must of necessity spread it self , and seek a larger room . xiii winds in some countreys are certain , comming at a certain time of the year , and from a certain coast ; others are free , comming from any place . note they call these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is as much to say as annuall : which are caused either by the mountainousnesse of the tract neer adjoyning , wherein the snows are then dissolved ; or to be sure some other causes , by reason of which vapours are then progenerated there in great abundance . but you must note , that those etesian winds are for the most part weak and gentle , and yield to the free winds . note 2 there is also another kind of set wind , common to the whole world ; namely a perpetuall fluxe of the whole air , from the east to the west . for that there is such a wind . 1 they that sail about the aequator testifie . 2 in the seas of europe , when a particular wind ceaseth ; they say also that a certain gentle gale is perceived from the east 3 and therefore marriners are constantly of opinion , that the navigation from east to west is speediliest performed . 4 lastly , with us in a clear and still skie , the highest clouds are seene for the most part to be carried from east to west . therefore wee need not doubt of this generall wind , if so be any one will call it a wind . for it proceeds not from exhalations , but from the heaven , which by its wheeling round , carries the air perpetually about , swiftly above , here nigh the earth ( where the clouds are ) almost insensibly , yet under the aequator ( as being in a greater circle ) very notably . whence this probleme may be profitably noted , why the east wind dries , but the west moistens ? namely , because that being carried along with the air attenuates it the more ; but this striving against the air condenseth it . xiv a gentle wind is called aura , a gale ; a vehement wind overthrowing all it meets with procella , a tempest ; if winded into it self turbo a whirlewind . it is plain that sundry vvinds may arise in sundry places together , according as matter of exhalations is afforded here and there , and occasion to turn it self hither or thither . therefore if they flovv both one vvay , the wind doubled is the stronger ; if sideways , or obliquely , the stronger carries away the weaker with it , and there is a change of the wind which we see done often , yea daily , but when they come opposite to one another , and fall one against another , they make a storme or tempest ; vvhich is a fight of the vvinds till the strongest overcome , and is carried vvith a horrible violence bearing dovvn all before it . but contrary vvinds of aequall strength make a vvhirlvvind , vvhen neither vvill give sidevvay , but both vvhirl upvvards , vvith a violent gyration . of the sea-tide . xv the sea-tide is the daily fluxe of the sea to the shore , and refluxe back again . the sea hath its fluxes lesse unconstant then the air , for it flows onely to the shores , and back again the same vvay : and tvvice a a day it flowes up , and twice it ebbs again . the end thereof vvithout doubt is , to keepe the vvaters of the sea from putrefying by that continuall motion . but the efficient cause thereof heretofore accounted amongst the secrets of nature comes novv to be searched out of the truest grounds of naturall philosophy , and more accurate observations . xvi the cause of the sea-tide , are vapours within , wherewith the sea swelling diffuseth it self , and falling settles down again . for this tide is like to the boiling of vvater , seething at the fire ; vvhich is nothing but the stirring of the vapours raised in the vvaters by the force of the heat . for it is impossible that the vvater should not be resolved into vapours by the heat : impossible that the vapours should not seek a passage ( upvvards ) to their connaturals . yet impossible that they should have an easie passage out of the vvater , ( being that the superficies of the vvater , yea the vvhole masse thereof , being a diffused liquor like liquid glasse , hath fewer pores than the earth or wood , or a stone : ) therefore it is impossible that the water should not swel rise up , dash it self against the sides of the kettle , and at length break in a thousand openings , and give the heat dancing & evapourating a passage out , by reason of the vapour raised & multiplied vvithin , and striving upvvard : all vvhich vve see in a boiling pot . ●n the same manner the sea svvels , by reason of the vapour that is multiplyed in the bottome of its gulfes , and lifts up it self into a tumour , & of necessity spreads it self to the side , neither doth it make any thing against this , that the vvater of the sea boiling is not so hot as the water of a boiling pot . for here the vast quantity doth not admit of so great heat over such deep gulfes . for the water of a kettle heats at the bottome , bu the superficies begin to swell and turn about before they heat . xvii vapours within the sea , are chiefly generated by by the fire under ground . they referre it commonly to the caelestiall fire , the sun , and the moon . but that is likely to be as true , as that we see a pot of water to boile , set in the sun , though never so hot . for who ever saw that ? the sun may lick the superficies of the water , and so consume it by little and little , and turn it into vapour : but nothing can make it boil at the bottome , but fire put under it . therefore the cause of the vapours within the sea , must of necessity be placed underneath : namely that fire under ground , which the whole nature of inferiour things , demonstrate to be shut up there . xviii the vapours and tides of the sea are provoked by the heat of heaven , ( the sun. ) a labouring man , or a traveller , sweats easily enough by his inward heat , ( stirred up by the motion of his body ) but a great deal more easily in the heat of summer , then in winter ; and all of us sooner in a bath then else-where : the outward heat provoking the inward . in like manner the sea vapours and boiles vvithin , but yet after the harmony of the superiour fire which is from the stars . which harmony is seen also in yielding us vvater from the clouds and fountains . for in rainy vveather fountains flow more abundantly ; in dry vveather they dry something , both which god intimated , gen. 7. v. 11. and deut. 28. v. 23. now the cause is , the harmony of fire to fire ; of the caelestiall to the subterraneous , &c. as it shall elsewhere appear . xix the sea flowes twice a day , according as the sun comes and goes , for the sun ascending to the meridian , attracts the vapours of the sea , and causes the waters to be elevated and diffused : descending to the west , it suffers them to fall again . now that the waters swell again at the sun setting , and fall as he hastens to the east ; the cause is the same which in boyling pots : where the hot water is seen to boile , and to be elevated , not only in that part which is toward the fire , but also on the contrary ; but to fall again on the sides both wayes . so the sea is a caldron , which the sun ( the worlds fire ) encompassing , makes to swell up on both the opposite parts , but to fall in the intermediate parts ; so that this sea-tide following the sun , goes circularly after a perpetuall law . xx the fluxe and refluxe of the sea is varied according to the motion of the sun and moon , and the site of places . for 1 in winter it is almost insensible , the sun but weakly raising the subterrane vapours . 2 when the moon is in conjunction or opposition to the sun , the seas swell extraordinarily ; the force of both luminaries being joyned together to affect the inferiour things ( either joyntly or else oppositely . ) also the moon encreasing the flowings are something retarded , decreasing they are anticipated : which gave occasion to the ancients to think that it was caused by the moon alone . 3 those sea fluxes and refluxes vary also according to the divers turnings and windings of countries and promontories , and the shorter or longer coherence of inlets with the ocean ; which causeth them to be perceived in some places sooner , in others later . but enough of the sea tide , the earthquake followes . xxi an earthquake is the shaking of the superficies of the earth in any countrey ; arising from subterrane exhalations , gathered together in great abundance , and seeking a passage out . therefore it ceaseth not till the said exhalations are either scattered through the cavities of the earth , or else break forth . xxii earthquakes are sometimes so horrible that they subvert cities , mountaines , islands , with an hideous bellowing howling , and crashing . which formidable effects cause us to suspect , that those vapours are then mixt , like to those by which thunders are caused in a cloud : and that not simply by the blast of the exhalations , but by their burning , so that they are a kinde of subterrane lightnings : yet i thought good to make mention of it here together . chap. viii . of concrete substances : namely , stars , meteors , and minerals . i a concrete thing is a vapour coagulated , endued with some form . for example , soot , clouds , snow , &c. note that this name of concrete , and concreture is new , yet fit to expresse this degree of creatures , which confers nothing but coagulation and figure . ii the primary cause of concretion of vapours is cold , which wheresoever it findeth a vapour , condenseth and coagulateth it . that appears in alembicks , where the vapour raised by heat , and carried into the highest region of it where it is cold , resolves it selfe again into water : and to that end distillours now and then wash the uppermost cap of the alembick with cold water , and make the pipes , through which the concrete liquour distils , to passe through a vessell of water . yet heat helps the concretion of things , consuming the thinner part of the concrete , and compelling the rest to harden , which we see done in the generation of metals . iii some concretes are aethereall , others aereall , others watery , others earthly . namely , because some are made in the skie , as stars : others in the air , as clouds , &c. others in water , as a bubble , &c. others in the earth , as stones , &c. every one of which come to be considered apart . iv aethereal concretes , are stars and comets . v stars are fiery globes , full of light and heat , with which the skie glitters on every side . both the ornament of the world required this , that hanging lamps should not be wanting in so lofty a palace : as also the necessity of the inferiour world , concerning which is the following aphorisme . now we reckon stars in the rank of concretes , because it is certain that they are made of matter and light . stars were produced in so great number upon very great necessity . namely , 1 to heat the earth with a various temperature . 2 to make the various harmony of times . 3 to inspire a various form into the creatures . for so great variety could not be induced into the lower world , without such variety in coelestiall things . vii god placed the greatest number of stars in the highest heaven round about , that they might irradiate the earth on every side , and carry about their sphear with a rapid motion of heat . on which starry sphear take these following aphorismes . 1 that the motion of this sphear is finished in the space of twenty four hours . 2 and because that motion is circular , it is said to be made upon two hinges , or immoveable points ( in greek poles ) of vvhich the one is called the northern or artick pole ; the other the southern or antartick . betwixt these two poles the heaven is turned : vvith its exact globosity , describing a circle ( in the midst betwixt the two poles ) vvhich they call the aequator . now that tract , vvhere the stars arise above the earth , is called the east , or the sun-rising : the opposite to it vvhere they set , is called the west or sun-setting ; and these four angles of the world , are called the four quarters of the world , and the four cardinal points . 3 that the stars of the highest sphear , ( commonly called the fixed stars ) are globes of vvondrous greatnesse in themselves : the greatest of them exceeding the globe of the earth an hundred and seven times : and the least of them exceeding the same globe eighteen times . 4 that the numerable stars are found by us one thousand , tvventy tvvo : but god knovves the number of the innumerable . for the galaxias or milky way ( it is the whitest tract of heaven ) is found by accurate perspectives to be a company of very sma● stars ; and there are some other like tracts observed in heaven , though lesse , and of these the vvords of god , gen. 15. v. 5. are to be understood . 5 that the visible stars reduced into certain figures , vvhich they call coelestiall signs in number 69 , 12 vvhereof about the aequator , are by a peculiar name called the zodiaque . but this zodiaque declines with one half of it toward the north , with the other part towards the south . the signes are comprehended in this distick . 1 2 3 4 5 sunt aries , taurus , gemini , cancer , leo , 6 virgo : 7 8 9 10 11 libraque , scorpius , arcitenens , caper , hydria , 12 pisces . 1 2 3 the ram , the bull and twins to th' spring belong ; 4 6 5 to summer crab and maid and lion strong . 7 8 9 autumne hath scales and scorpion & the bow : 10 11 12 goat , water-tanckard , fishes winter show 6 that the distance of this starry sphear from the earth is found above two hundred thousand semidiameters of the earth , and a semidiameter of the earth contains 3600 of our miles . viii a very great portion of most ardent light is conglobated in the sun , so that it may seem the onely fountain of light and heat . for were it not for the sun we should have perpetuall night , for all the rest of the stars : forasmuch as at high noon , we are in darkenesse presently , if the sun be but covered . now touching the sun these following axiomes are to be noted . 1 that it was made so great as might suffice , both to illustrate the whole world , and to heat and vaporate the whole earth : that is 160 times greater than the earth . 2 that it is such a distance elevated from the earth , as might serve , so as neither to burn it , nor leave it destitute . psal. 19. v. 7 for it is placed almost in the middle space betwixt the starry sphear and the earth . 3 that it is carried with a flower motion then the stars in their highest sphear . for whereas it seems to be turned about equally , as the starrie sphear is , yet it is every day left behind almost a degree , ( of which the whole circuit of the sphear hath 360 ) whence it comes to passe , that in 365 dayes , it compasseth the whole spear as it were going back , and after so many dayes returns to the same star again . and this we call the time of an year , or a solar year . 4 and that it may serve all sides of the earth with its light and heat , ( to wit by turns ) that retardation is not made simply though the middest of the world under the aequator : but under the zodiack , bending to the north on this side : to the south on that side whence comes the division of the year into four parts ; ( spring , summer , autumn and winter ) and the inequality of dayes to those that inhabite without the equinoctiall . for when it declines to those on the north it makes summer with them , and the longest days , and so on the contrary . and by how much it is the more verticall to any part of the earth , it heats it so much the more , by reason of the direct incidence and repercussion of the rayes . ix and because it was not convenient that the sunne and stars should always operate after one and the same manner ( for variety is both pleasing and profitable to all nature ) there were six other wandring starres added over and besides , which running under the same zodiaque and by certain turns entring into conjunction one with another , and with the sunne might variously temper his operation upon inferiour things . these wandring starres are called planets , of which there are seven , reckoning the sun for one . x the planets therefore are the suns coadjutors in governing the world : which differ in site , course , magnitude and light . xi three of the planets saturn ( ♄ ) jupiter ( ♃ ) mars ( ♂ ) are above the sun : venus ( ♀ ) mercury ( ☿ ) and the moon ( ☽ ) below : so in a most decent manner , as it were compassing about the sides of their king. it is probable , that the stars are carried higher or lower in heavē , for the same reason as clouds in the air , or wood in water , that is , according to their different degrees of density or rarity . for as thick wood swims under the water either with all or with half of its body covered , but light wood swims on the top : and watry clouds ascend not far from the earth , but dry and barren clouds very high : so the globes of the stars are carried some higher than others according to the thicknesse of their matter and light . xii the upper plane●s are bigger then the earth , but the lower are lesser . for it is found that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth equall 91 globes of the earth . ♄ 95 ♃ 2 ♂ 160 ☉ doth cōtein the 28 part of the earth . ♀ 105 ☿ 39 xiii by how much the higher any planet is , and neerer to the highest sphear , so much the swifter it moveth ; by how much the lower and neerer to the earth , so much the flower . for saturn , because he is next to the eighth sphear , is rolled about almost equally with it , yet he also fals back by little and little : so that he runs through the zodiaque moving backward in the space of almost thirty years : jupiter in twelve years : mars in almost two : the sun ( as was said ) in a year : venus encompasseth the sun in five hundred eighty three dayes : mercury in one hundred and fifteen dayes : the moon because she is slowest of all , remaining behind every day 13 deg . measures the zodiaque in 27⅓ dayes . xiv the higher planets do so observe the sun , that approaching nigh unto him , they betake themselves into the highest place ; going from the sunne , they sinke lower towards the earth . and for this cause both their magnitude and their motion vary in our eyes . for when they are neerer to the earth , they seem greater ; but more remote lesser . again , the higher they are , the slower they move , and then they are called direct ; the lower they descend the swifter , so that they seem either stationary , ( keeping pace for some weeks with the same fixed stars ) or else retrograde , sometimes outstripping them in their course . xv venus and mercury depart not from the sun , unlesse it be to the sides both ways : venus 47 degrees , mercury 23 degrees . so that sometimes they go before the sun , sometimes they follow him , sometimes they lie hid under his rayes . note , venus when she is the morning star and goes before the sun is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or lucifer : when she is the evening star she is called hesperus . xvi as for their light , mars is very fiery and calefactive : ♄ is pale and very frigifactive : ♃ and ♀ are of a benigne light : ☿ changeably sparckling : ☽ shines with a borrowed light onely : of which more by and by . note . that the stars and planets do not sparkle by reason of their greater distance , ( for then ♄ should sparkle more then mercury : vvhereas we find the contrary ) but by reason of their flaming . for fire or light cannot rest , therefore the polar stars , because they are least stirred with the common motion , twinckle most . xvii because the moon is near to the earth , and placed in a grosse air , she moves most slowly ; and also her body is grosse and obscure , like a globous cloud . for it is not distant from the earth above 60 semidiameters of the earth . the moon by reason of her opacity doth not shine of her selfe , or else very weakly : but on that side that she is illuminated by the sun , on that side she shines like a looking glasse , the other halfe being obscure . note . because the moon was to rule the night , a weak light , and that but borrowed was given her , and because she was appointed to shew lesser times ( months ) a motion different from the sun was given her , that by her departure from the sun , and by her returning , she might designe the progresse of the moneths : and that it might be done more evidently , she was placed below the sun , that she might appear to us with her face enlightned after divers manners . for vvhen she runs with the sun in the same signe of the zodiack , she doth not appear to us ; because her enlightned face is turned toward the sun , but her obscure face to us . but when she is opposite to the sun , we beholding her on the same side which looketh toward the sun , see all her luminous face . lastly , in the intermediate places we see her encreasing or decreasing in light ; according as she turns her enlightned face to us , or turns it from us , by reason of the diversity of her position in respect of the sun , and us . xix when the moon , at the change , comes directly under the sun , she obscures him as to us ; when at the full , she is directly opposite to the sun , she enters into the shadow of the earth , and is her selfe obscured : and this they call the eclipses of the luminaries . hence it appears that the sun is not obscured after the same manner that the moon is . for the moon is really obscured , that is deprived of light , as being fallen into the shadow ; but the sun is not deprived of light , but is only covered from us , that it cannot as then enlighten the earth with his rayes ; therefore the earth is then more truly eclipsed then the sun. now god ordained eclipses 1 that we might understand , that all our light is from the sun. 2 that the magnitude of the luminaries , and of the earth might be found out . 3 to finde the true longitude of countries ; but that belongs to astronomers , this last to geographers . of comets . xx comets are accessory stars , which somtimes shine , and go out again : for the most part with tayles , or busbes of hair . we reckon them to the heaven and stars , not to the air and meteors : because they are not generated in sublunary places , ( as aristotle thought ) but in the highest heaven , even above the sun : which 1 their motion , swifter always then the moon it selfe . 2 their parallax , lesse then the moons , somtimes none at all , do shew . xxi comets are not vapours kindled ; but a reflexion of the suns light , in vapours so far elevated . the first is easily proved . for if a comet were a vapour kindled , it could not last halfe an hour . ( for nothing can be kindled but a sulphury matter , but that is consumed in a moment , as it appears in gun-powder , lightning , a chasme , a falling star , &c. ) but histories relate that comets have lasted three years . the second is shewed , because comets 1 cast a taile from the sun , as the moon doth a shadow ; ( for those dry vapours are not an opacous body , like to the moon , but semidiaphanous . ) 2 they are eclipsed ( as campanella testifies ) by the shadow of the earth , as well as the moon : which vvould not be , if they burned with their own fire . n. w. that which is reported of a fulphureous matter , or stone , which fell from a burning comet , if it be true , it is to be thought , that it was made of some fiery meteors , not of a comet . xxii the ends of comets are , that it may appear ; 1 that the whole heaven moves , not the stars only . 2 that it is liquid and transmeable , not hard like chrystall . 3 that vapours ascend so high , and that there are mutations every where in this visible world . vapours , i say , whether exhaling from this our inferiour world , or from the supercelestiall waters . for there is nothing to the contrary , why we should not hold , that they also exhale , and are spread abroad into the thinner region of the stars . of aëriall concrets , that is , meteors . xxiii by reason of the perpetuall confluxe of exhalations in the air from all the elements , many things are daily there concreted , but of small continuance . for the air is full of exhalations , even when it seemeth clear . for it cannot be so pure here near the earth , but it will have something watery , oily or salt alwayes admixt with it . things concrete of these were anciently called meteors , because they are made on high : for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies high . xxiv of humid exhalations are made watery meteors : fiery of dry . xxv watery meteors are , mists , clouds , rain , hail , snow , dew , frost . we must see them every one apart , how they are made . xxvi a mist is a watery exhalation half concrete , which being that by reason of its density it cannot elevate it selfe , creeps on the ground . xxvii a cloud is a gathering together of thin vapours , and elevated upward , in the highest of the air . they are gathered together most of all over the sea , and standing waters , because there most exhalations are made , and from thence they are driven through divers parts of the world by the windes , and increased with exhalations arising elsewhere . hence in every region , rain comes , most often from that part , which lies nearest to the sea ; as with us from the west . xxviii rain is the resolution of a cloud into water , and the falling of it by drops . n. 1 that resolution is alwayes made by the condensation of the vapour , but there is not alwayes the same efficient cause of its condensation . for sometimes cold condenseth a vapour , as in the head and pipe of an alembick ( which must needs be cooled ) we see : sometimes the very compression it selfe , or conspissation , as it is plain in the roof of baths , and the cover of a boiling pot . but neither of these causes is wanting to beget rain : being that the middle region of the air is cold , and the cloud being pressed together by the vapours alwayes ascending , must of necessity be dissolved . and this is the cause , why the burning heat of the air is a fore-teller of rain : because then it is certain that the air is thickned . n. 2. that rain is better for fields and gardens then river water , because it hath a kind of a fatnesse mixt with it , from the evaporations of the earth , minerals , plants , and animals , wherewith it gives the earth a most profitable tincture . n. 3 sometimes wormes , small fishes , frogs , &c. fall with the rain , which , as it is very likely , are suddenly generated within the cloud , of vapours gathered together of the same nature , by virtue of a living spirit admixt therewith ; as in the beginning , at the command of god , the waters brought forth creeping things and fishes in a moment . xxix hail is rain congealed . for when the sun beams in the greatest heat of summer , have driven away all cold from the earth into the middle region of the air , it comes to passe that that vehement cold doth violently harden the drops of rain passing through them , and forces them to turn to ice : and therefore haile cannot be procreated in winter , the cold abiding then near the earth , not on high . xxx snow , is a resolution of a cloud into most small drops , and withall a thickning of them with a gentle cold . n. 1 it falls only in winter : because the vapours are not elevated by the weak rayes of the sun , so far as the middle ( that is the cold ) region ; here then near the earth , the resolution is made in a milder cold , and withall the congelation is very mild . 2 the whitenesse of the snow is from the conjunction of the parts of the water : the same comes to passe in broken ice , and in the froth of water . xxxi dew is a thin vapour ( or else the air it selfe ) attracted by the leaves of plants , and with their coldnesse condensed into water . for it is no where , but upon plants ; and that in the heat of summer , when the plants are colder then the air it selfe . now this turnes to the great benefit of the plants ; for by that means they are moistned , at the very driest time of the year . and therefore they are produced also in those countries which know no rain . xxxii frost is congealed dew . therfore there is none , but in winter , when cold reigns by reason of the suns absence . of fiery meteors . fiery meteors are those , which arise from fat fumes , kindled in the air : the principal kinds of which are seven ; a falling star : a flying dragon : lightning : flying sparks : ignis fatuus : a torch : and ignis lambens . xxxiii a falling star is a fat and viscous fume , kindled ( by an antiperistasis , that is an obsistency of the cold round about ) at the upper end of it , the flame whereof following its fuell is carried downward , till it fail also and be extinguished . for they are to be seen every clear night , in winter more then in summer : and you may see the like spectacle , if you kindle the fat fume of a candle put out with another candle put to it above . this falling star is made of a grosse vapour ; and by reason of its grossenesse hanging together like a cord . therefore it burns so violently , that falling upon a man it burns through his garment . look which way it tends with its motion , it foretels wind from that part . xxxiv a flying dragon , is a long , thick , fat fume , elevated in all its parts : for which cause being kindled , it doth not dart it selfe downward , bnt side-wayes like a dragon , or sparkling beam . this meteors is not so often seen : and therefore they that are ignorant of the naturall causes , think that the divell flies . xxxv lightning is fire kindled within a cloud , which flying from the contrary cold , breaks out with an horrible noise , and for the most part casts the flame as far as the earth . the world is the alembick of nature , the air the cap of this alembick : the sun is the fire : the earth , the water , minerals , plants , &c. are the things which being softned with this fire , exhale vapours upward perpetually . so there ascend , salt , sulphury , nitrous , &c. vapours , which being wrapped up in clouds , put forth various effects , for example , when sulphury exhalations are mixt with nitrous , ( the first of a most hot nature , the second most cold ) they endure one another so long , as till the sulphur takes fire . but as soon as that is done , presently their followes the same effect as in gun-powder , ( whose composition is the same of sulphur and nitre ) a fight , a rapture , a noise , a violent casting forth of the matter . for thence it is that a viscous flaming matter is cast forth , which presently inflames whatsoever it touches that is apt to flame , and smiting into the earth , it turnes to a stone , and being taken out after a time , is called a thunder-bolt . xxxvi flying sparks are a sulphury fume scattered into many small parts and kindled . it is seldome seen as likewise those that follow . xxxvii ignis fatuus , is a fat and viscous fume , which by reason of its grossenesse , doth not elevate it selfe far from the earth , and being kindled , straggles here and there , leading travellers sometimes out of their way , and into danger . xxxviii a torch is a fume like it , but thin , and therefore elevated upwards : which being kindled . burnes a while like a candle or lamp . xxxix ignis lambens , is a fat exhalation coming from a living body , heated with motion , and kindled at its head , or near about . it sometimes befalls men and horses , vehemently breathing after running , that the ardent vapours sent forth , are turned into flames . of appearing meteors . appearing meteors , are the images of things in clouds , variously expressed by the incident light : of which sort there are observed seven : chasma , halo , parelius , paraselene , rods , colours , the rainbow . xl chasma ( a pit ) is the hollowness of a cloud , making shew of a great hole . it it by reason of a shadow in the midst of a cloud , the extremities whereof are enlightned . you may see the like almost in the night by a candle , on a wall , which hath any hollownesse in it , though it be whitish . xli halo ( a floor ) is a luminous circle , when the vapours underneath the sun , or moon , are illustrated with the rayes of the luminary . you may see the same by night in a bath , or any other vaporous place , about a burning candle . it is oftest seen under the moon , because the sun with his stronger rayes either penetrates or dissipates the cloud . xlii parelius ( a false sun ) is the representation of the sun upon a bright cloud placed by its side . after the same manner , if you stand upon the opposite bank of a river , you shall see two suns ; the one , the true one in heaven , the other reflected in the water . there are sometimes three suns seen , if two of those clouds are at once opposed to the sun ; and our sight . xliii paraselene ( a false moon ) is the image of the moon expressed after the same manner , upon a collaterall cloud . xliv rods , are beams of the sun covered with a cloud , yet shining through the thin cloud , stretched towards the earth like rods . xlv colours are they that appear divers in a cloud , according as it is after severall manners turned toward the sun and us ; so that the cloud seems somtimes yellow , somtimes red & fiery . xlvi lastly , the rainbow is an halo opsite to the sun or moon , in a dewy cloud , reprepresenting a bow of divers colours . for there are lunar rainbows also . now that the rainbow is an appearing meteor , is plain , if it be but from hence , that it comes and goes backwards and forwards with the eye of the beholder ; and so it appears to be in severall places , to those that behold it from severall places , even as the image or brightness of the sun , to those that walk up and down on the shore . i say that it is a meteor like to an halo , because it is alike circular . and as in the halo , the center of the luminary , the center of the lightsome circle , and the center of our eye are in one right line , so in a rainbow : onely that in the first the luminary and the eye are the extreams , the halo in the middest : here the luminary and the bow are the extreams , and the eye in the middest . now there doth not appear a whole circle in the rainbow , because the center of it to us fals upon the earth , and so the upper halfe of the circle only appears . if any one could elevate himselfe into the cloud , or above the cloud , without doubt he would see the whole circle of the rainbow . hence also the reason is evident , why at the suns rising or setting there appears a whole semicircle elevated right up towards heaven ; but when the sun is high , it appeares low . lastly , why there can be none at all when the sun is verticall . the lunar rainbowes are onely pale , as an halo : the solar shewes forth most fair clouds , from a stronger light diversly reflected from a thousand thousand drops , ( of the melting cloud : ) the colours being coordinate , as is to be seen in a chrystalline prisme : and certainly the rainbow was given even for this , that we might learn to contemplate the nature of colours . there is also a contrairis , namely when the rainbow reflects again upon another cloud underneath ; and therefore it is lesse and of a weaker colour , and the order of the colours inverted ; so that the highest is lowest , as in a glasse the right side answers to the left side , &c. but of meteors enough . of watery ( oncretes . xlvii watery concretes are : a bubble , foame , ice , and severall appearances in the water : also the saltnesse of the sea , spring waters , and medicinall waters . xlviii a bubble is a thin watery skin , filled with air . it is made when a small portion of air thrust down below the water is carried upwards : which the water , being somwhat fatter in its superficies , suffers not presently to flie out , but covers it with a thin skin , like a little bladder . by how much the more oily the water is , by so much the longer the bubbles hold : as it is to be seen in those ludicrous round bubbles , which boyes are wont to blow out of water and sope , ( which flie a great while through the air unbroken . ) from the bubble we learn , to what a subtilty water may be brought . for the skin of a bubble is a thousand times thinner then the thinnest paper . xlix foame is a company of very small bubbles , raised by the sudden falling of water into water . the beating of the water into small parts causes whitenesse in the foam ; even as ice , waxe , pitch , and other things are whitish when they are beaten . the durability also of the foam is more in an oily liquour , as in beer , &c. l ice is water hardened together with cold . li watery impressions are images of clouds , of birds flying over , of men , of trees , and of any things objected . it is known , that water is the first mirrour , receiving the images of all things : which is by reason of the evennesse of its superficies . for light coloured with things falling upon the water , cannot ( as it comes to passe in another body of a rough superficies ) be dispersed , but by reason of its exceeding evennesse is intirely reflected , and presents it selfe whole with that image to the eye of the beholder . this is the ground of all mirrours . but let us come to reall concretions in the water . lii the saltnesse of the sea , is from the subterrane fire , which heating a bituminous matter , spreadeth salt exhalations through the sea . saltnesse something bitter , with a kind of oleosity was given to the sea . 1 that the waters might not putrifie . 2 for the more convenient nutriment of fishes . 3 for strength to bear the burdens of ships . now the sea is salt , not ( as aristotle thought ) by reason of the sun beams , extracting the thinner parts of the waters , and scorching the rest . ( for our fire would do the same , and the sun in lakes and pooles , neither of which is done : yea , by how much the more , salt water is heated with our fire , the salter it is ; but fresh water is so much the fresher ) but by reason of the heat included within the bowels of the earth , and of the deep ; which when it cannot exhale , it scorcheth sharply the humour that there is , so that it turnes to urine : the very same we see done in our own body ( and all living creatures ) for urine and sweat are alike salt . liii spring waters are made of vapours condensed in the cavernes of the earth ; after the same manner , as drops are gathered together upon the covers of pots . it is certain that under the earth there lies a great deep , gen. 7. 11. that is a mighty masse of waters , diffused through the hollows of the earth ; which that it joynes with certain gulfes of the ocean , this is an argument that the depth of the sea in some places is altogether insearchable . therefore as vapours ascend out of the open sea into the air , which being resolved into drops distill rain : so the subterrane waters , being attenuated by the subterrane heat , send forth vapours , which being gathered together in the hollowes of the earth , and collected into drops , flow out which way [ passage ] is given them . and this is it which the scripture saith , all rivers enter into the sea , and the sea runneth not over : unto the place from whence the rivers come they returne , that they may flow again . eccles. 1. v. 7. whence it is understood why springs yield fresh water , though they come from those bitter , and salt waters of the sea ? namely , because they come by distillation to the spring head . for they say , that the sea water being distilled ( that is resolved first into vapours , then into drops in an alembick ) looseth its saltnesse : by the same reason then the deep under ground , evaporating salt waters sendeth them fresh out of fountains neverthelesse . and what need words ? for clouds gathered of the vapours of the sea : send down fresh showers . s● how excellently the truth of things agree with it selfe still . liv medicinall waters are made of the various tinctures of the metals and juices of the earth , ( from which they receive the virtue 〈◊〉 healing and savour . ) for example , hot waters or baths , a● made of bitumen burning within : therefore they exhale sulphur manifestly ; b●● sharpish waters relish of iron , coper , vitrio●allom , &c. of which earthly concretes it wil● be now time to speak . of earthly concretes , which are called minerals . lv minerals are earthly concretes begotten of subterrane vapours ; as clods , concret juicesî metals , and stones . these are called minerals from the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if you shonld say from the earth . they call them also fossiles , because they are digged : that all these are begotten of subterrane vapours , and subterrane fire , appears by the example of our body : wherein bloud , choler , flegme , melanlancholy , urine , spittle , fat , flesh , veins , nerves , membranes , gristles , bone , &c. yea , the stone and gravell , are made of the vapours of food concocted and digested as : shal be seen hereafter . now as these parts of ours are formed within the body by the heat included ; so minerals are generated in the bowels of the earth , not elsewhere . for the earth with its most deep passages and veins winding every way , where infinite vapours are generated , and perpetually distilled in a thousand fashions , is that great work-house of god , wherein , for the space of so many ages , such things are wrought , as neither art can imitate , nor wit well find out . lvi clods are digged earths , infected only with fatnesse , or some colour , and apt to be soaked , as 1 clay . 2 marle . 3 chalk . 4 red earth . 5 paintings , or painters colours , ( as lake , vermilion , oker , azure , or blew , verdigrease . ) 6 fullers earth in greek , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 7 medicinall earth , as sealed earth , lemnian , armenian , samian , &c. these colours seem to be nothing else , but the soot of the subterrane fumes , variously distilled ; and those earths , nothing else but a various mixture of liquors distilled also variously , and brought to such or such a quality . lvii concrete juices , are fossiles indued with a savour , or some sharp virtue , apt to be dissolved , or kindled ; as sulphur , niter , salt , allome , vitriol , arsenick , ( which painters call orpiment ) antimonie or stibium , & such like . n. those juices seem to be nothing else but the cream of subterrane liquors variously distilled . lviii metals are watery fossiles , apt to be melted , cast , and hammered : as gold , silver , brasse , ( or copper ) iron , tin , lead , quick-silver . n. 1. that they are progenerated of fire , this is enough to testifie , that they are oft times taken hot out of the veines , so that the touch will not endure them . for in winter when all herbs are white with frost , those which grow over the veins , admit of no frost , because of the hot exhalation within hindering concretion , so also trees , by the blewnesse of their leaves , shew the veines of metals . 2 now that metals are made of vapours , this is an argument that they are wont also to be procreated in the very clouds . for examples are not unknown , even in our age of bodies of brasse , or iron , of no small weight falling from heaven . 3 that metals are made of watery vapours their liquabilitie shews ; now they are coagulated by virtue of salt . therefore the drosse of iron is salt and bitter . 4 quicksilver alone is alwayes liquid , never consistent ; as a perpetuall witnesse of the watery nature of metals . other metals swim upon it , because it hath the most compacted substance of all , gold only excepted : which therefore it receives only into it selfe . 5 whether metals differ in their species , or only in degree of purity and hardnesse , and in heat , we leave now in suspense . lix stones are earthly fossiles , hardly compacted , apt only to be broken in pieces . that stones are earth coagulated with water and fire , bricks and pots teach us ; for here art imitates nature . yet the severall formes of stones shew , that they are not earth simply concrete , but a masse concrete of divers most grosse earthly vapours , with a various temperature of humours . lx stones are either vulgar , or precious . lxi a vulgar stone is earth most hardly compacted : the principall kinds of which are seven . the gravell stone , the milstone , the pumice-stone , the flint , ( to which i refer the smiris wherewith glasse is cut , and iron polished the whetstone , and the touch stone , ( or lapis lydius ) the marble and the loadstone . n. every kind have their differences again . 2 a great stone is called saxum or a rock , a little one , gravell and sand . 3 most mountains are stony , ( and yield metals ; ) because the subterrane fire ( on the third day of the creation ) swelling the earth here made it self many channels and passages , breathing through which , it doth variously exhale , melt , mix and boile the matter : which is not done so copiously under plains . lxii pretious stones are are called gems , because they are the gums of stones sweating in the bowels of the earth . hence comes their clearnesse and brightnesse , that is to say , from their most thin● and accurate straining , even more then in the gums of trees ; for wood hath loose● pores then stones . lxiii all gems are transparent , and pellucid : but some onely transparant , as these three ; the diamond , the chrystall , the beryll● others coloured with all , and those● ( according to the diversity of their colours ) of sve●● sorts . 1 bright and burning ; the carbuncle the chalcedon , the chrysolite . 2 yellow ; the jacinth and topaze . 3 green ; the emerald , and the turquois . 4 red or purple : the rubie and the granate : but the carnelous and the onyx are more pale . 5 skie-coloured ; the saphir , and the amethyst , 6 black ; the morion 7 changeable ; as the jasper , the agat , the chrysoprase . n. 1. that chrystall is never found unlesse it be hexagonall , which is the miracle of nature . and that it is growes in arched cels under ground , dry and closed , where the wind enters not for some years , hath been experienced at kings itradeck in bohemia , anno 1618. for elegant chrystals were found hanging from the stones of the arches , like isicles of an exact hexagonall forme , but in the silver mines of catteberge , there are found far more . of other gems we have nothing to say in particular . n. 2. stones that are wont to grow in some living creatures , are usually reckoned amongst precious stones : as the pearl , in sea shell fishes : the bezoar . the chelidonius , the alectorius , the bufonites , &c. also corall , and amber . but these two , are to be referred rather to the following chapter . lxiv the virtue which is in minerals , is called their naturall spirit : of which there are so many formes , as there are species of minerals . for there is one spirit of salt , another , of vitrioll , loadstone , and iron , &c. which distillers know how to extract . chap. ix . of plants . thus much of concretes : here follow plants which beside their figure have life . 1 a plant is a vitall concrete , growing out of the earth : as a tree and an herb . some concretes ( stars , meteors , minerals , ) want life , and lie or tarry where they were concrete : but plants endued with an inward vigour , break out of the earth , and spread themselves in plano : whence also they were called plants . ii plants are generated , both to be an ornament to the earth , and to yield nourishment , medicine , and other uses to living creatures . for what a sad face the earth would have if it were not cloathed every year with those diverse coloured tapistries of herbs , we have sufficient experience in winter , and whence should living creatures have food , medicines , and pleasures , if we were destitute of the roots , leaves , seeds and fruits of plants ? not to speak of the commodity of shade , and of the infinite uses of wood . iii the essentiall parts of a plant are , the root , the trunk ( or stalk ) and the branches or leaves . n. w. the elements , vapours , concrete things , consisted only of similar parts : for every part and particle of water , earth , vapour , a cloud , iron , &c. is called , and is water , earth , vapour , a cloud , iron , &c. but more perfect bodies , ( of plants and living creatures ) do consist of dissimular parts that is members ) every one of which hath both its office , and its name , differing from the rest . for example . in a plant , the root is the part sticking in the ground , and sucking in the juice of the earth : the truk , ( or stalks ) attracting the juice , concocting it : and sending it to the upper parts : the boughes and branches , are twigs , distributing the juice yet better concocted , to make seed and fruit : the leaves are the coverings of the fruits and boughes . iv the spirit of a plant is called a vegetable , or vitall spirit ; which puts forth its virtue three manner of wayes ; in nutrition , augmentation , and generation . for here that universall spirit , ( the spirit of life , ) begins more manifestly to put forth its virtue , preparing a portion of matter so softly to its turn , that it may have it tractable to perform the offices of life : and is therefore called vitall in plants , namely , because of its more manifest tokens and effects of life . they call it also the vegetative soul v nutrition is an inbred virtue in a plant , whereby sucking in juice fit for it , changeth it into its own substance . for because the encompassing air dries up every body , and the heat included in a living body doth also feed upon the inward moisture ; it were impossible that a plant should not presently fade away , unlesse new matter and vigour were continually supplyed with fresh nourishment , to make up that which is lost . and to this end every plant hath a body , either hollow , or else pithy , and porous , that the nourishing vapour may passe through and irrigate all the parts ; yea whatsoever is in a plant , even the very haire or downe , is hollow and porous . therefore in a man , the head is eased , when the haire is cut ; because the fuliginous vapours of the braine , or the superfluities under the skin , do the more easily evaporate . for the same cause every plant rests upon its root , that sucking the moisture of the earth through the strings thereof it may be nourished : therefore it perisheth when it is pluckt up . the humour then , or fat juice of the earth , is a fit nourishment for plants : not dry earth , because it cannot passe through the strings and pores of a plant ; nor water alone , because it cannot be concrete into a solid body . therefore the moisture of the earth which is a mixture of mercury , sulphur and salt nourisheth plants vi augmentation is a virtue of a plant , whereby it increaseth also by nourishing it self , which we call by a common terme growing . it is pleasant to contemplate what it is to grow , and how it is done now it is easily found out by the doctrine of motions already delivered . for first , when the spirit included in the seed , begins to diffuse it self , and to swell by reason of the heat that is raised , the thin shell of the seed must of necessity break : by the motion of cession . and because every body is moved towards a greater company of its connaturals , that vapour comming forth when the seed is warmed , tends towards heaven ; but because the matter of the seed is fat and glutinous , the vapour being infolded therein carries it upwards with it , and brings it forth out of the earth , and this is the originall of the stump and boughs now because that the outside of the plant hindereth the vapours ascending , there is a strife , and heat is raised , whereby the superficies of the small body is by little and little mollified , that it may yield and rise up . and this is done every day when the sun is hot : but the tender parts which grow up are condensed and made solid with the cold of the night : by which successions of day and night the plants take increase , all spring and summer long . now look how much moisture is every day elevated upward by the stump , so much again succeeds it by the motion of continuitie . least there should be a vacuum . but because every body loves an aquilibrium , and plants own their center in the joynt of the stump and root , it comes to passe by the motion of libration , that as much as the boughs spread themselves upwards , so much the roots spread downwards or side-wayes . now there is a question , why when a leafe or a bough is pluckt off , yea when the stock is cut asunder , the spirit doth not exhal● , but containes it self , und growes stills ? answer 1 because the spirit hath its proper seat fixed in the root , which it doth not forsake , though a passage be open through a wound received : nay more , fearing discontinuity , it gathers and conglobates it self , when it perceives an opening and danger of dissipation . 2 because the wound is presently overspread with the moisture of the plant , which being hardened with the outward cold , covers the wound as it were with a crust , and prohibits a total expiration . vii . generation is a virtue of a plant , whereby it gathers together and conglobates its spirit into a certain place of it ; and makes a seed or kernell , ( from which the like plant may afterwards grow . ) the spirit of the plant foreseeing as it were , that it shall not always have matter at command , which it may vegetate , turns but a part of it self into the nourishment of the plant , and gathers together the rest into a certain place ( usually in the tops of plants ) and makes a seed or kernell . now the seed ( kernell or graine ) is nothing else , but the image of the whole plant , gathered together into a very small part of the matter ; from whence , if need be , the same plant may be produced again : as we see done . n. w. that herbs are bread neverthelesse without seed , by virtue of the spirit infused into the elements . 1 the command of god proves , gen. 1. v. 11. let the earth bring forth , &c. which is yet in force . 2 experience . for if you uncover the earth beneath all roots and seeds , yet in the years following vvhen it hath been somewhat oft watered vvith rain vvater , you shall see it bud forth . vvhich is a notable argument of the spirits being diffused every where , but especially descending with the sun and raine . viii . the outer , and inner bark , leaves , shells , downe , flowres , prickles , &c. are integrating parts of plants : serving to defend them , and preserve their seeds from the injurie of heat and cold . ix . the kernels are for the most part encompassed with a pulp for their thinner nourishment , and to defend them from injury , but yet this pulp when it is come to ripenesse , serves for food to living creatures ; as it is to be seen in apples , peares , cherries , plummes , &c. x. the proprieties of plants are , varietie , heat , and tenacity of their spirit . xi . the variety of plants is so great , that the number can scarce be counted by any means . the natural spirit in meteors and minerals makes certain species , and those easie to be counted , ( as we see ; ) but the vitall spirit doth so diffuse it self , that the industrie of no man is yet sufficient , to collect the the species of herbs , and trees . xii . the cheif kinds of plants are herbs , trees , shrubs . xiii . an herb is , that which growes and dies every year xiv . a tree is , that which rising up on high , growes to wood , and continues many years . xv. a shrub is of a middle nature ; as the alder , the vine . n. w. 1. some trees live for many ages : to wit , such as have a compacted and glutinous substance , as the oak , the pine , &c. vvatery and thin plants , do soon grow and soon vvither ; as the sallow , &c. 2 some lose their leaves every year , namely , those that have a vvatery juice : others keep them as trees of a rozenous nature . 3 trees are either fruitful or barren : the first bear either apples or nuts , or fruit like unto pine apples , or berries . 4 porositie and airynesse is given to the vvood of trees , by reason of which they do not sinke , and that . 1 that they might take fire . 2 that they might the more easily be transported any vvhither through rivers . 3 that ships might be made of them . also clamminesse or indissipability vvas given them , that they might serve for the building of houses : for vvhich end also their talnesse serves . other differences of plants may be seen else vvhere . xvi . all plants are hot by nature ; but in proportion to our heat , some are called cold . for generation is not done but by heat ; but that vvhich is below the degree of our heat , seemes cold to us . as for hemlock , opium , &c. they do not kill vvith cold , but vvith the viscosity of their vapours , vvhich fill up the cavities of the brains , stop the nerves , and so suffocate the spirit : the same may be said of all poisonous things . xvii vitall spirit ( as also naturall ) holds so fast to its matter , that it scarce ever forsakes it . this is demonstrated ( besides that we see the spirit every year to be driven by the cold of winter out of the stocks , and to be hidden in the root : and to put forth it selfe again at the beginning of the spring ) by four examples . 1 that how ever the matter of fruits or herbs be vexed , yet the spirit conteins it selfe : as it is to be seen in things , smoaked , tosted , roasted , soaked , pulverized , &c. which retein their virtue . 2 that being driven out of the better part of the matter , by the force of fire , yet it sticks in the portion that is left , and there it is congregated , and inspissated ; so that it suffers it selfe to be thrust together into a drop , or a little poulder , rather then forsake the matter : as it appears in distilled waters , which therefore they call spirits . 3 that when its matter is somewhat oft distilled and transfused into divers formes through divers alembicks , yet it doth uot fly away . for example , when a goat or a cow eats a purging herb , and the nurse drinks her milk ( or the whey of her milk ) it comes so to pass , that the infant that sucks her will be purged . 4 and which is more , it doth not onely retein a virtue of operating : but also of augmenting it selfe , and forming a creature of its kind : which may be shewn by two examples . sennertus relates , that hieremy cornarius caused a water to be distilled in june , anno 1608. and that in the moneth of november a little plant of that kind was found at the bottome of the glasse , in all points perfect . but quercetanus writes that he knew , a polonian physician , that knew how to pulverise plants so artificially that the poulder as oft as he listed would produce the plant . for if any one desired to have a rose or a poppy shewed him , he held the poulder of a rose or a poppy inclosed in a glasse over the candle that it might grow hot at the bottome ; which done , the poulder by little & little raised it self up into the shape of that plant , and grew , & represented the shape of the plant , so that one would have thought that it had been corporeall : but when the vessell was cold sunk again into poulder . who sees not here that the spirits are the formers of plants ? who sees not that they inhere so fast in their matter , that they can as it were raise it again after it is dead ? who sees not that the spirit of a minerall or a plant is really preserved in the forme of a little water , oile , or poulder ? thus the eternall truth of that saying is mainteined . and the spirit of god moved it selfe upon the waters . as for the spirit of a living creature , whither it may be preserved after that manner , and raised up to inform a new body , we leave it to be thought of : purposing neverthelesse to speak something of it towards the end of the next chapter . chap. x. of living creatures . thus much of plants ; here follow living creatures . i a living creature is a moving plant , endued with sense : as a worm , a fish , a bird , a beast . for if a stone or an oak could move it self freely , or had sence , it would be a living creature also . ii the principall difference betwixt a living creature and a plant , is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is a free moving of it selfe to and fro . for the better to expresse the power of the spirit of life , gods vicar in creatures , it was needfull that such bodies should be produced , which that spirit inhabiting , might have obedient unto all actions . now seeing that the ground of action is motion , bodies were to be framed , which might performe a free motion , and these are called animalia or animantia , living creatures , from the soul which powerfully evidences life in them . 2 therefore mobility is in all living creatures , but after divers manners . for some move only by opening and shutting , not stirring out of their place ; as oisters and cockles . others creep by little and little , as snailes , earth-wormes , and other wormes : some have a long body which creeps with winding it selfe about , as snakes : some have feet given them , as lizards , beasts , birds : but these last have wings also to flie through the air . which fishes do imitate in the water , performing their motion by swimming . iii the moving principle in a living creature is the vitall soul : which is nothing else but the spirit of life , thick and strong , mightily filling , and powerfully governing the bodies which it inhabiteth . iv now because a voluntary and a light motion cannot be performed , but in a subtle matter , living creatures have bodies given them far more tender then plants , but far more compound . for they consist of spirit , flesh , blood , membranes , veins , nerves , gristles , and lastly bones , as it were props and pillars , lest the frame should fall . understand this in perfect living creatures . for more imperfect living creatures in which we contemplate onely the rudiments of nature , have neither bones , nor flesh , nor bloud , nor veins : but onely a white humour , covered with a skin or crust , as it were with a sheath , which the spirit included doth stir or move ; as it appears in worms , snails , oisters , &c. but to perfect living creatures . 1 that they might have a more subtle spirit , bloud and brains were given . 2 and that these might not be dissipated , they had vessels and channels given them , veines , arteries , nerves , 3 that a living creature might be erected , bones were given him . 4 and left the bones , as also the veins , arteries , nerves , should easily be hurt , all was covered either with fat or flesh . 5 and that the members might move , tendons and muscles were interwoven throughout . 6 and least in moving the bone , the bones should wear one against another , & cause pain in the living creature ; a gristle which is a softer substance , being as it were halfe flesh , was put between the joints . 7 and lastly ; that the frame might hang firmly together in its composure , it was compassed with a hide , or skin , as also all the members with their membranes . therefore a living creature consists of more similar parts then a plant : but of far more dissimular parts or members : of which it followes . v the bodies of living creatures were furnished with many members : as with diverse organs for diverse actions . the head indeed is the principall member of a living creature , wherein the whole spirit hath its residence , and shews all its force : but because a living creature was intended for divers actions , it had need of besides . 1 vivifying organs , supplying the living creature with heat , life , and motion : that is , brains and heart . 2 moving organs , that is , feet , wings , feathers , &c. 3 and left one thing should run against another , or fall into precipices , it was necessary to furnish them with sight ; also with a quick hearing and touch . lastly , because the earth was not to supply nutriment immediately to a living creature , ( as to a plant fixed in the earth ) but it was left them to seek : there was need of smelling and tasting , that they might know what was convenient to their nature . hence eyes , ears , nostrils , &c. 4 now because a living creature , was not to be fixed in the ground with a root , because of his free motion , more perfect organs of nutrition were requisite : for that cause there was given him a mouth , teeth , a stomack , a liver , a heart , veins , &c. 5 and because they were not to spring out of the earth as plants , by reason of the same motion to and fro . divers sexes were given them to multiply themselves , and distinct genitall members . 6 and because living creatures were to be alwayes conversant with others of their own , or of a divers kind , they had need of some mutuall token , even in the dark : they had a tongue given them to form sounds . 7 lastly , because it could not be , but that a living creature should sometimes meet with contraries , they had as it were shields and armes given them . hares , bristles , scales , shels , feathers : likewise horns , clawes , teeth , hoofs , &c. vi therefore the whole treatise concerning a living creature , is finished in the explication i of the nutritive faculty . ii of the vitall . iii of the sensitive . iv of the loco-motive . v of the enuntiative . vi of the defensive . vii and lastly , of the generative . for he that knoweth these seven , knowes the whole mysterie of nature in living creatnres . for whatsoever is in the body of a living creature , serveth those faculties : if it do not serve them , it is in vain , and maketh a monster . it is to be observed also that the first three faculties are governed by so many spirits . the nutritive faculty by the naturall spirit , the vitall by the spirit of life , the sensitive by the animall spirit : the other four by those three spirits joyntly . of the nutritive faculty . vii every living creature standeth in need of daily food , to repair that which perisheth of the substance every day . for life consists in heat . and heat , being that it is fire , wants fuell : which is moist , spirituous , and fat matter . heat in a living creature being destitute of this , sets upon the solid parts , and feeds on them . and hence it is that a living creature , as well as a plant , without nourishment pines away , and dies . but if it be sparingly fed , it therefore falls away , because the heat feeds upon the very substance of the flesh . viii that nourishment is convenient for a living creature , which supplies it with a spirit like its own spirit . for seeing that life is from the spirit , the matter of it selfe doth not nourish life , but a spirituous matter . and indeed the spirit of the nourishment must needs be like the spirit of the living creature . therefore we are not nourished with the elements , as plants are ; for as much as they have only a naturall , not a vitall spirit ; but we are nourished with plants , or with the flesh of other ●iving creatures , because those afford a vitall spirit . nay further , there is a particular proportion of spirits , by reason of which a ●orse chuseth oates , a swine barley , a wolfe flesh , &c. nay , an hog hath an appetite to mans excrements also , because it yet findeth parts convenient for it . ix nourishment turneth into the substance ●f that which is nourished . that appears 1 because he that feeds on dry meats , is dry of complexion : he that feeds on moist , is flegmatick , &c. 2 because , for the most part a man reteins the qualities of those living creatures on whose flesh he feeds , as he that feeds on beefe is strong ; he that feeds on venison , is nimble , &c. if any one have the brains of a cat o● a wolfe given him to eat , he partakes the phantasies of those living creatures , &c. x nutriment must needs be assimilated that it may turn into the substance of a living creature . for a thing is neither applied well , no cohereth commodiously with that which is unlike to it ; much lesse that one should turn it into the other . therefore flesh 〈◊〉 bone is not immediately made of meat 〈◊〉 drink : but by many gradations , as it sha● appear . xi assimulation is made by the transmitation of the nourishment taken so oft iterat● till it come to the liknesse of the substance no●●rished . it is well known out of the metaphysick● that all action tends to this , that the pa●●●ent may become like to the agent , whic● is every where evident in naturall thing● but especially in the nourishment of bodies . for whatsoever is taken in , of whatsoever colour or quality , is wrought so●● length , that it becomes like to that which is nourished , and is applyed to its substance : which should be diligently marked in that which follows . xii the principall transmutation of the nourishment , is by progeneration of the four vitall humours , bloud , flegme , yellow choler , and black . for the nourishment received , being that it is tempered together ( as all the bodies of the world are ) of the four elements , is resolved in the body of a living creature into four again ; the fattest part of it is turned into bloud : a part into spittle , or flegme , a part into yellow choler , or choler ; a part into black choler , or melancholy : melancholy by its grossenesse represents the earth : flegme , water : bloud , air : choler , fire . but they differ in colour and in savour ; for melancholy is black and bitter ; flegme , white and without taste : bloud , red and sweet : choler , yellow and bitter . now it is to be noted , that amongst these four , bloud is most copiously generated , because it conteins the very substance of the nourishment : to which yellow choler addes onely a more easie penetrating through all : but black choler fixeth it again , and applieth it to the members : lastly , flegme tempers the acrimony of them both , lest they should corrode with penetrating and fixing , and gently agglutinates the bloud to the members : and hence it is that physicians also with the vulgar speak oft of the blood , as if it were the only food of life . xiii the progeneration of vitall humours is done by concoction . for concoction doth alter the matter by the force of heat . xiv concoction in a living creature is done after the same manner as distillation in alembicks : namely , by heating of the matter , and resolution of it into vapours , and mixing the said vapours together , and by a new coagulation of them again . for every living body is a very alembick , full of perpetuall heat and vapours . for life is heat : and heat cannot but boile the matter that is put in , and by attenuation , turn it into vapours . xv now in every concoction , there is a separation of the profitable parts from the unprofitable : the first are digested and assimilated , the other are voided and streined forth . so in alembicks , the more subtle and profitable parts , ( that is the more fat and spirituous ) being resolved into vapour are gathered again into drops : and into a thick substance : but the more grosse and impure parts , called the dregs and excrements , sink down , and are afterwards cast out . xvi every concoction leaves behind it unprofitable dregs ; which are called excrements and drosse . thus we see it come to passe in the decoction of metals . now we must note that plants make little or no excrement : because they are nourished with a simple and uniform juice , which goes all of it into their nature : or if any thing remain , it sweats forth in gum . but living creatures ; because they consist of very dissimular parts , have need of a compound nutriment , that is solid and soft , dry and moist , hot and cold , &c. that so the more solid parts may have nutriment also whence by assimulation evey part draws that which will profit its selfe , the rest must of necessity be streined out . another reason is because plants are susteined with a little spirit , and that which doth not evaporate : but living creatures are full of spirit , ( for otherwise so grosse a frame could not be susteined and weilded ) and that is continually attenuated and spent . therefore they have need of more spirit then matter for their nutriment : and when that is extracted out of the spirituous parts , they void forth the rest . xvii the principall concoction in a living creature is threefold , chylification , sanguification , and membrification . the first is made in the stomack : the second in the liver : and the last in all the members . xviii every one of these concoctions hath three sorts of vessels . 1 of ingestion . 2 of digestion . 3 of egestion . xix the vessels of chylification ; were 1 the mouth , and the throat . 2 the stomack or ventricle . 3 the guts and the arse-hole . for the food being received at the mouth , is chewed with the teeth , or jawes , and passed through the throat . it is boiled in the stomack as it were in a close alembick for some houres . and from thence by evaporation it passeth into the entrals ( for the mouth of the ventricle towards the throat is shut up ) and becometh chylus , that is , a certain ferment like pap , or white broth . for it takes a white colour from the stomack by assimilation . the more subtle parts of this chyle are attracted to the liver , as a matter fit for bloud : but the excrements of this first concoction , are thick dregs , which are driven out by the guts and the back part , not by the simple motion of cession , but by the motion of antipathy , for the naturall spirits placed in the fibres of the guts , sucking forth that which is profitable , but turning themselves away from that which is unprofitable , and hatefull to them , contract the nerves of the guts , and thrust forward those burdens towards the passage . xx the vessels of sanguification , are 1 the mesenterie . 2 the liver . 3 the vreteres , the spleen , and the gall . for the mesenterie encompassing the entrals vvith its strings ( which they call the mesaraicall veins ) sucks the best part of the chylus out of the entrals ; and carries them to the liver by the vena porta . now the liver concocts and separates that liquour again , for it assimilates the sweeter parts in colour to it selfe , and turns them to bloud , swelling with naturall spirit : with which neverthelesse there is flegme and yellow choler , and black mixt . the excrement of this second concoction is urine : namely , a wheaie and salt humour which floweth from the liver by the ureteres to the bladder ; whence by the channell of the genitall member it is sent forth . but because the 2 d. concoction ought to be far more subtile then the first , it is not sufficient that the bloud is purged from its serosity . but both kinds of choler and flegme must of necessity also be purged from redundancy : the spleen therefore by sympathie attracts to it selfe vvhatsoever it perceiveth , that is too grosse and earthy in the bloud , and by little veins sends it again into the entrals , and by that means disburdens it selfe of that dreggy humour ; and last of all the gall attracteth those parts of the bloud that are too sharp and fiery , ( vvhose little bag hangs at the liver ) and by strings sends them again mixt into the entrals ; whence the bitternesse and ill sent of dung . xxi the vessels of membrification , are 1 veins . 2 every particular member . 3 pores . for the veins proceeding from the liver spread themselves over all the parts of the body like boughs , and sending forth little branches , every way end in strings that are most tenacious ; from which every member apart sucketh , and by a slow agglutination assimilates it to it selfe , so that the bloud flowing into the flesh , becomes flesh , that in the bones turns into bone ; in a gristle , to a gristle ; in the brain , to brains ; just after the same manner as the juice of a tree is changed into wood , bark , pith , leaves , fruits , by meer assimilation . the excrements of this third most subtle concoction are subtle also , namely sweat and vapour , which alwayes breaths out through the pores . if any more grosse humour remains ( especially after the first and second concoction not well made ) it breeds scabs ; or ulcers , or the dropsie . xxii for the furthering of nourishment there is a spur added , that is appetite , or hunger , and thirst : which are nothing but a vellication of the fibres of the stomack , arising from the sharp sucking of the chylus . for the members being destitute of the juice , wherewith they are watered , solicite the veins of bloud : and the veins ( by the motion of continuity ) sollicite the liver ; the liver , the mesenterie ; that the entrals ; the entrals the stomack : which , if it have nothing to afford , contracts and wrinkles it selfe : and the strings of it are sucked dry , from whence proceeds first a certain titillation , ( and that we call appetite simply ) and afterward pain ( and this we call hunger ) and if solid meat be taken , but dry , because coction , or vaporation , cannot be made by reason of drinesse , there is a desire that moisture should be poured on , and this vve call thirst . it appears then why motion provokes appetite ? and why the idle have but little appetite , &c. xxiii the whole body is nourished at once together , by the motion of libration . to vvit , after the same manner , as the root in a plant doth equally nourish both it selfe , and the stock , and all the boughes . therefore no member nourisheth it selfe alone , but others vvith it selfe , and so all preserved . otherwise , if any member rob the rest of their nourishment ; or again refuseth it , there follows a distemperature of the vvhole body , and by and by corruption , at length death . xxiv a living creature being 〈◊〉 nourished , is not onely vegetuted , but also ( as long as his members are soft and extensive , ) augmented , the superficies of the members , yielding by little and little , and extending it selfe ; but as soon as the members are hardened ( after youth ; ) the living creature ceaseth to grow : yet goes forward in solidity and strength , so long as the three concoctions are rightly made . but when the vessels of the concoctions begin to dry up also ; the living creatures begins to wither away , and life grows feeble , till it fail , and be extinguished of the vitall faculty . xxv life in a living creature , is such a mixture of the spirits with the bloud and members , that they are all warme , have sense , and move themselves . therefore the life of living creatures consists in heat , sense , and motion ; and it is plain : for if any creature hath neither motion , nor sense , nor heat , it lives not . xxvi therefore every living creature is full of heat , sometimes stronger , and sometimes weaker . for every living creature is nourished how it appears out of that which went before , the nourishment is not made but by concoction : but reason teacheth that concoction is not made but by heat and fire . it comes therefore to be explained , whence a living creature hath heat and fire ? and by what means it is kindled , kept alive , and extinguished ? which the two following aphorismes shall teach . xxvii the heart is the forge of heat in a living creature , burning with a perpetuall fire , and begetting a little flame called the spirit of life which it communicates also to the whole body . ; hence the heart is said commonly , to be the first that lives , the last that dies . xxviii the vitall spirit in the heart , hath for its matter bloud ; for bellowes , the lungs : for channels , by which it communicates it selfe to the whole body , the arteries . our hearth fire hath need of three things , 1 matter or fuell , and that fat . 2 of blowing or fanning , whereby the force of it is stirred up . 3 free transpiration whereby it may diffuse it selfe ; the same three the maker of all things , hath ordeined to be in every living creature . for the heart seated a little above the liver , drinketh in a most pure portion of bloud , by a branch of the veins : which being that it is spirituous and oily , conceives a most soft flame ; and left this should be extinguished , there lies near to the heart the lungs , which like bellowes dilating and contracting it selfe , blowes upon and fans that fire of the heart perpetually , to prevent suffocation : now being that that inflammation of the heart , is not without fume or vapour ( though very thin the said lungs by the same continuall inspiration exhaleth those vapours through the throat ; and drawing in cooler air instead thereof , doth so temperate the flame of the heat , whence the necessity of breathing appears , and why a living creature is presently suffocated if respiration be denied it . and that flame , or attenuated , and most hot bloud , is called the spirit of life ; which diffusing it self through the arteries , ( that accompany the veins every way ) cherisheth the heat both of the bloud ( that is in the veins ) and all the members throughout the whole body . now because it were dangerous to have this vitall spirit destroyed , the arteries are hid below the veins , only in two or three places , they stand forth a little : that , so the beating of that spirit , ( as well as of the heart it selfe , when the hand is laid upon the breast ) may be noted , and thence the state of the heart may be known . of the sensitive faculty . xxix sense in a living creature is the perception of those things that are done within and without the living creature , xxx that perception is done by virtue of a living spirit ; which , being that it is most subtle in a living creature , is called the animall spirit . xxxi that perceptive virtue consists in the tendernesse of the animall spirit : for because it is presently affected , with whatsoever thing it be wherewith it is touched . for all sensation is by passion ; as shall appear hereafter . xxxii the seat and shop of the animall spirits is the brain . for in the brain , there is not only greatest store of that spirit residing , but also the whole animall spirit is there progenerated . xxxiii the animall spirits are begotten in the brain , that is in bloud and vitall spirit . 2 purified with the fanning of respiration . 3 communicated to the whole body by nerves . the excrements of the brain are cast forth by the nostrils eares , and eyes ( that is by flegme and ●ears . ) for the strings of the veins and arteries , running forth into the brains , instill bloud and vitall spirit into them . and the bloud , that turns into the substance of the brains by assimilation : but the vitall spirit , being condensed by the coldnesse of the brain , is turned into the animall spirit : which the air , drawn in by inspiration , and getting into the brain through the hollownesse of the nostrils , and of the palate , doth so purifie with fanning every moment , that though it be something cold , yet it is most moveable , and runs through the nerves with inexplicable celerity . now the nerves are , branches or channels , descending from the brain through the body . for the marrow of the back bone , is extended from the brain all along the back of every living creature : and from thence divers little branches run forth , conveying the animall spirit , the architect of sense and motion , to all the members in the whole body . xxxiv to know the nature of the senses three things are pertinent , 1 the things requisite . 2 the manner . 3 the effect . xxxv the things requisite are 1 an object . 2 an organ . 3 a medium to conjoyn them . or sensile , sensorium , and the copula . xxxvi objects are sensible qualities inhering in bodies ; colour , sound , savour , tangor . for nothing is seen , touched , &c. of it selfe , but by accidents wherewith it is clothed . and if we would be accurate philosophers , n. w. of the three principles of things , only light or fire is preceptible . for matter and spirit are of themselves insensible : the light then tempered with darknesse , makes the matter visible . motion , ( which is from light ) makes a sound ; but heat ( which is from motion ) stirs up and temperates the rest of the qualities , odours , savours , tangors . xxxvii the organs of the senses are parts of the body in which the animall spirit receives the objects that present themselves ; namely , the eye , the eare , the nostrils , the tongue , and all that is nervie . nothing in all nature acts without organs : therefore the animall spirit cannot do it neither . xxxviii the medium of conjoyning them , is that which brings the object into the organ : in sight , the light ; in hearing , the air moved with breaking : in smels , the air vapouring : in taste , the water melting : in touch , the quality it selfe inhering in the matter . xxxix the manner of sensation is the contact of the organ with the object , passion , and action . there is but one sense to speak generally , and that 's the touch. for nothing can be perceived , but what toucheth us either at hand , or at a distance . there is no sense at all of things absent . xl therefore in every sensation the animall spirit suffers by the thing sensible . that there is no sensation but by passion is too evident . for we do not perceive heat or cold , unlesse we be hot or cold ; nor sweet and bitter , unlesse we become sweet or bitter ; nor colour , unlesse we be coloured therewith . our spirit , i say , residing in the organs , is touched and affected . therefore those things which are like us , are not perceived : as heat like our heat , doth not affect us . but we must observe that the organs , that they may perceive any qualities of the objects , want qualities of themselves ; as the apple of the eye , colour ; the tongue , savour ; &c. xli yet in every sensation the animall spirit doth reach upon the thing sensible : namely , in receiving , speculating , & laying up its species . for the animall spirit resident in the brain , what ever sensorie it perceives to be affected , conveys it selfe thither in a moment to know what it is : and having perceived it , returns forth with , and carries back the image of that thing with it ; to the center of its work-house , and there contemplates it , what it is , and of what sort : and afterward layes it up for future uses , hence the ancients made three inward senses . 1 the common sense , or attention . 2 the phantasie , or imagination . 3 the memory , or recordation . but these are not really distinct : but onely three distinct internall operations of the same spirit . now that those inward senses are in brutes , it appears , 1 because if they do not give heed , many things may and do usually slip by their ears , eyes , and nostrils . 2 because they are endued with the faculty of imagining or judging . for doth not a dog barking at a stranger , distinguish betwixt those whom he knowes , and strangers ? yea sometimes a dog or a horse , &c. starts also out of his sleep : which cannot be but by reason of some dream . and what is a dream but an imagination ? 3 because they remember also , for a dog that hath been once beaten with a cudgell , fears the like at the sight of every staffe , or gesture , &c. and therefore it is certain , that every living creature , even flies and worms , do imagine . but of the inward senses , more at large , and more distinctly in the chapter following . xlii the effect of sensation is pleasure , or grief . pleasure , if the sense be affected gently and easily with a thing agreeable thereto , with titillation ; griefe , if with a thing that is contrary to it , or suddenly with hurt to the organ . xliii and that the animall spirit alwayes occupied in the actions of sense , may somtimes rest , and be refresbed , sleep was given to a living creature ; which is a gathering together of the animall spirits to the center of the brain , and a stopping of the organs in the mean time , with the vapours ascending out of the ventricle . hence it appears . 1 why sleep most usually comes upon a man after meat ? or else after wearinesse , when the members being chafed do exhale vapours ? 2 why carefull thoughts disturb sleep ? that is , because that when the spirit is stirred to and fro , it cannot be gathered together , and sit still . 3 what it is to watch , and how it is done ? namely , when the spirit being strengthened in it selfe , scatters the little cloud of vapours already attenuated , and betakes it selfe to its organs . 4 why too much watching is hurtfull ? because the sprits are too much wearied , weakened , consumed , &c. thus much of the senses in general , somthing is to be said also of every one in particular . xliv the touch hath for its instrument the nervous skin : as also all the nervous , and membr anaceous parts of the body . therefore haires , nailes , bones , do not feel , &c. though you cut or burn them : because they have no nerves running through them . yet they feel in that part , where they adjoyn to the flesh , because they have a nervie substance for their gluten . hence the pain under the nailes , and membranes of the bones , is most acute . now being that the skin of the body is most glutinous , and altogether nervie , lest it should put the living creature to continuall pain and trouble , by being too sensitive , it is encompassed with a thin skin , called in latine , cuticula ( which we see come of somtimes in members that are scorched and bruised ) and void of sense , to restraine the violence of the sense . xlv the taste hath the tongue for its organ , a porous member , and alwayes moist , that so dry things also that touch it , may m●lt and give forth a savour , which penetrating the tongue by the nerves placed at the roots thereof , is by and by communicated to the brain . when the tongue is dry ( as in great thirst ) the taste perceives nothing ; and therefore god hath in his wise counsell provided , that in every perfect living creature , the vapours exhaling out of the ventricle , should be gathered together into spittle within the concavity of the mouth , and should water the tongue perpetually : for which purpose the porositie of the tongue serves very wel . yet there were added over and above two little kernels , called tonsillae , spongious too , alwayes preserving spittle for the use of the tongue . xlvi the nostrils are the organs of smelling , and that cribrous bone placed over them ; by which as through a sponge , the smel comming from things may enter the brain . therefore when the catarrhe flowes and fils the nostrils , smelling is hindred . this is the most open way to the brain , and therefore most powerfull to affect the animall spirit , either immediately pleasing , or recreating or strengthning it , or molesting and suffocating it . for hence it is , that grosse , fuliginous , impure vapours kill : but sharp smells raise a man , even out of a deep swoone . xlvii . hearing hath the ear for its organ ; which containes the hole to the brain , together with a gristly border winding about like the shell of a snaile , adjoyned without to receive the motion of the aire when in is stricken , and turne it inward : but within at the center of the windings is a little drum , with a little bit of flesh standing by it , like a hammer ; which being beaten with the aire that enters , beats the drum also , which the spirit perceiving , judges of the greatnesse or smalnesse , nearnesse or distance of the thing beaten with the aire : and by multiplied experience , knows what it is that moves the aire , and of what sort . this wonderful organ is easily corrupted within and without . within , if the passages be stopped with flegme : & much more if the hammer or the drum be hurt with rottennesse . but without , if the ear , ( that is that gristly border ) be cut off : for then the sound slips by the ear , or being received in ordinately , makes only an inordinate noise . to help which the creator gave living creatures two ears apiece . now it appeares hence , 1 why too sharpe or too dull sounds offend , the temperate please us ? because they agree better with our spirit . 2. why a sound penetrates obliquely also ? because the aire moved , moves that which is next it round about by the motion of diffusion . 3. why a sound spread round about , failes by little and little ? because it is just as when the water of a poole is moved with a stone falling into it . excepting that the water quivers a good while in that whole circle : but the circle of the rain moved , passeth away together and at once : for the sound of a bell , doth not sticke in the aire , but is wheeled about in the sounding bell . 4. why when one hears all hear the same ? because a sound is a real commotion of the aire , which arrives at the ears of all those that are within that circle . 5. what the echo is ? namely a sound reflected from hollow places : after the same manner as the circulations of the water made in a vessel , after they have been at the sides , returne again toward the center . xlviii . the sight hath the eye for its organ ; which is nothing else but a living looking glasse , receiving into it self the images of such things as present themselves , and transmitting them to the brain to be judged of . the fabrick of the eyes is admirable . for beneath the fore-head of every living creature , god hath hollowed out in the skull two windows , into which the outmost membrane of the brain , sends two things like bags , filled with the humorus that come from the braine . in the midst of which there is a pipe woven together of an opacous thin membrane , yet full of a most pure chrystalline humour : they call it the apple of the eye , in which vision is properly made , this is encompassed with a net-work , full of a watery or glassie humour : and last of all , that membrane which the common sort call the white of the eye ; but philosophers ( because it is hard and polished over like a horne ) call cornea , and this is transparent over against the apple and the net-work , elsewhere it retaines its whitnesse . now under the root of the apple lies the optick nerve , by which the image of the thing perceived , passeth straight to the center of the braine , xlix . no vision is without the ministery of light ; for that reflecting from things and coloured with their aspect diffuseth it self every way , and wheresoever it falls upon a glasse , it impresseth the image of the said things . whence it appeares : 1. why only things that are coloured are seen ? because the light must of necessity rebound to the eye , but that which hath no colour is transparent as the aire , &c. 2. why those things that are to be seen must of necessity be enlightned ? because sight is the resiliencie of the light from the object to the eye . 3. why the eye placed in the shade or in the dark sees the stronger ? because it receives the light reflected without any impediment . for if the eye it self be enlightned also the light reflected from it , meets with the other light ( coming from things ) and so there is a collision and a dissipation of them both . 4. vvhy we see nothing , if there be any thing betwixt the eye and the object ? because the reflexion of the light is not made but in a right line . 5. vvhy some living creatures see best in a strong light , others in an obsure light ? because the lucidity of the animal spirit is diverslly proportionated . so spiders and flies see the smallest things , which passe our sight , ; ( and much more the sight of an horse or an elephant , &c. ) because there are more subtile spirits in a more subtile body . 6. vvhy whitenesse disgregates the sight , and if it be overmuch , dissipates and corrupts it ? because it is the very light it self reflecting , whose nature is to penetrate , attenuate , part asunder and diffuse the object . for to that end it was sent into the world . l. viston is three-fold , streight , reflected , and refracted right or direct vision is that whereby the light is seen , suppose the sun or fire : for here the light offers it self to the eye by a single line . reflected is , that whereby other things are seen in a free aire : for there the light reflected from things , comes to the eye by a second line ( for by the first line the light falls upon the object , by the second from thence upon the eye . ) refracted is that whereby things are seen through a double medium , and so by refracted lines : as when an oare or pole seems broken in the water . also when a piece of mony in the bottome of a vessel full of water , seemes bigger and nearer the superficies , so that one may go back and see it . of the motive faculty . li. motion was given to a living creature . 1. to seek his food . 2. for those actions to which every one is destinated . 3. to preserve the vigour of life . for a living creature being of a more tender constitution then a plant , would more easily putrifie and perish , if it were not quickned by most frequent motion . therefore the creator hath most wisely provided for our good , that we cannot so much as take our meat without labour and motion . lii . the moving principle is the animall spirit . therefore a body without life , though never so well furnished with organs , moves not : and when the braine , the feat of the animall spirits is ill affected ( for example either with giddinesse or a surfet ) the members presently fall , or at least stumble and totter . and when the nerve of any member is stopped , it is presently deprived both of motion and sense ; as may be seen in the palsie and apoplexie . liii . now the animall spirit moves either it self only , or the vitall spirit with it : or lastly the members of the body also . liv. the animall spirit moves it self perpetually , sometimes more , sometime lesse : namely , running out and into the organs of the senses : or howsoever stirriug it self in its work-house . for from this inward motion of it , are perpetual phantasies or imaginations even in sleep ; which then we call dreams . lv. it carries the vitall spirit along with it , when at the sense of something , either pleasing or displeasing it conveyes it self to and fro through the body , taking that with it as it were to aide it ; as it is in joy and sorrow ; hope and feare ; gratulation and repentance ; and last of all in anger . for joy is a motion , wherein the spirit poureth forth it self at the sense of a pleasant object , as though it would couple it self with the thing that it desireth . thence that lively colour in the face of a joyful man from the vital spirit , flowing thither with a most pure portion of the blood . and this is the cause why moderate joy purifies the blood , and is helpful to prolong life . see prov. 15. v. 13. & 17. v. 22. sorrow is a motion , whereby the vitall spirit at the sense of an object that displeaseth it , runnes to its centre ; the heart as it were feeling a hurtful thing , thence palenesse in the face of those that are affrighted , and stiffnesse of the skin and haires ; hence also danger of death , if any one be often and greatly affected with sorrow : the like motions are in hope and fear , joy and sorrow ; that is , in the sense of good or bad , either present or past . but anger , is a mixt motion , whereby the spirit for fear of injury flies to the center , and thence poures forth it self again as it were in revenge . hence they that are angry , are first pale , and afterwards red , &c. n. w. all these motions commonly called affections , or passions of the minde , are common to all living creatures : but according to more and lesse , for sanguine creatures are merry ; melancholy , sad ; flegmatick , faint ; cholerick , furious , &c. lvi . the said animall spirit moves the members , but with the use of instruments ; tendons and muscles , and the joynts of the bones . the puppets wherewith juglers ( a pleasant sight to children ) shew playes , that they may turne themselves about , as though they were alive , must of necessity have : 1 joynts of the members , that they may bow . 2 nerves or strings with which drawne to and fro they are bowed . 3 some living strength which may draw the nerves forward and backward ; which the neurospasta that is hid under the covering supplies . just so to the motion of a living creature , there are requisite : 1 joynts or knuckles of bones . for bones were given to a living creature , that he might stand upright : but that he might bend also , his bones were not given him continued , but divided with joynts of limbs . 2. certain ligaments fastned about the bones , wherewith attraction and relaxation might be made ; therefore certaine tendons were given them as it were cords , being of a nervy and half gristly substance , which growing out of the head of one bone , and running along the side of another bone , grow to the lower head thereof ; and when the tendon is drawne , the following bone is drawne , so as to bend it self . now it is to be noted , that these tendons about the joynts of the bones are bare on both sides ; but about the middle of them they are extended into a kinde of a membranceous purse stuffed up with flesh : which flesh or fleshy purse they call a muscle , of which every member hath many : not only least that the tendons when they are drawne should depart out of their place ; or the bones or tendons be hurt with oft rubbing against one another ; or for the shape of a living creature only ( for what a body would that be which consisted of meer bones , veins , nerves , and tendons ? a sceleton ) but because there can be no motion at all without muscles : as it shall forthwith appear . 3. the neurospasta or invisible mover , is the animal sqirit ; which as it can at the pleasure of the phantasie , convey it self into the belly of this or that muscle , so it stretches or dilates it as it vvere a paire of bellowes , and drawes in that vvhich is opposite , from whence nothing can follow but the bending of that member . thence it appears : 1. that the animall spirit can move nothing without an organ : for why doth no man bend his knees before ? because there wants a knuckle above . why doth no man move his ear ? because that member wants muscles , &c. 2. it appeares also , that by how many the more muscles are given to any member , by so much the nimbler it is unto motion : by how much the bigger , so much the stronger ; for example , in the hands and feet , that they might be sufficiently able to undergo the variety of labours and going . it appeares also why they that are musculy or brawnie , are strong , but those that are thin , are weak ? 3. it appeares also that the animal spirit is most busie in motion , running to and fro at the command of the phantasie , most speedily through the nerves and arteries . 4. that the motion of a living creature is compounded of an agitative , expansive and contractive , impulsive and continuative motion . for the animal spirit coveys it self at the pleasure of the phantasie , into this or that muscle : and the muscle giving place to the spirit flowing in , stretcheth forth it self : then when the muscle is stretched forth in breadth , the length of it must be contracted of necessity : and the tendon followes the muscle contracting it self , and drawes with it the head of the next bone by the motion of continuity ; all with inexplicable quicknesse . 5. it appears also that this local motion ( either of the whole living creature , or of some member ) is made about something immoveable with various enforcings . 6. and because it is with enforcing , it cannot be without wearinesse . 7. and because it is vvith vvearinesse , there is sometimes needs of rest ; vvhich is given in three kinds . 1 standing . 2 sitting . 3. lying . standing is a resting of the feet , but with an inclination of the body to motion : therefore it is done by libration . sitting is rest in the middest of the body : whereby the other parts are the more easily preserved in aequilibrio . lying is a total rest . that is , a prostrating of the body all along : but as too much motion brings wearinesse , so too much rest causeth tediousnesse : because the spirit loves to stir it self . and the same position of the members a long while together by rest , is alike troublesome : both for that the lower members are pressed with the vveight of the upper , and also for that the spirit desires to move it self any way . hence it is in that vve turne us oft in our sleep . of the enuntiative faculty . that a living creature might give knowledge of it self by a voice , the animal spirit doth that , at the direction of the phantasie : but it hath these organs , the lungs , the rough arterie , and the mouth . lvii . to every living creature ( fishes excepted ) there was given lungs , to coole the heart , with a gristly pipe called the rough arteterie . which notwithstanding serves withall to send forth a voice : because that in the upper part of it , it hath the forme of a pipe , wherewith the aire being stricken may be divided and sent sounding forth . lviii . and that the voice might be both raised , and let fall , that pipe is composed of gristly rings ; the lowest of which , if it oppose it self to the aire as it passeth by , there is a deep repercussion , that is a grave voice ; but if the highest , there is an high repercussion , that is a shrill voice , every one may make triall of that in himself . lix . and that the sound may be articulate , ( as in speech and the singing of some birds ) that the tongue , beating the sound too and fro , also the lips , the teeth and nostrils , and the throat performe . of the defensive faculty . lx. the animall spirit if it perceive any hostile thing approach unto it , hath presently recourse to its weapons , whereby either to defend it self ( setting up its haires , bristles , scales , prickles ) or to offend and hurt its enemies ( using its hornes , nailes , wings , beak , hands , &c. ) which by vertue of what strength it is done , may already be known out of what hath been said before . of the generative faculty . seeing that living creatures as well as plants , are mortal entities : they must of necessitie be multiplied , for the conservation of their species ; touching which marke the axiomes following . lxi . because that the generation of living creatures , by reason of the multitude and tendernesse of their members , could not commodiously be performed in the bowels of the earth : they had a different sex given them . and it was ordained that the new living creature should be formed in the very body of the living creature it self . as the sun by its heat doth beget plants in the wombe of the earth , so it may also those living things , whose formation is finished with in some few dayes , as wormes , mice , and diverse insects , ( which is done either by the seed of the same living creatures falling into an apt matter scattered , or by the spirit of the universe , falling into an apt matter . but more perfect living creatures , which consist of many and solide members , and want much time for their formation ( as a man , an horse , an elephant ) it cannot beget . for being that the sun cannot stay so long in the same coast of heaven , the young one would be spoiled before it could come to perfection . i herefore the most wise creatour of things , appointed the place of formation to be , not in the earth , but in the living creature it self ; having formed two sexes , that one might do the part of the plant bearing the seed , the other of the earth , cherishing , and as it were hatching the seed . this alone and none other is the end of different sexes in all living creatures . wo be to the rashnesse and madness of men , which abuse them ! as no beast doth . the members , whereby the sexes differ , are the same in number , site and form , and differ in nothing almost unless it be in regard of exterius and interius : to wit the greater force of heat in the male thrusting the genitals outward , but in the female by reason of the weaker heat the said members conteining themselves within : which anatomists know . lxii the spirit is the directour of all generation , like as in plants ; which being heated in the seed , first formes it selfe a place of abode , that is the brains and head : and thence making excursions , formes the rest of the members by little and little , and gently : and again retiring to its seat , rests and operates by turns : whence the original of waking and fleeping . therefore the formation of a living creature doth not begin from the heart , as aristotle thought , but from the head , for the head is as it were the whole living creature ; the rest of the body is nothing but a structure of organs for divers operations . and that appears plain , for some living creatures ( as fishes ) have no heart , but none are without a head and brains . of the kinds of living creatures . thus much of a living creature in generall ; the kinds follow . lxiii a living creature according to the difference of its motion is 1 reptile . 2 gressile . 3 natatile . 4 volatile . lxiv reptile , or a creeping thing is a living creature with a long body , wanting feet , yet compunded of joynts ( or gristly rings ) by the contraction and extension of which it windes up and reacheth out it selfe : as are wormes and serpents . lxv gressile is , that which hath feet ( two or more ) and goeth ; as a lizard , a mouse , a dog , &c. lxvi natatile is , that which passeth through the water by the help of finnes : it is called a fish : amongst which crabs also , and divers sea-monsters are reckoned . lxvii volatile is , that which moves it selfe through the air , by the shaking of its wings ; and is called a bird . the lightnesse of birds to flie , is from their plumosity . for every plume or feather , not only in the stalk , but through all its parts , and particles of its parts , is hollow and full of spirit and vapour . and for this cause no birds pisse : because all their moisture perpetually evaporates into feathers . it is impossible therefore for a man to flie , though he fit himselfe with wings , because he wants feathers to raise him : and those which he takes to him , are dead , and void of heat and spirit . lxviii small living things are by a speciall name called insects ; as flies , wormes , &c. they are called insects , from the incisions whereby their bodies are cut off round as it were . these may be divided after the same manner . for wormes are reptile , lice , fleas , punies , spiders , &c. gressile , the water-spider , and the horse-leech , &c. natatile , flies and gnats , &c. volatile , and all those with infinite differences , so that here also there is not wanting a most clear glasse of the admirable wisdome of the creatour ; and a schoole to man , to learn virtues , and forget vices ( of both which there are an expresse image in living creatures , which the scripture oft inculcates . ) an apendix . of the tenacious inherencie of the animall spirits in its matter . we shewed toward the end of the ninth chap , how fast the naturall and vitall spirit inhereth in its matter : we are now to give notice of the like in the animall spirit , how firmly it also abideth in its matter , that is the bloud , the understanding of which thing , will also adde much light to those places of scripture , where it is said that the soule of every living creature is in the bloud thereof ; yea , that the bloud of all flesh , is the life thereof , as gen. 9. v. 4. levit. 17. v. 11. and 14. deut. 12. v. 23. ) and to certain secrets of nature , which they are astonished at , who are ignorant of the manner and reason of them . i first , then it is certain that the animall , as well as the vitall spirit , may be bound into its seed with the cold , so as that for a time it cannot exercise its operation . for as grains of corn kept all winter ( either in a garner , or in the earth ) do bud neverthelesse : so the eggs of fishes , frogs , pismires , beetles , scattered either upon the earth or waters , do bring forth young the year following . ii in bodies already formed the same spirit , compelled sometimes by some force , forsakes the members , and ceaseth from all operation : yet conglobates it selfe to the center of the body , and coucheth so close , that for many dayes , moneths , years , it lies as it were asleep , yet at length it awakens again , and diffuseth it self through the members , and proceeds to execute vitall operations as it did before . we find it so to be in flies , spiders , frogs , swallowes , &c. which in winter lie as though they were dead in the chinks of wals , or chaps of the earth , or under the water , yet when the spring comes in , they are alive again so flies choaked in water , come to life again in warm cinders : like as it is certain , that men strangled have been brought to life again after some hours , and besides there is an example commonly known of a boy killed with cold , and found four dayes after , and raised again with foments . trances continued for some dayes are ordinarily known hence : some ready to be buried , as though they had been dead indeed , yea , and buried too , yet have lived again ▪ some geographers have written , how that in the farthest parts of moscovia , men are frozen every year with extream cold , and yet live again like swallows : which notwithstanding as a thing uncertain , we leave to its place . iii the third and the most strange is this , that the spirit flowes out with the bloud that is shed , and yet gives not over to maintain its consent with the spirit remaining within the body : ( whither the greater part thereof remain or only the relicks : ) which is most evidently gathered from divers sympathies and antipathies , i will illustrate it with five examples . 1 whence is it ; i pray you that an oxe quakes , and is madded , and runs away at the presence of the butcher ? is it not because he smels the garments , the hand , the very breath of the butcher stained with the bloud and spirit of cattle of his own kind ? which is also most clear from the irreconcilable antipathy , which is found to be betwixt dogs , and dog-killers . 2 whence is it that the body of a slain man bleeds at the presence of the murderer , and that after some dayes , or months , yea , and years ? ( for it is manifest by a thousand trialls that it is so : and at itzenhow in denmark , simeon gulartius relates that the hand of a dead man cut off , and hung up , and dried in prison , discovered the murderer full ten years after by bleeding , as a thing confirmed by great witnesses , and those of the kings counsell ) and certainly we are not to flie to miracles where nature it selfe by constant observation shewes her lawes . it is very likely that the spirit of the man ready to be slain , provoked with the injury when it is shed forth with the bloud , pouring out it selfe as it were in revenge , leaps upon the murderer : and that after the same sort as we see a dog , a wild beast , or oxe , when he is killed , run furiously upon him that striketh him . for if the spirit do so yet abiding in the body , why not parted from it ? therefore it is to be supposed that it leaps upon the murderer , and seises on him . whence it comes to passe , that when he comes near the body ( especially if he be commanded to touch it , or look upon it ) look how much spirit is left in the body , it hasteth to meet with its spirit , with its chariot the bloud , namely by sympathie . hence that antipathie which more subtle natures find in themselves against murderers though unknown . for they tremble at the very presence of murderers , and nauseat if they do but eat or drink with them , &c. 3. the cunning of a most excellent chirurgeon in italy is [ well ] known , who helpt one that had lost his nose , carving him another out of his arme , cut and bound to his face for the space of a moneth : and the ridiculous chance [ that happened thereupon ] a little after is also known . a certain noble man having also had his nose cut off in a duell , desired his help ; but being delicate and not willing to have his arme cut , hired a poor countrey fellow , who suffered himselfe to be bound to him , and his arme to be made use of to repair his nose . the cure succeeded : but when as about some six years after , ( or thereabouts ) the country man died , the noble mans nose rotted too , and fell off . what could be the cause of it , i pray you , but that the spirit , and that locally separated , doth maintain its spirituall unity ? therefore when the spirit went out of the countrey mans carcasse , as it rotted , part of it also went out that the noble mans nose , and his nose ( by reason of the noble mans spirit , succeeded not [ into the place of it ] as being into the lump of anothers [ flesh ] ) rotted also , and fell off . 4 it is accounted amongst the secrets of nature , that if friends about to part , drink part one of anothers bloud , ( and so addes a part of his spirit to his own ) it will come to passe , that when one is sick , or ill at ease , though very far asunder , the other also will find himselfe sad : which if it be true , ( as it is most likely ) the reason is easie to be known . 5 the magneticall medicine is very famous amongst authours : with which they do not cure the wound it selfe , but the instrument wherewith he wound was given , or the garment , wood , or earth besprinkled with the bloud of the wound , is onely anointed : and the wound closes and heals kindly . some deny that this is done naturally , who do not sufficiently consider the secret strength of nature . yet examples shew that this kind of cure , with an ointment made with most naturall things , ( yea with nothing but the grease of the axeltree , scraped off from a cart ) hath certain successe , without using any superstition . wherefore it is credible , that the spirit poured out of the body with the bloud that is shed , adheres partly in the bloud , partly to the instrument it self : ( for it cannot abide without matter ) & being forced thence with the fat that is applied returnes to its whole , and supplies that , and hereto perhaps that observation appertains concerning the venom of a snake , viper , or scorpion conveyed into a man with a bite . for if the same beast , or but the bloud or fat thereof , be forthwith applied to the wound , it sucks out the venom again , because it returns to its own connaturall . more of this kind might be observed by approved experiments . 6 last of all , it is not unworthy of our observation , that the animall spirit doth form living creatures of another kind , rather then quite forsake the putrifying matter : namely , wormes , and such like . now it is certain by experience , that of living creatures that are dead , and putrified those living creatures are especially bred on which they were wont to feed when they were alive . for example , of the flesh of storks , serpents are bred , of hens spiders , of ducks frogs , &c. which that it will so come to passe , if they be buried in dung , john poppus a distiller of coburg , hath taught after others . it appears then that the animall spirit is every where , and that very diligently busied , about the animating of bodies . chap. xi . of man. i a man is a living creature , endued with an immortall soule . for the creatour inspired a soul into him , out of himselfe , gen. ● . v. 7. which soul is called also the mind and reason , in vvhich the image of god shineth . ii therefore he is compounded of three things , a body , a spirit , and a soule . so the apostle testifies . 1 thes. 5. 13. let your whole spirit , and soul , and body be kept blamelesse . and so 1 cor : 14. vers . 14. he distinguisheth betwixt the spirit and the minde . and indeed so it is : vve have a body compounded of the elements as vvell as bruits ; vve have a spirit from the spirit of the world , as vvell as they : but the soule or minde is from god. the first vve bear about us mortall : the second dissipable : but the last enduring ever without the body ; as we are assured by faith . therefore when thou seest a man , think that thou seest a king , royally cloathed , and sitting in his royall throne . for the minde is a king , his robe is the spirit , his throne the body . iii the body is the organ and habitation of the spirit : but the spirit is the habitation and mansion of the soul. for as the spirit dwels in the body , and guides it , as the pilot doth the ship ; so the soul dwels in the spirit , and rules it . and as body without a spirit , neither moves it ●f , nor hath any sense of any thing ( as it to be seen in a dead carcasse : ) so the spirit vvithout the minde , hath no reason , nor understands any thing ; as we see in bruit beasts . therefore the soul useth the spirit for its chariot and instrument ; the spirit , the body ; and the body , the foresaid instruments . iv as the spirit is affected by the body ; so is the minde by the spirit . for as vvhen the body is diseased , the spirit is presently sad , or hindred from its action : so vvhen the spirit is ill disposed , the minde cannot performe its functions dextrously : as vve may see in drunken , melancholie , mad-men , &c. hence it is , that the gifts of the minde follow the temperature of the body ; that one is more ingenious , courteous , chast , courageous , &c , then another . hence that fight within us , which the scripture so oft mentions , and we our selves feel . for the body and the soul , being that they are extreams ( the one earthly , the other heavenly ; the one bruit , the other rational ; the one mortall , the other immortall ; are alway contrary to one another in their inclinations . now the spirit which is placed betwixt them , ought indeed to obey the superiour part , and keep the lower part in order as its beck . yet neverthelesse it comes oft so to passe , that is carried away of the flesh , and becomes brutish . v. such a body was given to man as might fitly serve all the uses of his reasonable soule , and therefore : 1 furnished with many organs . 2 erect . 3 naked and unarmed , that it might be free of it self , and yet might be cloathed and armed any way as occasion required . for the hand , the instrument of instruments , the most painful doer of all works , vvas given to man only . he only hath obteined an erect stature , least he should live unmindful of his countrey , heaven . again , he only was made naked and unarmed ; but both by the singular favours of god. for living creatures whilest they always bear about them their garment , ( haires , feathers , shels ) and their armes ( sharp prickles , horns ) what do they bear about them but burdens , and hindrances of divers actions ? the liberty granted to man , and industry in providing , fitting and laying up all things for his use and pleasure , is something more divine . vi. a more copious and pure spirit was given to man , and therefore his inward operations are more excellent , namely a quicker attention , a stronger imagination , a surer memory , more vehement affections . the first appears from the braine , which is given in greater plenty to man then to any living creature , ( considering the proportion of every ones body . ) for all that round head , and of so great capacity , is filled up vvith brain ; to what end ? but that the spirit might have a more spacious vvorkhouse and palace . the rest are known by experience as followeth . vii attention is a considerate receiving of the objects , brought into the sensorie instruments . we said in the former chapter , that it is commonly called the common sense . this vvas given to man so much the quicker , as it is destinated to more objects , and more distinctly to be perceived . viii imagination , is the moving of things perceived by the sense within , and an efformation of the like . for the image of the thing seen , heard , or touched with attention ; presently gets into the brain , which the spirit by contemplation judges of , what it is , and how it differs from this or that thing ? therefore it may well be called ( in this sense ) the judgment . this imagination is stronger in a man , then in any living creature : so that it feignes new formes of things , namely by dividing or variously compounding things conceived . and this is done with such quicknesse , that upon every occasion we imagine any thing to our selves , as vve find dreaming and waking : and by how much the purer spirit any one hath , he is so much the more prompt to think or imagine ; but dulnesse proceeds from a grosse spirit . observe this also : that the animal spirit vvhen it speculates forward , and drawes new images of things from the senses , is said to learne , vvhen backward , resuming images from the memory , it is said to remember : when it is moved too and fro vvithin it self it is said to feigne somewhat . note also , that from the evidence of sensation growes the degree of knowledge , for if the sense perceive any thing a farre off , or weakly and obscurely , it is a generall conception : if nearer , distinctly , and perspicuously , it is a particular conception : for example , when i see something move a great vvay off , i gather it to be a living creature : vvhen i come near , i know it to be a man , and at length this or that man , &c. ix . memory ( remembrance ) is the imagination of a thing past , arising from the sense of a thing present , by reason of some likenesse . for vve do not remember any thing otherwise , then by a like object : for example , if i see a man , that resembles my father in his face , presently the memory of my father comes into my minde . so by occasion of divers accidents , as place , time , figure , colour , found , &c. divers things may come to minde , where the like vvas seen , heard , &c. vvhich occasion sometimes is so slight and suddain , that it can scarce be marked , for what is quicker then the spirit ? n. now it may be demanded : seeing that the animal spirit moveth it self so variously in the brain , yea , and other nevv spirit alwayes succeeding by nutrition ; how is it that the images of things do not perish , but readily offer themselves to our remembrance ? answ : look down from a bridge into the vvater gently gliding , you shall see your face unvaried though the vvater passe away . and vvhen you see any thing tossed vvith the vvind in a free aire , the winde doth not carry away the image of the thing from thine eye : what is the cause ? but that the impression of the image is not in the water , nor in the aire : but in the eye , from the light reflected indeed from the water and penetrating the aire . so then in like manner , an inward impression is not really made in the brain , but by a certaine resplendency in the spirit : which resplendency may be kindled again by any like object . otherwise if images vvere really imprinted in the brain , we could not see any thing otherwise in our sleep , then it had once imprinted it self in the brain being seen . but being that they are variously changed , it appears that notions are made not by reall impressions , but by the bare motion of the spirit , and the imagination of like by like . x an affection is a motion of the minde , com●ng from imaginations desiring good , and shunning evill . there are more affections and more vehement in a man. for bruits scarce know shame , envy and jealousie , and are not so violently hurried into fury and despaire , or again into excessive joyfulnesse ; thence laughter and weeping still belong to man only . xi the minde of man is immediately from god. for the scripture saith , that it was inspired by god , gen. 2. v. 7. and that after the death of the body it returnes to god ; that gave it , eccles. 2. v. 7. for it returnes to be judged for those things which it did in the body , whether good or evill : 2 c●r . 5. v. 10. but we are not to thinke that the soul is inspired out of the essence of god , as though it were any part of the deity : ( for god is not divisible into parts , neither can he enter into one essence with the creature . ) and moses vvords sound thus : and god breathed into the face of adam the breath of life , and man became a living soule . see he doth not say that that breath ( or inspiration ) became a living soule , but man became a living soul ) nor yet are we to think , that the soul was created out of nothing , as though it were a new entitie ; but only that a new perfection is put into the animall spirit in a man : so that it becomes one degree superiour , to the soul of a beast , that appears out of zach. 1● . v. 1. where god testifies that he formes the spirit of man in the midst of him . behold , he forms , and not creates it ! it is the same vvord ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jatzar ) vvhich is used of the body also ; gen. 2. v. 7. as therefore the body is formed of the prae-existent matter , so is the soul of the prae-existent spirit of the vvorld . aud by cousequent even as the earth , vvater , air , and skie , are all one matter of the world , differing only in the degree of their density : so the naturall , vitall , animall , and this mentall spirit , are all one spirit of the world , differing only in the degree of their purity and perfection . therefore it is credible , that the divine inspiration conferred no more upon man , but this , that he 1 refined the inmost part of his spirit , that in subtility of actions he might come nearest to god of all visible creatures . 2 fixed it , that it might subsist both in the body and out of the body . therefore the scripture makes no other difference betwixt the spirit of a man and of a beast , then that the one ascends upwards , the other goes downwards , ( that is the one flees out of the matter , the other slides back into the matter ) eccles. 3. v. 21. hence also that question , whether the soul be propagated by generation ? may be determined . the root of the soul which is the vitall and animall spirit , is certainly by generation : but the formation thereof ( that the inmost parts thereof should become the mentall spirit , or the minde ) god attributes to himself , zach. 12. 1. yet not concurring extraordinarily , or miraculously , but because he hath ordained that it shall be so in the nature of man. it appears also , why man is commonly said to consist of a body and a soule only ? namely , because , the rationall soule is of the spirit , and in the spirit . for as our body is made of a four-fold matter , that is , of the four elements : so our soule ( to speak generally , and contradistinguish it from the body ) consists of a fourfold spirit , naturall , vitall , animall , and mentall . xii there are three faculties of the mind of man , the understanding , the will , and the conscience . these answer to the three functions of the animall spirit , or to the inward senses ; out of which also they result . for we have said , that as the spirit useth the body for its organ , so the soule useth the spirit . therefore the three inward senses , attention , judgement , and memory , are instruments by which the soule useth the understanding , wil● , and conscience . for by diligent attention it begets understanding of things : by imagination or judging , choise , that is , to will or nill : by remembrance , conscience . xiii the understanding is a faculty of the reasonable soule , gathering things unknown out of things known , and out of things uncertain compared together , drawing things certain , by reasoning . xiv to reason is to enquire the reasons and causes why any thing is , or is not , by thinking thereon . for the mind or reason doth from the experiments of the senses gathered together , first form to it selfe certain generall notions : as , when it seeth that the fire scorcheth all things , it formes to it selfe this rule as it were : all fire burneth , &c. such kind of experimentall notions they call principles , from which the understanding , as occasion is offered , frames discourse . for example , if gold melt with fire , then it is hot also , and burns when it is melted . whence follows this conclusion : therefore if the workman pour gold into his hand , he is burnt therewith . see here is understanding , and that of a thing never seen ! to which a bruite cannot attain . for they do not reason but stay simply upon experiments . as if a dog be beaten with a staffe , he runs away afterward at the sight of a staffe , because his late suffering comes into his memory : but that he should reason , ( for example , a staffe is hard ; and pain was caused me with a staffe : therefore every hard thing struck against the body causeth pain : ) this he cannot do , therefore intelligere , to understand , is inter legere , that is , amongst many things to chuse and determine what is truly , and what is not . xv when ratiocination doth cohere with it selfe every way , it begets verity : if it gape any where , errour . xvi promptnesse of reasoning is called ingenuity ; solidity , judgement ; defect , dulnesse for he is ingenious , who perceives and discourseth readily : he judicious that with a certain naturall celerity giveth heed whether the reasoning cohere sufficiently every way . he is dull that hath neither of them . the two first are from the temperature of bloud and melancholy ; the last comes from abundance of flegme . for melancholy ( understand not grosse and full of dregs , but pure ) tempered with much bloud , giveth a nimble wit ; but moistned with lesse , a piercing and constant judgement : which is made plaine by this similitude . a glasse receiving and rendring shapes excellently , is compounded of three exceedings : exceeding hardnesse , exceeding smoothnesse , exceeding blacknesse : for the smoothnesse receives shapes : hardnesse reteins them : the blacknesse underneath clears them . ( hence the best sort of glasses are of steel , those of silver worse , and of glasse better : by reason of their greater smoothnesse and hardnesse under which some black thing is put , or cast , that it may adhere immediately : for instance , lead . if it could be iron or steel , it is certain , that the images would be the brighter for blackness . ) so the animall spirits , receiving agility from pure bloud , strength and constancy from melancholy , make men ingenious : and when the prevailing melancholy clarifies the imagination ; judicious , too much flegme overflowing both , makes men stupid . yellow choler conferreth nothing but mobility to the affections : whence it is not without cause , called the whetstone of wits . xvii the understanding begins with universals , but ends in singulars . we have observed the same touching the senses , upon the eighth aphorisme . for there is a like reason for both , in as much as the intellect considering any object , first knows that it is something ; and afterwards enquires by discoursing what it is , and how it differs from other things , and that alwayes more and more subtilely . for universals are confused , singulars distinct . therefore the understanding of god is most perfect , because he knowes all singularities , by most speciall differences : therefore he alone truly knoweth all things . but a man by how many the more particulars he knows , and sees how they depend upon their generals , by so much the wiser he is . therefore aristotle said not rightly , that sense is of singulars , but understanding of universals . xviii the will is a faculty of the reasonable soul , inclining it to good fore-known , and turning it away from evill fore-seen . for the soule works , that whereunto the will enclines ; and the will enclines , whither the understanding leads it . it follows this for its guides every where : and erres not unlesse it erre . as , when a christian chuseth drunkennesse rather then sobriety , ( though he be taught otherwise ) he doth it , because the intellect deceived by the sense , judgeth it better to please the palate , then to be tormented with thirst , ( though perverse . ) therefore we must have a speciall care , least the intellect should erre , or be carried away with the inferiour appetite . it appears also from thence , that if all men understood alike , they would also will and nill alike : but the diversity of wils , argues a diversity of understanding . xix if the will prudently follow things that are truly good , and prudently avoid things that are truly bad , it begets virtue ; if it do the contrary , vice . for virtue is nothing else , but a prudent , and constant , and ardent shunning of evill , and embracing of good : vice , on the contrary , is nothing but a neglecting of good , and embracing of evill . xx the conscience of man , is an intellectuall memory of those things which reason dictates either to be done , or avoided ; and what the will hath done or not done according to this rule ; and what god hath denounced to those that doe them , or doe them not . therefore the function of it in the soule is three-fold : to warn , testifie , and judge of all things that are done , or to be done see by the wisdome of god an inward . monitor , witnesse , and judge , and always standing by , given to man ! woe be to him that neglects this monitor , contemnes this witnesse , throwes off the reverence of this judge ! xxi it appears out of that which hath been said , that man is well termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a little world . because 1 he is compounded of the same that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or the great world is : matter , spirit , light . 2 he resembles the universe in the site of his members : for as that is divided into three parts , the elementary , the coelestiall , and the supercoelestiall : so a man hath three ventres or bellies ; the lowest which serves for nutrition : the middle-most ( or the breast ) wherein is the work-house of life , and the fountain of heat : the highest ( or the head ) in which the animall spirits , and in them reason , the image of god , inhabits . 3 there is an analogy betwixt the parts of the world , and the parts of the body . for example ; flesh represents the earth ; bones the stones ; bloud and other humours , waters ; vapours , of which the body is full , the air ; the vitall spirit , the heaven , and stars ; the haires , plants ; but the seven planets are the seven vitall members in our body : for the heart is in the place of the sun ; the brain , of the moon ; the spleen , of saturn ; the liver , of jupiter ; the bag of gall ; mars ; the reins ; venus ; the lungs , mercury , &c. lastly , certain creatures shew forth their virtues in certaine parts of the body . for example , some herbs cure the lungs , some the liver , &c. which shews a certain analogy of the microcosme to the macrocosme , though not well known to us . xxii also man is not absurdly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or the all ; because ; 1 he hath his body from the elements ; his spirit from heaven , his mind from god : and so in himselfe alone he represents the visible and the invisible world . 2 man is all , because he is apt to be all ; that is , either most excellent , or very base . for if he give himselfe to earthly things , he becomes brutish , and falls back again to nothing : if to heavenly things , he is in a manner deified , and gets above all creatures . chap. xii . of angels . we joyn the treatise concerning angels with the physicks ; because they also are a part of the created world , and in the scale of creatures next to man ; by whose nature , the nature of angels is the easier to be explained . therefore we will conclude it in some few aphorismes . i there are angels . divine testimonies , and apparitions testifiè that : and also a three-fold reason . 1 vapours , concretes , plants , living creatures are mixt of water and spirit . now there is matter without spirit ( the pure element ; ) therefore there is spirit also without matter . 2 as the matter of the world is divided into four kinds , ( the four elements ) so we see already the spirit of the world to be distinguished into the naturall , vitall , animall , and mentall spirit . now the lowest degree is to be found alone ( as in concretes . ) therefore the highest may be found alone , to wit , in the angels . 3 every creature is compounded of entitie , and nihility . ( for they were nothing before the creation : but now they are something ; because the cretour hath bestowed on them of his entitie , more or lesse by degrees . by how much the more entitie any thing hath , so much the further it is from nihility : and on the contrary . ) seeing then then that there is the first degree from nihility , ( that is a chaos , the rudiment of an entitie : ) without doubt there is the last also , which comes nearest to a pure entitie . but man is not such : because having matter admixt , he partakes much of nihility . therefore of necessity there is a creature , with which , materiality being taken away , all other perfections remain . and that is an angell . ii an angell is an incorporeall man. an angell may be called a man , in the same sense that man himselfe is called an animall , and an animall , a plant ; and a plant , a concrete , &c. ( as we have set down in their definitions : ) that is , by reason of the forme of the precedent included , with a new perfection only super-added . for a man is a rationall creature made after the image of god , immortall : so is an angel , but for more perfections sake free from a body . therefore an angel is nothing but a man without a body : a man is nothing but an angel clothed with a body . but that angels are incorporous , appears 1 because although they be present , they are not discerned neither by the sight , or any other sense . 2 because they assume to themselves earthly , watery , aery , fiery , or mixt bodies , as need requires ; and put them off again ; which they could not do , if they had bodies of their own as we have . yet ordinarily they appear in an humane forme , by reason of the likenesse of their natures , as we have said . iii angels were created before all visible things . that was shewed in the apendix of the first chapter : you may see it again , if need be . and moses words are clear : in the beginning god created the heaven and the earth : and the earth was void . see the earth was ( in that first production ) emptie and void ! therefore heaven was not void : then it was filled with its host , the angels . iv the angels were created out of the spirit of the world . as moses seems to comprehend the production of angels under the name of heaven , so also the universall spirit . for he ●oth not say , that this was created with the earth : but he pronounceth abruptly after the creation of the earth , that the spirit of god moved it selfe upon the waters : intimating thus much that it was in being before . we conclude , therefore that the angels were formed out of that spirit ; so that part of that spirit was left in the invisible heaven , and shaped into meer spirituall substances , [ angels ; ] and part sent down into the materiall world below . after the same manner , as the fire was afterward partly left in the skie , and fashioned into shining globes : and partly sunk into the bowels of the earth , for the working of minerals , and other uses . that which follows makes this opinion probable , ( if not demonstrable . ) 1 principles should not be multiplied without cause . seeing therefore that the scripture doth not say , that they were created out of nothing , nor yet names any other principle , why should we not be satisfied with those principles that moses hath set down ? 2 angels govern the bodies which they assume , like as our spirit inhabiting the matter doth : therefore they are like to it . 3 there is in angels a sense of things , as well as in our spirits . ( for they see , hear , touch , &c. though they themselves be invisible , and intangible . also they have a sense of pleasure and griefe : for as much as joyes are said to be prepared for the angels , and fire for the divells , ( into which wicked men are also to be cast . ) although therefore they perceive without organs , yet we must needs hold that they are not unlike to our spirit which perceiveth by organs . v the angels were created perfect . that is finished in the same moment , so that nothing is added to their essence by adventitious encrease . for being that they are immateriall , they are also free from the law of materiality : that is ( when a thing tends to perfection ) to be condensed , fixed , to encrease , and so to be augmented , and become solid by certain accessions . vi angels are not begotten . men , animals and plants , are generated , because the spirit included in the matter , diffuseth it selfe with the matter , and essayes to make new entities . but an angel being that it is without matter , and its essence cannot be dissipated , hath not whether to transfuse it selfe . hence christ saith , that in heaven we shall be as the angels , without generation , or desire of generation , mat. 22. 30. vii angels die not . the spirit of animals and of plants perisheth , because when the matter ( that is , its chariot ) is dissipated , it also is dissipated . but an angell having his essence compacted by it selfe , without matter , cannot be dissipated : and therefore endures . viii the number of angels is in a manner infinite . see job 25. v. 2 , 3. yet daniel names thousands of thousands , and myriads of myriads , dan. 7. 10. as also john , apoc. 5. 11. ix the habitation of the angels is the heaven of heavens , mat. 18. v. 10. and 6. v. 10. therefore they are called the angels of heaven , ( gal. 1. v. 8. ) and the host of heaven , ( 1 king. 22. v. 19. ) for it was meet , that as the earth , sea , air , and skie , have their inhabitants , so also that the heaven of heavens should not be left empty . yet they are sent forth from thence for these following ministeries . x god created the angels , that they might be , 1 the delight of their creatour . 2 the supream spectatours of his glory . 3 his assistent ministers in governing the world. the scripture teacheth this every where : but they also point at names given them . the first appellation of angels is in gen. 3. v. 24. cherubim , that is , images : wherein is intimated that they were made after the image of god , as well as men but note what it is to be made after the image of god. the essentiall image of god , or the character of his substance , is the son , his eternall wisdome , heb. 1. v. 3. after the likenesse of him therefore , men and angels are said to be created : that is , made understanding creatures : in which respect also they are called the sons of god , job . 1. v. 2. seeing then that an image delights him , whose image it is , it is intimated that god made the angels primarily for himselfe , that he might have some , who being cohabitants with him , might behold his glorious majesty face to face , and be partakers of eternall beatitude . now the most common name of angels in the old testament is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 malachim that is , embassadours : in the new testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , messengers ; because god created these to be rulers and governours of the world. for whensoever the course of nature is to be hindered , or any thing is to be wrought beyond the ordinary order of nature , god useth their assistence . for example , when the fire was to be cooled , that it should not burn , ( dan. 3. v. 25 , 28. ) or the mouthes of lions to be stopped , that they should not tear daniel , ( dan. 6. v. 22. ) or the enterprises of the wicked to be hindered , ( numb . 22. v. 22. ) or any to be killed by a sudden death , ( exod. 12. v. 23. and 1 chron. 22. v. 15. and 2 chron. 32. v. 21. and acts 12. v. 23. ) or the godly to be delivered from danger , ( gen. 19. v. 1. ) or travellers to be guided in their way , ( psal. 91. v. 11. ) or to be preserved in any chance , lest they should be dangerously hurt , psal. 91. 12. or to be warned any thing in a dream , or otherwise , mat. 1. 20. &c. hence they are thought also to be added to certain persons peculiarly , ( heb. 1. 1● mat. 18. 10. acts 12. 15. ) that they may accompany them every where , ( psal. 91. 11. ) and be witnesses of all our actions , ( 1 cor. 11. 9. 1 tim. 5. 21. ) but especially that they are sent to defend kings and kingdoms , ( dan. 10. 12. &c. ) hence also they are called , watchers or keepers , ( dan. 4. 10. 20. ) xi angels can act upon bodies , but they cannot suffer from bodies . both these appear by the effect . for angels bear about , move and governe the bodies which they assume : but those that are separated , they overthrow , stay and move from place to place with externall violence , at their pleasure ; yet they themselves in the mean time can be hindred or stayed by no body . xii the powerr of angels exceeds the strength of any corporall creature . for it operates 1 without resistance of the objects by penetrating . 2 without endeavour or enforcing , being that they are not deteined or hindred by their own body , as our spirit is : which being tied to the body , must of necessity draw it along with it laboriously , as the snail doth her shell . hence the angels are called mighty in power , ( psal. 103. 20. ) and powers , principalities , dominions , ( col. 1. 16. ) xiii the agility of the angels is greater then of any corporeall substance . hence they are compared to wind and to fire , and to lightning , psal. 104. 4. ezech. 1. 13. luke 10. 18. and they are called seraphim , that is , flamy , isai. 6. 2. yet it is certain that they move swifter then wind or lightning , when they passe any whither . for the wind and lightning penetrate the air , not without resistance , but an angell , being a meer spirit , doth it without any resistance . it appears then , that though an angell be not in many places at once , ( dan. 10. 13. 20. ) yet they can in a moment passe themselves whither they will. hence it is that one angell was able to slay a whole army in a night ; and also to smite the first born of the aegyptians , throughout all the kingdom , isai. 37. 36. exod. 12. 23. and 2 sam. 24. 6. xiv the knowledge of angels is far more sublime then mans . and that 1 because of the clearnesse of their understanding , which nothing obumbrates . 2 by reason of their power to penetrate any whither , and see things plainly . 3 because of their long experience for so many ages . ( whereas we are but of yesterday , job 8. 9. ) and yet they are not omniscious . for they know not the decrees of god , before they be revealed . 2 future contingents . 3 the thoughts of mans heart . ( jer. 17. 9. 10. ) that is , so long as they are concealed in the heart . for when they are discovered by gestures & effects , they discern them . for if we by the effects , are not altogether ignorant of their thoughts ( 2 cor. 2. 11. ) wherefore should not they be a thousand times more quick sighted upon us . n. w. how that part of the angels falling into evill , exercise perpetuall hostility with mankind : and god makes use of them to be as it were executioners to wicked men : but hereafter he will condemne them both ; in like manner , as good men are to enjoy the association of good angels : and lastly , how the frauds of those are to be avoided , but the presence of these to be procured , to teaach that belongs to sacred divinity . the epilouge . thus we have seen that the created world is a meer harmony . all things by one , all things to one ; the highest and the lowest , the first and the last , most straightly cleaving together , being concatenated by the intermediate things , and perpetuall ties , and mutuall actions and passions inevitable , so that the world being made up of a thousand thousand parts , and particles of parts , is neverthelesse one , and undivided in it selfe ; even as god the creatour thereof , is one from eternity to eternity , nor ever was there , is there , or shall there be any other god , ( isai. 43. 10. &c. ) and we have seen that all these visible things are made out of three principles , matter , spirit , and light : because he who is the beginning and the end of all things , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that thrice blessed and omnipotent god three in one , is he of whom , and through whom , and in whom are all things , rom. 11. 36. we have seen also that admirable scale of creatures , arising out of the principles , and ascending by a septenary gradation . for we have understood , that whatsoever there is besides god , it is either an element , or a vapour , or a concrete , or a plant , or an an●●all , or a man , or an angell ; and that the whole multitude of creatures , is ranked into these seven classes , or great tribes . in every of which there is some eminent virtue flowing from the essence of the creatour ( yet every latter including the former . ) for in elements , being is eminent . vapours , motion concretes , figure , or quality plants , life . living creatures , sense . men , reason . angels , understanding . see the house which wisdome hath built her , having hewn out her seven pillars ! ( prov. 9. 1. ) see the seven stairs which the king of heaven hath placed in the entry of his inner house ! ezek. 40. 22. the six first degrees are of visible creatures , the seventh of invisible angels : after the same manner , as there were nine dayes wherein god wrought , and rested the seventh ; six planets in heaven of inferiour light , the seventh of extraordinary brightnesse , the sun ; six baser metals on earth . the seventh exceeding all in perfection , gold , &c. and as salomons throne had six inferiour steps to every of which there were six inferiour leoncels adjoyned : after all in the seventh place stood the throne , and by it two lions ( 1 king. 10. 19 , 20. ) so the king of eternity , when he built him a visible throne of glory , erected six visible degrees of corporeous creatures , to every of which he added their leoncels , that is , their virtues , and their powers , and last of all , about the throne on high , he placed the strongest of the creatures , the angels mighty in power , ( psal. 103. 19 , 20. ) but now what mean the seven planets in heaven ? what mean the seven continents on earth ? the seven kinds of meteors , seven kinds of metalls , seven kinds of stones , & c ? the seven combinations of tangible qualities ? the seven differences of taste ? the seven vitall members in man ? the seven tones in musick ? and other things which we meet with throughout all nature ? yea , and in the scripture the number of seven is every where very much celebrated , and sacred : for what do the seven dayes of the week point at ? what are the seven weeks betwixt the passeover and pentecost ? what the seventh year of rest ? what the seven times seventh of jubilee ? what do all these portend i say , but that it is , the expresse image of that god whose seven eyes passe through the whole earth ? ( zach. 4. 10. ) and whose seven spirits are before his throne , ( apoc. 1. 4. ) yea , who doth himselfe make a mysticall eighth with every degree of his creatures . for in him all things live , aud move , and have their being ; which live and move , and have a being ( acts 17. 28. ) and he worketh all in all , ( 1 cor. 12. 6. ) and all these are as it were him himselfe , ( eccles. 43. 27. ) and yet none of them is he himselfe , ( job 12. 9. 10. ) but because all these have some effigies of the divine essence , and operate that which they operate by virtue thereof ; hence it is , that he being above all , without all , and beneath all , is the true mysticall eighth of all . of whom ( that syracides may conclude our meditation , though we say much , we shall not yet attain thereto . the sum of the doctrine is that he is all . for what ability have we to praise him ? for he is greater then all his works . the lord is terrible and very great , & marvellous is his power . extol the lord in praise as much as you can : for yet he wil be greater then all praise , ( eecl 43. 30. &c. ) therefore let every spirit praise the lord , hallelujah . ( psal. 150. ) and thou my soul praise the lord ( psal. 103. 1. ) holy , holy , holy , lord of hosts ! heaven and earth are full of his glory , ( isai. 6. 3 ) hallelujah . a short appendix to physicks . touching the diseases of the body , mind , and soul , and their generall remedies . i. a disease is the corruption of an entity in some part thereof , and a disposition of it to totall perishing ( that is death . ) therefore both the body , mind , and soul , hath its diseases . ii the diseases of the body are various , scarce to be numbred ; and oft-times m●●t . a disease added to a disease is called a ymptome of a disease . iii a disease of the body is either by solution of that which is continued , or by distemper of humours . iv solution of that which is continued , is either by a rupture , or a wound . a rupture is prevented by bewaring falls , and violent motion . a wound is avoided by shunning of those things , which can cleave , cut , prick , rent , tear or bruise , or hurt anyway : and both are to be cured by the chirurgion . n. w. the cure of a wound , is desperate , if any vitall member be hurt : as the heart , the brain , the liver , the entrals , &c. for then the vitall actions are hindred , and soon after cease . 2 if any member be quite lost , it cannot be set on again : because the spirit hath not wherewithall to passe into the part that is severed . v the distempers of the humours and the diseases that come from thence , always proceed from some of these 6 causes : namely , either from 1 crudity 2 inflation 3 distillation 4 obstruction 5 putrefaction 6 inflammation vi crudity in the body is nutriment not sufficiently concocted : namely either chyle , or bloud , which comes i from the quality of meat and drink ; when they are taken too raw , flegmatick , unwholesome , which the concoctive faculty cannot well subdue . 2 from the quantity : when more meat and drink is put in , then it is able to alter and assimilate unto the body . for hence undigested and not assimilated humours , burthen the body , like strangers , and not pertaining thereunto . 3 for want of exercise : when the naturall heat is not stirred up , nor strengthened to perform its office lustily in the concoction of meats . from such like crudities diverse inconveniences follow . for 1 if the crudity be in the stomack , it causes loathing of food : for so long as the first food is not digested , there can be no appetite to any other . again , children have an appetite to eat earth , chalk , coales , &c. according as the crudities are turned into the likenesse of any matter . for like desireth like . 2 if there be a viscous crudity adhering in the ventricle or in the guts , being warmed it takes spirit , and is turned into wormes ; which gnawing the bowels stir up evill vapours by their motion : whence also come phartasies , very hurtfull to the head . lastly , ctudity under the skin , ( in the bloud and flesh ) begets palenesse : and when it is collected and putrified ; scabs , ulcers , &c. crudity is prevented by a temperate diet . as to food , sleep , and daily exercises : and cured 1 by violent expurgation . 2 by strong exercises . 3 by the use of tart meats and drinks . 4 by comforting the stomack with such things , as heat , both within and without . vii inflation is much and grosse vapour , exhaling from the crudities that are gathered together , and stretching the members . and that either without pain as when it causeth yexing or belching in the ventricle ; panting in the heart ; giddinesse in the head ( when being prohibited to go any further it is carried in a round ) lazinesse and stretching in the whole body ; or else with pain , as when it causeth aches in the bowels ( straightning the spirits that lie between in the fibres ) and shurp or else blunt prickings in the muscles , according as it is more grosse or subtile it is cured 1 by strong exercise , that the vapour being attenuated , may go out at the pores opened . 2 by expurgation of the humours by which they are generated . viii distillation is the condensation of crude vapours into rheume , which is the cause of many evils . for crude vapours gettting up to the head , when as by reason of the abundance and grossenesse of them , they cannot be expurgated by the ordinary passage , they become rheume flowing severall wayes , and rausing diverse diseases . for 1 if they run abundantly , and 〈◊〉 at the nose , they cause the murre or pose , 2 if the distillation fall into the jawes , it causes the catarrhe . 3 if into the kernels of the jawes , the quinsie . 4 if into the lungs difficulty of breathing , and the asthma . 5 if the distillation be salt and sharp , ulcerating the lungs , it causes the cough . 6 which if it be done oft , and the lungs be filled with apostemes , it causes the consumption . for when the ulcerous lungs cannot with dexterity enough perform their office of cooling the heart , the vitall spirit is generated more hot then it should be , which doth not cherish , but feed upon the flesh and bloud , and at length burns out the very workhouse it self of the bloud , which is , the liver : whence for want of bloud , which is as it were the food , followes the consumption of the whole body . 7 if the distillation flow in abundance , and grosse down the marrow of the back , it causeth the palsie , ( by hindring the animall spirit , that it cannot be distributed by the nerves springing from the back bone . ) 8 if it fill the nerves of the muscles only , it becomes the spasma , or convulsions ( that is when the nerve is contracted , like as a chord being wet and dried again , is wont to be contracted , and become shorter . ) 9 if it flow subtle , and penetrating the nerves , it is at length gathered together in the extremities of the members , and there raises sharp pains ; which in the feet are called the gout ; in the hands , chiragra , or the hand-gout ; in any of the joynts of the bones erthritica , the running gout ; in the hip , it is called ischias , or the hip-gout , commonly the sciatica 10 lastly , if those kind of runnings stay in the head , they procure divers diseases : as when they are subtle , the head-ach . 11 too raw and flegmatick , the lethargie . 12 salt , and cholerick , the phrensie . 13 grosse and mixt with a melancholy humour , the epilepsie , or falling-sickness , ( when as the spirits diffused through the whole body , making haste to relieve the spirits befieged in the brain , make most vehement stirs , and fight , till they either overcome and repell the disease , or else faint and are extinguished . 14 but if the grosse phlegmatick humours have occupied all the vessels of the brain at once , it becomes the apoplexie , that is , a privation of all sense and motion : whence also the vitall fire in the heart is soon after extinguished . all these diseases are both prevented , and also ( if they go not too farre ) cured 1 by exercise . 2 by rectification of the brain by good smels . 3 by a thin , hot , and sulphury air . 4 by thin , light meat and drink . but the peculiar cure of every disease is committo the physiciaus . ix obstruction is a stopping of the bowels by thickned flegme , whence it comes to passe that they cannot execute their office . for example , when the entrals are stopt , that they cannot void , it is the volvuls , or wringing of the guts : when the liver is stopt , the dropsie ; ( for the chylus being not turned into bloud , flowes through the veins and members , and is not turned into members . ) when the bladder of gall is stopt , the yellow jaundise ; when the spleen , the black jaundise ; ( for in the first the choler , in the other the melancholy , when it cannot be voided , diffuseth it selfe through the bloud . but when the urine pipes , or the 〈◊〉 , or the bladder are stopped , that is by reason of the breeding of tartar , which they call the stone : which stopping the passages , by its sharpnesse pains the veins and nerves . the cure is 1 by purgations . 2 by medicines attenuating , or breaking , cutting , and driving out the grosse humours which physicians know . x putrefaction is the corruption of some humour in the body : namely , either of flegme , or of choler , or of melancholy ; which putrifying either in or out of their vessels , produce feavers or ulcers . the cure is 1 expurgation of the place affected . 2 a good diet . 3 motion . xi inflamation is a burning of the vitall spirit ( n. vitall ) or of the bloud caused by too much motion ( either of the body by wearying it , or of the mind , by musing and anger , ) or else by putrefaction , or else by obstruction . for it is known out of the physicks , that motion doth heat even unto firing , and that by obstruction doth 〈◊〉 an antiperistasis exasperate the heat included ( even in these things that are watry and p●trid ) so that at length it breaks out violently , hay laid up wet , ( when it cannot get transpiration ) doth shew . when the bloud is kindled within , it becomes a feaver : when under the skin , s. anthonies fire . the generall cure is the opening of a vein , and cooling . but of feavers ( being that it is a most common disease , and of divers kinds ) something more is to be said . xii the feaver so called , from its fervency or heat , is of three kinds . 1 the ephemera . 2 the putrid . 3 the hectick . the first burns the spirits ; the second the humours ; the third the solid parts . the first like a raging hot wind scorching all it meets with : the second like boiling water poured into a vessell , which it heats with it selfe . the third like unto a hot vessell , heating the water poured into it with it selfe . for the hectick occupies the bones and membranes , and eats and consumes them with an unnaturall heat , by degrees almost insensibly , till at length it causeth death . it is very like the consumption . but the putrid or rotten feaver occupies the bloud and humours ; by which the whole body grows hot . the ephemera is a more subtle flame , feeding upon the spirits only : and therefore it scarce endures one or two days , til the peccant cause be consumed by the spirit it self . hence either health or death usually follows within two or three dayes ; and therefore it is called the ephemera or diary feaver : also the maligne feaver . of which sort also is the pestilentiall infection : for it comes after the same manner . putrid feavers are most usuall , but with very much difference : for when the humours putrifie within their vessels , ( or workhouses ) especially near the heart , ( in the liver or the gall , ) the spirit rises against them , and kindles them : and ceases not to assault them , till it either expell the rottennesse being turned into soot , or be extinguished it selfe ; and therefore this feaver is often deadly , it is called the continuall feaver . but if the humours rot out of their vessels , that is , in the veins or members , it is an intermitting feaver . for the spirit riseth up at certain times , and opposeth that rottennesse with heat : but because this battle is made further off from its castle , the heart , when the fight is ended , it returns home . and if the putrifying humour be flegme , it still returns to oppose it the next day : hence the quotidian feaver . if it be yellow , choler ; then every third day . hence the tertian . if black choler , the fourth day . hence the quartan : the cause of the inequality , is because the flegme recollects it selfe soonest , and makes new businesse for the spirits : but is withall sooner dissipated : hence the quotidian lasts not long . melancholy being that it is a dreggy humour , doth not so soon recruit it selfe : but because it is soft and viscous , it is not so easily overcome : hence the long continuance of quartans , in the tertian , because the spirit opposeth yellow choler , which is hot of it selfe , is made the hottest fight : hence tertians are called burning feavers . they are sometimes changed one into another , or one joyned with another , according as one while one putrified humour , another while another is to be opposed . hence it appears 1 why a feaver begins with cold ? because the vitall spirit being to oppose the rottennesse , gathers heat as it were its aid from every part , the outward members in the mean time being benu 〈◊〉 and quaking with cold . ( for even in too much fear , when the spirit gathers it selfe into the inward parts , there is wont to follow a chilnesse of the outward members , and a quaking with cold . ) 2 whence afterwards heat ? because the spirits , after they are hotter with fight and motion , return again to the members ; which , being cold before , do so much the worse endure the heat , returning now hotter then ordinary . 3 why the feaver leaves faintnesse behind it ? because the spirit wearied with fight , betakes it selfe to rest , leaving the members destitute . 4 why food is hurtfull at the beginning of a feaver ? because when the spirit is preparing it selfe for the battell , it hath another businesse put upon it , ( to concoct the food : ) but seeing that it is not able to do both , it either assaults the disease more weakly , or else leaves the food unconcocted : or at least , if it do both , it weakens and tires out it selfe too much . 5 why it is dangerous to expell the feaver over soon ? because the feaver is of it selfe a benefit to nature , driving away the rottennesse in time , left it should at length prevaile and oppresse the heart . therefore that is no good cure of feavers which stayes the fits , but that which ripens the rottennesse for expulsion : and strengthens nature to oppose them , which i leave to physicians . let this be the sum of that which hath been said , crudity is the seed of all diseases . for thence gross vapours arising , cause inflation , the same condensed in the head , cause , distillation : in the other members , obstruction : whence flowes either rottennesse or inflamation . therefore let him that prevents crudities , believe this ; that he takes the best cours that may be for his whole body . now the way to prevent them is a temperate diet and daily exercises . o the strange virtue of labour , whereby we get both our bread and health ! which mistery if the slothfull understood , they would not waste their lives with idlenesse . of the diseases of the mind . i the diseases of the mind are vices , procuring either disquiet , or griefe thereto . ii diseases disquieting the mind , are evill desires ; that is , too much ardency . 1 of living . 2 of eating and drinking . 3 of multiplying it selfe . 4 of knowing . 5 of having . 6 of excelling . n. w. these are thus expressed by their proper names , 1 selfe-love . 2 intemperancy . 3 salacity . 4 curiosity . 5 covetousnesse . 6 ambition . for they that are given to these , itch and are disquieted continually . iii the diseases that cause griefe to the mind , are immoderate affections ; that is violent alterations for those things which befall us according to our desires , or contrary thereto : but especially sadnesse , angor , and at i●ksomnesse of life . iv the remedies of the mind are held forth in the ethicks . the sum where of comes to this . love the golden mean , shun extreams like unto precipices . never desire to do more then thou canst : remember that thou art a man. for that may befall every one that befalls any one . there is a vicissitude of all things , an unconquered mind overcomes all things , &c. of the diseases of the soule . i the diseases of the soule are , forgetfulnesse of god , torment of conscience , and despair of mercy . ii forgetfulnesse of god is cured by the fear of god. of , i say , that god , who seeth all , judgeth all , rewardeth all , to every one according to his works : to avoid whose hand , it is impossible . ( for in him , we move , live , and have our being , ) but to endure it is intolerable . ( for he is a consuming fire , &c. ) iii torment of conscience is healed by prayers , and and study of innocency , psal. 26. 6. eccl. 12. 13 , 14. for if our heart condemn us not , we have full assurance , &c. 1 john 3. 21. iv despair is healed by the bloud of that onely lamb of god , which purgeth us from all sin , 1 joh. 1. 7. and reconciles us to his father , rom. 3. 25. and saves us , rom. 5. 9. and gives us eternall life , joh. 6. 54 in body sound , amind as sound , o god we pray thee give , that here in peace , in after blisse ; for ever we may live . finis . ground of natural philosophy divided into thirteen parts : with an appendix containing five parts / written by the ... dvchess of newcastle. newcastle, margaret cavendish, duchess of, 1624?-1674. 1668 approx. 394 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 161 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a53045 wing n851 estc r18240 13411012 ocm 13411012 99419 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a53045) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 99419) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 468:11) ground of natural philosophy divided into thirteen parts : with an appendix containing five parts / written by the ... dvchess of newcastle. newcastle, margaret cavendish, duchess of, 1624?-1674. the second edition, much altered from the first which went under the name of philosophical and physical opinions. [12], 311 p. printed by a. maxwell, london : 1668. edition statement transposed from before the statement of responsbliity. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -early works to 1800. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 john latta sampled and proofread 2002-06 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion to all the universities in europe . most learned societies , all books , without exception , being undoubtedly under your iurisdiction , it is very strange that some authors of good note , are not asham'd to repine at it ; and the more forward they are in judging others , the less liberty they will allow to be judg'd themselves . but , if there was not a necessity , yet i would make it my choice , to submit , willingly , to your censures , these grounds of natural philosophy , in hopes that you will not condemn them , because they want art , if they be found fraught with sense and reason . you are the starrs of the first magnitude , whose influence governs the world of learning ; and it is my confidence , that you will be propitious to the birth of this beloved child of my brain , whom i take the boldness to recommend to your patronage ; and as , if you vouchsafe to look on it favourably , i shall be extreamly obliged to your goodness , for its everlasting life : so , if you resolve to frown upon it , i beg the favour , that it be not buried in the hard and rocky grave of your displeasure ; but be suffer'd , by your gentle silence , to lye still in the soft and easie bed of oblivion , which is incomparably the less punishment of the two. it is so commonly the error of indulgent parents , to spoil their children out of fondness , that i may be forgiven for spoiling this , in never putting it to suck at the breast of some learned nurse , whom i might have got from among your students , to have assisted me ; but would , obstinately , suckle it my self , and bring it up alone , without the help of any scholar : which having caused in the first edition , ( which was published under the name of philosophical and physical opinions ) many imperfections ; i have endeavoured in this second , by many alterations and additions , ( which have forc'd me to give it another name ) to correct them ; whereby , i fear , my faults are rather changed and encreased , than amended . if you expect fair proportions in the parts , and a beautiful symmetry in the whole , having never been taught at all , and having read but little ; i acknowledg my self too illiterate to afford it , and too impatient to labour much for method . but , if you will be contented with pure wit , and the effects of meer contemplation ; i hope , that somewhat of that kind may be found in this book , and in my other philosophical , poetical , and oratorical works : all which i leave , and this especially , to your kind protection , and am , your most humble servant , and admirer , margaret newcastle . a table of the contents . the first part. chap. pag. i. of matter , 1 ii. of motion , 2 iii. of the degrees of matter , 3 iv. of vacuum , 4 v. the difference of the two self-moving parts of matter , 4 vi. of dividing and uniting of parts , 6 vii . of life and knowledg , 6 viii . of nature's knowledg , and perception , 7 ix . of perception in general , 8 x. of double perception , 9 xi . whether the triumphant parts can be perceived distinctly from each other , 9 xii . whether nature can know her self , or have an absolute power of her self , or have an exact figure , 10 xiii . nature cannot judg herself , 12 xiv . nature poyses or balances her actions , 12 xv. whether there be degrees of corporal strength , 13 xvi . of effects and cause , 15 xvii . of influence , 15 xviii . of fortune and chance , 16 xix . of time and eternity , 16 the second part. i. of creatures , 17 ii. of knowledg and perception of different kinds and sorts of creatures , 18 iii. of perception of parts , and united perception , 19 iv. whether the rational and sensitive parts , have a perception of each other , 20 v. of thoughts , and the whole mind of a creature , 21 vi. whether the mind of one creature , can perceive the mind of another creature , 22 vii . of perception , and conception , 23 viii . of human supposition , 24 ix . of information between several creatures , 24 x. the reason of several kinds and sorts of creatures , 25 xi . of the several properties of several kinds and sorts of creatures , 26 the third part. chap. 1. to 7. of productions in general , pag. 27 , to 35 viii . productions must partake of some parts of their producers , 36 ix . of resemblances of several off-springs , or producers , 37 x. of the several appearances of the exterior parts of one creature , 38 the fourth part. i. of animal productions , and of the difference between productions and transformations , 39 ii. of different figurative motions in man's production , 40 iii. of the quickning of a child , or any other sort of animal creatures , 41 iv. of the birth of a child , 41 v. of mischances , or miscarriages of breeding-creatures , 42 vi. of the encrease of growth and strength of mankind , or such like creatures , 43 vii . of the several properties of the several exterior shapes of several sorts of animals , 44 viii . of the dividing and uniting parts of a particular creature , 44 the fifth part. i. of man , 47 ii. of the variety of man's natural motions , 48 iii. of man's shape and speech , 49 iv. of the several figurative parts of human creatures , 50 v. of the several perceptions a-amongst the several parts of man , 51 vi. of divided and composed perceptions , 52 vii . of the ignorances of the several perceptive organs , 53 viii . of the particular and general perceptions of the exterior parts of human creatures , 54 ix . of the exterior sensitive organs of human creatures , 55 x. of the rational parts of the human organs , 57 xi . of the difference between the human conception , and perception , 57 xii . of the several varieties of actions of human creatures , 58 xiii . of the manner of information between the rational and sensitive parts , 59 xiv . of irregularities and regularities of the restoring-parts of human creatures , 60 xv. of the agreeing and disagreeing of the sensitive and rational parts of human creatures , 61 xvi . of the power of the rational ; or rather , of the indulgency of the sensitive , 62 xvii . of human appetites and passions , 63 xviii . of the rational actions of the head and heart of human creatures , 65 xix . of passions and imaginations , 65 xx. that associations , divisions , and alterations , cause several effects , 66 xxi . of the differences between self-love , and passionate love , 68 the sixth part. i. of the motions of some parts of the mind , and of forrein objects , 69 ii. of the motions of some parts of the mind , 70 iii. of the motions of human passions and appetites ; as also , of the motions of the rational and sensitive parts , towards forrein objects , 71 iv. of the repetitions of the sensitive and rational actions , 73 v. of the passionate love , and sympathetical endeavours , amongst the associate parts of a human creature , 75 vi. of acquaintance , 77 vii . of the effects of forrein objects of the sensitive body ; and of the rational mind of a human creature , 78 viii . of the advantage and disadvantage of the encounters of several creatures , 80 ix . that all human creatures have the like kind and sorts of properties , 81 x. of the singularity of the sensitive , and of the rational corporeal motions , 82 xi . of the knowledg between the sensitive organs of a human creature , 83 xii . of human perception , or defects of a human creature , 84 xiii . of natural fools . 85 the seventh part. i. of the sensitive actions of sleeping and waking , 89 ii. of sleeping , 91 iii. of human dreams , 92 iv. of the actions of dreams , 93 v. whether the interior parts of a human creature , do sleep , 94 vi. whether all the creatures in nature , have sleeping and waking-actions , 95 vii . of human death , 97 viii . of the heat of human life , and the cold of human death , 98 ix . of the last act of human life , ibid. x. whether a human creature hath knowledg in death , or not , 99 xi . whether a creature may be new formed after a general dissolution , 100 xii . of foreknowledg , 102 the eighth part. i. of the irregularity of nature's parts , 105 ii. of the human parts of a human creature , 106 iii. of human humors , 107 iv. of blood , ibid. v. of the radical humors , or parts , 109 vi. of expelling malignant disorders in a human creature , 110 vii . of human digestions and evacuations , 111 viii . of diseases in general , 112 ix . of the fundamental diseases , 113 the ninth part. i. of sickness , 115 ii. of pain , 117 iii. of dizziness , 118 iv. of the brain seeming to turn round in the head , 119 v. of weakness , 120 vi. of swooning , ibid. vii . of numb and dead palsies , or gangren's , 122 viii . of madness , 124 ix . the sensitive and rational parts may be distinctly mad , 125 x. the parts of the head are not only subject to madness ; but also , the other parts of the body , 126 xi . the rational and sensitive parts of a human creature , are apt to disturb each other , 127 xii . of diseases produced by conceit , 130 the tenth part. i. of fevers , 131 ii. of the plague , 132 iii. of the small-pox and measles , 134 iv. of the intermission of fevers , or agues , 143 v. of consumptions , 137 vi. of dropsies , ibid. vii . of sweating , 138 viii . of coughs , 139 ix . of gangren's , 143 x. of cancers and fistula's , 144 xi . of the gout , ib. xii . of the stone , 145 xii . of apoplexies and lethargies , 146 xiii . of epilepsies , 147 xiv . of convulsions and cramps , 148 xv. of cholicks , ibid. xvi . of shaking-palsies , 150 xvii . of the muther , spleen , and scurvy , 151 xviii . of food or digestions , ibid. xix . of surfeits , 153 xx. of natural evacuations and purgings , 154 xxi . of purging-drugs , 155 xxii . of the various humors of drugs , 156 xxiii . of cordials , 157 xxiv . of the different actions of the several sensitive parts of a human creature . 158 xxv . of the antipathy of some human creatures , to some forrein objects , 159 xxvi . of the effects of forrein objects , on the human mind , ib. xxvii . of contemplation , 160 xxviii . of injecting the blood of one animal , into the veins of ather animal , 161 the eleventh part. i. of the different knowledges in different kinds and sorts of creatures , 163 ii. of the variety of self-actions in particular creatures , 165 iii. of the variety of corporeal motions of one and the same sort and kind of motion , 166 iv. of the variety of particular creatures , ibid. v. of dividing , and rejoyning , or altering exterior figurative motions , 167 vi. of different figurative motions in particular creatures , 168 vii . of the alterations of exterior and innate figurative motions of several sorts of creatures , 169 viii . of local motion , 171 ix . of several manners or ways of advantages or disadvantages , 172 x. of the actions of some sorts of creatures , over others , 173 xi . of glassie-bodies , 174 xii . of metamorphoses , or transformations of animals and vegetables , 175 xiii . of the life and death of several creatures , 176 xiv . of circles , 178 xv. human creatures cannot so probably treat of other sorts of creatures , as of their own , 179 the twelfth part. i. of the equality of elements , 181 ii. of several tempers , 182 iii. of the change and rechange ; and of dividing of the parts of the elements , 185 iv. of the innate figurative motions of earth , 186 v. of the figurative motions of air , ibid. vi. of the innate figurative motions of fire , 188 vii . of the productions of elemental fire , 189 viii . of flame , 190 ix . of the two sorts of fire most different , ibid. x. of dead or dull fires , 191 xi . of the occasional actions of fire , 192 xii . fire hath not the property to change and rechange , 193 xiii . of the innate figurative motions of water , 194 xiv . the nature or property of water , 195 xv. of the alteration of the exterior figurative motion of water , 197 xvi . of oyl of vitriol , ibid. xvii . of mineral and sulphurous waters , 198 xviii . the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the sea , 199 xix . of overflows , 201 xx. of the figure of ice and snow , 203 xxi . of the change and rechange of water , 205 xxii . of water quenching fire , and fire evaporating water , 206 xxiii . of inflamable liquors , 207 xxiv . of thunder , 208 xxv . of vapour , smoak , wind and clouds , 209 xxvi . of wind , 211 xxvii . of light , 212 xxviii . of darkness , 213 xxix . of colours , 214 xxx . of the exterior motions of the planets , 216 xxxi . of the sun , and planets , and seasons , 217 xxxii . of air corrupting dead bodies . 218 the thirteenth part. i. of the innate figurative motions of metal , 221 ii. of the melting of metals , 222 iii. of burning , melting , boyling , and evaporating , 223 iv. of stone , 224 v. of the loadstone , 225 vi. of bodies apt to ascend , or descend , 226 vii . why heavy bodies descend more forcibly than leight bodies ascend , 227 viii . of several sorts of densities and rarities , gravities , and levities , 228 ix . of vegetables , 229 x. of the production of vegetables , 230 xi . of replanting vegetables , 232 appendix . the first part. i. whether there can be a substance that is not a body , 237 ii. of an immaterial , 239 iii. whether an immaterial be perceivable , 240 iv. of the difference between god and nature , 241 v. all the parts of nature , worship god , ibid. vi. whether god's decrees are limited , 242 vii . of god's decrees concerning the particular parts of nature , 243 viii . of the ten commandments , 244 ix . of several religions , 245 x. of rules and prescriptions , 246 xi . sins and punishments are material , 247 xii . of human conscience , 248 the second part. i. whether it is possible there could be worlds consisting only of the rational parts , and others only of the sensitive parts , 251 ii. of irregular and regular worlds , 254 iii. whether there be egress and regress between the parts of several worlds , 255 iv. whether the parts of one and the same society , could ( after their dissolution , meet and unite , 256 v. whether , if a creature being dissolved , if it could unite again , would be the same , 257 vi. of the resurrection of human-kind , 259 vii . of the dissolution of a world , 260 viii . of a new heaven , and a new earth , 261 ix . whether there shall be a material heaven and hell , ibid. x. concerning the joys or torments of the blessed and cursed , after they are in heaven or hell , 263 the third part. the preamble . 265 i. of the happy and miserable worlds , 266 ii. whether there be such kinds and sorts of creatures in the happy and blessed world , as in this world , 267 iii. of the births and deaths of the heavenly world , ibid. iv. whether those creatures could be named blessed , that are subject to dye , 269 v. of the productions of the creatures of the regular world , 270 vi. whether the creatures in the blessed world , do feed and evacuate , 271 vii . of the animals , and of the food of the humans of the happy world , 272 viii . whether it is not irregular for one creature to feed on another , 273 ix . of the continuance of life in the regular world , 275 x. of the excellency and happiness of the creatures of the regular world , 276 xi . of human creatures in the regular world , 278 xii . of the happiness of human creatures in the material world , ibid. the fourth part. i. of the irregular world , 281 ii. of the productions and dissolutions of the creatures of the irregular world , 282 iii. of animals , and of humans in the irregular world , 283 iv. of objects and perceptions , 284 v. the description of the globe of the irregular world , ibid. vi. of the elemental air , and light of the irregular world , 286 vii . of storms and tempests in the irregular world , 287 viii . of the several seasons ; or rather , of the several tempers in the irregular world , ibid. ix . the conclusion of the irregular and unhappy , or cursed world , 288 the fifth part. fifteen sections concerning restoring-beds , or wombs , p. 291 , to 308 the conclusion , 309 grounds of natural philosophy . the first part. chap. i. of matter . matter is that we name body ; which matter cannot be less , or more , than body : yet some learned persons are of opinion , that there are substances that are not material bodies . but how they can prove any sort of substance to be no body , i cannot tell : neither can any of nature's parts express it , because a corporeal part cannot have an incorporeal perception . but as for matter , there may be degrees , as , more pure , or less pure ; but there cannot be any substances in nature , that are between body , and no body : also , matter cannot be figureless , neither can matter be without parts . likewise , there cannot be matter without place , nor place without matter ; so that matter , figure , or place , is but one thing : for , it is as impossible for one body to have two places , as for one place to have two bodies ; neither can there be place , without body . chap. ii. of motion . though matter might be without motion , yet motion cannot be without matter ; for it is impossible ( in my opinion ) that there should be an immaterial motion in nature : and if motion is corporeal , then matter , figure , place , and motion , is but one thing , viz. a corporeal figurative motion . as for a first motion , i cannot conceive how it can be , or what that first motion should be : for , an immaterial cannot have a material motion ; or , so strong a motion , as to set all the material parts in nature , or this world , a-moving ; but ( in my opinion ) every particular part moves by its own motion : if so , then all the actions in nature are self-corporeal , figurative motions . but this is to be noted , that as there is but one matter , so there is but one motion ; and as there are several parts of matter , so there are several changes of motion : for , as matter , of what degree soever it is , or can be , is but matter ; so motion , although it make infinite changes , can be but motion . chap. iii. of the degrees of matter . though matter can be neither more nor less than matter ; yet there may be degrees of matter , as more pure , or less pure ; and yet the purest parts are as much material , in relation to the nature of matter , as the grossest : neither can there be more than two sorts of matter , namely , that sort which is self-moving , and that which is not self-moving . also , there can be but two sorts of the self-moving parts ; as , that sort that moves intirely without burdens , and that sort that moves with the burdens of those parts that are not self-moving : so that there can be but these three sorts ; those parts that are not moving , those that move free , and those that move with those parts that are not moving of themselves : which degrees are ( in my opinion ) the rational parts , the sensitive parts , and the inanimate parts ; which three sorts of parts are so join'd , that they are but as one body ; for , it is impossible that those three sorts of parts should subsist single , by reason nature is but one united material body . chap. iv. of vacvvm . in my opinion , there cannot possibly be any vacuum : for , though nature , as being material , is divisible and compoundable ; and , having self-motion , is in perpetual action : yet nature cannot divide or compose from her self , although she may move , divide , and compose in her self : but , were it possible nature's parts could wander and stray in , and out of vacuum , there would be a confusion ; for , where unity is not , order cannot be : wherefore , by the order and method of nature's corporeal actions , we may perceive , there is no vacuum : for , what needs a vacuum , when as body and place is but one thing ; and as the body alters , so doth the place ? chap. v. the difference of the two self-moving parts of matter . the self-moving parts of nature seem to be of two sorts , or degrees ; one being purer , and so more agil and free than the other ; which ( in my opinion ) are the rational parts of nature . the other sort is not so pure ; and are the architectonical parts , which are the labouring parts , bearing the grosser materials about them , which are the inanimate parts ; and this sort ( in my opinion ) are the sensitive parts of nature ; which form , build , or compose themselves with the inanimate parts , into all kinds and sorts of creatures , as animals , vegetables , minerals , elements , or what creatures soever there are in nature : whereas the rational are so pure , that they cannot be so strong labourers , as to move with burdens of inanimate parts , but move freely without burdens : for , though the rational and sensitive , with the inanimate , move together as one body ; yet the rational and sensitive , do not move as one 〈◊〉 part , as the sensitive doth with the inanimate . but , pray mistake me not , when i say , the inanimate parts are grosser ; as if i meant , they were like some densed creature ; for , those are but effects , and not causes : but , i mean gross , dull , heavy parts , as , that they are not self-moving ; nor do i mean by purity , rarity ; but agility : for , rare or dense parts , are effects , and not causes : and therefore , if any should ask , whether the rational and sensitive parts were rare , or dense ; i answer , they may be rare or dense , according as they contract , or dilate their parts ; for there is no such thing as a single part in nature : for matter , or body , cannot be so divided , but that it will remain matter , which is divisible . chap. vi. of dividing and vniting of parts . though every self-moving part , or corporeal motion , have free-will to move after what manner they please ; yet , by reason there can be no single parts , several parts unite in one action , and so there must be united actions : for , though every particular part may divide from particular parts ; yet those that divide from some , are necessitated to join with other parts , at the same point of time of division ; and at that very same time , is their uniting or joining : so that division , and composition or joining , is as one and the same act . also , every altered action , is an altered figurative place , by reason matter , figure , motion , and place , is but one thing ; and , by reason nature is a perpetual motion , she must of necessity cause infinite varieties . chap. vii . of life and knowledg . all the parts of nature have life and knowledg ; but , all the parts have not active life , and a perceptive knowledg , but onely the rational and sensitive : and this is to be noted , that the variousness , or variety of actions , causes varieties of lives and knowledges : for , as the self-moving parts alter , or vary their actions ; so they alter and vary their lives and knowledges ; but there cannot be an infinite particular knowledg , nor an infinite particular life ; because matter is divisible and compoundable . chap. viii . of nature's knowledg and perception . if nature were not self-knowing , self-living , and also perceptive , she would run into confusion : for , there could be neither order , nor method , in ignorant motion ; neither would there be distinct kinds or sorts of creatures , nor such exact and methodical varieties as there are : for , it is impossible to make orderly and methodical distinctions , or distinct orders , by chances : wherefore , nature being so exact ( as she is ) must needs be self-knowing and perceptive : and though all her parts , even the inanimate parts , are self-knowing , and self-living ; yet , onely her self-moving parts have an active life , and a perceptive knowledg . chap. ix . of perception in general . perception is a sort of knowledg , that hath reference to objects ; that is , some parts to know other parts : but yet objects are not the cause of perception ; for the cause of perception is self-motion . but some would say , if there were no object , there could be no perception . i answer : it is true ; for , that cannot be perceived , that is not : but yet , corporeal motions cannot be without parts , and so not without perception . but , put an impossible case , as , that there could be a single corporeal motion , and no more in nature ; that corporeal motion may make several changes , somewhat like conceptions , although not perceptions : but , nature being corporeal , is composed of parts , and therefore there cannot be a want of objects . but there are infinite several manners and ways of perception ; which proves , that the objects are not the cause : for , every several kind and sort of creatures , have several kinds and sorts of perception , according to the nature and property of such a kind or sort of composition , as makes such a kind or sort of creature ; as i shall treat of , more fully , in the following parts of this book . chap. x. of double perception . there is a double perception in nature , the rational perception , and the sensitive : the rational perception is more subtil and penetrating than the sensitive ; also , it is more generally perceptive than the sensitive ; also , it is a more agil perception than the sensitive : all which is occasioned not onely through the purity of the rational parts , but through the liberty of the rational parts ; whereas the sensitive being incumbred with the inanimate parts , is obstructed and retarded . yet all perceptions , both sensitive and rational , are in parts ; but , by reason the rational is freer , ( being not a painful labourer ) can more easily make an united perception , than the sensitive ; which is the reason the rational parts can make a whole perception of a whole object : whereas the sensitive makes but perceptions in part , of one and the same object . chap. xi . whether the triumphant parts can be perceived distinctly from each other . some may make this question , whether the three sorts of parts , the rational , sensitive , and inanimate , may be singly perceived ? i answer , not unless there were single parts in nature ; but , though they cannot be singly perceived , yet they singly perceive ; because , every part hath its own motion , and so it s own perception . and though those parts , that have not self-motion , have not perception ; yet , being joined , as one body , to the sensitive , they may by the sensitive motion , have some different sorts of self-knowledg , caused by the different actions of the sensitive parts ; but that is not perception . but , as i said , the triumphant parts cannot be perceived distinctly asunder , though their actions may be different : for , the joining , or intermixing of parts , hinders not the several actions ; as for example , a man is composed of several parts , or , ( as the learned term them ) corporeal motions ; yet , not any of those different parts , or corporeal motions , are a hindrance to each other : the same between the sensitive and rational parts . chap. xii . whether nature can know her self , or have an absolute power of her self , or have an exact figure . i was of an opinion , that nature , because infinite , could not know her self ; because infinite hath no limit . also , that nature could not have an absolute power over her own parts , because she had infinite parts ; and , that the infiniteness did hinder the absoluteness : but since i have consider'd , that the infinite parts must of necessity be self-knowing ; and that those infinite self-knowing parts are united in one infinite body , by which nature must have both an united knowledg , and an united power . also , i questioned , whether nature could have an exact figure , ( but , mistake me not ; for i do not mean the figure of matter , but a composed figure of parts ) because nature was composed of infinite variety of figurative parts : but considering , that those infinite varieties of infinite figurative parts , were united into one body ; i did conclude , that she must needs have an exact figure , though she be infinite : as for example , this world is composed of numerous and several figurative parts , and yet the world hath an exact form and frame , the same which it would have if it were infinite . but , as for self-knowledg , and power , certainly god hath given them to nature , though her power be limited : for , she cannot move beyond her nature ; nor hath she power to make her self any otherwise than what she is , since she cannot create , or annihilate any part , or particle : nor can she make any of her parts , immaterial ; or any immaterial , corporeal : nor can she give to one part , the nature ( viz. the knowledg , life , motion , or perception ) of another part ; which is the reason one creature cannot have the properties , or faculties of another ; they may have the like , but not the same . chap. xiii . nature cannot judg her self . although nature knows her self , and hath a free power of her self ; ( i mean , a natural knowledg and power ) yet , nature cannot be an upright , and just judg of her self , and so not of any of her parts ; because every particular part is a part of her self . besides , as she is self-moving , she is self-changeing , and so she is alterable : wherefore , nothing can be a perfect , and a just judg , but something that is individable , and unalterable , which is the infinite god , who is unmoving , immutable , and so unalterable ; who is the judg of the infinite corporeal actions of his servant nature . and this is the reason that all nature's parts appeal to god , as being the only judg. chap. xiv . nature poyses , or balances her actions . although nature be infinite , yet all her actions seem to be poysed , or balanced , by opposition ; as for example , as nature hath dividing , so composing actions : also , as nature hath regular , so irregular actions ; as nature hath dilating , so contracting actions : in short , we may perceive amongst the creatures , or parts of this world , slow , swift , thick , thin , heavy , leight , rare , dense , little , big , low , high , broad , narrow , light , dark , hot , cold , productions , dissolutions , peace , warr , mirth , sadness , and that we name life , and death ; and infinite the like ; as also , infinite varieties in every several kind and sort of actions : but , the infinite varieties are made by the self-moving parts of nature , which are the corporeal figurative motions of nature . chap. xv. whether there be degrees of corporeal strength . as i have declared , there are ( in my opinion ) two sorts of self-moving parts ; the one sensitive , the other rational . the rational parts of my mind , moving in the manner of conception , or inspection , did occasion some disputes , or arguments , amongst those parts of my mind . the arguments were these : whether there were degrees of strength , as there was of purity , between their own sort , as , the rational and the sensitive ? the major part of the argument was , that self-motion could be but self-motion : for , not any part of nature could move beyond its power of self-motion . but the minor part argued , that the self-motion of the rational , might be stronger than the self-motion of the sensitive . but the major part was of the opinion , that there could be no degrees of the power of nature , or the nature of nature : for matter , which was nature , could be but self-moving , or not self-moving ; or partly self-moving , or not self-moving . but the minor argued , that it was not against the nature of matter to have degrees of corporeal strength , as well as degrees of purity : for , though there could not be degrees of purity amongst the parts of the same sort , as amongst the parts of the rational , or amongst the parts of the sensitive ; yet , if there were degrees of the rational and sensitive parts , there might be degrees of strength . the major part said , that if there were degrees of strength , it would make a confusion , by reason there would be no agreement ; for , the strongest would be tyrants to the weakest , in so much as they would never suffer those parts to act methodically or regularly . but the minor part said , that they had observed , that there was degrees of strength amongst the sensitive parts . the major part argued , that they had not degrees of strength by nature ; but , that the greater number of parts were stronger than a less number of parts . also , there were some sorts of actions , that had advantage of other sorts . also , some sorts of compositions are stronger than other ; not through the degrees of innate strength , nor through the number of parts ; but , through the manner and form of their compositions , or productions . thus my thoughts argued ; but , after many debates and disputes , at last my rational parts agreed , that , if there were degrees of strength , it could not be between the parts of the same degree , or sort ; but , between the rational and sensitive ; and if so , the sensitive was stronger , being less pure ; and the rational was more agil , being more pure . chap. xvi . of effects , and cause . to treat of infinite effects , produced from an an infinite cause , is an endless work , and impossible to be performed , or effected ; only this may be said , that the effects , though infinite , are so united to the material cause , as that not any single effect can be , nor no effect can be annihilated ; by reason all effects are in the power of the cause . but this is to be noted , that some effects producing other effects , are , in some sort or manner , a cause . chap. xvii . of inflvence . an influence is this ; when as the corporeal figurative motions , in different kinds , and sorts of creatures , or in one and the same sorts , or kinds , move sympathetically : and though there be antipathetical motions , as well as sympathetical ; yet , all the infinite parts of matter , are agreeable in their nature , as being all material , and self-moving ; and by reason there is no vacuum , there must of necessity be an influence amongst all the parts of nature . chap. xviii . of fortvne and chance . fortune , is only various corporeal motions of several creatures , design'd to one creature , or more creatures ; either to that creature , or those creatures advantage , or disadvantage : if advantage , man names it good fortune ; if disadvantage , man names it ill fortune . as for chance , it is the visible effects of some hidden cause ; and fortune , a sufficient cause to produce such effects : for , the conjunction of sufficient causes , doth produce such or such effects ; which effects could not be produced , if any of those causes were wanting : so that , chances are but the effects of fortune . chap. xix . of time and eternity . time is not a thing by it self ; nor is time immaterial : for , time is only the variations of corporeal motions ; but eternity depends not on motion , but of a being without beginning , or ending . the second part. chap. i. of creatvres . all creatures are composed-figures , by the consent of associating parts ; by which association , they joyn into such , or such a figured creature : and though every corporeal motion , or self-moving part , hath its own motion ; yet , by their association , they all agree in proper actions , as actions proper to their compositions : and , if every particular part , hath not a perception of all the parts of their association ; yet , every part knows its own work. chap. ii. of knowledg and perception of different kinds and sorts of creatures . there is not any creature in nature , that is not composed of self-moving parts , ( viz. both of rational and sensitive ) as also of the inanimate parts , which are self-knowing : so that all creatures , being composed of these sorts of parts , must have a sensitive , and rational knowledg and perception , as animals , vegetables , minerals , elements , or what else there is in nature : but several kinds , and several sorts in these kinds of creatures , being composed after different manners , and ways , must needs have different lives , knowledges , and perceptions : and not only every several kind , and sort , have such differences ; but , every particular creature , through the variations of their self-moving parts , have varieties of lives , knowledges , perceptions , conceptions , and the like ; and not only so , but every particular part of one and the same creature , have varieties of knowledges , and perceptions , because they have varieties of actions . but , ( as i have declared ) there is not any different kind of creature , that can have the like life , knowledg , and perception ; not only because they have different productions , and different forms ; but , different natures , as being of different kinds . chap. iii. of perception of parts , and vnited perception . all the self-moving parts are perceptive ; and , all perception is in parts , and is dividable , and compoundable , as being material ; also , alterable , as being self-moving : wherefore , no creature that is composed , or consists of many several sorts of corporeal figurative motions , but must have many sorts of perception ; which is the reason that one creature , as man , cannot perceive another man any otherwise but in parts : for , the rational , and sensitive ; nay , all the parts of one and the same creature , perceive their adjoining parts , as they perceive foreign parts ; only , by their close conjunction and near relation , they unite in one and the same actions . i do not say , they always agree : for , when they move irregularly , they disagree : and some of those united parts , will move after one manner , and some after another ; but , when they move regularly , then they move to one and the same design , or one and the same united action . so , although a creature is composed of several sorts of corporeal motions ; yet , these several sorts , being properly united in one creature , move all agreeably to the property and nature of the whole creature ; that is , the particular parts move according to the property of the whole creature ; because the particular parts , by conjunction , make the whole : so that , the several parts make one whole ; by which , a whole creature hath both a general knowledg , and a knowledg of parts ; whereas , the perceptions of foreign objects , are but in the parts : and this is the reason why one creature perceives not the whole of another creature , but only some parts . yet this is to be noted , that not any part hath another part 's nature , or motion , nor therefore , their knowledg , or perception ; but , by agreement , and unity of parts , there is composed perceptions . chap. iv. whether the rational and sensitive parts have a perception of each other . some may ask the question , whether the rational and sensitive , have perception of each other ? i answer : in my opinion , they have . for , though the rational and sensitive parts , be of two sorts ; yet , both sorts have self-motion ; so that they are but as one , as , that they are both corporeal motions ; and , had not the sensitive parts incumbrances , they would be , in a degree , as agil , and as free as the rational . but , though each sort hath perception of each other , and some may have the like ; yet they have not the same : for , not any part can have another's perception , or knowledg ; but , by reason the rational and sensitive , are both corporeal motions , there is a strong sympathy between those sorts , in one conjunction , or creature . indeed , the rational parts are the designing parts ; and the sensitive , the labouring parts ; and the inanimate are as the material parts : not but all the three sorts are material parts ; but the inanimate , being not self-moving , are the burdensome parts . chap. v. of thoughts , and the whole mind of a creature . as for thoughts , though they are several corporeal motions , or self-moving parts ; yet , being united , by conjunction in one creature , into one whole mind , cannot be perceived by some parts of another creature , nor by the same sort of creature , as by another man. but some may ask , whether the whole mind of one creature , as the whole mind of one man , may not perceive the whole mind of another man ? i answer , that if the mind was not joyn'd and mix'd with the sensitive and inanimate parts , and had not interior , as well as exterior parts , the whole mind of one man , might perceive the whole mind of another man ; but , that being not possible , one whole mind cannot perceive another whole mind : by which observation we may perceive , there are no platonick lovers in nature . but some may ask , whether the sensitive parts can perceive the rational , in one and the same creature ? i answer , they do ; for if they did not , it were impossible for the sensitive parts to execute the rational designs ; so that , what the mind designs , the sensitive body doth put in execution , as far as they have power : but if , through irregularities , the body be sick , and weak , or hath some infirmities , they cannot execute the designs of the mind . chap. vi. whether the mind of one creature , can perceive the mind of another creature . some may ask the reason , why one creature , as man , cannot perceive the thoughts of another man , as well as he perceives his exterior sensitive parts ? i answer , that the rational parts of one man , perceive as much of the rational parts of another man , as the sensitive parts of that man doth of the sensitive parts of the other man ; that is , as much as is presented to his perception : for , all creatures , and every part and particle , have those three sorts of matter ; and therefore , every part of a creature is perceiving , and perceived . but , by reason all creatures are composed of parts , ( viz. both of the rational and sensitive ) all perceptions are in parts , as well the rational , as the sensitive perception : yet , neither the rational , nor the sensitive , can perceive all the interior parts or corporeal motions , unless they were presented to their perception : neither can one part know the knowledg and perception of another part : but , what parts of one creature are subject to the perception of another creature , those are perceived . chap. vii . of perception , and conception . although the exterior parts of one creature , can but perceive the exterior parts of another creature ; yet , the rational can make conceptions of the interior parts , but not perception : for , neither the sense , nor reason , can perceive what is not present , but by rote , as after the manner of conceptions , or remembrances , as i shall in my following chapters declare : so that , the exterior rational parts , that are with the exterior sensitive parts of an object , are as much perceived , the one , as the other : but , those exterior parts of an object , not moving in particular parties , as in the whole creature , is the cause that some parts of one creature , cannot perceive the whole composition or frame of another creature : that is , some of the rational parts of one creature , cannot perceive the whole mind of another creature . the like of the sensitive parts . chap. viii . of human suppositions . although nature hath an infinite knowledg and perception ; yet , being a body , and therefore divisible and compoundable ; and having , also , self-motion , to divide and compound her infinite parts , after infinite several manners ; is the reason that her finite parts , or particular creatures , cannot have a geral or infinite knowledg , being limited , by being finite , to finite perceptions , or perceptive knowledg ; which is the cause of suppositions , or imaginations , concerning forrein objects : as for example , a man can but perceive the exterior parts of another man , or any other creature , that is subject to human perception ; yet , his rational parts may suppose , or presuppose , what another man thinks , or what he will act : and for other creatures , a man may suppose or imagine what the innate nature of such a vegetable , or mineral , or element is ; and may imagine or suppose the moon to be another world , and that all the fixed starrs are sunns ; which suppositions , man names conjectures . chap. ix . of information between several creatures . no question but there is information between all creatures : but , several sorts of creatures , having several sorts of informations , it is impossible for any particular sort to know , or have perceptions of the infinite , or numberless informations , between the infinite and numberless parts , or creatures of nature : nay , there are so many several informations amongst one sort ( as of mankind ) that it is impossible for one man to perceive 〈◊〉 them all ; no , nor can one man generally perceive the particular informations that are between the particular parts of his sensitive body ; or between the particular informations of his rational body ; or between the particular rational and sensitive parts : much less can man perceive , or know the several informations of other creatures . chap. x. the reason of several kinds and sorts of creatures . some may ask , why there are such sorts of creatures , as we perceive there are , and not other sorts ? i answer , that , 't is probable , we do not perceive all the several kinds and sorts of creatures in nature : in truth , it is impossible ( if nature be infinite ) for a finite to perceive the infinite varieties of nature . also they may ask , why the planets are of a spherical shape , and human creatures are of an vpright shape , and beasts of a bending and stooping shape ? also , why birds are made to flye , and not beasts ? and for what cause , or design , have animals such and such sorts of shapes and properties ? and vegetables such and such sorts of shapes and properties ? and so of minerals and elements ? i answer ; that several sorts , kinds , and differences of particulars , causes order , by reason it causes distinctions : for , if all creatures were alike , it would cause a confusion . chap. xi . of the several properties of several kinds and sorts of creatures . as i have said , there are several kinds , and several sorts , and several particular creatures of several kinds and sorts ; whereof there are some creatures of a mixt kind , and some of a mixt sort , and some of a mixture of some particulars . also , there are some kind of creatures , and sorts of creatures ; as also particulars of a dense nature , others of a rate nature ; some of a leight nature , some of a heavy nature ; some of a bright nature , some of a dark nature ; some of an ascending nature , some of a descending nature ; some of a hard nature , some of a soft nature ; some of a loose nature , and some of a fixt nature ; some of an agil nature , and some of a slow nature ; some of a consistent nature , and some of a dissolving nature : all which is according to the frame and form of their society , or composition . the third part. chap. i. of productions in general . the self-moving parts , or corporeal motions , are the producers of all composed figures , such as we name creatures : for , though all matter hath figure , by being matter ; for it were non-sense to say , figureless matter ; since the most pure parts of matter , have figure , as well as the grossest ; the rarest , as well as the densed : but , such composed figures which we name creatures , are produced by particular associations of self-moving parts , into particular kinds , and sorts ; and particular creatures in every kind , or sort . the particular kinds , that are subject to human perceptions , are those we name animals , vegetables , minerals , and elements ; of which kinds , there are numerous sorts ; and of every sort , infinite particulars : and though there be infinite varieties in nature , made by the corporeal motions , or self-moving parts , which might cause a confusion : yet , considering nature is intire in her self , as being only material , and as being but one united body ; also , poysing all her actions by opposites ; 't is impossible to be any ways in extreams , or to have a confusion . chap. ii. of productions in general . the sensitive self-moving parts , or corporeal motions , are the labouring parts of all productions , or fabricks of all creatures ; but yet , those corporeal motions , are parts of the creature they produce : for , production is only a society of particular parts , that joyn into particular figures , or creatures : but , as parts produce figures , by association ; so they dissolve those figures by division : for , matter is a perpetual motion , that is always dividing and composing ; so that not any creature can be eternally one and the same : for , if there were no dissolvings , and alterings , there would be no varieties of particulars ; for , though the kinds and sorts may last , yet not the particulars . but , mistake me not , i do not say those figures are lost , or annihilated in nature ; but only , their society is dissolved , or divided in nature . but this is to be noted , that some creatures are sooner produced and perfected , than others ; and again , some creatures are sooner decayed , or dissolved . chap. iii. of productions in general . there are so many different composed parts , and so much of variety of action in every several part of one creature , as 't is impossible for human perception to perceive them ; nay , not every corporeal motion of one creature , doth perceive all the varieties of the same society ; and , by the several actions , not only of several parts , but of one and the same parts , cause such obscurity , as not any creature can tell , not only how they were produced , but , not how they consist : but , by reason every part knows his own work , there is order and method : for example , in a human creature , those parts that produce , or nourish the bones , those of the sinews , those of the veins , those of the flesh , those of the brains , and the like , know all their several works , and consider not each several composed part , but what belongs to themselves ; the like , i believe , in vegetables , minerals , or elements . but mistake me not ; for , i do not say , those corporeal motions in those particulars , are bound to those particular works , as , that they cannot change , or alter their actions if they will , and many times do : as some creatures dissolve before they are perfect , or quite finished ; and some as soon as finished ; and some after some short time after they are finished ; and some continue long , as we may perceive by many creatures that dye , which i name dissolving in several ages ; but , untimely dissolutions , proceed rather from some particular irregularities of some particular parts , than by a general agreement . chap. iv. of productions in general . the reason that all creatures are produced by the ways of production , as one creature to be composed out of other creatures , is , that nature is but one matter , and that all her parts are united as one material body , having no additions , or diminutions ; no new creations , or annihilations : but , were not nature one and the same , but that her parts were of different natures ; yet , creatures must be produced by creatures , that is , composed figures , as a beast , a tree , a stone , water , &c. must be composed of parts , not a single part : for , a single part cannot produce composed figures ; nor can a single part produce another single part ; for , matter cannot create matter ; nor can one part produce another part out of it self : wherefore , all natural creatures are produced by the consent and agreement of many self-moving parts , or corporeal motions , which work to a particular design , as to associate into particular kinds and sorts of creatures . chap. v. of productions in general . as i said in my former chapter , that all creatures are produced , or composed by the agreement and consent of particular parts ; yet some creatures are composed of more , and some of fewer parts : neither are all creatures produced , or composed after one and the same manner ; but some after one manner , and some after another manner : indeed , there are divers manners of productions , both of those we name natural , and those we name artificial ; but i only treat of natural productions , which are so various , that it is a wonder if any two creatures are just alike ; by which we may perceive , that not only in several kinds and sorts , but in particulars of every kind , or sort , there is some difference , so as to be distinguished from each other , and yet the species of some creatures are like to their kind , and sort , but not all ; and the reason that most creatures are in species , according to their sort , and kind , is not only , that nature's wisdom orders and regulates her corporeal figurative motions , into kinds and sorts of societies and conjunctions ; but , those societies cause a perceptive acquaintance , and an united love , and good liking of the compositions , or productions : and not only a love to their figurative compositions , but to all that are of the same sort , or kind ; and especially , their being accustom'd to actions proper to their figurative compositions , is the cause that those parts , that divide from the producers , begin a new society , and , by degrees , produce the like creature ; which is the cause that animals and vegetables produce according to their likeness . the same may be amongst minerals and elements , for all we can know . but yet , some creatures of one and the same sort , are not produced after one and the same manner : as for example , one and the same sort of vegetables , may be produced after several manners , and yet , in the effect , be the same , as when vegetables are sowed , planted , engrafted ; as also , seeds , roots , and the like , they are several manners , or ways of productions , and yet will produce the same sort of vegetable : but , there will be much alterations in replanting , which is occasioned by the change of associating parts , and parties ; but as for the several productions of several kinds and sorts , they are very different ; as for example , animals are not produced as vegetables , or vegetables as minerals , nor minerals as any of the rest : nor are all animals produced alike , nor minerals , or vegetables ; but after many different manners , or ways . neither are all productions like their producers ; for , some are so far from resembling their figurative society , that they produce another kind , or sort of composed figures ; as for example , maggots out of cheese , other worms out of roots , fruits , and the like : but these sorts of creatures , man names insects ; but yet they are animal creatures , as well as others . chap. vi. of productions in general . all creatures are produced , and producers ; and all these productions partake more or less of the producers ; and are necessitated so to do , because there cannot be any thing new in nature : for , whatsoever is produced , is of the same matter ; nay , every particular creature hath its particular parts : for , not any one creature can be produced of any other parts than what produced it ; neither can the same producer produce one and the same double , ( as i may say to express my self : ) for , though the same producers may produce the like , yet not the same : for , every thing produced , hath its own corporeal figurative motions ; but this might be , if nature was not so full of variety : for , if all those corporeal motions , or self-moving parts , did associate in the like manner , and were the very same parts , and move in the very same manner ; the same production , or creature , might be produced after it was dissolved ; but , by reason the self-moving parts of nature are always dividing and composing from , and to parts , it would be very difficult , if not impossible . chap. vii . of productions in general . as there are productions , or compositions , made by the sensitive corporeal motions , so there are of the rational corporeal motions , which are composed figures of the mind : and the reason the rational productions are more various , as also more numerous , is , that the rational is more loose , free , and so more agil than the sensitive ; which is also the reason that the rational productions require not such degrees of time , as the sensitive . but i shall treat more upon this subject , when i treat of that animal we name man. chap. vii . lastly , of productions in general . though all creatures are made by the several associations of self-moving parts , or ( as the learned name them ) corporeal motions ; yet , there are infinite varieties of corporeal figurative motions , and so infinite several manners and ways of productions ; as also , infinite varieties of figurative motions in every produced creature : also , there is variety in the difference of time , of several productions , and of their consistency and dissolution : for , some creatures are produced in few hours , others not in many years . again , some continue not a day ; others , numbers of years . but this is to be noted , that according to the regularity , or irregularity of the associating motions , their productions are more or less perfect . also , this is to be noted , that there are rational productions , as well as sensitive : for , though all creatures are composed both of sensitive and rational parts , yet the rational parts move after another manner . chap. viii . productions must partake of some parts of their producers . no animal , or vegetable , could be produced , but by such , or such particular producers ; neither could an animal , or vegetable , be produced without some corporeal motions of their producers ; that is , some of the producers self-moving parts ; otherwise the like actions might produce , not only the like creatures , but the same creatures , which is impossible : wherefore , the things produced , are part of the producers ; for , no particular creature could be produced , but by such particular producers . but this is to be noted , that all sorts of creatures are produced by more , or fewer , producers . also , the first producers are but the first founders of the things produced , but not the only builders : for , there are many several sorts of corporeal motions , that are the builders ; for , no creature can subsist , or consist , by it self , but must assist , and be assisted : yet , there are some differences in all productions , although of the same producers ; otherwise all the off-springs of one and the same producer , would be alike : and though , sometimes , their several off-springs may be so alike , as hardly to be distinguished ; yet , that is so seldom , as it appears as a wonder ; but there is a property in all productions , as , for the produced to belong as a right and property to the producer . chap. ix . of resemblances of several off-springs , or producers . there are numerous kinds and sorts of productions , and infinite manners and ways , in the actions of productions ; which is the cause that the off-springs of the same producers , are not so just alike , but that they are distinguishable ; but yet there may not only be resemblances between particular off-springs of the same producers , as also of the same sort ; but , of different sorts of creatures : but the actions of all productions that are according to their own species , are imitating actions , but not bare imitations , as by an incorporeal motion ; for if so , then a covetous woman , that loves gold , might produce a wedg of gold instead of a child ; also , virgins might be as fruitful as married wives . chap. x. of the several appearances of the exterior parts of one creature . every altered action of the exterior parts , causes an altered appearance : as for example , a man , or the like creature , doth not appear when he is old , as when he was young ; nor when he is sick , as when he is well in health ; no , nor when he is cold , as when he is hot . nor do they appear in several passions alike : for , though man can best perceive the alteration of his own kind , or sort ; yet , other creatures have several appearances , as well as man ; some of which , man may perceive , though not all , being of a different sort . and not only animals , but vegetables , and elements , have altered appearances , and many that are subject to man's perception . the fourth part. chap. i. of animal productions ; and of the differences between productions , and transformations . i understand productions to be between particulars ; as , some particular creatures to produce other particular creatures ; but not to transform from one sort of creature , into another sort of creature , as cheese into maggots , and fruit into worms , &c. which , in some manner , is like metamorphosing . so by transformation , the intellectual nature , as well as the exterior form , is transform'd : whereas production transforms only the exterior form , but not the intellectual nature ; which is the cause that such transformations cannot return into their former state ; as a worm to be a fruit , or a maggot a cheese again , as formerly . hence i perceive , that all sorts of fowls are partly produced , and partly transformed : for , though an egg be produced , yet a chicken is but a transformed egg. chap. ii. of different figurative motions in man's production . all creatures are produced by degrees ; which proves , that not any creature is produced , in perfection , by one act , or figurative motion : for , though the producers are the first founders , yet not the builders . but , as for animal creatures , there be some sorts that are composed of many different figurative motions ; amongst which sorts , is mankind , who has very different figurative parts , as bones , sinews , nerves , muscles , veins , flesh , skin , and marrow , blood , choler , flegm , melancholy , and the like ; also , head , breast , neck , arms , hands , body , belly , thighs , leggs , feet , &c. also , brains , lungs , stomack , heart , liver , midriff , kidnies , bladder , guts , and the like ; and all these have several actions , yet all agree as one , according to the property of that sort of creature named man. chap. iii. of the quickning of a child , or any other sort of animal creatures . the reason that a woman , or such like animal , doth not feel her child so soon as it is produced , is , that the child cannot have an animal motion , until it hath an animal nature , that is , until it be perfectly an animal creature ; and as soon as it is a perfect child , she feels it to move , according to its nature : but it is only the sensitive parts of the child that are felt by the mother , not the rational ; because those parts are as the designers , not the builders ; and therefore , being not the labouring parts , are not the sensible parts . but it is to be noted , that , according to the regularity , or irregularity of the figurative motions , the child is well shaped , or mishaped . chap. iv. of the birth of a child . the reason why a child , or such like animal creature , stays no longer in the mother's body , than to such a certain time , is , that a child is not perfect before that time , and would be too big after that time ; and so big , that it would not have room enough ; and therefore it strives and labours for liberty . chap. v. of mischances , or miscarriages of breeding creatures . when a mare , doe , hind , or the like animal , cast their young , or a woman miscarries of her child , the mischance proceeds either through the irregularities of the corporeal motions , or parts of the child ; or through some irregularity of the parts of the mother ; or else of both mother and child . if the irregularities be of the parts of the child , those parts divide from the mother , through their irregularity : but , if the irregularity be in the parts of the mother , then the mother divides in some manner from the child ; and if there be a distemper in both of them , the child and mother divide from each other : but , such mischances are at different times , some sooner , and some later . as for false conceptions , they are occasioned through the irregularities of conception . chap. vi. of the encrease of growth , and strength of mankind , or such like creatures . the reason most animals , especially human creatures , are weak whilst they are infants , and that their strength and growth encreases by degrees , is , that a child hath not so many parts , as when he is a youth ; nor so many parts when he is a youth , as when he is a man : for , after the child is parted from the mother , it is nourished by other creatures , as the mother was , and the child by the mother ; and according as the nourishing parts be regular , or irregular , so is the child , youth , or man , weaker , or stronger ; healthful , or diseased ; and when the figurative motions move ( as i may say for expression sake ) curiously , the body is neatly shaped , and is , as we say , beautiful . but this is to be noted , that 't is not greatness , or bulk of body , makes a body perfect ; for , there are several sizes of every sort , or kind of creatures ; as also , in every particular kind , or sort ; and every several size may be as perfect , one , as the other : but , i mean the number of parts , according to the proper size . chap. vii . of the several properties of the several exterior shapes of several sorts of animals . the several exterior shapes of creatures , cause several properties , as running , jumping , hopping , leaping , climbing , galloping , trotting , ambling , turning , winding , and rowling ; also creeping , crawling , flying , soaring or towring ; swimming , diving , digging , stinging or piercing ; pressing , spinning , weaving , twisting , printing , carving , breaking , drawing , driving , bearing , carrying , holding , griping or grasping , infolding , and millions of the like . also , the exterior shapes cause defences , as horns , claws , teeth , bills , talons , finns , &c. likewise , the exterior shapes cause offences , and give offences : as also , the different sorts of exterior shapes , cause different exterior perceptions . chap. viii . of the dividing and vniting parts of a particular creature . those parts ( as i have said ) that were the first founders of an animal , or other sort of creature , may not be constant inhabitants : for , though the society may remain , the particular parts may remove : also , all particular societies of one kind , or sort , may not continue the like time ; but some may dissolve sooner than others . also , some alter by degrees , others of a sudden ; but , of those societies that continue , the particular parts remove , and other particular parts unite ; so , as some parts were of the society , so some other parts are of the society , and will be of the society : but , when the form , frame , and order of the society begins to alter , then that particular creature begins to decay . but this is to be noted , that those particular creatures that dye in their childhood , or youth , were never a full and regular society ; and the dissolving of a society , whether it be a full , or but a forming society , man names death . also , this is to be noted , that the nourishing motion of food , is the uniting motion ; and the cleansing , or evacuating motions , are the dividing corporeal motions . likewise it is to be noted , that a society requires a longer time of uniting than of dividing ; by reason uniting requires assistance of foreign parts , whereas dividings are only a dividing of home-parts . also , a particular creature , or society , is longer in dividing its parts , than in altering its actions ; because a dispersing action is required in division , but not in alteration of actions . the fifth part. chap. i. of man. now i have discoursed , in the former parts , after a general manner , of animals : i will , in the following chapters , speak more particularly of that sort we name mankind ; who believe ( being ignorant of the nature of other creatures ) that they are the most knowing of all creatures ; and yet a whole man ( as i may say for expression-sake ) doth not know all the figurative motions belonging either to his mind , or body : for , he doth not generally know every particular action of his corporeal motions , as , how he was framed , or formed , or perfected . nor doth he know every particular motion that occasions his present consistence , or being : nor every particular digestive , or nourishing motion : nor , when he is sick , the particular irregular motion that causes his sickness . nor do the rational motions in the head , know always the figurative actions of those of the heel . in short , ( as i said ) man doth not generally know every particular part , or corporeal motion , either of mind , or body : which proves , man's natural soul is not inalterable , or individable , and uncompoundable . chap. ii. of the variety of man's natural motions . there is abundance of varieties of figurative motions in man : as , first , there are several figurative motions of the form and frame of man , as of his innate , interior , and exterior figurative parts . also , there are several figures of his several perceptions , conceptions , appetite , digestions , reparations , and the like . there are also several figures of several postures of his several parts ; and a difference of his figurative motions , or parts , from other creatures ; all which are numberless : and yet all these different actions are proper to the nature of man. chap. iii. of man's shape and speech . the shape of man's sensitive body , is , in some manner , of a mixt form : but , he is singular in this , that he is of an upright and straight shape ; of which , no other animal but man is : which shape makes him not only fit , proper , easie and free , for all exterior actions ; but also for speech : for being streight , as in a straight and direct line from the head to the feet , so as his nose , mouth , throat , neck , chest , stomack , belly , thighs , and leggs , are from a straight line : also , his organ-pipes , nerves , sinews , and joynts , are in a straight and equal posture to each other ; which is the cause , man's tongue , and organs , are more apt for speech than those of any other creature ; which makes him more apt to imitate any other creature 's voyces , or sounds : whereas other animal creatures , by reason of their bending shapes , and crooked organs , are not apt for speech ; neither ( in my opinion ) have other animals so melodious a sound , or voice , as man : for , though some sorts of birds voices are sweet , yet they are weak , and faint ; and beasts voices are harsh , and rude : but of all other animals , besides man , birds are the most apt for speech ; by reason they are more of an upright shape , than beasts , or any other sorts of animal creatures , as fish , and the like ; for , birds are of a straight and upright shape , as from their breasts , to their heads ; but , being not so straight as man ; causes birds to speak uneasily , and constrainedly : man's shape is so ingeniously contrived , that he is fit and proper for more several sorts of exterior actions , than any other animal creature ; which is the cause he seems as lord and sovereign of other animal creatures . chap. iv. of the several figurative parts of human creatures . the manner of man's composition , or form , is of different figurative parts ; whereof some of those parts seem the supreme , or ( as i may say ) fundamental parts ; as the head , chest , lungs , stomack , heart , liver , spleen , bowels , reins , kidnies , gaul , and many more : also , those parts have other figurative parts belonging or adjoining to them , as the head , scull , brains , pia-mater , dura-mater , forehead , nose , eyes , cheeks , ears , mouth , tongue , and several figurative parts belonging to those ; so of the rest of the parts , as the arms , hands , fingers , leggs , feet , toes , and the like : all which different parts , have different sorts of perceptions ; and yet ( as i formerly said ) their perceptions are united : for , though all the parts of the human body have different perceptions ; yet those different perceptions unite in a general perception , both for the subsistence , consistence , and use of the whole man : but , concerning particulars , not only the several composed figurative parts , have several sorts of perceptions ; but every part hath variety of perceptions , occasioned by variety of objects . chap. v. of the several perceptions amongst the several parts of man. there being infinite several corporeal figurative motions , or actions of nature , there must of necessity be infinite several self-knowledges and perceptions : but i shall only , in this part of my book , treat of the perception proper to mankind : and first , of the several and different perceptions , proper for the several and different parts : for , though every part and particle of a man's body , is perceptive ; yet , every particular part of a man , is not generally perceived ; for , the interior parts do not generally perceive the exterior ; nor the exterior , generally or perfectly , the interior ; and yet , both interior and exterior corporeal motions , agree as one society ; for , every part , or corporeal motion , knows its own office ; like as officers in a common-wealth , although they may not be acquainted with each other , yet they know their employments : so every particular man in a common-wealth , knows his own employment , although he knows not every man in the common-wealth . the same do the parts of a man's body , and mind . but , if there be any irregularity , or disorder in a common-wealth , every particular is disturbed , perceiving a disorder in the common-wealth . the same amongst the parts of a man's body ; and yet many of those parts do not know the particular cause of that general disturbance . as for the disorders , they may proceed from some irregularities ; but for peace , there must be a general agreement , that is , every part must be regular . chap. vi. of divided and composed perceptions . as i have formerly said , there is in nature both divided and composed perceptions ; and for proof , i will mention man's exterior perceptions ; as for example , man hath a composed perception of seeing , hearing , smelling , tasting , and touching ; whereof every several sort is composed , though after different manners , or ways ; and yet are divided , being several sorts of perceptions , and not all one perception . yet again , they are all composed , being united as proper perceptions of one man ; and not only so , but united to perceive the different parts of one object : for , as perceptions are composed of parts , so are objects ; and as there are different objects , so there are different perceptions ; but it is not possible for a man to know all the several sorts of perceptions proper to every composed part of his body or mind , much less of others . chap. vii . of the ignorances of the several perceptive organs . as i said , that every several composed perception , was united to the proper use of their whole society , as one man ; yet , every several perceptive organ of man is ignorant of each other ; as the perception of sight is ignorant of that of hearing ; the perception of hearing , is ignorant of the perception of seeing ; and the perception of smelling is ignorant of the perceptions of the other two , and those of scent , and the same of tasting , and touching : also , every perception of every particular organ , is different ; but some sorts of human perceptions require some distance between them and the object : as for example , the perception of sight requires certain distances , as also magnitudes ; whereas the perception of touch requires a joyning-object , or part. but this is to be noted , that although these several organs are not perfectly , or throughly acquianted ; yet in the perception of the several parts of one object , they do all agree to make their several perceptions , as it were by one act , at one point of time . chap. viii . of the particular and general perceptions of the exterior parts of human creatures . there is amongst the exterior perceptions of human creatures , both particular sorts of perceptions , and general perceptions : for , though none of the exterior parts , or organs , have the sense of seeing , but the eyes ; of hearing , but the ears ; of smelling , but the nose ; of tasting , but the mouth : yet all the exterior parts have the perception of touching ; and the reason is , that all the exterior parts are full of pores , or at least , of such composed parts , that are the sensible organs of touching : yet , those several parts have several touches ; not only because they have several parts , but because those organs of touching , are differently composed . but this is to be noted , that every several part hath perception of the other parts of their society , as they have of foreign parts ; and , as the sensitive , so the rational parts have such particular and general perceptions . but it is to be noted , that the rational parts , are parts of the same organs . chap. ix . of the exterior sensitive organs of human creatures . as for the manner , or ways , of all the several sorts , and particular perceptions , made by the different composed parts of human creatures ; it is impossible , for a human creature , to know any otherwise , but in part : for , being composed of parts , into parties , he can have but a parted knowledg , and a parted perception of himself : for , every different composed part of his body , have different sorts of self-knowledg , as also , different sorts of perceptions ; but yet , the manner and way of some human perceptions , may probably be imagined , especially those of the exterior parts , man names the sensitive organs ; which parts ( in my opinion ) have their perceptive actions , after the manner of patterning , or picturing the exterior form , or frame , of foreign objects : as for example , the present object is a candle ; the human organ of sight pictures the flame , light , week , or snuff , the tallow , the colour , and the dimension of the candle ; the ear patterns out the sparkling noise ; the nose patterns out the scent of the candle ; and the tongue may pattern out the tast of the candle : but , so soon as the object is removed , the figure of the candle is altered into the present object , or as much of one present object , as is subject to human perception . thus the several parts or properties , may be patterned out by the several organs . also , every altered action , of one and the same organ , are altered perceptions ; so as there may be numbers of several pictures or patterns made by the sensitive actions of one organ ; i will not say , by one act ; yet there may be much variety in one action . but this is to be noted , that the object is not the cause of perception , but is only the occasion : for , the sensitive organs can make such like figurative actions , were there no object present ; which proves , that the object is not the cause of the perception . also , when as the sensitive parts of the sensitive organs , are irregular , they will make false perceptions of present objects ; wherefore the object is not the cause . but one thing i desire , not to be mistaken in ; for i do not say , that all the parts belonging to any of the particular organs , move only in one sort or kind of perception ; but i say , some of the parts of the organ , move to such , or such perception : for , all the actions of the ears , are not only hearing ; and all the actions of the eye , seeing ; and all the actions of the nose , smelling ; and all the actions of the mouth , tasting ; but , they have other sorts of actions : yet , all the sorts of every organ , are according to the property of their figurative composition . chap. x. of the rational parts of the human organs . as for the rational parts of the human organs , they move according to the sensitive parts , which is , to move according to the figures of foreign objects ; and their actions are ( if regular ) at the same point of time , with the sensitive : but , though their actions are alike , yet there is a difference in their degree ; for , the figure of an object in the mind , is far more pure than the figure in the sense . but , to prove that the rational ( if regular ) moves with the sense , is , that all the several sensitive perceptions of the sensitive organs , ( as all the several sights , sounds , scents , tasts , and touches ) are thoughts of the same . chap. xi . of the difference between the human conception , and perception . there are some differences between perception , and conception : for , perception doth properly belong to present objects ; whereas conceptions have no such strict dependency : but , conceptions are not proper to the sensitive organs , or parts of a human creature ; wherefore , the sensitive never move in the manner of conception , but after an irregular manner ; as when a human creature is in some violent passion , mad , weak , or the like distempers . but this is to be noted , that all sorts of fancies , imaginations , &c. whether sensitive , or rational , are after the manner of conceptions , that is , do move by rote , and not by example . also , it is to be noted , that the rational parts can move in more various figurative actions than the sensitive ; which is the cause that a human creature hath more conceptions than perceptions ; so that the mind can please it self with more variety of thoughts than the sensitive with variety of objects : for variety of objects consists of foreign parts ; whereas variety of conceptions consists only of their own parts : also , the sensitive parts are sooner satisfied with the perception of particular objects , than the mind with particular remembrances . chap. xii . of the several varieties of actions of human creatures . to speak of all the several actions of the sensitive and rational parts of one creature , is not possible , being numberless : but , some of those that are most notable , i will mention , as , respirations , digestions , nourishments , appetites , satiety , aversions , conceptions , opinions , fancies , passions , memory , remembrance , reasoning , examining , considering , observing , distinguishing , contriving , arguing , approving , disapproving , discoveries , arts , sciences . the exterior actions are , walking , running , dancing , turning , tumbling , bearing , carrying , holding , striking , trembling , sighing , groaning , weeping , frowning , laughing , speaking , singing and whistling : as for postures , they cannot be well described ; only , standing , sitting , and lying . chap. xiii . of the manner of information between the rational and sensitive parts . the manner of information amongst the self-moving parts of a human creature , is after divers and several manners , or ways , amongst the several parts : but , the manner of information between the sensitive and rational parts , is , for the most part , by imitation ; as , imitating each other's actions : as for example , the rational parts invent some sciences ; the sensitive endeavour to put those sciences into an art. if the rational perceive the sensitive actions are not just , according to that science , they inform the sensitive ; then the sensitive parts endeavour to work , according to the directions of the rational : but , if there be some obstruction or hindrance , then the rational and sensitive agree to declare their design , and to require assistance of other associates , which are other men ; as also , other creatures . as for the several manners and informations between man and man , they are so ordinary , i shall not need to mention them . chap. xiv . of irregularities and regularities of the self-moving parts of human creatures . nature being poised , there must of necessity be irregularities , as well as regularities , both of the rational and sensitive parts ; but when the rational are irregular , and the sensitive regular , the sensitive endeavour to rectifie the errors of the rational . and if the sensitive be irregular , and the rational regular , the rational do endeavour to rectifie the errors of the sensitive : for , the particular parts of a society , are very much assistant to each other ; as we may observe by the exterior parts of human bodies ; the hands endeavour to assist any part in distress ; the leggs will run , the eyes will watch , the ears will listen , for any advantage to the society ; but when there is a general irregularity , then the society falls to ruine . chap. xv. of the agreeing , or disagreeing , of the sensitive and rational parts of human creatures . there is , for the most part , a general agreement between the rational and sensitive parts of human creatures ; not only in their particular , but general actions ; only the rational are the designing-parts ; and the sensitive , the labouring parts : as for proof , the mind designs to go to such , or such foreign parts , or places ; upon which design the sensitive parts will labour to execute the mind's intention , so as the whole sensitive body labours to go to the designed place , without the mind 's further concern : for , the mind takes no notice of every action of the sensitive parts ; neither of those of the eyes , ears ; or of the leggs , or feet ; nor of their perceptions : for , many times , the mind is busied in some conception , imagination , fancy , or the like ; and yet the sensitive parts execute the mind's design exactly . but , for better proof , when as the sensitive parts are sick , weak , or defective , through some irregularities , the sensitive parts cannot execute the mind's design : also , when the sensitive parts are careless , they oft mistake their way ; or when they are irregularly opposed , or busied about some appetite , they will not obey the mind's desire ; all which are different degrees of parts . but , as it is amongst the particular parts of a society ; so , many times , between several societies ; for , sometimes , the sensitive parts of two men will take no notice of each other : as for example , when two men speak together , one man regards not what the other says ; so many times , the sensitive parts regard not the propositions of the rational ; but then the sensitive is not perfectly regular . chap. xvi . of the power of the rational ; or rather , of the indulgency of the sensitive . the rational corporeal motions , being the purest , most free , and so most active , have great power over the sensitive ; as to perswade , or command them to obedience : as for example , when a man is studying about some inventions of poetical fancies , or the like ; though the sensitive corporeal motions , in the sensitive organs , desire to desist from patterning of objects , and would move towards sleep ; yet the rational will not suffer them , but causes them to work , viz. to write , or to read , or do some other labour : also , when the rational mind is merry , it will cause the leggs to dance , the organs of the voice to sing , the mouth to speak , to eat , to drink , and the like : if the mind moves to sadness , it causes the eyes to weep , the lungs to sigh , the mouth to speak words of complaint . thus the rational corporeal motions of the mind , will occasion the senses to watch , to work , or to sport and play . but mistake me not ; for i do not mean , the senses are bound to obey the rational designs ; for , the sensitive corporeal motions , have as much freedom of self-moving , as the rational : for , the command of the rational , and the obedience of the sensitive , is rather an agreement , than a constraint : for , in many cases , the sensitive will not agree , and so not obey : also , in many cases , the rational submits to the sensitive : also , the rational sometimes will be irregular ; and , on the other side , sometimes the sensitive will be irregular , and the rational regular ; and sometimes both irregular . chap. xvii . of human appetites and passions . the sensitive appetites , and the rational passions do so resemble each other , as they would puzzle the most wise philosopher to distinguish them ; and there is not only a resemblance , but , for the most part , a sympathetical agreement between the appetites , and the passions ; which strong conjunction , doth often occasion disturbances to the whole life of man ; with endless desires , unsatiable appetites , violent passions , unquiet humors , grief , pain , sadness , sickness , and the like ; through which , man seems to be more restless , than any other creature : but , whether the cause be in the manner , or form of man's composition , or occasioned by some irregularities ; i will leave to those who are wiser than i , to judg . but this is to be noted , that the more changes and alterations the rational and sensitive motions make , the more variety of passions and appetites the man hath : also , the quicker the motions are , the sharper appetite , and the quicker wit , man hath . but , as all the human senses are not bound to one organ ; so all knowledges are not bound to one sense , no more than all the parts of matter to the composition of one particular creature : but , by some of the rational and sensitive actions , we may perceive the difference of some of the sensitive and rational actions ; as , sensitive pain , rational grief ; sensitive pleasure , rational delight ; sensitive appetite , rational desire ; which are sympathetical actions of the rational and sensitive parts : also , through sympathy , rational passions will occasion sensitive appetites ; and appetites , the like passions . chap. xviii . of the rational actions of the head and heart of human creatures . as i formerly said , in every figurative part of a human creature , the actions are different , according to the property of their different composers ; so that the motions of the heart are different to the motions of the head , and of the other several parts : but , as for the motions of the head , they are ( in my opinion ) more after the manner of emboss'd figures ; and those of the heart , more after the manner of flat figures ; like painting , printing , engraving , &c. for , if we observe , the thoughts in our heads are different from the thoughts in our hearts . i only name these two parts , by reason they seem to sympathize , or to agree , more particularly to each other's actions , than some of the other parts of human creatures . chap. xix . of passions and imaginations . some sorts of passions seem to be in the heart ; as , love , hate , grief , joy , fear , and the like ; and all imaginations , fancies , opinions , inventions , &c. in the head. but , mistake me not , i do not say , that none of the other parts of a man have not passions and conceptions : but , i say , they are not after the same manner , or way , as in the heart , or head : as for example , every part of a man's body is sensible , yet not after one and the same manner : for , every part of a man's body hath different perceptions , as i have formerly declared , and yet may agree in general actions : but , unless the several composed parts of a human creature , had not several perceptive actions , it were impossible to make a general perception , either amongst the several parts of their own society , or of foreign objects . but , it is impossible for me to describe the different manners and ways of the particular parts , or the different actions of any one part : for , what man can describe the different perceptive actions of that composed part , the eye , and so of the rest of the parts . chap. xx. that associations , divisions , and alterations , cause several effects . the rational and sensitive corporeal motions , are the perceptive parts of nature ; and that which causes acquaintance amongst some parts , is their uniting and association : that which loses acquaintance of other parts , is their divisions and alterations : for , as self-compositions cause particular knowledges , or acquaintances : so self-divisions cause particular ignorances , or forgetfulnesses : for , as all kinds and sorts of creatures are produced , nourished , and encreased by the association of parts ; so are all kinds and sorts of perceptions ; and according as their associations , or their compositions do last , so doth their acquaintance ; which is the cause , that the observations and experiences of several and particular creatures , such as men , in several and particular ages , joyned as into one man or age , causes strong and long-liv'd opinions , subtile and ingenious inventions , happy and profitable advantages ; as also , probable conjectures , and many truths , of many causes and effects : whereas , the divisions of particular societies , causes what we name death , ignorance , forgetfulness , obscurity of particular creatures , and of perceptive knowledges ; so that as particular perceptive knowledges do alter and change , so do particular creatures : for , though the kinds and sorts last , yet the particulars do not . chap. xxi . of the differences between self-love , and passionate love. self-love , is like self-knowledg , which is an innate nature ; and therefore is not that love man names passionate love : for , passionate love belongs to several parts ; so that the several parts of one society , as one creature , have both passionate love , and self-love , as being sympathetically united in one society : also , not only the parts of one and the same society , may have passionate love to each other ; but , between several societies ; and not only several societies of one sort , but of different sorts . the sixth part. chap. i. of the motions of some parts of the mind ; and of forrein objects . notions , imaginations , conceptions , and the like , are such actions of the mind , as concern not forrein objects : and some notions , imaginations , or conceptions of one man , may be like to another man , or many men . also , the mind of one man may move in the like figurative actions , as the sensitive actions of other sorts of creatures ; and that , man names vnderstanding : and if those conceptions be afterwards produced , man names them prudence , or fore-sight ; but if those parts move in such inventions as are capable to be put into arts , man names that , ingenuity : but , if not capable to be put into the practice of arts , man names it , sciences : if those motions be so subtile , that the sensitive cannot imitate them , man names them , fancies : but , when those rational parts move promiscuously , as partly after their own inventions , and partly after the manner of forrein or outward objects ; man names them , conjectures , or probabilities : and when there are very many several figurative , rational motions , then man says , the mind is full of thoughts : when those rational figurative motions , are of many and different objects , man names them , experiences , or learning : but , when there are but few different sorts of such figurative motions , man names them ignorances . chap. ii. of the motions of some parts of the mind . when the rational figurative corporeal motions of an human creature , take no notice of forrein objects , man nameth that , musing , or contemplating . and , when the rational parts repeat some former actions , man names that , remembrances . but , when those parts alter those repetitions , man names that , forgetfulness . and , when those rational parts move , according to a present object , man names it , memory . and when those parts divide in divers sorts of actions , man names it , arguing , or disputing in the mind . and when those divers sorts of actions are at some strife , man names it , a contradicting of himself . and if there be a weak strife , man names it , consideration . but , when those different figurative motions move of one accord , and sympathetically , this man names , discretion . but , when those different sorts of actions move sympathetically , and continue in that manner of action , without any alteration , man names it , belief , faith , or obstinacy . and when those parts make often changes , as altering their motions , man names it inconstancy . when their rational parts move slowly , orderly , equally , and sympathetically , man names it sobriety . when all the parts of the mind move regularly , and sympathetically , man names it , wisdom . when some parts move partly regularly , and partly irregularly , man names that , foolishness , and simplicity . when they move generally irregularly , man names it madness . chap. iii. of the motions of human passions , and appetites ; as also , of the motions of the rational and sensitive parts , towards forrein objects . vvhen some of the rational parts move sympathetically , to some of the sensitive perceptions ; and those sensitive parts sympathize to the object , it is love. if they move antipathetically to the object , it is hate . when those rational and sensitive motions , make many and quick repetitions of those sympathetical actions , it is desire and appetite . when those parts move variously , ( as concerning the object ) but yet sympathetically ( concerning their own parts ) it is inconstancy . when those motions move cross towards the object , and are perturbed , it is anger . but when those perturbed motions are in confusion , it is fear . when the rational motions are partly sympathetical , and partly antipathetical , it is hope , and doubt . and if there be more sympathetical motions than antipathetical , there is more hope than doubt . if more antipathetical than sympathetical , then more doubt than hope . if those rational motions move after a dilating manner , it is ioy. if after a contracting manner , it is grief . when those parts move partly after a contracting , and partly after an attracting manner , as attracting from the object , it is covetousness . but , if those motions are sympathetical to the object , and move after a dilating manner towards the object , it is generosity . if those motions are sympathetical to the object , and move after the manner of a contraction , it is pity or compassion . if those motions move antipathetically towards the object , yet after a dilating manner , it is pride . when those motions move sympathetically towards the object , after a dilating manner , it is admiration . if the dilating action is not extream , it is only approving . if those motions are antipathetical towards the object , and are after the manner of an extream contraction , it is horror . but , if those actions are not so extraordinary as to be extream , it is only disapproving , despising , rejecting , or scorning . if the rational parts move carelesly towards forrein objects , as also partly antipathetically , man nameth it , ill-nature . but , if sympathetically and industriously , man nameth it , good-nature . but this is to be noted , that there are many sorts of motions of one and the same kind ; and many several particular motions , of one sort of motion ; which causes some difference in the effects : but , they are so nearly related , that it requires a more subtile observation than i have , to distinguish them . chap. iv. of the repetitions of the sensitive and rational actions . both the rational and sensitive corporeal motions , make often repetitions of one and the same actions : the sensitive repetitions , man nameth , custom . the rational repetitions , man nameth , remembrances : for , repetitions cause a facility amongst the sensitive parts ; but yet , in some repeating actions , the senses seem to be tired , being naturally delighted in variety . also , by the rational repetitions , the mind is either delighted , or displeased ; and sometimes , partly pleased , and partly displeased : for , the mind is as much pleased , or displeased in the absence of an object , as in the presence ; only the pleasure , and displeasure of the senses , is not joyned with the rational : for , the sense , if regular , makes the most perfect copies when the object is present : but , the rational can make as perfect copies in the absence , as in the presence of the object ; which is the cause that the mind is as much delighted , or grieved , in the absence of an object , as with the presence : as for example , a man is as much grieved when he knows his friend is wounded , or dead , as if he had seen his wounds , or had seen him dead : for , the picture of the dead friend , is in the mind of the living friend ; and if the dead friend was before his eyes , he could but have his picture in his mind ; which is the same for an absent friend alive ; only , as i said , there is wanting the sensitive perception of the absent object : and certainly , the parts of the mind have greater advantage than the sensitive parts ; for , the mind can enjoy that which is not subject to the sense ; as those things man names , castles in the air , or poetical fancies ; which is the reason man can enjoy worlds of its own making , without the assistance of the sensitive parts ; and can govern and command those worlds ; as also , dissolve and compose several worlds , as he pleases : but certainly , as the pleasures of the rational parts are beyond those of the sensitive , so are their troubles . chap. v. of the passionate love , and sympathetical endeavours , amongst the associate parts of a human creature . in every regular human society , there is a passionate love amongst the associated parts , like fellow-students of one colledg , or fellow-servants in one house , or brethren in one family , or subjects in one nation , or communicants in one church : so the self-moving parts of a human creature , being associated , love one another , and therefore do endeavour to keep their society from dissolving . but perceiving , by the example of the lives of the same sort of creatures , that the property of their nature is such , that they must dissolve in a short time , this causes these human sorts of creatures , ( being very ingenuous ) to endeavour an after-life : but , perceiving again , that their after-life cannot be the same as the present life is , they endeavour ( since they cannot keep their own society from dissolving ) that their society may remain in remembrance amongst the particular and general societies of the same sort of creatures , which we name mankind : and this design causes all the sensitive and rational parts , in one society , to be industrious , to leave some mark for a lasting remembrance , amongst their fellow-creatures : which general remembrance , man calls fame ; for which fame , the rational parts are industrious to design the manner and way , and the sensitive parts are industrious to put those designs in execution ; as , their inventions , into arts or sciences ; or to cause their heroick or prudent , generous or pious actions ; their learning , or witty fancies , or subtile conceptions , or their industrious observations , or their ingenious inventions , to be set in print ; or their exterior effigies to be cast , cut , or engraven in brass , or stone , or to be painted ; or they endeavour to build houses , or cut rivers , to bear their names ; and millions of other marks , for remembrance , they are industrious to leave to the perception of after-ages : and many men are so desirous of this after-life , that they would willingly quit their present life , by reason of its shortness , to gain this after-life , because of the probability of a long continuance ; and not only to live so in many several ages , but in many several nations . and amongst the number of those that prefer a long after-life , before a short present life , i am one . but , some men dispute against these desires , saying , that it doth a man no good to be remembred when he is dead . i answer : it is very pleasing , whilst as man lives , to have in his mind , or in his sense , the effigies of the person , and of the good actions of his friend , although he cannot have his present company . also , it is very pleasant to any body to believe , that the effigies either of his own person , or actions , or both , are in the mind of his friend , when he is absent from him ; and , in this case , absence and death are much alike . but , in short , god lives no other ways amongst his creatures , but in their rational thoughts , and sensitive worship . chap. vi. of acqvaintance . as there are perceptive acquaintances amongst the parts of a human creature ; so there is a perceptive acquaintance between , or amongst the human sorts of creatures . but , mistake me not ; for i do not say , men only are acquainted with each other ; for , there is not only an acquaintance amongst every particular sort , as between one and the same sort of creatures , but there are some acquaintances between some sorts of different kinds : as for example , between some sorts of beasts , and men ; as also , some sorts of birds , and men , which understand each other , i will not say , so well as man and man ; but so well , as to understand each other's passions : but certainly , every particular sort of creatures , of one and the same kind , understand each other , as well as men understand one another ; and yet , for all that , they may be unacquainted : for , acquaintance proceeds from association ; so that , some men , and some beasts , by association , may be acquainted with each other ; when as some men , not associating , are meer strangers . the truth is , acquaintance belongs rather to particularities , than generalities . chap. vii . of the effects of forrein objects of the sensitive body ; and of the rational mind of a human creature . according as the rational parts are affected , or disaffected with forrein objects , the sensitive is apt to express the like affections , or disaffections : for , most forrein objects occasion either pleasure and delight , or displeasure and dislike : but , the effects of forrein objects are very many , and , many times very different ; as , some objects of devotion , occasion a fear , or superstition , and repentance in the mind ; and the mind occasions the sensitive parts to several actions , as , praying , acknowledging faults , begging pardon , making vows , imploring mercy , and the like , in words : also , the body bows , the knees bend , the eyes weep , the hands hold up , and many the like devout actions . other sorts of objects occasion pity and compassion in the mind , which occasions the sensitive parts to attend the sick , relieve the poor , help the distressed , and many more actions of compassion . other sorts of forrein objects , occasion the rational mind to be dull and melancholy ; and then the sensitive parts are dull , making no variety of appetites , or regard forrein objects . other sorts of objects occasion the mind to be vain and ambitious , and often to be proud ; and those occasion the sensitive actions to be adventurous and bold ; the countenance of the face , scornful ; the garb of the body , stately ; the words , vaunting , boasting , or bragging . other objects occasion the mind to be furious ; and then the sensitive actions are , cursing words , frowning countenances , the leggs stamping , the hands and arms fighting , and the whole body in a furious posture . other sorts of objects occasion the mind to a passionate love ; and then the sensitive actions are , flattering , professing , protesting in words , the countenance smiling , the eyes glancing ; also , the body bows , the leggs scrape , the mouth kisses : also , the hands mend their garments , and do many of the like amorous actions . other objects occasion the mind to valour ; and then the sensitive actions are , daring , encouraging , or animating . other objects occasion the mind to mirth , or cheerfulness ; and they occasion the sensitive actions of the voice , to sing , or laugh ; the words to be jesting , the hands to be toying , the leggs to be dancing . other sorts of objects occasion the mind to be prudent ; and then the sensitive actions , are sparing or frugal . other sorts of objects occasion the mind to be envious , or malicious ; and then the sensitive actions are mischievous . there are great numbers of occasional actions , but these are sufficient to prove , that sense and reason understand each other's actions or designs . chap. viii . of the advantage and disadvantage of the encounters of several creatures . there is a strong sympathy between the rational and sensitive parts , in one and the same society , or creature : not only for their consistency , subsistency , use , ease , pleasure , and delight ; but , for their safety , guard , and defence : as for example , when one creature assaults another , then all the powers , faculties , properties , ingenuities , agilities , proportions , and shape , of the parts of the assaulted , unite against the assaulter , in the defence of every particular part of their whole society ; in which encounter , the rational advises , and the sensitive labours . but this is to be noted concerning advantage and disadvantage in such encounters , that some sorts of creatures have their advantage in the exterior shape , others meerly in the number of parts ; others in the agility of their parts , and some by the ingenuity of their parts : but , for the most part , the greater number have advantage over the less , if the greater number of parts be as regular , and as ingenious as the less number : but , if the less number be more regular , and more ingenious than the greater , then 't is a hundred to one but the less number of parts have the advantage . chap. ix . that all human creatures have the like kinds and sorts of properties . all human creatures have the like kinds and sorts of properties , faculties , respirations , and perceptions ; unless some irregularities in the production , occasion some imperfections , or some misfortunes , in some time of his age : yet , no man knows what another man perceives , but by guess , or information of the party : but , as i said , if they have have no imperfections , all human creatures have like properties , faculties , and perceptions : as for example , all human eyes may see one and the same object alike ; or hear the same tune , or sound ; and so of the rest of the senses . they have also the like respirations , digestions , appetites ; and the like may be said of all the properties belonging to a human creature . but , as one human creature doth not know what another human creature knows , but by confederacy ; so , no part of the body , or mind of a man , knows each part 's perceptive knowledg , but by confederacy : so that , there is as much ignorance amongst the parts of nature , as knowledg . but this is to be noted , that there are several manners and ways of intelligences , not only between several sorts of creatures , or amongst particulars of one sort of creatures ; but , amongst the several parts of one and the same creature . chap. x. of the irregularity of the sensitive , and of the rational corporeal motions . as i have often mentioned , and do here again repeat , that the rational and sensitive parts of one society , or creature , do understand , as perceiving each other's self-moving parts ; and the proof is , that , sometimes , the human sense is regular , and the human reason irregular ; and sometimes the reason regular , and the sense irregular : but , in these differences , the regular parts endeavour to reform the irregular ; which causes , many times , repetitions of one and the same actions , and examinations ; as , sometimes the reason examines the sense ; and sometimes the sense , the reason : and sometimes the sense and reason do examine the object ; for , sometimes an object will delude both the sense and reason ; and sometimes the sense and reason are but partly mistaken : as for example , a fired end of a stick , by a swift exterior circular motion , appears a circle of fire , in which they are not deceived : for , by the exterior motion , the fired end is a circle ; but they are mistaken , to conceive the exterior figurative action to be the proper natural figure : but when one man mistakes another , that is some small error , both of the sense and reason . also , when one man cannot readily remember another man , with whom he had formerly been acquainted , it is an error ; and such small errors , the sense and reason do soon rectifie : but in causes of high irregularities , as in madness , sickness , and the like , there is a great bustle amongst the parts of a human creature ; so as those disturbances cause unnecessary fears , grief , anger , and strange imaginations . chap. xi . of the knowledg between the sensitive organs of a human creature . the sensitive organs are only ignorant of each other , as they are of forrein objects : for , as all the parts of forrein objects , are not subject to one sensitive organ ; so all the sensitive organs are not subject to each sensitive organ of a human creature : yet , in the perceptive actions of forrein objects , they do so agree , that they make an united knowledg : thus we may be particularly ignorant one way , and yet have a general knowledg another way . chap. xii . of human perception , or defects of a human creature . it is not the great quantity of brain , that makes a man wise ; nor a little quantity , that makes a man foolish : but , the irregular , or regular rational corporeal motions of the head , heart , and the rest of the parts , that causes dull understandings , short memories , weak judgments , violent passions , extravagant imaginations , wild fancies , and the like . the same must be said of the sensitive irregular corporeal motions , which make weakness , pain , sickness , disordered appetites , and perturbed perceptions , and the like : for , nature poysing her actions by opposites , there must needs be irregularities , as well as regularities ; which is the cause that seldom any creature is so exact , but there is some exception . but , when the sensitive and rational corporeal motions are regular , and move sympathetically , then the body is healthful and strong , the mind in peace and quiet , understands well , and is judicious : and , in short , there are perfect perceptions , proper digestions , easie respirations , regular passions , temperate appetites . but when the rational corporeal motions are curious in their change of actions , there are subtile conceptions , and elevated fancies : and when the sensitive corporeal motions move with curiosity , ( as i may say ) then there are perfect senses , exact proportions , equal temperaments ; and that , man calls beauty . chap. xiii . of natural fools . there is great difference between a natural fool , and a mad man : for , madness is a disease , but a natural fool is a defect ; which defect was some error in his production , that is , in the form and frame either of the mind , or sense , or both ; for , the sense may be a natural fool as well as the reason ; as we may observe in those sorts of fools whom we name changelings , whose body is not only deformed , but all the postures of the body are defective , and appear as so many fools : but sometimes , only some parts are fools ; as for example ; if a man be born blind , then only his eyes are fools ; if deaf , then only his ears are fools , which occasions his dumbness ; ears being the informing parts , to speak ; and wanting those informations , he cannot speak a language . also , if a man is born lame , his leggs are fools ; that is , those parts have no knowledg of such properties that belong to such parts ; but the sensitive parts may be wise , as being knowing ; and the rational parts may be defective ; which defects , man names irrational . but this is to be noted , that there may be natural and accidental fools , by some extraordinary frights , or by extraordinary sickness , or through the defects of old age. as for the errors of production , they are incurable ; as also , those of old age ; the first being an error in the very foundation , and the other a decay of the whole frame of the building : for , after a human creature is brought to that perfection , as to be , as we may say , at full growth and strength , at the prime of his age ; the human motions , and the very nature of man , after that time , begins to decay ; for then the human motions begin to move rather to the dissolution , than to the continuance ; although some men last to very old age , by reason the unity of their society is regular and orderly , and moves so sympathetically . as to commit few or no disorders , or irregularities ; and such old men are , for the most part , healthful , and very wise , through long experience ; and their society having got a habit of regularity , is not apt to be disturbed by forrein parts . but this is to be noted , that sometimes the sensitive body decays , before the rational mind ; and sometimes the rational mind , before the sensitive body . also , this is to be noted , that when the body is defective , but not the mind ; then the mind is very industrious to find out inventions of art , to help the defects that are natural . but pray mistake me not ; for i do not say , that all deformities , or defects , but only some particular sorts of deformity , or defects , are foolish . the seventh part. chap. i. of the sensitive actions of sleeping and waking . the sensitive and rational corporeal figurative motions , are the cause of infinite varieties : for , though repetitions make no varieties ; yet , every altered action is a variety : also , different actions , make different effects ; opposite actions , opposite effects ; not only of the actions of the several self-moving parts , or corporeal motions , but of the same parts : as for example , the same parts , or corporeal motions , may move from that , man names life , to that which man names death ; or , from health to sickness , from ease to pain , from memory to forgetfulness , from forgetfulness to remembrance , from love to hate , from grief to joy , from irregularity to regularity ; or , from regularity to irregularity , and the like ; and from one perception to another : for , though all actions are perceptive , yet there are several kinds , several sorts , and several particular perceptions : but , amongst the several corporeal motions of animal , or human kind , there are the opposite motions of what we name waking , and sleeping ; the difference is , that waking-actions are , most commonly , actions of imitation , especially of the sensitive parts ; and are more the exterior , than the interior actions of a human creature . but , the actions of sleep , are the alterations of the exterior corporeal motions , moving more interiorly , as it were inwardly , and voluntarily : as for example , the optick corporeal motions , in waking-actions , work , or move , according to the outward object : but , in sleeping-actions , they move by rote , or without examples ; also , as i said , they move , as it were , inwardly ; like as a man should turn himself inward , or outward , of a door , without removing from the door , or out of the place he stood in . chap. ii. of sleeping . although the rational and sensitive corporeal motions , can never be tired , or weary of moving or acting , by reason it is their nature to be a perpetual corporeal motion ; yet they may be weary , or tired with particular actions . also , it is easier and more delightful , to move by rote , than to take copies , or patterns ; which is the reason that sleep is easie and gentle , if the corporeal motions be regular ; but if they be irregular , sleep is perturbed . but this is to be noted , that the corporeal motions delight in varieties so well , that , many times , many and various objects will cause the sensitive and rational corporeal motions in a man , to retard their actions of sleep ; and , oft-times , want of variety of forrein or outward objects , will occasion the action of sleep ; or else musing and contemplating actions . also , it is to be noted , that if some parts of the body , or mind , be distempered with irregularities , it occasions such disturbances to the whole , as hinders that repose ; but if the regular parts endeavour not to be disturbed with the irregular ; and the irregulars do disturb the regular ; then it occasions that which man names , half-sleeps , or slumbers , or drowsiness . and if the regular corporeal motions get the better , ( as many times they do ) then we say , sleep hath been the occasion of the cure ; and it oft proves so . and it is a common saying , that a good sleep will settle the spirits , or ease the pains ; that is , when the regular corporeal motions have had the better of the irregular . chap. iii. of human dreams . there are several kinds , sorts , and particulars of corporeal irregularities , as well as of regularities ; and amongst the infinite kinds , sorts , and particulars , there is that of human dreams ; for , the exterior corporeal motions in waking-actions , do copy or pattern outward objects ; whereas , in actions of sleep , they act by rote , which , for the most part , is erronious , making mixt figures of several objects ; as , partly like a beast ; and partly , like a bird , or fish ; nay , sometimes , partly like an animal , and partly like a vegetable ; and millions of the like extravagancies ; yet , many times , dreams will be as exact as if a man was awake , and the objects before him ; but , those actions by rote , are more often false than true : but , if the self-moving parts move after their own inventions , and not after the manner of copying ; or , if they move not after the manner of human perception , then a man is as ignorant of his dreams , or any human perception , as if he was in a swound ; and then he says , he did not dream ; and , that such sleeps are like death . chap. iv. of the actions of dreams . vvhen the figures of those friends and acquaintants that have been dead a long time , are made in our sleep , we never , or seldom question the truth of their being alive , though we often question them how they came to be alive : and the reason that we make no doubt of their being alive , is , that those corporeal motions of sleep , make the same pattern of that object in sleep , as when that object was present , and patterned awake ; so as the picture in sleep seems to be the original awake : and until such times that the corporeal motions alter their sleeping-actions to waking-actions , the truth is not known . though sleeping and dreaming , is somewhat after the manner of forgetfulness and remembrance ; yet , perfect dreams are as perceptive as waking-patterns of present objects ; which proves , that both the sensitive and rational motions , have sleeping actions ; but both the sensitive and rational corporeal actions in sleep , moving partly by rote , and partly voluntarily , or by invention , make walking-woods , or woodden men ; or make warrs and battels , where some figures of men are kill'd , or wounded , others have victory : they also make thieves , murderers , falling houses , great fires , floods , tempests , high mountains , great precipices ; and sometimes pleasant dreams of lovers , marriage , dancing , banquetting , and the like : and the passions in dreams are as real , as in waking actions . chap. v. whether the interior parts of a human creature , do sleep . the parts of my mind were in dispute , whether the interior parts of a human creature , had sleeping and waking actions ? the major part was of opinion , that sleep was not proper to those human parts , because the interior motions were not like the exterior . the opinion of the minor part was , that change of action , is like ease after labour ; and therefore it was probable , the interior parts had sleeping and waking actions . the opinion of the major parts , was , that if those parts , as also the food received into the body , had sleeping actions , the body could not be nourished ; for , the meat would not be digested into the like parts of the body , by reason sleeping actions were not such sorts of actions . the opinion of the minor parts was , that the sleeping actions were nourishing actions , and therefore were most proper for the interior parts ; and , for proof , the whole human body becomes faint and weak , when they are hindred , either by some interior irregularity , or through some exterior occasion , from their sleeping actions . the opinion of the major part , was , that sleeping actions are actions of rote , and not such altering actions as digesting actions , and nourishing actions , which are uniting actions . besides , that the reason why the interior actions are not sleeping actions , was , that when the exterior parts move in the actions of sleep , the interior parts move when the exterior are awake ; as may be observed by the human pulse , and human respiration ; and by many other observations which may be brought . chap. vi. whether all the creatures in nature , have sleeping and waking actions . some may ask this question , whether all creatures have sleeping actions ? i answer , that though sleeping actions are proper to human creatures , as also , to most animal creatures ; yet , such actions may not any ways be proper to other kinds and sorts of creatures : and if ( as in all probability it is ) that the exterior parts of a human creature have no such sleeping actions , it is probable that other kinds and sorts of creatures move not at any time , in such sorts of actions . but some may say , that if nature is poysed , all creatures must have sleeping actions , as well as waking actions . i answer , that though nature's actions are poysed , yet that doth not hinder the variety of nature's actions , so as to tye nature to particular actions : as for example , the exterior parts of animals have both sleeping and waking actions ; yet that doth not prove , that therefore all the parts or creatures in nature , must have sleeping and waking actions . the same may be said of all the actions of an animal creature , or of a human creature ; nay , of all the creatures of the world : for , several kinds and sorts of creatures , have several kinds and sorts of properties : wherefore , if there be other kinds and sorts of worlds besides this , 't is probable that those worlds , and all the parts , or several kinds and sorts of creatures there , have different properties and actions , from those of this world ; so that though nature's actions are poysed and balanced , yet they are poysed and balanced after different manners and ways . chap. vii . of human death . death is not only a general alteration of the sensitive and rational motions , but a general dissolution of their society . and as there are degrees of time in productions , so in dissolutions . and as there are degrees to perfection , as from infancy to manhood ; so there are degrees from manhood to old age. but , as i said , death is a general dissolution , which makes a human creature to be no more : yet , some parts do not dissolve so soon as others ; as for example , human bones ; but , though the form or frame of bones is not dissolved ; yet the properties : of those bones are altered . the same when a human creature is kept by art from dissolving , so as the form , or frame , or shape may continue ; but all the properties are quite altered ; though the exterior shape of such bodies doth appear somewhat like a man , yet that shape is not a man. chap. viii . of the heat of human life , and the cold of human death . there are not only several sorts of properties belonging to several sorts of creatures , but several sorts of properties belonging to one and the same sort of creature ; and amongst the several sorts of human properties , human heat is one , which man names natural heat : but , when there is a general alteration of the human properties , there is that alteration of the property as well of his natural , as human heat : but , natural heat is not the cause of human life , though human life is the cause of that natural heat : so that , when human life is altered or dissolved , human heat is altered or dissolved : and as death is opposite actions to that man names life ; so cold is opposite actions to that man names heat . chap. ix . of the last act of human life . the reason some human creatures dye in more pain than others , is , that the motions of some human creatures are in strife , because some would continue their accustomed actions , others would alter their accustomed actions ; which strife causes irregularities , and those irregularities cause differences , or difficulties , which causes pain : but certainly , the last act of human life is easie ; not only that the expulsive actions of human respirations , are more easie than the attracting actions ; but , that in the last act of human life , all the motions do generally agree in one action . chap. x. whether a human creature hath knowledg in death , or not ? some may ask the question , whether a dead man hath any knowledg or perception ? i answer , that a dead man hath not a human knowledg or perception ; yet all , and every part , hath knowledg and perception : but , by reason there is a general alteration of the actions of the parts of a human creature , there cannot possibly be a human knowledg or perception . but some may say , that a man in a swound hath a general alteration of human actions ; and yet those parts of a human creature do often repeat those former actions , and then a man is as he was before he was in that swound . i answer , that the reason why a man in a swound hath not the same knowledg as when he is not in a swound , is , that the human motions are not generally altered , but only are generally irregular ; which makes such a disturbance , that no part can move so regularly , as to make proper perceptions ; as in some sorts of distempers , a man may be like a natural fool ; in others , he may be mad ; and is subject to many several distempers , which cause several effects : but a human swound is somewhat like sleeping without dreaming ; that is , the exterior senses do not move to human exterior perception . chap. xi . whether a creature may be new formed , after a general dissolution . some may ask the question , whether a human creature , or any other creature , after their natural properties are quite altered , can be repeated , and rechanged , to those properties that formerly were ? i answer , yes , in case none of the fundamental figurative parts be dissolved . but some may ask , that if those dissolved parts were so inclosed in other bodies , that none of them could easily disperse or wander ; whether they might not joyn into the same form and figure again , and have the same properties ? i answer , i cannot tell well how to judg ; but i am of the opinion , they cannot : for , it is the property of all such productions , to be performed by degrees , and that there should be a dividing and uniting of parts , as an intercourse of home and forrein parts ; and so there is requir'd all the same parts , and every part of the same society , or that had any adjoining actions with that particular creature ; as all those parts , or corporeal motions , that had been from the first time of production , to the last of the dissolving ; and that could not be done without a confusion in nature . but some may say , that although the same creature could not be produced after the same manner , nor return to the degree of his infancy , and pass the degrees from his infancy , to some degree of age ; yet , those parts that are together , might so joyn , and move , in the same manner , as to be the same creature it was before its dissolution ? i answer , it may not be impossible : but yet , it is very improbable , that such numerous sorts of motions , after so general an alteration , should so generally agree in an unnatural action . chap. xii . of foreknowledg . i have had some disputes amongst the parts of my mind , whether nature hath foreknowledg ? the opinion of the minor parts was , that nature had foreknowledg , by reason all that was material , was part of her self ; and those self-parts having self-motion , she might foreknow what she would act , and so what they should know . the opinion of the major parts was , that by reason every part had self-motion , and natural free-will , nature could not foreknow how they would move , although she might know how they have moved , or how they do move . after this dispute was ended , then there was a dispute , whether the particular parts had a foreknowledg of self-knowledg ? the opinion of the minor parts was , that since every part in nature had self-motion , and natural free-will , every part could know how they should move , and so what they should know . the opinion of the major parts was , that first , the self-knowledg did alter according to self-action , amongst the self-moving parts : but , the self-knowledg of the inanimate parts , did alter according to the actions of the sensitive self-moving parts ; and the perceptive actions of the self-moving parts , were according to the form and actions of the objects : so that foreknowledg of forein parts , or creatures , could not be : and for foreknowledg of self-knowledg of the self-moving parts , there were so many occasional actions , that it was impossible the self-moving parts could know how they should move , by reason that no part had an absolute power , although they were self-moving , and had a natural free-will : which proves , that prophesies are somewhat of the nature of dreams , whereof some may prove true by chance ; but , for the most part , they are false . the eighth part. chap. i. of the irregularity of nature's parts . some may make this question , that , if nature were self-moving , and had free-will , it is probable that she would never move her parts so irregularly , as to put her self to pain . i answer , first , that nature's parts move themselves , and are not moved by any agent . secondly , though nature's parts are self-moving , and self-knowing , yet they have not an infinite or uncontrolable power ; for , several parts , and parties , oppose , and oft-times obstruct each other ; so that many times they are forced to move , and they may not when they would . thirdly , some parts may occasion other parts to be irregular , and keep themselves in a regular posture . lastly , nature's fundamental actions are so poysed , that irregular actions are as natural as regular . chap. ii. of the human parts of a human creature . the form of man's exterior and interior parts , are so different , and so numerous ; that i cannot describe them , by reason i am not so learned to know them : but , some parts of a human creature , man names vital ; because , the least disturbance of any of those parts , endangers the human life : and if any of those vital parts are diminished , i doubt whether they can be restored ; but if some of those parts can be restored , i doubt all cannot . the vital parts are , the heart , liver , lungs , stomack , kidneys , bladder , gaul , guts , brains , radical humours , or vital spirits ; and others which i know not of . but this is to be noted , that man is composed of rare and solid parts , of which there are more and less solid , more and less rare ; as also , different sorts of solid , and different sorts of rare : also , different sorts of soft and hard parts ; likewise , of fixt and loose parts ; also , of swift and slow parts . i mean by fixt , those that are more firmly united . chap. iii. of human humours . hvmours are such parts , that some of them may be divided from the whole body , without danger to the whole body ; so that they are somewhat like excremental parts , which excremental parts , are the superfluous parts : for , though the humours be so necessary , that the body could not well subsist without them ; yet , a superfluity of them is as dangerous , ( if not more ) as a scarcity . but there are many sorts of humours belonging to a human creature , although man names but four , according to the four elements , viz. flegm , choler , melancholy , and blood : but , in my opinion , there are not only several sorts of choler , flegm , melancholy , and blood ; but other sorts that are none of these four. chap. iv. of blood . i have heard , that the opinions of the most learned men , are , that all animal creatures have blood , or at least , such juyces that are in lieu of blood ; which blood , or juyces , move circularly : for my part , i am too ignorant to dispute with learned men ; but yet i am confident , a moth ( which is a sort of worm , or fly , that eats cloth ) hath no blood , no , nor any juyce ; for , so soon as it is touched , it dissolves straight to a dry dust , or like ashes . and there are many other animals , or insects , that have no appearance of blood ; therefore the life of an animal doth not consist of blood : and as for the circulation of blood , there are many animal creatures that have not proper vessels , as veins and arteries , or any such gutters , for their blood , or juyce , to circulate through . but , say the blood of man , or of such like animal , doth circulate ; then it is to be studied , whether the several parts of the blood do intermix with each other , as it flows ; or , whether it flows as water seems to do ; where the following parts may be as great strangers to the leading parts , as in a crowd of people , where some of those behind , do not know those that are before : but , if the blood doth not intermix as it flows , then it will be very difficult for a chyrurgion , or physician , to find where the ill blood runs : besides , if the blood be continually flowing , when a sick man is to be let blood , before the vein is opened , the bad blood may be past that part , or vein , and so only the good blood will be let out ; and then the man may become worse than if he had not been let blood . chap. v. of the radical humours , or parts . there are many parts in a human body , that are as the foundation of a house ; and being the foundation , if any of those parts be removed or decayed , the house immediately falls to ruine . these fundamental parts , are those we name the vital parts ; amongst which are those parts we name the vital and radical spirits , which are the oyl and flame of a human creature , causing the body to have that we name a natural heat , and a radical moisture . but it is to be noted , that these parts , or corporeal motions , are not like gross oyl , or flame : for , i believe , there are more differences between those flames , and ordinary flames , than between the light of the sun , and the flame of a tallow candle ; and as much difference between this oyl , and the greasie oyl , as between the purest essence , and lamp-oyl . but , these vital parts are as necessary to the human life , as the solid vital parts , viz. the heart , liver , lungs , brains , and the like . chap. vi. of expelling malignant disorders in a human creature . expelling of poyson , or any malignity in the body , is , when that malignity hath not got , or is not setled into the vital parts ; so that the regular motions of the vital parts , and other parts of the body , endeavour to defend themselves from the forrein malignancies ; which if they do , then the malignant motions do dilate to the exterior parts , and issue out of those exterior passages , at least , through some ; as , either by the way of purging , vomiting , sweating , or transpiration , which is a breathing through the pores , or other passages . after the same manner is the expelling of surfeits , or superfluities of natural humours : but , if the malignity or surfeit , superfluity or superfluous humours , have the better , ( as i may say ) then those irregular motions , by their disturbances , cause the regular motions to be irregular , and to follow the mode ; which is , to imitate strangers , or the most powerful ; the most fantastical , or the most debauch'd : for it is , many times , amongst the interior motions of the body , as with the exterior actions of men. chap. vii . of human digestions and evacuations . to treat of the several particular digestive actions of a human creature , is impossible : for , not only every part of food hath a several manner of digestive action ; but , every action in transpiration , is a sort of digestion and evacuation : so that , though every sort of digestion and evacuation , may be ghest at ; yet , every particular is not so known , that it can be described . but this is to be noted , that there is no creature that hath digestive motions , but hath evacuating motions ; which actions , although they are but dividing , and uniting ; yet they are such different manners and ways of uniting and dividing , that the most observing man cannot particularly know them , and so not express them : but , the uniting actions , if regular , are the nourishing actions ; the dividing actions , if regular , are the cleansing actions : but if irregular , the uniting actions are the obstructive actions ; and the dividing actions , the destructive actions . chap. viii . of diseases in general . there are many sorts of human diseases ; yet , all sorts of diseases are irregular corporeal motions ; but , every sort of motion is of a different figure : so that , several diseases are different irregular figurative motions ; and according as the figurative motions vary , so do the diseases : but , as there are human diseases , so there are human defects ; which defects ( if they be those which man names natural ) cannot be rectified by any human means . also , there are human decays , and old age ; which , although they cannot be prevented , or avoided ; yet , they may , by good order , and wise observations , be retarded : but there are not only numerous sorts of diseases , but every particular it self , and every particular sort , are more or less different ; insomuch , that seldom a disease of one and the same sort , is just alike , but there are some differences ; as in men , who though they be all of one sort of animal-kind , yet seldom any two men are just alike : and the same may be said of diseases both of body and mind ; as for example , concerning irregular minds , as in mad-men ; although all mad-men are mad , yet not mad alike ; though they all have the disease either of sensitive or rational madness , or are both sensitively and rationally mad . also , this is to be noted , that as several diseases may be produced from several causes , so several diseases from one : cause , and one disease from several causes ; which is the cause that a physician ought to be a long and subtile observer and practiser , before he can arrive to that experience which belongs to a good physician . chap. ix . of the fundamental diseases . there are numerous sorts of diseases , to which human creatures are subject ; and yet there are but few fundamental maladies ; which are these as follow ; pain , sickness , weakness , dizziness , numbness , deadness , madness , fainting and swounding ; of which one is particular , the rest are general : the particular is sickness , to which no parts of the body are subject , but the stomack : for , though any parts of the body may have pain , numbness , dizziness , weakness , or madness ; yet in no part can be that which we name sickness , but the stomack . as for dizziness , the effects are general , as may be observed in some drunken men : for , many times , the head will be in good temper , when the leggs ( i cannot say , are dizzie , yet ) will be so drunk , as neither to go or stand ; and many times the tongue will be so drunk , as not to speak plain , when all the rest of the body is well temper'd ; at least so well , as not to be any ways perceived , but by the tripping of their speech : but , as i said , no part is subject to be sick , but the stomack : and though there are numerous sorts of pains to which every part is subject , and every several part hath a several pain ; yet they are still pain . but some may say , that there are also several sorts of sicknesses . i grant it ; but yet those several sorts of sicknesses , belong only to the stomack , and to no other part of the body . the ninth part. chap. i. of sickness . to go on as orderly as i can , i will treat of the fundamental diseases , and first of sickness , by reason it is the most particular disease : for though , as i have said , no part of a human creature is subject to that disease , ( namely , sickness ) but the stomack ; yet , there are different sorts of sicknesses of the stomack ; as for example , some sorts of sickness is like the flowing and ebbing of the sea : for , the humours of the stomack agitate in that manner , as , if the flowing motions flow upwards , it occasions vomiting ; if downwards , purging : if the humours divide , as , partly to flow upwards , and partly downwards , it occasions both vomiting and purging . but the question is , whether it is the motion of the humours , that occasions the stomack to be sick ; or the sickness of the stomack , that occasions the humours to flow ? i answer : that 't is probable , that sometimes the flowing of the humours causes the stomack to be sick ; and sometimes the sickness of the stomack occasions the humours to flow ; and sometimes the stomack will be sick without the flowing of humours , as when the stomack is empty ; and sometimes the humours will flow , without any disturbance to the stomack ; and sometimes both the humours and the stomack do jointly agree in irregularities : but , as i said , there are several sorts of sicknesses of the stomack , or at least , that sickness doth produce several sorts of effects ; as , for example , some sorts of sickness will occasion faint and cold sweats ; which sick motion is not flowing up or down of the humours ; but it is a cold dilatation , or rarifying , after a breathing manner ; also expelling of those rarified parts through the pores : other sorts of motions of the humours , are like boyling motions , viz. bubling motions ; which occasion steaming or watry vapours , to ascend to the head ; which vapours are apt to cloud the perception of sight . other sorts of sick motions , are circular , and those cause a swimming , or a dizzie motion in the head , and sometimes a staggering motion in the leggs . other sorts of sick motions are occasioned through tough and clammy humours , the motion of which humours , is a winding or turning in such a manner , that it removes not from its center ; and until such time as that turning or winding motions alter , or the humour is cast out of the stomack , the patient finds little or no ease . chap. ii. of pain . as i said , no part is subject to be sick , but the stomack ; but every several part of a human creature , is subject to pain ; and not only so , but every particular part is subject to several sorts of pain ; and every several sort of pain , hath a several figurative motion : but to know the different figurative motions , will require a subtile observation : for , though those painful parts , know their own figurarative motions ; yet , the whole creature ( suppose man ) doth not know them . but it may be observed , whether they are caused by irregular contractions or attractions , dilatations or retentions , expulsions or irregular pressures and re-actions , or irregular transformations , or the like ; and by those observations , one may apply , or endeavour to apply proper remedies : but all pain proceeds from irregular and perturbed motions . chap. iii. of dizziness . i cannot say , dizziness belongs only to the head of an animal creature , because we may observe , by irregular drinkers , that sometimes the leggs will seem more drunk than their heads ; and sometimes all the parts of their body will seem to be temperate , as being regular , but only the tongue seems to be drunk : for , staggering of the leggs , and a staggering of the tongue , or the like , in a drunken distemper , is a sort of dizziness , although not such a sort as that which belongs to the head ; so that , when a man is dead-drunk , we may say , that every part of the body is dizzily drunk . but mistake me not ; for i do not mean , that all sorts of dizzinesses proceed from drinking ; i only bring drunkenness for an example : but , the effects of dizziness of the head , and other parts of the body , proceed from different causes ; for , some proceed from wind , not wine ; others from vapour ; some from the perception of some forrein object ; and numbers of the like examples may be found . but this is to be noted , that all such sorts of swimming and dizziness in the head , are produced from circular figurative motions . also it is to be noted , that many times the rational corporeal motions are irregular with the sensitive , but not always : for , sometimes in these and the like distempers , the sensitive will be irregular , and the rational regular ; but , for the most part , the rational is so compliant with the sensitive , as to be regular , or irregular , as the sensitive is . chap. iv. of the brain seeming to turn round in the head. when the human brain seems to turn round , the cause is , that some vapours do move in a circular figure , which causes the head to be dizzy ; as when a man turns round , not only his head will be dizzy , but all the exterior parts of his body ; insomuch that some , by often turning round , will fall down ; but if , before they fall , they turn the contrary way , they will be free from that dizziness : the reason of which is , that , by turning the contrary way , the body is brought to the same posture it was before ; as , when a man hath travell'd some way , and returns the same way back , he returns to the place where first he began his journey . chap. v. of weakness . there are many sorts of weakness ; some weakness proceeds from age ; others , through want of food ; others are occasioned by oppression ; others , by disorders and irregularities ; and so many other sorts , that it would be too tedious to repeat them , could i know them : but , such sorts of weakness , as human creatures are subject to , after some disease or sickness , are somewhat like weariness after a laborious or over-hard action ; as , when a man hath run fast , or laboured hard , he fetches his breath short and thick ; and as most of the sensitive actions are by degrees , so is a returning to health after sickness : but , all irregularities are laborious . chap. vi. of swovnding . the cause why a man in swound , is , for a time , as if he were dead ; is , an irregularity amongst some of the interior corporeal motions , which causes an irregularity of the exterior corporeal motions , and so a general irregularity ; which is the cause that a man appears as if he were dead . but some may say , a man in a swound is void of all motion . i answer : that cannot be : for , if the man was really dead , yet his parts are moving , though they move not according to the property or nature of a living man : but , if the body had not consistent motions , and the parts did not hold together , it would be dissolved in a moment ; and when the parts do divide , they must divide by self-motion : but , in a man in a swound , some of his corporeal motions are only altered from the property and nature of a living man ; i say , some of his corporeal motions , not all : neither do those motions quite alter from the nature of a living man , so as the alterations of the fundamental motions do : but they are so alter'd , as language may be alter'd , viz. from hebrew to greek , latin , french , spanish , english , and many others ; and although they are all but languages , yet they are several languages or speeches ; so the alteration of the corporeal motions of a man in a swound , is but as the altering of one sort of language to another ; as put the case , english were the natural language or speech , then all other languages were unknown to him that knows no other than his natural : so a man in a swound is ignorant of those motions in the swound : but , when those motions return to the nature of a living man , he hath the same knowledg he had before . thus human ignorance , and human knowledg , may be occasioned by the alterations of the corporeal motions . the truth is , that swounding and reviving , is like forgetfulness and remembrance , that is , alteration and repetition , or exchange of the same actions . chap. vii . of numb and dead palsies , or gangren's . as for numb and dead palsies , they proceed not only from disordered and irregular motions , but from such figurative motions as are quite different from the nature of the creature : for , though it be natural for a man to dye ; yet the figurative motions of death are quite different from the figurative motions of life ; so in respect to that which man names life , that which man names death , is unnatural : but , as there are several sorts of that man names life , or lives ; so there are several sorts of those corporeal motions , man names death : but , dead palsies of some parts of a man's body , are not like those of a man when he is , as we say , quite dead ; for , those are not only such sorts of motions that are quite , or absolutely different from the life of the man , or such like creature ; but such as dissolve the whole frame , or figure of the creature : but , the motions of a dead palsie , are not dissolving motions , although they are different from the natural living motions of a man. the same , in some manner , are numb palsies ; only the motions of numb palsies are not so absolutely different from the natural living motions ; but have more irregularities , than perfect alterations . as for that sort of numbness we name sleepy numbness , it is occasioned through some obstruction that hinders and stops the exterior sensitive perception . as , when the eyes are shut , or blinded , or the ears stopt , or the nostrils ; the sensitive figurative motions of those sensitive organs , cannot make perceptions of forrein objects : so , when the pores of the flesh , which are the perceptive organs of forrein touches , are stopt , either by too heavy burthens or pressings , or tying some parts so hard , as to close the exterior organs , ( viz. the pores ) they cannot make such perceptions as belong to touch : but , when those hinderances are removed , then the sensitive perception of touch , is , in a short time , as perfect as before . as for gangren's , although they are somewhat like dead palsies , yet they are more like those sorts of dead corporeal motions , that dissolve the frame and form of a creature : for , gangren's dissolve the frame and form of the diseased part ; and the like do all those corporeal motions that cause rottenness , or parts to divide and separate after a rotten manner . chap. viii . of madness . there are several sorts of that distemper named madness ; but they all proceed through the irregularities , either of the rational , or the sensitive parts ; and sometimes from the irregularities both of sense and reason : but these irregularities are not such as are quite different from the nature or property of a human creature , but are only such irregularities as make false perceptions of forrein objects , or else make strange conceptions ; or move after the manner of dreams in waking-actions ; which is not according to the perception of present objects : as for example , the sensitive motions of the exterior parts , make several pictures on the outside of the organs ; when as no such object is present ; and that is the reason mad-men see strange and unusual sights , hear strange and unusual sounds , have strange and unusual tasts and touch : but , when the irregularities are only amongst the rational parts , then those that are so diseased , have violent passions , strange conceptions , wild fancies , various opinions , dangerous designs , strong resolutions , broken memories , imperfect remembrances , and the like . but , when both the sensitive and rational are sympathetically disorderly ; then the mad-men will talk extravagantly , or laugh , sing , sigh , weep , tremble , complain , &c. without cause . chap. ix . the sensitive and rational parts may be distinctly mad. the senses may be irregularly mad , and not the reason ; and the reason may be irregularly mad , and not the sense ; and , both sense and reason may be both sympathetically mad : and , an evident proof that there is a rational and sensitive madness , is , that those whose rational parts are regular , and only some of the sensitive irregular , will speak soberly , and declare to their friends , how some of their senses are distemper'd , and how they see strange and unusual sights , hear unusual sounds , smell unusual sents , feel unusual touches , and desire some remedy for their distempers . also , it may be observed , that sometimes the rational parts are madly distemper'd , and not the sensitive ; as when the sensitive parts make no false perceptions , but only the rational ; and then only the mind is out of order , and is extravagant , and not the senses : but , when the senses and reason are madly irregular , then the diseased man is that we name , outragiously mad. chap. x. the parts of the head are not only subject to madness , but also the other parts of the body . madness is not only in the head , but in other parts of the body : as for example , some will feel unusual touches in their hands , and several other parts of their body . we may also observe by the several and strange postures of mad-men , that the several parts of the body are madly distemper'd . and it is to be noted , that sometimes some parts of the body are mad , and not the other ; as , sometimes only the eyes , sometimes only the ears ; and so of the rest of the organs , and of the rest of the parts of the body ; one part only being mad , and the rest in good order . moreover , it is to be noted , that some are not continually mad , but only mad by fits , or at certain times ; and those fits , or certain times of disorders , proceed from a custom or habit of the rational or sensitive motions , to move irregularly at such times ; and a proof that all the parts are subject to the distemper of madness , is , that every part of the body of those sorts of mad-men that believe their bodies to be glass , moves in a careful and wary motion , for fear of breaking in pieces : neither are the exterior parts only subject to the distemper of madness , but the interior parts ; as may be observed , when the whole body will tremble through a mad fear , and the heart will beat disorderly , and the stomack will many times be sick . chap. xi . the rational and sensitive parts of a human creature , are apt to disturb each other . although the rational and sensitive corporeal motions , may , and do sometimes disagree ; yet , for the most part , there is such a sympathetical agreement between the sensitive and rational corporeal motions of one society , ( viz. of one creature ) as they often disturb each other : as for example , if the rational motions are so irregular , as to make imaginary fears , or fearful imaginations , these fearful imaginations cause the sensitive corporeal motions , to move according to the irregularities of the rational ; which is the cause , in such fears , that a man seems to see strange and unusual objects , to hear strange and unusual sounds , to smell unusual sents , to feel unusual touches , and to be carried to unusual places ; not that there are such objects , but the irregular senses make such pictures in the sensitive organs ; and the whole body may , through the strength of the irregular motions , move strangely to unusual places : as for example , a mad-man , in a strong mad fit , will be as strong as ten men ; whereas , when the mad fit is over , he seems weaker than usually , or regularly , he uses to be ; not that the self-moving parts of nature are capable of being weaker , or stronger , than naturally they are : but having liberty to move as they will , they may move stronger , or weaker , swifter or slower , regularly or irregularly , as they please ; nor doth nature commonly use force . but this is to be noted , that there being a general agreement amongst the particular parts , they are more forcible than when those parts are divided into factions and parties : so that in a general irregular commotion or action , all the sensitive parts of the body of a man , agree to move with an extraordinary force , after an unusual manner ; provided it be not different from the property and nature of their compositions ; that is , not different from the property and nature of a man. but this is likewise to be noted , that in a general agreement , man may have other properties , than when the whole body is governed by parts , as it is usual when the body is regular , and that every part moves in his proper sphere , as i may say , ( for example ) the head , heart , lungs , stomack , liver , and so the rest , where each part doth move in several sorts of actions . the like may also may be said of the parts of the leggs and hands , which are different sorts of actions ; yet all move to the use and benefit of the whole body : but , if the corporeal motions in the hands , and so in the leggs , be irregular , they will not help the rest of the parts ; and so , in short , the same happens in all the parts of the body , whereof some parts may be regular , and others irregular ; and sometimes all may be irregular . but , to conclude this chapter , the body may have unusual force and properties ; as when a man says , he was carried and flung into a ditch , or some place distant ; and that he was pinch't , and did see strange sights , heard strange sounds , smelt strange scents ; all which may very well be caused by the irregular motions , either by a general irregularity , or by some particular irregularity ; and the truth is , the particular corporeal motions , know not the power of the general , until they unite by a general agreement ; and sometimes there may be such commotions in the body of a man , as in a common-wealth , where many times there is a general uproar and confusion , and none know the cause , or who began it . but this is to be noted , that if the sensitive motions begin the disorder , then they cause the rational to be so disordered , as they can neither advise wisely , or direct orderly , or perswade effectually . chap. xii . of diseases produced by conceit . as there are numerous sorts of diseases , so there are numerous manners or ways of the production of diseases ; and those diseases that are produced by conceit , are first occasioned by the rational corporeal figurative motions : for , though every several conceit , or imagination , is a several rational corporeal figurative motion ; yet , every conceit or imagination doth not produce a sensitive effect : but in those that do produce a sensitive effect , it is the conceit or imagination of some sorts of diseases ; but in most of those sorts that are dangerous to life , or causes deformity : the reason is , that as all the parts of nature are self-knowing , so they are self-loving : also , regular societies beget an united love , by regular agreements , which cause a rational fear of a disuniting , or dissolving ; and that is the reason , that upon the perception of such a disease , the rational , through some disorder , figures that disease ; and the sensitive corporeal motions , take a pattern from the rational , and so the disease is produced . the tenth part. chap. i. of fevers . some are of opinion , that all , or , at least , most diseases , are accompanied , more or less , with a feverous distemper : if so , then we may say , a fever is the fundamental disease : but , whether that opinion is true , or no , i know not ; but i observe , there are many sorts of fevers , and so there are of all other diseases or distempers : for , every alteration , or difference , of one and the same kind of disease , is a several sort . as for fevers , i have observed , there are fevers in the blood , or humours , and not in any of the vital parts ; and those are ordinary burning-fevers : and there are other sorts of fevers that are in the vital parts , and all other parts of the body , and those are malignant fevers ; and there are some sorts of fevers which are in the radical humours , and those are hectick fevers ; and there are other sorts of fevers that are in those parts , which we name the spiritous parts . also , all consumptions are accompanied with a feverish distemper : but , what the several figurative motions are of these several sorts of fevers , i cannot tell . chap. ii. of the plagve . there are two visible sorts of the disease named the plague : the weaker sort is that which produces swellings , or inflamed or corrupted sores , which are accompanied with a fever . the other sort is that which is named the spotted plague . the first sort is sometimes curable ; but the second is incurable ; at least , no remedy as yet hath been found . the truth is , the spotted plague is a gangrene , but is somewhat different from other sorts of gangren's ; for this begins amongst the vital parts , and , by an infection , spreads to the extream parts ; and not only so , but to forrein parts ; which makes not only a general infection amongst all the several parts of the body , but the infection spreads it self to other bodies . and whereas other sorts of gangren's begin outwardly , and pierce inwardly ; the plaguy gangrene begins inwardly , and pierces outwardly : so as the difference ( as i said ) is , that the ordinary sort of gangren's infect the next adjoining parts of the body , by moderate degrees ; whereas the plaguy gangrene infects not only the adjoining parts of the same body , and that suddenly , but infects forreign bodies . also , the ordinary gangren's may be stopped from their infection , by taking off the parts infected , or diseased . but the plaguy gangrene can no ways be stopped , because the vital parts cannot be separated from the rest of the parts , without a total ruine : besides , it pierces and spreads more suddenly , than remedies can be applyed . but , whether there are applications of preventions , i know not ; for , those studies belong more to the physicians , than to a natural philosopher . as for the diseases we name the purples , and the spotted fever , they are of the same kind , or kindred , although not of the same sort , as measles , and the small-pox . but this is to be noted , that infection is an act of imitation : for , one part cannot give another part a disease , but only that some imitate the same sorts of irregular actions of other parts ; of which some are near adjoining imitators , and some occasion a general mode . chap. iii. of the small-pox , and measles . the small-pox is somewhat like the sore-plague , not only by being infectious , as both sorts of plagues are ; but , by being of a corrupt nature , as the sore-plague is ; only the small-pox is innumerable , or very many small sores ; whereas the sore-plague is but one or two great sores . also , the small-pox and sore-plague , are alike in this , that if they rise and break , or if they fall not flat , but remain until they be dry and scabbed , the patient lives : but , if they fall flat , and neither break , nor are scabbed , the patient is in danger to dye . also , it is to be noted , that this disease is sometimes accompanied with a feverish distemper ; i say , sometimes , not always ; and that is the cause that many dye , either with too hot , or too cooling applications : for , in a feverish distemper , hot cordials are poyson ; and when there is no fever , cooling remedies are opium : the like for letting blood ; for if the disease be accompanied with a fever , and the fever be not abated by letting blood , 't is probable the fever , joyned with the pox , will destroy the patient : and if no fever , and yet loose blood , the pox hath not sufficient moisture to dilate , nor a sufficient natural vapour to breathe , or respirate ; so as the life of the patient is choaked or stifled with the contracted corruptions . as for measles , though they are of the same kind , yet not of the same sort ; for they are rather small risings , than corrupted sores , and so are less dangerous . chap. iv. of the intermission of fevers or agues . agves have several sorts of distempers , and those quite opposite to each other , as cold and shaking , hot and burning , besides sweating : also , there are several times of intermissions ; as some are every-day agues , some third-day agues , and some quartan agues ; and some patient may be thus distempered , many times , in the compass of four and twenty hours : but those are rather of the nature of intermitting fevers , than of perfect agues . also , in agues , there is many times a difference of the hot and cold fits : for sometimes the cold fits will be long , and the hot short ; other times , the hot fits will be long , and the cold fits short ; other times , much of an equal degree : but , most intermitting fevers and agues , proceed either from ill-digestive motions , or from a superfluity of cold and hot motions , or an irregularity of the cold , hot , dry ; or moist motions , where each sort strives and struggles with each other . but , to make a comparison , agues are somewhat like several sorts of weather , as freezing and thawing , cloudy or rainy , or fair and sun-shining days : or like the four seasons of the year , where the cold fits are like winter , cold and windy ; the hot fits like summer , hot and dry ; the sweating fits like autumn , warm and moist ; and , when the fit is past , like the spring . but , to conclude , the chief cause of agues , is , irregular digestions , that make half-concocted humours ; and according as these half-concocted humours digest , the patient hath his aguish distempers , where some are every day , others every second day , some every third day , and some quartans : but , by reason those half-concocted humours , are of several sorts of humors , some cold , some hot , some cold and dry , some hot and dry , or hot and moist ; and those different sorts , raw , or but half-concocted humours ; they occasion such disorder , not only by an unnatural manner of digestion , as not to be either timely , or regular , by degrees ; but , those several sorts of raw humours , strive and struggle with each other for power or supremacy : but , according as those different raw humours concoct , the fits are longer or shorter : also , according to the quantity of those raw humours , and according as those humours are a gathering , or breeding , so are the times of those fits and intermissions . but here is to be noted , that some agues may be occasioned from some particular irregular digestions ; others from a general irregular digestion , some from some obscure parts , others from ordinary humours . chap. v. of consvmptions . there are many sorts of consumptions ; as , some are consumptions of the vital parts , as the liver , lungs , kidneys , or the like parts : others , a consumption of the radical parts : others a consumption of the spiritous parts : other consumptions are only of the flesh ; which , in my opinion , is the only curable consumption . but , all consumptions , are not only an alteration , but a wasting and dis-uniting of the fundamental parts ; only those consuming parts do , as it were , steal away by degrees ; and so , by degrees , the society of a human creature is dissolved . chap. vi. of dropsies . dropsies proceed from several causes ; as , some from a decay of some of the vital parts ; others through a superfluity of indigested humours ; some from a supernatural driness of some parts ; others through a superfluity of nourishing motions ; some , through some obstructions ; others , through an excess of moist dyet : but , all dropsies proceed not only from irregular motions , but from such a particular irregularity , as all the motions endeavour to be of one mode , ( as i may say ) that is , to move after the manner of those sorts of motions which are the innate nature of water , and are some sorts of circular dilatations : but , by these actions , the human society endeavours to make a deluge , and to turn from the nature of blood and flesh , to the nature of water . chap. vii . of sweating . all sweating-diseases are somewhat of the nature of dropsies ; but they are ( at least , seem to be ) more exterior , than interior dropsies : but , though there be sweating-diseases which are irregular ; yet , regular sweating is as proper as regular breathing ; and so healthful , that sweating extraordinary , in some diseases , occasions a cure : for , sweating is a sort of purging ; so that the evacuation of sweat , through the pores , is as necessary as other sorts of evacuation , as breathing , urine , siege , spitting , purging through the nose , and the like . but , excess of sweating , is like other sorts of fluxes , of which , some will scowr to death ; others vomit to death ; and others the like fluxes will occasion death ; the like is of sweating : so that the sweating-sickness is but like a fluxive-sickness . but , as i said , regular sweating is as necessary as other ordinary evacuations : and as some are apt to be restringent , others laxative ; and sometimes one and the same man will be laxative , other times , costive ; so are men concerning sweating : and as some men take medicines to purge by stool , or vomits , or urine ; so they take medicines to purge by sweating . and , as man hath several sorts of excremental humours , so , several sorts of sweats ; as , clammy sweats , cold sweats , hot sweats , and faint sweats : and , as all excess of other sorts of purgings , causes a man to be weak and faint ; so doth sweating . chap. viii . of covghs . there are many several sorts of coughs , proceeding from several causes ; as , some coughs proceed from a superfluity of moisture ; others from an unnatural heat ; others from a corruption of humors ; others from a decay of the vital parts ; others from sudden colds upon hot distempers : some are caused by an interior wind ; some coughs proceed from salt humors , bitter , sharp , and sweet : some coughs proceed from flegm , which flegm ariseth like a scum in a pot , when meat is boiling on a fire : for when the stomack is distemperedly hot , the humors in the stomack boyl as liquid substances on the fire ; those boiling motions bearing up the gross humors beyond the mouth of the stomack , and , causing a dispute between the breath and humors , produce the effect of straining , or reaching upwards towards the mouth , much like the nature and motions of vomiting : but , by reason those motions are not so strong in coughing , as in vomiting , the coughing motions bring up only pieces or parts of superfluous flegm , or gross spittle . the like for corrupt humors . other coughs proceed from unnatural or distempered heats ; which heats cause unnecessary vapours , and those vapours ascending up from the bowels , or stomack , to the head , and finding a depression , are converted or changed into a watry substance ; which watry substance falls down , like mizling or small rain , or in bigger drops , through the passage of the throat and wind-pipe : which being opprest , and the breath hindered , causes a strife ; which striving , is a straining ; like as when crumbs of bread , or drops of drink , go not rightly through the throat , but trouble and obstruct the wind-pipe , or when any such matter sticks in the passage of the throat : for , when any part of the body is obstructed , it endeavours to release it self from those obstructions : also , when the vapour that arises , arises in very thin and rarified vapour , that rarified vapour thickens or condenses not so suddenly , being farther from the degree of water ; but when condensed into water , it falls down by drops ; which drops trickling down the throat , ( like as tears from the eyes trickle down the cheeks of the face ) the cough is not so violent , but more frequent : but if the rheum be salt or sharp , that trickles down the throat , it causes a gentle or soft smart , which is much like the touch of tickling or itching , which provokes a faint or weak strain or cough . also , wind will provoke to strain or cough : the motion of wind is like as if hair should tickle the nose . or , wind will cause a tickling in the nose , which causes the effect of sneezing : for , sneezing is nothing but a cough through the nose ; i may say , it is a nose-cough . and hickops are but stomach-coughs , wind causing the stomack to strain . also , the guts have coughs , which are caused by the wind , which makes a strife in the guts and bowels . other coughs are produced from decayed parts : for , when any part is corrupted , it becomes less solid than naturally it should be : as for example , the flesh of the body , when corrupted , becomes from dense flesh , to a slimy substance ; thence , into a watry substance , which falls into parts , or changes from flesh , into a mixt corrupted matter , which falls into parts . the several mixtures , or distempered substances , and irregular motions , causes division of the composed parts ; but in the time of dissolving , and divisions of any part , there is a strife which causes pain : and if the strife be in the lungs , it causes coughs , by obstructing the breath : but , some coughs proceed from vapours and winds , arising from the decayed interior parts , sending up vapours from the dissolving substance , which causeth coughs ; and some coughs cause decays of the prime interior parts : for , when there falls from the head a constant distillation , this distillation is like dropping water , which will penetrate or divide stone ; and more easily will dropping or drilling water do it , as rheum , will corrupt spongy matter as flesh is : but , according as the rheum is fresh , salt , or sharp , the parts are a longer or shorter time decaying : for , salt and sharp is corroding ; and , by the corroding motions , ulcerates those parts the salt rheums fall on , which destroys them soon . as for chin-cough , 't is a wind or vapour arising from the lungs , through the wind-pipe ; and as long as the wind or vapour ascends , the patient cannot draw in reviving air or breath , but coughs violently and incessantly , until it faint away , or have no strength left ; and with straining , will be as if it were choaked or strangled , and become black in the face , and , after the cough is past , recover again ; but some dye of these sorts of coughs . chap. ix . of gangren's . gangren's are of the nature of the plague ; and they are of two sorts , as the plague is ; the one more sudden and deadly than the other : the only difference of their insecting qualities , is , that gangren's spread by insecting still the next , or neighbouring parts ; whereas plagues infect forrein , as much as home-parts . also , the deadly sort of gangren's , infect ( as i may say ) from the circumference towards the center : when as the deadly sorts of plague , infect from the center , towards the circumference . but , that sort of gangrene that is the weaker sort , infects only the next adjoining parts , by degrees , and after a spreading manner , rather than after a piercing manner . but some may object , that plagues and gangren's are produced from different causes ; as for example , extream cold will cause gangren's ; and extream heat causes plagues . i answer , that two opposite causes may produce like effects , for which may be brought numerous examples . chap. x. of cancers and fistula's . cancers and fistula's are somewhat alike , in that they are both produced from salt , or sharp corroding motions : but in this they differ , that cancers keep their center , and spread in streams ; whereas fistula's will run from place to place : for if it be stopt in one place , it is apt to remove and break out in another . yet cancers are somewhat like gangren's , in infecting adjoining parts ; so that unless a cancer be in such a place as can be divided from the sound parts , it destroys the human life , by eating ( as i may say ) the sound parts of the body , as all corroding , and sharp or salt diseases do . chap. xi . of the govt . as for the disease named the gout , i never heard but of two sorts ; the fixt , and the running gout : but , mistake me not , i mean fixt for place , not time. the fixt proceeds from hot , sharp , or salt motions : the running gout from cold , sharp motions ; but , both sorts are intermitting diseases , and very painful ; and i have heard those that have had the fixt gout , say , that the pain of the fixt gout , is somewhat like the tooth-ach : but , all gouts are occasioned by irregular pressures and re-actions . as for that sort that is named the windy gout , it is rather a sciatica , than a gout . chap. xii . of the stone . of the disease of the stone in human creatures , there are many sorts : for , though the stone of the bladder , of the kidneys , and in the gaul , be all of one kind of disease called the stone , yet they are of different sorts : but , whether the disease of the stone be produced of hot or cold motions , i cannot judg : but 't is probable , some are produced of hot motions , others of cold ; and perchance , others of such sorts of motions as are neither perfectly hot , nor cold : for , the stone is produced , as all other creatures , by such or such sorts of figurative motions . here is to be noted , that some of the humours of the body may alter their motion , and turn from being flegm , choler , or the like , to be stone ; and so from being a rare , moist , or loose body , to be a dry , densed , hard , or fixt body . but certainly , the stone of the bladder , kidneys and gaul , are of several sorts , as being produced by several sorts of figurative motions ; as also , according to the properties and forms of those several parts of the body they are produced in : for , as several sorts of soyls , or parts of the earth , produce several sorts of minerals ; so several parts of the body , several sorts of the disease of the stone : and , as there are several sorts of stones in the several parts of the earth ; so , no doubt , there may not only be several sorts of stone in several parts , but several sorts in one and the same part ; at least , in the like parts of several men. chap. xii . of apoplexies , and lethargies . apoplexies , lethargies , and the like diseases , are produced by some decay of the vital spirits , or by obstructions , as being obstructed by some superfluities , or through the irregularities of some sorts of motions , which occasion some passages to close , that should be open . but mistake me not , i do not mean empty passages ; for there is no such thing ( in my opinion ) in nature : but , i mean an open passage for a frequent course and recourse of parts . but an apoplexy is somewhat of the nature of a dead-palsie ; and a lethargy , of a numb-palsie ; but i have heard , that the opinion of learned men is , that some sorts of vaporous pains are the fore-runners of apoplexies and palsies : but , in my opinion , though a man may have two diseases at once ; yet surely , where vapour can pass , there cannot be an absolute stoppage . chap. xiii . of epilepsies . epilepsies , or that we name the falling-sickness , is of the nature of swounding or fainting fits : but there are two visible sorts ; the one is , that only the head is affected , and not the other parts of the body ; and for proof , those that are thus distempered only in the head , all the other parts will struggle and strive to help or assist the affected or afflicted parts , and those parts of the head that are not irregular , as may be observed by their motions ; but , by the means of some other parts , there will also be striving and strugling , as may be observed by foaming through the mouth . the other sort is like ordinary swounding-fits , where all the parts of the body seem , for a time , to be dead . but this is to be observed , that those that are thus diseased , have certain times of intermissions , as if the corporeal motions did keep a decorum in being irregular . but some have had epilepsies from their birth ; which proves , that their productive motions was irreguar . chap. xiv . of convulsions , and cramps . convulsions and cramps are somewhat alike ; and both , in my opinion , proceed from cold contractions : but , cramps are caused by the contractions of the capillary veins , or small fibers , rather than of the nerves and sinews : for , those contractions , if violent , are convulsions : so that cramps are contractions of the small fibers ; and convulsions are contractions of the nerves and sinews . but the reason ( i believe ) that these diseases proceed from cold contractions , is , that hot remedies produce , for the most part , perfect cures ; but , they must be such sorts of hot remedies , that are of a dilating or extenuating nature ; and not such whose properties are hot and dry , or contracting : also , the applications must be according to the strength of the disease . chap. xv. of cholicks . cholicks are like cramps or convulsions ; or convulsions and cramps , like cholicks : for , as convulsions are contractions of the nerves and sinews ; and cramps , contractions of the small fibers : so cholicks are a contracting of the gutts : and , for proof , so soon as the contracting motions alter , and are turn'd to dilating or expelling actions , the patient is at ease . but , there are several causes that produce the cholick : for , some cholicks are produced by hot and sharp motions , as bilious cholicks ; others from cold and sharp motions , as splenetick cholicks ; others from crude and raw humours ; some from hot winds ; some from cold winds . the same some sorts of convulsions and cramps may be : but , though these several cholicks may proceed from several causes ; yet , they all agree in this , to be contractions : for , as i said , when those corporeal motions alter their actions to dilatation or expulsion , the patient is at ease . but , those cholicks that proceed from hot and sharp motions , are the most painful and dangerous , by reason they are , for the most part , more strong and stubborn . as for cholicks in the stomack , they are caused by the same sorts of motions that cause some sorts of contractions : but , those sorts of cholick contractions , are after the manner of wreathing , or wringing contractions . the same in convulsive-contractions . chap. xvi . of shaking palsies . shaging palsies proceed from a slackness of the nerves , or sinew strings , as may be observed by those that hold or lay any heavy weight upon the arms , hands or leggs : for , when the burdens are removed , those limbs will be apt to tremble and shake so much , for a short time , ( until they have recovered their former strength ) that the leggs cannot go , or stand steadily ; nor the arms , or hands , do any thing without shaking . the reason of these sorts of slackness , is , that heavy burdens occasion the nerves and sinews to extend beyond their order ; and being stretched , they become more slack , and loose , by how much they were stretched , or extended ; until such time as they contract again into their proper posture : and the reason that old age is subject to shaking-palsies , is , that the frame of their whole body is looser and slacker , than when it was young : as in a decayed house , every material is looser than when it was first built ; but yet , sometimes an old shaking house will continue a great while , with some repairs : so old shaking men , with care , and good dyet , will continue a great time . but this is to be noted , that trembling is a kind of a shaking-palsie , although of another sort ; and so is weakness after sickness : but , these sorts are occasioned , as when a house shakes in a great wind , or storm ; and not through any fundamental decay . chap. xvii . of the muther , spleen , and scurvy . as for those diseases that are named the fits of the muther , the spleen , the scurvy , and the like ; although they are the most general diseases , especially amongst the females ; yet , each particular sort is so various , and hath such different effects , that , i observe , they puzzle the most learned men to find out their jugling , intricate , and uncertain actions . but this is to be observed , that the richest sorts of persons are most apt to these sorts of diseases ; which proves , that idleness and luxury is the occasion . chap. xviii . of food , or digestions . as i have said , digestions are so numerous , and so obscure , that the most learned men know not how food is converted and distributed to all the parts of the body : which obscurity occasions many arguments , and much dispute amongst the learned ; but , in my opinion , it is not the parts of the human body , that do digest the food , although they may be an occasion ( through their own regularities , or irregularities ) to cause good or bad digestions : but , the parts of the food , do digest themselves ; that is , alter their actions to the property and nature of a human body : so that digestive parts are only additional parts ; and , if those nourishing motions be regular , they distribute their several parts , and joyn their several parts , to those several parts of the body that require addition . also , the digestive motions are according to the nature or property of each several part of the human body , as for example , those digestive parts alter into blood , flesh , fat , marrow , brains , humors , and so into any other figurative parts of the sensitive body . the same may be said of the rational parts of the mind : but , if those digestive parts be irregular , they will cause a disorder in a well-ordered body : and , if the parts of the body be irregular , they will occasion a disorder amongst the digestive parts : but , according to the regularities and irregularities of the digestive parts , is the body more or less nourished . but this is to be noted , that according to the superfluity or scarcity of those digestive parts , the body is opprest , or starved . chap. xix . of svrfeits . svrfeits are occasioned after different manners : for , though many surfeits proceed from those parts that are received into the body ; yet , some are occasioned through often repetitions of one and the same actions : as for example , the eyes may surfeit with too often viewing one object ; the ears , with often hearing one sound ; the nose , with smelling one sent ; the tongue , with one tast. the same is to be said of the rational actions ; which surfeits , occasion an aversion to such or such particulars : but , for those surfeits that proceed from the parts that are received into the body , they are either through the quantity that oppresses the nature of the body ; or , through the quality of those parts , being not agreeable to the nature of the body ; or , through their irregularities , that occasion the like irregularities in the body : and sometimes , the fault is through the irregularities of the body , that hinder those received parts , or obstruct their regular digestions ; and sometimes , the fault is both of the parts of the body , and those of the food : but , the surfeits of those parts that receive not food , are caused through the often repetition of one and the same action . chap. xx. of natural evacuations , or purgings . there are many sorts , and several ways or means of purging actions ; whereof some we name natural , which purge the excremental parts ; and such natural purgings , are only of such parts as are no ways useful to the body ; or of those that are not willing to convert themselves into the nature and property of the substantial parts . there must of necessity be purging actions , as well as digestive actions ; because , no creature can subsist singly of it self , but all creatures subsist each by other ; so that , there must be dividing actions , as well as uniting actions ; only , several sorts of creatures , have several sorts of nourishments and evacuations . but this is to be noted , in the human nourishments and evacuations , that , through their irregularities , some men may nourish too much , and others purge too much ; and some may nourish too little , and some may purge too little . the irregularities concerning nourishments , are amongst the adjoining parts ; the errors concerning purging , are amongst the dividing parts . chap. xxi . of pvrging drvggs . there are many sorts of druggs , whereof some are beneficial , by assisting those particular parts of the body that are oppressed and offended , either by superfluous humours , or malignant humours : but , there are some sorts of druggs that are as malicious to the human life , as the assistant druggs are friendly . several sorts of druggs , have several sorts of actions , which causes several effects ; as , some druggs work by siege ; others , by urine ; some , by vomit ; others , by spitting ; others , by sweating ; some cause sleep ; some are hot , others are cold ; some dry , others moist . but this is to be noted , that 't is not the motions of the druggs , but the motion of the humours , which the druggs occasion to flow ; and not only to flow , but to flow after such or such a manner and way . the actions of druggs , are like the actions of hounds , or hawks , that flye at a particular bird , or run after a particular beast of their own kind , although of a different sort : the only difference is , that druggs are not only of a different sort , but of a different kind from animal kind ; at least , from human sort. chap. xxii . of the various humours of druggs . the reason , one and the same quantity or dose of one and the same sort of purging-druggs or medicine , will often work differently in several human bodies ; as also , differently in one and the same body , at several times of taking the same sorts of medicines ; is , that several parts of one and the same sort , may be differently humoured : as , some to be duller and slower than others ; and some to be more active than others . also , some parts may be ill-natured , and cause factions amongst the parts of the body ; whereas others will endeavour to rectifie disorders , or factions . and sometimes both the druggs , and the body , falls out ; and then there is a dangerous strife ; the body striving to expel the physick , and the physick endeavouring to stay in the body , to do the body some mischief . also , some parts of one and the same sort , may be so irregular , as to hunt not only the superfluous humours , or the malignant humors , but all sorts of flowing parts ; which may cause so great and general disorder , as may endanger human life . chap. xxiii . of cordials . there are many sorts of cordials : for , i take every beneficial remedy to be a cordial : but , many of the vulgar believe , that there is no cordial but brandy , or such like strong-waters ; at least , they believe all such remedies that are virtually hot , to be cordials : but , when they take too much of such cordials , either in sickness , or health , they will , in some time , find them as bad as poyson . but , all such applications as are named cordials , are not hot : for , some are cool , at least , of a temperate degree . and as there are regular and irregular corporeal motions ; so there are sympathetical , and antipathetical motions ; and yet both sorts may be regular . also , there is a neutral sort , that has neither sympathy nor antipathy , but is indifferent . but in disputes between two different parties , a third may come in to the assistance of one side , more out of hate to the opposite , than love to the assisted . the same may cordials , or such like applications , do , when the corporeal motions of human life are in disorder , and at variance : for , oftentimes there is as great a mutiny and disorder amongst the corporeal motions , both in the mind and body of a man , as in a publick state in time of rebellion : but , all assistant cordials , endeavour to assist the regular parts of the body , and to perswade the irregular parts . as for poysons , they are like forrein warr , that endeavours to destroy a peaceable government . chap. xxiv . of the different actions of the several sensitive parts of a human creature . some parts of a human creature will be regular , and some irregular : as , some of the sensitive parts will be regular , and some irregular ; that is , some parts will be painful , or sick , others well : some parts will make false perceptions ; others , true perceptions : some parts be temperate ; others , intemperate : some parts be madd , other parts sober : some parts be wise ; others , foolish : and the same is to be said of the rational motions . but , in a regular society , every part and particle of the body , is regularly agreeable , and sympathetical . chap. xxv . of the antipathy of some human creatures , to some forrein objects . as i have often said , there is often both sympathy and antipathy between the parts of some particular human and forrein objects ; in so much , that some will occasion such a general disturbance , as will cause a general alteration , viz. cause a man to swound , or at least , to be very faint , or sick : as for example , some will swound at some sorts of sounds , some sorts of scents , some sorts of tast , some sorts of touches , and some sorts of sights . again , on the other side , some human creatures will so sympathize with some sorts of forrein objects , as some will long for that , another will swound to have . chap. xxvi . of the effects of forrein objects , on the human mind . as there is often antipathy of the parts of a human creature , to forrein objects ; so there are often sympathetical effects produced from forrein objects , with the parts of a human creature . as for example , a timely , kind , and discreet discourse from a friend , will compose or quiet his troubled mind : likewise , an untimely , unkind , hasty , malicious , false , or sudden discourse , will often disorder a well-temper'd , or regular mind , the mind imitating the smooth or harsh strains of the object : and the same effects hath musick , on the minds of many human creatures . chap. xxvii . of contemplation . human contemplation , is a conversation amongst some of the rational parts of the human mind ; which parts , not regarding present objects , move either in devout notions , or vain fancies , remembrances , inventions , contrivancies , designs , or the like . but the question is , whether the sensitive parts of a human society , do , at any time , contemplate ? i answer , that some of the sensitive parts are so sociable , that they are , for the most part , agreeable to the rational : for , in deep contemplations , some of the sensitive parts do not take notice of forrein objects , but of the rational actions . also , if the contemplations be in devout notions , the sensitive parts express devotion by their actions , as i have formerly mentioned . also , when the rational parts move in actions of desire , straight the sensitive move in sympathetical appetites : wherefore , if the society be regular , the sensitive and rational parts are agreeable and sociable . chap. xxviii . of injecting of the blood of one animal , into the veins of another animal . to put blood of one animal , into another animal ; as for example , some ounces of blood taken , by some art , out of a dogg's veins , and , by some art , put into a man's veins , may very easily be done by injection ; and certainly , may as readily convert it self to the nature of human blood , as roots , herbs , fruit , and the like food ; and probably , will more aptly be transformed into human flesh , than hogg's blood , mixt with many ingredients , and then put into gutts , and boyled , ( an ordinary food amongst country people ; ) but blood being a loose humourish part , may encrease or diminish , as the other humors , viz. flegm , choler , and melancholy , are apt to do . but this is to be observed , that by reason blood is the most flowing humor , and of much more , or greater quantity than all the rest of the humours , it is apt ( if regular ) to cause , not only more frequent , but a more general disturbance . the eleventh part. chap. i. of the different knowledges , in different kinds and sorts of creatures . if there be not infinite kinds , yet , it is probable , there are infinite several sorts ; at least , infinite particular creatures , in every particular kind and sort ; and the corporeal motions moving after a different manner , is the cause there are different knowledges , in different creatures ; yet , none can be said to be least knowing , or most knowing : for , there is ( in my opinion ) no such thing as least and most , in nature : for , several kinds and sorts of knowledges , make not knowledg to be more , or less ; but only , they are different knowledges proper to their kind , ( as , animal-kind , vegetable-kind , mineral-kind , elemental-kind ) and are also different knowledges in several sorts : as for example , man may have a different knowledg from beasts , birds , fish , flies , worms , or the like ; and yet be no wiser than those sorts of animal-kinds . the same happens between the several knowledges of vegetables , minerals , and elements : but , because one creature doth not know what another creature knows , thence arises the opinion of insensibility , and irrationability , that some creatures have of others . but there is to be noted , that nature is so regular , or wise , in her actions , that the species and knowledg of every particular kind , is kept in an even , or equal balance : for example , the death or birth of animals , doth neither add or diminish from , or to the knowledg of the kind , or rather the sort. also , an animal can have no knowledg , but such as is proper to the species of his figure : but , if there be a creature of a mixt species , or figure , then their knowledg is according to their mixt form : for , the corporeal motions of every creature , move according to the form , frame , or species of their society : but , there is not only different knowledges , in different kinds and sorts of creatures ; but , there are different knowledges in the different parts of one and the same ; as , the different senses of seeing , hearing , smelling , tasting , and touching , have not only different knowledges in different sensitive organs , but in one sense , they have several perceptive knowledges : and though the different sensitive organs of a human creature , are ignorant of each other ; yet , each sense is as knowing as another . the same ( no question ) is amongst all the creatures in nature . chap. ii. of the variety of self-actions in particular creatures . there are numerous varieties of figurative motions in some creatures ; and in others , very few , in comparison : but , the occasion of that , is the manner of the frame and form of a creature : for , some creatures that are but small , have much more variety of figurative motions , than others that are very bigg and large creatures : so that , it is not only the quantity of matter , or number of parts , but the several changes of motion , by the variety of their active parts , that is the cause of it : for , nature is not only an infinite body , but , being self-moving , causes infinite variety , by the altered actions of her parts ; every altered action , causing both an altered self-knowledg , and an altered perceptive knowledg . chap. iii. of the variety of corporeal motion , of one and the same sort or kind of motion . there is infinite variety of motion of the same sorts and kinds of motions ; as for example , of dilatations , or extensions , expulsions , attractions , contractions , retentions , digestions , respirations : there is also varieties of densities , rarities , gravities , levities , measures , sizes , agilness , slowness , strength , weakness , times , seasons , growths , decays , lives , deaths , conceptions , perceptions , passions , appetites , sympathies , antipathies , and millions the like kinds , or sorts . chap. iv. of the variety of particular creatures . nature is so delighted with variety , that seldom two creatures ( although of the same sort , nay , from the same producers ) are just alike ; and yet human perception cannot perceive above four kinds of creatures , viz. animals , vegetables , minerals , and elements : but , the several sorts seem to be very numerous ; and the varieties of the several particulars , infinite : but , nature is necessitated to divide her creatures into kinds and sorts , to keep order and method : for , there may be numerous varieties of sorts ; as for example , many several worlds , and infinite varieties of particulars in those worlds : for , worlds may differ from each other , as much as several sorts of animals , vegetables , minerals , or elements ; and yet be all of that sort we name worlds : but , as for the infinite varieties of nature , we may say , that every part of nature is infinite , in some sort ; because every part of nature is a perpetual motion , and makes infinite varieties , by change or alteration of action : but , there is so much variety of the several shapes , figures , forms , and sizes , as , bigger , and less ; as also , several sorts of heats , colds , droughts , moistures , fires , airs , waters , earths , animals , vegetables , and minerals , as are not to be expressed . chap. v. of dividing , and rejoyning , or altering exterior figurative motions . the interior and exterior figurative motions of some sorts of creatures , are so united by their sympathetical actions , as they cannot be separated without a total dissolution ; and some cannot be altered without a dissolution ; and other figurative motions may separate , and unite again ; and others , if separate , cannot unite again , as they were before : as for example , the exterior parts of a human creature , if once divided , cannot be rejoyned ; when as some sorts of worms may be divided , and if those divided parts meet , can rejoyn , as before . also , some figurative motions of different sorts , and so different , that they are opposite , may unite in agreement , in one composition , or creature ; yet , when the very same sorts of figurative motions , are not so united , they are , as it were , deadly enemies . chap. vi. of different figurative motions in particular creatures . there are many creatures that are composed of very opposite figurative motions ; as for example , some parts of fire and water ; also , all cordials , vitriols , and the like waters ; also , iron and stone , and infinite the like : but , that which is composed of the most different figurative motions , is quick-silver , which is exteriorly cold , soft , fluid , agil , and heavy : also , divisible , and rejoynable ; and yet so retentive of its innate nature , that although it can be rarified , yet not easily dissolved ; at least , not that human creatures can perceive ; for , it hath puzled the best chymists . chap. vii . of the alterations of exterior and innate figurative motions of several sorts of creatures . the form of several creatures , is after several manners and ways , which causes several natures or properties : as for example , the exterior and innate corporeal motions of some creatures , depend so much on each other , that the least alteration of the one , causes a dissolution of the whole creature ; whereas the exterior corporeal motions of other sorts of creatures , can change and rechange their actions , without the least disturbance to the innate figurative motions : in other sorts the innate motions shall be quite altered , but their exterior motions be in some manner consistent : as for proof , fire is of that nature , that both the exterior and innate motions , are of one and the same sort ; so that the alteration of the one , causeth a dissolution of the other ; that is , fire loses the property of fire , and is altered from being fire . on the other side , the exterior figurative motions of water , can change and rechange , without any disturbance to the innate nature : but , though the alteration of the innate figurative motions of all creatures , must of necessity alter the life and knowledg of that creature ; yet there may be such consistent motions amongst the exterior parts of some sorts of creatures , that they will keep their exterior form : as for example , a tree that is cut down , or into pieces , when those pieces are withered , and , as we say , dead ; yet , they remain of the figure of wood. also , a dead beast doth not alter the figure of flesh or bones , presently . also , a dead man doth not presently dissolve from the figure of man ; and some , by the art of embalming , will occasion the remaining figurative motions of the dead man to continue , so that those sorts of motions , that are the frame and form , are not quite altered : but yet , those exterior forms are so altered , that they are not such as those by which we name a living man. the same of flyes , or the like , intomb'd in amber : but by this we may perceive , that the innate figurative motions may be quite altered , and yet the exterior figurative consistent motions , do , in some manner , keep in the figure , form , or frame of their society . the truth is , ( in my opinion ) that all the parts that remain undissolved , have quite altered their animal actions ; but only the consistent actions , of the form of their society , remains , so as to have a resemblance of their frame or form. chap. viii . of local motion . all corporeal motion is local ; but only they are different local motions : and some sorts or kinds , have advantage of others , and some have power over others , as , in a manner , to inforce them to alter their figurative motions ; as for example , when one creature doth destroy another , those that are the destroyers , occasion those that we name the destroyed , to dissolve their unity , and to alter their actions : for , they cannot annihilate their actions ; nor can they give or take away the power of self-motions ; but , as i said , some corporeal motions can occasion other corporeal motions to move so , or so . but this is to be noted , that several sorts of creatures have a mixture of several sorts of figurative motions ; as for example , there are flying fish , and swimming beasts ; also , there are some creatures that are partly beasts , and partly fish , as otters , and many others ; also , a mule is partly a horse , and an ass ; a batt is partly a mouse , and a bird ; an owle is partly a cat and a bird ; and numerous other creatures there are , that are partly of one sort , and partly of another . chap. ix . of several manners , or ways of advantages , or disadvantages . not only the manner , form , frame , or shape of particular creatures ; but also , the regularity or irregularity of the corporeal motions of particular creatures , doth cause that which man names strength or weakness , obedience or disobedience , advantages or disadvantages of power and authority , or the like : as for example , a greater number will overpower a lesse : for , though there be no differences ( as being no degrees ) of self-strength amongst the self-moving parts , or corporeal motions ; yet , there may be stronger and weaker compositions , or associations ; and a greater number of corporeal motions , makes a stronger party : but , if the greater party be irregular , and the lesser party be regular , a hundred to one , but the weaker party is victorious . also , the manner of the corporeal motions ; as , a diving-motion may get the better of a swimming-motion ; and , in some cases , the swimming , the better of the diving . jumping may have the advantage over running ; and , in other cases , running , over jumping . also , creeping may have the advantage over flying ; and , in other cases , flying , over creeping . a cross motion may have the advantage over a straight ; and , in other cases , a straight , over a cross. so it may be said , of turning and lifting , of contracting and dilating motions . and many the like examples may be had ; but , as i have often said , there is much advantage and disadvantage in the manner and way of the composed form and figure of creatures . chap. x. of the actions of some sorts of creatures , over others . some sorts of creatures are more exteriorly active , than other sorts ; and some more interiorly active ; some more rare , some more dense , and the like : also , some dense creatures are more active than the rare ; and some rare , are more active than other sorts that are dense . also , some creatures that are rare , have advantage of some that are dense ; and some that are dense , over some sorts that are rare ; some leight bodies , over some heavy bodies ; and some heavy bodies , over some sorts of leight bodies . also , several sorts of exterior motions , of several sorts of creatures , have advantage and disadvantage of each other ; as for example , springs of water , and air , will make passages , and so divide hard strong rocks . and , on the other side , a straw will divide parts of water ; and a small flye , will divide parts of the air : but , mistake me not , i mean , that they occasion the airy or watry parts , to divide . chap. xi . of glassie bodies . t is impossible , as i have said , to describe the infinite corporeal figurative motions : but , amongst those creatures that are subject to human perception , there are some that resemble each other , and yet are of different natures ; as for example , black ebony , and black marble , they are both glassie , smooth , and black ; yet , one is stone , the other wood. also , there be many light and shining bodies , that are of different natures ; as for example , metal is a bright shining body ; and divers sorts of stones , are bright shining bodies : also , clear water is a bright shining body ; yet , the metal and stones are minerals , and water is an element . indeed , most bodies are of a glassie hue , or , as i may say , complexion ; as may be observed in most vegetables ; as also , skins , feathers , scales , and the like . but some may say , that glassiness is made by the brightness of the light that shines upon them . i answer : if so , then the ordinary earth would have the like glassiness : but , we perceive the earth to appear dull in the clearest sun-shining day : wherefore , it is not the light , but the nature of their own bodies . besides , every body hath not one and the same sort of glassiness , but some are very different : 't is true , some sorts of bodies do not appear glassie , or shining , until they be polished : but , as for such sorts of shining bodies that appear in the dark , there is not many of them perceiv'd by us , besides the moon and starrs ; but yet some there are , as fire ; but that is an element . there are also glow-worms tayles , cats eyes , rotten wood , and such like shining-bodies . chap. xii . of metamorphoses , or transformations of animals and vegetables . there are some creatures that cannot be metamorphosed : as for example , animals and vegetables , at least , most of those sorts , by reason they are composed of many several and different figurative motions ; and i understand metamorphose , to be a change and alteration of the exterior form , but not any change or alteration of the interior or intellectual nature : and how can there be a general change of the exterior form or shape of a human creature , or such like animal , when the different figurative motions of his different compositions , are , for the most part , ignorant of each others particular actions ? besides , as animals and vegetables require degrees of time for their productions , as also , for their perfections ; so , some time is requir'd for their alterations : but , a sudden alteration amongst different figurative motions , would cause such a confusion , that it would cause a dissolution of the whole creature , especially in actions that are not natural , as being improper to their kind , or sort : the same of vegetables , which have many different figurative motions . this considered , i cannot chuse but wonder , that wise men should believe ( as some do ) the change or transformation of witches , into many sorts of creatures . chap. xiii . of the life and death of several creatures . that which man names life , and death , ( which are some sorts of compositions and divisions of parts of creatures ) is very different , in different kinds and sorts of creatures , as also , in one and the same sort : as for example , some vegetables are old and decrepit in a day ; others are not in perfection , or in their prime , in less than a hundred years . the same may be said of animal kinds . a silk-worm is no sooner born , but dyes ; when as other animals may live a hundred years . as for minerals , tinn and lead seem but of a short life , to gold ; as a worm to an elephant , or a tulip to an oak for lasting ; and 't is probable , the several productions of the planets and fixed starrs , may be as far more lasting , than the parts of gold more lasting than a flye : for , if a composed creature were a million of years producing , or millions of years dissolving , it were nothing to eternity : but , those produced motions that make vegetables , minerals , elements , and the like , the subtilest philosopher , or chymist , in nature , can never perceive , or find out ; because , human perception is not so subtile , as to perceive that which man names natural productions : for , though all the corporeal motions in nature are perceptive ; yet , every perceptive part doth not perceive all the actions in nature : for , though every different corporeal motion , is a different perception ; yet , there are more objects than any one creature can perceive : also , every particular kind or sort of creatures , have different perceptions , occasioned by the frame and form of their compositions , or unities of their parts : so as the perceptions of animals , are not like the perceptions of vegetables ; nor vegetables , like the perceptions of minerals ; nor minerals , like the perceptions of elements : for , though all these several kinds and sorts , be perceptive ; yet , not after one and the same way , or manner of perception : but , as there is infinite variety of corporeal motions , so there are infinite varieties of perceptions : for , infinite self-moving matter , hath infinite varieties of actions . but , to return to the discourse of the productions and dissolutions of creatures ; the reason , that some creatures last longer than others , is , that some forms or frames of their composition , are of a more lasting figure . but this is to be observed , that the figures that are most solid , are more lasting than those that are more slack and loose : but mistake me not ; i say , for the most part , they are more lasting . also , this is to be noted , that some compositions require more labour ; some , more curiosity ; and some are more full of variety , than others . chap. xiv . of circles . a circle is a round figure , without end ; which figure can more easily and aptly alter the exterior form , than any other figure . for example , a circular line may be drawn many several ways , into different and several sorts of figures , without breaking the circle : also , it may be contracted or extended into a less or wider compass ; and drawn or formed into many several sorts of figures , or works ; as , into a square , or triangle , or oval , or cylinder , or like several sorts of flowers , and never dissolve the circular line . but this is to be noted , that there may be several sorts of circular lines ; as , some broad , some narrow , some round , some flat , some ragged or twisted , some smooth , some pointed , some edged , and numbers of the like ; and yet the compass be exactly round . but some may say , that , when a circle is drawn into several works , it is not a circle : as for example , when a circle is squared , it is not a circle , but a square . i answer : it is a circle squar'd , but not a circle broken , or divided : for , the interior nature is not dissolved , although the exterior figure is altered : it is a natural circle , although it should be put into a mathematical square . but , to conclude this chapter , i say , that all such sorts of figures that are ( like circular lines ) of one piece , may change and rechange their exterior figures , or shapes , without any alterations of their interior properties . chap. xv. human creatures cannot so probably treat of other sorts of creatures , as of their own . to treat of the productions of vegetables , minerals , and elements , is not so easie a task , as to treat of animals ; and , amongst animals , the most easie task is , to treat of human productions ; by reason one human creature may more probably guess at the nature of all human creatures ( being of the same nature ) than he can of other kinds of other kinds of creatures , that are of another nature . but , mistake me not , i mean not of another nature , being not of the same kind of creature , but concerning vegetables , minerals , and elements . the elements may more easily be treated of , than the other two kinds : for , though there be numerous sorts of them , at least , numerous several particulars ; yet , not so many several sorts , as of vegetables : and though minerals are not , as to my knowledg , so numerous as vegetables ; yet , they are of more , or at least , of as many sorts as elements are . but , by reason i am unlearned , i shall only give my opinion of the productions of some sorts ; in which , i fear , i shall rather discover my ignorance , than the truth of their productions . but , i hope my readers will not find fault with my endeavour , though they may find fault with my little experience , and want of learning . the twelfth part. chap. i. of the equality of elements . as for the four elements , fire , air , water , and earth ; they subsist , as all other creatures , which subsist by each other : but , in my opinion , there should be an equality of the four elements , to balance the world : for , if one sort should superabound , it would occasion such an irregularity , that would cause a dissolution of this world ; as , when some particular humour in man's body superabounds , or there is a scarcity of some humours , it causes such irregularities , that do , many times , occasion his destruction . the same may be said of the four elements of the world : as for example , if there were not a sufficient quantity of elemental air , the elemental fire would go out ; and if not a sufficient quantity of elemental fire , the air would corrupt : also , if there were not a sufficient quantity of elemental water , the elemental fire would burn the earth ; and if there were not a sufficient quantity of earth , there would not be a solid and firm foundation for the creatures of the earth : for , if there were not density , as well as rarity ; and levity , as well as gravity ; nature would run into extreams . chap. ii. of several tempers . heat doth not make drought : for , there is a temper of hot and moist . nor cold doth not make drought : for , there is a temper of cold and moist . neither doth heat make moisture : for , there is a temper of hot and dry. nor doth cold make moisture : for , there is a temper of cold and dry. but , such or such sorts of corporeal figurative motions , make hot , cold , moist , dry ; hot and dry , hot and moist ; cold and dry , cold and moist ; and , as those figurative motions alter their actions , those tempers are altered : the like happens in all creatures . but this is to be observed , that there is some opposite or contrary tempers , which have a likeness of motion : as for example , a moist heat , and a moist cold , have a likeness or resemblance of moistness ; and the same is in dry heats and cold : but surely , most sorts of moistures , are some sorts of dilative motions ; and most droughts , are some sorts of contractive motions : but , there are several sorts of dilatations , contractions , retentions , expulsions , and the like : for , there are cold contractions , hot contractions ; cold dilatations , hot dilatations ; hot retentions , cold retentions ; and so of digestions , expulsions , and the like : but , as i said , moist heats , and moist colds , seem of a dilative nature ; as dry , of a contractive nature . but , all cold and heat , or dry and moist , may be made by one and the same corporeal motions : for , though the actions may vary , the parts may be the same : yea , the like actions may be in different parts . but , no part is bound to any particular action , having a free liberty of self-motion . but , concerning hot and cold , and the like actions , i observe , that extream heat , and extream cold , is of a like power , or degree : neither can i perceive the hot motions to be quicker than cold : for water , in little quantity , shall as suddenly freeze , as any leight fewel or straw , burn : and animals will as soon freeze to death , as be burned to death : and cold is as powerful at the poles , as heat in the torrid zone . and 't is to be observed , that freezing is as quick and sudden , as thawing : but sometimes , nay very often , cold and hot motions will dispute for power ; and some sorts of hot , with other sorts . the like disputes are amongst several sorts of cold motions ; dry with moist , dry with dry , moist with moist . and the like disputes are also often amongst all creatures . as for density , it doth not make gravity : for , there may be dense bodies , that are not grave ; as for example , feathers , and snow . neither doth gravity make density : for , a quantity of air hath some weight , and yet is not dense . but mistake me not ; for , i mean by grave , heavy ; and not for the effects of ascending , and descending : for feathers , though dense , are more apt to ascend , than descend ; and snow , to descend . also , all sorts of fluidity , do not cause moist , liquid , or wet ; nor all extenuations , cause light : but , they are such and such sorts of fluidities and extenuations , that cause such and such effects . and so for heats , colds , droughts , moistures , rarities . the same for gravities , levities , and the like . so that , creatures are rare , fluid , moist , wet , dry , dense , hard , soft , leight , heavy , and the like , according to their figurative motions . chap. iii. of the change and rechange ; and of dividing and ioyning of the parts of the elements . of all creatures subject to human perception , the elements are most apt to transform , viz. to change and rechange ; also , to divide and ioyn their parts , without altering their innate nature and property . the reason is , because the innate figurative motions of elements , are not so different as those of animals and vegetables , whose compositions are of many different figurative motions ; in so much , that dis-joining any part of animals , or vegetables , they cannot be joined again , as they were before ; at least , it is not commonly done : but , the nature and property of the elements , is , that every part and particle are of one innate figurative motion ; so that the least grain of dust , or the least drop of water , or the least spark of fire , is of the same innate nature , property , and figurative motions , as the whole element ; when as , of animals , and vegetables , almost , every part and particle is of a different figurative motion . chap. iv. of the innate figurative motions of earth . there are many sorts of earth , yet all sorts are of the same kind ; that is , they are all earth : but ( in my opinion ) the prime figurative motions of earth , are circles ; but not dilated circles , but contracted circles : neither are those circles smooth , but rugged ; which is the cause that earth is dull , or dim , and is easily divided into dusty parts : for all , or at least , most bodies that are smooth , are more apt to joyn , than divide ; and have a glassie hew or complexion ; which is occasioned by the smoothness , and the smoothness occasioned by the evenness of parts , being without intervals : but , according as these sorts of circular motions are more or less contracted , and more or less rugged , they cause several sorts of earth . chap. v. of the figurative motions of air. there are many sorts of airs , as there is of other creatures , of one and the same kind : but , for elemental air , is composed of very rare , figurative motions ; and the innate motions , i conceive to be somewhat of the nature of water , viz. circular figurative motions , only of a more dilating property ; which causes air , not to be wet , but extraordinary rare ; which again causes it to be somewhat of the nature of light : for , the rarity occasions air to be very searching and penetrating ; also , dividable and compoundable : but , the rarity of air , is the cause that it is not subject to some sorts of human perception ; but yet , not so rare , as not to be subject to human respirations ; which is one sort of human perception : for , all parts of all creatures , are perceptive one way , or another : but , as i said , there are many sorts of air ; as , some cold , some hot ; some dry , some moist ; some sharp ; some corrupt , some pure , some gross ; and numbers more : but , many of these sorts are rather metamorphosed vapours , and waters , than pure elemental air : for , the pure elemental air , is , in my opinion , more searching and penetrating , than light ; by reason light may be more easily eclipsed , or stopt ; when as air will search every pore , and every creature , to get entrance . chap. vi. of the innate figurative motion of fire . the innate figurative motions of elemental fire , seem the most difficult to human perception , and conception : for , by the agilness , it seems to be more pure than the other sorts of elements ; yet , by the light , or visibleness , it seems more gross than air ; but , by the dilating property , it seems to be more rare than air , at least , as rare as air. by the glassie or shining property , it seems to be of smooth and even parts : also , by the piercing and wounding property , fire seems to be composed of sharp-pointed figurative motions : wherefore , the innate figurative motions of fire , are , pure , rare , smooth , sharp points , which can move in circles , squares , triangles , parallels , or any other sorts of exterior figures , without an alteration of its interior nature ; as may be observed by many sorts of fuels : as also , it can contract and dilate its parts , without any alteration of its innate property . chap. vii . of the productions of elemental fire . it is to be observed , that points of fire are more numerous , and more suddenly propagating , than any other element , or any other creature that is subject to human perception . but , sparks of fire , resemble the seeds of vegetables , in this , that as vegetables will not encrease in all sorts of soyles , alike ; neither will the points of fire , in all sorts of fuel , alike . and , as vegetables produce different effects in several soyls ; so doth fire on several fuels : as for example , the seeds of vegetables do not work the same effect in a birds crop , as in the earth : for , there they encrease the bird by digestion ; but , in the ground , they encrease their own issue ( as i may say ) : so fire , in some fuels , doth destroy it self , and occasions the fuel to be more consumed ; when as , in other sorts of fuel , fire encreases extreamly . but fire , as all other creatures , cannot subsist single of it self , but must have food and respiration ; which proves , fire is not an immaterial motion . also , fire hath enemies , as well as friends ; and some are deadly , namely , water , or watry liquors . also , fire is forced to comply with the figurative motions of those creatures it is joyned to : for , all fuels will not burn , or alter , alike . chap. viii . of flame . flame is the rarest part of fire : and though the fuel of flame be of a vaporous and smoaky substance ; yet surely , there are pure flames , which are perfect fires : and , for proof , we may observe , that flame will dilate and run , as it were , to catch smoak : but , when the smoak is above the flame , if it be higher than the flame can extend , it contracts back to the fiery body . but , flame doth somewhat resemble that we name natural light : but yet , in my opinion , light is not flame ; nor hath it any fiery property , although it be such a sort of extenuating or dilating actions , as flame hath . chap. ix . of the two sorts of fire most different . there are many sorts of fires : but two sorts are most opposite ; that is , the hot , glowing , burning , bright , shining fire ; and that sort of fire we name a dead , dull fire ; as , vitriol fires , cordial fires , corrosive fires , feverish fires , and numerous other sorts ; and every several sort , hath some several property : as for example , there is greater difference between the fiery property of oyl , and the fiery property of vitriol : for , oyl is neither exteriorly hot , nor burning ; whereas vitriol is exteriorly burning , though not exteriorly hot : but , the difference of these sorts of fires , is , that the actions of elemental fire , are to ascend , rather than to descend : and the dull , dead fire , is rather apt to descend , than ascend ; that is , to pierce , or dilate , either upwards , or downwards : but , they are both of dilating and dividing natures . but this is to be noted , that all sorts of heats , or hotness , are not fire . also it is to be noted , that all fires are not shining . chap. x. of dead or dull fires . of dull , dead fires , some sorts seem to be of a mixt sort : as for example , vitriol , and the like , seem to be exteriorly , of the figurative motions of fire ; and interiorly , of the figurative motions of water , or of watry liquors : and oyl is of fiery figurative motions , interiorly ; and of liquid figurative motions , exteriorly ; which is the cause that the fiery properties of oyl cannot be altered , without a total dissolution of their natures . but , such sorts whose fiery figurative motions are exterior , as being not their innate nature , may be divided from those other natural parts they were joyned to , without altering their innate nature . chap. xi . of the occasional actions of fire . all creatures have not only innate figurative motions that cause them to be such or such a sort of creature ; but , they have such and such actions , that cause such and such effects : also , every creature is occasioned to particular actions , by forrein objects ; many times to improper actions , and sometimes to ruinous actious , even to the dissolution of their nature : and , of all creatures , fire is the most ready to occasion the most mischief ; at least , disorders : for , where it can get entrance , it seldom fails of causing such a disturbance , as occasions a ruine . the reason is , that most creatures are porous : for , all creatures , subsisting by each other , must of necessity have egress and regress , being composed of interior and exterior corporeal motions . and fire , being the sharpest figurative motion , is apt to enter into the smallest pores . but some may ask , whether fire is porous it self ? i answer : that having respiration , it is a sufficient proof that it is porous : for , fire dyes if it hath not air. but some may say , how can a point be porous ? i answer , that a point is composed of parts , and therefore may very well be porous : for , there is no such thing as a single part in nature , and therefore , not a single point . also , some may say , if there be pores in nature , there may be vacuum . i answer , that , in my opinion , there is not ; because there is no empty pores in nature : pores signifying only an egress and regress of parts . chap. xii . fire hath not the property to change and rechange . of all the elemental creatures , fire is the least subject to change : for , though it be apt to occasion other creatures to alter ; yet it keeps close to its own properties , and proper actions : for , it cannot change , and rechange , as water can . also , natural air is not apt to change and rechange , as water : for , though it can ( as all the elements ) divide and join its parts , without altering the property of its nature : yet , it cannot readily alter , and alter again , its natural properties , as water can . the truth is , water and fire , are opposite in all their properties : but , as fire is , of all the elements , the furthest from altering : so water is , of all the elements , the most subject to alter : for , all circular figures are apt to variety . chap. xiii . of the innate figurative motions of water . the nature of water is , rare , fluid , moist , liquid , wet , glutinous , and glassie . likewise , water is apt to divide and unite its parts , most of which properties are caused by several sorts of dilatations , or extenuations : but , the interior , or innate figure of water , is a circular line . but yet , it is to be observed , that there are many several sorts of waters , as there are many several sorts of airs , fires , and earths , and so of all creatures : for , some waters are more rare than others , some more leight , and some more heavy ; some more clear , and some more dull ; some salt , some sharp ; some bitter , some more fresh , or sweet ; some have cold effects , some hot effects : all which is caused by the several figurative motions of several sorts of waters : but , the nature of water is such , as it can easily alter , or change , and rechange , and yet keep its interior , or innate nature or figure . but this is also to be observed , that the dilating or extenuating circle of water , is of a middle degree , as between two extreams . chap. xiv . the nature or property of water . wetness , which is the interior or innate property , or nature of water , is , in my opinion , caused by some sort of dilatations or extenuations . as , all droughts , or dryness , are caused by some sorts of contractions ; so , all moistures , liquors , and wets , by dilatations : yet , those extenuations , or dilatations , that cause wet , must be of such a sort of dilatations , as are proper to wet ; viz. such a sort of extenuations , as are circular extenuations ; which do dilate , or extenuate , in a smooth , equal dilatation , from the center , to the circumference ; which extenuations , or dilatations , are of a middle degree ; for otherwise , the figure of water might be extended beyond the degree of wet ; or , not extended to the degree of wet . and it is to be observed , that there is such a degree as only causes moistness , and another to cause liquidness , the third to cause wetness : for , though moistness and liquidness are in the way of wetness ; yet , they are not that which we name wet : also , all that is soft , or smooth , is not wet ; nor is all that is liquid , or flowing , wet : for , some sorts of air are liquid and flowing , but not wet : nay , flame is liquid and flowing , but yet quite opposite from wet . dust is flowing , but neither liquid or wet , in its nature . and hair and feathers are soft and smooth , but neither liquid , nor wet . but , as i said , water is of such a nature , as to have the properties of soft , smooth , moist , liquid , and vvet ; and is also of such flowing properties , caused by such a sort of extenuating circles as are of a middle or mean degree : but yet , there are many several sorts of liquors , and vvets , as we may perceive in fruit , herbs , and the like : but , all sorts of vvets , and liquors , are of a watry kind , though of a different sort . but , as i have said , all things that are fluid , are not vvet ; as , melted metal , flame , light , and the like , are fluid , but not wet : and smoak and oyl are of another sort of liquidness , than vvater , or juyce ; but yet they are not wet : and that which causes the difference of different sorts of vvaters , and vvatry liquors , are the differences of the watry circular lines ; as , some are edged , some are pointed , some are twisted , some are braided , some are flat , some are round , some ruff , some smooth ; and so after divers several forms or figures : and yet are perfect circles , and of some such a degree of extenuations or dilatations . chap. xv. of the alteration of the exterior figurative motion of water . as i formerly said , the figurative motions of the innate nature of vvater , is a sort of extenuating ; as being an equal , smooth circle : which is the cause vvater is rare , fluid , moist , liquid , and wet . but , the exterior figurative motions of the watry circle , may be edged , pointed , sharp , blunt , flat , round , smooth , ruff , or the like ; which may be either divided , or altered , without any alteration of the innate nature , or property : as for example , salt-water may be made fresh , or the salt parts divided from the watry circle : the like of other sorts of vvaters ; and yet the nature of vvater remains . chap. xvi . of oyl , and vitriol . the exterior figurative motions of oyl , are so much like those of water , as , to be fluid , smooth , soft , moist , and liquid , although not perfectly wet : but , the interior figurative motions of oyl , are of that sort of fire , that we name a dull , dead fire : and the difference between salt waters , vitriol or the like , and oyl , is , that the exterior figurative motions of vitriol and salt waters , are of a sort of fire ; whereas it is the interior figurative motions of oyl , or the like , that are of those sorts of fire ; and that is the reason that the fiery motions of oyl cannot be altered , as the fiery motions of vitriol may . but this is to be noted , that although the interior figurative motions of oyl , are of such a sort of fiery motions ; yet , not just like those of vitriol ; and are not burning , corroding , or wounding , as vitriols , corrosives , and the like , are : for , those are somewhat more of the nature of bright shining fires , than oyls . chap. xvii . of mineral and sulphureous waters . in sulphureous and mineral waters , the sulphureous and mineral corporeal motions , are exterior , and not interior , like salt waters : but , there are several sorts of such waters ; also , some are occasionally , others naturally so affected : for , some waters running through sulphureous , or mineral mines , gather , like a rowling stone , some of the loose parts of gravel , or sand ; which , as they stick or cleave to the rowling stone ; so they do to the running waters ; as we may perceive by those waters that spring out of chalk , clay , or lime grounds , which will have some tinctures of the lime , chalk , or clay ; and the same happens to minerals . but , some are naturally sulphureous ; as for example , some sorts of hot baths are as naturally sulphureous , as the sea-water is salt : but , all those effects of minerals , sulphurs , and the like , are dividable from , and also may be joyn'd to , the body of water , without any disturbance to the nature of water ; as may be proved by salt-water , which will cause fresh meat to be salt ; and salt meat will cause fresh-water to be salt . as for hot baths , those have hot figurative motions , but not burning : and the moist , liquid , and wet nature of water , makes it apt to joyn , and divide , to , and from other sorts of motions ; as also , to and from its own sort . chap. xviii . the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the sea. the nature of water is to flow ; so that all sorts of waters will flow , if they be not obstructed : but it is not the nature of water , to ebb . neither can water flow beyond the power of its quantity : for , a little water will not flow so far as a great one . but , i do not mean by flowing , the falling of water from some descent ; but , to flow upon a level : for , as i have said , all waters do naturally flow , if they be not obstructed ; but , few sorts of water , besides sea-water , ebbs . as for the exterior figurative motions of water , in the action of flowing , they are an oval , or a half circle , or a half moon ; where the middle parts of the half moon , or circle , are fuller than the two ends. also , the figure of a half moon , or half circle , is concave on the inside , and convex on the outside of the circle : but , these figurative motions , in a great quantity of water , are bigg and full , which we name waves of water ; which waves flowing fast upon each other , presses each other forward , until such time as the half circle divides : for , when the bow of the half circle is over-bent , or stretched , it divides into the middle , which is most extended : and when a half circle ( which is a whole wave of water ) is divided , the divided parts fall equally back on each side of the flowing waves : so , every wave dividing , after that manner , in the full extension , it causes the motion of ebbing , that is , to flow back , as it flow'd forward : for , the divided parts falling back , and joining as they meet , makes the head of the half circle , where the ends of the half circle were ; and the convex , where the concave was ; by which action , the ebbing parts are become the flowing parts . and the reason that it ebbs and flows by degrees , is , that the flowing half circles require so much time to be at the utmost extension . also , every wave , or half circle , divides not all at one time , but one after another : for , two bodies cannot be in one place at one point of time ; and until the second , third , and so the rest , flow as far as the first , they are not at their full extension . and thus the sea , or such a great body of water , must flow , and ebb , as being its nature to flow ; and the flowing figure , being over-extended , by endeavouring to flow beyond its power , causes a dividing of the extended parts , which is the cause of the ebbing . but , whether this opinion of mine , be as probable as any of the former opinions concerning the ebbing and flowing of the sea , i cannot judg : but i would not be mistaken ; for the flowing of the water , is according to its quantity ; for , the further it flows , the fainter , or weaker it is . chap. xix . of overflows . as for overflows , there be many ; and many more would be , if the waters were not hindred and obstructed by man's inventions . but , some overflows are very uncertain and irregular ; others , certain and regular , as , the flowing of nilus in egypt : but as for the distance of time of its flowing , it may proceed from the far journey of those flowing-waters : and , the time of its ebbing , may be attributed to the great quantity of water ; so that the great quantity of water , will cause a longer or a shorter time in the flowing or ebbing ; and certainly the waters are as long a flowing back , as flowing forward . as for spring tides , they are only in such a time when there is a naturall issue of a greater quantity of water : so that spring-tides are but once a month , and single-tides in so many hours : but , many several occasions , may make the tides to be more or less full . as for double-tides , they are occasioned through the irregular dividing of the half-circle ; as , when they divide not orderly , but faster than they orderly should do ; which , falling back in a crowd , and being , by that means , obstructed , so that they cannot get forward , they are necessitated to flow , where they ebb'd . the reason the tides flow through streams of running-waters , is , that the tide is stronger than the stream : but , if the stream and tides pass through each other , then the tide and stream are somewhat like duellers together , which make passes and passages for their conveniency . chap. xx. of the figure of ice and snow . a circle may not only extend and contract it self without dividing ; but may draw it self into many several figures , as squares , or triangles : as also , into many other figures mix'd of squares , triangles , cubes , or the like ; being partly one , and partly , another ; and into other several ways , and after several manners ; which is the reason , water may appear in many several postures of snow , ice , hail , frost , and the like : and , in my opinion , when the water-circle is triangular , it is snow ; when the circle is square , it is ice : as for hail , they are but small pieces of ice ; that is , small parts , or few drops of water , changed into ice ; and those several parts moving after several manners , make the exterior figures , after several shapes ; as , great bodies of ice will be of many several shapes , occasioned by many or fewer parts , and by the several postures of those parts : but , such figures , though they are of ice , yet , are not the innate figures of ice . the same is to be said of snow . but , the reason of these my opinions concerning the figures of ice and snow , is , that snow is leighter than the water it self ; and ice is heavier , at least , as heavy . and the reason snow is so leight , is , that a triangular figure hath no poyse , being an odd figure ; whereas a square is poysed by even and equal lines , and just number of points , as , two to two : but , a triangle is two to one. also , a circle is a poysed figure , as being equal every way , from the center to the circumference ; and from the circumference to the center , all the lines drawing to one point . but , mistake me not ; for i treat ( concerning the figures of snow and ice ) only of those figures that cause water to be snow or ice ; and not of the exterior figures of snow and ice , which are occasioned by the order or disorder of adjoining parts : for , several parts of water , may order themselves into numerous several figures , which concern not the nature of water , as it is water , snow , or ice : as for example , many men in a battel , or upon ceremony , joyn into many several figures or forms ; which figures or forms , are of no concern to their innate nature . also , the several figures or forms of several houses , or several sorts of building in one house , are of no concern to the innate nature of the materials . the like for the exterior figures of ice and snow ; and therefore microscopes may deceive the artist , who may take the exterior for the interior figure ; but there may be great difference between them . chap. xxi . of the change and rechange of water . water being of a circular figurative motion , is , as it were , but one part , having no divisions ; and therefore can more easily change and rechange it self into several postures , viz. into the posture of a triangle , or square ; or can be dilated or extended into a larger compass , or contracted into a lesser compass ; which is the cause it can turn into vapour and vaporous air ; or into slime , or into some grosser figure : for example , water can extend it self beyond the proper degrees of water , into the degree of vapour ; and the circle , extending further than the degree of a vaporous circle , is extended into a vaporous air ; and if the vaporous airy circle be extreamly extended , it becomes so small , as it becomes to be a sharp edg , and so , in a degree , next to fire ; at least , to have a hot effect : but , if it extends further than an edg , the circle breaks into flashes of fire , like lightning , which is a flowing flame : for , being produced from water , it hath the property of flowing , or streaming , as vvater hath , as we may perceive by the effects of some few parts of vvater flung on a bright fire ; for those few drops of vvater being not enough to quench the fire , straight dilate so extreamly , that they break into a flame ; or else cause the fire to be more brisk and bright : and as the water-circle can be turned into vapour , air , and flame , by extension ; so , it can be turned into snow , hail , or ice , by contraction . chap. xxii . of water quenching fire ; and fire evaporating water . there is such an antipathy betwixt water and fire , ( i mean bright shining fire ) that they never meet body to body , but fire is in danger to be quenched out , if there be a sufficient quantity of water . but it is to be observed , that it is not the actual coldness of water , that quenches out fire ; for , scalding-water will quench out fire : wherefore , it is the wetness that quenches out fire ; which wetness choaks the fire , as a man that is drown'd : for , water being not fit for man's respiration , because it is too thick , choaks and smuthers him ; and the same doth water to fire : for , though air is of a proper temper for respiration , both to some sorts of animals , such as man ; as also , to fire : yet , water is not : which is most proper for other sorts of animals , namely , fish ; as also , for some sorts of animals that are of a mixt kind or sort , partly fish , and partly flesh : to which sort of creatures , both air and water are both equally proper for their respiration ; or , their respiration equal to either : for certainly , all sorts of creatures have respiration , by reason all creatures subsist by each other ; i say , by each other , not of each other . but , there are many several sorts and kinds of respirations ; as concerning vvater and fire , though a sufficient quantity of vvater , to fire , doth always choak , smuther , or quench out the fire's life , if joyn'd body to body ; yet , when there is another body between those two bodies , water is in danger to be infected with the fire's heat ; the fire first infecting the body next to it ; and that body infecting the vvater : by which infection , vvater is consumed , either by a languishing hectick fever ; or , by a raging boyling fever ; and the life of vvater evaporates away . chap. xxiii . of inflamable liquors . there are many bodies of mixt natures ; as for example , vvine , and all strong liquors , are partly of a watry nature , and partly of a fiery nature ; but , 't is of that sort we name a dead , or dull fire : but , being of such a mixt nature , they are both apt to quench bright fire , as also , apt to burn or flame ; so that such sorts are both inflamable , and quenchable . but , some have more of the fiery nature ; and others more of the watry nature ; and , by those effects , we may perceive , that not only different , but opposite figurative motions , do well agree in one society . chap. xxiv . of thvnder . i observe , that all tempestuous sounds have some resemblances to the flowing of waters , either in great and ruffling waves ; or , when the waters flow in such sort , as to break in pieces against hard and rugged rocks ; or run down great precipices , or against some obstruction . and the like sound hath the blowings of vvind , or the clappings of thunder ; which causes me to be of opinion , that thunder is occasioned by a discord amongst some vvater-circles in the higher region ; which , pressing and beating upon each other in a confused manner , cause a confused sound , by reason all circles are concave within the bow , and convex without ; which is a hollow figure , although no vacuum : which hollow figure , causes quick repetitions and replies ; which replies and repetitions , we name rebounds but , replies are not rebounds ; for , rebounds are pressures and re-actions ; whereas repetitions are without pressure , but re-action is not : and , replies are of several parts ; as , one part to reply to another . but for thunder , it is occasioned both by pressures and re-actions ; as also , replies of extended water-circles , which make a kind or sort of confusion , and so a confused sound , which we name horrid ; and , according to their discord , the sound is more or less terrifying , or violent . but this is to be noted , that as thunder is caused by undivided or broken circles ; so lightning is caused by broken or divided circles , that are extended beyond the power of the nature of the water-circle ; and when the circle is extreamly extended , it divides it self into a straight line , and becomes a flowing flame . chap. xxv . of vapour , smoak , wind , and clouds . vapour and smoak are both fluid bodies : but , smoak is more of the nature of oyl , than water ; and vapour more of the nature of water , than oyl ; they are dividable : and may be join'd , as other elements : also , they are of a metamorphosing nature , as to change and rechange ; but , when they are metamorphosed into the form of air , that air is a gross air , and is , as we say , a corruptible air. as for vapour , it is apt to turn into wind : for , when it is rarified beyond the nature of vapour , and not so much as into the nature of air , it turns into some sorts of wind. i say , some sorts : and certainly , the strongest winds are made of the grossest vapours . as for smoak , it is apt to turn into some sorts of lightning ; i say , apt : for , both vapour and smoak can turn into many sorts of metamorphosed elements . as for wind , it proceeds either from rarified vapour , or contracted air. and there are many sorts of vapours , smoaks , and winds ; all which sorts of vapours and smoaks , are apt to ascend : but , wind is of a more level action . as for clouds , they cannot be composed of a natural air ; because natural air is too rare a body to make clouds . wherefore , clouds are composed of vapour and smoak : for , when vapour and smoak ascends up high without transformation , they gather into clouds , some higher , some lower , according to their purity : for , the purer sort ( as i may say for expression-sake ) ascends the highest , as being the most agil . but , concerning the figurative motions of vapour and smoak , they are circles ; but of vvinds , they are broken parts of circular vapours : for , when the vaporous circle is extended beyond its nature of vapour , the circumference of the circle breaks into perturbed parts ; and if the parts be small , the wind is , in our perception , sharp , pricking , and piercing : but , if the parts are not so small , then the wind is strong and pressing : but wind , being rarified vapour , is so like air , as it is not perceived by human sight , though it be perceived by human touch . but , as there are hot vapours , cold vapours , sharp vapours , moist vapours , dry vapours , subtil vapours , and the like ; so there is such sorts of winds . but , pray do not mistake me , when i say , that some sorts of winds are broken and perturbed circles , as if i meant , such as those of lightning : for , those of lightning , are extended beyond the degree of air ; and those of vapours , are not extended to the degree of air : also , those of lightning , are not perturbed ; and those of wind , are perturbed . again , those of lightning , flow in streams of smooth , small , even lines ; those of wind , in disordered parts and fragments . chap. xxvi . of wind . wind and fire have some resemblance in some of their particular actions : as for example , wind and fire endeavour the disturbance of other creatures , occasioning a separating and disjoining of parts . also , wind is both an enemy and friend to fire : for wind , in some sorts of its actions , will assist fire ; and in other actions , dissipates fire , nay , blows it out : but certainly , the powerful forces of wind , proceed not so much from solidity , as agility : for , soft , weak , 〈◊〉 quick motions , are far more powerful , than strong , slow motions ; because , quick replies are of great force , as allowing no time of respit . but this is to be observed , that wind hath some watry effects : for , the further water flows , the weaker and fainter it is : so the wind , the further it blows , the weaker and fainter it is . but this is to be observed , that according to the agilness or slowness of the corporeal motions ; or , according to the number ; or , according to the manner of the compositions , or joynings , or divisions ; or , according to the regularity or irregularity of the corporeal figurative motions , so are the effects . chap. xxvii . of light . water , air , fire , and light ; are all rare and fluid creatures ; but they are of different sorts of rarities and fluities : and , though light seems to be extreamly rare and fluid ; yet , light is not so rare and fluid , as pure air is , because it is subject to that sort of human perception we name sight ; but yet , it is not subject to any of the other perceptions : and , pure air is only subject to the perception of respiration , which seems to be a more subtil perception than sight ; and that occasions me to believe , that air is more rare and pure , than light : but howsoever , i conceive the figurative motions of light , to be extraordinary even , smooth , agil lines of corporeal motions : but , as i said before , there are many sorts of lights that are not elemental lights ; as , glow-worms tails , cats eyes , rotten wood , fish bones , and that human light which is made in dreams , and infinite other lights , not subject to our perception : which proves , that light may be without heat . but , whether the light of the sun , which we name natural light , is naturally hot , may be a dispute : for , many times , the night is hotter than the day . chap. xxviii . of darkness . the figurative motions of light and darkness , are quite opposite ; and the figurative motions of colours , are as a mean between both , being partly of the nature of both : but , as the figurative motions of light , in my opinion , are rare , straight , equal , even , smooth figurative motions : those of darkness are uneven , ruff , or rugged , and more dense . indeed , there is as much difference between light and darkness , as between earth and water ; or rather , between water and fire ; because each is an enemy to other ; and , being opposite , they endeavour to out-power each other . but this is to be noted , that darkness is as visible to human perception , as light ; although the nature of darkness is , to obscure all other objects besides it self : but , if darkness could not be perceived , the optick perception could not know when it is dark ; nay , particular dark figurative motions , are as visible in a general light , as any other object ; which could not be , if darkness was only a privation of light , as the opinions of many learned men are : but , as i said before , darkness is of a quite different figurative motion , from light ; so different , that it is just opposite : for , as the property of light is to divulge objects ; so , the property of darkness is to obscure them : but , mistake me not ; i mean , that light and darkness have such properties to our perception : but , whether it is so to all perceptions , is more than i know , or is , as i believe , known to any other human creature . chap. xxix . of colovrs . as for colour , it is the same with body : for surely , there is no such thing in nature , as a colourless body , were it as small as an atom ; nor no such thing as a figureless body ; or such a thing as a placeless body : so that matter , colour , figure , and place , is but one thing , as one and the same body : but matter , being self-moving , causes varieties of figurative actions , by various changes . as for colours , they are only several corporeal figurative motions ; and as there are several sorts of creatures , so there are several sorts of colours : but , as there are those , man names artificial creatures ; so there are artificial colours . but , though to describe the several species of all the several sorts of colours , be impossible ; yet we may observe , that there is more variety of colours amongst vegetables and animals , than amongst minerals and elements : for , though the rain-bow is of many fine colours ; yet , the rain-bow hath not so much variety , as many particular vegetables , or animals have ; but every several colour , is a several figurative motion ; and the brighter the colours are , the smoother and evener are the figurative motions . and as for shadows of colours , they are caused when one sort of figurative motions is as the foundation : for example , if the fundamental figurative motion , be a deep blew , or red , or the like , then all the variations of other colours have a tincture . but , in short , all shadows have a ground of some sort of dark figurative motions . but , the opinions of many learned men , are , that all colours are made by the several positions of light , and are not inherent in any creature ; of which opinion i am not : for , if that were so , every creature would be of many several colours ; neither would any creature produce after their own species : for , a parrot would not produce so fine a bird as her self ; neither would any creature appear of one and the same colour , but their colour would change according to the positions of light ; and in a dark day , in my opinion , all fine coloured birds , would appear like crows ; and fine coloured flowers , appear like the herb named night-shade ; which is not so . i do not say , that several positions of light may not cause colours ; but i say , the position of light is not the maker of all colours ; for , dyers cannot cause several colours by the positions of light. chap. xxx . of the exterior motions of the planets . by the exterior motions of the planets , we may believe their exterior shape is spherical : for , it is to be observed , that all exterior actions are according to their exterior shape : but , by reason vegetables and minerals have not such sorts of exterior motions or actions , as animals ; some men are of opinion , they have not sensitive life ; which opinion proceeds from a shallow consideration : neither do they believe the elements are sensible , although they visibly perceive their progressive motions ; and yet believe all sorts of animals to have sense , only because they have progressive motions . chap. xxxi . of the sun , and planets , and seasons . the sun , moon , planets , and all those glittering starrs we see , are several sorts of that man names elemental creatures : but man , having not an infinite perception , cannot have an infinite perceptive knowledg : for , though the rational perception is more subtil than the sensitive ; yet , the particular parts cannot perceive much further than the exterior parts of objects : but , human sense and reason cannot perceive what the sun , moon , and starrs are ; as , whether solid , or rare ; or , whether the sun be a body of fire ; or the moon , a body of water , or earth ; or , whether the fixed starrs be all several suns ; or , whether they be other kinds or sorts of worlds . but certainly , all creatures do subsist by each other , because nature seems to be an infinite united body , without vacuum . as for the several seasons of the year , they are divided into four parts : but the several changes and tempers of the four seasons , are so various , altering every moment , as it would be an endless work , nay , impossible , for one creature to perform : for , though the almanack-makers pretend to fore-know all the variations of the elements ; yet , they can tell no more than just what is the constant and set-motions ; but not the variations of every hour , or minute ; neither can they tell any thing , more than their exterior motions . chap. xxxii . of air corrupting dead bodies . some are of opinion , that air is a corrupter , and so a dissolver of all dead creatures , and yet is the preserver of all living creatures . if so , air hath an infinite power : but , all the reason i can perceive for this opinion , is , that man perceives , that when any raw ( or that we name dead ) flesh , is kept from the air , it will not stink , or corrupt , so soon as when it is in the air : but yet it is well known , that extream cold air will keep flesh from corrupting . another reason is , that a flye entomb'd in amber , being kept from air , the flye remains in her exterior shape as perfectly as if she were alive . i answer , the cause of that may be , that the figurative motions of amber , may sympathize with the exterior consistent motions of the fly , which may cause the exterior shape of the flye to continue , although the innate nature be altered . but air is , as all other creatures are , both beneficial , and hurtful to each other ; for nature is poysed with opposites : for we may perceive , that several creatures are both beneficial and hurtful to each other : as for example , a bear kills a man ; and , on the other side , a bear 's skin will cure a man of some disease . also , a wild-boar will kill a man ; and the boar's flesh will nourish a man. fire will burn a man , and preserve a man ; and millions of such examples may be proposed . the same may be said of air , which may occasion good or evil to other creatures ; as , the amber may occasion the death of a fly ; and , on the other side , may occasion the preservation , or continuation of the fly 's exterior figure , or form : but , nature being without vacuum , all her parts must be be joined ; and her actions being poysed , there must be both sympathetical , and antipathetical actions , amongst all creatures . the thirteenth part. chap. i. of the innate figurative motions of metals . all sorts of metals , in my opinion , are of some sorts of circular motions ; but not like that sort , that is water : for , the water-circle doth extend outward , from the center ; whereas , in my opinion , the circular motion of metal , draws inward , from the circumference . also , in my opinion , the circular motions are dense , flat , edged , even , and smooth ; for , all bright and glassie bodies are smooth : and , though edges are wounding figures ; yet , edges are rather of the nature of a line , than of a point . again , all motions that tend to a center , are more fixt than those that extend to a circumference : but , it is according to the degree of their extensions , that those creatures are more or less fixt ; which is the cause that some sorts of metals are more fixt than others ; and that causes gold to be the most fixt of all other sorts of metals ; and seems to be too strong for the effects of fire . but this is to be noted , that some metals are more near related to some sort , than other : as for example , there is no lead , without some silver ; so that silver seems to be but a well-digested lead . and certainly , copper hath some near relation to gold , although not so near related , as lead is to silver . chap. ii. of the melting of metals . metals may be occasioned , by fire , to slack their retentive motions , by which they become fluid ; and as soon as they are quit of their enemy , fire , the figurative motions of metal return to their proper order : and this is the reason that occasions metal to melt , which is , to flow : but yet , the flowing motion is but like the exterior , and not the innate actions of 〈◊〉 : for , the melting actions do not alter the innate actions ; that is , they do not alter from the nature of being metal : but , if the exterior nature be occasioned , by the excess of those exterior actions , to alter their retentive actions , then metal turns to that we name dross ; and as much as metal loses of its weight , so much of the metal dissolves ; that is , so much of those innate motions are quite altered : but , gold hath such an innate retentiveness , that though fire may cause an extream alteration of the exterior actions ; yet , it cannot alter the interior motions . the like is of quick-silver . and yet gold is not a god , to be unalterable , though man knows not the way , and fire has not the power to alter the innate nature of gold. chap. iii. of burning , melting , boyling , and evaporating . bvrning , melting , boyling , and evaporating , are , for the most part , occasioned by fire , or somewhat that is , in effect , hot : i say , occasioned , by reason they are not the actions of fire , but the actions of those bodies that melts , boyls , evaporates , or burns ; which being near , or joyned to fire , are occasioned so to do : as for example , put several sorts of creatures , or things , into a fire , and they shall not burn alike : for , leather and metal do not burn alike ; for metal flows , and leather shrinks up , and water evaporates , and wood converts it self , as it were , into fire ; which other things do not ; which proves , that all parts act their own actions . for , though some corporeal motions may occasion other corporeal motions to act after such or such a manner ; yet , one part cannot have another part 's motion , because matter can neither give nor take motion . chap. iv. of stone . all minerals seem to be some kinds of dense and retentive motions : but yet , those kinds of dense and retentive motions , seem to be of several sorts ; which is the cause of several sorts of minerals , and of several sorts of stones and metals . also , every several sort , hath several sorts of properties : but , in my opinion , some sorts are caused by hot contractions and retentions ; others , by cold contractions and retentions ; as also , by hot or cold densations : and the reason why i believe so , is , that i observe that many artificial stones are produced by heat : but ice , which is but in the first degree of a cold density , seems somewhat like transparent stones ; so that several sorts of stones , are produced by several sorts of cold and hot contractions and densations . chap. v. of the loadstone . as for the loadstone , it is not more wonderful in attracting iron , than 〈◊〉 beauty , which admirably attracts the optick perception of human creatures : and who knows , but the north and south air may be the most proper air for the respiration of the loadstone ; and , that iron may be the most proper food for it . but , by reason there hath been so many learned men puzled in their opinions concerning the several effects of the loadstone , i dare not venture to treat of the nature , and natural effects of that mineral ; neither have i had much experience of it : but i observe , that iron , and some sorts of stone , are nearly allied ; for , there is not any iron , but what is growing , or is intermixt and united in some sorts of stone , as that which we call iron-stone . wherefore , it is no wonder if the loadstone , and iron , should be apt to embrace one another . chap. vi. of bodies , apt to ascend or descend . there are so many several causes that occasion some sorts of creatures to be apt to ascend , and others to descend , as they are neither known , or can be conceived by one finite creature : for , it is not rarity or density , that causes levity and gravity ; but , the frame or form of a creature 's exterior shape , or parts . as for example : a flake of snow is as rare as a downy feather ; yet , the feather is apt to ascend , and the flake of snow to descend . also dust , that is hard and dense , is apt to ascend ; and water , that is soft and rare , is more apt to descend . again , a bird , that is both a bigger , and a more dense creature by much , than a small worm ; yet , a bird can flye up into the air , when as a leight worm cannot ascend , or flye , having not such a sort of shape . also , a great heavy ship , as big as an ordinary house , fraughted with iron , will swim upon the face of the water ; when as a small bullet , no bigger than a hasle-nut , will sink to the bottom of the sea. a great bodied bird will flye up into the air ; when as a small worm lies on the earth , with a slow kind of crawling , and cannot ascend . all which is caused by the manner of their shapes , and not the matter of gravity and levity . chap. vii . why heavy bodies descend more forcibly than leight bodies ascend . although the manner of the shape of several creatures , is the chief cause of their ascent , and descent ; yet , gravity and levity , doth occasion more or less agility : for , a heavy body shall descend with more force , than a leight body ascend : and the reason is , not only that there may be more parts in a heavy body , than a leight ; but , that in a descent , every corporeal motion seems to press upon each other ; which doubles and trebles the strength , weight , and force , as we may perceive in the ascending and descending of the flight of birds , especially of hawks ; of which , the weight of the body is some hindrance to the ascent , but an advantage to the descent : but yet , the shape of the bird hath some advantage by the weight , in such sort , that the weight doth not so much hinder the ascent , as it doth assist the descent . chap. viii . of several sorts of densities and rarities , gravities and levities . there are different sorts of densities and rarities , softness and hardness , levities and gravities : as for example , the density of earth is not like the density of stone ; nor the density of stone , like the density of metal : nor are all the parts of the earth dense alike ; nor all stones , nor all metals ; as we may perceive in clay , sand , chalk , and lime-grounds . also , we may perceive difference between lead , tynne , copper , iron , silver , and gold ; and between marble , alablaster , walling-stone , diamonds , crystals , and the like : and so much difference there is between one and the same kind , that some particulars of one sort , shall more resemble another kind , than their own : as for example , gold and diamonds resemble each other's nature , more than lead doth gold ; or diamonds , crystal ; i say , in their densities . also , there is a great difference of the rarity , gravity , and levity of seral sorts of waters , and of several sorts of air. chap. ix . of vegetables . vegetables are of numerous sorts , and every sort of very different natures : as for example , some are reviving cordials ; others , deadly poyson ; some are purgers , others are nourishers : some have hot effects , some cold ; some dry , some moist ; some bear fruit , some bears no fruit ; some appear all the year young ; others appear but part of the year young , and part old ; some are many years a producing ; others are produced in few hours ; some will last many hundred years ; others will decay in the compass of few hours : some seem to dye one part of the year , and revive again in another part of the year : some rot and consume in the earth , after such a time ; and will continue in perfection , if parted from the earth . others will wither and decay , as soon as parted from the earth . some are of a dense nature , some of a rare nature ; some grow deep into the earth ; others grow high out of the earth ; some will only produce in dry soyls , some in moist : some will produce only in water , as we may perceive by some ponds ; others on houses of brick or stone . also , some grow out of stone ; as , many stones will have a green moss : some are produced by sowing their seed into the earth ; others , by setting their roots , or slips , into the earth : others again , by joyning or engrafting one plant into another : so that there is much variety of vegetables , and those of such different natures , that they are not only different sorts , but are variety of effects of one and the same sort ; and it requires not only the study of one human creature , or many human creatures ; but , of all the human creatures in all nations and ages , to know them ; which is the reason , that those that have writ of the natures of herbs , flowers , roots , and fruits , may be much mistaken . but i , living more constantly in my study , than in my garden , shall not venture to treat much of the particular natures , and natural effects of vegetables . chap. x. of the production of vegetables . t is no wonder , that some sorts of vegetables are produced out of stone or brick , ( as some that will grow on the top of houses ) by reason that brick is made of earth , and stone is generated in the bowels of the earth ; which shows they are of an earthly nature or substance . neither is it a wonder that vegetables will grow upon some sorts of water , by reason some sorts of waters may be mixt with some parts of earth . but , i have been credibly informed , that a man whose legg had been cut , and a seed of an oat being gotten into the wound by chance , the oat did sprout out into a green blade of grass : which proves , that vegetables may be produced in several soyls . but 't is probable , that though many sorts of vegetables may sprout , as barly in water ; yet , they cannot produce any of the off-spring of the same sort or kind . but , my thoughts are , at this present , in some dispute ; as , whether the earth is a part of the production of vegetables , as being the breeder ? or , whether the earth is only parts of respiration , and not parts of production ; and so , rather breathing-parts , than breeding-parts , as water to fishes ? but , if so , then every particular seed must encrease , not only by a bare transformation of their parts into the first form of production ; but , by division of their united parts , must produce many other societies of the same sort ; as religious orders , where one convent divides into many convents of the same order ; which occasions a numerous encrease . so the several parts of one seed , may divide into many seeds of the same sort , as being of the same species ; but then , every part of that seed , must be encreased by additional parts ; which must be , by nourishing parts : which nourishing parts are , in all probability , earthy parts ; or , at least , partly of earthy parts ; and partly , of some of the other elemental parts : but , as i have often said , all creatures in nature are assisted , and do subsist , by each other . chap. xi . of replanting vegetables . replanting of vegetables , many times , occasions great alterations ; in so much as a vegetable , by often replanting , will be so altered , as to appear of another sort of vegetable : the reason is , that several sorts , or parts of soyls , may occasion other sorts of actions , and orders , in one and the same society . but this is to be noted in the lives of many animals , that several sorts of food , make great alterations in their temper and shape ; though not to alter their species , yet so as to cause them to appear worse or better : but , this is most visible amongst human creatures , whom some sorts of food will make weak , sick , faint , lean , pale , old , and withered : other sorts of food will make them strong , and healthy , fat , fair , smooth , and ruddy . so some sorts of soyls will cause some vegetables to be larger , brighter , smoother , sweeter , and of more various and glorious colours . chap. xii . of artificial things . artificial things , are natural corporeal figurative motions : for , all artificial things are produced by several produced creatures . but , the differences of those productions we name natural and artificial , are , that the natural are produced from the producer's own parts ; whereas the artificial are produced by composing , or joyning , or mixing several forrein parts ; and not any of the particular parts of their composed society : for , artificial things are not produced as animals , vegetables , minerals , or the like : but only , they are certain seral mixtures of some of the divided , or dead parts , as i may say , of minerals , vegetables , elements , and the like . but this is to be noted , that all , or at least , most , are but copied , and not originals . but some may ask , whether artificial productions have sense , reason , and perception ? i answer : that if all the rational and sensitive parts of nature , are perceptive , and that no part is without perception ; then all artificial productions are perceptive . chap. xiii . of several kinds and sorts of species . according to my opinion , though the species of this world , and all the several kinds and sorts of species in this world , do always continue ; yet , the particular parts of one and the same kind or sort of species , do not continue : for , the particular parts are perpetually altering their figurative actions . but , by reason some parts compose or unite , as well as some parts dissolve or disunite ; all kinds and sorts of species , will , and must last so long as nature lasts . but mistake me not , i mean such kinds and sorts of species as we name natural , that is , the fundamental species ; but not such species , as we name artificial . chap. xiv . of different worlds . t is probable if nature be infinite , there are several kinds and sorts of those species , societies , or creatures , we name worlds ; which may be so different from the frame , form , species , and properties of this world , and the creatures of this world , as not to be any ways like this world , or the creatures in this world. but mistake me not , i do not mean , not like this world , as it is material and self-moving ; but , not of the same species , or properties : as for example , that they have not such kind of creatures , or their properties , as light , darkness , heat , cold , dry , wet , soft , hard , leight , heavy , and the like . but some may say , that is impossible : for , there can be no world , but must be either light or dark , hot or cold , dry or wet , soft or hard , heavy or leight ; and the like . i answer , that though those effects may be generally beneficial to most of the creatures in this world ; yet , not to all the parts of the world : as for example , though light is beneficial to the eyes of animals ; yet , to no other part of an animal creature . and , though darkness is obstructive to the eyes of animals ; yet , to no other parts of an animal creature . also , air is no proper object for any of the human parts , but respiration . so cold and heat , are no proper objects for any part of a human creature , but only the pores , which are the organs of touch. the like may be said for hard and soft , dry and wet : and since they are not fundamental actions of nature , but particular , i cannot believe , but that there may be such worlds , or creatures , as may have no use of light , darkness , and the like : for , if some parts of this world need them not , nor are any ways beneficial to them , ( as i formerly proved ) surely a whole world may be , and subsist without them : for these properties , though they may be proper for the form or species of this world ; yet , they may be no ways proper for the species of another kind or sort of world : as for example , the properties of a human creature are quite different from other kinds of creatures ; the like may be of different worlds : but , in all material worlds , there are self-moving parts , which is the cause there is self-joyning , uniting , and composing ; self dividing , or dissolving ; self-regularities , and self-irregularities : also , there is perception amongst the parts or creaturs of nature ; and what worlds or creatures soever are in nature , they have sense and reason , life and knowledg : but , for light and darkness , hot and cold , soft and hard , leight and heavy , dry and wet , and the like ; they are all but particular actions of particular corporeal species , or creatures , which are finite , and not infinite : and certainly , there may be , in nature , other worlds as full of varieties , and as glorious and beautiful as this world ; and are , and may be more glorious or beautiful , as also , more full of variety than this world , and yet be quite different in all kinds and sorts , from this world : for , this is to be noted , that the different kinds and sorts of species , or creatures , do not make particulars more or less perfect , but according to their kind . and one thing i desire , that my readers would not mistake my meaning , when i say , the parts dissolve : for , i do not mean , that matter dissolves ; but , that their particular societies dissolve . appendix to the grounds of natural philosophy . the first part . chap. i. whether there can be a substance , that is not a body . what a substance , that is not body , can be , ( as i writ in the first chapter of this book ) i cannot imagine ; nor , that there is any thing between something and nothing . but , some may say , that spiritual substances are so . i answer : that spirits must be either material , or immaterial : for , it is impossible for a thing to be between body and no body . others may say , there may be a substance , that is not a natural substance ; but , some sort of substance that is far more pure than the purest natural substance . i answer : were it never so pure , it would be in the list or circle of body : and certainly , the purest substance , must have the properties of body , as , to be divisible , and capable to be united and compounded ; and being divisible and compoundable , it would have the same properties that grosser parts have : but , if there be any difference , certainly the purest substance would be more apt to divide and unite , or compound , than the grosser sort . but , as to those sorts of substance , which some learned men have imagined ; in my opinion , they are but the same sort of substance that the vulgar call , thoughts , and i name , the rational parts ; which , questionless , are as truly body , as the grossest parts in nature : but , most human creatures are so troubled with the thoughts of dissolving , and dis-uniting , that they turn fancies and imaginations , into spirits , or spiritual substances ; as if all the other parts of their bodies , should become rational parts ; that is , that all their parts should turn into such parts as thoughts , which i name , the rational parts . but that opinion is impossible : for , nature cannot alter the nature of any part ; nor can any part alter its own nature ; neither can the rational parts be divided from the sensitive and inanimate parts , by reason those three sorts constitute but one body , as being parts of one body . but , put the case that the rational parts might divide and subsist without the sensitive and inanimate parts ; yet , as i said , they must of necessity have the properties and nature of a body , which is , to be divisible , and capable to be united , and so to be parts : for , it is impossible for a body , were it the most pure , to be indivisible . chap. ii. of an immaterial . i cannot conceive how an immaterial can be in nature : for , first , an immaterial cannot , in my opinion , be naturally created ; nor can i conceive how an immaterial can produce particular immaterial souls , spirits , or the like . wherefore , an immaterial , in my opinion , must be some uncreated being ; which can be no other than god alone . wherefore , created spirits , and spiritual souls , are some other thing than an immaterial : for surely , if there were any other immaterial beings , besides the omnipotent god , those would be so near the divine essence of god , as to be petty gods ; and numerous petty gods , would , almost , make the power of an infinite god. but , god is omnipotent , and only god. chap. iii. whether an immaterial be perceivable . whatsoever is corporeal , is perceivable ; that is , may be perceived in some manner or other , by reason it hath a corporeal being : but , what being an immaterial hath , no corporeal can perceive . wherefore , no part in nature can perceive an immaterial , because it is impossible to have a perception of that , which is not to be perceived , as not being an object fit and proper for corporeal perception . in truth , an immaterial is no object , because no body . but some may say , that , a corporeal may have a conception , although not a perception , of an immaterial . i answer , that , surely , there is an innate notion of god , in all the parts of nature ; but not a perfect knowledg : for if there was , there would not be so many several opinions , and religions , amongst one kind , or rather , sort of creatures , as mankind , as there are ; insomuch , that there are but few of one and the same opinion , or religion : but yet , that innate notion of god , being in all the parts of nature , god is infinitely and eternally worshipped and adored , although after several manners and ways ; yet , all manners and ways , are joyned in one vvorship , because the parts of nature are joyned into one body . chap. iv. of the differences between god , and nature . god is an eternal creator ; nature , his eternal creature . god , an eternal master : nature , god's eternal servant . god is an infinite and eternal immaterial being : nature , an infinite corporeal being . god is immovable , and immutable : nature , moving , and mutable . god is eternal , indivisible , and of an incompoundable being : nature , eternally divisible and compoundable . god , eternally perfect : nature , eternally imperfect . god , eternally inalterable : nature eternally alterable . god , without error : nature , full of irregularities . god knows exactly , or perfectly , nature : nature doth not perfectly know god. god is infinitely and eternally worshipped : nature is the eternal and infinite worshipper . chap. v. all the parts of nature worship god. all creatures ( as i have said ) have an innate notion of god ; and as they have a notion of god , so they have a notion to worship god : but , by reason nature is composed of parts ; so is the infinite worship to god : and , as several parts are dividing and uniting after several kinds , sorts , manners and ways ; so is their worship to god : but , the several manners and ways of worship , make not the worship to god less : for certainly , all creatures worship and adore god ; as we may perceive by the holy scripture , where it says , let the heavens , earth , and all that therein is , praise god. but 't is probable , that some of the parts being creatures of nature , may have a fuller notion of god than others ; which may cause some creatures to be more pious and devout , than others : but , the irregulalarity of nature , is the cause of sin. chap. vi. whether god's decrees are limited . in my opinion , though god is inalterable , yet no ways bounded or limited : for , though god's decrees are fixt , yet , they are not bound : but , as god hath an infinite knowledg , he hath also an infinite fore-knowledg ; and so , fore-knows nature's actions , and what he will please to decree nature to do : so that , god knows what nature can act , and what she will act ; as also , what he will decree : and this is the cause , that some of the creature 's or parts of nature , especially man , do believe predestination . but surely , god hath an omnipotent divine power , which is no ways limited : for god , being above the nature of nature , cannot have the actions of nature , because god cannot make himself no god ; neither can he make himself more than what he is , he being the all-powerful , omnipotent , infinite , and everlasting being . chap. vii . of god's decrees concerning the particular parts of nature . though nature's parts have free-will , of self-motion ; yet , they have not free-will to oppose god's decrees : for , if some parts cannot oppose other parts , being over-power'd , it is probable , that the parts of nature cannot oppose the all-powerful decrees of god. but , if it please the all-powerful god to permit the parts of nature to act as they please , according to their own natural will ; and , upon condition , if they act so , they shall have such rewards as nature may be capable to receive ; or such punishments as nature is capable of ; then the omnipotent god doth not predestinate those rewards , or punishments , any otherwise than the parts of nature do cause by their own actions . thus all corporeal actions , belong to corporeal parts ; but , the rewards and punishments , to god alone : but , what those punishments and blessings are , no particular creature is capable to know : for , though a particular creature knows there is a god ; yet , not what god is : so , although particular creatures know there are rewards and punishments ; yet , not what those rewards and punishments are . but mistake me not ; for i mean the general rewards and punishments to all creatures : but 't is probable , that god might decree nature , and her parts , to make other sorts of worlds , besides this world ; of which worlds , this may be as ignorant , as a particular human creature is of god. and therefore , it is not probable ( since we cannot possibly know all the parts of nature , of which we are parts ) that we should know the decrees of god , or the manners and ways of worship , amongst all kinds and sorts of creatures . chap. viii . of the ten commandments . in my opinion , the notions man hath of god's commands concerning their behaviour and actions to himself , and their fellow-creatures , is the very same that moses writ , and presented to all those of whom he was head and governour . but , mistake me not , i mean only the ten commandments ; which commandments are a sufficient rule for all human creatures : and certainly , god had decreed , that moses should be a wise man , and should publish these wise commands . but , the interpretation of the law must be such , as not to make it no such law : but , by reason nature is as much irregular , as regular , human notions are also irregular , as much as regular ; which causes great variety of religions : and their actions being also irregular , is the cause that the practise of human creatures is irregular ; and that occasions irregular devotions , and is the cause of sin . chap. ix . of several religions . concerning the several religions , and several opinions in religions , which are like several kinds and sorts ; the question is , whether all mankind could be perswaded to be of one religion , or opinion ? the opinion of the minor part of my thoughts , was , that all men might be perswaded . and , the opinion of the major part of my thoughts , was , that nature , being divisible and compoundable , and having free-will , as well as self-motion ; and being irregular , as well as regular ; as also , variable , taking delight in variety ; it was impossible for all mankind to be of one religion , or opinion . the opinion of the minor part of my thoughts , was , that the grace of god could perswade all men to one opinion . the major part of my thoughts was of opinion , that god might decree or command nature : but , to alter nature's nature , could not be done , unless god , by his decree , would annihilate this nature , and create another nature , and such a nature as was not like this nature : for , it is the nature of this material nature , to be alterable ; as also , to be irregular , as well as regular ; and , being regular , and irregular , was a fit and proper subject for god's justice , and mercies ; punishments , and rewards . chap. x. of rules and prescriptions . as saint paul said , we could not know sin , but by the law ; so , we could not know what punishment we could or should suffer , but by the law ; not only moral , but divine law. but , some may ask , what is law ? i answer : law is , limited prescriptions and rules . but , some may ask , whether all creatures in nature , have prescriptions and rules ? i answer : that , for any thing man can know to the contrary , all creatures may have some natural rules : but , every creature may chuse whether they will follow those rules ; i mean , such rules as they are capable to follow or practise : for , several kinds and sorts of creatures , cannot possibly follow one and the same prescription and rule . wherefore , divine prescriptions and rules , must be , according to the sorts and kinds of creatures ; and yet , all creatures may have a notion , and so an adoration of god , by reason all the parts in nature , have notions of god. but , concerning particular worships , those must be prescriptions and rules ; or else , they are according to every particular creature 's conception or choice . chap. xi . sins and punishments , are material . as all sins are material , so are punishments : for , material creatures , cannot have immaterial sins ; nor can material creatures be capable of immaterial punishments ; which may be proved out of the sacred scripture : for , all the punishments that are declared to be in hell , are material tortures : nay , hell it self is described to be material ; and not only hell , but heaven , is described to be material . but , whether angels , and devils , are material , that is not declared : for , though they are named spirits , yet we know not whether those spirits be immaterial . but , considering that hell and heaven is described to be material , it is probable , spirits are also material : nay , our blessed saviour christ , who is in heaven , with god the father , hath a material body ; and in that body will come attended by all the hosts of heaven , to judg the quick and the dead ; which quick and dead , are the material parts of nature : which could not be actually judged and punished , but by a material body , as christ hath . but , pray mistake me not ; i say , they could not be actually judged and punished ; that is , not according to nature , as material actions : for , i do not mean here , divine and immaterial decrees . but christ , being partly divine , and partly natural ; may be both a divine and natural judg. chap. xii . of human conscience . the human notions of god , man calls conscience : but , by reason that nature is full of varieties , as having self-moving parts ; human creatures have different notions , and so different consciences , which cause different opinions and devotions : but , nature being as much compoundable as dividable , it causes unity of some , as also , divisions of other opinions , which is the cause of several religions : which religions , are several communities and divisions . but , as for conscience , and holy notions , they being natural , cannot be altered by force , without a free-will : so that the several societies , or communicants , commit an error , if not a sin , to endeavour to compel their brethren to any particular opinion : and , to prove it is an error , or sin , the more earnest the compellers are , the more do the compelled resist ; which hath been the cause of many martyrs . but surely , all christians should follow the example of christ , who was like a meek lamb , not a raging lyon : neither did christ command his apostles to persecute ; but , to suffer persecution patiently . wherefore , liberty of conscience may be allowed , conditionally , it be no ways a prejudice to the peaceable government of the state or kingdom . the second part. chap. i. whether it is possible there could be worlds consisting only of the rational parts , and others only of the sensitive parts . the parts of my mind did argue amongst themselves , whether there might not be several kinds and sorts of worlds in infinite nature ? and they all agreed , that probably there might be several kinds and sorts of worlds . but afterwards , the opinion of the major parts of my mind , was , that it is not possible : for , though the rational parts of nature move free , without burdens of the inanimate parts ; yet , being parts of the same body , ( viz. of the body of nature ) they could not be divided from the sensitive and inanimate parts ; nor the sensitive and inanimate parts , from the rational . the opinion of the minor parts of my mind , was , that a composed world , of either degree , was not a division from the infinite body of nature , though they might divide so much , as to compose a world meerly of their own degree . the major's opinion was , that it was impossible ; because the three degrees , rational , sensitive , and inanimate , were naturally joyned as one body , or part. the minor's opinion was , that a world might be naturally composed only of rational parts , as a human mind is only composed of rational parts ; or , as the rational parts of a human creature , could compose themselves into several forms , viz. into several sorts and kinds of worlds , without the assistance of the sensitive or the inanimate parts : for , they fancy worlds which are composed in human minds , without the assistance of the sensitive . the major part agreed , that the rational corporeal actions , were free ; and all their architectors were of their own degree : but yet , they were so joyned in every part and particle , to the sensitive and inanimate , as they could not separate from these two degrees : for , though they could divide and unite from , and to particulars , as either of their own degrees , or the other degrees ; yet , the three degrees being but as one united body , they could not so divide , as not to be joyned to the other degrees : for , it was impossible for a body to divide it self from it self . after this argument , there followed another ; that , if it were possible there could be a world composed only of the rational parts , without the other two degrees ; whether that world would be a happy world ? the major part 's opinion was , that , were it possible there could be such unnatural divisions , those divide parts would be very unhappy : for , the rational parts would be much unsatisfied without the sensitive ; and the sensitive very dull without the rational : also , the sensitive architectors would be very irregular , wanting their designing parts , which are the rational parts . upon which argument , all the parts of my mind agreed in this opinion , that the sensitive was so sociable to the rational , and the rational so assisting to the sensitive , and the inanimate parts so necessary to the sensitive architectors , that they would not divide from each other , if they could . chap. ii. of irregular and regular worlds . some parts of my mind were of opinion , that there might be a world composed only of irregularities ; and another , only of regularities : and some , that were partly composed of the one , and the other . the minor part 's opinion was , that all worlds were composed partly of the one , and partly of the other ; because all nature's actions were poysed with opposites , or contraries : wherefore , there could not be a world only of irregularities , and another of regularities . the major part 's opinion , was , that nature's actions were as much poysed by the contrary actions of two worlds , as by the contrary actions of the parts of one world , or one creature : as for example , the peace and trouble , health and sickness , pain and ease , and the like , of one human creature ; and so of the contrary natures of several kinds and sorts of creatures of one and the same world. after which discourse , they generally agreed , there might be regular and irregular worlds ; the one sort to be such happy worlds , as that they might be named blessed worlds ; the other so miserable worlds , as might be named cursed worlds . chap. iii. whether there be egress and regress between the parts of several worlds . there arose a third argument , viz. whether it was possible for some of the creatures of several worlds , to remove , so as to remove out of one world , into another ? the major part 's opinion was , that it was possible for some creatures : for , if some particular creatures could move all over the world , of which they were a part , they might divide from the parts of the world they were of , and joyn with the parts of another world. the minor part 's opinion was , that they might travel all over the world they were part of , but not to joyn with the parts of another world , to which they belong not . the major's opinion was , that every part and particle , belonged to the infinite body of nature , and therefore not any part could account it self not of the infinite body ; and being so , then every part of nature may joyn , and divide from and to particular parts , as they please , if there were not obstructions and hindrances , and some parts did not obstruct other parts : wherefore , if there were not obstructions , there might be egress and regress amongst the particular parts of several worlds . the minor's opinion was , that if it could be according to the major's opinion , it would cause an infinite confusion in infinite nature : for , every creature of every world , was composed according to the nature and compositions of the world they were of : wherefore , the products of one kind or sort of worlds , would not be sutable , agreeable , and regular , to the productions of another kind . the major part 's opinion was , that it was impossible , since nature is one united body , without vacuum , but that the parts of all worlds must have egress and regress . chap. iv. whether the parts of one and the same society , could , after their dissolution , meet and unite . the fifth argument , was partly of the same subject , viz. whether the particular parts of a creature , ( such as a human creature is ) could travel out of one world into another , after the dissolution of his human life ? the major part 's opinion was , that they could . the minor's opinion was , they could not ; because the particular parts so divided and joyned to and from other particular parts and societies , as it was impossible , if they would , so to agree , as to divide from those parts and societies they are joyned to , and from those they must joyn with , to meet in another world , and joyn as they would , in the same society they were of , when the whole society is dissolved . neither can parts divide and joyn , as they would : for , though self-moving parts have a free-will to move ; yet , being subject to obstructions , they must move as they can : for , no particular part hath an absolute power . wherefore , the dispersed parts of a dissolved society , cannot meet and joyn as they would . besides , every part is as much affected to one sort , kind , or particular , they are parts of , as to another . besides , the knowledg of every part alters , according as their actions alter : so that the parts of one and the same society , after division , have no more knowledg of that society . chap. v. whether , if a creature being dissolved , and could vnite again , would be the same . the sixth argument was , that , put the case it were possible all the several parts belonging to one and the same society ; as for example , to one human creature , after his human life was dissolved , and his parts dispersed , and afterwards , all those parts meeting and uniting ; whether that human creature would be the same ? the minor part 's opinion was , that it could not be the same society : for , every creature was according to the nature of their kind or sort ; and so according to the form and magnitude of one of their kind or sort. the major part 's opinion was , that though the nature of every particular creature had such forms , shapes , and properties , as was natural to that sort of creatures they were of ; yet , the magnitude of particular creatures of one and the same sort , might be very different . the minor part 's opinion was , that if all the parts of one society , as for example , a man , from the first time of his production , to the time of his dissolution , should , after division , come to meet and unite ; that man , or any other creature , would be a monstrous creature , as having more parts than was agreeable to the nature of his kind . the major part 's opinion was , that though the society , viz. the man , would be a society of greater magnitude ; yet , not any ways different from the nature of his kind . chap. vi. of the resurrection of human kind . the seventh argument , was , whether all the particular parts of every human creature , at the time of the resurrection , be , to meet and joyn , as being of one and the same society ? the minor part 's opinion was , they shall not : for , if all those parts that had been of the same body and mind of one man , from his first production , to the last of his dissolution ; or , from his birth , to the time of his death , ( supposing him to have liv'd long ) should meet and joyn , as one society , that is , as one man ; that man , at the time of his resurrection , would be a gyant ; and if so , then old men would be gyants ; and young children , dwarfs . the major part 's opinion was , that , if it was not so , then every particular human society would be imperfect at the time of their resurrection : for , if they should only rise with some of their parts , as ( for example ) when they were in the strength of their age , then all those parts that had been either before , or after that time , would be unjustly dealt with , especially if man be the best product in nature . besides , if a dead child did rise a man , as at his most perfect age , it could not be said , he rises according to a natural man , having more parts than by nature he ever had ; and an old man , fewer parts than naturally he hath had : so , what by adding and diminishing the parts of particular men , it would not cause only injustice ; but , not any particular human creature , would be the same he was . chap. vii . of the dissolution of a world. the eighth argument was , that when all human creatures that were dissolved , should rise , whether the world they were of , should not be dissolved ? all the parts of my mind agreed , that when all the human creatures that had been dissolved , should rise , the whole world , besides themselves , must also dissolve , by reason they were parts of the world : for , when all those numerous dissolved and dispersed parts , did meet and joyn , the world wanting those parts , could not subsist : for , the frame , form , and uniformity of the world , consisted of parts ; and those parts that have been of the human kind , are , at several times , of other kinds and sorts of creatures , as other sorts and kinds are of human kind ; and all the sorts and kinds , are parts of the world : so that the world cannot subsist , if any kind or sort of creatures , that had been from the first time of the creation , should be united ; i mean , into one and the same sort or kind of creatures ; as it would be , if all those that are quick , and those that have been dissolved , ( that is , have been dead ) should be alive at one time . chap. viii . of a new heaven , and a new earth . the ninth argument was , that if a world could be dissolved , and that the human creatures should rise , and reunite ; what world should they reside in ? all the parts of my thoughts generally agreed , that the omnipotent god would command the parts of his servant nature , to compose other worlds for them , into which worlds they should be separated ; the good should go into a blessed world ; the bad , into a cursed world : and the sacred scripture declares , that there shall be a new heaven , and a new earth ; which , in their opinion , was a heaven and a hell , for the blessed and cursed human kind of this vvorld . chap. ix . whether there shall be a material heaven and hell. the tenth argument was , whether the heaven and hell that are to be produced for the blessed and cursed , shall be material ? the minor part 's opinion was , that they shall not be material . the major parts were of opinion , they shall be material , by reason all those creatures that did rise , were material ; and being material , could not be sensible either of immaterial blessings , or punishments : neither could an immaterial world , be a fit or proper residence for material bodies , were those bodies of the purest substance . but , whether this material heaven and hell , shall be like other material worlds , the parts of my mind could not agree , and so not give their judgment . but , in this they all agreed , that the material heaven and hell , shall not have any other animal creatures , than those that were of human kind , and those not produced , but raised from death . but when they came to argue , whether there might be elements , minerals , and vegetables , they could not agree ; but some did argue , and offer to make proof , that there might be mynes of gold , and rocks of diamonds , rubies , and the like ; all which , were minerals . also , some were of opinion , there were elements : for , darkness and light , are elemental effects : and , if hell was a world of darkness ; and heaven , a world of light ; it was probable there were elements . chap. x. concerning the ioys or torments of the blessed and cursed , after they are in heaven , or hell. as for the ioys of heaven , and the torments of hell , all the parts of my mind agreed , they could not conceive any more probably , than those they had formerly conceived : which former conceptions they had occasioned the sensitive parts to declare ; and having been formerly divulged in the book of my orations , their opinion was , that it would be a superfluous work to cause them to be repeated in this book . but , the ground or foundation of those conceptions , is , that god may decree , that both the sensitive and rational parts of those that are restored to life , should move in variety of perceptions , or conceptions , without variety of objects : and , that those creatures ( viz. human creatures ) that are raised from death to life , should subsist without any forrein matter , but should be always the same in body and mind , without any traffick , egress , or regress of forrein parts . and the proof , that the sensitive and rational parts of human creatures , may make perceptions , or rather conceptions , without forrein objects , is , that many men in this world have had conceptions , both amongst the rational and sensitive , which man names visions , or imaginations ; whereof some have been pleasing and delightful ; others , displeasing , and dreadful . the third part. the preamble . the parts of my mind , after some time of respite from philosophical arguments , delighting in such harmless pastimes ; did begin to argue about a regular and irregular world ; having formerly agreed , there might be such worlds in nature ; and that the regular worlds , were happy worlds ; the irregular , miserable worlds . but , there was some division amongst the parts of my mind , concerning the choice of their arguments ; as , whether to argue , first , of the particular parts of the regular , or of the irregular world. but , at last , they agreed to argue , first , of the regular world. but , pray mistake not these arguments ; for they are not arguments of such worlds as are for the reception of the blessed and cursed humans , after their resurrections : but , such as these worlds we are of , only freely regular , or irregular . also , though i treat but only of one regular world , and one irregular world ; yet , my opinion is , there may be a great many irregular worlds , and a great many regular worlds , of several kinds and sorts : but , these i shall treat of , are such as are somewhat like this world we are of . chap. i. of the happy and miserable worlds . the first argument was , whether there might not be such worlds in nature , as were in no kind or sort like this world we are of ? they all agreed , that it was probable there was . the second argument was , whether it was probable that the happy and miserable worlds were , in any kind , like this we are of . they all agreed , it was probable that this world was somewhat like both one , and the other ; and so , both those were somewhat like this : for , as the happy world was no ways irregular ; and the miserable world no ways regular : so this world we are of , was partly irregular , and partly regular ; and so it was a purgatory world. chap. ii. whether there be such kinds and sorts of creatures in the happy and blessed world , as in this world. the third argument was , whether it was probable , the happy and miserable worlds , had animal , vegetable , mineral , and elemental kinds ? they agreed , it was probable there were such kinds : but yet , those kinds , and particular sorts of those kinds , might be different from those of this world. the fourth argument was , whether there was human sorts of creatures in those worlds . they all agreed , there was . chap. iii. of the births and deaths of the heavenly world. the fifth argument was , whether there could be births and deaths in the happy world ? some parts of my mind were of opinion , that if there was so regular a world , as that there were no irregularities in it , there could not be deaths : for , death was a dissolution ; and if there was no death , there could be no birth , or production : for , if any particular sort of creatures should encrease , and never dissolve , they would become infinite ; which every particular kind or sort of creatures , may be , for time , and be eternal ; as also , be infinite for number ; because , as some dissolve , others are produced . and so , if particular sorts or kinds of creatures , be eternal ; the particular production and dissolution , is infinite : but , if any sort , or kind , should encrease , without decrease , not any particular world could contain them : as for example , if all the human creatures that have been produced from our father adam , ( which hath not been above six thousand years ) should be alive , this world could not contain them ; much less , if this world , and the human sorts of creatures , had been of a longer date . and besides , if there should be a greater encrease , by the number of human creatures : in truth , the numerous encrease , would have caused mankind , in the space of six thousand years , to be almost infinite . but , the minor parts of my mind was of opinion , that then the happy world could not be so perfectly regular , if there was death . the major part 's opinion was , that some sorts of deaths were as regular , as the most regular births : for , though diseases were caused by irregular actions , yet , death was not : for , as it is not irregular , to be old ; so it is not irregular , to dye . but , this argument broke off for that time . chap. iv. whether those creatures could be named blessed , that are subject to dye . the sixth argument was , vvhether those creatures could be called blessed , or happy , that are subject to dye ? the major parts of my mind was of opinion , that , if death was as free from irregularities , as birth ; then it was as happy to dye , as to be born. the minor parts were of opinion , that though dissolution might be as regular as composition ; yet , it was an unhappiness for every particular society , to be dissolved . the major part 's opinion , was , that though the particular societies were dissolved ; yet , by reason the general society of the kind , did continue , it was not so much unhappiness ; considering , particular parts , or creatures , did make the general society ; and not , the general , the particular societies : so that , the parts of the particulars , remained in the general , as in the kind of sort. the minor parts were of opinion , that the particulars of the same kind or sort , ( as mankind ) did contribute but little to the general : for , other sorts of creatures did contribute more than they ; only mankind was the occasion , or contributor of the first foundation , but no more : but , the other parts or creatures of the world , did contribute more to their kind , than the creatures of the same kind did : and , as other kinds , and sorts , did contribute to mankind ; so mankind , to other kinds or sorts : for , all kinds and sorts , did contribute to the subsistance and assistance of each other . the major part 's opinion was , that if all the parts of a world did assist each other , then death could be no unhappiness , especially in the regular world ; by reason all creatures in that world , of what kind or sort soever , was perfect and regular : so that , though the particular human creatures did dissolve from being humans ; yet , their parts could not be unhappy , when they did unite into other kinds , and sorts , or particular societies : for , those other sorts and kinds of creatures , might be as happy as human creatures . chap. v. of the productions of the creatures of the regular world. the seventh argument was , of productions of the creatures of the regular world , viz. whether their productions were frequent , or not ? the minor part 's opinion , was , that they were frequent . the major part 's opinion , was , that they were not frequent , or numerous , by reason the world was regular , and so all the productions or generations , were regular ; but could not exceed such a number as was , regularly , sufficient for a world , of such a dimension as the regular world ; and according to the dimensions , must the society or creatures be , let them be large or little . chap. vi. whether the creatures in the blessed vvorld , do feed , and evacuate . the eighth argument , was , whether the blessed humans , in the happy vvorld , did eat , and evacuate ? they agreed , that , if they did feed , they must evacuate . then there was a dispute , vvhether those happy creatures did eat ? they all agreed , that , if they were natural human creatures , they had natural appetites : but , by reason there were no irregularities in this world , the human creatures had not any irregular appetites , nor irregular digestions ; irregular passions , or irregular pastimes . then there arose a dispute , vvhether those blessed creatures did sleep ? some were of opinion , they did not sleep : for , sleep was occasioned through a weariness of the sensitive organs , making perceptions of forrein objects ; and all weariness , or tiredness , was irregular . the major part of my mind , was of a contrary opinion ; because the delight of nature , is in variety : and therefore , regular sleeps were delightful . the minor was of opinion , that sleep was like death , and therefore it could not be happy . but , at last , they did conclude , that sleep , being a soft and quiet repose , ( as being retired from all actions concerning forrein parts , and had only actions at home , and of private affairs ; and that all the parts of body and mind , were then most sociable amongst themselves ) that the blessed humans did sleep . chap. vii . of the animals , and of the food of the humans of the happy vvorld . the ninth argument , was , vvhether there were all sorts of animals in the regular vvorld ? all the parts of my mind agreed , that if there were such creatures as human creatures , it was probable there was other animal creatures : but , by reason there was no irregularities , there could not be cruel or ravenous animal creatures : for , a lyon , leopard , or wolf , in that world , would be as harmless as a sheep in this ; and all kites , hawks , and the like ravenous birds , would be as harmless as those birds that only feed on the berries , and fruit of the earth . chap. vii . whether it is not irregular , for one creature to feed on another . the tenth argument was , whether it was not irregular , for one creature to feed on another ? some were of opinion , that it was natural for one creature to subsist by another , and to assist each other ; but not cruelly to destroy each other . upon this argument , the parts of my mind divided into a minor and a major part . the minor part 's opinion , was , that , since all the creatures in nature , had life ; then , all creatures that did feed , did destroy each other's life . the major part 's opinion , was , that they might be assisted by the lives of other creatures , and not destroy their lives : for , life could not be destroyed , though lives might be occasionally alter'd : but , some creatures may assist other creatures , without destruction or dissolution of their society : as for example , the fruits and leaves of vegetables , are but the humorous parts of vegetables , because they are divisible , and can encrease and decrease , without any dissolution of their society ; that is , without the dissolution of the plant. also , milk of animals , is a superfluous humor of animals : and , to prove it to be a superfluous humor , i alledg , that much of it oppresses an animal . the same i say of the fruits and leaves of many sorts of vegetable creatures . besides , it is natural for such sorts of creatures to have their fruits and leaves to divide from the stock . the minor part 's opinion , was , that the milk of animals , and the fruits of vegetables , and the herbs of the earth , had as much life as their producers . the major part 's opinion , was , that though they had as much life as their producers ; yet , it was natural for such off-springs to change and alter their lives , by being united to other sorts of creatures : as for example , an animal eats fruit and herbs ; and those fruits and herbs convert themselves into the nature of those animals that feed of them . the same is of milk , eggs , and the like ; out of which , a condition of life is endeavoured for : and , for proof , such sorts of creatures account an animal life the best ; and therefore , all such superfluous parts of creatures , endeavour to unite into an animal society ; as we may perceive , that fruits and herbs , are apt to turn into worms , and flies ; and some parts of milk , as cheese , will turn into maggots ; so that when animals feed of such meats , they occasion those parts they feed on , to a more easie transformation ; and not only such creatures , but humans also , desire a better change : for , what human would not be a glorious sun , or starr ? after which discourse , all the parts of my mind agreed unanimously , that animals , and so human creatures , might feed on such sorts of food , as aforesaid ; but not on such food as is an united society : for , the root and foundation of any kind and sort of creature , ought not to be destroyed . chap. ix . of the continuance of life in the regular world. the opinion of the parts of my mind , was , that , it was probable , that all societies in the regular world , ( that is , all such parts of nature as are united into particular creatures ) are of long life , by reason there are no irregularities to destroy them , before their natural time . but then a dispute was raised amongst the parts of my mind , concerning the natural time , that is , the proper time of the lives of those creatures : for , all creatures were not of the same time of production ; nor , after their production , of the same time of continuance . but the parts of my mind concluded , that though they could not judg by observation of any creature , no , not of their own sort ; yet , they did believe they could judg better of human creatures , as being , at that time , of a human society , than of any other : but , by reason they were of this world ( that is , irregular in part ) they did believe they might very much err in their judgment , concerning the continuance of human lives , in the happy world. but , after much debate , they concluded , that a human creature , in the regular world , might last as long as the productions did not oppress or burden that world , ( for that would be irregular ) but how long a time that might be , they could not possibly conceive or imagine . chap. ix . of the excellency and happiness of the creatures of the regular world. the parts of my mind could not possibly , being parts of a purgatory vvorld , conceive the happy condition of all creatures in the regular vvorld ; but only , conceiving there was no irregularities , they did also conceive , that all creatures there , must be in perfection ; and that the elemental creatures were purer , without drossie mixtures ; so that their earth must needs be so fruitful , that it produces all sorts of excellent vegetables , without the help of art ; and their minerals as pure , as all sorts of stone that are transparent , and as hard as diamonds ; the gold and silver , more pure than that which is refined in our vvorld . the truth is , that , in their opinions , the meanest sorts of metal in the regular vvorld , were more pure than the richest sort in this vvorld : so that then , their richest metal must be as far beyond ours , as our gold is beyond our iron , or lead . as for the elemental vvaters in the regular vvorld , they must be extraordinary smooth , clear , flowing , fresh , and sweet ; and the elemental air only , a most pure , clear , and glorious light ; so that there could be no need of a sun : and , by reason all the air was a light , there could be no darkness ; and so , no need of a moon , or starrs . the elemental fire , although it was hot , yet it was not burning . also , there could neither be scorching heats , nor freezing colds , storms , nor tempest : for , all excess is irregular . neither could there be clouds , because no vapours . but , not to be tedious ; it was my mind's opinion , that all the parts of the happy world , being regular , they could not obstruct each other's designs or actions ; which might be a cause , that both the sensitive and rational parts may not only make their societies more curious , and their perceptions more perfect ; but their perceptions more subtile : for , all the actions of that vvorld being regular , must needs be exact and perfect ; in so much , that every creature is a perfect object to each other ; and so every creature must have , in some sort , a perfect knowledg of each other . chap. xi . of human creatures in the regular world. the opinion of my mind , was , that the happy world , having no irregularities , all creatures must needs be excellent , and most perfect , according to their kind and sort ; amongst which , are human creatures , whose kinds , or sorts , being of the best , must be more excellent than the rest , being exactly formed , and beautifully produced : there being , also , no irregularities , human creatures cannot be subject to pains , sickness , aversions , or the like ; or , to trepidations , or troubles ; neither can their appetites , or passions , be irregular : wherefore , their understanding is more clear , their judgments more poysed : and by reason their food is pure , it must be delicious , as being most tastable : also , it must be wholsome , and nourishing ; which occasions the parts of body and mind , to be more lively and pleasant . chap. xii . of the happiness of human creatures in the material world. the happiness that human creatures have in the regular world , is , that they are free from any kind or sort of disturbance , by reason there are no irregular actions ; and so , no pride , ambition , faction , malice , envy , suspition , jealousie , spight , anger , covetousness , hatred , or the like ; all which , are irregular actions among the rational parts : which occasions treachery , slander , false accusations , quarrels , divisions , warr , and destruction ; which proceeds from the irregularities of the sensitive parts , occasioned by the rational , by reason the sense executes the mind's designs : but , there are no plots or intrigues , neither in their state , nor upon their stage ; because , though they may act the parts of harmless pleasures ; yet , not of deceitful designs : for , all human creatures , live in the regular world , so united , that all the particular human societies , ( which are particular human creatures ) live as if they were but one soul , and body ; that is , as if they were but one part , or particular creature . as for their pleasures , and pleasant pastimes ; in my opinion , they are such , as not any creature can express , unless they were of that world , or heaven : for , all kinds and sorts of creatures , and all their properties or associations , in this world we are of , are mixt ; as , partly irregular ; and partly , regular ; and so it is but a purgatory-world . but surely , all human creatures of that world , are so pleasant and delightful to each other , as to cause a general happiness . the fourth part. chap. i. of the irregular world. after the arguments and opinions amongst the parts of my mind , concerning a regular world ; their discourse was , of an irregular world : upon which they all agreed , that if there was a world that was not in any kind or sort , irregular ; there must be a world that was not in any kind or sort , regular . but , to conceive those irregularities that are in the irregular world , is impossible ; much less , to express them : for , it is more difficult to express irregularities , than regularities : and what human creature of this world , can express a particular confusion , much less a world of confusions ? which i will , however , endeavour to declare , according to the philosophical opinions of the parts of my mind . chap. ii. of the productions and dissolutions of the creatures of the irregular world. according to the actions of nature , all creatures are produced by the associations of parts , into particular societies , which we name , particular creatures : but , the productions of the parts of the irregular world , are so irregular , that all creatures of that world are monstrous : neither can there be any orderly or distinct kinds and sorts ; by reason that order and distinction , are regularities . wherefore , every particular creature of that world , hath a monstrous and different form ; insomuch , that all the several particulars are affrighted at the perception of each other : yet , being parts of nature , they must associate ; but , their associations are after a confused and perturbed manner , much after the manner of whirlwinds , or aetherial globes , wherein can neither be order , nor method : and , after the same manner as they are produced , so are they dissolved : so that , their births and deaths are storms , and their lives are torments . chap. iii. of animals , and of humans , in the irregular world. it has been declared in the former chapter , that there was not any perfect kind or sort of creatures in the irregular world : for , though there be such creatures as we name animals ; and amongst animals , humans : yet , they are so monstrous , that , being of confused shapes , or forms , none of those animal creatures can be said to be of such , or such a sort ; because they are of different disordered forms . also , they cannot be said to be of a perfect animal-kind , or any kind ; by reason of the variety of their forms : for , those that are of the nature of animals , especially of humans , are the most miserable and unhappy of all the creatures of that world ; and the misery is , that death doth not help them : for , nature being a perpetual motion , there is no rest either alive or dead . in this world , it 's true , some societies ( viz. some creatures ) may , sometimes , after their dissolutions , be united into more happy societies , or forms ; which , in the irregular world , is impossible ; because all forms , creatures , or societies , are miserable : so that , after dissolution , those dispersed parts cannot joyn to any other society , but what is as bad as the former ; and so those creatures may dissolve out of one misery , and unite into another ; but cannot be released from misery . chap. iv. of objects , and perceptions . the opinions amongst the parts of my mind , were , that in the unhappy , or miserable world , all the actions of that world , being irrregular , it must needs be , that all sorts of perceptions of that world , must also be irregular : not only because the objects are all irregular ; but , the perceptive actions are so too ; in such manner , that , what with the irregularity of the objects , and the irregularity of the perceptions , it must , of necessity , cause a horrid confusion , both of the sensitive and rational parts of all creatures of that world , in so much , that not only several creatures may appear as several devils to each other ; but , one and the same creature may appear , both to the sense and reason , like several devils , at several times . chap. v. the description of the globe of the irregular world. the opinion of my mind was , that the globe of the irregular world was so irregular , that it was a horrid world : for though , being a world , it might be somewhat like other worlds , both globous , and a society of it self , by its own parts ; and therefore might have that which we name earth , air , water , and fire : but , for sun-light , moon-light , starr-light , and the like , they are not parts of the world they appear to ; and are worlds of themselves . but , there can be no such appearances in the irregular vvorld : for , the irregularities do obstruct all such appearances ; and the elemental parts ( if i may name them so ) are as irregular , and therefore as horrid as can be : so that it is probable , that the elemental fire is not a bright shining fire , but a dull , dead fire , which hath the effects of a strong corrosive fire , which never actually heats , but actually burns ; so that some creatures may both freeze and burn at once . as for the earth of that vvorld , it is probable that it is like corrupted sores , by reason all corruptions are produced by irregular motions ; from which corruptions , may proceed such stinking foggs , as may be as far beyond the scent of brimstone , or any the worst of scents that are in this vvorld , as spanish or roman perfumes , or essences , are beyond the scent of carion , or assafoetida ; which causes all creatures ( of airy substances ) that breathe , to be so infected , as to appear like poysoned bodies . as for their elemental vvater , 't is probable , that it is as black as ink , as bitter as gaul , as sharp as aquafortis , and as salt as brine , mixt irregularly together , by reason the vvaters there , must needs be very troubled vvaters . as for the elemental air , i shall declare the opinion of my rational parts , in the following chapter . chap. vi. of the elemental air , and light of the irregular world . t is probable , that the elemental air of the irregular vvorld , is neither perfectly dark , nor perfectly light ; for , either would be , in some part or kind , a perfection or regularity : but , being irregular , it must be a perturbed air ; and , being perturbed , it is probable it produces several colours . but , mistake me not , i do not mean such colours as are made by perturbed light ; but , such as are made by perturbed air : and , through the excess of irregularities , may be horrid colours ; and , by reason of the aetherial whirling motions , which are circular motions , the air may be of the colour of blood , a very horrid colour to some sorts of creatures : but 't is probable , this bloody colour is not of a pure bloody colour , but of a corrupted bloody colour : and so the light of the irregular vvorld , may , probably , be of a corrupt bloody colour : but , by the several irregular motions , it may be , at several times , of feveral corrupted bloody colours : and by reason there are no intermissions of air , there can be no intermissions of this light , in the irregular vvorld . chap. vii . of storms , and tempests , in the irregular world. as for storms , and tempests , and such irregular vveather , 't is probable there are continual vvinds and thunders , caused by the disturbance of the air ; and those storms and tempests , being irregular , must needs be violent , and therefore very horrid . there may also be lightnings , but they are not such as those that are of a fiery colour ; but such as are like the colour of fire and blood mixt together . as for rain , being occasioned by the vapours from the earth and vvaters , it is according as those vapours gather into clouds : but , when there is thunder , it must needs be violent . chap. viii . of the several seasons , or rather , of the several tempers in the irregular world. as for several seasons ; there can be no constant season , because there is no regularity ; but rather , a great irregularity , and violence , in all tempers and seasons ; for there is no mean degree : and surely , their freezing is as sharp and corroding , as their corrosive-burnings ; and it is probable , that the ice and snow in that world , are not as in this world , viz. the ice to be clear , and the snow white ; because there the water is a troubled , and black water ; so that the snow is black , and the ice also black ; not clear , or like black polished marble ; but 't is probable , that the snow is like black vvool ; and the ice , like unpolished black stone ; not for solidity , but for colour and roughness . chap. ix . the conclusion of the irregular and vnhappy or cursed world. i have declared in my former chapter , concerning the irregular world , that there could not be any exact , or perfect kind or sort , because of the irregularities ; not that there is not animal , vegetable , mineral , and elemental actions , and so not such creatures ; but , by reason of the irregularities , they are strangely mixt and disordered , so that every particular seems to be of a different kind , or sort , being not any ways like each other ; and yet , may have the nature of such kinds , and sorts , by reason they are natural creatures , although irregularly natural : but , those irregular natural creatures , cannot chuse , by the former descriptions , but be unhappy , having , in no sort or kind , pleasure , or ease : and for such creatures that have such perceptions as are any way like ours , they are most miserable : for , by the sense of touch , they freeze and burn : by the sense of tast , they have nauseousness , and hunger , being not satisfied : by the sense of scent , they are suffocated , by reason of irregular respiration : by the sense of hearing , and sense of seeing , they have all the horrid sounds and sights , that can be in nature : the rational parts are , as if they were all distracted or mad ; and the sensitive parts tormented with pains , aversisions , sicknesses , and deformities ; all which is caused through the irregular actions of the parts of the irregular world ; so that the actions of all sorts of creatures , are violent , and irregular . but , to conclude : as all the creatures of our world , were made for the benefit of human creatures ; so , 't is probable , all the creatures of the irregular world , were produced for the torment and confusion of human creatures in that world. the fifth part , being divided into fifteen sections . concerning restoring-beds , or wombs . i. at the latter end of my philosophical conceptions , the parts of my mind grew sad , to think of the dissolving of their society : for , the parts of my mind are so friendly , that although they do often dispute and argue for recreation and delight-sake ; yet , they were never so irregular , as to divide into parties , like factious fellows , or unnatural brethren : which was the reason that they were sad , to think their kind society should dissolve , and that their parts should be dispersed and united to other societies , which might not be so friendly as they were . and , after many several thoughts , ( which are several rational discourses : for , thoughts are the language of the mind ) they fell into a discourse of restoring beds , or wombs , viz. whether there might not be restoring beds , as well as producing beds , or breeding beds . and , to argue the case , they agreed to divide into minor and major parts . ii. the major parts of my mind were of opinion , that there are beds , or wombs , of restoration , as well as beds of production : for , if nature's actions be poysed , there must be one , as well as the other . the minor part 's opinion , was , that , as all creatures were produced , so all creatures were subject to dissolve : so that , the poyse of nature's productions , was nature's dissolutions , and not restorations . the major part 's opinion , was , that there are restorations in nature : for , as some dissolved , others united in every kind and sort of creature , which was a restoration to the kinds and sorts of creatures . the minor part 's opinion , was , that though every sort and kind of creatures , continued as the species of each sort and kind ; yet , they did not continue by such restorations as they were arguing about : for though , when some creatures dye , others of the same sort or species , are born or bred ; yet , they are produced , not restored : for , they conceived , that restoration was a reviving and re-uniting the parts of a dissolved society or creature ; which restoration was not natural , at least , not usual . the major part 's opinion , was , that restoration was natural , and usual : for , there were many things , or creatures , restored , in some sort , after they were dead . the minor part 's opinion , was , that some creatures might be restored from some infirmities , or decays ; but , they could not be restored after they were dissolved , and their parts dispersed . the major part 's opinion , was , that if the roots , seeds , or springs of a society , or creature , were not dissolved and dispersed , those creatures might be restored to their former condition of life , if they were put , or received , into the restoring beds : as for example , a dry and withered rood of some vegetable , although the parts of that vegetable be , as we say , dead ; yet , they are often restored by the means of some arts : also , dead sprigs will , by art , receive new life . the minor part 's opinion , was , that if there were such actions of nature , as restoring actions ; yet , they could not be the poysing actions , nor the artificial actions : for , not any dead creature can be restored by art. iii. some of the gravest parts of my mind , made this following discourse to some other parts of my mind . dear associates , there hath been many human societies , that have perswaded themselves , that there are such restoring actions of nature , which will restore , not only a dead , but a dispersed society ; by reason they have observed , that vegetables seem to dye in one season , and to revive in another : as also , that the artificial actions of human creatures , can produce several artificial effects , that resemble those we name natural ; which hath occasioned many human creatures to wast their time and estates , with fire and furnace , cruelly torturing the productions of nature , to make their experiments . also , they trouble themselves with poring and peeping through telescopes , microscopes , and the like toyish arts , which neither get profit , nor improve their understanding : for , all such arts prove rather ignorant follies , than wise considerations ; art being so weak and defective , that it cannot so much assist , as it doth hinder nature : but , there is as much difference between art and nature , as between a statue and a man ; and yet artists believe they can perfect what by nature is defective ; so that they can rectifie nature's irregularities ; and do excuse some of their artificial actions , saying , they only endeavour to hasten the actions of nature : as if nature were slower than art , because a carver can cut a figure or statue of a man , having all his materials ready at hand , before a child can be finished in the breeding-bed . but , art being the sporting and toyish actions of nature , we will not consider them at this time . but , dear associates , if there be any such things in nature , as restoring-beds , which most of our society are willing to believe ; yet , those beds cannot possibly be artificial , but must be natural beds . nor can any one particular sort of bed , be a general restorer : for , every several sort or kind , requires a bed , or womb , that is proper for their sorts or kinds : so that , there must be as many sorts , at least , and kinds of beds , as there are kinds of creatures : but , what those wombs or beds are , we human creatures do not know ; nor do we know whether there be any such things in this world : but , if there be such things in this world , we cannot conceive where they are . iv. after the former discourse , the parts of my mind were a little sad : but , after many and frequent disputes and arguments , they all agreed , that there are restoring beds , or wombs , in nature : but that to describe their conceptions of those restoring beds , was only to describe opinions , but not known truths : and their opinions were , that those beds are as lasting as gold , or quick-silver : for , though they may be occasioned to alter their exterior form ; yet , not their interior or innate nature . but , mistake not my mind's opinion : for , their opinion is not , that those beds are gold , or quicksilver : for , their opinion was , that neither gold , or quicksilver , were restorers of life : but , if they were restorers , they could restore no other creatures , but only dead metals , by reason several creatures require several restoring beds proper to their sorts or kinds : so that a mineral kind or sort , could not restore an animal kind or sort ; because there was no such thing in nature , as the elixir , or philosophers-stone , which the chymists believe to be some deity , that can restore all sorts and kinds . v. as it has formerly been declared , the parts of my mind were generally of opinion , that it was , at least , probable , there were such things in nature as restoring-beds , or wombs . the next opinion was , that these beds were of several kinds or sorts , viz. animal , vegetable , mineral , and elemental : so that every kind or sort , is a general restorer of the lives of their kind or sort. as for example , an animal restoring-bed , may restore any dead animal , to his former animal life , in case the animal roots or seeds , ( which we name , the vital parts ) were not divided and dispersed , but inclosed , or inurned , so that no other animal could come to feed on those roots and seeds of the dead animal body ; and in case the body was so closely kept , though dead many years , if it was put into a restoring-bed , that animal creature would reunite to the former animal life and form. but then there arose this argument , that if the bodies of the dead animals , did corrupt and dissolve of themselves , as most dead animal bodies do ; whether , after their dissolution , they could be restored ? the minor part 's opinion was , that those dissolved bodies , being dissolved , or divided , and their parts out of their places , could not be restored . the major part 's opinion , was , they might be restored ; first , because , though the parts may be divided ; yet , they were not annihilated . the next , that those divided parts were not so separated and dispersed , as to be united to other societies : wherefore , if all those dead animal parts were put into a restoring-womb , or bed ; the bed would occasion those parts to place themselves into their proper order and form. vi. after the former discourse , some of the parts of my mind were sad , to think , that those that had been embowelled , were made incapable of ever being restored ; and , that it was a greater cruelty to murder a dead man , and to rob him of his interior parts ; than to murder a living man , and yet suffer his whole body to lye peaceably in the urn , or grave . but , the other parts endeavouring to comfort those sad parts , made this argument , viz. whether it might not probably be , that the bones or carcase of a human creature , were the root of human life ? and if so , then if all the parts were dissolved , and none were left undissolved , but the bare carcase ; they might be restored to life . the sad part 's opinion , was , that it was impossible they could be restored , by reason the roots of human life , were those we name the vital parts ; and those being divided from the carcase , and dispersed , and united unto other societies , could not meet and joyn into their former state of life , or society , so as to be the same man. the comforting parts were of opinion , it was not probable that the fleshy and spungy parts , being the branches of human life , could also be the roots . wherefore , in all probability , the bones were the roots ; and the bones being the roots , if the bare carcase of a man should be put into a restoring bed , all the fleshy and spungy parts , both those that were the exterior , and those that were interior , would spring and encrease to their full maturity . the sad part 's opinion , was , that if the bones were the roots ; and that , from the roots , all the exterior and interior parts , belonging to a human creature , should spring , and so encrease to full maturity ; yet , those branches would not be the same they were , viz. the same parts of the same man ; and besides , those branches would rather be new productions , than restorations . the comforting part 's opinion , was , that though the branches were new , the carcase , as the root , being the same , the man would be the same : for , though the spungy and fleshy parts , divide and unite from home , and to forrein parts ; yet , the man is the same : and to prove that the bony parts are the roots of human life , doth it not happen , that if the flesh be cut from the bone , and the bone be left bare ; yet , in time , the bone produces new flesh : but , if any bone be separated from the body , that bone cannot be restored ; nor can a new bone spring forth , nor can the divided bone be joyned or knit to the body , as it was before : for , although a broken bone may be set ; yet , a divided bone cannot be rejoyned : all which arguments , were a sufficient proof , that the bones were the roots of life . the sad part 's argument , was , that it was well known , that if any of the vital parts of a human creature , as the liver , lungs , heart , kidneys , and the like , were decayed , pierced , or wounded , the human creature dyed , by reason those parts are incurable . the comforting parts were of opinion , that there were many less causes which did often occasion human death ; yet , those causes were not the roots of life : nor were those parts the roots of life , although those parts which we name vital , were the chief branches of human life . but , at last , they all agreed in this opinion , that the bones , were the roots ; the marrow , the sapp , and the vitals , the chief branches of life . also , they agreed , that when an human life was restored , the bones did first fill with some oylie juyces ; and from the bones , and the sap or juyce of the bones , did all the parts belonging to a human creature , spring forth , and grow up to maturity : and certainly , not to disturb the bones of the dead , was a holy and religious charge to human creatures . vii . after the pacifying the sad parts of my mind , their argument was , that , supposing creatures could be restored ; whether they should be restored as when they were first produced ; or , as when they were at the perfection of their age ; or , as when they were at old age ? but , after many disputes , they all agreed , that those that should be restored , should be restored to that degree of age and strength , which is the most perfect : and , as all productions arrived towards perfection by degrees ; so those that were restored , should return to perfection by degrees , if they were past the perfect time of their age : and those that were not arrived to their perfection , before they dyed , should arrive to it , however , as those that had it : so that , both youth and age , shall meet in perfection : for , as the one encreases , as it were , forward ; so the other return to their strength and perfection of their past age. viii . after the former opinions , the parts of my mind were somewhat puzled in their arguments concerning the degrees of the restoring times ; as , whether restoration was done by a general act , or by degrees ? the most doubting part 's opinion , was , that it was not natural to restore , although it was natural to produce ; and , that all natural productions , were by degrees : but , for restorations , ( being not natural productions ) they could not be done by degrees : and therefore the action of restoration , was but as one action , although of many parts . the believing parts of my mind were of opinion , that all nature's actions , being by degrees , all restorations were also by degrees . the doubting part 's opinion was , that there were some actions that had no degrees : for , one action might signifie a thousand . the other part 's opinion was , that a thousand actions , or degrees , were in the figure of one. the doubting parts were of opinion , that it was impossible . but , at last , they agreed , that the restoring actions were by degrees . ix . the parts of my mind were divided into minor and major parts , about the time or degrees of restoration of human creatures . the minor's opinion was , that the restoring actions of nature , were so much quicker than the producing actions , that a human creature might be restored in a months time ; whereas the production of a human creature was in ten months : for , though a human creature may quicken at three months time ; yet , it was not fully ripe for birth , before the time of ten months . the major part 's opinion was , that restoration was according as the creature was dissolved : for , a man that was newly dead ; or not so long dead , that his parts were not yet divided ; that man might be restored to life in an hour's time , or less : but , if all the parts , excepting the bare carcase , were dissolved , there would require as long a time in restoring , as in producing . the minor's opinion , was , that the restoring-time , was no longer than the time of quickning . the major part 's opinion , was , that though the exterior form or frame of a child , might be before the quickning ; yet , it was not a perfect animal , until it was quick : and although it might be a perfect animal when it was quick ; yet , not ripe , that is , not at the full perfection of a human creature . as it is with fruits : for , a green plumb is not like a ripe plumb ; but , any green fruit , is like a dead fruit , in comparison of a ripe fruit. at last , the parts of my mind did agree , that if a human creature was dissolved , excepting the bare carcase ; it would require ten months time ere it could perfectly be restored : for , the springing parts would require so long a time ere they could come to full maturity . x. the question being stated , whether the restoring-bed , was a fleshy bed ; all the parts of my mind , after many disputes , agreed , that it could not be a fleshy bed , by reason the nature of flesh is so corruptible , dissolvable , and easie to be dissolved , that it could not possibly be of such a lasting nature , as is required for restoring-beds . but yet , they agreed , they were like flesh , for softness , or spunginess ; as also , for colour . also , they agreed , that the animal restoring-bed , was of such a nature or property , that it could dilate and contract , as it had occasion ; in so much , that it could contract to the compass of the smallest , or extend to the magnitude of the largest animal . also , they did agree , that it was somewhat like the stomack of a human creature , or of the like animal , that could open and shut the orifice ; and that when an animal creature was put into the restoring-bed , it would immediately inclose the animal : and when it had caused a perfect restoration , the restoring-bed would open it self , and deliver it to its own liberty . xi . another question amongst the parts of my mind concerning restoring-beds , or wombs , was : that in case there were such restoring-beds in nature , as in all probability there were ; where could those restoring-beds be ? viz. whether there were any in this world ? if not in this world , in any other world ? the minor parts were of opinion , there were none in this world ; but , that there were some in other worlds . the major part 's opinion , was , that there were such beds ; but , that human creatures would not know them , though they could perceive them : nor , if they could perceive them , could they tell how to make use of them . at last they all agreed , that those restoring-beds were in the center of the world : but , where the center is , no human creature , no , not the most subtile and learned mathematicians , geometricians , or astrologers , could , with their most laborious arts , and subtile observations , know ; and therefore , unless by a special decree from god , no such restoration can be made . xii . the parts of my mind were very studious to conceive where the center of the world was : some of the parts of my mind was of opinion , that there were four centers , viz. a center in the earth , a center in the air , a center in the sea , and a center in the element of fire . upon which opinion , the parts of my mind divided into minor and major parts . the minor parts were of opinion , that there were centers in all the four elemental parts ; and that the restoring-beds , were only of four kinds : but yet , there might be many several sorts of each particular kind ; and that each particular kind , with all the several sorts , was produced in each particular elemental center . the major part was of opinion , that there might be infinite centers , if there were infinite worlds : also , there might be many centers in this world ; for , every round globe hath a center . but , their opinion concerning the restoring-beds , was , that they were in the center of the globe of our whole world , and not of any of the parts of the world : for , the air could have but an uncertain center ; neither could the water have a very solid center ; and the earth was too solid to have a center , consisting of the four kinds of elements : neither could the elemental fire have such a center , as to breed such different kinds and sorts of beds , as the restoring-beds are , because many of them are quite of a different nature from the nature of elemental fire : wherefore , it must be the center of the world , which must consist of all the elemental kinds . xiii . after the former argument , the parts of my mind were very studious in conceiving , where the center of the whole universe of this our world , might be : at last they all agreed , it was the sea , which is the watry element : for , the sea is inclosed with the airy , fiery , and earthy parts of the universe , and therefore must be the center . and , though the sea was the center of the world ; yet , there was a center of the sea : so that , there was a center in a center ; in which center , were the restoring-beds . xiv . after the former conceptions , the parts of my mind were very studious , to conceive where the center 's center might be . but , they could not possibly conceive it , by reason they could not possibly imagine how large , and of what compass the sea may be of : for they did verily believe , that the utmost extension of the sea , is not , as yet , known to human-kind : for , that circle about which the ships of cavendishe , and drake , did swim , might be , in comparison to the whole body of the sea , but such a circle as a boy may occasion , with throwing a small stone , or such like thing , into a pond of water . xv. the last conception of my mind , concerning restoring-beds , was , that the parts of my mind did conceive , that the center of the whole universe , was the sea ; and in the center of the sea , was a small island ; and in the center of the island , was a creature , like ( in the outward form ) to a great and high rock : not that this rock was stone ; but , it was of such a nature , ( by the natural compositions of parts ) that it was compounded of parts of all the principal kinds and sorts of the creatures of this world , viz. of elemental , animal , mineral , and vegetable kinds : and , being of such a nature , did produce , out of it self , all kinds and sorts of restoring-beds ; whereof , some sorts were so loose , that they only hung by strings , or nerves : others stuck close . some were produced at the top , or upper parts : others were produced out of the middle parts ; and some were produced from the lower parts , or at the bottom . in short , the opinion of the parts of my mind , was , that this rocky creature was all covered with its own productions ; which productions were of all kinds and sorts : not that they were numerous ; but , various productions : also , that these various productions , were restoring-beds : for , the nature of this rocky creature , is as lasting as the sun , or other planets ; which was the reason that those productions are not subject to decay , as other productions are : nor can they produce new creatures ; but only restore former creatures ; as , those that had been produced , and were partly dissolved . the conclusion . after the wisest parts of my mind had ended their arguments , there being some of the dullest , and the most unbelieving , or rather , strange parts of my mind , that had retired into the glandula of my brain , which is a kind of a kernel ; which they made use of , instead of a pulpit : out of which , they declared their opinions , thus : dear associates , we , that were not parties of your disputations , or argumentations , concerning restoring-beds ; being retired into the glandula of the brain , where we have been informed by the nerves , and sensitive spirits , of your wise opinions , and subtile arguments , considering that your conclusion was as improbable , if not as impossible , as the chymical philosophers-stone , or elixir ; we desire you ( being parts of one and the same society ) not to trouble the whole society , in the search of that , which , if it was in nature , will never be found . but to prevent , that your painful studies , and witty arguments , be not buried in oblivion ; we advise you , to perswade the sensitive parts of our society , to record them , so that they may be divulged to all the societies of our own kind or sort of creatures ; as chymists do , who , after they have wasted their times and estates , to gain the philosophers-stone , or elixir ; write books to teach it to the sons of art : which is impossible , at least , very improbable , ever to be learn'd , there being no such art in nature : but , were it possible such an art was to be obtained ; yet , when obtained , the artist would never divulge it in print . but , those great practitioners , finding , after much loss and pains , nothing but despair , write books of that art ; which , instead of the elixir , did produce despair ; which again , though produced by art , did produce , naturally , that vice , named malice ; and malice , being a pregnant seed , sowed upon the fertile ground of their writings , produces so much mischief , that many men of good estates , have been undone , in following their rules in chymistry : and if your books should be as succesful as chymistry hath been ( i dare not say , among fools ; but ) amongst credulous men ; your books will cause as much mischief as theirs have done ; not by the ways of fire , but by the ways of water : for , your books send men to sea , a much cooler element than fire ; but , more dangerous than chymical fire , unless chymical fire be hell-fire . upon which discourse , the rest of my thoughts were very angry , and pull'd them out of their pulpit , the glandula ; and not only so , but put them out of their society , believing they were a factious party , which , in time , might cause the society's dissolution . finis . a new treatise of natural philosophy, free'd from the intricacies of the schools adorned with many curious experiments both medicinal and chymical : as also with several observations useful for the health of the body. midgley, robert, 1655?-1723. 1687 approx. 405 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 178 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a50778 wing m1995 estc r31226 11791731 ocm 11791731 49229 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a50778) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49229) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1488:28) a new treatise of natural philosophy, free'd from the intricacies of the schools adorned with many curious experiments both medicinal and chymical : as also with several observations useful for the health of the body. midgley, robert, 1655?-1723. [12], 340 [i.e 342] p. printed by r.e. for j. hindmarsh ..., london : 1687. on verso: licensed, october 28, 1686, robert midgley. attributed to midgeley by wing and nuc pre-1956 imprints. numerous errors in pagination. imperfect: pages 341 plus wanting. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng physics -early works to 1800. science -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2005-05 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a new treatise of natural philosophy , free'd from the intricacies of the schools . adorned with many curious experiments both medicinal and chymical . as also with several observations useful for the health of the body . london , printed by r. e. for j. hindmarsh , at the golden-ball over against the royal. exchange in cornhill . 1687. licensed , october 28. 1686. robert midgley . index . the first part of physick , wherein is treated of the causes and principles of nature . chap. i. of the efficient cause , and of its essence and differences . chap. ii. of the first cause . chap. iii. the perfections of the first cause . chap. iv. of second causes , and their actions . chap. v. of accidental causes . chap. vi. of sympathy , antipathy , and the effects depending thereupon . chap. vii . experiments about iron and the loadstone . chap. viii . an explication of many other effects which are commonly attributed to sympathy . chap. ix . of portative remedies commonly called amulets , of quick-silver , gold , silver , and copper . chap. x. of natural phoenomenas , which are attributed to antipathy . chap. xi . of emeticks , sudorificks , and specificks . chap. xii . of poysons , and toxicks . chap. xiii . of sublimate , arsenick , and other kinds of poysons , and their deadly effects . chap. xiv . of antidotes . chap. xv. of the true causes of our diseases . chap. xvi . of the causes of our health . chap. xvii . of formal , exemplary , and material causes . chap. xviii . of the first matter . chap. xix . of atoms , and their nature . chap. xx. the properties , magnitude , figure , weight , and motion of atoms . chap. xxi . the difficulties arising from the doctrine of atoms . chap. xxii . of a disseminate , congregate , and separate vacuum according to gassendus . chap. xxiii . of a congregate vacuum , against aristotle and cartesius . the second part of physick , wherein is treated of the coelestial world , and of those things which are above man. chap. i. of the immense spaces which are without the heavens . chap. ii. of the heavens , and their nature . chap. iii. of stars , and their substance . chap. iv. of the figures and magnitude of stars . chap. v. of the motion of the stars . chap. vi. the system of the world according to ptolomy examined . chap. vii . the system of the world according to copernicus examined . chap. viii . of the motion of the earth . chap. ix . of the sun , the true centre and heart of the world. chap. x. of the moon and its changes . chap. xi . of planets , comets , and the fixed stars . chap. xii . of meteors in the air. chap. xiii . of winds , tempests , and whirl-winds . chap. xiv . of thunder , lightning , and the thunderbolt . chap. xv. of aurum-fulminans , which imitates thunder . chap. xvi . of hail , snow , frost , &c. chap. xvii . of the rainbow , halones , and parrhelis . chap. xviii . of the air , its substance and qualities . the third part of physick ; of those things which are beneath man , ( viz. ) of the earth , and terrestrial things which are called inanimate . chap. i. of the earth and water in general . chap. ii. of terrestrial inanimate bodies in general . chap. iii. of the various qualities observed in compound bodies . chap. iv. of special qualities which arise from the composition of bodies . chap. v. of the quantity , weight , and figure of compound bodies . chap. vi. the difference betwixt natural , artificial , and compound bodies . chap. vii . of mettals and their formation . chap. viii . of gold , the king of mettals . chap. ix . of silver , copper , and other imperfect mettals . chap. x. of lead , tin , and iron . chap. xi . of quick-silver , arbor diana , or the silver tree . chap. xii . of minerals . chap. xiii . of salts . chap. xiv . of subterranean fires , aend earthquakes . chap. xv. of waters and their differences . chap. xvi . of the sea , its ebbing and flowing , and of the saltness of the sea-water . chap. xvii . of springs and rivers . the fourth part of physick : of those things which are in man , and of man himself , as he is a compound physical , and animate body . chap. i. of life in general . chap. ii. of the difference of lives . chap. iii. of the vegetative life ; common to man and plants . chap. iv. of the nature of seeds , and their propagation . chap. v. of nutrition , which is common to plants and brutes , as well as man. chap. vi. how and with what food an embryo is nourished in the womb 'till the time of its nativity . chap. vii . how a man is nourished after he is born. chap. viii . the sensitive life of man and other animals . chap. ix . of seeing , its organ and object , ( viz. ) light. chap. x. how illustrated objects are visible . chap. xi . of hearing , its organ and object . chap. xii . particular questions about hearing . chap. xiii . smelling , its organ and object . chap. xiv . of tast and its object . chap. xv. of feeling . chap. xvi . of speech , the pulse , and breathing of man. chap. xvii . of the motion of the heart . chap. xviii . of the irregular motion of the heart in animals , and in feavers . chap. xix . of the circulation of the blood. chap. xx. of the inward senses , and the inferiour appetite . chap. xxi . of sleep , want of rest , and death . chap. xxii . of the death of brutes , plants and mettals . chap. xxiii . of the rational soul and its powers . natural philosophy ; or , natural science freed from the intricacies of the schools . the desire of knowledge is natural to man , curiosity is inseparable from his spirit , neither is he ever at rest , until he hath attained to the perfect knowledge of things , that is , until he becomes a wise man. science is the knowledge of things by their causes ; therefore there is no man wise , who is ignorant of the original principles , and causes of all things occurring to him ; and since it is impossible for any man in this life to attain to a clear , distinct , and an undubitable knowledge of all things ; therefore there is no man that is absolutely wise : those who have the reputation of being wise and excellent philosophers , have obtained that preheminence , in regard they are less ignorant than others . sciences differ according to the diversity of mens conditions and professions . the noble man is conversant and wise in the art of war , the physitian in the precepts of medicine , and the advocate in matters of law and right , but all these sciences ( nay theology it self ) cannot subsist without philosophy , especially , without that part of it , which we call physick , or natural science . the first part of physick , wherein is treated of the causes and principles of nature . by nature is understood the universe , composed of heaven and earth , and all that is found between both ; this is the object of physick , this every natural philosopher ought to know ; and because this knowledge cannot be obtained , without knowing the principles and causes of things , hence it is evident , that a natural philosopher ought to use his utmost endeavour to enquire into the principles and causes of nature , and of all things which happen in this world. i shall not examine here , whether there be any difference betwixt a cause and a principle ; for every principle , after its manner , i conceive to be a cause of that thing whereof it is the principle , and no man doubts but every cause is a principle , and that all niceties concerning this matter are altogether useless . philosophers do commonly reckon all causes to be but five in number ; they give the first place to that which they call the efficient cause , which is that agent which produces the things that are in nature ; and gives them their essence and existences : in the next place , they rank the material cause , being that subject , which receives the impression of the efficient and operating cause . the third is called the formal cause , which gives a being to every thing , as the most noble and principal part of it . the fourth is called the exemplary cause , according to whose rule the efficient produces its action , when it operates by knowledge . the fifth and last is the final cause , which is the end , for whose sake the efficient produces its effect . in this first part we shall speak of all things which concern these several causes , not omitting any thing which shall be thought necessary to the knowledge of them . chap. i. of the efficient cause , and of its essence and differences . there is such a relation and connection between the cause and the effect , that we cannot have a true notion of the cause , unless at the same time we have a conception of the effect ; so in general , we say , that a cause is nothing else but that which gives being to another thing , which is the effect of it ; which way soever it happens , according to the five causes before mentioned . all philosophers do agree , that of all causes the efficient is the most noble ; because , properly speaking , this alone hath effect , though it be produced after several ways , as we shall shew hereafter . if the efficient cause acts by a power proper to it self , then it is called the principal cause ; but if onely by the force and impression of another , then it is termed the instrumental cause : so we distinguish betwixt the painter , and the pencil ; though both contribute to the production of the picture . also the universal cause , which produces many effects ( as the sun , the stars , and the elements ) is distinguished from a particular cause , which is determinate to one effect in particular : of this kind there are many sublunary causes acting in this inferior world. there is also a difference between the total cause , which produces its effect without the help of another , and that cause which cannot act alone , but only produces part of the effect . there are also necessary and free causes , the first acts necessarily and without choice ; as fire , the sun , and all created causes , except men and angels , for they act by a free will , wherein consists the essence of liberty . the efficient cause is likewise either physical , or moral ; the physical acts really and immediately , as fire consuming a house with its flame ; and he that sets fire to it for that purpose , is the next moral cause ; and he who advises it , is a moral , but a remote cause , of the consequential burning . but if the fire happens by chance , and by the imprudence of one that carries a candle in his hand , and some sparks fall into the thatch , which takes fire , whereby the house is burnt ; here this man is only an accidental cause of the burning . lastly , it is rightly distinguished between the first cause , which is author of nature ; and nature created , under which are comprehended all second causes , and such are all creatures . as to the efficient cause whereof we speak , it may be observed , that when it acts by knowledge , all the said causes , after their respective manner , do concurr to the production of one and the same effect : as , the painter drawing his picture , is the principal cause , the pencil the instrumental , the end proposed by the painter is the final cause , and the idea directing , is the exemplary cause ; the form and disposition of the parts of the piece that is painted , may be taken for the form of it , the colours , and the cloath whereupon they are laid , may be reckoned the material cause , because they are the constituent matter of the work. but if a limner in his anger throws his pencil ( as it is reported to have hapned to him who had in vain endeavoured to represent to the life a high mettled horse foaming at his mouth ) or if a limner undesignedly and by chance touches the picture , which thereby ( as it befell the former in his anger ) is made better , the representation more agreeable , the lines stronger , or more piercing , this would be only an effect of an accidental cause . there are some things to be observed in an efficient cause ( when it acts ) which are inseparable from it , such as these , the nature of the agent , the existence of the cause , the power which makes it act , the intervening act , the effect which is produced , the subject whereby , into which , and wherein it is produced ; as we shall see in what follows . chap. ii. of the first cause . the existence of the first cause , or first princple , is so evident , and so necessary , that it is like truth known by it self , and ought not to be supposed liable to any difficulty ; especially amongst christians , who are illuminated by the light of divine revelation . and since a man that submits himself to faith , hath not thereby renounced the light of reason , it will not be amiss to confirm this truth with natural reasons , lest any doubt should remain in spirits less tractable . which the better to effect , i suppose a truth so well known , that no man can deny , unless he hath a mind to be thought ridiculous and infatuated . this truth so obvious , that it ought to pass for a principle , whereupon , as a sure foundation , the existence of the first cause ought to be built , is grounded upon our own proper existence ; there is nothing so evident , nothing so certain , than that we are in the world ; this truth is confirmed by the testimony of all our senses ; whatsoever we think , whatsoever we say , and whatsoever we do , will not suffer us to imagine that our existence is an illusion : therefore it is certain , and more than evident , that we are in the world ; but that we are in it from our selves , or by our selves , or by casualty or chance , or by the necessity of being , is absolutely impossible ; so that it is necessary that we are in the world , by the means and assistance of a certain other being , who as the author , was also the free principle of that essence which we possess . this principle is necessarily either a first or second cause ; if the first , then you shall see that we are agreed , and that the true existence of the first cause , which some would deny , is rightly built upon the truth of our being , which no man can deny ; if we make the cause of our being to be a second cause , then it must be confessed , that this second cause is produced by a third , and the third by a fourth , and so in going upwards , as they do in the genealogies of ancient and noble progenies , at last we find the head of the family ; that is , the first cause , who by his great atchievements , purchased to himself the quality and title of nobility , and left those titles to his illustrious family . it is likewise true , that there is no family so illustrious or so ancient , but the genealogy of it terminates in one private person , who gave it both its name , and original , and which was the first cause of its nobility ; no certainly , unless we erect a ridiculous and an infinite genealogie ; or , like the egyptians who imagined themselves to be older than the moon , will say that its origine is as unknown as the head of nilus . in the same manner , after we have by way of ascent to our fathers , and ancestors , examined what kind of author we had of our being , whom we may call the first cause of all things which are in us , we do necessarily find a certain being which was before all things , and which is the effect of no other causes , and which is the cause of all things which are in the world , and consequentially the first , who is that god whom we adore . this demonstration doth abundantly convince any person , who hath in him the least spark of the light of reason : it is ridiculous to say , that we our selves were the cause of our being , because from thence it would follow , that we did exist before we had a being , that we gave our selves that which we were not in posession of , and that the cause and the effect was one and the same thing , which is impossible . it is no less an errour to affirm , that we are in the world by necessity ; for if we were so in the world , our existence would never have had a beginning , and we would have been immutable and independent , and infinite in every kind of perfection , which is repugnant to experience and right reason . that perswasion of epicurus and his followers is no less ridiculous , that the first authors of our existence were produced by chance , or by a fortuitous occurrence of attoms . this opinion of it self falls to the ground . let it be supposed , that the world was produced by this fortuitous occurrence of atoms , yet still the question will be , whether these atoms were created , or uncreated ? if created , they acknowledge a cause of their existence , and this cause must own another , and so ad infinitum ; which cannot be maintained ; for then the world would be eternal , and thence to this present time , there would have been an infinite number of rational souls in the world : aristotle who supposed the eternity of the world , and the immortality of the soul ; yet did deny the transmigration of souls , and would allow nothing in nature to be actually infinite ; whereby he makes himself guilty of an absurd contradiction . the same aristotle stumbles upon another contradiction , in relation to the first cause ; for if the world be eternal and without a beginning , this second cause is of no use ; for the same reason which proves the world to have a beginning , proves likewise the existence of the first cause ; on the other hand , the same reason which proves the existence of the first cause , does at the same time prove , that the world once had a beginning ; and doth demonstrate that it was not eternal . in the same manner , epicurus is guilty of an absurd contradiction , when he says , that atoms , ( which , according to his opinion , he makes to be the causes of all things ) were produced and created by another : but if he says these atoms were uncreated , and that they were eternal beings , necessary and independent ; then every atom must be some divinity , and that they are both the efficient and material cause of all things , which is impossible , because the opposition and relation , which is necessarily betwixt a principle acting , and the subject whereupon it acts , do imply a necessary distinction . chap. iii. the perfections of the first cause . they who are throughly satisfied with the existence of the first cause , must of necessity attribute to it all the perfections which are or can be in the world ; that it is not only the most perfect and most noble of causes , but also it ought to be supposed , that all the effects which it hath produced , or is yet capable of producing , are in its being in all perfections , and that every one of them is infinite , and ( as it is the first cause ) in the unity of its being ; for it is necessary it should have the perfections of those beings which it hath , or can produce ; for otherwise , it would or could communicate that which it neither hath , nor can have . the first cause would not be absolutely perfect , if it were not eternal ; for so it would have had a beginning , and might have an end , and then it could not be the first cause , in so much that it derives its existence from that which was pre-existent to it ; and by consequence , this cause which we suppose to be first , would be a second cause , limited in its being and perfections , as in its duration , and it would seem to have a dependence upon another : whereas , when we suppose it to be the first , all others must depend upon it , and be subordinate to it ; whence it follows , that these qualities of the first cause are inseparable from it , independence , eternity , infinity , and supreme authority , and that we cannot conceive any first cause , but at the same time we acknowledge the existence of god. this first cause , or to say better , this first being , which is god , must necessarily have that perfect unity which admits no multiplication either of nature or perfections . certainly , if god was not one in his being , but had several natures , the number of them ought to be infinite , and that none of these beings in particular would be infinite , because when the perfection of one cannot be the perfection of another , there will not be one to be found but will stand in need of the perfection of the other , that is , in whom there would not be requisite that perfection which the other beings do possess . i add moreover , that all these supposed beings would be opposite , independent , and all supreme , which is impossible ; or that all would be subject to one or other of them , which is ridiculous ; whence it follows , that there is but one only god , who is one in his existence , incapable of any multiplication , and who is the primary and universal cause of all things . the great number , or rather the infinity of perfections , which we apprehend to be in the first cause , is not repugnant to the supreme unity , because that does not divide the being ; and they are but one and the same thing , though we give them several names , and do consider them under several ideas , which we are forced to correct , since without that unity there would be necessarily a composition of parts , which would be the cause of the whole compound , and which would precede its existence , which cannot be the ingredient of that composition without something else intervening ; they might also be divided and separated ; so , by the dissolution of the parts , the compound would cease , which is plainly inconsistent with that idea which we have of god , who is simple in his nature , independent , and every way incorruptible . the first cause is not only one , and without its like in its essence , but also one , sole , and without a second , in that action by which the world was produced : and for this reason this action is called creation , supposing nothing but meer nothing out of which all things were made by the only power of god , without the help of any other , having either the quality of an agent or a subject . the world being produced by this first cause , remains subject to the will and pleasure of it . and in the same manner as it was produced by the sole act of this first cause , so it is preserved in the same state by the sole influence of the same cause , who as it did not want any other second cause in the creation of the universe , so neither doth it stand in need of any assistance in the conservation of it . being and nothing are so opposite to one another , that the philosophers always had it for a maxim , that out of nothing nothing could be made ; which is to be understood only in reference to second causes ; and not in respect of the first , whose power is infinite , and who can do what he pleases ; this power in the creation of the universe was not applyed according to the extensiveness of its activity , because it pleased god to terminate the being , qualities , and number of second causes , which are created . the creation was no necessary action , for the first cause did not create the world but at such a time , in such a place , and in such a manner as seemed good to it self ; so it made all those things with the highest liberty , there being no other cause either equal or superior to it self , who was able to compel , perswade , animate , or incite it to the creation of the world . the world it self could not terminate a necessary action , because it could not be eternal , for every thing that is of necessity is eternal , neither had it ever a beginning , nor can it have an end , because it is against the nature of a created being , which is limited in its qualities and duration , no less than in its natural substance . if the first cause was free in the creation of the world , thence it follows , that all things were made by direction of reason and understanding , and by consequence , according to a certain idea and rule : but because the first cause operates after an independent manner , it could not have the type of its production any where else but from it self , neither could it act by a rule distinct from its own being ; so god is not only the efficient , but the exemplary cause of all things . for the same reason it may be said , that the first cause , which is god , is the final cause of all things , for when he , as an intelligent and free cause , produced the world , he did propose to himself an end answerable to his dignity , that is , himself and his own proper glory ; so that the first cause is necessarily the ultimate end of all its effects . chap. iv. of second causes , and their actions . all creatures are called second causes , because they depend upon the first , neither do they operate but by the command and impression of the first ; this first or universal cause does act uuniversally with particular causes , but after a manner agreeing with the nature of every particular thing , and according to the power which was given it when it was created ; which does not alter the nature of the causes , nor the necessity or liberty of their actions . this power of acting , which is granted to second causes , is not a quality different from their nature and being : so the power which the atoms have of moving themselves , doth not differ from the atoms themselves ; the power of burning or heating doth not differ from the fire to which it is inherent , unless it be in the manner of our conceiving things , and of speaking of them according to our conceptions . so it is of an action which terminates from the cause to the effect , and which is nothing else than a certain relation , or an actual subordination , which is found betwixt the cause and the effect . this action is never without motion , or to say better , action and motion is one and the same thing , thence it is that a thing rests when it is without action , and then it begins to move it self when it begins action ; so according to three ways of acting , there are found in the nature of things three kinds of motion . the first is made without sense or reason , which we may see in stones , mettals , plants , and the heavens . the second kind of motion is made by sense and knowledge , as are seen in all living creatures : the third kind joins reason to sense , as we observe in man acting by phancy , who proposes an end to himself , distinguishes between good and evil , and hath the liberty of prosecuting the several objects presented to his view either with love or hatred . as an action is not indeed distinct from the cause acting , nor from the effect which it doth produce , so motion doth not differ from the thing moved , or from the thing which moves it , but both of them is , accordingly as they change their condition , or cease to rest , which from the creation was never done , without a certain local motion of the whole , or some part thereof ; so , the notion of rest is opposite to the notion of mutation and action , as well as motion . chap. v. of accidental causes . there are many causes which are called accidental causes , for , properly speaking , they are not true causes ; which sort of causes happens four manner of ways ; first , a musitian draws a picture , not as he is a musitian , but as a painter ; so that the art of painting is the true cause of this work : and as the art of singing contributes nothing here , since it falls out by chance , that the art of singing , and the art of painting meet together in this man , and since the art of singing is no way requisite for the making of the picture ; in this respect , we may say , that the musitian is only an accidental cause of the picture which he hath drawn . secondly , a remote or indirect cause is called an accidental cause ; as when we say , that the sun is the cause of darkness , because darkness is occasioned by the absence of the sun ; mirth is the cause of sadness , and peace arises from war : as a man endeavouring to save his friend , whose life is in danger , and thereby unwillingly exposing him to a certain death , is the indirect or accidental cause of his death : as he , who perswades his friend to cross the seas , whereby he is cast away . thirdly , an opposite cause ( which produces an effect quite contrary to that which it ought to produce ) is an accidental cause , as it was with the subjects of such tyrants as persecuted the church , and thereby procured glory to martyrs ; and as those , who were the death of our lord jesus christ , obtained us life , destroyed the synagogue , built the church ; they fulfilled the prophecies , and laid the foundation of the gospel . in the fourth and last place , that is an accidental cause which produces a particular effect not foreseen , and according to the course of nature unavoidable ; if it hath respect to an intelligent cause , and the effect be agreeable to wish , the heathens did point at this by the name of fortune , and according to their way of speaking , we say such a thing is the effect of fortune ; as when a man is digging up the foundation of a house , and by chance finds a treasure ; but if the effect be otherwise than prosperous , then it is misfortune , or the chance of fortune : as when a tile falls from the top of a house upon a mans head that is passing by , and kills him ; here the tile is the physical and accidental cause of this mans death , which was inevitable according to the course of second causes , having either their free or necessary motions : these accidental causes gave the heathens occasion to frame to themselves a blind goddess , which they called fortune , to whom they did attribute an unconstant , an uncertain , and a various disposition of good and evil ; to this man 's good , to that man's prejudice : of all errors this is not the least , neither was it entertained by any , but the ignorant and the meaner sort of people the wiser sort in that age did aim at a cause of all the effects which happen in the world , that was less feigned , and more solid ; this they would have to be fate , and that what without any reason was ordained by this universal and chief cause was inevitable ; so when any great misfortune happened , as the loss of a battel , the defeat of an army , the change of state , the subversion of a common wealth , or the sudden death of some illustrious person ; all this was ascribed to fate ; and they did commonly say , sic erat in fatis , this was the inevitable will of fate ; so the fates would have it : and when any person undertook any great enterprise , as it was said of aeneas , being in search of the golden fleece , ( if the fates call thee ) that is , if the fates favour thee ; thou shalt attain thy end . the great wits of our age are almost of the same opinion , concerning all the various successes of prosperity and adversity , and all things which come to pass in this life ; as if humane prudence had been of no use , and divine providence without any care had been idle . but that we may speak like a christian philosopher , supposing the existence of the first cause , and having demonstrated that it hath all the perfections of the chief cause , since wisdom and power are the two inseparable perfections of the supream being , and indeed so necessary for the conservation and government of humane affairs ; we ought to conclude , that nothing happens in this world , which is not decreed , foreseen , directed , and perfected , by the wisdom ; and strong hand of some supream cause , which so exactly directs all things , that they come to pass , according to the end that was proposed in the production of them , and indeed all those things , by means unknown to humane wisdom ; yet notwithstanding , in respect of god , who is the first cause , they are certain and infallible , who established the infallibility of effects , in such manner , that causes in their motion , should be neither forced , nor too violent : there is nothing but what god soresees , nothing but what is absolutely inevitable , and free causes act always freely , in actions which ought to be free . chap. vi. of sympathy , and antipathy , and the effects depending upon them . the wonderful effects which we see in nature , whose true and natural causes are not easily found out , obliges philosophers to have recourse to occult causes , and to attribute all these effects to natural sympathy and antipathy , which happens amongst the several bodies whereof the world is compounded ; but if you press these philosophers to tell you , and to explain wherein this sympathy and antipathy doth consist , they will give you no other reason , but onely tell you , they are done by certain occult and unknown causes , to which they ascribe all those effects , whose true causes they do not at all know . but they would do much better , plainly to confess their ignorance and say they know nothing of the matter . that we may the better understand what may be said upon a subject so nice and delicate , and give a reason ▪ of those wonderful effects which are attributed to simpathy and antipathy , without the help of occult causes ; in the first place , i suppose that the difficulty which occurs in explaining an effect of this nature , doth arise from this ; that the mind is not able to know the truth of things , but by the senses , which are the gates through which the objects enter , and form their ideas in our understanding ; but because there are abundance of things which escape our senses , it is no wonder , that it is so hard to give a reason of things which are so remote from the reach of our senses ; as for example , iron moves it self , and that by way of local motion , and joins it self to the load-stone ; we do not see that which draws the iron to it , though we see it attracted , but we know not by what ways or means it is done ; but if we explicate this , and such like effects , by saying they are wrought by sympathy , obscure and occult causes , we deceive our selves ; for that is only a shelter , and the true way of hiding our ignorance , which we are loath to discover , for there is no man in nature so blockish , but after this manner can resolve all the phoenomena in the universe . if it be asked why the needle turns always to the north pole ? is it enough to say that there is a sympathy betwixt this needle which is touched with the load-stone and the pole , and that the cause of this sympathy is obscure , unsearchable , and past finding out : but if this be the way of philosophising , i refer it to those who are competent judges of the matter . therefore that we may give a more ingenuous and solid reason , in the second place , i suppose that there are no bodies but that continually emit certain subtile particles and imperceptible corpuscles which are dispersed through the air , and are at sometimes carried at a great distance , unless they justle with other bodies in their way . by the help of this principle , we find the reason why a dog follows the foot-steps of a hare , or from a heap of a thousand stones , he readily knows that stone which his master threw , and picks it out , and by his command brings it to him . from this dispersion of corpuscles , we find the reason how the contagion of the plague , either from the person infected , or from the wind blowing from that region , is carried a great way of , as also the reason that the smell of rosemary is perceivable at a hundred miles distance , as sir kenelme digby observes ; and likewise the wonderful cure of persons wounds , which are far distant , by the means of the sympathetick powder ; so likewise of the fermentation of canary wine , brought into england , which ferment here at the time of their vintage , when the vines in spain flourish and are in the budd , and such like . i suppose farther , that all these small corpuscles do differ as to their figure and magnitude , and that they are not equally received by this or that body ; so one man is infected with the plague , in the same place where are many others untouched . for the same reason , the beams of the sun do melt wax , and not lead , unless they are collected and united by the help of a burning-glass , or the like ; and the heat of fire melts mettals after a very different manner . lastly , i suppose that it is somewhat difficult to give a solid and sufficient reason of all the experiments which daily occur in the nature of things . truly we are surprised with no small admiration , when we see iron move at the presence of the load-stone , and to approach it , as if it were endued with a kind of sense and knowledge ; the palm-tree of the male kind is barren , unless the female be planted near it , but if they be separated by a river , they both lean to one another , as if they would embrace each other . if you strike the string of a lute in one corner of a room , it shall cause the string of another lute , tuned to the same heighth , and placed in an opposite corner , to give a sound ; but not another . the cock always sings and claps his wings in the same moment that the sun ascends above the horizon ; all effects which we see from sympathy afford us matter of admiration , and compel us to acknowledge that sympathy to be the daughter of ignorance . the same thing may be said of effects which are attributed to antipathy , no less amazing , and no less difficult to be explained ; who can without much difficulty explain the natural aversion that is between the colewort , and vine , so that if it be planted near a vine , the vine will give back , and so will the golewort on the other side ? who can give a reason that sheep should shun a wolf though unseen ? or that a drum made of sheeps-skin , should not sound where there is in place another drum made of a wolfs-skin ? or that when we are seen by a wolf , before we see him , we are hoarse . who can give a reason that the basilisk should kill by sight ? and other effects of this kind , which are frequently observed . but because that phoenomena of the load-stone before mentioned , seems to me to be a matter most worthy of consideration , i shall treat of this subject in a particular chapter by it self . chap. vii . experiments concerning iron , and the load-stone . the load-stone is a stone sound in iron mines , not much different from the nature of iron , wherefore the particles which proceed from the load-stone , have a kind of agreeableness with the pores of iron , so these small corpuscles going out of the load-stone , and meeting with the iron in the way , do rush into the pores of it by troops ; but because all cannot enter at once , a great many remain without , and these are as strongly beaten back by the particles of the iron which they meet with , as if they were of the number of those corpuscles , which being at liberty , do return of their own accord , which at length do send these by a reflective motion to the load stone whence they first came : hence it is that iron is drawn towards the load-stone , principally by the agitation of those minute magnetick corpuscles moved in the concavities of the iron , and being shaken together by the sundry motion of those corpuscles which are twisted one within another , those corpuscles which do return , by reflection are complicated and annexed to those which are in the pores of the iron , or else have passed them through , and cannot be returned or moved towards the load-stone , unless they draw along with them those corpuscles to which they are annexed , and which cannot follow , unless by their motion the iron be carried with them ; so the iron follows , and is moved towards the load-stone , except the iron be bigger than the load-stone , for then the corpuscles which proceed from the load-stone are not so many , nor by consequence so powerful , as to draw the iron , or the impression which they make upon the iron is not strong enough to cause a renitency to pass that side by which they ought to be beaten back . this is the reason that the load-stone draws no other body but iron , because other bodies do not return the atoms , neither are their pores well fitted for those magnetick corpuscles . by the same reason it does appear that the load-stone ought not to approach to the iron , but the iron to the load-stone : it may be said , that hard and solid bodies , such as iron is , cannot emit such a great number of corpuscles as other bodies , which like the load-stone , are less solid , and more porous . also there may be a reason given why the load-stone being rubbed with garlick , or oyle , doth not so easily draw iron to it , especially if you also rub them with it ; because these strange corpuscles by their oyliness do hinder the emission of the corpuscles out of the load-stone , and also their entrance into the pores of the iron , and do break their elastick force . we may observe many other effects of the load-stone . as for example , that iron put upon a table , is moved by the vertue of this stone which is placed under the table , for it is certain that the spirit , or corpuscles of the load-stone , which moves the iron , penetrates through the vacuity or pores of the table , as if by small and invisible threads it had been tyed to the load-stone ; it is the same thing if the table be of marble , or glass , provided it be not greasie , nor too thick ; which proves the porosity of bodies . we see another effect of this stone in a needle , which being touched by it , always turns towards the pole , we suppose for this reason , because there are whole mountains of load-stones found under the poles , dispersing their spirits through the universal world. spirits which are entangled with those , which do adhere to the magnetick needle , whose force is lessened , as the spirits of it are dissipated ; especially if the compass be set in a place where there are pieces of iron , to which the spirits stick , and leave the needle , which had taken no greater quantity of them than what was requisite according to its capacity . that which is most wonderful in this stone is , that we see it draws iron on one side , and rejects it on the other , so that it appears in every load-stone that there are two poles of the world ; the north pole attracts iron , the south pole repels it ; because the spirit of the north pole enters in at the pores of the iron , but the southern cannot , for it strikes against the iron , and drives back too much its elastick particles . this explication presupposes the being of spirits , and atoms , and their figures and motions ; and as also , small occult vacuities which are dispersed through all bodies , as we shall shew hereafter . chap. viii . an explication of many other effects , which we endeavour to attribute to sympathy . i do not design in this place to shew all the effects which do proceed from sympathy , and to give the reason of every one of them in particular ; i conceive such a labour , besides that it is very difficult , is moreover useless , for an explication of one , will serve to explain the rest ; therefore instead of all , it will be sufficient to explain some few of them . that which first presents it self to our consideration , is the sympathetick powder , the sympathetick wood , and the sympathetick ointment , an amulet , and the medalls , which are of the same nature , which they call talisman . sir kenelm digby reports , that the sympathetick powder will cure a wound , when the person wounded is distant a hundred , nay two hundred miles , so that the cloath be dressed , to which the matter or blood sticks which proceeded from the wound ; but principally there must be care taken , that the wound be kept clean , and that the cloath be kept in a temperate place , for if it be thrown into a place which is too warm , it will cause an inflammation in the wound ; no solid reason can be given of this phaenomenon , so wonderful in it self , but that it is by a continual entercourse of the spirits proceeding from the bodies , which by continual motion , are coming and going , and keeping a tye or bond betwixt the bodies , and though our senses are too gross to perceive them , it doth not therefore follow , that there are not such things ; as it appears by the example of the spider descending , or ascending , and drawing after him an invisible thread which proceeds from his body ; so that he being in one end of the chamber , remains firm and fixed to the other end , by the same thread , by which he bears himself up , and is moved from one part to the other : i confess it is hard to conceive that there should be a thread of communication betwixt the wound , and the blood which issued from it ; but that is neither impossible , nor incomprehensible , though the phenomenon is not plainly infallible ; because this thread being broke , or interrupted , the wound cannot be cured , unless we take again fresh blood , and excite it by the means of this powder , whose spirits do drive those which are in the blood , and mixing themselves by the strength of the powder , do carry and communicate its vertue to the wound , and that at a considerable distance , but not indifferently , not at the distance of a hundred miles , as it is conmonly believed ; it is certain if that were done by sympathy , the effect would be the same , at any distance , neither would it ever deceive us . i cannot produce any more sensible or just reason to explain the vertues and effects of the sympathetick powder , which depend much upon the due preparation of it ; they do not extend themselves so far , nor are they so infallible , as some would have , for the reasons by us alledged . the same thing may be said of the sympathetick wood , which stops blood , if a little of the blood which runs out of the would be put upon this wood , where so soon as that blood is dryed the flux of the other blood is stanched , and this they say is done by sympathy ; but the true reason proceeds from the invisible adherence whereby both these bloods are so subtilly connected together by the astringent vertue of this wood , and by this thread of friendship , composed out of atoms variously twisted together , communicates it to the blood which flows in great quantity , whereupon this flux , if it be not too vehement , is stopped . if this effect did arise from sympathy it would never deceive us , because nothing can oppose sympathy ; but it is not infallible , as experience shews us . of all the effects which hold us in suspence , that which we call the divining-rod is not the least , for it is very strange to see a rod which is held fast in the hand visibly to incline , and bend it self towards that place where there is any water or mettal , and more or less as the water or mettal is nearer to the superficies of the earth , or is more remote from it , and more deep in the ground ; and that which is most stupendious , is that this rod which does it , shews no motion , but in the hands of those who have obtained a particular vertue to this purpose , which distinguishes them from others , though it cannot be said who gave them this power , nor why this rod hath this motion in the hands of one man , and not in anothers . concerning this subject , the cause of this motion is to be considered , which cannot be attributed to sympathy , for sympathy is a necessary cause , and then this motion would be always , and in the hands of every body , which yet we see is not done . therefore the most natural cause is to be enquired into , which i deduce from these mineral or aquatick spirits , issuing from those places wherein the mettals or waters are ; which meeting with the rod , whose pores are fitted for them to lay hold on , attracts it by a perpendicular motion , which is natural to them , and bends it as it were with a silken thread , or a golden chain . the difficulty is about the hand which holds the rod , for every hand is not qualified for this purpose ; nor is every tree fit for it , unless it be hazel , or some other of the same quality with it : as to the hand , it is certain that the hands as well as the men do differ , and that the spirits proceeding from them are different , and so it ought not to be looked upon as such a wonder , that there should be spirits which retain the rod , and hinders this motion , and that they should proceed from the hand of one , and not from the hand of another ; and that every sort of wood is not fitted to receive the hold of all atoms . of portative remedies , which are called amulets , i say nothing , but what experience taught me concerning them ; and of the manner how quick-silver sticks to gold , and silver to copper , which forces me to write a particular chapter concerning them . chap. ix . experiments concerning portative remedies , of quick-silver , gold , silver , and copper . there are certain remedies by physitians called amulets , which give ease to humane bodies in many distempers , as long as the person carries them about him , as experience teaches us of a spider shut up in a nut-shell , and hung about the neck , is good to cure all diseases of the lungs ; the true nephritick stone being carried about one , cures the stone ; a little bone of the thigh heals the sciatica ; quick-silver , or a toad hung about the neck , is a preservative against the plague ; the tooth of a dead man carried about you shall cure you of the tooth-ach ; oak-moss gathered at a certain time , and an elkes hoof cure the epilepsie : there are such as preserve children from having the small-pox , and others , which being tied to the wrist cure the tertian , and semitertian . so there are many others , whose effects are ascribed to occult causes , and to the sympathy and antipathy of things . i do not question the truth of these experiments , because i am certain as to the greatest part of them , having tryed them . without doubt there are many others which i do not know of , and which nevertheless others might have seen , but this i know , that the aforementioned effect is not infallible , and when it happens , it is done by the emission of certain spirits or atoms proceeding from those remedies , and penetrating the pores of mans body , and giving strength to the animal spirits to resist internal poysons , or resisting the external poysons , and fixing and hindring them from hurting those who carry the amulets ; i shall say nothing of medals ; which are called talisman , importing good luck to those by whom they are carried about them , nor of white magnets , which procure the kindness of all people , and the favour of a mistriss : i give little credit to such things , neither can i easily believe all things which are said of them ; and if stars ought to have place here , rather than demons , all is done by the means of atoms . now i come to that which i am better acquainted with , and of which i can speak with more certainty , i mean of experiments concerning quick-silver and gold ; it is certain that if any man hath quick-silver in his body , or any where about him , that the gold-ring which he hath upon his finger , or which he holds in his mouth will turn white , because the quick-silver sticks to the gold ; and if this gold-ring be thrown into the fire , the quick-silver flyes and evaporates ; and if the same ring be again put upon the finger , or held in the mouth , it will still grow white every time , as long as any quick-silver remains in the body . this phoenomenon is commonly ascribed to a sympathy which is betwixt quick-silver and gold ; as if the quick-silver should hastily go to the gold and embrace it , or that the gold did draw the quick-silver to it ; but gold enclosed in smooth glass does not turn white , no more doth it then when quick-silver is enclosed hermetically in a glass , there is no sympathy to call it forth thence , no more than out of a box or bladder wherein it is kept : we ought not therefore to say that it was the sympathy of these two mettals which was the only cause by which the one adheres to the other , for though we should grant that there is a sympathy , that is , an agreeableness , proportion , and likeness between these two substances , not in their imaginary qualities , but in the figure of their atoms ; nevertheless it must be confessed that the attraction of quick-silver to gold , is by an emission of their spirits and corpuscles , near after the same manner as we observed of the load-stone and iron . there is no less a connexion betwixt silver which the chymists call the moon , and copper , which they call venus , than there is betwixt mercury , that is in their dialect , quicksilver , and the sun , that is gold. if one ounce of silver be disolved in three ounces of aquafortis , made of nitre and vitriol , the silver is reduced to water , neither is it ever after seen , and if we would recover the silver after such a dissolution , you must take leaves of copper , and put them into an earthen vessel , and pour upon them one pint of common water , then to this water put the liquor in which the silver was dissolved , and it will turn it as white as milk , and in the space of two or three hours , the silver will leave the aqua-fortis , and joyn it self to the copper in the form of curd or white moss ; when the water is clear , throw it all out the silver sticking to the copper is dryed and reduced to a mealy powder , and this is called calx lunae , or silver calcined . as to this , we must take notice , that if in stead of copper , you put in leaves or pieces of gold , silver , lead or tin , the experiment will not answer expectation ; neither will silver stick to them as well as to gold , whence we must necessarily conclude , that there is a certain sympathy or peculiar connexion between silver and copper , as there is betwixt gold and quick-silver , so that we grant , that if the transmutation of mettals be not impossible , no mettal can be sooner changed into another , than copper into silver , and mercury into gold : the difficulty is in knowing the true cause of a connexion or affinity which is so remarkable . it is commonly said to be done by that sympathy or agreeableness which is between these two mettals . but in saying that , we say nothing , for we must enquire farther into the cause and foundation of this sympathy , so that we are forced to search for another cause of this effect , and to say that silver is not joined to copper , but by the means of a certain local motion of the particles of the silver , which are dispersed in this great quantity of water , and are congregated to joyn and unite themselves to the copper ; there is no other cause of this local motion , besides the spirits and scent of the copper which are dispersed thorow the water , and there meeting with particles of the silver which are wandring , separated , and dispersed , are fixed to them by reason of the conformity of their pores ; when the corpuscles of the silver are loosed , and set at liberty in the water , they leave it and descend , being forced downwards by the concurring particles of the water , and leaving no vacuity , wherein the particles of the silver may be contained , they find the atoms of the copper , emitting themselves like the odors of aromatique bodies , and mutually entangle one another like littlè hooks , they go directly towards the copper , and falls upon it as it lies in the bottom of the vessel ; this explication doth imply the doctrine of atoms and their figures , weight , and motions , as it shall appear in following chapters , after we have discoursed of antipathy . chap. x. of natural phaenomena which are attributed to antipathy . there are observed to be many effects , for which no reason can be given without the help of this feigned antipathy . i 'le instance to you some few , which i shall endeavour to explain . in the first place occurs the sight of the basilisk , who kills all whom he sees , which they say is by antipathy , which is betwixt it and other animals . but it may be said rather that it is done by the emission of certain venomous spirits , which penetrate the eyes of those which were seen by the basilisk . the nature of this poison cannot be explained , unless we know before what is said of poisons else-where . i thought that the deadly effects proceeding , which we attribute to antipathy , did deserve a particular tract by it self , because poison kills only by a contrariety betwixt us and it , so there is nothing more to be said of these matters , only that we are to discover and declare the principle of this contrariety : of the basilisk of whom we speak , i shall only say that the spirits issuing out of his enraged eyes , do kill those animals which they meet with , because the spirits do penetrate them by their subtilty , and sharp figure , like needles , which pierces the heart , as the poison of vipers , and such like , not so accute , nor so deadly , nor so ready in their effects , as that of the basilisk . in reference to this matter there are many things which occur , that are worth consideration . in the first place , it is certain that the basilisk is not ingendred but in moist , deep , and dark places , as in the bottom of wells , where there is nothing but muddy , thick , stinking water , as histories do relate to us , that some have died only by looking into those wells , or in going down into them , in order to cleanse them . in the second place , we do observe , that if you take a glass and hold it against the basilisk's eyes , those spirits which issue from his eyes , reflecting upon the glass , are sent back from whence they came , and do kill the basilisk : it cannot be said that the basilisk doth hate himself ; but it must be said that the venomous spirits , reflecting from the glass , do conceive a more violent motion , and do forcibly enter the eyes of the basilisk , and do drive back the other spirits which are issuing out of , or are extant in , his eyes , so that they penetrate his brain and heart , and thence occasion his death . in the same manner , as vapours do often arise with so great violence from the hypocondria , the mesentery , and the stomach , into the head , that they cause an apoplexy , epilepsie , diziness , or lethargy , and sometimes they are carried with such subtilty and violence into the heart , and presently penetrate it ; whereby men dye suddenly . it is also observed , that several men , and other animals were killed by a basilisk , from the corner of a deep and dark dungeon where he was ingendered , and nourished up to the bigness of a toad , it was contrived that one should enter into the dungeon to kill him ; care being taken , that he who was to enter for that purpose , should be covered with a glass before his eyes , by whose interposition the basilisk might be seen , though he could not see the person approaching towards him . by this means , he who entered saw the basilisk , and killed him , without receiving any hurt to himself ; which without doubt did proceed from this , that the poisonous spirits issuing from the eyes of the basilisk , could not pass freely thorough the glass , but were fixed in the substance of it , so that they could not hurt the person who was so covered . another effect which is ascribed to antipathy , and must be spoken of in this place ; is that which we meet with amongst some vegetables , as betwixt the colewort and the vine , betwixt whom as we observed before , there is not the least agreeableness , and that if they be planted near one another , they do insensibly give back , and lean sidewards , as if they really hated one another , this effect cannot be ascribed to any thing but to the emission of the corpuscles and material spirits of both of them , which do rush upon one another , and mutually repell by the irregularity of their figures . this truth is apparent in the juice of coleworts , which if taken by a man when he is drunk , he presently comes to himself , and is sober ; because the corpuscles of the juice of coleworts do blunt the corpuscles of the juice of wine ; in the same manner , we find by experience that spirit of opium , or laudanum , cures the chollick , head-achs , and all other kind of pains ; nay , it eases the tooth-ache , and blunts the sharpness of choller ; it cures the phrenzy , and procures sleep ; so there 's need of the greatest care in using the narcotick medicines , because it often falls out that the vital spirits are so stupified by them , that they are deprived of their motion , which causes a deadly sleep . but that we may return to our so much believed antipathy , which is betwixt the colewort and the vine , i observe , that it hath not the above mentioned effect ; and that neither the vine nor the colewort do lean sidewards , if there be cloth or paper set betwixt them ; and though the same antipathy remains , it doth so manifest it self , because the corpuscles flowing from both sides are stopped in their way , neither do they pass through the cloath or paper ; so the truth of that assigned by us , and the weakness of that reason which is grounded upon antipathy , clearly appears without any further scrutiny . there is a third effect which is ascribed to antipathy , and it is observed in the use of medicines , as well internal as external ; some whereof are catharticks , some sudorificks , and others specificks : the external of which we speak , are those which we carry about us , which by their antipathy , drive away the malign air , and preserves from the plague , and other contagions ; as prepared quick-silver , and a toad dryed and shut up in a box ; this phenomenon is not in the least to be ascribed to antipathy , but to the pestiferous spirits or corpuscles , which approaching towards us , do find subjects apt for their reception , and are fixed in them , but they do not approach us , at least in such a quantity as is able to hurt us ; which most evidently appears , in that prepared quick-silver , or the toad , being once replenished with these contagious atoms , become useless , and they ought to be changed and renewed ; and i know by experience , that quick-silver prepared white , and shining like an adamant , or polished silver , and being carried about a person who is frequent with sick people , in time becomes black , so that afterwards it is useless to him that carries it about him , because there are no small vacuities left to retain the airy poisons , unless he renews it by another preparation , whereby it may be made as white , transparent , and as useful as it was before . moreover quick-silver turns black , more or less , sooner or slower , according to the proportion of the lesser or greater malignity which is in the air where he lives , because these antidotes can never hurt ; nay , if rightly prepared , they do not only withstand the contagious air , when they hinder its nearer approach towards us ; but as it is evidenced by experience , they do suppress inward vapours ascending up into the head , which occasion many of our common distempers : it were to be wished that sacred persons , and princes , whose lives are so dear unto us , ( to the end they might preserve their health , and not be any way subject to any danger of this kind , ) would carry these antidotes about them , and that those who have free access to those sacred persons would advise them to it ; and likewise demonstrate the use and vertue of them . i proceed to purgative remedies , this carries off choller , that phlegm , others melancholly , and others do purge the blood and all the humours . it is hard very often to give a reason why rubarb and the leaves of sena do purge melancholly ; jallap and diagridium purge out phlegm and waterish humours . whether this be done by sympathy , which attracts the humours from the several parts , or by antipathy which expels and exterminates ; but it may be said that it is done neither way , and that a matter of so small a moment , did not deserve that strife betwixt the followers of galen , and paracelsus , for their axiomes concerning contraries against contraries , and like to like , contribute nothing to the explanation of these effects ; for i take it to be a certain and constant truth , that every purgative medicine doth comprehend in it certain spirits or corpuscles which are venomous , that is acute , sharpned , pungent and biting , so that nature being stirred up by them , and thereby the internal parts and membranes being touched and agitated , the animal spirits get together by troops , in order to assist the part affected , and they draw along with them the foreign humours , which are less fixed ; and then nature by the help of these spirits doth discharge it self , and expel them by their proper ways : but to say that rubarb makes choice of exterminating choller , or the leaves of sena of carrying off melancholly , is ridiculous . it is true , that after a purgation with rubarb , the waters proceeding from the body are yellow , and after the use of sena , or cassia , they are black ; yet it does not follow from thence , that this purges choller , and that melancholly ; they are only the superfluous humours which are discharged , neither doth the body afford any thing , besides that which it hath ; whether sena or rubarb be taken , the colour of what is purged , proceeds from a tincture of these medicines . chap. xi . of emeticks , sudorificks , and specificks . of all medicinal remedies those seem most admirable to me , which are called emeticks or vomitives , which have in them a great deal of poison , and likewise abound with arsenick spirits ; amongst minerals , antimony and arsenick are of this kind ; so are the herb asarum , and other herbs , amongst vegetables . it is evident that all these simples and minerals , consisting for the most part of many sharp and corrosive corpuscles , do not purge the body , but by pricking and irritating of the membranes , and that some times with such vehemency , that the belly and other contiguous parts being ulcerated thereby , there happens a breach of the internal continuity , &c. which occasions the death of the party who is thus affected . it is apparent , that it ought to be acknowledged for a certain truth , that these sort of medicines ought to be used but very seldome , but if necessity requires the use of them , none but the gentlest are to be applyed ; it being taken for a constant truth , that those persons who use these remedies too-often , do never enjoy a perfect health , and that their lives are always short and crazy . let us consider an emetick , and especially antimony , which being well prepared , performes wonders : i mean , by a good preparation of it , that it be freed from a great quantity of its pernicious and poisnous corpuscles . as to this , it ought to be prepared by judicious artists , for if it be so ordered , that the antimony purges neither upwards nor downwards , and that it retains only a sudorisick vertue ; being thus qualified , it is very proper , and very useful , to purifie the blood , to increase the animal spirits , the natural heat , and radical moisture , for reasons which i shall shew hereafter . but if these venomous , arsenick , and corrosive corpuscles be not separated from the antimony , it may prove to have very ill effects , in that it imposes violence upon nature : it is not to be administred but by a prudent and most expert hand ; though the substance of it be not taken , but only the wine wherein it is infused . but your crude and diaphoretick antimony which the late . mr. de l'orme called his milk of pearls , is very comfortable to nature , and may be safely used with very good success ; but to find the cause of that effect , the learned are very much puzled . i shall endeavour , according to my principles , to shew the reason of this effect : it is made in this manner , take crude antimony , and thereof make a starry regulus , which is all as one if it be not starry ; of this melted regulus you are to make a cup , put wine into it in the evening , pour out the wine the next morning , and you will find that it hath lost nothing either of its tast or colour ; yet notwithstanding , it is very purgative . that which is to be admired at , is , that this may be done continually every day , without any remarkable diminution of the cup , or loss of its vertues . if the wine loses or receives nothing , as it seems it does not , how then can it be purgative , or emetick , and if the cup communicates to it either its substance or vertue , how then is it possible , that either one or the other is not in the least diminished ? according to our principles i return this answer ; that the wine every time it is put into the cup , doth take from thence certain corpuscles , or invisible spirits , wherewith it is impregnated , and that little is sufficient to give the wine a purgative vertue , and to stir the membranes of the ventricle , and the inward parts , in order to evacuate the peccant humours ; which is evident from this , that the wine according to the proportion of time it hath stood in the cup , is either more or less purgative , though the cup suffers no sensible diminution in its substance , yet not withstanding , it is certain that it will suffer some small diminution in the course of some years ; which it were worth while to observe . i have spoken above of a regulus starry , and not starry , that i may let the reader see somewhat that is strange in the confection of regulus , when it is well prepared with mars , that is , with iron ; there is to be seen a great star upon the upper side of it , which hath five rays , like the rowel of a spur : i confess that in this strange phoenomenon there is something that is wonderful , and which is beyond the reach of humane understanding , especially if we observe , that this star is more bright , and its rays better formed , if the regulus be prepared either tuesday or friday , especially if the sky be clear and serene ; and if it be made between seven or eight of the clock in the morning , or two or three of the clock in the afternoon : and that i may build one wonderful thing upon another , it is certain , that if in the preparation of regulus , tin be added with iron , there will be seen two stars upon the regulus , with their distinct rays dispersed into one another , and if the regulus be driven to the last degree of perfection , the star disappears , and there is seen in the room of it a little thin net , like a fishers net : i am so far from delivering any thing upon the credit of others , that i set down nothing but what i my self have done and seen . having let you see the manner how it is done ; there remains only that i should give such a reason of it , as may in some measure satisfie the readers understanding ; i do not brag that i am able to do it , for there are few men which are rational ; i mean who are contented with reason , nevertheless you shall have my thoughts of the matter . no man doubts but that iron represents the planet mars , copper venus , gold the sun , silver the moon , and tin jupiter ; if the qualities of these mettals be compared with those of the planets , as the heavens do incessantly influence the earth , and the earth sends back its corpuscles to the heavens in the form of vapours , in the same manner do the heavens return them to the earth in rain , and dew ; and though there is a general commerce between the heavens and the earth , yet no man will deny , but that there is a certain invisible and particular commerce betwixt them ; and that we may not speak of things so general , there is a more special commerce betwixt the sun and gold , and betwixt the moon and silver , mars and iron , venus and copper ; so every planet hath a special influence upon its mettal , and the nature of it , by the means of the invisible atoms and corpuscles which proceed from the body of the planet , which plainly appears by all the former instances , and amongst the rest , for that the day and hour of the planet , contributes to the formation and perfecting of either the single or double star , as we have observed about the starry regulus . these things being supposed , i conceive that while antimony is melting with iron , there is much vapour and smoak arising , and this is most certain , that the smoak evaporates in such plenty , that it is troublesome to the artist , who is obliged to stand at some distance , if he will have a care of himself : these vapours and smoak do ascend up , which being met with by the spirit and corpuscles of their planet , do mingle with them , and descend upon the mettal and penetrate it , because , being melted , it is open . therefore these emancipated spirits do return more pure than they were , and do so well intermix themselves with the open mettal when it is melted , and that they draw others to stick unto them , whence the spirit of the planets , though invisible , descending from the body of the planets , not being able to enter into the regulus when it is removed from the fire , and begins to coole , are forced to stick upon the upper and superficial part of the mettal , and there form the figure of the planet or planets from whence they did proceed , and when copper is put to it , there appears a double star , and this star is the more elevated , when the spirits of the planets are more copious , which they are at the day and hour where in the planet rules . all these things agree with experience , for the single or double star doth not appear till the mettal begins to cool , which requires about the space of an hour ; and this star is formed by degrees , which is strange , nay , to be wondred at ; whence it appears , that there is an agreeableness between mars and iron , and betwixt venus and copper , and that there is an influence of their planets upon these two mettlas by the intervention of their corpuscles . as for the net ( which we spoke of ) it shews the conjunction of the planets of both mettals , having the sun in the middle , and i am not able to give any other reason for it ; unless that when the mettals , which are melted with the antimony , begin to grow cold , and that when the star enters into the body of the mettal , and disappears , there are still remaining certain corpuscles of the planets of both mettals , which are interwoven in the middle of the mass , which makes this net , whereof the fables seem to leave us an idea : we must confess by the by , that there are certain things in nature which surpass our understanding , and that we ought not to imagine with our selves that we are able to satisfie all the learned in every thing . but to go on with this chapter , i observe likewise , as there are mettals which rejoice at the commerce which they have with the influence of some planets , so there are parts found in our body which correspond with particular planets ; as the heart with the sun , the brain with the moon , the liver with mars , the spleen with saturn , the lungs with jupiter , and the reins with venus ; so we see that gold , which is the terrestial sun , is a soveraign cordial , or a medicine for the heart , and truly universally for all bodies , as the coelestial sun is for the whole world ; as i shall shew when i come to discourse of mettals silver in the same manner is a cephalick medicine , whereof are made wonderful remedies for diseases in the head ; the same may be said of iron in respect of the liver , when it opens its obstructions , and fortifies ; copper affords a spirit which wondefully heals the reins , and also venerial distempers . i shall speak something of every mettal in its proper place , and we shall more plainly see how every mettal doth administer a specifick remedy for that part which it hath relation to , as experience shews . as for sudorificks , i will not speak of them . medicinally in this place , neither will i explain the matter whereof those remedies , so benificial to mans body , are made . it is sufficient for me to speak of them philosophically ; and it being supposed ( which i have not seldom seen ) that one only grain of powder plainly insipid , and of the colour of calcined gold , given in half a glass of wine , doth provoke sweat in abundance from the whole body from head to foot , without any violence or alteration : this i have seen , and have done it , and can do it again at any time when i please . nothing remains , but that i should give the reason of this phoenomenon , and that we know whether it ought to be attributed to sympathy or antipathy . i suppose , and i know it very well , that this powder is compounded of the spirit of gold , and all other mettals reduced into one ; so that it ought not to be admired , that the atoms of which it is composed should be so penetrating , that they are carried from the stomach , through the whole body , and that in their passage they fix the most subtile corpuscles of humours , which pass through the pores in the likeness of vapours , and meeting with the cold outward air are reduced to the likeness of dew , which is called sweat. there are other sudorifick powders , but they are more violent , because they are less subtile , and less penetrating , and whose atoms are not so apt to rarifie the humours , and to draw them to the extream parts of the body with so much facility , and with so little danger , as that doth which we spoke of before chap. xii . of poisons , and toxicks . there are several sorts of poisons and toxicks ; some whereof do come at us with an infected air , others are communicated to us from animals , or some nutriment . it is not my purpose in this place to shew all the differences of them . it answers my purpose to reduce them to five , from the occasion of those things which i ought to speak of , about the antipathy that is betwixt poisons and our bodies . therefore i chuse three kinds of poisons or toxicks , and i shall endeavour to explain the manner how they act upon our bodies with the assistance of that fictitious antipathy , the refuge of ignorance : the first is the poison of the heart , because it immediately assails this part ; such is the poison of a viper , or the plague , the breathing of the infectious air draws and conveys the plague to the heart ; since we cannot say that the air is carried into the heart by a contrary quality , whence therefore doth this arise from antipathy , or repugnancy ? and after what manner doth the air , which gives life to the heart , and matter to the vital spirits , bring death to it ? which sometimes invades it upon a sudden , when the poison of the plague is violent , but ordinarily a man doth not dye so suddenly , and the poison only by the motion of the heart , disperses it self thro' the veins , and corrupts the whole mass of blood , and bubo's , and pustules arising are the marks of it : but when the poison goes out by suppuration , the person infected is sooner cured . it is very hard to say , what poison is , for if we say it is a contrary quality , or air corrupted , we talk foolishly ; we must know wherein that corruption doth consist ; if it be corrupted , it is no longer air , or if air be a corruption , it is a quality , so that still there remains the same difficulty : therefore to use no circumlocution , we say that deadly poison essentially is nothing but certain atoms or corpuscles , which are very acute , and crooked , figured like little piercers or small nails , which penetrates , cuts and divides the vital parts , and by this motion interrupts the motion of those spirits which give life . and that i may explain my opinion right upon this subject , i mention those things concerning poisons and atoms , which as far as i know , have not hitherto been mentioned by any body , which is , that poison is nothing else but certain loose and emancipated atoms , for many of such atoms being loosed and separated from the body we call poison . as to that , we are to observe , that being compounded in that manner which we are , our conservation doth consist in the composition , and as long as that lasts we live , and so our destruction doth proceed from the division and dissolution of our bodies , so that corruption is nothing but a solution of the body : this solution doth not happen but from emancipated atoms , who by their incomprehensible subtilty , do find an intermediant space in the most solid bodies , and if these be not speedily driven out and dissipated , or are repelled by certain aiding corpuscles , they will occasion diseases , griefs , and lastly death . therefore poison is not a pestiferous quality , nor is it the antipathy of the air , or of any thing , whereby they persecute our temperament ; nor is it corrupted air , but they are hard atoms which are set at liberty , and emancipated ; whence it does appear , how the plague may be brought to us from places remote within a short space of time , and how it may lye hid along while amongst cloaths in chests ; also the reason is obvious , why bleeding and purgation are not necessary in the curing of the plague , and why only cordials and sudorificks are convenient in a contagion . the same thing may be said of the poison of vipers , which is nothing else but some atoms divided and separated from the whole , which entring that part which is bit by the viper , do creep presently through the whole body , and divide , separate , and cut it , and at last dissolve and confound it . it is therefare incredible , that that poison should proceed from a great cold , because there are bodies which are much colder , which yet are not poison ; besides that cold doth not so readily , nor from so small a beginning , destroy the whole natural constitution of man's body . therefore i take that to be which wholy destroys us , is to dissolve our body , and that nothing can dissolve it but free'd and emancipated atoms , whence distempers do derive their original , and death , the consequence of it : i say it follows , that it is impossible but that there is poison in all our diseases , and that we cannot enjoy a full and perfect health , as long as we have in us the least atom of that kind , which i say are emancipated ; these are so many enemies which we cherish in our bosome , being the principles of division , dissolution , and death . but some will ask , whence come these emancipated atoms ? who emancipates them ? and after what manner are they found in the vesicle , which is broke , where the viper bites , or in the spittle which enters our flesh by the biting of this creature ? i answer , that they are atoms not firmly complicated , which get abroad , or they proceed from some dead body which is dissolved into its first principles , as it happens with the plague ; some of them get loose , like servants who wanting a master , do seek to be busied and employed in some business , and as long as they stick to no body they may be called desolate and depraved atoms , which are continually moved , drive others , and dissolve them by their reiterated concussions ; so a little poyson doth suddenly extend and disperse it self through the whole body , because these atoms by their emancipation being made venomous and pestiferous to emancipate others , and confound the whole body , and in this sense it 's most true , what the physiicans say , that the corrupt humours of the body do degenerate into poison , because these moist parts of our body are more apt to break and divide than the solid parts of it ; they are also the first which begin to be corrupted and divided . i know not by what instinct of nature we commonly say when we apprehend any distemper , that we are ill composed , and of a body that is crazy and full of humours , that is wholly ill disposed , because in truth the emancipated atoms do disturb it , and hinder the union and composition of its parts , wherein the state of perfect health doth consist . some will say that i have handled this matter after a strange and odd kind of method , but if truth and reason confirm my explication , as i hope it does , they have nothing to say against me , but i speak those things which were never said before ; or that i do not proceed in the same manner , and the same course in the progress of this philosophical tract ; wherein i will sincerely endeavour to bind my self up to the truth , without having any regard to the prejudices of the schools . i return to poisons , and after i have discoursed of pestiserous and viperine poison which attacks the heart , it will be time to say something of those which immediately invade the brain , and from thence the heart , the center of life , before i address my self to either general , or particular antidotes , which deserve a particular chapter by themselves . therefore i say according to the common opinion of physicians , that there are toxicks and poisons which immediately beset the heart ; as i have said of the pestiferous and viperine poison , and others like them , there are others which attack the head , such as the biting of a mad dog , opium , solan , and other narcotick and somniferous simples . there are also poisons which rush into the liver , and corrupt the whole mass of blood , as the venerial poison , and others of the same kind . th●s diversity is ascribed to antipathy , and an aversion , whereby poisons are carried to certain parts of our body , but the foundation must be shewed , whereupon this antipathy is built ; the water sticks , neither can any solid reason be given , why the poison of a mad dog attacks the head , or that of the viper , the heart ; besides that this antipathy is not sufficient to explain the nature of poisons , though we may confess , that they have an aversion to our nature , because they endeavour the destruction of it , and do procure the separation and division of our bodies . it being supposed ( as indeed it is ) that a mad dog biting a certain part of our body , doth leave in that part a certain spittle or foam , which enters the wound ( for unless there be a wound , there is no fear of danger ) the venomous atoms being dissolved and emancipated , and as it were raving mad , do insensibly and by degrees creep through the parts of the body , and finding no softer parts than the substance of the brain , and by consequence easier to be divided and destroyed , do produce the dissolution of it ; and therefore it must be granted , that if the brain could not so easily be dissolved , and that the fluidity of its substance were not the reason why it so easily receives the impression , that is the action and motion of the emancipated atoms ; the poison of a mad dog would produce but little disturbance in us . it must not be said that that poison ascends the head by sympathy , and ruins it by antipathy ; but according to our principles , it ought to be confessed , that the atoms of the spittle of the mad dog , being loosed and emancipated , are as apt to destroy the other parts as well as the brain , if the substance of the brain did not consist of certain corpuscles , yielding to these foreign corpuscles , whereby they enter into the vacant spaces of them , which having entred in at these little chinks or fissures , they raise a tumult and confusion in the castle . this truth is evident in slow poisons , which stagnate as well as that whereof we speak , until the emancipated atoms of it find out some part , whose vacuities give them free entrance , or they meet with some corpuscles , whose little hooks or angles do either accelerate or retard their motion : for these emancipated atoms being not received nor fixed , but by weak corpuscles , are like a bird having only his feet entangled in the birdlime , endeavours with all his strength to get himself free , or like a man , who is to be thrown into prison , and is withheld only by one arm , uses his utmost endeavour to obtain his liberty ; so it is with free and emancipated atoms , which are partly withheld by these tender little hooks , whereof the brain doth consist , whence arises a furious agitation in the brain it self , and at length madness ; for indeed the madness is in the dogs brain , to which some emancipated atoms came from abroad , or from some dead carrion which the dog did eat , or from the air in the dog-days , being then too much rarified , or from too much dryness of the brain , proceeding from too much drowth , and these atoms go forth with the spittle , when the dog bites some part of our body , and in time produces the same confusion with that in the dog. the third sort of poison which i promised to speak of , is that of the venerial disease , which sets upon the liver , and without a prolix declaration of the external causes which produce it , it will be sufficient for me , if i will declare in few words , that which is necessary to know , wherein they do consist , and why poison is so pernicious , that it corrupts the liver , and infects the whole mass of blood , and afterwards , tho' slowly , ruins the whole constitution of the body , and the oeconomy of its constituent parts . it is frivolous to say , that the venerial disease and its poyson , doth consist in an antipathy to the liver , and the mass of blood , for the cause and nature of this feigned antipathy , cannot be assigned . but in my opinion there is no difficulty in the matter , for by the common consent of physicians , this poison is nothing else but a malign quality , proceeding from the vapour raised from the corruption of the spermatick blood , which corruption is occasion'd by a mixture of divers seeds . this principle being supposed , we do reject this feigned maligne quality , for it cannot be said what it is , or from whence this malignity arises , but we acknowledge this vapour , and admit the corruption of the seed , and we say ( not mentioning , the malign quality ) that there are certain atoms excited by heat and motion , which do exhale and free themselves from the loose and corrupt blood , and finding the pores of mans body , and of the natural parts to be open and dilated , do creep and insinuate themselves into them , and in process of time , do penetrate into the spermatick vessels , from thence into the great veins , and from thence into the great vessels and the liver , being the trunk of them , which they by dividing do alter , and by separating do corrupt , whence , at length there follows a corruption of all the blood. the subtilty and continual motion of these emancipated atoms , appears from the gout , sometimes from the reliques of the venerial distemper ; for these atoms do penetrate into the marrow of the bones , and fix them above the articulations , where they find an allumenous matter , to which they stick : but because these venerial and other emancipated atoms are not fixed , therefore they are moved in those places where they are , like a captive fetter'd in prison , looking about him , which way he can most conveniently make his escape ; hence it is , that the pain of the gout doth not cease until these atoms are discharged , either by transpiration , sweat , or some other evacuation , or that they are wholly accumulated by other bodies , of the same figure ; or that they are altogether stopped in their motion by a condensation of those alluminous matters , whence the gout becomes knotty and incurable . chap. xiii . of sublimate , arsenick , and other sorts of poisons , and the deadly effects which proceed from them . there are two sorts of sublimate , the one corrosive , the other sweet . the first is a most violent poison : the other is a most excellent remedy for worms in children ; however , it is not without some malignity , and therefore , it is given but in very small doses ; and as to the first , fortified by the corrosive spirits of salt and vitriol , the least quantity of it cannot be administred , without inconveniency , nay death it self . in this place we are to enquire , wherein doth that poison , which is so powerful consist ; for as soon as sublimate is swallowed down , it produces ulcers , blisters , and excoriation in the tunicles , or coats of the ventricle , they ●re seized with an inflammation , over-run with a gangreen ; and unless a good antidote be taken , ( as i shall shew hereafter ) death it self is the consequence of it ; but let us see by what malignity that sublimate produces these deadly effects , and wherein the force of this poison doth consist . that we may be able to comprehend this truth , and discover wherein the malignity of this poison doth consist ; it is to be supposed , that sublimate is an artificial poison , being a compound of the most subtile particles of quick-silver , salt and vitriol , sublimated together , in the form of crystal or white powder , like sugar : so that the venomous and corrosive sublimate , is made neither of quick-silver , salt , or vitriol alone , and apart , but there ought to be the spirit of salt and vitriol to separate the quick-silver , and that though before it was fluid like water , is to be reduced into dry earth ; which is done by reason that these two spirits do separate the mercury in the sublimation , and in some manner kill it , and do penetrate it , as if they were poison to the quick-silver it self , they corrupt it , and force it to change its disposition , because they divide it , and reduce its corpuscles into small stings , whence it is that they are so sharp , penetrating , and corrosive : which doth not happen , if the quick-silver be sublimated by it self ; for then it ascends in its own fluid and gliding nature , and in this manner it may be taken inward without any danger , and also when the sublimate is sublimated with crude quick-silver . this being supposed , i conclude , that sublimate is a poison which suddenly operates in our body , to the destruction of it , because its corpuscles are reduced into stings , like the corpuscles of fire , salt , and vitriol , which does sharpen the corpuscles of the quick-silver , wherefore they produce the same effects in the body , as fire or the caustick stone swallowed do , for it presently burns every thing that it touches , and ulcerates the whole stomach , gullet , and all the parts through which it passes ; because its corpuscles being so sharpened , do penetrate and dart thro' , like flames of fire ; therefore antipathy hath nothing to do in this place , no more hath that feigned maligne and occult quality , as the less learned would fain alledge : all that is observed concerning this subject , ought to be ascribed to the disposition , subtilty , and figure of the corpuscles , which renders them corrosive and burning . the same thing may be said of arsenick , except only that arsenick , is the work of nature , and sublimate that of art ; for in truth , arsenick is a perfect mineral which is found in the earth , and sublimate , is prepared by artists in sublimatory vessels . the effects of arsenick , as well the white as the red , is near the same with those of the sublimate , and both of them by right may be ranked amongst the most prompt and violent poisons , in respect of the sharp and penetrating particles , whereof they do consist . there is nothing which disappoint these effects , except proper antidotes made use of in time , which change this disposition , and blunt the sharpness of those corrosive corpuscles . nevertheless , by special preparations , those venomous corpuscles may be taken away , both from the sublimate , and the arsenick : and by our fortifying and changeing of the compound , a most excellent remedy , for the health of man , may be made of the most pernicious poison , as the triacle is made of vipers flesh , which is the best antidote , as we shall see in the following chapter . chap. xiv . of antidotes . art , together with nature , supplies us with as many sorts of antidotes , as there are poisons : the viper , no less than the scorpion , carries its antidote ; if the serpent begins to creep out of the earth , nature affords us the leaves of ash ( which buds at the same time ) to heal its bite ; the same ground which bears a thora , hath also near an anthora , which is its antidote . there are also external antidotes , which do avert the plague , and preserve the body from the conragion , as we said before , speaking of amulets , where we did declare how this may be done , and how the body may be preserved from every malignant air , without any fictitious sympathy or antipathy . antidotes are general , and special , or specifick ; they are general which resist every poison ; they are particular , which are appropriated only to certain poisons . that it may be rightly explained how antidotes do work upon poison , and how they hinder its operation , we must suppose , that all poisons and toxicks , are reducible to two kinds ; the first doth consist of emancipated atoms , which are properly poisons ; under the second , are comprehended toxicks , as sublimate , and the like ; and that consists in sharp penetrating , cutting particles , such as the particles of fire , which burn , ulcerate , and tear the inward parts of the person who takes them : these things being supposed , it will be no hard matter to explain the nature of antidotes . having made this difference between poisons and toxicks , it is certain , that there are antidotes against poisons , and that they are diverse , according to the diversity of the toxicks : hence we see that triacles , of all the antidotes which we have , is most proper , and most specifick against the poison of vipers , because triacle is made of vipers flesh , and the emancipated atoms proceeding from it , finding the particles of that flesh , sit to receive them , do adhere to them , and are imbodied with them , and in this manner losing their motion , they lay aside their malignity , and remain fixed and quiet , in the same condition as they were , before their emancipation , they can no longer offend the heart , or effect any division of it ; so it is in the case of pestilent poisons , which we draw as we suck in the air , wherein , after a great contagion , these emancipated atoms are found , and with whom , they enter into our bodies . triacle , and cordial confections , are commonly used ; whose corpuscles are disposed and figured in such a fashion , as that the pestiferous atoms , running through all the parts of our body , are connexed with , and do wholy adhere to them ; whence there is a full and absolute cure , or partly ; which allays the violence of the distemper : but without doubt , or contradiction , the true antidote of the plague , is changing of the air , or correcting of it by good scents , which being attracted within us , together with the air , do attemper and correct it , and their corpuscles do check the impatience , and the too-free motion of the emancipated atoms . the poison of a mad dog is very hard to be cured ; and as that sort of madness is accounted incurable , and is publickly attended with a very deadly and fatal issue , we are forced to bind those who are infected or suspected , and at length to smother them between two feather-beds . the ordinary remedy is to send them to the sea , to throw them into it several times : experience teaches us that that kind of remedy is not altogether useless , but is to be accounted amongst those which are most safe , though it be not altogether infallible . the antipathy of the sea-water hath no room here , and it were vain to alledge it in the confirmation of this practice : therefore i say , that , according to our principles , the emancipated atoms proceeding from the spittle of the mad dog , while they penetrate the substance of the brain , or at least begin to penetrate it , or to be turned round its foldings , to enter into its cavities , are interrupted in their motion , so that they cannot enter into the cavities of it , nay and they are thrown partly out by those struglings which the patient must necessarily suffer when he is cast into the sea : i do not , nor will not deny , but that there are atoms or corpuscles proceeding from the froth of the sea , which entring into the patients body thro' the pores , made open by the agitation , or by breathing in of the air , and being comunicated to the blood , do with their cubicular figures , fix and withstand the emancipated atoms which produce the madness or nearly dispose the body to it : to comprehend in a word all that can be said concerning this matter , whatsoever can heal or give ease to a distemper so dangerous , it does it only by hindring the motion of those loosed atoms , or by quite expelling them out of the body . the same thing may be said of the third sort of poison , that is , the venerial , which is called the french disease , that also hath its general and specifick antidotes : quick-silver is commonly used for this business , and that by reason of that antipathy which is betwixt it and the disease , it is most certainly held to be the one only remedy for it : others use sudorificks , as guajacum , salsaparilla , or animal or mineral bezoar , or the salt of vipers : others are only contented with one remedy , which is mercury perfected by nature , and radically divided by art ; also the more industrious do use philosophical water , prepared from the beams of the sun and moon . but tho' we may provide an excellent remedy against this distemper ; nevertheless it must be confessed , that it is not radically taken away , but by the help of those things which expel the venerial emancipated atoms , from the centre to the circumference , whether it be done by sweat , or by an insensible transpiration ; this doth not happen by antipathy , or some occult quality , but by the motion of the particles of the medicine , which strike against these miserable atoms , and drive them out by those most convenient ways , that is , the pores of our body . therefore let us proceed to those antidotes which are opposite to toxicks , not by antipathy , or some occult quality , but by their different figures : therefore who will say that milk hath an aversion to sublimate or arsenick , though it be a most speedy remedy , and that no less than oyl which doth resist poyson , because descending into the ventricle , and in its passage touching the gullet and the orifice of the ventricle , as well as milk doth lessen the motion of the corpuscles of the poison , and blunts the sharp points and corners of them , and defends all those parts . but of all things a vomit is most useful in this case , being assisted with the help of milk , or oyle slackning the tunicles of the stomach , and making the passage more easie : for if a vomit should be given without smoothing and besmearing the passage , the venome in coming out would excoriate all the parts that it touched , by its sharp-pointed , saw-like , and hooked particles ; which are covered by the particles of oyl or milk going out with them , and are so prohibited and hindred from hurting . in the conclusion of this chapter i do observe , that corrupt humours in our body ( as physicians do affirm to us ) do degenerate into poisons and toxicks , but they are silent as to the reason of this confusion , and all the manner of avoiding it . first , they ascribe this corruption to external causes , or to inward occult and maligne qualities , or to the excess of certain qualities , ( as cold , hot , dry , moist ) or to certain unwholesom diet , and to ill digestion , or lastly , to obstructions , hindring the necessary distribution of them : but truly it is not demonstrated from thence , that crude and an undigested diet , or corrupt humours , do degenerate into poison , therefore the true cause of this thing , and the solid reason of it , must be enquired into . to this purpose , i do suppose , that the humours or nourishment being any manner of way divided , may be said to be corrupted , because i acknowledge no difference between a division and a corruption of a thing ; but in a separation which is not total , there remain some bodies which are neither poisons , nor toxicks , though they oppress and obstruct the parts , and hinder the intercourse of the spirits , as it happens in phlegm , melancholly , and slimy humours , which are joyned with the earthy part of the excrements . besides these bodies , there are other corpuscles which with their hooks , sharp points , and stings , do pierce , prick , and penetrate man's body , and the membranes of it , as also the veins , muscles , and nerves , and do corrode the stomach ; and in the same manner with poison , do occasion ulcers , imposthumes , and pustles . these are those which the physicians do call sharp , biting and chollerick humours ; whereof ( that i may end this tract concerning sympathy and antipathy , and the actions depending thereon , and without these occult causes assign a true and an efficient cause of all our distempers ) i am compelled to treat in a chapter by it self , and in that which follows shall be delivered the general means whereby the causes and roots of all diseases may be removed . chap. xv. the true cause of our diseases . the effects of our diseases are pernicious , and have their origine either from within or without ; the causes of them sometimes are so obscure , that the original of them cannot be discovered ; and though we define a disease to be a disposition against nature , or an inordinate constitution of those qualities which are constituent of a right temperature , yet for all this , we are not wiser or more learned than we were before : therefore after i have discoursed physically of the causes of our diseases in general , it will not be amiss to trace òut the particular causes of them . that this doctrine which may be accounted new , may the better be understood , i suppose , that we are never subject to any disease , but whose immediate cause is either some poison or toxick . 2ly . this poison consists only in emancipated atoms , and toxicks in loosned corpuscles . 3ly . these atoms are not emancipated ; nor these sharp corpuscles loosned , but in the corruption of bodies , 4ly . corruption is nothing but a total or partial division and separation of bodies . 5ly . there is no new generation by which a new body is made , but by a precedent corruption or division of another body , which ceases to be in nature , when one or more other bodies possess the room of it . so when meat in the stomach is turned into chyle , when the chyle in the liver , and the branches of the vena porta is changed into blood , and lastly , when the blood is changed into our substance , as flesh , muscles , nerves , and other parts of our body , by the last degree of concoction , there is necessarily a corruption of the meat , which begins to be divided and separated by chewing of it in the mouth , and it is digested and separated , or corrupted in the ventricle : chyle , to the end it may be turned into blood , is altered in the branches of the vena porta , and the meseraick veins ; and thence it is wholly and perfectly digested , that is , corrupted , concocted , and divided in the liver , unless that hath lost something of its own substance . the blood designed for flesh , is filtred out of the veins into the arteries , and circulates until it be sufficiently purged , and freed from foreign bodies , and then it is changed into the substance of our body . this doctrine being supposed , i say there are made in us three principle corruptions , which are the concoctions or digestions whereof we speak : and i say moreover , that there are atoms in every one of them , which are emancipated and loosed , as likewise corpuscles , flying and deserting more or less , as the digestion is the better performed , that is , as the pure is more rightly separated from the impure . therefore it follows , that we cannot be nourished , unless we take together into our bodies the causes and seeds of many diseases ; it follows likewise , that these diseases are diverse , according to the difference of the corruptions of the emancipated atoms , or the loosed corpuscles , and that these atoms are poisons , and the corpuscles toxicks , which do produce diseases by their violent motion , and they labour so with reiterated corruptions , that they deprave , separate , and divide all the parts of our body . here we may behold the just cause of the pains of the stomach , and of the wind chollick , and also of the wind proceeding from the first concoction of our meat in the stomach , these winds are the corpuscles or the more subtile parts of that corrupted nourishment ; and when the more subtile and sharp corpuscles are received into the body , they do , proportionably to the nourishment which is taken , produce most troublesome and dangerous pains , and vellications , such as we observe in the chollick . and if it should happen , that amongst corpuscles there should be abundance of emancipated atoms , they do ordinarily betake themselves to the brain , whence do arise apoplexies , and lethargies ; or if they penetrate into the muscles and nerves , they occasion the palsie , which ordinarily follows these bilious chollicks . this indisposition degenerates the disease into a vomiting , and loosness , when the wind or the subtile particles , the loosed corpuscles , and the emancipated atoms are so plentiful , that all the symmetry of the humours , the intercourse of the natural spirits , and the whole anatomy of the body are overthrown by them ; whence it is conspicuous , what great confusions , winds , vapours , and little bodies , and depraved atoms are capable of producing in our bodies : and that i have concluded upon good reasons , that there is poison to be found in all our diseases ; whether we consider them in their beginning , when we perceive our selves grieved , indisposed , and to have lost our appetite ; or that we take a view of them in their progress , when those winds , those little bodies or little atoms are advanced in the body , and do work a division ; or lastly , if we consider the end , when these poisons and toxicks , and these corpuscles being freed from their chains , and these emancipated atoms bear the sway , by the confusion of the principal operations , they are the cause of death . in the second digestion , which is in the liver , we find winds and vapours , which are called flatus's ; and sometimes those loose corpuscles , and also the emancipated atoms ; these winds do produce a murmur and flatus about the liver , spleen , hypocondria , and the reins ; and the corpuscles which are lodged there , do prick and exulcerate the inward ●●rts , and are the causes of imposthumes , which are so hard to be cured . besides the emancipated atoms flying , do sometimes ascend up to the head , where they beget vertigo's and buzzing in the ears ; and also convulsions by their vellications in the principal of the nerves ; thence proceed epilepsie , and other diseases , which have the same malignity ; which in the opinion of all men , being not a quality , is a poison , that is , the atoms of the blood are emancipated , which are a poison to the brain , and especially to the membranes and nerves . from the same fountain proceed shakings , and the duplications of continuant fevers , as the periodick fits of intermittent fevers do happen from loosed corpuscles and atoms which are emancipated in the first digestion in the stomach , by reason of a fermentation which they make . these loosed bodies are also the causes of swellings in the feet , hands , and other parts ; as inflammations , erysipela's , as also itch and sore puscles do arise from atoms which are emancipated in the last digestion ; as for the dropsie we may say that it derives its original from atoms which are emancipated in the first and second concoction , for they penetrate the substance of the liver , and render it unfit to produce a well constituted blood. sudden death is often occasioned by the sudden motion of the flying atoms , which escape in the circulation of the blood ; and the emancipated atoms opening the heart , and by this passage giving an opportunity to the vital spirits to make their escape , is the cause of that present death which follows it . chap. xvi . of the causes of our health . if that be true , which i suppose , that all our diseases do not arise from natural qualities , nor from antipathy , which is in the nourishment we take ; and that they are nothing else but a confusion , and an inordinate constitution of the spirits , humours and parts , and that this confusion doth proceed from the impetuous and disorderly motion of the winds , corpuscles and emancipated atoms , as i said before : then it is certain that our health , which consists only in the just intercourse of the spirits , and a proportionate mixture of the humours , doth not proceed but from things constituting and preserving this just temperament , and by the same it is conserved . as there are many things which destroy health , so there are also a great number of those things which restore and confirm it . the things which destroy it , are those which rarifie the humours , and occasion winds which dissolve bodies , and do emancipate atoms : those which restore it , are such things , or such remedies , which hinder the division , rarefaction , and dissolution of the humours and parts of our body , or since it happens that necessarily there is a corruption in every digestion , and a division of the aliment , chyle , and the blood , as we observed before from the same principle , it necessarily follows , that every thing that preserves health , hinders the alteration of it , and also restores it , being lost , which drives out of the body these winds , these corpuscles , or these injurious atoms : and that also which removes these seeds , or internal principles of our diseases out of our bodies , doth not produce that effect by a certain vertue , or physical quality , or by a certain antipathy , as it is said of rubarb and senna , but by motion and action which is made upon these rarified bodies , these loosed corpuseles , or emancipated atoms , proceeding from every digestion in the bodies of those which are most healthful . this motion is performed either by purgatives or emeticks , or by sudorificks , the two former of these are fitted to eject those which arise from the first and second digestion , and sudorificks do expel corpuscles or atoms of the third digestion , but here is no room to shew the differences of these remedies ; however we must trace out the manner of those operations . i said a while that medicaments do operate only by a vellication of membranes , nerves , and fibres , and which is produced by sharp corpuscles flowing from the medicines , and sticking to the aforementioned parts , whose motion is communicated to the subtle foreign bodies , that is , the excrements of every particular digestion , whereby these matters are driven forth the nearest and most commodious way for evacuation . i 'le make an end of this chapter , with an example of a familiar remedy , by means whereof every man may preserve his health , without either bleeding or purging ; nevertheless , i do allow that bleeding sometimes is necessary , and very useful to evacuate those emancipated atoms or corpuscles , which are loosed in the veins , from the digestion in the liver , especially when they being shut up , and cannot find their way out , they stick to the pleura membrane , and prick and vellicate it , and thereon produce an inflammation , known by the name of pleurisie , therefore in this distemper , as also in continual fevers , bleeding and sudorificks are by no means to be omitted . the same thing may be said of using purgative remedies or emeticks , to evacuate earthy excrements , as flegme and slimy humours arising from the first digestion ; and also serosities or choller , and melancholly being the excrements of the second concoction , but because the defects of the first concoction are not mended or repaired in the second ; and the first is more perfect , as the ventricle is more pure and more clean , and cleared of that viscous flegm which disturbs its action , and hinders digestion . without either envy or prejudice , i do here produce a vulgar remedie as most useful to preserve or restore health , if it be rightly used as it should be , as i have found it by experience , besides that it manifests the truth of my principles , which supposes every evacuation to be made by motion and vellication of the sharp corpuscles or penetrating atoms . therefore i take every morning a goose feather ; fit and slender , as it is in its own nature , i put this gently into my mouth , and i thrust it further to my jaws , and hold it there for some time , and i draw backwards and forwards , and i perceive a vellication made by the feather on my jaw , palate , and the other parts adjoyning , and likewise after this vellication , i do observe that water , phlegm , and viscous humours , being dissolved , do flow in great quantity for the space of a quarter of an hour ; and all this is done without any violence or danger , hereby i find that the head is lightsome , and the stomach freed and disburthened , and that thereby the appetite is increased , and that the corpuscles which before ascended to the brain by way of vapours are evacuated , incarcerated , or involved in the viscuous humours which are flowing , and afterward the first digestion is better made ; and it is evidenced by experience , that as the ventricle is less burdned , so our sleep is longer , sweeter , and less interrupted : were it not that i fear to exceed those bounds which i proposed to my self , i could make many useful observations upon this subject . but i must remember that i do not speak of medicine , remedies , health , and diseases , but by chance and occasionally , and it is sufficient , if i oblige the publick and the learned with the doctrine of atoms , and that i be helpful to them as well as to the sick , by the means of those remedies which i discover , and which i freely propose : and though i offer many things which were neither said , taught , nor writ before ; nevertheless i beg the readers pardon , for that i add no more to this matter , for i am afraid if i should , to be tedious to him , and if i have enlarged my self too far , i hope he will forgive me ; it were hard to say less of these things , except a man would say nothing at all of them , besides that it is grateful to every man to speak and write of those things which he loves , and are agreeable with his profession . chap. xvii . of formal , exemplary , and material causes . form and formal cause is one and the same thing ; and when we say there are two sorts of forms , that is only according to our manner of conceiving things . so we say there are two sorts of formal causes , the substantial and accidental . but all these forms are imaginary , neither do true philosophers acknowledge any other substance to be in natural compounds , than matter , except only in man ; nor any other form than the disposition of the parts , because all these forms are altogether useless . moreover these great sticklers for forms , cannot say what they would mean by a substantial or accidental form , therefore we do with a great deal of justice lay aside these fictitious forms , as being but chimeras , and of no use . the exemplary cause may be referred to the formal , because it is the idea and inward form of that which we frame in our spirit ; so the formal cause of a picture , is the disposition of its parts , according to the disposition and ordination which it then had in the spirit of the painter . the same may be said of all rational agents , which are endued with understanding . there is no difference be twixt matter and a material cause , and there are two sorts of material causes , as well as of matter ; that is the first matter , out of which all bodies are composed , and into which , by an universal division , they may be reduced ; the second , is nothing else but bodies made of the first , and upon which the efficient causes do exercise their activities . therefore it is apparent , that there is nothing in the world , but what is a compound , and that there is no compound without matter : it is also certain , that there is nothing made without an efficient cause , which acts upon compounds and destroys them , that of them others may be made ; because the matter of the first , serves for the composition of the second ; the matter which goes to the composition of the first and second , is the first matter , or material cause of the compound , and that matter which serves the efficient cause for a subject and patient , is called the second matter . both of them may be an efficient cause , for compounds do act upon one another , as the elements which drive one another backwards and forwards ; that which drives another is called the agent , as that which is driven is called the patient ; and if there be any thing which resists it , and drives back another , this regress of the motion is called a reaction ; so one and the same thing , may be the subject and cause of motion ; and that to give and receive , being the principle of agent and patient , may be at the same time , but in divers respects . chap. xviii . of the first matter . all philosophers do unanimously agree , that there is a first matter in the world , which was produced from the beginning , and tho' it can never be altered by any change , yet it is to be seen in all the generations and corruptions which are in nature ; this doth suppose , that the first matter did exist before the generation of the compound wherein it is found , and that it still remains , and survives the corruption of it ; as fire is made of chips , the matter of the fire was in the chips , and it is found partly in the fire , partly in the smoak , and partly also in the ashes : it is agreed by all men , that nothing is made out of nothing , and that there is nothing in nature , which can be reduced into nothing , so that the first remains one , and the same in all the revolutions which do happen . therefore in respect of matter , we may justly say , that there is nothing new in the world , since the creation of it , and that this matter , in its nature , is incorruptible , so that to explain the essence of this first matter , is all , and the one only difficulty : if we hearken to aristotle , he makes it the subject of all forms , and that it is nothing but a passive power , or a meer capacity of producing , and receiving them in its bosom ; he says in another place , that matter in it self hath neither quality nor quantity , nor any essence , beside that which it received from that form which perfected it : but this explication gives us no idea of matter , neither doth it teach us any thing of the nature of it ; on the other hand , according to this doctrine , we may say that matter is something , and we may say at the same time , that it is nothing ; and that it gives that being to form , and receives the same from it ; and lastly , that it hath distinct parts without any quantity ; which seems to be impossible . they were more in the right , who said , that the first matter was nothing else but the first elements , into which compounds by a total dissolution are reduced , also these elements ought to be simple , and indivisible , for otherwise , the first elements are not such as we suppose them to be : it follows , from this doctrine , that neither water , nor air , nor earth , nor fire , are the first elements of things , because they are compounds : therefore we must look out for other elements , which are simple and indivisible ; those things which the chymists would fain establish , that is , salt , sulphur , and mercury , cannot be taken for the first elements of bodies , since they are but compounds of many other bodies . i am of the same opinion concerning descartes his three elements , which he would have to be the principles of things , which is impossible , because they are divisible . therefore we must acknowledge , that only simple and indivisible atoms , are the first matter , and first principles and elements whereof bodies are composed ; out of these atoms are corpuscles made , out of these corpuscles small masses , out of masses greater parts , & then of these parts greater bodies , whereof the universe doth consist ; in the same manner , going backward in an analytical method , the world is divided into great bodies , those into parts , parts into small masses , masses into corpuscles , and lastly , these corpuscles are divided into atoms . chap. xix . of atoms and their nature . that we may solidly evince the existency of atoms , we must suppose , that every compound may be divided into so many parts , as there are which make the compound , therefore division ought necessarily to cease , when there is a failure of parts to be divided ; on the other side , there is no end of it , as long as there are particles to be divided ; one of the two we must allow ; that is , either that a body cannot be so exactly divided , but that there always remain divisible parts in infinitum ; or , that there are parts after a certain number of divisions , which will not admit any further division ; aristotle stands for the former , but gassendus and the ancient philosophers do defend the latter and according to this last doctrine , after all the divisions are made , nothing can remain besides atoms , that is , indivisible beings , which are the first elements of natural bodies . i confess , it is hard to imagin a corporeal thing to be indivisible , because we see nothing in this world , which is not divisible , but this makes nothing against atoms , which are corporeal , because they compose bodies , and are indivisible , because they are the first , and most simple elements of bodies : hence arises another difficulty , because it cannot be easily explained ; after what manner a thing that is divisible , is composed of parts which are indivisible . impartial minds do not find so much difficulty in conceiving this matter , as those do , who follow the prejudices which they have received : first , these men who are thus so prepossessed , do not consider , that there are many things which escape our senses , and yet are most real . secondly , they do not consider that that which composes a body , is not a compound , as we see that unity makes number , tho' it self be not a number : letters , whereof nouns and words are framed , yet are neither the one nor the other . the drops of water whereof rivers do consist , are not rivers ; so atoms though they are invisible and indivisible , yet they compose bodies which are visible and divisible . aristotle and his followers , do teach us , that a small body , as for example , a millet seed , is divisible in infinitum , and that it contains an infinite number of parts ; which being supposed , it may be concluded , that there are as many parts in the millet seed , as there are in the whole terrestrial globe : also according to this opinion , we must grant , that a body cannot be divided into as many parts , as really it may , and that neither the hither or further end of a staff can be found , nor that there is a circle or perfect piramid , nor that the parts of a body can be immediately divided . all which consequences as they are absolutely necessary , so they are all equally absurd . descartes did endeavour to free himself from this difficulty , by saying that the number of the parts of the millet-seed , was neither finite , nor infinite , but only that they were indefinite : but the evasion is ridiculous , and these two philosophers are forced to confess , that every part of the millet-seed hath its extension , and if their number be either infinite or indefinite , then their extensions also will be either infinite or indefinite at the least , which is absurd to affirm . i add no more , to avoid scholastic intricacies and distinctions . chap. xx. the properties , magnitude , figure , weight and motion of atoms . an atom is a corporeal being , simple , invisible , and indivisible : solidity constitutes its essence , or essential property , which distinguishes it from spirits and vacuity , which have no power of resisting . atoms do necessarily avoid all our senses , because these are composed of many distinct and gross parts , whose object ought to be composed , e're it can be perceived by the external organ , which nevertheless doth not destroy the truth and reality of atoms , because small corpuscles do escape our senses , as we observe in dust which sticks to our cloaths , and also in the corpuscles of a ring , which is wasted and diminished by time and use , in the corpuscles of a stone , which is made hollow by the drops of water which fall upon it in divers occult parts , in a mite which cannot be seen without the help of a microscope , and lastly , in small corpuscles , which are seen to move in a chamber , by the help of the sun-beams ; that we may omit many others which are smaller , which without doubt we could see , if our sight was sharper , as i shall mention in my animadversions about experiments of miscroscopes . though atoms are most subtle and inperceptible , yet they have their particular extension , magnitude , and figure , from whence their differences do arise ; for the figure of some of them is round , as the atoms of water , oyl , and quick-silver ; others have cubicular figures , such are the atoms of sea-water ; and others are pyramidal , as those whereof nitre doth consist ; there are some which have sharp points like needles ' as fire , whence we are to suppose that there are others variously figured . this difference is necessary to distinguish compounds : and as these atoms , as to their solidity , or invisibility , and indivisibility ( which are their inseparable properties ) are alike ; so also if they did not differ in their figure and thickness , all bodies would be of the same likeness . weight is the principle of the said natural motion , insomuch as it doth resist a violent motion : that i mention here , that we may know whether motion of atoms hath an internal or an external principle , or whether weight be determined only to one motion , or that it be indifferently inclined to many : and whether the motion of atoms do tend to some center : and whether it be continuant or interrupted : and lastly , whether it be perpendicular or horizontal , parallel or declined , right or parabolical , or circular . in order to resolve well this difficulty , i suppose that atoms may be considered in a double state , the first state of them is before the composition of the bodies which are made of them , which may be called the state of liberty : the other is that which they have in the bodies which do consist of them ; which may be termed the state of obligation or servitude . if attoms be considered in their first state , their motion is perpetual : so that an atom that is loose and freed from any composition , is essentially in motion , which ought not in the least to be wondred at ; for motion in respect of a free atom , is the same that understanding is in respect of an angel● which is never without knowing , unless his intellect is bound and clouded . from this principle it is evident , that atoms are in continual motion , unless they are hindred , or that there is some obstruction in the way , or that there are other atoms resisting and repelling of them , or that they find such as will stick unto them , or that they insinuate themselves into the atoms of certain bodies , or or that they enter into some composition , whereby their motion is stopped . nevertheless , atoms in compounds are not altogether void of motion , because they are not so straitly imbodied together , but that they have some motion , like vibrations and palpitations , according to the liberty which is granted them by the disseminated vacuities ; nay , some of them sometimes do attempt their escape , especially in porous bodies , which therefore are sooner corrupted and perish , than other bodies which are more solid , and more close . it is yet more evident in living bodies , out of which the animal spirits , which are but the bodies of atoms , and most subtile corpuscles , are dissipated by transpiration , whence aliments are necessarily requisite , for to supply the spirits of the whole body , which are dissipated by motion and agitation . this motion of atoms , or the least corpuscles , in living bodies , may be deservedly accounted the image of their first liberty , and tho' they do but seldom enjoy their full liberty , yet they are apt to raise the greatest commotions , in order to be freed , and to gain their liberty ; this is the origine of many distempers , as in acute fevers , the atoms or corpuscles of the boiling blood , or obstructed choller , are carried and driven into the brain , where they produce watchfulness , deliriums , and phrensies . according to this principle , that which we said before may be concluded , that many distempers do arise from minute corpuscles , and emancipated atoms . for these being driven forwards by other atoms , and forced back , do run into the membranes , periostiam , meninges , or intestines , and cause pains , which they call the collick , headach , gouts and rheumatisms ; so that this solution of corpuscles , and emancipation of atoms in our bodies , are much to be feared , and to prevent this danger , all motions of the body which are too violent , must be avoided ; for these are the external cause of the confusion of the spirits , and the emancipation of the atoms . the emancipation of atoms , and also of the small corpuscles , which are composed of those atoms , are to be feared no less in the great than little world , for the winds are nothing else but emancipated atoms , which by their impetuosity , being driven backwards and forwards , do force all bodies which they meet with in their way : it is these atoms which agitate the air and the sea , and cause earth-quakes , and also over-turn all things which resist their motion : therefore , the motions of atoms , are neither equal nor every where alike , but they do vary according to the diversity of bodies whereby they are driven , or as the figures of them are more or less fitted for motion , or otherwise , according to the proportion of vacuities , which are dispersed in bodies ; so that some atoms are moved quicker , and others slower , not because some are heavier than others , but because they are driven backwards and forwards , or are stopped by others which do fix them , with the greater or less violence . chap. xxi . difficulties arising from the doctrine of atoms . the first which presents it self , is in relation to the being and nature of atoms , therefore it is hard to conceive , that an atom is corporeal and material , and at the same time , that it is indivisible , or that the same being indivisible , should at the same time have its grossness and extension ; but this difficulty proceeds from nothing else , but the prejudice of our senses , which can conceive no objects , but as they are divisible and gross , neither can they give to our soul , ( which is an indivisible being ) an idea of an indivisible thing . it is only our soul which is indivisible , as well as an atom , is able to conceive the nature of them , which being elevated above the senses , can correct the errors of them ; therefore i say that an atom is not a body , according to the notion which we have of it ; that it is a compound being ; but i affirm it to be a simple being , and also corporeal ; that is to say , simple , because it is indivisible ; and corporeal , because it hath a certain extension , and makes up the composition of bodies , which , in the total division of them , are reduced again into atoms . there are two other difficulties which do arise from the former , for , if an atom be indivisible , after what manner can we propose to our selves , that it hath extension , or how can it be an ingredient in the composition of divisible bodies ? to which it is answered in few words , that extension is according to the nature of the thing extended , for if the thing extended be divisible , in the same manner is the extension , and so on the other side ; so it is of the rational soul , which is possessed of the whole body , and exercises its operations in all the parts of it , nevertheless it is , like an atom , indivisible , and though it be divisible in respect of the space it occupies , yet it hath an internal extension , which is indivisible : it is the same thing which divines are forced to say of angels , and some philosophers , about their physical tumid points . but some will say , that atoms are like neither to souls , angels , or physical points , because they have parts , and these have none , because that which doth consist of parts is divisible , it follows also that an atom is divisible . to this difficulty , i answer with the divines , that angels and our souls , which are spirits ; and also with philosophers , that physical points which are material , have no real , but only potential parts ; that is , an angel and the rational soul , in respect of the operations which they exercise , and the space which they occupy ; and the tumid points , in respect of the space which they fill up : indeed an angel and the soul have two powers , whereof the one is the intellect , the other the will , which being no more but an indivisible substance , which are capable of understanding , and willing ; yet no man will deny but that they , notwithstanding their indivisibility ( which at least , is equal to the indivisibility of an atom ) do fill up a divisible space ; as no man can doubt , but that an angel can be at the same time in the four corners of the room , and likewise can be in the middle of it , and that it hath a foursquare figure , by communication with the four angles or corners , and that it can quit this , and assume another figure at its pleasure , which cannot be said of tumid points , and atoms , which are destitute of understanding and will : the rational soul being equally indivisible with an atom , angel , or point , doth wholly possess a great body , no less than it did then when the body was little ; therefore it does dilate it self without being divided , because in its nature it is simple and indivisible , and is without distinct parts . this is the opinion of aristotle , and indeed it is the most common opinion . but if the soul were not by its own substance extended through the whole body , and had its seat only in the heart , as empedocles would have it , or in the spleen and the stomach , as van helmont places it , or in the glaudula pinealis of the brain , according to cartesius , or in the striate bodies of the brain , where the common sense is , or the sense it self , as it is called by way of excellency , and in the callous parts , because there it forms the ideas of things , and judges of them , and in the cineritious part of the brain , because there it performs the functions of the memory , according to the opinion of duncane ; it is certain , that all these parts which are taken to be the feat of the soul , are divisible , and that they have distinct parts and figures ; so the soul , as it is indivisible , occupies a space or place which is divisible , whence i conclude , that the indivisibility does not hinder , but that a substance may have a certain indivisible extension , but divisible as to the place which it possesses , or that it may have angles and figures , in respect of place , though its substance essentially remain one , simple , and indivisible ; delugo and his followers , do apply this doctrine to tumid points ; and truly , i conceive i may take the same liberty to apply it to atoms ; from this principle , which is , that an angel , or the rational soul , are neither more simple , nor more indivisible than a material atom , as we have supposed it , and laid it down as a principle . to these i add , that it is not sufficient that any thing be divisible because it hath parts , but they ought to be physically distinct and joined together by a physical union , nor that each of these parts should be of the same essence with the whole compound whereof they are parts . but it is certain that the parts of an atom are not physically distinct ; for the one could neither be , nor cease to be without the other , no more than the two essential perfections of man , that is to be an animal and rational creature : and briefly the parts of an atom are the parts of a simple being , which are in unity , but not in union : and by consequence really inseparable ; which is no hindrance , but that the mind of a man may be able to conceive some kind of interval , and some diversity betwixt the parts of an atom , in the same manner as the animal and rational natures are represented in a man , as if they were two physically distinct things . gassendus reasons from another principle which is very solid , and built upon the solidity of atoms , but upon the insolidity of a vacuum ; he takes an atom to be indivisible because it is solid ; but that that solidity and bodies likewise are not divisible , unless by reason of the void spaces which are found in them , and which do desert the interval ; by which the body may be divided 'till we come to those bodies , which , having no vacuum within them , can be divided by no natural cause , because a vacuum having neither solidity , nor any power of resisting , is the passive principle of every physical division . by a vacuum i understand the intermediate space betwixt the parts : and as that which has not a passive principle of motion is immoveable , so also that which hath not a passive principle of division , is indivisible ; and that we may wholly silence all the cartesians , i do affirm an atom to be indivisible , because there is no interval in it , by which means some agent may divide it , in the same manner , that they deny that god is able to remove the universe , because they say there is no other place wherein it can be posited ; which i would willingly grant them , if there was no place without the world. it is necessary that they should agree with gassendus , if there be no interval in an atom . the question is , if three atoms be placed together in order , whether the middle one doth touch the other two which are on both sides of it ? this being supposed , it must have two sides , and two several faces . i also ask , whether an angel being immediately placed betwixt two angels , together with a third , in a straight line of three foot long , whether one of them be touched by one on this side , and by the other on the other side ? and since there is the same difficulty , it requires also the same answer . but i answer directly , and say , that all these , for example , square sides of an atom and their faces are not parts physically distinct , but only simple beings , and physically indivisible , as the philosophers do teach , that there is in man a principle of sense , and a principle of reason ; though these two are but a simple being , and indivisible like an atom , and the sole difference doth consist in the respect of their divers effects , and of our spirit , which finds an interval where really indeed there was none . chap. xxii . of the disseminate , congregate , and separate vacuum of gassendus . the doctrine of a vacuum is contrary both to the doctrines of aristotle , and cartesius ; the first was of opinion , that it was impossible that naturally there should be a vacuum , because , saith he , the universal nature is against it . the other ridicules this fear of nature , though notwithstanding he teaches that there can be no such thing as a vacuum in nature . gassendus on the other side affirms three sorts of vacuums , the first of which he calleth a dispersed vacuum , which he saith must necessarily be in all bodies , and this doctrine he endeavours to prove by motion , which cannot be done but in a vacuum : for that truly no body can be moved in a space that is taken up by another body , because there is no penetration of bodies , and therefore cannot be moved but in a void space . the cartesians do endeavour to elude this difficulty , by saying that there is a yielding , subtile , and fluid matter , which is not able to resist the motion of a solid body forcing the same . but that this is but a flight evasion , a poor shift , appears from hence , that this matter is uncapable of yielding , unless it were filled with small empty pores which are dispersed thorow , which being condensed and pressing themselves together , do suffer it to yield , and when it is condensed so far that there is no vacuum , it yields no farther , but it resists natural agents , though of great force . so we see air , condensed and compressed in an iron tube doth resist a staff which we endeavour to thrust into it , therefore air , which is a matter apt to yield , ceases to be so , when there are no more vacuums dispersed in it , neither can bodies enter into it , without a peneration of the dimensions : whence it appears , that there is no such thing as a yielding matter , and that every matter in its nature is equally solid and resisting . to this demonstration i add further , that not so much as a gnat cou'd in the least move it self , unless there was a vacuum in the air , ( which is a matter● of it self apt to yield , ) but that at the same time the region of the air , nay and the heaven it self must be in motion ; because if all things be full of bodies , the gnat cannot be moved but by driving the ambient air , which air also drives the next , and that again the next , and so in a right line to heaven it self ; and if the world according to cartesius's doctrine had no bounds , this motion wou'd have an infinite continuance , which wou'd be a thing both absurd and ridiculous in the highest degree . this philosopher did believe that he was able to elude this reason , by supposing this motion not to be in a right-line but circular ; but besides that the air is not moved but in that manner that it is driven , and that indeed it is forced in a right line , but not circularly , as it is supposed it ought to be moved , it is most certain that this circular motion , by altogether supposing all privation of a vacuum in this element , is impossible : for if there be no vacuum , all things are full : if full , the first part of this supposed circle cannot be moved , because it finds no place through which it can be moved : therefore it ought to remain immoveable with all other things , which are in the universe , unless there were a vacuum , through which it might commence its motion . gassendus builds the truth of these small dispersed vacuums upon the truth of the figures of atoms and their angles , because angles cannot but leave void spaces in bodies , as we see a great many grains of corn do leave void spaces in the bushel wherein they are contained , and do touch one the other . i confess that these vacuums are replenished with air , but vacuums which for the same reason are amongst the smallest parts of the air or atoms , can be replenished with no matter ; and if they be replenished with it , i do demand whether the parts of this subtile matter have figures ? which if they have , they cannot be united and joyned together without a vacuum , which if they have not , neither have they extension , nor are they material according to the very principle of the cartesians . to all that has been said , we may joyn an experiment about the rarefaction and condensation of bodies , and the confirmation of disseminate vacuums , for example , take a glass-phial with a long neck , which being well heated , put it into a vessel full of water , so that the end of the neck of the vial may go a little way into it , we shall certainly see that the water presently ascends to a certain height , as the air in the vial is condensed , and gives way . from this experiment i conclude two things in defence of a vacuum . whereof the first is , that the air is before rarified in the vial , and that the parts of it are more dilated : ( but this rarefaction of the air cannot be done but by the help of the great and more copious vacuums : ) the other is , that the water could not ascend in the vial , unless the air did give way , and was condensed : but air cannot be condensed , unless the parts of it close nearer together , and that they could not do without a vacuum ; therefore we must conclude , that air is condensed by the help of vacuums , which are partly taken away , and lessened as well in quality as in number ; as it happens in a bushel full of corn or salt when it is moved , by which motion it is not a little condensed ; and the atoms of fire beget a dilating motion to the air in the glass , but cold produces a condensing motion , and as it is condensed and becomes more gross , the aiery atoms do also draw the water as it were with small hooks , or the external air lying upon the water makes it ascend by reason of the vacuum which gives place , or at least does not resist the weight of the air. but perhaps they will say that there is no vacuum in the air , but that many particles of subtile matter do go out from the vial , and give place to the ascending water . but this answer gives no manner of satisfaction , because there is no body to force this subtile matter , neither is there any way through which it may pass , as also there is no cause assigned why the water is forced upwards . as to this , we must have recourse to the small empty spaces which are found in all bodies , which bodies are more or less fluid or solid , as they have more or less of matter or renitency , as there is the greater or lesser number of those vacuums , whereof we speak , dispersed through them . chap. xxiii . of a congregate vacuum , against aristotle and cartesius . gassendus is not only against these two philosophers concerning a dispersed vacuum , but also about a congregate one which is very remarkable , and is to be found about divers compound bodies . aristotle who fights for quality , or accidents distinct from substance , rejects a vacuum as a thing which nature can no ways endure . but cartesius speaks yet more hardly of it , for he affirms that the production of it in the world , does not only exceed the power of second causes , but even of the first cause it self . aristotle endeavours to prove his doctrine after this manner , to wit , that in his opinion a vacuum would interrupt and hinder the motion and action of natural causes : for if indeed light and heat be accidents , the sun could not produce either of them in a vacuum , or through it , though there was never so little of it in the air , equal to the least imaginable point ; for according to this opinion , they are accidents , and have need of a subject , which a vacuum does not afford them . descartes builds upon another foundation , for he acknowledges no difference between extention , and matter extended ; and therefore he affirms that there is no distance between two walls , betwixt which there is no air nor matter , but that they would fall close together : which how ridiculous it is , we shall see by what follows . i affirm therefore , that nature doth not abhor a vacuum , nor that it is impossible that there should be a vacuum in nature ; for indeed there is no ground for this imaginary fear , and the experiment which i bring , will most solidly demonstrate the existence of a vacuum . this experiment was made at clermont by the late mr. paschall , a man well esteemed by all that knew him , he took a glass tube four foot long , divided into inches and lines , open at one end only , through which being filled with quick-silver , and then put into an earthen vessel full of water and quick-silver , immediately the quick-silver that was in the tube did descend , and stuck at the height of twenty five inches , and five lines and a half , and remained visibly in that state for the space of five hours . this experiment was afterwards made in several places , two or three times , i , and several persons of quality and learning being present , and indeed every time it did more or less sink down , according to the highness or lowness of the place where the experiment was made , without any visible alteration in one and the same place ; i conclude , that the space which remains above the quick-silver , is a vacuum , and that nothing but light is contained within it , we must therefore say either that light is not an accident but a body , which fills the space , or else that this space is a vacuum , and that light is in it without its subject . it may be said that the glass being porous , the air or some other body more subtile , might enter into the tube , and replenish the space left by the descending quick-silver ; but that cannot be , because the quick-silver descends on a sudden , and the air could not so suddenly enter in without breaking of the glass : but if it did enter , why does not the quick-silver descend to the very bottom , but remain suspended at a certain height ? from this experiment it appears , that a vacuum , according to the conception which aristotle hath left us of it , is not impossible to be in nature . secondly , that the external air by its weight presses upon the water and quick-silver in the earthen vessel , for otherwise all the quick-silver contained in the tube , would fall down to the very bottom . thirdly , that the same air hath a greater pressure in vallies than in mountains , especially upon those that are very high , because here it is more subtile and rare , and more dilated by disseminated vacuums , whereby its weight is lessened , together with its strength and resistency . the opinion of cartesius is yet more ridiculous , who affirms , that a vacuum is impossible even in respect of the divine power ; which opinion is no less impious than it is rash , for no man can deny , but that god is able to reduce into nothing , the air that is contained in the vial , and also to hinder any other body from coming into its place . descartes says , that this hypothesis is impossible , and that if this air was annihilated , the sides of the viol would immediately touch one another , because says he , things betwixt which nothing interposes , do touch one another ; that is true , that when nothing was there , nothing could be there , or when things come together to be joined ; but we suppose here , that the parts of the vial remain in their first state , as indeed they do , if they are not any ways moved , which they do not , god almighty hindring ; and whosoever denys that god almighty is able to hinder this motion , and this contiguity ; in so supposing is ridiculous and rash , prescribing limits to god almighty's power . there is moreover a separate vacuum , that is , a space beyond the world , which some do call an imaginary space , in which god hath not indeed produced , but nevertheless can produce something . of this we will speak in the second part , which we now begin . the second part of physick . in which is treated of coelestial things which happen above man. the world in general is a theatre of the wonderful things of god , and a collection of all things which he hath produced , whereof the world is the lowest , and least noble ; but the heaven the most high , and the most noble ; we do now here propose to speak of this coelestial world , and of all those things which are above us . chap. i. of the immense spaces which are without the heavens . descartes hath absolutely concluded that there is no space without the heavens , because all are full of matter , and that the world is not encompassed about with bounds and limits , by way of a circumference . aristotle and his followers affirm , that the world is bounded by the exterior and convex part of the heavens ; and beyond that , there are void and imaginary spaces , in which there is nothing real . gassendus and his disciples are of the same opinion , concerning the limits and circumference of the world ; but he denieth that there are imaginary spaces without the heavens , and he says indeed , that they are vacuums , and yet nevertheless that they are real ; and this is it which he calls a separate vacuum . the opinion of renatus descartes is intollerable ; because the world is limited in its being , as well as in its duration , that is to say , by a fluid space , or by time ; it is therefore limited in respect of place , which is a permanent space which it possesses , even to the circumference , ( that is to the convex part of the heaven ) otherwise the world would be infinite , and absolutely immensurable in its extension ; and indeed if the world had not limits , in respect of time , or that the instant wherein it begun could not be found out , it would be eternal . in like manner , if we acknowledge no end of the world's extension , we may say it is immensurable : but if the whole world be immense and indefinite , as descartes would have it , if it hath neither figure nor extream parts , it must evidently follow , that it is infinite , for that which in all its parts is real , or hath any part which we cannot count its last , is absolutely and actually infinite in its extension : but if descartes will play with the word indefinite , and say indeed , that the world is indefinite , because it hath no end in its extension ; but yet from thence it does not follow that it is infinite . i would ask him to tell me the difference betwixt an infinite line , and an indefinite one , and also between the immensity of god , and the indefiniteness of the world ? for if the world is indefinite , the same thing may be said of it , that trismegistus said of god , to wit , that it hath neither centre nor circumference ; whence it follows , that this world occupies all spaces , and that it is immoveable , nor can it be moved out of its place , and that god cannot create another world without destroying this , because there is no room in which god almighty might place it . all which consequences are inevitable , and the principle of it more than rash . the opinion contrary to the former , which is gassendus's , and which we embrace , is more firm and agreeable to reason ; for it teaches that this world is limited in respect of place , and that it hath both a circumference as well as a centre ; beyond which there are void spaces , in which god almighty could produce another , or more worlds , greater , or equal to this of ours wherein we dwell , if he pleased . from this most true opinion it is concluded , that god fills by his immensity all infinite spaces , and that he is really in them , and that he is no ways limited by the circumference of the heavens , and that he can there produce another world , remote from this of ours ; and according to this hypothesis , this distance or that interval will have its dimensions , although void and immaterial , yet mensurable . from thence it is concluded , that since space is ( as indeed it is ) immutable and immoveable , it is the proper place of bodies , actually , or potentially as they do or do not exist ; for if a body be in it , the space is filled , otherwise there is a vacuum , as we suppose , beyond the heavens where there are no bodies , so that i say that the place and extension of bodies is a permanent space , in like manner as time the measure of the duration of things is a fluid space . chap. ii. of the heavens , and their nature . all that can be said of the heavens and their nature , relates to their substance , figure , number , and motion . the substance of them is the same with that of the inferiour world ; for there are not two sorts of matter essentially distinct , and all material bodies are equally solid and impenetrable ; in that the essence of matter consists : and although there be some kind of difference between terrestrial and coelestial matter , it cannot yet notwithstanding be thence concluded that they are of a several nature ; because all the diversity proceeds from this , that the atoms of the coelestial matter are more subtile than the atoms of the terrestrial matter , and more exact , more moveable , and more perfect in respect of their figures , and the more perfect bodies compounded of them , and their mass better united , and lastly , the whole body more compleat . this doctrine may be illustrated by the example of letters , for those which compose a word , and which are accurately delineated and written , do not differ from those which compose the same word , and are ill delineated and written ; the first nevertheless are better , more exact , and more elegantly formed ; which happens , in respect of the same hand which makes them , according to the difference of the pen or ink , or the design of the writer , who makes longer , or rounder , or after any fashion he pleases . i say therefore , that the heavens which declare the glory of god , differ as much from the earth , as a printed book from a manuscript . atoms like letters are the same in both , which although they are of the same author , do not agree in their figure and shape , because almighty god would have it so , in order to the fairness and beauty of the world. the figure of the heavens appears round to us : this figure is most perfect , and therefore accounted most fit for motion , and nothing perswades us to affirm the contrary ; but on the other hand , all things perswades us that the figure of the heavens is round , since it encompasses the earth which is round . and since we observe the stars to have their nocturnal risings and settings , which could never happen , if the heavens were not round . the number of the heavens cannot easily be found out ; there are some who say there are eleven , others reckon nine , but the greatest part conclude that there are only three ; that is to say , the heaven of the planets , which they say is wholly fluid , in which they swim like fishes in the water ; the next that follows according to this opinion , is the firmament , altogether solid , where all the fix'd stars are placed like so many golden nails , or diamonds set in blue ; but the third is the imperial heaven , the seat of the happy , partly solid , and partly fluid : because the blessed bodies ought to dwell in a place where they may move , and freely breath the air of paradise . this opinion seems the rather to be embraced by me , because it is most consonant to the holy scripture ; wherein we read that the apostle paul was rapt up into the third heaven ; whereupon , from thence he testifies that he was lifted up into paradise . lastly , the motion of the heavens is uncertain : for it is a received opinion , that the heaven of the planets , or at least the planets themselves are moved about the earth , as also the firmament with the fix'd stars . but others teach us , that the firmament as well as the sun is immoveable , and the planets together with the earth , as being a seventh planet , are wheeled about the sun. this we examine in the following chapter . chap. iii. of the stars , and their substance . as mettals and stones are the ornaments of the terrestrial world , so are stars of the coelestial ; some of which are called fixed stars , keeping always the same place ; other wandring stars or planets , always changing place , and in their reciprocal conjunctions and oppositions coming nearer , or going further of ; the first are fixed to the firmament or starry heaven , the others to the heaven of the planets . the substance of the fixed stars and planets is of the same matter with the heavens , and the earth , for there are not two first matters , but there are many differences to be found amongst the compounds of the first . between these compounds there are degrees of nobility ; even as we see upon earth , that gold is more noble , more perfect , and more precious than silver , silver than other mettaline bodies ; rubies , and diamonds than other precious stones . in the same manner it is in the heavens , where the sun which is the most perfect of the planets , and each star hath its particular splendour , which doth not happen from the diversity of matter , but from its depuration , which consequentially arises from its distance from terrestrial and opake bodies . how many different pictures can one and the same painter make out of the same colours , only by a different disposition of them ? how many different sorts of books can there be made out of the same syllables and words by transposing of them ? what then hinders , but that we may grant the author of nature power to make out of so many atoms diversly disposed , so many bodies differing in elegancy and clarity , as are the stars or planets ? the matter therefore is the same of the heaven and the earth , of the dirt under our feet , and the stars above us . whereupon a certain ancient and eminent philosopher said , that the things above are like the things below : and so on the contrary . and we know very well that gold , as precious and beautiful as it is , is of the same matter with lead , and there is nothing requisite to the making of gold , besides the depuration of the atoms which are its first matter . i do here endeavour to deliver an idea of the substance of the stars , upon an experiment grounded upon melted mettals , and yet flowing in the crusible ; for gold falling into aqua-fortis is like a black powder , silver dissolved with the same aqua-fortis , and precipitated by sea water , or separated by the means of copper-plates , is reduced into a calx , or white , or greyish earth : tin calcined , becomes yellow like oker ; likewise lead calcined , becomes yellow , white , black , and red , as we will ; copper is turned into verdigrease , or into a yellow and red powder , and in like manner iron into a red powder called crocus martis , where by the way it appears how compound bodies become different , and vary , without the change of their first matter , by an only separation and division of their parts , corpuscles , or atoms . yet if you take these mettals so calcined , each by it self , and put them into a crusible in a melting furnace , with a strong fire , this powder will return into mettal again , and shine and sparkle in the fire ; you see then that the same matter is in a threefold different state , for being a solid body , it is afterwards reduced to a powder , and then again it is turned into a fluid matter , melting and sparkling in the fire . and this is the thing from whence i frame the idea , which i promised , concerning the fixed stars and the planets ; for nothing better represents the nature of the sun and its substance , than melted gold flowing in a great crusible , nor nothing better represents the fixed stars , than the same gold melted in lesser crusibles ; there is nothing more like the moon , than silver melting in a crusible . the same thing may be said of lead , in respect of saturn , and of tin in respect of jupiter , and of copper in respect of the bright and sparkling venus : so also iron melted with the matter which fluxes it , leaves an idea of the planet mars , yet without this mineral which fluxes , it better shews its refulgent redness . so it may be truly said , that the sun is like melted gold , and the moon like melted silver ; and so of saturn , and the rest . chap. iv. of the magnitude of the stars , and their figures . since the substance of the stars is like melted mettal , it may be likewise concluded , that the same is likewise round , because a melted mettal is always round , unless it be hindred by the mould in which it is cast , or by the crusible in which it is melting , and since there is nothing that compels stars to assume another figure , than that which is natural to them , and which is the most perfect of all figures , which is most agreeable to the first matter , out of which they are made by the author of nature ; we ought to grant that they are round . as to their magnitude , astronomers represent them to be immeasurable , and they take their hypothesis from the rules of the opticks , and from the experience of those great optick tubes ; the invention of which is attributed to campanella , but the restoration and improvement of them to anthony de reïta , as appears by his book entituled oculus enoch & eliae . the sun is commonly taken to be an hundreed and sixty and six times greater than the earth , and the earth to be three times as big as the moon , and the other stars are some bigger , and some lesser ; i would not dwell long upon a matter so far above us , especially when i consider the weakness of all those things which astronomers tell us concerning them , and the dissention which is amongst the most learned about them . epicurus is quite of another opinion , for he says that the true magnitude of the sun and stars is not much greater than they appear to us ; because , says this philosopher , since we see them to have natural colours , it follows then , that we see them in their just magnitude ; and he adds , that we never see objects in their true magnitude , but when we discern their colour , figure , and circumference : he endeavours to prove this his opinion by the example of fire , which we behold truly as it is ; greater , or lesser , accordingly as it flames : and after this rate , fixed stars would not be much greater than they appear : the same thing may be said of the planets also , because they are less remote from us than the fixed stars . i should not much dislike this opinion , if it were not rejected by the whole world , and that the shades , paralaxes , and eclipses evince the contrary . therefore we embrace the most received opinion , and positively affirm , that the most experienced , with the help of all their optick tubes , are not able to delineate the true and just magnitude of the planets , much less of the fixed stars , whose shadow is small , and they a great way distant from the earth . chap. v. of the motion of the stars . aristotle endeavouring to avoid or shun all the difficul 〈…〉 which occur in great plenty , concerning the motion of the heavens , thought he was easily able to explain it , together with its swiftness and regularity by the help of an intelligent mover , sent by god as an adjutant form , to move , push on , direct , and order the heaven , and each planet in all their motion . this doctrine seems to be at once both very easie , and very clear ; for if heaven and the planets have really a kind of motion , ( of which there is no doubt , ) there is nothing more easie than to have recourse to an angel , who , by gods command , is the mover and directer of it . but we should sooner agree upon the point , by having recourse to god , the author of nature , and saying , that he as the first author hath impressed this motion upon the heaven , and the stars , from the beginning of the world , and that he doth continually conserve it as the first cause , by his general concurrence , without using the ministery of angels to perform it , which would be no more necessary , than to assign a helping angel to the motion of animals , and the vegitation of plants , which no ●an will go about to do , unless he deligns to make himself ridiculous . ¶ this opinion supposes the earth to be in the center of the world , immoveable , and that the heavens are wheeled about this center upon the two poles of the world : the asserters of this opinion do affirm , that the imperial heaven is fixt , and immoveable , of a round or square figure , and that the firmament observes the motion of the primum mobile ; and by the impression of it , is rapidly moved from east to west , together with the fixed stars which it violently carries along with it . as to the planetary heaven , they who affirm it to be fluid , do also teach us that the planets do likewise in this vast space move with the like liberty that fish do in the water , or birds in the air , excepting only that the motion of the stars is regular , and that of fish and birds is not . they who make to be as many heavens as there are planets , or that every planet hath its orb , are forced to confess , that either their heaven is fluid , or if it be solid , that there are passages and ways through which they are carried ; and to explain these appearances , they are under a necessity of feigning certain circles which they call epicicles , or excentrix ; from whence arises unexplicable confusions ; whilst others say that these circles are only imaginary . but they who affirm the sun to be immoveable in the center of the world , who conclude that the earth is in its place a seventh planet , and hath a motion round it as well as the rest , and that the firmament and the fixed stars ( which are annexed to it , and implanted in it , and seen with their orbs to wheel round over our heads ) to be like the sun , equally immoveable ; are forced to explain the motion of the planets , and find no little difficulty in explicating their appearances ; we will enquire into those which are chiefly built upon truth ; by examining first those two most famous systems of the world , i mean that of ptolomy and copernicus . chap. vi. ptolomy's system of the world examined . ptolomy and aristotle with their followers , affirm the earth to be in the centre of the world immoveable , encompassed round with air , which they think is next environed with fire ; and so in order there are orbs of the moon , mercury , venus , the sun , mars , jupiter , saturn , and of the fixed stars encompassing one the other , called the firmament : then the ninth heaven , which they call the chrystaline ; and lastly , the primum mobile , which by its incredible rapidity carries all the other heavens with it , from east to west . this opinion seems to me to be absurd , because it supposes the heavens , and especially the primum mobile , to be of an immense magnitude ; so that the earth would be but a point in respect of heaven . yet ptolomy will have these immense bodies , and vast machines to be moved round this point of earth , which seems little consonant to reason , which dictates to us , that little bodies are much more readily moved round greater , than great bodies round less ; and we commonly say when we are roasting meat , that the meat must turn round to the fire , and not the fire turn round it . it is therefore more commodious , and more consonant to reason , that the earth which is only like a point , or a gnat , should be moved round the heavens , than the heavens should turn round about it . most wisely therefore hath the creator of the universe disposed things in such a manner , that the reasons of them are conspicuous every where ; that we may say that god does not only produce works which are good in their substance ; but also that he hath done good unto all that he hath made ; that is , exactly in number , weight , and measure . besides this general reason which destroys and over-turns the opinion of ptolomy and aristotle ; we may take another from the incredible rapidity of the heavens motion about the earth ; for if their opinion be true in this hypothesis , and according to the reckoning of astrologers , we must confess that the distance of the primum mobile from the earth , is above an hundred thousand miles ; from whence may be computed the greatness of this heaven , and the manner of its motion , that it should perform and compleat its circle in the space of twenty four hours ; whereas all people agree in this ( viz. ) that the earth compleats forty miles in every hour , when in the mean time its circle is but a point in respect of the primum mobile . we must conclude therefore , that its swiftness is incomprehensible , and that every one point of its circumference , compleats each hour more than forty times an hundred thousand miles , which is incredible . to all these i add another difficulty which i have concerning this opinion , in explaining the manner , and the little hooks by which the primum mobile carries the inferiour orbs along with it from east to west ; and that the heavens and the planets go to this pole , but come back from the other , and then at last return to their first point , by the sole collibration or ballancing of the ninth heaven or chrystalline : to which if we add the solidity of the coelestial globes in that manner as ptolomy has affirmed , then neither aristotle nor tyco brache with his epicycles , and excentricities , will be able to take away these difficulties , or avoid horrible confusions ; lastly , these philosophers could not explicate the regular or irregular motion of commets , unless by appointing angels to guide them , which is ridiculous . chap. vii . copernicus's system of the world examined . this philosopher , and many other modern ones have built systems of the world after another manner ; for they place the sun in the centre , and will have the earth and the other planets to wheel round it , as we have said heretofore . this system would be sufficiently enough confirmed by refuting of that which ptolomy , aristotle , and their followers have framed ; but onely this likewise labours under its peculiar difficulties , the first of which is the experience of our senses , which seems altogether repugnant to this system , for according to this opinion , we must conclude the heavens which seem to move , as also the sun it self , to be immoveable ; and on the other hand , the earth to be in continual motion , which seems to be immoveable . but this prejudice is very uncertain , nor do our senses always so exactly and infallibly distinguish the motion of bodies , or bodies that are in motion , as experience teaches : that when any one goes on ship-board , and the ship sets sail , the shoar and the houses go away from him : for to this man the shoar seems to go away from him , though indeed he goes away from the shoar . which happens from hence , that the eye does not discern the motion of the thing which is moved , when it moves along with it ; which happens to a man at sea , who does not at all take notice of the motion of the ship which is under sail , because he himself is carried on by the same motion . to this opinion also is opposed the experience of a stone thrown up into the air , and there falling down upon the head , or before the feet of him that threw it ; for if the earth is really wheeled round and moved , while the stone is moved , it ought to fall far enough from him who threw it . for we must conclude that the earth is not turned round , and by consequence that this system of copernicus is false . to this difficulty descartes answers , that a stone must so descend , as if the earth was not in the least moved , because both from the same vortex , and by the same impression , the stone as well as the earth is carried round . to this very same difficulty gassendus answers after another manner , saying , that the stone falls before the feet of him that throws it up , because it receives two motions from the hand of the thrower , ( to wit , one horizontal , and the other perpendicular ) which since it hath received , it ought to keep also , and to describe a curve , regular , and parabolical line ; and after this manner fall down at the feet of him that threw it , if he ( viz. ) threw it up streight , and the wind not contrary to it : just as we see in a great bullet tumbled down from the top of the mast , falls streight down to the bottom of it , though the ship sails with a very violent wind. lastly , it is objected , against the doctrine of copernicus , that if the earth be moved about the sun , it would sometimes be nearer the firmament and the pole , and sometimes farther off ; and then that for that reason the fixed stars , especially the pole star , must sometimes appear bigger , sometimes lesser , which is contrary to experience . but they who defend this opinion , make answer , that the mighty distance which is betwixt the earth and the fix'd stars , is the cause why this difference is not observed . but indeed , in that manner that i shall explain the motion of the earth , this objection will appear to be of no moment . chap. viii . of the motion of the earth . copernicus attributes to the earth three motions , the first of which is called diurnal , by which the earth is moved about its axis , as a wheel , from west to east , when as the sun seems to be moved from east to west . another motion is from one pole to the other , according to the latitude of the zodiack , that is , from one tropick to another ; which motion is called annual or rather half-yearly , because the earth in six months time runs through the whole latitude of the ecliptick , and after other six months it returns to the same point from whence it had departed at the beginning of the year : so it passes through the same line twice a year , to wit , at the time of the aequinoxes . lastly , the third motion is made round the sun , whereby according to this philosopher's opinion , we are sometimes nearer the fixed stars , and sometimes farther off . there are not wanting some who attribute a fourth motion to these three , which we call a libration from east to west , and so on the contrary . but to explain all the appearances , the two first would be sufficient , were we not compelled to take in the other two likewise . the diurnal motion of the earth by which it is turned and wheeled round its axis , and which is performed from west to east in twenty four hours time , is hard enough to be explained , but here 's the comfort , that there is no less difficulty found in the opinion of aristotle and ptolomy about the explaining the motion of the heavens which ought to be performed in the space of four and twenty hours . therefore to clear up this difficulty , i suppose , if we should be compelled to have recourse to an intelligence , as a mover sent by god for this purpose : we have as much reason to assign one for the motion of the earth , as well as aristotle , to assign many for the motion of the heavens and the planets . by the same right we might have run back to the first cause and its general concourse , after the example of cartesius , who is not ashamed to call in this to help him in explaining the motion of his materia subtilis , and the vortex surrounding the earth ; as also of all other natural motions , which god , saith this philosopher , hath produced from the beginning , and always preserves without diminution , but only that this motion does transmigrate from one body into another , and as much of it as is lessened in one body , is increased in another : this is the cartesian opinion . but we are endeavouring to explain this motion of the earth by more natural reasons . i say therefore , and suppose that the sun is immoveable in the centre of the world , and yet notwithstanding , that like a wheel it turns round about its proper centre ; and this is that motion which is called circum-rotation ; and by this motion it disperses on all sides , on every part these corpuscles which produce light and heat : these corpuscles compose that great vortex which is about the sun , and which with it is carried round , and moves the earth which is plac'd in the same vortex with it ; like as a stone is moved by the motion of a rapid stream , and this same vortex carries other planets along with it , accordingly as they are more or less immerged in it . according to this explication , one may fancy the sun to be like the wheel of a clock , which moves that which is next to it another way ; for when one wheel is moved towards the right , the other which it carries with it , must of necessity be moved towards the left : so whilst the sun by its circum-rotation is moved from east to west , the earth must likewise be moved from west to east . the other motion of the earth is that which is called annual or half-yearly , and which arises from the libration of the solar body , and of the vortex which drives the earth from the part of the pole , and makes it daily go a degree farther ; and so the annual as the diurnal motion each day declines one degree onely , from a parallel , from whence arise the vicissitudes of days and seasons ; but if the earth returns by the same steps , as i may so say , it happens because the sun by its daily libration drives it on from one part ; and then after six months assuming an opposite libration , it draws it back for three months , and for the other three months which makes up six , it drives it forwards , so that the rotation and the libration of the sun makes a double or a triple motion of the earth , without the former's changing either its place or its centre . all that we have hitherto said , according to the mind of these authors , doth not as yet satisfie a spirit curious to know the truth . so here are other difficulties remaining which must be taken away by more sensible and more natural reasons . first , though we affirm the sun to be immoveable , and the earth to be wheeled round about it ; or though we affirm the contrary , there remains nevertheless , that we give an account not only of each of these motions , but also of the motions of the other planets . it is demanded what is the internal or external cause of the earths motion ? if it be answered , that the sun by its libration is the cause of it , as we have said , and as our opinion is ; it remains that we demonstrate the cause , whether internal or external , that gives the sun this motion : by means of which being librated from one side for six months , it is also librated for as many from the other side ; and by this so regular motion , it sometimes draws the earth towards it , and sometimes drives it from it , as we shall see in the following chapter , what can be said about this matter . chap. ix . of the sun the true centre , and heart of the world. the sun being placed in the centre of the world , is like the heart , inspiring life into all things , and presiding over all the works of nature whatsoever , even as the heart in an humane body is the principle of its life and all its motions ; this is that admirable machine , which without being moved out of its place , moves the spirits , humours , and all the parts , of our bodies ; in like manner , the immoveable sun by his double motion , shakes and moves the earth as well as the rest of the planets . one only difficulty remains in explaining the motion of the heart in the microcosme , and of the sun in the macrocosme : but being about to treat else-where of the earths motion , we will here only speak of the suns motion , which i call a wheeling of it round about the earth , and afterwards we will speak of its libration . elsewhere , we have said the sun to be , not only of the same nature with gold , but to be gold indeed , melted in the centre of the world , and cupellated by the fire of the fix'd stars , which are every where about it : no wonder therefore that it is wheeled round like melted gold in a crusible ; and there sparkling , and purified . that this hypothesis which will bring no little light to many things , may be better comprehended , i will bring an experiment to confirm this doctrine , which seems new indeed , but nevertheless it cannot be denied to be built upon the foundation of indubitable experience . i say therefore , that if you take gold and put it into a great crusible , with lead , copper , or other mettals ; and make a fire every where round it , these mettals will be melted together , and compose a sparkling smoaking bath ; this bath or melted matter is in perpetual motion , and so soon as the matter is made hot , it wheels round its centre without intermission . it would be much more conspicuous if this melted matter in the centre of the world were equally distant from all the points of its circumference ; for this being supposed , no man will deny , this melted matter fixed in the centre of the world , and fire being put to it every where , and on all sides , to remain in fashion as in a crusible , and to have the same motion of circum-rotation and libration which we attribute to the sun. all the obstacle we meet with at first sight consists in this ( to wit ) how this solar melted matter can remain suspended , not falling down on any part . secondly , by means of what fire it remains always melted . thirdly , how it comes to pass that since gold so soon as it is cupellated or refined , remains in the crusible in a fix'd mass , yet the sun which is like to this gold , is neither fixed , nor stands it still immediately , but being wheeled perpetually round its centre , it continues in motion , and is librated in the cupel without any intermission . to the first of these difficulties i answer , that we ought not to stand upon it , because they who place the earth in the centre of the world , do teach us , that if a great hole were made through the earth , even as far as our antipodes , and if a mill-stone were thrown into it , it would stop in the middle , which is affirmed to be the centre of the world , and there remain suspended ; for to move forwards either way would be to ascend : the same thing may be said likewife of water or other liquids which would remain suspended . if therefore the sun be in the centre of the world , why should it seem a wonder that it should remain there so suspended , since that may serve him instead of a cupel ? as to the other difficulty which belongs to the fire . i answer , that there is no want of that , because we have the fire of thefix'd stars encompassing the sun every where on all sides , and keeping this same gold in cohtinual fusion , as if it were under a great winters glove bored through every where with little holes , as we find in essaying gold. i do not say with epicurus that the fixed stars are really little holes and apertures by which the empyrial heaven which is altogether fiery , transmits its ardors ; but i affirm , that these are either little empty holes , or else filled with so many diamonds , or chrystals , through which the heat of the coelestial flames pass through ; or else that they are as it were so many carbuncles , or burning coals . this is sufficient to convince them of great ignorance , who have affirmed these coelestial fires to flow from the solar globe , and to be borrowed thence ; whereas on the contrary , they are coelestial fires and flames , which passing through this great globe of the heavens causes the gold in the cupel in the middle of the universe to be boyled and wheeled round by an equidistant and equally distributed heat . i confess as to what belongs to the third difficulty , it is very subtle , and supposes a very fair experiment : for in the course of all my curious labours , i have wondred how gold after it had a long while smoaked in the cupel , and circulated to expel in smoak all forreign bodies mixt with it , does at last stand still , and remains suddenly fix'd in the bottom , and is so condensed , that it cannot be melted again by the strongest fire , or made to circulate , unless lead be added to it either with or without some other mettal ; for by the addition of these bodies it is at the same time melted , and by the same degree of fire , and begins a new to boyl , to be librated , and to be turned round as before : and it will continue so as long as the lead or other foreign matter is in it : from whence we may conclude , that so long as the sun like melted gold is wheeled round its centre , mixt and infected with foreign corpuscles which it receives on every si de , as being placed in the centre of the world , and of the planets , which like imperfect mettals furnish it with corpuscles which are exhaled and are emancipated , and being mixed with it cause it to wheel round , and supply it with matter for motion , and so long as he returns them back in the form of smoak , like a vortex , excepting only those which are digested and turned into gold , which he reserves within himself , and does farther digest and circulate ; and when they are sufficiently subtilised and purged , although involved with grosser fumes does send them forth ; which meeting with the vortex of the earth , penetrates into the pores of it , and are changed into gold , silver , or some other mettal ; according to their greater or lesser purity , and according to the various disposition of the matrixes or beds wherein they lodge : so long i say we may conclude , that from these fumes which are sent towards the sun from imperfect bodies , are made a liquid and mercurial water , out of which , in the bowels of the earth , gold and other mettals are made . the experience which we acquire by essaying gold , ( although after a rude manner , in comparison of it with this great natural cupel ) shews us this this truth before our eyes ; for i have with pleasure tryed , that the fumes arising from the common cupels , being collected in an alembick , are condensed into a clear viscous , pulverulent , or gritty , and consequently mettalline water , whose value the curious may be able to know . i represent therefore to my self gold wheeled round in this great cupel , which is the sun it self placed in the middle of the world , and which emitting subtile fumes , receives other more gross , which it so long and so often circulates , that they being in the bosome of the earth , ( the matrix of seed , and only habitable planet ) purified and collected , do there make gold , silver , or other mettals . so the sun is the father of mettals , and especially of gold its legitimate off-spring ; whereas the others are only bastards , and being defiled in the matrix or womb , they cannot attain to the dignity of gold , unless they are free'd from their original impurity . he then that can tell how to purifie and consecrate these solar influences , which are the fumes of this admirable cupel , hath found out a great secret in nature , extreamly profitable both for health , and wealth . let me tell you an experiment which i did not see , but heard related , by the late monseigneur bezancon , a gentleman well known in paris , who professed himself an eye-witness of it . he said that when he was governour of provence , he sav'd a man's life that was unjustly condemned to dye , who in a grateful acknowledgement of it , shewed him a thing wonderful . this man , said he , took a vessel , in which put three simple things , and buried them in the earth , in a place exposed to the sun-beams , ( which are the most subtile fumes ) and having taken a concave , parabolick , or burning-glass , which he placed opposite to the place wherein the vessel was put ; the sun beams being collected and concentred , descended into the vessel in troops , in which , at length was found a very clear yellowish , and gritty water ; which being boyled in a bolt-head , was brought into a powder , and afterwards being put into a crusible with borax , turned into gold : this was performed three several times . from this experiment we must gather , whether or no the sun beams do supply water and flames serving to the production of gold , which , as i have said , is the legitimate son of the sun , and is in the earth the image of its father . but to make an end of this digression , i conclude that the sun will so long persevere in its cupel in continual motion , and circum-rotation , till these planets shall deny it vapours , for then it would receive no foreign matter , but would be throughly purged , and so would be wheeled round no more , but would remain fixed . the world it self , with its motion and circulation would be at an end , as well as all generations , which proceed from this continual circulation , by which the seminal and luminous spirits are dispersed every where throughout the world. i add another reflection concerning the sun's motion , like the motion of gold in the cupel ; to wit , that whilst the fire of the superiour stars do without intermission heat the body of the sun , foreign corpuscles through its pores enter into it , nor is it ever at quiet till they go out again ; for as much as the figures of these foreign bodies can by no mean be accommodated to the figures of the corpuscles of gold , for they drive one another backwards and forwards ( and from hence arises the equilibrium , and agitation of the atoms of gold , which is in motion ) and seeing that they cannot have a perpendicular motion , unless they forsake the rest , they are compelled to turn round like a horse in a mill , which goes on , and thinks he goes ? streight forwards , whenas he continually treads the same steps , in the same circle : but to do this , there must be a propulsion on every side ; for gold would not be turned round in the cupel , if fire were only applyed to it from beneath , and not from above , and quite round it ; which ought to be well taken notice of . we will say then that the sun cannot be moved about its own centre , that is the centre of the world ; unless at the same time it moves the ambient bodies , by the assistance of the corpuscles coming out of its globe like so many streams of light , just as we see rivers of water flowing out of the sea , and yet the sea is never the less for this effusion , no more than the sun is lessened by a continual effusion of his light ; because it receives in as much as it pours out , and these waters return back to the sea , as these corpuscles of light do to the sun , by a continual circulation . chap. x. of the moon and its changes . the moon is like an optick looking-glass , in which light and the corpuscles flowing from the sun are concentred and gathered together ; from whence for divers respects and changes they are sent towards the earth . one of the antients affirmed the moon to be a planet , very near and familiar to the earth , it is moved about the sun , because it is in the solar vortex by which it is carried round , and in it three kinds of motions are observed ( viz ) its annual , monthly , and diurnal , from these divers motions , divers aspects , in respect of the sun and it do arise , from whence are its various yet constant appearances . it s figure is round , but its mass is partly solid , partly fluid , like earth and water ; its roundness appears at full and new-moons ; without this roundness we could never see its increase or decrease . it s solidity is the cause why the light of the sun is from thence reflected to us , even as by reason of its fluidity , we observe in it obscure parts like spots , because they do not reflect the sun so much as the solid parts do ; but if in the body of the moon there are some parts higher than others , in the shape of mountains or hills , the sun beams do there produce small shadows , which are observed by the help of perspective glasses . that it cannot be half so big as the earth , is proved by optick principles , shades and paralaxes ; in respect of it self it is always in the full , because one half of it is continually illustrated by the sun : but it does not always appear full to us , but only at the time of its opposition and recession from the sun , and then also in respect of us it may be eclipsed ; because our earth at that time is directly placed between it and the sun , and by its shadow makes the moon more or less obscure , as it is nearer or farther off and as it is more or less opposite to it . these two opposite points , in which , when the moon suffers an eclipse , those great lights are found , astrologers call the dragons head , and tail. but as the earth by its interposition is the cause of the moon 's eclipse , so also by the interposition of the moon betwixt the sun and the earth , is produced an eclipse of the sun ; which is either greater , or less , according as the moon is more or less posited between us and the sun , or is nearer or farther from us . lunar eclipses can happen naturally , only in the time of full moon ; but these of the sun , in the time of new moon . an eclipse of the moon may be total and universal . but that of the sun can never , without a miracle , be so at the same time ; but this is not a real defect of light in the body of the sun , as it is in the moon , which is a dark body , and possesses only a borrowed light. we may hear what astronomical philosophers and astronomers say of it . i told you before that the sun is like melted gold , i told you likewise by the way , that the moon might be compared to melted silver ; but i think it may be truly said that its matter , as to its circumference , is more like to real silver ; but be it as it is , it continues in the manner we see it , suspended in one massie lump , a most subtile aetherial matter , full of many empty spaces , being by the creator shut up in its circumference , which hinders the moon chiefly from changing its place , and from being immerged more deeply in the sun 's vortex , whose atoms are indeed more thick and gross : by reason of its vacuities there is no fear that it should descend nearer the sun , or be able to resist the impression of its vortex , any more than the earth , which has plenty of pores , cavities , and empty spaces , without which it would too much resist the solar vortex , and would be able to get nearer its centre , that is , the sun. but its empty cavities hinder that , like air contained in a bladder , which hinders it from sinking to the bottom ; and as the hollowness of the quils of birds bear them up in the air. the moon in her daily motion finishes her course round the earth in the space of twenty four hours : or rather the earth performs its daily motion about the sun , and its own proper centre , in twenty four hours time , the moon being carried away by the same solar vortex with the earth , is daily retarded some degrees , whereupon we say it rises every day later and later , until by this resistance or retrocession in twenty nine or thirty days it hath compleated its monthly motion : and besides this retrocession it is moved by the libration of the sun from one tropick to another , and twice in every month runs through the equinoctial line ; after the same manner as the earth does it twice every year . there can be no annual motion of the moon , unless about its own proper centre . but i will wander no further about a matter meerly astrological . chap. xi . of the planets , comets , and fixed stars . saturn , jupiter , mars , venus , and mercury , are five wandring stars , called planets , of the same nature with the sun , but less pure ; whose corpuscles are sent and driven towards the body of the sun ; they are likened to divers melted mettals , and sparkling in chrystalline or adamantine cr●●bles , and the fire melting them , is that of the sun and the fixed stars . if it be asked why they are not joyned with the sun ? i answer , that they consist of a matter full of many empty spaces , and besides that , they daily disburthen themselves upon the body of the sun , and supply it with matter for depuration and resining : which the sun sends back to them more subtilised , and they distill down these seminal and mettalline spirits upon the earth . they are diversely whirled about by the solar vortex ; after which manner they obtain divers motions , as astronomers teach us . who affirm the planets mars and venus to be less than the earth , and the three others much greater ; although according to their opinion , the diameter of the earth is three thousand five hundred miles , but its circumference seven thousand miles ; including the water , which together with the earth , make up one globe . comets according to aristotle are planets or stars , produced de novo , from exhalations : by which saying , this philosopher is compelled to place all comets under the moon , which is found to be an error , by the experience of a great many comets which have appeared above the moon , and the sun too ; whither exhalations from the earth can never reach : all the time of their continuance they have a regular motion , for the explication of which , aristotle could never assign them an intelligence to guide them . seneca , the antients , and copernicus , teach that comets have been produced from the beginning of the world , and the reason why we do not see them so often as we do the planets , is because they are elevated too high above us , and since they have an excentrick motion , according to this opinion , they sometimes , and for some continnuance of time appear , that is to say then , when they descend into the heaven of the planets . but all these opinions are very uncertain . this is my opinion , that if the sun is gold melted in the cupel ( as i really believe ; ) and that from thence fumes and vapours arise ; it is no hard matter to conceive that in the solar vortex , and in the corpuscles exhaling from the sun , a great part of them are very gross , thick , and inflammable ; which taking fire , make these comets we speak of ; whose motion is regularly directed by the vortex of the sun ; yet nevertheless this does not hinder but that some comets may be generated nearer us , from terrestrial exhalation . the fixed stars are fastned to the firmament as so many little suns , they are as immoveable as the heaven in which they are included ; nevertheless like the sun they move about their centres , although this motion be neither useful , profitable , nor necessary . and so nothing compels us to say that they are actually moved . they are all said to be bigger than the earth , and to be in number 1022 ; the heaven in which they are , is said to be solid , clear , and transparent like ice ; and this is that heaven which was made in the midst of the waters , and which any one may represent to himself like a great circle of water congealed in the form of chrystal : but according to my foregoing hypotehsis , i had rather say that the fix'd stars are like so many round holes or rings , furnished with so many large diamonds or carbuncles , which serve as a medium or vehicle to the light and heat of the empyrial heaven , as we have said already . chap. xii . of meteors in the air. aristotle hath constituted two sorts of bodies , to wit , simple , and mixt ; he placeth meteors under these latter , but he calls them imperfect mixt bodies , because he did believe them not to have a substantial form , as perfect bodies have , nor to be produced by the ordinary way of generation . this doctrine is contrary to our principles ; for we say that those meteors which we see in the air , are in their kind and condition perfect bodies not differing from others , neither in respect of matter , which is one and the same to them all , nor in respect of substantial form produced in the formation of them ; for we acknowledge no such forms , but as unprofitable , and chimerical . all the difference which we take notice of betwixt them , ought to be taken upon the account of their formation and different conditions under which one and the same matter , that is to say atoms , do meet together by a disposition of their parts , by an addition of strange bodies , by an introduction of vacuities , and by a conversion of their figures . after this manner are formed clouds , which are the meteors of the middle region of the air , and which have water , air , and earth for their matter ; for from the vapours of water , and the subtile particles of earth , together with the air with which they are carried up , clouds are formed , which are sometimes so thick , that they rob us of the suns light , which happens when more of earth , than of air or water goes into their composition : on the other hand sometimes they are so subtile , that they can hardly or not at all be seen by us , which happens when air obtains the chief place in their composition : for in a word , clouds are nothing else but a congregation and mixture of corpuscles or little bodies of earth , water , and air , which are the proximate matter of them ; the vortex of the sun , the motion of the earth , and the winds , are the three concurring causes of their mixtion and elevation into the upper region of the air. other sorts of meteors are rains descending from the middle region of the air , and generated from the solution of clouds ; that is to say , when water , which hath the greatest share in their formation , freeing it self from the particles of earth , and parts of air , thence forward distill as it were by an alembick , which happens , because its particles being incrassated by the coldness of the air , the water is separated from the air , and falls down again to the place from whence it came , in the form of little drops : from this rain proceeds the earths fruitfulness , for it never descends , but it brings some portion of the little seminal bodies flowing along with it . in rains therefore is contained salt , and the balsom of the stars , which basilius valentinus speaks of , and from hence all vegetables bud and increase . the curious enquirers into nature may try whether i speak truth or no , and whether they may not find a salt as white as sugar , if they take away by distillation the unprofitable parts with which it is involved . dew is almost of the same nature with rain , only it is more pure , more subtile , and more fruitful , by reason of the seasons of the year which chiefly enjoy it , ( viz. ) at the time of the aequinoxes , when the sun and the earth are nearest to each other , which happens when the earth passes the aequator ; wherefore at that time it receives and carries along with it a greater number of solar corpuscles , depurated by his motion , than rain , or dew it self that falls at other times . dew falls down in round drops , because its corpuscles are round , and its atoms are of the same figure with the sun , whether whole or in parts . dew penetrates the earth , and moistens those places where there are seldom rains : but the sun's shining beams presently carry it away along with them into the vortex ; in the mean time , part of this salt or balsom of the stars contained in the dew , remains upon the herbs and flowers , where we observe a kind of viscousness like sugar , or honey ; thus bees gathering this dew , lade themselves with it , and make honey of it : this dew in the hot countries of palestine , aegypt , arabia , and calabria , is condensed into little grains which are called manna from this same matter sugar is made in the madera-islands , and in both the indies , where it is found inclosed in reeds . lastly , after the same manner pearls are formed and nourished in shells . he that studies to know the wonders of dew , and the vertue of the spirits it contains , may extract from thence admirable secrets for health , but for nothing else that i know of . chap. xiii . of winds , tempests , and whirl-winds . winds are the same thing in the air , as billows are in the sea , or as floods are upon land. and indeed they do sometimes disturb and move the air so violently , that the best rooted trees , and strongest built houses , are now and then pulled up by the roots , and overturned by them : and yet winds are nothing but air agitated , nor tempests , but air floods , or violent agitations of the air. some philosophers seek for the causes of these agitations of air , in the rarefaction and condensation of bodies ; and to illustrate this effect , they bring an experiment of air rarified , and going out with great force , out of a large glass bottle , and of air condensed in another phial or glass , in which the least opening being made , the external air breaks in with great force and noise ; of both which experiments , i with others have been an eye-witness . we took therefore , a great round bottle , and placed it in a cold place , and then covering it with a double skin made wet , it was placed to a gentle fire ; which by degrees being thorowly hot , and the skin prickt with a needle , the air or wind broke out from thence with so much violence , that it blew out a candle two paces distant from it , more than once . the same tryal was made with another bottle , in which pease were put , and the hole shut with the thumb , which afterwards being taken away , the air immediately with the pease , burst out with so much violence , that they like pistol bullets entred into a deal-board . a second eperiment was likewise made , a bottle was placed in a hot place , and well stopped with leather , which being brought into a cold place and the skin pierced through , the external air for half a quarter of an hours time , rushed into the bottle with so much noise and hissing , that it seemed to indanger the breaking of it . i confess these experiments have left us an idea of winds and their vehemency , but there always remains this one difficulty , ( to wit ) what should be the principle of this rarefaction and condensation of the air ; for in the first experiment , refrigerated air is shut up in the glass bottle , and dilated with heat , and then it goes violently out of the little hole that is made ; but how can cold condense , and heat rarifie and dilate this air ? lastly , what is it that presses it , and forceth it with violence to seek its exit ? and as to the second experiment , in which rarified air is condensed in the bottle ; how being rarified , can part of the glass remain empty ? and lastly , from what cause is the external air forced to break in with so much precipitation . all these things i mention , that it may be seen that these difficulties do not escape me . as to the first instance , i say that cold condenses air , in as much as it makes the vacuities dispersed through it lesser and more closely shut together ; so that there is ●uch more of matter in refrigerated air , than in the same made hot : but that this doctrine may be rightly apprehended , we must know in what heat and cold consists ; for when cold condenses the air and presses it together , it performs it by its close , solid , heavy , and plain particles , as shall be treated of elsewhere . secondly , heat rarifies air by an introduction of its corpuscles , which are almost destitute of all solidity , by which the vacuities of the air are increased , and enlarged . thirdly , the air rushes forcibly out of the bottle , because their corpuscles are compelled to dilate themselves , which they cannot do ; nay , from hence they break the glass bottle , unless a hole be made in the skin . it is true also , that the air going out of the hot bottle is altogether cold , for they are the corpuscles of cold which go out , and the noise with which they break out proceeds from the plain figures of the corpuscles of cold , which cannot pass through the litle round holes without being entangled together , and dashing one against another ; besides these corpuscles being plain , they are subtile also like little razers ; thus in the winter time we see the hands and feet of such as are tender hurt with chops and cliffs . to the second experiment i say , that the air in the bottle being rarified by the help of heat , is afterwards compressed and condensed by the help of cold , passing through the substance of the glass , and breaking of it if it be not looked after . secondly , the cold entring in , drives out or into the sides the particles of heat , and the glass on the part of its orifice remains without air , and the disseminated vacuities are gathered together into one vacuum . thirdly , the external air enters with precipitation , because it is pressed against its nature by this great cold ; and finding a place where to betake it self , it possesseth it immediately . we must here observe that rarefaction is never made on the one side , but condensation is made on the other ; and so on the contrary , and this is the first or immediate cause of winds , when the air is rarified by heat in subterraneous places , and caverns of the earth , and breaks out with violence , or when it being condensed , other supervenes with violence rushing towards it another cause of winds , or rather of tempests and storms by sea and land , are the emancipated atoms of which we have spoke already ; and which by justling one another , more agitate the air from divers parts , diversly opposite , from whence comes the reciprocal meeting and incursion of winds in the region of the air , which when they happen near the earth , they cause fearful and dangerous whirl-winds . this opinion concerning the emancipation of atoms , supposes that in the dissolution of greater bodies , the lesser particles and atoms are emancipated , and procure themselves liberty , so that enjoying their own power they run through the air , and easily and vehemently move it . these emancipated atoms in the great world are not only very much to be feared where they use greatest violence , but also in the little world , where they produce most diseases , as are horrors , fits of feavers , and their duplications , translations to the brain . diliriums or light-headedness , and phrensies : to cure which , sudorifick medicines opening the pores , and driving out those sharp-pointed atoms , are chiefly to be commended . chap. xiv . of thunder , lightning , and the thunder-bolt . thunder , lightning , and the thunder-bolt would be more stupendious , were it not that there is something on earth , from whence we learn the manner how these things are done above us . the first thing which gives us light concerning these three meteors , is the shooting off of a gun , for the thunder-bolt is represented by the bullet , the fire coming out of the muzzle represents lightning , and the report from thence holds the place of thunder . another thing which gives us a lively and more just idea of them , is aurum fulminans , which like the thunder-bolt carries its stroak downwards ; three grains of which , though never so little made hot , takes fire , and gives a greater report than two ounces of gunpowder . i will shew you its preparation in the following chapter , and give you an account of it , and i will endeavour to explain how it comes to thunder , and how the thunder-bolt falls . epicurus attributes the falling of the thunder-bolt to the apertures which the winds produce in the clouds , but the lightning he thinks arises when the thunder-bolt , by reason of its violent motion in the air , takes fire , or , saith this philosopher , the flame of the lightning is excited by the mutual meeting of clouds , which are bodies made hard by vehement cold ; or else that it is excited by the blowing of winds , or by the heat of the stars , which sets on fire the nitrous and sulphurous matter collected in the cavity of the clouds . the sound of thunder may be divers ways . first , by the revolution of a strange body contained in the thickness of the clouds , and rolled through it , as we see a solid body shut up in a pot , excites a sound and murmuring noise if the pot be moved . the same noise may likewise proceed from the breaking or bursting of the clouds , as well as it does from the bursting of a blown-bladder , or paper suddenly and forcibly extended , or the sail of a ship torn by the violence of the winds . in like manner , this sound may be caused from the mutual meeting together of hardned clouds , like that we hear , when pieces or flakes of ice dash one against another , either in the river or on the bank ; after the same manner also woods indeed stirred by the winds , the flowings of the sea interrupted , linnen and paper suspended in the air , by their violent motions excite sounds , like the sound of thunder . we may say besides , that the thunder-bolt being throughly lighted , and falling upon a moist cloud excites a great noise , such as we hear when red hot iron is thrown into water , or melted mettals into oyle , urine , honey , or the lees of wine : where we also find a certain kind of murmur , and at last we percieve so great a noise or sound , that it threatens the breaking of the vessel . but this mighty noise may be ascribed to the vehement separation of the salt , nitre , and sulphur , which being mixt together are included in the thunder-bolt , and the cloud , as gun-powder is in guns and mines . for the violent and sudden separation of nitre and sulphur forcibly seperates all bodies near them , which cannot be done without a mighty sound . therefore that we may the better comprehend the nature and wonderful effects of this meteor , i will make the following digression concerning aurum fulminans . chap. xv. of aurum fulminans , or gold imitating thunder . experience shews us upon earth a much more natural image or representation of thunder , than that which is seen in the effects of gun-powder ; and the noise and disturbance which this gold when set on fire produceth , doth so properly imitate the horrid noise of thunder ; that for this reason it is called aurum-fulminans . i will here give you its preparation , and i shall endeavour to give the reasons of its wonderful effects , and apply them to the production of thunder and lightning . take therefore ( for example ) one ounce of calcined gold , or leaf gold , or else gold dust , and put it into a bolt head , and pour to it three ounces of aqua regis , which being done , place it upon hot ashes , and the gold will dissolve , and be reduced into water ; to which pour on a sufficient quantity of fair water , and after that a few drops of oyle of tartar , for then that will cause an ebullition or boyling ; which being over , the gold will fall to the bottom , in the form of dust ; then afterwards pour off the water that swims a top by gently stooping the vessel , and dry the powder in the air , so have you aurum-fulminans , for it produceth all the effects we told you of . the reason why it so soon takes fire , is taken from the atoms or corpuscles of nitre , which are in aqua-regis , as also of the sulphur , vitriol , and sal armoniack of which it is made ; these sulphurous , and acid , and volatile salts are united together , and the precipitated particles of gold , ( for as much as the particles of the salt of tartar possess their place ) dissolve their union , and force them to give way and be separated ; so that nothing remains in the water but a dissolved salt , part of which adhering to the atoms of gold , falls to the bottom with them , as the increased weight of the powder evinces : these same particles therefore which remain in the powder , stick to the gold , so that heat penetrating this , and dilateing this matter , produces a sudden and violent separation ; hence it is that the spirits of the volatile salts being made hot , rarified , subtilised , and set on fire , the gold which before was fix'd , being accompanied with these spirits , flyes away with a thundring noise , by reason of the contrariety that is between the alcalous salt of tartar , and the acid salts , as it happens in gun-powder , where the alkali that is in the charcoal produces the same effect as is seen in this thundring gold ; excepting that the stroak of the gold and its explosion is made downwards , by reason of its fixity and weight . we see the same in the thunder-bolt , for the stroak is made downwards , the flash is seen , and the noise is heard : besides the thunder-bolt produces wonderful effects , such as are consuming of wine in the vessel , melting of the sword in the scabbard , the scabbard and the vessel being both untouched . therefore i conclude , that the stroak of thunder moves downwards , as well as aurum-fulminans ; because these terrestrial particles predominating , they fix the volatile spirits of the salts , and precipitate them downwards . the flash arises only from the rarefaction and emancipation of the solar and coelestial particles therein contained ; but the noise in aurum-fulminans , as well as in thunder , is produced by the violent separation of the more solid and more fixedly-adhering particles or atoms . but thunder consumes wine in the vessel , the vessel being unhurt , because it consists of emancipated atoms , which are therefore so subtile , that they penetrate the vessel , subtilise and rarefie the wine , and convert it into atoms , which pass through the vessel , and flye away into the air ; but in aurum-fulminans the strength of the volatile spirits not being sufficient to raise the gold on high , it is carried downwards . the principle of this wonderful effect relies upon this truth , ( to wit ) that subtile bodies are more subtilised , volatile bodies more volatile , and fix'd bodies rendredmore fix'd . for this reason , the powder of projection so called , being cast into melted mettal that is not fixed , penetrates it , and sixeth it by its own fixity : but this experience is not yet found , but is still to be found out ; so that no experience can be taken from a thing that is not equally as certain and as common as aurum-fulminans , and gun-powder ; which if there be such a powder , and it be such as they report it , it is a miracle , both of art , and nature . chap. xvi . of hail , snow , frost , &c. hail descending from the clouds , and falling down with violence , is composed of drops of water hardned by cold , and it falls down with violence , because it is expelled the clouds by a strong expression ; almost after the same manner as your smallest shot are discharged out of a musquet . snow is water congealed in the form of froth ; the slakes of it in its falling are puft up , and filled with air , which makes it very porous and light : it contains also many terrestrial particles , as appears in dissolving it , it is white , but may be made black by a sole inversion of its atoms . there are also in it many fiery particles , which warm the hands of those that long handle it . there is another kind of hail also , which falls in the spring time , it is like your smallest shot , or your seeds of coriander : this only differs from snow in the purity of its parts , or in as much as it hath more vacuities in it than there are in snow ; and on the contrary , snow has more of air and fire in it than this kind of hail , but both of them are , by the help of heat disolving their parts , reduced into water . hoary frost is air incrassated by cold , and congealed upon the boughs of trees , upon the hair of travellers , and upon the herbs of the field ; and it is called white ice : in this chrystalline whiteness a bloody redness is included , which may be extracted out of this hoary frost , and which , if it be well prepared , conduceth very much to health . chap. xvii . of the rain-bow , halo , and pareliae . the rain-bow is the most beautiful of all meteors , and the miracle of nature ; it is seen when the sun either rising or setting darts his rays upon a cloud full of little globular suspended drops of water , which by diversly breaking and reflecting the light , produce that diversity of colours which we observe in it , which ceases either by a different position of the cloud , or by the absence of the sun. this meteor appears like a beautiful arch , adorned with all manner of colours , which happens for as much as the sun looks only upon its superficies , and then when it is rising , or setting , and the clouds are either in the north , or in the south . some will have these colours of the rainbow to be only appearances , and by no means real ; but this is an error , for there is nothing hinders but that these may be equally as real as all other , though they are not so lasting . an halo is the appearance of a circle about the moon , which ariseth from a gross and thick cloud , upon which the lunar rays fall directly , so that its middle is made pervious to them , and broke through by them , though the circumference be not , which is therefore the appearing circle , and which is not as it is vulgarly imagined , nigh to the moon , but it is in the expansion of the air , and far remote from the moon . parheliae are counterfeit suns , formed in the clouds , either by the reflection or refraction of his beams , just as we see them in water , where sometimes many suns are seen , though there was never more than one . we may say likewise , that the clouds in respect of us are like those prospective looking-glasses , which represent many images of one thing placed upon a table , which one thing is only real , and all the rest imaginary : yet this does not hinder , but that these parheliae may be true lights , and suns painted without artifice . chap. xviii . of air , its substance , and quality . air is that element out of which the meteors are formed which we speak of : its substance is most subtile , and most fluid , by reason of the vacuities dispersed through it . it is nevertheless thicker and heavier in the lowest region , by reason of the mixture of corpuscles coming out of the earth and water . some think it only a mixture of the little bodies or particles of earth and water ; whereupon the quality of the air we breathe in , depends upon the climate which we inhabit : so that air is not every where alike wholsome , but very unwholesome in moorish and fenny grounds , from whence ordinarily gross and malignant vapours , thick and putrid clouds arise , which we take in when we draw our breaths . the very same air we breathe in , and which , when we take our breath , preserves our lives by its wholsome gales , is able to bring death to us , when it comes laden with sharp particles , which in their passage vellicate the lungs , and cause most vehement coughings . oftentimes also emancipated , pointed , and penetrating atoms flow in the air , which entring in at the pores of the body , disturb its whole oeconomy or frame : others ascending by the nostrils to the brain , stick to its membranes , and produce pains and convulsions , and are the causes of violent head-achs , vertigoes , and apoplexies : and there are some also which penetrating the organs of hearing , cause hummings and noises there , which continue for some time , because their particles are of a figure fit for adhesion . the air most malignant , and most to be feared , is that which is pestilent , by reason of the atoms which come out from putrid and corrupt bodies , as we have said elsewhere . the fluidness of the air does not arise from its not being compounded of solid and material atoms , but from its being rare , or loose ; and it is rare , because its parts are far distant from one another : this distance necessarily is space , this space is again either full or empty ; if empty , we have rightly concluded that there are desseminate vacuities , if full , it must be material . let there be therefore material atoms , all which mutually touch one another , and all things will be solid , and there will be nothing fluid in all nature , unless we acknowledge dispersed vacuities , from whence the rareness and fluidness of bodies arises , as shall be more fully discoursed of . the end of the second part of physick . the third part of physick . of those things which are under a man ; ( viz. ) of earth , and things terrestrial , which are called inanimate . having discoursed of those things which are , and happen above us , it is time now that we speak of those things also , which are under , or beneath us , as also of all things worth taking notice of in the earth and water , which constitute one globe , which we call terrestrial . but in this part we will consider terrestrial things only as they are inanimate , according to the common opinion . chap. i. of earth and water in general . the earth as hath been said , is a planet habitable , having three motions : the first of these is about its own proper centre , which is not the centre of the world , for the circle of the earth is excentrick : this motion is impressed upon it by the solar vortex , as a greater wheel carries a less along with it , and this is called its diurnal motion . another is about the sun , as the centre of the world , to which it is concentrical , and requires a years time to return to the same point ; and this arises likewise from the solar vortex , for the earth , being driven on by the flux of the centre of the universe , cannot be moved about its proper centre , without sensibly making an excentrick circle : and from this two-fold motion of it arises the other third , ( viz. ) from one pole to the other in the space of one six months , and returning back again in the space of six other ; which happens , because it can go no farther , nor pass the tropick , unless it recedes from the solar circle , for here it hath only the latitude of the ecliptick . for if it should recede , it must ascend too , for whatsoever recedes from the centre of the universe , in respect of that ascends , and so likewise from its proper centre . the earth in all these motions carries the water along with it , for they both make but one and the same globe , which is altogether exact and regular on the seas part , but less accurate on the earth's part , by reason of the vales and mountains . and though it be true that the earth does not seem to us to be of a round figure , yet it is proved by experience ; for that teaches us , that the last part of the ship which can be seen by those on shoar is the top of the mast , and the first things they on ship-board see as they approach their haven , are the tops of towers : from whence it may evidently appear , that the sea is as it were a belly , and eminence , which insensibly is lifted up into a convexity , that so with the earth it may constitute one entire globe . earth and water are two immediate principles of all compounds which are to be seen in this lower region of the world ; yet notwithstanding , not they , but atoms are the first elements , as it is said else-where : there is moreover a lesser number of vacuities in terrestrial than in aqueous bodies ; and this is the cause that the earth is more solid , and the water more fluid , that is to say , less solid than the earth . chap. ii. of terrestrial inanimate bodies in general . there is nothing simple , but god , an angel , the rational soul , atoms , and a vacuum . god is essentially simple in a simplicity of essence , power , and act ; for whatsoever is in him is an act , his essence is no ways compounded , nor his power idle , nor his action ever interrupted . an angel is simple in respect of essence , but his power is not always in act , nor his action ( at least the same ) without intermission . the rational soul , which is a spirit laid in pledge , or at least a physical compound with an organical body , is simple , because it hath neither integral , physical , nor contained parts ; but it self is a physical part , saving only that its powers are often idle , and its actions are changed and interrupted ; a vacuum is simple , for since it is neither a spirit , nor matter , nor any thing else but a capacity of receiving a body , and it hath an essential emptiness ; it cannot be called simple , but for as much as it cannot suffer composition by reason of its imperfection . lastly , atoms are simple , because they are indivisible , and the first elements of bodies , out of which all compound bodies are framed . i acknowledge no other elements , no other substantial material forms in bodies ; for they are not only unnecessary , but impossible : yet it doth not follow from thence , that the diversity which occurs between bodies constituting the world , and which are the compounds of the lower world , is no other than meerly accidental , and not at all essential : for , according to our principles , we determine one composition to be substantially distinguished from another , by atoms , which are the first principles of its composition , and essentially by the manner of composition , that is , by the disposition and ordination of its atoms , corpuscles , and all its parts . they who conclude that there is no physical compound without a substantial form , think matter alone with its diverse figures , and in all its dispositions , cannot possibly be the cause of the special properties which we observe in every one body , and that therefore a form distinct from matter is required to produce qualities proper to every one compound body . as for example , earth is in its nature dry , and water is cold ; which could not happen , unless earth did obtain a substantial form , which is dryness ; and water such a one as cold requires . this is that form which restores dryness to the earth , and cold to the water , when they are put out of their natural state and condition , to wit , by introducing moisture into the first , and heat into the latter . this objection how strong so ever it may seem , is nevertheless but vain ; for we say that neither the moisture of water , nor the dryness of earth are accidental qualities ; so that this ought to gravel none but those who acknowledge accidental qualities distinct from matter . ours is quite another opinion , and our language quite otherwise : for we firmly conclude , that all compound bodies which are in the world , are compounded of matter , every thing else being excluded , and that all contingent changes in them arise from matter newly added , or taken away , or changing place , or by some confused atoms or corpuscles brought thither from else-where ; or lastly , by the more notable parts changing place , or other ways disposed by the action of external agents . chap. iii. of the various qualities to be observed in compound bodies . there is a difference betwixt the qualities of simple elements which are atoms , and the qualities of bodies compounded of them ; for the first as well as atoms are immutable and incorruptible ; the others as well as the compound bodies are mutable and fleeting . for indeed propriety follows the nature of that being of which it is the propriety : so that if atoms are immutable by their solidity , the same must be said of their qualities ; but bodies compounded of many distinct parts , are forced to be changed , as often as their parts change places , or are wholly separated . that which is corrupted , as well as that which is generated de novo , is a composition ; for as corruption is a division of substance , so generation is a composition of it . to explain this opinion , there is nothing more commodious than the example of syllables , and words : for truly letters are immutable indeed , and according to their different place they vary a syllable or word without changing their figure , substance , and essence , remaining always the same , in what state or disposition soever they are placed ; and it is certain that the twenty four letters serve to the composition of all syllables , words , sayings , discourses , nay , of all the books which are composed in the world. and even as words , sayings , syllables , discourses , and books themselves are changed , the letters being still the same unvaried ; so also the greater and lesser compound bodies are changed and corrupted , the atoms being unchanged , and remaining the same ; nothing new happens to them , unless it be that they are no more the parts of one compound , but may be of a second , third , and others , successively to the end of the world. when all generations , corruptions , and motions in things of nature shall cease . letters are the true image of atoms in respect of the compositon or division of things : and as the substance , essence , and quality of words depend upon syllables , and syllables upon letters and their disposition : so after the same manner , the substance , essence , and quality of bodies , arises from corpuscles or smaller bodies , and the diversity of these from atoms and their various dispositions . from these principles may be taken away a question no less agitated , than unprofitable in the schools : ( viz. ) whether in the corruption of bodies a reduction or resolution of the compound may be made , even unto the very first matter . to this it may be answered , that this reduction is continually made , in respect of some emancipated atoms , but not in respect of all atoms , for the division is not always so general , as that all the atoms should be entirely separated , and the small number of those which flye away is scarce able to be taken notice of ; besides that , they almost all mutually adhere together , or it is seldom but they meet with others , to which they remain affixed , or with bodies into which they enter , or on which they are stayed . chap. iv. of the special qualities depending upon the composition of bodies . our doctrine rests upon two general principles , that is to say , the doctrine of atoms , and of a vacuum . atoms are the first elements of bodies , because forsooth , in their universal and radical division and solution they are reduced into them , and the division can proceed no farther . and a vacuum is necessary to the explaining the motion of bodies , and to the giving a reason of the diverse and particular qualities of every one compound body : for there are bodies thin and thick , transparent and diaphanous as air , and glass ; thick and dark as the earth ; and lastly , dry , and moist , hard , and soft , solid , and fluid . we will begin with thickness , and thinness , the parents of so great difficulties to the followers of cartesius , and aristotle : and i determine one body to be more thin than another , when it is endowed either with greater vacuities , or with a greater number of them ; so air is thinner than water , and on the other hand , water is thicker than air , because air has more and greater vacuities than water ; and this is thicker than air , because this has fewer , and lesser . they that reject a vacuum , and set up a plenitude , find themselves very much intricated , when they are compelled to say wherein the thinness and thickness of bodies consist ? for if they say that either of them is a quality , or accidental form , brought out of matter in power , or out of the power of matter , they conceive not what they say , nor can they assign the nature of these imaginary forms . but if with cartesius they say , that there is much more of the materia subtilis , or subtile matter , in thin bodies , than there is in thick and condensed bodies ; i would ask them , why this matter is more subtile and delicate than all other matter , for as much as all matter is equally gross and solid ? but then they will say , that this matter is highly rarified . yet nevertheless the same difficulty remains still , ( viz ) how it comes to be more rarified ? they will say that it arises from this , that its parts are not so much compressed , therefore they will be at a greater distance from one another : for that cause there are vacuities , and intervals : for unless they be granted , the parts are alike compressed in that , as well as in condensed matter . if they are alike compressed , than they are not more remote from one another ; and lastly , if they be not more remote from one another , they are no more rarified , and so this subtile matter will be no less gross than any other . we therefore explain the thickness and thinness of bodies in a more easie method than these philosophers , and the reason which we give of them is more clear and more natural than theirs : it is the same thing concerning clear , bright , and dark bodies ; and we say a body is more or less pellucid or transparent , as it possesses a greater or lesser number of vacuities , or as they are placed in a right or oblique line ; so air , for example , is pellucid at a certain distance , by reason of the great number of its great vacuities ; and glass is transparent , by reason of the vacuities dispersed through it , which are placed in a right line , and are very long , as they are observed to be by the help of a new microscope . the moisture and dryness of bodies arises from a mixtion of atoms , or particles either of air or water predominating : for if the aqueous particles predominate , the composition is moist ; if on the contrary , the earth is more eminent , it will be dry ; and it may be justly said , that moisture is nothing else but moist bodies , which are air and water , as they insinuate themselves into compounds , which are therefore moist by reason of their presence , and dry when they are evaporated : after the same manner as it happens to wood which hath a long time lain in the water , and becomes dry by the evaporation of that water which it was full of . a linnen cloth dipped in water , and taken out from thence , is more heavy , because its pores are filled with water , and it remains moist , and equally heavy , until the corpuscles of water are exhaled and evaporated , which suffices to make it afterwards dry and light , without the addition of two physical accidents , distinct from matter . water therefore , to speak properly , is not moist , but the moisture it self that moistens all things . from the same fountain the hardness and softness of bodies arises ; for a body is soft when it yields to the hand that touches , and the less it resists , the softer , it is , but if it hath no sensible resistance , it is fluid like air , but if it hath a little more than that , then it is liquid as water , in which if with your hand you thrust a stick , it enters and goes even to the bottom . it is otherwise in a soft body , as wax , and flesh , into which indeed one may thrust ones finger , but it finds some kind of resistance , and there are always found some compressed particles that strongly resist : all which arises from the disposition of the little bodies , atoms , and dispersed vacuities , for an atom being in its own nature solid , is resisting and impenetrable to another ; and if all things were so filled with atoms , as that there should be no vacuum , all things would be hard and impenetrable ; nor would softness , fluidness , or liquidness be found in any body , but there would be every where hardness , and an impenetrable resistency ; but a vacuum which alone does not resist , as it is more or less mixt with bodies , renders them less resisting , more soft , more liquid , and more fluid : to which may be added the figure of atoms , which is more or less fit for motion , and which admits of more or less intervals or vacuities . chap. v. of the quantity , weight , and figure of compounds . the same three properties which constitute the essence of atoms , are found likewise in compound bodies : atoms have a certain quantity or grossness , and obtain also weight and figure , but they differ only in respect of their figures . this magnitude or grossness of atoms , which we find out by reason only , is visible to the eye in compound bodies . the quantity or grossness of compound bodies arises from the addition and gathering together of atoms , and of little bodies which are thus formed of them ; which again is lessened by taking away the same atoms or little bodies . besides this general cause of greatness , magnitude , and grossness , we yet acknowledge two others , ( viz. ) an exteriour , and an interiour ; the first of these regards artificial compounds , where the artificer as an external cause encreaseth or diminisheth matter as he thinks fit : but it is otherwise in natural compounds , whose magnitude and thickness arises from the magnitude of corpuscles , and their grossness , and from the figure of the atoms determining bodies to such or such a magnitude : so that each tree , fruit , and animal obtains a natural and determinate magnitude and grossness , in respect of the magnitude and grossness of the little bodies , and the figure of the atoms contained in their seeds : hence it is that giants beget giants , nor do dwarfs ever come from tall parents : but if in either kind the individuals are unequal to their sires , it happens accidentally , by reason of hindrances caused by contrary agents , or by a defect or an excess of matter , or lastly , by an intromission of many strange bodies which in some particular individuals produce this irregularity . figure is the propriety of bodies ; which if they be artificial , the artificer is the cause of determining it according to his purpose , either by adding or taking away some particles or small bodies ; but if the compound bodies are natural , they obtain their natural figure , which depends upon the figure of atoms and corpuscles . after the same manner water is round , because all the atoms of which it is made are round . the weight of bodies arises from matter , that is , atoms ; for that body in which there are ten hundred thousand millions of atoms , is heavier than another in which there is not so great a number ; provided the vacuities are equal , or the air it self being in their pores be in an equal quantity : but if you take two bodies of the same magnitude and extension , that precisely will be more heavy wherein more atoms and lesser vacuities are found ; and consequentially the other more light . the motion of compound bodies proceeds from external agents , driving them on with a greater or lesser force ; and the easiness , or difficulty of the same motion proceeds from the figures of atoms , and of all bodies , and from the inclination which they receive from half emancipated atoms which agitate all bodies . so we see that round bodies are more easily moved upon a plain , and again , those that are pointed , more easily enter into the pores of others . but this pointed figure is sometimes occasioned by the artificer , although not altogether from his hand ; for it is confest that he cannot make an absolute perfect point out of a matter whose atoms are all of them round : from whence it appears , that the figure and position of atoms doth very much contribute to this ; but if a body naturally ends in a point , as fire does , it is because all the atoms of which it consists , are all of that figure . chap. vi. the difference between natural and artificial compounds . those who reject atoms , and are the asserters of substantial and accidental forms , imagine with themselves , that according to our opinion there cannot be an essential difference assigned between natural and artificial compound bodies ; because , say they , they both consist of the same atoms , and are alike made from them three ways . ( viz. ) by addition , detraction , and transposition ; after the same manner as it comes to pass in the composition of words , sayings , and discourses , which are made by a various addition , detraction , and transposition of letters . this is the very same example which we have brought , nor do we desire any other ; for from hence it is manifest , how from the same letters , without the addition of any thing else , words , and discourses essentially different are framed : and after the same manner , out of the same atoms nature formeth compounds essentially different ; so that there is no need at all either to admit or have recourse to either substantial or accidental forms , which are plainly useless in nature . we may here observe , and add further , that all letters are not fit to compose the name of king . by a parity of reason , all atoms are not fit to make gold ; so that all things are not made of all : but , as by the help of twenty four letters we express a great number of different and contrary things ; so , after the same manner , nature out of the same atoms composes mettalline bodies , plants , and animals ; by adding , taking away , and transposing of atoms ; yet not indifferently , but such and such atoms , of such and such a figure , for all atoms are not fit to enter into the composition of all kind of bodies . from hence is the first difference between natural and artificial compounds , i mean from this addition of atoms unknown to the artificer , yet which nature hath known rightly how to chuse ; so the artificer makes an arrow out of all sorts of wood ; but nature does not make this wood out of all kinds of atoms . secondly , artificial compounds depend upon an intelligent cause , which in its mind conceives an idea and end of its operation ; whereas the works of nature depend upon a necessary cause , which operates without any idea . thirdly , art takes perfect and compound bodies , and gathers them together , as a builder collects and gathers the materials out of which he frames a house ; whereas on the other hand , nature first divides bodies , and takes those atoms which are left after dissolution , and fits them to the work it designed ; and out of them , by the addition of some others which it meets withal , and which are in state of freedom , it produces new compound bodies . there is a difference therefore betwixt mixtion and composition , as there is betwixt the combination of gold and silver , and the generation of these mettals whether in the bowels of the earth , or in glass vessels , where ( if it be possible , ) there is a transmutation of one thing into another : for this combination does not in the least vary their nature , and they are easily separated , which does not happen in things which nature alone , helpt by art , rightly and duly composeth . chap. vii . of mettals and their formation . if those things which are above us are unknown to us , no less are those things also which are beneath us , and which happen in the shade and in the dark ; and it may be truly said that the production of mettals in the bottom of mines , is the most obscure mystery in nature ; and without any manner of trifling , to speak like a philosopher , all that can be said concerning this subject i reduce to the cause producing mettals , to the matter from whence , and the manner whereby they are produced . the principal cause , chief agent , and parent of all mettals is the sun , the planets and fixt stars concurring likewise to it : the fixt stars by their heat keep the celestial gold in fusion , and turn it round in the cupel in the centre of the world , that is the sun ; from whence issue bright fumes without ceasing , out of which proceeds light , and which carry heat , together with seminal spirits , which penetrating the pores of the earth , generate gold in the very bowels of it : so coelestial gold , that is the sun , is the parent of terrestrial gold , as it is of all other mettals , by the reflection of its light upon each planet , each of which , together with the sun , produceth its particular mettal . and the earth performs the office of a womb , which furnisheth the greatest part of the matter out of which mettals are produced , and nourisheth them afterwards : but the sun bestows seminal spirits all pure for gold , but mixed with the spirits of other planets , for other mettals . but that this generation of mettals may be rightly understood , we must call to mind that out of letters syllables are formed before words , words before speeches , out of which all discourses are compounded . nature does the same in the production of mettals , for she begins with little bodies , out of which she makes the three immediate principles of mettals , ( to wit ) salt , sulphur , and mercury . of which , salt is the grosser , sulphur the more unctuous , and mercury the more fluid and moveable part ; and out of these three , by divers preparations , digestions , sublimations , and fixations , she makes a mettalline or mineral body . but it might be said , as it seems to me , that the spirits or corpuscles flowing from the stars , purified in the sun , and received into the earth's lap , are incrassated , and brought into clear and limpid water ; which water is that viscous , sweet , and mercurial matter , which after some few ages is elaborated and digested , till at last it becomes a yellow and fixt earth , in which the spirit and seed from above resides ; which spirit makes all the corpuscles of water it meets withal like to the former , which piercing into the veins of the earth , and finding a matter that is pure , encreases the golden mine , until it meets with dead earth which hinders its propagation . but if the mixture be impure , and strange matter mingled in it , instead of gold , it only produces silver , iron , or copper , which are imperfect mettals . from this doctrine i conclude first of all , that by nature producing mettals , ought to be understood this seminal spirit consisting of corpuscles flowing from the fire of the stars , and working these miracles under the earth . secondly , that mettals enjoy a mettalline life , and after their way , a vegetative also ; that they are generated out of mettallick seed : gold out of the seed of gold. and that this mettallick embryo is nourished by the air of the stars , by the spirit and dew of the heavens ; that it grows , buds , and puts forth branches like a tree , which metallourgists call a mettalline tree , furnished with boughs , trunks , and roots , which could ne-never be , without a vital principle included in it . which things will more clearly appear , by what shall be said hereafter ; and especially in the experiment about the tree of diana . chap. viii . of gold , the king of mettals . there are seven mettals , ( viz. ) gold , silver , copper , iron , tin , lead , and quick-silver ; which chymists call , sol , luna , venus , jupiter , saturn , and mercury ; because they suppose each single planet operates upon each mettal ; which is done as i told you by a remission of coelestial spirits which are in the solar globe , and out of its vortex are carried into each planet ; who , according to the various opposition of the sun , recieve more or less of his light , and send it towards the earth , as being the womb in which pure , and impure mettals are formed , according to the purity or impurity of the subterranean lodgings . first , gold is the chief and noblest of all mettals , it is the chiefest and principal work of nature , and the heaviest of all mettals ; because the mettallick corpuscles are so firmly shut and united together in it , that very small numbers of vacuities are left in its composition ; and in respect of bulk , there is a much greater quantity of matter in gold , than in other mettals . notwithstanding this great solidity , and firmness of gold , yet nevertheless there are some small vacuities between its atoms ; for there is nothing absolutely solid and without a vacuum , but an atom in particular ; besides atoms , since they have figures , cannot be united without leaving some empty spaces ; for unless it were so , gold could not de divided , no more than an indivisible atom : there are therefore vacuities betwixt the atoms of gold , though but very small , and also betwixt its corpuscles , and lastly , between its little pieces . from this well-grounded principle , i discover the difference of the dissolutions or divisions of gold. the least and grossest of them all is that which is made by melting it with other mettals ; when therefore it is melted with some , or with the least of the seven ; it is mixed with them , and divided into infinite particles especially if it be mingl'd with a great quantity of an imperfect mettal ; as for example , if an ounce of gold be melted into ten pounds or more of lead or copper ; but the division of it is apparent from this , that not the least quantity of this mixture can be brought to the test , but some portion of gold will be found in it . another separation is made in respect of the small masses of gold , which is made by the help of aqua regis , which divides gold after that manner , that it may as in the first division be melted with any mettal ; so in this second , it becomes like the water in which it is dissolved and divided : but since it is only separated into very small masses , it is easily again reduced into a body , and to be melted with borax , and fit to become the massy gold it was before . the third division ; which is called radical , ( although it be not so ) is made by a proper dissolvent of the philosophers , which is a water clear , sweet , pure , and not at all corrosive ; fetch'd from the beams of the sun and moon ; in which gold is reduced into a clear and heavy water , and is as easily melted as ice in warm water ; and then lastly , gold cannot be said to be reduced to its first state , that is , body , unless this water be turned into earth , and this earth be made fusile , fixt , tinging , and fit to elevate inferiour things , making poor people rich , and to make that perfect which was not actually so , although it was potentially . i say this division is hardly radical , because it doth not proceed from a separation of its atoms : for gold is only brought into water , and that is sufficient ; for to bring it into atoms were to destroy it , and it would be to no purpose ; and this i think exceeds the power of all natural agents : for god only is capable of reducing gold into its first elements , and to cause it to be no longer gold , either natural , or philosophical . chap. ix . of silver , copper , and other imperfect mettals . silver is a mettal much less perfect than gold , because its atoms are endued with figures scarcely so perfect , for there are mixt with it , particles reflected from the body of the moon , nor is that mettal so heavy as gold , by reason of vacuities dispersed through it , which are both greater , and more numerous in it than in gold ; for which reason aqua-fortis dissolves it without hurting the gold. it is true indeed , that aqua-regis dissolves gold without touching silver , but that ariseth from the different disposition of vacuities in these two mettals , and because the vacuities of silver are too vast for the subtile spirit of aqua-regis , which passeth through them without division , and from the magnitude of these vacuities in silver , arises a greater sound from silver , than is given from gold. for the same cause , a greater and clearer sound arises from copper , than from silver , by reason ( to wit ) of its greater vacuities , into which , not a few bodies of air penetrate ; which by their motion produce this sound . and for the same reason that is also lighter than silver ; for as much as metallick bodies are not so strictly bound together by reason of strange corpuscles of impure sulphur mixed with them , hence it is , that copper is not so flexible or ductile as is silver . they are both of them softned in rust , because silver has too little and copper too great a quantity of sulphur ; wherefore they mutually temper each other , and the particles of each lose their acrimony . silver may be made potable as well as gold , and as potable gold is the best medicine in diseases of the heart ; so potable silver is a wonderful specifick in affects of the head. these medicines are potable , and extreamly profitable to health , when they are dissolved the third way we spoke of , and are brought into water , by a sweet water , and a friend to nature , and which the sun and moon make use of as a bath . as to copper , from it is drawn a potent and innocent sudorifick extract , performing wonders in chronick diseases . the spirits of these three , united by a fourth , make a most excellent medicine . chap. x. of lead , tin , and iron . iron is heavier than copper , because its vacuities are not so great , and besides it is burthened with much strange earth , the corpuscles of which enter into its composition : it is the only mettal hard to be melted , because of this not mettalline earth it possesseth also many corpuscles of a dry and not fusible sulphur , and very little of mercury , ( especially crude ) which melts mettals ; so that to melt it there is required a body abounding with mercury , such as is antimony : but if it be mingled with a sulphurous body , it is brought into a red yellowish saffron-colour'd calx , out of which are made the powerfullest medicines for obstructions of the hypocondria . the salt of it is sweeter than sugar , and the salt of antimony is like it ; nor is there in nature above one salt that exceeds it in vertue and eminency . these three salts are the restorers of the radical moisture . tin is a mettal abounding with much mercury , much salt , and but a little sulphur ; the salt of it is the sweetest in the world : the particles of these three substances leave many vacuities in the mettalline body , from whence ariseth its greater sound and lightness . there are three wonderful things to be observed in tin : the first of which appears in its calcination , in which we see the weight of this mettal encreased , although many vapours rise up from it ; and one would think that should much abate its gravity . this according to our opinion arises from this , that the pores of tin are opened in calcination , that the compound is inverted , and a great many atoms enter into them and fill them , and leave fewer vacuities than there were before ; and so upon that account there is more matter or weight . another that i observe , is , that the calx of tin is very hard to be melted , and indeed so very hard it is , that the wished for end cannot be obtained , unless you add a special melter : but this difficulty arises from strange and immettalick particles which have parted the body of tin , and have entred into its pores , and hinder the re-union of the parts of this mettal in melting . the third is , that tin when it is mixed with other mettals , calcines them , and hinders their refining ; and on the contrary , makes them volatile : which ariseth from the irregularity of its composition ; from its fixed salt , incapable of being melted ; from the subtilty of its atoms , and the aptitude of its figures , arising from their easily being divided . lead as it is more sweet , so it is more sociable , it purifies and refines gold and silver from all impurities and foreign mixtures : it is the heaviest of all mettals but gold and quick-silver , because there is a fewer number of vacuities dispersed through it : after the same manner , and for the same reason , in calcination it is increased as tin is , and it is easily melted , because it abounds with a crude and indigested mercury , which makes all mettals fluid and fusible : it may be separated also from its terrestrial part , and from its very sweet salt. there are many things more worthy of note which i observe in lead . the first of which is its weight , not much differing from that of gold , and arising from that , because this mettal is in a manner almost altogether quick-silver ; as also that the void intertities are filled with terrestrial and impure matter , which hinders the fixity of the quick-silver ; from whence an ill and imperfect coagulation precipitates it self ; but he that can separate this quick-silver , and digest it by an agreeable sulphur in a vessel appropriated to this work , hath found a most excellent remedy against most diseases : for the aforesaid cause this mettal is lighter than quick-silver ; and if quick-silver be poured upon leaden-bullets laid at the bottom of a pot , the bullets will ascend , and swim upon the quick-silver , as ships upon the sea. another thing that i observe , are the various colours found in lead , which are conspicuous only by an inversion of atoms , and division of bodies ; as black , white , yellow , red , and all the colours of the rain-bow . a third thing , lastly , is the salt of lead ( which the chymists call saturn , ) which powerfully refrigerates , and is of great use against the too libidinous provocations of venus , for it quite extinguisheth them . it is extracted by the help of vinegar , from whence it becomes sweet , and loseth its acrimony ; which happens only from the mixtion of the atoms , as does the milky whiteness , which upon this occasion , the vinegar is endowed with . chap. xi . of quick silver , and arbor dianae , or silver-tree . quick-silver , the last , and , to appearance the most imperfect of all mettals , because it neither endures the stroak of the hammer , nor melting , nor indeed any other tryal , is yet most perfect , because it is nearest to gold , that is , to the most perfect body ; the atoms of it are round , and in continual motion , they adhere so loosely together that they may be separated with never so little fire ; and be sublimed into a mass , of white or chrystalline powder : it degenerates likewise into poyson , by a sole inversion of it , and by being sublimed with an addition of salts . it can also be reduced into its first state , if the artist so pleaseth ; and it may be truly called protheus , every moment putting on a new shape , and receiving , and exhibiting various qualities , and colours , according to the diverse preparations which it undergoes . there are three kinds of mercury or quick-silver , there is ( to wit ) a mettalline , a mineral , and lastly , a common quick-silver ; the first of which is extracted out of mettals , the second out of minerals , and the third is the vulgar quick-silver ; which last is also of three sorts , ( viz. ) either running , or sublimated , or precipitated ; the sublimated is again , either corrosive or sweet ; it is sweet ( to wit ) when the sublimated is mingled with running quick-silver ; for if these two are a second time sublimed , the corrosive becomes sweet , because the sharp points of the sublimate are softned and blunted by the round particles of the crude mercury , which destroys the sharp and sharp-pointed atoms of the sublimate . it is therefore needless to look for physical qualities in the names of sweetness , or acrimony , since the only mutation of atoms is sufficient to make that matter sweet , which before was sharp , and sowre . this mettal is call'd mercury and quick-silver , because it is in perpetual motion ; so that it seems , as it were , to live : and to make manifest that there is in it a certain internal , and hidden principle of life , we need only examine what happens in the making of the silver-tree , or arbor dianae , whose preparation is as followeth . take one ounce of fine silver , and pour upon it in a bolt-head , three ounces of aqua fortis , and let these be left in hot ashes , till the silver be turned into water , then take nine ounces of quick-silver , divide them into three parts , and put them into three bolt-heads , or other vessels ; to which pour on first warm water to the height of four fingers , and then the solution of the silver , taking care of each of the vessels , and of the matter contain'd in them ; which afterwards let them stand all night in the window , and , in the morning , in every vessel you will see little trees , rightly distinguished with a trunk and branches . there seems here indeed a certain principle of seminal and vegetative life , since these trees are shaped after the manner of plants , although there is some difference : from whence it plainly appears , that mettals have their seeds likewise , and as well as all things else are generated out of seed . but how this comes to pass i shall not now explain , because i shall speak of it elsewhere , in the generation of plants ; where i shall give an account of their coming out of the earth , and of their growth . what is specially to be taken notice of , is , that these trees are produced in one night , which is never seen neither in fruits , nor corn. and all that can be said upon this occasion is , that from this very thing the motion of atoms , and the various disposition of corpuscles ( which by their dissolution in so little a time form these trees , ) is best of all demonstrated . these trees would without doubt bear their fruit if we knew how to water them with a water of their own kind , and to transplant them into a earth convenient for them . chap. xii . of minerals . minerals possess the next rank to mettals : the first of which is antimony , called the lead of philosophers , containing in it self an arsenical sulphur , which is poyson by reason of the subtilty of its corpuscles ; by means of which it vellicates and corrodes the inward membranes , as also produceth ulcers , after which follows a gangreen , with a corruption and division of the parts , as also of the whole body , and then death . from hence it is that the scent or fumes of antimony melting in a crusible , and drawn in by the nostrils , is deadly ; for its sharp and rough particles hurt the brain by their continual motion and agitation : yet notwithstanding the harmfulness of this fume , it conduceth not a little to correct places infected with the plague , because one venom sixeth another , and hinders its activity . gold is purified by antimony , for both being melted together , and the antimony being evaporated by the fire , the gold remains most bright and most pure ; antimony carries along with it all the foreign particles of the gold , in as much as they adhere to the atoms of antimony ; from this also is made a vomiting wine , wonderfully purging the body , yet not without some violence , by reason of its vellicating the inward membranes . the mineral that next follows , is cinnabar , compounded of mercury and sulphur , it is found in gold-mines , especially in hungary , from whence it is brought to us ; there is found in it some portion of gold , but volatile and indigested ; mercury is separated from it by distillation , in a retort , because the mercurial ▪ atoms do not closely adhere to the sulphurous ones , and this sulphur is foreign , crude , and not very well digested ; but if the seminal spirit could without hindrance have caused that the sulphur should have been by degrees separated from the mercury , and the mercury digested by a central and astral heat , nature would have produced gold out of it , but the impure sulphur hinders the action of the seminal spirit in that place where the cinnabar is found , although below , or round about it gold may be found ready made ; having branches like the branches of trees : there is an artificial cinnabar also , made of sulphur and common mercury , from these mixed and sublimed we see a most beautiful red is made , by a sole inversion of the atoms . the third mineral is emmery , or the smiris-stone , which is a marcasite found in the gold-mines of india , from whence it is brought into spain ; out of it is extracted the best and purest gold , whose corpuscles were wrapt up in the particles of a crude and unprofitable earth : the same may be said of lapis lazulus , or the azure-colour'd stone . litharge and tutty are not properly minerals , because they are not digged out of mines : for the first is only the grosser part of gold , silver , or lead : but tutty is the purer part of copper , the atoms of which , being set at liberty , ascend , and stick to the arch of the furnace wherein copper is melted . the fourth mineral is vitriol , containing in it self saline , sulphurous , and mercurial corpuscles , all of a different figure . the spirit which is distilled from it consists of atoms so acute , as that they cut thick humours , and hinder vapours from ascending to the brain : it penetrates likewise into imperfect mettals . arsenick is a white and chrystalline mineral ; there is a yellow one also called orpiment , and a third , which is red , called sandover ; all these three are very violent poisons , for the reasons above alledged . sulphur also is a mineral , easily taking fire , as being of a fiery nature ; it disolves and melts iron , just as a burning coal does wax . there is extracted from it a spirit , an oyle , or balsom performing wonders in diseases of the breast . there is also another sulphur in perfect mettals which is incombustible . chap. xiii . of salts . salt is the principle of savours , because the saline atoms have figures fit to affect and vellicate the organ of taste , that is , the tongue ▪ and pallat ; sea , or common salt is made out of sea-water , by the help of evaporation ; this very same salt is dissolved in water , a certain quantity of whose spaces it fills ; all which being filled , the salt falls to the bottom , unless something else be put into it , as nitre , or the like , which the water carries with it over and above ; from whence it appears , that the vacuities of water are not all equal , and that there are some of them which the atoms of nitre can enter into , but not the atoms of common cubical salt. common salt , vitriol , nitre , and the like , have atoms , not only sharp or pointed , but also like little hooks , adhering to glass it self , though endued with few and very small pores ; and what is wonderful , sea-salt , or vitriol , or nitre , or all of them together dissolved in water , and the water evaporated by degrees , the salt or salts we see ascend according to the heighth of the glass , to the very brims of it , whither when it is come it descends on the other side , to the very bottom of the glass , so that it is quite covered with salt. from this experiment , three things are manifest : first , that there are little cavities in glass . secondly , that salt like ivy is endowed with little hooks . and thirdly , that salt grows , and creeps up according to the heighth of the glass , just as the sap of trees , and nourishing humour ascends from the roots to the trunk , and from thence afterwards to the higher branches , as shall be said elsewhere . husbandmen experience this to be true , when they burn their stubble ; that so the rains falling upon the ashes , may carry along with them the salt which is to penetrate into the earth , from which afterwards seed , and the fruitfulness of the earth ariseth : salt does also preserve bodies from corruption , by creeping into their pores , and by that means hindring the air from entring in , which would divide and dissolve their parts , or cause a fermentation in them . there are a great many kinds of salts , ( to wit ) sowre and sweet , and acid , and bitter , and as many others as there are tastes : which ariseth only from a different disposition of their atoms . as salt is found in all things , so from them it may be extracted ; and they who extract salt out of the earth for the making of nitre , do afterwards expose that earth to the air , where it is impregnated again with salt , either from the air or rain . salts have as various motions as they have figures , which appears in the evaporation of four salts dissolved together in water ; for they do not only , after the water is evaporated , remain at the bottom , but also each of them chuseth to it self a proper place , and fastens it self to it , without mixing at all with the others , by reason of the irregularity of their figures . from the salt of urine is extracted a spirit , which mixt with spirit of wine , composeth a body hard enough , because those spirits by filling each others vacuities , are hardned ; for nothing becomes ▪ hard but in as much as its vacuities are either filled or made less . from tartar a salt is extracted , which is the salt of wine , out of which calcined , and dissolved in a cold place , is made an oyle , which being mixed with oyle of vitriol , a great boyling ariseth , and that being over , a white powder falls to the bottom , called tartar vitriolate ; for all the moisture of the tartar enters into the vacuities of the spirit of vitriol , and the salt of tartar recovers its first state , that is , of a white powder . but the strife betwixt them proceeds from the disagreeableness of their atoms , by reason of which , they very much justle one another . that salt which is called sal ▪ polychrestum , is not of less usefulness , because it drives out peccant humours extreamly well . it is compounded , that is to say , of nitre , and sulphur : d. seignette adds to it moreover another salt , and indeed i must say , that that has succeeded better than all others ; and that his sal polychrestum is a very innocent , and a most excellent remedy . chap. xiv . of subterraneous fires , and earth-quakes . there is no man can doubt , but that there are subterraneous fires , the mountains of hecla in island , aetna in sicily , and vesuvius in the kingdom of naples are invincible arguments of them ; as there are the fires of the stars above us , so there are fires below us , called subterranean , lighted beneath the earth , from the beginning of the world ; or at least , bituminous and sulphurous matters were never wanting beneath the earth , no more than coals or bituminous stones , which easily take fire , and flame . therefore the setting them on fire was not at all difficult , for there needed only one little spark arising from the striking together of two flints , or from a lamp or candle , which miners carry along with them into the pits , that so they may the better work there : the same also might happen by lightning ; or lastly , fire might be kindled of its own accord , by a fat and unctuous humidity ; after the same manner as wet hay , and such like bodies , heat and take fire . from these subterranean fires , the heat of mineral waters ariseth ; nor is there any fear that these should extinguish these fires , for bitumen burns in water , as the experiment of camphire teaches us . earth-quakes are produced by winds , that is by a troop of emancipated atoms which shake the earth ; places most obnoctious to these , are the sea-coasts , by reason of winds and tempests creeping into the bowels of the earth , through the holes made hollow by the water . but these earth-quakes arise when the earth recedes never so little from the centre of its gravity , or is interrupted in its motion about the centre of the universe , that is , about the sun ; or else , when it is driven to and fro by the solar vortex , and this is a fourth motion of it , by means of which it is sometimes nearer the sun in a streight and perpendicular line , from whence sometimes happen intolerable summer heats , or mild winters , or on the contrary , as we may have experienced . chap. xv. of waters , and their differences . there are many kinds of waters seen , which i here propose to speak a little of : the first of them is that which is called the common elementary water , whose atoms are round , and vacuities plenty , and triangular . this may be rarified , and condensed , as the corpuscles of fire entring into its vacuities , either dilate them , and remove the parts of water from one another ; or the particles of cold compress them , and shut them up by their gravity , or else expel from thence the particles of air , which had insinuated therein : sometimes water is so closely shut up by cold , that it is congealed , and brought into cones of ice , from whose lightness appears the quantity of air that has got into the pores ; and from its hardness is manifested that the vacuities of this air are very much compressed . another species of water is that , which is called destilled water , and which by the help of alembicks , is extracted out of all kinds of simples , which is thus done ; the particles of water which are in plants do free themselves , and are driven upwards in the form of vapours ; which striking against the head of the vessel are incrassated , crushed together , and condensed into little drops of water , which fall down through the beack of the alembick : after this manner rains arise and fall upon the earth ; and from hence we may learn that vapours are nothing else but water rarified , and that in nature there is a continual circulation , whilst water ascends , and descends ; it ascends in the form of vapours , and makes the clouds ; and it falls down again in rains and dew . a third sort of water is called aqua-fortis , extracted out of mettalline salts , so that , to speak properly , it is not water , but spirits , that is , the most subtile and most acute particles that are in the salts , and by force are freed from them , and which forsaking their terrestrial parts , carry only the watery parts along with them , with which they compose a sensible and fluid body . this water dissolves mettals , and brings them into a corrosive liquor : so we may see what saline corpuscles are able to do when they are freed from their earthy part , nor shall we any more wonder at the effects which proceed from serosities and salt phlegm in humane bodies : we may from hence also learn from whence the intolerable pains of the gout , gripes , and the cholick do arise ; for these are corrosive spirits freed from their earthy part , which become so sharp and penetrating , that they pierce through the parts on which they fall , pulling and tearing them asunder . the following species of water is that which is called aqua-vitae , which is nothing but the more subtile corpuscles of wine , which are of a fiery and sulphurous nature , and do very easily burn , and take fire , by the means of fermentation . an aqua-vitae is extracted out of all kinds of grain , pulse , and plants : it is a wonderful thing truly , that we see a linnen cloth dipped in aqua-vitae , and set on fire , and yet nevertheless it is not burnt , nay not so much as scorched : which proceeds from this , that in aqua-vitae there is a kind of salt , whose corpuscles sticking to the linnen , defend it from the burning heat of the flame , which applies it self to the sulphur only ; not being able to touch the salt , or the subject to which it adheres . under the fifth species of water are comprehended mineral waters , so called , because they contain in them a great many mineral spirits , as various as the places through which they pass , and as various as the mettals and minerals which they meet with in their passage : amongst them some are hot and boyling , because they run through places in which sulphur and ●itumen are heated : of these there are a great many in france , but the most natural and sweetest of them are the waters of bourbon , which conduce very much to the breast and stomach , and to the whole body , by opening their pores and vents , taking away by transpiration head-achs , rheumatisms , and pals●es ; and they might deservedly be called an universal medicine , because besides the vertues above described , they possess wonderful ones also in the stone of the kidneys , and curing fits of the mother ; unless that they too much irritate ulcers and inward apostems , as also they discover them if they lie hid . i have chymically extracted out of these waters a salt as white as snow , and altogether like to sal polychrestum ; and i can affirm that nitre also and sulphur are contained in them : for this reason , their sharp particles enrage inward ulcers , and for the same cause , sharp-pointed dock-leaves being ca 〈…〉 into the wells of bourbon , the salt hinders them from withering . after the same manner as the salt of the aqua-vitae keeps the lighted handkerchief without being hurt , as we observed before . there are also other hot waters , which instead of nitre are impregnated with vitriol ; whereupon they purge by stool much more than the others , but they are not altogether so safe . of these there are many kinds , but all the bourbon waters are alike , except the waters of jonas , which are not to be reckon'd amongst the best . moreover the waters of bourbon-lancius in b●●gundy are the hottest , and have some parts of nitre and sulphur , but the greatest part of bittumen ; wherefore they serve for bathing indeed , but not at all for drinking , because they purge only by transpiration , and plentiful sweats . there are also a great many cold mineral waters in france , and amongst the rest those of passy les paris , which besides that , they as well as other spurge by stool and urine , they have this peculiar quality , that they cure agues , and cool in burning feavers ; they open inward and inveterate apostems , they open obstructions of the liver , spleen , and bowels , by the help of the spirits or corpuscles of iron which they carry along with them out of the mines through which they pass : some of these are stronger , some sweeter , and lastly , some decayed . chap. xvi . of the sea , its ebbing , and flowing , as also of the saltness of sea-water . the sea goes about the earth like a circle or girdle , and the earth is like an island in the midst of it : but if by the author of nature cavities had not been digged in it , in which the sea might be placed , it would overflow the whole earth . the first thing in the sea that offers it self of note , is the saltness of its waters , originally produced from saline massy bodies , produced at the beginning in the earth , and melted by the help of the waters , which from thence as now they are , were impregnated with saltness . the heat of the sun does not a little contribute to th●● saltness , consuming its humidity and phlegm , as do also the salt which rivers and floods wash out of the earth in their passage thither : from whence it appears , that it may be truly said , that all the salt which is contained in the earth , is carried into the sea , and drawn out of the earth by the help of rivers , and waters derived from them , and running through the earth , whilst they are filtred to constitute fountains of fresh water . now if we could filter sea-water after this manner , there would never be any scarcity of fresh-water in ships , and long voyages . another thing that i observe in the sea , is the ebbing and flowing of its waters , in some places so very remarkable , and regular in their turns every six hours . there are some who have thought that rivers entring into the sea on one part are the cause of its flowing , but falling into it from another part , are the causes of its ebbing . others have attributed this effect to winds , but the greatest part to the motion of the moon , and to the condensation and rarefaction of the lunar air. this is the opinion of antonius à reita , extant in his book entituled oculus enoch & eliae , where he supposes that rarified air presses the sea , and lifts it up on both sides like mountains , from whence there ariseth its flowing : which air being afterwards condensed , the sea begins to subside , and the waters to return to their first state , that is , they ebb. he endeavours to build this opinion , by this argument , ( to wit ) that this motion is most observable at the full of the moon , at which time the air is very much rarified , and at the new of the moon when it is very much condensed . for my part i would rather say that the ebbing and flowing of the sea ariseth from the earths motion from one tropick to the other : for it cannot possibly in its diurnal motion move a degree forwards daily as it doth , without driving the waters from one part , and attracting them from the other . according to this opinion a reason may be given why its ebbing and flowing is only from south to north , and from north to south , and that they are lesser between the tropicks : besides , there is nothing contained in this opinion which is not very probable . but if there are some irregularities observed in ebbing and flowing , they arise from islands , rocks , straights , or promo 〈…〉 tories , which very much hasten , retard , or lessen this motion ; and partly upon this account , that is to say , by reason of the straights of gibralter , there is no notable ebbing and flowing in the mediterranean sea ; besides it is seated between the two tropicks , and is neither too much northerly , nor too much southerly . chap. xvii . of springs and rivers . there are two kinds of springs , ( viz. ) those that sometimes run , and those that run always ; the first proceed from rains , but these arise from the sea : but to speak properly , the sea is the source of all springs , and fountains ; for rains arise from vapours raised out of the sea by the help of the sun , and then falling down by drops , out of which arise the first sort of springs , which are not perpetual . but perpetual springs are derived from it more immediately , by the help of some subterraneous watery store-houses which are filled by aqueducts proceeding from the sea. it is commonly asked why sea-water is salt , and yet spring-water which comes from it is sweet ? to which difficulty it is answered , the aqueducts rising out of the sea run through subterraneous sands , by which the water in its passage 〈◊〉 filtred , and deposits its salt , or else the salt is precipitated and falls to the bottom of these subterraneous watery store-houses , as we see in salt-pits , or after the mixing of oyl of tartar and spirits of vitriol ; or that the atoms pass through imperceptible aqueducts through which the saline atoms cannot pass , by reason of their square figures : so water is made fresh by the help of straining : or lastly , by the means of distillation . so water being raised up in vapours , and then condensed , distils into other receptacles which recieve it , and send it to others , till it comes to the place where the spring breaks out . it seems a wonder , that springs arising out of the sea should be able to ascend to the tops of mountains . to which difficulty it may be answered , that the water of the sea is equally as high as the highest mountain , because the earth and water make but one globe , and the mountains of the earth do appear to us to be high and lofty , only in regard of the plains and vallies in which we are placed , and from whence we look upon them : but the sea is higher than the plains and vallies , if you conceive it all universally , because it makes a perfect circle : and if a line should be drawn encompassing the whole terraqueous globe , it would be found a perfect circle , without any irregularity . from this supposed principle it is evident , that sea-water does not ascend , that it may find an exit out of the tops of mountains , but that going out of them it descends , and produces rivers in the middle of plains , and bottom of vallies . and this they ought to mind , who have said that water ascends out of the sea to our mountains , three ways , by which it is wont to be raised ; ( to wit ) by the means of pumps , pipes , or woollen cloth ; so they say sea-water may be drawn up to the heighth of mountains , by help of the beams of the sun , and stars ; or by channels or pores unknown to us , and made in the shape of pipes , and disposed of after the manner as we see all the wine in the vessel taken out from thence by the help of a pipe ; or lastly , sea water may insinuate it self into a spongy and light earth , which imbibes it , and causeth it to ascend and flow ; after the same manner as we see all the water contained in a bason , to ascend to the brims of it , and by degrees to go beyond , by the help of cotten , or a little woollen cloth : as pleasant and as subtile soever as this fancy may be , i think my opinion is better grounded , and more agreeable to truth . by what hath been said , it is apparent hitherto , that sea-water supplies matter to springs and fountains ; these do supply matter to rivulets , and rivulets to streams and rivers , which empty themselves into the sea ; from whence they come out to moisten the earth , and that , as i said before , by a continual fluid circulation . it may be lastly asked , what may be the cause of this circulation , and from whence proceeds that force , with which we see floods and rivers to run downwards ? for to say that water will seek after its proper centre , is to flye back again to an occult cause , and to renounce our principles . i conclude therefore , that the atoms , corpuscles , and drops of water are of a perfect round figure , and since they have a certain inclination without hindrance nothing can keep them back , but that without interruption they do and will drive one another forward even to the world's end. the fourth part of physick . of those things which are in man , and of man himself , as he is a compound , physical , animated body . we are now come at length to our fourth and last part of physick , wherein according to what we proposed , we are to speak of the things which are in man , whom now we consider as a body animated : which compels us to speak of the soul , and of life in general , and afterwards descending to special , we will explain the life of man as he is rational , and we shall endeavour by natural reasons to prove the immortality of his soul. chap. i. of life in general . life , as we have said elsewhere , appears only by action and motion : so those beings which have most of action and motion , obtain also most of life : and we say a man is dying , when there is but little motion left in him , and dead , when it is quite abolished . every motion is not a vital motion , for that it may be so , it must be internal of the thing that acts , and proceed from a principle that is not external : wherefore the motion of a stone that is thrown into the air , is not a vital motion , because it comes from an external cause ; ( to wit ) from the hand of him that throws it . i say further , that it must be the motion of a compound body , if it be a vital motion ; and for this cause , the motion of atoms is not so , because they are simple and indivisible beings , neither capable of life nor death . and for as much as atoms are not compounds , tho' they compound bodies ; so they are not said to live in the least , although without their impression and ministery there is no life , nor no motion in the bodies we speak of . life therefore is an action and motion of a compound and organical body arising from an internal and seminal principle : and in this sense mettals may be said to possess a certain kind of life , since they obtain a certain motion of vegetation , by which they grow : and we may determine this motion to arise from an internal and seminal principle , though it be abstruse enough , and the organs of life scarcely appear ; so that it is a very difficult matter to distinguish them in plants , and in some animals , as in the fish called a muscle , and in oysters , which are nevertheless endowed with a more perfect life than mettals and plants . we shall in the following discourse tell you wherein this life consists , and how mettals and plants dye as well as other living creatures . there is a great difference between life and the principle of it , tho' not in like manner between life and motion , or vital action . for life is the action and motion of divers beings gathered by nature together , and united after such a manner , as that the parts of it move one another , as we see in machines ; and what the pullies and springs are in these , the same are the spirits in natural compound bodies , that is , the most swiftly moving atoms . from this doctrine is collected , first of all , that there are atoms more swift , and fuller of motion than others , by reason of their subtilty and figure , such as are coelestial , fiery , and luminous atoms , to wit , such as heaven , the stars , fire , heat , and light are compounded of : this we judge by the compound bodies that are made and framed out of them : for humane spirits instructed with material senses , is not able to penetrate into the essence of atoms , and their special difference . but we determine that the atoms out of which heaven , the stars , and light are made , have figures , and activities greater , more perfect , and more fit for motion , than those that compound cold and heavy bodies , although ( when the thing is well considered ) it may arise from their greater liberty , and more perfect figure . secondly , according to our principles , we must say , that the vital spirts so called , are nothing else but a certain number of atoms free from all composition , and such whose figure and condition renders them unfit for service and slavery : this doctrine supposeth that there are two sorts of atoms in nature , some of which like common-people are destined to imprisonment , service , and bonds ; but others , like nobles to liberty , and command over others : now those whose lot it is to be like the commons , are made to compose the machines of our bodies , and they are such as entangle one another , and are linked and bound together in the formation of bodies ; whereas those which cannot be bound nor undergo slavery , are destined to move the whole machine of our bodies , as not being fastned to any part , but running through all parts , and bestowing every where motion , sense , and disposition : these are what are called vital spirits , because they bestow life , that is , motion : these atoms therefore are not life , but the principles and authors of it . sometimes atoms that compound bodies get out of service , and as often as occasion offers , and bodies ●uffer division , are emancipated ; for in all separations and corruptions of bodies some atoms do flye away , and like the first seek to recover liberty ; and when it happens that these fugitive atoms are mingled together with those that are essentially free , from thence arise conflicts in our bodies , and from these , ill dispositions and our diseases , which there is no help to be hoped for , nor any cure , unless these rebellious and emancipated atoms are restored to their first confinement , or else driven out of the body , that so by this means the spirits may remain pure and altogether free in their motion , and not be interrupted by these irregular atoms which are the common disturbers of nature and health . and for as much as some atoms continually flye out of those bodies which we use for nourishment , by reason of divers degrees of corruption which they are forced to undergo before they can be changed into our substance : so it is certain that there is always in us some principle of a disease to be found , and that we never in this world enjoy a perfect health , and that those are only most healthy who are less sickly than others : as i have said elsewhere , that there are no men absolutely wise , but that they that are called wise , are less ignorant than others . but moreover , if captive atoms are sometimes free'd by emancipation , so on the other hand , those which are not used to be detained , are sometimes incarcerated , and involved with others , nor can they stir beyond the limits of their prison : and there are some which in like manner are so included with others by the providence of the creator , and necessity of nature , and some only by accident , and the power and plenty of matter encompassing them . so the atoms shut up in the heart , that they may give motion to it , and to the whole body , were incarcerated at the beginning of its formation , or rather being cast into seminal bands when god created it ; afterwards they are translated out of this first prison where they had little or no motion , into another , where they enjoy a more free and wandring motion , as shall be more fully discoursed of in the following chapters . the third thing that flows from this principle , is , that these same atoms are the cause of motion and life , and that there is more of action , and more of life , where these are in greater plenty and number ; provided the corporeal machine be disposed to motion : for one of the principal springs being broke , the vital atoms lose their action , the greatest part of them exhale and withdraw themselves , and others wandring about , continue vagabonds without any order or method . so that it is necessary that the parts of a compound body should be disposed in some order , which when wanting , the vital atoms exert no motion ; but this order of parts would be to no purpose , unless the vital atoms were present to give them motion : the same thing we observe in a clock , where an integrity and just disposition of the wheels are required , together with the force of a spring to set all the wheels in motion . although there be a great proportion and likeness between living natural bodies , and these artificial machines , yet nevertheless there is a great difference between them , for atoms are natural springs , and exist originally in the seed out of which the body is produced , and they themselves are the artificers of the machines which give encrease to it , and dispose the parts of it in such manner , that they may there exercise their motions , and this is that great artifice of nature , which operates by seeds produced from god , which exceeds all that ever art can devise . chap. ii. of the differences of lives . the difference of lives are only known by the difference of vital actions , of which there are four kinds , ( to wit ) the mettallick , vegetative , sensitive , and rational . man the little world , enjoys a life , under which all others are comprehended , and chiefly in him we observe a vegetative life , as in plants , and a sensitive as in brutes ; besides which two kinds of life , he possesseth a third of his own , which is a rational life ; he is nourished , that is , and grows like plants , he is begotten of another , he is sensible as an animal , and he speaketh and reasoneth as a man ; all these different operations which we see in man , perswades us to consider him especially , and to begin with the life of plants , which seems less considerable than the sensitive and rational , and which comprehends under it , their generation , growth , and nourishing , which three are equally conspicuous in man as in plants , though in a more noble and more eminent manner . chap. iii. of the vegetative life , common to man and plants . the life of plants appears from their growth which supposeth nutrition , and both these suppose a birth , and this implies a generation : for whatsoever grows in a vital manner , and by nature is nourished ; so likewise whatsoever is nourished , hath a birth , and every thing that is born , is begotten . we will therefore begin to speak of man's generation , and of the first forming of him . the generation we here speak of , is the production of a thing out of seed , under this generation are comprehended . conception and birth , as separation and death are included in the corruption of things . this is that which is not found in the works of nature , whose conception is made in the mind of the artificer , and its formation depends upon his hand , but all that is external to the work , which may be afterwards broken and divided ; when in the mean time it cannot be said that we take away life from it , or bring death upon it . so that whatsoever is begotten , to speak properly , lives , and whatsoever lives is produced out of seed : now seeds are created from the beginning , and by the author of nature ingrafted into every plant , and kind of tree bearing fruitful seed : so we see that there is a perpetual propagation and encrease of individuals in every species in the earth , as well as in the waters and in the air. all and the only difficulty remains in explaining the nature of this seed , and the manner of its propagation . these two are mysteries in nature , which seem to surpass all humane reason : nevertheless i will give you my meditations of them . and first of all , i suppose we may consider seed in general , and as it is to be found , as we have said , in mettals , plants , animals , and man. for after this manner being looked upon in general , it is nothing else but a medium disposed by god to the propagation of these four several kinds in the world , so that one substance as to its kind produces its like in the same kind ; as mettal is produced from mettal , and a plant from another plant , &c. from whence appears the fanciful folly of chymists , who strive to multiply mettals without a mettallick seed , and to produce gold without its peculiar seed : for the same thing that in general seed , is in respect of the four named generals ; the same in special , is seed in respect of the individuals which are produced of it . for indeed to produce plants , the seed is only to be sought for in the vegetable kingdom : so in like manner to produce corn seed is required , that is , a grain of corn ; to produce an apple , there is need of the kernel of an apple , or at least a sien of it , which contains in it part of the spirits and seminal corpuscles , which insinuate themselves into the wild stock of the tree in which they are ingraffed or inoculated , and produce the same effect that a grain does which is thrown into earth fit to receive it . this is that vegetative seed which we here speak of ; and in this regard we consider man , as he is partaker of the life of this species , and begotten out of seed . nevertheless we are to distinguish the two substances in man ; ( viz. ) the material part , which is his body ; and his spiritual part , which is his soul , created by god , whereas the other is begotten . so that we here speak of man onely , as he is a material compound , without medling with his soul which is immortal . these things being supposed , i turn me to the two difficulties , which i have obliged my self to explain , and i design them a peculiar chapter . chap iv. of the nature of seeds , and of their propagation . the learned fernelius affirms that seeds contain an astral and coelestial spirit , but galen , that they contain something divine . these great wits have spoken most wisely , and have considered the seminal spirit as a thing surpassing the capacity of our spirits ; but what is much tobe lamented , they have left us in admiration , and ignorance . therefore i try as well as i can to resolve these difficulties , that i may perform my promise . first of all , therefore , since matter is every where one and the same , nor does the astral and coelestial differ from the terrestrial , as we have said elsewhere , but only in this , that atoms which make coelestial bodies , have figures different from them which compose terrestrial bodies , and that the particles of those are better and more strictly united than these : i say we must not conclude with fernelius , that the elements of the stars are different from the elements of the sublunary world ; nor with galen , that that divine thing in the seed , is a certain part of divinity : but we must confess , that seeds are bodies composed of many parts , not only in respect of the sperm and diverse coverings in which the seminal spirit is shut up and kept , but also in respect of the seminal spirit it self , which is not a simple thing , but a body compounded of most subtile atoms , excellently figured , made , and proportioned , that as an original they may serve to the forming all copies afterwards in the propagation of the species . these are the atoms , as i said , shut up , yet without bonds or servitude . this doctrine is agreeable to our principles , and as we have compared atoms with the first elements of grammar , which are letters ; we say likewise , according to this opinion , that letters may be made and written so exactly , as to serve as a pattern to make others by : in like manner , among atoms there are some so well made and formed , and disposed in so just an order , that they may serve for samples and patterns to others ; and in this manner i conceive of seeds . i come now to the next difficulty , which represents the multiplication of every individual , by a sole dilatation of seeds : but the manner how this dilatation is made , is not easie to be explained ; but i apprehend it after this manner . a grain of corn , which is a seed , is thrown into the earth , where it putrifies , and is dissolved by an acid menstruum which contains in it a spirit , whose atoms are partly of the same nature with the spirits of the seed , or at least are subtile enough to penetrate into the vacuities of the husk of the grain , and sperm in which the seminal spirit is shut up , which spirit ( the coverings of it being dilated by these apertures ) frees it self from the prison wherein it was detained , and the atoms and original corpuscles begin to drive on one another , they being themselves driven on by the atoms of the acid or dissolving spirit , which acted the first part in the play , and received its motion from the others : for whatsoever is moved , is moved by another , and so successively the parts of the world , particles , corpuscles , and atoms mutually drive on one another , and this motion began with the world and will continue 'till the end of it , when god will fix all things , and put a stop to all generations . so that these seminal spirits being thus loosed , and endowed with liberty by the acid spirits , are still driven on by them , and being pressed , rise upwards , and form a stalk with a very slender top , by the concourse of the salt of the manure , and out of the corruption and division of dissolved atoms of the neighbouring bodies which they luckily meet withal , or which are thrown into the earth near that place on purpose ; this is what husbandmen know very well , who for this reason dung their grounds , and burn the stubble . but if they knew how to steep their grains , or seeth corn in an acid dissolvent ; or water their grounds with it , there would be none found so barren , but would become fruitful , nor would the husbandman be a little pleased with his plenty of corn , and from thence the truth of our principles and experiments would be manifested . man , who is generated out of humane seed , and like plants receives his first formation , does in this case very much excel them . for as in his dignity he excels all things that have material life , so also he is begotten and conceived after a more noble and more eminent manner ; and we may say with plato , that a man of all wonders is the most wonderful , not only in his perfect being , but also in his first formation . this formation is indeed a miracle of nature ; which cannot be more naturally explained , than by saying , that the womans womb after having received the man's seed , is shut up by the contraction of its fibres , and the seminal body , finding there an acid juice , putrifies and is corrupted , in the space of eight or ten days : the seminal spirit thus extricating it self , and joyning with the blood that is there , and even now at the beginning being joyned to the womans seed , out of two is made one , partaking in the conception of father and mother , which is then afterwards formed by the help of this acid blood which dissolves it , and is the cause why these two seminal spirits are joyned together , and out of two , compound one only being , which is called embryo . the whole wonder consists in this ordination of parts , which are disposed in so elegant an order , that there is no man in the world able to give them so just an order and disposition ; and now , behold what i think of this business . besides the general providence of god , which i acknowledge in all things , and besides that particular one , which he takes care of man as of his own image , i cannot but return to the motion of spirits or seminal corpuscles which form a body fit to undergo their operations . as many as proceed from every one part of the body generating , produce a part in the body generated ; and form it like themselves : the corpuscles or seminal spirits derived from the eyes , form eyes , and we may say the same of the other parts of the body ; this supposes seed to proceed from all parts of the body , and from hence we gather , that their parts who exceed measure in the venerial act , are all weakned , especially the brain , which is sometimes so shaken together , that it heavily decays , and the powers of it are dissolved : so that these sort of men often dye , seized with epileptick convulsions , palsies , tremblings of the nerves , arthritick pains and defluxions . it remains therefore to know how the parts of the eyes form the eyes , the parts of the brain the brain , and the parts derived from the hands and arms , the hands and arms of an embryo : for we see that the blind beget blind , and the lame the lame , unless the mothers blood supplies this defect . i say therefore that in the resolution or dissolving of the seminal body , there is necessarily caused a motion of corpuscles mutually driving one another to and fro , each possessing that place which gives them its figure , by which they are detained in a due site , nor can they abide elsewhere . so the corpuscles which form the eyes , are of that figure that they cannot be placed elsewhere , without a violent concussion of these mutually self impelling atoms , and these concussions are sometimes the cause why when the women are hurt , the child is not at all formed , and that by reason of the sole inordinate motion of one corpuscle , which either does not , or being hindred by others which cause this motion , cannot find a place due to its figure . it is plain therefore that seminal corpuscles have the figure of that part from whence they are derived , and the whole humane body is no otherwise shut up in a small part of matter , than an whole oak in an acorn , and an apple in a kernel . the example brought by me above concerning the divers kinds of salt dissolved in water , which in evaporating part asunder from each other , and each possesseth his place , not without a difference of figures , will give some light to this my doctrine . chap. v. of nutrition , which plants and brute beasts have , common with man. nutrition is a vital action , and so proper to living creatures , that as there is nothing nourished that is not living , so there is no living thing that is not nourished . all the difficulty lies in the manner of nutrition , for no man doubts but animals and plants at the beginning of their existence are nourished , and grow , which could not be , without the addition of new matter , which is changed into the substance of the thing living . this addition of matter takes in , its attraction , preparation , digestion , and its distribution through all the parts of the body nourished . these opperations appear in plants , wherein it is amiss to attribute that to nutritive , attractive , digestive , and distributive qualities , which may be explicated by the motion of the atoms or seminal corpuscles contained in the seed . but because nutrition is much more conspicuous in living creatures , and especially in man , it will be necessary to explain the reason how that is performed in him in the first state after conception ; and afterwards , when the organs are formed : for there is need of aliment , that the organs which are just formed , and tenderer then , to be sufficient to undergo their operations , may grow and be encreased . so that at the very moment he begins to live , there is a necessity that he should be nourished . chap. vi. how and with what aliment an embryo is nourished 'till the time of his birth . the first thing that is done after the laying together of the parts of the embryo , and the disposition of its organs , is , the infusion of the rational soul , which god in one and the same moment creates , and gives to this little body as its lodging , forty , or sometimes more days after its conception : what is done before the infusion of this soul , to speak properly , is nothing else but a disposition of the organs to receive it . this admirable structure begins from the heart , head , bones , and other particular fundamentals ; and when it is already compleated , and the soul infused , the seminal atoms presidents of the formation of the body , persevere in performing their works , taking as companions of their office these particles of the mothers blood which may serve to nourish the infant , being sensibly solicitous for its increase , 'till the time of its nativity . yet nevertheless it is very difficult throughly to declare the true reason of the nutrition and life of the infant for seven or eight months together . gassendus recounts three opinions of the antients concerning this thing , the first is of alcmaeon in plutarch , affirming the infant to be nourished by all parts of the body , drawing in by the help of the pores a necessary aliment . the second opinion is by the same plutarch attributed to democritus , this philosopher teaches , that the infant is nourished in the mothers womb , in the same manner as it is nourished when born , to wit , by the mouth , and this is the cause he says why the newly born seek the breast with open mouth . the third is aristotle's , galen's , and many others , who conclude that the infant takes no nourishment in the womb but by the umbilical veins , which taking their original from the bottom of the matrix , insinuate themselves into the middle of the abdomen or belly , where being collected into one trunk , they lead on the mothers blood into the hollow part of the liver , where part of it is carried into a branch of vena-cava , and part into a branch of the vena-porta , and the two arteries which accompany the umbilical veins , having passed the liver , each of them apart go to the two branches of the aorta or great artery , and carry the arterial blood which they bring thither , that it may all be distributed through the whole body of the infant , and changed into a substance fit for its nutrition . this opinion is confirmed by the refutation of the two former . for the first is false : for if the infant was like a sponge , it would not be nourished , but swelled , by the water or serous humour in which it swims , and which is contained in the amnion . the second opinion is not probable : for the infants head is placed betwixt both knees , nor can it suck the caruncles , which are covered with a skin , as is supposed , unless at one and the same time it should attract the water wherein it lies hid , or penetrate the membrane in which it is involved . the third opinion standing firm , which i believe rests upon a better foundation , nor does the infants stomach generate chyle , nor its liver blood , the mothers blood subministring all those things : and from hence it is , that a woman with child communicates to the fruit of her womb the purity or impurity of her blood , her good or ill nourishment , as also her health and diseases ; and these diseases are hereditary , not but that there are some which proceed from the fathers , whose impure blood , licentious living , ill nourishment , and frequent excesses afford matter to these evils . besides , we may say , that the infant in the mothers womb does neither live nor breath , but by the mouth , heart , and lungs of the mother ; from whence it comes to pass that the infant for the most part follows the mothers affections and inclinations ; and seeing that in the state wherein it is in the womb , it is tyed to its mother in so strict a bond of union , it is impossible that she alone should be feaverish , nor that the big-bellied woman should dye , the child remaining alive and healthful . chap. vii . how man is nourished after he is born. aman born hath need of nourishment : now nothing can nourish him which hath not some spirit of life : so roots , plants , corn , pulse , flesh , serve to the nourishing of a man , and all this business is performed by the benefit of atoms and vital corpuscles passing from one compound body to another . this nutrition is necessary to encrease the substance of the born infant , and so there is need of a new compound body to serve it for aliment : and this compound body must of necessity perish and be destroyed , that so it may nourish the other compound body that is to be produced . such a compound body is milk , being blood made white , and fit to nourish the infant ; and the same blood wherewith the infant was nourished in the womb , being brought by the epigastrick veins to the mammillary's , is there prepared , and by a sole inversion of the atoms , or a different combination of the corpuscles , this blood is turned into milk , which by the childs sucking being drawn into its mouth , is received into the stomach where the first digestion is perfected , and without any other mystery , the chyle becomes milk by the sole inversion of atoms , their site being changed : moreover , this chyle brought by the branches of the vena-porta ( according to the antients opinion ) to the hollow part of the liver , is converted into blood , and becomes what it was just before ; this demonstrates the circulation of compound bodies , which are turned from one thing into another , the first elements of things always remaining in their own nature in such a number of mutations . blood being in this manner prepared in the liver , is carried from the greater vessels into the lesser , and out of theseit distils like dew into the parts of the body , and is there converted into a substance homogeneal to the parts that are nourished , and by this addition of substance the body is nourished , and encreaseth . this addition differs much from that , by which stones take their encrease ; for this accretion proceeds rather from an external agent , than from an internal principle , and is almost totally performed in the superficies ; whereas in living bodies , animals , and man especially , it is done by internal agents which make part of the compound , and universally extend themselves into all the inward parts which are nourished . we must constitute also another kind of difference between the reason why plants and animals are encreased , and the manner how stones and mettals themselves take their increase . and in animals indeed , three divers states are to be considered . the first is of augmentation , in which an animal by nutrition acquires more of substance than is dissipated , which happens in a man from the time of his nativity to the age of two and twenty . the second is a state of consistence , where the animal by aliments acquires so much substance as it loses in taking pains , which happens to a man from two and twenty to forty four . the third is of decrease , wherein a man loses and dissipates , more substance than he acquires by aliment , and this happens to a man from forty four to the sixty eighth year , and longer . aliment therefore is the support of nature , without which it could not make up the losses which we suffer by the evaporation of the more subtile parts , or by a consumption of the moist , or by an alteration , loss , and ablation of the solid parts : but besides that , this very thing discovers that continual loss which the substance of living bodies makes , by reason of the opposite motions of atoms which mutually drive one another to and fro , some reciprocally moving others , and the more fixed those that are less fixed : it does also constitute a difference between this , and the life of mettals , which doubtlesly increase inwardly , and outwardly , by reason of an internal and external principle , and new addition of substance : but some contingent loss or dissipation is not repaired by this addition , which we may see in plants , and more distinctly in animals . the life of animals , which in some things they have common with plants , doth yet differ from it in many circumstances , which do not occur in plants , for plants have neither bones nor teeth to take and chew their meat , but they take their aliment by sucking , without chewing , by which very thing the first digestion and resolution of aliments is performed . hunger and thirst precede this chewing , which does not appear in plants . hunger is the desire of a solid , and thirst of a moist body . sharp-pointed atoms move hunger , and the corpuscles of the acid liquor which velicates the tunicles of the stomach . thirst hath its beginning from the drying up of this acid liquor , its moisture being consumed by the heat of the liver , or by violent labour , by reason of this dryness the orifice of the stomach wrincles it self up , and the parts of the jaws , palate , and tongue perceive pain and pricking ; to which it requires no other remedy but liquor , when the atoms fill the wrincles and tissures proceeding from the evaporations of the humid parts . chap. viii . the sensitive life in man , and other animals . man would not be in the number of animals , if he did not enjoy a life of sense as well as other animals , but he is an intelligent and rationable animal , and by a special priviledge bears the image of his author . he possesseth a spiritual and immortal soul , than which there is no other substantial form in the world , and consequentially , only man is compounded of matter and form. so that all those substantial forms which go by the name of vegetative souls in plants , and in brutes by the name of sensitive souls , are nothing else but vain illusions , since atoms and corpuscles are the internal principles of all the sensitive operations which we distinguish in living creatures . five of these operations are thus numbred , ( viz. ) seeing , hearing , smelling , tasting , and touching . to these we may add respiration in all animals , or the greatest part of them , and speech specially in man. these operations are not made after the same manner in all animals , for man the noblest of them all , is neither sharper sighted , nor quicker of hearing than the rest : and in the same respect the other senses are much more perfect in other animals than in man. the lynx is sharper-sighted , the hare hears more distinctly , the dog smells better , the ape enjoys a more exquisite taste , and the spider a more delicate touch : for all these kind of operations are purely natural and animal , and do not depend upon the will or reason , but upon the sole disposition of atoms , and the construction of the organical parts . chap. ix . of sight , its organ and object , ( viz. ) light. sight is the chiefest and most noble of all the senses , whether we consider its organ and object , or the operation of it by it self , and the necessity of it . the eye is the organ of sense , its object is a coloured and lucid body , for without colour and light there can be no seeing . the eye is made up of three tunicles , ( viz. ) the horn-like , the grape-like , and the net-like : this last is in the bottom of the eye ; the grape-like tunicle has a perforation called prunella , and the horn-like is the outward covering of the eye , some part of which we call the white of the eye . the eye enjoys likewise three transparent humors , ( viz. ) the watery , chrystalline , and glassy : the optick nerve , rooted in the brain , and applying it self to the bottom of the eye , brings hither the spirits or visual corpuscles woven together out of a luminous substance . the particulars belonging to the composition of the eye anatomy will teach : let us speak something of the object of sight , and first of colour . colour which bodies exhibit to us , is nothing else but light reflected and interrupted by the angles of the atoms , and the very small cavities in the extremities of bodies , as also a diverse reflection and refraction of that light , upon which the variety of colours depends . experience favours this doctrine , for galls being broke and thrown into artificial or natural vitriolated-water , give a black colour like ink ; and hereby is known whether waters contain any high of vitriol , iron , or copper : for mineral-waters when they pass through an iron mine by an addition of galls grow black , but others not ; and this blackness is not any physical and accidental quality produced in water by the throwing in of galls which are not black ; but this change arises only from a new position of atoms and corpuscles , whereby the rays of light are bended and broken after a new manner . the same thing happens if you mix minium which is red in its own nature , with wine-vinegar , for that will turn white ; and the yolk of an egg mixt with turpentine looks altogether like a white kind of cream . now in all these and other experiments nothing happens besides a perturbation of atoms which take a new place , and reflect or refract light after another manner , without any production of any new accident . nor is light any accident or physical quality , as the disciples of aristotle will have it , but a real effusion and spreading of corpuscles , which flow from the substance of the sun and upper stars , and more or less penetrate through the empty spaces of the air , as the air is more rarified , or more condensed . it will be convenient to remember here , that we place the sun in the centre of the world , and say that the sun is of one and the same substance with gold , gold melted and purified , and that its glittering and rayes is properly that which we call light , and which is reflected upon all the bodies of planets , amongst which , the earth only is supposed habitable ; these sun-beams are nothing else than that which we call light , so light is a certain thing compounded of the atoms of gold , by a mutual connection amongst themselves bound together , and which tye all the parts of the world to their centre the sun. from whence it is easily gathered , how all things act by vertue of the sun , and that the sun it self also is an helper that man be produced from man. the truth of this our doctrine appears from those things which we brought from monsieur bezancon's experiment . light therefore is of the same nature with gold and the sun , and is therefore gold , or the sun rarified , and air in the day-time is full of this dispersed gold ; so that in breathing we draw in some atoms of this rarified gold , which brings life to us , in bringing to us the principle of natural heat , and radical moisture . no wonder that aurum potabile is of so great esteem , and sought for by every illustrious personage to restore health : but since true aurum potabile is scarce , by reason of the defect of a solvent , and of a natural and radical vehicle , god provides for this , by giving us light , which we take in by the air , which serves instead of a vehicle to it . light therefore is our life , and preserves it ; and we say of a man that is dead , that his light is extinguished , and of a man tha lies confined in a dungeon , that he dwells amongst the dead . upon the occasion of this sentence which i have thought fit to confirm , i observe that light is the universal spirit of the vulgar , varying according to the subject it meets withal ; and that the same is that famous dissolvent from which only , or by the addition of common gold , may be made the universal medicine . but for as much as to the obtaining this effect there is required that this light be made liquid , and out of it be made a living water , and stream , or rain of gold , which few can perform : from hence it is that few possess this supream remedy . i observe , secondly , that light excites the seminal spirit , which is of the same nature , and is contained under divers seeds , and divers coverings , and that the same light produces in us and reproduces those spirits which are called vital and animal , and which are nothing else than luminous corpuscles which are always in motion , whilst they take air , and together with the air , the light annexed , without which their motion ceaseth . we see also that a man dyes for want of air , and by the hindrance of respiration ; and these spirits are more dulled by night than by day , and so do partly fail in the body , the light failing : and unless there did still continue some luminous and solar spirit in the air , or if the stars did not afford a sufficient quantity of it in the night , in the night it were impossible we should be able to escape death . besides we may observe that by this light , which penetrates and creeps through the bowels of the earth , mettals are produced , for it is their seed lying invisibly hid in their bodies : we may say likewise , that every living thing receives life from this light , so that we live by gold only , we subsist by the benefit of gold , and all things are filled with gold , that is , with the sun rarified , and expanded through all things , through all the most secret places , and through our very hearts , whose motions will cease when the light of the sun and other stars shall cease ; whose motion will likewise cease at the end of all ages . by the help of this doctrine we understand what the antients meant , when they said all was full of jupiter and gold , and that the commerce of heaven and earth was bound together with a golden chain : that the universal medicine cannot be extracted but out of the water of the beams of the sun and moon . by this means also we comprehend the truth of the saying about apollo and his golden hairs , and we shall know that which the philosophy of the antients could not explain , to wit , from whence the motion of the spirits in our bodies proceed , and in what the life which we enjoy does properly consist : and so even the new philosophy will no less labour in explaining the essence of life , unless it follows these our principles . as many as shall have been sufficiently illustrated by this light , will here find a secret for the nobility , by which for many years they will be able to preserve health and vigor beyond the ordinary term . i say enough of this thing to move illustrious wits , as being enlightned people , to enquire into the nature and effects of the light and colours which we see , which the sun produceth in the rainbow , and in the peacocks tail , where , by the help of a microscope a thousand golden threeds are seen . nor is there any reason why we should stand amazed at the sight of these colours , since they are nothing else , than light reflected and refracted , wherein all colours are contained , as i have said ; for it is of the same nature with gold , out of which all colours may be produced , although the yellow only is apparent . they who have divers ways dissolved gold , and mercury , or crude gold , have there found all of them as many colours as ever they had seen , and many more colours than they knew . chap. x. how illustrated objects are seen . aristotle and his scholars will have vision to be made by certain qualities commonly called the intentional species , which , as is reported , joyn the visive power , that is the eye , with the visible object , and the powers represent the object . these species according to this opinion are discernable , and are in the air as in their proper subject : but this is not to be endured , for if these are accidents , and have air for their subject , the air being changed by the least breath of wind , the accident would pass from one subject to another , which is refractory to the principles of these philosophers . these species bring in a great many other difficulties , which relate to their nature , production , propagation in the air , eduction , extension , and reception into the eye ; all which cannot be solved without captious contensions , and when all shall be throughly canvased , no body will be e're the wiser , from whence it happens , that all these accidents which are neither bodies nor spirits , i am forced to send back to school with their doctors . some believe vision is made by an emission of visual rayes out of the eyes ; but neither will this opinion subsist , in as much as it supposes , that to see an object ten leagues distant from us , it is of necessity that the eye should send corpuscles thither , and even to the very heavens , to see the stars there . gassendus would have vision made by the species or figure of the object , composed of corpuscles or most subtile atoms proceeding from the object , and received by the eye : but it cannot be conceived , that a man placed in the midst of a plain can continually emit ( without diminution ) corpuscles from every part , or that these corpuscles can be in the air without perturbation and confusion at the same time , whilst other objects emit an infinite number of theirs ; and all this transmitted in a right line through the vacuities of the air , from whence it follows that through one , and that a little space of a vacuum in the air , that vast number of atoms or corpuscles must pass without penetration and confusion . gassendus answers , that the difficulty arises from this , that we do not enough conceive the subtilty of atoms , nor the rapidity of their motion . this reason does not satisfie , since we know that the vacuities of the air are not greater than atoms . how then can a thousand atoms of matter pass in a right line through one only vacuum , no bigger than one single atom , without penetration ? this difficulty , besides some others , hath moved some philosophers to say that the eye is a natural seeing-glass , endued with such a convexity as those glasses have which are put into perspectives , by which we see things a great way distant . these philosophers say , that light , wherein is contained every kind of divers colours , as it is determined upon the objects by the angles of the atoms , does also comprehend all kind of objects too , and represents them with all variety of colours , according to the divers determination of the objects : or to say more truly , that light represents it self to the eye , as it is determined by objects , and it is certain we see nothing but light , and colour , that is light with its determination ; and when we distinctly see an object , its extention and figure , that proceeds from nothing else than that we see light determined by the dimensions and circumstances of the object . the nature of light therefore is solely to be considered , and it will no ways hinder , but that we shall avoid all the difficulties of the others , by embracing an opinion which rests upon truth , which very well , and with the consent of all , conceives that light is seen by it self , nor is there need of any species to see light : and since we , to speak properly , do not see the objects , but light the object of sight , there is no necessity , that the object should transmit accidents or corpuscles , as if light could not be seen of it self . from this doctrine , that which appears new , follows , that light is to be considered in a threefold state ; and first of all in the quality of the object ; secondly , in the quality of the term. the first state is light , determined by the object , the second is light expanded in the air , the third is light received by the eye , and represented with all its determinations . and this is it which we call the image of the object in the eye , as it were in a glass . in prosecuting this subject , we might have treated of the reason why we see objects by the help of perspective glasses multiplying their figure ; or by microscopes , a new invention , by the help of which many things are discovered which before lay hid , such as are worms in wine vinegar , gnats in water and dew , as also , pores in glass , and a thousand little animals in seeds . but of these i shall say nothing now , since i have done it already in a little peculiar tract , which i will print the first opportunity , where the application of the principles of my physick will be seen to explicate more illustrious things which are discovered by the help of microscopes , if the reader pleases to spend his time to see and judge of what i say concerning these things . chap. xi . of hearing , its organ , and object . the organ of hearing is the ear , composed of a cartilage and hollowness's , wherein the air insinuating it self by its motion causeth sound . besides these external and apparent particles , there are others also internal , which are composed of membranes , as also some little bones and included air , the auditory nerve doth also run down thither , that it may bring the animal spirit , necessary to all the operations of the senses . the object of hearing is sound , to wit , the motion of two or more bodies mutually meeting one another ; and as no body that wants heat and light is the object of sight , so no body that wants motion can be the object of hearing : or rather , as light alone , without the intervention of any other medium , is the object of sight , so is motion the object of hearing , so that there is no necessity to have recourse to the pretended quality which is commonly called sound ; nor to any intentional species , no , nor so much indeed as to corpuscles sent out a great way off . i say therefore , that as light is seen by it self , and truth immediately and without any other intermedium is known by it self , so motion is apparent of it self , without the pretended qualities of aristotle , or corpuscles of gassendus , except those of the air , which are in motion : for they being wanting or stirred up by an opposite motion , little or very little is observed of it . the motion therefore of bodies , is the object of sounds , but there is a necessity for a fluid body to be present , that it may be violently moved to and fro , which happens in irregular sounds , or with method and measure ; as in musick , and the use of instruments . this fluid body is sometimes intercepted by two solid bodies , and is forced to go back with violent motion . chap. xii . particular questions concerning hearing . the first question is concerning the penetration of sounds , and it is asked , how it comes to pass that a sound constant in motion can more easily penetrate through a thick wall , than through glass or water ? i answer , that the thickest walls have great cavities , into which the air insinuates it self , or lies shut up in them whilst they are building : after which manner without doubt it is shut up in guns made of melted brass , which is the cause that when they are tryed , they sometimes burst asunder , which hapned about two months ago at niverina in a field near st. germans . air therefore is more easily shut up within walls whilst they are building , than in guns whilst they are casting : and this included air , receives its motion from the external air , and communicates the same with that which is found in the breech or adverse part of the gun. which thing does not happen in glasses , which have but very small pores , into which the external air cannot enter , only light and the most subtile air enjoying this priviledge . from hence it follows , that bodies which have none , or but very small vacuities , and contain no air , or but very little , are more surd , and less resounding , as gold , and lead , however lead is more surd than gold , although it hath more frequent vacuities , but they are less regular ; for since it is endowed with more pores than gold , it ought to give a greater sound than gold. for to the making a sound , it is not sufficient that the body contains air , but that the air be so bound up that it cannot sind a way out : and as to the sound of bells , that depends upon the air intercepted between the clapper and the bell , and wandring round the compass of the bell , before it can get out , and drive on other air , yet so , as that it presupposes air shut up in the pores of the mettal . the second question regards the propagation of sound ; or the sound of bells and guns are heard a great way off : but the reason of this is not difficult to be given ; for the air violently driven on , because it is easily moved , gives a sound according to its motion , greater , or lesser , and because the motion of air is not momentaneous , so the sound likewise is not in a moment brought to the ears . certainly the air that is impelled , drives on other air on every side , until that circular motion ceaseth , as we see when a stone is thrown into a pool the water is moved in circles : this motion in respect of sight is not in the air , we see the stroak ere we perceive the sound , for light is determined in a moment ; nor does a contrary wind hinder light as it doth sound ; for light does not depend upon the motion of the air , and the light of the air is fixed , in the same manner as the centre of the world , from whence it draws its origine , to which it is firmly and immoveably annexed , at least that it be not condensed and grow thick . the third question regards the repetition of sound , and is called eccho ; and it is nothing else than a repercussed and reflected motion of the air by hard bodies , or retained and renewed by other air shut up in the cavities of bodies , and if there are many cavities in a streight line , there are made many reflections , and the eccho is multiplied , and that more or less distinctly , as the reflections are more or less perfect , and the ear more or less distant from the angle of reflection , which is always formed right forwards , and is streight , unless there be some hindrance , and hath always a certain and determined distance . fourthly , it is asked how it comes to pass that the strings of two harps tuned alike , although they be distant two or three paces from one another , the one being struck , the other will give a sound ? i answer , that the air of one being struck into motion , does by its motion excite the motion of the other , which is constituted in the same state , or tuned alike . for here to alledge sympathy , would be nothing else but to flye to the sanctuary of ignorance . fifthly , it is asked , why some sounds are sweet and very pleasant , and others on the other hand harsh and displeasing ? it is answered , that this proceeds from a diverse motion , and from the ruggedness and smoothness of bodies , as also from the smiteing of the air that is driven to and fro . sixthly , it may be enquired from whence the noise in the ears proceed ? and it is answered , that this inconvenience proceeds from a motion of the interior air , against nature , which sometimes happens from the breaking in of foreign corpuscles , or from the solution and emancipation of some atoms , or from the pulse of the arteries , or motion of vapours , which striking against the drum of the ear , make that humming noise of the ears . lastly , it is asked why some people hear better than others ? and we may answer , that this proceeds from the impurity of the interior air : for not to say any thing of those that are born deaf , or have their organs ill formed , or have no interior or included air ; or of old men , in whom this air is dissipated , or of those whom a kind of thick humor falling upon the organ after a long disease makes deaf ; or who are wounded , or have an imposthume in their ears , i say that those who have most of this interior and purer air , have their ears more accurate , and their hearing more distinct , if withal the auditory nerve be well composed . chap. xiii . of smelling , its organ , and object . smelling is an action by which we perceive and distinguish smells ; the external organ is the nostrils , the internal are some glandulous and spongy parts like teats , which descend from the brain to the nostrils , or the olfactory nerve ; or odours which affect the spirits contained in the nerve , and move them ; and these spirits being moved and stirred up , carry the sense of the odor to the common sense . the object of smell are odours , in quality not distinct from bodies , but are rather atoms or sulphurous particles going out of bodies , their figure is hooked and adhering ; from whence it comes to pass that they adhere like oyle or fatness ; and are preserved a long time in chests among cloaths , especially woollen ones . and therefore contagious particles lye hid for many years in ward-robes ; and they who frequently visit those that are sick of the plague , do not use woollen garments , but linnen ones , to which the contagious particles do less adhere . from this doctrine it appears , that smells are little bodies which issue out of all compound natural bodies , especially living ones ; by reason of their frequent agitation ; and which have pores more open than bodies not animated . besides , it appears that these corpuscles do never go out of bodies in greater number , than when they are a dissolving ; after which manner , a smell exhales out of gold and silver dissolved , excelling that of musk and amber . from antimony dissolved , an oyle is drawn of a very grateful smell , and by another way a sulphur is drawn out , not to be endured for its stink . and by the help of these odoriferous corpuscles dogs hunt hares , and find out their forms , and by this means they discover their masters foot-steps : it is an argument that this is done by the help of these corpuscles , because they are dissipated by wind , and hindred by dew , and experience teaches that those that handle musk , carry the smell of it a long while about them : from whence it is known that these very small bodies are adhering , and that they have hooked figures , and that they do please and tickle according to that proportion which they have with the organs . chap. xiv . of tast , and its object . tast is a sense natural and proper to animals , and by the help of that they distinguish savours , making a difference between the grateful and the ingrateful . the organ of this sense is the tongue and palat , and it is done by the help of spongy flesh , and of nerves which terminate in the tongue , and ●arry the animal spirit to the organ , and the savour to the imagination . savour the object of tast , consists in certain saline corpuscles of aliments , or other bodies , out of which they come , and pleasantly or unpleasantly vellicate the tongue and palat , according as their figure is more or less rough and pungent , or smooth and round , and more or less adequetated to the organ . since savours are corpuscles of salt , it follows that they differ according to the diversity of salts , to wit , that they are sharp , sweet , bitter , sowre , and the like , according to the nature of the salt that bears rule in their composition , and according to the quality of corpuscles coming from elsewhere ; which change the natural savour of things , as wine , by the addition of water , loseth both its strength and savour , although in this condition it is more grateful to some , than when pure wine . from whence we know that the diversity of tasts does not proceed from the sole diversity of savours , but also from the diversity of the organs ; and hence it is , that all people do not relish alike one and the same thing ; nor have all people a tast equally delicate , from whence it comes that some are delighted with those meats that others abhor . the organ also is sometimes so ill disposed , and the tongue burdned with so great a quantity of ill humours , that things of the most grateful savour seem insipid , as also things not very sweet seem bitter ; which thing happens in a double and a continual tertian ague , by reason of the dominion of choler . chap. xv. of feeling . feeling is a general sense extended throughout the whole body , and is made by the help of membranes , such as the skin , the scarf skin , and the skin that covers the bones called periostium , and others that are internal ; and this sole sense distinguishes every thing that by its contiguity brings pleasure or pain . the object of it is hot and cold , soft and hard , moistness and dryness . concerning these different qualities of a body we have treated elsewhere ; excepting heat and cold , as which are not physical accidents , but two particular bodies . heat is a heap amassing or flowing together of sharp pointed corpuscles which penetrate into solid bodies , and do there cause a division , and do dissolve the more perfect bodies ; and this is what we call to be set on fire , and to be burnt : for fire does not burn wood , but by dissolving , nor dissolves it but by burning . cold is an heap amassing and flowing together of atoms and corpuscles of a blunt and plain figure ; and hence it is that cold does not penetrate into the body but with pain and torment , as also it excites a frequent motion of the parts , or shivering . besides there are not wanting some particles so gross as to stop up the pores of the body , and to drive the heat into the inward parts , which we call antiperistasis , by reason of which the included heat becomes stronger , which is the cause why the heat of the stomach in winter time is greater than it is in summer , and why wells are warm and reak like smoak . for the same reason , heat being shut up in our bodies by the external cold , sometimes such like fumes are raised up in the brain , which are not without a great deal of danger . feeling is several ways performed , and first of all by application , where body is moved to body , and hand to hand , by penetration , in making a solution of that which was whole ; as a needle pricking the hand . secondly , feeling is made by separation , one body coming out of another , which if occasioned by nature , is always accompanied with pain , as in non-natural ejections . thirdly , this sense appears in the motion of those bodies which are contained by others ; for sometimes they move themselves with so great force , and do so press , rend , and tear , that they excite pains not to be endured , as in violent head-aches , the pleurisie , and pains of the gout and cholick . chap. xvi . of the speech , pulse , and breathing of man. voice is common to all perfect animals as well as men , but so is not speech , or an articulate voice . brutes express their sense of things by natural voices : and men their interiour speech , to wit , thoughts , by outward speech as its interpreter : and this is done by the motion of the tongue , as also of the air after a certain manner driven to and fro between the teeth , and the fluctuating windings and turnings of the throat . this motion is natural and voluntary : for discourse or speech is an expression of an action of the soul , to wit , of thought : but this thought cannot be outwardly made manifest , without the command of the will , or the strength or weakness of the imagination . the dilatation and contraction of the lungs , as also the action of the muscles of the breast serve to the formation of speech , and a voice becomes sweet and harmonious , when the lungs and the aforesaid muscles act methodically , as also when the air is duly reflected , repelled , and interrupted by the passages and turnings and windings of the rough artery , and where the corpuscles of this natural little tongue are less rough and more free from strange bodies . the diaphragm , stomach , and belly move when we speak , and follow the motion of the lungs , and the muscles of the breast . the pulse is nothing else but a percussion of the arteries , upon the variety of which , the difference of pulses depends . the cause of the pulse according to aristotle , is the natural heat of the heart , according to galen it is the moving faculty ; according to harvey , this motion of the heart , and pulse of the arteries depends upon the circulation of the blood , which we will examine in the next chapter . breathing comprehends two actions , inspiration , and respiration , by the action of the first , the lungs receive the external air , and by the help of the last they drive it out . the first is made by a dilatation of the lungs and breast , as also by the motion of the diaphragme , by which the lungs are opened like a pair of bellows , and are by that means filled with air , the second is made by a pressing downwards of the diaphragme , by which the lungs are unlocked , and the air driven forth . breathing conduces to the tempering the heat of the heart , and to the exciting and preserving natural heat , besides it conduceth to the forming the voice , to perceiving smells , to expelling excrements , and dissipating the fumes of the blood , and lastly to produce vital spirits , in promoting their motion , by which it happens that we dye when breathing ceaseth , or when we take our last breath . chap. xvii . of the motion of the heart . that i may rightly explain the motion of the heart , i suppose it is moved by two different motions , the first of which is natural , the second against nature . that resembles the motion of machines and clocks , which are moved by help of strings and wheels . so the heart is the principal and chief wheel of this animated machine , and moves and drives on all the others , and takes its motion from the weight and impression of certain fiery and coelestial atoms , which like the silk-worm are shut up in the seed and its covering , and which give motion to it , until they flye away from it , which slight of the atoms death follows , and an end of motion . the authors of the circulation of the blood , deduce the motion of the heart , from the bloods entring into it , saying that the heart is opened by the motion commonly called diastole , the blood entring into the heart ; and that by the motion commonly called systole , the blood returns back , and this returning , is the cause of those two motions ; but it is more reasonable to say , that the motion of the heart hath its principle in its self , for it is vital , and the passing through of the blood is rather an effect than a cause of this motion , for the heart opens it self before the blood enters in , nor does the blood go out , but as it is driven by the opened heart . the second motion of the heart is accidental , and against nature , and proceeds from the intemperies of the blood that passeth through the heart , and which impresseth this febrile motion , whether as being more hot and subtile than it should be , or having certain foreign corpuscles mixed with it , or being too thick and viscous , or else offending in quantity , it overwhelms the heart ; and hereupon depends the difference of motions , contrary to nature , as also the difference of pulses and feavers ; from hence proceeds the palpitation of the heart , intermitting pulses , convulsions , suffocations , and sudden death . and it is commonly said that the life is in the blood , nor does any thing hinder why we should not say that death is in it too , when it is corrupted , or very sharp and corroding , or unfit for motion , and containing such like bodies as lie hid in venoms and narcoticks . the motion which is observed in the hearts of animals taken out of their bodies ; as for example , that of a viper , which continues a long while , does not disanul circulation , but only lets us see that circulation is not the cause of the natural motion of the heart , and if you stretch it never so far , it is only its condition which makes it continue , and keeps the same in its natural state . whatsoever we say concerning the heart and its motions , does not make up that idea which we conceive in our mind , nor does it satisfie the mind of the reader , who expects we should explain from whence this motion of the heart while it is in its natural state proceeds , and what is the cause of its immoderate motions . that i may therefore satisfie the reader , i affirm the natural motion of the heart to be in the motion of the vital spirits , shut up in the central vacuum of the heart , where they are detained by little membranes , made firm by the interweaving of fibres , and of thin threads , so that they cannot escape out , since the pores of these membranes have a figure opposite to the pores of those spirits or vital atoms : and seeing that atoms enjoy an actual motion , and which can no more be separated from their essence , than intelligence from an angel or separated soul , or the inclination from the will , it follows , that they are always in motion , and by their motions by turns dilate the heart . this doctrine supposes what has been said of vital spirits , being as it were the internal principles of life and motion , as also of the essential and proper motion of atoms , and of bodies compounded of atoms ; but it is convenient that we remember that we have said , that motion is natural to atoms , and that god who hath created them essentially moveable , preserves their motion and moveable nature in the same action that he created them . besides it may be convenient to remember , that there are such a sort of atoms which may be detained , and constitute the parts of a compound body , and others , which are not naturally such , yet may be shut up , such as those are , which we have said are shut up in the central vacuum of the heart of living creatures : and these indeed are shut up by the decree of the creator , and the determination of the seminal covering . the comparison of an angel , and the rational soul seems to contribute much to the illustrating this doctrine . an angel is a certain indivisible , spiritual thing , and an intelligence free from matter ; and the rational soul is no less a certain indivisible spiritual thing , endowed with understanding and will as an angel , yet they differ in this , that thesoul is consined , or , as being a part of the compound , can be consined by a material body , whereas an angel neither is nor can be confined , which notwithstanding does not hinder but that it may be shut up into a body , as it were an assisting form , yet it hath not any respect to an internal and substantial form. besides i look upon an angel , and consider it under the notion of atoms naturally free , and the rational soul under the notion of those which are subject to confinement . it is true , that a rational soul going out of this dungeon or physical prison , by reason of the corruption of the body , which permits it a free exit , is like to an emancipated atom , which being free from the bonds of the composition , never returns thither again , unless that be restored to its pristine , or to a better condition . chap. xviii . of the irregular motion of the heart , in animals , and of feavers . i cannot but say something of the inordinate motions of the heart , stirred up by divers feavers , and from that occasion , discourse of the difference of feavers , their causes , and remedies . feavers are either diary , ( viz. ) an inordinate motion of the spirits which are agitated and disturbed by emancipated atoms ; or they are hectick , which attack the fleshy and solid parts : and these feavers are excited by emancipated atoms , which insinuate themselves into the substance of our bodies , and are the cause that the corpuscles of the radical moisture are driven away , and exhaled ; by reason of which , the body is sensibly dryed . the other feavers consist in the humours , and in their fermentation and ebullition , and when this fermentation never remits , the feaver is continual ; where it keeps its periods by turns , it is an intermitting feaver , and it is called either a quotidian , where it comes every day , or a double tertian , or quartan , as phlegme , choler , or melancholly predominate . when it comes one day and not the next it is a tertian , when it remits for two days it is a quartan , when it rages for two days together , and remits the third , it is a double quartan : and all these fits , or redoublings , are owing to emancipated atoms , or relaxed corpuscles , which provoke , move , and stir up this or that humour , which cannot be done without an agitation of the heart , and a manifest pulsation of the arteries . that which in this subject is difficult to be explained , consists in the regular fits and intermission of feavers ; that is to say , what is the beginning , and what the cause of this flux and reflux , and of this periodical motion and state of rest , and how it comes to pass that phlegme ferments daily , choler but every other day , and melancholly after two days of rest . physitians say this motion proceeds from the diversity of humours , and that phlegme has its motion and fermentation every day , choler every other day , and melancholly every fourth day . but the physical philosopher examines this difficulty more nearly , and the sick person has reason to rest satisfied , when the physitian knowing the quality of the feaver , administers remedies which evacuate the offending humours , and prohibit the generation of the new ; and by this means , the cause being taken away , they raise him up , and restore him to health . the physical philosopher who enquires into the true causes of the motions in nature , and does not like the physician precisely respect the health of this or that person ; but endeavours to discover the truth of all things , supposeth first , that there is no humour in our bodies which goes on from rest to motion , unless it be stirred up by some agent and mover . so it is questioned , what may be that principle by which choler after twenty or twenty-four hours rest is stirred up , and what should excite the fermentation of melancholly , after it has sat down quietly and unmoved two days , or there abouts . physicians who are truly philosophers , and ought to be so , teach us , that in a cachochymick body there is always a new generation made of these sort of humours , and when they are already arrived to a due state of plenitude , some sooner than other some , and sometimes where there is a complication , many of them go on together to a fermentation ; and that all this proceeds from the different nature of humours , and their more easie or more difficult motion , as also from a greater or lesser quantity of one or more humours . but it may also be asked , what is the principle of this agitation or fermentation in that state of plenitude , and for what cause these febrile motions are so very regular and periodick ? here , and every where , we will speak bona fide , and without a fallacy , and say according to our principles , that the atoms asserting their liberty , with every dissolution of the aliment , chyle and blood , as we have said elsewhere , do by their sharp-pointed figures tear the internal membranes and tunicles of the stomach and intestines , as also excite those horrours and tremblings at the beginning of the fit , and which are longer , or shorter , and more , or fewer , according as their figures are more or less aculeated and rugged , or smooth and orbiculate . according to this principle we may say , that the atoms , from the first digestion of the stomach challenging to themselves a liberty , and being weary of the covering of phlegme and salt-water , do daily stir up this agitation ; but those , which in the dissolution of chyle , withdraw themselves from servitude , and which abound with a sulphurous water , which we commonly call choler , do stir up a motion more slow by a day than the former , and as many as are emancipated after the third concoction and dissolution of the aliments , and are wrapped up in adust blood , or that black excrement which they call melancholly , do produce this febrile motion two days slower than the first , according to these different dissolutions . where we must first of all take notice , that the shakeings in the motion of these differing humours are not equal , nay , not in the very fits of one and the same feaver , proceeding from one and the same cause , but which hath different degrees of activity : to which thing , besides what we have said , the quality of the food given to the sick person in the time of the intermission doth much contribute . secondly , the fits of one and the same feaver are not so very regular , but that they frequently are perceived sooner or later , as the atoms the disturbers of health are sooner or later set at liberty . to which thing the regimen of the sick persons manner of living does not a little contribute . hence it follows in the third place , that the true remedy of intermitting feavers doth consist , first , in an order of living . secondly , in an evacuation of peccant or strange humours , which hinder , retard , or interrupt , or precipitate the digestion of aliments , which must be well observed by an experienced physitian ; and lastly , the parts which serve to the first concoction are to be strengthned , because their faults and defects can never be corrected afterwards . moreover if it shall happen that there are some emancipated atoms , as without doubt there are more or less of them in all bodies , they are to be expelled by transpiration , or their figures to be inverted by remedies called febrifuges . for experience teacheth us , that there are some of those sort of remedies very profitable , which are administred with extraordinary good success , and which are not fruitlesly administer'd by me : and i have now some of these sorts of remedies found out by me , and administered , which in one day have cur'd the quartan and double quartan . i speak the truth ; but i should injure the truth , if i should go so far as to say that my remedy is infallible : for truly i believe , and not a few of the most eminent and ablest physitians of the faculty in paris are of the same opinion with me , that there is not a remedy which can be called infallible and made publick . of which thing , in the occasion of the fermentation of humours , i will a little more specially treat in my philosophical reflections , which in a little time will see the light. i only add this here , that the heat which follows the shakeing , does proceed from an agitation of the spirits , stimulated by the violent motion and repeated stroke of the emancipated atoms , which are at last expelled through the pores of the body , as the rebellious angels were thrown out of heaven by the more powerful good spirits . chap. xix . of the circulation of the blood. as many as have delivered themselves from the prejudices of antient physick , and vulgar philosophy , have taught , after harvey , that the blood in our bodies is moved in a circular motion , from the extream parts to the centre , and not from the centre onely to the extream parts , as was heretofore believed . gassendus does not disapprove this opinion , although he does not embrace it , for reasons alledged in a particular treatise set forth by him . i use his reasons to establish it , as being better founded in reason , and more agreeable to the disposition of the veins and arteries . let us see therefore how the circulation of the blood is made , according to harvey , and the most learned physitians . the blood , say they , passeth into the heart , from the vena cava , and arteria venosa by two valves , where they are ended , and as often as the heart dilates it self , a drop of blood falls into each of its cavities ; and as often as the heart contracts it self , the blood passeth into the lungs from the right cavity , through the vena arteriosa , and from the left cavity , into the aorta ; so that the blood is moved from the extream parts of the body , to its centre , into which it is carried by the vena cava , where it exonerates it self in the right cavity , from whence it passeth into the vena arteriosa , and drives on the blood which is contained in that , through anastomoses already discovered , and through pores less sensible into the arteria venosa . and as much blood as the arteria venosa hath received , so much of it deposits into the left cavity , from whence passing into the aorta , it is carried into the extream parts of the body , through branches which go to the branches of the vena cava , from hence the blood being brought into the trunk , continuing its journey by the same way it returns to the heart , and by the same reason as i said , it wonderfully and without intermission performs the circulation . this circulation of the blood relies upon some experiments , the first of which , is taken from blood-letting : for chyrurgeons when they bleed a vein , tye the arm above the orifice , and if they put their finger upon the vein on the other side of the ligament , the blood is stopped immediately : from whence it is apparent , that it comes from the extremity of the fingers to the trunk , and not from the trunk to the extremity of the fingers , but by circulation , of which we are discoursing . the second experiment is made , if a vein be tyed in a part of the body , separated from the artery : for it will be emptied on that side towards the trunk , and it will be swelled on the other side ; on that side , that is to say , from whence the blood according to this opinion ought to proceed . there is nothing therefore so certain as this circular motion of the blood , and its passage into the heart , but here are three things to be observed . first , that the motion of the heart does not depend upon this circulation of the blood , although it conduce to its conservation and inordinate motion , as this circulation is made more or less hastily , and as the blood is more or less temperate in the disposition of its particles , and in its saline serosities which serve for a vehicle to it , and render it more fluid . secondly , that the circulation of the blood as the moderns indeed will have it , may be performed three times in an hour , yet so that all the blood does not enter into the cavities or ventricles of the heart , as not once every hour , but either sooner or later , according to the greater or lesser quantity , or greater or lesser subtilty or mobility of the blood. thirdly , i say , that the blood in some cases , cannot pass out of the arteries into the veins , through the extremities , that is , when the extremities are cut off ; in which case , it goes on another way , through insensible pores , which they call transpiration , or transudation . chap. xx. of the inward senses , and the inferiour appetite . besides the exteriour senses of which we have spoken , there are also found to be in man interiour senses , ( to wit ) the imagination , common sense , and sensitive memory . the first forms a lasting image of objects . the second judgeth of the agreeableness or disagreeableness of them . the third retains and preserves these images or ideas ; which is manifest in dogs , who represent to themselves persons absent , and distinguish both between the good and the evil that hath befallen them , witnessing that they remember the thing by running away if they have an opportunity , or by fawnings . appetite follows the interiour senses , and is common to all animals , and which is performed by the weight of atoms , whereby it comes to pass that an animal hath a propensity , and is driven to seek for that with which it is delighted , and to abstain from that which might bring trouble : so that delight and pain are the two great importances of the life of an animal . pleasure according to the opinion of epicurus , depends upon corpuscles which have a soft , round , and agreeable figure , especially to the brain , as to which the object is represented by the imagination , and from which it is carried by the senses : pain on the contrary , and both of them are performed by those corpuscles , whether they come to , or go from , or continue . in morals , we will speak concerning these passions , as the two scales of sensitive actions ; in the mean time i may here say , that the interiour senses receive these corpuscles , which bring pleasure or pain by the ministery of the exteriour senses ; from whence it comes , that those that sleep , or are lethargick , or apoplectick , feel nothing , though they are pricked : for the brain is filled with strange humours , which hinder the motion of the aforesaid corpuscles , or else that motion is stopped by vapours , brought from the lower parts to the brain , which happens to those that are asleep . chap. xxi . of sleep , wakefulness , and death . sleep is the image of death , for all the senses are at rest , nor is there any motion left but that of the heart , lungs and arteries ; this rest proceeds from vapours arising out of the stomach , which by their clammyness , humidity , and viscousness , do stupifie the animal spirits , and sleep is sweet or restless , according as those vapours are sweet , or abound with corpuscles , or are stirred up from choler , or other things of an irregular figure , or where some emancipated atoms make the disturbance . the mixture of these atoms is often the cause of light-headedness , madness , and hypochondriac melancholly ; and they likewise produce watchfulness , by an inversion and confusion of the ideas in the imagination ; from whence it happens that we see that which we never see directly ; and sometimes monsters and horrible things . this motion of the images or ideas is sometimes so very violent , and there is so great a troop of these emancipated atoms in the brain , that those that are asleep , do sometimes rise out of bed , talk , climbe up walls , bathe themselves , and then go to bed again , without ever waking all the while . death is commonly called a perpetual sleep , and in animals ( excepting man ) it is nothing else than a total dissipation of the vital atoms , or a cessation of motion , in which their life consists . in man these things are not after the same manner , although however all these things cease in a dying man , either immediately , as in a violent death ; or by degrees , as in a natural death ; we must confess nevertheless , that in that respect something else is to be accomplished , to wit , the separation of the soul which god gave him , and which returns unto him that gave it . before we go any further , and that we may make an end of this chapter , and be as good as our word , i am forced a little more specially to discourse concerning the death of those things which have life : for whatsoever is created and compounded of many parts , and liveth , is subject to death . man , who is compounded of a material and organical body , like other beings , dyes at last ; but because he hath an immortal soul created after the image of god , he only dyes that he may live eternally with god , if he be faithful ; and his death is no more than sleep , and a passing into eternity . what a christian philosopher ought to think of this soul i shall declare in the last chapter of this book : here i will say something of his body , as also of its corruption and dissolution . the rational soul never goes out of this mortal body before the motion of the heart is stopped ; this motion , which is not voluntary , ceasing , life can no longer continue , since it consists in this motion . if the rational soul was only in the brain , as duncan and some others will have it , it would be hard to tell why it should depart , upon the cessation of the hearts motion , whilst the rest of the parts are in good order . as for my part , i consider it in its spiritual nature , believing that he must have too mean an idea of this spiritual substance who confines it to the brain , and to the smallest part of it . that opinion which affirms it to be present every where in the whole body , although it operates more particularly in the brain and heart , seems to me to be more reasonable , and for this reason , the soul acting in the heart , the organ ceasing , it departs in the same moment . it may seem a wonder to not a few , that the rational soul should so depend upon the material body , but since it so seemed good to the author of nature , we ought to rest satisfied . the body is endued with organs for the sake of the soul , and the soul is created for the sake of the body , and one is made for the other , and the conjunction of these two make a compleat man. one part onely does not make a man , nor does a separate body make up the essence of a man ; and indeed a dead man is not what he was , 'till he rises again . the soul therefore is annexed to the body by such a sort of tye , that it cannot act but by organs . so that he sees nothing when his eyes are out , he hears nothing when his ears are stopt , and the chief organ being deficient , the soul departs because it can do nothing . this chief organ , to wit , the heart , is deficient many ways ; it may be stopped and suffocated for want of air and respiration , for the atoms of light implanted in the heart at the time of a man's conception , ( the commerce of the solar spirits being intercepted for want of air , ) do sometimes suddenly stand still , they flye away , finding a passage through a solution of the continuum , or through pores made fit by a burning feaver in the heart , all the water of the pericardium being dryed up : thick and viscous blood does sometimes stop the motion of these vital atoms . poyson also does by its acute particles pierce through the heart , and give an exit to these spirits of light , which are tyed to those which the sun bestows upon us , and are attracted by them , returning thither from whence they came . let us see now what the body does in the grave ; it putrifies there , that is , it is dissolved , some corpuscles or atoms withdraw themselves , some part of the body is changed into worms , some of the vital spirits resisting . it is a folly here to imagine any substantial form of the dead carcasse , or to acknowledge partial forms of the bones , flesh , veins , arteries , and such like things , subjects to the form of the dead carcasse , or alone without this form. these are illusions and chimera's . matter is the same , and all the change that happens , consists in this , that when the rational soul is absent , there remains nothing besides matter ; the organs by little and little lose their figure , and having lost their composition , they lose their action , that which was compounded is dissolved , and the greater part goes into dust and ashes ; the luminous spirits recede , and follow the motion of the spirits of their kind : some parts or corpuscles joyned to the putrifying body , purtifie in the place where they are : experience favours this doctrine . a certain servant to a noble-man , whose nose had been by great misfortune newly cut off , freely parts with his own nose to serve his master . this nose being put in the place of that which was newly cut off , took root , and grew together , after such a manner , with a cartaliginous flesh , that it seemed to be natural . about twenty years afterwards , the servant dyes in a far countrey , and was buried , and as by degrees he putrified , so after the same manner , this end of a nose began to putrifie , to be corrupted , and to fall off , parting from that part to which it had so long stuck without withering , whilst the servant lived , the part following the condition of the whole . i say moreover , that the least parts or corpuscles which proceed from a body , the body being dead and corrupted , they also are corrupted , and joyned in commerce with atoms of the same nature , which they do , by inviting them to joyn and come together . and here 's an experiment which every one can understand . it is very well known , that he that puts on a garment , or touches it , leaves upon it his scent , that is , corpuscles which proceed from his body , and which constitute part of it ; and by the help of these corpuscles a dog is able to know his masters handkerchief , hat , or garment from ten thousand others . this being supposed , if the dead man's garment or gloak be put into a press or chest , first , and for some days , when the body that is buried begins to putrifie , there will be a considerable noise and disturbance in the press or chest , enough to frighten children , and other folks too , and the corpuscles of the dead body being attracted by those that are going away , by their motion make this noise among the cloaths : and whereas this attraction is made in a streight line , and these corpuscles cannot pass through the bords , but obliquely , the wood suffering violence , makes a noise as if it were crackt . any one may trye this , and know whether this experiment made by others be true or no : i see no reason to doubt of it : from hence appears that invisible bond of the parts with the body from whence they did proceed . a third experiment may be made , which will serve to the illustrating this subject . take a piece of veal , or any other flesh from the shambles , and with it rub the warts of any ones face or hands , then afterwards fling it upon the dunghil , or bury it , and as that putrifies , the warts will fall off , which denotes that the corpuscles of flesh returning to their whole or greater part , and being violently attracted , do in the same manner attract the warts , and make them go away , which some learned men say they have experienced . we may admire in all these things the providence of god , who hath created atoms , and out of them hath compounded the universe , wherein we find so great a number of wonderful things , which are the subject of our admiration , and convince our ignorance . chap. xxii . of the death of brutes , plants , and mettals . seeing that man dyes , other animals cannot escape death ; let us see wherein it consists . the followers of aristotle are very much puzzled in explaining the death of a dog , for when it is destitute of all sense and motion , it is dead without doubt , yet in the mean time it hath all its parts and organs . what therefore happens to this animal ? it s soul is separated from its body , say they , and the spirit of life is not in him ; they do the beast much honour who speak thus in his favour . but what becomes of this soul ? is it corrupted or annihilated ; or does it subsist apart in some other place , or is it taken into some other body ? no , by no means , say they , it is not , it is destroyed , and that 's sufficient . so it is sufficient to people who don 't seek after the truth : for if this soul be a substance as they say it is a material one , it is impossible but it must go into some other thing , or else be reduced into nothing . it is reduced into nothing say they ; therefore it is annihilated , therefore it is created and made out of nothing , which is ridiculous , and unbecoming a christian philosopher . it is true , this opinion is very common in the schools , but this errour is detected , and they who are wiser than others , say with us , that the spirits of life , or corpuscles of light being altogether dissipated or hindred in their motion , do withdraw and return to their original , and copulate with others which are in the air , so dyes a dog , without the loss of that which god made ; the parts are separated , the spirits seek the air , the body the earth . plants dye like other living creatures , but their death very much differs from the death of animals , for as much as their organical parts do not appear so as they do in animals , nor does a plant dye so easily as an animal : for a plant is not dead so soon as it is pulled out of the ground , its life continues to the extream dryness , or evaporation of the radical moisture , which contains all the spirits of life ; and though the plant be calcined , or burnt to ashes , part of the spirits will remain in those ashes ; for the lixivium that is made , or the salt that is extracted , gives all the savour of the plant ; and where that lixivium is congealed by the cold of the night , the figure of the burnt plant will appear in the very ice . but what is more to be observed , is , that a plant dryed in a kilne , and put into a particular water whose virtue is universal , receives its pristine greenness , leaves , and flowers ; without doubt in this dryed plant some vital spirits were shut up , which are relaxed by the spirits of this water , or the vital spirits exhaling , give way to the spirits of the water we speak of , to take their places . this water is endued with vital spirits , which can fill the place of those that exhale in us , and with this sole remedy life may be prolonged , and the losses of ruined old-age be repaired , by filling up the vacuities of the radical moisture which is dissipated . but you will say , where is this water , it is to be found in light , according to our principles , and certainly no where else . this water is the true elixir-vitae , and the universal medicine of the antients , and it is meet that we use it to the preservation of the most sacred persons . mettals have a more abstruse life than plants , nor is their death more conspicuous : their life consists in a certain disposition of parts , which permits a free motion to the atoms of life and light. this is the state of mettals in their mines , and when they are melted , this liberty is lost , by the intervention of the atoms of fire ; and when after melting they grow cold , they may be called dead , for they are deprived of motion , nor do they perform any action . gold melted when it is grown cold is dead ; it lived in the mine , it is dying whilst it is melting , and it is dead , when cast into ingots . in vain therefore do the chymists seek for the living among the dead , common gold is dead , and good for nothing but to make money of ; but if any one can dissolve this body , and bring the dead to life again by the benefit of that resuscitative water which we spoke of before , he may prepare a medicine , profitable to humane and mettalick bodies . it is said before , that stones want life : but this i meant , that they not a life so notorious as mettals , whose life hitherto is yet obscure enough ; for i have learnt being convinced by experience , that the greatest part of stones are multiplied , and encrease , according to all their dimensions ; and that sand is turned into shells . and this very thing is the cause that i conclude , light to be the spirit of life , that by the benefit of it all things live , the very stones also take their life from hence , seeds owe all their vigour to light , and seeing that light is woven out of thin threads of gold , all things therefore live by the spirit of gold. but the soul of man is spiritual ▪ and a ray of divine light , and owes its life to god and his word , as also it is an immortal substance , as we shall say in the next and last chpater . a ternary of paradoxes the magnetick cure of wounds, nativity of tartar in wine, image of god in man / written originally by joh. bapt. van helmont and translated, illustrated and amplified by walter charleton. helmont, jean baptiste van, 1577-1644. 1650 approx. 439 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 105 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a43289 wing h1402 estc r30770 11467386 ocm 11467386 47802 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a43289) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 47802) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1463:27) a ternary of paradoxes the magnetick cure of wounds, nativity of tartar in wine, image of god in man / written originally by joh. bapt. van helmont and translated, illustrated and amplified by walter charleton. helmont, jean baptiste van, 1577-1644. charleton, walter, 1619-1707. helmont, franciscus mercurius van, 1614-1699. the second impression [48], 147 p. printed by james flesher for william lee ..., london : [1650] epistle dedicatory addressed signed: "w. charleton." "to the learned dr. charleton, on his elegant translation" signed : "thom. philipot." edition statement from added t.p. imperfect: title page torn with loss of date. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng wounds and injuries -treatment. science -early works to 1800. mind and body. 2003-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-10 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 rachel losh sampled and proofread 2005-03 rachel losh text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a ternary of paradoxes of the magnetick cure of wounds . nativity of tartar in wine . image of god in man. lumen de lumine in ●…ermino concursus the second impression , more reformed , and enlarged with some marginal additions . a ternary of paradoxes . the magnetick cure of wounds . nativity of tartar in wine . image of god in man. written originally by joh. bapt. van helmont , and translated , illustrated , and ampliated by walter charleton , doctor in physick , and physician to the late king. suspecta apud plures hujusmodi sanationis facilitas , atque celeritas permanebit adhuc dudum ; vulgi enim labile & otiosum ingenium , in arduis ac insolitis , ad judicia ejusdem semper tenoris promptum , ob facilitatem , ideóque flaccidum est . diabolicae enim fraudi tantam restitutionum benignitatem libentiùs consecrat , quàm divinae bonitati , humanae naturae conditori , amatori , salvatori , pauperúmque patri . butler . london , printed by james flesher for william lee , dwellingin fleetstreet , at the sign of the turks 〈…〉 to the truly noble , by the right of blood , virtue and learning , vvilliam viscount brouncker of lyons , baron brouncker of newcastle , &c. my very good lord , among other disparagements of this life , collected and sum'd up in my frequent retirements and concentrations of my minde , my thoughts have , more then once , glanced on the exceeding vanity of that heroick disease , incident to the best tempered souls , the insatiate appetite of posthume glory . and though i must not but confess , this originary feaver elemented in the innate ardor and scintillations of those sparks of divinity , which now lie raked up in the mass or chaos , of our eclipsed nature ; and that by the light of these secret flashes , may be discovered the immortality of that semideity , or noble essence , for a while immured in walls of clay : yet when i make reflections on the unconcernment , and happy insensility of the soul , once fled home , to an indissoluble union with the soul of beatitude ; as to the trifling affairs of the swarm of mortals , here below , and that all relations to the visible and perishable world , are lost in utter oblivion , at the instant of her transition to the invisible , intellectual , and immaterial : i cannot but smile at the delusion of this ambition , of having our memories survive our ashes , and listing our names in the legend of fame , by the ingravements of memorable and worthy actions , as seeming to be no more , then a provident fraud of impaired nature , whereby man is handsomly deluded into the attempting actions of such difficulty or danger , as if presented without the specious disguise of honor , must appear absolutely destructive , at least to the tranquillity and sober fruition of our selves , if not also to our conformity unto that catholique maxime , deeply impressed upon the radical principles of our essence , philautie or self-conservation . for what individual knowledg can w●… have of caesar ? or what intelligence can he hold with the spirits of those , who sacrifice the most of veneration to his memory ? or did the incense of humane honor ascend so high , a●… to approach the mansion of the souls of heröes , devested of mortality ; which can no more be granted , then that a man on our hemisphere , should be sensible of the wagging of a straw in the antipodes : yet what could the access of that nothing contribute to that state of blessedness , whose measure is immensity , wherein to imagine either defect , satiety , or mutation , would be a conceit savoring too much of sensuality , and of bloody advantage to the absurd metaphysicks of the alcoran ? and how much more noble a plea , to the immarcescible laurel , shall that modest head obtain , which , in all anxieties and difficulties of virtue , drew encouragement onely from the simple and naked loveliness of virtue ; then that fond ambitious one , whose sufferings were caused by no better a flame , then the ignis fatuus of applause , and desires knew no other attractive , but vain glory . this meditation , my dear lord , as it could never stifle the irradiations of my genius , or render me less sensible of the incitements of virtue , to enterprise something , that might be grateful in the nostrils of posterity , when my dust shall be offensive : so hath it wrought my resolutions to that stoical temper , that while i fix one eye of reason on that domestick security , and internal serenity , which necessarily redounds from the severe practice of goodness , in this life ; and the other of faith on that infinite compensation , ordained to reward our pious endevours , in the next : i can comfortably acquiesce in the secret discharge of my duty to god and the world , at least in the sincerity of intention : and though i should arrive at such unexpected felicity , as to be an instrument , or accessory , either in the discovery of some magnale in knowledg , or in the contribution of some benefit , conductive to the repair of the common breaches of humanity ; yet i dare confidently hope , i should have no ear open to the invasion of popular euges , nor admit any dream of happiness , in the estimation of succeeding ages . now , though the too acute severity of some , may here be furnished with latitude enough , either to charge this my theory of aversation from praise , on my being conscious of such fragility , lapses and imperfections of my pen , as might conclude , that the best part of my judgment lies in the politick concealment of my name ; or deny me qualified with abilities of reducing it into practice : yet i have this comfort left to take sanctuary in , that i may ( without ingaging your lordship , into the patronage of a falshood ) appeal unto your judicious integrity , for determination , whether my scepticity , even in such notions , as my self hath , to the most precise , anatomical subdivision of each subject , and abstracted perpension of each minute particle thereof ( not much below the accurate method , invented by the stoicks * , and lately revived into use by the most ingenious mons. des cartes * ) examined and transmitted to the world , for indubitate and irrefragable truths ; be not evidence strong enough to make good , that i prefer the manifestation of any one single verity , to all other sinister interests , in this vale of error , and therefore should embrace and assimilate the decisive contradiction of riper heads , with joy equall to that of benighted mariners , at the eruption of their faithfull pilot , the north starre , as the soveraign remedy to my former wandrings . to the other branch of the praesupposed scandall , may justly be opposed your lordships privacie , to my obstinate reluctancy , against the advisoes of my honoured friends , urging mee to a publick appropriation and avowance of some papers , not long since , dispersed through europe , without the protection either of author , or dedication : as also my denyall of light , to some philosophicall enquiries , whose conception , formation , and maturity ( though of inconsiderable value , in the account of more perfect learning ) cost mee the profusion of so much time and oyle , as if summed up by the algebra of candor , might well have purchased the charitable forgivenesse , if not the friendly approbation of the reader . and in the serene darknesse of this latency , i had still remained invisible to the effascinating opticks of envy , and celebrated a constant jubilee of immunity from the virulent blasts of detraction ; had i not been intempestively drawn upon the stage , by the superior violence of two invincible magnets : whose potent alliciency i could provide against by the opposition of no strength , but such as either a dangerous rudeness , or indiscreet morosity must have afforded . the first , the inexorable commands of your lordship and other persons , of so much honor , as nobility in birth , knowledg , and fortune can contribute ; which led me from the more direct path of other contemplations more perpendicular to my profession , into this wanton digression , and upon the penalty of the deprivation of that , which i have good reason to value much above my life , the place i held in your and their favourable regard , charged me with the managery of this small province , for the space of two moneths onely . and had i withdrawn my obedience from such absolute soveraignty , as , i must acknowledg , your lordships and their more learned spirits deservedly hold over mine : doubtless i had inevitably faln upon that so much to be abhorred rock , refractary incivility , and run my self to an eternal loss of those stars , whose conserving influence , and vigorous warmth , are so necessary to the vitality and growth of my studies . whereas now , in this election , i have adventured onely to bear up against the impetuous torrent of censure . the other attractive , the too early diffusion of these sheets , and the immature admittance of a multitude to the acquaintance of them , and the weak hand that copied them ; insomuch , that the concealment of the translator , carried the face of an impossibility , without the joynt concealment of the translation : it being ( by an error of necessity , the conformity to the unresistible importunity of those orbes , to whose motion , mine is , and must be , subordinate ) transmitted to a community , beyond the power of revocation . thus much i was concerned to speak , as to the precaution of scandal , deductive out of my apostasie , from my resolution of self-concealment , and the publick avowance of my self for the father : it remains onely , that i endevour a palliation of this bold lapse of my judgment , in stooping your lordship to so low a patronage , as to be god-father , to this adopted childe . i ever looked upon dedications , with the same aspect of neglect , and presumption of inutility , that i beheld prologues in the front of comedies ; having upon the unhappy experience of most poets erected this unrefutable maxime , that a good play may commend a bad prologue ; but the best prologue never expiate the errors , or peece up the defects of a bad play ; and upon a mature audit of all the benefits , which the most elegant , and judicious pens have acquired by this imaginary refuge , in the sanctuary of great names , or great judgements , found that the totall result amounts to no more , but a delusive hope of security from the contagious emissions of that universall basilisk detraction ; whose venome , in a proud confidence of victory , laughs at the most vigorous energie of any the most sacred antidote , and from the infection whereof , he onely can bee saved , that dares encounter it with contempt . again , my faith hath long swam smoothly downe the current of the popular opinion , that translations praesent the lise of their text , at as great disadvantage of dissimilitude , as the backside of hangings exhibit the story interwoven : and are at best , but slender adumbrations , or pale counterfeits of those more lively images , drawne with more strength of art , in the primitive phansy of their protoplast . nor could i ever be alienated by the phrensie of narcissus , into such a fond dotage of partiality , as to expect a better fortune should belong to the lines , copied by my unaequall pencil , then what i have observed to have accrewed to others upon more laudable transcriptions . this i would not have rashly extended by any , to an imputation of occult blasphemy , against the venerable ▪ majesty of our mother tongue ; out of which , i am ready to assert , may be spun as fine and fit a garment , for the most spruce conceptions of the minde to appeare in publick in , as out of any other in the world : especially , since the carmination or refinement of it , by the skill and sweat of those two heroicall wits , the lord st. alban , and the now flourishing dr. browne ; out of whose incomparable writings may be selected a volume of such full and significant expressions , as if uprightly fathomed by the utmost extent of the sublimest thought , may well serve to stagger that partiall axiome of some schoolemen , that the latin is the most symphoniacall and concordant language of the rationall soule . these diminutions as well of the epidemick custome of dedications , as of translations in generall , and of my owne in particular , i have praemised with designe , to manifest my owne exceeding audacity , in consecrating so contemptible an oblation , as this transcriptive landskip of magnetisme , to the altar of so much sober learning ; as whoever hath the happy honour of admission to your closet lectures ( the onely priviledge i can be proud of , and be forgiven ) or but with a discreet eare to taste your publick discourses in earnest , must allow your lordship to be master of . having thus deves●…ed my self of all other praetences , i direct my addresse to th●…e plea of those two cardinall motives , upon the swindg or rapt of whose violence , this my bold error may seem naturally to depend . the first , ( and in troth , the prime ) is your lordships known candor and humility ; which acquired by a long and habitual exercise of virtue , endows you with an inevitable propensity , to forgive the poverty of his offering , whose wealth is onely zeal the other , your animadversion and careful influence bestowed upon each sheet of this work , successively , before the ink could be fully dry : insomuch , that the justice of some might safely escape the imputation of rigor , should it determine the book to be properly your lordships by a neerer right , then that of dedication . this duly considered , i dare put my self upon the tryal of aequanimity ; whether an alienation of what is rightly yours , to more then a moity ; or an equitable resignation of the same , to your peculiar use , can best stand with the justice of his duty , who endevours , by all possible observances , to make good the title of your lordships most humble and faithful servant , w. charleton . prolegomena . to the candid and ingenuous reader . the summary . 1. truth and the rational soul are twins . 2. the souls beatitude consisteth in her re-union to truth . 3. three guides conducting man to truth . 4. their several wayes of direction . 5. the final cause of their manuduction . 6. the cognition of natural objects , difficult to the exactest reason . 7. the application of all this , by way of apology . 8. the hoti of magnetical remedies examined . 9. an example ▪ 〈◊〉 facto . 10. a second instance , considerable . 11. the capital objection against magnetism vulnerary , that the cu●…e ●…s wrought by the sole power of nature , and not by any concurrent faculty of the remote remedy , answered . 12. the first branch of the solution . 13. upon every solution of continuity , there is impressed an exotick miasm ▪ or putrefactive acidity . 14. this alien impression , the sole remora to redintegration . 15. the extinction of the same , the onely means to assist nature . 16. all acidity subject to the power of an alchahal . 17. the ground of traumatical potions . 18. vitriol referred to alchahal salts , and vulnerary . 19. the pedegree of helmont'e drif . 20. vitriol san●…tive at distance ▪ 21. am astral quality genial to some sublunaries . 22. vitriol to be allowed the like prerogative . 23. the second branch of the solution . 24. the effect of hoplochrisme not univocall ; but variable , according to the superiour virtue of any third nature associated . 25. a second objection , quòd agens naturale , ut agat , debet esse applicatum & approximare ad patiens , refuted . 26. a consideration of the infinite extent of divisibility . 27. every unctuous body emitteth consimilar effluviums . 28. sympathy , longimanus . 29. an example of the vast extent of sympathy . 30. a second . 31. a third . 32. the result of all , in a comparative speculation of the extensive power of magneticall remedies . 33. the manner of the armary unguents operation , upon a wound at indeterminate distance , explained in briefe . 34. acidity , the first degree of corruption . 35. tartar made in wine , by the fixative power of a saline spirit , resident in the lees. 36. vineger caused by an exhaustion : not by a congelation of the spirits of wine . 37. helmonts paradox , that reason is not essentiall to the humane soule , maintained by eight arguments . well did the primitive graecian give the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto truth : whose consanguinity , nay consubstantiality of essence with the humane soule which the divine philosophy of moses * hath defined to be the breath of god , doth exactly make out that etymology . for so uncessant a magnetisme , or congenerous love doth the soule hold unto truth , that she can know no reall or permanent satisfaction , in the fruition of any other object ; but , like the aguish magnetified needle , reels to and fro , in a phrensie of inquietude , distracted twixt various apparitions , untill shee lye parallel unto the center , or vnity thereof : and having once fixed in that happy position , she is , by an eternal union , identified or assimilated unto that twin of her self ; and in that mysterious penetration of homogeneal forms , meets her beatitude , which can never know any defect , of satiety , alterity of desires , or remission of intensity . now , though the opacity of original sin hath so benighted the primitive clarity of the intellect , that it deplorably wanders in the infinite seductions of error , and cannot recover that direct path , which leads to the heaven of verity , without the manuduction of divine light , in this wilderness of sorrow ; and though the opticks of flesh and blood are too dim to endure to gaze upon the naked and entire glories of truth ; yet hath the exceeding mercy of the fountain of light , furnished us with three faithful guides , whose conduct if we precisely follow , we may be reduced to that advantage of knowledg , as will afford us a pisgah sight , or crepusculous prospect of her reflexive beauties , now , and an assurance of being blessedly engulphed in the abyss of her pleasures , in the future . those three lines , perpetually deradiating from the center of truth ( the eternal principle of all essences , and soul of all causalities ) are religion , reason , and sense : all terminated in our nature . the first leadeth us by the invisible clue of faith , on towards the implicit and certain apprehension of objects above the reach of the other two . the second bringeth us about , through the circumambages and complex labyrinth of discourse ; and from the remote dependencies of effects upon their particular causes , ushereth us along by a subalternate series , or gradation unto the science of their ultimate approximation and individuality . the last by a shorter cut , or blunter method of preception , directeth to the immediate and actual knowledg of the existence and exterior or manifest qualities of entities ; but leaveth the second to a laborious exploration of their abstruser forms , or essential quiddities : the repeated acts of which apprehensive power , informed by sensation , make up that body of knowledg , called experience . all which pilots mutually conspire to steer our mindes , perpendicularly toward our satisfaction of the main end of our creation : the reverential and fiduciary contemplation of the mercy , wisdom , and bounty of the supream essence . but so deeply immersed in sensuality , are all the wretched sons of adam , that few can ascend so many degrees toward the height of their primitive capacity , as with equal and constant paces to pursue the guidance of these genial impressions . for if some may usurp the license of concession , that the habit of cognition by faith doth smoothly result from the idea's of religious notions , either insensibly instilled into our infancy , and naturallized by custom ▪ or enthusiastically acquired , that is by the infusion of light supernatural , without much labor and difficulty precedent : yet none , that ever felt the weight of ignorance , and endevoured to struggle from the oppression of it , through the anxieties of study , will adventure on an assertion of such temerity , as that the satisfactory and certain comprehension of most natural objects , is easie and familiar to our reason . since the subtilest speculation will evict , that every the smallest piece of the hexameron fabrick ▪ carrieth in the narrow round of its single ens , abstrusity sufficient to empuzle the scrutiny of the most daring and eagle-eyed philosophy . and if truth be the most desiderable good , and yet the most difficult to obtain ; as on the one side , i have reason to applaud my vow , of unravelling my short thread of life , in the constant and eager search of this inestimable treasure ; so have i also opportunity to hope , from all heads of candor and discretion , to receive a charitable consideration and forgiveness of my frail mistakes and deviations , on the other ; especially in my attempts of exploring the causes , and manner of some operations of nature , whose occult efficiencies seem rather proposed to exercise , and perplex , then satisfie our desires of comprehension . among which knotty pieces , every intelligent man will readily account the theory of magnetism , or more plainly , the secret power of natural actives , working on analogous and determnate passives , by invisible emanations , or an influential energy , transmissive to remote distance ; and more particularly , the argument of helmont , in this discourse . concerning which subject , i shall , in some part , recede from my first intentions of neutrality , to conform to the incitements , and pacifie the importunity of some friends , in the concise and extemporary delivery of my own conceptions : though i stand fully convinced , as well of the vast disparity 'twixt the nerves of my wit , and the considerable gravity of this theme ; as of the impendent danger of various censures , arising from the irreconcileable discord of opinion in some , and the rancor or livid prevarication of others , to both which hydraes , i must become exposed . having premised this preparatory apology : i shall henceforward chain my extravagant pen , to the sole indagation of this admirable ( though secret , and therefore vulgarly despised ) verity ; and allow it no wider range then what the modest rules of a preface will admit . wherefore i come directly to the examination of the hoti , or matter of fact. that wounds have been frequently cured with more expedition , and less torment , then usually follow upon the use and daily renovation of topical vulneraries ; by the confermentation of the mumy , in the blood effluxed , and still retaining to vitality , with the balsamical faculty of the magnetical remedies : i must firmly beleeve , until my scepticity may be allowed to be so insolent , as to affront the evidence of my own sense , and question the verity of some relations , whose authors are persons of such confessed integrity , that their single attestations oblige my faith , equal with the strongest demonstration . among many other experiments , made by my self , i shall select and relate onely one : and that most ample and pertinent . upon an ardent dispute , with a doctor of theology , reverend for his piety and learning , concerning the legitimate use of the sympathetick powder ; that i might at one stab destroy his inveterate presumption , that the capital energy of that magnetical remedy , adored for the sanation of wounds at distance , did proceed rather from the sophistical activity of that impostor , who gave the first incurable wound unto humanity , derived by the mediation of an implicit compact , then from any native and genuine endowment of the vitriol : i prevailed with him , to enterprize an experiment of the efficacy thereof after this manner . having furnished him , both with the powder , and a cloth distained with the blood of a gentleman , freshly wounded , and not yet dressed by any chirurgeon : i also directed him in the application . at the performance whereof , he made solemn profession , that he did utterly disavow all confederacy , immediate or secondary , with satan , all expectance of his concurrence , and coefficiency , and all confidence in the cooperation of intense imagination : as also , that he adventured on this tryal , onely for information of his judgment , whether it lie in the destiny of natural agents , to transmit their virtue unto , and execute the commission of their specifical proprieties upon objects at distance . however , within few hours , the patient ( wholly ignorant of the means used ) found his blood retired to its wonted rivulets , and the lips of his large wound perfectly consolidated . upon which admirable success , the divine , having also haply met with a cure for the nicety of his conscience , from a prevaricate adversary , became a fervent proselyte , to our doctrine of magnetism : soon after writing his palinodia , in these words ; indubitanter credo , causas naturales , quanquam nobisignotas , operari in praefata sympathetica sanatione . this justification was extorted from a professed enemy : a second remarkable example , i have received from the mouth of a professed friend , to the speculation of vulnerary magnetism ; which is right worthy of recital , as well in regard of the experimentator , as of the rare effect ensuing . sir k. digby ( a noble person , who hath built up his reason to so transcendent a height of knowledg , as may seem not much beneath the state of man in innocence ) immediately before his late exile , was pleased to tell me ▪ that not many yeers past , mr. james howel ( who planted the vocal forest ) interceding betwixt two brothers of the sword , received a dangerous wound through the arm : by the violent pain whereof , and other grievous accidents concomitant , he was suddenly dejected into extream debility and danger . that in this forlorn plight , despairing to finde ease or benefit , by the fruitless continuance of chirurgery , and fearing the speedy invasion of a grangraen ; he consulted sir k. d. who having procured a garter cruentate , wherewith the hurt was first bound up , inspersed thereon , without the privacy of master howel , a convenient quantity of roman vitriol . that the powder no sooner touched upon the blood , in the garter , then the patient cryed out , that he felt an intolerable shooting , and penetrative torment , in his arm : which soon vanished , upon the remove of all emplasters and other topical applications , enjoyned by sir k. d. that thenceforward , for three days , all former symptomes departed , the part recovered its pristine lively colour , and manifest incarnation and consolidation ensued : but then sir k. d. to compleat his experiment , dipt the garter in a sawcer of vineger , and placed it upon glowing coals ; soon whereupon the patient relapsed into an extream agony , and all former evils instantly recurred . and finally , that having obtained this plenary satisfaction , of the sympathy maintained betwixt the blood extravenated , and that yet conserved in the veins ; as also of the soveraign balsamick faculty of the vitriol : he took again the garter out from the vineger , gently dryed it , and freshly dressed it with the powder ; whereupon the sanation proceeded with such admirable success , that within few days , there remained onely a handsom cicatrice , to witness there was once a wound . other cures , so neer allied to miracle , as the former , and no less conspicuous , have been wrought , with the same magnetical balsam , by sir gilbert 〈◊〉 , upon upon many wounded in the kings army ; chiefly in the western expedition : of which few gent. attendant on his majesty , in that march , can be ignorant . so substantial and authentick are these relations , and so frequently others also of the same kinde are obtruded upon vulgar observation ; that i shall think requisite , to supersede the enrolment of any other evidence conductive to the illustration of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , when i shall have fel'd that goliah , which i espie coming from the army of the philistins , to the opinion of the influential operation of magnetical remedies , to bid defiance to my self , or any other champion thereof : that is , the mighty objection , that the consolidation of wounds , is the sole and entire work of nature , performed by the proper balsam of the blood , flowing to the part wounded ; and that therefore we may seem grosly deluded in our election of the cause , erroneously adscribing the whole arm of the energy , to that unconcerned principle , which indeed hath not so much as a finger in the business . against this gyant , i shall send onely two smooth stones : and those taken out of the scrip , or single stock of my own reason . the first seems to be of weight : and so requires the care of more then one minute , to fit it in the sling of my discourse . i conceive ( with submission to the reprehension of riper philosophy ) that immediately upon the solution of unity , in any part , the ambient aer , of its own primigenious constitution , intensely cold , and by accident also repleted with the various evaporations , or aporrhoea's of mixt bodies , especially such as are then suffering the act of putrefaction , violently invadeth the part ; and thereupon impresseth an exotick miasm , or noxious diathesis : which disposing the blood , successively arriving at the wound , to putrefaction , by the intervention of fermentation , caused by some gradual acidity ( for proved it may be , that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of corruption , must be acidum extraneum , succeeding upon a desertion of vital heat ) introduced , maketh the same wholly unfit for the nutrition , and destructive to the incarnation , or reunion of the sides of the orifice . against this hostile acidum , nature instantly ariseth in arms , sends a large supply of arterial blood ( vital spirits i understand none at least in a disjunctive acception ) and doubleth both the strength and number of her pulses ; insomuch that most times , the overcharged part suffereth an increase of pain and intumescence , from the distension of its vessels , membranes and intermusculary capacities : but finding her self too weak to expel so subtle and potent an enemy , encamped within her borders , though she cannot preserve the blood from submission to the tyranny of this putrefactive acidity , in some degree , and so not transmute it into a laudable cement , to soder up the disunion ; yet she so far hindreth ( especially in green wounds ) the dilatation of corruption , that she subdues the revolted blood into the form of a white purulent effluxion , which is therefore to be accounted an infallible signal , that nature is not yet evirate , but holds out bravely , and if relieved in time , will be an happy conqueress . this exotick acidity , by the forementioned means impressed upon the sides of the wound , i apprehend to be the sole impediment , that defeateth the design of nature , in the redintegration of the unity of any part , infringed by external violence : and that by the rule of consequence , the onely way of assistance to nature in this exigence , is the destruction , or extinction of that alien impression ; the factor of putrefaction , by the specifical counterviolence of some superior antagonist . now pyrotechnical philosophy , and the mechanick experiments of chymistry , have sufficiently instructed us : that every acidum is , at first encounter , subdued by any alchahal , or lixivial salt ; as is autoptically demonstrable , in the sudden transformation of the spirit of vitriol into alumen , by the inspersion of mercury dulcified . the same effect may be also exemplified in the acid spirit of sulphur , which for ever loseth its native acidity , and in a moment degenerateth into an aluminous sweetness , at the conjunction of the salt of tartar , resolved into an oyl by deliquium . for which reason also ( as helmont hath profoundly observed * ) our traumatick or vulnerary potions , which as well in regard of the balsamical plants , as of the stony concretion found in the stomacks of creafish , entering their composition , acquire upon decoction , a lixivial tincture , or alchahal ; are most laudable , because in truth most smartly operative , medicaments , in all wide perforations or incisions of the body : as hath been found true , by the unquestionable testimony of experience * , and sounds consonant to reason . since by reason of their lixivial salt , which doubtless passeth the several concoctions , viribus haud multum castratis , they stand è diametro , opposed to the putrefactive acidity , the capital remora that impedeth the consolidation of all wounds and ulcers . and whether roman vitriol may not be justly referred to the classis of saline juices concreted , or alchahal salts , since it must be a parergy here to dispute it , i shall with industry leave , as well to the experiment of its easie eliquation upon the access of any humidity , as to the decision of the most knowing mineralogists * . who also have unanimously esteemed it , as the sacra anohora , or panchreston , for the cure of cheironian ulcers , and inveterate wounds : though the cardinal efficacy ▪ and manner of its operation , may well be thought to have continued in darkness , until of late the light of helmonts furnace had the honor of its revealment . and i am bold to conjecture , that upon this single hint , of the incomparable balsamical or mu●…l vi●…t●…e of vitriol , helmont first founded the invention of his admired drif , or universal medicine ; whose master ingredients are sal marinus , vitriolum veneris , and 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 by the omnipotent odor , or radial activity whereof , he rashly imagined , that all irregularities , exorbitances , and excandescence of the humane archius , or vital spirit , may be rectified , reclaimed , and calmed , and that in a moment . having thus brought within the reach of verismillty ; that , in many wounds , all the vigor of nature cannot suffice to the ejection of that forein acor , that hath once made an encroachment upon her tender confines ; and that upon the first charge , the usurper must surrender , at the access of a lixivial traumatick salt ▪ it remaineth onely that we bring it quite home to our intended scope , and make a short enquiry , whether the sanative faculty of vitriol , may not be conceded so long●…manous and extensive , as to produce the same effect , at distance . and this we must do with exceeding brevity : in this respect , that this speculation doth more properly belong to our disquisition of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or causalities of hoplochrism . i am bound to believe , that in the infinite magazine of nature are to be found various agents , no●… obliged to the dull conditions of an immediate corporeal contact ; but richly endowed with an influential or radial activity ▪ ( so have i taken the liberty to christen it , in reference to the cognition and n●…er analogy , betwixt the manner of the stars transmitting their influence , by invisible deradiations ; and the imperceptible emissions streaming , in a semi-immaterial thread of atomes * 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 bodies ▪ qualified with this kinde of astral faculty ; which arriving at a determinate object , though 〈◊〉 at indeterminable distance , nimbly operate upon it , to the full satisfaction of the particular end , preordained in the primitive intellect of the creato●… ▪ ) 〈◊〉 conceive also , that vitriol hath a very just title to the prenogative of being listed in the inventory of these astral natures ▪ and that when the powder thereof is applied to the blood , effused out of a wound , the balsamical faculty of it is not confined to a meer topical operation ▪ but being conducted by the manial 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the blood , which undoubtedly , by a congenerous magnetism , holdeth a certain sympathy with that fountain , from whence it was derived , ( as is to ●…a●…ety of satisfaction demonstrated by hilmont ) 〈◊〉 a stream of subti●…ted atomes , extendeth to the individual wound , and there operateth to the deletion or ext●…rpation of the acid impression , against which ●…carrieth a seminal antipathy ▪ if this be thus 〈◊〉 i may be sooner destitute of leasure ▪ then substantial arguments ▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 force ▪ that it was either ignorance , or prevacation , that first contrived this detractive objection ▪ 〈◊〉 the dignity of hoplochristical remedies ▪ as also , that nature ( though according to the great apho●… of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ naturae ▪ sunt medicatrices , i allow her to be the prime and proxime causatrix of all sanation ; and all medicaments no more but auxiliatory , or adjuvant , by the modification of excessive preternatural qualities , and remove of impediments ) is not always able to play the chiron to her self , but in this case , owes much of the honor of her safety and conquest , to the assistant power , and amicable coefficiency of the vitriol . the same also i desire should be understood , of the magnetical manner of operation proper to the armary u●…guent , though i apprehend the ingredients of that magnale , to work rather by a confermentation of analogous mumies united . if i have not thrown this peble home , nor directly to the mark : ●…was because i had neither time to take full aym , nor elbow room to extend their sinews of reason so far , as my self desired . the other , i am confident , will hit our enemy in the forehead . if the effect of hoplochrism be not constant and ●…vocal , but doth ordinarily confess an alterity or variation from good to evil , conform to the friendship or enmity of any third natural agent associated , at the arbitrary election of the experimentator , that is , if from the counter-activity of intemperate heat , actual or potential , of any venenate o●… deleterious quality , corrosive and septical medicament , putrefactive acidity , &c. consubstantially applied unto , and confermentate with the mumy of the blood , and magnetically sympathetick remedy , there immediately arise 〈◊〉 reincrudescence of the wound , and a recidivation or return of all oppressive symptomes dependent : then is it established , beyond the question of any the most pyrrhonian incredulity , that the sanation of wounds ; at distance , is not rightly adscriptive to the single power of nature , converting the blood successively distilling from its intersected condu●…ts , into a genial balsam ; but more properly attributary to the confederate virtue of the vnguent or powder , idiosyncratically opposed to the essential hostility of that acid vulture , which ravenously devours the ca●…bium , or rorid destillament ordained for the vegetation and reunition of the wounded part . but the hypothesis is uncontroulable upon the evidence of sir k. d. his experiment , in tossing the life of master howel , from hazard to safety , from safety to hazard , and back to durable safety again , at pleasure : therefore is the inference also sound and justifiable . for the propense submission of nature , to the fury of a deleterious influence , transmitted from a remote enemy , by the mediation or convoy of the mumial effluviums , shot from the extravenated blood back to its vital fountain ; doth implicitely manifest her emolument and relief received , by the same invisible transvection ▪ from the grateful and congenerous deradiations , or individuated magnetism of a remote friend . since contraries ever imply the necessary existence each of other . another block there is , at which not onely the herd of fools , but even the greatest clerks use to stumble , in their quest of this secret. requisite it is ( say they ) that every natural agent be immediately applied to its determinate patient ; otherwise , its specifical activity , though neer so potent and expedite , must be lost in a fruitless expence , and unsatisfaction of its particular end ; but the sympathetical remedy is not topically approximated to the wound ; therefore must it be , either no natural remedy , or a vain and inefficacious one , at best . but this argument , though at first appearance plausible , weigheth not one grain in the ballance of more exact reason , against our theory , and may be easily blown out of the way , by this distinctive answer . if it be understood , that every natural agent ought immediately , immediatione suppositi , to touch the patient , upon which its virtue is proximely to be discharged , but remo●…ely , by th●… mediation of otherbodies interjacent , by which the power of the active is communicated to the distant passive : w●… willingly grant the truth of the major , to be solid and undeniable , in regard , i●… suffic●…h to the support of our magnetism , that the active touch upon the passive o●… object proper and remote , immediatione virtutis . and therefore we cannot but smile at the weakness and incongruity of the minor ; because the sympathe●…k . remedy ought immediately ▪ immediatione suppositi , to touch that subject , upon which its virtue is first received : but not the part affected , on which the virtue is secondarily and ultimately received and terminated , by the interposition of accommodate instruments , whether bodies situate at convehi●… intervals , or continuate by succession of parts . for thus , by the same extension of a medium , do we warm our hands at the fire ▪ and the s●… transmits his vigorous influence and heat , to our 〈◊〉 globe ▪ and in this degree of ( affinity , are sympathetical medicaments allied unto ●…lesti ●…nfluences ▪ insomuch , that not onely the a●… , but vast rocks of adamant , walls , and any the most compacted and opace bodies are subjects qualified to admit and convoy this magnetical virtue , to its peculiar object , no less then any the most potent astral transmission . vpon which ground , if any stick at the vast and unlimitted extension of that sphear of activity , assigned by the immense bounty of nature , ●…nto sympathetical r●…dies ; and yet can 〈◊〉 conc●… an ●…finite o●… of 〈◊〉 unto ●…elestial influxes : he hath very great cause , either to lament his ignorance of those , or repent his credulity of these . and i profess , that if my rude ●…ar may have the liberty to judg , principium actionis sympathetica , est facultas influentiis affinis , 〈◊〉 per irradiationem in objectum sibi appropriatum : sounds as like an axiom of constant truth , as idem accidens non mig●… de subjecto in subjectum . hitherto hath my imployment been to clear the prospect , by the necessary remove of such doubts , as seemed very much to obscure the resplendent lustre of magnetism , and render the excellencies of sympathetical remedies imperceptible ; especially to those purblinde moles , whose imperfect opticks could never endure to ●…y into the mysteries of the intellectual and spiritual world , but think the debt of their creation fully discharged , in a slight and superficial speculation of the material , and never were admitted to a neerer privacy with nature , then to have touched the 〈◊〉 of her upper garment . and my now task should be , to endevour an ample presentment of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or causes of hoplochristical sanation . but of this i can here hold forth no more , then a thin , blew landskip ▪ or abridgment : chiefly in respect the more learned pencils of bapt ▪ porta , severinus , hortmannus , kircherus , cabeus , rob. de fluctibus , ( that torrent of sympathetical knowledg ) and the choisest flower in our garden sir k. digby , have already enriched the world , with ample and elegant descriptions of the manner , how sympathetically magnetick agents transmit their spiritual energy , unto determinate patients , at vast and indeterminate distance ; and secondarily , because in my precedent declarement of the magnetical operation of vitriol , i unavoidably fell upon a plain ( though narrow ) delineation of the same subject . consider we , first the interminable , and almost infinite extent of divisibili●…y : that is , with the razor of most acute thought , redivide the subdivisions of an atome , and distinctly perpend , how large a round of spiritual aporrhoeaes , or evaporations may be made and maintained by a very small body , actually subtiliated , and emitting a continued steam of most subtle effluviums . let us remember also , that by a general consent of all the secretaries of nature , and the undeniable testimony of trivial experience , every mixt body , of an unctuous composition , doth uncessantly vent , or expire a circumferential steam of invisible atomes , homogeneous and consimilar , that is of the same identical nature with it self ; and for that reason , efficaciously operative to the same finality : which minute subtiliations , wafted on the wings of a convenient medium , interposed betwixt the accommodate object and the body exhalant , and so arriving at an analogous patient , do immediately discharge their activity thereupon , and by degrees of mutation subdue the same to a conformity●… or qualification requisite●… to the causation of that particular effect , originally enjoyned to the seminal entity of the agent . then let us stretch our intellectuals , to fathome , how immensly long the arm of sympathy must be conceded , by all that shall observe , how the contagion of the small pox and plague * is frequently darted from one brother or sister to another , at the distance of many hundred leagues , by invisible emissions , or pestilential atomes ; without all excuse of intelligence or mutual commerce by intervenient messengers : as also of fear and imagination . how a tagliacotian nose , enfeoffed with a community of vitality and vegetation , by right of transplantation , upon the face of a gentleman at bruxels , hath grown cadaverous , and dropt off , at the instant of that porters death , in bononia , out of whose arm it was first exected . and finally ( that we may supersede the rehearsal of other naturally magical examples ) how carefully good huswives avoid the boyling over of their milk ; lest the atomes thereof subtiliated by the intense heat of fire , and roving abroad hand in hand with the igneous atomes , should be attracted by the cows udder ( for the source or fountain of every effusion , acteth a magnetical part , and draweth to it self the subdivisions of that same effusion , situate within the orb of its alliciency ) and so an inflammation be caused , by the apposition of the atomes of fire concomitant . and when we shall have thus cast about , summed up our reflections , and discreetly accommodated the like effects , daily occurring to the comparative perpension of magnetical vulneraries : we shall naturally fall upon , and set up our rest in this conclusion : that the sanation of wounds , by remote means applied to the weapon , or cloth imbued with the blood , is no diabolical , nor prestigious , but a meer ordinary effect of natural causes , operating by magnetism . for very familiar must it be made unto us , that the blood effused from a wound , doth constantly ( until the last act of putrefaction ) hold an influential commerce with and affinity unto its proper fountain , yet enjoying a more perfect state of vitality , in its native conservatory , the veins ; and in that relation , doth continually send forth subtle streams , or invisible emissaries of mumial atomes , toward that fountain , or grand source , as ambassadors , to intimate the faithful correspondence and amity yet maintained : that these magnetical nuntii , being joyned in commission and confermentate with the balsamical emanations of the sympathetick vnguent or powder ▪ do carry them home to the wound : and lastly , that the exotick and destructive acidity , impressed upon the sides of the wound , and defeating the attempts of nature towards the redintegration and accretion of the continuity infringed , may be subdued and eradicated by the medicinal faculty of the atomes , deradiated from the vnguent , and conducted along to the wound in the arms of the mumial atomes . since we are of opinion , that no man , who hath but philosophy enough to examine the natural endowments of each single ingredient of the composition , as also of the third quality resulting from their commixture of confermentation : will deny , that the armary vnguent , is impregnated with a sanative faculty ; but such as may be too violent and intense , if the vnguent were applied in body , without the requisite allay and refraction of previous attenuation . thus ( judicious reader ) have you seen me , in very few minutes , run over my main course of the reasons of hoplochrism ; wherein , since i may not come so neer to the guilt of arrogancy , as confidently to say , i have won ; i freely submit to your equitable arbitration for censure , whether i have not contended fairly , at least , for the garland of truth , and far outstript those my two hotspurred adversaries , ignorance and ●…resumption . but yet must i become a further exercise of your patience , by holding you to the trouble of going along with me , over two other very 〈◊〉 stages ▪ which i am obliged to measure , in order to my plenary discharge of a rash promise , which the clamorous importunity of some friends prevail'd upon my too flexile genius to enter into ▪ the first is , to scan over the second paradox , concerning the nativity of tartar in wine ▪ here , i profess , i highly admire the sagacity of helmonts wit , in so exactly tracing this obscure entity , back to its first single constitutive principles , hunting through all those gradual mutations , which he distinctly scented , as well in the conglaciation of wines , in cold climats , as their fermentation , in hot , immediately upon their being brought home from the press . nor can it be gainsaid , by any , that the spirit of wine , in avoidance of its irreconcilable antagonist , cold , retreating to the center of its liquor , doth leave the cortex , or outward round , open to the invasion of acidity ; which being the first degree of corruption ( for if we boyl any flesh , that hath been but newly seized on by putrefaction , the broth thereof will have a manifest sowreness ) and wanting an object , whereon to sate its appetite of corrosion and dissolution , doth instantly dive to the bottom , and there operate upon the dregs , or residence of terrenity , subsiding upon a precedent diacrisis , or sequestration of heterogeneities : and so doth , by a second ebullition , cause them to reascend to the convexities of the liquor . but whether , the acid spirit , being coagulated in the very act of dissolution , according to that chymick axiome , omnis spiritus dissolvens , eadem actione , qua corpora dissolvit , coagulatur , be the immediate cause of the concretion or coagmentation of the dissolved and fluctuating faeces : i confess , i am yet unsatisfied . the ground of my haesitancy , in this particular , is that upon a strict and laborious exploration of the causes of coagulation , conductive to lapidescence or petrification , in my dissertation de lithiasi , of stones in the microcosm , i found ; that the onely gorgon , or lapidifactory principle , to which all concreted substances ow their coagulation , and upon the destruction of which , they return to their primitive incontinuity and volatility , is a saline fixative spirit , as i have in that discourse sufficiently proved : and therefore i should rather derive the pedigree of tartar after this manner . when the acid spirit , immersed in an excessive quantity of terrenity , becomes evirate , languid , and insufficient to the volatilization of the more gross , ponderous , and fixt parts of the faeces ; it is wholly overcome by the predominant power of the saline gorgon , ambuscadoed in the terrestrial residence : and so immediately upon this conquest , all the terrestrial atomes are fixed , coagmentated , and ferruminated into a solid concretion ; which is the tartar adhering to the sides of wine casks . here also doth my constant fidelity to truth , make me to observe ; that if vineger be made of wine , whose spirits are all exhausted , by the destructive embraces of heat , surrounding the vessel , and so insensibly extracting all radical vigor and essential vitality from the mass of liquor , propter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , to be united to a consimilar substance ; as seemeth most consonant to experience ; then doubtless , that great privy counsellor to nature , sennertus * , hath deserved the refuge of that proverb , bernhardus non videt omnia , in his mistake , that vineger should be made of wine , wherein the spirits are fixed or congelated , by reason of an oppressive quantity of fixative salt , arising from the immaturity , austerity and defective fermentation of the must , and not out of wine , whose spirits are separated by exhaustion ; and by consequence , must have miscarried in his design of drawing spirit of wine out of vineger , which project he mentioned both in his chymical operations , and in his incomparable tract , de consensu chymicorum cum galenicis . my last unwilling task , is the delivery of my suffrage , upon that inscrutable paradox , asserted by helmont in his discourse of the image of god in man , as the main point he drives at in all that meditation ; namely , that reason is no radical , primitive , essential part of the human soul , but a caduce , spurious faculty , accidentally advenient upon the degradation of our nature , by eating the poysonous fruit of the forbidden tree ; and by consequence , separable from the soul , at the instant of her emancipation from her prison of clay , and wholly useless to her in her state of restitution to the clarity of abstracted and intuitive intellection . to this opinion ( i blush not to profess ) i have formerly leaned , as well by reason of a propensity thereunto kindled in me by a short passage in s. augustine * , as by finding , in my solitary speculations , a readiness in my beleif to submit to the conviction of these ensuing arguments . ( 1. ) the soul layeth hold on her hopes of future beatitude , with her right hand of faith , which is a firm and unalterable apprehension of objects , to which her left hand of reason can never be extended : yea , so far short doth our most advanced and illuminated reason come of the true cognition of the essence of omnipotence , infinity , eternity , &c. that , in every step of our journey towards the true elizium , we must quit the dark lanthorn of reason , and wholly throw our selves upon the implicit conduct of faith. for a deplorable truth it is , that the unconstant , variable , and seductive imposture of reason , hath been the onely unhappy cause , to which religion doth ow all those wide , irreconcileable and numerous rents and schisms , in the seamless and indivisible coat of faith , made by men of the greatest logick , and even such , whose intenser flames of devotion had rendred their mindes the whitest and most purified from the lees of temporal interest : every faction alleadging a rational induction , or ground for its peculiar def●…ection , from the unity of truth ; reason having , in their judgments , erected the rotten and fragil reed of meer futation , in the room of the sound and inflexible pillar of certain and fiduciary cognition . ( 2. ) the minde of man , squared by the rule of faith , stands ascertained , that the form or essence of verity , is unical , single , and devoid of all alterity ; and that the intellect , in its abstracted simplicity , apprehendeth onely the unity of verity : but reason is unavoidably obnoxious to the delusion of multiplicity , and distraction of alterity , and therefore unfit to steer the will , in the act of election . quippe quae ( as helmont , most significantly ) facilè per linguas , nunc ad unum , nunc verò ad alterum extremorum , nutabunda flecteretur , rationésque ubique inveniret , fingeret , substerneret , juxta placita desideriorum . ( 3. ) the minde , having once fathomed the extent of her wings , in metaphysical speculations , becomes assured , that after her delivery from the dungeon of flesh and blood , she shall have all her knowledg full , entire , abstracted , in one single act ; not successive , not extorted by the oblique violence of premises , not erroneous , controvertible , or dubious : that she shall no longer groan under the perplexity of framing demonstrations , by wr●…sting , deducing , inferring , concluding one proposition from another ; whether in order to her act of conception or notification . ( 4. ) where precedeth no discourse , no composition , nor connexion of premises ; there , doubtless , can succeed no conclusion , consecution , or reason : but the science of the premises , is always more certain , then the science of the conclusion ( since the certitude of the inference , is extracted out of , and doth necessarily depend upon the certitude of the proposition conceded ) and that science is radically seated in the intellect , without the concurrence of reason , because we finde it elder then the demonstration . and questionless , this were a fair ground for any able pen to contend upon ; that reason doth not generate , in the understanding , any more , then a caliginous or spurious cognition , which we may call a specious putation : as also , that the indubitate science of the verity of essences , of the simplicity of things abstracted , and of first propositions , or leading notions in syllogisms , doth not flow from the polluted and tempestuous stream of reason ; but , indeed , from a more divine , serene , luminous fountain , the intellect , which i may , with solomon , adventure thus to describe : it is the breath of the power of god , and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the almighty , the brightness of the everlasting light , the unspotted mirror of the power of god , and the image of his goodness , and being but one , she can do all things , and remaining in her self she maketh all things new , &c. ( 5. ) let any probleme in philosophy be propounded to ten , or twenty ( the number is of no concernment ) the most sage oedipuse's in the world , and a reason demanded from each apart : and i dare promise , you shall observe , the variety of opinions will stand in aequilibrio with the number of persons ; every single head being deluded by the imposture of specious reason , and so contumaciously adhering to its particular apprehension , that the most modest of them all will be ready to swear , that his solution hath touched the white and centre of truth ; when , peradventure , not one among them hath ever shot neer it . such a chameleon is our reason ; and so variously delusive . ( 6. ) truth is impressed onely upon the intellect , in regard , the verity understood , is nothing else but the adequation of the intellect to the object ; or more plainly , the intellects putting on the form of the thing comprehended ( for the intellect knoweth objects in the reality of their distinct essence , and is therefore interchangeably certified of the nature of things , by the things , themselves : since the esse of things is , of it self , ever true , and their essence and the essence of truth ; are homogeneal and identical ) and therefore the intellect , which is in a manner carried forth to a conjunction with the abstract forms of objects , is always directly true . now since the imagination , or its laborious faculty , reason , is a certain oblique and circulatory way of intelligence , wyerdrawn through the devious meanders , and complex paths of discourse ; but not by the immediate metamorphosis of adequation , or protean shifting of its own form , into the form of the thing apprehended : therefore is the way of cognition by reason , fallacious and nonscientifical . ( 7. ) whatever soundeth but analogous or affine , that doth reason positively judg , consonant and homogeneous to verity : when yet reason and truth are infinitely disparate , as to the roots of their essences . for verity is , ens reale , verum : but reason is , ens mentale , problematicum , and onely plausible , or apparent ; and hence do our metaphysicians account of en●… rationis , no more then non-ens , as deriving its geniture from no more substantial a father , then imagination , and its production , from the wanton and inconstant womb of putation . ( 8. ) many wise men , great scholars , and extreamly tender , in the point of their allegeance to the church , have thought it no dishonor to their creation , nor diminution of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or transcendent dignity of humane nature , to opinion , that the faculty of discourse , though in a greater degree of obscurity , may be attributed to brute animals . i presume , this hard saying will , by the unisone vote of the multitude , be soon condemned to relish more of the philosopher , then the christian , and so be exploded for contagious and ethnical . but that indifferent ear , that shall have so much patience , as to hear st. jerome relate his story of the * faune , or semi-humane monster , that having vocally acknowledged the true god , embraced the christian belief , received the symbols of the same , and earnestly desired the mediatory prayers of anthony , the anachoret , conversed a long time with him , in the wilderness : shall observe the arithmetick of bees * , in computing their hives morn and even , having no other method of directing themselves each to his proper home , but the number of their particular common-wealth , which when they miss , upon a transposition of them , they stray and are lost in their mistake of entering another hive ; and finally shall to these evidences , annex the serious lecture of that eloquent legat hieron . rorarius , in his two books , quòd animalia bruta ratione utantur meliùs homine , and other writers on the same argument ; will , i doubt not , arise fully satisfied , that a well tempered enquiry , whether the power of ratiocination , be not in common to some beasts , as well as to man , though imperfectiori modo , cannot misbecome , though not the pulpit , yet the study of the most rigid divine . these , i say , were the temptations that first drew me into a belief , that the power of ratiocination seemed too low and trivial an endowment , to make out the imperial prerogative , of mans being created in the image of god ; though at the same time , i could not but make a strong reflexion upon my own frailties , and there inform my self , that i wanted not cause to despair , of ever being so happy , in this life , as to become enabled , by study , to husband my share of reason , to the best use , and utmost improvement of its capacity . but my second thoughts are more wary , and hold it a part of prudence , to suspend my positive assent unto this nice particular ; as well in respect , this dispute would better beseem the metaphysical speculations of the school divine , then the gross and corporeal disquisition of a young physician : as also , that i have observed sculls of the largest capacity , most subject to scepticity ; especially , in notions relating to the condition of the soul , when strugled from the eclipse of flesh. to which may be added , that absolutely to determine pro or con , on this debate ; though it may manifest the fineness and subtilty of his wit , who can handsomly set reason against her self , and wound her at heart with arrows stoln out of her own quiver ; yet must it be , a bold usurpation of the priviledg of death , to whose decision properly doubts of this kinde belong ; that being the universal moderator , that will sate our curiosities , and in a moment , determine all our controversies . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , arist. w. charleton . london , the 2. of november . 1649. in elegantissimam triadem tractatuum philosophicorum doctis . van helmont de magnetismo , tartaro , & anima ; ad. gualtero charleton clarissimo chimiatro londin . anglico idiomate cum notis donatorum : hoc , in amicitiae tesseram , apud belgas discessurus , epigramma operi suo praefigendum reliquit : p. de cardonnel . docta trias ! magnum sophiae quae condis elixir , quod puto termagnum vel latuisse senem : eia avibus prodi laetis ; te fama secundet prospera , suffragiis intemerata suis. digna trias cedro ; phoebi lauróque perenni , digna vel invitos conciliare sophos : aonidum munus sacrum , doctaeque minervae , cui nil posse addi fama putabat iners : addere suada novos , ô charletone , lepores ausa tamen calami est dexteritásque tui . alter dicêris meritò nunc omnibus * hermes ; et tua jam summis proxima laurus erit : quáque theophrastum evexit germania laude , helmonti in * batavis gloria quanta fuit : tàm debere tibi britones se jure fatentur , vtiliora illis qui monumenta paras . v. kal . vii bris . aerae christ . mdcxlix . alexandri rossaei epigramma in politam hanc translationem anglicam triuim d. helmontii tractatuum , a domino gualt . charletono , m. d. clarissimo emissam . quae nêque phillyrides , nec noverat ipse melampus , jasidésve senex : nec qui paeoniis castum revocavit ad aur as artibus hippolytum : nec qui inter danaos doctor podalirius olim artis apollineae noverat ; haec nobis sermone helmontius heros tradidit ausonio . quamvis illi omnes potuêre expellere morbos arte machaonia : non tamen hi rerum causas novêre latentes , quas docet iste liber , quem puro sermone & vocibus edidit anglis charleton jatricus . herculeas rerum vires , animámque reclusit splendidiore face : et velut alcides , reseravit tartara nobis ; non acheronta tamen . hic phoebo est charus , sed longè charior esset si peripateticus . alex. rosse . to the learned dr. charleton , on his elegant translation of some most select pieces of helmont , accompanied with his excellent notes , candid animadversions , and opportune enlargement . helmont , though dead , is now reviv'd . your pen , like aesons bath , instill's fresh youth agen , into his pale and elemental clay . his tomb , by your fair midwifery , becom's a womb : from whose now re-impregnate sperm , he buds forth into a second infancy . your sheets new swath him ( sir ) where he appears more vigorous in this youth , then in his years . we 're now convinc'd , that sympathies combine at distance ; that dispersed mumies twine : that nature , on one string , like coupled beads , her rosary of twisted causes threads . since what of those he first asserted true , gathers new strength , and argument from you . those active flames , which thaw'd your brain , do thence espouse his widowed earth , with heat and sense . those spirits , which that publike mint o' th' blood , the liver , back retails to th'purple flood , still through their azure limbecks , and entrust new sap , and verdure to his wither'd dust. sure , when the soul of helmont shook away the frippery , and luggage of her clay , she seem'd to steal into your brest ; and there to fix herself , as in her second sphere . yet lest two inmate souls , both so immense , they cannot be unactive , chain'd in sense , or close immur'd in walls of flesh , should rent uncircumscrib'd , the brittle tenement : they virtually diffuse themselves , and come into this book , by an effluvium . within whose pages , they 'l joynt tenants dwell , as in some nere to be demolisht cell . and when the wardrobe of your dust shall be dispers'd themselves into more dust then ye ; this to your names ( from times impressions safe ) shall stand at once , both urn and epitaph . thom. philipot . of the magnetick cure of wounds . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the summary . 1. fascination , sympathy , and magnetisme differ . 2. the sympathetick unguent one , the magnetick another . 3. mumie what . 4. philosophy immediately subject to the reprehension of reason onely . 5. the difference of law and philosophy . 6. from an ignorance of the cause , magnetism ascribed to the devill . 7. who the interpreters of nature . 8. why chymicks only fit to unridle the mysterious oracles of nature . 9. he is tacitely guilty of pride , who from an ignorance of the cause , beleeves a naturall effect to be diabolicall . 10. who are the devils flatterers . 11. magnetisme no new invention . 12. the armary unguent . 13. the intention , scope , ingredients , and manner of the application of the unguent , good . 14. the unguent , why not unlawfull . 15. nor superstitious . 16. superstition , what . 17. why the manner of the unguents operation , unknown to the censor , concludes nothing against it . 18. magnetisme what . 19. some effects of the loadstone . 20. the magneticall cure of ( otherwise ) incurable diseases , perfect . 21. milk burned , dryes up the breasts . 22. vitrioll destroyed by magnetism . 23. mumie operates from italy , as far as bruxels . 24. the carline thistle , in the shadow , attracteth wonderfully . 25. the same numericall disease may change subjects . 26. from magnetism flowers follow the sun. 27. mumiall philtres , how they may be magneticall . 28. the secret mystery of the blood is the chymist's loadstone . 29. herbs , how , and why magneticall . 30. asarabacca and elder , magneticall . 31. an implicit compact , the refuge of the ignorant . 32. sympathy praesupposeth sense . 33. the mumie of a dead brother , long since impressed upon a chaire , yet magneticall . 34. a saphire , in magnetisme , rivals the unguent . 35. a saphire , by the touch of one carbuncle , cures many others . 36. why the grand praelates of the church wear caerule rings . 37. man hath a magnetick virtue . 38. a zenexton , or amulet , against the plague . 39. necessary it is , that one and the same accident passe from subject to subject . 40. magnetisme a coelistiall quality . 41. a thiefe or murderer , and an honest man , or woman , yeeld the same mosse . 42. whence , and what the seed of the mosse . 43. the fruit of the aër . 44. the mosse , a production of fire . 45. in the mosse also is the back of the magnet , the scope being changed . 46. god , in miracles , follows the course of nature . 47. god , by reliques , approves the magnetisme of the unguent . 48. supernaturall magnetisme warranteth naturall . 49. a lock of the mosse , worn in the forehead , is defence against a sword : but of the stole of saint hubert , against the biting of a mad dog . 50. a lock neatly inserted into the forehead , is a praeservative , during life , from the biting of a mad dog . 51. pepper degenerateth into ivy. 52. how we are to judge of persons . 53. paracelsus the monarch of secrets . 54. every thing hath its peculiar heaven . 56. whence every naturall inclination . 57. whence diseases are astrall in man , and portend foule weather . 51. whence diseased men have a foreknowledge of tempests . 59. what causeth the flux and reflux of the sea. 60. whence the winds are stirred up . 61. the heavens doe not cause , but onely denounce future events . 62. every seminall entity , hath its own peculiar firmament , and the virtue of its influence . 63. the vine , not the stars , troubleth the wine . 64. antimony observes an influence . 65. the loadstone directeth it selfe , but is not attracted , to the pole . 66. glasse , magneticall . 67. rosin , magneticall . 68. the power of garlick over a loadstone : and why the same over mercury . 69. the power operative on a distant object , is naturall even in sublunaries : and magneticall . 70. every creature lives , suo modo : by the peculiar information of his own essentiall forme . 71. what the unguent can attract from the wound , at distance . 72. every satanicall effect is imperfect . 73. why satan cannot cooperate with our unguent . 74. what may be called , the will , and phansie of the flesh , and of the outward man. 75. a twofold ecstasy . 76. the ecstatique virtue of the blood . 77. corruption educeth that dormant virtue into action . 78. the essences of things not subject to corruption . 79. the designe of spagyricall putrefaction . 80. the cause of magnetisme in the unguent . 81. the heart attracted by treasure , magnetically . 82. the originall of necromancy . 83. what man is , in the notion of animal : and what in the notion of the image of god. 84. how an eagle is invited by the magnetism of a carcase . 85. how the blood , in the unguent , is allected to its treasure : and why eagles flock together to a carcase , magnetically . 86. sensation animal , and sensation naturall , different . 87. the effects of witches , impious . 88. the power of the witch , is naturall : and what that power is . 89. where in man , the magicall power is seated . 90. whether man hath a dominion paramount , over all other creatures 91. why a man is indowed with a power of acting , per nutum . 92. the magicall faculty of man , what . 93. this magicall activity lyes ambuscadoed in man , severall wayes . 94. the inward man , the same with the outward fundamentally : but materially diverse . 95. what is the vitall spirit : its science and endowment . 96. in a carcase , extinct by a voluntary death , there is no inhaerent spirit . 97. the division of spirits according to the doctrine of physicians . 98. the soule operates in the body , onely per nutum , magically . 99. in the body , the soule operateth onely by a drowsie , so●…olent beck , or restrained intuition : but out of the body , by a nimble , and vehement . the knowledge of the apple , eclipseth the knowledge magicall . 100. the beginning of the cabal , drawn from dreams , divinely infused . 101. the defect of understanding in the outward man. 102. how far the power of atan extends in witches . 103. what are the true and proper works of satan . 104. sin took away the endowments of grace , and obscured those of nature . 105. the end of the pious exercises of catholikes . 106. the grand effect of the cabal . 107. two subjects of all things . 108. man hath a power of acting , as well by spirit , as body . 109. what kind of ray , or effluvium , is transmitted from a witch , to a bruite . 110. how a witch may be discovered . 111. how the spirit of a witch may be captived , and bound fast in the heart of a horse . 112. the intention depraves a good work . 113. the virtue seminall , is naturally magicall . 114. the cause of the cruentation of a murdered carcase , in the praesence of the homicide . 115. why the plague a frequent concomitant of seidges . 116. works of mercy , to be done upon the distressed , though only in order to the avoydance of the plague . 117. plagues arising from revenge , and exsecrations of men dying under oppression , most fatall . 118. why the carcases of malefactors were to be removed from the gibbet . 119. why excrements can be no authors of a plague . 120. why the blood of a bull is venemous . 121. why the fat of a bulis made an ingredient into the sympathetick unguent ▪ namely , that it may be made an armary unguent . 122. why satan cannot concur to the unguent . 123. the basis of magick . 124. when vanities and impostures are reputed for magick . 125. a good magick in holy writ . 126. what may be called true magick . 127. the cause of the idolatry of witches . 128. the excitators of magick . 129. satan excites it imperfectly . 130. whence beasts are also magicall . 131. the dominion of spirits fostereth contention and love . 132. man , why a microcosm . 133. the mind generateth reall entities . 134. that reall entity of an ambiguous , or midle nature , betwixt a body and a spirit . 135. the descension of the soul , causeth a conformative will. 136. the cause of the fertility of seeds . 137. why lust doth in a manner , alienate us from our mind . 138. a father , by the spirit of his seed , doth generate extra se beyond the limits of his own body , in a subject suddainly removed to distance . 139. what spirit that is , which is the patron of magnetism . 140. the will doth transmit a spirit to the object . unlesse the will did produce some reality , the devill could have no knowledge of it and unlesse it sent this produced reality forth from it self , toward the object , the devil being absent , could never be provok'd thereby . where therefore the treasure is , thither doth the heart of man tend . 141. magnetisme done by sensation . 142. there is a plurality of sensations in one single subject . 143. from the superiour phansy commanding it . 144. why glasse-makers use the powder of loadstone . 145. the phansy of attrahents changed . 146. inanimate creatures , endowed with phansy . 147. why some things eaten , introduce madness . 148. why a mad dog biting a man , causeth madnesse . 149. the sting of the tarantula causeth an alienation of the mind from reason . 150. why beasts defend not themselves against the biting of a mad dog . 15●… . the sympathy betwixt objects removed at distance each from other , is done by the mediation of an universall spirit , which governing the sun , and other coelestiall orbs , is endued with exquisite sense . 152. the imagination , in creatures enriched with an elective faculty , is various , arbitrary , and unconfined : but in others , of the same determinate identity alwayes . 153. the first degree of power magicall , dwelleth in the formes of the three grand principles , viz. sal , sulphur , and mercury . 154. the second is by the phansies of the forms of the mixtum , or integrall composition : which being destroyed , the principles yet remaine . 155. the third ariseth from the phansy of the soule . 156. what beasts are endowed with magicall power , and can act beyond the circumference of themselves , per nutum onely . 157. the fourth degree of power magicall , is from the excited intellect of man. 158. the word magick , is analogous , and appliable to many things , in a third relation . 159. every magicall power , stands in need of , and is improved by excitation . 160. what may be said a subject capable of magnetism . 161. how magnetism differs from other formall proprieties . 162. the superfluous humours & excrements of the body , have also their phansy . 163. why holy writ doth give the attribute of life , rather to the blood then to any other humor in the body . 164. the seed inhaeriteth the phansy of the father , by traduction : whence nobility hath its originall . 165. the skins of the wolfe and sheep retain a phantastique enmity , of their former life . 166. what the phansy of the blood , freshly added to the unguent , can doe . the manner of the magnetisme in the unguent . 167. the difference betwixt a magneticall cure done by the unguent , and that done by a rotten egg . 168. the grand mystery of humane imagination , the foundation of naturall magick . 169. the intellect impresseth the entity , it selfe created , upon the externall object : and there it really perseveres . 170. how to make powerfull pentacles or magicall characters . 171. the phansy , by a naile , as by a medium , holds captive the spirit of the witch . 172. if satan can move a body , without any corporeall extremity : why cannot the inward man doe the same ? and why not rather the spirit of the witch ? 173. the virtue of the unguent , not from the imagination of its compounder : but from diverse simples married into one composition . 174. the author makes profession of his faith. in the eighth year of this age , there came to my hands an oration declamatory , made at marpurge of the catti , wherein rodulphus goclenius ( to whom the publick profession of philosophy was lately committed ) paying his first fruits to the university , endevours to make good , that the cure of wounds , by the sympathetick , and armarie unguent , first invented by paracelsus , is meerly natural . which oration i wholly read , and sighed , that the history of natural things had faln under the protection of so weak a patron . the author , nevertheless , highly pleased himself with that argument of writing , and with a continued barrenness of probation , in the year 1613. published the same work , with some enlargement . not long since , i also met with a succinct anatome of the fore-mentioned book , compiled by a certain divine , savoring more of a fine-witted censure , then a solid disputation . whereupon my judgment , what ever it were , was much desired ; at least , in that relation , that the thing invented by paracelsus , neerly concerned him , and my self , his disciple . i shall therefore declare , what i conceive of the physician goclenius , and what of the divine , the censor . the physician in the first place , proposes , and with ostentation promises to prove , the magnetical cure of wounds to be purely natural ; but i found the undertaker insufficient , to perform so weighty a task ; in regard he no where , or at best but very slenderly , makes good the title , or his own large promises . collecting , hence and thence from divers authors , many rhapsodies or gleanings , by which he conceives he hath , to ample satisfaction , proved , that in the inventory of created natures , there are certain formal or essential vertues , which men term sympathy and antipathy ; and also that from the concession of these , the magnetical cure is meerly natural . many things , i say , borrowed from the egyptians , chaldeans , persians , conjurers , and impostors , he hath amassed together into this one discourse , that thereby he might evidence and confirm that magnetism , which notwithstanding , himself was wholly ignorant of . with design , partly , that by a delightful entertainment of those mindes that are eager in the quest of novelties , he might seduce them from a direct progression to the mark ; and partly to raise them to an admiration of the author , who seemed to have read , and ransacked not onely vulgar , but also all other more rare and antique writers . for which consideration , the physician does very absurdly confound sympathy ( which erroneously , and under various notions he very often introduces ) with magnetism ; and from that concludes this to be natural : for i have observed this vulnerary unguent to cure , not onely men , but horses also ; with which our nature holds not so neer an affinity ( unless we grant our selves to be asses ) that from thence the sympathetick unguent should deserve to be accounted common to horses , as well as to us . with the same absurd indistinction , he also confounds sympathy with fascination and ligation , and both with magnetism ; namely , with great anxiety and travel of minde , he crouds together upon the stage , in one scene , without any distinction , all secret , and more abstruse effects what ever ; that being destitute of reasons , he might thereby support his own magnetism . i will by an example difference fascination from sympathy , and both from magnetism . a dog holds an antipathy ( for sympathy and antipathy are both daughters of the same mother ) with a hen ; for he preys upon her , and she flies from him ; but when she hath newly hatched her chickens , and excluded them from the protection of their shells , she boldly assaults , and puts to flight a dog ; though of himself very courageous ; to wit , the soul of the hen , by fascination , chaining up the soul of the dog ; the former antipathy , disparity of weapons for guard , and great ods of strength affording no hinderance to the action : but in this , magnetism is no where to be found . moreover , what other instances the physician inserts , concerning impresses , characters , gamaheu , or magical images , ceremonies , and such like , for the most part , vain observances , are but random shots , wholly impertinent to the present scope , and rather stagger the doctrine of magnetism , by rendring it suspected , then support or advance it . but of these positively to determine any thing , is a task not sutable to my wit. goclenius furthermore wanders from truth , and indeed with no less temerity then ignorance ; fondly dreaming from the prescript of paracelsus , that the weapon , wherewith the wound was inflicted , if rolled up in the weapon salve , did work the cure on the wound . for in vain is the weapon , or point of the sword anointed with the armary unguent , prescribed by him , unless it be distained with blood , and that blood be first dried upon the sword . for to paracelsus , the sympathetick unguent is one thing , in respect of the blood effluxed out of the wound ; and that unguent , wherewith arms , which have received no tincture of blood , are to be emplastrated , clearly another ; and for this reason , he christens the former , the magnetick , and sympathetick , the latter , the armary magnetick unguent : which therefore ( and to good purpose ) receives into its confection , besides the ingredients essential to the former , honey , and bulls fat . in fine , goclenius , to humor his own genius , hath altered the prescription of paracelsus ; affirming , that the usnea , or moss , is to be selected onely from the skulls of such , as have been hanged . of which his own , and grosly erroneous invention enquiring a reason , he blushes not foolishly to imagine , that in strangulation the vital spirits violently retreat into the skull , and there constantly shroud themselves for some time , until the moss shall , under the open canopy of the air , grow up , and periwig the cranium . paracelsus hath expresly taught the contrary , and by multiplied experience we are confirmed , that usnea gathered from the skulls of such , who have been broken on the wheel , is in virtue no whit inferior to that of men strangled with a halter . for truly from animals there is not drawn the quint essence ( in regard the principal , and paramont essence perisheth together with the influent spirit , and life ) but onely the virtue mumial , that is , the originary , implantate , and confermentate spirit , safely remaining , and in an obscure vitality surviving , in bodies extinct by violence . what other things goclenius hath delivered , of remedies to repair a ruinous memory , as we cannot but declare them , in no relation , congruent to the scope intended ; so also we nothing doubt to prove them meer pageants and impertinent flourishes . betwixt our divine and physician , there is at all no dispute de facto , about the verity of the fact ; for both unanimously concede the cure to be wrought upon the wounded person : the contention lies onely in this , that the physician asserts this magnetical cure to be purely natural , but the divine will needs have it satanical , and that from a compact of the first inventor . of which censure , in his anatome of our physicians discourse , he alledges no positive reason ; conceiving it sufficiently satisfactory , if he , on the score of his own solitary judgment , abolish it , though he subjoyn no grounds for the abolition ; that is , acquiescing onely in this , that he hath removed the feeble and invalid arguments of the assertor ; which , in sober truth , is a matter of no diligence , no learning , and of no authority to erect or establish beleif . for what avails it , to the procurement of faith , from no stronger evidence , then the futility of specious reasons , urged by some ignorant head , to give a definite judgment on the thing it self ? and to declare it impious , if himself hath not so much as in a dream thought upon any one petty reason , for the support of his sentence ? what if i , being a laick , should with course and untrimmed arguments , commend presbytery , and another reject my reasons as unworthy and insufficient , will the order of priesthood it self be therefore rejected ? of what concernment , i pray , is the ignorance , or temerity of any one to realities themselves ? in the court of truth , philosophy submits not it self to naked and single censures , unless there also concur a considerable gravity of the censors , fortified with firm and convincible reasons . wherefore i , who have undertaken , in opposition to our divine , to make good , that the magnetick cure of wounds , is the single , and ordinary effect of nature ; in the first place , think goclenius worthy to be excused , if without success he hath sweat in the indagation of the grand and approximate cause of this rare effect . what wonder , when our divine makes publick confession , that himself is utterly ignorant of that cause , and onely for that reason refers it to satan , as to the author and master-wheel in this abstruse motion : for such is the infirmity of our delapsed nature , that we are destitute of the knowledg of the most , and most excellent things . and therefore , to palliate this defect of our understanding , we , though not without some tacite reluctancy within , obliquely wrest many effects , whose efficients are beyond the ken of our blear-eyed reason , to the sanctuary of ignorance , and refer them to the catalogue of occult qualities . for who , among divines , ever had a plenary and demonstrative knowledg of the true and proper cause of risibility , or any other formal propriety : for example , of the heat of fire . dost not thou fall upon that fallacy , petitio principii , an absurd begging of the question , if thou answer , that extreme heat belongs to fire , because it is of the essence of fire ? in truth , the essences of forms , in regard they are unknown to us , à priori , from their causalities ; therefore also is the original , or pedigree of formal proprieties , wholly abstruse , jejune , and undiscovered ; and where we perceive any formal passion subjoyned , the minde , as if tired with vain scrutiny , soon ceaseth from the disquisition of it , and reposeth it self , sitting down contented with the empty notion , and bare name of occult proprieties . go to , i beseech thee , does the anatomist , our censor , happily know the reason why a dog swings his tayl when he rejoyces , but a lyon when he is angry ; and a cat , when pleased , advances hers in an erect posture ? what therefore , when himself cannot give a reason for the motion of a tayl , will he so much wonder , that goclenius hath given an improper and insolid reason of magnetism ? and from the refutation of that , presume that he hath more then sufficiently demonstrated that sanation of wounds to be satanical , which is the genuine effect of magnetism ? far from us be so great temerity of censure . come on then ; why dost thou call that cure dibolical ? insooth , thou oughtest to have annexed the reason of thy censure , unless thou expectest it should be denied by others , with the same facility , wherewith thou affirmest it to be diabolical . lawyers require onely the affirmative confirmed ; but philosophers both parts , that the ignorance or protervity of the nogant party , may not appear greater then that of the affirmant . dost thou happily maintain the cure to be diabolical , because it cannot be clearly understood ( by thee ) that there is any natural reason for it ? i will not beleeve , that from thy own infirmity , thou mayst deliver so idle and stupid a sentence of the vertue of it . for thou well knowest , that the imbecillity of our understanding , in not comprehending the more abstruse and retired causes of things , is not to be ascribed to any defect in their nature , but in our own hoodwinkt intellectual●… . proceed therefore ; whence hast thou assurance , that god , in his primitive intention , hath not directed this vertue magnetical to the benefit of the wounded ? shew us your commission ; hath god elected you the secretary of his councel ? certainly , however you may waver in your belief , you shall in conclusion finde , that amongst you divines , the magnetick cure can be accounted diabolical for no other reason then that the shallowness of your judgment cannot comprehend , nor your function admit it to be natural . what wonder , that no divine hath ever scented these subtilities ? for after the priest and the levite had both passed on to jericho , there succeeded a samaritan , a lay man , who deprived the priests of all right of disquisition into the secret causes of things . whereupon nature from thenceforth summoned not divines to be the interpreters of her nicer operations , but adopted physicians onely to be her darlings , and none but such , who instructed by pyrotechny , examine the proprieties of things , by sequestring the impediments or clogs of vertues ambuscadoed in their grosser materials , such are their crudity , venenosities , and impurities ; that is those bryars and thorns every where , from the first malediction , inoculated into the creatures in their spring or virgin estate . for since dame nature ( the proto-chymist ) her self doth every day sublime , calcine , ferment , dissolve , coagulate , fix , &c. certainly we also , the onely faithful interpreters of natures oracles , do by the same helps and advantages draw forth the essential qualities of things from the dark prison of their materials , and bring them to the meridian light of reason . but the divine , that he may be able to discern what is prestigious , from what is natural ; it is requisite , that he first borrow the definition from us , lest the cobler shamefully adventure beyond his last : let the divine enquire onely concerning god , but the naturalist concerning nature . assuredly the goodness of the creator was largely diffused on all the works of his hands , who created all things for the use and benefit of ingrateful man : neither admitted any of our divines as an assessor in his councel , how many , and how excellent vertues he should endow his creatures withal . in the interim , i am wholly unsatisfied how he can be excused from the sin of pride , who because he comprehends not the natural cause , as measuring all the immense works of god by the narrow extent of his own head , does therefore audaciously deny , that god hath bestowed any such vertue on the creature ; as if man , a vile worm , had fathom'd the power of god , and were privy to the designes of his councel . he estimates the mindes of all men by his own , who thinks that cannot be done which he cannot understand . to me , seriously , it appears a wonder in no respect that god hath , besides a body perfectly resembling the loadstone , bestowed upon his creatures a noble vertue also , which our reason can explicate by no other term then that of magnetism . ought it not to suffice , to the indubitate concession of magnetism , that onely one single example ( i shall hereafter bring in others , numerous and apposite ) be introduced , of the natural efficiency of that stone , according to the model or pattern whereof , even other endowments , variously distributed amongst the creatures , may be clearly understood ? what , because the thing is new , paradoxical , and above the reach of your understanding , must it therefore be satanical also ? far be it from us to conceive so unworthily of the divine majesty of the creator ; nor indeed ought we thus to court or gratifie the devil , by transferring this honor upon him ; for what can ever affect him with a more full delight , then that the glory of good works be ascribed to him , as if he had been the grand author of them ? that material nature does uncessantly by its secret magnetism , suck down forms from the brests of the superior orbs , and greedily thirst after the favor and benign influence of the celestial luminaries , you willingly concede ; and moreover , that the stars in exchange attract some tribute from inferior bodies , so that there is a free commerce , and reciprocal return from each to other , and one harmonious concord , and conspiracy of all parts with the whole universe : and thus magnetism , in regard it is vigorous and pregnant in every thing , hath nothing new in it but the name , nor is it paradoxical , but to those who deride all things , and refer to the dominion of satan , whatsoever falls not within the narrow circle of their own understanding . in good truth , this kinde of wisdom is never to be found by him that seeks it with derision . but i beseech you , what of superstition hath the armary unguent ? whether because it is compounded of the moss , blood , mumy , and fat of man ? alas ! the physician uses these inoffensively , and to this purpose the apothecary is licensed to sell them . or perchance , because the manner of using and applying the medicine is new to you , unaccustomed to the vulgar , but admirable to both ; must the effect therefore be satanical ? sub due your passion , and calm your rage , ere long you shall be more fully satisfied . for the manner of its application , contains in it nothing of evil . first , the intention is good and pious , and directed onely to a good and charitable end ; namely , the healing of our sick , languishing neighbor , without pain , without danger , and without the consumption of his purse : and do you call this diabolical ? in fine , the remedies themselves are all meer natural means , to which we shall in the progress of our dispute , by convincing arguments demonstrate , that this generous faculty was peculiarly given by god himself . our wishes are that your self had , by so firm evidence , ratified your negative position , viz. that god , the supreme good , did not , in the creation , confer upon the ingredients of the unguent , any such natural vertue , and mumial magnetism . this magnetical remedy can , on no side , be laid open to the encroachment of suspect ; since , both in the confection and use , it hath no superstitious rites performed , it requires no mysterious words , no characters , or impresses , no prestigious ceremo●…ies , or vain observances conjoyned : it presupposes no planetary hours , or punctilioes of constellations , it prophanes not sacred things ; and what is more , it forestals not the imagination , requires not a confidence , or implicit faith , nay not so much as bare leave or consent from the wounded party ; all which are ever annexed to superstitious cures . for we account that properly to be superstition , when men relie upon the single power of an implicit faith , or imagination , or both concurring , above any particular vertue , which of it self is not sufficient , or by the primitive intention of the creator , not destined to the production of that particular effect . by which it is clearly manifest , that our magnetick cure hath none the smallest tincture of superstition . do thou therefore , o divine ! great with a sarcasm , with design at least to detect and deride the devil , make an experiment of the unguent , that so thou mayest destroy and totally abolish that implicit compact with him ; nevertheless thou shalt , volent or nolent , without either direction from , or obedience to thy will , finde the same effect result from thy application of it , that usually does upon ours ; which does not at all succeed upon the conjunction of superstitious causes . whoever reputes the magnetical sanation of wounds to be diabolical , not because it is performed by unlawful means , or directed to an unwarrantable end ; but because in the manner of its operation , it progresses in a path , which his reason cannot trace : he also convicted by the same argument , shall either give the quidditative and peculiarly express causes of all those admirable effects of the loadstone , which in the sequel of my discourse i am to mention ; or confess , that those rare operations of the loadstone , are the impostures and the legerdemain of satan ; or shall compulsively concede with us , ( which indeed will be the safer way ) that in nature there is a magnetism , that is , a certain hidden property , by this appellation , in reference to the conspicuous and confest prerogative of that stone , distinguisht from all other abstruse , and to common heads unknown , qualities . a loadstone placed upon a thin small trencher of wood , floating on water , does instantly in one determinate point australize , and in the other septentrionate . that extreme , which by its verticity regards the southern pole , when by touch it hath impregnated a piece of steel or iron , will immediately steer it to the north ; and the other extreme which looks upon the northern pole , having invigorated a needle of steel , will incline it to the south . by its septentrional point , which is its belly , it attracts iron or steel to it ; and by its australe end , which is its back , it thrusts iron or steel from it . the aquilonary side , by friction of the point of a compass needle , positionally from the right hand to the left , endows it with a vertical or polary faculty , whereby it is directed to the south : but if the friction be ordered in a quite contrary position , from the left hand to the right , the direction of the point of the needle will also be contrary , and neer to the north. thus also the australe side of the loadstone , according to the variety of locality , or position in friction , varies the polarity . nay , what carrieth a neerer face of miracle , if a loadstone by its affriction hath invigorated and excited a piece of iron , with a magnetical activity , that is , a power to attract another piece of iron ; the same new made magnetical iron , if inverted upside down , and in that antipodean position , a second time , rub'd upon the loadstone , will , in the same moment , be devested of its magnetical infusion , and clean forget it s lately acquired power of attraction . all which various and admirable effects of the loadstone , thou mayest , if thy judgment relish them , finde made good by multiplied observations , by william guilbert , not many yeers past , a physician in london , in his book de magnete : of which subject no man ever writ more judiciously or experimentally ; and by whose industry , the variation of the compass may be restored . the needle , which now points directly upon the north , coming under the equinoctial line , staggers to and fro , hovers from pole to pole , and in a trembling unconstancy fixes on neither : but once brought over the meridian , nimbly wheels about , and fixedly applies it self to the south . i shall annex this medical vertue of it : the back of the loadstone , as it repulseth iron , so also it retrudeth the gut , by reason of too wide an expansion of the process of the peritonaeum , prolapsed into the scrotum , cureth the enterocele or intestine rupture , and likewise all catarrhes or destilments , that have a private affinity , or analogy with the nature of iron . the iron-attracting faculty , if in a composition , married to the mumy of a woman , then the back of the loadstone applied to her thigh , on the inside , and the belly of another imposed upon her loyns , about the lowest spondil of the back , will safely prevent an abortion threatned ; but on the contrary , the belly of one loadstone applied to her thigh , and the back of another to her back , will both wonderfully facilitate her travail , and expedite her delivery . all which various operations of the loadstone , our anatomist is obliged to illustrate , by reasons , drawn ae priori , from the fountain of their distinct and determinate efficiencies , and expound to us the subtile manner of the progress of each cause , in the production of each several effect : otherwise , i shall by a parile argument of ignorance , conclude , that these in like manner , are also meer illusions of satan , and no effects of nature . i shall now infer some certain examples of another magnetism , cousin-german to the former ; that so with our judgment better informed we may at length come to the positive reason , and clear refutation of all the objections of our adversaries . what can i do more ? i my self will contrive reasons for you , which you have not at all urged . you may argue thus ; every effect either immediately proceeds from god , the sole operator , and so is a miracle ; or from satan , and so is prodigious ; or from natural and ordinary causes , and so is meerly natural ; but magnetism is neither a miracle , nor a natural effect ; and therefore satanical . i answer ; though i might , with great facility , declare this enumeration delivered , to be invalid , in regard the inward man hath a power of activity , by none of the forementioned ways , ( which , in the pursuit of our debate , we shall largely , and to ample satisfaction , treat of ) yet however we now with a dry foot , pass by the assumption , making it our chief task to deny and subvert the inference , namely in that part , whereby it is asserted , that the effect is not natural . for , by the rules of orderly and artificial disputation , that was first to be made good , that we might not fall foul upon that elench , petitio principii , a precarious concession of that thesis , which is yet questionable and undetermined ; but in this point , our censor hath yet been , and ever will be defective , to affirm the effect not to be natural ; unless he thought , that a bare affirmation is equivalent to a confirmation , and that to have substituted his single authority in the room of reason , was evidence strong enough to silence doubt , and procure credence . for there are many effects natural , which yet do not ordinarily happen ; namely , such as are rarely incident . wherefore to gratifie our anatomist , i shall all along the tract of this exercise , not onely maintain the affirmative part , but also perspicuously commonstrate it by reasons , and ratifie it by examples . for so the mighty argument , even now urged , will fall by its own weight . there is a book , imprinted at franekera , in the year 1611. by uldericus dominicus balck , of the lamp of life . in which you shall finde , out of paracelsus , the true magnetical cure of most diseases , as of the dropsie , gout , jaundies , &c. by including the warm blood of the patient in the shell and white of an egg , which exposed to a gentle heat , and mixt with a bait of flesh , you shall give , together with the blood , to a hungry dog , or swine , and the disease shall instantly pass from you into the dog , and utterly leave you ; no otherwise then the leprosie of naaman did , by the exsecration of the prophet , transmigrate into gehazi . what , do you account this also diabolical , thus to have restored our languishing neighbor , by the magnetism onely of the mumial blood ? however , he is perfectly and undoubtedly recovered . ¶ a woman weaning her childe , to the end her brests may the sooner dry up , strokes her milk into a fire of glowing coals , and thereupon her paps suddenly grow flaccid , and the fountain of her milk , is stopped . what , doth the devil suck and drain them ? hath any one with his excrements defiled the threshold of thy door , and thou intendest to prohibit that nastiness for the future , do but lay a red-hot iron upon the excrement , and the immodest sloven shall , in a very short space , grow scabby on his buttocks ; the fire torrifying the excrement , and by dorsal magnetism driving the acrimony of the burning , into his impudent anus . perchance , you will object , that this action is satanical , in regard the end of it is revenge , and the laesion of the party , which offended us ; but assuredly , the abuse of such powers depends on the liberty of mans will , and yet the use is no whit the less natural . make a small table of bismuthum * , and on the one extreme , place a piece of amber , on the other , a piece of green vitriol ; the vitriol will in a moment lose both its colour and acidity . both which are familiarly observable in the preparation of amber . this one experiment , of all others , cannot but be free from all suspect of imposture , and illusion of the devil . a certain inhabitant of bruxels , in a combat had his nose mowed off , addressed himself to tagliacozzus * , a famous chirurgeon , living at bononia , that he might procure a new one ; and when he feared the incision of his own arm , he hired a porter to admit it , out of whose arm , having first given the reward agreed upon , at length he dig'd a new nose . about thirteen moneths after his return to his own countrey , on a sudden the ingrafted nose grew cold , putrified , and within few days , dropt off . to those of his friends , that were curious in the exploration of the cause of this unexpected misfortune , it was discovered , that the porter expired , neer about the same punctilio of time , wherein the nose grew frigid and cadaverous . there are at bruxels yet surviving , some of good repute , that were eye-witnesses of these occurrences . is not this magnetism of manifest affinity with mumy , whereby the nose , enjoying , by title and right of inoculation , a community of life , sense and vegetation , for so many moneths , on a sudden mortified on the other side of the alpes ? i pray , what is there in this of superstition ? what of attent and exalted imagination ? the root of the carline thistle ( which is the white chamaeleon of d●…oscorides ) pluckt up when full of juice and vigor , and contemporate with humane mumy , does , as it were by an operative ferment , exhaust all the natural strength and courage of a man , on whose shadow thou treadest , and infuse it into thee . but you may account this praestigious , because paradoxical ; as if the same identical leprosie were not traduced from naaman to gehazi ; and the same numerical jaundies transplanted from the patient to a dog . for a disease is not under the predicament of quality ; but all the predicaments are found in every particular disease . since indeed , it may be lawful to accommodate names to things , but not things to names . the heliotropian or solisequous flowers are wheeled about after the sun , by a certain magnetism ; not for his heat , whose comfort they may long after ; for in a cloudy and cold day they imitate the rhythme of the sun ; nor for his light , are they the lacqueis of the sun ; for in the dark night , when they have deserted him , they face about from the west , to the east . you will not account this diabolical , in regard you have another subterfuge at hand ; namely the harmony of superior bodies , with inferior , and a faculty attractive , purely celestial , and no way communicable to sublunaries . as though the microcosm , unworthy this heavenly prerogative , could in his blood and moss observe , and correspond to no revolution of the planets . i might here , with pertinence , discourse of philters , or amorous medicines , which require a mumial confermentation , that the affection and desire of the minde may be forcibly drawn , and rapt on to one determinate object . but on a sober consult with thought , it seems more advised , to supersede that theme , when i shall first have mentioned this one observation ; i know an herb , commonly obvious , which if it be rubbed , and cherished in thy hand , until it wax warm , you may hold fast the hand of another person , until that also grow warm , and he shall continually burn with an ardent love , and fixt dilection of thy person , for many days together . i held in my hand , first bathed in the steam of this love-procuring plant the foot of a dog , for some few minutes : the dog , wholly renouncing his old mistress , instantly followed me , and courted me so hotly , that in the night he lamentably howled at my chamber door , that i should open and admit him . there are some now living in bruxels , who are witnesses to me , and can attest the truth of this fact . for the heat of a mans hand warming and resolving the plant , i say not a bare , simple and solitary heat , but excited and impregnate with a certain effluvium , or emanation of spirits natural , doth peculiarly determine and individuate the vertue of the plant to himself ; and by this ferment communicated to a second person , doth by magnetism allect the spirit of that person , and subdue him to love . i omit the cures of many diseases , which the arcanum , the mystery of humane blood , doth magnetically perform : for unless the blood , yea the very sanies or purulent effluxions from wounds and ulcers , the urine , and that subtle effluvium , which by insensible transpiration evaporates through the pores of the skin , did continually exhaust , and carry with them some part of the vital spirit ; and unless these had also some participation of vitality , and conspiracy with the whole body , after their remove from the whole concretum : undoubtedly the life of man could not be so short . for indeed this is the cause of our intestine calamity , and that principle of death we carry about us , ambuscadoed in the very principles of life . the herbs arsemart or water pepper , cumfry , chirurgeons sophia or flixweed , adders tongue , and many other of the vulnerary tribe , have this peculiar endowment ; that if , when cold they are steept in water ( for an oke felled , when the north wind blows , will grow verminous and rotten , if not instantly sunk under water ) and then applied to a wound or ulcer , until they grow warm , and after buried in a muddy uliginous earth ; when they begin to putrifie , they then operate upon , and draw from the patient , whatever is evil , superfluous , and hurtful to him . and this the herbs perform , not while they grow in the earth , nor so long as they remain in their primitive and pristine form ( for necessary it is that the grain be mortified , that it may bring forth fruit ) but in the putrefaction of their corporeities , for the essential virtues being then as it were released from the prison and impediments of the corporeal matter , do put forth and freely execute that magnetism , which otherwise had lain dormant and enchained , and according to the contagion and impression received from the wounded or ulcerated part , powerfully suck out much of the remaining evil , though seated deeply and at great distance in the body . if any one in gathering the leaves of asarabecca , shall pluck them upward , they will perform their operation respectively , and purge any third person , that is wholly ignorant of that positional traction , by vomit onely ; but if in gathering they be wrested downward , they then will purge onely by stool . here at least can be no suspect of superstition ; for what need i here to mention any thing of imagination ; when your selves concede , that by the power of imagination nothing can be acted upon a third object , especially where that third object is utterly ignorant of the position , which the decerpent used ? will you again take hold of the sacred anchor of ignorance , and accuse this secret of an implicite compact with satan ? but herein lurks no vain observance ; chiefly when the decerptor shall have , the assument being wholly inscious of the position , pluckt off the leaves , either upward or downward . doubtless , besides asarum and the extremities or clusters of elder , no other cathartick medicines are enriched with this propriety ; for they , in what position soever collected from the plant , do ever operate univocally : that is , either constantly upwards , or constantly downwards , according to the destination of their gifts . but in asarum , in the integral plant , there sensibly appears a magnetical propriety ; and so it doth variously endow its leaves , according to the sense of their decerption . that not onely plants , but also almost all created entities , have a certain adumbration of sense , or obscure sensibility , they largely declare as well by sympathy , as antipathy ( which presuppose , and cannot consist without sense ) maintained amongst themselves ; which satisfactorily to manifest , shall be the subject of some succeeding lines . a second fit of the gout surprized a noble matron , of my acquaintance , after the first paroxysm had gone off , and left her ; and thenceforward the gout , by an unwonted recidivation , and periodical recourse , infested her without remission , for many moneths together . but she not apprehending whence so violent and unexpected a return of the disease had happened to her ; at length she rising from her bed , as often as the fury of the fit , by intervals , somewhat remitted , reposed her self in a chair , wherein a brother of hers , many years past , and in another city , cruelly tortured with the gout , was wont to sit , she instantly found that from thence the disease did awake , and afresh invade her . this effect likewise is , on no pretence whatever , to be ascribed to imagination or doubt ; since both these were much yonger then the effect . but if it hapned that any third person subject to the gout sate in the same chair , to him there succeeded not any reincrudation of the disease . for which reason , the mumy of her dead brother deservedly rendred the chair suspected of contagion ; which penetrating through all her cloaths , did to the sister onely , and not to any other podagrical person , excite those frequent refluxes and paroxysms , which otherwise had slept , and not invaded her . the cause truly was the magnetism of the brothers mumy , infected with a prodagrical miasm or tincture , effluxed from him , and impressed upon the chair , determinately operating on the uterine mumy of the sister ; and that a long tract of time after his funeral . i beseech you , what can you discover in this of any implicite compact , with our grand adversary satan ? a saphire enobled with a deep coerule tincture , if it be applied to , and a small time rub'd upon a carbuncle , whereby the plague pathognomonically discovers it self , and after a while be removed , the absent jewel then ceaseth not magnetically to allect and extract all the pestilential virulency , and contagious poyson from the infected party ; provided that this be done , before the patient hath suffered too great a prosternation of spirits , and decay of strength . physicians therefore use ( which to us much advances the reputation of magnetism ) gently and slowly to draw a circle with a saphire , round about a pestilential tumor : to this end , lest the venome exhaling , should in that part , where it insensibly evaporates , exspatiate and dilate it self to a wider range , and so in that circumferential expansion infect some noble part adjacent . for in that place where the virulency exhales , magnetically attracted from the infected body as it were through a trunck , or conduit-pipe , all the round or circle instantly grows black , and at length torrified into an eschar falls of : the heart , in the interim , being preserved from the fatal contagion . nor is there any postern door left open to evasion , by objecting , that we are to conceive the poyson attracted to the carbuncle , in the same moment , when the round was drawn about the place , or at least then critically conquer'd by the internal champion of life , the heart ; and not to attribute it to any magnetism of the saphire removed at distance . but however , the sick will give in their testimony , that they did not perceive any relief in the instant of the saphires touch ; but a good while after : the poyson indeed , gradually , by little and little , departing from the body , by the magnetical attraction . yea , the place it self will afford a more certain and satisfactory evidence on the behalf of magnetism ; for it grows not black and torrid in the minute of , or by the affriction of the saphire ; but many minutes after , being immediately combust by the pestiferous , that is arsenical , vapor , in that one path , and no other , expiring from the centrals . for where the venome does continually exhale , the venemous radii being congregated and bound up into one gone or pyramidal point , there it is of necessity that the part suffer extreme violence , grow black , and be torrified ; which effects , as they are performed in successive motions of time , so also they inform us , that the virulency does successively breathe forth , in obedience to the magnetical alliciency of the absent gem. your reply perchance will be , that every agent doth require a certain , and limited duration of its impression : that the saphire did not benefit the patient in the present , but left behinde it an impression , which was by degrees to subdue the remainder of the plague ; but not that the saphire did attract any thing at all , after its remove from the carbuncle . here you shall observe , that every agent of nature does act in an instant in the first moment of congression , unless there be some obstacle or remora of disobedience in the patient ; but in the body infected there can be no impediment from reluctancy , or stop of reaction , since it longs for a relief with all expedition , and in expectation of it , uncessantly pants and labors in all veins of the body . it would be clear another thing , if the saphire were first to suffer preparation , concoction , or alteration , that so from the concretion there might be educed the imprisoned agent , which should afterwards diffuse and spread it self through all parts of the body . but when the saphire conserves its native integrity , and continues undissolved and incorrupt , it requires onely a certain determinate time for this , that it may , by the touch and mediation of the mumy , associate and unite its own influential ray to the pestilential vapor , and so captive it , that afterwards being withdrawn , it may forcibly command it from the heart . to this association and marriage , i say , that there be a convenient alligation of the virtue saphirical to , and as it were a conglomeration with the venome , there is required a determinate measure of time ( grant the eighth part of an hour ) wherein the compass line may be drawn about the pestilential bubo . for if there were onely some bare , single impression of the saphire , which constantly adhering to the place after the touch , should by little and little conquer and eradicate the venome , within the precincts of the body ; and no magnetical alliciency of the absent stone : there could no reason be found out , why that particular place of the circle , should be benegroed and torrified , nor why the virulent exhalation should not range in a larger circumference then the cicumdate line . what is more , if many carbuncles freshly shew themselves in divers places at once ; yet that onely carbuncle , which was circumscribed with the saphire , undergoes combustion and denigration , all the other sinking down again , and vanishing insensibly . and therefore , i beseech you , what impression attractive can the saphire leave behinde it , after its remove , if not a magnetical one ? principally , when the attractum doth imply an inseparable relation to the attrahent ; and so transpositively . yea , if the saphire should from its self transmit any virtue into the sick body , after twice or thrice using , it would inevitably be subject to diminution and decay of power , ( for so the hoof of the elk , by often use of it , to suspend and resist the invasion of epileptick paroxysms , by degrees becomes evirate and despoiled of all activity ) that faculty , which is imprest upon the carbuncle , being exhaust and spent ; which manifestly in the saphire falls not out alike ; for so much the more excellent and efficacious a saphire is esteemed , by how much the more frequently it has suckt out the venome of the pestilence . it may be you 'l answer , that the saphire does generate a new third quality in the patient , by reason whereof it begins to attract and drain the poyson , that way onely ; and that although the saphire be then removed , yet that nature nevertheless , once encouraged and invited into action , ceases not to persevere in the expulsion , and maintains that crisis , through that passage onely , where the poyson first began to be expell'd . first , we enquire , whether the saphire does attract by a first , manifest quality ( imagine heat ) or by a formal magnetical propriety ? but this magnetical essential faculty requires not any previous generation , or result , of a new quality , within the body ; but onely the conjunction of its virtue attractive , to the pestilential aer , so that it may perform its office of attraction . from whence the inference is ; that the attraction is performed by the absent saphire . this assumption holds clearly good , because every natural attrahent does attract adse , to it self ; for to this end onely does it attract . for which reason , a new third quality , generated in the body , would rather attract the virulent exhalation concentrically and inwards , and could by no means be invited outwards , by an excentrical attraction . our second enquiry is ; whether the saphire may not have generated , and emitted a virtue from it self , and imprest that virtue on the skin onely ? for neither can this stand ; since then , it would not be necessary , that a circle should be drawn about the carbuncle , with the saphire ; but it would be sufficient , that any other more remote and commodious part of the skin be toucht ; which , by the suffrage of experience , is absolutely false . our third query is , whether the saphire haply can unlock and expand the pores of the skin ? and whether nature , on the single stock of its power , could not have made use of its own expulsive faculty , without the attraction of the saphire ? if we say , not ; then the saphire cannot be allowed to attract , but onely to have assisted and corroborated the expulsive faculty . but this opinion is soon subverted by the effect ; in that no place suffers combustion , either without or beyond the round ; and also because the other carbuncles , beginning to bud forth , do at the same time sink away and vanish , though never toucht by the saphire . since indeed , if onely the expulsive faculty were corroborated , that would expel the venemous fumes every way round , and could not be restrained to any one certain and elect place . fourthly , nature had already , before the admotion and affriction of the saphire , giving sufficient testimony of its own valor and ability , in expelling the carbuncle singly and of its own accord . whence also it appears a gross falsity , that nature once excited and rouzed up to expulsion , by the saphirical infusion , does afterward persevere in , and stoutly maintain that critical motion ; since observation assures us , that frequently the saphire is but slowly applied , and comes too late , to assist the beginning of the expulsion . for which considerations , notwithstanding any thing you shall be able to oppose , it is of absolute necessity , that the pestilential venome is magnetically attracted by the absent saphire . will you therefore , that the natural magnetism of the armary unguent be more plainly and amply discovered unto you ? or will you disparage and calumniate the noble alliciency of the saphire ; and also write to the calumniator ? you will ( i suppose ) judg it to have much more of reason and solid truth to comply with our faith ; that as death , wounds , diseases , slaughters crept in , and made encroachments on humane nature , by means of the devil , from whom nothing proceeds but mischief : so also that every good gift comes down from the father of lights . it being a position universally assented unto by all men : that that must be good , which neither the subject , nor the object , nor the means , nor the end proposed , can accuse and convict of evil . hence was it , that the antient prelates of the church were wont heretofore to wear rings enricht with a saphire ; the use and excellent virtue of that precious stone being , for the major part , hardly understood among them . for to whomsoever the charge of souls is committed , to them also of equity , and duty , it belongs to visit and be assistant to the infected with the plague ; the dark mist of ignorance , in our days , obnubilating and eclipsing the knowledg of the most excellent pieces of nature ; in whose room have succeeded , an affected spruceness of language , a vain-glorious trimness of the windy and dead letter , and a confident , presument garrulity . which may be the subject of our serious sorrow , but more of our wonder ; that all mechanique arts do daily receive advancement , and ascend by the degrees of new discoveries , neerer towards their perfection ; but the study of philosophy onely stands ever perplext and discouraged with unjust censures , and now is in its apogaeo , or retrogradation . i have dwelt the longer upon this subject , the saphire , in respect it contains a case , in all points alike , and wholly quadrant to that of the armary unguent . in this particular , therefore , man also hath his magnes , or domestick power of alliciency ; whereby , in time of the plague , he draws in , through the invisible pores of the skin , the pestilential atomes exhaling from the infected . for nature , which at all other times is wont to admit nothing but wholsome and alimentary juice and with great diligence and exactness to sequester that juice , from the inalimentary and excrementitious parts of it ; at this time , yeelding and wholly submitting to its magnes , greedily sucks in the pestiferous aer , and invites death into the inmost closet of life . ediametro contrary to this intestine magnes , providence has furnisht us with another peculiar , antagonistical magnes ( this we insert , that our dispute may not become barren and fruitless , in any one part of it , namely the saphire , or a translucid piece of amber ; which rubbed to calefaction upon the seven planetary pulses , ( those on the jugular arteries , on the handwrists , neer the instep , and on the throne of the heart ) and hung about the neck instead of a periapt or amulet , are too hard for the humane magnes , conquer and destroy his attraction , and by that superiority of attraction , become the most certain amulets and counterpoysons to the fatal contagion of this plague : otherwise , if there precede not a requisite confriction of the pulses , they are altogether invalid , and of no efficacy . for those things , which in their primitive constitution were a saphire and amber , having from the affriction changed their family , first lose their originary appellations , and are afterwards called a zenexton , or preservatory amulet against the pestilence . will any man , think you , account these effects diabolical ; and attribute them to a covenant made with satan ? it is sufficient , that we have introduced a few , but select , satisfactory , and pertinent examples , whose case holds a perfect analogy , and even proportion with that of the armary unguent ; we shall now seasonably turn our selves to your arguments . you argue goclenius of ignorance of the doctrine of aristotle , in that he insinuates that the same numerical accident can pass from one subject to another ( my wish is , you had been as able at probation , as you are at refutation ) namely , that this also is an assertion of huge pertinacity , to conceive , that a cicatrice or scar in a dead body is not identically the same , it was in the man yesterday living . for in vain do we honor , and pay an humble and fiducial veneration unto the reliques of saints ; if nothing but that simple , impossible matter , which the disciples of aristotle dream of , can remain , and not some accidents constantly continue in the corrupted body , which were heretofore in the living . behold ! whither a paganical error may precipitate those , who improvidently carp at others . i say , to imagine that to be absolutely impossible , which is absolutely necessary , is the part of the most absurd and grossest ignorance : for example , that light , from the body of the sun even down to the earth , in a more swift motion then the twinkling of an eye , through all the smallest atomes of the air , does produce new species , and those species produce another stock and supply of species of light . this properly is to be blinde in sunshine ; for if we had not diffused upon us the identical light and vigorous influence of the sun , but onely the thousand , of thousands of millions , species of light and virtue solary ; no sublunary could have growth or vegetation , nor could ever any fire be kindled by the refraction and union of its beams . for the species of species of light , since in reality of essence they are no more light , then the species of colours are really colours , they can never be of activity strong enough to produce fire . for my part , seriously i cherish and applaud my self for that ignorance of aristotles doctrine , of which goclenius is accused as rude and illiterate . doth not the needle of the mariners compass , through a firm glass , closely sealed up with melted soder ( in which there can be no pore or crany discovered ) steer it self to the artick pole ? and is it not attracted to a piece of iron placed within the orb of attraction , the pole during that seduction , wholly neglected ? wherefore the same numerical accident , streaming in one continued radius from the loadstone into the aer , passes through the glass , and perhaps goes as far , as to touch the pole it self . and magnetism likewise is a celestial quality , of neer affinity to the sidereal influences ; neither is it confin'd to any determinate distance of place ; as neither is the magnetical unguent , of which our dispute . you smile , because goclenius chooses for an ingredient into the unguent , that moss onely , which is gathered off the scull of a man of three letters * . nor in this truly is there any ground for your conjecture , that in the herb there lies a snake in ambush , any vain touch of superstition couch't . for if a jesuite , put to death by strangulation , or any other kinde of martyrdom , be left sub dio , in an obedient position to receive the influence of the stars ; yet his head will yeeld the same crop of moss , equivalent in use , and equally ripe , with the head of a thief : since the seminality of the moss drops down from heaven upon mount calvary . for sometimes there distils a frothy dew , which is called aurora ; and after that , a more tenacious viscid mucilage descends , which is called sperma siderum , the seminal emission of the stars ; sometimes the heavens have shower'd down clouds of frogs , spiders , locusts , and other such insects , which in their descent became solid , tangible , and vital substances : in other mountainous places the prodigious clouds have rained milk and also blood ; frequently also there is found lying upon stones and bones a white bituminous matter , sweat from the celestial orbs , which turns into moss . this candid substance , in some places , where it petrifies and is changed into stone , induces a crustaceous surface , or parget upon stones ; in other places it degenerates into a moss . to this classis of meteors we are also to refer , the dew , manna , throni , thereniabin , nostoch , nebulgea , laudanum * , and other such aëreal productions . though these partake more largely of the substance of aër ; while , in the interim , the originary principles of the moss , growing upon sculls , are of a higher and more noble pedigree , the seminary excretions of the stars ; and are called by hermetical philosophers the flowers or fruits of the celestial orbs. by these the prudent have attempted and atchieved many notable designes ; and indeed , they being enriched with the favor and continual influence of the heavens , want not the ground and foundation of excellent and generous faculties . the moss therefore of a scull , since it hath received its seminality from the celestial orbs , but its matrix , conception , and increment from the mumial and medullary substance of the scull of man ; it is no miracle , that it hath obtained excellent astral , and magnetical virtues , far transcending the common lot of vegetables ; although herbs also , in the capacity of herbs , have their peculiar magnetisms : i will insert an observation of my own ; a certain souldier of a noble extraction , wore a little lock of the moss of a mans scull , finely enclosed betwixt the skin and flesh of his head ; who in friendship interceding betwixt two brothers , that were fighting a mortal duel , unfortunately received so violent a blow with a sword on his head , that he immediately fell to the earth . with which blow his hat , and hair were cut through , as with an incision knife , even to the skin ; but he escaped without the smallest wound , or penetration of the skin . i need not anticipate , your selves may without much difficulty guess , to what cause the guard of the skin may be justly ascribed . it hath not been the custome of my genius , to perplex and rack my minde , with uncertain conjectures ; since indeed lightning , of far greater violence then a sword , if it ever touch a bay tree , does yet never discharge it self upon a sea calf , or horse , whose snafle is anointed with the fat of a sea calf , nor ever falls upon that stable , whose dore posts are emplastered with the same fat . the experience is trivial and frequent . but i pass lightly over this scene , and resigne it to others ; so soon as i shall have mentioned one other example , like the former . in arduenna * saint hubert is worshiped with solemn and publick veneration , whither all people bitten by any mad dog speedily address themselves ( as elsewhere others flock to the shrines of saint domirus and bellinus : ) there the flamen or priest burles a small lock of wool , from the stole or upper garment of the saint , which is artificially inclosed within the skin of the forehead of the patient , bitten by a mad dog ; and from thenceforth for ever he can be no more wounded or smitten , by any mad , or wilde beasts whatever ; for the sacred magick of the lock is the shield , that secures from the violence of enraged teeth , and renders the wearer invulnerable . * your answer will be , that this extraordinary effect is done by an immediate miracle of god , cooperating with sacred reliques . well , grant it be a miracle ; yet that god in the production of miracles , does , for the most part , walk hand in hand with nature , and in a manner oblige himself to an observance of , and conformity with her customs and rules , these patients of saint hubert do plainly evidence by their lock of wooll . for that uncircumscribed omnipotence , whose power is limited by no law but that of his will , who can do all things by the single efficiency of a fiat , does sometimes make use also of natural means . thus let the sweat in the sudary , or stove of saint paul , be also a magnetical unguent ; but the sweat of the sick persons , or the insensible effluvium exhaling from them , be the blood of the wounded , sprinkled upon a piece of wood , and put into the box of unguent ; immediately all harm and evil depending on the wound , is from all parts of the body attracted magnetically . and this effect is by so much the more powerfully wrought , by how much more efficacy the supernatural magnes is endowed withal . for in both , truly , there is the same reason , and the same manner of the causes operation ; the difference lies onely in this , that in the material world , the effect succeeds upon a requisite conjunction and co-efficiency of corporal means , the blood and the unguent ; but in the supernatural , by a holy magnetism , arising from the sacred reliques of the friends of god , which in this relation , undoubtedly deserve our venerable esteem . that these miracle-producing reliques might in the manner of their operations , by a neerer similitude approach to the nature of the magnetical unguent , god , the soul of mercy , moved with compassion towards our frail and calamitous estate , hath in some of them called up a fountain of oyl , perpetually pouring forth streams of balsam : to this end , that every where relieved and supported by magnetical remedies we might for certain be assured , that the magnetical cure of wounds is received from god , and both in the supernatural and natural world doth proceed in an equal order of causes , in an equal pace and manner of operations , and by the conduct of the same director and guide . hence is it , that fresh and new reliques work more , and more noble miracles when they are carried about , or applied to the patient by the touch ; because it is of unexcusable necessity ▪ that the magnes be first rub'd , touch't , and stir'd , if we will have it to attract . i return to thee , o usnea ! the noble issue of celestial seed : for whoso hath enjoyed a convalescence from the hydrophobia , by the lock of wooll , and other pious rites observed , is not onely himself for ever after protected from a rabid dog ; but , what is far more noble , he can grant to any other person bitten by a mad dog , a supersedeas to prorogue the time of the venoms energy , for many moneths , until the patient can , with convenience , take a journey to the shrine of st. hubert ; the poyson in the mean time charmed into an inactivity , and the fermentation of the humors suspended . nature hath also granted another magnetical magnale , cozen german to the former . the zinzilla ( which is an excrement of the diaphragma or midriff , degenerating into an inflammation and apostem ) when once it hath like a zone * , environed the chest of the patient , becomes fatally destructive ; but it is safely and with great celerity cured , if the place be outwardly , though but slenderly , anointed with the blood of another , who has once recovered from the same disease . for he who hath once recovered from that disease , hath not onely obtained a pure , balsamical blood , whereby , for the future , he is rendered secure and free from any recidivation of the same evil ; but also infallibly cures the same affection in his neighbor , and by the cutany external contact of his own blood , by the mysterious power of magnetism , transplants that balsam , and conserving quality into the blood of another . you may object ; if the magnetism , or grand magnetical arcanum , lie onely in the usnea ; then all other ingredients of the composition are fruitless , vain , and unnecessary . physicians soon salve this doubt , by replying ; that some of the ingredients are efficients paramont , and principal ; others of inferior virtue and subordinate ; some are conjoyned as impediments , to obtund and refract the violence of contrary intense qualities ; others as spurs , to excite the dormant ; and others to advance and promote the weaker and less active magnetism , to a higher and more noble entelechy . and that these reasons support the necessity of a multiplicity of simples , in the confection of the unguent . on this consideration , as it was a flat impertinency to argue , that if the usnea , chiefly comprehend the magnetism , then is man , to no purpose , exenterated to furnish the unguent with some other ingredients ; so also would it be a direct absurdity to plead , that if the usnea , on the single stock of its own endowment , be not enriched with sufficient magnetism ; nor the fat , nor the blood , &c. therefore will not that magnetism , which we attribute to the unguent , also be found in the whole composition ; since single ingredients cannot impart that virtue to a composition , which they formerly did not contain in their primitive constitutions and simple natures . i must ever now and then be compelled to act your part , and contrive arguments and cavillations for you , against my self . but however , it had been your duty , formerly to have been instructed from vulgar and rustick experiments , that in a compound medicine there doth frequently emerge and result a new third quality , which was never before , in the least measure , couched in the single essences of the ingredients . for example , it would become you to have observed , that neither vitriol nor galls are sejunctively black ; but married in the composition of ink , they immediately beget a perfect deep black . you may again object ; if the usnea hath acquired its magnetism from the mumial virtue of the bones , and the seminal influence of celestial orbs : then , of consequence , may the same be gathered , not onely from sculls , but from all other bones of the sceleton . but this illation is also ridiculous ; for nature her self confesseth a subjection and conformity to the condition of the soyl ; and for that reason , pepper new gathered transplanted into italian ground , degenerates into ivy : hellebore set in the tridentine * fields , quite looseth its purging faculty ; and poppies with us are wholly devoid of any deleterious or deadly quality , however our countrey be ten times colder then thebes * it self . therefore the usnea varies in its efficacy , according to the various soyl , or matrix of bones , wherein it is conceived and nourished . for if lightniug melt money , the purse remaining untouched , and of ten companions sitting close together , choose one out of the middle , and strike him into ashes ; and this happen not casually , or by chance , but by the permission of that providence , which will not have so much as one leaf drop uncommanded from the tree ; and by whose onely power , all virtues are founded and established ; it can seem no wonder also , that one distinct magnetical seminality of usnea be , from the celestial sphears , distilled upon the scull ; and a second seminality , of another peculiar classis , upon the other bones of the sceleton . onely the bone of the head is of excellent use against the epilepsie ; but so are not any of the other bones . then , to conclude , all the brain is consumed and dissolved in the scull , by the continual irroration and imbibing of which precious liquor ( i mean that of the brain ) the scull acquires such virtues , which we have discovered to be wanting to the other bones i have sufficiently known the customes of contradicents . for when they have nothing more of moment to alleage against the thing disputed of , they become the more contumelious , break forth into reproaches , and fall foul upon the person of him , that is their adversary in opinion . wherefore it may be , some or other will exclaim , that magnetism is some new fangle , invented onely by paracelsus ; but that he was a lewd , dissolute , and ignorant fellow . and again , if there had been any such excellent virtue in nature , it could not have remained in darkness , and undiscovered to so many ages , and its revealment have been suspended till the advent of paracelsus . as concerning the reproaches , and scurrilous subsannations of many , shower'd down upon the head of a man , that was the ornament of germany : i answer , that they are empty , vain , and below a sober thought , and do no more , then render the assertor of them more indign and contemptible then before ; as one that earnestly endevours to condemn , not onely the living , but the dead also . for there is no reason why i an unequal orator , who have undertaken the encomium of no man , should fall upon the praise of him for those things , which his own monuments hold forth to the world , concerning his learning , wisdom , and divinely infused endowments ; but i come directly to ballance the invective arguments themselves . this objection therefore is barren of any thing but pride , since it insolently dares to assume the condemnation , not onely of the living and dead , but even of god himself ; namely , that he ought not to have infused the knowledg of so divine a secret into paracelsus , but some other person ( some jesuite perhaps ; ) nor to have manifested so great a consonancy and harmony of nature , in the days of paracelsus , but much earlier , in the infancy of the world . but i beseech you , why came ignatius loyola so late , and in the evening of the world , to be the founder and establisher of a society , so useful and profitable to the whole world ? why did he not spring up , and appear many ages sooner ? alas ! wretched man , whither doest thou hurry thy self by presumption ? is not god the free and unconstrained giver of his own benefit ? and doth not he delight himself in an undeserved donation of it ? himself has vouchsafed to bequeath us a touch-stone , by which we may give infallible judgment of the persons of men ; namely , that we shall know them by their works . but what the works of paracelsus were , and how much greater then all expectation of nature , and the mordacity of malevolent tongues , his own epitaph , by the most illustrious , and most reverend prelate , the bishop * of saltzburg , appensed to that well deserved monument of his , doth in despite of envy , sufficiently declare . the epitaph of paracelsvs : engraven in stone , at saltzburg , in the hospital of saint sebastian , on the erect wall of the temple . conditur hic philippus theophrastus * , insignis medicinae doctor , qui dira illa vulnera , lepram , podagram , hydropisim , aliaque insanabilia corporis contagia , mirifica arte , sustulit ; ac bona sua in pauperes distribuenda , collocandaque honoravit * . anno 1541. die 24 septembris , vitam cum morte mutavit . here entombed is phillipus theophrastus , a famous doctor of physick , who by his wonder-working art took away those mortal wounds , the leprosie , gout , hydropsie , and other incurable contagions of the body ; and ordained his goods to be distributed and given to the poor . in the yeer 1541. on the 24 day of september , he made an exchange of life for death . paracelsus , therefore , is so far from having deserved ill , in that he hath revealed magnetism , unknown to antiquity ; and in the room of that study of natural wisdom , which with great barrenness is taught abroad in publick schools , introduced another more solid and real one , which by the analysis and synthesis , the diacritical resolution of heterogeneal , and syncritical conjunction of homogeneal bodies , is made probable , and brought home to a familiarity with our sense , and yeelds a more wealthy harvest of knowledg ; that thence he hath rather , by a just title , won the denomination of the monarch of secrets , from all his predecessors ; unless with those that malign him , we , as ignorant judges , discommend all his good actions , and disparage those benefits , he accumulated upon pious uses . i am thus a man , ( i. e. ) this is the prerogative of my humanity ; all things appear cheap and light in the ballance of my reason , that pretend to a dominion over my belief , by no stronger title , then that of custom onely . since there is nothing , that enshrowds our mindes in a greater mist of error and seduction , then that we are conformed to custom , out of an easie and ungenerous credulity , submitting our assent to rumor , and the dreams of the multitude . we are therefore gallantly to attempt the emancipation of our faith from the tyranny and pedantism of popular tradition , to pursue the liberty of our intellectuals , and to enjoy , not enslave the habilities of our judgment . you may again plead , that in sublunaries there is no influential virtue , that can be paralleld to the impressions of superlunaries ; but if you shall stumble at this stone , you will at the same instant fall upon the reprehension of all those learned men , who have taken the direct path to philosophy ; since they have rightly observed to us , that in inferior bodies there is an inference or tribute delivered down from superior , and reciprocally an analogy or resemblance of inferior in celestial bodies . do not herbs , animals , and diseased men foreknow and presage the future mutations of times and seasons ? are we not to expect so much the harder winter , by how much the deeper cave or lodging the frog hath scraped in the earth , to harbor himself in the succeeding winter ? for from this ground proceed the meteorical auguries ; not indeed , that those prophesies of weather arise from the too early and yet future motion of the stars ; in regard , it would then follow , that that motion must cause this presagous sensation , long before its own contingency . far be it from a sober head to dream so palpable an absurdity , for the firmament does onely denounce future events ; but has no hand in their causation . but indeed , every single created nature contains its peculiar heaven within the sphear of its own dimensions , and holds within it self the rotation or revolution of that heaven , dependent on its seminal entity , in whose spirit ( which comprehends the caelature or idea of the whose , in landskip ) there is comprised its own peculiar heaven , and moreover it s own ascendents . nor is there , why you should conceive , that we by this doctrine , stagger and demolish the fabrick of astrology ; but rather that we elucidate , and render it more bright to the prospect of our understanding ; since truly every single seminal ens contains its own heaven , and by that relation holds a syzygia , or conjunctive interest of the other sidereal heavens . but the motion of the universal heavens , in regard it is the most known and most common , does govern , and according to the rule of it self direct the particular heavens ( suffer me to borrow that name , since i want another more proper and convenient ) of single inferior creatures . this properly is the cause of every natural inclination ; and when the single creature , by the perswasion and seduction of its own domestick heaven , becomes exorbitant from the motion of the universal heaven , as the most common rule , immediately there succeed irregularity , acrasie , confusion and defects . for a sheep without a guide , looses himself in the devious paths of error . and from this conspiracy and conjugation of the motion of the universal , with that of every particular heaven , is it , that diseased men carry an almanack in their bones , presage foul weather , and the future mutations of seasons ; but not those that are sound . for if the sea did flow and re-flow by the direction of the celestial , that is the pyromantical , or fiery moon onely , and not of its own hydromantical , or watry moon ; and if the windes were stirred up by the command of the celestial mercury onely , and not of their own chaomantical star ; truly there could be no provincial a winds in any quarter of the earth , but ( since there is but one single mercury , and one single moon in the whole arch of heaven ) the same wind would constantly blow alike through all the world ; and the sea would in all places flow , if not at the same time , yet in the same rhythme , or interval of tides , which our modern navigation disproves . it is enough therefore , that we have here , by way of digression , made it appear , that in every single seminal entity there is comprehended a virtue celestial , & enormantical b , which doth yet excite it self , and is regulated by the orderly motion of the celestial orbs , distilling an impression upon it ; so long as it will not be accounted refractory and exorbitant . and that the firmament also doth not cause future accidents , unless by a remote interest , and that too but by first qualities onely , as it were acting the part of a cook ; but otherwise doth signifie and loudly proclaim the handy works of god. but that every particular creature doth in its seminal entity , possess a particular firmament ; by the mediation of which , superior bodies symboliz●… , and hold a reciprocal correspondence with inferior , obliged thereto by the law of friendship and philanty or desire of self-conservation . from all which we may now at least collect , that there is a magnetism , and powers influential , every where implantate in , and proper to natural bodies ; which powers who so excludes from the scene of sublunaries , does seek to shelter himself in a rotten sanctuary . you will further urge , that we are to come yet neerer to the main point , nor is it yet placed above doubt , that in sublunaries there is a quality that holds a parity to the impression of superlunaries , and such a one truly , which can transmit it self to an object removed at large distance ; which notwithstanding is presupposed in the armary unguent ; and so that magnetism is indeed a virtue celestial , but yet in no degree of emulation , to be ascribed to sublunaries , much less to the counterfeit weapon-salvo . but what else , in the main , is this ( i beseech you ) then to deny magnetism , without or besides magnetism ? for if , in an universal notion , we call every influence of sublunaries reciprocally transmitted from each to other , a magnetism ; and if in defect of a more proper and distinctive etym●…n , or adaequate denominative , we christon that occult coaptation and requisite connexion of active and passive , whereby an absent agent does operate upon an absent patient , by influence , by an invisible emanation and entercourse of virtues , whether it be done by attraction or impulsion , a magnetism : seriously , whoever denies the influential power of sublunaries mutually transmitted and entertained each by other , to be performed by magnetism ; and requires an instance to be given him to the contrary ; in sober truth he requires a flat absurdity , a magnetism ( forsooth ) without magnetism , and knows not well , what he would deny , or what demand . since in earnest i have held forth examples of the fact , in sublunaries , and brought upon the stage very many and very apposite instances , as that of the insititious or engrafted nose , of the saphire , of arsmarte , asarum , and most other herbs . but you deny ( i sufficiently know , because you know it not ) either that those effects , mentioned in the list of examples , do not at all succeed upon the coaptation and marriage of such and such causes ; or else you will affirm those effects to be caused by the sole power of the devil . and that it is not agreeable to the custom of naturalists , to argue from bare authorities ; but that it becomes us defendants , to come up , with those that strive against us to handy-blows , namely to experience . do you make tryal therefore , and call any of the recited examples to the touchstone of experiment , that so you prove us guilty of falshood ; if you cannot , then at least come over to our side and believe them . for it is an action of insolent petulancy for any , therefore to deny the contingence of that fact , which is every where so trivial and frequent , that it can hardly escape the observation of any , because ( forsooth ) himself never found , nor indeed ever endevoured to finde it good upon experiment ; and of a far more unpardonable insolence , to ascribe that effect to the devil , which in most pieces of the creation is purely consonant to nature , as shall hereafter be made good ; and that too , for one single fault , because ( in faith ) the secret manner of its production from the confederacy and co-efficiency of natural causes , can by no means sink into the head of our censor . a censor , who presumes , that by the subtilty of his own vast intellectuals , and the study of aristotles physicks , he hath exactly surveyed the great round of nature , fathomed the moon , and to a hair taken the just dimensions of all pieces of the universe . a censor , i say , who though upon a severe scrutiny he can discover nothing of superstition , and nothing of unconformity to any divine or humane laws in the unguent ; doth yet , onely because the manner of its application to the weapon seems paradoxical to him , highly cry it down as unlawful , condemn and detest it as impious , and accuse it to contain some strange and horrid interest of the devil . but what in the manner of its application ( i beseech you ) do you stumble at ? verily because the sword , or splinter of the weapon distained with the blood , is emplastered over with the mumial and magnetical unguent ; because the blood once extravenated , or effluxed out of its proper conservatory , the veins , looseth its interest of vitality , and can observe no concordance with that blood , which is yet conserved and cherished in the veins ; and because he doth not believe , that the action of the unguent can be extended to an object at large distance removed . but return to your self , good sir , for ere long you shall both understand ; and firmly believe it , unless your pertinacity render you uncapable of instruction . for we will make it our business now , for your information , to call the action of magnetism to the bar , and by the evidence of meridian truths , convince the ignorance and stupidity of its adversaries . for i will now shew , that there is , without that classis of things and herbs , which you have undeservedly suspected , a mutual influence and commerce of some certain pieces of nature , by effluvium or emanation of spirits ; and that this concordance is observed between objects at very great distance removed each from other . the vine , when it is in the flower , perturbs and causes a kinde of sickness ( for so vintners term it ) in the wine . you will excuse that this conturbation is not caused by any violence or impression of the stars ; when we solidly prove the contrary . for if the stars did immediately occasion the germination and efflorescence of the vine , and also the turbulency and sickly fermentation of wines in their vessels ; it would of necessity be , that both those effects should happen every yeer , in one determinate , appointed , and definite moment ; which observation concludes to be false . for sometimes the vine emits her flowers , and the wine is troubled before the solstice , and in the same country , not until another yeer , long after ; but the sun and all the chorus of fixed stars constantly , onely some few minutes of difference allowed , return to the same point of heaven , once every year ; therefore would the vine flower , and wines suffer a conturbation always at one and the same set time . but if you seek an evasion , and shall rejoyn , that other planets , beside the sun , which possess not annually , about the solstice , one constant and equal position or situation in heaven , are the causers of this languor in wines ; onely in this relation , that the motion of the superior orbs is most common , as to which all subordinate and particular heavens are to conform , all vines would for the plurality of them flower in the same yeer , in all places at once ; which is false upon the testimony of experience . for as there is a nature astral conferred upon , and implantate in the ground , so also the same particular nature is inserted into the vine ; which particular nature doth per se , by its own domestick power ( no otherwise then the earth hath , from the fructifying benediction of the creator , received a power of germinating per se ) produce the flower , fruit , and seed , and conform and dispose it self to the rhythme of the most general motion of the celestial orbs. men positively affirm further , that wines are never perturbed in those regions , in which no vines grow ; wherefore the flower of the vine , and not the motion of the celestial spheres , doth perturb wines , and that many hundreds of miles from thence ; but truly , so much the more powerfully , by how much the neerer the wines are to the vine , that produced them . i gratefully applaud those studies , that contribute towards the advancement of the common-wealth of learning ; and highly honor him , who discovered , that vulgar antimony , in its preparation , doth , though in an obscure manner , conform it self to an influence . i expect no more , but to have the same measure returned to me , which i deliver to others ; when i shall to plenary satisfaction make good , that there is a certain influential power ordinary and familiar to sublunaries , which knows no confinement or restraint to any local distance ; and in order to the more vigorous and substantial support of magnetism declare , that the loadstone doth of its own accord , by the swinge of a native inherent verticity or polary directive faculty , steer it self to the pole , but is by no means attracted by the pole. for one loadstone in a lateral variation defects to three , another to six , seven , and eleven degrees from the pole ; but none ( for what i could ever discover ) doth in a direct line lie parallel to the axis of heaven , and punctually point upon the pole. therefore if the loadstone were attracted by the pole , it must receive that convulsive influence , either from the pole it self , or from some other star adjacent to the pole ; but not from the pole it self , in respect every attrahent does attract towards it self by a direct , and not by an oblique line : wherefore if the loadstone were attracted by the pole , it would in a just level point upon the pole ; and so the result is , that loadstones ( at least according to what solid and multiplied observations have taught me ) suffer no attractive force , or vertical invitement from the north-star , nor from any other neighboring star. for since the whole asterism of charls his wain knows no sabbath , but is ever wheel'd about by a perpetual circumrotation ; if it did at all attract , it would occasion a perpetual inquietude , and uncessant revolution of the loadstone , by reducing it one while many degrees towards the east , and another while as many degrees towards the west , and every twenty four hours sometimes elevate it towards the zenith , and anon depress it towards the nadir ; which experience positively contradicts : wherefore the loadstone ows its polarity to a natural inherent faoulty , flowing from its own seminal entity , and not to any forain alliciency , or attractive influx transmitted from the north-star . but that otherwise the loadstone may , by its own instinct , be elevated towards the zenith , we have upon ocular demonstration found it true , by a certain instrument invented by guilielme guilbert ( the glory of which excellent invention lodovicus fonseca hath lately endevoured ●…o ravish and arrogate to himself , in the presence of his catholique majesty ) which , by the spontaneous elevation of the loadstone in a brass ring suspended by a thred or small wier , shews not onely the latitude , but also the altitude of the pole , in all places of the earth . laboring your reason to finde out a way of evasion you will thus contend for the prerogative of the pole ; that the pole doth indeed attract the loadstone , but according to the various and certain material disposition of several loadstones , it doth allect them not in a right line towards it self ( for such is the condition and will of the attrahent ) but to some other place situate in vicinity . the substance of which is ; the pole truly invites the loadstone to it self in a direct line , but the loadstone becomes refractary , and comes not in a direct line , by reason of some unknown impediment , ( which you term a certain peculiar disposition of it ) existent in the loadstone , which is superior in power to , and vigorously resists that traction of the pole ; although the influential alliciency of the star , at the distance of so many thousand miles , arrive at the body of the loadstone entire , and without the least decay or diminution of vigor . you perceive , how much truth you have granted to your subterfuge ? and how , though by compulsion , you affirm that in the loadstone there dwells a certain ( you call it certain , which indeed to you is purely imaginary , and to all men else wholly uncertain ) motive disposition , besides , and superior to the attraction of the pole ; which yet at the same time , you peremptorily deny the loadstone to possess ? which in the ballance of reason carries this weight : the loadstone is endued with a domestick pilot , a directive faculty , which guides it to some determinate place , but is not at all attracted by the pole. driven from this starting hole , you flie for refuge to some other celestial attrahent ; seated in vicinity to the pole ; by replying , that the loadstone is attracted , and doth not direct it self , by any internal polary virtue ; attracted not by any one particular and determinate star , or point of heaven , but by a certain circle or zone , at a neer distance , environing the pole. i answer , that this evasion is far fetched , for this imaginary circle must be extended to the latitude of eight degrees at least ; namely , from three to eleven degrees ▪ for i have observed some loadstones to fufill that large variation . wherefore if there were a power of attraction equally inherent in all parts of this circle , one and the same loadstone would continually vary , and in the same hour deflect , now to three , and anon to eight or eleven degrees from the pole , or central star ; which is a falshood manifested upon frequent experiment . therefore , to help out this chimera , there must be conceived many lesser orbites or rounds one within another , in a circle of so great latitude ; every one of which subalternate zones must select and attract its particular loadstone . which being conceded , you inevitably fall again into the same pitfal ; namely , that the loadstone contains within it self a certain disposition or elective power , whereby it should conform to the traction of one round , rather then of another ; and by consequence , when you have stretched your absurd conceptions to the highest pin of phansie , there will be nevertheless a motive virtue , or native verticity in the loadstone . yet we have not a clear prospect into the nature of this abstrusity . if the pole did attract the loadstone , the attraction must depend either upon the elemental and material temper , or upon the specifical form of the loadstone ; but a glass ; wherein the magistery of loadstone hath been prepared , though never so much washed , and cleansed by often rubbing , doth acquire a polarity , and for ever after conform it self positionally to the two cardinal points of heaven ; by reason of an impression , by invisible aporrhoeas or emission of magnetical atomes , without any corporeal remains , communicated to ●…he glass . steel also once excited and invigorated by the contact of the loadstone , how often soever rinsed and polished , doth yet inherit the magnetical infusion , and point out the pole. which two distinct bodies , since they neither have a parity of temper , or homogeneity of forms betwixt themselves ; nor hold any proportionate analogy of temper , or identity of form , with the loadstone : carry with them evidence clear enough to satisfie a rational belief , that the pole can attract the loadstone for neither of those two ends ; namely , affinity of temperament , or cognation of essence . you may rejoyn , that immediately upon affriction , there succeeds a participation of the substance of the loadstone in the porosities , or atomical incontiguities of the steel , or spondils of the glass . a miserable excuse ! for the rosin of the fir tree , is of it self , by an internal gorgon , coagulated into the hardness and solidity of a stone , which having undergone this petrification or lapidescence , doth allect iron to it self , no otherwise then the loadstone . here your dream of the corporeal participation of the loadstone vanisheth . the loadstone onely by the affriction of , garlick amits its verticity , and neglects the pole , conserving to it self , in the mean time , its peculiar form , material constitution , and all other dependent proprieties . the reason , because garlick is the loadstones proper opium , and by it that spiritual sensation in the magnet is consopited and laid asleep ; which sensation , we have in our precedent discourse , manifested to be the sole and cardinal cause of the act of all formal proprieties . verily , that alliciency of the pole must be extreme weak and of inconsiderable energy , which passing through so many and so immense orbs of heaven , and striking through great and firm buildings , and thick walls , cannot yet be of power sufficient to pierce the thin juice of garlick , or the fume of mercury : the material radix , or temperamental foundation , and also the specifical form of the stone , remaining unimpaired and inviolate . a magnet swimming freely upon a calm water , in a small boat of cork , hoiseth sail , and gives one broad side to the north , and the other to the south . therefore if this positional conversion were occasioned immediately by the solicitation of the pole , onely the northern side of the stone would be constantly courted and drawn by the north pole ; which is apparently false upon the test of experiment . for if a magnet hath impregnated and magnetified a gad of iron with its north side , it doth not , according to the law of its own propriety , dispose and incline that iron to the north , but to the south , although the atomical powder or dust of the stone adhere to the iron ; but on the contrary , if it hath excited and spirited iron with its south side , then it converts that iron to the north. again , the magnet with that part , whereby it formerly applied it self to the north , on t'th●…r side the equinoctial line tackes about , and faceth the south . yet further let us purs●…e this argument . a magnet floating in a skif or shallop of cork , on a quiet pond , if the boreal quarter of it be violently ravished from its own beloved position , and turned about to the south ; immediately , as if wheeld about by some counter-violence , it readdresseth to its old mistress the north. for which reason , if the magnet were by an influential line from the pole , drawn back again to the pole , and this return did not proceed immediately from the spontaneous direction of the stone ; of necessity , by that convulsion of the pole , the whole skif would be towed and haled to the north bank of the pond , which never happens ; for both the magnet , and its shallop , by the acquisite direction of the septrentrional side , stand still upon the water and remain unmoved . there is therefore inherent in the magnet an influential virtue , which being not obliged to the propinquity or contiguous admotion of its object , is , after the nobler manner of celestial influences , freely and without interruption or languor transmitted so far as to the pole it self ; since there is a spontaneous eradiation , or emission of atomical radii from the body of the magnet to the pole. and thus , when there hath been found and presented to the view of reason , onely one influential virtue in sublunaries ( conced it in the loadstone ) diradiating , and in one continued thread of atomes arriving at an object seated at remote distance , which cannot upon any pretence be ascribed to satan ; it will also be sufficiently demonstrated , that there may be many other influential proprieties equivalent to this of the magnet , wholly and purely natural , as in the forecited examples , and the armary unguent . now since the magnet or iron excited by the magnet , do by instinct of their own pilot , and the spontaneous direction of themselves convert to the pole ; there must of necessity be conceded some certain ▪ quality eradiated and extended from the body of the magnet to the pole ; which , in regard we assuredly know it to be done without any corporeal effluvium , we denominate a spiritual quality ; in this particular dissenting from our divine , who places a spirit in irreconcilable difference to all corporeal nature , as an essence wholly preternatural . but physicians oppose a spirit against the more gross compage , or more material and less rarified substance of a hody . and in this distinctive notion we say , that the light of the sun , the influx of celestial bodies , the narcotical ejaculation of the torpedo , the fatal optick emission of the basilisk , &c. are qualities purely and wholly spiritual ; why , because they are darted at and strike upon an object at great distance , not by the communion or association of substantial evaporation ; but are , as by a medium of imperceptible light , deradiated and shot from their subject to a fit and determinate object . these things thus conceded and made indubitate by arguments of reason and experiment , it is sufficiently manifest , that our divine , when yet he understood not goclenius , hath nevertheless carped at him , and indeed many times when he deserved it not . ( 1 ) because goclenius placed a spiritual quality in so course a lodging , as a corporeal unguent . ( 2 ) that he affirmed the influential alliciency of a magnetick body to be derived to its appropriate object , through a medium or vehicle , as light is deradiated from the globe of the sun. ( 3 ) that such spiritual qualities are , by the mediation of a certain sensation of the universal or mundane spirit ( the grand and sole causant of all sympathy ) transmitted to a remote and determinate object . this archeus or universal spirit our divine interprets to be some cacodaemon , some cursed genius , but by no law , that i understand , except that of his own licentious judgment ; since in real verity , it is a more pure and vital breath of heaven , a spirit which comprehends and cherishes within it self the sun , and all the herd of lesser stars , a minde or intelligence which diffused through all the limbs or parts of this great animal , the world , doth inform and regulate the whole ; and so by a certain commerce , communion , and conspiracy of otherwise-discordant parts , and an harmonious marriage of the distinct virtues of single essences , doth order and govern the vast engine of the universe , according to the unanimous consent of all , who have read and commented on the true history of nature . to example , the solissequous flowers sensibly observe the travel of the sun : and the sea conforms to either lunestice , and swells her obsequious tides high in the full , but shrinks them low again in the wane of the moon . in sum ; all creatures by their life , ( let us , the master-piece , and abridgment of all , do homage to the majesty of that king , to whom all things live ) essence , existence and sensation visibly attest the majesty , liberality , and presence of the great creator . for which consideration , our divine is deservedly to be checked , in that he hath , with insufferable audacity , thrown rebukes at our physician , whom yet he understood not , writing in a philosophical stile . for such a piece of difficulty was it to observe a mean in all things . you enquire of us what can be attracted from the body of the wounded party ? and how any attraction can be performed by the absent unguent ? but in troth i might , without injury to the modest rules of disputation , return , that when your self shall fully resolve us , for what reason the loadstone doth attract iron , and convert it self to the pole ; then shall i also satisfie you , how and by what means mumy can , by the mediate efficiency of mumy , work a cure upon another mumy , which it hath touched upon : but in regard we have substituted our selves to relieve the insufficiency of goclenius in this particular abstrusity , we shall , in the sequence of our discourse , by a didactical or scientifical analogism * demonstrate unto you , by what means the magnetical attraction of the unguent is performed , if at least i shall to satisfaction inform you , what can be by the vnguent attracted from the wound . we are to observe therefore , that in a wound , there succeeds not onely a bare solution of continuity , or disunion of the part ; but also that there is an exotick or forain quality , whereby the lips of the wound being enraged and provoked to a certain excandescence , by and by grow tumid and apostemate , yea , the whole body from thence becomes afflicted with fevers , and a grievous syndrome or concurse of dangerous symptomes : for thus an eg , whose shell is but slenderly crackt , soon putrefies and turns adle , when otherwise it might have been a long time conserved . now this extraneous and peregrine quality the armary vnguent immediately sucks out of the wound , whereupon the lips of the wound , being at length oppressed and impeded by no accident , are delivered from all pain and sickly aestuation of spirits , and suddenly hasten to accretion , incarnation , and consolidation . nature her self is the sole chiron , that by the soveraign balsam of the vital blood doth reunite the severed parts , and soder up the incontiguity : the physician is onely her servant to be assistant to her in the remove of those impediments , which otherwise might oppose and infringe the power of her action : nor does the medicine deserve the attribute of sarcotical , or by its own virtue regenerate flesh in a wound , but then to full satisfaction of our hopes executes the commission of its faculty , when it hath removed those accidental remoraes that did retard and hinder the operation of nature : all which impediments the armary vnguent , upon its own single stock of power , doth securely and effectually take off and banish . your rejoynder will be , that the armary unguent , in probability of reason , ought not to exhaust the forementioned quality , rather then the natural vigor of the body , and strength of the veins : and that the blood , since it continues uncorrupt in the unguent , ought to procure health , and not any indisposition , to the wounded party : according to the example of the carline thistle above mentioned . i respond , that there is a plurality and variety of magnetisms : for some attract iron , some straws , some lead , others flesh , the purulent effluxion of wounds , &c. and the magnetick endowment of some consists onely in this that they can onely extract the pestilential atomes from the centrals of an infected body , &c. yea , if you shall annex the sanation in our unguent to your own argument , your own weapon will wound you . for from thence , that the genuine effect of the unguent is to cure perfectly , speedily without pain , without cost , danger , and decay of strength : hence , i say , it results a manifest truth , that the magnetical virtue of the unguent is simply natural , and proceeds from god , and not from satan . the reason thus ; if satan did cooperate to this cure ( according to your assertion ) the chr●…●…ould of necessity be imperfect , attended with great amission of strength , an universal languor and enervation of the body , manifest hazard of life , a difficil , and at best a tedious convalescence , an alienation of the minde , a laesion of some more noble faculty , and success of some notable misfortune . all which events as they are ever annexed to diabolical cures : so are they never observed to follow upon a cure wrought by our unguent . our appeal lies to experience , for so many as ever received a cure by the unguent will freely give in their testimony on our side . now satan is no oracle that delivers truths , no counsellor to good , unless with design to insinuate his delusions the smoother , and cannot but betray himself by this , that he never long continues in the truth , he so speciously pretended : for always , when he has been an instrument of any good , constant to the hostility of his nature , he in the close tempers his favor with a larger allay of evil . and introth the same method would he according to the custom of his malicious friendship , have observed in the unguent had he been interessed as an author or fautor , either as principall or accessory : at least this remedy would then have failed and become evirate , when the wounded patient is rescued from the jaws of death , and reprieved from the gates of hell , who otherwise , tainted with the mortal contagion of sin , would by reason of his dangerous wound have poured forth his soul together with his blood ; unless perchance you seek to evade by saying , that satan in that crisis , that punctilio of danger , suffered a change of his cruelty into compassion , devested himself of his essential and inveterate enmity , and put on the good samaritan , nay , fell not onely to commiserate , but even dress the wounds of humanity ; and that he hath acquired some interest , some jurisdiction over the wounded patient , himself leaves doubtful and open to dispute , in that he preserves him by the magnetical unguent , whom he had rather should perish . it may be that satan is in your esteem now held a strict and punctual observer of his word and bargain , and no longer a turncoate , fraudulent dissembler and perjured impostor . besides , we positively deny , that your supposition can carry weight in the ballance of truth , that the blood once extravenated continues uncorrupt , and conserves its interest of vitality ; but rather that it is deprived of all community , and participation of life , and immediately undergoes some degree of corruption ; but that it obtains onely a mumial vitality . to this purpose conduces the corrupted , and yet magnetical blood in an eg. wherefore i pass by the absurdity of your objection , since it hath been so bold as to wrest the magnet of the unguent to another intention , then that which the wise bounty of god , in the primitive decree of his counsel , ordained it unto . the positive reasons of magnetism more neerly brought home to our knowledg , by metaphysical and magical principles . opportunity now invites us to discover the grand and approximate cause of magnetism in the vnguent : first , by the consent of mystical divines , we divide man into the external , and internal man , assigning to each distinct part the powers of a certain minde , or informative principle ; for in this disjunctive acception , there is a will competent to flesh and blood , which properly is neither the will of man , nor the will of god ; and our heavenly father reveals some things to the inward man , and some things are revealed by flesh and blood , that is , the outward man , in the single and abstracted relation of animal . for how can the adoration of idols , envy , and other such branches arising from the root of corcupiscence , be justly listed amongst the works of the flesh ( since they consist onely in the imagination ) if to the flesh also there did not peculiarly belong an imaginative faculty , and an elective will ? again , that there are miraculous ecstasies competent to the inward man , is a tenet true beyond the dispute or haesitation of a sceptick . and that there are also ecstasies in the outward man , is unquestionable by the most impudent infidelity : yea martin delrio , an elder of the society of jesu , in his magical disquisitions brings in a certain youth , in the city insulis , rapt with so intense and violent cogitation , and ardent desire to see his mother , that as if transported by an high ecstasie , he saw her many leagues distant , and returning again to himself perfectly remembred all things his fancy met with in this more-then pisgah vision , and reported many signes to attest his real and presential visit of his mother . many such examples occur to our quotidian observance , which in conformity to our purpose of brevity we with industry omit . but that this desire did arise from the outward man , namely , from flesh and blood , is most certain ; for otherwise the soul once disliged and enfranchised from the body , can never , unless by miracle , be again reunited to it . therefore in the blood there dwells a certain ecstatical power , which , if at any time it shall be excited by an earnest and ardent desire , is able to transport and on the immaterial wings of fancy waft the spirit of the outward man to some determinate object though at vast distance removed ; but this ecstatical faculty lies dormant in the outward man , as in potentia , in hability ; nor is it deduced into act , unless first rouzed and excited by the imagination accensed and exalted by fervent desire , or some other art equivalent to affection . moreover , when the blood has undergone some gradual corruption , then and not till then are all the powers of it , which before lay lock't up in potentia , and slept in an unactive hability , awakened and called forth to action , without any praevious excitation of the imagination : for by corruption of the grain , the seminal virtue , otherwise drowsie , torpent and steril , springs forth into the act of fertility . for since the essences of things , and their principles of vitality know no obedience to the tyranny of corruption , by the dissolution of the inferior harmony , the separation of their corporal heterogeneities , they awake into a vigorous activity , and freely execute the commission of their faculties . and from hence is it , that every occult propriety , the compage of their bodies being , by certain praevious digestions ( which we call putrefactions ) once dissolved , as it were emancipated from the bondage of corporeity , comes forth free , expedite , and ready for action . wherefore when the wound , by the ingression of the offensive aër , hath admitted an adverse and extraneous quality , from whence the blood immediately aestuates and ferments in the lips of the wound , and otherwise is converted into a purulent matter ; it happens that the blood in the wound freshly made , doth , by reason of this exotick quality , suffer some degree of putrefaction ( which blood then received upon the weapon , is emplastered with the magnetick unguent ) by the mediation of which gradual putrefaction , the ecstatick power of the blood , formerly latent in potentia , is drawn into act , which because it holds a commerce and secret friendship with that body , from whence it was effluxed , by relation of its hidden ecstasie ; hence is it that this blood constantly carries an individual respect and determinate amity to the other blood yet running in the veins of the same body . for then is it , i say , that the magnet sets it self a work in the unguent ; and by the concurrence and mediation of the ecstatick power ( for so i christen this quality , in defect of a more convenient epithite ) sucks out the noxious tincture from the lips of the wound , and at length by the mumial , balsamical and attractive virtue acquired in the unguent , the magnetism is consummate , and the cure perfected . lo now you have the true and positive reason of the natural magnetism in the unguent , deduced from natural magick ; to which the soul of reason , and light of truth is pleased to assent , in that sentence , where the treasure is , there the heart is also : for if the treasure be in heaven , then the heart , that is , the spirit of the internal man is fixed upon god , who is the true paradise , who onely is the life of eternal life . but if the treasure be laid up in transitory and fading things : then also is the heart and spirit of the outward man chained to things that must perish and confess their dust . nor is there cause why you should infer any mystical signification , or second intention by understanding not the spirit , but the cogitation and naked desire , for the heart : for that would sound frivolous and absurd , that where-ever a man should place his treasure , in his cogitation , there also would his cogitation be placed ; and truth it self interprets this present text literally , and without enfolding any mystery or deuteroscopy ; and by an example annexed manifestly shews the real and local presence of the eagles with the carcase . and in this signification also the spirit of the internal man is said to be locally in the kingdom of god ( which is very god himself ) within us : and the heart or spirit of the external man locally dwells about its treasure . what wonder , that the astral spirits of fleshly minded men should , long after their funerals , appear wandring about such places , as their treasures are hidden in ? by which apparitions the whole nectromancy * of the antients emancipated itself . i say therefore , that the external man is singly an animal governed by the reason and will of the blood : but in the interim , not barely an animal , but also the image of god. let logicians therefore hence observe , how defectively and improperly they use to define man from his power of ratiocination . but of this subject more largely elsewhere * . for which consideration , i shall in this place opportunely insert the magnetism of eagles to carcases newly slain : for fowls of the aër are not endowed with so much acuteness of the sense of smelling , that by the nostril they can receive an invitation in italy , to come and feast on dead bodies in africa . for neither can an odor be diffused to so vast a circumferential distance , since both the great latitude of the sea interposed must of necessity hinder , and the elemental propriety of the odor , subject to diminution and impairment in so long a tract of aër , forbid so huge an expansion of the atomes streaming from the odorible body ; nor is there any ground whereon to build your conception , that birds can by their sight discover carcases at so large distance , especially when they lie southward , behinde some high mountain . but what need is there for us , by the tedious force of words , to inculcate the magnetism of fowl ; since god himself , the alpha and omega of philosophy , hath in express terms decreed the process of intercourse or commerce betwixt the heart and its treasure , to be the same with that betwixt eagles and their prey of dead bodies : and so on the contrary , interchangeably ? for if eagles were carried on to their prey the carcases , by the same incitement of appetite , whereby all quadruped animals are goaded on to their pastures , assuredly he would have said in a word , that animals are directed and congregated to their food by the same motive , that the heart of a man sallies forth and invades its treasure . which would contain a most gross falsity : for the heart of man progresseth not to its treasure , with design to devour it , and sate it self therewith , as animals are by the swinge of appetite rapt on to their food . and therefore the comparison betwixt the heart of man and the eagle holds not good in the final cause or attractive , for which they tend to desire of fruition : but in the manner and processe of tendency , namely that they are equally invited , allected , & carried on by magnetism really and locally to their determinate objects . wherfore the spirit and will of the bloud effused out of the wound adhering to the weapon , and together with it embalmed in the vnguent , instantly tend and egresse towards their peculiar treasure , the residue of bloud yet running in its proper conservatory , the veines , and enjoying a community of life with the inward man. but the pen of divinity in a peculiar elogy writes that the eagle is allured to the carcases of the slaine : because he receives his summons and invitation from the originary , implanted , and mumiall spirit of the carcase ; but not from any odour exhaling from the body under the arrest of putrefaction . for this animal , in assimilation appropriates to himselfe onely this mumiall spirit : and hence is it in sacred writ said of the eagle , my youth shall be renewed like an eagle . in regard the renovation of its youth proceeds not from the bare eating the flesh of a carcase , but from an elixir or essentiall extract of the spirit balsamicall ; exquisitely depurated and refined by a certaine singular digestion , or concoctive faculty proper only to this fowle : for otherwise dogs , ravens and pies , would also receive an equall benefit of rejuvenescence ; which experience assures us to be false . you will say , we have travelled far indeed to fetch home a reason to support and illustrate our magnetisme . but what will you infer hereupon ? if you confesse that what seems far remote from the capacity of your intelligence , must also to you seem far fetched ; truly the book of genesis teacheth us , that the soule of every living creature dwels in the bloud of it , as in its proper mansion . for in the bloud there inhabite certaine noble and vital powers , which , as if they were endowed with animation , cry loud to heaven for revenge , yea from the hands of judges here below , demand vindictive justice to be done upon the homicide : which since they cannot be denyed to be naturall citizens of the blood , i see no reason , why any man should reject the magnetism of the bloud , and unjustly reckon its rare & admirable effects among the ridiculous acts of satan . i wil say this further , that men which walk in their sleep , do by the conduct of no other motor or guide , then that of the spirit of the bloud , that is of the outward man , walk up and downe , clime wals and praecipices , and performe many other actions difficult and impossible to men awake : i say , by a magicall virtue naturall to the outward man. that saint ambrose was visibly present at the exsequies of saint martin , though corporally at home in his owne chamber many leagues distant . yet he was visibly present at the celebration of his holy brothers funerall , in the visible spirit of the exteriour man , and no otherwise : for when many holy fathers of the church have seen the transaction of many secret and distant things , this hath been performed without the circumscription of time and place , in that ecstasy which is only of the internall man , by the superiour powers of the soule , collected and twisted into unity , and by an intellectuall vision , but not by a visible presence . for otherwise the soule is never divorced from the body , unless in earnest once and ever , and then is not capable of a reunion until the resurrection : which reconnexion notwithstanding is otherwise familiar and naturall to the spirit of the outward man , divorced pro tempore in some ecstasy . in so great a paradox it can hardly suffice to erect a firme building of belief upon one single pillar of reason : wherefore we conceive it our duty , to frame a second basis for the more substantiall supportment of our doctrine of magnetisme , and to advance to the explanation of that mysterious cause , by which this magneticall alliciency is performed also betwixt bodies devoid of animation , not by any animall , but a certaine naturall sensasion . which that we may more seriously enterprise , and solidly performe , we are obliged by way of praeparation to praemise an enquiry , what satan can of his own power contribute to , and by what meanes he can coopeperate in the meerly nefarious and impious actions of witches and conjurators : for from hence will it clearly appear , to what particular and just cause , whether naturall or diabolicall , every effect arising from abstruse originals , ought properly to be ascribed . and finally , what kinde of spirituall power that is , which tends to and arrives at an object removed at large distance : or what is the action , passion , and velitation or reactive encounter betwixt naturall spirits : or wherein consists the superiority and praerogative of man , above other inferiour creatures : and by consequence , why our unguent compounded of human mumies , should also cure the wounds of horses . i shall explain the matter by an example . let us therefore grant a witch , who can vigorously torment an absent man by an image of wax , by imprecation , incantation , or onely by some praevious touch ( for in this place we have nothing to doe with veneficious witches , properly called sorcerers , in regard they execute their malice , and destroy onely by poyson , which every common seplasiarie and petty apothecary can imitate ) that this action is diabolicall , no man will doubt . however it pleaseth us to distinguish , how much satan , and how much the witch can contribute to this mischiefe . the first supposition . first , you shall take notice that satan is the sworne and irreconcileable enemy of mankinde , and so accounted by all , unlesse any please to esteem him a friend : and therefore that he doth most readily , without any the least haesitancy or negligence , attempt and procure what mischief soever lies within the reach of his malice or power against us . the second supposition . next you shall observe , that although he be a mortall adversary to witches also , in so much as 't is essentiall to him to maintain a most destructive hostility against all the sons of adam : yet in respect they are his confest slaves , and sworn subjects of his own black kingdome , he never , unlesse against his will , and by compulsion , detects them , never betrays them into the hands of the magistrate , nor exposes them to the scorne and reproches of other persons ; and that for three reasons . ( 1 ) since he is the grand-father of pride , he very well knowes , that by the detection of his favorites there is much detracted from his reputation , authority and dominion . ( 2 ) since he is an insatiate nimrod , an implacable persecutor of soules , he is not ignorant , that by the punishment and flames , which justice inflicts upon his zanies , many other men , else willing and prompt to list themselves in his regiment , and fall under his jurisdiction , are discouraged , deterred , and quite averted . ( 3 ) because he often observes many a witch , whom with an obtorsion or wresting round of her neck , and secret stopping of her breath he could heartily wish to destroy , converted by her punishment , to become an apostate from him , and repenting at sight of the flames , and by this meanes snatched out of his clutches . from the former of our propositions i conclude , that satan , if he were able singly by his own power to destroy man , whom the guilt of mortall sinne hath made obnoxious to the tyranny of death , would upon no motive whatever be induced to suspend and procrastinate the execution or his destructive malice : but he doth not , therefore he cannot destroy him . but yet the witch doth very frequently murder man ; and hence also it is clear , that the witch hath a power to destroy him , no otherwise then an assassine hath a power , at the liberty of his own will , to cut the throat of him that is fallen into his hands : and therefore in this detestable action there is a certain power peculiarly belonging to the witch , which depends not upon satan ; and by consequence satan is not the principall efficient and grand executor of the homicide ; for otherwise , if he were the prime executor , he could in no respect stand in need of the witch for a coadjutrix and assistant ; but would ere this time , by his own single power , have cut off and swept into the grave the greatest part of mankinde . most miserable and deplorable indeed were the condition of the posterity of adam , which should lie in subjection to so horrid a tyranny , and stand obnoxious to the fate of his arbitrary cruelty : but we have the almighty preserver of men , more faithfull in his mercies towards us then to subject the workes of his own hands to the arbitrary dominion of satan . therefore in this impious act there is a certaine power clearly peculiar , and naturall to the witch , which proceeds not from satan . moreover , what the nature , extent , and quality of this magicall ( yet naturall ) power of the witch may be , we must exactly explore and gravely consider . it is manifest in the first place , that it is not any corporeall strength of the masculine sex ; for there concurres not any forcible attraction of the members of the body , and witches are for the most part old , feeble and impotent women : wherefore of necessity to the production of this notable mischiefe there must concurre some other power , of farre more vigour and activity then the strength of the body , and yet purely naturall to man. this power therefore must be ambuscadoed in that part , wherein we most nearly resemble the image of god. and although all pieces of the hexameron creation doe in some relation or other repraesent that most sacred and venerable image of the creator : yet in regard man doth most elegantly , most properly and most exactly reflect that shadow of divinity , therefore doth the image of god shine more transcendent in man , and as lord paramount beare rule and exercise dominion over the repraesentative divinity of all other creatures . for haply by this praerogative all created sublunaries are made subordinate to his royaltie , and prostituted at the feet of his soveraign will. wherefore if god execute his will , and produce reall effects per nutum , intuitively , and by the single efficacy of his word : then man also to make good his title of being the true mirrour or repraesentative of the deity , ought to enjoy a power of doing some actions per nutum . for neither is that new , paradoxicall or troublesome to our faith , nor peculiar onely to god himself : since satan , the most vile and abject of all creatures , can also move solid and ponderous bodies from place to place at pleasure , onely per nutum : for he hath no corporeall organs , no extremities , wherewith to touch , locally move , or assume any new body to himself . no lesse therefore ought this priviledge to belong to the inward man , in his spirituall capacity ; if we allow him to beare the image of god , and that no idle and unactive one . if we name this faculty magicall , and this appellation sound harsh , and terrible in the eares of your ignorance , i shall not quarrel with you , if you please to denominate it a spirituall vigour or energie of the inward man : for wee are not at all sollicitous about names , but ever with as direct an eye of reason as i can , i look upon the reality of the thing it self . this magicall power therefore naturally resides in the inward man : whether by this title you understand the soule or vitall spirit of man , is now indifferent to us : since the inward man doth hold a certain correspondence with the outward in all things , which commerciall influx , thriving and as it were glowing with a fervour of activity in a peculiar manner , is an appropriate disposition and proportionate propriety . on which ground it is necessary , that this active faculty be disseminated and diffused through the whole compositum of man : but indeed in the soule , more intense and vigorous , and in flesh and blood , far more remisse and languid . the vitall spirit in the throne of flesh and blood , that is the outward man , sits viceroy to the soule , and acts by her commission : and is the same plastick spirit , which in the seed comprehends , contrives , and models the whole figure of man , that magnificent structure , limms out all the lineaments and accurate adumbration of the parts , and understands the praedestinate ends of all its designes and undertakings : which as praesident and guardian accompanies the infant from the first moment of its conception , to the last of its dissolution : and which although together with the life it bid adieu to the body , yet some little remaines , as if strongly united unto and confermentated with the corporeall masse , for a while sojourn in a carcase extinct by violence . but out of a dead body , whose lamp of life languished and went out of its owne accord , both the implantate and influent spirit depart hand in hand together . for which reason physicians distinguish this spirit into the originary , implantate and inhaerent , or mumiall , and the influent or acquisite vanishing together with the former life : and afterwards they againe dichotomize or subdivide the influxive spirit into the naturall , vitall and animall : but we in this notion bind them all up together in this one terme , the vitall spirit , or inward man. the soule therefore , by essence wholly spirituall , could by no meanes , move , inform , and actuate the vitall spirit ( which truely carries something of corporeity and bulk ) much lesse excite and give locomotion to flesh and bloud ; unlesse some naturall , yet magicall and spirituall , power inhaerent in the soule , did streame down from the soule , as from the first motor , upon the spirit , and so descend to the body . i beseech you by what way could the corporeall spirit obey and execute the command of the soul , unlesse it first receive commission and ability from her to move the spirit , and afterwards the body ? but against this magicall motrix you will instantly object , that indeed there is such a naturall power , but her wings are clipt , she is restrained and confined within the walls of her owne tabernacle , the body , so that she cannot extend her authority and influence beyond the circumference of it ; and therefore although we give her the proud name of magicall , yet we cannot escape the guilt of wresting and abusively applying that epithite , since the true , genuine , and superstitious magicall power desumes not her basis from the soule ; in regard the soule her self is devoyd of all ability to move , alter , or excite any the least thing at all , without her own orbe of activity , the body . i answer , that this vigour and naturall magick of the soule , which acts extra se , beyond the dimensions of her selfe , by virtue of the image of god , doth now lye raked up and obscured in man , and being impoverished in its force of excitation , is grown unactive , somnolent and stupid , ever since the praevarication of adam ( all which particulars we shall hereafter , in convenient place and order commonstrate ) which power , however it be charmed into a lethargick inactivity by the opium of originall sin , and drunk with the narcoticall fumes of concupiscence , within us : yet it retaines force sufficient to performe all its requisite offices in the body . this science therefore and magicall power in man , acting only per nutum , intuitively , grew dormant and evirate , from that minute the science ( or rather nescience ) of the aple was drunk in : and while this malignant counter-science of the forbidden fruit ( that is , of flesh and bloud , of the outward man , and darknesse ) growes up and flourishes , the more noble magical power withers , is ploughed up and buryed in the rubbish of sensuality . but in regard ever now and then the science of the aple is suspended and chained up in the leaden fetters of sleep : hence it is also , that sometimes our dreams are propheticall , and that often god himself vouchsafeth to make a neerer approach and familiar visit to the sons of men , in dreams or abstracted visions of the night : for when the interior magick of the soule stands unmolested and free from any disturbance of the science of the interdicted fruit , then and onely then doth the intelligence keep holy-day , enjoy an halcyon calme , and freely diffuse its selfe through all its royaltie : for thus doth it , when it demergeth it self into the inferiour and subordinate faculties , safely conduct and lead along those that walk in their sleep , over such horrid praecipices , where the strongest brained man awake durst not adventure to clime . whereupon the senior rabbies of the jews affirme , that the cabal * was originally conceived in sleep : namely when the science of the aple was wholly consopited . the intellectuall act of the soule is ever clear , enjoys a constant jubile of calme serenity , and continues in some sort perpetuall ; but so long as the principall agent hath not transmitted its power so farre as the limits of sense , this kinde of action is not diffused through the whole man. for we who are wholly imployed and taken up with the exercise of our sensitive facultie together with our carnall intelligence , are perpetually ( oh misery worthy a deluge of teares ! distracted and impetuously hurryed away from the use and benefit of our more coelestial & magical science , and held captives rather in the crepusculous and owle-light of congnition , then in the meridian of truth . nor do we the inhabitants of aegyptian darknesse understand our own intellection , untill there succeed a certaine mutuall traduction of the severall faculties , a successive delivery of the image of the object from each to other , and untill as it were certain angles of actions , propagated by divers agents , concurre and become complicated about the medium . now saran excites this magicall power ( otherwise dormant , and impeded by the science of the outward man ) in his vassals : and the same awaked into activity serves them in stead of a sword , or instrument of revenge in the hand of a potent adversary , that is the witch . nor doth satan adfer any thing at all to the perpetration of the murder , more then the bare excitation of the somnolent power , and a consent of the will , which in witches is for the most part subject to his compulsion : for which two contributions , the damned miscreant , as if the whole energy of the act were soly attributary to himselfe requires by compact , a constant homage , a firme and irrevocable oppignoration , and devout adoration at least , and frequently a surrender of the very soule into his possession . when intruth this power was freely conferred upon us by god , our architect , and is no more then purely naturall to man. for those praestigious acts and impostures , the effascination by the optick emission of the eyes , the false disguises of witches in borrowed shapes , and other delusions of this kind , are onely derived from the legerdemain of satan , and his proper acts . and for this reason all the operations of this montinbanco , this hocus-pocus , are meerly ridiculous pageant delusions and counterfeit apparitions , by the praesentment of formes that delude the sense ; because the god of mercies permits him not to enjoy any greater range of power , but holds this mischievous leviathan by a hook in his nostrils : but on the other side , the witch doth by the magick of her own naturall faculty perform reall and impious effects . since that by sin , not the endowments of nature , but of grace , were obliterated in adam , no man disputes : and that these gifts of nature , although they were not totally cancelled and lost , yet remained eclipsed and as it were envelloped in the obscurity of a midnight sleep . for as man from that unhappy moment , wherein he forfeited his primitive soveraignty , became inevitably obnoxious to the same fate of mortality together with his fellow creatures : so also were all his heroick and imperial faculties withdrawn behind a cloud , and so oppressed with the opacity of fleshly lusts , that ever since they stand in need of excitement and eduction from that cimmerian umbrage . and to the procuring and advance of this excitation , abstracted contemplations , fervent and uncessant prayers , taedious vigils , macerating fasts and other acts of mortification , are strong and praevalent conducements ; that by these spirituall antidotes the lethargie of flesh and blood being subdued , men may obtain this faculty renewed into its primitive agility , and in a calme requiem of spirit offer up their addresses to that pure essence , which requires to be worshiped no other way , then in purity of spirit , that is , in the zealous abysse of the soule , the profundity of the inward man. to this purpose also mainely conduceth the practice of the cabal , which may restore to the soule this her naturall and magicall praerogative , and rowze it up from the slumber and inchantment of carnality . i will explain my self yet farther , like a mathematician , by examples , and assume the very operations of witches : which although of themselves they are full of impiety and horrid mischiefe ; yet they grow upon the same root indifferently disposed to the production of good or evill fruite , namely upon this magicall facultie . for it proclaimes not the majesty of free-will , or the tractate of it , if we from thence collect argument concerning a thiefe , an assassine , a whoremonger , an apostate , or witch . grant therefore that a witch kill a horse , in a stable removed at good distance : there is some certain naturall power derived from the spirit of the witch , and not from satan , which can oppresse , strangle , and perish the vitall spirit of the horse . grant that there be two subjects of diseases and death , and that one of these is the body wherein every disease takes up its quarters : and because all entities discharge their activities on this , as the most passive and flexible , men have conjectured , that the other spirituall dominion was derived immediately from satan : but the other is the impalpable and invisible spirit , which is constituted in a capacity of suffering every disease , perse , in its own solitary nature . the spirit once invaded by any forreign hostility , and subdued to the obedience of passion , the body also cannot but submit to compassion and deuteropathy ; since every action is terminated in the body ( for the mind after once it is adliged to the body , alwaies flowes downward , as when the palate is misaffected with paine , the tongue alwaies tends thither , on the designe of relieving it ) but on the contrary , the body may often be assaulted and entered by the force of a disease , and yet the spirit remain exempted from sympathy . for there is a classis of diseases onely materiall , which arise singly from a materiall tincture . so various and numerous are the occasions of death , that , when we have taken the just dimensions of our frailties , we shall finde no ground left us , to erect any structure of pride upon . the act therefore of the praevious touch of the witch is purely naturall : although the excitation of this magicall virtue depend upon the auxiliary concurrence of satan , in as near an interest , as if the witch had cut the throat of the horse with a sword , which satan had put into her hands . this act of the witch is naturall and corporeall : as the other praecedent act is naturall and sprituall . for indeed man doth naturally consist no lesse of a spirit , then a body : nor is there reason , why one act should be accounted more naturall then the other ; or why the body , the courser part of man , should be allowed a power of action , but the spirit , the more noble and coelestiall part , ( in its relation of being the image of god ) accounted idle , unoperative , and altogether devoid of any activity peculiar to it self : yea the vitall spirits , in most exact propriety of language , are the immediate actors of sensation , motion , memory , &c. but the body , and dead carkasse cannot , in any respect whatever , owne those faculties : wherefore every action stands more relatively and properly regardant to its agent , then to the body , which at best is no more then the transitory lodging of the agent . and thus it is evidenced , that there passeth a spirituall radius , or gleame of magicall virtue , from the witch , to the man or horse appointed for destruction , according to that axiome : that no action can be done , without a due approximation of the agent to the patient , and a reciprocal unition or marriage of the virtues of each , whether the admotion or approximation be corporeall or spirituall : which by an example ready provided to our hand we can both prove and illustrate . for if the heart ( which is the presence-chamber of the vitall spirit ) of a horse slain by a witch , taken out of the yet warme and reaking carcase , be empaled upon an arrow , and roasted upon a broach , or carbonadoed , immediately the vitall spirit of the witch , without the intervention of any other medium , and anon the whole witch ( since not the body , but onely the spirit is capable of sensation ) becomes tormented with the unsufferable pains and cruelty of the fire ; which truly could by no meanes happen , unlesse there praeceded a conjunction or reciprocall intercourse of the spirit of the witch , with the spirit of the horse . for the horse after strangulation retaines a certain mumiall virtue ( so i call it , whenever the virtue of the vitall nectar , or blood , is confermentate with the flesh ) which is the originary , implantate spirit , such as is never found resident in bodies , that are extinct by voluntary deaths in any chronique disease , or other ataxy , irregularity , or disruption of the inferiour harmony , that is the temperament of the body : to which the spirit of the witch is associated , as joynt commissioner . in the reaking and yet panting heart therefore , the spirit of the witch , before it shall , by the dissolution of the praecedent conspiracie , or divorce of the united spirits by putrefaction , have returned backe into her bosome , is imprisoned and held captive , and the retreat of it praevented by the arrow transfixed , and by the torrefaction of both spirits together : and hence comes it to passe , that the witch is afflicted and throwne into a horrid agony in her sensative spirit . this effect admits a change , or double construction , from the intention of the experiment . for if revenge be the motive or incitement to the experimentator , then is the effect unwarrantable and inconsistent with the charitable rules of christianity : but if an honest and conscientious designe , to compell the witch to detect her self , to betray her to the justice of the magistrate , to procure security to our neighbour and our selves by the remove of so impious , blasphemous , and nocuous a vassall of satan , that the greater glory to god , and peace and benevolence to men , may redound from the discovery ; then undoubtedly the effect cannot be disallowed or condemned by the most rigid , precise , or puritanicall judgement . we are not to conceive , that all the spirit of the witch sallyed forth , and transmigrated into the heart of the horse ( for so the witch her selfe had perished , falne into an eternall swoune ) but that there is a certaine univocall participation , or identicall traduction of the spirit and vitall light of the witch : in an equall analogie to the plastique spirit , or sole delineator and architect of the most curious and magnificent fabrick of man , which in every distinct emission of the geniture or seed is covertly ambuscadoed and propagated , sufficient to the procreation of a numerous issue , the originary spirit of the father yet remaining unimpaired , and conserving its individuall integrity . for in sooth that participation and inheritance of the vitall light is magical , and a rich and fruitfull communication of the specificall essence , by the fertill virtue of that benediction , delivered by the protoplast of all seminall formes , let all animalls and vegetalls bring forth seed , and hence is it that one individuall seed produceth ten myriads of other seeds aequivalent , and as many seminall spirits comprehending the whole specificall essence , by the same mysterious way of traduction , whereby one tapor is lighted by the flame of another . but what the proper nature of this magneticall spirit , and what the magicall entity begotten in the wombe of phansie may be , i shall more largely declare in the processe of our discourse : for it becomes me to retreat from my digression , and now to progresse in that path , which directly leads to our intended scope . nor is there any pretence of reason , why any should conjecture , that this reaction , or rebound of magicall power upon the heart of the witch , is only imaginary and a chimaera of licentious phanfie , or a plainly superstitious and damnable imposture and delusion of satan ; since by this token the witch is infallibly detected , and volent nolent compelled to appear in publick , which in one of our praecedent suppositions we have sufficiently demonstrated to be è diametro , opposed to the intention of satan : for the effect holds constantly good , and never failes to succeed upon experiment , as having its fundamentall causalities laid in reason and the spirituall nature of the inward man , but not at all built upon superstitious supporters . hath not many a murdered carcase , by the operation of the same magneticall spirit , suffered a fresh cruentation upon the coroners inquest , in the presence of the homicide , and very often directed the magistrate to a just and infallible judgement of the crime , although the blood , before that minute , stood congealed and frozen in its cold rivulets ? the reason of this life in death , this plea of the grave and loud language of silent corruption , which hath empuzled the anxious disquisitions of many subtile heads , we conceive to be thus : in a man dying of a wound , the inferiour virtues , which are mumiall , ( for these are not subject to the restrint of our will , and operate not in conformity to the di●… ates of reason ) have deeply impressed upon themselves a certaine character of revenge : and hence is it , that at the approach of the assassine , the bloud whose fountaine death had sealed up , begins a tumultuation and ebullition in the veines , and violently gusheth forth , being , as in a furious fit of anger , enraged and agitated by the image or impresse of revenge conceived against the murderer , at the instant of the soules immature , and compulsive exile from the body . for indeed the bloud after death retaines a peculiar sense of the murderer being present , and enjoyes a certaine , though obscure , kind of revenge : because it hath its peculiar phansie : and for this reason , not abel himselfe , but his innocent bloud cries loud in the eares of divine justice for revenge . this also is the cause , why the plague is so frequent a concomitant to seidges , and why the beleaguered see the revenge of their dead acted upon their enemies by the surviving magick of their friends bloud : for the magicall spirit of the inward man , in the heat of the encounters & sallyes , hath conceived a character and impression of revenge , and sometimes the defendants , especially th common souldier , being by want and other extreame miseries reduced to desperation , and man and wife , conjoyned as well in death as life , falling into the cold armes of the grave , bequeath heavie imprecations and maledictions to the surviving officers , who engaged them in the calamity , and might , had their charity been but halfe so weighty as their wealth , have relieved their famine : by which earnest curse , there are more strong and durable impressions engraven on the sidereall-spirit of the dying man ( chiefly of a great bellyed woman ) which survive the funerall of the body . this posthume spirit ( call it ghost if you please ) immediately after death taking a vagabond progresse in the lower region of the ayre , applies it selfe to the contrivement of such spirituall means of revenge and ruine , as lye within the sphear of its activity , and having once designed the way , most readily advances to execution . and plagues of this originall are most fatall , aswell in the universality of contagion , as destruction , sparing no sex , age , or constitution , but impartially blasting all , as if immediately shot from the quiver of incensed divinity . but our pen is tender , and feares to divulge the mysterious cause , why such spirituall plagues scorne to obey the empty and frustaneous help of corporeal remedies : for to reveale the reciprocall connexion of mumies , & the concordance of their interchangeable and cooperating faculties , might prove unsafe and offensive to vulgar heads , in regard of the whole nectromancy of the antients was originally founded on this basis . for the same reason also god in the levitical law severely prohibited the suspension of the bodies of malefactors upon the gibbet , expresly commanding their remove before the sun went downe upon them . you will answer , that camp-plagues are generated from the odious and unwholsome nastinesse of the souldier , and from the unburied excrements of men , and entrails of beasts , polluting the ayre with putrid and malignant vapours : but to this erroneous opinion we oppose the example of coriars , tanners , and such who imploy their industry in the sordid manufacture of glew , made of skins dissolved by putrefaction , for all these are observed for the most part ( so farre are they from being obnoxious to the infection of the plague ) to enjoy the blessings of health and longavity ; so conspicuous and admirable is the finger of divinity in the spirit of the microcosmé . doe you desire to be informed , why the blood of a bull is toxicall and poysonous , but that of an oxe , though brother to the bull , safe and harmelesse ? the reason thus , the bull at the time of slaughter is full of secret reluctancy and vindictive murmurs , and firmly impresseth upon his owne blood a character and potent signature of revenge . but if it chance , that an oxe brought to the slaughter , fall not at one stroke of the axe , but grow enraged and furious , and continue long in that violent madnesse : then he leaves a depraved and unwholsome tincture on his flesh , unlesse he be first recalmed and pacified by darknesse and famine . a bull therefore dyes with a higher flame of revenge about him , then any other animall whatever : and for that transcendent excandescence , his fat ( but by no meanes his blood , lest the humane blood in the unguent be subdued and overawed by this exotique tincture of the bulls blood ) is an ingredient wholly necessary to the composition of the armary unguent , where the weapons , which made the wound , are not besprinkled with the blood of the patient . for if we expect a perfect cure from the dressing of the weapon , truely the mosse and other its fellow ingredients will prove insufficient to worke a cure , when the weapon is not distained with blood effused from the wound : since there is required a more violent and efficacious , namely , a taurine , impression , and an aëreall communication of florid honey . and thus have wee , to the satisfaction of the most incredulous and prejudicate , made it out , that the admirable efficacy of the unguent ought to be imputed , not to any auxiliary concurrence of satan ( who could performe the cure without the use of honey and bulls blood ) but to the communion of naturall qualities , by the energy of the posthume character of revenge , remaining firmly impressed upon the blood and concreted fat . our adversaries will whisper , and secretly exult , that the power of our magnetical unguent could have hardly been supported , but by analogical arguments drawn from the abstruse operations of witches , from the impostures of satan , and the spiritual magick of the invisible world , which is a science onely imaginary , of no solid concernment or weight in the ballance of reason , and a dangerous , if not damnable , error . nevertheless , not any sinister obliquity or perversion of truth , nor any indirect design in us , by specious similitudes to impose upon the weaker credulities of the illiterate : but the gross ignorance of others , and the deplorable condition of humane fragility , which by the propensity of our vitiated nature more readily inclines to evil , more nimbly apprehends evil , and is more familiarly instructed by evil , then good , hath compulsively directed our pen to observe this method in the explanation and probation of our thesis . however , what we have represented in this scene concerning satan , and his familiar zany the witch , affords no encouragement or ground for others to hope a perfect conformity or resemblance of the power of our unguent with that of witches ; for neither the spiritual faculty of the vnguent , nor the ecstatique phansie of the blood , are excited by the manuduction or impulsion of satan . the mark we shot at was , that there is inhabitant in the soul a certain magical virtue , infused by the primitive bounty of her creator , naturally proper and of right belonging to her by that just title , that man is the image and noble effigies of the deity ; and that this virtue is qualified with a celestial activity , and semidivine prerogative of operation , that is , a power of acting per nutum , intuitively , spiritually , and at vast distance , and that too with much more vigor and efficacy , then by any corporeal helps and assistance . the reason briefly and plainly thus ; the soul is the diviner particle , and more noble moity of man , far overweighing the body both in dignity of essence and extraction : therefore also is the activity competent to it spiritual , magical , and of superlative validity . that the soul by the dictates of this virtue , which hath suffered a consopition and abatement of its primitive agility by the counter-magick of the forbidden apple in paradise , doth regulate , manage , and move onely her own peculiar body : but the same being exsuscitated and awakened again into action , she extends her dominion beyond the narrow limits of her earthly cloyster to an object at distance , and becomes so longimanous as to operate onely per nutum , by intuition conveyed through convenient mediums : for upon this point is founded the whole basis of natural magick , but in no respect upon the brittle and sandy foundation of benedictions , ceremonies , and vain superstitions ; for these vain and impious observances were all introduced by him , who hath ever made it his study , to conspurcate and defile the best things with the sophistication of his tares . and in this sense we have not trembled at the name of magick , but with the scripture understood it in the best interpretation : and yet we have allowed it , to be indifferently imployed to a good or evil end , namely by the lawful use or abuse of this power . and so under this term we comprehend the highest ingenite cognition of natural things , and the most vigorous power of action , equally natural to us with adam , not wholly extinguished nor obliterated by original sin , but onely obscured and as it were consopited , and therefore wanting expergefaction and excitement . and therefore we declare , that magnetism is not exercised by satan : but by that which hath no dependance upon satan : and consequently that this power , which is peculiarly connatural to us , hath been abusively fathered upon satan , as if he were the sole patron and promoter of it : that this magical faculty lieth dormant in us , charmed into a somnolent inactivity by the opiate of the primitive sin , and therefore stands in need of an excitator to promote it into action : whether this excitator be the holy spirit by illumination , as the church commemorates to have happened in the eastern magi , and frequently happens in many devout persons even in our days : or satan , for some previous oppignoration and compact with witches ; in whom this excitation is wrought as by a coma * vigil , or catoche * , and is therefore imperfect in regard of the manner , evil in regard of the end , obscure in regard of the means , and nefarious in regard of the author : nor doth the versipellous or protean impostor endure that the witch should know this power to be her own natural endowment , on purpose to hold her the more strictly obliged to himself , and lest the exercise of so noble a faculty , once excited , should be employed to any other atchieveme , but what is impious and destructive to mankinde ; and so he keeps the reins in his own hand , nor can the witch know how at her own pleasure to excite this dormant magick , who hath wholly prostituted the freedom of her spirit to the will of another tyrant . that man of himself , without the auxiliary concurrence of any forrein causality , can where and when he please , by the practise of the cabalistique art , awaken and excite this grand virtue into action : and such who have attained to this renovation of their impaired nature , are honored with the title of adepti , obtainers , or acquirers , the select vessels of god , whose wills stand in humble and full conformity to the dictates and advisoes of the holy ghost . that this magical virtue is also naturally inherent in the outward man , namely in flesh and blood ; but yet in a far less measure , and of a more feeble energy : yea , not onely in the outward man , but even in brutes , in some proportion and of inferior vigor ( for so the book of moses hath positively observed unto us , that the soul of every beast is lodged in its blood , and therefore he deservedly forbids it to be listed in the bill of humane fare ) and perchance in all other created natures ; since every single entity contains , within the narrow tablet of its own nature , an adumbration or landskip of the whole universe ; and on this hint the antients have left it on record unto us , that there is a god , that is an universal entity , in all things . that this magick of the outward man , no less then that of the inward man , doth want excitation : nor doth satan excite any other magick in his base miscreant vassals , then that of the outward man ; for in the interior closet of the soul is seated the kingdom of god , to which no creature hath access . we have further demonstrated , that there is a mutual connexion between spiritual agents , and that spirits as they combat , which we have shewn in the example of the witch , so also they hold a friendly and amicable correspondence each with other , which we prove by the testimony of magnetical experiments , and proper arguments , for the fascination and ligation of souls , as in the amours of david and jonathan , &c. finally , we have stretched the sinews of our reason to manifest , that man enjoyes a dominion paramount over all other corporeal creatures , and that by his own natural magick he can countermand the magical virtues of all other sublunaries : which royal prerogative and predomination some others have erroneously and abusively transferred upon the power of charms and incantations . by which hierarchy we have to satiety of satisfaction , made it manifest , that all those admirable and abstruse effects are wrought , which the rustical and too corporeal philosophy of others hath ascribed to the dominion of satan . that those who are ignorant of most things we have delivered , should yet remain dubious and unsatisfied in many things , is necessarily certain : wherefore we have determined to make a summary rehearsal of all : chiefly that so what we have spoken in the former part of our dispute , concerning the duello or conflict of spirits , and the reciprocal amity or mutual conspiration of their united virtues , may receive the clearer explanation . it is a task worthy our sweat and oyl , to discover and handsomely define the arms , militia , and encounters of spirits , and their commonwealth : in order whereunto we are with great sobriety of judgment , and acuteness of reason , to perpend the example of a pregnant or great bellied woman , who when she hath intently and with violence of desire fixed her minde upon a cherry , immediately there is impressed upon the fruit of her womb the model , or pourtract of the cherry , in that part , whereon the ingravidated woman laid her hand . nor doth there remain onely a bare and idle figure of a cherry , and a spot or maculation of the skin ▪ but a certain real production , which buds ; blossomes , and ripens in its due season , at the same time with other trees , the signatures of colour and figure passing gradual changes till it come to maturity . high and sacred , in good troth , is the power of the microcosmical spirit , which without any arboreal trunck produceth a true cherry : that is flesh , by the sole seminality and conception of phansie , qualified with all the proprieties and virtue of a real cherry . hence we understand two necessary consequences . the first that the seminal spirits , and in some latitude of acception the very essences of all creatures do lie ambuscadoed in our nature : and are onely educed and hatched into realities by the microcosmicratical phansie . the other , that the soul in the conception of thought doth generate a certain idea of the thing conceived in the minde : which as it before lay concealed and raked up , as fire in flint ; so by the concitation of phansie it doth produce a certain real idea or exact pourtraict , and an essential determination , in every part responding to the quiddity of the cherry , which cannot be a meer quality , but something like a substance , of an ambiguous essence between the body and the spirit , that is the soul. this production is so far spiritual , that it is not wholly exempted from a corporeal condition ; since the actions of the soul are terminated in the body , and the other inferior faculties subservient to her : nor yet so far corporeal , that it may be circumscribed by dimensions , which is onely proper to a seminal entity , as we have formerly related . this ideal entity therefore when it falls from the invisible and intellectual world of the microcosm , it then puts on corporeity , and then first becomes subject to be circumscribed by the determinate dimensions of locality and numeration . the proper object of the intellect is an abstracted , naked and pure essence , subsisting of itself ; and not an accident , by the consent of practical , that is mystical divines . this protheus , the intellect , doth thus as it were cloath and apparel this conceived essence with corporeity . but in regard every operation of the soul , whether external or internal , hath its fieri in its own proper image : therefore can not the intellect discern and know , the will like and select , and the memory recollect and recogitate , unless by images ▪ and this same image of the object the intellect doth cloath in corporeity : and because the soul is the simple form of the body , which readily converts and applies her self to every member , therefore cannot the intellect entertain and harbor two images at one and the same time , but successively first one and then another . and thus the soul wholly descends upon the intellect , and the yet-tender and embryon image newly conceived and impressed , and afterwards forms the cognition of the peculiar essence into a persistent and durable image , or ideal entity . the minde being once polluted by the leprous miasm , or contagious tincture of sin , soon became obnoxious to the wrath of god ; and because this was at once deturpated and depraved , being devested of the nobility of its primitive condition ; therefore death found an entrance upon our nature , not by the original decree of the creator , but by the degeneration of man delapsed into filthiness and impurity , and ungenerously degrading himself , by reason of this ideal entity now arrayed with comparative corporeity ; which corruption and turpitude , with deplorable fertility springing up in every the most venial peccadillo , we must extenuate and mortifie by showers of poenitential tears in this world , or too late bewail in the next . this entity therefore , while it remains in the forge of the intellect , is but lightly and slenderly characterized , nor doth any where , but in a pregnant woman , receive a more firm consistence , which in the masculine sex it never obtains but by the will ; more familiarly thus , the agent intellect always procreateth an ideal entity , or semi-substantial pourtraict of the essence of an object ; but cloaths it not with corporeity , unless by the immediate action of the will , great-bellied women onely excepted . sin therefore , whether we allow it to be a reality , or non-reality , at least a consent and propensity to evil , can never be committed without the real production of this kinde of entity , and the assumption and indution of it . and this truly hath ever been the cause of the foecundity of seeds : for the phansie , excited by the orgasmus or heat of lust , produceth a slender reality or ideal entity , which when the soul hath clothed with corporeity ( for the action of the minde , while it remains immured in walls of flesh , always tends downward and outward ) it instantly diffuseth this new ideal entity into the liquor of the seed , which without this impregnation had still continued barren and devoid of any plastique power : which action is performed as it were by an alienation of the minde , the will being ravished , by the true magick of the outward man , into a kinde of short ecstasie , in which there happens a communication or bequest of a certaine mentall light to the entity descending into the body or masse of seed . whensoever therefore the cogitation draws the sense and will into consent ; so often is there hatched and incorporated a filthy , spurious ideall entity : by which production the will is said to be confirmed : and this ideall entity with all expedition rangeth through the body , whithersoever it is sent on an errant by the will : and by this meanes the will now moves the arme , now the foote , anon the tongue , and so all other parts . againe when this entity is disseminated upon the uitall spirit , on a designe of love , reliefe , or harme to any object , then it wants no more then a slight and easie excitement from the auxiliary hand of god , of the cabalistique art , or of satan ; that so the portion of the spirit , which is impraegnated with the ideall entity , may sally abroad and atcheive the enterprise enjoined it by the will. thus every male projects his seed at distance from the dimensions of his body : which seminall emission carries along with it that foecundity , which it drew from the infused entity , and executes its procreative commission beyond the trunck of the individuall protoplast . undoubtedly bodies scarce make up a moity of the world : but spirits possesse a full mediety , and indeed the major part of the world . and therefore in this whole context , i call spirits the patrons of magnetisme : not those that are sent downe from heaven doe we mean , much lesse those that ascend from the horrid abysse below ; but such only which have their originall , and existence in man himselfe : for as fire is , by excussion , kindled from flint , so also from the will of man , by a kinde of secret scintillation , something of the vitall influent spirit is desumed , and that something assumes an ideall entity , as its ultimate forme and complement . which perfection once obtained the spirit , which before was purer and more refined then the aethereall aër , becomes subtilitated like light , and assumes an ambiguous or midle nature between corporeall substances and incorporeall . but it is sent ambassador whithersoever the will directs it , or thither at least , whither the innate infallible science of spirits doth command it , according to the intentions and scopes of the taskes to be performed : the ideall entity therefore , being now ready prepared for its journey , becomes a light ( understand it in some latitude of sense ) and shifting off corporeity , confesseth no restraint or circumscriptive laws of places , times , or dimensions . and this refined and exalted semisubstance is neither the devill , nor any effect , nor any conspiration of his : but a certain spirituall action of the inward man , plainly and purely naturall and haereditary to us . this mysterious wisdome who ever entertaineth with that solemnity of judgement and praeparation of nature and unpraejudicate thought , which becomes the gravity of a mind greedy of magnalities , shall easily understand , that the materiall world is on all sides governed , regulated , and coerced by the immateriall and invisible : and that all corporeal created natures are placed at the footstoole of man , as being subordinate to the regality of his will. and this very thing truely is the cause , why even the mumie , the fat , the mosse , and the humane blood , namely the phansy naturally existing in them , in the unguent , should domineer over the blood of a dogge , of a horse , &c. shed upon a piece of wood , and buried in a pot of the unguent . yet we have not said enough concerning the magnetisme of the unguent : we shall therefore now pursue a hint , which we started in our praecedent lines . that the magnetisme of the loadstone and other inanimate creatures is performed by a certain naturall sensation , the immediate authrix of all sympathy , is a truth unquestionable . for if the loadstone direct it selfe to the pole , it must have a certain knowledge , lest it become subject to deviation and error in its direction : and how , i beseech you , can it have that requisite knowledge , if it be not sensible of its owne locall position ? in like manner if it convert to iron placed at great distance , and neglect the pole , of necessity it must first know the situation of the iron . wherfore the single magnet is endowed with various senses , and also with imagination : nor will it be enough , that it be provided of sensation , unlesse we also adde the provokement and goads of occult friendship and philauty or selfe-love ; and so that the loadstone is endowed with a certaine naturall phansy , by the power of whose impression all magnetismes in the whole catalogue of creatures are performed . for by one phansy it is directed to iron , and by another to the pole ; for then is its virtue diffused onely through a small space of the aër to the object near at hand : but that phansy is changed , when it praevents an abortion , restraines the impetuous flux of catarrhes , or hinders the falling downe of the intestine in a rupture : and by a third phansy , different from both the former , doth the loadstone attract any thing of glasse melted by fire : for any the smallest fragment of a loadstone injected into a good quantity of glasse , while it is in decoction , of green or yellow turns it into perfect white . for albeit the loadstone it selfe be of a deep ( though something shadowed ) sanguine tincture , and be wholly destroied and consumed by the fire that dissolves the glasse : yet notwithstanding while it retaines any relict of its vital essence , it exhausteth the tincted liquor even from the candent glasse , and devoureth the tincture of it : and thus we discerne , that the attraction of the loadstone is not determined onely to iron ; but also extends to that aerial part , which otherwise could not , without great difficulty , be divorced from the body of the glasse : and to this purpose is it commonly used by glasse-makers . the phansy of amber delights to allect strawes , chaffe , and other festucous bodies , by an attraction , we confesse , obscure and weake enough , yet sufficiently manifest and strong to attest an electricity , or attractive signature : for married to the mumie of our bodies , it appears superiour to the humane magnet , draws counter to it , and by that interest entitleth it selfe to the dignity of a zenexton , or preservatory amulet against contagion . but amber mixed with gummes , its imagination being then transplanted , attracteth the venome and bullets out of wounds : for the pleasure and desire of attraction is varied on either side , that is according to the various contemperation and allay of the humane mumie , and of the gummes . but alas ! what wonder can it be ( unlesse amongst those , who being ignorant of all things , foolishly admire all things ( that inanimate creatures should be inriched with an imaginative faculty ? when that infinite essence , who is all life , and the very soule of uitality , hath created all things in perfection , and so praevented all expectation of deficiency and inutility in the least peice of his handy-worke : nor can the subtilest curiosity finde out any one peice in the innumerable list of creatures , wherein the reflex of his divinity is not conspicuous : for the spirit of the lord fill's the whole earth ; yea this expression , that he comprehends all things , carries the emphaticall and significant force of the word . doe we not beleive that there was a large stock of malignant science ambuscadoed into the forbidden fruit ? and that our unhappy protoplasts , together with the aple , swallowed downe that science , and received it into the very entralls and profundity of their nature ? and doth not this science praesuppose a phansy peculiar to it ? for thus some simples induce an amenty or short alienation of the reason , others cause a constant madnesse , or maniacal fury : not by a distraction of the brain , or a dissipation of the animall spirits ( for then the strength and vigour of the maniacall persons would of necessity suffer impairement and decay , which never happens , but rather on the contrary they become much stronger and almost invincible ) but indeed , by the exotick and distractive phansy of those peculiar simples introduced , which over-masters our phansy , and subdues it to full obedience , sometimes only pro tempore , as in periodicall deliriums , phrensies &c. and sometimes for ever , as in lunaticks and maniacks or bedlams . doth not the rabies or madnesse of dogges by this meanes transmigrate into men ? the maniacall phansy of the fury beeing transplanted into the slaver or salivous froth of the doggs tongue , which soone conquers and triumphs over the blood of any animal , into which it hath insinuated it selfe , through any the most slender puncture of of the skin ? for then the primitive and genuine phansy of all the blood in the wounded body surrenders up its inferiour power , becomes subordinate , and compulsively assumes the * hydrophobical phansie of the exotick tincture : from whence , in excess of time , comes a binsical death , ( i. e. ) from the sole disease and exorbitancy of the minde , the magical virtue of the dog being excited and exalted above the non-excited , but somnolent phansie of the animal . by the same mysterious traduction , in all respects , is the phansie of the tarantula impressed upon man , by a slender thrust of his sting , and the wounded suffering an immediate alienation of their reason , fall into a violent fit of dancing , and capering high levoltoes : onely the poyson of the tarantula differs from that of the mad dog in this particular , that this operateth by a magical power excited , and so by magick truly , and without the favor of a metaphor , so called ; but that acteth by a magical power non-excited and somnolent , as the same difference is undeniably manifest in monkshood , aconite , &c. deleterious plants , which are speedy and inevitably destructive , in very small quantity : in regard , no animal endevours to secure or defend it self against the biting of a mad dog , since the magical power of his excited phansie being diffused , is binding and obligatury , against which neither the teeth , nor horns of any beast can make the least prevalent resistance ; which cannot be affirmed of the venome of the tarantula . in the outward man therefore , as also in all his fellow animals , the magical power is latitant , and as it were consopited ; nor is it capable of excitation onely in man , ( though we confess , with greater facility , and to higher atchievements ) but even in many other animals , consorted with man at the creation . again , it sufficeth not , that the spirit of one individual maintain and observe this law of concord and monomachy or duello with the spirit of another individual : but moreover there dwells a certain universal or mundan spirit in the whole world , ( i. e. ) in all things within trismegistus circle , which we christen the magnum magnale , which exsisteth the universal pander of all sympathy and dyspathy , the invisible mercury or common intelligencer , and the promotor of all natural actions ; and by whose mediation or convoy the magnetism is , as by the most convenient vehicle , transported and wafted to an object at vast distance . this is made good by an autoptical demonstration ; for if upon the miniking of a tuned lute you place a slender straw , hanging with a doubtful extremity ( i. e. ) equilibrated in the aër , and at convenient distance in the same room strike the minikin of another lute , when there succeeds a consonance in the eighth note , you shall see the straw to tremble ; but when the notes concord in an unison , then the minikin of the untouched lute , impatient of delay , will quaver , caper for joy , echo the same aër , and by a nimble subsultation throw off the offensive straw . what , will you impute this effect to satan , and make him the fidler ? now you shall never observe the straw to rebound from the string , though all the strings of the other lute be unanimously , strongly , and neer at hand plaid upon ; for it is not the bare and simple tone that compels the untouched string to quaver ; for then every tone would cause the same effect ; but it is onely the universal spirit , the common mercury , inhabiting in the middle of the universe , and being the faithful executor and adjutor of all natural actions , transports , promotes and causes the sympathy . but why tremble we at the name of magick ? since the whole action is magical ; nor hath any natural agent a power of activity , which is not emergent from the phansie of its peculiar form , and that magically too . but in regard this phansie in bodies devoid of voluntary election is onely of a determinate and limited identity : therefore have some vulgar heads erroneously and dully imputed the effects of such restrained bodies , not to the phansie of them , but a natural propriety ; out of an ignorance of causes substituting the effect in the room of the cause . when indeed every agent doth operate on its proper object , by a praesensation or distinctive foreknowledg of it , whereby it is directed not to discharge its activity rashly and at random , but onely on its own peculiar object . for the diffusion or emission of activity necessarily succeeds the sensation of the object ; and the effect results from an excitement of the phansie , by transmitting of the ideal entity , and conjoyning it with the radius or gleam of the passive entity . and this , in our dialect , hath ever been the magical action of natural bodies ; yet in most accommodate language and just propriety of denomination , this magical and phantastique activity belongs principally ( if not solely ) to creatures ennobled with a power of election . i shall muster up the creatures , and guide our disquisition through every classis of them . all formal proprieties flowing from the forms of the three universal principles , sal , sulphur , and mercury , or the salt , unctuous fat , and liquor , whereof every body is composed , and into which it is , by corruption of the corporeal harmony , again resolved ; and the mercury or liquor is so often diverse and differently qualified , as there are different species of compound bodies , which same variety of impregnation we are to conceive also of the other two , sal and sulphur : all specifical proprieties , i say , are derivatory from the phansies of these forms , which in regard they are very corporeal , and deeply immersed in the bosome of elements , therefore are they called formal and occult proprieties , out of a gross ignorance of the forms , which in another ( and introth more philosophical ) acceptation are magical effects produced by the phansie of the said forms : but ( we confess ) less noble , and more corporeal , yet abundantly satisfactory to those ends , which , by the primitive destiny of their creation , they regard . to this series belongs the subductive virtue of cathartick or purgative , the somniferous faculty of hypnotick or dormitive medicaments , &c. besides these there are other nobler proprieties , taking their original from the phansie of the forms of the whole compositum : and these are diffused through and inherent in the whole compositum , by reason of the form of it ; such are the magnetism of the loadstone , the virtue of tinctures , and all specifical and appropriate medicaments ; which are occasioned by reason either of the whole homogeneous neixture , or the particular form of some integral part , but not of any single or divided principle : such as these are naturally inherent in the trunck , leaves , root , and fruit of plants , and not in any one of the three principles diacritically separated from the compage or conjuncture . thus also antimony , while it remains in its primitive form , and native integrity , is enriched with noble and excellent qualities , which it could never aspire unto in its solitary and divided principles . but these are also closely enshrowded in corporeity ; and therefore the natural magick lies covertly ambuscadoed and obscure in them , and hath been thought wholly attributary to nature , by an unjust and unadvised distinction of nature from magick , opposing the former è diametro to the latter , when in sober verity they are both one and same , though commonly received under distinct appellations . thus the leaf of a rose hath a distinct virtue , which the stem , or yellow iust in the middle of the rose hath not : and that virtue ariseth not to the leaf from the three grand principles united , or any one of them paramont in the conjuncture ; but immediately resulteth from its vital form , which , when it is destroyed , amitteth its primitive , and acquireth other secondary virtues ; as in example , a grain of corn in its primitive vitality nourisheth , but when degraded from that first life , it fructifies . thirdly , there is another magical power proceeding from the phansie of the life of the integral compositum : and this is implanted in bruites and the exterior man ; which being spiritual , is more absolute in soveraignty then the former , but yet not advanced to the zenith or highest pitch of energy , though sometimes by much excitation , and a strong phansie introduced by a real entity , it ascend to a very great height of activity , and by a neer emulation rival the true magick of the inward man. again , the soul of every bruite enjoyeth a power of creating a real entity , and of transmitting the same , by the mandate of the will , to an object at very large distance : of this sort of magical bruites , are the basilisk , a dog , many fishes described by olaus magnus , &c. such also is the virtue inhabitant in the blood of many animals : and hence doth holy writ deliver expresly , that the soul so journs in the blood though extravenated , though decocted on the fire , yea , and ( for ought can be alleaged to the contrary ) though totally altered by corruption . finally , there is also a magical virtue as it were abstracted from the body , which is wrought by the excitement of the interior power of the soul : and from this arise most potent procreations , most noble impressions , and effects of supreme vigor and efficacy . for ( introth ) nature in most of her operations playes the magician , and acts by the energy of her own phansie ; and since this activity is by so much the more potent , by how much the more spiritual ; therefore is the term or appellative of magick exactly analogous and concordant . of all which gradually different species of magical virtue , there is hardly any one that stands not in need of excitation . for that of the lowest classis requires excitement and eduction , by some previous warmth , or gently fomenting heat , by which there is educed a certain vapor , or spiritual effluvium , by reason whereof the phansie restrained in a profound sleep , and drowsie inactivity , is awakened into action , and then begins a mediatory encounter between the corporeal spirits , which is of magnetism , excited by a precedent touch . but that of the highest classis , such as belongs to bruits and men , receives excitement from an intellectual conception ; and that of the inward man is not at all excited , unless by the holy spirit , and by his excellent gift , the cabal ; but that of the outward man , by strong imagination , by assiduous and intense speculation , yea , and in witches by satan . but the magick of the extravenated blood ( wherein the soul hath taken up her quarters ) which lies lurking onely in potentia , is excited and invited into act , either by a more strong imagination exalted , conceive it of the magician making use of the blood as a medium , and fixing his newly accensed entity thereon ; or conceive it by the ascendent phansie of the armary unguent , the excitatrix of the proprieties latent in the blood ; or by a previous destination of the blood to corruption whereby the elements are disposed to separation , and the essences ( which know no corruption ) and the essential phansies , which lay obscured in the potentia of the proprieties , sally forth into action . the phansie therefore of any subject whatever hath obtained a strong and vigorous appetite to the spirit of its peculiar object , in order to the locomotion , attraction , expulsion , or repulsion of it : now in this , and no where else , we acknowledge magnetism , as the natural magical endowment of that subject , conferred upon , and firmly implanted in it , by the wise bounty of god. there is therefore a certain formal propriety segregated and manifestly distinct from the sympathetique and abstruse qualities , in this particular relation : that the phansie , which is the motrix of those qualities , doth not directly tend to the locomotion , but onely the alteration of the object . and thus , though we grant , that every magnetism be either sympathetical , or antipathetical ; yet notwithstanding the inversion will fail , that every sympathy must be magnetical . but we retire from our digression to the grand mark our intentions level at . by this time ( i conceive ) it is clearly understood , that there resideth a phansie and magical appetite , not onely in the blood , but even in the superfluous humors , meats , and excrements ; since the various and numerous progeny of diseases affordeth convictive manifestoes of it . for pregnant women labor with an absurd and ridiculous appetite to strange and unusual meats , and cachectical virgins , by a natural oestrum or libidinous fury of the exorbitant womb , do with extraordinary celerity ( though not without great inamoenity and paleness ) digest what ever they long for : but indeed , not from reason of similitude of substance , nor from any consanguinity of humane nature requiring that particular meat , their irregular appetite so ravenously covets ; but seduced by the exotique phansie of the vitious humors , accumulated in the vessels of the womb , and restagnated or belched up into the stomach , which over-mastering the true and natural appetite , goadeth them to this absurdity ; by the expulsion of which noxious impurities , we have frequently cured such perversions and absurd appetites ; or else we have mitigated and composed them , by permitting the irregular and frantick phansie of such humors to sate it self by fruition . in the blood therefore there inhabiteth a peculiar phansie , which in regard it is of more vigorous energy therein , then in other things , therefore doth divine history , in a singular and emphatique elogy , call the blood ( though strongly decocted , and ready cooked for the table ) the mansion of the soul. and in regard this phansie of the blood is capable of traduction , and may be devolved to posterity ; for this reason is it , that the manners , gestures , conditions , and genius of the grandfather are revived and become resplendent in his issue , long after the resolution of him into dust . nobility took its first rise from well-deserving virtue . hence most nobility be without just merit , suspected to be encreased by the continued and successive propagation of the family , unless the heroick inclinations and virtues of gallant ancestors , obscured by mortality , might , with probability of hope , be expected to finde a resurrection , and shine again in their ●…late posterity . again , doth not the enmity conceived betwixt the woolf and sheep remain firmly impressed upon their pelts ? wherefore the phansie of an animal , pervicaciously surviving death , is impressed not onely upon the blood : but also whoever sleeps under the coverture of a blanket made of the skin of a gulo or glutten ( a beast of incredible , because insatiate , voracity , very common in swedland ) is forced continually to dream of feasting , hunger , voracity and the ensnaring of wilde beasts , according to the natural condition of that animal , while it was living : and thus , onely by an external coverlet . the phansie of the beast , which during life so journed in the skin , is devolved and traduced unto a man , that sleeps beneath it . and thus also , by the ministery of the phansie of the blood comes it to pass , that the blood extravenated , being received upon the sword or weapon , is introduced into the magnetick unguent . for then the phansie of the blood ; before unactive and somnolent , being by the virtue of the magnetical unguent excited , and there finding the balsamical and medical virtue of the unguent ▪ earnestly covets the newly-induced quality to be communicated to it self throughout , and from thence , by spiritual magnetism , to exhaust and drain out all the forein quality , that had invaded the wound : which when it cannot sufficiently perform upon the single stock of its own strength , it implores the aid of the most of the blood , fat , and mumy , which by coalition degenerate into such balsam , that by no other means , but it s own phansie , becomes medical , magnetical , and also attractive of all the forein quality out of the body , whose fresh blood , abounding with spirits , is applied unto it , whether it be the blood of a man , or any other animated creature . the phansie therefore is reducible and ecstatical from part of the blood freshly and immediately after the effusion brought unto the unguent : but the magnetical attraction , begun in the blood , is perfected by the medical virtue of the unguent . but the unguent doth not attract the evil and depraved tincture or inquinament of the wound , unto it self , and so put on as much contagion , as was enclosed in pandoraes box : but onely works a salutiferous alteration on the spirit of the newly effused and freshly applied blood , makes it medical , balsamical , and rouzeth up its dormant virtue : whence there results to it a certain medical and magnetical virtue , which makes a speedy return to the body , from which the blood issued forth , with full commission and power to cure its cousin german , the spirit of the blood yet flowing in its proper conduits , throughout the whole man. for it sucks out of the wounded party , the exotick and dolorous impression , diminisheth it by a medical power , exileth it ; which medical virtue , being the puissant conqueress of the evil , is partly excited in the blood , and partly ingenerated in the same by the unguent , that is by the spirit of the unguent , upon the magick of its phansie ( i. e. ) its created endowment , thus exercising imperial power , and efficacious soveraignty , over the spirit of the blood . in another case , the blood enclosed in an egge shell , putrefying with all its vigor about it , and so as it were redeemed from the bondoge of corporeity , and the spirit delivered from all impediments , by previous putrefaction , becomes attractive , by the mediation of the mumy of a dog , and really transfers that disease , which was before seated in the phansie and astrality of the excrementitious impurities in the patient , into the dog that devours it ; for no other reason , but this , that the magnetism cannot be advanced to perfection of operation , without the intercession of the balsam of the unguent . we have observed , if it happen that the wounded party hath received many wounds at once , that it sufficeth to have the blood effused out of any one of the wounds ; and that by the single application of that blood , all the other wounds are cured together : because that blood observes a correspondence and sympathetical concordance with the spirit of the whole man , and from the same educeth the offensive extraneous quality , communicated not onely to the lips of the wound , but also to the whole body ; for from one wound there ordinarily is kindled an universal fever throughout the whole body of man. hitherto have i suspended the revealment of a grand mystery ; namely , to bring it home to the hand of reason , that in man there sits enthroned a noble energy , whereby he is endowed with a capacity to act extra se , without and beyond the narrow territories of himself , onely per nutum , by his single beck , and by the natural magick of his phansie , and to transmit a subtil and invisible virtue , a certain influence , that doth afterward subsist and persevere per se , and operate upon an object removed at very large distance : by the discovery of which sole mystery , all that we have hitherto treated , concerning the ideal entity , conveyed in the arms of a spiritual emanation , and sallying abroad to execute the mandates of the will , concerning the magnetism of all creatures , proceeding as well from humane phansie , as from the native and peculiar phansie of every thing , and also concerning the magical superiority of man over all other sublunary bodies , will receive illustration , and shine bright in the eye of our understanding . t is a meridian truth , too clear to be eclipsed by controversie , that of steel there may be made a needle , which invigorated by the confriction of a loadstone , doth point out the pole to seamen : but in vain is the steel hammered into a needle , and placed at free range in the navigatory compass , to level at the north star , unless there hath preceded a fit and requisite affriction of the loadstone . which assertions since they sound loud enough to pierce the ears of the deafest incredulity , it remains convenient , that we frame and qualifie a mariners needle , solo nutu , onely by the magnetism of our phansie , and magick of intuition . on the anvil therefore , whereon the steel is hammered into a figure of a needle , let the north point be chalked out , and that in a strait line : then stand you , when you play the vulcan , with your back to the north , that so when the steel is beating under the hammer , you may draw it out into a needle towards your self and the north : i say therefore , that such a needle , thus positionally and intuitively framed , will acquire a vigorous polarity , and punctually observe the north star , without any forein impregnation or magnetical infusion , and indeed without any variation , to which the ordinary needles invigorated by the loadstone are subject , which carries with it a very great mystery . moreover that needle , which is made upon the foresaid line , by chance , and without the knowledg or intention of the fabricator , continues bare steel , devoid of all verticity , and directs not to the pole . hence is it a natural consequence , that the imagination of the fabricator , in the very moment of the needles nativity , when the glowing heat of the fire is somewhat abated , and the steel but obscurely red , doth impress this magnetical faculty into the steel needle , as a convenient and appropriate subject . not that the celestial orbs do , in that punctilio of time , infuse the verticity ; for then it would descend and be impressed upon the steel , without the intention , consent or observance of the smith ; which cannot satisfie experience : for if the stars did transmit their influence at some certain hour , and in some determinate position , then might the characteristical and sigillary science of the celestial orbs be allowed to put on triumphant wreaths , which we pass by . but that constellation which descends upon the steel ( and it may be upon every magical image and seal ) is derived from the microcosmical heaven , that is , from our own olympus : vain and unsuccessful therefore have been those magical seals and pentacles , which were not framed and configurated by the magician in an high ecstasie and exaltation of his phansie : for all inferior entities and phansies are compelled to do homage to the transcendent magick of ours , by which prerogative sapiens dominabitur astris , a wiseman shall regulate and countermand the influence of the stars , to the dominion of whose sceptre the parent of nature hath subjected whatever is contained in the vast amphitheatre of heaven . what we have here alleaged concerning the phansie impressing a verticity upon the steel , as we have learned from the authentick testimony of many judicious pens , and from our own frequent experience : so may it be confirmed ten thousand times to the observation of any whose curiosity shall encline him to the easie trouble of the experiment . thus the leaves of asarum , and the tops of elder , submit and conform unto the phansie of the decerptor , who impresseth upon the plant , and the plant upon the leaves a magnetical virtue , which in operation shall justly respond to the position of the hand that gathered them : when otherwise , the leaf being decocted ( as the needle heat again in the fire ) and given in a potion , the virtue of the phansie impressed upon it would of necessity perish , if the magnetism were not cherished and maintained from the integral plant . that the blood of any animal decocted and ready cooked for the trencher , doth yet contain the soul of that animal , is true : but that virtue doth not depend upon the impression of humane and forein phansie , but ariseth immediately from the proper endowment of its own phansie . by the same reason also doth a dart thrust through the heart of a horse , killed by the execrable magick of a witch , binde up and hold captive the vital spirit of that witch , and twisteth it together with the mumial spirit of the horse , that so both may be torrified together , and by that torment , as by a sharp goad , the witch may be driven to betray her self : and that at length , by the justice of the magistrate , the base miscreant , detestable to god , and pernicious to man , may be eternally exiled from the conversation of mortals , and cut off , according to the law of god. for if the operation be determined to any external object , the magical soul doth never attempt it without a convenient medium : and for this reason she makes use of the dart or nail transfixed through the heart . now this position , that man is endowed with a power of acting , per nutum , or moving any object at remote distance , being proved by convictive evidence : it is also sufficiently confirmed , by the same natural example , that this transcendent energy was conferred upon him by the wise indulgence of his creator ; and therefore , by the charter of his nature , doth justly belong unto him . their conjecture hath ever had a strong hautgoust of absurdity , who have hitherto conceived , that satan hath moved , altered , and transported any thing , and really applied actives to passives in locomotion , onely per nutum ; while they have taken for granted , that the devil was the first and grand motor in the forementioned motions , that by those corporeal extremities requisite to contaction , he could violently snatch away , transmit , or any way move , at least an aëreal body ( which they fondly imagine ) though destitute of a soul. absurd , i say , is it to believe , that satan since his exile from the presence ( i mean , the merciful influence ) of divinity , and fall from the glory of his own essence , doth still retain a magical dignity , whereby he can really act upon any natural subject , and produce what effect soever he please , onely by intuition , because in the primitive excellence of his once angelical nature , he received such an endowment : but that the same prerogative was taken from , and ever since denied unto man , and given to the devil , the most vile and despicable of creatures : and that if there be any such real effects performed by man , they are to be ascribed to a servile compact with the devil . open the eyes of your reason : for satan hath hitherto proudly triumphed in your so great and so dangerous ignorance , with so high content , as if you had made his altars smoke with the grateful incense of glory and dignity , and devested your self of your own native prerogative , pulled out your own eyes , and offered them in sacrifice to him . we have said , that every magical virtue doth lie dormant , and want excitation : which holds perpetually true , if the object , upon which the energy is discharged , be not neerly disposed and qualified to admit it , if the phansie of it doth not promptly conform unto the impression of the agent , or also if the patient be equal in strength , or superior to the agent . but on the contrary , where the object is conveniently , proximly , and obediently qualified to entertain the magical influx , as steel is to receive the magnetical infusion of a loadstone : or plainly weak , and conscious to it self ( as are the homicide , adulterer , theif , and witch ) there the patient , without much excitation , the sole phansie of the outward man being deduced into action and adliged to any convenient medium , at the first assault surrenders its self , and obeys the magnetism . i say , the magician ever makes use of a medium : for thus , unless a pregnant woman hath extended her hand to her own thigh , forehead , or buttocks , the infant in her womb shall never be stigmatized in his thigh , forehead , or buttocks . thus do the words or forms of sacraments ever operate : because ex opere operato , from the work performed . but why exorcisms do not alway succeed in their operations ; the defect is not in god , but onely because the unexalted and dully-excited minde of the exoreist doth blunt the edg of the charm , and render the words invalid and ineffectual . for which reason , no man can be a happy and perfect exoreist , but he , who hath learned the art to excite the magick of his own phansie ; or by practise can do it ecstatically , without that knowledg . it may be you 'l say , that our armary unguent acquires no other magnetical virtue , then that which redounds to it from the phansie of him that compounds it : you are mistaken . however , should we allow you that error for truth , your cause could receive no support or advantage thereby ; since then you would implicitely confess the effect not to be ascribed to satan . so the unguent would not be magnetical from any innate and natural phansie peculiar to it self , but from an external adventitious inspiration , namely the phansie of the compounder , impressed upon it : since there can be no neerer medium of the foresaid magnetism , then humane blood with humane blood ; truly , the blood alone , as the most proportionate and predisposed subject would suffice to the composition of the unguent , and all the other simples ingredient into the confection , would be frustraneous and unnecessary , especially the blood of a bull and hony , where the cure is to be performed by applying the salve to weapons not distained with the blood of the patient , which is manifestly false by experiment . finally , the magnetism of the unguent would then be general ; in respect the confectioner may , by the wilde and universal range of his phansie , intend to make the impression , uncertain , undeterminate , and extensive to the wounds , not onely of man , but of all beasts whatever . what if the compounders phansie were not fixed upon a dog ; must the unguent therefore have no virtue to cure the wound of a dog ? away with such idiotism , such ridiculous dotage . what hath bole armeniake , what line seed oyl , what hony , and in fine what hath the blood of a bull , of peculiar disposition , or determinate respect to the wound of a horse , or man ; that upon them onely , as upon the most proper medium , and not upon any other things , the phansie of the confectioner should be impressed ? and yet if these were secluded the composition , the unguent would be barren and devoid of all power and vulnerary efficacy . the natural phansie therefore of the unguent is the sole and grand cause of the magnetism , and the immediate and proper cause of the cure : but not the imagination of the component . behold ! you have our ( understand true , christian ) philosophy ; not the frantick sophisms , or idle dreams of ethnicks . be cautious , i beseech you , that you bring not me into censure , who have been your self more forward and rash in censuring others . i am yours , and a roman catholick : who have cordially and firmly determined in my self , to mediate or write nothing , that may be contrary to the word of god , or the fundamental articles of the church . i well understand the constellation of my own genius , and know my self born , not to allow or foment contentious debates , not to write comments on , or defensive apologies for the pens of other men ; wherefore , what i knew , i desired , with a freedom becoming a philosopher , to communicate to the world . i shall annex onely this one clause : whoever attributeth to the devil an effect arising from natural causes , so created by god , and so conferred upon the creatures : he doth alienate the honor due to the creator , and ignominiously ( others might say blasphemously ) apply it unto satan : which ( under your favor ) if you shall strictly call under the test of your anatome , you will finde to be express idolatry . my earnest prayer to the fountain of all clemency , our god and father of mercies , is now , and ever shall be , that he would be pleased to look , with the eye of compassion and forgiveness , upon those errors and lapses of our understanding , which from our native , not stubborn , ignorance , and humane fragility we have contracted . amen . there are three that bear record in heaven , the father , the word , and the holy ghost , and these three are one : ( and anon speaking of the humanity of christ ) there are three which bear record in earth , the blood , the spirit , and the water , and these three are one . to us therefore , who have the like humanity , it is no wonder , that we contain blood and a spirit of the like unity : and that the action of the blood is meerly spiritual . yea for this reason , in genesis it is not called by the name of blood : but dignified with the appellation of a red spirit . withdraw therefore , whoever thou art , from thy incredulous pertinacy , and ingenuously acknowledg another spirit in the blood , besides the devil : unless thou wilt dare to oppose thy mis-informed faith to the book of truth . the translators supplement . nemo hûc geometriae expers ingrediatur , was the motto which the semi-christian philosopher , plato , caused to be engraven on the porch of his academy * : implying not onely the exact measure of lines , but also the geometry of a mans self , the dimensions and just extent of the passions and affections of the minde , to be the previous qualification necessary to any , that should hope to benefit by his lectures . and nemo hûc philosophiae expers ingrediatur , shall be our inscription in the front of this translation ; understanding by philosophy , the ample knowledg not onely of the elemental and visible world , but also of the intellectual and spiritual ; not onely of the more plain and obvious tracts , wherein nature progresseth to the production of ordinary effects ; but even those obscure and unfrequented paths she walks in , when she advanceth to abstrusities and more mysterious magnalities ; together with that acquired candor of judgment , and habitual equanimity , which as well emancipateth the understanding from the pedantick tyranny of subscription to all that 's read , if but disguised in the specious dress of probability , and ushered in by antique authority ; as it inclineth the reason to a sober assent , and modest conformity to such assertions , which carry the face of judicious enquiries , and serious majesty of truth , though they be presented at disadvantage , under a cloud of novelties , or paradoxes . nor can we fear that this our device , or impress , will be suspected of impertinency , by any that shall do so much right to their own judgments , as to conced , that a reader thus qualified , must be the onely he , that can survey , understand , censure , and enrich his head with the subtler speculations , and profound dihoties of our more then ingenious helmont ; while it is of confessed necessity , that the gross ignorance of some must obscure , and the prevarication of others pervert the prospect of these splendid ( though heterodoxical ) notions , and natural ( though spiritual , or magical ) causalities , which his finer pen hath drawn , in landskip , upon this tablet , the magnetically-natural cure of wounds . now though the pensive consideration of the incapacity ( some would have said , barbarity ) of the numerous multitude , on one side , and of the deplorable inflexibility of the leading part of learning , more then a moity of schollers being swallowed up in a deluge of presumption and prejudice , on the other , might in some measure excuse our despair of finding many heads of this soveraign temper , wherein sufficiency in knowledg ought to have received the just allay of candor , and non-adherence to antiquity ; yet may we not incur the odious premunire of singularity so far , as not confidently to hope , that our worthy author will fall into the hands of some , whose unbyassed intellectuals will smoothly run him over , and gather so full satisfaction from many of his experiments , that gratitude her self will prompt them to confess the sacrifice of honor deservedly due unto his memory . and upon this evidence of hope , we are bold to promise our self supportment for our resolutions of not attempting either any comment on , or defence of those metaphysical ( understand onely ideal and abstracted ) conceptions , and novel hints , rich aspersed upon these sheets ; such as that of a phansie , or natural sensation , by the charter of their creation , properly pertinent unto , and inseparably inherent in all mixt bodies , though devoid of animation , and power of voluntary election ; and this not onely single and of determinate identity , but multiplex and various according to the diverse predisposition and capacity of the object , whereon they discharge their activity ; that of the magical prerogative of man , or that transcendent endowment , whereby he is empowered to act per nutum , by the sole virtue of thought or spiritual intuition , upon an object removed at vast distance , by means of an ideal entity , formed in the womb of more attentive imagination , and transmitted by the will ; that of the fatal consopition of this hierarchy , or semi-divine faculty of the soul , by the opiate or counter-magick of the forbidden fruit ; and the resuscitation or excitement of the same , by the onfranchisement of the inward man from the eclipse and oppréssion of corporeity , in enthusiasms , ràptures , and ecstatical contemplations , &c. since the known poverty of our reason could not but throw infinite disparagement on the wealthy harvest of his ; nor the access of our plenary assent , or vindication , confer any thing at all of estimation to fulfil the authority of his name , or determine the establishment of his positions for solid and unrefutable truths . wherefore in conformity to the advisoes of some riper heads , to whose friendly decision we humbly submitted our hesitancy in this point , together with the concurrent vote of our own thirteenth thought , we have stood resolved , neither to dim the lustre of our authors sense , by the interposition of our boeotian * interpretation , or melancholick enlargement ; nor make our pen guilty of so uncivil encroachments on the liberties of the comprehensive reader , as to preoccupy his head , with the abortive results of our shallower scrutintes , or prevent his more ocular disquisitions and maturor anim adversions ; but so far to assist younger capacities , as to endevour the explanation of some unfrequent idiomes , and uncouth terms , which the author seems to have borrowed from the cabalistique vocabulary of paracellus ; annexing onely , for satisfaction of the more illiterate , the more select , and less superstitious forms , or prescripts of the magnetick armary vnguent . in the mean time , in order to our avoidance of scandal , as we cannot smother our wishes , that the ardor of debate with his opponents , father roberts , the jesuite , and goclenius , the physician , and the eager quest of reasons to make good his theory of magnetism against future assailants , had not seduced his gravity to stumble upon some few examples , whose constant verity experiment may have just cause to question , or sober philosophy , at first sight , smilingly refer to superstition : so we cannot but sigh at the apprehension of our own want of abilities to sustain so considerable and weighty a task as the due perpension and mature disquisition of some abstruse notions , which the conciser pen of our author hath onely hinted , per transennam , and so proposed to the more deliberate discovery of some worthy enlarger . for ( to omit others of less value ) upon that one cardinal pin of magnetism , or the magical virtue of naturals , it seemeth to us , that the whole speculation of those three grand arcanaes , whose obscure and yet inscrutable causalities have captived the greatest wits , in all ages , in a labyrinth of perplexed and uncertain enquiries . ( 1 ) the original and cognation of forms ; ( 2 ) the causes of sympathy and dyspathy , or of idiosyncritical friendship and enmity or aversation ; ( 3 ) and the so universally magnified power of imagination , necessarily depend . to the clear and satisfactory solution of which problems , whoever is ordained , by the exceeding benignity of his constellation , will perform a work of highest benefit , and unparalleled merit to the common-wealth of learning , will advance his memory to so high a pitch of honor , that 't will be accounted humility in him to look so low as caesar , and shall have our free vote , that his statue cannot be uncivil , or ambitious , if it take the right hand of aristotles in the vatican . but alas ! this must be a work of time , pyrotechny , and many heads cooperating . and therefore the wide and almost irreparable encroachments , which the late deluge of barbarism hath made upon the studies of our own ingenious nation , and ominously threatned to most seminaries of arts and sciences in europe : together with the general contempt of severe philosophy , amongst those , whose wealthy fortunes might sustain the charge of experiments and forein explorations requisite to the laudable atchievement of so magisterial a piece of knowledg , may probably encourage our fears , that it may be late ere posterity be blessed with its revealment , nay , perhaps not until the whole material world be ready to confess the chymistry of the last day . having hitherto seduced the minde of our reader , into a short prospect of those few pieces , which our devout zeal to the advancement of the knowledg of natures choisest magnalities hath inflamed us to desire in a larger draught ; and presented him the slender summary of what our supplement intendeth : a longer digression cannot but tacitely scandal the weight of our theam , and rudely disoblige attention . wherefore , we return to the direct discharge of our undertakings : the interpretation of some fanatique words , which in the opinion of grammar know no signification , because no etymology , nor can the greatest philologer deduce from any original higher then the babel of paracelsus ; and the supply of the antiquity , and forms of the magnetical vnguent . bismuthum , in the dialect of hermetical mineralogists , admits of a double signification . for some accept it for a simple , and list it in the inventory of marchasites or fire stones , taking it to be no other , then that which the noble geber called magnesia , and the shops black lead : * others intend by it a compound made by the hand of art , and that of two sorts : the first , when upon melted tin , the chymist affuseth mercury , and makes thereof a fragil substance and snow-white mass ; * the other a mixture of silver and mercury , which submitteth to the first assault of fire , as easily as wax , and is of exceeding whiteness , which we conceive to be the true magnesia philosophorum . but we had rather incline to the autoptical testimony of the judicious doctor jordan , * who renders bismuthum to be in english , tinglass , or the steril marchasite of lead . now marchasites are the immature materials of metals , and vary according to each several and distinct species of metals : * and hence doubtless paracelsus took occasion , in the separation of elements from marchasites , to compare the golden marchasite to gold , the silver one to silver , talck to tin , bismuthum to lead , zincum to copper , cadmia to iron , stibium to mercury , &c. consule paracelsum in tertio archidox . throni , or tronos and tronossa , in the wild language , or rather canting , of paracelsus , implies a rorid meteor , or celestial dew , being a species of manna , in sweetness , density , tenacity , and whiteness , far transcending all other : generated by the mercury of the midle region ; infusing its astral seminality into the fertil matrix of the aër ; and wholly separated and refined from all sulphur and salt this delicate extract of the stars is in good plenty found , if we regard the time of its distillation , in the spring and entrance of harvest , when the sun begins to leave the torrid negro , and make his more temperate courtship to the starry virgin : if the place , in most eastern countries , upon the leaves of trees and herbs . thereniaben , or tereniabin , meaneth the same , which the more regular and orthographical pen of aristotle hath properly named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mel aereum , vel roscidum ; an oleaginous kinde of wild hony , not confected by the chymistry of bees , but distilling from the retort of the inferior aër , upon meadows , campaniaes , trees , and herbs . this delicate collation the civility of the planets entertaineth us with , in the moneths of june , july , and august , as if they intended the refreshment of the laborious swain , exhausted by the heat of summer and sweat of harvest . the antients called it threr , if we may credit the traduction of dornaeus , in his comment upon the distracted meteorology of paracelsus . nostoch understandeth the nocturnal pollution of some plethorical and wanton star , or rather excrement blown from the nostrils of some rheumatick planet , falling upon spacious plains , fields and sheep pastures , of an obscure red or brown tawny , in consistence like a gelly , and so trembling if touched : which the philosophy of the clouted shooe affirms to be the ruines of a star fallen . some there are , saith dornaeus , who by nostoch intend wax : but by the favor of a metaphor . nebulgea we english a salt , or nitrous exudation and destillament from the clouds ; by the deliquium of the colder aër resolved into an unctuous liquor , and descending upon solid and stony bodies ; which suffering induration , by the exhalement of its aqueous parts , assumes solidity , and by the interest of exact similitude and cognation , doth more then pretend unto the dignity of celestial nitre . laudanum , if the same that all the druggists of europe call ladanum , is the woodfeer , or liquid spumous exudation of the shrub cistus , or ledon , growing in great plenty in the island cyprus , which the natives , ( unless the syth of time hath lighted upon that custom , since the days of dioscorides ) * use every spring to gather from off the long shaggy hairs of the thighs and beards of goats , feeding among and brushing themselves against the stalks and leaves of the plant , and after due clarification and percolation thereof , to conserve in convenient pots : but if , in the account of helmont , a kinde of aëreal meteor , or production arising from the coition and conspiracy of some seminary celestial influx with fit and proportionate matter , the fat evaporations of plants ; we confess that after a tedious search of paracelsus , severinus , dorneus , and other●… his interpreters , we cannot receive positive satisfaction concerning its name , nature , manner of generation , or specifical difference , but must acquie●…ce in a contented ignorance of what it is . we dare not countenance error , or stifle our own habilities of disquisition , so far , as not to take notice of the incogitancy , or partiality of our helmont , in ascribing the honor of the invention of hoplocrism , or the cure of wounds by unction of the weapon , to his master paracelsus : when we stand confirmed , upon evidence of substantial and convictive arguments , that this secret is much younger then paracelsus , as bearing no date of its revealment beyond those yeers , wherein he had long confessed his dust , and experimentally confuted his own arrogant treatise of the art of spinning out the thread of mans life to a length equal with the clue of time , and making our vital oyl of the same durable and invincible temper , with that which maintaineth the flames of eternal lamps * . for first , upon strict ( and introth tedious ) lecture of all the leaves of the extant works of paracelsus , we cannot meet with any the least mention of it : nor indeed the grave libavius before us , as he solemnly professeth , in apocalypseos hermeticae , parte priore , & cap. ultim . and to those , who have appealed to posthume manuscripts , and gloried in their inheritance of some papers bequeathed to the secret custody of opporinus , his amanuensis ; we must with smiles rejoyn , that a sober and well ordered belief can as soon swallow down the monstrous figment of the book of adam , * which the impious credulity of magicians doth confidently deliver to be given , by the archangel rhaziel , unto him , immediately upon his exile from paradise , and contrition for his sin , and from adam devolved to seth , from him to enoch , from him to noah , thence to sem , afterwards to abraham , isaac , jacob , levi , caath , amram , moses ▪ joshua , and so down to the prophets and holy seers successively ; whereby they were in a moment illuminated , the veil of sin withdrawn from the eye of their reason , and all those mountains of fleshly lust , which hindered the prospect of the intellect , l●…lled , so that they beheld nature face to face , and freely gazed upon all her beautiful parts , in the nakedness of their essences , and forms devested of all corporeity . again , though an argument drawn from the printed sheets of paracelsus be of no considerable validity , in regard he is so ridiculously subject to self-contradiction , through all his works , that a witty adversary might easily beat him out of the schools with his own weapons ; yet it may be lawful for us , from the masterpeice of his pen , his tract of chirurgery , to collect some proof , that he was wholly a stranger to the doctrine or practise of hoplochrism . for in that discourse , reducing all the several kindes of vulnerary remedies to a constant method , he is positive , that there is no other curation of a wound , but what is performed , either by means of the natural balsam , or by the apposition of brassidella upon the green wound , or by magorreo ; the first of which is natural and the same that all rational physicians allow , the second brassidellical , so denominated from the herb adderstongue , or ophioglossum , which he was pleased to nickname brassidella , the third magical , for magorreo , in the interpretation of dornaeus , is medicamentum magicum : and who can finde amongst these differences any room for the intrusion of the sympathetical armary unguent ? lastly , if the exceeding candor of any , willing to palliate this lapse of our helmont , recur to authority , and transfer the guilt upon baptista porta ( from whom , in probability , this erroneous tradition was derived down to our century ) who fathers the invention upon paracelsus , in these words : unguentum armarium , graecis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dictum , olim à paracelso maximiliano caesari datum , & abeodem expertum , maximéque carum ab eo habitum , quamdiu vixit , ujus aulae nobilis mihi communicavit : we shall modestly ret●…n , that so incredulous and independent a pen , as was helmonts , ( whose genius scorned sapere ●…x alieno commentario , and seems constellated rather to confute , then subscribe ) could hardly be so incircumspect , as not to discover the gross mistake of porta , in the point of chronology . for what he affirms of paracelsus his communicating the prescript and use of the unguent , to maximilian , emperor of the romans , is easily confuted as well from the annals of salteburg , as the history of paracelsus life , written by the learned and faithful hand of melchior adamus * , from both which posterity may receive ample satisfaction , that paracelsus was fast luted in his grave , and resolved in terram damnatam , in the reign of charls the fifth , about the year of christs incarnation , 1541. now maximilian was made caesar , after the death of ferdinand his brother , in the yeer , 1565. wherefore to reconcile porta's story to his computation of time , we must conced a possibility of regression ab inferis , and allow paracelsus , as in his life time to have descended to the abyss below , out of curiosity to dispute with avicen●… , and returned victor over the pale philosopher ; so also after his death , full twenty four yeers , to have ascended to the court of maximilian , and presented him the form of the sympathetical unguent . nor can the assertion of crollius ( who drank as deep of the spitle of paracelsus , as his predecessor porta ) that this secret was first imparted to the king of bohemia , be made good : since maximilian obtained not the scepter of that kingdom , until the yeer , 1562. as we are instructed by the almost omniscient libavius , whose pen hath been large upon this subject , in apocalyps . hermeticae part . prior . cap. ultim . but whoever was the true father of this modern production , should he obtain a parol from the grave , and return again to converse with men , we may with reason doubt that he would hardly now know the minerva of his own brain ; but would borrow that exclamation of hercules returned from his avernal expedition , unde tam foedo obsiti paedore nati ? quae clades domum gravat ? so much hath the squalid disease of reformation disfigured it , and varied that originary comeliness , which was restrained to a determinate number of select ingredients , into as many uncouth dresses , as the licentious phansie of every commentator thought fit to present it in , every second hand adding , abstracting , or altering what simples it pleased . for in libavius his contest with crollius and severinus , about the dihoti of hoplochrism , we sinde no fewer then thirteen several and different forms of the magnetick unguent enumerated ; and in the private studies of many noblemen ( who have thought their cabinets infinitely enriched with this jewel , and valued it equal with that precious tri●…le , the countess of kents powder ) we have seen many other dissenting from the original in all , but the title . so that while some have usurped the liberty to multiply the simples , and run through the whole series of vulnerary remedies : others have contracted the whole magnetical energy into one single mineral ; as may be exampled in the so much magnified sympathetick powder , that wears the name of sir gilbert talbot , which we assuredly know to be nothing but roman vitriol calcined with promethean fire . in this we are tender not to have the sincerity of our thoughts exposed to the danger of misapprehension . wherefore to provide against mistake , we profess in the ears of the world , that we have not , in this our dislike of innovating the receipt , tacitely been injurious to the just freedom of any judicious pen , in making sober enquiries , profitable enlargements , and modest corrections of any piece delivered down from the hand of more antient learning ; for the happy industry of our forefathers hath not precluded , but opened the door of exploration , and our sight must needs be confessed weaker , if standing upon their shoulders we see not farther : nor confined the magnetical virtue to that just number and quantity of simples , found in the primitive composition of the unguent ; for we cannot be destitute of valid reasons to assure us , that the fame admirable effect might arise from many other vulnerary medicaments , as well in the operation of their single essential forms , as of the neutral quality resulting from their conjunction into one compound salv●… : but onely insinuated our wishes , that every sick phansie might not be tolerated to exercise an arbitrary power of innovation over such well composed medicines , which by the constancy of their effects sufficiently assert the maturity of their first contrivers knowledg , and manifest their own perfection ; as also that the adversaries to the doctrine of magnetism had wanted that advantage and encouragement of contradiction , which the unnecessary variety of prescripts of the armary unguent hath unadvisedly given them . but our proper business is to furnish the reader less acquainted with the books of physicians , with the faithful copies of the most ancient , authentick , and rational descriptions of the sympathetick unguent : with industry omitting those , which seem to offend the nostrils of more precise philosophy with the ingtateful smell of superstition . the prototype or original of the unguent , vulgarly imputed to paracelsus ; but in probability contrived long after his death , by the hand of barthol . corrichterus * , physician to maximilian the second , in whose court it was first divulged and practised , is thus drawn . of the moss grown on a humane skull two ounces : mumy half an ounce : humane fat depurated two ounces : oyl of line seed twelve drachmes : oyl of roses , and bole armeniack , ana one ounce . mix them , and by frequent agitation incorporate them into an unguent . into which a splinter of wood , or the weapon stained with the patients blood , is to be immersed : the wound , during the time of its sanation , being defended from the injury of aër , bound closely up with clean swathes , and mundified with the urine of the patient . but to the efficacious confection of the armary unguent , to cure a wound by unction of the instrument of the harm , though not distained with the blood , we are to admix to the former , of virgin honey ( we should rather choose the best mel atticum , or honey of athens , for its excellence worthily esteemed by the antients ) two ounces : the fat of a bull one drachme . and this we conceive to be the same , which our helmont intended : as the observation of every diligent reader cannot but collect . baptista porta , in magiae natural . l. 8. c. 12. compoundeth it , of the moss of an unburied cranium : the fat of man , each two ounces : mumy , humane blood each half an ounce : oyl of line seed , and turpentine , each one ounce : bole armen , as much . incorporate all these , in a clean marble morter , into an unguent : whose use and effect exactly correspond to the former . the most magnified ( because , indeed , most difficult and ceremonious ) method of compounding the unguent , described by oswaldus crollius , in basilica chymica , together with a panegyrick of its excellencies , runs thus : ℞ of the fat of a wild boar , and a bear ( the elder the beasts , the more efficacious their fat ) ana four ounces . when these fat 's have been , for the space of half an hour , decocted in good red wine , they are to be effused into pure , clean , cold water , and the floating unctuous substance to be skimmed off with a convenient instrument , but the ponderous residence in the bottom to be ejected , as excrementitious and useless . this done , ℞ of the fairest earth-worms , frequently purified in white wine , two sextaries * : let them be torrified in a well vernished earthen pipkin , in an oven close luted , provided they burn not , and then be finely pulverated : of this powder ℞ one ounce : the brain of a wilde boar exsiccated : red odoriferous sanders : mumy : the bloodstone ; ana one ounce . finally , ℞ of the mossy periwig of the skull of a man , destroyed by violent death , sheared off in the increase of the moon , and her existence in a propitious house of heaven , of venus , if possible , but on no condition of those two malevolent planets , mars and saturn , the quantity of two nutmegs . to all these decently pulverized and searced conjoyn the foresaid fat , and confuse them , according to the art of the apothecary , into an incomparable vnguent , to be conserved with extraordinary diligence in a glass or gallipot , closely sealed up , and if it grow dry , with long keeping , to be remollied and humectated with virgin honey . all this is to be performed while the sun is quartered in libra . somewhat different from all these is the composition of oswaldus gabelchoverus , recorded in practica germanica : which contains of the fat of a septennial boar , and bear , each , one pound : afterwards melted in boyling red wine , and affused into cold water , for the better depuration and collection of them : of the powder of a bloodstone , half an ounce : of red aromatical sanders , six drachmes : of earth-worms prepared with wine , two drachmes : of usnea , a great quantity : married all together into an unguent , by an artificial hand . the use is the same with the former of crollius . no less variation , as well in the number , as quantity of the ingredients , may we observe in that famous description , which pancratius gallus , chief physician to the duke of saxony , in great privacy , communicated to libavius : it being confected of the fat of a male bear , and wilde boar , in the quantity of two ounces apiece ; boyled and clarified in red wine : of red saunders , bloodstone prepared , each two drachmes : of earth-worms cleansed in wine , one ounce : of usnea two drachmes : of the dried and powdered roots of the greater consound , or major cumfry , and colcothar , each half an ounce : commix them exactly , with a silver spatule , into an unguent . the translator's landskip , or abstract of helmonts theory of magnetism . i 'm satisfi'd , that sympathies combine at distance : that dispersed mumies twine . that our souls act per nutum ; when awake from that enchantment , the first sin did make : and that this native magick of the mind , is the sole devil and witch ; if once refin'd by ecstasie . that reason's but the brat of sensuality ; and is lost with that . that none can chain up astral energy , or circumscribe radial activity : and magnetism extends its arm as far , and potent , as the most triumphant star. that earth hath heaven in 't . that atomes may , at vast remove , their virtual forms display . th●… heat and cold are languid agents , when seminal tinctures ( though obscure to men ) are brought in play ; for these , like angels , cure onely by th' touch invisible , procure natural miracles , and eas'ly in an hower , cicatrize wounds , that scorn chirurgeons power . that nice divines , who scruple at this art , commit implicite sacriledg ; and impart gods honor unto satan : while wise zeal call's it safe natural magick thus to heal . all this i now assent to ; but invite each wiser head , to make me 's proselyte . my mercury is not fixt : my virgin faith scorns to submit to what an author saith , barely because he said it . to enquire , to doubt , is to advance our judgment higher . for i 've been told , that knowledg most doth lie enshrin'd in sceptical neutralitie . w. c. the nativity of tartar in wine . the summary . 1. afishing for whales . 2. the spirit of wine , depressed by cold , retires to the center of its vessel . 3. how vineger differs from wine . 4. wine in the superficies of a vessel , why less generous . 5. the concretion of tartar in hogsheads . 6. how it affixes it self to the sides of a vessel . 7. it is coagulated in fixing . 8. the premises are made good . 9. the error of a chymick axiome . 10. the reason of wine coagulated in tartar , holds no analogy to that of excrements coagulated in the microcosm . 11. the difference betwixt tartar , and the stone concreted in the body of man. 12. tartar not altogether , or truly , the excrements of wine . 13. a grand error of paracelsus . 14. tartar of wine totally differs from any coagulated recrement in diseases . 15. a second lapse of paracelsus . 16. why tartar is not incrustated on the lees , in the bottom of a vessel . 17. wines distinguisht by their tartar. 18. tartar neither wine , nor the dregs of wine . 19. why an alcale , or lixival salt , extracted from wine , or tartar , does dissolve tartar. 20. the dregs of wine , in some part the material of tartar. 21. how ill the resemblance holds 'twixt tartar , and coagulations in the microcosm . 22. tartar to be referred to coagulated salts , not to stones , or excrements . before i attempt the explosion of that necessity , which paracelsus vainly imagined to himself , of the constitution of tartar in all aliment , for the discovery of the causes of most chronick diseases ; and that the folly of that fiction may be more clearly demonstrated , i have thought good , to premise an enquiry into the original of tartar in wine : since from thence ( according to the new belief of vulgarity ) most diseases derive their causes , and borrow their appellations . the cantabi ( now biscons ) natives of a province in spain , before their conversation with the hollander , in a voyage for the fishing of whales , being on the coasts of groenland ( which modern travellers conceive lost ) among the vast quicksands , called atalayae , surprised by intense cold , had their decocted wines , of themselves generous and excellent , frozen to ice . instructed by this exigent , they beat off their hoops from their vessels , and exposed , to the open aër , the naked conglaciated wines ; with design , that the residue of liquor might be totally frozen : this accordingly succeeding , they boared the ice , and at the centre of it found a clear , transparent liquor , of the colour of an amethyst , being the pure spirit of wine , a fiery and vital essence , uncapable of conglaciation . this discovery taught them understanding ; for they drank the ice , melted at the fire , restoring to it a small quantity of this essential vital nectar . the story is introduced for this end , that hence it may be observed , that the spirit of wine , by a natural tendency , flies from cold , as from his proper enemy ; and gently withdraws itself , from its former mansion , into the centre of the wine . but on the contrary , wines are therefore exposed to the heat of the sun , that they may grow acide , and the spirit exhaling , leaves behinde it a flat , cadaverous substance , devoid of spirit and life , which is vineger . but since it is far more noble and useful , that the spirit of wine should retreat into the centre , then perish by exhalation , therefore hath necessity , for the conservation of wines , hinted the invention of cold , deep cellers . the austrian wines still operating on themselves by an uncessant , tumultuous heat of fermentation , are , for the most part , gross and viscid . for which reason , the cellers at vienna are ordinarily digged to no less then a●…undred foot in depth . the spanish wines also , would suffer the same restless ebullition , and conflict betwixt their heterogeneities , were they not prevented by the admixture of a lime , which the spaniard calls hiesco , at the very instant of their flowing from the wine press . whence results it a clear and unquestionable truth , that the spirit of wine , in cold cellers , retreating from its adversary , cold , returns to the heart of the liquor , as to a safe refuge , and there conceals it self . wine , therefore , in the cortex , or outward circumference of it self , is less generous , as having fewer spirits , then in the middle , or inmost retiring room . hence it is a necessary consequent , that as , by reason of the exhalation of spirits , wines set in the sun , grow acide , and phlegmatick ; so also , proportionably , the exterior cortex of wine in a cold celler , must be more acide , then the centrals . and thus , when the musts of wines are freshly brought in from the press , lodged in store-houses , and have suffered fermentation , the spirit by and by flying from cold , concentres it self ; and therefore the superficies of wine , having already entred some degree of acidity , immediately begins to operate on the dregs , floating on the yet troubled and unclarified mass of liquor . for an absolute impossibility it is , that there can be any the least acidity ; which having once met with a proportionate object , does not immediately begin to operate on it . this really is the law , and unavoidable necessity of naturals . by example . vineger , how flat and weak soever , having once touched upon the stone concreted in the head of a creafish , vulgarly ( but erroneously ) called crabs eye , can by no means contain it self , but must immediately act , to the dissolution of it , and resolve it into a clear , diaphanous liquor . the acidity of wine , having once sated it self on the dregs , and spent much of its activity , by degrees , inclines it self to coagulation . but coagulate it cannot , without a conspiracy with , and assistance from the fracid odor of the vessel , impregnate with a spirit , or power of fermentation ; whereby it may , in some measure , admit of putrefaction . and for this onely reason , is the coagulation made at the sides of the vessel , to which it affixes it self ; according to that familiar chymick axiome : omnis spiritus dissolvens , eddem actione quâ corpora dissolvit , coagulatur : every dissolvent spirit is it self coagulated , in the same action , wherein it dissolves other concreted bodies . the more acide wine , therefore , in the extremities of it self , dissolves the dregs ; and at the same instant , the acide dissolvent spirit is coagulated , together with the newly dissolved faeces , and soon applies it self to the neerest side , or concave of the vessel . and this , lest both ( the dissolvent and dissolved ) might not be hindred from coagulating ; but on one side , at least , they might not be invironed by liquor : and thus , by this progress and succession of natural motions , there is affixed a new production of coagulation , tartar. observe also , that before the compleat act of coagulation , there is no existent coagulatum ; and therefore the acide spirit in the verge of the mass of wine , having newly dissolved the dregs , in a moment , before the act of coagulation finisht , seazes on the vessel , and by a cement , or glue , native and proper to it self , there fixes , and constantly adheres . otherwise depressed by gravity , it would immediately sink to the bottom . and this new entity , thus coagulated , is the tartar of wine ; of which our discourse . that these are sober , solid truths , we have clear and demonstrable evidence from vineger it self . for wine insolated to a calefaction of the vessel , may produce tartar ; but vineger never . and yet wine and vineger are one and the same matter , differing onely in those qualifications , heat and cold ; in the former , indeed , with tartar , in the latter without it . from the premisses , there breaks forth a considerable truth ; that our forementioned axiome , by chymicks concluded of eternal verity , grosly fails in that it makes the dissolution of any concreted body , to be done in the instant of time , and numerical action , with the coagulation of the spirit dissolvent . for if there intervened not , in some short interval of time , a diversity , and succession of motions , the coagulation could not soder it self to the circumambient planks of the vessel , as is there affused by liquefaction ; but would of necessity , if it were coagulated at the instant of dissolution , sink down to the lowest region , in the form of a simple coagulation , and not cement it self to the walls of the hogshead . but on the other side , in the bottom , the peculiar region of the lees , there is never found any tartar. here also accurs to our serious consideration , a second and more weighty verity : that the analogy , or resemblance , which the vulgarity of physicians conceives , betwixt the tartar in wine , and those preter-natural coagulations in the body of man , is erroneous , vain , and altogether impertinent ; and therefore the name , history , manner and end of coagulation of tartar in wine , are foolishly and unfitly accommodated to the causes of diseases . all which i shall demonstrate to ample satisfaction , when i come to discover that grand and popular delusion of the existence of tartar in our meat and drink . allowing to wine onely a fertility of tartar. for that we acknowledg to be no alien , no son of an exotick mother , from the concurrence of forein principles , intruded into wine , having its production contrary to , or besides the ordinary and simple nature of wines : neither owing its original to the adjuncts of the primitive malediction delivered in paradise , by divine providence , for the expiation of those crimes committed by man , in the heat and distraction of wine . again , neither is the tartar of wine ever coagulated by any originary activity , or power of coagulation , proper to its own nature ( though paracelsus dreamt so : ) but then undergoes coagmentation , when the circumferential acidity of the wine , hath newly exhausted much of its energy , and wasted it self , by a profuse operation on the dregs . that is , the active being swallowed up in the embraces of the passive : the acide spirit imbibed , and subdued to obedience , by the freshly dissolved faeces ; then , and not till then , contrives and sets about the act of coagulation , not with design or power to make a real , true stone , but a counterfeit , such as afterwards may be again dissolved in hot water , as an acide salt in liquor , which for that reason , the vulgar call cremor tartari . all which do very ill correspond with those preter-natural coagulations in the bodies of men : and yet they are , in a drunken fiction of paracelsus , by an imaginary analogy of essence and identity with tartar , in all meat and drink , grosly obtruded on the faith of vulgar physicians , wholly over-run by that epidemick , lazy , evil , subscription . here also we are fallen on a third magnale or violentum . that tartar is not an excrement of wine , unless on one part , which is the dregs dissolved : which truly paracelsus was not ignorant of , who does very frequently extol the medicinal faculties of tartar , far above those of wine it self , as inheriting many more and nobler endowments . wherefore he very absurdly refers tartar of wine , by an identity of essence , and formation , to the same classis of entities , with those solid concretions in diseased bodies ; which yet , in many other places , himself concludes to be a meer excrement , yea , the sorrowful fruit of that curse of the earth , pronounced by god , in paradise , bryers and thorns shalt thou bring forth , and calls , ens cacedonium , in puro saphyrico ente rerum . the tartar of wine therefore , and that which is erected in the schools , for the material cause , and foundation of most chronick diseases , if any such were in reality of entity , can keep no concord in their original forms , even according to the doctrine of paracelsus himself , if we accept the former , as a preternatural production , directed , by the destiny of its being , to the generating diseases , as to its proper end . and thus also , hath he most impertinently , and at best , but by the favor of a metaphor , reduced the causes of diseases to tartar : since they no way agree , either in their matter , efficient , manner , or cause of coagulation , in the term of the coagulatum , object , or originals . for neither gravel , nor the stone is capable of dissolution in boiling water ; as the tartar of wine is . this usurpation therefore , of name and propriety , is wholly metaphorical , rash , and frivolous ; and an assertion tacitely injurious to divine wisdom and providence , by polluting the purity of all sublunary creatures , with the bold imputation of a curse , as if in the totality of their natures , they were nothing but compositions , amassed out of the seeds of tartar. and to so high a pitch of impudence hath this error flown , that men dare imagine tartar in the very marrow of animals ; which yet they allow incoagulable , nor did ever paracelsus finde any where , but in his own wilde imagination . and so the result of all is , that he falls upon a manifest contradiction , making tartar to be no tartar , that is uncapable of coagulation : so that , not onely every coagulable and solid body , but also every liquid substance , that is every created nature , subject to the influence of the lower orbs , would be nothing but tartar , by divine vengeance , destined to the punishment of the first sin . no sooner hath the must suffered fermentation , parted with its former sweetness , and assumed the perfection and dignities of wine , but the whole mass of terrenity , the lees , falls to the bottom of the vessel ; and then begins the new made acidity of the wine , in the circumference , to execute its power dissolutive , on the earthly residence in the bottome . for the more essential portion of the wine , the spiritual nectar , by a gentle and gradual concentration , crowding into the middle , forsakes the protection of the superficial round of the liquor : this done , and the extremity of the wine thus destitute of vitality and radical heat , soon grows acide , and not meeting with any fit object neer it , whereon to discharge its activity , but onely the dregs in the lowest region of the wine , immediately assaults them , and by degrees dissolves them : and thus the acidity is both confirmed and inlarged . but since every acidum , by reason of its corroding energy , doth operate in a perpetual ebullition : hence is it , that that acidity , which had dived to the bottom , when it hath operated on the lees , doth reascend from thence , and fix it self in a higher mansion , the circumstance of the vessel . and for this cause , is the generation of tartar done , by successive , gradual , and slow motions . for the same reason also cannot tartar be concreted and affixed to the bottom ; hindered by that inquietude , and tumultuation of perpetual ebullition . hence is it , that rich and generous wines , being not easily subject to this destitution of spirits , unless on an assault of intense cold , do not soon grow acide , nor yeeld any considerable quantity of tartar. but old rhenish wines easily pall , grow sick , and loose their grateful and vigorous taste ; in regard their activity of eagerness is , for the most part , devoured by their lees ; and yet they continue wholsom and friendly to the stomach , in that their spirits are not exhausted to an equal proportion of their dregs and acidity . but red french wines , unless nourisht by their lees , ( which for this effect , vintners call , the mother , or nurse of claret ) dissolve their own tincture , continually preying on it by their subtilty and eagerness . and this is the cause , why claret wines , if not very rich , and excellently vigorous , at the age of two yeers grow pale and discoloured . for the tincture of wines , is a substance familiarly subject to separation . but strong , generous , and spiritual red wines , in that they more slowly grow acide , hold good to the age of many yeers . on the contrary , small white wines , if not sequestred from their lees , in short time , grow flat and cadaverous . for their lees drawn off , their acidity wanting a proportionate matter , to imploy its corrosive faculty upon , the wine continues good , sprightful , firm , and in its primitive integrity . from these experiments , we naturally collect , that tartar , in the acception of its entire nature , is no longer either wine , or the dregs of wine ; but a neutral , or third nature , resulting from the conjunction , and coëfficiency of both . that this is thus , is demonstrable from the mechanick experiment , that a greater quantity of tartar may be dissolved in ten ounces of rain water , then in two hundred of wine , though never so much stirred in boyling . the reason belongs to the acidity of wine to which the tartar ows its coagulation . to conclude ; six ounces of the salt of tartar , will dissolve seven ounces of crude tartar ; because the lixivium , or lee of that salt imbibes and sucks up the acidity of tartar. that tartar consists of the lees of wine , and not wine onely , we need no other eviction , but that experiment of printers , who indifferently use tartar or the lees of wine , for the master ingredient in their composition of ink : the same effect arising from either , on good reason , preventing the election of either , and confessing a plain consanguinity , if not an identity of the causes . again , in distillation , they both belch up one and the same acide odor , and yeeld one and the same oyl . onely tartar is not dissolved in cold water : because the ●…aeulent and earthy substance of the dregs does so closly environ and shroud the salt , that the cold water is not of force sufficient , to transfix that counterscarfe , or penetrate the atomical parts of the concretion , and by consequence , not to dissolve it . now since tartar hath its originary principles and nativity , no where but in wines , grown lightly acide , by a desertion of spirits , flying from circumstant cold , to the centrals of the liquor : hence let the so much illuminated ( that is infatuated ) disciples of paracelsus be instructed , how ill the speculation of tartar does quadrate , even with those diseases , for whose sake chiefly it was first invented and embraced . for plain it is , the stone concreted in the body of man , can never be dissolved in boyling water ; as tartar commonly is . for which consideration , tartar is more justly to be listed in the number of salts , or juices coagulated by salt , then of stones : è diametro , contrary to the doctrine of paracelsus . the image of god ; or , helmont's vision of the soul , englished . the summary . 1. the fear of god , the beginning : and charity , the end of wisdom . 2. man made in the image of god. 3. three sorts of atheists . 4. a wish of the author . 5. the intellection of the minde , intellectual . 6. the intimate integrity of the minde suffereth from caduce faculties , without the passion of extinction . 7. the action of the minde scarce perceptible in us . 8. atheists of the first classis deride the image of god , in man. 9. atheists of the second classis , have lately sprung up . 10. the atheistical ignorance of such is manifested . 11. a variety of vital lights . 12. how the minde differs from angels . 13. an intellectual vision of the authors . 14. all optation vain , without god. 15. the misery of the author . 16. a vision of the soul , separate from the body . 17. that the minde hath a figure . 18. the minde an immortal substance , representing the figure of god. 19. a vulgar error , concerning the image of god. 20. the error of such , who conceive the image of god to be seated in the ternary of faculties . 21. the doctrine of taulerus opposed . 22. the image of god never yet discovered , nor positively described , because incomprehensible . 23. the minde subject to damnation , onely by accident . 24. after death , is no more memory , or reminiscence . 25. the will was superadded to the minde , accidentally , after its creation . 26. in heaven , the will is useless and frustraneous . 27. in heaven the will appears no power , or faculty : but a substantial and intellectual essence . 28. if the minde be the image of god , this was anciently known to plato . 29. the definition of the minde . 30. reason not the image of god. 31. the authors opinion . 32. these two quiddities lie obscured in the soul , by reason of the corruption of our nature . 33. the love of the soul is excited onely by an ecstasie ; nor otherwise in these calamities of nature . 34. a precision of the intellect . 35. an objection solved . 36. that triplicity , or ternary of diverse faculties in the minde , is expressed also in every systeme , or composition of the world . 37. a more noble and exact similitude , then that of a trinity of faculties , requisite to make out the image of god in man. 38. the description of the minde , rehearsed . 39. how the minde may survey it self . 40. the original of the imagination , constitutive . 41. the minde understandeth far otherwise . 42. the prerogative of the minde . 43. an explication of living love . 44. the discrepancies of intellections in mortals . 45. why that amorous desire , or divine love , cannot cease in heaven . 46. the description of that desire . 47. how sin may be harbored in the desire of the minde . 48. the love of the minde is a substance , even in men , that have not yet confessed their dust . 49. how great a cloud of darkness is drawn over the primitive splendor of the intellect , from the corruption of nature , by the original sin . 50. the image of god , defaced and demolished in the sons of perdition . wisdom begins at the fear of god ; and the fear of god begins at the meditation of death , and eternal life . but the end of wisdom many conceive , with the stoicks , to be the knowledg of a mans self ; but i account the ultimate end of wisdom , and the crown of the whole course of our life , charity , which alone will faithfully accompany us , when all other things shall have deserted us . and although self-cognition , in our opinion , be onely a medium to the fear of god ; yet from that , must our tractate concerning long life , assume its beginning ; in this relation , that the cognition of life presupposeth the cognition of the soul , since the life and soul ( which we have more then once intimated ) are synonymaes . t is of faith , that man was created , of nothing , after the image of god , into a living creature ; and that his minde shall never perish ; while , in the mean time , the souls of bruits suffer annihilation , so soon as they cease to live . the weighty reasons of which difference i have declared , in my discourse of the original of forms . but hitherto is it not manifested , beyond dispute , wherein that similitude of man with god , our archtype , or prime exemplar , doth consist . for in the soul alone , many determine this majestick pourtraicture . i shall deliver what i conceive ; yet under an humble protestation and subjection to the censure of the church . thus it is . the original of forms being , in some degree of comprehension , already known ; it is just we make a grand enquiry concerning the minde of man. but , seriously , no cognition is more weighty then that , whereby the soul comprehends her self : yea , and hardly is any more profitable ; in this interest , that faith doth establish her foundation upon the unperishable , and indelible substance of the soul. i have found , indeed , many demonstrations , concerning this verity , divulged in books : but none at all propter quid , touching the cardinal quiddity , in relation to atheists , denying one single , and from all eternity constant , deity . plato , insooth , hath decreed three orders of atheists . ( 1. ) a first , which beleeveth no gods at all . ( 2. ) a second , which indeed doth admit of gods ; but such as are incurious of our condition here below , and idle contemners of the trifling affairs of mortals . ( 3. ) a third , which although it beleeve , that there are gods , and such as are both knowing and observant of the smallest occurences in the world ; yet imagineth them so exceeding merciful , that they are flexile , by the finger of the weakest prayer . and this kinde is most frequent among christians , and even such , who profess themselves the most perfect in our days : and on this presumption , they dare any thing , and beleeve religion to be no more but an engine of mature policy , to coerce the people , with the terror of laws , the obligation of faith , and the penalty of hell. for these impose heavy burthens on the shoulders of others , which themselves touch not with one of their fingers ; drain the purses of their disciples , prostitute heaven for money to dying men , and continually intrude themselves into secular affairs , in regard they opinion , that religion cannot subsist without state-policy . my highest wish should be , that they had once , though but in a moment , tasted what it is to understand intellectually ; that so they might perceive sensibly , as it were by the touch , the immortality of the minde . i confess , i have not invented rules or a method , whereby i might be able to illustrate the intellect of another man. i protest therefore justly , that such who ever study , making disquisitions concerning truth , but can never attain the knowledg of it , in respect , being puffed up with learning , they have no charity , do foster secret atheism . but this one mystery i have learned , that the minde doth not at all understand by the mediation of the phansie , nor by figures and images ; unless the miserable , and afflicting discourse of reason be annexed ; but when the soul comprehends her own nature , reason falls off from her , and the image of her self fails her , by which she might represent her self to her self : therefore the soul can , by no means , apprehend her self by the discourse of reason , nor by images . for after that i had known , that the verity of an essence , and the verity of the intellect were one and the same : i certainly knew that the intellect was a certain immortal entity , far removed from all frail and perishable things . the soul , indeed , is not perceived ; yet we firmly beleeve her to dwell within us , not to be idle , not to be weary , nor afflicted with diseases . therefore sleep , madness , and ebriety , are not symptomes of the immortal soul suffering exorbitancy ; but the attendants of life and onely passions of the sensitive faculty ; since bruits also frequently endure the same passions . for just it is that the immortal being owe these disturbances to her adligement to caduce and mortal things . for as the minde inhabiteth within us , and yet is not perceived by us : so neither are her continual and uninterrupted operations subject to sensation ; because if they were sensible , verily they could not have been spiritual and meerly abstracted . and although it appear to us , that we understand nothing by the total sequestration and abstraction of discourses from all things corporeal , which can fall under the comprehension of our sense , minde , and intellect ; and that in the very beginnings of our contemplations : yet really , the soul doth , all that while , act by her own insensible way , and by an efficacy wholly spiritual : which i thus understood . the penitentiary very often doth not sensibly perceive the effects of his contrition , and with groans deploreth that his insensility : yet being asked whether he would willingly commit a sin , would perchance answer , that he had much rather die . insensible therefore is the operation of the soul in penitence and confession , being the supernatural effect of faith : because the intellectual actions are derived from a higher principle , and are clients of a more noble and indesinent magistracy . and on this ground mystical divines lay their doctrine , that the soul doth more effectually operate , and in her operations more benefit her self , in faith alone , without discourse and cogitation ; then he who prayeth in a multitude of words , and by tedious discourses exciteth compunction in himself . but happy he , who hath obtained that excellent endowment , to perceive these insensile operations of the soul , and by secret emanation to reflect them upon the operations and powers of the sensitive soul ; since such frequently leave their impresses upon the whole after life , and excite the memory , in faith operating together with grace , for the future . the libertines of christianity , and atheists of the first classis deride this article of our creed , as if the image of god , in us were onely imaginary , and it a meer traditional fiction that man was fashioned after the similitude of the deity . but other atheists of the second and third sort beleeve , not onely that we are created in the image of god ; but feign also that in our nature there is an identity with the essence of the immense , uncreated divinity ; and that man doth differ from god in substance no otherwise , then a part doth from the whole , or that which had beginning from that which is non-principiate ; but not at all in point of essence , or internal propriety . which besides the blasphemy , doth comprehend very many and gross absurdities . since whatever once began is in that very notion a creature ; and it doth tacitely involve an imperfection in god , to be able to create extra se , without the limits of his own nature , any thing in substance equal to himself : since truly from philosophy it is evident beyond doubt , that all the parts of an infinite are infinite , of necessity . the creature therefore cannot be in substance more infinite , then it hath been in duration equal to its eternal principle : and much less is the soul of man a part of the divine substance , or essentially like unto it ; which in power , magnitude , duration , glory , wisdom , &c. in her self , and of her self , is a meer nothing . if therefore she was not made out of god , much less out of her self ; but out of nothing . infinitely therefore do they wander from truth , who beleeve a quiddity of the divine image implanted in the soul , by an identity of substance : when they are distinguished each from other by infinite disparity ; yea , the soul would at length , of her own accord , be again resolved into that nothing , from whence she began , unless she were constantly conserved in being , by the divine goodness . seriously , the damned souls might wish to be resolved into their primitive nothing , which the divine justice doth conserve in being . the soul , indeed , from the minute of her creation forwards to the future , hath an eternal permanence ; not from her own essence , but from her native eternity , freely conferred upon her by the bounty , and constantly conserved by the providence of her maker . suffice it therefore , that the soul be a spiritual and vital substance ; and a luminous creature . and since there are many kindes and species of vital lights , this light of the minde differs from all other vital lights , in this , that it is a spiritual and immortal substance ; but all other vital lights are not substances formal , though they be forms substantial ; and therefore , by the chymistry of death , they are reduced into their ancient nothing , no otherwise then is the flame of a tapor extinct . but the minde differs from angels ; in respect it is framed in the similitude and representative figure of the eternal god , for the soul hath that light and luminous substance from the gift of her creation , since she her self is that vital light : but an angel is not that substantial light , nor hath he any light genial and inherent to his essence , but is onely a mirror of the increated light ; and so in this particular falls short of the excellence and perfection of the divine image . otherwise an angel , since he is an incorporeal spirit , were he luminous from the right of his own essence , would express the image of god more perfectly then man. moreover , whatever god doth bestow more love upon , that is more noble : but he hath loved man , much more then the angels ; for not to the redemption of the angelical nature did he assume the figure of a cacodaemon , as the thrice glorious lamb of god , the saviour of the world , assumed the nature of a servant . nor can this doctrine be staggered by the opposition of that , the meanest in the kingdom of heaven is greater then john the baptist : for the son of man is not inferior , in dignity of essence , to the angels , though he was pleased to become a little lower then the angels ; for in the calamitous condition of his life , he was made a little lower then the angels , as also was john the baptist. and for this reason , an angel is constantly called a ministring spirit : but is no where read a friend of god , the son of the father , the delight of the son of man , or the temple of the holy spirit , wherein the thrice glorious trinity takes up his mansion . for that is the majestick prerogative of the divine image , which the light eternal doth impress upon every man that comes into this world . in the year 1610 , after a long weariness of contemplation , that i might acquire some gradual knowledg of my own minde , since i was then of opinion , that self-cognition was the complement of wisdom , faln by chance into a calm sleep , and rapt beyond the limits of reason , i seemed to be in a hall sufficiently obscure . on my left hand was a table , and on it a fair large vial , wherein was a small quantity of liquor : and a voice from that liquor spake unto me : wilt thou honor and riches ? at this unwonted voice , i became surprized with extream amazement . i walked up and down , seriously considering with my self , what this should design . by and by , on my right hand , appeared a chink in the wall , through which a light invaded my eyes with unwonted splendor : which made me wholly forgetful of the liquor , voice , and former counsel . then pensively returning to the vial , i took it away with me ; and attempted to taste the liquor , but with tedious labor i opened the vial , and assaulted with extream horror i awakened . but my ancient intense desire of knowing the nature of my soul , in which i had panted uncessantly for thirteen whole yeers together , constantly remained with me . at length , amidst the anxious afflictions of various fortunes , when yet i hoped a sabbath of tranquillity from the security of an innocent life transacted , in a vision i had the sight of my soul. it was a transcendent light , in the figure of a man , whose whole was homogeneous , actively discerning , a substance spiritual , crystalline , and lucent by its own native splendor . but enshrined it was in a second nubilous part , as the husk or exterior cortex of it self , which whether it did emit any splendor from it self , i could hardly distinguish , by reason of the superlative fulgor of the crystalline spirit inshrowded within it . yet this i could easily discern , that there was no sexual impress , but onely in the cortex or shrine . but the mark of the crystal was light ineffable , so reflexed , that the crystal image it self became incomprehensible : and that not by negation or privation ( since these are terms onely accommodate to our imbecillity ) otherwise then this , that it presented a majestick ens , which cannot be expressed by words ; yet so finely , that you could not have comprehended the quiddity of the thing beheld . and then was it revealed unto me , that this light was the same , which i had a glimpse of twenty three yeers before . and these things i saw by an intellectual vision ; in my minde ; for had the eye of my body once beheld this resplendent excessive object , it would for ever after have ceased from vision , and consta●…ly have celebrated a blinde mans holy day . and thus my dream discovered unto me , that the beauty of the humane soul doth far transcend all conception of thought . at that instant i comprehended thus much , that my long desire of seeing my soul was vain and fruitless ; and thereupon i did acquiesce . for however beautiful the crystalline spirit did appear ; yet my soul retained nothing of perfection from that vision , as at other times she was wont to do after an intellectual vision . and so i came to be instructed , that my minde , in this somnial vision , had as it were acted the part of a third person ; nor was the discovery sufficiently satisfactory to compensate so earnest and insatiate a desire of exploration . but as to the image of god impressed upon the soul ; according to my slender capacity , i confess , i could never conceive any thing , whether a body , or spirit , whether in my phansie , or the most pure , and abstracted speculation of my intellect , which in the same act of meditation , did not represent some certain figure , under which it stood objected to my conceptions . for whether i apprehended it by imagining an idea probably correspondent to its essence , or whether by conceiving that the intellect did transmute it self into the object understood ; still it occurred unto my thought invested in some figure . for although i could familiarly understand the minde under the notion of an incorporeal and immortal substance : yet could i not , while i meditated upon the individual existence of it , consider the same devoid of all figure ; yea , nor so , truly , but it would respond to the figure of a man. since when ever the soul being sequestred doth see another soul , angel , or cacodaemon , requisite it must be , that she perfectly know , that these are presented to her , to the end she may distinguish a soul from an angel , and the soul of peter from the soul of judas . which distinction cannot be made by the sense of tasting , smelling , hearing , touching ; but onely by the proper vision of the soul ; which vision necessarily implieth an alterity or difference of figure . since an angel is so far restrained to locality , that at once he cannot possess two different places : in that also there is included as well a figural , as a local circumscription . thence i considered the minde of man figurated after this manner . the body of man , accepted under that distinct notion , cannot give to itself the figure of a man ; and therefore hath need of an external sculptor or delineator , which should be secretly ambuscadoed in the material mass of the seed , and descend upon it from above . yet this , in so much as it is of a material condition , and far below the fineness of a spiritual nature , cannot derive the plastick or conformative virtue no more from it self , then from the gross mass of the body : necessary it is therefore , that there be some precedent or elder principle , which must be wholly and purely immaterial , yet real , and operative , to which may be justly attributed the power of figuration or delineation , by a sigillary impression upon the archeus , or regent spirit of the seed . the soul of the genitor , therefore , when it descends to visit and relieve the inferior faculties , and makes a progress to survey the seed , in a paroxysm of carnality , doth upon the mass of seed , engrave and adumbrate the impress and figure of it self , ( which ; in sober truth , is the onely cause of the foecundity of seeds ) and thence is that comely and magnificent structure of the infant . otherwise if the soul were not figurated , but the figure of the body did arise spontaneously : a father maimed in any one member could not beget a son but maimed in the same member ; in regard the body of the generant hath lost its primitive integrity , and is become imperfect , at least in the implantate spirit of that member . if therefore the figure be impressed upon the seed ; undoubtedly it must receive that image or model from some other more vital and elder principle , alien to it self . but if the soul impress that figure upon the seed , she will not counterfeit an exotick , or strange image ; but accurately pourtray the similitude of her self . for by this means also beasts , by the souls modelling of her own picture , constantly maintain their species . and although the minde of man , if we relate to its original , far transcend the laws of nature ; yet by the same method or way , whereby it first entred the portal of nature , was incorporated and associated to her , it is constrained to progress in traduction , and is constantly adliged to the observance of her rules and prescriptions ; in this respect , that the progress and end of vital generations is always univocal . nor otherwise could it want many and gross absurdities , that so excellent an operation , as is the generation of man , should be performed without the consent and cooperation of the soul. which if it be thus , it is also of inevitable necessity , that the foecundity be given to the seed by the soul , by the communication of its figure , and other vital determinations requisite to specification . which verily doth not come to pass otherwise , then by the sigillation or engravement of the soul upon the seed , whereby the matter of the seed doth obtain a requisite maturity and adumbrated figure : that at length it may acquire from the creator the formal light of life , or soul of its species , whose similitude is expressed in the figure . moreover , we apprehend it as matter of faith , that our soul is a spiritual substance , that shall never know annihilation : the fabrication of which substance out of nothing belongeth to the almighty god alone . who since he hath vouchsafed to adopt onely the soul of man to the image of himself : it appears also a genuine consequence , that the immense and ineffable god is also of humane figure ; and that by an argument drawn à posteriori , if arguments be of any validity in this incomprehensible subject . since the body is like wax , whereupon the impression of the image of the soul is imprinted : but the soul hath her image and essential perfection from him , whose stamp or similitude she wears . but on consideration that the body of man doth frequently become subject to mutilation and monstrosity ; hence have most divines conceived that the glorious image of the deity is wholly consistent in the rational faculty : not at all considering , that the representative divinity of man doth in a more perfect and proxime relation consist in the soul , and so in the body formed after the exemplary character of the soul ; nor perpending , that the rational faculty is but handmaid and subservient to the intellect , no part at all of its essence , nor adliged to it by the inseparability of union , or identity : which we have to satisfaction demonstrated in our treatise , of the venation of sciences . now if any error be in the confirmation of the body , in the womb of the conceptrix : that error is not adscriptive to any imperfection of the image of god ; but to the incapacity of the material principles , and other external causes , invading the plastick virtue of the seed , and perverting its exact delineation of the parts . but the more learned number of christians doth hold it of faith , that the soul doth proximly express the image of the trin-une god , in the univocal simplicity of her substance , and the trinity of her faculties , namely , the intellect , will , and memory . which analogy ever sounded , in the ears of my reason , so ridiculous and empty as an old wives dream ; and improper to make good the proxime , singular , and excellent reflex of the godhead in the soul : since the term , image , doth include a similitude of essence and figure , and not onely a bare parity of numbers . again , if the soul , in her substance , represent the thrice sacred deity ; but the intellect , will , and memory reflect the trinity of persons : necessary it is that these three faculties are not proprieties , or accidents of the soul ; but the very univocal substance of the minde ; or else , that the pourtracture doth ill quadrate and respond to the prototype , or prime exemplar , whose image it is beleeved to be . i considered moreover , that not onely the minde of man , but even the whole man was framed after the image of god ; and that it was a bloody absurdity to compare the persons of the trinity to the memory , or will : since no person of the most holy godhead , can in any latitude of resemblance , represent the will , nor the will the person , none the memory , or the memory none ; as also that no one , separated from the other two , can hold any analogy to the intellect . and then , that the three faculties of the soul are ever accepted under the notion of accidents : but , insooth , accidents fall short of expressing the image , in any neerer relation , then the naked ternary of qualifications , heaped together upon the substance of the soul. in which sense , the soul doth express the image of god far less , then any the smallest piece of wood : which by retrograde analysis or resolution of it self into its primitive entities , holdeth forth , sal , sulphure , and mercury : and not onely ( as the minde in the forementioned similitude , credited by the vulgar ) three diverse proprieties , or a naked ternary of accidents . for every wood hath three several substances , comprised under the unity of the concretion , distinct in the supposed essences of their principles ; but concurring in the composition of the whole , they make onely the single substance of wood. taulerus hath divided the soul , not into three faculties , but two distinct parts , viz. the inferior or outward , which by peculiarity of appellation he denominates the soul ; and the superior or inward , which he entitleth the profundity of the soul , or spirit ; in which he affirmeth the image of god to be comprehended , since therein is seated the kingdom of heaven , and therefore the devil can obtain no access unto it . and to each of these parts he hath assigned several acts and proprieties mutually distinct each from other . but alas ! this holy man expungeth that simple homogeneity of the soul , wherein she ought principally to express the similitude of the deity : or at least hath hitherto denied the image of god to be propagated and diffused through , not onely the whole man , but even through the whole soul. verily , the ears of my faith are not easily open to this doctrine of the duality of the immortal soul ; nor the alterity of those two parts : especially when in her essence , the soul ought to resemble the image of the most simple divine nature . i should much rather assent , that the minde of man doth carry the resemblance of the most immense godhead , in the most simple unity , and indivisible homogeneity of spirit , under the symbol of immortality , of indissolution , and identity , beyond all connexion or alterity . wherefore my assertion is , that the glorious image of god is neither separate , nor separable from the soul ; but the very minde is the very image of god , fully so intimate to the soul , as the soul is to her self , that is , the image of god is the soul of the souls essence : and for that reason , that no sober head can conceive or express any the least analogy essential betwixt the supream increated ens , and the soul of man ; since the nature of divinity is wholly incomprehensible , and the most subtile thought can never finde any character of identity and unity with god , impressed upon the minde , whereon the similitude should be founded . sufficient it is , that the minde is a spirit , dearly beloved of god , homogeneous , simple , immortal , created after the image of the immense deity , a single ens , to which death can adde , and from which death can detract nothing that is proper and genial unto it in the essence of its simplicity . and in regard the soul , in the primitive constitution and destination of its essence , is participant of beatitude : therefore is damnation supervenient to it by accident , besides the originary decree of creation , by reason of a succeeding defection . this semideity , the soul , thus nobly enriched with science , when once enfranchized from her prison , the body , doth then for ever suspend all use of memory , and no longer makes use of the tedious induction of reminiscence , intuition of place , or duration ; but being single , in that homogeneal simplicity comprehendeth all things . for which reason , should any memory remain to the soul , after her flight from earth , it would of necessity be not onely frustraneous and useless , but burdensom : when it must eclipse her transcendent actual intellection . and from reminiscence must arise the same inconvenience ; since that can never be invited into act , but by the circumambages and complex discourse of reason ; and therefore it possesseth no room in eternity ; where in the full prospect of verity , without being subject to declination , defatigation or defect , the soul standeth exalted far above the necessity of recognition . the inference is , that the soul must be constituted in beatitude ( understand , in her primitive destination ) without the conjunction of the forementioned ternary of faculties ; and so in that analogy cannot resemble the image of the incomprehensible deity , for the sole representation whereof she was created . yea , upon a more intimate scrutiny , i do not finde the memory to be any singular and distinct power of the soul : but onely the bare manner of recognition . for such , who have shallow memories , to relieve this infirmity do , by the help of the imagination ( vicegerent to the intellect ) contrive for themselves an artificial memory , and that far more retentive then otherwise their natural memory could have been . moreover , the will also taketh an eternal farewel of the soul in death : why , because it is not essential , but accidentally advenient to the soul. since god , so soon as he had finished his creation of man , constituted him in the absolute power of his own free will ; which in sober truth , according to my apprehension , doth plainly import , that the will is not , by any peculiar manner , essential to the soul , from the first of her creation : but onely annexed to her , by way of concession , or trust , as a talent to the hand of a servant ; to this end , that man might have free power to choose what path best liked him , to unravel his life in . otherwise i deny not , but in the whole scene of things , there can be no one more pernicious then a free and unregulated will , as being that onely , which introduceth all variance and discord betwixt god and man. this faculty , therefore , must be for ever exiled from the beatitude of eternity : for the liberty of willing being taken away , the will it self doth also of necessity perish ; and of what use can the power of volition be , when there is no longer remaining any occasion to will ? and on this basis the schoolmen found their doctrine , that in heaven the will is confirmed , or rather wholly evacuated by death : that is , the beatified souls in paradise , have no power to will , nor will to will , but what is conform to the will of the highest ; and those who are compleat in charity and glory , retain no power of willing any thing which is not of charity . the will therefore expires , when the liberty of volition is dissolved ; and by sequel , the will can be no essential , but temporary and caduce power of the soul ; since it cannot be of use or advantage to that soul , which in the consummation of beatitude and highest fruition , hath suffered an utter evacuation of desire and hope : when it can no more be deduced into act , but must be a bare optation , which cannot be admitted in the state of bliss , where is a full satiety and abundant possession of all desiderable good . sufficient let it be for us ; by the power of volition in this life , to thesaurize , or make provision for the life to come . now after this transitory power of volition is abolished , in the next life there springeth up , and manifesteth it self , a substantial will , in no respect an alien to the intellect and essence of the minde ; and therefore having a being absolutely distinct from the accidental and variable will. for as the imagination is aliened in phrensies , distracted in perturbations of the animal faculty , and eternally suspended at the disunion of the soul and body : even so is the power of free will for ever abrogated by death . and thus i came to beleeve , that the image of god in man is seated in the spiritual substance of the soul ; and not in the ternary of its faculties . in a word , the analogy stands thus . god is an ens increate , single , incomprehensible , eternal , infinite , omnipotent , good , a supersubstantial light and spirit . but the soul is a creature , single , indivisible , dependent , immortal , simple , and from the date of her creation eternal , a substance spiritual and lucid . finally , in god there can be no accidents : but all and every one of his attributes are the very indistinct and most simple essence of the divine spirit : which plato his parmenides in some measure understood . and so the soul , since she is the representative of god , doth also admit no accident in her nature : but her whole substance must be a simple light , and the very intellect . for as smoak ascending from flame , is in figure and matter the same thing with flame : even so the soul is the naked , pure , and simple intellect , and the luminous shadow of the increated light . so that as the eye doth behold nothing more truly , and more neerly then the sun , and all other objects by the sun : even so the beatified soul understandeth nothing more neerly then that light , by whose eradiation she is illuminated , and upon which she doth totally and immediately depend . and as the eye of our body cannot endure to gaze upon the excessive lustre of the sun : so cannot the soul by intellection comprehend the glorious essence of god , much less while , in this vale of ignorance , she stands obliged to the obscure mediation of her transitory faculties . otherwise the intellect , emancipated from the thraldom of flesh , doth by the act of intellection acquire the figure of the object understood ; in so much as it transformeth it self , by commigration , to that unity of light , which penetrateth , and by penetrating invigorateth it with beatitude . and thus the soul doth principally and primarily contemplate the immense nature of god , in the act of intellection ; and for this end was she created the true and real representative of the divine essence . they who opinion the image of god to be seated in the rational faculty of man , depend upon this argument . the law is the image of god ; but this law is engraven upon our souls , by reason : therefore , is the soul the image of god , as she is onely rational . but such consider not , that according to the intent of this sophism , the soul , indeed , would contain the image of god ; but yet the soul her self would be the law it self essentially . which absurdity is too palpable to escape the observation of any , who shall but perpend , how much the law and the soul differ in the suppositionality of essence : and that the constitution and engravement of the law succeeded the creation of the soul. verily , i abhor metaphorical locutions in serious and abstruse subjects . as if these words , god created man in his own likeness , would naturally bear this onely interpretation , that god gave man the use of reason : and that such who enter this scene of mortality , with native idiotism , or a durable infatuation of reason , about them , have forfeited their plea to this grand prerogative of mankinde , the image of the immense deity . again , to impute the image of god to reason , is to prophane and blaspheme the sacred majesty of god , as i have amply declared in my discourse of the venation of sciences : when there is no adequation of reason to god , no comparison betwixt a transitory and uncertain faculty , and an eternal omniscient substance . but omitting the opinions of other men , i shall presume the liberty to declare my own . the intellect hath a will coequal , and substantially united to itself ; not such as may be accounted a power or accident : but the very light intellectual , a substance spiritual , an essence spiritual and indivisible , onely distinguished from the intellect by suppositionality , not reality of essence . beside these , i finde also in the soul a third native propriety , which in defect of a more proper appellation , i name love , or constant desire ; not of acquisition , possession , or fruition : but of complacency : which is equally essential to the soul with the other two , the intellect , and the intellectual will , and equally simple in unity of substance . which ternary of proprieties meet in the single and indivisible substance of the soul , and make one perfect unity . but this love is no act of the will singly ; but proceedeth from the intellect and substantial will together , as a distinct and glorious act : for even in this life , we may love those things , which our understanding concludeth not to be amiable , and which our will adviseth us not to love : and frequently we love objects , that transcend the comprehension of the understanding , and will , as in an ecstasie both the intellect , and will are suspended , and consopited , during the abstraction of the minde , for so long have they resigned their scepter to love. nor is this love a passion : but an essence dominant , and an act glorificant . the will therefore , and love , of this place , hold no community at all with the sensual and transitory will of man , or of flesh and blood : in regard they are essential titles , by which ( in our great poverty of words ) we endevour to demonstrate , wherein the minde of man doth represent the image of god : forasmuch as the intellect enfranchised from the body doth intuitively understand , intend , and from the abyss of the minde , love god , in one entire and never-discontinued act of love , or desire of complacency , according to the simplicity of her substance . but so long as we sojourn in walls of flesh , we come not so neer beatitude , as once to use our substantial and purely intellectual intellect ; but most of our obscure cognition of any entity is derived from the information of phansie , which , as viceroy , usurpeth the throne of the intellect . for ( as before ) in an ecstatical rapture , the intellect , will , and memory keep holiday , and are as it were lost in a somnolent inactivity ; the ardent act of love onely remaining vigorous and operative : yet so distinct from the three former , that it cannot subsist without the intellect , and substantial will ; since , when the soul is totally homogeneous in her substance , she would plainly lose that her absolute simplicity , if any one of the three could subsist without essential dependance on the other . love therefore , while the other two proprieties continue bound up in an ecstatical slumber , doth as it were ascend to the superficies : or rather , in terms of neerer similitude , the other two are as it were imbibed and overwhelmed in love. while we sojourn in the tents of kedar , in this vale of misery , love is elder then desire ; because it is a passion of the amatory faculty , which proceedeth from that suppositionality of the soul ( which is true love indeed ) and representeth the idea or resemblance of the corporeal faculty : and hence is it , that all the affections are , by invincible propensity , rapt on to irregularity and confusion . but in the citizens of new jerusalem , this love knows no priority , or distinction from desire : neither is it a faculty , nor habit , nor act of willing , nor subsisteth without the intellect . and thus the intellect is a formal light , and the very substance of the soul , whose cognition is perfect by intuition , without the help of eyes , which discerneth , willeth , and desireth , in the unity of it self , whatever it comprehendeth within it self , and judgeth by volition . nor doth it then any longer remember by a repetition of the species , or in age of the object once known ; nor is it any more induced to the cognition of an essence , by circumstances : but then becometh the onely and exact cognition of all intelligible objects , and the intuitive aspect , within it self . yet so , that it knows one object more presentially then another , while the intellect reflecteth it self upon the objects understood , in the distinct unity of verity : even as it frequently happens in the artifical memory , where that recordative memory is no distinct act from the inductive judgment of the intellect . and will this not be more genial and proper to the minde , when once delivered from the tedious , turbulent , and complex way of understanding by the imagination ? nor can the stability of these our assertions be shaken by this objection , that frequently in exorbitances of the brain , the memory doth perish , and yet the judgment continue firm and sound ; and on the contrary , the judgment doth suffer impairment and desolation , and yet the memory conserve its integrity and tenor , as many drunkards perfectly remember all passages as well before , as in and after their wine : in regard these are heterogeneal faculties of the sensitive soul , seated in distinct provinces of the body , and subject to intension and remission according to the exact and irregular temperament of the organs . and to inanimate creatures also , according to our observation , there undeniably belongeth a kinde of imperfect and obscure cognition of their particular objects : as also a blinde sense and dull affection of the most convenient and adaequate ; which creatures have , for this determinate election of their determinate objects , lately acquired the name of sympathetical : and this dark perception of the most accommodate objects , serveth them in stead of the sense of vision , and faculty of reason . besides this , there is also implanted in these inanimate sympathetical creatures a certain virtue , or vital endowment , of infallible valor , and energy ; as to those ends ordained by the creator . there is also a third power conferred upon creatures of this qualification , resulting from the conspiracy , and coefficiency of the two former : which sitteth as a silent counsellor , and dispenseth commands to them , either to advance towards the amiable and ●…eneficial , or retreat from the offensive and harmful object . in which the most blear-ey'd reason cannot but behold a certain natural sensation , or affection of determinate objects : yea , and what is more , a dislike and aversation . which climax , or threefold degree of nonintellectual cognition , is more manifest in the most stupid sorts of insects , as also in fools and mad men ; who are no subjects to the prudent scepter of the intellect , but subordinate to the doller advisoes of sense , and conform to the provocations of onely visual light . and yet in these there is moreover a second power , or act of their virtues specifical and functions vital : for the onely exercise whereof they were ordained . and thirdly , there is comprehended in them a far more conspicuous act of address or application , and aversation or avoidance : which ariseth from the instinct of their forms . all which natural proprieties do yet more powerfully declare themselves in sensitive creatures : for to these belongeth a certain sensitive imagination , with a gradual discourse of obscure reason , which supplieth their defect of an intellect , and is more or less resplendent and conspicuous in every single species : so that sagacity , voluntary election , and memory in such fall under the apprehension of a comparative intellect : their objects being yet changed , according to the variety of matter , propense to variations , distinctions , and singularities . moreover , in such there is an emanative or effluxive power collaterally annexed to their virtues ; whereby their souls are more or less propense to the exercises of their element , benign , and wholsom , or wilde and destructive endowments , or qualities essential . and finally , they are enriched with a native desire of complacency , of abhorrence or dislike , and of concupiscence , immediately ensuing upon their consideration of the good or evil of the object : which power or propensity is so firmly counited to the sensitive soul , that it seems almost impossible to observation , that any man should at once see two strange persons together , and not instantly become more affected to one then the other . and these things , which are sufficiently operative even in meerly corporeal and inanimate natures , of confessed efficacy in sensitive , and in both admit of more or less acuteness , according to the obedient or refractary predisposition of the recipient : cannot but be , for the same reason , of more clarified and sublime energy in man. finally , it is not the sense of our thoughts , that the image of god in man should fall under such gross disparagement , as to be considered as dependent on any ternary of faculties ; which naturally belongeth also to other inferior natures in this scene of the world . because the dignity of the image of the most glorious jehovah is not , in any the largest latitude of analogy , participated by any other creature whatever : since the divine image is peculiarly radicated in the humane soul , and equally proper to it with its very essence : but all other proprieties of the soul are not of the essence of the minde ; but productions and subsequent acts . nor can it stand with the majesty of the divine image , to be desumed from so poor an original as qualities ; for the proprieties and excellencies of all other created forms concur , and are as it were colliquated or melted together into the essence of the soul , by virtue of the divine image . but if these be accounted as attributes and productions : that must be charged upon the miserable manner , and customary abuse of understanding , according to the capacity of the vulgar . for in equitable truth , the minde is one single act , pure , simple , formal , homogeneous , and indivisible ; in which the image of god doth subsist proximely and essentially . so that in this image , all faculties do not onely lay aside the nature of attributes : but also collect and binde up their suppositionalities into an unity indistinct . why , because the soul is a certain substantial light within her self ; or a substance so lucid , that in suppositionality of essence , it cannot be distinguished from the very light : and her intellect is so the light of the minde , that the very minde is the meer lucid intellect . and in this self-light the minde , once uncaptived from the opacity of flesh and blood , doth wholly and intimately survey it self , and understand its own nature : and therefore hath no need either of brain or heart ; in which material organs , the substance of the minde doth seem to stoop unto the assumption of the progeny or stock of proprieties ; that is , the soul is diffused or emissively expansed into several transitory faculties . to speak more plainly ; in the body , when the intellect is abstracted in speculation , it makes use of corporeal organs , to which it is obliged : and assumes a certain virtue qualitative , called imagination ; which from the conjunction or society of the power phantastical , and concurrent splendor of the intellect , suffering some degradation in the organs , springeth up , by a certain combination , into the forementioned qualitative faculty . and hence comes it to pass , that this faculty groweth weary by long and intense imagination , seemeth wholly vanquished by difficult , knotty , and abstruse meditation , and frequently submits to dementation or madness : nay , as the observation of physicians telleth us , with one nights pensive study , and anxiety of thought , the hair of young heads hath put on the silver livery of old age . but the minde , once emancipated from the pedantism of flesh and blood , is never weary with continued intellection . moreover , the imagination in this life is not onely subject to lassation : but from the magazine of it self hath not any intellective species , which it hath not drawn in from sensible objects . and therefore the intellective faculty , which concurreth and cooperateth with the phantastical function of the sensitive soul , followeth the constitution or temperamental disposition of the organ , and arbitrary dictates of the sensitive life : no otherwise then in naturals the effect followeth the weaker part of their causes . but the soul , whatsoever is requisite for cognition , commemoration , or volition , either for one single act , or many , hath wholly from it self , and borroweth it from no other forein causality concurrent . for the good substantial will of a soul advanced to beatitude , ariseth not from the object understood : but from the radical goodness of her own formal love , which is , indeed , no proper passion of the soul , no habit , no propension , nor any quality ; but a substantial act of goodness , by which the blessed soul is substantially , univocally , and homogeneally , not qualitatively good . and this prerogative it enjoyeth , because it is the typical image of divinity . but bodies , of their own accord , perpetually fall into the attributes of forms , heterogeneity , vicissitudes , and at length into dissolution . therefore love or desire of the minde , is no function of the appetitive faculty : but is a part of the substantial minde , or rather the very minde it self , flowing from the intellect and will. which three are , by the hand of the creator , married indissolubly into an eternal unity , in the purest and most absolute identity and simplicity of substance . yet in mortals they are separate and distinct , as well in respect of the necessity of organs , and disparity of functions ; as the collateral society and conjunctive operation of the sensitive soul : since now we frequently desire those things , which the intellect judgeth not desiderable , and the will would wish never to enjoy . but necessary it is that such things , whose operations are different , should be also different in the root of their beings , by a manner of distinction , whereby each single nature is separated from others : in the minde truly by a suppositionality relative : in the sensitive soul , according to the corporeal and qualitative nature . and therefore that amorous desire of the minde , is the radical essence of the soul , consubstantial and coaevous to it . so though in heaven be a satiety and perpetual fruition of all desiderable good : yet doth not this desire of the soul therefore cease , which is a constant study of complacency : nor doth it more infer a passion into the minde , then charity it self ; since love and charity are in the soul radically one and the same thing . otherwise should this desire cease , and the ardor of love suffer extinction , either a satiety or insensility of fruition would instantly spring up ; which cannot consist with a state of full beatitude , and would infer discord upon the calm and constant harmony of a soul once admitted into the chorus of saints triumphant . and thus this desire is the incendiary that doth both kindle and maintain the flames of interminable delectation , and joyes insatiate and inextinguishible ; in which consideration the soul wears the resemblance of the holy ghost the comforter . now manifest it is , that in the minde , the intellect , will , and love are substantially counited : but in the sensitive soul , their operations are distinguished , according to the determinate alterity of faculties and their organs ; when we understanding many objects , we do not desire , and desire many we hardly understand , and such indeed as our will , if let to the swinge of its own native propensity , would decline the enjoyment of ; as in example , we will what we desire not , when we willingly submit to the stroke of the executioner : and desire what our will abhors , when we call for the dismembring sawe of the chirurgeon , and gladly embrace the horror of amputation . whence it comes to pass , that sometimes the will giveth laws to the desire ; and on the contrary , frequently the desire usurpeth the scepter and commands the will : so that these two lords mutually vanquish and succeed each the other , by vicissitudes . which civil war must so long continue in these our walls of flesh , as the sensitive soul draweth and engageth the intellect , and the body draweth and engageth the sensitive soul , into a multiplex and various ataxy or irregularity of division . and from this intestine duello arise those absurd desires of objects impossible to be obtained , and wishes of things in the present tense , which the unalterable grammar of time hath made in the preterperfect , and excepted from ever being declined in the future . but this desire , enshrined in the substance of the soul , must be of the essence of the minde : otherwise he could not commit a sin , who looked upon a woman to lust after her , before the plenary consent of the will. our desires therefore are elemented and coyned in the mint of mortal and caduce faculties ; which seated in the sensitive soul , rival the operations of the immortal and rational : whose objects are many times rejected by the will as inconvenient and ungrateful . as to the manner also , the desire , in this life , operateth one way , and the will another : and in the narrow circle of a day , sometimes the desire precedeth the will , and anon again the will getteth the start of the desire , and one subdueth the other successively , that the victor may restrain and coerce something distinct from it self : and this wholly in the transitory faculties ; because each ariseth from the concupiscence of the sensitive soul. but in the glorious denizens of paradise , this excellent love , or amorous desire , feeleth a resurrection and brighter ascension , as being the luminous substance of the soul : for there is nothing desired , which is not also the full object of the will : and that is collected into an unity , as well in regard of the act , as of the substance : although volition and optation seem two diverse branches expansed from one root ; which far transcendeth the manner and method of intellection in those , who have not yet confessed their dust . lastly , in man is situate the kingdom of god , that is the very deity it self , by whose perpetual splendor all things are collected into the unity of verity . the image of god therefore is primarily in the minde of man , whose very essence is no other then the very image of god. which image falleth not under the comprehension of the most subtile thought , nor can be expressed by any the most significant words , in this vale of ignorance : in regard it is the mirror of the incomprehensible divinity ; and hence also is it , that the soul while immured in this cloyster of flesh , cannot reach the knowledg of her own nature , but must remain a stranger to it self . but in the cortex or shrine of the minde , the sensitive and vital form , this image of divinity is visible by reflexion , as being relucent in the faculties : yet suffering a great allay of splendor from the opacity of the body ; because obumbrated by the cloud of brutal generation , and infected with mortality and pollution by the inquination of our nature faln from its primitive purity : by reason whereof the body hath not received the image , but at second hand borrowed onely the figure of the deity . but alas ! the miserable minde , devolved into outward darkness , as it hath divorced it self from an unity with the light uncreate , and infringed the originary energy of this image of divinity : so also hath it lost the primitive light of that image , by the bold appropriation of it as justly proper to it self by the title of merit ; so that ever since the fall it can understand , will , or love no object besides it self , and in order to it self . for the damned shall arise from the dead unchanged : because their bodies , in the resurrection , shall receive their determinations from their souls , which since they appear with all their depraved affections , reflected onely on themselves , after a corporeal manner ; they shall not , in the resurrection , represent the image of god , being as it were suffocated within them , unless in that corporeal similitude derived from adam , the protoplast , by the means of generation ; that is , they shall have no more of the image of god , then what is weakly and darkly reflected in the figure of the body . lastly , the soul ( understand onely such , as is excluded the new jerusalem ) being once faln , by the horrid cataract of death , upon the privation of those assistant faculties , the imagination , memory , and will ; doth for ever after understand , will , and love all objects , by a blinde apprehension , addicted onely to it self . for it knoweth its own immortality , becometh sensible of its damnation , and with secret murmurs complaineth of it , as an act of high injustice done upon it . because all the bent and scope of its love is onely to defend its excuses for sins , secretly to recriminate upon the hand of justice , by palliating the guilt of crimes , as if committed in the days of ignorance and innocence , with great fragility of nature , many crafty wiles and treacherous invitements of our three adversaries , the world , flesh , and devil , and the defect of grace sufficient to encounter such forcible temptations : and that an eternal punishment ( as far beyond all patience to endure , as all flux of time to end ) cannot according to the laws of justice be due for a momentany transgression . and at this it burneth with blasphemous rage and furious hatred against god : chiefly because it is too well ascertained , that the judgment can never be reversed by any replea of error , nor the arrest taken off by any reprieve , till the impossible period of eternity ; all hopes of evading the uncessant scourge of gods wrath being for ever cut off in despair . thus the impossibility either of evasion or cessation being as long lived as eternity , the caitiff soul , plunged in a deluge of desperation that shall never know an ebbe , from the first minute of her disunion from the body , passeth into an abyss of horror ; where shall be no piety , no compassion , no consolation , no relaxation , and no redemption or revocation . to which sad truth we may adde , that since the intellect doth naturally transform it self into the idea of the object understood ( which the ancient ethnick philosophers well knew , and elegantly blended under the parabolical fiction of proteus ) that is , into the full similitude of those cursed devils and spirits created for revenge , that are ever objected unto it : hence is the soul contiually possessed with an high hatred of god , and his blessed army of saints and angels ; together with desperation , malediction , damnation , and the vindictive tortures of those infernal executioners . o may the mercy of omnipotence , upon the sole motive of his own infinite goodness and clemency , vouchsafe to break those snares laid in all the paths of our life , to precipitate us into this misery , that must finde neither remedy , release , nor end . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a43289-e280 * plutarchus , in ep. ad phav●…rinum , de frigore primigenio . * in sua d●…ssertatione de met●…odo veritatis in scientiis investigand●… , p. 10. notes for div a43289-e1500 the breath of god , by an easy metaph. * gen. 2. ver . 7. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. * in ●…ami●… ▪ blas humanum nuncupato . 17. * lege guidon . pa●… . 2. chirurg . par . cap. 9. amb●…os . paraeum lib. 18. cap. 28. joh. andr ▪ 〈◊〉 cruce , de vuln●…r . tract . 2. l. 〈◊〉 . c. 〈◊〉 . fallop . de vulner . c. 14. jero . fabric ab aquapendent . l. 2. c. 24. s●…mert . l. 5. part . 〈◊〉 . sect . 1. cap. 9. 18. * consule agricolam , lib. 3. de natura fossilium , p. 212. fallop . lib. 4. de aquis medicat . cap. 8. dioscorid . l. 5. cap. 68. 19. * ad sinem tract . butl●… ▪ 20. 21. * hinc corpus paris , i. e. naturae universae , el●…gantissimè depingitur hirsutum , propter rerum radios ; radii enim sunt tanquam naturae crines , sive villi , atque omnia se●…è v●…l magis v●…l minus radiosa sunt : quod in facultate visus est manifestissimum ; nec minus in omni virtute & operatione ad distans . quicquid enim operatur ad distans , id etiam radios emittere rect●… dici potest , &c. f●… . bacon . de sapient . veterum , fab 6. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. * non ra●…ò , quasi sympathia quadam occulta , integrae familiae eodem tempore inficiebantur : imò vidimus non nullas familias longissimè à se invicem dispersas , & in diversis locis habitantes , eodem ferè tempore , exitialissimis hujus tyranni spiculis gravitèr afflictas , & ●…ere deletas fuisse . diemerbroeck de peste . cap. 4. ita etiam evagrius , histor. eccles. lib. 4. cap. 28. resert , in peste antiochena , certas familias prorsus interiisse , salvis manentibus interim reliquis urbis incolis . causa verò dependet ab arcana quadam dispositionis similitudine , quam inter se habent , quae apta est ad pestem r●…ipiendam . 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. * in libro de scorbuto , cap. 2. * praestantique intellectui 〈◊〉 actionem , t●…quam viro soeminam , subdidisti . in soliloq . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. * testimonio st. anthonii , per b. jeronymum descripto , paulus anachoretarum primus , in divorum numerum est relatus . ejusdem quoqu●… relatu , faunus l●…gitur animal loquens rationale : imò deum naturae & christianorum cognoscens , cole●…s , & supplicans antonium , ut pro se atque suis deum oraret . constat inprimis , hunc faunum non fuisse hominem ●…x monstrosa figura : neque cacodaemonem , quòd hic adeo superbiat , ut ne quidem , si sciret se salvari posse prece , v●…llet rogare , ut aliquis pro se oraret , neque se prosterneret pro impetranda venia ▪ * mu●…s notes for div a43289-e6370 * allus ad her. m●…m trismeg . & vocab . gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * belgis . notes for div a43289-e8410 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. * consule supplementum insra . 22. 23. * alii scribunt taliacotius . 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. * fur. 42. 43. 44. * quid velit author per haec nova & inaudita nomina , ex cabalistico . paracelsi vocabulario mutuata ▪ explicatum invenies infra , in nostro supplemento . 45. * est stola s. huburti , in arca , sex diversis clavibus obserata , a diversis quoque clavigeris custodita . quotamus autem praescindunt stolae illius partem , remanente interim stolâ semper integrâ , ab octingent is jam & amplius annis . nec est imposturae locus , quod nesciatur bodie , an stola sit ex bysso , lana , lino , vel bombace , adeoque nec posset quotannis nova substitui . praescindunt autem de stola partem , ut filamentum singulis demorsis à rabido , intra cutim frontis incarnent . inde enim aliud miraculum . quod qui semel suscepto filamento è stola , per ritus suos convaluit , potest alteri demorso differe terminum , & sopire rabiem adventantem , per quadragenarias , idque in annos aliquot , dum tandem suo commodo adire queat s. hubertum . ea tamen sub conditione , ut tantillum si quis supra 40 dies expectet , nec prorogationem termini ante impetraverit , confestim in rabiem incidal deploratam . haec mystagogus omnibus , quotquot devotionis ergô peregrè sunt prosecti , hospitibus ; elat●… supercili●… , praedicat . sed viris emunctioribus potius olent fraudem , quam veritatem christianismo dignam . * 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. * in exemplari elzeviriano legit●…r , instar jonae : sed ex incuria typographi literam i pro zmutatam esse conjeci ; eo quòd metaphora jonae , civitatem niniven circumambient is , è nimis longinquo esset petenda . mores etiam animalium pro locorum qualitate differ●…e , venenaque serpentum , vel mitiora , vel asperiora effici , asserit stagyrita , de hist. animal . lib. 8. cap. 29. 51. * the city trent , on the north side of italy . * the metropolis of boeotia , in our age called stibes or stiber , situate in longitude 50. in latitude 38. 52. * principe salisburgensi . * aliis philippus aureolus paracelsus , ut idem helmont . in tract , de lithiasi . * alii erogavit , vel ordinavit : ut adamus melchior , in vitis medicorum german . 53. 54. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. a venti regionales . sunt enim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , venti communes , & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , particulares seu vernaculi ; ut hippocrat . lib. de aere & locis . b depending upon a forain motor , for a regularlty of motion . 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. diagramma hujus instruments extat in lib 4. de magnete . 66. 67. 68. haec de allectivae virtutis magnetis , ex allio ei affricto , consopitione , aliorum potius ex relatione , quam side autoptica , scripsisse , meritò censeatur helmontius . sienim experientiam ●…ac de re semelsalem consuluisset , primo iindubitanter reperisset aspectu , quod nedum ferrum , igne reverberiicandens , & mox succo allii extinctum , haud obscuram nihilominus verticitatem , ex terra , acquirat , australemque versorii , magnete invigorati , extremitatem strc●…è sat suos in amplexus rapere possit : ast etiam , quod dens magnetus , succo allii altè imbutus , ferreos acus , codem succo , usque dum crassiorem rubiginem contraxcrint , inebriatos , promptè se 〈◊〉 allicere valeat . 69. 70. * ratio que ab evidenti rei obscurae cognitionem affert . haec ratiocinatio fit comparatione & praeceptione causarum efficientium per similitudines . ut galen . in lib. ad thrasybulum . 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. * nectromantia est species quaedam manganiae , qua defunctorum manes , vel potius daemones sub eorum specie larva●…i , strygum incantationibus excitati ad revelanda arcana ex orco evocantur : ut temsore saulis , & sexti pompeti apud lucanum . * in tractatu ejus de venatione scientiarum . 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. * cabala vel cabalia , idiomate chald●… orum est occultissima scientia , quae divinitù , unà cumlege moysi traeditasertur , non scriptis , sed vi va voce , & patribus a●…riculariter traducta asserentibus etiam rabbis hebraeis , cujus persae diligentissimi cultores atque praefossores extuer●…nt . grae cireddunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. * coma vigit , by others typhomania & sopor delirans , is a symptome or depravation of the internal senses , wherein the sick are oppressed with an inexpugnable propensity to sleep , and yet cannot , by reason of various images and phantasms crowding into the imagination , and perturbing their slumbers . vid. sennert . in institut . * catoche , or catalepsis , is 〈◊〉 violent symptome of the animal faculty , wherewith who is surprized , remains deprived of all sense and arbitrary motion , and rigidly congealed like a statue in the same posture , wherein he was first in●…aded , consule jul. caesar. scaliger . exerc. 3 12. hoc admirandum sanè symptoma , ex eo oriri videtur , quod sensorium commune , sive conarion , & interdum etiam partes ei vicinae , multis occupentur humoribus , dum reliquum cerebrum ab iis minus est affectum . hinc enim nullus objectorum motus ab anima in hoo affectu percipi potest : & spiritus in cerebr●… saetis copiosè quidem geniti , sed determinationem in alias partes non accipientes , in cosdem musculos , in quos antea erant determinati , perpetuo sl●…t , corpúsque in eodem statu retinent . nullo autem modo a congelatione spirituum , quod vulg●… medentum docet , fieri potest : illa enim cerebri subsidentiam , ●…er vorumque compressionem , & hinc apoplexiam potius iaduceret . 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. * a derivative from hydrophobia , a fear of water , which is a symptome of the animal faculty , or alienation of reason introduced from the peculiar propriety of the venome of a mad dog . the reason of this strange accident physicians refer either to the occult quality of the venome , by secret and specifical ●…ermentation of the blood subduing the imagination to this absurdity ; like as the sting of the tarantula , operating chiefly on the seat of reason , the brain , alienates the phansie , and so infatuates the minde , that the patient dances to death , if not cured by harmonious musick ; or to the imagination of the patient , from the remembrance of the occasion of his harm , a dog , perpetually fixt upon and troubled with the image of a dog , so that he conceives the apparition of a dog in the water , or liquor presented to him , and therefore abhors to drink it . examples of this are recorded by aetius , tetrab . 2. cap. 24. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. 168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174. * marsil . ficinus , in vita platon . * boeoti enim , apud antiquos , stol●…ditatis & stupiditatis nomine male audierunt , de quo horat. in epist. boeotum in crasso jurares cere natum . 1. bismuthum . * vide caesal●…in . lib. 2. de metall . cap. 54. * dornaeus in diction●… . para●…ls . * in his book of natural baths , and mineral waters . * libavius in syntagma●… . arcan . chymic . lib. 2. cap. 24. in commentar . ad finem . 2. throni . 3. thereniaben . 4. nostoch . in dictionario paracelsi . 5. nebulgea . 6. laudanum . * in lib. , 1. cap. 110. * prodit porta , lib. 12. mag. natural . cap. ult . in ag●…o patavino , non procul ab oppiao atestino , repertam suisse urnam sictilem , intraquam crat altera urnula & intra eam lucernula adhuc ardens , quâ rusticis manibus unprudenter prosu●…â & ruptá , mox evanuit slamma . vide ●…tiam c●…sium de minera . lib. 3. cap. 7. sect. 20. * consule libavium in examine philosophiae no●…ae , an magia paracclsica possit probari , &c. c. 6. pag. 5. * in libr. de vit . medic. ge●…man●… . ignem aethcrea domo subductum , vocat hor. lib. 1. ca●…min . od. 3. i. * de hoc enim constat , quod de herb●…m lectione multa superstiosa commentus sit : vtluti , ut card●… benedictus catarrho●…sistat , sodiendus in vigilia johan . bap. ●…ost solis occasum retiocedendo : & tunc sorlasse ad aulam maximil venit illud quoque v●…tum ●…itulo paracelsi . 2. 3. * civili viz. mensura , quarum una est librarum circiter sesquitrium aut trium : aliàs sextarius est imciarum ostodecim , & respondet cambaro rotemburgo tubarino . 4. 5. notes for div a43289-e36930 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. notes for div a43289-e38140 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. mathematicall recreations. or, a collection of many problemes, extracted out of the ancient and modern philosophers as secrets and experiments in arithmetick, geometry, cosmographie, horologiographie, astronomie, navigation, musick, opticks, architecture, statick, mechanicks, chemistry, water-works, fire-works, &c. not vulgarly manifest till now. written first in greeke and latin, lately compi'ld in french, by henry van etten, and now in english, with the examinations and augmentations of divers modern mathematicians whereunto is added the description and use of the generall horologicall ring: and the double horizontall diall. invented and written by william oughtred. récréation mathématique. english. 1653 approx. 447 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 177 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48262 wing l1790 estc r217635 99829293 99829293 33730 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48262) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 33730) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1992:7) mathematicall recreations. or, a collection of many problemes, extracted out of the ancient and modern philosophers as secrets and experiments in arithmetick, geometry, cosmographie, horologiographie, astronomie, navigation, musick, opticks, architecture, statick, mechanicks, chemistry, water-works, fire-works, &c. not vulgarly manifest till now. written first in greeke and latin, lately compi'ld in french, by henry van etten, and now in english, with the examinations and augmentations of divers modern mathematicians whereunto is added the description and use of the generall horologicall ring: and the double horizontall diall. invented and written by william oughtred. récréation mathématique. english. oughtred, william, 1575-1660. aut [40], 286, [17] p. : ill. printed for william leake, at the signe of the crown in fleetstreet, between the two temple gates, london : m d c liii. [1653] translation of: jean leurechon. recreation mathematique. henry van etten is a pseudonym of jean leurechon. with an added engraved title page reading: mathematicall recreations or a collection of sundrie excellent problemes out of ancient and moderne phylosophers. "the description and use of the double horizontall dyall" has separate title page dated 1652; register is continuous. running title reads: mathematicall recreation. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 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that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -problems, exercises, etx. -early works to 1800. mathematics -problems, exercises, etc. -early works to 1800. fireworks -early works to 1800. scientific recreations -early works to 1800. sundials -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-06 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-06 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion mathematicall recreations . or , a collection of many problemes , extracted out of the ancient and modern philosophers , as secrets and experiments in arithmetick , geometry , cosmographie , horologiographie , astronomie , navigation , musick , opticks , architecture , stati●k , mechanicks , chemistry , water-works , fire-works , &c. not vulgarly manifest till now . written first in greeke and latin , lately compi'ld in french , by henry van etten , and now in english , with the examinations and augmentations of divers modern mathematicians whereunto is added the description and use of the generall horologicall ring : and the double horizontall diall . invented and written by william oughtred . london : printed for william leake , at the signe of the crown in fleetstreet , between the two temple gates , mdcliii . on the frontispice and booke . all recreations do delight the minde , but these are best being of a learned kinde : here art and nature strive to give content , in shewing many a rare experiment , which you may read , & on their schemes here look both in the frontispice , and in the book . upon whose table new conceits are set , like dainty dishes , thereby for to whet and winne your judgement , with your appetite to taste them , and therein to taka delight . the senses objects are but dull at best , but art doth give the intellect a feast . come hither then , and here i will describe , what this same table doth for you provide . here questions of arithmetick are wrought , and hidden secrets unto light are brought , the like it in geometrie doth unfold , and some too in cosmographie are told : it divers pretty dyals doth descrie , with strange experiments in astronomie , and navigation , with each severall picture , in musick , opticks , and in architecture : in statick , machanicks , and chymistrie , in water-works , and to ascend more hie , in fire-works , like to joves artillerie . all this i know thou in this book shalt finde , and here 's enough for to content thy minde . for from good authors , this our author drew these recreations , which are strange , and true so that this book 's a centre , and t is fit , that in this centre ; lines of praise should meet w. mathematicall recreations or a collection of sundrie excellent problemes out of ancient & moderne phylosophers both vsefull and recreatiue printed for william leake and are to be solde at the crowne in fleet streete betweene the two temple gates . to the thrice noble and most generous lo. the lo. lambert verreyken , lo. of hinden , wolverthem , &c. my honourable lo. amongst the rare and curious propositions which i have learned out of the studies of the mathematicks in the famous university of pont a mousson , i have taken singular pleasure in certaine problemes no lesse ingenious than recreative , which drew me unto the search of demonstrations more difficult and serious ; some of which i have amassed and caused to passe the presse , and here dedicate them now unto your honour ; not that i account them worthy of your view , but in part to testifie my affectionate desires to serve you , and to satisfie the curious , who delight themselves in these pleasant studies , knowing well that the nobilitie , and gentrie rather studie the mathematicall arts , to content and satisfie their affections , in the speculation of such admirable experiments as are extracted from them , than in hope of gaine to fill their purses . all which studies , and others , with my whole indevours , i shall alwayes dedicate unto your honour , with an ardent desire to be accounted ever , your most humble and obedient nephew and servant , h. van etten . by vvay of advertisement . five or six things i have thought worthy to declare before i passe further . first , that i place not the speculative demonstrations with all these problems , but content my self to shew them as at the fingers end : which was my plot and intention , because those which understand the mathematicks can conceive them easily ; others for the most part will content themselves onely with the knowledge of them , without seeking the reason . secondly , to give a greater grace to the practice of these things , they ought to be concealed as much as they may , in the subtiltie of the way ; for that which doth ravish the spirits is , an admirable effect , whose cause is unknowne : which if it were discovered , halfe the pleasure is l●st ; therefore all the finenesse consists in the dexterity of the act , concealing the meanes , and changing often the streame . thirdly , great care ought to be had that one deceive not himselfe , that would declare by way of art to deceive another : this will make the matter contemptible to ignorant persons , which will rather cast the fault upon the science , than upon him that shewes it : when the cause is not in the mathematicall principles , but in him that failes in the acting of it . fourthly , in certaine arithmeticall propositions they have onely their answers as i found them in sundry authors , which any one being studious of mathematicall learning , may finde their originall , and also the way of their operation . fifthly , because the number of these problemes , and their dependances are many , and intermixed , i thought it convenient to gather them into a table : that so each one according to his fancie , might make best choise of that which might best please his palate , the matter being not of one nature , nor of like subtiltie : but whosoever will have patience to read on , shall finde the end better than the beginning . to the reader . it hath been observed by many , that sundry fine wits as well amongst the ancient as moderne , have sported and delighted themselves upon severall things of small consequence , as upon the foot of a fly , upon a straw , upon a point , nay upon nothing ; striving as it were to shew the greatnesse of their glory in the smalnesse of the subject : and have amongst most solid and artificiall conclusions , composed and produced sundry inventions both philosophicall and mathematicall , to solace the minde , and recreate the spirits , which the succeeding ages have imbraced , and from them gleaned and extracted many admirable , and rare conclusions ; judging that borrowed matter often-times yeelds praise to the industry of its author . hence for thy use ( courteous reader ) i have with great search and labour collected also , and heaped up together in a body of these pleasant and fine experiments to stirre up and delight the affectionate , ( out of the writings of socrates , plato , aristotle , demosthenes , pythagoras , democrates , plinie , hyparchus , euclides , vitruvius , diaphantus , pergaeus , archimedes , papus alexandrinus , vitellius , ptolomaeus , copernicus , proclus , mauralicus , cardanus , valalpandus , kepleirus , gilbertus , tychonius , dureirus , josephus , clavius , gallileus maginus , euphanus tyberill , and others ) knowing art imitating nature that glories alwayes in the variety of things , which she produceth to satisfie the minde of curious inquisitors . and though perhaps these labours to some humourous persons may seeme vaine , and ridiculous , for such it was not undertaken : but for those which intentively have desired and ●ought after the knowledge of those things , it being an invitation and motive to the search of greater matters , and to imploy the minde in usefull knowledge , rather than to be busied in vaine pamphlets , play-books , fruitlesse legends , and prodigious histories that are invented out of fancie , which abuse many noble spirits , dull their wits , & alienate their thoughts from laudable and honourable studies . in this tractate thou maist therefore make choise of such mathematicall problemes and conclusions as may delight thee , which kinde of learning doth excellently adorne a man ; seeing the usefulnesse thereof , and the manly accomplishments it doth produce , is profitable and delightfull for all sorts of people , who may furnish and adorne themselves with abundance of matter in that kinde , to help them by way of use , and discourse . and to this we have also added our pyrotechnie , knowing that beasts have for their object only the surface of the earth ; but hoping that thy spirit which followeth the motion of fire , will abandon the lower elements , and cause thee to lift up thine eyes to soare in an higher contemplation , having so glittering a canopie to behold , and these pleasant and recreative fires ascending may cause thy affections also to ascend . the whole whereof we send forth to thee , that desirest the scrutability of things ; nature having furnished us with matter , thy spirit may easily digest them , and put them finely in order , though now in disorder . a table of the particular heads of this book , contracted according to the severall arts specified in the title-page . experiments of arithmetick . page 1 , 2 , 3 , 16 , 19 , 22 , 28 , 33 , 39 , 40 , 44 , 45 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 59 , 60 , 69 , 71 , 77 , 83 , 85 , 86 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 124 , 134 , 135 , 136 ▪ 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 , 178 179 , 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 , 185 , 188 , 208 , 210 , 213. experiments ●n geometrie . pag. 12 , 15 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 30 , 35 , 37 , 41 , 42 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 62 , 65 , 72 , 79 , 82 , 113 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 214 , 215 , 217 , 218 , 234 , 235 , 236 , 239 , 240. experiments in cosmographie . pag. 14 , 43 , 75 , 106 , 107 , 219 , 220 , 225 , 227 , 228 , 229 , 230 , 232. experiments in horologiographie . pag. 137 , 166 , 167 , 168 , 169 , 171 , 234. experiments in astronomie . pag. 220 , 221 , 222 , 223 , 224. experiments in navigation . pag. 105 , 233 , 234 , 237 , 238. experiments in musick . pag. 78 , 87 , 126. experiments in opticks . pag. 6 , 66 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 102 , 129 , 131 , 141 , 142 , 143 , 144 , 146 , 149 , 151 , 152 , 153 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 160 , 161 , 162 , 163 , 164 , 165. experiments in architecture . pag. 16 , 242 , 243. experiments in staticke . pag. 27 , 30 , 32 , 71 , 199 , 200 , 201 , 283 , 204 , 205 , 207. experiments in machanicks . pag. 56 , 58 , 68 , 88 , 95 , 108 , 110 , 128 , 173 , 174 , 176 , 246 , 248 , 258 , 259. experiments in chymistrie . pag. 198 , 255 , 256 , 257 , 260 , 262 , 263 , 264. experiments in water-workes . pag. 190 , 191 , 192 , 193 , 194 , 196 , 247 , 249 , 250 , 252 , 253. experiments in fireworkes . from page , 265. to the end . finis . a table of the contents , and chiefe points conteined in this book . problem . ii. how visible objects that are without , and things that passe by , are most lively represented to those that are within . page 6 prob. 1 of finding of numbers conceived in the minde . 1 , 2 , 3 prob. 5 of a geographicall garden-plot fit for a prince or some great personage . 14 prob. 37 any liquid substance , as water or wine , placed in a glasse , may be made to boile by the motion of the finger , and yet not touching it . 54 prob. 3 how to weigh the blow of ones fist , of a mallet , a hatchet or such like . 9. prob. 30 two severall numbers being taken by two sundry persons , how subtilly to discover which of those numbers each of them took . 46 prob. 4 that a staffe may be broken ▪ placed upon two glasses , without hurting of the glasses . 12 prob. 7 how to dispose lots that the 5 , 6 , 9 , &c. of any number of persons may escape . 16 prob. 13 how the weight of smoke of a combustible body , which is exhaled , may be weighed . 27 prob. 12 of three knives which may be so disposed to hang in the aire , and move upon the point of a needle . 27 prob. 17 of a deceitfull bowle , to bowle withall . 32 prob. 16 a ponderous or heavy body may be supported in the aire without any one touching it . 30 prob. 18 how a peare , or apple , may be parted into any parts , without breaking the rinde thereof . 33 prob. 15 of a fine kinde of dore which opens and shuts on both sides . 30 prob. 9 how the halfe of a vessell which containes 8 measures may be taken , being but onely two other measures , the one being 3 , and the other 8 measures . 22 prob. 8 three persons having taken each of them severall things , to finde which each of them hath taken . 19 prob. 6 how to dispose three staves which may support each other in the aire . 15 prob. 14 many things being disposed circular ( or otherwise ) to finde which of them any one thinks upon . 28 prob. 19 to finde a number thought upon without asking questions . 33 prob. 11 how a milstone or other ponderosity may hang upon the point of a needle without bowing , or any wise breaking of it . 26 prob. 20 and 21 how a body that is uniforme and inflexible may passe through a hole which is round , square and triangular ; or round , square and ovall-wise , and exactly fill those severall holes . 35 , 37 prob. 10 how a stick may stand upon ones finger , or a pike in the middle of a court without falling . 24 prob. 22 to finde a number thought upon after another manner than those which are formerly delivered . 39 prob. 23 to finde out many numbers that sundry persons or any one hath thought upon . 40 prob. 24 how is it that a man in one & the same time may have his head upward , and his feet upward , being in one and the same place ? 4● prob. 25 of a ladder by which two men ascending at one time , the more they ascend , the more they shal be asunder , notwith standing the one be as high as the other . 42 prob. 26 how is it that a man having but a rod or pole of land , doth brag that he may in a right line passe from place to place 3000 miles . 42 prob. 27 how is it that a man standing upright , and looking which way he will , he looketh true north or south . 43 prob. 28 to tell any one what number remaines after certaine operations being ended , without asking any question . 44 prob. 29 of the play with two severall things . 45 prob. 31 how to describe a circle that shall touch 3 points placed howsoever upon a plaine , if they be not in a right line . 47 prob. 32 how to change a circle into a square forme . 48 prob. 33 with one and the same compasses , and at one and the same extent or opening , how to describe many circles concentricall , that is , greater or lesser one than another . 49 prob. 34 any number under 10. being thought upon , to finde what numbers they were . 51 prob , 35 of the play with the ring . 52 prob. 36 the play of 3 , 4 , or more dice . 53 prob. 38 of a fine vessell which holds wine or water being cast into it at a certain height , but being filled higher it will runne all out of its owne accord . 56 prob. 39 of a glasse very pleasant . 58 prob. 40. if any one should hold in each hand as many pieces of money as in the other , how to finde how much there is . 59 prob. 41 many dice being cast , how artificially to discover the number of the points that may arise . 60 prob. 42 two metals as gold and silver or of other kinde , weighing alike , being privately placed into two like boxes , to finde in which of them the gold or silver is . 62 prob. 43 two globes of divers metals ( as one gold the other copper ) yet of equall weight , being put in a box as b.g. to finde in which end the gold or copper is . 65 prob. 44 how to represent divers sorts of rainbowes here below . 66 prob. 45 how that if all the powder in the world were inclosed in a bowle of paper or glasse , and being fired on all parts , it could not break that bowle . 68 prob. 46 to finde a number which being divided by 2. there will remaine 1. being divided by 3. there will remaine 1. and so likewise being divided by 4 , 5 , or 6. there will still remaine one , but being divided by 7 will remaine nothing . 69 prob. 47 one had a certaine number of crownes , and counting them by 2 and 2 , there rested 1. counting them by 3 , and 3 , there rested 2. counting them by 4 , and 4 , there rested 3. counting them by 5 , and 5 , there rested 4. counting them by 6 , and 6 , there rested 5. but counting them by 7 and 7 , there rested nothing , how many crownes might he have ? 71 prob. 48 how many sorts of weights in the least manner must there be to weigh all sorts of things betweene one pound and 121 pound , and so unto 364 pound ? 71 prob. 49 of a deceitfull balance which being empty seems to be just , because it hangs in aequilibrio , notwithstanding putting 12 pound in one ballance , and 11 in the other , it will remaine in aequilibrio . 72 prob. 50 to heave or lift up a bottle with a straw . 74 prob. 51 how in the middle of a wood or desert , without the sight of the sun , starres , shadow , or compasse , to finde out the north , or south , or the 4 cardinal points of the world , east , west , &c. 75 prob. 52 three persons having taken counters , cards , or other things , to finde how much each one hath taken . 7● prob. 53 how to make a consort of musick of many parts with one voice or one instrument onely . 78 prob. 54 to make or describe an oval form , or that which is neare resembled unto it at one turning , with a paire of common compasses . 79 prob. 55 of a purse difficult to be opened . 80 prob. 56 whether is it more hard and admirable without compasses to make a perfect circle , or being made to finde out the centre of it ? 82 prob. 56 any one having taken 3 cards , to finde how many points they containe . 83 prob. 57 many cards placed in divers ranks , to finde which of those cards any one hath thought . 85 prob. 58 many cards being offered to sundry persons to finde which of those cards any one thinketh upon . 86 prob. 59 how to make an instrument that helps to heare , as gallileus made to help to see . 87 prob. 60 of a fine lamp which goeth not out , though one carries it in ones pocket , or being rolled on the ground will still burne . 88 prob. 61 any one having thought a card amongst many cards , how artificially to discover it out . 89 prob. 62 three women a , b , c. carried apples to a market to sell : a had 20. b had 30. c 40. they sold as many for a penny one as the other , and brought home one as much money as another , how could this be ? 90 prob. 63 of the properties of some numbers . 91 prob. 64 of an excellent lamp which serves or furnisheth it selfe with oile , and burnes a long time . 95 prob. 65 of the play at keyles or nine-pins . 97 prob. 66 of spectacles of pleasure of spectacles which give severall colours to the visage . 98 of spectacles which make a towne seeme to be a city , one armed man as a company , and a piece of gold as many pieces . 99 how out of a chamber to see the objects which passe by according to the lively perspective . 100 of gallileus admirable optick-glasse , which helps one to see the beginning and ending of eclipses , the spots in the sunne , the starres which move about the planets , and perspicuously things far remote . of the parts of gallileus his glasse . 102 prob. 67 of the magnes and needles touched therewith . how rings of iron may hang one by another in the aire . 103 of mahomets tombe which hangs in the aire by the touch of the magnes . 104 how by the magnes only to finde out north and south 105 of a secrecie in the magnes , for discovering things farre remote . 106 of finding the poles by the magnes 107 prob. 68 of the properties of aeolipiles or bowles to blow the fire . 108 prob. 69 of the thermometer , or that which measures the degrees of heat and cold by the aire . 110 of the proportion of humane bodies , of statues , of colosses , or huge jmages and monstrous giants . 113 of the commensuration of the parts of the bodie the one to the other in particular , by which the lion was measured by his claw , the giant by his thumbe , and hercules by his foot . 115 , 116 of statues or colosses , or huge images ; that mount athos metamorphosed by dynocrites into a statue , in whose hand was a towne able to receive ten thousand men . 117 of the famous colossus at rhodes which bad 70 cubits in height , and loaded 900. camels , which weighed 1080000 l. 118 of nero his great colossus which had a face of 12 foot large . 119 of monstrous giants of the giant og and goliah . 119 , 120 of the carkasse of a man found which was in length 49 foot ; and of that monster found in creet , which had 46. cubits of height . 120 of campesius his relation of a monster of 300 foot found in sicile , whose face according to the former proportion should be 30 foot in length . 121 prob. 71 of the game at the palme , at trap , at bowles , paile-maile , and others . 122 prob. 72 of the game of square formes . 124 prob. 73 how to make the string of a viol sensibly shake without any one touching it . 126 prob. 74 of a vessell which containes 3 severall kindes of liquor , all put in at one bung-hole , and drawne out at one tap severally without mixture . 128 prob. 75 of burning-glasses . archimedes his way of burning the ships of syracuse . 129 of proclus his way , and of concave and sphericall glasses which burne , the cause and demonstration of burning with glasses . 131 of maginus his way of setting fire to powder in a mine by glasses . 131 of the examination of burning by glasses . 133 prob. 76 of pleasant questions by way of arithmetick . of the asse and the mule. 134 of the number of souldiers that fought before old troy. 135 of the number of crownes that two men had . 136 about the houre of the day . 137 of pythagoras schollers . 137 of the number of apples given amongst the graces and the muses . 138 of the testament or last will of a dying father . 138 of the cups of croesus . 139 of cupids apples . 139 of a mans age. 140 of the lion of bronze placed upon a fountaine with his epigram . ibid. prob. 77 in opticks , excellent experiments . principles touching reflections . 141 experiments upon flat and plaine glasses . 142 how the images seeme to sink into a plaine glasse , and alwayes are seene perpendicular to the glasse , an● also inversed . 143 the things which passe by in a street may by help of a plaine glasse be seen in a chamber , and the height of a tower or tree observed . 143 how severall candles from one candle are represented in a plaine glasse , and glasses alternately may be seene one within another , as also the back-parts of the body as well as the fore-parts are evidently represented . 144 how an image may be seene to hang in the aire by help of a glasse : and writing read or easily understood . 146 experiments upon gibbous , or convex sphericall glasses . how lively to represent a whole city , fortification , or army , by a gibbous glasse . 147 how the images are seen in concave glasses . 149 how the images are transformed by approaching to the centre of the glasse , or point of concourse ; and of an exceeding light that a concave glasse gives by help of a candle . 151 how the images , as a man , a sword , or hand , doth come forth out of the glasse . 152 , 153 of strange apparitions of images in the aire , by help of sundry glasses . 152 , 154 of the wonderfull augmentation of the parts of mans body comming neare the point of inflammation , or centre of the glasse . 155 how writing may be reverberated from a glasse upon a vvall , and read. 156 how by help of a concave glasse to cast light into a campe , or to give a perspective light to pyoneers in a mine , by one candle only . 156 how excellently by help of a concave glasse and a candle placed in the centre , to give light to read by . 157 of other glasses of pleasure . 158 of strange deformed representations by glasses ; causing a man to have foure eyes , two mouthes , two noses , two heads . of glasses which give a colour to the visage , and make the face seeme faire and foule . 160 prob. 78 how to shew one that is suspicious , what is in another chamber or roome , notwithstanding the interposition of that wall . 160 corolary , 1. to see the besiegers of a place , upon the rampa●●t of a fortification 161 corolary 2. and 3. notwithstanding the interposition of vvalls and chambers , by help of a glasse things may be seen , which passe by . 162 prob. 79 how with a musket to strike a marke not looking towards it , as exactly as one aimed at it . 162 how exactly to shoot out of a mu●ket to a place which is not seene , being hindred by some obstacle or other interposition . 163 prob. 80 how to make an image to be seen hanging in the aire , having his head downward . 164 prob. 81. how to make a company of representative souldiers seeme to be as a regiment , or how few in number may be multiplyed to seem to be many in number . 165 corolarie . of an excellent delightfull cabinet made of plaine glasses . 165 prob. 82 of fine and pleasant dyalls in horologiographie . of a dyall of herbs for a garden . 166 of the dyall upon the finger and hand , to finde what of the clock it is . 167 of a dyall which was about an obelisk at rome . 168 of dyals with glasses . 168 of a dyall which hath a glasse in the place of the stile . 169 of dyals with water , which the ancients use● 171 prob. 83 of shooting out of cannons or great artillery . how to charge a cannon without powder . 173 to finde how much time the bullet of a cannon spends in the aire before it falls to the ground . 174 how it is that a cannon shooting upward , the bullet flies with more violence , than being shot point blanke , or shooting downeward . 174 vvhether is the discharge of a cannon so much the more violent , by how much it hath the more length ? 176 prob. 84 of prodigious progressions , and multiplications of creatures , plants , fruits , numbers , gold , silver , &c. of graines of mustardseed , and that one graine being sowne , with the increase thereof for 20 yeares will produce a heap greater than all the earth a hundred thousand times . 178 of pigges , and that the great turke with all his revenne , is not able to maintaine for one yeare , a sow with all her increase for 12 yeares . 179 of graines of corne , and that 1 graine with all its increase for 12 yeares , will amount to 244140625000000000000 graines , which exceeds in value all the treasures in the world. 183 of the wonderfull increase af sheepe . 182 of the increase of cod-fish . 182 of the progressive multiplication of soules ; that from one of noahs sonnes , from the flood unto nimrods monarchie , should be produced 111350 soules . 183 of the increase of numbers in double proportion , and that a pin being doubled as often as there are weekes in the yeare , the number of pinnes that should arise is able to load 45930 ships of a thousand tunne apiece , which are worth more than tenne hundred thousand pounds a day . 183 , 184 of a man that gathered apples , stones , or such like upon a condition . 185 of the changes in bells , in musicall instruments , transmutation of places , in numbers , letters , men and such like ▪ 185 of the wonderfull interchange of the letters in the alphabet : the exceeding number of men , and time to expresse the words that may be made with these letters , and the number of books to comprehend them . 187 , 188 of a servant hired upon certaine condition , that he might have land lent him to sowe one graine of corne with its increase for 8 yeares time , which amounted to more than four hundred thousand acres of land. 188 prob. 85 of fountaines , hydriatiques ; stepticks , machinecks , and other experiments upon water , or other liquor . first , how water at the foot of a mountaine may be made to ascend to the top of it , and so to descend on the other side of it 190 secondly , to finde how much liquor is in a vessell , onely by using the tap-hole . 191 thirdly , how is it , that a vessell is said to hold more water at the foot of a mountaine , then at the top of it 191 4 how to conduct water from the top of one mountaine to the top of another 192 5 of a fine fountaine which spouts water very high and with great violence , by turning of a cock 193 6 of archimedes screw which makes water ascend by descending . 194 7 of a fine fountaine of pleasure . 196 8 of a fine watering pot for gardens . 197 9 how easily to take wine out of a vessell at the bung hole without piercing a hole in the vessell . 198 10 how to measure irregular bodies by help of water . 198 11 to finde the weight of water . 199 12 to finde the charge that a vessell may carry , as ships , boats or such like . 200 13 how comes it that a ship having safely sailed in the vast ocean , and being come into the port or harbour , will sinke down right . 200 14 how a grosse body of metall may swim upon the water . 201 15 how to weigh the lightnesse of the aire . 203 16 being given a body , to mark it about , and shew how much of it will sink in the water , or swim above the water . 204 17 to finde how much severall metalls or other bodies do weigh lesse in the water than in the aire . 204 18 how is it that a ballance having like weight in each scale , and hanging in aequilibrio in the aire , being removed from that place ( without diminishing the weights in each balance , or adding to it ) it shall cease to hang in aequilibrio sensibly , yea by a great difference of weight . 205 19 to shew what waters are heavier one than another , and how much . 206 20 how to make a pound of water weigh as much as 10 , 20 , 30 , or a hundred pound of lead , nay as much as a thousand or ten thousand pound weight . 207 prob. 86. of sundry questions of arithmetick , and first of the number of sands calculated by archimedes and clavius . 208 2 divers metalls being melted together in one body , to finde the mixture of them . 210 3 a subtile question of three partners about equality of wine and vessels . 213 4 of a ladder which standing upright against a wall of 10 foot high , the foot of it is pulled out 6 foot from the wall upon the pavement , how much hath the top of the ladder descended . 214 prob. 87 witty suits or debates between caius and sempronius , upon the forme of figures , which geometricians call isoperimeter , or equall in circuit , or compasse . 214 1 incident : of changing a field of 6 measures square , for a long rectrangled fiel of 9 measures in length and 3 in breadth : both equall in circuit but not in quantity . 215 2 incident : about two sacks each of them ho●ding but a bushell , and yet were able to hold 4 bushels . 217 3 incident : sheweth the deceit of pipes which conveygh water , that a pipe of two inches diameter , doth cast out foure times as much water as a pipe of one such diameter . 218 7 heapes of corne of 10 foot every way , is not as much as one heap of corne of 20 foot every way . 218 prob. 88 of sundry questions in matter of cosmographie , and astronomy . in what place the middle of the earth is supposed to be . 219 of the depth of the earth , and height of the heavens , and the compasse of the world , how much . 219 how much the starry firmament , the sun , and the moone are distant from the centre of the earth . 220 how long a mill-stone would be in falling to the centre of the earth from the superficies , if it might have passage thither . 220 how long time a man or a bird may be in compassing the whole earth . 220 if a man should ascend by supposition 20 miles every day : how long it would be before he approach to the moone . 221 the sunne moves more in one day than the moone in 20 dayes . 221 if a milstone from the orbe of the sun should descend a thousand miles in an houre how long it would be before it come to the earth . 221 of the sunnes quick motion , of more than 7500 miles in one minute . 221 of the rapt and violent motion of the starry firmament , which if a horseman should ride every day 40 miles , he could not in a thousand yeares make such a distance as it moves every houre . 221 to finde the circle of the sunne by the fingers . 223 prob. 93 of finding the new and full moone in each moneth . 224 prob. 94 to finde the latitude of countreys . 225 prob. 95 of the climates of countreys , and how to finde them . 225 prob. 96 of longitude and latitude of the places of the earth , and of the starres of the heavens . 227 to finde the longitude of a countrey . 228 of the latitude of a countrey . 229 to finde the latitude of a countrey . 230 to finde the distance of places . 230 of the longitude , latitude , declination , and distance of the starres . 231 how is it that two horses or other creatures comming into the world at one time , and dying at one and the same instant , yet the one of them to be a day older than the other ? 232 certaine fine observations . in what places of the world is it that the needle hangs in aequilibrio , and verticall ? 233 in what place of the world is it the sun is east or west but twice in the yeare ? 233 in what place of the world is it that the sunnes longitude from the equinoctiall paints and altitude , being equall , the sunne is due east or west ? that the sunne comes twice to one point of the compasse in the forenoone or afternoone . 233 that in some place of the world there are but two kindes of winde all the yeare . 233 two ships may be two leagues asunder under the equinoctiall , and sayling north at a certaine parallell they will be but just halfe so much . 233 to what inhabitants , and at what time the sunne will touch the north-part of the horizon at midnight . 234 how a man may know in his navigation when he is under the equinoctiall . 234 at what day in the yeare the extremitie of the styles shadow in a dyall makes a right line . 234 what height the sunne is of , and how far from the zenith , or horizon , when a mans shadow is as long as his height . 234 prob. 97 to make a triangle that shall have three right angles . 234 prob. 98 to divide a line in as many parts as one will , without compasses or without seeing of it . 235 prob. 99 to draw a line which shall incline to another line , yet never meet against the axiome of parallells . 236 prob. 100 to finde the variation of the compasse by the sunne shining . 237 prob. 101 to know which way the winde is in ones chamber without going abroad . 238 prob. 102 how to draw a parallel sphaericall line with great ease . 239 prob. 103 to measure an height onely by help of ones hat. 240 prob. 104 to take an height with two strawes . 240 in architecture how statues or other things in high buildings shall beare a proportion to the eye below either equall , double , &c. 242 prob. 106 of deformed figures which have no exact proportion , where to place the eye to see them direct . 243 prob. 107 how a cannon that hath shot may be covered from the battery of the enemy . 244 prob. 108 of a fine lever , by which one man alone may place a cannon upon his carriage . 245 prob. 109 how to make a clock with one wheele 246 of water-workes . prob. 110 how a childe may draw up a hogshead of water with ease . 247 prob. 111 of a ladder of cords to cary in ones pocket , by which he may mount a wall or tower alone . 248 prob. 112 of a marvelous pump which drawes up great quantity of water . 249 prob. 113 how naturally to cause water to ascend out of a pit. 250 prob. 114 how to cast water out of a fountaine very high . 252 prob. 115 how to empty the water of a pit by help of a cisterne . 253 prob. 116 how to spout out water very high . 253 prob. 117 how to re-animate simples though brought a thousand miles . 255 prob. 118 how to make a perpetuall motion . 255 prob. 119 of the admirable invention of making the philosophers tree , which one may see to grow by little and little . 256 prob. 120 how to make the representation of the great world 257 prob. 121 of a cone , or pyramidall figure that moves upon a table 258 prob. 122 how an anvill may be cleaved by the blow of a pistoll . 258 prob. 123 how a capon may be rosted in a mans travells at his sa●●le-bowe . 259 prob. 124 how a candle may be made to burne three times longer than usually it doth 259 prob. 125 how to draw wine out of water 260 prob. 126 of two marmouzets , the one of which lights a candle , and the other blowes it out . 261 prob. 127 how to make wine fresh without ice or snow in the height of summer . 262 prob. 128 to make a cement which lastes as marble , resisting aire and water . 262 prob. 129 how to melt metall upon a shell with little fire . 263 prob. 130 of the hardning of iron and steele . 263 prob. 131 to preserve fire as long as you will , imitating the inextinguible fire of the vestales . 264 finis . ad authorem d.d. henricum van etenium , alumnum academiae ponta mousson . ardua walkeri sileant secreta profundi , desinat occultam carpere porta viam . itala cardani mirata est lampada docti terra , syracusium graecia tota senem : orbi terrarum , ptolemaei clepsydra toti , rara dioptra procli , mira fuêre duo , anglia te foveat doctus pont-mousson alumnum : quidquid naturae , qui legis , hortus habet . docta , coronet opus doctum , te sit tua docto digna , syracusii , arca , corona , viri . arca syracusiis utinam sit plumbea servis , aurea sed dominis , aurea tota suis. mathematical recreation . problem i. to finde a number thought upon . bid him that he quadruple the number thought upon , that is , multiply it by 4 , and unto it bid him to adde 6 , 8 , 10 , or any number at pleasure : and let him take the halfe of the sum , then ask how much it coms to , for then if you take away half the number from it which you willed him at first to add to it , there shall remain the double of the number thought upon . example the number thought upon 5 the quadruple of it 20 put 8 unto it , makes 28 the halfe of it is 14 take away halfe the number added from it , viz 4 , the rest is 10 the double of the number thought upon , viz. 10 another way to finde what number was thought upon . bid him which thinketh double his number , and unto that double adde 4 , and bid him multiply that same product by 5 , and unto that product bid him adde 12 , and multiply that last number by 10 ( which is done easily by setting a cypher at the end of the number ) then ask him the last number or product , and from it secretly subtract 320 , the remainder in the hundreth place , is the number thought upon . example . the number thought upon 7 for which 700 account onely but the number of the hundreds viz. 7. so have you the number thought upon . his double 14 for which 700 account onely but the number of the hundreds viz. 7. so have you the number thought upon . to it add 4 , makes 18 for which 700 account onely but the number of the hundreds viz. 7. so have you the number thought upon . which multiplyed by 5 makes 90 for which 700 account onely but the number of the hundreds viz. 7. so have you the number thought upon . to which add 12 makes 102 for which 700 account onely but the number of the hundreds viz. 7. so have you the number thought upon . this multiplyed by 10 which is only by adding a cypher to it , makes 1020 for which 700 account onely but the number of the hundreds viz. 7. so have you the number thought upon . from this subtract 320 for which 700 account onely but the number of the hundreds viz. 7. so have you the number thought upon . rest 700 for which 700 account onely but the number of the hundreds viz. 7. so have you the number thought upon . to finde numbers conceived upon , otherwise than the former . bid the party which thinks the number , that he triple his thought , and cause him to take the half of it : ( if it be odde take the least half , and put one unto it : ) then will him to triple the half , and take half of it as before : lastly , ask him how many nines there is in the last half , and for every nine , account four in your memory , for that shall shew the number thought upon , if both the triples were even : but if it be odde at the first triple , and ev●n at the second , for the one added unto the least halfe keep one in memory : if the first triple be even , and the second odde , for the one added unto the least halfe keepe two in memory ; lastly , if at both times in tripling , the numbers be odde , for the two added unto the least halfes , keep three in memory , these cautions observed , and added unto as many fours as the party sayes there is nines contained in the last halfe , shall never fail you to declare or discern truly what number was thought upon . example . the number thought upon 4 or 7 the triple 12 or 21 the half thereof 6 or 10 , one put to it makes 11 the triple of the halfe 18 or 33 the halfe 9 or 1● , one put to it makes 17 the number of nines in the last halfe 1 or 1 the first 1. representeth the 4. number thought upon , and the last 1. with the caution makes 7. the other number thought upon . note . order your method so that you be not discovered , which to help , you may with dexterity and industry make additions ▪ substractions , multiplications , divisions , &c. and instead of asking how many nines there is , you may ask how many eights tens , &c. there is , or subtract 8.10 . &c. from the number which remains , for to finde out the number thought upon . now touching the demonstrations of the former directions , and others which follow , they depend upon the 2 , 7 , 8 , and 9 , books of the elements of euclide : upon which 2. book & 4. proposition this may bee extracted , for these which are more learned for the finding of any number that any one thinketh on . bid the party that thinks , that he break the number thought upon into any two parts , and unto the squares of the parts , let him adde the double product of the parts , then ask what it amounteth unto , so the root quadrat shall be the number thought upon . the number thought upon 5 , the parts suppose 3 and 2. the square of 3 makes 9 the sum of these three nūbers 25 , the squa●e root of which is 5 , the number thought upon the square of 2 makes 4 the sum of these three nūbers 25 , the squa●e root of which is 5 , the number thought upon the product of the parts . viz. 3 by 2 makes 6 , which 6 doubled makes 12 the sum of these three nūbers 25 , the squa●e root of which is 5 , the number thought upon or more compendiously it may be delivered thus . break the number into two parts , and to the product of the parts , adde the square of half the difference of the parts , then the root quadrat of the aggregate is halfe the number conceived . examination . the problems which concern arithmetick , we examine not , for these are easie to any one which hath read the grounds and principles of arithmetick , but we especially touch upon that , which tends to the speculations of physick , geometry , and optickes , and such others which are of more difficulty , and more principally to be examined and considered . problem ii. how to represent to those which are in a cham●er that which is without , or all that which passeth by , it is pleasant to see the beautifull and goodly representation of the heavens intermixed with clouds in the horizon , upon a woody scituation , the motion of birds in the aire , of men and other creatures upon the ground , with the trembling of plants , tops of trees , and such like : for every thing will be seen within even to the life , but inversed : notwithstanding , this beautifull paint will so naturally represent it self in such a lively perspective , that hardly the most accurate painter can represent the like . but here note , that they may be represented right two manner of wayes ; first , with a concave glasse : secondly , by help of another convex glasse , disposed or placed between the paper and the other glasse : as may be seen here by the figure . now i will add here only by passing by , for such which affect painting and portraiture , that this experiment may excellently help them in the lively painting of things perspectivewise , as topographicall cards , &c. and for philosophers , it is a fine secret to explain the organ of the sight , for the hollow of the eye is taken as the close chamber , the ball of the apple of the eye , for the hole of the chamber , the crystaline humor at the small of the glasse , and the bottome of the eye , for the wall or leafe of paper . examination . the species being pressed together or contracted doth not perform it upon a wall , for the species of any thing doth represent it selfe not only in one hole of a window , but in infinite holes , even unto the whole sphere , or at least unto a hemisphere ( intellectuall in a free medium ) if the beams or reflections be not interposed , and by how much the hole is made less to give passage to the species , by so much the more lively are the images formed . in convexe , or concave glasses the images will be disproportionable to the eye , by how much they are more concave , or convexe , & by how much the parts of the image comes neer to the axis , for these that are neer are better proportioned then these which are farther off . but to have them more lively and true , according to the imaginary conicall section , let the hole be no greater than a pins head made upon a piece of thin brasse , or such like , which hole represents the top of the cone , and the base thereof the term of the species : this practice is best when the sun shines upon the hole , for then the objects which are opposite to that plaine will make two like cones , and will lively represent the things without in a perfect inversed perspective , which drawn by the pensill of some artificiall painter , turn the paper upside down , and it will be direct and to the life . but the apparences may be direct , if you place another hole opposite unto the former , so that the spectator be under it ; or let the species reflect upon a concave glass , and let that glas reflect upon a paper or some white thing . problem iii. to tell how much waighs the blow of ones fist , of a mallet , hatchet , or such like , or resting without giving the blow scaliger in his 331 exercise against cardan , relates that the mathematicians of maximillian the emperour did propose upon a day this question , and promised to give the resolution ; notwithstanding ●caliger delivered it not , and i conceive it to be thus . take a balance , and let the fist , the mallet , or hatchet rest upon the scale , or upon the beam of the balance , and put into the other scale as much weight as may counterpoyse it ; then charging or laying more waight into the scale , and striking upon the other end , you may see how much one blow is heavier than another , and so consequently how much it may waigh for as aristotle saith , the motion that is made in striking adds great waight unto it , and so much the more , by how much it is quicker : therefore in effect , if there were placed a thousand mallets , or a thousand pounde waight upon a stone , nay , though it were exceedingly pressed down by way of a vice , by levers , or other mechanick engine , it would be nothing to the rigor and violence of a blow . is it not evident that the edge of a knife laid upon butter , and a hatchet upon a leafe of paper , without striking makes no impression , or at least enters not ; but striking upon the wood a little , you may presently see what effect it hath , which is from the quicknesse of the motion , which breaks and enters without resistance , if it be extream quick , as experience shews us in the blows of arrows , of cannons , thunder-boults , and such like . examination . this problem was extracted from scaliger , who had it from aristotle , but somwhat refractory compiled , & the strength of the effect he says depends only in the violence of the motion ; then would it follow that a little light hammer upon a piece of wood being quickly caused to smite , would give a greater blow , and do more hurt than a great sledge striking soft ; this is absurd , and contrary to experience : therefore it consists not totally in the motion , for if two severall hammers , the one being 20 times heavier than the other , should move with like quickness , the effect would be much different , there is then some thing else to be considered besides the motion which scaliger understood not , for if one should have asked him , what is the reason that a stone falling from a window to a place neer at hand , is not so forceable as if it fell farther 〈◊〉 when a bullet flying out of a peece and striking the mark neer at hand 〈◊〉 not make such an effect as striking 〈…〉 that scaliger and 〈…〉 this subiect ▪ would not be less troubled to resolve this , than they have been in that . problem iv. how to break a staffe which is laid upon two glasses full of water , without breaking the glasses , spilling the water , or upon two reeds or straws without breaking of them . in like manner may you doe upon two reeds , held with your hands in the aire without breaking them ▪ thence kitchin boyes often break bones of mutton upon their hand , or with a napkin without any hurt , in only striking upon the middle of the bone with a knife . now in this act , the two ends of the staffe in breaking slides away from the glasses , upon which they were placed ; hence it commeth that the glasses are no wise indangered , no more than the knee upon which a staffe is broken , forasmuch as in breaking it presseth not : as aristotle in his mechanick questions observeth . examination . it were necessary here to note , that this thing may be experimented , first , without glasses , in placing a small slender staffe upon two props , and then making tryall upon it , by which you may see how the staffe will either break , bow , or depart from his props , and that either directly or obliquely : but why by this violence , that one staffe striking another , ( which is supported by two glasses ) will be broken without offending the glasses , is as great a difficulty to be resolved as the former . problem v. how to make a faire ge●graphic●ll card in a garden plot , fit for a prince , or great personage . it is usuall amongst great men to have faire geographicall maps ▪ large cards , and great globes , that by them they may as at once have a view of any place of the world , and so furnish themselves with a generall knowledge , not only of their own kingdoms form , scituation , longitude , latitude , &c. but of all other places in the whole universe , with their magnitudes , positions , climats , and distances . now i esteem that it is not unworthy for the meditations of a prince , seeing it carries with it many profitable and pleasant contentmen●s : if such a card or map by the advice and direction of an able mathematician were geographically described in a garden plot form , or in some other convenient place , and instead of which generall description might particularly and artificially be prefigured his whole kingdoms and dominions , the mountains and hils being raised like small hillocks with turfs of earth , the valleys somwhat concave , which will be more agreeable and pleasing to the eye , than the description in plain maps and cards , within which may be presented the towns , villages , castles , or other remarkable edifices in small green mo●●e banks , or spring-work proportionall to the pl●tform , the forrests and woods represented according to their form and capacity , with herbs and stoubs , the great rivers , lakes , and ponds to dilate themselves according to their course from some artificiall fountain made in the garden to passe through chanels ; then may there be composed walks of pleasure , ascents , places of repose , adorned with all variety of delightfull herbs and flowers , both to please the eye or other senses . a garden thus accommodated shall farre exceed that of my lord of verulams specified in his ●ssayes ; that being only for delight and pleasure , this may have all the properties of that , and also for singular use , by which a prince may in little time personally visit his whole kingdom , and in short time know them distinctly : and so in like manner may any particular man geographically prefigure his own possession or heritage . problem vi. how three staves , knives , or like bodies , may be conceived to hang in the aire , without being supported by any thing but by themselves . take the first staffe ab , raise up in the aire the end b , and upon him cros-wise place the staffe cb , then lastly , in triangle wise place the third staffe ef ▪ in such manner that it may be under ab , and yet upon cd . i say that these staves so disposed cannot fall , and the space cbe is made the stronger , by how much the more it is pressed downe , if the staves break not , or sever themselves from the triangular forme : so that alwayes the center of gravitie be in the center of the triangle : for ab is supported by ef , and ef is held up by cd , and cd is kept up from falling by ab , therefore one of these staves cannot fall , and so by consequence none . problem vii . how to dispose as many men , or other things in such sort , that rejecting , or casting away the 6 , 9 , 10 part , unto a certain number , there shall remaine these which you would have . ordinarily the proposition is delivered in this wise : 15 christians and 15 turkes being at sea in one shippe , an extreame tempest being risen , the pilot of the shippe saith , it is necessary to cast over board halfe of the number of persons to disburthen the shippe , and to save the rest : now it was agreed to be done by lot , and therefore they consent to put themselves in rank , counting by nine and nine , the ninth person should alwayes be cast into the sea , untill there were halfe throwne over board ; now the pilote being a christian indeavoured to save the christians , how ought he therefore to dispose the christians , that the lot might fall alwayes upon the turkes , and that none of the christians be in the ninth place ? the resolution is ordinarily comprehended in this verse . populeam virgam mater regina ferebat . for having respect unto the vowels , making a one , e two , i three , o foure , and u five : o the first vowell in the first word sheweth that there must be placed 4. christians ; the next vowel u , signifieth that next unto the 4. christians must be placed 5 turkes , and so to place both christians and turkes according to the quantity and value of the vowels in the words of the verse , untill they be all placed : for then counting from the first christian that was placed , unto the ninth , the lot will fall upon a turk , and so proceed . and here may be further noted that this probleme is not to be limited , seeing it extends to any number and order whatsoever , and may many wayes be usefull for captaines , magistrates , or others which have divers persons to punish , and would chastise chiefely the unruliest of them , in taking the 10 , 20 , or 100. person , &c. as we reade was commonly practised amongst the ancient romans : herefore to apply a generall rule in counting the third , 4 , 9 , 10 , &c. amongst 30 , 40 , 50 , persons , and more or lesse ; this is to be observed , take as many units as there are persons , and dispose them in order privately : as for example , let 24 men be proposed to have committed some outrage , 6 of them especially are found accessary : and let it be agreed that counting by 8 and 8 the eight man should be alwayes punished . take therefore first 24 units , or upon a piece of paper write down 24 cyphers , and account from the beginning to the eighth , which eighth mark , and so continue counting alwayes marking the eighth , untill you have markt 6 , by which you may easily perceive how to place those 6 men that are to be punished , and so of others . it is supposed that josephus the author of the jewish history escaped the danger of death by help of this problem ; for a worthy author of beliefe reports in his eighth chapter of the third book of the destruction of jerusalem , that the town of jotapata being taken by main force by vespatian , josephus being governour of that town , accompanyed with a troop of forty souldiers , hid themselves in a cave , in which they resolved rather to famish than to fall into the hands of vespatian : and with a bloudy resolution in that great distresse would have butchered one another for sustenance , had not josephus perswaded them to die by lot and order , upon which it should fall : now seeing that josephus did save himselfe by this art , it is thought that his industry was exercised by the helpe of this problem , so that of the 40 persons which he had , the third was alwayes killed . now by putting himselfe in the 16 or 31 place he was saved , and one with him which he might kill , or easily perswade to yeild unto the romans . problem . viii . three things , and three persons proposed , to finde which of them hath either of these three things . let the three things be a ring , a piece of gold , and a piece of silver , or any other such like , and let them be known privately to your self by these three vowels a , e , i , or let there be three persons that have different names , as ambrose , edmond , and john , which privately you may note or account to your selfe once known by the aforesaid vowels , which signifie for the first vowel 1 , for the second vowell 2 , for the third vowell 3. now if the said three persons should by the mutuall consent of each other privately change their names , it is most facill by the course and excellencie of numbers , distinctly to declare each ones name so interchanged , or if three persons in private , the one should take a ring , the other a piece of gold , and the third should take a piece of silver ; it is easie to finde which hath the gold , the silver , or the ring , and it is thus done . take 30 or 40 counters ( of which there is but 24 necessary ) that so you may conceale the way the better , and lay them down before the parties , and as they sit or stand , give to the first 1. counter , which signifieth a , the first vowell ; to the second 2. counters , which represent e , the second vowel ; and to the third 3. counters , which stand for i , the third vowell : then leaving the other counters upon the table , retire apart , and bid him which hath the ring , take as many counters as you gave him , and he that hath the gold , for every one that you gave him , let him take 2 , and he that hath the silver for every one that you gave him , let him take 4. this being done , consider to whom you gave one counter , to whom two , and to whom three ; and mark what number of counters you had at the first , for there are necessarily but 24. as was said before , the surpluse you may privately reject . and then there will be left either 1.2.3.5.6 or 7. and no other number can remaine , which if there be , then they have failed in taking according to the directions delivered : but if either of these numbers do remaine , the resolution will be discovered by one of these 6 words following , which ought to be had in memory , viz. salve , certa , anima , semita , vita , quies· 1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7. as suppose 5. did remaine , the word belonging unto it is semita , the vowels in the first two syllables are e and i , vvhich shevveth according to the former directions , that to vvhom you gave 2 counters , he hath the ring ( seeing it is the second vovvell represented by tvvo as before ) and to vvhom you gave the 3. counters , he hath the gold , for that i represents the third vovvel , or 3. in the former direction , and to vvhom you gave one counter , he hath the silver , and so of the rest : the variety of changes , in vvhich exercise , is laid open in the table follovving . rest men hid rest men hid 1 1 a 5 1   2 e 2   3 i 3   2 1 e 6 1   2 a 2   3 i 3   3 1 a 7 1   2 i 2   3 e 3   this feat may be done also without the former words by help of the circle a. for having divided the circle into 6 parts , write 1. within and 1. vvithout , 2. vvithin and 5. vvithout , &c. the first 1.2.3 . vvhich are vvithin vvith the numbers over them , belongs to the upper semicircle ; the other numbers both vvithin and vvithout , to the under semicircle ; now if in the action there remaineth such a number which may be found in the upper semicircle without , then that which is opposite within shews the first , the next is the second , &c. as if 5 remains , it shews to whom he gave 2 , he hath the ring ; to whom you gave ● , he hath the gold , &c. but if the remainder be in the under semicircle , that which is opposite to it is the first ; the next backwards towards the right hand is the second ; as if 3 remains , to whom you gave 1 he hath the ring , he that had 3 he had the gold , &c. problem ix . how to part a vessel which is full of wine conteining eight pints into two equall parts , by two other vessels which conteine as much as the greater vessell ; as the one being 5 pints , and the other 3 pints . let the three vessels be represented by abc , a being full , the other two being empty ; first , poure out a into b until it be full , so there will be in b 5 pints , and in a but 3 pints : then poure out of b into c untill it be full : so in c shall be 3 pints , in b 2 pints , and in a 3 pints , then poure the wine which is in c into a , so in a will be 6 pints , in b 2 pints , and in c nothing : then poure out the wine which is in b into the pot c , so in c there is now 2 pints , in b nothing , and in a 6 pints , . lastly , poure out of a into b untill it be full , so there will be now in a only 1 pint in b 5 pints , and in c 2 pints . but it is now evident , that if from b you poure in unto the pot c untill it be full , there wil remain in b 4 pints , and if that which is in c , viz. 3 pints be poured into the vessell a , which before had 1 pint , there shall be in the vessel a , but halfe of its liquor that was in it at the first , viz. 4 pints as was required . otherwise poure out of a into c untill it be full , which pour into b , then poure out of a into c again untill it be full , so there is now in a onely 2 pints , in b 3 , and in c 3 , then pour from c into b untill it be full , so in c there is now but 1 pint , 5 in b , and 2 in a : poure all that is in b into a , then poure the wine which is in c into b , so there is in c nothing , in b onely 1 pint , and in 7 a 7 pints : lastly , out of a fill the pot c , so there will remain in a 4 pints , or be but halfe full : then if the liquor in c be poured into b , it will be the other half . in like manner might be taken the half of a vessell which conteins 12 pints , by having but the measures 5 and 7 , or 5 and 8. now such others might be proposed , but we omit many , in one and the same nature . problem . x. to make a stick stand upon the tip of ones finger , without falling . fasten the edges of tvvo knives or such like of equall poise , at the end of the stick , leaning out somevvhat from the stick , so that they may counterpoise one another ; the stick being sharp at the end , and held upon the top of the finger , vvill there rest vvithout supporting : if it fall , it must fall together , and that perpendicular or plumb-wise , or it must fall side-wise or before one another ; in the first manner it cannot : for the centre of gravitie is supported by the top of the finger : and seeing that each part by the knives is counterpoised , it cannot fall sidevvise , therefore it can fall no vvise . in like manner may great pieces of timber , as joists , &c be supported , if unto one of the ends be applied convenient proportionall counterpoises , yea a lance or pike , may stand perpendicular in the aire upon the top of ones finger : or placed in the midst of a court by help of his centre of gravitie . examination . this proposition seems doubtfull ; for to imagine absolutely , that a pike , or such like , armed with two knives , or other things , shall stand upright in the aire , and so remain without any other support , seeing that all the parts have an infinite difference of propensity to fall ; and it is without question that a staff so accommodated upon his centre of gravity , but that it may incline to some one part without some remedy be applied , and such as is here specified in the probleme will not warrant the thing , nor keep it from falling ; and if more knives should be placed about it , it should cause it to fall more swiftly , forasmuch as the superiour parts ( by reason of the centricall motion ) is made more ponderous , and therefore lesse in rest . to place therefore this prop really , let the two knives , or that which is for counterpoise , be longer always then the staffe , and so it will hang together as one body : and it will appear admirable if you place the centre of gravity , neer the side of the top of the finger or point ; for it will then hang horizontall , and seem to hang onely by a touch , yet more strange , if you turn the point or top of the finger upside down . problem xi . how a milstone or other ponderosity , may be supported by a small needle , without breaking o● any wise bowing the same . let a needle be set perpendicular to the horizon , and the center of gravitie of the stone be placed on the top of the needle : it is evident that the stone cannot fall , forasmuch as it hangs in aequilibra , or is counterpoysed in all parts alike ; and moreover it cannot bow the needle more on the one side then on the other , the needle will not therefore be either broken or bowed ; if otherwise then the parts of the needle must penetrate and sinke one with another : that which is absurd and impossible to nature ; therefore it shall be supported . the experiments which are made upon trencher plates , or such like lesser thing doth make it most credible in greater bodies . but here especially is to be noted , that the needle ought to be uniforme in matter and figure , and that it be erected perpendicular to the horizon , and lastly , that the center of gravity be exactly found . problem xii . to make three knives hang and move upon the point of a needle . fit the three knives in form of a ballance , and holding a needle in your hand , and place the back of that , knife which lyes cross-wise to the other two , upon the point of the needle : as the figure here sheweth you ; for then in blowing softly upon them , they will easily turne and move upon the point of the needle with ●ou falling . problem xiii . to finde the weight of smoak , which is exhaled of any combustible body whatsoever . let it be supposed that a great heape of fagots , or a load of straw weighing 500 pound should be fired , it is evident that this grosse substance will be all inverted into smoak and ashes : now it seems that the smoak weighs nothing ; seeing it is of a thin substance now dilated in the aire , notwithstanding if it were gathered and reduced into the thickest that it was at first , it would be sensibly weighty : weigh therefore the ashes which admit 50 pound , now seeing that the rest of the matter is not lost , but is exhaled into smoake , it must necessarily be , that the rest of the weight ( to wit ) 450 pound , must be the weight of the smoak required . examination . now although it be thus delivered , yet here may be noted , that a ponderosity in his own medium is not weighty : for things are said to be weighty , when they are out of their place , or medium , and the difference of such gravity , is according to the motion : the smoak therefore certainly is light being in its true medium ( the aire , ) if it should change his medium , then would we change our discourse . problem xvi . many things being disposed circular , ( or otherwise ) to finde which of them , any one thinks upon ▪ suppose that having ranked 10 things , as abcdefghik , circular ( as the figure sheweth ) and that one had touched or thought upon g , which is the 7 : ask the party at what letter he would begin to account ( for account he must , otherwise it cannot be done ) which suppose , at e which is the 5 place , then add secretly to this 5 , 10 ( which is the number of the circle ) and it makes 15 , bid him account 15 backward from e , beginning his account with that number hee thought upon , so at e he shal account to himself 7 , at d account 8 , at c account 9 , &c. so the account of 15 wil exactly fall upon g , the thing or number thought upon : and so of others : but to conceal it the more , you may will the party from e to account 25 , 35 , &c. and it will be the same . there are some that use this play at cards , turned upside downe , as the ten simple cards , with the king and queen , the king standing for 12 , and the queene for 11 , and so knowing the situation of the cards : and thinking a certain houre of the day : cause the party to account from what card he pleaseth : with this proviso , that when you see where he intends to account , set 12 to that number , so in counting as before , the end of the account shall fall upon the card : which shall denote or shew the houre thought upon , which being turned up will give grace to the action , and wonder to those that are ignorant in the cause . problem xv. how to make a door or gate , which shall open on both sides . all the skill and subtilty of this , rests in the artificiall disposer of foure plates of iron , two at the higher end , and two at the lower end of the gate : so that one side may move upon the hooks or hinges of the posts , and by the other end may be made fast to the gate , and so moving upon these hinges , the gate will open upon one side with the aforesaid plates , or hooks of iron : and by help of the other two plates , will open upon the other side . problem xvi . to shew how a ponderosity , or heavy thing , may be supported upon the end of a staffe ( or such like ) upon a table , and nothing holding or touching it . take a pale which hath a handle , and fill it full of water ( or at pleasure : ) then take a staffe or stick which may not rowle upon the table as ec , and place the handle of the pale upon the staffe ; then place another staffe , or stick , under the staffe ce , which may reach from the bottom of the pale unto the former staffe ce , perpendicular wise : which suppose fg , then shall the pale of water hang without falling , for if it fall it must fall perpendicularly , or plumbe wise : and that cannot be seeing the staffe ce supports it , it being parallel to the horizon and susteined by the table , and it is a thing admirable that if the staffe ce were alone from the table , and that end of the staffe which is upon the table were greater and heavier than the other : it would be constrained to hang in that nature . examination . now without some experience of this probleme , a man would acknowledge either a possibility or impossibity ; therefore it is that very touchstone of knowledge in any thing , to discourse first if a thing be possible in nature , and then if it can be brought to experience and under sence without seeing it done . at the first , this proposition seems to be absurd , and impossible . notwithstanding , being supported with two sticks , as the figure declareth , it is made facile : for the horizontall line to the edge of the table , is the centre of motion ; and passeth by the centre of gravity , which necessarily supporteth it . problem xvii . of a deceitfull bowle to play withall . make a hole in one side of the bowle , and cast molten lead therein , and then make up the hole close , that the knavery or deceit be not perceived : you will have pleasure to see , that notwithstanding the bowle is cast directly to the play , how it wil turn away side-wise : for that on that part of the bowle which is heavier upon the one side then on the other , it never will go truly right , if artificially it be not corrected ; which will hazard the game to those which know it not : but if it be known that the leady side in rolling be always under or above , it may go indifferently right ; if otherwise , the weight will carry it always side-wise . problem . xviii . to part an apple into 2.4 . or 8. like parts , without breaking the rinde . passe a needle and threed under the kinde of the apple , and then round it with divers turnings , untill you come to the place where you began : then draw out the threed gently , and part the apple into as many parts as you think convenient : and so the parts may be taken out between the parting of the rind , and the rind remaining alwayes whole . problem xix . to finde a number thought upon without asking of any question , certaine operations being done . bid him adde to the number thought ( as admit 15 ) halfe of it , if it may be , if not the greatest halfe that exceeds the other but by an unite , which is 8 ; and it makes 23. secondly , unto this 23. adde the halfe of it if it may be , if not , the greatest halfe , viz. 12. makes 35. in the meane time , note that if the number thought upon cannot be halfed at the first time , as here it cannot , then for it keep 3 in the memory , if at the second time it will not be equally halfed , reserve 2 in memory , but if at both times it could not be equally halved , then may you together reserve five in memory : this done , cause him from the last summe , viz. 35. to subtract the double of the number thought , viz. 30. rest 5. will him to take the halfe of that if he can , if not , reject 1. and then take the halfe of the rest , which keep in your memory : then will him to take the halfe againe if he can , if not , take one from it , which reserve in your memory , and so perpetually halveing untill 1. remaine : for then mark how many halfes there were taken , for the first halfe account 2 , for the second 4 , for the third 8 , &c. and adde unto those numbers the one 's which you reserved in memory , so there being 5 remaining in this proposition , there were 2 halfings : for which last ! account 4 , but because it could not exactly be halved without rejecting of 1. i adde the 1 therefore to this 4 , makes 5 , which halfe or summe alwayes multiplied by 4 , makes 20. from which subtract the first 3 and 2 , because the halfe could not be formerly added , leaves 15 , the number thought upon . other examples . the number thought upon . the number thought 12 the halfe of it 6 the summe 18 the halfe of it 9 the summe of it 27 the double of the number , 24 which taken away , rests 3 the halfe of it 1 for which account 2 and 1 put to it because the 3 could not be halfed , makes 3 this multiplied by 4 makes 12 the number thought 79 the greatest halfe 40 3 the summe 119 the greatest halfe of which is 60 2 the summe of it is 179 the double of 79 is 158 which taken from it , rests 21 the lesser half 10. which halve :   the halfe of this is 5 which makes   the half of this is 2 which is 10   the half of this is 1 , with 10 and 11 is 21.   this 21 which is the double of the last halfe with the remainder being multiplied by 4. makes 84 , from which take the aforesaid 3 and 2 , ●●st 79 , the number thought upon .   problem . xx. how to make an uniforme , & an inflexible body , to passe through two small holes of divers formes , as one being circular , and the other square , quadrangular , and triangular-wise , yet so that the holes shall be exactly filled . this probleme is extracted from geometricall observations , and seemes at the first somewhat obscure , yet that which may be extracted in this nature , will appeare more difficult and admirable . now in all geometricall practises , the lesser or easier problemes do alwayes make way to facilitate the greater : and the aforesaid probleme is thus resolved . take a cone or round pyramide , and make a circular hole in some board , or other hard material , which may be equall to the bases of the cone , and also a triangular hole , one of whose sides may be equall to the diameter of the circle , and the other two sides equall to the length of the cone : now it is most evident , that this conicall or pyramidall body , will fill up the circular hole , and being placed side-wise will fill up the triangular hole . moreover , if you cause a body to be turned , which may be like to two pyramides conjoyned , then if a circular hole be made , whose diameter is equal to the diameter of the cones conjoyned , and a quadrangular hole , whose sloping sides be equall to the length of each side of the pyramide , and the breadth of the hol equal to the diameter of the circle , this conjoyned pyramide shall exactly fill both the circular hole , and also the quadrangle hole . problem . xxi . how with one uniforme body or such like to fill three severall holes : of which the one is round , the other a just square , and the third an ovall forme ? this proposition seemes more subtill then the former , yet it may be practised two wayes : for the first , take a cylindricall body as great or little as you please : now it is evident that it will fill a circular hole , which is made equall to the basis of it , if it be placed downe right , and will also fill a long square ; whose sides are equall unto the diameter and length of the cylinder , and acording to pergeus , archimedes , &c. in their cylindricall demonstrations , a true ovall is made when a cylinder is cut slopewise , therefore if the oval have breadth equall unto the diameter of the basis of the cylinder , & any length whatsoever : the cylinder being put into his owne ovall hole shall also exactly fill it . the second way is thus , make a circular hole in some board , & also a square hole , the side of which square may be equall to the diameter of the circle : and lastly , make a hole oval-wise , whose breadth may be equal unto the diagonall of the square ; then let a cylindricall body be made , whose basis may be equall unto the circle , and the length equall also to the same : now being placed downe right shall fall in the circle , and flat-wise will fit the square hole , and being placed sloping-wise will fill the ovall . examination . you may note upon the last two problemes farther , that if a cone be cut ecliptick-wise , it may passe through an issoc●●● triangle through many scalen triangles , and through an ellipsis ; and if there be a cone cut scalen-wise , it will passe through all the former , only for the ellipsis place a circle : and further , if a solid colume be cut ecliptick-wise it may fill a circle , a square , divers parallelogrammes , and divers ellipses , which have different diameters . problem xxii . to finde a number thought upon ●fter another manner , then what is formerly delivered bid him that he multiply the number thought upon , by what number he pleaseth , then bid him divide that product by any other number , and then multiply that quotient by some other number ; and that product againe divide by some other , and so as often as he will : and here note , that he declare or tell you by what number he did multiply & divide now in the same time take a number at pleasure , and secretly multiply and divide as often as he did : then bid him divide the last number by that which he thought upon . in like manner do yours privately , then will the quotient of your divisor be the same with his , a thing which seemes admirable to those which are ignorant of the cause . now to have the number thought upon without seeming to know the last quotient , bid him adde the number thought upon to it , and aske him how much it makes : then subtract your quotient from it , there will remaine the number thought upon for example , suppose the number thought upon were 5 , multiply it by 4 makes 20. this divided by 2 , the quotient makes 10 , which multiplyed by 6 , makes 60 , and divided by 4 , makes 1● . in the same time admit you think upon 4 , which multiplied by 4 , makes 16 , this divided by 2 , makes 8 , which multiplied by 6 makes 48 , and divided by 4 makes 1● ; then divide 1● by the number thought , which was 5 , the quotient is ● ; divide also 12 by the number you took , viz. 4 , the quotient is also 3. as was declared ; therefore if the quo●ient ● be added unto the number thought , viz. ● , it makes 8 , which being known , the number thought upon is also knowne . problem xxiii . to finde out many numbers that sundry persons , or one man hath thought upon . if the multitude of numbers thought upon be odde , as three numbers , five numbers , seven , &c. as for example , let 5 numbers thought upon be these ● 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. bid him declare the sum of the first and second , which will be 5 , the second and third , which makes 7 , the third and fourth , which makes 9 , the fourth and fifth , vvhich makes 11 , and so alvvayes adding the tvvo next together , aske him hovv much the first and last makes together , vvhich is 8. then take these summes , and place them in order , and adde all these together , vvhich vvere in the odde places : that is the first , third , and fifth , viz. 5 , 9 , ● , makes 22. in like manner adde all these numbets together , vvhich are in the even places , that is in the second and fourth places , viz. 7 and 1● makes 18 , substract this from the former 22 , then there vvill remaine the double of the first number thought upon , viz. 4. which known , the rest is easily known : seeing you know the summe of the first and second ; but if the multitude of numbers be even as these six numbers , viz. 2 , ● , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , cause the partie to declare the summe of each two , by antecedent and consequent , and also the summe of the second and last , which will be 5 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 10 , then adde the odde places together , except the first , that is 9 , and 13 , makes 22 , adde also the even places together , that is 7 , 11 , 10 , which makes 28 , substract the one from the other , there shall remaine the double of the second number thought upon , which known all the rest are knowne . problem xxiv . how is it that a man in one and the same time , may have his head upward , and his feet upward , being in one and the same place ? the answer is very facill , for to be so he must be supposed to be in the centre of the earth : for as the heaven is above on every side , coelum undique sursum , all that which looks to the heavens being distant from the centre is upward ; and it is in this sense that ma●●olyeus in his cosmographie , & first dialogue , reported of one that thought he was led by one of the muses to hell , where he saw lucifer sitting in the middle of the world , and in the centre of the earth , as in a throne : having his head and feet upward . problem . xxv . of a ladder by which two men ascending at one time ; the more they ascend , the more they shall be asunder , notwithstanding one being as high as another this is most evident , that if there were a ladder halfe on this side of the centre of the earth , and the other halfe on the other side : and that two at the centre of the world at one instant being to ascend , the one towards us , and the other towards our antipodes , they should in ascending go farther and farther , one from another ; notwithstanding both of them being of like height . problem . xxvi . how it is that a man having but a rod or pole of land , doth bragge that he may in a right line passe from place to place above 3000 miles . the opening of this is easie , forasmuch as he that possesseth a rod of ground possesseth not only the exterior surface of the earth , but is master also of that which extends even to the centre of the earth , and in this wise all heritages & possessions are as so many pyramides , whose summets or points meet in the centre of the earth , and the basis of them are nothing else but each mans possession , field , or visible quantity ; and therefore if there were made or imagined so to be made , a descent to go to the bottome of the heritage , which would reach to the centre of the earth ; it would be above 3000 miles in a right line as before . problem . xxvii . how it is , that a man standing upright , and looking which way he will , he looketh either true north or true south . this happeneth that if the partie be under either of the poles , for if he be under the north-pole , then looking any way he looketh south , because all the meridians concurre in the poles of the world , and if he be under the south-pole , he looks directly north by the same reason . problem xxviii . to tell any one what number remaines after certaine operations being ended , without asking any question . bid him to think upon a number , and will him to multiply it by what number you think convenient : and to the pro●●ct bid him adde what number you please , or 〈◊〉 that secretly you consider , that it ma● be divided by that which multiplied , and 〈…〉 divide the sum by the number which he 〈…〉 by , and substract from this quotient the number thought upon : in the same time divide apart the number which was add●d by that which multiplied , so then your quotient shall be equall to his remainder , wherefore without asking him any thing , you shall tell him what did remaine , which will seem strange to him that knoweth not the cause : for example , suppose he thought 7 , which multiplied by 5 makes 35 , to which adde 10 , makes 45 , which divided by 5 , yields 9 , from which if you take away one the number thought , ( because the multiplier divided by the divisor gives the quotient 1 , ) the rest will be two , which will be also proved , if 10 the number which was added , were divided by 5 , viz. 2. problem xxix . of the play with two severall things . it is a pleasure to see and consider how the science of numbers doth furnish us , not only 〈…〉 recreate the spirits , but also 〈…〉 knowledge of admirable things , 〈…〉 measure be shewen in this 〈…〉 the meane time to produce alwayes some of them : suppose that a man hold divers things in his hand , as gold and ●ilver ▪ and in one hand he held the gold , and in the other hand he held the silver : to know subtilly , and by way of divination , or artificially in which hand the gold or silver is ; attribu●e t● the gold , or suppose it have a certaine price , and so likewise attribute to the silver another price , conditionally that the one be odd , and the other even : as for example , bid h●m that the gold be valued at 4 crownes , or shillings , and the silver at ● crownes , or 3 shillings , or any other number , so that one be odde ▪ and the other even , as before ; then bid him triple that which is in the right hand , & double that which is in the left hand , and bid him adde these two products together , and aske him if it be even or odde ; if it be even , then the gold is in the right hand ; if odde , the gold is in the left hand . problem . xxx . two numbers being proposed unto two severall parties , to tell which of these numbers is taken by each of them . as for example : admit you had proposed unto two men whose names were peter and john , two numbers , or pieces of money , the one even , and the other odde , as 10. and 9. and let the one of them take one of the numbers , and the other partie take the other number , which they place privately to themselves : how artificially , according to the congruity , and excellency of numbers , to finde which of them did take 10. and which 9. without asking any qustion : and this seems most subtill , yet delivered howsoever differing little from the former , and is thus performed : take privately to your selfe also two numbers , the one even , and the other odde , as 4. and 3. then bid peter that he double the number which he took , and do you privately double also your greatest number ; then bid john to triple the number which he hath , and do you the like upon your last number : adde your two products together , & mark if it be even or odde , then bid the two parties put their numbers together , and bid them take the halfe of it , which if they cannot do , then immediately tell peter he took 10. and john 9. because the aggregate of the double of 4. and the triple of 3. makes odde , and such would be the aggregate or summe of the double of peters number and johns number , if peter had taken 10. if otherwise , then they might have taken halfe , and so john should have taken 10. and peter 9. as suppose peter had taken 10. the double is 20. and the triple of 9. the other ●umber is 27. which put together makes 47. odde : in like manner the double of your number conceived in minde , viz. 4. makes 8. and the triple of the 3. the other number , makes 9. which set together makes 17. odde . now you cannot take the halfe of 17 , nor 47. which argueth that peter had the greater number , for otherwise the double of 9. is 18. & the triple of 10. is 30. which set together makes 48. the halfe of it may be taken : therefore in such case peter the took lesse number : and john the greater , and this being don cleanly carries much grace with it . problem . xxxi . how to describe a circle that shall touch 3 : points placed howsoever upon a plaine , if they be not in a right line . let the three points be a.b.c. put one foot of the compasse upon a. and describe an arch of a circle at pleasure : and placed at b. crosse that arch in the two points e. and f. and placed in c. crosse the arch in g. and h. then lay a ruler upon g.h. and draw a line , and place a ruler upon e. and f. cut the other line in k ▪ so k is the centre of the circumference of a circle , which will passe by the said three points a.b.c. or it may be inverted , having a circle drawne ; to finde the centre of that circle , make 3. points in the circumference , and then use the same way : so shall you have the centre , a thing most facill to every practitioner in the principles of geometrie . problem . xxxii . how to change a circle into a square forme ? m●ke a circle upon past-board or other materiall , as the circle a.c.d.e. of which a. is the centre ; then cut it into 4 quarters , and dispose them so , that a. at the centre of the circle may alwayes be at the angle of the square , and so the foure quarters of the circle being placed so , it will make a perfect square , whose side a.a. is equall to the diameter b.d. now here is to be noted that the square is greater then the circle by the vacuity in the middle , viz. m. problem . xxxiii . with one and the same comp●sses , and at one and the same extent , or opening , how to describe many circles concentricall , that is , greater or lesser one then another ? it is not without cause that many admire how this proposition is to be resolved ; yea in the judgement of some it is thought impossible : who consider not the industrie of an ingenious geometrician , who makes it possible , and that most facill , sundry wayes ; for in the first place if you make a circle upon a fine plaine , and upon the centre of that circle , a small pegge of wood be placed , to be raised up and put downe at pleasure by help of a small ho●e made in the centre , then with the same opening of the compasses , you may describe circles concentricall , that is , one greater or lesser than another ; for the higher the center is lifted up , the lesser the circle will be . secondly , the compasse being at that extent upon a gibus body , a circle may be described , which will be lesse than the former , upon a plaine , and more artificially upon a globe , or round bowle : and this againe is most obvious upon a round pyramide , placing the compasses upon the top of it , which will be farre lesse than any of the former ; and this is demonstrated by the 20. prop. of the first of euclids , for the diameter ● . d. is lesse than the line ad.a.e. taken together , and the lines ad.ae. being equall to the diameter bc. because of the same distance or extent of opening the compasses , it followes that the diameter e.d. and all his circles together is much lesse than the diameter , and the circle bc. which was to be performed . problem xxxiv . any numbers under 10. being thought upon , to finde what numbers they were . let the first number be doubled , and unto it adde 5. and multiply that summe by 5. and unto it adde 10. and unto this product add the next number thought upon ; multiply this same againe by 10. and adde unto it the next number , and so proceed : now if he declare the last summe ; marke if he thought but upon one figure , for then subtract only 35. from it , and the first figure in the place of tennes is the number thought upon : if he thought upon two figures , then subtract also the said ●5 . from his last summe , and the two figures which remaine are the number thought upon : if he thought upo● three figures , then subtract 350. and then the first three figures are the numbers thought upon , &c. so if one thought upon these numbers 5.7.9.6 . double the first , makes 1● . to which adde 5. makes 15. this multiplied by 5. makes 75. to which adde 1● . makes 85. to this adde the next number , viz. 7. makes 92. this multiplied by 10. makes 920. to which adde the next number , viz. 9. makes 929. which multiplied by 10. makes 9290. to which adde 6. makes 9296. from which subtract 3500. resteth 5796. the foure numbers thought upon . now because the two last figures are like the two numbers thought upon : to conceale this , bid him take the halfe of it , or put first 12. or any other number to it , and then it will not be so open . problem . xxxv . of the play with the ring . amongst a company of 9. or 10. persons , one of them having a ring , or such like : to finde out in which hand : upon which finger , & joynt it is ; this will cause great astonishment to ignorant spirits , which will make them beleeve that he that doth it works by magick , or witchcraft : but in effect it is nothing else but a nimble act of arithmetick , founded upon the precedent probleme : for first it is supposed that the persons stand or sit in order , that one is first , the next second , &c. likewise there must be imagined that of these two hands the one is first , and the other second : and also of the five fingers , the one is first , the next is second , and lastly of the joynts , the one is as 1. the other is as 2. the other as 3. &c. from whence it appeares that in performing this play there is nothing else to be done than to think 4. numbers : for example , if the fourth person had the ring in his left hand , and upon the fifth finger , and third joynt , and i would divine and finde it out : thus i would proceed , as in the 34 problem : in causing him to double the first number : that is , the number of persons , which was 4. and it makes 8. to which add 5. makes 13. this multiplied by 5. makes 65. put 10. to it , makes 75. unto this put ● . for the number belonging to the left hand , and so it makes 77. which multiplied by 10. makes 770. to this adde the number of the fingers upon which the ring is , viz. 5. makes 775. this multiplied by 10. makes 7750. to which adde the number for the joynt upon which the ring is , viz the third joynt , makes 7●53 . to which cause him to adde 14. or some other number , to conceale it the better : and it makes 7767. which being declared unto you , substract 3514 ▪ and there will remaine 4.2.5.3 . which figures in order declares the whol mystery of that which is to be known : 4. signifieth the fourth person , 2. the left hand , 5. the fifth finger , and 3. the third joynt of that finger . problem . xxxvi . the play of 34. or more dice . that which is said of the two precedent problemes may be applied to this of dice ( and many other particular things ) to finde what number appeareth upon each dice being cast by some one , for the points that are upon any side of a dice are alwayes lesse than 10 and the points of each side of a dice may be taken for a number thought upon : therefore the rule will be as the former : as for example , one having thrown three dice , and you would declare the numbers of each one , or how much they make together , bid him double the points of one of the dice , to which bid him adde 5 , then multiply that by 5. and to it adde 10 , and to the summe bid him adde the number of the second dice : and multiply that by 10 : lastly , to this bid him adde the number of the last dice , and then let him declare the whole number : then if from it you subtract ●50 . there will remaine the number of the three dice throwne . problem . xxxvii . how to make water in a glasse seeme to boyle and sparkle ? take a glasse neere full of water or other liquor ; and setting one hand upon the foot of it , to hold it fast : turne slightly one of the fingers of your other hand upon the brimme , or edge of the glasse ; having before privately wet your finger : and so passing softly on with your finger in pressing a little : for then first , the glasse will begin to make a noyse : secondly , the parts of the glasse will sensibly appeare to tremble , with notable rarefaction and condensation : thirdly , the water will shake , seeme to boyle : fourthly , it will cast it selfe out of the glasse , and leap out by small drops , with great astonishment to the standers by ; if they be ignorant of the cause of it , which is onely in the rarefaction of the parts of the glasse , occasioned by the motion and pressure of the finger . examination . the cause of this , is not in the rarefaction of the parts of the glasse , but it is rather in the quick locall motion of the finger , for reason sheweth us that by how much a body draweth nearer to a quality , the lesse is it subject or capable of another which is contrary unto it ? now condensation , and rarefaction are contrary qualities , and in this probleme there are three bodies considered , the glasse , the water , and the aire , now it is evident that the glasse being the most solid , and impenitrable body , is lesse subject and capable of rarefaction than the water , the water is lesse subject than the aire , and if there be any rarefaction , it is rather considerable in the aire then in the water , which is inscribed by the glasse , and above the water , and rather in the water then in the glasse : the agitation , or the trembling of the parts of the glasse to the sense appeares not : for it is a continued body ; if in part , why then not in the whole ? and that the water turnes in the glasse , this appeares not , but only the upper contiguous parts of the water : that at the bottome being lesse subiect to this agitation , and it is most certaine that by how much quicker the circular motion of the finger upon the edge of the glasse is , by so much the more shall the aire be agitated , and so the water shall receive some apparant affection more or lesse from it , according to that motion : as we see from the quicknesse of winde upon the sea , or c●lme thereof , that there is a greater or lesser agitation in the water ; and for further examination , we leave it to the search of those which are curious . problem . xxxviii . of a fine vessell which holds wine or water , being cast in●o it at a certaine height , but being filled higher , it will runne out of its owne accord . let there be a vessell a.b.c.d. in the middle of which place a pipe ; whose ends both above at e , and below at the bottom of the vessell as at ● ▪ are open ; let the end ● be somewhat lower than the brimme of the glasse : about this pipe , place another pipe as h. l , which mounts a little above e and let it most diligently be closed at h , that no aire enter in thereby , and this pipe at the bottome may have a small hole to give passage unto the water ; then poure in water or wine , and as long as it mounts not above e , it is safe ; but if you poure in the water so that it mount above it , farewell all : for it will not cease untill it be all gone out ; the same may be done in disposing any crooked pipe in a vessell in the manner of a faucet or funnell , as in the figure h , for fill it under h , at pleasure , and all will go well ; but if you fill it unto h. you will see fine sport , for then all the vessell will be empty incontinent , and the subtiltie of this will seeme more admirable , if you conceale the pipe by a bird , serpent , or such like , in the middle of the glasse . now the reason of this is not difficult to those which know the nature of a cock or faucet ; for it is a bowed pipe , one end of which is put into the water or liquor , and sucking at the other end untill the pipe be full , then will it run of it selfe , and it is a fine secret in nature to see , that if the end of the pipe which is out of the water , be lower then the water , it will run out without ceasing : but if the mouth of the pipe be higher then the water or levell with it , it will not runne , although the pipe which is without be many times bigger than that which is in the water : for it is the property of water to keep alwayes exactly levell ▪ examination . here is to be noted , that if the face of the water without be in one and the same plaine , with that which is within , though the outtermost pipe be ten times greater than that which is within ; the water naturally will not runne , but if the plaine of the water without be any part lower then that which is within , it will freely runne : and here may be noted further , that if the mouth of the pipe which is full of water , doth but only touch the superficies of the water within , although the other end of the pipe without be much lower than that within , the water it will not run at all : which contradicts the first ground ; hence we gather that the pressure or ponderosity of the water within , is the cause of running in some respect . problem . xxxix . of a glasse very pleasant . sometimes there are glasses which are made of a double fashion , as if one glasse were within another , so that they seem but one , but there is a little space between them . no● poure wine or other liquor between the two edges by help of a tunnell , into a little hole left to this end , so vvill there appeare tvvo fine delusions or fallacies ; for though there be not a drop of wine vvithin the hollovv of the glasse , it vvill seem to those vvhich behold it that it is an ordinary glasse full of wine , and that especially to those vvhich are side-vvise of it , and if any one move it , it vvill much confirme it , because of the motion of the wine ; but that vvhich vvill give most delight , is that , if any one shall take the glasse , and putting it to his mouth shall think to drink the wine , instead of vvhich he shall sup the aire , and so vvill cause laughter to those that stand by , vvho being deceived , vvill hold the glass to the light , & thereby considering that the raies or beames of the light are not reflected to the eye , as they vvould be if there vvere a liquid substance in the glasse , hence they have an assured proofe to conclude , that the hollovv of the glasse is totally empty . problem . xl. if any one should hold in each hand , as many pieces of money as in the other , how to finde how much there is ? bid him that holds the money that he put out of one hand into the other vvhat number you think convenient : ( provided that it may be done , ) this done , bid him that out of the hand that he put the other number into , that he take out of it as many as remaine in the other hand , and put it into that hand : for then be assured that in the hand which was put the first taking away : there will be found just the double of the number taken away at the first . example , admit there were in each hand 12 shi●lings or counters , and that out of the right hand you bid him take 7. and put it into the left : and then put into the right hand from the left as many as doth remaine in the right , which is 5. so there will be in the left hand ●4 , which is the double of the number taken out of the right hand , to wit 7. then by some of the rules before delivered , it is easie to finde how much is in the right hand , viz. 10. problem . xli . many dice being cast , how artificially to discover the number of the points that may arise . svppose any one had cast three dice secretly , bid him that he adde the points that were upmost together : then putting one of the dice apart , unto the former summe adde the points which are under the other two , then bid him throw these two dice , and mark how many points a paire are upwards , which adde unto the former summe : then put one of these dice away not changing the side , mark the points which are under the other dice , and adde it to the former summe : lastly , throw that one dice , and whatsoever appeares upward adde it unto the former summe ; and let the dice remaine thus : this done , comming to the table , note what points do appeare upward upon the three dice , which adde privately together , and unto it adde ●1 or 3 times 7 : so this addition or summe shall be equall to the summe which the party privately made of all the operations which he formerly made . as if he should throw three dice , and there should appeare upward 5 , 3 , 2. the sum of them is 10. and setting one of them apart , ( as 5. ) unto 10 , adde the points which are under 3 and 2 , which is 4 and 5 , and it makes 19. then casting these two dice suppose there should appeare 4 and 1 , this added unto 19 makes 24. and setting one of these two dice apart as the 4. unto the former 24 , i adde the number of points which is under the other dice , viz. under 1 , that is 6 , which makes 30. last of all i throw that one dice , and suppose there did appeare 2 , which i adde to the former 30 , and it makes 32 , then leaving the 3 dice thus , the points which are upward will be these , 5 , 4 , 2 unto which adde secretly 21 , ( as before was said ) so have you 32 , the same number whi●h he had ; and in the same manner you may practise with 4 , 5 , 6 , or many dice or other bodies , observing only that you must adde the points opposite of the dice ; for upon which depends the whole demonstration or secret of the play ; for alwayes that which is above and underneath makes 7. but if it make another number , then must you adde as often that number . problem . xlii . two mettals , as gold and silver , or of other kin●● weighing alike , being privately placed into two like boxes , to finde which of them the gold or silver is in . but because that this experiment in water hath divers accidents , and therefore subject to a caution ; and namely , because the matter of the chest , mettall or other things may hinder . behold here a more subtill and certaine invention to finde and discover it out without weighing it in the water ▪ now experience and reason sheweth us that two like bodies or magnitudes of equall weight , and of divers mettalls , are not of equal quantity : and seeing that gold is the heaviest of all mettalls , it will occupie less roome or place ; from which will follow that the like weight of lead in the same forme , will occupie or take up more roome or place . now let there be therefore presented two globes or chests of wood or other matter alike , & equall one to the other , in one of which in the middle there is another globe or body of lead weighing 12. l. ( as c , ) and in the other a globe or like body of gold weighing 12 pound ( as b. ) now it is supposed that the wooden globes or chests are of equall weight , forme , and magnitude : and to discover in which the gold or lead is in , take a broad paire of compasses , and clip one of the coffers or globes somewhat from the middle , as at d. then fix in the chest or globe a small piece of iron between the feet of the compasses , as ek , at the end of which hang a vveight g , so that the other end may be counterpoysed , and hang in aequilibrio : and do the like to the other chest or globe . novv if that the other chest or globe being clipped in like distance from the end , and hanging at the other end the same weight g. there be found no difference ; then clip them nearer tovvards the middle , that so the points of the compasse may be against some of the mettall vvhich is inclosed ; or just against the extremitie of the gold as in d , and suppose it hang thus in aequilibrio ; it is certaine that in the other coffer is the lead ; for the points of the compasses being advanced as much as before , as at f , vvhich takes up a part of the lead , ( because it occupies a greater place than the gold ) therefore that shall help the vveight g. to vveigh , and so vvill not hang in aequilibrio , except g be placed neare to f. hence vve may conclude , that there is the lead ; and in the other chest or globe , there is the gold. examination . if the two boxes being of equall magnitude weighed in the aire be found to be of equall weight , they shall necessarily take up like place in the water , and therefore weigh also one as much as another : hence there is no possibilitie to finde the inequalitie of the mettalls which are inclosed in these boxes in the water : the intention of archimedes was not upon contrary mettalls inclosed in 〈…〉 boxes , but consisted of comparing metta●●● , simple in the water one with another : therefore the inference is false and absurd . problem . xliii . two globes of diverse mettalls , ( as one gold , and the other copper ) yet of equall weight being put into a box , as bg , to finde in which end the gold or copper is . this is discovered by the changing of the places of the tvvo bovvles or globes , having the same counterpoyse h to be hung at the other side , as in n. and if the gold vvhich is the lesser globe , vvere before the nearest to the handle d● , having novv changed his place vvill be farthest from the handle de , as in k. therefore the centre of gravity of the two globes taken together , shall be farther separate from the middle of the handle ( under which is the centre of gravity of the box ) than it was before , and seeing that the handle is alwayes in the middle of the box , the vveight n. must be augmented ▪ to keep it in equil●●●● and by this way one may knovv , that if at the second time , the counterpoise be too light , it is a signe that the gold is farthest off the handle , as at the first triall it vvas nearest . problem . xliiii . how to represent diverse sorts of rainebowes here below ? the rainbovve is a thing admirable in the vvorld , vvhich ravisheth often the eyes and spirits of men in consideration of his rich intermingled colours vvhich are seen under the clouds , seeming as the glistering of the starres , precious stones , and ornaments of the most beauteous flovvers : some part of it as the resplendent stars , or as a rose , or burning cole of fire ▪ in it one may see dyes of sundry sorts , the violet , the blew , the orange , the saphir , the jacinct , and the emerald colours , as a lively plant placed in a green soile : and as a most rich treasure of nature , it is a high work of the sun who casteth his raies or beames as a curious painter drawes strokes with his pensill , and placeth his colours in an exquisite situation ; and solomon saith , eccles. 43. it is a chiefe and principall work of god. notwithstanding there is left to industrie how to represent it from above , here below , though not in perfection , yet in part , with the same intermixture of colours that is above . have you not seen how by oares of a boate it doth exceeding quickly glide upon the water with a pleasant grace ? aristotle sayes , that it coloureth the water , and makes a thousand atomes , upon which the beames of the sunne reflecting , make a kinde of coloured rainbowe : or may we not see in houses or gardens of pleasure artificiall fountaines , which poure forth their droppie streames of water , that being between the sunne and the fountaine , there will be presented as a continuall rainbowe ? but not to go farther , i will shew you how you may do it at your doore , by a fine and facill experiment . take water in your mouth , and turne your back to the sunne , and your face against some obscure place , then blow out the water which is in your mouth , that it may be sprinkled in small drops and vapours : you shall see those atomes vapours in the beames of the sunne to turne into a faire rainebowe , but all the griefe is , that it lasteth not , but soone is vanished . but to have one more stable and permanent in his colours : take a glasse full of water , and expose it to the sunne , so that the raies that passe through strike upon a shadowed place , you will have pleasure to see the fine forme of a rainebovve by this reflection . or take a trigonall glasse or crystall glasse of diverse angles , and look through it , or let the beames of the sunne passe through it ; or vvith a candle let the appearances be received upon a shadovved place : you vvill have the same contentment . problem xlv . how that if all the powder in the world were in closed within a bowle of paper or glasse , and being fired on all parts , it could not break that bowle ? if the bowle and the powder be uniforme in all his parts , then by that means the powder would presse and move equally on each side , in which there is no possibility whereby it ought to begin by one side more than another . now it is impossible that the bowle should be broken in all his parts : for they are infinite . of like fineness or subtiltie may it be that a bowle of iron falling from a high place upon a plaine pavement of thin glasse , it were impossible any wise to break it ; if the bowle were perfectly round , and the glasse flat and uniforme in all his parts ▪ for the bowle would touch the glasse but in one point , which is in the middle of infinite parts which are about it : neither is there any cause why it ought more on one side than on another , seeing that it may not be done with all his sides together ; it may be concluded as speaking naturally , that such a bovvle falling upon such a glasse vvill not break it . but this matter is meere metaphysicall , and all the vvorkmen in the vvorld cannot ever vvith all their industrie make a bovvle perfectly round , or a glasse uniforme . problem . xlvi . to finde a number which being divided by 2 , there will remaine 1 , being divided by 3 , there will remaine 1 ; and so likewise being divided by 4 , 5 , or 6 , there would still remaine 1 ; but being didivided by 7 , there will remaine nothing . in many authors of arithmetick this probleme is thus proposed : a vvoman carrying egges to market in a basket , met an unruly fellovv who broke them : who vvas by order made to pay for them : and she being demanded what number she had , she could not tell : but she remembred that counting them by 2 & 2 , there remained 1 ▪ likewise by 3 and 3 by 4 and 4 , by 5 and 5 , by 6 and 6 ; there still remained 1. but when she counted them by 7 and 7 , there remained nothing : now how may the number of egges be discovered ? finde a number which may exactly be measured by 7 , and being measured by 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 ; there vvill still remaine a unite ▪ multiply these numbers together , makes 720 , to which adde 1 ; so have you the number , viz. 721. in like manner 301 vvill be measured by 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ; so that 1 remaines : but being measured by 7 , nothing vvill remaine ; to vvhich continually adde 220 , and you have other numbers vvhich vvill do the same : hence it is doubtfull vvhat number she had , therefore not to faile , it must be knovvn vvhether they did exceed 400 , 800 , &c. in vvhich it may be conjectured that it could not exceed 4 or 5 hundred , seeing a man or vvoman could not carry 7 or 8 hundred egges , therefore the number vvas the former ●01 . vvhich she had in her basket : vvhich being counted by 2 and 2 , there vvill remaine 1 , by 3 and 3 , &c. but counted by 7 and 7 , there vvill remaine nothing . problem . xlvii . one had a certaine number of crownes , and counting them by 2 and 2 , there rested 1. counting them by 3 and 3 , there rested 2. counting them by 4 and 4 , there rested 3. counting them by 5 and 5 , there rested 4. counting them by 6 & 6 , there rested 5. but counting them by 7 and 7 , there remained nothing : how many crownes might he have ? this question hath some affinitie to the precedent , and the resolution is almost in the same manner : for here there must be found a number , vvhich multiplied by 7 , and then divided by 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ; there may alvvayes remaine a number lesse by 1 than the divisor : novv the first number vvhich arrives in this nature is 119 , unto vvhich if 420 be added , makes 539 , vvhich also vvill do the same : and so by adding 420 , you may have other numbers to resolve this proposition . problem . xlviii . how many sorts of weights in the least manner must there be to weigh all sorts of things between 1 pound and 40 pound , and so unto 121 , & 364 pound . to vveigh things betvveen 1 and 40 , take numbers in triple proportion , so that their summe be equall , or somewhat greater than 40 , as are the numbers 1 3.9.27 . i say that with ● such weights , the first being of 1 pound , the second being 3 pound , the third being 9 pound , and the fourth being 27 : any weight between 1 and 40 pound may be weighed . as admit to weigh 21 pound , put unto the thing that is to be weighed the 9 pound weight , then in the other ballance put 27 pound and 3 pound , which doth counterpoise 21 pound and 9 pound , and if 20 pound were to be weighed , put to it in the ballance 9 and 1 , and in the other ballance put 27 and 3 , and so of others in the same manner take those 5 weights , 1 , 3 , 9 , 27 ▪ 81 , you may weigh with them between 1 pound , and 121 pound : and taking those 6 weights ▪ as 1 , 3 , 9 , 2● , 81 , 243 , you may weigh even from 1 pound unto 364 pound : this depends upon the property of continued proportionals , the latter of which containing twice all the former . problem . xlix . of a deceitfull ballance which being c●●●ty seemes i● be just , because it hangs in aequilibrio : not●ithstanding putting 12 pound in one ballance , and 11 in the other , it will remaine in aequilibrio . aristotle maketh mention of this ballance in his mechanick questions , and saith , that the merchants of purpose in his time used them to deceive the world : the subtiltie or craft of which is thus , that one arme of the ballance is longer then another , by the same proportion , that one weight is heavier then another : as if the beame were 23 inches long , and the handle placed so that 12 inches should be on one side of it , and 11 inches on the other side : conditionally that the shorter end should be as heavy as the longer , a thing easie to be done : then afterwards put into the ballance two unequal weights in such proportion as the parts of the beame have one unto another , which is 12 to 11 , but so that the greater be placed in the ballance which hangs upon the shorter part of the beame , and the lesser weight in the other ballance : it is most certaine that the ballances will hang in aequilibrio , which will seem most sincere and just ; though it be most deceitfull , abominable , and false . the reason of this is drawne from the experiments of archimedes , who shewes that two unequall weights will counterpoyse one another , when there is like proportion betweene the parts of the beame ( that the handle separates ) and the vveights themselves : for in one and the same counterpoise , by hovv much it is farther from the centre of the handle , by so much it seems heavier , therefore if there be a diversitie of distance that the ballances hang from the handle , there must necessarily be an ineqality of weight in these ballances to make them hang in aequilibrio , and to discover if there be deceit , change the weight into the other ballance , for as soone as the greater vveight is placed in the ballance that hangs on the longer parts of the beame : it vvill vveigh dovvne the other instantly . problem . l. to heave or lift up a bottle with a straw . take a stravv that is not bruised , bovv it that it make an angle , and put it into the bottle so that the greatest end be in the neck , then the reed being put in the bovved part vvil cast side-vvise , and make an angle as in the figure may be seen : then may you take the end vvhich is out of the bottle in your hand , and heave up the bottle , and it is so much surer , by how much the angle is acuter or sharper ; and the end which is bowed approacheth to the other perpendicular parts which come out of the bottle . problem . li. how in the middle of a wood or desert , without the sight of the sunne , starres , shadow or compasse , to finde out the north or south , or the foure cardinall points of the world , east , west , & c ? it is the opinion of some , that the windes are to be observed in this : if it be hot , the south is found by the windes that blow that way , but this observation is uncertaine and subject to much error : nature will help you in some measure to make it more manifest than any of the former , from a tree thus : cut a small tree off , even to the ground , and mark the many circles that are about the sap or pith of the tree , which seem nearer together in some part than in other , which is by reason of the suns motion about the tree : for that the humiditie of the parts of the tree towards the south by the heat of the sun is rarified , and caused to extend : and the s●n not giving such heat towards the north-part of the tree , the sap is lesser rarefied , but condensed ; by which the circles are nearer together on the north-part , than on the south-part : therefore if a line be drawne from the widest to the narrowest part of the circles , it shall shew the north & south of the world . another experiment may be thus : take a small needle , such as women work with : place it gently downe flatwise upon still water , and it will not sink , ( which is against the generall tenet that iron will not swimme ) which needle will by little and little turne to the north and south-points . but if the needle be great and will not swim , thrust it through a small piece of cork , or some such like thing , and then it will do the same : for such is the property of iron when it is placed in aequilibrio , it strives to finde out the poles of the world or points of north and south in a manner as the magnes doth . examination . here is observable , that the moisture which aideth to the growth of the tree , is dilated and rarefied by the meridionall heat , and contracted by the septentrionall cold : this rarefaction works upon the part of the humour or moisture that is more thinne , which doth easily dissipate and evaporate : which evaporation carries a part of the salt with it ; and because that solidation or condensation , so that there is left but a part of the nourishment which the heat bakes up and consumes : so contrarily on the other side the condensation and restrictive quality of the moisture causeth lesse evaporation and perdition : and so consequently there remaines more nourishment , which makes a greater increase on that side than on the other side : for as trees have their growth in winter , because of their pores and these of the earth are shut up : so in the spring when their pores are open , and when the sappe and moisture is drawne by it , there is not such cold on the north-side that it may be condensed at once : but contrarily to the side which is south , the heat may be such , that in little time by continuance , this moisture is dissipated greatly : and cold is nothing but that which hardneth and contracteth the moisture of the tree , and so converteth it into wood . problem . lii . three persons having taken counters , cards , or other things , to finde how much each one hath taken . cause the third party to take a number which ma● be divided by 4 , and as often as he takes 4 , let the second party take 7 , and the first take 13 , then cause them to put them all together , and declare the summe of it ; which secretly divide by 3 , and the quotient is the double of the number which the third person did take . or cause the third to give unto the second and first , as many as each of them hath ; then let the second give unto the first and third , as many as each of them hath ; lastly , let the third give unto the second and first , as many as each of them hath ; and then aske how much one of them hath ; ( for they will have then all alike , ) so halfe of that number is the number that the third person had at the first : which knowne all is knowne . problem . liii . how to make a consort of musick of many parts with one voyce , or one instrument only ? this probleme is resolved , so that a finger or player upon an instrument , be neare an echo which answereth his voice or instrument ; and if the echo answereth but once at a time , he may make a double ; if twice , then a triple , if three times , then an harmonie of foure parts , for it must be such a one that is able to exercise both tune and note as occasion requires . as when he begins ut , before the echo answer , he may begin sol , and pronounce it in the same tune that ●he echo answereth , by which meanes you ●ave a fifth , agreeable consort of musick : then in the same time that the echo followeth , to sound the second note sol , he may sound forth another sol higher or lower to make an eight , the most perfect consort of musick , and so of others , if he will continue his voice with the echo , and sing alone with two parts . now experience sheweth this to be true , which often comes to passe in many churches , making one to beleeve that there are many more parts in the musick of a quire , then in effect truly there are because of the resounding and multiplying of the voic● , and redoubling of the quire. problem . liiii . t● make or describe an ovall form , or that which neare resembles unto it , at one turning with a paire of common compasses . there are many fine wayes in geometricall practices , to make an ovall figure or one neare unto it , by severall centres : any of which i will not touch upon , but shew how it may be done promptly upon one centre only . in which i will say nothing of the ovall forme , which appeares , when one describeth circles with the points of a common compasses , somewhat deep upon a skinne stretched forth hard : which contracting it selfe in some parts of the skinne maketh an ovall forme . but it will more evidently appeare upon a columne or cylinder : if paper be placed upon it , then with a paire of compasses describe as it were a circle upon it , which paper afterwards being extended , will not be circular but ovall-wise : and a paire of compasses may be so accommodated , that it may be done also upon a plaine thus . as let the length of the ovall be h. k , fasten 2 pinnes or nailes neare the end of that line as f. g , and take a threed which is double to the length of g. h , or f. k , then if you take a compasse which may have one foot lower than another , with a spring between his legges : and placing one foot of this compasse in the centre of the ovall , and guiding the threed by the other foot of the compasses , and so carrying it about : the spring will help to describe and draw the ovall forme . but in stead of the compasses it may be done with ones hand only , as in the figure may appeare . problem . lv. of a pu●se difficult to be opened . it is made to shut and open with rings : first at each side there is a strap or string , as ab . and cd , at the end of which are 2 rings , b & d , and the string cd passeth through the ring b , so that it may not come out againe ; or be parted one from another : and so that the ring b , may slide up and downe upon the string cd , then over the purse , there is a piece of leather efgh , which covers the opening of the purse , and there is another piece of leather ae , which passeth through many rings : which hath a slit towards the end i , so great that the string bc may slide into it : now all the cunning or craft is how to make fast or to open the purse , which consists in making the string bc slide through the side at i , therefore bring down b to i , then make the end i passe through the ring b , and also d with his string to passe through the slit i , so shall the purse be fast , and then may the strings be put as before , and it will seem difficult to discover how it was done . now to open the purse , put through the end i through the ring b , and then through the slit i , by which you put through the string dc , by this way the purse will be opened . problem . lvi . whether it is more hard and admirable without compasses to make a perfect circle , or being made to finde out the centre of it ? it is said that upon a time past , two mathematicians met , and they would make tryall of their industry : the one made instantly a perfect circle without compasses , and the other immediately pointed out the centre thereof with the point of a needle ; now which is the chiefest action ? it seems the first , for to draw the most noblest figure upon a plaine table without other help than the hand , and the minde , is full of admiration ; to finde the centre is but to finde out only one point , but to draw a round , there must be almost infinite points , equidistant from the centre or middle ; that in conclusion it is both the circle and the centre together . but contrarily it may seem that to finde the centre is more difficult , for what attention , vivacitie , and subtiltie must there be in the spirit , in the eye , in the hand , which will chuse the true point amongst a thousand other points ? he that makes a circle keeps alwayes the same distance , and is guided by a halfe distance to finish the rest ; but he that must finde the centre , must in the same time take heed to the parts about it , and choose one only point which is equall distant from an infinite of other points which are in the circumference ; which is very difficult . aristotle confirmes this amongst his morals , and seems to explaine the difficultie which is to be found in the middle of vertue ; for it may want a thousand wayes , and be farre separated from the true centre of the end of a right mediocritie of a vertuous action ; for to do well it must touch the middle point which is but one , and there must be a true point which respects the end , and that 's but one only . now to judge which is the most difficult , as before is said , either to draw the round or to finde the centre , the round seems to be harder than to finde the centre , because that in finding of it , it is done at once , and hath an equall distance from the whole ; but , as before , to draw a round there is a visible point imagined , about which the circle is to be drawne . i esteeme that it is as difficult therefore , if not more , to make the circle without a centre , as to finde the middle or centre of that circle . problem . lvii . any one having taken 3 cards , to finde how many points they containe this is to be exercised upon a full pack of cards of 52 , then let one choose any three at pleasure secretly from your sight , and bid him secretly account the points in each card , and will him to take as many cards as will make up 15 to each of the points of his cards , then will him to give you the rest of the cards , for 4 of them being rejected , the rest shew the number of points that his three cards which he took at the first did conteine . as if the 3 cards were 7 , 10 , and 4 ; now 7 wants of 15 , 8. take 8 cards therefore for your first card : the 10 wants of 15 ▪ 5 , take 5 cards for your second card : lastly 4 wants of 15 , 11 , take 11 cards for your third card , & giving him the rest of the cards , there will be 25 ; from which take 4 , there remaines 21 , the number of the three cards taken , viz. 7 , 10 , and 4. whosoever would practise this play with 4 , 5 , 6 , or more cards , and that the whole number of cards be more or lesse than 52 ; and that the terme be 15 , 14 , 12 , &c , this generall rule ensuing may serve : multiply the terme by the number of cards taken at first : to the product adde the number of cards taken , then subtract this summe from the whole number of cards ; the remainder is the number which must be subtracted from the cards , which remaines to make up the game : if there remaine nothing after the subtraction , then the number of cards remaining doth justly shew the number of points which were in the cards chosen . if the subtraction cannot be made , then subtract the number of cards from that number , and the remainder added unto the cards that did remaine , the summe will be the number of points in the cards taken , as if the cards were 7 , 10 , 5 , 8 , and the terme given were 12 ; so the first wants 5 , the second wants 2 , the third wants 7 , and the fourth wants 4 cards , which taken , the party gives you the rest of the cards : then secretly multiply 12 by 4 , makes 48 ; to which adde 4 , the number of cards taken makes 52 , from which 52 should be taken , rest nothing : therefore according to the direction of the remainder of the cards which are 30 , is equall to the points of the foure cards taken , viz. 7 , 10 , 5 , 8. againe , let these five cards be supposed to be taken , 8 , 6 , 10 , 3 , 7 ; their differences to 15 , the termes are 7 , 9 , 5 , 12 , 8 , which number of cards taken , there will remaine but 6 cards : then privately multiply 15 by 5 , makes 75 , to which adde 5 makes 80 , from this take 52 the number of cards , rest 28 , to vvhich add the remainder of cards , make 34. the summe with 8 , 6 , 10 , 3 , 7. problem . lvii . many cards placed in diverse ranks , to finde which of these cards any one hath thought . take 15 cards , and place them in 3 heaps in rank-wise , 5 in a heap : now suppose any one had thought one of these cards in any one of the heaps , it is easie to finde vvhich of the cards it is , and it is done thus ; ask him in vvhich of the heaps it is , vvhich place in the middle of the other tvvo ; then throvv dovvne the cards by 1 and 1 into three severall heaps in rank-vvise , untill all be cast dovvne , then aske him in which of the rankes his card is , which heap place in the middle of the other two heaps alwayes , and this do foure times at least , so in putting the cards altogether , look upon the cards , or let their back be towards you , and throw out the eight card , for that was the card thought upon without faile . problem . lviii . many cards being offered to sundry persons , to finde which of these cards any one thinketh upon . admit there were 4 persons , then take 4 cards , and shew them to the first , bid him think one of them , and put these 4 away , then take 4 other cards , and shew them in like manner to the second person , and bid him think any one of these cards , and so do to the third person , and so the fourth , &c. then take the 4 cards of the first person , and dispose them in 4 rankes , and upon them the 4 cards of the second person , upon them also these of the third person , and lastly , upon them these of the fourth person , then shew unto eaeh of these parties each of these ranks , and aske him if his card be in it which he thought , for infallibly that vvhich the first partie thought upon vvill be in the first rank , and at the bottome , the card of the second person vvill be in the second ranke , the card of the third thought upon will be in the third rank , and the fourth mans card will be in the fourth rank , and so of others , if there be more persons use the same method . this may be practised by other things , ranking them by certaine numbers : allotted to pieces of money , or such like things . problem . lix . how to make an instrument to help hearing , as galileus made to help the sight ? think not that the mathematickes ( which hath furnished us with such admirable helps for seeing ) is wanting for that of hearing , it s well knowne that long trunks or pipes make one heare well farre off , and experience shewes us that in certaine places of the orcades in a hollow vault , that a man speaking but softly at one corner thereof , may be audibly understood at the other end : notwithstanding those which are between the parties cannot heare him speak at all : and it is a generall principle , that pipes do greatly help to strengthen the activitie of naturall causes : we see that 〈◊〉 contracted in a pipe , burnes 4 or 5 foot high , which would scarce heat , being in the open aire : the rupture or violence of water issuing out of a fountaine , shewes us that vvater being contracted into a pipe , causeth a violence in its passage . the glasses of galeileus makes us see how usefull pipes or trunkes are to make the light and species more visible , and proportionable to our eye . it is said that a prince of italy hath a faire hall , in which he can with facility heare distinctly the discourses of those which walk in the adjacent gardens , which is by certaine vessels and pipes that answer from the garden to the hall. vitruvius makes mention also of such vessels and pipes , to strengthen the voice and action of comedians : and in these times amongst many noble personages ▪ the new kinde of trunkes are used to help the hearing , being made of silver , copper , or other resounding materiall ; in funnell-wise putting the widest end to him which speaketh , to the end to contract the voice , that so by the pipe applied to the eare it may be more uniform and lesse in danger to dissipate the voice , and so consequently more fortified . problem . lx. of a fine lamp which goes not out , though one carry it in ones pocket : or being rolled upon the ground will still burne . it must be observed that the vessell in which the oile is put into , have two pinnes on the sides of it , one against another , being included within a circle : this circle ought to have two other pinnes , to enter into another circle of brasse , or other solid matter : lastly , this second circle hath two pinnes , which may hang within some box to containe the whole lamp , in such manner , that there be 6 pinnes in different position : now by the aid of these pegges or pinnes , the lamp that is in the middle will be alwayes well situated according to his centre of gravity , though it be turned any way : though if you endeavour to turne it upside downe , it will lie levell ▪ which is pleasant and admirable to behold to those which know not the cause : and it is facil from his to make a place to rest quiet in , though there be great agitation in the outvvard parts . problem . lxi . any one having thought a card amongst many cards , how artificially to discover it out ? take any number of cards as 10 , 12 , &c. and open some 4 or 5 to the parties sight , and bid him think one of them , but let him note vvhether it be the first , second , third , &c. then vvith promptness learn vvhat number of cards you had in your hands , and take the other part of the cards , and place them on the top of these you hold in your hand ; and having done so , aske him whether his card were the first , second , &c. then before knowing the number of cards that were at the bottome , account backwards untill you come to it : so shall you easily take out the card that he thought upon . problem . lxii . three women ab.c. carried apples to a marke to sell , a had 20 , b 30 ▪ and c 40 , they sold as many for a penny , the one as the other : and brought home one as much money as another , how could this be ? the answer to the probleme is easie ▪ as suppose at the beginning of the market : a ▪ sold her apples at a penny an apple : and sold but 2. which was 2 pence , and so she had 18 left : but b. sold 17. which was 17 pence , and so had 13 left : c. sold 32. which was 32 pence , and so had 8 apples left ▪ then a said she would not sell her apples so cheap , but would sell them for 3 pence the peece , which she did : and so her apples came to 54 pence , and b having left but 13 apples sold them at the same rate , which came to 39 pence : and lastly ▪ c. had but 8 apples , which at the same rate came to 24 pence : these summes of money which each others before received come to 56 pence , and so much each one received ; and so consequently brought home one as much as another . problem . lxiii . of the properties of some numbers . first , any two numbers is just the summe of a number , that have equall distance from the halfe of that number ▪ the one augmenting , and the other diminishing , as 7 and 7 , of 8 and ● , of 9 and 5 , of 10 and 4 , of 11 and 3 , of 12 and 2 , of 13 and ● . as the one is more than the halfe , the other is lesse . secondly , it is difficult to finde two numbers whose summe and product is alike , ( that is ) if the numbers be multiplied one by another , and added together , will be equall , which two numbers are 2 and 2 , for to multiply 2 by 2 makes 4 , and adding 2 unto 2 makes the same : this property is in no other two whole numbers , but in broken numbers there are infinite , whose summe and product will be equall one to another . as clavius shewes upon the 36 pro. of the 9t h book of euclide . thirdly , the numbers 5 and 6 are called circular numbers , because the circle turnes to the point from whence it begins : so these numbers multiplied by themselves , do end alwayes in 5 and 6 , as 5 times 5 makes 25 , that againe by 5 makes 125 , so 6 times 6 makes 36 , and that by 6 makes 216 , &c. fourthly , the number 6 , is the first which arithmeticians call a perfect number , that is , whose parts are equall unto it , so the 6 part of it is 1 , the third part is 2 , the halfe is 3 , which are all his parts : now 1 , 2 , and 3 , is equall to 6. it is wonderfull to conceive that there is so few of them , and how rare these numbers are ▪ 50 of perfect men : for betwixt 1 & 1000000000000 numbers there is but ten , that is ; 6 , 28 , 486. 8128. 120816. 2096128. 33550336. 536854528. 8589869056 , & 137438691328 ▪ with this admirable property , that alternately they end all in 6 and 8 , & the twentieth perfect number is 151115727451553768931328. fiftly , the number 9 amongst other priviledges carries with it an excellent property : for take what number you will , either in grosse or in part , the nines of the whole or in its parts rejected , and taken simply will be the same , as ●7 it makes 3 times 9 , so vvhether the nines be rejected of 27 , or of the summe of 2 and 7 , it is all one , so if the nines vvere taken avvay of 240. it is all one , if the nines vvere taken avvay of 2 , 4 , and 0 ; for there vvould remaine 6 in either ; and so of others . sixtly , 11 being multiplied by 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , or 9 , will end and begin with like numbers ; so 11 multiplied by 5 makes 55 , if multiplied by 8 , it makes 88 , &c. seventhly , the numbers 220 and 284 being unequall , notwithstanding the parts of the one number do alwayes equalize the other number : so the aliquot parts of 220 are 110 , 54 , 44 , 22 , 20 , 11 , 10 , 5 , 4 , 2 , 1 , which together makes 284. the aliquot parts of 284 , are 142 , 71 , 4 , 2 , 1. which together makes 220 , a thing rare and admirable , and difficult to finde in other numbers . i● one be taken from any square number which is odde , the square o● halfe of it being added to the first square , will make a square number . the square of halfe any even number + . 1 being added to that even number makes a square number , and the even number taken from it leaves a square number . if odde numbers be continually added from the unitie successively , there will be made all square numbers , and if cubick numbers be added successively from the unitie , there will be likewise made square numbers . problem . lxiv . of an excellent lamp , which serves or furnisheth it selfe with oile , and burnes a long time . i speak not here of a common lamp which ca●danus writes upon in his book de subtilita●● , for that 's a little vessell in columne-wise , which is full of oile , and because there is but one little hole at the bottome neare the weeke or match ; the oile runnes not , for feare that there be emptinesse above : when the match is kindled it begins to heat the lamp , and rarefying the oile it issueth by this occasion : and so sends his more airie parts above to avoid vacuitie . it is certaine that such a lampe the atheniaus used , which lasted a whole yeare without being touched : which was placed before the statue of minerva , for they might put a certaine quantitie of oile in the lamp cd , and a match to burne without being consumed : such as the naturalists write of , by which the lamp will furnish it selfe , and so continue in burning : and here may be noted that the oile may be poured in , at the top of th● vessell at a little hole , and then made fast againe that the aire get not in . problem . lxv . of the play at keyles or nine pinnes . you will scarce beleeve that with one bowle and at one blow playing freely , one may strike downe all the keyles at once : yet from mathematicall principles it is easie to be demonstrated , that if the hand of him that playes were so well assured by experience , as reason induceth one thereto ; one might at one blow strike downe all the keyles , of at least 7 or 8 , or such a number as one pleaseth . for they are but 9 in all disposed or placed in a perfect square , having three every way . let us suppose then that a good player beginning to play at 1 somewhat low , should so strike it , that it should strike down the keyles 2 and 5 , and these might in their violence strike downe the keyles 3 , 6 , and 9 , and the bowle being in motion may strike down the keyle 4 , and 7 ; which 4 keyle may strike the keyle 8 , & so all the 9 keyles may be striken down at once . problem . lxiv . of spectacles of pleasure . simple spectacles of blew , yellow , red or green colour , are proper to recreate the sight , and will present the objects died in like colour that the glasses are , only those of the greene do somewhat degenerate ; instead of shewing a lively colour it will represent a pale dead colour , and it is because they are not dyed greene enough , or receive not light enough for greene : and colour these images that passe through these glasses unto the bottome of the eye . examination . it is certaine , that not onely glasses dyed green , but all other glasses coloured , yield the app●arances of objects strong or weak in colour according to the quantity of the dye , more or lesse , as one being very yellow , another a pale yellow ; now all colours are not proper to glasses to give colour , hence the defect is not that they want facultie to receive light , or resist the penetration of the beams ; for in the same glasses those which are most dyed , give alwayes the objects more high coloured and obscure , and those which are lesse dyed give them more pale and cleare : and this is daily made manifest by the painting of glasse , which hinders more the penetration of the light than dying doth , where all the matter by fire is forced into the glasse , leaving it in all parts transparent . spectacles of crystall cut with divers angles diamond-wise do make a marvellous multiplication of the appearances , for looking towards a house it becomes as a towne , a towne becomes like a citie , an armed man seems as a whole company caused solely by the diversity of refractions , for as many plaines as there are on the outside of the spectacle , so many times will the object be multiplied in the appearance , because of diverse images cast into the eye . these are pleasurable spectacles for avaricious persons that love gold and silver , for one piece will seeme many , or one heap of money will seeme as a treasury : but all the mischiefe is , he will not have his end in the enjoying of it , for indeavouring to take it , it will appeare but a deceitfull image , or delusion of nothing . here may you note that if the finger be directed by one and the same ray or beam , which pointeth to one and the same object , then at the first you may touch that visible object without being deceived : otherwise you may faile often in touching that which you see . againe , there are spectacles made which do diminish the thing seen very much , and bring it to a faire perspective forme , especially if one look upon a faire garden plat , a greater walk , a stately building , or great court , the industry of an exquisite painter cannot come neare to expresse the lively forme of it as this glasse will represent it ; you will have pleasure to see it really experimented , and the cause of this is , that the glasses of th●se spectacles are hollow and thinner in the middle , than at the edges by which the visuall angle is made lesser : you may observe a further secret in these spectacles , for in placing them upon a window one may see those that passe to and fro in the streets , without being seen of any , for their property is to raise up the objects that it lookes upon . now i would not passe this probleme without saying something of galileus admirable glasse , for the common simple perspective glasses give to aged men but the eyes or sight of young men , but this of galileus gives a man an eagles eye , or an eye that pierceth the heavens : first it discovereth the spottie and shadowed opacous bodies that are found about the sunne , which darknet and diminisheth the splendor of that beautifull and shining luminary : secondly , it shewes the new planets that accompany saturne and jupiter : thirdly , in venus is seen the new , full , and quartill increase ; as in the moon by her separation from the sunne : fourthly , the artificiall structure of this instrument helpeth us to see an innumerable number of stars , which otherwise are obscured , by reason of the naturall weaknesse of our sight , yea the starres in via lactea are seen most apparantly ; where there seem no starres to be , this instrument makes apparantly to be seen , and further delivers them to the eye in their true and lively colour , as they are in the heavens : in which the splendor of some is as the sunne in his most glorious beauty . this glasse hath also a most excellent use in observing the body of the moone in time of eclipses , for it augments it manifold , and most manifestly shewes the true forme of the cloudy substance in the sunne ; and by it is seene when the shadow of the earth begins to eclipse the moon , & when totally she is over shadowed : besides the celestiall uses which are made of this glasse , it hath another noble property ; it farre exceedeth the ordinary perspective glasses , which are used to see things remote upon the earth , for as this glasse reacheth up to the heavens and excelleth them there in his performance , so on the earth it claimeth preheminency , for the objects which are farthest remote , and most obscure , are seen plainer than those which are neere at hand , scorning as it were all small and triviall services , as leaving them to an inferiour help : great use may be made of this glass in discovering of ships , armies , &c. now the apparell or parts of this instrument or glasse , is very meane or simple , which makes it the more admirable ( seeing it performes such great service ) having but a convex glasse thickest in the middle , to unite and amasse the rayes , and mak the object the greater : to the augmenting the visuall angle , as also a pipe or trunk to amasse the species , and hinder the greatness of the light which is about it : ( to see well , the object must be well inlightened , and the eye in obscurity ; ) then there is adjoyned unto it a glasse of a short sight to distinguish the rayes , which the other would make more confused if alone . as for the proportion of those glasses to the trunk , though there be certaine rules to make them , yet it is often by hazard that there is made an excellent one there being so many difficulties in the action , therefore many ought to be tryed , seeing that exact proportion , in geometricall calculation cannot serve for diversity of sights in the observation . problem . lxvii . of the adamant or magnes , and the needles touched therewith . who would beleeve if he saw not with his eyes , that a needle of steel being once touched with the magnes , turnes not once , not a yeare ▪ but as long as the world lasteth ; his end towards the north and south , yea though one remove it , and turne it from his position , it will come againe to his points of north and south . who would have ever thought that a brute stone black and ill formed , touching a ring of iron , should hang it in the aire , and that ring support a second , that to support a third , and so unto 10 , 12 , or more , according to the strength of the magnes ; making as it vvere a chaine without a line , without souldering together , or without any other thing to support them onely ; but a most occult and hidden vertue , yet most evident in this effect , which penetrateth insensibly from the first to the second , from the second to the third , &c. what is there in the world that is more capable to cast a deeper astonishment in our minds than a great massie substance of iron to hang in the aire in the middest of a building without any thing in the world touching it , only but the aire ? as some histories assure us , that by the aid of a magnes or adamant , placed at the roof of one of the turkish synagogues in meca : the sepulchre of that infamous mah●met rests suspended in the aire ; and plinie in his naturall historie writes that the architect or democrates did begin to vault the temple of a●sin●e in alexandria , with store of magnes to produce the like deceit , to hang the sepulchre of that goddesse likewise in the aire . i should passe the bounds of my counterpoise , if i should divulge all the secrets of this stone , and should expose my selfe to the laughter of the world : if i should brag to shew others the cause how this appeareth , than in its owne naturall sympathy , for why is it that a magnes with one end will cast the iron away , & attract it with the other ? from whence commeth it that all the magnes is not proper to give a true touch to the needle , but only in the two poles of the stone : which is known by hanging the stone by a threed in the aire untill it be quiet , or placed upon a peece of cork in a dish of water , or upon some thinne board , for the pole of the stone will then turne towards the poles of the world , and point out the north and south , and so shew by which of these ends the needle is to be touched ? from whence comes it that there is a variation in the needle , and pointeth not out truly the north and south of the world , but only in some place of the earth ? how is it that the needle made with pegges and inclosed within two glasses , sheweth the height of the pole , being elevated as many degrees as the pole is above the horizon ? what 's the cause that fire and garlick takes away the propertie of the magnes ? there are many great hidden mysteries in this stone , which have troubled the heads of the most learned in all ages ; and to this time the world remaines ignorant of declaring the rrue cause thereof . some say , that by help of the magnes persons which are absent may know each others minde , as if one being here at london , and another at prague in germany : if each of them had a needle touched with one magnes , then the vertue is such that in the same time that the needle which is at prague shall move , this that is at london shall also ; provided that the parties have like secret notes or alphabets , and the observation be at a set houre of the day or night ; and when the one party will declare unto the other , then let that party move the needle to these letters which will declare the matter to the other , and the moving of the other parties needle shall open his intention . the invention is subtile , but i doubt whether in the world there can be found so great a stone ▪ or such a magnes which carries with it such vertue : neither is it expedient , for treasons would be then too frequent and open . examination . the experimentall difference of rejection , and attraction proceeds not from the different nature of stones , but from the quality of the iron ; and the vertue of the stone consisteth only , and especially in his poles , which being hanged in the aire , turnes one of his ends alwayes naturally towards the south , and the other towards the north : but if a rod of iron be touched with one of the ends thereof , it hath the like property in turning north and south , as the magnes hath : notwithstanding the end of the iron rod touched , hath a contrary position , to that end of the stone that touched it ; yet the same end will attract it , and the other end reject it : and so contrarily this may easily be experimented upon two needles touched with one or different stones , though they have one and the same position ; for as you come unto them apply one end of the magnes neare unto them , the north of the one will abhorre the north of the other , but the north of the one will alwayes approach to the south of the other : and the same affection is in the stones themselves . for the finding of the poles of the magnes , it may be done by holding a small needle between your fingers softly , and so moving it from part to part over the stone untill it be held perpendicular , for that shall be one of the poles of the stone which you may marke out ; in like manner finde out the other pole : now to finde out which of those poles is north or south , place a needle being touched with one of the poles upon a smooth convex body , ( as the naile of ones finger or such like , ) and marke which way the end of the needle that was touched turneth : if to the south , then the point that touched it was the south-pole , &c. and it is most certain and according to reason and experience : that if it be suspended in aequilibrio in the aire , or supported upon the water , it will turne contrary to the needle that toucheth it ; for then the pole that was marked for the south shall turne to the north , &c. problem . lxviii . of the properties of aeolipiles or bowels to blow the fire . these are concave vessels of brass or copper or other material , which may indure the , fire : having a small hole very narrow , by which it is filled with water , then placing it to the fire , before it be hot there is no effect seen ; but assoone as the heat doth penetrate it , the water begins to rarefie , & issueth forth with a hidious and marvelous force ; it is pleasure to see how it blowes the fire with great noise . novv touching the forme of these vessels , they are not made of one like fashion : some makes them like a bovvle , some like a head painted representing the vvinde , some make them like a peare : as though one vvould put it to rost at the fire , vvhen one vvould have it to blovv , for the taile of it is hollovv , in forme of a funnell , having at the top a very little hole no greater than the head of a pinne . some do accustome to put vvithin the aeolipile a crooked funnell of many foldings , to the end that the vvinde that impetuously rolles ▪ to and fro vvithin , may imitate the noise of thunder . others content themselves vvith a simple funnell placed right upvvard , somevvhat vvider at the top than elsevvhere like a cone , vvhose basis is the mouth of the funnell : and there may be placed a bovvle of iron or brasse , vvhich by the vapours that are cast out vvill cause it to leap up , and dance over the mouth of the aeolipile . lastly , some apply near to the hole smal windmils , or such like , vvhich easily turne by reason of the vapours ; or by help of tvvo or more bovved funnels , a bowle may be made to turne● these aeolipiles are of excellent use for the melting of mettalls and such like . now it is cunning and subtiltie to fill one of these aeolipiles with water at so little a hole , and therefore requires the knowledge of a philosopher to finde it out : and the way is thus . heat the aeolipiles being empty , and the aire which is within it will become extreamely rarefied ; then being thus hot throw it into water , and the aire will begin to be condensed : by which meanes it will occupie lesse roome , therefore the water will immediately enter in at the hole to avoide vacuitie : thus you have some practicall speculation upon the aeolipile . problem . lxix . of the thermometer : or an instrument to measure the degrees of heat and cold in the aire . this instrument is like a cylindricall pipe of glasse , which hath a little ball or bowle at the toppe ▪ the small end of which is placed into a vessell of water below , as by the figure may be seene . then put some coloured liquor into the cylindricall glasse , as blew , red , yellow , green , or such like : such as is not thick . this being done the use may be thus . those that will determine this change by numbers and degrees , may draw a line upon the cylinder of the thermometer ; and divide it into 4 degrees , according to the ancient philosophers , or into 4 degrees according to the physicians , dividing each of these 8 into 8 others : to have in all 64 divisions , & by this vvay they may not only distinguish upon vvhat degree the vvater ascendeth in the morning , at midday , & at any other houre : but also one may knovv hovv much one day is hotter or colder than another : by marking hovv many degrees the vvater ascendeth or descendeth , one may compare the hottest and coldest dayes in a vvhole year together vvith these of another year : againe one may knovv hovv much hotter one roome is than another , by vvhich also one might keep a chamber , a furnace , a stove , &c. alvvayes in an equalitie of heat , by making the vvater of the thermometer rest alvvayes upon one & the same degree : in brief , one may judge in some measure the burning of fevers , and neare unto what extension the aire can be rarefied by the greatest heat . many make use of these glasses to judge of the vveather : for it is observed that if the vvater fall in 3 or 4 hours a degree or thereabout , that raine insueth ; and the vvater vvill stand at that stay , untill the vveather change : marke the water at your going to bed , for if in the morning it hath descended raine followeth , but if it be mounted higher , it argueth faire weather : so in very cold weather , if it fall suddenly , it is snow or some sleekey weather that wiil insue , problem . lxx . of the proportion of humane bodies of statues , of colossus or huge images , and of monstrous giants . pythagoras had reason to say that man is the measure of all things . first , because he is the most perfect amongst all bodily creatures , & according to the maxime of philosophers , that which is most perfect and the first in rank , measureth all the rest . secondly , because in effect the ordinary measure of a foot , the inch , the cubit , the pace , have taken their names and greatnesse from humane bodies . thirdly , because the symmetrie and concordancie of the parts is so admirable , that all workes which are well proportionable , as namely the building of temples , of shippes , of pillars , and such like pieces of architecture , are in some measure fashioned and composed after his proportion . and we know that the arke of noah built by the commandement of god , was in length 300 cubits , in breadth 50 cubits , in height or depth 30 cubits , so that the length containes the breadth 6 times , and 10 times the depth : now a man being measured you will finde him to have the same proportion in length , breadth , and depth . vilalpandus treating of the temple of solomon ( that chieftaine of works ) was modulated all of good architecture , and curiously to be observed in many pieces to keep the same proportion as the body to his parts : so that by the greatnesse of the work and proportionable symmetrie , some dare assure themselves that by knowledge of one onely part of that building , one might know all the measures of that goodly structure . some architects say that the foundation of houses , and basis of columnes , are as the foot ; the top , and roofe as the head ; the rest as the body : those which have beene somewhat more curious , have noted that as in humane bodies , the parts are uniforme , as the nose , the mouth , &c. these which are double are put on one side or other , with a perfect equality in the same architecture . in like manner , some have been yet more curious than solid ; comparing all the ornaments of a corinth to the parts of the face , as the brow , the eyes , the nose , the mouth ; the rounding of pillars , to the vvrithing of haire , the channells of columnes , to the fouldings of vvomens robes , &c. novv building being a vvork of the best artist , there is much reason vvhy man ought to make his imitation from the chiefe vvork of nature ; vvhich is man. hence it is that vitru●ius in his third book , and all the best architectes , treate of the proportion of man ; amongst others albert durens hath made a whole book of the measures of mans body , from the foot to the head , let them read it who wil , they may have a prefect knowledge thereof : but i will content my selfe and it may satisfie some with that which followeth . first , the length of a man well made , which commonly is called height , is equall to the distance from one end of his finger to the other : when the armes are extended as wide as they may be . secondly , if a man have his feet and hands extended or stretched in forme of s. andrews crosse , placing one foot of a paire of compasses upon his navill , one may describe a circle which will passe by the ends of his hands and feet , and drawing lines by the termes of the hands and feet , you have a square within a circle . thirdly , the breadth of man , or the space which is from one side to another ; the breast , the head , and the neck , make the 6 part of all the body taken in length or height . fourthly , the length of the face is equall to the length of the hand , taken from the small of the arme , unto the extremity of the longest finger . fiftly , the thicknesse of the body taken from the belly to the back ; the one or the other is the tenth part of the whole body , or as some will have it , the ninth part , little lesse . sixtly , the height of the brow , the length of the nose , the space between the nose and the chinne , the length of the eares , the greatnesse of the thumbe , are perfectly equall one to the other . what would you say to make an admirable report of the other parts , if i should reckon them in their least ? but in that i desire to be excused , and will rather extract some conclusion upon ▪ that which is delivered . in the first place , knowing the proportion of a man , it is easie to painters , image-makers , &c. perfectly to proportionate their work ; and by the same is made most evident , that which is related of the images and statues of greece , that upon a day diverse workmen having enterprised to make the face of a man , being severed one from another in sundry places , all the parts being made and put together , the face was found in a most lively and true proportion . secondly , it is a thing most cleare , that by the help of proportion , the body of hercules was measured by the knowledge of his foot onely , a lion by his claw , the giant by his thumb , and a man by any part of his body . for so it was that pythagoras having measured the length of hercules foot , by the steps which were left upon the ground , found out all his height : and so it was that phidias having onely the claw of a lion , did figure and draw out all the beast according to his true type or forme , so the exquisite painter timantes , having painted a pygmey or dwarfe , which he measured with a fadome made with the inch of a giant , it was sufficient to know the greatnesse of that giant to be short , we may by like methode come easily to the knowledge of many fine antiquities touching statues , colossus , and monstrous giants , onely supposing one had found but one only part of them , as the head , the hand , the foot or some bone mentioned in ancient histories . of statues , of colossus , or huge images . vitruvius relates in his second book , that the architect dinocrates was desirous to put out to the world some notable thing , went to alexander the great , and proposed unto him a high and speciall piece of work which he had projected : as to figure out the mount athos in forme of a great statue , which should hold in his right hand a towne capable to receive ten thousand men : and in his left hand a vessell to receive all the water that floweth from the mountaine , which with an ingine should cast into the sea. this is a pretty project , said alexander , but because there was not field-roome thereabout to nourish and reteine the citizens of that place , alexander was wise not to entertaine the designe . now let it be required of what greatnesse this statue might have been , the towne in his right hand , and the receiver of water in his left hand if it had been made . for the statue , it could not be higher than the mountaine it selfe , and the mountaine was about a mile in height plumb or perpendicular ; therefore the hand of this statue ought to be the 10th part of his height , which would be 500 foot , and so the breadth of his hand would be 250 foot , the length now multiplyed by the breadth , makes an hundred twenty five thousand square feet , for the quantitie of his hand to make the towne in , to lodge the said 10 thousand men , allowing to each man neere about 12 foot of square ground : now judge the capacitie of the other parts of this collossus by that which is already delivered . secondly , plinie in his 34 book of his natural history , speakes of the famous colossus that was at rhodes , between whose legges a shippe might passe with his sailes open or displayed , the statue being of 70 cubits high : and other histories report that the sarasens having broken it , did load 900 camels with the mettal of it , now what might be the greatnesse and weight of this statue ? for answer , it is usually allowed for a camels burthen 1200 pound weight , therefore all the collosus did weigh 1080000 pound weight , which is ten hundred and fourescore thousand pound vveight . novv according to the former rules , the head being the tenth part of the body , this statues head should be of 7 cubits , that is to say , 10 foot and a halfe , and seeing that the nose , the brovv , and the thumbe , are the third part of the face , his nose vvas 3 foot and a halfe long , and so much also vvas his thumbe in length : novv the thicknesse being alvvayes the third part of the length , it should seem that his thumb was a foot thick at the least . thirdly , the said plinie in the same place reports that nero did cause to come out of france into italy , a brave and bold statue-maker called zenodocus , to erect him a colossus of brasse , which was made of 120 foot in height , which nero caused to be painted in the same height . now would you know the greatnesse of the members of this colossus , the breadth would be 20 foot , his face 12 foote , his thumb and his nose 4 foot , according to the proportion before delivered . thus i have a faire field or subject to extend my selfe upon , but it is upon another occasion that it was undertaken , let us speak therefore a word touching the giants , and then passe away to the matter . of monstrous giants . you will hardly beleeve all that which i say touching this , neither will i beleeve all that which authors say upon this subject : notwithstanding you nor i cannot deny but that long ago there have been men of a most prodigious greatnesse ; for the holy vvritings vvitnesse this themselves in deut , chap. 3. that there vvas a certaine giant called og , of the town of rabath , vvho had a bed of iron , the length thereof vvas 9 cubits , and in breadth 4 cubits . so in the first of kings chap. 17. there is mention made of goliah , vvhose height vvas a palme and 6 cubits , that is more then 9 foot , he was armed from the head to the foot , and his curiat onely with the iron of his lance , weighed five thousand and six hundred shekels , which in our common weight , is more than 233 pound , of 12 ounces to the pound : now it is certaine , that the rest of his armes taking his target , helmet , bracelets , and other armour together , did weigh at the least 5 hundred pound , a thing prodigious ; seeing that the strongest man that now is , can hardly beare 200 pound , yet this giant carries this as a vesture without paine . solinus reporteth in his 5 chap. of his historie , that during the grecians warre after a great overflowing of the rivers , there was found upon the sands the carcase of a man , whose length was 33 cubits , ( that is 49 foot and a halfe ) therefore according to the proportion delivered , his face should be 5 foot in length , a thing prodigious and monstrous . plinie in his 7. book and 16 chap. saith , that in the isle of crete or candie , a mountaine being cloven by an earth-quake , there was a body standing upright , which had 46 cubits of height : some beleeve that it was the body of orion or othus , ( but i think rather it was some ghost or some delusion ) whose hand should have beene 7 foot , and his nose two foot and a half long . but that which plutarch in the l●fe of sertorius reports of , is more strange , who saith , that in timgy a morative towne , where it is thought that the giant antheus was buried , sertorius could not beleeve that which was reported of his prodigious greatnesse , caused his sepulchre to be opened , and found that his body did containe 60 cubits in length , then by proportion he should be 10 cubits or 15 foot in breadth ; 9 foot for the length of his face , 3 foot for his thumb , which is neare the capacitie of the colossus at rhodes . but behold here a fine fable of symphoris campesius , in his book intituled hortus gallicus , who sayes that in the kingdome of sicilie , at the foot of a mountaine neare trepane , in opening the foundation of a house , they found a cave in which was ●aid a giant , which held in stead of a staffe a great post like the mast of a ship : and going to handle it , it mouldered all into ashes , except the bones which remained of an exceeding great measure , that in his head there might be easily placed 5 quarters of corn , and by proportion it should seeme that his length was 200 cubits , or 300 foot : if he had said that he had been 300 cubits in length , then he might have made us beleeve that noahs ark was but great enough for his sepulchre . who can believe that any man ever had 20 cubits , or 30 foot in length for his face , and a nose of 10 foot long ? but it is very certaine that there have been men of very great stature , as the holy scriptures before witnesse , and many authours worthy of beliefe relate : josephus acosta in his first book of the indian history , chap. 19. a late writer , reporteth , that at peru was found the bones of a giant , which was 3 times greater than these of ours are , that is 18 foot , for it is usually attributed to the tallest ordinary man in these our times but 6 foot of length ; and histories are full of the description of other giants of 9 , 10 , and 12 foot of height , and it hath been seen in our times some which have had such heights as these . problem . lxxi . of the game at the palme , at trap , at bowles , paile-maile , and others . the mathematickes often findeth place in sundry games to aid and assist the gamesters , though not unknowne unto them , hence by mathematicall principles , the games at tennis may be assisted , for all the moving in it is by right lines and reflections . from whence comes it , that from the appearances of flat or convex glasses , the production and reflection of the species are explained ; is it not by right lines ? in the same proportion one might sufficiently deliver the motion of a ball or bowle by geometrical lines and angles . and the first maxime is thus : when a bowle toucheth another bowle ▪ or when a trapstick striketh the ball , the moving of the ball is made in a right line , which is drawne from the centre of the bowle by the point of contingencie . secondly , in all kinde of such motion ; when a ball or bowle rebounds , be it either against wood , a wall , upon a drumme , a pavement , or upon a racket ; the incident angle is alwayes equall to the angle of reflection . now following these maximes , it is easie to canclude , first , in what part of the wood or wall , one may make the bowle or ball go to reflect or rebound , to such a place as one would . secondly , how one may cast a bowle upon another , in such sort that the first or the second shall go and meet with the third , keeping the reflection or angle of incidence equal . thirly , how one may touch a bowle to send it to what part one pleaseth : such and many other practices may be done . at the exercises at keyls there must be taken heed that the motion slack or diminish by little and little , and may be noted that the maximes of reflections cannot be exactly observed by locall motion , as in the beames of light and of other quallities , whereof it is necessary to supply it by industry or by strength , otherwise one may be frustrated in that respect . problem . lxxii . of the game of square formes . nvmbers have an admirable secrecie , diversly applied , as before in part is shewed , and here i will say something by way of transmutation of numbers . it 's answered thus , in the first forme the men were as the figure a , then each of these 4 souldiers placed themselves at each gate , and removing one man from each angle to each gate , then would they be also 9 in each side according to the figure b. lastly , these 4 souldiers at the gates take away each one his cumrade , and placing two of these men which are at each gate to each angle , there will be still 9 for each side of the square , according to the figure c. in like manner if there were 12 men , how might they be placed about a square that the first side shall have 3 every way , then disordered , so that they might be 4 every way ; and lastly , being transported might make 5 every way ? & this is according to the figures , f. g.h problem . lxxiii . how to make the string of a viole sensibly shake , without any one touching it ? this is a miracle in musick , yet easie to be experimented . take a viole or other instrument , and choose two strings , so that there be one between them ; make these two strings , agree in one and the same tune : then move the viole-bowe upon the greater string , and you shall see a wonder : for in the same time that that shakes which you play upon , the other will likewise sensibly shake without any one touching it ; and it is more admirable that the string which is between them will not shake at all : and if you put the first string to another tune or note , and loosing the pin of the string , or stopping it with your finger in any fret , the other string will not shake : and the same will happen if you take two violes , and strike upon a string of the one , the string of the other will sensibly shake . now it may be demanded , how comes this shaking , is it in the occult sympathie , or is it in the strings being wound up to like notes or tunes , that so easily the other may receive the impression of the aire , which is agitated or moved by the shaking or the trembling of the other ? & whence is it that the viole-bowe moved upon the first string , doth instantly in the same time move the third string , and not the second ? if the cause be not either in the first or second ? i leave to others to descant on . examination . in this examination we have something else to imagine , than the bare sympathie of the cords one to another : for first there ought to be considered the different effect that it produceth by extention upon one and the same cord in capacitie : then what might be produced upon different cords of length and bigness to make them accord in a unisone or octavo , or some consort intermediate : this being naturally examined , it will be facill to lay open a way to the knowledge of the true and immediate cause of this noble and admirable phaenomeny . now this will sensibly appeare when the cords are of equall length and greatnesse , and set to an unisone ; but when the cords differ from their equalitie , it will be lesse sensible : hence in one and the same instrument , cords at a unisone shall excite or shake more than that which is at an octavo , and more than those which are of an intermediate proportionall consort : as for the other consorts they are not exempted , though the effect be not so sensible , yet more in one than in another : and the experiment will seem more admirable in taking 2 lutes , viols , &c. & in setting them to one tune : for then in touching the cord of the one , it will give a sensible motion to the cord of the other : and not onely so but also a harmony . problem . lxxiiii . of a vessell which containes three severall kindes of liquor , all put in at one bung-hole , and drawn out at one tap severally without mixture . the vessell is thus made , it must be divided into three cells for to conteine the three liquors , which admit to be sack , claret , and white-wine : now in the bung-hole there is an engine with three pipes , each extending to his proper cell , into which there is put a broach or funnell pierced in three places , in such sort , that placing one of the holes right against the pipe which answereth unto him , the other tvvo pipes are stopped ; then vvhen it is full , turne the funnel , and then the former hole vvill be stopped , and another open , to cast in other vvine vvithout mixing it vvith the other . novv to dravv out also vvithout mixture , at the bottome of the vessell there must be placed a pipe or broach , vvhich may have three pipes ; and a cock piersed vvith three holes so artificially done , that turning the cock , the whole vvhich ansvvereth to such of the pipes that is placed at the bottom , may issue forth such vvine as belongeth to that pipe , & turning the cock to another pipe , the former hole vvil be stopped ; and so there will issue forth another kinde of wine without any mixtures ; but the cocke may be so ordered that there may come out by it two wines together , or all three kindes at once : but it seems best when that in one vessell and at one cocke , a man may draw severall kindes of wine , and which he pleaseth to drink . problem . lxxv . of burning-glasses . in this insuing discourse i will shew the invention of prom●theus , how to steale fire from heaven , and bring it down to the earth ; this is done by a little round glasse , or made of steele , by which one may light a candle , and make it flame , kindle fire-brands to wake them burne , melt lead , ●inne , gold , and silver , in a little time ▪ with as great ease as though it had been put into a cruzet over a great fire . but this is nothing to the burning of those glasses which are hollow , namely those which are of steele well polished , according to a par●bolicall or ovall section . a sphericall glasse , or that which is according to the segment of a sphere , burnes very effectually about the fourth part of the diameter ; notwithstanding the parabolie and ecliptick sections have a great effect : by which glasses there are also diverse figures represented forth to the eye . the cause of this burning is the uniting of the beames of the sunne , which heat mightily in the point of concourse or inflammation , which is either by transmissi●n or reflection ▪ now it is pleasant to behold when one breatheth in the point of concourse , or throweth small dust there , or sprinkles vapours of hot water in that place ; by which the pyramidall point , or point of inflammation is knowne . now some authors promise to make glasses which shall burne a great distance off , but yet not seen vulgarly produced , of which if they were made , the parabolie makes the greatest eff●ct , and is g●nerally held to be the invention of archimedes or pro●●us . maginus in the 5 chap. of his treatise of sphericall glasses , shewes how one may serve himselfe with a concave glasse , to light fire in the shadow , or neare such a place where the sunne shines not , which is by help of a flat glasse , by which may be made a percussion of the beames of the sun into the concave glasse , adding unto it that it serves to good use to put fi●e to a mine , provided that the combustible matter be well applyed before the concave glasse ; in which he saies true : but because all the effect of the practice depends upon the placing of the glasse and the powder which he speaks not of : i will deliver here a rule more generall . how one may place a burning-glasse with his combust●ble matter in such sort , that at a convenient houre of the day , the sun shining , it shall take fire and burne : now it is certaine that the point of inflammation or burning , is changed as the sun changeth place , and no more nor lesse , than the shadow turnes about the style of a dyall ; therefore have regard to the suns motion , and ●is height and place : a bowle of crystall in the same place that the top of the style is , and the powder or other combustible matter under the meridian , or houre of 12 , 1 , 2 , 3 , &c. or any other houre , and under the suns arch for that day : now the sunne comming to the houre of 12 , to ● , 2 , ● , &c. the sunne casting his beames through the crystall bowle , will fire the materiall or combustible thing , which meets in the point of burning : the like may be observed of other burning-glasses . examination . it is certaine in the first part of this probleme that conicall , ●oncave and sphericall glasses , of what matter soever , being placed to receive the beames of the sun will excite heat , and that heat is so much the greater , by how much it is neere the point of conc●rse or inflamatio● . but that archimedes or proclus d●d fire or burne shipps with such glasses , the ancient histories are silent , yea the selves say nothing : besides the great difficultie that doth oppose it in remotenesse , and the matter that the effect is to work upon : now by a common glasse we fire things neare at hand , from which it seems very facil to such which are lesse read , to do it at a farre greater distance , and so by re●ation some deliver to the world by supposition that which never was done in action : this we say the rather , not to take away the most excellent and admirable effects which are in burning-glasses , but to shew the variety of antiquity , and truth of history : and as touching to burne at a great distance , as is said of some , it is absolutely impossible ; and that the parabolicall and ovall glasses were of archimedes and ●roclus invention is much uncertaine : for besides the construction of such glasses , they are more difficult than the obtuse concave ones are ; and further , they cast not a great heat but neere at hand ; for if it be cast farre off , the effect is little , and the heat weake , or otherwise such glasses must be greatly extended to contract many beames to amasse a sufficient quantity of beames in parabolicall and conicall glasses , the point of inflammation ought to concur in a point , which is very difficult to be done in a due proportion . moreover if the place be farre remote , as is supposed before , such a glasse cannot be used but at a great inclination of the sunne ▪ by which the eff●ct of ●urning is d●min●shed , by reason of the weaknesse of the sunne-beames . and here may be noted in the last part of this probleme , that by r●ason of obstacles if one plaine glasse be not sufficient , a second glasse may be applyed to help it : that so if by one simple reflection it cannot be done , yet by a double reflection the sun-beames may be ●ast into the said caverne or mine , and though the reflected beams in this case be weak ▪ yet upon a 〈◊〉 c●mbustible matter it will not faile to do the effect . problem . lxxvi . containing m●ny ple●sant questions by way of arithmetick● . j will not in●ert i● this probleme that which is drawne from the ●reek epigrams , but proposing the question immediately will give the an●wer also , without ●●aying to shew the manner how they are answered ; in this j will 〈◊〉 be tied to the ●reek tearms , w●●ch j account no● proper to this place , nei●●er to my purpose : ●et t●o●e ●ead that will di●phanta s●●●●biliu● upon eu●li●● and others , and they may be satisf●ed of the 〈…〉 the mule. jt 〈◊〉 ●hat ●he mule and the asse upon a day 〈◊〉 a voyage each of them carried a barrell full of wine : now the las●e asse f●lt her selfe over-loaden , complained and bowed under her burthen ; which th● mule seeing said unto her being angry , ( for it was in the time when beasts spake ) thou great asse , wherefore complainest thou ? if i had but onely one measure of that which thou carriest , i should be loaden twice as much as thou art , and if j should give a measure of my loading to thee , yet my burthen would be as much as thine . now how many measures did each of them carry ? answer , the mule did carry 7 measures , and the asse 5 measures : for if the mule had one of the measures of the asses loading , then the mule would have 8 measures , which is double to 4 , and giving one to the asse , each of them would have equall burthens : to wit , 6 measures apiece . of the number of souldiers that fought before old troy. homer being asked by he●iodus how many grecian souldiers came against troy ? who answered him thus ; the grecians , said homer , made 7 fires , or had 7 kitchins , and before every fire , or in every kitchin there were 50 broaches turning to rost a great quantitie of flesh , and each broach had meat enough to satisfie 900 men : now judge how many men there might be . answer , 315000. that is , three hundred and fifteen thousand men , which is cleare by multiplying 7 by 50 , and the product by 900 makes the said 315000. of the number of crownes that two men had . john and peter had certaine number of crowns : john said to peter , if you give me 10 of your crownes , i shall have three times as much as you have : but peter said to j●hn , if you give me 10 of your crownes i shall have 5 times as much as you have : how much had each of them ? answere , john had 15 crownes and 5 sevenths of a crowne , and peter had 18 crownes , and 4 sevenths of a crowne . for if you adde 10 of peters crownes to those of johns , then should john have 25 crownes and 5 sevenths of a crowne , which is triple to that of peters , viz. 8 ▪ and 4 sevenths : and john giving 10 to peter , peter should have then 28 crownes , and 4 sevenths of a crowne , which is quintupla , or 5 times as much as john had left , viz. 5 crownes and 5 sevenths . in like manner two gamesters playing together , a and b ▪ after play a said to b , give me 2 crownes of thy money , and i shall have twice as much as thou hast : and b said to a , give me 2 crownes of thy money , and i shall have 4 times as much as thou hast : now how much had each ? answer , a had 3 and 5 seventhes , and b had 4 and 6 seventhes . about the houre of the day . some one asked a mathemacian what a clocke it was ; who answered that the rest of the day is foure thirds of that which is past : now judge what a clock it is . answer , if the day were according to the jewes and ancient romanes , which ma●e it alwayes to be 12 houres , it was then the ● houre , and one seventh of an hou●e , so there remained of the whole day 6 , that is , 6 houres , and 6 sevenths of an hour . now if you take the 1 / ● of 5 ● / 7 it is ●2 / 7 or ● and ● 7 , which multipled by 4 makes 6 and 6 / 7 , which is the remainder of the day , as before : but if the day had been 24 houres , then the houre had been 10 of the clock ▪ and two seventhes of an houre , which is found ▪ out by dividing 12 , or 24 by ● . there might have been added many curious propositions in this kinde , but they vvould be too difficult for the most part of people ▪ therefore i have omi●ted them ▪ of pythagoras his schollers . pythagoras being asked what number of schollers he had , ansvvered , that halfe of them studied mathematickes , the fourth part physick , the seventh part rethorick , and besides he had 3 vvomen : novv judge you saith he , hovv many schollers i have . ansvver , he had in all 28 , the halfe of vvhich is 14 , the quarter of which is 7 , and the seventh part of which is which 14 , 7 , and 4 , makes 25 , and the other 3 to make up the 28 , were the 3 women . of the number of apples given amongst the graces and the muses . the three graces carrying apples upon a day , the one as many as the other , met with the 9 muses , who asked of them some of their apples ; so each of the graces gave to each of the muses alike , and the distribution being made , they found that the graces & the muses had one as many as the other : the question is how many apples each grace had , and how many they gave to each muse ? ●o ansvver the qeustion , joyne the number of graces and muses together vvhich makes 12 , and so many apples had each grace : novv may you take the double , triple , &c. of 12 that is 24 , 36 , &c. conditionally , that if each grace had but 12 , then may there be allotted to each muse but one onely ; if 24 , then to each 2 apples , if ●6 , then to each muse 3 apples , and so the distribution being made , they have a like number , that is one as many as the other . of the testament or last will of a dying father . a dying father left a thousand crovvnes amongst his tvvo children ; the one being legitimate , and the other a bastard , conditionally that the fifth part which his legittimate sonne should have , should exceed by 10 , the fourth part of that which the bastard should have : what was each 〈◊〉 part ? answer , the legitimate sonne had 577 crownes and 7 / ● , and the bastard 42● crownes and 2 / 9 now the fifth part of 577 and 7 ninthes is 1●5 , and 5 / 9 , and the fourth part of 422 and ● is 105 and ● which is lesse then ●15 ● by 10 , according to the will of the testator . of the cups of croesus . croesus gave to the temple of the ●ods six cups of gold ▪ which weighed together ●00 drammes , but each cup was heavier one than another by one dram : how much did each of them therefore weigh ? answer , the first weighed 102 drammes and a halfe ; the second 101 drammes and a halfe , the third 100 drammes and ● , the fourth 99 a & halfe , the fifth 98 & a halfe ; and the sixt cup weighed 97 drammes and a halfe ▪ which together makes 600 drams as before . of cupids apples . cvpid complained to his mother that the muses had taken away his apples , clio , said he , took from me the fifth part , euterp the twelfth part , thalia the eighth part , m●lp●meno the twentieth part , erates the seventh part ▪ terpomene the fourth part , polyhymnia took away 30 , vrania 220 , and calliope 300. so there vvere left me but 5 appls , hovv many had he in all at the first ? i ansvver 3●60 . there are an infinite of such like questions amongst the greek epigrams : but it would be unpleasant to expresse them all : i will onely adde one more , and shew a generall rule for all the rest . of a mans age. a man vvas said to passe the sixth part of his life in childe-hood , the fourth part in his youth , the ●hird part in manhood , and 18 yeares besides in old age : what might his age be ? the ansvver is , 72 yeares : vvhich and all others is thus resolved : multiply 1 / ● ▪ ¼ and ⅓ ▪ together , that is , 6 by 4 makes 24 , and that againe by 3 makes 72 , then take the third part of 72 , vvhich is 24 , the fourth part of it , vvhich is 18 , and the sixth part of it vvhich is 12 , these added together make 54 , vvhich taken from 72 , rests 18 this divided by 18 ( spoken in the question ) gives 1 , which multiplied by the summe of the parts , viz. 72 , makes 72 , the ansvver as before . of the lion of bronze placed upon a fountaine with this epigramme . ovt of my right eye if i let vvater passe , i can fill the cisterne in 2 dayes : if i let it passe out of the left eye , it vvill be filled in 3 dayes : if it passe out of my feet , the cistern vvill be 4 dayes a●filling ; but if i let the vvater passe out of my mouth , i can fill the cistern then in 6 houres : in vvhat time should i fill it , if i poure forth the vvater at all the passages at once ? the greeks ( the greatest talkers in the vvorld ) variously apply this question to divers statues , and pipes of fountaines : and the solution is by the rule of ● , by a generall rule , or by ●lgebra . they have also in their anthologie many other questions , but because they are more proper to exercise , than to recreate the spirit , i passe them over ( as before ) with silence . problem . lxxvii . divers excellent and admirable experiments upon glasses . there is nothing in the world so beautifull as light : and nothing more recreative to the sight , than glasses vvhich reflect : therefore i vvill novv produce some experiments upon them , not that vvill dive into their depth ( that vvere to lay open a mysterious thing ) but that vvhich may delight and recreate the spirits : let us suppose therefore these principles , upon which is built the demonstration of the appar●nces which are made ●n all sort of glasses . first , that the rayes or beames , vvhich reflect upon a glasse , make the angle of incident equall to the angle of reflection , by the first theo. of the catoptick of euc. secondly , that in all plain glasses , the images are seen in the perpendicular line to the glasse , as far within the glass as the object is without it . thirdly , in concave , or convex glasses , the images are seen in the right line which passeth from the object and through the centre in the glasse . theo. 17. and 18. and here you are to understand , that there is not meant only those which are simple glasses or glasses of steele , but all other bodies , which may represent the visible image of things by reason of their reflection , as water , marble , mettal , or such like . now take a glasse in your hand and make experiment upon that which followeth . experiment upon flat and plaine glasses . first , a man cannot see any thing in these glasses , if he be not directly and in a perpendicular line before it , neither can he see an object in these glasses , if it be not in such a place , that makes the angle of incidence equall to the angle of reflexion : therefore when a glasse stands upright , that is , perpendicular to the horizon , you cannot see that which is above , except the glasse be placed down flat : and to see that on the right hand , you must be on the left hand , &c. secondly , an image cannot be seen in a glass if it be not raised above the surface of it ; or place a glasse upon a wall , you shall see nothing which is upon the plaine of the wall , and place it upon a table or horizontal plaine , you shall see nothing of that which is upon the table . thirdly , in a plaine glasse all that is seene appeares or seemes to sink behinde the glasse , as much as the image is before the glasse , as before is said . fourthly , ( as in water ) a glasse lying downe flat , or horizontall , towers , trees , men , or any height doth appeare , inversed or upside downe ; and a glasse placed upright , the right hand of the jmage seems to be the left , and the left seems to be the right . fifthly , will you see in a chamber that which is done in the street , without being seen ▪ then a glasse must be disposed , that the line upon which the jmages come on the glasse , make the angle of incidence equall to that angle of reflexion . seventhly , present a candle upon a plaine glasse , and look flaunting upon it , so that the candle and the glasse be neere in a right line , you shall see 3 , 4 , 5 , &c. images , from one and the same candle . eightly , take tvvo plaine glasses , and hold them one against the other , you shall alternately see them oftentimes one vvithin the other , yea vvithin themselves , againe and againe . ninthly , if you hold a plaine glasse behinde your head , and another before your face , you may see the h●nder part of your head , in that glasse vvhich you hold before your face . tenthly , you may have a fine experiment if you place tvvo glasses together , that they make an acute angle , and so the lesser the angle is , the more apparances you shall see , the one direct , the other inversed , the one approaching , and the other retiring . eleventhly , it is a vvonder & astonishment to some , to see within a glasse an image vvithout knovving from vvhence it came , and it may be done many vvayes : as place a glass higher than the eye of the beholder , and right against it is some image ; so it resteth not upon the beholder , but doth cast the image upvvards . then place another object , so that it reflect , or cast the image downeward to the eye of the spectator ▪ without perceiving it being hid behinde something , for then the glasse will represent a quite contrary thing , either that which is before the glasse , or that which is about it , to wit , the other hidden object . twelfthly , if there be ingraved behinde the backside of a glasse , or drawne any image upon it , it will appeare before as an image , without any appearance : o● portraicture to be perceived . examination . this 12 article of ingraving an image behinde the glasse , will be of no great consequence ▪ because the lineaments will seem so obscure , but if there were painted some image , and then that covered according to the usuall covering of glasses behinde , and so made up like an ordinary looking-glasse having an image in the middle , in this respect it would be sufficiently pleasant : and that which would admire the ignorant , and able to exercise the most subtillest , and that principally if the glasse be in an obscure place , and the light which is given to it be somewhat farre off . place a glasse neare the floor of a chamber , & make a hole through the place under the glasse , so that those which are below may not perceive it , and dispose a bright image under the hole so that it may cast his species upon the glasse , and it will cause admiration to those which are below that know not the cause ; the same may be done by placing the image in a chamber adjoyning , and so make it to be seen upon the side of the wall. 14 in these channel-images which shew one side a deaths head , & another side a faire face : and right before some other thing : it is a thing evident , that setting a plaine glasse sidewise to this image you shall see it in a contrary thing , then that which was presented before sidewise . 15 lastly , it is a fine secret to present unto a plaine glasse writing with such industry , that one may read it in the glasse , and yet out of the glasse there is nothing to be known , which will thus happen , if the writing be writ backward : but that which is more strange , to shew a kinde of writing to a plaine glasse , it shall appear another kinde of writing both against sense and forme , as if there were presented to the glasse wel it would shew it met ; if it were written thus miv , and presented to the glasse , it would appeare thus vim ; for in the first , if the glasse ly flat , then the things are inversed that are perpendicular to the glass , if the glass and the object be upright , then that on the right hand , is turned to the left , as in the latter . and here i cease to speak further of these plaine glasses , either of the admirable multiplications , or appearances , which is made in a great number of them ; for to content the sight in this particular , one must have recourse to the cabinets of great personages who inrich themselves with most beautifull ones . experiments upon gibbous , or convex sphericall glasses . if they be in the forme of a bowle , or part of a great globe of glasse , there is singular contentment to contemplate on them . first , because they present the objects lesse and more gracious , and by hovv much more the images are separated from the glasse , by so much the more they diminish in magnitude . secondly , they that shew the images plaiting , or foulding , which is very pleasant , especially when the glasse is placed downe , and behold in it some blanching , feeling , &c. the upper part of a gallerie , the porch of a hall , &c. for they will be represented as a great vessel having more belly in the middle then at the two ends , and posts , and joists of timber will seeme as circles . thirdly , that which ravisheth the spirits , by the eye , and which shames the best perspective painting that a painter can make , is the beautifull contraction of the images , that appeare within the sphericity of these small glasses : for present the glasse to the lower end of a gallarie , or at the corner of a great court full of people , or towards a great street , church , fortification , an army of men , to a whole cittie ; all the faire architecture , and appearances will be seene contracted within the circuit of the glasse with such varietie of colours , and distinctions in the lesser parts , that i know not in the world what is more agreeable to the sight , and pleasant to behold , in which you will not have an exact proportion , but it will be variable , according to the distance of the object from the glasse . exptriments upon hollow , or concave sphericall glasses . i have heretofore spoken how they may burne , being made of glasse , or metall , it remaines now that i deliver some pleasant uses of them , which they represent unto our sight , and so much the more notable it will be , by how much the greater the glasse is , and the globe from whence it is extracted for it must in proportion as a segment of some be made circle or orbe . examination . in this we may observe that a section of 2.3 . or 4. inches in diameter , may be segments of spheres of 2.3 . or 4. foot ● nay of so many fadome , for it is certaine that amongst those which comprehend a great portion of a lesser sphere , and those which comprehend a little segment of a great spheere , whether they be equall or not in section , there will happen an evident difference in one and the same experiment , in the number , situation , quantitie , and figure of the images of one or many different objects , and in burning there is a great difference . maginus , in a little tractate that he had upon these glasses , witnesseth of himselfe that he hath caused many to be polished for sundry great lords of italy , and germanie , which were segments of globes of 2.3 . and 4. foot diameter ; and i wish you had some such like to see the experiments of that which followeth ; it is not difficult to have such made , or bought here in town , the contentment herein would beare with the cost . examination . touching maginus he hath nothing ayded us to the knowledge of the truth by his extract out of vitellius , but left it : expecting it from others , rather than to be plunged in the search of it himselfe , affecting rather the forging of the matter , and composition of the glasses , than geometrically to establish their effects . first therefore in concave glasses , the images are seene sometimes upon the surface of the glasses , sometimes as though they were within it and behinde it , deeply sunk into it , sometimes they are seene before , and without the glasse , sometimes between the object and the glasse ; sometimes in the place of the eye , sometimes farther from the glasse then the object is : which comes to passe by reason of the divers concourse of the beames , and change of the place of the images in the line of reflection . examination . the relation of these appearances passe current amongst most men , but because the curious may not receive prejudice in their experiments , something ought to be said thereof to give it a more lively touch : in the true causes of these appearances , in the first place it is impossible that the image can be upon the surface of the glasse , and it is a principall point to declare truly in which place the image is seen in the glasse those that are more learned in opticall knowledge affirme the contrary , and nature it selfe gives it a certaine place according to its position being alwayes seen in the line of reflection which alhazen , vitellius , and others full of grea● knowledge , have confirmed by their writings : but in their particular they were too much occupied by the authority of the ancients who were not s●fficiently ci●cumspect in experience upon which the principles of this sub●ect ought to be built , an● searched not fully into the true cause of these appearances , seeing they leave unto posterities many 〈◊〉 in their writings , ●nd those that followed them for the most part fell into the like errors . as for the jmages to bid● in the eye ▪ it cannot be but is imp●rtinent and absurd ; but it followeth that , by how much neerer the ob●ect appro●cheth to the glasse , by so much the more the appearances seem to come to the eye : and if the eye be without the point of concourse , and the object also ; as long as the object approacheth thereto , the representation of the image cometh neere the eye , but passing the point of concourse it goes back againe : these appearances thus approaching do not a little astonish those which are ignorant of the cause : they are inversed , if the eye be without the point of concourse untill the object be within , but contrarily if the eye be between the point of concourse and the glasse , then the jmages are direct : and if the eye or the object be in the point of concourse , the glasse will be enlightened and the jmages confused , and if there were but a spark of fire in the said point of concourse , all the glasse would seeme a burning fire-brand , and we dare say it would occurre without chance , and in the night be the most certaine and subtilest light that can be , if a candle were placed there . and whosoever shall enter into the search of the truth of new experiments in this subject without doubt he will confirme what we here speak of : & will finde new lights with a conveniable position to the glasse , he will have reflection of quantities , of truth , and fine secrets in nature , yet not known , which he may easily comprehend if he have but an indifferent sight , and may assure himselfe that the images cannot exceed the fight , nor trouble it , a thing too much absurd to nature . and it is an absolute verity in this science , that the eye being once placed in the line of reflection of any object , and moved in the same line : the obect is seene in one and the same place immutable ; or if the image and the eye move in their owne lines , the representation in the glasse seemes to invest it selfe continually with a different figure . now the image comming thus to the eye , those which know not the secret , draw their sword when they see an image thus to issue out of the glasse , or a pistoll which some one holds behinde : and some glasses will shew a sword wholly drawne out , sepa●ated from the glasse , as though it were in the aire : and it is daily exercised , that a man may touch the image of his hand or his face out of the glasse , which comes out the farther , by how much the glasse is great and the centre remote . examination . now that a pistoll being presented to a glasse behinde a man , should come out of the glasse , and make him afraid that stands before , seeming to shoot at him , this cannot be : for no object whatsoever presented to a concave glasse , if it be not neerer to the g●asse then the eye is it comes not out to the sight of the party ; therefore he needs not feare that which is said to be behinde his back , and comes out of the glasse ; for if it doth come out , it must then necessarily be before his face , so in a concave glasse whose centre is farre remote of a sword , stick , or such like be presented to the glasse , it shall totally be seen to come forth of the glasse and all the hand that holds it . and here generally note that if an image be seen to issue out of the glasse to come towards the face of any one that stands by , the object shall be likewise seen to thrust towards that face in the glass and may easily be knowne to all the standers by : so many persons standing before a glasse , if one of the company take a sword , and would make it issue forth towards any o●her that stands there : let him chuse his image in the gl●sse and carry the sword right towards it and the effect will follow . in like manner ones hand being presented to the glosse as it is thrust towards the centre , s● the representation of it comes towards it , and so the hands will seeme to be united , or to touch one another . from which may be concluded , if such a glasse be placed at the seeling or planching of a hall , so that the face be horizontall and look downward ; one may see under it as it were a man hanging by the feet , and if there were many placed so , one could not enter into that place without great feare or scaring : for one should see many men in the aire as if they were hanging by the feet . examination . touching a glasse tyed at a seeling or planching , that one may see a man hang by the feet in the aire , and so many glasses , many men may be seen : without caution this is very absurd for if the glasse or glasses be not so great that the centre of the sphere upon which it was made , extend not neere to the head of him that is under it , it will not pleasantly appeare , and though the glasse should be of that capacity that the centre did extend so farre , yet will not the images be seene to them which are from the glasse but on●y to those which are under it , or neere unto it : and to them it will not ably appeare , and it would be most admirable to have a gallerie vaulted over with such glasses which would wonderfully astonish any one that enters into it : for a●l the things in the gallery would be seen to hang in the aire , and you could not walk without incountering airie apparitions . secondly , in flat or plaine glasses the image is seen equall to his object , and to represent a whole man , there ought to be a glasse as great as the image is : in convex glasses the images are seen alwayes lesse , in concave glasses they may be seen greater or lesser , but not truly proportionable , by reason the diverse reflexions which contracts or inlargeth the species : when the eye is between the centre and the surface of the glasse ; the image appeares sometimes very great and deformed , and those which have but the appearance of the beginning of a beard on their chinne , may cheare up themselves to see they have a great beard ; those that seeme to be faire will thrust away the glasse with despight , because it will transforme their beauty : those that put their hand to the glasse vvill seeme to have the hand of a giant , and if one puts his finger to the glasse it vvill be seen as a great pyramide of flesh , inversed against his finger . thirdly , it is a thing admirable that the eye being approached to the point of concourse of the glasse , there vvill be seen nothing but an intermixture or confusion : but retiring back a little from that point , ( because the rayes do there meet ▪ ) he shall see his image inversed , having his head belovv and his feet above . fourthly , the divers appearances caused by the motion of objects , either retiring or approaching : whether they turne to the right hand or to the left hand , whether the glasse be hung against a wall , or whether it be placed upon a pavement , as also what may be represented by the mutuall aspect of concave glasses with plaine and convex glasses but i will with silence passe them over , only say something of two rare experiments more as followeth . the first is to represent by help of the sun , such letters as one would upon the front of a house : so that one may read them : maginus doth deliver the way thus . write the letters , saith he , sufficiently bigge , but inversed upon the surface of the glasse , with some kinde of colour , or these letters may be written with wax , ( the easier to be taken out againe : ) for then placing the glasse to the sunne , the letters which are written there will be reverberated or reflected upon the wall : hence it was perhaps that pythagoras did promise with this invention to write upon the moone . in the second place , how a man may sundry wayes help himselfe with such a glasse , with a lighted torch or candle , placed in the point of concourse or inflammation , which is neare the fourth part of the diameter : for by this meanes the light of the candle will be reverberated into the glasse , and vvill be cast back againe very farre by parrallel lines , making so great a light that one may clearly see that vvhich is done farre off , yea in the camp of an enemie : and those which shall see the glasse a farre off , will think they see a silver basin inlightened , or a fire more resplendent then the torch . it is this way that there are made certaine lanthorns which dazell the eyes of those which come against them ; yet it serves singular well to enlighten those which carry them , accommodating a candle with a little hollow glasse , so that it may successively be applyed to the point of inflammation . in like manner by this reflected light , one may reade farre off , provided that the letters be indifferent great , as an epitaph placed high , or in a place obscure ; or the letter of a friend which dares not approach without perill or suspicion . examination . this will be scarce sensible upon a wall remote from the glasse , and but indifferently seen upon a wall which is neare the glasse , and withall it must be in obscuritie or shadowed , or else it will not be seen . to cast light in the night to a place remote , with a candle placed in the point of concourse or inflammation , is one of the most notablest properties which can be shewne in a concave glasse : for if in the point of inflammation of a parabolicall section , a candle be placed , the light will be reflected by parallel lines , as a columne or cylinder ; but in the sphericall section it is defective in part , the beames being not united in one point , but somewhat scattering : notwithstanding it casteth a very great beautifull light . lastly , those which feare to hurt their sight by the approach of lampes or candles , may by this artifice place at some corher of a chamber , a lamp with a hollow glasse behinde it , which will commodiously reflect the light upon a table , or to a place assigned : so that the glasse be somewhat raised to make the light to streeke upon the table with sharp angles , as the sunne doth when it is but a little elevated above the horizon , for this light shall exceed the light of many candles placed in the roome , and be more pleasant to the sight of him that useth it . of other glasses of pleasure . first , the columnary and pyramidall glasses that are contained under right lines , do represent the images as plaine glasses do ; and if they be bowing , then they represent the image , as the concave and convex glasses do . secondly , those glasses which are plaine , but have ascents of angels in the middle , will shew one to have foure eyes , two mouthes , two noses , &c. examination . th●se experiments will be found different according to the diverse meeting of the glasses , which commonly are made scuing-wise at the end , 〈◊〉 which there will be two divers superficies in the glasse , making the exteriour angle somewhat raised , at the interiour onely one superficies , which may be covered according to ordinary glasses to c●use a reflexion , and so it will be but one glasse , which by refraction according to the different thicknesse of the glasse , and different angles of the scuing forme , do differently present the images to the eye , as foure eyes , two mouthes , two noses ; sometimes three eyes one mouth , and one nose , the one large and the other long , sometimes two eyes onely : with the mouth and the nose deformed , which the glasse ( impenetrable ) will not shew . and if there be an interiour solid angle , according to the difference of it ( as if it be more sharp ) there will be represented two distinct double images , that is , two entire visages and as the angle is open , by so much the more the double images will reunite and enter one within another , which will present sometimes a whole visage extended at large , to have foure eyes , two noses , and two mouthes : and by moving the glasse the angle will vanish , and so the two superficies will be turned into one , and the duplicity of images will also vanish and appeare but one onely : and this is easily experimented with two little glasses of steel , or such like so united , that they make divers angles and inclinations . thirdly , there are glasses which make men seeme pale , red , and coloured in diverse manners , which is caused by the dye of the glasse , or the diverse refraction of the species : and those which are made of silver , latine , steele , &c. do give the images a diverse colour also . in which one may see that the appearances by some are made fairer , younger or older than they are ; and contrarily others will make them foule and deformed : and give them a contrary visage : for if a glasse be cut as it may be , or if many pieces of glasse be placed together to make a conveniable reflexion : there might be made of a mole ( as it were ) a mountaine , of one haire a tree , a fly to be as an elephant , but i should be too long if i should say all that which might be said upon the property of glasses . i will therefore conclude this discourse of the properties of these glasses with these foure recreative problemes following . problem . lxxviii . 1 how to shew to one that is suspitious , what is done in another chamber or roome : notwithstanding the interposition of the wall . for the performance of this , there must be placed three glasses in the two chambers , of which one of them shall be tyed to the planching or seeling , that it may be common to communicate the species to each glasse by reflexion , there being left some hole at the top of the wall against the glasse to this end : the two other glasses must be placed against the two walls at right angles , as the figure here sheweth at b. and c. then the sight at e by the line of incidence fe , shall fall upon the glasse ba , and reflect upon the superficies of the glasse bc , in the point g ; so that if the eye be at g , it should see e , and e would reflect upon the third glass in the point h , and the eye that is at l , will see the image that is at e. in the point of the cath●r● : which image shall come to the eye of the suspicious , viz. at l. by help of the third glasse , upon which is made the second reflexion , and so brings unto the eye the object , though a wall be between it . corolarie . 1. by this invention of reflections the besiegers of a towne may be seene upon the rampart : notwithstanding the parapet , which the besieged may do by placing a glasse in the hollow of the ditch , and placing another upon the toppe of the wall , so that the line of incidence comming to the bottom of the ditch , make an angle equall to the angle of reflexion , then by this situation and reflexion , the image of the besiege● 〈◊〉 will be seen to him is upon the rampart corolarie 2. by which also may be inferred , that the same reflexions may be seen in a regular polygon , and placing as many glasses as there are sides , counting two for one ; for then the object being set to one of the glasses , and the eye in the other , the jmage will be seen easily . corolarie 3. farther , notwithstanding the interposition of many walls , chambers , or cabinets , one may see that which passeth through the most remotest of them , by placing of many glasses as there are openings in the walls , making them to receive the incident angles equall : that is , placing them in such sort by some geometricall assistant , that the incident points may meet in the middle of the glasses : but here all the defect will be , that the jmages passing by so many reflexions , will be very weak and scarce observable . problem . lxxix . how with a musket to strike a mark , not looking towards it , as exact as one aiming at it . as let the eye be at o ▪ and the mark c , place a plaine glasse perpendicular as ab . so the marke c shall be seen in catheti ca , viz. in d , and the line of reflexion is d , now let the musket fe , upon a rest ▪ be moved to and fro untill it be seen in the line od , which admit to be hg , so giving fire to the musket , it shall undoubtedly strike the mark . corolaries . from which may be gathered , that one may exactly shoot out of a musket to a place which is not seen , being hindered by some obstacle , or other interposition . as let the eye be at m , the mark c , and the wall which keeps it from being seene , admit to be qr , then set up a plaine glass as ab , and let the musket by gh , placed upon his rest po. now because the marke c is seen at d , move the musket to and fro , untill it doth agree with the line of reflection mb , which suppose at li , so shall it be truly placed , and giving fire to the musket , it shall not faile to strike the said mark at c. problem . lxxx . how to make an image to be seen hanging in the aire , having his head downeward . take two glasses , and place them at right angles one unto the other , as admit ab , and cb , of which admit cb , ho●izontall , and let the eye be at h , and the object or image to be de ; so d will be reflected at f , so to n , so to he : then at g , so to ● and then to h , and by a double reflection ed will seeme in qr , the highest point d in r , and the point l in q inversed as was said , taking d for the head , and e for the feet ; so it will be a man inversed , which will seem to be flying in the aire , if the jmage had wings unto it , and had secretly 〈◊〉 motion : and if the glasse were bigge enough to receive many reflexions , it would deceive the sight the more by admiring the changing of colours that would be seen by that motion . problem . lxxxi . how to make a company of representative souldiers seeme to be a regiment , or how few in number may be multiplyed to seem to be many in number . to make the experiment upon men , there must be prepared two great glasses ; but in stead of it we will suppose two lesser , as gh . and fi , one placed right against another perpendicular to the horizon , upon a plaine levell table : betvveene vvhich glasses let there be ranged in battalia-vvise upon the same table a number of small men according to the square g , h , i , f , or in any other forme or posture : hen may you evidently see hovv the said battel vvill be multiplyed and seem farre bigger in the appearance than it is in effect . corolarie . by this invention you may make a little cabinet of foure foot long , and tvvo foot large , ( more or lesse ) vvhich being filled vvith rockes or such like things , or there being put into it silver , gold , stones of luster , jewels , &c. and the walls of the said cabinet being all covered , or hung with plaine glasse ; these visibles will appeare manifoldly increased , by reason of the multiplicitie of reflexions , and at the opening of the said cabinet , having set something which might hide them from being seen , those that look into it will be astonished to see so few in number which before seemed to be so many . problem . lxxxii . of fine and pleasant dyal● . could you choose a more ridiculous one than the natural dyall written amongst the greek epigrams , upon which some sound poet made verses ; shewing that a man carrieth about him alwayes a dyall in his face by meanes of the nose and teeth ? and is not this a jolly dyall ? for he need not but open the mouth , the lines shall be all the teeth , and the nose shall serve for the style . of a dyall of hearbes . can you have a finer thing in a garden , or in the middle of a compartemeet , than to see the lines and the number of houres represented with little bushie hearbes , as of hysope or such which is proper to be cut in the borders ; and at the top of the style to have a fanne to shew which way the winde b●oweth ? this is very pleasant and useful . of the dyall upon the fingers and the hand . is it nor a commoditie very agreeable , when one is in the fie●d or in some vil●age vvithout any other dyall , to see onely by the hand what of the clock it is ? vvhich gives it very neare ; and may be practised by the left hand , in this manner . take a stravv or like thing of the length of the index or the second finger , hold this straw very right betvveen the thumb and the fore-finger , then stretch forth the hand ▪ and turne your back , and the palm of your hand tovvards the sunne ; so that the shadovv of the muscle vvhich is under the thumb , touch the line of life , vvhich is betvveen the middle of the tvvo other great lines , vvhich is seen in the palme of the hand , this done , the end of the shadovv vvill shevv vvhat of the clock it is : for at the end of the first finger it is 7 in the morning , or 5 in the evening , at the end of the ring-finger it is 8 in the morning , or 4 in the evening , at the end of the little finger or first joynt , it is 9 in the morning , or 3 in the after-noone , 10 & 2 at the second joynt , 11 and 1 at the third joynt , and midday in the line follovving , vvhich comes from the end of the index . of a dyall which was about an obeliske at rome . was not this a pretty fetch upon a pavement , to choose an obeliske for a dyall , having 106 foot in height , without removing the basis of it ? plinie assures us in his 26 book and 8 chap. that the emperour augustus having accom●odated in the field of mars an obeliske of this height , he made about it a pavement , and by the industry of man●lius the mathematician , there were enchaced markes of copper upon the pavement , and placed also an apple of gold upon the toppe of the said obeliske , to know the houre and the course of the sunne , with the increase and decrease of dayes by the same shadow : and in the same manner do some by the shadow of their head or other style , make the like experiments in astronomie . of dyals with glasses . pt●lomie w●ites , as cardanus reports , that long ago there were glasses which served for dyals , and presented the face of the beholder as many times as the houre ought to be , twice if it were 2 of the clock , 9 if it were 9 , &c. but this was thought to be done by the help of water , and not by glasses , which did leake by little and little out of the vessell , discovering anon one glasse , then anon two glasses , then 3 , 4 , 5 glasses , &c. to shew so many faces as there were houres , which was onely by leaking of water . of a dyall which hath a glasse in the place of the style . what will you say of the invention of mathematicians , which finde out daily so many fine and curious novelties ? they have now a way to make dyals upon the wainscot or seeling of a chamber , and there where the sunne can never shine , or the beames of the sunne cannot directly strike : and this is done in placing of a little glasse in the place of the style which reflecteth the light , with the same condition that the shadow of the style sheweth the houre : and it is easie to make experiment upon a common dyall , changing only the disposition of the dyall , and tying to the end of the style a piece of plaine glasse . the almaines use it much , who by this way have no greater trouble , but to put their noses out of their beds and see what a clock it is , which is reflected by a little hole in the window upon the wall or seeling of the chamber . examination . in this there are two experiments considerable , the first is with a very little glasse placed so that it may be open to the beames of the sunne , the other hath respect to a spacious or great glasse placed to a very little hole so that the sun may shine on it , for then the shadow which is cast upon the dyall is converted into beames of the sunne , and will reflect and becast upon a plain opposite : and in the other it is a hole in the window or such like , by which may passe the beames of the sun , which represent the extreamity of the style , & the glasse representeth the plaine of the dyall , upon which the beames being in manner of shadowes reflect cast upon a plaine opposite : and it is needfull that in this second way the glasse may be spacious , as before , to receive the delineaments of the dyall . otherwise you may draw the lineaments of a dyall upon any plaine looking-glasse which reflecteth the sunne-beames , for the applying a style or a pearle at the extreamitie of it : and placed to the sunne , the reflexion will be answerable to the delineaments on the glasse : but here note , that the glasse ought to be great , and so the delineaments thereon . but that which is most noble , is to draw houre-lines upon the outside of the glasse of a window , and placing a style thereto upon the outside , the shadow of the style will be seen within , and so you have the hour , more certaine without any difficulty . of dyals with water . svch kinde of dyals were made in ancient times , and also these of sand : before they had skill to make sun-dyals or dyals with wheeles ; for they used to fill a vessell with water , and having experience by tryall thar it would runne out all in a day , they did marke within the vessell the houres noted by the running of the water ; and some did set a piece of light board in the vessell to swimme upon the top of the water , carrying a little statue , which with a small stick did point out the houre upon a columne or wall , figured with houre-notes , as the vessell was figured within . novv it seemes a safer vvay that the vvater passe out by drop and drop , and drop into a cylindricall glasse by help of a pipe : for having marked the exterior part of the cylinder in the houre notes , the vvater it selfe vvhich falls vvithin it , vvill shevv vvhat of the clock it is , farre better than the running of sand , for by this may you have the parts of the houres most accurate , vvhich commonly by sand is not had : and to vvhich may be added the houres of other countreys vvith greater ease . and here note , that as soone as the vvater is out ▪ of one of the glasses , you may turne it over into the same againe out of the other , and so let it runne anevv . problem . lxxxiii . of cannons or great artillery . souldiers , and others would willingly see 〈◊〉 problems , which containe : three or foure subtile questions : the first is , how to charge a cannon without powder ? this may be done vvith aire and vvater , only having throvvn cold vvater into the cannon , vvhich might be squirted forceably in by the closure of the mouth of the piece , that so by this pressure the aire might more condense ; then having a round piece of vvood very just , and oiled vvell for the better to slide , and thrust the bullet vvhen it shall be time : this piece of vvood may be held fast vvith some pole , for feare it be not thrust out before his time : then let fire be made about the trunion or hinder part of the piece to heat the aire and vvater , and then vvhen one vvould shoot it , let the pole be quickly loosened , for then the aire searching a greater place , and having vvay novv offered , vvill thrust out the vvood and the bullet very quick : the experiment vvhich vve have in long trunkes shooting out pellats vvith aire only , shevveth the verity of this probleme . 2 in the second question it may be demanded , how much time doth the bull●● of a cannon spend in the aire before i● falls to the ground ? the resolution of this question depends upon the goodnesse of the piece & charge thereof , seeing in each there is great difference . it is reported , that tich● bra●e , and the landsgrave did make an experiment upon a cannon in germany , which being charged and shot off ; the bullet spent two minutes of time in the aire before it fell : and the distance was a germane mile , which distance proportionated to an hours time , makes 120 italian miles . 3. in the third question it may be asked , how it comes to passe , that a cannon shooting upwards , the bullet flies with more violence than being shot point-blanke , or shooting downeward ? if we regard the effect of a cannon when it is to batter a wall , the question is false , seeing it is most evident that the blowes which fall perpendicular upon a wall , are more violent than those which strike byas-wise or glaunsingly . but considering the strength of the blow only , the question is most true , and often experimented to be found true : a piece mounted at the best of the randon , which is neare halfe of the right , conveyes her bullet with a farre greater violence then that which is shot at point blanke , or mounted parallel to the horizon . the common reason is , that shooting high , the fire carries the bowle a longer time in the aire , and the aire moves more ●acill upwards , than dovvnevvards , because that the airy circles that the motion of the bullet makes , are soonest broken . hovvsoever this be the generall tenet , it is curious to finde out the inequality of moving of the aire ; vvhether the bullet fly upvvard , dovvnevvard , or right forvvard , to produce a sensible dfference of motion ; & some think that the cannon being mounted , the bullet pressing the povvder maketh a greater resistance , and so causeth all the povvder to be inflamed before the bullet is throvvne out , vvhich makes it to be more violent than othervvise it vvould be . when the cannon is othervvise disposed , the contrary arives , the fire leaves the bullet , and the bullet rolling from the povvder resists lesse : and it is usually seene , that shooting out of a musket charged onely vvith povvder , to shoot to a marke of paper placed point blanke , that there are seene many small holes in the paper , vvhich cannot be other than the graines of powder which did not take fire : but this latter accident may happen from the over-charging of the piece , or the length of it , or windy , or dampenesse of the powder . from which some may think , that a cannon pointed right to the zenith , should shoot with greater violence , then in any other mount or forme whatsoever : and by some it hath beene imagined , that a bullet shot in this fashion hath been consumed , melted , and lost in the aire , by reason of the violence of the blow , and the activity of the sire , and that sundry experiments have been made in this nature , and the bullet never found . but it is hard to believe this assertion : it may rather be supposed that the bullet falling farre from the piece cannot be discerned where it falls : and so comes to be lost . 4. in the fourth place it may be asked , whether the discharge of a cannon b● so much the greater , by how much it is longer ? it seemeth at the first to be most true , that the longer the piece is , the more violent it shoots : and to speak generally , that which is direction by a trunke , pipe , or other concavitie , is conveyed so much the more violent , or better , by how much it is longer , either in respect of the sight , hearing , water , fire , &c. & the reason seems to hold in cannons , because in those that are long , the fire is retained a longer time in the concavitie of the piece , and so throwes out the bullet with more violence ; and experience lets us see that taking cannons of the same boare , but of diversitie of length from 8 foot to 12 , that the cannon of 9 foot long hath more force than that of 8 foot long , and 10 more than that of 9 , and so unto 12 foote of length . now the usuall cannon carries 600 paces , some more , some lesse , yea some but 200 paces from the piece , and may shoot into soft earth 15 or 17 foot , into sand or earth which is loose , 22 or 24 foot , and in firme ground , about 10 or 12 foot , &c. it hath been seen lately in germany , where there were made pieces from 8 foot long to 17 foot of like boare , that shooting out of any piece which was longer than 12 foot ; the force was diminished , and the more in length the piece increaseth , the lesse his force was : therefore the length ought to be in a meane measure , and it is often seene , the greater the cannon is , by so much the service is greater : but to have it too long or too short , is not convenient , but a meane proportion of length to be taken , otherwise the flame of the fire will be over-pressed with aire : whic hinders the motion in respect of substance , and distance of getting out . problem . lxxxiiii . of predigious progression and multiplication , of creatures , plants , fruits , numbers , gold , silver , &c. when they are alwayes augmented by certaine proportion . here we shall shew things no lesse admirable , as recreative , and yet so certaine and easie to be demonstrated , that there needs not but multiplication only , to try each particular : and first , of graines of mustard-seed . first , therefore it is certaine that the increase of one graine of mustard-seed for 20 yeares space , cannot be contained within the visible world , nay if it were a hundred times greater than it is : and holding nothing besides from the centre of the earth even unto the firmament , but only small grains of mustard-seed : now because this seems but words , it must be proved by art , as may be done in this wise , as suppose one mustard-seed sowne to bring forth a tree or branch , in each extendure of which might be a thousand graines : but we will suppose onely a thousand in the whole tree , and let us proceed to ●0 yeares , every seed to bring forth yearely a thousand graines , now multiplying alwayes by a thousand , in lesse then 17 years you shall have to many graines which will surpasse the sands , which are able to fill the whole firmament : for following the supposition of archimedes , and the most probable opinion of the greatness of the firmament which ●i●ho brahe hath left us ; the number of graines of sand will be sufficiently expressed with 49 ciphers , but the number of graines of mustard-seed at the end of 17 yeares will have 52 ciphers : and moreover , graines of mustard-seed , are farre greater than these of the sands : it is therefore evident that at the seventeenth yeare , all the graines of mustard-seed which shall successively spring from one graine onely , cannot be contained within the limits of the whole firmament ; what should it be then , if it should be multiplied againe by a thousand for the ●8 yeare : and that againe by a thousand for every yeares increase untill you come to the 20 yeare , it 's a thing as cleare as the day , that such a heap of mustard-seed would be a hundred thousand times greater than the earth : and bring onely but the increase of one graine in 20 yeares . of pigges . secondly , is it not a strange proposition , to say that the great turke with all his revenues , is not able to maintaine for one yeares time , all the pigges that a sow may pigge with all her race , that is , the increase with the increase unto 12 years : this seemes impossible , yet it is most true , for let us suppose and put , the case , that a sow bring forth but 6 , two males , and 4 females , and that each female shall bring forth as many every yeare , during the space of 12 yeares , at the end of the time there will be found above 3● millions of pigges : now allowing a crowne for the maintenance of each pigge for a yeare , ( which is as little as may be , being but neare a halfe of a farthing allowance for each day ; ) there must be at the least so many crownes to maintaine them , one a year , viz. 33 millions , which exceeds the turkes revenue by much . of graines of corne. thirdly , it will make one astonished to think that a graine of corne , with his increase successively for the space of 12 yeares will produce in grains 24414062●000000000000 , which is able to load almost al the creatures in the world. to open which , let it be supposed that the first yeare one graine being sowed brings forth 50 , ( but sometimes there is seen 70 , sometimes 100 fold ) which graines sowen the next yeare , every one to produce 50 , and so consequently the whole and increase to be sowen every yeare , until 12 yeares be expired , there will be of increase the aforesaid prodigious summe of graines , viz. 244140625000000000000 , which will make a cubical heap of 6258522 graines every way , which is more than a cubicall body of 31 miles every way : for allowing 40 graines in length to each foot , the cube would be 156463 foot every way : from which it is evident that if there were two hundred thousand cities as great as london , allowing to each 3 miles square every way , and 100 foot in height , there would not be sufficient roome to containe the aforesaid quantitie of corne : and suppose a bushel of corne were equal unto two cubicke feet , which might containe twenty hundred thousand graines then would there be 122070462500000. bushells , and allowing 30 bushels to a tunne , it would be able to load 81380●0833 vessels , which is more than eight thousand one hundred and thirty eight millions , ship loadings of ●00 tunne to each ship a : quantity so great that the sea is scarce able to beare , or the universal world able to finde vessels to carry it . and if this corne should be valued at halfe a crown the bushel , it would amount unto 15258807812500 pounds sterling , which i think exceeds all the treasures of all the princes , and of other particular men in the whole world : and is not this good husbandry to sowe one grain of corne ; and to continue it in sowing , the increase only for 12 yeares to have so great a profit ? of the increase of sheep . fourthly , those that have great flocks of sheep may be quickly rich , if they would preserve their sheep without killing or selling of them : so that every sheep produce one each yeare , for at the end of 16 yeares , 100 sheepe will multiply and increase unto 6553600 , which is above 6 millions , 5 hundred 53 thousand sheep : now supposing them worth but a crown a piece , it would amount unto 1638400 pounds sterling , vvhich is above 1 million 6 hundred 38 thousand pounds , a faire increase of one sheep : and a large portion for a childe if it should be allotted . of the increase of cod-fish , carpes , &c. fifthly , if there be any creatures in the vvorld that do abound vvith increase or fertilitie , it may be rightly attributed to fish ; for they in their kindes produce such a great multitude of eggs , and brings forth so many little ones , that if a great part vvere not destroyed continually , vvithin a ●ittle vvhile they vvould fill all the sea , ponds , and rivers in the vvorld ; and it is easie to shevv hovv it vvould come so to passe , onely by supposing them to increase without taking or destroying them for the space of 10 or 12 yeares : having regard to the soliditie of the waters which are allotted for to lodge and containe these creatures , as their bounds and place of rest to live in . of the increase and multiplication of men . sixthly , there are some that cannot conceive how it can be that from eight persons ( which were saved after the deluge or noahs flood ) should spring such a world of people to begin a monarchie under nimrod , being but 200 yeares after the flood , and that amongst them should be raised an army of two hundred thousand fighting men : but it is easi●y proved if vve take but one of the children of noah , and suppose that a nevv generation of people begun at every 30 yeares , and that it be continued to the seventh generation vvhich is 200 yeares ; for then of one only family there vvould be produced one hundred and eleven thousand soules , three hundred and five to begin the vvorld : though in that time men lived longer , and vvere more capable of multiplication and increase : vvhich number springing onely from a simp●e production of one yearly , vvould be farre greater , if one man should have many vvives , vvhich in ancient times they had : from vvhich it is also that the children of israel , vvho came into egypt but onely 70 soules , yet after 210 yeares captivity , they came forth vvith their hostes , that there vvere told six hundred thousand fighting men , besides old people , women and children ; and he that shall separate but one of the families of joseph , it would be sufficient to make up that number : how much more should it be then if we should adjoyne many families together ? of the increase of numbers . seventhly , what summe of money shall the city of london be worth , if it should be sold , and the money be paid in a yeare after this manner : the first week to pay a pinne , the second week 2 pinnes , the third week 4 pinnes , the fourth week 8 pinnes , the fifth week 16 pinnes . and so doubling untill the 52 weeks , or the yeare be expired . here one would think that the value of the pinnes would amount but to a small matter , in comparison of the treasures , or riches of the whole city : yet it is most probable that the number of pinnes would amount unto the sum of 4519599628681215 , and if we should allow unto a quarter a hundred thousand pinnes , the whole would contain ninetie eight millions , foure hundred thousand tunne : which is able to load 45930 shippes of a thousand tunne apiece : and if we should allow a thousand pins for a penny , the summe of money would amount unto above eighteen thousand , eight hundred and thirty millions of pounds sterling , an high price to sell a citie at , yet certain , according to that first proposed . so if 40 townes were sold upon condition to give for the first a penny , for the second 2 pence , for the third 4 pence , &c. by doubling all the rest unto the last , it would amount unto this number of pence , 109951●62●●76 , which in pounds is 4581298444 , that is foure thousand five hundred and fourescore millions of pounds and more . of a man that gathered up apples , stones , or such like upon a condition . eightly , admit there were an hundred apples , stones , or such like things that were plac'd in a straight line or right forme , a pace one from another , and a basket being placed a pace from the first : how many paces would there be made to put all these stones into the basket , by fetching one by one ? this would require near halfe a day to do it , for there would be made ten thousand and ninety two paces before he should gather them all up . of changes in bells , in musicall instruments , transmutation of places , in numbers , letters , men or such like . ninethly , is it not an admirable thing to consider how the skill of numbers doth easily furnish us with the knowledge of mysterious and hidden things ? which simply looked into by others that are not versed in arithmetick , do present unto them a world of confusion and difficultie . as in the first place , it is often debated amongst our common ringers , what number of changes there might be made in 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , or more bells : who spend much time to answer their owne doubts , entring often into a labyrinth in the search thereof : or if there were 10 voyces , how many severall notes might there be ? these are propositions of such facility , that a childe which can but multiply one number by another , may easily resolve it , which is but only to multiply every number from the unite successively in each others product , unto the terme assigned : so the 6 number that is against 6 in the table , is 720 , and so many ( hanges may be made upon 6 bells , upon 5 there are 120 , &c. in like manner against 10 in the table is 3618800 , that is , three millions , six hundred twenty eight thousand , eight hundred : which shews that 10 voices may have so many consorts , each man keeping his owne note , but only altering his place ; and so of stringed instruments , and the gamat may be varied according to which , answerable to the number against x , viz. 1124001075070399680000 notes , from which may be drawne this , or the like proposition . suppose that 7 schollers were taken out of a free schoole to be sent to an vniversitie , there to be entertained in some colledge at commons for a certaine summe of money , so that each of them have two meales daily , and no longer to continue there , then that sitting all together upon one bench or forme at every meale , there might be a divers transmutation of place , of account in some one of them , in comparison of another , and never the whole company to be twice alike in situation : how long may the steward entertaine them ? ( who being not skilled in this fetch may answere unadvisedly . ) it is most certaine that there will be five thousand and forty several 1 a 1 2 b 2 6 c 3 24 d 4 120 e 5 7●0 f 6 5040 g 7 403●0 h 8 362880 i 9 3628800 k 10 39916800 l 11 479001600 m 12 6227020800 n 13 87178291200 o 14 1307674368000 p 15 20922789888000 q 16 355687537996000 r 17 6402375683928000 s 18 121645137994632000 t 19 2432902759892640000 u 20 51090957957745440000 w 21 1124001075070399680000 x 22 25852024726619192640000 y 23 6●0448593438860623360000 z 24 positions or changings in the seatings , which maks 14 years time wanting 10 weeks and 3 dayes . hence from this mutability of transmutation , it is no marvell tha● by 24 letters there ariseth and is made such variety of languages in the world , & such infinite number of words in each language ; seeing the diversity of syllables produceth that effect , and also by the interchanging & placing of letters amongst the vowels , & amongst themselves maketh these syllables : vvhich alphabet of 24 letters may be varied so many times , viz. 620448593438860623360000 vvhich is six hundred tvventy thousand , foure hundred forty eight millions of millions of millions five hundred ninety three thousand , foure hundred thirty eight milions of milions , & more . novv allovving that a man may reade or speak one hundred thousand vvords in an houre vvhich is tvvice more vvords than there are conteined in the psalmes of david , ( a taske too great for any man to do in so short a time ) and if there were foure thousand six hundred and fifty thousand millions of men , they could not speak these words ( according to the hourely proportion aforesaid ) in threescore and ten thousand yeares ; which variation & transmutation of letters , if they should be written in bookes , allowing to each leaf 28000 words , ( which is as many as possibly could be inserted , ) and to each book a reame or 20 quire of the largest and thinnest printing paper , so that each book being about 15 inches long , 12 broad , and 6 thick : the books that would be made of the transmutation of the 24 letters aforesaid , would be at least 38778037089928788 : and if a library of a mile square every way , of 50 foot high , were made to containe 250 galleries of 20 foot broad apiece , it would containe foure hundred mill●ons of the said books : so there must be to containe the rest no lesse than 9●945092 such libraries ; and if the books were extended over the surface of the globe of the earth , it would be a decuple covering unto it : a thing seeming most incredible that 24 letters in their transmutation should produce such a prodigious number , yet most certaine and infallible in computation . of a servant hired upon certaine conditions . a servant said unto his master , that he would dvvell vvith him all his life-time , if he would but onely lend him land to sowe one graine of corne with all his increase for 8 years time ; how think you of this bargaine ? for if he had but a quarter of an inch of ground for each graine , and each graine to bring forth yearely of increase 40 graines , the whole sum would amount unto , at the terme aforesaid , 6553600000000 graines : and seeing that three thousand and six hundred millions of inches do but make one mile square in the superficies , it shall be able to receive foureteene thousand and foure hundred millions of graines , which is 14400000000. thus dividing the aforesaid 6553600000000 , the quotient will be 455 , and so many square miles of land must there be to sowe the increase of one graine of corne for 8 yeares , which makes at the least foure hundred and twenty thousand acres of land , which rated but at five shillings the acre per annum , amounts unto one hundred thousand pound ; which is twelve thousand and five hundred pound a yeare , to be continued for 8 yeares ; a pretty pay for a masters servant 8 yeares service . problem . lxxxv . of fountaines , hydriatiques , machinecke , and other experiments upon water , or other liquor . 1. first how to make water at the foot of a mountaine to ascend to the top of it , and so to descend on the other side ? to do this there must be a pipe of lead , which may come from the fountaine a , to the top of the mountaine b ; and so to descend on the other side a little lower then the fountaine , as at c. then make a hole in the pipe at the top of the mountaine , as at b , and stop the end of the pipe at a and c ; and fill this pipe at b with water : & close it very carefully againe at b , that no aire get in : then unstop the end at a , & at c ; then will the water perpetually runne up the hill , and descend on the other side , which is an invention of great consequence to furnish villages that want water . 2. secondly , how to know what wine or other liquor there is in a vessell without opening the bung-hole , and without making any other hole , than that by which it runnes out at the top ? in this problem there is nothing but to take a bowed pipe of glasse , and put it into the faucets hole , and stopping it close about : for then you shall see the wine or liquor to ascend in this pipe , untill it be just even with the liquor in the vessel ; by which a man may fill the vessel , or put more into it : and so if need were , one may empty one vessel into another without opening the bung-hole . 3. thirdly , how is it that it is said that a vessell holds more water being placed at the foot of a mountaine , than standing upon the top of it ? this is a thing most certaine , because that water and all other liquor disposeth it selfe sphericaliy about the centre of the earth ; and by how much the vessel is nearer the centre , by so much the more the surface of the water makes a lesser sphere , and therefore every part more gibbous or swelling , than the like part in a greater sphere : and therefore when the same vessell is farther from the centre of the earth , the surface of the water makes a greater sphere , and therefore lesse gibbous , or swelling over the vessell : from whence it is evident that a vessell near the centre of the earth holds more water than that which is farther remote from it ; and so consequently a vessel placed at the bottome of the mountaine holds more water , than being placed on the top of the mountaine . first , therefore one may conclude , that one and the same vessel will alwayes hold more : by how much it is nearer the centre of the earth . secondly , if a vessell be very neare the centre of the earth , there will be more water above the brims of it , than there is within the vessel . thirdly , a vessel full of water comming to the centre wil spherically increase , and by little and little leave the vessel ; and passing the centre , the vessel will be all emptied . fourthly , one cannot carry a paile of water from a low place to a higher , but it will more and more run out and over , because that in ascending it lies more levell , but descending it swels and becomes more gibbous . 4. fourthly , to conduct water from the top of one mountaine , to the top of another . as admit on the top of a mountaine there is a spring , and at the toppe of the other mountaine there are inhabitants which want water : now to make a bridge from one mountaine to another , were difficult and too great a charge ; by way of pipes it is easie and of no great price : for if at the spring on the top of the mountaine be placed a pipe , to descend into the valley , and ascend to the other mountlaine , the water will runne naturally , and continually , provided that the spring be somewhat higher than the passage of the water at the inhabitants . 5. fifthly , of a fine fountaine which spouts water very high , and with great violence by turning of a cock. let there be a vessell as ab , made close in all his parts , in the middle of which let cd be a pipe open at d neare the bottome , and then with a squirt squirt in the water at c , stopped above by the cock or faucet c , vvith as great violence as possible you can ; and turne the cock immediatly . novv there being an indifferent quantity of vvater and aire in the vessel , the vvater keeps it selfe in the bottome , and the aire vvhich vvas greatly pressed , seeks for more place , that turning the cock the water issueth forth at the pipe , and flyes very high , and that especially if the vessell be a little heated : some make use of this for an ewer to wash hands withall , and therefore putting a moveable pipe above c , such as the figure sheweth : which the water will cause to turne very quick , pleasurable to behold . 6. sixtly , of archimedes screw , which makes water ascend by descending . this is nothing else but a cylinder , about the which is a pipe in form of a screw , and when one turnes it , the water descends alwayes in respect of the pipe : for it passeth from one part which is higher to that which is lower , and at the end of the engine the water is found higher than it was at the spring . this great enginer admirable in all mathematicall arts invented this instrument to wash king hieroies great vessells , as some authors saye , also to water the fields of egypt , as diodorus witnesseth : and cardanus reporteth that a citizen of milan having made the like engine , thinking himselfe to be the first inventer , conceived such exceeding joy , that he be came mad , foll . 2. againe a thing may ascend by descending , if a spiral line be made having many circulations or revolutions ; the last being alwayes lesser than the first , yet higher than the plaine supposed it is most certaine that then putting a ball into it , and turning the spirall line so , that the first circulation may be perpendicular , or touch alwayes the supposed plain : the ball shall in descending continually ascend , untill at last it come to the highest part of the spirall line , & so fall out . and here especially may be noted , that a moving body as water , or a bullet , or such like , will never ascend if the helicall revolution of the screw be not inclining to the horizon : so that according to this inclination the ball or liquor , may descend alwayes by a continuall motion and revolution . and this experiment may be more usefull , naturally made with a thred of ●ron , or latine turned or bowed helically about a cylinder , with some distinction of distances between the heli●es , for then having drawn out the cylinder , or having hung or tyed some weight at it in such sort , that the water may easily drop if one lift up the said thred : these helices or revolutions , notwithstanding will remaine inclining to the horizon , and then turning it about forward , the said weight will ascend , but backward it will descend . now if the revolutions be alike , and of equallity amongst themselves , and the whirling or turning motion be quicke , the sight vvill be so deceived , that producing the action it vvill seeme to the ignorant no lesse than a miracle . 7. seventhly , of another fine fountaine of pleasure . this is an engine that hath two wheeles with cogges , or teeth as ab , which are placed within an ovall cd , in such sort , that the teeth of the one , may enter into the notches of the other ; but so just that neither aire nor water may enter into the ovall coffer , either by the middle or by the sides , for the wheele must joyne so neare to the sides of the coffer , that there be no vacuitie : to this there is an axeltree with a handle to each wheele , so that they may be turned , and a being turned , that turneth the other wheele that is opposite : by which motion the aire that is in e , & the water that is carried by the hollow of the wheeles of each side , by continuall motion , is constrained to mount and flie out by the funnell f : now to make the water runne what way one would have it , there may be applied upon the top of the pipe f , two other moveable pipes inserted one within another ; as the figure sheweth . but here note , that there may acrue some inconveniency in this machine seeing that by quick turning the cogges or teeth of the wheeles running one against another , may neare break them , and so give way to the aire to enter in , which being violently inclosed vvill escape to occupie the place of the vvater , vvhose vveight makes it so quick : hovvsoever , if this machine be curiously made as an able vvorkeman may easily do , it is a most sovereigne engine , to cast vvater high and farre off for to quench fires . and to have it to raine to a place assigned , accommodate a socket having a pipe at the middle , vvhich may point tovvards the place being set at the top thereof , and so having great discretion in turning the axis of the vvheele , it may vvork exceeding vvell , and continue long . 8. eightly , of a fine watering pot for gardens . this may be made in forme of a bottle according to the last figure or such like , having at the bottome many small holes , and at the neck of it another hole somevvhat greater than those at the bottome , vvhich hole at the top you must unstop vvhen you vvould fill this vvatering pot , for then it is nothing but putting the lovver end into a paile of vvater , for so it vvill fill it selfe by degrees : and being full , put your thumb on the hole at the neck to stop it , for then may you carry it from place to place , and it vvill not sensibly runne out , som●thing it vvill , and all in time ( if it vvere never so close stopped ) contrary to the ancient tenet in philosophy , that aire will not penetrate . 9. ninthly , how easily to take wine out of a vessell at the bu●g-hole , without piercing of a hole in the vessell ? in this there is no need but to have a cane or pipe of glasse or such like , one of the ends of which may be closed up almost , leaving some small hole at the end ; for then if that end be set into the vessell at the bung-hole , the whole cane or pipe will be filled by little and little ; and once being full , stop the other end which is without and then pull out the cane or pipe , so will it be ful of wine , then opening a little the top above , you may fill a glasse or other pot with it , for as the wine issueth out , the aire commeth into the cane or pipe to supply vacuity . 10. tenthly , how to measure irregular bodies by help of water ? some throw in the body or magnitude into a vessell , and keep that which floweth out over , saying it is alwayes equal to the thing cast into the water : let i● is more nea●er this way to poure into a vessell such a quantity of water , which may be thought sufficient to cover the body or magnitude , and make a marke how high the water is in the vessell , then poure out all this water into another vessell , and let the body or magnitude be placed into the first vessel ; then poure in water from the second vessell , until it ascend unto the former marke made in the first vessell , so the vvater vvhich remaines in the second vessel is equall to the body or magnitude put into the water : but here note that this is not exact or free from error , yet nearer the truth than any geometrician can otherwise possibly measure , and these bodies that are not so full of pores are more truly measured this way , than others are . 11. to finde the weight of water . seeing that 574 / 1000 part of an ounce weight , makes a cubicall inch of water : and every pound weight haverdepoize makes 27 cubicall inches , and 1 9 / ● ; fere , and that ● gallons and a halfe wine measure makes a foot cubicall , it is easie by inversion , that knowing the quantity of a vessel in gallons , to finde his content in cubicall feet or weight : and that late famous geometrician master brigs found a cubical foot of vvater to vveigh neare 62 pound vveight haverdepoize but the late learned simon stevin found a cubicall foot of vvater to vveigh 65 pound , vvhich difference may arise from the inequalitie of vvater ; for some vvaters are more ponderous than others , and some difference may be from the weight of a pound , and the measure of a foot : thus the weight and quantitie of a solid foot settled , it is easie for arithmeticians to give the contents of vessells or bodies which containe liquids . 12. to finde the charge that a vessell may carry as shippes , boates , or such like . this is generally conceived , that a vessell may carry as much weight as that water weigheth , which is equall unto the vessell in bignesse , in abating onely the weight of the vessell : we see that a barrel of wine or water cast into the water , will not sink to the bottome , but swim easily , and if a ship had not iron and other ponderosities in it , it might swim full of water without sinking : in the same manner if the vessell were loaden with lead , so much should the watter weigh : hence it is that marriners call shippes of 50 thousand tunnes , because they may containe one or two thousand tunne , and so consequently carry as much . 13. how comes it that a shippe having safely sayled in the vast ocean , and being come into the port or harbour , without any tempest will sink down right ? the cause of this is that a vessel may carry more upon some kinde of water than upon other ; now the water of the sea is thicker and heavier than that of rivers , wels , or fountains ; therefore the loading of a vessell which is accounted sufficient in the sea , becomes too great in the hurbour or sweet water . now some think that it is the depth of the water that makes vessells more easie to swimme , but it is an abuse ; for if the loading of a ship be no heavier than the water that would occupie that place , the ship should as easily swim upon that water , as if it did swim upon a thousand fathom deep of water , and if the vvater be no thicker than a leafe of paper , and weigheth but an ounce under a heavy body , it vvill support it , as vvell as if the vvater under it vveighed ten thousand pound vveight : hence it is if there be a vessell capable of a little more than a thousand pound vveight of vvater , you may put into this vessell a piece of vvood , vvhich shall vveigh a thousand pound vveight ; ( but lighter in his kinde than the like of magnitude of vvater : ) for then pouring in but a quart of vvater or a very little quantitie of vvater , the vvood vvill svvim on the top of it , ( provided that the vvood touch not the sides of the vessell : ) vvhich is a fine experiment , and seems admirable in the performance . 14. how a grosse body of mettle may swimme upon the water ? this is done by extending the mettle into a thin plate , to make it hollovv in forme of a vessel ; so that the greatnesse of the vessell which the aire vvith it containeth , be equal to the magnitude of the vvater , vvhich vveighes as much as it , for all bodies may svvim vvithout sinking , if they occupie the place of vvater equal in vveight unto them , as if it vveighed 12 pound it must have the place of 12 pound of vvater : hence it is that vve see floating upon the vvater great vessells of copper or brasse , vvhen they are hollovv in forme of a caldron . and how can it be otherwise conceived of islands in the sea that swim and float ? is it not that they are hollow and some part like unto a boat , or that their earth is very light and spongeous , or having many concavities in the body of it , or much wood within it ? and it would be a pretty proposition to shew how much every kinde of metall should be inlarged , to make it swim upon the water : which doth depend upon the proportion that is between the vveight of the vvater and each metall . novv the proportion that is betvveene metalls and water of equall magnitude , according to some authors , is as followeth . a magnitude of 10 pound weight of water will require for the like magnitude of gold. 187 ½ lead . 116 ½ silver . 104 copper . 91 iron . 81 tinne . 75 from which is inferred , that to make a piece of copper of ●0 pound weight to swimme , it must be so made hollow , that it may hold 9 times that weight of water and somewhat more , that is to say , 91 pound : seeing that copper and water of like magnitudes in their ponderosities , are as before , as ●0 to 91. 15. how to weigh the lightnesse of the aire ? place a ballance of wood turned upside downe into the water , that so it may swim , then let water be inclosed within some body , as within a bladder or such like , and suppose that such a quantitie of aire should weigh one pound , place it under one of the ballances , and place under the other as much weight of lightnesse as may counter-ballance and keep the other ballance that it rise not out of the water : by which you shall see how much the lightnesse is . but without any ballance do this ; take a cubicall hollow vessell , or that which is cylindricall , which may swimme on the water , and as it sinketh by placing of weights upon it , marke hovv much , for then if you vvould examine the vveight of any body , you have nothing to do but to put it into this vessell , and marke hovv deep it sinkes , for so many pound it vveighes as the vveights put in do make it so to sinke . 16. being given a body , to marke it about , and shew how much of it will sink in the water , or swim above the water . this is done by knovving the vveight of the body vvhich is given , and the quantity of vvater , vvhich vveighes as much as that body ; for then certainly it vvill sink so deep , untill it occupieth the place of that quantitie of vvater . 17. to finde how much severall mettle or other bodies doe weigh lesse in the water than in the aire : take a ballance , & vveigh ( as for example ) 9 pound of gold , silver , lead , or stone in the aire , so it hang in aequilibrio ; then comming to the vvater , take the same quantity of gold silver , lead , or stone , and let it softly dovvne into it , and you shall see that you shall need a lesse counterpoise in the other ballance to counter-ballance it : vvherefore all solids or bodies vveigh lesse in the vvater than in the aire , and so much the lesse it vvill be , by hovv much the vvater is grosse and thick , because the vveight findes a greater resistance , and therefore the vvater supports more than aire ; and further , because the vvater by the ponderositie is displeased , and so strives to be there againe , pressing to it , by reason of the other vvaters that are about it , according to the proportion of his weight . archimedes demonstrateth , that all bodies weigh lesse in the water ( or in like liquor ) by how much they occupie place : and if the water weigh a pound weight , the magnitude in the water shall weigh a pound lesse than in the aire . now by knowing the proportion of water and mettles , it is found that gold loseth in the water the 19 part of his weight , copper the 9 part , quicksilver the 15 part , lead the 12 part , silver the 10 part , iron the 8 part , tinne the 7 part and a little more : wherefore in materiall and absolute weight , gold in respect of the water that it occupieth weigheth 18 , and ¾ times heavier than the like quantitie of water , that is , as 18 ¾ to the quicksilver 15 times , lead 11 and ⅗ , silver 10 and ⅔ , copper 9 and 1 / 10 , iron 8 and ½ , and tinne 8 and 1 / ● . contrarily in respect of greatnesse , if the water be as heavy as the gold , then is the water almost 19 times greater than the magnitude of the gold , and so may you judge of the rest . 18. how is it that a ballance having like weight in each scale , and hanging in aequilibrio in the aire , being placed in another place , ( without removing any weight ) it shall cease to hang in aequilibrio sensibly : yea by a great difference of weight ? this is easie to be resolved by considering different mettles , which though they vveigh equall in the aire , yet in the vvater there vvill be an apparant difference ; as suppose so that in the scale of each ballance be placed 18 pound vveight of severall metalls , the one gold , and the other copper , vvhich being in aequilibrio in the aire , placed in the vvater , vvill not hang so , because that the gold los●eth neare the 18 part of his vveight , vvhich is about 1 pound , and the copper loseth but his 9 part , vvhich is 2 pound : vvherefore the gold in the vvater vveigheth but 17 pound , and the copper 16 pound , vvhich is a difference most sensible to confirme that point . 19. to shew what waters are heavier one than another , and how much . physicians have an especiall respect unto this , judging that vvater vvhich is lightest is most healthfull and medicinall for the body , & sea-men knovv that the heaviest vvaters do beare most , and it is knovvne vvhich water is heaviest thus . take a piece of wax , and fasten lead unto it , or some such like thing that it may but precisely swimme , for then it is equal to the like magnitude of water , then put it into another vessell which hath contrary water , and if it sinke , then is that water lighter than the other : but if it sinke not so deep , then it argueth the water to be heavier or more grosser than the first water , or one may take a piece of vvood , and marke the quantitie of sinking of it into severall waters , by vvhich you may judge which is lightest or heaviest , for in that which it sinkes most , that is infallibly the lightest , and so contrarily . 20. how to make a pound of water weigh as much as 10 , 2● , ●0 , or a hundred pound of lead ; nay as much as a thousand , or ten thousand and pound weight ? this proposition seems very impossible , yet water inclosed in a vessell , being constrained to dilate it selfe , doth weigh so much as though there were in the concavitie of it a solid body of water . there are many wayes to experiment this proposition , but to verifie it , it may be sufficient to produce two excellent ones onely : which had they not been really acted , little credit might have been given unto it . the first way is thus . take a magnitude which takes up as much place as a hundred or a thousand pound of water , and suppose that it were tied to some thing that it may hang in the aire ; then make a ballance that one of the scales may inviron it , yet so that it touch not the sides of it : but leave space enough for one pound of water : then having placed 100 pound weight in the other scale , throw in the water about the magnitude , so that one pound of water shall weigh downe the hundred pound in the other ballance . problem . lxxxvi . of sundry questions of arithmetick , and first of the number of sands . it may be said incontinent , that to undertake this were impossible , either to number the sands of lybia , or the sands of the sea ; and it vvas this that the poets sung , and that vvhich the vulgar beleeves ; nay , that vvhich long ago certaine philosophers to gelon king of sicily reported , that the graines of sand vvere innumerable : but i ansvvere vvith archimedes , that not only one may number those vvhich are at the border and about the sea ; but those vvhich are able to fill the vvhole vvorld , if there vvere nothing else but sand ; and the graines of sands admitted to be so small , that 10 may make but one graine of poppy : for at the end of the account there need not to expresse them , but this number 30840979456 , and 35 ciphers at the end of it . clavius and archimedes make it somevvhat more ; because they make a greater firmament than ticho brahe doth ; and if they augment the vniverse , it is easie for us to augment the number , and declare assuredly how many graines of sand there are requisite to fill another vvorld , in comparison that our visible vvorld vvere but as one graine of sand , an atome or a point ; for there is nothing to do but to multiply the number by it selfe , vvhich vvill amount to ninety places , vvhereof tvventie are these , 95143798134910955936 , and 70 ciphers at the end of it : vvhich amounts to a most prodigious number , and is easily supputated : for supposing that a graine of poppy doth containe 10 graines of sand , there is nothing but to compare that little bovvle of a graine of poppy , vvith a bovvle of an inch or of a foot , & that to be compared vvith that of the earth , and then that of the earth vvith that o the firmament ; and so of the rest . 2. divers metalls being melted together in one body , to finde the mixture of them . this wat a notable invention of archimedes , related by vitrivius in his architecture , where he reporteth that the gold-smith which king hiero imployed for the making of the golden crowne , which was to be dedicated to the gods , had stolen part of it , and mixed silver in the place of it : the king suspicious of the work proposed it to archimedes , if by art he could discover without breaking of the crowne , if there had been made mixture of any other metall with the gold. the way which he found out was by bathing himselfe ; for as he entred into the vessell of water , ( in which he bathed himselfe ) so the water ascended or flew out over it , and as he pulled out his body the water descended : from which he gathered that if a bowle of pure gold , silver , or other metall were cast into a vessell of water , the water proportionally according to the thing cast in would ascend ; and so by way of arithmetick the question lay open to be resolved : who being so intensively taken with the invention , leapes out of the bath all naked , crying as a man transported , i have found , i have found , and so discovered it . now some say that he took two masses , the one of pure gold , and the other of pure silver ; each equall to the weight of the crowne , and therefore unequall in magnitude or greatnesse ; and then knowing the severall quantities of water which was answerable to the crown , and the severall masses , he subtilly collected , that if the crowne occupied more place within the water than the masse of gold did : it appeared that there was silver or other metall melted with it . now by the rule of position , suppose that each of the three masses weighed 18 pound a piece , and that the masse of gold did occupie the place of one pound of water , that of silver a pound and a halfe ▪ and the crown one pound and a quarter only : then thus he might operate the masse of silver which weighed 18 pounds , cast into the water , did cast out halfe a pound of water more then the masse of gold , which weighed 18 pound , and the crowne which weighed also 18 pound , being put into a vessell full of water , threw out more water than the masse of gold by a quarter of a pound , ( because of mixt metall which was in it : ) therefore by the rule of proportion , if halfe a pound of water ( the excesse ) be answerable to 18 pound of silver , one quarter of a pound of excesse shall be answerable to 9 pound of silver , and so much was mixed in the crowne . some judge the way to be more facill by weighing the crowne first in the aire , then in the water ; in the aire it weighed 18 pound , and if it were pure gold , in the water it would weigh but 17 pound ; if it were copper it would weigh but 16 pound ; but because vve vvill suppose that gold and copper is mixed together , it vvill vveigh lesse then 17 pound , yet more than 16 pound , and that according to the proportion mixed : let it then be supposed that it vveighed in the vvater 16 pound and 3 quarters , then might one say by proportion , if the difference of one pound of losse , vvhich is betvveen 16 and 17 ) be ansvverable to 18 pound , to vvhat shall one quarter of difference be ansvverable to , vvhich is betvveen 17 and 16 ¾ , and it vvill be 4 pound and a halfe ; and so much copper vvas mixed vvith the gold. many men have delivered sundry vvayes to resolve this proposition since archimedes invention , and it vvere tedious to relate the diversities . baptista benedictus amongst his arithmeticall theoremes , delivers his vvay thus : if a masse of gold of equall bignesse to the crovvne did vveigh 20 pound , and another of silver at a capacity or bignesse at pleasure , as suppose did vveigh 12 pound , the crovvne or the mixt body would vveigh more than the silver , and lesser than the gold , suppose it vveighed 16 pound vvhich is 4 pound lesse than the gold by 8 pound , then may one say , if 8 pound of difference come from 12 pound of silver , from vvhence comes 4 pound vvhich vvill be 6 pound and so much silver vvas mixed in it , &c. 3. three men bought a quantitie of wine , each paid alike , and each was to have alike ; it happened at the last partition that there were 21 barrells , of which 7 were full , 7 halfe full , and 7 empty , how must they share the wine and vessells , that each have as many vessells one as another , & as much wine one as another ? this may be answered two wayes as followeth , and these numbers 2 , 2 , 3 , or 3 , 3 , 1 , may serve for direction , and signifies that the first person ought to have 3 barrells full , and as many empty ones , and one which is halfe full ; so he shall have 7 vessells and 3 barrels , and a halfe of liquor ; and one of the other shall in like manner have as much , so there will remaine for the third man 1 barrell full , 5 which are halfe full , and 1 empty , and so every one shall have alike both in vessells and wine . and generally to answer such questions , divide the number of vessells by the number of persons , and if the quotient be not an intire number , the question is impossible ; but when it is an intire number , there must be made as many parts as there are 3 persons , seeing that each part is lesse than the halfe of the said quotient : as dividing 21 by 3 there comes 7 for the quotient , which may be parted in these three parts , 2 , 2 , 3 , or 3 , 3 , 1 , each of which being lesse than ha●fe of 7. 4. there is a ladder which stands upright against a wall of 10 foot high , the foot of it is pulled out 6 foot from the wall upon the pavement : how much hath the top of the ladder descended ? the ansvver is , 2 foot : for by pythagoras rule the square of db , the hypothenusal is equall to the square of da 6 , & ab 10. novv if da be 6 foot , and ab 10 foot , the squares are 36 and 100 , vvhich 36 taken from 100 rests 64 , vvhose roote-quadrate is 8 so the foot of the ladder being novv at d , the toppe vvill be at c , 2 foot lovver than it vvas vvhen it vvas at b. problem . lxxxvii . witty suits or debates between caius and sempronius , upon the forme of f●gures , which geometricians call isoperimeter , or equall in circuit or compasse . marvell ●ot at it if i make the mathematicks take place at the ba●●e , and if i set forth here b●rtoleus , who witnesseth of himselfe , that being then an ancient doctor in the law , he himselfe took upon him to learne the elements and principles of geometry , by which he might set forth certaine lawes touching the divisions of fields , waters , islands , and other incident places : now this shall be to shew in passing by , that these sciences are profitable and behovefull for judges , counsellors , or such , to explaine many things which fall out in lawes , to avoid ambiguities , contentions , and suits often . 1. incident . caius had a field which was directly square , having 24 measures in circuit , that was 6 on each side : sempronius desiring to fit himselfe , prayed caius to change with him for a field which should be equivalent unto his , and the bargaine being concluded , he gave him for counterchange a piece of ground which had just as much in circuit as his had , but it was not square , yet quadrangular and rectangled , having 9 measures in length for each of the two longest sides , and 3 in breadth for each shorter side : now caius which was not the most subtillest nor wisest in the world accepted his bargaine at the first , but afterward● having conferred with a land-measures and mathematician , found that he was over-reached in his bargaine , and that his field contained 36 square measures , and the other field had but 27 measures , ( a thing easie to be knowne by multiplying the length by the breadth : ) sempronius contested with him in suite of law , and argued that figures which have equall perimeter or circuit , are equall amongst themselves : my field , saith he , hath equall circuit with yours , therefore it is equall unto it in quantitie . now this was sufficient to delude a judge which was ignorant in geometricall proportions , but a mathematician will easily declare the deceit , being assured that figures which are isoperemiter , or equall in circuit , have not alwayes equall capacitie or quantitie : seeing that with the same circuit , there may be infinite figures made which shall be more and more capable , by how much they have more angles , equall sides , and approach nearer unto a circle , ( which is the most capablest figure of all , ) because that all his parts are extended one from anothes , and from the middle or centre as much as may be : so we see by an infa●lible rule of experience , that a square is more capable of quantitie than a triangle of the same circuit , and a pentagone more than a square , and so of others , so that they be regular figures that have their sides equall , otherwise there might be that a regular triangle , having 24 measures in circuit might have more capacitie than a rectangled parallelogram , which had also 24 measures of circuit , as if it were 11 in length , and 1 inbreadth , the circuit is still 24 , yet the quantitie is but 11. and if it had 6 every way , it gives the same perimeter , viz. 24. but a quantitie of 36 as before . 2. incident . sempronius having borrowed of caius a sack of corne , which was 6 foot high and 2 foot broad , and when there was question made to repay it , sempronius gave caius back two sacks full of corne , which had each of them 6 foot high & 1 foot broad : who beleeved that if the sackes were full he was repaid , and it seems to have an appearance of truth barely looked on . but it is most evident in demonstration , that the 2 sacks of corn paid by sempronius to caius , is but halfe of that one sack which he lent him : for a cylinder or sack having one foot of diameter , and 6 foot of length , is but the 4 part of another cylinder , whose length is 6 foot , and his diameter is 2 foot : therefore two of the lesser cylinders or sackes , is but halfe of the greater ; and so caius was deceived in halfe his corne. 3. incident . some one from a common fountaine of a city hath a pipe of water of an inch diameter ; to have it more commodious , he hath leave to take as much more water , whereupon he gives order that a pipe be made of two inches diameter . now you will say presently that it is reason to be so bigge , to have just twice as 〈…〉 before : but if the magistrate of the citie understood geometricall proportions , he would soon cause it to be amended , & shew that he hath not only taken twice as much water as he had before , but foure times as much : for a circular hole which is two inches diameter is foure times greater than that of one inch , and therefore vvill cast out four times as much vvater as that of one inch , and so the deceit is double also in this . moreover , if there vvere a heap of corne of 20 foot every vvay , vvhich vvas borrovved to be paid next yeare ▪ the party having his corne in heapes of 12 foot every vvay , and of 10 foot every vvay , proffers him 4 heapes of the greater or 7 heaps of the lesser , for his ovvne heap of 20 every vvay , vvhich vvas lent : here it seems that the proffer is faire , nay vvith advantage , yet the losse vvould be neare 1000 foot . infinite of such causes do arise from geometricall figures , vvhich are able to deceive a judge or magistrate , vvhich is not somevvhat seene in mathematicall documents . problem . lxxxviii . containing sundry questions in matter of cosmography . first , it may be demanded , vvhere is the middle of the vvorld ? i speak not here mathematically , but as the vulgar people , vvho ask , vvhere is the middle of the vvorld ? in this sence to speak absolutely there is no point vvhich may be said to be the middle of the surface , for the middle of a globe is every vvhere : notvvithstanding the holy scriptures speake respectively , and make mention of the middle of the earth , and the interpreters apply it to the citie of jerusalem placed in the middle of palestina , and the habitable vvorld , that in effect taking a mappe of the vvorld , and placing one foot of the compasses upon jerusalem , and extending the other foot to the extremity of europe , asia , and afric● , you shall see that the citie of jerusalem is as a centre to that circle . 2. secondly , how much is the depth of the earth , the height of the heavens , and the compasse of the world ? from the surface of the earth unto the centre according to ancient traditions , is 3436. miles , so the vvhole thicknesse is 6872 miles , of which the whole compasse or circuit of the earth is 21600 miles . from the centre of the earth to the moone there is neare 56 semidiameters of the earth , which is about 192416 miles . unto the sunne there is 1142 semidiameters of the earth , that is in miles 3924912 ; from the starry firmament to the centre of the earth there is 14000 semidiameters , that is , 48184000 miles , according to the opinion and observation of that learned ticho brahe . from these measures one may collect by arithmeticall supputations , many pleasant propositions in this manner . first , if you imagine there were a hole through the earth , and that a milstone should be let fall down into this hole , and to move a mile in each minute of time , it would be more than two dayes and a halfe before it would come to the centre , and being there it would hang in the aire . secondly , if a man should go every day 20 miles , it would be three yeares wanting but a fortnight , before he could go once about the earth ; and if a bird should fly round about it in two dayes , then must the motion be 450 miles in an houre . thirdly , the moone runnes a greater compasse each houre , than if in the same time she should runne twice rhe circumference of the whole earth . fourthly , admit it be supposed that one should go 20 miles in ascending towards the heavens every day , he should be above 15 years before he could attaine to the orbe of the moone . fifthly , the sunne makes a greater way in one day than the moone doth in 20 dayes , because that the orbe of the sunnes circumference is at the least 20 times greater than the orbe of the moone . sixthly , if a milstone should descend from the p●ace of the sunne a thousand miles every houre , ( which is above 15 miles in a minute , farre beyond the proportion of motion ) it would be above 163 dayes before it would fall dovvne to the earth . seventhly , the sunne in his proper sphere moves more than seven thousand five hundred and seventy miles in one minute of time : novv there is no bullet of a cannon , arrovv , thunderbolt , or tempest of vvinde that moves vvith such quicknesse . eightly , it is of a farre higher nature to consider the exceeding and unmoveable quicknesse of the starry firmament , for a starre being in the aequator , ( which is just between the poles of the world ) makes 12598666 miles in one houre which is two hundred nine thousand nine hundred and seventy foure miles in one minute of time : & if a horseman should ride every day 40 miles , he could not ride such a compasse in a thousand yeares as the starry firmament moves in one houre , which is more than if one should move about the earth a thousand times in one houre , and quicker than possible thought can be imagined : and if a starre should flye in the aire about the earth with such a prodigious quicknesse , it would burne and consume all the world here below . behold therefore how time passeth , and death hasteth on : this made copernicus , not unadvisedly to attribute this motion of primum mobile to the earth , and not to the starry firmament ; for it is beyond humane sense to apprehend or conceive the rapture and violence of that motion being quicker than thought ; and the word of god testifieth that the lord made all things in number , measure , weight , and time . problem . xcii . to finde the bissextile yeare , the dominicall letter , and the letters of the moneth . let 123 , or 124 , or 125 , or 26 , or 27 , ( which is the remainder of 1500 , or 1600 ) be divided by 4 , which is the number of the leape-yeare , and that which remaines of the division shewes the leap-yeare , as if one remaine , it shewes that it is the first yeare since the bissextile or leap-year , if two , it is the second year &c. and if nothing remaine , then it is the bissextile or leap-yeare , and the quotient shews you how many bissextiles or leap-yeares there are conteined in so many yeares . to finde the circle of the sun by the fingers . let 123 , 24 , 25 , 26 , or 27 , be divided by 28 , ( which is the circle of the sunne or whole revolution of the dominicall letters ) and that which remaines is the number of joynts , which is to be accounted upon the fingers by filius esto dei , coelum bonus accipe gratis : and where the number ends , that finger it sheweth the yeare which is present , and the words of the verse shew the dominicall letter . example . divide 123 by 28 for the yeare ( and so of other yeares ) and the quotient is 4 , and there remaineth 11 , for which you must account 11 words : filius esto dei , &c. upon the joynts beginning from the first joynt of the index , and you shall have the answer . for the present to know the dominicall letter for each moneth , account from january unto the moneth required , including january , and if there be 8 , 9 , 7 , or 5 , you must begin upon the end of the finger from the thumbe and account , adam degebat , &c. as many words as there are moneths , for then one shall have the letter which begins the moneth ; then to know what day of the moneth it is , see how many times 7 is comprehended in the number of dayes , and take the rest , suppose 4 , account upon the first finger within & without by the joynts , unto the number of 4 , which ends at the end of the finger : from whence it may be inferred that the day required was wednesday , sunday being attributed to the first joynt of the first finger or index : and so you have the present yeare , the dominicall letter , the letter which begins the moneth , and all the dayes of the moneth . problem . xciii . to finde the new and full moone in each moneth . adde to t●e epact for the yeare , the moneth from march , then subtract that surplus from 30 , and the rest is the day of the moneth that it vvill be new moone , and adding unto it 14 , you shall have that full moone . note that the epact is made alwayes by adding 11 unto 30 , and if it passe 30 , subtract 30 , and adde 11 to the remainder , and so ad infinitum : as if the epact were 12 , adde 11 to it makes 23 for the epact next year , to vvhich adde 11 makes 34 , subtract 30 , rests 4 the epact for the yeare after , and 15 for the yeare follovving that , and 26 for the next , and 7 for the next , &c. problem . xciv . to finde the latitude of ● countrey . those that dwell between the north-pole and the tropicke of cancer , have their spring and summer between the 10 of march , and the 13 of september : and therefore in any day between that time , get the sunnes distance by instrumentall observation from the zenith at noone , and adde the declination of the sun for that day to it : so the aggragate sheweth such is the latitude , or poles height of that countrey . now the declination of the sunne for any day is found out by tables calculated to that end : or mechanically by the globe , or by instrument it may be indifferently had : and here note that if the day be between the 13 of september and the 10 of march , then the sunnes declination for that day must be taken out of the distance of the sunne from the zenith at noone : so shall you have the latitude , as before . prbolem xcv . of the climates of countreys , and to finde in what c●imate any countrey is under . climates as they are taken geographically signifie nothing else but when the l●ngt● of the longest day of any place , is half an houre longer , or shorter than it is in another place ( and so of the sh●rtest day ) and this account to begin from the equinoctia●l circle , seeing all countreys under it have the shortest and longest day that can be but 12 houres ; but all other countreys that are from the equinoctiall circle either towards the north or south of it unto the poles themselves , are said to be in some one climate or other , from the equinoctiall to either of the poles circles , ( which are in the latitude of 66 degr . 30 m. ) between each of which polar circles and the equinoctial circle there is accounted 24 climates , which differ one from another by halfe an hours time : then from each polar circle , to each pole there are reckoned 6. other climates which differ one from another by a moneths time : so the whole earth is divided into 60 climates , 30 being allotted to the northerne hemisphere , and 30● to the southerne hemispheare . and here note , that though these climats which are betweene the equinoctiall and the polar circles are equall one unto the other in respect of time , to wit , by halfe an houre ; yet the latitude , breadth , or internall , conteined between climate and climate , is not equall : and by how much any climate is farther from the equinoctiall than another climate , by so much the lesser is the intervall between that climate and the next : so those that are nearest the equinoctial are largest , and those which are farthest off most contracted : and to finde what climate any countrey is under : subtract the length of an equinoctiall day , to wit , 12 houres from the length of the longest day of that countrey ; the remainder being doubled shews the climate : so at london the longest day is neare 16 houres and a halfe ; 12 taken from it there remaines 4 houres and a halfe , which doubled makes 9 halfe houres , that is , 9 climates ; so london is in the 9 climate . problem . xcvi . of longitude and latitude of the earth and of the starres . longitude of a countrey , or place , is an arcke of the aequator conteined between the meridian of the azores , and the meridian of the place , and the greatest longitude that can be is 360 degrees . note . that the first meridian may be taken at pleasure upon the terrestriall globe or mappe , for that some of the ancient astronomers would have it at hercules pillars , which is at the straights at gibraltar : ptolomy placed it at the canary isl●nds , but now in these latter times it is held to be neare the azores . but why it was first placed by ptolomy at the canary islands , were because that in his time these islands were the farthest westerne parts of the world that vvas then discovered . and vvhy it reteines his place novv at saint michaels neare the azores , is that because of many accurate observations made of late by many expert navigators and mathematicians , they have found the needle there to have no variation , but to point north and south : that , is to each pole of the world : and why the longitude from thence is accounted eastwards , is from the motion of the sunne eastward , or that ptolomy and others did hold it more convenient to begin from the westerne part of the world and so account the longitude eastward from countrey to countrey that was then knowne ; till they came to the easterne part of asia , rather than to make a beginning upon that which was unknowne : and having made up their account of reckoning the longitude from the westerne part to the eastern part of the world knowne , they supposed the rest to be all sea , which since their deaths hath been found almost to be another habitable world . to finde the longitude of a countrey . if it be upon the globe , bring the countrey to the brasen meridian , and whatsoever degree that meridian cuts in the equinoctiall , that degree is the longitude of that place : if it be in a mappe , then mark what meridian passeth over it , so have you the longitude thereof , if no meridian passe over it , then take a paire of compasses , and measure the distance betweene the place and the next meridian , and apply it to the divided parallel or aequator , so have you the longitude required . of the latitude of countreys . latitude of a countrey is the distance of a countrey from the equinoctiall , or it is an arke of the meridian conteined between the zenith of the place and the aequator ; which is two-fold , viz. either north-latitude or south-latitude , either of which extendeth from the equinoctiall to either pole , so the greatest latitude that can be is but 90 degrees : if any northern countrey have the artick circle verticall , which is in the latitude of 66. gr . 30. m. the sun will touch the horizon in the north part thereof , and the longest day will be there then 24 houres , if the countrey have lesse latitude than 66. degrees 30. m. the sun will rise and set , but if it have more latitude than 66. gr . 30 m. it will be visible for many dayes , and if the countrey be under the pole , the sun will make a circular motion above the earth , and be visible for a half yeare : so under the pole there will be but one day , and one night in the whole yeare . to finde the latitude of countreys . if it be upon a globe , bring the place to the brasen meridian , and the number of degrees which it meeteth therewith , is the latitude of the place . or with a paire of compasses take the distance between the countrey and the equinoctiall , which applied unto the equinoctiall will shew the latitude of that countrey ; which is equall to the poles height ; if it be upon a mappe . then mark what parallel passeth over the countrey and where it crosseth the meridian , that shall be the latitude : but if ●o parallel passeth over it , then take the distance betweene the place and the next parallel , which applied to the divided meridian from that parallel will shew the latitude of that place . to finde the distance of places . if it be upon a globe : then with a paire of compasses take the distance betweene the two places , and apply it to the divided meridian or aequator , and the number of degrees shall shew ●e distance ; each degree being 60. miles . ●f it be in a mappe ( according to wrights pro●ection ) take the distance with a paire of com●asses between the two places , and apply this distance to the divided meridian on the mappe right against the two places ; so as many degrees as is conteined between the feet of the compasses so much is the distance between the two places . if the distance of two places be required in a particular map then with the compasses take the distance between the two places , and apply it to the scale of miles , so have you the distance , if the scale be too short , take the scale between the compasses , and apply that to the two places as often as you can , so have you the distance required . of the longitude , latitude , declination , and distance of the starres . the declination of a starre is the nearest distance of a star from the aequator ; the latitude of a starre is the nearest distance of a sarre from the ecliptick : the longitude of a starre is an ark of the ecliptick conteined between the beginning of aries , and the circle of the starres latitude , which is a circle drawne from the pole of the ecliptick unto the starre , and so to the ecliptick . the distance between two sarres in heaven is taken by a crosse-staffe or other instrument , and upon a globe it is done by taking between the feet of the compasses the two starres , and applying it to the aequator , so have you the distance betweene those two starre● . how is it that two horses or other creatures being foaled or brought forth into the world at one and the same time , that after certaine dayes travell the one lived more dayes than the other , notwithstanding they dyed together in one and the sam● moment also ? this is easie to be answered : let one of them travell toward the west and the other towards the east : then that which goes towards the west followeth the sunne : and therefore shall have the day somewhat longer than if there had been no travell made , and that which goes east by going against the sunne , shall have the day shorter , and so in respect of travell though they dye at one and the selfe same houre and moment of time , the one shall be older than the other . from which consideration may be inferred that a christian , a jew , and a saracen , may have their sabbaths all upon one and the same day though notwithstanding the saracen holds his sabath upon the friday , the jew upon the saturday , and the christian upon the sunday : for being all three resident in one place , if the saracen and the christian begin their travell upon the saturday , the christian going west , and the saracen eastwards , shall compasse the globe of the earth , thus the christian at the conclusion shall gaine a day , and the saracen shall lose a day , and so meet with the jew every one upon his owne sabbath . certaine fine observations . 1 under the equinoctiall the needle hangs in equilibrio , but in these parts it inclines under the horizon , and being under the pole it is thought it will hang verticall . 2 in these countreys which are without the tropicall circles , the sunne comes east and west every day for a halfe yeare , but being under the equinoctiall the sun is never east , nor west ▪ but twice in the yeare , to wit , the 10. of march and the 13 of september . 3 if a ship be in the latitude of 23 gr . 30 m. that is , if it have either of the tropicks verticall : then at what time the sunnes altitude is equall to his distan●e from any of the equinoctiall points , then t●e sunne is due east or west . 4 if a ship be betweene the equinoctiall and either of the tropicks , the sunne will come twice to one point of the compasse in the forenoone , that is , in one and the same position . 5 vnder the equinoctiall neare guinea there is but two sorts of windes all the year , 6 moneths a northerly winde , and 6 moneths a southerly winde , and the flux of the sea is accordingly . 6 if two ships under the equinoctiall be 100. leagues asunder , and should sayle northerly untill they were come under the articke circle , they should then be but 50 leagues asunder . 7 those which have the artick circle , verticall : when the sunne is in the tropick of cancer , the sun setteth not , but toucheth the western part of the horizon . 8 if the complement of the sunnes height at noon be found equall to the sunnes declination for that day , then the ●quinoctiall is verticall : or a shippe making such an observation , the equinoctiall is in the zenith , or direct over them , by which navigators know when they crosse the line , in their travels to the indies , or other parts . 9 the sunne being in the equinoctiall , the extremity of the stile in any sunne-dyall upon a plaine , maketh a right line , otherwise it is eclipticall , hyperbolicall , &c. 10 when the shadow of a man , or other thing upon a horizontall 〈◊〉 is equall unto it in length , then is the sunne in the middle point between the horizon and the zenith , that is , 45 degrees high . problem . xcvii . to make a triangle that shall have three right angles . open the c●passes at p●easure : and upon a , describe an arke bc. then at the same opening , place one of the feet in b , and describe the ark ac . lastly , place one of the feet of the compasses in c. and describe the arke ab· so shall you have the sphericall aequilaterall triangle abc , right angled at a , at b , and at c. that is , each angle comprehended 9● . degrees : which can never be in any plaine triangle , whether it be equilaterall , isocelse , scaleve , orthogonall , or opigonall . problem . xcviii . to divide a line in as many equall parts as one will , without compasses , or without seeing of it . this proposition hath a fallacie in it , & cannot be practised but upon a maincordion : for the mathematicall line which proceeds from the flux of a point , cannot be divided in that wise : one may have therefore an instrument which is called maincordion , because there is but one cord : and if you desire to divide your line into 3 parts , run your finger upon the frets untill you sound a third in musick : if you would have the fourth part of the line , then finde the fourth sound , a fifth , &c. so shall you have the answer . problem . xcix . to draw a line which shall incline to another line , yet never meet : against the axiome of parallels . this is done by help of a conoeide line , produced by a right line upon one & the same plaine , held in great account amongst the ancients , and it is drawne after this manner . draw a right line infinitely , and upon some end of it , as at i , draw a perpendicular line i a. augment it to h. then from a. draw lines at pleasure to intersect the line i. m. in each of which lines from the right line , im . transferre ih . viz. kb . lc.od.pe.qf.mg . then from those points draw the line h.b.c.d.e.f.g. which will not meet with the line im . and yet incline nearer and nearer unto it . problem . c. to observe the variation of the compasses , or needle in any places . first describe a circle upon a plaine , so that the sun may shine on it both before noone and afternoone : in the centre of which circle place a gn●●on or wire perpendicular as ab , and an houre before noone marke the extremitie of the shadow of ab , which suppose it be at c. describe a circle at that semidiamiter cdf . then after noone mark when the top of the shadow of ab . toucheth the circle , which admit in d ; divide the distance cd into two equall parts , which suppose at e. draw the line eaf . which is the meridian line , or line of north & south : now if the arke of the circle cd . be divided into degrees . place a needle gh , upon a plaine set up in the centre , and marke how many degrees the point of the needle g , is from e. so much doth the needle vary from the north in that place . problem . ci. how to finde at any time which way the wind is in ones chamber , without going abroad ? vpon the plancking or floore of a chamber , parlor , or hall , that you intend to have this device , let there come downe from the top of the house a hollow post , in which place an iron rod that it ascend above the house 10 , or 6 foot with a vane or a scouchen at it to shew the winds without : and at the lower end of this rod of iron , place a dart which may by the moving of the vane with the wind without , turne this dart which is within : about which upon the plaister must be described a circle divided into the 32 points of the mariners compasse pointed and distinguished to that end , then may it be marked by placi● to compasse by it ; for having noted the north point , the east , &c ▪ it is easie to note all the rest of the points : and so at any time comming into this roome , you have nothing to do but to look up to the dart , which will point you out what way the winde bloweth at that instant . problem . cii . how to draw a parallel sphericall line with great ease ? first draw an obscure line gf . in the middle of it make two points ab , ( which serves for centres then place one foot of the compasses in b , and extend the other foot to a , and describe the semicircle ac . then place one foot of the compasses in a , and extend the other foot to c , and describe the semicircle cd . now place the compasses in b , and extend the other foot unto d , and describe the semicircle df , and so ad infinitum ; which being done neatly , that there be no right line seene nor where the compasses were placed , will seeme very strange how possibly it could be drawne with such exactnes , to such which are ignorant of that way . problem . ciii . to measure an in accessible distance , as the breadth of a river with the help of ones hat onely . the way of this is easie : for having ones hat upon his head , come neare to the bank of the river , and holding your head upright ( which may be by putting a small stick to some one of your buttons to prop up the chin ) pluck downe the brim or edge of your hat untill you may but see the other side of the water , then turne about the body in the same posture that it was before towards some plaine , and marke where the sight by the brimme of the hat glaunceth on the ground ▪ for the distance from that place to your standing , is the breadth of the river required . problem . ciiii. how to measure a height with two strawes or two small stickes . take two strawes or two stickes which are one as long as another , and place them at right angles one to the other , as ab . and ac . then holding ab . parallel to the ground , place the end a to the eye at a. and looking to the other top bc. at c. by going backward or forward untill you may see the top of the tower or tree , which suppose at e. so the distance from your standing to the tower or tree , is equall to the height thereof above the levell of the eye : to which if you adde your ovvne height you have the whole height . otherwise . take an ordinary square which carpenters or other workemen use , as hkl . and placing h. to the eye so that hk . be levell , go back or come nearer untill that by it you may see the top m. for then the distance from you to the height is equall to the height . problem . cv . how to make statues , letters , bowles , or other things which are placed in the side of a high building , to be seen below of an equall bignesse . let bc. be a pillar 7 yards high , and let it be required that three yards above the levell of the eye a , viz. at b. be placed a globe , and 9 yards above b. be placed another , & 22. yards above that be placed another globe : how much shall the diameter of these globes be , that at the eye , at a , they may all appeare to be of one and the same magnitude : it is thus done , first draw a line as ak . and upon k. erect a perpendicular kx . divide this line into 27 parts ▪ and according to ak . describe an arke ky . then from k ▪ in the perpendicular kx , account● ▪ par●s , viz at l. which shall represent the former three yardes , and draw the line la. from l , in the said perpendicular reckon the diameter of the lesser globe of what magnitude it is intended to be : suppose sl , and draw the line sa . cutting the arke vk . in n. then from k. in the perpendicular account 9 yards , which admit at t. draw ta , cutting yk. in o transferre the arke mn , from a to p. and draw ap. which will cut the perpendicular in v. so a line drawne from the middle of vf . unto the visuall lines ai , and av , shall be the diameter of the next globe : lastly , account from k. in the perpendicular xk . 22 parts , and draw the line wa . cutting yk in q. then take the arke mn , and transferre it from q to r and draw ar ▪ which will cut the perpendicular in x so the line which passeth by the meddle of xw . perpendicular to the visuall line aw , and ax. be the diameter of the third globe , to wit 5 , 6. which measures transferred in the pillar bc. which sheweth the true magnitude of the globes 1 , 2 , 3. from this an architect or doth proportion his images , & the foulding of the robes which are most deformed at the eye below in the making , yet most perfect when it is set in his true height above the eye . problem . cvi. how to disg●is● or disfigure an image , as a head , an arme , a whole body , &c. so that it hath no proportion the eares to become long : the nose as that of a swan , the mouth as a coaches entrance , &c yet the eye placed at a certaine point will be seen in a direct & exact proportion . i will not strive to set a geometricall figure here , for feare it may seeme too difficult to understand , but i will indeavour by discourse how mechanically with a candle you may perceive it sensible : first there must be made a figure upon paper , such as you please , according to his just proportion , and paint it as a picture ( which painters know well enough to do ) afterwards put a candle upon the table , and interpose this figure obliquely , between the said candle and the bookes of paper , where you desire to have the figure disguised in such sort that the height passe athwart the hole of the picture : then will it carry all the forme of the picture upon the paper , but with deformity ; follow these tracts and marke out the light with a coles black head or ink : and you have your desire . to finde now the point where the eye must see it in his naturall forme : it is accustomed according to the order of perspective , to place this point in the line drawne in height , equall to the largenesse of the narrowest side of the deformed square , and it is by this way that it is performed . problem . cvii . how a cannon after that it hath shot , may be covered from the battery of the enemy . let the mouth of a cannon be i , the cannon m. his charge no , the wheele l , the axletree pb . upon which the cannon is placed , at which end towards b , is placed a pillar ae· supported with props d , c , e , f , g ▪ about which the axeltree turneth : now the cannon being to shoot , it retires to h , which cannot be directly because of the axletree , but it make a segment of a circle ▪ and hides himselfe behind the wal qr , and so preserves it selfe from the enemies battery , by which meanes one may avoid many inconveniences which might arise : and moreover , one man may more easily replace it againe for another shot by help of poles tyed to the wall , or other help which may multiply the strength . problem . cviii . how to make a lever , by which one man may alone place a cannon upon his carriage , or raise what other weight he would . first place two thick boards upright , as the figure sheweth , pierced with holes , alike opposite one unto another as cd , and ef : & let l , and m , be the two barres of iron which passeth through the holes gh , and f , k , the two supports , or props , ab . the cannon , op , the lever , rs , the two notches in the lever , and q , the hooke where the burthen or cannon is tyed to . the rest of the operation is ●cill , that the youngest schollers or learners cannot faile to performe it : to teach minerva were in vaine , and it were to mathematicians injury in the succeeding ages . problem . cix . how to make a clock with one onely wheele . make the body of an ordinary dyall , and divide the houre in the circle into 12. parts : make a great wheele in height above the axletree , to the which you shall place the cord of your counterpoize ▪ so that it may descend , that in 1● houres of time your index or needle may make one revolution , which may be knowne by a watch which you may have by you : then put a balance which may stop the course of the wheele , and give it a regular motion , and you shall see an effect as just from this as from a clock with many wheeles . problem . cx . how by help of two wheeles to make a childe to draw up alone a hogshead of water at a time : and being drawne up shall cast out it selfe into another vessell as one would have it . let r be the pit from whence water is to be drawne , p the hook to throw out the water when it is brought up ( this hook must be moveable ) let ab be the axis of the wheele sf , which wheele hath divers forkes of iron made at g , equally fastened at the wheele ; let i , be a card , which is drawne by k , to make the wheele s , to turne , vvhich vvheele s , beares proportion to the vvheele t , as 8 to ● . let n be a chaine of iron to vvhich is tyed the vessel o , and the other vvhich is in the pit : e● is a piece of vvood vvhich hath a mortes in 1 , and ● , by vvhich the cord i , passeth , tyed at the vvall , as kh , and the other piece of timber of the little vvheele as m , mortified in likevvise for the chaine to passe through : draw the cord i , by k , and the wheele will turne , & so consequently the wheele t , which will cause the vessell o to raise ; which being empty , draw the cord againe by y , and the other vessell which is in the pit ●ill come out by the same reason . this is an invention which will save labour if practised ; but here is to be noted that the pit must be large enough , to the end that it conteine two great vessels to passe up and downe one by another ▪ problem . cxi . to make a ladder of cords , which may be carryed in ones pocket : by which one may easily mount up a wall , or tree alone . take two pullies a , & d , unto that of a , let there be fastened a cramp of iron as b ; and at d , let there be fastened a staffe of a foot and a halfe long as f , then the pully a : place a hand of iron , as e , to vvhich tie a cord of an halfe inch thick ( vvhich may be of silk because it is for the pocket : ) then strive to make fast the pully a , by the help of the crampe of iron b , to the place that you intend to scale ; and the staffe f , being tyed at the pully d , put it betvveen your legges as though you vvould sit upon it : then holding the cord c in your hand , you may guide your selfe to the place required ▪ vvhich may be made more facill by the multiplying of pullies . this secret is most excellent in warre , and for lovers , its supportablenesse avoids suspition . problem . cxii . how to make a pumpe whose strength is marvelous by reason of the great weight of water that it is able to bring up at once , and so by continuance . let 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , be the height of the case about two or three foot high , and broader according to discretion : the rest of the case or concavity let be o : let the sucker of the pumpe vvhich is made , be just for the case or pumpes head 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , & may be made of vvood or brasse of 4 inches thick , having a hole at e , vvhich descending raiseth up the cover p , by which issueth forth the water , & ascending or raising up it shuts it or makes it close : rs , is the handle of the sucker tyed to the handle tx , which works in the post vz . let a , b , c , d , be a piece of brasse , g the piece which enters into the hole to f , to keep out the aire . h , i , k , l , the piece tyed at the funnell or pipe : in which playes the iron rod or axis g , so that it passe through the other piece mn , which is tyed with the end of the pipe of brasse . note , that the lower end of the cisterne ought to be rested upon a gridiron or iron grate ▪ which may be tyed in the pit , by which means lifting up and putting downe the handle , you may draw ten times more water than otherwise you could . problem . cxiii . how by meanes of a cisterne , to make water of a pit continually to ascend without strength , or the assistance of any other pumpe . let il , be the pit where one would cause water to ascend continually to ●●ach office of a house or the places which are separated from it : let there be made a receive● as a , well closed up with lead or other matter that aire enter not in , to which fasten a pipe of lead as at e , which may have vent at pleasure , then let there be made a cisterne as b , which may be communicative to a , by helpe of the pipe g , from vvhich cistern b , may issue the vvater of pipe d , vvhich may descend to h , vvhich is a little belovv the levell of the vvater of the pit as much as is gh . to the end of vvhich shall be soldered close a cock vvhich shall cast out the vvater by kh . novv to make use of it , let b be filled full of vvater , and vvhen you vvould have it run turne the cock , for then the vvater in b , vvill descend by k. and for feare that there should be vacuity , nature vvhich abhors it , vvill labour to furnish and supply that emptinesse out of the spring f , and that the pit dry not , the pipe ought to be small of an indifferent capacity according to the greatnesse or smalnesse of the spring . problem . cxiiii . how out of a fountaine to cast the water very high : different from a probleme formerly delivered . let the fountaine be bd , of a round forme ( seeing it is the most capable and most perfect figure ) place into it two pipes conjoyned as ea , and hc , so that no aire may enter in at the place of joyning : let each of the pipes have a cock g , & l : the cocke at g , being closed , open that at i ▪ & so with a squirt force the water through the hole at h , then close the cocke at a , & draw out the squirt , and open the cock at g. the aire being before rarified will extend his dimensions , and force the water with such violence , that it will amount above the height of one or two pipes : and so much the more by how much the machine is great : this violence will last but a little while if the pipe have too great an opening , for as the aire approacheth to his naturall place , so the force will diminish . problem . cxv . how to empty the water of a cisterne by a pipe which shall have a motion of it selfe . let ab , be the vessell ; cde , the pipe : hg , a little vessell under the greater , in which one end of the pipe is , viz. c , and let the other end of the pipe e. passing through the bottome of the vessell at f , then as the vessell filleth so will the pipe , and when the vessell , shall be full as farre as po , the pipe will begin to runne at e , of his owne accord , and never cease untill the vessell be wholly empty . problem cxvi . how to squirt or spout out a great height , so that one pot of water shall last a long time . let there be prepared two vessels of brasse , lead , or of other matter of equal substance as are the two vessels ab , and bd , & let them be joyned together by the two pillars mn , & ef : then let there be a pipe hg . which may passe through the cover of the vessell cd , and passe through ab , into g , making a little bunch or rising in the cover of the vessell ab , so that the pipe touch it not at the bottome : then let there be soldered fast another pipe il , which may be separated from the bottome of the vessell , and may have his bunchie swelling as the former without touching the bottome : as is represented in l , and passing through the bottome of ab , may be continued unto i , that is to say , to make an opening to the cover of the vessell ab , & let it have a little mouth as a trumpet : to that end to receive the water . then there must further be added a very smal pipe which may passe through the bottome of the vessell ab , as let it be op , and let there be a bunch ; or swelling over it as at p , so that it touch not also the bottome : let there be further made to this lesser vessell an edge in forme of a basin to receive the water , which being done poure water into the pipe il , untill the vessell cd , be full , then turne the whole machine upside downe that the vessell cd , may be uppermost , and ab , undermost ; so by helpe of the pipe gh , the water of the vessell cd , will runne into the vessel ab , to have passage by the pipe po. this motion is pleasant at a feast in filling the said vessel with wine , which will spout it out as though it were from a boyling fountaine , in the forme of a threed very pleasant to behold . problem . cxviii . how to practise excellently the reanimation of simples , in case the plants may not be transported to be replanted by reason of distance of places . take what simple you please , burne it and take the ashes of it , and let it be calcinated two houres between two creusets wel luted , and extract the salt : that is , to put water into it in moving of it ; then let it settle : and do it two or three times , afterwards evaporate it , that is , let the water be boyled in some vessel , untill it be all consumed : then there will remaine a salt at the bottome , which you shall afterwards sowe in good ground wel prepared : such as the theatre of husbandry sheweth , and you shall have your desire . problem . cviii . how to make an infalliable perpetuall motion . m●xe 5. or 6. ounces of ☿ with is equall weight of ♃ , grinde it together with 10. or 12 ounces of sublimate dissolved in a celler upon a marble the space of foure dayes , and it will become like oile , olive , which distill with fire of chaffe or driving fire , and it will sublime dry substance , then put water upon the earth ( in forme of lye ) which will be at the bottom of the limbeck , and dissolve that which you can ; filter it , then distill it , and there will be produced very subtill antomes , which put into a bottle close stopped , and keep it dry , and you shall have your desire , with astonishment to all the world , and especially to those which have travelled herein without fruit . problem . cxix . of the admirable invention of making the philosophers tree , which one may see with his eye to grow by little and little . take two ounces of aqua fortis , and dissolve in it halfe an ounce of fine silver refined in a cappell : then take an ounce of aqua fortis , and two drams of quick-silver : which put in it , and mixe these two dissolved things together , then cast it into a viall of halfe a pound of water , which may be well stopped ; for then every day you may see it grow both in the tree and in the branch . this liquid serves to black haire which is red , or white , without fading untill they fall , but here is to be noted that great care ought to be had in anointing the haire , for feare of touching the flesh : for this composition is very corrosive or searching , that as soone as it toucheth the flesh it raiseth blisters , and bladders very painfull . problem . cxx . how to make the representation of the great world ? draw salt niter out of salt earth ▪ which is found along the rivers side , and at the foot of mountaines , where especially are minerals of gold and silver : mix that niter well cleansed with ♃ , then calcinate it hermetically ▪ then put it in a limbeck and let the receiver be of glasse , well luted , and alwayes in which let there be placed leaves of gold at the bottome , then put fire under the limbeck untill vapours arise which will cleave unto the gold ; augment your fire untill there ascend no more , then take away your receiver , and close it hermetically , and make a lampe fire under it untill you may see presented in it that which nature affords us : as flowers , trees , fruits , fountaines , sunne , moone , starres , &c. behold here the forme of the limbeck , and the receiver : a represents the limbeck , b stands for the receiver . problem . cxxi . how to make a cone , or a pyramidall body move upon a table without springs or other artificiall meanes : so that it shall move by the edge of the table without falling ? this proposition is not so thornie and subtile as it seemes to be , for putting under a cone of paper a beetle or such like creature , you shall have pleasure with astonishment & admiration to those which are ignorant in the cause : for this animall will strive alwayes to free herself from the captivity in which she is in by the imprisonment of the cone : for comming neere the edge of the table she will returne to the other side for feare of falling . problem cxxii . to cleave an anvill with the blow of a pistoll . this is proper to a warrier , and to performe it , let the anvill be heated red hot as one can possible , in such sort that all the solidity of the body be softned by the fire : then charge the pistoll with a bullet of silver , and so have you infallibly the experiment . problem . cxxiii . how to r●st a capon carried in a budget at a saddle-bowe , in the space of riding 5 or 6 miles ? having made it ready and larded it , stuffe ●t with butter ; then heat a piece of steele which may be formed round according to the length of the capon , and big enough to fill the belly of it , and then stop it with butter ; then wrap it up well and inclose it in a box in the budget , and you shall have your desire : it is said that count mansfield served himse●fe with no others , but such as were made ready in this kinde , for that it loseth none of its substance , and it is dressed very equally . problem . cxxiv . how to make a candle burne and continue three times as long as otherwise it would ? vnto the end of a candle half●burned stick a farthing lesse or more , to make it hang perpendicular in a vessel of water , so that it swimme above the water ; then light it , and it will susteine it self & float in this manner ; and being placed into a fountaine , pond , or lake that runnes slowly , where many people assemble , it will cause an extreme feare to those which come therein in the night , knowing not what it is . problem . cxxv . how out of a quantitie of wine to extract that which is most windy , and evill , that it hurt not a sick person ? take two vials in such sort that they be of like greatnesse both in th● belly and the neck ; fill one of them of wine , and the other of water : let the mouth of that which hath the water be placed into the mouth of that which hath the wine , so the water shall be uppermost , now because the water is heavier than the wine , it will descend into the other viall , and the wine which is lowest , because it is highest will ascend above to supply the place of the water , and so there will be a mutuall interchange of liquids , and by this penetration the wine wil lose her vapors in passing through the water . problem cxxvi . how to make two marmouzets , one of which shall light a candle , and the other put it out ? upon the side of a wall make the figure of a marmouzet or other animall or forme , and right against it on the other wall make another ; in the mouth of each put a pipe or quill so artificially that it be not perceived ; in one of which place salt peter very fine , and dry and pulverised ; and at the end set a little match of paper , in the other place sulphur beaten smal , then holding a candle lighted in your hand , say to one of these images by way of command , blow out the candle ; then lighting the paper with the candle , the salt-peter wil blow out the candle immediatly , and going to the other image ( before the match of the candle be out ) touch the sulphur with it and say , light the candle , & it will immediatly be lighted , which will cause an admiration to those which see the action , if it be wel done vvith a secret dexterity . problem . xxvii . how to keepe wine fresh as if it were in a celler though it were in the heat of summer , and without ice or snow , yea though it were carried at a saddles bow , and exposed to the sun all the day ? set your wine in a viall of glasse ; and place it in a box made of wood , leather , or such like : about which vial place salt-peeter , and it will preserve it and keep it very fresh : this experiment is not a little commodious for those which are not neare fresh waters , and whose dwellings are much exposed to the sunne . puoblem . cxxviii . to make a cement which indureth or lasteth as marble , which resisteth aire and water without ever disjoyning or uncementing ? take a quantity of strong and gluing morter vvell beaten , mixe vvith this as much nevv slaked lime , and upon it cast oile of olive or linseed-oile , and it vvill become hard as marble being applyed in time . problem . cxxix . how to melt metall very quickly , yea in a shell upon a little fire . make a bed upon a bed of metall with pouder of sulphur , of salt-peeter , and saw-dust alike ; then put fire to the said pouder with a burning charcole , and you shall see that the metall will dissolve incontinent and be in a masse . this secret is most excellent , and hath been practised by the reverend father mercen●● of the order of the minims . problem . cxxx . how to make iron or steele exceeding hard ? qvench your blade or other instrument seven times in the blood of a male hog mixt with goose-grease , and at each time dry it at the fire before you wet it : and it will become exceeding hard , and not brittle , which is not ordinary according to other temperings and quenchings of iron : an experiment of small cost , often proved , and of great consequence for armorie in warlike negotiations . prbolem cxxxi . to preserve fire as long as you will , imitating the inextinguible fire of vestales . after that you have extracted the burning spirit of the salt of ♃ , by the degrees of fire , as is required according to the art of chymistrie , the fire being kindled of it selfe , break the limbeck , and the irons which are found at the bottome will flame and appeare as burning coles as soone as they feele the aire ; which if you promptly inclose in a viall of glasse , and that you stop it exactly with some good lute : or to be more assured it may be closed up with hermes wax for feare that the aire get not in . then will it keep more than a thousand yeares ( as a man may say ) yea at the bottome of the sea ; and opening it at the end of the time , as soone as it feeles the aire 〈◊〉 takes fi●e ▪ with which you may light a match . this secret merits to be travelled after and put in practice , for that it is not common , and full of astonishment , seeing that all kinde of fire lasteth but as long as his matter lasteth , and that there is no matter to be found that will so long in●●●e . artificiall fire-workes : or the manner of making of rockets and balls of fire , as well for the water , as for the aire ; with the composition of starres , golden-rain , serpen●s , lances , whee●s of fire and such like , pleasant and recreative . of the composition for rockets . in the making of rockets , the chiefest thing to be regarded is the composition that they ought to be filled with ; forasmuch as that which is proper to rockets which are of a lesse sort is very improper to those which are of a more greater forme ; for the fire being lighted in a great concave , which is filled with a quick composition , burnes with great violence ; contrarily , a weak composition being in a small concave , makes no effect : therefore we shall here deliver in the first place rules and directions , which may serve for the true composition , or matter with which you may charge any rocket , from rockets which are charged but with one ounce of powder unto great rockets which requireth for their charge 10 pound of powder , as followeth . for rockets of one ounce . vnto each pound of good musket powder smal beaten , put two ounces of smal cole dust , and with this composition charge the rocket . for rockets of 2 or 3 ounces . vnto every foure ounces and a halfe of powder dust , adde an ounce of salt-peter , or to every 4 ounces of powder dust , adde an ounce of cole dust . for rockets of 4 ounces . vnto every pound of powder dust adde 4 ounces of salt peter & one ounce of cole dust : but to have it more slow , unto every 10. ounces of good dust powder adde 3 ounces of salt-peter , and 3 ounces of cole dust . for rockets of 5 or 6 ounces . vnto every pound of powder dust , adde 3 ounces and a halfe of salt peter , and 2 ounces and a halfe of coledust , as also an ounce of sulphur , and an ounce of fyle dust . for rockets of 7 or 8 ounces . vnto every pound of powder dust adde 4 ounces of salt peter , and 3 ounces of sulphur . of rockets of 10 or 12 ounces . vnto the precedent composition adde halfe an ounce of sulphur , and it will be sufficient . for rockets of 14 or 15 ounces . vnto every pound of powder dust adde 4 ounces of salt peter , or cole dust 2 ¼ ounces of sulphur and file dust of 1 ¼ ounce . for rockets of 1 , pound . vnto every pound of powder dust adde 3 ounces of cole dust , and one ounce of sulphur . of rockets of 2 , pound . vnto every pound of powder dust adde 9 ½ ounces of salt peter , of cole dust 2 1 / ● ounces , filedust 1 ● / 2 ounce , and of sulphur ¾ of ounce . for rockets of 3 , pound . vnto every pound of salt peter adde 6 ounces of cole dust , and of sulpher 4 , ounces . for rockets of 4 , 5 , 6 , or 7 , pound . vnto every pound of salt peter adde 5 ounces of cole dust , and 2 ½ ounces of sulphur . for rockets of 8 , 9 , or 10 pound . vnto every pound of salt peter , adde 5 ½ ounces of cole dust , and of sulphur 2 ½ ounces . here note that in all great rockets , there is no powder put , because of the greatnesse of the fire which is lighted at once , which causeth too great a violence , therefore ought to be filled with a more weaker composition . of the making of rockets and other fireworkes . for the making of rockets of sundry kindes , divers moulds are to be made , with their rolling pins , breaths , chargers , &c. as may be seen here in the figure . and having rolled a case of paper upon the rolling pin for your mould , fill it with the composition belonging to that mould as before is delivered : now may you load it on the top , with serpents , reports , stars , or golden raine : the serpents are made about the bignesse of ones little finger , by rolling a little paper upon a small stick , and then tying one end of it , and filling it with the mixt composition somewhat close , and then tying the other end . the reports are made in their paper-cases as the serpents , but the paper somewhat thicker to give the greater report . these are filled with graine-powder or halfe powder and halfe composition , and tying both ends close , they are finished . the best kinde of starres are made with this mixture following ; unto every 4 ounces of salt-peter , adde 2 ounces of sulphur , and to it put 1. ounce of powder-dust , and of this composition make your starres , by putting a little of it within a small quantity of towe ; and then tying it up in the form of a ball as great as an hasel-nut or a little wal-nut , through which there must be drawne a little primer to make it take fire . touching the making of the golden raine , that is nothing but filling of quilles with the composition of your rockets somewhat hard . now if the head of a rocket be loaded with a thousand of those quilles , it s a goodly sight to see how pleasantly they ●pread themselves in the aire , and come downe like streames of gold much like the falling downe of snow being agitated by some turbulent winde . of recreative fires . 1 phil●strates saith , that if wine in a platter be placed upon a receiver of burning coles , to exhale the spirit of it , and be inclosed within a cupboard or such like place , so that the aire may not go in , nor out , and so being shut up for 30 yeares , he that shall open it , having a wax candle lighted , and shall put it into the cubboard there will appeare unto him the figure of many cleare starres . 2 if aquavitae have camphire dissolved in it ; and be evaporated in a close chamber , where there is but a charcole fire , the first that enters into the chamber with a candle lighted , will be extremely astonished , for all the chamber will seeme to be full of fire very subtile , but it will be of little continuance . 3 candles which are deceitful are made of halfe powder , covered over with tallow , and the other halfe is made of cleane tallow , or waxe , with an ordinary week ; this candle being lighted , and the upper halfe consumed , the powder will take fire , not without great noise and astonishment to those which are ignorant of the cause . 4 a dozen or twenty smal serpents placed secretly under a candlestick that is indifferent big , which may have a hole passe through the socket of it to the candle , through which a piece of primer may be placed , and setting a smal c●ndle in the socket to burne according to a time limited : which candlestick may be set on a side table without suspition to any ; then when the candle is burned , that it fires the primer , that immediately will fire all the serpents , which overthrowing the candlestick will flye here and there , intermixing themselves , sometimes in the aire , sometimes in the planching , one amongst another , like the crawling of serpents , continuing for a pretty while in this posture , and in extinguishing every one will give his report like a pistoll ; this will not a little astonish some , thinking the house will be fired , though the whole powder together makes not an ounce , and hath no strength to do such an effect . how to make fire run up and downe , forward and backward take small rockets , and place the taile of one to the head of the other upon a cord according to your fancie , as admit the cord to be abcdefg . give fire to the rocket at a , which will flye to b , which will come back againe to a , and fire another at c , that will flie at d , which will fire another there , and fl●e to e , and that to f , and so from f , to g , and at g , may be placed a pot of fire , viz. gh . which fired will make good sport ▪ bec●u●e the serpents which are in it will variously ●ntermix themselves in the aire , and upon the ground , and every one will extinguish with a report : and here may you note that upon the rockets may be placed fierie dragons , combatants , or such like to meet one another , having lights placed in the concavity of their bodies which will give great grace to the action . how to make wheels of fire . take a hoop , and place two lath● acrosse one the other ; upon the crossing of which make a hole , so that it may be placed upon a pin to turne easily , as the figure q. sheweth upon the sides of which hoope or round circle place your rockets , to which you may place lances of fire between each rocket : let this wheele be placed upon a standard as here is represented , and place a piece of primer from one lance to another , then give fire at g , which will fire f , that b , that will fire d , that c , and that will fire the rocket at a ▪ then immediatly the wheel will begin to move , and represent unto the spectators a circle of changeable fire , and if pots of fire be tied to it , you will have fine sport in the turning of the wheele and casting out of the serpents . of night-combatants . clubbes , targets , faulchons , and maces charged with severall fires , do make your night-combatants , or are used to make place amongst a throng of people . the clubbes at the ends are made like a round panier with small sticks , filled with little rockets in a spirall forme glu●d and so placed that they fire but one after another ; the ma●es are of divers fashions , some made oblong at the end , some made of a sp●rall forme , but all made hollow to put in several composition , and are boared in divers places , which are for sundry rockets , and lances of weak composition to be fired at pleasure : the faulchons are made of wood in a bowing forme like the figure a , having their backes large to receive many rockets , the head of one neare the neck of another , glued and fastned well together , so that one being spent another may be fired . 〈◊〉 targets are made of wooden thinne boards , which are channeled in spiral lines to containe primer to fire the rockets one after another , which is all covered with thinne covering of wood , or pastboard , boared with holes spirally also ; which rockets must be glued and made fast to the place of the channels : now if two men , the one having a target in his hand , and the other a falchon , or mace of fire , shall begin to fight , it will appeare very pleasant to the spectators : for by the motion of fighting , the place will seem to be ful of streames of fire : and there may be adjoyned to each target a sunne or a burning comet with lances of fire , which will make them more beautifull and resplendent in that acti●n . of standing fires . svch as are used for recreation , are collossus , statues , arches , pyramides , chariots , chaires of triumph and such like , which may be accommodated with rockets of fire , and beautified with sundry other artificiall fires , as pots of fire for the aire which may cast forth several figures , scutchions , rockets of divers sorts , starres , crownes , leaters , and such like , the borders of which may be armed with sundry lances of fire , of small flying rockets with reports , flames , of small birds of cypres , lan●hornes of fire , candles of divers uses , and colours in burning : and whatsoever the fancie of an ingenious head may allude unto . of pots of fire for the aire , which are throwne out of one case one after another of a long continuance . make a long trunk as ag , and by the side ah , let there be a channel which may be fiered with slow primer or composition ; then having charged the trunk ag , with the pots of fire for the aire at igec , and make the trunk ag , very fast unto a post as ik , give fire at the top as at a , which burning downewards will give fire to c , and so throw out that pot in the aire , vvhich being spent , in the meane time the fire vvil-burne from b to d , and so fire e , and throvv it out also into the ayre , and so all the rest one after another vvill be throvvne out : and if the pots of fire for the aire vvhich are cast out , be filled vvith diverse fire-vvorkes , they vvill be so much the more pleasant to the beholders . these trunks of fire doe greatly adorne a firevvorke , and may conveniently be placed at each angle of the vvhole vvorke . of pots of fire for the ground . many pots of fire being fired together do give a fine representation , and recreation to the spectators , and cause a vvonderfull shout amongst the common people vv ch are standers by ; for those pots being filled vvith balles of fire and flying serpents for the aire , they vvill so intermix one vvithin another , in flying here and there a little above the ground , and giving such a volley of reports that the aire vvill rebound vvith their noise , and the vvhole place be filled vvith sundry streames of pleasant fire ; which serpents will much occupie these about the place to defend themselves in their upper parts , when they will no lesse be busied by the balls of fire , which seeme to annoy their feet . of balles of f●re . these are very various according to a mans fancy ; some of which are made with very small rockets , the head of one tyed to the neck of another : the ball being made may be covered over with pitch except the hole to give fire to it ; this ball will make fine sport amongst the standers by , which will take all a fire , and rolle sometimes this way , sometimes that way , between the legs of those that are standers by ▪ if they take not heed , for the motion will be very irregular , and in the motion will cast forth severall fires with reports . in the second kind there may be a channell of iron placed in divers places in spirall manner , against which may be placed as many small petards of paper as possible may be , the channell must be full of slow comp●sition , and may be covered a● the former , and made fit with his rockets in the middle : this ball may be shot out of a morter peece , or charged on the top of a roc●et : for in its motion it will flye here and there , and give many reports in the aire : because of the discharge of the petards . of fire upon the water . places which are 〈◊〉 upon rivers or great ponds , are proper to make recreative fres on : and if it be required to make some of consequence , such may conveniently be made upon two bo●ts , upon which may be built two beasts , turrets , pagins , castles , or such like , to receive or hold the diversity of fire workes that may be made within it , in which may play 〈◊〉 fires , petards , &c. and cast out many simple granadoes , balls of fire to burne in the water-serpents and other things , and often times these boates in their incounters may hang one in another , that so the combatants with the targets , and maces may fight ; which will give great ▪ content to the eyes of those which are lookers on , and in the conclusion fire one another , ( for which end they were made : ) by which the dexterity of the one may be knowne in respect of the other , and the triumph and victory of the fight gotten . of balles of fire which move upon the water . these may be made in forme of a ball stuffed with other little balls , glued round about and filled with composition for the water , which fiered , will produce marvellous and admirable effects , for which there must be had little cannons of white iron , as the ends of small funnels ; these iron cannons may be pierced in sundry places , to which holes , may be set small balles ful of composition for the water which small balls must be peirced deep and large , and covered with pitch , except the hole : in which hole must be first placed a little quantitie of grain-powder ; and the rest of the hole filled up with composition ; and note further that these iron cannons , must be filled with a slow composition ; but such which is proper to burne in the water : then must these cannons with their small balls be put so together that it may make a globe , and the holes in the cannons be answerable to the hollow balls , and all covered over with pitch and tallow ; afterwards pierce this ball against the greatest cannon ( to which all the lesser should answer ) unto the composition , then fire it , and when it begins to blow , throw it into the water , so the fire comming to the holes will fire the graine powder , the which will cause the balls to separate and fly here and there , sometimes two at a time , sometimes three , sometimes more , which will burne within the water with great astonishment and content to those which see it . of lances of fire . standing lances of fire , are made commonly with hollow wood , to containe sundry petards , or rockets , as the figure here sheweth , by which is easie to invent others occording to ones fancy . these lances have wooden handles , that so they may be fastned at some post , so that they be not overthrowne in the flying out of the rockets or petards : there are lesser sorts of lances whose cases are of three or foure fouldings of paper of a foote long , and about the bignesse of ones finger , which are filled with a composition for lances . but if these lances be filled with a composition , then ( unto every 4 ouncs of powder add● 2 ounces of salt-peter , and unto that adde 1 ounce of sulphur ) it will make a brick fire red before it be halfe spent , if the lance be fiered and held to it : and if 20 such lances were placed about a great rocket and shot to a house or ship , it would produce a mischievous effect . how to shoot a rocket horizontall , or otherwise . vnto the end of the rocket place an arrow which may not be too heavy , but in stead of the feathers let that be of thinne white tinne plate , and place it upon a rest , as here you may see by the figure , then give fire unto it , and you may see how serviceable it may be . to the head of such rockets , may be placed petards , balls of fire , granadoes , &c. and so may be applyed to warlike affaires . how a rocket burning in the water for a certaine time , at last shall fly up in the aire with an exceeding quickness . to do this , take two rockets , the one equall to the other , and joyne them one unto another in the middle at c. in such sort that the fire may easily passe from one to another : it being thus done , tye the two rockets at a stick in d , and let it be so long and great that it may make the rockets in the water hang , or lye upright : then take a pack-thread and tye it at g. and let it come double about the stick dm . at 〈◊〉 and at that point hang a bullet of some weight as k. for then giving fire at a. it will burne to b. by a small serpent filled there and tyed at the end , and covered so that the water injure it hot , which will fire the rocket bd , and so mounting quick out of the water by the loose tying at c. and the bullet at the pack-thread , will leave the other rocket in the vvater : and so ascend like a rocket in the aire , to the admiration of such as knovv not the secrecie . of the framing of the parts of a fire-worke , together , that the severall workes may fire one after another . cause a frame to be made as abcd. of tvvo foot square every vvay , or thereabouts ( according to the quantity of your severall vvorkes ) then may you at each angle have a great lance of fire to stand , vvhich may cast out pots of fire as they consume : upon the ledges ab.bc. and cd . may be placed small lances of fire about the number of 30 or 60 , some sidevvise , and others upright , betvveen these lances may be placed pots of fire sloping outvvards , but made very fast , and covered very close , that they chance not to fire before they should ; then upon the ledges re. fg.hi . and ad may be placed your soucisons , and behinde all the vvork may be set your boxes of rockets , in each of vvhich you may place 6 , 9 , ●2 . or 20 small rockets : novv give fire at a. ( by help of a piece of primer going from one lance to another ) all the lances vvill instantly at once be lighted , and as soone as the lance at a is consumed , it vvill fire the channell vvhich is made in the ledge of the frame vvhich runnes under the pots of fire , and as the fire goes along burning , the pots vvill be cast forth , and so the rank of pots upon the sides of the frame ab.bc. and cd . being spent , the soucisons vvill begin to play being fiered also by a channel vvhich runnes under them , upon the ledges ad , hi●g , and re. then when the soucisons are spent upon the last ledge re. there may be a secret channel in the ledge cd which may fire the box of rockets at k. and may fire all the rest one after another , which boxes may be all charged with severall fire-workes : for the rockets of the first box may be loaden with serpents , the second with stars , the third with reports , the fourth with golden raine , and the fifth with small flying serpents ; these mounting one after another and flying to and fro will much inlighten the aire in their ascending , but when these rockets discharge themselves above , then will there be a most pleasant representation , for these fires will dilate themselves in divers beautifull formes , some like the branching of trees , others like fountaines of water gliding in the aire , others like flashes of lightning , others like the glittering of starres , giving great contentment , and delight to those which behold them ; but if the worke be furnished also with balons ( which is the chiefest in recreative fire-works ) then shall you see ascending in the aire but as it were onely a quill of fire , but once the balon taking fire , the aire will seeme more than 100. foot square full of crawling , and flying serpents , which will extinguish with a volley of more than 500 reports : and so fill the aire and firmament with their rebounding clamour . the making of which with many other rare and excellent fire-workes , and other practises , not onely for recreation , but also for service : you may finde in a book intituled artificiall fire-workes , made by mr. malthas ( a master of his knowledge ) and are to be sold by vvilliam leake , at the crowne in fleet-street , between the two temple-gates . conclusion . in this booke we have nothing omitted what was materiall in the originall , but have abundantly augmented it in sundry experiments : and though the examinations are not so full , and manifold ; yet ( by way of brevitie ) we have expressed fully their substance , to avoid prolixitie , and so past by things reiterated . finis . printed or sold by william leak , at the crovvne in fleetstreet neere the temple , these books following . york's heraldry , folio a bible of a very fair large roman letter , 4● orlando f●rios● folio . callu learned readings on the scat. 21. hen. 80. cap 5 of sewer● perkins on the laws of england . wi●kinsons office of she●●●fs . vade mecum , of a justice of peace . the book of fees. peasons law. mirrour of just●ce . topicks in the laws of england . sken de significatione verborum . delaman's use of the horizontal quadrant . wilby's 2d set of musique , 345 and 6 parts . corderius in english. d●ctor fulk's meteors . malthus fire-workes . nyes gunnery & fire-workes c●to ma●or with annotations , by wil. austin esquire . mel helliconium , by alex. ross● nosce teipsum , by sr john davis animadversions on lil●i●s grammer . the history of vienna , & paris lazarillo de tormes . hero and l●ander , by g. chapman and christoph. marlow . al●ilia or philotas loving folly . bishop andrews sermons . adams on ●eter . posing of the accidence . am●dis de gaule . guillieliam's heraldry . herberts travels . bacc●s tales . man become guilty , by john francis sen●●t , and englished by henry earl of monmouth . the ideot in 4 books ; the first and second of wisdom ; the third of the mind , the fourth of s●●tick experiments of the ballance . the life and reign of hen. the eighth , written by the l. herbet cornwallis essays , & paradoxes . clenards greek g●ammar 80 a●laluci● , or the house of light : a discourse written in the year 1651 , by sn . a modern speculator . a tragedy written by the most learned hugo grotius called , christus patience , and translated into engl. by george sand ▪ the mount of olives : or sollitary devotions , by henry vaughan silurist vvith an excellent discourse of man in glory , written by the reverend anselm arch bishop of canterbury . the fort royall of holy scriptures by i. h. playes . hen. the fourth . philaster . the wedding . the hollander . maids tragedie . king & no k. the gratefull servant . the strange discovery . othello ; the moor of venice . the merchant of venice . the description and use of the dovble horizontall dyall . whereby not onely the houre of the day is shewn ; but also the meridian line is found : and most astronomicall questions , which may be done by the globe : are resolved . invented and written by w. o. whereunto is added , the description of the generall horologicall ring . london , printed for william leake , and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the crown in fleetstreet , between the two temple gates . 1652. the description , and use of the double horizontall diall . there are upon the plate two severall dyals . that which is outermost , is an ordinary diall , divided into houres and quarters , and every quarter into three parts which are five minutes a piece : so that the whole houre is understood to contein 60 minutes . and for this dyall the shadow of the upper oblique , or slanting edge of the style , or cocke , doth serve . the other diall , which is within , is the projection of the upper hemisphaere , upon the plain of the horizon : the horizon it self is understood to be the innermost circle of the limbe : and is divided on both sides from the points of east and west into degrees , noted with 10.20.30 , &c. as far as need requireth : and the center of the instrument is the zenith , or verticall point . within the horizon the middle straight line pointing north and south upon which the style standeth , is the meridian or twelve a clock line : and the other short arching lines on both sides of it , are the houre lines , distinguished accordingly by their figures : and are divided into quarters by the smaller lines drawn between them : every quarter conteining 15 minutes . the two arches which crosse the houre lines , meeting on both sides in the points of intersection of the sixe a clocke lines with the horizon , are the two semicircles of the ecliptick or annuall circle of the sun : the upper of which arches serveth for the summer halfe yeere ; and the lower for the winter half yeer : and therefore divided into 365 dayes : which are also distinguished into twelve moneths with longer lines , having their names set down : and into tenths and fifts with shorter lines : and the rest of the dayes with pricks as may plainly be seene in the diall . and this is for the ready finding out of the place of the sun every day : and also for the shewing of the suns yeerely motion , because by this motion the sun goeth round about the heavens in the compasse of a yeer , making the four parts , or seasons thereof ▪ namely , the spring in that quarter of the ecliptick which begins at the intersection on the east side of the diall ▪ and is therefore called the vernall intersection . then the summer in that quarter of the ecliptick which begin at the intersection with the meridian in the highest point next the zenith . after that , autumne in that quarter of the ecliptick which beginneth at the intersection on the west side of the diall , and is therefore called the au●umna●l intersection and lastly , the winter in that quarter of the ecliptic● , which beginneth at the intersection , with the meridian i● the lowest point next the horizon . but desides this yeerely motte● , the sun hath a diurnall , or daily motion , whereby it maketh day and night , with all the diversities and inaequalities thereof : which is expressed by those other circles drawn crosse the houre lines ; the middlemost whereof , being grosser then the rest , meeting with the ec●iptick in the points of the vernall , and autumnall intersections ▪ is the equinoctiall : and the rest on both sides of it are called the parallels , or diurnall arch of the sun , the two outermost whereof are the tropicks , because in them the sun hath his furthe●t digression or declination from the aequinoctiall , which is degrees 23 1 / ● ▪ and thence beginneth againe to return towards the equinoctiall . the upper of the two tropicks in this nor northerne hemisphere is the trop●ck of cancer , and the sun being in it , is highest into the north , making the longest day of summer : and the lower next the horizon is the tropick of capricorne ; and the sun being in it , is lowest into the south , making the shortest day of winter . between the two tropicks and the aequinoctiall , infinite such parallel circles are understood to be conteined : for the sun , in what point soever of the ecliptick it is carried ▪ describeth by his lation a circle parallel to the aequinoctiall : yet those parallels which are in the instrument , though drawn but to every second degree of declination , may be sufficient to direct the eye in imagining and tracing out through every day of the whole yeere in the ecliptick , a proper circle which may be the diurnall arch of the sun for that day . for upon the right estimation of that imaginary parallel doth the manifold use of this instument especially rely : because the true place of the sun all that day is in some part or point of that circle . wherefore for the bet●er conceiving and bearing in minde thereof , every fift parallel is herein made a little g●osser then the rest . for this inner diall serveth the shadow of the upright edge of the style ; which i therefore call the upright shadow . and thus by the eye and view onely to behold and comprehend the course of the sun ▪ throughout the whole yeere both for his annuall and diurnall motion , may be the first use of this instrument . ii use. to finde the declination of the sun every day . looke the day of the moneth proposed in the ecliptick , and mark how many degrees the prick shewing that day , is distant from the equinoctiall , either on the summer or winter side , viz. north or south . example 1. what will the declination of the sun be upon the eleven●h day of august ? look the eleventh day of august and you shall finde it in the sixth circle above the ●quinoctiall : now because each parallel standeth ( as hath been said before ) for two degrees , the sun shall that day decline northwards 12. degrees . example 2. what declination hath the sun upon the 24 day of march ? look the 24 day of march , and you shall finde it betweene the second and third northern parallels , as it were an half and one fift part of that di●tance from the second : reckon therefore four degrees for the two circles , and one de●ree for the halfe space : so shall the suns declination be five degrees , and about one fift part of a degree northward that same day . example 3. what declination hath the sun upon the 13 day of november ? look the 13 day of november , and you shall finde it below the equinoctiall ten parallels , and about one quarter which is 20 degrees and an halfe southward . so much is the declination . and according to these examples judge of all the rest . iii. use. to finde the diurnall arch , or circle of the suns course every day . the sun every day by his motion ( as hath been said ) describeth a circle parallel to the ●quinoctiall , which is either one of the circles in the diall , or some-where ●etween two of them . first , theref●re se●k the day of the moneth ; and if it fall upon one of those parallels ; that is the circle of the suns course that same day : but if it fall betweene any two of the parallels , imagine in your mind● , and estimate with your eye , another parallel th●ough that point betweene those two parallels keeping still the same distance from each of them . as in the first of the three former examples , the circle of the suns course upon 11 of august ▪ shal be the very sixt circle above the equinoctiall toward the cente● . in ●xample 2. the circle of the suns cou●se upon the 24 of march shall be an imaginary circle between the second and third parallels still keeping an half of that space , and one fifth part more of the rest , from the second . in example 3. the circle of the suns course upon the 13 of november : shall be an imaginary circle between the tenth and eleventh parallels below the equinoctiall , still keeping one quarter of that space from the tenth . iiii use. to finde the r●sing and setting of the sun eve●yday . 〈…〉 ( as was last shewed ) the imaginary circle or parallel of the suns course for that day , and marke the point where it meeteth with the horizon , both on the east and w●st sides , for that is the very point of the suns r●sing , and setting that same day , and the houre lines which are on both sides of it , by proportioning the distance reasonably , according to 15 minutes for the quarter of the houre , will shew the houre of the suns rising on the east side , and the suns setting on the west side . v use. to know the reason and manner of the increasing and decreasing of the nights●hroughout ●hroughout the whole yeere . when the sun is in the equinoctiall , it riseth and setteth at 6 a clock , for in the instrument the intersection of the equinoctiall , and the ecliptick with the horizon is in the six a clocke circle on both sides . but if the sun be out of the equinoctial , declining toward the north , the intersections of the parallel of the sun with the horizon is before 6 in the morning , and after 6 in the evening : and the diurnall arch greater then 12 houres ; and so much more great , the greater the northerne declination is . againe , if the sun be declining toward the south , the intersections of the parallel of the sun , with the horizon is after 6 in the morning , and before 6 in the evening : and the diurnall arch lesser then 12 houres ; and by so much lesser , the greater the southerne declination is . and in those places of the ecliptick in which the sun most speedily changeth his declination , the length also of the day is most a●tered : and where the ecliptick goeth most parallel to the equinoctiall changing the declination , but little altered . as for example , when the sun is neer unto the equinoctiall on both sides , the dayes increase and also decrease suddenly and apace ; because in those places the ecliptick inclineth to the equinoctiall in a manner like a streight line , making sensible declination . again , when the sun is neere his greatest declination , as in the height of summer , and the depth of winter , the dayes keep for a good time , as it were , at one stay , because in these places the ecliptick is in a manner parallel to the equinoctiall , the length o● the day also is but little , scarce altering the declination : and because in those two times of the yeer , the sun standeth as it were still at one declination , they are called the summer solstice , and winter solstice . and in the mean space the neerer every place is to the equinoctiall , the greater is the diversity of dayes . wherefore , we may hereby plainly see that the common received opinion , that in every moneth the dayes doe equally increase , is erroneous . also we may see that in parallels equally distant from the equinoctiall , the day on the one side is equall to the night on the other side . vi. vse . to finde how far the sun riseth , and setteth from the true east and west points , which is called the suns amp●itude ortive , and occasive . seek out ( as was shewed in iii vse ) the imaginary circle , or parallel of the suns course , and the points of that circle in the horizon , on the east and west sides cutteth the degree of the amplitude ortive , and occasive . vii use. to finde the length of every day and night . double the houre of the sunnes setting , and you shal have the length of the day ; & double the hour of the sunnes rising , and you shal have the length of the right . viii vse . to finde the true place of the sun upon the dyall , that is , the point of the instrument which answereth to the place of the sun in the heavens at any time , which is the very ground of all the questions following . if the dyall be fixed upon a post : look what a clock it is by the outward dyall , that is , look what houre and part of houre the shadow of the slanting edge of the style sheweth in the outward limbe . then behold the shadow of the upright edge , and marke what point thereof is upon that very houre and part in the inner dyall among the parallels , that point is the true place of the sunne at the same instant . if the dyal be not fixed , and you have a meridian line no●ed in any window where the sunne shineth : place the meridian of your dyal upon the meridian line given , so that the top of the stile may point into the north : and so the dyal is as it were fixed , wherefore by the former rule you may finde the place of the sunne upon it . if the dyal be not fixed , neither you have a meridian line , but you know the true houre of the day exactly : hold the dyal even and parallel to the horizon , moving it till the slanting edge of the stile cast his shadow justly upon the time or houre given ; for then the dyal is truly placed , as upon a post . seek therefore what point of the upright shadow falleth upon that very houre , and there is the place of the sun. but if your dyal be loose , and you know neither the meridian nor the time of the day . first , by the day of the moneth in the ecliptique , finde the su●s parallel , or d●urnall arch for that day ▪ then holding the dyal level to the horizon , move it every way untill the slanting shadow of the style in the outward limbe , and the upright shadow in the sunnes diurnal arch , both shew the very same houre and minute , for that very point of the sunnes parallel , which the upright shadow cutteth , is the true place of the sun on the dyal at that present . but note that by reason of the thicknes of the style , and the bluntnesse of the angle of the upright edge , the sun cannot come unto that edge for some space before and after noone . and so during the time that the sunne shineth not on that upright edge , the place of the sunne in the dyal cannot be found . wherefore they that make this kinde of double dyal , are to be careful to file the upright edge of the style as thinne and sharpe as possible may be . that which hath here bin taught concerning the finding out the suns true place in the dyal , ought perfectly to be understood , that it may be readily , and dexteriously practised , for upon the true performance thereof dependeth all that followeth . ix vse . to finde the houre of the day . if the dyal be fastned upon a post , the houre by the outward dyal , or limbe , is known of every one , and the upri●ht shadow in the suns parallel , or diurnal arch will also shew the very same houre . but if the dyall be loose , either hold it or set it parallel to the horizon , with the style pointing into the north and move it gently every way untill the houre shewed in both dialls exactly agreeth , or which is all one , finde out the true place of the sun upon the dyall , as was taught in the former question , for that point among the houre lines sheweth the houre of the day . x vse . to finde out the meridian , and other points of the compasse . first , you must seek the tru● houre of the day ( by the last question ) for in that situation the meridian of the dyall standeth direct●y north and south : and the east pointeth into the east , and the west into the west , and the rest of the points may be given by allowing degrees 11. 1 / ● unto every point of the compasse . xi vse . to finde out the azumith of the sun , that is , the distance of the verticall circle , in which the sun is at that present , from the meridian . set your diall upon any plain or flat which is parallel to the horizon , with the meridian pointing directly north or south , as was last shewed : then follow with your eye the upright shadow in a streight line , till it cutteth the horizon : for the degree in which the point of intersection is , shal shew how far the suns azumith is distant from the east and west points , and the complement thereof unto 90 ; shal give the distance thereof from the meridian . xii vse . to finde out the declination of any wall upon which the sun shineth , that is , how far that wall swerveth from the north or south , either eastward or westward . take aboard having one streight edg ▪ & a line stricken perpendicular upon it ; apply the streight edg unto the wall at what time the sun shineth upon it , holding the board parallel to the horizon : set the dyal thereon , and move it gently every way , untill the same hour and minute be shewed in both dyals : and so let it stand : then if the dyal have one of the sides parallel to the meridian strike a line along that side upon the board , crossing the perpendicular , or else with a bodkin make a point upon the board , at each end of the meridian , and taking away the instrument from the board , and the board from the wall , lay a ruler to those two points , and draw a line crossing the perpendicular : for the angle which that line maketh with the perpendicular , is the angle of the decli●nation of the wall . and if it be a right angle , the wall is exactly east or west : but if that line be parallel to the perpendicular , the wall is direct north or south without any declination at all . you may also finde out the declination of a wall , if the dial be fixed on a post not very far from that wall ; in this manner . your board being applyed to the wall , as was shewed , hang up a thred with a plummet , so that the shadow of the thred may upon the board crosse the perpendicular line : make two pricks in the shadow and run instantly to the dyal and look the horizontal distance of the suns azumith , or upright shadow from the meridian . then through the two pricks draw a line crossing the perpendicular : and upon the point of the intersection , make a circle equal to the horizon of your instrument , in which circle you shal from the line through the two pricks measure the horizontal distance of the upright shadow , or azumith from the meridian , that way toward which the meridian is : draw a line out of the center , to the end of that arch measured : and the angle which this last line maketh with the perpendicular , shall be equall to the declination of the wall . xiii vse . how to place the dyall upon a post without any other direction but it selfe . set the diall upon the post , with the stile into the north , as neere as you can guesse : then move it this way and that way , till the same houre and minute be shewed , both in the outward and inward dials by the severall shadowes , as hath been already taught , for then the diall standeth in its truest situation ; wherefore let it be nailed down in that very place . xiiii vse . to finde the height of the sun at high noon everyday . seeke out the diurnall arch or parallel of the suns course for that day , ( by vse iii. ) and with a paire of compasses , setting one foot in the center , and the other in the point of intersection of that parallel with the meridian , apply that same distance unto the semidiameter divided : for that measure shal therein shew the degree of of the suns altitude above the the horizon that day at high noon . xv vse . to finde the height of the sun at any houre or time of the day . seeke out the diurnal arch , or parallel of the suns course for that day : and marke what point of it is in the very houre and minute proposed . and with a paire of compasses , setting one foot in the center , and the other in that point of the parallel , apply the same distance upon the semidiameter divided : for that measure shall shew the degree of the suns altitude above the horizon at that time . and by this meanes you may finde the height of the sun above the horizon at every houre throughout the whole yeere , for the making of rings and cylinders and other instruments which are used to shew the houre of the day . xvi vse . the height of the sun being given , to finde out the houre , or what it is a clocke . this is the converse of the former : seeke therefore in the semidiameter divided , the height of the sun given . and with a paire of compasses , setting one foot in the center , and the other at that height , apply the same distance unto the diurnall arch , or parallel of the sun for that day : for that point of the diurnall arch , upon which that same distance lights , is the true place of the sun upon the dial ; and sheweth among the houre lines , the true time of the day . xvii use. considerations for the use of the instrument in the night . in such questions as concerne the night ▪ or the time before sun rising , and after sun setting , the instrument representeth the lower hemisphaere wherein the southerne pole is elevated . and therefore the parallels which are above the aequinoctiall toward the center shall be for the southerne , or winter parallels : and those beneath the aequinoctiall , for the northerne or summer paral●els ; and the east shall be accounted for west , and the west for east ; altogether contrary to that which was before , when the instrument represented the upper hemisphaere . xviii use. to finde how many degrees the sun is under the horizon at any time of the night . seeke the declination of the sun for the day proposed ( by vse ii. ) and at the same declination the contrary side imagine a parallel for the sun that night ▪ and mark what point of it is in the very houre and minute proposed : and with a pair of compasses , setting one foot in the center , and the other in that point of the parallel , apply that same distance unto the semidiameter divided : for that measure shall shew the degree of the suns depression below the horizon at that time . xix use. to finde out the length of the c●epusculum , or twylight , every day . seek the declination of the sun for the day proposed ( by vse ii. ) and at the same declination on the contrary side imagine a parallel for the sun that night . and with a paire of compasses setting one foot in the center , and the other at 72 degrees upon the semidiameter divided , apply that same distance , unto the suns nocturnall parallel : for that point of the parallel , upon which that same distance shall light , sheweth among the houre lines , the beginning of the twilight in the morning , or the end of the twilight in the evening . xx use. if the day of the moneth be not known , to finde it out by the dyall . for the working of this question , either the diall must be fixed rightly on a post , or else you must have a true meridian line drawn in some window where the sun shineth , wherefore supposing the diall to be justly set either upon the post , or upon the meridian . look what a clock it is by the outward diall , and observe what point of the upright shadow falleth upon the very same minute in the inner diall , and through that same point imagine a parallel circle for the suns course ; that imaginary circle in the ecliptick shall cut the day of the moneth . i the description of it . this instrument serveth as a diall to finde the houre of the day , not in one place onely ( as the most part of dials do ) but generally in all countreys lying north of the aequinoctiall : and therefore i call it the generall h●rologicall ●ing . it consisteth of two br●zen circles : a diameter , and a little ring to hang it by . the two circles are so made , that though they are to be set at right angles , when you use the instrument : yet for more convenient carrying , they may be one folded into the other . the lesser of the two circles is for the aequinoctiall , having in the midst of the inner side or thicknesse , a line round it , which is the true aequinoctiall circle , divided into twice twelue hours , from the two opposite points in which it is fastened within the greater . the greater and outer of the two circles is the meridian : one quarter whereof , beginning at one of the points in which the aequin●cti●ll is hung , is divided into ninety degrees . the diameter is fastened to the meridian in two opposite points or poles , o●e of them being the very end of the quadrant , and is the north pole. wherefore it is perpendicular to the ●quinoctiall , having his due position . the diameter is broad , and slit in the middle : and about the slit on both sides are the moneths and dayes of the yeer . and within this slit is a litt●e sliding plate pierced through with a small hole : which hole in the motion of it , while it is applied to the dayes of the yeer , representeth the axis of the world . the little ring whereby the instrument hangeth , is made to slip up and down along the quadrant : that so by help of a little tooth annexed , the instrument may be rectified to any elevation of the pole. ii. the use of it . in using this instrument , first , the tooth of the little ring must carefully be set to the height of the pole in the quadrant , for the place wherein you are . secondly , the hole of the sliding plate within the slit , must be brought exactly unto the day of the moneth . thirdly , the aeqinoctiall is to be drawn out , and by means of the two studs in the meridian staying it , it is to be set perpendicular thereto . fourthly , guesse as neer as you can at the houre , and turn the hole of the little plate toward it . lastly , hold the instrument up by the little ring , that it may hang freely with the north pole thereof toward the north : and move it gently this way and that way , till the beams of the sun-shining thorow that hole , fall upon that middle line within the aequinoctiall : for there shall be the houre of the day : and the meridan of the instrument shall hang directly north and south . these instrument all dials are made in brasse by elias allen dwelling over against st. clements church without temple barre , at the signe of the horse-shooe neere essex gate . finis experiments, notes, &c. about the mechanical origine or production of divers particular qualities among which is inferred a discourse of the imperfection of the chymist's doctrine of qualities : together with some reflections upon the hypothesis of alcali and acidum / by the honourable robert boyle ... boyle, robert, 1627-1691. 1676 approx. 498 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 291 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a28980 wing b3977 estc r14290 18047643 ocm 18047643 60282 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a28980) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60282) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 836:20a) experiments, notes, &c. about the mechanical origine or production of divers particular qualities among which is inferred a discourse of the imperfection of the chymist's doctrine of qualities : together with some reflections upon the hypothesis of alcali and acidum / by the honourable robert boyle ... boyle, robert, 1627-1691. [576] p. printed by e. flesher for r. davis ..., london : 1676. reproduction of originals in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. item at 836:20a bound and filmed with: of the mechanical origine of heat and cold / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -experiments and observations about the mechanical production of tasts / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -experiments and observations about the mechanical production of odours / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -of the imperfection of the chymist's doctrine of qualities / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -reflections upon the hypothesis of alcali and acidum / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -experiments and notes about the mechanical origine and production of volatility / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -experimental notes of the mechanical origine or production of fixtness. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -experiments and notes about the mechanical origine or production of corrosiveness and corrosibility / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -of the mechanical causes of chymical precipitation / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1675 -experiments and notes about the mechanical production of magnetism / by the honourable robert boyle. london : printed by e. flesher for r. davis, 1676. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -early works to 1800. 2005-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-04 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2005-04 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion experiments , notes , &c. about the mechanical origine or production of divers particular qualities : among which is inserted a discourse of the imperfection of the chymist's doctrine of qualities ; together with some reflections upon the hypothesis of alcali and acidum . by the honourable robert boyle , esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1676. the publisher to the reader . to keep the reader from being at all surpriz'd at the date of the title-page , i must inform him , that a good part of the ensuing tracts were printed off , and in my custody , the last year ; and the rest had come out with them divers moneths ago , if the noble author had not been hinder'd from committing them to the press by the desire and hope of being able in a short time to send them abroad more numerous , and by his being hinder'd to do so partly by remove , partly by the want of some papers that were odly lost or spoil'd , and partly by the sickness of himself , and divers of his near relations . and some of these impediments do yet suppress what the author intended should have made a part of the book , which now he suffers to be publish'd without them , though divers of his papers about some other particular qualities have been written so long ago , as to have lain for many years neglected among other of his old writings : which that he may have both leasure and health to review , and fit for publication , is the ardent wish of the sincere lovers of real knowledge , who have reason to look on it as no mean proof of his constant kindness to experimental philosophy , that in these tracts he perseveres in his course of freely and candidly communicating his experiments and observations to the publick , notwithstanding the liberty that hath been too boldly taken to mention them as their own by some later writers ; as particularly by the compiler of the treatise , entitul'd polygraphice , who in two chapters hath allow'd himself to present his reader with alove fifty experiments , taken out of our authors book of colours , without owning any one of them to him , or so much as naming him or his book in either of those chapters , nor , that i remember , in any of the others . nor did i think this practice justified by the confession made in the preface , importing , that the compiler had taken the particulars he deliver'd from the writings of others . for , this general and perfunctory acknowledgment neither doth right to particular authors , nor , by naming them , enables the reader to know , whether the things deliver'd come from persons fit to be credited or not : and therefore , since 't is but too likely , that such concealment of the names , if not usurpation of the labours of the benefactors to philosophy , will prove much more forbidding to many others to impart their experiments , than as yet they have to our generous author ; it seems to be the interest of the commonwealth of learning openly to discountenance so discouraging a practice , and to shew , that they do not think it fit that possessors of useful pieces of knowledge should be strongly tempted to envy them to the publick , to the end onely that a few compilers should not be put upon so reasonable and easie a work , as by a few words or names to shew themselves just , if not grateful . but not to keep the reader any longer from the perusal of these tracts themselves , i shall conclude with intimating onely , that what our author saith in one of them concerning the insufficiency of the chymical hypothesis for explaining the effects of nature , is not at all intended by him to derogate from the sober professors of chymistry , or to discourage them from useful chymical operations ; forasmuch as i had the satisfaction , some years since , to see in the authors hands a discourse of his about the usefulness of chymistry for the advancement of natural philosophy ; with which also 't is hoped he will e're long gratifie the publick . advertisements relating to the following treatise . to obviate some misapprehensions that may arise concerning the ensuing notes about particular qualities , it may not be improper to adde something in this place to what has been said in another † paper in reference to those notes , and consequently to premise to the particular experiments some few general advertisements about them . and i. we may consider , that there may be three differing ways of treating historically of particular qualities . for either one may in a full and methodical history prosecute the phaenomena ; or one may make a collection of various experiments and observations whence may be gathered divers phaenomena to illustrate several , but not all of the heads or parts of such an ample or methodical history ; or ( in the third place ) one may in a more confin'd way content ones self to deliver such experiments and observations of the production , or the destruction or change of this or that quality , as , being duly reason'd on , may suffice to shew wherein the nature of that quality doth consist , especially in opposition to those erroneous conceits that have been entertained about it . of the first of these three ways of treating of a quality i pretend not to have given any compleat example ; but you will find , that i have begun such histories in my . specimens about fluidity and firmness , and in the experiments , observations , &c. that i have put together about cold. the second sort of historical writings i have given an instance of in my experiments about colours ; but in these ensuing notes , the occasion i had to make them having obliged me chiefly to have an eye to the disproval of the errours of the peripateticks and the chymists about them , i hope i shall not be thought to have fallen very short in my attempt , if i have ( here and there ) perform'd what may be required in the third way of writing historically of a quality ; my present design being chiefly to give an intelligent and historical account of the possible mechanical origination , not of the various phaenomena of the particular qualities succinctly mentioned in these notes ; though , my secondary end being to become a benefactor to the history of qualities by providing materials for my self or better architects , i have not scrupled to adde to those , that tend more directly to discover the nature or essence of the quality treated of , and to derive it from mechanical principles , some others ( which happen'd to come in my way ) that acquaint us but with some of the less luciferous phaenomena . ii. that you may not mistake what is driven at in many of the experiments and reasonings deliver'd or propos'd in the ensuing notes about particular qualities , i must desire you to take notice with me , what it is that i pretend to offer you some proofs of . for , if i took upon me to demonstrate , that the qualities of bodies cannot proceed from ( what the schools call ) substantial forms , or from any other causes but mechanical , it might be reasonably enough expected , that my argument should directly exclude them all . but since , in my explications of qualities , i pretend only , that they may be explicated by mechanical principles , without enquiring , whether they are explicable by any other , that which i need to prove , is , not that mechanical principles are the necessary and onely things whereby qualities may be explained , but that probably they will be found sufficient for their explication . and since these are confessedly more manifest and more intelligible than substantial form● and other scholastic entities ( if i may so call them ) 't is obvious , what the consequence will be of our not being oblig'd to have recourse to things , whose existence is very disputable , and their nature ve●y obscure . there are several ways that may be employed , some on one occasion and some on another , either more directly to reduce qualities ( as well as divers other things in nature ) to mechanical principles ; or , by shewing the insufficiency of the peripatetic and chymical theories of qualities , to recommend the corpuscularian doctrine of them . for further illustration of this point , i shall adde on this occasion , that there are three distinct sorts of experiments ( besides other proofs ) that may be reasonably employ'd , ( though they be not equally effi●acious ) when we treat of the origine of qualities . for some instances may be brought to shew , that the propos'd quality may be mechanically introduc'd into a portion of matter , where it was not before . other instances there may be to shew , that by the same means the quality may be notably varied as to degrees , or other not essential attributes . and by some instances also it may appear , that the quality is mechanically expell'd from , or abolish'd in , a portion of matter that was endow'd with it before . sometimes also by the same operation the former quality is destroyed , and a new one is produc'd . and each of these kinds of instances may be usefully employ'd in our notes about particular qualities . for , as to the first of them , there will be scarce any difficulty . and as to the second , since the permanent degrees as well as other attributes of qualities are said to flow from ( and do indeed depend upon ) the same principles that the quality it self does ; if , especially in bodies inanimate , a change barely mechanical does notably and permanently alter the degree or other considerable attribute ; it will afford , though not a clear proof , yet a probable presumption , that the principles whereon the quality it self depends are mechanical . and lastly , if , by a bare mechanical change of the internal disposition and structure of a body , a permanent quality , confess'd to flow from its substantial form or inward principle , be abolish'd , and perhaps also immediately succeeded by a new quality mechanically producible ; if , i say , this come to pass in a body inanimate , especially if it be also , as to sense similar , such a phaenomenon will not a little favour that hypothesis which teaches , that these qualities depend upon certain contextures and other mechanical affections of the small parts of the bodies , that are indowed with them , and consequently may be abolish'd when that necessary modification is destroyed . this is thus briefly premis'd to shew the pertinency of alledging differing kinds of experiments and phaenomena in favour of the corpuscular hypothesis about qualities . what has been thus laid down , may , i hope , facilitate and shorten most of the remaining work of this preamble , which is to sh●w , though but very briefly , that there may be several ways , not impertinently employable to recommend the corpuscularian doctrine of qualities . for first , it may sometimes be shewn , that a substantial form cannot be pretended to be the necessary principle of this or that quality ; as w●ll ( for instance ) hereafter be made manifest in the asperity and smoothness of bodies , and in the magnetical vertue residing in a piece of iron that has been impregnated by a load-stone . 't is true , that the force of such instances is indirect , and that they do not expresly prove the hypothesis in whose favour they are alledged , but yet they may do it good service by disproving the grounds and conclusions of the adversaries , and so ( by removing prejudices ) making way for the better entertainment of the truth . secondly , we may sometimes obtain the same or the like quality by artificial and sometimes even temporary compositions , which , being but factitious bodies , are by leerned adversaries confess'd not to have substantial forms , and can indeed reasonably be presum'd to have but resulting temperaments : as will be hereafter exemplifi'd in the production of green by compounding blew and yellow , and in the electrical faculty of glass ; and in the temporary whiteness produc'd by beating clear oyl and fair water into an ointment , and by beating water into a froth , and , more permanently , in making coral white by flawing it with heat , and in divers other particulars , that will more properly be elsewhere mention'd . thirdly then , in some cases the quality propos'd may be either introduced , or vary'd , or destroy'd in an inanimate body , when no change appears to be made in the body , except what is mechanical , and what might be produc'd in it , supposing such a parcel of matter were artificially fram'd and constituted as the body is , though without any substantial form , or other such like internal principle . so when a piece of glass , or of clarify'd rosin , is , by being beaten to powder , deprived of its transparency , and made white , there appears no change to be made in the pulveriz'd body , but a comminution of it into a multitude of corpuscles , that by their number and the various scituations of their surfaces are fitted copiously to reflect the sincere light several ways , or give some peculiar modification to its rayes ; and hinder that free passage of the beams of light , that is requisite to transparency . fourthly , as in the cases belonging to the foregoing number there appears not to intervene in the patient or subject of the change , any thing but a mechanical alteration of the mechanical structure or constitution ; so in some other cases it appears not , that the agent , whether natural or factitious , operates on the patient otherwise than mechanically , employing onely such a way of acting as may proceed from the mechanisme of the matter , which it self consists of , and that of the body it acts upon . as when goldsmiths burnish a plate or vessel of silver , that having been lately boil'd lookt white before , though they deprive it of the greatest part of its colour , and give it a new power of reflecting the beams of light and visible objects , in the manner proper to specular bodies ; yet all this is done by the intervention of a burnishing tool , which often is but a piece of steel or iron conveniently shap'd ; and all that this burnisher does , is but to depress ●●●●●tle prominencies of the silver , and reduce them , and the little cavites of it , to one physically level or plain superficies . and so when a hammer striking often on a nail , makes the head of it grow hot , the hammer is but a purely mechanical agent , and works by local motion . and when by striking a lump of glass , it breaks it into a multitude of small parts that compose a white powder , it acts as mechanically in the production of that whiteness as it does in driving in a nail to the head . and so likewise , when the powder'd glass or colophony lately mention'd is , by the fire , from a white and opacous body , reduc'd into a colourless ( or a reddish ) and transparent one , it appears not , that the fire , though a natural agent , need work otherwise than machanically , by colliquating the incoherent grains of powder into one mass ; wherein , the ranks of pores not being broken and interrupted as before , the incident beams of light are allow'd every way a free passage through them . fifthly , the like phaenomena to those of a quality to be explicated , or at least as difficult in the same kind , may be produc'd in bodies and cases , wherein 't is plain we need not recurre to substantial forms . thus a varying colour , life that which is admired in a pigeons neck , may be produc'd in changeable taffety , by a particular way of ranging and connecting silk of several colours into one piece of stuff . thus we have known opals casually imitated and almost excell'd by glass , which luckily degenerated in the furnace . and somewhat the life changeable and very delightful colour i remember to have introduced into common glass with silver or with gold and mercury . so likewise meerly by blowing fine crystal-glass at the flame of a lamp to a very extraordinary thinness , we have made it to exhibit , and that vividly , all the colours ( as they speak ) of the rainbow ; and this power of pleasing by diverfiyying the light , the glass , if well preserved , may keep for a long time . thus also by barely beating gold into such thin leaves as artificers and apothecaries are wont to employ , it will be brought to exhibite a green colour , when you hold it against the light , whether of the day , or of a good candle ; and this kind of greenness as 't is permanent in the foliated gold , so i have found by trial , that if the sun-beams , somewhat united by a burning-glass , be trajected through the expanded leaf , and cast upon a piece of white paper , they will appear there as if they had been tinged in their passage . nay , and sometimes a slight and almost momentany mechanical change will seem to over rule nature , and introduce into a body the quite opposite quality to that she had given it : as when a piece of black horn is , onely by being thinly scraped with the edge of a knife or a piece of glass , reduced to permanently white shavings . and to these instances of colours , some emphatical and some permanent , might be added divers belonging to other qualities , but that i ought not to anticipate what you will elsewhere meet with . there is yet another way of arguing in favour of the corpuscularian doctrine of qualities , which , though it do not afford direct proofs of its being the best hypothesis , yet it may much strengthen the arguments drawn from other topicks , and thereby serve to recommend the doctrine it self . for , the use of an hypothesis being to render an intelligible account of the causes of the effects or phaenomena propos'd , without crossing the laws of nature or other phaenomena , the more numerous and the more various the particulars are , whereof some are explicable by the assign'd hypothesis , and some are agreeable to it , or at least are not dissonant from it , the more valuable is the hypothesis , and the more likely to be true . for 't is much more difficult , to finde an hypothesis that is not true which will suit with many phaenomena , especially if they be of various kinds , than but with few . and for this reason i have set down among the instances belonging to particular qualities some such experiments and observations , as we are now speaking of , since , although they be not direct proofs of the preferrablennss of our doctrine , yet they may serve for confirmation of it ; though this be not the only or perhaps the chief reason of their being mention'd . for whatever they may be as arguments , since they are matters of fact , i thought it not amiss to take this occasion of preserving them from being lost ; since , whether or no they contribute much to the establishment of the mechanical doctrine about qualities , they will at least contribute to the natural history of them . iii. i shall not trouble the reader with a recital of those unlucky accidents , that have hinder'd the subjects of the following book from being more numerous , and i hope he will the more easily excuse their paucity , if he be advertised , that although the particular qualities , about which some experiments and notes , by way of specimens , are here presented , be not near half so many as were intended to be treated of ; yet i was careful to chuse them such as might comprehend in a small number a great variety ; there being scarce one sort of qualities , of which there is not an instance given in this small book , since therein experiments and thoughts are deliver'd about heat and cold , which are the chief of the four first qualities ; about tasts and odours , which are of those , that , being the immediate objects of sense , are wont to be call'd sensible qualities ; about volatility and fixity , corrosiveness and corrosibility , which , as they are found in bodies purely natural , are referrable to those qualities , that many physical writers call second qualities , and which yet , as they may be produced and destroyed by the chymists art , may be stiled chymical qualities , and the spagyrical ways of introducing or expelling them may be referr'd to chymical operations , of which there is given a more ample specimen in the mechanical account of chymical precipitations . and lastly , some notes are added about magnetism and electricity , which are known to belong to the tribe of occult qualities . iv. if a want of apt coherence and exact method be discover'd in the following essays , 't is hop'd , that defect will be easily excus'd by those that remember and consider , that these papers were originally little better than a kind of rapsody of experiments , thaughts , and observations , occasionally thrown together by way of annotations upon some passages of a discourse , ( about the differing parts and redintegration of nitre ) wherein some things were pointed at relating to the particular qualities that are here more largely treated of . and though the particulars that concern some of these qualities , were afterwards ( to supply the place of those borrow'd by other papers whilst these lay by me ) increas'd in number ; yet it was not to be expected , that their accession should as well correct the form as augment the matter of our annotations . and as for the two tracts , that are inserted among these essays about qualities ; i mean the discourse of the imperfection of the chymical doctrine of them , and the reflections on the hypothesis of acidum and alcali , the occasion of their being made parts of this book is so far express'd in the tracts themselves , that i need not here trouble the reader with a particular account of it . v. i do not undertake , that all the following accounts of particular qualities would prove to be the very true ones , nor every explication the best that can be devis'd . for besides that the difficulty of the subject , and incompleatness of the history we yet have of qualities , may well deterre a man , less diffident of his own abilities than i justly am , from assuming so much to himself , it is not absolutely necessary to my present design . for , mechanical explications of natural phaenomena do give so much more satisfaction to ingenious minds , than those that must employ substantial forms , sympathy , antipathy , &c. that the more judicious of the vulgar philosophers themselves prefer them before all others , when they can be had ; ( as is elsewhere shewn at large , ) but then they look upon them either as confined to mechanical engines , or at least but as reaching to very few of nature's phaenomena , and , for that reason , unfit to be received as physical principles . to remove therefore this grand prejudice and objection , which seems to be the chief thing that has kept off rational inquirers from closing with the mechanical philosophy , it may be very conducive , if not sufficient , to propose such mechanical accounts of particular qualities themselves , as are intelligible and possible , and are agreeable to the phaenomena whereto they are applied . and to this it is no more necessary that the account propos'd should be the truest and best that can possibly be given , than it is to the proving that a clock is not acted by a vital principle , ( as those chineses thought , who took the first , that was brought them out of europe , for an animal , ) but acts as an engine , to do more than assign a mechanical structure made up of wheels , a spring , a hammer , and other mechanical pieces , that will regularly shew and strike the hour , whether this contrivance be or be not the very same with that of the particular clock propos'd ; which may indeed be made to move either with springs or weights , and may consist of a greater or lesser number of wheels , and those differingly scituated and connected ; but for all this variety 't will still be but an engine . i intend not therefore by proposing the theories and conjectures ventur'd at in the following papers , to debar my self of the liberty either of altering them , or of substituting others in their places , in case a further progress in the history of qualities shall suggest better hypotheses or explications . and 't was but agreeable to this intention of mine , that i should , as i have done , on divers occasions in the following notes , imploy the word or , and express my self somewhat doubtingly , mentioning more than one cause of a phaenomenon , or reason of an opinion , without dogmatically declaring for either ; since my purpose in these notes was rather to shew , it was not necessary to betake our selves to the scholastick or chymical doctrine about qualities , than to act the umpire between the differing hypotheses of the corpuscularians ; and , provided i kept my self within the bounds of mechanical philosophy , my design allowed me a great latitude in making explications of the phaenomena , i had occasion to take notice of . finis . directions for the book-binder ; to be put immediately after the general title page . the several tracts of this book are to be bound in the order following , viz. after the preface of the publisher to the reader , and the advertisements relating to the whole treatise , is to follow , 1. the tract of heat and cold. 2. of tasts . 3. of odours . 4. of the imperfection of the chymists doctrine of qualities . 5. reflexions upon the hypothesis of alcali and acidum . 6. advertisements relating to chymical qualities , to be bound next after the title page to volatility . 7. of volatility . 8. of fixtness . 9. of corrosiveness & corrosibility . 10. of chymical precipitation . 11. of magnetism . 12. of electricity . errata . in the tract of heat and cold , p. 28. at the end of the page dele finis , and go on to exp. ix . p. 40. l. 21. r. degree of rapidness . p. 102. l. 15. put a comma after the word before . in the tract of corrosiveness and corrosibility read in the current title on the top of p. 2. and 3. & seqq . corrosiveness and corrosibility , not or . of the mechanical origine of heat and cold . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. experiments and notes about the mechanical origine or production of heat and cold . sect . i. about the mechanical production of cold. heat & cold being generally lookt upon as the most active among qualities , from which many other qualities are deducible , and by which many of nature's phaenomena , especially among the peripateticks , are attempted to be explicated ; i suppose it will be very proper to begin with instances of them to shew , that qualities may be mechanically produced or destroyed . a not useless paraphrase of which expression may be this , that a portion of matter may come to be endowed with a quality , which it had not before , or to be deprived of one that it had , or ( sometimes ) to acquire or lose a degree of that quality ; though on the part of the matter ( or , as some would speak , of the patient ) there do not appear to intervene any more than a change of texture , or some other mechanical alteration ; and though the agents ( on their part ) do not appear to act upon it otherwise , than after a mechanical manner , that is , by their bigness , shape , motion , and those other attributes by vertue whereof mechanical powers and engines perform their operations ; and this without having recourse to the peripatetic substantial forms and elements , or to the hypostatical principles of the chymists . and having here ( as in a proper place ) to avoid ambiguity , premised once for all , this * summary declaration of the sense , agreeably whereunto i would have these terms understood in the following notes about the origine of particular qualities ; i proceed now to set down some few examples of the mechanical production of cold & heat , beginning with those that relate to the former , because by reason of their paucity they will be quickly dispatcht . and i hope i shall not need to make an apology for mentioning no greater number ; since i scarce remember to have met with any instances of this kind in any of the classick writers of natural philosophy . exper. i. my first experiment is afforded me by the dissolution of sal armoniac , which i have somewhat wonder'd , that chymists having often occasion to purifie that salt by the help of water , should not have , long since , and publickly , taken notice of . for if you put into three or four times its weight of water a pound or but half a pound ( or even less ) of powder'd sal armoniack , and stir it about to hasten the dissolution , there will be produc'd in the mixture a very intense degree of coldness , such as will not be onely very sensible to his hand that holds the glass whilst the dissolution is making , but will very manifestly discover it self by its operation upon a thermoscope . nay , i have more than once by wetting the outside of the glass , where the dissolution was making , and nimbly stirring the mixture , turn'd that externally adhering water into real ice , ( that was scrap'd off with a knife ) in less than a minute of an hour . and this thus generated cold continued considerably intense , whilst the action of dissolution lasted ; but afterwards by degrees abated , and within a very few hours ceas'd . the particular phaenomena i have noted in the experiment , and the practical uses that may be made of it i reserve for another place * , the knowledge of them being not necessary in this , where what i have already related , may suffice for my present argument . and to shew , that not onely a far more intense degree of cold may emerge in this mixture , than was to be found in either of the ingredients before they were mingled , but a considerable coldness may be begun to be produc'd between bodies that were neither of them actually cold before they were put together , i will subjoin a transcript of what i find to this purpose among my adversaria . exper. ii. [ i remember that once i had a mind to try , whether the coldness produced upon the solution of beaten sal armoniac in water , might not be more probably referr'd to some change of texture or motion resulting from the action of the liquor upon the salt , than to any infrigidation of the water made by the suddain dispersion of so many saline grains of powder , which by reason of their solidity may be suspected to be actually more cold than the water they are put into ; i therefore provided a glass full of that liquor , and having brought it to such a temper , that its warmth made the spirit of wine in the seal'd weather-glass manifestly , though not nimbly , ascend ; i took out the thermoscope , and laid it in powder'd sal armoniac , warm'd beforehand ; so that the tincted liquor was made to ascend much nimblier by the salt than just before by the water ; and having presently remov'd the instrument into that liquor again , and poured the somewhat warm sal armoniac into the same , i found , as i imagin'd , that within a space of time which i guess'd to be about half a minute or less , the spirit of wine began hastily to subside , and within a few minutes fell above a whole division and a quarter below the mark at which it stood in the water , before that liquor or the salt were warm'd . nor did the spirit in a great while reascend to the height which it had when the water was cold . the same experiment , being at another time reiterated , was tried with the like success ; which second may therefore serve for a confirmation of the first . ] exper. iii. having a mind likewise to shew some ingenious men , how much the production of heat and cold depends upon texture and other mechanical affections , i thought fit to make again a sal armoniac by a way i formerly publish'd , that i might be sure to know what ingredients i employ'd , and shew their effects as well before conjunction as after it . i took then spirit of salt , and spirit of fermented or rather putrified urine ; and having put a seal'd weather-glass into an open vessel , where one of them was pour'd in , i put the other by degrees to it , and observ'd , that , as upon their mingling they made a great noise with many bubbles , so in this conflict they lost their former coldness , and impell'd up the spirit of wine in the seal'd thermoscope : then slowly evaporating the superfluous moisture , i obtained a fine sort of sal armoniac for the most part figur'd not unlike the other , when being dissolv'd and filtrated , it is warily coagulated . this new salt being gently dry'd i put into a wide glass of water , wherein i had before plac'd a seal'd weather-glass , that the included spirit might acquire the temper of the ambient liquor , and having stirr'd this salt in the water , though i took it then off the mantle-tree of a chimney that had had fire in it divers hours before , it did , as i expected , make the tincted spirit hastily subside and fall considerably low . exper. iv. since if two bodies upon their mixture acquire a greater degree of cold than either of them had before there is a production of this additional degree of that quality , it will be proper to add on this occasion the ensuing experiment . we took a competent quantity of acid spirit distill'd from roch-allom , ( that , though rectifi'd , was but weak , ) which , in the spirit of that salt , is not strange . of this we put into a wide mouth'd glass ( that was not great ) more than was sufficient to cover the globulous part of a good seal'd thermoscope , and then suffering the instrument to stay a pretty while in the liquor , that the spirit of wine might be cool'd as much as the ambient was , we put in little by little some volatile salt sublimed from sal armoniac and a fixt alcali , and notwithstanding the very numerous ( but not great ) bubbles , and the noise and froath that were produced , as is usual upon the reaction of acids and alcalys , the tincted spirit in the weather-glass , after having continued a good while at a stand , began a little to descend , and continued ( though but very slowly ) to do so , till the spirit of allom was glutted with the volatile salt ; and this descent of the tincted liquor in the instrument being measur'd , appear'd to be about an inch ( for it manifestly exceeded seven eighths . ) by comparing this experiment with the first part of the foregoing , we may gather , that when volatile and urinous salts or spirits ( for the saline particles appear sometimes in a dry and sometimes in a liquid form ) tumultuate upon their being mixt with acids , neither the heat nor the cold that ensues is produc'd by a conflict with the acids precisely as it is acid , since we have seen that an urinous spirit produc'd an actual heat with spirit of salt , and the distill'd salt of sal armoniac , which is also urinous , with the acid spirit of roch-allom produces not a true effervescence , but a manifest coldness : as the same salt also did in a trial of another sort , which was this . exper. v. we took one part of oyl of vitriol , and shaking it into twelve parts of water we made a mixture , that at first was sensibly warm ; then suffering this to cool , we put a sufficient quantity of it into a wide mouth'd glass , and then we put a good thermoscope hermetically seal'd , above whose ball the compounded liquor reached a pretty way . after some time had been allowed that the liquor in the thermometer might acquire the temper of the ambient ; we put in by degrees as much volatile salt of sal armoniac as would serve to satiate the acid spirits of the mixture : for , though these two made a notable conflict with tumult , noise , and froth , yet 't was but a cold ebullition ( if i may so stile it , ) for the spirit in the thermoscope descended about an inch beneath the mark it rested at , when the seeming effervescence began . exper. vi. 't is known that salt-peter being put into common water produces a sensible coldness in it , as it also does in many other liquors : but that the same salt put into a liquor of another constitution may have a quite differing effect , i have convinc'd some inquisitive persons by mingling eight ounces of fine salt-peter powder'd with six ounces of oyl of vitriol : for by that commixture with a salt that was not only actually , but , as to many other bodies , potentially cold , the oyl of vitriol , that was sensibly cold before , quickly conceived a considerable degree of heat , whose effects also became visible in the copious fumes that were emitted by the incalescent mixture . exper. vii . this brings into my mind , that though gunpowder seems to be of so igneous a nature , that , when 't is put upon a coal , it is turn'd presently into flame capable of promoting the deflagration of the charcoal , and kindling divers bodies it meets with in its way ; yet if some ounces of gunpowder reduced to powder be thrown into four or five times as much water , it will very manifestly impart a coldness to it , as experience made with , as well as without , a seal'd thermoscope has assured me . this and the foregoing experiment do readily suggest an inquiry into the nature of the coldness , which philosophers are wont to oppose to that which immediately and upon the first contact affect the organs of sense , and which therefore they call actual or formal . the success of this experiment upon a second trial serv'd to confirm it , which is the more strange , because i have found , that a small quantity of oyl of vitriol , not beforehand mingled with water , would produce a notable heat in its conflict with a small portion of just such salt as i employed before ( both the parcels having been , if i well remember , taken out of the same glass . ) and this heat did upon trial , made with the former thermoscope , make the tincted spirit ascend much further than the lately recited experiment made it subside . a digression about potential coldness . potential coldness has been generally lookt upon , and that partly perhaps upon the score of its very name , as so abstruse a quality , that 't is not onely rational but necessary to derive it from the substantial forms of bodies . but i confess i see no necessity of believing it not to be referrable to mechanical principles . for as to the chief instances of potential coldness , which are taken from the effects of some medicines and aliments in the bodies of men , it may be said without improbability , that the produced refrigeration proceeds chiefly from this , that the potentially cold body is made up of corpuscles of such size , shape , &c. that being resolved and disjoined by the menstruum of the stomach , or the fluids it may elsewhere meet with , they do so associate themselves with the small parts of the blood and other liquors , as , by clogging them or otherwise , to lessen their wonted agitation , and perhaps make them act in a peculiar way as well as less briskly on the nervous and fibrous parts ; and the perception of this imminution ( and perhaps change ) of motion in the organs of feeling is that , which , being referr'd to the body that produces it , we call its potential coldness . which quality appears by this account to be , as i was saying before , but a relative thing , and is wont to require the diffusion or dispersion of the small parts of the corpuscles of the agent , and their mingling themselves with the liquors or the small parts of the body they are to refrigerate . and therefore , if it be granted , that in agues there is some morbifick matter of a viscous or not easily dissipable texture , that is harbor'd in some part of the body , and requires such a time to be made fluid and resolvable ; the cold fits of agues need not be so much admired as they usually are ; since , though just before the fit the same parcel of matter that is to produce it were actually in the body , yet it was not by reason of its clamminess actually resolved into small parts , and mingled with those of the bloud , and consequently could not make such a change in the motion of that liquor as is felt in the cold fit of an ague ; ( for , of the further change that occasions the hot fit , i am not here to speak ) and in some other diseases a small quantity of matter , being resolved into minute parts , may be able to produce a great sense of coldness in some part of a body , which by reason of the structure of that part may be peculiarly disposed to be affected thereby ; as i have known hypochondriack and hysterical women complain of great degrees of coldness , that would suddenly invade some particular part , chiefly of the head or back , and be for a good while troublesome there . and that , if a frigorific vapour or matter be exceeding subtile , an inconsiderable quantity of it being dispersed through the bloud may suffice to produce a notable refrigeration , i have learnt by inquiry into the effects of some poysons ; and 't is not very material , whether the poyson , generally speaking , be cold or hot , if it meet with a body dispos'd to have those affections that pass for cold ones produced in it . for i have made a chymical liquor , that was penetrant and fiery enough to the taste , and had acquired a subtlety and briskness from distillation , with which i could almost in a trice , giving it but in the quantity of about a drop , cast an animal into that which appear'd a sleep , and the like liquor , in a not much greater quantity , being , by i know not whose mistake , apply'd to the aking tooth of a very ingenious person , did presently , as he soon after told me , give him an universal refrigeration , and trembling , worse than the cold paroxisme of a quartane . and though scorpions do sometimes cause , by their sting , violent heats in the parts they hurt , yet sometimes also the quite contrary happens , and their poyson proves , in a high degree , potentially cold ; as may be learnt from the two following observations recorded by eminent physicians . * famulum habui , ( saith benivenius ) qui à scorpione ictus , tam subito ac tam frigido sudore toto corpore perfusus est , ut algentissimâ nive atque glacie sese opprimi quereretur . verùm cùm algenti illi solam theriacam ex vino potentiore exhibuissem , illicò curatus est : thus far he : to whose narrative i adde this of amatus lusitanus . vir qui à scorpione in manus digito punctus fuit , multum dolebat , & refrigeratus totus eontremebat , & per corpus dolores , cute totâ quasi acu punctâ , formicantes patiebatur , &c. i cannot now stay to enquire , whether there may not be in these great refrigerations , made by so small a quantity of poyson , some small concretions or coagulations made of the minute particles of the bloud into little clots , less agile and more unwieldy than they were when they moved separately : which may be illustrated by the little curdlings that may be made of the parts of milk by a very small proportion of runnet or some acid liquor , and the little coagulations made of the spirit of wine by that of urine : nor will i now enquire , whether , besides the retardment of the motion of the bloud , some poysons and other analogous agents may not give the motion of it a new modification , ( as if some corpuscles that usually are more whirl'd or brandish'd be put into a more direct motion ) that may give it a peculiar kind of grating or other action upon the nervous and fibrous parts of the body . these , i say , and other suspicious that have sometimes come into my thoughts , i must not stay to examine ; but shall now rather offer to consideration , whether , since some parts of the humane body are very differing from others in their structure and internal constitution ; and since also some agents may abound in corpuscles of differing shapes , bulks , and motions , the same medicine may not in reference to the same humane body be potentially cold or potentially hot , according as 't is applied ; or perhaps may , upon one or both of the accounts newly mentioned , be cold in reference to one part of the body , and hot in reference to the other . and these effects need not be always ascrib'd to the meer and immediate action of the corpuscles of the medicine , but sometimes to the new quality they acquire in their passage by associating themselves with the bloud or other fluids of the body , or to the expulsion of some calorific or frigorific corpuscles , or to the disposition they give the part on which they operate , to be more or less permeated and agitated than before by some subtile aethereal matter , or other efficients of heat or cold. some of these conjectures about the relative nature of potentially cold bodies , may be either confirmed or illustrated by such instances as these ; that spirit of wine being inwardly taken is potentially very hot , and yet being outwardly applied to some burns and some hot tumours does notably abate the heat of the inflamed parts , though the same spirit applied even outwardly to a tender eye will cause a great and dolorous agitation in it . and camphire , which in the dose of less than a half or perhaps a quarter of a scruple , has been observed to diffuse a heat through the body , is with success externally applied by physicians and chirurgeons in refrigerating medicines . but i leave the further inquiry into the operations of medicines to physicians , who may possibly , by what has been said , be assisted to compose the differences between some famous writers about the temperament of some medicines , as mercury , camphire , &c. which some will have to be cold , and others maintain to be hot ; and shall onely offer by way of confirming , in general , that potential coldness is onely a relative quality , a few particulars ; the first whereof is afforded by comparing together the vi. and the vii . experiment before going , ( which have oceasion'd this digression about potential coldness ; ) since by them it seems probable , that the same thing may have it in reference to one body , and not to another , according to the disposition of the body it operates upon , or that operates upon it . and the fumes of lead have been observed sometimes ( for i have not found the effect to succeed always ) to arrest the fluidity of mercury , which change is supposed to be the effect of a potential coldness belonging to the chymists saturn in reference to fluid mercury , though it have not that operation on any other liquor that we know of . and lastly , ( for i would not be too prolix ) though nitre and sal armoniac be both apart and joyntly cold in reference to water , and though , however nitre be throughly melted in a crucible , it will not take fire of it self , yet if , whilst it is in fusion , you shall by degrees cast on it some powder'd sal armoniac , it will take fire and flash vehemently , almost as if sulphur had been injected . but our excursion has , i fear , lasted too long , and therefore i shall presently re-enter into the way , and proceed to set down some trials about cold. exper. viii . in the first experiment we observed , that upon the pouring of water upon sal armoniac there ensued an intense degree of cold , and we have elsewhere recited , that the like effect was produc'd by putting , instead of common water , oyl of vitriol to sal armoniac ; but now , to shew further , what influence motion and texture may have upon such trials , it may not be amiss to adde the following experiment : to twelve ounces of sal armoniac we put by degrees an equal weight of water , and whilst the liquor was dissolving the salt , and by that action producing a great coldness , we warily pour'd in twelve ounces also of good oyl of vitriol ; of which new mixture the event was , that a notable degree of heat was quickly produced in the glass wherein the ingredients were confounded , as unlikely as it seemed , that , whereas each of the two liquors is wont with sal armoniac to produce an intense cold , both of them acting on it together should produce the contrary quality . but the reason i had to expect the success , i met with , was this , that 't was probable the heat arising from the mixture of the two liquors would overpower the coldness produceable by the operation of either , or both , of them upon the salt. finis . exper. ix . in most of the experiments that we have hitherto proposed , cold is wont to be regularly produc'd in a mechanical way ; but i shall now adde , that in some sort of trials i found that the event was varied by unobserv'd circumstances ; so that sometimes manifest coldness would be produced by mixing two bodies together , which at another time would upon their congress disclose a manifest heat , and sometimes again , though more rarely , would have but a very faint and remiss degree of either . of this sort of experiments , whose events i could not confidently undertake for , i found to be , the dissolution of salt of tartar in spirit of vinegar , and of some other salts , that were not acid , in the same menstruum , and even spirit of verdigrease ( made per se ) though a more potent menstruum than common spirit of vinegar , would not constantly produce near such a heat at the beginning of its operation , as the greatness of the seeming effervescence , then excited , would make one expect , as may appear by the following observation transcrib'd verbatim out of one of my adversaria . [ into eight ounces of spirit of verdigrease ( into which we had put a while before a standard-thermoscope to acquire the like temper with the liquor ) we put in a wide-mouthed glass two ounces of salt of tartar , as fast as we durst for fear of making the matter boil over ; and though there were a great commotion excited by the action and reaction of the ingredients , which was attended with a copious froth and a hissing noise ; yet 't was a pretty while e're the glass was sensibly warm on the outside ; but by that time the salt was all dissolv'd , the liquor in the thermoscope appear'd to be impell'd up about three inches and an half . ] and yet , if my memory do not much deceive me , i have found , that by mixing salt of tartar with another salt , the texture of the fixt alkali was so alter'd , that upon the affusion of spirit of verdigrease , ( made without spirit of vinegar and spirit of wine , ) though there ensued a great conflict with noise and bubbles , yet , instead of an incalescence , a considerable degree of coldness was produced . exper. x. t is very probable that further trials will furnish us with more instances to shew how the production of cold may in some cases be effected , varied , or hinder'd by mechanical circumstances that are easily and usually overlook'd . i remember , on this occasion , that though in the experiment above recited we observ'd , that oyl of vitriol and water being first shaken together , the volatil salt of sal armoniac being afterwards put to them , produced a sensible coldness ; yet i found , that if a little oyl of vitriol and of the volatile salt were first put together , though soon after a considerable proportion of water were added , there would be produc'd not a coldness , but a manifest degree of heat , which would impell up the liquor in the thermoscope to the height of some inches . and i remember too , that though salt of tartar will , as we shall see e're long , grow hot in the water , yet having distill'd some salt of tartar and cinaber in a strong fire , and put the whole caput mortuum into distill'd or rain-water , it made indeed a hissing there as if it had been quick-lime , but produced no heat , that i could by feeling perceive . i shall adde , that not onely , as we have seen already , some unheeded circumstances may promote or hinder the artificial production of cold by particular agents , but , which will seem more strange , some unobserv'd , and perhaps hardly observable , indisposition in the patient may promote or hinder the effects of the grand and catholick efficients of cold , whatever those be . this suspicion i represent as a thing that further experience may possibly countenance , because i have sometimes found , that the degree of the operation of cold has been much varied by latent circumstances , some bodies being more wrought upon , and others less , than was upon very probable grounds expected . and particularly i remember , that though oyl of vitriol be one of the firiest liquors that is yet known , and does perform some of the operations of fire it self , ( as we shall elsewhere have occasion to shew ) and will thaw ice sooner than spirit of wine or any other liquor , as i have tried ; yet having put about a pound or more , by our estimate , of choice rectified oyl of vitriol into a strong glass-vial proportionable to it , we found , that , except a little that was fluid at the top , it was all congeal'd or coagulated into a mass like ice , though the glass stood in a laboratory where a fire was constantly kept not far from it , and where oyl of vitriol very seldom or never has before or since been observ'd to congeal or coagulate so much as in part . and the odness of our phaenomenon was increas'd by this circumstance , that the mass continued solid a good while after the weather was grown too mild to have such operations upon liquors far less indispos'd to lose their fluidity by cold , than even common oyl of vitriol is . on the other side i remember , that about two years ago , i expos'd some oyl of sweet almonds hermetically seal'd up in a glass-bubble , to observe what condensation an intense cold could make of it , ( for though cold expands water , it condenses common oyl ; ) but the next day i found to my wonder , that not onely the oyl remain'd unfrozen by the sharp frost it had been expos'd to , but that it had not its transparency troubled , though 't is known , that oyl will be brought to concrete and turn opacous by a far less degree of cold than is requisite to freeze water ; notwithstanding which this liquor , which was lodged in a glass so thin , that 't was blown at the flame of a lamp , continued fluid and diaphanous in very frosty weather , so long till i lost the expectation of seeing it congeal'd or concreted . and this brings into my mind , that though camphire be , as i formerly noted , reckon'd by many potentially cold , yet we kept some oyl of it , of our making , wherein the whole body of the camphire remain'd , being onely by some nitrous spirits reduc'd to the form of an oyl ; we kept it , i say , in such intense degrees of cold , that would have easily frozen water , without finding it to lose its transparency or its fluidity . and here i shall put an end to the first section , ( containing our notes about cold ) the design of which may be not a little promoted by comparing with them the beginning of the ensuing section . for if it be true , that ( as we there shew ) the nature of heat consists either onely or chiefly in the local motion of the small parts of a body mechanically modified by certain conditions , of which the principal is the vehemency of the various agitations of those insensible parts ; and if it be also true , as experience witnesses it to be , that , when the minute parts of a body are in or arrive at such a state , that they are more slowly or faintly agitated than those of our fingers or other organs of feeling , we judge them cold : these two things laid together seem plainly enough to argue , that a privation or negation of that local motion that is requisite to constitute heat , may suffice for the denominating a body cold , as coldness is a quality of the object , ( which as 't is perceiv'd by the mind , is also an affection of the sentient : ) and therefore an imminution of such a degree of former motion as is necessary to make a body hot as to sense , and which is sufficient to the production of sensible coldness , may be mechanically made , since slowness as well as swiftness being a mode of local motion is a mechanical thing : and though its effect , which is coldness , seem a privation or negation ; yet the cause of it may be a positive agent acting mechanically , by clogging the agile calorific particles , or deadning their motion , or perverting their determination , or by some other intelligible way bringing them to a state of coldness as to sense : i say coldness as to sense ; because as 't is a tactile quality , in the popular acception of it , 't is relative to our organs of feeling ; as we see that the same luke-warm water will appear hot and cold to the same mans hands , if , when both are plung'd into it , one of them shall have been newly held to the fire , and the other be benummed with frost . and indeed the custom of speaking has introduced an ambiguity into the word cold , which often occasions mistakes , not easily without much attention and sometimes circumlocution also to be avoided ; since usually by cold is meant that which immediately affects the sensory of him that pronounces a body cold , whereas sometimes 't is taken in a more general notion for such a negation or imminution of motion , as though it operates not perceivably on our senses , does yet upon other bodies ; and sometimes also it is taken ( which is perhaps the more philosophical sense ) for a perception , made in and by the mind , of the alteration produced in the corporeal organs by the operation of that , whatever it be , on whose account a body is found to be cold . but the discussion of these points is here purposely omitted , as for other reasons , so principally because they may be found expresly handled in a fitter place . sect . ii. of the mechanicall origine or production of heat . after having dispatched the instances i had to offer of the production of cold , it remains that i also propose some experiments of heat , which quality will appear the more likely to be mechanically producible , if we consider the nature of it , which seems to consist mainly , if not onely , in that mechanical affection of matter we call local motion mechanically modified , which modification , as far as i have observed , is made up of three conditions . the first of these is , that the agitation of the parts be vehement , by which degree or rapidness , the motion proper to bodies that are hot distinguishes them from bodies that are barely fluid . for these , as such , require not near so brisk an agitation , as is wont to be necessary to make bodies deserve the name of hot . thus we see that the particles of water in its natural ( or usual ) state , move so calmly , that we do not feel it at all warm , though it could not be a liquor unless they were in a restless motion ; but when water comes to be actually hot , the motion does manifestly and proportionably appear more vehement , since it does not onely briskly strike our organs of feeling , but ordinarily produces store of very small bubbles , and will melt butter or coagulated oyl , cast upon it , and will afford vapours , that , by the agitation they suffer , will be made to ascend into the air . and if the degree of heat be such as to make the water boil , then the agitation becomes much more manifest by the confus'd motions , and waves , and noise , and bubbles , that are excited , and by other obvious effects and phaenomena of the vehement and tumultuous motion , which is able to throw up visibly into the air great store of corpuscles , in the form of vapours or smoak . thus in a heated iron the vehement agitation of the parts may be easily inferr'd from the motion and hissing noise it imparts to drops of water or spittle that fall upon it . for it makes them hiss and boil , and quickly forces their particles to quit the form of a liquor , and flye into the air in the form of steams . and lastly , fire , which is the hottest body we know , consists of parts so vehemently agitated , that they perpetually and swiftly flye abroad in swarms , and dissipate or shatter all the combustible bodies they meet with in their way ; fire making so fierce a dissolution , and great a dispersion of its own fuel , that we may see whole piles of solid wood ( weighing perhaps many hundred pounds ) so dissipated in very few hours into flame and smoak , that oftentimes there will not be one pound of ashes remaining . and this is the first condition required to heat . the second is this , that the determinations be very various , some particles moving towards the right , some to the left , hand , some directly upwards , some downwards , and some obliquely , &c. this variety of determinations appears to be in hot bodies both by some of the instances newly mention'd , and especially that of flame , which is a body ; and by the diffusion that metals acquire , when they are melted , and by the operations of heat that are exercis'd by hot bodies upon others , in what posture or scituation soever the body to be heated be applied to them . as a thoroughly ignited coal will appear every way red , and will melt wax , and kindle brimstone , whether the body be apply'd to the upper or to the lower , or to any other part of the burning coal . and congruously to this notion , though air and water be mov'd never so vehemently , as in high winds and cataracts , yet we are not to expect that they should be manifestly hot , because the vehemency belongs to the progressive motion of the whole body ; notwithstanding which , the parts it consists of may not be near so much quickned in their motions made according to other determinations , as to become sensibly hot . and this consideration may keep it from seeming strange , that in some cases , where the whole body , though rapidly moved , tends but one way , 't is not by that swift motion perceived to be made hot. nay , though the agitation be very various as well as vehement , there is yet a third condition required to make it calorific , namely , that the agitated particles , or at least the greatest number of them , be so minute as to be singly insensible . for though a heap of sand or dust it self were vehemently and confusedly agitated by a whirlwind , the bulk of the grains or corpuscles , would keep their agitation from being properly heat , though by their numerous strokes upon a man's face , and the brisk commotion of the spirits and other small particles that may thence ensue , they may perchance occasion the production of that quality . if some attention be employ'd in considering the formerly propos'd notion of the nature of heat , it may not be difficult to discern , that the mechanical production of it may be divers ways effected . for , excepting in some few anomalous cases , ( wherein the regular course of things happens to be over-rul'd , ) by whatever ways the insensible parts of a body are put into a very confus'd and vehement agitation , by the same ways heat may be introduc'd into that body : agreeably to which doctrine , as there are several agents and operations by which this calorific motion ( if i may so call it ) may be excited , so there may be several ways of mechanically producing heat , and many experiments may be reduc'd to almost each of them , chance it self having in the laboratories of chymists afforded divers phaenomena referrable to one or other of those heads . many of the more familiar instances , applicable to our present purpose , have been long since collected by our justly famous verulam in his short , but excellent , paper de forma calidi , wherein ( though i do not acquiesce in every thing i meet with there ) he seems to have been , at least among the moderns , the person that has first handled the doctrine of heat like an experimentall philosopher . i shall therefore decline accumulating a multitude of instances of the production of heat , and i shall also forbear to insist on such known things , as the incalescence observable upon the pouring either of oyl of vitriol upon salt of tartar , ( in the making of tartarum vitriolatum ) or of aqua fortis upon silver or quick silver , ( in the dissolution of these metals ) but shall rather chuse to mention some few instances not so notorious as the former , but not unfit by their variety to exemplifie several of the differing ways of exciting heat . and yet i shall not decline the mention of the most obvious and familiar instance of all , namely the heat observed in quick-lime upon the affusion of cold water , because among learned men , and especially peripateticks , i find causes to be assign'd that are either justly questionable or manifestly erroneous . for as to what is inculcated by the schools about the incalescence of a mixture of quick-lime and water by vertue of a supposed antiperistasis or invigoration of the internal heat of the lime by its being invironed by cold water , i have elsewhere shewn , that this is but an imaginary cause , by delivering upon experiment ( which any man may easily make ) that , if instead of cold water the liquor be poured on very hot , the ebullition of the lime will not be the less , but rather the greater : and oyl of turpentine , which is a lighter , and is lookt upon as a subtiler liquor than water , though it be poured quite cold on quick-lime , will not , that i have observed , grow so much as sensibly hot with it . and now i have mentioned the incalescence of lime , which , though an abvious phaenomenon , has exercised the wits of divers philosophers and chymists , i will adde two or three observations in order to an inquiry that may be some other time made into the genuine causes of it ; which are not so easie to be found as many learned men may at first sight imagine . the acute helmont indeed and his followers have ingeniously enough attempted to derive the heat under consideration from the conflict of some alealizate and acid salts ; that are to be found in quick-lime , and are dissolved , and so set at liberty to fight with one another by the water that slakes the lime . but though we have some manifest marks of an alcalizate salt in lime , yet that it contains also an acid salt , has not , that i remember , been proved ▪ and if the emerging of heat be a sufficient reason to prove a latent acid salt in lime , i know not , why i may not inferr , that the like salt lies conceal'd in other bodies , which the chymists take to be of the purest or meerest sort of alcalys . for i have purposely tried , that by putting a pretty quantity of dry salt of tartar in the palm of my hand , and wetting it well in cold water , there has been a very sensible heat produced in the mixture ; and when i have made the trial with a more considerable quantity of salt and water in a viol , the heat proved troublesomely intense , and continued to be at least sensible a good while after . this experiment seems to favour the opinion , that the heat produced in lime whilst 't is quenching , proceeds from the empyreuma , as the chymists call it , or impression left by the violent fire , that was employ'd to reduce the stone to lime . but if by empyreuma be meant a bare impression made by the fire , 't will be more requisite than easie , to declare intelligibly , in what that impression consists , and how it operates to produce such considerable effects . and if the effect be ascribed to swarms of atomes of fire , that remain adherent to the substance of the lime , and are set at liberty to flye away by the liquor , which seems to be argued by the slaking of lime without water , if it be for some time left in the air , whereby the atomes of fire get opportunity to flye away by little and little : if this , i say , be alledged , i will not deny but there may be a sense , ( which i cannot explicate in few words ) wherein the cooperation of a substantial effluvium , for so i call it , of the fire , may be admitted in giving an account of our phaenomenon . but the cause formerly assigned , as 't is crudely proposed , leaves in my mind some scruples . for 't is not so easie to apprehend , that such light and minute bodies as those of fire are supposed , should be so long detained as by this hypothesis they must be allowed to be , in quick-lime , kept in well-stopt vessels , from getting out of so laxe and porous a body as lime , especially since we see not a great incalescence or ebullition ensue upon the pouring of water upon minium , or crocus martis per se , though they have been calcined by violent and lasting fires , whose effluviums or emanations appear to adhere to them by the increase of weight , that lead , if not also mars , does manifestly receive from the operation of the fire . to which i shall adde , that , whereas one would think that the igneous atoms should either flye away , or be extinguished by the supervening of water , i know , and elsewhere give account , of an experiment , in which two liquors , whereof one was furnished me by nature , did by being several times separated and reconjoyned without additament , at each congress produce a sensible heat . and an instance of this kind , though not so odd , i purposely sought and found in salt of tartar , from which , after it had been once heated by the affusion of water , we abstracted or evaporated the liquor without violence of fire , till the salt was again dry ; and then putting on water a second time , the same salt grew hot again in the vial , and , if i misremember not , it produced this incalescence the third time , if not the fourth ; and might probably have done it oftner , if i had had occasion to prosecute the experiment . which seems at least to argue , that the great violence of fire is not necessary to impress what passes for an empyreum upon all calcined bodies that will heat with water . and on this occasion i shall venture to adde , that i have sometimes doubted , whether the incalescence may not much depend upon the particular disposition of the calcined body , which being deprived of its former moisture , and made more porous by the fire , doth by the help of those igneous effluviums , for the most part of a saline nature , that are dispersed through it , and adhere to it , acquire such a texture , that the water impell'd by its own weight , and the pressure of the atmosphere , is able to get into a multitude of its pores at once , and suddenly dissolve the igneous and alcalizate salt it every where meets with there , and briskly disjoyn the earthy and solid particles , that were blended with them ; which being exceeding numerous , though each of them perhaps be very minute , and moves but a very little way , yet their multitude makes the confused agitation of the whole aggregate of them , and of the particles of the water and salt vehement enough to produce a sensible heat ; especially if we admit , that there is such a change made in the pores , as occasions a great increase of this agitation , by the ingress and action of some subtile ethereal matter , from which alone monsieur des cartes ingeniously attempts to derive the incalescence of lime and water , as well as that of metals dissolved in corrosive liquors ; though as to the phaenomena we have been considering , there seems at least to concur a peculiar disposition of body , wherein heat is to be produced to do one or both of these two things , namely , to retain good store of the igneous effluvia , and to be , by their adhesion or some other operation of the fire , reduced to such a texture of its component particles , as to be fit to have them easily penetrated , and briskly as well as copiously dissipated , by invading water . and this conjecture ( for i propose it as no other ) seems favour'd by divers phaenomena , some whereof i shall now annex . for here it may be observed , that both the dissolved salt of tartar lately mentioned , and the artificial liquor that grows hot with the natural , reacquires that disposition to incalescence upon a bare constipation or closer texture of the parts from the superfluous moisture they were drowned in before : the heat that brought them to this texture having been so gentle , that 't is no way likely that the igneous exhalations could themselves produce such a heat , or at least that they should adhere in such numbers as must be requisite to such an effect , unless the texture of the salt of tartar ( or other body ) did peculiarly dispose it to detain them ; since i have found by trial , that sal armoniac dissolv'd in water , though boiled up with a brisker fire to a dry salt , would , upon its being again dissolved in water , not produce any heat , but a very considerable degree of cold. i shall adde , that though one would expect a great cognation between the particles of fire adhering to quick-lime , and those of high rectified spirit of wine , which is of so igneous a nature , as to be totally inflammable ; yet i have not found , that the affusion of alkaol of wine upon quick-lime , would produce any sensible incalescence , or any visible dissolution or dissipation of the lime , as common water would have done , though it seemed to be greedily enough soaked in by the lumps of lime . and i further tried , that , if on this lime so drenched i poured cold water , there insued no manifest heat , nor did i so much as find the lump swelled , and thereby broken , till some hours after ; which seems to argue , that the texture of the lime was such , as to admit the particles of the spirit of wine into some of its pores , which were either larger or more congruous , without admitting it into the most numerous ones , whereinto the liquor must be received , to be able suddenly to dissipate the corpuscles of lime into their minuter particles , into which ( corpuscles ) it seems that the change that the aqueous particles received by associating with the spirituous ones , made them far less fit to penetrate and move briskly there , than if they had enter'd alone . i made also an experiment that seems to favour our conjecture , by shewing how much the disposition of lime to incalesoence may depend upon an idoneous texture , and the experiment , as i find it registred in one of my memorials , is this . exper. v. [ upon quick-lime we put in a retort as much moderately strong spirit of wine as would drench it , and swim a pretty way above it ; and then distilling with a gentle fire , we drew off some spirit of wine much stronger than that which had been put on , and then the phlegm following it , the fire was increas'd , which brought over a good deal of phlegmatic strengthless liquor ; by which one would have thought that the quick-lime had been slaked ; but when the remaining matter had been taken out of the retort , and suffer'd to cool , it appear'd to have a fiery disposition that it had not before . for if any lump of it as big as a nutmeg or an almond was cast into the water , it would hiss as if a coal of fire had been plunged into the liquor , which was soon thereby sensibly heated . nay , having kept divers lumps of this prepared calx well cover'd from the air for divers weeks , to try whether it would retain this property , i found , as i expected , that the calx operated after the same manner , if not more powerfully . for sometimes , especially when 't was reduced to small pieces , it would upon its coming into the water make such a brisk noise , as might almost pass for a kind of explosion . ] these phaenomena seem to argue , that the disposition that lime has to grow hot with water , depends much on some peculiar texture , since the aqueous parts , that one would think capable of quenching all or most of the atomes of fire that are supposed to adhere to quick-lime , did not near so much weaken the disposition of it to incalescence , as the accession of the spirituous corpuscles and their contexture , with those of the lime , increased that igneous disposition . and that there might intervene such an association , seems to me the more probable , not onely because much of the distill'd liquor was as phlegmatick , as if it had been robb'd of its more active parts , but because i have sometimes had spirit of wine come over with quick-lime not in unobserved steams , but white fumes . to which i shall adde , that , besides that the taste , and perhaps odour of the spirit of wine , is often manifestly changed by a well-made distillation from quick-lime ; i have sometimes found that liquor to give the lime a kind of alcalizat penetrancy , not to say fieriness of taste , that was very brisk and remarkable . but i will not undertake , that every experimenter , nor i my self , shall always make trials of this kind with the same success that i had in those above recited , in regard that i have found quick-limes to differ much , not onely according to the degree of their calcination , and to their recentness , but also , and that especially , according to the differing natures of the stones and other bodies calcined . which observation engages me the more to propose what hath been hitherto deliver'd about quick-lime , as onely narratives and a conjecture ; which i now perceive has detain'd us so long , that i am oblig'd to hasten to the remaining experiments , and to be the more succinct in delivering them . exper. vi. and it will be convenient to begin with an instance or two of the production of heat , wherein there appears not to intervene any thing in the part of the agent or patient but local motion , and the natural effects of it . and as to this sort of experiments , a little attention and reflection may make some familiar phaenomenon apposite to our present purpose . when , for example , a smith does hastily hammer a nall or such like piece of iron , the hammer'd metal will grow exceeding hot , and yet there appears not any thing to make it so , save the forcible motion of the hammer which impresses a vehement and variously determin'd agitation of the small parts of the iron ; which being a cold body before , by that superinduc'd commotion of its small parts , becomes in divers senses hot ; first in a more lax acceptation of the word in reference to some other bodies , in respect of whom 't was cold before , and then sensibly hot ; because this newly gain'd agitation surpasses that of the parts of our fingers . and in this instance 't is not to be overlookt , that oftentimes neither the hammer , by which , nor the anvil , on which a cold piece of iron is forged , ( for all iron does not require precedent ignition to make it obey the hammer ) continue cold , after the operation is ended ; which shews , that the heat acquir'd by the forged piece of iron was not communicated by the hammer or anvil as heat , but produc'd in it by motion , which was great enough to put so small a body as the piece of iron into a strong and confus'd motion of its parts without being able to have the like operation upon so much greater masses of metal , as the hammer and the anvil ; though if the percussions were often and nimbly renewed , and the hammer were but small , this also might be heated , ( though not so soon nor so much as the iron ; ) by which one may also take notice , that 't is not necessary , a body should be it self hot , to be calorific . and now i speak of striking an iron with a hammer , i am put in mind of an observation that seems to contradict , but does indeed confirm , our theory : namely , that , if a somewhat large nail be driven by a hammer into a plank or piece of wood , it will receive divers strokes on the head before it grow hot ; but when 't is driven to the head , so that it can go no further , a few strokes will suffice to give it a considerable heat ; for whilst , at every blow of the hammer , the nail enters further and further into the wood , the motion that is produc'd is chiefly progressive , and is of the whole nail tending one way ; whereas , when that motion is stopt , then the impulse given by the stroke being unable either to drive the nail further on , or destroy its intireness , must be spent in making a various vehement and intestine commotion of the parts among themselves , and in such an one we formerly observ'd the nature of heat to consist . exper. vii . in the foregoing experiment the brisk agitation of the parts of a heated iron was made sensible to the touch ; i shall now adde one of the attempts , that i remember i made to render it discoverable to the eye it self . in order to this , and that i might also shew , that not onely a sensible but an intense degree of heat may be produc'd in a piece of cold iron by local motion , i caus'd a bar of that metal to be nimbly hammer'd by two or three lusty men accustom'd to manage that instrument ; and these striking with as much force , and as little intermission as they could upon the iron , soon brought it to that degree of heat , that not onely 't was a great deal too hot to be safely touched , but probably would , according to my design , have kindled gunpowder , if that which i was fain to make use of had been of the best sort : for , to the wonder of the by-standers , the iron kindled the sulphur of many of the grains of the corns of powder , and made them turn blue , though i do not well remember , that it made any of them go off . exper. viii . besides the effects of manifest and violent percussions , such as those we have been taking notice of to be made with a hammer , there are among phaenomena obvious enough , some that shew the producibleness of heat even in cold iron , by causing an intestine commotion of its parts : for we find , that , if a piece of iron of a convenient shape and bulk be nimbly filed with a large rough file , a considerable degree of heat will be quickly excited in those parts of the iron where the file passes to and fro , the many prominent parts of the instrument giving a multitude of strokes or pushes to the parts of the iron that happen to stand in their way , and thereby making them put the neighbouring parts into a brisk and confus'd motion , and so into a state of heat . nor can it be well objected , that upon this account the file it self ought to grow as hot as the iron , which yet it will not do ; since , to omit other answers , the whole body of the file being moved to and fro , the same parts , that touch the iron this moment , pass off the next , and besides have leasure to cool themselves by communicating their newly received agitation to the air before they are brought to grate again upon the iron , which , being supposed to be held immoveable , receives almost perpetual shakes in the same place . we find also , that attrition , if it be any thing vehement , is wont to produce heat in the solidest bodies ; as when the blade of a knife being nimbly whetted grows presently hot . and if having taken a brass nail , and driven it as far as you can to the end of the stick , to keep it fast and gain a handle , you then strongly rub the head to and fro against the floor or a plank of wood , you may quickly find it to have acquired a heat intense enough to offend , if not burn ones fingers . and i remember , that going once in exceeding hot weather in a coach , which for certain reasons we caus'd to be driven very fast , the attrition of the nave of the wheel against the axel-tree was so vehement as oblig'd us to light out of the coach to seek for water , to cool the over-chased parts , and stop the growing mischief the excessive heat had begun to do . the vulgar experiment of strikeing fire with a flint and steel sufficiently declares , what a heat in a trice may be produc'd in cold bodies by percussion , or collision ; the later of which seems but mutual percussion . but instances of the same sort with the rest mention'd in this vi. experiment being obvious enough , i shall forbear to multiply and insist on them . exper. ix . for the sake of those that think the attrition of contiguous air is necessary to the production of manifest heat , i thought among other things of the following experiment , and made trial of it . we took some hard black pitch , and having in a bason , poringer , or some such vessel , placed it a convenient distance under water , we cast on it with a good burning-glass the sun-beams in such a manner , that notwithstanding the refraction that they suffer'd in the passage through the interposed water , the focus fell upon the pitch , wherein it would produce sometimes bubbles , sometimes smoak , and quickly communicated a degree of heat capable to make pitch melt , if not also to boil . exper. x. though the first and second experiments of section i. shew , that a considerable degree of cold is produc'd by the dissolution of sal armoniac in common water ; yet by an additament , though but single , the texture of it may be so alter'd , that , instead of cold , a notable degree of heat will be produced , if it be dissolved in that liquor . for the manifestation of which we devis'd the following experiment . we took quick-lime , and slaked it in common cold water , that all the igneous or other particles , to which its power of heating that liquor is ascrib'd , might be extracted and imbib'd , and so the calx freed from them ; then on the remaining powder fresh water was often poured , that all adhering reliques of salt might be wash'd off . after this , the thus dulcified calx , being again well dried , was mingled with an equal weight of powder'd sal armoniac , and having with a strong fire melted the mass , the mixture was poured out ; and being afterwards beaten to powder , having given it a competent time to grow cold , we put two or three ounces of it into a wide-mouthed glass , and pouring water upon it , within about a minute of an hour the mixture grew warm , and quickly attain'd so intense a heat , that i could not hold the glass in my hand . and though this heat did not long last at the same height , it continued to be very sensible for a considerable time after . exper. xi . to confirm this experiment by a notable variation ; we took finely powder'd sal armoniac , and filings or scales of steel , and when they were very diligently mixt ( for that circumstance ought to be observ'd ) we caus'd them to be gradually sublim'd in a glass vessel , giving a smart fire towards the latter end . by this operation so little of the mixture ascended , that , as we desired , far the greatest part of the sal armoniac staid at the bottom with the metal ; then taking out the caput mortuum , i gave it time throughly to cool , but in a glass well stopt , that it might not imbibe the moisture of the air , ( as it is very apt to do . ) and lastly , though the filings of steel , as well as the sal armoniac , were bodies actually cold , and so might be thought likely to increase , not check , the coldness wont to be produced in water by that salt ; yet putting the mixture into common water , there ensued , as we expected , an intense degree of heat . and i remember , that having sublim'd the forementioned salt in distinct vessels , with the filings of steel , and with filings of copper , and for curiosities sake kept one of the caput mortuums ( for i cannot certainly call to mind which of the two it was , ) divers moneths , ( if i mistake not , eight or nine , ) we at length took it out of the vessel , wherein it had been kept carefully stopt , and , upon trial , were not deceiv'd in having expected , that all that while the disposition to give cold water a notable degree of heat was preserved in it . exper. xii . if experiments were made after the above recited manner with sal armoniac and other mineral bodies than iron and copper , 't is not improbable , that some of the emerging phaenomena would be found to confirm what has been said of the interest of texture , ( and some few other mechanical affections ) in the production of heat and cold. which conjecture is somewhat favoured by the following trial. three ounces of antimony , and an equal weight of sal armoniac being diligently powder'd and mixt , were by degrees of fire sublimed in a glass-vessel , by which operation we obtain'd three differing substances , which we caused to be separately powder'd , when they were taken out of the subliming glass , lest the air or time should make any change in them ; and having before put the ball of a good seal'd weather-glass for a while into water , that the spirit of wine might be brought to the temper of the external liquor , we put on a convenient quantity of the powder'd caput mortuum , which amounted to two ounces , and seemed to be little other than antimony , which accordingly did scarce sensibly raise the spirit of wine in the thermoscope , though that were a tender one . then laying aside that water , and putting the instrument into fresh , of the same temper , we put to it a very yellow sublimate , that ascended higher than the other parts , and seemed to consist of the more sulphureous flowers of the antimony , with a mixture of the more volatile parts of the sal armoniac . and this substance made the tincted spirit in the thermoscope descend very slowly about a quarter of an inch ; but when the instrument was put into fresh water of the same temper , and we had put in some of the powder of the lower sort of sublimate , which was dark coloured , though both the antimony and sal armoniac , it consisted of , had been long exposed to the action of a subliming heat ; yet the water was thereby speedily and notably cooled , insomuch , that the spirit of wine in the weather-glass hastily descended , and continued to sink , till by our guess it had fallen not much short of three inches . of these phaenomena the etiology , as some moderns call the theory , which proposes the causes of things , is more easie to be found by a little consideration , than to be made out in few words . we made also an experiment like that above recited , by subliming three ounces a piece of minimum and sal armoniac ; in which trial we found , that though in the caput mortuum , the salt had notably wrought upon the calx of lead , and was in part associated with it , as appear'd by the whiteness of the said caput mortuum , by its sweetish taste , and by the weight ( which exceeded four drams that of all the minium ; ) yet a convenient quantity of this powder'd mixture being put into water , wherein the former weather-glass had been kept a while , the tincted spirit of wine was not manifestly either raised or deprest . and when in another glass we prosecuted the trial with the sal armoniac that had been sublimed from the minium , it did indeed make the spirit of wine descend , but scarce a quarter so much as it had been made to fall by the lately mention'd sublimate of sal armoniac and antimony . exper. xiii . 't is known that many learned men , besides several chymical writers , ascribe the incalescences , that are met with in the dissolution of metals , to a conflict arising from a certain antipathy or hostility , which they suppose between the conflicting bodies , and particularly between the acid salt of the one , and the alcalizate salt , whether fixt or volatile , of the other . but since this doctrine supposes a hatred between inanimate bodies , in which 't is hard to conceive , how there can be any true passions , and does not intelligibly declare , by what means their suppos'd hostility produces heat ; 't is not likely , that , for these and some other reasons , inquisitive naturalists will easily acquiesce in it . and on the other side it may be consider'd , whether it be not more probable , that heats , suddenly produced in mixtures , proceed either from a very quick and copious diffusion of the parts of one body through those of another , whereby both are confusedly tumbled and put into a calorific motion ; or from this , that the parts of the dissolved body come to be every way in great numbers violently scatter'd ; or from the fierce and confused shocks or justlings of the corpuscles of the conflicting bodies , or masses which may be suppos'd to have the motions of their parts differingly modified according to their respective natures : or from this , that by the plentiful ingress of the corpuscles of the one into the almost commensurate parts of the other , the motion of some etherial matter that was wont before swiftly to permeate the distinct bodies , comes to be check'd and disturbed , and forced to either brandish or whirl about the parts in a confus'd manner , till it have settled it self a free passage through the new mixture , almost as the light does thorow divers troubled liquors and vitrified bodies , which at length it makes transparent . but without here engaging in a solemn examination of the hypothesis of alcali and acidum , and without determining whether any one , or more of the newly mention'd mechanical causes , or whether some other , that i have not yet named , is to be entitled to the effect ; it will not be impertinent to propose divers instances of the production of heat by the operation of one agent , oyl of vitriol , that it may be consider'd whether it be likely , that this single agent should upon the score of antipathy , or that of its being an acid menstruum , be able to produce an intense heat in many bodies of so differing natures as are some of those that we shall have occasion to name . and now i proceed to the experiments themselves . take some ounces of strong oyl of vitriol , and shaking it with three or four times its weight of common water , though both the liquors were cold when they were put together , yet their mixture will in a trice grow intensely hot , and continue considerably so for a good while . in this case it cannot probably be pretended by the chymists , that the heat arises from the conflict of the acid and alcalizate salts abounding in the two liquors , since the common water is suppos'd an elementary body devoid of all salts ; and at least , being an insipid liquor , 't will scarce be thought to have alcali enough to produce by its reaction so intense a heat . that the heat emergent upon such a mixture may be very great , when the quantities of the mingled liquors are considerably so , may be easily concluded from one of my memorials , wherein i find that no more than two ounces of oyl of vitriol being poured ( but not all at once ) into four ounces onely of distilled rain-water , made and kept it manifestly warm for a pretty deal above an hour , and during no small part of that time , kept it so hot , that 't was troublesome to be handled . exper. xiv . the former experiment brings into my mind one that i mention without teaching it in the history of cold , and it appear'd very surprizing to those that knew not the ground of it . for having sometimes merrily propos'd to heat cold liquors with ice , the undertaking seem'd extravagant if not impossible , but was easily perform'd by taking out of a bason of cold water , wherein divers fragments of ice were swimming , one or two pieces that i perceived were well drenched with the liquor , and immersing them suddenly into a wide-mouth'd glass wherein strong oyl of vitriol had been put ; for this menstruum , presently mingling with the water that adher'd to the ice , produc'd in it a brisk heat , and that sometimes with a manifest smoke , which nimbly dissolved the contiguous parts of ice , and those the next , and so the whole ice being speedily reduced to water , and the corrosive menstruum being by two or three shakes well dispersed through it , and mingled with it , the whole mixture would grow in a trice so hot , that sometimes the vial that contain'd it , was not to be endured in ones hand . exper. xv. notwithstanding the vast difference betwixt common water and high rectified spirit of wine , whereof men generally take the former for the most contrary body to fire , and whereof the chymists take the later to be but a kind of liquid sulphur , since it may presently be all reduc'd into flame ; yet , as i expected , i found upon trial , that oyl of vitriol being mingled with pure spirit of wine , would as well grow hot , as with common water . nor does this experiment always require great quantities of the liquors . for when i took but one ounce of strong oyl of vitriol , though i put to it less than half an ounce of choice spirit of wine , yet those two being lightly shaken together , did in a trice conceive so brisk a heat , that they almost fill'd the vial with fumes , and made it so hot , thar i had unawares like to have burnt my hand with it before i could lay it aside . i made the like trial with the same corrosive menstruum , and common aqua vitae bought at a strong-water-shop , by the mixture of which liquors , heat was produc'd in the vial that i could not well endure . the like success i had in an experiment wherein oyl of vitriol was mixt with common brandy ; save that in this the heat produced seem'd not so intense as in the former trial , which it self afforded not so fierce a heat as that which was made with rectified spirit of wine . exper. xvi . those chymists , who conceive that all the incalescencies of bodies upon their being mixt , proceed from their antipathy or hostility , will not perhaps expect , that the parts of the same body , ( either numerically , or in specie , as the schools phrase it , ) should , and that without manifest conflict , grow very hot together . and yet having for trials sake put two ounces of colcothar so strongly calcin'd , that it was burnt almost to blackness , into a retort , we poured upon it two ounces of strong oyl of english vitriol , and found , that after about a minute of an hour they began to grow so hot , that i could not endure to hold my hand to the bottom of the vessel , to which the mixture gave a heat , that continued sensible on the outside for between twenty and thirty minutes . exper. xvii . though i have not observ'd any liquor to equal oyl of vitriol in the number of liquors with which it will grow hot ; yet i have not met with any liquor wherewith it came to a greater incalescence than it frequently enough did with common oyl of turpentine . for when we caused divers ounces of each to be well shaken together in a strong vessel , fasten'd , to prevent mischief , to the end of a pole or staff ; the ebullition was great and fierce enough to be not underservedly admired by the spectators . and this brings into my mind a pleasant adventure afforded by these liquors , of each of which , having for the production of heat and other purposes , caus'd a good bottle full to be put up with other things into a box , and sent down into the countrey with a great charge , that care should be had of the glasses ; the wagon , in which the box was carried , happen'd by a great jolt , that had almost overturn'd it , to be so rudely shaken , that these glasses were both broken , and the liquors , mingling in the box , made such a noise and stink , and sent forth such quantities of smoke by the vents , which the fumes had open'd to themselves , that the passengers with great outcries and much haste threw themselves out of the wagon , for fear of being burnt in it . the trials we made with oyl of turpentine , when strong spirit of nitre was substituted in the stead of oyl of vitriol , belong not to this place . exper. xviii . but though petroleum , especially when rectified , be , as i have elsewhere noted , a most subtile liquor , and the lightest i have yet had occasion to try ; yet to shew you how much the incalescence of liquors may depend upon their texture , i shall adde , that having mixt by degrees one ounce of rectified petroleum , with an equal weight of strong oyl of vitriol , the former liquor seemed to work upon the surface of this last named , almost like a menstruum , upon a metal , innumeious and small bubbles continually ascending for a while into the oleum petrae , which had its colour manifestly alter'd and deepen'd by the operation of the spirituous parts . but by all the action and re-action of these liquors , there was produced no such smoaking and boiling , or intense heat , as if oyl of turpentine had been employed instead of oyl of vitriol ; the change which was produc'd as to qualities being but a kind of tepidness discoverable by the touch. almost the like success we had in the conjunction of petroleum , and spirit of nitre , a more full account whereof may be elsewhere met with . in this and the late trials i did not care to make use of spirit of salt , because , at least , if it be but ordinarily strong , i found its operation on the liquors above mention'd inconsiderable , ( and sometimes perhaps scarce sensible ) in comparison of those of oyl of vitriol , and in some cases of dephlegm'd spirit of nitre . exper. xix . experienced chymists will easily believe , that 't were not difficult to multiply instances of heat producible by oyl of vitriol upon solid bodies , especially mineral ones . for 't is known , that in the usual preparation of vitriolum martis , there is a great effervescence excited upon the affusion of the oyl of vitriol upon filings of steel , especially if they be well drench'd in common water . and it will scarce be doubted , but that , as oyl of vitriol will ( at least partly ) dissolve a great many both calcin'd and testaceous bodies , as i have try'd with lime , oyster-shells , &c. so it will , during the dissolution , grow sensibly , if not intensely hot with them , as i found it to do both with those newly named , and others , as chalk , lapis calaminaris , &c. with the last of which , if the liquor be strong , it will heat exceedingly . exper. xx. wherefore i will rather take notice of its operation upon vegetables , as bodies which corrosive menstruums have scarce been thought fit to dissolve and grow hot with . to omit then cherries , and divers fruits abounding in watery juices , with which , perhaps on that very account , oyl of vitriol will grow hot ; i shall here take notice , that for trial sake , having mixt a convenient quantity of that liquor with raisins of the sun beaten in a mortar , the raisins grew so hot , that , if i misremember not , the glass that contain'd it had almost burnt my hand . these kind of heats may be also produc'd by the mixture of oyl of vitriol with divers other vegetable substances ; but , as far as i have observed , scarce so eminently with any dry body , as with the crumbs of white bread , ( or even of brown ) with a little of which we have sometimes produced a surprising degree of heat with strong or well-dephlegm'd oyl of vitriol , which is to be suppos'd to have been employed in the foregoing experiments , and all others mention'd to be made by the help of that menstruum in our papers about qualities , unless it be in any particular case otherwise declared . exper. xxi . 't is as little observed that corrosive menstruums are able to work , as such , on the soft parts of dead animals , as on those of vegetables , and yet i have more than once produced a notable heat by mixing oyl of vitriol with minced flesh whether roasted or raw . exper. xxii . though common sea-salt does usually impart some degree , though not an intense one , of coldness unto common water , during the act of dissolution ; yet some trials have informed me , that if it were cast into a competent quantity of oyl of vitriol , there would for the most part insue an incalescence , which yet did not appear to succeed so regularly , as in most of the foregoing experiments . but that heat should be produc'd usually , though not perhaps constantly , by the above-named menstruum and salt , seems therefore worthy of our notice , because 't is known to chymists , that common salt is one main ingredient of the few that make up common factitious sal armoniac , that is wont to be sold in the shops . and i have been inform'd , that the excellent academians of florence have observed , that oyl of vitriol would not grow hot but cold by being put upon sal armoniac : something like which i took notice of in rectified spirit of sulphur made per campanam , but found the effect much more considerable , when , according to the ingenious florentine experiment , i made the trial with oyl of vitriol ; which liquor having already furnished us with as many phaenomena for our present purpose as could be well expected from one agent , i shall scarce in this paper about heat make any farther use of it , but proceed to some other experiments , wherein it does not intervene . exper. xxiii . we took a good lump of common sulphur of a convenient shape , and having rub'd or chas'd it well , we found , as we expected , that by this attrition it grew sensibly warm ; and , that there was an intestine agitation , which you know is local motion , made by this attrition , did appear not onely by the newly mention'd heat , whose nature consists in motion , and by the antecedent pressure , which was fit to put the parts into a disorderly vibration , but also by the sulphureous steams , which 't was easie to smell by holding the sulphur to ones nose , as soon as it had been rub'd . which experiment , though it may seem trivial in it self , may be worth the consideration of those chymists , who would derive all the fire and heat we meet with in sublunary bodies from sulphur . for in our case a mass of sulphur , before its parts were put into a new and brisk motion , was sensibly cold , and as soon as its parts were put into a greater agitation than those of a mans fingers , it grew sensibly hot ; which argues , that 't was not by its bare presence , or any emanative action , ( as the schools speak ) that the sulphur communicated any heat to my hand ; and also that , when 't was briskly moved , it did impress that quality , was no more than another solid body , though incombustible as common glass , would have done , if its parts had been likewise put into an agitation surpassing that of my organs of feeling ; so that in our experiment , sulphur it self was beholden , for its actual heat , to local motion , produced by external agents in its parts . exper. xxiv . we thought it not amiss to try , whether when sal armoniac , that much infrigidates water , and quick-lime , which is known to heat it , were by the fire exquisitely mingled , the mixture would impart to the liquor a moderate or an intense degree of either of those qualities . in prosecution of which inquiry we took equal parts of sal armoniac and quick-lime , which we fluxed together , and putting an ounce , by ghess , of the powder'd mixture into a vial with a convenient quantity of cold water , we found , that the colliquated mass did , in about a minute , strike so great a heat through the glass upon my hand , that i was glad to remove it hastily for fear of being scorched . exper. xxv . we have given several , and might have given many more , instances of the incalescence of mixtures , wherein both the ingredients were liquors , or at least one of them was a fluid body . but sometimes heat may also be produc'd by the mixture of two powders ; since it has been observed in the preparation of the butter or oyl of antimony , that , if a sufficient quantity of beaten sublimate be very well mingled with powder'd antimony , the mixture , after it has for a competent time ( which varies much according to circumstances , as the weather , vessel , place , &c. wherein the experiment is made ) stood in the air , would sometimes grow manifestly hot , and now and then so intensely so , as to send forth copious and fetid sumes almost as if it would take fire . there is another experiment made by the help of antimony , and a pulveriz'd body , wherein the mixture , after it had been for divers hours expos'd to the air , visibly afforded us mineral fumes . and to these i could adde more considerable , and perhaps scarce credible , instances of bodies growing hot without liquors , if philanthropy did not forbid me . but to return to our butter of antimony , it seems not unfit to be enquired , whether there do not unobservedly intervene an aqueous moisture , which ( capable of relaxing the salts , and setting them a work ) i therefore suspected might be attracted ( as men commonly speak ) from the air , since the mixture of the antimony and the sublimate is prescribed to be placed in cellars ; and in such we find , that sublimate , or at least the saline part of it , is resolved per deliquium , ( as they call it ) which is nothing but a solution made by the watery steams wandering in the air. exper. xxvi . i have formerly deliver'd some instances of the incalescence produc'd by water in bodies that are readily dissolv'd in it , as salt of tartar and quick-lime . but one would not lightly expect , that meer water should produce an incalescence in solid bodies that are generally granted to be insoluble in it ; and are not wont to be , at least without length of time , visibly wrought on by it ; and yet trial has assured me , that a notable incalescence may be produc'd by common water in flower or fine powder of sulphur , and filings of steel or iron . for when , in summer time , i caus'd to be mingled a good quantity , ( as half a pound or rather a pound of each of the ingredients ) and caus'd them to be throughly drenched with common water , in a convenient quantity whereof they were very well stirred up and down , and carefully mingled , the mixture would in a short time , perhaps less than an hour , grow so hot , that the vessel that contain'd it could not be suffer'd in ones hand ; and the heat was manifested to other senses than the touch , by the strong sulphureous stink that invaded the nose , and the thick smoak that ascended out of the mixture , especially when it was stirr'd with a stick or spattle . whether the success will be the same at all times of the year , i do not know , and somewhat doubt , since i remember not , that i had occasion to try it in other seasons than in summer , or in autumn . exper. xxvii . in the instances that chymistry is wont to afford us of the heat produc'd by the action of menstruums upon other bodies , there intervenes some liquor , properly so call'd , that wets the hands of those that touch it ; and there are divers of the more judicious chymists , that joyn with the generality of the naturalists in denying , that quicksilver , which is indeed a fluid body , but not a moist and wetting one in reference to us , will produce heat by its immediate action on any other body , and particularly on gold. but though i was long inclinable to their opinion , yet i cannot now be of it , several trials having assur'd me , that a mercury , whether afforded by metals and minerals , or impregnated by them , may by its preparation be enabled to insinuate it self nimbly into the body of gold , whether calcin'd or crude , and become manifestly incalescent with it in less than two or three minutes of an hour . exper. xxviii . since we know that some natural salts , and especially salt-peter , can produce a coldness in the water they are dissolved in , i thought it might not be impertient to our enquiry into heat and cold , and might perhaps also contribute somewhat to the discovery of the structure of metals , and the salts that corrode them , if solutions were made of some saliform'd bodies , as chymists call them , that are made up of metalline and saline parts , and do so abound with the latter , that the whole concretions are on their account dissoluble in common water . other experiments of this sort belonging less to this place than to another , i shall here onely for example sake take notice of one that we made upon quicksilver , which is esteem'd the coldest of metals . for having by distilling from it four times its weight of oyl of vitriol , reduc'd it to a powder , which on the account of the adhering salts of the menstruum that it detain'd , was white and glistering , we put this powder into a wide-mouth'd glass of water , wherein a seal'd weather-glass had been left before it began manifestly to heat the water , as appear'd by the quick and considerable ascent of the tincted spirit of wine , that continued to rise upon putting in more of the magistery ; which warm event is the more remarkable , because of the observation of helmont , that the salt adhering to the mercury , corroded in good quantity by oyl of vitriol , if it be washed off and coagulated , becomes a kind of alom . the event of the former trial deserves the more notice , because having after the same manner and with the same weather-glass made an experiment with common water , and the powder of vitriolum martis , made with oyl of vitriol and the filings of steel , the tincted spirit of wine was not at all impell'd up as before , but rather , after a while , began to subside , and fell , though very slowly , about a quarter of an inch . the like experiment being tried with powder'd sublimate in common water , the liquor in the thermoscope was scarce at all sensibly either rais'd or deprest , which argued the alteration as to heat or cold , to have been either none or very inconsiderable . having given warning at the beginning of this section , that in it i aimed rather at offering various than numerous experiments about the production of heat , i think what has been already deliver'd may allow me to take leave of this subject without mentioning divers instances that i could easily adde , but think it fitter at present to omit . for those afforded me by trials about antiperistasis belong to a paper on that subject . those that might be offer'd about potential heat in humane bodies , would perchance be thought but unnecessary after what has been said of potential coldness ; from which an attentive considerer may easily gather , what according to our doctrine is to be said of the contrary quality . and divers phaenomena , which would have been of the most considerable i could have mentioned of the production of heat , since in them that quality is the most exalted , i reserve for the title of combustibleness and incombustibility , having already suffer'd this collection ( or rather chaos ) of particulars about the production of heat to swell to too great a bulk . finis . experiments , and observations , about the mechanical production of tasts . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. experiments , and observations , about the mechanical production of tasts . to make out the mechanical origine or production of sapors , as far as is necessary for my present purpose , 't will be expedient to premise in general , that , according to our notion of tasts , they may depend upon the bigness , figure and motion of the saporifick corpuscles , considered separately , and as the affections of single and very minute particles of matter ; or else in a state of conjunction , as two or more of these affections , and the particles they belong to , may be combined or associated , either among themselves , or with other particles , that were not saporous before . and as these coalitions and other associations come to be diversified ; so the tasts , resulting from them , will be altered or destroyed . but , to handle these distinctly and fully , were a task not onely too difficult and long , but improper in this place , where i pretend to deliver not speculations , but matters of fact : in setting down whereof nevertheless , to avoid too much confusion , i am content , where i can doe it readily and conveniently , in some of my trials , to couch such references as may best point at those heads , whence the mechanical explications may be derived , and consequently our doctrine confirmed . by tast considered as belonging to the object , ( under which notion i here treatof it , ) i mean that quality , or whatever else it be , which enables a body by its operation , to produce in us that sensation , which we feel or perceive when we say we tast . that this something , whether you will call it a quality , or whatever else it be that makes or denominates an object saporous , or rather ( if i may be allowed a barbarous term ) saporifick , may so depend upon the shape , size , motion , and other mechanical affections of the small parts of the tasted body , and result from the association of two or more of them , not excluding their congruity or incongruity to the organs of tasting , may be made probable by the following instances . exper. i. to divide a body , almost insipid , into two bodies of very strong and very differing tasts . 't is observed , that salt-peter refined , and by that purification freed from the sea-salt that is wont to be mingled with it , does rather cool the tongue , than make any great saporifick impressions on it . and though i will not say , that it is , as some have thought , an insipid body ; yet the bitterishness , which seems to be its proper tast , is but very faint and languid . and yet this almost insipid body , being distilled by the way of inflammation , ( which i elsewhere teach , ) or even by the help of an additament of such clay as is it self a tastless body , will afford a nitrous spirit , that is extreamly sharp or corrosive upon the tongue , and will dissolve several metals themselves , and a fixt salt , that is likewise very strongly tasted , but of a tast altogether different from that of the spirit , that is extreamly sharp or corrosive upon the tongue ; and accordingly , this salt will dissolve divers compact bodies that the other will not work on , and will precipitate divers metals and other concretes out of those solutions , that have been made of them by the spirit . exper. ii. of two bodies , the one highly acid and corrosive , and the other alkalizat and fiery , to produce a body almost insipid . this may be performed by the way i have elsewhere mentioned of composing salt-peter . for if upon a liquour of fixt nitre , made per deliquium , you warily drop good spirit of nitre , till it be just enough to satiate the alkaly , ( for if there be too much or too little , the experiment may miscarry , ) we may by a gentle evaporation , and sometimes without it , and that in a few minutes , obtain crystals , which , being dried after they have been , if it be needfull , freed from any adhering particles , ( not of their own nature , ) will have upon the tongue neither a sharp nor an alkalizate tast , but that faint and scarce sensible bitterness that belongs to salt-peter , if it be pure salt-peter ; for the impure may perhaps strongly relish of the common salt that is usually contained in it . the like production of salt-peter we have sometimes made in far less time , and sometimes indeed in a trice , by substituting , in stead of the fixed salt of nitre , the saline parts of good pot-ashes , carefully freed by solution and filtration from the earthy and feculent ones . i have sometimes considered , whether the phaenomena of these two experiments may not be explicated by supposing them to arise from the new magnitudes and figures of the particles , which the fire , by breaking them , or forcibly rubbing them one against the other , or also against the corpuscles of the additament , may be presumed to give them ; as if , for example , since we find the larger and best formed crystals of nitre to be of a prismatical shape with six sides , we should suppose the corpuscles of nitre to be little prisms , whose angles and ends are too obtuse or blunt to make vigorous and deep impressions on the tongue ; and yet , if these little prisms be by a violent heat split , or otherwise broken , or forcibly made as it were to grind one another , they may come to have parts so much smaller than before , and endowed with such sharp sides and angles , that , being dissolved and agitated by the spittle that usually moistens the tongue , their smalness may give them great access to the pores of that organ , and the sharpness of their sides and points may fit them to stab and cut , and perhaps sear the nervous and membranous parts of the organ of tast , and that variously , according to the grand diversities , as to shape and bulk , of the saporifick particles themselves . and this being granted , it seemed further conceivable , that when the alkalizate and acid particles come to be put together in the fluid mixture , wherein they swam , many of them might , after a multitude of various justlings and occursions , meet with one another so luckily and opportunely , as to recompose little prisms , or convene into other bodies , almost like those that made up the crystals of nitre , before 't was exposed to the fire . to illustrate which , we may conceive , that , though a prism of iron may be so shaped , that it will be wholly unfit to pierce the skin ; yet it may be so cut by transverse planes reaching to the opposite bases or ends , as to afford wedges , which , by the sharpness of their edges , may be fit both to cleave wood , and cut the skin ; and these wedges , being again put together after a requisite manner , may recompose a prism , whose extreams shall be too blunt to be fit for the former use . this may be also illustrated by the breaking of a dry stick circularly cut off at the ends , which though it is unapt , whilst intire and of that bulk , to prick the hand ; yet if it be violently broken , the ragged ends of it and the splinters may prove stiff , slender , and sharp enough to pierce and run into the hand : to which divers other such mechanical illustrations might be added . but , since i fear you think , as well as i , the main conjecture may not be worthy any farther prosecution , i shall not insist any longer on it . and because the historical part of these experiments was for the main delivered by me already in the essay about the analysis and redintegration of nitre , i shall now proceed to other trials . exper. iii. of two bodies , the one extreamly bitter , and the other exceeding salt , to make an insipid mixture . to make this experiment , we must very warily pour upon crystals made of silver , dissolved in good aqua fortis or spirit of nitre , strong brine made of common salt and water . for the mixture of these two being dried , and afterwards brought to fusion in a crucible , and kept a competent while in that state , will afford a tough mass , the chymists call luna cornea , which you may lick divers times , and scarce judge it other than insipid ; nor will it easily be brought to dissolve in much more piercing menstruums than our spittle , as i have elsewhere shewn . exper. iv. of two bodies , the one extreamly sweet , and the other salter than the strongest brine , to make an insipid mixture . the doing of this requires some skill and much wariness in the experimenter , who , to perform it well , must take a strong solution of minium , made with an appropriated menstruum , as good spirit of vinegar , or else saccharum saturni it self , dissolved in a convenient vehicle ; and then must have great care and caution to put to it , by degrees , a just proportion of strong spirit of sal armoniac , or the like urinous spirit , till the whole be precipitated ; and if the two former tasts are not sufficiently destroyed in the mixture , it may be dried and fluxed , as was above directed about luna cornea . exper. v. of an insipid body and a sour one , to make a substance more bitter than gall or aloes . this is easily performed by dissolving in strong spirit of nitre or good aqua fortis as much pure silver as the menstruum will take up ; for , this solution being filtrated , has been often esteemed more bitter than so much gall or wormwood , or any other of those simples that have been famous for that quality : and if the superfluous moisture be abstracted , you may by coagulation obtain crystals of luna , that have been judged more strongly bitter than the solution it self . and that the corpuscles of these crystals should leave a far more lasting tast of themselves , than the above-mentioned bitter bodies are wont to doe , will not seem so marvellous , as i remember some that tried have complained ; if we take notice , how deep the particles of these crystals may pierce into the spungy organs of tast , since , if one does but touch the pulp or nail of ones finger , ( first a little wetted with spittle or otherwise , ) with the powder of these crystals , they will so penetrate the skin or nail , and stick so fast there , that you cannot in a reasonable time wash the stain off of the skin , and much less off of the nail , but it will continue to appear many hours on the former , and many days on the other . exper. vi. of an insipid body and a highly corrosive one , to make a substance as sweet as sugar . this is easily done , by putting upon good minium purified aqua fortis or spirit of nitre , and letting them work upon one another in a gentle heat , till the liquour have dissolved its full proportion of the metal . for then , if the ingredients were good , and the operation rightly performed , the menstruum would have a sweetness like that of ordinary saccharum saturni . but 't was not for nothing that i intimated , the ingredients should be also pure and good in their kind ; for , if the minium be adulterated , as often it is , or the spirit of nitre or aqua fortis be mingled , as it is usual before it be purged with spirit of common salt or other unfit ingredients , the operation may be successless , as i have more than once observed . exper. vii . of obtaining without addition from the sweetest bodies , liquours corrosive enough to dissolve metals . if sugar be put into a sufficiently capacious retort , and warily distilled , ( for otherwise it will be apt to break the vessel ) it will afford , among other things , a copious red spirit , which , being slowly rectified , will lose its colour , and come over clear . the caput mortuum of the sugar , which i have more than once had of an odd contexture , may be found either almost or altogether insipid . and though the spirit will be of a very penetrant tast , yet it will be very far from any kind of sweetness ; and though that liquour be thought to be homogeneous , and to be one of the principles of the analized sugar , yet ( as i have elsewhere shewn ) i found it to be a mixture of two spirits ; with the one of which , besides bodies of a less close texture , i dissolved ( even in the cold ) crude copper , as was easie to be seen by the deep and lovely colour of the solution . and to these sour spirits , afforded by sugar it self , we have restored a kind of saccharine sweetness , by compounding them with the particles of so insipid a body as minium ; part of which they will in digestion dissolve . a like spirit to that distilled from sugar may be obtained from honey ; but in regard of its aptness to swell exceedingly , chymists are not wont to distill it without sand , brick , or some other additament . exper. viii . to divide a body , bitter in the highest degree , into two substances , the one extreamly sour , and the other perfectly insipid . this is easily done by putting some fine crystals of luna into a good retort , and then distilling them in a sand-furnace , capable of giving them so strong a fire , as to drive away all the spirits from the silver . for , this remaining behind , according to its metalline nature , will be insipid , and the spirits , that are driven away from it , will unite in the receiver into an acid and corrosive menstruum . exper. ix . to produce variety of tasts in one insipid body , by associating it with divers menstruums . as this operation may , upon the account i elsewhere mention , be serviceable to investigate the figures of the particles of dissolved metals and other bodies ; so 't is very fit to manifest , what we would here have it shew , how much tast may be diversified by , and consequently depend upon , texture ; since a body that has no tast , may , in conjunction with sapid bodies , give them strong tasts all differing from one another , and each of them from that which the saporous bodies had before . i could propose divers ways of bringing this to trial , there being several insipid bodies , which i have found this way diversifiable . but because i remember not , that i have met with any mineral , that is dissoluble by near so many saline menstruums , as zinke , i look on that as the most fertile subject to afford instances to our present purpose . for i have found , that it will be dissolved not onely by aqua fortis , aqua regis , oil of vitriol , spirit of nitre , spirit of salt , and other mineral menstruums , but also by vegetable spirits , as distilled vinegar , and by animal ones too , as spirit of sal armoniac ; though the one be acid , and the other urinous . and if the several solutions , which may be made of this mineral , by so many differing liquours , be compared , the number of their differing tasts will suffice to make good the title of the experiment . exper. x. to produce variety of tasts with one menstruum , by associating it with insipid bodies . this proposition a mathematician would go near to call the converse of the foregoing ; and as it may serve as well as that to discover the structure of the minute parts of divers metalline and mineral bodies ; so it may not onely as well , but better than that , serve us to illustrate the corpuscularian doctrine of tasts , by shewing us , that a single , and , as far as chymistry teaches us , a simple body , endowed with a peculiar tast , may , by being compounded with others , each of them insipid of it self , produce a considerable number of differing tasts . there may be more instruments than one made use of in this trial ; but of those that are known , and we may easily obtain , the most proper are spirit of nitre , and good aqua fortis : for that , with refined silver , will make a solution bitter as gall ; with lead , 't will be of a saccharine sweetness ; with that part of tin , which it will keep dissolved , ( for the greatest 't is wont but to corrode and praecipitate ) it produces a tast very distant from both the former , but not odious ; with copper , it affords an abominable tast ; with mercury and iron , it affords other kinds of bad tasts . nor are metals the onely mineral bodies it will work upon : for , 't will dissolve tin-glass , antimony , brass ; to which i could add emery , zinke , and other bodies whereon i have tried it . all which together will make up no despicable number of differing tasts . exper. xi . of two liquours , the one highly corrosive , and the other very pungent and not pleasant , to compose a body of a pleasant and aromatick tast. this experiment , which i elsewhere mention to other purposes , does in some regards better suit our present design , than most of the foregoing ; since here the corrosive menstruum is neither mortified by fixt nor urinous salts , supposed to be of a contrary nature to it ; nor yet , as 't were , tired out nor disarm'd by corroding of metals or other solid bodies . the experiment being somewhat dangerous to make at first in great , it may suffice for our present turn , to make it in the less quantity , as follows . take one ounce of strong spirit of nitre , or of very good aqua fortis it self , and put to it by little and little , ( which caution if you neglect , you may soon repent it , ) and another ounce of such rectified spirit of wine , as , being kindled in a spoon , will flame all away : when these two liquours are well mixt , and grown cold again , you may , after some digestion , or , if hast require , without it , distill them totally over together , to unite them exquisitly into one liquour , in which , if the operation have been well performed , the corrosive particles of the salts will not onely loose all their cutting acidity , wherewith they wounded the palat ; but by their new composition with the vinous spirits , the liquour acquires a vinous tast , that is not onely not acid or offensive , but very pleasing , as if it belonged to some new or unknown spice . exper. xii . to imitate by art , and sometimes even in minerals , the peculiar tasts of natural bodies , and even vegetables . this is not a fit place to declare , in what sense i do or do not admit of souls in vegetables , nor what i allow or deny to the seminal or plastick principle ascribed to plants : but perhaps it will not be erroneous to conceive , that , whatever be the agent in reference to those tasts , that are said to be specifick to this or that plant , that , on whose immediate account it is or becomes of this or that nature , is a complication of mechanical affections , as shape , size , &c. in the particles of that matter which is said to be endowed with such a specifick tast . to illustrate this , i thought it expedient , to endeavour to imitate the tast of some natural bodies by artificial compositions or preparations , but found it not easie , beforehand to be assured of the success of such trials : and therefore i shall content my self here to mention three or four instances , that , except the first , are rather observations than such experiments as we are speaking of . i remember then , that , making some trials to alter the sensible qualities of smell , tast , &c. of oil of vitriol , and spirit of wine , i obtained from them , among other things that suited with my design , a certain liquour , which , though at first pleasant , would , at a certain nick of time , make one that had it in his mouth think it had been imbued with garlick . and this brings into my mind , that a skilful person , famous for making good sider , coming one day to advise with me , what he should doe to heighten the tast of it , and make it keep the longer , complained to me , that having , among other trials , put into a good vessel full of juice of apples a certain proportion of mustard-seed , with hopes it would make the sider more spirituous and pickant , he found , to his wonder and loss , that , when he came to draw it , it stank of garlick so rank , that every body rejected it . i remember also , that , by fermenting a certain proportion ( for that we found requisite ) of semen dauci with beer or ale , the liquour had a very pleasant relish of limon-pills . but that seems much more considerable , which i shall now add ; that , with an insipid metal and a very corrosive menstruum , one may compound a tast , that i have several times observed to be so like a vegetable , that i presume it may deceive many . this may be done by dissolving gold , without any gross salt , in the mixture of aqua fortis and the spirit of salt , or even in common aqua regis , made by dissolving sal armoniac in aqua fortis . for if the experiment be happily made , one may obtain either a solution or a salt , whose austere tast will very much resemble that of sloes , or of unripe bullace . and this tast , with some little variety , i found in gold dissolved without any distilled liquour at all ; and also , if i much forget not , in gold that by a peculiar menstruum i had volatilized . the last instance i shall give of the imitation of tasts , i found to have been , for the main , known to some ingenious ladies . but to make the experiment succeed very well , a due proportion is the principal circumstance , which is wont to be neglected . i cannot readily call to mind that which i found to succeed best ; but the trial may be indifferently well made after such a manner as this : take a pint or a pound of malaga or canary sack , ( for though french and the like wines may serve the turn , yet they are not so proper ; ) and put into it a drachm or two of good odoriferous orrice roots , cut into thin slices , and let them infuse in the liquour a convenient time , 'till you perceive that they have given it a desired tast and smell ; then keep the thus perfumed wine exactly stopped in a cool place : according to which way , i remember , that ( when i hit on the right proportion of ingredients , and kept them a due time in infusion ) i had many years ago a wine , which , being coloured with cocheneele , or some such tingeing ingredient , was taken for good rasberry-wine , not onely by ordinary persons , but , among others , by a couple of eminent physicians , one of whom pretended to an extraordinary criticalness of palate on such occasions ; both of them wondering , how at such an unlikely time of the year , as i chose to present them that liquour among others , i could have such excellent rasberry-wine : some of which ( to add that by the by ) i found to preserve the specifick tast two or three years after it was made . a short excursion about some changes made of tasts by maturation . it will not perhaps be thought impertinent , but rather necessary , to add a word or two on this occasion for their sakes , that think the maturation of fruits , and the changes of tasts , by which 't is usually known , must needs be the effect of the vegetable soul of the plant. for , after the fruit is gathered , and so , by being no longer a part of the tree , does , according to the most common opinion , cease to be a part of the living plant , as a hand or a foot cut off is no more reckoned among the lims of the man it belonged to ; yet 't is very possible that some fruits may receive maturation , after they have been severed from the plants that bore them . for , not to mention , that apples , gathered somewhat before the time , by lying in heaps , do usually obtain a mellowness , which seems to be a kind or degree of maturation ; or that medlars , gathered whilst they are hard and harsh , do become afterwards in process of time soft and better tasted ; in which state though some say they are rotten , yet others think that supposed rottenness is the proper maturity of that kind of fruit : not to mention these , i say , or the like instances , 't is a famous assertion of several writers of the indian affairs , that the fruit they call bananas is usually gathered green , and hung up in bunches or clusters in the house , where they ripen by degrees , and have an advantageous change made both of their colour and of their tast . and this an ancient acquaintance of mine , a literate and observing person , of whom i inquired about it , assured me , he had himself lately tried and found to be true in america . and indeed i see not , why a convenient degree of warmth , whether external from the sun and fire , or internal from some degree of fermentation or analogous intestine commotion , may not ( whether the fruit be united to the plant or no ) put the saporifick corpuscles into motion , and make them , by various and insensible transcursions , rub against each other , and thereby make the little bodies more slender or thin , and less rigid , or cutting and harsh , than they were before , and by various motions bring the fruit they compose to a state wherein it is more soft in point of consistence , and abound in corpuscles less harsh and more pliable , than they were before , and more congruous to the pores of the organ of tast : and , in a word , make such a change in the constitution of the fruit , as men are wont to express by the name of maturity . and that such mechanical changes of texture may much alter the qualities , and among them the tast of a fruit , is obvious in bruised cherries and apples , which in the bruised parts soon come to look and tast otherwise than they did before . the possibility of this is also obvious by wardens , when slowly roasted in embers with so gentle a fire , as not to burn off the paper they are wont to be wrapt in , to be kept clean from the ashes . and i have seen , in the bordering country betwixt france and savoy , a sort of pears , ( whose name i now remember not , ) which being kept for some hours in a moderate heat , in a vessel exactly closed , with embers and ashes above and beneath them , will be reduced to a juicy substance of a lovely red colour , and very sweet and lushious to the tast . many other sorts of fruit in other countries , if they were handled after the same way , or otherwise skilfully wrought on by a moderate heat , would admit as great alterations in point of tast . neither is that sort of pear to be here omitted , which by meer compression , duly ordered , without external heat , will in a few minutes be brought to exchange its former hardness and harshness for so yielding a contexture and pleasant a tast , as i could not but think very remarkable . and that even more solid and stubborn salts than those of vegetables , may have the sharpness and piercingness of their tasts very much taken off by the bare internal action of one part upon the other , without the addition of any sweetning body , i have been induced to think by having found , upon trial , that , by the help of insipid water , we may , without any violence of fire , reduce sea-salt into a brine of so mild and peculiar ( i had almost said ) pleasant a tast , that one would scarce suspect what it had been , or believe that so great a change of a mineral body could be effected by so slight an intestine commotion as indeed produced it ; especially , since the alteration of tasts was not the most considerable that was produced by this operation . as to liquours that come from vegetables , the emerging of new sapors upon the intestine commotion of the saporifick parts , as consequences of such commotions , is more obvious than is commonly considered in the juice of grapes , which , from a sweet and spiritless liquour , do by that internal motion we call fermentation , acquire that pleasing pungency and briskness of tast that belongs to wine , and afterwards degenerates into that acid and cutting tast that is proper to vinegar ; and all this , by a change of constitution made by the action of the parts themselves on one another , without the help of any external additament . finis . experiments , and observations , about the mechanical production of odours . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. experiments , and observations , about the mechanical production of odours . since tasts and odours ( perhaps by reason of the nearness of the organs they affect ) are wont , by physical writers , to be treated of next to one another , i also shall imitate them in handling those two qualities , not onely for the intimated reason , but because , what i have premised in general , and some other things that i have said already under the title of tasts , being applicable to odours also , 't will not be necessary , and therefore 't would be tedious , to repeat them here . exper. i. with two bodies , neither of them odorous , to produce immediately a strong urinous smell . take good quick-lime and sal armoniac , and rub or grind them well together , and holding your nose to the mixture , you will be saluted with an urinous smell produced by the particles of the volatil salt , united by this operation , which will also invade your eyes , and make them to water . exper. ii. by the bare addition of common water , to produce immediately a very strong smell in a body that had no such smell before . this is one of the phaenomena of an experiment made with camphire and oil of vitriol , which i have elsewhere mentioned to another purpose . for , if in that corrosive menstruum you dissolve a good proportion , but not too much , of the strongly sented gum , the odour of the camphire will be quite concealed in the mixture ; but if you pour this mixture into a good quantity of fair water , the dissolved gum will immediately recover out of the menstruum , and smell as strong as before , if not ( by reason of the warmth produced in the operation ) more strongly . exper. iii. of producing some odours , each of them quite differing from that of any of the ingredients . having taken two ounces ( or parts ) of clear oil of turpentine , and mixt it with one ounce ( or part ) of oil of vitriol , ( which must be done by degrees , for otherwise the vessel will be endangered , ) the clear liquour that came over , upon the distillation of the mixture in a sand-furnace , in stead of the odour of turpentine , ( for the oil of vitriol alone is wont to be inodorous , ) smelt very strong of sulphur ; insomuch that once , when i shewed this experiment , approaching my nose very boldly and hastily to the receiver newly severed from the retort , the sulphureous stink proved so strong , that it had almost ( to speak with the vulgar ) taken away my breath . and to illustrate yet farther the possible emergency of such odours upon the mixture of ingredients , as neither of them was apart endowed with , we caused the substance that remained behind in the retort ( in the form of a thin extract ) after one of the newly mentioned distillations to be farther pressed by a stronger fire , which forced most of it over , partly in the form of a thick oil , and partly in that of butter ; both which we keep together in the same vial , because their odour is neither that of oil of turpentine , nor that of brimstone , but they smell exceedingly like the distilled oil of bees-wax . exper. iv. about the production of some odours by local motion . i shall not now examine , whether the local motion of an external agent may not , without materially concurring to the operation , produce , by agitating and shuffling the parts , odorous corpuscles : but that the celerity and other modifications of the local motion of the effluvia of bodies may not onely serve to diversifie their odours , but so far produce them , as to make them perceptible by the sense , which otherwise would not be so , may be gathered from some observations , which , being obvious , are not so proper for this place . wherefore i shall rather take notice , that i know several bodies that are not onely inodorous when cold , but when considerably hot , and are fixt in the fire , and yet , by having their parts put into a peculiar kind of agitation , will presently grow plainly odorous . on this occasion i shall add , that , as there are some very hard woods , that acquire a strong smell by the motion they may be exposed to in a turner's lath , ( as i have observed by trialls particularly made with the hard and ponderous lignum vitae , ) so some afford , whilst the operation lasts , an unexpected odour . and having inquired about this matter of two eminent artists , ( whom i often employ , ) concerning the odour of beech-wood whilst it is turning , they both agreed , that it would emit well-sented effluviums . and one of them affirmed to me farther , that , having bought a great block of that wood , to make divers pieces of workmanship with it , when he came to turn it , there would issue out not onely a copious odour , but of such a peculiar fragrancy , that one that knew not whence it proceeded would have concluded he was smelling roses . exper. v. by mixing a good proportion of a very strongly sented body with an almost inodorous one , to deprive it speedily of all its smell . take salt of tartar , and drop upon it either spirit of nitre or aqua fortis not too much dephlegmed , till all the effervescence cease , and the liquour will no longer work upon the alkali . these , by a slow evaporation of the superfluous moisture , may be made to shoot into crystalls like those of nitre , which , after you have ( if need be ) by rubbing them with a dried cloath , freed them from loose adhering corpuscles , will emulate salt-peter , as in other qualities , so in it s not being odorous ; though , if you distill them , or burn them on kindled coals , their fumes will quickly make you sensible , that they abounded with the stinking spirits , that make aqua fortis so offensive to the smell . exper. vi. by putting a very strongly stinking body to another of a not sweet smell , to produce a mixture of a pleasant and strongly aromatick odour . what is here proposed is performed at the same time that the eleventh of the foregoing experiments of tasts is made . for the liquour thereby produced , if it be well prepared , has not onely a spicy tast , but also a kind of aromatick and pleasant smell ; and i have some now by me , that , though kept not over-carefully , does , after some years , retain much of its former odour , though not so much as of its tast . exper. vii . by digesting two bodies , neither of them well sented , to produce bodies of a very subtile and strongly fragrant odour . we took a pound ( for instance ) of spanish wine , and put to it some ounces of oil of vitriol ; then , keeping them for a reasonable time in digestion , we obtained , as we expected , a mixture odoriferous enough . but this triall you will find improved by that which insues . exper. viii . by the bare addition of a body almost inodorous , and not well sented , to give a pleasant and aromatick smell to spirit of wine . this we have several times done , by the ways elsewhere related for another scope , the summ of which , as far as it needs be mentioned in this place , is this . we took good oil of blew vitriol ( that was brought from dantzick , ) though the very common will serve well , and having put to it , by degrees , an equal weight of spirit of wine totally inflammable , we digested them together , for two , three , or four weeks , ( sometimes much longer , and then with better success ; ) from which , when we came to distill the mixture , we had a very fragrant spirit , which was sometimes so subtile , that , though distilled in a tall glass with a gentle heat , it would ( in spite of our care to secure the closeness of the vessels at the junctures ) pierce through , and fill the laboratory with a perfume , which , though men could not guess what body afforded it , yet they could not but wonder at it . whence we may learn , both how much those spirituous and inflammable particles , the chymists call the vegetable sulphur of wine , may work on and ennoble a mineral sulphur ; ( for , that such an one there is in oil of vitriol , i have elsewhere proved by experience ; ) and how much the new commistions and contextures made by digestion may alter the odours of bodies , whether vegetable or mineral . that also another constitution of the same matter , without any manifest addition or recess of particles , may proceed to exhibit a very differing smell , will appear by the following triall . exper. ix . to make the forementioned fragrant body , without addition or fire , degenerate into the rank smell of garlick . to make out this , i need onely relate , that i have more than once put the above mentioned fragrant liquour in stopt glasses , whereof the one , and not the other , stood in a warm place , till in process of time i found that odoriferous liquour so to degenerate in point of sent , that one would have thought it to have been strongly infected with garlick . and the like unpleasant smell i observed in a certain oil made of vegetable and mineral substances distilled together . and on this occasion i will add , ( though not as an argument , ) this observation , which though i shall not undertake it will always succeed , i think may not impertinently be set down in this place , partly because of the likeness of the odour produced , to that which was the effect of the last named triall ; and partly ( or rather chiefly ) because it may shew us , that a body , which it self is not onely inodorous , but very fixt , may yet , in some cases , have a great stroke in the phaenomena of odours ; whether by being wrought on by , and sometimes mingled with , the parts of the odorous body , and thereby giving it a new modification , i shall not now stay to enquire . we took then good salt of tartar , and put to it several times its weight of the expressed juice of onions ; we kept them in a light digestion for a day or two , and then unstopping the vial , we found the former smell of the onions quite degenerated into a rank smell of garlick , as was judged , even when fresh juice of garlick was procured to compare them . to vary this experiment , we made with fixt salts , and some other strongly sented juices , trialls , whose events 't would perhaps be tedious here to relate . exper. x. with an inodorous body , and another not well-sented , to produce a muskie smell . this we have sometimes done by casting into spirit ( not oil ) of vitriol a large proportion of small pearls unbroken . for the action of the acid menstruum upon these being moderated , partly by the weakness of the menstruum , and partly by the intireness of the pearls , the dissolution would sometimes last many hours . holding from time to time my nose to the open orifice of the glass , 't was easie to perceive a pleasant muskie smell , which also others , to whom i mentioned it , took notice of as well as i. and , if i misremember not , i took notice of the like smell , upon pearls not onely dissolved in spirit of vinegar , but in another liquour that had but a bad sent of its own . the foregoing experiment calls to my mind that which follows . exper. xi . with fixt metals , and bodies either inodorous or stinking , to produce strong and pleasant smells , like those of some vegetables and minerals . that gold is too fixt a body to emit any odour , and that aqua regis has an odour that is very strong and offensive , i think will be easily granted . but yet aurum fulminans being made ( as 't is known ) by precipitating with the inodorous oil of tartar the solution made of the former in the latter , and this precipitate being to be farther proceeded with in order to another experiment ; we fulminated it per se in a silver vessel like that , but better contrived , that is ( if i misremember not ) somewhere described by glauberus . and among other phaenomena of this operation , that belong not to this place , we observed with pleasure , that , when the fulmination was recently made , the steams , which were afforded by the metal that had been fired , were endowed with a delightful smell , not unlike that of musk . from which experiment and the foregoing we may learn , that art , by lucky contextures , may imitate the odours that are presumed to be natural and specifick ; and that mineral and vegetable substances may compound a smell that is thought to be peculiar to animals . and as art sometimes imitates nature in the production of odours , as may be confirmed by what is above related concerning counterfeit rasberry-wine , wherein those that drank it believed they did not onely tast , but smell the rasberry ; so sometimes nature seems to imitate her self , in giving like odours to bodies extreamly differing . for , not yet to dismiss the smell of musk , there is a certain seed , which , for the affinity of its odour to that perfume , they call the musk-seed ; and indeed , having some of it presented me by a gentleman , that had newly brought it from the west-indies , i found it , whilst 't was fresh , to have a fragrancy suitable to the name that was given it . there is also a sort of rats in muscovy , whose skins , whereof i have seen several , have a smell that has procured them the name of musk-rats . to which i know not , whether we may not add the mention of a certain sort of ducks , which some call musk-ducks , because at a certain season of the year , if they be chaf'd by violent motion , they will under the wing emit a musky in stead of a sweaty sent ; which upon trial i perceived to be true . on the other side , i have known a certain wood growing in the indies , which , especially when the sent is excited by rubbing , stinks so rankly and so like paracelsus's zibetum occidentale , ( stercus humanum , ) that one would swear it were held under his nose . and since i have been speaking of good sents produced by unlikely means , i shall not pretermit this observation , that , though generally the fire impresses a strong offensive smell , which chymists therefore call empyreumatical , upon the odorous bodies that it works strongly on ; yet the constitution of a body may be such , that the new contexture that is made of its parts , even by the violence of the fire , shall be fit to afford effluviums rather agreeable to the organs of smelling , than any way offensive . for i remember , that , having for a certain purpose distilled saccharum saturni in a retort with a strong fire , i then obtained , ( for i dare not undertake for the like success to every experimenter , ) besides a piercing and empyreumatical liquour that was driven over into the receiver , a good lump of a caput mortuum of a grayish colour , which , notwithstanding the strong impression it had received from the fire , was so far from having any empyreumatical sent , that it had a pleasing one , and when 't was broken , smelt almost like a fine cake new baked , and broken whilst yet warm . and as the fire , notwithstanding the empyreuma it is wont to give to almost all the bodies it burns , may yet be reduced to confer a good smell on some of them , if they be fitted upon such a contexture of their parts to emit steams of such a nature , ( whatever were the efficient cause of such a contexture ; ) so we observe in the musk animal , that nature in that cat , or rather deer , ( though it properly belong to neither kind , ) produces musk by such a change , as is wont in other animals to produce a putrefactive stink . so that , provided a due constitution of parts be introduced into a portion of matter , it may on that account be endowed with noble and desirable sents , or other qualities , though that constitution were introduced by such unlikely means , as combustion and putrefaction themselves . in confirmation of which , i shall subjoyn in the insuing account a notable , though casual , phaenomenon , that occurr'd to a couple of virtuosi of my acquaintance . an eminent professor of mathematicks affirmed to me , that , chancing one day in the heat of summer with another mathematician ( who i remember was present when this was told ) to pass by a large dunghil that was then in lincolns-inn-fields , when they came to a certain distance from it , they were both of them surprized to meet with a very strong smell of musk , ( occasioned , probably , by a certain degree or a peculiar kind of putrefaction , ) which each was for a while shy of taking notice of , for fear his companion should have laughed at him for it ; but , when they came much nearer the dunghill , that pleasing smell was succeeded by a stink proper to such a heap of excrements . this puts me in mind of adding , that , though the excrements of animals , and particularly their sweat , are usually foetid ; yet , that 't is not the nature of an excrement , but the constitutions , that usually belong to them , make them so , hath seemed probable to me upon some observations . for , not to mention , what is related of alexander the great , i knew a gentleman of a very happy temperature of body , whose sweat , upon a critical examination , wherein i made use also of a surprize , i found to be fragrant ; which was confirmed also by some learned men of my acquaintance , and particularly a physician that lay with him . though civet usually passes for a perfume , and as such is wont to be bought at a great rate ; yet it seems to be but a clammy excrement of the animal that affords it , which is secreted into bags provided by nature to receive it . and i the rather mention civet , because it usually affords a phaenomenon that agrees very well with the mechanical doctrine concerning odours , though it do not demonstrate it . for , when i have had the curiosity to visit divers of those civet ▪ cats , ( as they call them ) though they have heads liker foxes than cats ; i observed , that a certain degree of laxity ( if i may so style it ) of the odorous atmosphere was requisite to make the smell fragrant . for , when i was near the cages , where many of them were kept together , or any great vessel full of civet , the smell ( probably by the plenty , and perhaps the over-brisk motion of the effluvia , ) was rather rank and offensive than agreeable ; whereas , when i removed into the next room , or to some other convenient distance , the steams ( being less crowded , and farther from their fountain , ) presented themselves to my nostrills under the notion of a perfume . and , not to dismiss this our eleventh experiment without touching once more upon musk , i shall add , that an ingenious lady , to whom i am nearly related , shewed me an odd monkey , that had been presented her as a rarity by the then admiral of england , and told me , among other things , that she had observed in it , that , being sick , he would seek for spiders as his proper remedies , for some of which he then seemed to be looking , and thereby gave her occasion to tell me this ; which when he had eaten , the alteration it made in him would sometimes fill the room with a musky sent : but he had not the good luck to light on any whilst my visit lasted . exper. xii . to heighten good smells by composition . 't is well known to perfumers , and is easie to be observed , that amber-greece alone , though esteemed the best and richest perfume that is yet known in the world , has but a very faint and scarce a pleasant sent . and i remember , that i have seen some hundreds of ounces together newly brought from the east-indies ; but if i had not been before acquainted with the smell of amber-greece alone , and had had onely the vulgar conceit of it , that 't is the best and strongest of perfumes , my nostrills would scarce have made me suspect those lumps to have been any thing a-kin to amber-greece . but if a due proportion of musk , or even civet , be dexterously mixt with amber , the latent fragrancy , though it be thereby somewhat compounded , will quickly be called forth , and exceedingly heightned . and indeed 't is not , as 't is commonly presumed , the plenty of the richest ingredients , as amber-greece and musk , but the just proportion and skilful mixture of them , that makes the noblest and most lasting perfume , of which i have had sufficient experience ; so that with a far less quantity of musk and amber , than not onely ordinary persons , but perfumers themselves are wont to imploy , we have had several perfumes , that for fragrancy were much preferred to those where musk and amber-greece are so plentifully imployed . the proportions and ways of mixture we best approved of , would be too long , and are not necessary , to be here set down ; but you will not much erre in making use of such a proportion as this , viz. eight parts of amber-greece , two of musk , and one of civet : which quantities of ingredients if they be skilfully and exactly mingled , you will not miss of a good composition , with which you may innoble other materials , as benzoin , storax , sweet flowers , &c. fit to make pastills , ointments for leather , pomander , &c. and we may here add , that , upon the score of the new texture acquired by composition , some things , that are not fragrant themselves , may yet much heighten the fragrancy of odoriferous bodies . and of liquid perfumes i remember , 't was the secret of some court-ladies , noted for curiosity about perfumes , to mingle always a due proportion of wine-vinegar with the odoriferous ingredients . and on this occasion , to shew the power of mixtures in improving odours , i shall add something about a liquour of mine , that has had the good fortune to be very favourably spoken of by persons of quality accustomed to choice perfumes . this liquour , though thought an elaborate preparation , as well for another reason , as to recommend it to some , whose critical palates can tast the very titles of things , i called it essence of musk , is indeed a very plain simple preparation , which i thus make . i take an arbitrary quantity of choice musk without finely powdering it , and pour upon it about a finger's breadth of pure spirit of wine ; these in a glass closely stopt i set in a quiet place to digest , without the help of any furnace , and after some days , or a few weeks , ( according as circumstances determined , ) the spirit , which is somewhat odd , will in the cold have made a solution of the finest parts of the musk , and will be thereby much tinged , but not of a red colour . this liquour being decanted , i keep by it self as the richest of all ; and pour a like quantity of spirit on the remaining musk , which usually will in the cold , though more slowly , draw a tincture , but fainter than the former , which being poured off , the remaining musk may be imployed for inferiour uses . now that which made me mention this preparation as pertinent to our present subject , is this phaenomenon of it , that the first essence , or rather tincture , being smelt to by it self , has but a faint , and not very pleasing , odour of musk , so that every body would not discover that there was musk in it ; but if a single drop , or two drops at most , were mixt with a pint , or perhaps a quart , of good sack , the whole body of the wine would presently acquire a considerably musky sent , and be so richly perfumed both as to tast and smell , as seemed strange enough to those that knew the vast disproportion of the ingredients . finis . of the imperfection of the chymist's doctrine of qualities . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. of the imperfction of the chymist's doctrine of qualities . chap. i. since a great part of those learned men , especially physicians , who have discerned the defects of the vulgar philosophy , but are not yet come to understand and relish the corpuscularian , have slid into the doctrine of the chymists ; and since the spagyrists are wont to pretend to make out all the qualities of bodies from the predominancy of some one of their three hypostatical principles , i suppose it may both keep my opinion from appearing too presumptuous , and ( which is far more considerable ) may make way for the fairer reception of the mechanical hypothesis about qualities , if i here intimate ( though but briefly and in general ) some of those defects , that i have observed in chymists explications of qualities . and i might begin with taking notice of the obscurity of those principles , which is no small defect in notions whose proper office it should be to conduce to the illustration of others . for , how can that facilitate the understanding of an obscure quality or phaenomenon which is it self scarcely intelligible , or at least needs almost as much explanation as the thing 't is designed & pretended to explicate ? now a man need not be very conversant in the writings of chymists to observe , in how laxe , indefinite , and almost arbitrary senses they employ the terms of salt , sulphur and mercury ; of which i could never find that they were agreed upon any certain definitions or setled notions ; not onely differing authors , but not unfrequently one and the same , and perhaps in the same brook , employing them in very differing senses . but i will not give the chymists any rise to pretend , that the chief fault that i find with their hypothesis is but verbal ; though that it self may not a little blemish any hypothesis , one of the first of whose requisites ought to be clearness ; and therefore i shall now advance and take notice of defects that are manifestly of another kind . and first the doctrine that all their theory is grounded on , seems to me inevident and undemonstrated , not to say precarious . it is somewhat strange to me , that neither the spagyrists themselves , nor yet their adversaries , should have taken notice , that chymists have rather supposed than evinced , that the analysis of bodies by fire , or even that at least some analysis is the onely instrument of investigating what ingredients mixt bodies are made up of , since in divers cases that may be discovered by composition as well as by resolution ; as it may appear , that vitriol consists of metalline parts ( whether martial , or venereal , or both ) associated by coagulation with acid ones , one may , i say , discover this as well by making true vitriol with spirit ( improperly called oil ) of sulphur , or that of salt , as by distilling or resolving vitriol by the fire . but i will not here enlarge on this subject , nor yet will i trouble you with what i have largely discoursed in the sceptical chymist , to call in question the grounds on which chymists assert , that all mixt bodies are compounded of salt , sulphur , and mercury . for it may suffice me now to tell you , that , whatsoever they may be able to obtain from other bodies , it does not appear by experience , which is the grand , if not the onely , argument they rely on , that all mixt bodies that have qualities , consist of their tria prima , since they have not been able , that we know , truly , and without new compositions , to resolve into those three , either gold , or silver , or crystal , or venetian talck , or some other bodies , that i elsewhere name ; & yet these bodies are endowed with divers qualities , as the two former with fusibleness and malleability , and all of them with weight and fixity ; so that in these and the like bodies , whence chymists have not made it yet appear , that their salt , sulphur and mercury , can be truly and adequately separated , 't will scarce be other than precarious , to derive the malleableness , colour , and other qualities of such bodies from those principles . under this head i consider also , that a great part of the chymical doctrine of qualities is bottom'd on , or supposes , besides their newly questioned analysis by fire , some other things , which , as far as i know , have not yet been well proved , and i question whether they ever will be . one of their main suppositions is , that this or that quality must have its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as sennertus , the learnedst champion of this opinion , calls it , or some particular material principle , to the participation of which , as of the primary native and genuine subject , all other bodies must owe it : but upon this point having purposely discoursed elsewhere , i shall now onely observe , that , not to mention local motion and figure , i think 't will be hard to shew , what is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of gravity , volatility , heat , sonorousness , transparency and opacity , which are qualities to be indifferently met with in bodies whether simple or mixt . and whereas the spagyrists are wont to argue , that , because this or that quality is not to be derived truly from this or that particular principle , as salt , for instance , and mercury ; therefore it must needs be derivable from the third , as sulphur . this way of arguing involves a farther supposition than that newly examined . for it implies , that every quality in a compounded body must arise from some one of the tria prima , whereas experience assures us , that bodies may , by composition , obtain qualities , that were not to be found in any of the separate ingredients . as we see in painting , that though blew and yellow be neither of them green , yet their mixture will be so . and though no single sound will make an octave or diapason ; yet two sounds , whose proportion is double , will have an eighth . and tinn and copper melted and mingled together in a due proportion , will make a bell-metal far more sonorous than either of them was before . 't is obvious enough for chymists themselves to observe , that , though lead be an insipid body , and spirit of vinegar a very sharp one , yet saccharum saturni , that is compounded out of these two , has a sweetness that makes it not ill deserve its name . but this ill-grounded supposition of the chymists , is extended farther in an usual topic of theirs , according to which they conclude , that i know not how many qualities , as well manifest as occult , must be explicated by their tria prima , because they are not explicable by the four elements of the peripateticks . to make which argumentation valid , it must be proved , ( which i fear it will never be ) that there are no other wayes , by which those qualities may be explicated , but by a determinate number of material principles , whether four or three : besides that , till they have shewn that such qualities may be intelligibly explicated by their principles , the objection will lye as strong for the aristotelians against them , as for them against the aristotelians . chap. ii. next i consider , that there are divers qualities even in mixt bodies , wherein it does not appear , that the use of the chymical doctrine is necessary . as , for instance , when pure gold is by heat onely brought to fusion , and consequently to the state of fluidity , and upon the remission of that heat , grows a solid and consistent body again , what addition or expulsion or change of any of the tria prima does appear to be the cause of this change of consistence ? which is easie to be accounted for according to the mechanical way , by the vehement agitation that the fire makes of the minute parts of the gold to bring it to fusion ; and the cohesion of those parts , by vertue of their gravity and fitness to adhere to one another , when that agitation ceases . when venice glass is meerly by being beaten to pouder deprived of its transparency and turned into a body opacous and white , what need or use of the tria prima have we in the explication of this phaenomenon ? or of that other which occurs , when by barely melting down this white and opacous body it is deprived of its opacity and colour , and becomes diaphanous ? and of this sort of instances you will meet with divers in the following notes about particular qualities ; for which reason i shall forbear the mention of them here . chap. iii. i observe too , that the spagyrical doctrine of qualities is insufficient and too narrow to reach to all the phaenomena or even to all the notable ones , that ought to be explicable by them . and this insufficiency i find to be two-fold ; for , first , there are divers qualities , of which chymists will not so much as attempt to give us explications , and of other particular qualities the explications , such as they are that they give us , are often very deficient and unsatisfactory ; and do not sometimes so much as take notice of divers considerable phaenomena that belong to the qualities whereof they pretend to give an account ; of which you will meet with divers instances in the insuing notes . and therefore i shall onely , ( to declare my meaning the better , ) invite you to observe with me , that though gold be the body they affect to be most conversant with ; yet it will be very hard to shew , how the specific weight of gold can be deduced from any or all of the three principles , since mercury it self , that is of bodies , known to us , the heaviest next to gold , is so much lighter than gold , that , whereas i have usually found mercury to be to an equal weight of water , somewhat , though little , less than fourteen to one , i find pure gold to be about nineteen times as heavy as so much water . which will make it very difficult , not to say impossible for them to explain , how gold should barely by participating of mercury , which is a body much lighter than it self , obtain that great specific gravity we find it to have ; for the two other hypostatical principles , we know , are far lighter than mercury . and i think it would much puzzle the chymists , to give us any examples of a compounded body , that is specifically heavier than the heaviest of the ingredients that it is made up of . and this is the first kind of insufficiency i was taking notice of in the chymical doctrine of qualities . the other is , that there are several bodies which the most learned among themselves confess not to consist of their tria prima , and yet are indowed with qualities , which consequently are not in those subjects to be explicated by the tria prima which are granted not to be found in them . thus elementary water , though never so pure , ( as distilled rain-water , ) has fluidity and coldness and humidity and transparency and volatility , without having any of the tria prima . and the purest earth , as ashes carefully freed from the fixt salt , has gravity and consistence and dryness and colour and fixity , without owing them either to salt , sulphur , or mercury ; not to mention , that there are celestial bodies which do not appear , nor are wont to be pretended , to consist of the tria prima , that yet are indowed with qualities . as the sun has light , and as many philosophers think , heat , and colour ; and the moon has a determinate consistence and figuration , ( as appears by her mountains ) and astronomers observe , that the higher planets and even the fixt stars appear to be differingly coloured . but i shall not multiply instances of this kind , because what i have said , may not onely serve for my present purpose , but bring a great confirmation to what i lately said , when i noted , that the chymical principles were in many cases not necessary to explicate qualities : for since in earth , water , &c. such diffused qualities , as gravity , sixtness , colour , transparency and fluidity , must be acknowledged not to be derived from the tria prima ; 't is plain , that portions of matter may be endowed with such qualities by other causes and agents than salt , sulphur and mercury . and then why should we deny , that also in compounded bodies those qualities may be ( sometimes at least ) produced by the same or the like causes ? as we see , that the reduction of a diaphanous solid to pouder , produces whiteness , whether the comminution happens to rock-crystal or to venice-glass , or to ice : the first of which is acknowledged to be a natural and perfectly mixt body ; the second a factitious and not onely mixt but decompounded body ; and the last , for ought appears , an elementary body , or at most very slightly and imperfectly mixt . and so by mingling air in small portions with a diaphanous liquor , as we do when we beat such a liquor into foam , a whiteness is produced , as well in pure water , which is acknowledged to be a simple body , as in white wine , which is reckoned among perfectly mixt bodies . chap. iv. i further observe , that the chymists explications do not reach deep and far enough . for first , most of them are not sufficiently distinct and full , so as to come home to the particular phaenomena , nor often times so much as to all the grand ones , that belong to the history of the qualities they pretend to explicate . you will readily believe , that a chymist will not easily make out by his salt , sulphur , and mercury , why a load-stone capp'd with steel may be made to take up a great deal more iron , sometimes more than eight or ten times as much , than if it be immediatly applied to the iron ; or why , if one end of the magnetic needle is dispos'd to be attracted by the north-pole , for instance , of the load-stone , the other pole of the load-stone will not attract it but drive it away : or , why a bar or rod of iron , being heated red-hot and cooled perpendicularly , will with its lower end drive away the flower de luce , or the north-end of a marriners needle , which the upper end of the same barr or rod will not repell but draw to it . in short , of above threescore properties or notable phaenomena of magnetic bodies , that some writers have reckon'd up , i do not remember that any three have been by chymists so much as attempted to be solved by their three principles . and even in those qualities , in whose explications these principles may more probably than elsewhere pretend to have a place , the spagyrists accounts are wont to fall so short of being distinct and particular enough , that they use to leave divers considerable phaenomena untouch'd , and do but very lamely or slightly explicate the more obvious or familiar . and i have so good an opinion of divers of the embracers of the spagyrical theory of qualities ( among whom i have met with very learned and worthy men ) that i think , that if a quality being pos'd to them , they were at the same time presented with a good catalogue of the phaenomena , that they may take , in the history of it , as it were with one view , they would plainly perceive that there are more particulars to be accounted for , than at first they were aware of ; and divers of them such , as may quite discourage considering men from taking upon them to explain them all by the tria prima , and oblige them to have recourse to more catholic and comprehensive principles . i know not , whether i may not add on this occasion , that , methinks , a chymist , who by the help of his tria prima , takes upon him to interpret that book of nature of which the qualities of bodies make a great part , acts at but a little better rate than he , that seeing a great book written in a cypher , whereof he were acquainted but with three letters , should undertake to decypher the whole piece . for though 't is like , he would in many words find one of the letters of his short key , and in divers words two of them , and perhaps in some all three ; yet , besides that in most of the words wherein the known letter or letters may be met with , they may be so blended with other unknown letters as to keep him from decyphering a good part of those very words , 't is more than probable , that a great part of the book would consist of words wherein none of his three letters were to be found . chap. v. and this is the first account , on which i observe that the chymical theory of qualities does not reach far enough : but there is another branch of its deficiency . for even , when the explications seem to come home to the phaenomena , they are not primary , and , if i may so speak , fontal enough . to make this appear , i shall at present imploy but these two considerations . the first is , that those substances themselves , that chymists call their principles , are each of them indowed with several qualities . thus salt is a consistent , not a fluid , body ; it has its weight , 't is dissoluble in water , is either diaphanous or opacous , fixt or volatile , sapid or insipid ; ( i speak thus disjunctively , because chymists are not all agreed about these things ; and it concerns not my argument , which of the disputable qualities be resolved upon . ) and sulphur , according to them , is a body fusible , inflammable , &c. and , according to experience , is consistent , heavy , &c. so that 't is by the help of more primary and general principles , that we must explicate some of those qualities , which being found in bodies , supposed to be perfectly similar or homogeneous , cannot be pretended to be derived in one of them from the other . and to say , that 't is the nature of a principle to have this or that quality , as , for instance , of sulphur to be fusible , and therefore we are not to exact a reason why it is so ; though i could say much by way of answer , i shall now only observe , that this argument is grounded but upon a supposition , and will be of no force , if from the primary affections of bodies one may deduce any good mechanical explication of fusibility in the general , without necessarily supposing such a primigeneal sulphur , as the chymists fancy , or deriving it from thence in other bodies . and indeed , since not only salt-peter , sea salt , vitriol and allum , but salt of tartar , and the volatile salt of urine are all of them fusible ; i do not well see , how chymists can derive the fusibleness even of salts obtained by their own analysis ( such as salt of tartar and of urine ) from the participation of the sulphureous ingredient ; especially since , if such an attempt should be made , it would overthrow the hypothesis of three simple bodies , whereof they will have all mixt ones to be compounded ; and still 't would remain to be explicated , upon what account the principle , that is said to endow the other with such a quality , comes to be endowed therewith it self . for 't is plain , that a mass of sulphur is not an atomical or adamantine body ; but consists of a multitude of corpuscles of determinate figures , and connected after a determinate manner : so that it may be reasonably demanded , why such a convention of particles , rather than many another that does not , constitutes a fusible body . chap. vi. and this leads me to a further consideration , which makes me look upon the chymists explications as not deep and radical enough ; and it is this , that , when they tell us , for instance , that the fusibleness of bodies proceeds from sulphur , in case they say true , they do but tell us what material ingredient 't is that being mingled with and dispers'd through the other parts of a body , makes it apt to melt : but this does not intelligibly declare , what it is that makes a portion of matter fusible , and how the sulphureous ingredient introduces that disposition into the rest of the mass , wherewith 't is commixt or united . and yet 't is such explications as these , that an inquisitive naturalist chiefly looks after , and which i therefore call philosophical . and to shew , that there may be more fontal explications , i shall only observe , that , not to wander from our present instance , sulphur it self is fusible . and therefore , as i lately intimated , fusibility , which is not the quality of one atome , or particle , but of an aggregate of particles , ought it self to be accounted for in that principle , before the fusibleness of all other bodies be derived from it . and 't will in the following notes appear , that in sulphur it self that quality may be probably deduced from the convention of corpuscles of determinate shapes and sizes , contexed or connected after a convenient manner . and if either nature , or art , or chance , should bring together particles endowed with the like mechanical affections , and associate them after the like manner , the resulting body would be fusible , though the component particles had never been parts of the chymists primordial sulphur : and such particles so convening might perhaps have made sulphur it self , though before there had been no such body in the world . and what i say to those chymists , that make the sulphureous ingredient the cause of fusibility , may easily , mutatis mutandis , be applied to their hypothesis , that rather ascribe that quality to the mercurial or the saline principle , and consequently cannot give a rational account of the fusibility of sulphur . and therefore though i readily allow ( as i shall have afterwards occasion to declare ) that sulphur , or an other of the tria prima , may be met with , and even abound in several bodies endowed with the quality that is attributed to their participation of that principle ; yet that this may be no certain sign that the propos'd quality must flow from that ingredient , you may perhaps be assisted to discern by this illustration , that if tin be duly mixt with copper or gold , or , as i have tried , with silver or iron , it will make them very brittle ; and it is also an ingredient of divers other bodies that are likewise brittle , as blew , green , white , and otherwise colour'd , amels , which are usually made of calcin'd tin ( which the tradesmen call puttee , ) colliquated with the ingredients of crystal-glass and some small portion of mineral pigment . but though in all the above-named brittle bodies , tin be a considerable ingredient ; yet 't were very unadvised to affirm , that brittleness in general proceeds from tin. for provided the solid parts of consistent bodies touch one another but according to small portions of their surfaces , and be not implicated by their contexture , the metalline or other composition may be brittle , though there be no tin at all in it . and in effect , the materials of glass being brought to fusion will compose a brittle body , as well when there is no puttee colliquated with them , as when there is . calcin'd lead by the action of the fire may be melted into a brittle mass , and even into transparent glass , without the help of tin or any other additament . and i need not add , that there are a multitude of other bodies , that cannot be pretended to owe their brittleness to any participation of tin , of which they have no need , if the matter they consist of wants not the requisite mechanical dispositions . and here i shall venture to add , that the way employed by the chymists , as well as the peripateticks , of accounting for things by the ingredients , whether elements , principles , or other bodies , that they suppose them to consist of , will often frustrate the naturalists expectation of events , which may frequently prove differing from what he promis'd himself , upon the consideration of the qualities of each ingredient . for the ensuing notes contain divers instances , wherein there emerges a new quality differing from , or even contrary to , any that is conspicuous in the ingredients ; as two transparent bodies may make an opacous mixture , a yellow body and a blew , one that is green , two malleable bodies , a brittle one , two actually cold bodies , a hot one , two fluid bodies , a consistent one , &c. and as this way of judging by material principles hinders the foreknowledg of events from being certain ; so it much more hinders the assignation of causes from being satisfactory ; so that perhaps some would not think it very rash to say , that those who judg of all mixt bodies as apothecaries do of medicines , barely by the qualities and proportions of the ingredients ( such as among the aristotelians are the four elements , and among the chymists the tria prima , ) do , as if one should pretend to give an account of the phaenomena and operations of clocks and watches , and their diversities by this , that some are made of brass wheels , some of iron , some have plain ungilt wheels , others of wheels overlaid with gold , some furnished with gut-strings , others with little chains , &c. and that therefore the qualities and predominancies of these metalls that make parts of the watch , ought to have ascribed to them , what indeed flows from their coordination and contrivance . chap. vii . the last defect i observe in the chymical doctrine of qualities , is , that in many cases it agrees not well with the phaenomena of nature , and that by one or both of these ways . first , there are divers changes of qualities , wherein one may well expect , that a chymical principle should have a great stroak , and yet it does not at all appear to have so . he that considers , what great operations divers of the hermeticks ascribe to this or that hypostatical principle , and how many qualities according to them must from it be derived , can scarce do other than expect , that a great change as to those qualities happening in a mixt body , should at least be accompany'd with some notable action of , or alteration in the principle . and yet i have met with many instances , wherein qualities are produced , or abolished , or very much altered , without any manifest introduction , expulsion , or considerable change of the principle , whereon that quality is said to depend , or perhaps of either of the two others : as when a piece of fine silver , that having been neald in the fire , and suffer'd to cool leisurely , is very flexible , is made stiff and hard to bend , barely by a few stroaks of a hammer . and a string of a lute acquires or loses a sympathy , as they call it , with another string of the same or another instrument , barely by being either stretched so as to make an unison with it , or screw'd up or let down beyond or beneath that degree of tension . to multiply instances of this kind would be to anticipate those , you will hereafter meet with in their due places . and therefore i shall pass on from the first sort of phaenomena , that favour not the chymical hypothesis about qualities , to the other which consists of those , wherein either that does not happen which according to their hypothesis ought to happen , or the contrary happens to what according to their hypothesis may justly be expected . of this you will meet with instances hereafter ; i shall now trouble you but with one , the better to declare my meaning . 't is not unknown to those chymists , that work much in silver and in copper , that the former will endure ignition and become red-hot in the fire , before it will be brought to fusion ; and the latter is yet far more difficult to be melted down than the other ; yet if you separately dissolve those two metalls in aqua fortis , and by evaporation reduce them to crystalls , these will be brought to fusion in a very little time , and with a very moderate heat , without breaking the glasses that contain them . if you ask a vulgar chymist the cause of this facility of fusion , he will probably tell you without scruple , that 't is from the saline parts of the aqua fortis , which , being imbodied in the metals and of a very fusible nature , impart that easiness of fusion to the metals they are mixt with . according to which plausible explication one might well expect , that , if the saline corpuscles were exquisitly mingled with tin , they would make it far more fusible than of it self it is . and yet , as i have elsewhere noted , when i put tin into a convenient quantity of aqua fortis , the metal being corroded , subsided , as is usual , in the form of whites of eggs , which being well dried , the tinn was so far from being grown more fusible by the addition of the saline particles of the menstruum , that , whereas 't is known that simple tin will melt long before it come to be red-hot , this prepar'd tin would endure for a good while not only a thorow ignition , but the blast of a pair of double bellows , ( which we usually imploy'd to melt silver and copper it self , ) without being at all brought to fusion . and as for those spagyrists that admit , as most of them are granted to do , that all kinds of metals may be turned into gold by a very small proportion of what they call the philosophers elixir , one may i think shew them from their own concessions , that divers qualities may be changed even in such constant bodies as metals , without the addition of any considerable proportion of the simple ingredients , to which they are wont to ascribe those qualities ; provided the agent , ( as an efficient rather than as a material cause , ) be able to make a great change in the mechanical affections of the parts whereof the metal it acts on is made up . thus if we suppose a pound of silver , a pound of lead , and a pound of iron to be transmuted into gold , each by a grain of the powder of projection , this tinging powder , as a material cause is inconsiderable , by reason of the smaliness of its bulk , and as an efficient cause it works differing and even contrary effects , according to the disposition , wherein it finds the metal to be transmuted , and the changes it produces in the constituent texture of it . thus it brings quick-silver to be fixt , which it was not before , and deprives it of the fluidity which it had before ; it brings silver to be indissolvable in aqua fortis , which readily dissolved it before , and dissoluble in aqua regis , which before would not touch it ; and which is very considerable to our present purpose , whereas it makes iron much more susible than mars , it makes lead much less fusible than whilest it retained its pristine form , since saturn melts ere it come to ignition , which gold requires to bring it to fusion . but this is proposed only as an argument ad hominem , till the truth of the transmutation of metals into gold , by way of projection , be sufficiently proved , and the circumstances and phaenomena of it particularly declared . i must not forget to take notice , that some learned modern chymists would be thought to explicate divers of the changes that happen to bodies in point of odours , colours , &c. by saying that in such alterations the sulphur or other hypostatical principle is intraverted or extraverted , or , as others speak , inverted . but i confess , to me these seem to be rather new terms then real explications . for , to omit divers of the arguments mentioned in this present treatise , that may be applied to this way of solving the phaenomena of qualities , one may justly object , that the supposed extraversion or intraversion of sulphur can by no means reach to give an account of so great a variety of odours , colours , and other qualities as may be found in the changed portions of matter we are speaking of . and which is more , what they call by these and the like names , cannot be done without local motion transposing the particles of the matter , and consequently producing in it a change of texture , which is the very thing we would infer , and which being supposed , we may grant sulphur to be oftentimes actually present in the altered bodies , without allowing it to be always necessary to produce the alterations in them , since corpuscles so condition'd and contex'd would perform such effects , whether sulphur , as such , did , or did not , make up the subject-matter of the change. and now i shall conclude , and partly recapitulate what has been delivered in this and the two foregoing chapters , with this summary consideration , that the chymist's salt , sulphur and mercury themselves are not the first and most simple principles of bodies , but rather primary concretions of corpuscles or particles more simple than they , as being endowed only with the first , or most radical ( if i may so speak ) and most catholick affections of simple bodies , namely bulk , shape , and motion , or rest ; by the different conventions or coalitions of which minutest portions of matter are made those differing concretions that chymists name salt , sulphur and mercury . and to this doctrine it will be consonant , that several effects of this or that spagyrical principle need not be derived from salt , for instance , or sulphur as such , but may be explained by the help of some of those corpuscles that i have lately call'd more simple and radical ; and such explications being more simple and mechanical , may be thought upon that score more fundamental and satisfactory . chap. viii . i know it may be objected in favour of the chymists , that as their hypostatical principles , salt , sulphur and mercury , are but three , so the corpuscularian principles are but very few ; and the chief of them bulk , size , and motion , are but three neither ; so that it appears not why the chymical principles should be more barren than the mechanical . to which allegation i answer , that , besides that these last nam'd principles are more numerous , as taking in the posture , order , and scituation , the rest , and , above all , the almost infinitely diversifiable contextures of the small parts , and the thence resulting structures of particular bodies , and fabrick of the world : besides this , i say , each of the three mechanical principles , specified in the objection , though but one in name , is equivalent to many in effect ; as figure , for instance , comprehends not only triangles , squares , rhombusses , rhomboids , trapezions , and a multitude of polygons , whether ordinate or irregular ; but , besides cubes , prismes , cones , spheres , cylinders , pyramids , and other solids of known denominations , a scarce numerable multitude of hooked , branched , eel-like , screw-like , and other irregular bodies ; whereof though these , and some others , have distinct appellations , yet the greatest part are nameless ; so that it need be no wonder , that i should make the mechanical principles so much more fertile , that is , applicable to the production and explication of a far greater number of phaenomena , than the chymical ; which , whilest they are considered but as similar bodies , that are ingredients of mixt and compounded ones , are chiefly variable but by the greater or lesser quantity that is employed by nature or art to make up the mixt body . and painters observe , that black and white , though mixt in differing proportions , will still make but lighter and darker grays . and if it be said , that these ingredients , by the texture resulting from their mixtures , may acquire qualities that neither of them had before ; i shall answer , that , to alledge this , is in effect to confess , that they must take in the mechanical principles , ( for to them belongs the texture or structure of bodies ) to assist the chymical ones . and on this occasion , to borrow an illustration from our unpublished dialogue of the requisites of a good hypothesis , i shall add , that a chymist that should pretend , that because his three principles are as many as those of the corpuscularians , they are as sufficient as these to give an account of the book of nature , methinks , i say , he would do like a man that should pretend , that with four and twenty words he would make up a language as well as others can with the four and twenty letters of the alphabet , because he had as many words already formed , as they had of bare letters ; not considering that instead of the small number of variations that can be made of his words by prepositions and terminations , the letters of the alphabet being variously combined , placed and reiterated , can be easily made to compose not only his four and twenty words , with their variations , but as many others as a whole language contains . chap. ix . notwithstanding all that i have been obliged to say to the disadvantage of the chymical principles , in reference to the explication of qualities , i would not be thought to grant , that the peripateticks have reason to triumph , as if their four elements afforded a better theory of qualities . for , if i had , together with leisure enough to perform such a task , any obligation to undertake it , i presume , it would not be difficult to shew , that the aristotelian doctrine about particular qualities is liable to some of the same objections with the chymical , and to some others no less considerable ; and that , to derive all the phaenomena their doctrine ought to solve from substantial forms and real qualities elementary , is to impose on us a theory more barren and precarious than that of the spagyrists . that to derive the particular qualities of bodies from those substantial forms , whence the schools would have them to flow , is but an insufficient and unfit way of accounting for them , may appear by this , that substantial forms themselves are things , whose existence many learned philosophers deny , whose theory many of them think incomprehensible , and the most candid and judicious of the peripateticks themselves confess it to be very abstruse ; so that from such doubtful and obscure principles we can hardly expect clear explications of the nature and phaenomena of qualities ; not to urge , that the aristotelian definitions , both of qualities in general , and of divers of the more familiar qualities in particular , as heat , cold , moisture , diaphaneity , &c. are far enough from being clear and well framed , as we elsewhere have occasion to shew . another thing , which makes the scholastic doctrine of qualities unsatisfactory , is , that it seldom so much as attempts to teach the manner how the qualities themselves and their effects or operations are produced . of this you may elsewhere find an instance given in the quality that is wont to be first in the list , viz that of heat , which though it may intelligibly and probably be explicated by the corpuscular hypothesis , yet in the peripatetic account that is given of it , is both too questionable and too superficial to give much content to a rational inquirer . and indeed to say , that a substantial form ( as that of the fire ) acts by a quality ( call'd heat ) whose nature 't is to produce such an effect ( as to soften wax or harden clay ) seems to be no other in substance , than to say , that it produces such an effect by some power it has to produce it . but what that power is , and how it operates , is that , which , though we most desire to know , we are left to seek . but to prosecute the imperfections of the peripatetick hypothesis , were to intrench upon another discourse , where they are more fully laid open . and therefore i shall now but lightly glance upon a couple of imperfections , that more particularly relate to the doctrine of qualities . and first i do not think it a convincing argument that is wont to be imployed by the aristotelians for their elements , as well as by the chymists for their principles , that , because this or that quality , which they ascribe to an element or a principle , is found in this or that body , which they call mixt , therefore it must owe that quality to the participation of that principle or element . for , the same texture of parts or other modification of matter may produce the like quality in the more simple and the more compounded body , and they may both separately derive it from the same cause , and not one from the participation of the other . so water and earth and metals and stones , &c. are heavy upon the account of the common cause of gravity , and not because the rest partake of the earth ; as may appear in elementary water , which is as simple a body as it , and yet is heavy : so water and oil , and exactly deflegm'd spirit of wine , and mercury , and also metals and glass of antimony , and minium or calcin'd lead , whilest these three are in fusion are fluid , being made so by the variously determined motions of their minute parts and other causes of fluidity , and not by the participation of water , since the arid calces of lead and antimony are not like to have retained in the fire so volatile a liquor as water , and since fluidity is a quality that mercury enjoys in a more durable manner than water it self : for that metalline liquor , as also spirit of wine well rectified , will not be brought to freeze with the highest degree of cold of our sharpest winters , though a far less degree of cold would make water cease to be fluid and turn it into ice . to this i shall only add ( in the second place , ) that 't is not unpleasant to see , how arbitrarily the peripateticks derive the qualities of bodies from their four elements , as if , to give an instance in the lately named quality , liquidity , you shew them exactly deflegmed spirit of wine , and ask them , whence it has its great fluidness , they will tell you from water , which yet is far less fluid than it , and this spirit of wine it self is much less so than the flame into which the spirit of wine is easily resoluble . but if you ask , whence it becomes totally inflammable , they must tell you , from the fire ; and yet the whole body , at least as far as sense can discover , is fluid , and the whole body becomes flame , ( and then is most fluid of all ; ) so that fire and water as contrary as they make them , must both be by vast odds predominant in the same body . this spirit of wine also , being a liquor whose least parts that are sensible are actually heavy , and compose a liquor which is seven or eight hundred times as heavy as air of the same bulk , which yet experience shews not to be devoid of weight , must be supposed to abound with earthy particles , and yet this spirituous liquor may in a trice become flame , which they would have to be the lightest body in the world . but , to enlarge on this subject , would be to forget , that the design of this tract engages me to deal not with the peripatetic school , but the spagyrical . to which i shall therefore return , and give you this advertisement about it , that what i have hitherto objected is meant against the more common and received doctrine about the material principles of bodies reputed mixt , as 't is wont by vulgar chymists to be applied to the rendring an account of the qualities of substances corporeal ; and therefore i pretend not , that the past objections should conclude against other chymical theories than that which i was concerned to question . and if adept philosophers , ( supposing there be such ) or any other more than ordinarily intelligent spagyrists , shall propose any particular hypotheses , differing from those that i have questioned , as their doctrine and reasons are not yet known to me ; so i pretend not that the past arguments should conclude against them , and am willing to think , that persons advantaged with such peculiar opportunities to dive into the mysteries of nature , will be able to give us , if they shall please , a far better account of the qualities of bodies than what is wont to be proposed by the generality of chymists . thus , dear pyrophilus , i have laid before you some of the chief imperfections i have observed in the vulgar chymists doctrine of qualities , and consequently i have given you some of the chief reasons that hinder me from acquiescing in it . and as my objections are not taken from the scholastical subtleties nor the doubtful speculations of the peripateticks or other adversaries of the hermetick philosophy , but from the nature of things and from chymical experiments themselves ; so i hope , if any of your spagyrical friends have a minde to convince me , he will attempt to doe it by the most proper way , which is , by actually giving us clear and particular explications , at least of the grand phaenomena of qualities ; which , if he shall do , he will find me very ready to acquiesce in a truth that comes usher'd in , and endear'd by so acceptable and useful a thing , as a philosophical theory of qualities . finis . reflections upon the hypothesis of alcali and acidum . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. though the following discourse was at first written by way of appendix to the treatise of the imperfection of the chymical doctrine of qualities ; yet the bulk of it , swelling beyond what was foreseen , made it seem expedient to publish it as a tract by it self . reflections upon the hypothesis of alcali and acidum . chap. i. i presume , it will not be difficult to discern , that much of what has been said about the imperfection of the vulgar chymical doctrine concerning qualities , may with easie variations be applied to some other hypotheses that are of kin to that doctrine , and particularly to their theory , that would derive both the qualities of bodies and the rest of the phaenomena of nature from what they call acidum and alcali . for though these two differences may be met with in a great number and variety of bodies , and consequently the consideration of them may frequently enough be of good use , ( especially to spagyrists , and physitians , when they are conversant about the secondary and ( if i may so call them ) chymical causes and operations of divers mixt bodies ; ) yet i confess i cannot acquiesce in this hypothesis of alkali and acidum , in the latitude , wherein i find it urged and applied by the admirers of it , as if it could be usefully substituted in the place of matter and motion . the hypothesis , being in a sort subordinate to that of the tria prima , in ascribing to two contrary saline principles what vulgar chymists do to their salt , sulphur , and mercury ; most of the objections we have made against the vulgar chymical doctrine , may , as i lately intimated , be applied , by a little variation , to this , and therefore i shall need but to touch upon the main things that keep me from acquiescing in this hypothesis . chap. ii. and first , it seems precarious to affirm , that in all bodies , or even in all the sensible parts of mixts , acid and alcalizate parts are found ; there not having been , that i know , any experimental induction made of particulars any thing near numerous enough to make out so great an assertion , and in divers bodies , wherein experience is vouch'd for the inexistence of these principles , that inexistence is indeed proved not by direct and clear experience , but upon a supposition , that such and such effects flow from the operations of the assumed principles . some spagyrists , when they see aqua fortis dissolve filings of copper , conclude from thence , that the acid spirits of the menstruum meet in the metal with an alcali upon which they work ; which is but an unsafe way of arguing , since good spirit of urin , which they take to be a volatile alcali , and which will make a great conflict with aqua fortis , will , as i have elsewhere noted , dissolve filings of copper both readily enough and more genuinly than the acid liquor is wont to do . so when they see the magistery of pearl or coral , made by dropping oil of tartar into the solutions of those bodies made with spirit of vinegar , they ascribe the precipitation to the fixt alcali of the tartar , that mortifies the acidity of the spirit of vinegar ; whereas the precipitation would no less insue , if , instead of alcalizat oil of tartar , we imploy that highly acid liquor which they call oleum sulphuris per campanam . i think also it may be doubted , whether those , i reason with , are so certain as they suppose , that at least when they can manifestly discover an acid , for instance , in a body , the operation of that body upon another , which they judge to abound with an alcali , must be the effect of a conflict between those two jarring principles , or , if i may so call them , duellists . for an acid body may do many things , not simply as an acid , but on the score of a texture or modification , which endows it with other qualities as well as acidity , whose being associated with those other qualities in some cases may be but accidental to the effect to be produced ; since by one or more of these other qualities the body may act in cases , where prejudice may make a chymist consider nothing but acidity . thus when some chymists see an acid menstruum , as aqua fortis , spirit of salt , oil of vitriol , &c. dissolve iron , they presently ascribe the effect to an acidity of the liquors , whereas well dephlegmed urinous spirits , which they hold to have a great antipathy to acids , will , as i have tried in some of them , readily enough dissolve crude iron even in the cold. and on the other side , mercury will not work on the filings of iron , though this be so open a metal that even weak liquors will do it ; and yet if one should urge , that quicksilver readily dissolves gold in amalgamation , he may expect to be told , according to their doctrine , that mercury has in it an occult acid , by which it performs the solution ; whereas it seems much more probable , that mercury has corpuscles of such a shape and size as fit them to insinuate themselves into the commensurate pores they meet with in gold , but make them unfit to enter readily the pores of iron , to which nature has not made them congruous ; as on the other side the saline corpuscles of aqua fortis will easily find admission into the pores of iron , but not into those of gold , to which they do not correspond as they do to the others . and when a knife , whose blade is touched with a load-stone , cuts bread and takes up filings of iron , it does neither of them upon the score of alcali and acidum , but the one upon the visible shape and the stiffness of the blade , and the other upon the latent contrivance or change of texture produced by the operation of the load-stone in the particles that compose the steel . this may perhaps be farther illustrated by adding , that when blew vitriol , being beaten and finely searced , makes a white pouder , that whiteness is a quality which the pouder has not as being of a vitriolate nature . for rock-crystal or venice-glass being finely beaten will have the same operation on the eye , but it proceeds from the transparency of the body and the minuteness , multitude and confus'd scituation of the corpuscles that make up the pouder . and therefore , if other bodies be brought by comminution into parts endow'd with such mechanical affections , as we have named ; these aggregates will act upon the organs of sight as white bodies . chap. iii. and this leads me to another exception against the hypothesis of the duellists , which is , that the framers of it seem arbitrarily to have assigned provinces or offices to each of their two principles , as the chymists do to each of their tria prima , and the peripateticks to each of their four elements . for 't is not enough to say , that an acid , for instance , as such , performs these things , and an alkali so many others , that they divide the operations and phaenomena of nature , or at least ( as some , more cautious , are content to say ) of mixt bodies between them ; since assertions of such great moment ought not to be advanc'd or received without sufficient proof . and perhaps the very distribution of salts into acids and alcalies hath somewhat of arbitrary in it , since others may , without assuming much more , take the freedom to distribute them otherwise , there being not only several things wherein acids and alcalies agree , but also several things wherein salts of the same denomination widely differ . as , for instance , some alkalies , according to those i reason with , are , like salt of tartar , fixt , and will endure the violence of the fire ; others , like salt of urin or harts-horn , are exceedingly fugitive , and will be driven up with a scarce sensible degree of heat ; some , as salt of tartar , will precipitate the solution of sublimate into an orange-tawny ; others , as spirit of blood and harts-horn , precipitate such a solution into a milky substance . oil of tartar will very slowly operate upon filings of copper , which spirit of urin and harts-horn will readily dissolve in the fire . and among acids themselves the difference is no less if not much greater . some of them will dissolve bodies that others will not , as aqua fortis will dissolve silver and mercury , but leave gold untouched ; or as aqua regis , though made without sal armoniac that dissolves gold readily , will dissolve mercury but scurvily , and silver not at all . and this may happen , when the menstruum that will not dissolve the body is reputed much stronger than that which does ; as dephlegm'd spirit of vinegar will dissolve lead , reduc'd to minute parts in the cold ; which is an effect that chymists are not wont to expect from spirit of salt. nay , which is more , one acid will precipitate what another has dissolved , and contrarily ; as spirit of salt will precipitate silver out of spirit of nitre . and i found oil of vitriol to precipitate bodies of divers kinds , minerals and others , out of some acid menstruums , particularly spirit of vinegar . to this might be added the properties , peculiar to some particular acids , as that spirit of nitre or aqua fortis will dissolve camphire into an oil , and coagulate common oil into a consistent and brittle substance like tallow ; and , though it will both corrode silver , copper , lead , and mercury , and keep them dissolved , it will quickly let fall almost the whole body of tin , very soon after it has corroded as much as it can of it . by all which , and some other like instances , i am induc'd to question , whether the acidum and alkali , we are speaking of , have the simplicity that philosophy requires in principles ; and shall be kept from wondering , if others shall think it as free for them to constitute other principles , as 't is for the learned men i reason with , to pitch upon acidum and alkali . and some perhaps will be bold to say , that , since the former of those principles comprehend such a number of bodies , that are , many of them , very differing , and some of them directly contrary in their operations , it seems a slight and not philosophical account of their nature , to define an acid by its hostility to an alcali , which ( they will say ) is almost as if one should define a man by saying , that he is an animal that is at enmity with the serpent ; or a lyon , that he is a fourfooted beast that flies from a crowing cock. chap. iv. but although one of the chiefest conditions that philosophers may justly require in principles , is , that , being to explain other things , they should be very clear themselves ; yet i do not much wonder , that the definitions given us of acidum and alcali should be but unaccurate and superficial , since i find not , that they have themselves any clear and determinate notion or sure marks , whereby to know them distinctly , without which chymists will scarce be able to form clear and setled notions of them . for to infer , as is usual , that , because a body dissolves another , which is dissoluble by this or that known acid , the solvent must also be acid ; or to conclude , that , if a body precipitates a dissolved metal out of a confessedly acid menstruum , the precipitant must be an alcali , to argue thus , i say , 't is unsecure ; since , not to repeat what i said lately of copper , i found , that filings of spelter will be dissolved as well by some alcalies , ( as spirit of sal armoniac ) as by acids . and bodies may be precipitated out of acid menstruums , both by other acids , and by liquors , where there appears not the least alcali : as i have found , that a solution of tin-glass , made in aqua fortis , would be precipitated both by spirit of salt and by common or rain water . and as for the other grand way that chymists employ , to distinguish acids and alcalies , namely by the heat , commotion , and bubbles that are excited , upon their being put together , that may be no such certain sign as they presume , they having indeed a dependance upon particular contextures and other mechanical affections , that chymists are not wont to take any notice of . for almost any thing that is fitted variously and vehemently to agitate the minute parts of a body , will produce heat in it ; and so , though water be neither an acid nor an alcalizate liquor , yet it would quickly grow very hot , not only with the highly acid oil of vitriol , but ( as i have more than once purposely tried and found ) with the fiery alcalizat salt of tartar. and 't is to be noted , that neither in the one nor the other of these incalescent mixtures , there is produced any such visible or audible conflict , as , according to the doctrine of the chymists i reason with , one would expect . and as for the production of bubbles , especially if accompanied with a hissing noise , neither is that such a certain sign as chymists imagine : for the production of bubbles is not a necessary effect or concomitant of heat excited by conflicts , but depends very much upon the peculiar disposition of bodies put together to extricate , produce , or intercept particles of air , ( or steams , for the time equivalent to them ; ) and therefore as oil of vitriol , mixt in a due proportion with fair water , may be brought to make the water too hot to be held in ones hand , without exciting bubbles ; so i have found by trials purposely made , that alcalizat spirit of urine drawn from some kinds of quick-lime , being mixt with oil of vitriol moderately strong , would produce an intense heat , whilest it produced either no manifest bubbles at all , or scarce any , though the urinous spirit was strong , and in other trials operated like an alcali ; and although also with spirit of urin , made per se the common way , the oil of vitriol will produce a great hissing and a multitude of conspicuous bubbles . on the other side i have sometimes , though not so constantly , found , that some acid spirits , especially that of verdigrease made per se , would , when poured upon salt of tartar , make a conflict with it , and produce a copious froth , though we observed it not to be accompanied with any manifest heat . and i elsewhere mention two bodies , upon whose putting together numerous bubbles would , for a long time , and not without noise , be generated , and succeed one another , though i could perceive no heat at all to accompany this tumult . as for the tast , which by many is made a great touchstone , whereby to know acids and alcalies , i consider that there is a multitude of mixt bodies , wherein we can so little discern by the tast , which of the principles is predominant , that this sense would not oblige one to suspect , much less to conclude , there were one grain of either of them to be found there ; such bodies are diamonds and rubies , and most gems , besides many ignobler stones , and gold and silver and mercury , and i know not how many other bodies . on the other side , there are bodies that abound with acid or alcalizat salts , which either have no tast , or a quite differing one from that of the chymical principle . as though venice-glass be in great part composed of a fixt alcali ; yet to the tongue it is insipid , and crystalls of lune and of lead made with aqua fortis , and containing great store of the acid particles of the menstruum , have nothing of acidity in the mouth , the latter having a saccharine sweetness , and the former an extream bitterness . and even in vegetable substances that have a manifest tast , 't is not so easie to know by that , whether it be the acid or the alcalizat principle that is predominant in them ; as in the essential oils of spices and other vegetables . and in the gross empereumatical oils of woods , and even in high rectified spirit of wine , which therefore some will have to be an alcalizat liquor , and others list it among acids , though i did not find it neither to be destroyed or much altered by being put upon coral or salt of tartar , as would happen to an acid menstruum , nor yet by being digested with and distilled from sea salt , as might be probably expected from an alcalizat one : a and among those very bodies which their tasts perswade chymists to reckon amongst acids , one may ( according to what i formerly noted ) observe so great a difference and variety of relishes , that , perhaps without being too severe , i may say , that if i were to allow acids to be one principle , it should be only in some such metaphysical sense , as that wherein air is said to be one body , though it consist of the associated effluviums of a multitude of corpuscles of very differing natures , that agree in very little save in their being minute enough to concur to the composition of a fluid aggregate , consisting of flying parts . but having dwelt longer than i intended on one objection , 't is time that i proceed to those that remain . chap. v. another particular , i am unsatisfied with in the hypothesis of alcali and acidum , is , that 't is in divers cases either needless or useless to explain the phaenomena of qualities , there being several of these produced , destroyed , or altered , where there does not appear any accession , recess , or change of either of those two principles ; as when fluid water by hard beating is turn'd into consistent froth , and when transparent red coral is , barely by being beaten and sifted finely , changed into a white and opacous powder ; and as when a very flexible piece of fine silver being hammer'd is brought to have a brisk spring , and after a while will , instead of continuing malleable , crack or cleave under the hammer ; and as when ( to dispatch and omit other instances ) a sufficiently thin leaf of gold , held between the light and the eye , appears green . another thing ( of kin to the former , ) that i like not in the doctrine of acidum and alcali , is , that though the patrons of it , whilest they would seem to constitute but two principles , are fain ( as i lately intimated ) to make i know not how many differing sorts of acids , besides some variety of alcalies ; yet their principles are too few and narrow to afford any satisfactory explication of the phaenomena . for i fear , 't will be very difficult for them to give a rational account of gravity , springiness , light , and emphatical colours , sounds , and some other qualities that are wont to be called manifest ; and much more of several that are confest to be occult , as electricity , and magnetism ; in which last i see not , how the affirming that there is in the magnet an acid and an alcali , and that these two are of contrary natures , will help to explain , how a load-stone does , as they speak , attract the same end of a poised needle with one of its poles , which 't will drive away with the other , and determine that needle when freely placed , to point north and south , and enable it to communicate by its bare touch the same properties , and abundance of other strange ones , to another piece of steel . but i forbear to alledge particular examples referrable to the several qualities above-mentioned , whether manifest or hidden , because that in great part is already done in our notes about particular qualities , in which 't will appear how little able the employing of alcali and acidum will be to afford us an account of many things . and though i enlarge not here on this objection , yet i take it to be of that importance ; that , though there were no other , this were enough to shew that the hypothesis that is liable to it , is insufficient for the explication of qualities ; and therefore 't will not i presume be thought strange that i add , that , as for those that would extend this narrow chymical doctrine to the whole object of natural philosophy , they must do more than i expect they will be able before they can make me their proselyte , there being a multitude of phaenomena in nature ( divers whereof i elsewhere take notice of in reference to the chymists philosophy ) in which what acidum and alcali have to do , i confess i do not understand . chap. vi. the last thing ( which comprizes several others ) that seems to me a defect in the doctrine of alcali and acidum , is , that divers if not most of those very things that are pretended to be explicated by them , are not satisfactorily explicated , some things being taken into the explications that are either not fundamental enough or not clearly intelligible , or are chargeable with both those imperfections . and first i am dissatisfied with the very fundamental notion of this doctrine , namely a supposed hostility between the tribe of acids and that of alkalies , accompanied , if you will have it so , with a friendship or sympathy with bodies belonging to the same tribe or family . for i look upon amity and enmity as affections of intelligent beings , and i have not yet found it explained by any , how those appetites can be placed in bodies inanimate and devoid of knowledge , or of so much as sense . and i elsewhere endeavour to shew , that what is called sympathy and antipathy between such bodies does in great part depend upon the actings of our own intellect , which , supposing in every body an innate appetite to preserve it self both in a defensive and an offensive way , inclines us to conclude , that that body , which , though designlesly destroys or impairs the state or texture of another body , has an enmity to it , though perhaps a slight mechanical change may make bodys , that seem extreamly hostile , seem to agree very well and cooperate to the production of the same effects . as if the acid spirit of salt and the volatile alkali ( as they will have it ) that is commonly called spirit of urine be put together , they will , after a short though fierce conflict , upon a new contexture unite together into a salt , little , if at all , differing from sal armoniac , in which the two reconciled principles will amicably join in cooling of water , dissolving some metalline bodys , and producing divers other effects . and so , if upon a strong solution of salt of pot-ashes or of salt of tartar , good spirit of nitre be dropt in a due proportion , after the heat and tumult and ebullition are over , the acid and the alkalizat salts will convene into such a concretion as salt-peter , which is taken to be a natural body , either homogeneous , or at least consisting of parts that agree very friendly together , and conspire to constitute the particular kind of salt that chymists call nitre . but the sympathy and antipathy that is said to be betwixt inanimate bodys , i elsewhere more particularly consider , and therefore i shall now add in the second place , that the explications made of phaenomena according to the doctrine of alcali and acidum do not , in my apprehension , perform what may be justly expected from philosophical explications . 't is said indeed , that the acidum working on the alcali , or this upon that , produces the effect proposed ; but that is only to tell us , what is the agent that operates , and not the manner of the operation , or the means and process whereby it produces the effect proposed , and 't is this modus that inquisitive naturalists chiefly desire to learn. and if it be said , that it is by the mutual hostility of the principles that the effect is produced , it may be answered , that besides , that that hostility it self is not , as we have just now observed , a thing clear , if so mucha s intelligible ; this is so general and indeterminate a way of explicating things , as can afford little or no satisfaction to a searching and cautious naturalist , that considers how very numerous and very various the phaenomena of qualities are . chap. vii . to clear up and to countenance what i have been now saying , i shall only take notice of some few obvious phaenomena of one of the most familiar operations wherein acidum and alcali are supposed to be the grand agents . 't is known to the very boys of chymists , that aqua regis will dissolve gold , copper , and mercury , and that with these metals , especially with the second , it will produce an intense degree of heat . if now the cause of this heat be demanded , it may be expected , that the patrons of the duellists will answer , that 't is from the action of the acid salts of the menstruum upon the alcali they meet with in the metalls . but not to mention how many things are here presumed , not proved ; nor that i know some acid menstruums , and some much more evidently alcalizate bodys than these metals are , which yet do not upon their mixtures produce any sensible heat ; not , i say , to mention these , it is easie to discern , that this answer names indeed two supposed efficients of heat , but does not explicate or declare how these agents produce that quality , which depends upon a certain vehement and various agitation of the singly insensible parts of bodys , whether the duellists , or any other , though very differing , causes put them into a motion so modified . and therefore gold and copper by bare concussion may be brought to an intense degree of heat without the accession of any acid parts to work upon them . but then further , when we are told , that aqua regis by its acidity working on the metalline alcali makes a dissolution of the metal ; i am told indeed what they think to be the agent in this change , but not at all satisfied how this agent effects it ; for , copper being a very hard metal , and gold generally esteemed by chymists the closest and compactest body in nature , i would gladly know , by what power and way such weak and probably either brittle or flexible bodys as acid salts , are enabled with that force to disjoin such solid and closely coherent corpuscles as make up the visible masses of copper and gold , nay , and scatter them with that violence as perhaps to toss up multitudes of them into the air . and since in the dissolution of these metals there is another phaenomenon to be accounted for , as well as the forcing of the parts asunder , namely the sustentation of the metal in the menstruum , the chymists would have much informed me , if they had well explained , how their acidum and alcali is able to sustain and give fluidity to the corpuscles of the dissolved metal , which though it be but copper , is nine times as heavy as a bulk of water equal to it , and if it be gold , is nineteen times heavier than the liquor that must keep it from sinking ; and at least divers times heavier in specie than the salts , that are mingled with the aqueous parts , can make the menstruum composed of them both . whereas trial has assured me , that , if a piece of wax or any other such matter be made by less than the hundredth part heavier than an equal bulk of water , it will , when thoroughly immersed , fall to the bottom and rest there . i might also ask a further question about these dissolutions , as why , whereas aqua regis dissolves mercury without being much changed in colour by it , gold retains its own citrinity or yellowness in the solvent , and the solution of copper is of a colour , which being greenish-blew is quite differing from that of the metal that affords it , as well as from that of the solvent ? and i might recruit these with other queries not impertinent , but that these may suffice ( for a sample ) on this occasion , and allow me to conclude this chapter , by representing one thing which i would gladly recommend and inculcate to you , namely , that those hypotheses do not a little hinder the progress of humane knowledge that introduce morals and politicks into the explications of corporeal nature , where all things are indeed transacted according to laws mechanical . chap. viii . i might easily have been more copious in the instances annext to the foregoing animadversions , but that , being desirous to be short as well as clear , i purposely declined to make use of divers others , that seemed proper to be employed , and indeed might safely enough have been so , because those i have mentioned , and especially those , ( which make a great part of them ) that are mechanical , are not liable to the same exceptions , that i foresaw might be made to elude the force of the examples i passed by . and though i think i could very well make those foreseen objections appear groundless or unsatisfactory ; yet that could scarce be done without engaging in controversies that would prove more tedious than i judged them necessary . and yet , although what i have said in this excursion be but a part of what i could say , i would not be thought to have forgot what i intimated at the beginning of it . for though the reasons i alledged keep me from acquiescing in the doctrine of alcali and acidum , as 't is proposed under the notion of a philosophical hypothesis , such as the cartesian or epicurean , which are each of them alledged by their embracers to be mechanical , and of a very catholick extent ; yet i deny not , that the consideration of the duellists ( or the two jarring principles of alcali and acidum ) may be of good use to spagyrists and physitians , as i elsewhere further declare . nor do i pretend by the past discourse that questions one doctrine of the chymists , to beget a general contempt of their notions , and much less of their experiments . for the operations of chymistry may be misapplied by the erroneous reasonings of the artists without ceasing to be themselves things of great use , as being applicable as well to the discovery or confirmation of solid theories , as the production of new phaenomena , and beneficial effects . and though i think , that many notions of paracelsus and helmont and some other eminent spagyrists are unsolid , and not worthy the veneration that their admirers cherish for them ; yet divers of the experiments , which either are alledged to favour these notions , or on other accounts are to be met with among the followers of these men , deserve the curiosity if not the esteem of the industrious inquirers into natures mysteries . and looking upon chymistry in gross as a discipline subordinate to physiques , even mechanical philosophers may justly , in my opinion , think favourably of it , since , whatever imperfections , or , if they please , extravagancies there may be in the principles and explications of paracelsus or other leading artists , these faults of the theorical part may be sufficiently compensated by the utilities that may be derived from the practical part . and this i am the rather induced to say , because the experiments , that chymistry furnishes , may much assist a naturalist to rectifie the erroneous theories that oftentimes accompany them , and even those ( mistakes ) that are endeavour'd to be evinced by them . and ( to conclude ) chymistry seems to deal with men in reference to notions , as it does in reference to metals , assisting wary men to detect the errors , unto which it may have missed the unwary : for the same art that has taught some to impose on others , ( and perhaps themselves first ) by blanching copper , imitating gold , &c. does also supply say-masters and refiners , with the means , by the cupel , cements , aqua fortis , &c. to examine , whether coins be true or false , and discover adulterate gold and silver to be counterfeit . finis . experiments , and notes , about the mechanical origine and production of volatility . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. experiments , and notes , about the mechanical origine and production of volatility . chap. i. as far as i have yet observed , the qualifications or attributes , on whose account a portion of matter is found to be volatile , are chiefly four ; whereof the three former most regard the single corpuscles as such ; and the last , the manner of their union in the aggregate or body they make up . but before i enter upon particulars , give me leave to advertise you here once for all , that in the following notes about volatility and fixtness , when i speak of the corpuscles or minute parts of a body , i doe not mean strictly either the elementary parts , such as earth and water , or the hypostatical principles , such as salt , sulphur , or mercury ; for these things come not here into consideration : but onely such corpuscles , whether of a simple , compounded or decompounded nature , as have the particles they consist of so firmly united , that they will not be totally disjoyned or dissipated by that degree of fire or heat , wherein the matter is said to be volatile or to be fixt . but these combined particles will in their aggregate either aseend , or continue unraised per modum unius ( as they speak ) or as one intire corpusole . as in a corpuscle of sal armoniac , whether it be a natural or factitious thing , or whether it be perfectly similar , or compounded of differing parts , i look upon the intire corpuscle as a volatile portion of matter ; and so i doe on a corpuscle of sulphur , though experience shews when 't is kindled , that it has great store of acid salt in it , but which is not extricated by bare sublimation : and so colcothar of vitriol falls under our consideration as a fixt body , without inquiring what cupreous or other mineral and not totally fixt parts may be united with the earthly ones ; since the fires , we expose it to , do not separate them . and this being premised in the general , i now proceed to some particulars . and first to make a volatile body , the parts should be very small . for , coeteris paribus , those that are so , are more easily put into motion by the action of the fire and other agents , and consequently more apt to be elevated , when , by the determination of the movent , the situation of the neighbouring bodies , or other mechanical circumstances , the agitated corpuscles can continue their motion with less resistance upwards than any other way , ( as either downwards or horizontally . ) and if , as 't is highly probable , that which in light bodies , or at least in most of them , is wont to pass for positive levity , be but a less degree of gravity than that of those contiguous bodies that raise them ; it will happen , that in very many cases , ( for i say not in all ) the great proportion of the surface of a corpuscle to its bulk , ( which is usually greater in the lesser particles ) by making it more apt to be wrought on , either by the air agitated by the fire , or by the effluvia of kindled fuell , or by the impulse of the shaken corpuscles of the body it self , will much facilitate the elevation of such a minute particle , by exposing a greater portion of it to the action of the agent , as it will oftentimes also facilitate the renewed sustentation of such a small body in the air , which resists more the descent of particles whose surfaces are large , than of others of the same gravity and bulk : as a leaf of paper displayed will much longer hover in the air , than if it were reduced into a ball or pellet . that this minuteness of particles may dispose them to be carried upwards , by the impulse of other bodies and that of the agitated air , is very obvious to be observed : as we see , that horses in a high-way , though they be not able with the strokes of their feet to make stones , or gravel , or clods of earth fly up , yet they will easily raise clouds of dust oftentimes mingled with the smaller grains of sand . and where timber is sawing , the same wind that will not in the least move the beams , and scarce at all move the chips , will easily carry up the saw-dust into the air. and we see in our chimneys , that the smoak readily ascends , whilst even small clods of soot , which is but an aggregate of the particles of smoak , fall headlong down . chap. ii. the next qualification requisite in the corpuscles of volatile bodies is , that they be not too solid or heavy . for if they be so , though their bulk be very small , yet , unless other circumstances do much compensate their weight , 't will be very difficult to elevate them , because of the great disproportion of their specific gravity to that of the air , ( which contributes to sustain and even raise many sorts of volatile parts ) and to the strength of the igneous effluvia or other agents that would carry them up . thus we see , that filings of lead or iron , and even minium ( which is the calx of lead ) though the grains they consist of be very small , will not easily be blown up like common dust , or meal , or other powders made of less ponderous materials . a third qualification to be desired in the corpuscles that should make up a volatile body is , that they be conveniently shaped for motion . for if they be of branched , hook'd , or other very irregular or inconvenient figures , they will be apt to be stopt and detained by other bodies , or entangled among themselves , and consequently very difficult to be carried upwards , in regard that , whilst they are thus fastened either to one another , or to any stable body , each single corpuscle is not onely to be considered , as having its own peculiar bulk , since its cohesion with the other corpuscle or body that detains it , makes them fit to be look'd upon per modum unius ; that degree of heat they are exposed to being presumed uncapable of disjoyning them . and this may be one reason , why water , though it be specifically heavier than oil , yet is much more easily brought to exhale in the form of vapours than is oil , whose corpuscles by the lasting stains they leave on cloath , wood , wool , &c. ( which water will but transiently moisten , not stain ) seems to be of very intangling figures . the fourth and last qualification requisite in a volatile body is , that the parts do loosely adhere , or at least be united in such a manner , as does not much indispose them to be separated by the fire in the form of fumes or vapours . for he that considers the matter , will easily grant , that , if the contexture of the corpuscles , whereof a body consists , be intricate , or their cohesion strong , their mutual implication , or their adherence to each other , will make one part hinder another from flying separately away , and their conjunction will make them too heavy or unweildy to be elevated together , as intire though compounded parts . thus we see , that in spring , or the beginning of summer , a wind , though not faint , is unable to carry off the lightest leaves of trees , because they stick fast to the bows and twigs on which they grow , but in autumn , when that adhesion ceases , and the leaves sit but loosely on , a wind no stronger than that they resisted before , will with ease blow them off , and perhaps carry them up a good way into the air. but here note , that it was not without some cause , that i added above , that in a fluid body , the parts should at least be united in such a manner , as does not much indispose them to be separated . for 't is not impossible , that the parts of a body may , by the figures and smoothness of the surfaces , be sufficiently apt to be put into motion , and yet be indisposed to admit such a motion as would totally separate them and make them fly up into the air. as , if you take two pieces of very flat and well-polished marble or glass , and lay them one upon the other , you easily make them slide along each others surfaces , but not easily pull up one of them , whilest the other continues its station . and when glass is in the state of fusion , the parts of it will easily slide along each other , ( as is usual in those of other fluids ) and consequently change places , and yet the continuity of the whole is not intirely broken , but every corpuscle does somewhere touch some other corpuscle , and thereby maintain the cohesion that indisposes it for that intire separation accompanied with a motion upwards that we call avolation . and so , when salt-peter alone , is in a crucible exposed to the fire , though a very moderate degree of it will suffice to bring the salt to a state of fusion , and consequently to put the corpuscles that compose it into a restless motion ; yet a greater degree of heat , than is necessary to melt it , will not extricate so much as the spirits , and make them fly away . chap. iii. the foregoing doctrine of the volatility of bodies may be as well illustrated as applied , if we proceed to deduce from it the generall ways of volatilization of bodies , or of introducing volatility into an assigned portion of matter . for these wayes seem not inconveniently reducible to five , which i shall severally mention , though nature and art do usually imploy two or more of them in conjunction . for which reason i would not , when i speak of one of these wayes , be understood as if , excluding the rest , i meant that no other concurred with it . the first of the five ways or means of volatilizing a body is , to reduce it into minute parts , and , caeteris paribus , the more minute they are the better . that the bringing a body into very minute parts may much conduce to the volatilizing of it , may be gathered from the vulgar practice of the chymists , who when they would sublime or distill antimony , sal armoniac , sea-salt , nitre , &c. are wont to beat them to powders to facilitate their receiving a further comminution by the action of the fire . and here i observe , that in some bodies this comminution ought not to be made onely at first , but to be continued afterwards . for chymists find by experience , though perhaps without considering the reason of it , that sea-salt and nitre , will very hardly afford their spirits in distillations , without they be mingled with powdered clay or bole , or some such other additament , which usually twice or thrice exceeds the weight of the salt it self : although these additaments , being themselves fixt , seem unlikely to promote the volatilization of the bodies mixt with them , yet by hindering the small grains of salt to melt together into one lump or masse , and consequently by keeping them in the state of comminution , they much conduce to the driving up of the spirits or the finer parts of the salts by the operation of the fire . but to prosecute a little what i was saying of the conduciveness of bringing a body into small parts to the volatilization of it , i shall add , that in some cases the comminution may be much promoted by employing physical , after mechanical , ways ; and that when the parts are brought to such a pitch of exiguity , they may be elevated much better than before . thus , if you take filings of mars , and mix them with sal armoniack , some few parts may be sublimed ; but if , as i have done , you dissolve those filings in good spirit of salt instead of oil of vitriol , and having coagulated the solution , you calcine the greenish crystalls or vitriolum martis that will be afforded , you may with ease , and in no long time , obtain a crocus martis of very fine parts ; so that i remember , when we exquisitely mingled this very fixt powder with a convenient proportion of sal armoniac , and gradually press'd it with a competent fire , we were able to elevate at the first sublimation a considerable part of it ; and adding a like , or somewhat inferiour , proportion of fresh sal armoniac to the caput mortuum , we could raise so considerable a part of that also , and in it of the crocus , that we thought , if we had had conveniency to pursue the operation , we should , by not many repeated sublimations , have elevated the whole crocus , which ( to hint that upon the by , ) afforded a sublimat of so very astringent a tast , as may make the trial of it in stanching of blood , stopping of fluxes , and other cases , where potent astriction is desired , worthy of a physicians curiosity . chap. iv. the second means to volatilize bodies is , to rub , grind , or otherwise reduce their corpuscles to be either smooth , or otherwise fitly shaped to clear themselves , or be disintangled from each other . by reason of the minuteness of the corpuscles , which keeps them from being separately discernible by the eye , 't is not to be expected , that immediate and ocular instances should be given on this occasion ; but that such a change is to be admitted in the small parts of many bodies , brought to be volatile , seems highly probable from the account formerly given of the requisites or conditions of volatility , whose introduction into a portion of matter will scarce be explicated without the intervention of such a change . to this second instrument of volatilization , in concurrence with the first , may probably be referred the following phaenomena : in the two first-of which there is imployed no additional volatile ingredient ; and in the fourth , a fixt body is disposed to volatility by the operation of a liquour , though this be carefully abstracted from it . 1. if urine freshly made be put to distill , the phlegm will first ascend , and the volatile salt will not rise 'till that be almost totally driven away , and then requires a not inconsiderable degree of fire to elevate it . but , if you putrefie or digest urine , though in a well-closed glass-vessel , for seven or eight weeks , that gentle warmth will make the small parts so rub against , or otherwise act upon , one another , that the finer ones of the salt will perhaps be made more slender and light , and however will be made to extricate themselves so far as to become volatile , and , ascending in a very gentle heat , leave the greatest part of the phlegm behind them . 2. so , if must , or the sweet juice of grapes , be distilled before it have been fermented , 't is observed by chymists , and we have tried the like in artificial wine made of raisins , that the phlegm , but no ardent spirit , will ascend . but when this liquour is reduced to wine by fermentation , which is accompanied with a great and intestine commotion of the justling parts , hitting and rubbing against one another , whereby some probably come to be broken , others to be variously ground and subtilized , the more subtile parts of the liquour being extricated , or some of the parts being , by these operations , brought to be subtile , they are qualified to be raised by a very gentle heat before the phlegm , and convene into that fugitive liquour , that chymists , for its activity , call spirit of wine . nor is it onely in the slighter instances afforded by animals and vegetables , that volatility may be effected by the means lately mentioned : for experience hath assured me , that 't is possible , by an artificial and long digestion , wherein the parts have leisure for frequent justlings and attritions , so to subtilize and dispose the corpuscles even of common salt for volatility , that we could make them ascend in a moderate fire of sand without the help of bole , oil of vitriol , or any volatilizing additament ; and , which is more considerable , the spirit would in rising precede the phlegm , and leave the greatest part thereof behind it . this intestine commotion of parts capable of producing volatility in the more disposed portions of a body , though it be much more easie to be found in liquours , or in moist and soft bodies , yet i have sometimes , though rarely , met with it in dry ones . and particularly i remember , that some years ago having , for trial sake , taken mustard-seed , which is a body pregnant with subtile parts , and caused it to be distilled per se in a retort , i had , as i hoped , ( without any more ado , ) a great many grains of a clear and figured volatile salt at the very first distillation : which experiment having , for the greater security , made a second time with the like success , i mentioned it to some lovers of chymistry , as what i justly supposed they had not heard of . i leave it to farther inquiry , whether , in a body so full of spirits as mustard-seed , the action and re-action of the parts among themselves , perhaps promoted by just degrees of fire , might not suffice to make in them a change equivalent in order to volatilization , and the yielding a volatile salt , to that which we have observed fermentation and putrefaction to have made in the juice of grapes , urine , and some other bodies . how far the like success may be expected in other trialls , i cannot tell ; especially not having by me any notes of the events of some attempts which that inquiry put me upon : onely i remember in general , that , as some trials , i made with other seeds , and even with aromatick ones , did not afford me any volatile salt ; so the success of other trials made me now and then think , that some subjects of the vegetable kingdom , whence we are wont to drive over acid spirits , but no dry salt , may be distilled with so luckily regulated a heat , as to afford something , though but little , of volatile salt ; and that perhaps more bodies would be found to doe so , were they not too hastily or violently prest by the fire , whereby such saline schematisms of the desired parts of the matter are ( by being dissipated or confounded ) destroyed or vitiated , as in a slow , dextrous , or fortunate way of management would come forth , not in a liquid , but a saline form . of which observation we may elsewhere mention some instances , and shall before the close of this paper name one , afforded us by crude tartar. 3. though silver be one of the fixedst bodies that we know of , yet that 't is not impossible but that , chiefly by a change of texture , it may strangely be disposed to volatility , i was induced to think by what i remember once happened to me . a gentleman of my acquaintance , studious of chymical arcana , having lighted on a strange menstruum , which he affirmed , and i had some cause to believe , not to be corrosive , he abstracted it from several metalls , ( for the same liquour would serve again and again , ) and brought me the remainders , with a desire that i would endeavour to reduce those of lead and silver into the pristine metals again , which he had in vain attempted to doe : whereupon , though i found the white calx of lead reducible , yet when i came to the calx of silver , i was not able to bring it into a body ; and having at length melted some lead in a gentle fire , to try whether i could make it swallow up the calx , in order to a farther operation , i was not a little surprized to find , that this mild heat made the calx of silver presently fly away and sublime in the form of a farina volatilis , which whitened the neighbouring part of the chimney , as well as the upper part of the crucible . 4. from that which chymists themselves tell us , i think we may draw a good argument ad hominem , to prove , that volatility depends much upon the texture and other mechanical affections of a body . for divers of those hermetick philosophers ( as they are called ) that write of the elixir , tell us , that when their philosophick mercury or grand solvent , being sealed up together with a third or fourth part of gold in a glass-egg , is kept in convenient degrees of fire , the whole matter , and consequently the gold , will , by the mutual operation of the included substances , be so changed , that not onely 't will circulate up and down in the glass , but , in case the digestion or decoction should be broken off at a certain inconvenient time , the gold would be quite spoil'd , being , by the past and untimely-ended operation , made too volatile to be reducible again into gold : whereas , if the decoction be duly continued unto the end , not onely the gold , but all the philosophical mercury or menstruum will be turned into a sulphur or powder of a wonderfully fixt nature . i know , there are several chrysopaeans , that speak much otherwise of this operation , and tell us , that the gold imployed about it must be philosophick gold : but i know too , that there are divers others ( and those too none of the least candid or rational ) that speak of it as i have done ; and that is sufficient to ground an argument on towards all those that embrace their doctrine . and in this case 't is considerable , that 't is not by any superadded additament , that the most fixt body of gold is made volatile , but the same massy matter , consisting of gold and philosophick mercury , is , by the change of texture produced or occasioned by the various degrees and operations of fire upon it , brought to be first volatile , and then extreamly fixt . and having said this in reference to one tribe of the modern spagyrists ; to another of them , the helmontians , i think i can offer a good argument ad hominem from the testimony and experiments of the founder of their sect. 5. the acute helmont , among other prodigious powers that he ascribes to the alkahest , affirms , that , by abstracting it frequently enough , it would so change all tangible bodies , and consequently stones and metals , that they might be distilled over into liquours equiponderant to the respective bodies that afforded them , and having all the qualities of rain-water ; which if they have , i need not tell you that they must be very volatile . and i see not how those that admit the truth of this strange alkahestical operation , can well deny , that volatility depends upon the mechanical affections of matter , since it appears not , that the alkahest does , at least in our case , work upon bodies otherwise than mechanically . and it must be confest , that the same material parts of a portion of corporeal substance , which , when they were associated and contexed ( whether by an archeus , seed , form , or what else you please , ) after such a determinate manner , constituted a solid and fixt body , as a flint or a lump of gold ; by having their texture dissolved , and ( perhaps after being subtilized ) by being freed from their former implications or firm cohesions , may become the parts of a fluid body totally volatile . chap. v. the fourth means of making a body volatile is , by associating the particles to be raised with such as are more volatile than themselves , and of a figure fit to be fastened to them , or are at least apt , by being added to them , to make up with them corpuscles more disposed than they to volatility . this being the grand instrument of volatilization , i shall spend somewhat the more time about it : but i shall first here a little explain the last clause , ( that i may not be obliged to resume it elsewhere , ) by intimating , that 't is not impossible , that the particles of an additament , though not more volatile than those of the body 't is mixt with , and perhaps though not volatile at all , will yet conduce to volatilize the body wherewith 't is mingled . for the particles of the additament may be of such figures , and so associated with those of the body to be elevated , as in this to enlarge the former pores , or produce new ones , by intercepting little cavities ( for they must not be great ones ) between the particles of a body to be raised , and those of the additament . for , by these and other such ways of association , the corpuscles , resulting from the combination or coalition of two or more of these differing particles , may , without becoming too big and unwieldy , become more conveniently shaped , or more light in proportion to their bulk , and so more easily buoyed up and sustained in the air , ( as when the lid of a copper-box being put on , makes the whole box emerge and swim in water , because of the intercepted cavity , though neither of the parts of the box would doe so , ) or otherwise more fitted for avolation than the particles themselves were before their being joined to those of the additament . by two things chiefly the corpuscles of the additament may contribute to the elevation of a body . for first , the parts of the former may be much more disposed for avolation than is necessary to their own volatility . as when in the making of sal armoniac , the saline particles of urine and of soot are more fugitive than they need be to be themselves sublimed , and thereby are advantaged to carry up with them the more sluggish corpuscles whereof sea-salt consists . and next , they may be of figures so proper to fasten them well to the body to be elevated , that the more fugitive will not be driven away or disjoyned from the more fixt by such a degree of heat as is sufficient to raise them both together : to which effect the congruity or figuration is as well required , as the lightness or volatility of the particles of the additament . and therefore some of the fugitivest bodies that we know , as spirit of wine , camphire , &c. will not volatilize many bodies which will be elevated by far less fugitive additaments ; because the corpuscles of spirit of wine stick not to those of the body they are mingled with , but , easily flying up themselves , leave those behind them , which they did rather barely touch than firmly adhere to : whereas far less fugacious liquours , if they be indowed with figures that fit them for a competently firm cohesion with the body they are mingled with , will be able to volatilize it . of which i shall now give you some instances in bodies that are very ponderous , or very fixt , or both . and i shall begin with colcothar , though it being a vitriolate calx , made by a lasting and vehement fire , 't is ( consequently ) capable of resisting such a one . this being exquisitely ground with an equal weight of sal armoniac , which is it self a salt but moderately volatile , will be in good part sublimed into those yellow flowers , which we have elsewhere more particularly taught to prepare , under the name of ens primum veneris ; in which , that many vitriolate corpuscles of the colcothar are really elevated , you may easily find by putting a grain or two of that reddish substance into a strong infusion of galls , which will thereby immediately acquire an inky colour . steel also , which , to deserve that name , must have endured extraordinary violences of the fire , and greater than is needfull to obtain other metalls from their mother earth ; steel it self , i say , being reduced to filings , and diligently ground with about an equal weight of sal armoniac , will , if degrees of fire be skilfully administred , ( for 't is easie to err in that point , ) without any previous calcination or reduction to a crocus , suffer so much of the metall to be carried up , as will give the sal armoniac a notable colour , and an ironish tast . and here it will be proper to observe , for the sake of practical chymists , that the quantity or proportion of the volatile additament is to be regarded ; though not so much as its nature , yet more than it is wont to be : and divers bodies , that are thought either altogether unfit for sublimation , or at least uncapable to have any considerable portion of them elevated , may be copiously enough sublimed , if a greater proportion of the additament , than we usually content our selves with , be skilfully imployed . and in the newly-mentioned instance of filings of steel , if , in stead of an equal weight of sal armoniac , the treble weight be taken , and the operation be duly managed , a far greater quantity of the metall may be raised , especially if fresh sal armoniac be carefully ground with the caput mortuum . and sal armoniac may perhaps be compounded with such other bodies , heavier than it self , as may qualifie it , when it is thus clogged , to elevate some congruous bodies better than it would of it self alone . and i shall venture to add this farther advertisement , that if , besides the plenty of the additament , there be a sufficient fitness of its particles to lay hold on those of the body to be wrought on , mineral bodies , and those ponderous enough , may be employed to volatilize other heavy bodies . and i am apt to think , that almost , if not more than almost , all metalls themselves may by copious additaments and frequent cohobations be brought to pass through the neck of the retort in distillation ; and perhaps , if you melt them not with equal parts , but with many parts of regulus of antimony , and then proceed as the hints now given will direct you , you will not find cause to despise what i have been saying . you know what endeavours have been , and are still fruitlessly , imployed by chymists to elevate so fixt a body as salt of tartar by additaments . i shall not now speak much of the enterprize in generall , designing chiefly to tell you on this occasion , that , whereas frequent experience shews , that sal armoniac being abstracted from salt of tartar , not onely the salt of tartar is left at the bottom , but a good part of the sal armoniac is left behind with it ; i suspected the cause might be , that sal armoniac , by the operation of the alkaly of tartar , is reduced into sea-salt , and urinous or fuliginous salt , as 't was at first composed of those differing ingredients ; and that by this means the volatil salt being loosened or disintangled from the rest , and being of a very fugacious nature , flyes easily away it self , without staying long enough to take up any other salt with it . and therefore , if this analysis of the sal armoniac could be prevented , it seemed not impossible to me , that some part of the salt of tartar , as well as of colcothar and steel , might be carried up by it : and accordingly having caused the ingredients to be exceedingly well dryed , and both nimbly and carefully mixt , and speedily exposed to the fire , i have sometimes had a portion of salt of tartar carried up with the sal armoniac : but this happened so very rarely , that i suspected some peculiar fitness for this work in some parcels of sal armoniac , that are scarce but by the effect to be discerned from others . but however , what has happened to us may argue the possibility of the thing , and may serve to shew the volatilizing efficacy of sal armoniac ; which is a compound , that i elsewhere recommend , and doe it now again , as one of the usefullest productions of vulgar chymistry . and since i have mentioned the volatilization of salt of tartar , presuming your curiosity will make you desire my opinion about the possibility of it , i shall propose to you a distinction , that perhaps you doe not expect , by saying , that i think there is a great deal of difference between the making a volatile salt of tartar , and the making salt of tartar volatile . for , though this seem to be but a nicety , yet really it is none ; and it is very possible , that a man may from tartar obtain a volatile salt , and yet be no wise able to volatilize that tartareous salt , that has been once by the incineration of the tartar brought to fixt alkaly . i have in the sceptical chymist summarily delivered a way , by which both i , and some spagyrists that learned it of me , obtained from a mixture of antimony , nitre , and crude tartar , a volatil salt , which in probability comes from the last named of those three bodies ; but experience carefully made has assured me , that without any additament , by a distillation warily and very slowly made , ( insomuch that i have spent near a week in distilling one pound of matter ) very clean tartar , or at least the crystalls of tartar , may , in conveniently shaped vessels , be brought to afford a substance that in rectification will ascend to the upper part of the vessel , in the form of a volatil salt , as if it were of urine or of harts-horne ; of which ( tartareous ) salt , i keep some by me : but this operation requires not onely a dexterous , but a patient distiller . but now as to the making a fixt alkaly of tartar become volatil , i take it to be another , and have found it to be a far more difficult , work ; the common processes of performing it being wont to promise much more than they can make good ; which i may justly say of some other , that private men have vaunted for great arcana , but upon triall have satisfied me so little , that i have divers times offered pretenders to make salt of tartar volatil , that without at all inquiring into their processes , i would lay good wagers , that they could not doe what they pretended ; not onely as divers philosophical spagyrists require , without any visible additament , but by any additament whatever ; provided i were allowed to bring the salt of tartar my self , and to examine the success , not by what may appear in the alembic and receiver , but by the weight of what would remain in the bottom . for i have convinced some of the more ingenuous artists , that the salt that sublimed was not indeed the alkaly of tartar , but somewhat that was by the operation produced , or rather extricated out of the additaments . but yet i would not be thought to affirm , that 't is not possible to elevate the fixt salt of tartar. for sometimes i have been able to doe it , even at the first distillation , by an artificial additament perhaps more fixt than it self ; but , though the operation was very gratefull to me , as it shewed the possibility of the thing , yet the paucity of the salt sublimed and other circumstances , kept me from much valuing it upon any other account . and there are other wayes , whereby experience has assured me , that salt of tartar may be raised . and if one of them were not so uncertain , that i can never promise before hand that it will at all succeed , and the other so laborious , difficult and costly , that few would attempt or be able to practice it , i should think them very valuable things ; since by the former way most part of the salt of tartar was quickly brought over in the form of a liquor , whose piercing smell was scarce tolerable ; and by the latter way some salt of tartar of my own , being put into a retort , and urged but with such a fire as could be given in a portable sand-furnace , there remained not at the bottom near one half of the first weight , the additament having carried up the rest , partly in the form of a liquor , but chiefly in that of a white sublimate , which was neither ill-sented , nor in tast corrosive , or alcalizat , but very mild , and somewhat sweetish . and i doe not much doubt , but that by other wayes the fixt alkaly of tartar may be elevated , especially if , before it be exposed to the last operation of the fire , it be dextrously freed from the most of those earthy and viscous parts , that i think may be justly suspected to clog and bind the truly saline ones . but i have too long digrest , and therefore shall intimate onely upon the by , that even the spurious sal tartari volatilized that is made with spirit of vinegar , may , if it be well prepared , make amends for its empyreumatical smell and tast , and may , notwithstanding them , in divers cases be of no despicable use , both as a medicine , and a menstruum . chap. vi. before i draw towards a conclusion of these notes about volatility , perhaps it will not be amiss , to take notice of a phaenomenon , which may much surprise , and sometimes disappoint those that deal in sublimations , unless they be forewarned of it . for though it be taken for granted , and for the most part may justly be so , that by carefully mingling what is sublimed with what remains , and re-subliming the mixture , a greater quantity of the body to be sublimed may be elevated the second time than was the first , and the third time than the second , and so onwards ; yet i have not found this rule alwayes to hold , but in some bodies , as particularly in some kinds of dulcified colcothar , the sal armoniac , would at the first sublimation carry up more of the fixed powder , than at the second or third . so that i was by several tryalls perswaded , when i found a very well and highly coloured powder elevated , to lay it by for use , and thereby save my self the labour of a prosecution , that would not onely have proved useless , but prejudicial . and if i misremember not , by often repeated cohobations , ( if i may so call them ) of sal armoniac upon crude o● mineral antimony , though the sublimate that was obtained by the first operation , was much of it variously , and in some places richly , coloured ; yet afterwards , the salt ascended from time to time paler and paler , leaving the antimony behind it . which way of making some minerals more fixt and fusible i conceive may be of great use in some medicinal preparations , though i think it not fit to particularize them in this place : where my chief intent was , to mention the phaenomenon it self , and invite you to consider , whether it may be ascribed to this , that by the reiterated action of the fire , and grinding together of the body to be raised , either the corpuscles of the sal armoniac , or those of the other body , may have those little hooked or equivalent particles , whereby they take hold of one another , broken or worn off ; and whether the indisposedness of the colcotharine or antimonial parts to ascend , may not in some cases be promoted by their having , by frequent attri●●o●s , so smoothed their surfaces that divers of them may closely adhere , like pieces of polished glass , and so make up clusters too unweildy to be so raised , as the single corpuscles they consist of , were . which change may dispose them to be at once less volatil and more fusible . which conjectures i mention to excite you to frame better , or at least to make amends for my omission of examining these , by trying whether the sal armoniac grown white again will be as fit as it was at first to carry up fresh bodies ; and also by observing the weight of the unelevated part , and employing those other wayes of examen , which i should have done , if i had not then made sublimations for another end , than to clear up the doctrine of volatility . and here it may be profitable to some chymists , though not necessary to my subject , to intimate , that sublimations may be useful to make very fine comminutions of divers bodies . that those that are elevated are reduced to a great fineness of parts , is obvious to be observed in many examples , whence it has been anciently , not absurdly , said , that sublimations are the chymists pestles , since ( as in flowers of sulphur and antimony ) they do really resolve the elevated bodies into exceeding fine flower , and much finer than pestles and mortars are wont to bring them to . but that which i intend in this paragraph is not a thing so obvious , since 't is to observe , that sometimes even bodies so fixt as not at all to ascend in sublimation , may yet be reduced by that operation into powders extreamly fine . for exemplifying of which , i shall put you in mind , that though spagyrists complain much of the difficulty of making a good clax of gold , and of the imperfection of the few ordinary processes prescribed to make it , ( which would be more complained of , but that chymical physicians seldom attempt to prepare it , ) yet we are informed by triall , that by exactly grinding a thick amalgam of gold and mercury with a competent weight , ( at least equal to its own ) of finely powdered sulphur , we may , by putting the mixture to sublime in a conveniently shaped glass , by degrees of fire obtain a cinaber that will leave behind it a finer clax of gold than will be had by some far more difficult processes . but 't is now time to draw towards a conclusion of our notes about volatility ; which quality depends so much upon the contexture of the corpuscles that are to be raised together , that even very ponderous bodies may serve for volatilizing additaments , if they be disposed to fasten themselves sufficiently to the bodies they are to carry up along with them . for , though lead be , save one , the heaviest solid we know of , and though quick-silver be the heaviest body in the world , except gold ; yet trialls have assured us , that quick-silver it self being united by amalgamation with a small proportion of lead , will by a fire that is none of the violentest , and in close vessels , be made to carry over with it some of the lead . as we clearly found by the increased weight of the quick-silver that passed into the receiver ; which , by the way , may make us cautious how we conclude quick-silver to be pure , meerly from its having been distilled over . there remains but one body more heavy than those i come from naming , and that is gold ; which , being also of a fixity so great that 't is indeed admirable , i doe not wonder that not onely the more wary naturalists , but the more severe among the chymists themselves should think it incapable of being volatilized . but yet , if we consider , how very minute parts gold may be rationally supposed to consist of , and to be divisible into , me thinks it should not seem impossible , that , if men could light on volatil salts endowed with figures fit to stick fast to the corpuscles of the gold , they would carry up with them bodies , whose solidity can scarce be more extraordinary than their minuteness is : and in effect , we have made more than one menstruum , with which some particles of gold may be carried up . but when i employed that which i recommended to you formerly under the name of menstruum peracutum ( which consists mainly , and sometimes onely , of spirit of nitre , several times drawn from butter of antimony , ) i was able , without a very violent fire , in a few hours to elevate so much crude gold , as , in the neck of the retort , afforded me a considerable quantity of sublimate , which i have had red as blood , and whose consisting partly of gold manifestly appeared by this , that i was able with ease to reduce that metall out of it . in reckoning up the instruments of volatilization , we must not quite leave out the mention of the air , which i have often observed to facilitate the elevation of some bodies even in close vessels ; wherein , though to fill them too full be judged by many a compendious practise , because the steams have a less way to ascend , yet experience has several times informed me , that , at least in some cases , they take wrong measures , and that ( to pass by another cause of their disappointment ) a large proportion of air , purposely left in the vessels , may more than compensate the greater space that is to be ascended by the vapours or exhalations of the matter that is to be distilled or sublimed . and if , in close vessels , the presence of the air may promote the ascension of bodies , it may well be expected , that the elevation of divers of them may be furthered by being attempted in open vessels , to which the air has free access . and if we may give any credit to the probable relations of some chymists , the air does much contribute to the volatilization of some bodies that are barely , though indeed for no short time , exposed to it . but the account on which the air by its bare presence or peculiar operations conduces to the volatilization of some bodies , is a thing very difficult to be determined , without having recourse to some notions about gravity and levity , and of the constitution of the corpuscles that compose the air ; which i take to be both very numerous and no less various . and therefore i must not in these occasional notes lanch out into such a subject , though , for fear i should be blamed for too much slighting my old acquaintance the air , i durst not quite omit the power it has to dispose some bodies to volatility . a moderate attention may suffice to make it be discerned , that in what hath been hitherto delivered , i have for the most part considered the small portions of matter , to be elevated in volatilization , as intire corpuscles : and therefore it may be now pertinent , to intimate in a line or two , that there may be also cases , wherein a kind of volatilization , improperly so called , may be effected , by making use of such additaments as break off or otherwise divide the particles of the corpuscles to be elevated , and by adhering to , and so clogging , one of the particles to which it proves more congruous , inable the other , which is now brought to be more light or disingaged , to ascend . this may be illustrated by what happens , when sal armoniac is well ground with lapis calaminaris or with some fix'd alkali , and then committed to distillation : for the sea-salt , that enters the composition of the sal armoniac , being detained by the stone or the alkali , there is a divorce made between the common salt and the urinous and fuliginous salts , that were incorporated with it , and being now disingaged from it , are easily elevated . i elsewhere mention , that i have observed in man's urine a kind of native sal armoniac , much less volatile than the fugitive that is sublim'd from man's blood , harts-horn , &c. and therefore supposing , that a separation of parts may be made by an alkali , as well in this salt as in the common factitious sal armoniac , i put to fresh urine a convenient proportion ( which was a plentifull one ) of salt of pot-ashes ( that being then at hand ) and distilling the liquor , it yielded , according to expectation , a spirit more volatile than the phlegm , and of a very piercing tast ; which way of obtaining a spirit without any violence of fire , and without either previously abstracting the phlegm , ( as we are fain to do in fresh urine ) or tediously waiting for the fermentation of stale urine , i taught some chymists , because of the usefulness of spirit of urine ; which being obtained this innocent way , would probably be employed with much less suspicion of corrosiveness , than if in the operation i had made use of quick-lime . another illustration of what i was not long since saying , may be fetch'd from the experiment of making spirit of nitre by mixing salt-peter with oil of vitriol , and distilling them together : for the oil does so divide or break the corpuscles of the nitre , that the now-disposed particles of that salt , which amount to a great portion of the whole , will be made easily enough to ascend even with a moderate fire of sand , and sometimes without any fire at all , in the form of spirits , exceeding unquiet , subtle , and apt to moak away . to which instances of this imperfect kind of volatilization more might be added , but that you may well think , i have detain'd you but too long already with indigested notes about one quality . chap. vii . the last means of volatilizing bodies is , the operation of the fire or some other actual heat : but of this , which is obvious , it would be superfluous to discourse . onely this i shall intimate , that there may be bodies , which , in such degrees of fire as are wont to be given in the vulgar operations of chymists , will not be elevated , which yet may be forced up by such violent and lasting fires , as are employed by the melters of ores , and founders of guns , and sometimes by glass-makers . and on this consideration i shall here observe to you , since i did not doe it at my entrance on these notes , that chymists are wont to speak , and i have accordingly been led to treat , of volatility and fixity in a popular sense of those terms . for if we would consider the matter more strictly , i presume we should find that volatility and fixity are but relative qualities , which are to be estimated , especially the former of them , by the degree of fire to which the body , whereto we ascribe one or other of those qualities , is exposed ; and therefore it is much more difficult than men are aware of , to determine accurately , when a body ought to be accounted volatile and when not ; since there is no determinate degree of heat agreed on , nor indeed easie to be devised , that may be as a standard , whereby to measure volatility and fixtness : and 't is obvious , that a body , that remains fixt in one degree of fire , may be forced up by another . to which may be added , agreeably to what i lately began to observe , that a body may pass for absolutely fixt among the generality of chymists , and yet be unable to persevere in the fires of founders and glass-makers : which brings into my mind , that not having observed , that chymists have examined the fixity of other bodies than metalline ones by the cupel , i had the curiosity to put dry salt of tartar upon it , and found , as i expected , that in no long time it manifestly wasted in so vehement a heat , wherein also the air came freely at it , ( though quick-lime , handled after the same way , lost not of its weight , ) and having well mixed one ounce of good salt of tartar with treble its weight of tobacco-pipe clay , we kept them but for two , or at most three hours , in a strong fire ; yet the crucible being purposely left uncovered , we found the salt of tartar so wasted , that the remaining mixture ( which was not flux'd ) afforded us not near a quarter of an ounce of salt. and indeed i scarce doubt , but that in strictness divers of those bodies that pass for absolutely fixt , are but semi-fixt , or at least but comparatively and relatively fix'd , that is , in reference to such degrees of fire , as they are wont to be exposed to in the distillations , sublimations , &c. of chymists ; not such as are given in the raging fires of founders , and glass-makers . and perhaps even the fires of glass-makers and say-masters themselves are not the most intense that may possibly be made in a short time , provided there be but small portions of matter to be wrought on by them . and in effect , i know very few bodies , besides gold , that will persevere totally fixt in the vehementest degrees of fire that trials have made me acquainted with . and i elsewhere tell you , that , though tin , in our chymical reverberatories themselves , is wont to be reduced but into a calx that is reputed very fixt ; yet in those intense fires , that a virtuoso of my acquaintance uses in his tin-mines , there is not seldom found quantities of tin carried up to a notable height in the form of a whitish powder , which , being in good masses forced off from the places to which it had fastened it self , does by a skillful reduction yield many a pound weight of good malleable metal , which seemed to me to be rather more , than less , fine than ordinary tin. postscript , relating to page 15. of this tract ; and here annext for their sakes , who have a mind to repeat the experiment there delivered , that so they may know the quantities employed in it . with two parts of this crocus we ground very well three parts of sal armoniac , and having sublimed them in a strong fire , we took off the high coloured sublimat , and put in either an equal weight , or a weight exceeding it by half , to the caput mortuum , we found after the second sublimation , which was also high coloured , that of an ounce of crocus we had raised six drams , that is , three quarters of the whole weight . finis . experimental notes of the mechanical origine or production of fixtness . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. of the mechanical origine or production of fixtness . chap. i. fixity being the opposite quality to volatility , what we have discoursed about the latter , will make the nature of the former more easily understood , and upon that account allow me to make somewhat the quicker dispatch of what i have to say of it . the qualifications that conduce most to the fixity of a portion of matter , seem to be these . first , the grossness or the bulk of the corpuscles it consists of . for if these be too big , they will be too unwieldy and unapt to be carried up into the air by the action of such minute particles as those of the fire , and will also be unfit to be buoyed up by the weight of the air ; as we see , that vapours , whilst they are such , are small enough to swim in the air , but can no longer be sustained by it , when they convene into drops of rain or flakes of snow . but here it is to be observed , that when i speak of the corpuscles that a fixt body consists of , i mean not either its elementary or its hypostatical principles , as such , but onely those very little masses or clusters of particles , of what kind soever they be , that stick so firmly to one another , as not to be divisible and dissipable by that degree of fire in which the body is said to be fixt ; so that each of those little concretions , though it may it self be made up of two , three , or more particles of a simpler nature , is considered here per modum unius , or as one intire corpuscle . and this is one qualification conducive to the fixtness of a body . the next is the ponderousness or solidity of the corpuscles it is made up of . for if these be very solid , and ( which solid and compact bodies usually are ) of a considerable specifick gravity , they will be too heavy to be carried up by the effluvia or the action of the fire , and their ponderousness will make them as unwieldy , and indisposed to be elevated by such agents , as the grossness of their bulk would make bigger corpuscles , but of a proportionably inferiour specifick weight . on which account the calces of some metals and minerals , as gold , silver , &c. though , by the operation of solvents , or of the fire , or of both , reduced to powders exceedingly subtile , will resist such vehement fires , as will easily drive up bigger , but less heavy and compact , corpuscles , than those calces consist of . the third qualification that conduces to the fixity of a body , belongs to its integral parts , not barely as they are several parts of it , but as they are aggregated or contexed into one body . for , the qualification , i mean , is the ineptitude of the component corpuscles for avolation , by reason of their branchedness , irregular figures , crookedness , or other inconvenient shape , which intangles the particles among one another , and makes them difficult to be extricated ; by which means , if one of them do ascend , others , wherewith 't is complicated , must ascend with it ; and , whatever be the account on which divers particles stick firmly together , the aggregate will be too heavy or unwieldy to be raised . which i therefore take notice of , because that , though usually 't is on the roughness and irregularity of corpuscles , that their cohesion depends ; yet it sometimes happens , that the smoothness and flatness of their surfaces makes them so stick together , as to resist a total divulsion ; as may be illustrated by what i have said of the cohesion of polished marbles and the plates of glass , and by the fixity of glass it self in the fire . from this account of the causes or requisites of fixity , may be deduced the following means of giving or adding fixation to a body , that was before either volatile , or less fixt . these means may be reduced to two general heads ; first , the action of the fire , as the parts of the body , exposed to it , are thereby made to operate variously on one another . and next , the association of the particles of a volatile body with those of some proper additament : which term , [ of proper ] i rather imploy than that , one would expect , [ of fixt ; ] because 't will ere long appear , that , in certain cases , some volatile bodies may more conduce to the fixation of other volatile bodies , than some fixt ones doe . but these two instruments of fixation being but general , i shall propose four or five more particular ones . chap. ii. and first , in some cases it may conduce to fixation , that , either by an additament , or by the operation of the fire , the parts of a body be brought to touch each other in large portions of their surfaces . for , that from such a contact there will follow such a mutual cohesion , as will at least indispose the touching corpuscles to suffer a total divulsion , may appear probable from what we lately noted of the cohesion of pieces of marble and glass , and from some other phaenomena belonging to the history of firmness , from which we may properly enough borrow some instances , at least for illustration , in the doctrine of fixtness , in regard that usually , though not always , the same things that make a body firm , give it some degree of fixity , by keeping it from being dissipated by the wonted degrees of heat , and agitation it meets with in the air. but to return to the contact we were speaking of , i think it not impossible , ( though you may perhaps think it strange , ) that the bare operation of the fire may , in some cases , procure a cohesion among the particles , ( and consequently make them more fixt , ) as well as in others disjoyn them , and thereby make them more volatile . for , as in some bodies , the figures and sizes of the corpuscles may be such , that the action of the fire may rub or tear off the little beards or hooks , or other particles that intangle them , and by that means make it more easie for the corpuscles to be disingaged and fly upwards ; so in other bodies , the size and shape of the corpuscles may be such , that the agitation , caused by the fire , may rub them one against the other , so as by mutual attrition to grind , as 't were , their surfaces , and make them so broad and smooth , if not also so flat , as that the contact of the corpuscles shall come to be made according to a large portion of their superficies , from whence will naturally follow a firm cohesion . which i shall illustrate by what we may observe among those that grind glasses for telescopes and microscopes . for , these artificers , by long rubbing a piece of glass against a metalline dish or concave vessel , do by this attrition at length bring the two bodies to touch one another in so many parts of their congruous surfaces , that they will stick firmly to one another , so as sometimes to oblige the work-man to use violence to disjoyn them . and this instance ( which is not the sole i could alleage ) may suffice to shew , how a cohesion of corpuscles may be produced by the mutual adaptation of their congruous surfaces . and if two grosser corpuscles , or a greater number of smaller , be thus brought to stick together , you will easily believe , their aggregate will prove too heavy or unwieldy for avolation . and to shew , that the fire may effect a laevigation in the surfaces of some corpuscles , i have sometimes caused minium , and some other calces , that i judged convenient , to be melted for a competent time , in a vehement fire conveniently administred ; whereby , according to expectation , that which was before a dull and incoherent powder , was reduced into much grosser corpuscles , multitudes of whose grains appeared smooth , glittering , and almost specular , like those of fine litharge of gold ; and the masses that these grains composed , were usually solid enough and of difficult fusion . and when we make glass of lead per se , ( which i elsewhere teach you how to doe , ) 't is plain , that the particles of the lead are reduced to a great smoothness ; since , wheresoever you break the glass , the surfaces , produced at the crack , will not be jagged , but smooth , and considerably specular . nor do i think it impossible , that , even when the fire does not make any great attrition of the corpuscles of the body to be fixt , it may yet occasion their sticking together , because by long tumbling them up and down in various manners , it may at length , after multitudes of revolutions and differing occursions , bring those of their surfaces together , which , by reason of their breadth , smoothness , or congruity of figure , are fit for mutual cohesion ; and when once they come to stick , there is no necessity , that the same causes , that were able to make them pass by one another , when their contact was but according to an inconsiderable part of their surfaces , should have the same effect now , when their contact is full ; though perhaps , if the degree of fire were much increased , a more vehement agitation would surmount this cohesion , and dissipate again these clusters of coalescent corpuscles . these conjectures will perhaps appear less extravagant , if you consider what happens in the preparation of quick-silver praecipitated per se. for there , running mercury , being put into a conveniently shaped glass , is exposed to a moderate fire for a considerable time : ( for i have sometimes found six or seven weeks to be too short a one . ) in this degree of fire the parts are variously tumbled , and made many of them to ascend , till convening into drops on the sides of the glass , their weight carries them down again ; but at length , after many mutual occursions , if not also attritions , some of the parts begin to stick together in the form of a red powder , and then more and more mercurial particles are fastened to it , till at length all , or by much the greater part of the mercury , is reduced into the like praecipitate , which , by this cohesion of the parts , being grown more fixt , will not with the same degree of heat be made to rise and circulate , as the mercury would before ; and yet , as i ellewhere note , i have found by trial , that , with a greater and competent degree of heat , this praecipitate per se , would , without the help of any volatilizing additament , be easily reduced into running mercury again . chymist's and physicians , who agree in supposing this praecipitate to be made without any additament , will perchance scarce be able to give a more likely account of the consistency and degree of fixity that is obtained in the mercury ; in which , since no body is added to it , there appears not to be wrought any but a mechanical change . and though , i confess , i have not been without suspicions , that in philosophical strictness this praecipitate may not be made per se , but that some penetrating igneous particles , especially saline , may have associated themselves with the mercurial corpuscles ; yet even upon this supposition it may be said , that these particles contribute to the effect that is produced , but by facilitating or procuring , by their opportune interposition , the mutual cohesion of corpuscles that would not otherwise stick to one another . perhaps it will not be altogether impertinent to add , on this occasion , that , as for the generality of chymists , as well others as helmontians , that assert the transmutation of all metalls into gold by the philosopher's stone , me thinks , they may grant it to be probable , that a new and fit contexture of the parts of a volatile body may , especially by procuring a full contact among them , very much contribute to make it highly fixt . for , to omit what is related by less credible authours , 't is averred , upon his own trial , by helmont , who pretended not to the elixir , that a grain of the powder , that was given him , transmuted a pound ( if i mis-remember not ) of running mercury ; where the proportion of the elixir to the mercury was so inconsiderable , that it cannot reasonably be supposed , that every corpuscle of the quick-silver , that before was volatile , was made extreamly fixt meerly by its coalition with a particle of the powder , since , to make one grain suffice for this coalition , the parts it must be divided into must be scarce conceivably minute , and therefore each single part not likely to be fixt it self , or at least more likely to be carried up by the vehemently agitated mercury , than to restrain that from avolation ; whereas , if we suppose the elixir to have made such a commotion among the corpuscles of the mercury , as ( having made them perhaps somewhat change their figure , and expelled some inconvenient particles , ) to bring them to stick to one another , according to very great portions of their surfaces , and intangle one another , it will not be disagreeable to the mechanical doctrine of fixity , that the mercury should endure the fire as well as gold , on the score of its new texture , which , supposing the story true , appears to have been introduced , by the new colour , specifick gravity , indissolubleness in aqua fortis , and other qualities wherein gold differs from mercury , especially malleableness , which , according to our notes about that quality , usually requires that the parts , from whose union it results , be either hooked , branched , or otherwise adapted and fitted to make them take fast hold of one another , or stick close to one another . and since , in the whole mass of the factitious gold , all save one grain must be materially the same body , which , before the projection was made , was quick-silver , we may see how great a proportion of volatile matter may , by an inconsiderable quantity of fixing additament , acquire such a new disposition of its parts , as to become most fixt . and however , this instance will agree much better with the mechanical doctrine about fixity , than with that vulgar opinion of the chymists , ( wherewith 't will not at all comply , ) that if , in a mixture , the volatile part do much exceed the fixt , it will carry up that , or at least a good portion thereof , with it ; and on the contrary . but though this rule holds in many cases , where there is no peculiar indisposition to the effect that is aimed at ; yet if the mechanical affections of the bodies be ill suited to such a purpose , our philosophical experiment manifestly proves , that the rule will not hold , since so great a multitude of grains of mercury , in stead of carrying up with them one grain of the elixir , are detained by it in the strongest fire . and thus much for the first way of fixing volatile bodies . chap. iii. the second way of producing fixity , is by expelling , breaking , or otherwise disabling those volatile corpuscles that are too indisposed to be fixt themselves , or are fitted to carry up with them such particles as would not , without their help , ascend . that the expulsion of such parts is a proper means to make the aggregate of those that remain more fixt , i presume you will not put me solicitously to prove ; and we have a manifest instance of it in soot , where , though many active parts were by the violence of the fire and current of the air carried up together by the more volatile parts ; yet , when soot is well distilled in a retort , a competent time being given for the extricating and avolation of the other parts , there will at the bottom remain a substance that will not now fly away , as it formerly did . and here let me observe , that the recesse of the fugitive corpuscles may contribute to the fixation of a body , not barely because the remaining matter is freed from so many unfixt , if not also volatilizing , parts ; but , as it may often happen , that upon their recesse the pores or intervals , they left behind them , are filled up with more solid or heavy matter , and the body becomes , as more homogeneous , so more close and compact . and whereas i intimated , that , besides the expulsion of unfit corpuscles , they may be otherwise disabled from hindering the fixation of the masse they belong to , i did it , because it seems very possible , that in some cases they may , by the action of the fire , be so broken , as with their fragments to fill up the pores or intervals of the body they appertained to ; or may make such coalitions with the particles of a convenient additament , as to be no impediment to the fixity of the whole masse , though they remain in it . which possibly you will think may well happen , when you shall have perused the instances annext to the fourth way of fixing bodies . the third means of fixing , or lessening the volatility of , bodies , is by preserving that rest among the parts , whose contrary is necessary to their volatilization . and this may be done by preventing or checking that heat , or other motion , which external agents strive to introduce into the parts of the proposed body . but this means tending rather to hinder the actual avolation of a portion of matter , or , at most , procure a temporary abatement of its volatility , than to give it a stable fixity , i shall not any longer insist on it . the fourth way of producing fixity in a body , is by putting to it such an appropriated additament , whether fixt or volatile , that the corpuscles of the body may be put among themselves , or with those of the additament , into a complicated state , or intangled contexture . this being the usual and principal way of producing fixity , we shall dwell somewhat the longer upon it , and give instances of several degrees of fixation . for , though they do not produce that quality in the strictest acceptation of the word , fixity ; yet 't is usefull in our present inquiry , to take notice , by what means that volatility comes to be gradually abated , since that may facilitate our understanding , how the volatility of a body comes to be totally abated , and consequently the body to be fixt . chap. iv. and first we find , that a fixt additament , if its parts be conveniently shaped , may easily give a degree of fixity to a very volatile body . thus spirit of nitre , that will of it self easily enough fly away in the air , having its saline particles associated with those of fixt nitre , or salt of tartar , will with the alkaly compose a salt of a nitrous nature , which will endure to be melted in a crucible without being deprived even of its spirits . and i have found , that the spirits of nitre , that abound in aqua fortis , being concoagulated with the silver they corrode , though one would not expect that such subtile corpuscles should stick fast to so compact and solid a body as silver ; yet crystalls , produced by their coalition , being put into a retort , may be kept a pretty while in fusion , before the metal will let go the nitrous spirits . when we poured oil of vitriol upon the calx of vitriol , though many phlegmatick and other sulphureous particles were driven away by the excited heat ; yet the saline parts , that combined with the fixt ones of the colcothar , stuck fast enough to them , not to be easily driven away . and if oil of vitriol be in a due proportion dropt upon salt of tartar , there results a tartarum vitriolatum , wherein the acid and alkalizate parts cohere so strongly , that 't is not an ordinary degree of fire will be able to disjoyn them . insomuch that divers chymists have ( though very erroniously ) thought this compounded salt to be indestructible . but a less heavy liquour than the ponderous oil of vitriol may by an alkaly be more strongly detained than that oil it self ; experience having assured me , that spirit of salt being dropt to satiety upon a fixt alkaly , ( i used either that of nitre or of tartar , ) there would be made so strict an union , that , having , without additaments , distilled the resulting salt with a strong and lasting fire , it appeared not at all considerably to be wrought upon , and was not so much as melted . but 't is not the bare mixture or commistion of volatile particles with fixt ones , ( yea though the former be predominant in quantity , ) that will suffice to elevate the latter . for , unlesse the figures of the latter be congruous and fitted to fasten to the other , the volatile parts will fly away in the heat , and leave the rest as fixt as before : as when sand or ashes are wetted or drenched with water , they quickly part with that water , without parting with any degree of their fixity . but on the other side , it is not always necessary , that the body , which is fitted to destroy , or much abate , the volatility of another substance , should be it self fixt . for , if there be a skilful or lucky coaptation of the figures of the particles of both the bodies , these particles may take such hold of one another , as to compose corpuscles , that will neither by reason of their strict union be divided by heat ; nor by reason of their resulting grossness be elevated even by a strong fire , or at least by such a degree of heat as would have sufficed to raise more indisposed bodies than either of the separate ingredients of the mixture . this observation , if duly made out , does so much favour our doctrine about the mechanical origine of fixation , and may be of such use , not onely to chymists , in some of their operations , but to philosophers , in assigning the causes of divers phaenomena of nature , that it may be worth while to exemplifie it by some instances . the first whereof i shall take from an usual practice of the chymists themselves : which i the rather doe , to let you see , that such known experiments are too often over-looked by them that make them , but yet may hint or confirm theories to those that reflect on them . the instance , i here speak of , is that which is afforded by the vulgar preparation of bezoardicum minerale . for , though the rectified butter or oil of antimony and the spirit of nitre , that are put together to make this white praecipitate , are both of them distilled liquours ; yet the copious powder , that results from their union , is , by that union of volatile parts , so far fixt , that , after they have edulcorated it with water , they prescribe the calcining of it in a crucible for five or six hours : which operation it could not bear , unless it had attained to a considerable fixation . this discourse supposes with the generality of chymists , that the addition of a due quantity of spirit of nitre , is necessary to be employed in making the bezoardicum minerale . but if it be a true observation , which is attributed to the learned guntherus billichius , ( but which i had no furnace at hand to examine when i heard of it , ) if , i say , it be true , that a bezoardicum minerale may be obtained , without spirit of nitre , barely by a slow evaporation , made in a glasse-dish , of the more fugitive parts of the oil of antimony ; this instance will not indeed be proper in this place , but yet will belong to the second of the foregoing ways of introducing fixity . i proceed now to alleage other particulars in favour of the above-mentioned observation . if you take strong spirit of salt , that , when the glass is unstopt , will smoak of it self in the cold air , and satiate it with the volatile spirit of urine , the superfluous moisture being abstracted , you will obtain by this preparation ( which , you may remember , i long since communicated to you , and divers other virtusi , ) a compounded salt , scarce , if at all , distinguishable from sal armoniac , and which will not , as the salts it consists of will doe , before their coalition , easily fly up of it self into the air , but will require a not despicable degree of fire to sublime it . of these semivolatile compositions of salt i have made , and elsewhere mentioned , others , which i shall not here repeat , but passe on to other instances pertinent to our present design . i lately mentioned , that the volatility of the spirits of nitre may be very much abated , by bringing them to coagulate into crystalls with particles of corroded silver ; but i shall now add , that i guessed , and by trial found , that these nitrous spirits may be made much more fixt by the addition of the spirit of salt , which , if it be good , will of it self smoak in the air. for , having dissolved a convenient quantity of crystalls of silver in distilled water , and precipitated them , not with a solution of salt , but the spirit of salt ; the phlegm being abstracted , and some few of the looser saline particles ; though the remaining masse were prest with a violent fire that kept the retort red-hot for a good while ; yet the nitrous and saline spirits would by no means be driven away from the silver , but continued in fusion with it ; and when the masse was taken out , these spirits did so abound in it , that it had no appearance of a metal , but looked rather like a thick piece of horn. the next instance i shall name is afforded us by that kind of turbith , which may be made by oil of vitriol , in stead of the aqua fortis imployed in the common turpethum minerale . for , though oil of vitriol be a distilled liquour , and mercury a body volatile enough ; yet , when we abstracted four or five parts of oil of vitriol from one of quick-silver , ( especially if the operation were repeated , ) and then washed off as much as we could of the saline particles of the oil of vitriol ; yet those that remained adhering to the mercury made it far more fixt , than either of the liquours had been before , and inabled it even in a crucible to endure such a degree of fire , before it could be driven away , as , i confess , i somewhat wondered at . the like turbith may be made with oil of sulphur per campanam . but this is nothing to what helmont tells us of the operation of his alkahest , where he affirms , that that menstruum , which is volatile enough , being abstracted from running mercury , not onely coagulates it , but leaves it fixt , so that it will endure the brunt of fires acuated by bellows , ( omnem follium ignem . ) if this be certain , it will not be a slender proof , that fixity may be mechanically produced ; and however , the argument will be good in reference to the helmontian spagyrists . for if , as one would expect , there do remain some particles of the menstruum with those of the metal , it will not be denied , that two volatile substances may perfectly fix one another . and if , as helmont seems to think , the menstruum be totally abstracted , this supposition will the more favour our doctrine about fixity ; since , if there be no material additament left with the quick-silver , the fixation cannot so reasonably be ascribed to any thing , as to some new mechanical modification , and particularly to some change of texture introduced into the mercury it self . and that you may think this the less improbable , i will now proceed to some instances , whereof the first shall be this ; that , having put a mixture made of a certain proportion of two dry , as well as volatile , bodies , ( viz. sal armoniac , and flower or very fine powder of sulphur , ) to half its weight of common running mercury , and elevated this mixture three or four times from it , ( in a conveniently shaped , and not over-wide , glass ) the mercury , that lay in the bottom in the form of a ponderous and somewhat purplish powder , was , by this operation , so fixt , that it long endured a strong fire , which at length was made so strong , that it melted the glass , and kept it melted , without being strong enough to force up the mercury : which , by some trials , not so proper to be here mentioned , seemed to have its salivating and emetick powers extraordinarily infringed , and sometimes quite suppressed . but this onely upon the bye . in all the other instances , ( wherewith i shall conclude these notes , ) i shall employ one menstruum , oil of vitriol , and shew you the efficacy of it in fixing some parts of volatile bodies with some parts of it self ; by which examples it may appear , that a volatile body may not onely lessen the volatility of another body , as in the lately mentioned case of our spirituous sal armoniac ; but that two substances , that apart were volatile , may compose a third , that will not onely be less volatile , but considerably ( if not altogether ) fixt . we mixed then , by degrees , about equal parts of oil of vitriol and oil of turpentine : and though each of them single , especially the latter , will ascend with a moderate fire in a sand-furnace ; yet , after the distillation was ended , we had a considerable quantity , sometimes ( if i mis-remember not ) a fifth or sixth part , of a caput mortuum black as a coal , and whereof a great part was of a scarce to be expected fixtness in the fire . to give a higher proof of the disposition , that oil of vitriol has to let some of its parts grow fixt by combination with those of an exceeding volatile additament , i mixed this liquour with an equal or double weight of highly rectified spirit of wine , and not onely after , but sometimes without , previous digestion , i found , that the fluid parts of the mixture being totally abstracted , there would remain a pretty quantity of a black substance so fixt as to afford just cause of wonder . and because camphire is esteemed the most fugitive of consistent bodies , in regard that , being but laid in the free air , without any help of the fire , it will fly all away ; i tried , what oil of vitriol abstracted from camphire would doe ; and found at the bottom of the retort a greater quantity than one would expect of a substance as black as pitch , and almost as far from the volatility as from the colour of camphire , though it appeared not , that any of the gum had sublim'd into the neck of the retort . from all which instances it seems manifestly enough to follow , that in many cases there needs nothing to make associated particles , whether volatile or not , become fixt , but either to implicate or intangle them among themselves , or bring them to touch one another according to large portions of their surfaces , or by both these ways conjoyntly , or by some others , to procure the firm cohaesion of so many particles , that the resulting corpuscles be too big or heavy to be , by the degree of fire wherein they are said to be fixt , driven up into the air. finis . experiments and notes about the mechanical origine or production of corrosiveness and corrosibility . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. experiments and notes about the mechanical production of corrosiveness and corrosibility . sect . i. about the mechanical origine of corrosiveness . i do not in the following notes treat of corrosiveness in their strict sense of the word , who ascribe this quality only to liquors , that are notably acid or sowre , such as aqua fortis , spirit of salt , vinegar , juice of lemons , &c. but , that i may not be oblig'd to overlook unnous , oleous , and divers other solvents , or to coin new names for their differing solutive powers , i presume to employ the word corrosiveness in a greater lautude , so as to make it almost equivalent to the solutive power of liquors , referring other menstruums to those that are corrosive or fretting , ( though not always as to the most proper , yet ) as to the principal and best known species ; which i the less scruple here to do , because i have * elsewhere more distinctly enumerated and sorted the solvents of bodies . the attributes that seem the most proper to qualifie a liquor to be corrosive , are all of them mechanical , being such as are these that follow : first , that the menstruum consist of , or abound with , corpuscles not too big to get in at the pores or commissures of the body to be dissolved ; nor yet be so very minute as to pass through them , as the beams of light do through glass ; or to be unable by reason of their great slenderness and flexibility to disjoyn the parts they invade . secondly , that these corpuscles be of a shape ●itting them to insinuate themselves more or less into the pores or commissures above-mentioned , in order to the dissociating of the solid parts . thirdly , that they have a competent degree of solidity to disjoyn the particles of the body to be dissolved ; which solidity of solvent corpuscles is somewhat distinct from their bulk , mention'd in the first qualification ; as may appear by comparing a stalk of wheat and a metalline wire of the same diameter , or a flexible wand of osier of the bigness of ones little finger , with a rigid rod of iron of the same length and thickness . fourthly , that the corpuscles of the menstruum be agile and advantaged for motion , ( such as is fit to disjoyn the parts of the invaded body ) either by their shape , or their minuteness , or their fitness to have their action befriended by adjuvant causes ; such as may be ( first ) the pressure of the atmosphere , which may impell them into the pores of bodies not fill'd with a substance so resisting as common air : as we see , that water will by the prevalent pressure of the ambient , whether air or water , be raised to the height of some inches in capillary glasses , and in the pores of spunges , whose consistent parts being of easier cession than the sides of glass-pipes , those pores will be enlarged , and consequently those sides disjoyn'd , as appears by the dilatation and swelling of the spunge : and ( secondly ) the agitation , that the intruding corpuscles may be fitted to receive in those pores or commissures by the transcursion of some subtile ethereal matter ; or by the numerous knocks and other pulses of the swimming or tumbled corpuscles of the menstruum it self , ( which being a fluid body , must have its small parts perpetually and variously moved ) whereby the engaged corpuscles , like so many little wedges and leavers , may be enabled to wrench open , or force asunder the little parts between which they have insinuated themselves . but i shall not here prosecute this theory , ( which , to be handled fully , would require a discourse apart ) since these conjectures are propos'd but to make it probable in the general , that the corrosiveness of bodies may be deduced from mechanical principles : but whether best from the newly propos'd ones , or any other , need not be anxiously consider'd in these notes , where the things mainly intended and rely'd on , are the experiments and phaenomena themselves . exper. i. 't is obvious , that , though the recently exprest juice of grapes be sweet , whilst it retains the texture that belongs to it as 't is new , ( especially if it be made of some sorts of grapes that grow in hot regions , ) yet after fermentation , 't will , in tract of time , as 't were spontaneously , degenerate into vinegar . in which liquor , to a multitude of the more solid corpuscles of the must , their frequent and mutual attritions may be supposed to have given edges like those of the blades of swords or knives ; and in which , perhaps , the confused agitation that preceded , extricated , or , as it were , unsheathed some acid particles , that ( deriv'd from the sap of the vine , or , perchance more originally , from the juice of the earth ) were at first in the must , but lay conceal'd , and as it were sheathed , among the other particles wherewith they were associated , when they were prest out of the grapes . now this liquor , that by the forementioned ( or other like ) mechanical changes is become vinegar , does so abound with corpuscles , which , on the account of their edges , or their otherwise sharp and penetrative shape , are acid and corrosive , that the better sort of it will , without any preparation , dissolve coral , crabs-eyes , and even some stones , lapis stellaris in particular , as also minium , ( or the calx of lead ) and even crude copper , as we have often tried . and not onely the distill'd spirit of it will do those things more powerfully , and perform some other things that meer vinegar cannot ; but the saline particles , wont to remain after distillation , may , by being distill'd and cohobated per se , or by being skilfully united with the foregoing spirit , be brought to a menstruum of no small efficacy in the dissolution , and other preparations of metalline bodies , too compact for the meer spirit it self to work upon . from divers other sweet things also may vinegar be made ; and even of honey , skilfully fermented with a small proportion of common water , may be made a vinegar stronger than many of the common wine-vinegars ; as has been affirmed to me by a very candid physician , who had occasion to deal much in liquors . exper. ii. not onely several dry woods , and other bodies that most of them pass for insipid , but honey and sugar themselves afford by distillation acid spirits that will dissolve coral , pearls , &c. and will also corrode some metals and metalline bodies themselves ; as i have often found by trial. so that the violent operation of the fire , that destroys what they call the form of the distill'd body , and works as a mechanical agent by agitating , breaking , dissipating , and under a new constitution reassembling the parts , procures for the distiller an acid corrosive menstruum ; which whether it be brought to pass by making the corpuscles rub one another into the figure of little sharp blades , or by splitting some solid parts into sharp or cutting corpuscles , or by unsheathing , as it were , some parts , that , during the former texture of the body , did not appear to be acid ; or whether it be rather effected by some other mechanical way , may in due time be further considered . exper. iii. 't is observ'd by refiners , goldsmiths and chymists , that aqua fortis and aqua regia , which are corrosive menstruums , dissolve metals , the former of them silver , and the latter gold , much more speedily and copiously when an external heat gives their intestine motions a new degree of vehemency or velocity , which is but a mechanical thing ; and yet this superadded measure of agitation is not onely in the abovemention'd instances a powerfully assistant cause in the solutions made by the lately mention'd corrosive liquors , but is that without which some menstruums are not wont sensibly to corrode some bodies at all , as we have tried in keeping quick-silver in three or four times its weight of oyl of vitriol ; since in this menstruum i found not the mercury to be dissolved or corroded , though i kept it a long time in the cold : whereas , when the oyl of vitriol was excited by a convenient heat , ( which was not faint ) it corroded the mercury into a fine white calx or powder , which , by the affusion of fair water , would be presently turn'd into a yellowish calx of the colour and nature of a turbith . i remember also , that having for trials sake dissolv'd in a weak spirit of salt , a fourth part of its weight of fine crystals of nitre , we found , that it would not in the cold ( at least during a good while that we waited for its operation ) dissolve leaf-gold ; but when the menstruum was a little heated at the fire , the solution proceeded readily enough . and in some cases , though the external heat be but small , yet there may intervene a brisk heat , and much cooperate in the dissolution of a body ; as , for instance , of quick-silver in aqua fortis . for it is no prodigy to find , that when a full proportion of that fluid metal has been taken , the solution , though at first altogether liquid , and as to sense uniform , comes to have after a while a good quantity of coagulated or crystalliz'd matter at the bottom , of which the cause may be , that in the very act of corrosion there is excited an intense degree of heat , which conferring a new degree of agitation to the menstruum , makes it dissolve a good deal more , than afterwards , when the conflict is over , it is able to keep up . exper. iv. we have observed also , that agitation does in some cases so much promote the dissolutive power of saline bodies , that though they be not reduc'd to that subrilty of parts , to which a strong distillation brings them ; yet they may in their grosser and cruder form have the power to work on metals ; as i elsewhere shew , that by barely boiling some solutions of salts of a convenient structure , as nitre , sal armoniac , &c. with foliated gold , silver , &c. we have corroded these metals , and can dissolve some others . and by boiling crude copper ( in filings ) with sublimate and common water , we were able , in no long time , to make a solution of the metal . exper. v. sometimes also , so languid an agitation , as that which seems but sufficient to keep a liquor in the state of fluidity , may suffice to give some dry bodies a corroding power , which they could not otherwise exercise ; as in the way of writing ones name ( or a motto ) upon the blade of a knife with common sublimate : for , if having very thinly overlaid which side you please with bees-wax , you write with a bodkin or some pointed thing upon it ; the wax being thereby removed from the strokes made by the sharp body , 't is easie to etch with sublimate ; since you need but strew the powder of it upon the place bared of the wax , and wet it well with meer common water ; for strong vinegar is not necessary . for after a while all the parts of the blade that should not be fretted , being protected by the case or film of wax , the sublimate will corrode onely where way has been made for it by the bodkin , and the letters will be more or less deeply ingraven ( or rather etch'd ) according to the time the sublimate is suffer'd to lye on . and if you aim onely at a legible impression , a few minutes of an hour ( as four or five ) may serve the turn . exper. vi. this brings into my mind an observation i have sometimes had occasion to make , that i found more useful than common , and it is , that divers bodies , whether distill'd or not distill'd , that are not thought capable of dissolving other bodies , because in moderate degrees of heat they will not work on them , may yet by intense degrees of heat be brought to be fit solvents for them . to which purpose i remember , that having a distill'd liquor , which was rather sweet to the taste , than either acid , lixiviate or urinous , though for that reason it seem'd unfit to work on pearls , and accordingly did not dissolve them in a considerable time , wherein they were kept with it in a more than ordinarily warm digestion ; yet the glass being for many hours ( amounting perhaps to some days ) kept in such an heat of sand as made the liquor boil , we had a dissolution of pearls , that uniting with the menstruum made it a very valuable liquor . and though the solvents of crude gold , wont to be employed by chymists , are generally distill'd liquors that are acid , and in the lately mention'd solvent , made of crude salts and common water , acidity seem'd to be the predominant quality ( which makes the use of solutions made in aqua regia , &c. suspected by many physicians and chymists ; ) yet fitly chosen alcalizate bodies themselves , as repugnant as they use to be to acids , without the help of any liquor will be enabled by a melting fire in no long time to penetrate and tear asunder the parts even of crude gold ; so that it may afterwards be easily taken up in liquors that are not acid , or even by water it self . exper. vii . the tract about salt-peter , that gave occasion to these annotations , may furnish us with an eminent instance of the production of solvents . for , though pure salt-peter it self , when dissolv'd in water , is not observ'd to be a menstruum for the solution of the metals hereafter to be named , or so much as of coral it self ; yet , when by a convenient distillation its parts are split , if i may so speak , and by attrition , or other mechanical ways of working on them , reduc'd to the shapes of acid and alcalizate salts , it then affords two sorts of menstruums of very differing natures , which betwixt them dissolve or corrode a great number and variety of bodies ; as the spirit of nitre without addition is a solvent for most metals , as silver , mercury , copper , lead , &c. and also divers mineral bodies , as tin glass , spelter , lapis calaminaris , &c. and the fixed salt of nitre operates upon sulphureous minerals , as common sulphur , antimony , and divers other bodies , of which i elsewhere make mention . exper. viii . by the former trials it has appear'd , that the increase of motion in the more penetrating corpusoles of a liquor , contributes much to its solutive power ; and i shall now adde , that the shape and size , which are mechanical affections , and sometimes also the solidity of the same corpuscles does eminently concur to qualifie a liquor to dissolve this or that particular body . of this , even some of the more familiar practices of chymists may supply us with instances . for there is no account so probable as may be given upon this supposition , why aqua fortis , which will dissolve silver , without medling with gold , should , by the addition of a fourth part of its weight of sal armoniac , be turn'd into aqua regia , which , without medling with silver , will dissolve gold. but there is no necessity of having recourse to so gross and compounded a body as sal armoniac to enable aqua fortis to dissolve gold : for , the spirit of common salt alone being mingled in a due proportion , will suffice for that purpose . which ( by the way ) shews , that the volatile salt of urine and soot , that concur to the making up of sal armoniac , are not necessary to the dissolution of gold , for which a solvent may be made with aqua fortis and crude sea-salt . i might adde , that the mechanical affections of a menstruum may have such an interest in its dissolutive power , that even mineral or metalline corpuscles may become useful ingredients of it , though perhaps it be a distill'd liquor ; as might be illustrated by the operations of some compounded solvents , such as is the oyl of antimony made by repeated rectifications of what chymists call its butter , which , whatever some say to the contrary , does much abound in antimonial substance . exper. ix . but i shall return to our aqua regia , because the mention i had occasion to make of that solvent brought into my mind what i devis'd , to make it probable , that a smaller change , than one would lightly imagine , of the bulk , shape , or solidity of the corpuscles of a menstruum may make it fit to dissolve a body it would not work on before . and this i the rather attempted , because the warier sort of chymists themselves are very shye of the inward use or preparations made of gold by the help of aqua fortis , because of the odious stink they find , and the venenosity they suspect in that corrosive menstruum : whereas spirit of salt we look upon as a much more innocent liquor , whereof , if it be but diluted with fair water or any ordinary drink , a good dose may be safely given inwardly , though it have not wrought upon gold or any other body , to take off its acrimony . but , whether or no this prove of any great use in physick , wherein perhaps , if any quantity of gold be to be dissolved , a greater proportion of spirit of nitre would be needed ; the success will not be unfit to be mention'd in reference to what we were saying of solvents . for , whereas we find not that our spirit of salt here in england will at all dissolve crude gold , we found , that by putting some leaf-gold into a convenient quantity of good spirit of salt , when we had dropt-in spirit of nitre ( shaking the glass at each drop , ) till we perceived , that the mixture was just able in a moderate heat to dissolve the gold , we found , that we had been oblig'd to employ but after the rate of twelve drops of the latter liquor to an ounce of the former ; so that , supposing each of these drops to weigh a grain , the fortieth part of spirit of nitre being added , served to turn the spirit of salt into a kind of aqua regia . but to know the proportion otherwise than by ghess , we weigh'd six other drops of the same spirit of salt , and found them to amount not fully to three grains and an half : whence it appeared , that we added but about a seventieth part of the nitrous spirit to that of salt. the experiments that have been hitherto recited , relate chiefly to the production of corrosive menstruums ; and therefore i shall now adde an account of a couple of trials , that i made manifestly to lessen or quite to destroy corrosiveness in liquors very conspicuous for that quality . exper. x. whereas one of the most corrosive menstruums , that is yet known , is oyl of vitriol , which will fret in pieces both divers metals and minerals , and a great number and variety of animal and vegetable bodies ; yet if you digest with it for a while onely an equal weight of highly rectified spirit of wine , and afterwards distill the mixture very warily , ( for else the experiment may very easily miscarry , ) you may obtain a pretty deal of liquor not corrosive at all , and the remaining substance will be reduc'd partly into a liquor , which , though acid , is not more so than one part of good oyl of vitriol will make ten times as much common water , by being well mingled with it ; and partly into a dry substance that has scarce any taste at all , much less a corrosive one . exper. xi . and though good aqua fortis be the most generally employed of corrosive menstruums , as being capable of dissolving or corroding , not onely many minerals , as tin-glass , antimony , zinke , &c. but all metals except gold , ( for , though it make not a permanent solution of crude tin , it quickly frets the parts asunder , and reduces it to an immalleable substance ; ) yet to shew , how much the power of corroding may be taken away by changing the mechanical texture of a menstruum , even without seeming to destroy the fretting salts , i practis'd ( and communicated to divers virtuosi ) the following experiment , elsewhere mentioned to other purposes . we took equal parts of good aqua fortis , and highly dephlegm'd spirit of wine , and having mingled them warily and by degrees , ( without which caution the operation may prove dangerous , ) we united them by two or three distillations of the whole mixture ; which afterwards we found not to have the least fretting taste , and to be so deprived of its corrosive nature , that it would not work upon silver , though by precipitation or otherwise reduc'd to very small parts ; nay , it would scarce sensibly work in a good while on filings of copper , or upon other bodies , which meer vinegar , or perhaps rhenish wine will corrode . nay , i remember , that with another spirit , ( that was not urinous ) and afterwards with alkool of wine we shew'd a more surprizing specimen of the power of either destroying or debilitating the corrosiveness of a menstruum , and checking its operation . for , having caused a piece of copper plate to be put into one ounce of aqua fortis , when this liquor was eagerly working upon the metal , i caus'd an ounce of the alkool of wine , or the other spirit to be poured , ( which it should warily be ) upon the agitated mixture ; whose effervescence , at the first instant , seemed to be much increased , but presently after was checked , and the corrosiveness of the menstruum being speedily disabled or corrected , the remaining copper was left undissolved at the bottom . nor are these the onely acid menstruums that i have many years since been able to correct by such a way : for i applied it to others , as spirit of nitre , and even aqua regis it self ; but it has not an equal operation upon all , and least of all ( as far as i can remember ) upon spirit of salt ; as on the other side strong spirit of nitre was the menstruum upon which its effects were the most satisfactory . most of the chymists pretend , that the solutions of bodies are perform'd by a certain cognation and sympathy between the menstruum and the body it is to work upon . and it is not to be denied , that in divers instances there is , as it were , a consanguinity between the menstruum and the body to be dissolved ; as when sulphur is dissolved by oyls whether exprest or distill'd : but yet , as the opinion is generally proposed , i cannot acquiesce in it , partly because there are divers solutions and other phaenomena , where it will not take place , and partly because even in those instances wherein 't is thought most applicable , the effect seems to depend upon mechanical principles . exper. xii . and first , 't will be difficult to shew , what consanguinity there is between sal gem , and. antimony , and iron , and zinke , and bread , and camphire , and lapis calaminaris , and flesh of divers kinds , and oistershels , and harts-horn , and chalk , and quick-lime ; some of which beong to the vegetable , some to the mineral , and some to the animal kingdom ; and yet all of them and divers others ( as i have tried ) may , even without the assistance of external heat , be dissolved or corroded by one single mineral menstruum , oyl of vitriol . and which is not to be neglected on this occasion , some of them may be bodies , supposed by chymists to have an antipathy to each other in point of corrosion or dissolution . exper. xiii . i observe also , that a dissolution may be made of the same body by menstruums , to which the chymists attribute ( as i just now observed they did to some bodies ) a mutual antipathy , and which therefore are not like to have a sympathy with the same third body ; as i found by trial , that both aqua fortis , and spirit of urine , upon whose mixture there insues a conflict with a great effervescence , will each of them apart readily dissolve crude zinke , and so each of them will , the filings of copper . not to mention , that pure spirit of wine and oyl of vitriol , as great a difference as there is between them , in i know not how many respects , and as notable a heat as will insue upon their commixture , will each of them dissolve camphire ; to which may be added other instances of the like nature . as for what is commonly said , that oyls dissolve sulphur , and saline menstruums metals , because ( as they speak ) simile simili gaudet : i answer , that where there is any such similitude , it may be very probably ascribed , not so much , with the chymists that favour aristotle , to the essential forms of the bodies that are to work on each other , nor , with the meer chymists , to their salt , or sulphur , or mercury , as such ; but to the congruity between the pores and figures of the menstruum , and the body dissolved by it , and to some other mechanical affections of them . exper. xiv . for silver , for example , not onely will be dissolved by nitre which they reckon a salt , but be amalgam'd with , and consequently dissolved by , quicksilver , and also by the operation of brimstone , be easily incorporated with that mineral which chymists are wont to account of so oleaginous a nature , and insoluble in aqua fortis . exper. xv. and as for those dissolutions that are made with oylie and inflammable menstruums , of common sulphur and other inflammable bodies , the dissolution does not make for them so clearly as they imagine . for if such menstruums operate , as is alledged , upon the account of their being , as well as the bodies they work upon , of a sulphureous nature , whence is it that highly rectified spirit of wine , which according to them must be of a most sulphureous nature , since being set on fire 't will flame all away without leaving one drop behind it , will not ( unless perhaps after a tedious while ) dissolve even flowers of brimstone , which essential as well as express'd oyls will easily take up ; as spirit of wine it self also will do almost in a trice , if ( as we shall see anon ) by the help of an alcali the texture of the brimstone be alter'd , though the onely thing that is added to the sulphur being an incombustible substance , is nothing near of so sulphureous a nature as the flowers , and need have no consanguinity upon the score of its origine with spirit of wine , as 't is alledged that salt of tartar has ; since i have tried , that fixt nitre , employ'd instead of it , will do the same . exper. xvi . the mention of nitre brings into my mind , that the salt peter being wont to be lookt upon by chymists as a very inflammable body , ought , according to them , to be of a very sulphureous nature ; yet we find not that 't is in chymical oyls , but in water , readily dissolved . and whereas chymists tell us , that the solutions of alcaly's , such as salt of tartar , or of pot-ashes in common oyls , proceed from the great cognation between them , i demand , whence it happens , that salt of tartar will by boiling be dissolved in the exprest oyl of almonds , or of olives , and be reduc'd with it to a soapy body , and that yet with the essential oyl of juniper or aniseeds , &c. where what they call the sulphur is made pure and penetrant , being freed from the earthy , aqueous and feculent parts , which distillation discovers to be in the exprest oyls , you may boil salt of tartar twenty times as long without making any soap of them , or perhaps any sensible solution of the alkaly . and chymists know , how difficult it is , and how unsuccessfully 't is wont to be attempted to dissolve pure salt of tartar in pure spirit of wine , by digesting the not peculiarly prepar'd salt in the cognate menstruum . i will not urge , that , though the most conspicuous mark of sulphur be inflammability , and is in an eminent degree to be found in oyl as well as sulphur ; yet an alkaly and water which are neither singly , nor united inflammable , will dissolve common sulphur . exper. xvii . but to make it probable against the chymists , ( for i propose it but as an argument ad hominem ) that the solution of sulphur in exprest oyls depends upon somewhat else besides the abundance of the second principle in both the bodies ; i will adde to what i said before , an affirmation of divers chymical writers themselves , who reckon aqua regis , which is plainly a saline menstruum , and dissolves copper , iron , coral , &c. like acid liquors , among the solvents of sulphur , and by that power among other things distinguish it from aqua fortis . and on the other side if , there be a congruity betwixt an exprest oyl and another body , though it be such as , by its easie dissolubleness in acid salts , chymists should pronounce to be of a saline nature , an exprest oyl will readily enough work upon it ; as i have tried by digesting even crude copper in filings with oyl of sweet almonds , which took up so much of the metal as to be deeply coloured thereby , as if it had been a corrosive liquor : nay , i shall adde , that even with milk , as mild a liquor as 't is , i have found by trial , that without the help of fire a kind of dissolution may , though not in few hours , be made of crude copper , as appear'd by the greenish blew colour the filings acquired , when they had been well drenched in the liquor , and left for a certain time in the vessel , where the air had very free access to them . exper. xviii . besides the argument ad hominem , newly drawn from aqua regia , it may be proper enough to urge another of the same kind upon the generality of the helmontians and paracelsians , who admit what the heads of their sects deliver concerning the operations of the alkahest . for whereas 't is affirm'd , that this irresistible menstruum will dissolve all tangible bodies here below , so as they may be reduc'd into insipid water ; as on the one side 't will be very hard to conceive how a specificated menstruum that is determin'd to be either acid , or lixiviate , or urinous , &c. should be able to dissolve so great a variety of bodies of differing and perhaps contrary natures , in some whereof acids , in other lixiviate salts , and in others urinous are predominant ; so on the other side , if the alkahest be not a specificated menstruum , 't will very much disfavour the opinion of the chymists , that will have some bodies dissoluble onely by acids as such , others by fixt alkalys , and others again by volatile salts ; since a menstruum , that is neither acid , lixiviate , nor urinous , is able to dissolve bodies , in some of which one , and in others another of those principles is predominant : so that , if a liquor be conveniently qualified , it is not necessary that it should be either acid to dissolve pearl or coral , or alkalizate to dissolve sulphur . but upon what mechanical account an analyzing menstruum may operate , is not necessary to be here determin'd . and i elsewhere offer some thoughts of mine about it . exper. xix . if we duly reflect upon the known process that chymists are wont to employ in making mercurius dulcis , we shall find it very favourable to our hypothesis . for though we have already shewn in the v. experiment , and 't is generally confest , that common sublimate made of mercury is a highly corrosive body ; yet , if it be well ground with near an equal weight of quicksilver , and be a few times sublimed , ( to mix them the more exactly ) it will become so mild , that 't will not so much as taste sharp upon the tongue ; so that chymists are wont to call it mercurius dulcis : and yet this dulcification seems to be performed in a mechanical way . for most part of the salts , that made the sublimate so corrosive , abide in the mercurius duleis ; but by being compounded with more quicksilver , they are diluted by it , and ( which is more considerable ) acquire a new texture , which renders them unfit to operate , as they did before , when the fretting salts were not joyn'd with a sufficient quantity of the mercury to inhibit their corrosive activity . it may perhaps somewhat help us to conceive , how this change may be made , if we imagine , that a company of meer knife-blades be first fitted with hafts , which will in some regard lessen their wounding power by covering or casing them at that end which is design'd for the handle ; ( though their insertion into those hafts , turning them into knives , makes them otherwise the fitter to cut and pierce ) and that each of them be afterwards sheathed , ( which is , as it were , a hafting of the blades too ; ) for then they become unfit to cut or stab , as before , though the blades be not destroyed : or else we may conceive these blades without hafts or sheaths to be tied up in bundles , or as it were in little faggots with pieces of wood , somewhat longer than themselves , opportunely placed between them . for neither in this new constitution would they be fit to cut and stab as before . and by conceiving the edges of more or fewer of the blades to be turn'd inwards , and those that are not , to have more or less of their points and edges to be sheath'd , or otherwise cover'd by interpos'd bodies , one may be help'd to imagine , how the genuine effects of the blades may be variously lessen'd or diversifi'd . but , whether these or any other like changes of disposition be fancy'd , it may be mechanical illustrations become intelligible , how the corrosive salts of common sublimate may lose their efficacy , when they are united with a sufficient quantity of quicksilver in mercurius dulcis : in which new state the salts may indeed in a chymical phrase be said to be satiated ; but this chymical phrase does not explicate how this saturation takes away the corrosiveness from salts that are still actually present in the sweet mercury . and by analogy to some such explications as the above propos'd , a possible account may be render'd , why fretting salts do either quite lose their sharpness , as alkalies , whilst they are imbodied with sand in common glass ; or lose much of their corrosive acidity , as oyl of vitriol does when with steel it composes vitriolum matris ; or else are transmuted or disguis'd by conjunction with some corroded bodies of a peculiar texture , as when aqua fortis does with silver make an extreamly bitter salt or vitriol , and with lead one that is positively sweet almost like common saccharum saturni . exper. xx. to shew , how much the efficacy of a menstruum may depend even upon such seemingly slight mechanical circumstances as one would not easily suspect any necessity of , i shall employ an experiment , which though the unpractis'd may easily fail of making well , yet , when i tried it after the best manner , i did it with good success . i put then upon lead a good quantity of well rectified aqua fortis , in which the metal , as i expected , continued undissolved ; though , if the chymists say truly that the dissolving power of the menstruum consists onely in the acid salts that it abounds with , it seems naturally to follow , that the more abundance of them there is in a determinate quantity of the liquor , it should be the more powerfully able to dissolve metalline and mineral bodies . and in effect we see , that , if corrosive menstruums be not sufficiently dephlegmed , they will not work on divers of them . but , notwithstanding this plausible doctrine of the chymists , conjecturing that the saline particles that swam in our aqua fortis might be more throng'd together , than was convenient for a body of such a texture of saline parts , and such intervals between them , i diluted the menstruum by adding to it what i thought fit of fair water , and then found , that the desired congruity betwixt the agent and the patient emerged , and the liquor quickly began to fall upon the metal and dissolve it . and if you would try an experiment to the same purpose , that needs much less circumspection to make it succeed , you may , instead of employing lead , reiterate what i elsewhere mention my self to have tried with silver , which would not dissolve in too strong aqua fortis , but would be readily fallen upon by that liquor , when i had weaken'd it with common water . and this it may suffice to have said at present of the power or faculty that is found in some bodies of corroding or dissolving others . whereof i have not found among the aristotelians , i have met with , so much as an offer at an intelligible account . and i the less expect the vulgar chymists will from their hypostatical principles afford us a satisfactory one , when , besides the particulars that from the nature of the things and helmont's writings have been lately alledg'd against their hypothesis , i consider , how slight accounts they are wont to give us even of the familiar phaenomena of corrosive liquors . for if , for example , you ask a vulgar chymist why aqua fortis dissolves silver and copper , 't is great odds but he will tell you , 't is because of the abundance of fretting salt that is in it , and has a cognation with the salts of the metal . and if you ask him , why spirit of salt dissolves copper , he will tell you 't is for the same reason ; and yet , if you put spirit of salt , though very strong , to aqua fortis , this liquor will not dissolve silver , because upon the mixture , the liquors acquire a new gonstitution as to the saline particles , by vertue of which the mixture will dissolve , instead of silver , gold. whence we may argue against the chymists , that the inability of this compounded liquor to work on silver does not proceed from its being weaken'd by the spirit of salt ; as well because , according to them , gold is far the more compact metal of the two , and requires a more potent menstruum to work upon it , as because this same compounded liquor will readily dissolve copper . and to the same purpose with this experiment i should alledge divers others , if i thought this the fittest place wherein i could propose them . sect . ii. about the mechanicall origine of corrosibility . corrosibility being the quality that answers corrosiveness , he that has taken notice of the advertisement i formerly gave about my use of the term corrosiveness in these notes , may easily judge , in what sense i employ the name of the other quality ; which ( whether you will stile it opposite or conjugate ) for want of a better word , i call corrosibility . this corrosibility of bodies is as well as their corrosiveness a relative thing ; as we see , that gold , for instance , will not be dissolved by aqua fortis , but will by aqua regis ; whereas silver is not soluble by the latter of these menstruums , but is by the former . and this relative affection , on whose account a body comes to be corrodible by a menstruum , seems to consist chiefly in three things , which all of them depend upon mechanical principles . of these qualifications the first is , that the body to be corroded be furnish'd with pores of such a bigness and figure , that the corpuscles of the solvent may enter them , and yet not be much agitated in them without giving brisk knocks or shakes to the solid parts that make up the walls , if i may so call them , of the pores . and 't is for want of this condition , that glass is penetrated in a multitude of places , but not dissipated or dissolv'd by the incident beams of light , which permeate its pores without any considerable resistance ; and though the pores and commissures of a body were less minute , and capable of letting in some grosser corpuscles , yet if these were , for want of solidity or rigidness , too flexible , or were of a figure incongruous to that of the pores they should enter , the dissolution would not insue ; as it happens when pure spirit of wine is in the cold put upon salt of tartar , or when aqua fortis is put upon powder of sulphur . the second qualification of a corrodible body is , that its consistent corpuscles be of such a bulk and solidity , as does not render them uncapable of being disjoyn'd by the action of the insinuating corpuscles of the menstruum . agreeable to this and the former observation is the practice of chymists , who oftentimes , when they would have a body to be wrought on by a menstruum otherwise too weak for it in its crude estate , dispose it to receive the action of the menstruum by previously opening it , ( as they speak ) that is , by enlarging the pores , making a comminution of the corpuscles , or weakening their cohesion . and we see , that divers bodies are brought by fit preparations to be resoluble in liquors that would not work on them before . thus , as was lately noted , lime-stone by calcination becomes ( in part ) dissoluble in water ; and some metalline calces will be so wrought on by solvents , as they would not be by the same agents , if the preparation of the metalline or other body had not given them a new disposition . thus , though crude tartar , especially in lumps , is very slowly and difficultly dissoluble in cold water , yet when 't is burnt it may be presently dissolved in that liquor ; and thus , though the filings and the calx of silver will not be at all dissolv'd by common water or spirit of wine ; yet if by the interposition of the saline particles of aqua fortis , the lunar corpuscles be so disjoyn'd , and suffer such a comminution as they do in crystals of lune , the metal thus prepared and brought with its saline additament into a new texture will easily enough dissolve , not onely in water , but , as i have tried , in well rectified spirit of wine . and the like solubility i have found in the crystals of lead made with spirit of verdigrease , or good distill'd vinegar , and in those of copper made with aqua fortis . the last disposition to corrosibility consists in such a cohesion of the parts , whereof a body is made up , as is not too strict to be superable by the action of the menstruum . this condition , though of kin to the former , is yet somewhat differing from it , since a body may consist of parts either bulky or solid , which yet may touch one another in such small portions of their surfaces , as to be much more easily dissociable than the minute or less solid parts of another body , whose contact is more full and close , and so their cohesion more strict . by what has been said it may seem probable , that , as i formerly intimated , the corrosibility of bodies is but a mechanical relation , resulting from the mechanical affectious and contexture of its parts , as they intercept pores of such sizes and figures as make them congruous to those of the corpuscles of the menstruum , that are to pierce between them , and disjoyn them . that the quality , that disposes the body it affects to be dissolv'd by corrosive and other menstruums , does ( as hath been declared ) in many cases depend upon the mechanical texture and affections of the body in reference to the menstruum that is to work upon it , may be made very probable by what we are in due place to deliver concerning the pores of bodies and figures of corpuscles . but yet in compliance with the design of these notes , and agreeably to my custom on other subjects , i shall subjoyn a few experiments on this occasion also . exper. i. if we put highly rectified spirit of wine upon crude sulphur , or even flowers of sulphur , the liquor will lie quietly thereon , especially in the cold , for many hours and days without making any visible solution of it ; and if such exactly dephlegmed spirit were put on very dry salt of tartar , the salt would lie in an undissolved powder at the bottom : and yet , if before any liquor be employed , the sulphur be gently melted , and then the alkali of tartar be by degrees put to it , and incorporated with it ; as there will result a new texture discoverable to the eye by the new colour of the composition , so there will emerge a disposition that was not before in either of the ingredients , to be dissolved by spirit of wine ; insomuch , that though the mixture be kept till it be quite cold , or long after too , provided it be carefully secur'd from the access of the air , the spirit of wine being put to it , and shaken with it , will , if you have gone to work aright , acquire a yellow tincture in a minute of an hour ; and perhaps in less than half a quarter of an hour a red one , being richly impregnated with sulphureous particles discoverable by the smell , taste , and divers operations . exper. ii. [ 't is known to several chymists , that spirit of salt does not dissolve crude mercury in the cold ; and i remember , i kept them for a considerable time in no contemptible heat without finding any solution following . but i suppose , many of them will be gratified by an experiment once mention'd to me by an ingenious german gentleman , namely . that if mercury be precipitated per se , that is , reduc'd to a red powder without additament , by the meer operation of the fire , the texture will be so chang'd , that the above-mention'd spirit will readily dissolve it ; for i found it upon trial to do so ; nay , sometimes so readily , that i scarce remember that i ever saw any menstruum so nimbly dissolve any metalline body whatsoever . ] exper. iii. the former experiment is the more remarkable , because , that though oyl of vitriol will in a good heat corrode quicksilver , ( as we have already related in the first section , ) yet i remember i kept a precipitate per se for divers hours in a considerable degree of heat , without finding it to be dissolved or corroded by the menstruum . and yet having , for trials sake , put another parcel of the same mercurial powder into some aqua fortis , or spirit of nitre , there insued a speedy dissolution even in the cold . and that this disposition to be dissolved by spirit of salt , that mercury acquires by being turned into precipitate per se , that is , by being calcin'd , is not meerly the effect of the operation of the fire upon it , but of some change of texture produced by that operation ; may be probably argued from hence , that , whereas spirit of salt is a very proper menstruum , as i have often tried , for the dissolving of iron or steel ; yet , when that metal is reduced by the action of the fire ( especially if a kind of vitrification , and an irroration with distill'd vinegar have preceded ) to crocus martis , though it be thereby brought to a very fine powder , yet i found not , that , as spirit of salt will readily and with heat and noise dissolve filings of mars , so it would have the same or any thing near such an operation upon the crocus : but rather , after a good while , it would leave in the bottom of the glass a considerable , if not the greatest , part of it scarce , if at all , sensibly alter'd . and the menstruum seem'd rather to have extracted a tincture , than made an ordinary solution ; since the colour of it was a high yellow or reddish , whereas mars , dissolved in spirit of salt , affords a green solution . whether by repeated operations with fresh menstruum further dissolutions might in time be made , i had not occasion to try , and it may suffice for our present purpose , that mars by the operation of the fire did evidently acquire , not , as mercury had done , a manifest facility , but on the contrary , a great indisposition to be dissolved by spirit of salt. to second this experiment , we vary'd it , by employing , instead of spirit of salt , strong oyl of vitriol , which being pour'd on a little crocus martis made per se , did not , as that menstruum is wont to do upon filings of crude mars , readily and manifestly fall upon the powder with froth and noise , but ( on the contrary ) rested for divers hours calmly upon it , without so much as producing with it any sensible warmth . exper. iv. it agrees very well with our doctrine about the dependance of the corrosibility of bodies upon their texture , that from divers bodies , whilst they are in conjunction with others , there result masses , and those homogeneous as to sense , that are easily dissoluble in liquors , in which a great part of the matter , if it were separated from the rest , would not be at all dissolved . thus we see , that common vitriol is easily dissolved in meer water ; whereas if it be skilfully calcin'd , it will yield sometimes near half its first weight of insipid colcothar , which not onely is not soluble in water but which neither aqua fortis no aqua regis , though sometimes they will colour themselves upon it , are able ( as far as i have tried ) to make solutions of . we see likewise , that simple water will , being boil'd for a competent time with harts-horn , dissolve it and make a jelly of it : and yet , when we have taken harts-horn throughly calcin'd to whiteness , not onely we found that common water was no longer a fit solvent for it , but we observed , that when we put oyl of vitriol it self upon it , a good part of the white powder was even by that corrosive menstruum left undissolved . exper. v. in the fifteenth of the foregoing experiments i refer to a way of making the flower or powder of common sulphur become easily dissoluble , which otherwise 't is far from being , in highly rectified spirit of wine . wherefore i shall now adde , that 't is quickly perform'd by gently melting the sulphur , and incorporating with it by degrees an equal or a greater weight of sinely powder'd salt of tartar , or of fixt nitre . for if the mixture be put warm into a mortar that is so too ; and as soon as 't is reduc'd to powder , be put into a glass , and well shaken with pure spirit of wine , it will , ( as perhaps i may have elsewhere observed , ) in a few minutes acquire a yellow colour , which afterwards will grow deeper , and manifest it self by the smell and effects to be a real solution of sulphur ; and yet this solubleness in spirit of wine seems procur'd by the change of texture , resulting from the commixtion of meer salt of tartar , which chymists know , to their trouble , to be it self a body almost as difficult as sulphur to be dissolved in phlegmless spirit of wine , unless the constitution of it be first alter'd by some convenient additament . which last words i adde , because , though spirit of verdigrease be a menstruum that uses to come off in distillation much more intirely than other acid menstruums from the bodies it has dissolved ; yet it will serve well for an additament to open ( as the chymists speak ) the body of the salt of tartar. for this purpose i employ spirit of verdigrease , not made first with spirit of vinegar , and then of wine , after the long and laborious way prescribed by basilius and zwelfer , but easily and expeditiously by a simple distillation of crude verdigrease of the better sort . for when you have with this liquor ( being , if there be need , once rectified ) dissolv'd as much good salt of tartar , as 't will take up in the cold , if you draw off the menstruum ad siccitatem , the remaining dry salt will be manifestly alter'd in texture even to the eye , and will readily enough in high rectified spirit of wine afford a solution , which i have found considerable in order to divers uses that concern not our present discourse . exper. vi. to the consideration of the followers of helmont i shall recommend an experiment of that famous chymist's , which seems to sute exceeding well with the doctrine propos'd in this section . for he tells us , that , if by a subtle menstruum to which he ascribes that power , quicksilver be devested ( or depriv'd ) of its external sulphur , as he terms it , all the rest of the fluid metal , which he wittily enough stiles , the kernel of mercury , will be no longer corrosible by it . so that upon this supposition , though common quicksilver be observ'd to be so obnoxious to aqua fortis , that the same quantity of that liquor will dissolve more of it , than of any other metal ; yet , if by the deprivation of some portion of it the latent texture of the metal be alter'd , though not ( that i remember ) the visible appearance of it ; the body that was before so easily dissolved by aqua fortis , ceases to be at all dissoluble by it . exper. vii . as for those chymists of differing sects , that agree in giving credit to the strange things that are affirm'd of the operations of the alkahest , we may in favour of our doctrine urge them with what is deliver'd by helmont , where he asserts , that all solid bodies , as stones , minerals , and metals themselves , by having this liquor duly abstracted or distill'd off from them , may be changed into salt , equiponderant to the respective bodies whereon the menstruum was put . so that supposing the alkahest to be totally abstracted , ( as it seems very probable to be , since the weight of the body whence 't was drawn off is not alter'd ; ) what other change than of texture can be reasonably imagin'd to have been made in the transmuted bodies ? and yet divers of them , as flints , rubies , saphyrs , gold , silver , &c. that were insoluble before , some of them in any known menstruums , and others in any but corrosive liquors , come to be capable of being dissolv'd in common water . exper. viii . 't is a remarkable phaenomenon , that suits very well with our opinion about the interest of mechanical principles in the corrosive power of menstruums , and the corrosibility of bodies , that we produc'd by the following experiment : this we purposely made to shew , after how differing manners the same body may be dissolv'd by two menstruums , whose minute parts are very differingly constituted and agitated . for whereas 't is known , that if we put large grains of sea-salt into common water , they will be dissolved therein calmly and silently without any appearance of conflict ; if we put such grains of salt into good oyl of vitriol , that liquor will fall suriously upon them , and produce for a good while a hissing noise with fumes , and a great store of bubbles , as if a potent menstruum were corroding some stubborn metal or mineral . and this experiment i the rather mention , because it may be of use to us on divers other occasions . for else 't is not the onely , though it be the remarkablest , that i made to the same purpose . exper. ix . for , whereas aqua fortis or aqua regis , being pour'd upon filings of copper , will work upon them with much noise and ebullition , i have tried , that good spirit of sal armoniac or urine , being put upon the like filings , and left there without stopping the glass , will quickly begin to work on them , and quietly dissolve them almost as water dissolves sugar . to which may be added , that even with oyl of turpentine i have , though but slowly , dissolved crude copper ; and the experiment seemed to favour our conjecture the more , because having tried it several times , it appear'd , that common unrectified oyl would perform the solution much quicker than that which was purified and subtiliz'd by rectification ; which though more subtle and penetrant , yet was , it seems , on that account less fit to dissolve the metal , than the grosser oyl whose particles might be more solid or more advantageously shap'd , or on some other mechanical account better qualified for the purpose . exper. x. take good silver , and , having dissolv'd it in aqua fortis , precipitate it with a sufficient quantity of good spirit of salt ; then having wash'd the calx , which will be very white , with common water , and dried it well , melt it with a moderate fire into a fusible mass , which will be very much of the nature of what chymists call cornu lunae , and which they make by precipitating dissolv'd silver with a bare solution of common salt made in common water . and whereas both spirit of salt and silver dissolv'd in aqua fortis will each of them apart readily dissolve in simple water , our luna cornea not onely will not do so , but is so indispos'd to dissolution , that i remember i have kept it in digestion , some in aqua fortis , and some in aqua regia , and that for a good while , and in no very faint degree of heat , without being able to dissolve it like a metal , the menstruums having indeed ting'd themselves upon it , but left the composition undissolv'd at the bottom . with this instance ( of which sort more might be afforded by chymical precipitations ) i shall conclude what i design'd to offer at present about the corrosibility of bodies , as it may be consider'd in a more general way . for as to the disposition that particular bodies have of being dissolved in , or of resisting , determinate liquors , it were much easier for me to enlarge upon that subject , than it was to provide the instances above recited . and these are not so few , but that 't is hop'd they may suffice to make it probable , that in the relation betwixt a solvent and the body it is to work upon , that which depends upon the mechanical affections of one or both , is much to be consider'd , and has a great interest in the operations of one of the bodies upon the other . finis . of the mechanical causes of chymical precipitation . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. advertisement though i shall not deny , that , in grammatical strictness , precipitation should be reckoned among chymical operations , not qualities , yet i did not much scruple to insert the following discourse among the notes about particular qualities , because many , if not most , of the phaenomena , mentioned in the ensuing essay , may be considered as depending , some of them upon a power , that certain bodies have to cause precipitation , and some upon such a disposition to be struck down by others , as may , if men please , be called precipitability . and so these differing affections may with ( at least ) tolerable congruity be referred to those that we have elsewhere stiled chymical qualities . but though i hope , i may in these few lines have said enough concerning the name given to these attributes , yet perhaps it will be found in time , that the things themselves may deserve a larger discourse than my little leasure would allow them . for that is not a causeless intimation of the importance of the subject , wherewith i conclude the following tract , since besides that many more instances might have been particularly referred to the heads treated of in the insuing essay , there are improper kinds of precipitation ( besides those mentioned in the former part of the discourse ) to which one may not incongruously refer divers of the phaenomena of nature , as well in the greater as in the lesser world , whereof either no causes at all , or but improper ones are wont to be given . and besides the simple spirits and salts usually employed by chymists , there are many compounded and decompounded bodies not only factitious but natural , ( and some such as one would scarce suspect ) that may in congruous subjects produce such precipitations , as i speak of . and the phaenomena and consequents of such operations may in divers cases prove conducive both to the discovery of physical causes , and the production of useful effects ; though the particularizing of such phaenomena do rather belong to a history of precipitations , than to such a discourse as that which follows , wherein i proposed not so much to deliver the latent mysteries , as to investigate the mechanical causes of precipitation . of the mechanical causes of chymical precipitation . chap. i. by precipitation is here meant such an agitation or motion of a heterogeneous liquor , as in no long time makes the parts of it subside , and that usually in the form of a powder or other consistent body . as , on many occasions , chymists call the substance that is made to fall to the bottom of the liquor , the precipitate ; so for brevity sake we shall call the body that is put into the liquor to procure that subsiding , the precipitant ; as also that which is to be struck down , the precipitable substance or matter , and the liquor wherein it swims before the separation , the menstruum or solvent . when a hasty fall of a heterogeneous body is procured by a precipitant , the operation is called precipitation in the proper or strict sense : but when the separation is made without any such addition , or the substance , separated from the fluid part of the liquor , instead of subsiding emerges , then the word is used in a more comprehensive , but less proper , acceptation . as for the causes of precipitation the very name it self in its chymical sense having been scarce heard of in the peripatetic schools , it is not to be expected , that they should have given an account of the reasons of the thing . and 't is like , that those few aristotelians , that have , by their converse with the laboratories or writings of chymists , taken notice of this operation , would , according to their custom on such occasions , have recourse for the explication of it to some secret sympathy or antipathy between the bodies whose action and reaction intervenes in this operation . but if this be the way proposed , of accounting for it , i shall quickly have occasion to say somewhat to it in considering the ways proposed by the chymists , who were wont to refer precipitation , either , as is most usual , to a sympathy betwixt the precipitating body and the menstruum which makes the solvent run to the embraces of the precipitant , and so let fall the particles of the body sustained before ; or ( with others ) to a great antipathy or contrariety between the acid salt of the menstruum and the fixed salt of the oil , or solution of calcined tartar , which is the most general and usual precipitant they imploy . but i see not , how either of these causes will either reach to all the phaenomena that have been exhibited , or give a true account even of some of those , to which it seems applicable . for first , in precipitations , wherein what they call a sympathy between the liquors , is supposed to produce the effect , this admired sympathy does not ( in my apprehension ) evince such a mysterious occult quality as is presumed , but rather consists in a greater congruity as to bigness , shape , motion and pores of the minute parts between the menstruum and the precipitant , than between the same solvent and the body it kept before dissolved . and though this sympathy rightly explained may be allowed to have an interest in some such precipitations as let fall the dissolved body in its pristine nature and form , and only reduced into minute powder ; yet i find not , that in the generality of precipitations this doctrine will hold ; for in some that we have made of gold and silver in proper menstruums , after the subsiding matter had been well washed and dried , several precipitates of gold made , some with oil of tartar , which abounds with a fixed salt , and is the usual precipitant , and some with an urinous spirit , which works by vertue of a salt highly fugitive or volatile , i found the powder to exceed the weight of the gold and silver i had put to dissolve ; and the eye it self sufficiently discovers such precipitates not to be meer metalline powders , but compositions , whose consisting , not ( as hath been by some body suspected ) of the combined salts alone , but of the metalline parts also , may be strongly concluded not only from the ponderousness of divers of them in reference to their bulk , but also manifestly from the reduction of true malleable metals from several of them . chap. ii. the other chymical way of explicating precipitations may , in a right sence , be made use of by a naturalist on some particular occasions . but i think it much too narrow and defective , as 't is in a general way proposed , to be fit to be acquiesced in . for first 't is plain , that 't is not only salt of tartar and other fixed alcalies that precipitate most bodies that are dissolved in acid menstruums ; as in making of aurum fulminans , oil of tartar precipitates the gold out of aqua regis : but acid liquors themselves do on many occasions no less powerfully precipitate metals and other bodies out of one another . thus spirit of salt , ( as i have often tried ) precipitates silver out of aqua fortis : the corrosive spirit of nitre copiously precipitates that white powder whereof they make bezoardicum minerale : spirit or oil of sulphur made by a glass-bell precipitates corals , pearls , &c. dissolved in spirit of vinegar , as is known to many chymists , who now use this oleum sulphuris per campanam , to make the magistery of pearls , &c. for which vulgar chymists imploy oleum tartari per deliquium . i have sometimes made a menstruum , wherein though there were both acid and alcalizate salts ; yet i did not find , that either acid spirits or oil of tartar , or even spirit of urine would precipitate the dissolved substances . and i have observed , both that salts of a contrary nature will precipitate bodies out of the same menstruum , as not only salt of tartar , but sea-salt being dissolved , will precipitate each other , and each of them apart will precipitate silver out of aqua fortis ; and that even , where there is a confessed contrariety betwixt two liquors , it may be so ordered , that neither of them shall precipitate what is dissolved by the other ; of which i shall have occasion to give ere long a remarkable instance . but it will best appear , that the abovementioned theories of the peripateticks and chymists are at least insufficient to solve the phaenomena ( many of which were probably not known to most of them , and perhaps not weigh'd by any , ) if we proceed to observe the mechanical ways , by which precipitations may be accounted for ; whereof i shall at present propose some number , and say somewhat of each of them apart ; not that i think all of them to be equally important and comprehensive , or that i absolutely deny , that any one of them may be reduced to some of the other ; but that i think , it may better elucidate the subject , to treat of them severally , when i shall have premised , that i wouldnot thence infer , that though , for the most part , nature does principally effect precipitations by one or other of these ways , yet in divers cases she may not imploy two or more of them about performing the operation . to precipitate the corpuscles of a metal out of a menstruum , wherein being once throughly dissolved it would of it self continue in that state , the two general ways that the nature of the thing seems to suggest to him that considers it , are , either to add to the weight or bulk of the dissolved corpuscles , and thereby render them unfit to accompany the particles of the menstruum in their motions ; or to weaken the sustaining power of the menstruum , and thereby disable it to keep the metalline particles swimming any longer : which falling of the deserted parts of the metal or other bodie , does oftentimes the more easily insue , because in many cases , when the sustaining particles of the menstruum come to be too much weakned , that proves an occasion to the metalline corpuscles , disturbed in the former motion that kept them separate , to make occursions and coalitions among themselves , and their fall becomes the effect , though not equally so , of both ways of precipitation ; as on the other side , there are several occasions on which the same precipitant , that brings the swimming particles of the metal to stick to one another , does likewise , by mortifying or disabling the saline spirits or other parts of the solvent , weaken the sustaining power of that liquor . chap. iii. to descend now to the distinct considerations about these two ways : the first of the most genera causes of precipitation is such a cohaesion procured by the precipitant in the solution , as makes the compounded corpuscles , or at least the associated particles of the dissolved body , too heavy to be sustained , or too bulky to be kept in a state of fluidity by the liquor . that in many precipitations there is made a coalition betwixt the small parts of the precipitant and those of the dissolved metal , or other body , and frequently also with the saline spirits of the menstruum , may be easily shewn by the weight of the precipitate , which though carefully washed and dryed , often surpasses , and sometimes very considerably , that of your crude metal that was dissolved ; of which we lately gave an instance in aurum fulminans and precipitated silver ; & we may yet give a more conspicuous one , in that which chymists call luna cornea : for , if having dissolved silver in good aqua fortis , you precipitate it with the solution of sea-salt in fair water , and from the very white precipitate wash the loose adhering salts , the remaining powder , being dryed and slowly melted , will look much less like a metalline body than like a piece of horn , whence also it takes its name ; so considerable is the additament of the saline to the metalline particles . and that part of such additaments is , retained , may not only be found by weighing , but in divers cases may be argued from what is obvious to the eye : as if you dissolve mercury in aqua fortis , and into the philtrated solution drop spirit of salt , or salt-water , or an urinous spirit , as of sal armoniac , you will have a very white precipitate ; but if instead of any of these , you drop-in deliquated salt of tartar , your precipitate will be of a brick or orange colour . from which experiment and some others i would gladly take a rise to perswade chymists and physitians , that 't is not so indifferent , as those seem to think who look on precipitation butas a kind of comminution , by what means the precipitation is performed . for by reason of the strict adhesion of divers saline particles of the precipitant and the solvent , the precipitated body , notwithstanding all the wonted ablutions , may have its qualities much diversified by those of the particles of the liquors , when these are fitted to stick very fast to it . which last words i add , because , though that sometimes happens , yet it does not always , there being a geater difference than every body takes notice of between precipitations ; as you will be induced to think , if you precipitate the solution of silver with copper , with spirit of sal armoniac , with salt water , with oil of tartar , with quick-silver , with crude tartar and with zink . and in the lately proposed example , you will think it probable , that 't is not all one , whether to dissolved mercury or silver , you imploy the subtile distilled spirits of salt , or the gross body , whether in a dry form , or barely dissolved in common water . and thus much of the conduciveness of weight to the striking down the corpuscles of a dissolved body . that also the bulk of a body may very much contribute to make it sink or swim in a liquor , appears by obvious instances . thus salt or sugar , being put into water either in lumps or even in powder that is but gross , falls at first to the bottom , and lies there , notwithstanding the air that may be intercepted between its parts or externally adhere to it . but when by the infinuating action of the water it is dissolved into minute particles , these are carried up and down with those of the liquor and subside not . the like happens , when a piece of silver is cast into aqua fortis , and in many other cases . on the other side i have several times observed , that some bodies that had long swam in a menstruum , whilst their minute parts were kept from convening in it , did afterwards by the coalition of many of those particles into bodies of a visible bulk coagulate and subside , ( though sometimes , to hinder the evaporation of the menstruum , the vessels were kept stopt . ) of this i elsewhere mention divers examples ; and particularly in urinous and animal spirits , well dephlegm'd , i have found , that after all had for a considerable time continued in the form of a perfect liquor , and as to sense homogeneous , store of solid corpuscles , convening together , setled at the bottom of the glasses in the form of saline crystals . having also long kept a very red solution of sulphur first unlock'd , ( as they speak ) made with highly rectified spirit of urine , i observed , that at length the sulphureous particles , making little concretions between themselves , totally subsided and left the liquor almost devoid of tincture . by which you may see , that 't was not impertinent to mention ( as i lately did ) among the subordinate causes of precipitation , the associating of the particles of a dissolved body with one another . of which i elsewhere give a notable example in the shining powder that i obtained from gold dissolved in a peculiar menstruum , without any precipitant , by the coalition of the metalline particles , to which a tract of time gave opportunity to meet and adhere in a convenient manner . if in what the chymists call presipitate per se , the mercury be indeed brought to lose its fluidity , and become a powder without being compounded with any additional body , ( which doubt i elsewhere state and discourse of ) it will afford us a notable instance to prove , that the coalitions of particles into clusters of the self same matter will render them unfit for the motion requisite to fluidity . for in this odd precipitation by fire , wherein the same menstruum is both the liquor and the precipitate , being not all made at once , the corpuscles that first disclose themselves by their redness , are rejected by those of the mercury that yet remains fluid , as unable to accompany them in the motions that belong to mercury as such . chap. iv. before i dismiss that way of precipitating , that depends upon the unwieldiness which the precipitant gives to the body it is to strike down , it may not be impertinent , especially in reference to the foregoing part of this paper , to consider , that perhaps in divers cases the corpuscles of a dissolved body may be made unfit to be any longer sustained in the menstruum , though the precipitant adds very little to their bulk , or at least much more to their specific weight than to it . for i have elsewere shewn , that in divers solutions made of bodys by acid menstruums , there are either generated or extricated many small aerial particles ; and it will be easily granted , that these may be small enough to be detained in the pores of the liquor and be invisible there , if we consider , what a multitude of aerial and formerly imperceptible bubbles is afforded by common water in our pneumatical receivers , when the incumbent air that before pressed the liquor , is pumpt out . and if the corpuscles of the dissolved body have any little cavities or pores fit to lodge aerial particles , or have asperous surfaces , between whose prominent parts the generated air may conveniently lie ; in such cases , i say , these invisible bubbles may be lookt upon , as making with the solid corpuscles they adhered to , little aggregates much lighter in specie than the corpuscles themselves would be ; and consequently if the precipitant consist of particles of such a size and shape as are fit to expel these little bubbles , and lodge themselves in the cavities possessed by them before , there will be produced new aggregates composed of the corpuscles of the dissolved body and the particles of the precipitant ; which aggregates though they do take up very little or perhaps not at all more room ( takeing that word in a popular sense ) than those , whereof the aerial bubbles made a part , will yet be specifically heavier than the former aggregates were , and may thereby overcome the sustaining power of the menstruum . one thing more may be fit to be taken notice of before we pass on further , namely , that 't is upon the score of the specific gravity of a body , and not barely upon the action of the precipitant , that an aggregate or a convention of particles does rather fall to the bottom than rise to the top . for , though the agents that procured the coalition , make the cluster of particles become of a bulk too unwieldy to continue in the liquor as parts of it ; yet if each of them be lighter in specie than an equal bulk of the menstruum , or if they so convene as to intercept a sufficient number of little bubbles or aerial corpuscles between them , and so become lighter than as much of the menstruum as they take up the room of , they will not be precipitated but emerge ; as may be seen in the preparation of those magisteries of vegetables , i elswhere mention ; where some deeply colour'd plants being made to tinge plentifully the lixivium they are boyled in , are afterwards by the addition of alum made to curdle , as it were , into coloured concretions , which being ( totally or in part ) too big to swim as they did before they conven'd , and too light in comparison of the menstruum to subfide , emerge to the top and float there . an easier and neater example to the same purpose i remember i shewed by dissolving camphire in highly rectified spirit of wine , 'till the solution was very strong . for though the camphire , when put in lumps into the spirit , sunk to the bottom of it ; yet , when good store of water , ( a liquor somewhat heavier in specie than camphire , ) was poured upon the solution , the camphire quickly concreted and returned to its own nature , and within a while emerged to the top of the mingled liquors and floated there . these particulars i was willing to mention here , that i might give an instance or two of those precipitations , that i formerly spake of as improperly so called . and here i must not decline taking notice of a phaenomenon , that sometimes occurs in precipitations , and at first sight may seem contrary to our doctrine about them . for now and then it happens , that after some drops of the precipitant have begun a precipitation at the top or bottom of the solvent , one shakes the vessel , that the precipitant may be the sooner diffused through the other liquor , but then they are quickly surprized to find , that instead of hastning the compleat precipitation , the matter already precipitated disappears , and the solvent returns to be clear , or , as to sense , as uniform , as it was before the precipitant was put into it . bu this phaenomenon does not at all cross our theory . for , when this happens , though that part of the solvent , to which the precipitant reaches , is disabled for reasons mentioned in this discourse to support the dissolved body , yet this quantity of the precipitant is but small in proportion to the whole bulk of the solvent . and therefore , when the agitation of the vessel disperses the clusters of loosly concreted particles through the whole liquor , ( which is seldom so exactly proportioned to the body it was to work on , as to be but just strong enough to dissolve it ) that greater part of the liquor , to which before the shaking of the vessel the precipitant did not reach , may well be lookt upon as a fresh menstruum , which is able to mortifie or overpower the small quantity of the precipitant that is mingled with it , and so to destroy its late operation on the body dissolved , by which means the solution returns , as to sense , to its former state . which may be illustrated by a not unpleasant experiment , i remember i have long since made by precipitating a brick-coloured powder out of a strong solution of sublimate made in fair water . for this subsiding matter , being laid to dry in the philter , by which 't was separated from the water , would retain a deep but somewhat dirty colour ; and if then , putting it into the bottom of a wine glass , i poured upon it , either clear oil of vitriol , or some other strong acid menstruum , the alcalizat particles being disabled and swallowed up by some of the acid ones of the menstruum , the other acid ones would so readily dissolve the residue of the powder , that in a trice the colour of it would disappear and the whole mixture be reduced into a clear liquor , without any sediment at the bottom . thus much may suffice at present about the first general way of precipitating bodies out of the liquors they swam in . chap. v. the other of the two principal ways , by which precipitations may be effected , is the disabling of the solvent to sustain the dissolved body . there may be many instances , wherein this second way of effecting precipitations may be associated by nature with the first way formerly proposed ; but notwithstanding the cases , wherein nature may ( as i formerly noted ) imploy both the ways therein , yet in most cases they sufficiently differ , in regard that in the former way the subsiding of the dissolved body is chiefly , if not only , caused by the additional weight as well as action of the external precipitant ; whereas in most of the instances of the later way , the effect is produced either without salt of tartar , or any such precipitant , or by some other quality of the precipitant more than by its weight , or at least besides the weight it adds : though i forget not , that i lately gave an example of a shining powder of gold , that fell to the bottom of a menstruum without the help of an external precipitant : but that was done so slowly , that it may be disputed , whether it were a true precipitation ; and i alledged it not as such , but to shew , that the increased bulk of particles may make them unfit to swim in menstruums , wherein they swam whilst they were more minute . and the like answer may be accommodated to the precipitate per se newly mentioned . this premised , i proceed now to observe , that the general way , i last proposed , contains in it several subordinate wayes , that are more particular ; of which i shall now mention the chief that occur to me , and though but briefly , illustrate each of them by examples . and first a precipitation may be made , if the saline or other dissolving particles of the menstruum are mortified or rendred unfit for their former function , by particles of a precipitant that are of a contrary nature . thus gold and some other minerals , being dissolved in aqua regis , will be precipitated with spirit of urine and other such liquors abounding with volatile and salino-sulphureous corpuscles , upon whose account it is that they act ; whence these salts themselves , though cast into a menstruum in a dry form , will serve to make the like precipitations . and i the rather on this occasion mention urinous spirits than salt of tartar , because those volatile particles add much less of weight to the little concretions , which compose the precipitated powder . upon instances of this kind , many of the modern chymists have built that antipathy betwixt the salts of the solvent and those of the menstruum , to which they ascribe almost all precipitations . but against this i have represented something already , and shall partly now , and partly in the sequel of this discourse add some farther reasons of my not being satisfied with this doctrine . for , besides that 't is insufficient to reach many of the phaenomena of precipitations , ( as will ere long be shown , ) and besides that 't is not easie to make out , that there is any real antipathy betwixt inanimate bodies ; i consider , 1. that some of those menstruums , to which this antipathy is attributed , do after a short commotion ( whereby they are disposed to make convenient occursions and coalitions ) amicably unite into concretions participating of both the ingredients ; as i have somewhere shewn by an example purposely devis'd to make this out ; to do which i dropped a clear solution of fixed nitre , instead of the usual one of common salt , upon a solution of silver , in aqua-fortis : for the saline particles of the solvent and those of the precipitant , will , as i have elsewhere recirecited , for the most part friendly unite into such crystals of nitre for the main , as they were obtained from : and though this notion of the chymists , if well explained , be applicable to far more instances than the proposers of it seemed to have thought on , and may be made good use of in practice ; yet i take it to be such as is not true universally , and , where it is true , ought to be explicated according to mechanical principles . for , if the particles of the menstruum and those of the precipitant be so framed , that upon the action of the one upon the other , there will be produced corpuscles too big and unwieldy to continue in the state of fludity , there will insue a precipitation : but if the constitution of the corpuscles of the precipitating and of the dissolved body be such , that the precipitant also it self is fit to be a menstruum to dissolve that body in ; then , though there be an union of the salts of the precipitant and the metal ( or other solutum ) and perhaps of the solvent too , yet a precipitation will not necessarily follow , though the saline particles of the two liquors seemed , by the heat and ebullition excited between them upon their meeting , to exercise a great and mutual antipathy . to satisfie some ingenious men about this particular , i dissolved zink or speltar in a certain urinous spirit ; ( for , there are more than one that may serve the turn ; ) and then put to it a convenient quantity of a proper acid spirit ; but though there would be a manifest conflict thereby occasioned betwixt the two liquors ; yet the speltar remained dissolved in the mixture . and i remember , that for the same purpose i devised another experiment , which is somewhat more easie and more clear . i dissolved copper calcined perse , or even crude , in strong spirit of salt ; ( for unless it be such , it will not be so proper , ) and having put to it by degrees a good quantity of spirit of sal-armoniac or fermented urine , though there would be a great commotion with hissing and bubbles produced , the copper would not be precipitated , because this urinous spirit will as well as the salt , ( and much more readily ) dissolve the same metal , and it would be kept dissolved notwithstanding their operation on one another ; the intervening of which , and their action upon the metalline corpuscles , may be gathered from hence , that the green solution , made with spirit of salt alone , will by the supervening urinous spirits be changed either into a blewish green , or , if the proportion of this spirit be very great , into a rich blew almost like ultramarine . and from these two experiments we may probably argue , that when the precipitation of a metal &c. insues , it is not barely on the account of the supposed antipathy betwixt the salts , but because the causes of that seeming antipathy do likewise upon a mechanical account dispose the corpuscles of the confounded liquors so to cohere , as to be too unwieldy for the fluid part . chap. vi. another way , whereby the dissolving particles of a menstruum may be rendred unfit to sustain the dissolved body , is to present them another that they can more easily work on . a notable experiment of this you have in the common practice of refiners , who , to recover the silver out of lace and other such mixtures wherein it abounds , use to dissolve it in aqua fortis , and then in the solution leave copper plates for a whole night ( or many hours . ) but if you have a mind to see the experiment without waiting so long , you may imploy the way , whereby i have often quickly dispatched it . as soon then as i have dissolved a convenient quantity , which needs not be a great one , of silver in cleansed aqua fortis , i add twenty or twenty five times as much of either distilled water or rain water ; ( for though common water will sometimes do well , yet it seldome does so well ; ) and then into the clear solution i hang by a string a clean piece of copper , which will be presently covered with little shining plates almost like scales of fish , which one may easily shake off and make room for more . and this may illustrate what we formerly mentioned about the subsiding of metalline corpuscles , when they convene in liquors , wherein , whilst they were dispersed in very minute parts , they swam freely . for in this operation the little scales of silver seemed to be purely metalline , and there is no saline precipitant , as salt of tartar or of urine , imployed to make them subside . upon the same ground , gold and silver dissolved in their proper menstruums may be precipitated with running mercury ; and if a solution of blew vitriol ( such as the roman , east-indian , or other of the like colours ) be made in water , a clean plate of steel or iron being immersed in it , will presently be overlaid with a very thin case of copper-which after a while will grow thick , er ; but does not adhere to the iron so loosely as to be shaken off , as the precipitated silver newly mentioned may be from the copper-plates whereto it adheres . and that in these operations the saline particles may really quit the dissolved body , and work upon the precipitant , may appear by the lately mentioned practice of refiners , where the aqua-fortis , that forsakes the particles of the silver , falls a working upon the copper-plates imployed about the precipitation , and dissolves so much of them as to acquire the greenish blew colour of a good solution of that metal . and the copper we can easily again without salts obtain by precipitation out of that liquor with iron , and that too , remaining dissolved in its place , we can precipitate with the tastless powder of another mineral . besides these two ways of weakning the menstruum , namely , by mortifying its saline particles or seducing them to work on other bodies , and to forsake those they first dissolved , there are some other ways of weakning the menstruum . a third way of effecting this , is by lessening or disturbing the agitation of the solvent . and indeed since we find by experience , that some liquors when they are heated , will either dissolve some bodies they would not dissolve at all when they were cold , or dissolve them more powerfully or copiously when hot than cold ; 't is not unreasonable to suppose , that what considerably lessens that agitation of the parts of the menstruum that is necessary to the keeping the dissolved body in the state of fluidity , should occasion the falling of it again to the bottom . in slow operations i could give divers examples of the precipitating power of cold ; there being divers solutions and particularly that of amber-greece , that i had kept fluid all the summer , which in the winter would subside . and the like may be sometimes observed in far less time in the solutions of brimstone made in certain oleaginous menstruums ; and i have now & then had some solutions , and particularly one of benzoin made in spirit of wine , that would surprize me with the turbidness ( which begins the state of precipitation ) it would acquire upon a sudden change of the weather towards cold , though it were not in the winter season . another way of weakening the menstruum and so causing the precipitation of a body dissolved in it , is the diluting or lessening the tenacity of it , whether that tenacity proceed from viscosity or the competent number and constipation of the parts . of this we have aninstance in the magisteries ( as many chymists are pleased to call them ) of jalap , benzion , and of divers others , resinous and gummous bodies dissolved in spirit of wine . for by the affusion of common water , the menstruum being too much diluted is not able to keep those particles in the state of fluidity , but must suffer them to subside , ( as they usually do in the form of white powder , ) or , ( as it may happen sometimes , ) make some parts emerge . examples also of this kind are afforded us by the common preparations of mercurius vitae . for though in oil of antimony , made by the rectification of the butter , the saline particles are so numerous and keep so close to one another , that they are able to sustain the antimonial corpuscles they carried over with them in distillation , and keep them together with themselves in the form of a liquor ; yet when by the copious affusion of the water , those sustaining particles are separated and removed to a distance from each other , the antimonial corpuscles and the mercurial ( if any such there were , ) being of a ponderous nature , will easily subside into that emetic powder , which , ( when well washed ) the chymists flatteringly enough call mercurius vitae . but here i must interpose an advertisement , which will help to shew us , how much precipitations depend upon the mechanical contextures of bodies . for , though not only in the newly recited examples , but in divers others , the affusion of water , by diluting the salts and weakenning the menstruum , makes the metall or other dissolved body fall precipitately to the bottom ; yet if the saline particles of the solvent , and those of the body be fitted for so strict an union , that the corpuscles resulting from their coalitions will not so easily be separated by the particles of water , as suffer themselves to be carried up and down with them , whether because of the minuteness of these compounded corpuscles , or because of some congruity betwixt them and those of the water ; they will not be precipitated out of the weakened solution , but still continue a part of it ; as i have tryed partly with some solution of silver and gold , made in acid menstruums , but much more satisfactorily in solutions of copper , made in the urinous spirit of sal armoniac . for , though that blew solution were diluted with many thousand times as much distilled water as the dissolved metal weighed ; yet its swimming corpuscles did by their colour manifestly appear to be dispersed through the whole liquor . chap. vii . but , to prosecute our former discourse , which we broke off after the mention of mercurius vitae , 't will now be seasonable to add , that we have made divers other precipitations , by the bare affusion of water , out of solutions , and sometimes out of distilled liquors ; which , for brevity sake , i here omit , that i may hasten to the last way i shall now stay to mention . another way then , whereby precipitations of bodies may be produced by debilitating the menstruum they swim in , is by lessening the proportion of the solvent to the solutum , without any evaporation of the liquor . these last words i add , because that , when there is an obstruction or any other expulsion of the menstruum by heat , if it be total , 't is called exsiccation , as when dry salt of tartar is obtained from the filtrated lixivium of the calcined tartar ; and though the evaporation be not total , yet the effects of it are not wont to be reckoned amongst precipitations . and although the way , i am about to propose , if it be attentively considered , has much affinity with the foregoing , and the phaenomena may perhaps in some sort be reduced to them ; yet the instances that i shall name , having not , that i know , been thought of by others , and being such as every one would not deduce from what i have been mentioning , i shall add a word of the inducements i had to make the tryals , as well as of the success of them . considering then , that water will not dissolve salts indefinitely , but when it has received its due proportion , 't will then dissolve no more , but , if they be put into it , let them fall to the ground and continue undissolved ; and that if when water is satiated , any of the liquor be evaporated or otherwise wasted , it will in proportion let fall the salt it had already taken up ; i concluded , that if i could mingle with water any liquor , with which its particles would more readily associate than with those of salt , the depriving the solution of so many of its aqueous particles would be equivalent to the evaporation of as much water or thereabouts , as they , by being united , could compose . wherefore making a lixivium of distilled water or clean rain-water , and of salt of tartar so strong , that if a grain more were cast in it , it would lie undissolved at the bottom ; i put a quantity of this fiery lixivium into a slender cylindrical vessel , till it had therein reached such a height as i thought fit ; then taking as much as i thought sufficient of strong spirit of wine , that would burn every drop away , that so it might have no flegm nor water of its own , i poured this upon the saline solution , and shaking the liquors pretty well together to bring them to mix as well as i could , i laid the tube in a quiet place , and afterwards found , as i expected , that there was a pretty quantity of white salt of tartar fallen to the bottom of the vessel , which salt had been meerly forsaken by the aqueous particles that sustained it before , but forsook it to pass into the spirit of wine , wherewith they were more disposed to associate themselves ; which i concluded , because having , before i poured on this last named liquor , made a mark on the glass to shew how far the lixivium reached , i found ( what i looked for ) that after the precipitation , the lixivium , that remained yet strong enough to continue unmixed with the incumbent spirit , had its surface not where the mark shewed it had been before , but a considerable distance beneath it , the spirit of wine having gained in extent what it lost in strength by receiving so many aqueous particles into it . i chose to make this tryal rather with a lixivium of salt of tartar than with oyl of tartar per deliquium , because in this last named liquor the aqueous and saline particles are more closely combined and therefore more difficult to be separated than i thought they would be in a lixivium hastily made , though very strong . and though by much agitation i have sometimes obtained some salt of tartar from the above-mentioned oil ; yet the experiment succeeded nothing near so well with that liquor as with a lixivium . i made also the like tryal with exceedingly dephlegmed spirit of wine , and as strong a brine as i could make of common salt dissolved without heat in common water ; and i thereby obtained no despicable proportion of finely figured salt , that was let fall to the bottom . but this experiment , to be succesful , requires greater care in him that makes it , than the former needs . to confirm , and somewhat to vary this way of precipitation , i shall add , that having made a clear solution of choice gum arabic in common water , and poured upon it a little high rectified spirit of wine , on this occasion there was also made , and that in a trice , a copious precipitation of a light and purely white substance not unpleasant to behold . and for further confirmation i dissolved a full proportion of myrrhe in fair water , and into the filtrated solution , which was transparent , but of a high brown colour , i dropt a large proportion ( which circumstance is not to be omitted ) of carefully dephlegm'd spirit of wine , which according to expectation made a copious precipitate of the gum. and these instances i the rather set down in this place , because they seem to show , that simple water is a real menstruum , which may have its dissolving and sustaining virtue weakened by the accession of liquors , that are not doubted to be much stronger than it . by specifying the hitherto mentioned wayes , whereby precipitations may be mechanically performed and accounted for , i would by no means be thought to deny , that there may be some omitted here , which either others that shall consider the matter with more attention , or i my self , if i shall have leisure to do it , may think on . for i propose these but as the chief that occurr to my present thoughts ; and i forbear to add more instances to exemplifie them , because i would not injure some of my other papers , that have a greater right to those instances . only this i shall note in general , that the doctrine and history of precipitations , if well delivered , will be a thing of more extent and moment than seems hitherto to have been imagined ; since not only several of the changes in the blood and other liquors and juices of the humane body may thereby be the better understood ; and they prevented , or their ill consequences remedied ; but in the practical part of mineralogy divers usefull things may probably be performed by the assistance of such a doctrine and history . to keep which conjecture from seeming extravagant , i shall only here intimate , that 't is not alone in bodies that are naturally or permanently liquid , but in those solid and ponderous bodies , that are for a short time made so by the violence of the fire , that many of the things suggested by this doctrine may have place . for whilst divers of those bodies are in fusion , they may be treated as liquors ; and metalls , and perhaps other heterogeneous bodies may be obtained from them by fit though dry precipitants , as in some other writings i partly did , and may elsewhere yet further , declare . finis . experiments and notes about the mechanical production of magnetism . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1676. advertisement concerning the following notes about occult qualities . the following papers ( about magnetism and electricity ) would appear with less disadvantage , if the author's willingness and promise , that this tome should be furnished with notes about some occult qualities as well as about divers sorts of those that are presumed to be manifest , did not prevail with him to let the ensuing notes appear without those about the pores of bodies and figures of corpuscles , that should have preceded them , and some others that should have accompanied them . but the author chose rather to venture these papers abroad in the condition , such as 't is , they now appear in , than make those already printed about manifest qualities stay longer for accessions , which some troublesome accidents will not suffer him to hasten to the press ; and without which , he now fears this tome may swell to a more than competent bulk . experiments and notes about the mechanical production of magnetical qualities . though the vertues of the loadstone be none of the least famous of occult qualities , and are perhaps the most justly admired ; yet i shall venture to offer something to make it probable , that some , even of these , may be introduced into bodies by the production of mechanical changes in them . to make way for what i am to deliver to this purpose , it will be expedient to remove that general and settled prejudice , that has kept men from so much as thinking of any mechanical account of magnetisms , which is a belief , that these qualities do immediately ▪ flow from the substantial form of the loadstone , whose abstruse nature is disproportionate to our understandings . but for my part , i confess , i see no necessity of admitting this supposition , for i see , that a piece of steel fitly shaped and well excited , will , like a loadstone , have its determinate poles , and with them point at the north and south ; it will draw other pieces of iron and steel to it , and which is more , communicate to them the same kind , though not degree , of attractive and directive vertue it had it self , and will possess these faculties not as light and transient impressions , but as such setled and durable powers that it may retain them for many years , if the loadstone , to which it has been duly applied , were vigorous enough : of which sort i remember i have seen one ( and made some tryals with it ) that yielded an income to the owner , who received money from navigators and others for suffering them to touch their needles , swords , knives &c. at his excellent magnet . now , in a piece of steel or iron thus excited , 't is plain , that the magnetic operations may be regularly performed for whole years by a body , to which the form of a loadstone does not belong , since , as it had its own form before , so it retains the same still , continuing as malleable , fusible &c. as an ordinary piece of the same metal unexcited : so that , if there be introduced a fit disposition into the internal parts of the metal by the action of the load-stone , the metal , continuing of the same species it was before , will need nothing save the continuance of that acquired disposition to be cap●ble of performing magnetical operations ; and if this disposition or internal constitution of the excited iron be destroyed , though the form of the metal be not at all injured , yet the former power of attraction shall be abolished , as appears when an excited iron is made red hot in the fire , and suffered to cool again . and here give me leave to take notice of what i have elsewhere related to another purpose , namely that a loadstone may ( as i have more than once tryed ) be easily deprived by ignition of its power of sensibly attracting martial bodies , and yet be scarce , if at all , visibly changed , but continue a true loadstone in other capacities , which , according to the vulgar philosophy ought to depend upon its substantial form , and the loadstone thus spoiled may , notwithstanding this form , have its poles altered at pleasure like a piece of iron ; as i have elsewhere particularly declared . and i will confirm what i have been saying with an experiment that you do not perhaps expect ; namely , that though it be generally taken for granted ( without being contradicted that i know of by any man ) that , in a sound loadstone , that has never been injured by the fire , not only the attractive power , but the particular vertue that it has to point constantly , when left to it self , with one of its determinate extreams to one determinate pole , flowes immediately from the substantial or at least essential form ; yet this form remaining undestroyed by fire , the poles may be changed , and that with ease and speed . for among my notes about magnetical experiments , whence i borrow some passages of this paper , i find the following account . exper. iv. to shew that the virtue that a loadstone hath by this determinate pole or extream to attract , for example , the south-end of a poised needle , and with the opposite extream or pole the north-end of the same needle , i made among other tryals the following experiment . taking a very small fragment of a loadstone , i found , agreeably to my conjecture , that by applying sometimes one pole , sometimes the other , to that pole of ( a small but ) a very vigorous loadstone that was fit for my purpose , i could at pleasure , in a few minutes , change the poles of the little fragment , as i tryed by its operations upon a needle freely poised ; though by applying a fragment a pretty deal bigger , ( for in it self it appeared very small , ) i was not able in far more hours than i employed minutes before , to make any sensible change of the poles . this short memorial being added to the preceding part of this discourse , will , i hope , satisfie you , that how unanimously so ever men have deduced all magnetick operations from the form of the loadstone ; yet some internal change of pores or some other mechanical alterations or inward disposition , either of the excited iron or of the load-stone it self , may suffice to make a body capable or uncapable of exercising some determinate magnetical operations ; which may invite you to cast a more unprejudiced eye upon those few particulars , i shall now subjoin to make it probable , that even magnetical qualities may be mechanically produced or altered . exper. v. i have often observed in the shops of artificers , as smiths , turners of metals &c. that , when hardened and well tempered tools are well heated by attrition , if whilest they are thus warmed you apply them to filings or chips , as they call them , or thin fragments of steel or iron , they will take them up , as if the instruments were touched with a loadstone : but as they will not do so , unless they be thus excited by rubbing till they be warmed , by which means a greater commotion is made in the inner parts of he steel so neither would they retain so vigorous a magnetism as to support the little fragments of steel that stuck to them after they were grown cold again . which may be confirmed by what , if i much misremember not , i shewed some acquaintances of yours ; which was , that , by barely rubbing a conveniently shaped piece of steel against the floor till it had gained a sufficient heat , it would whilest it continued so , discover a manifest , though but faint attractive power , which vanished together with the adventitious heat . exper. vii . we elsewhere observe , which perhaps you also may have done , that the iron bars of windows , by having stood very long in an erected posture , may at length grow magnetical , so that , if you apply the north point of a poised and excited needle to the bottom of the bar , it will drive it away , & attract the southern ; and if you raise the magnetick needle to the upper part of the bar , and apply it as before , this will draw the northern extream , which the other end of the bar expelled ; probably because , as 't is elsewhere declared , the bar is in tract of time , by the continual action of the magnetical effluvia of the tarraqueous globe , turned into a kind of magnet , whose lower end becomes the north-pole of it , and the other the southern . therefore according to the magnetical laws , the former must expel the northern extream of the needle , and the later draw it . exper. viii . i have found indeed , and i question not but other observers may have done so too , that , if a bar of iron , that has not stood long in an erected posture , be but held perpendicular , the forementioned experiment will succeed , ( probably upon such an account as that i have lately intimated : ) but then this virtue , displayed by the extreams of the bar of iron , will not be at all permanent , but so transient , that , if the bar be but inverted and held again upright , that end which just before was the uppermost , and drew the north-end of the needle , will now , being lowermost , drive it away , which , as was lately observed , w●ll not happen to a bar which has been some years or other competent time kept in the same position . so that , since length of time is requisite to make the verticity of a bar of iron so durable & constant , that the same extream will have the same virtues in reference to the magnetical needle , whether you make it the upper end or the lower end of the bar , it seems not improbable to me , that by length of time the whole magnetick virtue of this iron may be increased , and consequently some degree of attraction acquired . and by this consideration i shall endeavour to explicate that strange thing , that is reported by some moderns to have happened in italy , where a bar of iron is affirmed to have been converted into a load-stone , whereof a piece was kept among other rarities in the curious aldrovandus his musaeum metallicum . for considering the greatness of its specific gravity , the malleableness and other properties , wherein iron differs from loadstone , i cannot easily believe , that , by such a way as is mentioned , a metal should be turned into a stone . and therefore , having consulted the book it self , whence this relation was borrowed , i found the story imperfectly enough delivered : the chiefest and clearest thing in it being , that at the top of the church of arimini a great iron-bar , that was placed there to support a cross of an hundred pound weight , was at length turned into a load-stone . but whether the reality of this transmutation was examined , and how it appeared that the fragment of the loadstone presented to aldrovandus was taken from that bar of iron , i am not fully satisfied by that narrative . therefore , when i remember the great resemblance i have sometimes seen in colour , besides other manifest qualities , betwixt some loadstones and some course or almost rusty iron , i am tempted to conjecture , that those that observed this iron-bar when broken to have acquired a strong magnetical virtue , which they dreamed not that tract of time might communicate to it , might easily be perswaded , by this virtue and the resemblance of colour , that the iron was turned into loadstone : especially they being prepossess'd with that aristotelian maxim , whence our author would explain this strange phaenomenon , that inter symbolum habentia facilis est transmutatio . but , leaving this as a bare conjecture , we may take notice , that what virtue an oblong piece of iron may need a long tract of time to acquire , by the help onely of its position , may be imparted to it in a very short time , by the intervention of such a nimble agent , as the fire . as may be often , though not always , observed in tongs , and such like iron utensils , that , having been ignited , have been set to cool , leaning against some wall or other prop , that kept them in an erected posture , which makes it probable that the great commotion of the parts , made by the vehement heat of the fire , disposed the iron , whilst it was yet soft , and had its pores more lax , and parts more pliable , disposed it , i say , to receive much quicker impressions from the magnetical effluvia of the earth , than it would have done , if it had still been cold . and 't is very observable to our present purpose , what differing effects are produced by the operation of the fire , upon two magnetick bodies according to their respective constitutions . for , by keeping a loadstone red-hot , though you cool it afterwards in a perpendicular posture , you may deprive it of its former power of manifestly attracting : but a bar of iron being ignited , and set to cool perpendicularly , does thereby acquire a manifest verticity . of which differing events i must not now stay to inquire , whether or no the true reason be , that the peculiar texture or internal constitution that makes a loadstone somewhat more than an ordinary ore of iron , ( which metal , as far as i have tried , is the usual ingredient of loadstones ) being spoiled by the violence of the fire , this rude agent leaves it in the condition of common iron , or perhaps of ignited iron-ore : whereas the fire does soften the iron it self ( which is a metal not an ore ) agitating its parts , and making them the more flexible , and by relaxing its pores , disposes it to be easily and plentifully pervaded by the magnetical steams of the earth , from which it may not improbably be thought to receive the verticity it acquires ; and this the rather , because , as i have often tryed , and elsewhere mentioned , if an oblong loadstone , once spoil'd by the fire , be thorowly ignited and cooled either perpendicularly , or lying horizontally north and south , it will , as well as a piece of iron handled after the same manner , be made to acquire new poles , or change the old ones , as the skilful experimenter pleases . but whatever be the true cause of the disparity of the fires operation upon a sound loadstone and a bar of iron , the effect seems to strengthen our conjecture , that magnetical operations may much depend upon mechanical principles . and i hope you will find further probability added to it , by some phaenomena recited in another paper , to which i once committed some promiscuous experiments and observations magnetical . exper. xii . if i may be allowed to borrow an experiment from a little tract * that yet lyes by me , and has been seen but by two or three friends , it may be added to the instances already given about the production of magnetism . for in that experiment i have shewn , how having brought a good piece of a certain kind of english oker , which yet perhaps was no fitter than other , to a convenient shape , though , till it was altered by the fire , it discovered no magnetical quality ; yet after it had been kept red-hot in the fire and was suffered to cool in a convenient posture , it was enabled to exercise magnetical operations upon a po●s'd needle . exper. xiii . as for the abolition of the magnetical vertue in a body endow'd with it , it may be made without destroying the substantial or the essential form of the body , and without sensibly adding , diminishing , or altering any thing in reference to the salt , sulphur and mercury , which chymists presume iron and steel , as well as other mixt bodies , to be composed of . for it has been sometimes observed , that the bare continuance of a loadstone it self in a contrary position to that , which , when freely placed , it seems to effect , has either corrupted or sensibly lessened the vertue of it . what i formerly observed to this purpose , i elsewhere relate , and since that having a loadstone , whose vigor was look'd upon by skilful persons as very extraordinary , and which , whilst it was in an artificers hand , was therefore held at a high rate , i was careful , being by some occasions call'd out of london , to lock it up , with some other rarities , in a cabinet , whereof i took the key along with me , and still kept it in my own pocket . but my stay abroad proving much longer than i expected , when , being returned to london , i had occasion to make use of this loadstone for an experiment , i found it indeed where i left it , but so exceedingly decayed , as to its attractive power , which i had formerly examin'd by weight , by having lain almost a year in an inconvenient posture , that if it had not been for the circumstances newly related , i should have concluded that some body had purposely got it out in my absence , and spoiled it by help of the fire , the vertue being so much impaired , that i cared little to employ it any more about considerable experiments . and this corruption of the magnetical vertue , which may in tract of time be made in a loadstone it self , may in a trice be made by the help of that stone in an excited needle . for 't is observ'd by magnetical writers , and my own trials purposely made have assured me of it , that a well pois'd needle , being by the touch of a good loadstone , excited and brought to turn one of its ends to the north and the other to the south , it may by a contrary touch of the same loadstone be deprived of the faculty it had of directing its determinate extreams to determinate poles . nay , by another touch ( or the same , and even without immediate contact , if the magnet be vigorous enough ) the needle may presently have its direction so changed , that the end , which formerly pointed to the north pole , shall now regard the south , and the other end shall instead of the southern , respect the northen pole . exper. xv. and to make it the more probable , that the change of the magnetism communicated to iron may be produc'd at least in good part by mechanical operations , procuring some change of texture in the iron ; i shall subjoyn a notable experiment of the ingenious doctor power , which when i heard of , i tryed as well as i could ; and though , perhaps for want of conveniency , i could not make it fully answer what it promised , yet the success of the trial was considerable enough to make it pertinent in this place , and to induce me to think , it might yet better succeed with him , whose experiment , as far as it concerns my present purpose , imports , that if a puncheon , as smiths call it , or a rod of iron , be , by being ignited and suffered to cool north and south , and hammered at the ends , very manifestly endow'd with magnetical vertue , this vertue will in a trice be destroyed , by two or three smart blows of a strong hammer upon the middle of the oblong piece of iron . but magnetism is so fertile a subject , that if i had now the leisure and conveniency to range among magnetical writers , i should scarce doubt of finding , among their many experiments and observations , divers that might be added to those above delivered , as being easily applicable to my present argument . and i hope you will find farther probability added to what has been said , to shew , that magnetical operations may much depend upon mechanical principles , by some phaenomena recited in another paper , to which i once committed some promiscuous experiments and observations magnetical . finis . experiments and notes about the mechanical origine or production of electricity . by the honourable robert boyle esq fellow of the r. society . london , printed by e. flesher , for r. davis bookseller in oxford . 1675. experiments and notes about the mechanical origine or production of electricity . that 't is not necessary to believe electrical attraction ( which you know is generally listed among occult qualities ) to be the effect of a naked and solitary quality flowing immediately from a substantial form ; but that it may rather be the effect of a material effluvium , issuing from , and returning to , the electrical body ( and perhaps in some cases assisted in its operation by the external air ) seems agreable to divers things that may be observ'd in such bodies and their manner of acting . there are differing hypotheses ( and all of them mechanical , propos'd by the moderns ) to solve the phaenomena of electrical attraction . of these opinions the first is that of the learned jesuite cabaeus , who , though a peripatetick and commentator on aristotle , thinks the drawing of light bodies by jet , amber , &c. may be accounted for , by supposing , that the steams that issue , or , if i may so speak , sally , out of amber , when heated by rubbing , discuss and expell the neighbouring air ; which after it has deen driven off a little way , makes as it were a small whirlwind , because of the resistance it finds from the remoter air , which has not been wrought on by the electrical steams ; and that these , shrinking back swiftly enough to the amber , do in their returns bring along with them such light bodies as they meet with in their way . on occasion of which hypothesis i shall offer it to be consider'd , whether by the gravity of the atmospherical air , surmounting the specifick gravity of the little and rarifi'd atmosphere , made about the amber by its emissions , and comprising the light body fasten'd on by them , the attraction may not in divers cases be either caused or promoted . another hypothesis is that proposed by that ingenious gentleman sir kenelm digby , and embraced by the very learned dr. browne , ( who seems to make our gilbert himself to have been of it ) and divers other sagacious men . and according to this hypothesis , the amber , or other electrick , being chas'd or heated , is made to emit certain rayes or files of unctuous steams , which , when they come to be a little cool'd by the external air , are somewhat condens'd , and having lost of their former agitation , shrink back to the body whence they sallied out , and carry with them those light bodies , that their further ends happen to adhere to , at the time of their retraction : as when a drop of oyl or syrup hangs from the end of a small stick , if that be dextrously and cauriously struck , the viscous substance will , by that impulse , be stretch'd out , and presently retreating , will bring along with it the dust or other light bodies that chanced to stick to the remoter parts of it . and this way of explaining electrical attractions is employ'd also by the learned gassendus , who addes to it , that these electrical rays ( if they may be so call'd ) being emitted several ways , and consequently crossing one another , get into the pores of the straw , or other light body to be attracted , and by means of their decussation take the faster hold of it , and have the greater force to carry it along with them , when they shrink back to the amber whence they were emitted . a third hypothesis there is , which was devised by the acute cartesius , who dislikes the explications of others , chiefly because he thinks them not applicable to glass , which he supposes unfit to send forth effluvia , and which is yet an electrical body ; and therefore attempts to account for electrical attractions by the intervention of certain particles , shap'd almost like small pieces of ribbond , which he supposes to be form'd of this subtile matter harbour'd in the pores or crevises of glass . but this hypothesis , though ingenious in it self , yet depending upon the knowledge of divers of his peculiar principles , i cannot intelligibly propose it in few words , and therefore shall refer you to himself for an account of it : which i the less scruple to do , because though it be not unworthy of the wonted acureness of the authour , yet he seems himself to doubt , whether it will reach all electrical bodies ; and it seems to me , that the reason why he rejects the way of explicating attraction by the emission of the finer parts of the attrahent ( to which hypothesis , if it be rightly proposed , i confess my self very inclinable ) is grounded upon a mistake , which , though a philosopher may , for want of experience in that particular , without disparagement fall into , is nevertheless a mistake . for whereas our excellent author says , that electrical effluvia , such as are supposed to be emitted by amber , wax , &c. cannot be imagin'd to proceed from glass , i grant the supposition to be plausible , but cannot allow it to be true . for as solid a body as glass is , yet if you but dextrously rub for two or three minutes a couple of pieces of glass against one another , you will find that glass is not onely capable of emitting effluvia , but such ones as to be odorous , and sometimes to be rankly stinking . but it is not necessary , that in this paper , where i pretend not to write discourses but notes , i should consider all that has been , or i think may be , said for and against each of the above-mentioned hypotheses ; since they all agree in what is sufficient for my present purpose , namely , that electrical attractions are not the effects of a meer quality , but of a substantial emanation from the attracting body : and 't is plain , that they all endeavour to solve the phaenomena in a mechanical way , without recurring to substantial forms , and inexplicable qualities , or so much as taking notice of the hypostatical principles of the chymists . wherefore it may suffice in this place , that i mention some phaenomena that in general make it probable , that amber , &c. draws such light bodies , as pieces of straw , hair , and the like , by vertue of some mechanical affections either of the attracting or of the attracted bodies , or of both the one and the other . 1. the first and most general observation is , that electrical bodies draw not unless they be warm'd ; which rule though i have now and then found to admit of an exception , ( whereof i elsewhere offer an account , ) yet , as to the generality of common electricks , it holds well enough to give much countenance to our doctrine , which teaches the effects of electrical bodies to be perform'd by corporeal emanations . for 't is known , that heat , by agitating the parts of a fit body , solicites it as it were to send forth its effluvia , as is obvious in odoriferous gums and perfumes , which , being heated , send forth their fragrant steams , both further and more copiously than otherwise they would . 2. next , it has been observ'd , that amber , &c. warm'd by the fire , does not attract so vigorously , as if it acquire an equal degree of heat by being chaf'd or rub'd : so that the modification of motion in the internal parts , and in the emanations of the amber , may , as well as the degree of it , contribute to the attraction . and my particular observations incline me to adde , that the effect may oftentimes be much promoted , by employing both these ways successively ; as i thought i manifestly found when i first warm'd the amber at the fire , and presently after chaf'd it a little upon a piece of cloth . for then a very few rubbings seem'd to excite it more than many more would otherwise have done : as if the heat of the fire had put the parts into a general , but confus'd , agitation ; to which 't was easie for the subsequent attrition ( or reciprocation of pressure ) to give a convenient modification in a body whose texture disposes it to become vigorously electrical . 3. another observation that is made about these bodies , is , that they require tersion as well as attrition ; and though i doubt whether the rule be infallible , yet i deny not but that weaker electricks require to be as well wip'd as chaf'd ; and even good ones will have their operation promoted by the same means . and this is very agreeable to our doctrine , since tersion , besides that it is , as i have sometimes manifestly known it , a kind or degree of attrition , frees the surface from those adherences that might choak the pores of the amber , or at least hinder the emanation of the steams to be so free and copious as otherwise it would be . 4. 't is likewise observ'd , that whereas the magnetical steams are so subtile , that they penetrate and perform their operation through all kind of mediums hitherto known to us ; electrical steams are like those of some odoriferous bodies , easily check'd in their progress , since 't is affirm'd by learned writers , who say they speak upon particular trial , that the interposition of the finest linnen or sarsnet is sufficient to hinder all the operation of excited amber upon a straw or feather plac'd never so little beyond it . 5. it has been also observed , that the effects of electrical attraction are weaken'd if the air be thick and cloudy ; and especially if the south-wind blows : and that electricks display their vertue more faintly by night than by day , and more vigorously in clear weather , and when the winds are northerly . all which the learned kircherus asserts himself to have found true by experience ; insomuch that those bodies that are but faintly drawn when the weather is clear , will not , when 't is thick and cloudy , be at all moved . 6. we have also observed , that divers concretes , that are notably electrical , do abound in an effluviable matter ( if i may so call it ) which is capable of being manifestly evaporated by heat and rubbing . thus we see , that most resinous gums , that draw light bodies , do also , being moderately solicited by heat , ( whether this be excited by the fire , or by attrition or contusion ) emit steams . and in pieces of sulphur conveniently shaped , i found upon due attrition a sulphureous stink . and that piece of amber which i most employ , being somewhat large and very well polish'd , will , being rub'd upon a piece of woollen cloth , emit steams , which the nostrils themselves may perceive ; and they sometimes seem to me not unlike those that i took notice of , when i kept in my mouth a drop or two of the diluted tincture ( or solution of the finer parts ) of amber made with spirit of wine , or of sal armoniac . 7. it agrees very well with what has been said of the corporeal emanations of amber , that its attractive power will continue some time after it has been once excited . for the attrition having caus'd an intestine commotion in the parts of the concrete , the heat or warmth that is thereby excited ought not to cease , as soon as ever the rubbing is over , but to continue capable of emitting effluvia for some time afterwards , which will be longer or shorter according to the goodness of the electric , and the degree of the antecedent commotion : which joyn'd together may sometimes make the effect considerable , insomuch that in a warm day , about noon , i did with a certain body , not much , if at all , bigger than a pea , but very vigorously attractive , move to and fro a steel needle freely poysed , about three minutes ( or the twentieth part of an hour ) after i had left off rubbing the attrahent . 8. that it may not seem impossible , that electrical effluvia should be able to insinuate themselves into the pores of many other bodies , i shall adde , that i found them subtile enough to attract not onely spirit of wine , but that fluid aggregate of corpuscles we call smoak . for having well lighted a wax-taper , which i preferr'd to a common candle to avoid the stink of the snuff , i blew out the flame ; and , when the smoak ascended in a slender stream , held , at a convenient distance from it , an excited piece of amber or a chafed diamond , which would manifestly make the ascending smoak deviate from its former line , and turn aside , to beat , as it were , against the electric , which , if it were vigorous , would act at a considerable distance , and seemed to smoak for a pretty while together . 9. that 't is not in any peculiar sympathy between an electric and a body whereon it operates , that electrical attraction depends , seems the more probale , because amber , for instance , does not attract onely one determinate sort of bodies , as the loadstone does iron , and those bodies wherein it abounds ; but as far as i have yet tried , it draws indifferently all bodies whatsoever , being plac'd within a due distance from it , ( as my choicest piece of amber draws not onely sand and mineral powders , but filings of steel and copper , and beaten gold it self ) provided they be minute or light enough , except perhaps it be fire : i employ the word perhaps , because i am not yet so clear in this point . for having applied a strong electric at a convenient distance to small fragments of ignited matter , they were readily enough attracted , and shin'd , whilst they were sticking to the body that had drawn them : but when i look'd attentively upon them , i found the shining sparks to be , as it were , cloath'd with light ashes , which , in spite of my diligence , had been already form'd about the attracted corpuscles , upon the expiring of a good part of the fire ; so that it remain'd somewhat doubtful to me , whether the ignited corpuscles , whilst they were totally such , were attracted ; or whether the immediate objects of the attraction were not the new form'd ashes , which carried up with them those yet unextinguished parts of fire , that chanc'd to be lodg'd in them . but , as for flame , our countrey man gilbert delivers as his experiment , that an electric , though duly excited and applied , will not move the flame of the slenderest candle . which some will think not so easie to be well tried with common electricks , as amber , hard wax , sulphur , and the like unctuous concretes , that very easily take fire : therefore i chose to make my trial with a rough diamond extraordinarily attractive , which i could , without injuring it , hold as near as i pleas'd to the flame of a candle or taper ; and though i was not satisfi'd that it did either attract the flame , as it visibly did the smoak , or manifestly agitate it ; yet granting that gilbert's assertion will constantly hold true , and so , that flame is to be excepted from the general rule , yet this exception may well comport with the hypothesis hitherto countenanc'd , since it may be said , as 't is , if i mistake not , by kirkerus , that the heat of the flame dissipates the effiuvia , by whose means the attraction should be perform'd . to which i shall adde , that possibly the celerity of the motion of the flame upwards , may render it very difficult for the electrical emanations to divert the flame from its course . 10. we have found by experiment , that a vigorous and well excited piece of amber will draw , not onely the powder of amber , but less minute fragments of it . and as in many cases one contrary directs to another , so this trial suggested a further , which , in case of good success , would probably argue , that in electrical attraction not onely effluvia are emitted by the electrical body , but these effluvia fasten upon the body to be drawn , and that in such a way , that the intervening viscous strings , which may be supposed to be made up of those cohering effluvia , are , when their agitation ceases , contracted or made to shrink inwards towards both ends , almost as a highly stretch'd lute-string does when 't is permitted to retreat into shorter dimensions . but the conjecture it self was much more easie to be made than the experiment requisite to examine it . for we found it no easie matter to suspend an electric , great and vigorous enough , in such a manner , that it might , whilst suspended , be excited , and be so nicely poised , that so faint a force as that wherewith it attracts light bodies should be able to procure a lccal motion to the whole body it self . but after some fruitless attempts with other electricks , i had recourse to the very vigorous piece of polish'd amber , formerly mention'd , and when we had with the help of a little wax suspended it by a silken thread , we chafed very well one of the blunt edges of it upon a kind of large pin-cushion cover'd with a course and black woollen stuff , and then brought the electric , as soon as we could , to settle notwithstanding its hanging freely at the bottom of the string . this course of rubbing on the edge of the amber we pitch'd upon for more than one reason ; for if we had chafed the flat side , the amber could not have approached the body it had been rub'd on without making a change of place in the whole electric , and , which is worse , without making it move ( contrary to the nature of heavy bodies ) somewhat upwards ; whereas the amber having , by reason of its suspension , its parts counterpoised by one another ; to make the excited edge approach to another body , that edge needed not at all ascend , but onely be moved horizontally , to which way of moving the gravity of the electric ( which the string kept from moving downwards ) could be but little or no hinderance . and agreeably to this we found , that if , as soon as the suspended and well rubb'd electric was brought to settle freely , we applied to the chafed edge , but without touching it , the lately mention'd cushion , which , by reason of its rough superficies and porosity , was fit for the electrical effluvia to fasten upon , the edge would manifestly be drawn aside by the cushion steadily held , and if this were slowly removed , would follow it a good way ; and when this body no longer detain'd it , would return to the posture wherein it had settled before . and this power of approaching the cushion by vertue of the operation of its own steams , was so durable in our vigorous piece of amber , that by once chafing it , i was able to make it follow the cushion no less than ten or eleven times . whether from such experiments one may argue , that 't is but , as 't were , by accident that amber attracts another body , and not this the amber ; and whether these ought to make us question , if electricks may with so much propriety , as has been hitherto generally supposed , be said to attract , are doubts that my design does not here oblige me to examine . some other phaenomena might be added of the same tendency with those already mention'd , ( as the advantage that electrical bodies usually get by having well polish'd or at least smooth surfaces , ) but the title of this paper promising some experiments about the production of electricity , i must not omit to recite , how i have been sometimes able to produce or destroy this quality in certain bodies , by means of alterations , that appear'd not to be other than mechanical . exper. i. and first , having with a very mild heat slowly evaporated about a fourth part of good turpentine , i found , that the remaining body would not , when cold , continue a liquor , but harden'd into a transparent gum almost like amber , which , as i look'd for , proved electrical . exper. ii. secondly , by mixing two such liquid bodies as petroleum and strong spirit of nitre in a certain proportion , and then distilling them till there remained a dry mass , i obtain'd a brittle substance as black as jet ; and whose superficies ( where it was contiguous to the retort ) was glossie like that mineral when polished ; and as i expected i found it also to resemble jet , in being endowed with an electrical faculty . exper. iii. thirdly , having burnt antimony to ashes , and of those ashes , without any addition , made a transparent glass , i found , that , when rubb'd , as electrical bodies ought to be to excite them , it answer'd my expectation , by manifesting a not inconsiderable electricity . and this is the worthier of notice , because , that as a vitrum antimonii , that is said to be purer than ordinary , may be made of the regulus of the same mineral , in whose preparation you know a great part of the antimonial sulphur is separated and left among the scoriae ; so glass of antimony made without additament , may easily , as experience has inform'd us , be in part reduc'd to a regulus , ( a body not reckon'd amongst electrical ones . ) and that you may not think , that 't is onely some peculiar and fixt part of the antimony that is capable of vitrification , let me assure you , that even with the other part that is wont to flye away , ( namely the flowers ) an antimonial glass may without an addition of other ingredients be made . exper. iv. fourthly , the mention of a vitrified body brings into my mind , that i more than once made some glass of lead per se , ( which i found no very easie work ) that also was not wholly destitute of an electrical vertue , though it had but a very languid one . and it is not here to be overlook'd , that this glass might easily be brought to afford again malleable lead , which was never reckon'd , that i know of , among electrical bodies . exper. v. fisthly , having taken some amber , and warily distill'd it , not with sand or powder'd brick , or some such additament as chymists are wont to use , for fear it should boylover or break their vessels ; but by its self , that i might have an unmixed caput mortuum ; having made this distillation , i say , and continued it till it had afforded a good proportion of phlegm , spirit , volatile salt , and oyl , the retort was warily broken , and the remaining matter was taken out in a lump , which , though it had quite lost its colour being burnt quite black , and though it were grown strangely brittle in comparison of amber , so that they who believe the vertue of attracting light bodies to flow from the substantial form of amber , would not expect it in a body so changed and deprived of its noblest parts : yet this caput mortuum was so far from having lost its electrical faculty , that it seemed to attract more vigorously than amber it self is wont to do before it be committed to distillation . and from the foregoing instances afforded us by the glass of antimony , we may learn , that when the form of a body seems to be destroyed by a fiery analysis that dissipates the parts of it , the remaining substance may yet be endowed with electricity , as the caput mortuum of amber may acquire it ; as in the case of the glass of antimony made of the calx and of the flowers . and from the second example above-mentioned , and from common glass which is electrical , we may also learn , that bodies that are neither of them apart observed to be endowed with electricity , may have that vertue result in the compounded substance that they constitute , though it be but a factitious body . to the foregoing experiments , whose success is wont to be uniform enough , i shall adde the recital of a surprising phaenomenon , which , though not constant , may help to make it probable , that electrical attractions need not be suppos'd still to proceed from the substantial , or even from the essential form of the attrahent ; but may be the effects of unheeded , and , as it were , fortuitous causes . and however , i dare not suppress so strange an observation , and therefore shall relate that which i had the luck to make of an odd sort of electrical attraction ( as it seem'd , ) not taken notice of ( that i know of ) by any either naturalist or other writer , and it is this . exper. vi. that false locks ( as they call them ) of some hair , being by curling or otherwise brought to a certain degree of driness , or of stiffness , will be attracted by the flesh of some persons , or seem to apply themselves to it , as hair is wont to do to amber or jet excited by rubbing . of this i had a proof in such locks worn by two very fair ladies that you know . for at some times i observed , that they could not keep their locks from flying to their cheeks , and ( though neither of them made any use , or had any need of painting ) from sticking there . when one of these beauties first shew'd me this experiment , i turn'd it into a complemental raillery , as suspecting there might be some trick in it , though i after saw the same thing happen to the others locks too . but as she is no ordinary virtuosa , she very ingeniously remov'd my suspicions , and ( as i requested ) gave me leave to satisfie my self further , by desiring her to hold her warm hand at a convenient distance from one of those locks taken off and held in the air . for as soon as she did this , the lower end of the lock , which was free , applied it self presently to her hand : which seem'd the more strange , because so great a multitude of hair would not have been easily attracted by an ordinary electrical body , that had not been considerably large , or extraordinarily vigorous . this repeated observation put me upon inquiring among some other young ladies , whether they had observed any such like thing , but i found little satisfaction to my question , except from one of them eminent for being ingenious , who told me , that sometimes she had met with these troublesome locks ; but that all she could tell me of the circumstances , which i would have been inform'd about , was , that they seem'd to her to flye most to her cheeks when they had been put into a somewhat stiff curle , and when the weather was frosty * you will probably be the less dispos'd to believe , that electrical attractions must proceed from the substantial forms of the attrahents , or rom the predominancy of this or that chymical principle in them , if i acquaint you with some odd trials wherein the attraction of light bodies seem'd to depend upon very small circumstances . and though forbearing at present , to offer you my thoughts about the cause of these surprising phaenomena , i propose it onely as a probleme to your self and your curious friends , yet the main circumstances seeming to be of a mechanical nature , the recital of my trials will not be impertinent to the design and subject of this paper . exper. vii . i took then a large and vigorous piece of amber conveniently shaped for my purpose , and a downy feather , such as grows upon the bodies , not wings or tails of a somewhat large chicken : then having moderately excited the electrick , i held the amber so near it , that the neighbouring part of the feather was drawn by it and stuck fast to it ; but the remoter parts continued in their former posture . this done , i applyed my fore-finger to these erected downy feathers , and immediately , as i expected , they left their preceeding posture , and applied themselves to it as if it had been an electrical body . and whether i offered to them my nail , or the pulpy part of my finger , or held my finger towards the right hand or the left , or directly over , these downy feathers that were near the little quill did nimbly , and , for ought appear'd , equally turn themselves towards it , and fasten themselves to it . and to shew that the steams that issued out of so warm a body as my finger were not necessary to attract ( as men speak ) the abovementioned feathers , instead of my finger , i applied to them , after the same manner , a little cylindrical instrument of silver , to which they bowed and fastened themselves as they had done to my finger , though the tip of this instrument were presented to them in several postures . the like success i had with the end of an iron key , and the like also with a cold piece of polish'd black marble ; and sometimes the feathers did so readily and strongly fasten themselves to these extraneous and unexcited bodies , that i have been able ( though not easily ) to make one of them draw the feather from the amber it self . but it is diligently to be observ'd , that this unusual attraction happened onely whilst the electrical operation of the excited amber continued strong enough to sustain the feathers . for after wards , neither the approach of my finger , nor that of the other bodies , would make the downy feathers change their posture . yet as soon as ever the amber was by a light affriction excited again , the feather would be disposed to apply it self again to the abovementioned bodies . and lest there should be any peculiarity in that particular feather , i made the trials with others ( provided they were not long enough to exceed the sphere of activity of the amber ) and found the experiment to answer my expectation . i made the experiment also at differing times , and with some months , if not rather years , of interval , but with the like success . and left you should think these phaenomena proceed from some peculiarity in the piece of amber i employed , i shall add , that i found uniformity enough in the success , when , in the place of amber , i substituted another electrick , and particularly a smooth mass of melted brimstone . these are the phaenomena i thought fit to mention at present of this unusual way of drawing light bodies , and with this experiment i should conclude my notes about electricity , but that i think it will not be a miss before i take leave of this subject , to give this advertisement , that the event of electrical experiments is not always so certain as that of many others , being sometimes much varied by seemingly slight circumstances , and now and then by some that are altogether over-lock'd . this observation may receive credit from some of the particulars above recited ( especially concerning the interest of the weather , &c. in electrical phaenomena . ) but now i shall add , that , not onely there may happen some variations in the success of trials made with electrical bodies , but that it is not so certain as many think , whether some particular bodies be or be not electrical . for the inquisitive kircherus reckons crystall among those gems to whom nature has denyed the attractive power we are speaking of ; and yet i remember not , that , among all the trials i have made with native crystall , i have found any that was destitute of the power he refuses them . also a late most learned writer reciting the electricks , reckon'd up by our industrious countryman gilbert , and increasing their number by some observed by himself , ( to which i shall now add , besides white saphyrs , and white english amethysts , the almost diaphanous spar of lead ore ) denies electricity to a couple of transparent gems , the cornelion and the emraid . and i do the less wonder he should do so to the former , because i have my self in vain tried to make any attraction with a piece of cornelion so large and fair , that 't was kept for a rarity ; and yet with divers other fine cornelions i have been able to attract some light bodies very manifestly , if not briskly ; and i usually wear a cornelian ring , that is richly enough endowed with electricity . but as for emralds , as i thought it strange that nature should have denied them a quality she has granted to so many other diaphanous gems , and even to crystal , so i thought the assertion deserved an examen , upon which i concluded , that at least it does not universally and constantly hold true . i had indeed seen in a ring a stone of price and great lustre , which , though green , i found to be , ( as i guess'd it would prove ) vigorously enough electrical . but this experiment , though seemingly conclusive , i did not look upon as a fair trial , because the stone was not a true emrald , but , which is rare , a green saphir . and i learned by inquiry of the skillful jeweller that cut it , that it was so far from having the softness of an emrald , that he found it harder than blew saphyrs themselves , which yet are gems of great hardness , and by some reputed second to none , but diamonds . without therefore concluding any thing from this experiment , save that , if the assertion i was to examin were true , the want of an electrical faculty might be thought a concomitant rather of the peculiar texture of the emrald than of its green colour , i proceeded to make trial with three or four emralds , whose being true was not doubted , and found them all somewhat , though not equally , endow'd with electricity , which i found to be yet more considerable in an emrald of my own , whose colour was so excellent , that by skilful persons 't was look'd on as a rarity . and though , by this success of my inquiry , i perceived i could not , as else i might have done , shew the curious a new way of judging of true and false emralds , yet the like way may be , though not always certain , yet oftentimes of use , in the estimating whether diamonds be true or counterfeit , especially , if , being set in rings , the surest way of trying them cannot conveniently be employed . for whereas glass , though it have some electricity , seems , as far as i have observed , to have but a faint one , there are often found diamonds that have a very vigorous one . and i do not remember i met with any electrick of the same bulk , that was more vigorous than a rough diamond i have , which is the same that i formerly mentioned to have moved a needle above three minutes after i had ceased to chase it . and this brings into my mind , that it has been observed , that diamonds draw better whilst rough , than they do after they are cut and polish'd ; which seeming to contradict what has been observed by others and by us also , that amber , for instance , attracts more vigorously if the surface be made very smooth than otherwise , it induces me to conjecture , that , if this observation about diamonds be true , as some of my trials have now and then inclined me to think it , and if it do not in some cases considerably depend upon the loss of the ( electrical ) substance of the stone , by its being cut and ground , the reason may possibly be , that the great rapidness with which the wheels that serve to cut and polish diamonds must be mov'd , does excite a great degree of heat , ( which the senses may easily discover ) in the stone , and by that and the strong concussion it makes of its parts , may force it to spend its effluviable matter , if i may so call it , so plentifully , that the stone may be impoverish'd , and perhaps also , on the account of some little change in its texture , be rendred lesse disposed to emit those effluvia that are instruments of electrical attraction . but as i willingly leave the matter of fact to further trial , so i do the cause of it , in case it prove true , to farther inquiry . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a28980-e280 † see tracts about cosmical qualities , &c. to which is prefixt an introduction to the history of particular qualities ; printed at oxford 1●●1 . notes for div a28980-e2220 * * see more of this in the preamble . * * divers of the phaenomena , &c. of this experiment were afterwards printed numb . 15. of the ph. transact . * * beniven . cap. 56. abditorum apud schenk . lib. 7. de venen . observ. 24. cent. 6. observ. notes for div a28980-e3220 exper. i. exper. ii. exper. iii. exper. iv. notes for div a28980-e6760 see in the paper of tasts , exper. xii . notes for div a28980-e14910 * * this refers to an essay of the authors about the usefulness of chymistry to , &c. notes for div a28980-e16700 see the beginning of the first section . notes for div a28980-e19620 exper. i. exper. ii. exper. iii. exper. vi. exper. ix . exper. x. exper. xi . * * relating to the magnetism of the earth . exper. xiv . notes for div a28980-e20490 princip . part 4. art. 184. * * some years after the making the experiments about the production of electricity , having a desire to try , whether in the attractions made by amber , the motions excited by the air had a considerable interest , or whether the effect were not due rather to the emission and retraction of effluvia , which being of a viscous nature may consist of particles either branch'd or hookt , or otherwise fit for some kind of cohesion , and capable of being stretch'd , and of shrinking again , as leather thongs are : to examine this , i say , i thought the fittest way , if 't were practicable , would be , to try , whether amber would draw a light body in a glass whence the air was pumpt out . and though the trial of this seem'd very difficult to make , and we were somewhat discouraged by our first attempt , wherein the weight of the ambient air broke our receiver , which chanced to prove too weak , when the internal air had been with extraordinary diligence pumpt out ; yet having a vigorous piece of amber , which i had caus'd to be purposely turn'd and polish'd . for electrical experiments , i afterwards repeated the trial , and found , that in warm weather it would retain a manifest power of attracting for several minutes ( for it stirred a pois'd needle after above ¼ of an hour ) after we had done rubbing it . upon which encouragement we suspended it , being first well chafed , in a glass receiver that was not great , just over a light body ; and making haste with our air-pump to exhaust the glass , when the air was withdrawn , we did by a contrivance let down the suspended amber till it came very near the straw or feather , and perceived , as we expected , that in some trials , upon the least contact it would lift it up ; and in others , for we repeated the experiment , the amber would raise it without touching it , that is , would attract it . the tvvoo bookes of francis bacon. of the proficience and aduancement of learning, diuine and humane to the king. of the proficience and advancement of learning bacon, francis, 1561-1626. 1605 approx. 509 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 170 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a01516 stc 1164 estc s100507 99836346 99836346 611 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a01516) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 611) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 650:7) the tvvoo bookes of francis bacon. of the proficience and aduancement of learning, diuine and humane to the king. of the proficience and advancement of learning bacon, francis, 1561-1626. [1], 45; 118 [i.e. 121], [3] leaves printed [by thomas purfoot and thomas creede] for henrie tomes, and are to be sould at his shop at graies inne gate in holborne, at london : 1605. later expanded as "de augmentis scientiarum". purfoot printed book 1 and kk-rr of book 2; creede printed aa-ii and eee-hhh of book 2; another compositor set the rest (stc). "the second booke of francis bacon" has separate foliation and register. foliation is irregular. with two final errata leaves following leaf hhhh2, a blank. reproduction of the original in cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 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that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng science -methodology -early works to 1800. logic -early works to 1800. 2002-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-05 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-07 apex covantage rekeyed and resubmitted 2002-08 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2002-08 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the tvvoo bookes of francis bacon . of the proficience and aduancement of learning , diuine and humane . to the king. at london , ¶ printed for henrie tomes , and are to be sould at his shop at graies inne gate in holborne . 1605. the first booke of francis bacon ; of the proficience and aduancement of learning diuine , and humane . to the king. there were vnder the lawe ( excellent king ) both dayly sacrifices , and free will offerings ; the one proceeding vpon ordinarie obseruance ; the other vppon a deuout cheerefulnesse : in like manner there belongeth to kings from their seruants , both tribute of dutie , and presents of affection : in the former of these , i hope i shal not liue to be wanting , according to my most humble dutie , and the good pleasure of your maiesties employments : for the later , i thought it more respectiue to make choyce of some oblation , which might rather referre to the proprietie and excellencie of your indiuiduall person , than to the businesse of your crowne and state. wherefore representing your maiestie many times vnto my mind , and beholding you not with the inquisitiue eye of presumption , to discouer that which the scripture telleth me is inscrutable ; but with the obseruant eye of dutie and admiration : leauing aside the other parts of your vertue and fortune , i haue been touched , yea and possessed with an extreame woonder at those your vertues and faculties , which the philosophers call intellectuall : the largenesse of your capacitie , the faithfulnesse of your memorie , the swiftnesse of your apprehension , the penetration of your iudgement , and the facilitie and order of your elocution ; and i haue often thought , that of all the persons liuing , that i haue knowne , your maiestie were the best instance to make a man of platoes opinion , that all knowledge is but remembrance , and that the minde of man by nature knoweth all things , and hath but her owne natiue and originall motions ( which by the strangenesse and darkenesse of this tabernacle of the bodie are sequestred ) againe reuiued and restored such a light of nature i haue obserued in your maiestie , and such a readinesse to take flame , and blaze from the least occasion presented , or the least sparke of anothers knowledge deliuered . and as the scripture sayth of the wisest king : that his heart was as the sands of the sea , which though it be one of the largest bodies , yet it cōsisteth of the smallest & finest portions ; so hath god giuen your maiestie a cōposition of vnderstanding admirable , being able to compasse & comprehend the greatest matters , & neuerthelesse to touch and apprehend the least : wheras it should seeme an impossibility in nature , for the same instrument to make it selfe fit for great and small workes . and for your gift of speech , i call to minde what cornelius tacitus sayth of augustus caesar : augusto profluens & quae principem deceret , eloquentia fuit : for if we note it well , speech that is vttered with labour and difficultie , or speech that sauoreth of the affectation of art and precepts , or speech that is framed after the imitation of some patterne of eloquence , though neuer so excellent : all this hath somewhat seruile , and holding of the subiect . but your maiesties manner of speech is indeed prince-like , flowing as from a fountaine , and yet streaming & branching it selfe into natures order , full of facilitie , & felicitie , imitating none & ininimitable by any . and as in your ciuile estate there appeareth to be an emulation & contentiō of your maiesties vertue with your fortune , a vertuous disposition with a fortunate regiment , a vertuous expectation ( when time was ) of your greater fortune , with a prosperous possession thereof in the due time ; a vertuous obseruation of the lawes of marriage , with most blessed and happie fruite of marriage ; a vertuous and most christian desire of peace , with a fortunate inclination in your neighbour princes thereunto , so likewise in these intellectuall matters , there seemeth to be no lesse contention betweene the excellencie of your maiesties gifts of nature , and the vniuersalitie and profection of your learning . for i am well assured , that this which i shall say is no amplification at all , but a positiue and measured truth : which is , that there hath not beene since christs time any king or temporall monarch which hath ben so learned in all literature & erudition , diuine & humane . for let a man seriously & diligently reuolue and peruse the succession of the emperours of rome , of which caesar the dictator , who liued some yeeres before christ , and marcus antoninus were the best learned : and so descend to the emperours of grecia , or of the west , and then to the lines of fraunce , spaine , england , scotland and the rest , and he shall finde this iudgement is truly made . for it seemeth much in a king , if by the compendious extractions of other mens wits and labours , he can take hold of any superficiall ornaments and shewes of learning , or if he countenance and preferre learning and learned men : but to drinke indeed of the true fountaines of learning , nay , to haue such a fountaine of learning in himselfe , in a king , and in a king borne , is almost a miracle . and the more , because there is met in your maiesty a rare coniunction , aswell of diuine and sacred literature , as of prophane and humane ; so as your maiestie standeth inuested of that triplicitie , which in great veneration , was ascribed to the ancient hermes ; the power and fortune of a king ; the knowledge and illumination of a priest ; and the learning and vniuersalitie of a philosopher . this propriety inherent and indiuiduall attribute in your maiestie deserueth to be expressed , not onely in the same and admiration of the present time , nor in the historie or tradition of the ages succeeding ; but also in some solide worke , fixed memoriall , and immortall monument , bearing a character or signature , both of the power of a king , and the difference and perfection of such a king . therefore i did conclude with my selfe , that i could not make vnto your maiesty a better oblation , then of some treatise tending to that end , whereof the summe will consist of these two partes : the former concerning the excellencie of learning and knowledge , and the excellencie of the merit and true glory , in the augmentation and propagation thereof : the latter , what the particuler actes and workes are , which haue been imbraced and vndertaken for the aduancement of learning : and againe what defects and vndervalewes i finde in such particuler actes : to the end , that though i cannot positiuely or affirmatiuelie aduise your maiestie , or propound vnto you framed particulers ; yet i may excite your princely cogitations to visit the excellent treasure of your owne mind , and thence to extract particulers for this purpose , agreeable to your magnanimitie and wisedome . in the entrance to the former of these ; to cleere the way , & as it were to make silence , to haue the true testimonies concerning the dignitie of learning to be better heard , without the interruption of tacite obiections ; i thinke good to deliuer it from the discredites and disgraces which it hath receiued ; all from ignorance ; but ignorance seuerally disguised , appearing sometimes in the zeale and iealousie of diuines ; sometimes in the seueritie and arrogancie of politiques , and sometimes in the errors and imperfections of learned men themselues . i heare the former sort say , that knowledge is of those things which are to be accepted of with great limitation and caution , that th' aspiring to ouermuch knowledge , was the originall temptation and sinne , whereupon ensued the fal of man ; that knowledge hath in it somewhat of the serpent , and therefore where it entreth into a man , it makes him swel . scientia inflat . that salomon giues a censure , that there is no end of making bookes , and that much reading is wearinesse of the flesh . and againe in another place , that in spatious knowledge , there is much contristation , and that he that encreaseth knowledge , encreaseth anxietie : that saint paul giues a caueat , that we be not spoyled through vaine philosophie : that experience demonstrates , how learned men , haue beene arch-heretiques , how learned times haue been enclined to atheisme , and how the contemplation of second causes doth derogate frō our dependance vpon god , who is the first cause . to discouer then the ignorance & error of this opinion , and the misunderstanding in the grounds thereof , it may well appeare these men doe not obserue or cōsider , that it was not the pure knowledg of nature and vniuersality , a knowledge by the light whereof man did giue names vnto other creatures in paradise , as they were brought before him , according vnto their proprieties , which gaue the occasion to the fall ; but it was the proude knowledge of good and euill , with an intent in man to giue law vnto himselfe , and to depend no more vpon gods commaundements , which was the fourme of the temptation ; neither is it any quantitie of knowledge how great soeuer that can make the minde of man to swell ; for nothing can fill , much lesse extend the soule of man , but god , and the contemplation of god ; and therfore salomon speaking of the two principall sences of inquisition , the eye , and the eare , affirmeth that the eye is neuer satisfied with seeing , nor the eare with hearing ; and if there be no fulnesse , then is the continent greater , than the content ; so of knowledge it selfe , and the minde of man , whereto the sences are but reporters , he defineth likewise in these wordes , placed after that kalender or ephemerides , which he maketh of the diuersities of times and seasons for all actions and purposes ; and concludeth thus : god hath made all thinges beautifull or decent in the true returne of their seasons . also hee hath placed the world in mans heart , yet cannot man finde out the worke which god worketh from the beginning to the end : declaring not obscurely , that god hath framed the minde of man as a mirrour , or glasse , capable of the image of the vniuersall world , and ioyfull to receiue the impression thereof , as the eye ioyeth to receiue light , and not onely delighted in beholding the varietie of thinges and vicissitude of times , but raysed also to finde out and discerne the ordinances and decrees which throughout all those changes are infallibly obserued . and although hee doth insinuate that the supreame or summarie law of nature , which he calleth , the worke which god worketh from the beginning to the end , is not possible to be found out by man ; yet that doth not derogate from the capacitie of the minde ; but may bee referred to the impediments as of shortnesse of life , ill coniunction of labours , ill tradition of knowledge ouer from hand to hand , and many other inconueniences , whereunto the condition of man is subiect . for that nothing parcell of the world , is denied to mans enquirie and inuention : hee doth in another place rule ouer ; when hee sayth , the spirite of man is as the lampe of god , wherewith hee searcheth the inwardnesse of all secrets . if then such be the capacitie and receit of the mind of man , it is manifest , that there is no daunger at all in the proportion or quantitie of knowledge howe large soeuer ; least it should make it swell or outcompasse it selfe ; no , but it is meerely the qualitie of knowledge , which be it in quantitie more or lesse , if it bee taken without the true correctiue thereof , hath in it some nature of venome or malignitie , and some effects of that venome which is ventositie or swelling . this correctiue spice , the mixture whereof maketh knowledge so soueraigne , is charitie , which the apostle imediately addeth to the former clause , for so he sayth , knowledge bloweth vp , but charitie buildeth vp ; not vnlike vnto that which hee deliuereth in another place : if i spake ( sayth hee ) with the tongues of men and angels , and had not charitie , it were but as a tinckling cymball ; not but that it is an excellent thinge to speake with the tongues of men and angels , but because if it bee seuered from charitie , and not referred to the good of men and mankind , it hath rather a sounding and vnworthie glorie , than a meriting and substantiall vertue . and as for that censure of salomon concerning the excesse of writing and reading bookes , and the anxietie of spirit which redoundeth from knowlegde , and that admonition of saint paule , that wee bee not seduced by vayne philosophie ; let those places bee rightly vnderstoode , and they doe indeede excellently sette foorth the true bounds and limitations , whereby humane knowledge is confined and circumscribed : and yet without any such contracting or coarctation , but that it may comprehend all the vniuersall nature of thinges : for these limitations are three : the first , that wee doe not so place our felicitic in knowledge , as wee forget our mortalitie . the second , that we make application of our knowledge to giue our selues repose and contentment , and not distast or repining . the third : that we doe not presume by the contemplation of nature , to attaine to the misteries of god ; for as touching the first of these , salomon doth excellently expound himselfe in another place of the same booke , where hee sayth ; i sawe well that knowledge recedeth as farre from ignorance , as light doth from darkenesse , and that the wise mans eyes keepe watch in his head whereas the foole roundeth about in darkenesse : but withall i learned that the same mortalitie inuolueth them both . and for the second , certaine it is , there is no vexation or anxietie of minde , which resulteth from knowledge otherwise than meerely by accident ; for all knowledge and wonder ( which is the seede of knowledge ) is an impression of pleasure in it selfe ; but when men fall to framing conclusions out of their knowledge , applying it to their particuler , and ministring to themselues thereby weake feares , or vast desires , there groweth that carefulnesse and trouble of minde , which is spoken of : for then knowledge is no more lumen sic●…um , whereof heraclitus the profound sayd , lumen siccum optima anima , but it becommeth lumen madidum , or maceratum , being steeped and infused in the humors of the affections . and as for the third point , it deserueth to be a little stood vpon , and not to be lightly passed ouer : for if any man shall thinke by view and enquiry into these sensible and material things to attaine that light , whereby he may reueale vnto himselfe the nature or will of god : then indeed is he spoyled by vaine philosophie : for the contemplation of gods creatures and works produceth ( hauing regard to the works and creatures themselues ) knowledge , but hauing regard to god , no perfect knowledg , but wonder , which is brokē knowledge : and therefore it was most aptly sayd by one of platoes schoole , that the sence of man caryeth a resemblance with the sunne , which ( as we see ) openeth and reuealeth all the terrestriall globe ; but then againe it obscureth and concealeth the stars & celestiall globe : so doth the sence discouer naturall thinges , but it darkeneth and shutteth vp diuine . and hence it is true that it hath proceeded that diuers great learned men haue beene hereticall , whilest they haue sought to flye vp to the secrets of the deitie by the waxen winges of the sences : and as for the conceite that too much knowledge should encline a man to atheisme , and that the ignorance of second causes should make a more deuoute dependance vppon god , which is the first cause ; first , it is good to aske the question which iob asked of his friends ; will you lye for god , as one man will doe for another , to gratifie him ? for certaine it is , that god worketh nothing in nature , but by second causes , and if they would haue it otherwise beleeued , it is meere imposture , as it were in fauour towardes god ; and nothing else , but to offer to the author of truth , the vncleane sacrifice of a lye . but further , it is an assured truth , and a conclusion of experience , that a little or superficiall knowledge of philosophie may encline the minde of man to atheisme , but a further proceeding therein doth bring the mind backe againe to religion : for in the entrance of philosophie , when the second causes , which are next vnto the sences , do offer themselues to the minde of man , if it dwell and stay there , it may induce some obliuion of the highest cause ; but when a man passeth on further , and seeth the dependance of causes , and the workes of prouidence ; then according to the allegorie of the poets , he will easily beleeue that the highest linke of natures chaine must needes be tyed to the foote of iupiters chaire . to conclude therefore , let no man vppon a weake conceite of sobrietie , or an ill applyed moderation thinke or maintaine , that a man can search too farre , or bee too well studied in the booke of gods word , or in the booke of gods workes ; diuinitie or philosophie ; but rather let men endeauour an endlesse progresse or proficience in both : only let men beware that they apply both to charitie , and not to swelling ; to vse , and not to ostentation ; and againe , that they doe not vnwisely mingle or confound these learnings together . and as for the disgraces which learning receiueth from politiques , they bee of this nature ; that learning doth soften mens mindes , and makes them more vnapt for the honour and exercise of armes ; that it doth marre and peruert mens dispositions for matter of gouernement and policie ; in making them too curious and irresolute by varietie of reading ; or too peremptorie or positiue by stricktnesse of rules and axiomes ; or too immoderate and ouerweening by reason of the greatnesse of examples ; or too incompatible and differing from the times , by reason of the dissimilitude of examples ; or at least , that it doth diuert mens trauailes from action and businesse , and bringeth them to a loue of leasure and priuatenesse ; and that it doth bring into states a relaxation of discipline , whilst euerie man is more readie to argue , than to obey and execute . out of this conceit , cato surnamed the censor , one of the wisest men indeed that euer liued , when carneades the philosopher came in embassage to rome , and that the young men of rome began to flocke about him , being allured with the sweetnesse and maiestie of his eloquence and learning , gaue counsell in open senate , that they should giue him his dispatch with all speede , least hee should infect and inchaunt the mindes and affections of the youth , and at vnawares bring in an alteration of the manners and customes of the state. out of the same conceite or humor did virgill , turning his penne to the aduantage of his countrey , and the disaduantage of his owne profession , make a kind of separation betweene policie and gouernement , and betweene arts and sciences , in the verses so much renowned , attributing and challenging the one to the romanes , and leauing & yeelding the other to the grecians , turegere imperio populos romane mem●…to , hae tibi erūt artes , &c. so likewise we see that anytus the accuser of socrates layd it as an article of charge & accusation against him , that he did with the varietie and power of his discourses and disputations withdraw young men from due reuerence to the lawes and customes of their countrey : and that he did professe a dangerous and pernitious science , which was to make the worse matter seeme the better , and to suppresse truth by force of eloquence and speech . but these and the like imputations haue rather a countenance of grauitie , than any ground of iustice : for experience doth warrant , that both in persons and in times , there hath beene a meeting , and concurrence in learning and armes , flourishing and excelling in the same men , and the same ages . for as for men , there cannot be a better nor the like instance , as of that payre alexander the great , and iulius caesar the dictator , whereof the one was aristotles scholler in philosophie , and the other was ciceroes riuall in eloquence ; or if any man had rather call for schollers , that were great generals , then generals that were great schollers ; let him take epaminondas the thebane , or xenophon the athenian , whereof the one was the first that abated the power of sparta ; and the other was the first that made way to the ouerthrow of the monarchie of persia : and this concurrence is yet more visible in times than in persons , by how much an age is greater obiect than a man. for both in aegypt , assyria , persia , grecia , and rome the same times that are most renowned for armes , are likewise most admired for learning ; so that the greatest authors and philosophers , and the greatest captaines and gouernours haue liued in the same ages : neither can it otherwise be ; for as in man , the ripenesse of strength of the bodie and minde commeth much about an age , saue that the strength of the bodie commeth somewhat the more early ; so in states , armes and learning , whereof the one correspondeth to the bodie , the other to the soule of man , haue a concurrence or nere sequence in times . and for matter of policie and gouernement , that learning should rather hurt , than inable thereunto , is a thing verie improbable : we see it is accounted an errour , to commit a naturall bodie to emperique phisitions , which commonly haue a fewe pleasing receits , whereupon they are confident and aduenturous , but know neither the causes of diseases , nor the complexions of patients , nor perill of accidents , nor the true methode of cures ; we see it is a like error to rely vpon aduocates or lawyers , which are onely men of practise , and not grounded in their bookes , who are many times easily surprised , when matter falleth out besides their experience , to the preiudice of the causes they handle : so by like reason it cannot be but a matter of doubtfull consequence , if states bee managed by emperique statesmen , not well mingled with men grounded in learning . but contrary wise , it is almost without instance contradictorie , that euer any gouernement was disastrous , that was in the hands of learned gouernors . for howsoeuer it hath beene ordinarie with politique men to extenuate and disable learned men by the names of pedantes : yet in the records of time it appeareth in many particulers , that the gouernements of princes in minority ( notwithstanding the infinite disaduantage of that kinde of state ) haue neuerthelesse excelled the gouernement of princes of mature age , euen for that reason , which they seek to traduce , which is , that by that occasion the state hath been in the hands of pedantes : for so was the state of rome for the first fiue yeeres , which are so much magnified , during the minoritie of nero , in the handes of seneca a pedanti : so it was againe for ten yeres space or more during the minoritie of gordianus the younger , with great applause and contentation in the hands of misi●…heus a pedanti : so was it before that , in the minoritie of alexander seuerus in like happinesse , in hands not much vnlike , by reason of the rule of the women , who were ayded by the teachers and preceptors . nay , let a man looke into the gouernement of the bishops of rome , as by name , into the gouernement of pius quintus , and sex●… quintus in out times , who were both at their entrance esteemed , but as pedanticall friers , and he shall find that such popes doe greater thinges , and proceed vpon truer principles of estate , than those which haue ascended to the papacie from an education & breeding in affaires of estate , and courts of princes ; for although men bred in learning , are perhaps to seeke in points of conuenience , and accommodating for the present which the italians call ragioni di 〈◊〉 , whereof the same pius quintus could not heare spoken with patience , tearming them inuentions against religion and the morall vertues ; yet on the other side to recompence that , they are perfite in those same plaine grounds of religion , iustice , honour , and morall vertue ; which if they be well and watchfully pursued , there will bee seldome vse of those other , no more than of phisicke in a sound or well dieted bodie ; neither can the experience of one mans life , furnish examples and presidents for the euents of one mans life . for as it happeneth sometimes , that the graund child , or other descendent , resembleth the ancestor more than the sonne : so many times occurrences of present times may sort better with ancient examples , than with those of the later or immediate times ; and lastly , the wit of one man , can no more counteruaile learning , than one mans meanes can hold way with a common purse . and as for those particular seducements or indispositions of the minde for policie and gouernement , which learning is pretended to insinuate ; if it be graunted that any such thing be , it must be remembred withall , that learning ministreth in euery of them greater strength of medicine or remedie , than it offereth cause of indisposition or infirmitie ; for if by a secret operation , it make men perplexed and irresolute , on the other side by plaine precept , it teacheth them when , and vpon what ground to resolue : yea , and how to carrie thinges in suspence without preiudice , till they resolue : if it make men positiue and reguler , it teacheth them what thinges are in their nature demonstratiue , & what are coniecturall ; and aswell the vse of distinctions , and exceptions , as the latitude of principles and rules . if it mislead by disproportion , or dissimilitude of examples , it teacheth men the force of circumstances , the errours of comparisons , and all the cautions of application : so that in all these it doth rectifie more effectually , than it can peruert and these medicines it conueyeth into mens minds much more forcibly by the quicknesse and penetration of examples : for let a man looke into the errours of clement the seuenth , so liuely described by guicciardine , who serued vnder him , or into the errours of cicero painted out by his owne pensill in his epistles to atticus , and he will flye apace from being irresolute . let him looke into the errors of p●…ion and he will beware how he be obstinate or inflexible let him but read the fable of ixion , and it will hold him from being vaporous or imaginatiue ; let him look into the errors of cato the second , and he will neuer be one of the antipodes , to tread opposite to the present world . and for the conceite that learning should dispose men to leasure and priuatenesse , and make men slouthfull : it were a strange thing if that which accustometh the minde to a perpetuall motion and agitation , should induce slouthfulnesse , whereas contrariwise it may bee truely affirmed , that no kinde of men loue businesse for it selfe , but those that are learned ; for other persons loue it for profite ; as an hireling that loues the worke for the wages ; or for honour ; as because it beareth them vp in the eyes of men , and refresheth their reputation , which otherwise would weare ; or because it putteth them in mind of their fortune , and giueth them occasion to pleasure and displeasure ; or because it exerciseth some faculty , wherein they take pride , and so entertaineth them in good humor , and pleasing conceits toward themselues ; or because it aduanceth any other their ends . so that as it is sayd of vntrue valors , that some mens valors are in the eyes of them that look on ; so such mens industries are in the eyes of others , or at least in regard of their owne designements ; onely learned men loue businesse , as an action according to nature , as agreable to health of minde , as exercise is to health of bodie , taking pleasure in the action it selfe , & not in the purchase : so that of all men , they are the most indefatigable , if it be towards any businesse , which can hold or detaine their minde . and if any man be laborious in reading and study , and yet idle in busines & action , it groweth frō some weakenes of body , or softnes of spirit ; such as seneca speaketh of : quidam tam sunt vmbratiles , vt putent in turbido esse , quicquid in luce est ; and not of learning ; wel may it be that such a point of a mans nature may make him giue himselfe to learning , but it is not learning that breedeth any such point in his nature . and that learning should take vp too much time or leasure , i answere , the most actiue or busie man that hath been or can bee , hath ( no question ) many vacant times of leasure , while he expecteth the tides and returnes of businesse ( except he be either tedious , and of no dispatch , or lightly and vnworthily ambitious , to meddle in thinges that may be better done by others ) and then the question is , but how those spaces and times of leasure shall be filled and spent : whether in pleasures , or in studies ; as was wel answered by demosthenes to his aduersarie aeschynes , that was a man giuen to pleasure , and told him , that his orations did smell of the lampe : indeede ( sayd demosthenes ) there is a great difference betweene the thinges that you and i doe by lampe-light ; so as no man neede doubt , that learning will expulse businesse , but rather it will keepe and defend the possession of the mind against idlenesse and pleasure , which otherwise , at vnawares , may enter to the preiudice of both . againe , for that other conceit , that learning should vndermine the reuerence of lawes and gouernement , it is assuredly a meere deprauation and calumny without all shadowe of truth : for to say that a blind custome of obedience should be a surer obligation , than dutie taught and vnderstood ; it is to affirme that a blind man may tread surer by a guide , than a seeing man can by a light : and it is without all controuersie , that learning doth make the minds of men gentle , generous , maniable , and pliant to gouernment whereas ignorance makes them churlish , thwart , and mutinous ; and the euidence of time doth cleare this assertion , considering that the most barbarous , rude , and vnlearned times haue beene most subiect to tumults , seditions , and changes . and as to the iudgement of cato the censor , he was well punished for his blasphemie against learning in the same kinde wherein hee offended ; for when he was past threescore yeeres old , he was taken with an extreame desire to goe to schoole againe , and to learne the greeke tongue , to the end to peruse the greeke authors ; which doth well demonstrate , that his former censure of the grecian learning , was rather an affected grauitie , than according to the inward sence of his owne opinion . and as for virgils verles , though it pleased him to braue the world in taking to the romanes , the art of empire , and leauing to others the arts of subiects : yet so much is manifest , that the romanes neuer ascended to that height of empire , till the time they had ascended to the height of other arts : for in the time of the two first caesars , which had the art of gouernement in greatest perfection ; there li●…ed the best poet virgilius maro , the best hifforiographer titus liuius , the best antiquarie marcus varro , and the best or second orator marcus cicero , that to the memorie of man are knowne . as for the accusation of socrates , the time must be remembred , when it was prosecuted ; which was vnder the thirtie tyrants , the most base , bloudy , and enuious persons that haue gouerned ; which reuolution of state was no sooner ouer , but socrates , whom they had made a person criminall , was made a person heroycall , and his memorie accumulate with honors diuine and humane ; and those discourses of his which were then tearmed corrupting of manners , were after acknowledged for soueraigne medicines of the minde and manners , and so haue beene receiued euer since till this day . let this therefore serue for answere to politiques , which in their humorous seueritie , or in their fayned grauitie haue presumed to throwe imputations vpon learning , which redargution neuerthelesse ( saue that wee know not whether our labours may extend to other ages ) were not needefull for the present , in regard of the loue and reuerence towards learning , which the example and countenance of twoo so learned princes queene elizabeth , and your maiestie ; being as castor and pollux , lucida sydera , starres of excellent light , and most benigne influence , hath wrought in all men of place and authoritie in our nation . now therefore , we come to that third sort of discredite , or diminution of credite , that groweth vnto learning from learned men themselues , which commonly cleaueth fastest ; it is either from their fortune , or frō their manners , or from the nature of their studies : for the first , it is not in their power ; and the second is accidentall ; the third only is proper to be hādled : but because we are not in hand with true measure , but with popular estimation & conceit , it is not amisse to speak somwhat of the two former . the derogations therefore , which grow to learning from the fortune or condition of learned men , are either in respect of scarsity of meanes , or in respect of priuatenesse of life , and meanesse of employments . concerning want , and that it is the case of learned men , vsually to beginne with little , and not to growe rich so fast as other men , by reason they conuert not their labors chiefely to luker , and encrease ; it were good to leaue the common place in commendation of pouertie to some frier to handle , to whom much was attributed by macciauell in this point , when he sayd , that the kingdome of the cleargie had beene long before at an end , if the reputation and reuerence towards the pouertie of friers had not borne out the scandall of the superfluities and excesses of bishops and prelates . so a man might say , that the felicitie and delicacie of princes and great persons , had long since turned to rudenes and barbarisme , if the pouertie of learning had not kept vp ciuilitie and honor of life ; but without any such aduantages , it is worthy the obseruation , what a reuerent and honoured thing pouertie of fortune was , for some ages in the romane state , which neuerthelesse was a state without paradoxes . for we see what titus liuius sayth in his introduction . caeterum aut me amor neg●… 〈◊〉 , aut 〈◊〉 vnquam respublica , nec ma●…or , nec sanctior , nec bonis exemplis ditior fuit ; nec in quamt●…m serae 〈◊〉 luxuri●…que immigra●… , nec vbitantus ac tam diu paupertati ac parsimoniae honos fuerit . we se●… likewise after that the state of rome was not it selfe , but did degenerate ; how that person that tooke vpon him to be counsellor to iulius caesar , after his victori●… , where to begin his restauration of the state , maketh it of all points the most summarie to take away the estimation of wealth . verum haec & omnia mala pariter cum honore 〈◊〉 desinent ; si neque magistratus , neque alia v●…lgo ●…pienda venalia e●…unt . to conclude this point , as it was truely sayd , that ru●…or est virtutis color , though sometime it come from vice : so it may be ●…itly sayd , that poupertas est virtutis fortun●… . though sometimes it may proceede from misgouernement and accident . surely salomon hath pronounced it both in censure , qui fes●…inat ad diu●…tias non erit insons ; and in precept : buy the truth , and sell it not : and so of wisedome and knowledge ; iudging that meanes were to be spent vpon learning , and not learning to be applyed to meanes . and as for the priuatenesse or obscurenesse ( as it may be in vulgar estimation accounted ) of life of contemplatiue men ; it is a theame so common , to extoll a priuatelife , not taxed with sensualitie and sloth in comparison , and to the disaduantage of a ciuile life , for safety , libertie , pleasure and dignitie , or at least freedome from indignitie , as no man handleth it , but handleth it well : such a consonancie it hath to mens conceits in the expressing , and to mens consents in the allowing : this onely i will adde ; that learned men forgotten in states , and not liuing in the eyes of men , are like the images of cassius and brutus in the funerall of iunia ; of which not being represented , as many others were tacitus sayth , eo ipso prefulgebant , quod non visebantur . and for meanesse of employment , that which is most traduced to contempt , is that the gouernment of youth is commonly allotted to them , which age , because it is the age of least authoritie , it is transferred to the disesteeming of those employments wherin youth is conuersant , and which are conuersant about youth . but how vniust this traducement is , ( if you will reduce thinges from popularitie of opinion to measure of reason ) may appeare in that we see men are more curious what they put into a new vessell , than into a vessell seasoned ; and what mould they lay about a young plant , than about a plant corroborate ; so as the weakest termes and times of all things vse to haue the best applications and helpes . and will you hearken to the hebrew rabynes ? your young men shall see visions , and your old men shal dreame dreames , say they youth is the worthier age , for that visions are neerer apparitions of god , than dreames ? and let it bee noted , that how soeuer the conditions of life of pedantes hath been scorned vpon theaters , as the ape of tyrannie ; and that the modern loosenes or negligence hath taken no due regard to the choise of schoolemasters , & tutors ; yet the ancient wisdome of the best times did alwaies make a iust complaint ; that states were too busie with their lawes , and too negligent in point of education : which excellent part of ancient discipline hath been in some sort reuiued of late times , by the colledges of the iesuites : of whom , although in regard of their superstition i may say , quo meliores , eo deteriores , yet in regard of this , and some other points concerning humane learning , and morall matters , i may say as agesilaus sayd to his enemie farnabasus , talis quum sis , vtinam noster esses . and thus much touching the discredits drawn from the fortunes of learned men . as touching the manners of learned men , it is a thing personall and indiuiduall , and no doubt there be amongst them , as in other professions , of all temperatures ; but yet so as it is not without truth , which is sayd , that abeunt studia in mores , studies haue an influence and operation , vpon the manners of those that are conuersant in them . but vpon an attentiue , and indifferent reuiew ; i for my part , cannot find any disgrace to learning , can proceed frō the manners of learned men ; not inherent to them as they are learned ; except it be a fault , ( which was the supposed fault of demosthenes , cicero , cato the second ; seneca , and many moe ) that because the times they read of , are commonly better than the times they liue in ; and the duties taught , better than the duties practised : they contend somtimes too farre , to bring thinges to perfection ; and to reduce the corruption of manners , to honestie of precepts , or examples of too great height ; and yet hereof they haue caueats ynough in their owne walkes : for solon , when he was asked whether he had giuen his citizens the best laws , answered wisely , y ea of such , as they would receiue : and plato finding that his owne heart , could not agree with the corrupt manners of his country , refused to beare place or office , saying : that a mans countrey was to be vsed as his parents were , that is , with humble per swasions , and not with contestations . and caesars counsellor put in the same caueat , non ad vetera instituta reuocans quae iampridem corruptis moribus ludibrio sunt ; and cicero noteth this error directly in cato the second , when he writes to his friend atticus ; cato optimè sentit , sed nocet interdum reipublicae ; lo quitur enim tanquam in repub : platonis , non tanquam in foece romuli ; and the same cicero doth excuse and expound the philosophers for going too far , and being too exact in their prescripts , when he saith ; isti ipsi praeceptores virtutis & magistri , videntur fines officiorum paulo longius quam natura vellet protulisse , vt cū ad vltimū animo contendissemus , ibi tamen , vbi oportet , consisteremus : and yet himself might haue said : monitis sū minor ipse meis , for it was his own fault , thogh not in so extream a degre . another fault likewise much of this kind , hath beene incident to learned men ; which is that they haue esteemed the preseruation , good , and honor of their countreys or maisters before their owne fortunes or safeties . for so sayth demosthenes vnto the athenians ; if it please you to note it , my counsels vnto you , are not such , whereby i should grow great amongst you , and you become little amongst the gre●…ians : but they be of that nature as they are sometimes not good for me to giue , but are alwaies good for you to follow . and so seneca after he had consecrated that quinquennium neronis to the eternall glorie of learned gouernors , held on his honest and loyall course of good and free counsell , after his maister grew extreamely corrupt in his gouernment ; neither can this point otherwise be : for learning endueth mens mindes with a true sence of the ●…railtie of their persons , the casualtie of their fortun̄es , and the dignitie of their soule and vocation ; so that it is impossible for them to esteeme that any greatnesse of their owne fortune can bee , a true or worthy end of their being and ordainment ; and therefore are desirous to giue their account to god , and so likewise to their maisters vnder god ( as kinges and the states that they serue ) in these words ; ecce tibi lucrifeci , and not ●…cce mihi lucrifeci : whereas the corrupter sort of meere politiques , that haue not their thoughts established by learning in the loue and apprehension of dutie , nor neuer looke abroad into vniuersalitie ; doe referre all thinges to themselues , and thrust themselues into the center of the world , as if all lynes should meet in them and their fortunes ; neuer caring in all tempests what becoms of the shippe of estates , so they may saue themselues in the cocke-boat of their owne fortune , whereas men that seele the weight of dutie , and know the limits of selfe-loue , vse to make good their places & duties , though with perill . and if they stand in seditious and violent alterations ; it is rather the reucrence which many times both aduerse parts doegiue to honestie , than any versatile aduantage of their owne carriage . but for this point of tender sence , and ●…ast obligation of dutie , which learning doth endue the minde withall , howsoeuer fortune may taxe it , and many in the depth of their corrupt principles may despise it yet it will receiue an open allowance , and therefore needes the lesse di●…proofe or excusation . another fault incident commonly to learned men , which may be more probably defended , than truely denyed , is ; that they fayle sometimes in ap●…lying themselus to particular persons , which want of exact application ar●…eth from two causes : the one because the largenesse of their minde can hardly confine it selfe to dwell in the exquisite obseruation or examination of the nature and customes of one person : for it is a speech for a louer , & not for a wise man : satis magnum alter alteri theat●…um sumus●… : neuerthelesse i shall yeeld , that he that cannot contract the sight of his minde , aswell as disperse and dilate it , wanteth a great sacultie . but there is a second cause , which is no inabilitie , but a rejection vpon choise and iudgement . for the honest and iust bounds of obseruation , by one person vpon another , extend no further , but to vnderstand him sufficiently , whereby not to giue him offence , or wherby to be able to giue him faithfull counsel , or wherby to stand vpon reasonable guard and caution in respect of a mans selfe : but to be speculatiue into another man , to the end to know how to worke him , or winde him , or gouerne him , proceedeth from a heart that is double and clouen , and not entire and ingenuous ; which as in friendship it is want of integritie , so towards princes or superiors , is want of dutie . for the custome of the leuant , which is , that subiects doe forbeare to gaze or fixe their eyes vpon princes , is in the outward ceremonie barbarous ; but the morall is good : for men ought not by cunning and bent obseruations to pierce and penetrate into the hearts of kings , which the scripture hath declared to be inscrutable . there is yet another fault ( with which i will conclude this part ) which is often noted in learned men , that they doe many times fayle to obserue decencie , and discretion in their behauiour and carriage , and commit errors in small and ordinarie points of action ; so as the vulgar sort of capacities , doe make a iudgement of them in greater matters , by that which they finde wanting in them , in smaller . but this consequence doth oft deceiue men , for which , i doe referre them ouer to that which was sayd by themistocles arrogantly , and vnciuily , being applyed to himselfe out of his owne mouth , but being applyed to the generall state of this question pertinently and iustly ; when being inuited to touch a lute , he sayd : he could not fiddle , but he could make a small towne , a great state . so no doubt , many may be well seene in the passages of gouernement and policie , which are to seeke in little , and punctuall occasions ; i referre them also to that , which plato sayd of his maister socrates , whom he compared to the gally-pots of apothecaries , which on the out side had apes and owles , and antiques , but contained with in soueraigne and precious liquors , and confections ; acknowledging that to an externall report , he was not without superficiall leuities , and deformities ; but was inwardly replenished with excellent vertues and powers . and so much touching the point of manners of learned men . but in the meane time , i haue no purpose to giue allowance to some conditions and courses base , and vnworthy , wherein diuers professors of learning , haue wronged themselues , and gone too farre ; such as were those trencher philosophers , which in the later age of the romane state , were vsually in the houses of great persons , being little better than solemne parasites ; of which kinde , lucian maketh a merrie description of the philosopher , that the great ladie tooke to ride with her in her coach , and would needs haue him carie her little dogge , which he doing officiously , and yet vncomely , the page scoffed . and sayd : that he doubted , the philosopher of a stoike , would turne to be a cynike . but aboue all the rest , the grosse and palpable flatterie , whereunto many ( not vnlearned ) haue abbased & abused their wits and pens , turning ( as du bartas saith , ) hecuba into helena , and faustina into lucretia , hath most diminished the price and estimation of learning neither is the morall dedications of bookes and writings , as to patrons to bee commended : for that bookes ( such as are worthy the name of bookes ) ought to haue no patrons , but truth and reason : and the ancient custome was , to dedicate them only to priuate and equall friendes , or to intitle the bookes with their names , or if to kings and great persons , it was to some such as the argument of the booke was fit and proper for ; but these and the like courses may deserue rather reprehension , than defence . not that i can taxe or condemne the morigeration or application of learned men to men in fortune . for the answere was good that diogenes made to one that asked him in mockerie , how it came to passe that philosophers were the followers of rich men , and not rich men of philosophers ? he answered soberly , and yet sharpely ; because the one sort knew what they had need of , & the other did not ; and of the like nature was the answere which aristippus made , when hauing a petition to dionisius , and no eare giuen to him , he fell downe at his feete , wheupon dionisius stayed , and gaue him the hearing , and graunted it , and afterward some person tender on the behalfe philosophie , reprooued aristippus , that he would offer the profession of philosophie such an indignitie , as for a priuat suit to fall at a tyrants feet : but he answered ; it was not his fault , but it was the fault of dionisius , that had his eares in his feete . neither was it accounted weakenesse , but discretion in him that would not dispute his best with adrianus caesar ; excusing himselfe , that it was reason to yeeld to him , that commaunded thirtie legions . these and the like applications and stooping to points of necessitie and conuenience cannot bee disallowed : for though they may haue some outward basenesse ; yet in a iudgement truely made , they are to bee accounted submissions to the occasion , and not to the person . now i proceede to those errours and vanities , which haue interueyned amongst the studies themselues of the learned ; which is that which is principall and proper to the present argument , wherein my purpose is not to make a iustification of the errors , but by a censure and separation of the errors , to make a iustificatiō of that which is good & sound ; and to deliuer that from the aspersion of the other . for we see , that it is the manner of men , to scandalize and depraue that which retaineth the state , and vertue , by taking aduantage vpon that which is corrupt and degenerate ; as the heathens in the primitiue church vsed to blemish and taynt the christians , with the faults and corruptions of heretiques : but neuerthelesse , i haue no meaning at this time to make any exact animaduersion of the errors and impediments in matters of learning , which are more secret and remote from vulgar opinion ; but onely to speake vnto such as doe fall vnder , or neere vnto , a popular obseruation . there be therfore chiefely three vanities in studies , whereby learning hath been most traduced : for those things we do esteeme vaine , which and either false or friuolous , those which either haue no truth , or no vse : & those persons we esteem vain , which are either credulous or curious , & curiositie is either in mater or words ; so that in reason , as wel as in experience , there fal out to be these 3. distēpers ( as i may tearm thē ) of learning ; the first fantastical learning : the second contentious learning , & the last delicate learning , vaine imaginations , vaine altercations , & vain affectatiōs : & with the last i wil begin , martin luther conducted ( no doubt ) by an higher prouidence , but in discourse of reason , finding what a prouince he had vndertaken against the bishop of rome , and the degenerate traditions of the church , and finding his owne solitude , being no waies ayded by the opinions of his owne time , was enforced to awake all antiquitie , and to call former times to his succors , to make a partie against the present time : so that the ancient authors , both in diuinitie , and in humanitie , which had long time slept in libraries , began generally to be read and reuolued . this by consequence , did draw on a necessitie of a more exquisite trauaile in the languages originall , wherin those authors did write : for the better vnderstāding of those authors , and the better aduantage of pressing and applying their words : and thereof grew againe , a delight in their manner of stile and phrase , and an admiration of that kinde of writing ; which was much furthered & precipitated by the enmity & opposition , that the propounders of those ( primitiue , but seeming new opinions ) had against the schoole-men : who were generally of the contrarie part : and whose writings were altogether in a differing stile and fourme , taking libertie to coyne , and frame new tearms of art , to expresse their own sence , and to auoide circuite of speech , without regard to the purenesse , pleasantnesse , and ( as i may call it ) lawfulnesse of the phrase or word : and againe , because the great labour that then was with the people ( of whome the pharisees were wont to say : execrabilis ista turba quae non nouit legem ) for the winning and perswading of them , there grewe of necessitie in cheefe price , and request , eloquence and varietie of discourse , as the fittest and forciblest accesse into the capacitie of the vulgar sort : so that these foure causes concurring , the admiration of ancient authors , the hate of the schoole-men , the exact studie of languages : and the efficacie of preaching did bring in an affectionate studie of eloquence , and copie of speech , which then began to flourish . this grew speedily to an excesse : for men began to hunt more after wordes , than matter , and more after the choisenesse of the phrase , and the round and cleane composition of the sentence , and the sweet falling of the clauses , and the varying and illustration of their workes with tropes and figures : then after the weight of matter , worth of subiect , soundnesse of argument , life of inuention , or depth of iudgement . then grew the flowing , and watrie vaine of osorius the portugall bishop , to be in price : then did sturmius spend such infinite , and curious paines vpon cicero the orator , and hermog●…nes the rhetorican , besides his owne bookes of periods , and imitation , and the like : then did car of cambridge , and as●…am with their lectures and writings , almost diefie cicero and demosthenes , and allure , all young men that were studious vnto that delicate and pollished kinde of learning . then did erasmus take occasion to make the scoffing eccho ; decem annos consumpsi in legendo cicerone : and the eccho answered in greeke , oue ; asine . then grew the learning of the schoole-men to be vtterly despised as barbarous . in summe , the whole inclination and bent of those times , was rather towards copie , than weight . here therefore , the first distemper of learning , when men studie words , and not matter : whereof though i haue represented an example of late times : yet it hath beene , and will be secundum maius & minus in all time . and how is it possible , but this should haue an operation to discredite learning , euen with vulgar capacities , when they see learned mens workes like the first letter of a patent , or limmed booke : which though it hath large flourishes , yet it is but a letter . it seemes to me that pigmalions frenzie is a good embleme or portraiture of this vanitie : for wordes are but the images of matter , and except they haue life of reason and inuention : to fall in loue with them , is all one , as to fall in loue with a picture . but yet notwithstanding , it is a thing not hastily to be condemned , to cloath and adorne the the obscuritie , euen of philosophie it selfe , with sensible and plausible elocution . for hereof we haue great examples in xenophon , cicero , seneca , plutarch , and of plato also in some degree , and hereof likewise there is great vse : for surely , to the seuere inquisition of truth , and the deepe progresse into philosophie , it is some hindrance ; because it is too early satisfactorie to the minde of man , and quencheth the desire of further search , before we come to a iust periode . but then if a man be to haue any vse of such knowledge in ciuile occasions , of conference , counsell , perswasion , discourse , or the like : then shall he finde it prepared to his hands in those authors , which write in that manner . but the excesse of this is so iustly contemptible , that as hercules , when hee saw the image of adonis , venus mig●…on in a temple , sayd in disdaine , nil sacri es . so there is none of hercules followers in learning , that is , the more seuere , and laborious sort of enquirers into truth , but will despise those delicacies and affectations , as indeede capable of no diuinesse . and thus much of the first disease or distemper of learning . the second which followeth is in nature ; worse then 〈◊〉 the former : for as substance of matter is better than beautie of words : so contrariwise vaine matter is worse , than vaine words : wherein it seemeth the reprehension of saint paule , was not onely proper for those times , but prophetical for the times following , and not only respectiue to diuinitie , but extensiue to all knowledge . deuita prophanas vocum nouitates & oppositiones falsinominis scientiae . for he assigneth two markes and badges of suspected and falsified science ; the one , the noueltie and strangenesse of tearmes ; the other , the strictnesse of positions , which of necessitie doth induce oppositions , and so questions and altercations . surely , like as many substances in nature which are solide , do putrifie and corrupt into wormes : so it is the propertie of good and sound knowledge , to putrifie and dissolue into a number of subtile , idle , vnholesome , and ( as i may tearme them ) vermiculate questions ; which haue indeede a kinde of quicknesse , and life of spirite , but no soundnesse of matter , or goodnesse of qualitie . this kinde of degenerate learning did chiefely raigne amongst the schoole-men , who hauing sharpe and stronge wits , and aboundance of leasure , and smal varietie of reading ; but their wits being shut vp in the cels of a few authors ( chiefely aristotle their dictator ) as their persons were shut vp in the cells of monasteries and colledges , and knowing little historie , either of nature or time , did out of no great quantitie of matter , and infinite agitation of wit , spin out vnto vs those laboriouswebbes of learning which are extant i●… their bookes . for the wit and minde of man , if it worke vpon matter , which is the contēplation of the creatures of god worketh according to the stuffe , and is limited thereby ; but if it worke vpon it selfe , as the spider worketh his webbe , then it is endlesse , 〈◊〉 and brings forth indeed copwebs of learning , admirable for the finesse of thread and worke , but of no substance or profite . this same vnprofitable subtilitie or curiositie is of two sorts : either in the subiect it selfe that they handle , when it is a fruitlesse speculation or controuersie ; ( whereof there are no small number both in diuinity & philosophie ) or in the maner or method of handling of a knowledge ; which amongst them was this ; vpon euerie particular position or assertion to frame obiections , and to those obiectious , solutions : which solutions were for the most part not confutations , but distinctions : whereas indeed the strength of all sciences , is as the strength of the old mans faggot in the bond . for the harmonie of a science supporting each part the other , is and ought to be the true and briefe confutation and suppression of all the smaller sort of obiections : but on the other side , if you take out euerie axiome , as the stickes of the faggot one by one , you may quarrell with them , and bend them and breake them at your pleasure : so that as was sayd of seneca : verborum minutijs rerum frangit pondera : so a man may truely say of the schoole men quaestionum minutijs scien●…arum frangunt sodilitatem . for were it not better for a man in a faire roome , to set vp one great light , or braunching candlesticke of lights , than to goe about with a small watch candle into euerie corner ? and such is their methode , that rests not so much vppon euidence of truth prooued by arguments , authorities , similitudes , examples ; as vpon particular confutations and solutions of euerie scruple , cauillation & obiection : breeding for the most part one questiō as fast as it solueth another ; euē as in the former resemblance , when you carry the light into one corner , you darken the rest : so that the fable and fiction of scylla seemeth to be a liuely image of this kinde of philosophie or knowledge , which was transformed into a comely virgine for the vpper parts ; but then ; candida succinctam , latran●…ibus inguina monstris : so the generalities of the schoolemen are for a while good and proportionable ; but then when you descend into their distinctions and decisions , in stead of a fruitfull wombe , for the vse and benefite of mans life ; they end in monstrous altercations and barking questions . so as it is not possible but this qualitie of knowledge must fall vnder popular contempt , the people being apt to contemne truth vpō occasion of controuersies & altercations , and to thinke they are all out of their way which neuer meete , and when they see such digladiation about subtilties , and matter of no vse nor moment , they easily fall vpon that iudgement of dionysius of siracusa , verba ista sunt senum ctiosorum . notwithstanding certaine it is , that if those schoole men to their great thirst of truth , and vnwearied trauaile of wit , had ioyned varietie and vniuersalitie of reading and contemplation , they had prooued excellent lights , to the great aduancement of all learning and knowledge : but as they are , they are great vndertakers indeed , and fierce with darke keeping . but as in the inquirie of the diuine truth , their pride enclined to leaue the oracle of gods word , and to vanish in the mixture of their owne inuentions : so in the inquisition of nature , they euer left the oracle of gods works , and adored the deceiuing and deformed images , which the vnequall mirrour of their owne minds , or a few receiued authors or principles , did represent vnto them . and thus much for the second disease of learning . for the third vice or disease of learning , which concerneth deceit or vntruth , it is of all the rest the fowlest ; as that which doth destroy the essentiall fourme of knowledge ; which is nothing but a representation of truth ; for the truth of being , and the truth of knowing are one , differing no more than the direct beame , and the beame reflected . this vice therefore brauncheth it selfe into two sorts ; delight in deceiuing , and aptnesse to be deceiued , imposture and credulitie : which although they appeare to be of a diuers nature , the one seeming to proceede of cunning , and the other of simplicitie ; yet certainely , they doe for the most part concurre : for as the verse noteth . percontatorem fugito , nam garrulus idem est : an inquisiti●…e man is a pratler : so vpon the like reason , a credulous man is a deceiuer : as we see it in same , that hee that will easily beleeue rumors , will as easily augment rumors , and adde somewhat to them of his owne , which tacitus wisely noteth , when he sayth : fingunt simul creduntque so great an affinitie hath fiction and beleefe . this facilitie of credite , and accepting or admitting thinges weakely authorized or warranted , is of two kindes , according to the subiect : for it is either a beleefe of historie , ( as the lawyers speake , matter of fact : ) or else of matter of art and opinion ; as to the former , wee see the experience and inconuenience of this errour in ecclesiasticall historie , which hath too easily receiued and registred reports and narrations of miracles wrought by martyrs , hermits , or monkes of the desert , and other holymen ; and there reliques , shrines , chappels , and images : which though they had a passage for time , by the ignorance of the people , the superstitious simplicitie of some , and the politique tolleration of others , holding them but as diuine poesies : yet after a periode of time , when the mist began to cleare vp , they grew to be esteemed , but as old wiues fables , impostures of the cleargie illusions of spirits , and badges of antichrist , to the great scandall and detriment of religion . so in naturall historie , wee see there hath not beene that choise and iudgement vsed , as ought to haue beene , as may appeare in the writings of plinius , cardanus , albertus , and diuers of the arabians , being fraught with much fabulous matter , a great part , not onely vntryed , but notoriously vntrue , to the great derogation of the credite of naturall philosophie , with the graue and sober kinde of wits ; wherein the wisedome and integritie of aristotle is worthy to be obserued , that hauing made so diligent and exquisite a historie of liuing creatures , hath mingled it sparingly with any vaine or fayned matter , and yet on thother sa●…e , hath cast all prodigious narrations , which he thought worthy the recording into one booke : excellently discerning that matter of manifest truth , such wherevpon obseruation and rule was to bee built , was not to bee mingled or weakened with matter of doubtfull credite : and yet againe that rarities and reports , that seeme vncredible , are not to be suppressed or denyed to the memorie of men . and as for the facilitie of credite which is yeelded to arts & opinions , it is likewise of two kinds , either when too much beleefe is attributed to the arts themselues , or to certaine authors in any art. the sciences themselues which haue had better intelligence and confederacie with the imagination of man , than with his reason , are three in number ; astrologie , naturall magicke , and alcumy : of which sciences neuerthelesse the ends or pretences are noble . for astrologie pretendeth to discouer that correspondence or concatenation , which is betweene the superiour globe and the inferiour . naturall magicke pretendeth to cal & reduce natural philosophie from variety of speculations to the magnitude of works ; and alcumy pretendeth to make separation of all the vnlike parts of bodies , which in mixtures of nature are incorporate . but the deriuations and prosecutions to these ends , both in the theories , and in the practises are full of errour and vanitie ; which the great professors themselues haue sought to vaile ouer and conceale by euigmaticall writings , and referring themselues to auricular traditions , and such other deuises , to saue the credite of impostures ; and yet surely to alcumy this right is due , that it may be compared to the husband man whereof aesope makes the fable ; that when he died , told his sonnes , that he had left vnto them gold , buried vnder ground in his vineyard ; and they digged ouer all the ground , and gold they found none , but by reason of their stirring and digging the mold about , the rootes of their vines , they had a great vintage the yeare following : so assuredly the search and stirre to make gold hath brought to light a great number of good and fruitfull inuentions and experiments , as well for the disclosing of nature ; as for the vse of mans life . and as for the ouermuch credite that hath beene giuen vnto authors in sciences , in making them dictators , that their wordes should stand , and not counsels to giue aduise ; the dammage is infinite that sciences haue receiued thereby , as the principall cause that hath kept them lowe , at a stay without groweth or aduancement . for hence it hath comen , that in arts mechanicall , the first deuiser coms shortest , and time addeth and perfecteth : but in sciences the first author goeth furthest , and time leeseth and corrupteth . so we see , artillerie , sayling , printing , and the like , were grossely managed at the first and by time accommodated and refined : but contrary wise the philosophies and sciences of aristotle , plato , democritus , hypocrates , euclid●…s , archimedes , of most vigor at the first , and by time degenerate and imbased , whereof the reason is no other , but that in the former many wits and industries haue 〈◊〉 contributed in one ; and in the later many wits and industries haue ben spent about the wit of some one ; whom many times they haue rather depraued than illustrated . for as water will not ascend higher , than the leuell of the first spring head , from whence it descendeth : so knowledge deriued from aristotle , and exempted from libertie of examination , will not rise againe higher , than the knowledge of aristotle . and therfore although the position be good : oportet discentem credere : yet it must bee coupled with this , oportet edoctum iudicare : for disciples doe owe vnto maisters onely a temporarie beleefe , and a suspension of their owne iudgement , till they be fully instructed , and not an absolute resignation , or perpetuall captiuitie : and therefore to conclude this point , i will say no more , but ; so let great authors haue theire due , as time which is the author of authors be not depriued of his due , which is furder and furder to discouer truth . thus haue i gone ouer these three diseasses of learning , besides the which there are some other rather peccant humors , then fourmed diseases , which neuertheles are not so secret and intrinsike , but that they fall vnder a popular obseruation and traducement ; and therefore are not to be passed ouer . the first of these is the extreame affecting of two extreamities ; the one antiquity , the other nouelty ; wherein it seemeth the children of time doe take after the nature and mallice of the father . for as he deuowreth his children ; so one of them seeketh to deuoure and suppresse the other ; while antiquity enuieth there should be new additions ; and nouelty cannot be content to add , but it must deface ; surely the aduise of the prophet is the true direction in this matter , state super vias antiquas , & videte quaenam sit via recta & bona , & ambulate in ea . antiquity deserueth that reuerēce , that men should make a stand thereupon , and discouer what is the best way , but when the discouery is well taken then to make progression . and to speake truly , antiquita seculi iuuentus mundi . these times are the ancient times when the world is ancient , & not those which we count antient ordine retrogrado , by a computacion backward from our selues . another error induced by the former is a distrust that any thing should bee now to bee found out which the world should haue missed and passed ouer so long time , as if the same obiection were to be made to time , that lucian maketh to iupiter , and other the heathen gods , of which he woondreth , that they begot so many children in old time , and begot none in his time , and asketh whether they were become septuagenarie , or whether the lawe pappia made against old mens mariages had restrayned them . so it seemeth men doubt , least time is become past children and generation ; wherein contrary wise , we see commonly the leuitie and vnconstancie of mens iudgements , which till a matter bee done , wonder that it can be done ; and assoone as it is done , woonder againe that it was no sooner done , as we see in the expedition of alexander into asia , which at first was preiudged as a vast and impossible enterprize ; and yet afterwards it pleaseth liuye to make no more of it , than this , nil aliud quam bene ausus vana contemnere . and the same happened to columbus in the westerne nauigation . but in intellectuall matters , it is much more common ; as may be seen in most of the propositions of euclyde , which till they bee demonstrate , they seeme strange to our assent ; but being demonstrate , our mind accepteth of them by a kind of relation ( as the lawyers speak ) as if we had knowne them before . another errour that hath also some affinitie with the former , is a conceit that of former opinions or sects after varietie and examination , the best hath still preuailed ; and suppressed the rest ; so as if a man should beginne the labour of a newe search , hee were but like to light vppon somewhat formerly reiected ; and by reiection , brought into obliuion ; as if the multitude , or the wisest for the multitudes sake , were not readie to giue passage , rather to that which is popular and superficiall , than to that which is substantiall and profound ; for the truth is , that time seemeth to be of the nature of a riuer , or streame , which carryeth downe to vs that which is light and blowne vp ; and sinketh and drowneth that which is weightie and solide . another errour of a diuerse nature from all the former , is the ouer-early and peremptorie reduction of knowledge into artsand methodes : from which time , commonly sciences receiue small or no augmentation . but as young men , when they knit and shape perfectly , doeseldome grow to a further stature : so knowledge , while it is in aphorismes and obseruations , it is in groweth ; but when it once is comprehended inexact methodes ; it may perchance be further pollished and illustrate , and accommodated for vse and practise ; but it encreaseth no more in bulke and substance . another errour which doth succeed that which we last mentioned , is , that after the distribution of particular arts and sciences , men haue abandoned vniuersalitie , or philosophia prima ; which cannot but cease , and stoppe all progression . for no perfect discouerie can bee made vppon a slatte , or a leuell . neither is it possible to discouer the more remote , and deeper parts of any science , if you stand but vpon the leuell of the same science , and ascend not to a higher science . another error hath proceeded from too great a reuerence , and a kinde of adoration of the minde and vnderstanding of man●… by meanes whereof , men haue withdrawne themselues too much from the contemplation of nature , and the obseruations of experience : and haue tumbled vp and downe in their owne reason and conceits : vpon these intellectuallists , which are notwithstanding commonly taken for the most sublime and diuine philosophers ; heraclitus gaue a iust censure , saying : men sought truth in their owne little worlds , and not in the great and common world : for they disdaine to spell , and so by degrees to read in the volume of gods works , and contrarywise by continuall meditation and agitation of wit , doe vrge , and as it were inuocate their owne spirits , to diuine , and giue oracles vnto them , whereby they are deseruedly deluded . another error that hath some connexion with this later , is , that men haue vsed to infect their meditations , opinions , and doctrines with some conceits which they haue most admired , or some sciences which they haue most applyed ; and giuen all things else a tincture according to them , vtterly vntrue and vnproper . so hath plato intermingled his philosophie with theologie , and aristotle with logicke , and the second schoole of plato , proclus , and the rest , with the mathematiques . for these were the arts which had a kinde of primo geniture with them seuerally . so haue the alchymists made a philosophie out of a few experiments of the furnace ; and gilbertus our countrey man hath made a philosophie out of the obseruations of a loadstone . so cicero , when reciting the seuerall opinions of the nature of the soule , he found a musitian , that held the soule was but a harmonie , sayth pleasantly : hic ab arte sua non recessit , &c. but of these conceits aristotle speaketh seriously and wisely , when he sayth : qui respiciunt ad pauca'de facili pronuntiant . another errour is an impatience of doubt , and hast to assertion without due and mature suspention of iudgement . for the two wayes of contemplation are not vnlike the two wayes of action , commonly spoken of by the ancients . the one plain and smooth in the beginning , and in the end impassable : the other rough and troublesome in the entrance , but after a while faire and euen , so it is in cotemplation , if a man will begin with certainties , hee shall end in doubts ; but if he will be content to beginne with doubts , he shall end in certainties . another error is in the manner of the tradition and deliuerie of knowledge , which is for the most part magistrall and peremptorie ; and not ingenuous and faithfull , in a sort , as may be soonest beleeued ; and not easilest examined . it is true , that in compendious treatises for practise , that fourme is not to bee disallowed . but in the true handling of knowledge , men ought not to fall either on the one side into the veyne of velleius the epicurean : nil tam metuen●… , quam ne dubitare aliqua de re videretur ; nor on the other side into socrates his irronicall doubting of all things , but to propound things sincerely , with more or lesse asseueration : as they stand in a mans owne iudgement , prooued more or lesse . other errors there are in the scope that men propound to themselues , whereunto they bend their endeauours : for whereas the more constant and deuote kind of professors of any science ought to propound to themselues , to make some additions to their science ; they conuert their labours to aspire to certaine second prizes ; as to be a profound interpreter or cōmenter ; to be a sharpe champion or defender ; to be a methodicall compounder or abridger ; and so the patrimonie of knowledge commeth to be sometimes improoued : but seldome augmented . but the greatest error of all the rest , is the mistaking or misplacing of the last or furthest end of knowledge : for men haue entred into a desire of learning and knowledge , sometimes vpon a naturall curiositie , and inquisitiue appetite ; sometimes to entertaine their mindes with varietie and delight ; sometimes for ornament and reputation ; and sometimes to inable them to victorie of wit and contradiction , and most times for lukar and profession , and seldome sincerely to giue a true account of their guist of reason , to the benefite and vse of men : as if there were sought in knowledge a cowch , whervpon to rest a searching and restlesse spirite ; or a tarras●…e for a wandring and variable minde , to walke vp and downe with a faire prospect ; or a tower of state for a proude minde to raise it selfe vpon ; or a fort or commaunding ground for strife and contention , or a shoppe for profite or sale ; and not a rich store-house for the glorie of the creator , and the reliefe of mans estate . but this is that , which will indeed dignifie and exalt knowledge ; if contemplation and action may be more neerely and straightly conioyned and vnited together , than they haue beene ; a coniunction like vnto that of the two highest planets , saturne the planet of rest and contemplation ; and iupiter the planet of ciuile societie and action . howbeit , i doe not meane when i speake of vse and action , that end before mentioned of the applying of knowledge to ●…uker and profession ; for i am not ignorant howe much that diuerteth and interrupteth the prosecution and aduauncement of knowledge ; like vnto the goulden ball throwne before atalanta , which while shee goeth aside , and stoopeth to take vp , the race is hindred , declinat cursus , aurumque volubile tollit : neither is my meaning as was spoken of socrates , to call philosophy down from heauē to conuerse vpon the earth , that is , to leaue natural philosophy aside , & to applye knowledge onely to manners , and policie . but as both heauen and earth doe conspire and contribute to the vse and benesite of man : so the end ought to bee from both philosophies , to separate and reiect vaine speculations , and whatsoeuer is emptie and voide , and to preserue and augment whatsoeuer is solide and fruitfull : that knowledge may not bee as a curtezan for pleasure , & vanitie only , or as a bond-woman to acquire and gaine to her masters vse , but as a spouse , for generation , fruit , and comfort . thus haue i described and opened as by a kinde of dissection , those peccant humors ( the principall of them ) which hath not onely giuen impediment to the proficience of learning , but haue giuen also occasion , to the traducement thereof : wherein if i haue beene too plaine , it must bee remembred ; fideli●… vulnera amantis , sed dolosa oscula malignantis . this i thinke i haue gained , that i ought to bee the better beleeued , in that which i shall say pertayning to commendation : because i haue proceeded so freely , in that which concerneth censure . and yet i haue no purpose to enter into a laudatiue of learning , or to make a hymne to the muses ( though i am of opinion , that it is long since their rites were duely celebrated ) but my intent is without varnish or amplification , iustly to weigh the dignitie of knowledge in the ballance with other things , and to take the true value thereof by testimonies and arguments diuine , and humane . first therefore , let vs seeke the dignitie of knowledge in the arch-tipe or first plat forme , which is is in the attributes and acts of god , as farre as they are reuealed to man , and may be obserued with sobrietie , wherein we may not seeke it bythe name of learning , for all learning is knowledge acquired , and all knowledge in god is originall . and therefore we must looke for it by another name , that of wisedome or sapience , as the scriptures call it . it is so then , that in the worke of the creation , we see a double emanation of vertue frō god : the one referring more properly to power , the other to wisedome , the one expressed in making the subsistence of the mater , & the other in disposing the beauty of the fourme . this being supposed , it is to bee obserued , that for any thing which appeareth in the historie of the creation , the confused masse , and matter of heauen and earth was made in a moment , and the order and disposition of that chaos or masse , was the work of sixe dayes , such a note of difference it pleased god to put vppon the workes of power , and the workes of wisedome : wherewith concurreth that in the former , it is not sette downe , that god sayd , let there be heauen and earth , as it is set downe of the workes following , but actually , that god made heauen and earth : the one carrying the stile of a manufacture , and the other of a lawe , decree , or councell . to proceede to that which is next in order from god to spirits : we finde as farre as credite is to bee giuen to the celestiall hierarchye , of that supposed dionysius the senator of athens the first place or degree is giuen to the angels of loue , which are tearmed seraphim , the second to the angels of light , which are tearmed cherubim , and the third ; and so following places to thrones , principalities , and the rest , which are all angels of power and ministry ; so as the angels of knowledge and illumination , are placed before the angels of office and domination . to descend from spirits and intellectuall sormes to sensible and materiall fourmes , wee read the first fourme that was created , was light , which hath a relation and correspondence in nature and corporall thinges , to knowledge in spirits and incorporall thinges . so in the distribution of dayes , we see the day wherin god did rest , & contēplate his owne works , was blessed aboue all the dayes , wherein he did effect and accomplish them . after the creation was finished , it is sette downe vnto vs , that man was placed in the garden to worke therein , which worke so appointed to him , could be no other than worke of contemplation , that is , when the end of worke is but for exercise and experiment , not for necessitie , for there being then no reluctation of the creature , nor sweat of the browe , mans employment must of consequence haue ben matter of delight in the experiment and not matter of labor for the vse . againe the first acts which man persourmed in paradise , consisted of the two summarie parts of knowledge , the view of creatures , and the imposition of names . as for the knowledge which induced the fall , it was , as was touched before , not the naturall knowledge of creatures , but the morall knowledge of good and euill , wherein the supposition was , that gods commaundements or prohibitions were not the originals of good and euill , but that they had other beginnings which man aspired to know , to the end , to make a totall defection from god , and to depend wholy vpon himselfe . to passe on , in the first euent or occurrence after the fall of man ; wee see ( as the scriptures haue infinite mysteries , not violating at all the truth of the storie or letter ) an image of the two estates , the contemplatiue state , and the actiue state , figured in the two persons of abell and cain , and in the two simplest and most primitiue trades of life : that of the shepheard ( who by reason of his leasure , rest in a place , and liuing in view of heauen , is a liuely image of a contemplatiue life ) and that of the husbandman ; where we see againe , the fauour and election of god went to the shepheard , and not to the tiller of the ground . so in the age before the floud , the holy records within those few memorials , which are there entred and registred , haue vouchsafed to mention , and honour the name of the inuentors and authors of musique , and works in mettall . in the age after the floud , the first great iudgement of god vppon the ambition of man , was the confusion of tongues ; whereby the open trade and intercourse of learning and knowledge , was chiefely imbarred . to descend to moyses the law-giuer , and gods first penne ; hee is adorned by the scriptures with this addition , and commendation : that he was seene in all the learning of the aegyptians ; which nation we know was one of the most ancient schooles of the world : for , so plato brings in the egyptian priest , saying vnto solon : you grecians are euer children , you haue no knowledge of antiquitie , nor antiquitie of knowledge . take a view of the ceremoniall law of moyses ; you shall find besides the prefiguration of christ , the badge or difference of the people of god , the excercise and impression of obedience , and other diuine vses and fruits thereof , that some of the most learned rabynes haue trauailed profitably , and profoundly to obserue , some of them a naturall , some of them a morall sence , or reduction of many of the ceremonies and ordinances : as in the lawe of the leprousie , where it is sayd : if the whitenesse hau●… ouer spread the fl●…sh , the patient may passe abroad for clean ; but if there be any whole fl●…sh remayning , he is to be shut vp for vncleane : one of them noteth a principle of nature , that putrefaction is more contagious before maturitie than after : and another noteth a position of morall philosophie , that men abandoned to vice , doe not so much corrupt manners , as those that are halfe good , and halfe euill , so , in this and verie many other places in that lawe , there is to bee found besides the theologicall sence , much aspersion of philosophie . so likewise in that excellent booke of iob , if it be re●…olued with diligence , it will be found pregnant , and swelling with naturall philosophie ; as for example , cosmographie , and the roundnesse of the world : qui extendit aquilonem super vacuum , & appendit terram super nihilum : wherein the pensilenesse of the earth , the pole of the north , and the finitenesse , or conuexitie of heauen are manifestly touched . so againe matter of astronomie ; spiritus eius ornauit coelos & obstetricante manu eius eductus est coluber tortuosus : and in another place , nunquid coniungere valebis micantes stellds pleyadas , aut gyrum arcturi poteris dissipare ? where the fixing of the starres , euer standing at equall distance , is with great elegancie noted : and in another place , qui fa●…arcturum , & ●…ona , & hyadas , & interiora austri , where againe hee takes knowledge of the depression of the southerne pole , calling it the secrets of the south , because the southerne starres were in that climate vnseene . matter of generation , annon si ut lac mulsisti me , & sicut caseum coagulasti me , &c. matter of mynerals , habet argentum venarum suarum principia & aurolocus est in quo con●…latur ferr●…m de t●…rra tollitur , & lapis solutus calore in 〈◊〉 verti●…r : and so forwards in that chapter . so likewise in the person of salomon the king , wee see the guist or endowment of wisedome and learning both in salomons petition , and in gods assent thereunto preferred before all other terrene and temporall selicitie . by vertue of which grant or donatiue of god , salomon became inabled , not onely to write those excellent parables , or aphorismes concerning diuine and morall philosophie ; but also to compile a naturall historie of all verdor , from the cedar vpon the mountaine , to the mosse vppon the wall , ( which is but a rudiment betweene putrefaction , and an hearbe ) and also of all things , that breath or moone . nay the same salomon the king , although he excelled in the glorie of treasure and magnificent buildings of shipping and nauigation , of seruice and attendance , of same and renowne , and the like ; yet hee maketh no claime to any of those glories ; but onely to the glorie of inquisition of truth : for so he sayth expressely : the glorie of god is to conceale a thing , but the glorie of the king is to find it out , as if according to the innocent play of children the diuine maiestie tooke delight to hide his workes , to the end to haue them sound out , and as if kinges could not obtaine a greater honour , than to bee gods play-fellowes in that game , considering the great commaundement of wits and meanes , whereby nothing needeth to be hidden from them . neither did the dispensation of god varie in the times after our sauiour came into the world ; for our sauiour himselfe did first shew his power to subdue ignorance , by his conference with the priests and doctors of the lawe ; before he shewed his power to subdue nature by his miracles . and the comming of the holy spirite , was chiefely figured and expressed in the similitude and guist of tongues ; which are but vehicula scientiae . so in the election of those instruments , which it pleased god to vse for the plantation of the faith , notwithstanding , that at the first hedid employ persons altogether vnlearned , otherwise than by inspiration , more euidently to declare his immediate working , and to abbase all humane wisedome or knowledge ; yet neuerthelesse , that counsell of his was no sooner perfourmed , but in the next vicissitude and succession , he did send his diuine truth into the world , wayted on with other learnings as with seruants or handmaides : for so we see saint paule , who was only learned amongst the apostles , had his penne most vsed in the scriptures of the new testament . so againe , we finde that many of the ancient bishops and father of the church , were excellently redde , & studied in all the learning of the heathen , insomuch , that the edict of the emperour iulianus ( whereby it was interdicted vnto christians to bee admitted into schooles , lectures , or exercises of learning ) was esteemed and accounted a more pernitious engine and machination against the christian faith ; than were all the sanguinarie prosecutions of his predecessors ; neither could the emulation and iealousie of gregorie the first of that name , bishop of rome , euer obtaine the opinion of pietie or deuotion : but contrarywise receiued the censure of humour , malignitie , and pusillanimitie , euen amongst holy men : in that he designed to obliterate and extinguish the memorie of heathen antiquitie and authors . but contrarewise it was the christian church , which amidst the inundations of the scythians , on the one side from the northwest : and the saracens from the east , did preserue in the sacred lappe and bosome thereof , the pretious reliques , euen of heathen learning , which otherwise had beene extinguished , as if no such thing had euer beene . and wee see before our eyes , that in the age of our selues , and our fathers , when it pleased god to call the church of rome to account , for their degenerate manners and ceremonies : and sundrie doctrines , obnoxious , and framed to vphold the same abuses : at one and the same time , it was ordayned by the diuine prouidence , that there should attend withall a renouation , and new spring of all other knowledges : and on the other side , we see the iesuites , who partly in themselues , and partly by the emulation and prouocation of their example , haue much quickned and strengthned the state of learning : we see ( isay ) what notable seruice and reparation they haue done to the romane sea. wherefore to conclude this part , let it bee obserued , that there be two principall duties and seruices besides ornament & illustration , which philosophie and humane learning doe perfourme to faith and religion . the one , because they are an effectuall inducement to the exaltation of the glory of god. for as the psalmes , and other scriptures doe often inuite vs to consider , and magnifie the great and wonderfull workes of god so if we should rest onely in the contemplation of the exterior of them , as they first offer themselues to our sences ; we should do a like iniurie vnto the maiestie of god , as if wee should iudge or construe of the store of some excellent ieweller , by that onely which is set out toward the streete in his shoppe . the other , because they minister a singuler helpe and preseruatiue against vnbeleefe and error ; for our sauiour saith , you erre not knowing the scriptures , nor the power of god : laying before vs two bookes or volumes to studie , if we will be secured from errour : first the scriptures , reuealing the will of god ; and then the creatures expressing his power ; whereof the later is a key vnto the former ; not onely opening our vnderstanding to conceiue the true sence of the scriptures , by the generall notions of reason and rules of speech ; but chiefely opening our beleefe , in drawing vs into a due meditation of the omnipotencie of god , which is chiefely signed and ingrauen vppon his workes . thus much therefore for diuinetestimonie and euidence , concerning the true dignitie , and value of learning . as for humane proofes , it is so large a field , as in a discourse of this nature and breuitie , it is fit rather to vse choise of those things , which we shall produce , than to embrace the variety of them . first therfore in the degrees of humane honour amongst the heathen , it was the highest , to obtain to a veneration & adoration as a god. this vnto the christians is as the forbidden fruit . but we speake now separately of humane testimonie ; according to which , that which the grecians call apotheosis , and the latines , relatio inter diues , was the supreame honour , which man could attribute vnto man ; specially when it was giuen , not by a formall decree or act of state , as it was vsed amongst the romane emperours ; but by an inward assent and beleefe ; which honour being so high , had also a degree or middle tearme : for there were reckoned aboue humane honours , honour heroycall and diuine : in the attribution , and distribution of which honours ; wee see antiquitie made this difference : that whereas founders and vniters of states and cities , law-giuers , extirpers of tyrants , fathers of the people , and other eminent persons in ciuile merite , were honoured but with the titles of worthies or demy-gods : such as were hercules , theseus , minos , romulus , and the like : on the other side , such as were inuentors and authors of new arts , endowments , and commodities towards mans life , were euer consecrated amongst the gods themselues , as was ceres , bacchus , mercurius , apollo , and others , and iustly : for the merit of the former is confined within the circle of an age , or a nation : and is like fruitfull showers , which though they be profitable and good : yet serue but for that season , and for a latitude of ground where they fall : but the other is indeed like the benefits of heauen , which are permanent and vniuersall . the former againe is mixt with strife and perturbation ; but the later hath the true caracter of diuine presence comin aura leni , without noise or agitation . neither is certainely that other merite of learning , in repressing the inconueniences which grow from man to man ; much inferiour to the former , of relieuing the necessities which arise from nature ; which merite was liuely set forth by the ancients in that fayned relation of orpheus theater ; where all beasts and birds assembled 〈◊〉 and forgetting their seuerall appetites ; some of pray , some of game , some of quarrell , stood all sociably together listening vnto the ayres and accords of the harpe ; the sound whereof no sooner ceased , or was drowned by some lowder noyse ; but euerie beast returned to his owne nature ; wherein is aptly described the nature and condition of men ; who are full of sauage and vnreclaymed desires ; of profite , of lust , of reuenge ; which as long as they giue eare to precepts , to lawes , to religion , swee●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eloquence and perswasion of bookes , of sermons , of haranges ; so long is societie and peace maintained ; but if these instruments bee silent ; or that sedition and tumult make them not audible ; all thinges dissolue into anarchie and confusion . but this appeareth more manifestle , when kings themselues , or persons of authoritie vnder them or other gouernours in common wealthes , and popular estates , are endued with learning . for although he might be thought partiall to his owne profession , that sayd , then should people and estates be happie , when either kings were philosophers , or philosophers kings : yet so much is verified by experience ; that vnder learned princes and gouernours , there haue been euer the best times ; for howsoeuer kinges may haue their imperfections in their passions and customes ; yet if they be illuminate by learning , they haue those notions of religion , policie , and moralitie ; which doe preserue them , and refraine them from all ruinous and peremptory errors & excesses ; whispering euermore in their eares , when counsellors and seruants stand mute , and silent ; and senators , or counsellours likewise , which bee learned , doe proceede vpon more safe and substantiall principles ; then counsellors which are onely men of experience ; the one sort keeping dangers a farre off ; whereas the other discouer them not , till they come neere hand : and then trust to the agilitie of their wit , to ward or auoide them . which felicitie of times , vnder learned princes , ( to keepe still the lawe of breuitie , by vsing the most eminent and selected examples ) doth best appeare in the age , which passed from the death of domitianus the emperour , vntill the raigne of commodus : comprehending a succession of sixe sciences , all learned or singuler fauourers and aduancers of learning : which age for temporall respects , was the most happie and flourishing , that euer the romane empire , ( which then was a modele of the world ) enioyed : a matter reuealed and prefigured vnto do●…itian in a dreame , the night before he was slaine ; for hee thought there was growne behinde vpon his shoulders , a necke and a head of gould , which came accordingly to passe , in those golden times which succeeded ; of which princes , we will make some commemoration : wherein although the matter will bee vulgar , and may be thought fitter for a declamation , then agreeable to a treatise infolded as this is ; yet because it is pertinent to the point in hand , neque semper arcum tendit apollo , & to name them onely were too naked and cursorie , i will not omit it altogether . the first was nerua , the excellent temper of whose gouernement , is by a glaunce in cornelius tacitus touched to the life : postquam diuus ne●…res olim insociab●…les mis●…uisset , imperiū & libertatem : and in token of his learning , the last act of his short raigne lest to memorie , was a missiue to his adopted sonne traian , proceeding vpon some inward discontent , at the ingratitude of the times , comprehended in a verse of homers , telis phoebe , ●…uis , lachrymas ulciscere nostras . traian , who succeeded , was for his person not learned : but if wee will hearken to the speech of our sauiour , that sayth , hee that receiueth a prophet in the name of a prophet , shall haue a prophets reward , hee deserueth to bee placed amongest the most learned princes : for there was not a greater admirer of learning or benefactor of learning , a founder of famous libraries , a perpetuall aduancer of learned men to office , and a familiar conuerser with learned professors and preceptors , who were noted to haue then most credite in court. on the other side , how much traians vertue and gouernement was admired & renowned , surely no testimonie of graue and faithfull history doth more liuely set forth , than that legend tale of gregorius magnus , bishop of rome , who was noted for the extream enuy he bare towards all heathen excellencie : and yet he is reported out of the loue and estimation of traians morall vertues , to haue made vnto god , passionate and feruent prayers , for the deliuerie of his soule out of hell : and to haue obtained it with a caueat that he should make no more such petitions . in this princes time also , the persecutions against the christians receiued intermission , vpon the certificate of plin us secundus , a man of excellent learning , and by traian aduanced . adrion his successor , was the most curious man that liued , and the most vniuersal enquirer : insomuch as it was noted for an errour in his mind : that he desired to comprehend all thinges , and not to reserue himselfe for the worthyest thinges , falling into the like humour that was long before noted in phillip and macedon , who when hee would needs ouer-rule and put downe an excellent musitian , in an argument touching musique , was well answered by him againe , god forbid sir ( saith hee ) that your for tune should be so bad , as to know these things better than i ; it pleased god likewise to vse the curiositie of this emperour , as an inducement to the peace of his church in those dayes : for hauing christ in veneration , not as a god or sauiour , but as a wonder or noueltie : and hauing his picture in his gallerie , matched with apollon●…us ( with whom in his vaine imagination , he thought he had some conformitie ) yet it serued the turne to allay the bitter hatred of those times against the christian name : so as the church had peace during his time , and for his gouernement ciuile , although he did not attaine to that of traians , in glorie of armes , or perfection of iustice : yet in deseruing of the weale of the subiect , he did exceede him . for traianc erected many famous monuments and buildings , insomuch as constantine the great , in emulation was woont to call him parietaria , wall flower , because his name was vppon so many walles : but his buildings and workes were more of glorie and tryumph , than vse and necessitie : but adrian spent his whole raigne , which was peaceable in a perambulation , or suruey of the romane empire , giuing order and making assignation , where he went for reedifying of cities , townes , and forts decayed : and for cutting of riuers , and streames : and for making bridges and passages , and for pollicing of cities , and commonalties , with new ordinances and constitutions : and graunting new franchises and incorporations : so that his whole time was a very restauration of all the lapses and decayes of former times . antonius pius , who succeeded him , was a prince excellently learned ; and had rhe patient and subtile witte of a schoole man : insomuch as in common speech , ( which leaues no vertue vntaxed ) hee was called cymini sector , a caruer , or a diuider of comine seede , which is one of the least seedes : such a patience hee had and setled spirite , to enter into the least and most exact differences of causes : a fruit no doubt of the exceeding tranquillitie , and serenitie of his minde ; which being no wayes charged or incombred , either with feares , remorses , or scruples , but hauing been noted for a man of the purest goodnesse without all fiction or affectation , that hath raigned or liued : made his minde contitinually present and entier : he likewise approached a degree neerer vnto christianitie , and became as agrippa sayd vnto s. paule , halfe a christian ; holding their religion and law in good opinion : and not only ceasing persecution , but giuing way to the aduancement of christians . there succeeded him the first diui fratres , the two adoptiue brethren , lucius commodus verus , sonne to elius verus , who delighted much in the softer kind of learning : and was wont to call the poet martiall his virgill : and marcus aurelius antoninus , whereof the later , who obscured his colleague , and suruiued him long , was named the philosopher : who as he excelled all the rest in learning , so he excelled them likewise in perfection of all royall vertues : insomuch as iulianus the emperor in his booke intituled , caesares , being as a pasquill or satyre , to deride all his predecessors , fayned that they were all inuited to a banquet of the gods , and sylenus the iester sate at the neather end of the table , and bestowed a scoffe on euerie one as they came in , but when marcus philosophus came in , sylenus was grauelled , and out of countenance , not knowing where to carpe at him , saue at the last , he gaue a glaunce at his patience towards his wife . and the vertue of this prince continued with that of his predecessor made the name of antoninus so sacred in the world , that though it were extreamely dishonoured in commodus , carocolla , and haeliogabalus , who all bare the name , yet when alexander seuerus refused the name , because he was a stranger to the familie , the senate with one acclamation sayd , quomodo augustus sic & antoninus . in such renowne and veneration , was the name of these two princes in those dayes , that they would haue had it as a perpetuall addition in all the emperours stile . in this emperours time also , the church for the most part was in peace , so as in this sequence of sixe princes , we doe see the blessed effects of learning in soueraigntie , painted forth in the greatest table of world . but for a tablet or picture of smaller volume ( not presuming to speake of your maiestie that liueth ) in my iudgement the most excellent , is that of queene elizabeth , your immediate predecessor in this part of brittaine , a prince , that if plutarch were now aliue to write lynes by parallells , would trouble him i thinke , to find for her a parallell amongst women . this ladie was endued with learning in her sexe singuler ; and grace euen amongst masculine princes : whether we speake of learning , of language , or of science , moderne , or ancient : diuinitie or humanitie . and vnto the verie last yeare of her life , she accustomed to appoint set houres for reading , scarcely any young student in an vniuersitie , more dayly , or more duly . as for the gouernement , i assure my selfe , i shall not exceed , if i doe affirme , that this part of the iland , neuer had 45. yeres of better times ; and yet not through the calmnesse of the season ; but through the wisedom of her regimēt . for if there be considered of the one side , the truth of religion established ; the constant peace and securitie : the good administration of iustice , the temperate vse of the prerogatiue , not slackened , nor much strayned : the flourishing state of learning , sortable to so excellent a patronesse ; the conuenient estate of wealth and meanes , both of crowne and subiect : the habite of obedience , and the moderation of discontents : and there be considered on the other side , the differences of religion , the troubles of neighbour countreys , the ambition of spaine , and opposition of rome , and then , that shee was solitary , and of her selfe : these things i say considered : as i could not haue chosen an instance so recent and so proper : so , i suppose , i could not haue chosen one more remarqueable , or eminent , to the purpose nowe in hand ; which is concerning the coniunction of learning in the prince , with felicitie in the people . neither hath learning an influence and operation onely vpon ciuile merit and morall vertue ; and the arts or temperature of peace , and peaceable gouernement ; but likewise it hath no lesse power and efficacie in inablement towards martiall and militarie vertue and prowesse ; as may be notably represented in the examples of alexander the great , and caesar the dictator mentioned before , but now in fit place to bee resumed , of whose vertues and acts in warre , there needes no note or recitall , hauing beene the wonders of time in that kind . but of their affections towardes learning , and perfections in learning , it is pertinent to say somewhat . alexander was bred and taught vnder aristotle the great philosopher ; who dedicated diuers of his bookes of philosophie vnto him ; he was attended with callisthenes , and diuers other learned persons , that followed him in campe , throughout his iourneyes and conquests : what price and estimation hee had learning in , doth notably appeare in these three particulars : first , in the enuie he vsed to expresse , that he bare towards achilles , in this , that he had so good a trumpet of his prayses as homers verses : secondly , in the iudgement or solution he gaue touching that precious cabinet of darius which was found among his iewels , whereof question was made , what thing was worthy to be put into it , and he gaue his opinion for homers workes . thirdly , in his letter to aristotle after hee had set sorth his bookes of nature ; wherein he expostulateth with him for publishing the secrets or misteries of philosophie , and gaue him to vnderstand that himselfe esteemed it more to excell other men in learning & knowledge , than in power and empire . and what vse he had of learning , doth appeare , or tather shine in all his speeches and answeres , being full of science and vse of science , and that in all varietie . and herein againe , it may seeme a thing scholasticall , and somewhat idle to recite things that euery man knoweth ; but yet , since the argument i handle leadeth mee thereunto , i am glad that men shall perceiue i am as willing to flatter ( if they will so call it ) an alexander , or a caesar , or an antoninus , that are dead many hundreth yeeres since , as any that now liueth : for it is the displaying of the glorie of learning in soueraigntie that i propound to my selfe , and not an humour of declayming in any mans praises . obserue then the speech hee vsed of diogenes , and see if it tend not to the true state of one of the greatest questions of morall philosophie ; whether the enioying of outward thinges , or the contemning of them be the greatest happinesse ; for when he saw diogenes so perfectly contented with so little : he sayd to those that mocked at his condition : were i not alexander , i would wish to be diogenes . but seneca inuerteth it , and sayth ; plus erat , quod hic nollet accipere , quam quod ille posset dare . there were more things which diogenes would haue refused , thā those were which alexander could haue giuen or enioyed . obserue again that speech which was vsuall with him , that hee felt his mortality chiefely in two thinges , sleepe & lust : & see if it were not a speech extracted out of the depth of naturall philosophie , and liker to haue comen out of the mouth of aristotle , or democritus , than from alexander . see againe that speech of humanitie and poesie : when vppon the bleeding of his wounds , he called vnto him one of his flatterers , that was wont to ascribe to him diuine honor , and said , looke , this is very blood : this is not such a liquor as homer speaketh of , which ran from venus hand , when it was pierced by diomedes . see likewise his readinesse in reprehension of logique , in the speech hee vsed to cassander , vppon a complaint that was made against his father antipater : for when alexander happed to say : doe you thinke these men would haue come from so farre to complaine , except they had iust cause of griefe ? and cassander answered , yea , that was the matter , because they thought they should not be disprooued ; sayd alexander laughing : see the subtil●…ies of aristotle , to take a matter both wayes , pro & contra , &c. but note againe how well he could vse the same art , which hee reprehended to serue his owne humor , when bearing a secret grudge to callisthenes , because he was against the new ceremonie of his adoration : feasting one night , where the same callisthenes was at the table : it was mooued by some after supper , for entertainement sake , that callisthenes who was an eloquent man , might speake of some theame or purpose at his owne choise , which callisthenes did ; chusing the praise of the macedonian nation for his discourse , & performing the same with so good maner , as the hearers were much rauished : whereupon alexander nothing pleased , sayd : it was easie to be eloquent , vpon so good a subiect : but saith hee , turne your stile , and let vs heare what you can say against vs : which callisthenes presently vndertooke , and did with that stinge & life ; that alexander interrupted him , & sayd : the goodnesse of the cause made him eloquent before : and dispig●…t made him cloquent then againe . consider further , for tropes of rhetorique , that excellent vse of a metaphor or translation , wherewith he taxed antipater , who was an imperious and tyrannous gouernor : for when one of antipaters friends commended him to alexander for his moderation ; that he did not degenerate , as his other lieftenants did into the persian pride , in vse of purple ; but kept the anciēt habit of macedon , of black ; true ( saith alexander ) but antipater is all purple within . or that other , when parmenio came to him in the plaine of arbella , and shewed him the innumerable multitude of his enemies , specially as they appeared by the infinite number of lights ; as it had beene a new firmament of starres ; and thereupon aduised him to assayle them by night ; whereupon he answered , that he would not steale the victorie . for matter of policie , weigh that significant distinction so much in al ages embraced , that he made between his two friends ephestion and craterus , whē he sayd , that the one loued alexander , and the other loued the king ; describing the principall difference of princes best seruants , that some in affection loue their person , and other in dutie loue their crowne . weigh also that excellent taxation of an errour ordinarie with counsellors of princes , that they counsell their maisters according to the modell of their owne mind and fortune , and not of their masters , when vpon darius great offers parmenio had said : surely , i would accept these offers were i as alexander : sayth alexander , so would i , were i as parmenio . lastly , weigh that quicke and acute reply , which he made when he gaue so large gifts to his friends , & seruants , and was asked what he did reserue for himselfe , and he answered , hope : weigh i say , whether he had not cast vp his account aright , because hope must bee the portion of all that resolue vppon great enterprises . for this was caesars portion , when he went first into gaule , his estate being then vtterly ouerthrowne with largesses : and this was likewise the portion of that noble prince , howsoeuer transported with ambition , henry duke of guise , of whom it was vsually sayd : that he was the greatest vsurer in fraunce , because he had turned all his estate into obligations . to conclude therefore , as certaine critiques are vsed to say hyperbolically : that if all sciences were lost , they might bee found in virgill : so certainely this may be sayd truely ; there are the prints , and footesteps of learning in those fewe speeches , which are reported of this prince . the admiration of whom , when i consider him , not as alexander the great , but as aristotles scholler , hath carryed me too farre . as for iulius caesar , the excellencie of his learning , needeth not to be argued from his education , or his companie , or his speeches : but in a further degree doth declare it selfe in his writinges and workes , whereofsome are extant , and permanent , and some vnfortunately perished : for , first we see there is left vnto vs that excellent historie of his owne warres , which he entituled onely a commentarie , wherin all succeeding times haue admired the solide weight of matter , and the reall passages , and liuely images of actions , and persons expressed in the greatest proprietie of words , and perspicuitie of narration that euer was : which that it was not the effect of a naturall guift , but of learning and precept , is well witnessed by that worke of his , entituled de analogia , being a grammaticall philosophie , wherein hee did labour to make this same vox ad placitum , to become vox ad licitum : and to reduce custome of speech , to congruitie of speech , and tooke as it were the pictures of wordes , from the life of reason . so wee receiue from him as a monument , both of his power and learning , the then reformed computation of the yeare , well expressing , that he tooke it to be as great a glorie to himselfe , to obserue and know the law of the heauens , as to giue law to men vpon the earth . so likewise in that booke of his anticato , it may easily appeare that he did aspire as well to victorie of of wit , as victory of warre : vndertaking therein a conflict against the greatest champion with the pen that then liued , cicero the orator . so againe in his booke of apothegmes , which he collected , we see that he esteemed it more honour to make himselfe , but a paire of tables , to take the wise and pithy words of others , than to haue euery word of his owne to be made an apothegme , or an oracle ; as vaine princes , by custome of flatterie , pretend to doe . and yet if i should enumerate diuers of his speeches ; as i did those of alexander , they are truely such as salomon noteth , when hee sayth ; verba sapientum tanquam aculei , & tanquam claui in altum defixi ; whereof i will only recite three , not so delectable for elegancie , but admirable for vigor and efficacie . as first , it is reason hee bee thought a master of words , that could with one word appease a mutinie in his armie ; which was thus . the romanes when their generals did speake to their armie , did vse the word milites ; but when the magistrates spake to the people , they did vse the word , quirites : the souldiers were in tumult , and seditiously prayed to bee cassiered : not that they so meant , but by expostulation thereof , to drawe caesar to other conditions ; wherein hee being resolute , not to giue way , after some silence , hee beganne his speech , ego quirites , which did admit them alreadie cassiered ; wherewith they were so surprised , crossed , and confused , as they would not suffer him to goe on in his speech , but relinquished their demaunds , and made it their suit , to be againe called by the name of milites . the second speech was thus : caesar did extreamly affect the name of king ; and some were set on as he passed by , in popular acclamation to salute him king ; whereupon finding the crie weake and poore ; he put it off thus , in a kind of iest , as if they had mistaken his surname ; non rex sum , sed caesar , a speech , that if it be searched , the life and fulnesse of it , can scarce be expressed : for first it was a resusall of the name , but yet not serious : againe it did signifie an infinite confidence and magnanimitie , as if he presumed caesar was the greater title ; as by his worthinesse , it is come to passe till this day : but chiefely , it was a speech of great allurement toward his owne purpose : as if the state did striue with him , but for a name ; whereof meane families were vested : for rex was a surname with the romanes , aswell as king is with vs. the last speech , which i will mention , was vsed to metellus : when caesar , after warre declared , did possesse himselfe of the citie of rome , at which time entring into the inner treasurie , to take the the monney there accumulate , metellus being tribune forbad him : whereto caesar sayd , that if hee did not desist , hee would laye him dead in the place : and presently taking himselfe vp , hee added : young man it is harder for me to speake it , than to doe it ; adolescens , durius est mihi , hoc dicere , quàm facere . a speech compounded of the greatest terrour , and greatest clemencie , that could proceede out of the mouth of man. but to returne and conclude with him , it is euident himselfe knewe well his owne perfection in learning , and tooke it vpon him ; as appeared , when vpon occasion , that some spake , what a strange resolution it was in lucius sylla , to resigne his dictature ; he scoffing at him , to his owne aduantage , answered ; that sylla could not skill of letters , and therefore knew not how to dictate . and here it were fit to leaue this point , touching the concurrence of m●…litarie vertue and learning ; ( for what example should come with any grace , after those two , of alexander and caesar ) were it not in regard of the rarenesse of circumstance , that i finde in one other particular ; as that which did so sodenly passe , from extreame scorne , to extreame wonder : and it is of xenophon the philosopher , who went from socrates schoole into asia , in the expedition of cyrus the younger , against king artax●…xes : this xenop●…on at that time , was verie yong , and neuer had seene the warres before : neither had any commaund in the armie , but onely followed the warre , as a voluntarie , for the loue and conuersation of proxenus his friend : hee was present when falinus came in message from the great king , to the grecians ; after that cyrus was slaine in the field ; and they a handfull of men left to themselues in the middest of the kings territories , cut off from their country by many nauigable riuers , and many hundred miles : the message imported , that they should deliuer vp their armes , and submit themselues to the kings mercy : to which message before answere was made , diuers of the army cōferred familiarly with falinus ; and amongst the rest xenophon happened to say : why falinus , we haue now but these two thinges left ; our armes , and our vertue : and if we yeeld vp our armes , how shall we make vse of our vertue ? whereto falinus smiling on him , sayd ; if i be not deceiued , young gentleman , you are an athenian ; and i beleeue , you studie philosophie , and it is pretty that you say ; but you are much abused , if you thinke your vertue can withstand the kings power : here was the scorne ; the wonder followed ; which was , that this young scholler , or philosopher , after all the captaines were murthered in parlye by treason , conducted those ten thousand foote , through the heart of all the kinges high countreys from babilon to grecia in safetie , in despight of all the kings forces , to the astonishment of the world , and the encouragement of the grecians in times succeeding to make inuasion vpon the kings of persia ; as was after purposed by iason the thessalian ; attempted by agesi●…aus the spartan , and atchieued by alexander the macedonian ; all , vpon the ground of the act of that young scholler . to proceede now from imperiall and militarie vertue , to morall and priuate vertue ; first , it is an assured truth , which is contained in the verses ; scilicet ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes , emollit mores nec sinit esse feros . it taketh away the wildnesse and barbarisme and fiercenesse of mens minds : but indeed the accent had need be vpon , fideliter . for a little superficiall learning doth rather worke a contrary effect . it taketh away all leuitie , temeritie , and insolencie , by copious suggestion of all doubts and difficulties , and acquainting the minde to ballance reasons on both sides , and to turne backe the first offers and conceits of the minde , and to accept of nothing but examined and tryed . it taketh away vaine admiration of any thing , which is the roote of all weakenesse . for all things are admired , either because they are new , or because they are great . for nouelty , no man that wadeth in learning or contemplation throughly , but will find that printed in his heart , nil noui super terram : neither can any man maruaile at the play of puppets , that goeth behinde the curtaine , and aduiseth well of the motion . and for magnitude , as alexander the great , after that hee was vsed to great armies , and the great conquests of the spatious prouinces in asia , when hee receiued letters out of greece , of some fights and seruices there , which were commonly for a passage , or a fort , or some walled towne at the most , he sayd ; it seemed to him , that he was aduertised of the battailes of the frogs , and the mise , that the ould tales went of . so cettainely , if a man meditate much vppon the vniuersall frame of nature , the earth with men vppon it ( the diuinesse of soules except ) will not seeme much other , than an ant-hill , whereas some ants carrie corne , and some carrie their young : and some goe emptie , and all too and fro , a little heape of dust . it taketh away , or mitigateth feare of death , or aduerse fortune : which is one of the greatest impediments of vertue , and imperfections of manners . for if a mans minde , be deepely seasoned with the consideration of the mortalitie and corruptible nature of thinges , hee will easily concurre with epictetus , who went foorth one day , and sawe a woman weeping for her pitcher of earth , that was broken ; and went foorth the next day , and sawe a woman weepinge for her sonne that was deade , and thereuppon sayde : heri , vidi fragilem frangi , hodiè vidi mortalem mori . and therefore virgill did excellently , and profoundlye couple the knowledge of causes , and the conquest of all feares , together , as concomitantia . foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas , quique metus omnes , & inexorabile fatum subiecit pedibus , strepitumque acherontis auari . it were too long to goe ouer the particular remedies , which learning doth minister , to all the diseases of the minde , sometimes purging the ill humours , sometimes opening the obstructions , sometimes helping digestion , sometimes encreasing appetite , somtimes healing the wounds and exulcerations thereof , and the like ; and therefore i will conclude with that which hath rationem totius ; which is , that it disposeth the constitution of the minde , not to be fixed or setled in the defects thereof ; but still to be capable , and susceptible of growth and reformation . for the vnlearned man knowes not , what it is to descend into himselfe , or to cal himselfe to account , nor the pleasure of that suauissima vita , indies sentire se fieri meliorem : the good parts hee hath , hee will learne to shew to the full , and vse them dexterously , but not much to encrease them : the faults he hath , he will learne how to hide and colour them , but not much to amend them ; like an ill mower , that mowes on still , and neuer whets his syth : whereas , with the learned man , it fares otherwise , that he doth euer intermix the correction and amendment of his minde , with the vse and employment thereof : nay further in generall and in sum : certain it is , that veritas , and bonitas differ , but as the seale and the print : for truth prints goodnesse , and they be the cloudes of error , which descend in the stormes of passions and perturbations . from morall vertue , let vs passe on to matter of power and commandement , and consider whether in right reason , there be any comparable with that , wherewith knowledge inuesteth and crowneth mans nature . we see the dignitie of the commandement , is according to the dignitie of the commaunded : to haue commaundement ouer beasts , as heard-men haue , is a thing contemptible : to haue commandement ouer children , as schoole-masters haue , is a matter of small honor : to haue commandement ouer gally-slaues , is a disparagement , rather than an honour . neither is the commaundement of tyrants , much better ouer people , which haue put off the generositie of their mindes : and therefore it was euer holden , that honors in free monarchies and common-wealths , had a sweetnesse more , than in tyrannies , because the commandement extendeth more ouer the wils of men , and not only ouer their deeds and seruices . and therefore when virgill putteth himselfe forth to attribute to augustus caesar the best of humane honours , hee doth it in these wordes : victorque volentes per populos , dat iura , viamque affectat olympo : but yet the commandement of knowledge , is yet higher , than the commandement ouer the will : for it is a commaundement ouer the reason , beleefe , and vnderstanding of man , which is the highest part of the minde , and giueth law to the will it selfe . for there is no power on earth , which setteth vp a throne or chaire of estate in the spirits , and soules of men , and in their cogitations , imaginations , opinions , and beleefes : but knowledge and learning . and therefore wee see the detestable and extreame pleasure , that arch-heretiques , and false prophets , and impostors are transported with , when they once finde in themselues , that they haue a superioritie in the faith and conscience of men ; so great , as if they haue once tasted of it , it is seldome seene , that any torture or persecution can make them relinquish or abandone it . but as this is that which the author of the reuelation , calleth the depth or profoundnesse of sathan : so by argument of contraries , the iust and lawfull soueraignetie ouer mens vnderstanding , by face of truth rightly interpreted , is that which approacheth neerest to the similitude of the diuine rule . as for fortune and aduancement , the beneficence of learning , is not so cōfined to giue fortune only to states and common-wealthes : as it doth not likewise giue fortune to particular persons . for it was well noted long agoe , that homer hath giuen more men their liuings , than either sylla , or caesar , or augustus euer did , notwithstanding their great largesses , and donatiues , and distributions of lands to so many legions . and no doubt , it is hard to say , whether armes or learning haue aduanced greater numbers . and in case of soueraigntie , wee see , that if armes or descent haue carried away the kingdome : yet learning hath carryed the priest-hood , which euer hath been in some competicion with empire . againe , for the pleasure and delight of knowledge and learning , it farre surpasseth all other in nature : for shall the pleasures of the affections so exceede the sences , as much as the obtayning of desire or victorie , exceedeth a song , or a dinner ? and must not of consequence , the pleasures of the intellect or vnderstanding exceede the pleasures of the affections ? we see in all other pleasures , there is sacietie ; and after they be vsed , their verdour deparreth ; which sheweth well , they be but deceits of pleasure , and not pleasures ; and that it was the noueltie which pleased , and not the qualitie . and therfore we see , that voluptuous men turne friers ; and ambitious princes turne melancholy . but of knowledge there is no sacietie , but satisfaction and appetite , are perpetually interchangeable ; and therefore appeareth to be good in it selfe simply , without fallacie or accident . neither is that pleasure of small efficacie , and contentment to the minde of man , which the poet lucretius describeth elegantly , suaue marimagno , turbantibus aequora ventis : &c. it is a view of delight ( sayth he ) to stand or walke vppon the shoare side , and to see a shippe tossed with tempest vpon the sea ; or to bee in a fortified tower , and to see two battailes ioyne vppon a plaine . but it is a pleasure incomparable for the minde of man to bee setled , landed , and fortified in the certaintie of truth ; and fromth once to descrie and behould the errours , perturbations , labours , and wanderings vp and downe of other men . lastly , leauing the vulgar arguments , that by learning , man excelleth man in that , wherein man excelleth beasts ; that by learning man ascendeth to the heauens and their motions ; where in bodie he cannot come ; and the like ; let vs conclude with the dignitie , and excellency of knowledge and learning , in that whereunto mans nature doth most aspire ; which is immortalitie or continuance ; for to this tendeth generation , and raysing of houses and families ; to this buildings , foundations , and monuments , to this tendeth the desire of memorie , fame , and celebration ; and in effect , the strength of all other humane desires ; wee see then howe farre the monuments of wit and learning , are more durable , than the monuments of power , or of the hands . for haue not the verses of homer continued 25. hundred yeares , or more , without the losse of a sillable , or letter : during which time , infinite pallaces , temples , castles , cities haue been decayed , and demolished ? it is not possible to haue the true pictures or statuaes of cyrus , alexander , caesar , no nor of the kings , or great personages of much later yeares ; for the originals cannot last ; and the copies cannot but leese of the life and truth . but the images of mens wits and knowledges remaine in bookes , exempted from the wrong of time , and capable of perpetuall renouation : neither are they fitly to be called images , because they generate still , and cast their seedes in the mindes of others , prouoking and causing infinit actions and opinions , in succeeding ages . so that if the inuention of the shippe was thought so noble , which carryeth riches , and commodities from place to place , and consociateth the most remote regions in participation of their fruits : how much more are letters to bee magnified , which as shippes , passe through the vast seas of time , and make ages so distant , to participate of the wisedome , illuminations , and inuentions the one of the other ? nay further wee see , some of the philosophers which were least diuine , and most immersed in the sences , and denyed generally the immortality of the soule ; yet came to this point , that whatsoeuer motions the spirite of man could act , and perfourme without the organs of the bodie , they thought might remaine after death ; which were only those of the vnderstanding , and not of the affection ; so immortall and incorruptible a thing did knowledge seeme vnto them to be . but we that know by diuine reuelation , that not onely the vnderstanding , but the affections purified , not onely the spirite , but the bodie changed shall be aduanced to immortalitie , doe disclaime in these rudiments of the sences . but it must be remēbred , both in this last point , and so it may likewise be needfull in other places , that in probation of the dignitie of knowledge , or learning i did in the beginning separate diuine testimonie , from humane ; which methode , i haue pursued , and so handled them both apart . neuerthelesse , i doe not pretend , and i know it will be impossible for me by any pleading of mine , to reuerse the iudgement , either of aesops cocke , that preferred the barly-corne , before the gemme ; or of mydas , that being chosen iudge , betweene apollo president of the muses , and pan god of the flockes , iudged for plentie : or of paris , that iudged for beautie , and soue against wisedome and power : nor of agrippina , occidat matrem , modo imperet : that preferred empire with condition neuer so detestable ; or of vlysses , qui vetulam proetulit immortalitati , being a figure of those which preferre custome and habite before all excellencie ; or of a number of the like popular iudgements . for these thinges continue , as they haue beene : but so will that also continue , whereupon learning hath euer relyed , and which fayleth not : iustificata est sapientia à filijs suis. the second booke of francis bacon ; of the proficience or aduancement of learning , diuine and humane . to the king. it might seeme to haue more conuenience , though it come often otherwise to passe , ( excellent king ) that those which are fruitfull in their generations , & haue in themselues the fore sight of immortalitie , in their descendents , should likewise be more carefull of the good estate of future times ; vnto which they know they must transmitte and commend ouer their dearest pledges . queene elizabeth was a soiourner in the world in respect of her vnmaried life : and was a blessing to her owne times ; & yet so as the impression of her good gouernement , besides her happie memorie , is not without some effect , which doth suruiue her . but to your maiestie , whom god hath alreadie blessed with so much royall issue , worthie to continue and represent you for euer : and whose youthfull and fruitfull bedde doth yet promise manie the like renouations : it is proper and agreeable to be conuersant , not only in the transitory parts of good gouernment : but in those acts also , which are in their nature permanent & perpetuall . amongst the which ( if affection do not transport mee , ) there is not any more worthie , then the further endowement of the world with sound and fruitfull knowledge : for why should a fewe receiued authors stand vp like hercules columnes , beyond which , there should be no sayling , or discouering , since wee haue so bright and benigne a starre , as your ma : to conduct and prosper vs ? to returne therefore where wee left , it remaineth to consider of what kind those acts are which haue bene vndertaken , & performed by kings and others , for the increase and aduancement of learning , wherein i purpose to speake actiuely without digressing or dylating . let this ground therfore be layd , that all workes are ouercōmen by amplitude of reward , by soundnesse of direction , and by the coniunction of labors . the first multiplyeth endeuour , the second preuenteth error , and the third supplieth the frailty of man. but the principal of these is direction : for claudus in via , antevertit cursorem extra viam : and salomon excellently setteth it downe ; if the iron be not sharpe , it requireth more strength : but wisedome is that which preuaileth : signifying that the inuention or election of the meane , is more effectuall then anie inforcement or accumulation of endeuours . this i am induced to speake ; for that ( not derogating from the noble intention of any that haue beene deseruers towards the state of learning ) i do obserue neuerthelesse , that their workes and acts are rather matters of magnificence and memorie , then of progression and proficience , and tende rather to augment the masse of learning in the multitude of learned men , then to rectifie or raise the sciences themselues . the works or acts of merit towards learning are conversant about three obiects , the places of learning ; the bookes of learning ; and the persons of the learned . for as water , whether it be the dewe of heauen , or the springs of the earth , doth scatter and leese it selfe in the ground , except it be collected into some receptacle , where it may by vnion , comfort and sustaine it selfe : and for that cause the industry of man hath made & framed spring heads , conduits , cesternes , and pooles , which men haue accustomed likewise to beautifie and adorne with accomplishments of magnificence and state , as wel as of vse and necessitie : so this excellent liquor of knowledge , whether it descend from diuine inspiration , or spring from humane sense , would soone perishe and vanishe to oblyuion , if it were not preserued in bookes , traditions , conferences , and places appoynted , as vniuersities , colledges , and schooles , for the receipt & comforting of the same . the works which concerne the seates and places of learning , are foure ; foundations , and buyldings , endowments with reuenewes , endowmēts with franchizes and priuiledges , institutions and ordinances for gouernment , all tending to quietnesse and priuatenesse of life , and discharge of cares and troubles , much like the stations , which virgil prescribeth for the hyuing of bees . principio sedes apibus , statioque petenda : quo neque sit ventis aditus , &c. the workes touching bookes are two : first libraries , which are as the shrynes , where all the reliques of the ancient saints , full of true vertue , and that without delusion or imposture , are preserued , and reposed ; secondly , newe editions of authors , with more correct impressions , more faithfull translations , more profitable glosses , more diligent annotations , and the like . the workes pertaining to the persons of learned men ( besides the aduancement and countenancing of them in generall ) are two : the reward and designation of readers in sciences already extant and inuented : and the reward and designation of writers and enquirers , concerning any partes of learning , not sufficiently laboured and prosecuted . these are summarilie the workes and actes , wherein the merites of manie excellent princes , and other worthie personages haue beene conuersant . as for any particular commemorations , i call to minde what cicero saide , when hee gaue generall thanks . di●…ffcile non aliquem ; ingratum quenquam praeterire : let vs rather according to the scriptures , looke vnto that parte of the race , which is before vs ; then looke backe to that which is alreadie attained . first therfore amongst so many great foundations of colledges in europe , i finde strange that they are all dedicated to professions , and none left free to artes and sciences at large . for if men iudge that learning should bee referred to action , they iudge well : but in this they fall into the error described in the ancient fable ; in which the other parts of the body did suppose the stomache had beene ydle , because it neyther performed the office of motion , as the lymmes doe , nor of sence , as the head doth : but yet notwithstanding it is the stomache that digesteth and distributeth to all the rest : so if any man thinke philosophie and vniuersalitie to be idle studies ; hee doth not consider that all professions are from thence serued , and supplyed . and this i take to bee a great cause that hath hindered the progression of learning , because these fundamental knowledges haue bene studied but in passage . for if you will haue a tree beare more fruite then it hath vsed to do ; it is not any thing you can do to the boughes , but it is the styrring of the earth , and putting newe moulde about the rootes , that must worke it . neyther is it to bee forgotten , that this dedicating of foundations and dotations to professory learning , hath not onely had a maligne aspect , and influence vpon the growth of scyences , but hath also beene preiudiciall to states and gouernments . for hence it proceedeth that princes find a solitude , in regard of able men to serue them in causes of estate , because there is no education collegiate , which is free ; wher such as were so disposed , mought giue themselues to histories , moderne languages , bookes of pollicie and ciuile discourse , and other the like inablements vnto seruice of estate . and because founders of colledges doe plant , and founders of lectures doe water : it followeth wel in order to speake of the defect , which is in publique lectures : namely , in the smalnesse and meanesse of the salary or reward which in most places is assigned vnto them : whether they be lectures of arts , or of professions . for it is necessary to the progression of scyences , that readers be of the most able and sufficient men ; as those which are ordained for generating , and propagating of scyences , and not for transitorie vse . this cannot be , except their condition , & endowmēt be such , as may cōtent the ablest man , to appropriate his whole labour , and continue his whole age in that function and attendance , and therefore must haue a proportion answerable to that mediocritic or competencie of aduancement , which may be expected from a profession , or the practize of a profession : so as , if you wil haue scyences flourish , you must obserue dauids military lawe , which was , that those which slaied with the carriage , should haue equall part with those which were in the action : else will the carriages be ill attended : so readers in scyences are indeede the gardyans of the stores and prouisions of scyences , whence men in actiue courses are furnished , and therefore ought to haue equall entertainment with them ; otherwise if the fathers in scyences be of the weakest sort , or be ill maintained . et patrum invalidi referent ieiunia nati . another defect i note , wherin i shall neede some alchimist to helpe me , who call vpon men to sell their bookes , and to build fornaces , quitting and forsaking minerva , and the muses , as barreyne virgines , and relying vpon vulcan . but certaine it is , that vnto the deepe , fruitefull , and operatiue studie of many scyences , specially naturall phylosophy and physicke , bookes be not onely the instrumentals ; wherein also the beneficence of men hath not beene altogether wanting : for we see , spheares , globes , astrolabes , mappes , and the like , haue bene prouided , as appurtenances to astronomy & cosmography , as well as bookes : we see likewise , that some places instituted for physicke , haue annexed the commoditie of gardeins for simples of all sorts , and do likewise command the vse of dead bodies for anatomyes . but these doe respect but a few things . in generall , there will hardly be any mayne proficience in the disclosing of nature , except there be some allowance for expences about experimēts ; whether they be experiments appertaining to vulcanus or dedalus , furnace or engyne , or any other kind ; and therefore as secretaries , and spyalls of princes and states bring in bills for intelligence ; so you must allowe the spyalls and intelligencers of nature , to bring in their billes , or else you shall be ill aduertised . and if alexander made such a liberall assignation to aristotle of treasure for the allowance of hunters , fowlers , fishers and the like , that he mought compile an historie of nature , much better dothey deserue it that trauailes in arts of nature . another defect which i note , is an intermission or neglect in those which are gouernours in vniuersities , of consultation , & in princes or superior persons , of visitation : to enter into account and consideration , whether the readings , exercises , and other customes appertayning vnto learning , aunciently begunne , and since continued , be well instituted or no , and thereupon to ground an amendement , or reformation in that which shall be found inconuenient . for it is one of your maiesties owne most wise and princely maximes , that in all vsages , and presidents , the times be considered wherein they first beganne , which if they were weake , or ignorant , it derogateth from the authoritie of the vsage , and leaueth it for suspect . and therefore in as much , as most of the vsages , and orders of the vniuersities were deriued frō more obscure times , it is the more requisite , they be reexamined . in this kind i will giue an instance or two for exāple sake , of things that are the most obvious & familiar : the one is a matter , which though it bee ancient and generall , yet i hold to be an errour , which is , that schollers in vniuersities come too soone , & too vnripe to logicke & rhetoricke ; arts fitter for graduates then children , and nouices : for these two rightly taken , are the grauest of sciences , beeing the arts of arts , the one for iudgement , the other for ornament : and they be the rules & directions , how to set forth & dispose matter : & therfore for mindes emptie & vnfraught with matter , & which haue not gathered that which cicero calleth sylua and supellex , stuffe and varietie to beginne with those artes ( as if one should learne to weigh , or to measure , or to painte the winde ) doth worke but this effect : that the wisedome of those arts , which is great , & vniuersal , is almost made contemptible , & is degenerate into childish sophystrie , & ridiculous affectation . and further , the vntimely learning of them hath drawen on by consequence , the superficiall and vnprofitable teaching & writing of them , as fitteth indeed to the capacity of childrē : another , is a lacke i finde in the exercises vsed in the vniuersities , which do make to great a diuorce betweene inuention & memory : for their speeches are either premeditate in verbis conceptis , where nothing is left to inuention , or meerly extemporall , where little is left to memory : wheras in life & action , there is least vse of either of these , but rather of intermixtures of premeditation , & inuention : notes & memorie . so as the exercise fitteth not the practize , nor the image , the life ; and it is euer a true rule in exercises , that they bee framed as nere as may be to the life of practise , for otherwise they do peruert the motions , and faculties of the minde , and not prepare them . the truth whereof is not obscure , when schollars come to the practises of professions , or other actions of ciuill life , which when they set into , this want is soone found by themselues , and sooner by others . but this part touching the amendment of the institutions and orders of vniuersities . i will conclude with the clause of caesars letter to oppins and balbus , hoc quemaamodum fieri possit , nonnulla mihi in mētem veniunt , & multa reperiri possunt : de ijs rebus rogovos , vt cogitationem suscipiatis . another defect which i note , ascendeth a little higher then the precedent . for as the proficience of learning consisteth much in the orders and institutions of vniuersities , in the same states & kingdoms : so it would bee yet more aduanced , if there were more intelligēce mutual betweene the vniuersities of europe , then now there is . we see , there be many orders and foundatiōs , which though they be deuided vnder seuerall soueraignties , & territories , yet they take themselues to haue a kind of contract , fraternitie , & correspondence , one with the other , insomuch as they haue prouincials and generals . and surely as nature createth brotherhood in families , & arts mechanicall contract brotherhoods in communalties , and the anoyntment of god superinduceth a brotherhood in kings & bishops : so in like manner there cannot but bee a fraternitie in learning and illumination , relating to that paternitie , which is attributed to god , who is called the father of illuminations or lights . the last defect which i wil note , is , that there hath not been , or very rarely been , any publique designation of writers or enquirers , concerning such parts of knowledge , as may appeare not to haue bin alreadie sufficiently laboured or vndertaken , vnto which point it is an inducemēt ; to enter into a view and examination , what parts of learning haue bin prosecuted , and what omitted ; for the opinion of plentie is amongst the causes of want ; and the great quantitie of bookes maketh a shewe rather of superfluitie then lacke , which surcharge neuerthelesse is not to be remedied by making no more bookes , but by making more good books , which as the serpēt of moses , mought deuour the serpēts of the inchātors . the remouing of all the defects formerly enumerate , except the last , and of the actiue part also of the last ( which is the designation of writers ) are opera basilica ; towards which the endeuors of a priuate man may be , but as an image in a crosse way ; that may point at the way , but cannot goe it . but the inducing part of the latter ( which is the suruay of learning ) , may bee set forwarde by priuate trauaile ; wherefore i will now attempt to make a generall and faithfull perambulation of learning , with an inquiry what parts theroflye fresh and wast , and not improued & conuerted by the industrie of man ; to the end that such a plotte made and recorded to memorie , may both minister light to anic publique designation : and also serue to excite voluntary endeuours ; wherin neuerthelesse my purpose is at this time , to note onely omissions and deficiences ; and not to make any redargution of errors , or incomplete prosecutions : for it is one thing to set forth what ground lyeth vnmanured ; and another thing to correct ill husbandry in that which is manured . in the handling & vndertaking of which worke , i am not ignorant , what it is , that i doe now mooue and attempt , nor insensible of mine own weakenes , to susteine my purpose : but my hope is , that if my extreame loue to learning carrie me too farre , i may obtaine the excuse of affection ; for that it is not granted to man to loue , and to bee wise . but i know well i can vse no other libertie of iudgement , then i must leaue to others , & i for my part shall be indifferentlie glad eyther to performe my selfe , or accept from another , that dutie of humanitie : nam quierranti comiter monstrat viam : &c. i doe foresee likewise , that of those things , which i shall enter & register , as deficiences and omissions : many will conceiue and censure , that some of them are alreadie done & extant : others to bee but curiosities , and things of no great vse : and others to bee of too great difficultie , and almost impossibilitie to bee compassed and effected : but for the twoo first , i referre my selfe to the particulars . for the last , touching impossibilitie , i take it , those things are to bee held possible , which may be done by some person , though not by euerie one : and which may be done by many , though not by any one : and which may be done in succession of ages , though not within the houre-glasse of one mans life : and which may be done by publique designation , though not by priuate endeuour . but notwithstāding , if any man will take to himselfe rather that of salomon , dicit p●…ger , leo est in via , then that of virgil , possunt , quia posse videntur : i shall be content that my labours bee esteemed , but as the better sorte of wishes : for as it asketh some knowledge to demaund a question , not impertinent ; so it requireth some sense , to make a wish not absurd . the parts of humane learning haue reference to the three partes of mans vnderstanding , which is the seate of learning . history to his memory , poesie to his imagination , and philosophie to his reason : diuine learning receiueth the same distribution , for the spirit of man is the same : though the reuelation of oracle and sense be diuerse : so as theologie consisteth also of historie of the church ; of parables , which is diuine poesie : and of holie doctrine or precept . for as for that part , which seemeth supernumerarie , which is prophecie : it is but diuine historie : which hath that prerogatiue ouer humane , as the narration may bee before the fact , aswell as after . history is natv●…l , civil●… , ecclesiasticall & literary , wherof the three first i allow as extant , the fourth i note as deficient . for no man hath propounded to himselfe the generall state of ●…arning to bee described and represented from age to age , as many haue done the works of nature , & the state ciuile and ecclesiastical ; without which the history of the world seemeth to me , to be as the statua of polyphemus with his eye out , that part being wanting , which doth most shew the spirit , and life of the person : and yet i am not ignorant that in diuers particular sciences , as of the iurisconsults , the mathematicians , the rhetoricians the philosophers , there are set down some smal memorials of the schooles , authors , and bookes : and so like wise some barren relations touching the inuentiō of arts , or vsages . but a iust story of learning , containing the antiquities & originalls of knowledges , & their sects ; their inuentions , their traditions ; their diuerse administrations , and managings ; their flourishings , their oppositions , decayes , depressions , obliuions , remoues ; with the causes , and occasions of them , and all other euents concerning learning , throughout the ages of the world ; i may truly affirme to be wanting . the vse and end of which worke , i doe not so much designe for curiositie , or satisfaction of those that are the louers of learning , but chiefely for a more serious , & graue purpose , which is this in fewe wordes , that it will make learned men wise , in the vse and administration of learning . for it is not saint augustines nor saint ambrose workes that will make so wise a diuine ; as ecclesiasticall historie , throughly read and obserued : and the same reason is of learning . history of natvre is of three sorts : of natvre in covrse ; of natvre er●…ing , or varying ; and of natvre altered or wroght , that is history of creatvres , history of marvailes , and history of arts . the first of these , no doubt is extant , and that in good perfection . the two later are handled so weakely and vnprofitably , as i am moued to note them as deficient . for i find no sufficient , or competent collection of the workes of nature , which haue a digression , and deflexion , from the ordinary course of generations , productions , & motions , whether they be singularities of place and region , or the strange euents of time and chance , or the effects of yet vnknowne proprieties , or the instances of exception to generall kindes : it is true , i finde a number of bookes of fabulous experiments , & secrets , and friuolous impostures for pleasure and strangenesse . but a substantiall and seuere collection of the hete●… , or irregvlars of natvre , well examined & described i find not specially not with due reiection of fables , and popular errors : for , as things now are , if an vntruth in nature bee once on foote , what by reason of the neglect of examination , and countenance of antiquitie , and what by reason of the vse of the opinion in similitudes , and ornaments of speeche , it is neuer called downe . the vse of this worke , honoured with a president in aristotle , is nothing lesse , then to giue contentment to the appetite of curious and vaine wittes , as the manner of mirabilaries is to doe : but for twoo reasons , both of greate waight : the one to correct the parcialitie of axiomes , and opinions : which are commonly framed onely vppon common and familiar examples : the other , because from the wonders of nature , is the neerest intelligence and passage towardes the wonders of arte : for it is no more , but by following , and as it were , hounding nature in her wandrings , to bee able to leade her afterwardes to the same place againe . neyther am i of opinion in this history of marvailes , that superstitious narrations of sorceries , witchecraftes , dreames , diuinations , and the like , where there is an assurance , and cleere euidence of the fact , be altogether excluded . for it is not yet knowne in what cases , and how farre , effectes attributed to superstition , do participate of naturall causes : and therefore how-soeuer the practise of such things is to bee condemned , yet from the speculation and sideration of them , light may be taken , not onely for the discerning of the offences , but for the further disclosing of nature : neither ought a man to make scruple of entring into these things for inquisition of truth , as your maiestie hath shewed in your owne example : who with the two cleere eyes of religion and naturall philosophy , haue looked deepely and wisely into these shadowes , and yet proued your selfe to be of the nature of the sunne , which passeth through pollutions , and it selfe remaines as pure as before . but this i hold fit , that these narrations , which haue mixture with superstition , be sorted by themselues , and not to be mingled with the narrations , which are meerely and sincerely naturall . but as for the narrations touching the prodigies and miracles of religions , they are either not true , or not naturall ; and therefore impertinent for the storie of nature . for history of natvre wrovght , or mechanicall , i finde some collections made of agriculture , and likewise of manuall arts , but commonly with a reiection of experiments familiar and vulgar . for it is esteemed a kinde of dishonour vnto learning , to descend to enquirie or meditation vppon matters mechanicall ; except they bee such as may bee thought secrets , rarities , and speciall subtilties : which humour of vaine , and supercilious arrogancie , is iustly derided in plato : where hee brings in hippias a vanting sophist , disputing with socrates a true and vnfained inquisitor of truth ; where the subiect beeing touching beautie , socrates , after his wandring manner of inductions , put first an example of a faire virgine , and then of a faire horse , and then of a faire pot well glazed , whereat hippias was offended , and said ; more then for curtesies sake , hee did thinke much to dispute with any , that did alledge such base and sordide instances , whereunto socrates answereth ; you haue reason , and it becomes you well , beeing a man so trimme in your ves●…ments , &c. and so goeth on in an ironie . but the truth is , they bee not the highest instances , that giue the securest information ; as may bee well expressed in the tale so common of the philosopher , that while he gazed vpwardes to the starres , fell into the water : for if hee had looked downe hee might haue seene the starres in the water , but looking aloft hee coulde not see the water in the starres : so it commeth often to passe , that meane and small things discouer great , better then great can discouer the small : and therefore aristotle noteth well , that the nature of euery thing is best seene in his smallest portions , and for that cause hee enquireth the nature of a common-wealth , first in a family , and the simple coniugatiōs of man and wife ; parent , and child , maister and seruant , which are in euery cottage ; euen so likewise the nature of this great citie of the world and the policie thereof , must bee first sought in meane concordances , and small portions : so we see how that secret of nature , of the turning of iron , touched with the loadestone , towardes the north , was found out in needels of iron , not in barres of iron . but if my iudgement bee of any waight , the vse of historiemechanical , is of all others the most radicall , and fundamentall towardes naturall philosophie , such naturall philosophie , as shall not vanish in the fume of subtile , sublime , or delectable speculation , but such as shall bee operatiue to the endowment , and benefit of mans life : for it will not onely minister and suggest for the present , many ingenious practizes in all trades , by a connexion and transferring of the obseruations of one arte , to the vse of another , when the experiences of seuerall misteries shall fall vnder the consideration of one mans minde : but surder , it will giue a more true , and reall illumination concerning causes and axiomes , then is hetherto attained . for like as a mans disposition is neuer well knowen , till hee be crossed , nor proteus euer chaunged shapes , till hee was straightened and held fast : so the passages and variations of nature cannot appeare so fully in the libertie of nature , as in the trialls and vexations of art. for civile history , it is of three kinds , not vnfitly to be compared with the three kinds of pictures or images : for of pictures or images , wee see some are vnfinished , some are parfite , and some are defaced : so of histories , wee may finde three kindes , memorialls , parfite histories , and antiqvities : for memorialls are historie vnfinished , or the first , or rough draughts of historie , and antiqvities are historie defaced , or some remnants of history , which haue casually escaped the shipwrack of time . memorialls or preparatory history are of two sorts , wherof the on may be tearmed commentaries , & the other registers : commentaries are they which set downe a continuance of the naked euēts & actiōs , without the motiues or designes , the counsells , the speeches , the pretexts the occasions , and other passages of action : for this is the true nature of a commentarie ( though caesar in modestie mixt with greatnesse , did for his pleasure apply the name of a commentarie to the best historie of the world ) registers are collectiōs of publique acts , as decrees of counsell , iudiciall proceedings , declarations and letters of estate , orations , and the like , without a perfect continuance , or contexture of the threed of the narration . antiqvities , or remnants of history , are , as was saide , tanquam tabula naufragij , when industrious persons by an exact and scrupulous diligence and obseruation , out of monumēts , names , wordes , prouerbes , traditions , priuate recordes , and euidences , fragments of stories , passages of bookes , that concerne not storie , and the like , doe saue and recouer somewhat from the deluge of time . in these kindes of vnperfect histories i doe assigne no deficience , for they are tanquam imperfectè mista , and therefore any deficience in them is but their nature . as for the corruptiōs and mothes of historie , which are epitomes , the vse of them deserueth to be banisht , as all men of sound iudgement haue confessed , as those that haue fretted and corroded the sound bodies of many excellent histories , and wrought them into base and vnprofitable dregges . history which may be called ivst and parfite historie , is of three kinds , according to the obiect which it propoundeth , or pretendeth to represent : for it either represēteth a time , or a person , or an action . the first we call chronicles , the second lives , and the third narrations , or relations . of these although the first bee the most compleate and absolute kinde of historie , and hath most estimation and glory : yet the second excelleth it in profit and vse , and the third in veritie & sinceritie . for history of times representeth the magnitude of actions , & the publique faces and deportmēts of persons , & passeth ouer in silence the smaller passages and motions of men and matters . but such beeing the workemanship of god , as he doth hang the greatest waight vpon the smallest wyars , maxima è minimis suspēdēs , it comes therfore to passe , that such histories doe rather set forth the pompe of busines , then the true and inward resorts thereof . but liues if they be well written , propounding to themselues a person to represent , in whom actions both greater and smaller , publique & priuate haue a commixture ; must of necessitie containe a more true , natiue , and liuely representation : so againe narrations , and relations of actions as the war of peloponnesus , the expeditiō of cyrus minor , the conspiracie of catiline , cannot but be more purely and exactly true , then histories of times , because they may choose an argument comprehensible within the notice and instructions of the writer : whereas he that undertaketh the story of a time , specially of any length , cannot but meet with many blankes , and spaces , which hee must be forced to fill vp , out of his own wit and coniecture . for the history of times . ( i meane of ciuil history , ) the prouidence of god hath made the distribution : for it hath pleased god to ordaine and illustrate two exemplar states of the worlde , for armes , learning , morall vertue , policie , and lawes . the state of grecia , and the state of rome : the histories whereof occupying the middlepart of time , haue more auncient to them , histories which may by one common name , be tearmed the antiqvities of the world ; and after them , histories which may bee likewise called by the name of moderne historie . nowe to speake of the deficiences : as to the heathen antiqvities of the world , it is in vaine to note them for deficient : deficient they are no doubt , consisting most of fables and fragments : but the deficience cannot bee holpen : for antiquitie is like fame , caput inter nubila condit , her head is mu●…ed from our sight : for the historie of the exemplar states , it is extant in good perfection . not but i could wish there were a perfect course of historie for grecia from theseus to philopaemen , ( what time the affaires of grecia drowned and extinguished in the affaires of rome ) and for rome , from romulus to iustinianus , who may be truly saide to be vltimus romanorum . in which sequences of storie the text of thucidides and xenophon in the one , & the texts of liuius , polybius , salustius , caesar , appianus , tacitus , herodianus in the other to be kept intyre without any diminutiō at all , and onely to be supplied and continued . but this is matter of magnificence , rather to be commended then required : and wee speake nowe of parts of learning supplementall , and not of superetogation . but for moderne histories , whereof there are some fewe verie worthy , but the greater part beneath mediocritie , leauing the care of forreyne stories to forreyne states , because i will not bee curiosus in aliena republica , i cannot faile to represent to your maiestie , the vnworthinesse of the historie of englande in the maine continuance thereof , and the partialitie , and obliquitie of that of scotland , in the latest and largest author that i haue seene ; supposing that it would be honour for your maiestie , and a worke very memorable , if this iland of great brittanie , as it is now ioyned in monarchie for the ages to come : so were ioyned in one historie for the times passed , after the manner of the sacred historie , which draweth downe the storie of the tenne tribes , and of the two tribes , as twinnes together . and if it shall seeme that the greatnesse of this worke may make it lesse exactly performed , there is an excellent periode of a much smaller compasse of time , as to the storie of england that is to say , from the vniting of the roses , to the vniting of the kingdomes : a portiō of time wherin , to my vnderstanding , there hath bin the rarest varieties , that in like number of successiōs of any hereditary monarchie hath bin known : for it beginneth with the mixt adeption of a crowne , by armes and tytle : an entry by battaile , an establishment by mariage : and therefore times answerable , like waters after a tempest , full of working and swelling , though without extreamitie of storme ; but well passed through by the wisedome of the pylote , being one of the most sufficient kinges of all the number . then followeth the raigne of a king , whose actions howsoeuer conducted had much intermixture with the affaires of europe : balancing and inclyning them variably , in whose time also beganne that great alteration in the state ecclesiasticall , an action which seldome commeth vppon the stage : then the raigne of a minor , then an offer of an vsurpation , ( though it was but as febris ephemera ) . then the raigne of a queene matched with a forreyner : then of a queene that liued solitary , and vnmarried , and yet her gouernment so masculine , as it had greater impression , and operation vppon the states abroad , then it any waies receiued from thence ; and now last , this most happie , and glorious euent , that this iland of brittany deuided from all the world , should bee vnited in it selfe ; and that oracle of rest giuen to aeneas , antiquam enquirite matrem , should nowe bee performed and fulfilled vpon the nations of england and scotland , being now revnited in the auncient mother name of brittany , as a full periode of all instabilitie & peregrinations : so that as it commeth to passe in massiue bodies , that they haue certaine trepidations and wauerings before they fixe and settle : so it seemeth , that by the prouidence of god , this monarchy before it was to settle in your maiestie , and your generations , ( in which i hope it is nowe established for euer , ) it had these prelusiue changes and varieties . for lives , i doe finde strange that these times haue so litle esteemed the vertues of the times , as that the writings of liues should be no more frequent . for although there be not many soueraigne princes or absolute cōmanders , and that states are most collected into monarchies ; yet are there many worthy personages , that deserue better then dispersed report , or barren elogies : for herein the inuention of one of the late poets is proper , and doth well inrich the auncient fiction ; for he faineth , that at the end of the threed or webbe of euery mans life , there was a little medall containing the persons name , and that time waited vpon the sheeres , and assoone as the threed was cut , caught the medalls , and carried them to the riuer of lethe , and about the banke there were many birds flying vp and downe , that would get the medals and carry them in their beke a little while , and then let them fall into the riuer . onely there were a fewe swannes , which if they got a name , would carrie it to a temple , where it was consecrate . and although many men more mortall in their affections , then in their bodies , doe esteeme desire of name and memory , but as a vanitie and ventositie ; animi nil magnaelaudis egentes : which opinion commeth from that root , non prius laudes contempsimus , quam la●…danda facere desivimus : yet that will not alter salomons iudgement , memoria iusti cum laudibus , at impiorū nomē putresect : the one flourisheth , the other either cōsumeth to presēt obliuion , or turneth to an ill odor : and therefore in that stile or addition , which is & hath bin long well receiued , and brought in vse , faeticis memoriae , piae memoriae , bonae memoriae , we do acknowledge that which cicero saith , borrowing it frō demosthenes , that bona fama propria possessio defunctorum , which possession i cānot but note , that in our times it lieth much wast and that therein there is a deficience . for narrations and relations of particular actions , there were also to be wished a greater diligence therein , for there is no great action but hath some good penne which attends it . and because it is an abilitie not common to write a good history , as may well appeare by the small number of them : yet if particularitie of actions memorable , were but tolerably reported as they passe , the compiling of a complete historie of times mought be the better expected , when a writer should arise that were fit for its for the collection of such relations mought be as a nursery gardein , whereby to plant a faire and stately gardein , when time should serue . there is yet another portion of historie which cornelius tacitus maketh , which is not to be forgottē specially with that application , which hee accoupleth it withal , annals , and iovrnals , appropriating to the former , matters of estate , and to the later , acts , and accidents of a meaner nature . for giuing but a touch of certaine magnificent buildings , he addeth , cumex dignitate populi romani repertum sit , res illustres annalibus , talia diurnis vrbis actis mandare . so as there is a kinde of contemplatiue heraldry , as well as ciuill . and as nothing doth derogate from the dignitie of a state more then confusion of degrees : so it doth not a little imbase the authoritie of an historie , to intermingle matters of triumph , or matters of ceremony , or matters of noueltie , with matters of state ; but the vse of a iovrnall hath not onely been in the historie of time , but like wise in the historie of persōs , and chiefely of actions ; for princes in ancient time had vpon point of honour and policie both , iournalls kept , what passed day by day : for we see the chronicle which was red before abassuerus , when he could not take rest , contained matter of affaires indeede , but such as had passed in his own time , and very lately before ; but the iovrnall of alexanders house expressed euery small particularitie , euen concerning his person and court : and it is yet an vse wel receiued in enterprises memorable , as expeditions of warre , nauigations , and the like , to keepe dyaries of that which passeth continually . i cannot likewise bee ignorant of a forme of writing , which some graue and wise men haue vsed , containing a scattered history of those actions , which they haue thought worthy of memorie , with politique discourse and obseruation thereupon ; not incorporate into the history , but seperately , and as the more principall in their intentiō : which kind of rvminated history , i thinke more fit to place amongst bookes of policie , whereof we shall hereafter speake , then amongst bookes of history : for it is the true office of history to represent the euents themselues , together with the counsels , and to leaue the obseruations , and conclusions thereupon , to the liberty and facultie of euery mans iudgement : but mixtures , are things irregular , whereof no man can define . so also is there another kinde of history manifoldly mixt , and that is history of cosmography , being compounded of naturall history in respect of the regions themselues , of history ciuill , in respect of the habitations , regiments , and manners of the people ; and the mathematiques in respect of the climats , and configurations towards the heauens , which part of learning of all others in this latter time hath obtained most proficience . for it may be truly affirmed to the honor of these times , and in a vertuous emulation with antiquitie , that this great building of the world , had neuer through lights made in it , till the age of vs and our fathers : for although they had knowledge of the antipodes : nosque vbi primus equis oriens afflauit anhelis : illic sera rubens accēdit lumina vesper , yet that mought be by demonstration , and not in fact , and if by trauaile , it requireth the voiage but of halfe the globe . but to circle the earth , as the heauenly bodies doe , was not done , nor enterprised , till these later times : and therefore these times may iustly beare in their word , not onely plus vltrà in precedence of the ancient non vltrà , and imitabile fulmen , in precedence of the ancient : non imitabile fulmen , demens qui nymbos et non imitabile fulmen , &c. but likewise , — imitabile caelum : in respect of the many memorable voyages after the maner of heauē , about the globe of the earth . and this proficience in nauigation , and discoueries , may plant also an expectation of the ●…urder proficience , and augmentation of all scyences , because it may seeme they are ordained by god to be coevalls , that is , to meete in one age. for so the prophet daniel speaking of the latter times foretelleth : plurimi pertransibunt , & multiplex erit scientia , as if the opennesse and through passage of the world , and the encrease of knowledge were appointed to be in the same ages , as we see it is already performed in great part , the learning of these later times not much giuing place to the former two periods or returnes of learning , the one of the graecians , the other of the romanes . history ecclsiastical , receiueth the same diuisions with history ciuil ; but furder in the proprietie thereof may bee deuided into history of the chvrch , by a general name . history of prophecie , & historie of providence : the first describeth the times of the militant church ; whether it be fluctuāt , as the arke of noah , or moueable , as the arke in the wildernes , or at rest , as the arke in the temple ; that is , the state of the church in persecution , in remoue , and in peace . this part i ought in no sort to note as deficient , onely i would the vertue and sinceritie of it , were according to the masse , and quantitie . but i am not now in hand with censures , but with omissions . the second , which is history of prophecie , consisteth of two relatiues , the prophecie , and the accomplishment : and therefore the nature of such a worke ought to be , that euery prophecie of the scripture be sorted with the euent fulfilling the same , throughout the ages of the world , both for the better confirmation of faith , and for the better illumination of the church , touching those parts of prophecies , which are yet vnfulfilled : allowing neuerthelesse that latitude , which is agreable , and familiar vnto diuine prophecies , being of the nature of their author , with whom a thousande yeares are but as one day , and therefore are not fulfilled punctually , at once , but haue springing and germinant accomplishment throughout many ages , though the height or fulnesse of them may referre to some one age : this is a worke which i finde deficient , but is to bee done with wisedom , sobrietie , and reuerence , or not at all . the third , which is history of providence , containeth that excellēt correspondence , which is betweene gods reuealed will , and his secret will : which though it be so obscure , as for the most part it is not legible to the naturall man ; no , nor many times to those that behold it from the tabernacle : yet at some times it pleaseth god for our better establishment , and the confuting of those which are as without god in the world ; to write it in such text and capitall letters , that , as the prophet saith , he that runneth by , may read it : that is , meere sensual persons , which hasten by gods iudgements , and neuer bend or fixe their cogitations vpon them , are neuerthelesse in their passage and race vrged to discerne it . such are the notable euents and examples of gods iudgements , chastizements , deliuerances and blessings : and this is a work which hath passed through the labour of many , and therefore i cannot present as omitted . there are also other parts of learning which are appendices to history , for al the exterior proceedings of man consist of wordes and deeds : whereof history doth properly receiue , and retaine in memory the deedes , and if wordes , yet but as inducements and passages to deedes : so are there other books and writings , which are appropriat to the custodie , and receite of wordes onely : which likewise are of three sorts : orations , letters , & briefe speeches , or sayings : orations are pleadings , speeches of counsell ; laudatiues , inuectiues , apologies , reprehensions ; orations of formalitie , or ceremonie , and the like : letters are according to all the varietie of occasions ; aduertisments , aduises , directions , propositions , peticions , commendatorie , expostulatorie , satisfactorie , of complement , of pleasure , of discourse , and all other passages of action . and such as are written from wise men , are , of all the words of man , in my iudgement the best , for they are more naturall then orations , and publike speeches , & more aduised then cōferences , or present speeches : so againe letters of affaires from such as manage them , or are priuie to them , are of all others the best instructions for history , and to a diligent reader , the best histories in themselues . for apothegmes : it is a great losse of that booke of caesars ; for as his history , and those fewe letters of his which wee haue , and those apothegmes which were of his owne , excell all mens else : so i suppose would his collection of apothegmes haue done ; for as for those which are collected by others , either i haue no tast in such matters , or else their choice hath not beene happie . but vpon these three kindes of writings i doe not insist , because i haue no deficiēces to propound concerning them , thus much therefore concerning history , which is that part of learning , which answereth to one of the celles , domiciles , or offices of the mind of man ; which is that of the memorie . poesie is a part of learning in measure of words for the most part restrained : but in all other points extreamely licensed : and doth truly referre to the imagination : which beeing not tyed to the lawes of matter ; may at pleasure ioyne that which nature hath seuered : & seuer that which nature hath ioyned , and so make vnlawfull matches & diuorses of things : pictoribus atque poetis &c. it is taken in two senses in respect of wordes or matter ; in the first sense it is but a character of stile , and belongeth to arts of speeche , and is not pertinent for the present . in the later , it is ( as hath beene saide ) one of the principalll portions of learning : and is nothing else but fained history , which may be stiled as well in prose as in verse . the vse of this fained historie , hath beene to giue some shadowe of satisfaction to the minde of man in those points , wherein the nature of things doth denie it , the world being in proportion inferiour to the soule : by reason whereof there is agreeable to the spirit of man , a more ample greatnesse , a more exact goodnesse ; and a more absolute varietie then can bee found in the nature of things . therefore , because the acts or euents of true historie , haue not that magnitude , which satisfieth the minde of man , poesie saineth acts and euents greater and more heroicall ; because true historie propoundeth the successes and issues of actions , not so agreable to the merits of vertue and vice , therefore poesie faines them more iust in retribution , and more according to reuealed prouidence , because true historie representeth actions and euents , more ordinarie and lesse interchanged , therefore poesie endueth them with more rarenesse , and more vnexpected , and alternatiue variations . so as it appeareth that poesie serueth and conferreth to magnanimitie , moralitie , and to delectation . and therefore it was euer thought to haue some participation of diuinesse , because it doth raise and erect the minde , by submitting the shewes of things to the desires of the mind ; whereas reason doth buckle and bowe the mind vnto the nature of things . and we see that by these insinuations and congruities with mans nature and pleasure , ioyned also with the agreement and consort it hath with musicke , it hath had accesse and estimation in rude times , and barbarous regions , where other learning stoode excluded . the diuisiō of poesie which is aptest in the proprietie therof ( besides those diuisiōs which are cōmon vnto it with history : as fained chronicles , fained liues , & the appēdices of history , as fained epistles , fained orations , and the rest ) is into poesie narrative ; representative , and allvsive . the narrative is a meere imitation of history with the excesses before remembred ; ohoosing for subiect cōmonly warrs , and loue ; rarely state , and sometimes pleasure or mirth . representative is as a visible history , and is an image of actions as if they were present , as history is of actions in nature as they are , that is past ; allvsive or parabolicall , is a narrtion applied onely to expresse some speciall purpose or conceit . which later kind of parabolical wisedome was much more in vse in the ancient times , as by the fables of aesope , and the briefe sentences of the seuen , and the vse of hieroglyphikes may appeare . and the cause was for that it was then of necessitie to expresse any point of reason , which was more sharpe or subtile then the vulgar in that maner , because men in those times wanted both varietie of examples , and subtiltie of conceit : and as hierogliphikes were before letters , so parables were before arguments : and neuerthelesse now and at all times they doe retaine much life and vigor , because reason cannot bee so sensible , nor examples so fit . but there remaineth yet another vse of poesy parabolical , opposite to that which we last mentioned : for that tendeth to demonstrate , and illustrate that which is taught or deliuered , and this other to retire and obscure it : that is when the secrets and misteries of religion , pollicy , or philosophy , are inuolued in fables or parables . of this in diuine poesie , wee see the vse is authorised . in heathen poesie , wee see the exposition of fables doth fall out sometimes with great felicitie , as in the fable that the gyants beeing ouerthrowne in their warre against the gods , the earth their mother in reuenge thereof brought forth fame . illam terra parens ira irritata deorū , ( progenuit . extremam , vt perhibent , coeo enceladoque sororem expounded that when princes & monarchies haue suppressed actuall and open rebels , then the malignitic of people , which is the mother of rebellion , doth bring forth libels & slanders , and taxatiōs of the states , which is of the same kind with rebellion , but more feminine : so in the fable that the rest of the gods hauing conspired to binde iupiter , pallas called briareus with his hundreth hands to his aide , expounded , that monarchies neede not feare any courbing of their absolutenesse by mightie subiects , as long as by wisedome they keepe the hearts of the people , who will be sure to come in on their side : so in the fable , that achilles was brought vp vnder chyron the centaure , who was part a man , & part a beast , expounded ingenuously , but corruptly by machiauell , that it belongeth to the education and discipline of princes , to knowe as well how to play the part of the lyon , in violence , and the foxe in guile , as of the man in vertue and iustice. neuerthelesse in many the like incounters , i doe rather think that the fable was first , and the exposition deuised , then that the morall was first , & thereupon the fable framed . for i finde it was an auncient vanitie , in chrisippus , that troubled himselfe with great contention to fasten the assertions of the stoicks vpon fictions of the ancient poets : but yet that all the fables and fictions of the poets , were but pleasure and not figure , i interpose no opinion . surely of those poets which are now extant , euen homer himselfe , ( notwithstanding he was made a kinde of scripture , by the later schooles of the grecians ) yet i should without any difficultie pronounce , that his fables had no such inwardnesse in his owne meaning : but what they might haue , vpon a more originall tradition , is not easie to affirme , for he was not the inuentor of many of them . in this third part of learning which is poesie , i can report no deficience . for being as a plant that commeth of the lust of the earth , without a formall seede , it hath sprung vp , and spread abroad , more then any other kinde : but to ascribe vnto it that which is due : for the expressing of affections , passions , corruptions and customes , we are beholding to poets , more thē to the philosophers workes , and for wit and eloquence not much lesse then to orators harangues . but it is not good to stay too long in the theater : let vs now passe on to the iudicial place or pallace of the mind , which we are to approach and view , with more reuerence and attention . the knowledge of man is as the waters , some descending from aboue , and some springing from beneath , the one informed by the light of nature , the other inspired by diuine reuelation . the light of nature consisteth , in the notions of the minde , and the reports of the sences , for as for knowledge which man receiueth by teaching , it is cumulatiue , and not originall , as in a water , that besides his own spring-heade is fedde with other springs and streames . so then according to these two differing illuminations , or originals , knowledge is first of al deuided into divinitie , and philosophie . in philosophy , the contemplations of man doe either penetrate vnto god , or are circumferred to nature , or are reflected or reuerted vpon himselfe . out of which seuerall inquiries , there doe arise three knowledges , divine philosophy , natvral philosophy , and hvmane philosophy , or hvmanitie . for all things are marked and stamped with this triple character of the power of god , the difference of nature , and the vse of man. but because the distributions and partitions of knowledge , are not like seuerall lines , that meete in one angle , and so touch but in a point , but are like branches of a tree , that meete in a stēme ; which hath a dimension and quantitie of entyrenes and continuance , before it come to discontinue & break it self into armes and boughes , therfore it is good , before wee enter into the former distribution , to erect & constitute one vniuersal science by the name of philosophia prima , primitive or svmmariephilosophie , as the maine and common way , before we come where the waies part , and deuide themselues , which sciēce whether i should report as deficient or noe , i stand doubtfull . for i finde a certaine rapsodie of naturall theologie , and of diuers parts of logicke : and of that part of naturall philosophie , which concerneth the principles , and of that other part of naturall philosophy , which concerneth the soule or spirit , all these strangely commixed and confused : but being examined it seemeth to mee rather a depredation of other sciences , aduanced and exalted vnto some height of tearmes , then any thing solide or substantiue of it selfe . neuerthelesse i cannot bee ignorant of the distinction which is currant , that the same things are handled but in seuerall respects : as for example that logicke considereth of many things as they are in notion & this philosophy , as they are in nature : the one in , apparance , the other in existence : but i finde this difference better made then pursued ; for if they had considered quantitie , similitude , diuersitie , and the rest of those externe characters of things , as philosophers , and in nature : their inquiries must of force haue beene of a farre other kinde then they are . for doth anie of them in handeling quantitie , speake of the force of vnion , how , and how farre it multiplieth vertue ? doth any giue the reason , why some things in nature are so common and in so great masse , and others so rare , and in so small quantitie ? doth anie in handling similitude and diuersitie , assigne the cause why iron should not mooue to iron , which is more like , but mooue to the loadestone , which is lesse like ? why in all diuersities of things there should bee certaine participles in nature , which are almost ambiguous , to which kinde they should bee referred ? but there is a meere and deepe silence , touching the nature and operation of those common adiuncts of things , as in nature ; and onely a resuming and repeating of the force and vse of them , in speeche or argument . therefore because in a wryting of this nature , i auoyde all subtilitie : my meaning touching this originall or vniuersall philosophie , is thus in a plaine and grosse description by negatiue : that it bee a receptacle for all such profitable obseruations and axioms , as fall not within the compasse of any of the speciall parts of philosophie , or sciences ; but are more common , and of a higher stage . now that there are manie of that kinde neede not bee doubted : for example ; is not the rule : si inaequalibus aequalia addas ; omnia erunt inaequal●…a . an axiome aswell of iustice ; as of the mathematiques ? and is there not a true coincidence betweene commutatiue and distributiue iustice , and arithmeticall and geometricall proportion ? is not that o●…er rule , quae in eodem tertio conveniunt , & inter se conveniunt , a rule taken from the mathematiques , but so potent in logicke as all syllogismes are built vppon it ? is not the obseruation , omnia mutantur , nilinterit , a contemplation in philosophie thus , that the quantum of nature is eternall , in naturall theologie thus . that it requireth the same omnipotencie to make somewhat nothing , which at the first made nothing somewhat ? according to the scripture , di●…ici quod omnia operaquae fecil deus , perseuerent in perpetuum , non possumus eis qui●…quam addere , nec auferre . is not the ground which machtavill wisely and largely discourseth concerning gouernments , that the way to establish and preserue them , is to reduce them ad principia ; a rule in religion and nature , aswell as in ciuill administration ? was not the persian magicke a reduction or correspondence of the principles & architectures of nature , to the rules and policie of gouernments ? is not the precept of a musitian , to ●…all from a discord or harsh accord , vpon a concord , or sweete accord , alike true in affection ? is not the trope of musi●…ke , to auoyde or slyde from the close or cadence , common with the trope of rh●…ricke of deceyuing expectation ? is not the delight of the quavering vppon a stoppe in musicke , the same with the playing of light vppon the water ? spiendet tremulo sub lumine pon●… are not the organs of the sences of one ki●… with the organs of reflexion , the eye with a gla●… the eate with a caue or straight determined and bounded ? neither are these onely similitud●…s , as men of narrowe obseruation may conc●…yue them to bee ; but the same footesteppes of nature , treading or printing vppon seuerall subiects or matters . this science therefore ( as i vnderstand 〈◊〉 ) i may iustlie reporte as deficient ; for i see sometimes the profounder sort of wittes , in handeling some particuler argument , will nowe and then drawe a bucket of water out of this well , for their present vse . but the springhead thereof seemeth to mee , not to haue beene visited ; beeing of so excellent vse , both for the disclosing of nature , and the abridgement of art. this science beeing therefore first placed as a common parent , like vnto berecinthia , which had so much heauenlie yssue , omnes coe●…colas , omnes super alta tenentes ; wee may returne to the former distribution of the three philosophies ; diuine , naturall , and humane . and as concerning d●…vine philosophie . or natvrall theologie , it is that knowledge or rudiment of knowledge concerning god , which may be obtained by the contemplation of his creatures which knowledge may bee truely tearmed diuine , in respect of the obiect ; and naturall in respect of the light. the boundes of this knowledge are , that it sufficeth to conuince atheisme ; but not to informe religion : and therefore there was neuer miracle wrought by god to conuert an atheist , bycause the light of nature might haue ledde him to confesse a god : but miracles haue beene wrought to conuert idolaters , and the superstitious , because no light of nature extendeth to declare the will and true worship of god. for as all works do shewe forth the power and skill of the workeman , and not his image : so it is of the works of god ; which doe shew the omnipotencie and wisedome of the maker , but not his image : and therefore therein the heathen opinion differeth from the sacred truth : for they supposed the world to bee the image of god , & man to be an extract or compendious image of the world : but the scriptures neuer vouch-safe to attribute to the world that honour as to bee the image of god : but onely the worke of his hands , neither do they speake of any other image of god , but man : wherfore by the contemplation of nature , to induce and inforce the acknowledgement of god , and to demonstrate his power , prouidence , and goodnesse , is an excellent argument , and hath beene excellently handled by diuerse . but on the other side , out of the contemplation of nature , or ground of humane knoweledges to induce any veritie , or perswasion concerning the points of faith , is in my iudgement , not fate : dafidei , quae fidei sunt . for the heathen themselues conclude as much in that excellent and diuine fable of the golden chayne : that men and gods were not able to draw iupiter down to the earth , but contrariwise , iupiter was able to draw them vp to heauen . so as wee ought not to attempt to drawe downe or submitte the mysteries of god to our reason : but contrarywise , to raise and aduance our reason to the diuine truthe . so as in this parte of knowledge , touching diuine philosophie : i am so farre from noting any deficience , as i rather note an excesse : wherevnto i haue digressed , because of the extreame preiudice , which both religion and philosophie hath receiued , and may receiue by beeing commixed togither ; as that which vndoubtedly will make an hereticall religion ; and an imaginarie and fabulous philosophie . otherwise it is of the nature of angells and spirits , which is an appendix of theologie , both diuine and naturall ; and is neither inscrutable nor interdicted : for although the scripture saith , lette no man deceyue you in sublime discourse touching the worship of angells , pressing into that hee knoweth not , &c. yet notwithstanding if you obserue well that precept , it may appeare thereby , that there bee two things onely forbidden , adoration of them , and opinion fantasticall of them , eyther to extoll them , further then appertaineth to the degree of a creature ; or to extoll a mans knowledge of them , further then hee hath ground . but the sober and grounded inquirie which may arise out of the passages of holie scriptures , or out of the gradacions of nature is not restrained : so of degenerate and reuolted spirites ; the conuersing with them , or the imployement of them is prohibited ; much more any veneration towards them . but the contemplacion or science of their nature , their power , their illusions ; either by scripture or reason , is apart of spirituall wisedome . for so the apostle saieth , wee are not ignorant of his stratagems : and it is no more vnlawfull to enquire the nature of euill spirites , then to enquire the force of poysons in nature , or the nature of sinne and vice in moralitie ; but this parte touching angells and spirites , i cannot note as deficient , for many haue occupyed themselues in it : i may rather challenge it in manie of the wryters thereof , as fabulous and fantasticall . leauing therefore divine philosophy , or natvrall theologie , ( not divinitie , or inspired theol'ogie , which wee reserue for the last of all , as the hauen and sabbath of all mans contemplations ) wee will nowe proceede to natvrall philosophie : if then it bee true that democritus sayde , that the truthe of nature lyeth hydde in certaine deepe my●… and caues ; and if it bee true likewise , that the alchymists doe so much inculcate , that vulcan is a second nature , and imitateth that dexterouslie and compendiouslie , which nature worketh by ambages , & length of time , it were good to deuide naturall phylosophie into the myne and the fornace , and to make two professions or occupations of naturall philosophers , some to bee pionners , and some smythes , some to digge , and some to refine , and hammer : and surely i doe best allowe of a diuision of that kinde , though in more familiar and scholasticall tearmes : namely that these bee the two parts of naturall philosophie , the inqvisition of cavses , and the pro●…vction of effects : specvlative , and operative , natvrall science , and natvrall prvdence . for as in ciuile matters there is a wisedome of discourse , and a wisedome of direction : so is it in naturall : and heere i will make a request , that for the latter ( or at least for a parte thereof ) i may reviue and reintegrate the misapplyed and abused name of natvrall magicke , which in the true se●…se , is but natvrall wisedome , or natvrall prvdence : taken according to the ancient acception , purged from vanitie & superstition . now although it bee true , and i know it well , that ther●… is an entercourse betweene causes and eff●… , so as both these knowledges 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great connexion betweene themselues : yet because all true and frutefull natvrall philosophie , hath a double scale or ladder , ascendent and descendent , ascending from experiments to the inuention of causes ; and descending from causes , to the inuention of newe experiments ; therefore i iudge it most requisite that these two parts be seuerally considered and handled . natvrall science or theory is deuided into phisicke and metaphisicke , wherein i desire , it may bee conceiued , that i vse the word metaphisicke in a differing sense , from that , that is receyued : and in like manner i doubt not , but it will easilie appeare to men of iudgement , that in this and other particulers , wheresoeuer my conception & notion may differ from the auncient , yet i am studious to keepe the auncient termes . for hoping well to deliuer my selfe from mistaking , by the order and perspicuous expressing of that i doe propounde : i am otherwise zealous and affectionate to recede as little from antiquitie , either in tearms or opinions , as may stand with truth , & the proficience of knowledge : and herein i cannot a little maruaile at the philosopher aristotle : that did proceede in such a spirit of difference & contradiction towards all antiquitie , vndertaking not only to frame new wordes of science at pleasure : but to confound and extinguish all ancient wisedome ; insomuch as hee neuer nameth or mentioneth an ancient author or opinion , but to confute and reproue : wherein for glorie , and drawing followers and disciples , he tooke the right course . for certainly there commeth to passe , & hath place in humane truth , that which was noted and pronounced in the highest truth : veni in nomine patris , nec recipitis me , si quis venerit in nomine suo , eum recipietis . but in this diuine aphorisme ( considering , to whom it was applied , namely to antichrist , the highest deceiuer , ) wee may discerne well , that the comming in a man 's owne name , without regard of antiquitie , or paternitie ; is no good signe of truth ; although it bee ioyned with the fortune and successe of an eum recipietis . but for this excellent person aristotle , i will thinke of him , that hee learned that humour of his scholler ; with whom , it seemeth , hee did emulate , the one to conquer all opinions , as the other to conquer all nations . wherein neuerthelesse it may bee , hee may at some mens hands , that are of a bitter disposition , get a like title as his scholler did . foelix terrarum praedo , non vtile mundo editus exemplum &c. so foelix doctrinae praedo . but to me on the other side that do desire as much as lyeth in my penne , to ground a sociable entercourse betweene antiquitie and proficience , it seemeth best , to keepe way with antiquitie vsque ad aras ; and therefore to retaine the ancient tearmes , though i sometimes alter the vses and definitions , according to the moderate proceeding in ciuill gouernment ; where although there bee some alteration , yet that holdeth which tacitus wisely noteth , eadem magistratuum vocabula . to returne therefore to the vse and acception of the tearme metaphisicke , as i doe nowe vnderstand the word ; it appeareth by that which hath bene alreadie saide , that i intend , philosophia prima : svmmarie philosophie and metaphisick , which heretofore haue beene confounded as one , to bee two distinct things . for the one i haue made as a parent , or common auncestor to all knowledge ; and the other i haue now brought in , as a branch or descendent of natvrall science ; it appeareth likewise that i haue assigned to svmmariephilosophie the common principles and axiomes which are promiscuous and indifferent to seuerall sciences : i haue assigned vnto it likewise the inquirie touching the operation of the relatiue and aduentiue characters of essences , as quantitie , similitude , diuersitie , possibilitie , and the rest : with this distinction , and prouision : that they bee handled as they haue efficacie in nature , and not logically . it appeareth likewise that natvral theologie which hereto fore hath beene handled confusedly with metaphisicke , i haue inclosed and bounded by it selfe . it is therefore now a question , what is left remaining for metaphisicke : wherein i may without preiudice preserue thus much of the cōceit of antiquitie ; that phisicke should contemplate that which is inherent in matter , & therefore transitorie , and metaphisicke , that which is abstracted & fixed . and againe that phisicke shoulde handle that which supposeth in nature onely a being and mouing , and metaphisicke should handle that which supposeth furder in nature , a reason , vnderstanding , and platforme . but the difference perspicuously expressed , is most familiar and sensible . for as wee deuided natvrall philosophy in generall into the enqvirie of cavses & prodvctions of effects : so that part which concerneth the enqvirie of cavses , wee doe subdiuide , according to the receiued and sound diuision of cavses ; the one part which is phisicke enquireth and handleth the materiall & efficient cavses , & the other which is metaphisicke handleth the formal and finalcavses . phisicke , ( taking it according to the deriuation , & not according to our idiome , for medicine ) is scituate in a middle tearme or distance between natvrall history & metaphisicke . for natvral history describeth the varietie of things : phisicke the cavses , but variable or respective cavses ; and metaphisicke the fixed and constant cavses . limus vt hic durescit , & haec vt cara liquescit , vno eodemque igni . fire is the cause of induration , but respectiue to clay : fire is the cause of colliquatiō , but respectiue to waxe . but fire is noe constant cause either of induration or colliquation : so then the phificall causes are but the efficient and the matter . phisicke hath three parts , whereof two respect nature vnited or collected , the third contēplateth nature diffused or distributed . nature is collected either into one entyer totall , or else into the same principles or seedes . so as the first doctrine is tovching the contextvre or configvration of things , as de mundo , de vniuersitate rerum . the seconde is the doctrine concerning the principles or originals of things ; the third is the doctrine concerning all varietie and particvlaritie of things ; whether it be of the differing substances , or their differing qualities and natures ; whereof there needeth noe enumeration ; this part being but as a glos or paraphrase that attendeth vpon the text of natvral history . of these three i cannot report any as deficient , in what truth or perfection they are handled , i make not now any iudgement : but they are parts of knowledge not deserted by the labour of man. for metaphisicke , we haue assigned vnto it the inquirie of formall and finall cavses which assignation , as to the former of them may seeme to bee nugatorie and voide , because of the receiued and inueterate opinion , that the inquisition of man , is not competent to finde out essentiall formes , or true differences ; of which opinion we will take this hold : that the inuentiō of formes is of al other parts of knowledge the worthiest to bee sought , if it bee possible to bee found . as for the possibilitie , they are ill discouerers , that thinke there is no land when they can see nothing but sea. but it is manifest , that plato in his opinion of ideas , as one that had a wit of eleuation s●…uate as vpon a cliffe , did descry , that formes were the true obiect of knowledge ; but lost the reall fruite of his opinion by considering of formes , as absolutely abstracted from matter , & not confined and determined by matter : and so turning his opinion vpon theologie , wherewithall his naturall philosophy is infected . but if any man shall keepe a continuall watchfull and seuere eye vpon action , operation , and the vse of knowledge , hee may aduise and take notice , what are the formes , the disclosures whereof are fruitful and important to the state of man. for as to the formes of substāces ( man onely except , of whom it is said , formavit hominem de limoterrae , & spirauit in faciem eius spiraculum vitae , and not as of all other creatures , producant aquae , producat terra , the formes of substances i say ( as they are nowe by compounding and transplanting multiplied ) are so perplexed , as they are not to bee enquired . noe more then it were either possible or to purpose , to seeke in grosse the formes of those soundes which make wordes , which by composition and transposition of letters are infinite . but on the otherside , to enquire the forme of those soundes or voices which make simple letters is easily comprehēsible , and being knowen , induceth and manifesteth the formes of all words , which consist , & are compounded of them ; in the same maner to enquire the forme of a lyon , of an oake , of gold : nay of water , of aire , is a vaine pursuite : but to enquire the formes of sence , of voluntary motion , of vegetation , of colours , of grauitie and leuitie , of densitie , of tenuitie , of heate , of cold , & al other natures and qualities , which like an alphabet are not many , & of which the essences ( vpheld by matter ) of all creatures doe cōsist : to enquire i say the true formes of these , is that part of metaphisicke , which we now define of . not but that phisicke doth make enquirie , and take consideration of the same natures , but how ? onely , as to the material and efficient causes of them , and not as to the formes . for example , if the cause of whitenesse in snowe or froth be enquired , and it be rendred thus : that the subtile intermixture of ayre and water is the cause , it is well rendred , but neuerthelesse is this the forme of whitenesse ? noe but it is the efficient , which is euer but vehiculum formae . this , part of metaphisicke : i doe not finde laboured and performed , whereat i maruaile not , because i hold it not possible to bee inuented by that course of inuention which hath beene vsed , in regard that men ( which is the roote of all error ) haue made too untimely a departure , and to remote a recesse from particulars . but the vse of this part of metaphisicke which i report as deficient , is of the rest the most excellent in two respects : the one because it is the dutie and vertue of all knowledge to abridge the infinitie of indiuiduall experience , as much as the conception of truth will permit , and to remedie the complaint of vita brevis , ars longa ; which is performed by vniting the notions and conceptions of sciences : for knowledges are as pyramides , whereof history is the basis : so of natvral philosophy the basis is natvral history : the stage next the basis is phisicke : the stage next the verticalpoint is metaphisicke : as for the verticallpoint , opus quod operatur deus a principio vsque ad finem , the summary law of nature , wee knowe not whether mans enquirie can attaine vnto it . but these three be the true stages of knowledge , and are to them that are depraued no better then the gyants hilles . ter sunt conati imponere pelio ossam : scilicet atque ossaefrondosum involuere olympum . but to those which referre all thinges to the glorie of god , they are as the three acclamations : sancte , sancte , sancte : holy in the description or dilatation of his workes , holy in the connexion , or concatenation of them , and holy in the vnion of them in a perpetuall and vniforme lawe . and therefore the speculation was excellent in parmenides and plato , although but a speculation in them , that all things by scale did ascend to vnitie . so then alwaies that knowledge is worthiest , which is charged with least multiplicitie , which appeareth to be metaphisicke , as that which considereth the simple formes or differēces of things , which are few in number , and the degrees and coordinations whereof , make all this varietie : the second respect which valueth and commendeth this part of metaphisicke is , that it doth enfranchise the power of man vnto the greatest libertie , and possibilitie of workes and effects . for phisicke carrieth men in narrow and restrained waies , subiect to many accidents of impedimēts , imitating the ordinarie flexuous courses of nature , but latae vndique sunt sapientibus viae : to sapience ( which was anciently defined to be rerum diuinarum , & humanarum scientia ) there is euer choise of meanes . for phisicall causes giue light to newe inuention in simili materia ; but whosoeuer knoweth any forme knoweth the vtmost possibilitie of superinducing that nature vpon any varietie of matter , and so is lesse restrained in operation , either to the basis of the matter , or the condition of the efficient : which kinde of knowledge salomon likewise , though in a more diuine sort elegantly describeth , non arctabuntur gressus tui , & currens non habebis offendiculum . the waies of sapience are not much lyable , either to particularitie or chance . the 2. part of metaphisicke is the enqiry of final cavses , which i am moued to report , not as omitted , but as misplaced ; and yet if it were but a fault in order , i would not speake of it . for order is matter of illustration , but pertaineth not to the substance of sciences : but this misplacing hath caused a deficience , or at least a great improficience in the sciences themselues . for the handling of finall causes mixed with the rest in phisicall enquiries , hath intercepted the seuere and diligent enquirie of all reall and phisicall causes , and giuen men the occasion , to stay vpon these satisfactorie and specious causes , to the great arrest and preiudice of furder discouerie . for this i finde done not onely by plato , who euer ancreth vppon that shoare , but by aristotle , galen , and others , which doe vsually likewise fall vppon these flatts of discoursing causes ; for to say that the haires of the eye-liddes are for a quic-sette and fence about the sight : or , that the firmenesse of the skinnes and hides of liuing creatures is to defend them from the extremities of heate or cold : or , that the bones are for the columnes or beames , whereupon the frame of the bodies of liuing creatures are built ; or , that the leaues of trees are for protecting of the fruite ; or , that the cloudes are for watering of the eearth ; or , that the solidnesse of the earth is for the station and mansion of liuing creatures : and the like , is well inquired & collected in metaphisicke , but in phisicke they are impertinent . nay , they are indeed but remoraes and binderances to stay and slugge the shippe from furder sayling , and haue brought this to passe , that the search of the phisicall causes hath beene neglected , and passed in silence . and therefore the natural philosophie of democritus , and some others who did not suppose a minde or reason in the frame of things , but attributed the form thereof able to maintaine it self to infinite essaies or proofes of nature , which they tearme fortune ; seemeth to mee ( as farre as i can iudge by the recitall and fragments which remaine vnto vs ) in particularities of phisicall causes more reall and better enquired then that of aristotle and plato , whereof both intermingled final causes , the one as a part of thelogie , and the other as a part of logicke , which were the fauourite studies respectiuely of both those persons . not because those finall causes are not true , and worthy to bee inquired , beeing kept within their owne prouince ; but because their excursions into the limits of phisicall causes , hath bred a vastnesse and solitude in that tract . for otherwise keeping their precincts and borders , men are extreamely deceiued if they thinke there is an enmitie or repugnancie at all betweene them : for the cause rendred that the haires about the eye liddes are for the safegard of the sight , doth not impugne the cause rendred , that pilositie is incident to orisices of moisture : muscosi fontes &c. nor the cause rendred that the firmenesse of hides is for the armour of the body against extremities of heate or cold : doth not impugne the cause rendred , that contraction of pores is incident to the outwardest parts ; in regard of their adiacence to forreine or vnlike bodies , and so of the rest ; both causes beeing true and compatible , the one declaring an intention , the other a consequence onely . neither doth this call in question or derogate from diuin●… prouidence , but highly confirme and exalt it . fo●…s in ciuill actions he is the greater and deeper pollitique , that can make other men the instruments of his will and endes , and yet neuer acquaint them with his purpose : so as they shall doe it , and yet not knowe what they doe , then hee that imparteth his meaning to those he employeth : so is the wisdome of god more admirable , when nature intendeth one thing , and prouidēce draweth forth another ; then if hee had communicated to particular creatures and motions the characters and impressions of his prouidence ; and thus much for metaphisicke , the later part wherof , i allow as extant , but wish it confined to his proper place . neuerthelesse there remaineth yet another part of natvrall philosophie , which is commonly made a principall part , and holdeth ranke with phisicke speciall and metaphisicke : which is mathematicke , but i think it more agreable to the nature of things , and to the light of order , to place it as a branch of metaphisicke : for the subiect of it being quantitie , not quantitie indefinite : which is but a relatiue , and belongeth to philosophia prima ( as hath beene said , ) but quantitie determined , or proportionable , it appeareth to bee one of the essentiall formes of things ; as that , that is causatiue in nature of a number of effects , insomuch as wee see●… the schooles both of democritus , and of pithagoras , that the one did ascribe figure to the first seedes of things , and the other did suppose numbers to bee the principalles and originalls of things ; and it is true also that of all other formes ( as wee vnderstand formes ) it is the most abstracted , and separable from matter and therefore most proper to metaphisicke ; which hath likewise beene the cause , why it hath beene better laboured , and enquired , then any of the other formes , which are more immersed into matter . for it beeing the nature of the minde of man ( to the extreame preiudice of knowledge ) to delight in the spacious libertie of generalities , as in a champion region ; and not in the inclosures of particularitie ; the mathematicks of all other knowledge were the goodliest fieldes to satisfie that appetite . but for the placing of this science , it is not much materiall : onely we haue endeuoured in these our partitions to obserue a kind of perspectiue , that one part may cast light vpon another . the mathematicks are either pvre , or mixt : to the pvre mathematicks are those sciēces belonging , which handle quantitie determinate meerely seuered from any axiomes of natvrall phlosophy : and these are two , geometry and arithmeticke , the one handling quantitie continued , and the other disseuered . mixt hath for subiect some axiomes or parts of naturall philosopie : and considereth quantitie determined , as it is auxiliarie and incident vnto them . for many parts of nature can neither be inuented with sufficient subtiltie , nor demonstrated with sufficient perspicuitie , nor accommodated vnto vse with sufficient dexteritie , without the aide and interueyning of the mathematicks : of which sorte are perspectiue , musicke , astronomie , cosmographie , architecture , inginarie , and diuers others . in the mathematicks , i can report noe deficience , except it be that men doe not sufficiently vnderstand the excellent vse of the pure mathematicks , in that they doe remedie and cure many defects in the wit , and faculties intellectuall . for , if the wit bee to dull , they sharpen it : if to wandring , they fix it : if to inherent in the sense , they abstract it . so that , as tennis is a game of noe vse in it selfe , but of great vse , in respect it maketh a quicke eye , and a bodie readie to put it selfe into all postures : so in the mathematickes , that vse which is collaterall and interuenient , is no lesse worthy , then that which is principall and intended . and as for the mixt mathematikes i may onely make this prediction , that there cannot faile to bee more kindes of them , as nature growes furder disclosed . thus much of natvral science , or the part of nature specvlative . for natvrall prvdence , or the part operative of natvrall philosophy , we will deuide it into three parts , experimental , philosophical and magical , which three parts active haue a correspondēce and analogie with the three parts specvlative : natvral history , phisicke , and metaphisicke : for many operations haue bin inuented sometime by a casuall incidence and occurrence , sometimes by a purposed experiment : and of those which haue bene found by an intentionall experimēt , some haue bin found out by varying or extending the same experiment , some bytransferring and compounding diuers experiments the one into the other , which kind of inuention an emperique may manage . againe by the knowledge of phisicall causes , there cannot faile to followe , many indications and designations of new particulers , if men in their speculation will keepe one eye vpon vse & practise . but these are but coastings along the shoare , premendo littus iniquum , for it seemeth to me , there can hardly bee discouered any radicall or fundamentall alterations , and innouations in nature , either by the fortune & essayes of experiments , or by the light and direction of phisical causes . if therfore we haue reported metaphisicke deficient , it must followe , that wee doe the like of natvral magicke , which hath relation thereunto . for as for the natvral magicke whereof now there is mention in books , containing certaine credulous and superstitious conceits and obseruations of sympathies , and antipathies and hidden proprieties , and some friuolous experiments , strnnge rather by disguisement , then in themselues , it is as fardiffering in truth of nature , from such a knowedge as we require , as the storie of king arthur of brittaine , or hughe of burdeaux , differs from caesars commentaries in truth of storie . for it is manifest that caesar did greater things de vero , then those imaginarie heroes were fained to doe . but hee did them not in that fabulous manner . of this kinde of learning the fable of ixion was a figure : who designed to enioy iuno the goddesse of power : and in stead of her , had copulation with a cloud : of which mixture were begotten centaures , and chymeraes . so whosoeuer shall entertaine high and vapourous imaginations , in steede of a laborious and sober enquirie of truth shall beget hopes and beliefes of strange and impossible shapes . and therefore wee may note in these sciences , which holde so much of imagination and beliefe , as this degenerate naturall magicke , alchimie , astrologie , and the like , that in their propositions , the description of the meanes , is euermore monstrous , then the pretence or ende . for it is a thing more probable , that he that knoweth well the natures of waight , of colour , of pliant , and fragile in respect of the hammer , of volatile and fixed in respect of the fire , and the rest , may superinduce vpon some mettall the nature , and forme of gold by such mechanique as longeth to the production of the naturs afore rehearsed , then that some graynes of the medecine proiected , should in a fewe moments of time , turne a sea of quick-siluer or other materiall into gold. so it is more probable that he that knoweth the nature of arefaction ; the nature of assimilation , of nourishment to the thing nourished ; the maner of encrease , and clearing of spirits : the maner of the depredations , which spirits make vpon the humours and solide parts : shall , by ambages of diets , bathings , annointings , medecines , motions , and the like , prolong life , or restore some degree of youth or viuacitie , then that it can be done with the vse of a sewe drops , or scruples of a liquor or receite . to conclude therefore , the true natvrall magicke , which is that great libertie and latitude of operation , which dependeth vppon the knowledge of formes , i may report deficient , as the relatiue thereof is ; to which part if we be serious , and incline not to vanities and plausible discourse , besides the deriuing and deducing the operations themselues from metaphisicke , there are pertinent two points of much purpose , the one by way of preparation , the other by way of caution : the first is , that there be made a kalender resembling an inuentorie of the estate of man , containing all the inuentions , ( being the works or fruits of nature or art ) which are now extant , and whereof man is alreadie possessed , out of which doth naturally result a note , what things are yet held impossible , or not inuented , which kalender will bee the more artificiall and seruiceable , if to euery reputed impossibilitie , you adde what thing is extant , which commeth the nearest in degree to that impossibilitie ; to the ende , that by these optatiues and potentialls , mans enquirie may bee the more awake in diducing directiō of works from the speculatiō of causes . and secondly that those experimēts be not onely esteemed which haue an immediate & presēt vse , but those principally which are of most vniuersall consequence for inuention of other experimēts , & those which giue most light to the inuētion of causes ; for the inuētion of the mariners needle , which giueth the direction , is of noe lesse benefit for nauigation , then the inuention of the sailes which giue the motion . thus haue i passed through natvrall philosophie , and the deficiences thereof ; wherein if i haue differed from the ancient , and receiued doctrines , and thereby shall moue contradiction ; for my part , as i affect not to dissent , so i purpose not to contend ; if it be truth . — non canimus surdis respondent omnia syluae ; the voice of nature will consent , whether the voice of man doe or noe . and as alexander bergia was wont to say of the expedition of the french for naples , that they came with chaulke in their hands to marke vp their lodgings , and not with weapons to fight : so i like better that entrie of truth which commeth peaceably with chaulke , to marke vp those mindes , which are capable to lodge and harbour it , then that which commeth with pugnacitie and contention . but there remaineth a diuision of naturall philosophy according to the report of the enquirie , and nothing concerning the matter or subiect , and that is positive and considerative : when the enquirie reporteth either an assertion , or a doubt . these doubts or non liquets , are of two sorts , particular and totall . for the first wee see a good example thereof in aristotles problemes , which deserued to haue had a better continuance , but so neuerthelesse , as there is one point , whereof warning is to be giuen and taken ; the registring of doubts hath two excellent vses : the one that it saueth philosophy from errors & falshoods : when that which is not fully appearing , is not collected into assertion , whereby error might drawe error , but reserued in doubt . the other that the entrie of doubts are as so many suckers or sponges , to drawe vse of knowledge , insomuch as that which if doubts had not preceded , a man should neuer haue aduised , but passed it ouer without note , by the suggestion and sollicitation of doubts is made to be attended and applied . but both these commodities doe scarcely counteruaile an inconuenience , which wil intrude it selfe if it be not debarred , which is that when a doubt is once receiued , men labour rather howe to keepe it a doubt still , then howe to solue it , and accordingly bend their wits . of this we see the familiar example in lawyers and schollers , both which if they haue once admitted a doubt , it goeth euer after authorized for a doubt . but that vse of wit and knowledge is to be allowed which laboureth to make doubtfull thinges certaine , and not those which labour to make certaine things doubtfull . therefore these kalenders of doubts , i commend as excellent things , so that there be this caution vsed , that when they bee throughly sifted & brought to resolution , they bee from thence forth omitted , decarded , and not continued to cherish and encourage men in doubting . to which kalender of doubts or problemes , i aduise be annexed another kalender as much or more materiall , which is a kalender of popular errors , i meane chiefly , in naturall historie such as passe in speech & conceit , and are neuerthelesse apparantly detected & cōuicted of vntruth , that mans knowledge be not weakened nor imbased by such drosse and vanitie . as for the doubts or nonliquets generall or in totall , i vnderstand those differences of opinions touching the principles of nature , and the fundamentall points of the same , which haue caused the diuersitie of sects , schooles , and philosophies , as that of empedocles , pythagoras , democritus , parmenides , and the rest . for although aristotle as though he had bin of the race of the ottomans , thought hee could not raigne , except the first thing he did he killed all his brethren ; yet to those that seeke truth and not magistralitie , it cannot but seeme a matter of great profit , to see before them the seueral opinions touching the foundations of nature , not for any exact truth that can be expected in those theories : for as the same phenomena in astronomie are satisfied by the receiued astronomie of the diurnall motion , and the proper motions of the planets , with their eccentriques and epicicles and likwise by the theorie of copernicus , who supposed the ●…arth to moue ; & the calculations are indifferently agreeable to both : so the ordinarie face and viewe of experience is many times satisfied by seuerall theories & philosophies , whereas to finde the reall truth requireth another manner of seueritie & attention . for , as aristotle saith that children at the first will call euery woman mother : but afterward they come to distinguish according to truth : so experience , if it be in childhood , will call euery philosophie mother ; but when it commeth to ripenesse , it will discerne the true mother . so as in the meane time it is good to see the seuerall glosses and opinions vpon nature , wherof it may bee euery one in some one point , hath seene clearer then his fellows ; therfore i wish some collection to be made painfully and vnderstandingly de antiquis philosophijs out of all the possible light which remaineth to vs of them . which kinde of worke i finde deficient . but heere i must giue warning , that it bee done distinctly and seuerely ; the philosophies of euery one throughout by themselues ; and not by titles packed , and fagotted vp together , as hath beene done by plutarch . for it is the harmonie of a philosophie in it selfe , which giueth it light and credence ; whereas if it bee singled and broken , it will seeme more forraine and dissonant . for as , when i read in tacitus , the actions of nero , or claudius , with circumstances of times , inducements and occasions , i finde them not so strange : but when i reade them in suetonius tranquillus gathered into tytles and bundles , and not in order of time , they seeme more monstrous and incredible ; so is it of any philosophy reported entier , and dismembred by articles . neither doe i exclude opinions of latter times to bee likewise represented , in this kalender of sects of philosophie , as that of theophrastus paracelsus , eloquently reduced into an harmonie , by the penne of seuerinus the dane : and that of tylesius , and his scholler donius , beeing as a pastorall philosophy , full of sense , but of no great depth . and that of fracastorius , who though hee pretended not to make any newe philosophy , yet did vse the absolutenesse of his owne sense , vpon the olde . and that of gilbertus , our countreyman , who reuiued , with some alterations , and demonstrations , the opinions of xenophanes , and any other worthy to be admitted . thus haue we now dealt with two of the three beames of mans knowledge , that is radius directus , which is referred to nature , radius refractus , which is referred to god , and cannot report truely because of the inequalitie of the medium . there resteth radius reflexus , whereby man beholdeth and contemplateth himselfe . we come therefore now to that knowledge , whereunto the ancient oracle directeth vs , which is , the knowledge of our selues : which deserueth the more accurate handling , by howe much it toucheth vs more neerely . this knowledge as it is the end and terme of naturall philosophy in the intention of man : so notwithstanding it is but a portion of naturall philosophy in the continent of nature : and generally let this be a rule , that all partitions of knowledges , be accepted rather for lines & veines , then for sections and separations : and that the continuance and entirenes of knowledge be preserued . for the contrary here of hath made particular sciences , to become barren , shallow , & erronious : while they haue not bin n●…urished and maintained from the cōmon fountaine : sowe see cicero the orator complained of socrates and his schoole , that he was the first that separated philosophy , and rhetoricke , whereupon rhetorick became an emptie & verball art. so wee may see that the opinion of copernicus touching the rotation of the earth , which astronomie it self cānot correct ; because it is not repugnant to any of the phainomena , yet naturall philosophy may correct . so we see also that the science of medicine , if it be destituted & forsaken by natural philosophy , it is not much better then an empeirical practize : with this reseruation therefore we proceed to hvmane philosophy or hvmanitie , which hath two parts : the one considereth man segregate , or distributiuely : the other congregate or in societie . so as hvmane philosophy is either simple and particvlar , or coniugate and ciuile ; hvmanitie particvlar consisteth of the same parts , whereof man consisteth , that is , of knovvledges which respect the body , & of knovvledges that respect the mind . but before we distribute so far , it is good to constitute . for i doe take the consideration in generall , and at large of hvmane natvre to be fit to be emancipate , & made a knowledge by it self ; not so much in regard of those delightfull and elegant discourses , which haue bin made of the dignitie of man , of his miseries , of his state and life , and the like adiuncts of his common and vndeuided nature , but chiefely in regard of the knowledge concerning the sympathies and concordances betvveene the mind and body , which being mixed , cannot be properly assigned to the sciences of either . this knowledge hath two branches ; for as all leagues and amities consist of mutuall intelligence , and mutuall offices so this league of mind and body , hath these two parts , how the one discloseth the other , and how the one worketh vpon the other . discouerie , & impression . the former of these hath begottē two arts , both of predictiō or prenotion where of the one is honoured with the enquirie of aristotle , & the other of hippocrates . and although they haue of later time beene vsed to be coupled with superstitious and fantasticall arts ; yet being purged and restored to their true state ; they haue both of them a solide ground in nature , and a profitable vse in life . the first is physiognomie , which discouereth the disposition of the mind , by the lyneaments of the bodie . the second is the exposition of natvrall dreames , which discouereth the state of the bodie , by the imaginations of the minde . in the former of these , i note a deficience . for aristotle hath verie ingeniously , and diligently handled the factures of the bodie , but not the gestures of the bodie ; which are no lesse comprehensible by art , and of greater vse , and aduantage . for the lyneaments of the bodie doe disclose the disposition and inclination of the minde in generall ; but the motions of the countenance and parts , doe not onely so , but doe further disclose the present humour and state of the mind & will. for as your maiestie sayth most aptly and elegantly ; as the tongue speaketh to the eare , so the gesture speaketh to the eye . and therefore a number of subtile persons , whose eyes doe dwell vpon the faces and fashions of men ; doe well know the aduantage of this obseruation ; as being most part of their abilitie ; neither can it bee denied , but that it is a great discouerie of dissimulations , and a great direction in businesse . the later braunch , touching impression hath not beene collected into art ; but hath beene handled dispersedly ; and it hath the same relation or antistrophe , that the former hath , for the consideration is double , either hovv , and hovv farre the hvmovrs and a●…fcts of the bodie , doe alter or worke vpon the mind ; or againe , hovv and hovv farre the passions , or apprehensions of the minde , doe alter or worke vpon the bodie . the former of these , hath beene enquired and considered , as a part , and appendix of medicine , but much more as a part of religion or superstition . for the phisitian prescribeth cures of the minde in phrensies , and melancholy passions ; and pretendeth also to exhibite medicines to exhilarate the minde , to confirme the courage , to clarifie the wits , to corroborate the memorie , and the like ; but the scruples and superstitions of diet , and other regiment of the body in the sect of the pythagoreans , in the heresy of the manicheas , and in the lawe of mahumet doe exceede ; so likewise the ordinances in the ceremoniall lawe , interdicting the eating of the blood , and the fatte ; distinguishing between beasts cleane and vncleane for meat ; are many and strict . nay , the faith it selfe , being cleere and serene from all cloudes of ceremonie , yet retaineth the vse of sastings , abstinences , and other macerations and humiliations of the bodie , as things reall , & not figuratiue . the roote and life of all which prescripts , is ( besides the ceremonie , ) the consideration of that dependancie , which the affections of the mind are submitted vnto , vpon the state and disposition of the bodie . and if any man of weake iudgement doe conceiue , that this suffering of the minde from the bodie , doth either question the immortalitie , or derogate from the soueraigntie of the soule : hee may be taught in easie instances , that the infant in the mothers wombe , is compatible with the mother , and yet separable : and the most absolute monarch is sometimes ledde by his seruants , and yet without subiection as for the reciprocall knowledge , which is the operation of the conceits and passions of the minde vppon the bodie ; we see all wise phisitians in the prescriptions of their regiments to their patients , doe euer consider accidentia animi : as of great force to further or hinder remedies , or recoueries ; and more specially it is an inquirie of great depth and worth , concerning imagination , how , and howe farre it altereth the bodie proper of the imaginant . for although it hath a manifest power to hurt , it followeth not , it hath the same degree of power to helpe . no more than a man can conclude , that because there be pestilent ayres , able sodainely to kill a man in health ; therefore there should bee soueraigne ayres , able sodainly to cure a man in sicknesse . but the inquisition of this part is of great vse , though it needeth , as socrates sayd , a delian diuer , being difficult & profound . but vnto all this knowledge de commvni vincvlo , of the concordances betweene the mind and the bodie : that part of enquirie is most necessarie , which considereth of the seates , and domiciles which the seuerall faculties of the minde , doe take and occupate in the organs of the bodie , which knowledge hath been attempted , and is controuerted , and deserueth to bee much better inquired . for the opinion of plato , who placed the vnderstanding in the braine ; animositie , ( which hee did vnfitly call anger , hauing a greater mixture with pride ) in the heart ; and concupiseence or sensualitie in the liuer , deserueth not to bee despised , but much lesse to be allowed . so then we haue constituted ( as in our own wish and aduise ) the inquirie tovching hvmane natvre entyer ; as a iust portion of knowledge , to be handled apart . the knowledge that concerneth mans bodie , is diuided as the good of mans bodie is diuided , vnto which it referreth . the good of mans body , is of foure kindes ; health , beautie , strength , and pleasure . so , the knowledges are medicine , or art of cure : art of decoration ; which is called cosmetike : art of actiuitie , which is called athletike : and art voluptuarie , which tacitus truely calleth eruditus luxus . this subiect of mans bodie , is of all other thinges in nature , most susceptible of remedie : but then that remedie is most susceptible of errour . for the same subtilitie of the subiect , doth cause large possibilitie , and easie fayling : and therefore the enquirie ought to be the more exact . to speak therfore of medicine , & to resume that we haue sayd , ascending a litle higher ; the ancient opinion that man was microcosmus , an abstract or modell of the world , hath beene fantastically streyned by paracelsus , and the alchimists , as if there were to be found in mans body certaine correspondences , & parallells , which shold haue respect to all varieties of things , as starres , planets , minerals , which are extant in the great world . but thus much is euidently true , that of all substances , which nature hath produced , mans bodie is the most extreamly compounded . for we see hearbs & plants are norished by earth & waer ; beasts for the most part , by hearbs & fruits ; man by the flesh of beasts , birds , fishes , hearbs , grains , fruits , water , & the manifold alterations , dressings , and preparations of these seuerall bodies , before they come to be his food & aliment . adde hereunto that beasts haue a more simple order of life , and lesse change of affections to worke vppon their bodies , whereas man in his mansion , sleepe , exercise , passions , hath infinit variations ; and it cannot be denied , but that the bodie of man of all other things , is of the most compounded masse . the soule on the other side is the simplest of substances , as is well expressed . purumque reliquit aethereum sensum , atque aurai simplicis ignem . so that it is no maruaile , though the soule so placed , enioy no rest , if that principle be true , that motus rerum est rapidus extra locum , placidus in loco . but to the purpose , this variable composition of mans bodie hath made it as an instrument easie to to distemper ; and therefore the poets did well to conioyne mvsicke and medicine in apollo , because the office of medicine , is but to tune this curious harpe of mans bodie , and to reduce it to harmonie . so then the subiect being so variable , hath made the art by consequent more coniecturall , and the art being coniecturall , hath made so much the more place to bee left for imposture . for almost all other arts and sciences , iudged by acts , or master peeces , as i may terme them , and not by the successes , and euents . the lawyer is iudged by the vertue of his pleading , and not by the yssue of the cause : the master in the shippe , is iudged by the directing his course aright , and not by the fortune of the voyage : but the phisitian , and perhaps the politique , hath no particular acts demonstratiue of his abilitie , but is iudged most by the euent : which is euer but as it is taken ; for who can tell if a patient die or recouer , or if a state be preserued , or ruyned , whether it be art or accident ? and therefore many times the impostor is prized , and the man of vertue taxed . nay , we see weakenesse and credulitie of men , is such , as they will often preferre a montabanke or witch , before a learned phisitian . and therefore the poets were cleere sighted in discerning this extreame folly , when they made aesculapius , and circe , brother and sister , both children of the sunne , as in the verses . ipse repertorem medicinae talis & artis , fulmine phoebigenam stygias detrusit ad vn●…as , and againe . diues inaccessos vbi solis filia lucos , &c. for in all times in the opinion of the multitude , witches , and old women , and impostors haue had a competicion with phisitians . and what followeth ? euen this that phisitians say to themselues , as salomon expresseth it vpon an higher occasion : if it befall to me , as befalleth to the fooles , why should i labour to be more wise ? and therefore i cannot much blame phisitians , that they vse commonly to intend some other art or practise , which they fancie , more than their profession . for you shall haue of them : antiquaries , poets , humanists , states-men , marchants , diuines , and in euerie of these better seene , than in their profession , & no doubt , vpon this ground that they find , that mediocrity & excellency in their art , maketh no difference in profite or reputation towards their fortune : for the weakenesse of patients , and sweetnesse of life , and nature of hope maketh men depend vpon phisitians , with all their defects . but neuerthelesse , these things which we haue spoken of , are courses begotten betweene a little occasion , and a great deale of sloath and default : for if we will excite and awake our obseruation , we shall see in familiar instances , what a predominant facultie , the subtiltie of spirite , hath ouer the varietie of matter , or fourme : nothing more variable then faces and countenances : yet men can bea●…e in memorie the infinite distinctions of them . nay , a painter with a fewe shelles of colours , and the benefite of his eye , and habite of his imagination can imitate them all that euer haue ben , ar , or may be , if they were brought before him . nothing more variable than voices , yet men can likewise discern them personally , nay you shall haue a buffon , or pantomimus will expresse as many as hee pleaseth . nothing more variable , than the differing sounds of words , yet men haue found the way to reduce thē to a few simple letters ; so that it is not the insufficiency or incapacity of mans mind ; but it is the remove standing or placing thereof , that breedeth these mazes and incomprehensions ; for as the sence a far off , is full of mistaking , but is exact at hand , so is it of the vnderstanding ; the remedie whereof , is not to quicken or strengthen the organ , but to goe neerer to the obiect ; and therefore there is no doubt , but if the phisitians will learne , and vse the true approaches and auenues of nature , they may assume as much as the poet sayth ; et quoniam variant morbi , variabimus artes , mille mali species , mille salutis erunt . which that they should doe , the noblenesse of their art doth deserue ; well shadowed by the poets , in that they made aesculapius to be the sonne of sunne , the one being the fountaine of life , the other as the second streame ; but infinitely more honored by the example of our sauiour , who made the body of man the obiect of his miracles , as the soule was the obiect of his doctrine . for wee reade not that euer he vouchsafed to doe any miracle about honor , or money , ( except that one for giuing tribute to caesar ) but onely about the preseruing , sustayning , and healing the bodie of man. medicine is a science , which hath beene ( as wee haue sayd ) more professed , than labored , & yet more labored , than aduanced ; the labor hauing been , in my iudgement , rather in circle , than in progression . for , i finde much iteration , but small addition . it considereth causes of diseases , with the occasions or impulsions : the discases themselues , with the accidents : and the cures , with the preseruations . the deficiences which i thinke good to note , being a few of many , & those such , as ar of a more open and manifest nature , i will enumerate , and not place . the first is the discontinuance of the auncient and serious diligence of hippocrates , which vsed to set downe a narratiue of the speciall cases of his patientes , and how they proceeded , & how they were iudged by recouery or death . therefore hauing an example proper in the father of the art , i shal not neede to alledge an example forraine , of the wisedome of the lawyers , who are carefull to reporte new cases and decisions , for the direction of future iudgements . this continuance of medicinall history , i find deficient , which i vnderstand neither to be so infinite as to extend to euery common case , nor so reserued , as to admit none but woonders : for many thinges are new in the manner , which are not new in the kinde , and if men will intend to obserue , they shall finde much worthy to obserue . in the inquirie which is made by anatomie , i finde much deficience : for they enquire of the parts , and their substances , figures , and collocations ; but they enquire not of the diuersities of the parts ; the secrecies of the passages ; and the seats or neastling of the humours ; nor much of the foot-steps , and impressions of diseases ; the reason of which omission , i suppose to be , because the first enquirie may be satisfied , in the view of one or a few anatomies : but the latter being comparatiue and casuall , must arise from the view of many . and as to the diuersitie of parts , there is no doubt but the facture or framing of the inward parts , is as full of difference , as the outward , and in that , is rhe cause continent of many diseases , which not being obserued , they quarrell many times with the humors which are not in fault , the fault being in the very frame and mechanicke of the parte , which cannot be remoued by medicine alteratine , but must be accomodate and palliate by dyets and medicines familiar . and for the passages and pores , it is true which was aunciently noted , that the more subtile of them appeare not in anatomyes , because they are shut and latent in dead bodies , though they be open and manifest in liue : which being supposed , though the inhumanity of anatomia viuorū was by celsus iust ly reproued : yet in regard of the great vse of this obseruation , the inquiry needed not by him so sleightly to haue ben relinquished altogether , or referred to the casuall practises of surgerie , but mought haue been well diuerted vpon the dissection of beastes aliue , which notwithstanding the dissimilitude of their parts , may sufficiently satisfie this inquirie . and for the humors , they are commonly passed ouer in anatomies , as purgaments , whereas it is most necessarie to obserue , what cauities , nestes & receptacles the humors doe finde in the parts , with the differing kinde of the humor so lodged and receiued . and as for the footesteps of diseases , & their deuas●…ations of the inward parts , impostumations , exulcerations , discontinuations , putrefactions , consumptions , contractions , extensions , convulsions , dislocations , obstructions , repletions , together with all preternatural substances , as stones , carnosities , excrescences , wormes , and the like : they ought to haue beene exactly obserued by multitude of anatomies , and the contribution of mens seuerall experiences ; and carefully set downe both historically according to the appearances , and artificially with a reference to the diseases and symptomes which resulted from them , in case where the anatomy is of a desunct patient wheras now vpon opening of bodies , they are passed ouer sleightly , and in silence . in the inquirie of diseases , they doe abandon the cures of many , some as in their nature incurable , and others , as passed the periode of cure ; so that sylla and the triumvirs neuer proscribed so many men to die , as they doe by their ignorant edictes , whereof numbers do escape with lesse difficulty , then they did in the romane proscriptions . therfore i wil not doubt , to note as a deficience , that they inquire not the persite cures of many diseases , or extremities of diseases , but pronouncing them incurable , doe enact a lawe of neglect , & exempt ignorance from discredite . nay further , i esteeme it the office of a phisition , not onely to restore health , but to mittigate pain and dolors , and not onely when such mittigation may conduce to recouery , but when it may serue to make a fayre and easie passage : for it is no small felicitie which auguslus caesar was wont to wish to himselfe , that same euthanasia , and which was specially noted in the death of antoninus pius , whose death was after the fashion and semblance of a kindly & pleasant sleepe . so it is written of epicurus , that after his disease was iudged desperate , he drowned his stomacke and senses with a large draught and ingurgitation of wine , whereupon the epigram was made ; hinc stygias ebrius hausit aquas : he was not sober enough to taste any bitternesse of the stygian water . but the phisitions contrariwise doe make a kinde of scruple and religion to stay with the patient after the disease is deplored , wheras , in my iudgment they ought both to enquire the skill , and to giue the attendances for the facilitating & asswaging of the paynes and agonies of death . in the consideration of the cures of diseases , i find a deficience in the receiptes of proprietie , respecting the particular cures of diseases : for the phisitians haue frustrated the fruite of tradition & experience by their magistralities , in adding and taking out and changing , quid pro quo , in their receiptes , at their pleasures , commanding so ouer the medicine , as the medicine cannot commmād ouer the disease : for except it be treacle and mythridatū , & of late diascordium , and a few more , they tye themselues to no receiptes seuerely and religiously : for as to the confections of sale , which are in the shoppes , they are for readines , and not for proprietie : for they are vpon generall intentions of purging , opening , comforting , altering , and not much appropriate to , particular diseases ; and this is the cause why emperiques , and ould women are more happie many times in their cures , than learned phisitians ; because they are more religious in holding their medicines . therefore here is the deficience which i finde , that phisitians haue not partly out of their owne practize , partly out of the constant probations reported in bookes ; & partly out of the traditions of emperiques ; setdowne and deliuered ouer , certaine experimentall medicines , for the cure of particular diseases ; besides their owne coniecturall and magistrall descriptions . for as they were the men of the best composition in the state of rome , which either being consuls inclined to the people ; or being tribunes inclined to the senat : so in the matter we now handle , they be the best phisitians , which being learned incline to the traditions of experience ; or being emperiques , incline to the methods of learning . in preparation of medicines , i doe finde strange specially , considering how mineral medicines haue beene extolled ; and that they are safer , for the outward , than inward parts , that no man hath sought , to make an imitation by art of naturall bathes , and medicinable fountaines : which neuerthelesse are confessed to receiue their vertues from minerals : and not so onely , but discerned and distinguished from what particular mynerall they receiue tincture , as sulphur , vitriole , steele , or the like : which nature if it may be reduced to compositions of art , both the varietie of them will be encreased , & the temper of them will be more commanded . but least i grow to be more particular , than is agreeable , either to my intention , or to proportion ; i will conclude this part with the note of one deficience more , which seemeth to me of greatest consequence , which is , that the prescripts in vse , are too compendious to attaine their end : for to my vnderstanding , it is a vaine and flattering opinion , to think any medicine can be so soueraigne , or so happie , as that the receit or vse of it , can worke any great effect vpon the bodie of man ; it were a strange speach , which spoken , or spoken oft , should reclaime a man from a vice , to which he were by nature subiect : it is order , poursuite , sequence , and interchange of application , which is mightie in nature ; which although it require more exact knowledge in prescribing , and more precise obedience in obseruing , yet is recompenced with the magnitude of effects . and although a man would thinke by the dayly visitations of the phisitians , that there were a poursuance in the cure ; yet let a man look into their prescripts and ministrations , and he shall finde them but inconstancies , and euerie dayes deuises , without any setled prouidence or proiect ; not that euerie scrupulous or superstitious prescript is effectuall , no more than euerie straight way , is the way to heauen , but the truth of the direction , must precede s●…ueritie of obseruance . for cosmetique , it hath parts ciuile , and parts effeminate : for cleanesse of bodie , was euer esteemed to proceede from a due reuerence to god , to societie , and to our selues . as for artificiall decoration , it is well worthy of the desiciences which it hath : being neither fine inough to deceiue , nor handsome to vse , nor wholesome to please . for athletique , i take the subiect of it largely ; that is to say , for any point of abilitie , whereunto the bodie of man may be brought , whether it be of actiuitie , or of patience , wherof actiuitie hath two parts , strength and swifinesse : and patience likewise hath two parts , hardnesse against wants and extremities ; and indurance of payne , or torment ; whereof we see the practises in tumblers , in sauages , and in those that suffer punishment : nay , if there be any other facultie , which falles not within any of the former diuisions , as in those that diue , that obtaine a strange power of contayning respiration , and the like , i referre it to this part . of these thinges the practises are knowne : but the philosophie that concerneth them is not much enquired : the rather i thinke , because they are supposed to be obtayned , either by an aptnesse of nature , which cannot be taught ; or onely by continuall custome ; which is soone prescribed ; which though it bee not true : yet i forbeare to note any deficiences : for the olympian games are downe long since : and the mediocritie of these thinges is for vse : as for the excellencie of them , it serueth for the most part , but for mercenary ostentation . for arts of pleasure sensuall , the chiefe deficience in them , is of lawes to represse them . for as it hath beene well obserued , that the arts which florish in times , while vertue is in growth , are militarie : and while vertue is in state are liberall : and while vertue is in declination , are voluptuarie : so i doubt , that this age of the world , is somewhat vpon the descent of the wheele ; with arts voluptuarie , i couple practises iocularie ; for the deceiuing of the sences , is one of the pleasures of the sences . as for games of recreation , i hould them to belong to ciuile life , and education . and thus much of that particular hvmane philosophie , which concernes the bodie , which is but the tabernacle of the minde . for hvmane knovvledge , which concernes the mind , it hath two parts , the one that enquireth of the svbstance , or natvre of the sovle or mind ; the other , that enquireth of the facvlties or fvnctions thereof : vnto the first of these , the considerations of the originall of the soule , whether it be natiue or aduentiue ; and how farre it is exempted from lawes of matter ; and of the immortalitie thereof ; and many other points do appertaine , which haue been not more laboriously enquired , than variously reported ; so as the trauaile therein taken , seemeth to haue ben rather in a maze , than in a way . but although i am of opinion , that this knowledge may be more really and soundly enquired euen in nature , than it hath been ; yet i hold , that in the end it must be bounded by religion ; or else it will bee subiect to deceite and delusion : for as the substance of the soule in the creation , was not extracted out of the masse of heauen and earth , by the benediction of a producat : but was immediately inspired from god ; so it is not possible that it should bee ( otherwise than by accident ) subiect to the lawes of heauen and earth ; which are the subiect of philosophie ; and therefore the true knowledge of the nature , and state of the soule , must come by the same inspiration , that gaue the substance . vnto this part of knowledge touching the soule , there be two appendices , which as they haue ben handled , haue rather vapoured foorth fables , than kindled truth ; divination , and fascination . divination , hath beene anciently and fitly diuided into artificiall and naturall ; whereof artificiall is , when the minde maketh a prediction by argument , concluding vpon signes and tokens : naturallis , when the minde hath a presention by an internall power , without the inducement of a signe . artifi●…iall is of two sorts , either when the argument is coupled with a deriuation of causes , which is rationall ; or when it is onely grounded vpon a coincidence of the effect , which is experimentall ; whereof the later for the most part , is superstitious : such as were the heathen obseruations , vpon the inspection of sacrifices , the flights of birds , the swarming of bees ; and such as was the chaldean astrologie , and the like . for artificall diuination , the seuerall kinds thereof are distributed amongst particular knowledges . the astronomer hath his predictions , as of coniunctions , aspects , eclipses , and the like . the phisitian hath his predictions , of death , of recouerie , of the accidents and issues of diseases . the politique hath his predictions ; o vrbem vaenalem , & cito perituram , si emptorem inucnerit ; which stayed not long to bee perfourmed in sylla first , and after in caesar. so as these predictions are now impertinēt , & to be referred ouer . but the diuination , which springeth frō the internal nature of the soul , is that which we now speak of which hath ben made to be of two sorts ; primitiue and by influxion . primitiue is grounded vpon the supposition , that the minde when it is withdrawne and collected into it selfe , and not diffused into the organes of the bodie , hath some extent and latitude of prenotion ; which therefore appeareth most in sleepe , in extasies , and nere death ; and more rarely in waking apprehensions ; and is induced and furthered by those abstinences , and obseruances , which make the minde most to consist in it selfe . by influxion ; is grounded vpon the conceit , that the mind , as a mirror or glasse , should take illumination from the fore knowledge of god and spirits , vnto which the same regiment doth likewise conduce . for the retyring of the minde within it selfe , is the state which is most susceptible of diuine influxions ; saue that it is accompanied in this case with a feruencie and eleuation , ( which the ancients noted by furie ) and not with a repose and and quiet , as it is in the other . fascination is the power and act of imagination , intensiue vpon other bodies , than the bodie of the imaginant ; for of that we spake in the proper place : wherein the schoole of paracelsus , and the disciples of pretended naturall magicke , haue beene so intemperate , as they haue exalted the power of the imagination , to be much one with the power of miracle-working faith : others that drawe neerer to probabilitie , calling to their view the secret passages of things , and specially of the contagion that passeth from bodie to bodie , doe conceiue it should likewise be agreeable to nature , that there should be some transmissions and operations from spirit to spirit , without the mediation of the sences , whence the conceits haue growne , ( now almost made ciuile ) of the maistring spirite , & the force of confidence , and the like . incident vnto this , is the inquirie how to raise and fortifie the imagination , for if the imagination fortified haue power , then it is materiall to know how to fortifie and exalt it . and herein comes in crookedly and dangerously , a palliation of a great part of ceremoniall magicke . for it may bee pretended , that ceremonies , characters , and charmes doe worke , not by any tacite or sacramentali contract with euill spirits ; but serue onely to strengthen the imagination of him that vseth it ; as images are said by the romane church , to fix the cogitations , and raise the deuotions of them that pray before them . but for mine owne iudgment , if it be admitted that imagination hath power ; and that ceremontes fortifie imagination , & that they be vsed sincerely & intentionally for that purpose : yet i should hold them vnlawfull , as opposing to that first edict , which god gaue vnto man. in sudore vultus comedes panem tuum . for they propound those noble effects which god hath set foorth vnto man , to bee bought at the price of laboure , to bee attained by a fewe easie and slothful obseruances . deficiences in these knowledges i wil report none , other than the generall deficience , that it is not knowne , how much of them is veritie , and how much vanitie . the knovvlidge which respecteth the facvlties of the minde of man , is of two kinds : the one respecting his vnderstanding and reason , and the other his will , appetite , & affection , wherof the former produceth position or decree , the later action or execvtion . it is true that the imagination is an agent , or nuntius in both prouinces , both the iudiciall , and the ministeriall . for sence sendeth ouer to imagination , before reason haue iudged : and reason sendeth ouer to imagination , before the decree can be acted . for imagination euer precedeth voluntary motion . sauing that this ianus of imagination hath differing faces ; for the face towards reason , hath the print of truth . but the face towards action , hath the print of good ; which neuerthelesse are faces , quales decet esse sororum . neither is the imagination simply and onely a messenger ; but is inuested with , or at least wise vsurpeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no small authoritie in it selfe ; besides the duty of the message . for it was well sayd by aristotle : that the minde hath ouer the bodie that commaundement which the lord hath ouer a bond-man ; but , that reason hath ouer the imagination that commandement , which a magistrate hoth ouer a free citizen ; who may come also to rule in his turne . for we see , that in matters of faith & religion , we raise our imagination aboue our reason , which is the cause why religion sought euer accesse to the minde by similitudes , types , parables , visions , dreames . and againe in all perswasions that are wrought by eloquence , and other impression of like nature , which doe paint and disguise the true appearance of thinges , the cheefe recommendation vnto reason , is from the imagination . neuerthelesse , because i finde not any science , that doth properly or fitly pertaine to the. imagination , i see no cause to alter the former diuision . for as for poelie , it is rather a pleasure , or play of imagination , than a worke or dutie thereof . and if it be a worke ; wee speake not nowe of such partes of learning , as the imagination produceth , but of such sciences , as handle and consider of the imagination . no more than wee shall speake nowe of such knowledges , as reason produceth , ( for that extendeth to all philosophy ) but of such knowledges , as doe handle and enquire of the facultie of reason ; so as poesie had his true place . as for the power of the imagination in nature , and the manner of fortifying the same , wee haue mentioned it in the doctrine de anima , whervnto most fitly it belongeth . and lastly , for imaginatiue , or insinuatiue reason , which is the subiect of rhetericke , wee thinke it best to referre it to the arts of reason . so therefore we content our selues with the former diuision , that humane philosophy , which respecteth the faculties of the minde of man , hath two parts , rationall and morall . the part of humane philosophie , which is rationall , is of all knowledges to the most wits the least delightfull : and seemeth but a net of subtilitie and spinositie . for as it was truely sayd , that knowledge is pabulumanimi ; so in the nature of mens appetite to this foode , most men are of the tast and stomach of the israelites in the desert , that would faine haue returned adollas carnium , and were wearie of manna , which though it were celestiall , yet seemed lesse nutritiue and comfortable . so generally men tast well knowledges that are drenched in flesh and blood , c●…ile historie , mora●…litie , policie , about the which mens affections , praises , fortunes doe turne and are conuersant : but this same lumensiccum , doth parch and offend most mens watry and soft natures . but to speake truly of thinges as they are in worth , rationall knowledges ; are the keyes of all other arts ; for as aristotle sayth aptly and elegantly , that the hand is the instrument of instruments ; and the minde is the fourme of fourmes : so these be truely said to be the art of arts : neither do they onely direct , but likewise confirme and strengthen : euen as the habite of shooting , doth not onely inable to shoote a neerer shoote , but also to draw a stronger bowe . the arts intellectvall , are foure in number , diuided according to the ends whereunto they are referred : for mans labour is to inuent that which is sought or propounded : or to iudge that which is inuented : or to retaine that which is iudged : or to deliuer ouer that which is retained . so as the arts must bee foure : arte of enqvirie or invention : art of examination or ivdgement : art of cvstodie or memorie : and art of elocvtion or tradition . invention is of two kindes much differing ; the one of arts and sciences , and the other of speech and argvments . the former of these , i doe report deficient : which seemeth to me to be such a deficience , as if in the making of an inuentorie , touching the state of a defunct , it should be set downe , that there is no readie money . for as money will fetch all other commodities ; so this knowledge is that which should purchase all the rest . and like as the west indies had neuer been discouered , if the vse of the mariners needle , had not been first discouered ; though the one bee vast regions , and the other a small motion . so it cannot be found strange , if sciences bee no further discov●…ered , if the art it selfe of inuention and discouerie , hath been passed ouer . that this part of knowledge is wanting , to my iudgement , standeth plainely confessed : for first logicke doth not pretend to inuent sciences , or the axiomes of sciences , but passeth it ouer with a cuique in sua arte credendum . and celsus acknowledgeth it grauely , speaking of the empirical and dogmaticall sects of phisitians , that medicines and cures , were first found out , and then after the reasons and causes were discoursed : and not the causes first found out , and by light from them the medicines and cures discouered . and plato in his theoetetus noteth well , that particulars are infinite , and the higher generalities giue no safficient direction : and that the pythe of all sciences , which maketh the arts-man differ from the inexpert , is in the middle propositions , which in euerie particular knowledge are taken from tradition & experience . and therefore wee see , that they which discourse of the inuentions and originals of thinges , referre them rather to chaunce , than to art , and rather to beasts , birds , fishes , serpents , than to men. dictamnum genetrix cretaea carpit ab ida , puberibus caulem folijs , & flore comantem purpureo : non illa feris incognita capris , gramina cum tergo volueres haesere 〈◊〉 . so that it was no maruaile , ( the manner of antiquitie being to consecrate inuentors ) that the aegyptians had so few humane idols in their temples , but almost all brute : omnige●…umqne deum monstra , & latrator a●…bis contra neptunū & venerem , contraque mineruam &c. and if you like better the tradition of the grecians , and ascribe the first inuentions to men , yet you will rather beleeue that prometheus first stroake the flints , and maruailed at the sparke , than that when he first stroke the flints , he xpected the sparke ; and therefore we see the west indian prometheus , had no intelligence with the europoean , because of the rarenesse with them of flint , that gaue the first occasion : so as it should seeme , that hetherto men are rather beholden to a wilde goat for surgerie , or to a nightingale for musique or to the ibis for some part of phisicke , or to the pot-lidde , that flew open for artillerie , or generally to chaunce , or any thinge else , than to logicke for the inuention of arts and sciences . neither is the fourme of inuention , which virgill describeth much other . vt varias vsus medit ando extunderet artes , paulatim , for if you obserue the words well , it is no other methode , than that which brute beasts are capable of , and doe put in vre ; which is a perpetuall intending or practising some one thing vrged and imposed , by an absolute necessitie of conseruation of being ; for so ci●… sayth verie truly ; vsus vni rei deditus , & naturam & artem sape vincit : and therefore if it bee sayd of men , labor omnia vincit improbus , & duris vrgens in rebus egestas ; it is likewise sayd of beasts , quis ps●…taco do●…uit suum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ? who taught the rauen in a drowth to throw pibbles into an hollow tree , where she spyed water , that the water might rise , so as shee might come to it ? who taught the bee to sayle through such a vast sea of ayre , and to finde the way from a field in flower , a great way off , to her hiue ? who taught the ant to bite euerie graine of corne , that she burieth in her hill , least it should take roote and growe ? adde then the word extandere , which importeth the extreame difficultie , and the word paulatin , which importeth the extreame slownesse ; and we are where we were , euen amongst the egyptians gods ; there being little left to the facultie of reason , and nothing to the dutie of art for matter of inuention . secondly , the induction which the logitians speake of and which seemeth familiar with plato , whereby the principles of sciences may be pretended to be inuented , and so the middle propositions by deriuation from the principles ; their fourme of induction , i say is vtterly vitious and incompetent : wherein their erroar is the fowler because it is the duetie of art to perfecte and exalt nature : but they contrariewise haue wronged , abused , and traduced nature . for hee that shall attentiuely obserue howe the minde doth gather this excellent dew of knowledge , like vnto that which the poet speaketh of aere●…mellis caelestia dona , destilling and contryuing it out of particulars naturall and artificiall , as the flowers of the field and garden : shall finde that the mind of her selfe by nature doth mannage , and acte an induction , much better than they describe it . for to conclude vppon an enu●…meration of particulars , without instance contradictorie : is no conclusion : but a coniecture ; for who can assure ( in many subiects ) vppon those particulars , which appeare of a side , that there are not other on the contrarie side , which appeare not ? as if samuell should haue rested vppon those sonn●…s of issay , which were brought before him , and fayled of dauid , which was in the field . and this fourme ( to say truth ) is so grosse : as it had not beene possible for wittes so subti'e , as haue mannaged these thinges , to haue offered it to the world , but that they hasted to their theories and dogmaticals , and were imperious and scornefull toward particulars , which their manner was to vse , but as lictores and via●…ores for sargeants and wifflers , ad summouendam tu●…bam , to make way and make roome for their opinions , rather than in their true vse and seruice ; certainely , it is a thing may touch a man with a religious woonder , to see how the foot steps of seducement , are the very same in diuine and humane truth : for as in diuine truth , man cannot endure to become as a child ; so in humane , they reputed the attending the inductions ( whereof wee speake ) as if it were a second infancie or child hood . thirdly ; allowe some principles or axiomes were rightly induced ; yet neuerthelesse certaine it is , that middle propositions , cannot be diduced from them in subiect of nature by syllogisme , that is , by touch , and reduction of them to principles in a middle terme . it is true , that in sciences popular , as moralities , lawes , and the like , yea , and diuinitie ( because it pleaseth god to apply himselfe to the capacity of the simplest ) that fourme may haue vse ; and in naturall philosophie likewise , by way of argument or satisfactorie reason , quae assensum parit , operis effoeta est : but the subtiltie of nature and operations will not bee inchayned in those bonds : for arguments consist of propositions , and propositions of words , and wordes are but the current tokens or markes of popular notions of thinges : which notions if they bee grossely and variably collected out of particulars ; it is not the laborious examination either of consequences of arguments , , or of the truth of propositions , that can euer correct that errour ; being ( as the phisitians speake ) in the first digestion ; and therefore it was not without cause , that so many excellent philosophers became sceptiques and academiques , and denyed any certaintie of knowledge , or comprehension , and held opinion that the knowledge of man extended onely to appearances , and probabilities . it is true , that in socrates it was supposed to be but a fourme of irony , scientiam dissimulando simulauit : for hee vsed to disable his knowledge , to the end to inhanse his knowledge , like the humor of ●…iberius in his beginnings , that would raigne , but would not acknowledge so much ; and in the later academy , which cicero embraced ; this opinion also of acatalepsia ( i doubt ) was not held sincerely ; for that all those which excelled in copie of speech , seeme to haue chosen that sect , as that which was fittest to giue glorie to their eloquence , and variable discourses : being rather like progresses of pleasure , than iourneyes to an end . but assuredly many scattered in both academyes , did hold it in subtiltie , and integritie . but heere was their cheefe ●…rrour ; they charged the deceite vppon the the sences ; which in my iudgement ( notwithstanding all their cauillations ) are verie sufficient to certifie and report truth ( though not alwayes immediately , yet by comparison ; by helpe of instrument ; and by producing , and vrging such things , as are too subtile for the sence , to some effect comprehensible , by the sence , and other like assistāce . but they ought to haue charged the deceit vpon the weaknes of the intellectual powers , & vpon the maner of collecting , & concluding vpon the reports of the sences . this i speake not to disable the minde of man , but to stirre it vp to seeke helpe : for no man , be he neuer so cunning or practised , can make a straight line or perfect circle by steadinesse of hand , which may bee easily done by helpe of a ruler or compasse . this part of inuention , concerning the inuention of sciences , i purpose ( if god giue mee leaue ) hereafter to propound : hauing digested it into two partes : whereof the one i tearme experientia literata , and the other interpretatio naturae : the former , being but a degree and rudiment of the later . but i will not dwell too long , nor speake too great vpon a promise . the inuention of speech or argument is not properly an inuention : for to inuent is to discouer that we know not , & not to recouer or resūmon that which wee alreadie knowe ; and the vse of this inuention , is no other ; but out of the knowledge , whereof our minde is alreadie possest , to drawe foorth , or call before vs that which may bee pertinent to the purpose , which wee take into our consideration . so as to speake truely , it is no inuention ; but a remembrance or suggestion , with a application : which is the cause why the schooles doe place it after iudgement , as subsequent and not precedent . neuerthelesse , because wee doe account it a chase , aswell of deere in an inclosed parke , as in a forrest at large : and that it hath alreadie obtayned the the name : let it bee called inuention ; so as it be perceyued and discerned , that the scope and end of this inuention , is readynesse and present vse of our knowledge , and not addition or amplification thereof . to procure this readie vse of knowledge , there are two courses : preparation and svggestion . the former of these , seemeth scarcely a part of knowledge ; consisting rather of diligence , than of any artificiall erudition and heerein aristotle wittily , but hurtfully doth deride the sophists , neere his time , saying . they did as if one that professed the art of shooe-making , should not teach howe to make vp a shooe , but onely exhibite in a readin●…sse a number of shooes of all fashions and sizes . but yet a man might reply , that if a shooe-maker should haue no shooes in his shoppe , but onely worke , as hee is bespoken , hee should bee weakely customed . but our sauiour , speaking of diuine knowledge , sayth : that the kingdome of heauen , is like a good ho●…sholder , that bringeth foo●…th both n●…we and ould store : and wee see the ancient writers of rhetoricke doe giue it in precept : that pleaders should haue the places , whereof they haue most continuall vse , readie handled in all the varietie that may bee , as that , to speake for the literall interpretation of the lawe against equitie , and contrarie : and to speake for presumptions and inferences against testimonie ; and contrarie : and cicero himselfe , being broken vnto it by great experience , deliuereth it plainely ; that whatsoeuer a man shall haue occasion to speake of , ( if hee will take the paines ) he may haue it in effect premeditate , and handled in these . so that when hee commeth to a particular , he shall haue nothing to doe , but to put too names , and times , and places ; and such other circumstances of indiuiduals . we see likewise the exact diligence of demosthenes , who in regard of the great force , that the entrance and accesse into causes hath to make a good impression ; had readie framed a number of prefaces for orations and speeches . all which authorities and presidents may ouer way aristotles opinion , that would haue vs chaunge a rich wardrobe , for a paire of sheares . but the nature of the collection of this prouision or preparatorie store , though it be common , both to logicke , and rhetoricke ; yet hauing made an entrye of it heere , where it came first to be spoken of ; i thinke fitte to referre ouer the further handling of it to rhetoricke . the other part of invention , which i terme svggestion , doth assigne and direct vs to certaine markes or places , which may excite our minde to returne and produce such knowledge , as it hath formerly collected : to the end wee may make vse thereof . neither is this vse ( truely taken ) onely to furnish argument , to dispute probably with others ; but likewise to minister vnto our iudgement to conclude aright within our selues . neither may these places serue onely to apprompt our inuention ; but also to direct our enquirie . for a facultie of wise interrogating is halfe a knowledge ; for as plato saith ; whosoeuer seeketh , knoweth that which he seeketh for , in a generall notion ; else how shall he know it , when he hath found it ? and therfore the larger your anticipation is , the more direct and compendious is your search . but the same places which will help vs what to produce , of that which we know alreadie ; will also helpe vs , if a man of experience were before vs , what questions to aske ; or if we haue bookes and authors , to instruct vs what points to search and reuolue : so as i cannot report , that this part of inuention , which is that which the schooles call topiques , is deficient . neuertheles topiques are of 2. sorts general & speciall . the generall we haue spokē to ; but the particular hath ben touched by some , but reiected generally , as inartificial & variable . but leauing the humor which hath raigned too much in the schooles ( which is to be vainly subtile in a few thinges , which are within their command , and to reiect the rest ) i doe receiue particular topiques , that is places or directions of inuention and inquirie in euery particular knowledg , as thinges of great vse ; being mixtures of logique with the matter of sciences : for in these it holdeth ; ars inueniendi adolescit cum inuentis : for as in going of a way , wee doe not onely gaine that part of the waye which is passed , but wee gaine the better sight of that part of the waye which remayneth : so euerie degree of proceeding in a science giueth a light to that which followeth ; which light if wee strengthen , by drawing it foorth into questions or places inquirie , wee doe greatly aduance our poursuyte . nowe wee passe vnto the artes of ivdgement , which handle the natures of proofes and demonstrations ; which as to induction hath a coincidence with inuention : for all inductions whether in good or vitious fourme , the same action of the minde which inuenteth , iudgeth ; all one as in the sence : but otherwise it is in proofe by syllogisme : for the proofe beeing not immediate but by meane : the inuention of the meane is one thinge : and the iudgement of the consequence is another . the one excyting onely : the other examining : therefore for the reall and exacte fourme of iudgement , wee referre our selues to that which wee haue spoken of interpretation of nature . for the other iudgement by syllogisme , as it is a thinge most agreeable to the minde of man : so it hath beene vehementlye and excellently laboured . for the nature of man doth extreamelye couet , to haue somewhat in his vnderstanding fixed and vnmooueable , and as a rest , and support of the mind . and therefore as aristotle endeuoureth to prooue , that in all motion , there is some pointe quiescent ; and as hee elegantlye expoundeth the auncient fable of atlas , ( that stood fixed , and bare vp the heauen from falling ) to bee meant of the poles or axel tree of heauen , wherevppon the conuersion is accomplished ; so assuredlye men haue a desire , to haue an atlas or axel tree within : to keepe them from fluctuation ; which is like to a perpetuall perill of falling : therefore men did hasten to sette downe some principles , about which the varietie of their disputations might turne . so then this art of ivdgement , is but the reduction of propositions , to principles in a middle tearme . the principles to bee agreed by all , and exempted from argument ; the middlr tearme to bee elected at the libertie of euerie mans inuention : the reduction to be of two kindes direct , and inuerted ; the one when the proposition is reduced to the principle , which they terme a probation ostensiue : the other when the contradictorie of the proposition is reduced to the contradictorie of the principles , which is , that which they call per incommodum , or pressing an absurditie : the number of middle termes to be , as the proposition standeth , degrees more or lesse , remooued from the principle . but this arte hath twoo seuerall methodes of doctrine : the one by way of direction , the other by way of caution : the former frameth and setteth downe a true fourme of consequence , by the variations and deflexions , from which errours and inconsequences may bee exactly iudged . toward the composition and structure of which fourme , it is incident to handle the partes thereof , which are propositions , and the partes of propositions , which are simple wordes . and this is that part of logicke , which is comprehended in the analytiques . the second methode of doctrine , was introduced for expedite vse , and assurance sake ; discouering the more subtile fourmes of sophismes , and illaqueations , with their redargutions , which is that which is tearmed elenches . for although in the more grosse sortes of fallacies it happeneth ( as seneca make the comparison well ) as in iugling feates , which though wee knowe not howe they are done ; yet wee knowe well it is not , as it seemeth to bee : yet the more subtile sort of them doth not onely put a man besides his answere , but doth many times abuse his iudgment . this part concerning elenches , is excellently handled by aristotle in precept , but more excellently by plato in example : not onely in the persons of the sophists , but euen in socrates himselfe , who professing to affirme nothing , but to infirme that which was affirmed by another , hath exactly expressed all the fourmes of obiection , fallace and redargution . and although wee haue sayd that the vse of this doctrine is for redargution : yet it is manifest , the degenerate and corrupt is vse for caption and contradiction , which passeth for a great facultie , and no doubt , is of verie great aduauntage ; though the difference bee good which was made betweene orators and sophisters , that the one is as the greyhound , which hath his aduauntage in the race , and the other as the hare , which hath her aduantage in the turne , so as it is the aduauntage of the weaker creature . but yet further , this doctrine of elenches , hath a more ample latitude and extent , than is perceiued : namely vnto diuers partes of knowledge : whereof some are laboured , and other omitted . for first , i conceiue ( though it maye seeme at first somewhat strange ) that that part which is variably referred , sometimes to logicke , sometimes to metaphysicke , touching the common adiuncts of essences , is but an elenche : for the great sophisme of all sophismes , beeing aequiuocation or ambiguitie of wordes and phrase , specially of such wordes as are most generall and interueyne euerie enquirie : it seemeth to mee that the true and fruitfull vse , ( leauing vaine subtilities and speculations ) of the enquirie , maioritie , minoritie , prioritie , posterioritie , identitie , diuersitie , possibilitie , acte , totalitie , partes , existence , priuation , and the like , are but wise cautions againste ambiguityes of speech . so againe , the distribution of thinges into certaine tribes , which we call categories or predicaments , are but cautions against the confusion of definitions and diuisions . secondly , there is a seducement that worketh by the strength of the impression , and not by the subtiltie of the illaqueation , not so much perplexing the reason , as ouer-ruling it by power of the imagination . but this part i thinke more proper to handle , when i shall speake of rhetoricke . but lastly , there is yet a much more important and profound kinde of fallacies in the minde of man , which i finde not obserued or enquired at all , and thinke good to place heere , as that which of all others appertayneth most to rectifie ivdgement . the force whereof is such , as it doth not dazle , or snare the vnderstanding in some particulars , but doth more generally , and inwardly infect and corrupt the state thereof . for the mind of man is farre from the nature of a cleare and equall glasse , wherein the beames of things should reflect according to their true incidence ; nay , it is rather like an inchanted glasse , full of superstition and imposture , if it bee not deliuered and reduced . for this purpose , lette vs consider the false appearances , that are imposed vppon vs by the generall nature of the minde , behoulding them in an example or twoo , as firste in that instance which is the roote of all superstition : namely , that to the nature of the minde of all men it is consonant for the affimatiue , or actiue to affect , more than the negatiue or priuatiue . so that a fewe times hitting , or presence , counteruayles oft times fayling , or absence , as was well answered by diagoras , to him that shewed him in neptunes temple , the great number of pictures , of such as had scaped shippe-wracke , and had paide their vowes to neptune , saying : aduise nowe , you that thinke it folly to inuocate neptune in tempest : yea , but ( sayth diagoras ) where are they painted that are drowned ? lette vs behould it in another instance , namely , that the spirite of man , beeing of an equall and vnifourme substance , doth vsually suppose and faine in nature a greater equalitie and vniformitie , than is in truth ; hence it commeth , that the mathematitians cannot satisfie themselues , except they reduce the motions of the celestiall bodyes , to perfect circles , reiecting spirall lynes , and laboring to be discharged of eecentriques . hence it commeth , that whereas there are many thinges in nature , as it were monodica sui iuris ; yet the cogitations of man , doe fayne vnto them relatiues , parallelles , and coniugates , whereas no such thinge is ; as they haue fayned an element of fire to keepe square with earth , water , and ayre , and the like ; nay , it is not credible , till it bee opened , what a number of fictions and fantasies , the similitude of humane actions , & arts , together with the making of man communis mensura , haue brought into naturall philosophie : not much better , than the heresie of the anthropomorphites bredde in the celles of grosse and solitarie monkes , and the opinion of epicurus , answearable to the same in heathenisme , who supposed the gods to bee of humane shape . and therefore velleius the epicurian needed not to haue asked , why god should haue adorned the heauens with starres , as if he had beene an aedilis : one that should haue set foorth some magnificent shewes or playes ? for if that great worke master had beene of an humane disposition , hee woulde haue caste the starres into some pleasant and beautifull workes , and orders , like the frettes in the roofes of houses , whereas one can scarce finde a posture in square , or tri●…angle , or streight line amongest such an infinite numbers , so differing an harmonie , there is betweene the spirite of man , and the spirite of nature . lette vs consider againe , the false appearances imposed vpon vs by euerie man 's owne indiuiduall nature and custome in that fayned supposition , that plato maketh of the caue : for certainely , if a childe were continued in a grotte or caue , vnder the earth , vntill maturitie of age , and came suddainely abroade , hee would haue strange and absurd imaginations ; so in like manner , although our persons liue in the view of heauen , yet our spirites are included in the caues of our owne complexions and customes : which minister vnto vs infinite errours and vaine opinions , if they bee not recalled to examination . but heereof wee haue giuen many examples in one of the errors , or peccant humours , which wee ranne briefely ouer in our first booke . and lastly , lette vs consider the false appearances , that are imposed vpon vs by words , which are framed , and applyed according to the conceit , and capacities of the vulgar sorte : and although wee thinke we gouerne our wordes , and prescribe it well . loquendum vt vulgus , sentiendum vt sapientes : yet certaine it is , that wordes , as a ●…artars bowe , doe shoote backe vppon the vnderstanding of the wisest , and mightily entangle , and pernert the iudgement . so as it is almost necessarie in all controuersies and disputations , to imitate the wisedome of the mathematician●… , in setting downe in the verie beginning , the definitions of our wordes and termes , that others may knowe howe wee accept and vnderstand them , and whether they concurre with vs or no. for it commeth to passe for want of this , that we are sure to end there where wee ought to haue begun , which is in questions & differences about words . to conclude therefore , it must be confessed , that it is not possible to diuorce our selues from these fallacies and false appearances , because they are inseparable from our nature and condition of life ; so yet neuerthelesse the caution of them ( for all elenches as was saide , are but cautions ) doth extreamely importe the true conducte of humane iudgement . the particular elenches or cautions against these three false appearances , i finde altogether deficient . there remayneth one parte of iudgement of great excellencie , which to mine vnderstanding is so sleightly touched , as i maye reporte that also deficient , which is the application of the differinge kindes of proofes , to the differing kindes of subiects : for there beeing but foure kindes of demonstrations , that is by the immediate consent of the minde or sence ; by induction ; by sophisme ; and by congruitie , which is that which aristotle calleth demonstration in orbe , or circle , and not a notioribus , euerie of these hath certaine subiects in the matter of sciences , in which respectiuely they haue chiefest vse ; and certaine other , from which respectiuely they ought to be excluded , and the rigour , and curiositie , in requiring the more seuere proofes in some thinges , and chiefely the facilitie in contenting our selues with the more remisse proofes in others , hath beene amongest the greatest causes of detryment and hinderance to knowledge . the distributions and assignations of demonstrations , according to the analogie of sciences , i note as deficient . the custodie or retayning of knowledge , is either in writing or memorie ; whereof writinge hath twoo partes ; the nature of the character , and the order of the entrie : for the art of characters , or other visible notes of wordes or thinges , it hath neerest coniugation with grammar , and therefore i referre it to the due place ; for the disposition and co●…ocation of that knowledge which wee preserue in writing ; it consisteth in a good digest of common places , wherein i am not ignorant of the preiudice imputed to the vse of common-place bookes , as causing a retardation of reading , and some sloth or relaxation of memorie . but because it is but a counterfeit thing in knowledges to be forward and pregnant , except a man bee deepe and full ; i hould the entrie of common places , to bee a matter of great vse and essence in studying ; as that which assureth copie of inuention and contracteth iudgment to a strength . but this is true , that of the methodes of common places , that i haue seen , there is none of any sufficient woorth , all of them carying meerely the face of a schoole , and not of a world , and referring to vulgar matters , and pedanticall diuisions without all life , or respect to action . for the other principall parte of the custodie of knowledge , which is memorie ; i finde that facultie in my iudgement weakely enquired of ; an art there is extant of it ; but it seemeth to me that there are better precepts , than that art , and better practises of that art , than those recei●…ed . it is certaine , the art as it is ) may bee raysed to points of ostentation prodigious : but in vse ( as it is nowe mannaged ) it is barrein , not burdensome , nor dangerous to naturall memorie , as is imagined , but barren , that is , not dexterous to be ayplyed to the serious vse of businesse and occasions . and therefore i make no more estimation of repeating a great number of names or wordes vppon once hearing ; or the powring foorth of a number of verses or rimes ex tempore ; or the making of a satyricall simile of euerie thing , or the turning of euerie thing to a iest , or the falsifying or contradicting of euerie thing by cauill , or the like ( wherof in the faculties of the minde , there is great copie , and such , as by deuise and practise may bee exalted to an extreame degree of woonder ; ) than i doe of the trickcs of tumblers , funambuloes , baladynes ; the one being the same in the minde , that the other is in the bodie ; matters of strangenesse without worthynesse . this art of memorie , is but built vpon two intentions : the one praenotion ; the other embleme : praenotion , dischargeth the indefinite seeking of that we would remember , and directeth vs to seeke in a narrowe compasse : that is , somewhat that hath congruitie with our place of memorie : embleme reduceth conceits intellectuall to images sensible , which strike the memorie more ; out of which axiomes may bee drawne much better practique , than that in vse , and besides which axiomes , there are diuers moe , touching helpe of memorie , not inferior to them . but i did in the beginning distinguish , not to report those thinges deficient , which are but onely ill managed . there remayneth the fourth kinde of rationall knovvledge , which is transitiue , concerning the expressing or transferring our knowledg to others , which i will tearme by the generall name of tradition or deliverie . tradition hath three parres : the first concerning the organe of tradition : the second , concerning the methode of tradition : and the thirde , concerning the illvstration of tradition . for the organe of tradition , it is either speech or writing : for aristotle sayth well : wordes are the images of cogitations , and letters are the images of wordes : but yet is not of necessitie , that cogitations bee expressed by the medium of wordes . for whatsoeuer is capable of sufficient differences , and those perceptible by the sense ; is in nature competent to expresse cogitations : and therefore we see in the commerce of barbarous people , that vnderstand not one anothers language , & in the practise of diuers that ar dumb & deafe that mens minds are expressed in gestures , though not exactly , yet to serue the turne . and we vnderstand further , that it is the vse of chyna , and the kingdomes of the high leuant , to write in characters reall , which expresse neither letters , nor words in grosse , but things or nottons : in so much as countreys and prouinces , which vnderstand not one anothers language , can neuerthelesse read one anothers writings , because the characters are accepted more generally , than the languages doe extend ; and 〈◊〉 therefore they haue a vast multitude of characters , as many ( i suppose , as radicall words . these notes of cogitations are of twoo sortes ; the one when the note hath some similitude , or congruitie with the notion ; the other ad placitum , hauing force onely by contract or acceptation . of the former sort are hierogliphickes , and gestures . for as to hierogliphickes , ( things of ancient vse , and embraced chiefely by the aegyptians , one of the most ancient nations ) they are but as continued impreases and emblemes . and as for gestures , they are as transitorie hierogliphickes , and are to hierogliphickes , as words spoken are to wordes written , in that they abide not ; but they haue euermore as well , as the other an affinitie with the thinges signified : as periander beeing consulted with how to preserue a tyrannie newly vsurped , bid the messenger attend , and report what hee sawe him doe , and went into his garden , and topped all the higest flowers : signifying that it consisted in the cutting off , and keeping low of the nobilitie and grandes ; ad placitum , are the characters reall before mentioned , and words : although some haue ben willing by curious enquirie , or rather by apt fayning , to haue deriued imposition of names , from reason and intendment : a speculation elegant , and by reason it searcheth into antiquitie reuerent : but sparingly mixt with truth , and of small fruite . this portion of knowledge , touching the notes of thinges , and cogitations in generall , i finde not enquired , but deficient . and although it may seeme of no great vse , considering that words , and writings by letters , doe far excell all the other wayes : yet because this part concerneth , as it were the mint of knowledge ( for wordes , are the tokens currant and accepted for conceits , as moneys are for values and that it is fit men be not ignorant , that moneys may bee of another kind , than gold and siluer ) i thought good to propound it to better enquirie . concerning speech and wordes , the consideration of them hath produced the science of grammar : for man still striueth to reintegrate himselfe in those benedictions , from which by his fault hee hath been depriued ; and as hee hath striuen against the first generall curse , by the inuention of all other artes : so hath hee sought to come soorth of the seconde generall curse , ( which was the confusion of tongues ) by the art of grammar ; whereof the vse in another tongue is small : in a forreine tongue more : but most in such forraine tongues , as haue ceased to be vulgar tongues , and are turned onely to learned tongues . the duetie of it is of twoo natures : the one popular , which is for the speedie , and perfect attayning languages , as well for intercourse of speech , as for vnderstanding of authors : the other philosophicall , examining the power and nature of wordes , as they are the foot-steppes and prints of reason : which kinde of analogie betweene wordes , and reason is handled sparsim , brokenly , though not entirely : and therefore i cannot report it deficient , though i thinke it verie worthy to be reduced into a science by it selfe . vnto grammar also belongeth , as an appendix , the consideration of the accidents of wordes , which are measure , sound , and eleuation , or accent , and the sweetenesse and harshnesse of them : whence hath yssued some curious obseruations in rhetoricke , but chiefely poesie , as wee consider it , in respect of the verse , and not of the argument : wherein though men in learned tongues , doe tye themselues to the ancient measures , yet in moderne languages , it seemeth to me , as free to make newe measures of verses , as of daunces : for a daunce is a measured pace , as a verse is a measured speech . in these thinges the sence is better iudge , than the art. coenae fercula nostrae ; mallem conuiuis , quam placuisse cocis . and of the seruile expressing antiquitie in an vnlike and an vnfit subiect , it is well sayd , quod tempore antiquum videtur , id incongruitate est maxime nouum . for cyphars ; they are commonly in letters or alphabets , but may bee in wordes . the kindes of cyphars , ( besides the simple cyphars with changes , and intermixtures of nvlles , and nonsignificants ) are many , according to the nature or rule of the infoulding : wheelecyphars , kay-cyphars , dovbles , &c. but the vertues of them , whereby they are to be preferred , are three ; that they be not laborious to write and reade ; that they bee impossible to discypher ; and in some cases , that they bee without suspition . the highest degree whereof , is to write omnia per omnia ; which is vndoubtedly possible , with a proportion quintuple at most , of the writing infoulding , to the writing infoulded , and no other restrainte whatsoeuer . this arte of cypheringe , hath for relatiue , an art of discypheringe ; by supposition vnprofitable ; but , as things are , of great vse . for suppose that cyphars were well mannaged , there bee multitudes of them which exclude the discypherer . but in regarde of the rawnesse and vnskilfulnesse of the handes , through which they pas●…e , the greatest matters , are many times carryed in the weakest cyphars . in the enumeration of these priuate and retyred artes , it may bee thought i seeke to make a greate muster-rowle of sciences ; naminge them for shewe and ostentation , and to little other purpose . but lette those which are skilfull in them iudge , whether i bring them in onely for apparance , or whether in that which i speake of them ( though in fewe markes ) there be not some seede of proficience . and this must bee remembred , that as there bee many of great account in their countreys and prouinces , which when they come vp to the seate of the estate , are but of meane ranke and scarcely regarded : so these arts being heere placed with the principall , and supreame sciences , seeme petty thinges : yet to such as haue chosen them to spende their labours studies in them , they seeme great matters . for the methode of tradition , i see it hath mooued a controuersie in our time . but as in ciuile businesse , if there bee a meeting and men fall at wordes , there is commonly an end of the matter for that time , and no proceeding at all : so in learning , where there is much controuersie , there is many times little enquirie . for this part of knowledge of methode seemeth to mee so weakely enquired , as i shall report it deficient . methode hath beene placed , and that not amisse in logicke , as a part of iudgement ; for as the doctrine of syllogismes comprehendeth the rules of iudgement vppon that which is inuented ; so the doctrine of methode contayneth the rules of iudgement vppon that which is to bee deliuered , for iudgement precedeth deliuerie , as it followeth inuentions . neither is the methode , or the natvre of the tradition materiall onely to the vse of knowledge , but likewise to the progress●…on of knowledge : for since the labour and life of one man , cannot attaine to perfection of knowledge ; the wisedome of the tradition , is that which inspireth the felicitie of continuance , and proceding . and therefore the most reall diuersitie of methode , is of methode referred to vse , and methode referred to progression , whereof the one may bee tearmed magistrall , and the other of probation . the later whereof seemeth to be via deserta & interclusa . for as knowledges are now deliuered , there is a kinde of contract of errour , betweene the deliuerer , and the receiuer : for he that deliuereth knowledge ; desireth to deliuer it in such fourme , as may be best beleeued ; and not as may best examined : and hee that receiueth knowledge , desireth rather present satisfaction , than expectant enquirie , & so rather not to doubt , than not to erre : glorie making the author not to lay open his weaknesse , and sloth making the disciple not to knowe his strength . but knowledge , that is deliuered as a threade to bee spunne on , ought to bee deliuered and intimated , if it were possible , in the same methode wherein it was inuented ; and so is it possible of knowledge induced . but in this same anticipated and preuented knowledge ; no man knoweth howe hee came to the knowledge which hee hath obtayned . but yet neuerthelesse secundum maius & minus , a man may reuisite , and descend vnto the foundations of his knowledge and consent : and so transplant it into another , as it grewe in his owne minde . for it is in knowledges , as it is in plantes ; if you meane to vse the plant , it is no matter for the rootes : but if you meane to remooue it to growe , then it is more assured to rest vppon rootes , than slippes : so the deliuerie of knowledges ( as it is nowe vsed ) is as of faire bodies of trees without the rootes : good for the carpenter , but not for the planter : but if you will haue sciences growe ; it is lesse matter for the shafte , or bodie of the tree , so you looke well to the takinge vp of the rootes . of which kinde of deliuerie the methode of the mathematiques , in that subiect , hath some shadowe ; but generally i see it neither put in vre , nor put in inquisition : and therefore note it for deficient . another diuersitie of methode there is , which hath some affinitie with the former , vsed in some cases , by the discretion of the auncients ; but disgraced since by the impostures of many vaine persons , who haue made it as a false light for their counterfei●…e marchandizes ; and that is enigmaticali and disclosed . the pretence whereof , is to remooue the vulgar capacities from beeing admitted to the secretes of knowledges , and to reserue them to selected auditors : or wittes of such sharpenesse as can pearce the vayle . another diuersitie of methode , whereof the consequence is great , is the deliuerie of knowledge in aphorismes , or in methodes ; wherein wee may obserue , that it hath beene too much taken into custome , out of a fewe axiomes or obseruations , vppon any subiecte , to make a solemne , and formall art ; filling it with some discourses , and illustratinge it with examples ; and digesting it into a sensible methode : but the writinge in aphorismes , hath manye excellent vertues , whereto the writinge in methode doth not approach . for first , it tryeth the writer , whether hee be superficiall or solide : for aphorismes , except they should bee ridiculous , cannot bee made but of the pyth and heart of sciences : for discourse of illustration is cut off , recitalles of examples are cut off : discourse of connexion , and order is cut off ; descriptions of practize , are cutte off ; so there remayneth nothinge to fill the ap●…ismes , but some good quantitie of obseruation : and therefore no man can suffice , nor in reason will attempt to write aphorismes , but hee that is sound and grounded . but in methodes , tantum series iuncturaque pollet , tantum de medio sumptis , accedit honoris : as a man shall make a great shew of an art , which if it were disioynted , would come to little . secondly ; methodes are more fit to winne consent ; or beleefe ; but lesse fit to point to action ; for they carrie a kinde of demonstration in orbe or circle , one part illuminating another ; and therefore satisfie . but particulars beeing dispersed , doe best agree with dispersed directions . and lastlye aphorismes , representing a knowledge broken , doe inuite men to enquire further ; whereas methodes carrying the shewe of a totall , doe secure men ; as if they were at furthest . another diuersitie of methode , which is likewise of great weight , is , the handling of knowledge by assertions , and their proofes ; or by questions , and their determinations : the latter kinde whereof , if it bee immoderately followed , is as preiudiciall to the proceeding of learning , as it is to the proceedinge of an armie , to goe about to besiege euerie little forte , or holde . for if the field bee kept , and the summe of the enterprize pursued , those smaller thinges will come in of themselues ; indeede a man would not leaue some important peece enemie at his backe . in like manner , the vse of confutation in the deliuerie of sciences ought to beverie sparing ; and to serue to remooue stronge preoccupations and preiudgements , and not to minister and excite disputations and doubts . another diuersitie of methodes , is , according to the subiect or matter , which is handled . for there is a great difference in deliuerie of the mathematiques , which are the most abstracted of knowledges , and policie , which is the most immersed ; and howsoeuer contention hath been mooued , touching an vniformitie of methode in multiformitie of matter : yet wee see howe that opinion , besides the weakenesse of it , hath beene of ill desert , towardes learning , as that which taketh the way , to reduce learning to certaine emptie and barren generalities ; beeing but the verie huskes , and shales of sciences , all the kernell beeing forced out , and expulsed , with the torture and presse of the methode : and therefore as i did allow well of particular topiques for inuention : so i doe allow likewise of particular methodes of tradition . another diuersitie of iudgement in the deliuerie and teaching of knowledge , is , according vnto the light and presuppositions of that which is deliuered : for that knowledge , which is newe and forreine from opinions receiued , is to bee deliuered in another fourme , than that that is agreeable and familiar ; and therefore aristotle , when he thinkes to taxe democritus , doth in truth , commend him ; where hee sayth : if wee shall indeede dispute , and not followe after similitudes , &c. for those , whose conceites are seated in popular opinions , neede onely but to prooue or dispute : but those , whose conceits are beyonde popular opinions , haue a double labour ; the one to make themselues conceiued , and the other to prooue and demonstrate . so that it is of necessitie with them to haue recourse to similitudes , and translations , to expresse themselues . and therefore in the infancie of learning , and in rude times , when those conceits , which are now triuiall , were then newe ; the world was full of parables and similitudes ; for else would men either haue passed ouer without marke , or else reiected for paradoxes , that which was offered ; before they had vnderstoode or iudged . so ; in diuine learning , wee see howe frequent parables and tropes are ; for it is a rule , that whatsoeuer science is not consonant to presuppositions , must pray in ayde of similitudes . there be also other diuersities of methodes vulgar and receiued : as that of resolution , or analysis , of constitution , or systasis , of concealement , or cryptique , &c. which i doe allowe well of ; though i haue stood vpon those which are least handled and obserued . all which i haue remembred to this purpose , because i would erecte and constitute one generall enquirie ( which seemes to mee deficient ) touching the wisedome of tradition . but vnto this part of knowledge , concerning methode , doth further belong , not onely the architecture of the whole frame of a worke , but also the seuerall beames and columnes thereof ; not as to their stuffe , but as to their quantitie , and figure : and therefore , methode considereth , not onely the disposition of the argument or subiect , but likewise the propositions : not as to their truth or matter , but as to their limitation and manner . for herein ramus merited better a great deale , in reuiuing the good rules of propositions , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . &c. than he did in introducing the canker of epitomes : and yet , ( as it is the condition of humane thinges , that according to the ancient fables , the most pretious thinges haue the most pernitious keepers ) it was so , that the attempt of the one , made him fall vpon the other . for hee had neede be well conducted , that should designe to make axiomes conuertible : if he make them not withall circular , and non promouent , or incurring into themselues : but yet the intention was excellent . the other considerations of methode , concerning propositions , are chiefely touching the vtmost propositions , which limit the dimensions of sciences : for euerie knowledge may bee fitly sayd , besides the profunditie ( which is the truth and substance of it , that makes it solide ) to haue a longitude , and a latitude : accounting the latitude towardes other sciences : and the longitude towards action : that is , from the greatest generalitie , to the most particular precept : the one giueth rule howe farre one knowledge ought to intermeddle within the prouince of another , which is the rule they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the other giueth rule , vnto what degree of particularitie , a knowledge should descend : which latter i finde passed ouer in silence ; being in my iudgement , the more materiall . for certainely , there must bee somewhat left to practise ; but howe much is worthy the enquirie : wee see remote and superficiall generalities , doe but offer knowledge , to scorne of practicall men : and are no more ayding to practise , than an ortelius vniuersall mappe , is to direct the way betweene london and yorke . the better sort of rules , haue beene not vnfitly compared to glasses of steele vnpullished ; where you may see the images of thinges , but first they must bee filed : so the rules will helpe , if they bee laboured and pullished by practise . but howe christallyne they may bee made at the first , and howe farre forth they may be pullished afore-hand , is the question ; the enquirie whereof , seeemeth to me deficient . there hath beene also laboured , and put in practise a methode , which is not a lawfull methode , but a methode of imposture ; which is to deliuer knowledges in such manner , as men may speedily come to make a shewe of learning , who haue it not ; such was the trauaile of raymundus lullius , in making that art , which beares his name ; not vnlike to some bookes of typocosmy , which haue beene made since ; beeing nothing but a masse of words of all arts ; to giue men countenance , that those which vse the tearmes ; might bee thought to vnderstand the art ; which collections are much like a frippers or brokers shoppe ; that hath ends of euerie thing , but nothing of worth . nowe wee descend to that part , which concerneth the illvsration of tradition , comprehended in that science , which wee call rhetoricke , or art of eloqvence ; a science excellent , and excellently well laboured . for although in true value , it is inferiour to wisedome , as it is sayd by god to moses , when he disabled himselfe , for want of this facultie , aaron shall bee thy speaker , and thou shalt bee to him as god : yet with people it is the more mightie ; for so salomon sayth : sapiens corde appellabitur prudens ; sed dulcis eloquio maiora reperict : signifying that profoundnesse of wisedome , will helpe a man to a name or admiration ; but that it is eloquence , that preuayleth in an actiue life ; and as to the labouring of it , the emulation of aristotle , with the rhetoricians of his time , and the experience of cicero , hath made them in their workes of rhetorickes , exceede themselues . againe , the excellencie of examples of eloquence , in the orations of demosthenes and cicero , added to the perfection of the precepts of eloquence , hath doubled the progression in this arte : and therefore , the deficiences which i shall note , will rather bee in some collections , which may as hand-maydes attend the art ; than in the rules , or vse of the art it selfe . notwithstanding , to stirre the earth a little about the rootes of this science , as we haue done of the rest ; the dutie and office of rhetoricke is , to apply reason to imagination , for the better moouing of the will ; for wee see reason is disturbed in the administration thereof by three meanes ; by illaqueation , or sophisme , which pertaines to logicke ; by imagination or impression , which pertaines to rhetoricke , and by passion or affection , which pertaines to moralitie . and as in negotiation with others ; men are wrought by cunning , by importunitie , and by vehemencie ; so in this negotiation within our selues ; men are vndermined by inconsequences , sollicited and importuned , by impressions or obuersations : and transported by passions : neither is the nature of man so vnfortunately built , as that those powers and arts should haue force to disturbe reason , and not to establish and aduance it : for the end of logicke , is to teach a fourme of argument , to secure reason , and not to entrappe it . the end of moralitie , is to procure the affections to obey reason , and not to inuade it . the end of rhetoricke , is to fill the imagination to second reason , and not to oppresse it : for these abuses of arts come in , but ex oblique , for caution . and therfore it was great iniustice in plate , though springing out of a iust hatred of the rhetoricians of his time , to esteeme of rhetoricke , but as a voluptuarie art , resembling it to cookerie , that did marre wholsome meates , and helpe vnwholesome by varietie of sawces , to the pleasure of the tast . for wee see that speech is much more conuersant in adorning that which is good , than in colouring that which is euill : for there is no man but speaketh more honestly , than he can doe or thinke ; and it was excellently noted by thucidides in cleon , that because he vsed to hold on the bad side in causes of estate ; therefore hee was euer inueying against eloquence , and good speech ; knowing that no man can speake faire of courses sordide and base . and therefore as plato sayd elegantly : th●…t vertue , if shee could be seen , would mooue great loue and affection : so seeing that she cannot bee shewed to the senca , by corporall shape , the next degree is , to shewe her to the imagination in liuely representation : for to shewe her to reason , only in subtilitie of argument , was a thing euer derided in chrysippus , and many of the stoykes , who thought to thrust vertue vppon men by sharpe disputations and conclusions , which haue no sympathy with the will of man. againe , if the affections in themselues were plyant and obedient to reason , it were true , there shoulde bee no great vse of perswasions and insinuations to the will , more than of naked proposition and proofes : but in regard of the continuall mutinies and seditions of the affections : video meliora , proboque ; d●…teriora sequor ; reason would become captiue and seruile , if eloquence of perswasions , did not practise and winne the imagination , from the affections part , and contract a confederacie betweene the reason and imagination , against the affections : for the affections themselues , carrie euer an appetite to good , as reason doth : the difference is , that the affection beholdeth meerely the present ; reason behouldeth the future , and summe of time . and therefore , the present , filling the imagination more ; reason is commonly vanquished ; but after that force of eloquence and perswasion , hath made thinges future , and remote , appeare as present , than vppon the reuolt of the imagination , reason pre●…ayleth . wee conclude therefore , that rhetoricke can bee no more charged , with the colouring of the worse part , than logicke with sophistrie , or moralitie with vice. for wee knowe the doctrines of contraries are the same , though the vse be opposite : it appeareth also , that logicke differeth from rhetoricke , not onely as the fist , from the pawme , the one close , the other at large ; but much more in this , that logicke handleth reason exacte , and in truth ; and rhetoricke handleth it , as it is planted in popular opinions and manners : and therefore aristotle doth wisely place rhetoricke , as betweene logicke on the one side , and morall or ciuile knowledge on the other , as participating of both : for the proofes and demonstrations of logicke , are toward all men indifferent , and the same : but the proofes and perswasions of rhetoricke , ought to differ according to the auditors , orpheus in syluis , inter delphinas arion ; which application , in perfection of idea , ought to extend so farre : that if a man should speake of the same thing to seuerall persons : he should speake to them all respectiuely and seuerall wayes : though this politique part of eloquence in priuate speech , it is easie for the greatest orators to want : whilest by the obseruing their well graced fourmes of speech , they leese the volubilitie of application : and therefore , it shall not be amisse to recommend this to better enquirie , not being curious , whether we place it heere , or in that part which concerneth policie . nowe therefore will i descend to the deficiences , which ( as i sayd ) are but attendances : and first , i doe not finde the wisedome and diligence of aristotle well poursued , who began to make a collection of the popular signes and colours of good and euill , both simple and comparatiue , which are as the sophismes of rhetoricke , ( as i touched before . ) for example . sophisma . quod laudatur , bonum : quod vttuperatur , malum . redargvtio . laudat vaenales , qui vult extrudere merces . malum est , malum est ( inquit emptor ) sed cum re●…rit , tumgloriabitur . the defects in the labour of aristotle are three : one , that there be but a few of many : another , that their elenches are not annexed ; and the third , that hee conceiued but a part of the vse of them : for their vse is not onely in probation , but much more in impression . for many fourmes are equall in signification , which are differing in impression : as the difference is great in the piercing of that which is sharpe , and that which is flat , though the strength of the percussion be the same : for there is no man , but will be a little more raysed by hearing it sayd : your enemies will be glad of this , hos i thacus velit , & magnomercentur atridae , than by hearing it sayd only , this is euill for you . secondly , i do resume also , that which i mentioned before , touching prouision or praeparatorie store , for the furniture of speech , and readinesse of inuention ; which appeareth to be of two sorts ; the one in resemblance to a shoppe of peeces vnmade vp ; the other to a shopp of thinges ready made vp , both to be applyed to that which is frequent , and most in request ; the former of these i will call antitheta , & the latter formulae . antitheta are theses argued , pro & contra , wherin men may be more large & laborious ; but ( in such as are able to doe it ) to auoyd prolixity of entry , i wish the seedes of the seuerall arguments to be cast vp into some briefe and acute sentences : not to bee cyted : but to bee as skaynes or bottomes of thread , to bee vnwinded at large , when they come to be vsed : supplying authorities , and examples by reference . pro verbis legis , non est interpretatio , sed diuinatio , quae recedit a littera , cum receditur a littera index transit in legislatorem , pro sententia legis . ex omnibus verbis est elu●…endus sensus , qui interpretatur singula : formulae are but decent and apt passages or conueyances of speeche , which may serue indifferently for differing subiects , as of preface , conclusion , digression , transition , excusation , &c. for as in buildings there is great pleasure and vse in the well casting of the staire cases , entryes , doores , windowes , and the like , so in speeche , the conueyances and passages are of speciall ornament and effect . a conclusion in a del●…eratiue . so may we redeeme the faults passed & preuent the inconue niences future . there remayn two appendices touching the tradition of knowledge , the one criticall , the other pedanticall . for all knowledge is eyther deliuered by teachers , or attayned by mens proper endeuors : and therefore as the principall part of tradition of knowledge concerneth chiefly in writing of books ; so the relatiue part thereof concerneth reading of bookes wherunto appertayn incidently these consideratiōs . the first is cōcerning the true correction & editiō of authors , wherin neuerthelesse rash diligēce hath don gret preiudice . for these critiques haue oftē presumed that that which they vnderstandnot , is false set down ; as the priest , that where he found it written of s. paul demissus est per sportam , mēded his book , and made it demissus est per portam because , sperta was an hard word , and out of his reading ; and surely their errors , though they be not so palpable and ridiculous , yet are of the same kind . and therefore as it hath beene wisely noted , the most corrected copies are cōmonly the least correct . the second is concerning the exposition and explication of authors , which resteth in annotations and cōmentaryes , wherin it is ouer vsual to blaunch the obscure places , and discourse vpon the playne . the third is concerning the times , which in many cases giue great light to true interpretations . the fourth is concerning some briefe censure and iudgement of the authors , that men therby may make some election vnto themselues , what bookes to reade : and the fift is concerning the syntax and disposition of studies , that men may know in what order or pursuite to reade . for pedanticall knowledge , it contayneth that differēce of tradition which is proper for youth : whereunto appertaine diuers considerations of greatfruit . as first the tyming and seasoning of knowledges , as with what to initiate them , and from what for a time to refraine them : secondly , the consideration where to begin with the easiest , and so proceede to the more difficult , and in what courses to presse the more difficulte and then to turne them to the more easie : for it is one methode to practise swimming with bladders , and another to practise dauncing with heauy shooes . a third is the application of learning according vnto the propriety of the wittes ; for there is no defect in the faculties intellectuall , but seemeth to haue a proper cure contayned in some studies ; as for example , if a child be bird-witted , that is , hath not the facultie of attention , the mathematiques giueth a remedy thereunto ; for in them , if the witte be caught away but a moment , one is new to begin . and as sciences haue a propriety towards faculties for cure and helpe ; so faculties or powers haue a simpathy towards sciences for excellency or speedy profiting : and therfore it is an enquity of greate wisedom what kinds of wits and natures are most apt and proper for what sciences . fourthly the ordering of exercises is matter of great consequence to hurt or helpe ; for as is well ob serued by cicero , men in exercising their faculties if they be not wel aduised doe exercise their faultes & get ill habits as well as good ; so as there is a greate iudgement to be had in the continuance and intermission of exercises . it were to longe to particularize a number of other consideratiōs of this nature , things but of meane appearance , but of singular efficacy . for as the wronging or cherishing of seeds or young plants , is that , that is most important to their thriuing and as it was noted , that the first six kings being in trueth as tutors of the state of rome in the infancy thereof , was the principal cause of the immense greatnesse of that state which followed . so the culture and manurance of minds in youth , hath such a forcible ( though vnseen ) operacion , as hardly any length of time or contention of labour can counteruaile it afterwards . and it is not amisse to obserue also , how small and meane faculties gotten by education , yet when they fall into greate men or great matters , doe work great and important effects : whereof we see a notable example in tacitus of two stage-plaiers , percennius and vibulenus , who by their facultie of playing , put the pannonian armies into an extreame tumulte and combustion . for there arising a mutinie amongst them , vpon the death of augustus caesar , bloesus the lieuetenant had committed some of the mutiners which were suddenly rescued : whereupon vtbulenus got to be heard speake , which he did in this manner , these poore innocent wretches appointed to cruell death , you haue restored to behould the light . but who shall restore my brother to me , or life vnto my brother ? that was sent hither in message from the legions of germany , to treat of the common cause , and he hath murdered him this last night by some of his sencers & ruffians , that he hath about him for his executioners vpon souldiours : answer blaesus , what is done with his body : the mortallest enem'es doe not deny buriall : when i haue performed my last duties to the corpes with kisses , with teares , command me to be slaine besides him , so that these my fellowes for our good meaning , and our true hearts to the legions may haue leaue to bury vs. with which speeche he put the army into an infinite fury and vprore , whereas truth was he had no brother , neyther was there any such matter , but hee plaide it meerely as if he had beene vpon the stage . but to returne , we are now come to a period of rationall knovvledges , wherein if i haue made the diuisions other than those that are receiued , yet would i not be thought to disallow all those diuisions , which i doe not vse . for there is a double necessity imposed vpon me of altering the diuisions . the one because it differeth in end and purpose , to sorte together those things which are next in nature , and those things which are next in vse . for if a secretary of estate , should sort his papers , it is like in his study , or generall cabinet , he would sort together things of a nature , as treaties , instructions , &c. but in his boxes , or particular cabinet , hee would sort togither those that he were like to vse together , though of seuerall natures : so in this generall cabynet of knowledge , it was necessary for me to follow the diuisions of the nature of things , whereas if my selfe had beene to handle any particular knowledge , i would haue respected the diuisions fittest for vse . the other , because the bringing in of the deficiences did by consequence alter the partitions of the rest , for let the knowledge extant ( for demonstration sake ) be 15. let the knowledge with the deficiences be 20. the parts of 15. are not the parts of 20 , for the parts of 15 , are 3. and 5. the parts of 20. are 2. 4. 5. and 10. so as these things are without contradiction , and could not otherwise be . we proceed now to that knowledge which cō sidereth of the appetite and will of man , whereof salomon sayth anteomnia fili custodi cor tuum , nam inde procedunt actiones vilae . in the handling of this science , those which haue written seeme to me to haue done as if a man that professed to teach to write did only exhibit faire copies of alphabets , & letters ioyned , without geuing any precepts or directiōs , for the cariage of the hād & framing of the letters . so haue they made good & fair exemplars & coppies , carieng the draughts and pour traiturs of good. vertue , duety , felicity . propoūding thē well described as the true obiects and scopes of mās wil and desires : but how to attain these excellēt marks , and how to frame and subdue the will of man to become true and conformable to these pursuites , they passe it ouer altogether , or slightly and vnprofitably for it is not the disputing . that morall vertues are in the minde of man by habite & not by nature : or the distinguishing . that generous spirites are wonne by doctrines and perswasions , and the vulgar sort by reward & punishment , and the like scattered glances and touches that can excuse the absence of this parte . the reason of this omission i suppose to be that hidden rocke wherevppon both this and many other barques of knowledge haue beene cast away , which is , that men haue dispised to be conuersant in ordinary and common matters , the iudicious direction whereof neuerthelesse is the wisest doctrine : ( for life consisteth not in nouelties nor subtilities ) but contrariwise they haue compounded sciences chiefly of a certaine resplendent or lustrous masse of matter chosen to giue glory either to the subtillity of disputacions or to the eloquence of discourses . but seneca , giueth an excellent check to eloquence nocet illis eloquentia , quibus non rerum cupiditatem facit sed sui , doctrines should be such as should make men in loue with the lesson , and not with the teacher , being directed to the auditors benefite , and not to the authors commendation : and therefore those are of the right kinde which may be concluded as demosthenes concludes his counsell quae si feceritis non oratorem duntaxat inpraesentia laudabitis sed vosmetipsos etiā nō ita multo post statu rerum vestrarum meliore . neyther needed men of so excellent parts to haue despaired of a fortune , ( which the poet virgill promised himselfe , and indeed obtained ) who got as much glory of eloquence , wit , and learning in the expressing of the obseruacions of husbandry , as of the heroicall acts of aeneas . nec sunt animi dubius verbis ea vincere magnum . quam sit & augustis his addere rebus honorem . and surely if the purpose be in good earnest not to write at leasure that which mē may read at leasure , but really to instruct and suborne action and actiue life , these georgickes of the mind concerning the husbādry & tillage therof , are no lesse worthy thē the heroical descriptiōs of vertue , duty , & felicity wherfore the maine & primitiue diuision of morall knowledge seemeth to be into the exemplar or platforme of good , and the regiment or cvltvre of the mind ; the one describing the nature of good the other prescribing rules how to subdue , apply and accomodate the will of man therevnto . the doctrine touching the platforme or natvre of good considereth it either simple or compared either the kindes of good or the degrees of good : in the later whereof those infinite disputations , which were touching the supreme degree thereof , which they terme felicity , beatitude , or the highest good , the doctrines concerning which were as the heathen diuinity , are by the christian faith discharged . and as aristotle saith , that yong men may bee happy , but not otherwise , but by hope ; so we must all acknowledge our minority , and embrace the felicity , which is by hope of the future world . freed therefore , and deliuered from this doctrine of the philosophers heauen , whereby they fayned an higher eleuation of mans nature , then was ; for we see in what an height of stile seneca writeth , vere magnum , habere fragilitatem hominis , securitatem dei. ) we may with more sobriety and truerh receiue the rest of their enquiries , and labors ? wherein for the nature of good positiue , or simple , they haue set it downe excellently , in describing the fourmes of vertue and duty , with their situations and postures , in distributing them into their kinds , parts , prouinces , actions , and administrations , and the like ; nay furder , they haue commended them to mans nature , and spirite with greate quicknesse of argumente , and beauty of persuasions , yea , and fortified and entrenched them ( as much as discourse can doe ) against corrupt and popular opinions . againe , for the degrees , and comparatiue nature of good , they haue also excellentlye handled it in their triplicity of good ; in the comparisons betweene a contemplatiue and an actiue life , in the distinction between vertue with reluctation , and vertue secured ; in their encounters between honesty and profit , in theyr ballancing of vertue with vertue , and the like ; so as this parte deserueth to bee reported for excellentlye laboured . notwithstanding , if before they had commen to the popular and receiued nocions of vertue and vice , pleasure and payne , and the rest , they had stayed a little longer vpon the enquirye , concerning the rootes of good and euill , and the strings of those rootes , they had giuen in my opinion , a great light to that which followed ; and speciallye if they had consulted with nature , they had made their doctrins lesse prolixe , and more profound ; which beeing by them in part omitted , and in part handled with much confusion , we will endeauour to resume , and open in a more cleare manner . there is fourmed in euery thing a double nature of good ; the one , as euery thing is , a totall or substantiue in it selfe ; the other , as it is a parte or member of a greater bodye ; whereof the the later is in degree the greater , and the worthier , because it tendeth to the conseruation of a more generall fourme . therefore we see , the iron in particuler simpathye mooueth to the loadstone ; but yet if it exceede a cettayne quantity , it forsaketh the affection to the loadstone and like a good patriot mooueth to the earth which is the region and countrye of massie bodyes ; so may we goe forward , and see that water and massie bodyes moue to the center of the earth but rather thē to suffer a diuulsiō in the cōtinuāce of nature they wil mooue vpwards from the center of the earth : forsaking their dutye to the earth in regard of their duty to the world. this double nature of good & the com-paratiue thereof is much more engrauē vpon man , if he degenerate not : vnto whō the cōseruation of duty to the publique ought to be much more pecious then the conseruation of life and being : according to that memorable speache of pompeius magnus when being in commission of purueiance for a famine at rome , and being dissuaded with great vehemency and instance by his frinds about him that he should not hazard himselfe to sea in an exreemity of weather he sayd only to them : necesse est vt eam , non vt viuam : but it may be truly affirmed that there was neuer any phylosophy , religion or other discipline , which did so playnly and highly exalt the good which is communicatiue and depresse the good which is priuate and particuler as the holy faith : well declaring that it was the same god , that gaue the christian law to men , who gaue those lawes of nature , to inaminate creatures that we spake of before ; for we reade that the elected saints of god haue wished themselues anathemized , and razed out of the booke of life , in an extasie of charity , and infinite feeling of communion . this being set downe and strongly planted doth iudge and determine most of the controuersies wherein morall philosophie is conuersant ; for first it decideth the question touching the preferment of the contemplatiue or actiue life , and decideth it against aristotle ; for all the reasōs which he bringeth for the contemplatiue , are priuate , and respecting the pleasure and dignity of a mans selfe , ( in which respects no question the contemplatiue life hath the preemynence ; ) not much vnlike to that comparison , which pythagoras made for the gracing and mag nifying of philosophy , and contemplacion who being asked what he was , answered : that if hiero were euer at the olimpian games , he knew the manner , that some came to try their fortune for the prizes , and some cam as merchants to vtter their commodities , and some came to make good cheere , and meete their friends , and som came to looke on , & that he was one of them that came to look on . but men must know , that in this theater of mans life , it is reserued onely for god and angels to be loo kers on , neither could the like question euer haue beene receiued in the church , notwithstanding their ( preticsa in oculis domini mors sanctorum eius ) by which place they would exalt their ciuile death , and reguler professions , but vpon this defence , that the monastical life is not simple contemplatiue , but performeth the duty either of incessant prayers and supplications which hath been truly esteemed as an office in the church , or els of writing or in taking instructions for writing concerning the law of god as moses did , when he abode so long in the mount. and so wee see henoch the. 7. from adam who was the first contemplatiue & walked with god , yet did also endow the church with prophesy which sainte iude citeth . but for contemplation which should be finished in itselfe without casting beames vpon society , assure●…ly diuinity knoweth it not . it decideth also the controuersyes betweene zeno and socrates , and theyr schooles and successions on the oneside , who placed felicity in vertue simply or attended : the actions and exercises wherof do chiefly imbrace and concerne society ; & on the other side , the c●…renaiques & epicureans , whoplaced it in pleasure and made vertue , ( as it is vsed in some comedyes of errors , wherein the mistres and the maide change ha bits ) to be but as a seruāt , without which , pleasure cānot be serued and attended , and the reformed schoole of the epicureās , which placed it in serenity of mind and freedome from perturbation : as if they woulde haue deposed iupiter againe , and restored saturne , and the first age , when there was no summer nor winter , spring nor autumne , but al after one ayre and season and herillus , which placed felicity in extinguishmēt of the disputes of the mind , making no fixed nature of good and euill , esteeming things according to the cleernes of the desires , or the reluctation : which opini on was reuiued in the heresy of the anabaptists , mea suring things according to the motions of the spirit , and the constancy or wauering of beleefe , all which are manifest to tend to priuate repose & cōtentment , and not to poynt of society . it censureth also the philosophy of epictetus which presupposeth that felicity must bee placed in those things which are in our power , least we belyable to fortune & disturbance : as if it were not a thing much more happy to saile in good and vertuous ends for the publicke , then to obtayne all that wee can wish to our selues in our proper fortune : as consaluo sayd to his souldiers , shewing them naples and protesting , he had rather dy one foote forwards , then to haue his life secured for long , by one foote of retrayt : whereunto the wisedome of that heauenly leader hath signed , who hath affirmed that a good conscience is a continuall feaste , shewing plainly that the conscience of good intencions howsoeuer succeeding , is a more continuall ioy to nature , then all the prouision which can be made for security and repose . it censureth likewise that abuse of philosophy , which grew generall about the time of epictetus , in conuerting it into an occupation or profession : as if the purpose had bene , not to resist and extinguish perturbations , but to fly and auoide the causes of them , & to shape a particular kind and course of life to that end , introducing such an health of mind , as was that health of body , of which aristotle speaketh of herodic●… , who did nothing nothing all kis life long , but intend his health , whereas if men refer themselues to dutyes of society ; as that health of body is best , which is ablest to endure all alterations and extremityes , so likewise that health of mind is most proper , which can goe through the greatest temptations and perturbations . so as diogenes opinion is to be accepted , who commended not them which absteyned , but them which sustayned , and could refraine their mind in precipitio , and could giue vnto the mind ( as is vsed in horsman ship ) the shortest stop or turne . lastly it censureth the tendernesse and want of application in some of the most auncient and reuerend philosophers and philosophicall men , that did retyre too easily from ciuile businesse , for auoyding of indignities & perturbations , whereas the resolution of men truly moral , ought to be such , as the same consaluo sayd , the honor of a souldior should be f tela crassiore , and not so fine , as that euery thing should catch in it , and endanger it . to resume priuate or particular good , it falleth into the diuisiō of good actiue & passiue ; for this differēce of good , ( not vnlike to that which amongst the romās was expressed in the familiar or houshold terms of promus , and condus , ) is formed also in all things , & is best disclosed in the two seuerall appetites in crea tures ; the one to preserue or continue themselues , & the other to dilate or multiply themselues ; whereof the later seemeth to be the worthyer ; for in nature the heauens , which are the more worthy , are the a gent , and the earth , which is the lesse woorthye is the patient . in the pleasures of liuing creatures , that of generation is greater then that of foode . in diuine doctrine , beatius est dare quam accipere : and in life there is no mans spirit so soft but estemeth the effecting of somwhat that he hath fixed in his desire more then sensuality : which priority of the actiue good , is much vpheld by the consideration of our estate to be mortall & exposed to fortune : for , if wee mought haue a perpetuity and certainty in our pleasures , the state of them would advance their price . but when we see it is but magni aestimamus mori tardius and ne glorieris de crastino . nescis partum diei it maketh vs to desire to haue somwhat secured and exempted from time , which are onelye our deedes and works , as it is sayd operaeorum sequuntur eos . the preheminence likewise of this actiue good is vpheld by the affection which is naturall in man towardes variety and proceeding which in the pleasures of the sence which is the principal part of passiue good ) can haue no great latitude . cogita quamdiu eadem feceris : ci bus , somnus , ludus , per h●…nc circulū curritur , mori velle nō tantū fertis aut miser aut prudens sed etiā fastidiosus potest . but in enterprises , pursutes & purposes of life ther is much variety , wherof men are sēsible with pleasure in theyr inceptions , progressions , recoyls , reinteg ations , approches and atteynings to their ends . so as it was wel said : vita siue proposito languida & vaga est . neither hath this actiue good an●… identity with the good of society , though , in some case , it hath an incidence into it : for although it do many times bring forth acts of beneficēce yet it is with a respect priuate to a mās own power , glory , amplificatiō , cōtinuāce : 〈◊〉 appeareth plainly when it findeth a contrary sùbiect for that gygātine state of mind which possesseth the trowblers or the world , such as was lucius sylla and infinit other in smaller model , who would haue all mē happy or vnhappy as they were their friends or enimies , and would giue fourm to the world according to their owne humors ( which is the true theomachy ) pretendeth and aspireth to actiue good , though it recedeth furthest from good of society which wee haue determined to be the greater . to resume passiue good it receiueth a subdiuision of conseruatiue and perfectiue . for let vs take a brief review of that which we haue said , we haue spoken first of the good of society the intention whereof embraceth the fourm of humaine nature , whereof we are members & portions : and not our owne proper and indiuidual fourme : we have spoken of actiue good and supposed it as a part of priuate and particu lar good . and rightly : for there is impressed vppon all things a triple desire or appetite proceeding from loue to themselues , one of preseruing and contynuing theyr form , another of aduancing and perfitting their fourm and a third of multiplying and extending their iourme vpon other things : whereof the multiplying er signature of it vpon other things , is that which we handled by the name of actiue good . so as there remayneth the conseruing of it and parfiting or raising of it : which later is the highest degree of passiue good for to preserue in state , is the lesse ; to preserue with aduancement is the greater . so in man ign●…us est ollis vigor , & coelestis ●…rigo . his approach or assumptiō to diuine or angel●…icall nature , is the perfection of his forme , the error or false imitatiō of which good is that whichis the tēpest of humane life whileman vpō the instinct of an aduācement formal , and essential is carried to seek an aduancement locall . for as those which are sick , & finde no remedy , doe tumble vp and downe and chaunge place , as if by a remoue locall , they could obtayne a remooue internall : so is it with men in ambition , when fayling of the meane to exalt their nature , they are in a perpetuall estuation to exalte theyr place . so then passiue good , is , as was sayde , eyther conseruatiue or perfectiue . to resume the good of conseruation or comforte , which consisteth in the sruicion of that which is agreeable to our natures , it seemeth to be the most pure and naturall of pleasures , but yet the sostest and the lowest . and this also receiueth ā differēce , which hath neither beene well iudged of , nor well inquired . for the good of fruition or contentment , is placed eyther in the sincerenesse of the sruition , or in the quicknesse & vigor of it , the one superinduced by the aequality , the o ther by vicissitude : the one hauing lesse mixture of euil , the other more impressiō of good. whether of these , is the greter good , is a questiō cōtrouerted , but whether maus nature may not be capable of both , is a question not inquired . the former question heing debated between socrates , and a sophist , socrates placing felicity in an equall and constan●… peace of mind ; and the sophist in much desiring , and much enioying : they fell from argument to ill words : the sophist saying that socrates felicity , was the felicity of a block or stone , and socrates saying that the sophists felicity , was the felicity of one that had the itch , who did nothing but itche and skratch . and both these opinions , do not want their supports . for the opinion of socrates is much vpheld by the generall consent , euen of the epicures themselues , that vertue beareth a great part in felicity : and if so , certain it is , that vertue hath more vse in cleering perturbations , then in compassing desires . the sophists opinion is much fauoured , by the assertion we last spake of , that good of aduancement , is greater then good of simple preseruation : because , euery obtayning a desire , hath a shew of aduancement , as mocion though in a circle , hath a shew of progression . but the second question , decided the true waye , maketh the former superfluous . for , can it be doubted , but that there are some , who take more pleasure in enioying pleasures , then some other ; and yet neuerthelesse , are lesse troubled with the losse or leauing of them ? so as this same ; non vti , vt non appetas : non appetere , vt non metuas , sunt animi pusilli & diffidentis . and it seemeth to me , that most of the doctrines of the philosophers are more fearefull and cautionary then the nature of things requireth . so haue they encreased the feare of death , in offering to cure it . for , when they would haue a mans whole life , to be but a discipline or preparation to dye : they must needes make men thinke , that it is a terrible enemy , against whom there is no end of preparing . better saith the poet , qui sinem vitae extremum inter munera ponat naturae : so haue they sought to make mens minds to vniforme and harmonicall , by not breaking them sufficiently to cōtrary motions : the reason whereof , i suppose to be , because they themselues were men dedicated , to a pri uate , free , and vnapplied course of life . for , as we see , vpon the lute , or like instrument , a ground , though it be sweet , and haue shew of many changes , yet breaketh not the hand to such strange and hard stoppes and passages , as a set song , or voluntary : much after the same manner was the diuersity betweene a philosophicall and a ciuile life . and therefore men are to imitate the wisedome of iewellers , who , if there be a graine , or a cloude , or an i se which may be ground forth , without taking to much of the stone , they help it : but , if it should lessen and abate the stone to much they will not meddle with it : so ought men , so to procure serenity , as they destroy not magnanimity . hauing therefore deduced the good of man , which is priuate & particular , as far as seemeth fit : wee will now returne to that good of man , which respecteth and be beholdeth society which we may terme duty ; bicause the term of duty is more propper to a minde well framed & disposed towards others , as the terme of vertue is applyed to a mind well formed & cōposed in it selfe , though neither can a man vnderstand vertue without some relation to society , nor duety without an inwarde disposition , this part may seem at first to pertaine to science ciuile and politicke : but not if it be wel obserued , for it concerneth the rcgimēt & gouernment of euery man , over himself , & not ouer others . and as in architectur , the directiō of framing the postes beames & other parts of building is not the same with the maner of ioyning them and erecting the building : and in mechanicalls , the direction how to frame an instrument or engyne , is not the same with the manner of setting it on woorke and imploying it : and yet neuerthelesse in expressing of the one , you incidently expresse the aptnesse towardes the other : so the doctrine of coniugation of men in socyety , differereth from that of their conformity therevnto . this part of duty is sudiuided into two parts : the common duty of euery man , as a man or member of a state : the other the respectiue or speciall duty of euery man in his prosession vocation and place : the first of these , is extāt & wel laboured as hathbeen said . the secōd like wise i may report rather dispersed thē dcficiēt : which maner of dispersed writing in this kind of argumēt , i acknowledge to be best . for who cā take vpō him to write of the proper duty , vertue cha and right , of euery seuerall vocation profession , and place . for although sometimes a looker on may see more then a gamester and there be a prouerb more arrogant theu sound that the vale best discouereth the hill : yet there is small doubt but that men can write best and most really & materialy in their owne professions : & that the writing of speculatiue men of actiue matter , for the most part doth seeme to men of experience as phormioes argument of the warrs seemed to hannibal , to be but dreames and dotage , onely there is one vice which accompanieth them , that write in their own professions that they magnify thē in excesse , but generally it were to be wished , ( as that which wold make learning indeed solide & fruit ful ) that actiue men woold or could become writers in which kind i cannot but mencion honoris causa your maiesties exellent book touching the duty of a king : a woorke ritchlye compounded of diuinity morality and policy , with great aspersion of all other artes : & being in myne opinion one of the moste sound & healthful writings that i haue read : not distempered in the heat of inuention nor in the couldnes of negligence : not sick of dusinesse as those are who leese themselues in their order ; nor of convulsions as those which crampe in matters impertinent : not sauoring of perfumes & paintings as those doe who seek to please the reader more then nature beareth , and chiefelye wel disposed in the spirits thereof , beeing agreeable to truth , and apt for action : and farre remooued from that naturall insirmity , whereunto i noted those , that write in their own professions to be subiect , which is , that they exalt it aboue measure . for your maiesty hath truly described , not a king of assyria , or persia , in their extern glory : but a moses , or a dauid , pastors of their people . neither can i euer leese out of my remembraunce , what i heard your maiesty , in the same sacred spirite of gouernment , deliuer , in a great cause of iudicature which was : that kings ruled by theyr lawes , as god did by the lawes of nature , and ought as rarely to put in vse theyr supreme prerogatiue , as god doth his power of working miracles . and yet notwithstandiug , in your book of a free monarchy , you do well giue men to vnderstand , that you know the plenitude of the power and right of a king , as well as the circle of his office and duty . thus haue i presumed to alledge this excellent writing of your maiesty , as a prime or eminent example of tractates , concerning speciall & respectiue dutyes : wherin i should haue said as much , if it had beene written a thousand yeares since : neither am i mooued with cer tain courtly decencyes , which esteeme it flattery to prayse in presence . no , it is flattery to prayse in absence : that is , when eyther the vertue is absent , or the occasion is absent : and so the prayse is not naturall , but forced , either in truth , or in time . but let cicerobe read in his oration pro marcello , which is nothing but an excellent table of caesars vertue , and made to his face , besides the example of many other excellent per sons , wiser a great deale then such obseruers : and we will neuer doubt , vpon a full occasion , to giue iust prayses to present or absent . but to return , there belongeth further , to the handling of this partie touching the duties of professions and vocations a relatiue or opposite touching the fraudes cautels , impostures , & vices of euery profession , which hath been likewise handled . but howe ? rather in a satyre & cinicaly , then seriously & wisely for men haue rather sought by wit to deride and traduce much of that which is good in professions then with iudgement to discouer and seuer that which is corrupt . for as salomon saith . he that cometh to seeke after knowledg with a mind to scorne and censure , shal be sure to finde matter for his humor but no matter for his instruction . quaerenti derisori scientiam , ipsa se abscondit : sed studioso sit obuiam . but the managing of this argument with integrity & truthe , which i note as deficient , seemeth to me to be one of the best fortifications for honesty and vertue that can be planted . for , as the fable goeth of the basilisk , that if he see you first you die for it : but if you see him first , he dieth . so is it with deceits and euill arts : which if they be first espied they leese their life , but if they prevent they indanger . so that we are much beholden to macciauell & others that write what men doe and not what they ought to do . for it is not possible to ioyn serpentine wisedom with the columbine innocency , except men know exactly all the conditions of the serpent : his basenesse and going vpon his bellye , his volubility , and lubrioity his enuy and stinge , and the rest , that is al fourmes and natures of euill for without this vertue lyeth open and vnfenced . nay an honest man can doe no good vppon those that are wicked to reclaime them , without the helpe of the knowledge of evil . for mē of corrupted minds presuppose , that honesty groweth out of simplicitye of manners , and beleuing of preachers , schoolmasters , and mens exterior language . so as , except you can make them perceiue , that you know the vt most reaches of they re owne corrupt opinions , they despise all moralitye . non recipit stultus verba prudentiae , nisi ca dixeris , quae versantur in corde eius . vnto this part touching respectiue duty , doth also appertayne the dutyes betweene husband and wife , parent and childe , master and seruant . so likewise , the lawes of friendship and gratitude , the ciuile bond of companyes , colledges , and politike bodies , of neighbourhood , and all other proportionate duties : not as they ar parts of gouernment and society , but as to the framing of the minde of particular persons . the knowledge concerning good respecting society doth handle it also not simply alone but comparatiuely whereunto belongeth the weighing of duties , betwen person and person , case and case , particular & publike : as we see in the proceeding of lucius brutus , against his own sons , which was so much extolled yet what was sayd ? inf●…lix , vt cunque serent easata minores . so the case was doubtfull , and had opinion on both sides : againe we see , when m. brutus and cassius inuited to a supper certaine , whose opinions they meant to feele , whether they were fit to be made their associates , and cast foorth the question touching the killing of a tyrāt being an vsurper they wer deuided in opinion , some holding , that seruitude was the extreame of euils ; and others , that tyranny was better , then a ciuile war : and a number of the like cases there are , of cōparatiue duty . amōgst which , that of all others , is the most frequent , where the question is of a great deale of good to ensue of a small iniustice . which iason of thessalia determined against the truth ; aliqua sunt iniustè sacienda , vt multa iuste fieri possint . but the reply is good ; authorem praesentis iustititiae habes ; sponsorem futurae non habes ; men must pursue things which are iust in presente , and leaue the future to the diuine prouidence : so then we passe on from this generall part touching the exemplar and description of good. now therefore , that we haue spoken of this fruite of life , it remaineth to speake of the husbandry that belongeth thereunto , without which part , the former seemeth to be no better then a faire image , or statua , which is beautifull to contemplate , but is without life and mocion : whereunto aristotle himselfe subscribeth in these words : necesse est scilicet de virtute dicere , & quid sit , & ex quibus gignatur . inutile enim sere suerit , virtutem quidem nosse , acquirendae autem eius modos & vias ignorare non enim de virtute tantum , qua specie sit , quaerendum est , sed & quomodo sui copiam faciat , vtrunque enim volumus , et rem ipsam nosse & eius compotes fieri : hoc autem ex voto non succedet , nisi sciamus & ex quibus & quo modo . in such full wordes and with such iteration doth he inculcate this part : so saith cicero in great commendation of cato the second , that he he had applyed him self to philosophy . non ita disputandi causa , sed ita viuendi . and although the neglect of our tymes wherein few men doe houlde any consultations touching the reformation of theire life ( as seneca excellently saith , departibus vitae quisque deliberat , de summa nemo ) may make this part seem superfluous : yet i must conclude with that aphorism of hypocrates , qui graui morbo correpti dolores non sentiunt , ijs mens aegrotat . they neede medicine not onely to asswage the disease but to awake the sense and if it be saide , that the cure of mens mindes belongeth to sacred diuinity , it is most true : but yet morall philosophy may be preferred vnto her as a wise seruaunt , and humble handmaide . for as the psalme saith , that the eyes of the bandmayde looke perpetually towardes the mistresse , and yet no doubt many things are left to the discretion of the handmayde , to discerne of the mistresse will : so ought morall philosophy to giue a constant attention to the doctrines of diuinity , and yet so as it may yeeld of her selfe ( within due limits ) many soūd and profitable directions . this part therefore , because of the excellency therof , i cannot but find exceeding strange , that it is not reduced to written enquiry , the rather because it consisteth of much matter , wherein both speech and action is often conuersant , and such wherein the common talke of men ( which is rare , but yet commeth sometimes to passe ) is wiser then their bookes : it is reasonable therefore that we propound it in the more particularity , both for the woorthinesse , and because we may acquite our selues for reporting it deficiēt , which seemeth almost incredible , and is otherwise conceiued and presupposed by those themselues , that haue written . we wil therfore enumerate some heads or points thereof , that it may appeare the better what it is , and whether it be extant . first therefore in this , as in all things , which ar practicall , we ought to cast vp our account , what is in our power , and what not : for the one may be dealte with by waye of alteration , but the other by waye of application onely . the husbandman cannot command , neither the nature of the earth , nor the seasons of the weather : no more can the physition the constitution of the patiente , nor the varietye of accidentes . so in the culture and cure of the mynde of man , two thinges are without our commaund : poyntes of nature , and pointes of fortune . for to the basis of the one , and the conditions of the other , our worke is limited and tied . in these thinges therefore , it is left vnto vs , to proceede by application , vincenda est omnis fortuna serendo : and so likewise vincenda est omnis natura serendo . but , when that wee speake of sufferinge , wee doe not speake of a dull , and neglected sufferinge , but of a wise and industrious sufferinge , which draweth , and contriueth vse and aduantage out of that which seemeth aduerse and contrary ; which is that property which we cal , accomodating or applying . now the wisedome of application resteth principally in the exact & distinct knowledge of the precedent state , or disposition , vnto which we do apply : for we cannot fit a garment , except wee first take measure of the body . so then the first article of this knowlede is to set downe sound and true distributions and descriptions of the seueral characters & tempers of mens natures and dispositions specially hauing regard to those differences which are most radicall in being the fountayns and causes of the rest or most frequent in concurrence or commixture ; wherein it is not the handling of a fewe of them in passage the better to describe the mediocrities of vertues that can satisfie this intention for if it deserue to be considered that there are minds which are proportioned to great mattes , & others to smal , ( which aristotle handleth or ought to haue handled by the name of magnaminity ) doth it not deserue as well to be considered . that there are mindes proportioned to intend many matters and others to few ? so that some can deuide them selues others can perchance do exactly wel , but it must bee but in fewe things at once ; and so there cometh to bee a narrownes of mind as wel as a pusillanimity . and againe , that some mindes are proportioned to that which may bee dispatched at once or within a short return of time : others to that which begins a farre of , and is to be won with length of pursute , — iam tū tenditque fo●…etque ; so that there may be fitly said to be a long animity which is comonly also ascribed to god as a magnanimity . so further deserued it to be consideted , by aristotle that there is a disposition in conuersation ( supposing it in things which doe in no sort tonch or concerne a mans selfe ) to soothe and please ; and a disposition contrary to contradict and crosse ; and deserueth it not much better to be considered , that there is a disposition , not in conuersation or talke , but in matter of mere serious nature ( and supposing it still in things meerly indifferent ) to take pleasure in the good of another , and adisposition contrarywise , to take distast at the good of another ; which is that properly , which we call good nature , or ill nature , benignity or malignity : and therefore i cannot sufficiently maruayle , that this parte of knowledge touching the seuerall characters of natures and dispositions should bee omitted both in morality and policy , considering it is of so great ministery , and suppeditation to them both a man shall find in the traditions of astrology , som prety and apt diuisions of mens natures according to the predominances of the planets ; louers of quiet louers of action , louers of victory , louers of honour , louers of pleasure , louers of arts , louers of change , and so forth : a man shall find in the wisest sort of these relations , which the italians make touching conclaues , the natures of the seuerall cardinalls , handsomlye and liuely painted fourth : a man shall meete with in euery dayes conference the denominations of sensitiue , dry , formall , reall , humorous , certayne , humo di prima impressione , huomo di vltima impressione , and the like , and yet neuerthelesse this kind of obseruations wandreth in wordes , but as not fixed in enquiry . for the distinctions are found ( many of them ) but we conclude no precepts vpon them , wherein our faulte is the greater , because both history , poesye , and daylie experience are as goodly fields where these obseruations grow , whereof wee make a few poesies , to hould in our hands , but no man bringeth them to the confectionary , that receits mought be made of them for vse of life . of much like kinde are those impressions of nature , which are imposed vpon the mind by the sex , by the age , by the region , by health , and sicknesse , by beauty and deformity , and the like , which are inherent , and not externe : and again those which are caused by extern fortune : as soueraygnty , nobility , obscure birth , ritches , want , magistracye , priuatenesse , prosperity , aduersity , constant fortune , variable fortune , rising per saltum , per gradus , and the like : and therefore we see , that plautus maketh it a wonder , to see an oulde man beneficent , benignitas huius vt adolescentuli est : saint paul concludeth that seuerity of discipline was to be vsed to the cretans , increpa eos durè , vpon the disposition of their country cretenses semper mendaces , malae bestiae , ventres pigri . salust noteth , that it is vsuall with kinges to desire contradictoryes , sed plerunque regiae voluntates , vt vehementes sunt , fic mobiles , saepeque ipsae sibi aduersae . tacitus obserueth how rarely-raising of the fortune mendeth the disposition , solus vespas●…anus , mutatus in melius , pindarus maketh an obseruation , that greate and suddaine fortune for the most parte defeateth men qui magnam foelicitatem concoquere non possunt : so the psalme sheweth it is more easie to keep a measure in the enioying of fortune , then in the increase of fortune . diuitiae si affluant , nolite cor apponere : these obseruations and the like , i denye not , but are touched a little by aristotle as in passage in his rhetoricks , and are handled in some scattered discourses , but they were neuer incorporate into morall philosophy , to which they doe essentiallye appertayne : as the knowledg of the diuersitye of groundes and mouldes doth to agriculture , and the knowledge of the diuersity of complexions and constitutions doth to the phisition ; except we meane to follow the indiscretion of empe riques , which minister the same medicines to all patients . another article of this knowledge is the inquirye touching the affections : for as in medicining of the body it is in order first to know the diuers complexions and constitutions , secondlye the diseases , and lastlye the cures : so in medicining of the minde , after knowledge of the diuers characters of mens natures , it foloweth in order to know the diseases and infirmites of the mind , which ar no other thē the perturbations & distempers of the affections . for as the aunciente in politiques in populer estates were woont 〈◊〉 to compare the people to the sea , and the orators to the winds because as the sea would of it selfe be caulm and quiet , if the windes did not mooue and trouble it ; so the people would be peaceable and tractable if the seditious ora tors did not set them in working and agitation . so it may be fitly said , that the mind in the nature thereof would be temperate and stayed , if the affections as winds , did not put it into tumulte and perturbation . and here againe i find straunge , as before , that aristotle shoulde haue written diuers volumes of ethiques , and neuer handled the affections , which is the principall subiect thereof , and yet in his retoricks where they are considered but collaterally , & in a secōd degree , ( as they may be mooued by speech ) he findeth place for them , and hādleth them well for the quātity but where their true place is , he pretermitteth them . for it is not his disputations about pleasure and paine that can satisfie this inquiry , no more then hee that should generally handle the nature of light can bee said to handle the nature of colours : for pleasure and paine are to the particuler affections as light is to particular collours : better trauailes i suppose had the stoicks taken in this argument , as far as i can gather by that which wee haue at second hand : but yet it is like , it was after their manner rather in subtiltye of definitions ( which in a subiect of this nature are but curiosities ) then in actiue and ample descriptions and obseruations : so likewise i finde some particular writings of an elegant nature touching some of the affections , as of auger , of comforte vpon aduerse accidentes , of tendernesse of countenance and other . but the poets and writers of histories are the best doctors of this knowledge , where we may finde painted fourth with greate life , how affections are kindled and incyted : and how pacified and refrai ned : and how againe conteyned from act , & furder degree : how they disclose themselues , how they work how they varye , how they gather and fortifie , how they are inwrapped one within another , and howe they doe fighte and encounter one with another , and other the like particularityes : amōgst the which this last is of speciall vse in morall and ciuile matters : howe i say to sett affection againste affection , and to master one by another , even as wee vse to hunt beast with beaste , and flye byrde with birde , which otherwise percase wee coulde not so easily recover : vpon which foundation is erected that excellent vse of praemium and pana . whereby ciuile states consist , imploying the predominante affections of feare and hope , for the suppressing and brideling the rest . for as in the gouernemente of states , it is sometimes necessarye to bridle one faction with another , so it is in the gouernmente within . now come we to those poynts which are within 〈◊〉 our owne cōmand and haue force and operacion vpon the mind to affect the wil & appetite & to alter manners : wherin they ought to haue hādled custome exercise , habit , educacion , example , imitation , emulation company , frinds , praise , reproofe , exhortatiō , fame , lawes , bookes , studyes : theis as they haue determinate vse , in moraliryes , from these the mind suffereth , and of these are such receipts & regiments compounded & described , as may seeme to recouer or preserue the health and good estate of the mind , as farre as pertaineth to humane medycine : of which number wee will visit vpon som one or two as an exāple of the rest , because it were too long to prosecute all ; and therefore wee doe resume custome and habite to speake of . the opinion of aristotle seemeth to mee a negligent opinion . that of those thinges which consist by nature , nothing can be changed by custome , vsing for example : that if a stone bee throwne ten thousande tymes . vp , it wil not learne to assend , and 〈◊〉 that by , often seeing or hearing , wee doe not learne to see or heare the better . for thoughe this principle bee true in things wherein nature is peremptory ( the reason whereof we cannot nowe stande to discusse ) yet it is otherwise in things wherein nature admitteth a latitude . for he moughtsee that a streight gloue wil come more easily on with vse , and that a wand will by vse bend otherwise then it grewe : and that by vse of the voice wee speake lowder and stronger , and that by vse of enduring heate or coulde , we endure it the better , and the like : which later sort haue a neerer resemblance vnto that subiect of manners he handleth then those instāces which he alledgeth ; but allowing his conclusion that vertues and vices consist in habit , he ought so much the more to haue taught the manner of superinducing that habite : for there bee many precepts of the wise ordering the exercises of the minde , as there is of ordering the exercises of the body , wherof we wil recite a fewe . the first shal bee , that wee beware wee take not at the first either to high a strayne or to weake : for if , too highe in a differēt nature you discorage , in a confident nature , you breede an opinion of facility , and so a sloth , and in all natures you breede a furder expectation then can hould out , and so an insatisfaction on the end , if to weake of the ether side : you may not looke to performe and ouercome any great taske . another precept is to practise all thinges chiefly at two seuerall times , the one when the mind is beste disposed , the other when it is worste disposed : that by the one you may gaine a great step , by the other you may worke out the knots and stondes of the mind , and make the middle times rhe more easily and pleasant . another precept is , that which aristotle mencioneth by the way , which is to beare euer towards the contrary extreame of that wherevnto we are by nature inclyned : like vnto the rowing against the stream or making a wand straight by bynding him contrary to his natural crookednesse . another precept is , that the mind is brought to any thing better and with more sweetnesse and happinesse , if that wherevnto you pretend be not first in the intention but tanquā aliud agendo , because of the naturall hatred of the minde against necessity and constraint . many other axiomes there are touching the managing of exercise and custome : which being so conducted , doth prooue indeed another nature : but being gouerned by chance , doth cōmōly prooue but an ape of nature , & bringeth forth that which is lame and counterfette . so if wee shoulde handle bookes and studies and what influence and operation they haue vpon manners , are there not diuers precepts of greate caution and direction appertaining thereunto ? did not one of the fathers in greate indignation call poesy vinum demonum , because it increaseth temptations , perturbations and vaine opinions ? is not the opinion of aristotle worthy to be regarded wherein he saith , that yoūg men are no fitte auditors of moral philosophy , because they are not setled from the boyling heate of their affections , nor attempered with time and experience ? and doth it not hereof come that those excellent books and discourses of the aunciente writers , ( whereby they haue perswaded vnto vertue most effectually , by representing her in state and maiesty ; and populer opinions against vertue , in their parasites coates , fitt to be scorned and derided , ) are of so little effect towards honesty of life , because they are not red & reuolued by mē in their mature and setled yeares , but confined almost to boyes & beginners ? but is it not true also , that much lesse , young men are fit auditors of matters of policy , till they haue beene throughly seasoned in religion & morality , least their iudgementes be corrupted , and made apt to thinke that there are no true differences of things , but according to vtility and fortune , as the verse describes it . prosperum et foelix scelus virtus vocatur : and againe ille crucem pretium sceleris tulit , hic diadema : which the poets do speak satyrically and in indignation on vertues behalfe : but books of pollicre doe speake it seriously , and positiuely , for so it pleaseth machiauell to say that if caesar had bene ouerthrowne , he woulde haue beene more odious then euer was catiline ; as if there had beene noe difference but in fortune , between a very fury of lust & bloud , and the most excellēt spirit ( his ambiciō reserued ) of the world ? again is there not a caution likewise to be giuen of the doctrines of moralities thēselues ( some kindes of thē ) leaste they make men too precise , arrogāt , incōpatible , as cicero saith of cato in marco catone . haec bona quae videmus diuina & egregia ipsius scitote esse propria : quae nonnunquam requirimus , ea , sunt omnia , non a naturâ sed a magistro ? many other axiomes & aduises there are touching those proprieties & effects , which studies doe infuse & instil into maners : and so likewise is there touchinge the vse of all those other points of company : fame , lawes and the rest , which we recited in the beginning in the doctrine of morality . but there is a kind of cvltvre of the mind ; that semeth yet more accurate & elaborate thē the rest & is built vpon this ground : that the minds of all men are at some times in a state more perfite , and at oother tymes in a state more depraued . the purpose therfore of this practise is to fixe and cherishe the good howers of the mind and to obliterate and take fourth the euil : the fixing of the good hath bene practised by two meanes , vowes or constant resolutions , and obseruances , or exercises which are not to be regarded so much in themselues , as because they keepe the mynd in continual obedience . the obliteratiō of the euill hath been practised by two meanes , some kind of redemption or expiation of that which is past , and an inception or account de nouo , for the time to come : but this part , seemeth sacred and religious , and iustly : for all good morall philosophy ( as was said , ) is but an handmaide to religion . wherefore we will conclude with that last pointe which is of all other meanes the moste compendious and summarye , and againe , the moste noble and effectual to the reducing of the minde vnto vertue and good estate : which is the electing and propounding vnto a mans selfe good & vertuous ends of his life , such as may bee in a reasonable sorte within his compas to attaine . for if these two things be sup osed : that a maset before him honest & good ends , and againe that he bee resolute , constant , and true vnto them ; it will follow that hee shall moulde himselfe into al vertue at once : and this is indeede like the worke of nature ; whereas the other course , is like the worke of the hand . for as when a caruer makes an image , hee shapes onely that parte whereupon hee worketh , as if hee bee vpon the face that parte which shal bee the body is but a rude stone stil , til such times as hee comes to it . but contrarywise when nature makes a flower or liuing creature , shee fourmeth rudiments of all the parts at one time ; so in obtaining ver tue by habite , while a man practiseth temperance , he doth not profit much to fortitude , nor the like ; but when he dedicateth & applyeth himselfe to good ends , loke what vertue soeuer the pursute and passage towards those ends doth commend vnto him , he is inuested of a precedent disposition to conforme himselfe thereunto : which state of mind aristotle doth exexcellently expresse himself , that it ought not to bee called vertuous , but diuine : his words are these ; immanitati autem consentaneum est , opponere eam , quae supra humanitatem est , heroicā siue diuinam virtutem . and a little after ; nā vt ferae , neque vitiū , neque virtus est sic neque dei. sed hic quidē status altius quiddā virtute est , ille aliud quiddā a vitio . and therfore we may see what celsitud of honor piinius secundus attributeth to traiane in his funerall oration , where he said . that men needed to make noe other praiers to the gods , but that they woulde continue as good lords to them , as traiaine had beene : as if he had not beene onely an imitation of diuine nature , but a patterne of it . but these be heathen & prophane passages having but a shadowe of that diuine state of mind , which religion and the holy faith doth conduct men vnto ; by imprinting vpon their soules charity which is exellētly called the bond of perfectiō : bicause it cōprehēdeth & fastneth al vertues together . and it is elegantly said by menander of vaine loue which is but a false imitation of diuine loue . amor melior sophista , lauo , ad humanam vitam , that loue teacheth a man to carry himselfe better , then the sophist or praeceptor , which he calleth left handed , because with all his rules & preceptiōs he cannot form a man so dexteriously , nor with that facility to prize himself & gouern himself as loue cā do : so certainly if a mās mind be truly inflamd with charity it doth work himsodainly into greter perfectiō then al the doctrin of moralitye can doe , which is but a sophist in comparison of the other . nay furder as xenophon observed truely that all other affections though they raise the minde , yet they doe it by distorting , and vncomlinesse of extasies or excesses ; but onely loue doth exalt the mind , and neuerthelesse ; at the same instant doth settle and compose it . so in all other excellencyes though they aduance nature yet they are subiect to excesse . onely charity admitteth noe excesse ; for soe we see , aspiring to be like god in power , the angells transgressed and fel : ascendam , & ero simitis altissimo : by aspiringe to be like god in knowledge man transgressed and fell . eritis sicut dii scientes bouum & malum ; but by aspiring to a similitude of god in goodnesse or loue , neyther man nor angell euer transgressed or shall transgresse . for vnto that imitation wee are called , diligite inimicos vestros , benefacite eis qui odernut vos , & orate pro persequentibus & calumniantibus vos , vt sitis filii patris vestri qui in coelis est , qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos & malos , & pluit super iustos & iniustos . so in the first platfourme of the diuine nature it self , the heathē religion speaketh thus , optimus maximus , and the sacred scriptures thus , misericordia eius super omnia opera eius . wherefore i doe conclude this part of morall knowledge concerning the culture and regiment of the mind , wherin if any man considering the parts therof , which i haue enumerated , doe iudge , that my labor is but to collect into an art or sciēce , that which hath bin pretermitted by others , as matter of cōmon sence , and experience , he iudgeth well : but as philocrates sported with demosthenes : you may not maruaile ( a thenians ) that demosthenes and i doe differ , for hee drinketh water , and i drinke wine : and like as wee reade of an aunciente parable of the two gates of sleep . sunt geminae somni portae , quarum altera fertur cornea , qua veris facilis datur exitus vmbris : altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto , sed falsa ad coelum mittunt insomnia manes . so if wee put on sobriety and attention , we shall finde it a sure maxime in knowledge : that the more pleasaunte liquor ( of wine ) is the more vaporous , and the brauer gate of iuorye , sendeth foorthe the falser dreames . but we haue now concluded , that generall part of humane philosophye , which contemplateth man segregate , and as hee consisteth of bodye and spirite ; wherein wee maye further note , that there there seemeth to be a relatiō or conformity betwen the good of the mynd , and the good of the body . for as we devided the good of the body into health , beau ty , strength , and pleasure , so the good of the mynde inquired in rationall and morall knoweledges tendeth to this , to make the minde sound , and without perturbation , beautifull and graced with decencie : and strong and agill for all duties of life . t●…eis three as in the bodye , so in the minde seeldome meete , and commonly seuer : for it is easilye to obserue , that many haue strength of witte and courage , but haue neither healthe from perturbations , nor any beauty or decencie in theire doings : som againe haue an elegancy and finenesse of carriage , which haue neither soundnesse of honestie , nor substance of sufficiencye : and some againe haue honest and refourmed myndes that can neither become themselues nor manage businesse , and sometimes two of them meete , and rarely all three : as for pleasure , wee haue likewise determined , that the minde oughte not to bee reduced to stupide , but to retayne pleasure : confined rather in the subiect of it , then in the strength and vigor of it . civile knovvledge is conversant about a subiect which of all others is most immersed in matter , and hardliest reduced to actiome . neuerthelesse , as cato the censor saide , that the romane ; were like sheepe , for that a man were better driue a flock of them , then one of them ; for in a flocke , if you could get but some fewe goe righte , the rest would follow : so in that respect morall philosophie is more difficile then pollicie . againe , morrall philosophye propoundeth to it selfe the framing of internall goodnesse : but ciuile knowledge requireth onelye an externall goodnesse : for that as to societye sufficeth : and therfore it cometh oft to passe that therebe euill times in good gouernments : for so we finde in the holy story when the kings were good , yet it is added . sed adhuc populus non dixerat cor suum ad dominum deumpatrum suorum . againe states as great engines mooue slowly , and are not so soone put out of frame : for as in aegypt the seauē good years sustained the seauen badde : so gouernments for a time well grounded doe beare out errors following . but the resolution of particuler persons is more so dainly sub verted . these respects doe somwhat qualifie the extreame difficulty of ●…iuile knowledge . this knowledge hath three parts according to the three summary actiōs of society , which are , cōversation , negotiatiō and gouernment . for mā seeketh in society comfort , vse and protection : & theybe three wisedōs of diuers natures , which do oftē seuer : wisedome of the behauiour , wisedom of businesse ; & wisedome of state . the wisedome of of conuersation ought not to be ouer mvch affected , but much lesse despised : for it hath not onely an honour in it selfe , but an influence also into businesse and gouernment ; the poet saieth . nec vultu destrue verba tuo . a man maie destroy the force of his woords with his countenance : so may he●… of his deeds saieth cicero , recommending to his brother affability and easy accesse , nil interest habere ostium apertum , vultum clausum . it is nothing wonne to admitte men with an open doore , and to receiue them with a shutte and reserued countenaunce . so wee see atticus , before the first interuiewe betweene coesar and cicero , the warre depending , did seriouslye aduise cicero touching the composing and orderinge of his countenaunce and gesture . and if the gouernemente of the countenaunce bee of such effecte , much more is that of the speeche , and other carriage appertayning to conuersation ; the true modele whereof seemeth to mee well expressed by ltuye , though not meante for this purpose ; ne aut arrogans videar , aut obnoxius , quorum alterum est alienae libertatis obliti , alterum suae : the summe of behauioure is to retayne a mans owne dignitye , without intruding vpon the libertye of others : on the other side , if behauioure and outwarde carriage bee intended too much , first it may passe into affection , and then quid deformius quam scaenam in vitam transferre , to acte a mans life ? but although it proceede not to that extreame , yet it consumeth time , and imployeth the minde too much . and therefore as wee vse to aduise younge studentes from company keeping , by saying , amici , sures temporis : so certainely the intending of the discretion of behauioure is a great theefe of meditation : againe , such as are accomplished in that howr of vrbanity , please themselues in name , and sildome aspire to higher vertue : whereas those that haue defect in it , do seeke comlines by reputation : for where reputacion is , almost euery thing becommeth : but where that is not , it must be supplied by puntos and complementes : agayne , there is no greater impediment of action , then an ouercurious obseruaunce of decency , and the guide of decencye , which is tyme and season . for as salomon sayeth , qui respicit ad ventos , non seminat , & qui respicit ad nubes , non metet : a man must make his opportunity , as ofte as finde it . to conclude ; behauiour seemeth to me as a garment of the minde , and to haue the condicions of a garmente . for it ought to bee made in sashion : it ought not to bee too curious : it ought to bee shaped so , as to sette foorthe anye good making of the minde : and hide any deformity ; and aboue all , it ought not to be too straighte , or restrayned for exercise or mocion . but this parte of ciuile knowledge hath beene elegantlye handled , and therefore i cannot reporte it for deficient . the wisedome touching negotiation or businesse hath not bin hitherto collected into writing to the great derogacion of learning , and the professors of learninge . for from this roote springeth chiefly that note or opinion which by vs is expressed in adage , to this effecte : that there is noe greate concurrence betweene learning and wisedome . for of the three wisedomes which wee haue sette downe to pertaine to ciuil life , for wisedome of behauiour , it is by learned men for the moste parte despised , as an inferiour to vertue and and an enemy to meditacion ; for wisedome of gouernmente they acquite themselues well when they are called to it , but that happeneth to fewe . but for the wisedome of businesse wherein mans life is moste conuersant , there bee noe bookes of it , excepte some fewe scattered aduertisementes , that haue noe proportion to the magnitude of this subiecte . for if bookes were written of this , as the other , i doubt not but learned men with meane experience , woulde farre excell men of longe experience withoute learning , and outshoote them in their owne bowe . neither needeth it at all to be doubted , that this knowlddge shoulde bee so variable as it falleth not vnder precept ; for it is much lesse infinite then science of gouernmente , which wee see is laboured and in some parte reduced . of this wisedome it seemeth some of the auncient romanes in the saddest and wisest times were professors : for cicero reporteth , that it was then in vse . for senators that had name and opinion , for generall wisemen as ceruncanius , curius , loelius and manie others ; to walke at certaine howers in the place , and to giue audience to those that would vse their aduise , and that the particuler citizens would resort vnto them , and consulte with them of the marriage of a daughter , or of the imploying of a sonne , or of a purchase or bargaine , or of an accusatiō and euery other occasion incident to mans life ; so as there is a wisedome of counsaile and aduise euen in priuate causes : arisinge out of an vniuersall insight into the affayrs of the world , which is vsed indeede vpon particuler cases propoūded , but is gathered by generall obser , uation of causes of like nature . for so wee see in the booke which cicero writeth to his brother de petitione consultatus , ( being the onely booke of businesse that i know written by the auncients ) although it cōcerned a particuler action then on foote , yet the substance thereof consisteth of manie wise and pollitique axioms which containe not a temporary , but a perpetuall direction in the case of popular elections ; but chiefly wee may see in those aphorismes which haue place amongest divine writings composed by salomon the king , of whom the scriptures testifie that his hearte was as the sandes of the sea , incompassing the world and all worldly matters we see i saie , not a few profound and excellent cautions , precepts , positions , extending to much varietie of occasions ; wherevpon wee will staie a while offering to consideracion some number of examples . sed & eunctis sermonibus qui dicuntur , ne accommodes aurem tuam , uè fortè audiaes seruum tuum maledicentem tibi . heere is concluded the prouidente staye of enquiry , of that which we wolde be loathe to finde : as it was iudged greate wisedome in pompetus magnus that he burned sertorius papers vnperused . vir sapiens si cum stulto contenderit , siue irascaetur , siue rideat , uon inueniet requiem . here is described the great disaduantage which a wise man hath in vndertaking a lighter person then himselfe , which is such an ingagemente , as whether a man turne the matter to ieast , or turne it to heate ; or howsoeuer hee change copye , hee can no wayes quitte himselfe well of it . qui delicatè à pueritia nutrit seruum suum , postea sentiet eum contumacem . heere is signified that if a man beginne too highe a pitche in his fauoures , it doeth commonlye end in vnkindnesse , and vnthankfulnesse . vidisti virum velocem in opere suo , coram regibus stabit nec erit inter ignobiles . here is obserued that of all vertues for rising to honoure , quicknesse of dispatche is the best ; for superiours many times loue not to haue those they imploy too deep , or too sufficient , but redy and diligent . vidi cunctos viuentes , qui ambulant sub sole cum adoadolescente secundo qui consurgit pro eo . here is expressed that which was noted by sylla first , and after him by tiberius ; plures adorant solem orientem , quam occidentem vel meridianum . si spiritus potesta●…m habentis ascenderit super te , locum tuum ne dimiseris , quia curatio faciet cessare peccata maxima . here caution is giuen that vpon displeasure , retiring is of all courses the vnfittest ; for a man leaueth thinges at worst , and depriueth himselfe of meanes to make them better . erat ciuitas parua pauci in ea viri ; venit contra eam rex magnus , & vadauit eam , instrxuitque munitiones per gyrum , & perfecta est obsidio inuentusquae est in ea vir pauper & sapiens , & liberauit eam per sapientiam suam , & nullus deinceps recordatus est hominis illius pauperis ; here the corruptions of states is sette foorh ; that esteeme not vertue or merite longer then they haue vse of it . mollis responsio frangit iram . here is noted that silence or rough answeare , exasperateth : but an answear present and temperate pacifieth . iter pigrorum , quasisepes spinarum . here is liuelie represented how laborious sloth prooueth in the end ; for when thinges are differred till the laste instant , and nothing prepared before hande , euerye stepp findeth a bryer or impediment , which catcheth or stoppeth . melior est finis orationis quam principium . here is taxed the vanitie of formall speakers , that study more about prefaces and inducements , then vpon the conclusions and issues of speache . qui cognoscit in iudicio faciem , non bene facit , iste et pro buccella panis des●…ret veritatem . here is noted that a iudge were better be a briber , then a respecter of persons : for a corrupt iudge offendeth not so lightly as a facile . vir pauper calumnians pauperes , similis est imbrivehementi , in quo paratur fames ; here is expressed the extreami●…y of necessitous extortions , figured in the aunciente fable of the full and the hungry horse-leech . fons turbatus pede , & vena corrupta , est iustus cadens coram impio : here is noted that one iudiciall and exemplar iniquity in the face of the world , doth trouble the fountaines of iustice more , then many particuler iniuries passed over by conniuence . qui subtrahit aliquid a patre & a matre , & dicit hoc non esse peccatū , particeps est homicidij ; here is noted that whereas men in wronging theyr best frindes , vse to extenuat : their faulte , as if they moughte presume or bee bolde vpon them , it doth contrariwise indeede aggrauate their fault , & turneth it from i●…iury to impiety . noli esse amicus homini iracundo , nec ambulato cum homine furioso ; here caution is giuen that in the election of our friends wee doe principalliy avoide those which are impatiente , as those that will espouse vs to many factions and quarels . qui conturbat domum suam possidebit ventum : here is noted that in domesticall separations & breaches men doe promise to themselues quietting of theire minde and contentemente , but still they are deceived of theire expectation , and it turneth to winde . pilius sapiens laetificat patrem , filius vero stultus maestieia est matri sueae . here is distinguished that fathers haue moste comforte of the good proose of of their sonnes ; but mothers haue moste discomfort of their ill proofe , because women haue little discerninge of vertue but of fortune . qui celat delictum quoerit amicitiam , sed qui altero sermone repetit , seperat faederatos ; here caution is giuen that reconcilemente is better managed by an amnesty and passing ouer that which is past , then by apologies and excusations . in omni opere bono erit abundantia , vbi autem verba sunt plurima , ibi frequenter egestas : here is noted that words and discourse aboundeth moste , where there is idlenesse and want . primus in sua causa iustus , sed venit altera pars , & inquiret in éum , heare is obserued that in all causes the first tale possesseth much , in sorte , that the preiudice , thereby wrought wil bee hardly remooued , ex cepte some abuse or falsitie in the information be detected . verba blinguis quasi simplicia , & ipsa perueniunt ad interiora ventris ; there is distinguished that flatterye and insinuation which seemeth set and artificiall , sinketh not farre , but that entreth deepe , which hath shewe of nature , libertie , and simplicity , qui erudit deriso rem , ipse t●…bi 〈◊〉 facit & qui arguit impium sibi maculam geri●… . here caution is giuen howe wee tender reprehension to arrogante and sco●…nefull natures , whose manner is to esteeme it for contumely , and accordingly ro retourne , it , da sapienti occasionem & addetur ei sapientia , here is distinguished the wisedome broughte into habite , and that which is but verball and swimming onely in conceite : for the one vpon the occasione presented is quickned and redoubled : the other is amazed and confused . quo modo in aquis resplendent vultus prospicientium , sic corda hominum manifestasunt prudentibus . here the mind of a wise man is compared to a glasse , wherein the images of all diuersitie of natures & customs are represēted , frō which representatiō proceedeth that application , qui sapit innumeris moribus aptus erit , thus haue i staide some what longer vpon these sentences pollitique of salomon , then is ag●…e , able to the proportion of an example : ledde with a desire to giue authority to this parte of knoweledge , which i noted as deficiente by so excellente a presidente : : and haue also attended them with briefe obseruations , such as to my vnderstandinge , offer noe violence to the sence , though i knowe they may bee applyed to a more diuine vse : but it is allowed euen in diuinity , that some interpretations , yea and some writings haue more of the eagle , then others : but takinge them as instructions for life , they moughte haue receiued large discourse , if i woulde haue broken them and illustrated them by diducements and examples . neither was this in vse only with the hebrews , but it is generally to be found in the wisdome of the more auncient times : that as men sounde out any obseruatiō that they thought was good for life , they would gather it and expresse it in parable . or aphorisme , or fable . but for fables they were vicegerents & supplies , where examples sàiled : nowe that the times abounde with historie , the ayme is better when the marke is aliue . and therefore the fourme of writing which of al others is fittest for this variable argu mente of negotiation and occasions is that which machiauel chose wisely and aptly for gouernmente : namely discourse vpon histories or examples . for knoweledge drawne freshly and in our view out of particulers , knoweth the waie best to particulers againe . and it hath much greater life for practise : when the discourse attendeth vpon the example , then when the example attenddeth vpon the discourse . for this is no pointe of order as it seemeth at firste but of substance . for when the example is the grounde being set downe in an history at large , it is set down with al circumstāces : which manye sometimes controul the discourse thereupon made , and sometimes supply it ; as a verie patterne for gaine ; wheras the examples alledged for the discourses sake , are cited succinctly , and with out particularity , and carry a seruile aspecte towards the discourse , which they are broughte in to make good . but this difference is not amisse to bee remembred , that as historye of tymes is the best grounde for discourse of gouernemente , such as machyauel handleth ; so histories of liues is the moste proper for discourse of businesse is more conversante in priuate actions . nay , there is a ground of discourse for this purpose , fitter then them both which is discourse vpon letters , such as are wise and weightie , as manie are of cicero ad atticum and others . for letters haue a greate and more particuler representation of businesse , then either chronicles or liues , thus haue wee spoken both of the matter and fourme of this patte of ciuile knowledge touching negotiation , which wee note to be deficient . but yet there is another part of this part , which differeth as much frō that wherofwe haue spoké as sapere , & sibi sapere : the one moouing as it were to the circū rence , the other to the center : for there is awisedome of counfell , and againe there is a wisedome of pressi●…ng a mans owne fortune ; and they doe sometimes meet , and often seuere . for many are wise in their owne ways , that are weak for gouernmente or counsell , like ants which is a wise creature for it self , but very huttefull for the garden this wisedome the romanes did take much knoweledge of , nam polsapiens ( saith the comicall poet ) fingit fortunam sibi , and it grewe to an adage , faber quisque fortunae propriae●… and liure attribu●…eth it to cato the first , in hoc viro tanta vis animi & ingenij inerat , vt quocunque loco natus esset sibi ipse fortunam sacturus videre tur . this conceit or position if it bee too much declared and professed , hath beene thoughte a thinge impolitique and vnlucky , as was obserued in timotheus the athenian : who hauinge done manie greate seruices to the estate in his gouernmēt and giuinge an accounte thereof to the people as the manner was , did conclude euery particuler with this clause , and in this fortune had noe part and it came so to passe that hee neuer prospered in any thinge hee tooke in hande afterwarde : for this is too high and too arrogant savouring of that which ezechiel saith of pharaoh : dicis : fluuius est meus & ego feci memet ipsum : or of that which another prophette speaketh : that men offer sacrifices to theire nettes and snares , and that which the poett expresseth , . dextra mihi deus , & telum quod inutile libro . nunc adsinte : for these confidences were euer vnhallowed , and vnblessed . and therefore those that were great pollitiques indeede euer afcribed their succcesses to their felicitie : and not to theire skill or vertue . for so sylla surnamed himselfe foelix●… , not magnus so caesar saide to the maister of the shippe , caesarem portas & fortunam eius . but yet neuerthelesse these positions faber quisque fortunae suae , sapiens dominabitur astris : inuia virtuti nullaest via , and the like , being takē and vsed as spurs to industry , and not as stirops to insolency rather for resolution then for the presumption or outwarde declaration , haue beene euer thoughte sounde and good , and are no question imprinted in the greatest mindes : who are so sensible of this opinion , as they causcarce containe it within . as we see in augustus caesar ) who was rather diuerse from his vncle , then , inferiour in vertue ) how when he died , he desiered his friénds aboute him to giue him a plaudite : as if hee were consciente to himselfe that he had played his parte wel vpon the stage . this parte of knowledge we doe reporte also as deficient : not but that it is practised too much , butit hath not beene reduced to writinge . and therefore least it shoulde seme to any that it is not comprehensible by axiome , it is requisite as wee did in the former , that wee set down some heads or passages of it . wherein it maye appeare at the first a newe and vnwoonted argumente to teach men how to raise and make theire fortune a doctrine wherein euery man perchance will bee ready to yeeld himselfe a disciple til he seethe difficulty : for fortune layeth as heauy impositions as vertue , and it is as harde and severe a thinge to bee a true pollipolitique , as to be truelye morall . but the handlinge hereof , concerneth learning greatly , both in honour , and in substance : in honour , because pragmaticall men may not goe away with an opinion that learning is like a larke that can mount , and singe , and please her selfe , and nothing else ; but may knowe that she houldeth as well of the hauke that can soare aloft , and can also descend and strike vpon the pray . in substance , because it is the perfite lawe of enquiry of trueth , that nothing bee in the globe of matter , which should not be likewise in the globe of crystall , or fourme , that is , that there be not any thing in being & action , which should not bee drawne and collected into contemplation and doctrine : neyther doth learning admire or esteeme of this architecture of fortune , otherwise then as of an inferiour worke ; for no mans fortune can be an end woorthy of his being , and many times the woorthiest men doe abandon theyr fortune willingly for better respects : but neuerthelesse fortune as an organ of vertue and merit deserueth the consideration . first therefore the precept which i conceiue to bee most summary , towardes the preuayling in fortune ; is to obtaine that windowe which momus did require , who seeing in the frame of mans heart , such angles and recesses , sounde fault there was not a windowe to looke into them : that is , to procure good informacions of particulars touching persons , their natures , their desires & ends , their customs and fashions , theyr helpes and aduantages , and wherby they cheesly stand ; so againe their weaknesses and disaduantages , and where they lye most open and obnoxious , their friendes , factions , dependaunces : and againe theyr opposites , enuiors , competitors , theyr moods , and times , sola viri molles adytus , & tēporanoras theyr principles , rules , and obseruacions : and the like ; and this not onely of persons , but of actions : what are on foote from time to time : and how they are con ducted , fauoured , opposed ; and how they importe : and the like ; for the knowledge of present actions , is not onely materiall in itselfe , but without it also , the knowledge of persons is very erronious : for men chaunge with the actions ; and whiles they are in pursuite , they are one , and when they retourne to theyr nature , they are another . these informations of particulars , touching persons and actions , are as the minor propositions in euery actiue syl logisme , for no excellencye of observacions ( which are as the maior propositions ) can suffice to ground a conclusion , if there be error and mistaking in the minors . that this knowledge is possible , salomon is our surety who sayeth . consilium in corde viri tanquam aqua profunda , sed vir prudens exhauriet illud : and although the knowledge it selfe falleth not vnder precept , because it is of indiuiduals , yet the instructions for the obtaining of it may . we will beginne therefore with this precept , according to the aunciente opinion , that the synewes of wisedome , are slownesse of beleefe , and distrust : that more trust bee giuen to countenances and deedes , then to wordes : and in wordes , rather to suddaine passages , and surprised wordes : then to set and purposed wordes : neither let that be feared which is sayde , fronti nulla fides , which is meant of a generall outward behauiour , and not of the priuate and subtile mocions and labours of the countenance and gesture , which as q. cicero elegantly sayth is animi ianua , the gate of the mynd : none more close then tyberius , and yet tacitus sayth of gallus , etenim vultu offersionem coniectauerat . so againe noting the disfering character and manner of his commending germanicus and drusus in the senate : he sayeth , touching his fashion wherein hee carried his speeche of germunicus , thus : magis in fpeciem adornatis verbis , quam vt penitus sentire crederetur , but of drusus thus , paucioribus sed intentior , & fida oratione : and in another place speaking of his character of speech , when he did any thing that was gratious and populer , he sayeth , that in other thinges hee was velut eluctantium verborum : but then againe , solutius loquebatur quando subueniret . so that there is no such artificer of dissimulation : nor noe such commaunded countenaunce ( vulius tussus ) , that can seuer from a fained tale , some of these fashions , either a more sleight and carelesse fashion , or more set & sormall , or more tedious and wandring or comming from , a mā more drily and hardly . neither are deedes such assured pledges , as that they may be trusted without a iudicious cōsideraciō of their magnitude and nature ; fraus sibi in paruis fidem praestruit , vt maiore emolumento sallat : and the italian thinketh himselfe vpon the point to be bought and sould : when he is better vsed then he was woont to be without manifest cause . for small fauoures , they doe but lull men a sleepe , both as to caution , and as to industry , and are as demosthenes calleth them , alimenta socordiae . so againe we see , how false the nature of some deeds are in that particular , which mutianus practised vpon antonius primus , vpon that hollowe and vnfaithfull reconcilement , which was made between them : whereupon mutianus aduanced many of the friends of antonius : simul amicis eius praesecturas & tribunatus largitur : wherein vnder pretence to strengthen him , he did desolate him , and won from him his dependances . as for words ( though they be like waters to phisitions , ful of flattery and vncertainty ) yet they are not to be dispised , specially with the aduantage of passion and affection . for so wee see tyberius vpon a stinging and incensing speech of agrippina , came a step foorth of his dissimulacion when he sayd , you are hurt , because you doc not raigne : of which tacitus sayeth , audita hec , raram occulti pectoris voccm elicuere : correplamque groeco versu admonuit : ideo laedi quia non regnaret . and therefore the poet doth elegantly cal passions , tortures , that vrge men to confesse theyr secrets . vino tortus & ira . and experience sheweth , there are few men so true to themselues , and so setled ; but that sometimes vpon heate , sometimes vpon brauerye , sometime : vpon kindenesse , sometimes vpon trouble of minde and weaknesse , they open themselues ; specially if they be put to it with a counter-dissimulatiō , according to the prouerb of spain , dimentira , y sacar as verdad : tell a lye , and find a truth . as for the knowing of men , which is at second hand from reportes : mens weakenesse and faultes are best knowne from theyr enemies , theyr vertues , and abilityes from theyr friendes ; theyr customes and times from theyr seruauntes : their conceites and opinions from theyr familiar friends , with whom they discourse most . generall fame is light , & the opinions conceiued by superiors or equals are deceitful : for to such men are more masked , verior sama è domesticis emanat . but the soundest disclosing and expounding of men is , by theyr natures and endes , wherein the weakest sorte of men are best interpreted by theyr natures , and the wisest by theyr endes . for it was both pleasauntlye and wiselye sayde ( though i thinke verye vntruely ) by a nuntio of the pope , returning from a certayne nation , where hee serued as lidger : whose opinion beeing asked touching the appointemente of one to goe in his place , hee wished that in anye case they did not send one that was too wise : because no very wise man would euer imagine , what they in that country were like to doe : and certaynelye , it is an errour frequent , for men to shoot ouer , and to suppose deeper ends , and more compasse reaches then are : the italian prouerb being elegant , & for the most part true . di danari , di senno , e di fede , c'n è manco che non credi : there is commonly lesse mony . iesse wisedome , and lesse good faith , then men doe accompt vpon : but princes vpon a farre other reason are best interpreted by their natures , and priuate persons by theyr ends , for princes beeing at the toppe of humane desires , they haue for the most part no particular endes , whereto they aspire : by distaunce from which a man mought take measure and scale of the rest of theyr actions and desires . which is one of the causes that maketh theyr heartes more inscructable : neyther is it sufficient to infourme onr selues in mens endes and natures of the variety of them onely , but also of the predominancy what humour reigneth most , and what end is principally sought . for so wee see , when tigellinus sawe himselfe out-stripped by petrouius turpilianus in neroés humours of pleasures metus eius rim●… , he wrought vpon neroes fears , wherby he brake the others neck . but to all this parte of enquierie , the most compendious waye resteth in three thinges : the first to haue generall acquaintaunce and in wardnesse with those which haue generall atquaintance , and looke most into the worlde : and speciallye according to the diuersitie of businesse , and the diuersitye of persons , to haue priuacye and conuersation with some one friend at least which is parfite and well intelligenced in euery seuerall kinde . the seconde is to keepe a good mediocritye in libertie of speeche , and secrecy : in most thinges libertye : secrecy where it importeth : for libertye of speeche inuiteth and prouoketh libertye to bee vsed againe : and so bringeth much to a mans knowledge : and secrecie on the other side induceth trust and inwardnesse . the last is the reducing of a mans selfe to this watchfull and serene habite , as to make accompte and purpose in euerye conference and action , aswell to obserue as to acte . for as epictetus would haue a philosopher in eue ry particular action to say to himselfe , et hoc volo , & etiam institutum seruare : so a politique man in euerye thing should say to himself ; et hoc volo , ac etiam aliquid addifcere . i haue staied the longer vpon thit precept of obtaining good information , because it is a maine part by it selfe , which aunswereth to all the rest . but aboue al things , caution must be taken , that men haue a good staye and houlde of themselues , and that this much knowing doe not draw on much medling : for nothing is more vnfortunate then light and rash intermeddling in many matters : so that this variety of knowledge tendeth in conclusion but onely to this , to make a better & freer choise of those actions , which may concern vs , & to conduct them with the lesse error and the more dexterity . the second precept concerning this knowledge is for men to take good informacion touching they re own person and well to vnderstand themselues : know , ing that as s. iames sayth , though men looke oft in a glasse , yet they do sodainly forget themselues , wherin as the diuine glasse is the word of god , so the politique glasse is the state of the world , or times wherin we liue : in the which we are to behould our selues . for men ought to take an vnpartiall viewe of their owne abilities and vertues : and againe of their wants and impediments ; accounting these with the most , & those other with the least , and from this view and examination to frame the considerations following . first to consider how the constitution of their nature sorteth with the generall state of the times : which if they find agreeable and fit , then in all things to giue themselues more scope and liberty , but if differing and dissonant , then in the whole course of theyr life to be more close retyred and reserued ; as we see in tyberius who was neuer seen at a play : and came not into the senate in 12. of his last yeers : whereas augustus caesar liued euer in mens eyes , which tacitus obserueth , alia tiberio morum via . secondly to consider how their nature sorteth with professions and courses of life , & accordingly to make election if they be free , and if ingaged , to make the departure at the first opportunity : as we see was doone by duke valentine , that was designed by his father to a sacerdotal profession , but quitted it soon after in regard of his parts and inclination being such neuerthelesse , as a man cannot tel wel whether they were worse for a prince or for a priest. thirdly to consider how they sorte with those whom they are like to haue competitors and concurrents and to take that course wherin there is most solitude , and themselues like to be most eminent : as caesar iulius did , who at first was an orator or pleader but when he saw the excellency of cicero , hortensius , catulus , and others for eloquence , and sawe there was no man of reputation for the warres but pompeius vpon whom the state was forced to relie ; he forsooke his course begun toward a ciuile and popular greatnesse ; and transgressed his designes to a marshall greatnesse . fourthly in the choyse of their friends , and dependaunces , to proceeed according to the composition of their own nature , as we may see in caesar , all whose friends and followers were men actiue and effectuall , but not solemn or of reputation . fiftly to take speciall heed how they guide them selues by examples , in thinking they can doe as they see others doe : whereas perhappes their natures and carriages are farre differing ; in which error , it seemeth pompey was , of whome cicero sayeth , that hee was woont often to saye : sylla potuit ; ego non potero ? wherein he was much abused , the natures and proceedinges of himselfe and his example , beeing the vnlikest in the worlde , the one being fierce , violent , and pressing the fact ; the other solemn , and full of maiesty and circumstance , and therefore the lesse effectuall . but this precept touching the politicke knowledge of our selues hath many other branches whereupon we cannot insist : next to the wellvnderstanding and discerning of a mans selfe , there followeth the well opening and reuealing a mans selfe , wherein we see nothing more vsuall then for the more able man to make the lesse shewe . for there is a greate aduantage in the well setting foorthe of a mans vertues , fortunes , merites , and againe in the artificiall couering of a mans weakenesses , defectes , disgraces , staying vpon the one slyding from the other , cherishing the one by circumstaunces , gracing the other by exposition , and the like ; wherein we see what tacitus sayth of mutianus , who was the greatest politique of his time , omnium quae dixerat fecer atque , arte quadam ostentator : which requireth indeed some arte , least it turne tedious and arrogant , but yet so ; as ostentation ( though it be to the first degree of vanity ) seemeth to me rather a vice in manners , then in policye ; for as it is sayd , audacter calumniari , semper aliquid haeret , so except it be in a ridiculous degree of deformity audacter te vendita semper aliquid haeret . for it will sticke with the more ignoraunt and inferiour sort of men , though men of wisedome and ranke doe smile at it and despife it , and yet the authority wonne with many , doth counteruaile the difdaine of a few . but if it be carried with decency and gouernement , as with a naturall pleasaunt and ingenious fashion , or at times when it is mixte with some perill and vnsafety , ( as in military persons ) or at tymes when others are most enuied ; or with easie and carelesse passage to it and from it , without dwelling too long , or being too serious : or with an equall freedome of taxing a mans selfe , aswell as gracing himselfe , or by occasion of repelling or putting downe others iniurye or insolencie : it doth greately adde to reputation ; and surelye not a fewe solide natures , that wante this ventositye , and cannot saile in the heighth of the windes , are not without some preiudice and disaduantage by they re moderacion . but for these flourishes and inhansements of vertue , as they are not perchaunce vnnecessary : so it is at leaste , necessary that vertue be not disualewed and imbafed vnder the iust price : which is doon in three manners ; by offering and obtruding a mans selfe ; wherein men thinke he is rewarded when he is accepted . by doing too much , which wil not giue that which is well done leaue to settle , and in the end induceth saciety : and : by finding to soone the fruit of a mans vertue , in commendation , applause , honour , fauoure , wherein if a man be pleased with a little , let him heare what is truly said , caue ne insuetus rebus maioribus videaris , si haec te res parua sicuti magna delectat : but the couering of defects is of no lesse importance , then the valewing of good parts . which may be doone likewise in three manners , by caution , by colour , and by confidence , caution is , when men doe ingeniously and discreetely auoyde to be put into those things for which they are not propper : wheras contrarywise bould and vnquiet spirits will thrust themselues into matters without difference , and so publish and proclaime all their wantes ; coloure is when men make a way for themselues , to haue a construction made of their faultes or wantes : as proceedinge from a better cause , or intended for some other purpose : for of the one , it is well sayde ; saepe latet vitium proximitateboni : and therefore whatsoeuer want a man hath , he must see , that he pretend the vertue that shadoweth it , as if he be dull , he must affect grauitie , if a cowarde , mildenesse , and so the rest : for the second , a man must frame some probable cause why he should not doe his best , and why he should dissemble his abilities : and for that purpose must vse to dissemble those abilities , which are notorious in him to giue colour that his true wants are but industries and dissimulations : for confidence it is the last but the surest remedie : namely to depresse and seeme to despise whatsoeuer a man cannot attaine , obseruing the good principle of the marchantes , who endeuour to raise the price of their owne commodities , and to beate down the price of others . but there is a confidence that passeth this other : which is to face out a mans own defects : in seeming to conceiue that he is best in those things wherein he is failing : and to help that againe , to seeme on the other side that he hath least opinion of himselfe , in those things wherein he is best : like as we shall see it commonly in poets , that if they shew their verses , and you except to any , they will say , that that lyne cost them more labour then any of the rest : and presently will seeme to disable , and suspect rather some other lyne , which they know well enough to be the best in the number . but aboue al in this righting and helping of a mans selfe in his owne carriage , he must take heed he shew not himselfe dismantelled and exposed to scorne and iniury , by too much dulcenesse , goodnesse , and facility of nature , but shew some sparkles of liberty , spirit , and edge . which kind of fortified cariage with a readye rescussing of a mans selfe from scornes , is somtimes of necessity imposed vpon men by somwhat in their person or fortune , but it euer succeedeth with good felicity . another precept of this knowledge is by all possible endeauour , to frame the mind to be pliaunt and obedient to occasion ; for nothing hindereth mens fortunes so much as this : idem manebat , nequeidem decebat : men are where thty were , when occasions turne , and therefore to cato , whom liuie maketh such an architect of fortune , hee addeth that he had versatile ingenium : and thereof it commeth that these graue solemne wittes which must be like themselues , and cannot make departures haue more dignity then foelicity : but in some it is nature to bee somewhat viscouse and inwrapped , and not easie to turne : in some it is a conceipte , that is almost a nature , which is that men can hardlie make themsel●…ns beleeue that they oughte to chaunge their course , when they haue found good by it in former experience . for macciaue noteth wisely how fabius maximus would haue been temporizing still , according to his ould biasse , when the nature of the warre was altered , and required hotte pursuite ; in some other it is want of point and penetration in their iudgemente , that they do not discerne when thinges haue a periode , but come in , too late after the occasion : as demosthenes compareth the people of athens to country fellowes , when they play in a fence-schoole , that if they haue a blow then they remooue their weapon to that warde , and not before : in some other it is a loathnesse to leese labours passed , and a conceite that they can bring about occasions to their plie , and yet in the end , when they see no other remedye , then they come to it with disaduantage , as tarquinius that gaue for the third part of sybillaes bookes the treeble price , when he mought at first haue had all three for the simple . but from whatsoeuer roote or cause this restiuenesse of mind proceedeth , it is a thing most preiudiciall , and nothing is more politique then to make the wheels of our mind concentrique and voluble with the wheels of fortune . another precept of this knowledge , which hath some affinity with that vvelast spake of , but with difference is that which is well expressed , satis accede deisque , that men do not only turne with the occasions but also runne with the occasions and not strain their credit or strength to ouer-harde or extreame points : but choose in their actions that which is most passable : for this will preserue men from foyle , not occupy them too much about one matter , winne opinion of moderation , please the moste , and make a showe of a perpetuall foelicitye in all they vndertake , which cannot but mightely increase reputation . another part of this knowledge seemeth to haue some repugnancy with the former two , but not as i vnderstand it , and it is that which demosthenes vttereth in high tearmes : et quemadmodum receptum est , vt exercitum ducat imperator : sic & a cordatis viris res ipsae ducendae , vt quae ipsis videntur , ea gerantur , & non ipsi euentus persequi cogantur . for if we obserue , we shall find two differing kinds of sufficiency , in managing of businesse : some can make vse of occasions aptly and dexterously , but plotte little : some can vrge and pursue their owne plottes well , but cannot accommodate nor take in : either of vvhich is very vnperfite without the other . another part of this knowledge is the obseruing a good mediocrity in the declaring or not declaring a mans selfe , for although depth of secrecy , and making way ( qualis est via ●…uis in mari , which the french calleth sourdes menees , when men set thinges in worke without opening themselues at all ) be somtimes both prosperous and admirable : yet many times dissimulatio errores parit , qni dissimulatorem ipsam illaqueant . and therefore we see the greatest pollitiques haue in a naturall and free manner professed their desires , rather then bin reserued and disguised in them . for so we see that lucius sylla made a kind of profession , that hee wished all men happy or vnhappie as they stood his friendes or enemies : so caesar , when hee went first into gaul , made no scruple to professe , that hee had rather bee first in a village , then second at rome . so againe as soone as hee had begunne the warre , we see what cicero sayth of him , alter ( meaning of coesar ) non recusat , sed quodam modo postulat , vt ( vt est ) sic appelletur tyrannus . so we may see in a letter of cicero to atticus , that augustus caesar in his very entrance into affaires , when he was a dearling of the senate , yet in his harauges to the people , would sweare it a parentis honores consequi liceat , ( which was no lesse then the tyranny , ) saue that to helpe it , hee would stretch foorth his hand towardes a statua of caesars , that was erected in the place : and men laughed and woondered and sayde , is it possible , or did you euer heare the like , and yet though hee meant no hurte , hee did it so handsomlye and ingenuouslye , and all these were prosperous , where as pompeye who tended to the same ends , but in a more darke and dissembling manner , as tacitus sayeth of him , occultior non melior , wherein salust concurreth ore probo , animo inuerecundo made it his disseigne by infinite secret engines , to cast the state into an absolute anarchy and confusion , that the state mought cast it selfe into his armes for necessity and protection , and so the soueraigne power bee putt vpon him , and he neuer seene in it : and when hee had broughte it ( as he thoughte ) to that pointe when hee was chosen consull alone ; as neuer any , was ; yet hee could make noe greate matter of it , because men vnderstoode him not : but was faine in the end , to goe the beaten tracke of getting armes into his handes , by coulour of 〈◊〉 the doubte of caesars dessignes : so tedidious , casuall , and vnfortunate are these deepe dissimulations , whereof it seemeth tacitus made this iudgement , that they were a cunning of an inferiour fourme in regard of true pollicy , attributing the one to augustus , the other to tiberius , where speaking of liuia , he sayth : et cum ariibus mariti simulatione filij bene composita : for surely the continuall habite of dissimulation is but a weake and sluggish cunning , & not greatly politique . another precept of this architecture of fortune , is , to accustome our mindes to iudge of the proportion or valewe of things , as they conduce , and are materiall to our particular ends , and that to doe substantially and nor superficially . for wee shall finde the logicall parte ( as i maye tearme it ) of some mens mindes good , but the mathematicall part erroneous , that is , they can well iudge of consequences , but not of proportions and comparison , preferring things of shewe and sencebefore things of substance and effect . so some fall in loue with accesse to princes , others with popular same and applause , supposinge they are things of greate purchase , when in many cases they are but matters of enuy , perill , and impediment : so some measure thinges accordinge to the labour and difficulty , or affiduity , which are spent aboute them ; and thinke if they bee euer moovinge , that they must needs aduance and proceede , as caesar saith in a dispisinge manner of cato the second , when hee describeth howe ●…orious and indefatigable he was to noe greate purpose : haec omnia magno fludio agebat . so in moste thinges men are ready to abuse themselues in thinking the greatest means to be best , when it should bee the fittest . as for the true marshalling of mens pursutes towards theire fortune as they are more or lesse materiall , i houlde them to stand thus ; firste the amendment of their own minds . for the remooue of the impediments of the mind wil sooner cleare the passages of fortune , then the obteininge fortune wil remooe the impediméts of the mind ; in secōd place i set downe wealth and meanes , which i know most men woulde haue placed firste : because of the generall vse which it beareth towardes all varietie of occasions . but that opinion i may condemne with like reason as macchiauell doth that other : that monies weretl●…e sinews of the warres , wheras ( saith he ) the true sinews of the warres are the sinews of mens armes , that is a valiant , populous and military nation : & he voucheth aptly the authority of solon who when craesus shewed him his treasury of goalde saide to him , that if another came that had better iron , he woulde be maister o●… his gould in like manner it may be truly affirmed , that it is not monies that are the sinews of fortune , but it is the sinews and steele of mens mynds , witte , courage , audacity , resolution , temper , industry , and the like : in thirde place i set down reputation , because of the peremptory tides & currants it hath , which if they bee not taken in their due time , are sildome recouered , it beinge extreame harde to plaie an after game of reputation . and lastly , i place honoure , which is more easily wonne by any of the other three , much more by all , then any of them can bee purchased by honour . to conclude this precepte , as there is order and priority in matter , so is there in time , the proposterous placing whereof is one of the commonest errors : while men fly to their ends when they shoulde intend their beginninings : and doe not take things in order of time as they come on , but marshall them according to greatnes and not according to instance , not obseruing the good precepte quod nunc instat agamus . another precept of this knowledge is , not to imbrace any matters , which doe occupie to great a quantity of time , but to haue that sounding in a mans eares . sed fugit interea , fugit irreparabile tempus , and that is the cause why those which take their course of rising by professions of burden , as lawyers , orators painefull diuines , and the like , are not commonlie so politique for their owne fortune , otherwise then in their ordinary way , because they want time to learne particulars , to waite occasions , and to deuise plottes . another precept of this knowledge is to imitate nature which doth nothing in vaine , which surely a man may do , if he do well interlace his businesse , and bend not his mind too much vpon that which he prin cipally intendeth . for a man ought in euery particular action , so to carry the motions of his mind , and so to haue one thing vnder another , as if he cannot haue that he seeketh in the best degree , yet to haue it in a second , or so in a third , and if he can haue no parte of that which he purposed , yet to turn the vse of it to sōwhat els , and if he cannot make any thing of it for the present , yet to make it as a seed of somwhat in time to come , and if he can contriue no effect or substaunce from it , yet to win som good opinion by it , or the like so that he should exact an account of himself of euery action , to reape somwhat , and not to stand amazed and confused if he saile of that he chiefly meant : for nothing is more impollitique then to mind actions wholly one by one . for he that dooth so , leeseth infinite occasions which enterveine , and are many times more proper and propitious for somewhat , that he shall need afterwards : then for that which he vrgeth for the present ; and therfore men must be parfite in that rule : haec oportet facere , & illa non omittere . another precept of this knowledge is , not to ingage a mans selfe peremptorily in any thing , though it seem not liable to accident , but euer to haue a window to flie out at , or away to retyre ; following the wisedom in the ancient fable , of the two frogs , which consulted when their plash was drie , whether they should go and the one mooued to go down into a pit because it was not likely the water would dry there , but the other answered , true , but if it do , how shall we get out againe ? another precept of this knowledge is that ancient precept of bias , construed not to any point of perfidiousnesse , but only to caution and moderation et ama tanquam inimicus suturus , & odi tanquam amaturus : for it vtterly betraieth al vtility , for mē to imbarque them selues to far , into vnfortunate friendships : troublesom spleans ; & childish & humorous enuies or aemulatiōs . but i continue this beyond the measure of an example , led , because i wold not haue such knowledges which i note as deficient to be thought things imaginatiue , or in the ayre ; or an obseruation or two , much made of but thinges of bulke and masse : whereof an end is hardlier made , then a beginning . it must be likewise conceiued that in these pointes which i mencion and set downe , they are far from complete tractates of them : but onelye as small peeces for patternes : and lastlye , no man i suppose will thinke , that i meane fortunes are not obteyned without all this adoe ; for i know they come tumblinge into some mens lappes , and a nomber obtaine good fortunes by dilligence , in a plaine way : little intermedlinge : and keeping themselues from grosse errors . but as cicero when he setteth down an idea of a parfit orator , doth not mean that euery pleader should be such ; and so likewise , when a prince or a courtier hath been described by such as haue handled those subiects , the mould hath vsed to be made accordinge to the perfectiō of the arte , and not according to cō mon practise : so i vnderstand it that it ought to be done in the description of a pollitique man. i meane pollitique for his owne fortune . but it must be remembred al this while , that the precepts which we haue set down , are of thatkind which may be coūted & called bonae artes , as for euill arts , if a man would set down for himselfe that principle of machiauel : that a man seeke not to attaine vertue it selfe : but the apparance onely thereof , because the credite of vertue is a helpe , but the vse of it is cumber : or that other of his principles : that he presuppose , that men are not fitly to be wrought otherwise but by feare , and therefore that he seeke to haue euery mā obnoxius , lowe , & in streight which the italiās cal seminar spine , to sowe thornes : or that other principle cōteined in the verse which cice ro cyteth cadant amici , dūmodo inimici intercidāt , as the trium virs which fould euery one to other the liues of their friends for the deaths of theire enemiees : or that other protestation of l. catilina to set on fire & trouble states , to the end to fish in droumy waters , & to vnwrappe their fortunes . ego si quid in fortunis meis excitatum sit incendium , id non aqua sed ruina restinguam , or that other principle of lysāder that childrē are to be deceiued with cōfittes , & men with othes , & the like euil and corrupt positions , whereof ( as in al things ) there are more in number then of the good : certainly with these dispensations from the lawes of charity & integryty the pressing of a mans fortune , may be more ha sty and compendious . but it is in life , as it is in ways the shortest way is comonly the fowlest & surely the fairer way is not much about . but men if they be in their own power & doe beare & sustaine themselues , and bee not caryed awaye with a whirle winde or tempest of ambition : oughte in the pursute of their owne fortune , to set before their eies , not only that general map of the world . that al things are vanity & vexatiō of spirit , but many other more par ticular cards & directiōs , cheefly that , that being , without wel being : is a curse ; & the greater being , the greater curse , and that all vertue is most rewarded , & al wickednesse most punished in it selfe : according as the poet saith excellently . quae vobis que digna viri , pro laudibus istis premia posse rear solui ? pulcherrima primum dij moresque dabunt vestri : and so of the contrary . and secondly they oughte to looke vp to the eternal prouidence and diuine iudgemente , which often subuerteth the wisdome of euyll plots & imaginations , according to that scripture he hath conceiued mischiefe & shal bring soorth a vainething and although men should refraine themselues from iniury and euil artes , yet this incessant & sabbathlesse pursute of a mans fortune , leaueth not tribute which we owe to god of our time who ( we see ) demandeth a tenth of our substāce , & a seauenth , which is more strict of our time : and it is 〈◊〉 to smal purpose to haue an erected face towards heauē , & a perpetual groueling spirit vpon earth eating dust as doth the serpent , atque affigit humo diuinae particulam aurae : and if any mā flatter himself that he will imploy his fortune wel , though he shold obtain it ill , as was said concerning aug. caesar , & after of septimius seuerus , that either they shold neuer haue bin born or else they shold nener haue died , they did so much mischief in the pursut & ascētof their greatnes , & so much good when they were established yet these cōpensations & satisfactions , are good to be vsed , but neuer good to be purposed : and lastly it is not amisse for mē in their race toward their fortuneto cooll thēselues a litle with that cōceit which is elegāt ly expressed bythe emperor , charls the 5. in his instruc tiōs to the k. his son , that fortune hath sowhat of the nature of a womā , that if she be too much woed , she is the farder of . but this last is but a remedy for those whose tasts are corrupted : let mē rather build vpo that foūdation which is as a cornerstone of diuinity and philosophie , wherein they ioyne close , namely that same primum quaerite . for diuinity sayth primum quaerite regnū dei & ista omnia ad●…iciētur vobis : & philosophy saith , primū quaerite bona animi , coetera aut aderunt , aut non oberunt . and although the humane foundation hath somewhat of the same , as we see in m : brutus when hee brake forth into that speech . — te colui ( virtus ) vt rem : ast tu nomen inane es ; yet the diuine foundation is vpon the rocke . but this may serue for a tast of that knowledge which i noted as deficient . concerning gouernment , it is a part of knowledge , secret and retyred in both these respects , in which things are deemed secret : for some things are secret , because they are hard to know , and some because they are not fit to vtter : wee see all gouernments are obscure and inuisible . — totamque infusa per artus , mens agitat molem , & magno corpore miscet . such is the description of gouernments ; we see the gouernmēt of god ouer the world is hidden ; insomuch as it seemeth to participate of much irregularitie and confusion ; the gouernment of the soule in moouing the body is inward and profound , and the passages therof hardly to be reduced to demonstration . againe , the wisedome of antiquitie ( the shadowes whereof are in the poets ) in the description of torments and paines , next vnto the crime of rebellion , which was the giants offence , doth detest the offence offacilitie : as in sysiphus and tantalus . but this was meant of particulars ; neuerthelesse euen vnto the generall rules and discourses of pollicie , and gouernment , there is due a reuerent and reserued handling . but contrariwise in the gouernors towards the gouerned , all things ought as far as the frailtie of man permitteth , to be manifest , & reuealed . for so it is expressed in the scriptures touching the gouernment of god , that this globe which seemeth to vs a dark and shady body is in the view of god , as christall , et in conspectu sedis tanquā mare vitreū simile christallo . so vnto princes and states , and specially towardes wise senats and councels , the natures and dispositions of the people , their conditions , and necessities , their factions and combinations , their animosities and discontents ought to be in regard of the varietie of their intelligences , the wisedome of their obseruations , and the height of their station , where they keepe centinell , in great part cleare and transparent ; wherefore , considering that i write to a king that is a maister of this science , and is so wel assisted , i thinke it decent to passe ouer this part in silēce , as willing to obtaine the certificate , which one of the ancient philosophers aspired vnto , who being silent , when others contended to make demonstration of their abilities by speech , desired it mought ●…e certified for his part , that there was one that knewe how to hold his peace . notwithstanding for the more publique part of gouernment , which is lawes , i think good to note onley one deficience , which is , that all those which haue writtē of lawes , haue written either as philosophers , or as lawiers , & none as statesmen . as for the philosophers , they make imaginary lawes for imaginary cōmon-wealths , & their discourses are as the stars , which giue little light because they are so high . for the lawyers , they write according to the states where they liue , what is receiued law , & not what ought to be law ; for the wisedome of a law-maker is one , & of a lawyer is another . for ther are in nature certaine fountaines of iustice , whence all ciuil lawes are deriued , but as streames ; & like as waters doe take tinctures and tastes from the soyles through which they run ; so doe ciuill lawes vary according to the regions and gouernments where they are plāted , though they proceed from the same fountaines ; againe the wisedome of a lawmaker consisteth not onely in a platforme of iustice ; but in the application thereof , taking into consideration , by what meanes lawes may be made certaine , and what are the causes & remedies of the doubtfulnesse and incertaintie of law , by what meanes lawes may be made apt and easie to be executed , and what are the impediments , and remedies in the execution of lawes , what influence lawes touching priuate right of meum & tuum , haue into the publike state , and how they may be made apt and agreable , how lawes are to be penned and deliuered , whether in texts or in acts , briefe or large , with preambles , or without howe they are to bee pruned and reformed from time to time , and what is the best meanes to keepe them frō being too vast in volumes , or too ful of multiplicitie & crosnesse , how they are to be expounded , when vpon causes emergent , and iudicially discussed , and when vpon responses and conferences touching generall points or questions , how they are to be pressed , rigorously , or tenderly , how they are to be mitigated by equitie and good conscience , and whether discretion and strict lawe are to be mingled in the same courts , or kept a part in seuerall courts ; againe , how the practise , profession , and erudition of lawe is to be censured and gouerned , and many other points touching the administration , and ( as i may tearme it ) animation of lawes . vpon which i insist the lesse , because i purpose ( if god giue me leaue ) hauing begunne a worke of this nature , in aphorismes , to propound it hereafter , noting it in the meane time for deficient . and for your maiesties lawes of england , i could say much of their dignitie , and somewhat of their defect : but they cannot but excell the ciuill lawes in fitnesse for the gouernment : for the ciuill law was , non hos quaesitum munus in vsus : it was not made for the countries which it gouerneth : hereof i cease to speake , because i will not intermingle matter of action , with matter of generall learning . thus haue i concluded this portion of learning touching ciuill knowledge , & with ciuill knowledge haue concluded hvmane philosophy and with humane philosophy , philosophy in general ; and being now at some pause , looking backe into that i haue passed through : this writing seemeth to me ( si nunquam sailit imago ) as farre as a man can iudge of his owne worke , not much better then that noise or sound which musitiās make while they are in tuning their instrumēts , which is nothing pleasāt to hear , but yet is a cause why the musique is sweeter afterwardes . so haue i beene content to tune the instruments of the muses , that they may play , that haue better hands . and surely when i set before me the condition of these times , in which learning hath made her third visitation , or circuite in all the qualities thereof : as the excellencie and viuacitie of the wits of this age ; the noble helpes and lights which we haue by the trauailes of ancient writers : the art of printing , which communicateth bookes to men of all fortunes . the opēnesse of the world by nauigation , which hath disclosed multitudes of experiments , and a masse of naturall history : the leasure wherwith these times abound , not imploying men so generally in ciuill businesse , as the states of graecia did , in respect of their popularitie , and the state of rome in respect of the greatnesse of their monarchie : the present disposition of these times at this instant to peace : the consumption of all that euer can be said in controuersies of religiō , which haue so much diuerted men from other sciences : the perfection of your maj : learning , which as a phoenix may call whole volyes of wits to followe you , and the inseparable proprietie of time , which is euer more and more to disclose truth : i cannot but be raised to this perswasion , that this third period of time will farre surpasse that of the graecian and romane learning : onely if men will know their own strength , and their owne weakenesse both : and take one from the other , light of inuention , and not fire of contradiction , and esteeme of the inquisition of truth , as of an enterprise , & not as of a qualitie or ornament , & imploy wit and magnificence to things of worth & excellencie , & not to things vulgar , and of popular estimation . as for my labors , if any man shall please himselfe , or others in the reprehension of them ; they shall make that ancient and patient request , ver bera , sed audi . let men reprehend them so they obserue and waigh them : for the appeale is lawfull ( though it may be it shall not be needefull ) from the first cogitations of men to their second , & from the neerer times , to the times further of . now let vs come to that learning , which both the former times were not so blessed as to knowe , sacred & inspired diuinitie , the sabaoth and port of all mens labours and peregrinations . the prerogatiue of god extendeth as well to the reason as to the will of man ; so that as we are to obey his law though we finde a reluctatiō in our wil●… so we are to belieue his word , though we finde a reluctation in our reason : for if we beleeue onely that which is agreeable to our sence , we giue consent to the matter , and not to the author , which is no more then we would doe towards a suspected and discredited witnesse : but that faith which was accounted to abraham for righteousnesse was of such a point , as where at sarah laughed , who therein was an image of naturall reason . howbeit ( if we will truly consider of it ) more worthy it is to belieue , then to knowe as we now know ; for in knowledge mans mind suffereth from sence , but in beliefe it suffereth from spirit , such one as it holdeth for more authorised then it selfe , & so suffereth from the worthier agent : otherwise it is of the state of man glorified , for then faith shal cease , & we shall knowe as we are knowne . wherefore we conclude that sacred theologie ( which in our idiome we call diuinitie ) is grounded onely vpon the word & oracle of god , and not vpon the light of nature : for it is written , caelienarrāt gloriam dei : but it is not written caelienarrant voluntatem dei : but of that it is said ; ad legem & testimonium si non fecerint secundū verbum istud &c. this holdeth not onely in those points of faith , which concerne the great misteries of the deitie , of the creation , of the redemption , but likewise those which concerne the law moral truly interpreted ; loue your enemies , doe good to thē that hate you . be like to your heauenly father , that suffereth his raine to fal vpon the iust & vniust . to this it ought to be applauded , nec vox hominē sonat , it is a voice beyond the light of nature : so we see the heathen poets when they fall vpon a libertine passion , doe still expostulate with lawes and moralities , as if they were opposite and malignant to nature : et quod natura remitti●… , invida iura negant : so said dendamis the indian vnto alexanders messengers : that he had heard somewhat of pythagoras , and some other of the wise men of graecia , and that he held them for excellent men : but that they had a fault , which was that they had in too great reuerence and veneration a thing they called lawe and manners : so it must be confessed that a great part of the lawe morall is of that perfection , whereunto the light of nature cannot aspire : how then is it , that man is saide to haue by the light and lawe of nature some notions , and conceits of vertue and vice , iustice & wrong , good and euill ? thus , because the light of nature is vsed in two seuerall senses : the one , ●…at which springeth from reason , sense , induction , argument , according to the lawes of heauen and earth : the other that which is imprinted vpon the spirit of man by an inward instinct , according to the lawe of conscience , which is a sparkle of the puritie of his first estate : in which later sense onely , he is participant of some light , and discerning : touching the perfection of the morall lawe : but how ? sufficient to check the vice , but not to informe the dutie . so then the doctrine of religion , as well m●…all as misticall , is not to be attained , but by inspiration and reuelation from god. the vse notwithstanding of reason in spirituall things , and the latitude thereof is very great and generall : for it is not for nothing , that the apostle calleth religion our reasonable seruice of god , insomuch as the verie ceremonies and figures of the oulde lawe were full of reason and signification , much more then the ceremonies of idolatrie and magicke , that are full of non-significants and surde characters ; but most specially the christian faith , as in all things , so in this deserueth to be highly magnified , houlding and preseruing the golden mediocritie in this point , betweene the law of the heathen , and the law of mahumet , which haue embraced the two extreames . for the religion of the heathen had no constant beleefe or confession , but left all to the libertie of argument : and the religion of mahumet on the otherside , interdicteth argument altogether ; the one hauing the verie face of errour : and the other of imposture ; whereas the faith doth both admit and reiect disputation with difference . the vse of humane reason in religion , is of two sorts : the former in the conception and apprehension of the mysteries of god to vs reuealed ; the other , in the inferring and deriuing of doctrine and direction thervpon : the former extendeth to the mysteries themselues : but how ? by way of illustration , and not by way of argument . the later consisteth indeed of probation and argument . in the former wee see god vouch safeth to descend to our capacitie , in the expressing of his misteries in sort as may bee sensible vnto vs : and doth grifte his reuelations & holie doctrine vpon the notions of our reason , and applyeth his inspiratiōs to open our vnderstāding , as the forme of the key to the ward of the locke ; for the later , there is allowed vs an vse of reason , and argument , secondarie and respectiue ; although not originall and absolute : for after the articles and principles of religion are placed and exempted from examination of reason : it is then permitted vnto vs to make deriuations and inferences from , and according to the analogie of them , for our better direction . in nature this holdeth not , for both the principles are examinable by induction , though not by a medium or sillogisme : and besides those principles or first positions , haue noe discordance with that reason which draweth downe and diduceth the inferiour positions . but yet it holdeth not in religion alone , but in many knowledges both of greater and smaller nature , namely wherin there are not onely posita but placita , for in such there can be noe vse of absolute reason , we see it familiarly in games of wit , as chesse , or the like ; the draughts and first lawes of the game are positiue , but how ? meerely ad placitum , and not examinable by reason ; but then how to direct our play thereupon with best aduantage to winne the game , is artificiall and rationall . so in humane lawes , there be many groundes and maximes , which are placita iuris , positiue vpon authoritie and not vpon reason , and therefore not to be disputed : but what is most iust , not absolutely , but relatiuely , and according to those maximes , that affordeth along field of disputation . such therfore is that secōdarie reason , which hath place in diuinitie , which is grounded vpon the placets of god. here therefore i note this deficience , that there hath not bin to my vnderstanding sufficiently enquired & handled , the true limits and vse of reason in spirituall things : as a kinde of diuine dialectique , which for that it is not done , it seemethto me a thing vsuall , by pretext of true conceiuing that , which is reuealed , to search and mine into that which is not reuealed , and by pretext of enucleating inferences and contradictories , to examine that which is positiue : the one sort falling into the error of nicodemus , demanding to haue things made more sensible then it pleaseth god to reueale them ; quomodo possit homo nasci cum sit senex ? the other sort into the error of the disciples , which were scandalized at a shew of contradiction : quid est hoc quod dicit nobis , modicum , & non videbitis me , & iterum modicum , & videbitis me &c. vpon this i haue insisted the more , in regard of the great and blessed vse thereof , for this point well laboured and defined of , would in my iudgement be an opiate to staie and bridle not onely the vanitie of curious speculatiōs , wherewith the schooles labour but the furie of cōtrouersies , wherewith the church laboureth . for it cannot but open mens eyes to see that many controuersies doe meerely pertaine to that which is either not reuealed or positiue , and that many others doe growe vpon weake and obscure inferences or deriuations which latter sort of men would reviue the blessed stile of that great doctor of the gentiles , would bee carryed thus : ego , non dominus , and againe secundum consilium meum , in opinions and counsells , and not in positions and oppositions . but men are nowe ouer readie to vsurpe the stile . non ego , sed dominus , and not so only , but to binde it with the thunder and denunciation of curses , and anathemaes , to the terror of those which haue not sufficiently learned out of salomon , that the causelesse curse shall not come . diuinitie hath two principall parts : the matter informed or reuealed : and the nature of the information or reuelation : and with the later wee will beginne : because it hath most coherence with that which wee haue now last handled . the nature of the information consisteth of three braunches : the limites of the information ; the sufficiencie of the information ; and the acquiring or obtaining the information . vnto the limits of the information belong these considerations : howe farre forth particular persons continue to bee inspired : how farre forth the church is inspired : and howe farre forth reason may be vsed ; the last point wherof i haue noted as deficient . vnto the sufficiency of the information belong two considerations , what points of religion are foundamentall , & what perfectiue , beeing matter of founder building and perfection vpon one , and the same foundation : and againe how the gradations of light according to the dispensation of times , are materiall to the sufficiencie of beleefe . here againe i may rather giue it in aduise , then note it as deficient , that the points foundamentall , and the points of further perfection onely ought to bee with piety and wisedome distinguished : a subiect tending to much like ende , as that i noted before : for as that other were likely to abate the nomber of controuersies : so this is like to abate the heate of manie of them . wee see moses when he sawe the israelite and the egyptian fight , hee did not say , why striue you ? but drew his sworde , and slewe the egyptian : but when hee sawe the two israelites fight , hee said , you are brethren , why striue you ? if the point of doctrine bee an egyptian , it must bee slaine by the sword of the spirit , and not reconciled . but if it be an israelite , though in the wrong : then why striue you . we see of the foundamentall points , our sauiour penneth the league thus , hee that is not with vs is against vs , but of points not fundamentall , thus hee that is not against vs , is with vs. so wee see the coate of our sauiour was entier without seame , and so is the doctrine of the scriptures in it selfe : but the gouernment of the churche was of diuers colours , and yet not deuided : wee see the chaffe may and ought to be seuered from the corne in the eare : but the tares may not be pulled vp from the corne in the field : so as it is a thing of great vse well to define , what , and of what latitude those points are , which doe make men meerely aliens and disincorporate from the church of god. for the obtaining of the information , it resteth vpon the true & sound interpretation of the scriptures which are the fountaines of the water of life . the interpretations of the scriptures are of two sorts : methodical , and solute , or at large , for this diuine water which excelleth so much that of iacobs well , is drawne forth much in the same kinde , as naturall water vseth to bee out of wells and fountaines : either it is first forced vp into a cesterne and from thence fetcht and deriued for vse : or else it is drawne and receiued in buckets and vessels immediately where it springeth . the former sort whereof though it seeme to bee the more readie , yet in my iudgement is more subiect to corrupt . this is that methode which hath exhibited , vnto vs the scholasticall diuinitie , whereby diuinity hath bin reduced into an art , as into a cesterne , & the streames of doctrine or positions fetcht and deriued from thence . in this , men haue sought three things , a summarie breuitie , a compacted strength , and a compleate perfection : whereof the two first they faile to finde , and the last they ought not to seeke . for as to breuitie , wee see in all summarie methodes , while men purpose to abridge , they giue cause to dilate . for the summe or abridgement by contraction becommeth obscure , the obscuritie requireth exposition , and the exposition is diduced into large comentaries , or into common places , and titles , which growe to be more vast then the originall writings , whence the summe was at first extracted . so we see the volumes of the schoole-men are greater much then the first writings of the fathers , whence the maister of the sentēces made his summe or collection . so in like manner the volumes of the modern doctors of the ciuil law exceed those of the ancient iurisconsults , of which tribonian compiled the digest . so as this course of summes & cōmentaries is that which doth infallibly make the body of sciēces more immense in quantitie , and more base in substance . and for strength , it is true , that knowledges reduced into exact methodes haue a shew of strength , in that each part seemeth to support & sustaine the other : but this is more satisfactorie then substantiall , like vnto buildings , which stand by architecture , and compaction , which are more subiect to ruine , then those that are built more stronge in their seuerall parts though lesse compacted . but it is plaine , that the more you recede from your grounds , the weaker doe you conclude , & as in nature , the more you remoue your selfe from particulars , the greater peril of error you doe incur : so , much more in diuinitie , the more you recede from the scriptures by inferences and consequences , the more weake and dilute are your positions . and as for perfection , or compleatnes in diuinitie it is not to be sought , which makes this course of artificiall diuinitie the more suspecte : for hee that will reduce a knowledge into an art , will make it round and uniforme : but in diuinitie manie things must bee left abrupt and concluded with this : o altitudo sapientiae & scientiae dei , quam incomprehensibilia sunt iudicia eius , & non inuestigabiles viae eius ? so againe the apostle saith , eu parte scimus , and to haue the forme of a totall , where there is but matter for a part , cannot bee without supplies by supposition and presumption . and therefore i conclude , that the true vse of these summes and methods hath place in institutions or introductions , preparatorie vnto knowledge : but in them , or by diducement from them , to handle the mayne bodie and substance of a knoweledge ; is in all sciences preiudiciall , and in diuinitie dangerous . as to the interpretation of the scriptures solute and at large , there haue beene diuers kindes introduced & deuised , some of them rather ruinous and vnsafe , then sober and warranted . notwithstāding thus much must be confessed , that the scriptures being giuen by inspiration , and not by humane reason , doe differ from all other books in the author : which by , consequence doth drawe on some difference to be vsed by the expositor . for the inditer of them did knowe foure things which noe man attaines to knowe , which are the misteries of the kingdome of glorie ; the perfection of the lawes of nature : the secrets of the heart of man : and the future succession of all ages . for as to the first , it is said . he that presseth into the light , shall be oppressed of the glorie . and againe , noe man shall see my face and liue . to the second , when he prepared the heauens i was present , when by lawe and compasse he enclosed the deepe . to the third , neither was it needefull that any should beare witnesse to him of man , for he knewe well what was in man. and to the last , from the beginning are knowne to the lord all his workes . from the former two of these haue beene drawne certaine senses and expositions of scriptures , which had need be contained within the bounds of sobrietie ; the one anagogicall , and the other philosophicall . but as to the former , man is not to preuent his time ; videmus nune per speculum in aenigmate , tunc autem facie adfaciem , wherein neuerthelesse there seemeth to be a libertie graunted , as farre forth as the polishing of this glasse , or some moderate explication of this aenigma . but to presse too farre into it cannot but cause a dissolution and ouerthrowe of the spirite of man. for in the body there are three degrees of that we receiue into it : aliment medecine and poyson whereof aliment is that which the nature of man can perfectly alter & ouercom : medecine is that which is partly conuerted by nature , & partly conuerteth nature : & poyson is that which worketh wholy vpon nature without that , that nature can in any part worke vpon it . so in the minde whatsoeuer knowledge reason cannot at all worke vpon & conuert , is a meere intoxication and indangereth a dissolution of the minde & vnderstanding . but for the latter , it hath beene extreamely set on foote of late time by the schoole of paracelsus , and some others , that haue pretended to finde the truth of all naturall philosophy in the scriptures ; scandalizing and traducing all other philosophie : as heathenish and prophane : but there is noe such enmitie betweene gods word , and his workes . neither doe they giue honour to the scriptures , as they suppose , but much imbase them . for to seeke heauen and earth in the word of god , whereof it is saide , heauen and earth shall passe , but my worde shall not passe , is to seeke temporary things amongst eternall ; and as to seeke diuinitie in philosophy , is to seeke the liuing amongst the dead ; so to seeke philosophy in diuinitie is to seek the dead amongst the liuing ; neither are the pots or lauers , whose place was in the outward part of the temple to be sought in the holiest place of all ; where the arke of the testimonie was seated . and againe the scope or purpose of the spirit of god is not to expresse matters of nature in the scriptures , otherwise then in passage , and for application to mans capacitie and to matters morall or diuine . and it is a true rule , authoris aliud agentis parua authoritas . for it were a strange conclusion , if a man should vse a similitude for ornament or illustration sake , borrowed from nature or historie , according to vulgar conceit , as of a basiliske , an vnicorne , a centaure , a briareus , an hydra or the like , that therefore hee must needes bee thought to affirme the matter thereof positiuely to be true ; to conclude therefore these two interpretations , the one by reduction or aenigmaticall , the other philosophicall or phisicall , which haue beene receiued and pursued in imitation of the rabbins and cabalists , are to be confined with a noli altum sapere , sed time . but the two later points knowne to god , and vnknowne to man ; touching the secrets of the heart , and the successions of time : doth make a iust and sound difference betweene the manner of the exposition of the scriptures : and all other bookes . for it is an excellent obseruation which hath beene made vpon the answeres of our sauiour christ to many of the questions which were propounded to him , how that they are impertinent to the state of the question demanded , the reason whereof is , because not being like man , which knowes mans thoughts by his words , but knowing mans thoughts immediately , hee neuer answered their words , but their thoughts : much in the like manner it is with the scriptures , which being written to the thoughts of men , and to the succession of all ages , with a foresight of all heresies , coatradictions , differing estates of the church , yea , and particularly of the elect , are not to be interpreted only according to the latitude of the proper sense of the place , and respectiuely towardes that present occasion , whereupon the wordes were vttered ; or in precise congruitie or contexture with the wordes before or after , or in contemplation of the principall scope of the place , but haue in themselues not onely totally , or collectiuely , but distributiuely in clauses and wordes , infinite springs and streames of doctrine to water the church in euerie part , and therefore as the literall sense is as it were the maine streame or riuer : so the morall sense chiefely , and sometimes the allegoricall or typicall are they whereof the church hath most vse : not that i wish men to be bold in allegories , or indulgent or light in allusions : but that i doe much condemne that interpretation of the scripture , which is onely after the manner as men vse to interprete a prophane booke . in this part touching the exposition of the scriptures , i can report noe deficience ; but by way of remembrance this i will adde , in perusing bookes of diuinitie , i finde many bookes of controuersies , and many of common places and treatises , a masse of positiue diuinitie , as it is made an arte : a number of sermons and lectures , and many prolixe commentaries vpon the scriptures with harmonies and concordances : but that forme of writing in diuinitie , which in my iudgement is of all others most rich and precious ; is positiue diuinitie collected vpon particular texts of scriptures in briefe obseruations , not dilated into common places : not chaseing after controuersies , not reduced into methode of art , a thing abounding in sermons , which will vanish , but defectiue in bookes which wil remaine , and a thing wherin this age excelleth . for i am perswaded , and i may speake it , with an absit invidia verbo , and no waies in derogation of antiquitie but as in a good emulation betweene the vine and the oliue , that if the choise , and best of those obseruations vpon texts of scriptu●…es which haue beene made dispersedly in sermons within this your maiesties ilands of brittanie by the space of these fortie yeares and more ( leauing out the largenesse of exhortations and applications thereupon ) had beene set downe in a continuance , it had beene the best worke in diuinitie , which had beene written since the apostles times . the matter informed by diuinitie is of two kinds , matter of beliefe , and truth of opinion : and matter of seruice , and adoration ; which is also iudged and directed by the former : the one being as the internall soule of religion , & the other as the externall body thereof : & therfore the heathen religion was not onely a worship of idolls , but the whole religion was an idoll in it selfe , for it had noe soule that is , no certaintie of belief or confession , as a man may well thinke , considering the chiefe doctors of their church were the poets , and the reason was , because the heathen gods were noe iealous gods , but were glad to be admitted into part , as they had reasō . neither did they respect the purenesse of hart , so they mought haue externall honour and rites . but out of these two doe result and issue foure maine branches of diuinitie ; faith , manners , lyturgie , and gouernment : faith containeth the doctrine of the nature of god , of the attributes of god , and of the workes of god ; the nature of god consisteth of three persons in vnitie of god-head ; the attributes of god are either common to the deitie , or respectiue to the persons ; the workes of god summarie are two , that of the creation , and that of the redemption : and both these workes , as in totall they appertaine to the vnitie of the god-head : so in their parts they referre to the three persons : that of the creation in the masse of the matter to the father , in the disposition of the forme to the sonne , and in the continuance and conseruation of the being to the holy spirit : so that of the redemptiō , in the election and counsell to the father , in the whole act and consūmation , to the sonne : and in the application to the holy spirit : for by the holy ghost was christ conceiued in flesh , and by the holy ghost are the elect regenerate in spirite . this worke likewise we consider either effectually in the elect , or priuately in the reprobate , or according to apparance in the visible church . for manners , the doctrine thereof is contained in the lawe , which discloseth sinne . the lawe it selfe is deuided according to the edition thereof , into the lawe of nature , the lawe morall , and the lawe positiue ; and according to the stile , into negatiue and affirmatiue , prohibitions and commandements . sinne in the matter and subiect thereof is deuided according to the commandements , in the forme thereof it referreth to the three persons in deitie , sinnes of infirmitie against the father , whose more speciall attribute is power : sinnes of ignorance against the sonne , whose attribute is wisedome : and sinnes of malice against the holy ghost , whose attribute is grace or loue. in the motions of it , it either mooueth to the right hand or to the left , either to blinde deuotion , or to prophane & libertine transgressiō , either in imposing restraint , where god granteth libertie , or in taking libertie where god imposeth restrainte . in the degrees and progresse of it , it deuideth it selfe into thought , word , or act. and in this part i commend much the diducing of the lawe of god to cases of conscience , for that i take indeede to bee a breaking , and not exhibiting whole of the bread of life . but that which quickneth both these doctrines of faith and manners is the eleuatition and consent of the heart , whereunto appertaine bookes of exhortation , holy meditation , christian resolution , and the like . for the lyturgie or seruice , it consisteth of the reciprocall acts betweene god and man , which on the part of god are the preaching of the word and the sacraments , which are seales to the couenant , or as the visible worde : and on the part of mans inuocation of the name of god , and vnder the law : sacrifices , which were as visible praiers or confessions , but now the adoration being in spiritu & veritate there remaineth only vituli labiorum , although the vse of holy vowes of thankefulnesse and retribution , may be accounted also as sealed petitions . and for the gouernment of the church , it consisteth of the patrimonie of the church , the franchises of the church , and the offices , and iurisdictions of the church , and the lawes of the church directing the whole : all which haue two considerations ; the one in them selues : the other how they stand compatible and agreeable to the ciuill estate . this matter of diuinitie is handled either in forme of instruction of truth : or in forme of confutation of falshood . the declinations from religion besides the primitiue which is atheisme and the branches thereof , are three , heresies , idolatrie , and witch-craft , heresies , when we serue the true god with a false worship . idolatrie , when wee worship false gods , supposing them to be true : and witch-craft , when wee adore false gods knowing them to be wicked and false . for so your maiestie doth excellently well obserue , that witch-craft is the height of idolatry . and yet we see thogh these be true degrees , samuel teacheth us that they are all of a nature , when there is once a receding from the word of god , for so he saith , quasi peccatum ariolandi est repugnare , & quasi scelus idololatriae nolle acquiescere . these thinges i haue passed ouer so briefely because i can report noe deficience concerning them : for i can finde no space or ground that lieth vacant and vnsowne in the matter of diuinitie , so diligent haue men beene , either in sowing of good seede , or in sowing of tares . thus haue i made as it were a small globe of the intellectuall world , as truly and faithfully as i coulde discouer , with a note and description of those parts which seeme to mee , not constantly occupate , or not well conuerted by the labour of man. in which , if i haue in any point receded from that which is commonly receiued , it hath beene with a purpose of proceeding in melius , and not in aliud : a minde of amendment and proficience ; and not of change and difference . for i could not bee true and constant to the argument i handle , if i were not willing to goe beyond others , but yet not more willing , then to haue others goe beyond mee againe : which may the better appeare by this that i haue propounded my opinions naked and vnarmed , not seeking to preoccupate the libertie of mens iudgements by confutations . for in any thing which is well set downe , i am in good hope , that if the first reading mooue an obiection , the second reading will make an answere . and in those things wherein i haue erred , i am sure i haue not preiudiced the right by litigious arguments ; which certainly haue this contrarie effect and operation , that they adde authoritie to error , and destroy the authoritie of that which is well inuented . for question is an honour and preferment to falshood , as on the other side it is a repulse to truth . but the errors i claime and challenge to my selfe as mine owne . the good , if any bee , is due tanquam adeps sacrificij , to be incensed to the honour first of the diuine maiestie , and next of your maiestie , to whom on earth i am most bounden . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a01516-e6220 historia literarū . historia naturae errantis . historia mechanica . historia prophetica . metaphisica siue de formis & f●…bus rerū . naturalis magiasiue phisica operatiua maior . inuentarium opum bumanarum . continuatio problematum in natura . catalogus falsitatū grassantiū in historia naturae . de antiquis philosophijs . narrationes medicinales . anatomia comparata . inquisitio vlterior de morbis insanabisibus . de euthanasia exteriore . medicinae experimentales . imitatio naturae in balneis , & aquis medicinalibus filum medicinale , siue de vicibus medicinarum . experientia literata , & interpretatio naturae . elenchi magni , s●…e d●… idolis animi humani , natiuis & aduentitijs . de analogia demonstrationum . de notis rerum . de methode syncera , siue ad filios scientiarum . de prudentia traditionis . de productione axiomatum . deprudentia sermonis priuati . colores boni & mali , simplicis & comparati . antitheta rerum . de cultura , animi . faber fortunae siue de am. bitu vitae . de prudētia legislatoria , fiue , de fontibus iuris . de vsu legittimo rationis humanae in diuinis . degradibus vnitatis in ci●…itate dei. emanationes scripturarum , in doctrinas positiuas . the philosphical and physical opinions written by her excellency the lady marchionesse of newcastle. newcastle, margaret cavendish, duchess of, 1624?-1674. 1655 approx. 506 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 101 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a53055 wing n863 estc r31084 11771476 ocm 11771476 48875 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a53055) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 48875) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1489:37) the philosphical and physical opinions written by her excellency the lady marchionesse of newcastle. newcastle, margaret cavendish, duchess of, 1624?-1674. [26], 174 p. printed for j. martin and j. allestrye ..., london : 1655. errata on p. 174. reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng philosophy -early works to 1800. science -early works to 1800. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 allison liefer sampled and proofread 2002-06 allison liefer text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the philosophical and physical opinions , written by her excellency , the lady marchionesse of newcastle . london printed for j. martin and j. allestrye at the bell in st. pauls church-yard 1655. collegium sive aula s.s. t trinitatis in academiâ cantabrigiensi , 1700 to the lady marqvesse of nevvcastle , on her book intitled her philosophicall , and physicall opinions . were the old grave philophers alive , how they would envy you , and all would strive who first should burn their books ; since they so long thus have abus'd the world , and taught us wrong , with hard words that mean nothing ; which non-sense . when we have conn'd by heart , then we commence masters and doctors , with grave looks ; and then proud , because think , thus we are learned men , and know not that we do know nothing right , like blinde men now , led onely by your sight . and for diseases , let the doctors look those worthy learned men but in your book , they 'le finde such news in their art , and so true as old hippocrates he never knew , nor yet vast gallen ; so you need not seek farther then english , to know lesse in greek ; if you read this and study it , you may out of dark ignorance see brighter day . w. newcastle . an epistle to justifie the lady new castle , and truth against falshood , laying those false , and malicious aspersions of her , that she was not authour of her books . i would willingly begin with the common , and dunstable rode of epistles , gentle readers , but finding you much otherwise , i will fall to our discourse in hand . first 't is but your envious supposition that this lady must have converst with many scholers of all kindes in learning , when 't is well known the contrary , that she never convert with any profest shooler in learning , for to learn , neither did she need it , since she had the conversation of her honorable , and most learned brother from her cradle ; and since she was married , with my worthy and learned brother ; and for my self i have lived in the great world a great while , and have thought of what has been brought to me by the senses , more then was put into me by learned discourse ; for i do not love to be led by the nose , by authority and old authours , ipse dixit will not serve my turn , were aristotle made a more philosophical bible then he is , and all scholers to have a lively faith in him , doth not move me to be of their philosophical churche at all . and i assure you her conversation with her brother , and brother-in-law , were enough without a miracle or an impossibility to get the language of the arts , and learned professions , which are their terms , without taking any degrees in schooles . it is not so difficult a thing though they make mountains of mole-hills , & say they , thatthis lady useth many termes of the schooles ; but truly she did never impe her high-flying phancies , with any old broken fethers out of any university ; and if you read well , which is to understand , and look on her poems , you will 〈◊〉 they are all new born phansies , never toucht of heretofore . but for the rarity of the terms , or nests of divines , philosophers , physicians , geometricians , astrono mers , and the rest of the gown-tribe , as one tearms them , how is it possible she should know them ; and first for divinity , when she speaks of predestination , free-will , 〈◊〉 , and consubstantiation ; truly these termes are not so hard to be got by heart as to be understood , since i beleeve it puzzels the learned to make sense of them . but i beseech you give this lady so much capacity , as to get them by heart , since every tub-preacher discourses of them , and every sanctified wife gossips them in wafers , and hipocris at every christening . next are the termes of the philosophers , certainly 't is no conjuration to conceive atomes , invisible , and indivisible bodies , elements , earth , air , water and fire , whereof your elementary fire under the moon is much doubted of , and then you have but three elements . motion is a difficult thing indeed , to understand the varietes of it , but certainly not of a body moved , that 's no such transcendent thing . dilation a spreading , contraction a gathering together rarificationthinning , and condensation thickning ; i confesse in the latine it seems very learned , but in the english very vulgar , there-fore i beseech you give this lady leave to have the wit , and the judgement to understand these great no mysteries . and put the case now that this lady should name materia prima , and understand the english of it to be first matter , and ask her friend again what they mean by it , and he tells her they say they mean matter without form , and she should answer , there is no matter without some form , so materia prima are two latine words that mean nothing . an incorporeal substance is too learned to be understood , so that is waved . now for the termes of physicians , when she speaks of choler , phlegme , melancholy and blood , and of ventricles in the heart and brain , of veines , arteries and nerves , and discourses of fevers , apoplexies , convulsions , dropsies , and divers other diseases with their particular causes , symptoms and cures ; how should this lady understand these terms say some ? truly a good farmers wife in the country , by seeing one of her sheep opened , may well understand the tearms of most of these , and a constables wife of a hundred in essex that useth physick and surgery may well talk of the diseases , without any great learned mystery , they are so plain and so common , as none needsto construe greek in hippocrates or galen for them . but would you know how we know the great mystery of these physical terms , i am almost ashamed to tell you ; not that we have been ever sickly , but by melancholy often supposed our selves to bave such diseases as we had not , and learned physitians were too wise to put us out of that humour , and so these tearms cost us much more then they are worth , and i hope there is no body so malicious , as to envie our bargain , neither truly do i repent my bargain , since physitians are the most rational men i have converst with all , and my worthy and very good friends , and truly this lady never converst with any physitian of any disease , but what she thought she had her self , neither hath she converst with many of that profession . now for the great learning of knowing the terms of geometricians , when this lady touches upon triangles , squares , circles , diameters , circumferences , centers , lines straight and crooked &c. i will not dissect these great mysteries , because they are so very common , as the meanest understands all these termes , even to joyners and carpenters , therefore surely this lady is capable of them . then of astronomers , say they , when she speak's of the horizon , meridian , equator , zodiack , eclyptick , tropicks , poles of the world &c. when these termes are understood thats their meaning , they are no such subtilties , since every boy may be taught them , with an apple for the globe , and the parings for the sphears , it is so ridiculous then to think that this lady cannot understand these tearms , as it is rather to be laught at , then to trouble ones self to answer . and that invincible problem , the quadrature of the circle , as they call it , which makes me doubt that they think themselves wiser , for naming the quadrature , then squaring the circle , who lives that hath not heard of it , and who lives that can do it , and who is dead that hath done it , and put the case it were done , what then ? why then 't is squared , and that 's all , and that all is nothing , much ado about nothing . but we will leave these impertinent , malicious , and most false exceptions to the lady , and her books , and will now begin with her book of poems , examining first her philosophy there . that 's an old opinion of atomes , say some , witnesse democrates and many others ; t is very true they have talkt of atomes , but did they ever dispose of them as they are there , or tell you what several sorts there are of them , and what figure they bear , and being joyned , what forms they produce of all kindes , in all things , if you have read any such things before , i 'le be bold to burn the book . why then all these are new opinions , and grounded upon reason , i say some , but they are paradoxes , what then ? i hope a paradox may be as true as an old opinion , and an old opinion as false as a paradox , for neither the one nor the other makes a truth , either the new or the old , for what is most reason & reasonable ; for in natural philosophy , one opinion may be as true as another , since no body knows the first cause in nature of any thing . then this ladies philosophy is excellent , and will be thought so hereafter , and the truth is that it was wholy , and onely wrought out of her own brain , as there are many witnesses , by the several sheets that she sent daily to be writ fair for the presse . as for her poems , where are the exceptions to these ? marry they misse sometimes in the numbers and in the rimes . it is well known by the copies , that those faults lie most upon the corrector , and the printer ; but put the case there might be some slips in that kinde , is all the book damned for it , no mercy gentlemen ? when for the numbers , every schoole-boy can make them on his fingers , and for rimes fenner would have put down ben. johnson , and yet neither the boy or fenner so good poets . no , it is neither of those either makes , or condemns a poet , it is new born and creating phansies that glorifies a poet , and in her book of poems , i am sure there is excellent , and new phancies , as have not been writ by any , and that it was onely writ by her is the greatest truth in the world . now for her book called the worlds olio , say some , how is it possible that she showld have such experience , to write of such things so ; i answer , that i living long in the great world , and having the various fortunes of what they call good and bad , 〈◊〉 the reading of men might bring me to as much experience as the reading of books , and this i have now and then discourst unto this lady , who hath wisely and elegantly drest it in her own way , and sumptuously cloathed it , at the charge of her own phancies and expressions ; i say some of them she hath heard from me , but not the fortieth part of her book , all the rest are absolutely her own in all kindes , this is an ingenious truth , therefore beleeve it . as for the book of her philosophical opinions , there is not any one thing in the whole book , that is not absolutely spun out by her own studious phancy , and if you will lay by a little passion against writers , you will like it , and the best , of any thing she has writ , therefore read it once or twice , not with malice to finde a little fault , but with judgement to like what is good . truly i cannot beleeve so unworthily of any scholer , honouring them so much as we both do , that they should envie this lady , or should have so much malice or emulation , to cast such false aspersions on her , that she did not write those books that go forth in her name , they will hardly finde out who else writ them , and i protest none ever writ them but her self ; you should rather incourage her , then by false suppositions to let her see the world is so ill natured , as to beleeve falshoods before truths . but here 's the crime , a lady writes them , and to intrench so much upon the male prerogative , is not to be forgiven ; but i know gown-men will be more civil to her , because she is of the gown too , and therefore i am confident you will defend her and truth , and thus be undeceived . i had not troubled you with this , but that a learned doctor , our very noble friend , writ is word of the infidelity of some people in this kinde ; whatsoever i have write is absolutly truth , which i here as a man of honour set my hand to . w. newcastle . to the reader . in my book called the worlds olio , there are such grosse mistakes in misplacing of chapters , and so many literall faults , as my book is much disadvantaged thereby . as for chapters , there are many misplaced , for some chapters that belong to that part of diseases , are misplaced among those of natural philosophy , as one that belongs to sleep , and three chapters that are of the temper of aire ; likewise another chapter of the strength of the soul and body is placed between the first and last part of the common-wealth , which nothing belongs to it : for though there is a soul and body belonging to every common-wealth , yet not such a soul and body as i have discourst of there . for the soul of a common-wealth is actuall justice , and industry . the soul of a man is contemplation , reason , and imagination . and the body of a common-wealth , is the citizens therein , and magistrates thereof . and the body of a man is the senses therein , and the members thereof . likewise the strength of a common-wealth is the laws . and the strength of a mans body is the nerves . likewise a short copie of verses which is at the latter end of the book , is what i intended for this book , as being my beloved of all my works , prefering it as my master-piece , although i do beleeve it will not please my readers , because as i have said in some of my epistles , few take delight in the study of natural philosophy , yet those that delight not , or slight the study , or dispraise the work , make it not the lesse rational , for reason will be reason in the despite of the most malicious detractors or sophsterian censurers , but for the faults and mistakes in my other works , and perchance the like mischance may come to these , and although i know a passion cannot recal an injury past : yet i cannnot but grieve at the misfortune , as for a friend that should be hurt or lamed by some unhappy accident , but if there be any other faults of indiscretions in it , i the author am to be pardoned by reason somwhat of it was writ in the dawning of my knowledge , and experience , and not having a clear light i might chance to stamble in dark ignorance on molehills of errors ; not that i accuse my book of faults ; but arm my self with truth against crabbed censurers . likewise i do not lay all the faults in my book to the printers or correctors charge , for that would be so great an injustce , as i could never forgive my self for the crime , for the chapters that are misplaced are through my fault , by reason i sent some part of it after the book was in the presse , and it seems that the printer or corrector not understanding where to place them , put them in a wrong place . but the literate faults i lay to their charge , whereof i cannot choose but complain , for in some places it is so falsly printed , as one word alters the sense of many lines ; whereby my book is much prejudiced , and not onely by putting in false words , as a costements , for accoutraments , ungrateful for ungraceful , muster for mufler , and the like ; but the significancy of words , to expresse a singular for a plural ; yet i must confesse that this book is much truer printed then my book of poems , for where this book hath one fault , that hath ten ; for which i can forgive the printer , and corrector ten times easier then i did for the other , but setting aside the faults of my book , and complaining thereof , i must take the liberty in my own behalf to complain of this ill natured , and unbeleeving age , in not allowing me to be the right authour thereof ; and though it were an endlesse work to answer every idle and impertinent question , or malicious objection ; for i am assured that rational , wise , learned , and just persons will never make a doubt , knowing that nature hath power to temper a brain as she pleaseth both to receive , retain , discuss , and create , yet for truths sake i am willing to satisfie my worthy readers ( if i can ) although i had thought i had answerd it in my former writings . but to answer those objections that are made against me , as first , how should i come by so much experience , as i have expressed in my several books to have ? i answer , i have had by relation , the long and much experience of my lord , who hath lived to see and be in many changes of fortunes , and to converse with many men of sundry nations , ages , qualities , tempers , capacities , abilities , wits , humors , fashions and customes . and as many others , especially wives go from church to church , from ball to ball , from collation to collation , gossiping from house to house , so when my lord admits me to his company , i listen with attention to his edifying discourse , and i govern my self by his doctrine ; i dance a measure with the muses , feast with the sciences , or sit and discourse with the arts . the second is , that since i am no scholer , i cannot know the names and terms of art , and the divers and several opinions of several authors , i answer , that i must have been a natural fool if i had not known and learnt them , for they are customarily taught all children from their nurses brest being ordinarily discoursed of in every family that is of quality , and the family from whence i sprung are neither natural idiots , nor ignorant fools , but the contrary , for they were rational , learned , understanding and wittie . and when i said i never converst an hour with professed philosophers , for indeed in this age , i have not heard of many which do professe it , or an intimate acquaintance or familiar conversation with profest scholers , nor so much discourse as to learn from them , for three or four visits do not make an intimacy , nor familiarity , nor can much be learnd therefrom , for visiting and entertaining discourse , for the most part are either cautionary , frivolous , vain , idle , or at least but common and ordinary matter , and most commonly all visiting discourses , are after one and the same manner , although the company be several ; but i did not think my readers would have been so rigid as to think i excluded my husband , brothers , and the rest of my family , neither are they profest philosophers nor scholers , although they are learned therein , or to beleeve i was so ridiculously foolish , or so foolishly vain , or so basely false as that i strive to make the world to beleeve , i had all my experience and knowledge before i was born , and that my native language came by instinct , and that i was never taught my a , b , c ; or the marks and names of several things ; but i hope my book hath more spiteful enemies then faults ; for i have said in an epistle before the second part of my olio , that if i had never seen nor heard so much as i have done , should never have been able to have writ a book . thirdly , that i had taken feathers out of the universities to enlarge the wings , of my fancy ; i answer , no more then david took the wooll from his sheeps backs to cloath his poetical phancies of devotion , or as i may say his devout poetry which is drest with simulising . but it hath been known in several ages , that even poor peasents that hear nothing but the blating of sheep : the lowing of herds , the crowing of cocks , and the like , and their ordinary discourses of nothing but of their market , or the like , have been high flying poets , politick states men , wise governours , prudent souldiers , subtle philosophers , excellent physitians , and what not , even to be eloquent orators , and divine preachers , as the holy writ will make manifest to us , and i beleeve many more are mentioned in other histories of lesse authority ; thus we may observe that nature is prevalent in all qualities and conditions ; and since nature is so generous to distribute to those that fortune hath cast out , and education hath neglected , why should my readers mistrust nature should be sparing to me , who have been honourably born , carefully bred , and nobly married to a wise man , from whom , as i have said in some of my epistles , in my book called the worlds olio , and do here say again , and again , if it will satisfie the readers that i am my lords scholer , and as i have learnt , so i do daily learn knowledge and understanding , wit , and the purity of my language ; and let me intre at my readers to be so just to me , as not to condemn me for an ideot by their objections and doubts , as not beleeving i am capable of learning , but let me tell my readers that what i have learned since i was married , it is from my lord , and what i had learned before it was from wy own familie , as from my own brothers , for my father died when i was young , and not from strangers ; for though i have seen much company , yet i have converst with few , and i take conversation to be in talking , which i have not practised very much , unlesse it be to particular friends , for naturally i am so wedded to contemplations , that many times when i have been in company , i had not known one word they have said , by reason my busie thoughts have stopped the sense of my hearing ; and though i prefer the delight of contemplation , before the pleasure of the senses , yet when the neerest and dearest of my friends speak , as my husband , brothers , sisters , or their children , my affection is such that i give such an atention to them , as if i had no other thoughts but of what they say , or any other sense but hearing ; but as i have said of the names and tearms of art , and the several opinions of the antients , and the distinguishment of the sciences , and the like , i learned them from my neerest and dearest friends as from my own brothers , my lords brother , and my lord ( but having the words and termes of art makes me not a philosopher ) nor a poet ; and if every one in justice ought to have a due , then nature must have a share , and truly i will never be so ingrateful as not to acknowledge her favours , or to belie her in saying she hath not been bountiful to me , for she hath given me such materials , as i hope to build me a monumental fame therewith ; but to satisfie my readers , i will tell them as well as i can how i came to know , and understand passages , all though i never practised , or were a spectator therein , or thereof ; as put the case my husband , or brothers should tell me of an army of horse and foot , and that two armies encountred , and fought a battle , and expresse the forms and figures , rancks and fiels , the flanck , the wings the vans , the rears , and the like , by which relation to my conceit i see it in my brain as perfectly , as if the battle was pitcht , and fought there , and my fancy will build discourse therefrom . likewise if they should tell me all the parts of an animal body , and how they are formed and composed , i conceive it as perfectly to my understanding as if i had seen it dissected although i never did and therefore may be deceived in my understanding , for truly i have gathered more by piece-meals , then from a full relation , or a methodical education for knowledge ; but my fancy will build thereupon , and make discourse therefrom , and so of every thing they discourse of , ( i say they ) that is my husband and brothers ; for the singularity of my affections are such , that though i have an ill memory , and could not if it were for my life relate word for word of any discourse , if it be any thing long that i shall hear from strangers , for i am the worst repeater of a story from strangers , or out of a book in the world , when from my neer friends ( especially my lord ) whose discourses are lively discriptions , i cannot forget any thing they say , such deep impressions their words print in my brain , when i cannot remember one discourse perfectly from others , were they holy sermons to save my soul. but as i have said from a bare relation , i can conceive to my thinking every particular part , and passage , as if i were a witnesse thereof , or an actor therein ; but many things , although i should never have heard of any such thing , yet my natural reason will guide and discover to me , the right and the truth . for put the case i see a watch , or any other invention , and none should tell me how it was made , yet my natural reason would conceive how it was made , so in natural things my natural reason will conceive them without being any wayes instructed ; and so working a brain i have that many times on small objects or subjects will raise up many several phancies , and opinions therein , from which my discourse betwixt reason and those opinions will be produced ; but the truth is , i have more materials to build with , then ground to build on , wherby they become uselesse , but i beleeve time will moulder them to dust , or accidents , as sicknesse may destroy them , as dropsies may drown them , fevers may burn them , consumptions may waste them , or griefs may wither them , or other imployments like usurpers may throw it out of my head , but as yet my head is fully populated with divers opinions , and so many phancies are therein , as sometimes they lie like a swarm of bees in a round heap , and sometimes they flie abroad to gather honey from the sweet flowry rhetorick of my lords discourse , and wax from his wise judgement which they work into a comb making chapters therein . but those that make these and the like idle objections against me either have not read all my epistles , and the rest of my books or understands them not , but that is not my fault , but their unjust natures , to censure and condemn before they examine or understand ; nay they do in somethings faulsely , ac cuse , and maliciously break out of some of my epistles some parts to throw against me , which is most base and cruel to dismember my book tormenting it with spiteful objections , misforming the truth with falshood : but those that have noble and generous souls will beleeve me , and those that have base and mechannick souls , i care not what they say , and truly i would not have troubled my self in striving to satisfie this present age which is very censorious ; but fear the future age wherein i hope to live , may be deceived , and i by false constructions wronged ; for i have observed that the ignorant , and malicious , do strive to disturb , and obstruct all probable opinions , wittie ingenuities , honest industry , vertuous indeavours , harmlesse phancies , innocent pleasures , and honourable fames although they become infamous thereby . readers i had forgotten to mention the objection , that there is no distinction between a scholer , and a philosopher , if they mean as being vulgarly called both scholers i answer a scholer is to be learnd in other mens opinions , inventions and actions , and a philosopher is to teach other men his opinions of nature , and to demostrate the works of nature , so that a scholer is to learn a philosopher to teach , and if they say there is no distinction between a profest scholer , and a profest philosopher , i am not of their opinion ; for a profest scholer in theologie , is not a profest philosopher ; for divines leave nature on the left hand , and walk on the right to things supernatural and if they mean profest scholers , as being bred at universities ( i answer ) that i take not all those that are bred at an vniversity , and those that are learned to be profest scholers , or those that are great philosophers to be profest , unlesse they make it their profession , as a profest divine that hath taken orders , or a profest physitian that hath commenced doctor , or profest pleaders , or lawyers that are made barresters , or philosophers , that teach scholers ; but certainly there are many that are very learned that are not profest , as being of that profession by which they live . likewise an objection for my saying i have not read many books ; but i answer , for not reading of many authors , had i understood several languages , as i do not , , i have not had so much time ; had i indeavoured to have been learned threin , for learning requires close studies , long time , and labour . besides , our sex takes so much delight in dressing and adorning themselves , as we for the most part make our gowns our books , our laces our lines , our imbroderies our letters , and our dressings are the time of our studie ; and instead of turning over solid leaves , we turn our hair into curles , and our sex is as ambitious to shew themselves to the eyes of the world , when finely drest , as scholers do to expresse their learning to the ears of the world , when fully fraught with authors . but as i have said my head was so full of my own naturai phancies , as it had not roome for strangers to boord therein , and certainly natural reason is a better tutor then education ; for though education doth help natural reason to a more sudden maturity , yet natural reason was the first educator ; for natural reason did first compose common-wealths , invented arts , and sciences , and if natural reason have composed , invented and discoverd , i know no reason , but natural reason may finde out what natural reason hath composed , invented , and discovered , without the help of education ; but some may say that education is like mony n put to use , which begets increase ; i say it is true , but natural reason is the principal , which without increase could not be , but in truth natural reason , is both the principal and the increase , for natural reason produceth beneficial effects , and findes out the right and the truth , the wrong and the falshood of things , or causes ; but to conclude , what education hath not instructed me , natural reason hath infor med me of many things . to the two universities . most famously learned , i here present the sum of my works , not that i think wise school-men , and industrious , laborious students should value my book for any worth , but to receive it without a scorn , for the good incouragement of our sex , lest in time we should grow irrational as idiots , by the 〈◊〉 of our spirits , through the carelesse neglects , and despisements of the masculine sex to the effeminate , thinking it impossible we should have either learning or understanding , wit or judgement , as if we had not rational souls as well as men , and we out of a custom of dejectednesse think so too , which makes us quit all all industry towards profitable knowledge being imployed onely in looe , and pettie imployments , which takes away not onely our abilities towards arts , but higher capacities in speculations , so as we are become like worms that onely live in the dull earth of ignorance , winding our selves sometimes out , by the help of some refreshing rain of good educations which seldom is given us ; for we are kept like birds in cages to hop up and down in our houses , not sufferd to fly abroad to see the several changes of fortune , and the various humors , ordained and created by nature ; thus wanting the experiences of nature , we must needs want the understanding and knowledge and so consequently prudence , a nd invention of men : thus by an opinion , which i hope is but an erronious one in men , we are shut out of all power , and authority by reason we are never imployed either in civil nor marshall affaires , our counsels are despised , and laught at , the best of our actions are troden down with scorn , by the over-weaning conceit men have of themselves and through a dispisement of us . but i considering with my self , that if a right judgement , and a true understanding , & a respectful civility live any where , it must be in learned universities , where nature is best known , where truth is oftenest found , where civility is most practised , and if i finde not a resentment here , i am very confident i shall finde it no where , neither shall i think i deserve it , if you approve not of me , but if i desserve not praise , i am sure to receive so much courtship from this sage society , as to bury me in silence ; thus i may have a quiet grave , since not worthy a famous memory ; but to lie intombed under the dust of an university will be honour enough for me , and more then if i were worshipped by the vulgar as a deity . wherefore if your wisdoms cannot give me the bayes , let your charity strow me with cypres ; and who knows but after my honourable burial , i may have a glorious resurrection in following ages , since time brings strange and unusual things to passe , i mean unusual to men , though not in nature : and i hope this action of mine , is not unnatural , though unusual for a woman to present a book to the university , nor impudence , for the action is honest , although it seem vain-glorious , but if it be , i am to be pardoned , since there is little difference between man and beast , but what ambition and glory makes . an epiloge to my philosophical opinions . some say that my book of philosophy , it seems as if i had converst with des-cartes or master hobbes , or both , or have frequented their studies , by reading their works , but i cannot say but i have seen them both , but upon my conscience i never spake to monsieur de cartes in my lise , nor ever understood what he said , for he spake no english , and i understand no other language , and those times i saw him , which was twice at dinner with my lord at paris , he did appear to me a man of the fewest words i ever heard . and for master hobbes , it is true i have had the like good fortune to see him , and that very often with my lord at dinner , for i conversing seldom with any strangers , had no other time to see those two famous philosophers ; yet i never heard master hobbes to my best remembrance treat , or discourse of philosophy , nor i never spake to master hobbes twenty words in my life , i cannot say i did not ask him a question , for when i was in london i meet him , and told him as truly i was very glad to see him , and asked him if he would please to do me that honour to stay at dinner , but he with great civility refused me , as having some businesse , which i suppose required his absence . and for their works , my own foolish fancies do so imploy my time , as they will not give me leave to read their books , for upon my conscience i never read more of mounsieur des-cartes then half his book of passion , and for master hobbes , i never read more then a little book called de cive , and that but once , nor never had any body to read to me , as for their opinions , i cannot say i have not heard of many of them . as the like of others , but upon my conscience not throughly discoursed of , for i have heard the opinions of most philosophers in general , yet no otherw aies then if i should see a man , but neither know his estate , quality , capacity , or natural disposition , thus upon my conscience is a truth , not onely in these two philosophers , but all philosophers , and not onely philosophers , but all their learned men , so that i am no otherwayes learned in writers works , or other opinions then those that onely learned the tearms of arts , and sciences , but know no more . the like they may say of physitians , as of philosophers , when they read my opinions of diseases ; it is true i have converst with physitians more then any other learned profession , yet not so much as to increase my understanding , although more then was advantagious for my health , indeed i have been the worst physitian to my self ; besides wise learned men think it a discredit to discourse learnedly to ignorant women , and many learned men speak most commonly to women , as women do to children nonsense , as thinking they understand not any thing , or else like those that are of another language speak such gibbrish , to those they would have understood that they understand not themselves yet think those they speak to do conceive them , as if ignorance was bound to understand nonsense , that is not to be understood ; but i desire my readers , or censurers ; for some will censure that have not read , or at least not understood me , that i did never take nor steal any opinion , or argument from any other as my own , nor never will , and if i hit or light upon the same , it is meer chance . t is true , i have mentioned many opinions , but not as my own opinions or arguments , but rather , 〈◊〉 civilly i have been opposite to those opinions i have heard of , and i make no question but if my readers will take the paines to compare my writings to others , and throughly examine them , they will i make no question , finde great difference ; for though other philosophy have treated of matter , form , and motion , being the fundamental ground , of all all natural philosophical discourse , yet i believe not my way , nor i never read any book of diseases , or medicines but gerrards herball , which no question is a very rare book , and cetainly discribes the tempers of herbs , fruits , and drugs very learnedly , but i do verily 〈◊〉 the learning lies more in the tempers then in the applications ; for i beleeve where one is rightly applied , forty are falsly applied , and how shall it be otherwaies , unlesse he had studied the motions and tempers of diseases ; for one and the same diseases may be of several tempers , and motions , wherefore one and the same simple will not cure one and the same kinde , or rather sort of disease ; wherefore i beseech my readers to be so charitable , and just , as not to bury my works in the monuments of other writers , but if they will bury them , let it be in their own dust , or oblivion , for i had rather be forgotten , then scrape acquaintance , or insinuate my self into others company , or brag of received favours , or take undeserved gifts , or belie noble benefactors , or to steal , although i were sure the theft would never be discovered , and would make me live eternally . but i have no acquaintance with old authors , nor no familiarity with the moderns , i have received no instructions by learning , and i never owned that which was not justly my own , nor never stole that which was justly anothers , neither have i retained , but plain truth to defend , and conscience towitnesse for me . besides , i have heard that learning spoiles the natural wit , and the fancies , of others , drive the fancies out of our own braines , as enemies to the nature , or at least troublesome guests that fill up all the rooms of the house . this opinion , or rather a known truth , was a sufficient cause for me , neither to read many books , or hear arguments , or to dispute opinions , had i ever been edicted to one , or accustomed to the other , by reason i found a naturall inclination , or motion in my own brain to fancies , and truly i am as all the world is , partial , although perchance , or at least i hope not so much as many are , yet enough to desire that my own fancies , and opinions might live in the world , rather then the fancies and opinions of other mens in my brain . an epistle to my honourable readers . most noble reader , let not partialitie , or obstinacie weigh judgments scales , but truth ; wherefore if you weigh my philosophical , and physical opinions with the ancient philosophers , lay by the weaknesse , and incapacity of our sex ; my unexperienced age , my unpractised time , my ignorant studies , my faint knowledge , and dim understanding to help to pair my discourse , with theirs , in which scale there are learned studies , long experience , practised time , high arguments , and school-disputations ; besides , they draw and make the large river of their discourse from many several springs ; mine onely flows in little rivolets , from the natural spring in my own brain . an epistle to the reader , for my book of philosophy . perchance many that read this book , will hardly understand it , not but it may be as rational , and as probable , as any that have writ before , but unlesse they be contemplary persons , which are not many in our nation , especially in the protestant opinion , which live not monastical lives , are not so curious , nor so inquisitive , after nature , as to study that science ; besides , they think it unprofitable , bringing no advantage ; but they are much mistaken , for that it is a great insight to the knowledge of all vegetables , minerals , and animals , their constitutions , their sympathies , and antipathies , their extractions , and applications which they apply , for health , and prolonging of life ; besides , the study in this science , brings them acquainted with the course of the stars and planets , and the several tempers of the climats , and the nature of the several soyls , which is profitable in husbandry ; then it is advantagious for the art of navigation , and plantations , and many other things ; but above all , this study is a great delight , and pleases the curiosity of mens minds , it carries their thoughts above vulgar and common objects , it elevates their spirits to an aspiring pitch ; it gives room for the untired appetites of man , to walk or run in , for so spatious it is , that it is beyond the compasse of time ; besides , it gives pleasure in varieties , for infinite wayes are sirawed with infinite varieties , neither doth it binde up man to those strickt rules as other sciances do , it gives them an honest liberty , and proves temperance is the greatest pleasure in nature . t is true , moral philosophy is an excellent study , but the doctrine is too strict for the practise , for it teaches more then can be followed , and theologie is a glorious study , but the way is difficult and dangerous , for though there are many pathes , yet there is but one that leads to heaven , and those that step awrie fall into the gulph of damnation , and the deep study in this many times blindes the eyes , both of faith and reason , and instead of uniting mankind with love , to live in peace , it makes discords with controversies , raises up faction to uphold each-side , whose endlesse quarrels are followed with such hatred , and fought with such malice and envie , and the zeal spits so much blood , as if not onely several parties would be rased out , but the bulk of mankinde ; and to study law , is to study dissention , to study logick is to study deceit , to make falshood appear like truth ; to study rhetorick is to study words more then sense , and many the like studies are more painful then useful , more time lost then profit got , more tedious then pleasant , more sophistry then truth . indeed the mathematicks brings both profit and pleasure to the life of man , it gives just measure and equal weight , it makes all odd reckonings even , it sets all musical notes , it brings concord out of discord , it gives diminution and extention ; but as i said before , few or none but monastical men , which live contemplary lives , despising the vanities of the world , next to the service of god , seek to be acquainted with nature , and to observe the course of her works , yet in an humble and respectful manner , as to admire her curiosity , and to glorifie and adore the god of nature , for the wonders they finde by her works , and workings : for this reason , if i had been so learned , i would have put my book into latine , which is a general language through all europe , and not have writ it in my native language , which goeth no further then the kingdom of england , wherein i fear my book will finde but little applause ; because few therein study natural philosophy , and what they understand not , they cannot judge of , yet i beleeve all that read will take upon them to give a censure , and what their weak braines is not capable to reach at , their active tongues are capable to pull down , so that i fear me my book will be lost in oblivion , or condemned by ignorance , unlesse some generous disposition which hath a genius in natural philosophy , and learned and eloquent in the latine tongue will translate my work ; yet i had rather my book should die in oblivion , then to be divulged to disadvantage , and instead of cloathing it in a new garment , they will dismember the body of sense , as to put out the natural eyes , and put in glasse eyes in the place , or to cut off the legs , and then set the body upon wooden stumps , but unlesse the translator hath a genius sutable to the author of the original , the original will be disfigured with mistakes ; yet it is easier to translate prose then verse , for rimes , number , and sense , are hard to match in several languages , it is double labour , and requires double capacitie ; for although ovid and dubartus were so happy as to meet a sylvester and a sands , yet very few or no other had the like good fortune in our language : for this reason i would have turned my atomes out of verse into prose , and joyned it to this book , but i finding my brain would be like a river that is turned from its natural course , which will neither run so smooth , swift , easie , nor free , when it is forced from its natural motion and course , both which made me desist &c. an epistle to my readers . i must advertise my readers that though i have writ difserent wayes of one and the same subject , yet not to obstruct , crosse , or contradict ; but i have used the freedom , or taken the liberty to draw several works upon one ground , or like as to build several rooms upon one foundation , likewise my desire was , to expresse the several works that several motions make in printed figures , that the sense of my opinions might be explained to the eye , as well as to the ear , or conceivements of my readers ; but by reason the painters and cutters in this country cannot speak , nor understand english , nor i any other language ; which reason perswaded me to let my book be printed without them , for though i might have had such an interpreter that could expresse grosse material subjects , yet none that were so learned in both languages , as to expresse , and instruct them to expresse by their art the figures of the fine , curious , subtil , and obscure motions in nature , and to have them all done would have rather puzled my readers , and confounded the sense of my opinions , then any wayes have advantaged the one , or informed the other . wherefore i must intreat my readers to take a little more paines , and care in the reading , and considering part . an epistle to my readers . i desire my readers to give me the same priviledge to discourse in natural philosophy , as scholers have in schooles , which i have heard speak freely , and boldly , without being condemned for atheisme ; for they speak as natural philosophers , not as divines : and since it is natural philosophy , and not theologie , i treat on , pray account me not an atheist , but beleeve as i do in god almighty . a condemning treatise of atomes . i cannot think that the substance of infinite matter is onely a body of dust , such as small atoms , and that there is no solidity , but what they make , nor no degrees , but what they compose , nor no change and variety , but as they move , as onely by fleeing about as dust and ashes , that are blown about with winde , which me thinks should make such uncertainties , such disproportioned figures , and confused creations , as there would be an infinite and eternal disorder . but surely such wandring and confused figures could never produce such infinite effects ; such rare compositions , such various figures , such several kindes , such constant continuance of each kinde , such exact rules , such undissolvable laws , such fixt decrees , such order , such method , such life , such sense , such faculties , such reason , such knowledge , such power , which makes me condemn the general opinions of atoms , though not my particular opinions of the figures , that the long atoms make air , the round water , the flat square earth ; also that all the other figures are partly severed from those ; also the measure , and the weight of atoms , of slime , flame , of burning , of quenching of fire , and of the several motions , compositions , and composers in their creating and dissolving of figures ; also their wars and peace , their sympathies and antipathies , and many the like ; but this opinion of mine is , if the infinite , and eternal matter are atoms , but i have considered that if the onely matter were atoms , and that every atome is of the same degree , and the same quantity , as well as of the same matter ; then every atom must be of a living substance , that is innate matter , for else they could not move , but would be an infinite dull and immoving body , for figures cannot make motion , unlesse motion be in the matter , and it cannot be a motion that sets them at work without substance , for motion cannot be without substance or produced therefrom , and if motion proceeds from substance , that substance is moving innately , but if motion is nothing , then every several nothings , which are called several motions , are gods to infinite matter , and our stronger nothing , which is every stronger motion , is god to every weaker nothing , which is every weaker motion ; for if motion depend upon nothing , every particular motion is absolute ; but the old opinions of atoms seems not so clear to my reason , as my own , and absolutly new opinions , which i hear call my philosophical opinions , which opinions seem to me to be most probable , and these opinions are like chymistrie , that from a grosse substance , extract the substance and essence , and spirits of life , or knowledge which i call the innated matter . the opinion , or religion of the old philosophers . natural philosophers in their opinions make three gods , the causer , the worker , and the matter , as god , nature , and the chaos , all three being eternal , as the causer god was , is , and shall be , the worker , nature was , is , and shall be , the matter , chaos was , is , and shal be , was ever , is present , and shall be eternally , and whatsoever was in its self from all eternity , and shall be to all eternity , is a god , but if they make them all but one thing , then they may say there is but one god ; but if they make them three distinct things , then they make three gods , for though they make them all one in unity , yet not in property , but god is like a center , from whom all infinites flow , as from him , and through him , and to him , his infinite knowledg knowes all past , present , and what is to come , and is a fixt instant . the text to my natural sermon . i as the preacher of nature , do take my text out of natural observance , and contemplation , i begin from the first chapter , which is the onely , and infinite matter , and conclude in the last which is eternity . but i desire my noble readers to hear me with so much patience , or be so just to me as to observe , that though my text is common , for who hath not heard of the first matter ? and my application old , for what is older then eternity ? yet that my arguments , and proofs are new ; for what ancient philosophers have preached after my way ? wherefore most industrious and ingenious students , cast me not out of your schools , nor condemn my opinions , out of a dispisement of my sex ; for though nature hath made the active strength of the effeminat sex weaker then the masculine , yet perchance she may elevate some fancies , and create some opinions , as sublime , and probable in effeminate brains as in masculine . wherefore it were unjust to condemn the probable particulars for the errours of the generality ; and if you speak or think me too vainglorious in pleading in my own cause , it may be thought you are irregular , and if i should not plead for my self in a just cause , it may be thought i were not a right begotten daughter of nature , but a monster produced by her escapes , or defects ; for every true childe of nature will require its just inheritance . the first cause is matter . the second is motion . the third is figure which produceth all natural effects . nature is matter , form , and motion , all these being as it were but one thing ; matter is the body of nature , form is the shape of nature and motion . the spirits of nature , which is the life of nature , and the several motions are the several actions of nature . the several figures are the several postures of nature , and the several parts , the several members of nature . of matter and motion . chap. i. there is no first matter , nor first motion ; for matter and motion are infinite , and being infinite , must consequently be eternal ; and though but one matter , yet there is no such thing , as the whole matter , that is , as one should say , all. and though there is but one kinde of matter , yet there are infinite degrees of matter , as thinner and thicker , softer and harder , weightier , and lighter ; and as there is but one matter , so there is but one motion , yet there are infinite degrees of motion , as swifter and slower ; and infinite changes of motion ; and although there is but one matter , yet there are infinite of parts in that matter , and so infinits of figures : if infinite figures , infinite sizes ; if infinite sizes , infinite degrees of bignesse , and infinite degrees of smalnesse , infinite thicknesse , infinite thinnesle , infinite lightnesse , infinite weightinesse ; if infinite degrees of motion , infinite degrees of strengths ; if infinite degrees of strengths , infinite degrees of power , and infinite degrees of knowledge , and infinite degrees of sense . chap. 2. of the form and the minde . as i said , there is but one matter , thinner and thicker which is the form , and the minde , that is , matter moving , or matter moved ; likewise there is but one motion , though flower or swifter moving several wayes ; but the slower or weaker motions are no lesse motion , then the stronger or swifter . so matter that is is thinnest or thickest , softest or hardest , yet is but one matter ; for if it were divided by digrees , untill it came to an atome , that atome would still be the same matter , as well as the greatest bulk . but we cannot say smallest , or biggest , , thinnest , softest or hardest it infinite . chap. 3. eternal matter . that matter which was solid , and weighty from all eternity , may be so eternally ; and what was spungie , and light from all eternity , may be so eternally ; and what had innate motion from eternity , may be so eternally ; and what was dull without innate motion from eternity , may be so eternally : for if the degrees could change , then there might be all thin , and no thick , or all thick , and no 〈◊〉 all hard , no soft , and fluid , or all fluid , and no solidity . for 〈◊〉 contracting and dilating may bring and joyn parts together , or separate parts asunder , yet those parts shall not be any other wayes , then by nature they were . chap. 4. of infinite matter . infinite matter cannot have exact form , or figure , because it hath no limits : but being divided by motion into several parts , those parts may have perfect figures , so long as those figures last ; yet these parts cannot be taken from the infinite body . and though parts may be divided in the body infinite , and joyned several wayes , yet infinite can neither be added , nor diminished ; yet division is as infinite as the matter divided . chap. 5. no proportion in nature . in nature there is no such thing , as number or quantity ; for number , and quantity have onely reference to division : neither is there any such thing as time in eternity ; for time hath no reference but to the present , if there be any such thing as present . chap. 6. of one kinde of matter . although there may be infinite degrees of matter , yet the nature , and kinde of matter is finite : for infinite of severall kindes of matter would make a confusion . chap. 7. of infinite knowledge . there can be no absolute knowledge , if infinite degrees of knowledge ; nor no absolute power , if there be infinite degrees of strength : nor present , if infinite degrees of motion . chap. 8. no judge in nature . no intreaty , nor petition can perswade nature , nor any bribes can corrupt , or alter the course of nature . justly there can be no complaints made against nature , nor to nature . nature can give no redresse . there are no appeals can be made , nor causes determined , because nature is infinite , and eternal : for infinite cannot be confined , or prescribed , setled , rul'd , or dispos'd , because the effects are sa infinite as the causes : and what is infinite , hath no absolute power : for what is absolute , is finite . finite cannot tell how infinite doth flow , nor how infinite matter moveth to and fro . for infinite of knowledge cannot guess of infinite of matter , more , or lesse : nor infinite of causes cannot finde the infinite effects of every kinde . chap. 9. of perfection . in infinite can no perfection be , for why ? perfection is in unity . in infinite no union can combine , for that has neither number , point nor line ; though infinite can have no figure , yet not lie all confus'd in heaps together chap. 10. of inequalities . if infinites have infinite degrees , and none alike to make equalities . as if a haire be cut with curious arts , innumerable but unequal parts , and that not any part alike shall be , how shall we joyn , to make them well agree ? if every one is like it self alone , three cannot be , unlesse three equal one. if one , and one make two ; and two , and two make four yet there must be two equal ones to make two , and two equal two's to to make four . and as two and one make three , yet there must be two equal ones joyned to a single one , to make three , or three equal single ones to joyn in three . the like is in weight , and measure , motion and strength . chap. 11. of unities . in infinite if infinite degrees , then those degrees may meet in unities . and if one man should have the 〈◊〉 of four , then four to equal him will be no more . as if one line should be in four parts cut , shall equal the same line together put ; so two and one , though odd is theer ; yet three and three shall equal be . like those that equal spaces backwards go , to those that 's forward , equals them we know . like buckets in a well if empty be , as one descends , the other ascends , we see ; so motions , though their crosse , may well agree , as oft in musick make a harmony . chap. 12. there is no vacuity . in nature if degrees may equal be , all may be full , and no vacuity . as boxes small , and smaller may contain , so bigger , and bigger must there be again . infinite may run contracting , and dilating , still , still , by degrees without a separating . chap. 13. of thin , and thick matter . thus may thin matter into solid run , and by its motion ; , make thick matter turn in several wayes , and fashions , as it will , although dull matter of it self lie still : t is not , that solid matter moves in thin , for that is dull , but thin which moves therein . like marrow in the bones , or blood in veins ; or thinner matter which the blood contains . like heat in fire , the effect is straight to burn , so matter thin makes solid matter run . chap. 14. of vacuum . if infinite inequalitie doth run , then must there be in infinite vacuum . for what 's unequal , cannot joyned be so close , but there will be vacuity . chap. 15. the unity of nature . nature tends to unity , being but of a kinde of matter , but the degrees of this matter being thinner , and thicker , softer , and harder , weightier , and lighter , makes it , as it were , of different kinde , when t is but different degrees : like several extractions , as it were out of one and the same thing ; and when it comes to such an extract , it turns to spirits , that is , to have an innate motion . chap. 16. of division . the several degrees of matter cause division by different motion , making several figures , erecting , and dissolving them , according as their matter moves . this makes motion and figure alwayes to be in war , but not the matter ; for it is the several effects that disagree , but not the causes : for the eternal matter is alwayes in peace , as being not subject to change ; but motion and figure , being subject to change , strive for superiority : which can never be , because subject to change. chap. 17. the order of nature . the reason , that there is not a confusion in nature , but an orderly course therein , is , the eternal matter is alwayes one , and the same : for though there are infinite degrees , yet the nature of that matter never alters . but all variety is made according to the several degrees , and the several degrees do palliate and in some sense make an equality in infinite ; so as it is not the several degrees of matter , that strive against each other , but several motions drive them against one another . chap. 18. of war , and no absolute power . the reason that all things make war upon one another , is , the several * degrees of matter , the contradiction of motion , and the degrees , and the advantage of the shapes of ( * ) figures alwayes striving . chap. 19. of power . there is no absolute power , because power is infinite , and the infinitenesse hinders the absolutenesse : for if there were an absolute power , there would be no dispute : but because there is no absolute power , there would be no dispute ; but because there is no absolute power , therefore there be disputes , and will be eternally : for the several degrees of matter , motion , and figure strive for the superiority , making faction by ( * ) sympathy , and fraction , by ( * ) antipathy . chap. 20. similizing the spirits , or innate matter . the spirits , or essences in nature are like quick-silver : for say it be fluid , it will part into little sphaerical bodies , running about , though it be nere so small a quantity : and though they are sphaerical , yet those figures they make by several , and subtle motion , may differ variously , and infinitely . this innate matter is a kinde of god or gods to the dull part of matter , having power to form it , as it please , and why may not every degree of innate matter be as several gods , and so a strong motion be a god to the weaker , and so have an infinite , and eternal government ? as we will compare motions to officers , or magistrates . the constable rules the parish , the mayor , the constable , the king the mayor , and some higher power the king : thus infinite powers rule eternity . or again thus , the constable rules the hundred , the major rules the city , the king the kingdom , and caesar the world . thus may dull matter over others rule , according as ' tis* shap'd by motions tool . so innate matter governs by degree , according as the stronger motions be . chap. 21. of operation . all things in the world have an operative power ; which operation is made by sympathetical motions & antipathetical motions , in several figures . for the assisting operation is caused by one , the destructive operation by another ; like poyson and cordials , the one kills , the other cures : but operations are infinite , as motions . chap. 22. natural , or sensivtie war. all natural war is caused either by a sympathetical motion , or an antepathetical motion . for natural war , and peace proceed from self-preservation , which belongs only to the figure ; for nothing is annihilated in nature , but the particular prints , or several shapes that motion makes of matter ; which motion in every figure strives to maintain what they have created : for when some figures destroyothers , it is for the maintenance or security ofthemselves : and when the destruction is for , food it is sympathetical motion , which makes a particular appetite , or nourishment from some creatures to others ; but an antipathetical motion that makes the destruction . chap. 23. of annihilation . there can be no annihilation in nature : nor particular motions , and figures , because the matter remains that was the cause of those motions and figures . as for particular figures , although every part is separated that made such a figure , yet it is not annihilated ; because those parts remain that made it . so as it is not impossible but the same particular figures may be erected by the same motions , that joyned those parts , and in the matter may repeat the same motion eternally so by succession : and the same matter in a figure may be erected and dispersed eternally . thus the dispersing of the matter into particular figures by an alteration of motion , we call death ; and the joyning of parts to create a figure , we call life . death is a separation , life is a contraction . chap. 24. life . life is the extract , or spirit of common matter : ( * ) this extract is agile , being alwayes in motion ; for the thinnesse of this matter causes the subtilty of the quality , or property , which quality , or preporty is to work upon all dull matter . this essence , or life , which are spirits of sense , move of themselves : for the dull part of matter moves not , but as it is moved thereby . their common motions are four . atractive . retentive . digestive . expulsive . attractive is that which we call growth , or youth . retentive , is that we call strength . digestive is that we call health , that is an equal distribution of parts to parts , and agreeing of those spirits . expulsive is that which we call death , or decay . the attractive spirits gather , and draw the materials together . the digestive spirits do cut and carve out every thing . the retentive do fit , and lay them in their proper places . the expulsive do pul down , and scatter them about . those spirits most commonly move according to the matter they work on . for in spung and porous light matter , their motion is quick ; in solid , and weighty , their motion is slower . for the solid parts are not onely dull , and immoveable of themselves , but they hinder and * obstruct those spirits of sence , and though they cut and pierce through all , yet it is with more labour , and slower motion ; for their motions change according to the quantity and quality of that matter they meet with ; for that which is porous and spungy , the figures that they form that matter in , are sooner made , and sudenlier destroyed , then that which is more combustible . this is the reason , minerals last longer then vegetables , and animals , because that matter is both tougher and harder to work on , then vegetables and animals are . these sensitive spirits we may similize to several workmen , being alwayes busily imployed , removing , lifting , carrying , driving , drawing , digging , and the like . and although these spirits are of substance thinner then dull matter , yet they are stronger by reason of their subtility , and motion , which motion gives them power : for they are of an acute quality , being the vitriol , as it were , of nature , cut and divide all that opposeth their way . now these spirts , though they be infinite , yet we cannot think them so grosse an infinite , as combustible matter , yet those thinner infinites may cut , and carve the thicker infinites all into several figures : like as aqua-fortis will eat into the hardest iron , and divide it into small parts . as i have said before , the spirits of life works according as the matter is , for every thing is shap'd according to the solidity of the matter ; like as a man which builds a house of such wood , which is tough , and strong , because he knows otherwise it will break , by reason of the great weight they are to bear , but to make laths , he takes his wood and cuts it thin , that the nails may the easier passe through , so joyning and fitting several sorts to proper uses to build his house . or like a cook , when he 's to raise a pie , must take stiff dough ; for otherwise it will not onely fall before it be finished , but it cannot be raised , and to make the lids to cover his pye , he must use a softer paste , otherwise it will not rowl thin ; thus a stiff paste is not fit for a lid , nor a thinner paste for to raise a pye ; it may make a cake , or so . so the spirits of life must make figures , as the matter is fit : and proper therto , for the figure of man or the like ; the spirits of life take the solid and hard matter for the * bones : the glutinous matter for the sinews , nerves , muscles , and the like ; and the oyly matter , for flesh , fat , marrow . so the fluid for blood , and such like matter . and the spirits themselves do give this dull matter , motion , not onely in the building of the figure , but to make the figure move when it is built . now the spirits of life , or lively spirits do not onely move dull and immoving matter , but makes that matter to move and work upon others ; for some kinde of figures shall make * another to resemble it self , though not just be as it self is made , but as the shadow like the substance ; for it works as a hand that is guided by another , and not of its own strength : that is the reason , arts have not so much perfection as nature . the copy is not so lively as the original ; for the spirits of life move , and work of their own strength , and the dul matter by the strength of the spirits . chap. 25. of change . the change of motion in several figures makes all change and difference in the world , and their several properties and effects thereto . and that which we call death , or corruption , is not * an absence of life , but an expulsive motion which doth annihilate those figures , that erecting motion hath made . so death is an annihilation of the print , not of the mould of figures ; for the moulds of those figures of mankinde , beast , or plant , of all kindes whatsoever , shall never be annihilated so long as motion and matter last , which may alwayes be ; for the mould of all figures is in the power of motion , and the substance of matter . chap. 26. of youth , or growth . thus spirits of sense work according to the substance of the matter : for if the matter be porous and light , they form those figures quicker , and dissolve them suddenly : but if their matter be solid and hard , they work slower , which makes some figures longer ere they come to perfection , and not so easily undone . and if their strength be too weak for the matter they work upon , as wanting help , then the figure is imperfect , and mishapen , as we say . this is the reason animals and vegetables , which are yong , have not so great strength as when they are full grown ; because there are fewer spirits , and the materials are loose and unsetled , not knockt close : but by degrees more spirits gather together , which help to forward their work , bring in materials by food , setling them by nourishment , carrying out by evacuations that matter that is unuseful , and that rubbish and chips , as i may say , which would hinder their motion . if they bring in unuseful matter , their figure increases not , as we say , thrives not . and if they carry out the principal materials , the figure decayes , and falls down . but those parts of matter which are not spirits , do not carry that part of matter which is spirit , but these spirits carry the dull matter . thus the spirits , the innated matter , move in dull matter , and dull matter moveth by the spirits ; and if the matter be fine , and not gross , which they build withal , and their motion be regular , then the figure is beautiful and well proportioned . chap. 27. of increasing . the reason that the corruption of one figure is the cause of making of another of the same kinde , is , not onely , that it is of such a tempered matter that can onely make such a kinde of figure ; but that the spirits make figures according to their strength : so that the spirits that are in the seed , when they have undone the figure they are in , by a general expulsion , which we call corruption , they begin to create again another figure of the same kinde , if no greater power hinder it . for the matter that is proper , to make such like figures , is fitted , or temper'd to their strengths . so as the temper of the matter , and the strength of the spirits , are the erectors of those figures eternally . and the reason , that from one seed , less , or more numbers are increased and rais'd , is , that though few begin the work , more will come to their help ; and as their numbers are increased , their figures are more , or less , weaker , or stronger . chap. 28. of decay . when spirit of life have created a figure , and brought it to perfection ; if they did not pull it down again , they would be idle , having no work to do ; and idleness is against the nature of life , being a perpetual motion . for as soon as a figure is perfected , the spirits generally move to an expulsive motion . this is the reason , that age hath not that strength as full-growth : but like an old house falling down by degrees , shed their haires , or leaves , instead of tiles , the windows broke down , and stopped with rubbish . so eyes in animals grow hollow and dim . and when the foundation of a house is loose , every little winde shakes it . so when the nerves being slack , and the muscles untied , and the joynts unhing'd , the whole body is weak , and tottering , which we call palsies : which palsies , as the winde , shakes . the bloud , as the springe dries up , rhumes , as rain falls down , and vapours , as dust , flie up . chap. 29. of dead , and death . dead is , where there is a general alteration of such motion , as is proper to such figures . but death is an annihilation of that print , or figure , by an expulsive motion : and as that figure dissolves , the spirits disperse about , carrying their several burdens to the making of other figures . like as a house that is ruin'd by time , or spoyled by accident ; the several materials are imployed to other uses ; sometimes to the building of an house again . but a house is longer a building then a pulling down , by reason of the cutting , carving , laying , carrying , placing , and fitting every part to make them joyn together ; so all the works of nature are sooner dissolv'd then created . chap. 30. of local shapes . some shapes have power over others , but 't is not alwayes in the size , or bulk of the figure , but in the manner of their formes that give advantage , or disadvantage . a little mouse will run through the snowt of a great elephant : a little flye will sting a great figure to death ; a worm will wind through a thick body ; the lions force lies in his claws ; the horses in his hoof ; the dogs in his teeth ; the bulls in his horns ; and man 's in his armes , and hands ; birds in their bills , and talons : and the manner of their shapes gives them several properties , or faculties . as the shape of a bird causes them to 〈◊〉 , a worm to creep , the shape of a beast to run , the shape of fish to swim ; yet some flie swifter , and higher then others , as their wings are made : so some run nimbler then others , according as their limbs are made ; and some swim glider then others , according as their fins are made . but man surpasses the shape of all other creatures ; because he hath a part , as it were , of every shape . but the same motion , and the same matter without the shape , could not give such external properties ; since all internal properties are wrought out of dull matter . so as it is their shapes , joyned with such motions proper thereunto , that giveth strength , and agileness . but the internal qualities may be alike in every figure ; because rational spirits work not upon dull matter , but figures themselves . chap. 31. the visible motion in animals , vegetables , and minerals . the external motions of animals are , running , turning , winding , tumbling , leaping , jumping , shoving , throwing , darting , climbing , creeping , drawing , heaving , lifting , carrying , holding , or staying , piercing , digging , flying , swimming , diving . the internal motion , is , contriving , directing , examining , comparing , or judging , contemplating , or reasoning , approving or disapproving , resolving . from whence arise all the passions , and several dispositions . these , and the like , are the visible internal motions in animals . the internal motions of vegetables , and minerals , are in operation ; as , contracting , dilating ; which is attractive , retentive , digestive , expulsive . the vegetables external motion , is , increasing , decreasing , that is , enlarging , or lasting ; although there may be matter not moving , yet there is no matter , which is not moved . chap. 32. of the working of several motions of nature . motions do work according as they finde matter , that 's fit , and proper for each kinde . sensitive spirits work not all one way , but as the matter is , they cut , carve , lay . joyning together matter , solid light , and build and form some figures streight upright ; or make them bending , and so jutting out : and some are large , and strong , and big about . and some are thick , and hard , and close unite ; others are flat , and low , and loose , and light . but when they meet with matter , fine , and thin , then they do weave , as spiders when they spin : all that is woven is soft , smooth , thin things , as flowry vegetables , and animal skins . observe the grain of every thing , you 'l see , like inter-woven threads lye evenly . and like to diaper , and damask wrought , in several works , that for our table 's bought . or like to carpets which the persian made , or sattin smooth , which is the florence trade . some matter they ingrave , like ring , and seal , which is the stamp of natures common-weal . 't is natures armes , where she doth print on all her works , as coin that 's in the mint . some several sorts they joyn together glu'd . as matter solid , with some that 's fluid . like to the earthly ball , where some are mixt of several sorts , although not fixt . for though the figure of the earth may last longer then others ; yet at last may waste . and so the sun , and moon , and planets all , like other figures , at the last may fall . the matter 's still the same , but motion may alter it into figures every way : yet keep the property , to make such kinde of figures fit , which motion out can finde . thus may the fgures change , if motion hurls that matter of her wayes , for other worlds . of the minde . there is a degree of stronger spirits then the sensitive spirits : as it were the essence of spirits ; as the spirit of spirits , this is the minde , or soul of animals . for as the sensitive spirits are a weak knowledg , so this is a stronger knowledge . as to similize them , i may say , there is as much difference betwixt them , as aqua fortis , to ordinary vitriol . these rational spirits , as i may call them , work not upon dull matter , as the sensitive spirits do ; but onely move in measure , and number , which make figures ; which figures are thoughts , as memory , understanding , imaginations , or fancy , and remembrance and will. thus these spirits moving in measure , casting , and placing themselves into figures make a consort , and harmony by numbers . where the greater quantity , or number , are together of those rational spirits , the more variety of figure is made by their several motions , they dance several dances according to their company . chap. 34. of their several dances , or figures . what object soever is presented unto them by the senses , they strait dance themselves into that figure ; this is memory . and when they dance the same figure without the help of the outward object , this is remembrance , when they dance the figures of their own invention , ( as i may say ) then that is imagination or fancie . understanding is , when they dance perfectly ( as i may say ) not to misse the least part of those figures that are brought through the senses . will is to choose a dance , that is to move as they please , and not as they are perswaded by the sensitive spirits . but when their motion and measures be not regular , or their quantity or numbers sufficient to make the figures perfect , then is the minde weak and infirme , ( as i may say ) they dance out of time and measure . but where the greatest number of these , or quantity of these essences are met , and joyn'd in the most regular motion , there is the clearest understanding , the deepest iudgement , the perfectest knowledge , the finest fancies , the more imagination , the stronger memory , the obstinatest will. but somtimes their motions may be regular ; but society is so small , so as they cannot change into so many several figures : then we say he hath a weak minde , or a poor soul. but be their quantity or numbers few or great , yet if they move confusedly , and out of order , we say the minde is distracted . and the reason the minde , or soul is improveable , or decayable , is , that the quantity or numbers are increaseable , or decreaseable , and their motions regular , and irregular , a feaver in the body is the same motion among the sensitive spirits , as madnesse is in the minde amongst the rational spirits . so likewise pain in the body is like those motions , that make grief in the minde . so pleasure in the body is the like motions , as make delight , and joy in the minde , all convulsive motions in the body , are like the motions that cause fear in the minde . all expulsive motions amongst the rational spirits , are a dispersing their society ; as expulsity in the body , is the dispersing of dull matter by the sensitive spirits . all drugs have an opposite motion to the matter they work on , working by an expulsive motion ; and if they move strongly , having great quantity of spirits together in a little dull matter , they do not onely cast out superfluous matter , but pull down the very materials of a figure . but all cordials have a sympathetical motion to the matter they meet , giving strength by their help to those spirits they finde tired : ( as one may say ) that it is to be over-power'd by opposite motions in dull matter . chap. 35. the sympathy , and antipathy of spirits . pleasure , and delight , discontent , and sorrow , which is love , and hate , is like light , and darknesse ; the one is a quick , equal , and free motion ; the other is a slow , irregular , and obstructed motion . when there is the like motion of rational spirits in opposite figures , then there is a like understanding , and disposition . just as when there is the like motion in the sensitive spirits ; then there is the like constitution of body . so when there is the like quantity laid in the same symmetry , then the figures agree in the same proportions , and lineaments of figures . the reason , that the rational spirits in one figure , are delighted with the outward form of another figure , is , that the motions of those sensitive spirits , which move in that figure , agree with the motion of the rational spirits in the other . this is love of beauty ; and when the sensitive motions alter in the figure of the body , and the beauty decayes , then the motion of rational spirits alter , and the love of godlinesse ceases . if the motion of the rational spirits are crosse to the motion of the sensitive spirits , in opposite figures , then it is dislike . so if the motion be just crosse and contrary , of the rational spirits in opposite figures , it is hate ; but if they agree , it is love . but these sympathies , which are made only by a likenesse of motions without an intermixture , last not long ; because those spirits are at a distance , changing their motion without the knowledge , or consent of either side . but the way that the rational spirits intermix , is , through the organs of the body , especially the eyes , and eares , which are the common doors , which let the spirits out , and in . for the vocal , and verbal motion from the mouth , carry the spirits through the eares down to heart , where love and hate is lodged . and the spirits from the eyes issue out in beams , and raies ; as from the sun , which heat , or scorch * the heart , which either raise a fruitful crop of love , making the ground fertile , or dries it so much , as makes it insipid , that nothing of good will grow there , unlesse stinking weeds of hate : but if the ground be fertile , although every crop is not so rich , as some , yet it never grows barren , unlesse they take out the strength with too much kindnesse ; as the old proverb , they kill with too much kindnesse ; which murther is seldom committed . but the rational spirits * are apt to take surfet , as well as sensitive spirits , which makes love , and good-will , so often to be ill rewarded , neglected , and disdain'd . chap. 36. the sympathy of sensitive , and rational spirits in one figure . there is a strong sympathy , and agreement , or affection ( as i may say ) betwixt the rational spirits , and the sensitive spirits joyned in one figure : like fellow-labourers that assist one another , to help to finish their work . for when they disagree , as the rational spirits will move one way sometimes , and the sensitive spirits another ; that is , when reason strives to abate the appetite of the senses ; yet it is by a loving direction , rather to admonish them by a gentle contrary motion for them to imitate , and follow in the like motions ; yet it is , as they alwayes agree at last ; like the father and the son. for though the father rules by command , and the son obeies through obedience , yet the father out of love to his son , as willing to please him , submits to his delight , although it is against his liking ; * so the rational spirits oftimes agree with the motions of the sensitive spirits , although they would move another way . chap. 37. the sympathy of the rational and sensitive spirits , to the fgure they make , and inhabit . all the external motion in a figure , is , by the sensitive spirits ; and all the internal , by the rational spirits : and and when the rational and sensitive spirits , disagree in opposite figures , by contrary motion , they oft war upon one another ; which to defend , the sensitive spirits and rational spirits , use all their force , and power in either figure ; to defend , or to assault , to succour , or to destroy , through an aversion made by contrary motions in each other . now the rational spirits do not onely choose the materials for their defence , or assault , but do direct the sensitive spirits in the management thereof ; and according to the strength of the spirits of either side , the victory is gain'd , or lost . if the body be weak , there is like sensitive spirit , if the direction be not advantagious , there is lesse rational spirit . but many times the alacrity of the rational and sensitive spirits , made by moving in a regular motion , overcoms the greater numbers , being in a disordered motion . thus what is lost by scarcity , is regain'd by conformity and vnity . chap. 38. pleasure , and pain . all evacuations have an expulsive motion ; if the expulsive motion is regular , 't is pleasure , if irregular , 't is pain . indeed , all irregular and crosse motion , is pain ; all regular motion is pleasure , and delight , being harmony of motion , or a discord of motion . chap. 39. of the minde . imagine the rational essence , or spirits , like little spherical bobdies of quick-silver several ways * placing themselves in several figures , sometimes moving in measure , and in order : and sometimes out of order this quick-silver to be the minde , and their several postures made by motion , the passions and affections ; or all that is moving in a minde , to expresse those several motions , is onely to be done by guesse , not by knowledge , as some few will i guesse at love is , when they move in equal number , and even measure . hate is an opposite motion : fear is , when those small bodies tumble on a heap together without order . anger is , when they move without measure , and in no uniform figure . inconstancy is , when they move swiftly several wayes . constancy is a circular motion , doubt , and suspicion , and jealousie , are when those small bodies move with the odd numbers . hope is when those small bodies move like wilde-geese , one after another . admiration is , when those spherical bodies gather close together , knitting so , as to make such a circular figure ; and one is to stand for a center or point in the midst . humility is a creeping motion . joy is a hopping , skipping motion . ambition is a lofty motion , as to move upwards , or * higher then other motions . coveting , or ambition is like a flying motion , moving in several figures like that which they covet for ; if they covet for fame , they put themselves into such figures , as letters do , that expresse words , which words are such praises as they would have , or such figure as they would have statues cut , or pictures drawn : but all their motion which they make , is according to those figures with which they sympathize and agree : besides , their motion and figures are like the sound of musick ; though the notes differ , the cords agree to make a harmony : so several symmetries make a perfect figure , several figures make a just number , and several quantities or proportions make a just weight , and several lines make an even measure : thus equal may be made out of divisions eternally , and infinitely . and because the figures and motions of the infinite spirits which they move and make are infinite , i cannot give a final description : besides , their motion is so subtle , curious , and intricate , as they are past finding out . some natural motions worke so curious fine , none can perceive , unlesse an eie divine . chap. 40. of thinking , or the minde , and thoughts . one may think , and yet not of any particular thing ; that is , one may have sense , and not thoughts : for thoughts are when the minde takes a particular notice of some outward object , or inward idea ; but thinking is onely a sense without any particular notice . as for example ; those that are in a great fear , and are amazed , the minde is in confus'd sense , without any particular thoughts : but when the minde is out of that amaze , it fixes it self on particulars , and then have thoughts of past danger ; but the minde can have no particular thought of the amaze ; for the minde cannot call to minde that which was not . likewise when we are asleep , the minde is not out of the body , nor the motion that makes the sense of the minde ceast , which is thinking ; but the motion that makes the thoughts therein work upon particulars . thus the minde may be without thoughts , but thoughts cannot be without the minde : yet thoughts go out of the minde very oft , that is , such a motion to such a thing is ceast ; and when that motion is made again , it returns . thus thinking is the minde , and thoughts the effect thereof : thinking is an equal motion without a figure , or , as when we feel heat , and see no fire . chap. 41. of the motions of the spirits . if it be , as probably it is , that all sensitive spirits live in dul matter ; so rational spirits live in sensitive spirits , according to the shape of those figures that the sencitive spirits form them . the rational spirits by moving several ways , may make several kindes of knowledge , and according to the motions of the sensitive spirits in their several figures they make , though the spirits may be the same , yet their several motions may be unknown to each other . like as a point , that writes upon a table-book , which when the letter that was 〈◊〉 thereon , is rub'd out , the table is as plain , as if there were never any letter thereon ; but though the letters are out , yet the table-book , and in pen remain . so although this motion is gone , the spirit , and matter remain ; but if those spirits make other kindes of motions , like other kinds of letters , or language , those motions understand not the first , nor the first understands not them , being as several languages . even so it may be in a sound ; for that kinde of knowledge the figure had in the sound , which is an alteration of the motion of the rational spirits , caus'd by an alteration of the motion of the sensitive spirits in dull matter : and by these disorderly motions , other motions are rub'd out of the table-book , which is the matter that was moved . but if the same kinde of letters be writ in the same place again ; that is , when the spirits move in the same motion , then the same knowledg is in that figure , as it was before ; the other kinde of knowledge , which was made by other kinde of motion , is rub'd out , which several knowledge is no more known to each other , then several languages by unlearned men . and as language is still language , though not understood , so knowledge is still knowledge , although not general ; but if they be that we call dead , then those letters that were rubbed out , were never writ again ; which is , the same knowledge never returns into the same figures . thus the spirits of knowledge , or the knowledge of spirits , which is their several motions , may be ignorant and unacquainted with each other : that is , that some motion may not know how other motions move , not onely in several spirits , but in one and the same spirit ; no more then in every effect can know their cause : and motion is but the effect of the spirits , which spirits are a thin subtle matter : for there would be no motion if there were no matter ; for no thing can move : but there may be matter without self-motion ; but not self-motion without matter . matter prime knowes not what effects shall be , or how their several motions will agree . because * t is infinite , and so doth move eternally , in which no thing can prove . for infinite doth not in compasse lye , nor hath eternal lines to measure by . knowledge is there none , to comprehend that which hath no beginning , nor no end . perfect knowledge comprises all can be , but nothing can comprise eternity . destiny and fates , or what the like we call , in infinites they no power have at all . nature hath generosity enough to give all figures ease , whilst in that form they live ; but motion which innated matter is , by running crosse , each several pains it gives . chap. 42. of the creation of the animal figure . the reason , * that the sensitive spirits , when they begin to create an animal figure , the figure that is created feels it not , untill the model befinished , that is , it cannot have an animal motion , until it hath an animal figure ; for it is the shape which gives it local motion ? and after the fabrick is built , they begin to furnish it with * strength , and enlarge it with growth , and the rational spirit which inhabits it chooseth his room , which is the head ; and although some rational spirits were from the first creating it , yet had not such motions , as when created : besides , at first they have not so much company , as to make so much change , as to take parts , like instruments of musick , which cannot make such division upon few strings as upon more . the next , the figure being weak , their motions cannot be strong ; besides , before the figure is inlarged by growth , they want room to move in . this is the reason , that new-born animals seem to have no knowledge , especially man ; because the spirits do neither move so strong , nor have such variety of change , for want of company to make a consort . yet some animals have more knowledge then others , by reason of their strength , as all beasts know their dams , and run to their dugs , and know how to suck as soon as they are born ; and birds and children , and the like weak creatures , such do not . but the spirits of sense give them strength , and the spirits of reason do direct them to their food , * and the spirits of sense gave them taste , and 〈◊〉 , and the spirits of reason choose their meat : for all animal creatures are not of one dyet , for that which will nourish one , will destroy another . chap. 43. the gathering of spirits . if the rational spirits should enter into a figure newly created , altogether , and not by degrees , a childe ( for example ) would have as much understanding , and knowledge in the womb , or when it is new-born , as when it is inlarged and fully grown . but we finde by experience there are several sorts and degrees of knowledge and understanding , by the recourse of spirits : which is the reason , some figures have greater proportion of understanding and knowledge , and sooner then others ; yet it is increased by degrees , according as rational spirits increase . like as children , they must get strength before they can go . so learning and experience increase rational spirits , as food the sensitive : but experience and learning is not alwayes tyed to the eare ; for every organ and pore of the body is as several doors to let them in and out : for the rational spirits living with the sensitive spirits , come in , and go out with them , but not in equal proportion , but sometimes more , sometimes fewer : this makes understanding more perfect in health then in sicknesse , and in our middle age , more then in the latter age : for in age and sicknesse there is more carried out , then brought in . this is the reason , children have not such understanding , but their reason increaseth with their years . but the resional spirits may be similized * to a company of good-fellows , which have pointed a meeting ; and the company coming from several places , makes their time the longer ere their numbers are compleated , though many a brain is disappointed ; but in some figures the rooms are not commodious to move in , made in their creation , for want of help : those are changelings , innocents , or natural fools . the rational spirits seem most to delight in spungie soft and liquid matter ; as in the blood , brain , nerves , and in vegetables ; as not onely being neerest to their own nature , but having more room to move in . this makes the rational spirits to choose the head in animals , for their chief room to dance their figures in : * for the head is the biggest place that hath the spungy materials ; thus as soon as a figure is created , those rational spirits choose a room . chap. 44. the moving of innate matter . though motion makes knowledge , yet the spirits give motion : for those spirits , or essences , are the guiders , governours , directers ; the motions are but their instruments , the spirits are the cause , motion but an effect therefrom : for that thin matter which is spirits , can alter the motion , but motion cannot alter the matter , or nature of those essences , or spirits ; so as the same spirits may be in a body , but not one and the same knowledge , because not the same motion , that made that knowledge . as for example ; how many several touches belong to the body ? for every part of the body hath a several touch , which is a several knowledge belonging to every several part ; for every several part doth not know , and feel every several touch . for when the head akes , the heel feels it not , but onely the rational spirits which are free from the incumbrance of dull matter , they are agile , and quick to take notice of every particular touch , in , or on every part of the figure . the like motions of a pain in the body . the like motions of the rational spirits , we call grief in the minde ; and to prove it is the like motion of the rational spirits to the sensitive , which makes the knowledge of it , is , when the rational spirits are busily moved with some fantasmes , if any thing touches the body , it is not known to the rational spirits , because the rational spirits move not in such motion , as to make a thought in the head , of the touch in the heel , which makes the thoughts to be as senselesse of that touch , as any other part of the body , that hath not such paines made by such motions . and shall we say , there is no sense in the heel , because no knowledge of it in the head ? we may as well say , that when an object stands just before an eye that is blinde , either by a contrary motion of the thoughts inward , by some deep contemplation , or otherwise : we may as well say there is no outward object , because the rational spirits take no notice of that object ; t is not , that the stronger motion stops the lesse , or the swifter , the slower ; for then the motions of the planets wold stop one anothers course . some will say , what sense hath man , or any other animal when they are dead ? it may be answered , that the fignre , which is a body , may have sense , but not the animal ; for that we call animal , is such a temper'd matter , joyn'd in such a figure , moving with such kinde of motions ; but when those motions do generally alter , that are proper to an animal , although the matter , and figure remain , yet it is no longer an animal , because those motions that help it to make an animal are ceas'd so as the animal can have no more knowledge of what kind of sense the figure hath ( because it is no more an animal ) then an animal , what sense dust hath . and that there is the reason , that when any part is dead in an animal , if that those motions that belonged to the animal , are ceas'd in that part , which alter it from being a part of the animal , and knowes no more what sense it hath , then if a living man should carry a dead man upon his shoulders , what sense the dead man feels , whether any , or no. chap. 45. of matter , motion , and knowledge , or understanding . vvhatsoever hath an innate motion , hath knowledge ; and what matter soever hath this innate motion , is knowing , : but according to the several motions , are several knowledges made ; for knowledge lives in motion , as motion lives in matter : for though the kind of matter never alters , yet the manner of motions alters in that matter : and as motions alter , so knowledge differs , which makes the several motions in several figures to give several knowledge . and where there is a likenesse of motion , there is a likenesse of knowledge : as the appetite of sensitive spirits , and the desire of rational spirits are alike motions in several degrees of matter . and the touch in the heel , or any part of the body else , is the like motion , as the thought thereof in the head ; the one is the motion of the sensitive spirits , the other in the rational spirits , as touch from the sensitive spirits , for thought is onely a strong touch , and touch a weak thought . so sense is a weak knowledge , and knowledge a strong sense , made by the degrees of the spirits : for animal spirits are stronger ( as i said before ) being of an higher extract ( as i may say ) in the chymistry of nature , which makes the different degrees in knowledge , by the difference in strengths and finenesse , or subtlety of matter . chap. 46. of the animal figure . whatsoever hath motion hath sensitive spirits ; and what is there on earth that is not wrought , or made into figures , and then undone again by these spirits ? so that all matter is moving , or moved by the movers ; if so , all things have sense , because all things have of these spirits in them ; and if sensitive spirits , why not rational spirits ? for there is as much infinite of every several degree of matter , as if there were but one matter : for there is no quantity in infinite ; for . infinite is a continued thing . if so , who knows , but vegetables and minerals may have some of those rational spirits , which is a minde or soul in in them , as well as man ? onely they want that figure ( with such kinde of motion proper thereunto ) to expresse knowledge that way . for had vegetables and minerals the same shape , made by such motions , as the sensitive spirits create ; then there might be wooden men , and iron beasts ; for though marks do not come in the same way , yet the same marks may come in , and be made by the same motion ; for the spirits are so subtle , as they can pass and repass through the solidest matter . thus there may be as many several and various motions in vegetables and minerals , as in animals ; and as many internal figures made by the rational spirits ; onely they want the animal , to expresse it the animal way . and if their knowledge be not the same knowledge , but different from the knowledge of animals , by reason of their different figures , made by other kinde of motion on other tempered matter , yet it is knowledge . for shall we say , a man doth not know , because he doth not know what another man knows , or some higher power ? chap. 47. what an animal is . an animal is that which we call sensitive spirit ; that is , a figure that hath local motion ; that is , such a kinde of figure with such kinde of motions proper thereunto . but when there is a general alteration of those motions in it , then it is no more that we call animal ; because the local motion is altered ; yet we cannot knowingly say , it is not a sensitive creature , so long as the figure lasts : besides , when the figure is dissolved , yet every scattered part may have sense , as long as any kinde of motion is in it ; and whatsoever hath an innate motion , hath sense , either increasing or decreasing motion ; but the sense is as different as the motions therein , because those properties belonging to such a figure are altered by other motions . chap. 48. of the dispersing of the rational spirits . some think , that the rational spirits flye out of animals , ( or that animal we call man ) like a swarm of bees , when they like not their hives , finding some inconvenience , seek about for another habitation , or leave the body , like rats , when they find the house rotten , and ready to fall ; or scar'd away like birds from their nest. but where should this swarm , or troop , or flight , or essences go , unlesse they think this thin matter is an essence , evaporates to nothing ? as i have said before , the difference of rational spirits , and sensitive spirits , is , that the sensitive spirits make figures out of dull matter : the rational spirits put themselves into figure , placing themselves with number , and measure ; this is the reason when animals die , the external form of that animal may be perfect , and the internal motion of the spirits quite alter'd ; yet not absent , not dispers'd untill the annihilating of the external figure : thus it is not the matter that alters , but the motion and form. some figures are stronger built then others , which makes them last longer : for some , their building is so weak , as they fall as soon as finished ; like houses that are built with stone , or timber , although it might be a stone-house , or timber-house , yet it may be built , not of such a sort of stone , or such a sort of timber . chap. 49. of the senses . the pores of the skin receive touch , as the eye light , the eare sound , the nose scent , the tongue tast . thus the spirits passe , and repasse by the holes , they peirce through the dull matter , carrying their several burthens out , and in , yet it is neither the burthen , nor the passage that makes the different sense , but the different motion ; ( * ) for if the motion that coms through the pores of the skin , were as the motions which come from the eye , ear , nose , mouth , then the body might receive sound , light , scent , tast , all other as it doth touch . chap. 50. of motion that makes light. if the same motion that is made in the head did move the heel , there would appear a light to the sense of that part of the figure ; unlesse they will make such matter as the brain to be infinite , and onely in the head of an animal . chap. 51. opticks . there may be such motion in the brain , as to make light , although the sun never came there to give the first motion : for two opposite motions may give a light by reflection , unlesse the sun , and the eye have a particular motion from all eternity : as we say an eternal monopolor of such a kinde of motion as makes light. chap. 52. of motion , and matter . vvhy may not vegetables have light , sound , taste , touch , as well as animals , if the same kinde of motion moves the same kinde of matter in them ? for who knows , but the sap in vegetables may be of the same substance , and degree of the brain : and why may not all the senses be inherent in a figure , if the same motion moves the same matter within the figure , as such motion without the figure ? chap. 53. of the brain . the brain in animals is like clouds , which are sometimes swell'd full with vapour , and sometimes rarified with heat , and mov'd by the sensitive spirits to several objects , as the clouds are mov'd by the wind to several places . the winds seem to be all spirits , because they are so agile , and quick . chap. 54. of darknesse . to prove that darknesse hath particular motions which make it , as well as motion makes light , is that when some have used to have a light by them while they sleep , will , as soon as the light goeth out , awake ; for if darknesse had no motion , it would not strike upon the opick nerve . but as an equal motion makes light , and a perturb'd motion makes colour , which is between light and darknesse : so darknesse is an opposite motion to those motions that make light ; for though light is an equal motion , yet it is such a kinde , or sort of motion . chap. 55. of the sun. vvhy may not the sun be of an higher extract then the rational spirits , and be like glasse , which is a high extract in chymistry , and so become a ( * ) shining body ? if so sure it hath a great knowledge ; for the sun seems to be composed of pure spirits , without the mixture of dull matter ; for the motion is quick , and subtle , as we may finde by the effect of the light , and heat . chap. 56. os the clouds . the clouds seem to be of such spungy , and porous matter , as the rain , and aire , like the sensitive spirits that form , and move it , and the sun the rational spirit to give them knowledge ; and as moist vapours from the stomack rise , and gathering in the brain , flow through the eyes : so do the clouds send forth , as from the brain , the vapours which do rise in showres . chap. 57. of the motion of the planets . the earth , sun , moon , the rest of planets all are mov'd by that , we vital spirits cal . and like to animals , some move more slow , and other some by quicker motion go . and as some creatures by their shapes do flye , some swim , some run , some creep , some riseth high so planets by their shapes about do winde , all being made , like circles , round we finde . chap. 58. the motion of the sea. the sea 's more quick , then fresher waters are , the reason is , more vital spirits are there . and as the planets move still round about , so seas do ebb and flow both in and out . as arrows flye up , far as strength them lend , and then for want of strength do back descend : so do the seas in ebbes run back again , for want of strength , their length for to maintain but when they ebb , and flow , at certain times , is like the lungs that draw , and breath out wind . just so do seas draw back and then do flow , as constant as the lungs do to and fro : alwayes in motion never lying still , the empty place they leave , turn back to fill . we may as well inquire of nature , why animals breath in such a space of time , as the seas ebb and flow in such a space of time. an epistle to condemning readers . many perchance will laugh in scorn at my opinion , and ask what reason i have to think those things i have described should be made with such a kinde of motion , my answer is , that i guess by the forms , i mean the figures , or shapes , what the motion may be to produce them ; for i see the figure of a four leg'd creature hath other motions then two legged creatures , or then those creatures that have no legs ; and i see some shape creatures that can flee , by reason of their figures , which is made proper to produce that kinde of motion ; for those that are not made so , cannot do so . by this i think it probable that internal motions , are after the manner of external motions ; for we may guess at the cause by the effects , so by the figures of snow , frost , hail , rain , vapor , and the like , we may guesse at other internal , or external motions , that produced their external figures , or alterations , and by the effects of light , darknesse , heat , cold , moisture , what manner of motions produced them ; wherefore i know no reason why any should condemn my opinions . but the custom of their breeding in the schools of aristotle , and socrates , and the rest of ancient authors , or else they consider not my opinions enough ; for if they did , they might see as much probability for mine , as any of their opinions ; for though in natural philosophy there may be many touches found out by experiences , and experiments , yet the study is onely conjecturally , and built upon probabilities , and until probabilities be condemned by absolute and known truth , let them have a place amongst the rest of probabilities , and be not so partial to contradict , as to be unjust to me , take not away the right of my place because young ; for though age ought to have respect , yet not so as to do youth wrong , but i hope my new born opinions will be nourished in noble and learned schools , and bred up with industrious students ; but howsoever , i delight my self , for next to the finding out of truthes , the greatest pleasure in study , is , to finde out probabilities . i make no question but after ages will esteem this work of mine , but what soever is new , is not received at the first with that good acceptation , by reason it is utterly unknown unto them , and a newnesse , and an unacquaintednesse makes the ignorance , but when time hath made acquaintance , and a right understanding , and a right understanding will make a friendship betwixt fame and my book . of fortune . part ii. chap. 59. matter , figure , and motions , are the gods that create fortune ; for fortune is nothing in it self but various motions gathered , or drawn to a point , which point man onely thinks it fixt upon him , but he is deceived , for it fixes upon all other things ; for if any thing comes , and rubs off the bark of a tree , or breaks the tree , it is a miss-fortune to that tree , and if a house be built in such a place , as to shelter a tree from great storms , or cold weather , it were good fortune to that tree , and if a beast be hurt it is a miss-fortune to that beast , or bird , and when a beast , or bird , is brought up for pleasure , or delight , and not to work or be imprisoned , it is a good fortune to that beast , or bird ; but as i said before fortune is onely various motions , drawn to a point , and that point that comes from crosse motions , we call bad fortune , and those that come from sympathetical motions we call good fortune , and there must needs be antipathetical motions as well as sympathetical motions , since motions are so various . but man , and for all that i know , all other things , are governed by outward objects , they rule , and we obey ; for we do not rule and they obey , but every thing is led like dogs in a string , by a stronger power , * but the outward power being invisible , makes us think , we set the rules , and not the outward causes , so that we are governed by that which is without us , not that which is within us ; for man hath no power over himself . chap. 60. of time and nature . no question but there is a time in nature , for time is the variation of nature , and nature is a producing motion a multiplying figure , an endlesse measure , a quantilesse substance , an indefaisable matter . chap. 61. of matter , motion , and figure . as i said before in my first part of my book , that there is no first matter , nor no first motion , because eternal , and infinite , yet there could be no motion , without matter ; for matter is the cause , motion but the effect of matter , for there could be no motion unlesse there were matter to be moved ; but there might be matter , and figure , without motion , as an infinite , and eternal dull lump ; for i see no reason , but infinite might be without running forward , or circle-wayes , if there were not several degrees of the onely matter , wherein motion is an infinite eternal effect of such a degree . neither is it nonsense to say , figure is the effect of matter ; for though there is no matter without figure , yet there could be no figure without matter , wherefore matter is the prime cause of figure , yet there could be no figure without matter , wherefore matter is the prime cause of figure , but not figure of matter , for figure doth not make matter , but matter figure , no more then the creature can make the creator ; but a creature may make a figure . thus although there is no first matter , yet matter is the first cause of motion and figure , and all effects . although they are as infinite and eternal , as matter it self , and when i say matter prime , i speak for distinction sake , which is the onely matter ? the innated matter , is the soul of nature . the dull part of matter , the body . and the infinite figures , are the infinite form of nature . and the several motions are the several actions of nature . chap. 62. of causes , and effects . as i have said before the effects are infinite , and eternal as the causes , because all effects lie in matter and motion , indeed in matter onely ; for motion is but the effect of matter . wherefore all particular figures although dssiolvable yet is inherent in the matter , and motion , as for example , if a man can draw the picture of a man , or any thing else , although he never draws it , yet the art is inherent in the man , and the picture in the art as long as the man lives , so as long as there is matter , and motion , which was from all eternity , and shall be eternally ; the effect will be so . chap. 63. whether motion is a thing , or nothing , or can be annihilated some have opinion that motion is nothing , but to my reason it is a thing ; for if matter , is a substance , a substance is a thing , and the motion , and matter being unseparablely , united , makes it but one thing . for as there could be no motion without such a degree , or extract of matter so there could be no such degree or extract of matter without motion , thus motion is a thing . but by reason particular motions leave moving in such matters and figures , shall we say they are deceased , dead , or become nothing ; but say some , motions are accidents , and accidents are nothing ; but i say , all accidents live in substance , as all effects in the causes , say some , when a man for example shakes his hand , and when he leaves shaking , whether is that motion gone ( say others ) no where , for that particular motion ceaseth to be , say they . i answer , that my reason tells me , it is neither fled away , nor ceased to be , for it remains in the hand , and in that matter that created the hand , that is in that , and the like innated matter , that is in the hand . but some will say , the hand never moves so again , but i say the motion is never the lesse there , they may as well say , when they have seen a chest full of gold , or the like , and when their eyes are shut , or that they never see it more , that the gold doth not lie in the chest , although the gold may lie there eternally , or if they should see it again , say it is not the same gold. so likewise particular motions are , but shewed , not lost , or annihilated : or say one should handle a vessel often , that every time you handle the vessel , it is not the same touch , vessel , or hand , and if you never touch the vessel again , that the hand , vessel , or touch is annihilated . but particular motion , as the vessels , or hand is but used , not annihilated , for particular motions can be no more annihilated , then particular figures that are dissolved and how , in reason can we say in reason particular figures are annihilated , when every part and parcel , grain , and atome , remains in infinite matter , but some will say , when a house : for example , is pull'd down , by taking asunder the materials , that very figure of that house is annihilated ; but my opinion is , that it is not , for that very figure of that house remains in those materials , and shal do eternally although those materials were dissolved into atoms , and every ato me in a several place , part , or figure & though infinite figures should be made by those materials by several dissolutions and creations , yet those infinites would remain in those particular materials eternally , and was there from all eternity ; and if any of those figures be rebuilt , or created again , it is the same figure it was . so likewise the motion of the hand which i said for example , if the same hand moves after the same manner , it is the same motion that moved the hand before ; so it may make infinite repetitions ; thus one and the same motion may move eternally , and rest from moving , and yet have a being . chap. 64. of motions . there are millions of several motions which agree to the making of each figure , and millions of several motions are knit together ; for the general motion of that are figure , as if every figure had a common-weale of several motions working to the subsistence of the figure , and several sorts of motions , like several sorts of trades hold up each other ; some as magistrates , and rulers ; others as train-bands , as souldiers ; some make forts , and dig trenches ; some as merchants that traffick ; some as sea-men , and ship-masters ; some that labour and and work , as some cut and carve ; others paint , and ingrave ; some mix , and temper , joyn , and inlay , and glue together ; some form , and build ; some cast in moulds , and some makes moulds to cast ; some work rough-casts ; some pollish and refine ; some bear burthens , some take off burthens , some digg , some sowe , some plough , some set , some graft , some plant , some gather , some reap , some sift , some thrash , some grind , some knead , some bake , some beat , some spin , some weave , some sewe together , some wind and twist , some create , and others dissolve , and millions of millions of motions , but as we see external , so we may imagine are internal motions . chap. 65. many motions go to the producing of one thing , or to one end . for there are millions of several motions go to the making of one figure , or in mixing , as i may say , of several degrees of the dull part of matter , as i will give one for example in grosse external motions , where i will describe it by digestive motions , which is to fit parts , and to distribute parts to several places proper to the work . for digestive motions , there are many several sorts , or kinds of motions mixt together , as for example , a piece of meat is to be boyled , or the like , some motions cut fuel , and others take it up , others carrie , other lay down in a chimnie , or the like place , others put fire , others kindle it , and make it burn , others take mettle and melt it , others cast such a figure as a pot , others bring the pot , others set it over the fire , others take up water , others carry that water to the pot , others put that water into the pot , others kill a sheep , others divide it into parts , others put it a part into the pot . thus a piece of meat cannot be boyled without all these motions , and many more , which would be too tedious to relate , for i could have inlarged in three times as many more , only to boyl a piece of meat , and if there be so many several motions in our grosse sense in such things as these , then what is there in infinite nature , yet for all these infinite varieties of motions , as i said before , i cannot perceive but six ground-motions , or fundamental motions , from whence all changes come , which are these attractive motions , contracting motions , retentive motions , dilative motions digestive motions , and expulsive motions ; likewise , although there be infinite kindes , and different figures , yet the ground-work , from whence ariseth all the veriety , is but from four figures ; as circular , triangular , cupe , and paralels . and as there are infinite changes of motions , amongst the sensitive innated matter , working on the dull parts of matter , so there are infinite changes of motions in the rational innated matter , making infinite kinds of knowledge , and degrees of knowledge , and understanding , and as there are infinite changes of motion , so there are infinite effects , and every produced effect , is a producing effect , and effects which effect produce effects , and the onely matter is the cause of all effects , for the several degrees of onely matter , is the effect of onely matter , and motion is the effect of some sorts of the degrees of onely matter , and varieties are the the effects of matter and motion , and life is the effect of innate matter ; and knowledge the effect of life . chap. 66. of the six principal motions . as i have said , there are infinite contractions , atractions , retentions , dilations , digestions , and expulsions , and to explain my self to my readers as well as i can , unlesse they should mistake me , i will here describe , although after a grosse way ; yet according to my capacity . a few of the infinite variety of motions , first there are five , or six principal motions , from whence infinite changes are made , or produced , as from contractions , attractions , retentions ; these three principal motions do in some kinde simpathize to each other ; and dilations , and expulsions do also sympathize to each other , but digestions is a mixt motion taking part of all , but i divide them into six parts , for distinction ; now to treat of them severally , we must make an imaginary circumference , and center . then first for attracting motions , which is to draw towards the center , that is , to draw to a lesse compasse , as to draw towards a point , yet atractions draw not alwayes after one and the same manner , for some motions draw after them , as horses do coaches , carts , sleds and the like , but after several fashions , forms , and biasses and several motions , in those motions some slow , some quick , some crosse , some even . again , some times attractive motions draw , as if one should pull in a line , or draw in a net , some slope-wayes , some straight wayes ; some square wayes , some round wayes ; and millions of the like varieties , in this sort of motion , yet all attracting motion . secondly , contracting motions which move after another manner ; for though both these sorts of motions , are to bring towards a point , yet contraction me thinks , strives more against vacuum , then attraction , gathering all into a firm body , stopping up all porous passages , shutting out space , and gathering in matter , as close as it can ; indeed attractions are but in the way to contractions , as dilations to expulsions ; but this sort of motions is , surfling , pleating , folding , binding , knitting , twisting , griping , pressing , tying , and many the like , and after several manners , or fashions . thirdly , retention is to hold , or to stay from wandring , to fix , as i may 〈◊〉 , the matter to one place , as if one should stick , or glue parts together . fourthly , dilations are to inlarge , as to spend , or extend , striving for space , or compasse ; it is an incroaching motion , which will extend its bounds as far as it can , this sort of motion is melting , flowing , streaming , spreading , smoothing , stretching , and millions of the like . fiftly , expulsive , is a motion that shuns all unity , it strives against solidity , and uniformity , it disperses every thing it hath power on ; this sort of motion , is , breaking , dissolving , throwing about . sixthly , digestive motions , are the creating motions , carrying about parts to parts , and fitting , and matching , and joyning parts together , mixing and tempering the matter for proper uses . chap. 67. of exterior motions produced from the six principle motions . i will here repeat some of the varieties of grosse exterior motions , such as are visible to our grosser senses , to cleer my readers imaginary motion ; some motions draw , as horses draw coaches , carts , sleds , harrows , or the like ; others , as horses , and dogs , are led in a bridle , or string . some , as beasts draw their prey to the den moving backwards . some draw up lines shorter , and thicker , and some draw in circular lines , sloping lines , and square lines . other sorts of drawing , some straight lines ; some square lines , round lines , slope lines , some motions draw up ; some draw down , some draw side-wayes ; some crosse , some regular ; other motions do , as if one should drive , or shove a solid substance before them , the varieties of these motions . some are , as if a man should drive a wheel-barrow , or rowling of barrels , or driving a plough , or a rowler , and millions the like . others are , as if beasts and men were to carry burthens , some bearing burthens on their back ; some on their head ; some in in their mouth ; some in their arms ; some in their hands ; some under their armes ; some on their thighs ; some on their stings , as bees do , and millions the like , and every one of those burthens , have several motions thereto , and yet all but bearing motions . other sorts of motions , as throwing the bar , pitching the bar , throwing a ball , striking a ball , throwing a bowl , flinging a dart , darting a dart , throwing upward , downward , straight-out , side-wayes , and all these several manners , is but a throwing motion . leaping , running , hopping , trotting , gallopping , climing , clamering , flying , and infinite others , yet all is but a lofty motion . diving , dipping , mowing , reaping , or shearing , rowling , creeping , crawling , tumbling , traveling , running , and infinite the like examples may be given of the varieties of one and the same kinde of motion . chap. 68. of double motions at one and the same time , on the same matter . as for example ; spinning flax , or the like is drawn long , and small , twisted hard , and round , and at one time . again , a bowl runs round-way , and yet straight-out at one time . a shuttle-cock spins about in a straight line . the winde spreads , and yet blows straight-out at one and the same time . flame ascends circular , and many the like examples may be given . chap. 69. of the several strengths . although there be infinite strengths of motion , yet not to all sorts of figures , nor to all degrees of matter ; for some figures move slow , others move swift , according to the nature of the shape , or the interior strengths , or the degree , or quantity of innated matter , that created them ; for though every degree of innated matter , is of one and the same strength , yet there are different degrees ; but onely two degrees are subject to our weak sense , as the innate minde , and the innated body , which we call sense and reason , which sense and reason , may be in every thing , though after different manners , but we have confined sense , onely to animal kinde , and reason onely to mankinde ; but if the innated matter is in the dull parts of matter , as the life of the body , then there is no part that hath not sense and reason whether creating or created , dissolving , or dissolved , though i will not say that every creature enjoys life alike , so every figure is not innated alike , for some is weaker innated , and some stronger , either by quantity or degree , yet every figure is innated ; for it is innated matter that creates , and dissolves figures , yet the innated matter works according to the several degrees , and tempers , of the dull part of matter , and to such properties , and figures , and figures properties , and proper figures , that is , motion doth form the onely matter , into figures , yet motion cannot alter the entity of only matter , but motion can , and doth alter the interior , and exterior figures , and though the several degrees of matter may be placed , and replaced in figures , yet the nature of the matter cannot be altered . chap. 70. the creations of figures , and difference of motions . those motions that are proper to create figures , are different from those motions that dissolve them , so that sympathetical internal motions , do not onely assist one another , but sympathetical external motions , and sympathetical figures ; this is the reason that from two figures , a third , or more is created , by the way of procreation ; yet all figures are created , after one and the same kinde of way ; yet not after one and the same manner of way , as vegetables , minerals , and some sorts of animals , as such as are bred from that we call corruption , as some sorts of worms , and some sorts of flies , and the like ; yet are they created by the procreation of the heat , and moisture , the same way are plants that grow wilde produced , but those that are sown or set , although they are after one and the same kinde of way , yet not after the same manner ; for the young vegetables , were produced from the seeds , and the earth , which were sowed , or set together , and in grafts is when two different plants produce seed of mixt nature , as a mule is produced , or the like creature , from two different animals , which make them of mixt nature ; for as there is a sympathetical conjunction in one , and the same kinde of figure , so there is a sympathetical conjunction in some sorts of figures ; but not in all , nor to all , for that would make such a confusion in nature , as there would be no distinction , of kindes ; besides , it were impossible for some kinde of figures , to make a conjunction with other kindes , being such a difference betwixt them , some from the nature of the figures , others from the shape of the figures . and minerals are produced by the conjunction of such elements , which were begot by such motions , as make heat , and drought , and cold and dry . thus all figures are created from different motions , and different degrees , of infinite onely matter ; for onely matter joyns , and divides it self by self motions , and hath done so , and will do so , or must do so eternally , being its nature , yet the divisions , and substractions , joynings , and creations , are not alike , nor do they continue , or dissolve , with the like measure of time , which time is onely as in a reference to several motions . but as i have said , there can be nothing lost in nature , although there be infinite changes , and their changes never repeated . for say a man dies , and his figure dissolves into dust , as smal as atoms , and is disperst so , as never to meet , and every atome goeth to the making of several figures , and so changes infinitely , from figure , to figure , yet the figures of all these changes lie in those parts , and those parts in onely matter ; so likewise several motions may cease as figures dissolve , but still those motions lies in innated matter , and each particular figure , in the generality of matter and motion , which is on the dull part , and innated part of onely matter . chap. 71. the agilenesse of innated matter : innated matter seems much nimbler in some works , then in other , as making elements , and their several changes , being more porous then animals , vegetables , and minerals , which are more contracted , and not so easily metamorphosed , and on the thin part of dull matter , they seem much nimbler , and agil , then when they work on the grosse part of dull matter ; for though the innated matter can work , but according to the strength , yet not alwayes according to that strength ; for their burthens are not alwayes equal to their strength ; for we see in light thin dull matter , their motions to be more swift , having lesse incumbrances , and lighter burthens , unlesse it be oposed , and stopped by the innated matter , that works in the more solid , or thicker part of dull matter , or move solid and united figures , yet many times the innated matter , that works on the thin part of dull matter , or in more porous figures , will make way through solid and thick bodies , and have the power on those that work on more grosse matter , for the innate matter that works on grosse matter , cannot resist so well , having greater burthens , nor act with that facility as the others can , whose matter is lighter , or figures more pourous ; for we see many times water to passe through great rocks , and mountains , piercing and dividing their strengths , by the frequent assaults thereon , or to ; yet many times the passe is kept or lost , according to the quantity of the innated 〈◊〉 of either side . chap. 72. of external , and internal figures and motions . for the motions of heat and drought begets the sun the motions of heat and moisture begets the aire . the motions of cold and dry , begets the earth , and the rest of the planets , and as other motions begot them , so they begot others , and as these elemental planets beget in gener all figures , which we call creatures in the world ; so these figures , as they are matched , beget each particular figures of several sorts ; for external figures , are made by internal motions ; for though vegetables , minerals , and animals be internal figures , as to the globe of the world , which is the external figures to them , yet they are external figures to those which are created in them , untill such time as they are cast forth of that mould , as i may say , which they were made in , which is the womb , and the several wombs of several kinds , are several moulds , but indeed all moulds differ in their points . perchance this subject might be better explained , but my modest thoughts will not give my inquisitive thoughts leave to trace natures creations by procreation ; although i beleeve nature , and her works are pure of themselves , but 't is the abuse of her works , and not the knowledge that corrupts man-kinde . chap. 73. of repeating one and the same work , and of varieties . nature may repeat one and the same creature if she pleaseth , that is , the same motions , on the same matter , may create the same creature , by reason the same motions , and the same matter , is eternally in the body infinite : thus the original cause of producing one and the same is eternal , by reason nothing in nature can be annihilated , and though the infinite matter is but one and the same , yet the infinite part of innated matter , moves infinite several wayes , and by reason of the diversity of motion , there is such varietie , as seldom any two creatures are alike , for motion delights in variety , not so much in the different kindes , as in the particular creatures , which makes me think that motion is bound by the nature of the matter , to make such kindes ; although it be at liberty for particulars , and yet the several kindes may be as infinite as the particulars ; as for example , although motion is bound to animal kinde , vegetable kinde , mineral kinde , and also to make such kinde of worlds as this is ; yet motion may make infinite particular worlds , as infinite particular animals , vegetables , minerals , and those infinite worlds may differ , as those kindes of creaturs ; for worlds may differ from other worlds , not onely as man from man , but as man from beast , beasts from birds , birds from fish , and so as vegetables do ; for an oak is not like a tulip , or roses ; for trees are not like flowers , nor flowers like roots , nor roots like fruit , nor all flowers alike , nor all roots alike , nor all fruits alike , nor all trees , and the rest , and so for minerals ; gold is not like lead , nor a diamond like a pibble stone ; so there may be infinite worlds , and infinite variety of worlds , and be all of that kinde we call worlds , yet be nothing alike , but as different , as if it were of another kinde , and may be infinite several kinds of creatures , as several sorts , that we can never imagine , nor guesse at ; for we can guesse , nor imagine at no other wayes , but what our senses brought in , or our imaginations raised up , and though imaginations in nature may be infinite , and move in every particular brain after an infinite manner ; yet it is but finite in every particular figure , because every particular figuse is finite , that is every particular figure comes by degrees from creation to a full growth , from a full growth to a decay , from a decay to a dissolution ; but not a annihilation , for every particular figure lies in the body infinite , as well as every particular kinde ; for unlesse eternalmatter , and infinite matter , and eternal and infinite motions could be annihilated , infinite figures wil eternally remain , although not in their whole bulk , yet in their parted pieces ; for though one and the same matter may be made into other figures : yet the former figures have as much a being as the present figures , by reason the matter that was the cause of those figures hath an eternal being , and as long as the cause lasts , the effects cannot be annihilated . chap. 74. of creation , and dissolving of nature . the divisions , and substractions , joynings , and creations , are not alike , nor do they continue , and dissolve with the like measures of time ; for some vegetables are old , and decrepit at a day old , others are but in their prime after a hundred yeers , and so some animals , as flies and the like , are old and decrepit at a yeer old ; others , as man is but at his prime at twenty yeers , and will live a hundred yeers , if he be healthy and sound ; so in the minerals , perchance lead , or tin , or the like , is but a flie , for continuance to gold , or like a flower to an oak , then it is probable , that the sun and the rest of the planets , stars , and millions more that we know not , may be at their full strength at ten hundred thousand yeers , nay million of millions of yeers , which is nothing to eternity , or perchance , as it is likely , other figures were at full strength when matter and motion created them , and shall last until matter dissolves them . again , it is to be observed that all spherical figures last longest , i think it is because that figure hath no ends to ravel out at . chap. 75. of gold. some say that gold is not to be altered from the figure that makes it gold , because chymists have tried and cannot do it , but certainly that innated motion that joyns those parts , and so made it in the figure of minerals can dissolve those parts , and make it into some figure else , to expresse an other thing ; but being a 〈◊〉 solid part of dull matter then that which makes other minerals , it is longer a creating , and dissolving , then the other figures are , that are of a light or softer substance , and may be the motions that make gold , are of slower nature , so as it is caused from the hardnesse of the matter , or the slownesse of the spirit , caused by the curiosity of the work , wherein they must use more different motions then in other figures ; so as it may be a thousand yeers uniting , or a thousand yeers a dispersing , a thousand , nay ten thousand ; for there is no account , nor time in nature infinite , and because we last not so song as to perceive it , shall we say that gold was eternal , and shall last eternally ; so we may as well say an oak , that is a hundred yeers , ere it comes to full maturity , and a hundred yeers , ere it comes to be dissoved , that it was an oak eternally , and shall be so eternally , because a flower , is created , and dissolved in two or three dayes , but the solidity of the matter , and the cūriosity in the several changes , and enterchanges of motions prolong the work , yet it is hastened , or retarded by the quantity of spirits that work therein ; for when there is more , it is sooner formed , when less , longer ere it come to its figurative perfection . chap. 76. of sympathies , and antipathies , which is to agree , or disagree , to joyn , or to crosse . there are infinite sorts of figures , or creatures , that have sympathy , and infinite sorts of figures , that have antipathies , both by their exterior , and interior motions , and some exterior sympathie with some interior , and some interior with some exteriors , and some exterior with exteriors , and interiors with interiors , both in one and the same figure , and with one and the same kinde , and with different kinds , and with several sorts , which works various effects : and here i will treat a little of vegetables , and minerals with antipathy , or sympathies , with animals of all animals . first , man thinks himself to have the supreme knowledge , but he can but think so , for he doth not absolutely know it , for thought is not an absolute knowledge but a suppositive knowledge , for there are as many several degrees of knowledge , as of innate matter which is infinite , and therefore not absolute , and as much variety of knowledge , as there is of motions , and though all innated matter is knowing , yet all innated matter is not known ; this makes figures to have of each others a suppositive , but not an absolute knowledge ; thus infinite makes innated matter in some kinde , a stranger to it self , yet being knowing , although not known , it makes an acquaintance with parts of it self , and being various by interchanging motions , it also loseth acquaintance ; the acquaintance we call learning , invention , experience , or memory , the unknown , or not acquainted we call stupidity , ignorance , forgetfulnesse , illiterate , but by the acquaintance of experience , we come to finde the use of many things , and by the use we come to learn , and from our learning we come to practise , and by our practise we come to produce many effects , from the hidden and mystical causes , which are the effects , from the onely cause which is the onely matter , thus we come to finde the use of earth , water , air , and fire , vegetables , minerals , and so animal with animal , and we do not onely get new acquaintance ; which is new experience , but we make use of our acquaintance to our own benefit , or at least we strive to do so ; for it is the nature of life , which life is innated matter , to strive for preheminency , and absolute power , that is , onely matter would rule it self , but being infinite it neither absolutely knows it self , nor can absolutely rule or govern it self , and though it be an endlesse work , yet motion which is the moving part of nature , cannot desist , because it is infinite , and eternal , thus moving matter running perpetually towards absolute power , makes a perpetual war ; for infinite , and onely matter is alwayes at strife for absolute power , for matter would have power over infinite , and infinite would have over matter , and eternity would have power over both . thus infinit and eternal matter joyned all , as to one is alwayes at strife in it self , yet the war is regular , not confused ; for there this is a natural order , and discipline is in nature as much as cruel tyrannie ; for there is a naturall order , and discipline often-times in cruel tyranny . chap. 77. of different knowledge in different figures . certainly there are infinite several kindes , as well as infinite several sorts , and particular creatures in nature , and certainly every several kinde , nay , every several sort in every kinde . knowledge works after a different manner ; in every different figure , which different manners we call particular knowledges which works according to the figure , so infinite knowledge lies in infinite figure , and infinite figure in infinite matter , and as there are infinite degrees of matter , so there are infinite degrees of knowledge , and as there are infinite degrees of knowledge , so there are infinite degrees of motions , so there are infinite degrees of figures , and as there are infinite degrees , so there are infinite kinds , and as there are infinite kindes , so there are infinite sorts , and so infinite particulars in every sort , yet no kinde can be said to have most , or least , though lesse or more ; for there is no such thing , as most or least in nature . for as i said before , there is onely different knowledge belonging to every kinde , as to animal kinde , vegetable kinde , mineral kinde ; and infinite more which we are not capable to know , but two particular sorts in every kinde ; as for example , man may have a different knowledge from beasts , birds , fish , worms , and the like , and yet be no wiser , or knowing then they ; for different wayes in knowledge makes not knowledge more or lesse , no more then different paths inlarge one compasse of ground ; nor no more then several words for one and the same thing , for the thing is the same , onely the words differ ; so if a man hath different knowledge from a fish , yet the fish may be as knowing as man , but man hath not a fishes knowledge , nor a fish a mans knowledge . likewise some creatures may have more , and some lesse knowledge then others ; yet none can be said to have most , or least ; for there is no such thing as most or least in nature , nor doth the weaknesse , or imperfection in particular creatures impaire the knowledge of the kinde , or impair the knowledge as i may say , belonging to any particular sort , nor can any one have such a supremacy of knowledge as to add to the knowledge of the kinde , or sort of kinde , as to have such a knowledge as is above the capacity of that kinde , or sort to understand . as for example , a man to know more then the nature of man is to know ; for what knowledge man hath had , or can have , is in the capacity of the kinde , though not to every particular man , for though nature may work within her self ; yet she cannot work beyond her self , and if there be mixe sorts of creatures , as partly man , and partly beast , partly man , and partly fish , or partly beast , and partly fish , and partly fish , and partly foul ; yet although they are mixt creatures , and may have mixt knowledges , yet they are particular sorts , and different knowledges , belonging to those sorts , and though different sorts have different knowledges , yet the kinde may be of one and the same degree ; that is , every several sort of creatures , in one and the same kinde , is as knowing and as wise , as another , and that which makes some creatures seem lesse perfect then others , or more knowing then others , is the advantage , or disadvantage of their 〈◊〉 , which gives one creature power over another ; but different knowledg in different creatures takes advantages by turns according as it turns to it . and as there is different knowledge , and different kinds , and several sorts , so there is different knowledge in different senses , in one and the same creature ; for what man hath seen the interior biting motion of gold , and burning motions of heat ? yet feels them we may imagine by the touch , the interior nature of fire to be composed of sharp points , yet our sight hath no knowledge thereof , so our sight hath the knowledge of light ; but the rest of our senses are utterly ignorant thereof ; our ears have the knowledge of sound , but our eyes are ignorant of the knowledge thereof ; thus , though our ears may be as knowing as our eyes , and our eyes as knowing as our ears , yet they may be ignorant of each other , i say knowledge , for sense is knowledg , as well as reason , onely reason is a degree above sense , or sense , a degree beneath reason . chap. 78. the advantages of some figures , some degrees of matter , and motions , over others . if we do but stricktly prie into the works of nature , we shall observe , that all internal motions , are much after the manner of external motions , i mean those motions that we can perceive , by those effects , as are subject to our senses , and although for the most part the strongest motions govern the weakest , yet it is not alwayes found that they conquer the weaker ; for there are infinite slights , or infinite advantages to be taken , or mist in infinite nature , some by the 〈◊〉 of their figures , and some in the degrees of matter , and some in the manner of moving ; for slights are just like the actions of juglers , vauters , or tumblers , wrastlers , or the like ; for shapes i will give one or two for example , as a little mouse which is but a weak creature , in comparison to an elephant , yet the small mouse shall overcome an elephant , by running up through the snout , and so get into the head , and so gnaw on his brain ; and a worm is a weak creature in comparison of a man , yet if he get into the guts , it will gnaw out his bowels , and destroy that figure . so for degrees of matter , what advantage hath the innated matter , or the dull part of matter , and for motions , most often the nimbler , and agile motions , get an advantage on the stronger , if more slower , and oftener by the manner of motions ; for many times a diving motion will have the better of a swimming motion , a jumping motion of a running motion , a creeping or crawling motion , of either , a darting motion of a flying motion , a crosse motion of a straight motion , a turning motion of a lifting motion , so an attractive motion of an expulsive motion , and infinite the like , and every motion may have their advantages by turns , and then the advantages of place , and of times , as i may call it , for distinction sake , some creatures will suppresse other creatures in the night , when the suppressers dare not appear to the supprssed in the light , a great army shall be destroyed by a little army , by standing in a lower patch of ground , oft by fighting at such a time of the day , when the sun shines on their faces , but it would be too long for methusalems life , to set down examples , being infinite , but this shall serve to expresse my opinions . chap. 79. of the figurative figures . most figures are lined , and enterlined , as i may say , for expression sake , some figures are like a set , or nest of boxes , as for example , half a dozen boxes one within another , so every of those figures hath the same figure , within one another , the outermost figure being the largest , the inmost figure the least ; as for example , a man builds a house , first he builds the figure of that house with wood , as beams , and rafters and lathes ; next he laies morter , then is the figure of that house in morter , then he laies bricks or stones , then there is the figure of the house in stone , and brick , then it is plaistered within the inside , then there is the figure of the house in plaister , if it be painted , then there is figure of the house in painting ; so likewise an animal , as a man , first there is the figure of a man in bones , as we may see in a anatomie , then there is the figure of a man in flesh ; thirdly there is the figure of a man in the skin , then there are many , different figures , belonging to one and the same figure , as every several part of an animal is of a different figure , and every part hath different figures belonging thereunto ; as man for example , to the hand there is the palm , the back , the fingers , the nailes , yet all makes but one hand . so the head , there is the brain , the pia mater , the dura mater , the scul , the nose , the eyes , the fore-head , the ears , the mouth , the lips , the tongue , the chin , yet all this is but a head ; likewise the head , the neck , the brest , the arms , the hands , the back , the hips , the bowels , the thighes , the legs , the feet ; besides , the bones , the nerves , the muscles , the veins , the arteries , the heart , the liver , the lights , the midrif , the bladder , the kidnies , the guts , the stomacke , the brain , the marrow , the blood , the flesh , the skin , yet all these different figurative parts make but the figure of one man. so for vegetables , the root , the sap , the peath , the bole , the bark , the branches , make but the figure of one tree ; likewise every figure is different , this man is not like that man , this tree is not like that tree , for some trees are larger , or lesser , higher , or lower , more or lesse branched , crooked , or straghter , so in animals , some are of one shape , some of another , as men , some are slender and tall ; some little and low ; some big and tall , others thick and low ; some high-nos'd ; some flat-nos'd ; some thick , some thin lipt ; some high fore-heads , some low , some broad , some narrow , and numbers of like examples may be given , not onely to man , but all other animal creatures according to their shapes , that every particular in one and the same kinde , hath different figures , yet every particular kinde hath but one and the same motion , which properly and naturally belong to that kinde of figure , as a horse to gallop , to amble , to trot , to runn , to leap , to kick , and the like ; and man to lift , to carry to walk , to run , to pitch , to dig , to shut , to chop , to pull back , to thrust forward ; likewise every particular part in one and the same kinde , hath but one and the same kinde of motions , local or otherwise , and ever particular bird , hath but one , and the same kinde of motion in their flights , and in their feeding ; so beasts , every particular kinde hath but one and the same manner of motion , and feeding ; so likewise all mankinde hath after one and the same kinde of motions belonging naturally to every particular part of his body , the onely difference is in the strength , or weaknesse , their restraints or facilities but not different in manner of the movings . but to return , to the figures , i say there are different figures belonging to one and the same kinde of figure , but the ground or fundamental figures in every particular figure , are there . ( as for example ) a tree at first is the figure of wood , the second is such a sort of wood , as a cedar , an oak , an elm , an ash , and the like ; also of such a nature of wood , some fitter to burn then to build , others that will grow but on such , or such soils , others to last longer , or die sooner , or bud and bear in such , and such seasons , some to bear fruit , others to bear none . likewise for animals , the first figure is to be an animal , that is , to have a local figure , the second figure is to be flesh , not wood . the third is to be such a kinde of flesh as mans flesh , not bears flesh , or dogs flesh , or horse flesh , or cows flesh , and more examples may be given , then i am able to repeat , or my book to infold , but animals and vegetables have more different figures , belonging to every particular , figure or kinde then minerals , especially metals , which are as it were composed of one piece . chap. 80. of the gloomy figures , and figures of parts , and of one piece . ayre is not a shining body of it self , but as the lines of light shine upon it , it is smooth , and may be aglossie body , but not a shining ; for though there are infinite several sorts of brightnesse and shining , yet two i will describe . as there are two sorts of shining figures ; some that cast forth beams of light , as bright shining fire , and likewise from some sorts of stones , bones , and wood , so there are some sorts of figures that onely retain a bright shining quality in themselves , but cast forth no beams there-from ; or else so weak and small , as not useful to our sight , but what is represented to us thereon , by other lights ; this sort is water , metal , and vulgar stones , which perchance ayre may have such a shining body . these shining bodies , as water , or metal , or the like , are not perceived in the dark , but when light is cast thereon , we do not onely perceive the light , but their own natural shining quality by that light . again , some figures have onely a glosse , which is a faint shining , like as a fained light , or an eclipsed shadow , as all the pores vegetables , and animals skins have ; and some figures are glossy through the thinnesse , or transparentnesse , not in the nature , for by reason the figure is thin , and transparent , the light shining , though transparent doth not onely shew the light , but the light gives those figures a glosse . some figures , as i have said , are as it were all of one piece , as some sorts of earth , water , vapor , and ayr , which may be metamorphosed , by contracting and dilation . others of divers pieces , and several works , as vegetables , and animals , wherein are joynts and knots , some parts soft , and some liquid , some firme , some hard , every part having a several figure , which varieties and contrarieties serve to the consistence , and preservation , but of one perfect figure ; but animals of all other figures have the most variety of works , and several motions . chap. 81. of the dull and innated matter . some may say , that if there were infinite dull and in-moving matter , some of it may lie unmoved eternally . i answer , that cannot be , for as there is infinite dulnesse and solidity ; so there is infinite acutenes and facility , by which i mean searching , and penetrating , which in some sense makes it equal , if there be equality in infinite , but the innating matter works not upon the dull matter , as upon a new material ; for the innate matter is mixt with the dull part of matter ; for the innated matter moves in the dull part of matter , and on the dull part of matter , as i have described in my first part , for the innated matter takes not fresh and new ( as i may say ) for distinction sake , to make a figure with ; but turns the dull matter into several figures , joyning each degree as the innate matter will , or as it is proper for such a kinde of figure , for some degrees of matter will not make , i do beleeve some kinde of figures , but the dull part of matter , is not mixed in the innate matter , although the innate matter is mixed in that , for the innate matter is pure in it self , without any gross mixture , for it is the infinite pure part of matter infinite , it is the spirits , or essence of nature . chap. 82. an answer to an old question , what becomes of the shape , or figure , or outward forms of the old figure , when the nature takes a new form . all created , or not created , or created , and dissolved again , figures or forms , lie in onely matter , either in by parts , or in the whole , for the materials of every figure is but of one matter , and the lump of all figures is the figure of eternal matter , for the infinite particular of figures , is the infinite form , shape , or figure of infinite and eternal matter , and the creation , disposals , and dissolvings of figures , are the several actions of that onely matter ; for infinite motions are the infinite life , of the infinite and eternal life , which life , is as eternal matter , being part of the matter it self , and the manner of moving is but the several actions of life ; for it is not an absence of life when the figure dissolves , but an alteration of life , that is , the matter ceaseth not from moving , for every part hath life in it , be the parts never so small , or disperst amongst other parts , and if life , there must be consequently sense , if sense , knowledge , then there can be no death , if every part hath life in it , so that which we call death , is onely an alteration of such motions , in such a figure , in onely matter . chap. 83. of transmigrations . transmigrations are not metamorphosed , for to metamorphose is to change the shape and interior form , but not the intellect , which cannot be without a new creation , nor then , but so as partly the intellect changes , with the shape and interior form , but all bodies are in the way of transmigrations perpetually . as for example , the nourishing food that is received into the stomack transmigrated into chylus , chylus into blood , blood into flesh , flesh into fat , and some of the chylus migrated into humors , as choler , flegme , and melancholy ; some into excrement , which transmigrats through the body , into dung , dung into earth , earth into vegetables , vegetables into animals ; again by the way of food , and likewise animals into animals , and vegetables into vegetables , and so likewise the elements . but indeed all creatures are created by the way of transmigration . as for example , hens , or other fouls lay eggs , and then sit on them , from whence a nourishing heat is transmigrated from the hen into the eggs , which transmigrates into a kinde of a chylus , then into blood , blood into flesh , flesh into sinews , sinews into bones , and some into veines , arteries , brains , and the like . for transmigration is onely the mixing sifting , searching , tempering faculty , of innated matter , which is self-motion , and motion is the onely transmigrater , otherwise infinite matter would lie idle eternally , though i cannot well conceive how infinite can be without motion ; but howsoever we perceive so much as there are proper motions , and mixtures of matter belonging to every particular figure ; and though figures doth produce figures ; yet figures do not order the creation , for it is not the figures that create , but creation that produceth by figures , which creation is motion , which motion is innated matter , which matter creates and dissolves by the way of transmigrations , all figures dissolving to create , and creates to dissolve , but dissolving , and creation , which is that we call life and death , hath onely a reference to the figures , but not of the nature of the matter . chap. 84. of metamorphosing of animals and vegetables . it is impossible for animals and vegetables to be metamorphosed , without a creation , as to transform a man into a tree , or a tree into a man , nor a man into the form of a beast , as to turn mans-flesh into horse-flesh , or horse-flesh into mans-flesh or one mans-flesh to turn into another mans-flesh , or an oak , into a cypres , or a cypres into an oak , and so the like in all vegetables , and animals ; thus transforming the interior forms , or rather changing the interior form , like garments , putting one , and another interior form , upon one and the same intellect nature , which is impossible , by reason the interior forms , and intellect natures , are inseparable , so that destroying the one , destroyes the other , and a change cannot be made of either , without the dissolution of the whole , no more then a man can change the whole building , without pulling down the house , for though they may make some alterations in the outward shape as to add something more , or take away , and make all lesse , or thicker , or thinner , or higher or lower ; but cannot alter the interior form , which is the foundations , but if they pull it down , the same materials may be put into another form , or into the same form it was at first , but it must first be new built again , before it can have those forms , and they must stay the time of building ; so for every vegetable creature , and animal creature , they cannot be metamorphosed , by the reason metamorphosing is to change their forms without a new creation , and they cannot change their forms without a dissolution , and then created anew , by reason the intellect , and the interior form is as one body , and not to be separated ; for the interior forms of these creatures , and the intellects depend upon one another , and without one the another cannot be . the intellect , and the interior form may be divided together into parts ; but not separated apart , though the several sorts of one and the same kinde , as animal kinde may be mixed in their creations , as to be some part a beast , some part a dog , or the like , and part a man , and some creature partly a bird , and partly a beast , or partly a beast and partly a fish ; yet the intellect is mixt with the interior form , and the exterior shape with the interior form . the like in vegetables , and if the interior forms , and intellects of each sort , nay of each creature , cannot be changed , much lesse of each kinde , thus the intellect natures , and interior forms of it , can never be without a new creation , and as for the exterior shapes of animals may be altered but not changed ; for animals of all other creatures have their shapes most unite to the interior form , and 〈◊〉 intellect nature of any other creature in nature . but i desire my readers not to mistake me , for want of terms , and words of art. for the interior or intellect nature i mean is such properties , disposition , constitution , capacity , and the like ; that makes it such a creature . the interior form is such a substance , and such a sort as flesh , or fish , or wood , or metal , and not onely so , but such a sort of flesh , as mans-flesh , horse-flesh , dogs-flesh , and the like . so the wood of oak , the wood of maple , the wood of ash ; and the like , so the gold metal , the iron metal , and the like . for horse-flesh is not mans-flesh , nor the wood of oak , the wood of ash , nor the metal of gold , the metal of iron . and as for the exterior form , i mean the outward shape . chap. 85. the metamorphosing of the exterior forms , of some figures . all figures that are of a united piece , as water and fire are , and not in parts , as not having several parts of different natures , as animals and vegetables have , may be metamorphosed out of one form into another , and rechange into the original form again , yet it is onely their exterior form , not their interior nature . as for example , water that is frozen , or turned to hail , or snow , the exterior is onely metamorphosed ; for the interior nature which is the circular line is unaltered , likewise when the circular line is extenuated into air , the interior circle line is not changed ; but when the interior nature is dissolved , and the matter it was composed of transmigrates into other figures . likewise metals when the interior nature is changed , it cannot be rechanged again without a new creation ; for if we can turn onemetal into another , yet it is not as the way of metamorphosing , but transmigrating , otherwayes we may say , we can turn animals and vegetables into water , when we distil them , but the magick of chymistry shall nor return them to their interior nature , nor exterior shape . again , although their desires make them beleeve it possible to be done , but substracting is not metamorphosing , but rather transmigrating , and substracting is one of the chiefest faculties of transmigration . and as for those creatures that are composed of parts of different natures ( as i have said ) their exterior form cannot be metamorphosed , 〈◊〉 those motions that metamorphose one part , cannot metamorphose another . and though every part is different , yet they generally unite to the consistence of the whole figure , whereby the several transforming motions on the several parts would make such a confusion , as upon necessity must dissolve the intellect nature , and interior form of that 〈◊〉 figure , thus striving to alter would destroy . an epistle to the unbeleeving readers in natural philosophy . many say that in natural philosophy , nothing is to be known , not the cause of any one thing , which i cannot perswade my self is truth ; for if we know effects , we must needs know some causes , by reason that effects are the causes of effects , and if we can knowbut one effect , it is an hundred to one , but we shall know how to produce more effects thereby . secondly , the natural philosophy is an endless study without any profitable advantage ; but i may answer , that there is no art nor science , but is produced thereby , if they will without partiality consider from whence they are derived . thirdly , that it is impossible that any thing should be known in natural philosophy , by reason it is obscure and hid from the knowledge of man-kinde . i answer , that it is impossible that nature should perfectly understand , and absolutly know her self , because she is infinite , much lesse can any of her works know her . yet it doth not follow , that nothing can be known , because all is not known . as for example , there are several parts of the world discovered , yet it is most likely not all , nor may be never shall be , yet most think that the whole world is found , because drake , and cavendish went in a circular line until they came to the place where they set out at first . and i am most confident that most of all thought all the world was known unto them before the west-indies were discovered , and the man which discovered it in his brain before he had travelled on the navigable sea , and offered it to king henry the seventh , who slighted him as a foolish fellow , not beleeving his intelligence , and no question there were many that laughed at him , as a vain fool , others pitied him , as thinking him mad , and others scorned him , as a cheating fellow , which would have couzened the king of england of a sum of money ; but the queen of portugal being wiser then 〈◊〉 rest imployed him , and adventured a great summe of money to set him forth on his way , which when the successe was according to the mans genius brain , and had brought the queen by the discovery , gold and silver mines for her coine , then all other nations envied the king of spain who was heir , and like a company of dogs which fight for a bone , went together by the ears , to be sharers with him . so the bishop , who declared his opinion , of the antipodes , was not onely cryed down , and exclaimed against by the vulgar which hates all ingenuity , but learned scholers stood up against him , and the great and grave magistrates condemned him as an atheist for that opinion , and for that reason put him from his bishoprick , and though he had favour to spare his life , which opinion hath since been found out by navigators , but the ignorant & unpractised brains , think all impossible that is unknown unto them . but put the case many went about to finde that which can never be found ( as they said natural philosophy is ) yet they might finde in the search that they did not expect , which might prove very beneficial to them ; or put the case ten thousand should go ten thousand wayes to seek for a cabinet of precious jewels , and all should misse of it but one , shall that one be scorned and laughed at for his good fortune , or industry ? this were a great injustice . but ignorance and envy strives to take off the glosse of truth , if they cannot wholy overthrow it ; and those that write must arm themselves with negligence against censure . for my part i do , for i verily beleeve , that ignorance and present envie will slight my book ; yet i make no question , when envy is worn out by time , but understanding will remember me in after ages , when i am changed from this life ; but i had rather live in a general remembrance , then in a particular life . earth metamorphosed into water , water metamorphosed to vapor , aire and fire , at least into heat . part iii. chap. 86. motion forms a round lump of earth , or such like matter , by extenuating swels it out , and as the swelling increases , the circumferent enlargeth , and when it s extended further then this solid form , it becomes pores , and the parts looser . this degree of extenuation , makes it mud , when it extends further then the degree of mud , it turns to a softer form , as that of slime ; the fourth extenuating degree shapes it into a perfect ring drawing all the loose parts into a compasse line , this becomes water , and the difference of a lump , or ball of earth to the watry circle , for a round lump is when there is no space , or distinct lines , and a circular ring is a distinct line with a hollow center , that is , an empty place , in the midst of a round line , so they may be a round ball , but not a ring , or a round circle line , and a circle line and not a ball , and as i said , when it comes to such a degree , of extenuating , it turns water , that is , to be wet , liquid and fluid , and according as the circles are , is the water more or lesse , and according as the lines are extenuated , or contracted , is the water thicker or thinner , colder or hotter , heavier or lighter , and according as the lines are round , or flat-edge , pointed , or smooth , is the water fresh , sharp , salt , or bitter , but these circles may not onely dilate , and contract several wayes , but after several fashions , as to make vapor , air , fire , snow , hail , ice , and frost , as i shall declare in my following chapters . chap. 87. of wetnesse . we may perceive that whatsoever is hot and dry , and cold and dry , shrinks inward as towards the center , and whatsoever is hot and moist , and cold and moist , dilates as towards the circumference , so that all moisture is wrought by extenuating motions , and drought , by contracting motions , and not onely extenuating motions , but such sorts of extenuating motions , and drought by contracting motions , and notonely extenuating motions , but such sorts of extenuating motions as in circular figures , which circular figures make water , so soft , smooth , and flowing , smooth , because circular ; for circles make it smooth , the figures having no end extenuating makes it softby spreading and loosing the parts , as flowing by reason dilations drive all outward as toward the circumference yet the degree of extenuating may out-run the degree of wet ; for wet is in such a degree of extenuating circles as i may say , the middle degree , yet there are many sorts of wet , as oylie , wet , and watry ; but i have described that in my chapter of oyl , but i take oyl rather to be liquid and moist , then wet ; for there is difference betwixt moist , liquid , and wet , for though moist and liquid is in a degree of wet , yet it is not an absolute wet , for dissolved gums are liquid , not wet , melted sugers are liquid , not wet , oyl is more liquid then wet , and smoak may be said to be liquid , as being of an oyly nature , and air rather to be moist then wet , and dust , ashes , flame , light , winde , may be said to be fluid , but not liquid nor wet . chap. 88. of circles . a circle is a round figure without ends , having a circumference , and a center , and the figure of a circle , may be many wayes contracted , but can be but in one way extenuated , which is by inlarging the compasse , of the line ; and the reason is , because it is a round piece , without ends ; for a straight line may be drawn out at either end ; but if a circle be drawn out of the compasse , it may stretch out of the one side , but it will pull in the other side after it , unlesse the line be broke , and then it is no longer a circle , thus we can extend no part out , but another part must contract to give way to that part that goeth out . chap. 89. of softnesse . all that is wett is soft , i mean that which is naturally wet ; but all that is soft is not wet , as hair , wool , feathers , and the like . likewise all that is soft or wet is made by extenuating motions ; now some may ask me , why extenuating motions should cause figures to be soft , more then any other ? i answer , first , that all extentions causeth porousnesse , or spunginesse , by spreading or loosing parts , and all that are porous tend to hollownesse , and all that is hollow tends to slacknesse , and all that are porous hollow , and slack tend to softnesse ; for we may perceive whatsoever figure is porous , is not so firm , strong , nor hard , as those which are close compact ; for that which hath no vacuum , or convenient distance , hath not so much liberty , as that which hath vacuum ; for vacuum is space and distance betwixt parts , which gives those parts liberty to move , and remove , and that which hath most liberty is most loose , and that which is most loose is least contracted , and that which is least contracted , is most pliant , and that which is most pliant is soft . but i desire my readers would not mistake me , for as there is hard , soft , light , heavy , thick , thin , quick , slow , belonging to the nature of the onely infinite matter , so there are belonging to such shapes , or figures made by the working of the infinite motions making infinite figures out of infinite matter ; but the difference is , that what is in the nature cannot be altered , but what is done by the working of motions may be undone again , for the effects may alter , but not the cause ; thus motion and figure , or figure by motion may alter , but not the nature of the matter ; for motion and figure are but the effects of the onely and infinite matter &c. chap. 90. of liquors . all liquors are wrought by extenuating motions , and all that is liquid and wet , are circles extenuated to such a degree , and after such a manner , and all that are liquid and wet , is either water or of the nature of water , as also of oyls , vitrals , strong-waters , all juices from fruits , herbs , or the like , or any thing that is liquid and wet ; but though all that is liquid and wet naturally agree in extenuating circles , yet their circle lines are different , which causeth the different effects , for some have different effects interiorly , others exteriorly , and some both interiorly , and exteriorly , for some have circular lines of points , others have circular lines pointed , others have circular lines of points pointed , others have circular lines of points edged , some have smooth circle lines onely edged ; as the sharp edge of a knife , or the like , others have circle lines edged of one side of the line , and pointed on the other side , some their circle lines are flat , others their circle lines are round , some their circle lines are twisted , others plain , some checkred , others smooth , some more sharpe-edged , or pointed then other ; some smoother , and some rougher then other ; and infinite more that i know not how to describe ; but these lines , nor circle points , nor edges , are not subject to our senses , although their effects may make them subject to our reason , for nature works beyond our sense , but reason is part of the sense of nature ; but of all wet liquors oyl is most different from the effects of water , for all other wet liquors do strive to quench fire , but oyl doth assist it , yet all vitrals have an exterior burning faculty , which oyl hath not , and although all strong wet liquors will flame when it is set on fire , yet they will quench out fire , if enough be cast thereon . chap. 91. the extention and contraction of circles . the nature of extention strives to get ground , that is , space , or compasse , and to disperse , or level parts as it were , and the nature of contraction strives to thrust out space and compasse , and to thrust up parts close together , and this is the reason that a circle may contract so many several wayes , because contraction flings out the compasse , and makes use of the line , laying the line into millions of several works . and yet the exterior form which is the circular line , be one and the same , that is , the circular line is not divided , but when those works are undone , and the line extended to the full compasse , it receives the original form , which is a round circle ; for as they were contracted without breaking the circle , so they may be extended into a circle again . likewise the circular forms may be wrought with mixt motions , as partly by contraction , and partly by extenuation , as when a round circle is wound about a staff , or pole , or the like ; for though the winding about the staff be a contracting motion , or at least one way , which is when it draws inward , as towards the center , yet by winding it length-wayes , or upward , is a kinde of an extenuation . likewise , a circle or smoak when it curls in rings , before the circle break , as we shall oft times see it doth contract , as folding and half curling , so it extenuates as it spreads and weares out . likewise take a round string , that is , joyn the two ends , and put this circular string double , and then winde it serpentine wayes , and the like , and though the winding , or twisting about is contracting , yet winding or twisting one ring before another is extenuating . here have i set down after what manner of wayes are contracted , or continuated circles , and thus millions of several works may by circles be wrought , and several figures made thereof ; likewise for circular lines , some may be broad , some narrow , some round , some flat , some edged , some twisted , but those that are flat are most apt to be edged . likewise there may be circle lines with smooth lines , some pointed , some checkred , some twisted , some braided , and the like . but although the circle compasse is perfect , yet the line is not a perfect circular compasse , because the roughnesse makes it uneven . thus as i have said before , milions of changes may be in circles , but perchance some will say , it is no longer a circle , when it is turned square , or triangular-wayes , or the like . i answer , it is a circle squared , but not a circle broke , for as long as the circle is whole , the interior nature is not dissolved , let the exterior figure be after what manner it will or can ; for still it is a natural circle , although it be put into a mathematical square , or the like ; so those exterior figures , are but changed shapes , not the natural form , but a natural square is to have four distinct lines , and a triangle three distinct lines , and a cupe six , as i take it , or sixteen ; but it is to be observed , that all those figures that naturally are made of one piece , without distinct parts , or several tempered matter , may change , and rechange their shapes , and yet keep their own interiour nature intire , that is the nature proper to such a figure ; but those figures that are made of many distinct parts , or several tempered matter , would make such a confusion in their transformations , as would ruin the intire foundations . chap. 92. of congealed water . water is not alwayes exteriorly wet , or fluid , as we may see alwayes when it is congealed to snow , ice , and hail , yet still it is water , keeping the interior nature of being wet and fluid , onely the cold contractions have , as may say , altered the face or countenance thereof ; for it is to be observed , as there are extenuating motions , thrusting and stretching , inlarging further and wider out in compasse , bredth , length , and depth , as from the center to the circumference , so there are contracting motions together , draw winde , twist and pull in , as from the circumference to the center , and not onely by interior motions , but exterior motions ; as for example , cold contraction upon water circles , or any thing that is porous and spungie , draws , and gathers them into several works , or draws them into a lesse compasse , as strings do a purse , or like fishers or faulkners nets . but snow , hail , and frost , and ice is made by a level contraction , as if a circular line should be laid upon a flat ground , and be drawn a particular work , as for example , according to the number of watry circles , there is such a quantity of water , and if the quantity of water be more then the strength of the cold contraction , it is frozen more or lesse , now the several figures which cold contraction draws to make snow , hail , ice , and frost , are after this manner , as first the interior nature of the water is a round circle like a ring . when it contracts into hail , the exterior figure contracts into a ball , or lump , as if one should winde up a double line , or thread into a bundle , or bottom . snow is made by contraction , as if one should draw a round line into a three square figure , as triangular way . ice , as if we should draw a round line into a four square figure , as after a cupe way . frost is made by such contracting motions , as if a round line should be drawn into a surfling , as a crackling figure . when this congealed cold thaws , it is either by the interior strength of dilating motions , or by an exterior heat that draws these contractions out into smooth extenuating circles again . thus circular lines may be drawn from the round compasse , to be four square , three square , or length-wayes , as one would clap the brim of 〈◊〉 hat together ; and millions of several works , and never divide the circular lines , but i will not say by a mathematicall rule , though nature is beyond our learning . and that which makes ice and hail more shining then frost , and snow , is , that the lines are evener ; for all figures that are composed by the way of lines , are apt to shine , and those figures that have fewest points , or ends are smoothest . now some may say , or ask , why i should think snow is made triangular wayes ? my reason is , because it seems rougher , and not so united as ice , or hail , which shews the interior figure hath more points , or unevener numbers , or unequal lines , and a triangular figure is not so smooth , or at least seems not so , as a circular , a paralel , or cupe ; for in the angulars the points and lines are odd , and the lines run slope-wayes , whereas the figure of a cupe , although it hath more points , yet the figure is more proportionable , by the even number of the points and lines ; for as there are four points , so there are four equal lines , which make an equal number , when in the figure of a triangular the points and lines are odd ; for though there are a plural number , yet it is an uneven number , as being odd . and as i have said , the lines are slope when the figure of a cupe is just square , besides triangular points being odd , multiplie and substract by reflections , as we shall see by triangular glasses , that from one face millions are made by subdividings . thus what is made uneven by odd numbers , are made even by equal numbers , and the odd points , and slope lines , make the figure of snow rough , and the equal points , and straight lines make the figure of ice smooth , but i treat here of exterior figures , or rather countenances , not of the interior form , for their contractions change the exteriors , not the interiors . but if 〈◊〉 be out , and mistake , either in termes of art , or otherwise , i must intreat my readers to pardon it , for i am no mathematician , onely i have gathered here and there some little parcels or crums from the discourse of my friends , for i have not much kept the company of strangers , nor conversed with dead authors by books , but these parcels i have got , i place according to my own fancy , if they sound probably , i have my ends , and the lines of my desires are pointed with a satisfaction . chap. 93. motion changing the figure from water to fire . vvhen these watry circle lines begin to inlarge , they grow smaller , and thereby become lesse wet , and more thinne , as vapor which is lesse wet then water , and not so grosse ; for as i said before , when the circle comes in such a degree of extenuating , it becomes wet , and beyond such a degree , it becomes lesse wet ; and so lesse and lesse , as beforè it came to such a degree , it became more and more wet , as from being pores to soft , from soft to liquid , from liquid to wet , likewise from wet to moist , from moist to thin , which thin is air . but when the extenuating lines come to such a degree of smalnesse , as to cut , as a very smal line will do , which is to such a degree , as to be sharp as an edge , it makes it in a degree towards burning fire , so far as to become sulphury hot , as we know by the sense of feeling , we finde the air to be hot . this sort of air which is made of watry circles , is like seething hot water , for it is a moist heat , and not like the natural air , for this is but a metamorphosed air ; for the interior nature of water is undissolved , onely the exterior is altered , the lines being become small and edged , by the fair extenuations , but when those circles extenuate smaller then the quantity of matter will afford to give a compasse , it breaks , and turns to hot burning fire ; for the extenuating motions therein ceasing not , do stretch those lines so smal , as they fall into pointed parts ; this alters the interior nature from being water , to burning fire , for the interior nature of water is the circle line , but if those lines be drawn by contracting motions into bigger lines , and lesse circles , it becomes from thin hot air to vapor , or mists , and from vapor to water , and so from water to slime , from slime to mud , from mud to earth , as it did extenuate , so it contracts , if nothing hinders the same ; for contraction draws in the lines to such a bignesse , like as a smaller thred to a bigger thred , so from the thinnest air to the thickest air , from grosse air to the thin vapor , from thin vapor to thick vapor , fromthick vapor to water to slime , fromslime to mud , from mud to earth ; but according as the contracting and dilating motions are quick , or slow , it is sooner or longer turning out of one shape into another , and if any of the circular lines break by other motions or figures before it coms to the furthest extention , the quantity becomes lesse wasting that matter into figures of other natures , being dissolved from that natural figure ; thus that ball , or lump may be dissolved , like as animals , or the like ; for no question these balls are created and dissolved as animal kinde , and are as numerous as other creatures , and some lasting longer then others , and some dissolving sooner ; though their creations are different , one being produced by procreation , the other by extenuation : thus these elements are increaseable , and decreaseable , and other creature are ; and when the interior nature is altered , it dissolves as other creatures do , onely the exterior with the interior dissolves , which most of other creatures do not , for when the interior is altered in animals , the exterior is perfect , and dissolves more by degrees . chap. 94. of oyl . oyl is partly of the nature of fire , and partly of the nature of water ; for as it is soft , fluid , liquid , and moist , it is of the nature of water ; as it is hot burning and flamable , it is of the nature of fire , for that which makes it fludi and liquid , is by extenuations , and that which makes it moist and liquid is by extenuating circles , and that which makes it burning , is , that those circular lines are composed of pointed parts , which when fire and oyl meets , the fire breaking those lines a sunder , sets those pointed parts at liberty , which causeth it to rise in a flame , and the reason why it flames , is , that it doth not suddenly lose the circular extenuating nature ; for flame is somewhat of the nature of water , as being fluid , though not wet , and the reason why flame is fluid , is , because it ascends in a circular motion , for though the ascent be in a strict parrelled line , yet the matter is after a circular figure , as a hollow spungy body , as after this manner or the like , which shuts upward , like an arrow out of a bow , onely imagining the arrow to be in serpentine * shape , and to turn and spin about as it ascends , likewise the body to extend , or spread outward , according to the bulk or quantity , which several figures , or several motions , may be all at one time , and in one and the same thing , and work to one and the same effect , and to several effects at the same time , which causeth it to be fluid , liquid , and light , for light as well as oyl , water , or flame , is fluid , caused by extenuating motions , for as water will run forward when it hath liberty , or run backward in a torrent when it is stopt , so light will enter when it hath passage , or run back by reflection if it be stopt , but all those fluidities are different by reason their extenuations are different ; for light is caused by swift extenuating paralel lines ; water , oyl , and the like by extenuating circular lines , which make it moist , and liquid , as well as fluid , but flame takes part from all , for it is light and fluid by the swift extenuating parallel lines , it ascends in , and liquid , although not wet , by the circular motions it ascends up in , and burning by the sharp parts it is composed of ; vitral is after the same nature of oyl , onely the lines are edged , as a knife , or the like , or sharp edged tools , which make it have an exterior pressing quality , as burning fire hath ; but the exterior of oylie lines are smooth , which makes it soft , and glib , and not so sharp and penetrating as vitrals , or the like are . thus flame , light , oyl , fire vitrals , waters , have mixt motions , to make one figure , and many figures , to make those figures which make them to be of mixt qualities producing mixt effects , as indeed all effects are of a mixt nature . chap. 95. of metals . all metals are created after the manner of circle lines , as water , onely the lines in metal are contracted , as drawing inwards , and water circle lines are extended outward , but in all metals the circle lines are flat , and edged , having a cutting and a subdividing nature , and by reason the exteriour nature is of a circle figure , it is apt to be fluid , and to flow as water doth , when the exterior is melted by forcible motions , then it is one , as that of fire , which draws out the contracted circles of metals , causing it to be fluid by extention , yet the extention is not natural , as it is in water , but forced by an over-powerful motion ; for the nature of metal is not to be fluid , which is the reason that assoon as it can get libertie , that is , when the moer strong motions let go their hold , it contracts into a firm and hard body : again , it breaks not the interior circle , for then the nature alters , for as much as metals loseth in the weight , so much is changed of that quantity , from the natural quality , and though some metals do not , wast in quantity , which is to change in quality , so soon as others , yet they are all dissolvable , although some say gold is not dissolvable ; but sure that opinion proceeds from impatience in man-kinde , not to stay the time , or rather for want of longer time of life , having not so lasting a life , as to observe the alteration , as the dissolution of gold , or perhaps they have not the right wayes to dissolve it ; for certainly it is as all other figures are , dissolvable , and not fixt everlastingly in one body , chymists make gold as a god , unalterable . chap. 96. of the load-stone . me thinks 't is strange , that men should wonder more at the nature of the load-stone in attracting iron , and in the norths attracting o f the needle touched with the loadstone , then at the suns attracting of vapor . but some will say , that it is the nature of fluiditie , of which nature vapor is one , to move with facility , and not the nature of solidity , of which nature iron is one , which is heavy and slow ; but i say , if the attracting motion in one body be stronger then the contracting , and retentive motions in the other body , and those figures motions work with , be advantagious ; i see no reason but a fluid body may attract a solid body ; for it is not the substance of the body that works , or produceth effects , but the agility , subtility , or strength of motion , and advantage of the shape , so that the working power is more in motion and figure , then meerly the matter ; as for example , doth not experience prove that fluid , vitral , will work through solid metal , the reason is , because the expulsive motions in the vitral and sharp points , are stronger then the contracting motions , in the metal and blunt edges : but some will ask me , why the load-stone attracts onely iron ? such a question i ask , why beauty should forcibly attract the eye ? they will answer by sympathy ; and i have heard , that it was the opinion of learned men , that sympathy had the same effect , betwixt the load-stone and iron , but i think it not so much in sympathy , as supremacy . besides , it is the nature of contracting motions , of which the load-stone is strongly inhabited withal , to work on that which is without it , as from it , not within it , or as it were upon it , which no other visible kinde of motion doth . and certainly the load-stone is composed of sharp figures , yet not of such sorts as heats or burns , and those figures do issue out as beams do from the sun : and as they draw the iron , they back return , and as the bright beams issue from the sun , do neither weaken nor lessen it , so the visible beams that issue out of the load-stone , neither make it lesser or weaker ; yet the beams of the load-stone , do as the sun beams , the farther they spread out , the lesse strength they have to draw ; besides , if other motions which oppose , and are stronger then the natural motions , may weaken the strength , as accidental maladies mayweaken animals , or shrewd and froward weather vegetables , or the natural consisting motions proper to that figure , may turn to expulsive motions , and over-power the natural attracting motions , that issued there-from . but as i have said , it seems the attractive power of the loadstone , is stronger then the irons retentive power , and sharp figures that issue there-from , are more advantagious then the blunt edges in the iron ; and as the sharp figures in fire unknit and loosen the contractive body of metals , making them fluid , so the sharp points that issue in lines from the load-stone fasten to iron , drawing it to it ; and as fire works upon several bodies after a different manner of way , according to the nature of the body it works on , producing divers effects ; so for all i can perceive may the load-stone ; for certainly we do not know , nor never can come to that knowledge , as to perceive the several effects , that are produced from the least , or as we account the most inconsiderable creature made in nature ; so that the load-stone may work as variously upon several bodies , as fire , and produce as various effects , although nor to our sense , nor after the same manner of wayes , that fire doth , and as fire works variously upon various bodies , so there are fires , as several sorts , and those several ral sorts have several effects , yet one and the same kinde , but as the causes in nature are hid from us , so are most of the effects ; but to conclude my discourse , we have onely found that effect of the load-stone , as to draw iron to it ; but the attracting motion is in obscurity , being invisible to the sense of man , so that his reason can onely discourse , & bring probabilities , to strengthen his arguments , having no perfect knowledge in that , nor in any thing else , besides that knowledge we have of several things , comes as it were by chance , or by experience , for certainly all the reason man hath , would never have found out that one effect of the load-stone , as to draw iron , had not experience or chance presented it to us , nor the effect of the needle , and all the ages before , i mean those we have records of , were ignorant of that one effect , and perchance other ages may finde out some other effects produced therefrom , which these ages are ignorant of ; and as our knowledge comes slow , and in parts , and pieces , so we know but parts and pieces of every particular thing , neither is the generality of our senses capable of one and the same knowledge ; for what one sense knowes , another sense is ignorant of , and questionlesse there are some things in nature that it is impossible for our senses to be made acquainted therewith , as being too curious for our senses , but not to some other senses ; for 〈◊〉 nature hath as many different senses , as other works ; indeed all things are wrought by sensitive motions , which 〈◊〉 needs create a sensitive knowledge in every thing , and where knowledge is , reason is ; for knowledge is reason , and sense is knowledge ; but sense and reason work in several figures , different wayes , and not onely in different figures , but in one and the same figure . chap. 96. of the needle . i perceive the norths attraction of the load-stone is not after the same manner of attraction , as the load-stone attracts iron , for the attractions of the load-stone draws iron to it , but the attraction of the north draws the load-stone towards it , by the turning it that way , as the sun will do the the heads of some sorts of flowers ; for if the north attracted the load-stone , as the load-stone iron , the load-stone would be in a perpetual motion , travelling to the north pole , unlesse it were fixt , but i do not hear that a load-stone doth remove out of the place wherein it is , but it turns , as i may say , the face towards it ; now the question will be whether the loadstone turns it self towards the north , or the north turns by compulsion , or by sympathy , the experiment will be by iron , that if a great quantity of iron should be said at one side of the needle , whether the needle would not vary from the north towards the iron , if it do , it shews the load-stone turns itself towards the north , or else it could not turn from the north , for certainly the north hath a greater operative power to turn the load-stone to it , then the load-stone could have to turn it self from it , so if a quantity of iron can cause the needle to vary , it shews that the load-stone turns to the north by a self motion , and not the motions of the north that make it turn to it , but if it varies not towards the iron , then the north forces it , unlesse the load-stone takes more delight to view the norths frowning face , then to imbrace hard iron , or that the feeding appetite is stronger then the viewing delight ; for it onely turns it self to the face of the north , but if it turns not it self , the north forces it to turn , which as i have said before , is to be found by the experiments of iron ; but if it turns it self , i beleeve it may receive some refreshments from those raies which stream from the north , for all things turn with self-ends ; for certainly every thing hath self-love , even hard stones , although they seem insensible , so the load-stone may work as various effects upon several subjects , as fire , but by reason we have not so much experience of one as the other , the strangenesse creates a wonder , for the old saying is , that ignorance is the mother of admiration , but fire which produceth greater effects by invisible motions , yet we stand not at such amaze as at the load-stone , because these effects are familiar unto us . but per chance the load-stone is nourished by iron as many creatures are by heat , for though the creatures are nourished there with , yet the heat alters not its vertue , nor the body in whichthe heat inheres , loses not the property of heating , the sun is not weakned by warming the earth , though the earth is stronger by the warm ' th of the sun ; but warm ' th feeds after a spiritual manner , not a corporal , and as somethings are nourished by warm'th , so others by cold , as ice , snow , and many other things that are above number . so the load-stone may be refreshed , although not fed by the cold north , and as fire is fed by fuel , so is the vertual part of the load-stone by iron , or as exercise gets health and strength to animal bodies , so doth the load-stone on iron , and as idlenesse breeds faintnesse , or weaknesse , 〈◊〉 doth the load-stone from iron . chap. 98. of stone . fire hath more power over metals in some sense , then on stone , and in some sense hath more power over stone then metals . for fire will sooner melt metal , then dissolve stone , but when the exterior form of stone is dissolved , it is changed from the nature of being stone , and be comes dust and ashes . and though metal would likewise change the interior nature , if the exterior form were dissolved , yet metal , although it be melted , keeps the interior nature , and exterior form , but not the exterior motions ; for metal is metal still , although it be melted , onely it becoms fluid , this sheweth that fire doth not onely alter the exterior motion of stone , but dissolves , the exterior form , and so the interior nature , which in metal it doth not , unlesse a more forcible fire be applied thereto then will serve to melt ; which shewes , that although the interior motions of stone be contractions , as all solid bodies are , yet the interior , nor exterior natural figure is not circular as metals are , for stone cannot be made fluid , and as it were liquid as metal will be , but crumbles into dust , and wasts , as wood or the like , and not evaporates away as water , which metal doth ; this sheweth that the exterior and interior natural form of stone is composed of parts , and not in one piece , as a circle ; i do not mean in one piece , as the exterior bulk , but in one piece , in the exterior , and interior nature ; for though you may pound , or file metal to dust , that dust as small as atoms , the like may be done to stone , wood , and flesh , or any thing that is dividable , yet it will keep the nature of being metal , stone , wood , flesh , or the like , although the parts be no bigger then an atom ; but if you do dissolve the exterior nature , the interior nature doth dissove also , thus the exterior form may be altered , but not dissolved , without a total dissolution . chap. 99. of burning . all that is hot is not of a burning faculty , nor all that is burning is not actually hot , and though burning motions work several wayes according to the temperament of the matter , and composure of the figures it meets with , yet the nature of all kinds of burnings is to expulse by a piercing and subdividing faculty , provided that the burning motions , and burning figures are strong enough to incounter what opposeth them ; but when the opposed bodies and motions have an advantage , either by strength , or otherwayes , it alters the nature and faculty of burning , and many times there is great dispute and long combats amongst the several motions , and different figures , for the preheminency . chap. 100. of different burning . though all that is of a burning nature , or faculty may be called fire , yet all that hath a burning nature , or faculty is not of that sort of fire , which is a bright , shining , hot , glowing fire , as for example , vitrals , brimstone , oyl , or spirits , or that we call cordials , or hot-waters , or any of the like nature . besides all burning figures , or motions , work not after one and the same manner , though after one and the same nature , being all of a burning quality , or faculty , for some burn interiorly , others exteriorly , but as i havesaid all burning , is of a subdividing faculty . chap. 101. fires transformation . the interior , and exterior figures of hot , glowing , burning , bright , shining fire are all one , and the motions working apart according to the nature of the figure it works on can change every thing it hath power over , into its own likenesse , yet the power , and strength doth alter somewhat according to the work , and becoms grosser , and finer , accoring to the temperaments , or degrees of that which they work on : as for example , wood that is set on fire , or a firy coal , is a grosser body of fire , then flaming oyl , or the like , that is such a sort of moist fluid matter set on fire , for fire takes hold , of the thinnest parts , as well as the thickest ; if they be such thin bodies which are subject to take fire , for when fire is set to wood , it doth not onely take hold of the solid'st parts , but those that are more porous , or fluid , as those that rise in smoak , which become a flaming body , which is a fluid fire , but there is a cold , dul , burning fire , as well as a hot , bright , burning , as all strong vitrals , and this we call hot water , or spirits , which have an exterior nature to burn , or dissolve other bodies , and an interior nature to flame , but it hath not an exterior nature to be hot , nor shining . also there is another sort of fire , which onely hath an interior nature to flame , but the exterior is neither actually burning , nor hot , as sulphur , or oyl , though oyl is nothing , but a liquid sulphur , and sulphur a hardened oyl . but this cold dul fire hath not the power of transforming to its own likenesse , by reason there is some difference in the interiors to their exteriors , where the quick , hot , burning , bright , shining fire , the exterior and interior is all one , without any difference . chap. 102. of such sorts of heating motions , as cause burning , melting , boiling , evaporating and rarifying . burning , melting , boyling , and evaporating are caused by several motions , or several degrees or temperaments of matter . and though burning , melting , boyling , and evaporating , are caused by expulsive and dilating motions , yet al dilative and expulsive motions , work not after one and the same manner , but according as the matter is ; as for example , leather doth not burn as wood doth , yet both are dissolved by an expulsive motion . besides , some figures do dissolve into flame , others moulder away into dust , and never flame , as stone , and many more examples may be given , but most commonly all burning motions do pierce , or shut , or wedge , in sharp tootht , or pointed figures ; into those figures they work upon , and then it dissolves it by expulsions ; for those sharp pointed figures , help motion to loosing , and unbinde those parts that they finde joyned and contracted , that they may more freely separate those parts and dissolve those figures , which as they dissolve the thinner parts , dilate into vapor , the lighter parts flie out into fiery points , which are those we call sparks of fire , but the grosser , and more solid part moulders away into dust and ashes , as being too heavy and solid for the points to spread forth , they can onely as it were chew it between their sharp teeth ; for ashes are nothing but chewed wood , yet this manner of chewing doth alter the nature from being wood , or any thing that burns after an expulsive manner , but those fiery motions that onely melt , or rather those figures that are not subject to burn , but onely to melt , is done by a stretching motion , for those motions do as it were thrust out the contracted parts , and cause them to extenuate ; but when the fiery motions cause any thing to boyl , they first stretch out the parts so far , as causeth those parts to be fluid , and as it were liquid , if those things were contracted , but if they be liquid and fluid of themselves , they save those fiery motions that labour , and when this motion strives to ascend with those loose parts , the liquor riseth up in bubbles , or waves , but when those fiery motions are over-poured by the weight , they fall back again ; thus the weight of the liquor , and the sharp points of the fire strive together , one party striving to ascend , the other to descend , so that those fiery motions , are to pull out , or to bear up , and the watry motion to pull , or presse down , but evaporating , is when the extenuating lines are stretcht so far out , as to break , or the lighter parts are carried away , and dispersed amongst other figures ; but all rarifying heats , are caused by slow dilating motions , and not expulsions , for if such sorts of dilations as make rarifying heat , were extended beyond the line of the matter they work on , it alters the nature of the figure , and the motions of that nature ; but rarifying heat is an extenuating motion , spreading parts equally , and evenly , but the farther they are spred , the more hot grows the heat , as neerer to expulsion , and though all rarifying heat is in the way of burning , yet not in the manner . but i must intreat my reader to take notice , that burning motions , make use of burning figures , for all sorts of motions work according to the matter and figure they work on , or in , or to . chap. 103. of quenching of fire . there is such antipathy betwixt fire , and some sorts of wets , as such wets as are made by smooth extenuating circles , as they never can agree when they do personally meet ; and indeed such sorts of wets , have such power over hot , burning , bright shining fire , as they never incounter , but fire is in danger to be quenched out , if there be not a sufficient quantity to break the watry circles , for it is not the coldnesse that quenches fire , but such sorts of wetnesse , for scalding water will quench out fire , and many sorts of liquors as wine , or the like , although they be flameable , yet if they be cast on this bright , hot , burning fire , it will quench it out , by reason they are more of the wet nature ; then the oyly , and sulphurous , or the burning or flaming faculty . t is true , that there are many liquors that are subject to burn , but there are few wets that have not power to quench , for the spherical drops do either blunt the fiery points , or disperse the the united body , or intangle them in the porous circles . thus water hath the better unlesse the lines break in the combate , but when fire and water treat apart , or by an attorny , or hath a body betwixt them to moderate their * spleens they agree better , but in this treaty most commonly the water becoms weak by rarification , and evaporates into air by too strong , or too much extenuating , extending further then the wet compasse . chap. 104. of the quenching of fire , and evaporated water . the reason why water quenches fire , is , that the figure being spherical , and porous , gives distance and space of parts , where the sharp figures of fire , flying about to bite the circular lines asunder , that they may ravel out that figure of water , lose their strength both in their ffight and compasse , breaking their forces , by dispersing their parts , and intangling their dispersed parts in the hollow places , in the watry figure , like arrows that are shot into a net , seldom break the net , but intangle themselves , by reason there is no firm substance to strick on , or in ; for being soft and spungy , there is no stop , nor hold ; besides water being wet and wet in the nature is sticking , that when those sharp points do at any time break the lines , they joyn again , for being fluid each part moves to each other , and being wet they joyn , and being circular they unite , into the natural figure . thus in a plain combat water most commonly hath the better of fire , if there be not too much odds on the fires fide for quantity , but when fire doth come by an undermining motion as when some other figures are betwixt them , then fire gets the better , by the help of those undermining motions . chap. 105. of a bright-shining hot , glowing , fire . it is the nature of bright-shining , hot-glowing fires , to have both an interior , and an exterior burning , and is of such a kinde of subdividing nature , as it strives to dissolve all united parts , or bodies , and if it doth not dissolve all bodies it works on , as we shall see many things which grow harder with fire , yet is not that the nature would not dissolve such a thing , but the power cannot , for those bodies that grow harder with fire , opposes the power of fire , and strives by contraction to unite the looser parts , in a more solid body , to resist with more strength . also some bodies grow hard by shrinking inward , for assoon as they feel the fire , they draw back , as from an enemy , having an antipathy thereunto . thus , it is not the fire that dries or hardens , or maks more solidity , but the opposite body that will not burn , having a strength to oppose , or a nature not to subject to this fire , or the fire hath not a sufficient power to overcome , but this sort of fire hath a general power , though some bodies will strongly resist it ; but it is the nature of this sort of fire , that most bodies they overcome , they first convert them into their own likenesse , but their natures being different , their prisoners die in the fiery arms of their enemies . chap. 106. of the drinesse of hot , burning , bright , shining fire . drinesse hath such a relation to hot , burning , bright , shining fire , as moistnesse to water , for though interior motions are expulsive , yet the exterior is attractive , drawing all unto it , like a greedy appetite , and as the teeth doth mince the the food that is chewed , so doth the pointed figure , of fire , all it laies hold on , or enters into . chap. 107. of moist colds , and moist heats , of dry colds , and dry heats &c. heat doth not make drought , for there is a temper of heat , and moist ; nor cold doth not make drought ; for there is a temper of cold , and moist ; nor heat doth not make moisture , for there is a temper of hot , and dry , nor cold doth not make moisture ; for there is a temper of cold , and dry , but when the motions of heat , and the motions of drought joyn , they cause hot and dry effects , and when the motions of cold , and the motions of drought joyn , they cause cold and dry effects , and when the motions of heat , and the motions of moisture joyns , they cause hot and moist effects ; and when the motions of cold , and the motions of moisture joyn , they cause cold and moist effects , yet there are infinite varieties in their several effects ; but those motions which make cold and heat , i may fimilife to wandring armies , of the gothes , and vandals , which over-run all figures , as they all the world , sometimes they work attractive , contractive , retentive , disgustive , expulsive , according to the temper and degree of matter , and proportion and shape of the figures they meet , or according to their own power and strength , and although both cold and heat , are motions that work more or lesse upon all the figures in this world , yet cold heat works not upon figure alike , but differ as their figures differ , nor are cold and heat directly the same motions , although they be of the same kinde of motions , no more then several sorts of beasts kinde , yet all beasts are of animal kinde , and most commonly like several sorts of beasts that falleth out , or rather like two equal powerful monarchies , that oppose one anothers power , and fight for preheminency , where sometimes one gets the better , and then the other , sometimes by strength , and sometimes by advantage , but when there is a truce , or a league , they have a common commerce , joyning their motions , working sympathetically together , which produceth an equall temper . chap. 108. of the motions of cold , and heat , drouth , and moisture . cold and heat , are not wrought by different kinds of motions , but after a different manner of workings or movings , for a moist cold , and a moist heat , are but one kinde of motions , as being motions that extenuate , and enlarges from the center to the circumference ; for a moist heat , doth thrust , or drive outward , as toward the circumference . a moist cold doth pull , or draw from the center towards the circumference . as for example , we shall often see a gardiner that rolles a green turft walk , to thrust the roll before him , and when he is weary with pressing forward , he will turn his arms behinde him , and pull the roll after him . also a dry , or congealed cold , and a dry heat , are not several kindes of motions , but moves after several manners ; for as moist cold , and heat extends , and enlarges from the center , to the circumference , so a dry heat , or a dry , or congealed cold , contracts from the circumference towards the center , the congealed cold in several works ; a dry cold , or a dry heat onely draws into a lesse space , or compasse , yet the same difference in the manner of the motions , is between a dry heat , and a dry cold , as was between a moist heat , and a most cold ; for a dry heat drives from the circumference to the center ; & a dry cold draws from the circumference to the center for although al drought is from the circumference to the center , and all moisture from the center to the circumference , yet the several manner of movings are infinite , also cold , and heat are not several kindes of motions , but different motions , as every man is of man-kinde , but they are different men . and if we observe the effects of heat , and cold , we shall finde them to work after one and the same manner ; for very sharp colds , and great heats , paines equally ; and sharp colds destroy with as great & strong fury , as burning heats ; neither can i perceive that burning heats have swifter motions , then sharp colds ; for water to the quantity shall freez , assoon as any light matter shall burn ; for water shall be assoon frozen , as straw burnt , take quantity for quantity , and animals shall be assoon frozen to death if they be touched , or struck with very sharp colds , such as are neer the poles , as be burnt under the torrid zone ; as for plants , we oftener see them killed with cold , then heat , and i perceive there is no thaw so sudden , as a frost ; for when any thing is frozen , it is not suddenly thawed , which half perswades me , that cold is the quicker motion ; but howsoever we perceive they do often dispute for the mastry , when some time the cold predominates , and sometimes the heat . but when there is an amity , and friendship between both , then it is temperate weather . chap. 109. of dry heats , and cold , and of moist heats and colds . all dry heats , and colds , are created , or produced by such manner of motions , as pleating , folding , surfling , crumpling , knitting , linking , brading , tieing , binding into a lesse compasse , or space . all moist heats , and moist colds , are created , or produced by such manner of motions , as smoothing , planing , stricking , or stretching ; but burning heats , are like those motions that prick a sheet of paper full of holes , or dart it , or cut it , but there are infinite of these several kinds of motions , which make these several heats , and colds , working according to the several degrees , or temperaments of matter , and the composers of figures , but l onely set these few notes to make my discourse , as easy to my readers understanding as i can ; for it is a difficulty to expresse several motions , although they be so grosse as to be visible to the optick sense . chap. 110. of shining figures . all figures that are composed of lines , are the aptest to shine , because lines are the evenest measure , and the smoothest rule , for mathematical motions to work with , but according as the lines , either exterior , or interior is smooth or rough , contracted or extenuated , shines more or lesse ; for some lines are interiorly even , and smooth , and exteriorly rough and unequal , as pointed lines , or chekred , or milions the like . others are exteriorly even , and interiorly rough , as lines of points , some are interiorly rough , and exteriorly rough as lines of points pointed and some are interiorly smooth , and exteriorly smooth , which are drawn out even , as one piece , and not composed of parts . chap. 111. the motions that make natural air , and day light . natural air , which is not metamorphosed air , is made by such kinde of motions , as makes cloth that is spun threads weaved , as with shuttles in a loom ; so some motions spin threads of thin dull matter , and other motions interweave those threads , where the grossest sort makes the thicker air , as great threads make course cloth , and the thinner matter makes the serenest air , as small threads make the finest cloth ; where some is like cobweb-lawn , so sheer , or clear , as the smallest objects may be seen through , which is spread about the globe of the earth , as a thin vail over a face , or body , and from the sun rising , the motions that make light run in lines upon it , and so is like a garment laid all over with silver-twist , or rather like silverwier , from the sun rising to high noon , it is as it were , setting , sewing , or imbroidering on ; this serene air at mid-day it is quite finished , and by sun set it is quite reapt off again . and to shew that the lines of light are as it were laid upon this serene air , and not mixt into it , is by the vapor which gathers into dark clouds , which will obscure the light , as far as they spread , besides if the light were intermixt the motions and matter could not so easily , nor so quickly withdraw , or intermingle , as we see they do ; for what is intermixt , is hard to separate ; but dark clouds are onely as spots , which by rarification are rubbed out , if they be wet spots , or drops , they fall out in shours of rain , but by such sorts of motions as by ringing , or squeesing , or griping with a hand , or the like , which breaks the sea , or waves of water , which are clouds , into several streams of drops , sometimes with a greater force , and sometimes with a lesse , according as the motions are stronger , or weaker . the difference betwixt this serene , and natural air , and the metamorphosed air , is as a natural face , and a mask which is put on , or put off according as the watry circles contract , or dilate ; the other in probability may be as lasting as the sun it self , not being subject to change , but by a natural creation or dissolution . chap. 112 of light . light is made by such a kinde of motion as heat , being an equal extenuating motion , but the difference is , that the motions that make heat , is a spreading motion , but light is made by a spining motion , equally drawing out long paralel lines , with an extraordinary swiftnesse , evennesse , smalnesse , and straightnesse . chap. 113. the reflections of light . the reflections of light when are the innated matter draws even lines with equal motions backwards ( as i may say ) for when their motions are stopt , with a more solid matter , then that which they work on to make light , where touching , or beating thereon , they do not break their lines , but the leading innated matter , which makes light , returns back in equal lines , with equal motions , so as there becomes equal lines of light , onely as some lines run forward , others run backward , but in straight paralel lines , not crossed , nor perturbed ; for when these motions are crost , or perturbed , it doth as troubled waters do , the one rising in several colours , as the other in waves , so the colours are the waves , or billows of light . chap. 114. of light , and reflections . no question but there are as many various lights , as faces , and as different kinds of lights , as there are different animals , or vegetables , or minerals , as some i will here set down for distinction , the sun light , the lighs of the fixt stars , the fire light , meteor light , glow-worm light , rotten wood light , the light of fishes bones , and there are many sorts of stones which will sparkle in the dark , as diamonds , and many i cannot recount . then there are produced lights , as day from the sun , flame from fire , then there are reflected lights , as the planets , and reflected lights from reflected lights , as the light from the planets on the earth , and infinite reflections made by several motions on figures , for on every figure are several reflections . chap. 115. of some opinions of light , darknesse , and death . some say light is nothing but a motion , but there can be no motion without some matter , for where there is no matter , there is nothing to move ; but light , as other effects are , is made by such kind of motions on such degrees , or tempered matter , and so is heat , and cold , and darknesse made by several motions , on such matter , although some opinions are , that darknesse is nothing but an absence of light , as some think death is a cessation of motion ; t is true , death is an alteration of such kinde of motions , as we call life ; so darknesse is not made by such motions as make light , for there are motions belong to darknesse , as well as those to make light ; so there be many several motions , in dissolving of figures , which dissolution we call death , as the creating of a figure , which we call life . chap. 116. of darknesse . those motions which make darknesse , seem to be as swift motions , as those that make light , for the air is as soon made dark as light ; but some do say , there is no motion in darknesse , and that darknesse is a cessation of motion ; t is true , of such kinde of motions as make light ; but not of all motions , no more then the motion of the sun makes all light , or the absence of the sun makes all darknesse ; for first the sun is not the onely light , for we can set up lights , when that is gone , by fire , whose flames do illuminate that part of air , that is neerest , and could we make a fire as bigg as the sun , and feed it perpetually , we might have a perpetual day , and the air will be as much illuminated , if there were a sufficient fire , to inlighten so much air at one time , as the sun doth ; wherefore the sun is not the monopler of such kinde of motions , as make light . and can we rationally think there is no motion in darknesse , because the motions of the suns light are gone from our hemisphear , we may as well say a fish cannot swim , because such a horse doth not gallop , but to my fancy darknesse works upon the air , as well as light ; for a dark cloud shall obscure the light , as well as the light shall pierce through a dark cloud ; thus darknesse covers many times the face of the light , which shewes it is not alwayes the with-drawing of light which makes darkness , since darknesse hath as much power over the light , as the light over darknesse , but obstructed motions make darknesse , and hinder those equal motions which make light , and those motions that make mists , and fogs , are in some degree like the motions which make darknesse , and so are such motions as make colours , but the motions of darknesse seem to be intermixing motions , as i may say snarled motions , which intangle themselves , and the different motions of darknesse , and light , are like skeines of silk , where the light is like thread which is pulled out even and straight . and darknesse is like a skein of silk , which is so insnarled , or broken , as not any can finde a leading thread , being full of ends , knots and entercourses . chap. 117. the motions that make darknesse . the motions of darknesse upon the air , are after another manner , then those of light , for as light is laid in such smal , straight , even , out-drawn lines , so darknesse is like motions of silk imbroidery , the work to be bossy , full of intermixing stiches , and crosse threds , knotted and purled after this manner . and the reason i say silk , is , because darknesse is softer then light , which light i similise to silver , for the brightnesse of light many times hurts the opticks , which darknesse doth not . chap. 118. of shadows . shadows are copies , and pictures , drawn , or printed , or ingraven by dark motions , for dark lines made by the eclipsed light , are as the pencel , or the like , the light is the paint , the solid body on which shadows are cast , is the ground or substance to work on , motion is the artificer ; for several lights are like so many several sorts of paintings ; for colours are but a perturbed light as some say , but to shew it is darknesse that doth pencel out , is that there would be no such representments , if darknesse were not ; and too much light drowns the figure , or is as it were plash'd , or dabbed out , or if so much paint were spilt , or cast on the ground without order ; yet all shadows are not as if they were painted , but printed in black and white , as against a wall , or on water , or the like , but on a looking-glasse , or on a piece of paper through a little hole , in a dark room , it is as painted , the colours being represented as well as the figures . chap. 119. of shadows and airie figures . shadows are printed , or ingraven , or painted by those motions , which make darknesse upon inlightned aire , but the print is not seen , but upon a solid ground , or flat , as i may say , which ground must be opposite to the figure it represents , which is after this manner , as one figure makes more , for the figure makes a figure , that is , the external motion of the external figure cuts out a figure of aire ; for questionless wheresoever our bodies are , there is the figure in air ; for we are alwayes encompast about with air , wherein we make prints of our figures ; for the solid bodies print their figures in that which is more porous , and softer substance , as a seal on wax , or a print on butter , or the like ; thus the solid bodies as they remove , still make new prints perpetually , and infinitely , but as they remove , the prints melt out like verbal and vocal sounds , which print words , and set notes in the air , and the reason we uannot see the letter in the air , as well as hear the sound , is , that the air being so porous , is proper onely to convey a sound to the ear , or to spread it abroad ; but not solid enough to fix the eye thereon , having not substance to hold an object so long a time as to take notice thereof , unlesse it be drawn into a shadow upon a substantial ground , on which the eye may fix ; but until the figurative be cast upon a solid ground , the figures are like sculpture , but when they are drawn in shadows upon a ground , it is as painting , or printing . chap. 120. of a more probable opinion to me of light making several colours . the lines of light are whole and come so from the sun until the light of such a figure , and according to the figure , there the lines are broken , and the breaking of light a ccording to the several figures , makes several colours , so it is not inherent in the thing , but in the form of the thing , which is the figure that makes several colours breaking the several lines of light several wayes , so the diers of several colours by their observations findes it out by their practise , though they know not the reason of it , but the true reason is , that all those several dies make several figures , which several figures breake the lines of light several wayes , which being broken several wayes produce all those several colours . to shew you that it is several figure that breaks the lines of light that make several colours , you may see it in a pigions neck and brest , how many various colours it will change into , with and in the same place , the lines of light being broken several wayes by the pigions feathers , that make several figures , as also you may perceive in rain-bows , the sun shining upon a watry cloud , the cloud being between you , and the sun what various colours there are , so to spout water out of your mouth , if it be between me and the sun , it makes the same colours , and all this is nothing else , but that the lines of light are broken so many wayes , by the several forms and figures it shines of , which produceth the multiplicity of all those various colours . again , more plainly to make it appear , that there can be no more truth but this in colour , take a triangular glasse it is all of one colour , and was never sent to the diers , and look in it , and you shall see the most various colours in the world , the colours are not in the glasse , therefore with rational man it suffers no dispute at all , that colour is nothing else , but the lines of light broken by several forms , and figures , that produceth all the various colours that are in the world . and for excellent disputants , that make aristotle their church of reason , that cannot erre , and will maintain his nonsense against reason , i leave them to their ignorance , and wish they would rather follow his logick , and his rhetorick , then his natural philosophy , for their own sakes . chap. 121. of colours . some say colours are made by perturbed or obstructed light , but in my opinion , colours are broken lines of light ; for when light is obstructed as being stopped it reflects with double light , those lines returning back like double strings , and if it were perturbed light , like over-agitated air , or troubled and rough waters , the light would be onely thicker , and mudier , having not liberty to move in so level , even , and straight , paralel lines ; it is true , those perturbed motions may be the cause many times of breaking the light , which broken parts contracting into several figures , or works , causeth several colours , every particular work , being a several colour , and when these several figurative works are mixt , being part of one work , and part of another , the colors are also mixt . for the several works made of the pieces of light , are that which makes several colours , and not the pieces of light without those works , for if those pieces of light lay scattered and not contracted into several figurative workes , they could , or would not make colours , but if colours are not made by pieces of light , they are made by contracting the straight unbroken lines of light , which contraction turns light into colours , as contractions do water into snow , ice , hail , frost ; now it is to be observed , that it is not onely the contracted motions on the water that make the difference , but being contracted into such or such a figure ; for whensoever water is contracted into such a manner of figure , it is snow , if into such a figure it is hail , if in such a figure it is ice , into such a figure frost , and may do so constantly , and eternally , and so when light is contracted into such a figure , it is red , when into such a figure , blue , into such a figure , yellow , into such a figure green , and when it is contracted partly into the figure of red , and partly into the figure of blue , it makes a figure of purple , and if it be contracted partly into the figure of red , and partly into the figure of blue , and partly into the figure of purple , it makes a fourth figure , which is a fourth colour , and so a fift , and so infinites , likewise one and the same figure which is one perfect colour , may vary with each patticular figure , which is each particular colour , and upon what body soever these figures are printed , they take colours , and according as the figures differ , the colours are changed , or alter ; for it is not the body that they are printed on , or the reflections of light , cast upon such bodies that make colours , but such figures made by contracted lines of light , which figurative works give such colours to any thing they can print , or place on , but the reason why i think they are rather broken pieces of light contracted , then contracted streight lines , is , because they are so lasting , for though some colours will fade sooner , yet some will last a long time ; for whatsoever work is wrought with parts , as i may say , several pieces of thread , is not so apt to undo or ravel out , as that which is but of one piece , unlesse the thread were circular , without ends , but lines of light are paralels , and not circles , as for shadows of colours , in my opinion they are produced after this manner as i said , the figure of blue or the like , which is one perfect colour , and the figure of red which is another perfect colour makes a third figure , which is a mixt colour , likewise blue and yellow makes a different figure , which is a different colour from blue and red , and blue and yellow , makes a different figure , which is a different colour from blue and green , & so we may match figures until we be weary , but whatsoever hath constantly part of one and the same figure , in the several or single compartments of other figures , which are other colours , as blue and green , blue and red , blue and yellow ; and the like appears in shadows , by reason one particular figure , or figurative part is the ground-work , which is , the ground colour , which makes all the colours it mixes with , partly of its own complection , and according as there are more or lesse , of that figure , the shadow is fainter or stronger , and according as the contractions are more or lesse , the colours are deeper , or paler ; for those figures that are closer contracted , and rougher wrought , are the darkest colours , as neerest to black , and those figures that are loosest , contracted , and finer wrought , ars the the lightest , or palest colours , as being most light , when the parts are loosest , and most at liberty , and the brightest , as the most glorious colours that are made of the purest , and clearest light , which is of the smallest lines of light , as i may say , the finest threaded light , for some lights are thicker then others , by reason their lines are grosser . also colours which are broken contracted lines of light , may appear darker , or brighter according to the reflection , of other lights , or rather according to the straight and unbroken lines of light are that cast upon them , likewise some light doth alter the colours that are made by other lights , as some colours appear not by candle-light as by day-light , and the reason is , that several lines of several lights , being grosser , or finer , causeth the colour to appear duller or brighter , and some particular lights make some colours appear more then others , and some particular lights obscure some particular colours more then others , according as they are further , or neerer off the nature of each other ; for though the several figurative works make the several colours , yet it is the lines and pieces of light , that make those figures and works . chap. 122. of airy figures . as i said before , the solid bodies moving in the soft , & more porous bodies , make many figures therein , some as printed , some as painted , others as sculpture , as cut , or carved in wood , or stone , or cast in metal , or moulded in earth , some are as if a man , or the like creature should print themselves in snow , others as if they should make themselves in snow , as for example ; as if a man should stand , and let the snow fall thick upon him until he were all covered over , there would be his figure in snow , or if he should lie down in snow , there would be his print ; so it is in air , as we move from place to place , new figures are made , and the former figures moulder , or melt out , but according as the air is , so they last , or decay , for if the air be congealed with cold , thickned with grosse fogs or mist , the figures last the longer therein , although in a misshapen posture , like ruinated buildings , or broken statues , or like defeated armies , here an arm , or a piece of an arm , or a hand , and there leggs , here a head , there a mangled body ; but when the air is thin , and serene , the print dissolves assoon as the figure removes ; and if the air were as solid as snow , we should see the figures as perfect in the one , as in the other ; but the air being very thin , and porous , the sight of the eye runs thorow without stay , or stop , taking no notice , like water in a sieve , wherein nought can be contained , because there is no hold to keep the water in from running out . chap. 123. of external figures , and internal forms . in some things there is such sympathy betwixt the internal form , and the external figure , as the alterations of the one , change the nature of the other ; as for fire , when the external figure is altered , the internal faculty is gone , here the internal nature depends upon the exterior figure ; but as for water , the external figure may be changed , as we see when it is frozen , but the internal nature not changed , for it is as water still , though it be not fluid , here the internal depends not upon the external ; but thus much the exterior figures of all things depend so so much upon the exterior form , or nature , that when the internal is changed , the exterior cannot be altered , from and to , as to change the countenance or face , as i may say by contraction , and dilation , as water , and metals , and many others , but an animal figure may remain , as it was for a time , when the internal is changed , but not long , as for example , animals , although the internal nature , and faculty be changed , which is to move after such a manner , as is proper for animal , the external figure is not altered : for when animals are dead , the external , which is the outward shape remains perfect , for a time , yet the internal motions may be in disorder , as they are in animals that sound , or are sick or faint , or in vegetables that are fading , or drooping ; but when the internal motions move orderly again , either of themselves , or by the help of assistant motions , and figures , the animal is as it was before , and the vegetable flourisheth green again , thus there may be an alteration ; but when there is an absolute change in the internal , there can be no return , but by a new creation , for all alterations of motions do not do it , but a total change . chap. 124. earth , water , air , fire , cold , heat , light , darknesse . earth , water , air , fire , cold , heat , light , darknesse , is made as animals , vegetables , and minerals , that is , that such degrees of innated matter works upon the dull part of matter with various motions , and several degrees , of dull matter produceth such effects joyning parts together , and separating parts asunder , but joyning , and mixing each degree together , loseth not the entity of each degree , for that can never be altered , for as it was from all eternity , so it will last to all eternity . chap. 125. the motions of the sun , and planets . the sun , and the rest of the planets , are questionlesse created as other animal creatures , and their local motions are according to the shape , as we see all animals are , for a worm cannot run , but onely moves by gathering up the body from one place , and then stretching it self out farther , or else by rolling , and winding his body from place to place , nor beasts cannot flee as birds , nor birds cannot trot , amble , nor gallop , as beasts , because they have no shape fitted thereto ; for birds want four leggs to pace and gallop , and beasts want wings to flee , so the planets move according to their shape , turning about as a spherical circle about a center , and if the sun runs about the world with such speed ( as some old opinions are , it must turn as a wheel about the spoake , or rundle as a bowl in the ecliptick line . but if the sun , as some modern opinions hold , doth not move out of his place , but is as it were fixed , and that the planets move about it , in circular wayes according to their shape , then the motions of the sun , are onely by dilation , and attractions : from which light , and heat proceeds , and vapor is drawn or suckt up . chap. 126. of the motions and figures of the four natural elements . the motions that make the natural figure of earth , are not so curious , nor the matter they work on so fine , as those which make fire , air , and water ; for the materials being grosser , their work is rougher , like morter that is made of hair , and lime , and the motions moving not so evenly , or distinctly , but rather mixtly , causeth it to be sad and dark , the solidity , weight , and drought are caused by the contracting , attracting , and retentive motions , which motions are the chief workers and creators of this element , which work like ants , drawing all thereto , making it like a round heap , or like a load-stone , that attracts the solid matter . the slimie or gelly part of the earth is made by such kinde of motions as spin small lines lik silk-worms , in a round hollow ball ; water is made after that manner , onely those lines extenuate more into perfect circles . natural and pure air is made by such a kinde of motion , as spiders spin webs , smal lines spread , and enterwoven evenly . natural fire is made by such kinde of motions , as the art of whetting , or sharpening , or pointing with a grind-stone , or load-stone or the like , and is made like the stings of bees , which pierce , and wound whatsoever they can enter . natural light is made by such kinde of motions , as wier-drawing , or drawing a small thread from a spindle . natural darknesse is made by such kinde of motions , as winding up threads upon bottoms , in a heap . i say natural , because they keep their original form , and is the right kinde , and true shape , as i may say of man-kinde ; for if a creature should be partly a beast , and partly a man , it were not of the right kinde , and true shape . likewise elements may be of the right kinde , and yet be different as mankinde , for every particular man is not alike , neither in shape nor quality , the like may elements differ . chap. 127. the reason of the ebbing and flowing of the sea thus . i will not dispute , according to copernicus , that the earth goes about , & the sun stands stil , upon which ground galleleo saith , the reason of the ebbing and flowing of the sea , is the jogging of the earth , the old opinion is , that the moon is the cause of it , which i can hardly beleeve , for mark the tide from scotland to margel when the moon hath the same influence , and the tide is so many hours in coming from scotland to margell as if one rid post , if it were the moon , why should it not be high water , or full tide margell , that it is in scotland at the time , the power of the moon being all one , so that comes very improbable to me , for many things fall out at the same time , and yet the one not cause of the other , and in philosophy there is nothing so ordinary , as to mistake the cause of things , since indeed the things for the most part are hid from us ; some again will have the sun the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the sea , others rationally say , heat makes motion , and the seas being salt make motion , because it is hot , but how comes it that the fresh waters ebbe and flow ? even springs well , whatsoever the cause be of the seas motion where it moves , ; for in some places they say it doth not , but where it moves it is never high water in one place , but it is low water in another place , and the sea moves alwayes circularly , for as it is the nature of water to be made in figures of circular lines , so it is the nature to flow circularly , which in my opinion is the reason of the ebbing and flowing tides , that moves circularly , that is , part of a circular , where the convex flows still forward , the flowing motion extends more and more , causing it to swell out , and the concave ends to extend longer and closer , in so much as at last the concave ends are joyned into a convex , for it doth not extend in aperfect round circle , as i shall describe in my following discourse , but after an oval , or rather a pear figure , but when the flowing convex is extended beyond the strength , it straight breaks , being most weak , by reason it is most extended out , so that when the tides have no more strength to flow for want of water to extend , and the convex over-powred by extenuation , it breaks asunder , and so falls back , whereby the convex parts are now become the concave , and where it was concave , is now become convex , which causeth it to flow the other way , and ebb where it did flow , for where it lies concave it ebbs , and where it is conex is flows , and thus it ebbs and flows perpetually , where it hath free passage , but the farther it flows , the weaker it becoms , by reason the strength is abated , like a horse that hath run fast and far , at last is so weak and breathlesse as he falls down , so when the convex can extend no farther , it breaks in two , but as the convex extends , the concave ends draw closer together , whereby such time as they come to joyn , the convex is so bowingly stretched , as it becomes brittle , as i may say or weak , which causeth it to break , but it is to be observed that the tides have a double motion , for as the convex flows forward , the concave ends draw backward at one and the same time , for the extenuation of convex one way , causeth the extenuation of the concave ends the other way ; but by reason the two ends draws close towards a point , the ebbing waters seem narrow and little , but the ebbing tides are but an effect of the flowing tides , not a cause in it self , for the interior nature of water is to flow where it can get liberty , and freedom of passage , and where it doth not flow it is obstructed by some obscure cause , but i desire my reader not to mistake me , as to conceive the motions of the tides , and the interior nature of water all one , being something alike ; but the motions of the tides , and the motions of the interior nature of water are as different as the local motions of animals , and their interior nature , and i beleeve if the fresh waters had the same liberty as the sea waters , to flow which way they would without opposition , or obstructions of hils , dales , banks and walls , and had the like quantity to move withal , i beleeve they would as naturally flow as the sea , and ebbe when their strength fails , and i beleeve if there were a sufficient quantity of water in the sea , and no obstructions , as islands , creeks , and the like to hinder the passage , and that the earth were like a billiard ball , it would flow perpetually round , as the globe turns upon the pole , if the pole turns not round with the globe . chap. 128. describing the tides . the flowing water gathers up together like superflous humors , and swells out the convex , as corrupted matter doth the skin , and never leaves extending till it breaks , but it begins by degrees in a demy-circle , and as it flows it grows larger , and longer extending its compasse . and as the convex extends , the concave ends must of necessity draw closer together . which makes the ebbing waters like a tail to the convex , which as the body , which makes the ebbing waters to be narrow , and by the reason the bulk of the water flows in the convex , it causeth the concave ends to be small , which makes it shallow , and the more the concave ends extend , the smaller they are , like thread drawn from a full distaff of flax ; for so the concave ends draws , or rather extends from the convex body ; but as i said before the more the convex extends , the closer the concave ends draw together , and when the convex is extended to the uttermost they joyn . and assoon as ever they are joyned and mixt together into one point , as it were , it swels into a body . for the former convex being broke , the waters fal back to that part which was the concave , but now is become the convex , and that part which was the convex , is now become the concave . yet the convex must be full before the concave ends extend , like as a glasse that must be filled above the brims before it can run over . chap. 229. of double tides . an after , or double tide is caused by winde , like as a man should walk against a very great winde , that although he presseth forward , yet it drives him back , but when he hath broken the gust as it were , he passeth more forcible through , and though winde have power over the exterior motions of the waters , yet not on the interior motions , but winde can discompose the face of the waters , as anger doth the countenance of men . chap. 130. ofspring tides . spring tides i conceive to be caused by waters that issue forth from the veins of the earth , which are apt to swell , and then to vent themselves forth at certain times , as natural issues , which flowing causeth the tides to be greater , because it hath more strength to extend farther , and the tides to be higher because the convex is thicker , and fuller , for the greater body of water , the farther it flowes ; for it is for want of strength which makes an ebb , or want of passage which makes a stop , and when the tides are lower , there are some invisible obstructions , or the eatrh hath drawn or suckt from that part of the sea . chap. 131. the tide and stream flowing against each other . the reason the tide flows against the stream a of river , is , that the quantity of sea water forceth through the stream , and the descent of the river forceth the stream to passe through the motion , or rather by the motion of the tide , for the natural motions of all waters being to flow , and the force of the descent added therto , gives it a double , if not a treble strength , so that when the force of the tide , and the force of the stream meets , and incounters , they make passes , as duellers that fight hand to hand ; but if one water runs quite through another , it is most probable that the tide runs through the stream , by reason it is armed strongly with salt , which may cause it to be streamproof , when the river water is porous , and weak by reason it is fresh , and thin as i may say . chap. 132. the difference of salt water and fresh water . the difference of salt water and fresh , is , that salt waters circle lines are flat , and edged , as a knife , or the like , and in fresh water , round , which edge makes it not lesse smooth , although more sharp , nor hinders the extenuating compasse , but the lines being flat , make it more solid , and so give it more strength , then the fresh water circle that is round , which makes it more porous , then salt water is , by the experience of an egge , and the like , which in fresh water the egge will sink to the bottom , but very salt water will bear it up , from sinking , and according to the strength , it will bear more or lesse , but those lines may exteriorly alter , from flat to round , and round to flat , and never alter the interiour nature , as to break the compasse , which is to dissolve the circle or ring ( as i may say ) which circle ring is the interior figure . chap. 133. of winde . winde is wrought by expulsive motions , and the strength doth not proceed from the thicknesse , or solidity of the body , as many think it doth , conceiving it to be contracted , or prest up air , which if it were , it could not enter into such small porous , and narrow passages as it doth ; wherefore me thinks the strength should not proceed so much from the solidity , as the agilnesse therein ; for the quick repetition doth so sorcibly presse on each other , as upon necessity it must drive all loose , and porous bodies before it , but the farther it bloweth , the fainter is the breadth , for as the repetitions grow short , so weaker . chap. 134. of the noise of tempest and storms . as i have said , that sort of air which is made by watry circles is apt to sound with every motion that strikes thereon , by reason of the hollow figure being sphericall . likewise this is the reason running brooks make a murmuring noise ; also this is the reason , that the tides do make such a noise in the ebbs , and flowes , circles pressing , or rather strikeing each other . again , this is the reason the windes , when they blow upon airy , or watry circles , by striking those spherical circles , cause it to sound , and make a roaring noise , by the confusion it makes therein ; for winde which is an expulsive vapor doth not onely strike those watry circles , but those that are extended into air , and when those motions drive circle against circle , or circle upon circle , makes such quick rebound , which rebounds in contracting and crossing each other , make a confused sound , which we call tempestuous and stormy , and it is to be observed , that a tempest in the air , and a storm in the water , and thunder , is much after one and the same kinde of noise ; but as thunder is caused by the expulsion of the most extended circular lines , so winde is the expulsion of the more grosser circles , as when lines break , which are extended no farther then to vapor , also these expulsions , if they be not very violent , cause rain ; for the expulsed motion being no stronger then to presse upon the unbroken and extended circles , either of vapor , or air , drives it into the watry compasse , but when the weather is cloudy , it is not altogether so hard prest upon , as to drive it into perfect water circles , but to the next degree , as a thick vapor . and when the weather is unconstant , as we say , that is sometimes grosse and thick , and then it will be strait clear , and bright , is as the presser doth abate , or increase ; but unforced raines ( as i may call them ) which is without a violent constraint , is when those circles are drawn into a wetry compasse in a natural order , and by the natural waight , being thicker then natural air , that is original air , and not transmigrated water , it falls down on the earth . likewise the pouring showers make a sound , by the force of the falling drops , striking as they fall , sound ; but by reason the water is divided , by the falling motions into lesse bodies , as it were , which makes not so strong a sound , having lesse compasse as the tides , or air having fewer circles in a body , as in drops , which makes it of a lesse bulk , and the lesse the body is , the weaker , and the smaller is the sound . but when the watry lines are drawn into a triangular figure of snow , it falls silently without sound , by reason the watry line is drawn out of the extended circle . besides , that figure is the lightest figure , by reason of the inequality , for a square hath four equal parts , which makes a just number , so an equal ballance which gives it a steddy weight , and a circle is equally round , without parts , which gives a steddy weight . but a triangular figure is in three parts , which is no just number , nor equal ballance , nor steddy weight , which make it of lesse force , for being a wavering figure , it cannot presse hard , nor strike strongly , nor fall heavy , but flies lightly about . chap. 135. of thunder and lightning . thunder and lightning are caused from watry circles , for when they are extended from water to vapor , from vapor to air , from temperate air , to hot air , from hot air to fire ; for if those circles extended beyond the compasse , and strength of the line , they break , which is the cause of thunder , and lightning ; for assoon as the farthest extention of the circle is broken , those extended parts do with an extraordinary swift motion run , or rather shut forth into bright flaming flashes , as spinning lines of light , but when those lines extend with a strong strength , they break into smal parts , which causeth thunder to follow lightnings ; for those bteaking parts sometimes expulse disorderly , beating and striking upon those circle lines that are unbroke , which circles being of a hollow figure , cause a sound in the higher region , whereto they are ascended , for their extention causeth them to be light , their lightnesse to ascend ; but all hollow figures being concave within , and convex without , do present to the ear , if they be strong , as concave , and convex glasses doth objects , when presented to the eye ; thus hollow figures cause a hollow sound if they be struck , for the concave draws those motions in which rebounds from fide to side , and the rebounds continue 〈◊〉 sound by the echos repeated , for sound lasts longer in hollow figures , then in any other , and though i will not say that onely hollow figures make sounds , yet i say that no sound can enter but through hollow figures , as the ear is a hollow figure , and all hollow figures , and the ear is not onely hollow , but circular , but sounds are made in the ear , or rather enters , as light and colours in the eyes , for discord is perturbed motion , or rather close antipathetical motions , and harmony are sympathetical , and regular motions , but the more of these extenuating circles break , the more lightning there is , and the stronger they brea , the more thunder rhere is , and the harder they strike upon the unbroken circles the lowder is the sound . but if the circle lines break onely asunder , and extend , or shut forth into straight lines without more parts , there is onely lightning without thunder , but if those lines break into more parts , there is thunder also , and when there falls r ain at those times of thunder , it is when the gentler motions of some of those expulsed parts , do not strike hard upon some of those unbroken circles , but presse upon them , which causeth them to draw , and gather into a lesse circle , and a grosser line , untill they return into the watry compasse , where growing too heavy for the hight , falls down toward the center of the earth , as all heavie bodies , if not thick bodies under to bear them up , or stronger motions then their weight to hold them up , thus in my opinion is thunder and lightning caused , and when it rains , those unbroken circles return into its nature again . chap. 136. of the alterations of motions . one and the same degree of innate matter may change , and rechange the natural posture motion in one and the same figure , but a general alteration of those motions proper to that figure , dissolves the natural form of any one particular figure , for a figure moving by several motions , proper to its kinde , must joyntly consent either by a sympathy , or inforcement to make a dissolution , as well as a creation , but all motions works or alter according as the matter is , or figure they work to , or forced by stronger motions to alter their natural course ; likewise several and contrary motions may work by turns in one and the same figure , by one and the same degree of innated matter . chap. 137. of different motions . all extenuating motions make not fludity or wet , but such kind of extenuating on such tempered , or on such degrees of dull part of matter , for some extenuating motions make light , others make heat , and infinite the like , so all expulsive motions do not burn , nor all 〈◊〉 motions do not work alike , nor all attractive , nor all retentive , nor expulsive ; for there are infinite wayes or kindes of them , which works infinite varieties , for there are infinite several sorts of heats , coldes , droughts , moistures ( and infinite kindes of lights and darknesse as well as of colours , so infinite wayes of contractions , and attractions , and infinite wayes of expulsions , and so there are such varieties in one and the same kinde , as it is impossible for me to describe , as for one man to draw the several pictures of mankinde from all eternity ; but if i could draw but one picture , it will be enough to shew my art and skill , although but a plain draught , but i finde the work too hard for my wit , yet i have ventured , and mean to hang it on the wall of censure , although i know spite will strive to pull it down . chap. 138. of the local motions of water , air , and fire . i perceive there be other figures that have local motions besides animals , yet it is partly their figures that are proper thereto ; for though there is no matter , but is figured , yet all figures move not but of themselves , and though all figures aremoved , or moving , or both moved and moving , yet all local motions move not after one and the same manner ; but i hear mean by local motion , that which naturally can move from place to place , by their interior nature , and exterior shape , but if the word is not right to the sense , pray pardon it , and take the sense and leave the word , and christen it a new ; but these kindes of local figures are water , arie , and fire , which move after an animal manner , although they have not the shape of those we cal animals , yet they seem animals by their self motion , as moving from place to place , unlesse they be stopt by stronger motions , or other figures that are more powerful : the like of other animals , as for example , if one man , or more being stronger bindes another man which hath not strength , nor power to oppose , or hinder them , he cannot move according to the property of his nature and shape . so likewise , if cold contractions be more powerful then the extenuating circles , it bindes up the the water with icie fetters , wherby it cannot move according to the nature , nor circular shape ; so if any man should go to a place , and a high wall should stand betwixt him and that place , he cannot passe unlesse there were a passage , or that he can clamber , which must be by art , because there is no footing , and to jump over it he cannot , for it is so high that the weight of his body will pull him down , before the strength or agilnesse of his limbs shall raise him over , and he cannot flee over by reason his shape is not fitted thereto , having no wings , so water being stopt , and the passage hindered , by a thick bank of earth , cannot move according to its property ; for it is proper for water to move descendingly , at least straight forth ; but when it ascends , it is forced by other more powerful motions , so likewise it is proper for air to move after a level , streaming , or spreading manner . for fire to ascend , after a piercing , shooting , and perpendicular manner , for these elements do as other animals do , for man , beasts , birds , fishes , their local motions are different according to their shapes , for it is the property of a four legged creature to gallop , trot , pace , run , leap , but they cannot flee , because their shape is not fitted thereto , having not wings , nor a bird cannot gallop , trot , nor pace , having not four leggs to make changes therewith , it is true , a two legged creature may leap , jump , hop , and run . likewise those fishes can neither run nor flee , that have not wings nor legs ; but those that have mixt shapes , have mixt local motions , as there be fleeing fishes , and swimming birds , and running fishes , and swimming beasts , indeed most creatures can swim , for most shapes are fitted thereto in one kinde or another , but mans shape is such as it can imitate most various motions , though it is the shape that makes al creatures to move different ly , yet it is not altogether the shape that makes them move locally , but there must be such an interior nature proper to such shapes , as vegetables and minerals , their property is not to move locally , that is , to have a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . it seems their interior nature , and exterior 〈◊〉 is not proper thereto , or perchance it is only their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their interior nature that makes them unfit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for we finde their interior nature to be more active 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the exterior shapes of animals . but to return to those elements i treat of , as first water , the interior nature causes it to be liquid and wet , the exterior shape to be fluid , both agreeing by a sympathetical conjunction give a local motion to descend , and bear all before it , or with it , that is loose , and unfixt , so fire , the interior nature causeth 〈◊〉 to be hot and dry , the exterior figure to be sharp to 〈◊〉 , both agreeing by a sympathetical conjuncting , giving it a local motion to pierce and divide it , all it can enter into , if not over-powered ; so 〈◊〉 the interior nature causeth it to be soft , and pliant , and the exterior figure to be thin and searching , both agreeing by a sympathetical conjunction , gives it a local motion to enter through all porous bodies in a level line , and to fill up all 〈◊〉 places in other figures , unlesse it be thrust out , and kept out by something more powerful ; it is the natural property for fire to be hot and dry , to be sharp and burning , to move ascending . and for water to be liquid , fluid , and wet , and to descend in a descending line . and air to be soft , and yeelding , to be thin and searching , to move in a level line , unlesse they be forc'd otherwaies , for fire may be supprest downward , and water forc'd upwards and air disperst , and fire is not onely subject to be supprest but quenched out for water , if there be a sufficient quantity to the fire on which it is cast , will over power it : for the innated motions which cause water to be wet , destroy the motions that cause fire to be sharp and burning , and the figure 〈◊〉 destroyed , that is disuniting those parts , and those motions , that keep and maintain those parts in that figure , the property is extinguished too , as we see many animal figures , do to one another , and birds , and fish , and men destroy beast , birds , and fish , according as they have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and advantage , for indeed the dissolution of one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cause of the creation of another , sometime the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one figure , make many figures , and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of many figures make but one figure ; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath many several manners of moving locally and the elements as other animals do move somtimes slower , and sometimes faster . chap. 139. explanations of onely matter . it is to be observed by those figures that are wrought by the way of lines , are soft , smooth , and shining , whether they be paralel lines , cupe lines , triangular lines , or circular lines , but the smaller , and straighter the lines are , the smoother , and brighter is their work , but there are several sorts of softnesse , and several sorts of smoothnesse which are made by several kindes of motions . then it is to be observed , that all works of contractions , and retentions are stronger , and more lasting , then those figures that are more light , and porous , or extenuating . thirdly , it is to be observed , that the innated matter , which works upon the light , and thin part of dull matter , is more agil , and nimbler then that which works upon the thick and solid matter , unlesse the strength of the motions be not above , or at least equal to the solidity of the matter . also it is to be observed , they can make solid figures of light thine matter , by their close , and curious joynings injectures , and mixtures , and porous , and light figures of solid matter , by their dividings , and spreadings , but though the innated matter can contract and dilate , the thick , or thin , light , or heavie fluid or soft , yet it cannot alter the nature , or degrees of the dull part of matter , neither can the innated matter make it self weaker , or stronger then by nature it is , for the entity of onely matter cannot be changed , but though the nature cannot be altered of dull part of matter , yet it may be cut , and carved , and joyned and dispersed into several figures , so the innated matter , although the nature cannot be altered as to make each degree weaker , or stronger , yet they may move swifter , or flower , according as the dull part of matter is they work on or according as the curiosity of the figure requires ; and as i have said before , there be infinite degrees of the dull part of matter ; as solid , and fluid , thinner , and thicker , lighter and heavier , harder , and softer , and infinite degrees of innated matter , as stronger , and weaker , swifter and slower , and though i have said that the innated matter is the thinnest part of onely matter , yet i do not mean the thin incipit matter , as i may call it for distinction sake ; for there is no incipit in infinite , and eternal matter , though there be dull in moving matter , but the innated matter is the infinite extract of the entity of infinite matter , it is the quintessence of nature . chap. 140. the differences and alterations of figures . in the progresse of figures , figures are created in figures . the reason is , that infinite motions which are the gods to create , dissolve , and dispose of figures , as they please to move , share as it were the infinite matter , in their working and dividing , and several motions , which is proper to the creation , of such kinde of figures , assisting each other in their works of creation ; but not in the figures dissolution ; for those motions which are proper to create one kinde of figure , are not proper to create another , for every figure hath different motions , in the creation either more or lesse , which is the reason few , or none are just alike , but either in shape , or minde will differ , but when two figures are made with the same motions , among the sensitive innated matter , then their figures are just alike , as we shall see twins , and if the rational matters motion be just alike in several figures , their dispositions and understandings are just alike , and if they differ in their motions but a little , they resemble much either the minde , or the body ; sometimes both , but the more they differ , the lesse they resemble , but almost all 〈◊〉 are distinguishable , which shewes such variety of motions , as there needs no more repetition to move after one , and the same manner ; for there are not onely different motions in different , and several figures , but in one and the same figure , for the same figure doth not look when it is old , as when it was young , nor when it is sick , as when it is in health ; nor when it is cold , as when it is hot , nay the figure will alter and change , every minuit either by the altered motion of the sensitive , or rational ; but most commonly they alter their motions together , as in a joynt concent , for a troubled minde will make the body appear heavy and sad , for joy and grief will make different countenances in the figure , and so every passion in the minde , is most commonly matched with a countenance agreeable thereto , and most commonly other exterinal actions , yet although the motions may differ , the innated matter may be of one and the same degree , for i do not say every degree of innated matter moves alwayes in one kinde of motion ; for though every degree of innated matter , is of a particular strength , yet not of a particular motion . chap. 141. of several worlds . as the sun differs from the earth and the rest of the planets , and earth differs from the seas , and seas from the airy skie , so other worlds differ from this world , and the creatures therein , by different degrees of innate matter , on different degrees of dull part of matter , which makes different figures by different motions , and as this world is of a spherical figure , so other worlds may be of other figures ; as for animals , although all animals are not of one shape ; for a man differs from the shape of a horse , or any other four legged creature , and every sort of beast differs from one another in their shape . so likewise there is difference in their kinds , as well as in their several sorts , for beasts kind differ from birds kinde , so may worlds differ for all we know , and if we should guesse by the several changse , and variety in nature , it is very probable it is so ; & who knows , or indeed might not very easily beleeve it so to be , that worlds may be match'd by a sympathetical conjunction to produce other worlds , as other creatures do , for we finde the planets by a sympathetical conjunction to produce other creatures , as the sun and the earth . and it is to be observed , that as several motions create figures , so several motions work by their created figures , and those motions that creates figure by a sympathetical conjunction , create after their own likenesse , either in the nature or shape , or both , but those figures that create figures without conjunction of figures , after their invention , or imitation as i may say , cannot make such figures as conjunctially of figures man calls 〈◊〉 figures , as birds make nests , or beasts make dens , and men houses , but to reckon all artificial figures , is past my skill , and beyond my life , who knows since we finde new and unheard stars , but that they are the birth of other worlds . an epistle to all learned physitians . most reverend , and gráve fathers of health , i present this work unto your sage judgements , your prudent practises , your great experiences , your studious observations ; your miraculous cures , and humbly lay it on the tables of your studies , in hope some spare time may invite you to read therin . i dare not commend it , lest you should disprove it ; for as your wisdomes value it , so it is good , or bad . an epistle to my readers . i am to be pardoned , if i have not the names and tearms that the anatomists have or use ; or if i have mistaken some parts in the body , or misplaced any : for truly i never read of anatomie , nor never saw any man opened , much lesse dissected , which for my better understanding i would have done ; but i found that neither the courage of nature , nor the modesty of my sex would permit me . wherefore it would be a great change , even to a wonder i should not erre in some ; but i have seen the intrals of beasts but never as they are placed in their bodies , but as they are cut out to be drest , and in the shambles , and perchance i haue seen passing by the shambles , a cruel butcher cut the throat of a beast , or rip up the body , where the guts and garbidge would burst out , but that gave me not much more knowledge , not seeing how they lay in their bodies : and though it is a usual custome , for ladies and women of quality , after the hunting a deer , to stand by until they are ript up , that they might wash their hands in the blood , supposing it will make them white , yet i never did ; but as i have said before , i have seen the intrals of beasts out of their bodies , which intrals i have heard are much like a mans , especially a hogs , so that i know man hath a brain , a heart , a stomack , liver , lights , spleen , and the like ; yet these i never viewed with a curious and searching eye , but as they have laien in some vessels ; and as for bones , nerves , muscels , veines and the like , i know not how they are placed in the body , but as i have gathered several times from several relations , or discourses : here a bit , and there a crum of knowledge , which my natural reason hath put together , of which meat my wit like an unexperienced cook hath ventered to dresse , if it pleaseth the palats of my readers , i shall account my time not lost ; if not it is not the first dish of good meat that hath been disgust . of the motion of the bodie . part iv. chap. 141. physitians should study the motions of the body , as naturall philosophers , study the motions of the heavens , for several diseases have several motions , and if they were well watched , and weighed , and observed , they might easily be found out severally ; and as they take compass of the heaven , and stand upon the earth , so they may take the degrees of the disease , although they diffect not the body . thus natural physitians may know , when the sun of health will be eclipsed by the shaddow of melancholly , which gets betwixt the body and health ; and natural physitians may come to know the thoughts , as they the stars , by studying the humors of men , & may know what influences they may have upon the body ; and may know the severall changes of their humor , as they the several changes of the moon , that the several changes of the humor , causeth the bloud to ebb and to flow , as the tides of the sea ; thus they may make an almanack of the body , for to shew what weather and seasons there will be , as great tempests and stormes of wind-collick ; whether there will fall upon the lungs , great rheumes , as showers of rain , or whether there may be great and hot fevers , or whether there will be earthquakes of shaking agues , or cold , and dumb-palsies , or whether there will be dearths of flesh , and so leave bones bare , by the droughts of heated fevers , or whether the over-flowing of moisture , which causeth dropsies ; thus if we could finde the several motions in several diseases in a body , as surely might be done by observations , and study , and could finde out the several motions by the several operations in physick , we might surely so apply them together , as to make animals , though not live eternally , yet very long ; and truly i think this both of philosophical opinions , may give a great light to this study . physicians must first take care in their prescriptions , to prevent errours of mistake , before he apply remedies to cure . cap. 142. the frame of mans body . i will first discourse of the orderly course of nature , which is to have a perfect shape according to the kinde , or sort of figure , it was created to ; that is , like a house to be well built ; next to have it strong , and firm ; thirdly , to have it commodious ; fourthly , to have it well furnished ; fifthly , to have it clean from dirt , or rubbish ; sixthly , to keep it in repair ; seventhly , to prop it from falling down with old age ; the pulling it down by some evil accident , or burning it by feavers , or the like , or drowning it by dropsies . andthough i may similize it , to any figure , yet i onely imploy it , to man-kinde ; that is , to havea perfectand upright shape , a clear strength , sound parts , plump and fat , clean from gross humors and obstructions , to keep it healthful with wholsome food , to help nature with cordials , or physick , death being the destruction . chap. 143. of natural self-tyrannie . motion doth not onely divide matter infinite , but disturb matter infinite ; for self-motion striving and strugling with self-motion , puts it self to pain ; and of all kinde of motions the animal motions disturbs most , being most busie , as making wars and divisions , not onely animal figures , against animal figures , but each figure in itself , by discontents and dislike ; which discontent makes more pain , then ease , orpleasure , or tranquillity , by reason of irregularity ; but motion is an infinite and eternal tyrant , on infinite figures ; for as motion makes figures , so motion dissolves figures , which makes infinite , and eternal matter , eternal restless ; for the extract of infinite matter , which is an innated matter , which innate matter is motion , and makes the dull part of matter so too , by working thereon ; thus the onely and infinite matter is a tyrant to its self , or rather , i may say , infinite , is a tyrant to motion , and motion to figure , and eternity to all . for though infinite , eternal matter , motion , and figure , are individable , yet they are all as separated , in aspiring for motion , although it is but an effect of matter , yet strives for absolute power over matter and figures , and infiniteness strives for the absoluteness and power 〈◊〉 , motion and figure ; and eternity strives for absolute power over all ; thus the effects strive to have power over the prime causes , which is the onely matter ; for if there were no matter , there could be no figure , nor motion , nor infinite , nor everlasting , the like do the minor effects over the minor causes , for effects are causes of effects . chap. 144. the two ground motions amongst the rational innate matter . the rational innate matter , moves as it were two-fold , for they have different motions in the figures , from the figurings , like as the sensitive matter , which moves the dull part of matter , internally and externally , according to the nature of each figure ; as for example , the creating of a figure is one way , and the severall actions of the created is another way ; the like doth the rational innate matter , it first runs into figures , and then moves figuratively : again , some figures they are stronger then others , will force the weaker figure to move after their manner . chap. 145. the two chief parts belonging to man , is the head , and the heart , wherein resides the rational spirits . the head , and the heart , are the two residing parts , for the rational innate matter to move in , making passions in the heart , and reasons in the head ; and whensoever those parts be disaffected , the understanding and passions are disordred , and many times so , as never to be rectified ; but some times this disorder comes by the mis-working of the sensitive 〈◊〉 matter , and sometimes by the wrong steps and false measures of the rational innated matter . but though the annimal knowledg or reason be disordered , yet not extinguished , unless the annimal sense be absolutely altered , which is to dye ; for though they move not regular , yet they move after an animal manner : as for example , a man although he goeth not upright , according to his natural shape , but creeps upon his hands and knees , or that he is forced to role from place to place , having neither armes nor legs , yet he moves in an animal manner , and partly to what his natural shape is , for these force motion , or want of some of the outward parts alters him not from being an animal , nor it from being a man , unless all the sensitive motions , which naturally belong to their figure , be altered , and then he turns from that kinde of creature . chap. 146. whether the passions are made in the head or heart . ? some are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the passions are made in the head ; others that they are made in the heart ; for my part i am of the latter opinion ; that is , that all passions are made in the heart ; as love , hate , fear , anger , grief , jealousie , envy , malice , and the like ; and also the will , and opinions , which are a kinde of passions ; and that imaginations , conceptions , fancies , understanding , judgment , memory , and remembrance , is made in the brain ; and that which we call thought , or animal knowledg is made both in the brain and heart ; for if either of these two parts be wounded , that knowledg dies , as both the sensitive knowledg , and rational , both being that which we call thought , the one belongs to the body , the other to the minde ; for touch is a weak thought , and thought a strong touch ; and my reason is why i think that the passions are created in the heart , and not in the head , is , first , passion and judgment seldom agree . secondly , when we have the passion of fear or anger , or the like ; all the motions that work to those passions , are felt in the heart ; for if we do observe , we shall finde all passions arise from the heart , and all the parts near thereto will be disturbed ; when in the brain we finde no violent motions at all , perchance the sensitive part may be disturbed , as to make the head-ache , as with a general distemper . thirdly , there are oft times passions felt as it were in the heart , without any knowledg , or thought of it in the head ; as when we shall be sad , and angry , and fearful , and know no reason why . besides , objects many times passe by , or as it were , steal through the senses , and likewise creep through the brains , and raise a passion in the heart , without any notice taking thereof , or knowledg how it came therein . lastly , that although there is a great sympathy betwixt the passions , and imaginations , yet they are not after one and the same manner of motions , which sheweth they are created in several figures , the one in the triangular heart , & the other in the spherical brain , and the different shapes of the head and heart , may be one cause , that makes the difference betwixt passions and imaginations , as well as the different motions . but to prove passions are made in the heart , and not in the head , is , that when the brain is distempered and mad , as we say , yet the passions may be free and regular ; and love , and hate , which are the two chief passions , may be constant to the objects they were placed on ; thus the minde or soul , which is the rational innate matter , lies as much in the heart , as the head . chap. 147. of different passions in one and the same part . as for passion , we shall love and hate at one and the same time , but not one and the same thing , at one and 〈◊〉 same time , for that is impossible . but different passions are made according to the subjects or objects they move by , or to ; yet the rational innated matter which creates passions , may move partly sympathetically , and partly antipathetically , at one and the same time . as for example , a man may be in love with a woman , for her beauty , or wit , or behaviour , and yet have an aversion to her bad qualities ; but a man cannot love the person of a woman , and hate it , at one and the same time , but to the creating of those passions , that sympathies , as love , and hope , and joy , and the like ; the rational innate matter , doth as it were spread , and delate its self ; but for those passions that antipathies , it contracts it self more together ; as in hate , fears , jealousies , doubts , envy , spight , and the like ; and when two or three passions arise at one time ; as a passion of grief for my friend that is killed , and a passionate hate to his murtherer , or the like ; then the rational innated matter , divides its self , partly moving after one manner , and partly moving after a quite contrary manner , and so may divide into as many parts , and after as many several manners , as their place or quantity will give way to ; but when we love what was hated , or hate what was loved , then the innate matter changes their motions , towards such a subject , or object , without a division ; but when they move disorderly , the passions are like a tempest at sea ; passions beat against passions in a confused manner , distempering the whole body , causing the senses to mistake , with the violence thereof ; likewise in the brain there may be opposite motions , amongst one and the same degree of innated matter , either rational or sensitive , either by an alteration of motion in one and the same part of matter , or by divisions moving in parts ; but when the rationall innate matter moves in a regular division , and the measures of time , and the notes of motions skilfully set , and rightly kept , that is curiously or neatly , and carefully ordered ; then there is a harmony , which harmony is a quiet minde , gentle imaginations , a clear understanding , a solid judgment , elevated fancies , and ready memory ; but when this rational innated matter moves disorderly , there arises extravagant fancies , false reasons , misunderstandings , and the like . chap. 148. the affinity betwixt imaginations and passions . it is the rational innate matter that makes passions , and not the sensitive innated matter , for the senses onely present the 〈◊〉 , the rational the passions ; which shews the rational innated 〈◊〉 , is as much in the heart , as in the head , and may be of the same degree of strength , although they work different wayes , as being different figures , yet there is such sympathie with each other , whether by recourse , or otherwise ; as passions will raise imaginations , corrupt judgment , disorder reason , and blindfold understanding : and imaginations will raise passions , as fear , love , hate , doubts , hopes , and the like ; which shews that the rational innate matter , in the head , and heart , hath such affinity as the sensitive innated matter hath in the stomach and head ; as the pain in the head will make the stomach sick , and a sickness in the stomach will make the head-ache , i will not say at all times , but most commonly ; neither will imaginations at all times raise a passion , nor a passion , an imagination , but very often . chap. 149. of the brain . the brain is not the cause of knowledg and understanding , for a bird that hath but a little brain seems as understanding , if not more , then a great beast , as an ox or the like , which hath far greater quantity of brain ; but perchance the bird hath more of the rational innated matter , in his little brain , then the beast that hath more braine , for the rational innated matter , moves in the brain , not on the brain , for that is wrought and moved by the sensitive innate matter , being made of the dull part of matter ; for when the brain is defective , it is caused by the sensitive innated matter , not the rational innated matter ; yet oft times the sensitive innate matter disorders the motions of the rational innated matter , as we shall see in distempered and sick bodies ; like-wise the disordred motions in the rational innate matter , will disorder the sensitive motions , as we shall see by troubled mindes . chap. 150. of the multitude of figures amongst the rational matter in the brain and heart . the reason why we may have millions of several figures in our memory at one time , so likewise raised up to our remembrance , when we can receive but one perfect figure through our senses at one time , is that the passages for outward objects to enter , is so straight in all animal figures , as that but one object can take place therein , i mean as being perfectly distinct , for the passages being straight , many objects entring at once , make a confusion , at least a disorder , for if more then one object be presented at one time , to any particular sense , they are received but by piece-meals , as in the small parts ; and many times the divided parts are so mixt together , as no piece is perfectly seen or heard , or smelt , or tasted , or touched ; besides , the passages being straight , the sensitive innate matter cannot work so regular , having not liberty , for it is not with the sensitive innate matter as with the rational innate matter , by reason the sensitive innate matter works upon gross materials , as upon the dull part of matter , which makes that it cannot move so nimbly , nor divide into parts so suddenly , especially in a straight passage , as the rational innate matter can , which moves onely in number and measure , without any dull mixture , for the rational innate matter , can figure out the whole world , and millions of several figures therein , sooner and swifter then the sensitive innate matter , can print one figure upon any of the senses ; and not onely those figures that the sensitive innate matter presents , or hath presented , but makes those figures that were never presented , as those we call phantasms ; and as i said the rational innate matter hath more room to move in , as in the head , and heart , then the sensitive innate matter , hath in the ear , eye , nostrils , mouth , or pores of the flesh , so there may be a greater quantity , or proportion of that rational moving matter together , in a body , or bulk , as i may say , then of the sensitive innate matter , in the foresaid passages , and according as the quantity of the rational matter is , there is the more knowledge , and clearer understanding ; the quicker wit , and the livelier memory , the fresher remembrance , and the more multiplicity of thoughts ; for it is not onely the largeness , and extent of the place wherein the rational matter moves in , that makes the more knowledg and understanding , and the like , but the quantity of the rational matter ; for a great head may have but a little wit , or dim understanding , and a little head a quick wit , and clear understanding ; if the little head be full of this rational innate matter , and the great head be empty thereof ; but if the room ( or place ) be large , and filled with this sort of innate matter , according to the bigness , that creature will be very knowing , understanding , and ingenious ; for imagin that all the heads of mankinde were put into the compass of one head , and a sufficient quantity of that rational matter therein , that creature whatsoever it were , would have not onely the knowledg of every particular brain joyned together , but that knowledg and understanding would increase as use-money , for that bulk or bank would multiply , being put together . chap. 151. of thoughts . many wonder what thoughts are , and how such millions can be within so little a compasse as the brain . i answer , that a little quantity of the rational innate matter , may make millions of figures , which figures are thoughts . as for example , from eight notes , milions of tunes are made , and from twenty four letters millions of several languages may be made . likewise one lump of clay may be molded , and formed into millions of several figures ; and like pictures many figures may be drawn in one piece , and every figure in a several posture ; likewise a little picture will represent so great an army , as would take up many acres of land , were it in a pitched field . again , a globe no bigger then a head , will present the whole world . again , say some , how is it possible there should be so many several thoughts in the head at one time , and how from one thought should there arise so many of a sudden , and at some times so extravagant as to have no coherence therein , at other times very methodicall , and sympathetical ? to the first i answer , how many several postures may a man put his body into at one time , nay , i may say one part of the body ? for how many several postures may the face draw it self into at one time ? secondly , i answer , that many several wheels will move with one motion , nay with one kinde of motion several wayes , and many wheels with several motions several wayes , and all within one , and the same compasse , and from one prime spring . again , some may wonder how it is possible figurative thoughts can inlarge and contract the demension , and extension ; i answer , how is it with prospective glasses , convex , and concave glasses ; likewise a screen , or a fan , or the like , which can fold in many folds , into one fold , then can draw them out into a plain straight piece again , and so shut up into a fold , or open in a plain piece , as often and as quick as a thought , and millions of the like examples , may be given , but these are enough for this time , on this subject . chap. 152. of thinking , or thoughts . thoughts are more pleasant to the minde , then the appetite to the senses , and the minde feeds as greatly on thoughts , as a hungry stomacke doth upon meat ; and as some meat breeds good nourishment , and some bad nourishment , causing either health and strength , or diseases and pain ; so doth thoughts , for displeasing thoughts of grief , and all sad remembrances cause the minde to be dull , and melancholly , or froward , and discontented ; and pleasing thoughts cause the minde to be chearful , pleasant , and delightful . besides , the minde is like chewing of the cud , for what the senses bring in , and are fed with outward objects ; those swallowed objects , the thoughts of the minde chews over again ; thus the minde is alwayes feeding ; besides , the senses have no longer pleasure , or pain then the objects remain ; but the minde is as much grieved , or delighted when the object is removed , as when they are present ; as for example , a man is as much grieved when he hears his friend is dead , or kill'd , as if he saw him die , or slaine ; for the dead fried lives in the minde , not the minde in the dead friend , and if a man have a fine house , or great riches , or an excellent rare race of horses , or the like , whereupon the minde takes as great delight in thinking of his fine house , as if it dwelt in the house , and as great delight in thinking of his riches , or what he could do with the use of his riches ; for the minde doth not so much dwell in the house , as the house in the minde , nor the minde doth not take so much delight in the use of the riches , as the use to be in the minde , and the remembrance of the curious horses is as much in the minde , as when those horses were in the eye ; for when the sense is filled , the minde can but think , and the minde may as well think when the objects are gone , as when they are present , and the minde may take as much delight , in thinking what the senses have enjoyed , as what they are to injoy , or desire to enjoy ; for thoughts are the fruition of the minde , as objects the fruition of the senses ; for the minde takes as much delight ( if not more ) in thinking of an absolute power , as when the commands of an absolute power is obeyed , for obedience dwells no more in the minde when it is acted , then it did before it was acted , or by the imagination that it is acted ; thus the minde receives no more by action , then it doth by contemplation , onely when the pleasure of the senses are joyned with delightful thoughts , may be said to be more happy , though i beleeve the pleasure of senses draws the delight from the thoughts ; for the more at rest the body is , the more busie the minde is imployed , and as torments of the minde are beyond the torments of the body , or at least the displeasure of the senses ; so the delight of the minde is beyond the ease or rest of the body , or the pleasure of the senses . chap. 153. of sleep and dreams . sleep is caused by a tirednesse of the spirits , for when the sensitive motions are tired , with the working on the dull parts of matter , which tirednesse is slacking the motions , or changing their motions , as when they work lasily , then the figure grows drousy , and the senses dull , being weary of pencelling , copying out objects upon the optick nerve . likewise with printing letters , and setting notes on the drum of the 〈◊〉 , or in drawing 〈◊〉 of several tasts , touches , and sents on the tongue and pores of the flesh , or striking , or playing on the nerves , and on the dia mater and pia mater , of the brain , but many times the figure grows drowsie , and the senses dull , when the sensitive motions are idle for want of work ; that is , having no variety of objects presented to them ; that is , of such kinde of works ; for the innate matter never ceaseth to move , although the motions are not alwayes agil , and quick , nor after one and the same manner , but when they alter the motions , as i may say more proper then to slacken them , they do as it were cast anchor , pulling down their sail , going as it were under hatches , and the figure that is like a ship , where the motions of the breath are like waves of water , that heave it up , and then sink down , but saile not , nor steer not to any coast ; and the sensitive innate matter which is in this action , like mariners when they work under the hatches drawing and winding up the slimy humours in the body , like ropes by attractive motions , staying and setling the loose parts , by retentive motions ; a placing and putting disordered parts into their proper places by disgestive motions , and all the motions busiely imployed ; some mending the figure , stopping the leaks , dearning , b and sewing together the torne sailes , oyling c and greasing the keel , pitching and tarring the cresses ; tying and twisting the roaps , drawing the superfluous moisture to the gutter ready to be pumpt out , sweeping all the rubbish and dirt on a heap , ready to be flung out ; some running up , and returning from the deck , which are the pores of the skin ; but the rational innate matter , is the master of the animal ship , and the sensitive innate matter , as the saylors , those works on the dull part of matter , the other directs when occasion serves , that is , when the body is in action ; for though the rational innate matter never labours on the dull part of matter , yet they counsel and direct the animal ship , when it is built , and set afloat , that is , when the body is come to the full growth , and orders it in blustrous storms , and great dangers , but these the rational innated matter , when this animal ship is cast to anchor , which is to sleep , moves onely in a rocking , or rowling motion , as it were from side to side of the cabbin , which is the brain , making no perfect figure nor gives direction , this is sleeping without dreaming ; but dreaming is when they move in figures , making such figures as these objects , which have presented to them by the sensitive motions , which are onely pictures , or copies of the original objects , which we call remembrance , for remembrance is nothing but a waking dream , and a dream is nothing but a sleeping remembrance , but if the sensitive innated matter moves in the same manner , on the same place , as printing and drawiug such figures or objects in the optick nerve , or setting such notes or letters on the drum of the ear , or drawing such platforms on the dura mater , or pia mater of their brain , or the tongue , flesh , or skin of their own accord , without the presence of the outward objects ; then we see here taste , smell , touch , as strong as if we were awake , if their motions be as strong and industrious ; but many times we have in sleep those objects but in part , and not in whole , the reason is , that either the sensitive innated matter is slow , or else they are not so perfect artists to work without a sampler , working by misplacing , and mistaking , or else works by halves , according to their skil , or as appetite moves them , make a hogpog , or gallimophry of many several pieces or draughts , into one figure or picture , which make extravagant dreams ; by reason they work not in a methodical manner , and the rational innated matter , moving in the same manner makes a mixt resemblance , but the sensitive innate having not the outward objects in sleep to work by , seldom works perfect , or plain , and working imperfectly they move disorderly , and for the most part that which makes us so often perturbed in our sleeps , is , by moving crosse , and irregular , which crosse , irregularity insnarles several motions , so as there is no distinction , which is the reason that our dreams are so often obscure , and dark , as we can make nothing of them ; and when the rational innate matter moves crosse , and tumultuously , our dreams are most commonly fearful , and when the sensitive innated matter works so disorderly , our dreams are painfull , and when the sensitive innated matter works perfectly , and the rational innate matter moves justly , we have as much knowledge , and understanding of what we dream of , and as much satisfaction from our senses , as if we were awake , and the real abjects presented to us . chap. 154. dreamings of living , and dead figures . those friends in acquaintance that that have been dead , a long time , and appear in our sleep , we never question the truth of their life , though we may question them how they lived ; again , the reason is , that these figures are as perfect , and lively to our present senses in our sleep , as when we are awake ; for oftimes the sleeping motion prints figures , on the inside of the optick nerve , as on the inside of the pia mater , as the waking motion doth on the outside , and when we hear them as it were discourse words , right on the inside of the drum of the ear , or pia mater , by the sensitive motion , as on the outside when we are awake ; for all the sensitive works inwards asleep , as outward awake ; for if we smell sents pleasing , or displeasing , the sensitive spirits draw lines , and set notes on the inside of the dura mater and pia mater of the brain ; and so for taste and touch , they draw plateforms in the inside of the skin , either of the skin of the tongue , or any other outward parts of the body , as they do on the outside of the skin awake ; thus the senses present as perfect prints to the rational oft times in sleep , as awake , onely they print on the inside a sleep , and on the outside awake , and what rational creature would not beleeve their senses ; for should a man see another man die , and see him buried , and afterwards should see that man alive again , and hear him speak , and touch him , shall feel the substance of flesh , would not he think he lived ? thomas the apostle questions the relations of our saviours resurrection from the grave , but never questioned his senses , when he saw , and touched him ; so in our dreames , when the sensitive innate matter prints such figures on the optick nerve , as of such a person which is dead , the rational matter straight paterns out the sensitive print ; and when the sensitive print , and the rational figure is just alike , the other motion of the rational matter cannot question the truth of that figure , or figures being there , though they may question how they come alive , again treating with it , as if awake , the same is if the sensitive innated prints , any thing as dead , which is living , and the rational pattern it , the rest of the rational motions make no question of the truth of those sleeping motions , untill waking motions otherwayes inform them ; for rational motion in every particular figure , knows little of the sensitive , but what the senses shews them , in the several motions , yet the rational generally knows what they present unto them , which every particular sense doth not , each motion is unknown , and are strangers to each other in one and the same figure ; for the ear knows not what the eye seeth , nor the eyes know not what the nose smelleth , nor the nose knows not what the tongue tasts , nor the tongue knows not what the body feels , but the rational innat matter in a figure , knows all the sensitive motions in the same figure , as long as the figure is perfect , and moves in an animal way , and that the rational motion moves regular ; for when the motions are irregular , they can take no perfect copies , nor notice how the sensitive move , that is , the reason that in perturbed passions , which are onely irregular motions , the senses become as it were uselesse to them , but most commonly the disorder of one brings the disorder of the other , i will not say at all times , and so when the sensitive spirits are regular , the rational is regular , but not at all times , for some times the one is regular , the other is not , but the rational which takes copies of the sensitives is oftener disordered by the sensitives , then the sensitives by the rational , for when there is grief in the minde , many times the body is in good health , but it is seldom known when the body is sick , but the minde is troubled . chap. 155. of local dreames . the reason that many times we dream of walking woods or houses , and the like , is through this following reason ; the rational innate matter , as i often said before , turns most commonly into such figures , as the sensitive innate matter prints , or hath printed upon the senses , now if a tree or house , or the like , be printed on the inside of the pia mater , or the like sensitive part , when we are asleep , the rational innate matter straight figures them , these figures move after a local manner , although they have not an animal , or local shape ; the reason is , that the rational innated matter being purer in it self , without the mixture of dull matter , moves onely in their own matter , and the figure moves in the matter ; whereas the sensitive innated matter working upon the dull part of matter , moves in that dull matter , and not the dull matter in the sensitive innated matter , that is the sensitive innate matter moves in the dull part of matter , and the dull part of matter is moved by the sensitive innate matter ; thus the sensitive figure is moved , but not moving , but the rational innated matters figures give their own motions ; likewise if we have seen a battle , or heard of a battle , and afterwards we dream of the same , or of the like battle ; then the rational innated matter puts its self into animal figures , and moves after a local manner , each figure placing it self after that manner or way as was related , or printed by the senses , or after away of its own invention , and when the figures encounter each other , as they must do to fight a battle in the brain ; and then some seeme to be falling , and others dead , and some mangled ; those figures are as falling and broken , and cease to move after the local manner ; and when one party seems to move as in a confusion , then the motions are irregular , and just as the senses present , so doth the rational innated matter act in the brain when we sleep , and sometimes when we are awake , as in imagination . chap. 156. of the senses , and the objects that pass through the senses . that innate matter which i call the sensitive spirits makes holes , which holes serve as doors in animal figures to receive outward objects , as the holes that are made in the eyes , ears , nostrils , mouth , and the pores of the skin , wherein the animal receives light , sound , scent , tast , and touch ; the senses are brought and presented by the sensitive innated matter , to the rational innated matter , who takes knowledg thereof ; as for example , there is a hous or a tree , or any the like gross material figure , these being placed beforethe passage of the eyes , those sensitive spirits , in the eye taking notice thereof , with the help of that brings the objects therein , strait prints or paints those objects upon the optick nerve , or upon the outside of the brain , as the dia mater , or pia mater , upon which the rational spirits view as on pictures , then copie them out , not by working on the dull part of matter , as the sensitives innated matter doth , but turn themselves by number and measure , into figures like those printed or painted figures ; the difference is , that the rational matter is like sculptures , the others as pictures upon flats ; these rational figures we call knowledg , or understanding , and as long as these rational figures last , though the object is absent , and the prints rub out , by other objects , or by distance of place , or the like , we call memory ; but when those rational figures are dissolved , and afterwards repeated be wrought without a presentment of the senses , we call it remembrance , and the reason the memory is not so strong , as the present sense , nor the remembrance so perfect as the memory is ; that with the present object there are two figures as the rational sculpture , and the sensitive point , when the memory is but one , as the sculpture , which remains as with the rational , but the sensitive print is rubbed or worn out , and the reason why remembrance is not so perfect , as the memory , is , because remembrance is but a copy of a copy , from the original print , for remembrance is but a pattern taken from the memory , and the memory 〈◊〉 a pattern taken from the objects . chap. 157. of figure presented to the senses , and figures together . the reason why figurative senses are quicker then the figurative growth , is , it is less labour in printing on the dull part of matter then in cutting out sculpt figures , not for the strength of actions , as for the several laborious actions therein , fetching their material a far way , and for many several places , which requires time and place , when printing is but a press laid upon a flat . chap. 158. of objects , and the senses , something differing from the other chapter . that innate matter which i call the sensitive spirits for distinction sake , makes holes or doors in animal figures , to receive outward objects ; as the ears , eyes , nostrils , mouth , pores of the skin , and the like , and these outward objects are presented , to that part of innate matter which i call rational spirits , but that part of innate matter i call sensitive spirits ; as for example , thus , there is a house , or a tree , or any the like gross material figure ; which is subject to the sense of animal figures , these standing at the doors of the eyes , which as soon as the sensitive spirits perceive , or other sensitive spirits that come in through these doors , strait print or draw the same figure upon the optick nerve , which optick nerve is made of dull matter , by the sensitive spirits from whence the rational spirits viewing from thence that picture , strait run themselves by number and measure into the likeness of that picture , which are those we call knowledg or understanding , and as long as those figures last among the rational spirits , though the objects are absent that we call memory , for when these prints are rubbed off by the sensitive spirits , and others placed thereon , or vaded by distance of place , or obscured by shutting the lids , yet the figure thereof may remain amongst the rational spirits , which is , as i said before , memory , and the repetitions of figures ; 〈◊〉 is , when one and the same figure was dissolved and created again amongst the rational , it is remembrance ; but memory is not so strong as the present sense , nor the remembrance so perfect , as the memory and the reason is , that what the sensitive spirits wrought on the optick nerve , is like a printed or painted figure , and that which the rational spirits make is like a carved statue , like painting , or sculpture , so that in memory the sculpture remains , and in remembrance is created , although the printing , or painting is worn out , or rubbed out , so that the present senses have two figures , one upon the optick nerve , the other amongst the rational spirits , wherein memory remains but one , and the reason why remembrance is not so perfect as memory is , because it is but the copy of a copy from the original , for remembrance is but a pattern taken from the memory , and the memory but a pattern from the object . chap. 159. of the figure of the head . the figure of the brain gives strength to the sensitive motions , and to the rational knowledg in animals , for the scull being made with an arched rough , and the sides being hollow , and the whole head round , which hollow sides arched rough and round compass , cause rebounds * and reflections of the motions therein , which multiplie , increase , and strengthen them , as for the motions and figures of sound , the notes that are made are struck from the drum of the ear , as balls from a hand , to the concave part , and from thence rebound from side to side , and fall down , as a new note is raised , or like many balls struck one after another , so rebounds follow one another , and according as they are struck , so are the rebounds stronger or weaker , and according as they are repeated , so do they last ; the same for sight , for * lines piercing from the optick nerve , darting on the concave parts reflect , and these reflections cause double lines , which make the sensitive figures on the optick nerve appear plain to the rational figure , but if they rebound , and reflections be disorderly returned by disordered motions , they make a confusion , both in the sense , and rational knowledg , as for tast , it strikes from the nerves of the tongue , upon the brain , besides the hollow cave of the mouth , and according as the rebounds are made , and the strokes are struck , the taste is stronger or weaker , but if the brain be stuff'd with cold , then the concaves being stuft and so stopp'd where the rebounds should return , cause the taste to be weak , insomuch as not to be sensibly felt ; and for touch , the pores of the skin and flesh are hollow ; wherein rebounds are made , striking from side to side of each pores ; and we finde by experience that those parts which are not hollow , have not so strong a sense as those that are hollow : again , if the nerves from whence the strongest strokes are struck be 〈◊〉 slack , the sense is weak . as for scent which is brought through the nostrils of the nose , like water through spouts , which dilates its self through the brain circling the pia mater , swelling , flowing and ebbing , like to the sea about the earth , which when it flows it is strong , but when it ebbs it is weak . but by reason scent is made by streaming motions , and not striking and retorting motions . as the other four senses are , it retaines not so long in the memory as the others do , although it may last longer in the brain or head , being more lasting , most commonly for the present then the rest are , for a stinke will remain in the brain a great while , and so will strong perfumes . chap. 160. of sight . the general opinion is , that all objects come through the optick nerve , and print the figures received on the brain , and that there are , nor can be no figures in the brain , but what the opticks bring in , and have passed through the eye ; it is true , by experience we finde , that without an eye , we cannot see an outward object , as they are without us , yet we see those objects , as they are without us in our sleep when our eyes be shut ; thus the sense of seeing is not lost , although the eyes were out , and the optick nerves stopped up . but some will say , those objects in dreams have past through in part , or in whole , therefore the question will be , where an animal can have an insight , if it were born blinde ; but if it be so , as the opinion is , that no figure , or insight can be , but what comes , or hath passed through the eye , and optick nerve , must want that sensible knowledge ; for according to that opinion , the ear can do the understanding no service as toward that sense , by reason sound can make no figure to sight , neither will taste , nor sent ; but some may say , touch may discover somewhat of that sense to the understanding , but i think not ; for in my opinion , touch is as senssesse to insight as sound ; for we cannot comprehend more of touch then of sound , for depth and breadth are no more to insight , then high notes , and low notes , nor soft nor hard , no more to insight then swift , and slow , sharp , or flat , nor pleasure , nor pain , no more then harmony , and discord ; but my opinion is , that figures are as inherent to the minde , as thoughts ; and who can have an unfigurative thought , for the minde cannot have thoughts , but upon some matter , and there is no matter but must have some figure , for who can think of nothing ; but the minde is like infinite nature , having no dimension , or extention , no center , nor circumference , no breadth , no depth , and as the innat matter creates figures , so the minde , which is the matter creates thoughts , which thoughts , are the figures of the minde ; for when we hear of a deity , we say in words it is an incorporeal thing ; but we cannot conceive it so in thought , we say we do , but we cannot prove we do ; t is true , the minde may be in a maze , and so have no fixt thought of any particular thing ; yet that amaze hath a figurative ground , although not subscribed ; as for example , my eyes may see the sea , or air , yet not the compasse , and so the earth , or heavens ; so likewise my eye may see a long pole , yet not the two ends , these are but the parts of these figures , but i see not the circumference to the uttermost extention , so the mind in amaze , or the amaze of thinking cuts not out a whole and distinct figurative thought , but doth as it were spread upon a flat , without a circumference , and though there are not such figures in the brain , as it brought through the opticks , yet such figures as the minde creates ; for the minde is innate matter , and innat matter is self-motion , and self-motion , is alwayes moving , and working , which working is figuring ; thus the sensitives innated matter prints figures iu the brain , and the rational innated matter creates figures in the brain after its own invention , which are imagination and conception , wherein are made imaginary worlds , without the materials of outward objects : and perchance these motions may create such a figure as this world , and such several figures , as the several creatures therein , although not so solid and lasting , because those motions want those grosse materials , of which they should create it withal ; but the sensitive innated matter in this cause , prints these figures upon the brain by patterning the rational figures created in the brain , like as when it doth the outward objects , and when the sensitive innate matter works on the inside , as in sleep , then it gives an insight , which are dreams according to their copied prints , and these motions may make lines of light , triangular lines , for colours set notes of tunes , draw plat-forms of taste , and sent , make prints of touch , not onely the rational innated matter , by imagination ; but the sensitive innated matter gives a sensible touch on the brain of all the outward senses , by which touch , i mean sensible knowledge ; thus the interior motions may move the brain with the variety of every sense , without the exterior passages , or objects , and although it may not make those very objects and subjects ; yet such as are proper for each sense , and of the same nature as i said before , draw lines of light , gathering motions make clouds , triangular motions make colours , insnarled motions make darknesse without the outward object , and all other motions that make several figures , or printed figures . likewise reflections without the help of the eye and so rebounds , and retorts ; for sound , and set notes print words , and plain tunes without the ear ; so likewise for taste , sent , and touch ; but when the brain is filled withoutward objects , the natural motion seldom works after their own invention , having not room as it were , or else it is as it were overpowred with work , having more objects brought in , then they can either conveniently place or sort , or distinguish ; but weak minds , which are slow moving matter , think life an insensible thing , and the head , or brain empty of figures , when it is not filled with outward objects , like as a barrel is not filled with liquor , thinks it empty , because the thin air with which it is filled , is not subject to their grosse senses , so not to their weak capacities . thus it is not the outward objects that make the sense , but the innate matter , which is self motion , which is the sense and knowledge , and the different motions therein , and therefrom , make the differences thereof , and though different sense and knowledge , may be in different , and several figures , and such kind of sense & knowledge proper for such kind of sorts of figures ; yet the figure adds nothing to the sense , and knowledge , although the innated matter may give a figure such a kind of sense and knowledge and when that figure dies , that kinde of sense and knowledge may alter , which was proper to that kinde of figure ; yet if it were the figure that gave the sense , and knowledg , and not the innated motions , there would be no alteration when the figure is made , or any extraordinary passion , whereby experience we finde the sense , and knowledge do alter all , though the figure be perfect , and in health . chap. 161 of light and colours . light and colour is made upon the optick nerve , as sound on the drum of the ear , for light the sensitive innated matter draws long , straight , smal , even lines , upon the optick nerve , and when colours are made , notes are set upon those lines , drawn upon the optick nerve as thus . of colours , are when those lines are set with quavor , semy quavor . but light is onely when those lines are drawn without those quavors , semy-quavors , but as we shall see plain song books , after this manner . and the knowledg the rational innated matter takes thereof , is when they move in plain lines , when they move in figures and lines , they move for colours . chap. 162. of blindnesse . blindnesse proceeds from many causes , as when the cristalline part of the eye is not clear ; for if it be dimming , or failing , or spotted and foul , the objects seem muddy , and misty , and as the water of the cristaline is coloured , so the objects appear ; for as diamonds , some are of a black water , others of a yellow water , some of a green water , or blue , others of a white water ; so is the cristalline part of several eyes , and according as it is clear , or coloured , so all objects appear . a second defect may be in the ball of the eye ; for according to the compasse of the concave , or convex thereof , the objects are presented neerer , or at a further distance , or longer or shorter , or broader , or narrower . a third defect may be in the eye hole ; for according to the largenesse , or littlenesse thereof , objects are presented , either in whole , or in part , bigger , or lesser , more , or fewer objects enter at once ; for if the eye-lid hole should be too large , the species would disperse too much , disuniting parts and figures , and if too small , the species cannot passe in 〈◊〉 and file , as i may say ; for though the smaller the circle is , the closer it contracts the species , and draws the objects into a straighter line ; yet if they should passe in a crowd , they will stop the mouth of the passage , like water in a glasse when turned suddenly downward , every drop striving to get out first hinders each others so in the strife , as none can passe . a fourth defect may be in the optick nerve , if it be full of slime , and the like , it darknens the sight , stopping the passage of the light , or if it be shrunk , or dried up , likewise if the head be full of grosse vapours , it obscures the sight , as a thick mist doth the sun ; for this foul foggy , and grosse vapors hinder the species from entring , and the sensitive innated matter that should print these objects , on the optick nerve , and if they are not quite stopt , yet it hinders the regularity , making that innated matter to work by piece-meales , or else staies not so long , as to take a perfect survay . the fift and sixth defect may be , if the eyes move too quick , or too slow , which makes the sight imperfect , or dull ; for too quick motions of the eye dazles the sight , and clips and cuts the exterior objects into so many parts , as no one part can be perfectly known , or seen ; and too slow motion blunts the sight like a sharp point that is struck upon a stone , or the like ; besides , when it is fixt too long upon one object , other objects passe by before it removes , or wearies it so much as one cannot take notice of it ; but when the eyes are too quick , it is by reason the nerve strings that tie and fasten the ball of the eye to the head , are too slack , which makes the eye ball so loose as the least motion moves it , or else these nervous strings are too small which makes them so weak , as every little motion moves , so as they are alwayes in motion as it were ; for if the nerves , and sinew-strings be too small for the weight of the eye ball , it may alwayes have a trembling motion , like a sthe aspen , or like weights that cannot poise steddy , as long as there is a disproportion ; and when the eyes are too slow the reason is when the sinews , or nerve-strings , are so short tied , or shrunk up , so that it holds the eye ball too hard , or too straight , giving it not liberty to stir , and turn from side to side , or to role about . a seventh defect may be when the eyes look asquint , as it may do two several wayes ; the one is when the ball of the eye is tied too short , by the nervous string towards the nose , by which the balls of either eye , are drawn so much inward to each other , as to look at each other ; but that they are some wayes hindered by the nose , this makes the lines or points ; that shoot from either eye , to meet acrosse , which makes all exterior objects to look double ; but if the eye string ties the balls of the eyes too short towards the temples it draws the points from the center , and the eyes out of the natural bias which causeth a side look , as seeing two several wayes at once , but neither way perfectly , by reason that the lines that issue from the eyes , lie not level , neither can those lines meet upon an object , in a triangular , which joyns 〈◊〉 sight of each eye into a point , which makes sight so much the stronger . thus if the strings be too loose , or too hard , or too small , or that the optick is shrunk up , or the eye-lid-hole covered with some scale , or filme , or the eye-lid-hole too little or too big , or the christalline full , or the brain full , or too many vapours continually ascending from the bowels , or stomach , or if the eye be too quick , or too slow , it is a great defect in sight ; but if the passage be quite stopped up , of the strings or christalline part be broke , those are irrecoverably blinde . chap. 163. of hearing . after the same manner is the sense received at the ear , onely the difference is , that instead of drawing , printing the outward objects , received through the eye , printed on the optick nerve , so the sensitive innated matter , sets , or pricks down notes , and draws lines on the drum of the ear , as musicians do upon paper , or the like ; and the sensitive innated matter in making them run , and make stops according as the vocal sound is set , and it is louder , or lower , according as they work weaker or stronger , but for the verbal , it is writ , 〈◊〉 printed on the drum of the ear in letters , for words , and the knowledge the animal figure takes , is when the rational innated matter moves according to those letters or notes , or wayes of division : but in a confused sound there is no order , time , nor stop kept , nor no perfect note , nor letter , nor line prick'd , or printed , or drawn , but , as we vulgarly say , it is all scrible-scrable , or else ciphers set for notes ; and like as it is to the opticks , so it is to the ear , for the notes and letters , as the pictures which fade ; for as the outward motions slacken , so the vocal and verbal sound dissolves ; and the memory and remembrance of sounds , vocal and verbal , is as the sense of the objects on the opticks . chap. 164. of articular sounds , or sounds without distinction . it is strange if we consider that one word should strike so many several ears , and so to be heard perfectly , by every particular ear ; but surely to my reason one word or note cannot fill so many ears , as can stand to hear it : again , it is strange that a word should directly hit into every ear that stands to hear it , i will not say alwayes , for sometimes a word is spoke two or three times over , although the ear be clear before it can hit the entrance , but that is but seldome ; but in my opinion it is not a single word that runs about from ear to ear , for then all would not hear at once , for if there were a multitude , the last ear might not hear a week after , or at least a day after it had been spoken . wherefore in my opinion it must be after this manner , the mouth , tongue , and breath formes not onely a single word , but millions in one lump , with the same labour of pains , as for one word ; as for example , take a sheet of paper , or the like , and fold it into many folds , in a small compass , and stamp a print thereon , and every fold shall have the like print with one stamp , and until they are parted they stick so close as if they were but one printed body , when every fold is divided by the stamp with the print thereon ; so likewise the mouth folds up thin air , and the tongue gives the printed stamp , which being cast forth like a ball of wilde-fire , disperseth in a crack or sound , and then suddenly spreads about in several streams ; thus millions of words run about in lines of air , passing in all pores and hollow bodies , as the ear or the like , concaves as hollow wood and vaults , where finding resistance , rebounds back in repetitions , and according to their strength , or the strength of their bearing motions , they pierce farther and fall shorter , and according to the freeness of the passage , they sound louder , clearer , lower , or duller , and according to their stamp they are perfect or imperfect . after the same manner is all distinct sounds , notes being printed as words , but sounds without distinction , are like stamps without prints , that is plain pieces of air , but if the ear be stopped , the sound is lost to the brain , i will not say to natural sense , for surely the brain is not the whole ingrosser of that and the like sensitive knowledg , neither will say the animal head ingrosses all that sort of tempered matter , or that no passage can conveigh a sound but the animal ear . but most probably all sounds spread as lights ; as for example , a small candle will enlighten a large compass , by reason rayes of light streame equally from the center candle to the circumference ; so is sound : for when a pistol , or any the like shots of a bullet , the pistol , or that which makes the sound , is the center which spreads sound as fire doth light , and when such a compass of air is filled with sound , either vocal or verbal , every ear that stands in the compass must needs receive the sound if they 〈◊〉 not deaf ; likewise every eye may see day-light , that is not blinde , and the rebounds of sound are as the reflections of light , and verbals are received into the ear , as figures into the eyes ; and as cross lines of light make various colours , so different notes make various tunes : but some may say , that if the air were full of one and the same words , or notes , that more would enter the ears then was sent . i say that is impossible , unless the ear could draw the spreading , or streaming lines from the circumference to a point , which the ear cannot . but i believe art may do the same for sound as it can with light ; for art can draw with glasses made for that purpose , many beams to appoint , but if the eyes did so , it would burn them out . also they can draw several species , through a small hole . i believe artificial echoes , are or may be made after such a manner . chap. 165. of taste , touch , and smell . these senses are made by such motions as sound is , and as they are set on the drum of the ear , so these are set on the nerves of the tongue , or on the skin , for when the skin is off our tongue , we cannot taste ; likewise for * touch , they are set on the nerves , and sinnews ; and when these notes are set harmoniously , it pleaseth the senses , otherwise it displeaseth them , which displeasure is pain amongst the sensitive innated matter , and hate amongst the rational innate matter . as for scent , they are motions that draw like lines , like a plat-form upon the pia mater of the brain ; indeed the second draught of the sensitive innated matter , is to draw all their figures upon the pia mater of the brain . chap. 166. of touch. touch is the general sense of the whole body , which the other senses are not ; for though every part of the body is of a several touch , yet it is all touch ; when sight onely belongs to the eyes ; sound onely to the ears ; scent onely to the nostrils ; and taste onely to the tongue ; besides the loss of any of these senses , nay all of them , may be wanting , as if they were not belonging to life , as indeed they are not , but onely as conveniencies to the life , but not of necessity ; whereas touch is as it were the life of the figure , for when this sense is generally wanting in the animal figure , it is as we say dead ; that is , the natural motion belonging thereto , is generally altered , or quite changed , as we say . this sense is received through the pores of the flesh , and the nerves are the instrumental strings whereon motion playes , either a harmony of pleasure , or a discord of pain , for as their strings are struck , so is pain or pleasure felt , but i have treated sufficiently of this sense in my chapter of numb'd palsies . chap. 167. of the pores of the body . the pores are passages which let out the smoke or vapor , unnatural heat , and the superfluous humors in the body ; also they are passages to let in comfortable warmth , refreshing colds , nourishing air ; these passages have their inconveniencies , for they are a means to conveigh out the good with the bad ; and many times takes in infections , as malignant diseases that passe through the pores , for infection comes in as much through the pores , as any other part of the body . besides , many times the radical moisture is carried out by unnatural heats , and sometimes the vital spirits by too many transparations ; but these pores passages are drawn or shut closer together by contracting motions , or set wider open by extenuating motions ; but if these common and necessary passages to the interiour parts be 〈◊〉 close shut , either by cold contractions , or hot contractions , it smoothers and choakes the vital parts by keeping the vapor , or smoke that should go forth , for the pores in this case are as the funnels of chimneys , wherein the smoke ascends up , and goeth out , and if they are set too wide open by the extenuating motions , they cause the body to starve , by giving passage to such matter as should be kept in to feed the body , or by giving too free passage , to the natural moisture , that should quench or temper the heat in the body , or by giving too free a passage to the gadding spirits that should stay in the body , to be imployed to the substance and strength thereof ; besides , when they are too open they are as apt to take in , by giving passage to that which is a prejudice to the 〈◊〉 of the body , as infections , malignity , or unnatural colds , or the like . but the pores of the body are always imployed , where the other passages of the body are imployed but some times . the natvral vvars in animal figvres . part v. chap. 167. all animals after they are created , and have an animal life , the figure is inlarged by nourishing motions , and sympathetical matter , these nourishing motions are disgesting motions , carrying those parts which are received by the senses , unto those parts that are created therein , building thereon , and fitting therewith , strengthning by adding thicknesse , as well as inlarging by extention , yet all that is received into the stomack , is not nourishing , the reason is that the temperament of the matter , is not sympathetical , that is agreeing not with the motions therein ; for though it is not so antipathetical to make an open war , which war is sicknesse , yet they do hinder , and obstruct , like several factions , those natural motions which make health ; but when the natural motions and tempers of humours are quite opposite to the food that is received , or the unnatural humours bred in the body by evil digestion , they become mutanous by the quantity that is received , or that ariseth from obstructions , whereupon there becomes a fierce and cruel fight of contrary motions , and temperaments of matter , and whilest they are in the battle , we say the body is sick , and if the natural motions be not strong enough , to beat that evil , and dangerous matter out , or at least able to resist them so far , as to guard themselves until the evil parts do spend themselves with their own fury , or till the natural motions , and temperaments can have some assistance , as cordials , or physick , it destroyes the figure it fights with ; but if the natural motions be more powerfull , either by their own strength , or by their assistance , then the mutinous and rebellious humours , or the foreign enemy , as surfets , and the like ; but when they are beaten out , killed , or taken prisoners , which is to be purged , corrected , or purified , which makes the humours obedient , and peaceable . chap. 168. of the four natural humours of the body , and those that are inbred . as there is natural fire , aire , water , and earth , that is made by an intire creation derived from their own proper principles . as likewise a metamorphosed fire , aire , water , and earth . so there are humours in animal bodies , and in other bodies ; for all i can perceive , and though the bodies cannot be metamorphosed , yet the humours may . but in every animal body there is natural melancholy , choler , flegme , and blood ; the natural blood is the vital vapor ; the natural flegme is the radical moisture ; the natural choler is the radical heat , the natural melancholly is the animal spirits , being the highest extract . and if we do but observe those that be naturally melancholly , have the soundest judgements , the clearest understanding , the subtilest observation , and curiousest inventions , the most conceptions , the 〈◊〉 fancies , and the readiest wits ; likewise the strongest passions , and most constant resolution . but humours which are inbred as flegme , choler , and melancholy are made as metamorphosed fire , aire , water , slime mud , and earth , as for example , the chylus is the matter that is metamorphosed . the dilating motions transform it from chylus to slime , from slime to water , from water to blood , from blood to vapor , from vapor to comfortable and lively heat , from comfortable and lively heat , to burning fevers and hectick fevers , and the like . likewise the chylus by contracting motions , turns from chylus to slime . if they be cold contractions , it turns from slime to flegme , from flegme to heavy melancholly . if hot contractions , it turns from chylus to temperat choler ; from temperat choler to choler adust , from choler adust , to melancholly ; which from a slimy humour to a muddy humor , from a muddy humour , to an earthy dry humour . some sort of hot contractions make it sharp , some salt , some bitter . likewise , several sorts of salts , sharpnesse , and bitternesse , are wrought with mixt motions , cold contractions make the humour , glassy , and stony . hot contractions make the humours tough , clammy glutenous and stony . hot dilatings make the humour oylie , cold dilations watry . likewise , mixt motions makes mixt humours , and mixt tempers inclining to each side , as the motions predominate . chap. 169 the five natural maladies of the body . every diseased figure is either pained , sick , dissy , numb , weak , or mad , sometimes they meet all in one figure , these are distinct senses one from another ; as for pain , although every several part of the body hath different sense , yet they agree in the general , as to be all pain . but sicknesse is quite different from pain , for it is another , sense ; for to have a pain in the stomach , is not to be sicke in the stomach ; neither is any part of the body , but the stomach is liable to this sense ; the head may ake , and the heart may ake , heel , or any part of the body ; but none but the stomach can be sick ; indeed it is a different sense from pain . thirdly , a swimming , or diseases in the head , are different from both the other , it is a third sort of sense , neither is any other part of the body subject to this disease , but the head not properly , yet faintnesse , or weaknesse is a disease , as it were tempered with the three former diseases , as to have pain , sick , and dissy , or swimming , to be mixt or compounded into one disease , but it is so mixt and compounded into all three , as neither is perfectly or distinctly felt ; so as it is no distinct sense this disease is generall to the whole body . the fift is madnesse , this sense is neither painful , nor sick , nor dissy , but light in the head , which is different from dissy or swimming ; but this disease infecteth with a distemper , the five outward senses . the last is a numbnesse , and deadnesse of particular parts ; and sometimes of the whole body ; but this disease is not onely a different sense , but an other nature , which is naturally unknown to the figure ; for the figure is not any wayes sensible thereof ; indeed it is of the nature of sowning ; for those that sown , the motions of the animal sense , and minde are quite altered for a time , but then the animal motions return , that is , rechanged to the proper motions again , so that those dead parts that cannot be restored to the sense of touch , are as it were in a continual sown , for though in a sown the exterior motion are proper to the sense of touch is changed , yet the interior motions proper to the consistence , of that figure are not changed ; for if the interior consistent motions were changed , it would turn to 〈◊〉 , so in dead palsies , if the interior consistent motions were changed , those parts would corrupt as do dead carcases . numb palsies , ie different from dead palsies as fainting from sowning ; for fainting is in the next degree to a sown , so a numb palsie , is the next degree to dead palsies . chap. 170. i will treat first of the motions that make sicknesse . the motions that cause sicknes are different according as the sicknes is , or rather the sicknesse is according to the different motions ; for some motions are like the ebbing and flowing tides of the sea ; for the humor furdles , or folds upwards , as the flowing tide , which most commonly provokes to cast , as overflowing the mouth of the stomack , but when the humour folds backward , as the ebbing waters do , that provokes to the stool ; for as falling tides run from one place , they flows to another , so when the humour fals back from the mouth of the stomack , it overflows the belly , but if the humour neither overflows the belly , nor the mouth of the stomack , it runs into the nerves , like as the water runs through the earth , and as the water breaks forth by springs , so doth the humor by several 〈◊〉 eumes . again , some sorts of sicknesse in the stomack , are made by such kinde of motions as water boyling in a pot , over the fire , for as ebbing and flowing motions are running backward , and so forward , so boyling motions , are rising upward , and falling downward , there is as much difference in these motions , as betwixt vaughting and running ; but these rising motions cause vapours to the head , for the thin parts which rise highest , when their rising strength failes , fall not hastily down again , but gather to a more solid body , as vapor from the earth doht into clouds , these clouds cause the dimnesse and darknesse of the sight , obstructing the light that is brought by the optick nerves . again , there are other sorts of sicknesse in the stomack , caused by such motions , as are like the rolling of a barrel , the humour turning about in the figure of a barrel , which figure , or the like , is somewhat bigger in the middle , then the two ends , this humour in the stomack is most commonly tough and thick , being more united , and somtimes one end of this humour is as set upward , and the other downward , and so turned as a barrel with the head upward , and sometimes moved as a barrel the longest way on the ground , these motions cause neither purging by vomits , nor stool , but thrust out into cold sweats ; for though these are not so strong dilating , or expulsing motions as ouer 〈◊〉 , which forceth to vomit , or to purge , yet it extenuates by thrusting weakly out into a faint sweat , then there are other sorts of sickness , which are caused by such motions , as if meat were turning about on a spit , for the center of the humor removes not out of the place , although the circumference turns about ; this is a constant sickness , and the stomach hath no ease , untill the humor is taken out of the stomach by some stronger motions ; as you would take a spit from the fire , or by 〈◊〉 motions , to hold the humor from turning : so there are millions of several motions , which makes several sicknesses in the stomach , for though the stomach can be but sick , yet the sickness is not always after one and the same manner . chap. 171. of the motions which cause pains . pain is caused not onely by irregular motions , but cross motions , or rather , as i may say , jumbling motions ; that is , motion beats upon motion , or , as i may say , runs upon each other , thronging and justling each other ; and several sorts of pain in several parts of the body , are caused by different , cross , or beating motions , but if they be dilating motions , they beat upon one another , by shufling outward , like as foolish women do for place , tumbling upon each other to get foremost ; those painful motions turn to sores , and putrifie , because dilating motions make moisture , and being perturbed , make corruption , but if they be such contracting motions which cause pains , they turn those parts that are pained to be harder , then naturally those parts are , as the stone dry liver , or brain , or the like ; but if those pains be made of mixt motions , as some beat inward , and some outward , and so run cross , they are hard swelling that extends to the exterior parts , but will not break , as the king 's evil , or gouts that lie in the flesh , or sciatica , and many the like ; for though the extenuating motions would burst out , yet the contracting motions keep in , and being both equally strong , neither get the better , for the time the pain is ; and if the pain be amongst the sinews , it is caused either by contracting motions or 〈◊〉 motions , but not mixt , but as it were divided ; for if it be extenuating motions , 〈◊〉 sinews are irregularly stretch'd too far ; if contracting or atracting motions , they irregularly draw , or pull , or gather the sinews strings too short ; if the paines be in the bones , they are onely cross motions , as if one should run one against the other , yet neither shuff backward nor push forwards , being equally strong ; if in the flesh they are intangled motions , which make it incline towards black , as to seem purple , or read , or black . and if the pain be in the skin , they are pricking motions , as if a needle should draw a thread in and out upon a cloath , or the like , but in every pained part there is some difference in the manner of motions , although not in the nature of the motions . chap. 172. of swiming or dissiness in the head . dissiness and swimming in the head is made by several sorts of motions , of such vapor as is condensed into winde , if winde be condensed , if not , it is rarified vapor turned into winde ; and the agilness of the motions therein , causeth the force thereof , by an often repetition , giving no time for a repulse : but howsoever winde is made , either by rarification , or condensation , it is winde most commonly , which causeth that we call a swimming and dissiness in the head ; * for this condensed or rarified vapor , ( which you will ) when it is expulsed , flies violently about , carrying or driving whatsoever is bearable , loose or moveable along , or about with it , according to the strength thereof ; and if this winde be in those veins which incompass and run through the brain , it carries the bloud therein , with such an extraordinary and swift motion about the head , or brain , as it carries the senses , as it were , along with it , which makes the diseased think the brain turned round in the head , when it is onely the vapor , that wheels round therein , or about ; but the lasting strength wasting by the violent swiftness , brings but a short trouble to the diseased , and seldom or never causeth a ruine , unless there be some vein broken by the violence thereof ; but if it be a windy vapor , in the 〈◊〉 and larger parts of the head , it sometimes will gather like a ball , or like that we 〈◊〉 a spinning top , which spins about in the brain , whilest it hath strength , and when the strength fails , the spinning motion is done , and the vapor disperseth , so the dissiness ceaseth ; at other times those vapors will move like a whirlwinde , moving ascendingly , in lesser and lesser circles , until it brings a circle to a point in the shape of a pyramid ; and when the strength abates , or that it breaks it self against more solid matter , the vapor disperses and so expulses , but this sort of motions is so violent , as it causes the diseas'd to fall , but soon to recover , for what is supernaturally violent cannot last long . chap. 173. where the brain turns round , or not in the head . although thin vapor may get betwixt the skull and the brain , and likewise slimy 〈◊〉 ; yet i imagine not that the brain is loose from the skull , so as to flap , flash , or to strike against the sides of the skull , when the head is moved , or to turn round , although it is a common phrase , to say , my brain turns round in my head , when they are dissie ; but imagine it is not in the brain that turnes round , but the vapor or the humor therein ; it is true , the brain turns round , when the whole body turns round , but so as it turns round with the head , as one part , not in the head as a part by it self ; and the reason that the dissiness is cured by turning the contrary way , is , that the sensitive motions therein are turned toward their moderate , naturall , and accustomed manner of moving ; for the violence of turning round , forces the sensitive motions , as the winde doth the air , or water , driving all one way , as before it , or rather like a scrue , or a wheel that windes up those motions , as thread upon a spindle , and so unwinds the contrary way . chap. 174. of the sound or noise in the head . when there is a thin vapor got into the head , as betwixt the skull and the brain , and runs about in circular lines as a string about a wheele , it makes a humming noise , as a turning wheel doth , and the more by reason the head as well as the vaporous lines is spherical , and though the brain may stick close to the scull , yet not so close but a thin vapor may get betwixt ; but if the vapor be gathered into little hollow balls like cymbals , and runs about the head , it causeth a noise like those cymbals , as a tickling or gingling noise . but if the vapour in the head hath intermitting motions , the sound is like musical instruments , for the stops like notes , make the divisions according to the several motions in the head , is the sound made therein , although the ear is stopp'd without . chap. 175. of weakness . sowning is caused by the obstruction of the spirits , or too great evacuations , or when any thing suppresses , or laies siege to the heart , or head , they being the magazine of the life of the body , wherein the least disorder is like fire to gunpowder : weakness is caused by a too much relaxing of the sinews , and small fibres of the body , which are like laths to an house , and flesh like the morter laid thereon . the bones like the strong timber rafters and beams therein , which when the morter is worn off , the laths are apt to loosen ; so when the body is lean , the flesh is wasted , the sinews are apt to slacken . again , some are weak , by reason the sinews are boyl'd too tender , as too much towards a jelly , which the body will be after moist extenuating diseases , as after extraordinary sweatings , small pox , measels , or the like , or in hydropical diseases . weakness is in a degree to death , as being towards a final or general expulsion of the figure . chap. 176. of numb and dead palsies . a dead palsie is not onely made by mis-tempered matter , and disordered motions , but by unnatural motions , as improper to the nature of that kinde of figure , working , or mis-working most commonly upon the exterior parts , drawing up or shutting close those passages that should be open , working by contrary motions , from the nature of the figure , which causes insensibility , but as long as the vital parts be untouch'd , which are the stewards , and trustees , to the life of the body , which are to dispose , discharge , and direct , to take in and lay out , for the subsistance of the body ( as i may say ) as long as these are untouch'd , the life of the body may subsist , although the other particular parts be as we say dead , or lost to the natural use of the body . a numb palsie is of the same nature , but not of the same degree ; as for comparison , a dead palsie is , as if a door , for common and necessary passage , should be close shut and lock'd , or nail'd up ; and a numb palsie is as if the door or doors should be half open , and according as it is open , or shut , the numb palsie is more or less , but both dead ; and numb palsies are occasioned by some unnatural contractions , for if it were by some unnaturall expulsions , the parts infected would rot , and fall from the other parts , as 〈◊〉 , which certainly are caused by such kind of unnatural expulsions , as dead palsies are of unnatural contractions ; thus we finde by experience , that they are unnatural contractions , that cause dead palsies , because they do not rot . wherefore in these diseases there must be applied opening medicines that work dilatively , and if they be caused from a cold contraction , then hot dilating medicines must be applied , but if they proceed from hot contractions , the cold dilating medicines must be applied ; but the difficulty and skill will be to finde whether they proceed from cold , or heat , although most commonly , all physicians do apply in these diseases , very hot and dry medicines , which are contracting , which medicines are quite contrary to the nature of the diseases , which makes them cure so few , but the surest way is to apply dilating medicines , whether hot or cold . chap. 177. of that we call a sleepy numbness . a sleepy numbness is also caused by obstruction or stoppages ; as for example , if any over-burthensome weight lies upon the arm , or hand , or the like , it will become numb , which is vulgarly called sleepy ; the reason is , that pressing too hard upon those parts , we stop the pores , which by touch is received ; for if the pores be close shut , touch cannot enter , no more then if the eye be shut an outward object can enter , or stopping the ears , or nose , a sound , or scent can enter ; as we may finde by experience ; for if any part is bound too hard , it strait becomes numb , likewise a violent blow ; or when any part is tied too hard , that part becomes numb , the reason is , by striking or thrusting back the bloud ; for the bloud is like a running company , which when they are forcibly beaten back , on those companies that are thrusting forward , unite by contraction into so firm a body , that no particular part can stir ; which solid and thick body stops the pores of the 〈◊〉 , and the running motions in the veines ; but also as we give liberty by uniting , or unbinding , or by taking off waight , or by gently rubbing , to open the pores , and disperse the bloud , it is cured . likewise the sleepy numbness may proceed from a superfluity of vapor , which flying to the pores for vent may stop the passage , by too great a concourse , being more vapor then sudden vent ; but any alteration of motion cures it , by dispersing the vapor , more thin and evenly . chap. 178. of the head feeling numb . when the skins which wrap up the brain , as the pia mater , and dia mater , are contracted by an inward cold , or an outward cold taken in at the nose , ears , mouth , or pores of the skin , they shrivel , or are drawn in as a handkerchief , or the like ; when we carry some bulk within it , and when those skins are drawn into a straiter compass , then the nature is , it presses upon the brain , as being too strait , wherein the brain cannot freely move . besides , the veins and little small strings that run about the brain , being contracted with cold , the bloud in those veins cannot so freely run , and those strings being shrunk , make the brain feel as if it were so hard bound , as to be numb ; but this doth rather afright the life of the diseased , then destroy it ; for a little warmth by rubbing the head , or a hot cloth laid on the head , or some warm spoon-meat cures it . also numbness may proceed from too much bloud in the veins , or too much matter in the nerves , for being too full causeth a stopping , for want of space or room to move naturally in ; but this numbness is not so easily cured , especially when the oppressions lie in the nerves , for opening a vein gives liberty to the bloud ; but i know not how one should so easily open a nerve , neither is the matter within so liquid , as suddenly to run out ; but this numbness is rather of the nature of a dead numbness , then a sleepy numbness . chap. 179. the manner of motion , or disorder in madness . the motions that make that extravagancy we call madness , is as a carver , or painter , ingraver , printer , or the like , should place the figures they work , the wrong end upwards ; or as if mathematicians should draw a plat-form , and should make a square where a circle should be , or should put equall weights in uneven scales , or set false numbers , or make false measure ; or as a painter , printer , carver , or graver , should paint , print , carve , or grave , a coaches head to a lions body , or if a painter should draw feathers , on beasts , and hair on birds , or the like ; indeed a sensitive madness , is like dreams in sleep , onely the sensitive motions work in sleep as i have described before , on the inside of the sensitive doors ; and when awake on the outside ; and in sleep be wrought , without a pattern ; and awake by a pattern srom the reall figure , which they present ; and the differences in madness are , that they work be wrought , without the real subjects , on the outside of the sensitive door , as if awake , although there are no objects to take pattern from , as we may perceive by them that are distempered , that they see such objects that are not present , or such as never was , or can be ; and so the like for sounds , tasts , touch , and smelling , that is , the sensitive motions , paints , prints , carves , graves , or the like ; as on the outside of the optick nerve , without a reall pattern ; and when the sense works regular , they never draw on the outside without a pattern , but on the inside , as in sleep , and the like for all the other senses : but the motions of the rational madness are , when they move violently , and irregularly , if the motions be onely violent , then they fall into violent passions ; as anger , fear , malice , or loving , hating , grieving , dispraises , and resolute intentions ; if their motions be irregular , then they have strange conceptions , wild fancies , mixt memories , inconstant and various opinions ; if their motions be violent and irregular , they have strong and strange imaginations , high despaires , obstinate and dangerous resolutions ; if the sensitive and rational innate matter , sympathie in violent irregularity , then they will violently talke , laugh , sing , weep , and sigh , without reason why , or wherefore ; but mistake me not , for when i say , too violent , strong , swift , weak , slow , it is irregular , as to the temper or nature of the figure , but not as to its own nature ; as for example , a clock may go too swift as to the distance of the hour , and yet strike even every nick ; and the pulse may be too swift for the natural temper , and yet keep even time : a musician may play too fast for a solemn tune , and too slow for a light air , and yet play right to the notes ; as for the irregularity , some motions may be too swift , others too slow , for other assistant motions , as for example an army is to march in a body , and some should go , or ride half a day , or a dayes journey before the rest , and some should lag , and come slowly behinde , or that some should go one way , and some another , or as two should carry a burthen , and the hindemost should go too fast for the former , and so tumble or throw down , or as horses in a coach , the one runs away , and forceth the other to follow , as for disorder , it is somewhat otherwise , as tumults and uproars , as some doing that which they ought not to do , or belong not to them , or instead of garding a house pull it down , or like those that will make a fire in the midst of the house on a woodden floor , and not in the chimnie ; then there is a disorder in placing , and matching of parts , and alterations of motions , quite different , from the nature of the figure , for some sort of madnes is made by such different motions , as death from that which we vulgarly call life , that is , the motions , are as different , as several kindes of figures ; for in this kinde of madnesse , they no more know in their fits , or remember out of their fits , what they did , or said , or was done to them in their fits , then if they had been dead ; just as in a sound , they know not what was done to restore them , yet there is not a cessation of motions ; neither in the sensitive , nor in the rational , but an alteration of motion , 't is true , there is for a time a cessation of such sorts of motion , as belong to the natural health of the figure , but not to the life . chap. 180. of madnesse in the body and minde . there are two sorts different in madnesse , the one is irregular motion , amongst the rational innated matter , the other amongst the sensitive innated matter , as misplacing , ill mixing , or mismixing , or mistempering , or distempering , false carving , wrong printing off , and on the dull part of matter , as in fevers , or the like diseases , where the distempered matter is misplaced , by which improper motions , alters the natural motions , which makes the natural temper , and causes , and unnatural temper by improper motions ; working upon every particular sense , irregularly , or rather improperly , and mixtly , which makes extravagancies both in each particular senses , and in the generality , this madnesse proceeds from the sensitive , and not from the rational innated matter ; for the rational part will be in order , and describe distinctly what extravagant the sense presents to them ; but this madnesse of the body is oft times mistaken , and thought to be the distemper of the minde , because the sick persons describe those extravagancies by relation , yet oftimes the one causeth the other , but not alwayes ; for many times the minde will be disordered when the body is sound , and healthful , and many times the body will be distempered , when the minde is regular and free ; but the madnesse of the body , onely continues to the height of the disease , and as the disease abates , the extravagancies vades , and by health vanishes away , or rather is rubbed , or worn out , by the regular , and proper natural motions belonging to that figure , or body , but the madnesse in the minde proceeds from irregular motions , amongst the rational innated matter , as when they neither keep time , nor measure , not onely in making * figures , but in moving those figures , they make this distemper , or rather that disorder , is altogether in the moving matter , when the other distemper is in disordering the moved matter , for the sensitive innate matter may work regularly , according to the nature and strength , but not according to the temper , or degree of the dull matter , nor according to the nature , and property of the kinde , or sort of figure ; but when the sensitive , and the rational joyns in conjugal disorder the minde is ravening as we say , and the body weak . chap. 181. madnes is not alwayes about the head . madnesse belongs not onely to the head , as that onely the eye , ear , nose , and mouth , sees , hears , smels , and tasts extravagantly ; but every other part of the body that is sensible of touch ; for extravagant touch , is as much as extravavant sight , and the like ; for touch of the brest , or any other part of the body , is a sense , as much as the eye in the head ; thus the body , or senses will be mad as well as the minde , as i have described in former chapters . likewise for the madnesse in the minde , it is not alwayes bound in the head ; for where there are extravagant passions in the heart , the minde is as mad , as when there are extravagant imaginations , in the head ; for the rational matter , that which we call the soul , or minde is as much , and hath as much recourse to the heart , as to the head , and so to the other parts of the body , for any thing i can perceive . but that matter i call the rational and sensitive spirits , * which others call the animal , and vital spirits ; perchance fools may think me extravagant for giving the matter other names ; but i was forced to take these names , because they were more significant to the sense of my discourse ; besides , perchance they may think , when i speak of rational and sensitive spirits , that they are hobgoblins , ghosts , or visions , such as nurses fright their children with , or superstitions , or as the wiser sort doth to make credulous fools beleeve to keep them in awe , knowing they are apt to disorders . chap. 182. musick may cure mad folks . there is great reason why musick should cure madnesse ; for this sort of madnesse is no other but the spirits that are in the brain and heart put out of their natural motion , and the spirits having a natural sympathy with musick , may be composed into their right order ; but it must be such musick , as the number of the notes must goe in such order as the natural motion of the brain , though every brain hath not one and the same motion , but are set like notes to several tunes : wherefore if it were possible , to set notes to the natural motion of the heart , or that brain that is distempered , it might be perfectly cured , but as some notes do compose the brain by a sympathy to the natural motion , so others do make a discord or antipathy , and discompose it , putting the natural motions out of tune . thus much for the sensitive maladies . chap. 183. of the fundamental diseases , first of fevours . there are many several sorts or manners of fevors ; but i will onely treat of the fundamental fevours , which are three , from which three all other fevors are partly derived ; the first is a malignant fevor , the second the hective fevor ; and the third the ordinary burning fevours ; the first is catching , and often deadly , the second is never catching , but alwayes deadly ; the third is neither catching , and seldom deadly ; the first proceeds from violent disordered motions , and distempered matter , and humour . the second from swift motions , which distemper and make waste of the matter , which matter , i mean the substance of the body . the third is too violent motions on well tempered matter . and these three sorts of fevours are often mixt , as it were a part of all mixt into one ; but a high malignant fevor , is a sudden usurpation ; for the disordered motions joyned with a mistempered matter , which is corrupt humours , surprise the body , and destroy the life therein , as we shall see in great plagues , the body is well , sick , and dead in a moment ; these or the like diseases are caused after three manner of wayes , as being taken from outward infection , or bred by an evil habit in the body , or by taking some disagreeing matter therein , which causeth a war of sicknesse ; for upon the disorder which the disagreeing matter makes , the natural motions belonging to the body grow factious , and like a common rout arise in an uproar , which strives onely to do mischief , stopping some passages that should be kept open , and opening some passages that should be kept shut , hindring all regular motions , from working after that natural manner , forcing those they can over power , to turn rebels to the life of the body . for it is against the nature of the innated matter to be idle , wherefore it works rather irregularly then not work at all , but as long as a body lies sick , the power is divided , one part of the innated matter working irregularly , the other according to the natural constitution , which by the regularity , they strive to maintain the chief forts of life which are the vital parts , especially the heart , and disordered motions striving to take , or pull them down , making their strongest assaults thereon ; for the disordered innated matter makes out-works of corrupted matter , stopping as many passages as their power will give leave , so striving either to starve the vital parts , or to oppresse them with corruption , or to burn them by their unnatural heat they make in the body , or to drown them with watrish humor which is caused by the distemper of ill disgestions , and obstructions ; the regular innated matter , strives to break down those works , and to cast , and expel that filth out of the body , and according as each party gets the better , the body is better or worse , and according as the siege continues , the body is sick , and according as the victory is lost or won , is life or death . chap. 185. of the infections of animals , vegetables , and elements . such motions as corrupt animal bodies , corrupt vegetable bodies , and as corrupt and malignant air is infectious to animals , so likwise to vegetables , and as malignant diseases are catching and infectious , to those that comes neer them , so oftentimes vegetables are infectious to animals , as herbs and fruits , which cause some yeers such dangerous sicknesse and killing diseases to those that eat thereof ; likewise those bodies that are infected do infect sound , and nourishing food , when once it is eaten , causeth that which is good also malignant when once in the body . chap. 186. of burning fevros . all burning fevours for the most part , are produced from the vital spirits , as when they move irregularly , they corrupt the natural humours which cause a distemper of heat in the body moving towards expulsions , which are dilation ; and when they move with supernatural quicknesse after an extenuating maner , they inflame the body in either causes , emptying the body , and quenching the fire is to be put in execution , for the emptier the body is , the lesse humours there will be . ltkewise lesse motion , as having lesse matter , for in matter motion lives , likewise the lesse cumbustible matter there is , the sooner the unnatural fire will be quenched , unlesse that the fire be in the arteries , then it is like a colepit set on fire , wherein there is no quenching it , unlesse you drown the coles , so when the unnatural heat is in the arteries , you must drown the life of the body , like the colein the pit before you can quench the fire ; but a 〈◊〉 may be eased , & somwhat prolonged with cooling brothes , and quenching julips , for though they cannot enter the arteries , yet they may keep the outward parts cold and moist , which may cast cold damps quite through the body , but in this case all evacuations are dangerous , for the more empty the body is of humour , the sooner the body is consumed , for the humours serve as oyl , and though they flame , yet they keep in the light of life ; in all other fevours evacuations of all sorts are good , for if it be some melancholy pitch humours that are set on fire in the body , or some oylie cholerick humours , it is but quenching it with cooling julips , without any hurt to the body , and if it be a brandy blood set on fire , it is but drawing it forth by broaching some veines , and the body will be saved from the destruction . chap. 187. the remedies of malignant diseases . in malignant diseases expelling medicines are best , which expelling medicines are not hot , and dry medicines , for all drugs that are naturally dry , have a contracting quality which is an utter enemy in this disease ; for they must be dilating medicines , and all dilating medicines have a fluid faculty working after the nature of a flowing tide , which is thrusting , or streaming outward , as to the circumference , and the operations of drying medicines , are like the ebbing tide that draws backward or inward , as to it self ; but as i said before , that all hot and dry medicines have a contracting quality , which contractions draw or gather up the malignity , as in a bundle or heap together , and if it be a fiery contraction , it sets it on a fire , which burns out the life of the body ; for fire makes no distinguishment of good or bad , but destroyes all it can in compasse , so as it will not onely burn up the superfluities , or corruptions , but suck or drink up the radical moisture , or charcoales , the vital parts , and consumes the animal life . wherefore dilating medicines , must be applied in these diseases , but not strong expulsives medicine , by reason the malignity is so intermixt , or spread in the , body that striving with a strong force to cast forth the malignity they should cast forth the nourishing and consistent matter , for the malignity , and corrupt humours being more strong , having a greater party , can resist with more strength the force of expulsion then the nourishing , consistant part can being weak , so that the expulsions give strength to the malignity , or corrupt humours , by taking away the pure , and well tempered matter ; but leting blood in these diseases 〈◊〉 be excellent good , for bleeding is rather of the nature of sweating , then of purging ; besides , it will draw the malignity more from the vital parts into the veins , for the veins having a natural quality or faculty to draw , and to suck into them , will draw , and suck in that which doth most abound , so as it is but still letting blood as the malignity is drawn in , for it is better to let out the blood , then endanger the vital parts , by keeping it in , for if most of the blood should bee let out there will fresh blood increase in a short time , but if the vital parts be never so little corrupted , or putrified or wasted , we cannot heale or make up those parts again . chap. 134. diseases caused by conceit , or cured . as for the producing diseases by conceit , is thus ; the vital spirits which are the motions of life , have an absolute power over the body , as working every part thereof , and therein , so the animal spirits which are the motions of the mind create imaginations , and conceptions , and the animal spirits and the vital spirits being as man and wife , the animal as the husband , the vital spirits as the wife , whereupon the animal spirits many times beget that desease it figures which is an imagination , and the vital spirits brings that childe forth , being like the figure the animal spirits made , that is , the vital spirits oft times work such motions as makes such diseases , wherefore the animal spirits work those motions into imaginations ; and to prove it , those that conceit they shall have the small pox , measels , pleague , or the like , most commonly they fall sick of that disease , although they come not neer the infection ; and to prove the animal spirits which is the minde , works the same motions by an imagination as the disease is , that those which conceit a disease , do not fall sick of any other disease but the same they imagine , and the reason why these malignant diseases are produced oftner by imaginations then other diseases , is , that those diseases are dangerous , or that they are apt to deform which makes a fearful conception or imagination , to work more strongly ; for did the imiginations work as strong to other diseases as to these , they would produce the same effects ; as for those which are cured by conceit , is when the motion of the animal spirits works stronger then the vital spirits , which causeth the vital spirits to altar those motions that made such diseases ; but those effects are produced but seldom , by reason that the animal spirits seldom work so strong imaginations , for it requires a double , or treble strength to resist or alter the force another way , which must be to cure a disease after this manner , then to joyn and assist , as in the producing a disease ; for when the imagination produceth a disease , the vital spirits joyn with the animal , but when the disease is cured by imagination , the animal spirits takes the animals from their work ; but a great fright , or a sudden joy is a good remedy in some diseases , by reason those passionate motions are strong , and violent , yet they can cure onely loose diseases , not such diseases as are rooted , or fixt , for then the vital spirits are not to be altered by the animal . chap. 188. of the expelling malignity to the outward parts of the body . the reason why malignant diseases , as the plague , or purples , or small pox , measels , or the like ; there break forth spots , swelling scabs , or whelks , is by the power of expelling motion ; but the reason why it sticks in the flesh , and not quite out , is , because the irregular motions that maintain the health and strength of the body , are opposed by disorderly motions , which makes corrupted matter , that makes disordered motions ; for though there can be no corrupted matter , but what is caused from disordered motion , yet when the humors of the body are once corrupted , the motions are more violent ; again , superabundant humors , cause disordered motions ; for as there is too much humor , obstructing the body therewith , so there is too much motion , to work regularly therein , and being against the natural constitution to have so much humor , and motion , it produceth violent sickness , working to the destruction , and not to the maintenance of the body ; but the regular motions , which are digestive motions , which unites , strengthens , and defends the vital parts , by atracting good 〈◊〉 , by retaining the useful parts ; by concocting it into a sollid substance , by expelling of superfluieties , or malignancy out of the body , after a methodical manner , and according as the strength of expelling motions are , so is the malignity , cast forth , for if the repelling motions be stronger then the expelling motion , the malignant presses so hard upon the vital parts , as it smothers the life therein , or burns up the materials thereof : again , the expelling motions may be so weak , as they cannot thrust out the malignity so far as the circumference of the body which is the skin , or if so far , yet not to stay there so long , as to evapor it out , and then the malignity fals back with a greater violence ; for what is forced , and resisteth , when once it hath liberty , or gets power , it becomes more violent , by how much more it were forced ; but that malignity that doth evaporate forth , doth insensibly enter into the next body it meets ; entring through the nostrils , mouth , or pores of the flesh ; and thus many times , from animal to animal untill there is a general infection , which is a general disorder , for the malignity that enters in by infection , is like a foraign enemy , which enters into a peaceable country , which not onely disorders it , but makes havock and waste , and many times utterly destroyes it , but when a malignant disease is bred in the body , it is like a civil war , where uproars are raised , and outrages are done , by inbred corrupt humors ; but when malignant or other diseases are caused by surfeits , it is like a deluge of fire or water , that either drowns , or burns up the the kingdom of the body ; where sometimes it is saved by assistant * medicines , and sometimes it is so furious , as nothing can help it . chap. 189. of sweating diseases . all sweating diseases are caused by such kinde of extenuating motions , as melt metal , and not by such kinde of extenuating motions as evaporate water , for the evaporations of the watery part of the body breath forth in insensible transpirations , as breathing through the pores like a thin air ; but sweat runs through the pores like liquid oar through gutters of earth : but sweats are good or bad for the body , according to the matter or humors that are melted out , as for example ; i will compare the humors of the body to several metals , as iron , lead , tin , copper , silver and gold ; iron is melancholly dust ; lead is cold , and dry or cold , and moist melancholly ; tin is flegm ; copper is choler ; silver is the radical humor ; and god is the vital spirits : these humors must be proportionably tempered to make a healthful body ; there must not be too much quantity of lead , tin , or copper , for the silver or gold , but unless there be some , they will not work ; like as coyn , it cannot be wrought , or formed without some allay , and if the allay be too much , it abases the coyn . likewise there must be so much heat in the body onely as to compound those humors , not to melt them out by sweats unless they superabound ; and then physicians must onely have a care to melt out that humor that superabounds ; for if the radical humor should be melted , or the vital spirits spent , it destroys the body by wasting the life . but in some cases sweating is very beneficial to the body , as in great colds , which have knit up the pores or passages of the body , or in great surfeits , or in malignant diseases , which help to expel the poysonous humor , or corrupted humors in the body , or melt the icy humors congeal'd by cold ; but those sweats that are beneficial , and wholesome for the body , the body will be much stronger , and agiler , and the spirits quicker , and livelier , ; but those sweats that are pernicious to the body , the body will be faint and weak , after they have sweat ; but in these diseases , a physician must be very careful , when he puts a patient in a sweat , as to give such medicines as will work upon that humor , he would have sweat forth , but in sweating diseases , as when the body sweats too violently , like as in great and dangerous fluxes , which are not to be staied by ordinary means , for although in these diseases , there must be used contracting medicines , yet some sweats require hot contracting medicines , others cold contracting medicines , and those medicines that are applied , must be applied gently , and by degrees , lest by a sudden contraction they should stop the pores of the body too much , which are the doors to let out the smoak in the body , as well as the sweat of the body , or by too hasty contractions those passages should be shut , that should be kept open , or those to be kept opened that should be shut ; but physicians will guess by the patient , what humor they sweat forth ; for cold sweats are from melancholy , clammy sweats from thick flegm ; hot burning sweat from choler ; cold faint sweats proceed from the radical humor ; hot faint sweats from the vital spirits . chap. 190. of surfeits . surfeits are superfluities ; as too much heat , or too much cold , or when there is taken into the body too great a quantity of meat , or drink , or the like . likewise when the nature of the meat is disagreeing to the nature of the body ; where one scruple will be too much , as being ill , which will give a surfeit , for surfeits do not onely oppress by the superfluous quantities of matter , but disturb by the superfluous motions , the disagreeing matter causing more motion , then naturally belonges to a healthful body : besides , like a company of rude and unruly strangers disturbs and hinders the irregular motions , altering the natural constitutions , and uniformity of the body ; and many times ruines the body , unless an assistant motion in medicinable matter is brought to help , to expel the superfluous , or that the natural expulsive motions in the body , are strong enough , to throw out that ill matter , either by vomit , or stoole , or other evacuation ; but many times the superfluities become so strong , not onely by their own ill nature , or great quantity , but by making a faction ; and so begetting a party amongst the natural motions , which makes such a general disorder , that though the natural digestive motion , and the natural expulsive motion joyn with the like assistant motions taken in medicines , yet the body shall be ruinated , and life cast out , by that matter , and these motions that are their enemies therein . chap. 191. of consumptions . all consumptions are caused by an unnatural expulsion , caused by mistempered matter , or mistempered matter caused by unnatural motions , such as work not to the subsistance or health of the body ; which after they have corrupted the matter , they turn to expulsions , throwing all out of the body ; but if they be onely exterior expulsions , they onely untile the house , that is , they do unflesh the body ; but if they be interiour expulsions , they do not onely unflesh the body , but rot some part in the body ; and if the unnatural expulsions be amongst the vital parts , which are the foundations of the life of the body , the whole fabrick of the body fals without redemption , and the materials go to the building of other figures . but if they are hot expulsions , caused from a thin , sharp , salt humor , there must be applied cold contracting medicines ; and if they be cold expulsions , there must be apylied hot contracting medicines . all cold expulsions are , when the parts are tender , weak and raw , and undigested ; and hot expulsions are , when the parts are burnt , or ulcerated ; for all hot expulsions work upon the parts of the body , as fire on wood when they are burning expulsions , or else like as fire doth on metal , melting them into a liquid substance ; and cold expulsions work upon the parts , as when cloudes beat down into showers of rain , or slakes of snow , breaking or extenuating those clouds into small parts , so that the dropsical humor that ariseth from hot consumptions , are onely liquid like melted metal ; and the dropsical humor that ariseth from cold consumptions , is as a watery floud : but as i said , in all consumptions the remedies must be contractive , or at least retentive ; because the nature of all consumptions are expulsive , but yet all or the most part of physicians , finding their patients to be lean and dry , give all dilative medicines , as if the parts were onely gathered into a less compass ; but the truth is , when so much of the natural bulk of the body is lessened , so much of the body is wasted : i will not say but these unnatural expulsions might proceed from unnatural contractions , like as when any thing is made so dry as it moulders into dust , but when it comes to that degree , it expulses ; so whensoever the body is in a consumption , the motions therein are expulsive : i do not mean by siege or vomit , although they will spit much , which is a kinde of vomiting , but they waste by insensible inspirations ; but all purging medicines are an enemy to this disease , unless they be very gentle ; for though purging medicines do not expulse , after the nature of consumptive expulsions , yet if they be strong , they may in some kinde assist the consumptive expulsions , neither is much leting blood good in these diseases ; yet a little refreshes , and tempers the body ; for in these diseases physitians must do as chirurgions when they cure wounds , they first clense the sore or wounds , taking away the putrified matter gently with a probe , and then lay a healing plaister , so physitians must gently purge and bleed the patient , and then give them strengthening , and nourishing remedies : again many physitians have a rule , that when they perceive their patient to be exteriorly dry , that is , outwardly dry , they think them hot ; but it doth not follow that all drouth proceeds from heat ; for there are cold drouths as well as hot , so that a physician must warily observe the patients drouth , whether it proceeds from cold or heat , or whether the drouth proceeds for want of a sufficient quantity of matter , for the body to feed upon , or that the matter , which properly should be porous and spungy , is contracted into an unnatural solidity , and though the interior nature of drought is made by contraction , yet the exterior motions may be expulsive ; as for example , if any thing is dryed to that degree as to fall into dust , although the interior be contracting , that caused it to be so dry , yet the exterior motions are expulsive , that causeth it to fall into parts ; but the drouth of consumptions doth proceed most commonly from a scarcity of nourishing matter that should feed each part of the body , for the principal and consistent parts being distempered , cannot disgest so much as will feed the hungry members therof ; but as i have said before , that all consumptions are wrought by expulsive motions , for what is contracted , is not consumed , nor doth consume untill it expulses , but those bodies that are lean or dry by contractions , are not in consumptions , for nothing is wasted , onely the dimensions , and extentions of the body are drawn into a lesser , compasse ; thus , as i have said , physitians , although they mistake not the diseases , yet they may easily mistake the manner of the diseases , for one and the same kinde of diseases may move after divers manners in several bodies , and in one and the same body . chap. 192. of dropsies . most dropsies are something of the nature of consumptions , as being in the way to consumptive expulsions , for they dilate after that manner , as the other expulses , especially if they are dropsies , which proceed from corrupt parts , and then they turn to consumptive expulsions , and the onely difference in most dropsies , and consumptions , is , that dropsies as long as that disease lasts , the motions in the body are most dilating , which is in a degree to expulsion , and when it comes to a consumption they are all expulsions , but as the motions differ , so the diseases differ , for there are several sorts of dilations , and several sorts of expulsions , nay some are different in the manner of working , as if they were of other kindes of motions , but some dropsies proceed from hot dilations , others from cold dilations , and some proceed from too many digestive motions , that is , when there are too many or too strong disgestive motions in the body ; for the natural temper of the body disgests so fast , as makes more nourishment , then the several parts can feed with temperance , which makes the reignes , and the rest of the sucking parts glutinous , or else those many disgesting motions work too curious , for by reason they cannot be idle , they work the nourishing matter too fine , or too thin , for proper uses ; as if flower should be so often bolted , that it could not work into a lump , or batch for bread ; or like as any thing should be wrought upon so much , as to become liquid , as into oyl or water . other dropsies proceed from the weaknesse of disgestion , those motions being not strong , or sufficient to work all that is brought into the stomach ; whereupon that superfluous matter corrupts with distempered motions , and when it comes to be corrupted , it either dilates , or expulses , if it onely dilates , it turns to water , if expulsive , it casts forth , either by vomit or stool , or else lies to corrupt the principal parts in the body , which when they are joyned together , expulses life by their treacherous usurpation . other dropsies are caused by too weak contracting motions , causing that to be tender that should be solid , or those parts loose that should be firm , as not contracting hard enough . as first contracting into chylus , then into blood , then harder , for flesh , and harder for nerves and bones ; the contractions growing weaker and weaker , until they become of no strength , and then they turn to dilations or expulsions ; but pray mistake me not , for though one and the same innate matter may grow weaker , as to abate of such or such a kinde of motion , so increases stronger and stronger , according to the quantity , as to other motions . but as i said before , that innated matter in such diseased bodies , turns from contracting to dilating , turning by degrees from one to another , and then the dilations work more and more , extending more and more in such circular motions as produce water ; for when it comes to such a degree of extention , it is become from being solid to be lesse hard , from being lesse hard , to be soft , from soft to be liquid , from liquid fluid , and when it comes to such a degree of a fluid extention , it turns wet , and when it is soft , liquid , fluid , and wet it is turned to that we call water ; for oyl , though it be soft , liquid , and fluid , yet it is not absolute wet , it is rather moist then wet : for there is a difference between moist and wet , or glibby and wet , or glibby and moist , so that oyl is a glibby and moist body , rather then a soaking wet body ; but when this watry extenuation extenuates beyond the degree of water , they turn to vapour , which causeth the diseased to be puft or blown like a bladder , rather then swell'd out , as we shall perceive that a little time before the patients fall into a consumption , they will be so puft out , as their flesh wil be like a fire-bal , the next degree they fall into a fiery extenuation ; for when the humour extenuates beyond vapor , which is a kinde of an aire , then it becomes hot like fire , which is a hective fevour , and when the humour hath extenuated to the farthest degree , it expulses , and so pulls down and throws out the life of the diseased ; but in the hidropical diseases , there must first be applied attractive medicines to draw out the watry overflows , by issues , cupping-glasses , or the like , then there must be applyed expulsive medicines as purgings , and bleeding , and sweatings , yet they must be gently applyed , for fear of weakning the body by drawing out the humour too suddenly , then there must be applied contracting medicines to draw into an united substance , as to gather or draw up those parts that have been made loose , porous , and spungie with the disease , then there must be applied retentive medicines , to confirm and settle them , after their natural manner , or form , then last there must be applied disgestive medicines to restore what is wasted ; but if any of the principal parts be impaired , wasted or expulsed : they neither can be restored nor mended , but by a new creation , which uncreating braines perhaps conceive not ; but i must intreat my readers to observe , that some sorts of motions begin a disease , that is , they lay the foundations thereof ; and other sorts of motions work upon those foundations . chap. 193. of apoplexies . some sorts of apoplexies are caused by an inbred superfluous water , in the brain , which being congealed by a cold contraction , falling to the knitting part of the head , which is the hinder part , it stupifies the senses , stopping the natural motions as a flowing river , that is turned into ice ; but those sorts of apoplexies are curable , if assistance be taken in time , which is by hot dilating medicines , not onely to stretch out the icy contraction , but to expell that cold watry humour by a rarification , but if the apoplexie be caused by an inbred slime , as flegme , which is of a thicker nature then water , and is become crusted or peterated by hot contractions , it is seldom or never cured , no more then brick which is once baked by the sun , or in a fire , can be made to such clay as it was before it was burnt ; but mistake me not , for i do not mean the humour is as hard as stone , or brick in the head , but so hard , as to the nature of the brain , that is , the flegme is grown so dry and tough , as not to be dissolved , so soon as the nature of the brain requires it , for though flegme will be contracted into stone , as in the bladder , and kidnies , yet not in the brain , by reason the nature of the brain is so tender , and so sensible , as it cannot indure so solid a substance therein , nor suffer so long a time as the humour will be penetrating to stop the passages to the brain , not but those kinde of motions that produce stone , may be so strong and so swift as to turn matter into stone immediately ; but i do beleeve not in the animal bodies , for they are too weak figures for so strong motions to work in ; but as i said these hot or cold contractions , for both sorts of contractions produce stone , so both sorts of contractions make tough , clammy , crusted , hard flegme , which is some degree towards stone , flegme if it stop the passages to the brain , it causeth an apoplexie ; but the 〈◊〉 why the watry contractions are more apt for cure , is , because the nature of water is fluid , and is easily dissolved by dilations , having interior nature to extenuations ; but slime , and flegme are more solid , and so not so flexible , to be wrought upon , as suddenly to change shape , or nature , in being dissolved or transformed . the third cause is a fulnesse of blood , or a thicknesse of blood ; for when the veins are too full , there is not vacuity enough for the blood to run , so stops the motion thereof , or if the blood is too thick , or clammy , it becoms lesse fluid , and the more solid it is , the slower the motion is , and though the blood may have too quick a motion by reason of heat , so it may have too slow a motion by reason of thicknesse , and if the veines are filled too full of hot blood , wherein are many spirits , it endangers the breaking some of the veines , like as when strong liquor is put into a barrel , if it be filled too ful the strength of the spirits striving for liberty , break the barrel ; the like will the blood in the veins , and if a vein chance to break in the head , it overflows the brain and drowns the life therein . the last is grosse vapor which may ascend from the bowels , or stomack , which causeth so great a smoak , as it suffocates , or choaks the brain , smothering out the life of the body . all apoplexies are somewhat of the nature of dead palsies . chap. 194. of epilepses , which is called falling-sicknesse . this disease is caused by a water in the brain , which water is most commonly green , like sea water , and hath an ebbing and flowing motion , like the tides thereof , and when the water is at full tide , on the forepart of the head , it takes the diseased after the manner of panting , and short breathing , beating themselves , and foaming at the mouth , neither can they hear , see , smell , nor speak ; the reason is , that the flowing motion driving the watry humour so far out , as it extends the pia mater , and dia mater of the brain , farther then the natural extention ; which extention swelling out towards the outward part of the head , hinders all recourse , stopping those passages which should receive the objects , through the exterior senses ; and the froth or slimy humor , which is betwixt the skin , where the brain lies ; and the skull being pressed out , fals through the throat into the mouth , and there works forth like yeast , which is called foaming ; but though the motions of the head are thus altered for a time , so as there is neither sense nor rational knowledg , yet the body may be after the natural course , and not any wayes altered ; but the body feeling life opprest in the head , the several parts or members in the body , strive and struggle with what power and strength they have to release it : like as a loyal people that would defend or release their natural and true born king , from being prisoner to a foraign enemy ; but when this water flows to the hinder part of the head , the pia mater , and dia mater , extending out that way , stops all the nerves in the nodel of the head , by which stopping , it stops the exterior motions of the whole body , by reason that place is the knitting place of those moving strings ; and when the water is flow'd , as i said , to this part , the diseased lies as in a swoon , as if they were quite dead , having no visible motion , but as soon as the water begins to fall back , they begin to recover out of the fits ; but as often as the water in the head is at full tides , either of the fore part of the head , or the hinder part , the diseased fals into a fit , which is sometimes oftner then other , for it keeps no constant course , time , nor measure ; and according as the pia mater and dia mater extends , the 〈◊〉 are stonger or weaker . likewise such green water with such motions about the heart , may produce the same disease , for oft times this green water , or green thin humor ascends or runs from several parts of the body , into the cesterns of the head and the heart ; and this kinde of water or humor , if it be in the nerves , causeth dangerous convulsions , by reason of the sharpness that shrivels up the nerves ; and when it is in the bloud causes the veins to contract , through the same reason , if in the stomach , it causes vomiting , or great fluxes , by subdividing the humors ; and the sharpness , prickling or tickling the stomach , provokes a straining , as tickling in the nose doth sneezing ; so the stomach , either to strain upwards or downwards . chap. 195. of shaking palsies . shaking palsies proceed from a supernatural extenuation in the nerves , which by the extenuating becomes more porous and hollow , and becomes like a perpetual earthquake , having a flatuous or windy humor in the bowels thereof , and cannot finde passage out , if it proceeds from a hot extention , there must be applied cold condensing medicines ; if by a cold extention there must be applied hot condensing remedies . chap. 196. of convulsions , and cramps . convulsions proceed from contrary contracting motions , quite from the natural motions of the body , as winding up the sinews , nerves , or veins ; but especially those sinews , which joyn , and impair the muscles together , drawing not onely contrary , but contracting several wayes , and after divers manners ; for some time the nerves are as if we should tie strings in bowt-knots , others as if we should winde 〈◊〉 lute strings on pegs ; and some are twisted like whip-cord , and many the like wayes , which would be too long to recount , but these contractions proceed either from a winde got into the nerves , or veines , which troubles them as the winde-cholick doth the guts , or a sharp humor that shrivels them together , or as salt watery humor , mixt with winde , which strugling and striving together turns windes , folds , or roles up the nerves , like the waves of the sea , or a cold icy humor , which draws and gathers in the nerves , as frost will do , all spungie bodies , or some thick clammy humor which stops some passages , which causeth the natural motions to turn irregular , but if the humor be onely in the veins , it is cured by letting bloud , if the bloud be corrupted , sharp or salt , or if the bloud be cold , windy , or watry , hot liquid medicines cure it , or cordial water , or the like ; and if it be a cold humor in the nerves , hot oyls , and extraordinary hot medicines cures it , as the spirit of caster , oyl of amber , and the like ; but if it proceed from a salt , sharp , watery humor , or a thick clammy humor in the nerves , it is seldom or never cured , because it is not easily got out , neither can medicines so suddenly get into the nerves , as into the veins ; for though the cold in the nerves may be easily cured , by melting , and dissolving by the comfortable warmth , or violent heats from the hot cordial medicines , which spread about the body , as a great fire in a chimney , which spreads about and heats all the room , if the fire in the chimney be answerable to the bigness , or largeness of the room it is in , and the lesser the room is , and the bigger the fire is , the hotter it is ; wherefore it is to be considered , that those that are at full growth , or are larger of body , if thus , the diseased ought to have a greater proportion , or a larger quantity of those medicines , then a childe , or those that are but little of stature , for though those that are of little stature may be more stronger then those that are of a far bigger bulk , yet in the cause of diffusing or dilating medicines , the circumference of the body must be considered , as well as the strength of the medicines ; and if the convulsion be in the stomach , caused by the aforesaid humor ; purging medicines or cordials may cure it , unless the stomach is gathered , shrivell'd , or shrunk up by an unnatural contracting heat , like as leather that is put into the fire , which when so , the stomach can no more be cured then leather to be made smooth , which is shrunk up in a purse , by fire ; after the like manner as corvulsions or cramps , but cramps most commonly are only contractions of the smal veins , 〈◊〉 tie or twist them up , & many times so hard as they break ; for those that have been much troubled with the cramp , wil have all the skin , where the cramp hath taken them all stretch'd with broken veins ; i mean the small hair veins , but rubbing the part grieved with a warm cloath , will untie and untwist them again , by dissolving the cold , or dispersing the 〈◊〉 , or rarifying the bloud therein , this we 〈◊〉 by experience ; wherefore i should think that in convulsion fits , that are 〈◊〉 by the like , that if the diseased should be rubbed with hot cloaths , outwardly applied , as well as hot medicines inwardly taken , it may do the patient much good . but i must remember my readers , that in convulsions , the strength of the medicines inwardly taken , must be according to the strength of the fits ; for if they be strong fits , weak medicines do no good ; for more strength goeth to untie a hard knot , then a loose knot , or to untwist a hard string , then a loose string ; besides , it is hard to know after what manner the knot is tied or twisted , and many indeed are so ignorant of medicines , as the manner of the disease , to apply such as shall hap of the right end , as those which are cured by chance , and chance hits so seldom right , as not one of an hundred escapes of these kinde of diseases , if the disease is any wayes violent , for then the motions tie so fast , and so strong , as they break the life of that figure asunder . there be natural contractions , and unnatural contractions ; that is , proper or improper to the health of the figure . chap. 197. of collicks . all collicks are towards the nature of convulsions , or at at least cramps . some collicks proceed from raw undigested humors . some from sharp melancolly humors . others from cold flegmatick humors others from hot cholerick humors . others from putrified humors . some collicks are in the stomach ; others are in the bowels , as the guts ; some in the sides , and sometimes in the veins ; but those collicks are cramps ; but the cause of all collicks are by extenuating motions , though the effects are oft times contracting , but if the cause be contracting , it is a cramp , not a collick , for a collick is properly winde , produced from the aforesaid humors ; that is , when those humors extenuate farther then a watry extenuation , which turns into vapor or winde , which vaporous winde , or windy vapor , striving to get vent , being stopped by grosser vapor , or thicker humor , runs about in cross motions , which cause pain ; for the extenuating motions thrusting outward and the resisting motions thrusting backward , run cross , or beat on each other , which causeth pain ; and as long as the strife lasts , the body hath no ease , until some assistance in medicines be given , or that it can over-master the resistent motions ; but when once it hath liberty , it flies out in expulsive motions , at all vents ; but if the extenuating humors are broke , or dissolved in the body , by the well tempered motion therein , or expulsing of its self , it evaporates through the pores of the body in insensible transpirations ; but if the extenuating can finde no way to be expulsed , it gathers inward in small , and smaller rings , like a scrue drawing in the guts or stomach , therein stopping the passages thereof , whereby the body can neither receive nourishment , nor send out excrement , with which the body is brought to an utter destruction ; but these kinds of windes causing this distember , this distemper is oft times produced from sharp , hot , cholerick humors ; which sharpness hath a natural contracting quality which is rather of the nature of a cramp , or a convulsion , then the nature of a collick ; howsoever expulsive medicines are good in these cases of diseases . convulsions are collicks in the nerves , and cramps collicks in the veins ; and as the collick in the stomach or guts proceeds sometimes from winde , and sometimes from crude bilious sharp humors , so doth this . chap. 198. of the diseases in the head , and vapors to the head . diseases and swimming , which are diseases , belonging onely to the head , differ as the motions and mixture , and forms of matter differ ; for no disease , although of one and the same sort , is just alike ; but although these diseases belongs onely to the head , yet the motions and humors of the stomach have greater affinity to the head , and many times cause the diseases therein , by the course and recourse thereto and therefrom ; for some humors falling from the head into the stomach , do so disaffect that part , as it returns more malignity up again , and sometimes the stomach begins the war , sending up such an army of ill vapors , as many times they do not onely disorder the head , but totally ruinate it ; but most commonly the vapors which ascend to the head , are gathered by contracting motions , into clouds , as vapor is which ariseth from the earth , and as long as the vapor is in a cloudy body , it makes that part feel heavy , and the senses dull by obstructions , for it stops the nose , dims the sight , fills the ears , blunts the taste , and numbs the touch ; especially if the obstruction be caused from a cold contraction , which congeals the vapor to an icy substance , but when it is expulsed , by a hot dilation , it falls down like hail or flakes of snow , by which , i mean , cold glassie flegme , which cold flegme doth most commonly as snow doth which covers the face of the earth ; so this flegme covers , as it were stops the mouth of the stomack , and deads the appetite thereof ; but the danger is in these cold contractions , that 〈◊〉 they should last too long , they may cause numb palsies ; or the like , and if contracted , so as one may say christalined it may cause an incurable dead palsie , but if it be disperst by a hot expulsion , it is dissolved in thundring coughs , or falls like pouring shoures of * rain , running through the spouts of the noise , eyes , and mouth , and through the pores of the skin , and sometimes falls into the cabberns or bowels of the body , as the stomack , and the intrals ; but if some of the floud-gats chance to be stopped by obstructions , these shoures may chance to overflow the body , and make an utter destruction , otherwise it onely washes and clenses these parts ; but if vapor be gathered by a hot contraction , they become sharp and salt , as being of a burning quality , and if they be disperst by a hot expulsion , they fall down like a misling rain , which hath a soaking and penetrating faculty , cutting and piercing those parts they fall on by insensible degrees , which rots the vital parts , not onely by the sharpnesse which ulcerates , but by a continuated unnatural weaknesse , which if once the parts begin to decay , which is the foundation , the building must needs fall . chap. 199. of catching cold . one is apter to catch cold standing against a crevis , or door , or window , then in a wide plain . for narrow passages receive air , as pipes do water , though there comes in lesse quantity , it passes with a greater force . the like cause makes us catch cold after great heats , by reason the pores of the body are extended there-with , and are like so many windows set open , which receive air with too great a force . chap. 200. of the several motions in an animal body . vvhen a body is in perfect health , the motions therin do not onely work regularly , and proportionably placing every part of matter rightly , and properly mixing , and tempering the matter as it should be , or as i may say , fittly ; that is , when the quantity of matter , or humour is proportionably , and the motion moves equally , for though every kinde or sort of motion may move evenly , and keep just time , yet not equally or harmoniously ; as for example , say there were a company of musicians , and every one played skilfuly , justly , tunable , timely , on the same notes ; yet may there be too many trebles for the tenor , and bases , or too many tenors for the trebles and bases , and too many bases for the tenors and trebles to make a harmony ; so in the body there may be too much of one , or more kinde of motions for other kindes to make a harmony of health , as for proof ; too many contracting motions , make the body too dry , and contract diseases ; as for example , instead of binding any thing , we should break it by pulling or drawing too hard together , or instead of joyning of parts , we should knock them so close as to rivet , or split them ; or instead of gathering such a quantity of matter , or joyning such a number of parts , we should gather twice or thrice the quantity ; or numbers of the like examples might be given ; for all other kinde of motions , as dilating or expulsive , instead of throwing out the 〈◊〉 , or rubbish in a house , we should pull down the house , and disperse the materials therein , digging up the foundation thereof . likewise too many dilating , or expulsive motions , may disperse , or divide parts , or unsettle , or unground parts : which disunites weaknes , and dissolves parts or bodies . wherefore all contracting , attracting , retentive , disgestive , dilating , expulsive motions in a well tempered body , must move like the several planets , every sort in their proper sphears , keeping their times , motions , tempers , and degrees ; but too many or too strong contracting motions , cause the gout , stone , plurisie , hective fevers , numb and dead palsies , dry-liver , brain , and many the like ; and too many dilating motions , cause dropsies , winde-colicks , rhumes , shaking palsies , sweats , or fainting sicknes , & milions , the like , and too many , or too strong expulsive motions , cause fluxes , vomiting , bleeding , and the like , and too many , or too strong digestive motions , cause too much blood , fat , and flesh , which is apt to choak the vital parts , or may nourish some particular parts , so much as may make them grow , and swell out so bigg , as they may be disproportionable , for the rest of the parts in the body . but still i must remember my readers ; that all dilating motions , are in the way of expulsion ; and all attractions in the way of contraction , and digestion , are mixt motions taking part from either side , then i must remember my readers , that there are infinite wayes or manners of contractions , and infinite wayes , or manners of wayes of attraction , and so of retentions , dilations , expulsions , and disgestions , where every change makes a several effect . chap. 201. of the several tempers of the body . a healthful temper of the body , is an equal temper of the body , and mixture of 〈◊〉 , well set parts , and justly tuned motions , whereby life dances the true measure of health , making several figures , and changes with the feet of times ; and a sick distempered body is , when the humours of body are superabundant , or unequally tempered , and the motion perturbed ; and irregular , keeping neither time nor measure , but all diseases proceed from too much cold , or too much heat , or too much drought , or too much moisture , or too much humor , or too much motion , or mistempered humor , or unequal motion , or too swift motion , or too slow motion ; all contracting motions make the body dry , al dilating motions make the bodie moist , some sorts of contracting motions make the body hot and dry , other sorts of contracting motions make the bodie cold and dry ; some sorts of dilating motions make the body hot and moist ; other sorts of dilating motions make the body cold and moist ; all slow or quick motions cause the humours of the body to be heavy , thick , and clammy , all swift motions cause the humors of the body to be thin , sharp , and salt , all crosse-justling , or beating motions , causeth pain ; and according to such and such irregularities , are such , or such sorts , or , kinde , or sorts , or degrees of diseases , are produced there-from . chap. 202. the nature of purging medicines . most purging drugs are of the nature of hot burning fire ; for the inherent motions therein work according to the humour , or matter it meets with , some humor they melt , making it thin and fluid , although it be hard , tough or clammy , and as fire doth oare which is unmelted metal , makes it so fluid , as it will run through a gutter of earth like water ; so do some drugs make some sorts of humour through the body , either upward or downward . again , some drugs will work upon some humours , as fire upon wood , dividing the humour into small parts , as ashes from wood , which naturally falls downward . and some they will dissolve by mouldring , and crumbling , as fire doth stone , which runs forth like sand , which is stone indeed bred in the body . some drugs rarifie the humors into wind , as fire will rarifie , and evaporate water , which is set boyling theron . other drugs will at fire that distils out the moist , and watry substance , from that which is more grosse ; but it is to be observed , that all purging drugs that work by vomit , are somewhat of the nature of that kinde of fire we call sulphur ; or oyl that is melted , or fluid sulphur , when these sorts of drugs are set on fire , as i may say , by the natural or distempered heat in the body , it flies out ascendingly , like aetna ; for it is of the nature of sulphur to ascend as flame doth ; and certainly al bodies have such motions naturally inherent in them , as make and produce such effects as fire doth on several sorts of humours , by which motions the body hath a natural cleansing faculty , which makes the natural purging quality : but when the motions are so violent , they oftentimes destroy the body with burning fevers , or violent fluxes , or the like ; for the fire in the body , is like a fire in a chimnie , for when the chimny is clean , and the fire proportionable to lie therein , it warms and comforts all about , and is useful for many imployments for the necessaries of life ; but if the chimny be foul , or the fire too big , or too much for the chimny , it sets all in a flame , consuming whatsoever it incompasses , if it be not quenched out with cooling julips , as with water , or by casting on rubbish , or grosse materials to smother it out , as in great fluxes , they will not onely give restringent medicines , as having a natural restringent faculty , but thick meats , as thicked milk , or the like ; but when the body is restringent , or hath taken restringent medicines , it is produced by drying motions , as contracting , or retentive motion , if they be hot , retentive , or contracting motions , they they harden and confirm the humours , as the heat of the sun , or the heat of the fire doth clay , which turns it to brick or tile , or those things we call earthen pots , and according as the humour is grosse or fine , the more britle or hard , or thick or heavie , or thinne or light ; it is for some humor as proselnye , or chyney , others as the grosser earthen vessels ; again , some sorts of contracting , or retentive motions draw the humour , as when bacon , neats tongues , or the like , are dryed in a chimney , or oven , or the like ; other sorts of hot contractions draw the humour , as the sun doth the earth , drying up the watry spring therein ; but if the restringencies either of the body , or of the medicines be caused by cold retentive or contracting motions , it dries the humors , as cold frost dries the earth , or bindes up the humors , as frost binds up the waters in icy fetters , or thickens the humors , as cold thickens the water , or vapor drawn from the earth into clouds of snow . but i am to advertise my readers , that all expulsive motions are not fiery expulsions ; for there are infinite several wayes of expulsive motions , and dilations . secondly these fiery motions do not alwayes work expulsively , but contractively , attractively , and retentively , and disgestively . thirdly , all expulsive , dilative , disgestive , contractive , attractive , retentive motions are not fiery , but there is such a kinde , or sort of contractions , attractions , retentions disgestions , dilations , and expulsions , as belong to fire or heat , or as i may better say , produces heat or fire , and as i said there are infinite several wayes of each kinde of motion ; as for example , i will treat of one of them : a bee gather wax , a bird gather straws , and a man gathers sticks ; the bees gather and carie the wax to the hive to make a comb , to lay , or hold and keep the honey ; the bird gathers and carries the straw to build a nest to hatch her young ones in ; the man gathers wood to mend his house , these all gather to one end , but yet several wayes ; for the bees gather the wax , and carie it on their thighs , the bird gathers the straw , and carries it with their bill , the man gathers with his hands , but carries it several wayes , as on his head , or on his shoulders , or at his back , or in his armes , and milions of the like examples may be given upon each kinde or sort of motion , or moved matter . again , i must advertise my readers , that though i say there are fiery motions in drugs , and natural fiery motions in every animal creature , and so in many other figures ; yet i mean not a bright shining fire , although some are of opinion , that in the heart is a thin flame , and when that is put out , or goeth out , the creature dies ; but i mean not such a fire , for to my apprehension there are three sorts of fire to our perceivance , although there may be numberlesse sorts , yet all of one kinde : as for example , there are those creatures we call animals , though some are beasts , birds , fish , and men , but not onely so , for some are of one sort , and some of another ; for a lennit is not a parot , nor a parot an owl ; nor a horse a cow , nor a sheep a dog , nor a whale a herring , nor a herring a plaise , nor a plaise a lobster ; nor a black-more is not a tauny-more , nor a europian an ethiopian , yet all are of animal kinde ; so although there may be several sorts of fire , and so of the other elements , yet all are of the fiery kinde , or likewise the fiery motions make several figures , and several figures have several fiery motions , for every sort of animals have a several shape , and several motions belonging to that shape ; so in fiery figures , and fiery motions ; but as i said before ; there are three sorts of fire . the first is a bright-shining hot-burning fire , that is , when the interior , and exterior temperament of matter , and the interior and exterior figure , and the interior and exterior motions be all as one . the second is a hot-burning fire , but not a bright shining fire , such as aqua-fortis , vitrals , and such sorts of the same nature which will burn as fire doth , but not thin as the other fire doth ; for though they are both of an interior nature , yet not of an exterior , for the bright-shining fire is all composed of sharp points , as i may say , lines of points , but this vitral fire is as sharp edged lines , like a rasor , or knife , or the like , neither is there external motions alike ; for bright-shining fire mounts upwards , when it is not supprest , or in a straight paralel line , for flame which is the liquid part of bright-shining fire , although it moves in several lines , as it ascends , yet the lines they ascend in are a straight diameter line , but this vitral fire descends as it were downward , or divides as streames of water do , that digs it self a passage through the earth , so this vitral cuts a passage , through what it works on , neither can this sort of fire work so variously , as bright-shining fire can , by reason it hath not so many parts , for points will fall into more parts , and are more swift in motion , then the edged line ; as for example , dust which is numerous little parts heapt together , will be more agile upon the least motion , although it be of a weighty nature , as of the nature of a stone . the smal haires which be of a light , and weightlesse nature , but being not divided into so many parts , cannot move so nimble , as being united lines , but if you cut the hair into smal parts , it shall move with more restlesse motion , then the sand , by so much the more as the substance is lighter . the third sort of fire is that which i call a cold dull fire , such as brimstone , or sulphur , mercury , salt , oyl , or the like , this sort in the interior nature is of the nature of bright-shining fire , both in the motions , and temperaments of matter , but not in the exterior , for it is composed of points , but those points are turned inward , as toward the center : but assoon as it touches the bright-shining fire , it straight turns the points outward : for those points soon catch hold of those straight circumferent lines , and break them in sunder , which as soon as they are broke , the points are at liberty , and taking their freedom , they mount in a flame ; but when those lines are not dissolved by fire , but crack , as we will snap a string asunder , then they onely sparkle fire out , but not flame out ; but mercury , or quick-silver , the interior is fire , but the exterior is water , for the exterior moves extenuating circles as water doth , and so much as to make it soft , and fluid , but not so much as to make it wet ; for though it alwayes gathers into sphiratical figures , which shews that the exterior would run into wet , but that the interior hinder it , by drawing the circles inward , as cold doth water into hail-stones , but yet the interior wants the force to make it so hard and firm ; but as i did advertise my readers before , that all sorts of fire work according to the matter it meets with , yet none work so variously , as the bright-shining fire ; which makes me think that drugs are more of the nature of bright-shining fire , then of the two other sorts , because they work in the body according to the humour it meets with , for if it meets wit watrish humors , it boyls it as water in a pot , which either boiles over the mouth of the stomack , or evaporates out in sweat , like dewes , or draws downward , like as in showers ofrain , it melts humors like metal , or turns humors like wood into ashes , or calcines the humor , where some part is fixed , other parts are volable ; as for example , rubarb hath a double faculty , some humors it expels out , others it bindes up ; for rubarb is both purging , and restringent , as it is to be observed in great fluxes ; for what it doth not cast forth it confirms to a more solid substance , so as it doth expulse and contract at one time , as i may say , according as it findes the humour it works with ; again , some drugs move several expulsive wayes , as by vomit and stool , where the vomiting is produced with ascending expulsions , siege with descending expulsions , but that expulses descending are of the nature of vitral fire , all that expulses ascendingly , is of the nature of sulphurous fire ; but the generality of drugs works like bright-shining fire , according to the nature of the matter , it meets with , as i have sormerly described . chap. 103. the motion of medicines . as i have said in my former chapter , that all medicinal drugs , or simples , especially those that purge , are of the nature of fire ; for the motions therein most commonly work apart according to the humor it meets with , as fire doth , which in general is to move so and so * ; yet the natural motions in drugs , and likewise in fire are expulsive , and all that is expulsive , is by antipathetical nature striving to destroy by uniting parts , and all contractive motions are by a sympathetical nature , striving to unite , by imbracing , or drawing parts together , yet the nature of the body they work in the contracting motions , may be antipathetical , and expulsive motions may be sympathetical , the one in expelling the superfluous and corrupted humors , the other in contracting them into a disease , but most diseases are cured by contrary motions ; for if they be diseases of expulsions , they must be cured by contracting , or retentive medicines ; if they be diseases of contractions , they must be cured by expulsive medicines , or else dilating or attracting ; for though the motions of attraction be agreeable , or of the nature of contraction , as to its self , as i may say , that is , to draw or carry , all to a center , as it were , but the onely difference is , that attraction make it self the center , drawing all things to it ; but contractions make the matter they work on , part of the center with them , but all attractions are insinuating motions , inviting , or drawing all towards it self , or like a man that should draw a dish of meat , or as if one should suck the brests or udder , but contracting motions are rather to binde , or knit up parts together , but if the diseases proceed from disuniting motions , then retentive medicines must be applied , which is to firm , hold , or settle parts that are loose , unsteddy ; but if the diseases proceed out of disorder and irregularity , they must be cured by digestive medicines , which is to put every part in order , and in its proper place ; like wise states-men that are neither partial or malicious , ( but readers know ) that though i say all diseases must be cured by contrary motions , yet the motions that are in such medicines , must sympathize , and agree with the constitution of the body . lastly , it is to be observed , that every degree in the disease must be followed with the same degree in the medicine , whether swift or slow , strong or weak , or more , or lesse , that is , you match your medicines to the disease ; but mistake me not , i mean not after the literal sense , but after the metaphorical sense ; but al purging medicines are dilative or expulsive , all restringent medicines , are contractive , and retentive . all drawing medicines are attractive . all restorative , or reviving medicines are disgestive . and those contracting medicines that must cure the body , muct sympathize with the natural health , and constitution of the body , not with the disease , for these motions , draw , gather , or at least knit , and bind up the sound parts from the corrupted parts , lest they should intermix , and retentive remedies do not onely stay those parts that are apt to disunite , but give strength , and hold out the assaulting motions in mistempered matter , and all attractive medicines that sympathize with the natural constitutions of the body , sucks and draws forth from the corrupt matter the pure , which is mixed , or inuolved therein ; but those attractive , and drawing medicines that are applied to outward sores , or the like , must have a sympathy with the malady , or putrifaction , for all aversions do cast outward ; or from them , not draw to them . as for the expulsive remedies they must be carefully applied , lest they should cast forth the wrong humor , by which the * malignant grows more powerful , or else should carry out more humor , then the strength of the body , will permit , or should be so weak , or of such a nature , onely to disturb , and unsettle , but not carry forth , from which disturbance great inconveniences , or deadly quarels in the body may arise ; wherefore these medicines are more dangerous then any other sort , although no medicine can be safely applied , unlesse the strength and nature be answerable to the constitution of the body , or the diseases in the body , no not those we call restorative , or reviving remedies , which work disgestively , such as cordials , or the like , for when there is more applied then will agree with the constitution of the body , or with the temper , or degree of the diseases , they turn from being assisting friends , to assaulting enemies , for when they have more force then regular work , they put in disorder those regularities , for want of regular imployment ; for it is against the nature of innate matter to desist from moving , or working , but it is not against nature to change and alter the motions . the several degrees , and natures of drugs of every particular drug , and simple ; i leave my readers to the herbal , where perchance some of it may be discoursed of right ; or effectually , howsoever it is too laborious a study or practise for me . chap. 204. agreeing , and disagreeing of humours , senses , and passions . some times the humours of the body , and the outward senses agree and disagree ; sometimes the humours of the body , and the passions of the minde , agree , or disagree ; sometimes the passions of the minde , and the outward senses agree , or disagree , and sometimes the senses , and the passions disagree , or agree with the humors of the body . as for example , sometimes the distempered humors in the body , make extravagancy in the senses , as we see in fevers ; and sometimes the distempered humors of the body make a disordered minde , as we see those that have cholerick humors , cholerick passions ; melancholy humours , melancholy passions , and the like , or distempered humors , extravagant imaginations , and the like . sometimes extravagant senses make extravagant fancies , sometimes a superabundant humor makes a strong particular appetite ; as for example , those in the green sicknesse , the overflowing , or increase of some raw , and indigested humor will cause a strong particular appetite , as some in that disease love to smell strong smells , as camfier , tanned-leather , musty bottles , or the like , or to delight onely in one taste , as oatemeal , coals , or several particular tasts , or extravagant tasts , not natural to the constitution of the body , as to delight to eat coals , leather , candles , cork , and milions of the like ; and the humour increaseth , and is nourished by the sympathy of that extravagant diet ; for what the senses take pleasure in , the minde longs for . again , some humors antipathize , as to hate all loathsome tasts , smells , noices , touches , and objects . so passions sympathize with some humors , and disagree with others , for some bitter humors make cholerick passions , sharp humors make spiteful passions , tough humors make a dull understanding , melancholy humors , make timerosity , cholerick humors make courage , and many the like ; then the senses of the minde agree , and disagree often , as some objects will astonish the senses , and ravish the minde , delight the sense , and cause love in the minde ; others which the sense dislike , causeth hate in the minde , pain in the sense , grieving in the minde , pleasure in the sense , delight in the minde ; but if the sense and minde disagree , then the sense likes that the minde hates ; as for example , the sense is taking pleasure upon an object , which for the crosse disposition , the minde 〈◊〉 , or for some injury done , or by some neglect , or out of envie , and as they sympathize , and antipathize in their working , and making ; so in the expulsions , time works out a passion , accidents work out passion , evacuations work out passion ; the like in the senses , so many times humors are expulsed by passions , and as the superfluities are purged out of the body , after the same manner , are violent passions from the minde ; for as the body purges by siege , by vomit , by urin , by spitting , by sweating , by bleeding , by incisions , and the like ; so strong passions are purged by weeping , by sighing , groaning , speaking , and acting ; but if the increasing motions of the humors in the body , and the passions in the minde , be as many , and as strong , as the expulsive motions , then there is a continuance of the same humour or passion , for whatsoever is cast forth , or wasted , is bred again . chap. 205. of outward objects disagreeing with the natural motions , and humours in the body . inward commotions of the body are often times caused by outward objects , or subjects , as when the senses take adelight at some kinde of sound , scent , sight , taste , and touch ; as for example , some will sownd at a fearful noise , that is , at a sudden , or unacustomed , or tumultuous noise ; others will sownd at the sight of bloud , or at any cruel object , or at the sight of a cat , or many other creatures ; some will sownd at sweet-smels ; others if they should taste cheese , or any meat they dissike naturally , and some will not onely sownd but die laughing with tickling , the reason is , that the exterior motion anticipates with the natural motions belonging to the body , sometimes onely to the sensitive parts , other-some to the rational part , others to both . the reason is , that the disordered motions of the outward senses , disorder the interior motions , which makes the body sick , and the body passionate , and sometimes the brain frantick , and if they make not the body sick , nor the brain mad ; yet those antipathetical , and these disordered motions , never fail to put the sense to pain , or move passion ; but when these antipathetical motions be toostrong for the natural motions belonging to the body , or minde , it brings death , or unrecoverable madnes , for then the natural motions belonging to that body , is as it were extinguished ; thus we may see that the outward senses may be perfect , and the inward parts within that body may be corrupt and decayed ; so likewise the outward senses may be defected , and the inward parts sound , and so some parts of the body firme , and others infirme , and some of the outward parts , or sense wanting , or defective , others free clear and distinguishing . the reason is , that some of the sensitive innated matter works orderly , others disorderly , and clear from the nature of the body ; for as i have said before , some of the exterior parts of the body , may be nummed , or dead ; the reason is that the natural motions , belonging to such a part of the body are altered , for every part or parcel , hath proper motions belonging thereunto . but if in any part of the body , the natural motions onely work irregularly , then it onely causeth a pain in that part ; but if the motions work crosse to the nature of the body , it causeth that part to die , but if they alter but in part , it causeth onely a numnesse which is in a degree of being dead , but if the natural motions be onely stopt by some outward accident , or actions , as by a sudden fright , which causeth the body to swoon by reason the spirits are contracted by the fright into so straight a compasse , and thronged so close together , that they cannot move in order , or by the action of lying , or pressing too hard , or too heavy upon any part that hinders the spirits therein from moving after their natural manner , which causeth a sleepinesse or numnesse in those parts , that are prest by weight , or strength ; those disorders are soon to be rectified . again , as by giving liberty , or helping the spirits with cordials which gives strength to them , and sets them at liberty ; but if the sensitive parts be quite altered from their natural course , they seldom are rectified ; but sometimes the assistance of the regular motions in the body , joyning as it were with one consent , do expel that innated matter out of that part wherein they work , contrary to the nature of the body , and supplies that part with fresh , and new matter , that moves as it should do . likewise as the sensitive innated matter works in some parts of the body irregularly , and in other parts regularly , and in one , and the same part , sometimes regularly , and sometimes irregularly , the same is it many times with the rational innate matter ; for sometimes that will moves regularly , and sometimes iregularly , that makes frantick men , sometimes to be in their wits , and sometimes out of their wits : but if their madnesse be at certain times , as at full of the moon , or high tides , or springs , or falls , or in the midst of summer , or when they keep an evil , or too full a diet , then it proceeds from those outward accidents , which give assistance to the disordered motions , which inhabit in the body , the original defect being amongst the sensitive innate matter , for this shewes that the madness proceeds from some distemper of the body , which most commonly is in the spleen , or that which they call in women , the mother , from which parts arise grosse , and noisom vapors , which ascends up into the head , and disaffects the brain ; and many times the brain is disaffected with its own distempers , and whensoever the brain is distempered , the rational innate matter which moves therein , moves irregularly ; but when those times or seasons are past , or that overfulnesse of humour is purged out , the natural motions of humour get strength , and the man is well untill the return thereof . but if the irregularity be in the rational innate matter , it is most dangerous , for it seldom , or never is cured , nor seldom have intermitting fits , but as a continual fever , in the body , so is a continual madnesse in the minde . but i shall speak more of this in my following chapters . chap. 206. of the inward sense , and outward sense , as the interior and exterior parts . some of the exterior senses may be extinguished , as sight , hearing , scent , or taste , or some parts of the body numb , or dead , or some disjoynted from the rest ; as leggs , or arms , toes , brest , eyes , nose , or the like , and yet the material parts sound and whole , which materal parts are the vital parts , as the brain , the heart , the liver , the lungs , the lights , the spleen , the maw , the midriff , the kidnies , the bladder , or the like ; as for the heart , and the brain , there is such a sympathising , and conjunction with the whole body , as the least distemper indangers the body , and the least alteration of their shapes , or figures , it destroyes the life of the body , but for the rest of those vitals , or fundamental parts , when they decay , or are any way impaired , the life doth sink down as in were by degrees , according as those parts impaires ; but if they be wounded , or corrupted by poisons , or plaguie infections , or by an absolute , and sudden alteration , from their natural motions or figures , then the life is suddenly extinguished , but the external figures of the rest of the parts have not such a sympathy to the interior motions of the whole figure ; but when i say the exterior figure of the interior parts , i mean the particular figure of every particular part , not onely the outward part , as hands and armes , leggs , and head , and body and the like ; but of brain , and heart , and liver , and so all the rest ; for though they be internal figures , to the external figures , yet they be the external figures to the internal motion that works in them . chap. 207. the sympathies and antipathies of sound to the minde and actions . the bottome hole in the eare is covered with a thin caule , or felme , which is called the drum of the ear , where those motions that enter in at the ear beat thereon , like unto drum-sticks , and if the felm , or thin skin , be stretched smooth , or braced straight with the nervous strings , the sound is clear and loud , but if it be weakly braced , and the nervous strings loose , and the thin skin slack , the sound is low and dull , by reason that skin is so soft by the slackness , that the beating , or striking , or playing motion thereon cannot rebound , or retort , but sinks , and is smothered therein ; and if it be stretched very hard , and thin , and then such motions enter the ear , which pierce , or cut sharp , such as we call shrill notes , it doth not onely desturb the natural motion in the brain , but many times breaks that skin , or at least puts it to pain ; likewise if those motions that enter in at the ear , move crosse to the natural motions in the brain , it causeth pain in the head ; likewise if one and the same notes are often repeated , it fills the head so full of this particular motion , as they over-power the natural motions therein ; and as i may say , cause a surfeit thereof in the brain , being glutted therewith , tiring not onely the sensitive part os the brain , which causeth pain or diseases , but oppresseth the rational part of innate matter in the brain , causing a hate thereto ; and if the vocal , or verbal sound are crossed , as by the way of antipathy , it may disorder both the sensitive , and rational innated matter in the brain , so much by striking or pressing into , and by barring and thronging out , as the sense , and reason are so disordered , as the natural government is absolutely overthrown , from whence proceeds madness , at least extravagant passions raised from the heart ; the like disorder both in the head , and heart , may proceed from each of the senses ; and as this or the like external objects , or subjects may disorder by the irregular , and antipathetical motions the health and understanding , which are the interiour motions , so regularity and sympathie of the verbal or vocal motions brought through the ear , may compose the differences , and disorder of the natural interior motions , as health , reason , understanding , affection , or reconcilement ; as for example , a timely , kinde , discreet discourse , may compose a disquiet mind , for the motions of wise , sober , kinde , gentle , or eloquent words may turn the motion of troubled & combustible , or extravagant thoughts into a smooth , and calm temper , or regular order ; likewise unkinde , and indiscreet , double , false , malicious , hasty , sudden , sad , or frightful discourses , may discompose , and disorder a quiet and well tempered minde , disordering the regular motions , by misplacing the thoughts , making a war in the minde , giving strength to some thoughts , and overpowring others . the like with vocal sounds ; as for musick , the notes in musick agree with the motions of passions , and the motions of several thoughts , as some notes sympathize with passions , and with the several thoughts , and move the actions accordingly , so others discompose the minde , and inveterat and disturb it ; for slow , sought strains on the tenor , and bass , is as commending , extorting , exciting , threatning , terrifying , judging , which moves the minde to melancholy , from whence proceeds fear , superstition , devotion , repenting , praying , and vowing , which causeth an humble submission , dejected countenance , weeping eys , heaved up hands , and bended knees . and slow soft notes , onely on the tenors , are a sad relation , sorrowful laments , mournful complaints , pleadings , petitioning , acknowledging faults , begging pardon , imploring mercy , which moves the minde to a tender pitty and compassion , and a charitable love , from whence proceeds a listning ear , a helping hand , a serious countenance , a sad eye , with a favouring cast therefrom . high , hard , sharp , notes or straines , on the basse or tenor , is like exclaiming , incouraging , or animating , extolling , promising ; which moves the minde to pride , ambition , vain-glory , desire , hope , which makes the body active , the actions adventrous , bold , the eyes darting and quick . low , sharp straines , and cross notes , and unequal times , move the minde to murmur words , choler , hate , revenge , fury , despair , the cursing , their hands tearing , the legs stamping , their bodies turning several wayes , their countenance maskerd and gastly , and the eyes staring . but quick sharp straines in tenor notes , and soft slow strains on treble notes , are as perswading , flattering , insinuating , professing , inviting , alluring , this moves the minde to love , the thoughts to be amorous ; this makes their actions affective , kissing their hands , making of leggs , mending their garments , offering their service , their words complemental , their countenance smiling , and their eyes glancing . and quick sharp strains , on the tenor , and treble notes , produce a cheerful minde , it makes the thoughts lively , the countenance pleasant , their eyes quick , their discourse wanton , and jesting , their actions laughing , singing , playing , and dancing . but slow low flats strike on the basses , and tenor notes moves the minde to a dull stupidity , wherein the thoughts lie as dead , this makes the body appear like sensless statues of stone , without motion , the head bending down , the eyes fixt to the ground . but cramatick musick is like schools disputation , and discord in musick , is like quarrelling , these are the grounds of musical discourses , or discourses in musick . musick hath a sympathie to the rational motions , because the rational spirits move in number and measure , as musical instruments do . thus as notes are set , the thoughts are placed , and as the notes change in several tunes , so the thoughts move in several passions , and as notes are composed , so are thoughts , as sembrim of thoughts , a full note is a fixt thought . thus according as the notes and thoughts agree , the minde , and musick makes a harmony , if i have not matched my strains 〈◊〉 notes , with words and thoughts properly , let those that understand musick , and rhetorick mend it , for i understand neither , having neither fed at the full table , nor drank at the full head of learning , but lived alwayes upon scattered crums , which i pick up here and there , and like a poor lasie begger , that had rather feed on scraps then work , or be industrious to get wealth , so i had rather write by guesse , then take the pains to learn every nice distinction . and if my book will not please the learned , yet it may please the vulgar , whose capacity can onely dig in the earth , being not able to reach the celestial orbs by speculation . chap. 208. the knowledge of diseases . it is not sufficient for physitians to study the names of diseases , and to know onely so much , as to distinguish one kinde of disease from another , as we should distinguish man from beast , or so , as a horse from a cow , or as that horse is a barbe , or a coarser , or a genet , or a turk , or an arabian , but that this barbe , is not that barbe , or this genet is not that genet , and the like . likewise to know the nature so , as to know how to use it , and what fit to apply to it ; as for example , a man buyes a horse , and he having onely an old saddle , that he was accustomed to ride with on a horse he formerly had , put it on his new horses back , yet although his horse is of the same country , or sort of horses , as his former horse was , yet the saddle may not be fit for the new horse , but may be either too big or too little , and by the unfitnesse may gall his horse so sore , and corrupt the flesh so much , as he may be a scald back jade , as long as he lives , if it festers not as to kill him ; so in diseases medicines may be too strong , or too weak , or they may evacuate too much or too little , if they do not not know the just dimension , and extention of the disease . again , one the same sort of horses may be so dull , as hardly to move out of his pace with the spur , although it should prick so deep , as to make his sides to bleed , when another horse of the same sort , shall run away , over hedg , and ditch , against trees , and stones , untill he hurt himself , and flings his rider , or at least flings , and leaps , and snorts , and stamps ; and grows into a furious heat ; so diseases , some must be handled gently , others more roughly , for in diseases you must learn the disposition of the disease , as well of what kinde , sort , or breed it is ; so likewise it is not enough for a physitian to know what drugs will purge choler , what flegme , and what melancholy , or the like ; but they should study to know the several motions , which work in them , or else their operations will be as their imploiments are , which is chance-medly ; for otherwise a physitian neither applies his medicines knowingly , nor skilfully , but customarily , because they are usually given in such diseases , whereof some do mend , others do die with them ; but certain if physitians would take pains to study the several motions of the diseases , and also of the drugs , and medicines they give , and would do as skilful musitians , which make a consort , where although every one plaies upon a several instrument , yet they all make their notes agree , there would follow a harmony of health in the body , as well as a harmony of musick in these consorts . but as i said before it is not sufficient to know how to purg choler , flegme , melancholy , and the like , for the purging of those humors doth not alwayes work cures ; for some diseases do not alwayes proceed so much from the loose humours in the body , as the disordered motions in the body ; for choler , flegme , melancholy , are not superfluous humors of the body ; unlesse the quantity of each be too much ; for the nature of the body , for those humours are part of the body , and the body could not subsist without them , for they are several mixtures , which serve to the consistance of the figure , and as some humours , make and mix such humours , so other motions carry the humour like tempered matter , or lime to the creations or reparations of the figure , which is the body ; and if there were none of those humours , the figure would no more stand , if once a decaying , no more then a house which runs to ruine for want of stone , brick , wood , or morter , or the like : besides , if there were not flegme , choler , would do like a coach wheel , for want of moisture , the motions would set the body on fire , and if no choler , the flegme would drown it , and if neither flegme nor choler , muddy melancholy would dam , or stop it up . but physitians should study diseases so , as they may be able to distinguish them , as we do the different faces of mankinde , or any other ; for there are as many several kindes of diseases , as there are animals , and as much difference in one , and the same kinde , as there are in the several shapes , and countenances to the body and nature , and disposition of the minde ; besides , diseases are like parents , and children , as the childe may resemble the parent , or the children of the same parents may resemble one another , and yet they are not all one ; again , diseases may be like half brothers , or sisters , as some may have all one mother , but not one father ; so some diseases may be produced , partly from such a cause , and partly from another . again , diseases may be matcht , and some to be like widows , and widows that marry again , so diseases may be loose , or be quit of such a producing cause , and joyn with another . as for example , a cold stomack is a disease , and a hot liver is a disease , and both may produce such diseases ; perchance the cold stomack , may be cured , but not the hot liver , when the cold stomack is cured , the hot liver is a widow , which afterwards may chance to match with a cold melancholy spleen , or two or thre , or more diseases , may be matched together ; as if a man should have two or three wives , or a woman as many husbands ; likewise several accidents may be matched , or at least commit adultery , and get bastardly children . as for example , a great heat may be matched or joyned with a sudden cold , which may produce a great fever or other diseases that usually follow , and milions of the like examples may bee given . but i desire my readers , that they may not condemn my comparisons , as extravagant , and too fantastical for so grave a subject , but i could finde no fitter to expresse my meaning , which is onely that i would have physitians , as skilful , knowing and learned in diseases , as they are in the customs , manners , humours , and persons of men , and that they may as knowingly distiugnish the difference , alterations , degrees , and alliances of diseases , as they do the several sexes , faces , countenance , dispositions and qualities of men . besides , who knowes but that the very thoughts of men may be known by the temper of their body ? for could men come but to learn the several motions of the body , which ingenious observations may come to do , they may easily come to learn the motions of the minde , and so come to know the thoughts , which thoughts are the several figures therein , which figures most commonly move sympathetically , with the motions of the body . chap. 209. to my just readers . i desire all those that are friends to my book , if not to my book , for justice sake , that whatsoever is new is my own , which i hope all is ; for i had never any guide to direct me , nor intelligence from any authors , to advertise me , but write according to my own natural cogitations , where if any do write after the same manner in what language soever , that they will remember my work is the original of their discourse , but they that steal out my opinions , or compare them to old opinions , that are nothing alike , as if one should liken to men that had neither semblance in features , countenance , proportion , nor complexion , because they are two men , as being of madkinde , surely they might be judged to be fools ; but may all such be condemned , as false , malicious , ridiculous or mad . but to such noble dispositions as will give right , and speak truth , may they never receive injury , may honour crown them , fame applaud them , and time reward them with antiquity . this chapter although it belongs to another book , yet i thought it fit to joyn it to this discourse . chap. 210. the diatical centers . although infinite matter and motion was from all eternity ; yet that infinite moving matter is disposed by an in finite deity , which hath power to order that moving matter , as that deity pleaseth , by reason there is nothing greater then it self , therefore there is nothing that can oppose its will. likewise this deity is as the center of infinite moving matter , for though there can be no center in infinites , by reason there is no circumference , yet in respect the matter is infinite every way from , and to this deity ; we may say the deity is the center of infinite matter , and by reason , the infinite moving matter , flowes as much to this diatical , center , as from it , it doth as it were present it self , or rather is forced to be ordered , by its infinite wisdom , which otherwise it would run into an infinite confusion , with which there would be an infinite , horrid and eternal war in nature ; and though this deity is as the center to infinite matter , yet this deity in it self is as infinite matter , for its wisdom is as infinite as matter , and its knowledge as infinite as its wisdom , and its power as infinite as both , and the effects of these attributes run with infinite matter , like infinite paralel lines , even and straight , not crossing , nor obstructing , nor can they circumference or circle in each other , the matter and the deity being both infinite neither is the matter or deity finite to , or in themselves , for infinite matter hath no end , or period , neither can the infinite deity comprehend it self , so as it is a god to it self , as well , or as much as to matter ; for this deity is no wayes finite , neither to its self , nor matter , its knowledge being as infinite as its power , and its wisdom as infinite its knowledge , and its power as infinit as both , and being infinit , its wisdom cannot be above its power , nor its power beyond its wisdom , neither can its knowledge comprehend its power , or the wayes of its wisdom being all infinite and eternal . and though nature is infinit matter , motion and figure creating all things out of its self , for of matter they are made , and by motion they are formed into several and particular figures , yet this deity orders and disposes of all natures works . great god , from thee all infinites do flow ; and by thy power from thence effects do grow ; thou orderest all degrees of matter , just as t' is thy will and pleasure move it must , and by thy knowledge orderd'st all the best , for in thy knowledge doth thy wisdom rest ; and wisdom cannot order things amiss , for where disorder is , no wisdom is . besides , great god , thy will is just , for why ? thy will still on thy wisdom doth rely . o pardon lord , for what , i now hear speak upon a guesse , my knowledge is but weak ; but thou hast made such creatures as mankinde , and gav'st them somthing which we cal a mind , alwayes in motion , never quiet lies , untill the figure , of his body dies , his several thoughts , which several motions are do raise up love , hope , joyes , doubts and feare ; as love doth raise up hope , so fear doth doubt , which makes him seek to find the great god out : self love doth make him seek to finde , if he came from , or shall last to eternity ; but motion being slow , makes knowledge weak , and then his thoughts 'gainst ignorance doth beat , as fluid waters 'gainst hard rocks do flow , break their soft streams , & so they backward go : just so do thoughts , & then they backward slide , unto the place , where first they did abide ; and there in gentle murmurs , do complain , that all their care and labour is in vain ; but since none knows , the great creator must , man seek no more , but in his greatness trust . finis . i finde since i have read my book over , i could have enlarged that part of my book that treats of diseases , much to the advantage ; but i must intreat my noble readers , to remember there are natural humors , and metamorphosed humors , which are wrought by several motions , as those of elements ; also that there are natural contractions , attractions , retentions , digestions , delations , expulsions ; likewise that there are unnatural of all these motions : that is , such as are proper or improper to the the natural health , or consistence of the several parts and the generality of the whole figure . also that the motions that make the humor , and the motions that move the humor may be quite different , and some parts of a humor may be made by some sorts of motions , and some by other sorts of motions , where my discourse of the motions which makes the elements will enlighten the readers . errata . in my epistle to my honourable readers , for pair read poiz . in a condemning treatise of atoms , for figures read febures . p. 10. l. 28. r. dissolution . p. 12. l. 30. r. other . p. 22. l. 35. r. dissolution . p. 23. l. 15. r. finite . p. 24. l. 21. r. brain . p. 30. l. 2. r. individable . p. 34. l. 21. r. spread . p. 35. l. 22. r. digging . p. 38. l. 21. r. prints . p. 43. l. 16. r. cold . p. 58. l. 47. r. extenuated . p. 60. l. 15. r. crinkling . and l. 36. r. triangulars . p. 62. l. 4. r. from water . and l. 17. r. as . p. 62. l. 32. r. manner . p. 65. l. 14. r. piercing . p. 104. l. 5. r. heptick fevors . and l. 12. add my . p. 116. l. 25. r. print . p. 123. l. 6. r. foul . p. 130. l. 6. r. dissolution . and l. 27. add and swooning . p. 143. l. 3. r. sensitive . p. 144. l. 24. r. gold . p. 148. l. 10. r. veines . p. 149. l. 6. r. fursball . p. 157. l. 18. blot out , or quick . and l. 42. r. as . p. 158. l. 30. r. dry . and l. 33. r. dry . p. 160. l. 11. r. then . p. 161. l. 19. r. are not all expulsive . p. 162. l. 22. r. matter from the. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a53055-e1450 i mean of form , dull matter . some think there was a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confused heap . the readers may take either opinion . several motitions , and severall figures * not the matter , but the degrees . * not the 〈◊〉 of figures , but the manner of shapes : which makes some shapes to have the advantage over others much bigger , as a mouse will kill an elephant . * which is in likenesse . * unlikenesse . one shape hath power over another ; one minde knowes more then another . either by growth , or sense , or reason . for when matter comes to such a degree , it quickens . that it begins to move , and motion is life . * i mean when i say obstruct , that it either turns their motion another way or makes them move slower . * i do not say that bones are the solid'st matter in nature . * as the figure of man. * all motion 〈◊〉 life . i mean the figure of dull matter . as a plentiful crop or a great brood . these degrees are visible to us . dancing is a measur'd motion . * scorching is , when the motioh is too quick . * that is , when there come so many spirits , as they disagree . pressing upon one another . * those degrees that are neerest , have the greatest sympathy * like chess-men , table-men , nine-pins , or the like . * i say higher for expressions sake . * nothing can be made or known absolute out of infinite and eternal . * though it may mave omotions , yet not the animal motion . * the figure might be without an animal motion , but an animal motion cannot be untill there is an animal figure . * which food is when such materials are not proper for such a figure . * the greater the number is , the more variety of motion is made , which makes figures in the brain . * in animal shapes * to prove that it is the several motion , is that we shall have the same sense in our sleep , either to move pleasure or feel pain . * like glasse . * natural power . i say extract . because it is the essence of matter . this for example . drawing motions . driving m tions . bearing motions . throwing , striking , darting motions . lofty motions . low 〈◊〉 conjunction of those different motions . first the earth bears vegetables , and the plants bear seed , and the seed , and earth bear vegetables again . unlesse a greater power destroy it before the natural time . life is in every thing . it is but one thing , but three words . that is to weaken the degree . fish is a kind of flesh . the yolk and white is mixt into one substance which we call an adle egge ; before it be a 〈◊〉 it is bloody . t is a lump of flesh before it be bone , or sinew . and then it is no metamorphosing i shal declare . and then it is called a new creature rather then a metamorphosed creature &c. which circular lines i shal expresse hereafter . i mean natural extenuations . as the pores of the skin . oyl , hot-waters , wine , vitrals , aquafortis . from earth to water . * as thns or rather like flame . as if an ani mal creature should be pulled and dragged out of ' its natural garb . i mean here the exterior nature not the interior nature . i mean the heaviest metal to the hardest stone , as gold to diamonds , or tin , or lead to a soft stone * as vessels wherein water is put , and fire underneath . this sort of contraction is drawing inward . those sorts are falling backward . the contracting motions too strong for the expulsive motions . yet there are but few bodies that are not overcome at last . i mean the matter that made it . as several men will. as peace among neighbours and friends . i say aptest , not as they do . i speak this as a comparison , for i know the sun is much bigger then the earth . as we say dead . i thimk them to be animals . i say natural because there are metamorphosed elements . if one powers water on the ground it flows with a convex . in a pear figure . see my chapter of fame sound enters into all hollow places , as well as into the animal ear . i call 〈◊〉 natural that are propper to the figure . fethers , wool hair , and the like , which are neither liquid , 〈◊〉 , nor wet , onely soft and sympathy all animals are not of one shape . and as a man may pick a hole through the wall , so water will pick a passage through the earth . i mean all exterior motions . which moves in figures like dancing . the world is presented like a popitplay in the head . a sleep nonrisheth and gives health , and strength . b nourishment . c healing decayes . 〈◊〉 . strengthening . knitting the muscles , nervs and the like . urin to the bladder . excrements into the guts . vapors the innate matter can move slower then their strength , or natural agilnesse , but not above nor beyond their natural strength and agilnesse . i call that matter so 〈◊〉 distinction . * as we finde in churches , and caves made hollow arched , a noise sounds loudest . lines of light may be made by the sensisitive spirits on the side of the optick nerve as on the outside , as in sleep . all innate matter is as the minde , or life of nature . all without outward help the property of each sense . fools have lesse rational innated matter in their braines , then those that are wise . * as for touch the pores of the flesh are like harpsical keys , and the nerves like the wyer strings , 〈◊〉 move when those keyes are touch'd , which cause pleasure or pain , like discord , or harmony , according as they are struck or plaid upon . the head ake is different from the tooth ake , or stomack ake , and so every 〈◊〉 , be it never so small , differs . as sauces may be equally mixt with several sorts of things , as none can tast any one thing in it . like the over flowing of banks . ebbing from the mouth of the stomack as from the river . like low marshy grounds . * i think it is rar fied vapor , because it is so easily dispersed . the stronger motions forceth the weaker to their wayes . as on the opticks , or as on the drum of the ear , the pia mater , or the skin for touch and taste . as to see , hear , taste , touch , smell , that which is not present , or perhaps not in nature . * figures of innated matter . in mad fits . * if i mistake not . which is corrupt humors . as a sound body . surfets , or unholsom meats . the stronger motions over power the the weaker some dayes the body 〈◊〉 better then others , so in an hour or half an hour . as hot and dry cordials . as to draw every day an ounce , or two as long as the violence of the discase lasts . i meane there interior strength . * as by letting bloud , or the like . yet it is first caused by other distempered motions , before they come to be distempered expulsions . there are hot expulsions , and cold expulsions , and hot contractions , and cold contractions . as witnesse the frost and ice . the like of other kinde of motions . see in the chap of extenuations of water . sometimes longer and some times shorter . for as long as the humor remains , the 〈◊〉 are repeated . winde collick . a bilious collick . cramps oft times taken for collicks . * rheums . * sweats . i have treated of the several sorts of fire . that is when it works , and converts a thinner substance to its own nature . but bound about with straight smooth lines without as to the circumference . as a flint , hard suger , brimstone , or the like . * that which is most apt to i mean purning motions . restraining motions . attractive motion . restoring motion . * the humor that staies behiude . we may hear a tune so often repeated ; that it may grow hateful ; although delightful at first .