hairs breadth causes a several perception besides it is not onely the five organs in an animal but every part and particle of his body that has a peculiar knowledg and perception because it consists of self-moving Matter Which if so then a Looking-glass that patterns out the face of a Man and a Mans Eye that patterns again the copy from the Glass cannot be said to have the same perception by reason a Glass and an animal are different sorts of Creatures for though a piece of Wood Stone or Metal may have a perceptive knowledg of Man yet it hath not a Man's perception because it is a Vegetable or Mineral and cannot have an Animal knowledg or perception no more then the Eye patterning out a Tree or Stone can be said to have a Vegetable or Mineral Perception nay when one Animal as for example one man perceives another he doth not perceive his knowledg for it is one thing to perceive the exterior figure of a Creature and another thing to perceive its interior proper and innate actions also it is one thing to perceive exterior objects and another to receive knowledg for no part can give away to another its inherent and proper particular nature neither can one part make it self another part it may imitate some actions of another part but not make it self the same part which proves that each part must have its own knowledg and perception according to its own particular nature for though several parts may have the like perceptions yet they are not the same and although the exterior figures of some objects may be alike yet the perceptions may be quite different 't is true sensitive and rational knowledg is general and infinite in Nature but every part being finite can have but a finite and particular knowledg and that according to the nature of its particular figure for as not all Creatures although they be composed of one Matter are alike in their figures so not all can have the like knowledges and perceptions though they have all self-motion for particular Creatures and actions are but effects of the onely Infinite self-moving Matter and so are particular perceptions and although they are different yet the difference of effects does not argue different causes but one and the same cause may produce several and different effects so that although there be infinite different motions in Nature yet they are all but motions and cannot differ from each other in being motions or self-moving parts and although there be infinite several and different perceptions yet they are all perceptions for the effects cannot alter the cause but the cause may alter the effects Wherefore rational and sensitive corporeal motions cannot change from being motions though they may change from moving thus to move thus nor perceptions from being perceptions though they may change from being such or such particular perceptions for the change is onely in particulars not in the ground or principle which continues always the same The truth is as it is impossible that one figure should be another figure or one part another part so likewise it is impossible that the perception of one part should be the perception of another but being in parts they must be several and those parts being different they must be different also But some are more different then others for the perceptions of Creatures of different sorts as for example of a Vegetable and an Animal are more different then the perception of particulars of one sort or of one composed figure for as there is difference in their interior natures so in their perceptions so that a Mineral or Vegetable that perceives the figure of an Animal has no more the perception of an Animal then an Animal which perceives or patterns out the figure of a Mineral or Vegetable has the perceptions of those Creatures for example when a man lies upon a stone or leans on a tree or handles and touches water c. although these parts be so closely joined to each other yet their perceptions are quite different for the man onely knows what he feels or sees or hears or smells or tasteth but knows not what sense or perception those parts have nay he is so far from that that even one part of his body doth not know the sense and perception of another part of his body as for example one of his hands knows not the sense and perception of his other hand nay one part of his hand knows not the perception of another part of the same hand for as the corporeal figurative motions differ so do particular knowledges and perceptions and although sensitive and rational knowledg is general and infinite in infinite Nature yet every part being finite has but finite and particular perceptions besides perception being but an effect and not a cause is more various in particulars for although all Creatures are composed of rational and sensitive Matter yet their perceptions are not alike neither can the effect alter the cause for though the several actions of sensitive and rational Matter be various and make several perceptions yet they cannot make several kinds of sensitive and rational Matter but when as perceptions change the parts of the sensitive and rational matter remain the same in themselves that is they do not change from being sensitive or rational parts although they may make numerous perceptions in their particular parts according to the various changes of self-motion But some may say If the particular parts of one composed figure be so ignorant of each others knowledg as I have expressed How can they agree in some action of the whole figure where they must all be imployed and work agreeably to one effect As for example when the Mind designs to go to such a place or do such a work How can all the parts agree in the performing of this act if they be ignorant of each others actions I answer Although every Parts knowledg and perception is its own and not anothers so that every part knows by its own knowledg and perceives by its own perception yet it doth not follow from thence that no part has any more knowledg then of it felf or of its own actions for as I said before it is well to be observed that there being an entercourse and commerce as also an acquaintance and agreement between parts and parts there must also of necessity be some knowledg or perception betwixt them that is one part must be able to perceive another part and the actions of that same part for wheresoever is life and knowledg that is sense and reason there is also perception and though no part of Nature can have an absolute knowledg yet it is neither absolutely ignorant but it has a particular knowledg and particular perceptions according to the nature of its own innate and interior figure In short as there are several kinds sorts and particular perceptions and particular ignorances between parts so there are more general perceptions
Tree or Stone yet he does not know whether the Tree or Stone perceives him much less what perceptions they make but as I said before Perception I name an exterior action because it is occasioned by an object that is without the perceiving parts for although both sensitive and rational perception are so closely intermixt that none can be without the other in every part or particle of Nature were it no bigger then what is call'd an Atome yet considered in themselves they are without each other so far that the rational perceptive part is not the sensitive nor the sensitive the rational or else they would not be several parts or actions neither would there be any imitation betwixt them Lastly I desire that notice may be taken when I say that every action of Nature is perceptive for since there are no single parts in Nature but whatsoever is body consists of parts there can neither be any such thing as a single action that is an action of a single part but in all natural actions there is a commerce entercourse or agreement of parts which entercourse or agreement cannot be without perception of knowledg of each other Wherefore it must of necessity follow that every action is perceptive or that perception between parts is required in every action of Nature nay even in those which are called voluntary actions for though the rational and sensitive parts of a composed figure can make voluntary figures within themselves without taking any patterns of forreign objects yet those parts must needs know and perceive each other even in the composition or framing of their voluntary figures so that exterior knowledg or perception is as universal as self-motion for wheresoever is self-motion there is perception also But it is well to be observed first That Perception or Perceptive knowledg is onely between Parts Next That although every action in Nature is perceptive yet not every action is the action of Perception properly so called which Perception in composed figures at least in Animals is an action of patterning out exterior parts or objects performed by the rational and sensitive corporeal figurative motions in their proper organs But there are Infinite other actions which although they require perceptive parts yet they are not such actions of Perceptions as are made by Patterning out or imitating outward objects As for example Respiration Digestion Contraction Dilation Expulsion Generation Retention Dissolution Growth Decay c. Nevertheless all those actions are perceptive that is the parts which perform those actions have perception of each other or else they would never agree to produce such effects The truth is that even the action of Perception properly so called presupposes many particular perceptions between those parts that concur to the performance of that act for it is impossible that both the rational and sensitive parts in a composed figure should make the act of Perception without they know and agree what they are to do and how they are to perform it as I mentioned before And this is the reason that I have made a difference between Perception and Respiration and called them different actions not as if Respiration was not a perceptive action or presupposes not knowledg and perception between those parts that make respiration but it is not the action of Perception properly so called as for example the perception of Seeing Hearing Smelling Tasting c. in Animals but it is properly an action of drawing sucking breathing in or receiving any ways outward parts and of venting discharging or sending forth inward parts nevertheless all this cannot be done without perception or knowledg no more then without motion for wheresoever is motion there is perception also and therefore Respiration is a perceptive action In short I desire it may be observed 1. That there is Perception in every action but that not every Perception is made by patterning 2. That all self-moving parts are perceptive 3. That Perception Perceptive knowledg and Exterior knowledg are all one thing and that I take them indifferently 4. That all voluntary actions both of sense and reason are made by perceptive parts and therefore when I make a distinguishment between voluntary actions and perceptions I mean the perceptions of a composed figure and not the particular perceptive knowledges between those parts that join in the act of such Perceptions or in the making of voluntary figures But it may be objected That if all motions be perceptive they would be wholly imployed in nothing else but in making copies of exterior parts or objects My answer is Although I say that all motions are perceptive yet I do not positively affirm that all perceptions in Nature are made by Patterning or Imitation for we are to consider that there are as many different sorts of perceptions as there are of motions because every particular motion has a particular perception and though in a composed figure or Creature some motions may work to the paterning out of exterior objects yet all the rest may not do so and be nevertheless perceptive for like as a Man or any other animal Creature is not altogether composed of Eyes Eares Noses or the like sensitive organs so not all perceptive motions are imitating or patterning but some are retentive some expulsive some attractive some contractive some dilative some creating or producing some dissolving some imitating or patterning and so forth and as there are degrees of parts and motions so some perceptions may be so much purer finer and subtiler then others as much as pure Air is beyond gross Earth The truth is we cannot judg of Natures actions any otherways then we observe them by our own sensitive and rational perceptions and since we find that the sensitive and rational motions in our sensitive organs do work by the way of patterning or imitation we may surely conclude that some perceptions are made that way but that all other perceptions in all natural parts or Creature should be after the same manner would be too presumptuous for any particular Creature to affirm since there are infinite several sorts of perceptions and although we may justly and with all reason believe that all parts of Nature are perceptive because they are self-moving and self-knowing yet no particular Creature is able to judg how and in what manner they perceive no more then it can know how they move And by this it is evident how in one and the same organ of the eye some motions or parts may work to the act of perception properly so called which is made by patterning out the figure of an exterior object and other motions or parts may work to the retention of the eye and preserving it in its being others again may work to its shutting and opening and others to its respiration that is venting of superfluous and receiving of nourishing parts which motions are properly subservient to the retentive motions and hundreds the like and yet all these motions are as knowing and
By Discourse I do not mean speech but an Arguing of the mind or a Rational inquiry into the Causes of Natural effects for Discourse is as much as Reasoning with our selves which may very well be done without Speech or Language as being onely an effect or action of Reason When I say That Art may make Pewter Brass c. I do not mean as if these Figures were Artificial and not Natural but my meaning is That if Art imitates Nature in producing of Artificial Figures they are most commonly such as are of mixt Natures which I call Hermaphroditical When I say That Respiration is a Reception and Emission of parts through the pores or passages proper to each particular figure so that when some parts issue others enter I do not mean at one and the same time or always through the same passages for as there is variety of Natural Creatures and Figures and of their perceptions so of the manner of their perceptions and of their passages and pores all which no particular Creature is able exactly to know or determine And therefore when I add in the following Chapter That Nature has more ways of composing and dividing of parts then by the way of drawing in and sending forth by pores I mean that not all parts of Nature have the like Respirations The truth is it is enough to know in general That there is Respiration in all parts of Nature as a general or universal action and that this Respiration is nothing else but a composition and division of Parts but how particular Respirations are performed none but Infinite Nature is capable to know When I say That there is a difference between Respiration and Perception and that Perception is an action of figuring or patterning but Respiration an action of Reception and Emission of Parts First I do not mean that all Percaption is made by patterning or imitation but I speak onely of the Perception of the exterior senses in Animals at least in man which I observe to be made by patterning or imitation for as no Creature can know the infinite perceptions in Nature so he cannot describe what they are or how they are made Next I do not mean that Respiration is not a Perceptive action for if Perception be a general and universal action in Nature as well as Respiration both depending upon the composition and division of parts it is impossible but that all actions of Nature must be perceptive by reason perception is an exterior knowledg of forreign parts and actions and there can be no commerce or intercourse nor no variety of figures and actions no productions dissolutions changes and the like without Perception for how shall Parts work and act without having some knowledg or perception of each other Besides wheresoever is self-motion there must of necessity be also Perception for self-motion is the cause of all exterior Perception But my meaning is That the Animal at least Humane respiration which is a receiveing of forreign parts and discharging or venting of its own in an animal or humane Figure or Creature is not the action of Animal Perception properly so call'd that is the perception of its exterior senses as Seeing Hearing Tasting Touching Smelling which action of Perception is properly made by way of patterning and imitation by the innate figurative motions of those Animal Creatures and not by receiving either the figures of the exterior objects into the sensitive Organs or by sending forth some invisible rayes from the Organ to the Object nor by pressure and reaction Nevertheless as I said every action of Nature is a Knowing and Perceptive action and so is Respiration which of necessity presupposes a knowledg of exterior parts especially those that are concern'd in the same action and can no ways be perform'd without perception of each other When I say That if all mens Opinions and Fancies were Rational there would not be such variety in Nature as we perceive there is by Rational I mean Regular according to the vulgar way of expression by which a Rational Opinion is call'd That which is grounded upon regular sense and reason and thus Rational is opposed to Irregular Nevertheless Irregular Fancies and Opinions are made by the rational parts of matter as well as those that are regular and therefore in a Philosophical and strict sense one may call Irregular Opinions as well Rational as those that are Regular but according to the vulgar way of expression as I said it is sooner understood of Regular then of Irregular Opinions Fancies or Conceptions When I say that None of Natures parts can be call'd Inanimate or Soul-less I do not mean the constitutive parts of Nature which are as it were the Ingredients whereof Nature consists and is made up whereof there is an inanimate part or degree of matter as well as animate but I mean the parts or effects of this composed body of Nature of which I say that none can be call'd inanimate for though some Philosophers think that nothing is animate or has life in Nature but Animals and Vegetables yet it is probable that since Nature consists of a commixture of animate and inanimate matter and is self-moving there can be no part or particle of this composed body of Nature were it an Atome that may be call'd Inaminate by reason there is none that has not its share of animate as well as inanimate matter and the commixture of these degrees being so close it is impossible one should be without the other When enumerating the requisites of the Perception of Sight in Animals I say that if one of them be wanting there is either no perception at all or it is an imperfect perception I mean there is no Animal perception of seeing or else an irregular perception When I say that as the sensitive perception knows some of the other parts of Nature by their effects so the rational perceives some effects of the Omnipotent Power of God My meaning is not as if the sensitive part of matter hath no knowledg at all of God for since all parts of Nature even the inanimate have an innate and fixt self-knowledg it is probable that they may also have an interior self-knowledg of the existency of the Eternal and Omnipotent God as the Author of Nature But because the rational part is the subtilest purest finest and highest degree of matter it is most conformable to truth that it has also the highest and greatest knowledg of God as far as a natural part can have for God being Immaterial it cannot properly be said that sense can have a perception of him by reason he is not subject to the sensitive perception of any Creature or part of Nature and therefore all the knowledg which natural Creatures can have of God must be inherent in every part of Nature and the perceptions which we have of the Effects of Nature may lead us to some conceptions of that Supernatural Infinite and
digestion or expulsion and the actions of contraction from those of dilation so the actions of imitation or patterning are different from the voluntary actions vulgarly called Conceptions and all this to make an equal poise or ballance between the actions of Nature Also there is difference in the degrees of motions in swiftness slowness rarity density appetites passions youth age growth decay c. as also between several sorts of perceptions all which proves that Nature is composed of self-moving parts which are the cause of all her varieties But this is well to be observed said they that the Rational parts are the purest and consequently the most active parts of Nature and have the quickest actions wherefore to ballance them there must be a dull part of Matter which is the Inanimate or else a World would be made in an instant and every thing would be produced altered and dissolved on a sudden as they had mentioned before Well replied my later Thoughts if there be such oppositions between the parts of Nature then I pray inform us whether they be all equally and exactly poised and ballanced To which the former answered That though it was most certain that there was a poise and ballance of Natures corporeal actions yet no particular Creature was able to know the exactness of the proportion that is between them because they are infinite Then my later Thoughts desired to know whether Motion could be annihilated The former said no because Nature was Infinite and admitted of no addition nor diminution and consequently of no new Creation nor annihilation of any part of hers But said the later If Motion be an accident it may be annihilated The former answered They did not know what they meant by the word Accident The later said That an Accident was something in a body but nothing without a body If an Accident be something answered the former Then certainly it must be body for there is nothing but what is corporeal in Nature and if it be body then it cannot be nothing at no time but it must of necessity be something But it cannot subsist of and by it self replied my later Thoughts as a substance for although it hath its own being yet its being is to subsist in another body The former answered That if an Accident was nothing without a body or substance and yet something in a body then they desired to know how being nothing it could subsist in another body and be separated from another body for composition and division said they are attributes of a body since nothing can be composed or divided but what has parts and nothing has parts but what is corporeal or has a body and therefore if an accident can be in a body and be separated from a body it would be non-sense to call it nothing But then my later Thoughts asked that when a particular Motion ceased what became of it The former answered it was not annihilated but changed The later said How can motion be corporeal and yet one thing with body Certainly if body be material and motion too they must needs be two several substances The former answered That motion and body were not two several substances but motion and matter made one self-moving body and so was place colour figure c. all one and the same with body The later replied That a Man and his action were not one and the same but two different things The former answered That a Man and his actions were no more different then a man was different from himself for said they although a man may have many different actions yet were not that man existent the same actions would not be for though many men have the like actions yet they are not the same But then replied the later Place cannot be the same with body nor colour because a man may change his place and his colour and yet retain his body Truly said the former If Place be changed then Body must change also for wheresoever is Place there is Body and though it be a vulgar phrase That a man changes his place when he heremoves yet it is not a proper Philosophical expression for he removes onely from such parts to such parts so that it is a change or a division and composition of parts and not of place And as for colour though it changes yet that proves not that it is not a body or can be annihilated The truth is though Figure Motion Colour c. do change yet they remain still in Nature and it is impossible that Nature can give away or lose the least of her corporeal Attributes or Proprieties for Nature is infinite in power as well as in act we mean for acting naturally and therefore whatsoever is not in present act is in the power of Infinite Nature But said my later Thoughts if a body be divided into very minute parts as little as dust where is the colour then The Colour answered the former is divided as well as the body and though the parts thereof be not subject to our sensitive perception yet they have nevertheless their being for all things cannot be perceptible by our senses The later said That the Colour of a Man's face could change from pale to red and from red to pale and yet the substance of the face remain the same which proved that colour and substance was not the same The former answered That although the colour of a mans face did change without altering the substance thereof yet this proved no more that Colour was Immaterial then that Motion was Immaterial for a man may put his body into several postures and have several actions and yet without any change of the substance of his body for all actions do not necessarily import a change of the parts of a composed figure there being infinite sorts of actions We will leave Accidents said my later Thoughts and return to the Inanimate part of Matter and since you declare that all parts of Nature do worship and adore God you contradict your self in allowing an Inanimate degree of Matter by reason where there is no self-motion there can be no perception of God and consequently no Worship and Adoration The former answered That the knowledg of God did not consist in exterior perception for God said they being an Infinite Incomprehensible supernatural and Immaterial Essence void of all parts can no ways be subject to Perception Nevetheless although no part can have an exterior perception of the substance of God as it has of particular natural Creatures yet it has Conceptions of the Existence of God to wit that there is a God above Nature on which Nature depends and from whose Immutable and Eternal Decree it has its Eternal Being as God's Eternal Servant but what God is in his Essence neither Nature nor any of her parts or Creatures is able to conceive And therefore although the Inanimate part of Matter is not perceptive yet having an innate knowledg and life
7. The Worlds Olio now to be reprinted 8. Playes in Fol. 9. Orations in Fol. 10. Sociable Letters in Fol. There are some others that never were Printed yet which shall if God grant me Life and Health be Published ere long OBSERVATIONS UPON EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY 1. Of Humane Sense and Perception BEfore I deliver my observations upon that part of Philosophy which is call'd Experimental I thought it necessary to premise some discourse concerning the Perception of Humane Sense It is known that man has five Exterior Senses and every sense is ignorant of each other for the Nose knows not what the Eyes see nor the Eyes what the Ears hear neither do the Ears know what the Tongue tastes and as for Touch although it is a general Sense yet every several part of the body has a several touch and each part is ignorant of each others touch And thus there is a general ignorance of all the several parts and yet a perfect knowledg in each part for the Eye is as knowing as the Ear and the Ear as knowing as the Nose and the Nose as knowing as the Tongue and one particular Touch knows as much as another at least is capable thereof Nay not onely every several Touch Taste Smell Sound or Sight is a several knowledg by it self but each of them has as many particular knowledges or perceptions as there are objects presented to them Besides there are several degrees in each particular sense As for example some Men I will not speak of other animals their perception of sight taste smell touch or hearing is quicker to some sorts of objects then to others according either to the perfection or imperfection or curiosity or purity of the corporeal figurative motions of each sense or according to the presentation of each object proper to each sense for if the presentation of the objects be imperfect either through variation or obscurity or any other ways the sense is deluded Neither are all objects proper for one sense but as there are several senses so there are several sorts of objects proper for each several sense Now if there be such variety of several knowledges not onely in one Creature but in one sort of sense to wit the exterior senses of one humane Creature what may there be in all the parts of Nature 'T is true there are some objects which are not at all perceptible by any of our exterior senses as for example rarified air and the like But although they be not subject to our exterior sensitive perception yet they are subject to our rational perception which is much purer and subtiler then the sensitive nay so pure and subtil a knowledg that many believe it to be immaterial as if it were some God when as it is onely a pure fine and subtil figurative Motion or Perception it is so active and subtil as it is the best informer and reformer of all sensitive Perception for the rational Matter is the most prudent and wisest part of Nature as being the designer of all productions and the most pious and devoutest part having the perfectest notions of God I mean so much as Nature can possibly know of God so that whatsoever the sensitive Perception is either defective in or ignorant of the rational Perception supplies But mistake me not by Rational Perception and Knowledg I mean Regular Reason not Irregular where I do also exclude Art which is apt to delude sense and cannot inform so well as Reason doth for Reason reforms and instructs sense in all its actions But both the rational and sensitive knowledg and perception being divideable as well as composeable it causes ignorance as well as knowledg amongst Natures Creatures for though Nature is but one body and has no sharer or copartner but is intire and whole in it self as not composed of several different parts or substances and consequently has but one Infinite natural knowledg and wisdom yet by reason she is also divideable and composeable according to the nature of a body we can justly and with all reason say That as Nature is divided into infinite several parts so each several part has a several and particular knowledg and perception both sensitive and rational and again that each part is ignorant of the others knowledg and perception when as otherwise considered altogether and in general as they make up but one infinite body of Nature so they make also but one infinite general knowledg And thus Nature may be called both Individual as not having single parts subsisting without her but all united in one body and Divideable by reason she is partable in her own several corporeal figurative motions and not otherwise for there is no Vacuum in Nature neither can her parts start or remove from the Infinite body of Nature so as to separate themselves from it for there 's no place to flee to but body and place are all one thing so that the parts of Nature can onely joyn and disjoyn to and from parts but not to and from the body of Nature And since Nature is but one body it is intirely wise and knowing ordering her self-moving parts with all facility and ease without any disturbance living in pleasure and delight with infinite varieties and curiosities such as no single Part or Creature of hers can ever attain to 2. Of Art and Experimental Philosophy SOme are of opinion That by Art there can be a reparation made of the Mischiefs and Imperfections mankind has drawn upon it self by negligence and intemperance and a wilful and superstitious deserting the Prescripts and Rules of Nature whereby every man both from a derived Corruption innate and born with him and from his breediug and converse with men is very subject to slip into all sorts of Errors But the all-powerful God and his servant Nature know that Art which is but a particular Creature cannot inform us of the Truth of the Infinite parts of Nature being but finite it self for though every Creature has a double perception rational and sensitive yet each creature or part has not an Infinite perception nay although each particular creature or part of Nature may have some conceptions of the Infinite parts of Nature yet it cannot know the truth of those Infinite parts being but a finite part it self which finiteness causes errors in Perceptions wherefore it is well said when they confess themselves That the uncertainty and mistakes of humane actions proceed either from the narrowness and wandring of our senses or from the slipperiness or delusion of our memory or from the confinement or rashness of our understandiug But say they It is no wonder that our power over natural Causes and Effects is so slowly improved seeing we are not onely to contend with the obscurity and difficulty of the things whereon we work and think but even the forces of our minds conspire to betray us And these being the dangers in the process of Humane Reason the remedies can onely proceed
from the Real the Mechanical the Experimental Philosophy which hath this advantage over the Philosophy of discourse and disputation That whereas that chiefly aims at the subtilty of its deductions and conclusions without much regard to the first ground-work which ought to be well laid on the sense and memory so this intends the right ordering of them all and making them serviceable to each other In which discourse I do not understand first what they mean by our power over natural causes and effects for we have no power at all over natural causes and effects but onely one particular effect may have some power over another which are natural actions but neither can natural causes nor effects be over-powred by man so as if man was a degree above Nature but they must be as Nature is pleased to order them for Man is but a small part and his powers are but particular actions of Nature and therefore he cannot have a supreme and absolute power Next I say That Sense which is more apt to be deluded then Reason cannot be the ground of Reason no more then Art can be the ground of Nature Wherefore discourse shall sooner find or trace Natures corporeal figurative motions then deluding Arts can inform the Senses For how can a Fool order his understanding by Art if Nature has made it defective or how can a wise man trust his senses if either the objects be not truly presented according to their natural figure and shape or if the senses be defective either through age sickness or other accidents which do alter the natural motions proper to each sense And hence I conclude that Experimental and Mechanick Philosophy cannot be above the Speculative part by reason most Experiments have their rise from the Speculative so that the Artist or Mechanick is but a servant to the Student 3. Of Micrography and of Magnifying and Multiplying Glasses ALthough I am not able to give a solid judgment of the Art of Micrography and the several dioptrical instruments belonging thereto by reason I have neither studied nor practised that Art yet of this I am confident that this same Art with all its Instruments is not able to discover the interior natural motions of any part or creature of Nature nay the questions is whether it can represent yet the exterior shapes and motions so exactly as naturally they are for Art doth more easily alter then inform As for example Art makes Cylinders Concave and Convex-glasses and the like which represent the figure of an object in no part exactly and truly but very deformed and mis-shaped also a Glass that is flaw'd crack'd or broke or cut into the figure of Lozanges Triangles Squares or the like will present numerous pictures of one object Besides there are so many alterations made by several lights their shadows refractions reflexions as also several lines points mediums interposing and intermixing parts forms and positions as the truth of an object will hardly be known for the perception of sight and so of the rest of the senses goes no further then the exterior Parts of the object presented and though the Perception may be true when the object is truly presented yet when the presentation is false the information must be false also And it is to be observed that Art for the most part makes hermaphroditical that is mixt figures as partly Artificial and partly Natural for Art may make some metal as Pewter which is between Tin and Lead as also Brass and numerous other things of mixt natures In the like manner may Artificial Glasses present objects partly Natural and partly Artificial nay put the case they can present the natural figure of an object yet that natural figure may be presented in as monstrous a shape as it may appear mis-shapen rather then natural For example a Lowse by the help of a Magnifying-glass appears like a Lobster where the Microscope enlarging and magnifying each part of it makes them bigger and rounder then naturally they are The truth is the more the figure by Art is magnified the more it appears mis-shapen from the natural in so much as each joynt will appear as a diseased swell'd and tumid body ready and ripe for incision But mistake me not I do not say that no Glass presents the true picture of an object but onely that Magnifying Multiplying and the like optick Glasses may and do oftentimes present falsly the picture of an exterior object I say the Picture because it is not the real body of the object which the Glass presents but the Glass onely figures or patterns out the picture presented in and by the Glass and there may easily mistakes be committed in taking Copies from Copies Nay Artists do confess themselves that Flies and the like will appear of several figures or shapes according to the several reflections refractions mediums and positions of several lights which if so how can they tell or judg which is the truest light position or medium that doth present the object naturally as it is and if not then an edge may very well seem flat and a point of a needle a globe but if the edge of a knife or point of a needle were naturally and really so as the microscope presents them they would never be so useful as they are for a flat or broad plain-edged knife would not cut nor a blunt globe pierce so suddenly another body neither would or could they pierce without tearing and rending if their bodies were so uneven and if the Picture of a young beautiful Lady should be drawn according to the representation of the Microscope or according to the various refraction and reflection of light through such like glasses it would be so far from being like her as it would not be like a humane face but rather a Monster then a picture of Nature Wherefore those that invented Microscopes and such like dioptrical Glasses at first did in my opinion the world more injury then benefit for this Art has intoxicated so many mens brains and wholly imployed their thoughts and bodily actions about phaenomena or the exterior figures of objects as all better Arts and Studies are laid aside nay those that are not as earnest and active in such imployments as they are by many of them accounted unprofitable subjects to the Commonwealth of Learning But though there be numerous Books written of the wonders of these Glasses yet I cannot perceive any such at best they are but superficial wonders as I may call them But could Experimental Philosophers find out more beneficial Arts then our Fore-fathers have done either for the better increase of Vegetables and brute Animals to nourish our bodies or better and commodious contrivances in the Art of Architecture to build us houses or for the advancing of trade and traffick to provide necessaries for us to live or for the decrease of nice distinctions and sophistical disputes in Churches Schools and Courts of Judicature to make men live in unity
a Supernatural something but a Vacnum is a Pure nothing both Naturally and Supernaturally and God forbid I should be so irreligious as to compare Spirits and consequently God who is an Infinite Spirit to a Vacuum for God is All-fulfilling and an Infinite Fulness and Perfection though not a Corporeal or Material yet a Supernatural Spiritual and Incomprehensible fulness when as Vacuum although it is a corporeal word yet in effect or reality is nothing and expresses a want or imperfection which cannot be said of any supernatural Creature much less of God 20. Of Colours ALthough the sensitive perception doth pattern out the exterior figure of Colours as easily as of any other object yet all perceptions of Colours are not made by Patterning for as there are many perceptions which take no patterns from outward objects so there are also perceptions of Colours which never were presented to our sensitive organs Neither is any perception made by exterior objects but by interior corporeal figurative motions for the object doth not print or act any way upon the eye but it is the sensitive motions in the eye which pattern out the figure of the object and it is to be observed that as the parts of some bodies do consist of several different figures which the learned call Heterogeneous one figure being included within another and some again their parts are but of one kind of figure which they call Homogeneous bodies as for example Water so it may be with Colours for some their parts may be quite thorow of one colour and others again may be of several colours and indeed most Creatures as they have different parts so those different parts have also different colours and as those parts do alter so do their colours For example a Man that is in good health looks of a sanguine complexion but being troubled with the Yellow or black Jaundies his complexion is of the colour of the humor either black or yellow yet it doth not proceed always from the over-flowing of the humor towards the exterior parts for many times when the humor is obstructed it will cause the same effect but then the corporeal motions in the extream parts alter by way of Imitation or Metamorphosing as from a sanguine colour into the colour of the predominant humor Wherefore it is no more wonder to see colours change in the tempering of Steel as some are pleased to alledg this experiment then to see Steel change and rechange its temper from being hard to soft from tough to brittle c. which changes prove that colours are material as well as steel so that the alteration of the corporeal parts is the alteration of the corporeal figures of colours They also prove that Light is not essential to colours for although some colours are made by several Reflexions Refractions and Positions of Light yet Light is not the true and natural cause of all colours but those colours that are made by light are most inconstant momentany and alterable by reason light and its effects are very changeable Neither are colours made by a bare motion for there is no such thing as a bare or immaterial Motion in Nature but both Light and Colours are made by the corporeal figurative motions of Nature and according to the various changes of those Motions there are also various and different Lights and Colours and the perception of light and Colours is made and dissolved by the sensitive figurative motions in the optick sensorium without the exchange of exterior objects but as the slackest loosest or rarest parts are of least solid or composed corporeal figures so are they most apt to change and rechange upon the least disorder as may well be observed in colours raised by Passions as fear anger or the like which will change not onely the complexion and countenance but the very features will have some alteration for a short time and many times the whole body will be so altered as not to be rightly composed again for a good while nay often there follows a total dissolution of the whole figure which we call death And at all this we need not wonder if we do but consider that Nature is full of sense and reason that is of sensitive and rational perception which is the cause that oftentimes the disturbance of one part causes all other parts of a composed figure to take an alarum for as we may observe it is so in all other composed bodies even in those composed by Art as for example in the Politick body of a Common-wealth one Traytor is apt to cause all the Kingdom to take armes and although every member knows not particularly of the Traytor and of the circumstances of his crime yet every member if regular knows its particular duty which causes a general agreement to assist each other and as it is with a Common-wealth so it is also with an animal body for if there be factions amongst the parts of an animal body then straight there arises a Civil War Wherefore to return to Colours a sudden change of Colours may cause no wonder by reason there is oftentimes in Nature a sudden change of parts that is an alteration of figures in the same parts Neither is it more to be admired that one colour should be within another then one figurative part is within another for colours are figurative parts and as there are several Creatures so there are also several Colours for the Colour of a Creature is as well corporeal as the Creature it self and to express my self as clearly as I can Colour is as much a body as Place and Magnitude which are but one thing with body wherefore when the body or any corporeal part varies whether solid or rare Place Magnitude Colour and the like must of necessity change or vary also which change is no annihilation or perishing for as no particle of Matter can be lost in Nature nor no particular motion so neither can Colour and therefore the opinion of those who say That when Flax or Silk is divided into very small threads or fine parts those parts lose their colours and being twisted regain their colours seems not conformable to Truth for the division of their parts doth not destroy their colours nor the composing of those parts regain them but they being divided into such small and fine parts it makes their colours which are the finest of their exterior parts not to be subject to our optick perception for what is very small or rare is not subject to the humane optick sense wherefore there are these following conditions required to the optick perception of an exterior object First The object must not be too subtil rare or little but of a certain degree of magnitude Next It must not be too far distant or without the reach of our sight then the medium must not be obstructed so as to hinder our perception And lastly our optick sensorium must be perfect and the sensitive motions regular of
is of the exterior object and the sentient or else the perception of all exterior objects would be made by such an intermixture which is against sense and reason and therefore even in such a commixture where the parts of the object enter into the body of the sentient as fire doth into fuel the perception of the motions of fire in the fuel and the fuels consumption or burning is not made by the fire but by the fuels own perceptive motions imitating the motions of the fire so that fire doth not turn the fuel into ashes but the fuel doth change by its own corporeal figurative motions and the fire is onely an occasion of it The same may be said of Cold. Neither is every Creatures perception alike no more then it can be said that one particular Creature as for example Man hath but one perception for the perception of sight and smelling and so of every sence are different nay one and the same sense may have as many several perceptions as it hath objects and some sorts of peceptions in some Creatures are either stronger or weaker then in others for we may observe that in one and the same degree of heat or cold some will have quicker and some slower perceptions then others for example in the perception of touch if several men stand about a fire some will sooner be heated then others the like for Cold some will apprehend cold weather sooner then others the reason is that in their perception of Touch the sensitive motions work quicker or slower in figuring or patterning out heat or cold then in the perception of others The same may be said of other objects where some sentient bodies will be more sensible of some then of others even in one and the same kind of perception But if in all perceptions of cold cold should intermix with the bodies of animals or other Creatures like as several Ingredients then all bodies upon the perception of cold would dissolve their figures which we see they do not for although all dissolving motions are knowing and perceptive because every particular motion is a particular knowledg and perception yet not every perception requires a dissolution or change of its figure 'T is true some sorts or degrees of exterior heat and cold may occasion some bodies to dissolve their interior figures and change their particular natures but they have not power to dissolve or change all natural bodies Neither doth heat or cold change those bodies by an intermixture of their own particles with the parts of the bodies but the parts of the bodies change themselves by way of imitation like as men put themselves into a mode-fashion although oftentimes the senses will have fashions of their own without imitating any other objects for not all sorts of perceptions are made by Imitation or patterning but some are made voluntarily or by rote as for example when some do hear and see such or such things without any outward objects Wherefore it is not certain steams or agitated particles in the air nor the vapours and effluviums of exterior objects insinuating themselves into the pores of the sentient that are the cause of the Perception of Heat and Cold as some do imagine for there cannot probably be such differences in the pores of animal Creatures of one sort as for example of Men which should cause such a different perception as is found in them for although exterior heat or cold be the same yet several animals of the same sort will have several and different perceptions of one and the same degrees of exterior heat and cold as above mentioned which difference would not be if their perception was caused by a real entrance of hot and cold particles into the pores of their bodies Besides Burning-Fevers and Shaking-Agues prove that such effects can be without such exterior causes Neither can all sorts of Heat and Cold be expressed by Wind Air and Water in Weather-glasses for they being made by Art cannot give a true information of the Generation of all natural heat and cold but as there is great difference between Natural and Artificial Ice Snow Colours Light and the like so between Artificial and Natural Heat and Cold and there are so many several sorts of heat and cold that it is impossible to reduce them all to one certain cause or principle or confine them to one sort of Motions as some do believe that all sorts of Heat and Cold are made by motions tending inward and outward and others that by ascending and descending or rising and depressing motions which is no more probable then that all Colours are made by the reflexion of Light and that all White is made by reflecting the beams of light outward and all black by reflecting them inward or that a Man when he is on Horse-back or upon the top of an House or Steeple or in a deep Pit or Mine should be of another figure then of the figure and nature of man unless he were dissolved by death which is a total alteration of his figure for neither Gravity nor Levity of Air nor Almospherical Pillars nor any Weather-glasses can give us a true information of all natural heat and cold but the several figurative corporeal motions which make all things in Nature do also make several sorts of heat and cold in several sorts of Creatures But I observe experimental Philosophers do first cry up several of their artificial Instruments then make doubts of them and at last disapprove them so that there is no trust nor truth in them so much as to be relied on for it is not an age since Weather-glasses were held the onely divulgers of heat and cold or change of weather and now some do doubt they are not such infallible Informers of those truths by which it is evident that Experimental Philosophy has but a brittle inconstant and uncertain ground and these artificial Instruments as Microscopes Telescopes and the like which are now so highly applauded who knows but may within a short time have the same fate and upon a better and more rational enquiry be found deluders rather then true Informers The truth is there 's not any thing that has and doth still delude most mens understandings more then that they do not consider enough the variety of Natures actions and do not imploy their reason so much in the search of natures actions as they do their senses preferring Art and Experiments before Reason which makes them stick so close to some particular opinions and particular sorts of Motions or Parts as if there were no more Motions Parts or Creatures in Nature then what they see and find out by their Artificial Experiments Thus the variety of Nature is a stumbling-block to moft men at which they break their heads of understanding like blind men that run against several posts or walls and how should it be otherwise since Natures actions are Infinite and Mans understanding finite for they consider not so much
its degree of consistency for if it did no animal Creature would be able to breath since all or most of them are subject to such a sort of respiration as requires a certain intermediate degree of air neither too thick nor too thin what respirations other Creatures require I am not able to determine for as there are several infinite parts and actions of Nature so also several sorts of Respirations and I believe that what is called the ebbing and flowing of the Sea may be the Seas Respiration for Nature has ordered for every part or Creature that which is most fitting and proper for it Concerning Artificial Congelations as to turn Water or Snow into the figure of Ice by the commixture of Salt Nitre Allum or the like it may very probably be effected for Water and watery liquors their interior figure being Circular may easily change by contracting that Circular figure into a Triangle or square that is into Ice or Snow for Water in my opinion has a round or Circular interior figure Snow a Triangular and Ice a square I do not mean an exact Mathematical Triangle or Square but such a one as is proper for their figures and that the mixture of those or the like ingredients being shaken together in a Vial doth produce films of Ice on the outside of the Glass as Experimenters relate proves not onely that the motions of Cold are very strong but also that there is perception in all parts of Nature and that all Congelations both natural and artificial are made by the corporeal perceptive motions which the sentient has of exterior cold which is also the reason that Salt being mixt with Snow makes the liquor always freeze first on that side of the Vessel where the mixture is for those parts which are nearest will imitate first the motions of frost and after them the neighbouring parts until they be all turned into Ice The truth is that all or most artificial experiments are the best arguments to evince there is perception in all corporeal parts of Nature for as parts are joyned or commix with parts so they move or work accordingly into such or such figures either by the way of imitation or otherwise for their motions are so various as it is impossible for one particulare to describe them all but no motion can be without perception because every part or particle of Nature as it is self-moving so it is also self-knowing and perceptive for Matter Self-motion Knowledg and Perception are all but one thing and no more differing nor separable from each other then Body Place Magnitude Colour and Figure Wherefore Experimental Philosophers cannot justly blame me for maintaining the opinion of Self-motion and a general Perception in Nature But to return to Artificial Congelations there is as much difference between Natural and Artificial Ice and Snow as there is between Chalk and Cheese or between a natural Child and a Baby made of Paste or Wax and Gummed-silk or between artificial Glass and natural Diamonds the like may be said of Hail Frost Wind c. for though their exterior figures do resemble yet their interior natures are quite different and therefore although by the help of Art some may make Ice of Water or Snow yet we cannot conclude from hence that all natural Ice is made the same way by saline particles or acid Spirits and the like for if Nature should work like Art she would produce a man like as a Carver makes a statue or a Painter draws a picture besides it would require a world of such saline or acid particles to make all the Ice that is in Nature Indeed it is as much absurdity as impossibility to constitute some particular action the common principle of all natural heat or cold and to make a Universal cause of a particular effect for no particular Part or Action can be prime in Nature or a fundamental principle of other Creatures or actions although it may occasion some Creatures to move after such or such a way Wherefore those that will needs have a Primum Frigidum or some Body which they suppose must of necessity be supremely cold and by participation of which all other cold Bodies obtain that quality whereof some do contend for Earth some for Water others for Air some for Nitre and others for Salt do all break their heads to no purpose for first there are no extreams in Nature and therefore no Body can be supreamely cold nor supreamly hot Next as I said it is impossible to make one particular sort of Creatures the principle of all the various sorts of heat or cold that are in Nature for there is an Elemental heat and cold a Vegetable Mineral Animal heat and cold and there may be many other sorts which we do not know and how can either Earth or Water or Nitre or Salt be the Principle of all these different colds Concerning the Earth we see that some parts of the Earth are hot and some cold the like of Water and Air and the same parts which are now hot will often in a moment grow cold which shews they are as much subject to the perception of heat and cold as some other Creatures and doth plainly deny to them the possibility of being a Primum Frigidum I have mentioned in my Poetical Works that there is a Sun in the Center of the Earth and in another place I have described a Chymical heat but these being but Poetical Fancies I will not draw them to any serious proofs onely this I will say that there may be degrees of heat and cold in the Earth and in Water as well as there are in the Air for certainly the Earth is not without Motion a dull dead moveless and inanimate body but it is as much interiously active as Air and Water are exteriously which is evident enough by the various productions of Vegetables Minerals and other bodies that derive their off-spring out of the Earth And as for Nitre and Salt although they may occasion some sorts of Colds in some sorts of Bodies like as some sorts of food or tempers of Air or the like may work such or such effects in some sorts of Creatures yet this doth not prove that they are the onely cause of all kinds of heat and cold that are in Nature The truth is if Air Water Earth Nitre or Salt or insensible roving and wandering atomes should be the only cause of cold then there would be no difference of hot and cold climates but it would freeze as well under the Line as it doth at the Poles But there 's such a stir kept about Atoms as that they are so full of action and produce all things in the world and yet none describes by what means they move or from whence they have this active power Lastly Some are of opinion that the chief cause of all cold and its effects is wind which they describe to be air moved in a considerable quantity and that
regular reason then those deserve it most who think themselves wiser then they are and upon that account few in this age would escape this censure But concerning the Opinions of ancient Philosophers condemned by many of our modern Writers I for my particular do very much admire them for although there is no absolute perfection in them yet if we do but rightly consider them we shall find that in many things they come nearer to truth then many of our Moderns for surely the ancients had as good and regular rational and sensitive perceptions and as profitable Arts and Sciences as we have and the world was governed as well and they lived as happily in ancient times as we do now nay more As for example how well was the World governed and how did it flourish in Augustus's time how many proud and stately Buildings and Palaces could ancient Rome shew to the world when she was in her flower The Cedars Gold and many other curiosities which Solomon used in the structure of that Magnificent Temple the like whereof our age cannot shew were as safely fetch'd and brought to him out of forreign places as those commodities which we have out of other Countries either by Sea or Land Besides I doubt not but they had as profitable and useful Arts and knowledges and as skilful and ingenious Artists as our age can boast of if not the very same yet the like and perhaps better which by the injury of time have been lost to our great disadvantage it may be they had no Microscopes or Telescopes but I think they were the happier for the want of them imploying their time in more profitable studies What learned and witty people the Egyptians were is sufficiently known out of ancient Histories which may inform us of many more But I perceive the knowledg of several ages and times is like the increase and decrease of the Moon for in some ages Art and Learning flourishes better then in others and therefore it is not onely an injury but a sign of ill-nature to exclaim against ancient Learning and call it Pedantry for if the ancients had not been I question whether we should have arrived to that knowledg we boast of at this present for they did break the Ice and shew'd us the way in many things for which we ought to be thankful rather then reward them with scorn Neither ought Artists in my opinion to condemn Contemplative Philosophy nay not to prefer the Experimental part before her for all that Artists have they are beholden for it to the conceptions of the ingenious Student except some few Arts which ascribe their original to change and therefore speculation must needs go be fore practice for how shall a man practise if he does not know what or which way to practise Reason must direct first how sense ought to work and so much as the Rational knowledg is more noble then the Sensitive so much is the Speculative part of Philosophy more noble then the Mechanical But our age being more for deluding Experiments then rational arguments which some cal a tedious babble doth prefer Sense before Reason and trusts more to the deceiving sight of their eyes and deluding glasses then to the perception of clear and regular Reason nay many will not admit of rational arguments but the bare authority of an Experimental Philosopher is sufficient to them to decide all Controversies to pronounce the Truth without any appeal to Reason as if they onely had the Infallible Truth of Nature and ingrossed all knowledg to themselves Thus Reason must stoop to Sense and the Conceptor to the Artist which will be the way to bring in Ignorance instead of advancing knowledg for when the light of Reason begins to be Eclipsed darkness of Understanding must needs follow 2. Whether Artificial Effects may be called Natural and in what sense IN my former discourses I have declared that Art produces Hermaphroditical Effects that is such as are partly Natural and partly Artificial but the question is whether those Hermaphroditical Effects may not be called Natural Effects as well as others or whether they be Effects quite different and distinct from Natural My answer is When I call Artificial effects Hermaphroditical or such as are not Natural I do not speak of Nature in general as if they were something else besides Nature for Art it self is natural and an effect of Nature and cannot produce any thing that is beyond or not within Nature wherefore artificial effects can no more be excluded from Nature then any ordinary effect or Creature of Nature But when I say they are not natural I understand the particular nature of every Creature according to its own kind of species for as there is Infinite Nature which may be called General Nature or Nature in General which includes and comprehends all the effects and Creatures that lie within her and belong to her as being parts of her own self-moving body so there are also particular natures in every Creature which are the innate proper and inherent interior and substantial forms and figures of every Creature according to their own kind or species by which each Creature or part of Nature is discerned or distinguished from the other as for example although an Animal and a Vegetable be fellow Creatures and both Natural because Material yet their interior particular Natures are not the same because they are not of the same kind but each has its own particular Nature quite different from the other and these particular Natures are nothing else but a change of corporeal figurative motions which make this diversity of figures for were the same interior and natural motions found in an Animal as are in a Vegetable an Animal would be a Vegetable and a Vegetable an Animal without any difference and after this rate there would be no variety at all in Nature but self-motion acting diversly and variously not onely in every kind and species but in every particular Creature and part of Nature causeth that wonderful variety which appears every where even to our admiration in all parts of Nature But to return to artificial effects it is known that Nature has her own ways in her actions and that there are constant productions in every kind and sort of natural Creatures which Nature observes in the propagation and increase of them whose general manner and way is always the same I say general because there are many variations in the particular motions belonging to the production of every particular Creature For example all Mankind is produced after one and the same manner or way to wit by the copulation of two persons of each Sex and so are other sorts of Creatures produced other ways also a perfect Creature is produced in the same shape and has the same interior and exterior figure as is proper to it according to the nature of its kind and species to which it belongs and this is properly called a natural production
be denied to be Material they can neither be accounted Irrational Insensible or Inanimate by reason there is no part nay not the smallest particle in Nature our reason is able to conceive which is not composed of Animate Matter as well as of Inanimate of Life and Soul as well as of Body and therefore no particular Creature can claim a prerogative in this case before an other for there is a thorow mixture of Animate and Inanimate Matter in Nature and all her Parts But some may object That if there be sense and reason in every part of Nature it must be in all parts alike and then a stone or any other the like Creature may have reason or a rational soul as well as Man To which I answer I do not deny that a Stone has Reason or doth partake of the Rational Soul of Nature as well as Man doth because it is part of the same Matter Man consists of but yet it has not animal or humane sense and reason because it is not of animal kind but being a Mineral it has Mineral sense and reason for it is to be observed that as Animate self-moving Matter moves not one and the same way in all Creatures so there can neither be the same way of knowledg and understanding which is sense and reason in all Creatures alike but Nature being various not onely in her parts but in her actions it causes a variety also amongst her Creatures and hence come so many kinds sorts and particulars of Natural Creatures quite different from each other though not in the General and Universal principle of Nature which is self-moving Matter for in this they agree all yet in their particular interior natures figures and proprieties Thus although there be Sense and Reason which is not onely Motion but a regular and well-ordered self-motion apparent in the wonderful and various Productions Generations Transformations Dissolutions Compositions and other actions of Nature in all Natures parts and particles yet by reason of the variety of this self-motion whose ways and modes do differ according to the nature of each particular figure no figure or creature can have the same sense and reason that is the same natural motions which another has and therefore no Stone can be said to feel pain as an Animal doth or be called blind because it has no Eyes for this kind of sense as Seeing Hearing Tasting Touching and Smelling is proper onely to an Animal figure and not to a Stone which is a Mineral so that those which frame an argument from the want of animal sense and sensitive organs to the defect of all sense and motion as for example that a Stone would withdraw it self from the Carts going over it or a piece of Iron from the hammering of a Smith conclude in my opinion very much against the artificial rules of Logick and although I understand none of them yet I question not but I shall make a better argument by the Rules of Natural Logick But that this difference of sense and reason is not altogether impossible or at least improbable to our understanding I will explain by another instance We see so many several Creatures in their several kinds to wit Elements Vegetables Minerals and Animals which are the chief distinctions of those kinds of Creatures as are subject to our sensitive perceptions and in all those what variety and difference do we find both in their exterior figures and in their interior natures truly such as most of both ancient and modern Philosophers have imagined some of them viz. the Elements to be simple bodies and the principles of all other Creatures nay those several Creatures do not onely differ so much from each other in their general kinds but there is no less difference perceived in their particular kinds for example concerning Elements what difference is there not between heavy and contracting Earth and between light and dilating Air between flowing Water and ascending Fire so as it would be an endless labour to consider all the different natures of those Creatures onely that are subject to our exterior senses And yet who dares deny that they all consist of Matter or are material Thus we see that Infinite Matter is not like a piece of Clay out of which no figure can be made but it must be clayie for natural Matter has no such narrow bounds and is not forced to make all Creatures alike for though Gold and Stone are both material nay of the same kind to wit Minerals yet one is not the other nor like the other And if this be true of Matter why may not the same be said of self-motion which is Sense and Reason Wherefore in all probability of truth there is sense and reason in a Mineral as well as in an Animal and in a Vegetable as well as in an Element although there is as great a difference between the manner and way of their sensitive and rational perceptions as there is between both their exterior and interior figures and Natures Nay there is a difference of sense and reason even in the parts of one and the same Creature and consequently of sensitive and rational perception or knowledg for as I have declared heretofore more at large every sensitive organ in man hath its peculiar way of knowledg and perception for the Eye doth not know what the Ear knows nor the Ear what the Nose knows c. All which is the cause of a general ignorance between Natures parts And the chief cause of all this difference is the variety of self-motion for if natural motion were in all Creatures alike all sense and reason would be alike too and if there were no degrees of matter all the figures of Creatures would be alike either all hard or all soft all dense or all rare and fluid c. and yet neither this variety of motion causes an absence of motion or of sense and reason nor the variety of figures an absence of Matter but onely a difference between the parts of Nature all being nevertheless self-moving sensible and rational as well as Material for wheresoever is natural Matter there is also self-motion and consequently sense and reason By this we may see how easie it is to conceive the actions of Nature and to resolve all the Phaenomena or appearances upon this ground and I cannot admire enough how so many eminent and learned Philosophers have been and are still puzled about the Natural rational soul of man Some will have her to be a Light some an Entilechy or they know not what some the Quintessence of the four Elements some composed of Earth and Water some of Fire some of Blood some an hot Complexion some an heated and dispersed Air some an Immaterial Spirit and some Nothing All which opinions seem the more strange the wiser their Authors are accounted for if they did proceed from some ignorant persons it would not be so much taken notice of but coming from great Philosophers
can neither be always assured of knowing the Truth for particular Reason may sometimes be deceived as well as sense but when the Perceptions both of sense and reason agree then the information is more true I mean regular sense and reason not irregular which causes mistakes and gives false informations also the Presentation of the objects ought to be true and without delusion 19. Of preserving the Figures of Animal Creatures I Am absolutely of the opinion of those who believe Natural Philosophy may promote not onely Anatomy but all other Arts for else they would not be worth the taking of pains to learn them by reason the rational perceptions are beyond the sensitive I am also of opinion that there may be an Art to preserve the exterior shapes of some animal bodies but not their interior forms for although their exterior shapes even after the dissolution of the animal figure may be some what like the shapes and figures of their bodies when they had the life of an animal yet they being transformed into some other Creatures by the alteration of their interior figurative motions can no ways keep the same interior figure which they had when they were living animals Concerning the preserving of blood by the means of spirit of Wine as some do probably believe my opinion is That spirit of Wine otherwise call'd Hot-water if taken in great quantity will rather dry up or putrifie the blood then preserve it nay not onely the blood but also the more solid parts of an animal body insomuch as it will cause a total dissolution of the animal figure and some animal Creatures that have blood will be dissolved in Wine which yet is not so strong as extracts or spirit of Wine But blood mingled with spirit of Wine may perhaps retain somewhat of the colour of blood although the nature and propriety of blood be quite altered As for the instance of preserving dead fish or flesh from putrifying and stinking alledged by some we see that ordinary salt will do the same with less cost and as spirits of Wine or hot Waters may like salt preserve some dead bodies from corruption so may they by making too much or frequent use of them also cause living bodies to corrupt and dissolve sooner then otherwise they would do But Chymists are so much for extracts that by their frequent use and application they often extract humane life out of humane bodies instead of preserving it 20. Of Chymistry and Chymical Principles IT is sufficiently known and I have partly made mention above what a stir Natural Philosophers do keep concerning the principles of Nature and natural Beings and how different their opinions are The Schools following Aristotle are for the Four Elements which they believe to be simple bodies as having no mixture in themselves and therefore fittest to be principles of all other mixt or compounded bodies But my Reason cannot apprehend what they mean by simple bodies I confess that some bodies are more mixt then others that is they consist of more differing parts such as the learned call Heterogeneous as for example Animals consist of flesh blood skin bones muscles nerves tendons gristles and the like all which are parts of different figures Other bodies again are composed of such parts as are of the same nature which the learned call Homogeneous as for example Water Air c. whose parts have no different figures but are all alike each other at least to our perception besides there are bodies which are more rare and subtile than others according to the degrees of their natural figurative motions and the composion of their parts Nevertheless I see no reason why those Homogeneous bodies should be called simple and all others mixt or composed of them much less why they should be principles of all other natural bodies for they derive their origine from matter as well as the rest so that it is onely the different composure of their parts that makes a difference between them proceeding from the variety of self-motion which is the cause of all different figures in nature for as several work-men join in the building of one house and several men in the framing of one Government so do several parts in the making or forming of one composed figure But they 'l say it is not the likeness of parts that makes the Four Elements to be principles of natural things but because there are no natural bodies besides the mentioned Elements that are not composed of them as is evident in the dissolution of their parts for example A piece of Green wood that is burning in a Chimney we may readily discern the Four Elements in its dissolution out of which it is composed for the fire discovers it self in the flame the smoak turns into air the water hisses and boils at the ends of the wood and the ashes are nothing but the Element of earth But if they have no better arguments to prove their principles they shall not readily gain my consent for I see no reason why wood should be composed of the Four Elements because it burns smoaks hisses and turns into ashes Fire is none of its natural ingredients but a different figure which being mixt with the parts of the wood is an occasion that the Wood turns into ashes neither is Water a principle of Wood for Water is as much a figure by it self as Wood or Fire is which being got into the parts of the wood and mixt with the same is expelled by the fire as by its opposite but if it be a piece of dry and not of green wood where is then the water that boils out Surely dry wood hath no less principles then green wood and as for smoak it proves no more that it is the Element of Air in Wood then that Wood is the Element of Fire for Wood as experience witnesses may last in water where it is kept from the air and smoak is rather an effect of moisture occasioned into such a figure by the commixture of fire Others as Helmont who derives his opinion from Thales and others of the ancient Philosophers are only for the Element of Water affirming that that is the sole principle out of which all natural things consist for say they the Chaos where of all things were made was nothing else but water which first setled into slime and then condensed into solid earth nay some endeavour to prove by Chymical Experiments that they have disposed water according to their Chymical way so that it visibly turn'd into earth which earth produced animals vegetables and minerals But put the case it were so yet this doth not prove water to be the onely principle of all natural beings for first we cannot think that animals vegetables and minerals are the onely kinds of creatures in Nature and that there are no more but them for nature being infinitely various may have infinite Worlds and so infinite sorts of Creatures Next I say that the change of water
Animal tell what perception a Vegetable or Mineral has We may perceive that the Air which is an Element doth pattern out sound for it is not done by reverberation as pressure and reaction by reason there will be in some places not onely two several Ecchoes of one sound but in some three or four but surely one sound cannot be in several distant places at one time Also a Looking-glass we see does pattern out the figure of an object but yet we cannot be certainly affirmed that either the Glass or the Air have the same perceptions which Animals have for although their patterns are alike yet their perceptions may be different As for example the picture of a Man may be like its original but yet who knows what perception it has for though it represents the exterior figure of an Animal yet it is not of the nature of an Animal and therefore although a man may perceive his picture yet he knows not what perception the picture has of him for we can but judg by our selves of the perceptions of our own kind that is of Animal kind and not of the perceptions of other Creatures for example I observe that the perception of my exterior senses is made by an easie way of patterning out exterior objects and so conclude of the rest of my own kind to wit that the perception of their exterior sensitive organs is made after the same manner or way nay I perceive that also some perceptions of several other sorts of Creatures are made by way of patterning as in the forementioned examples of the Air and Glass and in Infectious Diseases where several Creatures will be infected by one object which certainly is not by an immediate propagation on so many numerous parts proceeding from the object but by imitation of the perceiving parts but yet I cannot infer from thence that all perceptions in Nature are made by imitation or patterning for some may and some may not and although our rational perception being more subtil then the sensitive may perceive somewhat more and judg better of outward objects then the sensitive yet it cannot be infallibly assured that it is onely so and not otherwise for we see that some animals are produced out of Vegetables whose off-spring is not any ways like their producer which proves that not all actions of Nature are made by imitation or patterning In short our reason does observe that all perception in general whatsoever is made by corporeal figurative self-motion but it cannot perceive the particular figurative motions that make every perception and though some Learned are of opinion that all perceptions are made by pressure and reaction yet it is not probable to sense and reason for this being but one sort of action would not make such variety of perceptions in the infinite parts of Nature as we may perceive there are Whensoever I say that outward objects work or cause such or such effects in the body sentient I do not mean that the object is the onely immediate cause of the changes of those parts in the sentient body but that it is onely an external or occasional cause and that the effects in the sentient proceed from its own inherent natural motions which upon the perception of the exterior object cause such effects in the sentient as are either agreeable to the motions of the object and that by way of imitation which is called Sympathy or disagreeable which is call'd Antipathy When I say That the several senses of Animals pattern out the several proprieties of one object as for example the Tongue patterns out the taste the Nostrils the smell the Ears the noise the Eyes the exterior figure shape colour c. and do prove by this that they are different things dividable from each other and yet in other places do affirm that colour place figure quantity or magnitude c. are one and the same with body and inseparable from each other 't is no contradiction for to be dividable from such or such parts and to be dividable from Matter are several things Smell and Taste although they be material or corporeal and cannot be divided from Matter yet there is no necessity that all parts of Nature must be subject to smell or taste or that such parts must have such smells and such tastes for though Colour Place Taste Smell c. are material and cannot be without body yet may they be conceived by our sense and reason to be different and several figures parts or actions for as there is no such thing as single parts or single divisions in Nature but all compositions divisions changes and alterations are within the body of Nature and yet there is such a variety and difference of natural figures and actions that one figure is not another nor one action another so it is likewise with the mentioned proprieties or what you 'l call them which although they cannot be separated from body or matter yet they may be altered changed composed and divided with their parts several ways and be perceived as various and different actions of Nature as they are for as one body may have several different motions at one and the same time so it may also have several proprieties though not dividable from Matter for all that is in Nature is material nor can there be any such thing as Immaterial accidents qualities properties and the like yet discernable by their different actions and changeable by the self-moving power of Nature But mistake me not when I say they are several different figures parts or actions for my meaning is not as if body and they were different things separable from each other or as if Colour Place Figure Magnitude c. were several parts of matter for then it would follow that some parts could be without place some without figure some without colour c. which is impossible for could there be a single Atome yet that Atome would have Colour Place Figure Magnitude c. onely there would be no motion for want of Parts and consequently no Perception But my meaning is That the several properties of a Body as for example Tast Touch Smell Sound being perceived by the several senses of Animals to wit the Tast by the Tongue the Smell by the Nose and Colour and Figure by the Eye c. it proves that they are several corporeal actions for the Tast is not the Smell nor Smell the Sound nor Sound the Colour Nevertheless they are all proprieties of the same body and no more dividable from body then motion is from body or body from matter onely they are made according to the several compositions and divisions of parts And as for Colour Place Magnitude Figure c. as I said before could there be an Atome it would have Colour Place Figure and though parts be changed millions of ways yet they cannot lose Colour Place and Figure The truth is as there are no single finite parts in Nature so there
can neither be single actions or single perceptions but as the parts or actions of Nature move in one body and not singly several infinite ways so the self-active parts in one composed figure make perceptions of those several compositions in exterior objects But since my Opinion is that the Perception of the exterior animal senses is made by that sort of motion which is call'd Imitation or Patterning as for example that the perception of Seeing is made by the sensitive corporeal figurative motions in the Organ of sight which is the Eye by their patterning out the figure of an exterior object some perhaps will question how it be possible that an eye as also a glass which is a more solid and dense body than an eye should pattern out so many different figures of exterior objects and yet keep their own figures perfect To which I answer first That not all the corporeal motions of an Object are perceptible by animal sense which is too gross a sort of perception to perceive them all for can we say that Air Light Earth c. have no other motions but what we perceive We observe in a Sun-dial that the light removes but we cannot see how it removes and therefore our eye cannot perceive all the motions or actions of an object Next I say as for the patterns of the sensitive motions the framing of them is no hinderance to those motions that preserve the organ in its being for there are many numerous and different sorts of motions in one composed figure and yet none is obstructive to the other but each knows its own work and they act all unanimously to the conservation of the whole figure also when some actions change it is not necessary that they must all change at the same time for if it were so there would be no difference between the actions of Nature nor no difference of figures Again it may be objected That if we can perceive the figure of an object then we must of necessity perceive the substance also figure and body being but one thing for example if we can perceive the figure of a thought we must also perceive that degree of matter which is named Rational the same may be said of the other degrees of matter the Sensitive and Inanimate I answer That although the Figures are perceived yet the degree of matter cannot be perceived at least not in all objects nor by all our sensitive organs for though the eye perceives light yet it does not perceive what light is made of neither does the Ear perceive it but onely the Eye also the Ear perceives sound yet the Eye does not nor does the Ear know or perceive the proper and immediate motions and parts that make the sound Again although the Eye or rather the sensitive motions that make the perception of sight perceive the light of fire yet they do not perceive the heat thereof which is onely subject to Touch the same may be said of Smell and Tast so that not all the parts are subject to one sense and if this be onely in one sort of Creatures what difference of perception may there be in the infinite parts of Nature The truth is our humane perception is stinted so that we cannot perceive all objects but those that are within the compass of being perceived by our senses nay it is without question but that there are more perceptions in man than these Five because there are Numerous different perceptive parts which have all their peculiar perceptions which we do not know of what they are nor how they are made But as I said before although the figure may be perceived yet the substance may not and yet this does not prove that figure and body are not one thing for though such a figure is not bound to such parts yet parts cannot be figureless no more then figure can be bodiless and the change of figures is not an annihilation or a total separation of figure from body a mans face may change from being red to pale and from pale to red and yet the substance of his face may remain the same the like may be said of the figures in our Eyes or of the figures made by a Looking-glass of exterior objects they may change and yet the Eye remain perfect and although the subtilest corporeal motions cannot be perceived by us so perfectly as the grosser actions of Nature yet we cannot but know by our rational perception that there are such subtile actions which are no wayes subject to our exterior sensitive perception For though all actions of Nature are perceptive yet none can be more agil and active then the rational and next to them none more but the sensitive action of imitation and patterning for as we may perceive the actions of production dissolution growth decay c. are far more slower then the actions of patterning or copying out of exterior objects by reason those sorts of actions are gross but these are subtil purer and finer and therefore quicker and agiler But some may ask Whether in the sensitive action of imitating or patterning out the figures of forreign objects there be inanimate matter mixt with it I answer Yes for 't is impossible that one should either be or work without the other by reason it is the propriety of the sensitive corporeal motions to work upon and with the inanimate parts and the chief difference that is between the rational and sensitive parts for the rational can act within their own degree of matter but the sensitive are always incumbred with labouring on the inanimate and cannot work so as the rational do But then they 'l say If the sensitive parts be so incumbred with the inanimate how is it possible that they can make such quick perceptions as we observe they do I answer There are many kinds and sorts of Perceptions whereof some are slower and some quicker then others according to the several degrees of grossness and purity of the inanimate parts so that we have no reason to wonder at the variety of perceptions and how some come to be quicker and some slower for some parts of inanimate matter may be so pure and fine that were they subject to our perception we should take them to be parts of the Animate degree Lastly Some might say That although the sensitive degree of matter be not the same with the inanimate yet they being so closely intermixt as I have described may by a voluntary agreement alter the parts of Nature as they please as from a Vegetable into a Mineral from a Mineral into an Animal c. and that either of their own accord or by imitation I answer It may be possible in Nature but yet it is not probable that they do so by reason all the self-moving parts do not in all composed figures work agreeably or alike but their actions are for the most part poised by Opposites not onely in infinite Nature but also in all composed figures