cranies then the wide channel it streams in it will turn out of its straight way to glide along there where it findes an easier and more declive bed to tumble in so these atoms will infallibly deturn themselvs from their direct course to pass through such a stone as far as their greater conveniency leads them And what we have said of these atoms which from the Poles range through the vast sea of air to the Equator is likewise to be appli'd to those atoms which issue out of the stone so that we may conclude that if they meet with any help which may convey them on with more speed and vigour then whiles they stream directly forwards they will likewise deturn themselvs from directly forwards to take that course And if the stone it self be hang'd so nicely that a less force is able to turn it about then is requisite to turn awry out of its course the continued stream of atoms which issues from the stone in this case the stone it self must needs turn towards that stream which climbing and filtring it self along the stones stream draws it out of its course in such sort as the nose of a Weather-cock buts it self into the wind Now then it being known that the strongest stream comes directly from the North in the great earth and that the Southern stream of the Terrella or Loadstone proportion'd duly by nature to incorporate with the North stream of the earth issues out of the north end of the stone it follows plainly that when a Loadstone is situated at liberty its North and must necessarily turn towards the North pole of the World And it will likewise follow that whenever such a stone meets with another of the same nature and kind they must comport themselvs to one another in like sort that is if both of them be free and equal they must turn themselvs to or from one another according as they are situated in respect of one another So that if their axis be parallel and the South pole of the one and the North of the other look the same way they will send proprtionate and greeing streams to one another from their whole bodies that will readily mingle and incorporate with one another without turning out of their way or seeking any shorter course or chāging their respects to one another But if the poles of the same denomination look the same way and the loadstones do not lie so as to have their axis parallel but that they incline to one another then they will work themselvs about till they grow by their opposite poles into a straight line for the same reason as we have shew'd of a loadstones turning to the pole of the earth But if only one of the loadstones be free and the other fixed and that they lie inclined as in the former case then the free stone will work himself till his pole be opposite to that part of the fixed stone from whence the stream which agrees with him issues strōgest for that streā is to the free loadstone as the Northern streā of the earth is to a loadstone compared to the earth But withal we must take notice that in this our discourse we abstract from other accidents and particularly from the influence of the earths streams into the loadstones which will cause great variety in these cases if they lie not due North South when they begin to work And as loadstones and other magnetick bodies thus of necessity turn to one another when they are both free and if one of them be fast'ned the other turns to it so likewise if they be free to progressive motion they must by a like necessity and for the same reason come together and joyn themselves to one another And if only one of them be free that must remove it self to the other for the same vertue that makes them turn which is the strength of the steam will likewise in due circumstances make them come together by reason that the steams which climbe up one another by the way of filtration and thereby turn the bodies of the stones upon their centers when they are only free to turn must likewise draw the whole bodies of the stones entirely out of their places and make them joyn when such a total motion of the body is an effect that requires no more force than the force of conveying vigorously the streams of both the Magnetick bodies into one another that is when there is no such impediment standing in the way of the Magnetick bodies motion but that the celerity of the atomes motion mingling with one another is able to overcome it For then it must needs do so and the magnetick body by natural coherence to the steam of atomes in which it is involved follows the course of the steam in such sort as in the example we have heretofore upon another occasion given of an eggs-shell fill'd with dew the Sun-beams converting the dew into smoke and raising up that smoke or steam the eggs-shell is likewise rais'd up for company with the steam that issues from it And for the same reason it is that the Load-stone draws iron For iron being of a nature apt to receive and harbor the steams of a Loadstone it becomes a weak loadstone and works towards a loadstone as a weaker Loadstone would do so moves towards a Loadstone by the means we have now described And that this conformity between iron and the Loadstone is the true reason of the Loadstones drawing iron is clear out of this that a Loadstone will take up a greater weight of pure iron then it will of impure or drossie Iron or of Iron and some other mettal joyn'd together and that it will draw further through a slender long Iron then in the free open air all which are manifest signs that iron co-operates with the force which the Loadstone grafts in it And the reason why iron comes to a loadstone more efficaciously then another loadstone doth is because loadstones generally are more impure then iron is as being a kind of Oar or Mine of Iron and have other extraneous and Heterogeneal natures mix'd with them whereas iron receives the loadstones operation in its whole substance CHAP. XXI Positions drawn out of the former Doctrine and confirm'd by experimental proofs THe first Position is that The working of the loadstone being throughout according to the tenour of the operation of bodies may be done by bodies and consequently is not done by occult or secret qualities Which is evident out of this that a greater loadstone has more effect then a lesser and that if you cut away part of a loadstone part of his vertue is likewise taken from him and if the parts be join'd again the whole becomes as strong as it was before Again if a loadstone touch a longer iron it gives it less force then if it touch a shorter nay the vertue in any part is sensibly lesser according as it is further from
the touched part Again the longer an iron is in touching the greater vertue it gets and the more constant And both an iron and a loadstone may lose their vertue by long lying out of their due order and situation either to the earth or to another loadstone Besides if a loadstone touch a long iron in the middle of it he diffuses his vertue equally towards both ends and if it be a round plate he diffuses his vertue equally to all sides And lastly the vertue of a loadstone as also of an iron touched is lost by burning it in the fire All which symptoms agreeing exactly with the rules of bodies make it undeniable that the vertue of the loadstone is a real and solid body Against this position Cabeus objects that little atomes would not be able to penetrate all sorts of bodies as we see the vertue of the loadstone doth And argues that although they should be allow'd to do so yet they could not be imagin'd to penetrate thick and solid bodies so suddenly as they would do thin ones and would certainly shew then some sign of facility or difficulty of passing in the interposition and taking away of bodies put between the loadstone and the body it works upon Secondly he objects that atomes being little bodies cannot move in an instant as the working of the loadstone seems to do And lastly that the loadstone by such abundance of continual evaporations would quickly be consumed To the first we answer That atomes whose nature 't is to pierce iron cannot reasonbly be suspected of inability to penetrate any other body and that atomes can penetrate iron is evident in the melting of it by fire And indeed this objection comes now too late after we have so largely declared the divisibility of quantity and the subtility of nature in reducing all things into extreme small parts for this difficulty has no other avow then the tardity of our imaginations in subtilizing sufficiently the quantitative parts that issue out of the loadstone As for any tardity that may be expected by the interposition of a thick or dense body there is no appearance of such since we see light pass through thick glasses without giving any sign of meeting with the least opposition in its passage as we have above declared at large and magnetical emanations have the advantage of light in this that they are not obliged to straight lines as light is Lastly as for Loadstones spending themselves by still venting their emanations odoriferous bodies furnish us with a full answer to that objection for they continue many years palpably spending themselvs and yet keep their odour in vigour wheras a loadstone if it be laid in a wrong position will not continue half so long The reason of the duration of both which makes the matter manifest and takes away all difficulty which is that as in the root of a vegeâ—able there is a power to change the advenient juyce into its nature so is there in such like things as these a power to change the ambient air into their own substance as evident experience shews in the Hermetike Salt as some modern writers call it which is found to be repair'd and encreas'd in its weight by lying in the air and the like happens to Saltpeter And in our present subject experience informs us that a Loadstone will grow stronger by lying in due position either to the earth or to astronger Loadstone whereby it may be better impregnated and as it were feed it self with the emanations issuing out of them into it Our next position is that This virtue comes to a magnetick body from another body as the nature of bodies is to require a being moved that they may move And this is evident in iron which by the touch orby standing in due position near the loadstone gains the power of the Loadstone Again if a Smith in beating his iron into a rod observe to lay it North South it gets a direction to the North by the very beating of it Likewise if an iron rod be made red hot in the fire and kept there a good while together and when it is taken out be laid to cool just North and South it will acquire the same direction towards the North. And this is true not only of iron but also of all other sorts of bodies whatever that endure such ignition particularly of pot-earths which if they be moulded in a long form and when they are taken out of the Kiln be laid as we said of the iron to cool North and South will have the same effect wrought in them And iron though it has not been heated but only continued long unmoved in the some situation of North and South in a building yet it will have the same effect So as it cannot be denied but this virtue comes to iron from other bodies wherof one must be a secret influence from the North. And this is confirmd by a Loadstones losing its virtue as we said before by lying a long time unduly disposed either towards the earth or towards a stronger Loadstone wherby in stead of the former it gains a new virtue according to that situation And this happens not only in the virtue which is resident and permanent in a Loadstone or a touch'd iron but likewise in the actual motion or operation of them As may be experienc'd First in this that the same loadstone or touch'd iron in the South hemisphere of the world hath its operation strongest at that end of it which tends to the North and in the North Hemisphere at the end which tends to the South each pole communicating a vigour proportionable to its own strength in the climate where it is receiv'd Secondly in this that an iron joyn'd to a Loadstone or within the Sphere of the Loadstones working will take up another piece of iron greater then the Loadstone of it self can hold and as soon as the holding iron is removed out of the sphere of the Loadstones activity it presently lets fall the iron it formerly held up And this is so true that a lesser loadstone may be placed so within the sphere of a greater loadstones operation as to take away a piece of iron from the greater Loadstone and this in virtue of the same greater Loadstone from which it plucks it for but remove the lesser out of the sphere of the greater and then it can no longer do it So that 't is evident in these cases the very actual operation of the lesser Loadstone or of the iron proceeds from the actual influence of the greater Loadstone upon and into them And hence we may understand that whenever a magnetick body works it has an excitation from without which makes it issue out and send its streams abroad so as 't is the nature of all bodies to do and as we have given examples of the like done by heat when we discours'd of Rarefaction But to explicate this point more clearly by
entring more particularly into it If a magnetick body lyes North and South 't is easie obvious to conceive that the streams coming from North and South of the world passing through the stone must needs excitate the virtue which is in it and carry a stream of it along with them that way they go But if it lies East West then the streams of North and South of the earth streaming along by the two poles of the stone are suck'd in by them much more weakly yet nevertheless sufficiently to give an excitation to the innate streams which are in the body of the stone to make them move on in their ordinary course The third position is that The virtue of the Loadstone is a double and not one simple virtue Which is manifest in an iron touch'd by a Loadstone for if you touch it only with one pole of the stone it will not be so strong and full of the magnetike virtue as if you touch one end of it with one pole and the other end of it with the other pole of the stone Again if you touch both ends of an iron with the same pole of the stone the iron gains its virtue at that end which was last touch'd changes its virtue from end to end as often as it is rub'd at contrary ends Again one end of the Loadstone or of iron touch'd will have more force on the one side of the Equator and the other end on the other side of it Again the variation on the one side of the Equator and the variation on the other side of it have different laws according to the different ends of the loadstone or of the needle which looks to those Poles Wherefore t is evident that there is a double virtue in the loadstone the one more powerful at one end of it the other at the other Yet these two virtues are found in every sensible part of the stone for cutting it at either end the virtue at the contrary end is also diminish'd and the whole loadstone that is left has both the same virtues in proportion to its bigness Besides cut the Loadstone how you will still the two poles remain in that line which lay under the Meridian when it was in the earth And the like is of the touched iron whose virtue still â—es along the line which goes straight according to the line of the Axis from the point where it was touch'd and at the opposite end constitutes the contrary pole The fourth position is that Though the virtue of the Loadstone be in the whole body Yet its virtue is more seen in the poles then in any other parts For by experience 't is found that a Loadstone of equal bulk works better and more efficaciously if it be in a long form then if it be in any other And from the middle line betwixt the two poles there comes no virtue if an iron be touch'd there but any part towards the pole the nearer it is to the pole the greater party it imparts Lastly the declination teaches us the same which is so much the stronger by how much it is nearer the pole The fifth position is that In the the loadstone there are emanations which issue not only at the poles and about them but also spherically round about the whole body in an orb from all parts of the superficies of it in such sort as happens in all other bodies whatever And these spherical emanations are of two kinds proportionable to the two polar emanations And the greatest force of each sort of them is in that Hemisphere where the Pole is at which they make their chief issue The reason of the first part of this position is because no particular body can be exempt from the Laws of all bodies and we have above declared that every physical body must of necessity have an orb of fluours or a sphere of activity about it The reason of the second part is that seeing these fluours proceed out of the very substance and nature of the loadstone they cannot choose but be found of both sorts in every part how little soever it be where the nature of the loadstone resides The reason of the third part is that because the polar emanations tend wholly towards the poles each of them to their proper pole it follows that in every Hemisphere both those which come from the contrary Hemisphere and those which are bred in that they go out at are all assembled in that Hemisphere and therefore of necessity it must be stronger in that kind of fluours then the opposite end is All which appears true in experience for if a long iron touches any part of that Hemisphere of a loadstone which tends to the North it gains at that end a virtue of tending likewise to the North and the same will be if an iron but hang loose over it And this may be confirm'd by a like experience of an iron bar in respect of the earth which hanging downwards in any part of our Hemisphere is imbued with the like inclination of drawing towards the North. The sixth position is that although every part of one loadstone do in it self agree with every part of another loadstone that is if each of these parts were divided from their wholes each of them made a whole by it self they might be so joyn'd together as they would agree nevertheless when the parts are in their two wholes they do not all of them agree together but of two loadstones only the poles of the one agree with the whole body of the other that is each pole with any part of the contrary Hemisphere of the other loadstone The reason of this is because the fluours which issue out of the stones are in certain different degrees in several parts of the entire loadstones wherby it happens that one loadstone can work by a determinate part of it self most powerfully upon the other if some determinate part of that other lie next it and not so well if any other part lies towards it And accordingly experience shews that if you put the pole of a loadstone towards the middle of a needle that is touch'd at the point the middle part of the needle will turn away and the end of it will convert it self to the pole of the loadstone The seventh position is that If a touched needle and a loadstone come together and touch one another in their agreeing parts whatever parts of them those be the line of the needles length will beÌ„d towards the pole of the stone excepting if they touch by the Equator of the stone the middle of the needle yet not so that if you draw out the line of the needles length it will go through the pole of the stone unless they touch by the end of the one and the pole of the other But if they touch by the Equator of the one and the middle of the other then the
point Dr. Gilbert seems also to have another controversie with all Writers to wit whether any bodies besides Magnetical ones be attractive Which he seems to deny all others to affirm But this also being fairly put will peradventure prove no controversie for the question is either in common of attraction or else in particular of such an attraction as is made by the loadone Of the first part there can be no doubt as we have declared above and is manifest betwixt gold and quicksilver when a man holding Gold in his mouth it draws to it the quicksilver that is in his body But for the attractive to draw a body to it self not wholly but one determinate part of the body drawn to one determinate part of the drawer is an attraction which for my part I cannot exemplifie in any other bodies but Magnetical ones A third question is Whether an iron that stands long unmoved in a window or any other part of a building perpendicularly to the earth contracts a Magnetical virtue of drawing or pointing towards the North in that end which looks downwards For Cabeus who wrote since Gilbert affirms it out of experience but either his experiment or his expression was defective For assuredly if the iron stands so in the Northern Hemisphere it will turn to the North and if in the Southern Hemisphere it will turn to the South for seeing the virtue of the loadstone proceeds from the earth and the earth has different tempers towards the North and toward the South pole as hath been already declared the virtue which comes out of the earth in the Northern Hemisphere will give to the end of the iron next it an inclination to the North pole and the earth of the Southern Hemisphere will yield the contrary disposition to the end which is nearest it The next Question is why a loadstone seems to love iron better then another loadstone The answer is because iron is indifferent in all its parts to receive the impression of a loadstone wheras another loadstone receives it only in a determinate part and therfore a loadstone draws iron more easily then it can another loadstone because it finds repugnance in the parts of another Loadstone unless it be exactly situated in a right position Besides iron seems to be compared to a Loadstone like a more humid body to a dryer of the same nature and the difference of male and female sexes in Animals manifestly shew the great appetence of conjunction between moisture and dryness when they belong to bodies of the same species Another question is that great one Why a Loadstone cap'd with steel takes up more iron then it would do if it were without that caping Another conclusion like this is that if by a Loadstone you take up an iron and by that iron a second iron and then pull away the second iron the first iron in some position will leave the Loadstone to stick to the second iron as long as the second iron is within the sphere of the Loadstones activity but if you remove the second out of that sphere then the first iron remaining within it though the other be out of it will leave the second and leap back to the Loadstone To the same purpose is this other conclusion that The greater the iron is which is entirely within the compass of the Loadstones virtue the more strongly the Loadstone will be moved to it and the more forcibly stick to it The reasons of all these three we must give at once for they hang all upon on string And in my conceit neither Gilbert nor Galileo have hit upon the right As for Gilbert he thinks that in iron there is originally the virtue of the loadstone but that it is as it were asleep till by the touch of the Loadstone it be awaked and set on work and therfore the virtue of bath joyn'd together is greater then the virtue of the Loadstone alone But if this were the reason the virtue of the iron would be greater in every regard and not only in sticking or in taking up wheras himself confesses that a cap'd stone draws no further then a naked stone nor hardly so far Besides it would continue its virtue out of the sphere of activity of the loadstone which it doth not Again seeing that if you compare them severally the virtue of the Loadstone is greater then the virtue of the iron why should not the middle iron stick closer to the stone then to the further iron which must of necessity have less virtue Galileo yeelds the cause of this effect that when an iron touches an iron there are more parts which touch one another then when a Loadstone touches the iron First because the Loadstone hath generally much impurity in it and therfore divers parts of it have no virtue wheras iron by being melted hath all its parts pure and secondly because iron can be smooth'd and polish'd more then a Loadstone can be and therfore its superficies touches in a manner with all its parts whereas divers parts of the stones superficies cannot touch by reason of its ruggedness And he confirms his opinion by experience for if you put the head of a needle to a bare stone and the point of it to an iron and then pluck away the iron the needle will leave the iron and stick to the stone but if you turn the needle the other way it will leave the stone and stick to the iron Out of which he infers that 't is the multitude of parts which causes the closs and strong sticking And it seems he found the same in the caping of his Loadstones for he used flat irons for that purpose which by their whole plane did take up other irons wheras Gilbert cap'd his with convex irons which not applying themselvs to other irons so strongly or with so many ports as Galileo's did would not by much take up so great weights as his Nevertheless it seems not to me that his answer is sufficient or that his reasons convince For we are to consider that the virtue which he puts in the iron must according to his own supposition proceed from the Loadstone and then what imports it whether the superficies of the iron which touches another iron be so exactly plain or no or that the parts of it be more solid then the parts of the stone For all this conduces nothing to make the virtue greater then it was since no more virtue can go from one iron to the other then goes from the Loadstone to the first iron and if this virtue cannot tie the first iron to the Loadstone it cannot proceed out of this virtue that the second iron be tyed to the first Again if a paper be put betwixt the cap and another iron it doth not hinder the magnetical virtue from passing through it to the iron but the virtue of taking up more weight then the naked stone was able to do is therby
Of the great effects of Rarefaction 4. The first manner of condensation by heat 5. The second manner of condensation by cold 3. That Ice is not water rarifiâ—d but condensed 7. How wind snow and hail are made and wind by rain allayed 8. How parts of the same or divers bodies are joyned more strongly together by condensation 9. Vacuities cannot be the reason why water impregnated to the full with one kind of salt will notwithstanding receive more of another 10. The true reason of the former effect 11. The reason why bodies of the same nature jâ—yn more easily together then others 1. What attraction is and from whence it proceeds 1. The true sense of the Maxime that Nature abhors from vacuity 3. The true rea son of attraction 4. Water may be brought by the force of attraction to what height soever 5. The doctrine touching the attraction of water in Syphons 6. That the Syphon doth not prove water to weigh in its own orb 7. Concerning attraction caused by fire 8. Concerning attraction made by virtue of hot bodies amulets c. 9. The natural reason given for divers operations esteemed by some to be magical 1. What is Filtration and how it is effected 2. What causes the water in filtration to ascend 3. Why the filter will not drop unless the label hang lower then the water 4. Of the motion of Râ—stitution and why some bodies stand bent others not 5. Why some bo dies return only in part to their natural figure others entirely 6. Concerning the nature of those bodies which shrink and stretch 7. How great wonderful effects proceed from smal plain and simple principles 8. Concerning Electrical at action and the causes of it 6. Cabeus his opinion reâ—uted concerning the cause of Electrical motions 1. The extreme heat of the Sun under the Zodiack draws a stream of air from each pole into the Torrid Zone * Chap. 18. Sect. 7. 2. The Atoms of these two streams coming together are apt to incorporate with one another 3. By the meeting and mingling together of these streams at the Equator divers rivolets of Atoms of each Pole are continuated from one Pole to the other 4. Of these Atoms incorporated with some fit matter in the bowels of the earth is made a stone 5. This stone works by emanations joyned with agreeing streams that meet them in the air and in fine it is a Loadstone 6 A methode for making experiences on any subject 7. The Loadstones generation by atoms flowing from both Poles is confirmd by experiments observ'd in the stone it self 8. Experiments to prove that the Loadstone works by emanations meeting with agreeing streames 1. The operations of the loadstone are wrought by bodies and not by qualities 2. Objections against the former position answer'd 3. The Loadstone is imbued with his virtue from another body 4 The virtue of the Loadstone is a double and not one simple virtue 5. The virtue of the Loadstone works more strongly in the poles of it then in any other part 6. The loadstone sends forth its emanations spherically Which are of two kindâ— and each kind is strongest in that Hemisphere through whose polary parts they issue out 7. Putting two loadstones within the sphere of one another every part of one loadstone doth not agree wâ—th every part of the other loadstone 8. Concetning the declination and other respects of a needle towards the loadstone it touches 8. The virtue of the Loadstone goes from end to end in lines almost parallel to the Axis 10. The virtue of the Loadstone is not perfectly spherical though the stone be such 11. The intention of nature in all the operations of the loadstone is to make an union betwixt the attractive and attracted bodies 12. The main globe of the earth is not a Loadstone 13. The loadstone is generated in all parts or Climâ—t's of the earth 14. The conformity betwixt the two motions of magnetick things and of heavy things 1. Which is the North and which the South Pole of a Loadstone 2. Whether any bodies besides magnetick ones be attractive 3. Whether an iron placed perpendicularly towards the earth gets a magnetical virtue of pointing towards the north or towards the south in that end that lies downwards 4. Why loadstones affect iron better than one another 5. Gilberts reason refuted touching a cap'd Loadstone that takes up more iron then one not cap'd and an iron impregnated that in some case draws more strongly then the stone it self Galileus his opinion touching the former effects refuted 7. The Authors solution to the former questions 8. The reason why in the former case a lesser Loadstones draws the interjacent iron from the greater 9. Why the variation of a touched needle from the North is greater the nearer you go to the Pole 10. Whether in the same part of the world a touched needle may it one time vary more fâ—om the North and at another time less 11. The whâ—le doctrine of the loâ—dstone sum'd up in short 1. The connexion of the following Chapters with the precedent ones 2. Concerning several compositions of mixed bodies 3. Two sorts of Living Creatures 4. An engine to express the first sort of living creatures 5. Another Engine by which may be expressed the second sort of living creatures 4. The two former engines and some other comparisons applied to express the two several sorts of living creatures 7. How plants are framed 8. How Sensitive Creatures are formed 1. The opinion that the seed contains formally every part of the parent 2. The former opinion rejected 3. The Authours opinion of this question 4. Their opinion refuted who hold that every thing contains formally all things 5. The Authors opinion concerning the generation of Animals declared and confirm'd That one substance is changed into another 7. Concerning the hatching of Chickens and the generation of the other Animals 8. From whence it happens that the deficiences or excresences of the parents body are often seen in their children 9. The difference between the Authors opinion anâ—â—he former 〈◊〉 10 That the heart is imbued with the general specifike vertues of the whole body wherby is confirm'd the doctrine of the two former Paragraphes 11 That the heart is the first part generated in a living creatures 1. That the figure of an Animal is produced by ordinary second causes as well as any other corporeal effect 2. That the several figures of bodies proceed from a defect in one of three dimensions caused by the circumference of accidental causes 3. The former doctrine is confirmd by several instances 4. The same doctrine applyed to plants 4. The same doctrine declared in leaves of trees 16. The same applied to the bodies of Animals 7. In what sense the Author admits of vis formatrix 1. From whence proceeds the primary motion growth in Plants 2. Mr. des Cartes his opinion touching the motion of the heart 3. The former opinion rejected 4. The Authors opinion
of these streams at the Equator divers Rivolets of Atomes of each Pole are continuated from one Pole to the other 4. Of these Atomes incorporated with some fit matter in the bowels of the earth is made a stone 5. This stone works by emanatitions joyn'd with agreeing streams that meet them in the air and in fine it is a Loadstone 6. A Method for making experiences upon any subject 7. The Loadstones generation by Atomes flowing from both Poles is confirmed by experiments observed in the stone it self 8. Experiments to prove that the Loadstone works by emanations meeting with agreeing streams CHAP. XXI Positions drawn out of the former doctrine and confirm'd by experimental proofs 1. The operations of the Loadstone are wrought by bodies and not by qualities 2. Objections against the former position answer'd 3. The Loadstone is imbu'd with his vertue from another body 4. The vertue of the loadstone is a double and not one simple virtue 5. The vertue of the Loadstone works more strongly in the Poles of it than in any other part 6. The loadstone sends forth its emanations spherically Which are of two kinds and each kind is strongest in that hemisphere through whose polary parts they issue out 7. Putting two loadstones within the sphere of one another every part of one loadstone doth not agree with every part of the other loadstone 8. Concerning the declination and other respects of a needle towards the loadstone it touches 9. The vertue of the loadstone goes from end to end in lines almost parallel to the axis 10. The virtue of a loadstone is not perfectly spherical though the stone be such 11. The intention of nature in all the operations of the loadstone is to make an union betwixt the attractive and the attracted bodies 12. The main Globe of the earth not a loadstone 13. The loadstone is generated in all parts or climates of the earth 14. The conformity betwixt the two motions of magnetick things and of heavy things CHAP. XXII A solution of certain Problems concerning the Loadstone and a short summ of the whole doctrine touching it 1. Which is the North and which the South Pole of a loadstone 2. Whether any bodies besides magnetick ones be attractive 3. Whether an iron placed perpendicularly towards the earth doth get a magnetical virtue of pointing towards the North or towards the South in that end that lies downwards 4. Why loadstones affect iron better than one another 5. Gilbert's reason refuted touching a capped loadstone that takes up more iron than one not capped and an iron impregnated that in some case draws more strongly than the stone it self 6. Galileus his opinion touching the former effects refuted 7. The Authours solution to the former questions 8. The reason why in the former case a lesser Load stone draws the interjacent iron from the greater 9. Why the variation of a touched needle from the North is greater the nearer you go to the Pole 10. Whether in the same part of the world a touched needle may at one time vary more from the North and at another time lesse 11. The whole doctrine of the load stone summ'd up in short CHAP. XXIII A description of two sorts of Living creatures Plants and Animals and how they are framed in common to perform vital motion 1. The connexion of the following Chapters with the precedent 2. Concerning several compositions of mix'd bodies 3. Two sorts of living creatures 4. An engin to express the first sort of living creatures 5. An other engin by which may be express'd the second sort of living creatures 6. The two former enginâ— and some other compâ—risons upplyed express 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of living creatures 7. How plants are fram'd 8. How Sensitive creatures are form'd CHAP. XXIV A more particular survey of the generation of Animals in which is discover'd what part of the animal is first generated 1. The opinion that the seed contains formally every part of the parent 2. The former opinion rejected 3. The Authours opinion of this question 4. Their opinion refuted who hold that every thing contains formally all things 5. The Authours opinion concerning the generation of Animals declared and confirm'd 6. That one substance is chang'd into another 7. Concerning the â—atching of Chickens and the generation of other animals 8. From whence it â—ppens that the defi◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—scences of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seen in their children 9. The difference between the Authours opinion and the former 10. That the heart is iâ—ued with the generalâ— spâ—ific virtues of the whole body 〈◊〉 confirm'd the doctrine of the two former paragraphs 11. That the heart is the first part generated in a living creature CHAP. XXV How a Plant or Animal comes to that Figure it hath 1. That the Figure of an Animal is produced by ordinary second causes as well as any other corporeal effect 2. That the several figures of bodies proceed from a defect in one of the three dimensions caused by the concurrence of accidental causes 3. The former doctrine is confirmed by several instances 4. The same doctrine apply'd to Plants 5. The same doctrine declared in leafs of trees 6. The same apply'd to the bodies of Animals 7. In what sense the Authour admits of Vis formatrix CHAP. XXVI How motion begins in Living creatures And of the Motion of the Heart Circulation of the Blood Nutrition Augmentation and corruption or death 1. From whence proceeds the primary motion and growth in Plants 2. Monsieur des Cartes his opinion touching the motion of the heart 3. The former opinion rejected 4. The Authours opinion concerning the motion of the heart 5. The motion of the heart depends originally of its fibers irrigated by bloud 6. An objection answer'd against the former doctrine 7. The circulation of the bloud and other effects that follow the motion of the heart 8. Of Nutrition 9. Of Augmentation 10. Of death and sickness CHAP. XXVII Of the motions of Sense and of the Sensible Qualities in gegeral in particular of those which belong to Touch Tast and Smelling 1. The connexion of the subsequent Chapters with the precedent 2. Of the senses and sensible qualities in general And of the end for which they serve 3. Of the sense of touching and that both it and its qualities are bodies 4. Of the tast and its qualities that they are bodies 5. That the smell and its qualities are real bodies 6. Of the conformity betwixt the two senses of smelling and tasting 7. The reason why the sense of smelling is not so perfect in man as in beasts with a wonderful history of a man who could wind sent as well as any beast CHAP. XXVIII Of the sense of Hearing and of the sensible quality Sound 1. Of the sense of hearing and that sound is purely motion 2. Of divers arts belonging to the sense of hearing all which confirm that sound is nothing but motion 3. The same is confirmed by the effects caused
our discourse to remove a difficulty that even Sense it self seems to object to us For doth not our eye evidently inform us there are fingers hands arms legs feet toes and variety of other parts in a Mans Body These are actually in him and seem to be distinct things in him so evidently that we cannot be perswaded but that we see and fâ—l the distinction between them for every one of them has a particular power of actual working and doing what belongs to its nature each finger is really there the hand is different from the foot the leg from the arm and so of the rest Are not these parts then actually and really in a mans body And is not each of them as really distinguish'd from any other This appears at first sight to be an insuperable Objection because of the confirmation and evidence that Sense seems to give it But looking nearly into the matter we shall find that the difficulty arises not from what Sense informs us of but from our wrong applying the conditions of our notions to the things that make impressions upon our Sense Sense judges not which is a finger which is a hand or which is a foot The notions agreeing to these words as well as the words themselvs are productions of the Understanding which considering several impressions made upon the Sense by the same thing as it has a vertue and power to several operation frames several notions of it as in our former example it doth of colour figure tast and the like in an Apple For as these are not different bodies or substances distinguish'd one from another but are the same one entire thing working severally upon the Senses and that accordingly makes these different pictures in the mind which are there as much distinguish'd as if they were pictures of different substances So the parts consider'd in Quantity are not divers things but only a virtue or power to be divers things which virtue making several impressions upon the Senses occasions several notions in the Understanding And the Understanding is so much the more prone to conceive those parts as distinct things by how much Quantity is nearer to be distinct things then the Qualities of the Apple are For Quantity is a possibility to be made distinct things by division wheras the others are but a virtue to doe distinct things And yet as we have touch'd above nothing can be more manifest then that if Quantity be Divisibility which is a possibility that many things may be made of it these parts are not yet divers things So that if for example a rod be laid before us and half of it be hid from our sight and the other half appear it is not one part or thing that shews it self and another part or thing that doth 〈◊〉 shew it self but it is the same rod or thing which shews it self according to the possibility of being one new thing but doth not shew it self according to the possibility of being the other of the two things it may be made by division Which example if it be well consider'd will make it much more easily sink into us that a hand or eye or foot is not a distinct thing by it self but that it is the man according as he hath a certain virtue or power in him to distinct operations For if you sever any of these parts from the whole body the hand can no more hold nor the eye see nor the foot walk which are the powers that essentially constitute them to be what they are and therefore they are no longer a hand an eye or a foot Now then to come to the objection let us examine how far Sense may be allow'd to be judge in this difficulty and we shall find that Sense cannot determine any one part in a body For if it could it would precisely tel where that part begins or ends but it being agreed on that it begins and ends in indivisibles 't is certain that Sense cannot determine of them If then Sense cannot determine any one part how shall it see that it is distinguish'd from all other parts Again considering that all that whereof Sense is capable is divisible it still tells us that in all it sees there are more parts then one and therefore it cannot discern nor inform us of any that is one alone nor knows what it is to be one for it never could discern it but what is many is many ones and cannot be known by that which knows not what it is to be one and consequently Sense cannot tell us that there are many Wherefore 't is evident that we may not rely upon Sense for this question And as for Reason she has already given her verdict So that nothing remains but to shew why we talk as we do in ordinary discourse of many parts and that what we say in that kind is true notwithstanding the unity of the thing Which will appear plainly if we consider that our Understanding hath a custome for the better discerning of things to impose on a thing as it is under one notion the exclusion of it self as it is under other notions And this is evident to all Scholars when the mark of exclusion is expresly put as when they speak of a white thing adding the reduplication as white which excludes all other considerations of that thing besides the whiteness of it But when it comes under some particular name of the thing it may deceive those that are not cunning though indeed most men discover it in such names as we call abstracted as Humanity Animality and the like But it easily deceives when it comes in Concrete names as it doth in the name of Part in general or in the names of particular parts as an hand an eye an inch an ell and others of the like nature for as you see that a part excludes both the notion of the whole and of the remaining parts so doth a hand an eye an ell exclude all the rest of that thing whereof the hand is an hand and the ell is an ell and so forth Now then as every man sees evidently that it cannot be said the Wall as white is Plaister or Stone no more can it be said that the Hand of a Man is his Foot because the word hand signifies as much in it self as if the man were taken by reduplication to be the man as he is hand or as he hath the power of holding So likewise in the rod we spoke of before it cannot be said that the part seen is the part unseen because the part seen signifies the rod as it is a possibility to be made by division such a thing as it appears to the sight And thus 't is clear how the difficulty of this point arises out of the wrong applying the conditions of our notions and of names to the objects and things which we know whereof we gave warning in the beginning After which there remains no more to be said
whom and Dr. Harvey our Nation may claim even in this latter age as deserved a crown for solid Philosophical learning as for many ages together it hath done formerly for acute and subtile speculations in Divinity But before I fall to particulars I think it worth warning my Reader how this Great Man arrived to discover so much of Magnetical Philosophy that he likewise if he be desirous to search into nature may by imitation advance his thoughts and knowledge that way In short then all the knowledg he got of this subject was by forming a little Loadstone into the shape of the earth By which means he compassed a wonderful design which was to make the whole globe of the earth maniable for he found the properties of the whole earth in that little body which he therfore called a Terrella or little earth and which he could manage and try experiences on at his will And in like manner any man that has an aim to advance much in natural Sciences must endeavour to draw the matter he enquires of into some smal model or into some kind of manageable method which he may turn and wind as he pleases and then let him be sure if he hath a competent understanding that he will not miss of his mark But to our intent the first thing we are to prove is that the Loadstone is generated in such sort as we have described For proof wherof the first ground we will lay shall be to consider how in divers other effects it is manifest that the differences of being exposed to the North or to the South cause very great variety in the same thing as hereafter we shall have occasion to touch in the barks and grains of trees and the like Next we find by experience that this virtue of the Loadstone is receivd into other bodies that resemble its nature by heatings and coolings for so it passes in iron bars which being throughly heated and then laid to cool North and South are therby imbued with a Magnetick virtue heat opening their bodies and disposing them to suck in such atoms as are convenient to their nature that flow to them whiles they are cooling So that we cannot doubt but convenient matter fermenting in its warm bed under the earth becomes a Loadstone by the like sucking in of affluent streams of a like complexion to the former And it fares in like manner with those fiery instruments as fireforks tongues shovels and the like which stand constantly upwards and downwards for they by being often heated and cool'd again gain a very strong verticity or turning to the Pole and indeed they cannot stand upwards and downwards so little a while but they will in that short space gain a manifest verticity and change it at every turning Now since the force and vigour of this verticity is in the end that stands downwards 't is evident that this effect proceeds out of an influence receiv'd from the earth And because in a Load-stone made into a globe or consider'd so to the end you may reckon Hemispheres in it as in the great earth either Hemisphere gives to a needle touch'd upon it not only the virtue of that Hemisphere where it is touch'd but likewise the vertue of the contrary Hemisphere we may boldly conclude that the virtue which a Loadstone is impregnated with in the womb or bed of the earth where it is form'd and grows proceeds as well from the contrary Hemisphere of the earth as from that wherin it lyes in such sort as we have above described And as we feel oftentimes in our own bodies that some cold we catch remains in us a long while after the taking it and somtimes seems even to change the nature of some part of our body into which it is chiefly enter'd and hath taken particular possession of so that whenever new atoms of the like nature again range about in the circumstant air that part so deeply affected with the former ones of-kin to these in a particular manner seems to rissent and attract them to it and to have its guests within it as it were waken'd and rous'd up by the strokes of the advenient ones that knock at their doors Even so but much more strongly by reason of the longer time and less hinderances we may conceive that the two virtues or atoms proceeding from the two different Hemisphere constitute a certain permanent and constant nature in the stone that imbibes them which then we call a Loadstone and is exceeding sensible as we shall hereafter declare of the advenience to it of new atoms a like in nature and complexion to those it is impregnated with And this virtue consisting in a kind of softer and tenderer substance then the rest of the stone becomes thereby subject to be consumed by fire From whence we may gather the reason why a Loadstone never recovers its magnetick virtue after it hath once lost it though iron doth for the humidity of iron is inseparable from its substance but the humidity of a Loadstone which makes it capable of this effect may be quite consumed by fire and so the stone may be left too dry for ever being capable of imbibing any new influence from the earth unless it be by a kind of new making it In the next place we are to prove that the Loadstone works in that manner we have shew'd For which end let us consider how the atoms that are drawn from each Pole and Hemisphere of the earth to the Equator making up their course by a manuduction of one another the hindermost cannot chose but still follow on after the formost And as it happens in filtration by a cotton cloath if some one part of the cotton have its disposition to the ascent of the water more perfect and ready then the other parts have the water will assuredly ascend faster in that part then in any of the rest so if the atoms find a greater disposition for their passage in any one part of the Medium they range through then in another they will certainly not fail of taking that way in greater abundance and with more vigour and strength then any other But 't is evident that when they meet with such a stone as we have described the helps by which they advance in their journey are notably encreas'd by the floud of atoms they meet coming out of that stone which being of the nature of their opposite pole they seise greedily upon them and therby pluck themselvs faster on like a Ferry man that draws on his boat the swiftlier the more vigourously he tâ—gs and pulls at the rope that lyes thwart the river for him to hale himself over by And therfore we cannot doubt but this floud of atoms streaming from the pole of the earth must needs pass through that stone with more speed and vigour then they can do any other way And as we see in the running of water if it meets with any lower
continual application to the body it thus anatomises hath harden'd as it were rosted some parts into such greatness and driness as they will not flie nor can be carried up with any moderate heat But great quantity of fire being mingled with the subtiler parts of his baked earth makes them very pungent and acrimonious in tast so that they are of the nature of ordinary Salt and so called and by the help of water may easily be separated from the more gross parts which then remain a dead and useless earth By this discourse 't is apparent that fire has been the instrument which hath wrought all these parts of an entire body into the forms they are in for whiles it carried away the fiery parts it swel'd the watry ones and whiles it lifted up them it digested the Aerial parts and whiles it drove up the Oyle it baked the earth and salt Again all these retaining for the most part the proper nature of the substance from whence they are extracted 't is evident that the substance is not dissolv'd for so the nature of the whole would be dissolv'd and quite destroy'd extinguish'd in every part but that onely some parts containing the whole substance or rather the nature of the whole substance in them are separated fromo ther parts that have likewise the same nature in them The third instrument for the separation and dissolution of bodies is Water whose proper matter to work upon is Salt and it serves to supply what the fire could not perform which is the separation of the salt from the earth in calcined bodies All the other parts fire was able to sever but in these he hath so baked the little humidity he hath left in them with their much earth as he cannot divide them any further and so though he incorporates himself with them yet he can carry nothing away with him If then pure water be put upon that chalk the subtilest dry parts of it easily joyn to the supervenient moysture and sticking close to it draw it down to them But because they are the lighter it happens to them as when a man in a boat pulls the land to him that comes not to him but he removes himself and his boat to it so these ascend in the water as they dissolve And the water more and more penetrating them and by addition of its parts making the humidity which glews their earthy parts together greater and greater makes a wider and wider separation between those little earthy parts and so imbues the whole body of the water with them into which they are dispersed in little atomes Those that are of biggest bulk remain lowest in the water and in the same measure as their quantities dissolve into less and less they ascend higher and higher till at length the water is fully replenish'd with them and they are diffused through the whole body of it whiles the more gross and heavy earthy parts having nothing in them to make a present combination between them and the water fall down to the bottome and settle under the water in dust In which because earth alone predominates in a very great excess we can expect no other virtue to be in it but that which is proper to mere earth to wit driness and weight Which ordinary Alchimists look not after and therfore call it Terra damnata but others find a fixing quality in it by which they perform very admirable operations Now if you prove the impregnated water from the Terra damnata and then evaporate it you will find a pure white substance remaining Which by its bulk shews it self to be very earthy and by its pricking and corrasive taste will inform you much fire is in it and by its easie dissolution in a moist place that water had a great share in the production of it And thus the salts of bodies are made and extracted Now as water dissolves salt so by the incorporation and virtue of that corrosive substance it doth more then salt it self can do for having gotten acrimony and more weight by the mixture and dissolution of salt in it it makes it self away into solide bodies even into metalls as we see in brass and iron which are easily rusted by salt dissolving upon them And according as the salts are stronger so this corrasive virtue encreases in them even so much as neither silver nor gold are free from their eating quality But they as well as the rest are divided into most small parts and made to swim in water in such sort as we have explicated above and wherof every ordinary Alchymist teaches the practise But this is not all salts help as well to melt hard bodies and metalls as to corrode them For fome fusible salts flowing upon them by the heat of the fire and others dissolv'd by the steam of the metal that incorporates with them as soon as they are in flux mingle with the natural juice of the metals and penetrate deeper then without them the fire could do and swell them and make them fit to run These are the principal ways of the two last instruments in dissolving of bodies taking each of them by it self But there remains one more of very great importance as well in the works of nature as of art in which both the former are joyned and concur and that is putrefaction Whose way of working is by gentle heat and moisture to wet and pierce the body it works upon wherby 't is made to swel and the hot parts of it being loosen'd they are at length drunk up and drown'd in the moist ones from whence by fire they are easily separated as we have already declared and those moist parts afterwards leaving it the substance remaines dry and falls in pieces for want of the glew that held it together CHAP. XVI An explication of certain Maxims touching the operations and qualities of bodies and whether the Elements be found pure in any part of the World OUt of what we have determin'd concerning the natural actions of bodies in their making and destroying one another 't is easie to understand the right meaning of some terms and the true reason of some maxims much used in the Schools As first when Philosophers attribute to all sorts of corporeal Agents a Sphere of Activity The sense of that manner of expression in fire appears plainly by what we have already declared of the nature and manner of operation of that Element And in like manner if we consider how the force of cold consists in a compression of the body that is made cold we may perceive that if in the cooled body there be any subtile parts which can break forth from the rest such compression wil make them do so Especially if the compression be of little parts of the compressed body within themselvs as well as of the outward bulk of the whole body round about For at first the compression of such causes in the body
render'd quite useless Therfore 't is evident that this virtue must be put in somthing else and not in the application of the magnetical vertue And to examine his reasons particularly it may very well fall out that whatever the cause be the point of a needle may be too little to make an exact experience in and therfore a new doctrine ought not lightly be grounded upon what appears in the application of that And likewise the greatness of the surfaces of the two irons may be a condition helpful to the cause whatever it be for greater and lesser are the common conditions of all bodies and therfore avail all kinds of corporeal causes so that no one cause can be affirm'd more then another meerly out of this that great doth more and little doth less To come then to our own solution I have consider'd how fire hath in a manner the same effect in iron as the virtue of the Loadstone hath by means of the cap for I find that fire coming through iron red-glowing hot will burn more strongly then if it should come immediatly through the air also we see that in Pitcole the fire is stronger then in Charcole And nevertheless the fire will heat further if it come immediately from the source of it then if it come through a red iron that burns more violently where it touches and likewise charcoal will heat further then pitcoal that near hand burns more fiercely In the same manner the Loadstone will draw further without a cap then with one but with a cap it sticks faster then without one Whence I see that it is not purely the virtue of the Loadstone but the virtue of it being in iron which causes this effect Now this modification may proceed either from the multitude of parts which come out of the Loadstone and are as it were stop'd in the iron so the sphere of their activity becomes shorter but stronger or else from some quality of the iron joyn'd to the influence of the loadstone The first seems not to give a good account of the effect for why should a little paper take it away seeing we are sure that it stops not the passage of the loadstones influence Again the influence of the Loadstone seems in its motion to be of the nature of light which goes in an insensible time as far as it can reach and therfore were it multiply'd in the iron it would reach further then without it and from it the virtue of the Loadstone would begin a new sphere of activity Therfore we more willingly cleave to the latter part of our determination And therupon enquiring what quality there is in iron whence this effect may follow we find that it is distinguish'd from a loadstone as a metal is from a stone Now we know that metals have generally more humidity than stones and we have discours'd above that humidity is the cause of sticking especially when it is little and dense These qualities must needs be in iron which of all metals is the most terrestrial and such humidity as is able to stick to the influence of the loadstone as it passes through the body of the iron must be exceeding subtile and small And it seems necessary that such humidity should stâ—k to the influence of the loadstone when it meets with it coâ—sidering that the influence is of it self dry and that the nature of iron is a kin to the loadstone wherfore the humidity of the one the drought of the other will not fail of incorporating together Now then if two irons well polish'd and plain be united by such a glew as results ouâ— of this composition there is a manifest appearance of much reason for them to stick strongly together This is confirm'd by the nature of iron in very cold Countreys and very cold weather for the very humidity of the air in times of frost will make upon iron sooner then upon other things such a sticking glew as will pull off the skin of a mans hand that touches it hard And by this discourse you will perceive that Galileo's arguments confirm our opinion as well as his own and that according to our doctrine all circumstances must fall out just as they do in his experiences And the reason is clear why the interposition of another body hinders the strong sticking of iron to the cap of the loadstone for it makes the mediation between them greater which we have shew'd to be the general reason why things are easily parted Let us then proceed to the resolution of the other cases proposed The second is already resolv'd for if this glew be made of the influence of the loadstone it cannot have force further then the loadstone it self has and so far it must have more force then the bare influence of the loadstone Or rather the humidity of two irons makes the glew of a fitter temper to hold then that which is between a dry loadstone and iron and the glew enters better when both sides are moist then when only one is so But this resolution though it be in part good yet doth not evacuate the whole difficulty since the same case happens between a stronger and a weaker Loadstone as between a Loadstone and iron for the weaker Loadstone while it is within the sphere of activity of the greater Loadstone draws away an iron set betwixt them as well as a second iron doth For the reason therfore of the little Loadstones drawing away the iron we may consider that the greater Loadstone hath two effects upon the iron betwixt it and a lesser Loadstone and a third effect upon the little loadstone it self The first is that it impregnates the iron and gives it a permanent vertue by which it works like a weak Loadstone The second is that as it makes the iron work towards the lesser Loadstone by its permanent virtue so also it accompanies the steam that goes from the iron towards the little Loadstone with its own steam which goes the same way so that both these steams in company climb up the steam of the little Loadstone which meets them and that steam climbs up the enlarged one of both theirs together The third effect which the greater Loadstone works is that it makes the steam of the little loadstone become stronger by augmenting its innate virtue in some degree Now then the going of the iron to either of the Loadstones must follow the greater and quicker conjunction of the two meeting steams and not the greatness of one alone So that if the conjunction of the two steams between the iron and the little Loadstone be greater quicker then the conjunction of the two steams which meet betwixt the greater Loadstone and the iron the iron must stick to the lesser Loadstone And this must happen more often then otherwise for the steam which goes from the iron to the greater Loadstone will for the most part be less then the steam which goes from the lesser Loadstone
diffused in many several branches peradventure it will not be displeasing to the Reader to see the whole nature of the loadstone sum'd up in short Let him then cast his eyes upon one effect of it very easie to be tried and acknowledg'd by all writers though we have not as yet mention'd it 'T is that a knife drawn from the pole of a loadstone towards the Equator if you hold the point towards the pole gains a respect to one of the poles but contrariwise if the point of the knife be held towards the Equator and be thrust the same way it was drawn before that is towards the Equator it gains a respect towards the contrary pole 'T is evident out of this experience that the virtue of the loadstone is communicated by way of streams and that in it there are two contrary streams for otherwise the motion of the knife this way or that why could not change the efficacity of the same parts of the loadstone 'T is likewise evident that these contrary streams come from the contrary ends of the loadstone As also that the virtues of them both are in every part of the stone Likewise that one loadstone must of necessity turn certain parts of it self to certain parts of another loadstone nay that it must go and joyn to it according to the laws of attraction which we have above deliver'd and consequently that they must turn their disagreeing parts away from one another and so one loadstone seem to fly from another if they be so apply'd that their disagreeing parts be kept still next to one another for in this case the disagreeing and the agreeing parts of the same loadstone being in the same straight line one loadstone seeking to draw his agreeing part near to that part of the other loadstone which agrees with him must of necessity turn away his disagreeing parts to give way to his agreeing parts to approach nearer And thus you see that the flying from one another of two ends of two loadstones which are both of the same denomination as for example the two South ends or the two North ends doth not proceed from a pretended antipathy between those two ends but from the attraction of the agreeing ends Furthermore the earth having to a Loadstone the nature of a Loadstone it follows that a Loadstone must necessarily turn it self to the poles of the earth by the same laws and consequently must tend to the North must vary from the North must incline towards the centre and must be affected with all such accidents as we have deduced of the Loadstone And lastly seeing that iron is to a Loadstone a fit matter for it to impress its nature in and easily retains that magnetike virtue the same effects that follow between two Loadstones must necessarily follow between a Loadstone and a piece of iron fitly proportionated in their degrees excepting some little particularities which proceed out of the naturalness of the magneticke virtue to a Loadstone more then to iron And thus you see the nature of the Load-stone sum'd up in gross the particular joynts and causes whereof you may find treated at large in the main discourse Wherin we have govern'd our selvs chiefly by the experiences that are recorded by Gilbert and Cabeus to whom we remit our Reader for a more ample declaration of particulars CHAP. XXIII A description of the two sorts of Living Creatures Plants and Animals and how they are framed in common to perform vital motion HItherto we have endeavour'd to follow by a continual third all such effects as we have met with among Bodies and to trace them in all their windings and drive them up to their very root original source for the nature of our subject having been yet very common hath not exceeded the compass and power of our search inquiry to descend to the chief circumstances and particulars belonging to it And indeed many of the conveyance wherby the operations we have discoursed of are performed be so secret and abstruse as they that Look into them with less heedfulness and judgment then such a matter requires are too apt to impute them to mysterious causes above the reach of humane nature to comprehend and to calumniate them of being wrought by occult and specifick qualities wherof no more reason could be given then if the effects were infused by Angelical hands without assistance of inferiour bodies which uses to be the last refuge of ignorant men who not knowing what to say and yet presuming to say something fall often upon such expressions as neither themselvs nor their hearers understand but if they be well scan'd imply contradictions Therfore we deem'd it a kind of necessity to strain our selvs to prosecute most of such effects even to their notional connexions with Rarity and Density And the rather because it hath not been our luck yet to meet with any that has had the like design or done any considerable matter to ease our pains VVhich cannot but make the Readers journey somwhat tedious to him to follow all our steps by reason of the ruggedness and untrodenness of the paths we have walk'd in But now the effects we shall henceforward meddle with grow so particular and swarm into such a vast multitude of several little joynts and wreathy labyrinths of nature as were impossible in so summary a treatise as we intend to deliver the causes of every one of them exactly which would require both large discourses and abundance of experiences to acquit our selvs as we ought of such a task Nor is there a like need of doing it as formerly for as much as concerns our design since the causes of them are palpably material and the admirable artifice of them consists only in the Dedalean and wonderful-ingenious ordering and ranging them one with another VVe shall therfore intreat our Reader from this time forwards to expect only the common sequel of those particular effects out of the principles already laid And when some shall occur that may peradventure seem at first sight enacted immediately by a virtue spiritual and that proceeds indivisibly in a different strain from the ordinary process which we see in bodies and bodily things that is by the virtues of rarity and density working by local motion we hope he will be satisfied at our hands if we lay down a method and trace out a course wherby such events and operations may follow out of the principles we have laid Though peradventure we shall not absolutely convince that every effect is done just as we set it down in every particular and that it may not as well be done by some other disposing of parts under the same general scope for 't is enough for our turn if we shew that such effects may be perform'd by corporeal agents working as other bodies do without confining our selvs to an exactness in every link of the long chain that must be wound up in the performance
that when it is full it compresses itself by a quick and strong motion to expel that which is in it and that when it is empty it returns to its natural dilatation figure and situation by the ceasing of that agents working which caused its motion Wherby it appears to be of such a fibrous substance as hath a proper motion of its own Thirdly I see not how this motion can be proportional For the heart must needs open and be dilated much faster then it can be shut and shrunk together there being no cause put to shut and bring it to its utmost period of shrinking other then the going out of the vapour wherby it becomes empty which vapour not being forced by any thing but its own inclination may peradventure at first when there is abundance of it swell and stretch the heart forcibly out but after the first impulse and breach of some part of it out of the Cavern that enclosed it there is nothing to drive out the rest which must therfore steam very leasurely out Fourthly what should hinder the blood from coming in before the heart be quite-empty and shrunk to its lowest pitch For as soon as the vapour yeelds within new blood may fall in from without and so keep the heart continually dilated without ever suffering it to be perfectly and compleatly shut Fifthly the heart of a Viper layd upon a plate in a warm place will beat four and twenty houres and much longer if it be carefully taken out of its body and the weather warm and moyst and it is clear that this is without succession of blood to cause the pulses of it Likewise the several members of living creatures will stir for sometime after they are parted from their bodies and in them we can suspect no such cause of motion Sixthly Mounsir des Cartes his opinion the heart should be hardest when it is fullest and the eruption of the steam out of it should be strongest at the beginning wheras experience shews that it is softest when it is at the point of being full and hardest when it is at the point of being empty and the motion strongest towards the end Seventhly in Mounsir des Cartes his way there is no agent or force strong enough to make blood gush out of the heart For if it be the steam only that opens the doors nothing but it will go out and the blood will still remain behind since it lies lower then the steam and further from the issue that lets it out but Dr. Harvey findes by experience and teaches how to make this experience that when a wound is made in the heart blood will gush out by spurts at every shooting of the heart And lastly if Mounsir des Cartes his supposition were true the arteries would receive nothing but steams wheras it is evident that the chief filler of them is blood Therfore we must enquire after another cause of this primary motion of a sensitive creature in the beatings of its heart Wherin we shall not be obliged to look far for seeing we find this motion and these pulsations in the heart when it is separated from the body we may boldly and safely conclude that it must of necessity be caused by somthing that is within the heart it self And what can that be else but heat or spirits imprison'd in a tough viscous bloud which it cannot so presently break through to get out and yet can stir within it and lift it up The like of which motion may be observ'd in the heaving up and sinking down again of lose mould thrown into a pit intoe which much ordure hath been emptied The same cause of h at in the earth makes mountains and sands to be cast up in the very sea So in frying when the pan is full of meat the bubbles rise and fall at the edges Treacle and such strong compounded substances whiles they ferment lift themselvs up and sink down again after the same manner as the Vipers heart doth as also do the bubbles of Barm and most of Wine And short ends of Lute strings baked in a juicy pie will at the opening of it move in such sort as they who are ignorant of the feat will think there are Magots in it and a hot loaf in which quick-silver is enclosed will not only move thus but will also leap about and skip from one place to another like the head or limb of an Animal very full of spirits newly cut off from its whole body And that this is the true cause of the hearts motion appears evidently First because this virtue of moving is in every part of the heart as you will plainly see if you cut out into several pieces a heart that conservs its motion long after it is out of the Animals belly for every piece will move as Dr. Harvey assures us by experience and I my self have often seen upon occasion of making the great antidote in which Vipers hearts is a principal ingredient Secondly the same is seen in the auricles and the rest of the heart whose motions are several though so near together that they can hardly be distinguished Thirdly Dr. Harvey seems to affirm that the blood which is in the ears of the heart hath such a motion of it self precedent to the motion of the ears it is in and that this virtue remains in it for a little space after the ears are dead Fourthly in touching a heart which had newly left moving with his finger weted with warm spittle it began to move again as testifying that heat and moisture made this motion Fifthly if you touch the Vipers heart over with vineger with spirit of wine with sharp white-wine or with any piercing liquor it presently dyes for the acuteness of such substances pierces through the viscous bloud and makes way for the heat to get out But this first mover of an Animal must have somthing from without to stir it up else the heat would lie in it as if it were dead and in time would become absolutely so In Eggs you see this exteriour mover in the warmth of the Hens hatching them And in Embryons it is the warmth of the mothers womb But when in either of them the heart is completely form'd and enclosed in the breast much heat is likewise enclosed there in all the parts near about the heart partly made by the heart it self and partly caused by the outward heat which helped also to make that in the heart and then although the warmth of the hen or of the mothers womb forsake the heart yet this stirs up the native heat within the heart and keeps it in motion and makes it feed still upon new fewel as fast as that which it works upon decayes But to express more particularly how this motion is effected We are to note that the heart hath in its ventrickles three sorts of fibers The first go long ways or are straight ones on the sides of the ventricles