Opticks

Chapter 15

Prev List Next

And if two pieces of Island Crystal be placed one after another, in such manner that all the Surfaces of the latter be parallel to all the corresponding Surfaces of the former: The Rays which are refracted after the usual manner in the first Surface of the first Crystal, shall be refracted after the usual manner in all the following Surfaces; and the Rays which are refracted after the unusual manner in the first Surface, shall be refracted after the unusual manner in all the following Surfaces. And the same thing happens, though the Surfaces of the Crystals be any ways inclined to one another, provided that their Planes of perpendicular Refraction be parallel to one another.

And therefore there is an original difference in the Rays of Light, by means of which some Rays are in this Experiment constantly refracted after the usual manner, and others constantly after the unusual manner: For if the difference be not original, but arises from new Modifications impress"d on the Rays at their first Refraction, it would be alter"d by new Modifications in the three following Refractions; whereas it suffers no alteration, but is constant, and has the same effect upon the Rays in all the Refractions. The unusual Refraction is therefore perform"d by an original property of the Rays. And it remains to be enquired, whether the Rays have not more original Properties than are yet discover"d.

_Qu._ 26. Have not the Rays of Light several sides, endued with several original Properties? For if the Planes of perpendicular Refraction of the second Crystal be at right Angles with the Planes of perpendicular Refraction of the first Crystal, the Rays which are refracted after the usual manner in pa.s.sing through the first Crystal, will be all of them refracted after the unusual manner in pa.s.sing through the second Crystal; and the Rays which are refracted after the unusual manner in pa.s.sing through the first Crystal, will be all of them refracted after the usual manner in pa.s.sing through the second Crystal. And therefore there are not two sorts of Rays differing in their nature from one another, one of which is constantly and in all Positions refracted after the usual manner, and the other constantly and in all Positions after the unusual manner. The difference between the two sorts of Rays in the Experiment mention"d in the 25th Question, was only in the Positions of the Sides of the Rays to the Planes of perpendicular Refraction. For one and the same Ray is here refracted sometimes after the usual, and sometimes after the unusual manner, according to the Position which its Sides have to the Crystals. If the Sides of the Ray are posited the same way to both Crystals, it is refracted after the same manner in them both: But if that side of the Ray which looks towards the Coast of the unusual Refraction of the first Crystal, be 90 Degrees from that side of the same Ray which looks toward the Coast of the unusual Refraction of the second Crystal, (which may be effected by varying the Position of the second Crystal to the first, and by consequence to the Rays of Light,) the Ray shall be refracted after several manners in the several Crystals. There is nothing more required to determine whether the Rays of Light which fall upon the second Crystal shall be refracted after the usual or after the unusual manner, but to turn about this Crystal, so that the Coast of this Crystal"s unusual Refraction may be on this or on that side of the Ray. And therefore every Ray may be consider"d as having four Sides or Quarters, two of which opposite to one another incline the Ray to be refracted after the unusual manner, as often as either of them are turn"d towards the Coast of unusual Refraction; and the other two, whenever either of them are turn"d towards the Coast of unusual Refraction, do not incline it to be otherwise refracted than after the usual manner. The two first may therefore be call"d the Sides of unusual Refraction. And since these Dispositions were in the Rays before their Incidence on the second, third, and fourth Surfaces of the two Crystals, and suffered no alteration (so far as appears,) by the Refraction of the Rays in their pa.s.sage through those Surfaces, and the Rays were refracted by the same Laws in all the four Surfaces; it appears that those Dispositions were in the Rays originally, and suffer"d no alteration by the first Refraction, and that by means of those Dispositions the Rays were refracted at their Incidence on the first Surface of the first Crystal, some of them after the usual, and some of them after the unusual manner, accordingly as their Sides of unusual Refraction were then turn"d towards the Coast of the unusual Refraction of that Crystal, or sideways from it.

Every Ray of Light has therefore two opposite Sides, originally endued with a Property on which the unusual Refraction depends, and the other two opposite Sides not endued with that Property. And it remains to be enquired, whether there are not more Properties of Light by which the Sides of the Rays differ, and are distinguished from one another.

In explaining the difference of the Sides of the Rays above mention"d, I have supposed that the Rays fall perpendicularly on the first Crystal.

But if they fall obliquely on it, the Success is the same. Those Rays which are refracted after the usual manner in the first Crystal, will be refracted after the unusual manner in the second Crystal, supposing the Planes of perpendicular Refraction to be at right Angles with one another, as above; and on the contrary.

If the Planes of the perpendicular Refraction of the two Crystals be neither parallel nor perpendicular to one another, but contain an acute Angle: The two beams of Light which emerge out of the first Crystal, will be each of them divided into two more at their Incidence on the second Crystal. For in this case the Rays in each of the two beams will some of them have their Sides of unusual Refraction, and some of them their other Sides turn"d towards the Coast of the unusual Refraction of the second Crystal.

_Qu._ 27. Are not all Hypotheses erroneous which have hitherto been invented for explaining the Phaenomena of Light, by new Modifications of the Rays? For those Phaenomena depend not upon new Modifications, as has been supposed, but upon the original and unchangeable Properties of the Rays.

_Qu._ 28. Are not all Hypotheses erroneous, in which Light is supposed to consist in Pression or Motion, propagated through a fluid Medium? For in all these Hypotheses the Phaenomena of Light have been hitherto explain"d by supposing that they arise from new Modifications of the Rays; which is an erroneous Supposition.

If Light consisted only in Pression propagated without actual Motion, it would not be able to agitate and heat the Bodies which refract and reflect it. If it consisted in Motion propagated to all distances in an instant, it would require an infinite force every moment, in every shining Particle, to generate that Motion. And if it consisted in Pression or Motion, propagated either in an instant or in time, it would bend into the Shadow. For Pression or Motion cannot be propagated in a Fluid in right Lines, beyond an Obstacle which stops part of the Motion, but will bend and spread every way into the quiescent Medium which lies beyond the Obstacle. Gravity tends downwards, but the Pressure of Water arising from Gravity tends every way with equal Force, and is propagated as readily, and with as much force sideways as downwards, and through crooked pa.s.sages as through strait ones. The Waves on the Surface of stagnating Water, pa.s.sing by the sides of a broad Obstacle which stops part of them, bend afterwards and dilate themselves gradually into the quiet Water behind the Obstacle. The Waves, Pulses or Vibrations of the Air, wherein Sounds consist, bend manifestly, though not so much as the Waves of Water. For a Bell or a Cannon may be heard beyond a Hill which intercepts the sight of the sounding Body, and Sounds are propagated as readily through crooked Pipes as through streight ones. But Light is never known to follow crooked Pa.s.sages nor to bend into the Shadow. For the fix"d Stars by the Interposition of any of the Planets cease to be seen. And so do the Parts of the Sun by the Interposition of the Moon, _Mercury_ or _Venus_. The Rays which pa.s.s very near to the edges of any Body, are bent a little by the action of the Body, as we shew"d above; but this bending is not towards but from the Shadow, and is perform"d only in the pa.s.sage of the Ray by the Body, and at a very small distance from it. So soon as the Ray is past the Body, it goes right on.

[Sidenote: _Mais pour dire comment cela se fait, je n"ay rien trove jusqu" ici qui me satisfa.s.se._ C. H. de la lumiere, c. 5, p. 91.]

To explain the unusual Refraction of Island Crystal by Pression or Motion propagated, has not hitherto been attempted (to my knowledge) except by _Huygens_, who for that end supposed two several vibrating Mediums within that Crystal. But when he tried the Refractions in two successive pieces of that Crystal, and found them such as is mention"d above; he confessed himself at a loss for explaining them. For Pressions or Motions, propagated from a shining Body through an uniform Medium, must be on all sides alike; whereas by those Experiments it appears, that the Rays of Light have different Properties in their different Sides. He suspected that the Pulses of _aether_ in pa.s.sing through the first Crystal might receive certain new Modifications, which might determine them to be propagated in this or that Medium within the second Crystal, according to the Position of that Crystal. But what Modifications those might be he could not say, nor think of any thing satisfactory in that Point. And if he had known that the unusual Refraction depends not on new Modifications, but on the original and unchangeable Dispositions of the Rays, he would have found it as difficult to explain how those Dispositions which he supposed to be impress"d on the Rays by the first Crystal, could be in them before their Incidence on that Crystal, and in general, how all Rays emitted by shining Bodies, can have those Dispositions in them from the beginning.

To me, at least, this seems inexplicable, if Light be nothing else than Pression or Motion propagated through _aether_.

And it is as difficult to explain by these Hypotheses, how Rays can be alternately in Fits of easy Reflexion and easy Transmission; unless perhaps one might suppose that there are in all s.p.a.ce two aethereal vibrating Mediums, and that the Vibrations of one of them const.i.tute Light, and the Vibrations of the other are swifter, and as often as they overtake the Vibrations of the first, put them into those Fits. But how two _aethers_ can be diffused through all s.p.a.ce, one of which acts upon the other, and by consequence is re-acted upon, without r.e.t.a.r.ding, shattering, dispersing and confounding one anothers Motions, is inconceivable. And against filling the Heavens with fluid Mediums, unless they be exceeding rare, a great Objection arises from the regular and very lasting Motions of the Planets and Comets in all manner of Courses through the Heavens. For thence it is manifest, that the Heavens are void of all sensible Resistance, and by consequence of all sensible Matter.

For the resisting Power of fluid Mediums arises partly from the Attrition of the Parts of the Medium, and partly from the _Vis inertiae_ of the Matter. That part of the Resistance of a spherical Body which arises from the Attrition of the Parts of the Medium is very nearly as the Diameter, or, at the most, as the _Factum_ of the Diameter, and the Velocity of the spherical Body together. And that part of the Resistance which arises from the _Vis inertiae_ of the Matter, is as the Square of that _Factum_. And by this difference the two sorts of Resistance may be distinguish"d from one another in any Medium; and these being distinguish"d, it will be found that almost all the Resistance of Bodies of a competent Magnitude moving in Air, Water, Quick-silver, and such like Fluids with a competent Velocity, arises from the _Vis inertiae_ of the Parts of the Fluid.

Now that part of the resisting Power of any Medium which arises from the Tenacity, Friction or Attrition of the Parts of the Medium, may be diminish"d by dividing the Matter into smaller Parts, and making the Parts more smooth and slippery: But that part of the Resistance which arises from the _Vis inertiae_, is proportional to the Density of the Matter, and cannot be diminish"d by dividing the Matter into smaller Parts, nor by any other means than by decreasing the Density of the Medium. And for these Reasons the Density of fluid Mediums is very nearly proportional to their Resistance. Liquors which differ not much in Density, as Water, Spirit of Wine, Spirit of Turpentine, hot Oil, differ not much in Resistance. Water is thirteen or fourteen times lighter than Quick-silver and by consequence thirteen or fourteen times rarer, and its Resistance is less than that of Quick-silver in the same Proportion, or thereabouts, as I have found by Experiments made with Pendulums. The open Air in which we breathe is eight or nine hundred times lighter than Water, and by consequence eight or nine hundred times rarer, and accordingly its Resistance is less than that of Water in the same Proportion, or thereabouts; as I have also found by Experiments made with Pendulums. And in thinner Air the Resistance is still less, and at length, by ratifying the Air, becomes insensible. For small Feathers falling in the open Air meet with great Resistance, but in a tall Gla.s.s well emptied of Air, they fall as fast as Lead or Gold, as I have seen tried several times. Whence the Resistance seems still to decrease in proportion to the Density of the Fluid. For I do not find by any Experiments, that Bodies moving in Quick-silver, Water or Air, meet with any other sensible Resistance than what arises from the Density and Tenacity of those sensible Fluids, as they would do if the Pores of those Fluids, and all other s.p.a.ces, were filled with a dense and subtile Fluid. Now if the Resistance in a Vessel well emptied of Air, was but an hundred times less than in the open Air, it would be about a million of times less than in Quick-silver. But it seems to be much less in such a Vessel, and still much less in the Heavens, at the height of three or four hundred Miles from the Earth, or above. For Mr. _Boyle_ has shew"d that Air may be rarified above ten thousand times in Vessels of Gla.s.s; and the Heavens are much emptier of Air than any _Vacuum_ we can make below. For since the Air is compress"d by the Weight of the inc.u.mbent Atmosphere, and the Density of Air is proportional to the Force compressing it, it follows by Computation, that at the height of about seven and a half _English_ Miles from the Earth, the Air is four times rarer than at the Surface of the Earth; and at the height of 15 Miles it is sixteen times rarer than that at the Surface of the Earth; and at the height of 22-1/2, 30, or 38 Miles, it is respectively 64, 256, or 1024 times rarer, or thereabouts; and at the height of 76, 152, 228 Miles, it is about 1000000, 1000000000000, or 1000000000000000000 times rarer; and so on.

Heat promotes Fluidity very much by diminishing the Tenacity of Bodies.

It makes many Bodies fluid which are not fluid in cold, and increases the Fluidity of tenacious Liquids, as of Oil, Balsam, and Honey, and thereby decreases their Resistance. But it decreases not the Resistance of Water considerably, as it would do if any considerable part of the Resistance of Water arose from the Attrition or Tenacity of its Parts.

And therefore the Resistance of Water arises princ.i.p.ally and almost entirely from the _Vis inertiae_ of its Matter; and by consequence, if the Heavens were as dense as Water, they would not have much less Resistance than Water; if as dense as Quick-silver, they would not have much less Resistance than Quick-silver; if absolutely dense, or full of Matter without any _Vacuum_, let the Matter be never so subtil and fluid, they would have a greater Resistance than Quick-silver. A solid Globe in such a Medium would lose above half its Motion in moving three times the length of its Diameter, and a Globe not solid (such as are the Planets,) would be r.e.t.a.r.ded sooner. And therefore to make way for the regular and lasting Motions of the Planets and Comets, it"s necessary to empty the Heavens of all Matter, except perhaps some very thin Vapours, Steams, or Effluvia, arising from the Atmospheres of the Earth, Planets, and Comets, and from such an exceedingly rare aethereal Medium as we described above. A dense Fluid can be of no use for explaining the Phaenomena of Nature, the Motions of the Planets and Comets being better explain"d without it. It serves only to disturb and r.e.t.a.r.d the Motions of those great Bodies, and make the Frame of Nature languish: And in the Pores of Bodies, it serves only to stop the vibrating Motions of their Parts, wherein their Heat and Activity consists. And as it is of no use, and hinders the Operations of Nature, and makes her languish, so there is no evidence for its Existence, and therefore it ought to be rejected.

And if it be rejected, the Hypotheses that Light consists in Pression or Motion, propagated through such a Medium, are rejected with it.

And for rejecting such a Medium, we have the Authority of those the oldest and most celebrated Philosophers of _Greece_ and _Phoenicia_, who made a _Vacuum_, and Atoms, and the Gravity of Atoms, the first Principles of their Philosophy; tacitly attributing Gravity to some other Cause than dense Matter. Later Philosophers banish the Consideration of such a Cause out of natural Philosophy, feigning Hypotheses for explaining all things mechanically, and referring other Causes to Metaphysicks: Whereas the main Business of natural Philosophy is to argue from Phaenomena without feigning Hypotheses, and to deduce Causes from Effects, till we come to the very first Cause, which certainly is not mechanical; and not only to unfold the Mechanism of the World, but chiefly to resolve these and such like Questions. What is there in places almost empty of Matter, and whence is it that the Sun and Planets gravitate towards one another, without dense Matter between them? Whence is it that Nature doth nothing in vain; and whence arises all that Order and Beauty which we see in the World? To what end are Comets, and whence is it that Planets move all one and the same way in Orbs concentrick, while Comets move all manner of ways in Orbs very excentrick; and what hinders the fix"d Stars from falling upon one another? How came the Bodies of Animals to be contrived with so much Art, and for what ends were their several Parts? Was the Eye contrived without Skill in Opticks, and the Ear without Knowledge of Sounds? How do the Motions of the Body follow from the Will, and whence is the Instinct in Animals? Is not the Sensory of Animals that place to which the sensitive Substance is present, and into which the sensible Species of Things are carried through the Nerves and Brain, that there they may be perceived by their immediate presence to that Substance? And these things being rightly dispatch"d, does it not appear from Phaenomena that there is a Being incorporeal, living, intelligent, omnipresent, who in infinite s.p.a.ce, as it were in his Sensory, sees the things themselves intimately, and throughly perceives them, and comprehends them wholly by their immediate presence to himself: Of which things the Images only carried through the Organs of Sense into our little Sensoriums, are there seen and beheld by that which in us perceives and thinks. And though every true Step made in this Philosophy brings us not immediately to the Knowledge of the first Cause, yet it brings us nearer to it, and on that account is to be highly valued.

_Qu._ 29. Are not the Rays of Light very small Bodies emitted from shining Substances? For such Bodies will pa.s.s through uniform Mediums in right Lines without bending into the Shadow, which is the Nature of the Rays of Light. They will also be capable of several Properties, and be able to conserve their Properties unchanged in pa.s.sing through several Mediums, which is another Condition of the Rays of Light. Pellucid Substances act upon the Rays of Light at a distance in refracting, reflecting, and inflecting them, and the Rays mutually agitate the Parts of those Substances at a distance for heating them; and this Action and Re-action at a distance very much resembles an attractive Force between Bodies. If Refraction be perform"d by Attraction of the Rays, the Sines of Incidence must be to the Sines of Refraction in a given Proportion, as we shew"d in our Principles of Philosophy: And this Rule is true by Experience. The Rays of Light in going out of Gla.s.s into a _Vacuum_, are bent towards the Gla.s.s; and if they fall too obliquely on the _Vacuum_, they are bent backwards into the Gla.s.s, and totally reflected; and this Reflexion cannot be ascribed to the Resistance of an absolute _Vacuum_, but must be caused by the Power of the Gla.s.s attracting the Rays at their going out of it into the _Vacuum_, and bringing them back. For if the farther Surface of the Gla.s.s be moisten"d with Water or clear Oil, or liquid and clear Honey, the Rays which would otherwise be reflected will go into the Water, Oil, or Honey; and therefore are not reflected before they arrive at the farther Surface of the Gla.s.s, and begin to go out of it. If they go out of it into the Water, Oil, or Honey, they go on, because the Attraction of the Gla.s.s is almost balanced and rendered ineffectual by the contrary Attraction of the Liquor. But if they go out of it into a _Vacuum_ which has no Attraction to balance that of the Gla.s.s, the Attraction of the Gla.s.s either bends and refracts them, or brings them back and reflects them. And this is still more evident by laying together two Prisms of Gla.s.s, or two Object-gla.s.ses of very long Telescopes, the one plane, the other a little convex, and so compressing them that they do not fully touch, nor are too far asunder. For the Light which falls upon the farther Surface of the first Gla.s.s where the Interval between the Gla.s.ses is not above the ten hundred thousandth Part of an Inch, will go through that Surface, and through the Air or _Vacuum_ between the Gla.s.ses, and enter into the second Gla.s.s, as was explain"d in the first, fourth, and eighth Observations of the first Part of the second Book. But, if the second Gla.s.s be taken away, the Light which goes out of the second Surface of the first Gla.s.s into the Air or _Vacuum_, will not go on forwards, but turns back into the first Gla.s.s, and is reflected; and therefore it is drawn back by the Power of the first Gla.s.s, there being nothing else to turn it back. Nothing more is requisite for producing all the variety of Colours, and degrees of Refrangibility, than that the Rays of Light be Bodies of different Sizes, the least of which may take violet the weakest and darkest of the Colours, and be more easily diverted by refracting Surfaces from the right Course; and the rest as they are bigger and bigger, may make the stronger and more lucid Colours, blue, green, yellow, and red, and be more and more difficultly diverted. Nothing more is requisite for putting the Rays of Light into Fits of easy Reflexion and easy Transmission, than that they be small Bodies which by their attractive Powers, or some other Force, stir up Vibrations in what they act upon, which Vibrations being swifter than the Rays, overtake them successively, and agitate them so as by turns to increase and decrease their Velocities, and thereby put them into those Fits. And lastly, the unusual Refraction of Island-Crystal looks very much as if it were perform"d by some kind of attractive virtue lodged in certain Sides both of the Rays, and of the Particles of the Crystal. For were it not for some kind of Disposition or Virtue lodged in some Sides of the Particles of the Crystal, and not in their other Sides, and which inclines and bends the Rays towards the Coast of unusual Refraction, the Rays which fall perpendicularly on the Crystal, would not be refracted towards that Coast rather than towards any other Coast, both at their Incidence and at their Emergence, so as to emerge perpendicularly by a contrary Situation of the Coast of unusual Refraction at the second Surface; the Crystal acting upon the Rays after they have pa.s.s"d through it, and are emerging into the Air; or, if you please, into a _Vacuum_. And since the Crystal by this Disposition or Virtue does not act upon the Rays, unless when one of their Sides of unusual Refraction looks towards that Coast, this argues a Virtue or Disposition in those Sides of the Rays, which answers to, and sympathizes with that Virtue or Disposition of the Crystal, as the Poles of two Magnets answer to one another. And as Magnetism may be intended and remitted, and is found only in the Magnet and in Iron: So this Virtue of refracting the perpendicular Rays is greater in Island-Crystal, less in Crystal of the Rock, and is not yet found in other Bodies. I do not say that this Virtue is magnetical: It seems to be of another kind. I only say, that whatever it be, it"s difficult to conceive how the Rays of Light, unless they be Bodies, can have a permanent Virtue in two of their Sides which is not in their other Sides, and this without any regard to their Position to the s.p.a.ce or Medium through which they pa.s.s.

What I mean in this Question by a _Vacuum_, and by the Attractions of the Rays of Light towards Gla.s.s or Crystal, may be understood by what was said in the 18th, 19th, and 20th Questions.

_Quest._ 30. Are not gross Bodies and Light convertible into one another, and may not Bodies receive much of their Activity from the Particles of Light which enter their Composition? For all fix"d Bodies being heated emit Light so long as they continue sufficiently hot, and Light mutually stops in Bodies as often as its Rays strike upon their Parts, as we shew"d above. I know no Body less apt to shine than Water; and yet Water by frequent Distillations changes into fix"d Earth, as Mr.

_Boyle_ has try"d; and then this Earth being enabled to endure a sufficient Heat, shines by Heat like other Bodies.

The changing of Bodies into Light, and Light into Bodies, is very conformable to the Course of Nature, which seems delighted with Trans.m.u.tations. Water, which is a very fluid tasteless Salt, she changes by Heat into Vapour, which is a sort of Air, and by Cold into Ice, which is a hard, pellucid, brittle, fusible Stone; and this Stone returns into Water by Heat, and Vapour returns into Water by Cold. Earth by Heat becomes Fire, and by Cold returns into Earth. Dense Bodies by Fermentation rarify into several sorts of Air, and this Air by Fermentation, and sometimes without it, returns into dense Bodies.

Mercury appears sometimes in the form of a fluid Metal, sometimes in the form of a hard brittle Metal, sometimes in the form of a corrosive pellucid Salt call"d Sublimate, sometimes in the form of a tasteless, pellucid, volatile white Earth, call"d _Mercurius Dulcis_; or in that of a red opake volatile Earth, call"d Cinnaber; or in that of a red or white Precipitate, or in that of a fluid Salt; and in Distillation it turns into Vapour, and being agitated _in Vacuo_, it shines like Fire.

And after all these Changes it returns again into its first form of Mercury. Eggs grow from insensible Magnitudes, and change into Animals; Tadpoles into Frogs; and Worms into Flies. All Birds, Beasts and Fishes, Insects, Trees, and other Vegetables, with their several Parts, grow out of Water and watry Tinctures and Salts, and by Putrefaction return again into watry Substances. And Water standing a few Days in the open Air, yields a Tincture, which (like that of Malt) by standing longer yields a Sediment and a Spirit, but before Putrefaction is fit Nourishment for Animals and Vegetables. And among such various and strange Trans.m.u.tations, why may not Nature change Bodies into Light, and Light into Bodies?

_Quest._ 31. Have not the small Particles of Bodies certain Powers, Virtues, or Forces, by which they act at a distance, not only upon the Rays of Light for reflecting, refracting, and inflecting them, but also upon one another for producing a great Part of the Phaenomena of Nature?

For it"s well known, that Bodies act one upon another by the Attractions of Gravity, Magnetism, and Electricity; and these Instances shew the Tenor and Course of Nature, and make it not improbable but that there may be more attractive Powers than these. For Nature is very consonant and conformable to her self. How these Attractions may be perform"d, I do not here consider. What I call Attraction may be perform"d by impulse, or by some other means unknown to me. I use that Word here to signify only in general any Force by which Bodies tend towards one another, whatsoever be the Cause. For we must learn from the Phaenomena of Nature what Bodies attract one another, and what are the Laws and Properties of the Attraction, before we enquire the Cause by which the Attraction is perform"d. The Attractions of Gravity, Magnetism, and Electricity, reach to very sensible distances, and so have been observed by vulgar Eyes, and there may be others which reach to so small distances as. .h.i.therto escape Observation; and perhaps electrical Attraction may reach to such small distances, even without being excited by Friction.

For when Salt of Tartar runs _per Deliquium_, is not this done by an Attraction between the Particles of the Salt of Tartar, and the Particles of the Water which float in the Air in the form of Vapours?

And why does not common Salt, or Salt-petre, or Vitriol, run _per Deliquium_, but for want of such an Attraction? Or why does not Salt of Tartar draw more Water out of the Air than in a certain Proportion to its quant.i.ty, but for want of an attractive Force after it is satiated with Water? And whence is it but from this attractive Power that Water which alone distils with a gentle luke-warm Heat, will not distil from Salt of Tartar without a great Heat? And is it not from the like attractive Power between the Particles of Oil of Vitriol and the Particles of Water, that Oil of Vitriol draws to it a good quant.i.ty of Water out of the Air, and after it is satiated draws no more, and in Distillation lets go the Water very difficultly? And when Water and Oil of Vitriol poured successively into the same Vessel grow very hot in the mixing, does not this Heat argue a great Motion in the Parts of the Liquors? And does not this Motion argue, that the Parts of the two Liquors in mixing coalesce with Violence, and by consequence rush towards one another with an accelerated Motion? And when _Aqua fortis_, or Spirit of Vitriol poured upon Filings of Iron dissolves the Filings with a great Heat and Ebullition, is not this Heat and Ebullition effected by a violent Motion of the Parts, and does not that Motion argue that the acid Parts of the Liquor rush towards the Parts of the Metal with violence, and run forcibly into its Pores till they get between its outmost Particles, and the main Ma.s.s of the Metal, and surrounding those Particles loosen them from the main Ma.s.s, and set them at liberty to float off into the Water? And when the acid Particles, which alone would distil with an easy Heat, will not separate from the Particles of the Metal without a very violent Heat, does not this confirm the Attraction between them?

When Spirit of Vitriol poured upon common Salt or Salt-petre makes an Ebullition with the Salt, and unites with it, and in Distillation the Spirit of the common Salt or Salt-petre comes over much easier than it would do before, and the acid part of the Spirit of Vitriol stays behind; does not this argue that the fix"d Alcaly of the Salt attracts the acid Spirit of the Vitriol more strongly than its own Spirit, and not being able to hold them both, lets go its own? And when Oil of Vitriol is drawn off from its weight of Nitre, and from both the Ingredients a compound Spirit of Nitre is distilled, and two parts of this Spirit are poured on one part of Oil of Cloves or Carraway Seeds, or of any ponderous Oil of vegetable or animal Substances, or Oil of Turpentine thicken"d with a little Balsam of Sulphur, and the Liquors grow so very hot in mixing, as presently to send up a burning Flame; does not this very great and sudden Heat argue that the two Liquors mix with violence, and that their Parts in mixing run towards one another with an accelerated Motion, and clash with the greatest Force? And is it not for the same reason that well rectified Spirit of Wine poured on the same compound Spirit flashes; and that the _Pulvis fulminans_, composed of Sulphur, Nitre, and Salt of Tartar, goes off with a more sudden and violent Explosion than Gun-powder, the acid Spirits of the Sulphur and Nitre rushing towards one another, and towards the Salt of Tartar, with so great a violence, as by the shock to turn the whole at once into Vapour and Flame? Where the Dissolution is slow, it makes a slow Ebullition and a gentle Heat; and where it is quicker, it makes a greater Ebullition with more heat; and where it is done at once, the Ebullition is contracted into a sudden Blast or violent Explosion, with a heat equal to that of Fire and Flame. So when a Drachm of the above-mention"d compound Spirit of Nitre was poured upon half a Drachm of Oil of Carraway Seeds _in vacuo_, the Mixture immediately made a flash like Gun-powder, and burst the exhausted Receiver, which was a Gla.s.s six Inches wide, and eight Inches deep. And even the gross Body of Sulphur powder"d, and with an equal weight of Iron Filings and a little Water made into Paste, acts upon the Iron, and in five or six hours grows too hot to be touch"d, and emits a Flame. And by these Experiments compared with the great quant.i.ty of Sulphur with which the Earth abounds, and the warmth of the interior Parts of the Earth, and hot Springs, and burning Mountains, and with Damps, mineral Coruscations, Earthquakes, hot suffocating Exhalations, Hurricanes, and Spouts; we may learn that sulphureous Steams abound in the Bowels of the Earth and ferment with Minerals, and sometimes take fire with a sudden Coruscation and Explosion; and if pent up in subterraneous Caverns, burst the Caverns with a great shaking of the Earth, as in springing of a Mine.

And then the Vapour generated by the Explosion, expiring through the Pores of the Earth, feels hot and suffocates, and makes Tempests and Hurricanes, and sometimes causes the Land to slide, or the Sea to boil, and carries up the Water thereof in Drops, which by their weight fall down again in Spouts. Also some sulphureous Steams, at all times when the Earth is dry, ascending into the Air, ferment there with nitrous Acids, and sometimes taking fire cause Lightning and Thunder, and fiery Meteors. For the Air abounds with acid Vapours fit to promote Fermentations, as appears by the rusting of Iron and Copper in it, the kindling of Fire by blowing, and the beating of the Heart by means of Respiration. Now the above-mention"d Motions are so great and violent as to shew that in Fermentations the Particles of Bodies which almost rest, are put into new Motions by a very potent Principle, which acts upon them only when they approach one another, and causes them to meet and clash with great violence, and grow hot with the motion, and dash one another into pieces, and vanish into Air, and Vapour, and Flame.

When Salt of Tartar _per deliquium_, being poured into the Solution of any Metal, precipitates the Metal and makes it fall down to the bottom of the Liquor in the form of Mud: Does not this argue that the acid Particles are attracted more strongly by the Salt of Tartar than by the Metal, and by the stronger Attraction go from the Metal to the Salt of Tartar? And so when a Solution of Iron in _Aqua fortis_ dissolves the _Lapis Calaminaris_, and lets go the Iron, or a Solution of Copper dissolves Iron immersed in it and lets go the Copper, or a Solution of Silver dissolves Copper and lets go the Silver, or a Solution of Mercury in _Aqua fortis_ being poured upon Iron, Copper, Tin, or Lead, dissolves the Metal and lets go the Mercury; does not this argue that the acid Particles of the _Aqua fortis_ are attracted more strongly by the _Lapis Calaminaris_ than by Iron, and more strongly by Iron than by Copper, and more strongly by Copper than by Silver, and more strongly by Iron, Copper, Tin, and Lead, than by Mercury? And is it not for the same reason that Iron requires more _Aqua fortis_ to dissolve it than Copper, and Copper more than the other Metals; and that of all Metals, Iron is dissolved most easily, and is most apt to rust; and next after Iron, Copper?

When Oil of Vitriol is mix"d with a little Water, or is run _per deliquium_, and in Distillation the Water ascends difficultly, and brings over with it some part of the Oil of Vitriol in the form of Spirit of Vitriol, and this Spirit being poured upon Iron, Copper, or Salt of Tartar, unites with the Body and lets go the Water; doth not this shew that the acid Spirit is attracted by the Water, and more attracted by the fix"d Body than by the Water, and therefore lets go the Water to close with the fix"d Body? And is it not for the same reason that the Water and acid Spirits which are mix"d together in Vinegar, _Aqua fortis_, and Spirit of Salt, cohere and rise together in Distillation; but if the _Menstruum_ be poured on Salt of Tartar, or on Lead, or Iron, or any fix"d Body which it can dissolve, the Acid by a stronger Attraction adheres to the Body, and lets go the Water? And is it not also from a mutual Attraction that the Spirits of Soot and Sea-Salt unite and compose the Particles of Sal-armoniac, which are less volatile than before, because grosser and freer from Water; and that the Particles of Sal-armoniac in Sublimation carry up the Particles of Antimony, which will not sublime alone; and that the Particles of Mercury uniting with the acid Particles of Spirit of Salt compose Mercury sublimate, and with the Particles of Sulphur, compose Cinnaber; and that the Particles of Spirit of Wine and Spirit of Urine well rectified unite, and letting go the Water which dissolved them, compose a consistent Body; and that in subliming Cinnaber from Salt of Tartar, or from quick Lime, the Sulphur by a stronger Attraction of the Salt or Lime lets go the Mercury, and stays with the fix"d Body; and that when Mercury sublimate is sublimed from Antimony, or from Regulus of Antimony, the Spirit of Salt lets go the Mercury, and unites with the antimonial metal which attracts it more strongly, and stays with it till the Heat be great enough to make them both ascend together, and then carries up the Metal with it in the form of a very fusible Salt, called b.u.t.ter of Antimony, although the Spirit of Salt alone be almost as volatile as Water, and the Antimony alone as fix"d as Lead?

When _Aqua fortis_ dissolves Silver and not Gold, and _Aqua regia_ dissolves Gold and not Silver, may it not be said that _Aqua fortis_ is subtil enough to penetrate Gold as well as Silver, but wants the attractive Force to give it Entrance; and that _Aqua regia_ is subtil enough to penetrate Silver as well as Gold, but wants the attractive Force to give it Entrance? For _Aqua regia_ is nothing else than _Aqua fortis_ mix"d with some Spirit of Salt, or with Sal-armoniac; and even common Salt dissolved in _Aqua fortis_, enables the _Menstruum_ to dissolve Gold, though the Salt be a gross Body. When therefore Spirit of Salt precipitates Silver out of _Aqua fortis_, is it not done by attracting and mixing with the _Aqua fortis_, and not attracting, or perhaps repelling Silver? And when Water precipitates Antimony out of the Sublimate of Antimony and Sal-armoniac, or out of b.u.t.ter of Antimony, is it not done by its dissolving, mixing with, and weakening the Sal-armoniac or Spirit of Salt, and its not attracting, or perhaps repelling the Antimony? And is it not for want of an attractive virtue between the Parts of Water and Oil, of Quick-silver and Antimony, of Lead and Iron, that these Substances do not mix; and by a weak Attraction, that Quick-silver and Copper mix difficultly; and from a strong one, that Quick-silver and Tin, Antimony and Iron, Water and Salts, mix readily? And in general, is it not from the same Principle that Heat congregates h.o.m.ogeneal Bodies, and separates heterogeneal ones?

When a.r.s.enick with Soap gives a Regulus, and with Mercury sublimate a volatile fusible Salt, like b.u.t.ter of Antimony, doth not this shew that a.r.s.enick, which is a Substance totally volatile, is compounded of fix"d and volatile Parts, strongly cohering by a mutual Attraction, so that the volatile will not ascend without carrying up the fixed? And so, when an equal weight of Spirit of Wine and Oil of Vitriol are digested together, and in Distillation yield two fragrant and volatile Spirits which will not mix with one another, and a fix"d black Earth remains behind; doth not this shew that Oil of Vitriol is composed of volatile and fix"d Parts strongly united by Attraction, so as to ascend together in form of a volatile, acid, fluid Salt, until the Spirit of Wine attracts and separates the volatile Parts from the fixed? And therefore, since Oil of Sulphur _per Campanam_ is of the same Nature with Oil of Vitriol, may it not be inferred, that Sulphur is also a mixture of volatile and fix"d Parts so strongly cohering by Attraction, as to ascend together in Sublimation. By dissolving Flowers of Sulphur in Oil of Turpentine, and distilling the Solution, it is found that Sulphur is composed of an inflamable thick Oil or fat Bitumen, an acid Salt, a very fix"d Earth, and a little Metal. The three first were found not much unequal to one another, the fourth in so small a quant.i.ty as scarce to be worth considering. The acid Salt dissolved in Water, is the same with Oil of Sulphur _per Campanam_, and abounding much in the Bowels of the Earth, and particularly in Markasites, unites it self to the other Ingredients of the Markasite, which are, Bitumen, Iron, Copper, and Earth, and with them compounds Allum, Vitriol, and Sulphur. With the Earth alone it compounds Allum; with the Metal alone, or Metal and Earth together, it compounds Vitriol; and with the Bitumen and Earth it compounds Sulphur. Whence it comes to pa.s.s that Markasites abound with those three Minerals. And is it not from the mutual Attraction of the Ingredients that they stick together for compounding these Minerals, and that the Bitumen carries up the other Ingredients of the Sulphur, which without it would not sublime? And the same Question may be put concerning all, or almost all the gross Bodies in Nature. For all the Parts of Animals and Vegetables are composed of Substances volatile and fix"d, fluid and solid, as appears by their a.n.a.lysis; and so are Salts and Minerals, so far as Chymists have been hitherto able to examine their Composition.

When Mercury sublimate is re-sublimed with fresh Mercury, and becomes _Mercurius Dulcis_, which is a white tasteless Earth scarce dissolvable in Water, and _Mercurius Dulcis_ re-sublimed with Spirit of Salt returns into Mercury sublimate; and when Metals corroded with a little acid turn into rust, which is an Earth tasteless and indissolvable in Water, and this Earth imbibed with more acid becomes a metallick Salt; and when some Stones, as Spar of Lead, dissolved in proper _Menstruums_ become Salts; do not these things shew that Salts are dry Earth and watry Acid united by Attraction, and that the Earth will not become a Salt without so much acid as makes it dissolvable in Water? Do not the sharp and pungent Tastes of Acids arise from the strong Attraction whereby the acid Particles rush upon and agitate the Particles of the Tongue? And when Metals are dissolved in acid _Menstruums_, and the Acids in conjunction with the Metal act after a different manner, so that the Compound has a different Taste much milder than before, and sometimes a sweet one; is it not because the Acids adhere to the metallick Particles, and thereby lose much of their Activity? And if the Acid be in too small a Proportion to make the Compound dissolvable in Water, will it not by adhering strongly to the Metal become unactive and lose its Taste, and the Compound be a tasteless Earth? For such things as are not dissolvable by the Moisture of the Tongue, act not upon the Taste.

As Gravity makes the Sea flow round the denser and weightier Parts of the Globe of the Earth, so the Attraction may make the watry Acid flow round the denser and compacter Particles of Earth for composing the Particles of Salt. For otherwise the Acid would not do the Office of a Medium between the Earth and common Water, for making Salts dissolvable in the Water; nor would Salt of Tartar readily draw off the Acid from dissolved Metals, nor Metals the Acid from Mercury. Now, as in the great Globe of the Earth and Sea, the densest Bodies by their Gravity sink down in Water, and always endeavour to go towards the Center of the Globe; so in Particles of Salt, the densest Matter may always endeavour to approach the Center of the Particle: So that a Particle of Salt may be compared to a Chaos; being dense, hard, dry, and earthy in the Center; and rare, soft, moist, and watry in the Circ.u.mference. And hence it seems to be that Salts are of a lasting Nature, being scarce destroy"d, unless by drawing away their watry Parts by violence, or by letting them soak into the Pores of the central Earth by a gentle Heat in Putrefaction, until the Earth be dissolved by the Water, and separated into smaller Particles, which by reason of their Smallness make the rotten Compound appear of a black Colour. Hence also it may be, that the Parts of Animals and Vegetables preserve their several Forms, and a.s.similate their Nourishment; the soft and moist Nourishment easily changing its Texture by a gentle Heat and Motion, till it becomes like the dense, hard, dry, and durable Earth in the Center of each Particle.

But when the Nourishment grows unfit to be a.s.similated, or the central Earth grows too feeble to a.s.similate it, the Motion ends in Confusion, Putrefaction, and Death.

If a very small quant.i.ty of any Salt or Vitriol be dissolved in a great quant.i.ty of Water, the Particles of the Salt or Vitriol will not sink to the bottom, though they be heavier in Specie than the Water, but will evenly diffuse themselves into all the Water, so as to make it as saline at the top as at the bottom. And does not this imply that the Parts of the Salt or Vitriol recede from one another, and endeavour to expand themselves, and get as far asunder as the quant.i.ty of Water in which they float, will allow? And does not this Endeavour imply that they have a repulsive Force by which they fly from one another, or at least, that they attract the Water more strongly than they do one another? For as all things ascend in Water which are less attracted than Water, by the gravitating Power of the Earth; so all the Particles of Salt which float in Water, and are less attracted than Water by any one Particle of Salt, must recede from that Particle, and give way to the more attracted Water.

When any saline Liquor is evaporated to a Cuticle and let cool, the Salt concretes in regular Figures; which argues, that the Particles of the Salt before they concreted, floated in the Liquor at equal distances in rank and file, and by consequence that they acted upon one another by some Power which at equal distances is equal, at unequal distances unequal. For by such a Power they will range themselves uniformly, and without it they will float irregularly, and come together as irregularly. And since the Particles of Island-Crystal act all the same way upon the Rays of Light for causing the unusual Refraction, may it not be supposed that in the Formation of this Crystal, the Particles not only ranged themselves in rank and file for concreting in regular Figures, but also by some kind of polar Virtue turned their h.o.m.ogeneal Sides the same way.

The Parts of all h.o.m.ogeneal hard Bodies which fully touch one another, stick together very strongly. And for explaining how this may be, some have invented hooked Atoms, which is begging the Question; and others tell us that Bodies are glued together by rest, that is, by an occult Quality, or rather by nothing; and others, that they stick together by conspiring Motions, that is, by relative rest amongst themselves. I had rather infer from their Cohesion, that their Particles attract one another by some Force, which in immediate Contact is exceeding strong, at small distances performs the chymical Operations above-mention"d, and reaches not far from the Particles with any sensible Effect.

All Bodies seem to be composed of hard Particles: For otherwise Fluids would not congeal; as Water, Oils, Vinegar, and Spirit or Oil of Vitriol do by freezing; Mercury by Fumes of Lead; Spirit of Nitre and Mercury, by dissolving the Mercury and evaporating the Flegm; Spirit of Wine and Spirit of Urine, by deflegming and mixing them; and Spirit of Urine and Spirit of Salt, by subliming them together to make Sal-armoniac. Even the Rays of Light seem to be hard Bodies; for otherwise they would not retain different Properties in their different Sides. And therefore Hardness may be reckon"d the Property of all uncompounded Matter. At least, this seems to be as evident as the universal Impenetrability of Matter. For all Bodies, so far as Experience reaches, are either hard, or may be harden"d; and we have no other Evidence of universal Impenetrability, besides a large Experience without an experimental Exception. Now if compound Bodies are so very hard as we find some of them to be, and yet are very porous, and consist of Parts which are only laid together; the simple Particles which are void of Pores, and were never yet divided, must be much harder. For such hard Particles being heaped up together, can scarce touch one another in more than a few Points, and therefore must be separable by much less Force than is requisite to break a solid Particle, whose Parts touch in all the s.p.a.ce between them, without any Pores or Interstices to weaken their Cohesion.

And how such very hard Particles which are only laid together and touch only in a few Points, can stick together, and that so firmly as they do, without the a.s.sistance of something which causes them to be attracted or press"d towards one another, is very difficult to conceive.

The same thing I infer also from the cohering of two polish"d Marbles _in vacuo_, and from the standing of Quick-silver in the Barometer at the height of 50, 60 or 70 Inches, or above, when ever it is well-purged of Air and carefully poured in, so that its Parts be every where contiguous both to one another and to the Gla.s.s. The Atmosphere by its weight presses the Quick-silver into the Gla.s.s, to the height of 29 or 30 Inches. And some other Agent raises it higher, not by pressing it into the Gla.s.s, but by making its Parts stick to the Gla.s.s, and to one another. For upon any discontinuation of Parts, made either by Bubbles or by shaking the Gla.s.s, the whole Mercury falls down to the height of 29 or 30 Inches.

And of the same kind with these Experiments are those that follow. If two plane polish"d Plates of Gla.s.s (suppose two pieces of a polish"d Looking-gla.s.s) be laid together, so that their sides be parallel and at a very small distance from one another, and then their lower edges be dipped into Water, the Water will rise up between them. And the less the distance of the Gla.s.ses is, the greater will be the height to which the Water will rise. If the distance be about the hundredth part of an Inch, the Water will rise to the height of about an Inch; and if the distance be greater or less in any Proportion, the height will be reciprocally proportional to the distance very nearly. For the attractive Force of the Gla.s.ses is the same, whether the distance between them be greater or less; and the weight of the Water drawn up is the same, if the height of it be reciprocally proportional to the distance of the Gla.s.ses. And in like manner, Water ascends between two Marbles polish"d plane, when their polish"d sides are parallel, and at a very little distance from one another, And if slender Pipes of Gla.s.s be dipped at one end into stagnating Water, the Water will rise up within the Pipe, and the height to which it rises will be reciprocally proportional to the Diameter of the Cavity of the Pipe, and will equal the height to which it rises between two Planes of Gla.s.s, if the Semi-diameter of the Cavity of the Pipe be equal to the distance between the Planes, or thereabouts. And these Experiments succeed after the same manner _in vacuo_ as in the open Air, (as hath been tried before the Royal Society,) and therefore are not influenced by the Weight or Pressure of the Atmosphere.

And if a large Pipe of Gla.s.s be filled with sifted Ashes well pressed together in the Gla.s.s, and one end of the Pipe be dipped into stagnating Water, the Water will rise up slowly in the Ashes, so as in the s.p.a.ce of a Week or Fortnight to reach up within the Gla.s.s, to the height of 30 or 40 Inches above the stagnating Water. And the Water rises up to this height by the Action only of those Particles of the Ashes which are upon the Surface of the elevated Water; the Particles which are within the Water, attracting or repelling it as much downwards as upwards. And therefore the Action of the Particles is very strong. But the Particles of the Ashes being not so dense and close together as those of Gla.s.s, their Action is not so strong as that of Gla.s.s, which keeps Quick-silver suspended to the height of 60 or 70 Inches, and therefore acts with a Force which would keep Water suspended to the height of above 60 Feet.

By the same Principle, a Sponge sucks in Water, and the Glands in the Bodies of Animals, according to their several Natures and Dispositions, suck in various Juices from the Blood.

If two plane polish"d Plates of Gla.s.s three or four Inches broad, and twenty or twenty five long, be laid one of them parallel to the Horizon, the other upon the first, so as at one of their ends to touch one another, and contain an Angle of about 10 or 15 Minutes, and the same be first moisten"d on their inward sides with a clean Cloth dipp"d into Oil of Oranges or Spirit of Turpentine, and a Drop or two of the Oil or Spirit be let fall upon the lower Gla.s.s at the other; so soon as the upper Gla.s.s is laid down upon the lower, so as to touch it at one end as above, and to touch the Drop at the other end, making with the lower Gla.s.s an Angle of about 10 or 15 Minutes; the Drop will begin to move towards the Concourse of the Gla.s.ses, and will continue to move with an accelerated Motion, till it arrives at that Concourse of the Gla.s.ses.

For the two Gla.s.ses attract the Drop, and make it run that way towards which the Attractions incline. And if when the Drop is in motion you lift up that end of the Gla.s.ses where they meet, and towards which the Drop moves, the Drop will ascend between the Gla.s.ses, and therefore is attracted. And as you lift up the Gla.s.ses more and more, the Drop will ascend slower and slower, and at length rest, being then carried downward by its Weight, as much as upwards by the Attraction. And by this means you may know the Force by which the Drop is attracted at all distances from the Concourse of the Gla.s.ses.

Now by some Experiments of this kind, (made by Mr. _Hauksbee_) it has been found that the Attraction is almost reciprocally in a duplicate Proportion of the distance of the middle of the Drop from the Concourse of the Gla.s.ses, _viz._ reciprocally in a simple Proportion, by reason of the spreading of the Drop, and its touching each Gla.s.s in a larger Surface; and again reciprocally in a simple Proportion, by reason of the Attractions growing stronger within the same quant.i.ty of attracting Surface. The Attraction therefore within the same quant.i.ty of attracting Surface, is reciprocally as the distance between the Gla.s.ses. And therefore where the distance is exceeding small, the Attraction must be exceeding great. By the Table in the second Part of the second Book, wherein the thicknesses of colour"d Plates of Water between two Gla.s.ses are set down, the thickness of the Plate where it appears very black, is three eighths of the ten hundred thousandth part of an Inch. And where the Oil of Oranges between the Gla.s.ses is of this thickness, the Attraction collected by the foregoing Rule, seems to be so strong, as within a Circle of an Inch in diameter, to suffice to hold up a Weight equal to that of a Cylinder of Water of an Inch in diameter, and two or three Furlongs in length. And where it is of a less thickness the Attraction may be proportionally greater, and continue to increase, until the thickness do not exceed that of a single Particle of the Oil.

There are therefore Agents in Nature able to make the Particles of Bodies stick together by very strong Attractions. And it is the Business of experimental Philosophy to find them out.

Now the smallest Particles of Matter may cohere by the strongest Attractions, and compose bigger Particles of weaker Virtue; and many of these may cohere and compose bigger Particles whose Virtue is still weaker, and so on for divers Successions, until the Progression end in the biggest Particles on which the Operations in Chymistry, and the Colours of natural Bodies depend, and which by cohering compose Bodies of a sensible Magnitude. If the Body is compact, and bends or yields inward to Pression without any sliding of its Parts, it is hard and elastick, returning to its Figure with a Force rising from the mutual Attraction of its Parts. If the Parts slide upon one another, the Body is malleable or soft. If they slip easily, and are of a fit Size to be agitated by Heat, and the Heat is big enough to keep them in Agitation, the Body is fluid; and if it be apt to stick to things, it is humid; and the Drops of every fluid affect a round Figure by the mutual Attraction of their Parts, as the Globe of the Earth and Sea affects a round Figure by the mutual Attraction of its Parts by Gravity.

Since Metals dissolved in Acids attract but a small quant.i.ty of the Acid, their attractive Force can reach but to a small distance from them. And as in Algebra, where affirmative Quant.i.ties vanish and cease, there negative ones begin; so in Mechanicks, where Attraction ceases, there a repulsive Virtue ought to succeed. And that there is such a Virtue, seems to follow from the Reflexions and Inflexions of the Rays of Light. For the Rays are repelled by Bodies in both these Cases, without the immediate Contact of the reflecting or inflecting Body. It seems also to follow from the Emission of Light; the Ray so soon as it is shaken off from a shining Body by the vibrating Motion of the Parts of the Body, and gets beyond the reach of Attraction, being driven away with exceeding great Velocity. For that Force which is sufficient to turn it back in Reflexion, may be sufficient to emit it. It seems also to follow from the Production of Air and Vapour. The Particles when they are shaken off from Bodies by Heat or Fermentation, so soon as they are beyond the reach of the Attraction of the Body, receding from it, and also from one another with great Strength, and keeping at a distance, so as sometimes to take up above a Million of Times more s.p.a.ce than they did before in the form of a dense Body. Which vast Contraction and Expansion seems unintelligible, by feigning the Particles of Air to be springy and ramous, or rolled up like Hoops, or by any other means than a repulsive Power. The Particles of Fluids which do not cohere too strongly, and are of such a Smallness as renders them most susceptible of those Agitations which keep Liquors in a Fluor, are most easily separated and rarified into Vapour, and in the Language of the Chymists, they are volatile, rarifying with an easy Heat, and condensing with Cold. But those which are grosser, and so less susceptible of Agitation, or cohere by a stronger Attraction, are not separated without a stronger Heat, or perhaps not without Fermentation. And these last are the Bodies which Chymists call fix"d, and being rarified by Fermentation, become true permanent Air; those Particles receding from one another with the greatest Force, and being most difficultly brought together, which upon Contact cohere most strongly. And because the Particles of permanent Air are grosser, and arise from denser Substances than those of Vapours, thence it is that true Air is more ponderous than Vapour, and that a moist Atmosphere is lighter than a dry one, quant.i.ty for quant.i.ty. From the same repelling Power it seems to be that Flies walk upon the Water without wetting their Feet; and that the Object-gla.s.ses of long Telescopes lie upon one another without touching; and that dry Powders are difficultly made to touch one another so as to stick together, unless by melting them, or wetting them with Water, which by exhaling may bring them together; and that two polish"d Marbles, which by immediate Contact stick together, are difficultly brought so close together as to stick.

And thus Nature will be very conformable to her self and very simple, performing all the great Motions of the heavenly Bodies by the Attraction of Gravity which intercedes those Bodies, and almost all the small ones of their Particles by some other attractive and repelling Powers which intercede the Particles. The _Vis inertiae_ is a pa.s.sive Principle by which Bodies persist in their Motion or Rest, receive Motion in proportion to the Force impressing it, and resist as much as they are resisted. By this Principle alone there never could have been any Motion in the World. Some other Principle was necessary for putting Bodies into Motion; and now they are in Motion, some other Principle is necessary for conserving the Motion. For from the various Composition of two Motions, "tis very certain that there is not always the same quant.i.ty of Motion in the World. For if two Globes joined by a slender Rod, revolve about their common Center of Gravity with an uniform Motion, while that Center moves on uniformly in a right Line drawn in the Plane of their circular Motion; the Sum of the Motions of the two Globes, as often as the Globes are in the right Line described by their common Center of Gravity, will be bigger than the Sum of their Motions, when they are in a Line perpendicular to that right Line. By this Instance it appears that Motion may be got or lost. But by reason of the Tenacity of Fluids, and Attrition of their Parts, and the Weakness of Elasticity in Solids, Motion is much more apt to be lost than got, and is always upon the Decay. For Bodies which are either absolutely hard, or so soft as to be void of Elasticity, will not rebound from one another. Impenetrability makes them only stop. If two equal Bodies meet directly _in vacuo_, they will by the Laws of Motion stop where they meet, and lose all their Motion, and remain in rest, unless they be elastick, and receive new Motion from their Spring. If they have so much Elasticity as suffices to make them re-bound with a quarter, or half, or three quarters of the Force with which they come together, they will lose three quarters, or half, or a quarter of their Motion. And this may be try"d, by letting two equal Pendulums fall against one another from equal heights. If the Pendulums be of Lead or soft Clay, they will lose all or almost all their Motions: If of elastick Bodies they will lose all but what they recover from their Elasticity. If it be said, that they can lose no Motion but what they communicate to other Bodies, the consequence is, that _in vacuo_ they can lose no Motion, but when they meet they must go on and penetrate one another"s Dimensions. If three equal round Vessels be filled, the one with Water, the other with Oil, the third with molten Pitch, and the Liquors be stirred about alike to give them a vortical Motion; the Pitch by its Tenacity will lose its Motion quickly, the Oil being less tenacious will keep it longer, and the Water being less tenacious will keep it longest, but yet will lose it in a short time. Whence it is easy to understand, that if many contiguous Vortices of molten Pitch were each of them as large as those which some suppose to revolve about the Sun and fix"d Stars, yet these and all their Parts would, by their Tenacity and Stiffness, communicate their Motion to one another till they all rested a

Prev List Next