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Practice. M E D I
Spafmt. wss covered with a thick inflammatory cruft. In one
L" ~v of thefe patients the urine yielded an ounce and a
half, and in the other an ounce, of (accharine matter
from each pound. It had, however, an urinous fmell,
and a faline tafte mixed with the fweet one ; and the
urine of one fermented with yeaft, we are told, into
“ tolerable fmall-beer.” Both thefe patients bad a
voracious appetite, and perpetual gnawing fenle of
hunger ; as had alfo Dr Dobfon s patient. I he in-
flpid urine of thofe affefled with diabetes has not been
examined by phyficians with fuflicient accuracy to en¬
able us to fpeak with confidence of its contents.
Ccwfes. Thefe are exceedingly obfeure and uncer¬
tain •, fpafms of the nervous fyftem, debility, and every
thing inducing it, but efpecially ftrong diuretics and
immoderate venery, have been acculed as bringing on
the diabetes. It has, however, occurred in perfons
where none of thefe caufes could be fufpedled j nor
have the beft phyfioians been able to determine it.—
Difledlions have only fhown that the kidneys were in
an enlarged and lax flate. In one of Dr Home s
patients who died, they fmelled four ■, which fhowed
that the urine peculiar to diabetes came from the kid-
nevs, and was not fent diredlly from the inteftines by
a retrograde motion of the lymphatics, as fome ima-
gine.
Prognojis. The diabetes is rarely cured, unlefs when
taken at the very beginning, which is feldom done 5
and in a confirmed diabetes the prognefis mult therefore
be unfavourable. _ .
Cure. As there is reafon to believe that in this af-
fe&ion the morbid fecretion of urine, which is both
preternatural in point of quantity and of quality, antes
from a morbid diminution of tone in the kidney, the
great objedl in the cure mull be the reftoration of due
tone to the fecreting veflels of the kidney. But as
even this diminifhed tone would not give riie to the pe¬
culiar vitiated fecretion without a morbid fenlibility of
that organ, it is neceffarily a fecond @bje£l to remove
this morbid fenfibility. But befides this, the morbid fe¬
cretion of urine may alfo be counterafted both by a di¬
minution of the determination of fluids to the kidney,
and by preventing the occurrence of luperfluous uater
in the general mafs of blood.
On thefe grounds the principal hopes of a cure, in
this diftemper are from allvingent and ftrengthening
medicines. Dr Dobfon’s patient was relieved by the
following remedies •, which, however, w7ere frequently
varied, as none of them produced their, good effefts
for any length of time: Cinchona in fuDllance,
fmall dofes of rhubarb ; decoftion of the bark, with
the acid elixir of vitriol; the cold infufion of the bark,
of which he drank from a quart to two quarts daily •,
Dover’s powder ; alum-whey j lime-water ; antimomals
combined with tinElura thebcnca. I he warm bath Wi-tS
ufed occalionally when the lldn was remarkably hot and
dry, and the patient complained of reftleilnefs and anxi¬
ety. The tindfure of cantharides was likewife tried ;
but he could never take more than 25 drops for a dofe,
without exciting great uneafinefs in his bowels. 1 he
body was kept conftantly open, either with rhubarb
or the infuflon of fena joined with rhubarb. His
common drinks were rice water, barley-water, lime-wa¬
ter, and milk-, lime-water alone; fage, bTm, or mint
tea ; fmall-beer, Ample water, and water acidulated with
VoL.XlII. Part II.
CINE. 40t
the fulphuric acid. In feven months, thefe remedies, Bkbetcs.
in whatever manner varied, made no further progrefs in
removing the difeaie. In Dr Home’s patients, ail thefe
medicines, and many others, were tried without the
leaf! good eflfea ; infomuch that he tiles this remarkable
expreflion : Ihus, thele two patients have exhauded
all that experience had ever recommended, and almolt
all that theory could fuggeft ; yet in both cafes, tne dif-
eafe has refilled all the means of cure ufed.” It is re¬
markable, that though feptics were given to both, in
fucb quantity as evidently to produce a putrefcency in_
the primae vice, the urine remained unaltered both in
quantity and quality.
Bnt although this difeafe be frequently in its nature
fo obflinate as to refill every mode of cure, yet there can
be no doubt that particular remedies have fucceeded in
different cafes. Dr Brilbane relates feveral cafes cured
by the ufe of timffure of cantharides: and Dr McCor¬
mick has related fome in the 9^ volume of the Edin¬
burgh Medical Commentaries, which yielded to Do¬
ver’s powder after a variety ol other remedies had been
tried in vain.
But of all the modes of cure lately propofed, that
which has been moll celebrated, is the treatment re¬
commended by Dr Rollo of the Royal Artillery. In
a valuable work lately publiflied, entitled Cafes of the
Diabetes Mellitus, he has recorded two remarkable ex¬
amples of the good effe&s of a peculiar regimen in this
difeafe. He confiders diabetes as being a difeafe not
of the kidney but of the alimentary canal, and as
arifing from the formation of an uncommon quantity of
fugar? He therefore ftri£Uy forbids the ufe of every
article of diet which can furnifh fugar, even of bread ;
and by a diet confifting entirely of animal and alkalel-
cent food his patients were much benefited. The ex¬
perience of fome other practitioners has to a certain de¬
gree confirmed the obfervations of Dr Rollo. But we
are forry to add, that we have met with many other
inftances of diabetes mellitus, in which a diet confifting
folely of animal food, had a fair trial, without produ¬
cing any material benefit. And v.e may conclude with
observing, that the cure of diabetes ftill remains to be
difeovered. As allaying the exceflive thirfl, and pro-
ducin°- a temporary reftoration of urinous fmell, or the
urea which it ought naturally to contain, we. have
found nothing equal m efficacy to a large proportion of
fat meat, fuch as pork fteaks or butter.
Genus LXIII. HYSTERIA. '
Hysterics.
Hyfteria, Sauv. gen. 135. Lin. 126. Vog. 219. Sag. •
gen. 242.
Malum hyftericum, Hoffm. III. 50. fund. 36.
AffeCtio hyfterica, Willis de Morb. Convulfiv. cap. 5.
10. xi. Sydenham Diff. Epift. ad G. Cole, IVhtjtt
on Nervous Diforders.
Dcfcription. The hyfteria is a convulfive difeafe,
which comes on at uncertain intervals, fometimes longer
and fometimes fhorter, but at no fluted time. The
paroxyfms commonly begin with a languor and debi-
lity of the whole body ; yawning, ftretching, and reft-
leffnefs. A fenfe of coldnefs alfo in the extremities,
almoft always precedes, and for the moft part remains
during the whole time of, the paroxyfm. To this fbme-
3 E times
402 M E VD I
Spafai. times fucceeds a fenfe of* heat 5 and the two fen Cations
a]ternai;e ^-^Jj eac'h other in different parts of the body.
The face is fometimes da died and fome times pale: and
Sometimes the palenefs and Hudiing come alternately.
Ther e is a violent pain in the head $ tire eyes become
dim, and pour out tears : there is a rumbling and infla¬
tion of the inteftines 5 a fenfation is felt like that of a
globe afeending from the lower part of the abdomen
or hypogaftrium, which fometimes feems to roll along
the whole alimentary canal. It afeends to the ftomach,
fometimes fuddeniy, fometimes flowly ; and there pro¬
duces a fenf^ of inflation and weight, together with
anxiety, naufea, and vomiting. At lall it comes up to
the throat, where it produces a fenfe of fuffocation,
and difficulty of breathing or fwallowing. During
this time there are the mod: violent pains both in the
external and internal parts of the abdomen ; the muf-
cles are convuifed ; the umbilicus is drawn inwards ;
and there are frequently fuch fpafms of the inteflines,
that neither clyfters can be injedled, nor even flatus
pa's downwards. Sometimes the paroxyfm remits af¬
ter thefe Tymptoms have continued for a certain time,
but more frequently the patients fall into fainting fits 5
fometimes they lie without motion, as if they were in
a deep fleep ; fometimes they beat tbeir breads violent¬
ly and continually with their hands, and fometimes
they are feized with general convulfions, and the dif-
eafe puts on the appearance of an epilepfy. In fome
patients the extremities become cold and biff, and the
body has the appearance of one in a catalepfy. Some¬
times a mod violent beating pain takes place in fome
part of the head, as if a nail was driven into it, and
all vifible objefts feem to turn round y grievous pains
attack the loins, back, and bladder, and the patients
efifeharge a furprifing quantity of urine as limpid as
water; which lad is one of the furefl figns of the djf-
eafe. The mind is very much affedled as well as the
body. Sometimes the patients are tormented with vain
fears: fometimes they will laugh, at other times cry im¬
moderately ; and fometimes their temper becomes fo
peeviih and fretful, that they cannot enjoy a moment’s
quiet. The appearances which take place in this af¬
fection are indeed fo much varied, that they can-hard¬
ly be enumerated : they may, however, with propriety,
be divided into hyderic fits, which very much refemble
thofe of epilepfy, excepting that they are not attended
with an abolition of the internal fenfes; and hyderic
fymptoms, fuch as the globus hystericus, c lav us hysteri¬
cus, and the like, which are chiefly known to conditute
a part of this difeafe from being obferved to alternate
with fits.
Caufes, &c. The general caufe of hyderia is thought
by the bed phyficians to confid in a too great mobi¬
lity and irritability of the nervous fydem, and of con-
fequence the difeafe may b? brought on by whatever
debilitates and renders the body irritable. Hence it
mod frequently attacks females of a weak and lax ha¬
bit of body, though there are fome indances of men al-
fp attacked by it. It generally comes on between the
time of puberty and the age of 35, and makes its at¬
tacks during the time of mendruation more frequently
than at any other. It alfo more frequently feizes bar-
pen women and young widows, than fuch as are bear¬
ing children.
Prognojis. Though the appearance of this difeafe be
C I N E.
Fra&ice.
fo very terrible, it feldom proves mortal ualefs by wrong
treatment : but notwithfianding this, it is extremely dif¬
ficult of cure, and rarely admits of any thing elle than
being palliated ; for though It ihould feem to be con¬
quered by medicine lor a time, it very quickly returns,
and that from the flighted caufes.
Cure. The ends principally to be aimed at in the
cure of tnis difeafe a^e, in the fird place, the removal
of particular convulfive or fpafmodic affeilions imme¬
diately producing various appearances in the difeafe,
whether under the form of proper hyderic fits, or
merely of what may be called hyderic fymptoms ; and
in the lecond place, the prevention of the return of fymp¬
toms after they have been removed, by the employment
of proper remedies during thofe intervals from com¬
plaints which patients often have when labouring under
this affe'flion.
H\ fieri a.
The mod powerful remedy hitherto difeovered in
hyderic cafes is opium, or the tinbture of it. By this
commonly the mod violent paroxyfms are dopped,
though it be inlufficient to accomplilh a radical cure.
In Dr Home’s Clinical Experiments we find an in¬
dance of a cure performed by venefeflion, though this
remedy has been generally condemned in hydcrical
cafes. Afafcetida feems to dand next in virtue to
opium ; though with fome it difagrees, and occafions
pains in the itomach and vomiting. Sulphuric tether
will alfo frequently remove an hyderic fit: but its ef¬
fects are of drort duration ; and if it do not effeft a
Cure foon after its exhibition, no fervice is to be ex¬
pelled either by perfeverance in the ufe of it or by
increafing the dofe ; and with fome conditutions it dif¬
agrees to fuch a degree as to occafion convulfions. If
the patient be feized with a violent fit, fo that die can
fwallow nothing, which is frequently the cafe, it will
be proper to apply fome drong volatile alkali to her
nofe ; or if that be not at hand, the vapour of burning
feathers is fometimes very efficacious. In fome in-
dances benefit is derived from the hidden application of
cold water to the face or hands ; but dill more fre¬
quently the application of water in a tepid date,
particularly the warm pediluvium, is found to be of
very great fervice in bringing about a favourable ter¬
mination of different violent hyderic fymptoms. A
pladqr of galbanum and afafcetida will alfo prove fer-
viceable : but it mud be remembered, that none of thefe
thin gs will prevent the return of the difeafe ; and there¬
fore a radical cure is to be attempted by exercife, cin-
chona, ebalybeates, mineral waters, and other tonics ;
but particularly, where the date of the patient is fuch
as to be able to bear it, by the ufe of the cold bath,
which, where it does not difagree with the conditution,
is often of the greated fervice in preventing returns of
this affedlion.
In hyderia as well as in chorea Dr Hamilton has
found, that in fome indances very great benefit has been
obtained from copious evacuations of the alimentary ca¬
nal, by cathartics frequently repeated.
Genus LXIV. HYDROPHOBIA. 3**
The Dread of Water.
Hydrophobia, gen. 231. Lin. 86. Vog. 30.
Sag- gen. 343. Boerh. wifi. Junck. 124. Mead
on poifons. Default fur la rage. Cauv. diii. fur
la..
Practice. ^ M E "D I
Spafmi. la rage. "James on canine madnefs. Dolby, Vir-
1"' tues of cinnabar and mu(k againfl the bite of a
mad dog. Nugent on the hydrophobia. Choifel,
Nouvelle methode pour le traitement de la rage.
Journal de Medicine, paffim. Medical Obf. and In¬
quiries, vol. ill. art. 34* ^ol. v. art. 20. 26. and
App. Med. TranfaB. vol. ii. art. 5. 12. and 15.
Heyjham, DHT. inaug. de rab. canin. Edinb. I777*
Parry, Diff. inaug. de rab. contagiof. five canvn.
Edinb. 1778. An dry, Recherches fur la rage,
1778. Vaughan, Cafes of hydrophobia, fecond
edit. 1778. Arnold, Cafe of hydrophobia, 1795.
323 Sp. I. HrnxoPHonrA Rabicfa, or Hydrophoby con-
fequent on the Bite of a Mad Animal.
Hydrophobia vulgaris, Sairj. fp. 1.
It is the opinion of fome, that Dr Cullen has done
wronff in employing the t^rm hydrophobia as a geneiic
name, unde** which canine madnels is included . and
it mud be allowed, that the dread of water, while it js
not univerfal, is alfo a fymptom occurring only late in
the difeafe, at lead in the greater part of cafes. Per¬
haps his arrangement would have been lefs exception¬
able, if. following Linnaeus, he had adopted rabies as
a generic term, and had didmguidied this particular
fpecies by the epithet of canina, contagiofa, or the like.
Difputes, however, about names, are in general not
very important ; and it is fufficient to obferve, that
the affedlion now to be treated of is canine madnefs,
or that difeafe which arifes from the bite of a mad
animal.
Defcription. This difeafe commonly does not make
its attack till a confiderable time after the bite. . In
fome few indances it has commenced in feven or eight
days from the accident; but generally the patient con¬
tinues in health for 20, 30, or 40 days, or even much
longer. The bite, if not prevented, will in gene.al be
healed long before that time, frequently with the grear¬
ed eafe •, though fometimes it refids all kinds of heal¬
ing applications, and forms a running ulcer which dif-
charges a quantity of matter for many days. It has
been faid, that the nearer the wounded place is to the
falivary glands, the fooner the fymptoms of hydro¬
phobia appear. The approach of the. difeafe is known
by the cicatrix of the wound becoming high, hard,
and elevated, and by a peculiar lenfe of prickling at
the part ; pains (hoot from it towards the throat :
fometlmes it is furrounded with livid or red dreaks,
and feems to be in a date of inflammation 5 though
frequently there is nothing remarkable to be obferved
about it. The patient becomes melancholy, loves fo-
litude, and has ficknefs at ftomach. Sometimes the
peculiar fymptom of the difeale, the aread of water,
comes on all at once. We have an indance of one
who, having taken a vomit of ipecacuanha for the fick-
nefs’he felt at his domach, was Seized with the hy¬
drophobia in the time he was drinking the warm water.
Sometimes the difeafe begins like a common (ore throat 5
and *.he forenefs daily increafing, the hydrophobic fymp¬
toms (how themfelves like a convultive loaan of the
mufcles of the fauces. In others, the mind feems to be
primarily afidaed, and they are fubjeft to deiponden-
cy and melancholy for fome tune prior to any dreau
CINE. ... 403
of water. And when that dread commences, it is with Hydropho-
an evident mental afteftion. Dr James, in his Treatife , ‘a j
on Canine Madnefs, mentions a boy lent out to fill two
bottles with water, who was fo terrified by the ncife
of the liquid running into them, that he fled into the
houfe crying out that he was bewitched. He men¬
tions alfo the cafe of a farmer, who, going to draw
fome ale from a calk, was terrified to fuch a degree at
its running into the vefiTel, that he ran out in a great
hafte with the fpigot in his hand. Eut in whatever
manner this fymptom comes on, it is certain that the
mod; painful fenfations accompany every attempt to
fwallow liquids. Nay, the bare fight ol water, of a
looking-glafs, of any thing clear or pellucid, will giver
the utmold uneafinefs, or even throws the patient into
convulfions.
With regard to the affe&ion of the mind itfelf in
this difeafe, it does not appear that the patients are
deprived of reafon. Some have, merely by the dint
of refolution, conquered the dread of water, though
they never could conquer the convulfive motions which
the contaft of liquids occafioned : while this refolu¬
tion has been of no avail } for the convulfions and other
fymptoms increafing, have almofl always defiroyed the
unhappy patients.
In this dijiafe there feems to be an extreme fenfibi-
lity and irritability of the nervous fyftem. The eyes
cannot bear the light, or the fight of any thing white
the leaft touch or motion offends them, and they want
to be kept as quiet and in as dark a place as poflible.
Some complain of the coldnefs of the air, frequently
when it is really warm. Others complain of violent
heat 5 and have a great defire for cold air, which yet
never fails to rncreafe the fymptoms. In all there is a
great flow of vifcid faliva into the mouth •, which is
exceedingly troublefome to the patients, as it has the
fame effect upon their fauces that other liquids have.
This therefore they perpetually blow off with violence,
which in a patient of Dr Fothergill’s occafioned a noife
not unlike the hollow barking of a dog, and which he
conjectures might have given rife to the common no¬
tion that hydrophobous patients bark like dogs. They
have an infatiable third; j but are unable to get down
any drink, except with the u’.moft diihculty •, though
fometimes they can fwallow bread loaked in liquids,
flices of oranges, or other fruits. There is a pain un¬
der the fcrobiculus cordis, as in the tetanus; and the
patients mournfully point to that place as the feat of
the difeafe. Dr Vaughan is of opinion that it is this
pain, rather than any difficulty in fvvallowing, which
diftreffes the patient on every attempt to drink. The
voice is commonly plaintive and mournful ; but Dr
Vaughan tells us there is a mixture of fiercenefs and
timidity in the countenance which he' cannot defcribe,
but by which he could know a hydrophobous peifon
without afking any queftions.
In this diftemper, indeed, the fymptoms are fo va¬
rious, that they cannot be enumerated ; for we will
feldam read two cafes of hydrophobia which do not
differ very remarkably in this refpeCL Some feem to
have at times a furious delirium, and an inclination to
fpit at or bite the by danders; while others (how no
fuch inclination, but will even fiuTer people to wipe
the infide of their mouths with the corner of a hand¬
kerchief in order to clear away the vifcid faliva which
3 E 2 is
4°4 M E D I
, Spafmi. Is ready to iuflocate them. In Tome male patients there
v " is an involuntary erection of the penis, and emiffion of
the femen; and the urine is forced away by the fre¬
quent return of the fpafms. In a letter from Dr Wolf
of Warfaw to Henry Baker, F. R. S. dated Warfaw
Sept. 26th, 1767, we have the following melancholy
account of the cafes of five perfons who died of the
hydrophobia : “ None of them quite loft their right
fenfes ; but they were all talking without intermiftion,
praying, lamenting, defpairing, curfing, fighing, fpit-
ting a frothy faliva, fcreeching, fometimes belching,
retching, but rarely vomiting. Every member is con-
vulfed by fits, but moft violently from the navel up to
the breaft and cefophagus. The fit comes on every
quarter of an hour j the fauces are not red, nor the
tongue dry. The pulfe is not at all feverilh; and when
the fit is over nearly like a found pulfe. The face
grows pale, then brown, and during the fit almoft
black ; the lips livid ; the head is drowfy, and the
ears tingling ; the urine limpid. At laft they grow
weary; the fits are lefs violent, and ceafe to ..aids the
end ; the pulfe becomes weak, intermittent, and not
very quick ; they fweat, and at laft the whole body
becomes cold. They compofe themfelves quietly as
if. to get lleep, and fo they expire. The blood drawn
a few hours before death appears good in every re-
fpedf. A general obfervation was, that the lint and
dreffings of the wounds, even when dry, were always
black, and that when the pus was very good in co¬
lour and appearance.” In one of Dr Wolf’s patients
who recovered, the blood itunk intolerably as it was
drawn from a vein ; and one of Mr Vaughan’s patients
complained of an intolerable fetid fmell proceeding
from the wounded part, though nobody but himfelf
could perceive it. In general, the violent convuliions
eeafe a fhort time before death ; and even the hydro¬
phobia goes off, fo that the patients can drink freely.
But this does not always happen ; for Mr Vaughan
mentions the cafe of a patient, in whom, “ when he
had in appearance ceafed to breathe, the fpafmus cyni-
cus was obfervablc, with an odd convullive motion in
the mufcles of the face ; and the firange contrariety
which took place in the adfion of thefe produced the
moft horrid affembiage of features that can well be
conceived. Of this patient alfo it tvas remarkable,
that in the laft hours of his life be ceafed to call for
drink, which had been his conftant rtqueft ; but was
perpetually afking for fomething to eat.”
The hydrophobia feems to Be a fymptom peculiar
to the humarj race ; for the mad animals which com¬
municate the infediion, do not feem to have any dread
of water. Dr Wolf, in the letter above quoted, fays
in general, that cattle bit at the fame time and by
the lame animal (a mad wolf) which bit the perfons
whofe cafes he related, died nearly with the fame
frightful raging as the men ; but fays nothing of their
having any hydrophobia : nay, Dr James and fome
others affert, that the hydrophobia is not always an
attendant on rabies canina in the human race ; ai d
indeed it is certain that the difeafe has proved mortal
after this terrible fymptom has been removed. With
regard to the fymptoms of madndfs in dogs, they are
very equivocal ; and thofe particularly enumerated by
feme authors, are only fi.ich as might be expeifted in
dogs much heated or agitated by being violently pur-
C I N E. Practice.
fued and ftruck. One fymptom indeed, if it could be Hydropho-
depended upon, would determine the matter; namely, ^a-
that all other dogs avoid and run away from one that v"
is mad ; and even large dogs will not attack one of
the fmalleft fize who is infe&ed with this difeafe.
Upon this fuppofition they point out a method of dif-
covering whether a dog who has been killed was really
mad or not ; namely, by rubbing a piece of .meat along
the infide of his mouth, and then offering it to a found
dog. If the latter eats it, it is a fign the dog was not
mad ; but if the other rejedts it with a kind of howling
noife, it is certain that he wTas. Dr James tells us, that
among dogs the difeafe is infedlious by flaying in the
fame place ; and that after a kennel has been once in-
fedled, the dogs put into it will be for a confiderable
time afterwards in danger of going mad alfo. A re¬
medy for this, he fays, is, to keep geele for fome time
in the kennel. He rejedfs as falfe the opinion that
dogs when going mad will not bark ; though he owns
that there is a very confiderable change in their bark,
which becomes hoarfe and hollow.
Of all the accounts that have been publiftied on the
charadferiftics of rabies in dogs, the belt is to be
found in Dr Arnold’s late treatife : the charadferiftics
there mentioned are given on the authority of Mr
Meynell, a gentleman who has paid particular atten¬
tion to this fubjedt. From Mr Meynell’s obfervations
it appears, that moft of the charadleriftics which have
been commonly mentioned, are mere vulgar errors ;
and, according to him, the beft marks are from their
peculiar dull look, and the peculiar found which they
utter. “ Mad dogs (fays Mr Meynell) never bark,
but occafionally utter a moft diimal and plaintive howl,
expreflive of extreme diftrefs, and which, they who
have once heard it, can never forget ; fo that dogs
may be known to be going mad without being feen,
when ordy this difmal howd is heard.
Caufes, &c. In no difeafe whatever are we more
at a lois to difeover the caufes than in the hydro¬
phobia. In dogs, foxes, and wolves, it feems to come
on Ipontaneouily ; though this is contefted by fume
authors. It is laid, that the caufes^ commonly aflign-
ed, viz. heat, feeding upon putrid flelh, want of wa¬
ter, &c. are not iufficient for producing the diftem-
per. It does not appear that madnefs is more frequent
among dogs in the w arm than in the cold climates ;
nay, in the ifland of Antigua, where the climate is
very hot, and the water very fcarce, tl is diftemper
has never, it is faid, been obferved. As to putrid ali¬
ment, it feems natural for dogs to prefer this to any
other, and they have been known to fublift upon it
for a long time without any detriment. For thefe
reaions, they think the ddealt ariles from a fpecific
contagion, like the imallpox and mealies among the
human race, which, being once produced by caufes
unknown, continues to be propagated by the inter¬
course which dogs have with each other, as the dif-
eaies juft mentioned continue to be propagated among
the human race.
With regard to the immediate caufe among man¬
kind, there is not the leaft doubt that the hydrenho-
bia is occafioned by the fVliva of the mad awirmfi be¬
ing mixed with the blood. It does not appear that
this can operate th/orgh be cuiicula ; but, when that
is rubbed off, the imalleft quantity is fuffaffent to com¬
municate
Practice, . M E D I
Spafmi. municate the difeafe, and a flight fcratch with the
'/ teeth of a mad animal has been found as pernicious
as a large wound. It is certain alfo, that the infe&ion
has been communicated by the bites of dogs, cats,
wolves, foxes, wealels, fwine, and even cocks and hens,
when in a ftate of madnefs. But it does not appear
that the diftemper is communicable from one hydro-
phobous perfon to another, by means of the bite, or
any other way. Dr Vaughan maculated a dog with
the laliva of a hydrophobous child, but the animal con¬
tinued free from difeafe for two months : and though
the do£for promifed to inform the public if it ftiould
happen to occur afterwards, nothing has hitherto ap¬
peared on that fubjeed. A nurfe alio frequently killed
the child during this time of his diforder, but no bad
confequence enfued.
When we attempt to inveftigate the nature of the
caufe of the hydrophobia by diffeftions, our inquiries
are commonly difappointed. In two bodies opened by
Dr Vaughan, there was not the leafl: morbid appear¬
ance ; in the very fauces, where we might have ex-
pedled that the difeafe would have fliown itfelf moll
evidently, there was not the leaft appearance even of
inflammation. The itomach, inteflines, diaphragm,
cefophagus, &c. were all in a natural ftate : neither
do we find in authors of credit any certain accounts of
morbid appearances in the bodies of hydrophobous
perfons after death. Dr Vaughan therefore concludes,
that the poifon adfs upon the nervous fyftem 5 and
is fo wholly confined to it, that it may be doubted
whether the qualities of the blood are altered by it or
not; and that it a61s upon the nerves by impairing and
difturbing their funftions to fuch a degree as fpeedily
to end in a total extimftion of the vital principle. As
to the difficulty in fwallowing generally believed to ac¬
company dread of the water, he treats it as a milre-
prefentation, as well as that the cefophaeus with the
mufcles fubfervient to deglutition are efpecially con¬
cerned in this difeafe. The principal foundation of
the evil, he thinks, refts on a morbid fenfibility both
of the external and internal fauces. For the light of a
liquid, or the application of any fubftance to. the in¬
ternal fauces, but more efpeciaily of a fluid, inftantly
excites the molt painful feelings. Nay, the fame
fymptoms are produced by touching the external fau¬
ces with a fluid, or by the contact of cold air with
thefe parts ; and nearly in as great a degree. But a
folid or fluid fubftance being conveyed, into the cefo¬
phagus, the tranfit into the ftomach is accompli ned
with little or no impediment } lo that in faft the diffi¬
culty is furmounted before the patient is engaged in the
aftion of fwallowing. Nor is the. excruciating pain,
which never fails to be the companion of every attempt
to drink, felt in the faucet and throat : it is, he lays,
at the fcrobtculut cordis y to which the fuiTirer applies
his hand. From this baft circumftance, therefore, from
the prefence of the rifus fardomeus, from the mu'des of
the abdomen being forcibly contrafted, and fiom the
feme of uff cation which feems to threaten the patient
w’ith immediate death. Dr V.mghan nas been ied 10
think that in the hydrophobia a new7 fympatny was efta-
bliffied between the fauces, the diaphragm, and the ab¬
dominal mufcles.
Pro^nods. When a perfon is bit, the prognofis with
regard to the enfumg hydrophobia is very uncertain.
CINE. 405
All thofe who are bit do not fall into the difeafe } Hydropho-
nay, Dr Vaughan relates, that out of' 30 bit by a mad bia‘
dog, only one was feized with the hydrophobia. Du- ^
ring the interval betwdxt the bite and the time the dif-
eaie comes on, there are no fymptoms by which wre can
judge whether it will appear or not. When once it has
made its appearance, the prognofis is exceedingly fatal,
though there are certainly fome well authenticated cafes
of complete recovery, particularly one recorded by Dp
Arnold.
Prevention and Cure. It has been generally allowed
by pradfitioners, that though the hydrophobia may be
prevented, yet it can feldom il ever be cured after it
has made its appearance. The moft eflbntial part of
the treatment therefore depends on the proper ufe of
means of prevention. The great objects to be aimed
at in prevention, are, in the firft place, the complete
removal of the contagious matter as foon as poffible ;
or, fecondly, means of deftroying it at the part, where
there is even the flighteft reafon to believe that it has
not been completely removed. Of all the means of
removal, the complete cutting out the part to which
the tooth has been applied, is unqueftionably the moft:
to be depended upon. This practice, therefore, ihould
be had recourfe to as foon as poffi jle. The fooner it
can be accompliihed, the better. But it has been ob-
ferved, that as a peculiar fenfation at the part affected
always precedes the acceffion of the difealie, even when
it takes place at a late period after the bite there is
good ground for believing that the removal of the part
may be of advantage even after a confiderable inter¬
val. But befides removal of the contagious matter,
by cutting away the part to which it is attached, this
ftiould alfo be attempted by careful and long-continued -
waihing. This may be done, in moft inftanees, be¬
fore a proper opportunity can be had of having re¬
courfe to the knife. Cold water ihould particularly
be poured upon the wound from a confiderable height,
that the matter may be waftied away wdth fome force.
Even after removal by the knife, careful waffiiing is
Hill a neceffary and proper precaution. And after
both thefe, to prevent as far as can be the poflibility
of any contagious matter lurking about the wounded
part, it thould not be allowed to heal, but a diicharge
of matter ftiould be fupported for the fpace of feveral
weeks, by ointment with cantharides, or fimilar ap¬
plications. By thefe means there is at leaft the beft
chance of removing the matter at a lufficiently early
period And this mode of prevention feems to be of
more confequence than all others put together which
have hitherto been difeovered. But befides removal,
prevention may alfo be obtained by the deftrueftion of
the contagious matter at the part •, and where tiiere is
the leaft reafon to think that a complete removal has
not been obtained, this ihould always be had recourfe
to. With this intention the actual cautery and burn¬
ing with gun-powder have been employed. And rhe
action of fire is probably one of the moft powerful
agents that can be ufed tor this purpofe. But recourfe
has alfo been had to waffling both with acids, and
with alkalies. Of the former kind, vinegar has been
chiefly ufed, but more may probably be expected from
the latter •, and particularly from the cauftic alkali, o
far diluted that it can be applied with fafety : for
from Its influence as a folvent of animal mucus, it gives
th« :
4=6 . M EDI
Sp'fnii. the beR chance of a complete remaval of the matter,
~v"~L independent of any influence in changing its nature.
It has been thought alfo, that oil applied to the part
may be of fervice. But if recourfe be had to it, more
active meafures lliould at leaf! be previoufly employed ;
and even then, fame are of opinion that it is of ad¬
vantage to increafe the aflivity of th.e uncluous matter
by combining it with mercury.
On thele grounds, and by thefe means, we are in¬
clined to think that the aflion of this contagion on
the fytlem, after it has been applied by the bite of a
rabid animal, may be moil effeflually prevented. But
alter this action has once taken place, no remedy has
yet been difcovered on which much dependence can
be put. A very great variety of articles indeed
have at different periods been held forth as infallible,
both in the prevention and cure of this affe&ion •, but
their reputation has, perhaps, univerfally been found¬
ed on their being given to people, who, though really
bit by a mad dog, were yet not infected with the con¬
tagion. And this happily, either from the tooth be¬
ing cleaned in making the bite, or not being covered
with contagious matter, is by no means an unfrequent
occurrence. Mankind, however, even from the earli-
eff ages, have never been without fome boafted fpeci-
flc, which has been held forth as an infallible remedy
for this affeftion till fatal experience demonffrated the
contrary. Dr Boerhaave has given a pretty full cata¬
logue of thofe fpecifics from the days of Galen to his
own time •, and concludes, thijt no dependence is to
be put in any of them. It is now, therefore, altoge¬
ther unneceffary to take notice of burnt crabs, the
hyaena’s Ikin, mithridate with tin, liver of the ra¬
bid animal, or a variety of other pretended remedies
lor this diieare, proved by experience to be totally in¬
efficacious. But although no greater confidence is per¬
haps to be put in fpecifics of modern date, it will be
proper that thefe lliould be mentioned.
Bathing in cold water, efpecially in the fea, and
drinking fea-water for a certain time, have been pre-
fcribed, and by fcmd accounted a certain preventive.
When this was known to fail, a long courfe of anti-
phlogillic regimen, violent fubmerfion in water, even
to danger of drowning, and keeping the wounded place
open with cauteries, were recommended.—To this ex¬
treme feverity Dr Mead objefled ; and in his treatife
cn this fubjeft endeavours to Ihow, that in all ages the
greateft fuccefs has been reaped from diuretics, for
which reafon he propofes the following powder :
“ Take afn-coloured ground-liverwort, half an ounce •,
black-pepper, two drams : reduce them feparately to
powder, then mix them together.” This powder was
firft publiibed in the Pbilofophiral TrahfafHons, by
Mr Dampier, in whofe family it had been kept as a
fecret for many years. But this medicine, which was in-
ferted in former editions of the London and Edinburgh
pharmacopoeias, under the name of Puhis AntihjJfus.
has long loft its credit.
There is a famous Eaft India medicine, compofed
of 24 grains ol native and as much faClitious cinnabar,
made into a powder with 16 grains of mufle. This is
called the Tonqiiin medicine, and mult be taken in
a tea cupful of arrac or brandy j and is faid to fe-
eure the patient for 30 days, at the expiration of
C I N E. PraGice.
which it is to be repeated ; but if lie has any fymp- Hydropho-
toms of the difeafe, it muft be repeated in three hoursj ^a-
which is faid to be a fufticierit for a cure. The firft dofe
is to be taken as foon after the bite as poflible.
Another celebrated remedy is Palmarius’s powder,
compofed of the leaves of rue, vervain, fage, polypody,
wormwood, mint, mugwort, balm, betony, St JohnV
wort, and leffer centaury. Thefe herbs muft be ga¬
thered in theft prime, dried feparately in the fhade,
and then powdered, ffhe dole is a dram, or a dram
and an half, taken every day.
_ A remedy which might promife to be more effica¬
cious than any of thofe hitherto mentioned is mercu¬
ry. This has been recommended in friclions, and
to be taken inwardly in the form of calomel and tur-
bitli mineral, in order if poffible to raife a flight fali-
vation, on which the efficacy was thought to depend.
Belides tb's, venefe£Hon, opium, cinchona, and cam¬
phor, have been tried in very large quantities •, the
warm bath ; and, in fhort, every thing which human
invention could fuggeft j but with how little fuccefs,
can be judged from many well authenticated cafes.
Dr Wolf, after detailing a number of interefting cafes,
makes the following obfervations.—“ Thus we fee,
that the mercury, the acids, the mulk, the feeding
on the moft famous herbs, the fweating, the cura anti-
phlngijlica, &c. are no fpecifics.”
The following cafe by Dr Raymond of Marfeilles
(hows the inefficacy of mercury even as a preventive.
—On the 19th of July 1765, Mr Boyer, aged 25, of
a bloated cachetic habit, was bit by a mad dog in the
inferior part of the leg : the wound extended half way
round, bled freely, and was like a great fcratch. The
patient’s legs had been fwelled for a confiderable time
before the accident; and there wTere alfo two ulcers in
the other leg. Some hours after the accident, the ac¬
tual cautery was applied to the wound. The doflor was
not prefent at this operation ; but the part around the
bite was rubbed with mercurial ointment immediately
after, and the efehar was dreffed with the fame oint¬
ment. The efehar was feparated on the firft day, but
the dreffimg was continued till the wound was c’icatri-
fed. i’he fecoad day a'bolus of four grains of turbith
and eight grains of camphor was exhibited. This
procured a confiderable evacuation both by vomit and
ftool, and a fpitting alfo came cn. The third day
the bitten leg was rubbed with mercurial ointment : in
the fpace of a month the frictions were repeated five
times on both legs, three drams of mercurial oint¬
ment being ufed in each fri&ion. During the fame
time the bolus was five times repeated 5 and this treat¬
ment kept up a flight falivation to the 40th day. The
evening of the third day he took the Tonquin medicine,
called alfo Sir George Cobb's powder, in a bolus 5 which
vomited him brifkly. This powder was repeated feven
or eight times in the month, generally with the fame
effect. During the firft feven or eight days he got four
times, in the morning, a dram of the anagaHis flore
puniceo, frelh gathered and powdered. The 41ft day,
the turbith bolus was preferibed for the feventh time :
he was bathed in the fea, and continued the bathing
for two days more. On the 74th he was feized with
the diftemper; and died on the 76th, feemingly fuffo-
cated or ftrangled, his mouth covered with flaver, and
his
3
Praftice. M E D I
Spasm:, his face bloated. He loft his fenfes not a£>ove half a
’v~ quarter of an hour before his death. The pulfe was
quiet the whole time.
Another inftance is mentioned by the fame author,
of a pregnant woman bit by the fame dog and on the
fame day with Mr Boyer, who was never feszed with
the diftemper. She was treated in much the fame
manner with him, and falivated a little more. But
Ote was bit through a fnamoy leather flioe, which
muft neceffarily have cleaned the animal’s teeth of the
poisonous faliva before they reached her {kin, and to
this we are naturally led to aferibe her fafety, One of
Dr Wolf’s patients alto was a pregnant woman, and
was not felzed with the diftemper. Perhaps women
in a ftate of pregnancy may be lefs liable to this di¬
ftemper than others ; but it is mere probable that the
contagion was not communicated.
I he lame author tells us, “ there are many examples
of the inefficacy of mercurial fridtions. A furgeon of
Marfeilles treated a girl about 12 years of age bit by
a mad dog, with mercurial frictions ; applying them
as in the lues venerea : yet fire died of the hydro¬
phobia on the 55 th day. Her wound was not cau¬
terized.”
In the following cafe all the moft powerful remedies
Were tried.—In the afternoon of the 29th of Aug. 1777,
Dr V aughan w’as called to a boy of eight years of age
labouring under a hydrophobia. Pie had been bit on
the wrift by a cat about a month before ; of which the
marks remained, but without any ulcer, or even the
fmalleft appearance of inflammation. About the middle
of the day before Dr Vaughan faw him, he began to
complain of a pain in the part bitten, which afcemled up
the arm, and affected the temple on that fide ; foon af¬
ter which he fwallowed liquids with reludlance and dif¬
ficulty. He was put into the warm bath for three
quarters of an hour, during which time he was eafier :
he had a clyfter of five ounces of freffi broth, and 30
drops of laudanum, injected immediately after his co¬
ming out of it; a liniment confifting of three drams
of ftrong mercurial ointment, with the fame quantity of
oil of amber, was rubbed upon the ffiouulers and back ;
two pills of a grain of dowers of zinc, and half a grain
of cuprum amnicniacum, were taken every three or four
hours: and a medicated atmofphere was prepared for
him, by burning gum ammoniac in bis room. As thefe
remedies were not attended with any good effect, each
dofe of pills was ordered to contain two grains of cu¬
prum ammoniacum, the fame quantity of opium, three
grains of dowers of zinc, and ten grains of afafeetida 5
whilft a folution of that fetid gum, with a dram of
laudanum, wTas adminiftered as a clyfter. Thefe pills,
though repeated every four hours, afforded not the
fmalleft relief, nor did they (how the leaft a&ion on the
frame. At laft the doftor refolved to put in practice
the defperate remedy mentioned by Van Helmont, of
throwing the patient into cold w ater, and keeping him
there till he is almoft drowned. With this view a large
tub of cold water, well faturated with common fait, was
prepared, into which the poor boy was plunged over
head and ears, and there held until he ceaftd to ftruggle.
He was then taken out again, and the fame operation
repeated until he became fo quiet that the doiftor was
under apprehenfions that a total extinction of life
would take place. He was then wrapped up in a
CINE.
blanket and put to bed, and he remained more quiet M>
than he had formerly been ; but all his former reftiefs-
nefs foon returned, his pulfe funk, and he died about
two o’clock in the morning.
Another celebrated antidote againft the poifon of a
mad dog has been known for fome years by the name
of the Ormjhrk medicine. The true compofition of
this is kept a fecret by the proprietors : however, it
has been analyfed, and the following compofition
publilhed by Dr Ileyftiam as perfe&ly fimilar to it in
ail refpects.
“ lake half an ounce of chalk, three drams of
Armenian bole, io grains of alum, one dram of
elecampane in powder; mix them all together, and
add fix drops of oil of anife.”
They rauft certainly be very credulous who can put
confidence in fuch an iniignificant medicine as a prefer-
vative againft the hydrophobia : how’ever, there is a
pofiibiiity that there may be fome unknown ingredient
in the genuine powder ; for it is difficult to analyfe
powders after the ingredients are thoroughly mixed
together. The efficacy of the medicine therefore muft;
depend on the virtues of that unknown ingredient, if
any luch there be. Tne following, cafes, however, too
well determine that it is not infallible, as was at firft
pretended. In all probability, as well as many others, .
its reputation alfo is folely refted on its being exhibi¬
ted in many cafes where no contagion was communi¬
cated to the perfon bit, and while of courfe no difi-
eafe could take place.
On the 14th of February 1774, Mr Bellamy of
FIolborn, aged 40, was bit by a cat affe&ed with rabies,
which was killed the fame morning. The following
day he took the celebrated Ormlkirk medicine, fold
by Hill and Berry in Hill-Street, Berkeley-Square,
and conformed in every refpedl to the directions given
by the vender. A fervant maid, who was bitten in the
leg before her mafter was bitten, likewife took the fame
remedy. About the middle of April Mr Bellamy
complained of a pain in his right knee, which he fup-
pofed to be rheumatic, and which continued and
increafed till the 7th of June, when he got fome pills
of calomel, ipecacuanha, and pH. Japan, from an apothe¬
cary, with Huxham’s tincture of the bark in fmall dofes. .
In fix days more he had a titiliation in the urethra, a
contraction of the Scrotum and penis to a degree of pain,
and an emiffion of femen after making water, to which
he had frequent calls. The medicines were difeontinu-
ed ; and on the 16th of that month the hydrophobia
came on, and Dr Fothergill was called. Six ounces of
blood were taken from his arm, and a bolus of a fcruple
of native cinnabar and half a fcruple of mulk was given
every four hours. The diftemper manifeltly increafed •.
through the day. In the evening a clyfter was injedted,
and feveral times repeated during the night; he had
been put into the warm bath, and two drams of ftrong
mercurial ointment rubbed into his legs and thighs by
hircfelf. He was greatly relieved by the warm bath
while he continued in it, but the fymptoms returned
with increafed violence in the night. The next day
being greatly vvorfe, he was blooded to as great a
quantity as he could bear, had the warm bath and
clyfters repeated, and half an ounce of mercurial oint¬
ment rubbed into his thighs and legs. Pills of opium
were preferibed, but be did not take then*.. He died
the e
Spafrr.i
M E D I
the fame night, at half an hour after 12. This patient
~ was a man of great refolution, and could in part con¬
quer his averfion at water. He feemed to have total¬
ly forgot the accident of the bite : and carnally laid,
that he thought this diforder refembled the hydropho-
bia, without fuppofing that he was afflifted with that
diflemper at the time.—The bite on the girl’s leg re¬
futed to heal, baffled the art of a young furgeon who
attempted to cure it, and continued a running ulcer
for a long time. She did not fall into the hydropho¬
bia. Hence Dr Fothergill thinks it probable, that
keeping the wounds made by the teeth of mad animals
open for a long time, would probably be of fervice as
a preventive j but in fome of Dr Wolf’s patients,
thefe artificial drains appear not to have been attended
■ with fuccefs.
On the 16th of November 1773, Thomas Nourfe,
a ftrong healthy boy of 14, was admitted into the Lei-
celler infirmary ; having been that day month bitten
by a mad fox-hound. The w'ound was a large lacerated
one on the cheek, and bled very freely on being inflifted.
The day after he w'as bit he went to the fea, rvhere he
was dipped with all the feverity ufually praflifed un¬
der fo difagreeable an operation. The Ortnjkirh me¬
dicine w'as alfo adminillered with all due care. It was
’•bought of the perfon in Leicelter who is deputed by
the proprietor to fell it for him. A common adhelive
plafter was applied to the part after fea'bathing 5 and
in the courfe of a month, without any further trouble,
the wound was healed } excepting a fmall portion,
fomewhat more than an inch in length, and in breadth
about one-tenth. This yielded no difcharge, and was
quite in a cicatrizing Hate. Five days before his ad-
miffion into the infirmary, he began to complain of a
tightnefs over his temples, and a pain in his head : in
two days the hydrophobia began to appear 5 and at its
commencement he complained of a boiling heat in his
ftomach, w hich was continually afcending to the fauces.
The difeafe was pretty ftrong when he came to the in¬
firmary. He got a bolus of a fcruple of mulk with
two grains of opium j then a compofition of 15 grains
of mulk, one of turbith mineral, and five grains of
opium, was direfted to be taken every third hour •,
an ounce of the ftronger mercurial ointment w'as to be
rubbed on the cervical vertebrae and Ihoulders, and an
embrocation of tw7o ounces of laudanum, and half an
ounce of acetum /aluminum, w'as directed to be applied
to the throat. But by this laft he was thrown into
convullions, and the fame effea followed though his
eyes were firft covered with a napkin. The embroca¬
tion was therefore changed for a plafter of three
drams of powdered camphor, half an ounce of opium,
and fix drams confellio Damocntis. By thefe medi¬
cines the dileafe feemed to be fomewfflat fufpended, but
the lymptoms returned with violence in the evening.
His medicine wras repeated at feven; and at eight
five grains of opium w7ere exhibited without mulk or
turbith. At nine, another ounce of mercurial oint¬
ment was rubbed upon the ftioulders, and half an
ounce of laudanum with fix ounces of mutton-
broth was inje&ed into the inteftines, but to no pur-
pole. A larger dofe of opium was then given, but
with as little effeft as the former, and he died the
. lame night.
In this month of September 1774? a £*rmer-? sged
C I fN E. rrad ice.
25, W'as bit by a mad dog, whofe teeth made a flight Hydropho-
wound in the fore linger of the left hand. lie was dip- .
ped, as ufual, in the lea ; and drank the fea-water lor
fome time on the fpot, which operated brifldy as a
purge. He continued well till the 6th of June follow¬
ing, when he firft felt a pain m that hand and arm j for
which he bathed in a river that evening, fuppofing that
it had been a rheumatic complaint. The next day he
was fick j and in the evening was feized with a violent
vomiting, which continued all that night and til! the
middle of the next day, when it was fucceeded by the
hydrophobia. He was treated with the warm bath j
had a purgative clyfter injefled 5 and as foon as it had
operated, a fecond was given, confiding of four ounces
of oil, and half an ounce of laudanum : half an ounce
of ftrong mercurial ointment was rubbed on the fauces,
and the part wTas afterwards covered with the cataplaj-
ma e cymino, to which w'as added an ounce of opium.
An embrocation w’as applied to the region of the fto¬
mach with continued friflion, confifting of half an
ounce of fpirit of fal ammoniac, ten drams of olive oil,
fix drams of oil of amber, and ten drams of lauda¬
num. Two ounces of ftrong mercurial ointment were
rubbed upon the fhoulders and back $ and as a further
means of inducing a ptyalifm fpeedily, he received the
fmoke of cinnabar into the mouth by throwing a
dram of that fubftance now and then upon a hot
iron : he was alfo direfled to take every four hours
a bolus of 15 grains of mulk, three grains of turbith
mineral, and tour grains of opium. He w'as eafier
while in the warm bath, and during the application of
the ointment} but died the fame night about two
o’clock.
Many other inftances might be adduced of the in¬
efficacy of this pretended Ipecific : which will, it is
hoped, create a due degree of caution in thofe to whom
they who are fo unfortunate as to be bit by a mad ani¬
mal may commit themfelves. Another remeay may
alfo be mentioned as having had the reputation of being
fometimes fuccefslul in this difeafe } which is chiefly
employed in different parts of India, particularly in the
territory of Tanjore. The medicine to which we now
allude contains indeed feveral articles which are altoge¬
ther unknown in our materia medica : but it contains at
leaft one very powerful fubftance well known to us,
viz. arlenic. I his medicine, known by the name of
the Snake Pills, as being principally employed againft
the bite of the moft venomous fnakes, is diredded to
be prepared in the following manner :
Take white arfenic, of the roots of nelli navi, of
nevi vilham, of the kernels of the ner valum, of pep¬
per, of quickfilver, each an equal quantity. I he
quickfilver is to be rubbed with the juice of the wild
cotton till the globules are perfe&ly extinguiffled.
The arfenic being firft levigated, the other ingre-
" dients, reduced to a pov/der, are then to be added, and
the whole beat together with the juice of the wild
cotton to a confidence fit to be divided into pills.
Though thefe pills are principally ufed againft the
bite of the cobra de capello, yet they are faid alfo
to be fuccefsful in the cure of other venomous bites-,
and, for the prevention of rabies canlna, one is taken
every morning for fome length of time. 01 this re¬
medy European pra&itioners have, we believe, as yet
no experience j and if, in the accounts tranimitted
1 by
Practice. M E D I
Spafmi. by Eaft India pradlitioners, it cannot be faid that we
v~ have authentic evidence of its want of fuccefs, it can
as little be pretended that there is indubitable evidence
of its efficacy in any inftance ; and it is by no means
improbable, that it will be found equally inefficacious
with others at one time confidered as infallible.
Of the great variety of remedies which have had
their day of reputation, there is not one which has
not pofieffed the credit, fotne time or other, of pre¬
venting the noxious effedls arifing from the bite of a
mad dog. A more adequate experience has with all
of them difeovered the deception. It was above obferv-
ed, that rabies is by no means the infallible confequence
of being bit by a mad animal ; and that of between
20 and 30 perfonS who were bit by the dog which gave
the fatal wound to one of Dr Vaughan’s patients, not
one felt the leaf! ill effedl but himfelf. “ In the above
number ('fays the doff or) were fome who took the
Qrmfkirk medicine •, others went to the fait water ;
and a part of them ufed no remedy, who yet fared
equally well with the moll attentive to their injury.
FIhe fame thing has often happened before } and much
merit, I doubt not, has been attributed to the medicine
taken, from that celebrated one of Sir George Cobb
down to the infallible one which my good Lady Bounti¬
ful's receipt-book furniffies.”
From all that has been faid, the reader will judge
how far the hydrophobia is capable of being fubdued
by any of the medicinal powers which have yet been
tried. Some eminent phyficians affert that it is totally
incurable 3 and allege that the inlfances recorded by
different authors of its cure have not been the genuine
kind, but that which comes on fpontaneoufly, and
which is by no means fo dangerous. Indeed two of
Dr Wolf’s patients recovered, where the difeafe feems
to have been perfeflly genuine : but in thefe the poi-
fon feemed to vent itfelf partly on fome other place
befdes the nervous .fyflem. In one the blood was
evidently infefled, as it had an abominable foetor ;
and the other had a violent pain and fuelling in the
belly. In all the others, it feemed to have attacked
only the nervous fyflem 3 which perhaps has not the
fame ability to throw off any offending matter as the
vafcular fyftem.
There is, however, a poffibility that the prodigious
affedlions of the nerves may arife only from a vitiated
Hate of the gaftric juices 3 for it is well known, that
the rcoft terrible convulfions, nay the hydrophobia
itfelf, will arife from an affedlion of the flomach, with¬
out any bite of a mad animal. This feems to be
fome what confirmed from one of Dr Wolf’s patients,
who, though he vomited more than 50 times, yet ftill
threw up a frothy matter, which w’as therefore evi¬
dently fecreted into the flomach, jufl as a continual
vomiting of bilious matter {hows a continual and ex¬
traordinary fecretion of bile. Dr Wolf himfelf adopts
this hypothefis fo far as to fay, that perhaps the ferum
may become frothy 3 but in blood drawn from a vein
not the leaf! fault appears either in the ferum or craffa-
mentum. He affirms, however, that the duodenum
appears to be one of the parts firft and principally af-
fedied ; and as it is not inflamed, it would feem that
the affedlion it fuftains muft arife from the vitiated ftate
of its juices.
Ee this as it will, however, in the hydrophobia, the
Vox. XIII. Part II.
CINE.
flomach feems totally, or in a great meafure, to lofe Hydr
the power which at other times it poffeffes. Two
grains of cuprum ammoniacum were repeatedly given
to a child of eight years of age without effeft ; but
this dofe wTould occafion violent vomiting in a ftrong
healthy man. Something or other therefore muff
have prevented this fubftance from adling on the ner¬
vous coat of the ftomach 3 and this wre can only fup-
pofe to have been the exceedingly difordered ftate of
the gaftric juice, which occafioned fuch violent irrita¬
tion through the whole body, that the wreaker ftimulus
of the medicine was entirely loft. It would feem
proper therefore to confider the ftomach in hydro-
phobic cafes as really containing a poifonous matter,
which cculd not be expelled by vomiting, becaufe it
is renewed as faft as evacuated. The indication
therefore muft be, to change its nature by fuch medi¬
cines as are certainly more powerful than the poifon 3
and this indication will naturally lead us to think of
large dofes of alkaline falts. Thefe, it is certain, will
deftroy any animal fubftance with which they come in
contafl, and render even the poifon of ferpents in-
aflive. By exhibiting a few dofes of them, larger
no doubt than what could be fafely done on other oc-
cafions, we wrould be certain to change the ftate of
the ftomachic juices ; and thus might free the patient
from thofe intolerable fpafms which always occafion
death in fuch a fliort time. Dr Wolf feems in¬
clined to think that volatile alkalies were of fer-
vice 3 but the above hypothefis wrould incline us to
ufe rather the fixed kind. At any rate, it feems
vain for phyficians to truft much to the power of
opium, mercury, mulk, or cinnabar, either fingly or
combined in any poffible way. Cinchona has alfo
failed, and the moft celebrated fpecifics have been
found ineffedlual. Alkalies are the next moft powerful
remedies which the materia medica affords, and they
cannot be more unfuccefsful than the others have ge¬
nerally been.
Another remedy which feems adapted to change the
nature of the gaftric juices is ardent fpirits. In one
of Dr Wolf’s patients two bottles of brandy feem to
have effefted a cure. The oil mixed with it was of
no efficacy in other cafes, and the opium and turbith
feem not to have been exhibited till the worft w'as paft.
In this cafe the difeafe feems to have attacked the
vafcular as well as the nervous fyftem.
In all the patients the warm bath feems to have been
a palliative, and a very powerful one, and as fuch it
ought never to be omitted, though we can by no
means truft: to it as a radical cure 3 and the above hi-
ftories abundantly fliow, that though the warm bath
and opium may palliate for a ffiort time, the caufe on
which the fpafms depend is ftill going on and increa-
fing, till at laft the fymptoms become too ftrong to be
palliated even for a moment by any medicine however
powerful. At any rate, the above mentioned hypo¬
thefis fuggefts a new indication, which, if attended to,
may perhaps lead to ufeful difeoveries. In cafes where
putrefeent bile is abundantly fecreted, columbo root
and vegetable acids are recommended to change the
nature of the poifon which the body is perpetually pro¬
ducing in itfelf. Where corrofive mercury has been
fwallowed, alkaline lalt is recommended to deftroy the
poifon which nature cannot expel by vomiting ; and
3 ^ why
410 M E D I
Spafmi. why ftiould not fometlung be attempted to deftroy the
v~'“—' poifon which the itomach feems to fecrete in the hydro¬
phobia, and which nature attempts to expel, though in
vain, by violent eftbrts to vomit ?
But whatever plan may be purfued in the hopes of
curing this dreadful malady after any of the fymptoms
have made their appearance, we ought, in every in-
Itance, to diredt our immediate care to prevention, as
being perhaps the only real ground of hope : And the
moft certain and efficacious way of preventing the ill
confequences, is inftantly (if it can be done) to cut
out the piece that happens to be bitten. Dr James,
indeed, fays, that he would have little opinion of cut¬
ting or cauterizing, if ten minutes were fuffered to
elapfe from the receiving of the bite before the opera¬
tion was performed. But in an inaugural differtation
lately publiflied at Edinburgh by Dr Parry, the author
is of opinion that exciffon will be of ufe a confiderable
time after the bite is received. He adopts this opi¬
nion from what happens in the fmallpox, where the
blood does not feem to receive the infedlion till fome
days after inoculation has been performed. A fecond
inflammation, he tells us, then takes place, and the in-
fedlion is conveyed into the blood. In like man¬
ner, when the hydrophobous infedlion is about to be
conveyed into the blood, according to him, the wmund,
or its cicatrix, begins again to be inflamed •, and it is
this fecond inflammation which does all the mifchief.
Excifion, or the cautery, will therefore be effedlual
any time between the bite and the fecond inflammation
of the wound. Without implicitly trading to this doc¬
trine, however, or confldering it as in any degree afcer-
tained in what manner the poifon diffufes itfelf, by what
marks its progrefs may be known, or how foon the fyf-
tem may be irremediably tainted with its malignity, it
is undoubtedly fafeft not to lofe unneceffarily a mo¬
ment’s time in applying the knife. This, or a dilation
of the wound if it be fmall, Dr Vaughan conflders as
the only prophylaxies that can be depended upon. In
the latter cafe, he direXs to fill the wound with gun¬
powder, and fet fire to it 5 which would produce a la¬
ceration of the part, and poflibly the aXion of ignited
powder upon the poifon may have its ufe. In all cafes,
likewife, after thefe praXices have been employed, the
wound fliould be prevented from healing for fome length
of time.
324 Sp. II. The Spontaneous HYDROPHOBIA.
Hydrophobia fpontanea, Sauv. fp. 2.
This difeafe very much refembles the former, fo that
it has undoubtedly been often miftaken for it. It has
been known to come on from an inflammation of the
ffomach, where it was cured by repeated and large
bloodletting ; in hyfteria, where it was cured by opium,
mulk, or other antifpafmodics ; and in putrid fevers,
where it was cured by evacuating the intellinal canal of
the putrid matters by repeated clyfters. A very good
method of diftinguifliing the two is, that in the fponta-
neous hydrophobia the patient is much more delirious
than in the genuine fpecies. In the inffance mentioned
in the Medical Effays of this fymptom attending the in¬
flammation of the ilomach, the patient raved in the moji
extraordinary manner. Dr Raymond fays he remem¬
bers a.fpoutantous hydrophobia attended with madnefs ;
CINE. Praflice.
and in almoft all the cafes of hydrophobia wmich are Hydrcpho-
faid to have been cured, the patient wTas very delirious. b'a- ,
Dr Nugent’s patient was very frequently delirious, and
dreaded days as well as water. In the Medical Tranf-
aXions a cafe is communicated by W. Wrightfon lur-
geon in Sedgefield, Durham, of canine madnefs fuccefs-.
fully treated. This madnefs indeed came on after the
bite of a dog faid to be mad : but it appeared only four
days after the accident happened, and was attended
with fymptoms very unlike any of thofe above mention¬
ed ; for he fuddenly ftarted up in a fit of delirium, and
ran out of the houfe, and after being brought in, caught
hold of the hot bars of the grate which held the fire :
Whereas, in the true hydrophobia, the patients dread
the fire, light, or any thing which makes a ftrong im-
preflion on the fenfes. It is probable, therefore, that this
was only a fpontaneoushydrophobia, efpecially as it readi
ly yielded to venefeXion, 30 drops of laudanum, and pills
of a grain and an half of opium given every three hours,
fome bolufes-of mulk and cinnabar, &c. while in fome
of the former cafes as much opium was given to a boy
as would have deprived of life the ftrongeft healthy
man had he fwallowed it •, and yet this amazing quanti¬
ty produced fcarcely any effeX. This patient alfo dread¬
ed the fight of a dog.
Order IV. VESANIAi. 325
Paranoise, Vog. Clafs IX.
Deliria, Sauv. Clafs VIII. Ord. III. Sag. Clafs XI. *
Ord. III.
Ideales, Lin. Clafs V. Ord. I.
326
Genus LXV. AMENTIA.
Folly, or Idiotifm,
Amentia, Sauv. gen. 233. Vog. 337. Sag. 346.
Morofis, Lin. 106.
Stupiditas, Morofis, Fatuitas, Vog. 336.
Amnefia, Sauv. gen. 237. Sag. 347.
Oblivio, Lin. 107. Vog. 338.
Memorise debilitas, Junck. 120.
Genus LXVI. MELANCHOLIA. 327
Melancholy Madnefs.
Melancholia, Sauv. gen. 234. Lin. 71. Vog. 332.
Sag. 347. Boerh. 1089. Junck. 121.
Dsemonomania, Sauv. gen. 236. Sag. 34^-
Dsemonia, I^,in. 69.
Vefania, Lin. 70.
Paraphobia, Lin. 75.
Athymia, Vog. 329.
Delirium melancholicum, Hojfm. III. 251.
Erotomania, Lin. 82. •
Noftalgia, Sauv. gen. 226. Lin. 83. Sag. 338.
Junck. 125.
Melancholia nervea, CL Lorry de melancholia, P. I.
Genus LXVII. MANIA. 328
Raving or Furious Madnefs.
Mania, Sauv. gen. 235. Lin. 68. Vog. 331. Sag.
349. Boerh. 1118. Junck. 122. Battie on
Madnefs.
Paraphrofyne, Lin. 66.
Amentia^
Practice. M EDI
Vefaniae. Amentia, Litl. 67.
Delirium maniacum, Hojf'm. \\\. 2$l.
Although thefe diflempers may be confidered as
diftinft genera, yet they are fo nearly allied, and.fo
readily change into each other, that it iulFiciently ju-
ftifies the treating all of them together.
The diftinguilhing charafleriftic of madnefs, accord¬
ing to Dr Battie, is * falfe perception ; and under this
general chara&er may be comprehended all kinds ol
what is called madnefs^ from the moll filly ftupidity and
idiot!fm to the mod furious lunacy. Frequently the
different kinds of madnefs are changed into each other
by the cafual excitement of fome paflion: thus,^ an
idiot may become furioully mad, by being put in a
violent paflion •, though this does not fo often happen
as the change of melancholy into the raving madnels,
and vice verfa. _
It is a very furprifing circumflance, that mad peo¬
ple are not only lefs liable to be feized with infe&ious
diforders than thofe who are in perfeft health; but
even when labouring under other difeafes, if the pa¬
tients chance to be feized with madnefs, they are fome-
times freed from their former complaints. Of this kind
Dr Mead relates two very remarkable inftances.
On the other hand, it has been known, that an in¬
termittent fever, fupervening upon madnefs of long
flandino- has proved a cure for the madnefs; the ien.es
having Returned when the fever terminated. Dr Monro
faw two inflances of this himfelf; and mentions it as
an obfervation made alfo by his predeceffor in the care
of Bethlehem hofpital. . . ,
Another remarkable circumflance is, that immode¬
rate ioy, long continued, as effedlually diforders the
mind as anxiety and grief. For it was obferyable m
rhe famous South Sea year, when fo many immenfe
fortunes were fuddenly gained, and as fuddenly loft,
that more people had their heads turned,^ from the pro¬
digious flow of unexpected riches, than from the entire
lois of their whole fubflance.
Mad people, efpecially of the melancholic kind, fome-
times obflinately perfevere in doing things which mult
excite great pain ; whence it fhould feem as if their
minds were troubled with fome diftraamg notions,
which make them patiently bear the prefent dill re is,
left more fevere tortures Ihould be inflifted ; or P°dm y
they may think, that, by thus tormenting the body,
they render themfelves more acceptable to the divine
Being, and expiate the heinous fins of which they may
imagine themfelves to have been guilty.
I?, is, however, alfo highly probable, that their feel¬
ings differ exceedingly from what they are in a natural
date ; at leaf! they are every day obferved to endure,
apparently without the fmalleft uneafinefs, watching,
hunger, and cold, to an extent which m a ftate o
health would not only be highly diftreffing, but to the
greater part of individuals would even prove fatal.
And this refiflance of hunger, cold, and fleep, affords
perhaps the bed ted for didinguifh.ng cafes of real
infanity, from cafes where the difeafe is only feigned,
and appearances of it put on, to anfwer particular pur-
pofes; at lead where this power of refiflance is pre-
fent, we have good reafon to conclude that the affec¬
tion is not feigned. . ...
Cure. Although we be well acquainted with many
CINE.
of the remote caufes of this difeafe, iome of tne princi¬
pal of which have already been mentioned, yet we
are dill fo ignorant of the influence of thefe upon the
fyftem, as giving a derangement of the mental facul¬
ties, that no general principles on which tjae cure
may be conduded, can with any confidence be point¬
ed out. _ r
It may, however, be obferved, that while fome reme¬
dies feem to operate by producing an artificial termi¬
nation of this complaint, many others have effed only
as aiding a natural termination. And wiiere a re-
covery Irom this difeafe does take place, it mofl fre-
quently happens in confequence of a natural conva-
lefcence. All the fpecies and degrees of madneis
which are hereditary, or that grow up with people from
their early youth, are out of the power of phy ic ;
and fo, for the molt part, are all maniacal cales ot
more than one year’s danding, from whatever fource
they mav arife. Very often mere debility, the dregs of
fome particular difeafe, fuch as an ague, the fmall-pox
or a nervous fever, fliall occafion different degrees ot
foolidmefs or madnefs. In thefe cafes, the cure mud
not be attempted by evacuations; but, on the con¬
trary, by nourifhing diet, clear air, moderate exerene,
and the ufe of wine : whereas, in almofl all the other
maniacal cafes, which arife from different fources, and
which come on in confequence of intemperate living,
violent paflions, or intenfe thinking, it is generally
held, that evacuations of every kind are neceffary, un-
lefs the conditution of the patient be fuch as abfolute-
ly forbids them. . _ ,
Blood is mod conveniently drawn either from the
arm or jugulars ; and if the weaknefs be fuch as ren¬
ders it improper to take away much blood, we may ap¬
ply cupping glaffes to the occiput. .
Vomiting, in weakly people, mud be excited by the
vinum ipecacuanhse ; but in the more robud by emetic
tartar or antimonial wine: the mofl efficacious ca¬
thartics are the infufion or timdure of black hellebore,
or infufion of fenna quickened with tinfture of jalap ;
but if there be fuppreflion of the menles, or of an habitual
haemorrhoidal difeharge, then aloetic purges will be more
proper ; and in fome inflances cooling faline purgatives,
fuch as lixiviated tartar, are of great fervice. In ge¬
neral, mad people require very large dofes, both of
the emetics and cathartics, before any confiderable ope¬
ration enfues.
Dr Monro affures us, that the evacuation by vomit¬
ing is infinitely preferable to any other: the prodigi¬
ous quantity of phlegm with which the patients la
this difeafe abound, he fays, is not to be overcome but
by repeated emetics; and he obferves, that the purges
have not their right effea, or do not operate to fo good
purpofe, until the phlegm be broken and attenuated
by frequent emetics. He mentions the cafe of a gentle¬
man who had laboured under a melancholy for three
years, from which he was relieved entirely by the ufe
of vomits and a proper regimen. Increafing the dif¬
eharge by urine, is alfo of the greated moment, elpe-
cially when any degree of fever is prefent. The cuta¬
neous difeharges are alfo to be promoted ; for which
purpofe the hot bath is of the highed fervice in mania¬
cal cafes. Hoffman afferts, that he has feen numerous
indances, both of inveterate melancholy and raging
madnefs happilv cured by means of warm bathing ;
.. 3 F 2 bleeding
4'2 M E D I
bleeding and nitrous medicines having been premifed.
Camphor has alfo been highly commended ; but, if we
can believe Dr Locker of Vienna, not very defervedly.
Having found very good effeas from a folution of this
medicine in vinegar, he took it for granted that all the
fuccefs was owing to the camphor 5 therefore, in order
to give it a fair trial, lie feleaed feven patients, and
gave it in large dofes of half a dram twice a-day.
Ihis was continued for two months, and the doaor
was furprifed to find that only one of his patients re¬
ceived any benefit. He then returned the other fix
bacrv to the camphoiated julep made with vinegar, and
m a few weeks four of them recovered the ufe of their
reafon. This inclined him to think that the virtue de¬
pended folely on the vinegar, and accordingly he began
to make the trial. Common vinegar was firff given :
but after a little while he fixed on that which had been
diililled, and gave about an ounce and a half of it every
day j the patients having been previoufiy prepared by
bleeding and purging, which was repeated according
as it was found neceflary. He gives a lift of eight pa¬
tients who were cured by this method ; feme in fix
Vveeks, otners in two months, and none of them took
up more than three months in perfe&ing the cure. He
does not indeed give the ages of the patients, nor men¬
tion the circumftances of the cafes ; he only mentions
the day on which the ufe of the vinegar was begun
«nd the day on which they were difeharged ; and he
adds, that they all continued well at the time of his
writing.
Dr Locker informs us, that this medicine a&s chiefly
as a fudonfic ; and he obferved, that the moie the pa¬
tients fweated, the fooner they were cured : it was alio
found to promote the menftrual difeharge in fuch as
had been obArufted, or had too little of this falutary
evacuation.
Both reafon and experience fhow the neceflity of
confining fuch as are deprived of their fenfes; and no
imall fhare of the management confifts in preventing them
from hurting either themfelves or others. It has fome-
times been ufual to chain and to beat them : but this is
both cruel and abfurd ; fince the contrivance called the
Jlrait wai/lcoat anfwers every purpofe of reftraining the
patients without hurting them.
Thefe waiftcoats are made of ticken, or fome ^ch
ftrong fluff; are open at the back, and laced on like
a pair of flays ; the fleeves are made tight, and long
enough to cover the ends of the fingers, where they
are drawn clofe with a firing like a purfe mouth,
by which contrivance the patient has no power of his’
fingers ; and when laid on his back in bed, and the
arms brought acrofs the cheft, and faflened in that pofi-
tion by tying the fleeve-ftrings round the waift, he has
no ufe of his hands. A broad ftrap of girth-web is then
earned acrols the breaft, and faftened to the bedftead,
by which means the patient is confined on his back •
ana if he fhouid be fo outrageous as to require further
reftraint, the legs are fecured by ligatures to the foot
ot the bed ; or they may be fecured by being both
put into one bag not very wide, which may be more
eafily fixed than the feet themfelves, at leaf! without
giving pain.
It is of great ufe in praftice to bear in mind, that
all mad people are cowardly, and can be awed even by
the menacing look of a very espreflive countenance ;
^ 1 ^ Praaice.
and when thofe who have charge of them once imprefs Mania.
them with the notion of fear, they eafily fubrait to any    
tmng that is required. The phyfician, however,
fhouid never deceive them in any thing, but more efpe-
cially with regard to their diflemper : for as they are
generally confcious of it themfelves, they acquire a
kind of reverence for thofe who know it 5 and by
letting them fee that he is thoroughly acquainted with
their complaint, he may very often gain fuch an afeen-
dant over them that they will readily follow his direc¬
tions.
It is a more difficult matter to manage thofe whofe
madnefs is accompanied either with excefiive ioy or
with great dejedion and deipondency, than" thofe
who are agitated with rage : and all that can be done
is to endeavour to excite contrary ideas, by repreffimo-
the immoderate fits of laughter in the one kind bv chi-
cmg or threatening (taking care, however, not"abfo-
iutely to terrify them, which can never be done without
danger, and has often added to the mifery of the un-
lappyfuiierer) j and difpelling the gloomy thoughts in
the otner, by introducing pleafing concerts of mafic,
or any other fpecies of entertainment which the pa¬
tients have been known to delight in while they had the
ufe of their reafon. Upon the whole, in the cure of
in fanny, more is perhaps to be effeded by moral than
by medical treatment. And this moral treatment fhould
be as gentle as is confiftent with fafety. Chains, bolts
and feverity of every kind are to be avoided as’ much
as poflible. But while great benefit is often derived
from company and amufement, fo alfo on the other
hand, fohtary confinement is in not a few cafes produc¬
tive of the beft effeds.
I hough blitfering the head has generally been
directed, Dr Mead faj/s he has oftener found it to do
harm than fervice : but he recommends iffues in the
oack ; and advifes to keep the head always clofe
fhaved, and to wafh it from time to'time with warm
vinegar. Opium has by many been forbidden in ma¬
niacal cafes, from a fuppofition that it always increafes
the difturbance but there are inftances Where lar^e
dofes of this medicine have been found to prove a curl',
and perhaps if it were tried oftener we fhouid find
powerful effeds from it : there certainly cannot much
harm enfue from a few dofes, which may be immedi¬
ately difufed it they fhouid be found to exafperate the
difeafe.
. The diet of maniacal patients ought to be perfedly
light and thin : their meals fhouid be moderate 5 but
they fhouid never be fuffered to live too low, efpecially
while they are under a courfe of phyfic : they fhouid
be obliged to obferve great regularity in their hours :
even their amufements fhouid be fuch as are beft fuited
to their difpofition. After the difeafe appears to be
fubdued, chalybeate waters and the cold bath will be
highly proper to ftrengthen their whole frame and fe-
cure them againft a relaple.
Genus LXVIII. ONEIRODYNIA.
3
Uneasiness in Sleep.
Somnium, Fog. 339.
Somnambulifmus, Sauv. gen. 221. Lin. 7-7. Sag
333-
Hypnobatafis, Vog. 340.
Nodambulatio,
Practice. M E D I
Marc ores. Noflatnbulatlo, Junck. 124.
U“" v~ ' Ephialtes, Sauv. gen. 138. Lin. 163. Sag. 245.
Incubus, Vog. 221. Junck. 50.
The greateft uneafinefs which people feel in ileep is
that commonly called the incubus or night-mare. Thofe
feized with it feem to have a weight on their breads
and about their prmcordia. Sometimes they imagine
they fee fpe&res of various kinds which opprefs or
threaten them with fuffocatipn. Neither does this
uneafinefs continue only while they are afleep •, for it
is feme time after they awake before they can turn
themfelves in their beds or fpeak 5 nay, fometimes,
though rarely, the diftemper has proved mortal.—The
incubus rarely feizes people except when the ftomach
is oppreffed with aliments of hard digedion, and the
patient lies on his back. It is to be cured by eating
light fuppers, and railing the head high j or, if it be¬
come very troublefcme, antifpafmodic medicines are to
be adminiftered, and the body ftrengthened by chaly-
beates. The fame method is to be followed by thole
who are fubjedl to walking in their deep ; a praPlice
which mult neceffarily be attended with the greatelt
danger : and femnambulifm may jultly be conlidered
as merely a different modification of this difeafe. Ac¬
cordingly Dr Cullen has diftinguilhed the one by the
title of oneirodynia affiva, and the other by that of
oneirodynia gravaus.
330 Class III. CACHEXLZE.
Cachexice, Sauv. Clafs X. and Clafs VIII. Sag.
Clafs III.
Deformes, Lin. Clafs. X.
Order I. MARCORES.
CINE. 413
whole body grows languid, and wades by degrees.— ^^Pn‘a~,
Dr Cullen, however, afferts, that iome degree of fe¬
ver, or at lead of increafed quicknefs of the pulfe, al¬
ways attends this difeafe.
Caufes. Sometimes this diftemper will come on
wdthout any evident caufe. Sometimes it will arife
from pnftions of the mind ; from an abufe of fpiri-
tuous liquors ; from exceffive evacuations, efpecially
of the femen, in which cafe the diftemper has got
the name of tabes dorfalis. It may arife from mere old
age, or from famine.
Prognojis. This diftemper, from whatever caufe it
may *rife, is very difficult to cure, and often termi¬
nates in a fatal dropfy.
Cure. The general principles on which the treat¬
ment of this difeafe is to be regulated, very much de¬
pend on the caufe by which it is induced j and it is
unneceffary to add, that this muft be removed as far as
poffible. Next to this, the dileafe is moft effedfually
combated by the introduftion of nutritious aliment in¬
to the fyftcm, and by obtaining the proper affimila-
tion and digeftion of this. With the firft of thefe in¬
tentions, recoutfe mull be had to the diet wdfich is moft
nutritious, and at the fame time of eafieft digeftion.
But from the condition of the ftomach commonly at¬
tending this difeafe, it is neceflary that fmali quantities
only ftiould be taken at a time, and that it fhould be
frequently repeated. With the fecond intention, fto-
machic and nervous medicines are the articles chiefly
at leaft to be depended upon in this cafe. Ihe Peru¬
vian bark, fulphuric acid, and chalybeates, are excel¬
lent ; and thefe fliould be conjoined with gentle exer-
cife, as far as the flrength and other circumftances ot
the patient will admit. In that fpecies of the diftemper
occafioned by venereal exceffes, it is fo effentially necel-
fary to abftain from them, that without it the beft re¬
medies will prove altogether ufelefs.
Macies, Sauv. Clafs X. Order I. Sag. Clafs III.
Order I.
Emaciantes, Lin. Clafs X. Order I.
Genus LXIX. TABES.
Wasting of the Body.
Tabes, Sauv. gen. 275. Lin. 209. Vog. 306. Sag'
ICO.
This diforder is occafioned by the abforption of pus
from feme ulcer, external or internal, which produces
an hetflic fever. The primary indication therefore muft
be to heal the ulcer, and thus take away the caufe of
the difeafe. If the ulcer cannot be healed, the patient
vTi certainly die in an emaciated ftate. But the pro¬
per treatment of the tabes proceeding from this caufe,
falls to be confidered under the head of Ulcer in Sur¬
gery, and likewife under the genera Siphylis, Scro¬
fula, Scoreutics, &c. difeafes in which ulcers are
at leaft a very common fymptom.
Genus LXX. ATROPHIA.
Nervous Consumption.
Defcription. This affbaion confifts principally in a
ifting of the body, without any remarkable fever
ugh, or difficulty of breathing but attended with
mt of appetite and a bad digeftion, whence the
Order II. INTUMESCENTIAL
Intumefcentite, Sauv. Clafs X. Ord. II. Sag. Clafs
III. Ord. II.
Tumidofi, Lin. Clafs X. Ord. II.
Genus LXXI. POLYSARCIA.
Corpulency.
335
Polyfarcia, Sauv. gen. 279. Lm. 213. Vog. 540.
Sag. 160. Steatites, Vog. 390.
In a natural and healthy ftate, the fat, or animal oil,
is not allowed to diffufe itfelf throughout the cellular
interftices at large, but is confined to the places where
fuch an oily fluid is neceffary, by a particular apparatus
of diftincl veficles. But in fome conftitutions the oily
part of the blood appears to exceed the requifite pro¬
portion, and eafily feparates from the other conftituent
parts j or there is an uncommon tendency to the fepa-
ration of oily matter. In thefe cafes it is apt to accu¬
mulate in fuch quantities, that we may fuppofe it to
burft thofe veficles which were originally deftined to
hinder it from fpreading too far; or almoft every cell
of the membrana adipofa, many of which are in ordi¬
nary cafes altogether empty, may be completely filled
and diftended with fat.
The increafe of the omentum particularly, and the
accumulation
4 > 4 M E D I
Intumef- accumulation bf fat about the kidneys and mefentery*
^well the abdomen, and obftruft the motions of the
diaphragm j whence one reafon of the difficulty of
breathing which is peculiar to corpulent people ; while
the heart, and the large vefiels conne&ed with it, are
in like manner fo encumbered, that neither the fyfhl-
tic nor fubfultory motion Can be performed with fuf-
ficient freedom, whence weaknefs and flownefs of the
pulle : but when the whole habit is in a manner
overwhelmed with an oily fluid, the enlargement of the
cellular interftices will neceffarily interrupt the general
diftribution and circulation throughout the nervous
and vascular fyftems 5 impeding the adlion of the muf-
cular fibres, and producing intenfibility, fomnolency,
and death.
Thefe cafes are the more deplorable, as there is but
little profped! of a cure. For the animal oil is of too
grofs a nature to be eafily taken up by abforption 5
and we know, that when fluids are accumulated in the
cellular fyftem, there are only two ways in which they
can be carried off or efcape ; namely, by the abfor-
bents, which take their rife from the cellular inter¬
ftices, and through the pores of the Ikin by tranfuda-
tion.
Another misfortune is, that the difeafe fteals on fo
imperceptibly, that it becomes inveterate before people
begin to think of purfuing the proper means of relief.
In this difeafe the cure mull turn upon two points :
lirft, on preventing, the farther depofition of fat, by
avoiding the introdu61ion of fuperfluous aliment, par¬
ticularly of fatty matters* into the fyftem j and, fe-
condly, on promoting and forwarding the abforption
of fat. On thefe grounds, befides what may be done
by proper regimen, a variety of articles have been re¬
commended in the way of medicine.
Soap has been propofed as a remedy to melt down
and facilitate the abforption of the fat in corpulent
people $ and Dr Fleming fome years ago publiffied a
little treatife, wherein he recommends this medicine,
and relates the cafe of a gentleman who is faid to have
received confiderable benefit from it. But perhaps the
foap-leys would be more powerful, and might be more
eafily taken fheathed, in the manner dire&ed when ufed
as a diffolvent of the ftone.
Lieutaud advifes to take acetum fcilliticum m fmall
dofes, with frequent purging and brifk exercife. But
it will feldom happen that the patients will be found
Efficiently fteady to perfift in any of thefe courfes, it
being the nature of the diforder to render them irrefo-
lute and inattentive to their condition. Therefore the
principal ufe of rules muft be with a view to preven¬
tion 5 and perfons who are difpofed to corpulency ffiould
take care in time to prevent it from becoming an ab-
folute difeafe, by ufing a great deal of exercife, not
indulging in fleep, and abridging their meals, efpecially
that of fupper. Salted meats are lefs fattening than
luch as are freffi j and drinking freely of coffee is re¬
commended to corpulent people.
But Dr Fothergill obferves, that’a ftrift adherence
to vegetable diet reduces exuberant fat more certainly
than any other means that he knows j and gives two
ca es in which this regimen fucceeded remarkably well.
I he famous Dr Cheyne brought himfelf down in this
way, from a moft unwieldy bulk to a reafonable de¬
gree of weight j as he hmafelf informs us. It deferves,
4
CINE.
Prad
ice.
howrever, to be remarked, that every pra£lice for the
removal or prevention of fatnefs muft be ufed with
great caution and prudence: for not a few, anxious
to prevent this affedtion, have had recourfe to a regi¬
men and to medicine which have proved fatal. This
has particularly arifen from the exceffive ufe of acids,
probably operating by entirely deftroying the adfion of
the chylopoietic vifeera.
Pneuma-
tofi?.
Genus LXXII. PNEUMATOSIS.
Emphysema, or Windy Swelling.
Pneumatofis, Sauv. gen. 280. Vog. 391. Sag. 107.
Emphyfenta, Sauv. gen. 13. Lin. 288. Vog. 392.
Leucophlegmatia, Lin. 214.
The emphyfema fometimes comes on fpontaneoufly J
but more frequently is occafioned by wounds of the
lungs, which, giving vent to the air, that fluid infi-
nuates itfelf into the cellular texture, and often blows
it up to a furprifing degree. It muft be obferved,
however, that it is only in cafes of laceration of the
lungs where this difeafe can take place ; for in a
Ample wound, the effufion of blood always prevents
the air from getting out. The cure is to be ac-
complilhed by fcarifications and compreffes ; but in
fome cafes only by the pafacentefis of the thorax.
When air introduced from the lungs is colledled in a
confiderable quantity in the cavity of the thorax, the
operation of the paracentelis is perhaps the only means
of cure. Upon an opening being thus made, the air
fometimes ruffieS out with incredible violence ; and
the patient receives at leaft immediate relief from cir-
cumtlances the moft diftreffing imaginable. In fome
inftances it is followed even by a complete cure.
Genus LXX1II. TYMPANITES.
Tympany.
Tympanites, Sauv. gen. 291. Lin. 219. Vog. 316.
Sag. 118. Boerh. 226. Jimck. 87.
AffedHo tympanitica, III. 339.
Meteor!fmus, Sauv. gen. 292.
This in an inflation of the abdomen, and is of ttvo
kinds : 1. That in which the flatus is contained in the
inteftines, in which the patient has frequent explo-
fions of wind, with a fwelling of the belly commonly
unequal. 2. When the flatus is contained in the ca¬
vity of the abdomen ; in which ca(e the fwelling is
more equal, and the belly founds when ftruck, without
any confiderable emiffion of flatus. Of thefe tw7o,
however, the former difeafe is by much the moft com¬
mon ; infomuch, that many, even extenfively engaged
in pra&ice, have never met with an inftance of true
abdominal tympanites. In both cafes the reft of the
body falls away.
Caufes, &c. The tympany fometimes takes place
in thofe who have been long troubled with flatulencies
in the ftomach and inteftines. It happens frequently
to women after abortion ; to both fexes after the fup-
preffion of the haemorrhoids 5 and fometimes from te¬
dious febrile diforders injudicioufly treated.
Prognojis. This difeafe is generally very obftinate,
and for the moft part proves fatal by degenerating in¬
to
Practice. MED!
Intumef- to an afckes. Sometimes, if the patient be healthy
, ceiltia;‘ and itrong, the difeafe may terminate favourably, and
that the more readily if it has followed from fome dif-
order. A hedtic confumption, dry cough, and ema¬
ciated countenance in a tympany, with a fwelling of
the feet, denote approaching death in a very Ihort time.
Cure. With a view to the prevention of this af-
fedlion, it is necelfary, in the firft place, to avoid, as
* far as it can be done, caufes giving rife to an uncom¬
mon extrication of air, by preferving the proper tone
of the alimentary canal. After the affe&ion has taken
place, the indications are, firtl, to expel the air al¬
ready extricated and confined in different cavities;
and, fecondly, to prevent Further accumulation. On
thefe grounds different remedies are employed. The
cure, however, is principally attempted by carmina¬
tive, refolvent, and ftomachic medicines, gentle laxa¬
tives, and at lalf tonics, efpecially chalybeates. In
the Edinburgh Medical Eflays, vol. i. we have a very
remarkable hiftory of a tympany by Dr Monro fenior.
The patient was a young woman of 22 years of age,
who fell into the diftemper after a tertian ague, in
which fire was badly treated. She became a patient
in the Edinburgh Infirmary the 24th of March 1730 ;
took feveral purgatives, and fome dofes of calomel j
ufed the warm bath •, and had an antihyfteric plafter
applied over the whole belly, but with very little effeft.
She was monilroufly diflended, infomuch that the fkin
feemed to be in danger of burfting : her breathing was
much ftraitened 5 but the fwelling fometimes gradually
decreafed without any evacuation. The returns and
degree of this fwelling were very uncertain ; and when
the belly w'as mod detumefied, feveral unequal and pro¬
tuberant balls could be felt over the whole abdomen,
but efpecially at its fides. Her flomach was good, fhe
had no third, and her urine w7as in proportion to the
quantity die drank. She was very codive, had her
menfes at irregular periods, but no oedematous fwell-
ings appeared in the feet or any where elfe. In this
fituation die continued from the time of her admidion
till the 21 d of June, during which interval die had
only mendruated twice. Throughout this fpace of time,
the following circumdances were obferved, 1. Several
times, upon the falling of the (welling, die complained
of a headach ; once of pains throughout all her body,
once of a giddinefs, twice of a naufea and vomiting,
and the lad time threw up green bile ; and once her
ftomach fwelled greatly, whild the red of the abdomen
fubfided. 2. During the dowing of the menfes die did
not fwell, but became very big upon their dopping.
3. Blood-letting and emetics, which were made ufe of
for fome accidental urgent fymptoms, had no very fen-
fible efteft in making the tympany either better or
worfe. 4. She never had paffage of wind either w'ay,
except a little belching fome days before the month¬
ly evacuation.
Some time before the lad eruption of the menfes,
the purgatives w’ere given more fparingly 5 and anti-
hyderics of the dronged kinds, fuch as afafcetida,
oleum corn. cerv. &.c. mixed w'ith foap, were given in
large dofes, accompanied with the hotter mitifcorbutjcs
as they are called, as horferadidi and ginger-root in-
fufed in drong-ale with deel. The patient was order¬
ed to ufe frequent and drong fxidlions to all the trunk
of her body and extremities, and to ufe moderate exer-
C I N E.
4i5
cife. Immediately before the menfes began to dow, Phyfoirtc-
clyders of the fame kind of medicines were injedled., tra'
The menfes were in fudicient quantity ■, but as loon as
they ceafed, her belly increafed in its circumference
four inches and a half, but foon fubfided. She then
complained of pains, which a gentle fwTeat carried off,
Borborygmi were for the fird time obferved on the fame
day, June 25th ; and having taken fome tinSiura facra
at night, die paffed a fmall quantity of blood next day
by dool. This was the fird appearance of the return
of the haemorrhoids, to which fhe had been formerly
fubjeft.
The twTo following days her faponaceous, antihy-
deric, and antifcorbutic medicines being dill conti¬
nued, die had fuch explofions of wand upwards and
downwards, that none of the other patients w7ould re¬
main in the fame room, nay fcarce on the fame door
with her. Her belly became lefs and fofter than it
had been from the fird attack of the difeafe $ her me¬
dicines, with a dofe of fyrup of buckthorn at proper
intervals, dill were continued, only the proportion of
deel was increafed j her datulent difeharge went on
fuccefsfully, and die gradually recovered her former
health.
Genus LXXIV. PHYSOMETRA. 33S
Windy Swelling of the Uterus.
Phyfometra, gen. 290. Sag. 119.
Hylterophyfe, Vog. 317.
The treatment of this is not different from that of
the tympany. It is however, upon the whole, a very
rare difeafe j and when it takes place, very feldom if
ever admits of a cure.
Genus LXXV. AN AS ARC ik.
Watery Swelling over the Whole Body.
Anafarca, Sauv. gen. 281. Ltn. 215. 313*
Sag. 108. Boer/i. 1225. Hoffm. III. 322. Junck.
87. Monro on the Dropl’y. Millman Auimad-
verfiones de hydrope 1779.
Phlegmatia, Sauv. gen. 282.
Angina aquofa, Boerh. 791.
In this difeafe the feet fird begin to fwell, efpe¬
cially in the evening, after exercife, and when the pa¬
tient has dood or fat long ; this fwelling rifes fre¬
quently to the thighs. By lying in bed, the fwelling
becomes lefs, or even almod difappears. In the pro-
grefs of the difeafe, the fwelling often rifes to the hips,
loins, and belly, and at lad covers the whole body.
This difeafe, befides the other fymptoms afterwards
mentioned under Ascites, is attended with a remark¬
able difficulty of breathing. In the cure of this, as
well as other fpecies of dropfy, the general intentions
are, fird, the evacuation of the water already effufed
either by natural or artificial outlets; and, fecondly,
the prevention of freffi accumulation, which is chiefly
to be expefted from fupporting a due aftion of the ab-
forbents, and from keeping up a proper difeharge by
the ferous excretories.
The remedies employed with thefe intentions arc
much the fame with what are employed againd the
more
416 MED!
fntumef- more important genus of afcites. Only it may be
, centiae- here noticed, that in anafarca it has by many been re-
”commended to fcarify the feet and legs. By this means
the ■water is often difcharged : but the operator muft be
cautious not to make the incifions too deep •, they ought
barely to penetrate through the ikin •, and efpecial care
muft be taken, by fpirituous fomentations and proper
digellives, to prevent a gangrene. Dr Fothergiil ob-
ferves, that the fafeft and moft efficacious way of
making thefe drains is by the inftrument ufed for cup¬
ping, called a fcarijicator; and he always orders it to
be fo applied as to make the little wounds tranfverfely ;
as they not only difeharge better, but are alio longer in
healing, than when made longitudinally.
Notwithftanding every precaution, however, gan¬
grene will often enfue j and it is upon the whole a
much fafer praiftice to evacuate the water by the na¬
tural outlets, the valvular lymphatic abforbents ; and
with this intention emetics and cathartics, but particu¬
larly diuretics, are often employed with fuccefs.
340 Genus LXXVI. HYDROCEPHALUS.
Water in the Head.
External or Chronic Hydrocephalus.
Hydrocephalus, Sauv. gen. 285. Lin. 216. Boerh.
1217.
Hydrocephalum, Vog. 384.
This differs from the hydrocephalus formerly treat¬
ed of at fome length under the title of Apoplexia Hy-
drocephalica, chiefly in the water being colledled in
the external parts of the head, whereas the former is
entirely within the fkull. In the fifth volume of the
Medical Obfervations we have an account of a very ex¬
traordinary cafe of this kind. Tne patient was a child
only of a few days old, and had a tumor on his head
about the fize of a common tea-cup, which had the
appearance of a bladder diftended with w7ater 5 near
the apex was a fmall opening, through which a bloody
ferum was difcharged. In other refpe&s the child was
healthy. No application was ufed but a piece of linen
dipt in brandy. The tumor continued to increafe
for many months j at the end of which time the mem¬
brane containing the water appeared equally thick with
the other part of the fcalp, except at one place about
the fize of a flailing, which continued thin, and at
times appeared as if it would burft. He remained
in this fituation for about 17 months, when the cir¬
cumference of the head was 20 inches, the bafe i64-,
the middle x8|, and from the bafe to the apex near Hj.
The water was then drawn off, and the child died in
two days. Almoft all other cafes of this diftemper
have proved fatal 5 the futures of the Ikull generally
give way, and the whole external part of the head is
equally enlarged : but in the inftance juft now given
there was a deficiency of part of the bones. Although,
however, in fome inftances where the head is thus en¬
larged £to an enormous fize, the water is exterior to
the brain, and therefore entitled to the appellation of
hydrocephalus exterior, yet much more licquently m
thofe inftances where there is a manifeft feparation of
the bones of the cranium at the futures, the water is
ftill contained within the ventricles; and accordingly
the difeafe may be much more properly diftinguifhed
2
CINE. FraCticc.
into the acute and chronic hydrocephalus, than as is Hydrora-
commonly done into the internal and external, Al- , .
though the latter be much flower in its progrefs, fome-
times fubfifting even for years, yet it is equally difficult
of cure with the former, and very often it proves fatal
in a few days if the water be drawn off by an artificial
opening, which may be very eafily performed by a
mere pundture with a common lancet, without either
pain or any immediate hazard from the operation it-
felf, although the water be lodged in the ventricles;
for thefe are diftended to an enormous fize, and the
fubftance of the brain almoft totally deftroyed, fo that
hardly any thing is to be punctured but membrane.
Genus LXXVII. HYDRORACHITIS. 341
‘LSpina Bifida.
Hydrorachitis, Sauv. gen. 287. Morgagn, de fed.
XII. 9. etfeq.
Spinola, Lin. 289.
• Spina bifida, Vog. 386.
This difeafe, which confiffs in a foft tumor on tl e
lumbar vertebrae, attended with a feparatien of the
vertebrae themfelves, though generally confidered as
approaching to the nature of rachitis, is commonly re¬
ferred to the article Surgery, which may be confulted
with regard to this affedtion.
Genus LXXVIII. HYDROTHORAX. 34;
Dropsy of the Breast.
Hydrothorax, JSauv. gen. 150. Vog. 311. Boerh.
1 219.
This affedlion, particularly with refpedt to its caufes,
is in many circumftances fimilar to other kinds of
dropfy, particularly to afcites. But from the fituaticn
of the water, which is here depofited in the cavity
of the thorax, it may naturally be fuppofed that fome
peculiar fymptoms wdll occur. Befides the common
fymptoms of dropfy, palenefs of the countenance,
Icarcity of urine, and the like, this difeafe is, in fome
inftances, attended with a fludluation of water within
the breaft ; which when it does occur may be conii-
dered as a certain diffinguilhing mark of this affedlion.
But befides this, it is alfo diftinguilhed by the remark¬
able affedlions of circulation and refpiratiou with which
it is attended.
The breathing is peculiarly difficult, efpecially in a
recumbent pofture ; and in many inftances patients
cannot breath with tolerable eafe, unlefs when fitting
eredl, or even Hooping fomewhat forwmrds. Ihe
pulfe is very irregular, and has often remarkable inter-
miffions. But the difeafe has been thought to be prin¬
cipally charadlerized by a fudden ftarting from Deep, in
confequence of an almoft inexpreftible uneafy fenfation
referred to the breaft, and attended with ftrong palpi¬
tation, which may probably arife from an affedlion
either of circulation or of refpiration.
That thefe fymptoms are common attendants of this
difeafe, is undeniable ; and they are certainly the belt
charadleriftics of this affedlion with which we are yet
acquainted : but it muft be allowed that they are pre-
fent in fome cafes where there is no water in the breaft;
and
Practice. M E ^ ^
Intupef- and that in other alliances where the difeafe exhls,
centias. t]-,ey are either altogether wanting, or occur only to a
v very ilight degree. Certain diagnoses, therefore, of
this difeafe flill remain to he difeovered.
When hydrothorax is prefent, from the affeftion of
the vital fundlions with which it is attended, it may
readily be concluded that it is a dangerous difeafe,
and in manv in fiances it proves fatal, i he cure, as far
as it can be acccmplifhed, is obtained very much on
the fame principles as in other dropfies. Here, how¬
ever, probably from the uncertainty of the diagnofUcs,
the artificial abiira£fion of water, by paracentelis of
the thorax, is lefs frequently had recourfe to than m
afeites •, though in fome inltances, after other means
have failed, it has been faid not only to give relief of
fymptoms highly urgent, particularly dyfpncea, but
even to produce a complete cure. Benefit is often ob¬
tained from an artificial difeharge of water by the ap¬
plication of blifters to the bread : but in this, as well
as other dropiies, a difeharge is chiefly efftaed by the
natural cutlets, particularly from the ufe of cathartics
and diuretics. In this fpecies of dvopfy, more perhaps
than in any other, recourfe has been had to the ufe oi
the digitalis purpurea, or foxglove, lb ftrongly recom¬
mended as a diuretic by Dr Withering in his treatne
refpeaing the ufe of it. There can be no doubt that
this article, though fometimes produdive of inconveni¬
ence from the diftreffing ficknefs and fevere vomiting
which it not unfrequently excites, though ufed even but
in fmall dofes, often operates as a powerful diuretic,
and produces a complete evacuation of water, alter
other articles have failed. From the eftbas mentioned
above, however, as well as from its influence on the
pulfe, which it renders much flower, it is neceflary that
it fliould be employed with great caution, and m ;mall
dofes. A dram of the dried leaves of me digitalis,
macerated for four hours in half a pint or ^arm
water, forms an infulion which may be given in do es
of an ounce, and the dried powder of the leaves in
dofes of one or two grains: thefe dofes may be gra¬
dually increafed, and repeated twice or oftener in the
dav ; but this requires to be done with great caution,
left fevere vomiting, or other diftreffing fymptoms,
fliould take place.
543
Genus LXXIX. ASCITES.
Dropsy of the Abdomen.
Afeites, Saw. gen. 288. Lm. 217. Vog 314.
Sag. gen. llj. Boer/,. 1226. Hojm. III. 322.
lunch. 87. Dr Monro on the Droply, 1765.
Mi/man, Animadverfiones de Hydrope, 1779.
Defcription. This difeafe affumes three different
forms : l. When the water immediately wathes the jn-
teftines. 2. When it is interpoied between the_ abdo¬
minal mufcles and peritonaeum j or, 3. When * is con¬
tained in facs and hollow veficles ; in which caic is
called the encysted dropfy. Some phyficians of grea
reputation have aff^rted, that the water was often
placed within the duplicature of the peritonaeum bu
this is alleged by Dr Milman to be a mffiake, as that
membrane is looked upon by the beft anatomifts to be
Angle • and he thinks that the above-mentioned phyfi¬
cians have been led into this error from obfervmg the
Vol. XIII. Part 11.
CINE. 417
water colledled in the cellular fubiiance of the pento- Afcjtes ^
naeum.
In the beginning of an afeites the patient becomes
languid, breathlefs, and has an averfion to motion :
his belly fwells 5 and, when ftruck, the found oi fluc¬
tuating water is perceptible •, there "is a difficulty of
breathing when the belly is preffed. There is an al-
moft continual thirft, which in the progrefs of the dii-
eafe becomes very urgent j the urine is thick, in fmall
quantity, and high coloured, The pulfe is fmall and
frequent; and as the belly fwells, the other parts wafte
away. A fever at laft anfes, which, conftantly increa;-
imr, in the end carries off the patient. .Thefe fymp-
tonas are moft urgent where the waters are in imroetiiatc
contaefl with tire inteflines : in the other kinds the reit
of the body is lefs wafted 5 nor is there lo great thirft
or difficulty of breathing. __
Caufes, &c. The immediate caufe of dropfy is a
greater effufion of feruai by the exhalant arteries than
the abforbents take up. I his may be occafior.ed either
by too great a quantity of liquid thrown out by the
former, or by an inability of the latter to perfoim theii
office. This commonly happens in people whofe bodies
are of a weak and lax texture, and hence women are
more fubjedl to this malady than men j chlorotic girls
efpeciaUy are very apt to become dropfical.
Sometimes, however, this difeafe is occafioned by a
debility of the vital powers, by great evacuations of
blood, or by acute difeafes accidentally protra&ed
beyond their ufual period 5 and although this caufe
feems very different from a laxity of . fibres, yet the _
dropfy feems to be produced in a fimilar manner by
both. For the vital powers being debilitated by ei¬
ther of thefe caufes, naturally bring on a certain de¬
bility and laxity of the folids} and, on the other .hand,
a debility of the folids always brings on a debility, of
the vital powers ^ and from this debility of the vital
powers in both cafes it happens, that thofe humours
which ought to be expelled from the body are not dn-
charged, but accumulate by degrees in its cavities.
There, is, however, this difference between the two
kinds of dropfy ariflng from thefe two.different .caufes :
That in the one which arifes from laxity the folid parts
are more injured that in that which arifes ftotn a debi¬
lity of the vital powers. In the former, therefore, the
water feems to flow out from every quarter, and.the
body fwells all over. • But when the difeafe is occafion¬
ed by a debility of the vital powers, though the folids
be lefs difeafed, yet the power of the heart being
much dimimftied, and the humours icaice propelled
through the extreme veffels, the thin liquids, by which
in a healthy ftate the body is daily recruited, are car¬
ried by their own weight either into the cavities or
into the cellular texture. Hence thofe aqueous effu-
fions which follow great evacuations of blood, or vio¬
lent loofeneffes, begin in the more depending parts o..
the body, gradually afeending, till they arrive at the
cavity of the abdomen, or even the thorax.
But another and much more fufficient caufe tor the
production of dropfy is an obftruCtion oftiie circula¬
tion ; and this may take place from polypi in the heart
or large veffels, and hard fwellings in the. abdomen.
Inftances have been obferved of a dropfy arifing from
fleatomatous tumors in tl^e omentum, and many, more
from a fcirrhouS liver or fpleen, and from an inrarc-
2 G ' d-ion
4«-S M E D I
Ir.tumf f- tlon and obdrucHon of the raefenteric glands, by which
Kieans the lymph coming from the extremities is pre¬
vented from arriving at the heart. Scirrholjty of the
liver, the moil common caufe of afcites, probably
operates by augmenting elfhfion, in confequence of its
preventing the return of the venous blood, the greater
part of the veins from the abdomen going to the forma¬
tion of the vena portarum.
Laftly, Whatever, either within or without the vef-
fels, contradls or {huts up their cavities, produces a
more copious and eafy tranfmiflion of the thin humours
through the exhalant arteries, at the fame time that it
prevents their return by the abforbent veins. This
has been elfabliQied by experiment: For Lower hav¬
ing perforated the right fide of the thorax in a dog,
tied the vena cava, and fewed up the wound. The ani¬
mal languifhed for a few hours, and then died. On
diffedfion, a great quantity of ferum was found in the
abdomen, as if he had long laboured under an afcites.
In like manner, having tied the jugular veins of another
dog, a furprifing fwelling took place in thofe parts
above the ligatures, and in two days the animal died.
On diffedlion, all the mufcles and glands were vaflly
diftcnded, and quite pellucid, with limpid ferum. From
thefe experiments, and fome cafes of the difeafe men¬
tioned by different authors, it appears, that when the
veins are obfirucled fo that they cannot receive the ar¬
terial blood, the ferum is feparated as by a filtre into
the more open cavities and laxer parts of the body,
while the thicker part ftagnates and is colledfed in the
•proper blood velfels.
The too great tenuity of the humours is very fre¬
quently accufed as the caufe of dropfy, and many au¬
thors have afferted that dropfy might arife merely from
a fuperabundance of water in the blood. For this,
fome experiments are quoted, from which they would
inter, that when a great quantity of aqueous fluid is in¬
troduced into the blood, the fuperfluous fluid ought by
no means to pafs through the extremities of the fangui-
ferous arteries into the veins in the common ccurfe of
circulation, but by being effufed into the cavities fhould
produce a dropfy. But this can only happen when the
vital powers are very much diininiihed ; for, in a natu¬
ral flate, the fuperfluous quantity is immediately thrown
out by the {kin or the kidneys: and agreeable to this
we have an experiment of Schultzius, who induced a
dropfy in a dog by caufing him drink a great quantity
of water ; but he had firft bled him aimoft ad deiiquium,
fo that the vital powers were in a manner opprefied by
the deluge of water. In this manner do thofe become
hydropic who are feized with the difeafe on drinking
large quantities of water either when wearied with la¬
bour, or weakened by fome kinds of difeafes. Dr Fo-
thergill relates an infiance of a perfon who, being ad-
vifed to drink plentifully of barley-water, in order to
remove a fever, ralhly drunk i 2 pounds of that liquor
■every day for a month, and thus fell into an almoll in-
.curable dropfy. But if this quantity had been taken
only during the prevalence of the fever, he would, in
all probability, have fuffered no inconvenience, as may
be inferred from what has been related concerning the
diet a arnica ufed by the Italians.
It is moreover evident from experiments, that, in a
healthy flate, not only water is not depofited in the ca- .
pities, but that if it is injefted into them it will be ab-
C I N E.
Practice.
forbed, unlefs fotne laxity of the folitls has already
taken place. Dr Mufgrave injefted into the right fide
of the thorax of a dog four ounces of warm water ;
whence a difficulty of breathing and weaknefs immedi¬
ately followed. But thefe fymptoms continually lefien.
ed, and in the fpace of a week the animal feemed to be
in as good health as before. Afterwards he injedled
16 ounces of warm water into the left cavity of the tho¬
rax in the fame dog ; the fame effe6!s followed, toge¬
ther with great heat, and firong pulfation of the heart;
but he again recovered in the fpace of a week. Lafliy,
He injefted 18 ounces of water into one fide of the tho¬
rax, and only fix into the other : the fame fvmptoms
followed, but vaniffied in a much fhorter time; for
within five days the dog was reflored to perfeft
health. During this time, however, he obferved that
the dog made a greater quantity of urine than ufual.
The remote caufes of dropfy are many and various.
Whatever relaxes the folids in fuch a manner as to give
an occafion of accumulation to the ferous fluids, difpo-
fes to the dropfy. A lazy indolent life, rainy wet wea¬
ther, a iwampy or low foil, and every thing which con¬
duces to vitiate the vifeera, or infenfibly to produce ob-
ftruftions in them, paves the way for a dropfy. Hence
thofe are ready to fall into the difeafe who ufe hard and
vifeid aliments, fuch as poor people in fome countries
who ufe coarfe brown bread, and children who are Fed
with unwholefome aliments; and the fame thing hap¬
pens to thofe who drink immoderately of fpirituous lir
quors.
Prognojif. When the dropfy arifes from a feirrhus
of the liver or fpleen, or any «)f the other vifeera, the
prognofis mull: always be unfavourable, and alfo when
it arifes from diforders of the lungs. Neither is the
cafe more favourable to thofe in whom the fmall vefiels
are ruptured, and pour out their liquids into the cavity
of the abdomen. Thofe certainly die who have polypi
in the veffels, or tumors com prefling the veins and vef-
fels of the abdomen. A dropfy arifing from obflruc-
tions in the mefenteric glands is likevvife difficult to
cure, whether fuch obltru&ions arife from a bad habit
of body, or from any other caufe ; if we can, however*
by any means remove the difeafe of the glands, the
dropfy foon ceafes. But in thofe who fall into dropfy
without any difeafe preceding, it is not quite fo dan¬
gerous; and even though a difeafe has preceded, if the
patient’s llrength be not greatly weakened, if the refpi-
ration be free, and the perfon be not affeded with any
particular pain, we may entertain great hopes of a cure.
But where a great lofs of blood is followed by a fever,
and that by a dropfy, the patients almoil always die,
and that in a fhert time : thofe, however, are very fre¬
quently cured who fall into this diieafe without any
preceding hsemorrhage.
Cure, In the cure of this difeafe authors chiefly
mention two indications : 1. To expel the effufed wa¬
ter; and, 2. To prevent its being again colleffed.
But before we proceed to fpeak of the remedies, it is
neceffary to take notice, that by the laws of the ani¬
mal economy, if a great evacuation of a fluid takes
place in any part of the body, all the other fluids in
the body are direfled towards that part, and thofe
which lie, as it were, lurking in different parts will be
immediately abfotbed, and thrown out by the fame
paffage. Hence the humours which in hydropic per-
fsfcs
Afcites.
PradHce. M E D I
Intumef- fons ai*e extravafated into tlie different cavities of the
cent!as. body vvill be thrown into the inteffines, and evacuated
purgatives or by diuretics will be thrown upon the
kidneys, and evacuated by urine. It is, however, not
only neceffary to excite thefe evacuations in order to re¬
move this malady, but they muff be afliduoufly promo¬
ted and kept up till the abundant humour is totally ex¬
pelled. For this reafon Sydenham has advifed purga¬
tives to be adminiftered every day, unlefs, either
through the too great weaknefs of the body, or the vio¬
lent operation of the purgative, it ihail be neceffary to
interpofe a day or two now and then 5 becaufe if any
confiderable intervals be allowed to take place between
the exhibition of the purgatives, an opportunity is given
to the waters of collediing again. In tins method, how¬
ever, there is the following inconvenience, that, when
the waters are totally evacuated, the ftrength is at the
fame rime fo much exhaufled, that the diftemper com¬
monly returns in a very lhart time. Hence our chief
hopes of curing a dropfy conlift in gently evacuating
the waters by means of diuretics. But the efficacy of
thefe is generally very doubtful. Dr Freind has long
ago obferved, that this part of medicine is of all others
the moft lame and imperfecl ; but a French phyfician,
Mr Bacher, lately difeovered, as he alleges, a method
of making the diuretics much more fuccefsful. His re¬
putation became at laft fo great, that the French king
thought proper to purchafe his fecret for a great fum of
money. The balls of his medicine was the black hel¬
lebore root, the malignant qualities of which he pre¬
tended to correct in the following manner : A quantity
of the dried roots of black hellebore were pounded, and
then put into a glazed earthen veffel, and afterwards
fprinkled with fpirit of wine. They were buffered to
ftand for twelve hours, ftirring them about twice or
thrice during that fpace of time. They were then
fprinkled again, and at lalt good Rheniih wine was
poured on till it Hood lix fingers above the roots. I he
mixture was frequently agitated with a wooden fpati/a }
and as the wine was imbibed by the roots, more Was
poured on, fo as to keep it always at the fame height
for 48 hours. The whole was then put on the fire and
boiled for half an hour, after which the deco£Hon was
violently preffed out ^ the fame quantity of wine w.as
added as at firft, and the mixture boiled as before. Af¬
ter the fecond expreffion the woody refiduum was thrown
away as ufelefs. Both the ftrained liquors were then
mixed together with two parts of boiling water to one
of the decoftion. The whole is afterwards evaporated
in a filver veffel to the confidence of a fyrup. One
part of the extradf is again mixed with two parts of
boiling water, and the whole infptffaied as before.-—By
this means, fays he, the volatile naufeous acrid particles
are feparated by evaporation, and the fixed ones remain
corre&ed and prepared for medicinal ufes j adding, to¬
wards the end, a ninth part of old brandy, and evapo¬
rating to the confidence of turpentine. Mr Bacher rea-
fons a good deal on the way in which this procefs cor-
re&s the medicine ; but tells us, that notvvithdanding
the improvement, his pills will not have the defiled ef-
fert unlefs properly made up. For forming them, they
ought to be mixed with matters both of an mvifcatmg
and indurating nature ; yet fo prepared tnat it will
be readily foluble in the domach, even of a per-
fon much ffebjlitated. For answering thefe purpo-
CINE. 419
fes, he chofe myrrh and carduus benedi£tus, and he gives Afcites.
the following receipt for the formation of his pills:—•
“ Take of the extraft of hellebore prepared as
above direded, and of folution of myrrh, each one
ounce •, of powdered carduus benediclus, three drams
and a fcruple. Mix them together, and form into a
mafs, dividing it into pills of a grain and a half each.”
To thefe pills Mr Bacher gives the name of the pdulcr
tonicce, from an idea, that while they evacuate the wa¬
ter, they at the fame time a£l as tonics ’> and thus, from
augmenting the adlion of the lymphatics, prevent the
return of the difeafe. And if both thefe intentions-
could be effe&ually anfwered by the ufe of the fame re¬
medy, it would unquedionably be of great importanc«
in pradice.
The effeds of thefe pills wTere, we are told, very fur-
prifing. Dr Daignan relates, that he gave them to 1 8
hydropic patients at once $ and thefe he divided into
three claffes, according to the degree of the difeafe with
which they were affeded. The firft clafs contained
thofe who laboured under an anafarca following inter¬
mittent fevers. The fecond clars contained thofe
who had an anafarca, together with fome degree
afcites, arifing from tedious febrile diforders. All
thefe were cured ; but thefe two claffes confifted of fuch
cafes as are moft eafily removed. But the third con¬
tained fix who were feized with a moft violent anafarca
and afcites, after being much weakened by tedious dif¬
orders, and of confequence in whom the difeafe -was
very difficult to be cured. Even of thefe, however,
four were cured, and the other two died. The body
of one of thefe being difie&ed, both fides of the cavity
of the thorax were found to be full of a blackifh-red
water. The lungs were unfound } there was a poly¬
pous concretion in the right ventricle of the heart; the
liver and fpleen were hard, and of a preternatural
bulk j and the glands of the mefentery were obftrufled
and infartled. In the other, the liver and pancreas
were feirrhous, and the fpleen very hard.
The fame medicines were given by De Horne to
eight perfons, fix of whom had both an anafarca and
afcites, but the other two only an afcites. Four of
thefe recovered three died without being freed from
the dropiy ; one in whom the dropfy was cured died
in a ftiort time after, having for fome time before his
death become fpeechlefs.
By thefe patients 10 of the pills were taken at once j
and the fame dofe repeated to the third time, with an
interval of an hour batwixt each dofe. At firft they
proved purgative, and then diuretic : by which laft
evacuation they finally cured the difeafe. But though
Mr Bacher was firmly of opinien that h’S pills cured
the dropfy by reafon of the above-related correftion,
vet it is certain that, in the hands of other prac¬
titioners, thefe very pills have failed, unlefs they al-
fo made ufe of the fame regimen recommended by that
phyfician $ while, on the other hand, it is alfo certain,
that different medicines will prove equally efficacious
in dropfical cafes, provided this regimen is made ufe of.
For a great number of ages it has been recommend¬
ed to dropfical patients to abftain as much as peffi-
ble from drink, and thus to the torments of their dif¬
eafe was added that of an intolerable thirft j and how-
great this torment was, we may uuderftand from an ,
example of a friend of King Antigonus, who, having
3 G 2 been
4 20
Intumef-
cent:K.
M E D I
been clofely vvatcbed both by order of the phyficians
ar.J alfo of the king, was fo unable to bear the raging
third: occafioned by his difeafe, that he (wallowed his
own excrements and urine, and thus fpeedily put an
end to his life. Dr Milman (hows at great length the
pernicious tendency of this praflice. He maintains
that it is quite contrary to the fentiments of Hippo¬
crates and the heft ancient phyficisns. He afferts,
that unlefs plenty of diluting drink be given, the belt
diuretics can have no effeft. He condemns alfo in the
ftrongeft terms the pra&ice of ghing dropfical patients
only dry, hard, and indigeftible aliments. Thefe would
opprefs the ftomach even of the molt healthy ; and how
much more muft they do fo to thofe who are already
debilitated by labouring under a tedious diforder ! By
what means alfo are thefe aliments to be diffolved in
the (lomach when drink is withheld ? In this difeafe
the faliva is vifcid, and in fmall quantity •, from whence
it may be reafonably conjedlured, that the reft of the
fluids are of the fame nature, and the gaftric juices
likewife depraved. Thus the aliments lie long in the
ftomach j and if the vifeera were formerly free of ob-
ftrudlions, they are now generated 5 the ftrength fails j
perfpiration and other excretions are obftruefted ; the
oifeid and pituitous humours produced by thefe kinds
of food float about the praecordia, and increafe. the dif¬
eafe, while the furface of the body becomes quite dry.
Nay, fo much does this kind of diet conlpire with the
difeafe, that 100 pounds of fluid will fometimes be
imbibed in a few days by hydropic perfons who take
no drink. Even in health, if the body from any caufe
becomes dry, or deprived of a confiderable part of its
juices, as by hunger, labour, &c. it will imbibe a con-
iiderable quantity of moifture from the air ; fo that xve
inuft impute the above mentioned extraordinary inhala¬
tion, in part at leaft, to the denial of drink, and to the
nature of the aliment given to the ftek. The following
is the account given by Sir Francis Milman of his prac¬
tice in the Middlefex hofpital.
If the patient be not very much debilitated, he is
fometimes treated with the purging waters, and a dofe
of jalap and calomel alternately. On the intermediate
days he gets a faline mixture, with 40 or 60 drops of
acetum fcilliticum every fixth hour ; drinking with the
purgatives oat-gruel and fome thin broths. That he
might the better afeertain what (hare the liquids given
along with the medicines had in producing a copious
flow of urine, he fometimes gave the medicines in the
beginning of the diftemper without allowing the drink:
but though the fwellings were ufually diminiftied a
little by the purgatives, the urine ftill continued fcanty,
and the patients were greatly weakened. Fearing,
therefore, left, by following this courfe, the ftrength of
the Tick might be too much reduced, he then began his
c.ourfe of diuretic medicines, giving large quantities of
bar1ey water with a little yb/ diureticus; by which
mean^, fometimes in the fhort fpace of 48 hours after
the courfe was begun, the urine flowed out in very
large quanttiy : but as faline drinks are very difagree-
able to the tafte, a drink was compofed purpofely for
liydropic perfons, of half an ounce of fupertartrite of
potafh, diflblved in two pounds of barley water, made
agreeably fweet with fyrup, adding one or two ounces
<$ French brandy.
To this compofition Sir Francis Milman was induced
c 1 N E.
Praflke.
by the great praifes given to fupertartrite of pctafK by Afcites.
fome phyiicians in hydropic cafes. In the Acid Bono- w"r’v—" '
tnenfw, 15 cafes of hydropic patients are related who
were cured only by tailing half an ounce of cream of
tartar daily. But it is remarkable, that by thefe very
patients the cream of tartar was taken for 20, 30,
nay 40 days, often without any perceptible effect 5 yet
when diffolved in a large quantity of water, it {bowed
its falutary effedts frequently within as many hours,
by producing a plentiful flow of urine. This liquor is
now the common drink of hydropic patients in the hof¬
pital above mentioned, of which they drink at pleafure
along with their medicines.
Among purgative medicines Sir Francis Milman re¬
commends the radix fenckte ; but fays the decoction of
it, according to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia is too
ftrong. as he always found it excite vomiting when pre¬
pared as there dire&ed, and thus greatly to diitrefs the
patients : but when only half an ounce or fix drams
of the root are ufed to a pound of dscoflion, initead
of a whole ounce as directed by the Edinburgh col¬
lege, he finds it an excellent remedy ; and though it
fnay fometimes induce a little vomiting, and frequently
a naufea, yet it feldom failed to procure nine or fen
ftools a-day, and fometimes alfo proved diuretic. But
we muft take care not to be too free in the ufe of fe-
neka, or any other purgative, if the patients be very-
weak *, and therefore, after having ufed purgatives for
fome time, it will be proper to depend upon diuretics
entirely for perfecting the cure j and of the fuccefs of
this method our author gives fome very remarkable in-
ftances. But he ob(erves, that after the dropfy is re¬
moved, the patients will fometimes die without any evi¬
dent caufe} and of this it is proper that the phyiicians
fhould be aware. It is remarkable with what eafe a
flux of urine is induced in thofe who have a feirrhous
liver 5 while, on the ether hand, in one who had the
mefenteric glands obftruCted, along with a feirrhofity
of the liver and vitiated ftate of the lungs, the molt
powerful diuretics proved ineffectual. In fome cafes
Sir Francis Miiman thinks the kidneys may be fo pref-
fed with the weight of the water, as to be unable to
perform their office. With regard^ however, to diu¬
retics in general, it may be remarked, that the opera¬
tion of none of them can be certainly depended upon.
• In particular conftitutions, and at particular times, one
will be obferved to fucceed, after another, though com¬
monly much more powerful, has been tried in vain.
Accordingly various articles of this kind are often
ufed in fucceffion. Recourfe is particularly often had
to the root of taraxacum, of colchicum, and of fquills j
the latter, efpecially when combined with calomel, is
often found to be a very powerful diuretic. And in¬
deed mercury in different forms, probably from afting
as a deobftruent, is often of very great ufe in dropfical
complaints. Among other diuretics, the laftuca virofa
has of late been highly extolled by Dr Collins of Vien¬
na, and the nicotiana tabaccum by Dr Fowler of York:
but neither has been extenfively introduced into prac¬
tice, although we have known fome inftances in which
the latter, in particular, has been ufed with great ad¬
vantage.
The water having been drawn off, we are to put,the
patient on a courfe of ftrengtheners; fuch as cinchona,
with feme of the warm aromatics, and a due proportion
«dL
Practice. M E 1
Jiitunnf- of rViubarb infufecl in wine and chalvbeates. Gentle
centise. exercife, and fr’nflions on t’ne be:!y, with fuch a courfe
'J of .diet as (hall be light and nouriihing, are alfo to be
enjoined : and it may be obferved, that the ufe of tonic
medicines is by no means to be delayed till a complete
evacuation of the water can be obtained. On the con¬
trary, by alternating, and even combining the ufe of
evacuants and tonics, the influence of both is often very
much promoted.
When the patient can by no other means be relrev-
rd, the operation of pavacentefis muft be had recourfe
to, which is defcribed under the article SURGERY.
344
345
34(*
547
Genus LXXX. HYDROMETRA.
Dkcpst of the Uterus.
Hydrometra, Sauv. gen. 289. Sag. 116. Bocrh.
1 224.
Genus LXXXI. HYDROCELE.
Dropsy of the Scrotum.
Ofcheocele, Sauv. gen. 41. f ag. 388.
Ofcheophyma, Sag. 44.
Hydrops feroti, Vog. 389.
Hydrops teflium, Boerh. 1227.
For the treatment of thefe two difeafes, we may re¬
fer the reader to what has already been faid of other
fpecies of dropfy, particularly Afcites. But both ^are
chiefly to be combated by cbirurgical operation, efpe-
cially the latter, in which it feldom fails to produce a
complete cure.
Genus LXXXII. PHYSCONIA.
Spelling of the Belly.
Phyfconia, Sauv. gen. 283. Vog. 325* §en'
110.
Hypofarca, Bin. 218.
This difeafe may arife from a variety of caufes, as
from a (welling of the liver, fpleen, kidneys, uterus,
omentum, ovarium, mefentery, inteftines &c. and
fometimes it arifes merely fiom fat.. In the rormer
cafes, as the vifeera are generally feirrhous and indu¬
rated, the diftemper is for the moft part incurable •,
neither is the profpeft much better where the difeafe is
occafioned by a great quantity of fat.
Genus LXXXIII. RACHITIS.
The Rickets.
Rachitis, Sauv. gen. 294. Lin- 212. Vog. 312.
Sa*. gen. I 20. Boerh. 1480. Boffm. III. 487.
Zeviani della Rachitide. Gllflbn de Rachmde.
Defcription. This is one of the difeafes peculiar to
infancy.' It feldom attacks children till they are nine
months, nor after they are two years old •, but it fre¬
quently happens in the intermediate /pace between
thefe two periods. The d.feafe (hows me f by a flac¬
cid tumor of the head and face, a loofe flabby (km,
a fwelling of the abdomen, and falling away of the
Ofher parts, efpecially of the, mufeks. There are
CINE.
protuberances of the epipbyfes of the joints j the jugu¬
lar veins fwell, while the red decreafe; and the legs
grow’ crooked. If the child has begun to walk before
he be feized with this difeafe, there is a flovvnefs, de¬
bility, and tottering in his motion, which loon brings
on a conflant delire of fitting, and afterwards of lying
down \ infomuch that nothing at laft is moveable but
the neck and head. As they grow older, the head is
greatly enlarged, with ample iutures j the thorax is
compreffed on the fides, and the fternum rifes up
(harp, while the extremities of the ribs are knotty.
The abdomen is protuberant, and the teeth black and
carious. In fucb patients as have died of tins difea(e,
all the folids appear foft and flaccid, and the fluids
diflblved and mucous.
Caufes. The rickets may proceed from fcrophulous
or venereal taints in the parents, and may be increafed
by thofe of the nurfe. It is likewife promoted by feed¬
ing the child with aqueous and mucous fubftances, crude
fummer fruits, fiih, unleavened farinaceous aliment, and
too great a quantity of fwTeet things.—Sometimes it
follows intermittent fevers and chronic dilorders ; and
in flrort, is caufed by any thing which tends to debili¬
tate the body, and induce a viCcxd and unhealthy (late
of the juices.
Prognofis. The rickets do not ufually prove fatal by
themfelves, but if not cured in time, they make the per-
fon throughout life deformed in various ways ; and often
produce very pernicious diforders, fuch as carious bones
in different parts of the body.
Cure. This is to be effected by mild cathartics, al¬
teratives, and tonics, fuch as are ufed in other difeafes
attended with a debility of the fyftem and a vitiated
date of the blood and juices. In the Weftern iflands
of Scotland, the medicine ufed for the cure of the
rickets is an oil extracted from the liver of the (kate-
fiflr. The method of application is as follows : Firfl,
the wrifts and ankles are rubbed with the oil in the
evening : this immediately raifes a fever of feverar
hours duration. When tile fever from the firfl; rub¬
bing fubfides, the fame parts are rubbed again the
night following •, and repeatedly as long as the rub¬
bing of thefe parts continues to excite the fever.. 
When no fever can be excited by rubbing the wrifts
and ankles alone, they are rubbed again along with
the knees and elbows. 1 his increafed unction • brings
on the fever again ; and is pra&ifed as before, till it
no longer has that effe£h Then the vertebrae and
fides are rubbed, along, with the former parts j and
this uuftion, which again brings on the ferver, is repeat¬
ed as the former. When no fever can be any longer
excited by this un&ion, a flannel (hirt dipped in the oil
is put upon the body of the patient : this brings on a
more violent and fenfible fever than any of the former
unftions; and is continued till the cure be completed,
which it commonly is in a (liort time.
A German pbyfician, Dr Strack, has lately pub-
lifned a paper, in which he recommends the filings
of iron as a certain remedy in the rickets. This dif¬
eafe, he obferves, in general begins with • children
when they are about 16 months old. It is feldom- ob¬
ferved with children before they be one year old, and
feldom attacks them after they pafs two ; and it is
very generally vvorfe where it begins early than where
it begins late.
For.
MEDICINE.
Practice.
34s
349
For effecting s curt, it is, he affirms, a matter of
the utmoft confequence to be able to diftinguilb, very
early, whether a child will be affii&ed with rickets or
Dot. And this, he affures us, may be determined by
the following fymptoms; Palenefs and fwelling of the
countenance •, and in that part of the cheeks which
ihould naturally be red, a yellow colour approaching
to that of fulphur. When that is the cafe, he direfts
that a medicine ihould be immediately had recourfe to
which will retard the further progrefs of the difeafe,
and remove what has already taken place. For this
purpofe, he advifes that five grains of the filings of iron,
and as much rhubarb, ffiould be rubbed up wdth ten
grains of fugar, and given for a dofe every morning
falling, and every evening an hour before fupper. But
if confiderable loofenefs ffiould be produced, it will be
neceflary, at firft, to perfiil in the ufe of one dofe only
every day.
After a month’s continuance in this courfe, accord¬
ing to Dr Strack, there in general enfues a keen appe¬
tite for food, quick digeftion, and a copious tlow of
urine ; by means of which the fulnefs of the face and
yellownefs of the complexion are by degrees removed,
while the natural colour of the countenance and firmnefs
of the body in general are gradually reftored. This
pra£fice, he afl’ures us, has never failed of fuccefs in any
one inllance •, not even in thofe children barn of parents
greatly affliifled with the rickets.
In addition to the ufe of chalybeate?, great benefit is
often alfo obtained in this difeafe from the ufe of the
cold bath ; which under prudent adminiftration, is per¬
haps one of the mod effeflual remedies for this complaint
with which we are yet acquainted.
Mr Bonhome of Paris, in a late treatife on the fub-
jeft of rachitis, has endeavoured to prove, that the dif¬
eafe arifes from a peculiar acid, and in the cure he par-
-ticularly recommends phofphate of foda, phofphate and
muriate of lime ; but above all other articles alkaline
lotions. The efficacy of thefe remedies, however, is
not yet confirmed by experience. And we may con¬
clude with obferving, that both in the prevention and
cure nothing has been found fo fuccefsful as cold ba¬
thing.
When the bones of rickety children begin to bend,
•they may fometimes be reftored to their natural ffiape
by comprefles, holders, and proper fupports. See the
article Surgery.
Order III. IMPETIGINES.
Jmpetigines, Sauv. Clafs X. Ord. V. Sag. Clafs
III. Ord. V.
Genus LXXXIV. SCROPHULA.
King's Eyn.
Scrophula, Sauv. gen. 285. Vog. 397. Sag. 121.
Struma, Lin. 284.
Defcription. This difeafe ffiows itfelf by hard, feir-
rhous, and often indolent tumors, which arife by degrees
in the glands of the neck, under the chin, armpits, and
different parts of the body, but mod commonly in the
neck, and behind the ears. In procefs of time, the
oellular fubdance, ligaments of the joints, and even the
3
bones themfelves, are afieclcd. In fcrophula the fwel- Scrophula.
lings are much more moveable than thole of the feir-''"*
rhous kind ; they are generally fofter, and leldom at¬
tended with much pain ; they are tedious in coming to
fuppuration ; are very apt to difappear fuddenly, and
again to rife in fome other part of the body. We may
likewife mention as charatteridic circumdances of this
difeafe, a remarkable foftnefs of the Ikin, a kind of ful¬
nefs of the face, generally with large eyes, and a very
delicate complexion.
Coufes. A variety of caufes have been mentioned
as tending to produce fcrophula, viz. a crude indiged-
ible food ; bad water ; living in damp, low durations;
its being an hereditary difeafe, and in fome countries
endemic, &c. But whatever may in different circum¬
dances be the exciting or predilpofing caufes of the
fcrophula, the difeafe itfeif either depends upon, or is
at lead much conne£led with, a debility of the condi-
tution in general, and probably of the lymphatic fyf-
tem in particular, the complaint always diowing itfelf
by fome affeflions of the latter. And that debility
has at lead a confiderable influence in its produiflion is
probable, not only from the man!fed nature of fome
of the caufes faid to be productive of fcrophula, but »
like wife from fuch remedies as are found mod fervice-
able in the cure, which are all of a tonic invigorating-
nature.
Prognojfs. The fcrophula is a didemper which often
eludes the mod powerful medicines, and therefore phy-
ficians cannot with any certainty promife a cure. It is
feldom, however, that it proves mortal in a diort time,
unlefs it attacks the internal parts, fuch as the lungs,
where it frequently produces tubercles that bring on a
fatal confumption. When it attacks the joints, it fre¬
quently produces ulcers, which continue for a long time,
and gradually wade the patient ; while in the meanr
time the bones become foul avid corroded, and death
enfues after a long feene of mifery. The prognofis in
this refpeft mud be regulated entirely by the nature of
the fymptoms.
Cure. It was long fuppofed that fcrophula depended
upon an acid acrimony of the fluids; and this, it is
probable, gave rife to the ufe of burnt fponge, diffe¬
rent kinds of foap, and other alkaline fubflaipces, as
the bed remedies for acidity. But althougli a four-
nefs of the ilomach and prirrue vice does no ^doubt fre¬
quently occur in thefe complaints, yet this fymptom
feems to be entirety the confequence of that general re¬
laxation which in fcrophula fo univerfally prevails, and
which does not render it in the lead necedary to fuppofe
a general acefcency of the fluids to take place; as the
one very frequently, it is well known, even in other
complaints, occurs without the lead lufpicion of any
acid acrimony exiding in the other. This is alfb ren¬
dered very probable from the indolent nature of fero-
phulous tumors, wffiich have been known to fubfid for
years without giving any uneafinefs; which could not
have been the cafe, if an acid, or any other acrimony,
had prevailed in them.
In the treatment of fcrophula, different morbid con¬
ditions, exiding in different parts, require, according to
circumdances, various means of cure : but, upon the
whole, the remedies diredled may be confidered as ufed
with a view either to the tumours, to the ulcerations, or
to the general date of the fydem.
Gentle
Fraflice. M E D I
faipcti- Gentle mercurials are fometlmes of ufe as refolvents
glnes* in fcrophulous fvvellings; but nothing has fuch confi-
derable influence as a frequent and copious ufe of cin¬
chona. Cold bathing too, efpecially in the fea, toge¬
ther with frequent moderate exercife, is often of Angular
fervke here ; as is iikevvife change of air, efpecially to
a warm climate.
In the fcrophulous inflammation of the eyes, or oph¬
thalmia ftrumofa, the cinchona has alfo been given with
extraordinary advantage : and we meet wdth an inftance
of its having cured the gutta rofacea in the face j a
complaint which it is often difficult to remove, and
which is extremely difagreeable to the fair fex.
From the various cafes related of tumefied glands
it appears, that when the habit is relaxed and the cir¬
culation weak, either from conflitution or accident, cin¬
chona is a moil efficacious medicine, and that it ads as
a refolvent and difcutient. It will not, however, fuc-
ceed in all cafes j but there are few in which a trial
can be attended with much detriment. Dr Fothergill
obferves, that he has never known it avail much where
the bones were aSeded, nor where the fcrophulous tu¬
mor was fo fituated as to be accompanied with much
pain, as in the joints, or under the membranous cover¬
ings of the mufcles ; for when the difeafe attacks thofe
parts, the perioftasum feldom efcapes without fome in¬
jury, by which the bone will of courfe be likewlfe af-
feded. Here cinchona is of no effed : inftead of lef-
fening, it rather increafes the fever that accompanies
thofe circumftances : and, if it do not really aggravate
the complaint, it feems at lealV to accelerate the pro¬
gress of the difeafe.
Various are the modes in wdiich cinchona is admini-
flered : Dr Fothergill makes ufs of a decodion, with
the addition of fome aromatic ingredients and a fmall
quantity of liquorice root, as a form in wffiich a fufficient
quantity may be given without exciting difguft. But
where it is eafily retained in the flomach in fubftance,
perhaps the belt form of exhibiting it is that of powder;
and in this Hate it is often advantageoufly conjoined
with powder of cicuta, an article poiTeffing very great
deobilruent powers.
The powder, however, foon becomes difagreeable to
very young patients; and the (jxtrad feems not fo
much to be depended upon as may have been imagined.
In making the extrad, it is expofed to fo much heat,
as mull have fome effed upon its virtues, perhaps to
their detriment. In adminiftering it, likewife, if, great
care be not taken to mix it intimately with a proper
vehicle, or fome very foluble fubftance, in weak bowels
it very often purges, and thereby not only difappoints
the pbyfician, but injures the patient. A fmall quan¬
tity of the cortex W.nteranus added gives the medicine
a grateful warmth ; and a little liquorice, a few rai-
fins, gum arabic or the like, added to the decodion
before it be taken from the fire, by making the liquor
vifeid enables it to fufpend more of the fine particles
of the bark ; by which procefs tne medicine is not only
improved in efficacy, but at the fame time rendered lels
difagreeable.
In indolent fwellings of the glands from vifeid hu¬
mours, fea water has been flrongly recommended by Dr
Ruffe!.
Dr Fothergill alfo acquaints us, that the cicuta even
by itfelf is not without a confiderable lhare of efficacy
G 1 N E. 423
in removing fcrophulous diforders. l~7e mentions the Scrcphula.
cafe of a gentlewoman, about 28 years of age, afflid-' v~*
cd from her infancy with fcrophulous complaints, fe-
vere ophthalmies, glandular fwellings, &c. cured by the
extratlum cicutce taken conftantly for the fpacc of a
year. He obferves, however, that W'hen given to chil¬
dren, even in very fmall dofes, it is apt to produce fpaf-
modic affedions; for which reafon he rarely exhibits
it to them when very young, or even to adults of very
irritable habits.
Dr Fothergill gives feveral other inftances of the
fuccefs of cicuta in fcrophulous cafes, and even in one
which feemed to be not far removed 'from a confirmed
phthifis; but owns that it feldom had fuch good effeds
afterwards: yet he is of opinion, that where there are
fymptoms of tubercles forming, a ftrumous habit, and
a tendency to phthifis, the cicuta will often be fer-
viceable. It is anodyne, correds acrimony, and pro¬
motes the formation of good matter. With regard to
the quality of the medicine, he obferves, that the ex-
trad prepared from hemlock before the plant arrives
at maturity, is much inferior to that which is made
when the hemlock has acquired its full vigour, and is
rather on the verge of decline : juft when the flowers
fade, the rudiments of the feeds become obfervable,
and the habit of the plant inclines to yellow; this,
he thinks, is the proper time to colled the hemlock.
It h as then had the full benefit of the fummer heat;
and the plants that growr in expofed places will gene¬
rally be found more adive than thofe that grow in
the ffiade. The lefs heat it undergoes during the pre¬
paration, the better. Therefore, if a confiderable quan¬
tity of the d;y powder of the plant gathered at a
proper feafon be added, lefs boiling will be neceflary,
and the medicine will be the more efficacious. But
let the extrad be prepared in what manner foever it
may, provided it be made from the genuine plant,
at a proper feafon, and be not deftroyed by boilinp,
the chief difference obfervable in ufing it is, that a
larger quantity of one kind is required to produce a
certain effed than of another. Twenty grains of
one fort of extrad have been found equal in point
of efficacy to thirty, nay near forty, of another; yet
both of them made from the genuine plant, and mod
probably prepared with equal fidelity. To prevent
the inconveniences arifing from this uncertainty, it
feems always expedient to begin with fmall dofes, and
proceed ftep by ftep till the extrad produces certain
effeds, which feldom fail to arife from a full dofe.
Thefe effeds are different in different coni;Stations.
But, for the moft part, a giddinefs affeding the head,
and motions of the eyes, as if fomething pufhed them
outwards, are firft felt; a flight ficknefs, and trembling
agitation of the body ; a laxative ftool or two. One or
all of thefe fymptoms are the marks of a full dole, let
the quantity in weight be what it will. Here we muit
flop till none of thefe effeds be felt; and in three or
four days advance a few grains more.. For it has been
fuppofed by moft of thofe who have ufed this medicine
to any good purpofe, that the cicuta feldom procures
any benefit, though given for a long time, unlefs in as
large a dole as the patient can bear without fuffering-
any of the inconveniences above mentioned. There
is however reafon to believe, that its eft'eds, as a difcu¬
tient, are in no degree dependent on its. narcotic powers;
aucLt
424-
lu pcli,
pii cs
M E D I
xr.d we are liveli-red tc tdiink., tlrat reccurfe is often had
vo larger dofes than are neceflary *, or at lead that the
h me benefit might be derived from. Imaller ones con¬
tinued for an equal length of time.
1'atients commonly bear a greater quantity of the ex-
trad! at night than at noon, and at noon than in the
morning. Two drams may be divided into thirty pills.
Adults begin with two in the morning, two at noon, and
three or four at night, with diredlions to increaie
each dofe, by the addition of a pill to each, as they
‘Can bear it.
But, after all, the bed form under which the cicuta
can, we think, be exhibited, is that of powder from
the leaves. This, either under the form of powder or
made into pills, may be given at fird to the extent of
four or five grains, and the dofe gradually rifrng till it
amount to 15 or 20 grains twice or thrice a-day. Given
to this extent, particularly when conjoined with cin-
chena, it has often been found of great fervice in fero-
phulous cafes. At the fame time it mud be allowed,
that fuch patients, after redding every mode of cure,
will have in feme indances a fpontaneous recovery in
the progrefs of life, probably from the fydem acquir¬
ing additional vigour.
Different mineral waters, particularly the fulphure-
ous ones, as thofe of Harrowgate, Moffat, and Gills-
]and, have been much recommended in fcrophula, and
femetimes produftive of benefit. Reccurfe has fome-
times alfo been had with advantage to zinc, iron, and
barytes, particularly muriate of barytes. But as well
as in rachitis, no remedy has been found more effica¬
cious in fcrophula than cold bathing, efpecially fea-
bathing.
3.5©
Genus LXXXV. SIPHYLIS.
Lurs Venerea, or French Pox.
Siphylis, Sauv. gen. 3086. Lin. 6. Vcg. 319.
Sag. t 26.
Lues venerea, Boerh. 1440. Hojfm. III. 4I3‘ junc^'
96. VJJlruc de Lue Venerea.
Dr Adruc, who writes a very accurate hidory of
the lues venerea, is fully convinced that it is a new
difeafe, which never appeared in Europe till fome time
between the years 1494 and 1496, having been im¬
ported from America by the companions of Chrido-
pher Columbus ; though this opinion is not without
its opponents. Dr Sanches in particular has contend¬
ed with much learning and ability, that it appeared in
Europe at an earlier period : But it is at lead certain
that it was altogether unknown to the medical prac¬
titioners of Greece and Rome, and that it w7as a veiy
common difeafe in America when the Europeans fird
vifited that country. But at whatever period it may
have been introduced into Europe, or from whatever
fource it may have been obtained, there can be no doubt
that, as wTell as fmallpox or meafies, fiphylis depends
on a peculiar fpccific contagion 5 on a matter /i/r generis,
which is alone capable of inducing this difeafe.
The venereal infedlion, however, cannot, like tne
contagious miafmata of the fmallpox and tome other
difeafes, be carried through the air, and thus fpread
from place to place ; for unlefs it is tranfmitted from
the piarents to the children, there is no other way of
3
C I N E. FradUce.
contra&ing the difeafe but from a&ual conta£! with Siphylis,
the infettious matter. Thus, when a nurfe happensv J
to labour under the difeafe, the infant that die fuckles
will receive the infeclion \ as, on the other hand, when
the child is infected, the nurfe is liable to receive it :
and there have even been inftances known of lying-in
women being infecled very violently, from having em¬
ployed a perfpn to draw their breads who happened to
have venereal ulcers in the throat. It may be caught
by touching venereal fores, if tne cuticle be abraded
or torn : and in this way accoucheurs and midwives
have fcacnetinies been infedltd feverely. Dr Macbride
fays, the mod inveterate pex he ever faw was caught
by a midwife, who happened to have a whitelow on
one of her fingers when fhe delivered a woman ill of
the lues venerea.
But by far the mod ready way of contrafling this
difeafe is by coition, the genital parts being much
more bibulous than the red of the body. When the
diforder is communicated, the places where the mor¬
bific matter enters are generally thofe where it fird
makes its appearance ; and as coition is the moll ufual
way of contrafling it, fo the fird fymptems commonly
appear on or near the pudenda.
The patient’s own account will, for the mod part,
Dip us to difiinguifh the difeafe : but there are fome-
times cafes wherein we cannot avail curfelves of this
information, and where, inllead of confeffing, the par¬
ties ffiall conceal all circumdances ; while, on the
other hand, there are now7 and then people to be met
with, who perfuade themfelves that fymptoms are ve¬
nereal, which in reality are owing to fome other caufe :
and therefore it is of the utmod importance to infoim
ourfelves thoroughly of the nature of thofe fymptoms
and appearances which may be confidered as pathog¬
nomic figns of lues venerea.
In the fird place, when we find that the local
fymptoms, fuch as chancres, buboes, phymofis, and
the like, do not give way to the ufual methods •, or
when thefe complaints, after having been cured, break
out again without a fredi infeflion j we may judly
fufpeff that the virus has entered the whole mafs of
fluids : but if at the fame time ulcers break out in the
throat, and the face is deformed by callous tubercles,
covered with a brown or yellow fcab, w,e may be af-
fured that the cafe is now become a confirmed lues,
which will require a mercurial courfe.
When eruptions of the furfuraceous and fuperficial
kind are venereal, they are not attended with itching ;
and the fcale being picked off, the fkin appears of a
reddith brown, or rather copper colour, underneath ;
whereas leprous eruptions are itchy, throw7 off a greater
quantity of dales, and rife in greater blotches, efpe¬
cially about the joints of the knees and elbow's. Vene¬
real tubercles or puflules are eafily diflinguiffied from
carbuncles of the face, by not occupying the cheeks or
the nofe, nor as having a purulent apex, but are cover¬
ed at top, either wdth a dry branny feurf like the fuper¬
ficial eruptions juft now mentioned, or elfe with a hard
dry fcab of a tawney yellow hue •, they particularly
break out among the hair or near to it, on the forehead
or on the temples.
Venereal ulcers affedling the mouth are diflinguifh-
able from thofe which are fcorbutic, in the following
manner i 1. Venereal ulcers firft affedl the tonflls, fau¬
ces
Practice.' M E D I
Impeti- ces and uvula ) t’nen tlie gums, but thefe very rarely :
g'nes- on the contrary, fcorbutic ulcers affe£\; the gums fird;
v 1 ' ' of all 5 then the fauces, tonfils, and uvula. 2. Vene¬
real ulcers frequently fpread to the nofe ; fcorbutic
ones almoil never. 3. Venereal ulcers are callous in
the edges 5 fcorbutic ones are not fo. 4. Venereal
ulcers are circumfcribed, and, for the moft part, are
circular, at lead: they are confine’d to certain places ;
fcorbutic ones are of a more irregular form, fpread
wider, and frequently affeft the whole mouth. 5. Ve¬
nereal ulcers are for the moft part hollow, and general¬
ly covered at bottom with a white or yellow dough j
but fcorbutic ones are more apt to grow up into loofe
fungi. 6. Venereal ulcers are red in their circumfe¬
rence, but fcorbutic ones are always livid. 7. Vene¬
real ulcers frequently rot the fubjacent bones, the fcor¬
butic ones feldom or never. 8. And laftly, Venereal
ulcers are generally combined with other fymptoms
which are known to be venereal ; fcorbutic ones with
the diftinguidiing ftgns of the fcurvy, fuch as diffi¬
cult breathing, liftleffnefs, fwelling of the legs, rotten
gums, &.c.
Another ftrong fign of the confirmed lues is often af¬
forded from certain deep-feated nofturnal pains, parti¬
cularly of the {bins, arms, and head. As for any fu-
perficial wandering pains that have no fixed feat, and
which affeft the membranes of the mufcles and liga¬
ments of the joints, they, for the moft part, will be
found to belong to the gout or rheumatifm, and can
never be confidered as venereal unlefs accompanied
with fome other evident figns ; but with regard to the
pains that are deeply feated, and always fixed to the
fame place, and which affeft the middle and more folid
part of the ulna, tibia, and bones of the cranium,
and rage chiefly and with greateft violence in the fore¬
part of the night, fo that the patient can get no reft
till morning approaches, thefe may ferve to convince
us that the difeafe has fpread itfelf throughout the
whole habit, whether they be accompanied with other
fymptoms of the lues or not. Gummata in the fleftiy
parts, nodes in the periofteuro, ganglia upon the ten¬
dons, tophi upon the ligaments, exojlofes upon the
bones, and jici at the verge of the anus, are all of them
figns of the confirmed lues : thefe are hard indolent
fwellings; but as they fometimes arife independently
of any venereal infedlion, and perhaps may proceed
from a fcrophulous taint, unlefs they be accompanied
or have been preceded by fome of the more certain
and evident fymptoms of the lues, we muft be cautious
about pronouncing them venereal. When thele fwell¬
ings are not owing to the fiphylitic virus, they are
very feldom painful, or tend to inflame and fuppurate,
whereas thofe that are venereal ufually do, and if they
lie upon a bone generally bring on a caries.
Thefe carious ulcers are moft commonly met with
upon the ulna, tibia, and bones of the cranium j and
when accompanied with nodlurnal pains, we can ne¬
ver hefitate about declaring their genuine nature. Fre¬
quent abortions, or the exclufion of fcabby, ulceiated,
half-rotten, and dead fcetufes, happening without any
manifeft caufe to diiturb the foetus before its time, or
to deftroy it in the womb, may be reckoned as a fign
that at leaft one of the parents is infedfted.
Thefe then are the principal and moft evident figns
cf the confirmed lues. There are others which are more
Vol. XIII. Part II.
CINE, • 4
equivocal, and which, unlefs we can fairly trace them Sipliyl
back to fome that are more certain, cannot be held as
figns of the venereal difeafe : Such are, x. Obftinate
inflammations of the eyes, frequently returning with
great heat, itching, and ulceration of the eyelids.
2. A finging and biffing noife in the ears, with ulcers
or caries in the bones of the meatus auditorius. 3. Ob--
ftinate headachs. 4. Obftinate cutaneous eruptions,
of the itchy or leprous appearance, not yielding to the
milder methods of treatment. 5. Swellings of the
bones •, and, 6. Wandering and obftinate pains. None
of thete fymptoms, however, can be known to be ve¬
nereal, except they happen to coincide with fome one
or other of the more certain ftgnsr 1
It may, perhaps, be confidered as a Angularity in
this dileaie, that the diagnofis is often more difficult
in the advanced than in the early periods of the affec¬
tion. That is, with thofe u'ho have been certainly
fubje£fed to fiphylis, it is often very difficult to fay
whether certain fymptoms, remaining after the ordi¬
nary modes of cure have been employed, be fiplrylitic
or not. Very frequently, as appears from the fequel,
noclurnal pains, ulcerations, and the like, remaining
after a long courfe of mercury has been employed, are
in no degree of a venereal nature, but are in reality to
be conftdered as confequences rather of the remedy
than of the difeafe j and are accordingly heft removed
by nourifliing diet, gentle exercife, and tonics. But as
long as any fymptoms of any kind remain, it is often
impoffible to convince fome patients that they are cured ;
and it is often impoffible for a phyfician with certainty
to affirm that the difeafe is altogether overcome.
Upon the whole, we are firft to diftinguifh and con-
fider the feveral fymptoms apart; and then, by com¬
paring them with each other, a clear judgement may be
formed upon the general review.
Prognojis. Being thoroughly convinced that the cafe
is venereal, wx are to confider, firft of all, whether it
be of a longer or fhorter date ; for the more recent it
is, it will, aeteris paribus, be lefs difficult to remove.
But there are other circumftances which wall affift us
in forming a prognoftic as to the event. As,
x. The age of the patient. This diforder is more
dangerous to infants and old people, than to fuch as
are in the flowTer and vigour of life, in whom fome
part of the virus may be expelled by exercife, or may
be fubdued in fome degree by the ftrength of the con-
ftitution.
2. The fex. Though women are for the moft part .
W’eaker than men, and therefore fhould feem lefs able
to refift the force of any difeafe, yet experience (hows
that this is eafier borne by them than by men ; per¬
haps owing to the menftrual and other uterine dif-
charges, by which a good portion of the virus may be
carried oft' immediately from the parts where it was
firft applied ; for it is obfervable, that whenever thefe
difcharges are obftrufted, or ceafe by the ordinary
courfe of nature, all the fymptoms of this difeafe grow
worfe.
3. The habit of body. Perfons who have acrid
juices will be liable to fuffer more from the venereal
poifon than fuch as have their blood in a milder ftate j
hence, when people of a fcorbutic or fcrophulous ha¬
bit contrail; venereal diforders, the fymptoms are al¬
ways remarkably violent, and difficult to cure. And
3 H for
426
Impeti-
gines.
M E D I
for the fame reafons, the confirmed lues is much more
to be dreaded in a perfon already inclined to an afthma,
phthilis, dropfy> gout, or any other chronic diftem-
per, than in one of a found and healthy conftitution.
I'or as the original difeafe is increafed by the accef-
lion of the venereal poifon, fo the lues is aggravated
by being joined to an old diforder. The more nume¬
rous the fymptoms, and the more they affefl the bones,
the more difficult the cure. Ot all combinations the
union of fiphylis with fcrophula is perhaps the mod
difficult to overcome : but if the acrimony ffiould feize
on the nobler internal parts, fuch as the brain, the lungs
or the liver, then the difeafe becomes incurable, and the
patient will either go oft fuddenly in an apopledlic fit,
or fink under a confumption.
Cure. Viewing this difeafe as depending on a pe¬
culiar contagious matter introduced into the lyftem,
and multiplied there, it is poffible to conceive that a
cure may be obtained on one of three principles ; ei¬
ther by the evacuation of the matter from the fyftera,
by the deftruclion of its a&ivity, or by counterafting
its influence in the iyftem. It is not impoffible that
articles exift in nature capable of removing this com¬
plaint on each of thefe grounds : but we may ven¬
ture at leaft to aflert, that few fuch are yet difeover-
effi. Notwdthftanding numbers of pretended infalli¬
ble remedies for fiphylis, mercury is perhaps the only
article on which dependence is placed among European
praftitioners ”, and with regard to its mode of opeia-
tion, all the three different opinions pointed out have
been adopted and fupported by different theorifts.—
But although many ingenious arguments have been
employed in fupport of each, we are, upon the whole,
inclined to think it more probable that mercuiy opeiutes
by deftroying the activity of the venereal virus, than
that it has effect either by evacuating it, or. by ex¬
citing a ftate of aftion by which its influence is coun-
terafled. Some praftitioners have affirmed, that the
difeafe may be totally extirpated without the ufe of
mercury ”, but, excepting in flight cafes, it appears from
the moft accurate obfervations, that this grand fpeci-
fic is indifpenfable ; whether it be introduced through
the pores of the {kin, in the form of ointments, p.laf-
ters, walhes, &c. ”, or given by the mouth, difguifed
in the different ffiapes of pills, troches, powffiers, or fo-
lutions. .
Formerly it was held as a rule, that a fall vat ion
ought to be raifed, and a great difeharge excited. But
this is now found to be unneceffary : lor as meicury
probably afts by feme fpecific power in fubduing and
correftlng the venereal virus, all that is required is to
throw in a fufficient quantity of the medicine for. this
purpofe ; and if it can be diverted from the Eli vary
glands fo much the better, flnee the inconveniences
attending a fpitting are fuch as we ihould always with
to avoid. _ _
Mercury, wffien combined with any fanne furawince,
has its aftivity prodigioully increafed ; hence the great
variety of chemical preparations which have been con¬
trived to unite it with different acids.
Corrofive fublimate or the murias hydrargyri corro-
fivus is one of the m- ft aftive of all the mercurial pre¬
parations, infomuch as to become a poiion even in very
{'mall dofes. It therefore cannot fafely be given in fub-
ftancc} but muft'be diffolved in order to render it Ca-
C 1 N E.
Pra&ice.
pable of a more minute diviflon. We may fee, . by
looking into Wifeman, that this is an old medicine,
though feldom given by regular prafliiionefs. How it
came to be introduced into fo remote a part of the world
as Siberia, is not cafily found out •, but I)r Clerc, au¬
thor of the HiJIoire Nature/le de CHomme Male.de, allures
us, that the fublimate foiution has been in ufe there time
out of mind.
It appears to have been totally forgotten in other
places, until of late years, when Baron Van Swietea
brought it into vogue ”, fo that at one period, if we may
credit Dr Locker, they ufed no other mercurial prepa¬
ration at Vienna. The number of patients cured by
this remedy alone in the hofpital or St Mark, which is
under the care of this gentleman, from .1754 to 1761
inclufive, being 4S80. _ _
The method of preparing the foiution is, to diflblve
as much fublimate in any kind of ardent fpirit (at Vien¬
na they ufe only corn brandy) as will give halt a grain
to an "ounce of foiution. The dole to a grown per¬
fon is one fpoonful mixed with a pint ot any light pti-
fan or barley water, and this to be taken morning
and evening : the patients Ihould keep principally in a
warm chamber, and lie in bed to fweat after taking the
medicine ”, their diet ihould be light j and they ought
to drink plentifully throughout the day, ot whey, pti-
fan, or barley water. If the foiution does not keep
the belly open, a mild purge muft be given from time
to time ”, for Locker obferves, that ffiole whom it
purges two or three times a-day, get well iooner than
thofe whom it does not purge : he alio fays, that it
very feldom affeds the mouth, but that it promotes
the urinary and cutaneous difeharges. I Ins courle is
not only to be continued till all the fymptoms dif-
appear, but for fome weeks longer, due ffiorteft time
in which Locker ufed to let the patients out was fix
wreeks ; and they were continued on a courfe of de-
coftion of the woods for fome weeks after they left
off the foiution.
This method has been introduced both in Britain
and Ireland, though by no means to the exclufion of
others; but it appears, that the foiution does not turn
out fo infallible a remedy, either in thefe kingdoms,
or in France, as they fay it has done in Germany. It
was feldom if ever found to perform a radical cure,
and the frequent ufe of it proved in many cafes highly
prejudicial. It has therefore been fucceeded in prac¬
tice, even at Vienna, by mercury exhibited in other
forms ; and, among thefe, by a remedy firft recom¬
mended by Dr Plenck, and fince improved by. Dr
Saunders; confiding of mercury united with mucilage
of gum arabic, which is faid to render its exhibition
perfeflly mild and fafe. For particulars, we refer to
Dr Saunders’s treatife.
But a late French writer, fuppofed to be Dr Petit,
in a final 1 book, entitled, H parallel of the different
methods of treating the venereal difeafe, infills, that there
is neither certainty nor fafety in any other method than
the repeated friftions with mercurial ointment.
If, therefore, it is determined to have recourfe to
the mercurial fri&ions, the patient may with advan¬
tage be prepared by going into the warm bath fome
days fucceffively ; having been previoufly blooded if of
a plethoric habit, and taking a dofe or two of fome
proper cathartic.
The
Practice.
M E B I
Impeti- . The patient being fitted with the neceffary apparatus
gines. Gf flannels, is then to enter on the courfe.
—   jf he be of a robuft habit, and in the prime
of life, we may begin with two drams of the «n-
pucntum hydrargyn fortius, (Ph. Lend.) which is to
be rubbed in abuut the ankles by an affifiant whole
hands are covered with bladders: then having inter¬
mitted a day, we may expend two drams more of^the
ointment, and reft for two days 5 after which, if no
forenefs of the mouth comes on, ufe only one dram 5
and at every fubfequent fviftion afcend till the oint¬
ment {hall reach the trunk of the body j after which
the rubbings are to be begun at the wrifts, and from
thence gradually extended to the {boulders. In older
to prevent the mercury from laying too much hold of
the mouth, it muft be diverted to the {kin, by keep¬
ing the patient in a conftant perforation from the
warmth of the room, and by drinking plentifully of
barley-water, whey, or ptifan •, but if, neverthelefs,
the mercury ftiould tend to raife a fpitting, then, trom
time to time, we are either to give fome gentle cathar¬
tic, or order the patient into a vapour or warm bath ;
and thus we are to go on, rubbing in a dram of the
ointment every fecond, third, or fourth night, accord¬
ing as it may be found to operate } and on the inter¬
mediate days either purging or bathing, unleis we
ftiould cboofe to let the falivation come on ; which,
however, it is much better to avoid, as we ihall
thus be able to throw in a larger quantity of mer-
cury. f
It is impofiible to afcertam the quantity ot mercury
that may be rieceffary to be rubbed in, as this will va¬
ry according to circumftances : but we are always to
continue the friclions, for a fortnight at leaft, after all
fymptoms of the difeafe {hall have totally difappear-
ed • and when we have done with the mercury, warm
bathing, and fudorific decoaicns of the woods, are to
be continued lor fome time longer.
This is a general {ketch of the methods ot treat¬
ment for the confirmed lues; but for a complete hft-
tory of the difeafe, and for ample direaions m every
fituation, we refer to Aftruc, and his abndger Dr
Chapman —We have to add, however, that a method
of curing this difeafe by mercurial fumigation has been
lately recommended in France, but it feems not to meet
with great encouragement. One of the moft recent
propofals for the cure of _ the venereal difeafe is that ot
Mr* Clare and ennfifts in rubbing a fmall quantity ot
mercury under the form of \hsfubmurias hydrargyn ov
calomels it is commonly called, on the ^fide of the
cheek-, by which means it has been fuppofed that we
will not only avoid the inconveniences of unction but
alfo the purgative e&as that are often produced by
this medicine when taken into the ftomach. But at-
- ter all, the introduction of mercury under the form
of unflion, as recommended by jhe lateft an .
writers in Britain on the venereal difeafe. Dr Swe-
diaur, Mr John Hunter, and others is ftill very ge¬
nerally preferred to any mode that has yet been pro-
p0Where, after a long trial of mercury, diftreffing
fymptoms ftill remain, particularly obftinate ulcera¬
tions and fevere pains, benefit has often been derived
fiom the ufe of opium : but there is little reafon to
believe, as has been held by fome, that ox itfelf tt ax-
CINE.
427
fords an infallible cure ot this difeafe y at leaf! w?e are
inclined to think, that all the fafts hitherto brought
in fuppsrt of the cure of liphylis by opium are at the
utmoft very doubtful.
The fame obfervation may perhaps be made with re¬
gard to another remedy which has of late been highly
extolled in fiphylis, viz. the nitric acid. This article
feems to have been firft introduced both againft aftec-
Scorbutuv
tions of the liver and venereal complaints by Dr Scott
of Bombay. It has fince been highly extolled by Dr
Beddoes and other writers in Britain. And tuere are
many w-ell authenticated cafes on record in which it has
produced a cure. But it is very rarely preferable to
mercury 5 and it is chiefly ufcful when, from fome pecu¬
liarity of conftitution, mercury cannot be exhibited.
In obftinate ulcerations, remaining probably after
the venereal virus has been overcome, and refilling the
ufe of mercury, a complete cure has in many inftances
been obtained from the uie of the root of the. meze-
reon, the daphne mezereum of Linnaeus. This arti¬
cle has been chiefly employed under the form 01 de-
codlion 5 and it now appears that it is the balls of an
article at one time highly celebrated in veneieal com¬
plaints, under the title of Lijbon diet drink. But, up¬
on the whole, thefe fequel® of this.difeafe are perhaps
more readily overcome by country air, gentle exerciie,
and nourilhing diet, particularly a milk diet,, than by
the ufe of any medicine whatever. It muft indeed be
allowed, that ^for combating different fequelae, various
praftices accommodated to the nature of theie will on
particular occafions be requifite. But into the confi-
deration of thefe wTe cannot here propofe to enter.
Genus LXXXVI. SCORBUTUS. 35*
Scunrr.
Scorbutus, Sauv. gen 391. Lin. 223. Vog. 318.
Sag. 127. Boer/i. 1148. Hojfrn. III. 369.
•Junci. 91. Lind on the Scurvy. Hultne de Scor-
buto. Roufpc de Morbis Navigantium.
Dcfcription. The firft indication of the fcorbutic dia-
thefis is generally a change of colour in the face, from
the natural and healthy look to a pale and bloated
complexion, with a liftleffnefs, and averfion from every
fort of exercife j the gums foon after become iteny,
fwell, and are apt to bleed on the ftighteft touch $ the
breath grows offenfive; and the gums, fwelling daily
more and more, turn livid, and at length become ex¬
tremely fungous and putrid, as being continually in
contadl with the external air ^ which m every caie fa¬
vours the putrefaction of fubftances difpofed to run
into that date, and is indeed in fome refpeCts abfolutely
requifite for the production of a&ual putridity.
The fymptoms of the feurvy, like thofe of every
other difeafe, are fome what different in different fub-
jeCts, according to the various circumftances of confti¬
tution ; and they do not always proceed in the fame
regular courfe in every patient. But what is very , re¬
markable in this difeafe, notwithftanding the various
and immenfe load of diftrefs under w-bich the patients
labour, there is no ficknefs at the ftomacb, the appe¬
tite keeps up, and the fenfes remain entire almoft to
the very laft : when lying at reft,, fcorbutic patients
make no complaints, and feel little diftrefs .or pain; but
3 H 2. the
4^8 M E D I
Impeti- the moment they attempt to rife or fur themfeives, then
1 gir’es' , the breathing becomes difficult, with a kind of ftraitnefs
or catching, and great oppreffion, and fometimes they
have been known to fall into a fyncope. This catch¬
ing of the breath upon motion, with the lofs of ftrength,
dejection of fpirit, and rotten gums, are held as the ef-
fentiai or diftinguiffiing fymptoms of the difeafe. The
fkin is generally dry, except in the very laft ftage,
when the patients become exceedingly fubjeft to faint-
ings, and then it grows clammy and moift : in fome
Jt has an anferine appearance : but much oftener it is
fmooth and ffiining j and, when examined, is found
to be fpread over with fpots not riling above the fur-
face, of a redith, bluilh, livid or purple colour, with
a fort of yellow rim round them. At firft thefe fpots
are for the molt part fmall, but in time they increafe
to large blotches. 1 he legs and thighs are the places
where they are principally feen : more rarely on the
head and face. Many have a fwelling of the legs,
which is harder, and retains the impreffion of the fin¬
ger longer than the common dropfical or truly oede-
matous Iwellings. The ffighteft wounds and kruifes,
in fcorbutic habits, degenerate into foul and unto¬
ward ulcers } and the appearance of thefe ulcers is
fo lingular and uniform, that they are eafily diffin-
guifhed from all others. Scorbutic ulcers afford no
good digeftion, but give out a thin and fetid ichor
mixed with blood, which at length has the appear¬
ance of coagulated gore lying caked on the furface
of the fore, not to be feparated or wiped off without
forne difficulty. The flefii underneath thefe Houghs
feels to the probe faft and fpongy, and is very putrid.
Neither detergents nor efcharotics are here of any
fervice ; for though fuch Houghs be with great pains
taken away, they are found again at the next dreffing,
where the fame fanguineous putrid appearance always
prefents itfelf. Their edges are generally of a livid
colon1-, and puffed up with excrefcences of proud fleffi
arifing from below the flun. As the violence of the
difeafe increafes, the ulcers ffioot out a foft bloody fun¬
gus, which often rifes in a night’s time to a monfirous
fize; and although deftroyed by cauteries, asffual or
potential, or cut away with the knife, is found at next
dreffing as large as ever. It is a confiderable time,
however, before thefe ulcers, bad as they are, come
to affeft the bones with rottennefs. Tliefe appear¬
ances will always ferve to affure us that an ulcer is
fcorbutic ; and ffiould put us on our guard with re-
fpetff to the giving mercurials, which are very generally
pernicious in thefe. cafes.
Scorbutic people, as the difeafe advances, are feldom
free from pains ; though they have not the fame feat
in all, and often in the fame perfon ffiift their place.
Some complain of univerfal pain in all their bones •, but
moft violent in the limbs, and efpecially the joints : the
moft frequent feat of their pain, however, is fome part
of the bread-. The pains of this difeafe feem to arife
from the diftraflion of the fenfible fibres by the extra-
vafated blood being forced into the interftices of the
periofteum and of the tendinous and ligamentous parts ;
whofe texture being fo firm, the fibres are liable to
higher degrees of tenlion, and confequently of pain.
The Hates of the bowels are various; in fome there
is an obftinate coftivenefs; in others a tendency to a
flux, with extremely fetid ffools; the urine is alfo rank
CINE. PradUce.
and xetid, generally high coloured ; and, when it has Scorbutus.
Hood for fome hours, throws up an oily fcum on the
furface. JLhe pulfe is variable j but molt commonly
flower and more feeble than in the time of perfed
health. A ffiffnefs in the tendons, and weaknefs in the
joints of the knees, appear early in the difeafe : but as
it grows more inveterate, the patients generally lofe
the ufe of their limbs altogether j having a contra&ion
of the flexor tendons in the ham, with a fwelling and
pain in the joint of the knee. Some have -their legs
monftroufly fwelled, and covered over with livid fpots
or ecchymofes; others have had tumours there fome,
though without fwelling, have the calves of the legs
and the flefh of the thighs quite indurated. As per-
fons far gone in the fcurvy are apt to faint, and even
expire, on being moved and brought out into the frefli
air, the utmoft care and circumfpedion are requilite
when it is neceffary to ftir or remove them.
Scorbutic patients are at all times, but more efpe«
cially as the difeafe advances, extremely fubjeft to
profufe bleedings from different parts of the body ; as
from the nofe, gums, inteftines, lungs, &.c. and like-
wife from their ulcers, which generally bleed plenti¬
fully if the fungus be cut away. It is not eafy tov
conceive a more difmal and diverfified fcene of mifery
than what is beheld in the third and laft ftage of this
diftemper ; it being then that the anomalous and more
extraordinary fymptoms appear, fuch as the burfting
out of old wounds, and the diffolution of old fra&ures
that have been long united.
Caufes. The term fcurvy has been Indifcriminate-
ly applied, even by phyficians, to almoft all the dif¬
ferent kinds of cutaneous foulnefs; owing to fome
writers of the laft century, who comprehended fuch a
variety of fymptoms under this denomination, that
there are few chronic diftempers which may not be fo
called, according to their fcheme: but the difeafe
here meant is the true putrid fcurvy, fo often fatal
to feamen, that with many it has got the name of fea-
fcarvy, thoughit be a difeafe frequently occurring on (bore,
as was experienced by the Britifli garrifons of Bolton,
Minorca, and many other places. Indeed no difeafe is
perhaps more frequent or more deftru£tive to people
pent up in garrifons without fufficient fupplies of found
animal food and frefli vegetables. It is foroetimes
known to be endemic in certuin countries, where the
nature of the foil, the general ftate of the atmo-
fphere, and the common courfe of diet, all combine in
producing that lingular fpecies of corruption in the mafs
of blood which conftitptes the fcorbutic diathelis; for
the appearances, on diffefting fcorbutic fubjedts, fuffi-
ciently (how that the fpurvy may, with great propriety,
be termed a difeafe of the blood.
Dr Lind has, in a poftfcript to the third edition of
his treatife on the fcurvy, given the refult of his
oblervations drawn from the diffeclion of a confider¬
able number of vidlims to this fatal malady'; from which
it appears that the true fcorbutic ftate, in an advanced
ftage of the diftemper, confifts in numerous effufions-
of blood into the cellular interftices of moft; parts of
the body, fuperficial as well as internal ; particularly
the gums and the legs; the texture of the former
being almoft entirely cellular, and the generally de¬
pendent ftate of the latter rendering thefe parts, of
all others in the whole body, the moft; apt to receive
and
Practice, M E D I
Jmpeu- an(J retain the ftagnant blood, when its crafis comes
, gl,‘es' . to be deftroyed; and when it lofes that glutinous
quality which, during health, hinders it from efcaping
through the pores in the coats of the blood-veffels or
through exhalant extremities,
A dropfical indifpofition, efpecially in the legs and
bread, was frequently, but not always, obferved in the
fubjefts that were opened, and the pericardium was
fometimes found diftended with water : the water
thus colle£!ed was often fo {harp as to Ihrivel the
hands of the diffedlor ; and in fome inftances, where
%he {kin happened to be broken, it irritated and fefter-
ed the wound.
The flefhy fibres rvere found fo extremely lax and
tender, and the bellies of the mufcles in the legs and
thighs fo duffed with the eft’ufed flagnating blood,
that it was always difficult, and fometimes impoffible,
to raife or feparate one mufcle from another. He fays
that the quantity of this effufed blood was amazing •,
in fome bodies it feemed that almoft a fourth part of
the whole mafs had efcaped from the veffels; and it
often lay in large concretions on the periofteum, and
in fome few inftances under this membrane immediate¬
ly on the bone. Notwdthftanding this diffolved and
depraved ftate of the external fleftiy parts, the brain
always appeared perfectly found, and the vifcera of the
abdomen, as well as thofe in the thorax, were in
general found quite uncorrupted. There were fpots
indeed, from'extravafated blood, obferved on the mefen-
tery, inteftines, ftomacb, and omentum j but thefe fpots
were firm, and free from any mortified taint; and, more
than once, an effufion of blood, as large as a hand’s
breadth, has been feen on the furface of the ftomach j
and what was remarkable, that very fubjefl was not
known wffiile living to have made any complaint of
ficknefs, pain, or other diforder, in either ftomach or
bowels.
Thefe circutnftances and appearances, with many
others that are not here enumerated, all prove to a de-
monftration a putrefcent, or at leaft a highly depraved
Hate of the blood : and yet Dr Lind takes no fmall
pains to combat the idea of the fcurvy’s proceeding
from animal putrefaffion j a notion which, according
to him, “ may, and hath milled phyiicians to pro-
pofe and adminifter remedies for it altogether ineffec¬
tual.”
He alfo, in the preface to his third edition, talks of
the mifchief done by an attachment to delufive theo¬
ries. He. fays, “ it is not probable that a remedy for
the fcurvy will ever be difcovered from a preconceived
hypothefis, or by fpeculative men in the clofet, who
have never feen the difeafe, or who have feen at moft
only a few cafes of it j” and adds, “ that though a
few partial fatts and obfervations may, for a little,
flatter with hopes of greater fuccefs, yet more enlarged
experience muft ever evince the fallacy of all pofitive a(-
fertions in the healing art.”
Sir John Pringle, however, is of a very different
opinion. He “ is perfuaded, after long refledion, and
the opportunities he has had of converfing with thoie
who to much fagacity had joined no fmall experience
in nautical praftice, that upon an examination of the
feveral articles which have either been of old approved,
or have of late been introduced into the navy, it will
appear, that though thefe means may vary in form
CINE. 429
and in mode of operating, yet they all fome way con- Scorbutus,
tribute towards preventing putrefaction j whether of “ ~v
the air in the clofer parts of a fhip, of the meats, of
the water, of the clothes and bedding, or of the body
xtfelf.”
What Dr Lind has above advanced is the more re¬
markable, as, in the two former editions of his book,
he embraced the hypothefis of animal putrefadion be¬
ing the caufe of the fcurvy *, and if thefe effufions of
blood, from a deftrudion of its crafis and the diffolved
ftate of the mufcular fibres, together with the rotten
condition of the mouth and gums, do not betray pu-
trefcency, it is hard to fay wdiat does, or what other
name we {hall beftow on this peculiar fpecies of de¬
pravation wffiich conftitutes the fcurvy.
The blood, no doubt, derives its healthy properties,
and maintains them, from the due fupplits of whole-
fome food ; wdfile the infoluble, fuuerfluous, effete, and
acrid parts, are carried off by the feveral difcharges
of ftool, urine, and pei fpiration.
Our fenfes of tafte and fmell are fufficient to inform
us when our food is in a ftate of foundnefs and fweet-
nefs, and confequently wholefome j but it is from
chemiftry that we muft learn the principles on which
thefe qualities chiefly depend.
Experiments of various kinds have proved, that the
foundnefs of ^animal and vegetable fubftances depends
very much, if not entirely, on the prefence of their
aerial principle. Rottennefs is never obferved to take
place without an emiflion of fixed air from the putrefy¬
ing fubftance : and even when putrefaction has made a
confiderable progrefs, if aerial acid can be transferred,
in fufficient quantity, from fome other fubftance in a
ftate of effervefcence or fermentation, into the putrid
body, the offenfive fmell of this will be deftroyed. If
it be a bit of rotten fleftr with which the experiment is
made, the firmnefs of its fibres wall be found in fome
meafure reftored.
The experiments of Dr Hales, as well as many
others made fince his time, fhow that an aerial prin¬
ciple is greatly connected with, and remarkably abun¬
dant in, the gelatinous parts of animal bodies, and in
the mucilage or farina of vegetables. But thefe are
the parts of our food which are moft; particularly nu¬
tritive 5 and Dr Cullen, whofe opinion on this as on
every other medical fubjedft muft be allowed of the
greateft weight, affirms, in his Lectures on the Mate¬
ria Medica, that the fubftances on which we feed are
nutritious only in proportion to the quantities of oil
and fugar which they refpectively contain. This oil
and fugar are blended together in the gelatinous part
of our animal food, and in the mucilaginous and fari¬
naceous part of efculent vegetables j and, wdiile thus
intimately combined, are not perceivable by our tafte,
though very capable of being developed and rendered
diftinft by the pow’er of the digeftive organs ; for in
confequence of the changes produced during digeftion,
the oily and the faccharine matter become manifeft to
our fenfes, as wre may fee and tafte in the milk of
animals, which is chiefly chyle a little advanced in its
progrefs toward fanguification ; the oil is obferved to
feparate fpontaneoufly, and from which a quantity of
aCtual fugar may be obtained by a very fimple pro-
cefs.
Thus much being premifed, w’e can now readily .
comprehend
43°
Impeti-
gines.
M EDI
comprehend how the blood may come to lofe thofe
qualities of fmoothnefs, mildnefs, and tenacity which
sre natural to it. For if, in the fir ft place, the fluids,
and organs fubfervient to digeftion, fliould be fo far
diftempered or debilitated that the nutritious parts of
the food cannot be properly developed, the blood
mult be defrauded of its due fupplies ; which will alfo
be the cafe if the aliment fliould not originally con¬
tain enough of oily and faccr arine matter, or fhould
be fo circumfianced, from being dried or failed, as to
hinder the ready extrication of the nutritious parts j
or, laftly, if the natural difcharges fhould be inter¬
rupted or fufpended, fo that the fuperfluous, aciid,
and effete fluids are retained in the general mafs in
all thefe inflances the blood muft of neceffity run into
proportionate degrees of depravation. . •
And hence wre may un^erftand how it may pofubiy
happen, that wdien perfons are greatly weakened by
feme preceding diforder, and at the fame time debar¬
red the ufe of proper bodily exercife, the fcorbutic
diathefis fhould take place, even though they enjoy
the advantages of pure air and wholefome diet. Fut
thefe are folitary cafes, and very rarely feen for
whenever the feurvy feizes numbers, and can be con-
fidered as an epidemic difeafe, it will be found to de¬
pend on a combination of the major part, or perhaps
all, of the following circumftances :
i. A moift atmofphere, and more efpecially if cold
be joined to this moifture. 2. Too long ceffation
from bodily exercife, whether it be from con ft mint,
or a lazy flothful difpofition. 3. Dejedkon of mind.
4. Negledl of cleanlinefs, and wTant of fufficient cloth-
ing. j. Want of wholefome drink, either of puie
water or fermented liquors. And, 6. Above all, the
being obliged to live continually on faked meats, per¬
haps not well cured, wuthout a due proportion of the
vegetables fufticient to ccrreft the pernicious tendency
of the fait, by fupplying the bland oil and faccharine
matter requifite for the purpofes of nutrition.
Thefe general principles refpedling the cau.es and
nature of feurvy, feem to afford a better explanation
of the phenomena of the difeafe than any conjectures
refpedting it that have hitherto been prOpofed. It
muft, however, be allowed, that Dr Lind is by no
means the only writer who is difpofed to conhder^ this
difeafe as not referable to the condition of the circu¬
lating fluids. In a late ingenious treatife on this fub-
jedl by Sir F. Milman, he ftrenuoufly contends, that the
primary morbid affedlion in this complaint is a debili¬
tated ftate of the folids arifing principally from want
*of aliment. But his arguments on this fubjedl, as well
as thofe of Dr Lind, are very ably anfwered by a ftill
later writer on this fubjeft, Dr Trotter, who has drawn
his cbfcrvations refpefiing it from very extenfive expe¬
rience, and who confiders it as clearly eftabhftied, by
incontrovertible fads, that the proximate caufe of
feurvy depends on fome peculiar ftate of tVie blood.
That this difeafe does not depend On a debilitated ftate
of the folids, is demonftratively proved from numerous
cafes where every poffible degree of debility occurs in
the folids without the flighteft ^ appearance of feurvy.
Dr Trotter, in the fecond edition of his Obfervations
on the Scurvy, from the refult of farther obfervation
and later difeoveries in chemiftry, has attempted, with
much ingenuity, to prove that the morbid condition
2
C I N E. Fraaice.
of the blood, which takes place'in feurvy, arifes from Scorbutus
the abftraclion of vital air, or, as it is new generally '
called, oxij^ene ; and this opinion, thougo ftid, per¬
haps, in fome particulars requiring farther connima-
tion, is, it muft be allowed, iupported by many plau*
fible arguments.
Prevention ami Cure. The feurvy may be prevent¬
ed, by obviating and correcting thole Circumftances
in refpedl of the non-naturals vvnich were mentisned as
contributing to the dileafe, and laid down as came .
It is therefore a duty highly incumbent on ameers
commanding at lea, or in garrifons, to me every pm-
fible precaution \ and, in the firft place, to correct tea
coldnefs and moifture of the atmofphere by fufficient
fires : in the next, to fee that their men be lodged in
dry, clean, and well ventilated births or apartments .
thirdly, to promote cheerfulnefs, and enjoin frequent
exercife, which alone is of infinite ule in preventing
the feurvy : fourthly, to take care that tne clotmng
be proper, and cleanlinefs of perfon ftrictly_ obferyed :
fifthly, to fupply them with wholefome drink, either
pure water or found fermented liquors ■, and n ipirits
be allowed, to have them properly diluted with wa¬
ter and fweetened with melaffes or ccar'e fugar : and-
laftly, to order the faked meats to be fparingly ufed,
or fometimes entirely abftained from ■, a?>d in their
place, let the people live on different compofitions of
the dried vegetables } frefti meat and recent vegetables
being introduced as often as they can pofiibly be pro¬
cured.
A clofe attention to thefe matters will, m general,
prevent the feurvy from making its appearance at all,
and will always hinder it from fpreading its influence
far. But when thefe precautions have been ftegledled,
or the circumftances luch that they cannot be put in
pradfice, and the difeafe has adiuaily taken place,
our whole endeavour muft be to reftore the blood to
its original ftate of foundnefs 1 and happily, fmh is
the nature of this difeafe, that a fufticiency of
new matter, of the truly mild nutritious fort, and par¬
ticularly fuch as abounds with vital air, lumi as ic-
cent vegetables, or different acid fruits, can be thiown
into the circulation while the fleftiy fibres, retain
any tolerable degree of firmnefs, the patient will re¬
cover ; and that in a furprifingly fhort fpace of time,
provided a pure air, comfortable lodgings, fufficient
clothing, cleanlinefs, and exercife, lend their necei-
fary aid.
This being the cafe, the plan of treatment }S to be
condudfed almoft entirely in the dietetic way } as toe
change in the mafs of blood, which it is neceffaiy to
produce, muft be brought about by tilings that can Le
received into the ftomach by pints or pounds, and not
by thofe which are adminiftered in drops or grains,
drams or ounces. For here, as there is no difoider
of the nervous fyftem, we have no need of. tho.e
adlive drugs w'hich are indifpenfably neceffaiy in fe¬
brile or nervous difeafes •, the fcorbutic diathefis oe-
ing quite oppofite to that which tends to pioduce
a fever cr any fpecies of fpafmodic diforders 5 nay,
Dr Lind fays, he has repeatedly found, that even the
infedlion of an hofpital fever is long refifted oy a fcoi-
butic habit.
It will now naturally occur to the reader,, what
thofe alimentary fubfiances muft be which bid the
faireft
Practice. M P . D I
Impetl- faireil to rtftore the blood to its healthy flate ; and he
g‘ncs- needs fcarceiy to be told, that they are of thole kinds
v which the fiomach can bear with pleafure though ta¬
ken in large quantities, which abound in jelly or mu¬
cilage, and which allow thofe nutritious parts to be
eafiiy developed •, for though the vifcera in fcorbutic
patients may be all perfectly found, yet we cannot ex¬
pect that either the digeftive fluids or organs fhould
polTefs the fame degrees of power, which enable them,
during health, to convert the crude dry farinacea, and
the hard falted flefh of animals, into nourilhment. We
muft therefore fearch for the antifcorbutic virtue in the
tender fweet flelh of herbivorous animals 5 in new
milk } and in the mucilaginous acid juices of re¬
cent vegetables, whether they be fruits, leaves, or
roots.
The four juices of lemons, oranges, and limes, have
been generally held as antifcorbutics in an eminent de¬
gree, and their power afcribed to their acid $ from an
idea that acids of all kinds are the only correctors of
putrefaftion. But the general current of practical
obfervations thows, and our experiments confirm it,
that the virtue of thefe juices depends on their aerial
principle; accordingly, while perfedly recent and in
the mucilaginous flate, and efpecially if mixed with
wine and i'ugar, the juices of any one of thefe fruits
will be found a molt grateful and powerful antifcor¬
butic.
Dr Lind obferving, “ that the lemon juice, when
given by itfelf undiluted, was apt, elpecially if over-
doled, to have too violent an operation, by occafion-
ing pain and licknefs at the ftomach, and fometimes a
vomiting found it neceffary to add to it wine and fu-
gar. A pint of Madeira wine, and two ounces of fu-
gar, were put to four ounces and a half of juice, and
this quantity was found fufficient for weak patients to
ufe in 24 hours : fuch as were very weak Upped a little
of this frequently according as their Itrength would
permit ; others who were ftronger took about two oun¬
ces of it every two hours j and when the patients grew
ftill ftronger, they were allowed eight ounces of lemon
juice in 24 hours.”
While this very pleafant mixture, which is both a
cordial and an antifeptic, may be had, it would be
needlefs to think of preferibing any other ) but when
the freih juice cannot be procured, we mufl: have re-
courfe to fuch other things as may be obtained. But
the various modes of combining and adminiflering
tbefe, fo as to render them perfectly agreeable to the
Ifomach, mult always be regulated by circumltances,
and therefore it will be in vain to lay down parti-
cular directions j fince all that we have to do is, to fix
on fuch fruits and other freih vegetables as can be molt
conveniently had and taken, and contrive to give them
in thofe forms, either alone or boiled up with tlelh meat
into foups, which will allow the patients to comume
the greatelt quantities. .
The firlt promifing alteration from fuch a courfe is
ufually a gentle diarrhoea and if, in a few days, the
Ikin becomes foft and moilt, it is an infallible fign of
recovery j efpecially if the patient gain Itrength, anti
can bear being Itirred or carried into trie open air with¬
out fainting.
But if the belly flieuld not be loofened by toe uie ct
the freih vegetables, nor the fkh become foft and mo!ft.
CINE.
43i
then they mult be aihfted by Hewed prunes, or a decOc- Scorbutus,
tion of tamarinds with fupertartrite of potash, in order “ ‘
to abate the coltivenefs •, and by drinking a light decoc¬
tion of the woods, and warm bathing, in order to relax
the pores of the Ikin 5 for nothing contributes more to
the recovery of fcorbutic patients than moderate fweat-
ing.
With regard to particular fymptoms, antifeptic
mouth waters compofed of a decoction of cinchona
and infufion of roles, with a folution of myrrh, mult
be uled occafionally, in order to cleanl'e the mouth, and
give firmnefs to the fpongy gums. Swelled and indu¬
rated limbs, and ftiffened joints, muft be bathed with
warm vinegar, and relaxed by the fteam of warm wa¬
ter, repeatedly conveyed to them, and confined to the
parts by means of clofe blankets: ulcers on the legs
muft: never be treated with unftuous applications nor
fharp efcharotics but the drefling Ihould conftft of lint
or foft rags, dipt in a ilrong decodion of cinchona.
This difeafe at no time requires, or indeed bears,
large evacuations, either by bleeding or purging j and
as has been already mentioned, the belly muft only be
kept open by the freih vegetables or the mildeft laxa¬
tives. But we are always to be careful that fcorbutic
perfons, after a long abltinence from greens and fruits,
be not permitted to eat voracioully at firit, left they fall
into a fatal dyfentery.
All, however, that has now been laid down as ne¬
ceffary towards the cure, fuppofes the patients to be
in fituations where they can be plentifully furnilhed
with all the requilites ; but unhappily thefe things are
not to be procured at fea, and often deficient in gar-
rifons : in order therefore, that a remedy for the feur-
vy might never be wanting, Dr Macbride, in tne year
1762, fir ft conceived the notion, that the infufion of
malt, commonly called wort, might be fubilituted
for the common antifcorbutics j and it w^s accordingly
tried.
More than three years elapfed before any account
arrived of the experiments having been made : at
length, ten hiftories of cafes were received, wherein
the"wort had been tried, with very remarkable fuccefs ;
and this being judged a matter oi greSt importance to
the feafanng part of mankind, thele were immediate¬
ly communicated to the public in a pamphlet, under
the title of An hi/lorical account of a new method of
treating the feurvy at fea.
This was in 1767* but after that time a conflder-
able number of letters and medical journals, fufficient
to make up a fmall volume, were tranfmkted to Dr
Macbride, particularly by the furgeons of his Majefty’s
{hips who had been employed of late years for mak¬
ing difeoveries in the fouthern hemifphere. Certain
it is, that in many inftances it has fucceeded beyond
expeffation. In others it has fallen ffiort : but whether
this was owing to the untoward fituation of tne pa¬
tients, or inattention on the part of the perfons who
were charged with the adminiftration of the wort, not
preparing it properly, or not giving it in fufficient
quantity, or to its own want of power, muft: be col¬
lected from the cafes and journals themfclves.
During Captain Cook’s third voyage, the moft re¬
markable, in refpeCft of the healthinefs of the crew,
that ever was performed, the wort is acknowledged tp1-
have been of Angular ufe.
Li.
432
MEDICINE.
Praftice*
gines,
In a letter which this vety celebrated and fuccefs-
ful circumnavigator wrote to Sir John Pringle, he
gives an account of the methods purfued for preferv-
jmg the health of his people ; and which were pro-
du$tve of fuch happy efFeds, that he performed “ a
voyage of three years and 18 days, through all the
climates from 529 north to 710 fouth, with the lofs of
one man only by difeafe, and wdio died of a compli¬
cated and lingering illnefs, without any mixture of
feurvy. Two others were unfortunately drowned, and
one killed by a fall j fo that out of the whole number
ji8 with which he fet out from England, he loll
only four,'”
lie fays, that much was owing to the extraordinary
attention of the admiralty, in caufmg fuch articles to
be put on board as either by experience or cohjedture
were judged to tend moft to preierve the health of fea-
men : and with refpedt to the wort, be expreffes himfelf
as follows;
6< We had on board a large quantity of malt, of
which was made fiveet wort, and given (not only to
thofe men who had manifeft fymptoras of the feurvy,
but to fuch alfo as were, from circumftances, judged
to be moll liable to that diforder) from one or.two to
three pints in the day to each man, or in fuch propor¬
tion as the furgeon thought necefiary, which fome-
times amounted to three quarts in the 24 hours: this
is without doubt one of the bell fea antifcorbutic
medicines yet found out j and if given in time, will,
with proper attention to other things, I am perfuaded,
prevent the feurvy from making any great progrefs
for a conliderable time : but I am not altogether of
opinion that it will cure it, in an advanced Hate, at
fea.”
On this laft point, however, the captain and his
furgeon differ; for this gentleman politively afferts,
and bis journal (in Dr Macbride’s poffellion) confirms
it, that the infufion of malt did effed a cure in a con¬
firmed cafe, and at fea.
The malt being thoroughly dried, and packed up
in fmall calks, is carried to fea, where it will keep
found, in every variety of climate, for at leall two
^cars: when wanted for ufe, it is to be ground in a
hand mill, and the infufion prepared from day to day,
by pouring three meafures of boiling water on one
of the ground malt; the mixture being well malhed,
is left to infufe for 10 or 12 hours, and the clear in¬
fufion then drained off. The patients are to drink it
in fuch quantities as may be deemed neceffary, from
one to three quarts in the courfe of the 24 hours : a
panada is alfo to be made of it, by adding bifeuit,
and currants or railins j and this palatable mefs is ufed
by way of folid food. This courfe of diet, like that
of the recent vegetables, generally keeps the bowels
fufliciently open j but in cafes where coftivenefs ne-
verthelefs prevails, gentle laxatives mull be interpoled
from time to time, together with diaphoretics, and the
topical affiliants, fomentations and gargles, as in the
common way of management.
Captain Cock wras alfo provided with a large flock
of /our krout; (cabbage leaves cut fmall, fermented
and flopped in the fecond ftage of fermentation, and
afterwards preferved by a due quantity of fait.) A
pound of this was ferved to each man, twice a-week,
while they were at fea. Sour krout, frnce the trial
/ 3
made of it on board Captain Cook’s {hips, has been Scorbutus,
extenfively ufed by direction of the Briiilh govern- ——J
ment in many other fituations, where fcorbutus has
prevailed and it has been found to be highly fervice-
able both in preventing and in curing the difeafe. It
was particularly found, during the late American wary
to be highly beneficial to the Britifh troops befieged
in Boflon, who w?ere at that time entirely fed On fait
previfions fent from England, and among whom true
fcorbutus was very fatal till the four krout arrived.
The feurvy at one period broke out among them with
very alarming appearances j but by the feafonable ar¬
rival of a quantity of four krout, it was effe£lually over¬
come. Care, however, muft be bellowed, that this ar¬
ticle be properly prepared and properly kept. When
due attention is paid to thefe particulars, it may be
preferved in good condition for many months j and is
confidered both by failors and foldiers as a very accept¬
able addition to their fait provifions. But when ferv¬
ed out to them in a putrid flate, it is not only highly
difagreeable to the tafle, but probably alfo pernicious
in its effe&s.
Among other means of preventing feurvy, Captain
Cook had alfo a liberal fupply of portable foup ;
of which the men had generally an ounce, three
days in the wreek, boiled up with their peafe $ and
fometimes it was ferved to them oftener 5 and when
they could get frefh greens, it was boiled up with
them, and made fuch an agreeable mefs, that it
was the means of making the people eat a greater
quantity of greens than they would otherwife have
done. And what was ftill of further advantage,
they were furnifhed with fugar in lieu of butter or
oil, which is feldom of the fweetell fort j fo that
the crew were undoubtedly great gainers by the ex¬
change.
In addition to all thefe advantages of being fo
well provided with every neceffary, either in the way
of diet or medicine, Captain Cook was remarkably at¬
tentive to all the circumftances refpedling cleanlinefs,
exercife, fufficient clothing, provifion of pure water,
and purification of the air in the clofer parts of the
flap.
From the effedl of thefe different means, as em¬
ployed by Captain Cook, there can be little doubt
that they will with due attention be fufficient for
the prevention and cure of the difeafe, at leafl in
mofl fituations : but befides thefe, there are alfo fome
other articles wdiich may be employed with great ad¬
vantage.
Newly brewed fpruce beer made from a decoftion
of the tops of the fpruce fir and melaffes, is an ex¬
cellent antifcorbutic \ it a£ls in the fame way that the
wort does, and will be found of equal efficacy, and
therefore may be fubflituted. Where the tops of
the fpruce fir are not to bejiad, this beer may be pre¬
pared from the effence of fpruce as it has been call¬
ed, an article which keeps eafily for a great length of
time. But in fituations where neither the one nor
the other can be had, a mofl falutary mefs may be
prepared from oatmeal, by infufing it in water,
in a wmoden veffel, till it ferments, and begins to
turn fourifh 5 which generally happens, in mode¬
rately w^arm weather, in the fpace of twm days.—
The liquor is then ftrained off from the grounds,
and
Practice. M EDI
Impetigines and boiled do;vn to the confidence of a jelly, which
-v-"— is to be eaten with wine and fugar, or with butter and
fugar.
Nothing is more commonly talked of than a land
fcurvy, as a diflindl fpecies of difeafe from that which
has been now defcribed 5 but no writer has yet given
a defcription fo clear as to enable us to diftinguith it
from the various kinds of cutaneous foulnefs and erup¬
tion, which indeed are vulgarly termed fcorbutic, but
which are akin to the itch or leprofy, and for the mod
part require mercurials. Thefe, however, are very dif¬
ferent difeafes from the true fcorbutus, which, it is well
known, may prevail in certain fituations on land as
well as at fea, and is in no degree to be attributed to
fea air.
35* Genus LXXXVII. ELEPHANTIASIS.
Elephantiafis, Sauv. gen. 302, V°K' 321, *
gen. 128,
Elephantia Arabum, Vog. 322.
The bed account of this difeafe is that by Dr He-
berden, publidred in the fird volume of the Medical
Tranfa&ions. According to him, frequently the fird
fymptom is a fudden eruptron of tubercles, or bumps
of different fizes, of a red colour, more or lefs intenfe
(attended with great heat and itching), on the body,
legs, arms, and face j fometimes in the face and neck
alone, at other-times occupying the limbs only ; the
patient is feveridi; the fever ceafing,. the tubercles^re¬
main indolent, and in fome degree fcirrhous, of a livid
or copper colour, but fometimes of the natural colour
of tlm Ikin, or at lead very little altered ; and after
fome months they not unfrequently ulcerate, difcharging
a fetid ichorous humour in imall quantity, but never
laudable pus.
The features of the face fwell and_ enlarge greatly ;
the part above the eyebrows feeros inflated j the hair
of the eyebrows falls off, as does the hair of the beard •,
but Dr Heberden has never feen any one whofe hair
has not remained on his head. I he alee na/i nve fwell-
ed and fcabrous 5 the nodrils patulous, and Sometimes
affefted with ulcers, which, corroding the cartilage and
feptut?i na/i, occafion the nofe to fall. T he lips aie tu¬
mid j the voice is hoarfe } which fymptom has been ob-
ferved when no ulcers have appeared in the thioat, al¬
though fometimes both the throat and gums aie ulce¬
rated. The ears, particularly the lobes, are thickened,
and occupied by tubercles. The nails grow fcabrous
and rugofe, appearing fomething like the rough bark
of a tree 5 and* the didemper advancing, corrodes the
parts gradually with a dry fordid fcab or gangrenous
ulcer 5 fo that the fingers and toes rot and feparate
joint after joint. In fome patients the legs fetm rather
pods than legs, being no longer of the natural fhape,
but fwelled to an enormous fize, and indurated, not
yielding to the preffme of the fingers j and the fuper-
ficies is covered with very thin feales, of a dull whitidi
colour, feemingly much finer, but not fo white as thole
obferved in the lepra Gracorntn. The whole limb is
overfpread with tubercles, interfperfed with deep fif-
fures 5 fometimes the limb is covered with a thick mold
fcabby crud, and not unfrequently the tubercles ulce¬
rate. In others the legs are emaciated, and .ometimes
Vol. XIII. Part II.
G 1 N E. 433
ulcerated \ at other times affecled with tubercles with- Ek-phanti,
out ulceration. The mufcular delh between the thumb ' <
and forefinger is generally extenuated.
The whole dun, particularly that of the face, has a
remarkably diining appearance, as if it was vainifhed
or finely polilhed. The fenfation in the parts affedled
is very obtufe, or totally abolifhed j fo that pinching,
or pundduring the part, gives little or no uneafinefs ;
and in fome patients, the motion of the fingers and toes
is quite dedroyed. The breath is very offenfivc j the
pulfe in general weak and flow.
The difeafe often attacks the patient in a different
manner from that above defcribed, beginning almod in-
fenfibly j a few indolent tubercles appearing on vari¬
ous parts of the body or limbs, generally on the legs
or arms, fometimes on the face, neck, or bread, and
fometimes in the lobes of the ears, increafing by very
flow degrees, without any diforder, previous or conco¬
mitant, in refpeft of pain or uneafinefs.
To didinguifh the diflemper from its manner of at¬
tacking the patient, Dr Heberden dyles the fird by
jluxion and the other by congeJHon. That by fluxion
is often the attendant of a crapula, or forfeit from
grofs foods ; whereby, perhaps, the latent feeds of the
difbrder yet dormant in the mafs of blood are excited ^
and probably from frequent obfervations of this kind
(the lad meal being always blamed), it is, that, ac¬
cording to the received opinion, either fifli, (the tunny,
mackarel, and fhell-fifh, in particular), melons, cucum¬
bers, young garden-beans, or mulberries, eaten at tlm
fame meal with butter, cheefe, or any preparation of
milk, are fuppofed to produce the didemper, and are
accordingly religioufly avoided.
Violent commotions of the mind, as anger, fear, and
grief, have more than once been oblerved to have giv¬
en rife to the diforder •, and more frequently, in the fe¬
male fex, a fudden fuppreflion of an accudomed evacua¬
tion, by bathing the legs and feet in cold water at an
improper feafon.
The diforder by fluxion is what is the oftened endea¬
voured to be remedied by timely application ; that by
congedion, not being fo confpicuous, is generally either
negledled or attempted to be concealed, until perhaps
it be too late to be cured, at lead unlefs the patients
would fubmit to a longer courfe of medicine and drift¬
er regimen of diet than they are commonly inclined
to do.
Several incipient diforders by fluxion have been known
to yield to an antiphlogidic method, as bleeding, re¬
frigerant falts in the faline draughts, and a. folution
of cry dais of tartar in water, for common drink, (by
this means endeavouring to precipitate part of the pec¬
cant matter, perhaps too grofs to pafs the pores by the
kidneys) ; and when once the fever is overcome, cin¬
chona, combined with faffafras, is the remedy_ princi¬
pally to be relied on. The only topical medicine pre-
feribed by Dr Heberden, was an attenuating embroca¬
tion of brandy and alkaline fpirit. By the fame method
fome confirmed cafes have been palliated. But, except¬
ing in one patient, Dr Heberden never faw or heard of
a confirmed elephantiafis radically cured. He adds,
however, that he never met with another patient pof-
feffed of prudence and perfeverance enough to profecute
the cure as he ought.
3 I Genus
434
354
M E D I
Genus LXXXVIII. LEPRA.
The Leprosy.
Lepra, Sauv. gen. 303. Lin. 262. Sag. 129.
Lepra Gracorum, Vog. 320.
This dillemper is but little known to phyfieians in
the weitern parts of Europe. Wallis tells us, that it
firft begins with red pimples, or puftules, breaking out
in various parts of the body. Sometimes they appear
iingle j fometimes a great number arife together, efpe-
cially on the arms and legs 5 as the difeafe increafes,
frefh pimples appear, which, joining the former, make
a fort of clutters 5 all which enlarge their borders, and
fpread in an orbicular form. The fuperfkies of theie
puilules are rough, whitifh, and fcaly w'hen they are
fcratched the fcales fall off, upon which a thin ichor
oozes out, which foon dries and hardens into a fcaly
cruft. Thefe clutters of puftules are at firft fmall and
few ; perhaps only three or four in an arm or leg, and
of the fize of a filver penny. But if the difeafe be fuf-
fered to go on, they become more numerous, and the
clufters increafe to the fize of a crown-piece, but notexaft-
ly round. Afterwards the affedlion increafes to fuch a
degree, that the whole body is covered with a leprous
fcurf. The cure of this diftemper is very much the
fame with that of the Elephantiasis. Here, how¬
ever, recourfe is frequently had to antimomal and mer¬
curial medicines, continued for a confiderable length of
time. In conjunaion with thefe, warm bathing, parti¬
cularly the vapour bath, has often been employed with
advantage.
Although what can flri&ly be called lepra is now,
at leaft, a very rare difeafe in this country, yet to this
general head may be referred a variety of cutaneous
affections which are here very common, and which
in many inttances prove very obftinate. Thefe appear
under a variety of different forms ; fometimes under
that of red puftules 5 fometimes of white fcurfs •,
fometimes of ulcerations •, and not unfrequently a tran-
fition takes place from one foi’m to another, fo that
they cannot be divided into different genera from the
external appearance. Ihete affeCtions will often yield
to the remedies already mentioned j but wdiere anti-
jn-mials and mercurials either fail, or from different
circumitances are confidered as unadvifeable, a cure
may fometimes be effected by others. In particular
cales, pu> ging mineral waters, the deco&ion of cincho¬
na, the infufion of the cenanthe crocata, and various
others, have been employed with fuccefs. Different
externa] applications alfo have fometimes been em¬
ployed with advantage. An article ufed in this way,
known under the name of Gowland’s lotion, with
the compofftion of which we are unacquainted, has
been much celebrated, and has been faid to be employed
with great fuccefs, particularly againft eruptions on the
face and nofe.
Genus LXXXIX. FRAMBOESIA.
The Tajvs.
Framboefia, Sauv. gen. 125. Sag. 125.
Dvfcription, The defciiptkm which is given of this
CINE. Pra&ice.
diftemper by the anonymous author of a paper in the Framboefia.
6th volume of the Edinburgh Medical Effays, (art. 76.) v—'
differs, in fome circumftances, from one that Sauvages
received from M. Virgile, an eminent furgeon of Mont¬
pelier, who praflifed twelve years in the iffand of St
Domingo •, and therefore he diftinguifties \he frambcc-
Jia into two fpecies, Gmneenfis and Americana.
Theframbcejia Guineenjis is faid by the firft-mention-
ed writer to be fo common on the coaft of Guinea
and other parts of Africa, that it feldom fails to at’
tack each individual of both fexes, one time or other,
in the courfe of their lives 5 but moft commonly dur¬
ing childhood or youth. “ It makes its appearance
in little fpots on the cuticle, level with the ikin, at
firft no larger than a pin’s head, which increafe daily,
and become protuberant like pimples: foon after the
cuticle frets off, and then, inftead of finding pus or
ichor, in this fmall tumor, only white floughs or
fordes appear, under which is a fmall red fungus,
growing out of the cutis, increafing gradually to very
different magnitudes, fome lefs than the fmalleft wood
ftraw berry, fome as big as a rafpberry, and others ex*
ceeding in fize even the largeft mulberries $ which ber¬
ries they very much refemble, being knobbed as thefe
are.” Thefe protuberances, which give the name to
the difeafe, appear on all parts of the body : but the
greateft numbers, and the largeft fized, are generally
found in the groins, and about the pudenda or anus,
in the armpits, and on the face : when the yaw's are
very large, they are few in number} and when re¬
markably numerous, they are lefs in fize. The pa¬
tients, in all other refpefts, enjoy good health, do not
lofe their appetite, and feem to have little other uneafi-
nefs than what the fores occafion.
M. Virgile defetibes the fpecies of yaws that is
common among the negroes of St Domingo, and
which Sauvages has termed frambeejia Americana, as
beginning from an ulcer that breaks out indiferiminate-
ly in different parts of the body, though moft common¬
ly on the legs •, at firft fuperficial, and not different
from a common ulcer in any other circumftance laving
its not healing by the ufual applications j fooner or lat¬
er, numerous fungous excrefcences break out on the
furface of the body, as before deferibed, like little ber¬
ries, moift, with a reddiih mucus. Belides thefe, the
foies of the feet and palms of the hands become rawq
the Ikin fretting off, fo as to leave the mufcles bare j
thefe excoriations are fometimes moift with ichor and
fometimes dry, but always painful, and confequently
very diftrefling. They are mentioned alio by the au¬
thor of the article in the Medical Effays ; and both
he and M. Virgile obferve, that there is always one
excrefcence, or yaw, of an uncommon fize, which is
longer in falling off than the others, and which is con¬
fidered as the majier-yaw, and fo termed. An ingeni¬
ous inaugural differtation on the fubjeft of the yaws
was lately publiflied at Edinburgh by Dr Jonathan
Anderfon Ludford, now phylician in Jamaica. The
author of that differtation confiders Dr Cullen as im¬
properly referring framboefia to the clafs of cachexias.
He thinks that this difeafe ought rather to be referred
to the exanthemata ; for, like the fmallpox, he tells us,
it has its acceflion, height, and decline. It begins
with fome degree of fever, either more or lefs violent;
it may be propagated by inoculation ; and it attacks
the.
Practice. M E D I
Impetigines. the fame individual only once in the courfe of a life-
  v " time, tbofe who recover from the difeafe being never
afterwards affe&ed with it. Thefe particulars re-
fpeSing frambcefla are refted not merely on the au¬
thority of Dr Ludford, but are fupported alfo by the
teftim’ony of Dr William Wright, a phyfician of di-
ilinguilhed eminence, who, while he relided in Jamai¬
ca, had, in the courfe of extenfive praftice, many op¬
portunities of obferving this difeafe, and to whom Dr
Ludford acknowledges great obligations for having
communicated to him many important fadls refpeft-
ing it.
Dr Ludford confiders the yaw^s as being in every
inftance the confequence of contagion, and as depend¬
ing on a matter fui generis. He fuppofes no peculiar
predifpofition from diet, colour, or other circumilan-
ces, as being in any degree neceffary. He views
the difeafe as chiefly arifing from contaft with the
matter, in confequence of fleeping in the fame bed,
wafhing in the fame veffel with the infedted, or the
like. In fhort, the yaws may be communicated by
any kind of contadl •, nay, it is even believed that flies
often convey the infeaion, when, after having gorged
themfelves with the virulent matter by fucking the ul¬
cers of thofe who are difeafed, they make pundtures in
the fkin of fucb as are found, and thus inoculate
them 5 in confequence of which the diforder will foon
appear.
Prosrnojis. The yaws are not dangerous, if the cure
be fkiifully managed at a proper time •, but if the pa¬
tient has been prematurely falivated, or has taken any
quantity of mercury, and it his fkin has been Jiiddenly
cleared, the cure will be very difficult, if not imprac¬
ticable.
Cure. In attempting the cure of this difeafe, the
four following indications are chiefly to beheld in view:
1. To fupport the ftrength of the patient.
2. To promote excretion by the fkin.
g. To corredt the vitiated fluids.
4. To remove and counteradl the injuries done either
to the conftitution in general, or to particular parts,
by the difeafe.
^ With the firft of thefe intentions, a liberal diet, con-
fifting of a confiderable quantity of animal food, with
a confiderable proportion of wine, and gentle exercife,
are to be employed : but the cure is principally to
be effedled by. mercurial falivation, after the virulent
matter has been completely thrown out to the furface
of the body by fudorifics. The following are the par¬
ticular diredtions given on this head by the author of
the article in the Medical Effays. The yaws being an
infedlious difeafe, as foon as they begin to appear on
a negro, he muft be removed to a houfe by himielt;
or, if it is not certain whether the eruption be the
yaws or not, fhut him up feven days, and look on him
again, as the Jews were commanded to do with their
lepers, and in that time you may in molt cafes be cer-
tain. . , , • • 1
As foon as you are convinced that it is tne yawTs,
give a bolus of flowers of fulphur, with camphor and
theriaca. Repeat this bolus every night fo^a fortnight
or three weeks, or till the yaws come to the height *,
that is, when they neither increafe ip fize or number :
.then throw your patient into a gentle falivation .with
C I N E. . 435
calomel given in fmall dofes, without farther prepava- Framboefia-
tion ; five grains repeated once, twice, or thrice a-day, ^
is fuflicient, as the patient can bear it. If he fpits a
quart in 24 hours, it is enough. Generally, when the
falivation is at this height, all the yaws are covered
with dry fcaly cruffs or fcabs j which, if numerous,
look terribly. Thefe fall off daily in fmall white fcales;
and in ten or twelve days leave the fkin fmooth and
clean. Then the calomel may be omitted, and the fa¬
livation permitted to go off fpontaneoufly. A dram of
corrofive fublimate diffolved in an ounce of rum or
brandy, and the folution daubed on the yaws, will, it
is faid, in general clear the fkin in two days time.
After the falivation, fweat the patient twice or thrice
in a frame or chair with fpirits of wine 5 and give an
alterative eleftuary of aethiops and gum guaiac. He
may likewife ufe the decodlion of guaiacum and faffa-
fras fermented w-ith melaffes, for his conflant drink
while the ele&uary is taking, and a week or a fort¬
night after the elecfluary is finilhed.
The mafler-yaw mull be confumed an eighth or a
tenth part of an inch below the fkin, with Mcrcur. cor-
rof. rub. et alum. ujl. part, cequal. and digelled with
ling. bafil.Jlav. §j. and mercur. corrof. rub. 3j- and ci¬
catrized with lint preffed out of fpirits of wine, and
with the fulphate of copper.
After the yaws are cured, fome patients are afflicfled
with carbuncles in their feet 5 which fometimes render
them incapable of walking, unlefs with pain. 1 he
method of cure is, by bathing and paring to deftroy
the cuticle, and then proceed as in the mafter-yaw.
The gentle efcharotics are to be preferred; av 1
imaginable care is to be taken to avoid the tenui .
periofteum.
To children under fix or feven years old, at the
per time of falivating, when the yaws are come to
their full growth, give a grain or two of calomel in
white iugar, once a-day, once in two days, or once in
three days, fo as only to keep their mouths a little fore
till the yaw^s dry, and, falling off in white fcales, leave
the Ikin clean. This fucceeds always, but requires a
longer time than in adults.
In St Domingo they are falivated by umflion ; but it
does not appear that fuccefs always followed this
pracflice. It is alfo ufual in that bland to give the So¬
lution of corrofive fublimate along with a decoction
of farfaparilla. Twelve ounces of this root, and 12
pounds of the coarfeff Sugar, macerated for 15 days in
12 quarts of wrater, is mentioned as a fpecific, and faid
to be the prefcription of an Englifh phyfician ; the dofe
is four ounces every fixth hour.
Genus XC. TRICHOMA.
The Plica Polonica, or Plaited Hair.
Trichoma, Sauv. gen. 3II. Sag. 137.
Plica, Lin. 313.
Plica five Rhopalofis, Vog. 323.
This diforder is only met with in Poland and Lithu¬
ania, and confifts of feveral blood-veffels running from
the head into the ends of the hairs ; which cleave toge¬
ther, and hang from the head in broad flat pieces, ge¬
nerally about an ell in length, but fometimes they are
3 I 2 Avp
355
43<5
M E D I
Impetigines five or fix yards long } one patient has tnci'e or lefs of
thefe, up to 20, and fometimes 30. They are painful
to the wearer, and odious to every fpe£tator. At the
approach of winter an eruptive fever happens to many
in thefe countries : the eruptions principally infdl the
head, and when at the height an ichorous humour flows
from them. In this ftate they are too tender to admit
of being touched, and the matter running down the
hairs mats them together j the Ikin by degrees, break¬
ing, the ramifications of the capillary veffels following
the courfe of the hair, or prolonged out of the Ikin, are
increafed to a vaft length.
No method of relief is yet known ; for if the dif-
charge be checked, or the veflels cut oft, the confe-
quence is an increafe of more rmierable fymptoms, and
in the end death. Sennertus fays, rvhen all the morbid
matter is thrown out of the body the plicae fall oft" fpon-
taneoufly. He further obferves, that the only fafe prac¬
tice in this cafe is, to follicit the peccant matter to the
hairs, to which it naturally tends ; and that this is belt
anfwered by lotions of bear’s-breech. Some fay that
a deco&ion of the herb club-mofs, and its feeds, with
which the head is to be walhed, is a fpecific.
3S6
Genus XCI. ICTERUS.
The "Jaundice.
I&erus, Lin. 224. Vog. 306. BoerJi. 918. Junch.
90.
Aurigo, Sauv. gen. 306. Sag. 132.
Cachexia idlerica, Hojfrn. III. 301.
Defcription. The jaundice firft (hows itfelf by a lift-
leffnefs and want of appetite, the patient becomes dull,
opprefted, and generally coftive. Thefe fymptoms
have continued but a very ftiort time, when a yellow
colour begins to diftufe itfelf over the tunica albuginea,
or white part of the eye, and the nails of the fingers }
the urine becomes high coloured, with a yellowifti le-
diment capable of giving a yellow tindl to linen j the
ftools are whitifh or gray. In fome there is a moft
violent pain in the epigaftric region, which is confider-
ably increafed after meals. Sometimes the patient has
a continual propenfity to fleep j but in others there is
too great watchfulnefs *, and fometimes the pain is fo
great, that though the patient be fleepy he cannot
compofe himfelf to reft. The pains come by fits ; and
mort women’who have had the jaundice and born chil¬
dren, agree, that they are more violent than labour-
pains. As the difeafe increafes, the yellow colour be¬
come6' more and more deep ; an itching is felt all over
the Ikin •, and even the internal membranes of the vif-
cera, the bones, and the brain itfelf, become tinged, as
hath been fhown from diftedfions, where the bones have
been found tinged fometimes for years after the jaun¬
dice has been cured.
In like manner, all the fecretions are affedled with
the yellow colour of the bile, which in this difeafe is
diffufed throughout the whole mafs of fluids. The fa-
liva be comes yellowith and bitter •, the urine exceflively
high coloured, in fuch a manner as to appear almoft
black ; nay, the blood itfelf is fometimes faid to ap¬
pear of a yellow colour when drawn from a vein •, yet
Dr Heberden fays, that he never faw the milk altered
in its colour, even in cafes of very deep jaundice. In
C I N E. Practice.
procefs of time the blood begins to acquire a tendency is.
to diflblution and putrefadfion ; which is known by —-y—J
the patient’s colour changing from a deep yellow to a
black or dark yellow. Haemorrhages enfue from vari¬
ous parts of the body, and the patients frequently die
of an apoplexy •, though in fome the difeafe degene¬
rates into an incurable dropfy ; and there have not been
wanting inftances of fome who have died of the droply
after the jaundice itfelf had been totally removed.
Caufes. As the jaundice coniifts in a diffufion of
the bile throughout the whole fyftem, it thence fol¬
lows, that whatever may favour the diftufion is alio to
be reckoned among the caufes of jaundice. Many dif-
putes have arifen concerning the manner in which the
bile is introduced into the blood \ but it is now general¬
ly agreed that it is taken up by the lymphatics of the
gall bladder and biliary dudts. Hence, a jaundice
may arife from any thing obftrucling the pafi'age of
the bile into the duodenum, or from any thing which
alters the ftate of the lymphatics in fuch a manner as
to make them capable of abforbing the bile in its na¬
tural ftate. Hence the jaundice may arife from feirrhi
of the liver or other vifccra prefling upon the biliary
drifts, and obftrufting the paffage of the bile ; from
flatus diftending the duodenum, and {hutting up the
entrance of the duftus communis choledochus into it \
from the fame orifice being plugged up by vilcid bile,
or other fordes 5 but by far the moft frequent caufe of
iaundice is the formation of calculi, or more properly
biliary concretions : for although they w7ere long ccn-
fidered as being of a calcareous nature, yet more accu¬
rate experiments have now7 demonftrated, that they ccn-
fift principally of a febaceous matter j accordingly, while
they are fo light as to fwim in water, they are alfo
highly inflammable. Thefe are found of almoft all
fizes, from that of a fmall pea to that of a walnut, or
bigger : they are of different colours •, and fometimes
appear as if formed in the inward part by cryftalliza-
tion, but of lamellae on the outer part ; though fome¬
times the outw7ard part is covered with rough and
ftiining cryftals, while the inward part is lamellated.
Thefe enter into the biliary dufts, and obftruft them,
caufing a jaundice, with violent pain for fome time 5
and wTich can be cured by no means till the concretion
is either paffed entirely through the duftus communis
or returned into the gall-bladder. Sometimes, in the
opinion of many celebrated phyficians, the jaundice is
occafioned by fpafmodic conftriftions of the biliary
dufts •, but this is denied by ethers, and it is not yet
afeertained whether thefe dufts are capable of being
affefted by fpafm or not, as the exiftence of mufcular
fibres in them has not with certainty been difeovered.
It cannot, however, be denied, that violent fits of paf-
fion have often produced jaundice, fometimes tempora¬
ry, but frequently permanent. This has been by fome
deemed a fuflficient proof of the fpafmodic contraftion
of the dufts *, but their opponents fuppofed, that the
agitation occafioned by the paflion might puftr fonvard
fome biliary concretion into a narrow part of the duft,
by which means a jaundice would certainly be pro¬
duced, till the concretion was either driven backward
or fonvard into the duodenum altogether. But even
fuppofing the dufts themfelves to be incapable of fpafm,
yet there can be no doubt that by a fpafm of the in-
teftines biliary concretions may be retained in the dufts;
and
Praftice.
M E D I
Impetigin -- an(l indeed it is principally where the daft entering
"-V"— obliquely into the inteftine forms as it were a fpecies of
valve that thefe concretions are retained.
In a very relaxed date of the body there is alfo an
abforption of the bile, as in the yellow fever •, and in¬
deed in all putrid diforders there is a kind of yellowifli
tin ft over the ikin, though much lefs than in the true
jaundice. The reafon of this is, that in thefe difor¬
ders there is ufually an increafed fecretion of bile,
commonly of a thinner confidence than in a healthy
Hate, while the orifices of the lymphatics are probably
enlarged, and thus ready to abforb a fluid foraewhat
thicker than what they ought to take up m a healthy
ft ate ; but thefe diforders are of fliort duration in c©m-
parifon with the real jaundice, which fometimes lafts
for many years. Thefe affeftions, however, cannot
with propriety in any cafe be confidered as real in-
ftances of jaundice j for, to conftitute that difeafe bile
muft not only be prefent in the blood, but wanting in
the alimentary canal.
It is obfervable, that women are more fubjeft to
jaundice than men, which probably arifes from their
more fedentary life j for this, together with fome of
the deprefling paflions of the mind, is found to pro¬
mote the acceffion of the difeafe, if not abfolutely to
produce it. Pregnant women alfo are frequently at¬
tacked by the jaundice, which goes off after their de-
livery.
Prognojis. As jaundice may arife from many dif¬
ferent caufes, fome of which cannot be difcovered du¬
ring the patient’s life, the prognofis muft on this ac¬
count be very uncertain. 1 he only cafes which admit
of a cure are thole depending upon biliary concretions,
or obftruftions of the biliary dufts by vifcid bile ; for
the concretions are feldom ot fuch a fize tnat tne
du$s will not let them pals through, though frequent¬
ly not without extreme pain. Indeed this pain, thougn
fo violent, and almoft intolerable to the flck perfon,
affords the bell prognofis 5 as the phyfician may rea¬
dily affure his patient that there is. great hope of his
being relieved from it. 1 he coming on of a gentle
diarrhoea, attended with bilious ftools, together with
the ceffation of pain, are fignsof the difeafe being cured.
We are not, however, always to conclude, becaufe the
difeafe is not attended with acute pain, that it is there¬
fore incurable j for frequently the paffage of a concre¬
tion through the biliary dufts is accompanied omy with
a fenfation of flight uneafinefs.
Cure. The great objeft to be aimed at in the cure
of jaundice is unqueftionably the removal of the caufe
which obflrufts the paffage of bile into the inteftines :
But before this can be accompliflied, praftices are of-
* tenneceffary for alleviating urgent fymptoms; which
may be done fometirnes by lupplying the want of bile
in the alimentary canal, fometimes by affording an
exit for bilious matter from the general ma.s of blood,
but moft frequently by obviating the effefts of diften-
tion and obftruftion to the circulation in the fy Idem of
the liver.
The meafures to be employed for the removal of the
obftruftion muft depend very much on the nature o
the obftrufting caufe.
When the jaundice arifes from indurated fwellings
or fcirrhi of the vifcera, it is .abfolutely incurable ; ne,-
CINE.
verthelefs, as thefe cannot always be difcovered, the
phyfician ought to proceed in every cafe of jaundice as
' 1? W _ f  „ . 1 II r S ' U I /I ^ /-wi 11 ro c 1a T I
if it arofe from calculi. The indications here are, 1. Lo
diffolve the concretionsj and, 2. lo prevent their for¬
mation a fecond time. But unhappily the medical
art has not yet afforded a folvent for biliary concre¬
tions. They cannot even be diffolved when tried out
of the body either by acids or alkalies, or any thing
but a mixture of oil of turpentine and ipirit of wine j
and thefe fubftances are by far too irritating to be
given in fufficient quantity to afteft a concretion in
the biliary dufts. Boerhaave obferves, that difeafes
of the liver are much more difficult to cure than thole
in any other part of the body 5 becaufe of the ditu-
culty there is in getting at the part affefted, and tne
tedious and round-about paffage the blood has to it.
The juice of common grafs has indeed been recom¬
mended as a fpecific in the jaundice, but on no good
foundation. Gliffon obferves, that blame cattle aie
fubjeft to biliary concretions when fed with hay or
dried ftraw in winter, but are cured by the lucculent
grafs in the fpring j and Van Swieten tells a ftrange
ftory of a man who cured himlelf of the jaundice by
living almoff entirely on grafs, of which he devoured
fuch" quantities, that the farmers w-ere wont to drive
him out of their fields j but other praftitioners have
by no means found this in any degree effectual. . I he
only method of cure now attempted in the jaundice is-
to expel the concretion into the inteftines} for which
vomits and exercife are the principal medicines. 1 he
former are juftly reckoned the moft efticacious medi¬
cines, as they powerfully ihake all the abdominal and
thoracic vifcera 5 and thus tend to diilodge any ob¬
ftrufting matter that may be contained in them. But
if there'’be a tendency to inflammation, vomits mud
not be exhibited till bleeding has been premifed. We
muft alfo proceed with caution if the pain be very
(harp j for in all cafes where the difeafe is attended with
violent pain, it will be neceffary to allay it by opiates
before the exhibition of an emetic. I here is alfo
danger, that, by a continued ufe of vomits, a concre¬
tion which is too large to pafs, may be lo impafted in
the dufts, that it cannot even be returned into the gall¬
bladder, which would otherwife have happened.. . In all
cafes, therefore, if no relief follows the exhibition of
the fecond or third emetic, it. will be prudent to for¬
bear their farther ufe for fome time.
Of all kinds of exercife, that of riding on horleback
is moft to be depended upon in this oileafe. It ope¬
rates in the fame manner with vomits, namely, by th*
concuffion it gives to the vifcera. j and tnerefore the
cautions neceflary to be obferved in the ufe of vomits
are alfo neceflary to be obferved in the tue of riding.
Cathartics alfo may be of fe.rvice, by cleanfing the
privies vice, and foliciting a diicharge of the bile into
the inteftines but they muft not be of too draftic .1
nature, elfe they may produce incurable obftruftions,
by bringing forward concretions that are too. large to
pafs. Anodynes and the warm batn are ferviceabie bv
their relaxing quality't and there can be no aoubt,
that, from afting as powerful antifpaanodics, they often
give an opportunity for the difeharge of concretions
by very flight caufes, when they would otherwife be
firmlv retained. Soap has been fuppofed to do fervice
'■ as
4 M £ D I
Pvffefthe- as a folvent j but this is now found to be a miftake, and
ii9e- it a£ls in no other way than as a relaxant or as a gentle
purgative.
Eut when all means of relief fail, as in cafes of fcir-
rhus, we can then only attempt to palliate the fymp-
toms, and preferve the patient’s life as long as polhble.
This is beft ac compliihed by diuretics •, for thus a great
quantity of bilious matter is evacuated, and the fyftem
h freed from the bad confequences which enfue on its
flagnation in the habit. But even this is by no means
equal 1:0 the common evacuation by ftool j nor can all
the attempts to fupply the want of bile in the mteftines
by bitters and other ftomacbics reftore the patient to
his wonted appetite and vigour. If the pain be very
violent, we mud on all occalions have recourfe to
opiates •, or if the blood has acquired a tendency to
diffolution, it muft be counteradled by proper anti-
feptics.
If the difeafe goes off, its return muff be prevented
by a courfe of tonic medicines, particularly the cin¬
chona and antifeptics: but we can by no means be
certain that the jaundice will not return, and that .at
any interval ; for there may be a number of concre¬
tions in the gall-bladder, and though one has paffed,
another may very quickly follow, and produce a new7
fit of jaundice *, and thus fome people have continued
to be affe&ed with the diftemper, at Ihort intervals,
during life.
In the Eaft Indies, mercury has been lately recom¬
mended as exceedingly efficacious in diforders of the
liver, efpecially thofe which follow intermitting and
remitting fevers. Dr Monro, in his Obfervations on
•the means of preferving the health of foldiers, acquaints
us, that he has feen fome idleric cafes which, he thought,
received benefit from taking a few grains of the fub-
murias hydrargyri at night, and a purge next morning j
and this repeated two or three times a-week.
Infants are fubjeft to a temporary jaundice, com¬
monly called the gum, foon after birth ; the caufe of
which is not well underftood. It differs remarkably
from the common jaundice j as, in the latter, the dif¬
eafe is firft difcoverable in the white of the eyes} but
though the Ikin of infants in the gum is all over yel¬
low, their eyes always remain clear. The diforder
goes off fpontaneoufly, or by the ufe of a gentle pur¬
gative or two.
Class IV. LOCALES.
Vitia, Saui). Clafs I. Lin. Clafs XL Vog. Clafs X.
Sag. Clafs. I.
Plagae, Sag. Clafs II.
Morbi organic! Auftorum.
Order I. DYSESTHESIA.
Dvfaefthefiae, Saw. Clafs VI. Ord. I. Sag. Clafs IX.
Ord. I.
Genus XCII. CALICO.
The Cataract.
Caligo, Sauv. gen. 153. Vog. 288. Sag. gen. 259.
Catarafta, Lin, 109.
4
C I M E.
Pra&ice,
A cataraB is an obftru&ion of the pupil, by the in- Amaurofk
terpofition of fome opaque fubftance which either di- v
miniffies or totally extinguifhes the fight. It is ge¬
nerally an opacity in the cryilalline humour. In a re¬
cent or beginning cataraB, the fame medicines are to
be ufed as in the gutta ferena ; and they will fometimes
fucceed. But when this does not happen, and the ca-
taraft becomes firm, it muft be couched, or rather ex-
tradled 5 for which operation, fee Surgery.—Dr
Buchan fays he has refolved a recent catarafl by giving
the patient fome purges with calomel, keeping a poul¬
tice of freffi hemlock conftantly upon the eye, and a
perpetual blifter on the neck.
There is, however, but little reafon to fuppofe that
thefe practices will frequently fucceed. A refolution
can only be effecled here by an abforption of the
opaque matter ; and where this is poffible, there is per¬
haps a better chance of its being effefled by the
agency of the elcftric fluid than by any other means.
For this purpofe eleflricity is chiefly applied under the
form of the eleBric aura, as it has been called } but
even this is very rarely fuccefsful.
Genus XCIII. AMAUROSIS. 360
The Gutta Serena.
Amaurofis, .SVzw-u. gen. 155. Lin. no. Vog. 238.
Sag. 261.
Amblyopia, Lin. 108. Vog. 236.
A gutta ferena is an abolition of the fight without
any apparent caufe or fault in the eyes. In every cafe
it depends on an affe£Hon of fome part of the optic
nerve. But the affeftions which may produce this
difeafe are of different kinds. When it is owing to a
decay or wafting of the optic nerve, it does not admit
of a cure j but when it proceeds from a compreffiou
of the nerves by redundant humours, thefe may be in
fome meafure drained off, and the patient relieved.
For this purpofe, the body muft be kept open with
the laxative mercurial pills. If the patient be young,
and of a fanguine habit, he may be bled. Cupping
with fcarifications on the back part of the head will
likewife be of ufe. A running at the nofe may be
promoted by volatile falts, ftimulating powders, &c.
But the moft likely means of relieving the patient,
are iffues or blifters kept open for a long time on the
back part of the head, behind the ears, or on the
neck ; which have been known to reftore fight even af¬
ter it had been for a confiderable time loft.—Should
thefe fail, recourfe muft be had to a mercurial faliva-
tion j or, what will perhaps anfwer the purpofe better,
1 2 grains of the corrofive fublimate mercury may be
diffolved in an Englifh pint and a half of brandy, and
a table fpoonful of it taken twice a-day, drinking half *
a pint of the decoftion of farfaparilla after it.—Of
late eleftricity has been much celebrated as efficacious,
when no other thing could do fervice ; and here it has
in fome degree the fame chance of fuccefs as in other
cafes of infenfibility, depending on an affeflion of the
nerves, in fome of which it has certainly in particular
cafes been of ufe.
In the amaurofis, Dr Porterfield obferves, that it is
of the utmoft confequence to know of how long Hand¬
ing the difeafe has been } which is not always eafily
done if one eye only be affefted. This is a very effen-
tial
Practice. M E D I
Dyfsefthe- tial point j becaufe an amaurofis of long (landing is al-
fiae. together incurable. Pvlr Boyle mentions the cafe of a
ila(j a catarafl for feveral years without know¬
ing it himfelf, though others did. He difcovered it
at laft by happening to rub his found eye, and was fur-
prifed to find himfelf in the dark. When a perfon
therefore has a gutta ferena only in one of the eyes, he
may think that the eye has but lately loft the power of
fight j though this perhaps has been the cafe for feveral
years. On the other hand, he may imagine that a re¬
cent difeafe of this kind is really of long Handing. But
by inquiring at what time he firft became fubjedl to
miftakes in all adlions that require the diftance to be
exadlly diftinguifhed, as in pouring liquor into a glafs,
fnuffing a candle, or threading a needle, we may difcover
the age of the difeafe, and thence be aflifted to form
a more juft prognoftic with refpedl to its cure. Dr
Porterfield gives an inftance of his conjecluring in this
manner concerning the cafe of a young lady who had
difcovered a lofs of fight in one of her eyes only the
day before. The difeafe was thought to be of long
Handing ; but as the dodlor found that fhe had only
been fubjedt to miftakes of the kind above mentioned
for about a month, he drew a favourable prognoftic,
and the difeafe was cured.
361
Genus XC1V. DYSOPIA.
Defrayed Vision.
CINE.
This diforder may proceed from various caufes both
natural and accidental, fome of which admit of no re¬
medy. If it be occalioned by a partial adhefion of the
eyelids, the hand of the furgeon is required : if by a
tranfverfe polition of the pupil, fome mechanical con¬
trivance is neceffary. If it be owing to an albugo co¬
vering part of the pupil, or to a film rendering a por¬
tion of (the cornea opaque, the remedies for thefe af-
fedlions are to be here applied.'
Genus XCV. PSEUDOBLEPSIS.
Imaginary Vision of Objedts which do not exift.
Suffufio, Sauv. gen. 217. Sag. 329.
Phantafma, Lin. 73. Sag. 289.
This very often takes place when the body is dif-
eafed, and then the patient is faid to be delirious.
Sometimes, however, in thefe cafes, it does not amount
to delirium ; but the perfon imagines he fees gnats or
other infedls flying before his eyes j or fometimes, that
every thing he looks at has black fpots in it, which
laft is a very dangerous fign. Sometimes alfo fparks
of fire appear before the eyes) which appearances aro
not to be difregarded, as they frequently precede apo¬
plexy or epilepfy. Sometimes, however, people have
been affedted in this manner during life without feeling
any other inconvenience. Such a dilorder can rarely if
ever be cured.
439
Paracufis.
$61
Amblyopia, Sauv. gen. 154. Sag. 258.
There are feveral fpecies referred to this genus by
Dr Cullen, viz.
1. Dgfopia Tenebrarum ; 2. Dyfopia Luminis.—
The former of thefe is properly the nytlalofna, or night-
blindnefs, of ancient authors. But amongft both the
Greek and Latin writers, there is a diredl oppofition
in the ufe of this word nyBalofna ; fome faying it fig-
nifies “ thofe who cannot fee by night,” and others ex-
prefs by it “ thofe who cannot fee during the day, but
during the nightV—The difference in the account of
this diforder, as to its appearing in the night or in
the day, is reconciled by confidering it as of the in¬
termitting kind : the difference then will confift in the
different times of its approach 5 fo it may be called/>e-
riodicalblindnefs. Intermittents appearing in a variety
of modes, and the fuccefs of cinchona in fome inftances
of this fort of blindnefs, both favour the opinion of its
being an intermittent difeafe of the eyes \ and this
view has accordingly been taken of it by fome late
writers, particularly in fome papers in the London Me¬
dical Obfervations, and Medical Franladtions.
3. Dyfo/)ia Proximorvm (PrejbytiaJ), or the defeat
of thofe who fee only at too great diftance. 4 ^yfJ~
pia Dissitorum (Myopia), or the defedt of thofe who
are Jhortfghted.— I hefe are diforders which depend on
the original ftrudlure or figure of the eye,, therefore
admit of no cure. T he inconveniences arifing from
them may, however, be in fome meafure remedied by
the help of proper glaffes. I he former requires the
aid of a convex, and the latter of a concave glafs.
5. Dyfopia Lateralis ; a defefl by wdiich obiefls
cannot be viewed diftindlly but in an oblique pofition.
-—Thus, in viewing an objedl placed on the left, they
turn their face and eyes to the right, and vice verfa.
Genus XCVI. DYSECCEA.
Deafness, or Difficulty of Hearing.
Genus XCVII. PARACUSIS.
Depravation of Hearing.
Paracufis, Sauv. gen. 159. Sag. 265.
Syrigmus, Sauv. gen. 2x9. Sag. 231.
The functions of the ear may be injured by wounds,
ulcers, or any thing that hurts its fabric. I he hear¬
ing may likewife be hurt by exceflive noife ; violent
colds in the head*, fevers j hard wax, or other fub-
ftances fticking in the cavity of the ear} too great a
degree of moiilure or drynefs of the ear. Dealnefs is
very often the effedl of old age, and is incident to
moft people in the decline of life. Sometimes it is ow¬
ing to an original fault in the ftrudlure or formation of
the ear itfelf. When this is the cafe it admits of no
cure 5 and the unhappy perfon not only continues deaf,
but generally likewife dumb, for life.
When dealnefs is the effedl of wounds or ulcers of
the ears, or of old age, it is not eafily removed.
When it proceeds from cold applied to the head, the
patient mull be careful to keep his head warm, efpe-
cially in the night * he ftiould likewife take /ome gen-
tie purges, and keep his feet warm, and bathe them
freauently in lukewarm water at bedtime. When
deafnefs is the effed of a fever, .it generally goes off
after the patient recovers. If it proceed from dry
wax fticking in the ears, it may be foftened by drop¬
ping oil into them ; afterwards they mull be fyringed
with warm milk and water.
If deafnefs proceeds from drynefs of the ears, which.
may,.
3^3
3*4
440
MEDICINE.
Pra&ice.
Dyfasfthe- may be known by looking into them, half an ounce
of the oil of fweet almonds, and the fame quantity oi
 v   camphorated fpirit of wine, or tmfiture of afafoetida,
may be mixed together, and a few drops of it put into
the ear every night at bedtime, Hopping them after¬
wards with a little wool or cotton. Some, inftead ot
oil, put a fmall flice of the fat of bacon into each ear,
which is faid to anfwer the purpofe very well.—When
the ears abound with moifture, it may be drained olt
by an iffue or feton, which fliould be made as near the
affedled parts as podible. , , ,,
Some, for the cure of deafnefs, recommend the gall
of an eel mixed with fpirit of wine, to be dropped in¬
to the ear 5 others, equal parts of Hungary water and
fpirit of lavender. Etmullgr extols amber and muik j
and Brookes fays, he has often known ha'rdnefs ot
hearing cured by putting a gram or two ol mufic in¬
to the ear vuth cotton wool. . Where, however, an
application wuth confiderable ftimulant power is nece -
fary, camphorated oil, with the addition of a few drops
of volatile alkaline fpirit, may be confidered. as one o
the bed. It is proper, however, to begin with a Imall
quantity of the alkali, increafing it as the ear is found
to bear it. In fome indances, where deameis depends
on a date of infenfibility in the nerves, ekaricity, par¬
ticularly under the form either of Iparks or or the elec¬
tric aura, has been employed with great fuccefs. Great
benefit has alfo in fome cafes been derived from gal-
vanifm. But thefe and other applications mud be varied
according to the caufe of the diforder. .
Though fuch applications may fometimes be ot ier-
vice, yet they much oftener fail, and frequently they
do hurt. Neither the eyes nor ears ought to be tam¬
pered with } they are tender organs, and require a very
delicate touch. For this reafon, what we would chiel-
ly recommend in deafnefs, is to keep the head warm.
From whatever caufe this diforder proceeds, this is. al¬
ways proper; and more benefit has often been derived
from it alone, in the mod obdinate cafes of deafnefs,
than from any medicines whatever.
them. Few things are more hurtful to the fenfe of _ Agcufti;;.
fmelling than taking great quantities of mad.
Cure. When the nofe abounds with moidure, after
gentle evacuations, luch things as tend to take od
irritation and coagulate the thin fiiarp lerum may be
applied-, as the oil of anife mixed with fine dour,
camphire diflfolved in oil of almonds, &c. The vapours
of amber, frankincenfe, gum madic, and benzoin, may
likewife be received into the nofe and mouth. lor
moidening the mucus when it is too dry, iome recom¬
mend fnuff made of the leaves of marjoram, mixed with
oil of amber, and anifeed ; or a dernutatory of calcined
fulphate of zinc, I 2 grains of which may be mixed with
tw’o ounces of marjoram-water and hltramd. 1 n~
deam or vapour of vinegar thrown upon hot iron re¬
ceived up the nodrils is like wile ot ufe tor loftening the
mucus, opening obflru&ions, &c.
If there be an ulcer in the noife, it ought to oe
dreffed with fome emollient ointment, to which, if the
pain be very great, a little laudanum may be added.
If it be a venereal ulcer, it is not to be cured without
mercury. In that cafe, the dilution of the cavrolive
fublimate in brandy may be taken, as directed in the
gutta ferena. The ulcer ought likcwife to be walked
with it; and the fumes of cinnabar may be received
up the nodrils. .
If there be reafon to fufpea that, the nerves which
fupply the organs of fmelling are inert or want, ik-
mulating, volatile falts, drong funds, and otiiei things
which occafion fneezing, may be applied to the noie.
The forehead may- likewife by anointed witn balfam
of Peru, to which may be added a little ot the oil of
amber.
Genus XCIX. AGEUSTIA.
DefeSi of Tasting.
Sag. 263.
Ageudia, Sauv. gen. 157
Ageudia, Lin. 114.
Annerenfis. Vop* z!4.Q«
166
Genus XCVIII. ANOSMIA.
DefeSi of Smelling.
Anofmia, Sauv. gen. 156. Lin. 113* V°8' 24^*
Sag. 262.
Caufes. Morbid affe&ions in the fenfe of fmelhng,
may be confidered with refpea to their caufes, as arif-
ing from one of two fources 5 either from fome orga¬
nic affedion of the parts here principally concerned,
or from a mere atonic date of the part? without any
obvious affedion. The fenfe of fmelling may be di-
minilhed or dedroyed by various difeafes of the parts
as, the moidure, drynefs, inflammation or fuppuration
of that membrane which lines the inlide of the nofe
commonly called the olfaSiory membranethe compref-
fion of the nerves which fupply this.membrane, or fome
fault in the brain itfelf at their origin. A defed, or
too great a degree of folidity, of the fmall fpongy
bones of the upper jaw, the caverns of the forehead,
Eoay likewife impair tne fenfe of fmelhng. It
may alfo be injured by a collcdion of fetid matter in
thofe caverns, which keeps condantly exhaling from
Caufe. This difeafe alfo may arife either from an
organic affedion, or an atonic hate of the parts. ^ I he
tade may be diminidied by cruds, filth, mucus, aphthae,
pellicles, warts, &c. covering the tongue ; it may be
depraved by a fault of the ialiva, which, being di|-^
charged into the mouth, gives the fame fenfation as if
the food which the perfon takes had really a bad tade ;
or it may be entirely dedroyed by injuries done to the
nerves of the tongue and palate. Few things prove
more hurtful either to the fenfe of lading or fmell¬
ing than obdinate colds, efpecially thofe which affed
the head.
Cure. When the tade is dimmidied by filth, mu¬
cus, &c. the tongue ought to be feraped, and fre¬
quently Wadied with a mixture of water, vinegar, and
honey, or fome other detergent. When the faliva is
vitiated, which feldom happens unlefs in fevers or
other difeafes, the curing of the diforder is the cure
of this fymptom. To relieve it, however, in the mean
time, the following pradices may be of ufe : if there
be a bitter tade, it may be taken away by vomits,
purges, and other things which evacuate bile : what
is called a nidorous tafe, arifing from putrid humours,
is
2
Practice.
Dyibrexiffi. is corre^ed by tbs juice of citrons, oranges, and other
-v— acids : a fait tafte is cured by plentiful dilution with
watery liquors : an acid tafte is deftroyed by abforbents
and alka'ine falts, as powder of oyfter-ftiells, fait of
wormwood, &c.
When the fenfibility of the nerves which fupply the
organs of tafte is diminilhed, the chewing of horfe-
radilh, and or other ftimulating fubftances, will help to
recover it.
MEDICINE.
3*7
3**
36?
Genus C. ANAESTHESIA.
t)efeB of the Senfe of Feeling.
Sauv. gen. 161. Lin. 21$. Fog. 26J.
Caufes, &c. This fenfe may be hurt by any thing
that obftru£ls the nervous influence, or prevents its
being regularly conveyed to the organs of touching,
as preflure, extreme cold, &c. It may likewife be
hurt by too great a degree of fenfibility, when the
nerve is not fufficiently covered by the cuticle or fcarf-
Ikin, or where there is too great a tenfton of it, or it
is too delicate. Whatever diforders the fundtions of
the brain and jierves, hurts the fenfe of touching.
Hence it appears to proceed from the fame general
caufes as palfy and apoplexy, and requires nearly the
fame method of treatment.
In a fiupor, or defed of touching, which arifes
from an obftruftion of the cutaneous nerves, the .pa¬
tient muft firft be purged ; afterwards fuch medicines
as excite the adlion of the nerves, or ftimulate the fy-
ftem, may be ufed. For this purpofe, the fpirit of
hartftiorn, either by itfelf or combined with effential
oils, horfe-radilh, &c. may be taken inwardly, the
difordered parts, at the fame time, may be frequently
rubbed with frefti nettles or fpirit of fal ammoniac.
Blifters and fmapifms applied to the parts will likewife
be of ufe ; and alfo warm bathing, efpecially in the na¬
tural hot baths.
Order II. DYSOREXIiE.
are many circumftances which ieem to render it pro¬
bable that it more frequently arifes from a morbid
condition of the fecreted fluid poured into the fto-
mach, by means of wdiich the aliment is diflblved.
When the adivity of this fluid is morbidly increafed,
it will both produce too hidden a folution of the folid
aliment, and likewife operate as a poweiful and pecu¬
liar ftimulus to the ftomach, giving an uneafy fenfa-
tion, fimilar to that which takes place in natural hun¬
ger. Such things are proper for the cure as may en¬
able the ftomach to perform its office : chalybeates and
other tonics will generally be proper. In fome, brandy
drunk in a morning has been ufeful 5 and frequent
fmoking tobacco has relieved others. Oil, fat meat,
pork, opiates, and in fhort every thing which in a found
perfon wmuld be moft apt to pall the appetite, may alfo
be ufed as temporary expedients, but cannot be ex-
peded to perform a cure. In fome, the pylorus has
been found too large j in which cafe the difeafe mull
have been incurable.
G^nus CII. POLYDIPSIA.
Excessive Thirst.
Bull
441
Sag.
Polydipfia, Sauv. gen. 224*
Sag. 336.
Lin. 80. Vog. 275.
Sect. I. APPETJTUS ERRONEI.
Morofitates, Sauv. Clafs VIII. Order II.
Clafs XIII. Order II.
Patbetici, Lin. Clafs V. Order II.
Hypersefthefes, Vog. Clafs VII.
Genus Cl. BULIMIA.
Insatiable Hunger, or Canine Appetite.
Bulimia, Sauv. gen. 223. Lin. 19. Sag. gen. 33^.
Bulimus, Vog. 296.
Addephagia, Vog. 297.
Cynorexia, Vog. 298.
This difeafe is commonly owing to fome fault in
the ftomach, by which the aliments are thrown out
too foon ; and unlefs the perfon be indulged m his
defire for eating, he frequently falls into fainting fits.
Sometimes it is attended with fuch a ftate of the fto¬
mach, that the aliment is rejeded by vomit, almoft im¬
mediately after being fwallow d ; after which the ap¬
petite for food returns as violent as ever. But there
Vol. XliL Part II.
37*
This is almoft always fymptomatic *, and occurs in
fever, dropfy, fluxes, &c. The cure is very generally
obtained only by the removal of the primary difeafe j
and it is beft palliated by the gradual introdudion of
diluents : But when thefe are contraindicated, it may
often be fuccefsfully obviated by fuch articles taken
into the mouth as have effed in augmenting the flow
of faliva.
Genus CIII. PICA.
Longing, or Falfe Appetite.
Pica, Sauv. gen. 222. Sag. 334.
Citta, Lin. 78.
Allotriophagia, Vog. 299.
Malacia, Vog. 300.
The pica is alfo very generally fymptomatic of
other difeafes, as of worms, chlorofis, pregnancy, &c.;
and is therefore chiefly to be combated by the re-
jnoval of the primary affedion. It may, however, be
obferved, that peculiar longings occurring in certain
difeafes, as for example in fevers, often point out a na¬
tural cure. The indulgence of fuch appetites to a
moderate degree is feldom produdive of any incon¬
venience, and often followed by the beft confequence*.
 Hence there are fome praditioners who think that
fuch craving fhould very generally be indulged j par¬
ticularly when the patient can afllgn no reafon what¬
ever for fuch particular longings, but is merely prompt¬
ed by an uncommon and inexplicable defire.
Genus CIV. SATYRIASIS.
Satyriafis, Sauv. gen. 228. Ltn. 81. Sag. 340.
Satyriajis is a violent defire of venery in men, even
fo that reafon is depraved by it. The pulfe is quick,
and the breathing fliort ; the patient is fleeplefs, thirfty,
3 K and
37i
37*
44 2 MED!
Pyforcxi*. ajul loathes his food j the urine is evacuated with dif-
ficulty, and a fever loon comes on. Thefe fymptoms,
however, are probably not fo much the confequence of
fatyriafis, as merely concomitant effecls refulting from
the fame caufe. And indeed this affection is moll
frequently the concomitant of a certain modification
of infanity. The nature and caufe of this affedrion
are in moft inftances very little afcertained j but as far
as we are acquainted with the treatment, it agrees very
much with the affection next to be mentioned, which,
of the two, is the moft common occurrence.
>73
Genus CV. NYMPHOMANIA.
Furor Utertnus.
Nymphomania, Sauv. 229. Sag. 341.
Satyriafis, Lzn. 81.
The furor uterinus is in moft inftances ei.her a
fpecies of madnefs or a high degree of hyfterics. Its
immediate caufe is a preternatural irritability of the
uterus and pudenda of women (to whom the diforder is
proper), or an unufual acrimony of the fluids in thefe
parts.-—Its prefence is known by the wanton behaviour
©f the patient : fhc fpeaks and adts with unreftrained
obfcenity 5 and as the diforder increafes, fhe fcolds,
cries, and laughs, by turns. While reafon is retained,
{he is filent, and feems melanchol)’,- but her eyes dif-
cover an unufual wantonnefs. '1 he fymptoms are bet¬
ter and worfe until the greateft degree of the diforder
approaches, and then by every word and adlion her
condition is too manifeft.—In the beginning a cure may
be hoped for; but if it continue, it degenerates into a
mania.—In order to the cure, blood-letting is common¬
ly recommended in proportion to the patient’s ftrength.
Camphor in dofes of 15 or 20 grains, with nitre, and
fmall dofes of the tindlure of opium, Ihould be repeated
at proper intervals. Some venture to give cerufa aceta-
ta in dofes from three to five grains. Befides bleeding,
•cooling purges fhould alfo be repeated in proportion to
the violence of fymptoms, &c. What is ufeful in
■maniacal and hypochondriac diforders, is alfo ufeful
here, regard being had to fanguine or phlegmatic ha¬
bits, &c. When the delirium is at the height, give
•opiates to compofe j and ufe the fame method as in a
phrenitis or a mania. Injections of barley-water, wfith
a fmall quantity of hemlock-juice, according to Rive-
rius, may be frequently thrown up into the uterus:
this is called^terz/fc ; but matrimony, ifpoffible, fhould
be preferred. For although this cannot be reprefent-
ed as a cure for the difeafe when in an advanced ftate,
yet there is reafon to believe that it has not unfre-
quently prevented it where it would otherwife have
taken place.,
■'374 Genus CVI. NOSTALGIA.
Vehement Desire of revisiting one's Couutrt.
Noftalgia, Awy. gen 226. Lin. Si,, 338.
This is to be reckoned a fpecies of melancholy ; and
unlefs it be indulged, it very commonly proves not
only incurable but even fatal. Although it cannot
be confidered as altogether peculiar to any nation,
yet it is obferved to be much mote frequent with
C I N E. Pradice.
fome than with others \ and it has particularly been Noftalgia,
remarked among Swifs foldiers in the fervice of foreign
dates.
Sect. II. slPPETITUS DEFICIENTES.
*
Anepithymioe, Sauv. Clafs VI. Ord, II. Sag. IX,
Ord. II.
Privativi, Lin. Clafs VI. Order III,
Adynamite, Vog. Clafs VI.
Genus CVII. ANOREXIA. ^
Want of jItpetite.
Anorexia, Sauv. gen. 162. Lin. 116. Vog. 279.
Sag. 268.
The anorexia is fymptomatic of many difeafes, but
feldom appears as a primary affedfion ; and it is very
generally overcome only by the removal of the affedlioiv
on which it depends.
Genus CVIII. ADIPSIA.
Want of Thirst.
Adipfia, Sauv. gen. 163. Lin. 117. Vog. 281. Sag.
269.
This by Dr Cullen is reckoned to be always fymn-
tomatic of fome diftemper affedling the fenforium com¬
mune.
Genus CIX. ANAPHRODISIA.
Impotence to Venerp.
Anaphrodifia, Sauv. gen. 164. Sag. 270.
Atecnia, Lin. 119.
Agenefia, Vog. 283.
For this, fee the article Impotence in the alphabe¬
tical order.
Order III. DYSCINESIiE.
Genus CX. APHONIA.
Lofs of Voice.
Aphonia, Sauv. gen. 166. Lin. J15. Vog. 253,
Sag. 272.
The lofs of voice may proceed! from various caufes.
If one of the recurrent nerves, which are formed by
the par vagum and the nervus accef/bmus, and reach
the larynx, be cut, the perfon is capable of only as it
were a half-pronunciation ; but if both be cut, the
fpeech and voice are both loft. The lofs of fpeech
happening in hyfteric patients is alfo called aphonia ;
but more properly that lefs of fpeech is thus named
which depends on fome fault of the tongue.
Since the motion of any part is deftroyed, or leflen-
ed at Raft, by the interception of the nervous fluid
in its paffage thither, and fince the nerves deftined for
the motion of the tongue arife principally from the
fifth pair, it appears that the feat of this diforder is in
the fifth pair of nerves, and that the immediate caufo
Practice. M E D I
Dyforexise. is a diminution or total dellruftion of the nervous
' ■ ' power in them. Hence a palfy of the tongue, wliich
is either antecedent or fubfequent to hemipledtic or apo¬
plectic diforders, demand our utmoft attention.
If an aphonia appears alone, it generally befpeaks
an approaching hemiplegia or apoplexy j but if it fuc-
ceed thefe diforders, and is complicated with a weak
memory and a fluggifhnefs of the mental powers, it
threatens their return. That aphony ufually termi¬
nates the beft which proceeds from a ftagnation of
fereus humours compreffmg the branches of the fifth
pair of nerves, which run to the tongue j but it is no
lefs affliftive to the patient, and is very obilinate of cure.
Other caufes of this diforder are, the firiking in of
eruptions on the Ikin, a congeftion of blood in the
fauces and tongue, obltru&ed periodical evacuations in
plethoric habits, fpafmodic affeftions, worms, a crumb
of bread falling into the larynx, fear-, too free an ufe
of fpirituous liquors; alfo whatever deftroys the liga¬
ments which go from the arytaenoid to the thyroid car¬
tilages, will deftroy the voice.
The pro^nojiics vary according to the caufe. That
fpecies which is owing immediately to fpafms, foon gives
way on the removal of them. If a palfy of the tongue
be the caufe, it is very apt to return, though relieved,
but often continues incurable.
In order to the cure, we muft endeavour firft to re¬
move whatever obftrufts the influx of the nervous fluid
into the tongue, and fecondly to ftrengthen the weak
parts. Thefe general intentions, in all cafes, being
regarded, the particular caufes mult be removed by
remedies accommodated to each.
If worms be the caufe, antifpafmodics may give pre-
fent relief j but the cure depends on the deftruftion or
expulfion of the animals themfelves. In cafe of a con-
geftion of blood about the head, bleeding and nitrous
medicines are to be ufed.—That fpecies of aphony
W'hich remains after the fhock of an hemiplegia or apo¬
plexy, requires blifters to be? applied to the nape of the
neck ■, if fpafmodic conftrictions about the fauces and
and tongue be-the caufe, external paregorics are of the
greatefl fervice, anodyne antifpafmodics may be laid
tinder the tongue, and the feet bathed in warm water ;
carminative clyfters alfo are ufeful.—When a palfy of the
tongue produces this complaint, evacuations, according
to the patient’s habit, muft be made, and warm nervous
medicines muft be externally applied, and internally
adminiftered ; blifters alfo ftiould be placed between the
(boulders.—In cafe of repelled cuticular eruptions, fudo-
rifics ftiould be given, and the patient’s drink fhould
be warm. The fpiritus ammoniae fuccinatus, or vi-
num antimonii, may be employed either in combina¬
tion with other articles, or by themfelves, and given
at proper diftances of time, in the patient’s drink,
or on a bit of fugar.—Sometimes the ferum flows
fo rapidly to the fauces and adjacent parts, in a
falivation, as to deprive the patient of all power
to fpeak •, in this cafe diaphoretics and laxatives,
with a forbearance of all mercurials, are the fpeedieft
remedies.
38* Genus CXI. MUTITAS.
Dumbness.
Mutitas, Sauv. gen. 165. Vog. 257. Sag. 271.
CINE.
443
Dumb people are generally born deaf 5 in which
cafe the diftemper is incurable by medicine : though
even fuch people may be taught not only to read and
write, but alfo to fpeak and to underftand what others
fay to them. For fome obfervations on the method
in which this has been accompliflied, we may refer the
reader to the article Dumbness, in the alphabetical
order. But in thefe cafes, admitting of cure in the
manner above alluded to, the dumbnefs proceeds prin¬
cipally, if not folely, from the deafnefs. For when it
proceeds from a defedl of any of the organs ne~
cefiary for fpeech, the tongue for inftance, it is al¬
ways incurable j but if it arife from a palfy, the
medicines applicable in that cafe will fometimes re-
ftore the fpeech.
Mutitas.
Genus CXII. PARAPHONIA. 38,
Change in the Sound of the Voice.
Paraphonia, Sauv. gen. 168.
Cacophonia, Sag. 274.
Raucedo, Lin. 146.
Raucitas, Vog, 252.
Afaphia, &c. Vog. 250, 251, 254, 255, 256.
The voice may be changed from various caufes. Iu
males it becomes much more hard about the time of pu¬
berty $ but this can by no means be reckoned a difeafe.
In others it proceeds from a catarrh, or what we call
a cold; it arifes alfo from affedtions of the nofe and pa¬
late, as polypi, ulcers, &c. in which cafe the cure be¬
longs properly to Surgery. In fome it arifes from a
laxity of the velum pendulum fwlati and glottis which
makes a kind of fnoring noife during infpiration. The
cure of this laft cafe is to be attempted by tonics and
fuch other medicines as are of fervice in difeafes at¬
tended wifh laxity.
Genus CXIII. PSELLISMUS. 3S?
DefeB in PRONUNCIATION.
Pfellifmus, Sauv. gen. 1S7. Lin. 139. Sag. 273-
Traulotis, &.c. Vog. 258, 259, 260, 261.
Of this difeafe (if fuch it may be called), there
are many different kinds. Some cannot pronounce
the letter S ; others labour under the fame difficulty
with RrL, M, K : &c.-, while fome who can with fuf-
ficient eafe pronounce all the letters, yet repeat their
words, or the firft fyllables of them, in fuch a ftrange
manner, that they can fcarce be underftood. Very
frequently thefe defedls arife entirely from habit, and
may then be got the better of by thofe who have the
refolution to attempt it ; as we are told that De-
moffhenes the celebrated orator got the better of a
habit of ftammering by declaiming with pebbles in
his mouth. Sometimes, how'ever, pronunciation may
be impeded by a wrong conformation of the tongue
or organs of fpeech 5 and then it cannot by any pains
whatever be totally removed.
Genus CXIV. STRABISMUS.
Squinting.
Strabifmus, Sauv. gen. 116. Ldn. 304. Vog. 514.
Sag. 222.
3 K 2 Defcription.
444 M E E> I
Dyttinefise- Defcription. This difeafe fliows itfelf by an un-
• ' common contraftion of the mufcles of the eye j where¬
by the axis of the pupil is drawn towards the nofe,
temples, forehead, or cheeks, lo that the perfon can¬
not behold an objeft diredlly.
Caufes, Prognq/is, &c. I. This difeafe may proceed
from cultom and habit; while in the eye itfelf, or in
its mufcles, nothing is preternatural or dete&ive.
Thus children by imitating thofe that fquint, and
infants by having many agreeable obje£ts prefented
to them at once, which invite them to turn one eye to
one and the other eye to another, do frequently con¬
trail: a habit of moving their eyes differently, which
afterwards they cannot fo ealily correit. Infants
likewife get a cuftom of fquinting by being placed
obliquely towards a candle, window, or any other
agreeable objeil capable of attracting their fight : for
though, to fee the objeCt, they may at firfl: turn both
eyes towards it} yet, becaufe fuch an oblique fituation
is painful and laborious, efpecially to the mofl diftant
eye, they foon relax one of the eyes, and content
themfelves with examining it with the eye that is
next it ; w'hence arifes a diverfity of fituation and a
habit of moving the eyes differently.
In this cafe, which may admit of a cure if not too
much confirmed, it is evident, that objeCls will be feen
in the fame place by both eyes, and therefore mull
appear fingle as to other men •, but becaufe, in the eye
that fquints, the image of the objeCl to which the
other eye is direded falls not on the mofl fenfible and
delicate part of the retina, which is naturally in the
axis of the eye, it is eafy to fee that it mull be but
faintly perceived by this eye. Hence it is, that w’hile
they are attentive in viewing any objeft, if the hand
be brought before the other eye, this objeCl wull be
but obfcurely feen, till the eye change its fituation
and have its axis direCled to it •, which change of fitu¬
ation is indeed very eafy for them, becaufe it depends
on the mufcles of the eyes, whofe funClions are entire;
but, by reafon of the habit they have contraCled of
moving their eyes differently, the other eye is at the
fame time frequently turned afide, fo that only one at a
time is direfted to this objeft. y
II. The Jirabifmus may proceed from a fault in the
firfl: conformation, by w’hich the mofl delicate and
fenfible part of the retina is removed from its natural
fituation, which is diredlly oppolite to the pupil, and is
placed a little to a fide of the axis of the eye ; which
obliges fuch people to turn away the eye from the objeCl
they would view, that its piClure may fall on this moft
fenfible part of the organ.
When this is the cafe, the difeafe is altogether in¬
curable, and the phenomena that arife therefrom differ
in nothing from the phenomena of the former cafe,
excepting only that here, I. The objeft to which the
eye is not diredled will be beft feen ; which is the re-
verfe of what happens when this difeafe arifes barely
from habit and cuflsm. 2. No object will appear
altogether clear and diflindl : for all objetfls to wThich
the eye is direCfed, by having their image painted in
the retina at the axis of the eye, w’here it is not very
fenfible, will be but obfcurely feen ; and objefts that
are placed fo far to a fi le of the optic axis as is ne-
ceffary for making their image fall on the moft fenfible
and delicate part of the retina, muft appear a little
CINE.
Pradice,
confufed, becaufe the feveral pencils of rays that come Strabifrnus.
therefrom fail too obliquely on the cryttalline to be v
accurately collefted in fo many diflindf points of the
retina; though it mult be acknowledged, that this
confufion will, for the moft part, be fo fmall as to efcape
unobferved.
III. This difeafe may proceed from an oblique po«
fion of the cryftalline, where the rays that come di-
redlly to the eye from an objedft, and that ought to
converge to the point of the retina, which is in the
axis of the eye, are, by reafon of the obliquity of the
cryftalline, made to converge to another point on that
fide of the vifual axis where the cryftalline is mofl
elevated ; and therefore the objeft is but obfcurely
feen, becaufe its image falls not on the retina at the
axis of the eye, where it is moft fenfible : But the
rays that fall obliquely on the eye, wall after refrac¬
tion, converge to this moft fenfible part of the re¬
tina ; and, by converging there, muft imprefs the
mind with a clear idea ef the ©bjeft from whence
they came. It is for this reafon that the eye ne¬
ver moves uniformly with the other, but turns away
from the objefl it wmuld view, being attentive to
the objeft to which it is not direfted. When this is
the cafe, it is in vain to expedl: any good from me¬
dicine.
The fymptoms which naturally arife from it are,
i. The obje£t to which the eye is dire&ed w-ill be
but faintly feen, becaufe its image falls on the retina
where it is not very fenfible. 2. The objedl to which
the eye is not dire&ed, by having its image painted
on the retina at the axis of the eye, will be clearly
perceived. But, 3" Ihis fame objedl muft appear
fomewhat indiftindl, becaufe the pencils or rays that
flow from it are not accurately colle&ed in to many
diftindt points in the retina, by reafon of their oblique
incidence on the cryftalline. 4- mufi he feen, not
in its proper place, but thence tranflated to feme
other place fituated in the axis of vifion. And, 5. Be¬
ing thus tranflated from its true place, w'here it is feen
by the other eye that does not fquint, it muft neceffa-
rily appear double; and the diftance between the
places of its appearance will be ftill greater, if the
cryftalline of the other eye incline to the contrary
fide.
IV. This difeafe may arife from an oblique poft-
tion of the cornea; which, in this cafe, is gene¬
rally more arched and prominent than what it is na¬
turally.
When the eye has this conformation, no objedt to
which it is diredled can be clearly feen, becaufe its
image falls not on the retina at the axis of the eye ;
and therefore the eye turns afide from the objedt it
would view, that its image may fall on the moft fen¬
fible part of the retina.
When the ftrabifmus proceeds from this caufe, the
prognoftic and the phsenomena that attend it will be
much the lame as in the cafe immediately preceding;
from which neverthelefs it may be diftinguilhed by
the obliquity of the cornea, which is mamfeit to the
fenfes and if the cornea be alfo more arched and
prominent than what it is naturally, which is common¬
ly the cafe, the eye will alfo be fhort-fighted.
V. This want of uniformity in the motions ofour
eyes, may arile from a defedf, or any great w'eaknefs
or
M E D I
Pra&ice. .. . ,
Dj.fc.eii*. or imperfcaioo, In ttro fight of both or ether of the
v  eyes: and this, according to Dr Porterfield, is the
moft common caufe of this difeafe. The prognoftic m
this cafe is the fame with that of the difeafe from which
11 VI Another caufe from which the ftrabifmus may
proceed, lies in the mufcles that more the eye. W hen
any of thofe mufcles are too ihort or too long, too
tenfe or too lax, or are feized with a fpafm or paralyhs,
their equilibrium will be deftroyed, and the eye will
be turned towards or from that fide where the mufcles
^In tfiYs* cafe, the difeafe frequently yields to medi¬
cine, and therefore admits of favourable prognoftic ,
excepting only when, by a fault in the firft confer-
mation §any of the mufcles are longer or ftiorter than
their a^tagonift ; in which cafe, if ever it ihould hap¬
pen. no medicine can be of any ule.
As to-what concerns the optical phaenomena, ey
are the fame here as in cafe firft : only when the di -
eafe commences not till, by cuftom and habit, the
uniform motion of the eyes has been rendered ne-
ceffary all objefts do for feme time appear double ,
bUlTirVhhUywaPnProrf‘untrmi.y in the motions of
olr eyes may proceed from a preternatural adhefion or
attachment to the eyelids I of this we have an inftance
in Lancdus. And that the fame thing may alio be oc
cafioned by a tumor of any kind within the orbit,
prefting thl eye afide, and reftraimng it from follow-
fog thf motions of the other, is fo evident, Aa. in
fiances need not be brought to prove it. Here *
fo the cafe may admit of a favourable prognoftic ,
and as for n-hat concerns the optical phenomena,
Any muft be the fame as in the cafe immediately pre-
Ce i"hge' cure, in confirmed cafes, is to be effec-
ted by mechanical contrivances, by which the p
fon may be obliged to look, liralght upon objects or
not fee^them at all j or a, lead that he may lee w th
uneafinefs and confufedly when he fquints. I
68th volume of the Philofophical Tranfe&ons we have
an account of a confirmed cafe of “ a J
uncommon kind. The patient was a boy °fJ''
old, and viewed every objea which was
him with but one eye at a time 1 ^ „ithJ his left
prefented on his right fide, he viewed
eye ; and if it was prefented on h.s left fide, he view
h with his right eye He turned *= pupil of that
eve which was on the fame fide with the obj
fuch a diredion that the image of the objeA m g
fall on thlt part of the bottom of the eye where the
op ic nerveP=n,ers it. When an objea was he d dl
real? before him, he turned h.s head a ’‘tt e » °ne
fide/and obferved it with but one eye, viz. t
tired of obferving hwhh Aat ey.^ he.mrne
llonCe!nwhh eTual “aciUty i b«.^eVer ^"'f^'Teuers
which^were written on'bitTof Papec to as to name
r,-“ -
ference in the diameters of the mfts, nor
CINE. 44-5
tradility of them after having covered his eyes from StraUmus.
the liaht. Thefe obfervations were carefully made by
writing Angle letters on ftireds of paper, and laying
wagerf with the child that he could not read them
when they were prefented at certain diftattces and m
certain direftions. . j .u *
As from thefe circumftances it appeared that there
was no defed in either eye, which is frequently the
cafe with perfons who fquint and hence that the dif¬
eafe was limply a depraved habit of moving his eyes,
the difeafe feemed capable of a cure. A paper gno¬
mon was made for this purpofe, and fixed to a cap ,
and when this artificial nofe was placed over is r
nofe, fo as to projed an inch between his eyes the
child, rather than turn his head fo far to look at oblique
objeds, immediately began to view them with that eye
which was next to them. But having the ^fortune
to lofe his father foon after this method was begun to
be followed, the child was negleded for fix years? du-
ring which time the habit was confirmed in fuch a
manner as feemed to leave little room to hope for a
cure. The fame phyfician, however, being again cal¬
led, attempted a fecond time to remove ^ deformity
by a fimilar contrivance. A gnomon of thin brais
was made to Hand over bis nofe, with a halt circle o
the lame metal to go round h.s tempks : thefe were
covered with black Tilk, and by means of a buckle
behind his head, and a crois piece oyer the crown of
his head this gnomon was worn without any incon¬
venience and projeded before his nofe about two
inches aiid an hal^ By the ufe of machine he
foon found it lefs inconvenient to view all oblique ob
jeds with the eye next to them than the eye oppofue
t0 After this habit was weakened by a week’s ufe of
the gnomon, two bits of wood, about the fize o a
ffo ,fe nuill were blackened all but a quarter of an inch
ft their fummits; «tr7-
hin, to look at, one being held on one fide the eztre
mitv of his black gnomon, and the other on the ot er
fide of it. As he viewed thefe, they were gradually
brought forwards beyond the gnomon, and then o,m
„a° concealed behind the other : b, thefe means m an-
other°week, he could bend both his eyes on the fame
obiea for half a minute together ; and by “"""'". S
SS ufe of the fame machine, he was m a fair wa, of be-
W cured when the paper was written. _
Dr Darwin, who writes the hiftor, of the above cafe,
the “he“ thke patients, fays he, are certainly cure-
,ii • rr tVif> Heft eve many hours m a day , as
able by covering the belt eye m ;t not on|y
by a more frequent ufe o h ^ ^7^ whlch the
acquires a. hab,t °2U butg „ai„s at the fame time a
natient wiihes to lee, our fnme
in^both thefe refpeas,
which alfo facilitates the cure.
Genus CXV. CONTRACTURA.
Contraciions oj the Limbs.
Contradura, Sauv. gen. 119. T/«. 299. 2 25*
Obftipitas, Sauv. %^. n* Caput
384
4+6
Apocer
Caput obflipum, Vog.
Digitium, Fog. 221.
medicine.
■-36
as?'
3S8
Tne contradlion of various mufcles of the body is
generally the confequence of fome otjjer difeafe, as
ti;e rheumatifra, gout, fcurvy, or palfy, efpecially that
tpecies of the latter which follows the co/ica PiBonum.
It is exceedingly difficult of cure j though the warm
medicinal waters are much recommended, and have fome-
trnies done great fervice. Of late eledricity has been
ound to perform furprifing cures in this way.
Order IV. APOCENOSES.
Apocenofcs, Fog. Clafs II. Ord. II.
Fluxus, Sauv. Clafs IX. Sag. Clafs V.
Morbi evacuatorii, Lin. Clafs IX.
Genus CXVI. PROFUSIO.
Flux of Blood.
Profulio, Lin. 239.,
Hcemorrhagia, lrog. 81. Boerh. 218.
p Thf direafe commonly known by the name of bloodu
. is the putrid or contagious dyfentery, a difeafe
winch has already been treated of. But independent
o, the difcharge of blood which then takes place, lue-
morrhagy may take place from the alimentary canal
as well as ^om other parts ef the fyftem. In fuch
inftances however, if we except the place from which
the ducharge occurs, the phenomena are very much
the fame as in menorrhagia, h*moptyfis, and other
naemorrhagies already treated of; while the difeafe
is to be combated on the fame principles and by the
lame remedies.
Genus CXVII. EPHIDROSIS.
Exceffive Sweating.
Ephidrofis, Sauv. gen. 258. Sag. gen. 194.
Sudor, Lin. 208.
Hydropedefis, Fog. 121.
This is generally fymptomatic; and occurs in al-
moltaU fevers, but efpecially in the latter ftages of
the hectic. Sometimes it is a primary difeafe, arifino-
merely from weaknefs ; and then eafily admits of a
cure by the ufe of the cinchona, the cold bath, and
ether tonics.
, Pradicc,
commend purgatives, and blitters on the nape of the PtyalifmuS
neck, m order to draw off the abundant humours; but' v '
as the dileale evidently proceeds from weaknefs, it
would rather feem proper to purfue a contrary method.
Sauvages recommends to the patients to abttain from
Itudy, wine and falted meats ; and alfo to avoid fraoke
or wind and at night to foment the eyes with an in-
tuiion of four cloves in two ounces of proof-fpirit—
Hungary water, rofe water with fulphate of zinc dif-
olved it it, &c. have alfo been recommended.
Genus CXVIII. EPIPHORA.
Flux of the Lachrymal Humour.
Epiphora, Sauv. gen. 259.
Sag. 195.
Lin. 172. Fog. 99.
Ilus by Sauvages is deferibed as an involuntary
enufion of tears without any remarkable itching heat
or pain. It follows long continued ophthalmias ; or
it may be occafioned by immoderate fiudy, or anv
thmg that weakens the eyes: hence it comes on about
the age of 50 years, when the eydight naturally be¬
comes weak. . It in general grows worfe in the win¬
ter-tune, and is very hard to cure. Some authors re-
3
Genus CXIX. PTYALISMUS.
Salivation.
Ptyalifmus, Sauv. gen. 261.
Sag. 197.
Lin. 176. Pbg. ici.
A falivatmn is often fymptomatic, but rarely a prima-
;'y \‘5 ea e- Cullen is of opinion, that when the lat¬
ter happens to be the cafe, it arifes from laxity; and
\rVS C,Ur^ aflnngents and tonics, 'in the
ledical Iranfadions we have the following account of
Ltxr a for^^
to no partmular compkints, perceived the beginning
of « dileafe which afterwards proved moft obftinlte and
th; rrT’ V1Z' an .I"ceiTant ^tting. The quantity of
this difcharge was different at different times, varying
from one pint to two pints and an half in 24 hours
As to its quality it feemed to be no other than the or¬
dinary fecietion of the falival glands. By fo large and
conftant^ an evacuation, her ttrength became extreme-
'-V and the efficacious medicines had
proved ufelefs. She had taken large quantities of cin-
- '0na’ b“th /lone and combined with preparations of
iron : and afterwards the fetid gums, opium, amber
f um’ .and ,tbe Neville-Holt water, had in fucceflion
been givfen her. In the mean time an exaft regimen
had been prefenbed : ffie had been ordered to ride con-
ftantJy ; and to confine herfelf to a mucilaginous diet
fuch as veal, calves feet, &c. Likewife a /emle open!
!rr ™edlP,ne bad notv and then been inferpofed. The
diieale ftil! continuing unaltered, ffie had afterwards tried
e tmBura faturnma; and had, at the fame time, been
encouraged to chew cinchona, and to fwallow the faliva.
iffit all theie attempts had been vain ; and after ffie had
aken fome or other of the medicines above mention-
vears^i thC 600 f Scfember 1753, namely, above two
years it appeared to her phyfician, Sir George Baker
unreasonable to expeft relief in fuch a cafe from any in-’
ternal medicines whatever. J
He now conceived a fufpicion, that fome extrane¬
ous body having accidentally found its way into the
meatus audit onus, might poffibly be the caufe of this
extraordinary fecretion, by keeping up a continued ir¬
ritation m the parotid glands. With this view he ex¬
amined her ears, and extra&ed from them a quantity of
fet.d woo How, or when, it come thither, no ac.
count could be given.
I o this fubflance he attributed the beginning of the
ialivation, notwithftanding that the difeafe did not im¬
mediately abate on the removal of the wool ; as it ap¬
peared to be no improbable fuppofition that the dif-
, charge
3S5
Pradice. M E D I
Apocecofci. charge might be continued by the force of habit, though
the original caufe no longer remained.
It ieemed, therefore, expedient to introduce fome
other habit, in the place of the increafed fecretion of
iaiIva ’ ^h5ch might afterwards be gradually left
or. With this intention, he prevailed on the patient
to chew perpetually a little dry bread, and to fwallow
‘r V1?1 ^fr ^P^e* a few weeks, it became necef-
jfuy for her to chew the bread only at certain hours in
the day 5 and thus, after two months, fhe became en-
tiioy free from a moll difguftful and tedious difor-
der.
. Jt Is worthy of obfervation, that, at firft, the fwallow-
ing of 10 much faliva frequently occahoned a naufea ;
and that then, for a few hours, (he was obliged to fpit
it out as ufual j and that, during the greateft part of
the time, rvhen fhe chewed the bread, fhe had a ftool
or two every day more than common.
33* Genus CXX. ENURESIS.
^ involuntary Fivx of Urine,
Enurefis, Sauv. gen. 264. Lin. 19$. Fog. 113.
Sag. 200.
ihis is a diflemper which frequently affe&s chil¬
dren, otherwife healthy, when afleep ; and is extreme¬
ly difagreeable. Often it is merely the effedt of lazi-
neis, and may be driven off by proper corredtion 5 but
fometimes it proceeds from an atony or weaknefs of
<.he fphindfer of the bladder. Many ridiculous cures
have been preferibed for it, and among the reft field-
mice dried and powdered. Ionics are frequently of
ufe j but fometimes the diflemper proves obitinate, in
fpite of every thing we can ufe. In the London Me¬
dical Obfervations we find blifters much recommend¬
ed in this difeafe, when applied to the region of the os
facrum. A girl of 13 years of age had been fubjedt
to an enurefis for four years. She could retain her
water but a very little while in the day-time, but it
flowed continually in the night. She had taken Peru¬
vian bark and elixir of vitriol in confiderable quantities;
tdfo valerian and the volatile julep, without effedt.
Shg was feverely threatened, as the phyfician fufpedted
it might arife from a bad habit; but this producing no
effedt, a blifter was applied to the os facrum, which in
24 hours totally removed the difeafe. A man aged 32,
having been feized with an incontinence of urine and
palfy of the lower extremities in confequence of tak¬
ing a quack medicine, was cured of the incontinence
of urine in 24 hours by one blifter, and of the palfy it-
felf by another. A woman of 50 having been feized
with an enurefis and paralytic affedtion of the right
thigh and leg in confequence of a fprain, was cured of
both by a fingle bhfter. Several other cafes are men-
ticVied, by which the power of blifters in removing this
diitemper feems to exceed that of every other medi¬
cine whatever.
m Genus CXXI. GONORRHOEA.
Gonorrhoea, Sauv. gen. 208. Lin. 200. Vcg. 118.
Sag. 204.
The gonorrhoea is a flux of vifeid matter of various
colours, from the urethra in men and the vagina in wo-
CINE.
meti. It commonly proceeds from coition with a
per.on mfedted with the venereal difeafe, and is one of
the moft common forms under which that difeafe ihows
itlelr.
Defcription. The firft fymptoms of the difeafe in
men are commonly a fenfation at the end of the penis
not unlike a flea-bite, together with a fulnefs of the
ips oi the urethra, and fome degree of tenfion in the
penis, the urinary canal feeling as if tightened, and
the urine flowing in a fmall and unequal Itream : a
little whitifh mucus is to be feen about the orifice of
the urethra, and oozing from it when flightly preffed,
efpecially if the preffure be made on the fpot where the
orenefs is mofl felt. The difeharge foon increafes in
quantity, and varies in its colour according to the
degree of inflammation. The patient feels a fenfation
of heat and pain in^ evacuating his urine, particularly
ft certain fpots of the urethra, and above all towards
its orifice j and the involuntary eredions to which he
is fubjeded from the ftimulus, particularly when warm
in bed, occafion a diftortion or curvature of the penis,
attended with exquifite pain. When the inflammation
is violent, the glans appears tumid and tranfparent,
the tenfion extends through the whole of the penis" .
t te perineum is affeded with fwelling and rednefs, and
even the loins, buttocks, and anus, fympathize and af¬
ford a very uneafy fenfation. Sometimes the prepuce
inflames aoout the end of the penis, and cannot be
drawn back, occaiioning what is called a phjmofus; at
otuer times, as in the paraphymojis, it remains in an
inflamed date below the glans, fo that it cannot be
drawn forwards ; and, if the ftridure and inflammation
be violent, may terminate in gangrene. Now and
then,, efpecialiy when there is a phymofis, we may
perceive a hard chord extending along the back of the
penis. This is an inflamed lymphatic, and may be
eonfi.dered as a prelude to a bubo. When, however,
a bubo.does appear, almoft univerfally fame ulceration
is previoufly to be. difeovered about the pneputium,
or glans penis; which gives ground to prefume that
lome other contagious matter befides that of gonor¬
rhoea, may have been applied to the urethra. For it is
certain that matter capable of communicating the con¬
tagion. of gonorrhoea to a female, is often copioufly
applied to the whole glans penis of a male for feveral
, ays *°gether, without giving either ulceration or
bubo.
In mild cafes, the feat of the difeafe is in the urethra
not far from its orifice ; but it frequently happens that
the virus mfinuates itfelf much higher up, fo as to affefl
Cowper’s glands, the proltate, and parts very near to the
neck of the bladder.
In the generality of cafes, the inflammation goes >
on increafing for feveral days, commonly for a week
or a fortnight; after which the fymptoms begin to-
abate ; and the running, when left to itfelf, gradually
It-lie ns, m quantity, and becomes whiter and’thicker,
tn at length it totally flops. The colour of the mucus,
however, is by no means a certain guide in thefe cafes:
for in many patients it is of a yellowilh, and fome¬
times of a greenifh hue to the very lafl; but in gene-
ral it Dccomes more confident towards the clofe of the
doeafe.
In women, the external parts of generation being-
fewer and more, Ample, the-difeafe is Ms complicated
thiua
K
448 .'M e n ,T
Apocenofes tVian in men. Sometimes the vagina omy is aff. cte j
t-—v—and when this happens, the fymptoms are very trifling :
hut in general it comes on with an itching and leniation
of heat as in the other fex ; and is attended with in-
,flanimation of the nymphae, infide of the labia, clitoris,
carunculce myrtiformes, the onfice and fometimes the
whole of the meatus urinarius. Very often the deep-
feated glands of the vagina are affe£ted, and it is lome-
times difficult to diftinguiffi the difcharge of a go¬
norrhoea from that of the fluor albus.
Caufes, &c. Many ingenious arguments have ot
late been advanced to prove, that the. gonorrhoea and
the lues venerea are different affeftions, originating
from two diftimff fpecies of virus j and this contro-
verfy ftill, perhaps, remains to be decided by mture
faffs. Certain it is, that in 19 of 20 caies of gonor¬
rhoea, no fvmptom whatever of fiphyhs appears ; and
that the difeafe readily admits of cure without having
recourfe to thofe remedies which are univerfally reqm-
fite for combating the contagion of fiphylis. It is by
no means wonderful, that in fome cafes both conta¬
gious, fuppofmg them different, Ihould be communi¬
cated at the fame time. Nay, cafes are by no means
rare, wffiere the contagion of itch, though eflentially
different from both, has been communicated with ei¬
ther. But as undeniable proof that the contagion in
both cafes is precifely the fame, it has been alleged by
fome, that the matter of a chancre introduced into the
urethra will generate a gonorrhoea, and that the 1-
charge from a gonorrhoea will produce chancre, bubo,
and every other fymptom of fiphylis. On the. other
hand, however, it is contended, that when experiments
of this nature are conduced with the greateft accu¬
racy, the matter of fiphylis uniformly produces fiphy¬
lis, and that of gonorrhoea, gonorrhoea only. With¬
out pretending to decide on which of the!e experi¬
ments the greateft dependence is to be put, we may
only obferve, that while an almoft inconceivably fmall
portion uf fiphylitic matter applied to the glans penis,
from connexion with an infeaed female, infallibly
produces fiphylis if it be not fpeedily removed the
matter of gonorrhoea, in every inftance of that dfteale,
is applied to the whole furface of the glans penis for
many days together without producing almoft. any bad
effea whatever. From this, therefore, there is.ground
for inferring, either that it is not capable ot being ab-
forbed, or that if abforbed it is innocent. .
But while there have been difputes with regard to
the peculiar nature of the matter in gonorrhoea, there
have alfo been controverfies with, refpeff to the fource
from whence it is derived. While fome fuppo.e it to
be principally purulent matter arifing from ulcerations,
others affert that no fuch ulceration is ever produced.in
the urethra by gonorrhoea. They contend that the m-
creafed fecretion in thefe cafes is exaftly fimilar to
what happens in the catarrh. But the companion
will bv no means hold good in every particular : m the
latter the whole membrane of the nofe is equally irn-
tated ; whereas in the gonorrhoea, only particular parts
of the urethra feem to be affefted. The difeale, m
the generality of cafes, feldom extends more than an
inch and a half along that canal, and in many is con¬
fined (at leaft in the beginning) to a fmall fpot about
an inch from the extremity of the glans. Ihe dii-
C 1 N E. Prafticc.
charge is produced from that part of the urethra where
the pain is felt 5 and the patient, when he voids his
urine, feels no fmarting till it reaches the inflamed Ipot:
but as the diforder increafes, the inflammation attetfs
a greater number of points, juft in the fame manner as
chancres afte6t different parts of the glans. It might
be fuppofed that diflVftb n would at once clear up this
matter, and put an end to the difpute ; but this is ar
from being the cafe. Dr Simmons has feen ieveral
urethras opened in perfons who had a gonorrhoea at
the time of their death : in three ot them the fur face
of the urethra, as in the cafes related by Morgagni,
appeared for fome way down of a flight red colour,
and in all of them w7as covered with mucus} but with¬
out any appearance of ulceration, except in two diuec-
jdons at Paris, in which moft of the gentlemen prefent
were convinced that they faw evident marks of it :
but Dr Simmons fays that the appearances were to
him not fufficiently fatisfa&ory to enable him to decide
with certainty on the fubjed. On the other hand,
when we confider that the difcharge m a gonorrhoea is
fometimes tinged with blood, and that w'hen this hap¬
pens a little blood-veffel is no doubt ruptured, we
can have no reafon to doubt that an ulceration may,^
and fometimes does, happen in thefe cafes; etpecially
as we often obferve an excoriation near the orifice ot
the urethra. It is certain, that wherever there is con-
fiderable inflammation, there will be danger of ulcera¬
tion. Befides, from a neglefted or badly-treated go¬
norrhoea, we often fee fiftulas in perineo, and other ul¬
cers of the urethra, penetrating through its fubftance,
and affording a paffage to the urine. And there can
be no doubt that flight ulcerations of this canal often
occur, and are afterwards perfectly obliterated, ln a
fimilar manner to what happens in the papillae, of the
tongue, the tonfils, &c. Such an obliteration will
the more readily take place in a part like the uiethra,
defended with mucus, and not expofed to the air,
which is known to have no little effect in hardening a
cicatrix*
But whether ulcers take place or not, whether the
virus of gonorrhoea be precifely of the fame kind with
that w'hich gives fiphylis, or of a different kind, there
is reafon from the phenomena of the difeaie to con¬
clude, that the matter firft ads by mixing with the
mucus at the extremity of the urethra ; and that from
thence it is propagated upwards, particularly where
the excretories of mucus are moft numerous \ and that
on the parts to which it is applied, it operates as a pe¬
culiar irritating caufe. The conlequences of this ir¬
ritation will be inflammation and an increafed lecre-
tion of mucus j and fo far the complaint will be local.
In ninety-nine cafes of an hundred a local affection of
this kind conftitutes the wffiole of the difeafe •, and of
this inflammation, ulcerations within the urethra, ffric-
tures and other local afi:e6tions, may be the conie-
quence. But whether a difeafe of the habit ever takes
place unlefs when the contagion of fiphylis is commu¬
nicated with that of gonorrhoea, ftill remains to be de¬
termined by future obfervations and experiments..
Nothing can be more variable than the period at
which the difeafe makes its appearance after infection.
Perhaps, at a medium, we may place it between, the
4th and 14th day : but in fome cafes it happens withm
l
Pradice. MED
■Apocfflofe. 24 hours; and m others, not before the end of five or
neither of thele extremes^ however
1 c I N E.
which
of the
comes
gonor.
even fix weeks
are common.
From what has been faid of the manner in
the contagious matter in gonorrhoea afts, and
influence it exerts on thofe parts with which it
in contact, it follows, that the prevention of ^yjuui-
rhoea mull depend on the removal of the contagious
matter, as foon as that can be done ; and where this is
efther altogether neglefted or not properly accomplilh-
e !, that the cure mui! depend on counteradfing the in¬
flammation which this contagious matter excites, and
tne confequences which refult from it.
The firft of thefe intentions may be. mofi: certainly
and moil eafily accompliflied by careful lotion of all
the parts to which the contagious matter has any
chance of being applied. Thefe parts, at leaft on the
firft application of the matter, are readily acceflible :
for even in men there is no reafon to believe that it
at firft penetrates to any extent in the urethra. This
waftiing of the parts fliould be performed as foon as
poflible ; becaufe then the matter is both moft ac-
celFible and leaft involved with mucus : but although
waftiing cannot be accompliflied at an early period, it
ftould not be neglected afterwards; for from the dif-
eafe uniformly commencing, even when it does not
appear till a confiderable time after the application of
the contagious matter, with a peculiar fenfe of titilla-
tion at the external parts, particularly in men at the
extremity of the urethra, there is reafon to believe that
the contagious matter attached to the mucus may re¬
main latent there for a very confiderable time. For
the purpofe of waftiing, with a view to the prevention
of this difeafe, recourfe may be had to almoft any wa¬
tery fluid, provided it be not fo ftimulant as to pro¬
duce bad effefts from injuring the parts. Pure w^ater,
properly applied, is perhaps one of the beft lotions ;
but there can be no doubt that its powder in removing
the contagious matter may be fomewhat increafed by
fuch additions as render it a more powerful folvent of
mucus. With this intention, one of the moft po’.ver-
ful additions is the vegetable alkali, either in its mild or
cauflic ftate. In the latter ftate it is the moft adfive,
but in the former it is moft fafe ; and the carbonas f>ot-
oJJ'ce of the Edinburgh pharmacopoeia, to the extent
of half a dram, diflolved in fix or eight ounces of
water, is one of the beft lotions that can be employed.
The purpofe of removing the contagion may often alfo
be eftedfually anfwered from waftiing with water im¬
pregnated wftth foap ; for there the alkali, though in
a cauftic ftate, is prevented from exerting any difa-
greeable effefts, in confequence of its being combined
with oily matters.
With the view of preventing gonorrhoea, forne have
adviied, that the alkali either in its mild or cauftic
ftate, properly diluted with water, fhould be injedfted
into the urethra : and there can be no doubt, that by
this means the contagious matter, when it has entered
the urethra, may be removed. A removal may alfo
be effeCfed by the injeftion of a w^eak folution of cor-
rofive fublimate, which feems to a6t not by diflblving
the mucus but by producing an augmented fecretion.
But at a very early period of the difeafe, inje&ions are
probably unneceftary ; and if it has made any confide¬
rable progrefs, they are dangerous : for from the aug-
Vou XIII. Part II.
449
mented fenfibihty of the part, even very gentle ones are Gonorrhcea.
apt to excite a high degree of inflammation. 1 1
I here are pradlitioners who, fuppofing that the body
polienes powers to expel the virus, and that the difeafe
has a certain period to run through its feveral ftages of
progiefs, acme, and decline, are tor leaving the cure to
nature ; or at leaft content themfelves with afliftina her
by an antiphlogiftic regimen, gentle evacuations,° and
the like.
”1 hat in many cafes the diforder admits of a natural
cure, there can be no doubt ■, the increafed fecretion of
mucus carrying off the virus fafter than it is formed
till at length the infedion is wholly removed : But it
is equally certain, that in every cafe, by the applica¬
tion of luitable remedies to the inflamed part, we" may
Ihorten the duration of the complaint, and abridge the
juffenngs of the patient, with the fame certainty and
latety as we are enabled to remove the effefts of an
ophthalmia or any other local inflammation, by proper
topical applications. General remedies, fuch as occa-
honaj blood-letting, a cooling diet, the liberal ufe of
diluting liquors, and mild purges, are by all allowed
to be ufeful, and even neceffary. Aftruc was of opi¬
nion that in thefe cafes blood-letting ought to be re¬
peated five or fix times ; and there are ftill many prac-
tnioners who depend much on repeated evacuations of
this fort for a removal of the inflammation. But there
is, perhaps, not one cafe in ten in which it is at all re-
quifite ; and this fmall number of cafes will confift only
of the ftrong and plethoric : in fuch, when the chordee
is frequent and painful, and the pulfe hard and full
the lofs of from eight to twelve ounces of blood will be’
beneficial, but it will be feldom neceffary to repeat the
operation. The inflammation in thefe cafes is kept up
by the local ftimulus of the virus and the urine ; and
all that we can expeft from venefeefion is to moderate
the pam and the frequency of ere&ion. In perfons of a
delicate habit, and of an irritable fibre, the evacuation
will do no good ; hut if repeated will certainly be liable
to do harm, by increafing irritability, and of courfe
rendering the patient more fufceptible of ftimulus.
. The utility, and even the neceflity, ©f a coolin^ re_
gimen, are fufficiently obvious j wine and fpirituous
liquors, fpiceries, a fifh-diet, much animal-food, and
ialted and high-feafoned difhes of every fort, will con-
ftantly add to the complaint. The patient fhould eat
meat only once a-day, and that fparingly. He fhould
abftain from hot flippers. Milk, mild vegetables, and
fruit., Ihould conftitute the principal part of his diet
while the inflammatory fymptoms continue. Every
thing that tends to excite the venereal imagination
fliould be ftudioufly avoided ; for whatever promotes
erections of the penis will increafe the inflammation
and of courfe add fuel to the difeafe. For the fame
reafons much walking or riding on horfeback will be
hurtful, from the irritation kept up in the perimeum
by fuch means. Violent exercife of any kind, or any
thing that is liable to increafe the heat and the momen¬
tum of the blood, will of courfe be improper.
The drinking freely of mild, cooling, mucilaginous
liquors, luch as linfeed-tea, orgeat, whey, milk and
water, almond emulfion, and the like, will be extreme¬
ly ufeful, by diluting the urine, and preventing its falts
from ftimulating the urethra. When the heat and pain
in making water are very confiderable, mucilaginous
3 -k fubftanees
„ M E D I
A^«nofe, f„bftanc« are found to have the b'« pmoularly
' the gum tragacanth. It is a common practice to pv.
equal quanltiet of this gum or gum-arab.c and mtre
^ j to diffolve nitre in the patient s drink, with a \ .e_
lollfen the inflammation. But in thefe cafes m.re ts
alwavs improper : it is known to be a powerful u.m -
tic its chief aftion being upon the urinary patiages •, fo
that the ftimulus it occafions will only icrve to mcieet
the evil it is intended to alleviate Supertartnte of
potafs, on account of its diuretic quality, will be equal-
lv imnroper Our view here is not to promoee ^ 1
ternatural flow of urine ; for the virus, being mfoluble
in water, cannot eaflly be waflred away by Inch means
but our object ought to be, to_ render the urine that
fecreted as mild and as little flimulating as pofliblc.
Mild purges, which conftitute another material part
ef the general remedies, are no doubt extremely u e-
fal when exhibited with prudence ; but it is well know*
that the abufe of purgative medicines m this difeafe
has been produdive of numerous evils. Foimerly it
was a pretty general pradice to give a large dole of
calomel at bed-time, three or four times a-week *, and
to work it off the next morning with a Urong dofe
of the pilules cocci*, or feme other draftic purge. ns
method was perfevered in for feveral weeks : m conle-
quence of which the patient often found hnnfeff trou¬
bled with an obftinate gleet, and perhaps his conftitu-
tion materially injured-, the effed of fuch a tnethod
being (efpecially in irritable habits) to weaken
Lmach and bowels, and lay the foundation of hyjpo-
chondrial complaints. Violent purging hkewife often
occafions ftrangury, and other Uoublefome fymptoms
The cathartics employed m thefe cafes ftiou
gentle ; fuch as Rochelle fait, manna, tart mu fed alkali,
and the like. They fhould be given only in a dofe fuf-
ficient to procure two or three ftools, and be repea ed
only every two or three days. _ I he daily ufe of the
purgative eleduaries that are ft)H given by feme pi ac-
titioners, ferves only to keep up a continual irritation
on the bladder, and of courfe to prolong the mham-
m The topical remedies that are ufed ccnflft chiefly of
different forts of injedions, the^ ingredients of which
mre extremely various; but their modes of operation
may in general be referred to their mucilaginous and
fedative or to their detergent, ftimulating, and aflrm-
.ent qualities. In the hands of fkilful pradrtioners,
great advantages may doubtlefs be derived from the
ufe of thefe remedies; but, on the other hand, the
improper and unfeafonable adminiftraUon of them may
proved fource of irreparable mifchiet to the patient.
P We know that mucilaginous and oily injedions will
t-nd to allay the local inflammation; and that a leda-
tive injedion, fuch as a folution of opium, will lelkn
the irritability of the parts, and of courfe produce a
fimilar effed ; the utility of fuch applications is there¬
fore fufficiently obvious. p
A detergent injedion, or one that will ad upon
mucus of the urethra, increaie the diicharge of it u a
it away, and with it the venereal virus that is blended
with it, can only he ufed as a prophyladic before Oie
fymptems of infedion have made their appearance.
But great circumfpedion is neceffary in the uie of
this kind of injedion. If it be^ too weak, it can
be of no efficacy ; and if it be too itrong, it may prove
CINE.
Pra&ice.
dangerous to the patient. A fuppreffion of urine has Gonorrhoea,
been brought on by the improper ufe of an injedion —v—
of this kind. When the fymptoms of inflammation
have once made their appearance, the ftimulus of. lucff f
an iniedion muff be extremely hazardous. Excoriation
of the urethra has but too often been produced by re¬
medies of this fort in the hands of adventurous and
unfkilful praditioners.
While the inflammation of the urethra continue,,
every thing that ftimulates it muff be hurtful. It the
inieffion excite, a painful fenfation in the urethta aS
is but too often the cafe, it will be liable to produce
fwelled tefticles, difficulty in making water, excoria¬
tion, and other effeds of increafed inflammation : if,
by its aftringency, the running be checked before the
virus thif excited the difeharge be properly fubdued,
the patient will be expofed to freffi dangers ; and per¬
haps to a variety of local complaints, iuch as obftruc-
tions in the urethra, and abfeeffes **/.erma’o, which are
well known to be fometimes owing to applications of
this fort improperly managed. , a.
When the inflammation has fubfided, gently ftimu¬
lating and aftringent injedions may be ufed with late-
ty and with confiderable advantage : for as the in¬
flammation is at fir ft excited by the ftimulus of the ve¬
nereal virus, fo when the former begins to leffen, we
may be affured that the admty of the latter has abated
in proportion ; and, in general, when the inflamma¬
tory fymptoms are entirely removed, it will be found,
that the mucus is no longer of an imedious nature,
but is merely the effed of an increased fecretion and
of relaxation. Mild aftringents will therefore lerve to
brace and ftrengthen the veflels fecretmg mucus, and
in this way will leffen the difeharge, and greatly pro¬
mote the cure. It is certain, that in the greater num¬
ber of cafes, a gonorrhoea, which if treated by internal
remedies alone, would continue for five or fix weeks,
or longer, may, when judicioufly treated with injec¬
tions, be cured in a fortnight, and very often in lefs
time. The great aim, therefore, of the praditionei
ought to be at firft to make ufe of fuch injedions only
as will tend to lubricate the fuvface of the uvet.iia, and
to counterad and deftroy the ftimulus of the virus : as
the inflammation abates, he may add fume gently attrin-
gent preparation to a mucilaginous and fedative injec¬
tion ; taking care that its aftringency be fuited to the
ftate of the difeafe, and to the irritability ot the pa¬
tient. Amongft a great variety of tubftances, mer¬
cury in different forms is one of tho.e that is the moft
frequently employed in injedions. All thefe mercu¬
rial injedions have more or lets of aftringency , and,
according to Dr Simmons, it is folely to this property
that we are to aferibe their efteds ; for the idea of
their ccrreding the venereal virus was originally in¬
troduced, and has, he thinks, been continued, upon mil-
taken principles. .
Calomel, mixed with the mucus difeharged m a go¬
norrhoea, has no more power in deftroying the infec¬
tious properties of that mucus than ceruffe or any other
preparation would have. A diluted folution of fubli- -
mate injeded into the urethra, will, like a folution of
verdigrife, or blue vitriol, or any other jlyptic, con-
ftringe the mouths of the lacunae ; but this is all that
it will do, for it will never leflen the mfedious nature
of the virus. The fame thing may be oblerve^J-
Fra^ice. EDI
Apocenofes. crude mercury extinguulied by means of mucilage, or
v 1 of mercurial ointment, blended witb the yolk, of an egg,
and which, when thrown up into the urethra, will aft
nearly in the fame manner as baltam of copaiva, or any
other simulating injeftion. Lhe. ftimulus ot mercury,
however, has often been found of confiderable efficacy ;
and in women, when the vagina only was affefted, af¬
ter waffling the parts well, the cure has been ac-
compliftied by rubbing them repeatedly with mercurial
ointment. rr r>-
As the gonorrhoea is only a local affection, it may
be inferred, that the internal ufe of mercury is unne-
ceffary towards the cure. Very often indeed this
complaint may be removed without having recoude
to mercurials. Sometimes patients have been met with
whofe general health has been greatly impaired by a
long continued ufe of mercury in fuch cafes, while the
original difeafe, the gonorrhoea, was rendered much
worfe by it. In fome it has degenerated into a gleet,
that was cured with extreme difficulty ; in ethers it has
brought on a variety of diftrefling fymptoms. _ In cates
of gononhoeas, therefore, whenever mercury is admim-
flered, it ought to be, not with a view to expedite the
cure, but merely to obviate the dangers of lyphilis.
When the infeftion is apparently flight, and tne inflam¬
mation and the fymptoms trifling, we may proceed with¬
out the afliftance of mercury, efpecially if the patient
be of a weak, relaxed, and irritable habit, likely to be
injured by mercurial medicines. On tne other hand,
when the difeharge is violent, the inflammation con¬
fiderable, or the feat of the difeafe high up m tne ure¬
thra, it is perhaps the moft prudent plan to give mer¬
curials in fmall dotes, and in fuch forms as feem the
beft adapted to the conffitution of the patient.
The pilulce hydrargyri, as prepared according to the
receipts inferted in the laft edition either of the Lon¬
don or Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, in both ol which
the mercury is rendered affive merely by tr.wre may
perhans be confidered as one of the milded and moll
efficacious forms under which mercury can be exhibited
by the mouth. Its efficacy will depend on its not ir¬
ritating the bowels, and thus palling off by Hool, care
mull likewife be taken to prevent «s affe&ng the
mouth. Of the chemical preparations of mercury, the
mildeff and leaft irritating is calomel. It may be given
from gr. ilS. to gr. iii. at bed-time,_ occafionally inter-
pofmgamild purgative to prevent it from falivating
but in general the mercurial pill juft menaoned is
h6 Wher^there is no chancre nor bubo, no appearance
in fhort of fyphilitic infeftion, it would be improper
to adminifter corroftve fublimate, the mercunus calci-
natus, or any other of the more acrid preparations of
^AfS-a gonorrhea proceeding from venereal caufes
has been removed, another kind of running withou
pain 'called the gonorrhoea mucofa, or gleet fometime
remain^ Sometimes it arifes from a conftnftion and
excoriation of the urethra, and frequent y ^ ei-
ftft of an enlargement and difeafed ftate the pio
flat In each of thefe cafes, as the gleet is the effeft
of irritation, the cure will depend
Ihtr^eclfof glee,' thaTSs io depend chiefly on
relaxation. It fa in general free from mfea.on, and
CINE.. 451
Is moft common in thofe who have had long and fre Onr.'-ano^
quent gonorrhoeas. It is likewife orten the effeft or a
debilitated habit, from fevere purging, or a long con¬
tinued ufe of mercurials. A diicharge of this kind^is
more frequent in women than in men •, or, at lead, s.ne
fluor albus, after a gonorrhoea, will oiten be miftaken
for a gleet. . .
When there is no reafon to fufpeft remaining con¬
tagion, affringent injeftions will be oi the greatest er-
jj. wi]j '[je neceflary, at the fame time, to attend
VICe. Ab VVlil ,   . ' .
to the health of the patient, by employing cinchona,
chalybeate waters, cold bathing, and fuch other reme¬
dies as will tend to {Lengthen the fyftem : and indeed
by the ufe of thefe, particularly by the cmchona, luch
runnings are often fuccefsfully combated in thofe who
from apprehenfion of dangerous confequences cannot be
prevailed upon to employ injeftions. When t acre is
no tendency to inflammation, the balfam of copaiva may
be preferibed with advantage in large doles. Dr Sim¬
mons fays he once faw a complaint of this fort removed
by applying a blifter to the pennaeum, after it had re¬
fitted a variety of other remedies. In the Medical Oo-
fervations alfo we have an account of a gleet and in¬
continence of urine removed at once by a blitter to toe
os facrum. In general, however, the other methods
above mentioned will be fufficient to remove it,, though
fometimes it will continue for a long time in ipite ot ail
our endeavours to check it—Other kinds of gonor hcea,
in which the femen itfelf is. ejefted, efpecially .during
fleep, may be cured by tonics and a mild cooling re¬
gimen.
Order V. EPISCHESES.
Genus CXXII. OBSTIPATIO.
Costiveness.
Obflipatio, Lin. 166. Fog. 128. Sag. 221.
Cottivenefs is fometimes occattoned by debility, in
dyfpeptic perfons, fometimes it is the effeft of rigi¬
dity, and fometimes it is fymptomatic of the. colic.
It may proceed from an affeftion of the liver J drinking
rough'red wines, or other aftringent liquors •, too much
exercife, efpecially on horfeback : it may hkewife pro¬
ceed from a long ufe of cold infipid food, which does
not fufficiently ftimulate the inteftines. Sometimes it is
oiving to the bile not defeending to the inteftines, as m
the jaundice ; and at other times it proceeds from dii-
eafes of the inteftines themtelves, as a pai>y, Ipalms, tu¬
mors, &c. _ . f
Exceflive coftivenefs is apt to occafion pains ot the
head, vomiting, colics, and other complaints of the
bowels. It is peculiarly hurtful to hypochondriac and
hyfteric perfons, as it generates wind and other dnlrei-
fing fymptoms. ,
Perfons who are generally coftive fliculd live upon
a moiftening and laxative diet ; as roafted or boiled
apples, pears, Hewed prunes, raifins, gruels with cur¬
rants, butter, honey, fugar, and tuch like. Broths
with fpinage, leeks, and other foft pot-herbs, are hke¬
wife proper. Rye-bread, or that which is made ot a
mixture of wheat and rye together, ought to be eaten.
No perfon troubled with coftivenefs thould eat w hite
bread alpne, efpecially that which is made of fine
3 L 2 '
394
393
M E D I
45 2
.Eptfchefes. flour. The Left bread for keeping the belly foluble
|s what in fome parts of England they call mejlin. It
is made of a mixture of wheat and rye, and is very
agreeable to thofe who are accuftomed to it.
Coftivenefs is increafed by keeping the body too
warm, and by every thing that promotes the perfpira-
tion 5 as wearing flannel, lying too long in bed, &c. In¬
tend thought, and a fedentary life, are likewife hurtful.
All the iecretions and excretions are promoted by mo¬
derate exercile without doors, and Dy a gay, cheerful,
fprightly temper of mind.
The drink fhould be of an opening quality. All ar¬
dent fpirits, auftere and aftringent wines, as port, cla¬
ret, &c. ought to be avoided. Malt liquor that is fine
and of a moderate ftrength is very proper. Butter¬
milk, whey, and other watery liquors, are likewife
proper, and may be drank in turns, as the patient’s
inclination diredfs.
± hofe who are troubled with coftivenefs ought, if
poftible, to remedy it by diet, as the conftant ufe of
medicines fox that purpofe is attended with many in¬
conveniences, and often with bad confequences. In
time the cuftom becomes neceflary, and generally ends
in a total relaxation of the bowels, indigeftion, lofs of
appetite, wafting of the ftrength, and death.
I he learned Dr Arbuthnot advifes thofe who are
troubled with coftivenefs to ufe animal oils, as freih-
butter, cream, marrow, fat broths, &c. He likewife
recommends the expreffed oils of mild vegetables, as
olives, almonds, piftaches, and the fruits themfelves ;
all oily and mild fruits, as figs ; decodfions of mealy
Vegetables ; thefe lubricate the inteftines ; fome fapo-
naceous fubftances which ftimulate gently, as honey,
hydromel, or boiled honey and water, unrefined fupar
&c. are ufeful. 6 ’
I-he dodtoi obferves, that fuch lenitive fubftances
are proper for perfons of dry atrabilarian conftitutions,
who are fubjedl to aftridtion of the belly and the piles,*
and w’ill operate when ftronger medicinal fubftances are
fometimes ineffedlual j but that fuch lenitive diet hurts
tliofe whofe bowels are weak and lax. Tie likewife
obi'erves, that all watery fubftances are lenitive ; and
that even common water, whey, four milk, and butter¬
milk, have that effedt :— I hat new milk, efpecially
aftes milk, ftimulates ftill more when it fours on the
ftomach 5 and that whey, turned four, wall purge
ftrongly :—That moft part of fruits are likewife laxa¬
tive ; and that fome of them, as grapes, will throw
fuch as take them immoderately, into a cholera mor¬
bus, or incurable diarrhoea.
_ When the body cannot be kept open without medi¬
cine, gentle dofes of rhubarb may be taken twice or
tnrice a-week. 1 his is not near fo injurious to the
ftomach as aloes, jalap, or the other draftic purga¬
tives fo much in ufe. Infufions of fenna and manna
may likewufe ce taken, or half an ounce of tartarifed
alkali diffolved in water gruel. About the fize of a
nutmeg of lenitive eledluary taken twice or thrice a-
day, generally anfwers the purpofe very well.
C I N
This difeafe is
E.
Fradice.
394 Genus C XX111. ISCHURIA.
Suppression of Urine.
Ifchuria, Sauv. gen. 293. Lin. 167. Fog. 129.
Sag. 212, Horne's Clinical Experiments, iedt. xv.
diftinguiftied into various fpecies, Ifchuria
according as the feat of it is in the kidneys, the —v—
ureteis, the bladder, or the urethra j and hence thefe
fpecies are named rena/is, ureterica, veficalis, and ure-
thralis.
J. Ifchuria vena/is, or a fuppreflion of urine from an
affedhon of the kidneys, happens but rarely ; however,
Dr Home in his Clinical Experiments deferibes fuch
a t^e enc^ December 1774, a man °f a
fiiil habit, aged 33, was feized with Ihivering, cold-
21 c Is j and fevere cough* I hree days after, his urine
appeared high-coloured, was paffed with pain, and
in fmall quantity. Aoout the 8th of January *775,
he was attacked with violent pains in the fmall of his
back, over the whole abdomen, and in the ankles,
with pain in the region of the liver when preffed. A
general fw-elling was afterwards obferved all over the
body, but chiefly in the ankles and abdomen, which
laft W’as tenfe and hard. I befe were attended with
vomiting, bad appetite, and confiderable thirft. When
he^entered the clinical ward (January 2ift), the cough,
ficknefs, and vomiting, had gone off, but the fuppref-
fton of urine remained. The little which he made was
pai.ed with his ftools, fo that Dr Home faw it but
once 5 and then it was pale, and had a white powder
at bottom. ^ The pains and fwellings, which retained
tne ^ impreffion of tlie finger, continued j he had a
headach, and a very flow pulie, beating only 48 ftrokes
in a. minute. He had taken a great many diuretic
medicines betore his admifticn. I iie day after his re¬
ception, he was feized with a fpontaneous diarrhoea,
which^ continued duiing the remainder of his life.
Cry ft a! s of tartar were exhibited in dofes of half an
ounce each morning ; at bed-time he took 20 drops
of tinflure of opium with a fcruple of nitre, and con¬
tinued this courfe for eight days without any increafe
of urine. The ftronger and heating diuretics were
then tried, as an infufion of juniper berries and pills
of garlic j but they were attended with no fenfible ad¬
vantage. Whenever the pulfe became fo ftrong that
he could bear bleeding, eight ounces of blood uTere
taken aw^ay, which was fizy. This was thrice repeat¬
ed ; he appeared eafier after each bleeding, his pulfe
bore it well, and the fwellings and other fymptoms
abated. The heating diuretics, in this ft ate, were
given up ;. and a mixture of vinegar and nitre was
fubllituted in their place, in each dole of which, taken
every two hours, there was a fcruple of nitre. Fo¬
mentations were applied to the region of the kidneys,
and camphorated oil was afterwards rubbed on the
pait. He was ordered the femicupium, which from
a deficiency of w'ater in the hofpital at that time he
got only once ; and which then feemed to have a good
effedf,. as he paffed a gill of urine wdien he w^as in it.
Notwithftanding this, however, the difeafe continually
gained ground j he became comatofe, delirious, and
died ten days after his admiffion. On diffedlion, the
kidneys were found of an irregular form ; fome watery
veficles appeared on their furface, containing black
gritty particles like fine fand ; and the lower part of
the right kidney was confiderably inflamed. The
pylorus, part of the duodenum, and a confiderable
part of the fmall inteftines, were much inflamed. In
the abdomen were found about five pounds of fluid
and in the cavities of tb.e thorax about half a pound!
The
Pra£iice. M E D I
Epiichefes. The lungs were a little inflamed, and full of fmall
tubercles on their furface and in their fubftance : the
heart was large, and a polypus in each ventricle. About
fix ounces of fluid were found in the pericardium : in
the brain nothing preternatural appeared, except about
an ounce of water in each ventricle.
Dr Home feems to have been at a lofs for the re¬
mote caufe of this fupprefTion of urine, which mani-
fefily had its immediate origin from the kidneys having
loft the power of performing their functions. He
thinks the inflammation which appeared in the right
kidney was fcarce fufficient to have occafioned the
diftemper, as the other would have fupplied its place :
for which_ reafon aifo he thinks that the ifchuria was
owing to a general aftedtion of the fyftem ; and that
it was of an arthritic nature, the patient having been
troubled with complaints of that kind for a loner time
before.
396 2. The ifcJiuria ureterica is alfo a rare difeafe, unlefs
the obflrudlion proceeds from a frone or clot of blood
flopping up the paffage. Gravel or Hones, indeed, are
very frequently formed in the kidneys; and, by falling
into the ureters, occafion an ifchuria, with violent pain,
and fymptoms more or lefs urgent in proportion to
the fize and fhape of the Hones. Sometimes it is
attended with coldnefs of the extremities, naufea,
vomiting, and fpadic conflridtion of the pnecordia,
a difficulty of making water, conHipation of the belly,
difficulty of breathing, flupor of the thigh, retradlion
of the teHicle, inquietude, lofs of flrength, fyncope, and
convulfion fits. When the violent'pain has continued for
feveral days and nights without intermiffion, and has
brought the patient exceeding low, and the fuppreffion
of urine is complete, wuth coldnefs of the extremities
and convulfions of the tendons, death is at hand. Nor
is it a good fign when the Hone continues long in the
ureter 5 for then the appetite decays, a naufea and
retching to vomit fupervene, and the patient is con-
fumed with a he£lic heat. Sometimes the pain is at¬
tended with an inflammation of the flomach and in-
tellines; and fometimes the difeafe ends in a dropfy
of the breafl, or lethargy, which foon carry off the
patient.
The indications of cure are, to exclude the Hone as
eafily as poffible, and prevent the breeding of others.
If the patient be of a fanguineous temperament, Sy¬
denham recommends to take away ten ounces of blood
from the affefled fide •, and then to give the patient a
gallon of poffet-driuk in which twm ounces of marfii-
mallow roots have been boiled, inje&iijg at the fame
time an emollient glyfler. After the poffet drink has
been vomited up, and the clyfler returned, give a
pretty large dofe of an opiate. But if the patient be
old or weak, or lubjeft to nervous affections, bleeding
may be omitted, eipecially if his urine at the begin¬
ning of the fit be coffee coloured, and mixed with
gravel; but as to other things, the cure is the
fame.—Huxham highly recommends an emollient bath
prepared of a decoClion of marfh-mallow root, lintfeed,
fenugreek feed, and flow’ers of chamomile, to which
may be added a few white poppy feeds. By the u(e of
this bath he fays he has feen the mofl cruel fit of the
gravel fuddenly ended, when neither copious bleeding
nor opiates had the leafl effeCt. Mild diuretics are al¬
fo of iervice. Hoffman recommends dulcified fpirit of
CINE.
ni re as proper to relax the ipafiic fhi&ure. It is to be
ta\en with fuitable difiilled waters and fyrup of pop¬
pies 5 or in broth, with a few fpoonfuls oi oil of fweet
almonds. Turpentine glyfler3 are alfo accounted very
ferviceable ; and may be prepared with ten ounces of a
decoftion of chamomile, with half an ounce of turpen¬
tine diffolved in the yolk of an egg, and about as much
honey. The fal diuretiens, or ace!is potajfce, is much
efleemed by iome, when taken along with an opiate.
But when the Hone is too big to pafs, Arbuthnot re¬
commends a cool and diluent diet to binder the further
growth of it. W hey, infufion of lintfeed, decoCHon of
marfhmallows, and gently refolving diuretics, are alfo
proper, j o put a flop to the vomiting, the compound
tinClure of benzoin, formerly named balfamum traumati-
cum, has fometimes been ufed with fuccefs, when almoft
every other means have failed.
3- ’fee ifchuria vejica/is may arife from a ftone in
the bladder j and this indeed is the mofl common
caufe of it : but there are certain cafes, in which,
though the ufual quantity of urine, or perhaps more,
be paffed, the patient dies from the retention of a flill
greater quantity in the bladder. Of this Dr Home
gives the following inftances. A man of 58 years of
age, of a ftrong fpare habit, and never fubjeft to the
gravel, had, during the winter of 1777, a cough
with expefroration, which went off in the beginning
of 1778. About the 17th of February 1778 he felt
fome difficulty in palling his urine, and much pain
about the region of the bladder. He continued in
this way for ten days, after which he became eafier on
application of fome medicines. The abdomen then
fwelled, and he had pains in his loins and thighs.
On the 3d of March he was admitted into the clinical
ward : his abdomen was then fwelled and tenfe ; and
an evident fluctuation was felt, which fome that touched
him thought was fonorous and produced by wind. A
tumor was difeovered between the navel and fpine
. of the os ilium on the left fide, which gave him much
pain, efpecially when preffed. This tumor became
more eafily felt after the fwelling of the abdomen de-
creafed, feemed round, and very near as large as the
head of a child. It appeared very much on the left
fide, even wrhen the patient lay on the right, and it then
became dependent. He paffed urine frequently, and
rather more than in health, as it was computed at four
pints a-day. It was always clear, and of a light co¬
lour. His body had a firong difagreeable fmell ; his
Ikin was dry, belly bound, and his appetite entirely
gone, fo that he had hardly taken any food for j 2 days.
His legs fwelled (lightly for fome days in the evening.
His pulfe was generally regular, fometimes flower than
natural, and fometimes a little quicker \ being once felt
at 64, and another time at 92. He was often feized,
efpecially after eating or drinking, with hiccough $.
which increafed and lafted till his death. On the 20th
day of his difeafe, after fome dofes of fquills, the gene¬
ral fwelling of his abdomen fell, became much fofter,
and more diflinClly difeovered the fwelling of the left
fide. The next day a vomiting came on ; he became
delirious, and died the day following. The body be¬
ing opened, it appeared that the tumor which was fo
diflinCIly felt on the left fide of the abdomen, was
owing to a diflenfion of the bladder with urine. Its
fundus reached to about the divifion of the aorta into
the
453
Ifchuria.
397
454 M E D. 1
Epifchefes. the iliacs *, it entirely filled the pelvis, and contained
v—~-vf—^ five ancl fix pounds of urine of a pale colour.
On examining the external furface, its neck, and the
beginning of the urethra, were found to be furrounded
with a fcirrhofity, which impeded the evacuation of
the urine. The bladder itfelf was much thickened,
but not more in one part than another. The ureters
entered naturally but wTere much thickened in their
upper half near the kidney. The kidneyi were fome-
v.hat enlarged } particularly the left, which had feveral
watery veficles on its external furface. Thefe organs
were not in their ufual fituation 5 but lay clofe on
each fide of the fpine, and very near the aorta; fo
that the renal vefiels were very fhort. What was very
Angular, the lower end of each arofe over the fpine,
and they were united together by their membranes,
the aorta palling beneath the union. 1 he bladder had
prefifed confiderably on this part ; and the peritoneum
covering them was confiderably thicker than natural.
The lungs adhered every where to the pleura, and in
fome places very firmly : they were of a loofe texture
and black colour ; and the veins of the lower extremi¬
ties were turgid with blood. It does not appear that
this patient got any medicines farther than a few dried
fquills, which diminilhed the fwellings and brought off
much wind. He alfo got a mixture of mufk, and af¬
terwards of opium, for his hiccough ; but without fuc-
cefs. His difeafe was miftaken for an afcites ; and the
catheter was not tried : but in another cafe the ufe of
this inftruraent was apparently of more fervice than any
internal medicines. "Ibis laft patient was about 90
years of age, and laboured under fymptoms very fimi-
lar to thofe already mentioned. When admitted into
the clinical ward, he had the hypogaftric region fwel-
led, and difficulty of paffrg his watery but without
pain, vomiting, or hiccough. He had loft all appe¬
tite ; was thirfty, and coftive. His pulfe was no, and
v.’eak. In the evening about three Engbih pints of
pale clear urine were drawn off by means of the cathe¬
ter : the next day all the fymptoms were gone off or
abated. After this he continued to pafs fome urine,
fometimes voluntarily, fometimes involuntarily and in-
fenfibly ; but fo much always remained behind, that his
bladder was conftantly full, unlefs when the urine was
drawn off, which was done twice every day. The urine
wTas fometimes pale, fometimes of a deep red colour ;
and once there was fome blood mixed with it, which
perhaps might have been occafioned by the catheter.
About the fixth day the urine was very putrid, with
much purulent like matter at the bottom, and was pal-
fed with more pain. About the 1 ith, the putrid
fmell went off. The next day all the urine palled in-
fenfibly except what was drawn off; and an hiccough,
though not very fevere, had come on. In this way
he continued without fever, though frequently troubled
with the hiccough, efpecially during thofe nights in
which the urine had not been drawn off. A month
after admiffion, the bladder, with the affiftance of
the catheter, was almoft entirely, though infenfibly
evacuated, and the hiccough had left him ; he had no
other complaint but that of voiding his urine infen¬
fibly, the natural effeft of a feirrhous bladder, and
which was probably incurable. With this patient
the hot bath and mercurials were tried, in order
CINE. , Pra&ice.
to foften the feirrhofity of the bladder, but without Ifchuria..
effedf. ~"J
4. The ifehuria urethralis arifes from fome tumor 3i>5
obftrudling the paffage of the urethra, and thus hin¬
dering the flow of urine. It is no uncommon di-
ftemper, and often follows a gonorrhoea. Dr Home
gives us an example of this alfo.—The patient was a
man of 60 years of age, who had laboured under a
gonorrhoea fix months before, and which was flopped
by fome medicines in two or three days. He felt,
foon afterwards, a difficulty in palling his urine, which
gradually increafed. About 10 days before bis ad-
miflion into the clinical ward, it was attended with
pains in the glans, and ardor' urince; he had paffed
only about eight ounces the day before his admiffion,
and that with very great difficulty ; and the hypoga¬
ftric region was (welled and pained. On introducing
the catheter, three pounds of mine were drawn off, by
which the pain and fwelling w'ere removed. The iu-
ftrument required force to make it pafs the neck of the
bladder, and blood followed the operation ; and the
finger, introduced into the anu'-, felt a hard tumor a-
bout its neck. He was treated with mercurial pills and
ointment, by which the fwelling about the neck of the
bladder foon began to decreafe ; but at the fame time a
fwelling of the right tefticle appeared. He was vomit¬
ed with four grains of turbith-mineral, the fubfu/phas
hjdrargyrijlavus of the prefent pharmacopoeia, which
operated gently ; and here Dr Home obferves, that
though thefe vomits are little ufed, from a miftaken no¬
tion of their feverity, he never favv them' operate with
more violence than other vomits, or than he could have
wiftied. The fwelling diminilhed in confequence of the
emetic and fome external applications; and the cure
was completed by bleeding and a decoftion of mezereon
root.
Genus CXX1V. DYSURIA.
Difficulty of discharging urine.
Dyfuria, Sauv. gen.
Sag. 213.
Stranguria auciorum.
265. Lin. 57. Vog. 164.
399
A difficulty of making water may arife from many
different caufes ; as fi\ m fome acrid matter in the
blood, cantharides, for inftance : and hence a ftran-
gury very often fucceeds the application of blifters.
In many cafes it arifes from a compreffion of fome
of the neighbouring parts; of the uterus, for inftance,
in a ft ate of pregnancy. Or it may arife from a fpaf-
modic affection of the bladder, or rather its fphindler ;
or from an inflammation of thefe parts, or others near
them. Hence the difeafe is diftinguiihed into fo many
fpecies, the cure of which is to be attempted by reme¬
dies indicated by their different caufes.
But the moft common, as well as the moft dangerous
fpecies is that arifing from a calculous concretion, or
Stone in the Bladder.
Dyfuria calculofa, Sauv. fp. 12.
The figns of a ftone in the bladder are, pain, efpe¬
cially about the fphin&er.j and bloody urine, in confe¬
quence
400
3
Practice. MED 1
Epifchefes. quence of riding pr being jolted in a carriage-, a fenfe
<—-y— of weight in the perinceum ; an itchinefs of the g/ans
penis ; flimy fediment in the urine j and frequent flop*
pages in making water a tenefmus alfo comes on while
the urine is difcharged : but the moll certain %n is,
when the ftone is felt by the finger introduced into the
anus, or by founding.
Caufes, Sec. It is not eafy to fay what the particu¬
lar caufes are which occafion the apparently earthy par¬
ticles of the fluids to run together, and form thofe cal¬
culous concretions which are found in different parts of
the body, and efpecially in the organs for fecreting and
difeharging the urine.
The gout and ifone are generally fuppofed to have
feme affinity, becaufe gouty people are for the molt
part affiiaed with the gravel. But perhaps this is
in part owing to their long confinement, and to lying
on the back, which people who labour under the gout
are often obliged to fubmit to ; fince the want of exer-
cife, and this pofture, will naturally favour the ftagna-
tion of <Trofs matters in the kidneys : befides, there aie
many inttances of people feverely afflifted with the Hone
for the greatefl part of a long Ike, who have never had
the leaf! attack of the gout.
There is, however, good reafon for believing, that
fome farther connexion takes place between the two
difeafes j and when treating of the gout we have al¬
ready given fome account of the opinion of an inge¬
nious anonymous author, wrho has endeavouied to
prove, that both the one and the other, depend on a
peculiar acid, the concreting, lithic, or uric acid, which
is always prefent in blood.-, and which may be precipi¬
tated from thence by various caufes, fuch as the intro-
duftion of other acids, or the like. When thus preci¬
pitated, he fuppofes it to produce the whole phenomena
of both difeafes. The objeftions we formerly ftated
to his theory of gout, do not equally militate a gain ft
that of calculus ; and it is at lead certain, from the
beft chemical analyfis, that what are commonly called
urinary calculi, and have been confidered as entirely
an earthy matter, confift principally of acid in a *ond
ftate united only with a fmall proportion. Oi earth or
mucus. We may, therefore, whether this hypothefis
be altogether well founded or not, juftly view hthiafis
as depending, in a great meafure, on the reparation oi
an acid from the blood. jt r
Whatever may be the particular caufe of the diipou-
tion to lithiafu, the kidneys appear to be the moft like¬
ly places for particles to concrete or run togetner, be¬
caufe of the great quantity of blood which pafles
through the renal arteries, and which comes imme-
diately from the heart, fraught with various newly-re¬
ceived matters, that have not undergone much oi the
aaion of the veffels, and therefore cannot as yet be !up-
pofed to be thoroughly affimilated. .
Anatomifts who have carefully examined the kid¬
neys in the human fubjeft, particularly M. Bertin in¬
form us, that there are two fets of tuouh urlmfen;
the one continued direftly from the extremities or
the renal artery, and the other fpnngmg from that
veficular texture which is confpicuous in
neys
the kid-
It is in this veficular part of the kidney that we
prefume the particles of the concreting matter firlt
Agnate and coalefce ; for it is hardly to be fuppofed,
CINE.
that fuch folid matters could be allowed to flop
the extremities of the renal arteries, fince the blood,
and the urine feparated from it, mult flow through
thefe veffels with great degrees of force and velocity j
but in the intermediate veficulae the particles may lie,
and there attracting each other, foon come to acquire
fenfible degrees of magnitude, and thus become fand
or gravel. As long as this fand or gravel formed m
the veficular part of the kidney lies quiet, there will
be no pain or uneafinefs, until the concretions become
larre enough to prefs either on the adjoining tubuii,
or on the °blood-veffels j then a fenfe. of weight, and
a kind of obtufe pain in the loins, will be felt. But
when the fmall pieces of concreting matter lhal.l be
diffodged and waffled off by the force of the circu¬
lating fluids, or loofened by ibme fpafmodic a ebon ot
the moving fibres in thefe. parts, they will in their paf-
fage create pain, raife difierent degrees of inflamma¬
tion, or perhaps lacerate fome blood-veffels, and came
bloody urine. When thefe little concretions happen to
be detained in the pelvis of the kidney, or any other
place where a flow of urine continually paffes, they
foon increafe in fize, and become calculi, from the con-
ftant acceffion of particles, which are attraded by the
original bit of fand, which thus becomes the nucleus
of a flone. ,
It is an opinion which Hippocrates firft advanced,
and which has been almoft univerfally adopted by his
followers, and has remained till lately uncontrovert¬
ed, that the ftone and gravel are generated by tlje ute
of hard water. From the quality, which the waters of
certain fprings poffefs, of depofiting a large earthy iedi-
ment, either in the aquaedufts through which they are
conveyed, or in the veflels in which they are boiled oi
preferved, it was conjeftured, that in . palling through
the kidneys, and efpecially whilft retained in the blad¬
der, they would let fall their groffer particles, which
by the continued appofition of frelh matter, connected
by the animal gluten, and compafted by the mufcular
action of that organ, would in time form a cmculus lut-
ficiently large to produce a train of the moft excruciat¬
ing fymptoms. And this reafoning a priori. has been
fuppofed to be confirmed by faffs.and experience for
not to mention the authority of Hippocrates, Dr In^er
has obferved, that the inhabitants of Pans are peculiarly
fubieff to the ftone in the bladder. Nicholas deBleg-
ny has related the hiflory of one who was diffeCled at
Paris, in whom the pylorus, a great part of the duode¬
num, and the ttomach itfelf, were found_ incruftated
with a ftony matter, to the thicknefs of a finger s
breadth. And it is well known, that the water of the
river Seine, with which that city is fupphed, is lo im¬
pregnated with calcareous matter, as to incruftate, and
r> a fhort time to choak up, the pipes through which
it runs. But on the other hand it is objected, that b e
human calculus is of animal origin, and by chcmica
analyfis appears to bear very little analogy to the ftony
concretions of water: and though it be allowed, that
more perfons are cut for the ftone in the hofp.itals at
Paris than in moft other places ; yet upon inquiry it is
found, that many of thofe patients come from different
provinces, and from towns and villages far diftant fiom
Dr Percival conjeflures, that though this difeafe may
chiefly depend upon a peculiar difpofition to concre^:
/
456
JvmfcU In tl,e animal fluids, which in many inftanc.-s is here-
cutary, and in no inftance can with certainty be impu¬
ted to any particular caufe j yet hard water'is at leaft
negatively favourable to this diathefis, by having no
tendency to dimimlh it. The urine of the mod; healthy
perion is generally loaded with an apparently terreous
matter, capable in favourable circumftances of formina
a calculus ; as is evident from the thick cruft which it
depoftts on the Tides of the veffels in which it is contain¬
ed. And it feems as if nature intended bv this excre¬
tion to difcharge all the fuperfluous falts of the blood
together with thofe earthy particles, which are either
denved from our aliment, and fine enough to pafs
through the la&eals, though infuperable by the powers
of circulation, or which arife from the abrafion of the
iolids, or from the diftblution of the red globular part
of our fluids. . Now water, whether ufed as nature pre-
ients^us with it, or mixed with wine, or taken under
the form of beer or ale, is the great diluter, vehicle,
and menftruum, both of our food, and of the fa line,
earthy, and excrementitious parts of the animal juices!
And it is more or lefs adapted to the performance of
theie offices, in proportion to its degree of purity. For
it muft appear evident to the moft ordinary underftand-
ing, that a menftruum already loaded, and perhaps fa-
turated with different contents, cannot adl fo power¬
fully as one which is free from all fenfible impregna¬
tion.^ Nor is this reafoning founded upon theory alone :
for it is obferved, that Malvern water, which iffues
from a fpnng in Worcefterftiire remarkable for its un¬
common purity, has the property of diffolving the little
fabulous ftones which are often voided in nephritic
complaints. And the folution too, which is a proof'
Of its being Complete, is perfedly colourlefs. Hence
this w'ater is drunk with great advantage in diforders
of the urinary paffages. And during the ufe of it, the
patient’s urine is generally limpid, and feldom depofits
any landy fediment. Yet notwithftanding this appear¬
ance of tranfparency, it is certainly at fuch times load¬
ed with impurities, which are fo diluted and diffolved
as not to be vifible. For it is attended with a ftrong
and fetid fmell, exadly refembling that of afparagus.
Hoffman mentions a pure, light, fimple water in the
principality of Henneberg, in Germany, which is re¬
markable for its efficacy in the ftone and gravel : and
a water of fimilar virtues was difcovered not many years
ago in the Black foreft, near Ofterod, which upon exa¬
mination did not afford a fingle grain of mineral mat-
tfr’ r .^eec^ ^ ,s w°rthy of obfervation, that moft of
the fpnngs which were formerly held in great efteem
and were called hohj wells, are very pure, and yield
little or no fediment.
, I?r Percwal informs us that a gentleman of Man-
chefter, who had been long fubjedl to nephritic com-
plaints, and often voided fmail ftones, was advifed
to refrain from his own pump-water, which is un¬
commonly hard, and to drink conftantly the foft wa¬
ter of a> neighbouring fpring ; and that this change
alone, without the ufe of any medicine, has rendered
the returns of his diforder much lefs frequent and pain-
ful. A lady alfo, much affected with the gravel, was
induced by the perufal of the firft edition of Dr Perci
val s Effay to try the effed of foft water; and by the
conftant ufe of it remained two years entirely free from
her dilorder.
medicine.
In nephritic cafes, diftilled water would be an excel¬
lent fubftitute for Malvern water, as the following ex¬
periment evinces. &
1 wo fragments of the fame calculus, nearly of eoual
weight, were immerfed, the one in three ounces of di-
fiihed water, the other in three ounces of hard pump,
water. The phials were hung up clofe together in a
kuchen-chimney, at a convenient diftance from the fire
After 14 days maceration, the calculi were taken out’
and carefully dried by a very gentle heat. The for¬
mer, viz. that which had been immerfed in diftilled
water, was diminiftied in its weight a grain and a half-
the latter had loft only half a grain.
It is the paffage of thefe calculi from the kidneys
down into the bladder, which occafions the pain, vo-
miting, and other fymptoms, that conrtitute what is
ulualiy termed a// of the gravel os Jlone.
. When an inflammation is adually railed, the difeare
is known by the name of nephritis, and has been alrea¬
dy treated of.
As foon as the ftone paffes through the ureter, and
mils into the bladder, the pain and other nephritic
iymptoms ceafe ; and every thing will remain quiet,
either till the ftone be carried into the urethra, or until
it has remained long enough in the bladder to acquire
weight lufhcient to create new diftrefs.
If a ftone happen to be fmooth and of a roundifti
orm it may he in the bladder and acquire confider-
able bulk before it can be perceived bv the patient :
but when it is angular, or has a rugged furface, even
though it may be fmail in fize, yet it feldom fails to
raile pain, and occafion bloody urine, or the difeharerg
of a flimy fluid, with tenefmus, and difficulty in making
water. 6
1 here have been various attempts made to diffolve
the ftone ; and there are certainly fome articles which
have this efteeft when applied to them out of the body •
but the almoft total impoftibility of getting. thefe con!
veyed to the kidneys, renders it extremely doubtful
whether a folvent ever will be difcovered. Of all the
articles employed for this purpofe, no one perhaps has
had greater reputation than fixed alkaline fait in its cau-
fticftate, particularly under the form of the lixivium
cauflicitm, or aqua potafa, as it is now called : but this
being of a very acrid nature, it requires to be w-ell
Iheathed by means of fome gelatinous or mucilaginous
vehicle. Veal-broth is as convenient as any for
this purpofe ; and accordingly it is ufed by thofe who
make a fecret of the cauftic alkali as a folvent of cal¬
culus.
Mr Blackrie, wffio has taken much pains in this in¬
quiry, has proved very fatisfaftorily, that ChittrickY
noitrum is no other than foap-lees given in veal-broth
which the patients fend every day to the doftor, who’
returns it mixed up with the medicine, in a clofe veffel
lecured by a lock.
It is not every cafe, however, that either requires
or will bear a courfe of the cauftic alkali. Some cal-
cuh are of that foft and friable nature, that they will
diiiolve even in common water ; and there are cafes
wherein it appears that the conftant ufe of fome very
flmp.e decochon or infufion of an infignificant vege-
able, has brought away large quantities of earthy
matter, m flakes which apparently have been united
together in layers to form a ftone. Dr Macbride af-
fures
Practice.
Dyfuria.
Practice. M EDI
Epifchefes. fares ns, that a decoction of raw coffee, only 30 ber-
v “ ries in a quart of water, boiled till it acquired a deep
greenilh colour, taken morning and evening to the
quantity of eight or ten ounces, with ten drops of
fweet fpirit of nitre, had the powerful effedt of bring¬
ing away, in the courfe of about two months, as
much earthy matter in flakes as filled a large tea cup.
The patient was far advanced in years; and, before he
began this decodtion, had been reduced to great extre¬
mities by the continuance of pain and other diflref-
fing fymptoms: he was purged occafionally with oleum
ricini.
Very lately the alkali in a mild ftate, and in a dif¬
ferent form, has been much ufed by many calculous
patients, and with great advantage, under the form
of what is called alkaline aerated water, the aqua fuper-
carbonatis potaffae of the prefent edition of the Edin¬
burgh Pharmacopoeia. For the introdudlion of this
medicine, or at leaft for its extenfive ufe, we are chiefly
indebted to that ingenious phyfician Dr William Fal¬
coner of Bath. He has lately publilhed an account of
the Aqua Mephitic a Alkalina, or folution of fixed al¬
kaline fait, faturated with fixable air, in calculous dif-
orders ; which contains a number of cafes ftrongly fup-
porting the benefit to be derived from it. But whe¬
ther the good effedls obtained in thefe inflances are to
be explained from its operating as a folvent of calculus,
feems to be extremely doubtful. There are indeed cafes
in Dr Falconer’s treatife, of patients in whom, after
ufing it for a confiderable time, no done could be de¬
tected by founding, although it had been difcovered in
that way before they began the employment of it. But
in many inflances, the relief has been fo hidden, that it
may be concluded, that, notwathflanding the cafe ob¬
tained, the calculus ftiil remained. In fuch cafes,. it
probably removed from the urine that quality by which
it gives to the calculus frefli accretions, producing that
roughnefs of its furface by which it is chiefly capable of
a Cling as a ftimulus. For the diflrefling fymptoms re-
fulting from ftone are chiefly to be attributed to the
inflammatory and fpafmodic affeClions which it induces j
and when its furface is leaft capable of operating as a
flimulus, thefe of courfe will be lead confiderable. It
is therefore not improbable, that this remedy produces
relief, by preventing frefli additions being made to the
calculus.
An infufion of the feeds of daucus JylvcJlt is fweetcn-
ed with honey, is another fimple and much celebrated
remedy ; it has been found to give confiderable eafe in
cafes where the ftomach could not bear any thing of an
acrid nature. The leaves of the uva urfi were ftrongly
recommended by the late celebrated De Pia^.n , and
this, whatever its way of operating may be, feems to have
been produClive of good effeCts its iome inftances. I here
is no reafon to believe that it has any influence in dif-
folving calculus j and indeed it feems to be chiefly ufe-
ful in thefe inftances where ulcerations take place in the
urinary paffages. . ...
In the Edinburgh Medical Commentaries, yol. in.
we have an account of a method ufed by the inhabi¬
tants of Arabia Petrsea for curing the ftone, to which
thev are very much fubjedl, and which the author (an
Englilh gentleman of experience and candour) adirms
he has feen frequently performed with fuccels. Ly
means of a catheter, they injefl into the bladder a weak
Vol. XIII. Part II.
CINE.
ley of alkali with the purified fat of a fneep’s tail, and
a proper quantity of opium, all put together. Their ca¬
theters are made of gold ; and in performing the ope¬
ration they introduce them quite into the bladder ; fo
that the compofition is fafely conveyed to the ftone
without hurting any other part. But when a ftone
is fituated in the kidney, they have no method of
cure.
If this method of curing by injeflion could be fafely
praflifed, it would no doubt have the advantage over
that of taking alkalies by the mouth, where the medi¬
cine is not only much weakened, but the conftitution of
the patient runs the rifle of being greatly injured. But
from fome experiments mentioned in the fecond volume
of the Medical Tranfaflions, and ftill more from the
chemical analyfis of urinary concretions, lately publilh¬
ed by Fourcroy and other modern chemifls, it appears
that the human calculi are very different from one an¬
other in their natures. Some, for inftance, will eafily
yield to an alkaline menftruum, and very little to an
acid j while others are found to refift the alkali, and
yield to the acid ; and fome are of fuch a compabl na¬
ture, that they yield neither to acids nor alkalies. An
attention, however, to the fragments, feales, or films,
which the ftone may call off, and alfo to the contents
and fediment of the urine, may lead to the difeovery of
what folvent is proper, or whether the ftone can be dif-
folved by any. To ufe either alkalies or acids impro¬
perly may be hurtful; though there may be fuch kinds
of calculi as demand the alternate ufe of acids and al¬
kalies ; nay, there may be found calculi of oppofite
kinds in the fame fubjedl.
In fuch cafes as will not allow us to think of diffol-
ving the ftony concretions, and where the only object
is to palliate and procure eafe from time to time,
little more can be done than to keep the bowels open
occafionally by fome gentle cathartic, and w’aftv off as
much of the loofe gravelly matter and flime as can be
removed by fuch mild diuretic infufions and decoc¬
tions as (hall be found to pafs freely and fit w;ell on
the ftomach. Perfons afflifted with the ftone ftiould be
careful in refpeft of their diet, and ftudioufly avoid all
heavy and flatulent food, as w^ell as high fauces that
are apt to turn rancid. For the fame reafen, butter and
acids are to be fliunned ; for thefe often create heart¬
burning, and every thing that offends the ftomach
raifes the nephritic pain *, fuch is the fympathy that
obtains between the digeftive and the uropoietic or-
gans.
There have been furgeons bold enough to entertain
an idea of cutting even into the kidney, in order to
extra# a ftone : this, however, except in cafes where
an abfeefs has been formed, and nature points out the
w'ay, is both very uncertain and very hazardous. But
cutting into the bladder for the fame purpofe, is an an¬
cient and well-known operation, and often crowned
with fuccefs. A defeription, however, of this opera¬
tion belongs to the article SURGERY, to which we re¬
fer ; and here {hall only make this remark, that a fur-
geon ftiould never begin his operation, until he and his
afliftants are perfedlly fatisfied, from aflually feeling
the ftone, that there is one in the bladder ; becaufe it
has fometimes happened, that when the incifion has
been made, no ftone could be found : and the patient
hawng died in confequence of the operation, and the
3 M ' body
458 M E D I
Epifchefcs. body being opened, it has appeared that the fymptoms
^"l" ” which occafioned the belief of a done in the bladder
arofe from fome other caufe.
WHEN a dyfuria proceeds from any acrimonious mat¬
ter thrown into the blood, it may be readily cured by
bleeding, emollient clyfters, cooling and diluting drinks
with gum arabic or gum tragacanth, linfeed tea, or
the warm bath. When it arifes from inflammations of
the bladder or parts adjoining to it, we are to regard
it only as a fymptornatic affedlion ; and the remedies
ufed to remove the primary difeafe will alfo remove the
dyfuria. Sometimes it may arife from an ulcer of the
bladder ; in which cafe it is generally incurable ; a
mild nutritious diet will, however, protraefl the patient’s
life 5 and even render that life tolerable, by alleviating
fymptoms.
401 Genus CXXV. DYSPERMATISMUS.
Difficult Emission of Semen.
Dyfpermatifmus, Sauv. gen. 260.
Sterilitas, Lin. 171. Sag. 211.
Agenefia, Fog. 283.
This impeditnent proceeds generally from obftruc-
tiens in the urethra, either by tumors in itfelf, or in
the cavernous bodies of the penis ; in which cafe the
treatment is the fame as in the ifehuria urethralis;
fometimes it is owing to a kind of epileptic fit which
feizes the man in the venereal aft ; and fometimes the
femen, when ejefted from the proper receptacles, is
again abforbed, or flows into the bladder, and is expel¬
led along with the urine. The laft cafe it is very diffi¬
cult, or even impoffible, to cure ; as proceeding from
feirrhi, or other indiffoluble tumors of the verumonta-
num, or the neighbouring parts. It is alfo, in gene¬
ral, incurable. In fome it proceeds merely from too
violent an ereftion ; in which cafe emollient and relax¬
ing medicines will be of fervice •, and we have an ex¬
ample of a cure performed by means of thefe in the firft
volume of the Edinburgh Medical Effays.
402 Genus CXXVI. AMENORRHOEA.
Suppression of the Menses.
Amenorrhoea, Vog. 130.
Dyfmenorrhoea, Lin. 168. Sag. 218.
This obftruftion, with many other fymptoms, as
dyfpepfia, yellowilh or greeniffi colour of the fkin, un-
ufual appetites, &c. conftitutes the chlorojis already
treated of, a difeafe which feldom or never appears
without a fuppreffion of the menfes. In Dr Hume’s
Clinical Experiments we find the virtues of feveral em-
menagogues fet forth in the following manner. Chaly-
beates feldom or never fucceeded : they were always
found more ufeful in diminiffiing the evacuation when
CINE. Praciice.
too violent, than in refloring it when deficient. The Amenor-
tinfture of black hellebore proved fuccefsful only in one Hwea.
of nine or ten cafes, though given to the length of four '
tea-fpoonfuls a-day, which is double the quantity re¬
commended by Dr Mead. Compreffion of the crural
artery, recommended by Dr Hamilton in the Phyfical
and Literary Eflays, vol. ii. proved fuccefsful only in
one of fix cafes. From the effefts produced by this
compreffion, it has the ftrongefl appearance of loading
the uterus with blood ; from the fenfations of the pa¬
tient it produces the fame effefts as the approach of the
menles, and has every appearance in its favour j yet
does not fucceed. Dr Hume fuppofesthat the uterus is
moft frequently in too plethoric and inflammatory a
ftate 5 in which cafe, this remedy will do more hurt
than in a ftate of inanition ; however, he owns, that in
the cafe in which it did fucceed, the patient was ple¬
thoric and inflammatory. Venefeftion is recommended
as an excellent remedy 5 the doftor gives three inftan-
ces of its fuccefs, and fays he could give many more.
It afts by removing the plethoric ftate of the uterus, re¬
laxing the fibres,.and giving the veffels full play ; fo
that their aftion overcomes all refiftance, and the eva¬
cuation takes place. It is of no great moment from
whence the blood is taken : the faphamic vein has been
fuppofed to empty the uterus moft ; but it is difficult to
get the proper quantity from it, and the quantity of the
difeharge cannot be fo well meafured. The powder of
favine is a moft powerful remedy ; and proved fuccefs
ful in three cafes out of four in which it wras tried. It
was given to the quantity of half a dram twice a-day.
It is a ftrong topical ftimulus, and feems improper in
plethoric habits. Madder-root, according to Dr Hume,
is a very powerful medicine in this difeafe •, and proved
fuccefsful in 14 out of 19 cafes in which it was tried,
being fometimes exhibited in the quantity of two feru-
ples, or a dram, four times a-day. It has fcarcely any
fenfible effefts ; never quickens the pulfe, or excites in¬
flammatory fymptoms : on the contrary, the heat, thirft,
and other complaints abate 5 and fometimes thefe fymp¬
toms are removed, though the difeafe be not cured j
but when it fucceeds, the menfes appear from the third
to the 12th day.
We have now confidered all thofe difeafes enumera¬
ted in Dr Cullen’s Nofology, the cure of which is to
be attempted chiefly by internal medicines. The other
genera either require particular manual operations, or a
very confiderable ufe of external applications ; and
therefore more properly fall under the article Surgery.
To this, therefore, we {hall refer the genera which fall
under the three laft orders of the clafs of locales, viz.
the tumores, e&opia:, and dialyfes; and we ftiall add,
by wray of Appendix, a few obfervations on fome im¬
portant affeftions to which Dr Cullen has not given a
place in his fyftem, or which praftitioners in general
are not agreed in referring to any one particular genus
which he has mentioned.
APPENDIX.
Appendix.
Angina
Pecloris.
MEDICINE.
APPENDIX.
459
Angina
Pedtoris.
ANGINA PECTORIS.
Dr HeBERDEN was the firfl who defcribed this
difeafe, though it is an extremely dangerous, and, by
his account, not very rare affe£tion. It feizes thofe
who are fubjecl to it when they are walking, and par¬
ticularly when they walk foon after eating, with a moft
difagreeable and painful fenfation in the bread, which
feerns to threaten immediate dellruftion : but the mo¬
ment they Hand {till, all the uneafinefs vanilhes. In all
other refpects the patients at the beginning of this dif-
order are well, and have no Ihortnefs of breath ; from
which the angina peBoris is totally different. After it
has continued fome months, the fits will not ceafe in-
fiantaneoufiy on Handing ftill; and it will come on not
only when the patients are walking, but when they are
l^ung down, and oblige them to rife up out of bed eve¬
ry night for many months together. In one or two
very inveterate cafes, it has been brought on by the
motion of a horfe or carriage, and even by fwallowing,
coughing, going to ftool, fpeaking, or by any difturb-
ance of mind. The perfons affefted were all men, al-
moft all of whom were above 50 years of age, and moft
of them with a fhort neck and inclining to be fat.
Something like it, however, was obferved in one wo¬
man, who ■was paralytic $ and one or two young men
complained of it in a flight degree. Other practition¬
ers have obferved it in very young perfons. . \
When a fit of this fort comes on by walking, its du¬
ration is very ftiort, as it goes off almoft immediately
upon flopping. If it comes on in the night, it will laft
an hour or two. Dr Heberden met with one in whom
it once continued for feveral days ; during all which
time the patient feemed to be in imminent danger
of death. Moft of thofe attacked with the diftemper
died fuddenly : though this rule was not without excep¬
tions \ and Dr Heberden obferved one who lunk under
a lingering illnefs of a different nature.
The os Jlerni is ufunlly pointed to as the feat of this
malady. It feems as if it was under the lower part of
that bone, and at other times under the middle or up¬
per part, but always inclining more to the left fide $
and in many cafes there is joined with it a pain about
the middle of the left arm, which appears to be feated
in the biceps mufcle.
The appearance of Dr Heberden’s paper in the Me¬
dical Tranfaftions very foon railed the attention of the
faculty, and produced other obfervations froin phyfi-
cians of eminence ; particularly Dr Fothergill, Dr
Wall of Worcefter, Dr Haygarth of Chefter, and Dr
Percival of Manchefter. It alfo induced an unknown
fufferer under the difeafe to write Dr Heberden a very
fenfible letter, defcribing his feelings in the moft na¬
tural manner j which, unfortunatelym three weeks
after the date of this anonymous epiftle, terminated
in a hidden death, as the writer himfelf had appre¬
hended. . r
The youngeft fubjeft that Dr Fothergill ever faw
afflicted with this diforder was -about 3s years o age j
and this perfon was cured. The method that fucceed-
ed with him was a courfe of pills, compofed of the mafs
of gum pill, foap, and native cinnabar ; with a light
chalybeate bitter : this was continued for fome months,
after which he went to Bath feveral fucceflive feafons,
and acquired his ufual health : he was ordered to be
very fparing in his diet •, to keep the bowels open j and
to ufe moderate exercife on horfeback, but not to take
long or fatiguing walks.
The only fymptom in this patient that is mentioned,
tv as a ftriClure about the cheft, which came on if he
was walking up hill or a little fafter than ordinary,
or if he was riding at a very brifk trot \ for moderate
exercife of any kind did not affeft him : and this un-
eafy fenfation always obliged him to flop, as he felt
himfelf threatened with immediate death if he had been
obliged to go forward.
It is the ftiarp conftriflive pain acrofs the cheft,
which (according to Dr Fothergill’s obfervation) parti¬
cularly marks this fingular difeafe; and which is apt to
fupervene upon a certain degree of mufcular motion, or
whatever agitates the nervous fyftem.
In fuch cafes as fell-under the infpe&ion of Dr Fo¬
thergill, he very feldom met with one that was not at¬
tended with an irregular and intermitting pulfe ; not
only during the exacerbations, but often when the pa¬
tient was free from pain and at reft : but Dr Heber¬
den obferves, that the pulfe is, at leafir fometimes, not
difturbed ; and mentions his having once had an op¬
portunity of being convinced of this circumftance, by
feeling the pulfe during the paroxyfm.
But no doubt thefe varieties, as wHl as many other
little circumftances, will occur in this difeale, as they
do in every other, on account of the diverfity or the hu¬
man frame j and if thofe which in general are found
to predominate and give the diftinguiftiing charadler
be prefent, they will always authonfe us in giving the
name to the difeafe 1 thus, when w'e find the conilric-
tory pain acrofs the cheft, accompanied with a fenfe
of ftrangling or fuffocation } and ftill more, if this pain
ftiould ftrike acrofs the breaft into one or both arms j
we {hould not hentate to pronounce the cafe an angina
peBoris.
As to the nature of this difeafe, it appears to be
purely fpafmodic ; and this opinion will readily prefent
itfelf to any one who confiders the fudden manner of
its coming on and going off ; the long intervals of per-
fea eafe ; the relief afforded by wine, and fpirituous
cordials 5 the influence which paflionate affbaions of
the mind have over it *, the eafe which comes from
varying the pofture of the head and fhoulders, or fiom
remaining quite motionlefs 5 the number of years for
which it will continue, without otherwife difqrdering
health ; its bearing fo well the motion of a horfe or
carriage, which circumftance often diftinguiihes fpaf¬
modic pains from thofe which arife from ulcers ; and,
laftly, its coming on for the moft part after a full meal,
and in certain patients at night, juft after the firft fleep,
at which time the insubus, convulfive aflhma, and
other difeafes, juftly attributed to the difordered func-
3 M 2 tions
4<5o , M E D I
Angina tions of the nerves, are peculiarly apt to return or to be
, ?£^oris; aggravated.
From all thefe circumftances taken together, there
can be little doubt that this aifeclion is of a fpafmodic
nature : but though it fliould be admitted, that the
whole diftrefs in thtfe cafes arife from fpnfm, it may not
be lo eafy to afcertain the particular muicles which are
thus affeded.
The violent fenfe of firangling or choaking, which
fhows the circulation through the lungs to be inter¬
rupted during the height of the paroxyfm ; and the pe¬
culiar conftridive pain under the fternum, always in¬
clining (according to Dr Heberden’s obfervation) to
the left-fide ; together with that moft diftreffing and
alarming fenfation, which, if it were to increafe or
continue, threatensan immediate extindion of life; might
authorife us to conclude that the heart itfelf is the
mufcle affeded : the only objedion to this idea is, that
the pulfe is not always interrupted during the paroxyfm.
The appearances in two of the diffedions, favour the
opinion that the fpafm affeds the heart; as in one fub-
jed the left ventricle was found as empty of blood as if
it had been wadied ; and in another, the fubftance of
the heart appeared whitifh, not unlike a ligament ; as
it fliould feem, in both cafes, from the force of the
fpafm fqueezing the blood out from the veiTels and
cavities.
It this hypothefis be allowed, we mud conclude that
the fpafm can only take place in an inferior degree, as
long as the patient continues to furvive the paroxyfm ;
fince an affedion of this fort, and in this part, of any
confiderable duration or violence, mull inevitably prove
fatal: and accordingly, as far as could be traced, the
perfons who have been known to labour under this dif-
eafe have in general died fuddenly.
The difledions alfo fliow, that whatever may be the
true feat of the fpafm, it is not neceflary for the bring¬
ing of it on, that the heart, or its immediate appenda¬
ges, thould be in a morbid date; for in three out of
the fix that have as yet been made public, thefe parts
were found in a found date.
On opening the body of the poor gentleman who
wrote the letter to Dr Heberden, “ upon the mod
careful examination, no manifed caufe of his death
could be difcovered ; the heart, in particular, with its
veffels and valves, were all found in a natural condi¬
tion.”
In the cafe communicated by Dr Percival to the pub-
lifhers of the Edinburgh Medical Commentaries, “ the
heart and aorta defcendens were found in a found date.”
And in Dr Haygarth’s patient, “ on opening the tho¬
rax, the lungs, pericardium, and heart, appeared per¬
fectly found.” Not to mention Dr Fothergill’s pa¬
tient (R. M.), in whofe body the only morbid ap¬
pearance about the heart was a fmall white fpot
near the apex. Thus the caufe, whatever its na¬
ture might have been, was at too great a didance, or
of too fubtile a nature, to come under the infpeClion
' of the anatomid. But there wTas a circumdance in two
of the fubjeCls that is worthy of remembrance ; and
which flrows that the crafis of the blood, while they
were living, mud have been greatly injured, namely,
its not coagulating, but remaining of a cream-like con¬
fidence, without any feparation into ferum and craffa-
mentuitt.
CINE. Appendix
From all that we have feen hitherto publidied, it in-,i
does not appear that any confiderable advances have ^'do’-is.
been made towards the aCtual cure of this anomalous *’ y
fpafm.
The very judicious and attentive Dr Heberden (to
whom the public are highly indebted for fird making
the diforder known) confefles, that bleedings, vomits,
and other evacuations, have not appeared to do any
good : tvine and cordials taken at bed-time, will fome-
times prevent or weaken the fits ; but nothing does
this lo effe&ually as opiates : in fhort, the medicines
ufually called nervous or cordial, fuch as relieve and
quiet convulfive motions, and invigorate the languith-
ing principle of life, are what he recommends.
Dr Wall mentions one patient, out of the 12 or 13
that he had feen, wTo applied to him early in the dif-
eafe, and was relieved confiderably by the ufe of anti-
monial medicines joined with the fetid gums : he was
dill living at the time the doClor wTrote his paper,
(November *772), and going about with tolerable eafe.
Two were carried off by other diforders; all the red
died fuddenly.
Dr Fothergill’s direClions are chiedy calculated with
the view to prevent the diforder from gaining ground,
and to alleviate prefent dillrefs. Accordingly he en¬
joins fuch a kind of diet as may be moll likely to pre¬
vent irritability: in particular, not to eat vo’-acioufly: to
be very abdemious in refpeft to every thing heating ;
fpices, fpirits, wines, and all fermented liquors: to
guard mod fcrupuloufly againd pafiion, or any vehement
emotions ; and to make ufe of all the ufual means of
edablilhing and preferving general health : to mitigate
excefles of irritability by anodynes ; or pains, if they
quicken the circulation : to difperfe flatulencies when
they didend the domach, by moderate dofes of carmina¬
tives ; amongd which, perhaps, Ample peppermint w'ater
may be reckoned one of the fafed. But fince obefity
is judly confidered as a principal predifpofing caufe, he
infids drongly on the necedity of preventing an increafe
of fat, by a vegetable diet, and ufing every other prac¬
ticable method of augmenting the thinner fecretions.
Thefe were the only means recommended by the
praflitioners mentioned above for oppofing this for¬
midable difeafe : but Dr Smyth of Ireland has, we are
told, dilcovered that it may be certainly cured by
idues, of which Dr Macbride gives the following
indance.
“ 5. a tall well-made man ; rather large than
otherwife ; of healthy parents, except that there had
been a little gout in the family ; temperate ; being
very attentive to the bufinefs of his trade (that of a
watchmaker), led a life uncommonly fedentary ; had,
from his boyhood upwards, been remarkably fubjeft
to alarming indammations of his throat, which feized
him, at lead, once in the courfe of the year ; in all other
refpe&s well.
“ In 1767, (then 48 years of age), he was taken,
without any evident caufe, with a hidden and very
difpiriting throbbing under the dernum. It foon
afterwards increafed, and returned upon him every
third or fourth week, accompanied with great anxiety,
very laborious breathing, choaking, a fenfation of
fulnefs and didenfion in the head, a bloated and
flufhed countenance, turgid and watery eyes, and a
very irregular and unequal pulfe. The paroxyfm in¬
vade d3
Appendix. iV^ ^
v ided, almoft conftantly, while he was fittmg^ after
dinner ; now and then he was feizeo. witn it in the
morning, when walking a little fader than ufual : and
was then obliged to flop, and reft on any objea at
hand. Once or twice it came on in bed 5 but did not
Angina
Pecloris.
nanu. wu'-"-     /
oblige him to fit up, as it was then attended wuth no
great difficulty in breathing. In the afternoon fits
his greateft eafe was from a fupine poftuie ; in which
he ufed to continue motionlefs for fome hours, until,
quite fpent and worn out with anguiih, he dropt into
a {lumber. In the intervals between thefe attacks,
which at length grew fo frequent as to return every
fourth or fifth'day, he was, to appearance, m perfedt
health.
“ Thus matters continued for more than two years ;
and various antifpafmodics were ineffedlually tried for
his relief. In 1769, there fupervened a very (harp
conftridlory pain at the upper part of the fternum,
ftretching equally on each fide, attended with the for¬
mer fymptoms of anxiety, dyfpncea, chocking, ^ c.
and with an excruciating cramp, as he called it, tnat
could be covered with a crown-piece, m each of his
arms, between the elbow and the wnft, exactly at t'1®
infertion of the pronator teres; the reft of the limb
was quite free. The fits were fometimes brought on,
and always exafperated, by any agitation or mind or
body He once attempted to ride on horieback du¬
ring the paroxyfm j but the experiment was near
proving fatal to him. The difference of feafon or wea¬
ther made no impreffion upon him. Still, m the in¬
tervals, his health was perfeAly good ; except that his
eyes which before his illnefs were remarkably ftrong
and’clear, were now grown _ extremely tender: and
that his fight was much impaired. He had no flatu¬
lency of ftomach, and his bowels were regular.
“ In this fituation, February 22. 1770, he applied
to me for affiftance. I had feen, I believe eight or
ten of thefe frightful cafes before. Two of the patients
dropt dead fuddenly. They were men between 40 and
co years of age, and of a make fomewhat flefhy. 1 ne
fate of the others I was not informed of *, or, at leait
cannot now recolka. . ,
“ Having found the total inefficacy of buffers and
the whole clafs of nervous medicines m the treatment
of this anomalous fpafm, I thought it right to attempt
the cerrcfting or draining off of the irritating fluid
in the cafe now before us. To this purpofe, I ordered
a mixture of lime-water with a little of the compound ju¬
niper-water, and an alterative proportion of Huxham s
antimonial wine : I put the patient on a plain, light,
perfpirable diet ; and reftrained him from all vile d,
flatulent, and acrimonious articles. By P“r[uin| ^
courfe he was foon apparently mended j but after he
had perfifted regularly in it for at leaft two months
he kept for fome time at a ftand I then ordered a
large iffue to be opened on each of his thighs. Only
one was made. However, as foon as it began to d.f-
charge, his amendment mamfeftly mcreafed. The
quency and feverity of the fits abated coni’derably
and he continued improving gradually, ^ «t the
end of 18 months he was reftored to peneft health .
which he has enjoyed, without the leaft interruption
till now, except when he has been tempted (perhap
once in a twelvemonth) to tranfgrefs rules, by making
a large meal on falted meat, or indulging him-elf
CINE.
ale or mm-punch, each of which never failed to dif-
order him from the beginning of his illnefs : and even
on thefe occafions, he has felt no more than the flighteft
motion of his former fufferings •, infomuch that he
would defpife the attack, if it did not appear to be of
the fame flock with his old complaint. No other caufe
has had the leaft ill effeft on him.
461
Areina
Peiftoris.
S uau UIC lean in emei. mi* .......
“ Though rum was conftantly hurtful, yet punch
made with a maceration of black currants in our vul¬
gar corn-fpirit, is a liquor that agrees remarkably well
with him.
“ He never took any medicine after the iffue began
to difeharge} and I have directed that it {hall be
kept open as long as he lives. The inflammations of
his throat have difappeared for five years paft; he
has recovered the ftrength and clearnefs of his fight }
and his health feems now to be entirely re-efta-
blilhed.”
Dr Macbride, in a letter to Dr Duncan, pubhlhed
in the Edinburgh Medical Commentaries, gives the
following additional obfervations on this difeafe-
“ Within thefe few weeks I have, at the defire of
Dr Smyth, vifited, three or four times, a very inge¬
nious man who keeps an academy in this city, of about
34 years of age, who applied to the doftor for his ad¬
vice in January laft. r
“ I ffiall give you his fymptoms as I had them irotn
his own mouth, which appear to me to mark his cafe
to be an angina pe&oris, and as deplorable as any
that I have read of. It was ftrongly diftinguiffied by
the exquifite conftriaory pain of the fternum, extend¬
ing to each of his arms as far as the infertion of the
deltoid mufcle, extreme anxiety, laborious breathing,
ftrangling, and violent palpitation of the heart, with
a moft irregular pulfe. The paroxyfms were^ fo fre¬
quent, that he fcarcely ever efcaped a day, ror fix or
feven years, without one. They were ufually excited
by any agitation of mind or body, though flight. He
had clear intervals of health between the fits. I he
diftemper feems hereditary in him, as he fays his fa¬
ther was affe&ed in the fame manner fome years pre-
vi®us to his death. He has a ftrong gouty taint,
which never ffiowed itfelf in his limbs ; and he has led
a life of uncommon fedentarinefs, from_ intenfe appli¬
cation to mathematical ftudies,. attention of mind,
and paffion, even from his boyifli years. Theie cir-
cumftances may, perhaps, account for his having been
taken with this difeafe at fo early an age as 17.
“ A large iffue was immediately opened in each m
his thighs. In a month afterwards he began to menci,
and Iras’ gone on improving gradually. He can now
run up flairs briikly, as I faw him do no later than
yefterday, without hurt •, can bear agitation of mind ;•
and has no complaint, excepting a flight oppreffion o,
the breaft, under the fternum, which he feels iome-
times in a morning, immediately after drefling him-
felf and which he thinks is brought on by the motion
ufed in putting on his clothes j though for a complete
week preceding the day on winch I faw him laft, he
told me that he had been entirely free from all un-
eafinefs, and was exulting that he had not had inch an
interval of eafe for thefe laft feven years.
“ Doctor Smyth alfo {bowed me, in his adverjana,
the cafe of a gentleman who had been under his care
in 1760, which he had forgotten when my book
' 1 went
462
Puerpera!
Fever.
M E D I
went to the prefs^and which he was reminded of the
^ other day by a vifit from his patient. It was a ge-
mime angina pedoris, brought on by a very feden-
tary life, and great vexation of mind, clearly marked
by the exquifite pain under the ilernum, that extend¬
ed acutely to the upper extremities, particularly along
the^ left arm, together with the other fymptoms of
dyipnoea, anxiety, palpitation of the heart, &c. re¬
cited in the cafe above. The diforder went off in
1762, by large fpontaneous difcbarges from the piles,
but returned upon him feverely in 1765. Iffues in
Ins thighs were then reconrmended to him, but not
made. But, W’hetner it w'as by the perfuafion of fome
mend, or of his own accord, he went into a courfe
o James s powder, in ftnall alterative dofes, com¬
bined with a little caftor and afafoetida. This he
perfifted m for about fix weeks ; in the meanwhile, he
had large acrimonious gleetings from the fcrotum
and a plentiffil difcharge of ichor from the anus.—
From this time he began to find his complaints grow'
Ids and lefs diftrefling, and he has now been totally
iree from them for fix years part.”
CINE.
4C4 The PUERPERAL, or Childbed Fever.
7 his fpecies of fever, as its name imports, is pecu¬
liar to wobien in childbed j and is ufually the moft
fatal of all the diforders to which the fex is liable. Eut,
notwithftandiug the prevalence of it in all ages, its*
real nature has remained, to the prefent time, a’fub-
jeft of much difpute and uncertainty. The critical pe¬
riod of its invafion, when febrile commotions are apt
to be excited by various accidents, and the equivocal
lymptoms which accompany it, have even afforded
room for queflioning whether it be a primary or a fe-
condary difeafe. Some writers have confidered it as
proceeding entirely from an inflammation of the uterus;
others have imagined it to be the confequence of an
obftrudbon to the fecretion of the milk ; while the
greater number has been inclined, for reafons equally
if not more plaufible, to impute it to a fuppreflion of
the lochia. If we examine this fever attentively, how¬
ever, according to its natural courfe, and independently
of dl the accidental concomitant fymptoms with which
it is not effentially connefled, we may fafely pronounce
it to be a primary difeafe of a particular nature, and per-
Laps not the neceffary confequence of any of the caufes
above mentioned.
This fever is moft generally incident to w'omen with¬
in 48 hours after delivery, though it may fupervene on
the fourth or fifth day, and fometimes confiderably
later. . It is preceded, like other fevers, by a rigor,
which is commonly violent; and, when happening du¬
ring the time of labour, may be confounded with the
pains of parturiency. In its earlier ftage it is attended
with the figns of inflammation. A great pain is felt
in the back, hips, and the region of the uterus; which,
in the part laft mentioned, is accompanied wdth the
fenfe of heat and throbbing. A fudden change in the
quality, or quantity of the lochia now alfo takes place ;
the patient is frequently troubled with a tenefmus; and’
the urine, w'hich is very high-coloured, is difcharged
in fmall quantity and with pain. At the firft attack
«>f tlie fever, the woman is generally feized with a vo¬
miting of porraceous matter, as in the cholera morbus,
,. . Appendix,
to which difeafe it then bears a ftrong refemblance.— Puerperal
Eut inftead of this fymptom, there is fometimes only Fever.
a naulea, or loathing at the ftomach, with a difagree-
able tafte m the mouth. The belly fwells to a confi-
derable bulk, and becomes fufceptible of painful fen-
fations from the flighteft impreflion. The tongue' is
generally dry, though fometimes rnoift, and covered
with a thick brownifh fur. When the fever has con-
S, ckcT yf’ ,thef>'mPtcnis of inflammation
ua y ubfide, ana the difeafe acquires a more putrid
I?™- ^ thls period, if not at the very beginning of
the diforder,. a bilious or putrid diarrhoea, of a danaer-
ous and obftinate nature, fupervenes, and accompanies
it through all its future progrefs; each motion to ftool
being preceded by a temporary increafe, and followed
by an alleviation of pain. The patient ufually nau-
leates all kind 0. food and drink, except what is cold
and acidulated.. A brown or blackifh fordes, the con-
lequence of putrid exhalations, adheres to the edges of
the teeth ; a troublefome hiccough is at length produ¬
ced, which greatly exafperates the pains of the abdo¬
men ; petechne or vibices alfo appear, with fometimes
a mihary erupuon but which produces no mitigation
of the difeafe. Ihrough the whole courfe of the fe-
Y€*’. the patient is affeaed with great anxiety and de-
jeaion of fpints.
Such in general is the courfe of the puerperal fever :
the lymptoms of which, however, may be often varied
according to the conftitution of the patient, the degree
of the difeafe, and its earlier or later invafion. When
the woman is naturally weak, or her ftrength has been
greatly reduced by immoderate evacuations after de¬
livery ; when the difeafe is violent, and immediately
follows.that period ; its progrefs and termination are
proportion ably rapid and fatal. In fuch unfortunate
circumftances, many have been known to expire 'with¬
in 24 hours from the firft attack of the difeafe : nay
there are fome mftanoes where the rigor has concluded
t le fcene. The cataftrophe, however, is moft gene¬
rally fufpended for fome days ; and the number of thefe
is variable, though the 1 ith from the commencement
of the fever may juftly be fixed as the period which
is ulually deciftve. In whatever ftage of the difeafe an
unfavourable termination may happen, it would feem
as if the commencement of the patient’s recovery were
not marked by any critical revolution of the fever as
depending on an alteration of the humours 1 but that
the cure is gradually effeaed, either by a fpontaneous
vomiting, or a long-continued difcharge by ftool of
that porraceous matter, the exiftence of which in the
flomach is ufually evinced at the firft attack of the
dijeale. The moft unfavourable prognoftic, therefore
anles from fuch a, weaknefs of the patient as ren-
ders her unable to fupport fo tedious an evacuation as
that by which the fever is overcome. When the lo¬
chia return to their former ftate, when the fwelling and
tendernefs of the abdomen abate, and there is a moi-
fture on the fkin, we have reafon to hope for a happy
termination of the difeafe.
Though the puerperal fever may generally be afcer-
tamed from the defcription which has been given, and
chiefly by that remarkable tendernefs of the abdomen
which particularly diftinguiflies it : yet, as fome of its
lymptoms may be confounded with thofe arifing from
other diieafes, and which require a different method -
of
Appendix. M E D I
Puerp sal of cure, it will be proper to mention here the circum-
' ftances by which ^ may be known with greater cer-
v tainty. &
The pains of the abdomen, attending the childbed
fever, may be diilinguifhed from thofe called after-
pains, by their uninterrupted continuance through the
couife ef the difeafe, though fometimes they buffer
exacerbations j whereas, in the latter, they often to¬
tally intermit. They are alfo diftinguilhable by the ab-
fence of fever with concomitant fymptoms in the one,
and their evident exigence in the other.
Many circumftances evince a diffimilarity between
the puerperal and miliary fevers, notwithftanding the
fymptoms of anxiety and oppreflion are common to
both ; infomuch that the nature of the approaching
difeafe may be afeertained at the very commencement
of its attack. In the puerperal fever the rigor is more
violent, of longer duration, and not interrupted, as it is
in the other, i he pulle is fuller and ftronger j the fkin
is more hot 5 and the tongue, whether moifl or dry,
though generally the latter, is not of a white, but
brown:fh appearance ; and the urine is alfo higher co¬
loured. Eruptions, which are critical in miliary fevers,
procure n6 mitigation of the puerperal fever, and
cordials generally increafe it.
When the original attack of the puerperal fever hap¬
pens to coincide vvith the febrile commotion which
is excited in childbed women by the milk, the na¬
ture of. it may at firft be mifapprehended 5 but the
concomitant fymptoms, and greater violence of the
difeafe, muft in a fliort time diffipate fuch an error.
From all the moft accurate accounts of this difeafe,
and from the period at which it generally commences,
there feems reafon to conclude, that it owes its rife
more immediately to accidents after delivery. For it
is allowed tnat it may follow a labour under the beft
and moft favourable circumftances, though endeavours
to dilate the os internum are fuppofed frequently to
produce it. 1 he more immediate caufes generally af-
figned by authors are a ftoppage of perfpiration, the
too free ufe of fpices, and the negled of procuring
ftools after delivery; fudden frights, too hafty a fe-
paration of the placenta, and binding the abdomen too
tight. The putrid appearance, however, which this
difeafe fo foon affumes, affords ground to fufpeft that
the predifpoftng caufe of it is a vitiated ftate of the
humours ; for it is generally obferved to be moft pre¬
valent in an unhealthy feafon, and among women of a
weakly and fcorbutic conftitution. But from its pre¬
valence in fome particular hof’pitals, while others in the
fame city are entirely free from it, there can be little
doubt that it is often communicated by contagion from
one female to another. This opinion is corroborated
alfo by many other eircumftances ; particularly by the
means by which it has been removed from hofpitals.
It would feem, however, that this contagion does not
aft on the female fyftem without a certain predifpofition,
and that this predifpofition is induced by thofe changes
to which the female habit is fubjefted in confequence of
delivery.
Within thefe few years this fever has been treated
of by feveral writers, moft of whom have differed from
each other in their fentiments of the nature of the dif¬
eafe. The firft in the order of publication is Dr
Denman, who fceuis to be of opinion, that it may de-
c T N E.
rive its origin either from a redundancy or too great
acrimony of the bile, the fecretion of which appears
rx bn.TiriUCh interruPted in time of geftation. In
Dr Manning’s treatife on this fever, he" mentions its
being highly probable that fuch a caufe contributes
greatly to produce the difeafe, efpecially where the
putrid tendency of the humours is increafed by uir-
wholefome air and diet.
It has kkewile been the fate of the puerperal fever
that no.difeafe has more divided the fentiments of phy-
ficians in regard to the method of cure. The appa-
lent indications and contra-indications of bleeding,
and other remedies, arifing from the complication of
inflammatory and putrid fymptoms ; the equivocal ap¬
pearance of the vomiting and purging, as whether
they be critical or fymptomatical; and the different
caufes whence fymptoms ftmilar to each other ma”-
arife in. pregnant women ; all thefe circumftances con¬
cur to involve the lubjeft in great obfeurity and inde-
cifi.on. If we carefully attend to the feveral charac-
teriftics of the difeafe, however, fo as to be able to dii
ftinguifh it from every, other puerperal complaint, and
obferve at the fame time the ufual manner of its de-
clenfion, our judgement may be guided in the method
of cure by the falutary efforts of nature. But, in
order to obtain a clearer view of the genuine indica¬
tions, it will be proper to confider them under the fe¬
veral lights in which they have been generally agitated
by authors.
One of the moft effential points to be afeertained in
the cure of the childbed fever, refpefts the pro¬
priety of bleeding. A free ufe of the lancet has been'
generally regarded as the moft fuccelsful expedient
in praftice •, and there are fome inftances of critical
haemorrhagies which would feem to confirm its uti¬
lity. But. Dr Denman thinks we may fafely affirm
from experience, that for one who will be benefited by
large bleeding, a much greater number will be inju¬
red, and that even almoft irretrievably. Nor can this
fee.m furprifing, when we confider the fituation of
childbed women. In moft, the evacuations confe-
quent upon delivery are fufficient to diminiffi any un¬
due fuperabundance of the fluids 5 and if, as frequent¬
ly happens, the difeafe be produced by too hafly a re¬
paration of the placenta, the conlequence of which is
generally a very copious difeharge of blood, we can
never fuppofe that nature will be affifted in overcoming
the febrile commotion, by the farther evacuation of
the vital fluid, through the defeft of which ihe is now
rendered unequal even to the ordinary fupport of the
animal ceconomy. We may appeal to every praftical
phyfician, how much he has known the pulfe to fink,
and what a train of nervous fymptoms he has obferved
to fucceed an excefs of the difeharge above mentioned.
Befides, it is an axiom in phyfic, that a remedy which
cures, any diforder, will always prove fufficient to pre¬
vent it; and therefore, if bleeding were the proper cure
in the childbed fever, the difeafe ought to have been
prevented by a large evacuation of blood, when that
happened previous to its attack. Experience, how¬
ever, in this, as in all other difeafes, is the only uner¬
ring guide we can folloiv ; and whoever regulates his
praftice by faft and obfervation, will be convinced that
bleeding, efpecially in a larger quantity, is, in general
very far from being attended with fuccefs. Bleeding
464
MEDICI N E.
Appendix.
JPuerpera1 is feldom proper, except in women of_ plethoric confl:!-
Fever. and in whom the fiens of inflammation rife
tutions,   — — o
high. Nor even in fuch patients ought it to be re¬
peated without great caution, and the^ exiftence of
ilrong indications. Bleeding, when ufed in proper mr-
cumilances, may unqueftionably palliate the fever •, but
that it often fhortens the duration of it, appears to be
a matter of much doubt. On this account the prac¬
tice becomes ilill more fufpicious and excepuonaoie,
when we confider that by venefeaion improperly ufed
the patient’s ftrength may be fo far reduced as not to
fupport the tedious loofenefs by which, the difeaie is
generally carried off. Though bleeding,. however,
ought in general to be ufed with great caution, there
are certainly many cafes in which it is both ne'.effary
and advantageous.
The genuine nature and effefts of the loo.enei.s in
this difeafe, is another controverted point of the. high-
eft importance, and which merits the mod attentive in¬
quiry. Phyficians, obferving that women who die of
the puerperal fever are generally molefted with that
evacuation, have been induced to conftder this fymp-
tom as of the moft dangerous and fatal tendency and
what, therefore, we fliould endeavour by every means
to reftrain. In this opinion, however,. they would
feem to have been governed by too partial an. oblei-
vation of fadls. For experience certainly authorifes the
affertion, that more women appear to have recovered
of the childbed fever, through the intervention of a
diarrhoea, than have been deftroyed by that caufe. If
it alfo be conlidered, that purging is ufually almoft the
only fenftble evacuation in the more advanced ftate o
the difeafe, and is that which accompanies it to its k-
teft period, we (hall have the ftrongeft reafon to think
that it is critical rather than fymptomatical, and ought
therefore to be moderately fupported, inftead of being
unwarily reftrained. Nay, the advantage which is
found to attend vomiting as well as purging, m the
earlier ftage of the difeafe, would feem to evince tnat
the matter difcharged by thefe evacuations is what'
chiefly foments the difeafe. Emetics and purgatives,
therefore, in the opinion of Dr Manning, are the only
medicines on which anj rational dependence is to be
placed in this fever ; at leaft, they are certainly fuch
as are found the moft fuccefsful. It is an cftabh.fned
rule in praflice, to prefcribe a vomit at the beginning
of every fever attended with any naufea or loathing o
the ftomach, and where there is not any reafon to ap¬
prehend an inflammation of that organ. Nor does the
Hate of childbed women afford the fmalleft ground for
prohibiting our recourfe to the fame expedient in an-
fwering a fimilar indication. . ...
It is fo feldom a phyfician is called during the ri¬
gor preceding the puerperal fever, that he has few op¬
portunities of trying the effeds of remedies in that ear¬
ly ftate of the difeafe. When fuch occur, however,
we fhould endeavour as much as poffible to. abate and
fti or ten that period, as the fucceeding fever is general¬
ly found to bear a proportion to the violence and. du¬
ration of it. For this purpofe, warm diluting drinks
fhould be plentifully ufed, with a fmall quantity of vo¬
latile fpirits or brandy. When Dr Manning appre¬
hended fuch an accident, he fometimes ordered the
nurfe to give immediately a difh or two of warm fac -
whey } taking care that it was not too ftrong, which
3
is a caution that ought always to be remembered : for Pw
though a free ufe of the more cordial and fpintuous 
kinds of liquors might perhaps foon abate the i<gor>
there is danger to be feared from their influence on the
approaching fever, efpecially in women of a ftrong and
healthy conftitution. In all cafes, warm applications
to the extremities, fuch as heated bricks, towels, or
toafted grains in a linen bag, may be ufed with perfect
fafety, and fome advantage. „ n . . ^
When the hot fit is advanced, the. firft tiling Dr
Manning orders is fome emollient injection, as chicken-
water, or water and milk, which ought to be frequent¬
ly repeated through the courfe of the difeafe. J uefe
prove beneficial, not only by promoting the difcharge
from the inteftines, which feems in fact to be the fil¬
iation of the difeafe ; but alfo by. a&ing as a kindly
fomentation to the uterus and adjacent parts. With
this intention they are particularly ferviceable when
the lochia are fuppreffed. Great care, however, is re-
quifite in adminiftering them, on account of tne ten-
dernefs and inflammatory difpofition, which at that
time render the parts in the pelvis extremely fufceptible
of pain.
The next ftep in the method of cure ought to be
to promote the difcharge of the morbid matter both by
the ftomach and inteftines. . This intention may be an-
fw'ered by a remedy prefcribed by Dr Denman—Two
grains of tartrite of antimony rubbed up with a fcruple
of the powder of lapilli cancrorum.
Of a powder thus prepared, Dr Denman gives from
two to fix grains, and repeats it as circumftances re¬
quire. If the firft dofe do not procure any fenfible
operation, he repeats it in an increafed quantity at the
end of two hours, and proceeds in that manner .5 not
expelling any benefit but from its fcnuble evacuation.
Should the difeafe be abated, but not removed,
(which fometimes happens), by the effect of the fiift
dofe the fame medicine mutt be repeated, but in a lets
quantity, till all danger be over. But if any alarming
fymptoms remain, he does not hefitate one moment to
repeat the powder, in the fame quantity as firft given j
though this be feldom neceffary, if the firft dofe ope¬
rates properly.
It is to be obferved, fays Dr Denman, that as. the
certainty of cure depends upon the proper repetition
of the medicine, the method of giving it at ftated
hours does not appear eligible. If the firft dofe pro¬
duce any confiderable effea by vomiting, procuring
ftools, or plentifully fweating, a repetition of tut me¬
dicine in a lefs quantity will feldom fail to anfwer our
expectations j but great judgement is required in adapt¬
ing the quantity firft given to the ftrength of the pa¬
tient and other circumftances. We are not to expect
that a difeafe which from the firft formation carries lo
evident marks of danger, fhould inflantly ceafe, even
though a great part of the caufe be removed. ^
Frequent dofes of the faline draughts ougnt abo to
be given, which not only promote the evacuation by
the inteftines, but likewife increafe tne falutary dif-
charges of urine and perfpiration. Thefe medicines
are particularly ferviceable in fubduing the remains ot
the fever, after its violence has been broken by the
more efficacious remedies above mentioned ; but when
they are ufed even in the decline of the difeafe, gentle
laxatives of rhubarb and magnefia, as adviled by Dr
Denman,
Fever.
Appendix. ^V1 ^ ^
Puerperal Denman, ouglat ta be _ frequently interpofed, fince,
as be juftly obferves, without flools we can do little
fervice.
Although the difcharge by the inteftines appears to
have the molt falutary effed in this difeafe; yet when
the ftomach has not been properly unloaded of offen-
five matter, though a great naufea and ficknefs had in¬
dicated the expediency of fuch an evacuation at the
beginning of the fever, the continuance of the loofe-
nefs is fometimes fo long protradled as in the end to
prove fatal. In this alarming hate of the difeafe,
when the ftools are very frequent and involuntary,
and all appearances threaten danger, Dr Denman fays,
that a clyfter of chicken-water injeaed every one, two,
or three hours, or as often as potiible without fatiguing
the patient too much, with a cordial diaphoretic draught
taken every fix hours, has produced better effeas than
could be expeaed.
While thefe medicines are employed, we mould en¬
deavour to mitigate the pains of the belly by relaxing
applications. During the courfe of die difeafe, the pa¬
tient ought to drink freely of diluting liquors, and ab-
ftain from every thing of a heating quality, unlefs great
faintnefs fhould indicate the ufe of a fmall quantity or
fome cordial medicine. r ,
Such is the praaice recommended m this diieate by
Dr Denman. We fhallnow take a cuffory view of the
fentiments of fucceeding writers on this fubjea.
According to Dr Hulme, the proximate caufe of
the puerperal fever is an inflammation of the inteflines
and omentum 5 for the confirmation of which opinion
he appeals to diiTeaions. He fuppofes the chief pre-
difponent caufe of the difeafe to be the preffure of the
eravid uterus againft the parts above mentioned. 1 ie
omentum, fays he, in the latter ftage of pregnancy,
muff either be flat, which is its natural fituation or be
rumpled or carried up by the gravid uterus m folds or
doublings. When the latter is the cafe, which he ob-
ferves is probably not feldom, tbs danger of a ftrangu-
lated circulation will be greater. r r
Mr White, who has alfo wnitten on this dileaie, ju-
dicioufly remarks, that were Dr Hulme’s hypothefis
well founded, the diforder ought rather to take place
before delivery, and be immediately removed at that
period • That it would likewife moil generally happen
to women at their firth labour, when the abdominal
mufcles are lefs yielding, and the pains more violent j
the contrary of which is moft frequently experienced
to be the cale. , , 1
It alia deferves to be remarked, that, upon Dr
Hulme’s fuppofition, we cannot account for the dil-
eafe being more common and fatal m large towns and
in hofpitals, than in the country and private praftice,
while‘other inflammatory diforders are more endemic
among thofe who live in the latter than the former fi¬
tuation. Even admitting the fncTon of the mteLines
and omentum againft the uterus to be as vlolellJ- as Dr
Hulme fuppofes, is it not highly improbable, that any
iiHammatirm could be occaSoned by the preffuce f
fuch foft fubftances upon each other ? Or, "'re
e<fea really produced, ought not the puerpera fecer
tobe more common and fatal after the moft labonous
deliveries ? But this obfervation is not fiipported by
eX Dr Hulme, in favour of his own hypotheSs, alleges
Vot. XIII. Part II.
CINE.
that it gives a fatisfa£!ory anfvvei
46s
mat it gives a      “ ’’"’J""1
“ Why all lying-in women have been, and ever will, ^
be, fubjeeft to this difeale ?” In this propofition, how¬
ever, the doaor fuppofes fuch an univerfality of the
difeafe as is not confirmed by obfervation. It is af¬
firmed upon undoubted authority, that in many parts
of Britain the puerperal fever is hardly known •, where¬
as, were it really produced by the caufes he afligns, it
would be equally general and unavoidable.
But how peculiar foever this author’s fentiments
are in refpeft of the proximate caufe of this difeafe,
they have not led him to any method of cure different
from the eftablifiied praftice. On this iubjedt Dr
Hulme divides his obfervations into two parts, compre¬
hending under the former the more Ample method o.
treatment, and under the latter the more complex. He
fets out with remarking, that the patient being gene¬
rally coftive at the beginning of the difeafe, an emol¬
lient opening clyfter will often give immediate relief;
but if this fhould not prove effectual, recourie muft be
had to cathartics. Thofe which he found anfwer his
purpofe heft, were the fa l catharticus amarus, the oleum
richn, emetic tartar, and antimonial wine. When the
bowels have been fufhciently cleared and the pain a-
bates, he advifes encouraging a gentle diaphoreiis by
medicines which neither bind the body nor are heat-
imr: fuch as fmall dofes of ipecacuan, emetic tartar,
and antimonial-wine, combined with an opiate in a
moderate dofe, and given once or twice m the courie
of 24 hours; adminiftering the faline draughts in the
intermediate fpaces. If, preceding or during this
courfe, a ficknefs at ftomach or vomiting attend he
advifes aflifting the efforts of nature, by drinking, plen¬
tifully of chamomile tea, warm water, or any other di¬
luting liquor. He concludes with recommending a
cooling regimen, reft of body, and tranquil ity ° mln ’
prohibiting all kinds of bandage upon the abdomen,
and enjoining particular attention to the ftate of the
bowels, which ought to be kept gently open for fome
time, even after the diforder feems to oe gone off, t.
the patient be quite out of danger.
So much for the fimple treatment : we now proceed
to the fecond part, where he defenbes the method of
praftice when the difeafe is in its more irregular and
C° When a diarrhoea accompanies the difeafe, he ob-
ferves that it ought by no means to be checked, bu
fiipported, by ordering the patient to drink pkntiful¬
ly of mild aperient liquors. If the pain of the yp -
gaftric region be attended with flitches m the Tides or
over the pit of the ftomach, and a pulfe that refills
the finger pretty ftrongly, he remarks that bleeding
would then be highly neceffary : declaring, rowever,
his opinion, that, in the puerperal fever, bleeding is
to be confidered only as a fecondary means of relief,
though the firft in point of time ; that it ought to be
advifed with great caution; and that the greate -
pendence is always to be placed upon evacuations by
ft°Mr White imputes the puerperal fever to a putrefi
cent difpofition of the humours, contrafted during preg¬
nancy, and fomented by the hot regimen commonly
ufed by women in childbed. In conformity to this
opinion, the chief means which he recommends for pre¬
senting the difeafe is a cool regimen and free cucula-
4'’6 . . MEDICINE. Appendix.
tlon of air, wMch he evinces to be of the grealeft im- of the purulent fluid; and the fever, from being,,,, fee.vral
P°runce- reipeel or bleeding, he informs us, that, flammatory, is changed into a putrid nature. Fever,
upon the ftn‘fief! inquiry, he cannot find thit thofe who After bleeding in fuch a quantity as the fyrnptoms v
have bled the moil copioufly have had the greateft fuc- require, he advtfes that the corrupted bile be evacua-
cels, either in private or hofpital praflice. He even ted and correfted as foon as poffible j that the diar-
leems to queltion the propriety of this evacuation in any rhoea, when exceflive, be reftrained by emollient ano-
cafe j but approves oi emetics, cathartics, and clyfters, dyne clyfters and gentle fudorifics, or even by opiates
for cieanfing the prim# vice, and likewnfe of fuch me- and mild aftringents, when the patient’s ftrength be.
dicines and diet as w ill correfi the putrid humours : add- gins to fink under .the difeharge j and, laftly, that
ing, that an upright pofture and free ventilation are at where the figns of the putrefadlion or intermiftion take
fnl times ufeful, and abfolutely neceflary, both for the place, antifeptics and the cinchona may be admini-
the prevention and cure of the difeafe. ftered.
Another writer who treats of the childbed fever is The great uniformity of the fymptoms in all Dr
Di Leake, who. has publilhed the refult of his obferva- Leake’s patients might authorife an opinion, that the
tions on this difeafe from April 1768 to the autumn of fever which he deferibes was in a great meafure a dif-
toe year 1770 ; but chiefly from December 176910 cafe fui generis, and depended much upon the coniti-
Muy 177°, during which period the childbed fever tution of the air preceding and during the period in
prevailed much about London, which the fever prevailed.
Dr Leake tells us that this fever generally commen- Dr Kirkland has alfo made judicious obfervations on
ced the evening of the fecond or morning of the third this fubjeft. "He rejefts the opinion that the puerpe-
day after delivery, with a rigor orlhivering fit. Some- ral fever is a difeafe fuigeneris, and arifes always from
times it invaded foon after delivery ; and at other times, the fame caufe. The particular fituation of childbed
though rarely, it has fejzed fo late as the fifth or fixth women, he acknowledges, occafions a fimilarity in the
day. . Now and then it feemed to be occafioned by appearance of all the febrile fvmptoms: but he af-
carching cold, or by errors in diet ; but oftener by an- firms that the fame kind of fever may be produced by
xiety of mind. Sometimes the thiift was great; though various caufes; for inftance, by an inflammation of the
tne tongue had, in general, a better appearance at the uterus or abdomen, by putrid" blood or other matter
beginning than is common in other fevers. It w’as fel- and putrid miafms. The fymptoms, he obferves, will
dom ever black or very foul : but, as the difeafe advan- vary according to the time of feizure. If the fever
ced, became white and dry, with an increafe of thirft ; happen in three or four days after delivery, all the
and at laft was of a brownifh colour towards the root, fymptoms ufual to the fituation of the patient will
where it was flightly covered with an infpifl’ated mu make their appearance; but if it do not invade till
v''as- ^ l°^s ftrength was fo great and hidden, the milk has been fecreted, and the lochial difeharge be
^at ^evv t^ie patients could turn in bed without af- nearly finiftied, the fymptoms, if the breafts are proper-
x fiftance, even fo early .as the firft or fecond day after ly drawn, will, for the molt part, be thofe only which
the attack. 1 he lochia., from firft to laft, w’ere not are common to that kind of diforder by w'hich the fe-
obftrufled, nor deficient in quantity ; neither did the ver has been produced.
quality of.this difeharge feem to be in the leaft alter- With refped to the cure of puerperal fevers, Dr
ed from its natural ftate ; a prefumption, fays the au- Kirkland advifes the antiphlogiftic method when’they
uior, that tne uterus was not at all afteded. Ot this arife from inflammation ; but when this method fails
,jS was convinced .by making a conliderable preflure of fuccefs, and a diarrhoea fupervenes, the dileafe has
cibove the pubes with the hand, which did not occa- changed its nature, having become more or lefs pu-
iion pain .; but when the fame degree of prelTure was trid, and requires a very dilferent treatment,
applied nigher, between the ftomach and umbilical re- His obfervations relative to the management of the
gion, it. became almoft intolerable. A perfed crifis diarrhoea merit attention. No one, fays he, would
feldoiti if ever happened in this fever, which he im- purge and bleed to cure the colliquative fever ariling
putes to the great oppveftion of the vital powers, from the abfoiption of matter in large wounds ; and yet
whereby they^ were^ rendered unable to produce fuch the only dift’erence is, that in the puerperal fever the
an event. When the difeafe proved mortal, the pa- matter abforbed from the uterus, &c. ads with more
acut geneialiy died on the 10th or 1 ith day from the violence, becaufe the blood is commonly thinner and
fix ft attack. In thofe who died of the fever, the the habit in a more irritable ftate. We fee, continues
omentum was found fuppurated ; an inflammation of he, that abforbed matter purges as effedually as if any
■s.iich part, or of the inteflines, Dr Leake concludes purging medicine had been given by the mouth ; and
10 he the proximate caufe of the difeafe. may we not theiefore do harm by additional purging,
In confequence of this idea of the caufe of the dif- when there has been a large evacuation, efpeciaby as
eafe^, Dr .Leake affirms that venefedion is the only re- purges in this cafe are incapable of entirely removing
medy which can give the patient a chance for life. But, the /bmes morbid
though it be the princip al refource to be depended He confiders cinchona as the principal remedy, as
upon at tne beginning of the fever, he obferves that foon as the pulfe finks, the heat is leffened, and t*!e
n will feldom prove of fervice after the fecond or third ftomach will bear it. If this increafe the diarrhoea be-
ca\ ; and, if diredfed yet later, will only weaken and yond moderation, he joins with it ifnali dofes of lauda-
exhauft the patient; when, matter having begun to num ; but if the diarrhoea fhould entirely fto’ without
fonn in the omentum, the progrefs of the difeafe can the fever going off, in place of laudanum he advifes a
no .longer be prevented by that evacuation. At this proper quantity of rhubarb. Should the diarrhoea, not-
period the blood begins to be tainted by the abforption u ith ft an ding the ufe of the medicines propofed, be-
- come
Appealix. M E D I
Puerperal come fo violent as to endanger the patient, he agrees
^ver- with Mr White in recommending the columbo root,
v w'hich is a warm cordial, and removes the irritability of
the ftomach and inteftines more powerfully than any
other bitter he knows.
Of this difeafe ah'o, as it appeared in Derbylhire and
forne of the adjacent provinces, an account has been
publifhed by Dr Butter. Concerning the caufes and
nature of the difeafe, he obferves, that pregnancy
feems to add much to the natural fenfibi^ity of the fe¬
male conflitution $ becaufe at this period women are
often fubjeft to a train of nervous fymptoms, which ne¬
ver molelt them at other times. During geftation like-
wife, the appetite is for the moft part keen, while the
digeftion appears to be impaired •, and this weaknefs is
increafed not only by improper food, of which the wo¬
man is frequently defirous, but alfo by the inaddivity at¬
tending her fituation. To thefe circumftances, it is
added, that the inteftinal paffage being interrupted by
the uterine preffuqe, coftivenefs generally prevails.
From the feveral obfervations here enumerated, Dr
Butter concludes, that the proximate caufe of the puer¬
peral fever is a fpafmodic affeddion of the firlt paflages,
with a morbid accumulation in their cavity j and upon
this fuppofition he endeavours to account for the various
fymptoms of the difeafe.
In treating of the method of cure, he lays down
two indications 5 the former of which is to promote
two, three, or four (lools daily, in a manner fuited
to the ftrength of the patient, till fuch time as they
refume a natural appearance. The fecond indication is
to relieve all uneafy fymptoms, fuch as heat, third,
headach, &c.
With refpedd: to the opinion entertained by Dr But¬
ter of the caufe of the puerperal fever, it nearly coin¬
cides with that of Mr White. But however plaufible '
it may appear, we are not entirely fatisfied that a dif¬
eafe attended with fo peculiar fymptoms as the puer¬
peral fever can depend principally upon an irritability,
which is not reilriided either to the pregnant or puer¬
peral date.
The late Dr Thomas Young profeflbr of midwifery
in the univerfity of Edinburgh, although he publidied
nothing on the fubjedd of the puerperal fever, wrote
a very ingenious dilTertation refpe<ding it, which wTas
read in the Philofophical Society of Edinburgh. In
that differtation, after giving a very accurate account
of the fymptoms of the difeafe, which coincides very
nearly with the account given by others, he endea¬
vours to Oiow, that the puerperal fever, driftly fo called,
is in every indance the conlequence of contagion ; but
he contends, that the contagious matter of this difeaSe
is capable only of producing its effe<d, in confequence
of a peculiar predifpodtion given by delivery and its
confequences. In fupport of this dotdrine, he re¬
marks, that for many years the difeafe was altogether
unknown in the lying-in ward of the Royal Infirmary at
Edinburgh 5 but that after it was once accidentally in¬
troduced into the hofpital, almod every woman was in a
iliort time after delivery attacked with it ; although
prior to her delivery, die may have lain, even for weeks
together, not only in the fame ward with the inredded,
but even m the very next bed. He remarks, that it i.as
only eradicated from the hofpital in confequence of
the wards being entirely emptied, thoroughly venti-
C I N E. V 467
lated, and new painted. After theie precedes, puer- Worms,
peral females in the hofpital remained as free from l""r ~ v "
this difeafe as formerly. The puerperal fever, accord¬
ing to Dr Young, has very generally a flrong ten¬
dency to the typhoid type; although he allows, that
in the beginning it is not unfrequently attended with
inHammatory fymptoms, and even with topical indam-
mation, particularly in the intedinal canal. On this
idea, he confiders the puerperal fever as admitting of
the fame variety of treatment with other affedtions
depending on contagion, in which fometimes an in¬
flammatory, fometimes a putrefeent tendency, prevails ;
fuch, tor example, as fniallpox or eryfipelas. But
from the prevailing putrefeent tendency in this affec¬
tion, he condders the free accefs of cool air, with the
liberal ufe of antifeptics, as being very generally requi-
fite.
It deferves to be remarked, that though the feveral
writers who treat of this fubjedf have condudted their
method of cure conformably to their particular idea of
the caufe of the difeafe, refpe<fting which their fenti-
ments are very different, they feem to have been equal¬
ly fuccefsful in the treatment of their patients. Indeed
the feveral writers differ lefs from each other in their
method of cure than might be expedbed, where fo great
an oppofition of theoretical fentiment prevails. For
after endeavouring to edablifh indications correfpon-
d'ent to their particular fyflems, thofe who contend for
the expediency of promoting the inteftinal difeharge, dif-
fuade not from having recourfe to phlebotomy when the
difeafe is attended with inflammatory fymptoms; while,
on the other hand, the moft ftrenuous advocates for
bleeding admit the utility of the former evacuation. It
appears, therefore, that a due regulation of the alvine
difeharge is neceflary through the whole courfe of the
fever, but venefedtion only fometimes.
WORMS.
Thofe infefting the human body are chiefly of three
kinds : the afearides, or fmall round and ftiort white
worms ; the teres, or round and long worm ; and the
tcenia, or tape worm.
The afearides have ufually their feat-in the redlum.—
The teretes or lumbrici are about a fpan long, round and
fmooth : they are feated for the moft part in the upper
fmall inteftrnes ; but fometimes they are lodged alfo in
the ftomach, and in any part of the inteftines, even to
the rectum.—The tape-worms are from two to forty
feet long, according to the teftimony of Platerus; they
generally poffefs the whole trad! of the inteftines, but
efpecially the ileum : they very much refemble a tape
in their appearance, whence the name of tape-worm:
but another fpecies of this genus, from the refem-
blance of each joint to a gourd feed, has the name of
the gourd-worm.
In the Medical Tranfadlions, vol. ift. Dr Heber-
den gives a very accurate account of the fymptoms pro¬
duced by the afearides, from an eminent phyftcian who
was troubled with them all his li e. They brought on
an uneafinefs in the redbum, and an almoft intolerable
itching in the anus ; which fenfations moft ufually
came on in the evening, and prevented fleep for feveral
hours. They were attended with heat, fometitues fo
confiderable as to produce a fwelling in the redfum
.3 N 2 both
4®5
4c <
407
463 " M E D I
Worms, both internally and externally ; and if thefe fymptoms
^ were not foon relieved, a tenefmus was brought on,
with a mucous dejeflion. Sometimes there was a gri¬
ping pain in the lower part of the abdomen, a little
above the os pubis. If this pain was very fevere, a
bloody mucus followed, in which there were often found
afcarides alive. They were alfo fometimes fufpedfed
of occalioning difturbed fleep, and fome degree of
headach.
On this cafe Dr Heberden obferves, that the gene¬
ral health of the patient did not feem to have fuffered
from the long continuance of the difeafe, nor the im¬
mediate inconveniences of the diforder itfelf to have
increafed. “ It is (fays he) perhaps univerfally true,
that this kind of worms, though as difficult to be cu¬
red as any, yet is the leaft dangerous of all. They
have been known to accompany a perfon through the
whole of a long life, without any reafon to fufpeft
that they had haftened its end. As in this cafe there
was no remarkable ficknefs, indigeflion, giddinefs, pain
of the ftomach, nor itching of the nofe, poffibly thefe
fymptoms, where they have happened to be joined with
the afcarides, did not properly belong to them, but
arofe from fome other caufes. There is indeed no one
fign of thefe worms, but what in fome patients will
' be wanting.”
The above mentioned patient ufed purging and irri¬
tating clyfters with very little fuccefs. One dram
and an half of tobacco was infufed in fix ounces of
boiling water j and the {trained liquor being given as
a clyftcr, occafioned a violent pain in the lowTer part
of the abdomen, with faintnefs and a cold fweat :
this injedtion, though retained only one minute, adted
as a fmart purge, but did little or no good. Lime-
water was alfo ufed as a clyfter 5 which brought on a
coftivenefs, but had no good effedt. Six grains of
fait of fteel were diffplved in fix ounces of water, and
injedted. This clyfier in a few minutes occafioned an
aching in the redtum, griped a little without purging,
and excited a tenefmus. Some few afcarides were
brought off with it ; but all of them were alive. The
uneafy fenfation in the redtum did not abate till fome
warm milk wTas thrown up. Whenever the tenefmus
or mucous ftools were thought worth the taking no¬
tice of, warm milk and oil generally gave immediate
relief. If purging wras neceffary, the lenient purges,
fuch as manna with oil, were, in this particular cafe,
made ufe of: rhubarb was found too ffimulating.—
But, in general, the moft ufeful purge, and which
therefore was moft ufually taken, was cinnabar and
rhubarb, of each half a drachm : this powder feldom
failed to bring away a mucus tranfparent as the
white of tin egg, and in this many afcarides tvere
moving about. The cinnabar frequently adhered to
this mucus, which did not come off in large quanti¬
ties, when a purge was taken without cinnabar. Calomel
did no more than any other purge which operates brifk-
ly would have done •, that is, it brought away afcarides,
with a great deal of mucus. Oil given as a clyfler
fometimes brought off thefe animalcules : the oil fwam
on the furface of the mucus, and the afcarides were
alive and moving in the mucus itfelf, which probably
hindered the oil from coming in contacl with them and
killing them.
Dr Heberden alfo obferves, that mucus or flime is
C I N E. Appendix,
the proper nefi: of the afcarides, in which they live, Worms,
and is perhaps the food by which they are nourilhed •,y—““j
and it is this mucus which preferves them unhurt,
though furrounded with many other liquors, the im¬
mediate touch of which would be fatal. It is hard to
fatisfy ourfelves by what inftinft they find it out in
the human body, and by what means they get at it j
but it is obfervable in many other parts of nature, as
well as here, that where there is a fit foil for the
hatching and growth of animals and vegetables, na¬
ture has taken fufficient care that their feeds Ihould
find the way thither. Worms are faid to have been
found in the inteftines of ftill born infants. Purges,
by leffening this {lime, never fail to relieve the pa¬
tient : and it is not unlikely, that the worms which
are not forced away by this quickened motion of the
intefiines, may, for want of a proper quantity of it,
languilh, and at lafl die j for if the afcarides are taken
out of their mucus, and expofed to the open air, they
become motionlefs, and apparently die in a very fiiort
time. Dr Heberden fuppofes that the kind of purge
made ufe of is of fome confequence in the cure of all
other worms as well as afcarides ; the animals being
always defended by the mucus from the immediate
aftion of medicines ; and that therefore thofe purges
are the beft which aft brilkly, and of which a repe¬
tition can be rnoft eaiily borne. Purging waters are
of this fort, and jalap efpecially for children •, two or
more grains of which, mixed with fugar, are moft ea-
fily taken, and may be repeated daily.
From Dr Heberden’s obfervations, we may eafily fee
why it is fo difficult to deftroy thefe animals ; and why
anthelmintics,' greatly celebrated for fome kinds, are
yet fo far from being fpecifics in the difeafe. As, the
worms which refide in the cavities of the human body
are never expofed to the air, by which all living crea¬
tures are invigorated, it is evident, that in themfelves
they muft be the moft tender and eafily deftruftible
creatures imaginable, and much lefs will be requifite to
kill them than any of our common infefts. The
moft pernicious fubftances to any of the common in¬
fefts are oil, cauftic fixed alkali, lime, and lime-water.
The oil operates upon them by {hutting up the pores
of their bodies ; the lime-water, lime, and cauftic al¬
kali, by diffolving their very fubftance. In the cafe
of inteftinal worms, however, the oil can have very
little effeft upon them, as they are defended from it
by the moifture and mucus of the inteftines 5 the like
happens with lime-water : and therefore it is neceffary
that the medicine Ihould be of fuch a nature as to
deftroy both mucus and infefts together ; for which
purpofe the cauftic fixed alkali is at once fafe and ef¬
ficacious ; nor is it probable that any cafe of worms
whatever could refift the proper ufe of this medicine.
A very large dofe of any fait indeed will alfo deftroy
the mucus and deftroy the worms ; but it is apt to
inflame and excoriate the ftomach and inteftines, and
thus to produce worfe diftempers than that which it
was intended to cure. Dr Heberden gives the fol¬
lowing remarkable cafe of a patient cured of worms
by enormous dofes of common fait, after trying many
other remedies in vain. In February 1757, the pa¬
tient was feized with uncommon pains in his ftomach,
attended with naufea, vomiting, and conftipation of
bowels, and an almoft total lofs of fleep and appetite :
He
Appendix* M E D I
Worms. He foon becatrie mucb emaciated, and could neither
v ' ftand nor walk upright j his belly grew fmall and
hard, and clofely retraced, infomuch that the fternum
covered the navel, and the latter could fcarce be dif-
covered or felt by the finger : his urine was always
milky, and foon depofited a thick white fediment; his
excrements were very hard and lumpy, refembling
thofe of fheep, only of a brown _ colour •, nor had he
ever a ftool without fome medicine or other to pro¬
cure it. In this fituation he continued four years j
during which time he had been in an infirmary, at¬
tended by eminent phyficians, but was difmitTed as in¬
curable. ^ At la ft he was advifed by a neighbour to
drink fait and water, as he faid he knew one cured
by it who had for many years been affli&ed with the
lame kind of pains in the belly and Ixomach. As ms
diftemper was now almoft infupportab:e, be willingly
tried the experiment. Two pounds of common lalt
were diffolved in as little water as poflible, all which
he drank in lefs than an hour. Soon afterwards he
found himfelf greatly opprefied at the ftomach, grew
extremely fick, and vomited violently, on the fourth
draining he brought up about half a pint of Iraall
worms, part afearides, and the reft refembling thofe
worms which are called the boils, and frequently met
with in the ftomach of horfes, but much fmaller, and
about the fize of a grain of whe^t. ihe falt lo°n
bep-an to operate downwards, and jae had five or fix
very copious fetid ftools, tinged with, blood ; and in
them difebarged near an equal quantity of the lame
kind of worms be had vomited. Being greatly fa-
tHued with the violence of the operations, he fell in o
a calm deep, which laded two hours, during which
he fweated profufely, and awoke much refrelhed
In dead of his ufual pains, he now only complained o
a rawnefs and forenefs of hU gul et flomach, and
bowels, with an almoft unquenchable third j to allay
which, he drank large quantities of cold water, whey,
butter-milk, or whatever he could get. The urine he
now paffed was fmall in quantity, and rendered with
very great difficulty, being highly faturated with the
fal/ from whence arofe a mod troublefome dy u
and ftrangurv. However, tbefe fymptoms gradually
abated by a 'free ufe of the liquors above-mentioned ,
and on the third morning he was fo well recovered
tba* he took two pounds more of fait, diffolved in e
like quantity of water. The eifeas were nearly f.m-
Hr to the former •, only that moft of the worms were
now burft, and came away with a confiderable qua
thy of {lime and mucus. The drought, ftrangury, &c.
returned with their former violence, but foon yielded
Ex'—
teig* and appetite foon returned, and he became
roTheaannthUmintic medicines which have been reconf
mendrf by one perfon or other, are in a manner nmu-
PThUPis very efficacious againft all
i. ^Uicnjuvci. . , • ti form of calomel
kinds of worms, ei er metal boiled in
or corrofive fubhmate. B h recommended as
water, and the water ^unk ha b en can
an almoft certain cure. But tins,
CINE.
receive no impregnation xrom the mercury.. It, there¬
fore, it have any effect, it muft be from f6me foreign
and accidental impregnation. In mote inftances there
can be no objection to mercury, but only that it is
not endowed with any attenuating quality whereby
the mucus in which thefe infefts refides can be dit
folved. It therefore fails in many cafes,. though it
will moft certainly deftroy w’orms where it can gf.
at them. _ .
2. Powdsr of tin* Xhis xvas for fome time cz.c*
brated as a fpecific, and indeed we may realbnably
expeft good effefts from it ; as by its weight and
grittinefs it rubs off the mucus and worms it contains
from the coats of the inteitinal canal, in which caie tney
are eafily evacuated by purgatives. In order to pro¬
duce any confiderable effects, it ruuft oe given in a la.ge
dofe. _ • .
3. Geojfrcea incrmisy or cabbage barb. Tms remedy
is ufed by the inhabitants of Jamaica, ihe firft account
of it which appeared in this country was puolilhed in
the Phyfical and Literary Effays, yol. ii. by Mr Duguid
furgeon in that ifland. He acquaints us, that the inha¬
bitants of Jamaica, young and old, white and black,
are much infefted with worms, efpecially the long
round fort ■, the reafon of which, he thinks, is the quan¬
tity of fwTeet vifeid vegetables which they eat. On dil-
feding a child of feven months old, who died of vomi¬
ting and convulfions, twelve large worms were found *, -
one of them filled the appendix vermiformls, and three
of them were entwifted in Inch a manner as to bioc
up the vahula Tu/pii, fo that nothing could pafs from
the fmall to the great guts.—The cabbage bark how¬
ever, he tells us, is a fafe and effeaual remedy, and
the moft powerful vermifuge yet known ; and tnat
it frequently brings away as many worms oy ftoo. a>
would fill a large hat. He owns that it has fometimes
violent effefts; but this he aferibes to the negroes who
make the decodion (in which form the bark is uied)
too ftrong, and not to the remedy itfelf. _
Mr Anderfon, furgeon in Edinburgh, has alfo given
an account of this bark and its operation, in a letter
to Dr Duncan, publiihed in the Edinburgh Medi¬
cal Commentaries, volume iv. p. 84. From this, ac¬
count it appears, that there are two different kinds
of cabbage bark *, the one much paler, than the other :
the pale kind operates much more violently than the
other. It often occafions loofe ftools, great naufea, and
fuch like fymptoms, attended with great, uneafinefs
in the belly : in oue or two inftances it was iui-
peded of inducing fyncope. The darker coloured
, kind refembles the caffia lignea,. though it is ot a
much coarfer texture. This kind, Mr Anderfon
thinks, may be exhibited in any caie where an an¬
thelmintic is neceffary j the dangerous fymptoms might
have followed either from the ufe of the firft kind, or
from an over-dofe of the fecond. The ufual method of
preparing the medicine is by boiling two ounces and a
half of the bark in two quarts of water to a pint and a
half. Of this a tea-fpoonful may be given at firft.m the
morning, gradually increafing the quantity till we
come to four or five table-fpoonfuls m a day. Mien
exhibited in this manner, Mr Anderion inform.-, us,
he never faw it produce any violent lymptoms.
that
and
tl:
nat ne nevci — --v . ' *
nd has experienced the heft effeds-from it as an .an-
LOm’ntic. After the ufe o^,this decodion for eight
1 ' or
/
47°
M E I) I C I
or,l!;n<; n,oi'n;ngs fuccefTively, a dofe of jalap with
calomel muft be given, which ft-Horn fails to brincr
E'.vay the worms, fome dead, feme alive. If at any
tntie tiie decoction produce more than one or two
lou.e Itools, few drops of liquid laudanum may
e g!Vtnl nod, in general, Mr Anderlon gave ij or 20
drops of the fpirit of lavender with each dofe.
i,. ?n f/f tt.er ‘10171 profelibr of chemiftry at
i luladelphia, to Dr Duncan of Edinburgh, the follow¬
ing account is given of another preparation of this me-
Iclne" E ^as ^cng (lays he) been a complaint
among phyficians, that we have no vermifuge medicine
winch can be depended upon. Even calomel fails in
many cafes where there are the molt pathognomonic
ngns of worms in the bowels. But this complaint, it
JS hoped, is now at an end. The phyficians of Jama’ica
lave lately found, that the cabbage bark, as it is called
in the Weft Indies, made into a fyrup with brown fu-
gar, is an infallible antidote to them. I have ufed
above 30 pounds of it, and have never found it fail in
orle inilance. The fyrup is pleafant ; it fometimes
piuves, and always purges, the firft or fecond time it is
given.”
The moft accurate botanical defeription of the geof-
jroea mermis, or the tree furniftiing the worm bark, as
it has o.ten been called, is that which was publiftied
Jo me years ago in the Philofophical Tranfadtions by
Dr Wright, formerly phylician at Jamaica, now of
Edinburgh, who alfo highly extolls this remedy as an
anthelmintic.
Notwithftanding thefe encomiums, however, the cab-
bage bark has not come into general ufe in Britain,
wit diieafes from the teretes, or lumbrici as they are
Owen called, the fpecies of worm againli which this
baik is employed, much lefs frequently occur in Bri¬
tain than in fome other countries. When they do oc¬
cur, in almoii every inftance they readily yield to more
gentie and fafe anthelmintics ; and the worms may not
only be expelled by calomel, but by the vegetable bit¬
ters 5 as the powder of the artemifia fantonica, or the
like.
4. Couhage, or cow itch. This is the Dolichos ureas
or pi ri'iens of Linnaeus; and the principles on which
it acts have been already explained under the ar¬
ticle Dolichos. It is fomewbat fimilar to the pow-
ocr of tm, but bids fair for being more efficacious.
At might at^ firft appear to occur as objedtions to this
medicine, tnat by the hairs of it entangling themfelves
with one another, calculi might be formed in the in-
teiiines, or obftrudtions equally bad ; or if the ftiarp
points ana hooks with which it abounds were to ad¬
here to the nervous coats of the inteftines themfelves,
tney might occafion a fatal irritation, which could not
he removed by any means wffiatever. But from the
experience of thofe who have employed it extenfively
m pradfice, it would appear, that thefe objedlions are
ei.t.rely theoretical : and that it may be employed with
pr-ifedl fafety. i he fpicula?, gently feraped off from a
iingm pod,, and mixed with fyrup or melaffes, are taken
for a dofe in the morning falling. This dofe is repeat-
eu in this manner for two or three days without any
lenfible operation ; but even a very flight purgative
taken. afterVards has been found to difeharge an almoft
incredible quantity of worms. And according to Dr
Liancrofl, who has given a very particular account of
r . ^ E. Appendix.
Es me in Ins Natural Hiftory of Guiana, it is one of Worms,
t.ie la. eft and- mb ft certain anthelmintics yet d covered ■ **
but, as well as the bark of the Geoffraa, it lias hither¬
to been very little ufed in Britain, probably from its
not being tieceffary*
Indian pink.. This plant, which is the Spigelia
matuancUca of Linnams, is alffi an American plant
and was firft recommended in the Edinburgh Phylical
and Literary Eli'ays by Dr Garden of Charleliown in
South Carolina. He is of opinion that a vomit ou< ht
always to fir cede thd ufe o* it ; and informs us, that
halt a dram of it purges as brifidy as the fame quan¬
tity of rhubarb. At other times he has known it pro¬
duce no effed on the belly though given in very large
quantity : In fuch cafes it becomes neceffary to addCa
gram or two of .fvyeet mercury, or fome grains of rhu¬
barb ; but then it is lefs efficacious than when it proves
Purgative without addition. The ufe of it, however
m finall doles, is by.no means fafe; as it frequently
produces, giddinefs, dimnefs of fight, convulfions, &c.
I he addition of a purgative, indeed, prevents thefe ef-
feds ; but at the fame time, as already obferved, it di-
minilhes the virtue of the medicine. The dodor’there¬
fore recommends large dofes, as from them he never
knew any other effed than the medicine’s proving eme¬
tic or violently cathartic. The dofe is from 12 to 60
or 70 grains of the root in fubftance, or two, three, or
four drams of the infufion, twice a day. This medicine
has alio had its day, and is now very far from being’
confidered as a fpecific. 6
Ihe long round worms feem to be the moft dan¬
gerous which in fell the human body, as they often
pierce through the ftomach and inteftines, and thus
bring on a miferable death. The common fymptoms of
them are. naulea, vomiting, loofenefs, fainting, fiender
intermitting pulfe, itching of the nofe, and epileptic
fits. By the confumption of the chyle they produce
hunger, palenefs, weakmfs, coftivenefs, tumor of the
abdomen, erudations, and rumbling of the inteftines •
but it is from the perforation of the inteftines that
the difeafe proves fo frequently fatal. A child may
be known to have w-orms fr un his cold temperament
palenefs of the countenance, livid eyelids, hollow eyes'
itching of the nofe, voracity, ftartings, and grinding
o. the teeth, in fteep ; and more efpecially by a very
fetid breath. Very frequently, however, they are void¬
ed by the mouth and anus, in which cafe there is no
room for doubt. In the Medical Commentaries, vol. ii.
we have an account of the inteftines being perforated
by a worm, and yet the patient recovered. The pa¬
tient was a woman troubled with an inflammation in
tne lower part oi the abdomen. The pain was fo vio¬
lent, that for fix days ffie flept none at all; the tumor
then broke, difeharged upwards of a pound of thin wa¬
tery fanies, immediately after which the excrements
followed. 1 he next day lire was extremely low; her pulfe
could fcarcely be felt ; the extremities were cold ; and
there was a confiderable difeharge from the wound,
which had already begun to mortify. She cr0t a de-
co&ion of cinchona with wine, which alleviated the
fymptoms ; but in removing the mortified parts a worm
was found among, them nine inches long, and as thick
as an eagle’s quill. By proper applications, the dif¬
eharge of excrements ceafed, and (lie recovered perfedl
health. She was fenfible of no accident giving rife to
the
Appendix. M E D I
t Worms, the inflammation ; fo that in all probability it arofe en-
' tirely from the worm itfelf.
The tcenia, or tape worm as it is called, is one of
thofe molt difficult to be removed from the human bo¬
dy. It is of two kinds, tcenia folium and tcenia lata;
for a defcription of wffiich iee the article Ttenia. 
The reaion of its being fo difficult to cure is, that
though portions of it are apt to break off and be dif-
charged, it is endowed with a power of reprodu&ion,
fo that the patient is little or nothing better. The
fymptoms occafioned by it are not different from thofe
above defcribed. A fpecific againft the taenia lata has
been lately fo much celebrated in France, that the king
thought proper to purchafe it from the proprietor
(Madame Nouffer), and the account of it has been
tranflated into Engliffi by Dr Simmons. The patients
are required to obferve no particular regimen till the
day before they take the fpecific. That day they are
to take nothing after dinner till about 7 o’clock ; after
which, they are to take the following foup : “ Take
a pint and an half of water, two or three ounces of
good frefh butter, and two ounces of bread cut into
thin dices ; add to this fait enough to feafon it, and
then boil it to the confidence of panada.” About a
quarter of an hour after this, they take a bifcuit and a
glafs of white wine, either pure or mixed with w’ater ;
or even water alone, if they have not been accuftomed
to wine. If the patient has not been to llool that day,
(which, however, is not ufual with patients in this
way), the following clyiler is to be injefted. “ Take
a fmall quantity of the leaves of mallows, and boil them
in a fufficient quantity of water, mixing with it a little
fait, and when drained off add two ounces of olive
oil.” Next morning, about eight or nine hours after
the fupper above mentioned, the fpecific is to be taken.
This is no other than trvo or three drams of the root
of male ievn, pohjpodium filix mas of Linnaeus, gathered
in autumn, and reduced to fine powxder. It is to be
taken in any diddled w’ater, or in common water. This
medicine is apt to occalion a naufea : to avoid which,
Madame Nouffer allows her patients to chew any thing
that is agreeable, but forbids any thing to be fwallow-
ed ; or they may fmell to vinegar, to check the fick-
nefs: but if, notwithdanding this, the fpecific be thrown
up, a frefli dofe mud Jae Iwallowed as foon as the lick-,
nefs is gone off, and then they mud try to fleep. About
two hours after this the following bolus is to be taken.
“ Take of the panacea of mercury 14 times fublimed,
and feledl refin of fcammony, each ten grains: of frefli
and good gamboge fix or feven grains : reduce each of
thefe fubdances Separately into powder, and then mix
them with fome conferve into a belus ” This compofi-
tion is to be fwallowed at two different times, waffling
it down with one or two ddhes of weak green-tea, after
which the patient mud walk about his chamber. When
the bolus begins to operate, he is to take a diffi of the
fame tea occafionally, until the worm be expelled ;
then, and not before, Madame Nouffer gives him broth
or foup, and he is dire&ed to dine as is ufual after ta¬
king phyfic. After dinner he may either lie down or
walk out, taking care to conduct himfelf difcreetly,
to eat but little fupper, and to avoid every thing that
is not of eafy digedion.
The cure then is complete ■, but it is not always ef¬
fected with the fame quicknefs in every fubjedt. He
CINE.
who has not kept down the whole bolus, or who is not
fufficiently purged by it, ought to take, four hours af,
ter it, from two to eight drams of Epiom fait dif-
folved in boiling water. The dofe of this fait may be
varied according to the temperament and other cir-
cumdances of the patient.
. the worm (hould not come away in a bundle, but
m the form of a thread ('which particularly happens
when the worm is involved in much tenacious mucus),
the patient mud continue to dt upon the clofe dool
without attempting to draw it away, drinking at the
fame time warm weak tea : fometimes this alone is not
fufficient, and the patient is obliged to take another
dole of purging fait, but without varying his pofition
till the worm be wholly expelled.
It is unufual for patients who have kept down both
the fpecific and purging dofe, not to difeharge the
worm before dinner-time. X his, however, fometimes
happens when the dead worm remains in large bundles
in the intedines, fo that tne faeces becoming more
limpid towards the end of the purging, pals by it
without drawing it with them. The patient may in
this cafe eat his dinner; and it has been obferved, that
the food, joined to the ufe of a clyder, has brought
about the expuldon of the worm.
Sometimes the worm is brought away by the adtion
of the fpecific alone, before the patient has taken the
purging bolus : when this happens, Madame Nouffer
gives only two thirds of it, or fubditutes the fait in its
dead.
Patients mud not be alarmed by any fenfation of
heat or uneafinefs they may feel during the action of
the remedy, either before or after a copious evacua¬
tion, or julf as they are about to void the worm. Thefe
fenfations are trandtory, and go off fpontaneoudy, or
by the affiftance of the vapour of vinegar drawn in at
the nofe.
They who have vomited both the fpecific and bolus,
or who have kept down only a part of them, lome-
times do not void the worm that day. Madame N mf-
fer therefore directs them to take again that night the
foup, the wine and bifcuit ; and if circumltances re¬
quire it, the clylter. If the worm do not come away
during the night, die gives them early the next morning
another dofe of the fpecific, and, two hours afterwards,
fix drams or an ounce of purging fait, repeating the
whole procefs of the preceding day ; excepting the
bolus, which die fuppreffes.
She obferves, that very hot weather diminilhes in
fome degree the aciion of her remedy ; die therelore
prefers the month of September for adminidering it;
but as die has not been always able to choofe the fea¬
fon, and has been fometimes obliged to undertake the
cure of patients in the hotted days of lummer, Ihe
then gave her fpecific very early in the morning ;
and with this precaution die faw no difference in its
eft’edfs.
On the day appointed for the trial of this medicine
before the commiffioners nominated by the king of
France, it was exhibited to five different perions ; but
only one of them was certainly known to have the tcenia
lata by having difeharged parts of it before. That
perion was cured ; the lecond voided a portion of the
tcenia folium ; tile third fome afearides, with a part of
the tcejiia folium; the tourth and fifth voided no worms;
but ..
471-
Worms.
M EDI
but tbc I;.ft confiacred much of the vifcid flime he void-
ed to be worms in a diffolved flate.
This trial was thought fufficient to afcertain the ef¬
ficacy of the medicine, and further trials were made
by thofe to whom the fecret was communicated. The
firft voided two taenia, after much vomiting and 18 or
20 ftools 5 the fecond had no vomiting, but was as
violently purged, and difcharged tv.o worms •, the third
had 20 copious flools during the night, and difcharged
the worm in the morning } and the fifth was affedted
in much the fame manner. Some others who were not
relieved, were fuppofed not to have a ttenia.
This fpecific, however, is not to be confidered as a
new difcovery } the efficacy of fern in cafes of taenia
having been known long ago. Tbeophralfus prefcribes
its root, in dofes of four drams, given in water Iweeten-
ed with honey, as ufeful in expelling flat worms.—
.Diofcorides orders it in the fame dofe, and adds, that
its effedfs are more certain when it is mixed with four
oboli (40 grains) of fcammony or black hellebore •, he
particularly requires that garlic fliould be tah^n be¬
fore hand. Pliny, Galen, Oribafius, and Aetius, a-
fcribe this fame virtue to fern •, and are followed in this
by Avicenna, and the other Arabian phyficians. D01-
flenius, Valerius Ccrdus, Dodonaeus, Mathiolus, Da-
lechampius, who commented on Diofcorides, or co¬
pied him in many things, all mention the fern-root
as a fpecific againft the taenia. Sennertus, and Burnet
after him, recommended in fimilar cafes an infufion of
this plant, or a dram of its powder, for yoting perfons,
and three drams for adults. Simon Paulus, quoted, by
Ray and Geoffrey, confideis it as the moft efficacious
of all poifons againft the flat worm, and as being the
bafis of all the fecret remedies extolled by empirics in
that difeafe. Andry prefers diflillcd fern-water to the
root in powder, or he employs it only in the iorm of an
opiate, or mixed with other fubftances.
Thefe are not the only authors who have mention¬
ed the taenia j many others have deferibed this worm,
the fymptoms it excites, and the treatment proper to
expel it. Almoft all of them mention the fern root,
but at the fame time they point out other remedies as
poffefTing equal efficacy. Amongft thefe we find the
bark of the root of the mulberry-tree, the juice of the
auricula tnurus, the roots of chanucleon niga, gin¬
ger, zedoary 5 decoffions of mugwort, fouthernwood,
wormwood, penny-royal, origanum, hjffop, and in ge¬
neral all bitter and aromatic plants, &c. Some of
them direft the fpecific to be fimply mixed and taken
in wine ox honey and water ; others join to it the ufe
of feme purgative remedy, which they fay adds to its
efficacy. Oribafius, Sylvius, &c. diflinguifh the fpe¬
cific that kills the worm, from the purgative that eva¬
cuates it, and direa them to be given at different
times. Sennertus gives a very fatisfaaory realon for
adopting this method. If we give, fays he, the pur¬
gative medicine and the fpecific at the lame time, the
latter will be haflily carried off before it can have ex¬
erted its powers on the worm : whereas, if we give
the fpecific firft, and thus weaken the worm, it will
collea itfelf into a bundle, and, being brought away
by means of the purge, the patient will be cured. Ihe
cure will be more fpeedy if the prinue vice have been
previoufly lubricated. Thefe precautions are all of
them effential to the fuccefs of the remedy, nor are
2
CINE. Appendix.
they negleaed by Madame Nouffer in her method^ of, VVo‘mg- ,
treatment. The panada and inje-aion the preferioes
the night before, to lubricate the inteftines, and pre¬
pare the primer vice. rI he fern root, taK.cn ^in the
morning, kills and detaches the worm 3 of this the
patients are fenfible by the cefTation of the pain in the
ftomach, and by the weight that is felt in the lower
belly. The purgative bolus adminiftered two hours
after this, procures a complete evacuation ; it is com-
pofed of fubftances that are at once purgative and ver¬
mifuge, and which, even when adminiftered alone, by
different phyficians, fometimes Succeeded in expefting
the worm. If this purgative appear to be too 'ftrong,
the reader is defired to recoiled, that it produced no
ill effeds in either of the cafes that came under the
obfervation of the phyficians appointed to make the
trials ; and that in one of thofe cafes, by dimimftnhg
the dofe, they evidently retarded the evacuations.
Regard however, they obferve, is to be. bad beta to
the age and the temperament of the patient, and the
treatment fhould always be direded by a prudent and
experienced phyfician, who may know how to vaiy
the proportions of the dofe as circumfiances may re¬
quire. If the purgative be not of fufficient ftrength,
the worm, after being detached by the Specific, re¬
mains too long a time in the inteftines., and becoming
foon corrupted, is brought away only in detached por¬
tions : on the other hand, if. the purgative be too
ftrong, it occafions too much irritation, and evacua¬
tions that cannot fail to be inconvenient.
Madame Nouffer’s long experience has. taught her
to diftinguifh all thefe circumftances with lingular
adroitnefs. .
This method of cure is, as we have feen, copied m
a great meafure from the ancients : it may be poffible
to produce the fame effeds by varying the remedies;
but the manner of applying them is by no means in¬
different : we ffiall be always more certain of fuccefs,
if the inteftines be previoufty evacuated, and if the
fpecific be given fome time before the purgative bolus.
It is to this method that Madame Nouffer s con.lant
fuccefs is attributed. 1 .
Her remedy has likewife fome power ovei the L-eiitci
folium; but as the rings of this worm feparate from
each other more eafily than thofe of the tcenia lata, k
is almoft impoffible for it to be expelled entiie. It
will be neceffary therefore to repeat the treatment fe-
veral times, till the patient ceafe to void any portions
of worms. It muft likewife be repeated, if, after the
expulfion of one tcenia folium, another ihould be gene¬
rated in the inteftinal canal. 1 his lafl cafe is fo rare,
that it has been fuppofed that no perion. can have
more than one of thefe worms ; and for this reafon it
has been named folitary worm, which, being once re¬
moved, could never be renewed or replaced by a fe¬
cond : but experience has proved, that this notion is
an ill-founded prejudice ; and we know that iometimes
thefe worms fucceed each other, and that fometimes
feveral of them cxift together. Two living taeniae have
frequently been expelled from tne fame patient. . lir
De Haen relates an inftance of a woman who voided
18 tsenise at once. In thefe cafes the fymptoms are
ufually more alarming ; and the. appetite, becomes ex-
ceffive, becaufe thefe worms derive all their nounhiment
from the chyle. If too auftere and ill-judged a regimen
' deprives
Appendix. M EDI
, Worms- , deprives them of this, they may be expetted to attack
1 even tlle membranes of the inteftines themfelves. This
evil is to be avoided by gating frequently.
Such are the precautions indicated in this difeafe.
The ordinary vermifuge remedies commonly procured
only a palliative cure, perhaps becaufe they were too
often improperly adminiftered. But the efficacy of
the prefent remedy, in the opinion of the French
pbyficians, f’eems to be fufficiently confirmed by ex¬
perience. To the above account, however, it feems
proper to fubjoin the following obfervations by Dr
Simmons.
“ A Swifs phylician, of the name of Herrenfchwand,
more than 20 years ago, acquired no little celebrity
by diftributing a compofition of which he flyled hira-
felf the inventor, and which was probably of the fame
nature as Madame Nouffer’s. Several very eminent
men, as Tronchin, Hovius, Bonnet, Cramer, and o-
thers, have written concerning the effedfs of this re¬
medy. It feems that Dr Herrenfchwand ufed to give
a pow’der by way of preparation, the night before he
adminiflered his fpecific. Nothing could be faid with
certainty concerning the compofition either of one or
the other. The treatment was faid fometimes to pro¬
duce mod violent effedls, and to leave the patients in
a valetudinary Hate. Dr De Haen was diffiuaded by
his friends from ufing it, becaufe it difordered the pa¬
tients too much. It will be readily conceived, now
that we are acquainted with Madame NoufFer’s method,
that thefe effedls were occafioned wholly by the pur¬
gative bolus. It is not ftrange, that refin of fcam-
mony or jalap, combined with mercunus dulcis and
gamboge, all of them in llrong dofes, fhould in many
fubjedls occafion the greateft diforders. It feems like¬
ly, however, that much of the fuccefs of the remedy
depends on the ufe of a draftic purge. Some of the
ancients who were acquainted with the virtues of the
fern root, obferved that its efficacy was increafed by
fcammony. Reflnous purges, efpecially when com¬
bined with mercury, have often been given with fuc¬
cefs in cafes of tcenia. Dr De Haen faw a worm of
this fort five ells long expelled by the refm of jalap
alone. Dr Gaubius knew a woman who had taken a
variety of anthelmintic remedies without any effeft,
though fhe had voided a portion of tcenia an ell and
a half long previous to the ufe of thefe medicines : but
at length, after taking a purge of lingular flrength,
Ihe voided the worm entire. Many other inflances of
the fame kind are to be met with in authors. Other
remedies have occafionally been given with fuccefs.
In Sweden, it has been a pra&ice to drink feveral
gallons of cold w'ater, and then to take fome draffic
purge. Boerhaave fays, that he himfelf faw a tcenia
meafuring 300 ells expelled from a Ruffian by means of
the fulphate of iron.
From fome late accounts, there is reafon to believe
that Dr Herrenfchwand’s remedy for tcema does not fo
exaflly agree with that of Madame Nouffer as Dr Sim¬
mons feems to imagine. According to the account
given us by a gentleman who had his information from
Dr Herrenfchwand himfelf, it conlilts entirely of gam¬
boge and fixed vegetable alkali.
408 Of POISONS.
Qf naany poifons we have already treated, but there
Vol. XIII. Part H.
CINE. 4-
are fome of which nothing has hitherto been faid. A- Poifons.
mong the rnofl. fatal of thefe are the bites and flings of '—"'v*—-
ferpents, fcorpions, &c. According to Dr Mead, the
fymptotr.s which follow the bite of a viper are, an acute
pain in the place wounded, with a fwelling, at firth red,
but afterwards livid, which by degrees fpreads farther to
the neighbouring parts ; with great faintnefs, and a
quick, low, and fometimes interrupted pulfe; great fick-
nefs at ftomach, with bilious convulfive vomitings, cold
fweats, and fometimes pains about the navel. Frequent¬
ly a fanious liquor runs from the fmall wound, and little
puftules are raifed about it : the colour of the whole
fkin in lefs than an hour is changed yellow, as if the
patient had the jaundice. Thefe fymptoms are very fre¬
quently followed by death, efpecially if the climate be
hot, and the animal of a large fize. This is not, how¬
ever, the cafe with all kinds of ferpents. Some, we are
alfured, kill by a fatal lleep 5 others are faid to produce
an univerfal liEemorrhage and diflblution of the blood j
and others an unquenchable thirft. But of all the
fpecies of ferpents hitherto known, there is none whole
bite is more expeditioully fatal than that of the rattle-
fnake. Dr Mead tells us, that the bite of a large fer-
pent of this kind killed a dog in a quarter of a minute j
and to the human fpecies they are almofl equally fa¬
tal. Of this ferpent it is faid, that the bite makes the
perfon’s fkin become fpotted all over like the fkin of
the ferpent ; and that it has fuch a motion as if there
were innumerable living ferpents below it. But this
is probably nothing more than a diffolution of the
blood, by which the fnin becomes fpotted as in pete¬
chial fevers, at the fame time that the mufcles may
be convulfed as in the diflemper called hieranofos, which
was formerly thought to be the effeft of evil fpirits :
but it is even not improbable that obfervers have been
fomewhat aided by fancy and fuperflition when they
thought that they detefted fuch appearances.
It has juftly appeared furprifing to philofophers,
how fuch an inconfiderable quantity of matter as the
poifon emitted by a viper at the time of biting fhould
produce fuch violent effefts. But all inquiries into this
matter mufi: neceffarily be uncertain ; neither can they
contribute any thing towards the cure. It is certain
that the poifon produces a gangrenous difpofition of the
part itfelf, and likewife feemingly of the reft of the
body ; and that the original quantity of poifon con¬
tinues fome time before it exerts all its power on the
patient, as it is known that removing part of the poi-
fonous matter by fuftion will alleviate the fymptoms.
The indications of cure then are three: 1. To re¬
move the poifonous matter from the body : Or, 2. If
this cannot be done, to change its deftrudive nature
by fome powerful and penetrating application to the
wound : And, 3. To counteraft the effecls of that
portion already received into the fyftem.
The poifonous matter can only be removed from
the body by fucking the wound either by the mouth,
or by means of a cupping glafs •, but the former is
probably the more efficacious, as the faliva will in fome
meafure dilute and perhaps obtund the poifon. Dr
Mead direfts the perfon who fucks the wound to hold
warm oil in his mouth, to prevent inflammation of the
lips and tongue : but as bites of this kind are moft
likely to happen in the fields, and at a diftance from
houfes, the want of oil ought by no means to retard
3 O the
74 ' MED!
Potions, the operation, as the delay of a few minutes might
v prove of the mo ft fatal confequence ; and it appears
from Dr Mead’s experiments, that the taking the
poifon of a viper into the mouth undilated, is attend¬
ed with no worfe confequences than that of railing a
flight inflammation. A quick excifton of the part
might alfo be of very great fervice.
The only way of anfwering the fecond indication
is, by deftroying the poifoned part by a red-hot iron,
or the application of alkaline falts, which have the
power of immediately altering the texture of all ani¬
mal fubftances to which they are applied, provided
they are not covered by the fkin ; and as long as the
pcifon is not totally abforbtd into the fyftem, thefe
mufl: certainly be of ufe.
To anfw’er the third indication, Dr Mead recom¬
mends a vomit of ipecacuanha, encouraged in the
working with oil and warm water. The good ef¬
fects of this, he fays, are owing to the {hake which
it gives to the nerves, whereby the irregular fpafms
into which their whole fyftem might be drawn are
prevented. After this the patient mufl: go to bed,
and a fweat muft be procured by cordial medicines 5
by wTich the remaining efxefts of the poifon will be
carried off.
. It has been confidently aflerted by many, that the
American Indians are pofteffed of fome fpecific remedy
by which they can eafily cure the bite of a rattlefnake.
But Mr Catefby, who muft have had many opportu¬
nities of knowing this, pofitively denies that they have
any fuels medicine. They make applications indeed,
and fometimes the patient recovers j but thefe recove¬
ries he aferibes to the ftrength of nature overcoming
the poifon, more than to the remedies made ufe of.
He fays, they are very acute in their prognoftics whe¬
ther a perfon that 'is bit will die or not j and when
they happen to receive a bite in certain parts of the
body, when the teeth of tlse animal enter a large vein,
for inftance, they quietly reftgn themfelves to their
fate, without attempting any thing for their own re¬
lief. Indeed, fo violent and quick is the operation of
this poifon, that unlefs the antidote be inftantly ap¬
plied, the perfon will die before he can get to a houfe.
It would feem therefore eligible for thofe who are in
danger of fuch bites, to carry along wfith them fome
ftrong alkaline ley, or dry alkaline fait, or both,
which could be inftantly clapt on the wound, and by
its diflblving power would defti'oy both the poifon
and the infecled parts. Strong cordials alfo, fuch as
ardent fpirits, volatile alkali, &c. might poflibly ex-
, cite the languid powers of nature, and enable her to
expel the enemy, which would otherwife prove too
powerful. This feems to be fomewhat confirmed from
the account we have in the Philofophical Tranfadlions
of a gentleman bit by a rattlefnake, who was more
relieved by a poultice of vinegar and vine-afhes put to
his wound than any thing elfe. The vine afhes being
of an alkaline eature, muft have faturated the vinegar,
fo that no part of the cure could be attributed to
it: on the other hand, the afhes themfelves could not
have been faturated by the fmall quantity of acid ne-
ceffary to form them into a poultice ; of confequence
they muft have operated by their alkaline quality.—
Soap ley, therefore, or very ftrong fait of tartar, may
reafonably b/6 thought to be the belt external applica-
C .1 N E. Appendix.
t!on, not only for the bites of vipers, but of every tifeafes of
venomous creature j and in fad we find dry full uni- Chskirer..,
verfally recommended both in jhe bites of ferpents and '
of mad dogs. Dr Mead recommends the fat of vipers
immediately rubbed into the wound } but owns that it
is not fafe to truft to this remedy alone.
Some years ago the volatile alkali v.as ftrongly re¬
commended by M. Sage of the Trench academy, as a
powerful remedy againft the bite of the viper : and,
by a letter from a gentleman in Bengal to Dr Wright,
it would appear that this article, under the form of the
eau tie luce, which is very little if any thing different
from the [piritus ammonia: fuccinatus of the London
Pharmacopoeia, has been employed with very great
fuccefs againft this affedtion in the Eaft Indies : but
from the trials made with it by the abbe Fontana, pub-
lithed in his Treatife on the Poifon of the Viper, it
■would appear that it by no means anfwered his expedta-
tion ; and the efficacy of this, as well as of the fnake
pills mentioned under the article Hydrophobia, full
requires to be confirmed by further experience.
MELiENE. 4**
This is a diftemper not very common, but it has
been obferved by the ancient phyficians, and is de-
feribed by Hippocrates under the name of morbus
niger. It ftiows itfelf by a vomiting and purging of
black tar-like matter, which Plippocrates, Boerhaave,
and Van Swieten, fuppofed to be occafioned by atra
bilis. But Dr Home, in his Clinical Experiments, en¬
deavours to fhew that it is owing to an effufion of blood
from the meferaic veffels, which, by its ftagnation and
corruption, affumes that ftrange appearance. The
difeafe, he fays, frequently follows haemorrhage ; and
thofe of a fcorbutic habit are molt fubjedt to it. It
is an acute difeafe, and terminates foon j yet it is not
attended with any great degree of fever. In one of
Dr Home’s patients the crifis happened on the eighth
day by diarrhoea •, in another, on the 14th, by fweat
and urine ; and a third had no evident critical evacua¬
tion.
As to the cure, Dr Home obferves, that bleeding
is always neceflary where the pulfe can bear it 5 nor
are we to be deterred from it by a little weaknefs of
the pulfe, more than in the enteritis. Emetics are
hurtful, but purgatives are ufeful. But the mofi
pbwerful medicine for checking this hannorrhage is
the fulphuric acid : and, that this might be given in
greater quantity, he mixed it with mucilage of gum
arabic ; by which means he was enabled to give double
the quantity he could otherwife have done. The cold
bath was tried in one inftance, but he could not deter¬
mine whether it was of any fervice or not. The cure
iv^s completed by exercife and cinchona.
Of the DISEASES o/CHILDREN. 410
Dr Buchan obferves, that from the annual regifters
of the dead, it appears that about one half of the
children born in Great Britain die under twelve years
of age } and this very great mortality he attributes
in a great meafure to wrong management. The par¬
ticulars of this wrong management enumerated by
him are,
1. Mothers not fuckling their own children. This,
he owns, it is fometimes impoflible for them to do j
but
1
Appendix.
M E D I
Bifeafesof but whefe it can be done, be affirms that it ought
Children, never to be omitted. This, he fays, would prevent the
'““’■■v unnatural cuftom of mothers leaving their own children
to fuckle thofe of others *, on which he pafles a moll
fevere cenfure, and indeed fcarce any cenfure can .be
fevere enough upon fuch inhumanity. Dr Buchan in¬
forms us, “ He is fare he fpeaks within bounds,
when he fays not one in a hundred of thefe children
live who are thus abandoned by their mothers.” For
this reafon he adds, that no mother ffiould be allowed
to fuckle another’s child till her own be fit to be
weaned. A regulation of this kind would fave many
lives among the poorer fort, and would do no harm
to the rich ; as moft women who make good nurles
are able to fuckle two children in fucceffion upon the
fame milk. . .
2. Another fource of the difeafes of children is the
unhealthinefs of parents : and our author infills that
r.o perfon who labours under an incurable malady ought
to marry. .
3. The manner of clothing children tends to pro¬
duce difeafes. All that is necefifary here, he fays, is
to wrap the child in a foft loofe covering •, and the
foftnefs of every part of the infant’s body fufficiently
fhows the injury which mull neceffarily enfue by pur-
fuing a contrary method. .
4. A new-born infant, inftead of being treated with
fyrups, oils, &c. ought to be allowed to fuck the mo¬
ther’s milk almoft as foon as it comes into the world.
3rD condemns the practice of giving wines and fpin-
tuous liquors along with the food foon after birth 5
and fays, that if the mother or nurfe has a fufficient
quantity of milk, the child will need little or no other
food before the third or fourth month. But to this it
may reafonably be objeaed, not only that the nurfing
would thus be very fevere on the mother ; but if the
child be left thus long without other# food, it wid not
eafily reliffi that food for fome time, and its ftomach is
apt to be eafily hurt by a flight change of diet after it
has been long accuftomed to one thing. Ihe human
fpecies are unqueftionably fitted by nature for a mixed
aliment, both from the vegetable and animal, kingdom.
And the analogy of other animals, belonging to the
clafs of mammalia for whom milk is equally provided
at the earlied periods of life, would lead us to the con-
clufion, that mixed aliment is well fitted for the human
fpecies even in the earhefi periods of infancy. ae
lamb is no ffioner dropt than by natural mffina .t
crons the grafs as well as it fucks its mother. And the
ftomach in the human fpecies, immediately after b.rth
can digeft other food as well as milk Neither can it
be fho wn, that the ftrongeft and moft healthy infants are
thofe which get no other food but the mother s mi k
dtL thffirif months of their life. In faft, children
are evidently of a weak and lax habit of body, fo that
many of their difeafes muft anfe from, that caufe , a 1
directions which indifcriminately advife an antiphlo-
regimen for infants as foon as they come into
fhe world8, muft of neceffity be wrong. Many inftances
in faflt might be brought to ffiow, ^at by the prepo^
Herons method of llarving infants and at t,,e
time treating them with vomits and purges, they are
- , • ? t r t’ne world. Animal food indeed,
often hurried out o, tne worm. ^ pvreffivelv
particularly under the form o; brot . , - .
rgreeafcle to children, and they ought to be indulged
CINE. - 475
with it in moderation. This will prove a. much better Difeafes of
remedy for thofe acidities with which children are of- ^ 1 ^ ' »
ten troubled, than magnefia alba, crabs eyes, or other
abforbents, which have the moft pernicious effects on
the ftomachs of thefe tender creatures, and pall the ap¬
petite to a furprifing degree. The natural appetites of
children are indeed the bell rule by which we can judge
of what is proper or improper for them. I hey mult no
doubt be regulated as to the quantity 5 but we may be
affured that what a child is very fond of will not hurt
it, if taken in moderation. When children are fick,
they refufe every thing but the bread; ; and if their dif-
temner be very fevere, they will refufe it alfo, and in
this cafe they ought not to be preffed to take food of
any kind j but when the ficknefs goes off, their appe¬
tite alfo returns, and tney will require the ufual quanti¬
ty of food.
According to Dr Armftrong, inward fits, as they
are called, are in general the firlt complaint that ap¬
pears in children j and as far as he has obferved, moi.,
if not all infants, during the firft months, are more or
lefs liable to them. The fymptoms are thefe : The
child appears as if it was afteep, only the eyelids die
not quite clofed •, and if you obferve them narrowly,
you will fee the eyes frequently twinkle, with the white
of them turned up. There is a kind of tremulous mo¬
tion in the mufcles of the face and lips, which pro¬
duces fomething like a,fimper or a imile, and iom.et'ines
almoft the appearance of a laugh. As the difoider
increafes, the infant’s breath feems now and then, to
flop for a little ; the nofe becomes pinched ; there is a
pale circle about the eyes and mouth, which fome times
changes to livid, and comes and goes by turns ; the
child ft arts, efpecially if you attempt to ftir it though
ever fo gently, or if you make any r.oife near.it. ^
difturbed, it fighs, or breaks wind, which gives relief
for a little, but prefently it relapfes into the dozing.
Sometimes it ilruggles hard before it can break wind,
and feems as if falling into convulsions ; but a violent
burft of wind from the ttomach, or vomiting, or a loud
fit of crying, fets all to rights again. As the child
increafes in ftrength, thefe fits are tue .more apt to go
off fpontaneoufly and by degrees •, but in calc they do
not, and if there is nothing done to remove them, they
either degenerate into an almoft conftant drowfinefs,
(which is fucceeded by a fever and the thrufn), or ehe
they terminate in vomitings, four, curdled, or green
ftools, the watery gripes, and convulfions. Fhe thrulh
indeed very often terminates in thefe laft fymptoms.
As thefe complaints naturally run into one an.0t.1er, or
fucceed one another, they may be confidered, in a man¬
ner, as only different ftages of the fame adeaie and
which derive their origin from the fame caufe. 1 nu3»
the inward fits may be looked upon as the .firft ftage ot
the diforder •, the fever, and thruffi (when it happens),
as the fecond ; the vomitings, four, curdled, green
or watery ftools, as the third j and convulfions, as the
1-ft
' As to the caufe of thefe complaints, he obferves,
that in infants the glandular fecretions, which are all
more or lefs glutinous, are much more copious than m
adults. During the time of fucking, the glands of the
mouth and fauces being fqueezed by the contraaion
of the mufcles, pour forth their contents plent.fullv •,
which afterwards mixing with the mucus ot tne gullet
3 Q 2 and
47s . M E D ]
Children0*" an<^ ^omac^» rent^er the milk of a flimy confidence, by
i. yUl'. which means it is not fo readily abforbed into the lac-
tea’s; and as in mold infants there is too great an aci¬
dity in the domach, the milk is thereby curdled, which
adds to the load ; hence ficknefs and fpafms, which,
being communicated by fympathy to the nerves of the
gullet and fauces, produce the convulfive motions above
defended, which go commonly by the name of inward
Jits. 1 he air, likewife, which is drawn in during fac¬
tion, mixing with the milk, &c. in the domach, per¬
haps contributes towards increafing the fpafms above
mentioned. Dr Armdrong is the more induced to
attribute thefe fits to the caufes now adigned, that they
always appear immediately after fucking or feeding ;
efpecially if the child has been long at the bread, or
fed heartily, and has been laid down to deep without
having fird broken wind. Another reafon is, that
nothing relieves them fo foon as belching or vomiting;
and the milk or food they throw up is generally either
curdled, or mixed with a large quantity of heavy
phlegm. If they be not relieved by belching or vomit¬
ing, the fits fometimes continue a good while, and gra¬
dually abate, according as the contents of the domach
are pufhed into the intedines ; and as loon as the former
is pretty well emptied, the child is waked by hunger,
cries, and wants the bread; he fucks, and the fame
procefs is repeated.—Thus, fome children for the fird
weeks are kept almod always in a dofe, or feemingly
io ; eipecially if the nurfes, either through lazinefs or
want of Ikill, do not take care to roufe them when
they perceive that it is not a right deep, and keep them
awake at proper intervals. This dozing is reckoned a
bad fign amongd experienced nurfes ; who look upon
it as a forerunner of the thrudi, as indeed it often is ;
and therefore, when it happens, we ought to be upon
our guard to ufe the necefiary precautions for prevent¬
ing that diforder.
for thefe diforders, the only remedy recommended
by Dr Armdrong is antimonial wine, given in a few
drops, according to the age of the infant. By this
means the'fuperabiindant mucus will no doubt be eva¬
cuated ; but at the lame time we mud remember, that
this evacuation can only palliate, and not cure the dif-
caie. . This can only be effected by tonics ; and, when
from inward fits and other fymptoms it appears that the
tone of the domach is very weak, a decodtion of cin¬
chona, made into a fyrup, will readily be taken by in-
iants, and may be fafely exhibited from the very day
they come into the world, or as foon as their bowels
are emptied ot the meconium by the mother’s milk or
any other means.
Dr Clarke obferves, that fractures of the limbs, and
comprejjions of the brain, often happen in difficult la¬
bours ; and that the latter are often followed by con-
vulfions foon after delivery. In thefe cafes, he fays, it
will be advhable to let the navel-dring bleed two or
three fpoonfuls before it be tied. Thus the oppredion
ot the brain will be relieved, and the difagreeable con-
fequences jud mentioned will be prevented. But if
this has been negledled, and fits have adlually come
on, we mud endeavour to make a revulfion by all the
means in our power ; as by opening the jugular vein,
procuring an immediate difeharge of the urine and me¬
conium, and applying fmall bliders to the back, legs,
or behind the ears. The fcmicupium, too, would fceui
CINE. Appendix.
to be ufeful in this cafe, by driving the oppreffive load Difeafesof
of duids from the head and upper parts. Children.
It fometimes happens after a tedious labour, that the
child is fo faint and weak as to difeover little or no
dgns ol life. In fuch a cafe, after the ufual cleanfing,
the body thould be immediately wrapped in warm flan¬
nel, and brilkly toffed about in the nurfe’s arms, in
order, if poffible, to excite the languid circulation.
If this fail, the bread and temples may be rubbed with
brandy or other Ipirits ; or the child may be provoked
to cry, by whipping, or other dimulating methods, as
the application of onion, or fait and fpirit of hartdiorn,
to the mouth and nodrils. But after all thefe expe¬
dients have been tried in vain, and the recovery of the
child ablolutely defpaired of, it has fometimes been
happily revived by introducing a fhort catheter or
blowpipe into the mouth, and gently blowing into
the lungs at different intervals. Such children, how¬
ever, are apt to remain weak for a condderable time,
fo that it is offen no eafy matter to rear them ; and
therefore particu’ar care and tendernefs will be required
in their management, that nothing may be omitted
which can contribute either to their prefervation or
the improvement of their ftrength and vigour.
All the diforders which aiife from a retention of the
meconium, fuch as the red gum, may eafily be removed
by the ufe of gentle laxatives ; but the great fource of
mortality among children is the breeding of their teeth.
The ufual fymptoms produced by this are fretting ;
reffleffnefs ; frequent and hidden ftartings, efpecially in
deep ; coilivenefs ; and fometimes a violent diarrhoea,
fever, or convuliions. In general, thofe children breed
their teeth with the greateft eafe, who have a moderate
laxity of the bowels, or a plentiful flow of laliva dur¬
ing that time.
In mild cafes, we need only, when neesffary, endea¬
vour to promote the means by which nature is obferved
to carry on the bufinefs of dentition in the eafieft man¬
ner. For this purpofe, if a coffivenefs be threatened,
it muff be prevented, and the body kept always gently
open ; the gums Ihould be relaxed by rubbing them
frequently with fvveet oils, or other foftening remedies
of that kind, which will greatly diminiih the tenfion
and pain. At the fame time, as children about this
period are generally difpofed to chew whatever they get
into their hands, they ought never to be without fome-
thing that will yield a little to the preffure of their
gums, as a cruft of bread, a wax candle, a bit of li¬
quorice root, or fuch like ; for the repeated mufcular
aftion, occafioned by the conftant biting and gnawing
at fuch a fubftance, will increafe the difeharge from the
falivary glands, while the gums will be fo forcibly pref-
fed againft the advancing teeth, as to make them break
out much fooner, and with Ids uneafinefs, than would
otherwife happen. Some likewife recommend a flice of
the rind of freih bacon, as a proper mafficatory for the
child, in order to bring moifture into its mouth, and
facilitate the eruption of the teeth by exercifing the
gums. It thefe means, however, prove ineffedlual, and
bad fymptoms begin to appear, the patient will often
be relieved immediately by cutting the inflamed gum
down to the tooth, where a fmall white point thows
the latter to be coming forward. When the pulfe is
quick, the fkin hot and dry, and the child of a fuffi-
cient age and ftrength, emptying the veflels by bleed-
%
Appendix.
M E D I
Scn'f "2; 'Wdtytt the jugular, .viil frequently be neceffa-
\   7 77,’ aS we^as 111 otner inflammatoi-y cafes : and
tae oejjy fliould be opened from time to time bv emol¬
lient, oily, or mucilaginous clyfters. But, on the
contrary, if the child be low, funk, and much weaken¬
ed, repeated doles of the fpirit of hart (horn, and the
Inte reviving medicines, ought to be preferibed. Blif-
ters applied to the back, or behind the ears, will often
be proper in both cafes. A prudent adminiftration of
opiates, when their ufe is not forbid by coftivenefs or
other wile, is fometjmes of great fervice in difficult
teething, as, by mitigating pain, they have a tendency
to Prevent its bad effedls, inch as a fever, convulfions,
or other violent fymptoms ; and often they are abfolutelv
neceffary, along with the teftaceous powders, for check¬
ing an immoderate diarrhoea.
When cathartics are neceflary, if the child feems too
tender and weak to bear their immediate operation,
they fliould be given to the nurfe *, in which cafe they
Will communicate fo much of their active powers to the
milk as will be fufficient to purge the infant. This at
lead certainly holds with regard to fome cathartics j
fiicn, for example, as the infufion of fenna, particular-
iy it a very weak infufion be employed, and not ufed
to fuch an extent as to operate as a purgative to the
nurfe.
As mod young children, if in health, naturally deep
much, and pretty foundly, we may always be apt to
fufpeft tiiat fomething is amifs when they begin to be
fubjeef to watching and frights; fymptoms which fel-
dom or never occur but either in confequence of fome
prefent dilorder not perceived, or as the certain fore¬
runners of an approaching indifpofition. We diould
immediately, therefore, endeavour to find out the caufe
of watchfulnefs, that we may ufe every poffible means
to remove or prevent it ; otherwife the want of natural
red, which ;s fo very prejudicial to perfons of all ages,
will fbon reduce the infant to a low and emaciated
date, which may be followed by a heddic fever, diar¬
rhoea, and all the other confequences of weaknefs.
I hefe fymptoms, being always the effedds of irritation
and pain, may proceed, in very young infants, from
crudities or other affeidions of the primer vice producing
flatulencies or gripes j about the fixth or feventh month,
they may be owing to that uneafinefs which commonly
accompanies the breeding of the teeth ; and after a
child is weaned, and begins to ufe a different kind of
food, v/orms become frequently an additional caufe of
watchings and didurbed deep. Hence, to give the ne¬
ceffary relief on thefe occafions, the original complaint
mud fird be afeertained from the child’s age and other
concomitant circumdances, and afterwards treated ac¬
cording to the nature of the cafe. Women and nurfes
are too apt to have recourfe to opiates in the watchings
of children, efpecially jvhen their own red happens
to be much didurbed by their continual noife and cla¬
mour. But this practice is often prejudicial, and never
ought to have place when the belly is in the lead ob-
ftrudled.
1 here is no complaint more frequent among children
than that of worms, the general fymptoms of which
have been already enumerated ; but it mud be obferved,
that all the fymptoms commonly attributed to worms,
may be produced by a foulnefs of the bowels. Hence
practitioners ought never to red fatisfied with adn;ini-
C, 1 \ F~. . 477
deling to their patients luch medicine? as are poffeffed Difeafesof
only of an anthelmintic quality, but to join them with Children,
thofe which are particularly adapted for cleandng the —'
pnm.e vice ; as it is uncertain whether a foulnefs of the
bowels may not be the caufe of all the complaints. This
piadhce is dill the more advifable, on account of vifeid
humours in the intedines affording lodgement to the ova
of worms ; which, without the convenience of fuch a
receptacle, would be more fpeedily difeharged from the
body.
ihe difficulty of curing what is called a worm fever,
arifes, according to Dr Mufgrave, from its being fre¬
quently attributed to worms, when the caufe of the
diforder is of a quite different nature. He does not
mean to deny that worms do fometimes abound in the
human body, nor that the irritation caufed by them
does fometimes produce a fever j but he apprehends
thefe cafes to be much more uncommon than is gene¬
rally imagined, and that great mifehief is done by treat¬
ing fome of the diforders of children as worm cafes
which really are not fo. Dr Hunter is of the fame
opinion on this point. He has, we are told, diffeded
great numbers of children who have been fuppofed to
die of worm fevers, and whofe complaints w'ere of courfe
tieated as proceeding from worms, in whom, however,
there appeared, upon diflection, to be not only no
worms, but evident proofs of the diforder’s having been
of a very different nature.
The fpurious worm fever, as Dr Mufgrave terms it,
has, in all the initances he has feen of it, arifen evi¬
dently from the children having been indulged with
too great quantities of fruit. Every fort of fruit eaten
in excefs will probably produce it ; but an immoderate
ufe of cherries feems to he the molt common caufe of it.
The approach of this diforder has a different appear¬
ance, according as it arifes from a habit of eating fruit
in rather too large quantities, or from an exceffive
quantity eaten at one time. In the former cafe, the
patient gradually grows weak and languid : his colour
becomes pale and livid ; his belly fvvells and grows
hard ; his appetite and digeflion are deflroyed ; his
nights grow reftlefs, or ..at leaft his fleep is much di-
fturbed with ftartings, and then the fever foon follows,
in the progrefs of which, the patient grows comatofe,
and at times convulfed ; in which date, when it takes
place to a high degree, he often dies. The pulfe at
the vvnlt, though quick, is never ftrong or hard ; the
carotids, however, beat with great violence, and ele¬
vate the fidn fo as to be diflin^tly feen at a diftance.
The heat is at times confiderable, efpecially in the
trunk ; though at other times, when the brain is much
epprefl’ed, it is little more than natural. It is fome¬
times accompanied by a violent pain of the epigaftric
region, though more commonly the pain is flight, and
terminates in a coma ; fome degree of pain, however,,
feems to be infeparable from it, fo as clearly to diflin-^
guilh this diforder from other comatofe affeftions.
When a large quantity of fruit has been eaten at
once, the attack of the diforder is inftantaneous, and
its progrefs rapid ; the patient often palling, in the
fpace of a few hours, from apparently perfect health,
to a ftupid, comatofe, and almolt dying Hate. The
fyniptoms of the fever, when formed, are in both cafes
nearly the fame •, except that, in this latter fort, a little
purulent matter is fometimes difeharged, both by vo-
v- mitt
4-S M E T) T
Pifep.fesof rnlt and {lool, from tire very firfl day. The ftoo.s,^ in
Children, both cafes, eKbibit fometiraes a kind of curd refembling
curdled milk, at other times a floating fubitance is ob-
(erved in them j and fometimes a numfrer ot little thteaoo
and pellicles, and now and then a Angle worm.
Strong purgatives, or purges frequently repeated, in
this diforder, are greatly condemned by i)r Armilrong,
as they in general not only aggravate the fymptoms al¬
ready prefent, but are fometimes the origin of convul-
fjons". Bloodletting is not to be thought of in any ftage
of the diforder.
Although frequent purging, however, be not recom¬
mended, yet a Angle 'vomit and. purge are adviied in
the beginning of the diforder, with a view to evacuate
fuch indigefted matter and mucus as happens to remain
in the llomach and bowels. Thefe having operated
properly, there is feldom occafion for repeating them •,
and it is fuflicient, if the oody be coftive, to throw up,
every fecond or third day, a clyfter, compofed of fame
grains of aloes, diffolved in five or fix ounces Oi infufion
of chamomile.
Xhe principal part of the cure, however, depends
upon external applications to the bowels and flsmach j
and as the cauie of the diforoer is of a cold natuie,. the
applications muft be warm, cordial, and invigorating •,
and their aflion muft be promoted by conftant actual
heat. .
When any nervous fymptotns come on, or remain al¬
ter the diforder is abated, they are eafily removed by
giving a pill with a grain or two of afafoetida once or
twice a day.
The diagnoftics of worms are very uncertain ; but,
even in real worm cafes, the treatment above recom¬
mended would, it is imagined, be much more e.hca-
cious than the practice commonly had recourfe to. As
worms either find the conftitution weakly, or very foon
make it fo, the frequent repetition of purges, parcicu-
larlv mercurials, cannot but have a pernicious eilect.
Bear’s-foot is ftii! more exceptionable, being in truth
to be ranked rather among poifons than medicines.
Worm feed and bitters are too offenfive to the palate
and ftomach to be long perfifled in, tnough fo met lines
very ufeful. The powder of coralline creates cJifgult
by its quantity ; and the infufion of pink root is well
known to occafion now and then vertiginous complaints
and fits.
Fomenting the belly night and morning with a
Prong deco6lion of rue and wormwood, is much re¬
commended. It is a perfeaiy lafe remedy, and, by
invigorating the bowels, may thereby have iome in¬
fluence in ' rendering them capable of expelling fuch
worms as they happen to contain. After the fomenta¬
tion, it is advifed to anoint the belly with a liniment,
compofed of one part of eflential oil of rue, and two
parts of a decoftion of rue in fweet oil. It is, however,
■a matter of great doubt whether thefe external, applica¬
tions, in confequence of the articles with which they
are impregnated, exert any influence on tne worms
themfelves.
The diet of children difpofed to worms fhould be
warm and nourifhing, confifting in part at leaft ot ani¬
mal food, which is not the worfe for being a little fea-
fbned. The:. drink may be any kind of beer chat is
well hopped, with now and then a fmall draught of
3 '
CINE. Appendix.
porter or negus. A total abfiinence from butter is Vieri;, at ju-
not fo neceffary, perhaps, as is generally imagined.
Poor cheele mult by all means be avoided ; but Inch
as is rich and pungent, in a moderate quantity, is par¬
ticularly ferviceable. In the fpurious worm fever, the
patient flrould be fupported occafionally by Irnall quan¬
tities of broth ; and. at the clofe of it, when the appe¬
tite returns, the firft food given fhould be of the kinds
above recommended.
The diet here recommended will, perhaps, be
thought extraordinary, as the general idea is at pre¬
fent, that, in the management of children, ^nothing
is io much to be avoided as repletion and rich food. It
is no doubt an error to reed children too well, or to
indulge them with wine and rich fauces j but it is
equally an error to confine them to too itridV 01 too
poor a diet, which rveakens their digefiion, and ren¬
ders them much more fubjeft to diforders of every
kind, but particularly to diforders cf the bowels. In
regard to the fpurious worm fever, if it be true that
acid fruits too plentifully eaten are the general cauie
of it, it follows as a confequence, that a warm nutri¬
tious diet, moderately ufed, will moft effeaually coun¬
teract the miichief, and fooneft reft ore tnc natuial
powers of the ftomach. Befides, if the diforder does
not readily yield to the methods here direffed, as i.here
are many examples of its terminating by an inflamma¬
tion and fuppuration of the navel, it is highly advife-
able to keep this probability in view, and, by a mode¬
rate allowance of animal food, to fupport thole powers
of nature, from which only iuch a happy enfts is to be
expected.
Befides thefe, many other difeafes might here be
mentioned, which, if not peculiar to infants, are at
Icaft peculiarly modified by the infant ftate. But into
deta-ls refpedhng thefe w'e cannot propofe to enter. It
is fufficient to fay, that cue regard being paid to age
and conftitution, tne cure is to be conduced on the
fame general principles as in the adult ftate.
MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. 4n
During the progrefs of fcience in Europe this fub-
je<5t has not been altogether ueglecied. But we may
fafely venture to affert, that even from many enlighten¬
ed governments it has hitherto claimed much lefs at¬
tention than its importance merits. At the Britifti
univerfities this has been two much the caie. It is
indeed true, that for near 20 years a few le&ures on
this fubject have been delivered at the univerfity of
Edinburgh, by the profeffor of the inftitutions of medi¬
cine. But he could by no means coniider the fubject
on that extenfive fcale which its importance merited.
And he bad often exprefftd his regret, that, as in fe-
veral of the foreign univerfities, a profeffurlhip had not
been inftituted for the exprefs purpofe of giving a courfe
of lectures on medical jurifprudence. That deleft,
however, in medical education at Edinburgh is now
{Applied. When that able and upright ftatefman Lord
Grenville, to whom every thing that regarded the laws
of his country was an objeft of peculiar attention, was
at the head of his majetty’s councils, a regius profeffor-
fhip of juridical and political methane was eftatdiftied
in the univerfity of Edinburgh by a royal warrant.
Appendix. M E D I
Medical Ju-And there is every reafon to hope, that this appoint-
rifpnidence. ment will be attended with many effecls highly benefi-
L " cial to the nation.
A fliort view of the extent and importance of this
fubjeft will, we prefume, not be unacceptable to the in¬
telligent reader.
Whatever aid the fcience of medicine can contribute
towards the good of the date, and the execution of its
laws, has been by the Germans denominated State Me¬
dicine j a new, but not improper, appellation, for that
branch of knowledge which many writers have termed
Medical Jurifprudence.
It comprehends both medical police and juridical
medicine. The former conlifts of the medical precepts
which may be of ufe to the legillature or to the magi-
Itracy. The latter is the aggregate of all the informa¬
tion, afforded by the different branches of medicine,
wduch is neceffary for elucidating doubtful queftions in
courts of law.
Although there are fome traces of juridical medicine
in the Jultinian code; fuch as determining the real pe¬
riod of birth, with a view to prevent the impolition of
fpurious children : it properly originated with the code
of laws enacted by the emperor Charles V. under the
name of Conjhtutio criminalis Carolitw; in which it is
ordained, that the opinions of phyiiciaHs (hould be ta¬
ken, with regal'd to the danger of wounds, child mur¬
der, murder, poifoning, procured abortion, concealed
pregnancy, &c. Thefe directions, and the impotiibili-
ty which was found of determinating many queftions
by limply legal means, induced fome legillators to en¬
join, that all tribunals and judges Ihould procure from
Iworn phyficians, appointed to this office, their opi¬
nions concerning all the fubjeCts to be mentioned here¬
after.
Since that time, it has been treated fyftematicaliy
by many learned men 5 fuch as Fortunatus Fidelis,
Zacchias, Alberti, Hebenftreit, Haller, Ludwig, Pienckj
and laftly, in the moll mafterly manner, by Metzger.
Numberlefs differtations have been v/ritten on all its parrs}
and among thofe who contributed to its advancement,
we may reckon Ambrofe Parry, Echo, Butener, Mor¬
gagni, Camper, and Gruner. Collections of cafes, il-
lultrating its principles, have been made by Amman,
Daniel, Bucholz, Pyl, Scherf and Metzger. Thefe
are only a few of the principal writers, who have at¬
tended to this fcience : to enumerate more would be
unneceffary.
From its very nature, it is evident how neceffary a
knowledge of this fcience mult be to every medical
praCtitioner, who is liable to be called upon to illuftrate
any queftion comprehended under it before a comt of
juftice. On his anfwers, the fate of the accufed perfon
mult often depend } both judge and jury regulating their
decilion by his opinion. On the other hand, while he
is delivering his fentiments, his own reputation is before
the bar of the public. The acutenefs of the gentlemen
of the law is univerfally acknowledged •, the verfatility of
their genius, and the quicknefs of their ajaprchenlion,
are rendered almolt inconceivable, by conftant exercife.
It is their duty to make every pcflible exertion for the
intereft of their client, and they feldom leave unnoticed
any inaccurate or contradictory evidence. How cau-
cious mult, then, a medical praCtitioner be, when ex¬
amined before fuch men, when it is their duty to expofe
C I N E. . 479
his errors, and magnify his uncertainties, till his evi-Medical Ju-
der.ee feern contradictory and abfurd ? How often mult rdprndence.
he expofe himfelf to fuch fevere criticilm, if he be not ,
mailer of the fubjeCt on which he is giving evidence, and
have not arranged his thoughts on it according to juli
principles ? On the other hand, he may deferve and gain
much credit, by fo public a difplay of judgement and
profeffional knowledge.
Some acquaintance with this part of medical fcience
mult be ufeful at lealt, and fometimes neceffary, to
judges and lawyers. They will thus be enabled to
eftimate how much they may depend on the opinion of
any phylician, and will know how to direCl their que¬
ftions, fo as to arrive at the truth, and avoid being mif.
led by his partiality or favourite opinions. To the
lawyer who conduCts the defence of an accufed perfon,
in a criminal cafe, it is almoft indifpenfable 5 without
it, he cannot do juftice to the caufe of his client.
Before criminal courts, the queftions which occur molt
generally are, refpehting
1. The caufe of death, as afeertained from the ex¬
amination of the body.
2. The fufficiency of the fuppofed caufe to have
produced death.
3. Probable event of wounds, contulions, &c.
4. The importance of the part injured.
5. Suppofed child-murder j whether ftill-born or
not.
6. Whether death accidental or intended.
7. Abortion *, its having occurred,
8. Spontaneouily, from habit} accidentally, from
external violence or paffions of the mind ; or
intentionally, from the introduction of a fharp
inftrument, ufe of certain drugs, &.c.
. Rape } its being attempted or confummated j
recent or previous deftoration.
10. The refponfibiiity of the accufed for his aCtions.
Before civil courts the queftions generally regard,
1. The Hate of mind} madnefs, melancholy, idio-
tifrn.
2. Pregnancy ; concealed, pretended.
3. Parturition j concealed, pretended, retarded, pre/
mature.
4. The tirft-bern of twins.
5. Difeafes; concealed, pretended, imputed.
6. Age and duration of life.
Before confiftorial courts, the fubjeCts inveftigated are,
X. Impotence} general, relative, curable, incurable.
2. Sterility ; curable, relatively incurable, ablolute-
ly incurable.
3. Uncertainty of fex } hermaphrodites.
4. Difeafes preventing cohabitation j venereal dif-
eafe, leprofy, &.c.
MEDICAL POLICE. 4'2
Of incomparably greater conlequence, and more
widely extended influence, is the iecond divifion of this
funject. It regards not merely the welfare of individu¬
als, but the profperity and fecurity of nations. It is
perhaps the moft important branch of general police }
for its influence is not confined to thofe whom acciden¬
tal circumftances bring within its fphere, but extends
gver the whole population of the liate.
4S0 M E D I
Medical Many of its principles have been long acknowledged,
. Po^ce- and confidered as neceffary coniequences of medical and
political truths •, and fome few of them have acquired
the authority of laws. But it was referved for the phi¬
lanthropic Frank, to colleft the whole into one vaih
and beneficent fyftem, and to feparate it from juridical
medicine ; in the old fyftems of which, it was neglefl-
ed, or mentioned only in a few fhort paragraphs. His
enlarged mind perceived at once, and fully vindi¬
cated its importance. The very name of Medical Po¬
lice, is now fufficient to attra£l the attention of legisla¬
tors and of magillrates, and to make them defirous of
becoming acquainted with its principles, and anxious to
fee them carried into execution. In fa£l, its influence
is already vifible in the countries where it is cultivated.
If the principles of medical police were feparated from
the profeffional part of medicine, and communicated in
a form generally intelligible, in what country have we
reafon to expert more beneficial effefls from its influ¬
ence than this ? Where is the fpirit of patriotifm and
benevolence fo prevalent ? What nation is more gene¬
rous in its public inllitutions ? Where does the indivi¬
dual facrifice a part of his wealth fo willingly for the
benefit of the community ? It feems only neceffary to
prove that an undertaking will be of advantage to the
ftate, to have it carried into inftant execution. But,
can medical knowledge be more ufefully employed than
in pointing out the means of preferving or improving
health •, of fupplying healthy nourishment to the poor,
efpecially in times of fcarcity *, of oppofing the intro-
duflion of contagious difeafes, and of checking their
progrefs ; of fecuring to the indigent the advantages in¬
tended by their benefaftorS •, of rearing the orphan to
be the fupport of the nation which has adopted him ;
and of diminishing the horrors of confinement to the
poor maniac and the criminal ? Thefe good effefts
are not to be promoted fo much by rigid laws, as by
recommendation and example. Nor can it be reafon-
ably objedled to a fyftem of medical police, that it is a
pleafing dream, which flatters the imagination, but the
execution of which is in reality imprafticable. As
well might we entirely throw afide the rules of hu¬
manity, becaufe no one is able to obferve them all j
, or live without laws, becaufe no exifting code is unex¬
ceptionable.
Medical police may be defined,—The application of
the principles deduced from the different branches of
medical knowledge, for the promotion, prefervation and
reftoration of general health.
The effecfts to be expefted from it are the general
welfare of the ftate, and increafe of healthy population j
and are to be attained by means of public inftitutions,
exprefs laws, and popular intiruftion. Inftrucfting the
people, and convincing them of the propriety of certain
precautions and attentions, in regard to their own and
the general ftate of health, are neceffary to fecure the
good effedts of our public inftitutions and regulations j
to obtain refpedft and obedience in many things, to
which no exprefs law can be adapted ; and, to induce
them to forego what may be prejudicial to the fafety of
the community, and of themfelves.
Public medical inftitutions and laws, muft be adapted
to the country for which they are intended. Many lo-
pal circumftances, national charafter, habits of life, pre¬
valent cuftoms and profeflions, fituation, climate, &c,
4
C I N E. Appendix.
make considerable varieties neceffary. And many in- Medical
ftitutions, many a law which would be highly beneficial ^°^ce* ,
to the public health, in fome circumftances, •would be
ufelefs, imprafficable, and even hurtful, in others.
Thefe caufes and their effecls, muft, therefore, be par¬
ticularly attended to.
The principal authors who have written on this fub-
jeft, are Alberti, Heifter, Plaz, Frank, Huffty, Metz¬
ger, and Hebenftreit $ to whom we may add Howard
and Rumford.
The fubjedfs which it comprehends, cannot be claf-
fed very regularly or fyftematically. Its views will be
different, according to occasional and temporary caufes j
and its interference may fometimes be advantageouSly
extended beyond what may feem the ftricft limits of a
branch of the medical profeflion.
Medical Police relates to
The Situation of places of Abode. Conftru&ion
of houfes.
Air. Means of counteracting its impurity—Its various
impregnations.
Water. Its neceflity and purity.
Food. Its various kinds—Comparative quantities of
nourishment afforded by them—Cheaper
kinds, which may be fafely fubftituted in
times of fcarcity—Bread—Animal food—
Butcher meat—Fifti—Vegetables—Veflels
—Cookery ; Healthy ; (Economical. /
Drink. Beer—Ale—Porter — Cyder—Spirituous li¬
quors — Wine—Warm drinks—Adultera¬
tions of thefe liquors—Hurtful additions—
Veffels.
Fire and Light.
Clothing.
Cleanliness.
Professions. Manufa£lurers — Mechanics —Soldiers
Sailors—Men of letters.
Healthy Propagation.
Pregnant and Puerperal Women.
New-born Infants. Regiiters of birth.
Physical Education.
Prevention of Accidents. From poifon—Hurtful
Effluvia—Maniacs—Rabid animals.
Restoration of the Apparently dead. Humane
Societies—Care of the dying—Danger of too
early—too late burial—Places of interment
—manner of conducing it—Bills of mor¬
tality.
Contagious and Epidemic Diseases. Plague—Pu¬
trid fever—Dyientery—Smallpox—Inocula¬
tion—Extirpation of them—Leprofy—Itch
and pox—Precautions to be taken, to pre¬
vent their introduction, - to diminifli their
violence, to deftroy their caufe, and to coun-
teradl their effecls.
Management of Public Institutions, in which
many people are collected under the care of
the public.
Hofpitals for the Indigent ;
1. Lying-in Hofpitals.
2. Foundling ditto.
3. Orphan ditto.
4. Hofpitals for Education.
5. Aged.
M
Appendix.
Means of
preferving
Health.
*
v Aged.
6. Elind.
7. Maimed.
Military Hofpitals :
Prifoners of War.
Lazarettoes.
Work-houfes.
Prifons.
E D
Hofpitals for tlie Sick.
Maniacs.
Convalefcents.
Incurables.
I
4T3
Obfervaiions on the Means of preferring Health.
Having new treated of all the moft important difeafes
to which the human body is fubjedled, we fliall conclude
the article Medicine, with a few obfervations on the
means of preferving health, both for the general manage¬
ment of valetudinarians, and of thofe alfo who wifh to
obtain long life and good health by avoiding the caufes
of thofe difeafes which the human fpecies often bring
upon themfelves. On this fubjetf much has been writ¬
ten at aim oft every period of medicine. And we may
refer thofe readers who wifh for a full and extenfive
view of this interefting fubjedt to a very elaborate work
lately publifhed by Sir John Sinclair Bart, entitled the
Code of Health and Longevity. Here we cannot
propofe to give even an abridged view of this extenfive
inquiry ; but muff content ourfelves with offering only
a very few general obfervations.
I. Rules for the Management 0/'Valetudinarians.
That part of the medical fyftem which lays down
rules for the prefervation of health, and prevention of
dileafes, termed liygieina, is not to be ftridlly underftood
as if it refpedded only thofe people who enjoy perfedt
health, and who are under no apprehenftons of difeafe,
for fuch feldom either defire or attend to medical ad¬
vice ; but is rather confidered as relating to valetudi¬
narians, or fuch as, though not adlually fick, may yet
have fufficient reafon to fear that they will foon become
fo : hence it is that the rules muff be applied to corredt
morbific difpofitions, and to obviate various particulars
which were fliown to be the remote or poffible caufes of
difeafes.
From the way in which the feveral temperaments
are commonly mentioned by fyftematic writers, it fhould
leem as if they meant that every particular conftitution
might be referred to one or other of the four 5 but this
is far from being the cafe, fince by much the greater
number of people have temperaments fo indiftindfly
marked, that it is hard to fay to which of the tempera¬
ments they belong.
When we adlually meet with particular perfons who
have evidently either,
1. Too much ftrength and rigidity of fibre, and too
much fenfibility ;
2. Too little ftrength, and yet too much fenfibi-
% 5
3. Too much ftrength,
and but little fenfibility;
vj I ^
4. But little fenfibility joined to weaknefs ;
we Ihould look on iuch perfons as more or lefs in tne
Vol. XIII. Part II.
CINE. 481
valetudinary ftate, who require that thefe morbific dif* Means of
pofitions be particularly watched, left they fall into
thofe difeafes which are connedted with the different y 1;
temperaments.
People of the firft mentioned temperament being
liable to fuffer from continued fevers, efpecially of the
inflammatory fpecies, their fcheme of preferving health
fhould confift in temperate living, with refpedl both to
diet and exercife j they flrould ftudioufly avoid immo¬
derate drinking, and be remarkably cautious left any
of the natural difeharges be checked. Pepple of this
habit bear evacuations well, efpecially bleeding : they
ought not, however, to lofe blood but when they really
require to have the quantity leffened j becauie too
much of this evacuation would be apt to reduce the
conftitution to. the fecond-mentioned temperament,
in which ftrength is deficient, but fenfibility redundant.
Perfons of the fecond temperament are remarkably
prone to fuffer from painful and fpafmodic difeafes, and
are ealily ruffled ; and thofe of the fofter fex who have
this delicacy of habit, are very much difpofed to hyfte-
rical complaints. The fcheme here fhould be, to
ftrengthen the folids by moderate exercife, cold bath¬
ing, cinchona, and chalybeate waters 5 particular
attention fhould conftantly be had to the ftate of the
digeftive organs, to prevent them from being overloaded
with any fpecies of iaburra which might engender fla¬
tus, or irritate the fenfible membranes of the ftomach
and inteftines, from whence the diforder would foon
be communicated to the whole nervous fyftem. Per¬
fons of this conftitution fhould never take any of the
draftic purges, or ftrong emetics; neither fhould they
lofe blood but in cafes of urgent neceflity. But a
principal fhare of management, in thefe extremely ir¬
ritable conftitutions, confifts in avoiding all fudden
changes of every fort, efpecially tnole with refpefl to
diet and clothing, and in keeping the mind as much
as poflible in a ftate of tranquillity : hence the great
advantages which people of this frame derive from the
ufe of medicinal waters drank on the fpot, on account
of that freedom from care and ferious bufmefs of every
kind, which generally obtains in all the places planned
for the reception of valetudinarians.
The third-mentioned temperament, where there is
an excefs df flrength and but little fenfibility, does not
feem remarkably prone to any diftrefling or dangerous
fpecies of difeafe ; and therefore it can hardly be fup-
pofed that perfons fo circum(lanced will either of them¬
felves think of any particular fcheme of management,
or have recourfe to the faculty for their inftruflions: .
fuch conftitutions, however, we may obferve, bear
all kinds of evacuations well, and fometimes require
them to prevent an over-fulnefs, which might end m
an oppreflion of the brain or fome other organ of
importance.
But the fourth temperament, where we have weak¬
nefs joined to want of fenfibility, is exceedingly apt to
fall into tedious and dangerous difeafes, arifing from a
defefil of abforbent power in the proper fets of veffels,
and from languor of the circulation in general ;
whence corpulency, dropfy, jaundice, dnd different
degrees of fcorbutic affedlion. In order to' prevent
thefe, or any other fpecies of accumulation and depra¬
vation of the animal fluids, the people of this confti¬
tution fliould ufe a generous courfe of diet, with bnik
3 P exercife,
482 M E D I
Means of exercife, and be careful that none of tbe fecretions be
^ *n>;t'rrupted, nor any of the natural difcharges fup-
l ^— < preffed. Tbefe conftitutions bear pinging well, and of¬
ten require it 5 as alio the ufe of emetics, which are
frequently found neceffary to fupply the place of ex¬
ercife, by agitating the abdominal vifcera, and are of
fervice to prevent the ftagnation of bile, or the accu¬
mulation of mucous humours, which hinder digeftion,
and clog the firft pafiages. The free ufe of mullard,
borfe-radilh, and the like fort of ftimulating dietetics,
is ferviceable in thefe torpid habits.
When the general mafs of fluids is increafed be-,
yond what is conducive to the perfection of health,
there arifes what the writers term a plethora, which may
prove the fource of different difeafes •, and therefore,
when this overfulnefs begins to produce languor and
oppreflion, care fhould be taken in time to reduce the
body to a proper llandard, by abridging the food and
increafing the natural difcharges, ufing more exercife,
and indulging lefs in fleep.
But in oppofite circumftances, where the fluids have
been exhaufted, we are to attempt the prevention of
further waite by the ufe of ftrengthening ftomachics,
nourifhing diet, and indulgence from fatigue of body
or mind.
Vitiated fluids are to be confidered as tainted either
with the different kinds of general acrimony, or as be¬
traying figns of fome of the fpecies of morbific matter
which give rife to particular difeafes, fuch as calculus,
fcurvy, &c.
During the ftate of infancy, we may fometimes ob-
ferve a remarkable acidity, which not only fhowrs itfelf
in the firft paffages, but alfo feems to contaminate the
general mafs of fluids. As it takes its rife, however,
from weak bowels, our view's, when we mean to pre¬
vent the ill confequences, mufl be chiefly direded to
ftrengthen the digeftive organs, as on their foundnefs
the preparation of good chyle depends; and hence
fmall dofes of rhubarb and chalybeates (either the na¬
tural chalybeate waters mixed wdth milk, or the murias
amrrwmce et fern in dofes of a few grains, according
to the age of the child), are to be adminiflered j and
the diet is to be fo regulated as not to add to this
acid tendency : brifk exercife is likewife to be enjoined,
wdth fridtions on the ftomach, belly, and lower ex¬
tremities.
Where the fluids tend to the putrefcent ftate,
which fhows itfelf by fetid breath, fponginefs and
bleeding of the gums, a bloated look and livid caft, the
diet then fhould be chiefly of frefh vegetables and
ripe fruits, with wine in moderation, due exercife,
and ftrengthening bitters.
Where acrimony fhows itfelf by itching eruptions,
uncommon thirft, and flufhing heats, nothing will an-
fwer better than fuch fulphureous waters as the Har-
rowgate and Moffat, at the fame time ufing a courfe of
diet that fhall be neither acrid nor heating.
So far with refpe£t to thofe kinds of morbific mat¬
ter which do not invariably produce a particular fpe¬
cies of difeafe : but there are others of a fpecific nature,
fome of which are generated in the body fpontaneouf-
ly, and feem to arife from errors in diet, or other cir-
cumflances of ill management with refpeft to the ani¬
mal economy j and hence it is fometimes poflible, to
a certain degree if not altogether, to prevent the ill con-
C IN E. Appendix.
fequenccs. Thus, there are inflances where returns of .uca^of
the gout have been prevented by adhering flridiy to a P^fti ving
milk diet. Kealtli.
The rheumatifm has alfo been fometimes warded off ” v " *
by wearing a flannel Hurt, or by ufing the cold bath.
without interruption.
Calculus may be retarded in its progrefs, and pre¬
vented from creating much diftrefs, by the internal ul’e
of foap and lime-water, by foap lees taken in milk or
in veal-broth, or by the ufe of aerated alkaKne w'a-
ter, which may perhaps be confidered as being both
more fafe and more efficacious, and at the fame time
more pleafant, than any of the other praftices.
The fcurvy may be prevented by warm clothing
and perfeverance in brifk exercife, by drinking wine
or cyder, and eating freely of fuch vegetable fub-
flances as can be had in thofe fituations where this
difeafe is molt apt to fhow itfelf.
In conftitutions where there is an hereditary difpo-
fition to the fcrophula, if early precautions be taken to
ftrengthen the folids by cold bathing, a nourifhing
courfe of diet, and moderate ufe of wine, the con-
ftitution which gives rife to the difeafe will probably
be prevented from producing any very bad eftecfs.
The other kinds of morbific matter, which are of
the fpecific nature, are received into the body by in-
fedtion or contagion.
The infedlion of a putrid fever or dyfentery is beft:
prevented by immediately taking an emetic on the firft
attack of the ficknefs or fhivering ; and if that do not
completely anfw’er, let a large blifter be applied be¬
tween the fhoulders : by this method the nurfes and
other attendants on the lick in the naval hofpitals have
often been preferved. As to other infedtious morbific
matter, we muft refer to what hgs already been faid
when treating of hydrophobia, poifons, gonorrhoea, Sec.
The ill effedts ivhich may arife from the different 0
fpecies of faburra, are to be obviated, in general, *
by the prudent adminiftration of emetics, and care¬
fully abftaining from fuch kinds of food as are known
to caufe the accumulation of noxious matters in the
firft paffages.
Crude vegetables, milk, butter, and other oily fub-
ftances, are to be avoided by perfons troubled with a
fournefs in the ftomach ; brilk exercife, efpecially ri¬
ding, is to be ufed, and they are to refrain from fer¬
mented liquors : the common drink Ihould be pure
water ; or water with a very little of fome ar¬
dent fpijit, fuch as rum or brandy. Seltzer and Pyr-
mont waters are to be drunk medicinally; and aroma¬
tic bitters, infufions, or tindlures, acidulated with ful-
phuric acid, will be found ferviceable, in order to
ftrengthen the fibres of the ftomacb, and promote the
expulfion of its contents, thereby preventing the too
hafiy fermentation of the alimentary mixture. In or¬
der to procure immediate relief, magnefia alba, or
creta preeparata, will beldam fail j the magnefia, as \vell
as the chalk, may be made into lozenges, with a little
fugar and mucilage •, and in that form may be carried
about and taken occaiionally by people afflifted with
the acid faburra.
In conftitutiobs where there is an exuberance or flag-
nation of bile, and a troubleforae bitternefs in the
mouth, it is neceffary to keep the bowels always free,
by taking occafionally fraali dofes of putt aloes, oleum
ricini.^
Appendix. M E D I
Means of ricini, fupertartrite of potafs, fome of the common pur-
PHealth!S §inS faltS’ °r t,]e natural Purg;ng waters.
1 r— t - When there is a tendency to the empyreumatic and
rancid faburra, people Ihould carefully avoid all the va¬
rious kinds of thofe oily and high-leafoned articles of
diet generally termed made-dijhes, and eat fparingly of
plain meat, without rich fauces or much gravy j and in
thefe cafes the moft proper drink is pure water.
414 II. Rulesthofe who enjoy perfeB Health.
There can be no doubt, that, in general, tempe¬
rance is the true foundation of health j and yet the
ancient phyficians, as we may fee in the rules laid
down by Celfus, did not fcruple to recommend in¬
dulgence now and then, and allowed people to ex¬
ceed both in eating and drinking : but it is fafer to
proceed to excefs in drink than in meat; and if the
debauch (hould create any extraordinary or diftreffing
degree of pain or ficknefs, and a temporary fever
{hould enfue, there are tw7o ways of fhaking it off,
either to lie in bed and encourage perfpiration, or to
get on horfe-back and by brilk exercife reftore the
body to its natural Hate. The choice of thefe two
methods mull always be determined by the peculiar
circumftances of the parties concerned, and from the
experience which they may before have had which
agrees beft with them.
If a perfon ftiould commit excefs in eating, efpe-
cially of high-feafoned things, with rich fauces, a
draught of cold water, acidulated with fulphuric acid,
will take off the fenfe of weight at the ftomach,
and aflift digeftion by moderating and keeping with¬
in bounds the alimentary fermentation, and thus pre¬
venting the generation of too much flatus. The lux¬
ury of ices m.iy be here of real fervice at the tables of
the great, as producing fimilar effedls with the cold
water acidulated. Perfons in thefe circumftances ought
not to lay themfelves dowm to deep, but fhould keep up
and ufe gentle exercife until they are fenftble that the
ftomach is unloaded, and that they no longer feel any
oppreffive wreight about the praecordia.
If a man be obliged to faft, he ought, if poffible,
during that time, to avoid laborious work : after fuffer-
ing fevere hunger, people ought not at once to gorge
and fill therofelves ; nor is it proper, after being over¬
filled, to enjoin an abfolute faft : neither is it fafe to
indulge in a date of total reft immediately after exceflive
labour, nor fuddenly fall hard to work after having been
long without motion : in a wTord, all changes fhould be
CINE. 483
made by gentle degrees; for though the conftitution of Means of
the human body be fuch that it can bear many altera- Prei'erv‘n»
tions and irregularities without much danger, yet, when Hei*Ith' .
the tranfitions are extremely hidden, there is a great nfk
of producing fome degree of diforder.
It is alfo the advice of Celfus to vary the feenes of
life, and not confine ourfelves to any fettled rules : but
as inadlion renders the body weak and liillefs, and exer¬
cife gives vigour and ftrength, people fhould never long
omit riding, w’alking, or going abroad in a carriage.
Fencing, playing at tennis, dancing, or other fimilar
engagements, which afford both exercife and amufement,
as each ihall be found moft agreeable or convenient, are
to be ufed in turn, according to the circumftances and
tendency to any particular fpecies of difeafe. But when
the w7eakneis of old age ftiall have rendered the body
incapable of all thefe, then dry fridions with the flefti-
brufh will be very requifite to preferve health, by
accelerating the flow of humours through the fmallell
orders of veffels, and preventing the fluids from ftagnat-
ing too long in the cellular interilices of the flefhy
parts.
Sleep is the great reftorer of ftrength ; for, during
this time, the nutritious particles appear to be chiefly
applied to repair the wafte, and replace thofe that
have been abraded and wafhed off by the labour and
exercife of the day ; but too much indulgence in fleep
has many inconveniencies, both with refped to body
and mind, as it blunts the fenfes, and encourages the
fluids to ftagnate in the cellular membrane $ w7hence
corpulency, and its neceffary confequences languor and
weaknefs.
The proper time for fleep is the night, when darknefs
and filence naturally bring it on : fleep in the day time,
from noife and other circumftances, is in general not fo
found or refrefhing j and to fome people is really diftrefs-
ful, as creating an unufual giddinefs and languor,
efpecially in perfons addidled to literary purfuits.
Cuftom, how7ever, frequently renders fleep in the day
neceflary $ and in thofe conftitutions where it is found
to give real refrefhment, the propenfity to it ought to
be indulged, particularly in very advanced age.
With regard to the general regimen of diet, it has
always been held as a rule, that the fofter and milder
kinds of aliment are moft proper for children and
younger fubjedfts : that grown perfons fhould eat
w hat is more fubftantial j and old people leffen their
quantity of folid food, and increafe that of their
drink both of the diluent and cordial kind.
INDEX.
■Adipsia, Gen. 108.
Agedstia, Gen. 99.
Amaurosis, Gen. 93.
Amenorriioea, Gen. 126.
Amentia, Gen. 65.
Anaphrodisia, Gen. 109.
Anasarca, Gen. 75.
Anesthesia., Gen. 100.
Anorexia, Gen. 107. N°375
376 Anosima, Gen. 98. 365
366 Aphonia, Gen. no. 379
360 Aphtha, Gen. 35. 233
402 Apoplexia, Gen. 42. 255
326 Arthrofuosis, Gen. 25. 216
377 Ascites, Gen. 79. 343
339 Asthma, Gen. 55. 292
366 Atrophia, Gen. 70. 333
Abortus, N* 247
Abfcefs of the lungs, 186
Acute rheumatifm, ■* 205
Acrimony of the blood, 103
Adynamia, 271
^Egyptian phyficians, 2
JEfculapius, 4
JEtius, 43
Alexander, ' 44
3 P Amentia,
-r
484.
Amentia, Nc
Amphimerina cardiaca,
Amphimerina paludofa,
Anaphrodijia,
Angina pccloris,
Animal fat,
Anxiety,
Apocenafes,
Apoplexy, fanguineous,
fe rous,
hydrocephalic,
Appearance of the venereal difeafe,
Arabians,
Arthrodynia,
Afclepiades,
Atonic gout,
B.
Bulima, Gen. 101.
Bajlard pleurify,
Bleeding at the nofe,
Bloody flux,
Branks,
Buff-coloured crwft. on the blood,
Burning fever,
c.
CalIgo, Gen. 92.
Carbitis, Gen. 13.
Catarrhus, Gen. 40.
Chlorosis, Gen. 47.
Cholera, Gen. 60.
Chorea, Gen. 51.
Colica, Gen. 59.
Contractura, Gen. 115.
Convulsio, Gen. 50.
Cystitis, Gen. 20.
Cynanche, Gen. 10.
Cac/iexix,
Canine appetite,
xnadnefs,
Cardiac fyncope,
Catalepjis,
Ca tar aid,
Catarrh, from cold,
from contagion,
Caufes of afle£lions of the folids,
Caufus,
Ccifus,
Cellular texture,
Cephalalgia,
Chemical analyfls of the animal folid,
Chickenpox,
Childbed fever,
Children, difeafes of,
Chincough,
Cholera,
fpontaneous,
accidental,
Chronic rheumatifm,
Circulation,
Coeliac paflion,
College of Salernum,
Confirmed phthins,
Continued levers,
Confiantine,
C fumption, pulmonary,
326
*52
377
4°3
72
76
385
256
257
23 8
53
46
209
35
213
369
208
235
254
182
99
140
359
188
2tl
277
308
284
201
384
283
201
176
33°
369
322
273
263
359
251
253
70
140
40
71
4°5
68
226
404
410
299
308
3°9
310
209
95
3!5
48
239
164
49
237
MEDICINE.
Convulfive tertian, N° 133
Corpulency, 335
Cofiivenefis, 108,393
Cough, 105
Cowpox, 224
Croup, 180
D.
Diabetes, Gen. 62. * 318
Diarrhoea, Gen. 61. 311
Dysecoea, Gen. 96. 363
Dysenteria, Gen. 41. 254
Dysopia, Gen. 94. 361
Dyspepsia, Gen. 45. 275
Dyspermatismus, Gen. 125. 401
Dyspnoea, Gen. 56. 292
Dysuria, Gen. 124. 399
Deafinefis, 363
Debility, 91
Delirium, 84
Difficulty of difcharging unne, 399
Digejlion, 107
depraved, 275
Dificovery of the circulation, 55
Difieafies from accidents, 65
from paffions of the mind, 66
from age and fex, 63
from climate, 64
in the mufcular power, 87
DifihnShon of difeafes, 57
Divi/ion of the fundflions, 56
Double quartan, 156
tertian, 128
Bropfiy, ' 339
of the brain, 238
of the brsaft, 342
of the abdomen, 343
of the uterus, 344
of the fcrotum, 345
Dumbnefis, 380
Duplicated quartan, 154
tertian, 129
Dyficeflhefiu, 358
Dyficinefice, 378
Dyfientery, V 254
Dyforexia, 368
Dyfipermatifimus, 401
E.
Elephantiasis, Gen. 87. 352
Enteritis, Gen. 16. 195
Enuresis, Gen. 120. 390
Ephidrosis, Gen. 117. 387
Epilepsia, Gen. 53. 286
Epiphora, Gen. 118. 388
Epistaxis, Gen. 36. 235
Erysipelas, Gen. 26. 218
Emphyfiema, 336
Empirics, 33
Empyema, 187
Epilepfiy, 286
Epifchefies. 392
Erafijlratus, 31
Eruptive tertian, 134
Erythema, 174
Exanthemata, 217
Exceffive perfpiration, 116
Exceffive third,
Exciting caufe of difeafes,
F.
Framboesia, Gen. 89.
Fainting,
Falfie appetite,
Febres,
Feeling,
depraved,
Fever, continued,
remittent,
intermittent,
fcarlet,
childbed,
Flooding,
Fluor albus,
Furor uterinus,
G.
Gastritis, Gen. 15.
Gonorrhoea, Gen. 121.
Galen,
Gout,
Greek phyficians,
Green licknefs,
Gutta ferena,
H.
Haemoptysis, Gen. 37.
HiEMORRiiois, Gen. 38.
Hepatitis, Gen. 17.
Hydrocele, Gen. 81.
Hydrocephalus, Gen. 76.
Hydrometra, Gen. 80.
Hydrophobia, Gen. 64.
Hydrorachitis, Gen. 77.
Hydrothorax, Gen. 78.
Hypochondriasis, Gen. 46.
Hysteria, Gen. 63.
Hysteritis, Gen. 21.
Htzmorrhagne,
Hearing,
depraved,
Heartburn,
Heclic fever,
Hemiplegia,
Hepatic flux,
Hereditary difeafes,
Herophilus,
Hippocrates,
Hoopingcough,
Hydrocephalic apoplexy,
I.
Icterus, Gen. 91.
Ischuria, Gen. 123.
Idiotifm,
Iliac paflion,
Impetigines,
Incipient phthifls,
Incontinence of urine,
Incubus,
Inflammation of the bladder,
of the brain,
of the heart,
of the inteflines,
of the kidney,
of the liver,
Index.
N°37o
60
354
272
371
74
367
64
*38
1 26
2^0
404
245
250
373
192
39*
41
211
3
277
360
236
240
198
345
34°
344
322
341
342
276
321
204
234
80
364
300
170
267
3i7
62
32
5
299
258
356
394
86, 326
1J3
348
238
120
329
2:1
176
188
J 95
2C O
198
Inflammation
Index.
Inflammation of the lungs.
of the menientery,
of the omentum,
of the peritoneum,
of the fpleen,
of the fiomach,
of the uterus,
Infommatory tertian,
Inoculation,
Intermittentes,
Intumefcentue,
Irregular tertian,
Itching,
Jaundice,
JeunJh phyficiahs,
King's evil,
K.
L.
Lepra, Gen. 88.
Leucon lice a,
Lientery,
Locales,
Lochial difcharge, immoderate,
Locked jaw,
Loofenefs,
Lofs of voice,
Lues venerea,
Lumbago,
M. .
Mania, Gen. 67.
Melancholia, Gen. 66.
Menorrhagia, Gen. 39.'
Miliaria, Gen. 31.
Mutitas, Gen. 111.
Madnefs, melancholy,
furious,
Malignant lore throat,
Marcores,
Mea/les,
Melancholy and mama,
Mehtne,
Memory, '
Menfes, immoderate flow of,
Methodical feci,
M{[placed gout,
Mobility,
Moderns,
Morbid thinnefs of the blood,
thicknefs of the blood,
Mumps,
N.
Nephritis, Gen. 19.
Nostalgia, Gen. ioj>.
Nymphomania, Gen. 105.
Naufea,
Kettle rafh,
Nervous confumption,
fever,
Nightmare,
Nirles,
O.
Obstipatio, Gen. 122.
Odontalgia, Gen. 23.
Oneirodynia, Gen. 68.
N° 183
191
190
189
199
192
204
i35
225
125
334
127
77
356
34?
353
250
316
357
248
280
109
379.
3513
206
3
327
245
229
38°
327
3 2^
179
331
227
85
409
83
246
36
215
88
54
' 101
102
182
200
374
373
112
231
333
166
329
228
393
210
329
MEDICINE.
Ophthalmia, Gen. 8. N° 174
Ohflrucled perfpiration, 1 15
Occafional fyncope, 274
Oefophagus, dangerous afLclion of, 406
Qribajius, 4 2
Origin of difeafes,
P.
Palpitatio, Gen. 54.
Paracusis, Gen. 97.
Paralysis, Gen. 43.
Paraphonia, Gen. 112.
Pemphigus, Gen. 34.
Peritonitis, Gen. 14.
Pertussis, Gen. 57.
PESTIS, Gen. 27.
Phlogosis, Gen. 7.
Phrenitis, Gen. 9.
Physconia, Gen. 82.
Physometra, Gen. 74.
Pica, Gen. 103.
Pneumatosis, Gen. 72.
Pneumonia, Gen. 11.
Polydipsia, Gen. 102.
Poeysarcia, Gen. 71.
Profusio, Gen. xi6.
PSEUDOBEEFSIS, Gen. 95.
Psellismus, Gen. 113.
Ptyalismus, Gen. 119.
Pyrosis, Gen. 58.
Pain,
Palpitation,
Palfy,
from poifons,
Paracelfus,
Paraplegia,
Paulus,
Peripneumonia,
P hlegniafue,
Phlegmone,
Phthijis,
Piles,
external,
from a procidentia ani,
running,
blind,
Plague,
Plethora,
Plica polonica,
Pleuritis,
Podagra,
Poifons,
Praxagoras,
Predfponent caufe,
Proximate caufe,
Puerperal fever,
Pulmonary confumption,
Pulfation of the arteries,
Putrid fever,
Putrid fore throat,
Pyr exicr,
B &•
Quartana, Gen. 2.
Quotidiana, Gen. 3.
92
Qualities of the animal folids,
Quartan with fymptoms of other
eafes,
complicated with other
eafes,
Quotidian, genuine,
partial,
remitting,
^Piotidiana deceptiva,
Rachitis, Gen. 83.
Raphania, Gen. 52.
Rheumatismus, Gen. 22.
Rubeola, Gen. 30.
Regular gout,
Remittent tertian,
Remitting quartan,
Refpiration,
Retrocedent gout,
Rheumatifm in the loins,
in the hip-joint,
in the thorax,
Rhatnes,
Rickets,
Rules for preferving health,,
for valetudinarians,
S.
Satyriasis, Gen. 104.
Scarlatina, Gen. 32.
Scorbutus, Gen. 86.
Scrophula, Gen. 84^
Siphylis, Gen. 85.
Splenitis, Gen. 18.
Strabismus, Gen. 114.
Syncope, Gen. 44.
Synocha, Gen. 4.
Synochus, Gen. 6.
St Anthony's fire,
St Vitus's dance,
Sanguineous apoplexy,
Salivation,
Sciatica,
Scirrhus,
Scurvy,
Sea feurvy,
Semen, difficult emiffion of,
Semi-tertian,
Serapion,
Serous apoplexy,
Sight,
Sleep,
Sleepy tertian,
Smallpox,
diftindl,
confluent,
inoculated,
Smell,
Smelling, depraved,
Sneezing,
Soranus,
Spafm,
Spafmi,
153 Spafmodic colic,
160 tertian,
N° 69
dif-
dif-
62
290
364
263
381
23 2
189
299
221
171
175
346
33s
37r
336
184
37°
335
386
362
382
389
3°°
75
97
, 265
269
5 2
268
45
184
171
173
237
240
241
242
243
244
221
100
355
185
211
408
3°
59
61
404
237
96
167
179
124
158
159
161
162
163
347
285
205
227
212
138
160
104
214
206'
227
208
47
347
414
4i3
372
203
351
349
35°
199
383
272
163 ‘
168
218
284
2 c6
389
207
122
35i
351
401
131
34
257
81
94
132
222
223
224
225
79
365
106
39
93
278
302
133
Spina
4^6
Spina bifida,
Spitting of blood,
Spurious tertian,
Stone in the bladder
Strangury,
N* 3 41
236
127
400
119
State of medicine in the 15th and 16th
centuries,
in the 17th and 18th centuries,1
SuppreJJton of menfes,
of urine, 117,
Sweating ficknefs,
Symptoms of difeafe,
50
54
402
394
51
58
Tabes, Gen. 69.
Tertiana, Gen. 1.
Tetanus, Gen. 48.
Trichoma, Gen. 90.
Trismus, Gen. 49.
Tympanites, Gen. 73.
Typhus, Gen. c.
Tap,
Tajling, depraved,
Tenefmus,
332
126
279
355
280
337
164
78
366
211
medicine.
Tertian complicated with other
orders,
varied from its origin,
Themifon,
TheJJalusy
Thrujh,
Toothach,
Torpor,
Tremor,
Triple quartan,
Triplicated quartan,
Triple tertian,
Tritceophya Americana,
apodes,
carotica,
deceptiva,
elodes,
leipyria,
fyncopalis,
typhodes,
vratiflavisnfis,
U.
Urticaria, Gen. 33.
Urinary calculi,
dif-
N° 136
137
233
210
90
270
157
155
13©
148
144
145
147
J43
146
I39
142
141
231
121
V.
Varicella, Gen. 29.
Variola, Gen. 28.
Viccine inoculation
Variolodes,
Venereal difeafe,
Vertigo,
Vefanite,
Vigour,
Vts medicatrix naturae,
Vtpn depraved,
Vital folids,
Vomica,
W-
Want of appetite,
of third,
Wajling of the body,
Water braili,
in the head,
Whites,
Worms,
Y.
Yaws,
Yellow fever,
Index.
N° 226
222
224
228
350
82
325
89
67
361
73
286
375
376
332
300
340
250
407
35+
168
MED
Medicis. MEDICIS, Co£MO DE, was born in the year 1389,
' and was in the prime o( life, at the death of his father,
Giovanni. His condud was diilinguiihed for urbanity
and kindnefs to the fuperior ranks of his fellow citizens,
and by a conftant attention to the wants of the lower
clafs, whom his munificence abundantly relieved. His
prudence and moderation, however, could wot reprefs the
ambitious defxgns of the ri-val families, the Florentines
and Medici ; for in 1433, Rinaldo de A'bizi, at the
head of a formidable party, carried the appointment of
the magiftracy. On returning from his country feat he
was feized upon by his adveriaries, and committed to
prifon. The confpirators not agreeing as to the proper
method of difpatching their prifoner, one Peruzzi re¬
commended poifon, which was heard by Cofmo, who
refufed to take any other fuftenance than a fmall por¬
tion of bread. In this difrual iituation he remained
four days, fhut up from all his kindred and friends,
where he foon expe&ed to be numbered with the dead.
But the man employed to take him off, unexpe&edly
proved his friend. Malavolta, the keeper of the prifon,
jrelented, and declared that he had no juft reafon to be
alarmed, as he hefitated not to eat of every thing that
was brought him.
His brother Lorenzo, and bis coufin Averardo,
railed a confiderable body of men in Romagna and
other diftri&s *, and being joined by the commander of
the republican forces, they marched to Florence to re¬
lieve him. A decree was obtained from the magi¬
ftracy, by which he was banilhed to Padua for ten
years, his brother to Venice for five, and feveral of
their relations ihared a fimilar fate. Padua was in the
dominions of Venice, and he received a deputation
from the fenate before he reached it, promiling him
th§ir prote&ion and aftiftance in whatever he Ihould de-
v 3
MED
fire. He rather experienced the treatment of a prince Medicis.
than of an exile, as they entertained the higheft ex- -y^J.
pedations from his great commercial knowledge.
From this period his life may be conlidered as one con¬
tinued feene of uninterrupted profperity, and his fa¬
mily received education equal to that of the greateft
potentaies. In his public and private charities he was
almoft unbounded, and perhaps poffeffed more wealth
than any fingle individual in Europe at that period.
In his promotion of fcience and encouragement of learn¬
ed men he was truly exemplary, and from this fource
he acquired the greateft honour and efteem.
His foftering hand proteded the arts as well as the
fciences; and architedure, fculpture, and painting, all
flourilhed under his powerful protedion. The coun¬
tenance he ftiewed to thefe arts was not fuch as their
profefibrs generally receive from the great $ for the
fums of money which he expended on pidures, ftatues,
and public buddings, appear almoft incredible. When
he approached the period of his mortal exiftence, his
faculties were ftill unimpaired ; and 20 days before he
died, he requefted Ficino to tranflate from the Greek
the treatife of Xenocrates on death. He died on the
iff of Anguft 1464, at the age of 75, and gave Uriel
injundions, that his funeral ftiould be conduded with
as much privacy as poflible. By public decree he was
honoured with the title of Pater Patrue, an appellation
which was inferibed on his tomb, and was declared by
competent judges, to be founded in real merit.
Medici, Lorenzo de, ftiled, with great propriety,
the Magnificent, was the grandfon of Cofmo, and about
16 years of age at his deceafe. In 1469 Iris father died,
and he fucceeded to his authority as if it had conllitut-
ed a part of his fortune. In the year 1474, Lorenzo
incurred the difpleafure of the pope for the oppofttion
he
med
he made to fome of his encroachments on the petty
^ pnnces of Italy, and for this reafon he deprived^im
of the office of treafurer of the Roman fee, which he
conferred on one Pazzi, conneaed with a Florentine
family the mtereft of which he thus fecured, and in!
tended to facrifice Lorenzo and Juliano to his private
revenge Their affaffination was fixed for Sunday
April 26. 1478, and the cathedral was the place in
which a moniter of an archbilhop had refolved to mur¬
der them by the mftigation of the pope. When the
peopie faw one of their favourites (Juliano) expiring
and the other (Lorenzo) covered with bloody their rale
was not to be expreffed in language. The interference
of the magnates was finally vidorious, who had the
courage and virtue to hang the archbiffiop from one of
the windows, arrayed in his pontifical robes, which
made Florence refound with the acclamation—Medici
Medici! down with their enemies !
Lorenzo was delivered from that part of the cathe¬
dral o which he had fled for refuge, and was trium¬
phantly carried home, where his wounds were attended
to by men of ability. His friends in the mean time
purlued the confpirators, and fpared none who happen¬
ed to fall in their way. In a word, the generality of
them were either hanged or decapitated, and very few
had good fortune to efcape their uncommon vigil-
ance. Much to the honour of Lorenzo, he exerted all
his influence to prevent the indifcriminate maffacre of
his cruel enemies, and reftrain the juft indignation of
the people, begging that they would truft the maoi-
ftrates. with the puniffiment of the guilty 5 and the re-
.ln .he was held had the moft afloniihinfr
tion 10 reftraimng the vengeance of popular indigna-
No fooner had hoftilities ceafed between Pope Sextus
and the Florentine republic, then Lorenzo be^an to
develope plans for fecuring the internal peace and tran¬
quillity of Italy,, by which the higheft honour has been
conferred on his political life. But the life of this
great man was again brought into imminent danger by
the intrigues of Cardinal Riario, and fome Florentine
exiles, who determined to affaffinate him in the church
ot the Carmeli, on the feftival of the Afcenfion 1481 5
but the plot was happily difcovered, the confpirators
were executed,, and after this Lorenzo very feldom
W'ent aoroad without being furrounded by a number
of friends in whom he could fecurely confide.
When we attentively examine the charafter of Lo¬
renzo, it will not perhaps appear aftonifhing, that Italy,
Chnftendom, and even the Mahometans themfelves,
conferred upon him the moft flattering approbation.
Even Prince Mirandola chofe Florence as the place of
aio fidenCe em,rety uPon his account, and there end¬
ed his mortal career. To a moft engaging perfon Lo¬
renzo added almoft every other accompliffiment. He
WTas the favourite of the ladies, the envy of his own fex,
and the admiration of all. He was declared to be un¬
rivalled in chivalry, and one of the moft eminent ora¬
tors that the world in any age has produced. Accord¬
ing to the opinion of his contemporaries, he was even
luperior to Julius Caefar himfelf, except as a general,
yet wouM alfo have proved a moft confummate com¬
mander had not peace been always the darling of his
foul. We recol’eft a memorable paffage in the Ram¬
bler, which may here -be appofitely introduced. A
C 487 ]
med
great man condefeending to do little things, is like the
fan m his weftern declination j he remits his fplendor,
ut retains his magnitude, and pleafes more though he
dazzles lefs. To fuch little things did Lorenzo fre-
quentiy fubmit, often feeking plealure in his nurfery,
^iPnen|’ngl°UrS ^ in aI1 the frivolous pranks of
d.ia^ diverfion. I he gravity of his life, if contraft-
ed with its levity, mult make him appear as a compo-
mon of two different perfons, incompatible, and, as it
were, impoffible to be joined the one with the other.
uch were the love and veneration of the citizens
loi Lorenzo, that.the phyfician who attended him on
his deathbed, terrified to return to Florence, left the
houfe m a ftate of diftradion, and plunged himfelf into
u- Thef *frdlnand kinS of Naples was inform¬
ed of his death, he cried out, “ This man has lived
long enough for his own glory, but too fliort a time for
Raiy. He died on the 8th of April 1492, amidft a
number of bis weeping friends, who appeared deeply
comcious of fuch an irreparable lofs.
Medicis, yo/zn dey on account of his bravery and
knowledge in military affairs, was furnamed the Invin-
S . * was tbe r°n of John, otherwife called lour-
dam, de Medicis. His only Ion Cofino I. ftyled the
Grwt was chofen duke of Florence after the murder
of Alexander de Medicis, A. D. 1537. He firft car-
ned arms under Laurence de Medicis againft the duke
ot Urbmo afterwards under Pope I.eo X. Upon the
death of I.eo, he entered into the fervice of Francis I
which he quitted to follow the fortune of Francis Sfor-
za cuke of Milan. When Francis I. formed an alliance
with the pope and the Venetians againft the emperor
he returned to his fervice. He was wounded in the
knee at Governola, a fmall town in the Mantuan ter-
rnoiy, oy a mufket ball; and being carried to Mantua,
lie cced the 29th of November 1526, aged 28. Bran-
tome relates, that when his leg was to be cut off, and
when he was informed that he needed fome perfon to
iupport him, “ Proceed without fear (faid he), I need
nobody .” and he held the candle himfelf during the
operation. This anecdote is alfo mentioned by Varchi
John de Medicis was above the middle flature, ftrong’
and nervous. His foldiers, to exprefs their affeiftion for
him and their concern for his lofs, affumed a mournino-
drels and ftandards, which gave the name of the black
band to the 1 ufcan troops whom he commanded.
Medicis, Ztfttreffce, or Laurenein de, was defeended '
from a brother of Cofmo the Great, and affe&ed the
of popular In 1537, he killed Alexander de
Medicis, whom Charles V. had made duke of Florence
and who was believed to be the natural fon of
Laurence de Medicis duke of Urbino. He was jea
lous of Alexander’s power, and difguifed thisjealoufy
under the fpecious pretext of love to his country. He
loved men of learning, and cultivated literature. His
works are, 1. Lamenti, Modena, izmo. 2. Acidofto
tommedia, Florence 1595, izmo. He died without
itiue.
,,]';.E?ICIS’ Hypofaus de, natural fon of Julian de
Medicis and a lady of Urbino, was early remarkable
for the brilliancy of his wit and the graces of his per-
fon. Pope Clement VII. his coufin, made him car¬
dinal in 1529, and fent him as legate into Germany
to the court of Charles V. When that prince went
into Italy, Medicis, yielding to his warlike difpofition, ,
appeared -- ‘
Medicis.
MED
[ 488 ]
M E D
Medicis.
appeared in tire drefs of an officer, and advanced be¬
fore the emperor, followed*, by feveral rebpeftable gen¬
tlemen of the court. Charles, natually fufpicious, and
afraid that the legate intended to do him fome ill
offices with the pope, fent after him and caufed him
to be apprehended. But when he underflood that it
was a mere fally of humour in the young cardinal, he
fet him at liberty in a few days. The charaaer which
Medicis obtained by the happy fuccefs of this ap¬
pointment was of efiential fervice to him. He was
confidered as one of the fupports of the Holy See ;
and a little before Clement’s death, when the corfair
Barbaroffa made a defcent into Italy to the great
terror of Rome, which was only defended by 200 of
the pope’s guards, IVIedicis was defpatched to protect
the coafts from the fury of the barbarians. On his
arrival at the place of deflination, he. was fortunate
enough to find that Barbaroffa had withdrawn, him-
felf at that critical moment; which allowed him to
claim the honour of the retreat without expofing his
perfon or his army. W hen he returned to Rome, he
was of great fervice in the eledlion of Paul III. wno
neverthelefs refufed to make him legate to. Ancona,
though that office had been promifed to him in the
conclave. Enraged alfo that the pope had beflowed
the principality of Florence on Alexander de Medicis,
fuppofed to be the natural fon 01 Laurence duke of
Urbino, he was prompted by his ambition to believe
that he might fucceed to that dignity by the deflruc¬
tion of Alexander. He entered into a confpiracy
again ft him, and determined to carry him off by a
mine } but the plot was difcovered before he had ac-
complifhed his purpofe. Oftavian Zanga, one oi his
guards, was arrefted as his chief accomplice. Hy-
politus de Medicis, apprehenfrve for his own fafety,
retired to a caftle near Tivoli. On his road to Naples,
he fell Tick at Itri in the territory of Fondi, and died
Auguft 13. 1535, in his 24th year, not without fufpi-
cion of being poifoned. His houfe was an afylutn for
the unfortunate, and frequently for thofe who weie
guilty of the blacked: crimes. It was open to men of
all nations j and he was irequently addreffed in twenty
different languages. He had a natural fon named /jf-
drubal de Medicis, who w'as a knight of Malta. . .1 his
anecdote proves that his manners were more military
than ecclefiaftic. He wore a fword, and ncvei put
on the habit of cardinal except on occaftons of public
ceremony. He was wholly devoted to the theatre,
hunting, and poetry.
Medicis, Alexander de, firfl duke of Florence m
1 530, was natural fon of Laurence de Medicis fur-
named the Younger, and nephew of Pope Clement VII.
He owTed his elevation to the intrigues of his uncle
and to the arms of Charles V. 1 his prince having
made himfelf mafter of Florence after .an obftinate
fiege, conferred the fovereignty of this city on Alex¬
ander, and afterwards gave him in marriage Margaret
of Auftria his natural daughter. According to the
terms of capitulation granted to the Florentines, the
new duke was to be. only hereditary doge, and his
authority was tempered by councils 5 which left them
at leaft a ftiadow of their ancient liberty. But Alex¬
ander, who felt himfelf fopported by the emperor and
the pope, was no fooner in poffeffion of his new di¬
gnity, than he began to govern like a tyrant •, being
guided by no law but his own caprice, indulging the
moft brutal paffions, and making light of di then our- —
ing families, and of violating even the afylum of the
cloifters to gratify his lull. Among the confidants of
his debauchery was a relation of his own, Laurence
de Medicis. This young man, who was only 22 years
of age, at the inftigation of Philip Strozzi,.a zealous
republican, conceived the defign of affaihnating Alex¬
ander, and thereby of delivering his countiy from op-
preffion. From the moment when he firft became at¬
tached to him, he tried to gain his confidence, for no
other realon but that he might the better have it. in
his power to take awray his life. A confiderable time
elapfed before he found fuch an opportunity as he de-
fired. At length, under pretence of procuring the
duke a the a tete with a lady of whom he was deeply
enamoured, he brought him alone and unattended into
his chamber, and put him under his bed. He went
out, under pretence of introducing the object of hL
paffion } and returned along with an affaffin by profef-
fion, to whom alone he had entrufted his defign, only
to ftnb him. This cruel feene happened on the night
betwixt the 5th and 6th of January 1537' Alexander
was only 26 years of age. The Florentines derived, no
advantage from ,this crime of Laurence, for they failed
in their attempt to recover their liberty. The party of
the Medicis prevailed, and Alexander was fucceeded
by Cofmo j whofe government, it muft be confeffed,
was as juft and moderate, as that of nis piedeeenor
had been violent and tyrannical. Lauience de Me¬
dicis fled to Venice, to feme of the leaders of the
malecontents at Florence, who had taken refuge theiej
but not thinking himfelf in fufficient fecurity, he
went to Ccnflantinople, whence he returned fome
time after to Venice. He was there affaffinated m
ten years after the duke’s murder, by tw-o foldiers,
one of whom had formerly been in Alexander’s guards:
And thefe foldiers were generous enough to refufe a
confiderable fum of money, which was the price put
upon his head. . .
Medicis, Cofmo de, grand duke ox Pufcany,. joined
Charles V. againft the French, after trying , in vain
to continue neutral. As a rew ard for his iervices, the
emperor added to the duchy of Tufcany Piombino, the
ifle of Elba, and other ftates. Cofmo loon after re¬
ceived from Pope Pius IV. the title of. grand duke;
and had it not been oppoied by ail the princes of Italy,
this pontiff, who was entirely devoted to Cofmo, be-
caufe he had thought proper to acknowledge him to be
of his houfe, would have conferred on him the title ot
king. There never was a more zealous patron of learn¬
ing. Ambitious of imitating the Lcond Caefar, he like
him, was fond of learned men, kept them near his
perfon, and founded for them the umverfity of Pda.
He died in 1574, at the age of 55, after governing
with equal witdom and glory. In 1502 ne inlbtuted
the military order of St Stephen. His ion, Francis
Mary who died in 1587, was the father of Mary ot
Medicis, the wife of Henry the Great &' d> ot Ferdinand I.
who died in 1608.
MEDIETAS LIKGU2E, in Law, figmfies a jury, or
inquelt impanelled, of which the one hair are natives
of this land and the other foreigners.. This jury is
never ufed except where one of the parties in. a plea is
a ftranger and the other a denizen. In petit trea'.on,
0 murder,
Medicis,
Medietas.
MED
Mcdimras murder and felony, foreigners are allowed this privi-
Medina. e^e , not.ln treafon, becaufe an alien in that
cate lhall be tried according to the rules of the com¬
mon law, and not by a medietas lingiuv. A grand
jury ought not in any cafe to be of a medietas linguae;
and the perfon that would have the advantage of a
tiial in this way, is to pray the fame, otherwife it will
not be permitted on a challenge of the iurors.
MEDIMNUS, in Grecian antiquity, a meafure
of capacity. See Measure.
MEDINA-Talnari, a famous town of Arabia
Petrsea, between Arabia Deferta and Arabia the Hap¬
py ; celebrated for being the burial-place of Maho¬
met. It Hands at a day’s journey from the port of
lambo. It is of moderate fize, furrounded by wretch¬
ed walls, and fituated in the midft of a fandy plain. It
belongs to the Icherif of Mecca, although it had of
late times a particular fovereign of the family of Da-
cn Barkad. At prefent, the government is confided
by the fcherif to a vizir, who muft be taken from the
family of the fovereign. Before Mahomet, this city
was called lathreb; but it got the name of Medinet
en Nebbi, “ the City of the Prophet,” after Maho¬
met, being driven from Mecca by the Koreifchites,
had taken refuge there, and palled in it the reft of
his days. The tomb of Mahomet at Medina is re-
fpefted by Muflulmans, but they are ufider no obli¬
gation to vifit it for the purpofes of devotion. The
caravans of Syria and Egypt alone, which on their
return, from Mecca pafs near Medina, go a little out
ol their way to fee the tomb. It ftands in a corner
of the great fquare, whereas the Kaba is fituated in
the middle of that at Mecca. That the people may
not perform fome fuperftitious worfhip to the relics of
the prophet, they are prevented from approaching the
tomb by grates, through which they may look at it.
It confifts of a piece of plain mafon work in the form
of a cheft, without any other monument. The tomb
is placed between two others, where the allies of the
two firft caliphs repofe. Although it is not more mag¬
nificent than the tombs of the greater part of the
founders of mofques, the building that covers it is de¬
corated with a piece of green filk fluff embroidered
with gold, which the pacha of Damafcus renews every
fcven years. It is guarded by 40 eunuchs, who watch
the treafure faid to be depofited there. It is feated in
a plain abounding with palm trees, in E. Long. 39.53.
N. Lat. 25. See [Hijlory of) Arabia.
Medina Celt, an ancient town of Spain, in Old
Caflile, and capital of a confiderable duchy of the fame
name *, feated near the river Xalon, in W. Long. 2. 9.
N. Lat. 41. 15.
Medina de-las-Torres, a very ancient town of Spain,
in Eflremndura, with an old caftle, and the title of a
duchy. It is feated on the confines of Andalufia, at
the foot of a mountain near Bajadoz.
MsDiNA del- Campo, a large, rich, and ancient town
of Spain, in the kingdom of Leon. The great fquare
is very fine, and adorned with a fuperb fountain. It
is a trading place, enjoys great privileges, and is feated
in a country abounding with corn and wine. W. Long.
4. 20. N. Lat. 41. 22.
MEDiNA-del-rio-Secco, an ancient and rich towm of
Spain, in the kingdom of Leon, with the title of a
VouXIII. Part II.
[ 489 ]
MED
duchy; feated on a plain, remarkable for its fine paftures.
E. Long. 4. 33. N. Lat. 42. 8.
MEDINA, Sir John, an eminent painter, was fon
of Medina de I’Afturias, a Spanilh captain who fet¬
tled, at Bruffels, where the fon was born in 1660. He
was in.ftrudled in painting by Du Chatel; under whofe
direction he made great progrefs; and applying himfelf
to.the ftudy of Rubens, made that eminent mafter his
principal model. He painted both hiftcry and por¬
trait 5 and was held in extraordinary efteem by moft of
the princes of Germany, who diftinguilhed his merit by
feveral marks of honour. He married young, and
came into England in 1686, where he drew portraits
for feveral years with great reputation j as he painted
thofe fubje£ls wdth remarkable freedom of touch, a de¬
licate management of tints, and ftrong refemblance of
the perfons. Ihe earl of Leven encouraged him go to
Scotland, and procured him a fubfcription of 50.0I.
wmrth of bufinefs. He went, carrying a large number
of bodies and poftures, to which he painted heads. He
returned to England for a fhort time ; but went back
to Scotland, where he died, and was buried in the
churchyard of the Gray friars at Edinburgh in 17 it,
aged 52. He painted moft of the Scotch nobility.
I wo fmall hiftory pieces, and the portraits of the pro-
felfors, in the Surgeons Hall at Edinburgh, were alfo
painted by him. At Wentworth caftle is a large piece
containing the firft duke of Argyll and his fons, the
two late aukes John and Archibald, in Roman habits ;
the ftyle Italian, and fupevior to moft modern perform¬
ers. The duke of Gordon prefented Sir John Medina’s
head to the great duke of Tufcany for his colled on of
portraits done by the painters themfelves 5 the duke of
Gordon too was drawn by him, with his fon the mar¬
quis of Huntley and his daughter Lady Jane, in one
piece. Medina was knighted by the duke of Queenf-
berry,.lord high commiffioner ; and was the laft knight
made in Scotland before the union. The prints in the
odavo edition of Milton were defigned by him j and
he compofed another fet for Ovid’s Metamorphofes,
but they were never engraved.
MEDINE, an Egyptian piece of money, of iron
filvered over, and about the fize of a filver threepence.
MEDIOLANUM, an ancient city, the capital of
the Infubres, built by the Gauls on their fettlement in
that part of Italy j a municipium, and a place of great
ftrength j and a feat of the liberal arts; whence it had
the nam,e of Novae Athenae. Now Milan, capital of
the Milanefe, fituated on the rivers Olana and Lombro,
E. Long. 9. 30. N. Lat. 45. 25.
Mediolanum Anlercorum, in Ancient Geography^ a
town of Gallia Celtica, which afterwards took the name
of the Eburovicum Civitas (Antonine) j corrupted to
Civitas Ebroicorum, and this laft to Ebroica ; whence
the modern appellation Evreux, a city of Normandy.
E. Long. 1. 12. N. Lat. 49. 21.
Mediolanum Gugernorum, in Ancient Geography, a
town of Gallia Belgica ; now the village Moyland, not
far from Cologne.
Mediolanum Ordovicum, in Ancient Geography, a
town of Britain, now Llan Vethlin, a market town of
Montgomeryfliire in Wales.
Mediolanum Santonum, in Ancient Geography,
which afterwards taking the name of the people, was
3 Q. called
Medina
II
Mediola¬
num.
MED [ 490 ] MED
Medioma,- called $ anionic a Urbs; alfo Santoncs and Santoni: A
trici town of Aquitaine. Now Saintes, capital of Saintonge
Medium *n Guienne, on the river Charente.
vJ—MEDIOMATRICI, anciently a territory of Bcl-
gica. Now the diocefe of Metz.
MEDITATION, an aft by which we confider any
thing clofely, or wherein the foul is employed in the
fearch or confideration of any truth. In our religion,
it is ufed to fignify a confideration of the objefts and
grand truths of the Chriitian faith.
Myftic divines make a great difference between ?ve-
ditation and contemplation : the former confifts in dif-
curlive afts of the foul, confiderlng methodically and
with attention the myfteries of faith and the precepts
of morality \ and is performed by refleftions and rea-
fonings, which leave behind them manifeft impreffions
on the brain. The pure contemplative have no need
of meditation, as feeing all things in God at a glance,
and without any refleftion. When a man, therefore,
has once quitted meditation, and is arrived at con¬
templation, he returns no more ; and, according to Al¬
varez, never refumes the oar of meditation, except when
the wind of contemplation is too weak to fill his fails.
PTEDITERR ANEAN, fomething enclofed within
land ; or that is remote from the ocean.
MEDITERRANEAN is more particularly ufed to fignify
that large fea which flow's between the continents of
Europe and Africa, entering by the flraits of Gibraltar,
and reaching into Afia, as far as the Euxine fea and the
Pains Maeotis.
The Mediterranean was anciently called the Grecian
fea and the Great fea. It is now cantoned out into fe-
veral divifions, which bear feveral names. To the weft
of Italy it is called the Ligufic or Tufcan fea ; near
Venice, the Adriatic ; towards Greece, the Ionic and
JE^ean; between the Hellefpont and the Bofphorus,
the White fea, as being very fafe ; and beyond, the
Black fea, its navigation being dangerous.
The Britifti trade carried on by means of the Me¬
diterranean fea is of the laft confequence to Great
Britain j and the permanent prefervation thereof de¬
pends on the poffefiion of the town and fortification of
Gibraltar.
The counterfeiting of Mediterranean paffes for fhips
to the coaft of Barbary, See. or the feal of the admiral¬
ty office to fuch paffes, is felony without benefit of
clergy. Stat. 4. Geo. II. c> 18.
MEDITRINALIA, a Roman feftival in honour
of the goddefs Meditrina, kept on the 3°^ Sep¬
tember. Both the deity and the feftival were fo called
a medendo, becaufe on this day they began to drink new
wine mixed with old by w’ay of medicine. The mix¬
ture of wines, on this feftival, wTas drank wTith much
form and folemn ceremony.
MEDITULLIUM, is ufed by anatomifts for that
fpongy fubftance between the two plates of the cranium,
and in the interftices of all laminated bones. See Ana¬
tomy, N° 1. 11.
MEDIUM, in Logic, the mean or middle term of
a fyllogifm, being an argument, reafon, or confideration,
for which we affirm or deny any thing •, or, it is the
caufe why the greater extreme is affirmed or denied of
the lefs in thf conclufion.
Medium, in Arithmetic, or arithmetical medium or
mean, called in the fchools medium rei; that which is
equally diftant from each extreme, or which exceeds the Mcd.tiru
Idler extreme as much as it is exceeded by the greater,
in refpeft of quantity, not of proportion $ thus 9 is a
medium betwixt 6 and 1 2.
Geometrical Medium, called in the fchools medium
perfonee, is that where the fame ratio is preferved be¬
tween the firft and fecond as between the fecond and
third terms; or that which exceeds in the fame ratio
or quota of itfelf, as it is exceeded : thus 6 is a geome¬
trical medium between 4 and 9.
Medium, in Philofophy, that fpace or region through
v/hich a body in motion paffes to any point: thus
aether is fuppofed to be the medium through which
the heavenly bodies move ; air, the medium wherein
bodies move near our earth j water, the medium where¬
in fifties live and move 5 and glafs is alfo a medium of
light, as it affords it a free paffage. That denfity or
confiftency in the parts of the medium, whereby the
motion of bodies in it is retarded, is called the reff-
ance of the medium ; which, together with the force of
gravity, is the caufe of the ceilation of the motion of
projeftiles.
Subtle or JEtherial Medium. Sir Ifaac Newton
conliders it probable, that, belide the particular aereal
medium, wherein ive live and breathe, there is another
more univerfal one, which he calls an cethereal medium ;
vaftly more rare, fubtle, elaftic, and aftive, than air,
and by that means freely permeating the pores and
interftices of all other mediums, and diftufing itfelf
through the whole creation ; and by the intervention
hereof he thinks it is that moft of the great phenomena
of nature are effefted. See ^Ether, Electricity,
Fire, &c.
Medium, in optics, any fubftance through which
light is tranfmitted.
MEDLAR, See Mespilus, Botany Index.
MEDULLA ossium, or Marroit of the bones. See
Anatomy, N° 5.
Medulla cerebri and cerebelh, denotes the white foft
part of the brain and cerebellum, covered on the outfide
with the cortical fubftance, which is of a more dark or
affiy colour. See Anatomy, N° 13i—133.
Medulla oblongata, is the medullary part of the
brain and cerebellum, joined in one } the fore part of it
coming from the brain, and the hind part from the ce¬
rebellum. See Anatomy, N° 134.
It lies on the bafts of the fkull, and is continued
through the great perforation thereof into the hollow of
the vertebrae of the neck, back, and loins $ though on¬
ly fo much of it retains the name oblongata as is included
within the Ikull. After its exit thence it is diftinguiffi-
ed by the name of medulla fpinalis. Ibid. N° 135-
MEDUSA, in fabulous hiftory, one of the three
Gorgons, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was the
only one of the. Gorgons who was iubjeft to mortality.
She is celebrated for her perfonal charms and the beau¬
ty of her locks. Neptune became enamoured of her,
and obtained her favours in the temple of Minerva.
This violation of the fanftity of the temple provok¬
ed Minerva; and ffie changed the beautiful locks of
Medufa, which had infpired Neptune’s love, intoferpents,
the fight of which turned the beholders into ftonesbut
Perfeus, armed with Mercury’s axe, with which he killed
Argus, cut off Medufa’s head, from whofe blood fprang
Pegafus and Chryfaor, together with the innumerable
ferpents
Medufa
II
Meeren.
E t 49
The conqueror placed Me-
M E
ferpents that infeft Africa.   -i-- , / , , r ,
dufa’s head on the aegis of Minerva, which he had uied
in his expedition •, and the head ftill retained ttie fame
petrifyng powers as before. .
Medusa, a genus of vermes, belonging to the order
of mollufca. See Helminthology Index.
MEDWAY, a river of England, nfes in the W eald
of Suffex, and entering Kent near Afhurft, runs by
Tunbridge, and thence continues its courfe towards
Maidstone. It is navigable for large (hips to Roche-
ter bridge, and thence for veffels and barges to Maid-
ftone, the tide flowing up to that town. Ihe diftance
between the mouth of this river, where the fort at
Sheernefs is erefted, and Rochefter budge, is between
16 and 18 miles. In this part of the river, the chan¬
nel is fo deep, the banks fo foft, and the reaches fo
fbort, that it is one of the heft and fafeft harbours in
the world •, and fhips of Bo guns ride afloat at low wa¬
ter within mufket (hot of Rochefter bridge^ Noi is
there a Tingle inftance upon record, that any of the roya
navy ever fuffered here by ftorms, except in the dreadful
tempeft which happened in November 1703, when the
Royal Catharine was funk and loft On the fhore o
this river are two caftles, one at Upnor which guards
two reaches of the river, and is fuppoled to defend all
the (hips which ride above, between that and the bridge,
on the other fide of the river is Gillingham caftle, ui
for the fame purpofe, and weU furmthed with cannon
which commands the river. Befides thefe there is a
nlatform of guns at a place called the Swam, and a
other at Cockhamwood. But the principal fortification
on this river is the caftle at Sheerneis.
MEEREN, or Meer, John Vander, caM the
Old, an efteemed painter, was born m J6p- He cl o
for his fubjefts fea-pieces, landfcapes, and v.ew o
fea and its fhores; which he painted with grea. trut ,
as he had accuftomed himfelf to fketch every fcene after
nature The fituations of his landfcapes are agreeao.y
rhofen frequently they are folemn, and generally plea-
fing The fortns7 of his trees are eafy and natural his
diftances well obferved, and the whole ^ery ^
ftvle as'the^Jhowed good compofition, were touched
Sh fPrlt, and had aV«t deal of tranfparence tu the
C° mSe,”; mtZ >r cared ^
entinent ^fcape pa.n.er , fuppo^ « ha f
cbolas Berghem, an admired maf-
r”0 Tthe"^ of to “afler, he painted land-
ter. In the ™an , his ufuai fubjeas are cottages,
fcapes and catt , ■ ^ occupations and diverfions.
with peafants at t H rarely introduced
It is obferved of him, that hejery^ ^
cows, horfes, or anj ^ ^ P are fo highly fimih-
goats and ftieep , the wool might be felt by
ed, that one would imagine ^
the foftnefs of its appearance. ^ b un;ted> He
ceptible, and yet the colours ar ^ yander
died in 1688. ^en-Uinearcl are efteeraed even in
Meer bear a very high price,.and are eiteeme
Me gate
1!
Me^ara.
l 1 MEG
Italy, where they are admitted into the beft collections;
but the fcarcity of them has occalioned many moderate
copies after his works to be paffed on the und.fceming
for real originals. . _ ; j- -j jl,
MEGALE foj.is, in Ancient Geography, dividedly
(Ptolemy, Paufanius ) •, orconjunflly Mega/opolis {bm-
bol • A town of Arcadia, built under the aufpices ot
Epaminondas, after the battle of Leucftra •, many incon-
fiderable towns being joined together in one great c*. y,
the better to withftand the Spartans. It was the great-
eft city of Arcadia, according to Strabo.
MEGALESIA, and Megalenses Ludi, feafts
and games in honour of Cybele or Rhea the mother
of the gods, kept on the 12th of April by the Ro¬
mans, and famous for great rejoicings and d.yerhons
of various forts. The Gall, earned the of
goddefs along the city, with found of drums and othe.
mutic, in imitation of the nolle they made to p e ent
Saturn from hearing the cries of his infant fon Jupltc,
when he was difpofed to devour him. . ,
MEGARA, Ancient Geography, a noble city, and
the capital of the teritory of Megans,, which for
many years carried on war with the Corinthians and
Athenians. It had for fome time a fchooi of ph lo-
fophers, called the Meganci, fucceffors of Eucl d t
Socratic, a native of Megara. Their dialed! was the
Doric- chanaed from the Attic, which it formerly
had been, becaufe of Peloponnefian colomfts who fettle
th Megara was fituated at a diftance from the fea. Its
port las called Nifxa, from Nifus fon of Pandma
the fecond, who obtained Megans for his portion,
when the kingdom of Athens was divided mto four
lots by his father. He founded the town, which was
eighteen ftadia or ^ t^s^arrt.^
b/longwX It had a temple of Ceres. “ The roof
(!ays Paufanias) may be ^ppo ed » . have^ ^ ^
J notco^ed S ™b^, among which are Kand-"
ing fome ruinous churches. The place has been named >
iL them Dode Ecdefais, “ The Twelve Churches
bu, the number is reduced to Icven.
nr citadel called alfo Hifin, was on a rock by the
fea fide' ’Some pieces of the wall retna.n, and a mo¬
dern fot'trefi has been ereaed on it, and alfo on a leffer
rOCThevn'lage Megara (continues the doaor) confift
of low mean cottages pleafantly fituated on the flop
of a brow or eminence indented in the middle- O
each fide of this vale was an acropolis or citadel , one
named Caria j the other from Alcathous, the builder
of the wall They related, that he was aflifted by A-
polL who laid his harp afide on a (tone, wh.ch,
as Pa’uCanias teftifies, if ftruck with a pebble returned a
mufical found. An angle of the wall, of one citadel is
feen bv a windmill. The mafonry is of the ipecies
called Incertum. In 1676 the city was "ot e”“
tirelv demoliflied, but comprehended the t^o. ium
tots! on which me fome churches, 'V«h R port on of
the plain toward the fopth. Ihe whole to. except
the hills, was now green with com, R"d™*ed by
1 , r a c 1-V.P rollefted rubbiih of build-
Z7 r'L itocripii'ons are found, with pedeftals fix¬
ed in the walls and inverted and alfo fome matmedm:
Megara
y .
Megaris.
meg
mutilated flatties. One of the former
ftftnHer°ASn andu-S °n,a pedeftal which Supported a
, iatue e^eded to him when conful, A. D. 14? 'by the
counal and people of Megara, in return for his bene-
tadions and good will toward the city. Jn the plain
behind the fummits on one of which was a temple of
Minerva, is a^large bafm of water, with fcattered fra<r.
ments ol marble, the remains of a bath or of a fountain
w.l,ch ,s recorded as in the city, and remarkable for’
Its hze and ornaments, and for the number of its co-
Mela.
•T'l r • *mmuer or its co-
ra™d Sith^des.r“’g named fr0m the l0Cal nymPhs
I’he done of Megara was of a kind not difcovered
«ny where elfe ,n Hellas; very white, uncommonly
ion, and confiding entirely of cockle fliells. This was
tU/ed 5 and’ "ot being durable, may be reckoned
. !.0I1S tlie, cauPes of the defolation at Megara, which
■is fo complete, that one fearches in vain for vettiges of
t ie many public edifices, temples, and fepulchres, which
once adorned the city. ’
Megara was engaged in various wars with Athens
and Corinth, and experienced many viciifitudes of for-
tune. It was the only one of the Greek cities which
Cud not refiourifh under their common benefador Ha¬
drian ; and the reafon afligned is, that the avenging
anger of the gods purfued the people for their impiety
;n k,llhn? Anthemocntus, a herald, who had been fent
to them in the time of Pericles. The Athenian ge¬
nerals were fworn on his account to invade them twice
a^yean Hadrian and Atticus were followed by ano¬
ther friend, whofe memory is preferved by an infcrip-
tion on a ftone lying near a church in the village
This too is the work of the molt magnificent "count
Diogenes fon of Archelaus, who regarding the Gre-
cian cities as his own family, has beftowed on that of
he Megarenfians one hundred pieces of gold towards
the building of their towers, and alfo one hundred
and fifty more, with tw^o thoufand two hundred feet of
maroie toward re-edifying the bath ; deeming nothing
more honourable than to do good to the Grfeks, and
o reftore their cities.” This perfon is not quite Unno¬
ticed m hiftory. He was one of the generals employ¬
ed by the emperor Anaftafius on a rebellion in Ifauria.
He lurprifed the capital Claudiopolis, and fuftained
a iiege with great bravery, A. D. 494.
- rI'?ef.ra reta!n.s its orJginal name. It has been much
imefted by corfairs ; and in 1676 the inhabitants were
accufiomed 011 feeing a boat approach in the day time
or hearing their dogs bark at night, immediately to fe-
crete then- effetfs and run away. The vaiwode or
i urkirti governor, who refided in a forfaken tower
above the village, was once carried off. It is no won-
er, therefore, that Nifaea has been long abandoned.
tvt aCC was.burned by the Venetians in 1687.
Megara, in Ancient Geography, formerly called
Hybla a town towards the eaft coaft of Sicily ; extinfl:
in Stiabo’s time, though the name Hybla remained on
account of the excellence of its honey. It was a colo¬
ny of Megareans from Greece. Rifus Megaricus de¬
notes a horfe laugh.
. ^?GARIS’.,n Geography, the country of
the Megareans, is defcribed as a rough region, like At-
tica ; the mountain called Oneian or the Afinine, now
Macnp/ayi or “ the long Mountain,” extending through
it towards Boeotia and Mount Cithaercn. It belonged
i 492 ] mel
mates to Atti. to Ionia or Attica, until it was taken by the Pelopon- Megsri,
fians In the reign of Codrus, when a colony of Do- II
nans fettled in it. This territory had Attica to the
c^nSr^h?0"1'"’and the itthl”“S
, ?Ji:<fAR,IS» a fmall ifland in the Tufcan fea, joined
bndSe’ now cabed Cajiello dell'ota.
MEGASTHENES, a Greek hiitorian in the age
tt Scleucus Nicanor, about 300 years before Chrifi
th! TT abouLt:he oriental nations, and particularly
the Indians His hiftory is often quoted by the an-
riouT* Wlat n°W pafleS 35 lllS coinP°htion is fpU-
MEGIDDO, m Ancient Geography, a town of Ga-
' m Vre-ClteiC ^,,“dlua xvn- 111 among the cities of Ma-
naueh in the tribe of IlTachar or Affer, on the weft fide
of Jordan ; famous for the defeat of Ahaziah and Jofiah
who perfihed there (2 Kings xxiii. 29.) : near it was
an open plain fit for drawing up an army in battle ar¬
ray. It was fituated to the north, contrary to its po-
ition in the common maps. The Canaanites, being
tnbutaiy to the Ifraehtes, dwelt in it, Jofima xvii._
it was rebuilt by Solomon, 1 Kings ix.
MEfBOMIUS, the name of ftveral learned Ger-
TZ'TTv He!‘nj Meibomi“s was profeffor of phyfic
at Helmitadt, where he was born, and at Lubec ; he
wrote the Life of Maecenas, publiihed at Leyden in 4to'
1653, feveral other learned works. Henry hiY
iZ’TT T™, a ^UbeC in l638 1 b^ame profelibr of
PrVfr a j and, beiides works in his own
profeflion pubh fired Script ores rerum Germanic arum,
3 vols. folio 1688; a very ufeful colledion, firft be-
gun by \mhther.-Marcus Meibomius, of thj fame fa-
mfiy, pubhfhed a colleclion of feven Greek authors who
had written upon ancient mufic, with a Latin verfion
ry himfelf, dedicated to Q^ueen Chriftina of Sweden
who invited him to her court. But fire engaging him
one day to fing an air of ancient mufic, while Wbody
was ordered to dance to it, the immoderate mirth
which this occafioned in the fpeftators fodifgufted him
at he mmrediately left the court of Sweden. His edi¬
tion of the Greek mythologifts, and notes upon Dioae-
nes Laertius m Menage’s edition, fhow him to have
been a man of learning ; but he fuffered no little rail-
P^ki °ruhlS ,a-te,mpt t0 correa the Hebrew text of the
Bible by a kind of metre he fancied he had found out
m thole ancient waitings.
MEISSEN, a confiderable town of Germany, in the
e eclorate of Saxony, and in the margravate of Mifnia
with a caftle. _ It formerly belonged to the bilhop, but
is now feculanzed, and the inhabitants are Lutherans
In this place is a famous manufactory of porcelain.
L. Long. 13. 33. N. Lat. 51. 15.
MEL, honey, in the Materia Medic a. S'-e Ho
NEY. u-
MELA, POMPONIUS, an ancient Latin writer was
born m the province of Baetica in Spain, and flourifh-
ed in the reign of the emperor Claudius. His three
books of Cofmography, or Defitu orbis, are written in
a concile, perfpicuous, and elegant manner ; and have
been thought worthy of the attention and labours of
the ableft critics. Ifaac Voffius gave an edition of
them in 1658, 410, with very large and copious notes.
To this edition is added, Ju/ii Honorii oratoris exccry.
turn co/mographtcr, firft publithed from the manufcript,
and
MEL [ 4,
Melsenc and JEthici cofmographia. Gronovius afterwards pub-
Mel" limbed another edition with illuftrations by medals. In
rum. lail edition are added five books, L)e Geografyhia,
1written by fome. later author j by Jornandes, as Fabri’
cius conjeftures.
MEL^ENE, or BLACK FLUX, in Medicine. See
Medicine, N° 409.
MELALEUC A, a genus of plants belonging to the
polydelpbia clafs. See Botany Index.
MEL AM PODIUM, a name given to black helle¬
bore. See Helleborus, Botany Index.
Melampodtum, a genus of plants belonging to the
fyngenefia clafs ; and in the natural method ranking
under the 49th order, Compojitce. See Botany Index.
ME LAM PUS, in fabulous hidory, a celebrated
foothfayer and phyfician of Argos, fon of Amythaon
and Idomenea or Dcrippe. He lived at Pylos in Pelo-
ponnefus. His fervants once killed two large Terpents
who had made their nefts at the bottom of a large oak •
and Melampus paid fo much regard to their remains’
that he raifed a burning pile and burned them upon it.’
He alfo took particular care of their young ones, and
fed them with milk. Some time after this, the young
ferpents crept to Melampus as he flept on the grafs near
the oak 5 and, as if fenfible of the favours of their be-
nefaflor, they wantonly played around him, and foftly
licked his ears. This awoke Melampus, who wTas
ailonifhed at the fudden change which his fenfes had
undergone. He found himfelf acquainted with the
chirping of the birds, and with all their rude notes, as
they flew' around him. He took advantage of this
fypernatural gift, and foon made himfelf perfefl in the
knowledge of futurity, and Apollo alfo inftru&ed him
in the art of medicine. He had foon after the hap-
pmefs of curing the daughters of Proetus, by giving
them hellebore, which from that circumftance has been
called melambodium; and, as a reward for his trouble,
he married the eldeii of thefe princeffes. The tyranny
of his uncle Neleus, king of Pylos, obliged him to
leave his native country ; and Proetus, to (how himfelf
more fenfible of his fervices, gave him part of his king¬
dom. About this time the perfonal charms of Pero,
the daughter of Neleus, had gained many admirers ;
but the father promifed his daughter only to him who
brought into his hands the oxen of Iphiclus. This con¬
dition difpleafed many ; but Bias, who was alfo one of
her admirers, engaged his brother Melampus to Heal
the oxen and deliver them to him. Melampus was
caught in the attempt, and imprifoncd ; awd nothing
but his fervices as a foothfayer and phyfician to Iphiclus
would have faved him from death. All this pleaded
in the favour of Melampus j but'when he had taught
the childlefs Iphiclus how to become a father, he not
only obtained his liberty, but alfo the oxen; and with
them he compelled Neleus to give Pero in marriage to
Bias. A fevere dillemper, which had rendered the
women of Argos infane, was totally removed by Me¬
lampus 5 and Anaxagoras, who then fat on the throne,
rewarded his merit by giving him part of his kingdom,
where he eflablifiied himfelf, and where his poflerity
reigned during fix fucceflive generations. He received
divine honours after death, and temples were raifed to
his memory.
MELAMPYRUM, cow wheat, a genus of plants
belonging to the dldynamia clafs 5 and in the natural
),3 ] MEL
method ranking under the 40th order, VcrfoualG. See Melan-
Botany Index. choJy,
MELANCHOLY, a kind of delirium attended Mfl0nc_
wun gloomy thoughts, heavinefs, and forrow. See -JT”'
Medicine, N° 327. v
MELANCTHON, Philip, born at Bretten in
the Palatinate m 1495, W'as one of the wifeft and molt
aoie men of Ins age among the reformers, though of a
mild temper, and difpoled to accommodate rather than
to inflame difputes. In his youth he made an admirable
progrefs m learning, and was made Greek profefifor at
W ittenberg in 1509. Here his leclures upon Homer,
and tne Greek text of St Paul’s Epiftle to Titus, drew
to him a great number of auditors, and entirely effaced
tne contempt to which his low flature and mean ap¬
pearance had expofed him. Melanahon reduced the
iciences to fyftems; and acquired fuch reputation, that
he had fometimes 2500 auditors. He foon entered in.
to an intimate friendfliip with Luther, who taught di¬
vinity in the fame univerfity ; and in 1519 they went
together to Leipfic, to difpute with Eccius. The fol¬
lowing years he was continually engaged in various
employments j he compofed feveral books ; he taught
divinity ; took feveral journeys, in order to found col¬
leges and vifit churches j and in 1530 drew up a con-
feflion of faith, which goes by the name of the Confef-
fion of Augsburg, becaufe it was prefented to the empe-
lor at the diet held in that city. All Europe w’as con¬
vinced, that he was not, like Luther, backward to ac¬
commodate the differences between the various feds of
Chriftians. He hated religious difputes, and was drawn
into them only through the neceflity of the part he was
called to ad in the wmrld ; and therefore would have
facrificed many things to have produced an union among
the Proteftants. For this reafon, Francis I. the French
king, wrote to defire him to come and confer wdth the
doclors of the Sorbonne, in order to agree with them
about putting an end to all controverfies ; but though
Luther endeavoured to perfuade the eletffor of Saxony
to confent to that journey, and though Melandhon
himfelf defired it, that prince, whether he diftrufted
Melandlhon’s moderation, or was afraid of quarrelling
with the emperor Charles V. would never grant his
permiflion. I he king of England alfo in vain de¬
fired to fee him. Melanfthon, in 1529, aflifted at
the conferences of Spires. In 1541, he was at the fa¬
mous conferences at Ratilbon. In 1543, he went to
meet the archbifliop of Cologne to affift him in introdu¬
cing the reformation into his diocefe $ but that projedl
came to nothing: and in 1548, he afliited at feven
conferences on the fubjedt of the interim of Charles V.
and wrote a cenfure on that interim, and all the writ¬
ings prefented at thefe conferences. He was extremely
afFedfed at the diffenfions raifed by Flaccus Ulyricus.
His laft conference with thofe of the Roman commu¬
nion was at Worms, in 1557. He died at Wittenberg
in 1560, and was interred near Luther. Some days
before he died, he wrote upon a piece of paper the rea-
fons which made him look upon death as a happinefs ;
and the chief of them was, that it “ delivered him from
theological perfecutions.” Nature had given Melanc-
thon a peaceable temper, which was but ill fuited to the
time he was to live in. His moderation ferved only to
be Ins crofs. He was like a lamb in the midli of
wolves. Nobody liked his mildnefs j it looked as if he
was
JW-jnip-
-pides
II .
Meichife-
dec.
M E L [ 494
xvas lukewarm ^ and even Luther hlmfelf was fome-
times angry at it.
Mdan6\hon was a man in whom many good as well
as great qualities were wonderfully united. He had
great parts, great learning, great fweetnefs of temper,
moderation, contentednefs, and the like, which would
have made him very happy in any other times but
thofe in which he lived. He never affe&ed dignities,
or honours, or riches, but was rather negligent of all
thefe things; too much fo in the opinion of fome, con-
fidering he had a family ; and his fon in-law Sabinus,
who was of a more ambitious temper, was adlually at
variance with him upon this very account. Learning
was infinitely obliged to him on many accounts; on
none more than this, that, as already obferved, he re¬
duced alrnoft all the fciences which had been taught
before in a vague irregular manner, into fyflems. Con-
fidering the diftraftions of his life, and the infinity of
difputes and tumults in which he was engaged, it is
aftonifhing how he could find leifure to vvrite fo many
bocks. Their number is prodigious, infomuch that it
was thought neceffary to publifh a chrono’ogical cata¬
logue of them in the year 1582. His works indeed are
not correft, and he himfelf owned it: but as he found
them ufeful, he chofe rather to print a great number,
than to finifh only a few : “ which however (as Bayle
fays), was poflponing his own glory to the advantage
of others.” His conftitution was very weak, and re¬
quired great tendernefs and management; which made
Luther, as hot and zealous as he was, blame him for
labouring too earneflly in the vineyard.
MELANIPPIDES, in fabulous hiflory, a Greek
.poet about 520 years before Chrift. His grandfon of
the fame name flourifhed about 60 years after at the
court of Perdiccas the Second, of Macedonia. Some
fragments of their poetry are ftill extant.
MELANTERIA, an old term in Natural Hi/lori/,
which feems to have been applied to copper pyrites.
The Greeks ufed it externally as a gentle efcharotic
and a flyptic, as an ingredient in their ointments for
old ulcers, and alfo to fprinkle in the form of powder
on frefh wounds in order to flop the haemorrhage.
MEL ASSES. See Molasses.
MELASTOMA, the American gooseberry-
tree, a genus of plants belonging to the dccandria
clafs •, and in the natural method ranking under the
17th order, Catycanthemce. See Botany Index.
MELCHA, a fmall village of Barbary, fituated
about 30 miles from the city of Tunis, built on the
ruins of Carthage, fome of which are ftill vifible.
MELCHITES, in church hiflory, the name given
to the Syriac, Egyptian, and other Chritlians of the
Levant. The Melchites, excepting fome few points
of little or no importance, which relate only to cere¬
monies and ecclefiaflical difcipline, are in every refpedt
profeffed Greeks ; but they are governed by a parti¬
cular patriarch, who refides at Hamas, and afTumes the
title of patriarch of Antioch. They celebrate mafs in
the Arabian language. The religious among the Mel¬
chites follow the rule of St Bafil, the common rule of
all the Greek monks. They have four fine convents
diftant about a day’s journey from Hamas, and never
go out of the cloiiler.
MELCHISEHEC, or Melchizedek, king of Sa-
leiDj and prieft of £he Mofl High. The Icnpture tells
MEL
us nothing either of his father, or of his mother, or Melchife-
his genealogy, or of his birth, or of hB death. And ^ec
in this fenfe he was a figure of Jefus Chviif, as St Paul
affirms, who is a prieit for ever, according to the order
of Melchifedec, and not according to the order of
Aaron, wbofe original, life, and death, are known.
When Abraham returned from purfuing the four con¬
federate kings, who had defeated the kings of Sodom
and Gomorrah, and had taken away Lot Abrffiarn’s
nephew along with them (Gen. xiv. 17. 18, 19, &c.)
Melchifedek came to meet Abraham as far as tire val¬
ley of Shaveh, which v\as afterwards named the King’s
valley, prefented him with the refreihment of bread
and wine (or he offered bread and wine in facrifice to
the Lord, for he was a pried of the'moft high God),
and bleffed him. Abraham, being defircus to acknow¬
ledge in him the quality of pried of the Lord, offered
him the tythes of all he had taken from the enemy.
After this time, there is no mention made of the perfon
of Melchifedec •, only the Pfalmift (cx 4.) fpeaking.of
the Meffiah, fays, “ Thou art a pried for ever after
the order of Melchifedec.” St Paul, in his epidle to
the Hebrews, unfolds the mydery which is concealed
in what is faid of Melchifedec in the Old Tedament.
See Heb. v. 6—to. An infinite number of difficulties
and fcruples have been darted upon the fubjedl of Mel¬
chifedec.—St Jerome thought that Salem, of which
Melchifedec was king, was not Jerufalem, but the city
of Salem near Scythopcdis, where they dill pretended
to ihovv the ruins of the palace of this prince. The
greatnefs and extent of thefe ruins are a fufficient proof
of the magnificence of this ancient building. He thinks
it was at this city of Salem or Shalem, that Jacob ar¬
rived after his paffage over Jordan, at his return from
Mefopotamia (Gen. xxxiii. 18.). Some believe that
Salem, where Melchifedec reigned, is the fame as Sa¬
lim fpoken of in the gofpel of St John, chap. iii. 23.
From the time of Epiphanes there were names in¬
vented for the father and mother of Melchifedec. To
his father was given the name of Heraclas or Hera¬
cles, and to his mother that of Adrtardth or Adaria.
It is generally agreed on by the learned, that when the
apodle fays, he was “ without father and without mo¬
ther,” no more is meant, than that he is introduced
into the hi dory of Abraham without acquainting us
who he was, or whence he came, where he lived, or
when he died. Neverthelefs, fome have taken St
Paul’s words literally, and contended that he was not
of human but divine nature. Origen and Bidymus
took him to be an angel-; and the author of the Quef-
tions upon the Old and New Tedament pretends, that
he was the Holy Ghod, who appeared to Abraham in
a human form. The Arabic Catena, upon the ninth
chapter of Genefis, makes Melchifedec to be defend¬
ed from Sbem by his father, and from Japheth by his
mother. Heraclas or Heraclim his father, was, they
fay, fon or grandfon of Phaleg, and fon of Heber; and
his mother named Salathiel, was daughter of Gomer
fon of Japheth. Cedrenus and others derive Melchi¬
fedec from an Egyptian dock. They fay his father
was called Sidon or Sida, and was the founder of the
city of Sidon the capital of Phoenicia. Suidas fays
he was of the curfed race of Canaan ; for which reafon
the fcripture does not mention his genealogy. The
Jews and Samaritans believed Melchifedec to be the
fame
dec.
MEL ^ [495
Melchife- {ame with the patriarch Shem 5 which opinion has been the
followed by a great number of modern writers. M.
Jurieu has undertaken to prove that he is the fame as
Cham or Ham. It would be endlefs to fet down all
the opinions upon this matter : therefore we fhall only
add, that Peter Cunaeus and Peter du Moulm have af¬
fected, that Melchifedec who appeared to Abraham was
the Son of God, and that the patriarch worlhipped him
and acknowledged him for the Meffiah.
About the beginning of the third century arofe
the herefy of the Melchifedecians, wrho affirmed that
Melchifedec was not a man, but a heavenly power,
fuperior to Jefus Chrift : for Melchifedec, they faid,
was the interceffor and mediator of the angels, but Je¬
fus Chrift was fo only for men, and his priefthood on¬
ly a copy of that of Melchifedec, who wras the Holy
Ghoffi
We ffiall only beg leave to add here one opinion
more concerning Melchifedec, wffiich is that of the
learned Heidegger, who, as the author of the Hifi.
Patriar. thinks, has taken the right method of ex¬
plaining the accounts of Mofes and the apoftle Paul
relating to this extraordinary perfon. He fuppofes a
twofold Melchifedec ; the one hitlorical, whereof
Mofes gives an account in the 14th chapter of Gene-
fis, as that he was king as well as high prieft of Jem-
falem ; the other allegorical, whom St Paul defcribes,
and this allegorical perfon is Jefus Chriil.
As the hiilory of this prince and prieft is fo little
known, it is no wonder, as Selden obferves, that many
fabulous accounts have been invented of him } of which
the following may fuffice as a fpecimen. Eutychus
patriarch of Alexandria relates, that the body of
Adam having been embalmed according to his order,
was depofited in a cave under a mountain of the chil¬
dren of Seth ; but that Adam before his death had
commanded that they fttould take away his remains
from that place, and tranfport them to the middle of
the earth : that Noah, to follow the orders of his an-
ceftors, had preferved the bodies of Adam and all the
patriarchs with him in the ark: that finding himfelf
near his death, he ordered his fon Shem to take the
body of Adam, to furnifti himfelf with bread and wane
for his journey, to take with him Melchifedec the fon
r\£ n/A 1-r\ tn TV'mrn ;
of Phaleg, and to go to the place in which an angel
would {how them where to bury the firft man : that
Noah added this order, “ Command Melchifedec to
fix his refidence in that place, and to live unmarried all
his lifetime, becaufe God has chofen him to do fervice
in his prefence j command him, that he build no tem¬
ple, nor fired the blood of birds, nor four-footed
beafts, or any other anneal} and that he ofter no
other oblations to God but bread and wine.” I his is
the reafon, according to this author, wffiy Melchifcdec,
wffien he met Abraham, brought forth only bread and
wine.
A Greek author, under the name of Athanafius,
relates, that Mifchiledec was the fon of an idolatrous
king called Melchi and of a queen called Salem.
MeJchi, having refolved to offer a facrifice t© the geds,
fent his fon Melchifedec to fetch him feven calves. In
the wTay the young prince was enlightened by God,
and immediately returned to his father, to demonitrate
to him the vanity of his idols. Melchi, in wrath, fent
him back to fetch the vidtiras. While he was abfent,
] M E L
king facrificed his eldeft fon, and a great many Me
other children, to his gods. Melchifedec returning, 1
and conceiving great horror at this butchery, retired
to Mount i abor, where he lived feven years, without
clothes, and fed only on wdld fruits. At the end of
feven years, God appeared to Abraham, bid him go
up to Mount Tabor, where he fliould find Melchifedec.
He ordered him to clothe him, and to afk his bleffing }
which Abraham having done, Melchifedec anointed
him with oil, and they came down together from the
mountain.
MELCOMB REGIS, a town of Dorfetfnire, in Eng-
land, 130 miles from London, is fituated at the mouth
of the river Wey, by which it is parted from Wey¬
mouth. It appears from the name to have been an¬
ciently the king’s demefne, and from the records to
have paid quit-rent to the crown all along after King
Edward I. till it wqs bought off by the inhabitants
before they were united to Weymouth. It lies on the
north fide of the haven, on a peninfula furrounded by
the fea on all lides except on the north. The llreets
are broad and well paved, and many of the houfes
large and high. It fent members to parliament in the
reign of King Edward I. before Weymouth had that
privilege. It was by parliament appointed a ftaple in
the reign of Edward III. In the next reign the
French burnt it j and it was thereby rendered fo de¬
folate, that the remaining inhabitants prayed and ob¬
tained a difeharge from cuftoms. On account of its
quarrels with Weymouth, in the reign of Henry VI.
its privileges as a port were removed to Pool ; but in
that of Queen Elizabeth they were reftored to it by aft
of parliament, which was confirmed in the next reign,
on condition that Melcomb and Weymouth ffiould
make but one corporation, and enjoy their privileges
in common; and to this was owing the flourilhing
ftate of both. In the two reigns laft mentioned, a
wooden bridge wdth feventeen arches wTas built from
hence to Weymouth } to which, as wTell as its church,
the chief contributors were certain citizens of’ Lon¬
don j and upon its decay it wTas rebuilt in 1770. Here
is a good market-place and town-hall, to which the
members of the corporation of Weymouth come to
attend public bufinefs, as the inhabitants do to its
church for public worffiip. For feveral years paft the
fea has retired from it on the eaft, the priory former¬
ly being bounded by the fea j but there is now a ftreet
beyond it, from which it is feveral paces to the high
w’ater mark. The priory wms fituated in the eaft part
of the town, in Maiden ftreet, wffiofe fite occupied a-
bout an acre, now covered with tenements. On the
fouth fide are the remains of the chapel, now convert^
ed into a malt-houfe. Near it are the remains of an
ancient building, formerly a nunnery. Here are three
meeting houfes and a w^orkhoufe for the poor. The
church, which is in the middle of the town, has a
wooden turret for a bell, and had been an old chapel.
It was rebuilt in 1605, and made parochial, and is a
handfome fabric, with a beautiful altarpiece painted
and given by Sir James Thornhill. The port, which
generally goes by the name of Weymouth, is faid to
be the bert frequented in the county, and is defended
by Sand ford and Portland caftles. The markets for
both towns are Tuefdays and Fridays, but there are no
fairs. Melcomb-regis is reckoned bigger, more thriving,
and
MEL [ 496 ] M E L
Meklae, and populous than Weymouth. They are both but one
Meleager, corporation and borough, confiding of a mayor, re-
corder, two bailiffs, an uncertain number of aldermen,
and twenty-four capital burgeffes. Whoever has been
a mayor is ever after an alderman. They fend four
burgeffes to parliament, who are defied by fuch as
have freeholds, whether they are inhabitants or not ;
the number of voters is near 700. Every eleflor, as in
London, has the privilege of voting for four perfons,
■who w'hen chofen are returned, in two diftinfl inden¬
tures, as the burgeffes of Weymouth and the burgeffes
of Melcomb-regis.
MELD.®, in Ancient Geography, a town of Gallia
Celtica, (called Melddrum Civitas in the Notitia), on
the Matrcna. Now Meaux, a city of Champagne, on
the Marne, in France.
MELEAGER, in fabulous hiflory, a celebrated he¬
ro, fon of CEneus king of Calydonia, by Altbaia daugh¬
ter of Theftius. The Parcse were prefent at the mo¬
ment of his birth, and predifled his future greatnefs.
Clotho faid that he would be brave and courageous $
Lachefis foretold his uncommon ftrength and valour :
and Atropos faid that he fliould live as long as that fire¬
brand, which was on the fire, remained entire and un-
confumed. Althaea no fooner heard this, than fhe
fnatched the flick from the fire, and kept it with the
moft jealous care, as the life of her fon totally depend¬
ed upon its prefervation. The fame of Meleager in-
creafed with his years *, he fignalized himfelf in the
Argonautic expedition, and afterwards delivered his
country from the neighbouring inhabitants, who made
war againfl his father, at the infligation of Diana,
w’hofe altars GTmeus had negledled. But Diana pu-
nifhed the negligence of CEneus by a greater calamity.
She fent a huge wild boar, which laid w'afle all the
country, and feemed invincible on account of its im-
menfe fize. It became foon a public concern : all
the neighbouring princes affembled to deflroy this
terrible animal 5 and nothing is more famous in my¬
thological hiilory, than the hunting of the Calydonian
boar. The princes and chiefs that affembled, and
which are mentioned by mythologifls, wTere Meleager
fon of CEneus, Idas and Lynceus fons of Apharcus,
Dryas fon of Mars, Caflor and Pollux fons of Jupi¬
ter and Led a, Pirithous fon of Ixion, Thefeus fon of
Apgeus, Anceus and Cepheus fons of Lycurgus, Ad-
metus fon of Pheres, Jafon fon of i£fon, Peleus and
Telamon fons of Abacus, Iphicles fon of Amphitryon,
Eurytrion fon of Adlor, Atalanta daughter of Schoe-
neus, Idas the friend of Hercules, the fons of Thef¬
tius, Amphiaraus fon of Oileus, Protheus, Cometes,
the brothers of Althaea, Hippothous fon of Cercyon,
Leucippus, Adraftus, Ceneus, Phileus, Echion, Lelex,
Phoenix fon of Amyntor, Panopeus, Hyleus, Hippa-
Jus, Neftor, Menoetius the father of Patroclus, Am-
phicides, Laertes the father of Ulyffes, and the four
fons of Hippocoon. This troop of armed men attack¬
ed the boar, and it w’as at laft killed by Meleager.—
The conqueror gave the Ikin and the head to Atalanta,
who had firff wounded the animal. This irritated the
reft, and particularly Toxeus and Plexippus the bro¬
thers of Althaea, and they endeavoured to rob Ata¬
lanta of the honourable prefent. Meleager defended
her, and killed his uncles in the attempt. Meantime
the news of this celebrated conqueft had already reach-
2
ed Calydon, and Althcea w-ent to the temple of the Meleager
gods to return thanks for the viclory which her fon ^
had gained : But being informed that her brothers 1 t'>'
had been killed by Meleager, fhe in the moment of re-
fentment threw into the fire the fatal flick on which
her fon’s life depended, and Meleager died as foon as
it was confirmed. Homer does not mention the fire¬
brand j whence fome have imagined that this fable is
pofterior to that poet’s age. But he lays, that the
death of Toxeus and Plexippus lo irritated Althaea,
that (he uttered the moft horrible curfes and impreca¬
tions upon her fon’s head.
Meleager, a Greek poet, the fon of Eucrates,
was born at Seleucia in Syria, and flourithed under
the reign of Seleucus VI. the laft king of Syria. He
was educated at Tyre •, and died in the ifland of Coos,
anciently called Merope. He there compofed the
Greek epigrams called by us the Anthologia. The dif-
pofition of the epigrams in this colleclion w’as olten
changed afterwards, and many additions have been made
to them. The monk Planudes put them into the order
they are in at prefent, in the year 1380.
MELEAGRIS, the Turkey ; a genus of birds
belonging to the' order of gallinse. See Ornitholo¬
gy Index.
MELES, the Badger. See Ursus, Mammalia ,
Index.
MELES, in Ancient Geography, a fine river running
by the walls of Smyrna in Ionia, with a cave at its head,
where Homer is faid to have written his poems. And
from it Homer takes his original name Mc/efigenes,
given him by his mother Critheis, as being born on its
banks. (Plerodotus).
MELETIANS, in ecclefiaftical hiftory, the name
of a confiderable party wdio adhered to the caufe of
Meletius bifhop of Lycopolis, in Upper Egypt, after
he was depofed, about the year 306, by Peter bifhop
of Alexandria, under the charge of h:s having facri-
ficed to the gods, and having been guilty of other
heinous crimes j though Epiphanius makes his only
failing to have been an txceffive feverity againft the
lapfed. This difpute, which was at firft a perfonal
difference between Meletius and Peter, became a reli¬
gious rontroverfy \ arid the Meletian party fkbfifted
in the fifth century, but was condemned by the firft
council of Nice.
MELIA, Azaderach, or the Bead tree, a genus
of plants, belonging to the decandria clafs ; and in the
natural method ranking under the 23d order Trihilatce.
See Botany Index.
MELIANTHUS, Honey flower, a genus of
plants belonging to the didynamia clafs j and in the na¬
tural method ranking under the 24th order Corydales.
See Botany Index.
MELIBOEA, in Ancient Geography, an ifland of
Syria, at the mouth of the Orontes ; which, before it
falls into the fea, forms a fpreading lake round it. This
ifland wras famous for its purple dye. Thought to be a
colony of Theffalians •, and hence Lucretius’s epithet,
Thejfalicus.
MELIC A, ropegrass, a genus of the digynia or¬
der, belonging to the triandria clafs of plants 5 and in
the natural method ranking under the 4th order Grami-
na. See Botany Index.
MELICERES, in Surgery, a kind of eneyfted tu¬
mour,
MEL
Melite.
Melicerta mour, fo Called when their contents are of the con-
fuknce of honey. See Tumour, Surgery Index.
„ MELICERTA, Melicertes, or Melicertus, in fa¬
bulous hiftory, a fon of Athamas and Ino. He was
faved by his mother from the fury of his father, who
prepared to dafh him againft a wall as he had done his
brother Learchus. The mother was fo terrified that (he
threw herfelf into the fea with Melicerta in her arms.
Neptune had ccmpafficn on the misfortunes of Ino and
her fon. He changed them both into fea deities.
Ino was called Lcucothoeav Matuta ; and Melicerta was
known among the Greeks by the name of Palo-man,
and among the Latins by that of Portnmnus. Some
fuppofe that the Ifthmian games were hdlituted in
honour of Melicerta.
MELILL A, an ancient town of Africa, in the king¬
dom of Fez, and in the province of Caret. It was ta¬
ken by the Spaniards in 1469, but returned back to
the Moors. W. Long. 2. 9. N. Lat. 35. 20.
MELILOT. See Trifolium, Botany and Agri¬
culture Index.
MELINDA, a kingdom on the eaft coaft of Africa,
fituated, according to fome, between the third and
fourth degree of fouth latitude ; though there is great
difagreement among geographers as to its extent. It
is allowed by all, however, that the coafts are very
dangerous ; being full of rocks and fhelves, and the
fea at fome feafons very liable to tempefls. The king¬
dom of Melinda is for the moil part rich and fertile ;
producing almoft all the neceflaries of life except wheat
and rice, both which are brought thither from Cam-
baya and other parts ; &nd thofe who cannot purchafe
them make ufe of potatoes in their head, which are
here fine, large, and in great plenty. They likewife
abound with great variety of fruit trees, roots, plants,
and other efckents, and with melons of exquifite talle.
They have alfo great plenty of venifon, game, oxen,
fheep, hens, geefe, and other poultry, &c. and one breed
of (beep whofe talk weigh between 30 and 40 pounds.
The capital city is alfo called Melinda.
MELINUM, in Natural Hi/lorij, the name of an
earth famous in the earlieft ages of painting, being
the only wdrite of the great painters of antiquity •, and,
according to Pliny’s account, one of the three colours
with w’hich alone they performed all their w’orks. From
the defcription given of this earth it feems to be alu-
•tninous, tolerably pure, and in a date of minute di-
vifion.
MELISSA, in fabulous hiftory, a daughter of Me-
liflus king of Crete, who with her fifter Amalthaea fed
Jupiter with the milk of goats. She firft found out the
means of colle<fting honey ; whence it has been fabled
that fhe wTas changed into a bee, as her name is the
Greek word for that infedft.
Melissa, Baum, a genus of plants, belonging to the
didynamia clafs j and in the natural method ranking
under the 42d order Verticillatce. See Botany Index.
MELISSUS of Samos, a Greek philofopher, was
the fon of Rhagincs and the difciple of Parmenides ;
and lived about 440 P>. C. He pretended that the
nniverfe is infinite, immoveable, and without a vacuum.
Themiftccles was among his pupils.
MELITE, in Mncicnt Geography, an if!and refer¬
red to Africa by Scylax and Ptolemy ; but nearer Si¬
cily, and allotted to it by the Remans ! commended
Vol. XIII. Part II.
I 497 1
MEL
Melli.
kr its commodious harbours j for a city well built, Melite
with artificers of every kind, efpecially weavers of fine
hnen ; all owing to the Phoenicians, the firft colonifts. t
Now Malta ; remarkable for St Paul’s ftiipwreck. See
Malta.
Melite, Mehta, or Melitina Infula; an iftand on
the coaft of Illyricum in the Adriatic. The Catuli
Me lit eel (Pliny) were famous. Now7 Alelede, the name
of the ifland Samos. See Samos.
Melite, in Ancient Geography, a town of Ionia,,
ftruck out of the number of Ionian towns on account of
the arrogance of the people, and Smyrna admitted in
lieu of it. The fituation not faid.
MEL I TENS! S terra, the Earth of Malta: an
earth of which there are two very different kinds; the
one of which is a bole, the other a marl. The latter
is that known by medical authors under this name *
the former is the Malta earth now in ufe ; but both
being brought from the fame place, are confufedly cal¬
led by the fame name. The Maltefe marl, which is
the terra Mehtenfis of medical authors, is a loofe,
crumbly, and light earth, of an unequal and irregular
texture 5 and, when expofed to the weather, foon falls
into fine foft powder : but when preferred and dried
i-t becomes a loofe, light mafs, of a dirty white colour*
with a grayifh call: it is rough to the touch, adheres
firmly to the tongue, is very eafily crumbled to pow¬
der between the fingers, and ftains the hands. Thrown
into the water, it fwells, and afterwards moulders a-
vvay into a fine powder. It ferments very violently
with acids. Both kinds are found in great abundance
in the ifland of Malta, and the latter has been much
efteetned as a remedy againft the bites of venomous
animals. The other has fupplied its place in the Ger¬
man (hops; and is ufed there as a cordial, fudorific,
and aftringent.
MELITO (canonized), bbhop of Sardis in Lydia,
in the fecond century ; remarkable for the apology he
prefented to the emperor Aurelius, in favour of the
Cbriftians; on vyhich Eufebius and the other ancient
ecclefiaftical writers bellow great praifes: but that apo¬
logy and all Melito’s other works are loft.
MEL IT US, a Greek orator and poet, the accufer
of Socrates. The Athenians, after the death of So¬
crates, difeovering the iniquity of the fentence they
had paired againft that great philofopher, put Melitus
to death, 400 B. C.
MELLER, a lake of Sweden, 80 miles long, and
30 broad ; on which Hands the city of Stockholm.
MELLI, with the country of the Mundingoes^ in
Africa. The country formerly called Melli, new chief¬
ly inhabited by the Mundingoes, who ftill retain pretty
much of the charadler aferibed to the people of Melli,
lies to the fouth of the river Gambia ; on the weft it
borders on the kingdom of Kabo ; on the fouth it has
Mclli, properly fo called, and the mountains that part
it from Guinea ; and on the eaft it extends to the king¬
dom of Gago. With a great part of this country
we are little acquainted, as is thecafe witli regard to
moft of the inland territories of Africa ; but towards
the fea coaft this country is a little better known.
The firft place of note we meet with is Kachao, a
Portuguefe colony, fituated on the river of St Do¬
mingo, which falls into the fea about 26 leagues below
this town.—About 26 leagues above Kachao, on th
3 R fame
MEL
[ 498 1
MEL
Melli,
Melmoth.
fame fide, of the river, is another trading town called
Ftirini, where, in the months of October and Novem¬
ber, one may trade for about half the quantity of wax
and ivory which is traded for at Kachoa. Here are
alfo fome (laves to be bought.—Bot is a village near
the mouth of the river Gefves, where moft of the tra¬
ders buy rice ; which is in great plenty there, and very
good.—Gefves is a village on a river of the fame name,
on which the Portuguefe have a faclory. At Gefyes
one may trade yearly for 250 (laves, 80 or too quin¬
tals of wax, and as many of ivory. Near the mouth
of the river of Gefves is a village called Kurbah^
where there is a conliderable trade for fait y here are
alio fome (laves and ivoiy. Rio Grande, or the Great
River, runs about 10 or 12 leagues to the fouth of
the river of Gelves. About 80 leagqes from the mouth
of it is a nation of negroes, who are confiderable traders
in ivory, rice, millet, and tome (laves. I ney are called
Analons. Over againft the mouth of Rio Grande is
a duller of illands called BiJJago IJles; the moft con
fiderable of which is Caffagut, being about fix leagues
long and two broad , its foil is very good, and produ¬
ces millet, rice, and all kinds of pulfe, befides orange
and palm trees, and many others. This ifland, with
thofe of Carache, Canabac, and La Gallina, are the
only ones where the Europeans may trade with fome
fecurity. They trade, however, fometimes at the other
illands, but they muft be extremely cautious •, and yet
after all their precautions, they will be robbed and
murdered if they venture to go alhore. The river
Nunho runs 16 leagues to the fouth of Rio Grande-,
it is very confiderable, and comes from a vaft diftance
inland. One may buy here 300 quintals of ivory and
ico (laves a-year. Rice grows here admirably well,
and is very cheap. There are everywhere fugar canes
wdiich grow naturally 5 and plants of indigo, which
might turn to good account. The trade is carried on
here from March till Auguit. In the river of Sierra
Leone, the late Royal African Company of England
had, in the year 1728, two iflands; the one, called
Tajfo, a large flat ifland, near three leagues in circum¬
ference, in which the company’s (laves had a good
plantation ; the reft of the ifland is covered with wood,
among which are (ilk cotton trees o( an unaccountable
fize. The other ifland is Benfe, whereon ftood a re¬
gular fort. It was formerly the refidence of one of
the Englilh chiefs.
MELMOTH, William, Eso. a learned member
of Lincoln’s Inn, was born in 1666. In conjunblion
with Mr Peere Williams, Mr Melmoth was the publiflier
of Vernon’s Reports, under an order of the court of
chancery. He had once an intention of printing his
own Reports \ and a flrort time before his death adver-
tifed them at the end of thofe of his coadjutor Peere
Williams, as then a&ually preparing for the prers.
They have, however, not yet made their appearance.
But the performance for which he juftly deferves to be
held in perpetual remembrance is, “ '1 he Great Im¬
portance of a Religious Life concerning which it
may be mentioned, to. the credit of the age, that not-
withftanding many large editions had before been circu¬
lated, 42,OCO copies of this ufcful treatife have been
fold in the laft 18 years. It is a fomewhat Angular
circumftance, that the real author of this moft admirable
Sareatife Pnould never before have been publicly known
(it having been commonly attributed to the firft earl of Melmoth
Egmont, and particularly by Mr Walpole in his
Catalogue) 5 which is the more furprifing, as the author
is plainly pointed out in the following fliort charafler
prefixed to the book itfelf: “ It may add weight, per¬
haps, to the reflexions contained in the following pages,
to inform the reader, that the author’s life was one
unitorm exemplar of thole precepts which, with (o
generous a zeal, and fuch an elegant and affecting
(implicity of ftyle, he endeavours to recommend to
general praXice. He left others to contend for modes
of faith, and inflame themfelves and the world with
endlefs controverfy : it was the wifer purpofe of his more
ennobled aim, to aX up to thofe clear rules of conduX
which revelation hath gracioufly prefcribed. He pofleif-
ed by temper every moral virtue 5 by religion every
Chriftian grace. He had a humanity that melted at
every diftrefs ; a charity which not only thought no evil,
but fufpeXed none. He exercifed his profeflion with a
(kill and integrity which nothing could equal but the
diiinterefted motive that animated his labours, or the
amiable modefty which accompanied all his virtues. He
employed his induftry, not to gratify his own defires;
no man indulged himfelf lefs : not to accumulate ufe-
lefs wealth ; no man more difdained fo unworthy a
purfuit : it was for the decent advancement of his
family, for the generous afliftance of his friends, for the
ready relief of the indigent. How often did he exert
his diftinguifhed abilities, yet refufe the reward of them,
in defence of the widow, the fatherlefs, and him that
had none to help him ! In a w-ord, few have ever
paffed a more ufeful, not one a more blamelels life } and
his whole time was employed either in doing good, or
in meditating it. He died on the 6th day of April 1743,
and lies buried under the cloifter of Lincoln’s Inn
Chapel. MEM. PAT. OPT. MER fil. Die.” The fon, by
whom this charaXer is drawn, is William Melmoth, Efq.
the celebrated tranflator of Pliny and of Cicero’s Letters 5
and author of thofe which pals under the name of Sir
Thomas Fit'zofborne.
MELOCHIA, Jews mallow, a genus of plants
belonging to the monodelphia clafs} and in the natural
method ranking under the 37th order, Colut?iniferce^
See Botany Index.
MELODUNUM, in Ancient Geography, a town of
the Cenones in Gallia Celtica, above Lutetia now
Melun, in the Ifle of France, on the Seine.
MELODY, in mufic, a fucceflion of founds ranged
in fuch a manner, according to the laws of rhythmus
and modulation, that it may form a fentiment agreeable
to the ear. Vocal melody is called f nging ; and that
which is performed upon inftruments may be termed
fymphonic melody.
The idea of rhythmus neceflarily enters into that of
melody. An air is not an air but in proportion as the
laws of meafure and quantity are obferved. The fame
fucceffion of founds is fufceptible of as many different
charaXers, as many different kinds of melody, as the
.various ways by which its emphatic notes, and the
quantities of thofe which intervene, may be diverfified 5
and the change in duration of the notes alone, may
difguife that very fucceflion in fuch a manner that it
cannot be known ( bus, melody m itfelt is nothing 4
it is the rhythmus or meafure which determines it, and
there can "be no air without time. If then we ahftraX
Melody.
MEL
MJod}. tneafure from both, we cannot compare melody wuh
“"v ' harmony j ior to the former it is effential, but not at
all to the latter.
Melody, according to the manner in which it is
confidered, has a relation to two different principles.
When regarded only as agreeable to the proportions of
found and the rules of modulation, it has its principle
in harmony ; fince it is a harmonical analyfis, which
exhibits the different, gradations of the fcale, the chords
peculiar to each mode, and the laws of modulation,
which are the foie elen ents that ccmpofe an air. Ac¬
cording to this principle, the whole power of melody
i» limited to that of pleafing the ear by agreeable
ft unds, as the eye may be pleafed with an agreeable
affemblage of fuitable colours. But when confidered as
an imitative art, by which we may affedl the mind
wi th various images, excite different emotions in the
heart, inflame or foothe the paffions ; by which, in a-
t-ord, we produce different effetffs upon our moral fa¬
culties, which are not to be effeftuated by the influ¬
ence of external fenfe alone, we muff explore another
principle for melody : for in our w'hole internal frame
there appears to be no power upon which either har¬
mony alone, or its neceffary refults, can feize, to affedt
us in fuch a manner.
What then is the fecond principle ? It is as much
founded on nature as the firfl:; but, in order to difeover
its foundation in nature, it will require a more ac¬
curate though fimpler obfervation, and a more ex’qui-
lite degree of fenfibility in the obferver. This prin¬
ciple is the fame which varies the tone of the voice,
when we fpeak; according as we are interefted in
wfliat wTe fay, and according to the different emo¬
tions which we feel in expreffing it. It is the accent
of languages which determines the melody of every
nation ; it is the accent which determines us to em¬
ploy the emphafis of fpeaking while we ling, and to
fpeak writh more er lefs energy according as the lan¬
guage which we ufe is more or lefs accented. That
language whofe accents are the moft fenfible, ought to
produce a more paffionate and more lively melody j
that which has little accentuation, or none at all, can
only produce a cold and languid melody, wflthout eba-
radler and without expreflion. Thefe are the true
principles : in proportion as we depart from them,
when we fpeak of the power of mufic upon the
human heart, we lhall become unintelligible to our-
fel ves and others : our w^ords wall be without meaning.
If mufic does not imprefs the foul with images but
by melody, if from thence it obtains its w'hole power,
it muff folknv, that all mufical founds which are not
pleafing by themfelyes alone, however agreeable to
harmony they may be, is not an intimative mufic ; and,
being incapable, even wflth its moft beautiful chords,
either to prefent the images of things, or to excite the
finer feelings, very fonn c1oys the ear, and leaves al¬
ways the heart in cold indifference. It follow's like-
wife, that notwithftanding the parts which harmony
lias introduced, and which the prefent tafte of mufic
fo wantonly abufes, wherever two different melodies
are heard at the fame time, they counteradf each other,
and deftroy the effeffs of both, however beautiful
each may be when performed alone : from whence it
may be judged with wdiat degree of tafte the French
compofers have introduced in their operas the mifer-
M E L
able praftice of accompanying one air with another, as
well in finging, which is the native expreflion of pa¬
thos and fentiment, as in inftrumental performances ;
which is the fame thing as if whimfical orators ftiould
take it in their heads to recite twm orations at the
fame time, that the elegance of each might derive
more force from the other.
So much for Rouffeau. The tranflator, however,
has reafon to fear, that the caufes by which national
melody is diverfified and charadferized, arc more pro¬
found and permanent than the mere accentuation of
language. This indeed may have great influence in
determining the nature of the rhythmus, and the place
of emphatic notes j but very little in regulating the
nature of the emphafis and expreflion themfelves. If
Rouffeau’s principle be true in its full extent, he^muft
of neceflity acknowledge, that an air which was never
fet or intended for words, however melodious, cannot
be imitative ; he muft likewife confefs, that what is
imitative in one nation cannot be fuch in another : nor
can it be denied, upon his hypothefis, that the recita¬
tive, w'hich is formed upon the mode of fpeaking, is
the moft forcible of all melodies j which is abfurd.
His other obfervations are at once judicious and pro¬
found. Though it is impoflible to exhibit the beauty
and variety of harmony by playing the fame melody
at the fame time upon different keys, admitting thole
keys to form among themfelves a perfect chord, wdiich
wall of confequence preferve all the fubfequent notes in
the fame intervals ; yet this perfect harmony would by
no means be uniformly pleafing to the ear. We muft
therefore of neceflity introduce lefs perfect chords to
vary and increafe the pleafure, and thefe chords in any
complex fyftem of mufic muft of neceflity produce
diffonances. It then becomes the bufinefs of the com-
pofer to be careful that thefe difeords may arife as na¬
turally from, and return as naturally to perfedl har¬
mony as poflible. All thefe caufes muft inevitably va¬
ry the melody of the different parts $ but ftill, amidft
all thefe difficulties, the artift ought to be zealous in
preferving the melody of each as homogeneous wdth
the others as pcfiible, that the refult of the whole may
be in lome meafure uniform. Othewife, by counter-
adling each other, the patts will reciprocally deftroy the
effedls one of another.
MELOE, a genusof infeffsof the order of coleoptera.
See Entomology Index.
MELON, a fpecies of cucumis, in the Linnaean fy¬
ftem. See Botany and Gardening/Wex.
Water Melon. See Anguria, Botany Index.
MELOS, in Ancient Geography, an ifland between
Crete and Peloponnefus, about 24 miles from Scyllaeum.
It is about 60 miles in circumference, and of an oblong
figure. It enjoyed its independence for about 700
years before the time of the Peloponnefian war. This
ifland was originally peopled by a Lacedemonian colo¬
ny, 1 116 years before the Chriftian era. For this rea¬
fon the inhabitants refufed to join the reft of the
ifland and the Athenians againft the Peloponnefians.
This refufal w'as feverely "puniffied. The Athenians
took Melos, and put to the fword all fuch as were able
to bear arms. The wmmen and children wmre made
flaves, and the iiland left defolate. An Athenian co¬
lony repeopled it, till Lyfander reconquered it and
re tftablilhed the ori. inal inhabitants in their poffeffio .s.
3 R 2 MELOTHR1A,
[ 499 1
M EL [ 5-
MELOTHRI A, a genus of plants belonging to the
triandria clafs •, and in the natural method ranking under
the 34th order, Cucurbitacex. See Botany Index.
MELPOMENE, in Fabulous Hi/loiy, one of the
mufes, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemofyne. She pre¬
fixed over tragedy. Horace has addrefied the fined of
Ms odes to her, as to the patronefs of lyric poetry.
She was generally repreEnted as a young woman with a
jerious countenance. Her garments were fplendid j
tne wore a bufltin, and held a dagger in one hand and
jn the other a feeptre and crown.
MELROSE, a town of Scotland, in the coun¬
ty of Selkirk, and on the confines of Tweedale, feated
pn the fouth fide of the river Tweed ; with an an¬
cient abbey, now in ruins. W. Long. 2. 32. N. Eat.
55m ^ *
This abbey was founded by King David I. in
1 j 36. He peopled it with Ciitertians brought from
Rivale abbey in York (hire, and dedicated it to the
Virgin Mary. At the reformation James Douglas was
appointed conimcndator, who took down much of the
building, in order to furnith materials for a large hou'e
to himfelf, which dill remains, and is dated I 590.
Nothing is left of the abbey excepting a part of the
rloifter1 walls elegantly carved j but the ruins of the
church are of moft uncommon beauty. Part is at
prefent ufed for divine fervice, the reft uncovered ;
but every part does great honour to the architect.—
Alexander II. was buried beneath the great altar, and
it is alfo the place of interment of the Douglafes and
other potent families.—Its fituation is extremely plea-
lant.
MELT of fishes. In the melt of a living cod
there are facL numbers of thofe animalcules faid to be
found in the femen of ail male animals, that in a drop
of its juice no larger than a grain of fand, there are
contained more than io,gco of them $ and confidering
how many fuch quantities there are in the whole melt
of one fuch fifti, it is not incredible, that there are
more animals in one melt of it than there are
living men at one time upon the face of the earth.
H owever ftrange and romantic fuch a conjeclure
jnuft appear, a ferious confideration and calculation
will make it very evident. An hundred fuch grains
of fand as thofe juft mentioned will make about an
inch in length •, therefore in a cubic inch there \\i!l
be a million of fuch fands; and if there be 10,000
animals in each of thofe quantities, there muft be in
the whole i ip,coo millions, which is a number vaftly
exceeding that of mankind, even fuppofing the whole
as populous as Holland.
MELTING cone, in efiaying, an hollow cone of
brafs or caft iron, into which melted metalline fub-
fiances are thrown, in order to bee them from their
fcor 5EC. W hen a froall quantity of matter is melted,
it will be fuffiejent to rub the infide of the cone with
greafe ", but when the quantity is large, efpecially if
it contains any thing fulphureous, this caution of tal¬
lowing the moulds is not fufficient. In this cafs the
efiaver has recourfe to a lute reduced to thin pap
with water, which effectually prevents any injury to the
cone.
PvIELTON Moubray, a town of Leicefterfliire,
icB miles from London. It is a large well-built place,
-in a fertile foil j with a market cn Tucfday, the moft
O ] M E M
confiderable for cattle of any in this part of the iftand.
It is almoft encompaffed with a little river called the
Eye, over which it has two fine bridges j and has a _
large handfome church, with a free fchool. Here are
frequent horfe races, and three fairs in the year.
ME EVIL, Sir James, defeended from an honour¬
able Scots family, being the third fon of the laird of
Kaeth, was born about the middle of the 16th century.
He went to France very young, in the capacity of
page to Queen Mary, then married to the dauphin ;
and on the death of her hufband, followed her to
Scotland, where he was made gentleman of her cham¬
ber, and admitted a privy counfeilor. She employed
him in her moft important concerns, till her unhappy
confinement in Lochieven, all which he difeharged
with the ulmoft fidelity ; and, from his own accounts,
there is rcafon to conclude, that, had fne taken his
advice, ftie might have avoided many of her misfor¬
tunes. When ftie was prifoner in England, fhe re¬
commended him ftrongly to her fon James 5 with
whom he continued in favour and employment until
the death of Queen Elizabeth : James would then have
taken him to England ; but Melvil, now grown old,
was defireus of retiring from bufinefs, and in his re¬
tirement he drew up the memoirs of his paft life for
the ufe of his fon. Thefe Memoirs were accidentally
found in Edinburgh caftle in the year 1660, though
nobody knew how they came to be depofited there ,
and were publifhed in folio in 1683.
MEMBERS, in sin atomy, the exterior parts, arifing
from the trunk or body of an animal, like the boughs
from the trunk of a tree.
Member, in Architeclure, denotes any part of a
building j as a frieze, cornice, or the like.
Member is fometimes alfo ufed for moulding.
Member, in Grammar, is applied to the parts of a
period or feutence.
Member, is alfo ufed to denote fbme particular or¬
der or rank in a Hate or government: thus we fay,
“ member of a corporation, member of parliament,
member of the council, &C.1’
MEMBRANE, Mkmbrana, in Anatomy, a fimiiar
part of an animal body 5 being a thin, white, flexible,
expanded ftftn, formed of fevetal forts of fibres inter-
woven together, and ferving to cover or wrap up cer¬
tain parts of the body. See Anatomy pafflm.
MEMEL, or Me MM EE ^ a town of Pruflia, fituat-
ed on the northern extremity of the Curifche Haf,
an inlet of the fea about 70 miles in length, which
is here joined to the Baltic by a narrow ftrait.—It is
an ill built town, with narrow dirty ftreets ; but re¬
markable for its extenfive commerce, being provided
with the fineft harbour in the Baltic. In 1784, 996
ftfips, amongft which were 500 Englifti, arrived here.
The imports chiefly are, fait, iron, and falted herrings •,
the exports, which greatly exceed the imports, are am¬
ber, corn, hemp, flax, and particularly timber. An Eng-
Hlh confu! refides here. The trade is daily increafing,
on account of the high duties which the court of Ruf-
fta has laid on the imports of Riga.
MEM NON, in Fabulous Hijfory, a king of Ethio¬
pia, fon of Tithonus and Aurora. He came witb a body
of 10,0 00 men to alii ft his uncle Priam, during the
Trojan war. Pie behaved with great courage, and
killed Antiloclius, Neftcr’s fon. The aged father chal¬
lenged
Melvil
11
Memnon.
MEM [ soi ] M E M
Mernnon ienged the Ethiopian monarch 5 but Memnon refufed
!! it on account of the venerable age of Neftor, and ac-
‘ £m"’^ cepted that of Achilles. He was killed in the com¬
bat, in the fight of the Grecian and Trojan armies.
Aurora prayed Jupiter to grant her fon fuch honours
as might diftinguifii him from other mortals. The
god confented •, and immediately a numerous flight of
birds ilTued from the burning pile on which the body
was laid, and dividing themfelves into two feparate bo¬
dies, fought with fuch fury, that above half of them fell
down in the fire as vicfims to appeafe the rnanes of Mem-
non. Thefe birds were called Memnonides ; and it has
been obferved by feme of the ancients, that they never
failed to return yearly to the tomb of Memnon in
Troas, and repeat the fame bloody engagement in ho¬
nour of the hero from whom they received their name.
The Ethiopians or Egyptians, over whom Memnon
reigned, erefled a celebrated ftatue to the honour of
their monarch. This frame had the wonderful pro¬
perty of uttering a melodious found every day at fun-
rifing, like that which is heard at the breaking of
the firing of a harp when it is wound up. This was
effedled by the rays of the fun when they fell upon
it. At the fetting of the fun, and in the night, the
found was lugubrious. This is fupported by the tefti-
mony of the geographer Strabo, who conftfles him-
felf ignorant whether it proceeded from the bails of
the ftatue, or the people that were then around it.
This celebrated ftatue was difmantled by order of
Cambyfes when he conquered Egypt ; and its ruins
{fill aftonilh modern travellers by their grandeur and
beauty.
Mfmi-'ok of Rhodes, one of the generals of Darius
king of Perfia, advifed that prince to lay wafte the
country, in order to deprive Alexander the Great’s
army of fupport, and afterwards to attack Macedon 5
but this counfel was difapproved by Darius’s other
generals. Memnon behaved at the paiTage of the
Granicus like an experienced general. He after¬
wards defended the city of Miletum with great cou¬
rage ; feized the ifiands of Chio and Lefhos ; fpread
terror throughout all Greece •, and would have put a
flop to the conquefts of Alexander, if he had not been
prevented* by death. Barfina, Memnon’s widow, was
taken prifoner with Darius’s wife, ana Alexander bad
a fon by her named Hercules.
MEMOIRS, in matters of literature, a fpecies of
j ifiorv, written by perfons who had feme fhare in the
tranfaflions they relate ; anfwering to what the Ro¬
mans called Ccmmentarii.—The journals of the pro¬
ceedings of a literary fociety, or a collefiion of matters
tranfafteri therein, are likewife called Memoirs.
MEMORY, a faculty of the mind, which prefects
to us ideas or notions of what is part, accompanied
with a perfuafion that the things themfelves were for¬
merly real and prefent. What we diifincfly remember
to have perceived, we as firmly believe to have happen¬
ed, as what is now prefent to our fenfes.
The opinions of philofophers concerning the means
by which the mind retains the ideas of paft objefls,
and how thofe ideas carry with them evidence of. their
objedls having been aflually perceived, fhall be laid be¬
fore cur readers in another place : (dee Metaphysics,
Part I. chap, ii ) At prefent we fliall throw together
feme obfervatiens on, the memory, which, being of a
praclical rather than of a fpeculative nature, cannot Mcrocry.
be admitted into the article where the nature of the
faculty itfelf is difeufled.
“ When we remember with little or no effort, it is
called remembrance fimply, or memonj, and fometimes
pafjlve memory When we endeavour to remember * Beattie’s
what does not immediately (and as it were) of Hfments
occur, it is called active memory, or recolleBion. A Aloml
ready recolleffion of our knowledge, at the moment '
when we have occafion for it, is a talent of the great-
eft importance. The man poffeffcd of it feldom fails
to diftinguifh Ifimfelf in whatever fort of bufinefs he
may be engaged.” It is indeed evident, that when the
power of retention is weak, all attempts at eminence
of knowledge muft be vain ; for “ memory is the pri¬
mary and fundamental power f, without which there f lulef,
could be no other ivtelledlual operation. Judgement
and ratiocination fuppofe fomething already known,
and draw'their decifions only from experience. Ima¬
gination felebts ideas from the treafures of remem¬
brance, and produces novelty only by varied combina¬
tions. We do not even form conjedtures of diftant,
or anticipations of future, events, but by concluding,
what is poftible from what is paft.”
Of a faculty fo important, many rules have been
given for the regulation and improvement; of which
the firft is, that he who withes to have a clear and di-
ftincl remembrance, fhould be temperate with refpedt
to eating, drinking, and fieep. The memory depends
very much upon the Rate of the brain ; and therefore
whatever is hurtful to the latter, muft be prejudicial
to the former. Too much deep clouds the brain, and
too little overheats it : therefore either of thefe ex¬
tremes muft of courfe hurt the memory, and ought
carefully to be avoided. Intemperance of all kinds,
and excels of paffion, have the fame ill eff els 5 fo that
we rarely meet with an intemperate perfon whofe me¬
mory is at once clear and tenacious.
“ The livelieft remembrance is not fo vivid as the
fenfation that produced it J ; and ideas of memory do f Beattie’s-
often, but not always, decay more and more, as the Elements,
original fenfation becomes more and more remote in
time. Thofe fenfations and thofe thoughts have a
chance to be long remembered which are lively at
firft ; arid thofe are likely to be moft lively which are
moft attended to, or which are accompanied with
pleafure or pain, with wonder, furprife, curiofity, mer¬
riment, and other lively paflions. The art of memo¬
ry, therefore, is little more than the art of attention.
What we with to remember we fhould attend to, io
as to underhand it perfeftly, fixing our view’ particu¬
larly upon its importance or lingular nature,'that it
may raife within us fome of the paffions above men¬
tioned. We fhould alfo difengage our minds from all
other things, that we may attend more effe<51ual!y to
the objedl which we wifti to remember. No man will
read with much advantage who is not able at pleaftire
to evacuate bis mind, or who brings not to bis author
an inteliett defecated and pure,, neither turbid with
care, nor agitated with pleafure. If the repofitories-
of thought are already full, what can they receive ?
If the mind is employed on the paft or the future, the
book will be held before the eyes in vain.
“ It is the praftic? of many readers, to note in the f
margin of their books the moft important paffages
the.
M E M f 502 1 ME M
McfBery. t’ie ftrongeft arguments, or the bnghteA fentiments.
u«^-.v Thus they load their minds with fupeifluous atten¬
tion, reprefs the vehemence of curiofity by ufelefs deli¬
beration, and by frequent interruption break the cur¬
rent of narration or the chain of reafon, and at laft
clofe the volume and forget the paflages and the
marks together. Others are firmly perfuaded, that
nothing is certainly remembered but what is tran-
fcribed and they, therefore, pafs weeks and months
in transferring large quotations to a common place-
book. Yet, why any part of a book which can be
confulted at plea'ure (liould be copied, we are not
able to difcover. The hand has no clofer correfpond-
ence with the memory than the eye. The ad of writ¬
ing itfelf diltradts the thoughts; and what is read
twice, is commonly better remembered than what is
tranfcribed. This method, therefore, confumes time,
without affilling the memory. But to write an a-
bridgement of a good book may fometimes be a very
profitable exercife. In general, w'hen we would pre-
fcrve the doftrines, fentiments, or fads, that occur in
reading, it will be prudent to lay the book aiide, and
put them in writing in our own wmrds. This prac¬
tice will give accuracy to our knowledge, accuftom us
to recolledion, improve us in the ufe of language, and
enable us fo thoroughly to comprehend the thoughts
of other men, as to make them in fome meafure our
own.”
“ Our thoughts have for the moft part a connec-
^ Idler. fi°n * j f° that the thought which is juft now’ in the
mind, depenos partly upon that which went before,
and partly ferves to introduce that which follow’s.—
< Hence we remember beft thofe things of which the
parts are methodically difpofed and mutually con-
neded. A regular dilcourfe makes a more lafting im-
prefiion upon the hearer than a parcel of detached
fentences, and gives to his rational powers a more fa-
lutary exercife : and this may fhow us the propriety
of conduding our ftudies, and all our affairs, according
to a regular plan or method. When this is not done,
our thoughts and our bufmels, efpecially if in any de¬
gree complex, foon run into confufton.”
As the mind is not at all times equally difnofed for
the exercife of this faculty, fuch fea'ons fliould be
made choice of as are moft proper for it. The mind
is feldom fit for attention prefently after meals ; and
to call off the fpirits at fuch times from their pro¬
per employment in digeftion, is apt to cloud the
brain, and prejudice the health. Both the mind and
body Ihould be eafy and undifturbed when w'e engage
in this exercife, and therefore retirement is moft fit
for it : and the evening, juft before w’e go to reft, is
generally recommended as a very convenient feafon,
both from the ftillnefs of the night, and becaufe the
impreflions will then have a longer time to fettle be¬
fore they come to be diflurbed by the acceffion of
others proceeding from external objedls ; and to call
over in the morning what has been committed to the
memory overnight, muft, for the fame reafon, be
very ierviceable. For, to review thofe ideas while
they continue frefh upon the mind, and unmixed
with any others, muft neceffarily imprint them more
deeply.
Some ancient writers fpeak of an artificial me¬
mory, and lay down rules for attaining it. Simonides
l
tb-e poet is faid firft to have difcovered thh, or at leafl: Memory,
to have given the occafion for it. The llory they "''' v ~ ""
tell of him is this : Being once at a feaft, he recited
a poem w’hich he had made in honour of the peA n
who gave the entertainment. But having (as is ufu.il
in poetry) made a large digreffion in praiie of Caftor
and Pollux ; when he had repeated the whole poem,
his patron would give him but half the ium he had
promifed, telling h'm he muft get the other part from
thofe deities who had an equal (hare in the honour of
his performance, immediately after, Simonides was
told that two young men w’ere without, and mutt
needs fpeak with him. He had fcarcely got out of the
houfe, when the room where the company was fell
dowm, killed all the perfons in it, and fo mafhed the
bodies, that, when the rubbifti was thrown off, they
could not be known one from another : upon which
Simonides recollefting the place where every one had
fat, by that means diftinguiihed them. Hence it
came to be obferved, that to fix a number of places
in the mind in a certain order, was a help to the
memory : As wre find by experience, that, upon re¬
turning to places once familiar to us, we not only re¬
member them, but likewife many things we both faid
and did in them. This aclion therefore of Simonides
was afterwards improved into an art; and the nature
of it is this : They bid you form in your mind the
idea of fome large place or building, which you may
divide into a great number of diftintft parts, ranged
and difpofed in a certain order. Thefe you are fre¬
quently to revolve in your thoughts, till you are able
to run them over one after another without hefitation,
beginning at any part. Then you are to imprefs
upon your mind as many images of living creatures,
or any other infenfible objeffs which are moft likely to
affeft you, and be fooneft revived in your memory.
Thefe, like charadlers in fhorthand, or hieroglyphics,
muft ftand to denote an equal number of other words,
which cannot fo eafily be remembered. When there¬
fore you have a number of things to commit to me¬
mory in a certain order, all that you have to do is, to
place thefe images regularly in the feveral parts of
your building. And thus they tell you, that, by go¬
ing over feveral parts of the building, the images
placed in them will be revived in the mind ; which of
courfe will give you the things or words themfelves
in the order you defire to remember them. The ad¬
vantage of the images feems to be this ; that, as they
are more like to affedf the imagination than the words
for which they ftand, they will for that reafon be more
eafily remembered. Thus, for inftance, if the image
of a lion be made to fignify Jlrength, and this word
Jlrength be one of thofe I am to remember, and is
placed in the porch ; when, ingoing over the feveral
parts of the building, I come to the porch, I ftiall foon-
er be reminded of that image than of the wmrd Jlrengtlu
Of this artificial memory, both Cicero and Quintilian
fpeak; but we know not of any modern orator that
has ever made ufe of it. It feems indeed to have been
a laborious w:ay of improving the memory, if it ferves
that end at all, and fitter for aflifting us to remember
any number of unconnedled words than a continual
dilcourfe, unlefs fo far as the remembrance of one word
may enable us to recoiled! more. It is, however, in
allufion to it, that we ftill call the parts of a diicourfe
places
M N E
r
ZZZ’ ar,d ray’ •"‘’•‘fi-J1 intheficond
* "■ y— ijut, doubtlefs, the moft effectual way to gain a
good memory, is by conftant and moderate exercife of
it j for the memory, like other habits, is ftrengthened
and improved by daily ufe. It is indeed hardly cre¬
dible, to what a degree both aftive and paffive remem.
brance may be improved by long praftice. Scaliger re¬
ports of himlelf, that in his youth he could repeat
above i oo verfes, having once read them j and Berthe-
cus declares, that he wrote his Comment upon Clau-
dW without con fulling the text. To hope, however,
tor fuch degrees of memory as thefe, would be equally
vam as to hope tor the (trength of Hercules, or the
wiitnefs of Achilles* 44 But there are clergymen who
* ^ler. can get a fermon by heart * in two hours, though their
memory, when they began to exercile it, was rather
■weak than llrong : ^.nd pleaders, with other orators
■who peak in public and extempore, often difcover, in
calling inflantly to mind all the knowledge neceffary
on the prefent occafion, and every thing of importance
that may have been advanced in the courfe of a long
debate, fuch powers of retention and recolledion as,
to the man who has never been obliged to exert him-
felf in the_ fame manner, are altogether artonilhing.
As habits, in order to be ftrong, mull be formed in ear¬
ly life, the memories of children Ihould, therefore, be
conflantiy exercifed ; but to oblige them to commit to
memory what they do not underhand, perverts their
faculties, and gives them a diflike to learning.” In a
word, thofe who have moft occafion for memory, as
orators and public fpeakers, ftiould not fufter it to lie
idle, but conftantly employ it in treafuring up and fre¬
quently reviving fuch things as may be of moft impor¬
tance to them ; for by thefe means it will be more at
their command, and they may place greater confidence
in it upon any emergency.”
“ complain of nothing more frequently than
\ -Elements of deficient memory -f : and indeed every one finds,
Science^1 a^er eff:'vts> many of the ideas which he
defired to retain have flipped irretrievably away ; that
acquifitions of the mind are fometimes equally fugi¬
tive with the gifts of fortune ; and that a thort inter-
million of attention more certainly leflens knowledge
than impairs an efiate. To aflift this weaknefs of our
nature, many methods befides thofe which we have
mentioned have been propofed ; all of which may be
juftly fufpefted of being ineffeiftual : for no art of me-
mory, however its effe61s may have been boafted or
admired, has been ever adopted into general ufe 5 nor
have thofe who poffeffed it appeared to excel others in
readinefs of recollection or multiplicity of attainments.”
The reader who is defirous to try the effeCl of thofe
helps, may have recourfe to a treati e entitled H new
Method of Artifcial Memory; but the true method of
memory is attention and exercife.
MNEMONIC A, or the art of memory, as it was
called by the ancients, has been lately revived and
ftudied in Germany and France. In fome notices con¬
cerning this lubjjfi which we have feen, it is obferved
th u tl is fcience is more intimately connected with the
E yptiaq h eroglyphics than is generally thought, and
that this connection may help to explain them. In Ger¬
many this art has been revived by M. Aretin j and a
5G3 1 M N E
pupil of nis, M. Kaeftner has been permitted to teach Mnemoni-
the new7 doCtrine at Leipfic, but on the exprefs condi- ca>
Iron of not allowing his hearers to write down his lec- "~v “J
lures. This leems to be a Angular, and we may add
a filly prohibition. The following account is given of
this art in a letter from Paris in the beginning of 1807.
“ During my refidence, fays the writer, in this metro¬
polis I heard a great deal of a new method of mnemo-
nique, or o^ a method to aflift and fix our memory, in¬
vented by Gregor de Feinaigle. Notwithftanding the
fimplicity with w7hich he announced his ledlures in the
papers, I could not determine myfelf to become a pupil
of ins, as I thought to find a quack or mountebank,
and to be laughed at by my friends for having thrown
aw7ay my caih in fuch a foolilh manner. Perhaps I
ftiould helitate to this moment about the utility of'this
newly invented method to aflift our natural memory, had
I not had the pleafure of dining at his excellency’s the
Count of Metternich, the Auftrian ambaffador, who
followed, with all his fecretaries, the whole courfe of
leClures : they all fpoke very advantageoufly of it,
likewife feveral other perfons of the firft rank I met
there : in confequence of this I was inferted into the
lift of pupils, and I follow, at this moment, the lec¬
tures. All I can tell you about this method is, it is a -
very Ample one, and eafy to be learned, adapted to all
ages and fexes : all difficulties in fuch fciences as re¬
quire an extraordinary good memory, for inftance, the
names and epochs in hiftory, are at once overcome and
obviated. There is not one branch of fcience to which
this method cannot be applied. It is eafy to be per¬
ceived that fuch an invention cannot pafs without fome
critique, and even farcafms, in the public prints : fome
of them were very injurious, and plaufible enough to
miflead the public, who, knowing nothing of the me¬
thod, are always more ready to condemn than to aflift.
Mr Feinaigle, to anlvver all theie critics at once, adopt¬
ed a method not lefs public for Paris than the public
papers, but lefs public for the reft of Europe : he gave,
the 2 2d of laft month, a public exhibition to about
2000 lpe<ftators, in which he did not appear at all, only
about 1 2 or 1 5 of his pupils : each of them made fuch
an application of the method as his fituation in life re¬
quired. The principal parts were the following : hif¬
tory, about names and years ; geography, with refpeft
to longitude, latitude, number of inhabitants, f j .are
miles, &c. &c. ; grammar in various languages, about
different editions of the fame wmrk ; pandects, their di-
viiion, and title of each book, title, &c •, different lyf-
tems of botany, poetry, arithmetic, &c. &c. At I'aft
one defired the company to give him one thouland
words, without anv connection whatfoever, and with¬
out numeric order ; for inftance, the rvord ajlronomer
for N°. 62 •, wood, for N° 188 ; lovely, for N° 3 70 $
dynafly, for N°. 23 j David, for N® 90, &c. &c. nil
all the numbers were filled ; and he repeated the whole
(notwithftanding he heard thefe words without order,
and but once,) in the numerical order •, or he told vou
what word was given againft any one number, or what
number any one word bore. It is (till more Striking, but
certainly, likewife, more difficult, to retain as many
numbers however great th y may be. For words and
numbers I could venture m; fell, with the greatest fafe-
ty, as far as one hundred ©f each 3 and I am lure, after
having'
M E M
t S«4 ]
MEN
]\rf vnj.1v s.
liavrnp' fixed them once, which is done in lets than ten
minutes, I could repeat them to you nt any penod,
without ever thinking any more of them .
MEMPHIS, an ancient city, and the royal reh-
.dence of the kings in the Higher Egypt j diftant from
the Delta to the fouth 15 miles, according to Pliny.
Called alio Moph, and Xoph, in fcripture.
Though this city is now fo completely ruined, that
authors greatly difagree concerning its fituation 5 yet
Strabo informs us that in his time it was the moft mag¬
nificent in Egypt, next to Alexandria. It was called
the capital of the country *, and there was an entire
temple of Odris, where the Apis or facred ox was
kept and worlhipped. In the fame place was an apart¬
ment of the mother of the cx •, a very magnificent
temple of Vulcan *, a large circus or ipace for fight-
incv bulls-, and a great coloffus in the middle or the
citv', which was thrown down. There was likewne a
temple of Venus, and a Serapium in a very fandy
place, where the wind heaps up hills of land very dan¬
gerous to travellers together with a number of
iphinxes, the heads of fome of them only being vi-
fible, the others covered up to the middle ol their
body. The fame author likewife informs us, that m
the front of the city there were many lakes and that
it contained a number of palaces, at that time in ruins.
Thefe buildings, he faid, formerly ftood upon an emi¬
nence : they lay along the fide of the hill, ftretchmg
.down to the lakes and groves, 40 ftadia from the city.
There was likewife a mountain in the neighbourhood,
on which were a great number of pyramids, with the
iepulchres of the kings, among which were three re¬
markable, and two of them accounted wonders of the
world. From this defcription, Mr Bruce concludes
to themfelves fome fecret paffages by which they de- Menage,
fcend. In a journey into Egypt made by the duke ; i(-njruie':
de Chaulnes, he advanced very far into thefe winding
labyrinths, fometimes crawling, and iometimes fcramb-
ling on his knees. Informed by Mr Edward Wort-
ley Montague, who has carefully vifited Egypt, he ar¬
rived at one of thofe paffages which had an opening
lliut up from without by branches of the date ti«m in¬
terwoven, and covered with laud. He remarked theie
fome hieroglyphics in relievo, executed in the highefc
perfeaion.' But the Arabs refifted every offer he made
them to permit him to take drawings of them, or to
mould them, in order to preferve their form. The duke
de Chaulnes is of opinion that theie hieroglyphics,
fculptured with fo much art that the objedts they re-
prefcnt may he difcovered at the lirff fight, might pof-
fihly furnilh the key of the others, whofe contours are
{imply exprefied, and form a foUi of alphabet of this
unintelligible language. Several pyramids are diftin-
guifliable along the mountains which bound Saccara on
the weft, the greateft part of which appear as lofty as
thofe of Gifa. ’ See Pyramids.
MENACE (Fr.), denotes a collection of animais ‘7
whence we have derived the word menagery.
MENANDER, an ancient Greek poet, was bom
at Athens in the fame year with Epicurus, which was
the third of the 109th Olympiad. His happinefs in
introducing the new comedy, and refining an art which
had been fo grofs and licentious in former times, quick¬
ly fpread his name over the world. Piiny intorms us,
that the kings of Egypt and Macedon gave a noble
teftimony of his merit, by lending ambaffadors to in¬
vite him to their courts, and even tleets to bring him
but that Menander was fo much of a plulolo-
that the celebrated capital of Egypt ftood in the place
where the villages of Metrahenny are now fituated ; in
oppofition to Dr Shaw’s opinion, who thinks it was
fituated at Geeza or Gila.
M. Savary has alfo drown, that Gifa was not the ii-
tuation of the ancient Memphis, ihis ftood, ne fays,
on the weflern bank of the Nile, on the fpot where
the village of Memph now ftands; which ftdl preferves
the name. Large heaps of rubbifh are ftill to he feen
there ; but the Arabs have tranfported to Cairo the
columns and remarkable ftones, which they have dif-
pofed without tafte and without order, in their
mofques and public buildings. This city extended as
far as Saccara and was aim oft wholly encompafled by
lakes, part of which are ftill fubfiftmg. It was ne-
ceffarv to crofs them to convey the dead to the le-
pukhre of their fathers. The tombs, hewn out of
the rock, were clofed up with ftones of a proportion¬
able fize, and covered with land. Thefe bodies em¬
balmed with fo much care, preferved with lo much
refpeft, are torn from the monuments they repoie in,
and fold without decency to ftrangers by the inhabi¬
tants of Saccara. This place, is called the plain of mum¬
mies. There too we find the well of the bird/, into
which one del'cends by paeans of a rope. It leads to
futfterraneous galleries, filled with earthen vafes cqn-
taini&cr the facred birds. They are rarely met with
entire^becaufe the Arabs break them in hopes of find-
hw idols of gold. They do not conduT travellers in¬
to'" the places where they have found more precious ar¬
ticle' They even clofe them up carefully, referving
3
pher, as to prefer the free enjoyment of his ftudies to
the promifed favour of the great. . Of his works,
which amounted to above I co comedies, we have had
a double lofs, the originals being not. only yanilhed,
but the greateft part of them, when copied by Terence,
having unfortunately perhhed by Ihipwreck before they
faw Rome. Yet the four plays which Terence bor¬
rowed from him before that accident happened,, are
ftill preferved in the Roman habit 1 and it is chieuy
from Terence that moft people form their judgement
of Menander, the fragments that remain of him not
being fufficient to enable them to do it. The ancients
have laid high things of Menanderand we find the
old rnafters^of rhetoric recommending his works as
the true patterns of every beauty and every grace of
public {peaking. Quintilian ceclares, that a careml
imitation of Menander only, will fatisfy all the rules he
has laid down in his inftitutions. It is in Menander
that be would have his orator fearch for a copioufnefs
of invention, for a happy elegance of expreffion, and
efpeeially for that univerial genius which is able to ac¬
commodate itfelf to perfons, things, and affe&ions.—
But Julius C re far has left the loftieft as well as the
iufteft pvaife of Menander’s works, when he calls Te¬
rence only a Half-Menander. For wlyle the virtues of
the Latin poet are fo delervedly admired, it is impof-
fible we (hould raife a higher notion of excellency than
to conceive the great original ftill Ihining with half its
luftre unrefleaed, and preferving an equal part, of its
oraces, above the power of the belt copier in the-
world. Menander died in the 3d year of the 122d
Olympiad,
MEN [ 505 ] MEN
Maiardri- Olympi^J, as we are taught by the fame old infcription
ans^ from which we learn the time of his birth. His tomb,
, et^a e in Paufanias’s age, was to be feen at Athens, in the
way from the Pirasus to the city, clofe by the hono¬
rary monument of Euripides. Quintilian, in his judge¬
ment of Afranius the Roman comedian, who imitated
him, cenfures Menander’s morals as much as he com¬
mends his writings $ and his charafter, according to
Suidas, is, that he was a very “ mad fellow after wo¬
men.” Phaedrus has given him the gait end drefs of a
moft affedted fop : '
“ Unguento delibutus, veflitu adfluens,
“ Veniebat greflu delicatulo et languido.”
Lib. v. fab. 2*
MENANDRIANS, the moft ancient branch of
Gnoftics ; thus called from Menander their chief, faid
by fome, without fufRcient foundation, to have been
a difciple of Simon Magus, and himfelf a reputed ma¬
gician.
He taught, that no perfon could be faved, unlefs he
were baptifed in his name ; and he conferred a peculiar
fort of baptifm, which would render thofe who received
it immortal in the next world : exhibiting himfelf to the
world, with the phrenfy of a lunatic more than the
founder of a fedl, as a promifed faviour. For it appears
by the teflimonies of Irenaeus, Juftin, and Tertullian,
that he pretended to be one of the aeons fent from the
pleroma, or ecclefiaftical regions, to fuccour the fouls
that lay groaning under bodily oppreflionand Servitude;
and to maintain them againft the violence and ftrata-
gems of the daemons that hold the reins of empire in
this fublunary world. As this doflrine was built upon
the fame foundation with that of Simon Magus, the an¬
cient waiters looked upon him as the inftrudlor of Me¬
nander. See SlMONlANS.
MENASSEH Ben Israel, a celebrated rabbi,
bom in Portugal about the year 1604, was the fon
of Jofeph Ben Ifrael, and followed his father into Hol¬
land. Here he wras educated By Rabbi Ifaac Uziel,
under w'hom he in a ftiort time made fuch progrefs in
the Hebrew tongue, that at 18 years of age he fuc-
ceeded him in the fynagogue of Amfterdam. In this
poft he continued feveral years, and married Rachel of
the family of the Abarbanels, whom the Jews imagine
to be defeended from King David. He afterwards
went to his brother Ephraim, a rich merchant, wdio
had fettled at Bafil j by whofe advice he entered into
trade. Some time after, the hopes of a more agree¬
able fettlement induced him to come into England,
under the prote&orfliip of Cromwell j w'ho gave him a
very favourable reception, and one day entertained him
at his table with feveral other learned divines. How¬
ever, he foon after pafled into Zealand ; and died at
Middleburg about the year 1657* J Jews at Am-
flerdam obtained his body, and interred it at their ex¬
pence. He was of the fedt of the Pharifeesj had a
lively wit, a folid judgement, great learning, and all
the virtues that can adorn private life. He wrote
many works in Hebrew’, Latin, Spanifh, and Eng-
lifh. The principal of thofe publiftied in Latin, are,
I. His Conciliator; a learned and curious work, in
which he reconciles thofe paffages of Scripture which
feem to contradift each other. 2. De refurreElione mor-
tuorum. 3. De termino vita. 4. DiJJertatio de fragu
VoLj XIII. Part II.
tate humana, ex lapfu Adami, deque Divino inbono opere Mendel-
auxilio. 5. Spes ifrael. Dr Thomas Pococke has writ-
ten his life in Englifh. ^11 t7"
MENDELSHON, Moses, that is, Mofes the fon ^
of Mendel, a Jew of Berlin, and one of the moft cele¬
brated waiters in Gv=rmany, died there in the year 178?
at the age of 57. His fourth attempt as an author W’as
foon after 1767, by a work entitled Jerufalem; in which,
belides other bold and unjuftifiable opinions, he main¬
tains, that the Jews have a revealed law but not a re¬
vealed religion j that opinions are not fubjefts of re¬
velation *, and that the only religion of the Jewilh na¬
tion is that of nature. He acquired great honour by
his Phcedon, or “ Difcourfes on the Immateriality and
Immortality of the Soul,” tranflated into the French
1773, 8vo; in which he unfolds this important truth,
the great foundation of all morality, with the wifdom
of an enlightened philofopher and the charms of an ele¬
gant writer. In confequence of this excellent work,
he was ftyled the Jewif} Socrates by fome of the pe¬
riodical writers ; but he wanted the firmnefs and cou¬
rage of the Grecian philofopher. His timidity, and
even pufillanimity, defefts too common in fpeculative
men, prevented him from being of any enential fervice
to his nation ; of which he might have become the
benefa&or by being the reformer. The pliancy of his
charadfer, his foft, modeft, and obliging difpofition,
gained him the efteem alike of the fuperftitious and
of the incredulous. After all, he could never procure
admiflion to the Berlin fociety, or to the converfation
of the king of Pruffia. At his death he received from
his nation thofe honours w’hich are commonly paid to
their firft rabbins. Contrary to an imprudent cuftom
prevalent among the Jews of burying their dead before
fanfet, his interment was delayed till 24 hours after he
expired. Though Mendelflion was defeended from a
refpedlable family, he was very poor. In early life he
entered into a counting-houfe of his own nation, where¬
in he greatly recommended himfelf by his capacity and
integrity in bulinefs : But philofophy and literature foon
became has principal occupation ; and to the famous
Lefting he w’as indebted for counfels w’hich, wuthout
diverting his attention from thofe purfuits that were
neeeflaxy terdns fubfiftence, accelerated his progrefs in
his literary career. Even after the death of his bene-
fa&or, Mendelfhon retained for him the fincereft regard
and the moft lively gratitude. Notwuthftanding the
very ftrift regimen which he obferved, he furvived him
only a few years ; for his feeble frame and weak confti«
tution w’ere gradually and infenfibly undermined by in-
tenfe application to ftudy.
MENDEZ Pinto, Ferdinand, was born at Monte-
mor o-velho in Portugal, and was at firft fervant to a
Portug.uefe gentleman. In expectation of making a
fortune, he embarked for India in 1537. His veffel
being taken by the Turks -on his paffage, he was car¬
ried to Mocka, and fold to a Greek renegade, and
afterwards to a Jew, in whofe pofieftion he continued
till he w’as redeemed by the governor of Ormus, a Por-
tuguefe fort. The governor procured him an oppor¬
tunity of going out to India, agreeable to his firft de-
fign. During a refidence of tw’erity-one years in that
country, he was w’itnefs to very important tranfaclions,
and experienced many lingular adventures. He re¬
turned to Portugal in 1558, where he enjoyed the re-
3 S ward
M E . N [ co6 ] M E N
Mentlj. Ttarcl of his labours, after having been thirteen times
caLts' .. a Have and fi.xteen times fold. A very curious ac¬
count of his travels was written by himfelf, and pub-
iiihed at Lifhon, A. D. 7614, in folio. This work
was tranflated into French by Bernard Figuier, a Por-
tuguefe gentleman, and printed at Paris 1645, in 4'to.
It is written in a very intereftxng manner, and in a
llyle more elegant than might have been expelled
from a man whefe whole life was fpent in the camp
and in flavery. It elucidates a great variety of parti¬
culars relating to the geography, hiflory, and man¬
ners of the inhabitants of China, Japan, Pegu, Siam,
Achem, Java, &c. Many of his fufts appeared
fabulous, but their truth has been fince afeertained.
M. de Surgi compiled an intereding hiftory from the
mod lingular fails in Mendez Pinto’s relation, which
he publifhed in the ViciJJitudes de la Fortune, Paris,
2 vols. 8vo.
MENDICANTS, or Begging Friars, feveral or¬
ders of religious in Popifli countries, who having no
fettled revenues, are fupported by the charitable con¬
tributions they receive from others.
This fort of fociety began in the 13th century j and
the members of it, by the tenor of their inllitution,
were to remain entirely deftitute of all fixed revenues
and pofleffions; though in procefs of time their num¬
ber became a heavy tax upon the people. Innocent
III. was the firft of the popes who perceived the ne-
cefiity of inftituting fuch an order •, and accordingly
he gave fuch monadic focieties, as made a prefeffion
of poverty, the mod didinguifhing marks of his pro-
teftion and favour. They were alfo encouraged and
patronized by the fucceeding pontiffs, when experi¬
ence had demondrated their public and extenfive ufe-
fulnefs. But when it became generally known, that
they had fuch a peculiar place in the edeem and pro¬
tection of the rulers of the church, their number grew
to luch an enormous and unwieldy multitude, and
fvvarmed fo prodigioufiy in all the European provinces,
that they became a burden, not only to the people,
but to the church itfelf. The great inconvenience
that arofe from the expeffive multiplication of the
mendicant orders was remedied by Gregory X. in a
general council, which he affembled at Lyons in 1272.
For here all the religious orders that had fprung up
after the council held at Rome in 121$, under the
pontificate of Innocent III. were fuppreffed ; and the
extravagant multitude of mendicants, as Gregory call¬
ed them, were reduced to a fmaller number, and con¬
fined to the four following focieties or denominations,
viz. the Dominicans, the Franciscans, the Carme¬
lites, and the Augustins or hermits of St Au-
guffin.
As the pontiffs allowed thefe four mendicant orders
the liberty of travelling wherever they thought proper,
of converfing with perfons of every rank, of inftruT-
ing the youth and multitude whefever they went ; and
as thofe monks exhibited, in their outward appearance
and manner of life, more firiking marks of gravity and
holinefs than svere obfervable in the other monaftic
focieties, they arofe all at once to the very fummit of
fame, and were regarded with the utmoft efteem and
veneration through all the countries of Europe. The
enthufiafti' attachment to thefe fanftimonious beggars
went fo far, that, as we learn from the moft authentic
records, fevcial cities were divided or cantoned out Mencli-
into four parts, with a view to thefe four orders ; the cants-
firft part being afligned to the Dominicans, the iecond '"""“v
to the Francifcans, the third to the Carmelites, and
the fourth to the Auguftins. The people were un¬
willing to receive the facraments from any other hands
than thofe of the mendicants, to whofe churches they
crowded to perform their devotions, while living, and
were extremely defirous to depofite there alfo their re¬
mains after death: nor did the influence and credit
of the mendicants end here ; for we find in the hicory
of this and of the fucceeding ages, that they wrere em¬
ployed, not only in fpiritual matters, but alfo in tempor¬
al and political affairs of the greateft confequence, in
compofing the differences of princes, concluding treaties
of peace, concerting alliances, prefiding in cabinet
councils, governing courts, levying taxes, and other
occupations, not only remote from, but abfolutely in-
conflftent with, the monaftic charafler and profeifion.
However, the power of the Dominicans and Francifcans
greatly furpaffed that of the other two orders : info-
much that thefe two orders w’ere, before the Reforma¬
tion, what the Jefuits have been iince that happy and
glorious period, the very foul of the hierarchy, the en¬
gines of the ftate, the fecret fprings of all the motions
of the one and the other, and the authors and di¬
rectors of every great and important event, both in the
religious and political world. By very quick progref-
fion their pi-ide and confidence arrived at fuch a pitch,
that they had the prefumption to declare publicly, that
they had a divine impulfe and commiftion to illuftrate
and maintain the religion of Jefus ; they treated with
the utmoft infclence and contempt all the different or¬
ders of the priefthood ; they affirmed, without a blufh,
that the true method of obtaining falvation w'as reveal¬
ed to them alone ; proclaimed, with oftentation, the
fuperior efficacy and virtue of their indulgencies j and
vaunted beyond meafure their intereft at the court of
heaven, and their familiar connexions with the Su¬
preme Being, the Virgin Mary, and the faints in glory.
By thefe impious wiles, they fo deluded and captivated
the miferable, and blinded the multitude, that they
would not intruft any other but the mendicants with
the care of their fouls. They retained their credit and
influence to fuch a degree, towards the clofe of the 14th
century, that great numbers of both (exes, fome in¬
health, others in a ftate of infirmity, and others at the
point of death, earneftly defired to be admitted into
the mendicant order, which they looked upon as a fure
and infallible method of rendering heaven propitious.
Many made it an effential part of their laft wills, that
their bodies after death fhould be wrapped in old rag¬
ged Dominican or Francifcan habits, and interred
among the mendicants. For fuch was the barbarous
fuperftition and w'retched Ignorance of this age, that
people univerfally believed the y ftiould readily obtain
mercy from Chrift, at the day of judgement, if they
appeared before his tribunal aftociated with the menoi-
cant friars.
About this time, however, they fell under an uni-
verlal odium • but being refolutel) prote&ed againft
all oppeiition, whether open or fecret, by the popes,
who regarded them as their heft friends and moft ef
ffftual fupports, they fuffered little or nothing from
the efforts of their numerous adverianes. In the 15th
' century,
MEN [ 507 ] M "E N
Mfiie century, befides their arrogance, which was exceflive,
H a quarrelfome and litigious fpirit prevailed among
^mus^6" t^em> and drewr upon them juftly the difpleafure and
- indignation of many. By afiording refuge at this
time to the Beguins in their order, they became of-
fenfive to the bilhops, and were hereby involved in
difficulties and perplexities of various kinds. They
loft their credit in the 16th century by their ruftic
impudence, their ridiculous fuperftitions, their igno¬
rance, cruelty, and brutiffi manners. They difcover-
ed the moft barbarous averfion to the arts and fciences,
and cxpreffed a like abhorrence of certain eminent and
learned men, who endeavoured to open the paths of
fcience to the purfuits of the ftudious youth, recom¬
mended the culture of the mind, and attacked the
barbarifm of the age in their writings and difcourfe.
Their general charafter, together wuth other circum-
ftances, concurred to render a reformation deftrable,
and to accompliftr this happy event.
Among the number of mendicants are alfo ranked
the Capuchins, Recolle6ls, Minims, and others, who
are branches or derivations from the formeiv
Buchanan tells us, the mendicants in Scotland, un¬
der an appearance of beggary, lived a very luxurious
life ; wffience one wittily called them, not Mendicant
but Manducant friars.
MENE, a Chaldean word, which fignifies “ he has
numbered or counted being one of the three words
that were written upon the wall by the hand that ap¬
peared to Bellhazzar, the laft king of Babylon, the
night that he w’as put to death. See Belshazzar.
MENECRATES, a phyfician of Syracufe, wffio
flouriffied about 360 B. C. is famous for his {kill in
Ins profeffion, but much more for his vanity. He
would always be followed by fome of the patients he
had cured, and with whom he previoufly ftipulated
that they fhould follow him wherever he went. One
appeared with the attributes of Hercules, another with
thofe of Apollo, and others again with thofe of Mer¬
cury or AEfculapius ; while he, clad in a purple robe,
with a golden crown on his head, and a fceptre in his
hand, prefented himfelf, to the admiration of the pub¬
lic, under the name of Jitpiter, and travelled through
different countries efcorted by thefe counterfeit dei¬
ties. He once wrote the following letter to the king
of Macedon : Menecrates Jupiter to Philip, greeting.
Thou reigneft in Macedonia, and I in medicine ; thou
giveft death to thofe who are in good health, I reftore
life to the fick ; thy guard is compofed ol Macedo¬
nians ; the gods themfelves conftitute mine.” Philip
anfwered him in a word, that he wiftied him reftored
to reafon. Learning fome time after that he wras in
Macedon, Philip fent for him, and invited him to an
entertainment. Menecrates and his companions were
placed on rich and lofty couches j before which was
an altar, covered with the firft fruits of the harveft ;
and whilft an excellent repaft was ferved up to the
other guefts, perfumes and libations only were offered
to thefe new gods, who, unable to endure the affront,
haftily left the palace, in which they never more made
their appearance.
MENEDEMUS, a Greek philofopher, born at
Etythreum, was the fon of Califthenes, and one of
Phedo’s followers. He was in the greateft efteem, and
enjoyed feveral important pofts, in his owm country.
He feveral times defended Erythreum with great bra- Menelaus
very, and died of grief when Antigonus became mafter 1!. ,
ot it. A perlon one day faying to him, “ It is a great . <
happinefs to have what wre delire,” he replied, “ It is
a much greater to defire nothing but wffiat w7e have.”
He flouriffied about 300 B. C.
MENELAUS, the fon of Atreus, and the brother
of Agamemnon, reigned at Sparta, when Paris de¬
prived him of his wife Plelen. This rape occafioned
the famous wrar of Troy. See Helen.
Menelaus, a mathematician in the reign of the
emperor Trajan, wrote three books on the Sphere,
which have been publifhed by Father Marfenne.
MENES, born at This, a town of Thebais in Up¬
per Egypt, was the founder of the Egyptian empire.
He had three fons, viz. Athotls, who ruled after him,
at This and Thebes; Curudes, who in Lower Egypt
founded the kirtgdom of Pleliopoli, which afterward
was the kingdom of Diofpoli ; and Necherophes, who
reigned at Memphis. It is thought this Menes reign¬
ed 11 y years after the birth of Phaleg, fon of Heber,
which was the very .year of the difperlion of the people,
throughout the whole earth. In building Memphis,
he flopped the Nile near it, by the invention of a
caufeway'100 furlongs broad, and caufed it to run
through the mountains.1
MENIALS, domeftic or houfehold fervants, who
live under their lord or mafter’s roof.
MENINGES, or Menynges, in Anatomy, a name
given to the dura and pia mater of the brain. See A-
NATOMY, N° 129.
MENINX, an iiland in the Mediterranean, to the
weft of the Syrtis Minor. Suppofed by Strabo and
Polybius to be Homer’s country of the Lotophagi j
and hence Ptolemy and Eratofthenes denominate the
ifland Lotopi:aphis, with a cognominal town Meninx.
It w7as the country of Vibius Gallus the emperor, and
of Volufianus. Now7 called Gerbi and Zarbi.
MENIPPUS, a cynic philofopher of Phoenicia.
He was originally a {lave, but obtained his liberty
with a fum of money, and became one of the greateft
ufurers at Thebes. He grew fo defperate from the
continual reproaches and infults to w'hich he was daily
expofed on account of his meannefs, that he deftroy-
%d himfelf. He wuote 13 books of fatires, which have
been loft.
MEN1PPEAN (fatira Mkkippea), a kind of fa-
tire confifting of profe and verfe ihtermixed. It is
thus called from Menippus a cynic philofopher who
delighted in compefing fatirical letters, &c. In imi¬
tation of him, Varro alfo wrote fatires under the title
of Satires Me nip pc <e : whence this fort of compofition
is alfo denominated Varrotiian fatire.
Among the moderns there is a famous piece under
this title firft publifhed in 1594, again!! the chiefs of
the league, called alfo the Catholicon of Spain. It is
efteemed a mafterpiece for the time.
MENISCUS, in Optics, a glafs or lens, concave on
one fide and convex on the other; fometimes alfo call¬
ed lunula. See Optics.
MENISPERMUM, moonseed, a genus of plants
belonging to the dioecia clafi,. and in the natural me¬
thod ranking under the nth order, Sannentacecc. See
Botany Index.
MENNITH, or Minnith, Judges xi. 33. a town
3 S 2 near
MEN
near Hefhbon (Jerome), in Arabia Petrcea j in a di-
ftri£t named Ecoftpohs^ or tvjentj-tovjnsy (Cellarius).
There is alfo a Minnith mentioned Ezekiel xxvii. as
being in a good wheat country : but whether the
fame with the foregoing is uncertain j though feme
think that the firit Minnith lay in the country of Am¬
mon, (Wells).
MENNONiTES, a feci in the United Provinces,
in moll refpedds the fame with thole in other places
called Anabapttjfs.
They had their rife in 1536, when Menno Simon,
a native of Friefland, who had been a Romllh prieft,
and a notorious profligate, refigned his rank and office
in the Romifh church, and publicly embraced the com¬
munion of the Anabaptills.
Menno was born at Witmarfum, a village in the
neighbourhood of Boifwert in Frielland, in the year
1505, and died in 1561 in the duchy of Holftein, at
the country feat of a certain nobleman not far from
the city of Oldefloe, who, moved with compaffion by
a view of the perils to which Menno u>as expofed, and
the fnares that were daily laid for his ruin, took him
with certain of his aflbciates into his protedion, and
gave him an afylum. The writings of Menno, which
are almoft all compofed in the Dutch language, where
publiffied in folio at Amfterdam in the year 1651.
About the year 1637, Menno was earnelily folicited
by many of the fed with which he cpnneded himfelf,
to alTume among them the rank and fundions of a
public teacher ; and as he looked upon the perfons
who made this propofal to be exempt from the fana¬
tical phrenfy of their brethren at Manlier (though
according to other accounts they were originally of
the fame (lamp, only rendered fomewhat wifer by their
bufferings), he yielded to their entreaties. From this
period to the end of his life, he travelled from one
country to another with his wife and children, exer-
cifing his miniltry, under preffures and calamities of
various kinds, that fucceeded each other without in¬
terruption, and conllantly expofed to the danger of
falling a vidim to the feverity of the laws. Eall and
Well Frielland, together with the province of Gro-
ningen, were firit vilited by this zealous apoltle of the
Anabaptills 5 from whence he direded his courfe into
Holland, Guelderland, Brabant, and Wellphalia, con¬
tinued it through the German provinces that lie on
the coalts of the Baltic fea, and penetrated as far as
Livonia. In all thebe places his minilterial labours
were attended with remarkable fuccefs, and added to
his fed a p'rodigious number of followers. Hence he
is defervedly confidered as the common chief of almoll
all the Anabaptifts, and the parent of the fed that Hill
fublifls under that denomination. Menno wTas a man
of genius, undireded by a very found judgement; he
poffeffed a natural and perfualive eloquence, and fuch
a. degree of learning as made him pafs for an oracle in
the ellimation of the multitude. He appears, more-
-over, to have been a man of probity, of a meek and
tradtable fpirit, gentle in his manners, pliable and ob-
iequious in his commerce with perfons of all ranks and
charaders, and extremely zealous in promoting prac¬
tical religion and virtue, which he recommended by
his example as well as By his precepts. The plan of
dodrine and difcipline drawn up by Menno was of a
SQUch more mild and moderate nature than that of the
[ 508 ]
MEN
furious and fanatical Anabaptists, whofe tumultuous
proceedings have been recited under that article, but
fomewhat more fevere, though more clear and con¬
fident, than the dodrine of the w’ifer branches of that
fed, who aimed at nothing more than the reiloration
of the Chrillian church to its primitive purity. Ac¬
cordingly he condemned the plan of ecclefiailical dif¬
cipline that was founded on the profped of a new
kingdom, to be miraculsufly eftabliffied by Jefus Chrift
on the ruins ot civil government and the deftrudion
ot human rulers, and which had been the fatal and
pefiiiential fource of fuch dreadful commotions, liich
execrable rebellions, and fuch enormous crimes. He
declared publicly his diflike of that dodrine, which
pointed out the approach of a marvellous reformation
in the church by the means of a new and extraordi¬
nary effufion of the Holy Spirit. He expreffed his
abhorrence of the licentious tenets, which feveral of
the Anabaptifts had maintained, with refped to the
lawffiulnefs of polygamy and divorce 5 and finally, con¬
fidered as unworthy of toleration thofe fanatics who
were of opinion that the Holy Ghoft continued to
defcend into the minds of many choien believers, in
as extraordinary a manner as he did at the firft efta-
bliffiment of the Chriftian churchy and that he teftified
this peculiar prefence to feveral of the faithful by mi¬
racles, predidions, dreams, and vifions of various kinds.
He retained indeed the dodrines commonly received
among the Anabaptifts, in relation to the baptifm of
infants, the millennium, or 1000 years reign of Chrift
upon earth, the exclufion of magiftrates from the
Chriftian church, the abolition of wrar, and the pro¬
hibition of oaths enjoined by our Saviour, and the
vanity as well as the pernicious effeds of human fcience.
But while Menno retained thefe dodrines in a gene¬
ral fenfe, he explained and modified them in fucb a
manner as made them refemble the religious tenets that
were univerfally received in the Proteftant churches ;
and this rendered them agreeable to many, and made
them appear inoffenfive even to numbers who had no
inclination to embrace them. It however fo happened,
that the nature of the dodrines confidered in them-
felves, the eloquence of Menno which fet them off to
fuch advantage, and the circumftances of the times,
gave a high degree of credit to the religious fyftem of
this famous teacher among the Anabaptifts, fo that
it made a rapid progrefs in that fed. And thus it
was in conffequence of the miniftry of Menno, that the
different forts of Anabaptifts agreed together in ex¬
cluding from their communion the fanatics that dif-
honoured it, and in renouncing all tenets that were
detrimental to the authority of civil government, and
by an unexpeded coalition formed themfelves into one
community.
Though the Mennonites ufually pafs for a fed of
Anabaptifts, yet M. Herman Schyn, a Mennonite
minifter, who has publiffied their hiftory and apology,
maintains, that they are not Anabaptifts either in
principle or by origin. However, nothing can be
more certain than this fad, viz. that the firft Men¬
nonite congregations were compofed of the different
forts of Anabaptifts, of thole who had been always
inoffenfive and upright, and of thofe who, before their
converfion by the miniftry of Menno, had been fedi-
tious fanatics; befides, it is alleged, that the Menno¬
nites
9>
MEN [ 5°9 ] MEN
Mennc- nites do actually retain, at this day, fome of thole
rites. opinions and doftrines, which led the fediiious and
turbulent Anabaptifts of old to the commiffion of fo
many and fuch enormous crimes : luch particularly is
the dottrine concerning the nature of Chrift’s king¬
dom, or of the church of the New Teftament, though
modified in fuch a manner as to have loft its noxious
qualities, and to be no longer pernicious in its influ¬
ence.
The Mennonites are fubdivided into feveral fefts j
whereof the two principal are the Flandrians or
Fleming!ans, and the Waterlandians. rIhe opi¬
nions, fays Moflieim, that are held in common by the
Mennonites, feem to be all derived from this fundamen¬
tal principle, that the kingdom which Chrift edabliih-
ed upon earth is a vifible church or community, into
which the holy and juft alone are to be admitted, and
which is confequently exempt from all thoie inflitu-
tions and rules of difcipline that have been invented
by human wifdom, for the correction and reformation
of the wicked. This principle, indeed, was avowed
by the ancient Mennonites, but it is now almoft whol¬
ly renounced : neverthelefs, from this ancient doftrine,
many of the religious opinions that diftinguilh the
Mennonites from all other Chriftian communities,
feem to be derived : in confequence of this doftrine,
they admit none to the facrament of baptifm but
perfons that are come to the full ufe of their reafon j
they neither admit civil rulers into their communion,
nor allow any of their members to perform the func¬
tions of magiftracy 5 they deny the lawfulnefs of re¬
pelling force by force, and confider war, in all its
fhapes, as unchriftian and unjuft j they entertain the
utmoft averfion to the execution of juftice, and more
efpecially to capital punifhments \ and they alfo refufe
to confirm their teftimony by an oath. The particu¬
lar fentiments that divided the more confiderable. fo-
cieties of the Mennonites are the followingThe rigid
Mennonites, called the Flemingians, maintain with va¬
rious degrees of rigour, the opinions of their founder
Menno, as to the human nature of Chrift, alleging
that it was produced in the womb of the \ irgin by
the creating powTer of the Holy Ghoft j the obligation
that binds us to waftr the feet of ftrangers, in confe-
quence of our Saviour’s command j the neceffity of
excommunicating and avoiding, as one would do the
plague, not only avowed finners, but alfo all thofe
who depart, even in fome light inftances pertaining to
drefs, &c. from the fimplicity of their anceftors j the
contempt due to human learning, and other matters
of lefs moment. However this auftere fyftem declines,
and the rigid Mennonites are gradually approaching
towards the opinions and difcipline of the more mode¬
rate or Waterlardians.
The firft fettlement of the Mennonites, in the U- Metiology
nited Provinces, was granted them by William prince
of Orange, towards the clofe of the 16th century \ 1 C_l^°
but it was not before the following century that their
liberty and tranquillity were fixed upon folid founda¬
tions, when, by a confefiion of faith publiflied in the
year 1626, they cleared themfelves from the imputa¬
tions of thofe pernicious and detellable errors that had
been laid to their charge* In order to appeafe their
inteftine difeords, a conliderable part of the Anabap-
tifts of Flanders, Germany, and Friefland, concluded
their debates in a conference held at Amfterdam, in
the year 1630, and entered into the bonds of fraternal
communion, each relerving to themfelves a liberty of
retaining: certain opinions. This affociation was re-
newed and confirmed by new refolutions, m the year
1649 j in confequence of which the rigorous laws of
Menno and his fucceffors were, in various refpefts,
mitigated and corre£led.
MENOLOGY, Menologium, (from jttux, month,
and Asy«s, difeourfe), is much the fame as martyrology,
or calendar, in the Latin.
The Greek menologium is divided into the feveral
months in the year j and contains an abridgment of
the lives of the faints, wdth a bare enumeration of
the names of fuch whofe lives were never written. Ihe
Greeks have various menologies j and the Romans tax
them with inferting divers heretics in their menologies
as faints.—Baillet treats of them at large.
MENSA, in law books, a term that includes in it
all patrimony, and neceffaries for livelihood.
MENSALS, Mensalia, in church hiftory, fuch
livings as were formerly united to the tables of religi¬
ous houfes, and hence called tnenfal benefices. See the
article Benefice.
MENSES, Catamenia, in Medicine, the monthly
evacuations from the uterus of women not with child
or not giving fuck. They are fo called from menfs
“ month,” the period wherein they return. They are al¬
fo calledy7o-u;^rj-,m/r/ej, &c. By the Jewifti lawa woman
wras unclean while the menftrual blood flowed 5 and the
man who touched her, or the moveables (he had touch¬
ed, was declared unclean.—Lev. xv. See Midwifery
and Medicine.
MENSORES> among the Romans, were harbin¬
gers, whofe bufinefs it w7as to go before the emperor,
and fix upon lodgings for him when he travelled into
any of the provinces. T. hey alfo marked out encamp¬
ments, and afligned every regiment its poft._
Menfores were alfo land-furveyors, architects, or ap-
praifers of houfes and public buildings. The diftri-
butors of provifions in the army were called menfores
frumentarii. And menfores was alfo an appellation
given to fervants who waited at table.
MENSURATION.
EVERY branch of the mathematics w'hieh has for its
objeft the comparifon of geometrical quantities, and
the determination of their proportions to each other,
may be comprehended under the general name Menfu-
ration. So that, taking the term in its moft extenfive
fenfe, whatever is delivered in this work under the titles*
Geometry, Trigonometry, Conic Sections, part
of Algebra, and a very confiderable portion of
Fluxions, may be confidered as conftituting particular
branches of this general theory.
510
Tables of
Me a i'u res.
mensuration.
:ej"I n''«!raMiGn however, is alfo frequently to Square Chains
u.ta n a lefs extenfive fenfe, and is applied to a fyftera
of rules and methods by which numerical meafures of
geometrical quantities are obtained. And it is to this
limited view of the fubjeft that we propofe to confine
our attention in the prefent treatife. In general,
it wall only be neceffary to give the praaical rules, as
we have already explained their foundation when treat-
n.g of Geometry, Conic Sections, and Fluxions j
but, m addition to the rules, in a few inlknces, we (hall
or 100,000 Square Links
640 Square Acres
Note. Fhe Scots
ioooco to 78694.
} =
Acre.
Square Mile,
acre is to the Engliflr acre as
Of Right
Lines ?.r:4
Angles.
Tab/e of Solid Meafut -es.
give their demondrations.
xsi all practical applications of mathematics it is ne-
celfary to exprefs magnitudes of every kind by num-
lor this purpofe a line of fome determinate
length, as one inch, one foot, &c. is afiumed as the
mcaluring unit of lines, and the number expreffing how
oiten this unit is contained in any line, is the numerical
value or meafure of that line.
. ^ rurffce °f fome determinate figure and magnitude
is aflumed as the meafuring unit of furfaces, and the
number of units contained in any furface is the nume¬
rical meafure of that furface, and is called its area. It
Is u{ual to aijume, as the meafuring unit of furfaces a
jcjuare, whole fide is the meafuring unit of lines.
... ^ of a determinate figure and magnitude is in
hke mariner affumed as the meafuring unit of folids, and
the number of units contained in any {olid is its folidity
or content. The unit of folids is a cube, each of whofe
edges is the meafuring unit^ of lines, and confequently
each of its faces the meafuring unit of furfaces.
A right angle is conceived to be divided into 00
equiii angles ; and one of thele, called an angle of one
degree, is aflumed as the meafuring unit of angles.
The meafures generally employed in the application
cn memuration to the common affairs of life, and their
proportions to each other, are expreffed in the follow¬
ing tables.
Table of Lineal Meafures.
Foot.
Yard.
Fathom.
Pole, Rod, or Perch.
Furlong.
Mile.
League.
Degree.
1 2 Inches
3 Feet
6 Feet
Si Yards
40 Poles
8 Furlongs
3 Miles
69^ Miles nearly
360 degrees
Note.
corns in length
4 Inches — 1 Hand, or handsbreadth.
5 beet = 1 Geometrical Pace.
4 Poles or 66 Feet 1
100 links each 7^ inches j — 1 EngHfli chain.
74 Feet ~ 1 Scots chain.
Table of Square Meafures.
I he earth’s circumference.
An inch is fuppofed equal to three barley-
144 Square Inches
9 Square Feet
30{- Square Yards
40 Square Poles
4 Roods or j 60 Square Poles
Foot fquare.
Yard.
Pole.
Rood.
Acre.
1728 Cubic Inches —
27 Cubic Feet z=
Note. 282 Cubic inches make
231
2150.42
105 Cubic inches
1 Cubic Foot.
1 Cubic Yard.
1 Ale Gallon.
1 Wine Gallon,
a Winchefter Bulhel.
1 Scots Pint.
Ibe Wheat Firlot contains 21^ Scots Pints.
The parley Firlot 31 Scots Pints.
SECTION I.
OF THE MENSURATION OF RIGHT LINES
AND ANGLES.
Fhe rules by which certain of the fides or angles of
a triangle are to be found, when other fides and angles
are given, might be confidered as belonging to this
part of menfuration. But as thefe are fully invefti-
gated and explained in the article Plane Trigono-
metry, it is not neceffary to deliver them alfo here.
Referring therefore to that article, we ffiall employ the
remainder of this fedion in the application of trigono¬
metry to the menfuration of heights and diftances.°
Menfuration of Heights and Difances.
By the application of geometry the meafurement of
lines, widen, on account of their pofition or other cir-
cumftances, are inacceflible, is reduced to the determi¬
nation of angles, and of other lines which are accef-
fible, and admit of being meafured by methods fuffi-
ciently obvious.
A line confidered as traced on the ground may be
meafured with rods or a Gunter’s chain of 66 feet; but
more expeditiouffy with meafuring tapes of 50 or 100
feet. . By thefe, if the ground be tolerably even, and
the direction of the line be traced pretty corredly, a
diftance may, by ufing proper care, be meafured with¬
in about 3 inches of the truth in every 50 feet, fo that
the error may not exceed the 200th part of the whole
line.
Vertical angles may be meafured with a quadrant PjaV
furnilhed with a plummet and fights in the manner in-cccxxxm.
dicated by fig. 1. and fig. 2. If an angle of elevation is
to be meafured, as the angle contained by a horizontal
line AC, and a line drawn from A to B the top of a
tower, hill, or other eminence ; or to a celeffial body,
as a liar, &c. ; the centrejof the quadrant muff be fixed’
at A, and the inffrument moved about A, in the ver¬
tical plane, till to an eye placed at G the objea B
be feen through the two fights D, d. Then will the
arch EF, cut off by the plumb-line AF, be the meafure
of the angle CAB.
An ang]e of depreffion CAB (fig. 2.) is to be mea-
iured exadly in the fame manner, except that here the
eye
3
M E N S U R A T I O N,
Of Right" eye is to be placed at A the centre of the inftrument,
L/ nSles ans* t^ie mea^ure the angle is the arch EF.
But the moft convenient inftrument of any for ob-
ferving angles, whether vertical or horizontal, is the
Theodolite. This inftrument is varioufty eonftructed, fo
as to admit of being fold at a higher or lower price, ac¬
cording to the degree of accuracy the purchafer may
wifh to attain in his obfervations with it. An inftru¬
ment of this kind is reprefented in fig. 3. Its principal
parts are, 1. A telefcope and its level C C, D. 2. The
vertical arc BB. 3. The horizontal limb and compafs
AA. The limb is generally about 7 inches in diame¬
ter. 4. The ftaff with its parallel plates E.
1 he telefcope CC in the belt inftruments is general¬
ly of the achromatic kind, in order to obtain a larger
field and greater magnifying power. In the focus of
the eye glafs are two very fine hairs or wires, at right
angles to each other, whofe interfeclion is in the plane
of the vertical arc. The objedt glafs may be moved
to different diftances from the eye glafs by turning the
milled nut a, and thus may be accommodated to the
eye of the obferver and diftance of the objedi. The
fcrews for moving and adjufting the crofs hairs, are
funk a little within the eye tube. On the cutfide of
the telefcope are two metal rings which are ground per-
fedlly true. Thefe are to lie on the fupporters e, e, call¬
ed Y’s, which are fixed to the vertical arc. The ver¬
tical arc BB is firmly fixed to a long axis which is at
right angles to the plane of the arc. This axis is fuf-
tained by, and moveable on, the twm fupporters, which
are fixed firmly to the horizontal plate. On the upper
part of the vertical arc are the two Y’s for holding the
telefcope ; the inner fides of thefe are fo framed as to
be tangents to the cylindric rings of the telefcope, and
therefore bear only on one part. The telefcope is con¬
fined to the Y’s by twm loops w'hich turn on a joint,
&nd may therefore be readily opened and turned back
when the tw7o pins are taken out.
One fide of the vertical arc is graduated to half de¬
grees, which are fubdivided to every minute of a de¬
gree by a nonius. It is numbered each way from the
middle from o to 90° ; towards the eye end for angles of
altitude, and tow-ards the objebl end for angles of de-
prcffion. On the other fide of the vertical arc are twro
ranges of divifions, one for taking the upright height
of timber in 100th parts of the diftance between the in¬
ftrument and tree whofe height is to be meafured 5 and
the other for reducing hypothenufal lines to fuch as are
horizontal.
The vertical arc is cut with teeth or a rack, and
may be moved regularly, and with eafe, by turning the
milled nut b.
The compafs is fixed to the upper horizontal plate,
its ring is divided into 360°, and the bottom of the
box is divided into four parts or quadrants, each of
W'hich is fubdivided into io°. The magnetic needle is
fupported in the middle of the box upon a fteel pin
finely pointed, and there is a wire trigger for throwing
the needle off the point'when not in ufe.
The horizontal limb A A confifts of two plates, one
moveable on the other, the outermoft edge of the up¬
per plate is chamfered to ferve as an index to the de¬
grees on the lower. The upper plate, together with
the cqnapafs, vertical arc, and tclefcope, are eafily
turned round by a pinion fixed to the fcrew c; r/ is a
nut for fixing the index to any part of the limb, and Of Right
thereby rendering it fecure, while the inftrument is Lines and
moved from one ftation to another. The horizontal An^es-
limb is divided into half degrees, and numbered from
the right hand towards the left j the divifions are fub-
divided by the nonius icale to every minute of a de-
gree.
_ On the upper plate, towards the nonius, are a few
divifions fimilar to thofe on the vertical arc, giving the
1 ooth parts, for meafuring the diameter of trees, build¬
ings, &c.
The whole inftrument fits on the conical ferril of a
ftrong brafs-headed ftaff, with three fubftantial wooden
legs. The top or head of the ftaff confifts of two
brafs plates E, parallel to each other : four fcrews pafs
through the upper plate and reft on the lower plats ;
by the affion of thefe the horizontal limb may be fet
truly level, and for this purpofe a ftrong pin is fixed to
the outfide of the plate, and connedtcd with a hall that
fits into a focket in the lower plate \ the axis of the pin
and ball are fo framed as to be perpendicular to the
plate, and confequently to the horizontal limb.
There are three adjuftments neceffary before the in¬
ftrument is applied to the menfuration of angles. In
the firft place, care mult be taken that the line of colli-
mation (that is, the line of vifion palling through the
crofs hairs) .be exacftly in the centre of the cylindric
rings round the telefeope ; in the next place, that the
level be parallel to this line j and, laftly, the horizon¬
tal limb muft be fo fet, that when the vertical arc is at
izcrc, and the upper part moved round, the bubble
of the level will remain in the middle of the open
fpace.
When thefe adjuftments are made, and the inftru¬
ment is to be applied to practice, the lower plate of the
horizontal limb AA being fuppofed to remain unmoved
and parallel to the horizon, the telefcope is to be di¬
rected fucceffively to the different objeCts, whofe angu¬
lar pofitions are to be determined, by means of the pi¬
nions at c and b ; (the former of which turns the upper
part of the inftrument round in a horizontal plane, and
the latter turns the arc BB in a vertical plane). Then,
the angle which a line palling through the axis of the
telefcope and any objeft makes w'ith the horizon, will
be indicated by the arc of the vertical circle between o°
and the index engraved on the nonius fcale H fixed to
the upper plate of the horizontal limb of the initru-
ment. Alfo, the horizontal angle contained by two
vertical planes conceived to pals through any two ob-
jeCls and the centre of the inftrument, will be {hewn by
the arc of the lower plate of the horizontal limb over
W'hich the index engraved on the upper plate has palled
by the direftion of the telefcope being changed from
the one objeft to the other.
’ Having thus explained fhortly the nature of the in¬
ftruments by which accefiible lines and angles are to
be meafured, and the manner of applying them, we
Ihall.novv ftiew, by a few examples, how to find from
thefe other lines which cannot be determined by a di-
re£t meafurement.
Example 1. Having meafured AE, a diftance of ^g- •f- “
2CD feet in a direCI horizontal line from the bottom of
a tower, the angle BCD, contained by the horizontal
line CD : and a line drawm from C to the top of the
tower, „
MENSURATION.
512
Of Right tower, was meafuretl by a quadrant, or theodolite pla-
“ ced at C, and found to be 470 gc/. The centre C of
■ ‘ ■ t^ie inftrument was five feet above the line AE at its
extremity E. It is required hence to determine AB
the height of the tower.
In the right-angled triangle CBD we have given
the fide CD = 200 feet, and the angle C = 470 30'.
And fince by the rules of Plane Trigonometry,
rad : tan. BCD :: DC : DB j
By employing the logarithmic tables (fee Loga¬
rithms), and proceeding as is taught in Plane Tri¬
gonometry, we fhall find DB = 218.3 feet. To
which add DA=rEC=5 feet, the height of the inftru-
ment, and we have AB = 223.3 ^eet;> the height of
the tower.
Fig. 5. Ex. 2. Suppofe a cloud, or balloon C, is feen at the
fame time by two obfervers at A and B, and that thefe
ftations are in the fame vertical plane with the objedt C,
and on the fame fide of it. Alfo, fuppofe that its
angles of elevation, viz. the angles A and B, are 350
and 64*, and that AB, the diilance between the ob¬
fervers, is 880 feet. It is required hence to determine
CD the height of the objedt, alfo AC, BC its diftances
from the two obfervers.
In the triangle CAB, there are given the outward
angle CBD=:64#, and one of the inward angles A =
35* 5 hence the other inward angle ACB, which is
their difference, is given, and 64°—
Now in the triangle CAB
Sin. ACB : fin. A :: AB : BC,
and fin. ACB : fin. B :: AB : AC.
From thefe proportions, by adtual calculation, BC will
be found =r 1041 feet, and AC = 1631 feet.
Again, in the right-angled triangle BCD
rad. : fin. B :: BC : CD,
Hence CD will be found 936 feet.
Ex. 4. At B the top of a tower, w hich flood on Of Right
a hill near th^fea fhore, the angle of depreflion of a Lines and
fliip at anchor (viz. the angle HBS), was 40 yz'j and
at R, the bottom of the tower, its depreflion (namely, fig. ^
the angle NRS) was 40 2'. Required AS the hori¬
zontal diftancc of the veffel $ and alfo R A, the height
of the bottom of the tower above the level of the fea,
fuppofing RB the height of the tower itfelf to be 54 feet.
From the angle BSA = HBS =: 40 52' fubtradt the
angle RSA — NRS — 40 2', and there remains the
angle BSRrryo'. Allb, from the angle HBA = 90°
fubtradt HBS=r4* 52', and there'remains SBR=85° 8'.
In the triangle SBR,
Sin. BSR : fin. SBR :: BR : SR j
Hence SR is found. Again, in the triangle SRA,
rad. : fin. RSA :: SR : AR,
and rad. : cof. RSA :: SR : AS.
From the firft of thefe proportions we find AR rr 260
feet j and from the fecond, ASr^bpo feet.
Ex. 5. To meafure the height of an obelilk CD, Fig.J.
ftanding on the top of a declivity, two ftations at A
and B were taken, one at the diftance of 40, and the
other at the diftance of 100 feet from the centre of its
bafe, which was in a ftraight line with the ftations.
At the nearer ftation A, a line drawm from it to the
top of the obelifk was found to make an angle of 410
with the plane of the declivity j and at B, the more re¬
mote ftation, the like angle was found to be 230 45'.
Hence it is required to find the height of the obe¬
lilk.
From the angle CAD — 410, fubtradl the angle
B — 230 45', and there remains the angle BCA —
I7° *5'-
In the triangle BCA,
Sin. BCA: fin. B :: AB:AC. Hence AC=r81.49 feet;
And in the triangle ACD,
Ex. 3. Wanting to know the breadth CD of a river,
and alfo the diftance of an objedt A clofe by its fide
from another objedt C on its oppofite fide, a bafe AB
of 400 yards was meafured along the bank. Then, by
means of a theodolite, the angles CBA and CAB
were meafured, and found to be 370 40' and 59* 15'
refpedtively. It is required thence to determine the
breadth CD, and the diftance AC between the objedts
A and C.
This example differs from the laft only by the given
angles, and diftances required, lying in a horizontal in-
ftead of a vertical plane.
In the triangle ABC we have the bafe AB, alfo the
angles A and B, and confequently the angle C given.
And by Plane Trigonometry,
Sin. ACB : fin. B :: AB : AC.
Hence AC is found to be 246.2 yards.
Alfo, in the right-angled triangle ACD,
rad. : fin. A :: AC : CD.
JJence CD is found to be 211.6 yards^
AC-fAD:AC—AD:: tan.4(D-{-C) :tan4(D—C).
Hence 4 (D—C) = 420 24'^, which, fubtradted from
4 (D-j-C), gives the angle ACD = 270 5'4-
Laftly, in the triangle ACD,
Sin. ACD : fin. A :: AD : DC.
Hence DC, the height required, will be found to be
37.62 feet.
Ex. 6. Wanting to know the diftance between two Fig. g.
inaccefiible objedls H and M, a bafe AB of 670 yards
was meafured in the fame plane with the objedts, and
the following angles were taken at its extremities.
At A |
BAM=40° 16'
MAH=57 40
ABH=r42° 22'
HBM=7i 7
Hence it is required to detfermind HM, the diftance be¬
tween the objedts.
In the triangle HAB we have the angle HBA ==
42* 22', the angle HAB (=: HAM -f- MAB) =
/ 97°
4
Right $7* andl tlierefore tlie remaining angle AHB =r
^AnX 39° 42'- We have a!fo the flde AB = 670 yards.
. _ ' , Hence, by this proportion,
Sin. AHB : fin. HBA :: AB : AH
mensuration. 5r3
202, the angle ADC (=ADB-f-BDC) =43® 20', OfRi^ht
the angle DCA (=:DEA) =75° 15' 2^ Hence we L'nes and
get DC—256.97 fathoms, which is the remaining dif-, Angles- „
tance fought. * J
we find AH—706.8 yards.
Again, in the triangle MAB we have the angle
MAB—40° 16', the angle ABM (=ABH-f HBM)
=r 113° 29', and therefore the angle AMB =: 26° 15'.
Hence, from the proportion,
Sin. AMB : fin. ABM :: AB : AM
we get
In the triangle HAM, befides the angle HAM =
57° 40' we have now the fides AH = 706.8, and
AM = I3^9*4 yards, to find the remaining fide HM.
Therefore, proceeding according to the rules of trigo¬
nometry, we Hate this proportion,
AM-f AH : AM—AH :: tan. HAHM + AMH") :
tan. ^(AHM—AMH).
Hence we find half the difference of the angles AHM
and AMH to be 30° 36', which taken from 6i° io',
half the fum, leaves 30° 34' for AMH the leaft of the
two angles. Laftly, from the proportion
Sin. HMA : fin. HAM :: HA : HM,
we get HM =1174 yards, the anfwer to the quef-
tion.
Ex. 7. There are three objefls A, B, C, whofe dif-
tances afunder are known to be as follows ; namely,
from A to B 106^-, from A to C 202, and from B to
C 131 fathoms. Now to determine the diftance of D
a fourth objeft, or ftation, from each of the other three,
the angle ADB was meafured with a theodolite, or
other fuitable inftrumenf, and found to be 13° 30', and
the angle CDB was found 290 50'. Hence it is re¬
quired to determine the diftances DA, DB and DC,
iiippofing DB the leaft of the three.
Let a circle be defcribed about the points A, D and
C ; and let DB be produced to meet the circle again
in E, and draw AE, CE.
In the triangle ALC there are given the fide ACrr
202 fathoms, the angle ACE (rzADE, Geom. Se<ft.
II. Theor. 15.) = 13° 30', and the angle CAE
( = CDE)r=:290 50'. Hence (by Tricon.) we ftiall
have A E-—68.716 fathoms.
In the triangle ABC, all its fides are given, and
hence the angle BAG will be found =3 50 3 5' 54'' •
to this, add the angle CAE, and the fum is the angle
EAB=65° 25' 54w*
In the triangle ABE, we have given AB—106.5,
AE=68.7i6, the angle BAE—65° 25' 54" •, hence
we (hall have the angle ABE^S® 43' 4i,/. and the
angle AEB—75° 51' 25".
In the triangle ADEwe have the fide AE = 68.7i6,
the angle ADE—130 30', and the angle AEDrrry^0
51' 25". Hence w^-e have AD=r28j.43 fathoms, which
is one of the diftances required.
In the triangle ABD we have A B=io6. 5, the angle
ADB=i3® 30', the angle DAB (—ABE—ADB)
25° 13' 45,/. Hence BD, another of the diftances
fought, will be found =194.45 fathoms.
Laftly, In the triangle ADC, there is given AC=
Voi» XIII. Part II.
Ex. 8. hrom a fliip at fea a point of land was ob-
ferved to bear E. by S. and after failing N. E. 12
miles, the fame point was found to hear S. E. by E.
How far was the laft obfervation made from the point
of land ?
Let A be the firft pofition of the (hip, B the fecond,
and C the point of land. In the triangle ABC we
have given the angle A=5 points or 56° 15', the angle
B-9 points, or ioi° 15', and the angle C=2 points
or 220 30'. Alfo the fide AB=i2 miles. Hence
(by Tricon.) the fide BC is readily found to be
26.073 miles.
1 here are various other inflruments and methods by
which the heights or diftances of obje<fts may be found.
One of the moil fimple inftruments, both in refpeft of
its conftru£tion and application, is a fquare, ABCD,
made of fome folid material, and furniihed with two Fig. u.
fights on AB, one of its edges, and a plummet faf-
tened to A, one of its angles, and having the two fides
BC, CD, which contain the oppofite angle divided into
10, or ico, or 1000 equal parts.
To meafure any altitude HK with this inftrument. Fig. 13-.
Let it be held in fuch a pofition that K, the top of the
objedl may be feen through the fights on its edge AB,
while its plane is perpendicular to the horizon ; then
the plummet will cut off from the fquare a triangle
limilar to that formed by the horizontal line AI, the
vertical line IK, and the line AK drawn from the eye
to the top of the objeft.
If the line of the plummet pafs through D the oppo¬
fite angle of the fquare, then the height KI will be
equal to Al, the diftance of the eye from the vertical
line to be meafured. If it meet AD, the fide of the
fquare next the eye, in fome point E between A and
D, then the triangles ABE, AIK being fimilar, and
the angle ABE equal to the angle AKI, we have
AE : AB : : AI : IK. Let us nowr fuppofe AD=
AB to be divided into 1000 equal parts ; then the
length of AE will be expreffed by a certain number
of thefe parts ; thus the proportion of AE to AB, and
confequently that of AI to IK will be given ; there¬
fore if AI be determined by actual meafurement, wTe
may from the above proportion immediately find IK.
If again the line of the plummet meet DC the fide of
the fquare oppofite to the fights in F, then, in the fimilar
triangles AIK, BCF, the angle AKI is equal to BFC
thus we have BC : CF : : AI : IK. Hence IK is de¬
termined as before, and in each cafe by adding HI the,
height of the eye, we fliall have HK the whole height
required.
SECTION II.
MENSURATION OF PLANE FIGURES.
Problem I.
To find the area of a parallelogram, whether it be
a fquare, a re&angle, a rhombus, or a rhom¬
boid.
3 T
RtPLE.
514
Of Plane
"Figure?.
MENSURATIO N.
Rule I.
Fig. 14.
Tig- IS-
Fig. 16.
Multiply rhe length by the perpendicular breadth,
and the product will be the area.
This rule is demonftrated in Geometry, Sect, IV.
Theor. 5.
Ex. 1. Required the area of a fquare ABCD, whofe
fide AB is io4 inches.
Here ie4x io|or 10.5X 10.5=1:110.25 fquareinches
is the area required.
Ex. 2. Required the area of a rectangle EFGH
tvbofe length EF is 13.75 chains, and breadth FG is 9.5
chains.
Here 13.75 X 9-5=I30.625 ^luare c^air‘s 15 ^e
area, which, when reduced to acres, &c. is 13 ac. o ro.
IO />o.
Ex. 3. Required the area of a parallelogram KLMN,
whofe length KL is 37 feet, and perpendicular breadth
NO is 5^ or 5.25 feet.
In this example the area is 37 X :I94-25 ^luare
feet, or 21.583 fquare yards.
Rule II.
As radius,
To the fine of any angle of the parallelogram,
So is the produdt of the tides including the angle,
To the area of the parallelogram.
To fee the reafon of this rule it is only neceffary to
obferve, that in the parallelogram KLMN, the per¬
pendicular breadth NO is a fourth proportional to ra¬
dius, fine of the angle K, and the oblique line KN,
(Trigonometry), and is therefore equal
. fin- K
X KN ; therefore the area of the figure is ~~~Y ~
X KN X KL, which exprefiion is the fame as the refult
obtained by the above rule.
Ex. Suppofe the tides KL and KN are 36 feet, and
25.5 feet, and the angle K is 58°, required the area.
Here it will be convenient to employ the table of lo¬
garithms given at the end of the article Logarithms.
The operation may Hand thus,
loc. rad. 10.00000
log. fin. 58° 9.92842
log. (36 X 25-5 ) =log- 36+log* 25-5 2.96284
log. of area 289126
area =778.5 fquare feet.
Problem II.
Having given any two Tides of a right-angled tri¬
angle, to find the remaining fide.
Rule.
1. When the fides about the right argle are given, to
find the hypothenufe..
Add together the fquares of the fides about the right Or'Plane
angle, and the fquare root of the fum will be the hypo- I'Lpues-
thenufe. ' v
2. W hen the hypothenufe and one of the fides about
the right angle is given, to find the other fide.
From the fquare of the hypothenufe fubtracl the
fquare of the given fide, and the fquare root of the re¬
mainder will be the other fide.
This rule is deduced from Theor. 13. Seel. IV. Geo¬
metry.
Example 1. In a right-angled triangle ABC, thep-^
fides AB and AC, about the right angle, are 33 r
feet and 56 feet} what is the length of the hypothe-
nufe BC ?
Hcre 33i+562=3i364-io89=:4225, •
and f (4225) —65 feet, r= the hypothenufe BC.
Ex. 2. Suppofe the hypothenufe BC to be 65 feet,
and AB one of the fides about the right angle to be
33 feet; what is the length of AC the other fide ?
Here 65’—332=4225—1089=3136 i
and \/(33 i6)=5<5 feet = the fide iVC.
Problem III.
To find the area of a triangle.
Rule I.
Multiply any one of its fides by the perpendicular
let fall upon it from the oppofite angle, and half the
produdl will be the area.
The truth of this rule is proved in Geometry,
Seft. IV. Theor. 6.
Example. What is the area of a triangle ABC,
whofe bafe AC is 40, and perpendicular BD is 14.52
chains.
The produa of the bafe by the perpendicular, or iS
40 X is 580.8 fquare chains, the half of which, i’'
or 290.qTy. ac. o r. 6.4 po. is the area of the
triangle.
Rule II.
As radius,
To the fine of any angle of a triangle,
So is the produa of the fides including the angle,
To twice the area of the triangle.
This rule follows immediately from the fecond rule
of Prob. I. by confidering that the triangle KNL
(fig. 16) is half the parallelogram KNML.
Example. What is the area of a triangle ABC, F)-g lSa
whofe two fides AB and AC are 30. and 40, and the
included angle A is 28° 57' ?
log. rad.
Operation by Logarithms.
log. (30 X 4o)=log. 30 + log. 40
log. lin. 28° 57'
log. of twice area
twice area = 580.85
area 290.42
10.00000
3.07918
9.68489
2.76407
Rule
MENSURATION.
5i5
Of Plane
Figures.
Rule III.
W ben tbe three fides are given, add together the
three Tides, and take half the Turn. Next, fubtradf
each fide feverally from the faid half fum, thus obtain¬
ing three remainders. Lnftly, multiply the faid half
fum, and thofe three remainders all together, and ex¬
tract the fquare root of the laft produd for the area of
the triangle.
This pradical rule is deduced from the following
geometrical theorem. The area of a triangle is a
mean proportional between two reBangles, one of which
is contained by half the perimeter of the triangle, and
the excefs of half the perimeter above any one of its
fides ; and the other is contained by the excejfes of half
the perimeter above each of the other two fides. As this
theorem is not only remarkable, but alfo of great utili¬
ty in menfuration, we (hall here give its dernonllra-
tion.
Let ABC then be any triangle •, produce AB, any
!g' one of its fides, and take BD, and B d, each equal to
BC } join CD and C d, and through A draw a line pa¬
rallel to BC, meeting CD and C d produced in E and
e \ thus the angle AED will be equal to the angle
BCD, (Geometry, Sed. I. Theor. 21.), that is, to
the angle BDC or ADC, (Sed. I. Lheor. 11.) j and
hence AE= AD (Sed. I. Theor. 12.) ; and in like
manner, becaufe the angle A e is equal to the angle
BC d, that is, to the angle B dC, ox Kde, therefore
A ezz. A d.
On A as a centre, at the diflance AD or AE, de-
feribe a circle meeting AC in F and G j and on the
fame centre, with the diilance A or A ^ deferibe an¬
other circle meeting AC in f and g, and draw BH
and B h perpendicular to CD and Q^d. Then, becaufe
BD, BC, B d are equal, the point C is in the circum¬
ference of a circle, of which D^/is the diameter, there¬
fore CD and Cd are bifeded at H and h (Sed. II.
Theor. 6.) and the angle DCd' is a right angle, (Sed.
II. Theor. 17.), and hence the figure CHB/& is a red¬
angle, fo that B /£ — CH— CD, and BH — C ^ —
\ C d.
Join BE, and Be, then the triangle BAC is equal
to each of the triangles BEC, Bf C(Sed. IV. dheor.
2. Cor. 2) ", but the triangle BEC is equal to 4 EC X
BH (Sed. IV. Theor. .2.), that is to | ECxC^Z; and
in like manner the triangle B e C is equal to \ eC X
B h, that is to ^ e C X CD, therefore the triangle ABC
is equal to ^ EC X C and alfo to ^ ^ C x CD.
Nowr fince CD : Cd :: CE X CD : CE x Cr/ C Sed. IV.
and alfo CD : Cd :: C e X^B : C e X C^Theor.g.
Therefore CE X CD : CE xC d C eX CD : Ce X Cd;
that is, becaule CE X CDrrFC X CG, andCex C _
fCxCg (Sed. IV. Corollaries to Theor. 28 and 29.).
FCxCG : CExC<f : CexCD :/CxC^;
which laft proportion (by taking one-fourth of each of its
terms, and fubftituting the triangle ABC for its equi¬
valent values i CE X C ^ and i C e X CD) gives us
4- FC X ^CG : trian. ABC :: trian. ABC : ifC x i Cg.
Now if it be confidered that the radius of the circle
DGE is AB-j-BC, and that the radius of the circle
g d e is AB—BC, it tvill readily appear that, putting Of Plane
2 r for the perimeter of the triangle ABC, we have , tgures.^
FC ( = AB + BC + AC ) =2s
CG(=:AB-F BC — AC ) —2s —2AC,
fC ( = AC -f- { AB — BC} ^ :=r 2j — 2 BC,
gC ( — AC — {AB — Be} 2s — 2 AB.
Put now a, b, c for the Tides AC, BC, and AB refpec-
lively, then \ FCrrr, 4 GC=r—a, ^fC—s—b, ^C^
—c •, thus the laft proportion becomes
j-X (j’—a) :trian. ABC:: trian. ABC: (r—b) X(j1—^)»
which conclufion, when exprefied in words at length, is
evidently the proportion to be demonftrated.
And as a mean proportional between twro quantities
is found by taking the fquare root of the produd, it
follows that the area of the triangle ABC, which is a
mean between r X (-t—and (/ — b') X (-f — 0US
equal to
U—«) xU —Ux f—c) ]■
w’hich formula, when exprefted in words at length, gives
the preceding rule.
Example. Required the area of a triangle whofe
three fides are 24, 36, and 48 chains refpedively.
Here 244-36-I-48 =108 = the fum of the three fides.
And = C4 =:: that fum.
2
Alfo 54 — 24 = 30, the firft remainder •, 54 — 36 =
x8, the fecond remainder j and 54 — 48 — 6, the third
remainder.
The produd of the half fum and remainders is
54X30X18x6=174960.
And the fquare root of this produd is
^(174960) = 418.28 fq. ch. the area required.
Problem IV.
To find the area of a trapezoid.
Rule.
Add together the two parallel Tides, then multiply
their fum by the perpendicular breadth, or diftance be¬
tween, and half the produd will be the area.
This rule is demonftrated in Geometry, Sed. IV.
Theor. 7.
Example. Required the area of the trapezoid AB
CD whofe parallel fides AB and DC are 7.5. and
12.25 chains, and. perpendicular breadth DE is 15.4
chains.
The fum of the parallel Tides is 7.54-12.25=19.75 j
which multipled by the breadth is
19*75 5)
and half this produd is
~ = 152.0759^. ch. = 15 ac. $3.2po.
the area required.
3 T 2
Problem
MENSURATION.
Problem V.
To find the area of any trapezium.
Rule.
Divide the trapezium into two triangles by a diago¬
nal, then find the areas of thefe triangles, and add them
together.
Note. If two perpendiculars be let fall on the diago¬
nal from the other two oppofite angles, the fum of thefe
perpendiculars being multiplied by the diagonal, half
the product will be the area of the trapezium. The
reafon of this rule is Efficiently obvious.
ilj. at. Example. In the trapezium ABCD the diagonal
AC is 42, and the two perpendiculars BE, DF are 16
and 18: What is its area ?
Here the fum of the perp. is 16-f-18=34, which
multiplied by 42, and divided by 2 gives
34 X42 ,
—^ rr?r4 the area.
Problem VI.
To find the area of an irregular polygon.
Rule.
Draw diagonals dividing the propofed polygon into
trapeziums and triangles; then find the areas of all thefi#
feparately, and add them together for the content of
the whole polygon. The reafon of this rule, and the
manner of applying it, are Efficiently obvious.
Problem VII.
To find the area of a regular polygon.
Rule.
Multiply the perimeter of the polygon, or fum of
its fides, by the perpendicular drawn from its centre
on one of its fides, and take half the product for the
area.
This rule is only in efted refolving the polygon into
as many triangles as it has fides, by drawing lines from
its centre to all its angles, then taking the fum of their
areas for the area of the figure.
22. Example. Required the area of a regular pentagon
ABODE, whofe fide AB, or BC, &c. is 25 feet, and
perpendicular HK is 17.2 feet.
Here 25 X 5=i zyrrthe perimeter,
And 125= 17.2 = 2150,
And its half 1075 = the area required.
Note. If only the fide of the polygon be given, its
perpendicular may be found by the following proportion.
As radius.
To the tan. of half the angle of the polygon,
So is half the fide of the polygon,
To the perpendicular.
And here, as well as in all other trigonometrical cal¬
culations, we may employ the table of logarithmic fines
and tangents given in the article Logarithms.
The angle of the polygon, that is, the angle contain¬
ed by any two of its adjacent fides, will be found from
this theorem, The fum of all its interior angles is equal
to twice as many right anglesy wanting fourt as it has
fides, which is demonfirated in Theor. 25. SefL I. Of Plane
Geometry. Figures.
Problem VIIL
To find the diameter and circumference of a cir¬
cle, the one from the other.
Rule I.
As 7 is to 2 2, fo is the diameter to the circum¬
ference, nearly.
As 22 is to 7, fo is the circumference to the diame
ter, nearly.
Rule II.
As 113 is to 355, fo is the diameter to the circum¬
ference, nearly.
■A-5 355 to 113, fo is the circumference to the
diameter, nearly.
Rule III.
As 1 is to 3.1416, fo is the diameter to the circum¬
ference, nearly.
As 3.1416 is to 1, fo is the circumference to the
diameter, nearly.
Note. The refult obtained by the firft rule, which is
the leaft: accurate of the three, will not differ from the
true anfwer by fo much as its 2400th part. But that
obtained by the fecond rule, which is the moft accurate,
will not differ by fo much as its 1 oooooooth part.
The proportion of the diameter of a circle to its cir¬
cumference is inveftigated in Geometry, Se£l. VI*
Prop. 6. Alfo in Fluxions, § 137 and § 140. The
manner of finding the firft and fecond rules, and others
of the fame kind, is explained in Algebra, Se£l. XXI.
But it is impoffible to exprefs exactly, by finite num¬
bers, the proportion of the diameter of the circle to its
circumference.
Example. 1. To find the circumference of a circle
tvhofe diameter is 20.
By the firft rule,
20 X 2 2
7 : 22 :: 20  = 62% the anfwer.
7
Or by the third rule 3.1416 X 20=62.832 the anfwer.
Ex. 2. The circumference of a circle is ro feet, what
is its diameter ?
By the fecond rule
113X10
355 : 113 10 : —= 3-1831 the anfwer.
Problem IX.
To find the length of any arch of a circle
Rule I.
As 180 is to the number of degrees in the arch, fo
is 3.1416 times the radius to its length.
To fee the reafon of this rule it is only neceffary to
confider, that 3.1416 times the radius is (by laft rule)
equal to half the circumference, or to an arch of 180°,
and that the length of an arch i& proportional to the
number of degrees it contains..
Example,,,
\
MENSURATION.
Of Plane
Figures.
Tig- 23-
Fig. 23.
Example. Required the length of the arch AEB,
whofe chord AB is 6, the radius AC or CB being 9.
Draw CD perpendicular to the chord, then CD will bi-
fe£l: the chord in D, and the arch in E. Now in the right-
angled triangle ACD, there is given the hypothenufe
AC — 9, and the fide AD = 3 ; hence, by trigonome¬
try, the angle ACE will be found to contain 19° 28'TV
=ri9.47i degrees. The double of this, or 38.942, is
the number of degrees in the whole arch AEB. Then
by the rule
„ ^ x- 9 X 3.1416 X 38.942
180 : 38.942 :: 9 X 3-1416 : ^^ 
= 6.11701 the anfwer.
180
Rule II.
From 8 times the chord of half the arch fubtra& the
chord of the whole arch, and of the remainder will be
the length of the arch nearly.
This rule may be demonilrated briefly thus. Let a
denote an arch of a circle j then from the feries expref-
fing the fine of an arch in terms of the arch, (fee
Fluxions, § 70. Ex. 3.alfo Trigonometry) we have,
putting rad. = I,
a* as -
Sm. 4 0=1- a -4--^ 
48 ‘3840
Therefore, if the arch a be fmall, fo that a5 is a very
fmall quantity, then
Sin. \ a — \ a
In like manner we have
Sin. ^ 1
48
nearly.
a ~
Role II.
517
Of Plane
Figures.
the
Multiply the fquare of the diameter by *7854, and
the produdl will be the area.
The firft of thefe rules has been demonflrated in
Geometry', Sedl. VI. Prop. 3-. And the fecond rule is
deduced from the firft, as follows. It appears from
Prop. 6. Sect. VI. Geometry, that the diameter of a
circle being unity, its circumference is 3.1416 nearly;
therefore, by the firfl rule, its area is 1x3-1416-7-4
= .7854. But circles are to one another as the fquares
of their diameters, (Prop. 4.) therefore, putting d fos
the diameter of any circle, 1 : //* : : .7844 : .7854 dx
— the area of the circle whofe diameter is d.
Example. What is the area of a circle whofe diav
meter is 7.
By the fecond rule 7 X 7 X *7854=38.4846 the area.
By the firft rule 7 X 3.1416= the circumference.
Then
7X34416X7
= 7X7X-7854 the area, the
-p-neariy.
By means of the two laft equations exterminate
quantity and the refulting equation is
16 fin. ^a — 2 fin. £ a = 3
But 16 fin. ^ a = 8 chord A a, and 2 fin. chord a.
Therefore 8 chord \ a — chord a — $ a.
Here we have fuppofed the radius of the circle to be
unity ; but the fame muft evidently be true, whatever
be the radius of the circle.
Example. Suppofe as before, that the chord AB is
6, and the radius AC is 9. Then CD=v/(CA*—AD1)
= ^72=8.4852814, and DE = 9—8.4852814 =
0.5147186,
and hence AE= \/(AD1-}-DE1)=3.C43836.
Then by the rule
16896
3
is the length of the arch, nearly the fame as before.
Problem X.
To find the area of a circle.
Rule I.
Multiply half the circumference by half the diame¬
ter, and the product will be the area*
fame as before.
Problem XI.
To find the area of any fe&or of a circle.
Rule I.
Multiply the radius by half the arch of the fe6lor,„
and the produft will be the area, as in the whole circle.
Rule II.
As 360 is to the degrees in the arc of the feflor, fo
is the area of the whole circle to the area of the fedlor.
The firft of thefe rules follows eafily from the rule for
the whole area, by conlidering that the whole circum-
ference is to the arch of the fedlor, as the whole area to
the area of the fedlor, that is,
circum. :: arch of fedl. :: rad. X \ circum. : area of fedl.
Hence area of fedl. = rad. X i arch of fedl.
The fecond rule is too obvious to need any formal
proof.
Example. To find the area of a circular fedlor ACB p;g. 2^
whofe arch AEB contains 18 degrees, the diameter
being 3 feet.
1. By the firft rule.
Firft 3.1416 X 3=9 4248 the circum.
And 360 : 18 :: 9.4248 : .47124 the arch of fedl..
Then •47124 x3-^4—-35343 the arca-
2. By the fecond rule.
Firft .7854 X 32=7*c686 the area of the circle.
Then 360 : 18 7.0686 : .35343 the area.
Problem'
23*
MENSURATION.
, Problem XII.
To find the area of a fegment of a circle.
Rule i.
Find the area of the fedflor having the fame arch
with the fegment by the laft problem. Find alfo the
area contained by the ,chord of the fegment and the
two radii of the fedtor. Then take the fum of thefe
two for the anfwer when the fegment is greater than a
femicircle, or take their difference when it is lefs than
a femicircle. As is evident by infpedlion of the figure
of a fegment.
Example. To find the area of the fegment AERDA,
its chord AB being 12, and the radius AC or BC 10.
Tirft, as AC : AD rad. : fin. 36° 52”—36.87 de¬
grees, the degrees in the angle ACE or arch AE.
And their double, or 73.74^ the degrees in the whole
arch AEB.
Now .7854 X ^ t^ie area of the whole circle.
Therefore 360° : 73.74 :: 314.16 : 64.3304= area
of the fedlor CAEB.
Again^ycCA* — AD1) = v/(ioo-36)=V64=8
Therefore AD X DC = 6x8 = 48= area of the tri¬
angle.
Hence fedlor ACBA — triangle ACB=i6.3 504 the
area of feg. AEBD A.
Problem XII1.
To find the area of any fegment of a parabola,
that is the fpace included by any arch of a pa¬
rabola, and the ftraight line joining its extre¬
mities.
Rule.
Multiply the bafe of the fegment by its height, and
take -f of the produdl for the area.
This rule is denaonftrated in Prop. 1 2. Part. I. Co-
NIC Sections.
the axes of the ellipfe, (Conic SECTIONS, Part II. Of Plane
Prop. 22.) that is, to the area of a circle, the fquare of, Figures,
whofe diameter is equal to the produdt of the axes.
But by Prob. X. the area of a circle is equal to the
fquare of the diameter multiplied by .7854 ; therefore
the area of an ellipse is equal to the produdl of the axes
multiplied by the fame number .7854.
Example. If the axes of an ellipfe, ACBD, be 33 Fig.
and 25. What is the area ?
35 X 25 X .7854=687.225 the area.
Note. As to hyperbolic areas, the mathematical read¬
er will find formulas for their exadl menfuration in
Fluxions, $ 152. Ex. 4. and 5.
Problem XV.
To find nearly the area of a figure bounded by
any curve line A a a” a!' &c. P, and a ftraight
line BQ and AB, PQ two other ftraight lines
drawn from the extremities of the curve per¬
pendicular to BQ.
Rule.
Let BQ, the bafe of the figure, be divided into any Fig.
even number of equal parts by the perpendiculars b a,
b' a\ b" a", &c. which meet the curve in the points a,
a1, a", &c.
Let F and L denote the firfl and lafl perpendiculars
AB and PQ.
Let E denote the fum of all the remaining even per¬
pendiculars, viz. a b, a" b", a"" b"", the fecond, fourth,
fixth, &c.
Let R denote the fum of the remaining perpendicu¬
lars, viz, a' b\ a"' b:", &c»
And put D for B /r, or bb\ &c. the common di*
fiance between the perpendiculars.
Then the area of the figure will be nearly equal to
|Dx (F-f 4X4E + 2R) j
and the approximation will be fo much the more ac¬
curate according as the number of perpendiculars is the
greater.
Fig. 24. Example. The bafe AB of a parabolic fegmeut.
x\CB is 10, and its altitude CD, (that is, the greatefl
line that can be drawn in the fegment perpendicular to
the bafe AB) is 4 : What is its area ?
80
Here 10X4X7 —— = 264 the area.
3
Problem XIV.
To find the area of an ellipfe.
Rule.
Multiply the produdl of the two axes by the number
*78154 for the area of the ellipfe.
For the area of an ellipfe is equal to the area of a
circle whofe diameter is a mean proportional between
DemonJlraUotu Join the tops of the firft and third
perpendiculars by the line A a’ meeting the fecond per¬
pendicular in E, and draw CD through a fo as to form
the parallelogram A a' DC ; then the fpace bounded
by the curve line Aaa! and the three ftraigbt lines
AB, BZf, b1 a' will be made up of the trapezoid
AB b' a', and the fpace bounded by the arch A a ar
and its chord A a'. Now if the arch A a a' be fmall,
th.s laft fpace will be nearly two-thirds of the parallelo¬
gram AD, for it will be nearly equal to the area con¬
tained by the ftraight line A a\ and an arch of a para¬
bola pa fling through the points A, a, a', and having
ab for a diameter, which area is 4 of its circumfcribing
parallelogram. (Conic SECTIONS, Part I. Prop, xii.)
Therefore the fpace A a a! b' BA will be nearly equal
to the fum of the trapezoid AB b‘ a' and 4 of the pa¬
rallelogram AD, which fum is evidently equal to 4 of
the trapezoid AEtV a! together with 4 of the tiapezoid
cBm
4
MENSURATION.
Of Plane ClM'Tt. K bw the area of the trapezoid AB U a' is
Figure?-. u j_ n> //
l——v t~—± xBZ»' (Geometry, Seft. IV. Theor. 7.)
AH+a'b'
— ! y,2r»b ; and m lute manner the area 01 the
2
trapezoid CB b' D is —— b! — a b >< 2B £ ;
therefore the area of the figure A a a’ b' H is nearly
and Geometry, Se<B. IV. Theor. 1 that is, in num¬
bers, 20 : 12 :: 8 : HI, therefore 111= !/. In like
manner we find m n r- 1- \ 4, p q — ’/ \/6, and rs
'i here foi e
F-f4(HI+MD) = 16.8
4E(—4w//-j-4 r j} = 68.8399
2R(=2/>y) = 17-6363
5^9
, AB-f-fl'^' -T) 7 , . 7 T) 7
T x L x 2B^4-f X abY,2&b
2
r=:y(AB+4fl/'-j-fl,^/) xBZf.
The figure HIDM ~ 103.2762Xt~68.8508
to which adding Fill, confidered as a portion of a pa¬
rabola, we have 75.245 for the area of the hyperbola.
In the very fame way it may be (hewn that the area
of the figure a' a" a'" b"' b' is nearly
4(fl' b' + ^a" b" + a'" £"0xB£,
and that the area of the figure a’" a'y Pf)^'7 is nearly
Z/1T + PQ) X Bin
Therefore, the area of the whole figure bounded by
the curve line AP, and the ftraight lines AB, BQ^QP,
is nearly equal to the fum of thefe three expreflions,
namely to
r ABJ-P&
iB£x -! +4(rti'-M''£"+«iv^iv)
(.+2 (s' b'+a’" b'")
5
as was to be demonilrated.
Example r. Let it be required to find the area of the
quadrant ABC, whereof the radius AC~ 1.
Let AC be bifeaed by the perpendicular DE, and
let CD be divided into four equal parts by the perpen¬
diculars inn, pq-, T.r. Now becaufe CA~t, theiefore
CDb=i, Cr=:|, Cp = ■£, Cm — \. Hence DE =
EC2—CD1 )—\l(1-—0—3j_and in like manner
PE=^lS^ rnn=\\l6^. Therefore
F-TL=i+4I.8660
4E=4\/5_5_+ W 63 = 7.6767
2R=4-v/i5. — 1-9365
The fum 11.4792
Multiply by -f- D = vV
The produdl is '47^3
Subtract the triangle CDE = *2165
There remains the fe£Ior CBE — ^ .2618
The triple of which is the quadrant ABC = .7854
Fig. 2S.
Ex. 2. To find the area of the hyperbola FDM, of
which the abfeifs FM=io, the femiordinate MD=i2,
and femitranfverfe CF=I5.
Let FM be divided into five equal parts by the femi-
rrdinates HI, m n, p q, r s. Thus CH= 17, C m=j 9,
Zb—2\ Cr=23, CM—2$. Now, fince from the
rature of the curve, —CF2) : MD :: y/(6'Hj
—CF1) : HI (Conic Sections, Part III. Prop. 19.
Of LAND SURVEYING.
The inftruments mod commonly employed in land
furveying are the Chain, the Plane Table, and Crofs.
A ilatute acre of land being 160 fquare poles, the
chain is made 4 poles or 66 feet in length, that 10
fquare chains, (or 100,000 fquare links) may be equal
to an acre. Hence each link is 7.92 inches in length.
The plane table is ufed for drawing a plan of a field,
and taking fuch angles as are neceffary to calculate its
area. It is of a reblangular form, and is furrounded
by a moveable frame, by means of which a fneet of
paper may be fixed to its furface. It is furnifhed with
an index by which a line may be drawn on the paper
in the direclion of any object in the field, and with
feales of equal parts by which finch lines rosy be made
proportional to the - difiances of the objects from the
plane table when meafured by the chain, and its frame
is divided into degrees for obferving angles.
The crois confills of two pair of fights fet at right
angles to each other upon a fiaff having a pike at the
bottom to Hick into the ground. Its ufe is to deter¬
mine the pgints where a perpendicular drawn from any
object to a line will meet that line ; and this is effected
by finding by trials a point in the line, fuch that the
crofs being fixed over it fo that one pair of the fights
may be in the direction of the line, the object from
which the perpendicular is to be drawn may be feea
through the other pair j then the point thus found will
be the bottom of the perpendicular, as is evident.
A theodolite may alfo be applied with great ad¬
vantage to land-furveying, more efpecially when the
ground to be meafured is of great extent.
In addition to thefe, there are other inftruments em¬
ployed in furveying, as the perambulator, which is ufed
for meafuring roads and other great diftances.^ Levels,
with telefcopic or other fights, which are ufed to de¬
termine how much one place is higher or lower than
another. An ofsett-fiaff for meafuring the ofsetts and
other fiiort difiances. Ten fmall arrows, or rods of iron
or wood, which are ufed to mark the end of every
chain length. Pickets or ftaves with flags to be fet up
as marks or objeCls of direftion j and Lilly, feales,
compafles, &c. for protradling and meafuiing the plan
upon paper. >
" The obfervations and meafurements are to be regu¬
larly entered as they are taken, in a book which is call¬
ed the Field-book, and which ferves as a regiller of
all that is done or occurs in the courfe of the furvey .
Tq
or Soit^s.
52©
Of Plane
Figures.
Fig. 29.
%• 3°*
Fjg. 31.
MENSURATION.
To Meafure a Field btj the Chain,
Let A tv BCD q rsprefent a field to be meafured.
Let it be refoived into the triangles A m B, ABD,
BCD, A q D. Let all the fides of the large triangles
ABD, BCD, and the perpendiculars of the fmall
ones A w B, A y D from their vertices w, q be meafur¬
ed by the chain, and the areas calculated by the rules
delivered in this fe6tion, and their amount is the area
of the whole. But if, on account of the curvature
of its fides the field cannot be wholly refoived into tri¬
angles, then, either a ftraight line may be drawn over
the curve fide, fo that the parts cut oft' from the field,
and thofe added to it, may be nearly equal. Or, with¬
out going beyonds the bounds of the field, the curvi-
lineal fpaces may be meafured by the rule given in
Prob. XV. of this fedlion.
To Meafure a Field ivith the Plane Table.
Let the plane table be fixed at F, about the middle
of the field ABCDE, and its diftances FA, FB. FC,
&c. from the feveral corners of the field meafured by
the chain. Let the index be dire£led from any point
sffumed on the paper to the points A, B, C, D, &c.
fucceffively, and the lines F tf, F F c, drawn in
thefe directions. Let the angles contained by thefe
lines be obferved, and the lines themfelves made pro-
jrortional to the diftances meafured. Then their ex¬
tremities being joined, there will be formed a figure
abode fimilar to that of the field j and the area of
the field may be found by calculating the areas of the
feveral triangles of which it confifts.
To Plan a Field from a given Bafe Line.
Let two ftations A, B be taken within the field, but
not in the fame ftraight line with any of its corners j
and let their diftance be meafured. Then the plane
table being fixed at A, and the point a affumed on its
furface direftly above A, let its index be dircCled to
B, and the ftraight line a b drawn along the fide of it
to reprefent AB. Alfo, let the index be direfled from
a to an objeCt at the corner C, and an indefinite
flraight line drawn in that dire&ion, and fo of every
other corner fuccefiively. Next, let the plane table be
fet at B, fo that b may be diredly over B, and bam
the fame dire&ion with BA, and let a ftraight line be
drawn from b in the direftion BC. The interfeClion
of this line with the former, it is evident, will determine
the point C, and the triangle a b c on the paper will
be fimilar to ABC in the field. In this manner all the
other points are to be determined, and thefe being
joined there will be an exact reprefentation of the field.
If the angles at both ftations wrere obferved, as the
iiftance between them is given, the area of the field
might be calculated from thefe data, but the operation
is too tedious for praftice. It is ufual therefore to
meafure each lines in the figure that has been conftruCt-
ed as will render the calculation eafy.
SECTION III.
MENSURATION OF SOLIDS.
Problem I.
Tb find the ftirface of a right prifm, or cylinder,
3
Rule. '—'~e~
Multiply the perimeter of the end by the length or
height of the folid, and the produd will be the furface
of all its fides ; to which add alfo the area of the two
ends of the prifm when required.
The truth of this rule will be evident, if it be con-
fidered that the fides of a right prifm are redangles,
whofe common length is the fame as the length of the
folid, and their breadths taken all together make up
the perimeter of the ends of the prifm. And as a cy¬
linder may be confidered as the limit of all the prifms
which can be inferibed in or circumfcribed about its
bafe ; fo the furface of the cylinder will be the limit of
the furfaces of thefe prifms, and the exprefiion for that
limit is evidently the produd of the circular bafe by its
height. Or a cylinder may be coniidcred as a prifm
of an indefinitely great number of fidcs.
Ex. 1. What is the furface of a cube, the length of Fig. 35.
its fide AB being 20 feet ?
Here 4X20= 80 the perim. of end.
And 80x20=: 1600 the four fides.
And 2 X 20 x 20=: 800 the top and bottom.
The fum 2400 = the area or furface.
Ex. 2. What is the convex furface of a cylinder
whofe length AB is 20 feet, and the circumference of ^ J
its bafe 3 feet ?
Here 3 X 2oxr6o feet, the anfwer.
Problem II.
To find the furface of a right pyramid or cone.
Rule.
Multiply the perimeter of the bafe by the flant
height or length of the fide, and half the produd will
evidently be the furiace of the fides, or the fum of the
areas of ail the triangles which form it. To which add
the area of the end or bafe, if required.
Note. Here a cone is confidered as a cylinder of an-pj^ ,
indefinitely great number of fides. h
Ex. 1. What is the upright furface of a triangular
pyramid, A BCD, the flant height, AE, being 2®
feet, and each fide of the bafe 3 feet ?
Here
3X3X20
2=90 feet, the furface*
Ex. 2. Required the convex furface of a cone, the pig. re.
flant height AB being 50 feet, and the diameter of its ' * '
bafe 85 leet.
Here 8.5x3.1416=1 circum. of bafe.
And ?-?-*T4'6^=667.;9, the anW.
Problem
Of Solids.
MENSURATION.
Problem III.
To find the furface of the fruftum of a right py¬
ramid or cone, being the lower part, when the
top is cut off by a plane parallel to the bafe.
' Rule.
Add together the perimeters of the two ends, and
multiply their fum by the flant height, and take half
the product for the anfwer.
The truth of this rule will be evident if it be con-
fidered that the fides of the fruftum are trapezoids,
whofe parallel fides bound its top and bafe, and whofe
common breadth is its flant height.
Fig. 36. Example. How many fquare feet are in the furface
of a fruftum AG of a 1’quare pyramid, whofe flant
height AE is 10 feet; alio each fide of the greater
end AC is 3 feet 4 inches, and each fide of the leffer
end EG 2 feet 2 inches.
Here 3-} X4=i3-f the per. of gr. end.
And 2-g- X 4= 8-f- the per. of lefs end.
And their fum is 22 feet.
2,2 X J O
Therefore  =ziio feet, is the anfwer.
2
Problem IV.
To find the folid content of any prifm or cylin¬
der.
Rule.
Find the area of the bafe or end of the figure, and
multiply it by the height or length, and the produft
will be the area.
This rule follows immediately from Theor 11. Seft.
VIII. and Theor 2. Se6t IX. Geometry.
Fig. 32. Ex. 1. What is the folid content of a cube AG, the
length of whofe fide is 24 inches ?
Here 24'X 24=576 fq. inches, the area of the end.
And 576X 24=13824 cub. inches is the folidity.
Fig. 33. Ex. 2. Required the content of a triangular prifm,
a- whofe length AD is 20 feet, and the fides of its trian¬
gular bafe ABC are 3, 4, and 5 feet.
Firft, the area of the triangular bafe is found by
Rule 3. of Prob. 3. Seft. II. to be
V ( ' X 2 X 2 X 1) =6 fq. feet.
Therefore 6 X 20 = 120 cub. feet the folidity.
Ex. 3. The Winchefter bufhel is a cylinder 1 Sc¬
inches in diameter, and eight inches deep. How many
cubic inches does it contain ?
By Prob. 10. of Seft. II. the area of its bafe is
.7854X 18.52r= 268.803 fq. inches 5
Therefor^ 268.803 X 8=2150.424 is the folid content.
Vol. XIII. Part II.
Problem V.
521
Of Solids.
To find the folid content of any pyramid or
cone.
Rule.
Find the area of the bafe, and multiply that area by
the height, and one-third of the product will be the
content of the folid.
This rule is demonftrated in Theor. 16. Sect. VIII.
and Theor. 3. Se£t. IX. Geometry.
Ex. I. What is the content of a triangular pyramid Fig. 34,
ABCD, whofe perpendicular height AF is 30 feet, 6 ° '
and each fide of its bafe BCD is three feet.
Firft, the area of the bafe, as found by Rule 2. of
Pxob. 3. Sedt. II. is
v/ (4.5 X 1.5 X 1.5 X 1.5) =3.89711.
Therefore ^221121i^=38.97x 1 cub. feet is the fo*
lid content.
. Ex. 2. What is the folid content of a cone, the ra- Fig. 35.
dius BC of its bafe being nine inches, and its height
AC 15 feet. 8
Here .7854 X ^=1.76715 is the area of the bafe in
fquare feet.
I.767 T C V I C
And     *-=8.8357 cub. feet is the folxd con¬
tent.
Problem VI.
To find the folidity of the fruftum of a cone or py¬
ramid.
Rule. ‘ ^
Add into one fum the areas of the two ends, and the
mean proportional between them, that is, the fquare
root of their produdl, and one-third of that fum will be
a mean area, which being multiplied by the perpen¬
dicular height or length of the fruftum will give the
content.
Demonjlration. Let PABCD be any pyramid, and pjg
AG a fruftum of it contained between ABCD its bafe,
and EFGH a plane parallel to the bafe. Put a for
the fide of a fquare equal to AC the bafe of the fruf¬
tum •, b for the fide of a fquare equal to EG its top j
^ for LM the height of the fruftum, and c for PL the
height of the part of the pyramid above the fruftum.
Then a* is the area of the bafe of the ffuftum $ b1 is
the area of its top ; a' is the folid content of
the whole pyramid; (Geom. Seft. VIII. Theor. 16.)
c is the content of its upper part; and therefore
y^a* (^+c)—b*c^
is the folid content of the fruftum itfelf. No v the bafe
and top of the fruftum being fimilar figures, ( Se£t. VI11.
3 U Theor.
522
Of Solids.
MENSURATION.
Theor. 33.) their areas are to cne another as the
fquares of AB and EF their homologous fide';, (Se<?t.
IV. Theor. 27.) But AB : EF : : BP : PF (Ss<B.
VII. Theor. 7. and Seft. IV. Theor. 20.) : : PM :
PL, (Seft. VII. Theor. 14.) 5 therefore the area of the
hafe of the fruftum is to the area of its top as PM1 :
•PL% that is, : Z-1 :: (Z'-j-c)2 : and confequently
A : b b-j-c 1 c j hence ac~bh-\-bc^ and cz
a h
and Z-f-czr Let thefe values oft1 and 7/4-c be
a—b 1
now fubilituted in the’ preceding expreffion for the
content of the fruftum, and it will become, by proper
seduftion,
. /-w
^ a-'o
4 Let the numerator of the fraflional part of this formu>
la be adlually divided by its denominator, and we lliall
•obtain for the area of the fruftum this more fimple ex-
preflion,
which formula, when expreffed in words, is the rule.
And as a cone may be confidered as the limit of all
the pyramids that can be inferibed in it, when the
number of fides is conceived indefinitely increafed, it
is evident that the rule will apply alike to the cone and
pyramid.
Ex. 1. Required the folidxty of the fruftum of a
hexagonal pyramid, the fide of whofe greater end is
four feet, and that of its leffer end is three feet, and its
height nine feet.
Firft, by Prob. 7. Se£l. II. the area of the bafe of
the fruftum is found to be 41.369, and the area of its
leffer end 23.383 fquare feet. And the mean propor¬
tional between thefe is
V (41.569x23.383) -31.177. .
Hence the mean area is
t (23-383+4i-569+3I-I77) =32-043-
And the folid content of the fruftum is
32.043x9=288.387 cubic feet.
Ex. 2, What is the folidity of the fruftum of a cone,
the diameter of the greater end being five feet, that
of the leffer end three feet, and the altitude nine feet.
Here the area of the greater end is (by Prob. 10.
Seel. II.) 5jX'7854i and the area of the leffer end is
3* X .7854, and the mean proportional between them
is s/ (5J x_3* x •7854i) —5 x 3 X .7854; therefore the
.mean area is
•7854
X (5a+3*-f* 5X3)—i2.8282.,'
•And the content of the fruftum
12.8282x9= 115-4538 cub. feet.
Problem VII.
To find the furface of a fphere* or of any feg-
rnent or zone of it.
Rule, ,of^nuVy
Multiply the circumference of the fpherc by the
height of the part required, and the produft will be
the curve furface, whether it be a fegment, a zone, or
the whole fphere.
Note. Ihe height of the whole fphere is its dia¬
meter.
I he truth of this rule has been already fhown in
the article Fluxions, §. 165. It may however be
deduced from principles more elementary, by reafonino-
as follows. Let PCQbe a femicircle, and ABODE fe- Fftl- 37'
veral fucceftive fides of a regular polygon inferibed in it.
Conceive the fenucircle to revolve about the diameter
PQ^as an axis, then the arch ABODE will generate a
portion of the furface of a fphere, and the chords AB,
BO, CD, &c. will generate the furfaces of fruftums of
cones j and it is eafy to fee that the- number of chords
may be fo great that the furface which' they generate
ftiall difter from the furface generated by the arch ACE
by a quantity which is lefs than any aftigned quantity.
Bifed AB in L, and draw AF, LM, BG, CH, &c.
perpendicular to PQ. For the fake of brevity, let
circ. AF denote the circumference of a circle whole
radius is AF. Then becaufe AF, BG, LM, are to-
each other refpeftively as circ. AF, circ. EG, circ.
LM (Geom. Seed. VI. Prop. 4.J), and becaufe 4(AE
-j-BG)— LM, therefore 4 {circ. AY-{-circ. BG) =
circ. LM. Now the area of the furface generated by
the chord AB is 4 {circ. AY-{-circ. BG( X AB,
(Prob. 3.) therefore the fame area is alfo equal to
{circ. LM) X AB. Draw AO parallel to FG, and
draw7 LN to the centre of the circle. Then the tri¬
angles AOB, LMN are manifeftly fimilar; therefore
AB : AO :: NL : LM :: circ. NL : circ. LM ; and
hence AO X circ. NL=r AR X circ. LM. But this haft
quantity has been proved equal to the furface genera¬
ted by AB, therefore the fame furface is equal to AO X
circ. NL, or to YGxdrc. NL, that is, to the rectan¬
gle contained by FG and the circumference of a circle
inferibed in the polygon. In the fame way it may be
ftiovvn that the furfaces generated by EC, CD, DE, are
refpeftively equal to GHxcirc. LN, HI X circ. LN,
IK Xcirc. LN. Therefore the whole furface generat¬
ed by the chords AB, BC, CD, DE, &c. is equal to
(FG -f-Gfl-f-HI~f- IK) x circ., LN—FK X circ. LN.
Conceive now the number of chords between A and E
to be indefinitely ir.ereafed ; then, obferving that the
limit of the furface generated by the chords is the fur¬
face generated by the arch ABCDE, and that the li¬
mit of NL is NP, the radius of the generating circle,
it follow's that the fpherical futface or zone generat¬
ed by the arch ACE is equal to the produff of the
circumference of the fphere by FK the height of the
zone.
E.x. 1. What is the fuperficies of a globe whofe dia¬
meter is 1 7 inches r
Firft i 7 X3-1416=53.4072 inches—the circum.
Then53.407: X 17=907.922444. inches—6 305fquare
feet the ar.fwer.
Ex. 2. What is the convex futface of a fegment 8
inches in height cut off from the fame globe {
Here
M E N S U
wsohi. H«. r3.40?8X8=4j7.Ji75 f<1. i„ciles=:2.967 f
v — icet the anfwer. ^ ^
Problem VIII.
To find the folidity of a fpherc.
Rule I.
Multiply the area of a great circle of the fphere by its
diameter, and take y of the product for the content.
Rule II.
Multiply the cube of the diameter by the decimal
.5236 for the content.
The firfl of thefe rules is demonflrated in Geometry
^e&r lX-,Theor- 61 And the fecoqd is deduced from
U^e firft, thus: put e/ for the diameter of the fphere, then
^X.7854 is the area of a great circle of the fphere
and by the firli rule X'5236 is its
content. J
Example. What is the content of a fphere whofe
diameter is 6 feet. >
Anfwer 63 X •523^—-1 cub. feet.
Problem IX.
RATION. 52S
the radius DG, is equal to the fum of the circles de- Of Solids.
icnbed with the radii DH, DB j that is, the fedion of *
t„e cylinder at any altitude, is equal to the correfpond-
ing iections of the fphere and cone taken together.
Gonlequently by the foregoing axiom, the cylinder is
equa to the hemifphere and cone taken together, and
a S tTxe/egment of the cylinde1' between the planes
l ^ V c 1S CqUal t0 ths fum of the figments of the
uerniiphere and cone contained between the fame planes.
ars2 c a- 2A^,’ t^e diafneter of the circle, =d, and
AD, the height of the fphericai fegment, —/5. Then
ACzrl dand 2CA—lADmzCDr^/—2 L Let n de*
note the number .7854. Then the area of the hafe com-
mon to the come fruftum AH, and cylinder AG, is «
(oca. II. Prob. 10.),and the area of the top ofthefru-
mm is n (V—2 3)*, and the mean proportional between
* e_e aceas is n (</—2 h} d. Therefore the folid content
of the fruitum is (by Prob. 3. of this fed.)
-f { * (^—2 hy + nci {d—z K) | X
~h d1 h—2 ndh1 -J-A_ n
Now the folid content of the cylinder is nd'h: (Prob. 1.)
ILerefore the folid content of the Ipherical fegment,
(which is equal to the difference between the cylinder
AG and conic fruftum AH) is equal to
To find the folid content of a fphericai fegment.
Rule.
Front 3 times the diameter of the fphere take double
the height of the legment, then multiply the remainder
by the fquare of the height, and the produft by the de¬
cimal .5236 for the content.
This rule has been inveftigated in Fluxions, §. 163.
But it may be proved in a more elementary manner by
means of the following axiom. If two fo/ids be con-
tamed between two parallel planes i a?id if the feBions
of thefe folids by a third plane parallel to the other two,
at amj altitude, be always equal to one another, then the
folids then felves are equal. Or more generally thus. If
two folids between two parallel planes be fuch, that any
fell ions of them by a third plane parallel to the other
two have always to each other the Jame given ratio, then
the folids themfelves are to one another in that ratio.
V e have given this propofition in the form of an axiom
for the fake of brevity, but its truth may be ftridlly de-
monllrated, as has been done when treating of pyramids
and the fphere, in Geometry, Se£f. 8. and 9.
Fig 38. Let us now fuppofe ABE to be a quadrant; C the
centre of the circle ; AFEC a fquare deferibed about
the quadrant; and CF the diagonal of the fquare. Sup-
pofe the figures to reyolve about AC as an axis, then
the quadrant will generate a hemifpbere, the triangle
ACF will generate a cone, and the fquare AE a cy¬
linder. Let thefe three folids be cut by a plane per¬
pendicular to the axis, and meeting the plane of the
fquare, in the line DHBG ; and join CB. Then, be-
caufe CDB is a right-angled triangle, a circle deferibed
with CB as a radius is equal to two circles deferibed
with CD and DB as radii ■ (Geometry, Sedl. VI.
Prop. 4. Cor. 2.). But CB=DG, and fince CArr AF,
therefore CD=DH^ therefore the circle deferibed with
n d'h—(« dl h—2 n dh*n Id),
that is, to 2 nd Id—^ n h>, or to
~ (3d—2 h) h\
which expreffion, if it be confidered that — or
3 3
is equal to .5236, is evidently the fame as that given
by the rule.
Example. In a fphere whofe diameter is 2r, what
is the folidity of a fegment whofe height is 4.5 inches ?
Firft 3 x 21—2X4*5:=54•
Then 54 X 4.5 X 4.5 X -5236=572.5566 inches, the fo¬
lidity required.
Problem X.
To find the folid content of a paraboloid, or fo¬
lid, produced by the rotation of a parabola a-
bout its axis.
Rule.
Multiply the area of the bafe by the height, and take
half the produdl for the content.
To demonfirate this rule, let AGC and BHD be two Kg, 39.
equal iemi-parabolas lying in contrary directions, and
having their vertices afthe extremity of the line AB.
Let AD, BC be ordinates to the curves. Complete
the rectangle A BCD, and conceive it to revolve about
AB as an axis ; then the redtangle will generate a cy¬
linder, the radius of whofe bafe will be AD, and the
two. femi-parabolas will generate two equal paraboloids ^
having the fame bafe and altitude as the cylinder.. Let
a plane be drawn perpendicular to the axis, and let
FHGE be the common fetftion of this plane and the
3 U 2 generating
/
524
Of Solids.
renaming figure,
axis. Then lince
M F. N S U R A T I 0 N.
L?t P denote the parameter of the
Problem XI.
Of Solids.
To find the folid content of a parabolic fpindle pjg 40
or folid generated by the rotation of AEB an
arc of a parabola, about AB an ordinate to
the axis.
EG*=Px AE,
and EH2=rPxEB,
EG* -f EH*— P x AB=C B*.
Hence it appears, as in the demonftration of the pre¬
ceding rule, that of the folids defcribed by ADCB,
ACB, ADB between the fame parallel planes, the fec-
tion of the cylinder at any altitude is equal to the cor-
refponding fedions of the paraboloids taken together.
Confequently (by the Axiom) the cylinder is equal to
both the paraboloids taken together j hence each is half
a cylinder of the fame bafe and altitude agreeing with
the rule.
The fame thing is alfo proved in Fluxions, §. 163.
Example. If the diameter of the bafe of a para¬
boloid be 10 and its height 1 2 feet j what is its con¬
tent ?
Here 10 X •7854=7.854 the area of the bafe.
And 4-X7.854X 12=47.124 cub. feet is the folidity.
Rule.
Multiply the area of the middle fe&ion by the length,
and take ^ of the produd for the content of the
folid.
For the inveftigation of this rule we mull refer the
reader to Fluxions, § 163. Ex. 2.
Example. The length of the parabolic fpindle
AEB^A is 60, and the middle diameter E ^ 34 ;
what is the folidity ?
Here 34* X-7854 is area of the middle fedion.
Therefore 341 X.7854 X 60Xtt= 29°53-5i68 is
the folidity required.
Problem XII.
Problem X.
To find the folid content of a fruftum of a para¬
boloid.
Rule.
Add together the areas of the circular ends, then
multiply that fum by the height of the fruftum, and
take half the produd for its folid content.
To prove this rule put A and a for the greater and
leffer ends of the fruftum, and h for its height; alfo let
c denote the height of the portion cut off from the com¬
plete paraboloid, fo as to form the fruftum. Then, by
the laft problem, the content of the complete parabo¬
loid is 4-A (/£-j-c), and the content of the part cut off
is ^ ac, therefore the content of the fruftum is
4|A(^-fc)—a c) = t{A>5-Pc(A—c)^-
But from the nature of the parabola, c w a : A >
hence A.c~ah-\-a.c and c —— —.
A—a
Let this value of c be fubftituted inftead of it in the
above expreflion for the content of the fruftum, and it
becomes
i(A h-\-a /$)—-^(A-j-tf),
and hence is derived the rule.
Example. Required the fblidity of the fruftum of a
paraboloid, the diameter of the greater end being 58,
and that of the leffer end 30, and the height 18.
Firft, (by Prob. 10. Sed. II.) we find the areas of
the ends to be 58* X *7854, and 30* X .7854 •, therefore
their fum is (58* -f- 30*) x .7854 = 4264 x .7854-
And the content of the figure is -§• X 4264 X-7854 X
18=30140.5104, the anfwer.
To find the folid content of the fruflum of a
parabolic fpindle, one of the ends of the fru-
(turn pafling through the centre of the fpindle.
Rule.
Add into one fum eight times the fquare of the dia¬
meter of the greater end, and three times the fquare of
the leffer end, and four times the produd of the diame¬
ters ; multiply the fum by the length, and the produd
multiplied by .05236, or of .7854, wrill be the con¬
tent.
For, referring the reader to Fluxions, § 163. Ex. 2.
as before, and fubftituting h for ACrr^ but, in other
refpeds, retaining the figure and notation, we have this
general expreflion for the fegment AP />,
which, when x~h gives - for the value of the fe-
15 a*
mi-fpindle. From this quantity let the former be fub-
traded, and there wall remain
8 7T ll* •X X^
15 a1 a*
for the content of the fruftum. In this expreflion let %
be put inftead of h—x or CD, and, denoting CE the
h*
radius of the greater end of the fpindle by </, let
be fubftituted inftead of its value a. Then we (hall
have the content of the fruftum otherwife expref-
fed by
d* %
h*.
2 //* !24 . Z 4
}
d—y .
which value, by putting h\/—in its two laft terms
inftead
MENSURATION.
525
Of Solids, inilead of *, is changed to
X
, +4<y-Hy*-
j ?
rig. 41.
Fig. 42.
and hence is derived the preceding rule.
Example. Suppofe the diameter of the greater end
to be 8, and the diameter of the leffer end 6, and the
length 10, required the content ?
Firft 8x8,+3X61+4X8x6-812.
Then, 8i2Xiox-05236=425.i632, the content.
Problem XIII.
To find the folid content of a fpheroid, or folid
generated by the rotation of an ellipfe about
either axis.
Rule.
Multiply continually together the fixed axis, and the
fquare of the revolving axis, and the number .5236 or ^
of 3.1416, and the laft product will be the folidity.
For, let the femiellipfe, ADB. and femicircle AEB
revolve about the fame fixed axis AB, and thus gene¬
rate a fpheroid and fphere. Let CD the revolving fe-
miaxis of the ellipfe meet the circle in E, and draw
OP any ordinate to the fixed axis meeting the circle in
R. Then, from the nature of the ellipfe PQ* : PR1 ::
CD* :CE* or CA* (Conic Sections, Part II. Prop, t i.
Cor. 3.) Hence it follows, (Geometry, Seft. VI.
Prop. 4.), that every feftion of the fpheroid is to the
correfponding fedion of the fphere in the fame given
ratio, namely, that of the fquare of the revolving axis
to the fquare of the fixed axis j theiefore (Axiom in
the dem. of Prob. 9.) the whole fpheroid is to the
whole fphere in the fame ratio. that is, (becaufe the
content of the fphere is AB3X-523°) A®" :
AB3X-5236 : (the cont. of fpheroid). Hence the
content of the fphero.id is AB X ( 2 CD) X *5 236*
Ex. 1. What is the folid content of an oblong fphe¬
roid, or folid generated by the rotation of an ellipfe
about its greater axis, the axes being 50, and 30 ?
Here 50 X 301 X •5236=23562> the content.
Ex. What is the folid content of an oblate fpheroid,
or folid generated by the rotation of an ellipfe about
its lefler axis, the two axes being as before.
Here 30 X 50* X .5236:=39270 the anfwer-
Problem XIV.
To find the folid content of the fruftum of a fphe¬
roid, its ends being perpendicular to the fixed
axis, and one of them palling through the centre.
Rule.
To the area of the lefs end add twice that of the
greater, multiply the fum by the altitude of the fru¬
ftum, and y of the product will be the content.
Elote. This rule will alfo apply to the fphere.
Demonjlration. Let ABE be a quadrant of an el- Of Solids.
lip;e, C its centre, CAFE its circuinfcribed reftangle,
and CF its diagonal. Draw any ftraight line DG pa¬
rallel to CE, meeting AC, CF, ABE and EF in D,
H, B, and G. Then by Conic Sections, Part II.
Prop. 11.
CE2 or AF2 : DB* :: CA : CA2—CD2,
and by fim. tr. AF* : DH2 :: CA* : CD2.
Therefore (Geometry, Sett. III. Theor. 8 ),
AF2 : DB2 + DH2 :: CA* : CA*;
Hence DB* + DH2 = AF2 = DG2.
• Conceive now the figure to revolve about AC as an
axis, fo that the elliptic quadrant may generate the
half of a fpheroid, the rettangle AE a cylinder, and
the triangle ACF a cone •, then it is evident (as was
fhown in the cafe of the fphere in Prob. 9O that every
fettion of the firft of thefe folids by a plane perpendicu¬
lar to the axis is equal to the difference of the fettions
of the other two, and confequently that the fruftum
of the fpheroid between CE and DG is equal to the
difference between the cylinder having DG or CE for
the radius of its bafe, and CD for its altitude, and the
cone having DH for the radius of its bafe, and DC
for its altitude.
Put//for the number 3.1416, then (Prob. 4.) the
content of the cylinder is 4 «xDG2xCD, and
(Prob. 5.) the content of the cone is 4 w X DH* X CD,
and therefore the content of the iruftum of the Tphe*-
roid is
4 «XCD (DG*—\ DH*).
But it was Ihewn that DH*~DG*—DB“ j there*
fore the content of the fruftum is alfo equal to-
4 7?xCD (2 CE*+DB*),
and hence is derived the rule.
Ex. Suppofe the greater end of the fruftum to be‘
15, the lefs end 9, and the length 10 inches, required
the content ?
The area of the greater end is i5*X-7854j anc3
area of the lefs 9* X -7854, therefore the content is
.7854 ( 9*4-2Xij*) X-Lr = I39°-I5S cubic inches*
Problem XV.
To find the folid content of a hyperboloid, or folid
generated by the rotation of a hyperbola about
its tranfverfe axis. •
Rule.
As the fum of the tranfverfe axis and the height of
the folid is to the fum of the faid tranfverfe axis and j
of the height, fo is half the cylinder of the fame bafe
and altitude to the folidity of the hyperboloid.
Demonjlration. Let BA ^ be a hyperbola, A <7 its 4>
tranfverfe axis, C its centre, CF,C/ its afymptotes,
FA/ a tangent at its vertex. Draw FE parallel to
C A, and draw’ any ftraight line parallel to F/ meeting
the ’afymptotes in H and h, the curve in B and the
axis in D, and the line T E in G. I hen, becaufe AF
—BHx^B (Conic Section?, Part III. Prop it.)
v and
M E N S U R
^ HE X ;,B= DH*— DB> (Geometry, Sefl. IV
IJieon 12.), therefore AF^DH2—DHS and DR’
— FJD3—DG’. Hence it appears, that if the figure
be concaved to revolve about CA as an axis, fo that
the hyperbolic arc AB may generate a hyperboloid,
the triangle BCH a cone, and the reftangle DAFG a
cylinder, any feaion of the firft of thefe folids by a
b‘an perpendicular to the axis, will be equal to
the difference of the fecdions of the other two by the
fame plane. I herefore the hyperboloid BAb is equal
to the difference between the conic fruftum FH // /and
/e c} J,nder FG gf. Let A a the tranfverfe axis be
cenoted by />, lf = its conjugate axis by AD the
^eight of the fohd by A, B b its bafe by b. Then
becaufe by fimilar triangles, &c, ’
A T I O N.
things falling under the cognizance of the officers ofOfGau
the excite, and it has received its name from a gauge ^
or rod uted by the practitioners of the art.
From the way m which calks are conllruaed, they
are evidently folids of no determinate geometrical fi¬
gure. It is, however, ufual to confider them as havino-
one or otner of the tour following forms:
1. The middle fruftum of a fpheroid.
2. I he middle fruftum of a parabolic fpindle,
3- ^ he two equal fruftums of a paraboloid.
4- he two equal fruftums of a cone.
CA : CD:: Ff: HA
therefore F/X H X Fy:
F/a: F/xH/i,
Ct/> + //y
=r+
Now F/-/, andH^ (=B ^ + F/’)r^ +^there¬
fore putt.ng « for .7854, we have (by Prob. 6.) the
content of the conic fruftum FH hf equal to
nh
(?•+*•+?*+?■+
2 A ,
-r 0 i-
£)
P A 3 \”‘ 1 p
from this fubtraft n hq\ the expreffion for the content
of the cylinder FG^/, and there will remain
3V ^ p
for the content of the hyperboloid,
lure of the hyperbola
A«* : Fp :: AD X Da
that is/1 : f :: (p + A) A :
2 A q*   p b
~p~ ~~
But from the na-
BD1
■therefore
We have already given rules by which the content of
each of theie folds may be found in cubic feet, inches,
. But as Jc is ufual to exprefs the contents of calks-
in g a Lons, we lhall give the rules again in a form
itnted to that mode of eftimating capacity. Obfervincr
tnat in each cafe the lineal dimenfions of the calk ara
luppoied to be taken in inches.
Problem. I.
To find the content of a calk of the firft, or fph<v
roidal variety. r
Rule.
To the fquare of the head diameter add double the
Iquare of the bung diameter, and multiply the fum by
the length of the calk._ Then let'the produd be mul¬
tiplied by .0009^, or divided by .1077 for ale gallons,
or multiplied by .001or divided by 882 for wine
gallons.
i he truth of this rule may be proved thus. Put R rm
for *G, the bung diameter, H for API the head dla- g'
m<iter, and L for AD, the length of the calk, then
(by crob. 14.) the content of the calk is (AB’-i-HMI
.7854 # ‘ J ^
x » wllich being divided by 282 (the cubic
2 Ct>+^J
of the hyperboloid is alio equal to
d hence the content ioohesinan ale gallon )gives (2 B’-J-H1) L X *00928371,
or (2Bj + FP)x
X L, for the content in ale
71 A
~3
(/.» +
p b*
)J=
n A b* p + \A
2(p + A)) 2 x p + A
Now if it be confidered that the quantity n A b* is the
exprelljon for the content of a cylinder whofe bafe is b
and height A, it will appear evident, that this laft for¬
mula is the lame as would refult from the foregoing
E*. Suppofe the height of the hyperboloid to be 10,
the radius of its bafe 12, and its tranfverfe axis ,0!
What is its content ? ^
% * zBeCoUfe 3 cyhnder of the fame bafe and altitude
JS 24 x -7054 X 10, therefore, we have the proportion,
I077-J 57
gallons. And being divided by 231, (the cubic inches
m a wine gallon) gives (aB’-f-H1) X-coi 13333 L> or
(2B1ff- H1) X gg2 XL, for the content in wine
gallons.
40
. lif .. ?4* X-7854X 10
3 2
24-X-/8?4 X 10 x x 10
4° X 3 X 2 —2°73'45^> fbe content
the folid as required.
Of GAUGING.
Gauging treats of the meafuring of calks, and other
Ex. Suppofe the bung and head diameters to be 22
and 24, and the length 40 inches. Required the con¬
tent ?
Here (2 X32* + H*) X 4° X .00091=97.44 ale gallons,
is the content required.
And (2 X322 + 24j) X40 X *001 r|=:ii 8.93 wine gal¬
lons is the fame content.
Problem II.
To find the content of a calk of the fecond, or pa¬
rabolic fpindle form. r
Rule.
To the fquare of the head diameter add double that
of the bung diameter, and from the fum take f, or T%
oi
MENSURATION. ^27
l‘Jie fq^.re °;the d^erence of the faid diameters. For by Problem 6. the content m inches is |(B4 Of Gauging
Fi.en multiply the remainder by the length, and the +BH+H1) X .7854 L which expreffion is equivalent' 
produff mu.tiphed, or divided by the lame numbers as to *
in the rule to laff problem, will give the content. r ^
" ’ " " ' {3(B+H)-+(B_H)q x
lc — > Now --
12
i 7   o
1 or oy Problem x 2. the content in inches is
X.7854L5
L.
divided by 2^2 gives .00023205
and this formula may be othenvife expreffed thus,
{aB’+H1—}(B—H)4 x ’—^XL,
and hence is derived the rule, the multipliers or diviiors
being evidently die fame as in laft problem.
Ex. 1 he dimenGons of a calk being the fame as in
laft problem 5 required the content.
Anfwer. (2 X 32* + 242 — tX81) X 40 x .00094
= 96.49 the content in ale gallons.
And 10393.6x.00111=117.79 the content in wine
gallons.
Problem III.
To find the content of a calk of the third or pa
raboloidal variety.
Rui.e.
To the fquare of the bung diameter add the fquare
of the head diameter, and multiply the fum by the
length; then, if the produft be multiplied by.0014,
or divided by 718, the refult will be the content in ale
gallons ; or if it be multiplied by .0017, or divided by
588, the refult will be the content in wine gallons.
For by Problem 10. the content in inches is 4(BS
4-HJ) X .7854 L ; and this expreffion being divided by
282 gives (B24-Hj) X .00139255 L or (B1 -j-H2)
X 7TT105 X ^ f°r t,iC contcnt ]*n ale gallons; and
divided by 231 gives (B’ + H2) X .0017 L or (B2
X H2) X -=5 for the content in wine gallons.
588.233 ^
Ex. Suppofe tlie dimenfions of a calk, as before • re¬
quired the content.
Anfwer. (322-f 242) X4°X.oci4=89.i the content
in ale gallons.
A'^d 64000 X-OOl 7 = 108.8 the content in wine eal-
lons.
Problem IV.
To find the content of a calk of die fourth or
conical variety.
Rui.e.
To three times the fquare of the fum of the diame¬
ters add the fquare of the difference of the diameters;
multiply the fum by the length ; and multiply the rer
fult by .000233- or divide it by 4308 for the content
in ^le gallons; or multiply the refult by .0028', or
divide it by 3 5 29, for the content in wine gallons.
— 4^08 628 t^e mu‘t’P^er ^or ale gallons, and divided
b7 23 1 gives .00028333= the multiplier for
3529.42 r
wine gallons.
Ex.' Suppofing the dimenfions of a calls, as before*.
What is its content ?
Anfwer, (3 x 562+8*5 X 40 X .000231=87.93,^6 con¬
tent in ale gallons,
And 378880 X .00028-] = 107.35, is the content in
wine gallons.
As thefe four forms of calks are merely hypotheti¬
cal, it may reafonahly be expetted that lome degree of
uncertainty will attend the application of the rules to
actual meafurement. The following rule, however,
given by Dr Hutton in his excellent treatife on men-
furation will apply equally to any calk whatever. And
as the ingenious author obferves, that its truth has been
proved by feveral calks which have been aftually filled
vsitn a true gallon-meafure after their contents were'
computed by it, we prefume that it is more to be de¬
pended upon in practice than the others.
Rule.
. -Add into one fum 39 times the fquare of the bung
diameter, 25 times the fquare of the head diameter, and
26 times the produdl of the diameters; multiply the
fum by the length, and the produdf by .00034 ; then
tile laid product divided by 9 will give the wine o-al-
lons, and divided by 11 will give the ale gallons. °
In in veil!gating this rule the ingenious author af-
fumed as a hypothefis, that one-third of a caik at each
end is nearly the fruftum of a cone, and that the mid¬
dle part may be taken as the middle fruftum of a para¬
bolic fpindle. . This being fuppofed, let AB and CD
be the two right-lined parts, and BC the parabolic
part ; produce AB and DC to meet in E, and draw
lines as in the figure. Let L, B, and H denote the
fame as before. Then, fince AB has the fame direc¬
tion as EB at A, ABE will be a tangent to a parabo¬
la BF, and therefore FI = 4EI. But BI=|AK, and
hence, by fim. triangles EI=|EK ; confeqpently FI
=^EI= jEK=J-FK=t,5(B—H) ; fo that the com¬
mon diameter BL=FG—2FI=B—|(B—=
-j-bf )> which call c. Now by the rules for parabolic fpin-
dies and conic fruftums we obtain (putting n for .ySA)
8B2-f-4B"-f- 3C2 L ti  328B2 -f- 44BH 4- 3 H2
M 3 — 25X45 '
' cj+CH--I7s
xL« for the parabolic or middle part; and —  1—~
X
2L/;_ i6oB*-j-28oBH4-3ioH2
25 X 45
X B« for the two
ends,
Fio
44-
0
c ^1
28
MENSURATION*-.
Spends, and the Turn of thefe two gives after proper re- .0^34 wUl be the multi?Xkt for ak gallons as in the°iS^j
duflion (jpB8-]-26BH-f* 25H*) x—-•» nearly, for ru]e>
n '-8c4 ^x‘ Suppbfe a calk to have the fame dimenfions as
the content in inches. And the quantity —or ——- in the four former rules 5 required the content.
90 90 Here (39VX 3 22 + 26 X 3 ? X 24 + 25 X-’42) X 4Q
being divided by 231 gives the multiplier for X'0°034—1010.5 ; which being divided by 9 and by
9 11 we obtain 112.3 wine gallons or 9^9 ale gallons
wine gallons} and fince 231 is to 282 as 9 to 11 nearly, for the content required. *
MEN
Menftrual MENSTRUAL, or MenstRuous, in Physiology,
l! -is .applied to the blood which flows from women in their
* ordinary monthly purgations. See Midwifery and
JYIedicine Index.
MENSTRUUM, in Chemijlry, any body which in
a fluid or fubtilized ftate is capable of interpofing its
fmall parts betwixt the fmall parts of other bodies, fo
as to divide them fubtly, and form a new uniform
compound of the two.
MENTHA, mint, a genus of plants belonging to
the didynamia clafs, and in the natural method ranking
under the 42d order Verticillatce. See Botany In¬
dex.
MENTOR, in fabulous hiftory, a faithful friend of
Ulyfles} a fon of Hercules; a king of Sidonia, who
revolted againft Artaxerxes Ochus, and afterwards was
reflored to favour by his treachery to his allies, &c.
Diod. 16. An excellent artift in polifhing cups and
engraving flowers on them. Phn. 33. c. 11.—Mart.
9. ep. 60. v. 16.
MENTZ, an archbilhopric and electorate in Ger
many. It lies on the banks of the river Maine, between
the deflorate of Triers on the weft, the Palatinate on
the fouth, Franconia on the eaft, and the Wetterau
-on the north. It is about 60 miles in length from
north-eaft to fouth-weft, and about 50 in breadth.
A confiderable part of the elector’s revenue arifes from
the toll on the Rhine and Maine, and from the
"tax on the excellent wanes produced in this country.
The chief towns of any trade are, 1. Mentz ; (fee
the next article.) In its neighbourhood is Plock-
heim, fo celebrated for good wines, that the beft
Rhenifh is from thence called old hock. It is a pretty
village, containing about 300 families } and belongs
to the chapter of Mentz, the dean of which enjoys
the revenue of it : in a good year he makes from
twelve to fifteen thoufand guilders of his wine. He
and the Auguftins of Mentz and Francfort have the
exclufive enjoyment of the beft Hockheimer wine, of
which, in good years, a piece, confifting of 100 mea-
fures, fells for from 900 to 1000 guilders from the
prefs. “ This (fays the Baron Rieflaeck) is cer¬
tainly one of the deareft wines in the world. Having
a defire to tafte it on the fpot, we were obliged to pay
a rixdollar} it wras, however, of the beft vintage in
this century, viz. that of 1766. Nor ftiould we have
had it, but for an advocate of Mentz, to whom the
hoftefs meant to (hew favour. This wras the firft Ger¬
man wine I had met with which was entirely without
MEN
any four tafte : it was quite a perfume to the tongue ; Mentz.
whereas the other wine o- Hockheim, let it be as good v~“
as it may, is not quite clear of vinegar } though for
this alfo, if it has any age, you are forced to pay a
guilder and a half.” 2. Bingen is a pleafant town,
which (lands in the diftrift called Rhinegau. This town,
which, together with the toll on the Rhine, is worth
about 30,0:0 guilders, belongs to the chapter of
Mentz, is extremely beautiful, and contains about
4500 inhabitants. A great part of the corn which
•is carried into the Rhinegau from the neighbouring
Palatinate, comes through this place, which, on the
other hand, fupplies the Palatinate with drugs, and va¬
rious foreign commodities. This traffic alone would
make the place very lively } but, befides this, it has
very fruitful vineyards. The hill, at the foot of which
it lies, and one fide of which is made by the gullet
through which the Nahe runs into the Rhine, forms
another deep rock behind this gullet parallel to the
Rhine and the golden Rudefheimer mountain} it there¬
fore enjoys the fame (un as this does, which makes the
Budeftieimer wine that grows on it little inferior to the
Rudetheimer. See RuDESHEIM. The riling grounds
about it produce wines that are efteemed preferable to
thofe of Baccharac, fo much in vogue heretofore.—
3. Elfeld, five miles weft from Mentz, is a ftrong for¬
tified town, on the north fide of the Rhine, and the
chief of the Rhinegau.—Here is Rudelheim, a place
noted for the growth of the beft wines in thefe parts.
4. Weilhaden lies between fix and feven leagues from
Francfort, and about five or fix miles north of Mentz }
it is the metropolis of a country belonging to the
branch of Naffau-Saarbrak, and is famous for its mi¬
neral waters.
According to Riefbeck, the fee of Mentz is indebted
for its increafe of riches to St Boniface, who may be
called, with great juftice, the apoftle of the Germans.
It was this man, an Engliihman by birth, who in the
time of Charlemagne baptized Witikind and the other
brave Saxons who had fo long refifted baptifm with their
fwords, and fpread the empire of the vicar of Jefus
Chriil as far as the northern and eaftern feas. He it
was who introduced the Roman liturgy into Germany,
and made the favage inhabitants abftain from eating
horfe’s fielli. He railed the papal power to a higher
pitch than it had been raifed in any other country in
Chriftendom } and, in recompence of his fervices, the
pone made all the new founded bilhoprics in the north
of Germany fubjeft to the lee of Mentz, which Boni-
D-
t
• /
/
f
/
/
M 'E N . ; [ 5
Mentz. face had chofen for Ins refidencc. The provinces, the
^' moil: confiderable in the whole papal dominions, all
Suabia, Franconia, Bohemia, and almoft all Saxonv,
with a part of Switzerland, Bavaria, and the Upper
Rhine, belong to this diocefe. Though the reforma¬
tion, and revenge of the kings of Bohemia, have leffen-
* ed it one-third, it ftill contains the archbifliopric of
Sprengel, and eleven bifhoprics, moft of which are the
moll conlideftble of Germany, as Wurzburg, Pader-
laorn, Hildelheim, Auglburg, &c. When the build¬
ing of the papal monarchy was completed by Gregory
VII. the archbilhops of Mentz became powerful enough
to be at the head of the empire. In the 13th and 14th
centuries, they wrere fo eminent as to be able to make
emperors without any foreign affiftance $ and it was to
one of them that the houle of Haplburg was indebted
for its firft elevation. Since the boundaries of the two
powers have been more acurately afcertained, and the
temporal has fo much got the better of the fpiritual, the
power and influence of the archbilhops of this place
have of courfe been much reduced $ Hill, however, they
are pofleffed of very important prerogatives, which they
might exert with much more efficacy than they do,
were it not that various circumltances have rendered
them too dependent on the emperors. They are ftill
the fpeakers in the electoral college, have the appoint¬
ment of the diets under the emperors, and may order a
re-examination of the proceedings of the imperial courts.
Thefe high privileges are, however, too much fubjedl
to the controul of the houie of Auftiia j nor are their
fpiritual powers any longer what they once were.
Their fuffragan biffiops have taken it into their heads
that all biffiops are alike as to power, and that the title
of archbiffiop only entitles its poffeflbr to the firft place
amongft brothers who are equal. The temporals, how¬
ever, which are ftill annexed to this chair, make him
who fits in it rich amends for the diminution of his
fpiritual and political fplendor. Though he does not
abfolutely peffefs the largeft, yet he certainly has the
richeft and moft peopled domain of any ecclefiaftical
potentate in Germany. The country, it is true, does
not contain more than i 25 German miles fquare, whereas
the archbiffiopric of Saltzburg contains 240 j but then
Saltzburg has only 250,000 inhabitants, whereas Mentz
has 320,000. The natural riches of the territory of
Mentz, and its advantageous fituation, make a fubjeft
of Mentz much richer than one of Saltzburg, the greateft
part of which is only inhabited by herdfmen. In the
territory of Mentz there are 40 cities ; in that of Saltz¬
burg only feven. The tax on veffels wffiich go down
the Rhine of itfelf produces 60,000 guilders, or 6000I.
a-year, which is nearly as much as all the mines of
Saltzburg put together, excepting only the fait mine at
Halle. The tax on wine, here and in the country round,
produces the court above 100,000 guilders, or io,oool.
a-year, in which fum we do not reckon the cuftoms of
the countries which lie at a greater diftance. Upon the
whole, the income of the prefent archbiffiop may be
valued at 1,700,000 guilders, or 170,000!.
If the lands of the elector lay all together, they would
produce a fufficiency of corn and all the prime necef-
faries of life •, but as feveral parts of them lie wTide
afunder, the people are compelled to pnrchafe a great
deal from foreigners- The capital itfelf, as well as
VOL. XIII. Part II.
29 1 M E N
the adjacent Rhinegau, depends on the Palatinate for
its corn, notwithftanding the great abundance of that
and every other Ipecies of grain in its owm pofleffions
in Wetterau. The noblett production of the elector’s
teiritory on the Rhine is the wine, which is almoft
the only true Rhenifh. Connoilfeurs, indeed, allow
the wines of Neirftein, Baccarach, and a very few
other places out of this country, to be true Rheniih :
but they do not give this naitte to the 'wines of the
Palatinate, of Bardon, and of Alfatia. There is a
great deal of wane made in the countries which lie on
the fouth and weft of the Rhine, at Laubenheim,
Eodenheim, Budeftieim, and Bingen ; but the true
Rheniffi, that which infpires fo many who are and fo
many who are not poets, comes only from the Rhine¬
gau, which lies on the northern banks of the Rhine.
See Rhinegau.
The civil lift of the archbiftiop (according to
Baron Rieffieck), is by much too immoderate and
expenfive. “ He has his minifters, his counfel-
lors of ftate, and eighty or ninety privy counfel-
lors of various denominations. The expence of this
eftabliffiment is very difproportionate to the revenue
of the ftate. rJLhis is owing to the large number of
poor nobility, who can only accept of employments
of this kind. Ignorance of the true principles of go¬
vernment are the caufes of this evil. The confequen-
ces are, that a great number of perfons, who might
be ufefully employed, live in idlenefs. Even the mi¬
litary eftabliffiment of the country appears to me more
calculated for the purpofe of feeding a hungry nobi¬
lity than for real ufe. At the acceffion of the prefent
eleClor, though the whole army only confifted of 2200
men, there were fix generals. The regular eftabliffi¬
ment paid for and fupported by the country is 8000
men j but though there are only 2000 men kept up,
the money expended for their fupport, particularly
that given to nuinberlefs ufelefs officers, might be
made ufe of more for the benefit of the country. The
army of the archbiffiop confifts of a German guard of
50 men and 25 horfes, a Swifs guard, a fquadron of
huffars of 130 men (the moft ufeful troops, as they
purge the land of robbers and murderers), a corps of
artillery of 104 men, three regiments of infantry of
600 men each, and fome companies belonging to the
armies of Franconia and the Upper Palatinate. Of
the fortifications of the capital we may fay much the
fame as of the army. Were they, indeed, improved
and kept up as they ought to be, they would vie
with Luxemburg, and be the moft powerful of all the
barriers againft France. It is true, that the nature of
the ground does not allow of a regular plan j but for
fingle parts, I have feen no place of the fame capabi¬
lities, where greater advantages have been taken of
the ground for the ereClion of the feveral works. The
beauty, as well as fize of them, is indeed an objeCt of
great wonder $ but though the circle of the Upper
Rhine, and even the empire in general, has laid out
great fums on the building thefe fortifications, parts
of them are not finiffied, and parts of them are ready
to fall to pieces. Their extent, indeed, would require
a great army to man them. But this, as well as the
maintaining and keeping them up, is evidently beyond
the power of this court, or indeed of the whole circle
3 X of
Mentz.
  V—
MEN f 5
or the Upper Rhine united. They are, therefore, alfo
to be looked upon as one of the things which ferve
more for magnificence than real ufe,”
Mentz, a confiderable town of Germany, in the
circle of the Lower Rhine, and capital of the eledto-
rate ot the fame name, is fituated on the Rhine near
its confluence with the Maine, 20 miles north weft of
Worms, 15 weft of Francfort, and 75 eart of Triers,
in E. Long. 8. 20. N. Lat. 40. 51. This city claims
a right to the invention of the art of printing : (fee
Hi/lory of Printing). Here is a very beautiful quay
along the river, defended by feveral works well forti¬
fied with cannon. That part of the city which ex¬
tends towards the river is moft populous. The belt
vineyards for Rhenilh wine being in this neighbour¬
hood, Mentz has a flourifliing trade in that commodi¬
ty more particularly ; and its commerce is the brilker,
by reafon that all the jnerchandife which paffes up and
down the Rhine Hops in its harbour to change bot¬
toms.
_ The northern part of the city, in which the arch-
bifhop refides, is full of very regular buildings. Here
are three regular ftreets, called the Blcrchen, wThich run
parallel to each other from the banks of the Rhine to
600 yards within the city, and are cut almoft regularly
by very pretty crofs ftreets. The archbifliop’s"palace
has a moft commanding view of thefe ftreets, the Rhine,
and the Rfeinegau. Phere are alfo fome good build¬
ings in the old part of the city. The market of beafts
is extremely well worth feeing; and you here and
there meet with other agreeable fpots. The market
in the middle of the town, though not regular, is one
of the prettieft places in Germany. The cathedral is
well worth notice. It is an immenfe large old Go¬
thic building, the fpire of which was ftruck with light¬
ning. about 20 years ago, and entirely laid in allies.
As it was made of a toreft of wood, it burned 14
hours before it was entirely confumed. To prevent
thefe accidents for the future, the chapter had the pre-
fent one built to the fame height in ftone, an under¬
taking which coft them 40,000 guilders or 4000I.
It is a great pity (Baron Riefbeck obferves) that it is
Overloaded with fmall ornaments: and a Hill greater, that
this wonderful edifice is fo choked up with (hops and
houfes as to be hardly more than half vifible. As,
however, houfes and (hops are very dear in this part
of the town, one cannot be very angry with the chap¬
ter for choofing rather to make the moft of its ground,
than to ftiow off the church to the beft advantage. The
rent of a fhop and a fingle room to live in is 150 guil¬
ders or 15I. per annum in this part of the town.
There is hardly another church in Germany of the
height and length of this cathedral; and the infide of
it is decorated with feveral magnificent monuments of
princes and other great perlonages. Befides the ca¬
thedral, the city of Mentz contains feveral other
churches in the modern ftyle, very well worth feeing.
St Peter’s, and the Jefuits church, though both too
much loaded with ornament, are among this number.
The church of the Auguftins, of which the inhabi¬
tants of Mentz are fo proud, is a mafterpiece of bad
tafte ; but that of Ignatius, though little is faid about
it, would be a model of the antique, if here likewife
there had not been too much ornament laviihed. Upon
30 ] MEN
the w'hple, the palaces of the nobleffe wrant that ndble Merits
fimpUcity which alone conftitutes true beauty and ——
magnificence. In another century the externals of
the city will be quite changed. The late prince built
a great deal, and the prelent has a tafte for the fame
fort of expence. I he monks and governors of hof-
pitals alfo have been forced to rebuild their houfes ; fo
that when a few more ftreets are made broader and
ftraighter, the whole will have no bad appearance.
The inhabitants, who together with the garrifon a-
mount to 30,000, are a good kind of people, and,
like all the catholics of Germany, make great account
of a good table.. Their faces are interefting, and they
are not deficient either in wit or adivity.
I here are few cities in Germany befides Vienna
which contain fo rich and numerous a nobility as this
does : there are fome houfes here which have eftates
of 100,000 guilders, or 10,cool, a-year. The counts
of Baflenheim, Schonborn, Stadion, Ingelheim, Elz,
Oftein, and Walderdorf, and the lords ef Dahlberg,
Breitenbach, with fome others, have incomes of from
30,000 to 100,000 guilders. Sixteen or eighteen houfes
have from 15,000 to 30,000 guilders annual revenue.—•
The nobility of this place are faid to be fome of the
oldeft and mod untainted in Germany. There are
amongft them many perfons of extraordinary merit,
who join uncommon knowledge to all the duties of
aflive life. Upon the whole, they are far fuperior to the
greater part of the German nobility. Their education,
however, is ftill too ftiff. P'he firft minifter of the
court was refufed admittance into their affemblies for
not being fufficiently noble ; and they think they
degrade themfelves by keeping company with bourgeois.
The clergy of this place are the richeft in Germany.
A canonry brings in 3500 Rhenifh guilders in a mo¬
derate year. The canonry of the provoft brings him in
40,000 guilders a-year ; and each of the deaneries is
wrorth 2600 guilders. The income of the chapter al¬
together amounts to 300,000 guilders. Though it is
forbidden by the canons of the church for any one to
have more than a fingle prebend, there is not an ec-
clefiaftic in this place who has net three or four ; fo
that there is hardly a man amongft them who has not
at leaft 8000 guilders a-year. The laft provoft, a count
of Elz, had prebends enough to procure him an in¬
come of 75,000 guilders. Exclulive of the cathedral,
there are feveral other choirs in which the canonries
bring in from 1200 to 1500 guilders a-year. To give
an idea of the riches of the monafteries of this place,
Baron Riefbeck informs us, that at the deftruflion of
the Jefuits, their wine, which was reckoned to fell
extremely cheap, produced 120,000 rixdollars. A
little while ago the eledlor abolilhed one Carthufian
convent and two nunneries, in the holy cellars of which
there was found wine for at leaft 500,000 rixdollars.
“ Notwithftanding this great wealth (continues our
author), there is not a more regular clergy in all
Germany. There is no diocefe, in which the regula¬
tions made by the council of Trent have been more
ftrhftly adhered to than they have here; the archbi-
fhops having made a particular point of it both at the
time of the reformation and ever lince. One thing
which greatly contributes to keep up difeipline is
the not fuffering any prieft to remain in. the country
who
men t 531 ] Men
Ment2 wlio has not fixed and ftated duties, and a revenue an-
nexed to them. Moft of the irregularities in Bavaria,
r cnu^ 11‘15, Auftria, and other countries, ariie from abbes who are
obliged to fubfiit by their daily induftry and any
mafles which they can pick up. Thefe creatures are
entirely unknown here. The theological tenets of this
court are alfo much purer than thole of any other ec-
lefiaftical prince in Germany. I was plcafed to fee the
Bible in the hands of fo many common people, efpe-
eially in the country, I was told that the reading of
it was not forbidden in any part of the diocefe ; only
perfons were enjoined not to read it through, with¬
out the advice of their confefiors. For a long time
fuperftition has been hunted through its utmoft recef-
fes $ and though it is not quite poflible to get entire¬
ly clear of pilgrimages and wonder-working images,
you will meet with no prieft bold enough to exorcife or
to preach fuch nonfenfe as w’e hear in the pulpits of
ether German churches.”
Though the trade of this place has been conllantly
on the increafe for thefe 18 or 20 years paft, yet it is by
no means wdiat it ought to be from the fituation »nd
ether advantages. The perfons here who call themfelves
merchants, and who make any confiderable figure, are
in fa& only brokers, who procure their livelihood at
the expence of the country or territory round, or wrho
aft for the merchants of Fraucfort, A few toy-lhops,
five or fix druggifts, and four or five manufafturers of
tobacco, are all that can polfibly be called traders.
There is not a banker in the whole towm ; and yet this
country enjoys the ilaple privilege, and commands by
means of the Maine, Necker, and Rhine, all the ex¬
ports and imports of Alfatia, the Palatinate, Franconia,
und a part of Suabia and Heffe, as far as the Nether¬
lands. The port too is conftantly filled with fhips, but
few of them contain any merchandife belonging to the
inhabitants of the place. The French took it by fur-
prife in Oftober 1792; it furrendered to the king of
Pruffia in 1793*, the French made a fruitlefs attack
upon it in 1795 ; it was relieved from a blockade by
the Auftrians in 1796, and the French got poffeffion
of it in Oftober 1797.
MENTZEL, Christian, born at Fruftenwall in
the Mittel-mark, is celebrated for his Ikill in medicine
and botany, in purfuit of which he travelled through
many countries. He had correfpondents in the moft
cliftant parts of the world. He died A. D. 1701, about
the 79th year of his age. He was a member of the
academy des Curicux de la Nature. His works are,
1. Index nominum plantarum, printed at Berlin in folio,
1696 ; and reprinted wdth additions in 1715, under
the title of Lexicon plantarum polyglotton univerfa/e.
2. A Chronology of China, in German, printed at Berlin
3696 in 4to. The following manuferipts of his com-
pofition are preferved in the royal library at Berlin.
I. Sur /’ Hifloire Naturelle du Brafil, in four volumes fo¬
lio. 2. Sur lex Fleurs et les Plantes du Japan, with co¬
loured plates, two vols folio.
MENUS, in /Indent Geography, a river of Ger¬
many : now the Maine, rifing in Franconia, and run¬
ning from eaft to weft into the Rhine at Mentz.
MENUTHIAS, in Ancient Geography^ an ifiand
adjoining to the north-eaft of the promontory Prafum
of Ethiopia beyond Egypt. Some take it to be Mada-
Jgctfcar) ox the ifiand St Laurence. Ifaac Veffius will
h^ve it to be ’Zutns&ibar; Madagafcar being at a greater Menyan
diftance from the continent than the ancients ever failed thes’
to, w'hereas Menuthias was nearer : yet though Zan- .^cn^l^°^
zibar be nearer the continent, it is however nearer the
equator than Ptolemy’s Menuthias, placed in fouth la-**
titude 1 2i degrees.
MENYANTHES, Marsh-trefoil, or Bogbean ;
a genus of plants belonging to the pentandria clafs j
and in the natural method ranking under the 21ft order,
Precis. See Botany Index.
MENZIKOFF, Alexander, W'as originally an ap¬
prentice to a paftry-coek near the palace of Mofcow ;
but by a fortunate circumftance was drawn from that
fituation in early life, and placed in the houfehold of
Peter the Great. Having made himfelf mafter of fe-
veral languages, and being formed for war and for bu-
finefs, he firft rendered himfelf agreeable, and after¬
wards became neceflary, to his mafter. He aftifted
Peter in all his projefts 5 and was rewarded for his fer-
vices with the government of ingria, the rank of
prince, and the title of major-general. Pie fignalized
himfelf in Poland in 1708 and 1709 j but in 1713 he
wras accufed of embezzling the public money, and
fined in 300,000 crowns. The czar remitted the
fine ; and having reftored him to favour, gave him
the command of an army in the Ukraine in 1719,
and fent him as his ambafiador into Poland in 1722.
Conftantly employed about the means of preferving
his influence after the death of his mafter, who was
then evidently on the decline, Menzikoff difeovered
the perfbn to whom the czar intended to leave the
fucceflion. The emperor was highly offended, and
his penetration coft him the principality of Plefcoff,
Under the czarina Catherine, however, he was high¬
er in favour than ever 5 becaufe, on the death of the
czar in 1725, he was aftive in bringing different par¬
ties in Ruftia to agree to her fucceffion. This prin-
cefs was not ungrateful. In appointing her fon-in¬
law' Peter II. to be her fucceffor, (he commanded him
to marry the daughter of Menzikoff, and gave the
czar’s fifter to his fon. The parties were aftually be¬
trothed : and Menzikoff was made duke of Cczel and
grand ftew’ard to the czar. But this fummit of eleva¬
tion was the prelude to his fall. The Dolgoroukis,
favourites of the czar, had influence enough to pro¬
cure his banifhment, together with that or his family,
to cne of his owm eftates at the diftance of 250 leagues
from Mofcow. He had the imprudence to leave the-
capital with the fplendor and magnificence of a go¬
vernor going to take poffeffion of his province. His
enemies took advantage of this circumftance to in¬
flame the indignation of the czar. At fome diftance
from Mofcow he was overtaken by a detachment of
foldiers. The officer who commanded them made him
alight from his chariot, which he fent back to Mol-
cowr j and placed him and his whole family in covered
waggons, to be condufted into Siberia, in the habit
of peafants. When he arrived at the place of his del-
tination, he was prefented with cows and fiieep big
with young, and poultry, without knowing from
whom he received the favour. His houfe was a fimple
cottage j and his employment was to cultivate the
ground, or to fuperintend its cultivation. New caufes
of forrow wrere added to the feverities of exile. His
wife died in the journey ; he had the misfortune to lofe
3X2 one ' /
M E Q [53
Menzini one of liis daughters by the Imallpox ; and his ether
Mequinez tl'° c^*^ren were Seized with the fame difeafe, hut re-
covered. He funk under his misfortunes, Novem¬
ber 2. 1729 ; and was buned befide his daughter, in a
little chapel which he had built. His misfortunes had
infpired him with fentiments of devotion, which, amid
the fplendor of his former fituation, he had altogether
neglefled. His two furviving children enjoyed greater
liberty after the death of their father.' The officer
permitted them to attend public worffiip on Sundays by
turns. One day when his daughter w7as returning from
the village, ffie heard herfelf accofted by a peafant
from the window of a cottage, and, to her great fur-
prife, recognifed in this peafant the perfecutor of her
family, Dolgorouki ; who, in his turn, had fallen a
- facrifice to the intrigues of the court. She communica¬
ted this intelligence to her brother, who could not be¬
hold, without emotion, this new inflance of the vanity
and inftability of honours and power. Young Menzi-
koff and his fitter were foon after recalled to Mofcow
by the czarina Ann ; and left Dolgorouki in pofleffion
of their cottage. He was made captain of the guards,
and received the fifth part of his father’s poffeffions.
His fitter w7as appointed maid of honour to the emprefs,
and afterwards married to great advantage.
MENZINI, Benedict, a celebrated Italian poet,
born at Florence, was profeffor of eloquence at the
college Della Sapienza at Rome, where he died in
1704. He wrrote, 1. The art of poetry. 2. Satires,
elegies, hymns, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah.
3- Sieadcmia Tufculana, a work in verfe and profe,
■which paffes for his mafterpiece.
MEOT1S, or Palus Meotis, a fea of Turkey,
which divides Europe from Afia $ extending from
Crim Tartary to the mouth of the river Don or Ta-
nais.
MEPHITIC, a name exprefling any kind of noxi¬
ous vapour ; but generally applied to that fpecies of
vapour calledSee Carbonic Acid, Chemi¬
stry Index.
MEPHII IS Fanum, a temple eredled to the god-
defs Mephitis, near Lacus Amfanfti; who was wor-
Ihipped alfo at Cremona. Figuratively, Mephitis de¬
notes a noifome or pettilential exhalation, (Virgil).
MEQUINEZ, or Miquinez, the northern capital
of the Morocco empire, ftands at the extremity of the
province of Beni Haflen, 80 leagues north from the
city of Morocco (which is the fouthern imperial city),
and 20 to the eaft of Sallee and the ocean. Maknaffa,
its founder, built it firft at the bottom of a valley j but
Muley Ifmael extended it confiderably over the plain
that lies to the weft of the valley. It is furrounded
with well cultivated fields and hills, adorned writh gar¬
dens and olive plantations, and abundantly watered with
rivulets. Accordingly, fruits and kitchen fluffs thrive
here exceedingly, and even the fuperior urbanity of the
inhabitants announces the temperature of the climate.
The winter indeed is very inconvenient, on account of
the dirtinefs of the town, the flreets not being paved,
and the foil being flimy.
Mequinez is furrounded with walls *, the palace itfelf
is fortified with tw’o bafiions, on which formerly fome
fmall guns were mounted. Muley Ifmael, and Muley
Abdallah, often in this city refitted the efforts of the
Brebes, the fworn enemies of their tyranny. To the
2 ] M E R
weft are feen fome walls of circumvallation, fix feet in Meqmnez
height, which were probably mere intrenchments for II
the infantry j the attacks of the Brebes being only Mercator-
ludden and momentary inroads, which did not require
a long defence. There is at Mequinez, as well as at '
Morocco, a walled and guarded fuburb for the Jew's.
The houfes are neater here than at Morocco. The
Jews here are more numerous; and they can turn their
induftry to greater account, becaufe the Moors in this
city are more pohlhed, and (being nearer to Europe)
more vilited, than thofe in the fouthern parts. Near
the Jew'ry, there is another enclofed and feparate quar¬
ter, called the Negro town. It w as built by Muley If¬
mael, for the accommodation of thofe black families
which compofed his foldiery. This town is now' unin¬
habited, as are all thofe deftined for the fame ufe
through the reft of the empire.
At the fouth-eaftr extremity of the city ftands the
palace of the emperor, which w'as built by Muley If- ;
mael. The fpace occupied by this palace is very
great; it includes feveral gardens, elegantly difpofed, ’
and w'ell watered. There is a large garden in the
centre, furrounded by a vaft and pretty regular gal¬
lery, retting on columns, which communicates with
the apartments. Thofe of the women are very fpaci-
ous, and have a communication with a large chamber
w'hich looks into the garden. As you pals from one
apartment to another, you find at intervals regular courts
paved wdth fquare pieces of black and white marble ; in
the middle of thefe courts is a marble bafin, from the
centre of which rifes a jet d'eau, and the water falls
dowm into this bafin. Thefe fountains are numerous in
the palace ; they are ufeful for domeftic purpofes, and
they ferve for the ablutions, which the fcruples of the—
Mahometans have exceedingly multiplied. The palaces
of the Mooriffi kings are large, becaufe they are com-
pefed only of one range of apartments ; thefe are long
and narrow, from 18 to 20 feet high ; they have few
ornaments, and receive the light by two large folding
doors, w'hich are opened more or lefs as occafion re¬
quires. The rooms are always lighted from a fquare
court in the centre, which is generally encompalfed
with a colonnade.
The Moors here are more courteous than thofe in
the fouthern parts; they are civil to ftrangers, and in¬
vite them into their gardens, which are very neat.
The w'omen in this part of the'empire are beautiful ;
they have a fair complexion, with fine black eyes, and
W’hite teeth. I have fometimes feen them taking the
air on the terraces ; they do not hide tfiemfelves from
Europeans, but retire very quickly on the appearance
of a Moor.
MERA-DE-Asta, formerly a large torvn of An-
dalufia, feated on the river Guadaleta, between Arcos
and Xeres de la Frontera ; but nowr only a large heap
of ruins. Here the Arabs conquered Roderick the laft
king of the Goths, and by that victory became mailers
of Spain in 713.
MERCATOR, GerArj), one of the moft cele¬
brated geographers of his time, was born at Rure-
monde in 1512. He applied himfelf with fuch in¬
duftry to geography and mathematics, that he is faid
to have frequently forgot to eat and drink. The em¬
peror Charles V. had a particular efteem for him, and
the duke of Juliers made him his cofmographer. He
compofed
M E R [ 533 ] M E R
Mercator compofed a chronology, fome geographical tables, an
R atlas, &c' engraving and colouring the maps him-
Merchant. jj;e ;n i His method of laying down
charts is ftill ufed, and bears the name of Mercator's
charts.
Mercator, Nicholas, an eminent mathematician in
the 17th century, was born at Holftein in Denmark ;
and came to England about the time of the reftoration,
where he lived many years. He was fellow of the
• Royal Society; and endeavoured to reduce aftrology to
rational principles, as appeared from a MS. of his in
the polTellion of William Jones, Efq. He publifhed fe-
veral works, particularly Cofmogcaphia. He gave the
quadrature of the hyperbole by an infinite feries;
which was the firft appearance in the learned world of
a feries of this fort drawn from the particular nature of
the curve, and that in a manner very new and ab*
ftratted.
Mmrcator's Sailing, that performed by Mercator’s
chart. See Navigation.*
MERCATORUM festum, was a feftival kept by
the Roman merchants on the 15th of May, in ho¬
nour of Mercury, who prefided over merchandife. A
fow was facrificed on the occafion, and the people
prefent fprinkled themfelves with water fetched from
the fountain called aqua Mercurii; the whole conclud¬
ing with prayers to the god for the profperity of
trade.
MERCHANT, a perfon who buys and fells com¬
modities in grofs, or deals in exchanges ; or that traf¬
fics in the way of commerce, either by importation or
exportation. Formerly every one who was a buyer or
feller in the retail way was called a merchant, as they
ftill are both in France and Holland ; but here Ihop-
keepers, or thofe who attend fairs or markets, have
loft that appellation^
Previous to a perfon’s engaging in a general trade, ~
and becoming an univerfal dealer, he ought to treafore
up fuch a fund of ufeful knowledge as will enable him
to carry it on with eafe to himfelf, and without rifk-
ing fuch Ioffes as great ill-concerted undertakings
w7ould naturally expofe him to. A merchant Ihould
therefore be acquainted with the following parts of
commercial learning : 1. He fhould write properly and
correctly. 2. Underftand all the -rules of arithmetic
that have any relation to commerce. 3. Know how
to keep books of double and fingle entry, as journals,
a leger, &c. 4. Be expert in the forms of invoices,
accounts of fales, policies of infurance, charter par¬
ties, bills of lading, and bills of exchange. 5. Know
the agreement between the money, weights, and mea-
fures of all parts. 6. If he deal in filk, woollen,
linen, or hair manufaftures, he ought to know the
places where thefe different forts of merchandifes are
manufaflured, in what manner they are made, what are
the materials of which they are compofed, and from
whence they come, the preparations of thefe materials
before working up, and the places to which they are
fent after their fabrication. 7. He ought to know the
lengths and breadths ■which filk, woollen, or hair fluffs,
linen, cottons, fuftians, &c, ought to have according
to the feveral flatutes and regulations of the places
where they are manufadtured, with their different prices,
according to the times and feafons; and if he can add
1© his knowledge, the different dyes and ingredients
which form the various colours, it will not be ufelefs. Merchant.
8. If he confines his trade to that of oils, wines, &c. v 
he ought to inform himfelf particularly of the appear¬
ances of the fucceeding crops, in order to regulate his
difpofing of w'hat he has on hand; and to learn as ex¬
actly as he can what they have produced when got in,
for his diredtion in making the neceffary purchafes and
engagements. 9. He ought to be acquainted with the
forts of merchandife found more in one country than
another', thofe wThich are fcarce, their different fpecies
and qualities, and the propereft method for bringing
them to a good market either by land or fea. 10. To
know which are the merchandifes permitted or prohi¬
bited, as well on entering as going out of the king¬
doms or ftates where they are made. 11. To be ac¬
quainted with the price of exchange, according to the
courfe of different places, and w'hat is the caufe of its
rife and fall. 1 2. To know the cuftoms due on im¬
portation or exportation of merchandifes, according to
the ufage, the tariffs, and regulations, of the places to
which he trades. 13. Tb know the beft manner of
folding up, embaling, or tunning, the merchandifes for
their prefervation. 14. To underftand the price and
condition of freighting and infuring fliips and mer¬
chandife. 15. To be acquainted with the goodnefs
and value of all neceffaries for the conftrudtion and re¬
pairs of dripping, the different manner of their build¬
ing; what the wood, the mails, cordage, cannons,
fails, and all requifites, may coft. 16. To know the
wages commonly given to the captains, officers, and
failors, and the manner of engaging with them.
17. He ought to underftand the foreign languages, or
at leaft as many of them as he can attain to; thefe
may be reduced to four, viz. the Spaniih, which is
ufed not only in Spain but on the coaft of Africa,
from the Canaries to the Cape of Good Hope : the
Italian, which is underftood on all the coafts of the
Mediterranean, and in many parts of the Levant : the
German, which is underftood in almoft all the northern
countries; and the French, which is now become al¬
moft univerfally current. 18. He ought to be ac¬
quainted with the confular jurifdi&ion, with the laws,
cuftoms, and ufages of the different countries he does
or may trade to; and in general all the ordinances
and regulations both at home and abroad that have
any relation to commerce. 19. Though it is not ne¬
ceffary for a merchant to be very learned, it is proper
that he Ihould know fomething of hiftory, particularly
that of his own country ; geography, hydrography, or
the fcience of navigation ; and that he be acquainted
writh the dilcoveries of the countries in which trade is
eftablilhed, in what manner it is fettled, of the compa¬
nies formed to fupport thofe eftabliihments, and of the
colonies they have fent out.
All thefe branches of knowdedge are of great fer--
vice to a merchant who carries on an extenfive com¬
merce ; but if his trade and his views are more limited,
his learning and knowledge may be fo too: but a
material requiiite for forming a merchant is, his having
on all occafions a ftrifl regard to truth, and his avoid¬
ing fraud and deceit as corroding cankers that muft
inevitably deftroy his reputation and fortune.
Trade is a thing of fo univerfal a nature, that it is
impoffible for the latvs of Britain, or of any other na--
tioR, to determine all the affairs relating to it; there-.
fore
Mt'rcluf:,
Mercia
M E R [ 534 ]
fore all nations, as well as Great Britain, iliow a parti- dominions,
cular regard to the law-merchant, which is a law made
by the merchants among themfelves : however, mer¬
chants and other Grangers are fabjed to the laws of the
country in which they refide. Foreign merchants are
1o fell their merchandtfe at the port where they land,
in grofs, and not by retail ; and they are allowed to be
paid in gold or diver bullion, in foreign coin or jewels,
which may be exported. If a difference arifes between
tne king and any foreign ftate, the merchants of that
ftate are allowed fix months time to fell their effects
and leave the kingdom ; during which time they are
to remain free and unmolefted in their perfons and
goods. See the articles COMMERCE, and Mercantile
Law.
MERCHE-T (Merchetum), a fine or compofition
paid by inferior tenants to the lord, for liberty to dif-
pofe of their daughters in marriage. No baron, or mi¬
litary tenant, could marry his foie daughter and heir,
without fuch leave purchafed from the king, pro mari-
ianda Jilia. And many of our fervile tenants could
neither fend their fons to fchool, nor give their daugh¬
ters in marriage, without exprefs leave from the fuperior
lord. See Rennet’s Gloffary in Maritagium. See alfo
Marchet, under which word it is ftated, and very
generally underftood, that this was a right claimed by
the lord of the manor in the time of the feudal fyllem
of paffmg the firft night after marriage with his female
villain. According to Mr Afile, the mercheta was a
compaft between the lord and his vaffal for the re¬
demption of an offence committed by the vaffal’s unmar-
iled daughter ; and alfo a fine paid by a fokeman or a
villain to his lord for permiflion to marry his daughter
to a free man \ and in cafes where the vaffal gave away
his daughter without having obtained this licenfe, he
fubjeQed himfelf to a heavier fine.
MERCIA, the name of one of the feven kingdoms
founded in England by the Saxons. Though the
lateft formed, it was the largeft of them all, and grew
by degrees to be by far the molt powerful. On the
north it was bounded by the Humber and the Merfey,
which feparated it from the kingdom of Northumber¬
land ; on the eaft by the fea, and the territories of
the Eaft Angles and Saxons ; on the fouth by the ri¬
ver lhames \ and on the weft by the rivers Severn and
Dee. . It comprehended well nigh 17 of our modern
counties, being equal in fize to the province of Lan¬
guedoc in France) very little, if at all, lefs than the
kingdom of Arragon in Spain j and fuperior in fize to
that of Bohemia in Germany.
< Penda is regarded as its firft monarch •, and the
kingdom is thought to derive its name from the Saxon
word were, which fignifies “ a march, bound, or li¬
mit,” becaufe the other kingdoms bordered upon it
on every fide ; and not from the river Merfey, as fome
would perfuade us. Penda affumed the regal title
A. D. 626, and was of the age of 50 at the time of
his accefiion ; after which he reigned near 30 years.
He was of a moft furious and turbulent temper, break¬
ing at different times with almoft all his neighbours,
calling in the Britons to his afllftance, and {bedding
more Saxon blood than had been hitherto fpilled in
all their inteftine quarrels. He killed two kings of
Northumberland, three of the Eaft Angles, and com¬
pelled Ken wall king of the Weft Saxons to quit his
3
He was at length
M E R
... . .  O— flain, with moft of the
princes or his family, and a multitude of his fubje&s
in a battle fought not far from Leeds, by Ofwy ‘king
of Northumberland. This battle, which the Saxoh
chronicle tells us was fought at Winwidfield, A. D.
655, made a great change m the Saxon affairs, which
the Unbridled fury of Penda had thrown into great
confunon. He had the year before killed Anna king
of the Eaft Angles in battle, whofe brother Ethelred
not with ftanding took part with Penda. On the other
hand, Penda the eldeft fon of Penda, to whom his
lather had given the ancient kingdom of the Mid
Angles, had two years before married the natural
daughter of King Ofwy, and had been baptized at
his court. At that time it fhould feem that Ofwy
,and Penda were upon good terms; but after the lat¬
ter had conquered the Eaft Angles, he refolved to
turn his arms againft the kingdom of Northumberland.
Omy by no means had provoked tins rupture ; on the
conti ary, Bede tells us that he offered large fums of
money, and jewels of great value, to purchafe peace:
thefe offers being reje£led, he wras reduced to the ne-
ceffity of deciding the quarrel by the fword. The
river near which the battle was fought overflowing,
there were more drowned than killed. Amongft
thefe, as the Saxon chronicle fays, there were 33
princes of the royal line, fome of whom bore the title
of kings i and alfo Ethelred king of the Eaft Angles
who lought on the fide of Penda againft his family
and country.
His fon Penda, who married the daughter of that
conqueror, became a Chritfian* and was not long after
murdeied, as is faid, by the malice of his mother. His
brother Wolf her becoming king of Mercia, embraced
ofpel, and proved
and is, with no
in procefs of time the faith of the
a very viclorious and potent monarc.. , vvlllJ JiU
fewer than feven of his immediate fucceffors, commonly
ftyled king of the Anglo-Saxons, though* none of them
are owned in that quality by the Saxon chronicle. But
hough poffibly none of them might enjoy this ho-
nour, they wTere undoubtedly very puiffant princes
maintaining great wars, and obtaining many advan-
tages. over the fovereigns of other Saxon ftates, and
Specially the Eaft Angles, whom they reduced. The
extent of the Mercian territories was fo ample as to
admit,, and fo fituated as to require, the conftituting
fubordinate rulers in feveral provinces ; to whom, efpe-
cially if they were of the royal line, they gave the title
of kings ; which occafions fome confufion in their hif-
tory. Befides the eftablifhing epifcopal fees and con¬
vents, the Saxon monarchs took other methods for
improving and adorning their dominions 5 and as Mer¬
cia was the largeft, fo thefe methods were moft con-
fpicuous therein. Coventry, as being fttuated in the
centre, was ufually, but not always, the royal refi-
dence. Penda, who was almoft continually in a ftate
of w'ar, lived as his military operations dire&ed, in
fome great town on the frontiers. Wolf her bui’lt a
caftle or fortified palace for his own refidence, which
bore his name—Offa kept his court at Sutton Walls
near Hereford.
In each of the provinces there refided a chief magi-
ftrate ; and if he was of the royal blood, had ufually
the title of king. Penda, at the time he married Of¬
wy’s daughter* had the title of king of Lcicef/er. 
Ethclred
M E R [ 5
Mercurial. Etlielred made his brother Merowald king of Here-
Mercury ford ; 'vho» d>1B? without iffue, bequeathed it to his
k*—y—younger brother Mercelm. The like honours were
fometimes conferred upon the princeffes j and hence,
in Mercia efpecially, we occaiionally read of vice-
queens. By thefe means the laws werp better executed,
the obedience of the fubjefts more effeaually fecured’
and the fplendor of thefe refidences conflantly kept up
and augmented. i
At length, the crown devolving fometimes on mi¬
nors and fometimes on weak princes, inteftine fac¬
tions alfo prevailing, the force of this hitherto mighty
kingdom began fenfibly to decline. This falling out
in the days of Egbert, the mod: prudent as well as
the mod potent monarch of the Wed Saxons, he
took advantage of thefe circumdances; and having
encouraged the Ead Angles to make an attempt for
the recovery of their independence, he, in a conjunc¬
ture every way favourable to his defign, broke with
the Mercians, and after a Ihort war obliged them to
fubmit. But this was not an abfolute conqued, the
kings of Mercia being allowed by him and his fuc-
ceifors to retain their titles and dominions, till the
inyafion of the Danes put an end to their rule, when
this kingdom had fubfided above 250 years ; and
when the Danes were afterwards expelled by the Wed
Saxons, it funk into a province, or rather was divided
into many.
f MERCURIAL, fomething confiding of, or relat-
l,ng to, mercury.
MERCURIALIS, dogs MERCURY ; a genus of
plants belonging to the dioecia clafs 5 and in the natu¬
ral method ranking under the 38th order, Tricoccce.
See Botany Index.
MERCURIFICATION, in metallurgic chemidry,
the obtaining the mercury from metallic minerals in
its fluid form. See Chemistry and Mineralogy
Index.
MERCURY, or Quicksilver. See Chemistry
and Mineralogy Index.
Mercury, in the heathen mythology. See Her¬
mes.
Mod of the affions and inventions of the Egyptian
Mercury have likewife been afcribed to the Grecian,
who was faid to be the fon of Jupiter and Maia, the
daughter of Atlas. No one of all the heathen divini¬
ties had fo many functions allotted to him as this god :
he had condant employment both day and night, hav¬
ing been the common minider and meffenger ef the
whole Pantheon $ particularly of his father Jupiter,
w’hom he ferved with indefatigable labour, and fome¬
times, indeed, in a capacity of no very honourable
kind. Lucian is very pleafant upon the multitude of
his avocations j and, according to the confeffion of the
emperor Julian, Mercury was no hero, but rather one
who infpired mankind with wit, learning, and the or¬
namental arts of life, than with courage. The pious
emperor, however, omits fome of his attributes ; for
this god was not only the patron of trade, but alfo ©f
theft and fraud.
Amphion is faid, by Paufanias, to have been the fird
that eredled an altar to this god ; who, in return, in-
veded him with fuch extraordinary powers of mufic
(and mafonry), as to enable him to fortify the city of
Thebes in Boeotia, by the mere found of his lyre.
35 J M E R
Horace gives us the bed part of his chara&er :
Thou god of wit, from Atlas fprung,
Who by perfuafive pow’r of tongue,
And graceful exercife, refin’d
The favage race of human kind,
Hail ! winged meflenger of Jove,
And all th’ immortal pow’rs above.
Sweet parent of the bending lyre,
Thy praife ihall all its founds infpire.
Artful and cunning to conceal
Whate’er in fportive theft you deal,
When from the god who gilds the pole,
E’en yet a boy, his herds you dole j
With angry voice the threat’ning power
Bade thee thy fraudful prey redore 5
But of his quiver too beguil’d,
Pleas’d with the theft, Apollo fmil’d.
You were the wealthy Priam’s guide,
When fafe from Agamemnon’s pride,
Through hodile camps, which round him fpread
Their watchful fires, his way he fped.
Unfpotted fpirits you confign
To blifsful feats and joys divine ;
And, pow’rful, with thy golden wTand,
The light, unbodied crowd command j
Thus grateful does thy office prove
To gods below, and gods above. Francis,
Merdrrv.
This ode contains the fubdance of a very long hymn
to Mercury, attributed to Homer. Almod all the an¬
cient poets relate the manner in which the Grecian
Mercury difeovered the lyre ; and tell us that it was
an indrument with feven firings; a circumdance which
makes it effentially different from that faid to have
been invented by the Egyptian Mercury, which had
but three. However, there have been many claimants-
befides Mercury to the feven-dringed lyre. See
Lyre.
His mod magnificent temple was on Mount Cylene,
in Arcadia. He is deferibed by the poets as a fair
beardlefs youth, with flaxen hair, lively blue eyes, and
a finding countenance. He has wings fixed to his cap
and fandals, and holds the caduceus (or flaflf furround-
ed with ferpents, with two wdngs on the top), in his
hand ; and is frequently reprefented with a purfe, to
fliow that he was the god of gain. The animals fa-
cred to him, were the dog, the goat, and the cock.
In all the facrifices offered to him, the tongues cf
the vi&ims were burnt; and thofe who efcaped im¬
minent danger facrificed to him a calf with milk and-
honey.
Mercury, 5? hi AJlronomy. See Astronomy
Index.
This planet is brighted between his elongations and
fuperior canjumdion, very near to wffiich lad he can
generally be feen. He becomes invifible foon after he
has found his elongation, going tow’ards his inferior
conjun61i©n j and becomes vifible again a few days be¬
fore his next elongation. The brightnefs of this pla¬
net alters fometimes very confiderably in 24, hours. It
has been obferved wffien lefs than three degrees diflant
from the fun, and may, perhaps, fometimes be feen
even in conjuntdion with it.
Mercury and Venus appear brighted apd mod beau¬
tiful in the oppofite parts of their orbits ; the fird, be-
tweeiL
M £ R [ 536 ] M E R
Mercury twesn his elongations and fuperior conjundlion ; and
^ ^ the other, between her elongations and inferior con-
junftion. Therefore, Venus is leen in great perfeftion
— v  as a crefcent, particularly in her inferior conjunftion,
whilft Mercury is feldora feen in fuch periedl: phafes.
Mercury Qrould be always obferved on or near the me¬
ridian. When fartheft from the fun, he always appears
■with a very faint light j and when he has a great
—fouth declination, or the atmofphere is not perfectly
clear, he feldom can be leen in thofe parts of his or¬
bit, where he only begitis to recover his brightnefs, or
where it is much diminilhed. He has frequently been
feen on the meridian even with a fmall telefcope and
fmall power ; and it appears from the above ftatement
that he may be obfcured in a clear day rather more
than half his orbit, or near one hundred and fourfcore
days in the year.
Mercury, \r\ Heraldry, a term ufed in blazoning
by planets, for the purple colour ufed in the arms of fo-
vereign princes.
MERCY, a virtue that infpires us with compaflion
for our brethren, and which inclines us to give them
affiflance in their neceflities. Mercy is alfo taken for
thofe favours and benefits that we receive either from
God or man, particularly in the way of forgivenefs of
injuries or of debts. Nothing can be more beautiful
than the defcription of mercy given us by Shakefpeare,
in the pleading between Portia and the Jew :
For. Then muft the Jew be merciful.
Shy. On what compulfion muft I ? tell me that.
For. The quality of mercy is not drain’d j
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heav’n
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blefs’d :
It bleffeth him that gives, and him that takes.
’Tis mightieft in the mightieft ; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown :
The fceptre (hows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majefty,
Wherein doth fit the dread and fear of kings j
But mercy is above this fcepter’d fway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings j
It is an attribute to God himfelf,
And earthly power doth then fhow* liked God’s,
When mercy feafons judice. Therefore, Jew,
Though judice be thy plea, confider this,
That in the courfe of judice none of us
Should fee falvation. We do pray for mercy ;
And that fame prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. Merchant of Venice, aft iv.
MERCY-SEAT, or Propitiatory, in lewifh an¬
tiquity, the covering of the ark of the covenant.—The
Hebrew name of this cover, which we tranfiate mercy-
feat, is Capporeth (Exod. xxv. 17, 22.), from Cappor,
which fignifies to cover, to Jhut up, to expiate, to pay.
This cover was of gold, and at its two ends were fixed
the two cherubims of the fame metal, which by their
wings extended forwards, feemed to form a throne for
the majedy of God, who in fcripture is reprefented to
us as fitting between the cherubims, and the ark it-
felf was as it were his footdool. It w’as from hence
that God gave his oracles to Mofes, or to the high
pried that confulted him, Exod. xxv. 22. Numb. vii.
'89.)
MERETRIX, among the Romans, differed from Meretn's
the projhbuta. The projhbulee wore common courte- IJ
fans, with bills over their doors, fignifying their profef- Mer‘(^ r1,
lion, and were ready at all times to entertain cullom-
ers; whereas the meretrices entertained none but at
night.— The meretrices differed in their drefs from the
matrons; the former wore the toga and fhort tunics,
like thofe of the men : the latter wore the palla and the
Jlola of fuch a length as to reach to their feet.
MERGANSER. See Mergus.
MERGES, a genus of birds of the order of anferes.
See Ornithology Index.
MERIAN, Maria Sibylla, a celebrated paint-
refs, born at Frankfort in 1647, was the daughter of
Matthias Merian, a noted engraver and geographer.—
As die fhowed a very early fondnefs for painting, die
was in drafted by Abrahartr Mignon ; from whom die
learned great neatnefs of handling and delicacy of co¬
lour. Her genius particularly led her to paint reptiles,
dowers, and infefts, which die defigned after nature,
and dudied every objeft with a mod curious and in-
quifitive obfervation j fo that her works rofe every day
more and more into reputation. Frequently die paint¬
ed her fubjefts in water colours on vellum, and finifh-
ed an adonifhing number of defigns, as die was equally
indefatigable in her wrork and in her inquiries into the
curiofities of nature. She drew the dies and caterpil¬
lars in all the variety of changes and forms in which
they fuccedively appear from their quiefcent date till
they become butterdies j and alfo drew frogs, toads, fer-
pents, ants, and fpiders, after nature, with extraordinary
exaftnefs and truth. She even undertook a voyage to
Surinam, to paint thofe infefts and reptiles which were
peculiar to that climate j and at her return to her own
country publidied two volumes of engravings after her
defigns, which are well known to the curious. She died
in 1717. Her daughter Dorothea Henrietta Graff, who
painted in the fame dyle, and had accompanied her mo¬
ther to Surinam, publidied a third volume collefted from
the defigns of Sibylla ; which complete work has been
always admired by the learned, as well as by the pro-
feffors of painting.
MERIDA, a drong town of Spain, in Edremadura,
built by the Romans before the birth of Chrid. Here
are fome fine remains of antiquity, particularly a triumi
phal arch, but which is confiderably decayed. It is
feated in an extenfive and fertile plain, 47 miles ead of
Elva, and 4 c fouth by ead of Alcantara. W. Lonsf.
6. 4. N. Lat. 38. 42.
Merida, a town of North America, in New Spain,
and capital of the province of Yucatan, where the
bidiop and the governor of the province refide. It is
inhabited by Spaniards and native Americans; is 30
miles fouth of the fea, and 120 north-eadof Campeachy.
W. Long. 89. 25. N. Lat. 20. 15.
Merida, a town of South America, in the kingdom
of New Granada, feated in a country abounding with
all kinds of fruits, 130 miles north-ead of Pampeluna.
W. Long. 71. o. N. Lat. 8. 30.
MERIDEN, or Mireden, a town of Warwick-
fhire, 97 miles from London on the London road,
near Coventry. It is pleafantly fituated, though in a
wet clayey fituation, and is not ill built. The church
dands on an elevated fpot, and contains fome good
monuments. There is an inn here, about half way
I
M E R [5
Merkllan from St Clement’s forefl: to Coventry, one of tlie fined
0 in this part of Engand, beintj built like a nobleman’s
Merlon, 1 0^0
MERIDIAN, in Geography, a great circle fuppofed
to be drawn through any part on the furface of the
earth, and the two poles 5 and to which the fun is always
perpendicular at noon. See Geography.
In adronomy, this circle is fuppofed to be in the
heavens, and exa&ly perpendicular to the terredrial one.
See Astronomy.
MERIDIANI, in antiquity, a name which the
Romans gave to a kind of gladiators who entered the
arena about noon after the bediarii (who fought in
fire morning againd beads) had finidied. They were
thus called from meridies, i. e. noon, the time when they
exhibited their diows. The meridiani were a fort of
artlefs combatants, who fought man with man, fword
in hand. Hence Seneca takes occafion to obferve,
that the combats of the morning were full of humanity
compared with thofe which followed.
MERIDIONAL distance, in Navigation, the fame
with departure, or calling and weding; being the dif¬
ference of longitude between the meridian under which
the fhip now is, and any other meridian which Ihe was
under before.
Meridional parts, miles, or minutes, in Naviga¬
tion, are the parts by which the meridians in a Mer¬
cator’s chart do increafe, as the parallels of latitude de-
creafe.
MERIONETHSHIRE, a county of North Wales,
is bounded on the north by Caernarvonlhire and Den-
bighlhire ; on the ead by Montgomerylhire ; on the
well by St George’s channel, or the Inlh fea •, and on
the fouth by the river Dyffl, which parts it from Car-
diganfhire •, extending 40 miles in length and 36 in
breadth. It is divided into fix hundreds, in which are
four market towns, 37 parilhes, about 5787 houfes, and
29,506 inhabitants in 1801. It lies in the diocefe of Ban¬
gor, and fends one member to parliament. The air is
very lharp in winter, on account of its many high barren
mountains j and the foil is as bad as any in Wales, it
being very rocky and mountainous. However, this
county feeds large flocks of Iheep, many goats, and large
herds of horned cattle, which find pretty good paflure
in the valleys. Befides thefe, among their other com¬
modities may be reckoned Welch cotton, deer, fowl,
filh, and efpecially herrings, which are often taken on
this coalt in great plenty.
MERIT, fignifies defert. This term is more par¬
ticularly applied to fignify th@ moral goodnefs of the
adlions of men, and the rewards to which thofe a&ions
entitle them.
MERLIN, Ambrose, a famous Englilh poet and
reputed prophet, flouriihed at the end of the 5th cen¬
tury, Many furprifing and ridiculous things are related
of him. Several Englilh authors have reprefented him
as the fon of an incubus, and as tranfporting from Ire¬
land to England the great ftones which form Stone¬
henge on Salifbury plain. Extravagant prophecies and
other works are alfo attributed to him, on which fome
authors have even written commentaries.
Merlin. See Falco, Ornithology Index.
MERLON, in Fortification, is that part of a para¬
pet which is terminated by two embrafures of a battery.
VOL. XIJI. Part II.
;7... ] ME R
MERLUCIUS, the Hake. See Gadus, Ichthy- Mcrkcms,
OLOGY Index. Mermaid.
MERMAID, or Merman, a fea-creature fre- ^
quently talked of, fuppofed half human and half a
filh.
However naturalifts may doubt of the reality of mer¬
men or mermaids, we have teftimony enough to ellablilh
it •, though, how far thefe teltimonies may be authen¬
tic, we cannot take Upon us to fay. In the year 1187,
as Lary informs us, fuch a monfler was fiftied up in the
county of Suffolk, and kept by the governor for fix
months. It bore fo near a conformity with man, that
nothing feemed wanting to it but fpeech. One day it
took the opportunity of making its efc«.pe •, and plun¬
ging into the fea, was never more heard of. IIfi. de An-
glelerre, P. I. p. 403.
In the year 1430, after a huge tempefl, which broke
down the dikes in Holland, and made way for the fea
into the meadows, &c. fome girls of the town of Edam
in Weft Friefland, going in a boat to milk their cows,
perceived a mermaid embarraffed in the mud, with a
very little water. They took it into their boat, and
brought it with them to Edam, drefled it in woman’s
apparel, and taught it to fpin. It fed like one of them,
but could never be brought to offer at fpeech. Some
time afterwards it was brought to Haerlera, where it
lived for fome years, though ftill Ihowing an inclination
to the water. Parival relates, that they had given it
fome notion of a Deity, and that it made its reverences
very devoutly whenever it paffed by a crucifix. De-
lices de Hollande.
In the year 1560, near the ifland of Manaar, on the
weftern coaft of the ifland of Ceylon, fome filhermen
brought up, at one draught of a net, feven mermen and
mermaids ; of which feveral Jefuits, and among the reft
F. Hen. Henriques and Dimas Bofquez, pbyficians to
the viceroy of Goa, were witneffes. The phyfician,
who examined them with a great deal of care, and
made diffetftion thereof, afferts, that all the parts both
internal and external were found perfe£tly conformable
to thofe of men. See the Hfi. de la compagnie de Je-
fus, P. II. T. iv. N° 276. where the relation is giveij
at length.
We have another account of a merman, feen near the
great rock called Diamond, on the coaft of Martinico.
The perfons who faw it, gave in a precife deferip-
tion of it before a notary. They affirmed that they
faw it wipe its hand over its face, and eveai heard it
blow its nofe.
Another creature of the fame fpecies was caught in
the Baltic in the year 1531, and fent as a prefent to
Sigifmund king of Poland, with whom it lived three
days, and was feen by all the court. Another very
young one was taken near Rocca de Sintra, as related
by Damian Goes. The king of Portugal and the
grand mafter of the order of St James, are faid to have
had a fuit at law to determine which party thefe raon-
fters belong to.
In Pontopidan’s Natural Hiftory of Norway, alfo,
we have accounts of mermaids ; but not more remark¬
able or any way better attefted than the above, to
which we have given a place, merely to (hew how far
the folly and extravagance of credulity "have been carried
by weak minds,
7 3 Y MERNS,
M E R
Morns
II
Meroe.
MF.RNS, Mearns, or Kincardineshire, a county
of Scotland. See Kincardineshire.
MERODACH was an ancient king of Babylon,
who was placed among the gods, and worfhipped by
the Babylonians. Jeremiah (chap. 1. 2.), fpeaking of
the ruin of Babylon, fays, “ Babylon is taken, Bel is
confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces ; her idols
are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.”
We find certain kings of Babylon, in whofe names
that of Merc^ach is contained : for example, Evil-me-
rodach and Merodach baladan. Evikmerodach was the
fon of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, and had for his fuc-
ceffor the wicked Bellhazzar. Merodach-baladan, fon
ot Baladan kung of Babylon, having heard that Heze-
kiah had been cured miraculoully (Ifa. xxxix.), and
that the fun had gone backwards to give him an af-
iurarice of his recovery, fent him prefents, and made
him compliments upon the recovery of his health.
Ptolemy calls him Mar doc cmfiadus; and fays, that he
began to reign at Babylon 26 years after \he begin-
rdng of the era of Nabonaffar, that is, in the year of
the world 2283.
_ MEROE, in Ancient Geography, an ifland of Ethio¬
pia beyond Egypt, in the Nile} with a cognominal
town, the metropolis of the Ethiopians.
The Jefuits have endeavoured to prove, that the pro¬
vince of Gojam in Abyffinia is the Meroe of the an¬
cients} but this is ftrongly contefted by Mr Bruce,
who is of opinion, that it muft be looked for fomewhere
between the fource of the Nile and its union with the
Atbara. The latter, he thinks, is very plainly the
Atlaboras of the ancients j and Pliny fays, that this
dream enclofes the left fide of Meroe as the Nile does
the right, in which cafe we mud fuppofe him looking
fouthward from Alexandria, otherwife the words would
not apply.
We are told by Diodorus Siculus, that Meroe had
its name from a fider of Cambyfcs king of Perfia, who
died there in the expedition undertaken by that prince
againd the Ethiopians. His army perilhed with hun¬
ger and third in the defects beyond Meroe, which
could not have happened if they had reached Gojam,
the latter being one of the mod plentiful countries in
the world. A farther proof that Gojam cannot be
the ancient Meroe is, that the latter was enclofed be¬
tween the rivers Nile and Adaboras, while Gojam is
almod entirely furrounded by the Nile. If the an¬
cients were acquainted with Gojam, they mud alfo
have been acquainted with the fountains of the Nile,
which we certainly know they were not. Pliny fays
that Meroe, the mod confidtrable of all the iflands of
the Nile, was called djlaboras, from the name of its
left channel, which cannot be fuppofed any other than
the junction of the Nile and Atbara. He informs us
moreover, that the fun was vertical twice in the year,
viz. when proceeding northward he entered the 18th
degree of Taurus, and when returning he came to the
14th degree of Leo; but this could never be the cafe
with Gojam, wEich lies inabout to degrees north latitude.
Again, the poet Lucan defcribes Meroe by two cir-
cumdances which cannot apply to any other than the
peninfula of Atbara. One is, that the inhabitants
were black; which was the cafe with the Gvmnofo-
phids and fird inhabitants, and which has been the
cafe with all the red down to the Saracen conqued :
[ S38 ]
M E R
but the inhabitants of Gojam, as well as the other
Abyfiinians, are fair, at lead greatly different in com¬
plexion from the blacks 5 they are alfo longhaired,'
and nobody imagined that they ever had philofophers or
fcience among them, which was eminently the cafe with
the ancient inhabitants of IVIeroe. rl he other cir-
cumdance is, that the ebony tree grew’ in the ifland of
Meroe, which at this day grows plentifully in the pen¬
infula of Atbara, and part of the province of Kuara,
but not in Gojam, where the tree could not fubiifl on
account of the violent rains which take place during fix.
months of the year. Mr Bruce mentions another cir-
cumdance quoted from the poet Lucan, which like-
wife tends to prove the identity of Meroe and Atbara }
viz. that though there are many trees in it, they afford
no fliade. This our traveller found by experience,
when returning from Abyffinia through Atbara. “ The
country (fays he) is flat, and has very little water. The
foreds, though thick,‘afforded no fort of fliade, the
hunters for the fake of their fport, and the Arabs forde-
droying the flies, having fet fire to all the dry grafs and
ffrubs} which palling with great rapidity in the direc¬
tion of the wind from ead to wed, though it had not
time to dedroy the trees, did yet wither, and occafioa
every leaf that was upon them to fall, unlefs in thofe
fpaces where villages had been, and where water was.
In fuch fpots a number of large fpreading trees remain¬
ed full of foliage } which, from their great height and
being cleared of underw’ood, continued in full verdure
loaded with large, projefting, and exuberant branches!
But even here the pleafure that their fliade afforded was
very temporary, fo as to allow' us no time for enjoyment.
The fun, fo near the zenith, changed his azimuth fp
rapidly, that every few minutes I was obliged to change
the carpet on which I lay, round the trunk of the tree
to which I had fled for Ihelter; and though I lay down
to fleep perfectly fcreened by the trunk or branches, I
was prelently awakened by the violent rays of a fcorch-
ing fun, the fliade having paffed beyond me. In all
other places, though we had travelled conflantly in a
foreft, we never met with a tree that could fliade us for
a moment, thg fire having deprived them of all their
leaves.” The heat of Atbara is exceffive, the thermo¬
meter having been obferved at np^-0 : two of Mr
Bruce’s company died of thirff, or at lead of the confe-
quences of drinking after extreme third. The inhabitants
live in the greateft mifery, and are continually in danger
from the neighbouring Arabs, who, by deftroying and
burning their corn, are able to reduce them to a flarving
condition. Notwithftanding all their difydvantages, how-
cver, they have a manufacture of coarlh cotton towels,
of a fize jufl. fufficient to go round the w’aift, which pals
current as money throughout the whole country.
MEROM, in -/Indent Geography. The wraters of
Merom, at which place Jabin and the other confederate
kings met to fight Joffua (xi. 5.), are generally fup¬
pofed by the learned to be the lake Semechcn, which
lies between the head of the river Jordan and the lake
Gennefareth ; fince it is agreed on all hands, that the
city Hazor, where Jabin reigned, was fituated upon
this lake. But others think, that the waters of Merom
or Merome were fomewEere about the brook Kiflion,
fince there is a place of that name mentioned in the
account of the battle againft Sifera (Judg. v. 21.) And
it is more rational to think, that the confederate kings
advanced
Meroe,
M c roni.
Merfa.
M E R [5
Merope advanced as far as the brock Kifhon, and to a pafs
which led into the country, to hinder Jofhua from pe-
^ netrating it, or even to attack him in the country
where he himfelf lay encamped, than to imagine that
they waited for him in the midtl of their own coun¬
try ; leaving all Galilee at his mercy, and the whole
traft from the brook Kilhon to the lake Semechon.
MEROPE, in Fabulous Hijlory, one of the Atlan-
tides. She married Sifyphus the fon of iEolus, and like
her fillers was changed into a conftellation after death.
It is faid that in the conftellation of the Pleiades the
liar of Merope appears more dim and obfcure than the
reft, becaufe Ihe, as the poets obferve, married a mor¬
tal, while her fillers married fome of the gods or their
defendants.
MEROPS, in Fabulous Hijlory, a king of the ifland
of Cos, who married Clymene, one of the Oceanides.
He was changed into an eagle, and placed among the
conftellations. Alfo a celebrated foothfayer of Percofus
in Troas, who foretold the death of his Ions Adraftus
and Amphius, who were engaged in the Trojan war.
They flighted their father’s advice, and were killed
by Diomedes.
Merops, a genus of birds belonging to the order
of picae. See Ornithology Index.
MEROVINGIAN character, derives its name
from Merotiee, the firft king of France of that race,
which reigned 333 years, from Pharamond to Charles
Martel. This race is faid by fome to have terminat¬
ed in Childeric III. A. D. 751. There are many
MSS. in the French libraries ftill extant in this cha-
radler.
MEROZ, in Ancient Geography, a place in the
neighbourhood of the brook Kilhon, whofe inhabitants
refufing to come to the aftiftance of their brethren when
they fought with Sifera, were put under an anathema
(Judges v. 23.) “ Curfe ye Meroz, fays the angel of
the Lord •, curfe ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof: be¬
caufe,” &c. Some have thought that Meroz is the fame
as Merus or Merom; and this F. Calmet thinks the rr oft.
probable opinion in this matter. Others will have it,
that Meroz was a mighty man, who dwelt near the
JCifhon, and not caring to come to the affiftance of Ba¬
rak and Deborah, was excommunicated by the angel of
the Lord by the found of 400 trumpets. The angel
of the Lord, according to fome, was Barak, the gene¬
ral of the Lord’s army but according to others he
was the high prieft for the time being, or a prophet.
MERSA, a town of Barbary, pleafantly fituated
about 11 miles from the city of Tunis, and two from
Melcha the fite of ancient Carthage. The bey has
here two country houfes, one of them very coftly work,
built by Haffan Bey furnamed the Good. From
thefe are orange gardens reaching almoft to the lea-
Ihore } on the edge of which is a famous well of fweet
water, efteemed the beft and lighte/l in the kingdom-
Clofe to this is a coffeehoufe, whither numbers _ of
people from the neighbouring places refort to drink
coffee, and a glafs of this natural luxury fo peculiarly
enjoyed in the eaftern countries. In the middle o
the court is a large mulberry tree, under the (hade of
which they fit and fmoke and play at chefs j ^inha¬
ling the comfortable fea breeze that refrelhes this de¬
lightful foot. The water is drawn up by a camel with
the Perhan wheel. ,
39 1 ME r
There are the remains of an ancient port, or cothon,
(fuppofed to be an artificial one), built by the Cartha¬
ginians after Scipio had blocked up the old port, no ,
thing but the turret or lighthoufe being left.
MERS or Merse, a county of Scotland, called alfo
Berwickjbire. This laft name it derives from the town
of Berwick, which was the head of the thire before it
fell into the hands of the Englilh, and obtained the
appellation of Mers or March, becaufe it was one of
the borders towards England. See Berwick, County
of.
MERSENNE, Marin, in Latin Merfennus, alearn-
ed French author, born at Oyie, in the province of
Maine, anno 1588. Pie ftudied at La Fleche at the
fame time with Des Cartes ; with whom he contradled
a ftricl friendfhip, which lafted till death. He after¬
wards went to Paris, and ftudied at the Sorbonne $ and
in 1611 entered himfelf among the Minims. He became
well {killed in Hebrew, philofophy, and mathematics.
He was of a tranquil, fincere, and engaging temper ;
and was univerfally efteemed by perfons illuftrious for
their birth, their dignity, and their learning. He
taught philofophy and divinity in the convent of Nevers,
and at length became fuperior of the convent ; but
being willing to apply himfelf to ftudy with more free¬
dom, he refigned all the polls he enjoyed in his order,
and travelled into Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
He wrote a great number of excellent works j the prin¬
cipal of which are, 1. ^uejliones celeberrimie in Genejim.
2. Harmonicorum libn. 3. He fonorum natura, caufs,
et cfeclibus. 4. Cogitata phyfico-mathematica. 5 La
•vente des Sciences. 6. Les quejhons monies. He died
at Paris in 1648. He had the reputation of being one
of the beft men of his age. No perfon was more curious
in penetrating into the fecrets of nature, and carrying
all the arts and fciences to their utmoft perfedlion. He
was in a manner the centre of all the men of learning,
by the mutual correfpondence which he managed
between them. He omitted no means to engage them
to publilh their works 5 and the world is obliged to
him for leveral excellent difeoveries, which, had it not
been for him, would perhaps have been loft.
MERSY, a river of England, which runs through
the counties of Lancafter, York, and Chefter, and
empties itfelf into the Irifti fea at Liverpool. By means
of inland navigation, it has communication with the rivers
Dee, Ribble, Oufe, Trent, Darwent, Severn, Humber
Thames, Avon, &c.; which navigation, including its
windings, extends above 500 miles, in the counties of
Lincoln, Nottingham, York, Lancafter, Weftmorland
Chefter, Stafford, Warwick, Leicefter, Oxford, Wor-
cefter, &c.
Mersey If and, an ifland of Effex, at the mouth of
the Coin, fouth of Colchefter. It was feized by the
Danes in the reign of King Alfred, for their winter
quarters. It had eight parifties, now reduced to two,
viz. Eaft and Weft Merfey. There was formerly a block-
houfe on the ifland.
Merula, or Blackbird. See Turdus, Ornitho-
logy Index.
MERUS, in Ancient Geography, a mountain of the
Hither India, hanging over the city Nyffa, built by
Bacchus, and fituated between the rivers Cophen and
Indus. The name, denoting the thigh, gvit rife to the
fable of Bacchus being inferted into Jupiter’s thigh, and
3 Y 2 being
Mers
Merus.
M E S
Mefaraic
being born twice •, becaufe in this mountain he and his
army are faid to have been preferved, when difeafe and
peftilence raged in the plains below.
MESARAIC vessels, in the general fenfe, are
the fame-with Mesenteric.
In common.ufe, mefaraic is more frequently applied
to the veins, and melenteric to the arteries, of the me-
fentery. See Anatomy.
MESCHED, a confiderable town of Perfia, and
in the province of Choraffan ; fortified with feveral
towers, and famous for the magnificent fepulchre of
Iman Rifa, of the family of Ali, to whom the Per-
fians pay great devotion. It is feated on a mountain
near this town, in which are fine turquoife Hones j in
E. Long. 99. 2y N. Lat. 37. o.
MESEMBRYANTHEMUM, Fig marigold, a
genus of plants, belonging to the icofandria clafs •, and
in the natural method ranking under the 13th order,
Succulents. See Botany Index.
MESENTERIC, or Mesaraic, an epithet giv¬
en to two arteries arilrng from the defcending aorta,
and proceeding to the mexentery. See Mesente¬
ry.
MESENTERITIS, ox Inflammation of the Mesen¬
tery. See Medicine- Index.
• MESENTERY, Mesenterium, (formed of
middle, and sm§«v, intcfline'), in anatomy,- a fatty mem¬
branous body, thus called as being placed in the mid¬
dle of the inteftines, which it connects to one another.
See Anatomy, N° 94.
MESHES of Nets, the openings or interftices be¬
tween the threads.
MESN, or Mesne, a term in law, fignifying
him who is lord of a manor, and fo hath tenants
holding of him j yet he himfelf holds of a fuperior
lord.
The word is properly derived from maifne, quaji mi¬
nor natu ; becaufe his tenure is derived from another,
from whom he holds.
Mesn alfo denotes a writ, which lieth where there
is lord mefn and tenant ; and the tenant is diftrained
for fervices due from the mefn to the fuperior lord.
This is in the nature of a writ of right; and in this
cafe the tenant {hall have judgement to he acquitted or
indemnified by the mefne lord j and if he makes de¬
fault therein, or does not appear originally to the te¬
nant’s writ, he {hall be forejudged of his mefnalty, and
the tenant fliall hold immediately of the lord para¬
mount himfelf.
MESOCHRI, were muficians among the ancients,
who prended in concerts, and by beating a wooden
deik regularly with their feet, dire&ed the meafure of
the rnulic. For the purpofe of beating time, they
wore wooden clogs, called by the ancients crupet&ia,
which occafioned the found to be better heard.
MESOCOLON, in Anatomy, that part of the me-
fentery, which, having reached the extremity of the
ileum, contrafts and changes its name. See Ana¬
tomy, N° 94.
MESOLOGARITHMS, according to Kepler, are
the logarithms of the co-fines and cotangents; the
former of which were called by Baron Napier anti-loga¬
rithms, and the latter differentials.
MESOPOTAMIA, the ancient name of the pro¬
vince of Diarbeck, in Turkey in Alia. It is fituated
[ 540 ]
M E S
between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris ; having Af-
fyria on the eail, Armenia on the north, Syria on the
wed, and Arabia Deierta with Babylonia on the (outh.
1 he Hebrews called it Padan aram, (Gen. xxviii. 2.
&c.), and Aram A a liar aim (title of Pial. lx. j or Aram
oj tliQ two rivers, becauie it was firft peopled bv Aram
father ot the Syrians, and is fituated between the two
rivers already mentioned. , This country is much cele¬
brated in Scripture, as being the firit dwelling of men
both before and after the deluge ; and becauie it gave
birth to Phaleg, Heber, Terah, Abraham, Nahor,
Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, and to the Tons of
Jacob. Babylon was in the ancient Mefopotamia, till,
by vail labour and induilry, the two rivers of the Ti¬
gris and Euphrates were united into one channel.
1 he plains of Shinar were in the fame country. Qf-
ten.. they gave it the name of Meiopotamia (Deut.
xxiii. 4. &c.) and fometimes that of Syria, (Hofea
xn. 12.). Balaam fon of Beor was of Mefopotamia,
Deut. xxiii. 4. Chufinan-rilhathaim king of Mefopo¬
tamia kept the Hebrews in fubje&ion feme time after
the death of Joflrua, Judg. iii. 8.
MESOP1ERYG1US, a term applied to fuch fiilres
as have only one back fin, which is fituated in the middle
of the back.
MESPILUS, the Medlar, a genus of plants be¬
longing to the icotanoria clafs; and in the natural me¬
thod ranking under the 36th order, Pomaces. See
Botany Index.
. MESS, in. a military fenfe, implies a number of fol-
diers, who, by laying away a certain proportion of their
pay towards provifions, mefs together: fix or eight is
generally tne number of each mels. Experience proves
that nothing contributes more to the health of a fol-
dier, than a regular and well chofen diet, and his be-
mg obliged every day to boil the pot : it corrects drun-
kennefs, and in a great meaiure prevents gaming, and
thereby defertion.
MESSALINA, Valeria, a daughter of Meflala
Barbatus. She married the emperor Claudius, and
difgraced berfelf by her cruelties and incontinence.
Her hufband’s palace was not the only feat of her laf-
civioufnefs, but flic proftituted herfelf in the public
ftreets, and few men there were at Rome who could
not boaft of having enjoyed the favours of the impure
Meffalma. Her extravagances at laft irritated her
hufiiand, who commanded her to appear and anfwer
all the accufations which were brought againil her : up¬
on which flie attempted to deftroy" herfelf; and when
her courage failed, one of the tribunes who had been
lent to her defpatched her with his fword. It is in
{peaking of her debaucheries and lewdnefs that Juve¬
nal lays,
Et lajfata viris, necdum fatiata, receffit.
Her name has become a common appellation to denote
a woman of fiiamelefs and inordinate lull.
MESSANA, in Ancient Geography, the fir ft town
of Sicily on croffing over from Italy,' fituated on the
ftrait now called the Faro, (Italicus). Anciently call¬
ed Zanc/e, according to Diodorus Siculus, from King
Zanclus; or, according to others, from the Sicilian
term Zanclon, denoting a fickle, alluding to the cur-
vity of the coaft ; a name appropriated by the poets;,
and hence Zanclsi, the people, (Herodotus, Paufanias).
The
Mefoptery-
gius
li
Me (ran?..
Metier, a
H .
Meflenia.
field
M E S [ 541 ]
The other name Me Jan a is from the Meflinii of Pelo- city of
ponnefus, (Strabo). Thucydides arcribes its origin to
, Anaxilas the Meffenian, tyrant of Rhegium, who re¬
ceived all cfcmers, calling the town after the name of
his country. The Greeks always call it Meffcne ; the
Romans Meffena condantly, to didinguilh it from
McJJ'ene of Peloponnefus. Now Messina, lately ruin¬
ed by earthquakes.
MESSENA, or Messene, an inland town, and
the capital of Meffenia, a country of Peloponnefus ;
erroneoully replaced by Ptolemy on the coaft. It was
built by Epaminondas, who called all the Meffenian
exiles, and gave the town the name of Meffcne. A place
vying in point of ftrength and fituation with Corinth,
according to Strabo; and therefore Demetrius Phalereus
advifed Philip, father of Perfeus, that if he wanted to
have Peloponnefus in his power, he fhould make him-
felf mader of thefe two towns, as thus he would have
the ox by both horns.
MESSENGERS, are certain officers chiefly em¬
ployed under the diredtion of the fecretaries of flate,
and always in readinefs to be fent with all kinds of
defpatches foreign and domeftic. By virtue of the fe¬
cretaries warrants, they alfo take up perfons for high
treafon, or other offences againft the rtate. The pri-
foners they apprehend are ufualiy kept at their own
houfes, for each of which they are allowed 6s. 8d. per
day by the government : and when they are fent
abroad, they have a ftated allowance for their journey,
viz. 30I. for going to Paris, Edinburgh, or Dublin ;
25I. for going to Holland ; and to other places in the
fame proportion ; part of which money is advanced
for the expence of their journey. Their Handing
falary is 45I. per annum ; and their pofls, if purchafed,
are efteemed worth 300I. But thefe fums have now
probably been increafed. The meffengers wait 20 at
a time, monthly, and are diftributed as follows, viz.
four at court, five at one fecretary’s office, five at ano¬
ther, two at the third for North Britain, three at
the council office, and one at the lord chamberlain’s
of the houfehold.
Messengers, in Scotland. See Law, Part III.
ME.$$f.NGER$ of the Exchequer, are four officers who
attend the exchequer, in the nature of purfuivants,
and carry the lord treafurer’s letters, precepts, &c.
Messenger of the Prefs, a perfon who, by order
of the court, fearches printing-houfes, bookfellers fltops,
&c. in order to difcover the printers or publilhers of'
feditious books, pamphlets, &c.
MESSENIA, a country in the fouth of Pelopon¬
nefus, moflly maritime, tituated between Elea to the
weft, and Laconia to the eaft. Anciently a part of
Laconia under Menelaus, and called Meffcne by Ho¬
mer ; interpreted by the fcholiaft, Meffencea Regia.
Meffenii, the people, reduced to a flate of flavery
and fubjedtion by the Spartans; Meffenius, tiie epithet.
This country is famous in hiftory, on account of
the refiflance made by the Meffenian;'. againft the
Spartans, and the exploits of their hero Ariftomenes.
The firft hoftiiities commenced about the year 652
B. C,. on what occafion is uncertain. 1 hough the
Meffenians were inferior in the knowledge of the art
of war to the Spartans ; yet, by keeping for fome
time on the defenfive, they improved fo much, that
in three years time they found themfelves in a capa-
M E S
giving battle to their enemies in the open
nor did they appear to be in any degree infe¬
rior either in courage or condudl: the war was there¬
fore protradled, with various fuccefs, on botli fides.
At laft, both conmlted the oracle at Delphi ; and re¬
ceived for anfwer, “ that whoever fhould firft dedicate
100 tripods in the temple of Jupiter at Ithome, a
ftrong hold of the Meffenians, (hould be mafters of
the country.” . The inhabitants of Meffenia, on hear¬
ing this, having no money to make the tripods of
brafs, fell to cutting them out in wood ; but before
this could be accompliflied, a Spartan having got into
the city by ftratagem, dedicated loo little tripods of
clay : which threw the Meffenians into fuch defpair,
that they at laft fubmitted to the Spartan*.
The new fubjedfs of Sparta were treated with the
utmoft barbarity by thefe cruel tyrants ; fo that a new
war commenced under Ariftomenes, a man of uncon¬
querable valour, and enthufiaftically fond of liberty.
He perceived that the Argives and Arcadians, who
were called the a//ies of the Lacedaemonians, adhered
to them only through fear of their power ; but that in
reality they hated them, and wifhed to revenge the in¬
juries they had done them. To thefe Ariftomenes ap¬
plied ; and receiving an anfvver conformable to his
wifhes, he engaged his countrymen unanimotftly to take
up arms. About a year after the revolt began, and
before either party had received any auxiliaries, the
Spartans and Meffenians met at a village called Derce,
where an obftinate engagement enfued. Ariftomenes
was conceived to have performed more than mortal
achievements: in gratitude therefore, refpeft being
alfo had to his royal defeent, his countrymen un-
animoufly faluted him king; which title be modeft-
ly waved, alleging, that he took up arms to fet them
free, and not to make himfelf great : he confented,
however, to accept the title of general, with a power
of doing what Coe ver he thought requifite for the
fervice of the public. Knowing well the fuperfti-
tion of the age in which he lived, he refolved to in¬
timidate the Spartans, by fhowing them what he was
fure they would take for an ill omen. Difguiftng
himfelf therefore, he went privately to the city, wlfere,
in the night, he hung up a fliield on the wall of the
temple of Minerva, with this infeription : Ari/lomenes
dedicates this, out of the f(toils of the Spartans, to the god-
defs. It was eaftly perceived that this war would be
both long and bloody ; the Lacedaemonians therefore
fent deputies to Delphi, to inquire of the oracle con¬
cerning its event : the anfwer they received was, That
it behoved the Spartans to feek a leader from Athens. The
Athenians naturally envious of the Spartans, granted
their requeft indeed, but in fuch a manner as manifeft-
ed their fpite ; for they fent them for a general Tyrtae-
us, a fchoolmafter and poet, lame of one foot, and who
was fufpeeied to be a little out of his wits. But here
their fkill failed them ; for this captain, notwithftand-
ing his defpicable appearance, proved of great confe-
quence to Sparta, teaching them how to ufe good, and
how to bear up under ill fortune.
In the mean time, Ariftomenes had drawn together
a mighty army, the Elean?, Argives, Sicyonians, and
Arcadians, having fent troops to his affiftance; the
Spartans in this, as in the former war, having no ally
but Corinth. The Spartan kings, according to the
cuftom
^vleflema,
M E S [54
^MtBenia, cuftom of tbeir city, no fooner took the field, than,
"~~'J notwithftanding their inferiority in number, they of¬
fered the enemy battle, which Ariilomenes readily ac¬
cepted. It was long, obftinate, and bloody ; but in
the end the Meffenians were vi&orious, and the Lace¬
daemonians put to flight with a great daughter. It
is fcarce to be conceived how much the Spartans were
lli'uck with this defeat : they grew weary of the w7ar,
diffatisfied with their kings, diffident of their own
power, and in a word funk into a date of general
uneafinefs and w’ant of fpirit. It was now that the
Athenian general convinced them, that he w-as ca-
i pable of fulfilling all the promifes of the oracle; he
encouraged them by his poems, diredled them by his
couniels, and recruited their broken armies with cho-
ien men from among the Helotes. Ariftomenes, on
the other hand, adled with no lefs prudence and vi¬
gour. He thought it not enough to rellore the repu¬
tation of the MeiTenians, if he did not alfo reftore
'their wealth and power : he therefore taught them to
aft effenfively againft their enemies; and, entering
the territories of Sparta, he took and plundered Phaiae,
a confiderable borough in Laconia, putting all 1'uch as
made any refiftance to the fword, carrying off at the
lame time an immenfe booty. IThis, however, was
an injury which the Spartans could not brook with
patience j they therefore fent immediately a body of
forces to overtake the Meffenians, which accordingly
they did : but Ariftomenes routed thefe purfuers, and
continued to make a mighty (laughter of them, till
fuch time as he wTas difabled by having a fpear thruft
in his fide, which occafioned his being carried out of
the battle. His cure, wffiich took up lome time, be-
ing finiffied, he refolved to carry the war even to the
gates of Sparta j and to that purpofe railed a very
great army : but, whether he found his defign im-
prafticable, or was really diverted by fome dream, he
gave out, that Caftor and Pollux, with their filler
Helena, had appeared to him, and commanded him to
defill. A Ihort time after this retreat, going with a
imall party to make an incurfion, and attempting to
take prifoners fome women who were celebrating re¬
ligious rites near Egila, a village in Laconia, thofe
zealous matrons fell upon him and his foldiers with
fuch fury, that they put them to flight, and took him
prifoner: however, he foon afterwards made his efcape,
and rejoined his forces. In the third year of the war,
the. Spartans with a great force entered Meffenia,
ivhither Arillocrates king of Arcadia was come, with
a great body of troops, to the affillance of his allies :
Ariilomenes therefore made no difficulty of fighting
when the Spartans approached 5 but they entering
privately into a negociation with Arillocrates, engaged
him with bribes and promifes to betray his confederates.
When the battle began, the deceitful Arcadian repre-
fented to the forces under his command the mighty
danger they were in, and the great difficulty there
would be of retreating into their own country, in cafe
"the battle Ihould be loll : he then pretended, that the
lacrifices were ominous ; and, having terrified his Ar¬
cadians into the difpofition of mind fitted to ferve his
purpofe, he not only drew them off from both wings,
but, in his flight, forced through the Mefi'enian ranks’
and put them too in confufion. Ariftomenes and his
•troops, however, drew themfelves into clofe order, that
2
2 ] M E S
they might defend themfelves the bell they could: and Me [Tenia.
indeed they had need of all their valour and Ikiil; for ' 
the Lacedaemonians, who expected this event, immedi¬
ately attacked and iurrounded them on all lides. For¬
tune was, on this occafion, too powerful either for the
courage or the conduft of the Meffeniaus; fly that, not¬
withftanding their utmoft efforts, moft of their army
were cut to pieces, and amongft thetn the chief of their
nobility. Ariftomenes, with the poor remains of his
(battered forces, retired as well as he could ; and, per¬
ceiving that it was now impoflible to maintain the war
againft the Lacedaemonians upon equal terms, he ex¬
horted his countrymen to fortify Mount Era, and to
make the bell dilpofitions poflible tor a long defence.
He likewiie placed garrifons in Pylus and*" Methone
on the lea coafts j and to theie three places he fa¬
thered all the inhabitants, leaving the reft ot M-ffenia
to the mercy of the Spartans. They, on the other
hand, looked on the war as now in a manner finiftied $
for which reafon they divided the lands among their
citizens, and caufed them to be carefully cultivated,
while they befteged Era. But Ariftomenes quickly
convinced them that the war was far from being over :
he chofe out of all the Meffenians 300 men, with
whom he ravaged all the adjacent country : carried off
a prodigious booty 5 and, when Meffenia could no
longer . (apply the wants of his garrifon, penetrated
into Laconia, and bore away corn, wine, cattle, and
whatever elfe was neceffary to the fubfiftence of his
countrymen {hut up in Era : fo that at laft the Spar¬
tans were conftrained to iffue a proclamation, forbid-
ding the cultivation, not only of the Meffenian terri¬
tory in their hands, but alfo of Laconia in its vici¬
nity j whereby they diflreffed themfelves more than
their enemies, inducing at laft a famine in Sparta it-
felf, which brought with it its ufual attendant, fedi-
tion. Here again all things had gone wrong, if the
wifdom of the poet Tyrtaeus had not fupported the
Spartan courage ; nor was it without much difficulty
that he influenced them to continue the blockade of
Era, and to maintain a flying camp for the fecunty of
the country.
.Ariilomenes, in fpite of all thefe precautions, com¬
mitted terrible depredations with his fmall corps of
300 men. Amongft other places wffiich he plundered,
the city of Amyclae was one j from whence he carried
not only a great quantity of riches, but alfo many
carriages laden, with provilions. The kings of Sparta
lying with their troops in its neighbourhood, as loon
as they heard of this expedition, marched after Arifto¬
menes with the utmoft diligence; and, as the Meffe¬
nians were encumbered with their booty, came up with
them before they could reach Era. In this fituation of
things, Ariftomenes, prompted rather by defpair than
prudence, difpofed his troops in order of battle ; and,
not with (landing they Were fo few, made a long and
vigorous refiftance again!! the whole Lacedaemonian
army. At length, however, numbers, prevailed : the
greateft. part of the Meffenians were (lain on the fpot j
and Ariftomenes, with about 50 of his men who fur-
vived the (laughter, were taken prifoners 5 that chief
having received fo many wounds, that he was fenfelefs
when they earned him away. I he Lacedaemonians
expr.effed the loudeft joy at the fight of this illuftrious
captive ) who for fo many years, by his fingle abilities,
ha,d
M E s ' [ 543
Mefiema. had enabled his exhaufled country to defend itfelf he
v ^ againft the vvhole force of Sparta. When he was
recovered of his wounds, they decreed him and all his
fellow prisoners to be thrown together into a deep ca¬
vern, which was the common punilhment of the low-
elf kind of ofienders. ^ nis judgement was executed
with the utmoft feverity, excepting that Arillomenes
had leave to put on his armour. Three days he con¬
tinued in this difmal place, lying upon and covered
over with dead bodies. The third day, he was al-
mall familhed through want of food, and almolt poi-
foned with the flench of corrupted carcafes, when he
heard a fox gnawing a body near him. Upon this he
uncovered his face, and perceiving the fox juft by him,
be with one hand feized one of its hind legs, and with
the other defended his face, by catching hold of its
jaw when it attempted to bite him. Following as well
as he could his ftruggling guide, the fox at laft thruft
his head into a little hole ; and AriOomenes then let-
ting go his leg, he foon forced his way through, and
opened a palfage to the welcome rays of light, from
v Inch the noble IVIellenian had been fo lonp* debarred.
Feeble as be was, Ariftomenes wrought °himfe]f an
outlet with his nails ; and travelling by night with all
the expedition he could, at length arrived fafe at Era,
to the great joy and amazement of his countrymen.
W hen this news was firft blazed abroad, the Spartans
would have had it pals for a fidlion ; but Ariftomenes
foon put the truth of it out of doubt, by falling on
the polls of the Corinthians, who, as allies of the Spar¬
tans, had a confiderable body of troops before Era.
Moll of their officers, with a multitude of private men,
he flew ; pillaged their camp ; and, in Ihort, did fo
much mifchief, that the Spartans, under the pretence
of an approaching feftival, agreed to a ceffation of arms
for 40 days, that they might have time to bury their
dead. On this occafion, Arillomenes for the fecond
time celebrated the hecatomphotria, or the facrilice ap¬
pointed for thofe who had killed 100 of the enemy
with their own hands. He had performed the fame
before and after his fecond battle ; and he. lived to do
it a third time : which mull appear wonderful to the
reader, wdten he is informed, that, notwithftanding this
truce, certain Cretan archers in the fervice of the Spar¬
tans feized Ariftomenes as he was walking without
the walls, and carried him away a prifoner. There
were nine of them in all; two of them immediately
Hew with the news to Sparta, and feven remained to
guard their prize, whom they bound, and conduefed
to a lone cottage inhabited only by a widow and her
daughter. It fo fell out, that the young woman dreamt
the night before, that fhe faw a lion without claws,
bound, and dragged along by rvolves j and that Ihe
having loofed his bonds, and given him claws, he im¬
mediately tore the wolves to pieces. As foon as Ari¬
ftomenes came into the cottage, and her mother, who
knew him, had told her who he was, Ihe inftantly con¬
cluded that her dream was fulfilled j and therefore plied
the Cretans with drink, and, when they were alleep,
took a poniard from one of them, cut the thongs with
, which Ariftomenes was bound, and then put it into his
hands. Fie prefently verified her vilion, by putting
all his guards to death •, and then ^carried her and her
mother to Krv, where, as a reward for her fervice,
] me s
married the young woman to his fon Gorrus, then Meii
about 18 years of age. < 
, ^vr^len ^ra out near eleven years, it fell
into the hands of Sparta by an accident: the fervant
ot one Empiramus, a Spartan commander, driving-
his mailer’s cattle to drink at the river Neda. rmt
frequently with the wife of a Meffenian, whom he "
engaged in an amour. This woman gave him notice
that her huffiand’s houfe was without the wall : fo
that he could come to it without danger, when the
good man was abroad j and ftie likewife gave him in¬
telligence when her hufband was upon duty in the
garrifon. The Spartan failed not to come at the time
appointed ; but they had not been long in bed before
the huffiand returned, which put the houfe into great
confufion : the woman, however, fecured her gallant •
and then let in her huffiand, whom fiie received in
appearance with great joy, inquiring again and again
by what excels of good fortune (he was bleffed with
his return. The innocent Meffenian told her, that-
Ariftomenes being detained in his bed by a wound,"
the foldiers knowing that he could not walk the
rounds, had a grant to retire to the'r houfes, to avoid
the inclemency of the feafon. The Spartan no fooner
heard this, than he crept foftly out of doors, and
haftened away to carry the news to his mailer. It fo
happened, that the kings were at this time abfent from
the camp, and Empiramus had the chief commend
of the army. . As foon as he received this information,
he ordered his army to begin its march, though it
rained exceffively, and there was no moon light. The
fellow guided them to the ford, and managed matters
fo well that they feized all the Meffenian polls: yet,
after all, they were afraid to engage j darkneis, and
high wind, heavy rain, together with the dread of
Ariftomenes, keeping them quiet in the places they
had feized. As foon as it was light, the attack be¬
gan ; and Era had been quickly taken, if only the
men had defended it j but the women fought with
fuch fury, and by their mingling in the fray, brought
fuch an acceffion of numbers, as made the event doubt¬
ful. Three days and two nights this defperate en¬
gagement lafted : at laft, all hopes of preferving the
city being loft, Ariftomenes drew off his wearied
troops. Early in the fourth morning, he difpofed the
women and children in the centre, the Meffenian youth
in the front and rear, the lefs able men in the main,
body : himfelf commanded the van ; the rear-guard
was brought up by Gorgus and Manticlus, the for¬
mer the fon of Ariftomenes, the latter of Theocles, a
Meffenian of great merit, who fell with much glory-
in this attack, fighting valiantly in the caufe of his
country. When all things were ready, Ariftomenes
caufed the laft barrier to be thrown open ; and, bran-
dilhing his fpear, marched diredlly towards the Spar¬
tan troops, in order to force a paffage. Empiramus,
perceiving his intent, ordered his men to open to the
right and left, and fairly gave them a paffage ; fo that
Arillomenes marched off in triumph, as it were, to
Arcadia.
The Arcadians, when they heard that Era was
taken, were very defirous of fuccouring their old con¬
federates in this deep diftrefs: they therefore en¬
treated their king Ariftocrates to lead them into
Meffenia-, „
Meffenia,
Mefli h.
ftandinj
who, t
M E S [ 544 ]
Meffenia. But he, corrupted by tiie Lacedaemonians, royal unclion
perfuaded them that it was too late ; that the Meffe-
nians were all cut oft' j and that fuch a ftep would only
expofe them to the fury of the conquerors. When
the thing appeared to be otherwife, and it was known
that Ariftomenes was on the frontiers of Arcadia,
they went in crowds to carry him provifions, and to
teftify their readinefs to afford him and thofe under
his command all the afliftance in their power. Ari-
ftomenes deftred to be beard before a general affembly
which being accordingly convoked, he there opened
one of the boldeft and bell laid fchemes recorded in
hiftory : he faid, that he had yet 500 undaunted
foldiers, who, at his command, would undertake any
thing ; that it was very probable moll of the Spar¬
tans were employed in pillaging Era, and that there¬
fore he determined to march and Turprife Sparta 5
which appeared fo fenlible, that all the affembly loud¬
ly commended his great capacity and unlhaken cour¬
age. Ariftocrates, however, took care to betray
him •, having, by various pretences, retarded the exe¬
cution of the projefl. The Arcadians, who began to
fufpeft him, waited for and furprifed the meftengers
as they came back. They took the letters from them,
and read them openly in the affembly. The purport
of them was, that they acknowledged his great kind-
nefs both now and in the battle ; and promifed, that
the Lacedemonians wrould be grateful. As foon as
the letters wrere read, the Arcadians fell to Honing
their king, frequently calling upon the Meffenians to
aflift them ; which, however, they did not, waiting
for Ariftomenes’s orders •, who, far from triumphing
in this fpeclacle, flood ftill, with his eyes fixed on
the ground, which he wet with his tears, his foul
pierced with forrow to fee a crowned head fo (hame-
fully and fo defervedly put to death. The Arcadians
afterwards ere6led a monument over him, with an in-
ffription to perpetuate his infamy. As for the Mef¬
fenians under the command of Gorgus and Manticlus,
they paffed over into Sicily; where they founded the
city of Meffene, one of the moll famous in the ifland.
Ariftomenes remained, however, in Greece $ where
he married all his daughters, except the youngeft, to
perfons of great rank. A prince of Rhodes, inquiring
of the oracle at Delphi whom he ftiould efpoufe, that
his fubje&s might be happy under his pofterity, was
dire£led to marry the daughter of the moft worthy of
the Greeks j which anfwer was immediately under-
ftood to point at the virgin daughter of Ariftomenes.
Her therefore he demanded, and received •, Ariftome¬
nes accompanying him back to his dominions, where
M E S
Aaron and his fons received the faeer-
dotal, and Elifhah the difciple of Elijah received the v
prophetic umflion.—The name Messiah, Anointed
or Chrijl (Xg<f«s), was given to the kings and high-
priefts of the Jews. The patriarchs and prophets
are alfo called by the name of Meffiahs, or the Lord's
anointed. See 1 Sam. xii. 3, 5. r Chron. xvi. 22.
Pf. cv. 15.
But this name Messiah was principally and by
way of eminence given by the Jews to their expe6f-
ed great Deliverer, whofe coming they ftill vainly
wait 5 and is a name the Chriftians apply to Jesup
Chri/i, in whom the prophecies relating to the Mef-
fiah -were accompliftied. The fum of thefe prophecies
is, That there fliould be a glorious perfon named
MeJ/iah, defcended from Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob,
who {hould be born at Bethlehem, of a virgin of the
family of David, then in its decline, before the Jews
ceafed to be a people, while the fecond temple w?as
Me {Hah.
he formed a fcheme of uniting the Lydians and Medes
againft the Spartans, refolving with this view to go
into Media, and to the court of Sardis 5 but while he
meditated thefe great things, death furprifed him,
and thereby freed Lacedaemon from the moft formid¬
able enemy (he ever had.
MESSIAH, a word fignifying one anointed, or in-
ftalled into an office by undlion. It was ufual among
the Jews to anoint kings, high priefts, and fometimes
prophets, at the defignation or inftallment of them,
to fignify emblematically the mental qualifications ne-
ceffary for diicharging thefe offices. Saul, David,
Solomon, and Joaffi, kings of Judah, received the
, and about 500 years after Ezra’s time 5
ough appearing in mean circumftances, ffiould
be introduced by a remarkable forerunner, whofe bu-
finefs it {hould be to awaken the attention and ex-
peftation of the people. That this illuftrious perfon
called Meffiah ffiould himfelf be eminent for the piety,
wifdom, and benevolence of his charafter, and the
miraculous works he ffiould perform : yet that, not-
withftanding all this, he {hould be reje6led and put to
death by the Jews ; but Ihould afterwards be raifed
from the dead, and exalted to a glorious throne, on
wffiich he {hould through all generations continue to
rule, at the fame time making interceffion for finners.
That great calamities {hould for the prefent be brought
on the Jews for rejefting him : whereas the kingdom
of God {hould by his means be ere£led among the
Gentiles, and difperfe itfelf even unto the ends of the
earth; wherever it came, deftroying -idolatry, and
eftablifliing true religion and righteoufnefs. In a
wrord, That this glorious perfon {hould be regarded
by all who believed in him as a divine teacher, an
atoning facrifice, and a royal governor : by means of
whom God would make a covenant with his people,
very different from that made with Ifrael of old ; in
confequence of which they {hould be reHored to, and
eftabliftied in, the divine favour, and fixed in a ftate
of perpetual happinefs. See Jesus Chrift, and Chris¬
tianity.
The Jews, as was already obferved, ftill wait for the
coming of the MeJJiah, being impreffed with the no¬
tion of a temporal MeJJiah, who is to be a mighty
conqueror, and to fubdue all the world. Moft of the
modern rabbins, according to Buxtorf, believe that
the Mejfiah is already come, but that he keeps him¬
felf concealed, and will not manifeft himfelf becaufe of
the fins of the Jews. Some of the Jews, however, in
order to reconcile thofe prophecies that feem to con-
tradidl each other as to the chara£ler and condition of
the Mejfiah, have had recourfe to the hypothefis of
two MeJJiahs, who are yet to Jucceed each other; one
in a ftate of humiliation and fuffering ; the other of
glory, fplendor, and power. The firft, they fay, is
to proceed from the tribe of Ephraim, who is to
fight againft Gog, and to be {lain by Annillus, Zech.
xii. 10. The fecond is to be of the tribe of Judah,
and
4
M E s f 545 ] M E S
Meflina. and lineage of David, who is to conquer and kill An-
—v——' nillus, and reflore the kingdom of Ifrael, reigning over
it in the higheft glory and felicity.
Jefus Chrift afferts himfelf the Mejfiah. In St
John iv. 25. the Samaritan woman fays to Jefus, /
know that when Meffiah comes, who is called the Chrift,
he voill tell us all things. Jefus anfwered her, I that
/peak to thee am he.
There are feveral importers, rvho have endeavoured
to pafs for Mejfiahs, as Chriit himfelf predicted. J.
Lent, a Dutchman, has written a hiftory De Pjeudo-
mejjiis, “ Ol Falfe Meffiahs.” The firft he mentions
was one Barcochab, who appeared under the empire of
Adrian. The lait was Rabbi Mordecai, who began to
be talked of in 1682. A little before him, viz. in
1666, appeared Sfobethai Sehi, who was taken by
the Turks, and turned Mahometan.
MESSINA, an ancient, large, handfome, and ftrong
city of Sicily, and in the Val di-Dcmona,' with a cita¬
del, feveral forts, a fine fpacious harbour, and an arch-
bifhop’s fee. It is feated on the fea fide, 110 miles
cart of Pa1 rmo, 260 fouth by eaft of Rome, and 180
feuth-eaft of Na les. E. Long. 15. 50. N. Lat. 38. 10.
The public buildings and the monatieries were nume¬
rous and magnificent, and it contained about 60,000
inhabitants ; the harbour is one of the fafeft in the
Mediterranean, and extremely deep j the viceroy of
Sicily refides here fix months in the year j and it was a
place of great trade in filk, oil, fruit, corn, and excel¬
lent wine, efpecially fince it was declared a free port.
This city in the beginning of the year 1783 fuffered
moft dreadfully by the earthquakes which ihook great
part of Calabria and Sicily to their foundations, over¬
turned many rich and populous towns, and buried
thoufands in their ruins : (fee Calabria, and Earth¬
quake, Geoeogy Index').—The following account of
Meflina, as it flood before the above period, is extradled
from Mr Swinburne's Travels m Sicily.
A large chain of mountains prefles upon the fhore,
and part o£the city Hands upon elevated ground. The
VoL. XIII. Part II.
mountains are many of them nobly wooded j the hills Medina,
before them finely chequered with groves and fields.
As the town runs in a fweep along the edge of a de¬
clivity, every building of confequence is ieen to advan¬
tage, while the lefs noble parts are hidden by the Pa-
lazzata. This is a regular ornamental range of lofty
houfes, with 19 gates, anfwering to as many flreets:
it follows the femicircular bend of the port for one
mile and five poles, and would have been the hand-
fomeft line of buildings in Europe had the defign been
completed ; but a confiderable part of the extent is
not finifhed, except merely in the front wall, and that
feems to be in a very ruinous condition. Philibert
Emmanuel of Savoy, viceroy of Sicily, in 1622, began
this princely work. Before it is a broad quay, deco¬
rated with ftatues and fountains j fliips of any burden
can moor clofe to the parapet in great depth of water.
At the weft extremity is a fmall fort and a gate 5 the
other end is doled by the governor’s houfe and the
citadel, a modern pentagonal fortrefs, built on the
point where the ifthmus or braccio di San Raniero ifliies
from the main land. On this flip of low ground,
wmich with the Palazzato forms the circular harbour
of Meflina, is placed the lighthoufe Jaxaretto'), and
on the point the old caftle of St Salvatore. The cir¬
cumference of the port is four miles : it probably owes
its formation to an earthquake, which opened an im-
menfe chafm, and then filled it with water. Near the
lighthoufe is a kind of whirlpool in the fea, fhown as
the Charybdis of the ancients.
The inner part of Meflina is dirty, though it con¬
tains a confiderable number of neat churches and large
fubftantial dwellings. The cathedral is Gothic, en¬
riched with Saracenic mofaics on the altars and flirines j
the front of the high altar is particularly fplendid :
Gagini has embellilhed the pulpit and lome tombs
with excellent fpecimens of his art.—In the treafury
of this church is preferved the palladium of Meflina,
a letter from the Virgin Mary to its citizens (a).
This is the title upon which the Meflinefe build their
3 Z pretenfions
(a) The ftory is as follqwTs : After St Paul had made fome ftay at Meflina (a circumftance of his travels
unnoticed by St Luke), the Meflinefe prevailed upon him to return to Jerufalem with an embafl'y of lour
perfons fent by the city to the Virgin Mary. Their excellencies were gracioufly received by her, and brought
back a letter written with her own hand in the Hebrew tongue, which St Paul tranflated into Greek. By
the irruption of the Saracens this invaluable treafure was loft, and utterly forgotten till the year 1467, when
Conftantine Lafcaris, a refugee Greek, found a copy of it, and turning it into Latin, made it known to the
citizens, and then to all the Catholic world. Its authenticity is now fo well eftablifhed at Meflina, that Regua
the hiftorian candidly acknowledges, that whoever was to confefs even a doubt on the fubjedl in that city would
be treated as an infidel.
This curious epiftle is conceived in thefe terms :—Maria Virgo, Joachim filia, Dei humillima Chrifti Jefu
crucifixi mater, ex tribu Judae, ftirpe David, Meffanenlibus omnibus falutem, et Dei Patris Omnipotentis bene-
diftionem. Vos omnes fide magna legates ac nuncios per publicum documentum ad nos mififfe conftat. Fi-
lium noftrum Dei genitum Deum et hominem efl'e fatemini, et in coelum port fuam refurredlionem afeendiffe,
Pauli apoftoli ele£H prcedicatione mediante viam veritatis agnofeentes. Ob quod vos et ipfam civitatem bene-
dicimus, cujus perpetuam protedlricem nos effe volumus. Anno filii noftri XLII. Indidl. I. III. Nonas Junii,
luna XXVII. feria V. ex Hyerofolymis.
Thus tranflated: “The*Virgin Mary, daughter of Joachim, moft humble mother of God, Jefus Chrift:
crucified, of the tribe of Juda and the family of David, health and the blefling of God the Father Almighty
to all the people of Meflina. Out of the abundance of your faith, you have, in confequence of a public de¬
liberation, fent a de putation to me ; and fince you acknowledge that my Son is both God and man, and that
he afeended into heaven after his refurre&ion, as you have learned from the preaching of St Paul the apoftle,
M E S
Meffina
pretenfions to pre-eminence over the whole ifland, nay
over the whole world to its virtues and patronage
they attribute every piece of good fortune, and to their
owm unworthinefs all finifter events that have befallen
them. The authenticity of this epiftle has been fe-
rioufly impugned, and of courfe vigoroufly defended by
many Sicilian divines and difputators.
rI here is another church in this city that deferves
particular notice, not fo much on account of its archi-
tefture or ornaments, as for its being the laft refuge
of the Greek liturgy, which was once the predomi-
nant fervice of the iiland, but gradually abolilhed by
different conquerors. It is dedicated to the Virgin
Mary de Grapheo, or of the Letter, which denomina¬
tion may perhaps have furnifhed Lafcaris with the idea
of his letter. It is known at prefent by the name of
la Cotto/ica. According to the Greek canons, the en¬
trance of monaftic churches wTas reciprocally forbidden
to each fex, and the cathedrals were the only places of
worlhip where a daily facrifice w’as-offered up by the
bilhop and clergy, and where both men and women
were prefent at the fame time, but in different parts
of the church. From this general admittance the
building acquired the title of Catholic or univerfal.
Meffina is all paved with lava, cut into large flags
of twro feet fquare : a material which the vicinity of
lavas renders it eafy to procure, and which being very
hard refifts friffion better than any other.
During a feries of ages, notvvithftanding the various
revolutions and calamities to which it has been ex-
pofed, this city has ftill maintained its original fitua-
tion ; while molt other cities have Ihifted their ground
more or lefs from the place where they were firll
founded. But its fituation enjoys advantages wffich
have flill tempted fuch of its inhabitants as efcaped
from the ravages of war and the defolation of earth¬
quakes, to prefer it to every other fpot, however de¬
lightful or fecure. It is of very ancient origin j it has
been under many different races of monarchs j and its
name has been repeatedly changed : It has been at dif¬
ferent times called Zancle, Mamertina, MeJJana. Its
firff name Zancle, which in the old language of Sicily
meant “ a ficklealluding, as feme authors fuppofe,
to the form of the port; or, according to others, to
the fertility of the country. Allured by the advan¬
tages of its fltuation, the Cumaeans, a commercial and
enterprifing people, invaded the ifland and drove the
Siculi from this fettlement j they wTere in their turn
overpowered by a band of Samian adventurers, w'ho
made w7ay for a colony of citizens of Meffene, and under
thefe mafters it changed its name to Mejfana. Their
government w’as of ftiort duration ; for in the 289th
year before Chrift it w7as deftroyed by the Mamertines,
a warlike unprincipled nation inhabiting the fouth part
of Bruttium. Thefe foldiers being received into Mef-
fana on their return to Italy from Syracufe, where
they had ferved as mercenaries in the army of Aga-
[ 546 ]
M E S
thocles, took an opportunity’ of maffaciing the inha¬
bitants and ufurping their poffeflions. The city was
now called Mamertina ; and, in order to fupport them-
felves againft the refentment of the Sicilian powers,
the Mamertines implored the proteclion of the Ro¬
mans, who, eager to extend their dominion beyond
the limits of Italy, and jealous of the growing power
of Carthage, made no fcruple to fuccour thele affaf-
fins with a confular army. This ffep brought on the
firff Punic war. 1 he Mamertines reaped no other
fruit from the alliance but a more honourable degree
ot ffavery ; for fuch was the real nature of their con¬
nexion with Rome, whatever name it might be dif-
guifed under.
Meflina was, however, always diftinguiflied by par¬
ticular attentions and favours from the fenate ; and, ex¬
cepting a Ihort period during the wars of the trium¬
virate, appears to have taffed all the Iweets of Roman
profperity, without partaking of the bitter draughts
of adverfity. Its fate, in the ruin of the empire, was
fimilar to that of the reft of Sicily. In 829 Meffina
fell into the hands of the Saracens, but obtained very
honourable terms of capitulation 5 for half the city
was left to the Chriftians, where they, w7ere to be go¬
verned by their own l^ws, and profefs their own reli¬
gion undifturbed. In the other refided the bey of
one of the five provinces into which the Arabian con¬
querors had divided the ifland. Nbtwithftanding this
indulgence, Meffina was the firft to caff; off the yoke
I037> when George Maniaces landed an army of
Greeks and Normans on the Ihore of the Faro. It af¬
terwards held out againft the whole Muffulman force,
till the feeble ftate of a diftra£ted empire ftiui out all
hopes of afliftance from Conftantinople. This unfor¬
tunate city then opened its gates to the army of the
caliph, and felt very feverely the weight of his refent¬
ment, but it did not long groan under the yoke j for
in lefs than 20 years Roger the Norman took it by
furprife and delivered it from Mahometan oppreflion.
During the crufado our Richard Coeur de Lion and
Philip Auguftus king of France wintered here in their
way to Paleftine j a fojourn marked by continual quar¬
rels, conflagration, and bloodlhed. The IVIellinele
were particularly tardy in entering into the national
confpiracy of 1282, but afterwards exceeded the reft
pf the infurgents in deeds of cruelty : This, and the
importance of their fituation, fingled them out for the
firft obje&s of Charles’s vengeance. He invefted their
city very clofely, and declared fo openly his determi¬
nation to refufe all terms whatever to the befieged,
that they faw.no hopes of fafety but in an obftinate
defence. Their courage, perfeverance, and fufferings,
were exc'eflive ; at length their ftrength and refources
began to fail rapidly, and every circumftance feemed
to denounce their fpeedy deftru&ion, when Roger
Lauria appeared off the harbour with the Arragonian
fleet, forced the king to retire with precipitation acrofs
the
Meffina.
I give my bleffing to you and all your city, and agree to become your proteftrefs. In the 42d year of my
Son, the ill of the Indnftion, the 3d day of June, and the 27th of the moon, at Jerufalem.”
Not to dwell upon the aftronomical blunders in thefe dates, let it fuffice to obferve, that Lafcaris was not aware
that Denis.the Little, a Syrian monk in the 6th century, was the firft who made ufe of the era that commences
at our Saviour’s birth.
M E S [ 547 ] M E S
Medina, the ftralts, and in his fight defeated and deftroyed his
“-""v ' naval armament. Robert, grandfon of Charles I. alfo
made a fruitlefs attack ; but in the difturbed reign of
Frederick III. Pvleflina was delivered up to Louis king
of Naples and his confort Queen Joan, who entered it
in triumph. In a few years it returned to its former
pofleffors. The year 1672 was remarkable for the re¬
volt of the Meffinefe.—They threw’ off the Spanilh
yoke, and fwore allegiance to Louis XIV. king of
France. They were for fome time vigoroufly affified
by the French ; but before the Spaniards had gained
the leait advantage to excite any hopes of recovering
fo valuable a poffeflxon, Louis found himfelf necefli-
tated from motives of political interefl: to defert his
new fubjedts, and leave them to the mercy of their old
incenfed mailers. The horror of being thus abandon¬
ed, and the challifement inflidled by Spain, broke the
fierce fpirit of the Mefiinefe ; they were Hill flunned
with the remembrance and effedls of this blow’, when
the plague in 1743 w7as introduced from the Levant,
and fwept away more than half the inhabitants. From
this chain of calamities, the opulence, trade, and po¬
pulation of Medina, have been gradually finking ; and
unlefs very favourable circumflances happen, will every
year fall lower. The number of its inhabitants does
not now’ exceed 30,000.
The following particulars are added from M. Houel,
w'ho vifited this city fince the late earthquakes, which
completed its dell ruction.
On the front of the cathedral there is a fquare,
which, though not regular, is far from being mean.
This was net the largell fquare in Medina before its
overthrow’ •, but it was the mod elegant, the molt
fplendidly adorned, and the bed frequented. There
Hands in this fquare an equedrian datue of Charles II.
of Spain, in bronze, which has been fpared by the
earthquake. It Hands on a marble pededal, in the
middle of the fquare. Oppofite to this datue is an
elegant marble fountain, ornamented with a variety of
figures, reprefenting men and other animals, all of
them fpouting out w’ater in great abundance ; which
ufed, in fummer, to fpread an agreeable and refrelh-
ing coolnefs over the fquare, that induced company to
aflemble here. Seven dreets terminated here. The
cathedral forms a part of the fquare. It is dedicated
to the blefied Virgin ; the occafion of which has been
■already mentioned.
There is an anniverfary fead celebrated in Medina,
which is called the feq/1 of the Letter. A lock of the
Virgin’s hair, which fire fent to the Meffenians at the
fame time with the letter, is carried through the city
in procefiion in a crydal veflel. She made alfo a pre-
fent of her picture to the Mefienian deputies. It is
placed over the tabernacle. None but the canons of
the cathedral are permitted to touch, or take up on
their firoulders, the filver fhrine in W’hich the. ciyflal
ve%l with the Virgin’s hair is depofited. Eight of
thofe canons, with mitres on their heads, bear this
flirine in the procefiion. The canopy fufpended over
it is fupported by fix fenators in their robes.. The
piaure and the hair are drown to drangers. This pro¬
cefiion, and the other religious ceremonies of this fefti-
val, are followed by horfe races. The fpirits of the
people being already elevated by their religious exer-
cifes, they engage with amazing eagernefs in thefe and
the other diverfions with which they are accompanied :
a tumultuous joy reigns over the city ; and the evening
concludes wdth illuminations and fireworks. The drips
in the harbour pay the citizens the compliment of en¬
tertaining them with a difeharge of their guns on the
occafion.
Through a fquare called the Square of the Great
Hofpital, runs a large and impetuous torrent, the Forta
delle Legnu It is precipitated from thofe lofty moun¬
tains w’hich overlook this city on the fouth fide. The
channel which it has cut out for itfelf is at times en¬
tirely full. It w’ould, on fuch occafions, overdow' the
fquare and other parts of the city, were it not con¬
fined by walls which have been built on both fides to
prevent fuch accidents.—Another dream of a fimilar
origin, called the Torrent of La Bocetta, runs through
another part of the city, it is alfo confined w'ithin
W’alls to prevent it from overdowing.
The Square of St John of Malta is one of the larged
in Medina. In the middle of this fquare is a fine
marble fountain, ornamented with a vaiiety of fculp-
tured figures and jets d’eau. Befide the fountain there
ufed to Hand a large refervoir for horfes to drink
out of.
In the time of the annual fed!vals, there ufed to be
exhibited on the w’ater of the refervoir a galley, or ra¬
ther a fiflitious reprefentation of a galley, with gal-
ley-fiaves, foldiers, officers, and a commander on board,
all in arms, and the galley properly equipped as a diip
of war. This galley was decorated with great art ;
and by night the mads, and every other fuitable part,
were hung with lamps, which illumined it in a very
fplendid manner. Every thing around was fo artifi¬
cially difpofed, that when the fireworks were played
off, the fpe£lator was led to think, though he per¬
ceived only one galley, that the noife which he heard
was produced by a naval combat ; and that the other
diips were concealed from his view by the fmoke oc-
cafioned by the guns and firew’orks. This, w’hen
properly conduced, wras a noble fpe&acle. The fe-
nate repaired thither from the cathedral, attended wfith
a guard and a numerous company. In one carriage fat
fix fenators, the governor ot the city, and fometimes
the archbifhop. It W’as exceedingly large, and drawn
by fix white horfes very richly harnaffed. Other car¬
riages followed, with the train who attended the go¬
vernor and the fenators.
Almod all fedivals owe their origin to fome extra¬
ordinary event, or fome fingular dory either true or
falfe. It is faid, that when the fplendor with which the
fead of the Affumption de la Bara was celebrated at
Medina, fird began to attradl foreigners to the city,
on that occafion fuch crowds repaired thither as to
alarm the inhabitants with the fears of a famine : But
one year, w'hen the number of drangers was greater
than ufual at the time of this fedival, the magidrates
wTere very much at a lofs how to fupply them with
provifions; and at length, every other refource failing,
no hopes of relief remained but from the kindnefs of
the Bleffed Virgin. Fervent prayers wrere addreffed to
their patronefs : and next morning by day-break three
brigantines appeared entering the harbour with full
fails. They proved to be loaded with corn. It was
eagerly purchafed : and the people of the city haded
to appeafe their hunger. But when they came after
3 Z 2 refreffiing
MtiFma.
M E S f 54? ] M E S
refreSiing thernfelvcs to pay the corn merchants their
money, neither fhips nor merchants could be found.
After their firlt emotions of furprife had fublided,
they naturally concluded that fuch a feafonable fup-
ply muft undoubtedly be a prefent from the Virgin,
who, being pleafed with the zeal of her Meffenian vo¬
taries, and defirous to prevent the concourfe of ilran-
gers who attended the feftival from diminiihing, had
interpofed in this miraculous manner to fave them from
the diftreffes of famine. A new fefiival was celebrated
in gratitude to their generous benefa&refs. Three
imall veffels of filver were made, and dedicated to the
Virgin in memory of the event ; and tbefe are at pre¬
fent ufed as lamps in the cathedral. The fenate like-
wife -decreed, that the clergy Ihould pay annually a
fmall tax, to be laid out in conftrudling a fmall gal¬
ley to fwim on the fountain, and in defraying the ex-
pences of the fireworks. The profits of the clergy are
io conftderable on the occafion of the feftival, that they
may be fuppofed to pay the tax with great cheerful-
nefs.
In Medina, as in the other cities of Sicily, the wo¬
men wrap tbemfelves in a large black mantle above the
reit of their drefs. The fluffs are richer or plainer ac¬
cording to rank and circumflances. People who are
riot rich enough to have fine clothes of their own,
hire them at fo much an hour. There are v/omen
who make a livelihood by lending out their clothes.
The mantle covers the wearer from head to foot.—
It reduces the old and the young, the ill-ihaped and
the handfome, pretty much to an equality in point of
appearance. This muft naturally appear very unfa¬
vourable to the influence of beauty. But yet, on pro¬
per occafions, at church or in a public walk, the la¬
dies of Medina find means to open and adjuft the man¬
tle fo as to difplay all their beauties of face and fhape,
and to attract the affections of lovers, perhaps more
powerfully than if their drefs were fuited to difplay
their charms in a more oftentatious manner.
Between Meflina and the tower of Faro there (lands
a fmall church called the Mtidona of the Grotto. It
was anciently a temple of a round ftruCture, and orna¬
mented with columns like the temple of the fun at
R ome. Modern columns now fupply the place that
was occupied by the ancient. There are large niches
in the rock adjoining to the temple, which are thought
to be of equal antiquity. Thefe contain no fculptur-
ed figures; but in Pagan times they might pofiibly
contain fome.
Meflina being fituated betsveen Mount Aiitna and
the gulf of Charybdis, and being likewife at no great
diftance from the volcanoes of Lipari and Stromboli,
muft have been in all ages liable to fuffer by earth¬
quakes. Such terrible events, however, appear to
have been more unfrequent in ancient than in modern
times, and have aCtually alarmed the prefent age oftener
than any other. In the year 1693 a fourth part of the
cities of Sicily was deftroyed by an earthquake. Mef-
fina merely felt the (hock \ all its buildings, however,
fuffered. In the year 1742 it fuffered another equal¬
ly violent. A plague which followed in 1743 retard¬
ed the repairs neceffary after the earthquake. In the
year 1780 this city continued, for more than fix
months, to fuffer from new earthquakes.
Were the (late of the elements, previous to thefe
dreadlul events, carefully examined, it might perhaps Medina,
be found to undergo certain changes which might be ——v”—"
confidered as prognofticating them.
The autumn ot the year 1782 was unufually cold
and ramy. Fahrenheit’s thermometer was often as
low as 56 degrees. The fucceeding winter was dry;
and the mercury never fell under 25 degrees : And,
what is uncommon in that feafon, Itorms were now
and then obferved to arife from the weft. The pilots
in the channel obferved that the tides no longer rofe
at the ufual periods, and the gulf of Charybdis raged
with extraordinary fury.
On the 5th of February 1783, the air was heavy
and calm ; the (ky obfeured with thick clouds, and the
atmofphere feemingly all in a fjame. About half af¬
ter twelve at noon, the earth began to (hake with a
dreadful noife. The (hocks continually increafed, and
became at length (o violent as to open the ground, and
to overturn in two or three minutes a conftderable
part of the buildings.
A long white cloud appeared to the north-weft ;
and foon after another, very dark, in the fame quar¬
ter of the heavens. The latter in a moment fpread
over the whole horizon, and deluged the city with
rain and hail, accompanied with dreadful claps of thun¬
der. The inhabitants fled in the utmoft terror to the
fields and the (hips in the harbour.
From mid-day till five in the afternoon the earth¬
quake continued almoft without interruption. The
(hocks then became fomewhat lefs frequent. The cries
of the dying ; the ihrieks of thofe who were half bu¬
ried under the ruins; the wild terror with which others,
who were (till able, attempted to make their efcape;
the defpair of fathers, mothers, and hufbands, bereft
of thole who were deareft to them ; then formed alto¬
gether a feene of horror, fuch as can but feldom oc¬
cur in the hiftory of the calamities of the human race.
Amid that awful feene, inftances of the mod heroic
courage and the mod generous affeftion were difplay-
ed. Mothers, regardltds of their own fafety, rulhed
into every danger to fnatch their children from death.
Conjugal and filial affedtion prompted deeds not lefs
defperate and heroic. But no fooner did the earth¬
quake ceafe, than the poor wretches who had efcaped
began to feel the influence of verv different paflions.
Wh en they returned to vifit the ruins, to feek out the
fituation of their fallen dwellings, to inquire into the
fate of their families, to procure food and collect feme
remains of their former fortunes—fuch as found their
circumftances the moft wretched became fuddenly ani¬
mated with rage, which nothing but wild defpair could
infpire. The dillinftion of ranks, and the order of fo-
ciety were difregarded, and property eagerly violated.
Murder, rapine, and lawlefs robbery, reigned among
the fmoking ruins.
About one in the morning another (hock of the
earthquake was felt, which overturned moft of the
houfes that were (till (landing. Moft of thofe whom,
want, or avarice, or humanity, dill detained among the
ruins, now (hared the fame fate with their friends
whom the former (hocks had buried under them.
The fucceeding day fcarce alleviated the diftrefs of
this difmal night : the few wretches who dill jTurviv-r
ed found themfelres deftitute of every neceffary. At
length order was in fome degree re-eftabliftied ; and m
t^yo.
/
M E S r 549 ] MET
Meffina. two days after every perfon was fupplied at leaft with fomevvhat in the fame way as if it had been borne up-
——v-— fome fmall portion of the neceffaries for fubfiftence. on a fluid j and Teemed to reel with the (hocks much
None yet thought of returning to take up their like a (hip toffed with the waves. Ihis tremulous
abode among the ruins. The common people fixed motion was felt all over Sicily j but towards Pharo
their refidence on the plain of Porto Salvo, near the it became weaker. On the following days the (ky
town of Sal'eo. The nobles, magiftrates, and mer- was cloudy ; the mountains of Sicily and the (bores of
chants, took up their abode on another plain, on the Calabria continued covered with a thick fog like fmoke.
ether fide of the dream Porto de Legno j the foldiers North and north-ead winds raged with the mod vio-
~ lent impetuofity
MelTuage'
II .
Metagit-
nion.
at Terra Nuova.
Some violent fliocks v/hich wrere again felt on the
7th of February and the 28th of March completed the
dedrudlion of the city. The corn magazines, horv-
ever, efcaped without damage ; and the public ovens
and the aqueduTs were but little injured. From thefe
fadls it may perhaps be inferred, that had not the
houfes of Medina been, in general, hafiily built at the
fird, and afterwards carelefsly repaired, fewer of them
would have been overthrown by the earthquake.
The neighbouring villages having fuffered but little,
were the fird to relieve the remaining inhabitants of
Medina in their didrefs. Maltefe gallies for fome days
fupplied neceflaries to the poor and the fick with a
generofity which merits the higbefi praife. '1 hey
brought furgeons and whatever was needful for the
cure of the wounded. The fupplies fent by the king
of France were refufed, for what reafon we know not.
What money was needed for the fupport of the peo¬
ple was taken from the treafury oi the erty o( Medina \
for what the king of Naples (ent was feized and Ipent
by the gariifon.
It is faid that not more than 800 or 900 perfons
penlhed by this earthquake. The fea during that
convulsion of the land was dightly agitated in the har¬
bour. Farther out the fea was more violently agitat¬
ed j but none of the (hips in the harbour were dathed
to pieces. The waters rofe fo high as to be injurious
in a very condderable degree to Pnaro, as wed as along
the coad of Scylla and Bagnara.
This earthquake was not of a momentary duration,
like that by which Lifbon was dedroyed, and like
many others ; for more than dxty days, from the 5th
of February to the beginning of April, Medina con¬
tinued to be diaken, and in that time felt more than
200 (hocks •, and even after that period the alarm was
aaa'n and again renewed. Not only the maginrates,
the foldiers, and the people, but the prieds likew;fe,
with their tabernacle and altar, retired to the bariack-'.
The nuns, too, deferted their cloiders, and (ought a
retreat without the walls. Some of them confined
themfelves to the gardens of their convents 5 others
mixed indifcriminately with the people. _
The chief damage which the public buddings wita-
in the city fuffered was the fall of the dome of the
church of Purgatory. Only the walls were .eft danc¬
ing ; and even thefe had fuffered confiderably. One half
of the dee pie of the cathedral was beaten to the ground.
The magazines of Porto Franco were hkewife very
much (battered. The fort of St Salvator, being built
on an artificial foundation, the fide next the fea is
there fallen down-, but on the other fide, where it is
founded on a rock, it has dood unmoved by all the
(hocks of the earthquake.
On the ;th of February, when the earthquake was
more violent than at any time afterwards, a flronK
fmell of folphur was felt. The earth was affected
The difadrous year of this earthquake was fcarce
concluded, the chafms which it had opened in the
ground were dill yawning, and the poor inhabitants
of the adjacent country dill trembled with terror,
when the elements again renewed their fury to ravage
this miferable land.
On Tuefday the 6th of January 1784, about fun-
rife, the wind began to blow foftly from the north-
ead. The fea gradually fwelled, rofe beyond its bed
with rapid impetuofity, overflowed the quay of Me(-
fina, and lafhed with its billows the ruins of the Pa-
lazzata. It loofened and difplaced many of the dones-
of the mole, fpread over the whole dreet, and attack¬
ed the pededals of the datues which had been fpared
by the earthquake, and dill (iood firm among the ruins.
The fame furious wind which fwelled the fea in fo ex--
traordinary a manner, ravaged the whole coad from
Medina all the way to Syracufe.
MESSUAGE, Messuagium, in Law, a dwelling-
houfe, with fome land adjoining affigned for its ufe. By-
the name of meJJ'uage may a garden, (hop, mill, cottage,
chamber, cellar, or the like, pafs.—In Scotland, meffiiage
denotes what is called in England the manor-houfe, viz.
the principal dwelling-houfe within any barony.
MESOPORPHYRON, a name given by the
Greeks to the Roman latic/ave ; becaufe that garment,
being edged on each dde, where it opened before, with
purple, appeared when clofed with two purple dripes*
down the middle. The fame term was alfo applied to
the amrujliclave.
META, in the Roman circus, was a pile of dones
of a pyramidical form, intended as a boundary of the
ftadium, or chariot courfe.—When the meta was pafied
the feventh time, the race was concluded. I he greated
art and management were required in avoiding the
meta, and yet going as near it as podible. If they
went too near, they were in the greated danger or
breaking the chariot to pieces -, and if they took too
large a circuit in the turn, they gave their rivals aiv
opportunity of getting within them, befides lofing a
great deal of ground. The boundary of the Grecian-
ftadium, or courfe, was called rsy#?, and
CCA?* y^rtuu.yt ; to which lad name Horace probably al¬
ludes, in calling death “ ultima Unea rerum?
The metce at Rome were fird of wood, afterwards
of done 5 but the emperor Claudius made them of
gold, or rather gilded them. In the Roman circus
there were two metw, one at tne entrance of the couifi,
and the other at the end of it. An egg was placed
upon the top of the vtetce.
METACARPUS, or MetacaRFIUM, (from
behind, and hand), in Anatomy, that part of the
hand between the wriit and the fingers. Ae NA
TOMY, N° 55.. „ , . ,
METAGITNION, the fecond month or the Athe--
nian year, anfwering to the latter part, of our July and .
MET
Metal
^ I!
Metaphor,
the beginning of Auguft, and fo called from metagilnia,
a feflival in honour of Apollo, which was kept in it.
The Boeotians called this month panemus, and the Sy-
xacufans, carnius.
METAL, in Natural Hi/lorij, is a fubftance which
is dillinguiflted from others by its du&ility, malleabili¬
ty, tenacity, opacity, &c. for an account of which, fee
Chemistry.
Metal, in Heraldry. There are two metals ufed in
heraldry, by way of colours, viz. gold and lilver, in
blazon called or and argent.
In the common painting of arms thefe metals are
reprefented by white and yellow, which are the natu¬
ral colours of thofe metals. In engraving, gold is
' expreffed by dotting the coat, &c. all over 3 and fil-
ver, by leaving it quite blank.
It is a general rule in heraldry* never to place me¬
tal upon metal, or colour upon colour : fo that if the
field be of one of the metals, the bearing muft be of
fame colour ; and if the field be of any colour, the
bearing mud be one of the metals..
METALEPSIS. See Oratory, N° $9.
METALLISATION, is defined to be the natural
procefs by which metals are formed in the bowels of
the earth.
METALLURGY, in a more general fenfe, com¬
prehends the whole art of working metals, from the
date of ore to the utenfil 3 and in this fenfe, effaying,
fmelting, refining, parting, fmithery, gilding, &c. are
only branches of metallurgy. But in a more limited
fenfe it includes only the operations which are followed
in feparating metals from their ores. For an account
of thefe precedes, fee Mineralogy Index; and for
the practical branches, fee Gilding, Parting, Puri¬
fying, Refining, Smithkry.
METAMORPHOSIS, in general, denotes the
changing of fomething into a different form ; in which
fenfe it includes the transformation of infedts, as well
as the mythological changes related by the ancient
poets.
Mythological metamorphofes were held to be of twro
kinds, apparent and real : thus, that of Jupiter into a
bull, w’as only apparent ; whereas that of Lycaon into a
wolf, was fuppofed to be real.
Mod of the ancient metamorphofes include fome al¬
legorical meaning, relating either to phyfics or morali¬
ty 3 fome authors are even of opinion that a great part
of the ancient philofophy is couched under them 3 and
Lord Bacon and Dr Hooke have attempted to unriddle
feveral of them.
METAPHOR, in Rhetoric. See Oratory, N° 54.
Metaphor and /Ulcgory, in poetry.—A metaphor
differs from a fimile, in form only, not in fubdance : in
a fimile the two fubjedts are kept diffindl in the expref-
fion, as well as in the thought 3 in a metaphor, the
two fubjedls are kept didindt in the thought only, not
in the expreffion. A hero refembles a lion, and upon
that refemblance many fimilies have been railed by Ho¬
mier and other poets. But indead of refembling a lion,
let us take the aid of the imagination, and feign or fi¬
gure the hero to be a lion 3 by that variation the fimile
is converted into a metaphor 3 which is carried on by
deferibing all the qualities of a lion that refemble thofe
of the hero. The fundamental pleafure here, that of
.refemblance, belongs to the thought. An additional
r 550 i
MET
pleaiure arifes from the expreffion : the poet, by figu- Metaphor,
ring his hero to be a lion, goes on to deferibe the lion “—
in appearance, but in reality the hero 3 and lus deferip-
tion is peculiarly beautiful, by expreffing the virtues
and qualities of the hero in new terms, which, properly
fpeaking, belong not to him, but to the lion. This will
better be underdood by examples. A family connedled
with a common parent, refembles a tree, the trunk and
branches of which are connected w’ifh a common root ;
but let us fuppofe, that a family is figured, not barely
to_ be like a tree, but to be a tree ; and then the fimile
will be converted into a metaphor, in the following
manner :
Edward’s fev’n fons, whereof thyfelf art one,
Were fev’n fair branches, fpringing from one root 5
Some of thefe branches by the ded’nies cut:
But Thomas, my dear lord,.my life, my Glo’der,
One flourithing branch of his molt royal root,
Is hack’d down, and his lummer leaves all faded,
By Envy’s hand and Murder’s bloody axe.
Richard II. aff i. fc. 3.
Figuring human life to be a voyage at fea.
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to Fortune :
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in fhallows and in miferies.
On fuch a full fea are wre now afloat;
And we muff take the current when it ferves,
Or lofe our ventures. Julius Ccefar, aft iv. fc. 5.
Figuring glory and honour to be ? garland of flowers :
Hofpur.- Wou’d to heav’n,
T hy name in arms were now as great as mine !
Pr. Henry. I’ll make it greater ere I part from thee;
And all the budding honours on thy creil
I’ll crop, to make a garland for my head.
Firjl Part of Henry IV. act v. fc. 9.
Figuring a man who hath acquired great reputation
and honour to be a tree full of fruit:
-Oh, boys, this ftory
The world may read in me 3 my body’s mark’d
With Roman fwords 3 and my report rvas once
Firff with the belt of note. Cymbeline lov’d me ;
And when a foldier was the theme, my name
Was not far off 3 then was I as a tree,
Whole boughs did bend with fruit. But in one night,
A ftorm or robbery, call it what you will,
Shook down my mellow hangings, nay, my leaves 3
And left me bare to wither.
Cijmbeline, a£t iii. fc. 3.
“ Bleft by thy foul, thou king of ffiells, find Swaran
of the dark-brown ihield. In peace, thou art the gale
of fpring 3 in war, the mountain-ftorm. Take now my
hand in friendfhip, thou noble lung of Morven.”
Fingal.
“ Thou dwelleft in the foul of Malvina, fon of mighty
Offian. My fighs arife with the beam of the eafl : my
tears defeend with the drops of night. I was a lovely
tree in thy prefence, Ofcar, with all my branches
round me : but thy death came like a blaft from the
defert.
M E T [ .5JI
Metaphor, defert, and laid my green head low ; the fpring re-
^urnecj with its Ihovvers, but no leaf of mine arofe.”
Finga/.
An al/egory differs from a metaphor 5 and a Jigure of
A metaphor is defined above
fpeech differs from both,
to be anaftof the imagination, figuring one thing to bean-
other. An allegory requires no fuch operation, nor is one
thing figured to be another : it confifts in choofing a fub-
jecf having properties or circumftances refembling thofe
of the principal fubjeft : and the former is defcribed in
fuch a manner as to reprefent the latter : the fubjedt
thus reprefented is kept out of view : we are left to
difcover it by reflection ; and we are pleafed with the
difcovery, becaufe it is our own work. (See the word
Allegory.)
Quintilian gives the following inftance of an allegory.
O navis, referent in mare te novi
Fiudtus. O quid agis ? fortiter occupa portum.
Horat. Lib. i. ode 14.
and explains it elegantly in the following words: “ To-
tufque ille Horatii locus, quo navim pro republica, fiuc-
tuum tempeflates pro bellis civilibus, portum pro pace
atque concordia,'dicit.”
In a figure of fpeech, there is no fidlion of the ima¬
gination employed, as in a metaphor •, nor a reprefen-
tative fubject introduced, as in an allegory. This fi¬
gure, as its name implies, regards the expreflion only,
not the thought ; and it may be defined, the ufing a
word in a fenfe different from what is proper to it.—
Thus youth, or the beginning of life, is eSpreffed
figuratively by morning of life: morning is the begin¬
ning of the day ; and in that view it is employed to
fignify the beginning of any other feries, life efpecial-
ly, the progrefs of which is reckoned by days. See
Figure of Speech.
Metaphor and allegory are fo much connected, that it
feemed proper to handle them together : the rules par¬
ticularly for diftinguifhing the good from the bad, are
common to both. We (hall therefore proceed to thefe
rules, after adding fome examples to illuftrate the nature
of an allegory, which, with a view to this article, was
but flightly illuftrated under its proper name.
1 MET
With tearful eyes add water to the fea,
And give more ftrength to that which hath too much j
While in his moan the fliip fplits on the rock.
Which indutlry and courage might have fav’d ?
Ah, what a lhame ! ah, what a fault were this !
'Hurd Part of Flenry VI. a Cl v. fc. 5.
Ch-oonoio. Ha ! thou haft rous’d
The lion in his den •, he ftalks abroad,
And the wide foreft trembles at his roar.
I find the danger now. Oroonok, aCt iii. fc. 2?
_ “ My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful
hill. Tie fenced it, gathered out the ftones thereof,
planted it with the choiceft vine, built a tower in the
midft of it, and alfo made a wine prefs therein 5 he
looked that it fhould bring forth grapes, and it brought
forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jeru-
falem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt
me and my vineyard. What could have been done
more to my vineyard, that I have not done ? Where¬
fore, when I looked that it ftiould bring forth grapes,
brought it forth wild grapes ? And now go to, I will
tell you what I will do to my vineyard : I will take
away the hedge thereof, and it (hall be eaten up ; and
break down the wall thereof, and it ftiall be trodden
down. And I will lay it wafte : it ftiall not be pruned,
nor digged, but there {hall come up briars and thorns :
I will alfo command the clouds that they rain no rain
upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hofts is the
houfe of Ifrael, and the men of Judah his pleafant
plant.” Ifaiah v. x.
The rules that govern metaphors and allegories are
of two kinds. 1 he conftruCtion of thefe figures comes
under the firft kind : the propriety or impropriety of
introduction comes under the other.—To begin wdth
rules of the firft kind ; fome of which coincide with
thofe already given for fimilies 5 fome are peculiar to
metaphors and allegories.
In the firft place, It has been obferved, that a fimile
cannot be agreeable where the refemblance is either
too ftrong or too faint. This holds equally in meta¬
phor and allegory ; and the reafon is the fame in all.
In the following inftances, the refemblance is too faint
to be agreeable.
Horace, fpeaking of his love to Pyrrha, w'hich was
now extinguiftied, exprefted himfelf thus :
 Me tabula facer
Votiva paries indicat uvida
Sufpendiffe potenti
Veftimenta maris Deo. Carm. lib. i. ode 5.
Again :
Phoebus volentem praelia me loqui,
Vidas et urbes, increpuit, lyra
Ne parva Tyrrhenum per sequor
Vela darem. Carm. lib. iv. ode xj.
ffteen. Great lords, wife men ne’er fit and wail
their lofs,
But cheerly feek how to redrefs their harms.
What though the maft be now blown overboard,
The cable broke, the holding anchor loft,
And half our failors fwallowed in the flood !
Yet lives our pilot ftill. Is’t meet that he
Should leave the helm, and, like a fearful lad,
Malcolm. —But there’s no bottom, none,
In my voluptuouinefs : your wives, your daughters.
Your matrons, and your maids, could not fill up
The ciftern of my lull. Macbeth, aft iv. fc. 4.
The beft wTay to judge of this metaphor, is to convert
it into a fimile: which would be bad, becaufe there is
fcarce any refemblance between luft and a ciftern, or
betwdxt enormous luft and a large ciftern.
Again :
He cannot buckle his diftemper’d caufe
Within the belt of rule. Macbeth, aft v. fc. 2.
There is no refemblance between a diftempered caufe
and any body that can be confiaed within a belt.
Again :
Steep me in poverty to the very lips.
Othello, aft iv. fc. 9.
Poverty
MET [ 55
Met.’.plior Poverty here muft be conceived a fluid, which it re-
u”*' v fembles not in any manner.
Speaking to Bolingbroke banilli’d for fix years:
The fallen paffage of thy weary fteps
Titeem a foil, where!nv thou art to fet
The precious jewel of thy home-return.
' Richard II. a£l ii. fc. 6.
Again :
Here is a letter, lady,
And every word in it a gaping wound
Iffuing life-blood.
Merchant of Venice, act iii. fc. 3.
Tantse molis erat Romanam condere gentem.
JEneid. i. 37.
The following metaphor is drained beyond all endu¬
rance : Timur-bec, known to us by the name of T'a-
tnerlane the Great, writes to Bajazet emperor of the'
Ottomans in the following terms :
“ Where is the monarch who dares refill us ? where
is the potentate who doth not glory in being numbered
among our attendants ? As for thee, defcended from a
Turcoman failor, fince the veffel of thy unbounded
ambition hath been wreck’d in the gulf of thy felf-
love, it would be proper, that thou (houldtl take in
the fails of thy temerity, and call the anchor of re¬
pentance in the port of fincerity and juftice^ which is
the port of fafety left the tempeft of our vengeance
make thee perifh in the fea of the puniihment thou
deferveft.”
Such drained figures, as obferved above, are not un¬
frequent in the firft dawn of refinement •, the mmd in
a new enjoyment knowrs no bounds, and is generally
carried to excels, till tafte and experience difcover the/
proper limits.
Secondly, Whatever refemblance fubjefls may have,
it is wrong to put one for another, where they bear no
mutual proportion. Upon comparing a very high to
a very low fubjecl, the fimile takes on an air of bur-
lefque : and the fame will be the efteft where the one
is imagined to be the other, as in a metaphor j or made
to reprefent the other, as in an allegory.
Thirdly, Thefe figures, a metaphor efpecially, ought
wot to be crowded with many minute circumftances 5
for in that cafe it is fcarcely poffible to avoid obfcu-
rity. A metaphor above all ought to be ftiort : it is
difficult, for any time, to fupport a lively image of a
thing being what we know it is not ; and for that rea-
fon, a metaphor drawn out to any length, inftead of
illuftrating or enlivening the principal fubjeft, becomes
difagreeable by overilraining the mind. Here Cow¬
ley is extremely licentious. Take the following in-
ftance.
Great and wife conqu’ror, who where’er
Thou com’ft, doll fortify, and fettle there !
Who canft defend as well as get ;
And never hadft one quarter beat up yet 5
Now thou art in, thou ne’er will part
With one inch of my vanquilh’d heart ;
For fince thou took’ft it by aflault from me
Tis garrifon’s fo ftrong with thoughts of thee,
It fears no beauteous enemy.
}
2 ] MET
For the fame reafon, however agreeable long allego- Metaphor,
ries may at firft be by their novelty, they never afford v ''
any lafting pleafure : witnefs the Faery fueen, which
with great power of expreffion, variety of images,
and melody of verfification, is fcarce ever read a fe-
cond time.
In the fourth place, The comparifon carried on in a
firnile, being in a metaphor funk by imagining the
principal lubjeft to be that very thing which it only
refembles ; an opportunity is farnilhed to defcribe it in
terms taken fhiclly or literally with refpedl to its ima¬
gined nature. This fuggetls another rule, That in con-
ftrufting a metaphor, the writer ought to make ufe of
fuch words only as are applicable literally to the ima¬
gined nature of his fubjedl : figurative words ought
carefully to be avoided ; for fuch complicated figures,
inftead of fetting the principal fubjedl in a ftrong light,
involve it in a cloud, and it is well if the reader, with¬
out rejecting by the lump, endeavour patiently to ga¬
ther the plain meaning, regardlefs of the figures :
A ftubborn and unconquerable flame
Creeps in his veins, and drinks the ftreams of life.
Lady Jane Gray, a61 i. fc. l»
Copied from Ovid:
Sorbent avidas praecordia flammae.
Metamorph. lib. ix. 172.
Let us analyze this expreffion. That a fever may be
imagined a flame, we admit : though more than one
ftep is neceffary to come at the refemblance : a fever,
by heating the body, refernbles fire \ and it is no ftretch
to imagine a fever to be a fire : again, by a figure of
fpeech, flame may be put for fire, becaule they are com¬
monly conjoined ; and therefore a fever may be term¬
ed & flame. But now admitting a fever to be a flame,
its effe6ts ought to be explained in words that agree li¬
terally to a flame. This rule is not obferved here j for
a flame drinks figuratively only, not properly.
King Henry to his fon Prince Henry :
Thou hid’ft a thoufand daggers in thy thoughts,
Which thou haft whetted on thy ftony heart
To flab at half an hour of my frail life.
Second Part Henry IV. a61 iv. fc. 11.
Such faulty metaphors are pleafantly ridiculed in the
Rehearfal:
“ Physician. Sir, to conclude, the place you fill has
more than amply exa6ted the talents of a wary pilot \
and all thefe threatening ftorms, which, like impreg¬
nate clouds, hover o’er our heads, will, when they once
are grafp’d but by the eye of reafon, melt into fruitful
fhowers of bleffings on the people.
“ Bayes. Pray mark that allegory. Is not that
good.
“ Johnfon. Yes, that grafping of a ftorm wkh the
eye is admirable.” A61 ii. fc. 1.
Fifthly, The jumbling different metaphors in the
fame fentence, beginning with one metaphor and end¬
ing with another, commonly called a tnixt metaphor,
ought never to be indulged.
K, Henry.
MET
MET l 553 1
Metaphor.
K. Henry.  Will you again unknit
This churliih knot of all-abhorred war,
And move in that obedient orb again,
Where you did give a fair and natural light ?
FirJ} Part Henry VI. aft v. fc. I.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind, to fuffer
The flings and arrows of outrageous fortune $
Or to take arms againft a fea of troubles,
And by oppofing end them.
Ham/et, aft iii. fc. 2.
In the fixth place, It is unpleafant to join different
metaphors in the fame period, even where they are
preferved diftinft : for when the fubjeft is imagined
to be firfl one thing and then another in the fame pe¬
riod without interval, the mind is diflrafted by the ra¬
pid tranfition ; and when the imagination is put on
fuch hard duty, its images are too faint to produce any
good effeft :
At regin a gravi jamdudum faucia cura,
Vulnus alit venis, et caeco carpitur igni.
JEtieid. iv. x.
  Eft mollis flamma medullas
Interea, et taciturn vivit fub peftore vulnus.
JEneld. iv. 66.
Motum ex Metello confule civicum,
Bellique caufas, et vitia, et modes,
Ludumque fortunse, gravefque
Principum amicitias, et arma
Nondum expiatis unfta cruoribus,
Periculofae plenum opus alese,
Traftas, et incedis per ignes
Subpofttos cineri dolofo.
Horat. Carm. lib. ii. ode I.
In the laft place, It is ftill worfe to jumble together
metaphorical and natural expreflion, fo as that the pe¬
riod muft be underftood in part metaphorically, in part
literally •, for the imagination cannot follow with fufti-
cient eafe changes fo fudden and unprepared : a meta¬
phor begun and not carried on, hath no beauty \ and
inftead of light, there is nothing but obfeunty and
confufion. Inftances of fuch incorreft compofition are
without number : w'e (hall, for a fpecimen, fePft a evv
from different authors. Speaking of Britain,
——This precious ftone fet in the fea,
Which ferves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defenfive to a houfe,
Againft the envy of lefs happier lands.
6 Richard II. aft n. fc. I.
In the firft line Britain is figured to be a precious ftone :
in the following line, Britain, divefted of her metapho¬
rical drefs, is prefented to the reader in her natural ap¬
pearance.
Thefe growing feathers pluck’d from Caffar’s wing,
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch,
Who elfe would foar above the view of men,
And keen us all in fervile fearfulnefs. .
Julius Ciefar, aft i. fc. I.
Rebus anguftis animofus atque
Fortis adpare : fapienter idem
Contrahes vento nimium fecundo
Turgida vela. Hor. Carm. lib. ii. ode io.
Metaphor.
The following is a miferable jumble of expreffions,
arifing from an unfteady view of the fubjeft, between
its figurative and natural appearance :
But now from gath’ring clouds deftruftion pours,
Which ruins with mad rage our halcyon hours:
Mifts from black jealoufies the tempeft form,
Whilft late divifions reinforce the ftorm.
Dijpenfary, canto iii.
To thee the world its prefent homage pays,
The harveft early, but mature the praife.
Pope's Imitation of Horace, book ii.
Oui, fa pudeur ne’ft que franche grimace,
Qu’une ombre de vertu qui garde mal la place,
Et qui s’evanouit, comme I’on peut favoir,
Aux rayons du foleil qu’une bourfe vait voir.
Moliere, L'Etourdi, aft iii. fc. 2.
Et fon feu, de pourvu de fenfe et de lecture,
S’eteint a chaque pas, faut de nourriture.
Boi/eau, VArt Poetique, chant, iii. 1. 319.
Dryden, in his dedication of the tranflation ol Ju¬
venal, fays, “ When thus, as I may fay, before the
ufe of the loadftone, or knowledge of the compafs, I
was failing in a vaft ocean, without other help than the
pole-ftar of the ancients, and the rules of the French
ftage among the moderns,” &c.
“ There is a time when faftions, by the vehemence
of their own fermentation, ftun and difable one ano¬
ther.” Bolingbroke.
This fault of jumbling the figure and plain expreffion
into one confufed mafs, is not lefs common in allegory
than in metaphor.
Take the following examples :
    Heu ! quoties fidem,
Mutatofque Deos flebit, et afpera
Nigris aequora ventis
Emirabitur infolens,
Qui nunc te fruitur credulus aurea :
Qui femper vacuam,Temper amabilem
Sperat, nefeius aurae
Fallacis. Horat. Carm. lib. i. ode 5.
Pour moi fur cette mer, qu’ici bas nous courons,
Je longe a me pourvoir d’efquif et d avirons,
A regler mes defires, a prevenir 1’orage,
Et fauver, s’il fe peut, ma Raifon du naufrage.
Boileau, epitre 5.
Lord Halifax, fpeaking of the ancient fabulifts :
“ They (fays he) wrote in figns, and fpoke in para¬
bles : all their fables carry a double meaning : the ftory
is one, and entire; the charafters the fame throughout;
not broken or changed, and always conformable to the
nature of the creature they introduce. They never tell
you, that the dog which fnapped at a Ihadow, loft his
troop of horfe ; that would be unintelligible. This is
4 A his
Vol. XIII. PMt II*
I
MET [5
Metaphor, his (Diyuen’s new way of telling a Hory, and con-
founding the moral and the fable together.” After
iniiancing from the Hind and Panther, he goes on thus :
“ What relation has the hind to our Saviour ? or what
notion have we of a panther’s bible ? If you fay he
means the church, how does the chuich feed on lawns,
or range in the forefl: ? Let it be always a church, or
always a cloven-footed bead j for we cannot bear his
fluffing the fcene every line.”
A few words more upon allegory. Nothing gives
greater pleafure than this figure, when the reprefenta-
tive fubjeft bears a flrong analogy, in all its circum-
ftahces, to that which is reprefented : but the choice is
leldom fo lucky j the analogy being generally fo faint
and obfcure, as to puzzle and not pleale. An allegory
is dill more difficult in painting than in poetry : the
former can ffiow no refemblance but what appears to
the eye ; the latter hath many other refources for flow¬
ing the refemblance. And therefore, with refpeft to
what the abbe du Bos terms mixt allegorical conipoji-
tions, thefe may do in poetry ; becaufe, in writing, the
allegory can eafily be didinguidied from the bidorical
part : no perfon, for example, midakes Virgil’s Fame
for a real being. But fuch a mixture in a piidure is in¬
tolerable $ becaufe in a picture the objefts mud appear
all of the fame kind, wholly real or wffiolly emblema¬
tical. For this reafon, the hidory of Mary de Medicis,
in the palace of Luxembourg, painted by Rubens, is
unpleafant by a perpetual jumble of real and allegori¬
cal petfonages., which produce a difcordance of parts,
and an obfcurity upon the whole : w itnefs, in particu¬
lar, the tablature reprefenting the arrival of Mary de
Medicis at Marfeilles ; where, together with the real
perfonages, the Nereids and Tritons appear founding
their fiiells : fuch a mixture of fidtion and reality in the
fame group is drangely abfurd. The pitture of Alex¬
ander and Roxana, defcribed by Lucian, is gay and
fanciful ; but it fuffers by the allegorical figures. It is
not in the wit of man to invent an allegorical repre-
fentation deviating farther from any fliadow of refem-
blance, than one exhibited by Louis XIV. anno 1664;
in which an enqrmous chariot, intended to reprefent
that of the fun, is dragged along, furrounded with men
and women, reprefenting the four ages of the world,
the celefiial figns, the feafons, the hours, &c. a mon-
ftrous compofition, and yet fcarcely more abfurd than
Guido’s tablature of Aurora.
In an allegory, as well as in a metaphor, terms ought
to be chofen that properly and literally are applicable
to the reprefentative fubjedt :* nor ought any circum-
ilance to be added that is not proper to the reprefenta¬
tive fubjedl, however juftly it may be applicable pro¬
perly or figuratively to the principal. The following
allegory is therefore faulty :
Fcrus et Cupido,
Semper ardentes acuens fagittas
Cote cruenid. Rorat. lib. ii. ode 8.
For though blood may fuggefi: the cruelty of love, it
is an improper or immaterial circumflance in the re¬
prefentative fubjedl : w-ater, not blood, is proper for a
whetftone.
We proceed to the next head, which is, to examine
in what circumftances thefe figures are proper, in what
34 1 MET
improper. This inquiry is not altogether fuperfcded Metaphor,
by what is faid upon the fame fubject in the article ^ v~-—^
Comparison ; becaufe, upon trial, it will be found,
ti at a ffiort metaphor or allegory may be proper, where
a fimde, drawn out to a greater length, and in its na¬
ture more folemn, would Icarcely be relilhed.
And, in the firft place, A metaphor, like a fimile, is
excluded from common converfation, and from the de-
Icription of ordinary incidents. Secondly, In expreffing
any fevere paffion that totally occupies the mind, me¬
taphor is unnatural.
_ The following example, of deep defpair, befide the
highly figurative llyle, has more the air of raving than
of fenfe :
Cali/}a. Is it the voice of thunder, or my father ?
Madnefs! confufion ! let the florin come on,
Let the tumultuous roar drive all upon me,
Daffi my devoted hark 5 ye furges, break it $
’Tis for my ruin that the temped rifes.
When I am lofl, funk to the bottom low,
Peace ffiall return, and all be calm again.
Fair Penitent, a cl v.
The following metaphor is fweet and lively ; but it
fuits not the fiery temper of Chamont, inflamed with
paffion : parables are not the language of wrath vent¬
ing itfelf without reftraint :
Chamont. You took her up a little tender flow’r,
Jud fprouted on a bank, which the next frod
Had nipp’d j and with a careful loving hand, \
T ranfplanted her into your own fair garden,
Where the fun always thines: there long die flouriffi’d,
Grew fweet to fenfe, and lovely to the eye;
Till at the lad a cruel fpoiler came,
Crept this fair role, and rifled all its fweetnefs,
rJ hen cad it like a loalhfome W’eed away.
Orphan, a£l iv.
The following fpeech, full of imagery, is not natu¬
ral in grief and dejeclion of mind.
Gonfale*. O my fon ! from the blind dotage
Of a father’s fondnefs thefe ills arofe.
For thee I’ve been ambitious, bafe, and bloody :
For thee I’ve plung’d into this fea of fin ;
Stemming the tide with only one weak hand,
While t’other bore the crown (to wreathe thy brow),
Whofe weight has funk me ere I reach’d the ffiore.
Mourning Bride, ad v. fc. 6.
There is an enchanting pidure of deep diftrefs in
Macbetn, where IVIacduft is reprefented lamenting his
wife and children, inhumanly murdered by the tyrant.
Stung to the heart with the news, he quellions the
melTenger over and over: not that he doubted the fad,
but that his heart revolted againft fo cruel a misfor-
tume. After flruggling fome time with his grief, he
turns from his wife and children to their favage
butcher : and then gives vent to his refentment, but
Hill with manlinels and dignity :
O, I could play the^woman with mine eyes,
And braggart with my tongue. But, gentle Heav’n !
Cut fliort all intermiffion 5 front to front
Bring thou this fiend oi Scotland and myfelfj
Within
M E T
M E T
Metaphor. Within my (word’s length fet him.
Then Heav’n forgive him too.
If he ’fcape,
r 5?5 i
Metaphorical expreffion, indeed, may fometimes be
ufed with grace where a regular fimile would be in¬
tolerable : but there are lituations fo fevere and difpi
riting, as not to admit even the flighted metaphor.
It requires great delicacy of tafte to determine with
firmnefs, whether the prelent cafe be of that nature :
perhaps it is 5 yet who could wiflr a Angle word of this
admirable fcene altered ?
But metaphorical language is proper when a man
ftruggles to bear with dignity or decency a misfor¬
tune however great $ the druggie agitates and animates
the mind :
Wolfeij. Farewell, a long farewell to all nTy great- -
nefs ;
This is the date of man : to day he puts forth*
The tender leaves of hope ; to-morrow blofloms,
And bears his bluthing honours thick upon him $
The third day comes a frofl, a killing frod,
And when he thinks, good eafy man, full furely
His greatnefs is a ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls as I do. Henry VIII. adl iii. fc. 6.
METAPHRAST, a tranflator, or perfon who ren¬
ders an author into another form or another language,
wmrd for word.
Metaphor.-
M E T A P
Definition. IV/TETAPHYSICS has been defined, by a wwiter
deeply read in the ancient philofophy, “ The fci-
ence of the principles and caufes of all things exiding.”
This definition, we think, extremely proper : and hence
it is, that mind or intelligence, and efpecially the fu~
preme intelligence, which is the caufe of the univerfe,
and of every thing which it contains, is the principal
fubjeft of this fcience *, and hence, too, the fcience it-
felf received its name. AriAotle, indeed, w’ho, of all
the ancient metaphyficians whofe works have come
dowm to us, was unquedionably the greated, calls this
fcience THE first philosophy, as being not only fu-
perior, but alfo prior in the order of nature, to the
whole circle of the other arts and fciences. But, “ what
is fird to nature, is not fird to man.” Nature begins
with caufes, which produce ejfeBs. Man begins with
effeBs, and by them afcends to caufes. Thus all hu¬
man dudy and invefligation proceed of necedity in the
reverfe of the natural order of things, from fenjible to
intelligible, from body the effeft, to mind, which is both
the fird and the final caufe. Now, PHYSICS being the name
given by the Stagyrite to the philofophy of body, feme
of his interpreters, from this neceffary courfe ol human
dudies, called that of mind metaphysics, implying by
that term, not. only that its fubjeft is more fublime
and difficult, but alfo that the dudy of it would be
mod properly and fuccefsfully entered _ upon after
that OF Physics. To this name, which, though it
has fometimes been treated with ridicule, is abundantly
figmficant, the followers of Aridotle were led by their
mader, who, to the books in which he pretends to ele¬
vate the mind above things corporeal to the contempla¬
tion of God and things fpiritual, prefixed the Greek
words pva-iKtt (a).
Bivifion of 1'he fcience of Metaphyfics has been divided, ac-
the fcience cording to the objefts which it confiders, into fix pnn-
inlp cipal parts, which are called, 1. Ontology; 2. Cofmo-
H Y S I C S.
logy ; 3. Arthropofophy ; 4. Pfychology ; 5. Fneumato-
logy ; and, 6. Metaphysical theology. 3
1. That part of the fcience which is named o«/o-Ontology;
logy, invedigates and explains the nature and effence
of all beings, as well as the qualities and attributes
that effentially appertain to them. Hence it has been
faid that ontology ffiould proceed in its operations
from the mod Ample ideas ; fuch as do not admit o£
any other qualities of which they may be compound¬
ed. Thefe fimple ideas are of being, of effence, of fub-
Jlance, of mode, of exijlence as well with regard to time
as place, of a neceffary caufe of unity ; the idea of ne¬
gation ; the difference between a being that is fmple or
compound, nccefary or accidental, finite or infinite ; the
ideas of effential and abfiraB properties, fuch as of the
greatnefis, perfeBion, and goodnefis of beings, &c. The
bufinefs therefore of ontology, is to make us acquaint¬
ed with every kind of being in its nature and effential
qualities, wdrich didinguilh it from all other beings.
This knowledge being once edabliffied on fimple prin¬
ciples, jud confequences may thence be drawn, and
thofe things proved after which the metaphyfician in¬
quires, and which is the bufinefs of his fcience to
prove.
It is eafy to conceive, that even a clear knowledge
of beings, and their effential properties, would be dill
defe£live and ufelefs to man, if he did not know how
to determine and fix his ideas by proper denomina¬
tions, and confequently to communicate his perc -p-
tions to thofe whom he would indrudt, or againft
whom he is obliged to difpute. To render our ideas
therefore intelligible to others, we mud have deter¬
minate words or denominations for each being, and
the qualities of each being ; and ontology teaches us
thofe terms which are fo neceffary to fix our ideas,
and to give them the requifite perfpicuity and preci-
fion, that when we endeavour to extend the fphere
4 A 2 of
fO TftN META TA <I>r:ziKA. Cujus inferiptionis hsec ratio eft, quod in hoc opere ea traflantur quorum
theoria poftetior eft doannse naturali faltem quoad nos, qui it corporum cognitione rerumque caducarum in
fubitaUrum immaterialium atque ircroortaUum contepflation.an provehmur. ^ ^ ^ p
METAPHYSICS.
556
Divifions of of our knowledge, we may not vvafte our time in dif-
the Science. pUtes about words.
z. Metapliyfics, having, in as folid a manner as
Cofmology: poffible, explained and eilabliihed the principles above
mentioned, continues its inquiries to the iecond part,
which is called cofmo/ogy, and examines into the ef-
fence of the world and all that it contains j its eternal
laws; of the nature of matter ; of motion ; of the
nature of tangible bodies, their attributes and ad-
junfls ; and of all that can be known by reafoning
and experience. It is alfo in cofmology that the me-
taphyficians of this fchool examine the Leibnitzian
fyflem ; that is, whether God, in creating the world,
mud neceffarily have created the bed world ; and if
this w'orld be fo in faff. In this manner they purfue
the argument, from confequence to confequence, to its
lad refort, frequently with very little advantage to
5 truth and fcience.
Anthro- 2- jQnthropofophj, or the knowledge of man, forms
po op. y, third branch of metaphyfics. It is fubdivided into
two parts. The fird, which condds in the knowledge
of the exterior parts of the human frame, belongs not
to this fcience, but to Anatomy and Phydology.
The bulinefs of the metaphyfician is here to afcertain
the nature of thofe powers by which all the motions
effential to life are produced ; and to difcover, if pof-
lible, whether they be corporeal or fpiritual. This
6 inquiry leads at the fame time to
Ffychclogy; 4. Pfjchology; which confiils in the knowledge of
the inteiledlual foul in particular; concerning which
the mod profound, the mod fubtle, and mod abdraft
refearches, have been made that human reafon is ca¬
pable of: and concerning the fubdance of which, in
fpite of all thefe efforts, it is yet extremely difficult to
fupport any podtive opinion with concludve or pro-
7 bable arguments.
Pneuma- 5. The fifth part of metaphyfics is called pnewnatology.
tology; this term, wffiich has not been long in ufe, meta-
phyfieians mean the knowledge of all fpirits, angels,
&c. It is eafy to conceive what infinite art is necef-
fary to give an account of that, of wffiich nothing po-
fitive can ever be known in the prefent date of human
exidence. But the metaphyfician of this fchool readily
offers to (how us, “ what is the idea of a fpirit j the
effedlive exidence of a fpirit 5 wffiat are its general
qualities and properties ; that there are rational fpirits,
and that thefe rational fpirits have qualities that are
founded in the moral attributes of God for this is
in fo many words what is attempted to be taught in
s pneumatology.
Metaphy- 6. Metaphyfical theology, which Leibnitz and fome
fical theo- others call theodicy, is the fixth and lad branch of the
fogy- fcience of metaphyfics. It teaches us the knowdedge
of the exidence of God 5 to make the mod rational
fuppofitions concerning his divine effence, and to form
a jud idea of his attributes and perfections, and to
demondrate them by abdraft reafoning. Theodicy
differs from natural theology, in as much as this lad
borrow ss in faCt, from theodicy proofs and demon-
drations to confirm the exidence of a fupreme Being :
but after having folidly eftablifhed that great truth,
by extending its consequences natural theology teaches
us what are the relations and connexions that fubfid
between the fupreme Being and men, and what are
the duties which refult from thefe relations.
We h ave briefly mentioned thefe divifions of the Dh'ifiom of
fcience, becaufe they were once prevalent in the Science,
fchools. The greater part of them, however, appears ^
to us to be not only fuperfluous, but fuch as can ferve Thisdivi-
no other purpole than to perplex the mind. The only fion ufelefs
beings of which we know any thing are mind and body •, ari^ imPr0"
and we have no realon to think that there are any
other beings in the univeife. Of bodies indeed there
are various kinds, endowed with different properties :
and it is extremely probable, that of miuds endowed
with different powers, the variety may be equally great.
Our own minds we know to be united in one lyllem
with bodies by which they perform all their operations ;
and we can demonftrate that there h another Mind,
which is independent of all body, and is the caufe of
all things. Between thefe there may be numberlefs
orders of minds *, but their energies are wdiolly unknown,
to us, and therefore they can never become the objeCts
of fcience.
Mind and body therefore, /. e. the minds and bodies
which we know to exift, together with their powers and
properties, effential and accidental, can alone be the
fubjefts of rational inquiry. We may inquire into the
effence of mind and the effence of body, and endeavour
to afcertain in what refpetls they differ. We may ex¬
amine the nature of different bodies, in order to difcover
wffiether all bodies, however modified, have not fome-
thing in common ; and we may confider the properties,
relations, and adjun£ls of bodies, and endeavour to
diflinguiih thofe which are accidental from fuch as ap¬
pear to befo neceflary that without them body itfelf could
not exift. Of minds w;e cannot make the fame compari-
fon. In this part of the fcience we have not'fufficient
data for an accurate and complete induftion : we can
only examine the powers of our owm mind } and by pro¬
bable analogy make fome eftimate of the powers of
fuperior minds, as obfervation will help us to guefs at the
powers of thofe which are placed beneath us in the fcale
of exiflence.
If this be fo, Cofmology, as diftinguifhed from On¬
tology, cannot properly be a branch of Metaphyfics.
For if mind and body, with their feveral powers, pro¬
perties, and adjun£ls, compofe the univerfe, it is ob¬
vious, that when we have afcertained, as well as we
are able, the effence of mind and the effence of body,
together with the powers and properties of each, and
have traced them all to the firft caufe, we have done
every thing in the fcience of the univerfe, if we may ufe
the expreflion, which belongs to the province of the
metaphyfician. The particular laws of motion on the
earth and in the planetary fyftem belong to the natural
philofopher and aftronomer.
In like manner, Anthropofophy, Pfychology,
Pneumatology, if they be not words expreftive of Aif-
tinclions where there is no difference, feem to be at
leaft very needlefsly .disjoined from each other. Of the
nature of fpirits we can know nothing but from con¬
templating the powers of our own minds ; and the body
of man is in the province, not of the metaphyfician,
but of the aaatomift and phyfiologift. Anthropofophy,
pfychology, aud pneumatology, if they be ufed to
denote our knowledge of all minds except the Supreme,
are words of the fame import} for of no created minds
except cur own cam we acquire fuch knowledge as de¬
fer ves the name of fcience.
Ontology
METAPHYSICS.
557
10
Another
progpied
jjjvifions of Ontology has fotnetimes been defined the fcience of
theScience./-^-^. jn theahjlra8; but in the courfe of our inquiries
jt win be feen, that being in the abftraB is a phrafe with¬
out meaning. Confidered as the icience 01 real beitiqs
and their properties. Ontology is a very fignificant word,
of the lame import with Metaphyfics, comprehending
in itfclf the knowledge of the nature of all things
■exifting. Or if it be thought proper to make a dil-
tlndlion between ontology and theology, the foimer
branch of the fcience will teach the knowledge of bo¬
dy and created minds, whilft it is the province of the
latter to demonitrate the exiftence and attribute s of
that mind which is uncreated.
Body and mind, therefore, with the r properties,
adjun&s, and powers, comprehend the whole fubjedl
of the fcience of metaphyfics : and a» we are earlier
acquainted with body than with mind, the natural or¬
der of condufting our inquiries feems to be, to begin
with the former, and thence proceed to the latter. . It
is obvious, however that if we wmuld purfue tnele in¬
quiries with any hopes of fuccefs, we muft^ firft trace
human knowledge from its fource, afcertain tne na¬
ture of truth, and (how what kind of evidence on each
topic to be treated ought to enforce convichon. In
this view of the fcience, metaphyfics appears to be
divided into three parts-, the firft treating of human
underjtanding; the fecond, of body with its adjuncis; and
the third, of mind with its powers. m . . r
Previous to the entering upon fuch inquiries, iome
philofophers of great merit have thought it expedient to
explain the terms which they might have occafion to
ufe Their conduft is judicious and worthy ot imita¬
tion : for the objefts of metaphyfics being, for the molt
part, fuch as fall not under the cognizance of the lenles
are liable to be differently apprehended ;jy different
men, if the meanings of the words by which they are
expreffed be not afcertained with the utmoft precifion.
We intend, however, to life very few words but in the
common acceptation j and we therefore hope, that as
n
Idea and
notion ex
plained.
terms of fcience are explained under different words in Bivifions of
tiie Didionary, to which references are made, we havethc Science;
little or no occalion for fwelling the article by previous
definitions. There are indeed twm w-ords which have
given rile to much ufelefs difputation, which yet cannot
be banilhed from fpeculative philofophy, and which it
will therefore be proper here to define. The words to
which we alldde are idea and notion. i neie are very
generally confidered as fynonymous but we think that
much logomachy might have been avoided by aftigning
to each a determinate fignification. W e know not any
philofopher who made much ufe of the word idea before
Plato ; but with his myfterious doftrine concerning ideas
we have here nothing to do : our prefent bufinefs. is to
afcertain the precife meaning of the word, which is
evidently derived from to fee, as the word notion is
from “nofco, novi, notumf and that from yiyawt* to hnow
or underfand. In the original fenfe of the two words,
therefore, notion is more comprehenfive than idea,
becaufe we hnow many things which cannot be feen.
We have not a doubt, but that at firft the word idea
was emploved to denote only thole forms of external
objects which men contemplate in their imaginations,
and which are originally received through the fenfe of
fght. Its fignification was afterwards extended <.0 the
relifts of every fenfation, of touch, tafte, lound, and
fmell, as well as of fight ; and at laft it was confounded
with notion, which denotes the mental apprehenlion ot
whatever may be knowm. In our ufe of the word idea,
except when we quote from others, we Ih dl employ it
only to denote that appearance which ablent objefts of
fenfe make in the memory or imagination (b) ; and by
the word notion we Ihall denote our apprehenfion or
knowledge of fpirits, and all fuch things as, though
th°y be the obi efts of fcience, cannot be perceived by
the external fenfes. Having faid this, we proceed to
our inquiries, beginning with that into human under-
Handing.
PART I. OF HUMAN UNDERSTANDING.
Preliminary Obfervalions on the Origin of our Ideas
and Notions.
ii
No innate
ideas or no¬
tions in the
human
mind.
THAT the mind of man has no innate ideas or
ion?, but comes into the world
no L a truth which fmce the days of Lock has
uf'very little diluted. In the firft book of h,s
Effay on the Human Underftanding, that acute philofo*
pher has demonftrated, that the rudiments or firft prin¬
ciples of all our knowledge are communicated to us by
fenfation and he has compared the mind, previous to
the operation of external objefts upon the fenfes to a
tabula rafa or ftieet of white paper. To repeat his ar¬
guments would fwell the article to no pmpofe. I here
is not a man- capable of attending to his own ideas,
. ■ word idea we have the honour to agree with tne great Eng fth
(B) In thus reftrifting the meaning o ^ ’inft the almoft univerfal ufe of the word idea m the
Lexicographer.—“ He was parUcula, y ^^ oniy fignify fomething of which an image may be
fenfe of notion or opinion, when it is c . f mountain, a tree, or a building ; but we cannot
formed in the mind. We may have N* we hea’r the fages of the law delivering then-
ffrely have an idea ox image of ^ argument p^^ ^ f kers jn parfiameut entirely coinciding m the
ideas upon the queftion under confiderati n , d membe/ Cr reprefenting an idea as unconftitutional, and
SAi^mo " ^ ^ Ca,kd
B of well's Life of Jobnfon.
5 5%
Origin of
Ideas and
Notions.
M E T A P H Y S T C S.
lio caTi entertain a Qoul>t in tvliat manner lie received
them. Without the fenfe of fight, we could never
r have known colours ; nor found, without hearing-, nor
hardnefs, foftnels, fmoothnefs, pain, or bodily pleafure,
-without touch j nor odours, without fmell, &c.
Silt evident as thefe fadls are, objections have been
Started to the inferences drawn from them ; and Locke
has been accufed of advancing principles fubverfive of
all diitindtion between truth and falfehood, and favour¬
able of courfe to univerfal fcepticifm.—“ Tlie firlt
book of his Eflay, which with fubmiffion (fays Dr
^E/Tny on Beattie*) I think the word, tends to eftablilh this
theNature dangerous dodinne, that the human mind, previous to
a ability 'of e<^ucation and habit, is as lufceptible of one imprelTion
Truth, as another: a doctrine which, if true, w'ould go
near to prove that truth and virtue are no better than
human contrivances -, or at lead that they have nothing
permanent in their nature, but may be as changeable
as the inclinations and capacities of men and that
there is no fuch thing as common fenfe in the world.
Surely this is not the dodfrine which Mr Locke meant
-to edablidi.” We are lb thoroughly fatisfied that it
is not, that we cannot help wondering how fuch in¬
ferences could, by a man of learning, genius, and can¬
dour, be drawn from any thing which is to be found
in the Eflay on the Human Underflanding.
But the Dodfor thinks IVIr Locke’s “ fimile of the
mind to white paper one of the mod unlucky allufions
that could have been chofen ; becaufe the human foul,
when. it begins to think, is not extended, nor of a
white colour, nor incapable of energy, nor wholly
Unfurnished with ideas, nor as fufceptible of one im-
j U(} . predion or charadier as of any other and it has been
author If obif rv'ed by another objedtor f, that “ on a dieet of
Clio. See a wb!te P3Per you ma7 " rite that fugar is bitter j worm-
•vol. ofFu- wood fweet; fire and frod in every degree pleafing
gitwe and .fufferable: that compaflion and gratitude are bafe j
printed for trcacb(;ry> fa He hood, and envy, noble} and that con-
J. Davies, ls indifferent to us.”
London, All this is true ; but we apprehend it is not to the
I774- purpofe. Mr Locke has no where expreffed himfelf
in fuch a manner as to lead us to fuppofe that he be-
Objedtions Sieved the foul to be extended or coloured; or, when it
anlwered. begins to think, incapable of energy, and wholly un¬
furnished with ideas : but he certainly did believe, that
it begins not to think the fird indant of its exidence,
and that it acquires all the ideas of which it is ever
poffeffed. We may undoubtedly write upon a piece
of white paper that fugar is bitter, and that wormwood
is fweet; but how the capacity of paper to receive
the fymbols of falfe propositions Ihould make Mr
Locke’s comparifon improper or dangerous, we can¬
not comprehend. Mr Ufher indeed fays, that it is im¬
proper
dudry
mind :
paffive
fate.”
on this account, “ that no human art or in¬
is able to make thole impredions upon the
in reipect of them, the mind difeovers not a
capacity, but refills them with the force of
Does it indeed ? does the mind reje£l the idea
of fugar or of bitternefs, of contempt or of indiffer¬
ence ? May not any man have the idea of fugar and at
the fame time the idea of bitternefs, and compare the
one with the other in his mind, as well as the word
fugar may be written befide the word bitter, and cen-
ne&ed with it on the fame piece of paper ? In all this
we perceive nothing that is impoflible or even difficult,
3
Part T.
The mind cannot indeed be made to feel that fugar Crijpuof
has the fame tade with wormwood } Out who ever Ideas and
thought that it could ? Not Mr Locke, we diall be . Notiam.
bold to fay } nor does his fimile give the /mailed conn- v J
tenance to fuch an abfurdity. 1 he author of the
Eflay on the Human Underifanding underflood his
fubjeft too well to imagine that either truth or falfe¬
hood could be communicated to paper, or that paper
is capable of comparing ideas. Paper is capable of
receiving nothing but lines or figuies } and it paffive-
ly receives whatever lines or figures we may chcofe to
inferibe on it : yet if a pen be carried over it in a cir¬
cular direblion, the figure impreffed will not be a
djuare ; jufl as, to the mind of one eating fugar, the
tafle communicated is not that of wormwood.
On a piece of paper a circle may be deferibed, and
cloie befide it a fquare : in like manner an agreeable
fen fat ion may be communicated to the mind, and im¬
mediately afterwards a fenfaticn that is difagreeable.
1 hefe two fer.fations, or the ideas which they leave
behind them, may be compared together} and it is
certainly true that no art or induflry can make them
appear Similar in the mind : but is it not equally true,
that no art or induflry can make the circle and the
fquare fimilar on the paper ? The paper is fufceptible
of any fort of plain figures, and the mind is equally
fufceptible of any fort of ideas or fenfations ; but fi¬
gures diffimilar cannot be made to coincide, neither
can difcordant ideas be made to agree. Again, one
may write upon paper, that “ a circle is a fquare,”
and likewife that “ a circle is not a fquare }” and
both thefe propofitions may be communicated to the
mind by the organs of fight or of hearing. The paper
receives the words expreflive of the falfe as well as
thofe expredive of the true propofition } and the mind
receives the ideas and relations fignified by the one cluf-
ter of words as well as thofe fignified by the other :
but in the mind the idea of a Square is different from
that of a circle, and on the paper t\\efgure of a fquare
is different from the figure of a circle. The great differ¬
ence between the mind and the paper is, that the for¬
mer is conficious of its ideas, and perceives their agree¬
ment or difagreement } whereas the paper is not con-
feious of the figures drawn upon it, nor perceives any
thing about them. But dill thofe figures are what they
are } they either agree or difagree on the paper, as
w'dl as the ideas either agree or difagree in the mind.
It is not in the power of the mind to alter the ideas of
the fquare and the circle, not in the power of the paper
to alter the forms ot thele figures.
It appears then, that the principles of Mr Locke, and
the comparifon by which he illuflrates them, have no
more tendency to fubvert the difference between truth
and falfehood, right and verong, than the paffivenefs of
paper has to fubvert the difference between a flraight
line and a crooked, a circle and a fquare : and with a
view to eflablifli the doftrine of innate ideas and in-
dindfive principles of knowledge, we might with as
much propriety afk, Whether it be poflible to ima¬
gine that any mode of manufadlure could make paper
of fuch a nature, as that a pen drawn over it in a cir¬
cular diredlion would leave the figure of a fquare ? as
that, “ Whether it be poflible to imagine, that any
courfe of education could ever bring a rational creature
to believe that two and two are equal to three.”
The
Chap. I.
Origin of The mind being thus, as we may fay, originally
Ideas and wbite paper, void of all charafters, without ideas or
. '^0tl0nS‘ notions of any kind, the nrft quefticn which we have
I4 to confider is, Whence and in what manner it derives
Tut all de- the materials of all its knowledge ? To this quedion the
rived from on]y anfwer which can be given is, That it derives them
amfrefiec ^lorn obfervation and experience •, from obfervation,
tion. * " either employed upon external objects of fenfe, or turn¬
ed inwardly upon its own operations. Our fenfes, con-
verfant about particular external o'ojedls, convey into
the mind feveral dillinft perceptions; fiich as thofe of
colour, figure, heat, cold, bitternefs, fiweetnefs, and all
thofe things which are ufually called fenfible qualities.
The notions, ideas, or whatever elfe they may be called,
which are acquired in this manner, may be called [en/ible
knowledge; and the fource of that knowledge is termed
fienfiation.
The other fountain from which experience furnilhes
the underllanding with knowledge, is that attention
which we are capable of giving to the operations of
our own minds when employed about thofe ideas
which were originally fuggefled by qbjedls of fenle.
Thefe operations, when the foul comes to rerleft on
them, furnilh us with a fet of notions entirely different
from the ideas of fenfe j fuch as the notions percep¬
tion, thinking, doubting, believing, reafonmg, knowing,
willing, and all the different energies and paffions of our
own minds. Of thefe operations we are always con-
feious when we are awake : but it requires, as fhall be
fhown afterwards, no inconfiderable effort to fet them,
as it were, at a diilance, to refleft on them and con¬
fider what they are *, but when we have made this
effort, we acquire notions as diffinfl, and perhaps more
important, than thofe ideas which we receive through
the medium of the fenfes.
Senfation and reflection then furnifh mankind with
the firft materials of all their knowledge. The mind
feems not to have ideas or notions of any kind which
it did not receive by one or other of thefe ways. By
means of the fenfes it perceives external objects ; and
by that power which it has of turning its attention uuon
itlelf, it ditcovers the nature and manner of its own
operations.
Although the knowledge which we acquire from re-
fiediion be of equal importance, and perhaps of greater
certainty than that which we receive through the me¬
dium of the fenfes, it comes into the mind at a much
later period j both becanfe it is impoffible that the fa¬
culties of the mind fhould operate without materials,
and becaufe it is much more difficult to attend to thefe
operations even while they are going on, than to the
/ objedfs of fenfe which folicit our attention. It is for
this reafon pretty late before children have any no¬
tions whatever of the operations of their own minds;
and of the greater part of thefe operations the bulk of
mankind have no clear or accurate notions during their
whole lives. On the other hand, every human being
is fo furrounded with bodies, wffiich perpetually^ and
varioufly affedl his fenfes, that a variety of fenubiC ideas
force an entrance even into the minds of children. In
order therefore to trace the procedure of the under¬
llanding, and to afeertain the extent and limits of hu¬
man knowledge, it ffiould feem that wre mud begin witn
confidering the external fenfes, that we may dhcover
the manner in which we receive knowledge oy means of
559
them, the objefts of that knowledge, and its certainty. CfSenfa-
It is to be obferved, however, that though we coniider tion' .
the mind as poffeffed of many powers or faculties, and
inquire firfl into the nature of that faculty which we
conceive to be firll exerted, this is done merely for the
fake of proceeding in our fubjeft whh method and per-
fpicuity. The mind is one limple and undivided be-
n»g ; and in every mental energy it is the whole mind,
and not any part or portion of it, that is energetic.
On this account, it is impoffible to explain even the na¬
ture of fenfation and perception to him who knows not
what is meant by will and underfianding ; but to every
one who is acquainted with the common import of
thefe words, and wffio has read the ffiort fyftem of
Logic inferted in this Work, we hope that our theory
of perception wall be intelligible and convincing.
Chap, I. 0/ Sensation and Perception.
Sect. I. Of Senfation.
r5
The Supreme Being, who made us and placed us Senfation
in this world, has given us fuch powers of mind as^^veor"
he faw to be fuited to our date and rank in his creation. ^ans’
He has given us the power of perceiving many objefts
around us ; but that power is limited in various ways j
and particularly in this, that without the organs of the
feveral lenfes we perceive no external obje61. The
fenfes, as every one knows, are five in number, and each
communicates its proper fenfation. It is by the eyes
alone that we fee, by the ears that we hear, by the nofe
that we fmeli, and by the tongue and palate that w7e
taile •, the fenfe of feeling or touch is fpread over the
whole body, for we feel equally by our hands and by -<
our feet, &c. To the powers of perception by the fenfes
it is neceffary not only that we have all the organs enu¬
merated, but that we have them alfo in a found and na¬
tural ftate. There are many diforders of the eye which
caufe total blindnefs, as well as others which impair-
wdthout deftroying the power of vifion. The fame
thing is true of the organs of all the other fenfes.
AH this is fo well known from experience, that it
needs no proof; but it may be worth while to obferve,
that it is known from experience only *. For any thing * Reid's F.f-i,
that we know to the contrary, our Creator might haveyTv the
endowed us with the power of perception by a thoufand bitellefinal
organs of fenfe, all different from thofe which we s °J
fefs ; and it is certain that he himfelf perceives every
thing more perfectly than we do without bodily organs. .^ ^
For it is to be obferved, that the organs of (enfe are s tll
different from the being which is fentient.—It is not feK-esnot
the eye which fees, nor the ear which hears ; thefe are fentient, a
only the organs by which we fee and hear. - A man'out
cannot fee the fatellites of Jupiter but by means of
a telefcope, nor hear a low voice but by means of an
ear trumpet. Does he from this conclude that it is
the telefcope which fees thofe fatellites, or the trumpet
which hears that voice ? Such a conclufion would be
evidently abfurd. It is no lefs abfurd to conclude
that it is the eye which fees, or the ear which hears.
The telefcope and the trumpet are artificial organs of
fight and of hearing, of which the eye and the ear are
natural organs ; but the natural organs fee and hear as
little as the artificial. t? '
That this is the cafe with refpecl to the eye and the -nftriunents
„„„ of fen&tion.
M E T A P H Y S I C S.
5 6°
METAPHYSIC S.
Part I.
Of Senfa-
tion.
ear, is fo obvious, that, as far as we know, it bas never
been denied. But with refpeft to the fenfes of touch,
* Elements an<^ the truth at fir'd view appears not fo
ofCriticifm. evident. A celebrated writer has obferved *, that “ af¬
ter the utmoft efforts, we find it beyond our power to
conceive the flavour of a rofe to exift in the mind': we
are neceflarily led to conceive that pleafure as exifling
in the noftrils, along with the impreffion made by the
rofe upon that organ (c) j and the fame will be the re-
fult of experiments with refpedl to every feeling of
tafle, touch, and fmell. Touch (he fays), affords the
moft fatisfaftory evidence, and philolophy detedfs the
delufion.” To detedl this delufioa requires, indeed,
no great depth in philofophy j for it is lo far from be¬
ing true that we are neceffarily led otherwife than by
affociation, of which the laws (hall be explained af¬
terwards, to conceive the plealure or pain of touch as
exifling at that part of our body upon which the im¬
preffion is made, that, as every man muff have obferved,
children previous to experience cannot diftinguifh the
precife place of their bodies w-hich is afFe&ed by the
touch of any external objedl. Nay, we believe it will
be found upon trial, that if a full grown man, with
all the experience of age to guide him, he pricked
with a pin on any part of his body which he has fel-
dom handled, and never feen, he will not readily nor
at firfi: put his finger upon the wound, nor even come
very near to the wound. This, however, he would
certainly and infallibly do were the fenie of touch ne-
ceflarily conceived as exifting at the organ. To thefe
obfervations objedlions may perhaps be made, which
we cannot flay to obviate 5 but the following, we think,
will admit of none. We appeal to every man who has
experienced that particular fenfation of touch which
Scaliger dignified with the name of a fixth fenfe, whe¬
ther, whiift thofe fenfations were new to him, he was
neceffarily led to conceive them as exifting at any par¬
ticular organ. If he wTas not, it follows undeniably
that the organs of fenfation are different from the be¬
ing which is fentient j that it is not the eye which fees,
the ear which hears, the noftrils which fmell, the
tongue which taftes, nor any part of the body which
feels •, and that it is by experience that we learn to af-
fociate our feveral fenfations with thofe organs upon
which the impreflions are made.
It is, however, certain that we receive no fenfation
from external objedfs, unlefs when fome impreflion is
made upon the organ of fenfe, either by the immedi¬
ate application of the objedf itfelf, or by fome medium
, which paffes between the object and the organ f. In
fays'on the two our fenfes, viz. touch and tajle, there muft be
IntelleSlualan immediate application of the object to the organ.
Powers of in the other three the lenfation is occafioned by the
'ilartl y!f impreffion of fome medium paffing from the objedt to
Obferva¬
tions on
the organ. The effluvia of bodies drawn into the nofliils Of Senfa-
with the breath are the medium of fmell 5 the undulations
of the air are the medium of hearing ; and the rays of ^ ■
light palling from vifibie objedts fo the eye are the me¬
dium of fight. Thefe are facts known from experience
to hold univerfally both in men and in brutes. It is iS
likewife a law of our nature perfedtly known to all Hie brain
who know any thine of anatomy, that in order to ac-a,1<1 j;f'ves
tual fenfation the impreffions made upon the externalg.nldt;on>
organs muft be communicated to the nerves, and from
them to the brain. Firft, The objedt, either imme¬
diately, or by fome medium, makes an impreffion upon
the organ j the organ lerves only as a medium, by
which the impreffion is communicated to the nerves *,
and the nerves ferve as a medium to carry it on to the
brain. Here the corporeal part ends; at leaft we can
trace it no farther. The reft is all intelledtu-d.
The proof of thefe impreffions upon the nerves and
brain in fenfation is this, that from many obfervations
and experiments it is found, that when the organ of
anv lenle is perfedlly found, and has the impreffion
made upon it by the objedt ever fo ftrongly, yet if the
nerve which Itrves that organ be cut or tied hard,
there is no fenfation •, and it is well known that difor-
ders in the brain deprive us of fenfation, v\hile both
the organ and its nerve are found. ^
There is fufficient reafon, therefore, to conclude, Procefs of
that in fenfation the objedt produces fome change in nature in
the organ 5 that from the organ the change proceedslcn^atlon-
to the nerve, and from the nerve to the brain. Hence
it is that we have pofitive fenfations, from negative ob¬
jedts, or mere nonentities, fuch as farhnefs, b/acincfs,
and ’vacuity. For, fenfation refulting from changes in
the brain, whatever produces any change muit of
courfe occafion a new fenfation : but it is obvious,
that the mere abfence of any impreffion, by the re¬
moval of the objedt which produced it, muft as necef¬
farily caufe a change in the organ, nerves, and brain,
as the prefence of a new impreffion from a new objedt.
To thefe changes, or that which immediately produces
them, we give the name of imprejjions; becaufe we
know not how, in a general manner, to exprefs more
properly any change produced by an external caufe
without fpecifying the nature of that caufe. Whe¬
ther it be preffure, or attradtion, or repulfion, or vi¬
bration, or fomething unknown, for which we have
no name, ftill it may be called an impreffion.
Sir Ifaac Newton was perhaps the firft who fuppof-
ed that the rays of light falling upon the bottom of
the eye excite vibrations in the tunica retina ; and that
thofe vibrations being propagated along the lolid fibres
of the optic nerves into the brain, caufe the actual
fenfation of feeing. This hypothefis was adopted by
Dr Hartley, applied to the other fenfes, and ftiown to
be
Man.
(c) Another eminent writer thinks on this fubjedf very differently, and in our opinion much mere juftly.—
“ Suppofe (fays Dr Reid) a perfon who never had this fenfe {viz.fmell) before, to receive it all at once, and to
fmcll a rofe 5 can he perceive any fimilitude or agreement between the fmell and the rofe ? or indeed between
it and any other objedt whatever ? Certainly he cannot. Fie finds bimfelf affedled in a new way, he knows
not why, or from what caufe. He is confcious that he is not the caufe of it himfelf; but be cannot from the
nature of the thing determine whether it be caufed by bedy or fpirit ; by fon ething near, or by fomething
at a diftance. He cannot give it a place any more than he can give a place to melancholy or joy ; nor can he
-conceive it to have any exiftence but when it is fmelled.” Inquiry into the Human Mind, ch. 2. fedl. 2.
Chap. I.
METAPHYSICS.
56*
the mind
is partly
adlive.
Of Percep- be at lead as probable as any which has yet been in-
tion. vented to account for the perception of external ob-
v iedfs by means of the organs of fenfe. Be this as it
may, experience informs us, that whatever be the na¬
ture of thofe impreffions and changes which are made
by external obiedils upon the fenfes, nerves, and brain,
\ve have without them no adlual fenfation, and of
courfe perceive nothing ab extra. Hence it has been
,0 fuppofed, that the mind is wholly paffive in fenfation,
In fenfation an(j tfopv fenfation is necejfarihj produced by thofe im¬
preffions. But this we believe to be a miflake. Every
man who has been attentive to his own thoughts and
adtions, mud know inftances of impreffions having
been certainly made upon his organs of fenfe without
producing any fenfation, or fuggefling to his mind the
perception of the particular objedls by which the im¬
preffions were caufed. He whofe mind is intenfely em¬
ployed in any particular purfuit, may have his eyes
open upon an objedt which he does not fee •, or he may
not hear the found of a clock ftriking within two
yards of him : Nay, we will venture to affirm, that
there is hardly one reader of this article to whom fuch
abfences of (enfation have not often occurred. Now,
as there is no reafon to fuppofe, that in the one cafe
the undulations of the air, caufed by the ftriking of
the clock, did not reach his ears, or that in the other
the rays of light, refledled from the objedt, did not
fall upon his eyes, which were open to receive them •,
the only reafon which can be affigned for his not having,
in thefe inftances, had audible and vifible fenfations,
is, that his mind was fo engaged in fomething elfe as
not to pay to the vibrations in his brain that attention,
if we may fo fay, without which impreffions ab extra can
produce no fpnfation. There are, indeed, fome impref¬
fions on the organs of fenfe lo violent and fo fudden, as
to force themfelves upon the mind however employed.
Such are thofe made on the ear by thunder, and on
the eye by ftrong light. In thefe cafes, fenfation is
involuntary and unavoidable j whence we conclude,
not that in fuch inftances the mind is paffive or defti-
tute of energy, but that by the violent agitation
given to the brain, it is roufed from its reverie, and
compelled to give attention. It appears, therefore,
that in fenfation the mind exerts fome kind of energy j
for in nothing but in the fentient being itfelf can we
feek for the caufe why, when all external circumftan-
ces are the fame, organical impreffions fometimes pro¬
duce fenfations and fometimes not } and that caufe can
only be the energy of the mind j what kind of energy,
we pretend not to fay.
ancient and modern, appears to be not wholly unan- CfFercep-
fwerable. It is, Whether by means of our fenies we , tl^n' .
perceive external obje&s mediately or immediately •, or
in other words, Whether fenfation and perception be
one and the fame thing, er two things fucceeding
each other ? On this fubjedl, till of late, there appears
to have been in the main a great uniformity in the fen-
timents of philofophers, notwithftanding their varia¬
tions refpedling particular points. Of fome of the
moft eminent of them, we ffiall give the opinions as
we find them colle&ed by one* who is well acquaint-* Dc
ed with their writings, who is thoroughly qualified toln h‘s
eftimate their refpedlive merits, and who cannot be
fufpeded of partiality to that theory which we feel Powers of
ourfelves compelled to adopt. Man.
“ Plato illuftrates our manner of perceiving exter-,. 22
nal objects thus : He fuppofes a dark, fubterraneous
cave, in which men lie bound in fuch a manner as that piat0.
they can diredl: their eyes only to one part of the cave.
Ear behind there is a light, of which fome rays come
over a wall to that part of the cave which is before the
eyes of our prifoners. A number of men varioufly em¬
ployed pafs between them and the light, whofe Ihadows
are feen by the prifoners, but not their perfons them¬
felves. In thistnanner did that philofopher conceive
that by our fenfes we perceive not things themfelves,
but only the ffiadows of things; and he feems to have
borrowed his notions on this fubjedl from the difciples
of Pythagoras. 23
“ If we make due allowance for Plato’s allegorical Of Arifto-.
genius, his fentiments with refpedt ta fenfation andtc*
perception correfpond very well with thofe of the Pe¬
ripatetics. Ariftotle, the founder of that fchool, feems
to have thought, that the foul confifts of two or three
parts, or rather that we have three fouls—the vegetable,
the animal, and the ratisnal. The animal foul he held'
to be a certain form of the body, which is infeparable
from it, and perifhes at death. To this foul the fenfes
belong •, and he defines a fenfe to be that which is ca¬
pable of receiving the fenfible forms, or fpecies of ob-
jefts, without any of the matter of them \ as wax re¬
ceives the form of the feal without any of its matter.
Of this do&rine it feems to be a neceflary confequence,
that bodies are conftantly fending forth, in all direflions,
as many different kinds of forms without matter as they
have different fenfible qualities. This was according¬
ly maintained by the followers of Ariftotle, though not,
as far as we know, taught by himfelf. They difput-
ed concerning the nature of thefe forms or fpecies,
whether they were real beings or nonentities : but of
matter and form we fliall have occafion to fpeak after-
Sect. II. Of 'Perception by the Senfes.
Difficult to Plow the correfpondence is can led on between the
account for thinking principle within us and the mateiial world
the percep. without us, has always, as Dr Reid obferves, been
tionofob- found a very difficult problem to thofe philofophers
J who confider themfelves as obliged to account for
every phenomenon in nature. It is, indeed, a pro¬
blem of which we expeft not to fee a complete lolu-
tion. A few fteps beyond the vulgar we may certainly
vo ; but the nature of that connexion by which the
mind and body are united, will probably remain for
ever unknown. One queftion, however -hicb has
employed much of the attention of philofophers, both
VOL. XIII. Part II.
wards.
“ After Ariftotle had kept poffeffion of the fchoolsof
for more than a thoufand years, his authority, which Cartes ■
had often fupplied the place of argument, was call¬
ed in queftion by Lord Bacon and others. Des Car¬
tes, however, was the firft philofopher who, convin¬
ced of the defers of the prevailing fyftem, attempted
to form another entirely new: but on the nature of
perception by means of the fenfes he differs little or
nothing from thofe who had preceded him in that de¬
partment of fcience. He denies, indeed, and refutes
by folk! reafoning, the do&rine which maintains that
images, fpecies, or forms of external objects, come from
the objedls thexnfelves, and enter into the mind by the
4 B avenues
562 ' M E T A P
°f fion^* a7enues of tlle fenf’es- -But he i-akes it for granted, as
« the old philofophers had done, that what we im¬
mediately perceive muft be either in the mind itfelf,
or in the brain, in which the mind is immediately pre-
fent. 'Ihe impreflions made upon our organs, nerves,
and brain, can be nothing, according to his philofo-
phy, but various modifications of extenlion, figure,
and motion. There can be. nothing in the brain like
found or colour, tqfte or fmell, heat or cold. Thtfe are
fenfations in the mind, which, by the laws of the
union of the foul and body, are raifed on occafion
of certain traces in the brain ; and although he fome-
times gives the name of ideas to thefe traces, he does
not think it necefiary that they ihould be perfedlly like
the things which they reprefent, any more than that
words and figns Ihould referable the things which they
fignify.
“ According to this fyflem it would appear, that
we perceive not external objects direBly by means of
our fenfesj but that thele objects, operating either me¬
diately or immediately upon the organs of fenfe, and
they again upon our nerves and brain, excite in the
mind certain fenfations ; whence we itifer the exiftence
of external objefts from our fenfations of which they
are the caufe. Perception of external objects, there¬
fore, according to Des Cartes, is not one fimple ori¬
ginal act of the mind, but may be refolved into a pro-
cefs of reafoning from effedts to caufes.”
Of Male- The doctrines of Malebranche, Locke, and Hartley,
tranche; refpe&ing perception, differ not elfentially from that
of Des Cartes. Malebranche, indeed, fuppofes, that
external ohjedfs are not themfelves the caufes of per¬
ception ; but that the Deity, being always prefent to
our minds more intimately than any other being, does,
upon occauon of the impreffions made upon our or¬
gans of fenfe, difeover to us, as for as he thinks pro¬
per, and according to fixed laws, his own ideas of the
objedi : and thus, according to him, we fee all things
in God, or in the divine ideas. He agrees, however,
with Des Cartes and the ancient philofbphers, in con-
fidenng it as a truth which it is impofllble to refute,
that we perceive not the objedts without us, the
fun, moon, and liars, &c. becaufe it is not likely that
the foul fallies cut of the body, and takes a walk, as it
were, through the heavens to contemplate thefe ob-
jedls. She fees them not therefore by themfelves j
and the immediate objedl of the mind, when it fees
the fun, is not the fun itfelf, but fomething which is
intimately united to the mind, and is that which he
Of Locke Ca^S 311 i(‘ea’
■ ‘ Locke, fpeaking of the reality of our knowledge,
fays : “ It is evident the mind knows not things imme¬
diately, but only by the intervention of the ideas it has
of them. Our knowledge, therefore, according to
him, is real only fo far as there is a conformity be¬
tween our ideas and the things which they reprefent.”
The manner of our perceiving external objedls he il-
luflrates by the following fimilitude : “ Methinks the
underftanding is not much unlike a clofet wholly flint
from light, with only feme little opening left, to let
in external vifible refemblances or ideas of things with¬
out. Would the pidlures coming into fuch a dark'
room but flay there, and lie fo orderly as to be
found upon occafion, it would very much referable the
underflanding of a man in reference to all objedls of
H Y S I C S. Part I.
fight, and the ideas of them *v He has elfcvvhere j- OfPercep-
defined an idea thus: “ Whatfoever the mind perceives tll)n-
in itfelf, or is the immediate objedl of perception, * £
thought, or underflanding, that I call an idea; and the Undl'r-
the power to produce any idea in our mind, I callpmding,
quality of the lubjedl wherein the power is.” He like-h-
wife thinks it “ eafy to draw this obfervation, that^P^j.'
the ideas of what he calls primary qualities of bodies,
viz. exlenfion, folidity, figure, mobility, &c. are refem- 1
blances of theie qualities as they really exill in the bodies
tbemfelves.”
This unguarded expreflion, which affirms that ideas
in the mind are the refemblances of external things, has
brought upon Mr Locke much undeferved ridicule.
I hat on this and other occafions he ufes the word idea
with too great latitude, and that he often confounds
ideas with fenfations, and even with the caufes of fen-
fation, muft be admitted by his warmell admirers : but
we believe, that by an attentive reader, who perufts
his whole work, and compares fuch pafiages as are ob-
feure with thofe which are clearer, his meaning may
always be difeovered, and with refpedl to fenfation and
perception will generally be found juft. That by call¬
ing the ideas of primary qualities refemblances of the
qualities themfelves, he meant nothing more than that
bodies in all poffible ftates imprefs the fenfes, nerves,
and brain, in fuch a manner as to produce in the mind
certain lenfations, between which and thofe impreffions
there is an infeparable, though unknown, connedlion, is
evident from the account which he gives of the manner
of perception. “ Our fenfes (fays he), converfant about
particular fenftble objects, do convey into the mind
feveral diftimft perceptions of things, according to thofe
various ways in which thefe objedts affedt them : and
thus we come by thofe ideas we have of yellow, white,
heat, cold, fiofit, hard, hitter, fiweet, and all thole which
we call fenfible qualities ; which when I fay the fenfes
convey into the mind, I mean, they from external ob¬
jedts convey into the mind wffiat produces thofe percep¬
tions.” And as bodies can adt only by impulfe, he
adds, that “ thofe perceptions can be produced only by
an impreffion made upon'the fenfes, and fome motion
thence continued by our nerves to the brain or feat of
perception.” ^
Dr Hartley was the pupil of Locke and Newton j of Hatley,
and has, in a more fatisfadtory manner than all who had
preceded or have fince followred him, explained the
material pait \of the procefs of perception. Llis prin¬
ciples we fliall have occafion, during the courle of the
article, to develope pretty fully. For our prefent pur-
pole it is fufficient to fay, that all his oblervations and
arguments evidently fuppofe, that nothing diftant from
die mind can be perceived in the immediate adt of
fenfation ; but that the apparently immediate perception
of external objedts is an inftance of early and deep-rooted
affociation.
In this fentiment Mr Flume agrees with his prede-Of IIuim\
ceffors ; but he obfeures his philofophy, and miileads
his reader, by confounding fenfations with the impref-
fions from which they proceed. “ Every one (fays
he*) will allow, that there is a confiderable difference * Inquiry
between the perceptions of the mind, when a man concerning
feels the pain of exceffive heat, or the pleafure of mo-
derate warmth, and when he afterwards recals to his me- 7-na., feet, its
mory this fen fa t ion; or anticipates it by his imagina¬
tion.”
Chap. I. M E T A P
OfPercep- tioR.” The lefs forcible and lively of thefe percep-
rion. tions he with great propriety calls ideas; but it is ei-
ther through wilful perverfenefs, or confufion of intel-
leift, that he choofes to call the others wiprejftons.
Senfation and perception are caufed by impreffions ; but
they are no more impreflions themfelves, than the pain
occafioned by the Itroke of a bludgeon is the ftroke
itielf, or the bludgeon with which it was hruck. But
more of this afterwards.
Thus far, then, that we perceive not external obje&s
direBly, but infer their exbftence from certain fenfations
excited in our minds by the operation of thefe objetts
the reafon vlpon our fenfcs, nerves and brain, fee ms to have been
the opinion of every philolopher from Pythagoras f to
H Y S I C S,
565
?9
Agreement
of philofo.
phers, and
f See Mo-
Jbeim's edi-
Mr Hume. For an opinion fo univerfal, and at the
'tion of Cud- fame time fo contrary to the perfuafion of the multitude,
netrth's In- fome cogent reafon mull have been affigned. That
telleclual reafon has been given by many philoibphers, but by none
where the wlt^ greater perfpicuity than Dr Porterfield, in his
opinions of Eflay concerning the Motion of the Eyes. “ How
thephilofo- body a£ls upon the mind, or mind upon body (fays he),
phers or an- j know not. this I am very certain of, that nothing
tiquity are jje aftedupon, where it is not: and therefore,
fully rol- our mind can never perceive any thing but its owm pro-
lefted than per modifications, and the various (fates of the fenforium
in any Other to which it is prefent. So that it is not the external
whichwe1 ^un anc^ ITloon’ are in heavens, that our mind
are ac- perceives, but only their image or reprefentation im-
quainted. preffed on the fenforium. How the foul of a (eeing man
fees thofe images, or how' it receives thofe ideas from
fuch agitations in the fenforium, I know not j but
I am fure it can never perceive the external bodies
themfelves to which it is not prefent.”
This reafoning appeal's to have force j and, perhaps,
the unanimous agreement of thinking men in all ages
lias (till greater force ; yet the doftrine which prevailed
fo long, and which to Locke appeared fo evident as to
need no proof, has been fince called in queftion by fome
eminent philofophers of our own country; who, though
they allow that we cannot perceive external objedfs but
by means of the fenfes, yet affirm that they are the
objefls themfelves which we perceive direftly ; and that
in -perception there is no affociation which can be refolv-
ed into a procefs of reafoning from fenfations the effehls,
to external objefls the caufes. Dr Reid, who was per¬
haps the firft, and is unquefUoriably (he ableft of this OfPercep-
clafs of philofophers, had expreffed himfelf on the fubject tI°n- ,
as follows :
“ If we attend to the ACT of our mind, which we
call the perception of an external object of lenfe, we
(hall find in it thefe three things : FirJ, Some concep¬
tion or notion of the objeft perceived. Secondly, A
ftrong and irrefiilible conviction and belief of its pre¬
fent exiitence. And, Thirdly, That this conviCtion
and belief are immediate, and not the effe£t of reafon¬
ing J.” To the firtt and fecond of thefe propofitions, ^ Effhys on
we are perluaded that Des Cartes and Locke would the Intel-
readily have affented j nor do we imagine that they^^ »
would have denied the third, had the author allowed jrf.
that this llrong and irrefiftible conviCtion is the con-fay ii, ch. 5.
fequence of an early and deep-rooted affociation refol-
vable into a procefs of reafoning. This, however,
the learned profeffor does not allow j for he repeated¬
ly affirms, that it is inftindlive and original, and that
“ the conilitution of our power of perception deter¬
mines us to hold the exiftence of what we diftindtly
perceive as a firft principle, from which other truths
may be deduced, but it is deduced from none.” With
this view of the matter, he could with no propriety at¬
tempt to fupport his own opinion by argument j but to
the reafonings of Dr Porterfield and others in defence
of the Cartefian theory, he replies in the following
words : “ That nothing can a£f immediately where it
is not, I think muft be admitted (d) ; for I agree with
Sir Ifaac Newton, that power without fubftance is in-
conceiveable. It is a con fequence of this, that nothing
can be adled upon immediately where the agent is not
prefent ; let this, therefore, be granted. To make the
reafoning conclufive, it is farther neceflary, that when
we perceive objects, either they a£l upon us, or we a£l
upon them. This does not appear felf-evident, nor have
I ever met with any proof of it -f.” t TJfays an
Of the profundity of Dr Reid’s underftanding, we
have the moft firm convidlion •, nor is there any powers
phyfician, ancient or modern, from whom we differ Man, Effay
with greater reluflance : but we cannot help thinking ii-chap. 14.
this a very raffi affertion, as his own works appear
to us to afford complete proof, that, in perception,
the mind both afts and is afted upon. Let us attend,
however, to the reafons which, on this occafion, indu-
4 B 2 ced
(d) One of the moft celebrated of Dr Reid’s followers thinks otherwife. “That no diftant fubjeft can aft
upon the mind, is a propofition (fays Lord Karnes) which undoubtedly requires evidence •, for it is not inftinc-
tively certain : And, therefore, till the propofition be demonftrated, every man may without fcruple rely upon
the conviftion of his fenfes, that he hears and fees things at a diltance.” But his Lordftiip ought to have
known, that Locke and Berkeley, the two philofophers whom he was combating, have no where called in
queftion the conviftion of their fenfes. They do not, indeed, admit, that the external organs are themfelves
percipient, or that by means of them the mind can immediately perceive diftant bbjefts; but they have no
where denied, that through the medium of them the mind comes to the knowledge of external exiftence. And
the reafons which they affign for this twofold opinion are, that in perception they experience aftion or the
effefts of aftion, which is not their owm ; and that it is an intuitive truth, that nothincan aft where it is
not prefent. “ But admitting (fays his Lordffiip) that no being can aft but where it is, is there any thing
more fimp'e or more common, than the afting upon fubjefts at a diftance by intermediate means ? 1 his holds
in fa ft with refpeft both to feeing and hearing.” It certainly does, and with refpeft to the other fenfes hke-
wife • but it is the very thing for which Locke and Berkeley would have contended, had any man in their
days*prefumed to call it in queftion. It is the very foundation of their fyftem •, and if it be granted, nothing
can be more evident, than that external exiftence is not the immediate objeft of perception. See Appendix te
Elements of Criticifm.
3°
We think
unfuccefs-
fullj; and
56+ M E T A P
OfPercep- ced him to think, that in perception there is no attion
, UM1, either of the objed on the mind or of the mind on
* the objeft.
“ When we fay, that one being aft? upon another, we
mean, that fome power or force is exerted by the agent,
which produces, or has a tendency to pioduce, a change
in the thing afted upon. If this i e the meaning of the
phrafe, as I conceive it is, there appears no reafon for
afferting, that in perception, either the objeft afts upon
the mind or the mind upon the pbjeft. An objeft, in
being perceived, does not aft at all. I perceive the
walls of the room where I fit •, but they are perfeftly
inaflive, and therefore aft not upon the mind. To be
perceived, is what logicians call an external denomina¬
tion, which implies neither aftion nor quality in the ob¬
jeft perceived.”
This laft fentence we pretend not to underfland.
Subftance without qualities is to us inconceivable, and
certainly is no objeft of perception; for Dr Reid
himfelf has told us, and told us truly, that “ the ob¬
jeft s of perception are the various qualities of bodies.”
That an objeft in being perceived does not aft at all,
is direftly contrary to what the ingenious author has
taught us, both in his Inquiry and in his Effays, viz.
that “ it is a law of our nature that we perceive not
external objefts, unlefs certain impreflions be made by
the objeft upon the organ, and by means of the or¬
gan upon the nerve and brain for if the external
objeft in being perceived make impreffions, it is cer¬
tainly not true that it afts not at all. It is indeed
readily acknowledged, that w'hen one perceives the
walls of the room where he fits, thefe walls do not
aft immediately upon the organs of fight; but it does
not, therefore, follow, that they are perfeftly inac¬
tive •, for it is known to all mankind, that from every
point of the wall which is feen, rays of light are re-
fiefted to the eye) that thofe rays make upon the re¬
tina tunica an impreffion, which is conveyed by the
optic nerve to the brain j and that this impreflion on
the brain is one of the immediate caufes of vifion.
In what particular manner it caufes vifion, wre fhall ne¬
ver be able to difcover, till we know more of the laws
which unite mind and body, and by which one of
thefe is qualified to aft upon the other j but becaufe
we know not the manner of this operation, to affirm
that there is no operation at all feems to be as abfurd
as it would be to affirm, becaufe wTe perceive no necef-
fary connexion between a ftroke and the fenfation of
found, that the found of a mufical firing is not cauf-
ed by the ftroke of a pleftrum. That God might
have given us powers of perception of a different kind
from thofe which we poffefs, there can be no doubt j
but with what we might have been, we have no con¬
cern. As we are, we know perfeftly that the eye is
an inftrument of vifion, becaufe without it nothing can
be feen : we know alfo, that the retina and optic nerves
are equally neceffary ; becaufe if they be difordered, vi¬
fion is Itill wanting j wre know likewife, that the brain
is neceffary to all perception \ becaufe, when it is difor¬
dered, thinking either entirely ceafes, or is proportion-
ably difiurbed. And, laffly, We are not more certain
of our own exiftence, than that aSiual perception takes not
place but when the objeft makes an impreffion upon
fome oigan of fenfe : for when no rays of light fall up¬
on the eye, we fee nothing j when no fapid body is ap-
HYSICS. Fart I.
plied to the tongue and palate, we tafie nothing; and OfP-rcep.
if we could be removed from every thing folid, we t‘on•
w’ould feel nothing. Thefe are conclufions which can- v *
not be controverted. They are admitted equally by
the philofopher and by the plain unlettered man of com¬
mon fenfe 5 nor are they rendered one whit lefs certain
by our not being able to go a ffep farther, fo as to dif¬
cover in what manner the brain or the affections of it
can be the immediate inftrument of fenfation and per¬
ception. For (as Dr Reid, in the fpirit of true philo-
fophy, obferves J), “ in the operations of mind, as well t Inquiry
as in thofe of bodies, we muft often be fatisfied with^^'
knowing that certain things are connefted and invari-^ e(jitt '
ably follow one another, without being able to difcover p. 258.
the chain that goes between them. It is to fuch con¬
nexions that we give the name of laws of nature; and
wThen we fay that one thing produces another by a law of
nature, this fignifies no more than that one thing which
we call in popular language the cavfe, is conftantly
and invariably followed by another which we call
the cjfeB ; apd that we know not how they are con¬
ned! ed.
In the preceding feftlon we have obferved, that in
fenfation the mind exerts fome energy •, and therefore,
as on every hypothefis perception is a confequence of
fenfation, it follows, that in perception the mind
cannot be wholly inaftive. Dr Reid, in his EtTays on
the Intellectual Powers of Man, feems to affirm that it
is. “ I fee no reafon (fays he) to believe, that in per¬
ception the mind afts upon the objeft. To perceive
an objeft is one thing, to aft upon it is another : Nor
is the laft at all included in the firft. To fay that I
aft upon the wall, by looking at it, is an abufe of lan¬
guage, and has no meaning.” This is indeed true ;
it would be a great abufe of language to fay, that by
looking at the wall a man afts upon it j but we do not
believe that any man ever faid or fuppofed fuch a
thing. The philofophers, whofe opinion he is com¬
bating, might argue in this manner. We are confci-
ous that in perception the mind is aftive ; nothing can
aft immediately where it is not *, the mind cannot aft
immediately upon external exiftence : external exift¬
ence, therefore, is not the immediate objeft of that
energy which is exerted m perception. As Dr Reid
affirms that external exiftence is the immediate objeft
of perception, he muft deny the firft propofition in
this argument •, for if it be granted, as we have juft
feen that in his reply to Dr Porterfield he admits the
fecond, the laws of reafoning will compel him to ad¬
mit the third. To fay, that in perception the mind
afts not upon external objefts, is a truth in wffiich all
mankind are agreed ; and it is the very principle from
which his antagonifts infer, that the conviftion of the
prefent exiftence of external objefts is not an original
and inftinftive confequence of fenfation, but' an early
and deep rooted affociation which may be refolved
into a procefs of reafoning. His meaning, therefore,
muft be, that in perception the mind aBs not at all:
but this is direftly contrary to his definition of per¬
ception, which he calls an act of the mind ; it is like¬
wife contrary to his theory of perception, as it is de¬
tailed in the Inquiry into the Human Mind on the prin¬
ciples of Common Senfe. We are there taught, with equal
elegance and perfpicuity, “ that an impreffion made by
an external objeft upon the organ, nerves, and brain,
is
cpprion to
be prefer¬
red to his.
Chap. I.
Of Percep- is followed by a fenfation,
non. followed by the perception of the objeft.” We are
v likewife taught, that “ although the Peripatetics had
no good reafon to fuppofe an a6Hve and paffive intel-
left, they yet came nearer the truth, in holding the
mind to be, in fenfation, partly paffive and partly ac
live, than the moderns in affirming it to be purely paf-
hve. Senfation, imagination, memory, and judgement,
have by the vulgar, in all ages, been conlidered as adls
of the mind. The manner in which they are expref-
fed in all languages ffiowTs this : for when the mind is
much employed in them, we fay, it is very adlive *,
whereas, if they were impreffions only, xve ought to fay
that the mind is very paffive.” All this is undenia¬
ble ; but if fenfation neceffarily precede perception,
and if in fenfation the mind be adlive, wdrat becomes
of the affertion, that in perception it adts not at all ?
Indeed we may appeal to the common fenfe of man¬
kind, whether any thing can be perceived without
fome mental energy of the percipient. For when the
impreffions made on the external fenfes are faint, in
order to be confcious of them an evident exertion is
requifite, not of the organ only, but alfo of the mind,
as in perceiving very remote objedts and founds; but
when the impreffions are ftronger, the perception is
involuntary and unavoidable, as has been already ex-
31 plained in the preceding fedlion.
Therefore It being thus certain that in perception the mind
the old the-jjQth a(cis an(j js a£tecl upon, and it beintj univerfally
J 1 acknowledged that nothing can adt wdiere it is not,
we feel ourfelves compelled to admit with the Carte-
lians, that in perception the convidtion of the prefent
exillence of external objedts is not original and inftinc-
tive, but the confequence of an early and unavoidable
aflbeiation of certain fenfations with the caufes which
produce them. In this opinion we are flill more con¬
firmed by the well-known fadt, that particular pref-
fures upon the organ, nerves, and brain, excite not
only fenfations, but even perceptions of objedts appa¬
rently external, when no fuch objedts are within the
reach of our fenfes. Thus §, if a man in the dark
S Pre^s either corner of his eye with his finger, he will
fee a circle of colours like thofe in the feather of a
peacock’s tail, though no fuch external objedt be be¬
fore him, and though the room be fo dark that no¬
thing external could poffibly be feen. Again, If a
burning coal be nimbly moved round in a circle, with
gyrations continually repeated, the whole circumfe¬
rence of the circle will at once appear on fire, though
it is certain that there can be really no fire but one
portion o; that circumference, equal in length to the
diameter of the coal. Thefe are fadls known to all
mankind j and they are perfedfly irreconcileable w’ith
the fuppofition, that the perception of external objedls
by the fenfe of fight is original and inftindlive •, but
they are at once accounted for, if it be true that rays
of light falling from external objedts upon the retina
tunica agitate the optic nerves and brain, and that fuch
agitations excite fenfations in the mind w’hich experi¬
ence has taught us to refer to external objedts, as, un¬
der God, their ultimate caufe.
But though we have declared ourfelves to be in this
inltance Cartefians, we do not admit all the abfurdi-
ties which have fometimes been imputed to that fy-
ftem of perception. We do not believe that external
METAPHYSICS. 565
and that this fenfation is objedts are perceived by means of images of them in 0* Perctp-
Obferva-
tions on
Man.
the mind or the brain j nor do we think that Des
Cartes or Locke has anywhere affirmed that they are,
otherwife than by an expreffion obvioully figurative,
denoting, not that the actual ihapes of things are de¬
lineated in the brain or upon the mind, but only that
impreffions of fome kind or other are conveyed to the
brain by means of the organs of fenfe and their cor-’
refponding nerves ; and that between thele impreffions
and the fenfations excited in the mind, there is a real,
and in our prelent Hate a necefiary, though unknown,
connexion. 32
Upon the whole, we think that there is good evi- Uiat theo-
dence for believing, that in perception the prccefs °f
nature is as follows : Fir/}, If the objedt be not in con-
tadl with the organ of fenfe, there muft be fome me¬
dium which pafles between them ; as, in vifion, the rays
of light; in hearing, the vibrations of elallic air ; and
in fmelling, the elfiuvia of the body fmelled ; otherwife
w-e have neither fenfation nor perception. Secondly,
There mult be fome adlion or impreffion upon the or¬
gan of fenfe, either by the immediate application of
the objedl, as in the two fenfes of touch and tafle •, or
by the medium that goes between them, as in the
other three fenfes. Thirdly, The nerves which go
from the brain to the organ, mull receive fome im-
preffion by means of that which was made upon the
organ •, and by means of thefe nerves that imprefiion
muft be carried to the brain. Fourthly, The impref¬
fion made upon the organ, nerves, and brain, roufes
the dormant energy of the mind *, and this double ac¬
tion of the mind and the objedt produces a fenfation
And, lajlly, As we know by experience that the mind
alone cannot, by any exertion of its own, produce one
fenfation, and are intuitively certain that nothing
can begin to exift without a caufe, we infer from
the exiftence of any newr fenfation the exiftence of
fome other caufe than the internal energy of the mind,
from w’hich that fenfation proceeds ; and this caufe
experience teaches us to be the external objedt. This
procefs is carried on fa rapidly, and the feveral parts of
it, by being continually repeated, are fo clofely affoci-
ated, that except by a reflex adl of the mind we di-
ftinguifh them not from one another,, and therefore we
denominate the whole perception. 33
It is with extreme diffidence that we advance a doc-
trine which Dr Reid has controverted ; but he differs £-rorn
from us only in the laft ftage § of the procefs, where Reid’s,
he fuppofes fenfation and perception to be two fimple § See Inqui-
and independent adts of the mind. Yet he fometimes ^ z'7'0 ^
exprelfes himfelf, as if be thought, as we do, that in ^
perception the belief of the prefent exiftence of exter-e<jit, ^.383.
nal objedls is rgther the refult of experience than an
inftindtive perfuafion. Thus, fpeaking of the percep¬
tion which we have in fmelling a rofe, he fays §Effays on
“ Perception has always an external objedt, and the thebitellec-
objedt of my perception in this cafe is that quality in tualFowa -
the rofe which I difeern by the fenfe of fmell. Obferv-^-^™’
ing that the agreeable fenfation is raifed when thechaj>. 15.
rofe is near, and ceafes when it is removed, I am led and 21.
by my nature [we think by experience would have been
more proper] to conclude fome quality to be in the
rofe, which is the caufe of this fenfation. This qua¬
lity in the rofe is the objedt perceived j and that adt
of my mipd. by which i have the ?onyidtion and be¬
lief.
$66
Obje<3s of
the refpec-
tive Senfes.
thehitellec-
tualPc'wers
■•of Man.
lief of tills quality, is what in this cafe I call percep¬
tion. Again (he fays) that “ three of our fenfes,
  viz. fmell, tafte, and hearing, originally give us only
certain fenlations, and a conviction that thefe fenfa-
tions are occafioned by fome external object. We
give a name to that quality of the objeft by which it
is fitted to produce fuch a fenfation, and conned that
quality with the objeft and with its other qualities.
Thus we learn, that a certain fenfation of fmell is
produced by a rofe j and that quality in the rofe by
which it is fitted to produce this fenfation we call
the fmell of the rofe. Here it is evident that the fen¬
fation is original. The perception that the rofe has
that quality which we call its fmell, is acquired.”
To this doCtrine no Cartefian could poflibly ob-
jeft ; for it is the very account which Des Cartes
himfclf would have given of perception by the organ
©f fmell, as it refolves fuch a perception into an early
aflbciation between a certain fenfation and that exter¬
nal quality from which we know by experience that
the fenfation proceeds. Indeed this excellent author
repeatedly affirms, that every different perception is
conjoined with a fenfation which is proper to it 5 and
that the one is the fign, and the other the thing fig-
* Efays on n'fied. He likewife doubts *, whether children, from
the time that they begin to ufe their fenfes, make a
diftinftion between things which are only conceived
or imagined, and things which really exift. But if
the conviftion of the prefent exiftence of external
objecls were in perception infinSlive, we cannot fee
how there could be room for fuch a doubt ; for the
mere fenfes of children are as perfeft as thofe of full
grown men ; and they know well the difference be¬
tween adlually fucking their nurfes and only thinking
of that operation, though they be uot capable of ex-
preffing that difference in language.
But if in perception our convidlion of the prefent
exiflence of external objefts be not inftinftive, what,
it may be afked, is the evidence that fuch obje&s real-
that fome- ly exift ? This queftion we ffiall partly anfwer in the
l efilfesTh*5 ^0^0w*ng feftion, and more completely when we
perception come t0 examine Berkeley’s theory of the non-exift-
ence of matter : but from what has been faid already,
it is fufficiently evident, that every fenfation compels
us to believe in the prefent exiftence of fomething dif¬
ferent from ourfelves, as well as from our fenfations.
SECT. III. Of the Obje&s of each Senfe refpeBively.
Touch, the Hitherto we have confidered fenfation and per-
!enfe by ception in general, and fliown that it is not by inftindl
which we tjiat we perceive tbe exiftence of external obiefts.
heat and This will appear more clearly, if we can afcertain the
cold, &.c. precife nature of that information which each fenfe
affords us : and in order to this, we (hall begin with
the fenfe of touch, not only becaufe it is that which is
certainly firft exercifed, but alfo becaufe there is a
METAPHYSICS.
in which all the
34
Toth theo
ries afford
intuitive
evidence
and the
fenfation.
Part I.
meaning in which all the others may be refolved in- Objects of
to it. tlr.refpec-
By means of touch we perceive many things, oftne
which the chief are, heat and cold, hardnefs and loft- 35
nefs, roughnefs and fmoothnefs, extenlion, figure, fo-The nature
lidity, and motion. Of thefe perceptions, fome are0^ieatayd
immediate 5 and others, as we are perfuaded, early af-toW’ vvlnch
fociations, which may be refolved into a procefs ofceiVejr"im.
reafoningi The perceptions of heat and cold are im- mediately,
mediate. When a perfon for the firft time in his life
approaches the fire, he feels heat} and when he is firft:
expofed to the froft, he feels cold. What are heat
and cold, and where do they refide ? They are obvi-
oufly the reverie of each other •, but are they external
obje&s, or mere fenfations in the mind ? They are un¬
doubtedly fenfations which have no exiftence but when
they are felt. To every man not altogether a ftranger
to thefe fpeculations, this propofition is felf-evident 5
but to the bulk of the people it appears an extravagant
paradox. To make it plain, however, to the meaneft
capacity, it is fufficient to obfcrve, that at a certain
diftance the fire has no perceptible influence upon any
perfon •, if that diftance be leffened, we feel an agree¬
able warmth 5 approach a little nearer, and the warmth
becomes difagreeable 5 and ftill nearer, it will rife to
pain. No man fuppofes the pain inffi&ed by a fword „
to exift in the fvvord, or anywhere effe but in a fen-
tient being. It is equally abfurd to luppofe pain to
exift in fire, or anywhere elfe but in a fentient being.
But that which at one diftance is pain, at another is
only agreeable warmth 5 and fince w'armth and pain
are only different degrees of the fame feeling, it is
equally abfurd to fuppofe the one as the other in the
fire. What then is the obje& of fenfe when we feel
heat ? There is obvioufty no objeft beyond the prefent
fenfation. ,
But has the fenfation of heat no caufe independent Their ex-
of us ? Undoubtedly it has, and experience teaches Us ^ernal
that the caufe is in the fire. We know that we can- e5‘
not produce the fenfation of heat in ourfelves by any
mental energy of our owm ; and we are intuitively cer¬
tain, that nothing can begin to exift: •without fome
caufe. A man on the top of a mountain covered with
fnow, may imagine or remember what he felt when in
the neighbourhood of fire, and thus have in his mind
what is called an idea of heat j but that idea will not
warm him (e) like the a&ual fenfation, which no ex¬
ertion of his own can in fuch circumftances produce.
When he leaves the mountain, however, and approaches
the fire, he feels the fenfation a&ually produced, and
produced as often as he makes the experiment. He is,
therefore, under the neceffity of inferring, that in the
fire there is fome power or quality which, a&ing either
mediately or immediately upon his fenfe of touch, ex¬
cites the feeling which is called heat. What that power
is, we ffiall perhaps never be able to difcover ; but it is
felf-evident, that it is neither heat nor the refemblance
of
(E)
 Who can hold a fire in his hand,
By thinking on the frofty Caucafus ?
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite,
By bare imagination of a feaft ?
Or wTallow naked in December’s fnow,
By thinking on fantaftic fummer’s heat ?
Oh no ! the apprehenfion of the good
Gives but the greater feeling to the vvorfe.
K. Richard 11,
4
Chap. II.
M E T A P
33
The per-
Objeiftsof of heat, though in vulgar language it is known by that
therefpec- natne>
nve-jt nicb. Yhe fame reafoning holds goods with refpcdl to
cold. There is at certain times, and in certain coun¬
tries, fome power in the air which congeals water and
caufes cold ; but that power is as different from the
fenfation of cold, as the powrer of fire is different from
the fentation of heat, or the point of a fword from a
Helh wound.
By the fenfe oi touch we perceive extermon, figure,
ceptions of folidity, .&c.' but we do not perceive them imme-
amffi^ure ^lately as we perceive heat and cold ; for extenfion, fi-
&c. not im-§ure> and folidity, are not fenfations. Thofe percep-
mediate. tions then mull be acquired ; and more clearly to af-
certain the manner in which we acquire them, let us
iuppofe a man from his birth deilitute of the fenfe of
fight and the power of local motion, but pofTefled of
intelledl and every other faculty which we enjoy.—
Such a perfon, it is obvious, would be capable of every
fenfation and perception which is original to us, except
the perception of colours ; but we doubt whether it
would be poffible to give him perceptions of extenfion,
figure, and folidity. Let us try ; and as he cannot
move a fingle limb or member of himfelf, let us fup-
pofe a folid fubftance of fmall dimenfions to be gently
preffed againfi any part of his body ; what would fuch
preffure communicate to him ? We think it could com¬
municate nothing but a new fenfation, to which, as it
is neither pleafing nor painful, no name has hitherto
been given, except the general one of feeling. This
fenfation he would not know whether to refer to an
external or internal caufe ; or rather he could have no
notion whatever of an external caufe, though he would
at the fame time be confcious that the new fenfation
was not excited by any energy of his own will. Were
the preffure to be gradually increafed till it rofe to
pain, our blind man would itill he confcious of nothing
but a fenfation, which could not lead him to the no¬
tion of extenfion, figure, or folidity, becaufe mere
fenfations cannot be conceived as either folid or ex¬
tended. Let us next fuppofe the preffure to be ap¬
plied fucceflively to different parts of his body ; he
would now indeed be confcious of fuccefiive feniations,
but he could not afiign to them either extenfion or
place : for it has been already (hown that the external
parts of the body are not themfelves fentient j and it
ihall be fhown afterwards, that to a man who has never
perceived motion, place is abfolutely inconceivable.
Lailly, Let us fiappofe the dimenfions of the preffing
fubftance to be greatly enlarged : what would then fol¬
low ? nothing, we apprehend, but an increafe of pain :
for though his whole body were preffed ab extra, the
preffure could affedl the individual being which is
fentient, not more exteufively, but only more vio¬
lently. It appears, therefore, that a man blind from
his birth, and deffitute of the power of local mo¬
tion, could never be made to perceive extenfion, figure,
or folidity.
Let us now fuppofe this man to receive by a miracle
are acquir- the ufe of his limbs, and to be fuddenly prompted, by
ed. fome inftinclive impulfe, to arife and walk. So long
as he met with no obftacle in his w'ay, he would nor,
we apprehend, acquire by this exercife any correft no¬
tions of extenfion or figure i but were a ffone or log
of wood, of confiderable dimenfions to be laid acrofs
39
How they
H Y S I C S. 567
his ufual v'alk, the cafe would foon be altered. He Objects of
would feel hiinfelf interrupted in his courfe, and he ,!iere^Pec"
would at: the fame inftant recognize his wonted fenfa- txvt: ^er:lcs,-
tions of touch. Alter being twice or thrice thus in- " v "
terrupted, he would learn from experience that the in¬
terruption or reiiffance proceeded from the fams
eaufe which in this infiance communicated to him the
fenfation of feeling ; and were he to run his hand along
the furface of the log or Hone, he would perceive the
reliftance and the fenfation continued. As every effect
muff have an adequate caufe, this continued refifiance
would compel him to believe the continuity of fome-
tliing external in every direction in which he felt his
hand refifted ; but fuch continuity of being is all that
is meant by the word extenfion. At the very fame
time, and by the very fame means, he would gradual¬
ly acquire the perception of figure ; for by running
his hand in every diredtion over the furface of the ob¬
ftacle which oppofed him, he would foon perceive it
on all fides limited ; but the limits of extenfion is a
phrafe of precifely the fame import with figure. It
appears, therefore, that without the power of local
motion, men could never, by the fenfe of touch, acquire
the notions of extenfion and figure 5 and the fame will
be found to be the cafe with relpecl to hardnefs and
foftnefs.
When vre prei's our hand gently againft a flock or Himfnefs
a ftone, we feel a fenfation which is neither painful and foftnefsi
nor pleafing. When we prefs it more violently, the hgw Per-
fenfation bec6mes painful, and we experience in thece^e^'
objeft a refiftance which we have not power to over¬
come. When we prefs butter or pomatum very gently,
we have a fenfation in all refpefts fimilar to that which
we felt when we gently touched the flock or the ftone.
But when we prefs the butter with violence, we feel no
pain, and experience little refiftance j for the parts of
which it is cow’, jo fed give way before the hand, though
the parts of the flock or the ftone remained fixed and
immoveable. That the parts of one body (hould thus
refift a preffure to which the parts of another fo readi¬
ly yield, muft proceed from forne difference in the
texture of the two bodies : for by the fenfe of touch-
we perceive the effefls to be different ; and are there¬
fore certain that they muff: proceed either from differ¬
ent caufes, or from the fame caufe operating with
different degrees of force. That particular texture
which makes the parts of a fione refift the preffure of
touch, we call hardnefs j and the texture which makes
the parts of butter or pomatum give way to touch, wc
call loftnefs. But what hardnefs and loftncfs are in
themfelves, touch cannot inform us $ for they are nei¬
ther fenfations, nor fimilar to fenfations. We acquire,
however, by experience, fo complete notions of hard¬
nefs and foftnefs, that every one who underftands the
Englifh language perfectly knows the meaning of thefe
w ords as foon as be hears them j and wdien he is told
that one body is hard and another foft, he know^s with
abfolute certainty that the meaning of the affertion is,,
that the parts of the body u’hich is faid to be hard are
held together by fome unknown caufe operating for¬
cibly, and that the parts of the other are held toge¬
ther by the fame or a fimilar caufe operating with lefs
force. 41
We acquire the notions of roughnefs and fmootbnefs^°u^inets
in the very fame way and by the very fame means that
we.
568
METAPHYSIC S.
Fart I.
ceived.
cibje6lsof we acquire ideas of extenfion and figure. Po defctibe
the refpec- procefs at large would certainly be fuperfluous j for
nveSeiile.-. ^ we |iave faid concerning our perceptions of ex¬
tenfion and figure be juft and intelligible, every one
will, without farther aftiftance, difcbver for himfelf how
he perceives roughnefs and fmoothnefs. Motion ftiall
be confidered among the adiun&s of body ; but in
order to underftand what body itfelf is, it will be necef-
fary, before we difmifs the fenfe of touch, to inquire
, how we come by the notion of folidity.
Solidity, Solidity is one of thofe notions, or, in the language
what; and of Locke, one of thofe ideas, which are commonly
how per- to P,e acquired by the fenfe of touch. That touch
gives the firft hint towards our notion of folidity, is
certainly true $ but that hint muft be afterwards im¬
proved by the intelledl, or we never could have an ade-
ciuate knowledge of what is meant when any thing is
faid to be abfolutely folid. We know by experience,
that we can at pleafure open and (hut our empty hand
without meeting with any refiftance. We know' like-
wife, that when we grafp an ivory ball of three or four
inches diameter, no force which w’e can exert will bring
together the feveral parts of the hand, which were ea-
fily brought together when we grafped nothing. In
this w'ay do w e acquire our firft notion of folidity ; for
that word denotes nothing more in this inftance than
the power or property of the ball, by which our
fingers are excluded from the place which it occupies.
Solidity differs from hardnefs in this refpeft, that
hardnefs refults from the flrong cohefion of the parts
of a hard body, w'hich renders it diflicult to change
the places of thofe parts, as they refpehl one another ;
whereas folidity refpedfts the whole mafs, and is as ef-
fential a quality of water as of adamant. A drop of
Water, indeed, placed between two plane furfaces of
marble, will not like adamant preclude their contaft ;
bccaufe the parts of a drop of w'atcr, cohering but
loofely to one another, give way to the preffure, and
efcape in every lateral dire&ion. But if a drop of w'a-
ter be confined on all Tides, as in a globe of gold, we
know from experiment that no force will bring the Tides
of the globe together without forcing the w'ater through
the pores of the metal ; and hence we infer folidity to
be effential to every corporeal fubftance.
Thus then it appears, that of the obje&s perceived
by touch not one is immediately perceived except heat,
cold, and other fenfations. The fenfations, as they are
not excited by any internal energy of our own, lead us
indeed to fomething external as their caufe ; and by
comparing the different fenfations with each other, and
©bferving what effedts their external caufes have upon
our owm motions, we are naturally led to conceive thefe
caufes as extended, figured, folid, hard or foft, rough
or fmooth, &c. \ but it is obvious that this conception
is the refult of experience, and a procefs of mental rea-
foning.
On the fenfes of tafte, fmell, and hearing, it is need-
lefs to fay much. The immediate objedta of thefe are
confeffedly fenfations which have no exiffence but when
they are perceived j though experience teaches us to
refer [them all to external objedls as their refpedlive
caufes. With refpeft to fmell, this has been made fuf-
ficiently evident in the preceding fedfion, and it is not
44 lefs evident with refpedl to tafte and hearing.
Tafte, and Certain bodies applied to the tongue and palate,
43
Nothing
but mere
fenfations
the objedf
of fmell,
45
c-ariiw.
and moiftened with the faliva, excit.* certain fen fit ion s Obje&sof
which we call taftes. Thefe fenfations, however, are tre r':(Pe°-
not in the bodies-, nor can they have any exiffence but t_ALv_llA
in a fentient being. They are produced in confequence
of impulfes on the nerves of the tongue and palate,
exciting certain agitations in the brain : but the fen-
fation itfelf is neither impulfe nor agitation. Some
fubftances excite taftes which are agreeable, and others
fuch as are difagreeable ; and there are not a few which
excite no tafte at all. Bodies, which applied to the
tongue and palate cf one man produce taftes that are
agreeable, applied to the fame organs of another man
give him taftes which are difagreeable ; and we have all
experienced, that the fame fubftance, which, when the
organs are found, excites a fw'eet or pleafant tafte,
has, when the organs w'ere difordered, excited a tafte
which was bitter or unpleafant. Thefe fadls, which
cannot be controverted, afford the fulleft evidence, if
evidence were wanted, that tafte, as w?e feel it, is no
quality of bodies, nor has any exiftence out of the
mind.
The organ of hearing is the ear, and its objcft is Hc-a
found. It is w'ell known, that found is produced by
certain vibrations of the air linking the tympanum of
the ear, and that thefe vibrations are caufed by the
fonorous body. Sound, however, is rot vibration, nor
the idea of found the idea of vibration. Sound confi¬
dered by itfelf is a mere fenfation, which can have no
exiftence but in a fentient being. We know by ex¬
perience, that it is caufed by fomething external ; but
w'e know likevvife that the effedt has no relemblance
to the caufe. Previous to experience we could not
refer found to any external caufe ; far lefs could we
difeern whether it proceeded from an object above us
or below' us, on our right hand or on eur left. It ap¬
pears to us felf-evident, that if a man born deaf w'ere
fuddenly made to hear, he wrould confider his firft fen¬
fation of found as originating wholly within himfelf.
Between that fenfation and the fenfations of touch,
tafte, fmell, and fight, there is no refemblance; nor
are there any relations among them, w'hich, previous
to experience, could induce him to trace them all to
external objects as their feveral caufes. Our deaf man
might have learned to refer all his other fenfations to
their true caufes, in fome fuch way as we have deferib-
ed under the fenfe of touch ; but found would be
fomething fo new to him, and fo totally different from
touch, tafte, and fmell, that he could attribute it to
nothing external. ^
Experience, however, would foon teach him, thatitisbyex
the ear is its organ, and the fonorous body its caufe ; perience
and he would in time learn to diftinguifh one found, ^at we di
that of a trumpet for inftance, from another, ^uPP°‘e
the found of a bell; and to attribute each to its pro-fonorous
per caufe, even when neither the trumpet nor the bell bodies by
was perceived by his other fenfes. With refpefi to re¬
founds which we have been accuftomed to hear, this'A^6’
is done fo inftantaneoufly, that fome philofophers have"
imagined it to be the effeft of an inftindtive principle in
our nature, totally different from experience, and inde¬
pendent of reafon. But the fasft is notfo. Long before
w-e are capable of making fenfation and perception ob¬
jects of refieftion, we have heard the found produced by
the ringing of a bell, and feen the objeft which pro¬
duced the found fo often, that, when we hear a fimilar
found
Chap. I. M E T A P
Objects of found again, we inftantly refer it to a bell, though we
the refpi c- fee nct the bell from which it proceeds : but this is the
tive Senfes. ^ ri i *. j T4orl w p- n^vpr r»er-
icc nut tut — - r 
effeft of habit, and not of inftind. Had we never per¬
ceived a bell while ringing by either of our ienies_ of
light or touch, we could not by the fenfe.of healing
acquire any notion of the figure or texture of the body
from which the caufe of the lound proceeds, though
-we had heard that found every day of our lives. _ It is,
indeed, by experience only that we learn tc diftlnguifli
by the ear whether a fonorous body be before or be
h'nd us, on our right hand or on our left •, for we find
it always difficult to fay from what precife qua. ter a
11 range found proceeds; and this difficulty would be
heightened to impoffibility, bad not all founds iome-
thing in common. Dr Sparrman relates, that when he
firft heard the roaring of a lion, he did not know on
what fide of him to apprehend danger, as the found
feemed to proceed from the ground, and to enclole a
circle of which he and his companions Hood in the cen¬
tre The fame thing has happened to every man, when
the found was fuch as he had never heard before; even
though it was neither fo loud nor fo terrific as the
roaring of a lion in a defert wildernefs : but with re-
fpetl to founds which we are daily hearing on each
fide of us, we foon learn to diftmguiffi with tolerable
accuracy whether they be before or behind us above
or below, on our right hand or on cur left. All this,
however, is the effed, not of inftind, but of experi¬
ence improved into habit. , r,
47 sight is juftly confidered as the nobiefi and molt
!Klv o'er comprehenfive of all our fenfes. The reafon is oby
ccivel'no- ous : for when a full grown man opens his eyes, he
thing but perceives houfes, trees, rivers, the earth, un, and n oon,
colours, to each of thefe objeds belong figure, ex to
wV!, V7 fion* colour, &c. which are'ail perceived inftant.y y
7Z means o*' .Ms fenft. Ye. i. is ce.tam, .hat the lenfe
of fight does not originally communicate to us (o many
perceptions ; and there is abundant ev.dence, tuat
^ • r + nr for fome weeks aitcr its
an infant cannot at hr it, or tor lome
birth, dilfinguilh by vifien one objeft from another.
Colour is the proper objed of fight, and or fome time
its only objed ; but colour as perceived by us is a meie
fenfation, which can have no exiftence but m a fentient
bein,r. If this propolition flood m need ot proof,
we thight obferve that there are men and even whole
families, who poffefs the itnfe of light in a degree of
perfedion fufficient for all the purpoles o. llfe’ a"d
cannot diflinguiffi certain colours from each otl er ,
blue, for inftance, from green, or pe^ap5 jrom rtd ‘
and there is no man who can diftingmffi between fome
oarticular {hades of blue and green by the feeble hg t
of a candle. Were colours the real qualities of body,
this miftake of one for another could never be experi¬
enced. No man who poffeffes the lenfe of touch ever
confounded hardnefs with foftnefs, a fphere wit a
cube or an ell with an inch. The reafon is, that
hardnefs and foftnefs, figure, and extenfion, are the
qualities of things external ; whereas colour being a
roere fenfation, is nothing but an affed.on or modifi¬
cation of the fentient being. But it is obvious, tl a
fentient beings, according as they differ from one an¬
other may be differently afteded by the fame exter¬
nal caufe ; fo that one man may perceive that to e
green which all other men perceive to be blue. The
immediate external caufe of the fenfation of colour, is
\ou XIII. Part II.
H Y S I C & ‘
the rays of light reflefled from the hotly, vUch in
common language is faid to be coloured. tive Senfes.
falling upon the pupil of the eye, are retraded differ-
ently, according as their incidence is more or lels
oblique into points on the retina, where they form
a pidure of the external objed ; and from the pic¬
ture, by means ot the optic neive, \s communicat¬
ed to the brain fome impulfe or agitation, which pro¬
duces vifion or the perception of colour. A s rays ot
light are corporeal lubilances, it is obvious that t rey
can ad upon body only by impulie ; but between im¬
pulfe and the various fenfations of red, green, blue, Uc.
there is no refemblance. For the laws of rdiection
and refradion, and for the ftrudure of the eye, iee
Optics and Anatomy. That which we have to in¬
quire into at prd'ent is, how we learn, by means or
the lenfe of fight, to perceive the figure, magnitude,
motion, and diftance of external objeds, or indeed to
dirtinguiffi one objed from another. # ,
A ray of light proceeding, as all rays do, in a flraig. t
line, muft, however great its length, tiffed the eye,
retina, and optic nerve, as if it were a fmgle point.
From this obvious and undeniable fad, Bilhop Berice.ey ^
predided *, that a man born blind, who Ihould be fud--
denly made to fee, would at firft. perceive not ting neq0 [f,eory
without him, would diflinguiffi neither, the dntance, 0jVilion,
fize, figure, nor fituation, of external objeds ; tnat He
would only fee in his eyes themfelves, or, to (peak
more properly, would only. experience new modifica¬
tions in his mind, until joining touch \.ofight, he rorm-
ed thus a communication with the external v\oi ,
and Famed, by the fimultaneous exercife ot the two
fenfes, that natural .language in which the vifxble tue
fign of the tangible. This truth, which was dneover-
ed * by the bilhop merely by contemplating m his o wn
mind the nature of fenfation and the known laws of
optics, after having been laughed at for more tnan 2©
years as one of the many dreams of a vilionary genius,
was completely confirmed by the calc of the lam us
patient whom Chefelden cured of a catarad ; and mat
too though the catarad does not produce total bhnd-
nefs • which makes it evident, that the firfl v.iual per¬
ceptions of the patient after his recovery could not oe
wholly new and unmixed. It may indeed be confirm¬
ed at anv time by a fimple experiment made upon an
infant. 'For feveral weeks after birth a child huts
not its eyes upon the hidden approach of an objed:
to them, nor (hows the leal! fymptomof diftinguilh-
inw one diflance from another ; and it is eaiy by a
little attention to obferve, how it gradually learns to
diftinguiffi objeds at greater and greater di(Vances.*
Indeed colour, or the immediate objed of fight, e-
ing a mere fenfation or affedion of the mind, can
have no natural relation whatever to any thing ex- ^
ternal. • • • PerccDtiott
It is plain, therefore, that ffiflance is in its own na-o; (, . nce
tore imperceptible to the eye, and yet it is often per- oy fj ht>
ceived by fight. Flow is this done? We think, inhowac-
the following manner. Didance is one mode ot ex-quired.
tenfion, which, we have already feen, is perceived by
means of touch. Of (hort diftancef, our firft ideas are
doubtlefs acquired by the (Fetching out and drawing
back of our arms; and thofe ideas are foon fo conned-
ed with certain fenfations which we have in adual
vificn, that the latter inftantly fuggefts the former.
4 C F bus,
Bio
METAPHYSIC
ther^fpec- J' f’/ ‘S 3 faa known experience, that when
tive Seales. .Ue ‘ook a »ei,r ot>jecl with both eyes, accordine as
' . it approaches or recedes from us, we alter the difpofi-
tion of cur eyes, by leffening or widening the interval
between the pup,Is. This difpofition, or turn of the
eyes, is attended with a fenfation of which every man
is confcious at the time of vifion ; and this fenfation
feems to us to be that which in this cafe fuggefls
the idea of greater or lefs diftance to the mind. Not
that there is any natural or necejfary connexion be¬
tween the fenfation of which we are confcious, and
greater or lefs diftance ; for the fenfation is wholly in¬
ternal and the diftance is external. But becaufe the
xnind jias, by conftant experience, found the different
enfations occafioned by different difpolitions of the
eyes to correfpond to different degrees of diftance in
the object, there has grown a habitual or cuftomary
connexion between thole fenfations and the notions
of greater or lefs diftance. So that the mind no foon-
er peiceives the fenfation ariiing from the different
turn it gives the eyes in order to bring the pupils
nearer or farther afunder, than it is inflantly imprefted
:T 3 certa"1 the diftance which was wont
o be connefted with that fenfation. Again, An objcff
placed at a certain diftance from the eye, to which the
breadth of the pupil bears a fenfible proportion, be¬
ing made ^ to approach nearer, is feen more confufed-
iy i and tne nearer it is brought, the confufion is al¬
ways the greater. The reafon of all this is known
to every opt,man ; but it being conftantly experienced
ny thole who never dipt into optics, there arifes in the
mmd of every man a habitual connexion between the
feveral degrees of confufion and diftance ^ the greater
confufion ftill implying the lefs diftance, and the lefs
confufion the greater diftance. It is of no avail to
Jay that between confufed vifion and diftance, great
or ftmall there is no neceffary connexion : for there
is as little connexion between a blufli in the face and
the mental feelmg of lhame j and yet no fooner does a
man gj ob.ervation perceive that particular colour in
the face of another, than it fuggefts to him the no-
t on of that feeling or paflion with which he has con-
Itantly obferved it accombanied.
ftances^or Tft hOWeVer’ We Perceive only fmall di-
itances. U, durances more remote our judgement is
formed from other data ; and happily thele data are
not far to feek; It is a fapft known to every man who
is not total,y ignorant of the Tcience of epdcs, that a
greater number of rays fall upon the eye when reflet
ed fiom a body near at hand, than can fall from the
_ame body at a diftance j and as thofe rays opeiate by
ftroi'1 ^ ^ ? fr3f‘eV1?ent1 that the Jmpreftion muft be
uonger and of courfe the fenfation or colour more
vivid when the body is near than when it is diftant
nfnh-T"]? aCqU,red the notI'on of the true diftance
of objecffs by motion and the fenfe of touch, and find-
rff 2 eXpenence’ that as the7 are near or far
ienfation or colour which they excite in the
thffe ?10Ugh {rler°Yan °f vifion is more or lefs vivid,
thofe degrees of fenfation come to be fo clofely affoci
ated with the refpcaive diftances of the obied that
the one inftantly fuggefts the other. J ’
u'percS • I: ‘S r° that p,e Perceive figure by fiPht. Ha
Py fi^t. ving experienced by the fenfe of touch that one fur-
lace ,s a fquare and another a circle, that one bodv is
s.
<0
Part E
C ?, u-ffnd T,0tlVer 3 fphere 5 and findi,'g our fenfe of Objects of
ig r iffuentiy affected by the ,quare and the circle the refpec-
by the cube and the fphere j thele different affections Uve Senfes'
come to be fo clo.ely conneaed in our minds with the ^
figures of the refpeaive bodies, that long before we
aie capao.e of reafomng on the fubjed the one is never
preient to us without fuggelting the other. Nay fo
complete in this cale is the connexion or aflociation,
hat we cannot even in idea abllrad the colour from
he figure ; though it is certain that colour is a mere
lenlation, and figure an external quality j that colour
a.one is immediately perceivable by the eye, and the no¬
tion of figure luggefted by the colour. We are aware
that it has been affirmed, and affumed with great vehe¬
mence, that figures of two dimenjions aie immediately
perceived by the eye, and perceived with greater ac¬
curacy than by the fenfe of touch. But they who in-
fift _ upon this dodnne affirm likewife, contrary to ex-
perience and the cleareft reafonmg, that the immediate
objeds of light are external, and that colour is a qua.
ity of bodies. In the arguments too by which they ’
fup, ort their hyj othefis, they feem to confound iwht
as an affedion of the mind, with the pidure on the
bottom of the eye, as if the retina were the fentient be¬
ing ; whereas the retina and pidure are no more than
inftruments of fenfation. It is indeed a fad, that the
JT T- hcf th.e fame figure nearly with the plane of
the objed which is preiented to the eye ; as when the
objed is a fphere, the pidure is a circle varioufly (had¬
ed in colour. It is likewife a fad, that the pidure
is enlarged in proportion as the objed is brought near
rW drln^nifhe<i 35 11 ls carried to a diftance. But
thele fads are known only to perfons fkilled in optics •
and therefore it is evident, that though calculations
may be raffed from them by mathematicians to deter¬
mine the diffmce and figure of external objeds, they
cannot poffibly be the data from which diltance and
figure are inferred by the vulgar, who know not that
luch pidures on the retma exift. Befides all this it
is umverfally known, that a painter, by laying on his
colours properly, can make a plain fquare furface aP-
peawto the eye m certain pofftions as an oblong or as
a cube and a plain circular furface as a concave ora
convex hemffphere. But not one of thele things could
poffibly be done,, were figure, or indeed any thing elfe
than colour, the immediate objed of vifion.
As we fee diftance and figure, fo we fee'magnitude : Mai®ude
and we fee both in the fame way that we fee lhame or
anger m the looks of a man. The immeifton made
upon the bottom of the eye by rays retleded from a
large magnitude, mulr neceffarily be different from the
impreffion made by. rays refleded from a magnitude
is lefs. This is felf-evident; and fince the im-
pir lion ab extra is in fome way or other the caufe of
that fenfauon, which is all of which we are originally
confcious in vifion, it is obvious that the fenfation
like every other effed, mull correfpond to the caufe
-rom which It proceeds. Being there.ore confcious of
c ifierent ffenfauons ; and having, at an earlier period
tnan we dilimdfy remenffer, learned by experience to
refer them to different magnitudes'; no fooner is each
fomation excited than it fuggefts the notion, or, if you
P ea/e’ the Perception, of that magnitude with which it.
is conceded. So completely is this affociation fixed
m the mind, that when we look at a known objed, its,
real
Chip. IT.
nd '■»*»&»* .ft-m to be », Inftamly obferved
, V, Its rnlrsur ivhilrt* U i
metaphysic s.
til
tive Senfps
its colour, whilfl: we hardly attend at all to the paj.
ticularxty of the fenfation by which the magnitude is
usTgefled. It is indeed cuftomary with writers on
optics to difhnguifh between tangible and vifible mag;-
mtude, as if any kind of magnitude were the immediate
objedt of vifion : but this is not fo : for magnitude is
iomethm^ external, whereas the immediate obi eft of
viiion is a mere fenfation. What has introduced into
ic'ence tins mode of fpeaking is the following faft
that as we approach a diftant objeft it appears to the
eye larger and larger every ftep, and lefs and lefs as we
recede from it j whereas the tangible magnitude of an
objea is always the fame. The reafon of this apparent
change of magnitude to the eye, according to the di-
itance at which any particular objedf is viewed, is
that from a near objea rays of light fall in greater
rmixibrn and more diverging than from the fame ob¬
jea viewed at a dillance. This of courfe alters the
nature of the vifible fenfation : each common fenfation
is m the mind clofely linked with a particular notion of
Magnitude ; and by the exercife of fight and touch we
have learned from experience, that the particular fenfation
fcaufed by diverging rays muff be referred to a larger
magnitude than that which is caufed by parallel rays
proceeding from the fame diftance.
Vifible fen- Upon the whole, then, we think ourfelves entitled
ations a to conclude, that the_ proper and original objeas of
vifion conftitute an univerfal language of the Author
of Nature, by wbicn we are inftruaed how to regu¬
late our aaions, in order to attain thofe things that
are necefiary to the prefervation and well being of our
bodies, as alfo to avoid whatever may be hurtful or
deftruaive to them. It is principally by the informa¬
tion of this language that we are guided in al! the tranf-
? a ions and concerns of life : And the manner in which
it fignifies and marks to us the objeas which are at a di-
flance, is fimilar to that of languages and figns of hu¬
man appointment, which do not fuggeft the things
fignified by any likenefs or identity of nature, but
only by a habitual connexion, which experience has
made us to obferve, between them. 'This language
of the eye, like the language of the tongue, fuggefts
by one fenfation what may be refolved into a variety
of perceptions. A tree is ccmpofed of a trunk,
branches, leaves ; it has colour, figure, fize ; and all
thefe things are at once fuggefted to the mind by the
two words fpresiding oak. Juft fo it is with refneef to
vifion : the fenfation received by the eye fuggefts at
once the trunk, branches, leaves, colour, figure, and /fz?
of the oak, and fuggefts them all as the qualities of one
objedl.
kind of na
tural lan¬
guage.
52
Senfaticns
and percep¬
tions re¬
main for a
very flsoi t
time after
the remo¬
val of their
objedfs.
* Hartley
tn Man.
Chap. II. Of Retention and Ideas.
FtfOM the experiment with the burning coal men¬
tioned in N° 31. it is apparent, that fenfations excited
through the eye, together with their correfpon dng
perceptions, remain in the mind for a ftiort time after
the external exciting caufe is removed. The fime
thing appears from another experiment which was firft
made by Sir Ifaac Newton, and which everv man may
repeat for his own fatisfaftion. It is univerfally known*,
that a proper mixture of the feven original colours, red,
yellow,green, blue, &c. conftitutes that uniform appear-
r 7 j
ance which we call white Rut wl- °n fV. r 1 n
are r • . . . 1 wl*'-n tnefe Colours Retention
raad? to Pa(s ln a *apid confecution before the eve End Ideas,
they excite the very fame perception as when ,hev
propeily mixed, winch ,s a f.itisfafljry proof that the
impreffion made by each feparate colour remains in the
bram unttl a .evolution of all the colour, be com!
] tted ’ for nothing but the impreftion of ail the co-
lours at once can produce the fenfation and perceotiou
of mfae. Indeed no ferlon capable of patS be
proper a,tent,on to thefe things, can keep hi eye'fixed
upon a luminous objedt, and afterwards (hut it with
out experiencing that the fenfation and perception re-
mam for feme time after the external objefl is (hut
out and that they gooff gradually till the} leave b!
I he fame continuance of the fenfation after the re¬
moval of its caufe is equally obfervable in the fenfe of
hvT85-0^6-7 frd Wh'ch We hearis refte6Ied
by the neighbouring bodies ; and therefore confifts in
reanty of a variety of founds fucceeding each other at
different diftances of time, according to the diftances of
the feveral refleding bodies. Yet this caufes no con
ufion or apparent complexity of found, unlefs when
the diftance of the refletfing bodies is very confider-
able, as in fpacious buildings.
toi^^ t0 tihe CGntiHuance of the fenfation of
touch, doubts have been ftarted ; but for thefe there
is as little room as for doubting the continuance of the
fenfations of feeing and hearing. The continuance of
fmart ^ ** removed. a"d of the
imart of a wound after the inftant of inflidion are
proofs that every fenfation of touch does not vaniS
vvith its caufe A man unufed to the motion of a
thTr0" 1 Cfaf’ a‘-ter h-aV,ng been 3 ^ at fea or on
n • °ad’ f?e s. or 'niagmes he feels the rolling of the
flnp or the jolting of the coach after he is in lied and
adually at reft. Of thefe fads we know not wh3t
other account can be given, than that the agitation in
.. Ura,n’ vv’hlch ls the immediate caufe of the fenfa
tion of touch remains for fome time after the exter¬
nal caufe of the agitation is removed.
As to the fenfes of tafte and fmell, Dr Hartley
Jems to think that there is no clear and dired evT
dence for the continuance of their fenfations after their
proper objeds are removed : but in this inftance the in¬
genious author does not dojuftice to his own theory
-Lei any man eat onions, garlic, or any other thin^ of
a very pungent tafte, and immediately wafh his mLh
tvith frdh water, fo that he may be fure no part of
t lefapid body remains on his tongue or palateF Ac
cording to this dodrme, the tafte of the o,L or gaTftc'
fhould inftantly vanifti with its objed ; but the fad is
£ ’erT,e; ^hoever 01311 makc the experiment, will
find the fenfation to remain a confiderable time - not
indeed in its original force, but weakened no more
than what ,t mult neceffarily be by the introdud.on
o; a new fenfation excited by the water. It is more
(irficuit to afeertain the permanency of fmell • but
analogv inclines us to believe, that in this particu’lar it
retembles the other fenfes, though we know not how
a dried the reader to an experiment which will
him aololute convidion.
Whether the caufe of thefe continued fenfations ai
ter the removal of their objeds, be in the brain alone
4 C 2
give
af-
572 ' M E T A P
Retention in the mind alone con^dcff-d as an immaterial being,
and Ideas. 01- both together, is of very little importance } be-
    caufe, taking the mind and its internal organs as one
Hence3we tnetaphyfical whale*, it matters not to our prefent in-
have th it quiry, where this retentive power refxdes,_ as long as
power or it can be proved to exift within us; for it feerns evi-
faculty cal-tbat what has the faculty of retaining a lenfa-
Itdmemory. tion when n0 ]onger ached upon by the objech which
ETy fn excited it, muft alfo have a power to preferve_ the
the Rcduc ■ veftiges of that fenfation even alter the fenfation it felt
tio?i of the fban be entirely obliterated. 1 his is in fa£l: the cme
Faculties witk mjn(j. When an objedt which we have once
'mbid, by perceived is mod remote from our thoughts, we are
M-Schzuab. certain that there is within us a capacity, difpofition,
tendency, or power, by which a reprefentation of that
objeft may be at any time revived and prefented to the
intelleft. " Thus the fame inherent power of the mind
and its internal organs, which retains a fenfation and
perception in the abfence of the object by which they
were excited, can alfo reproduce that perception, or
bring into the view of the intelledl fomething exactly
fimilar to it. The reprodu&ion will not indeed be fo
lively as the original perception when accompanied
with its correfponding fenfation, becaufe fenfation and
a£tual perception are affetfded by a doubie caufe, the
aftion of the external objedl upon the organ, nerves,
and brain, and the correfponding energy of the mind
or fentient principle j whereas, in the reproduclion,
the mind feems to aft folely by its own power, and
certainly without the aflfiftance of external objectj.
This reproductive power is commonly called memory.
By many of the ancient philofophers, and by M.
Shcwab, with one or two others among the moderns,
it is called imagination. We do not choofe eitner to
revive antiquated modes of exprefhon, or to introduce
innovations of our own j but as we cannot difappioye
of the ancient phrafeology, after the definitions which
the reader will by and by find of imagination, memory,
and recollection, as given by fvTr Harris, we have prefix¬
ed to this chapter the general title of retention, which
comprehends them all.
The *opi- When one recalls an objea of fight by the power of
nions of phi-memory, it appears to him precifely the fame as in the
lofophers original furvey, only lefs difiinfb, and with a convic-
refpe&ing tjo° [s perhaps the refult of experience) that
memory. ^ ^ obje£ *1S not immediately before him. How
is an objea'recalled by the power of memory ? Does
the man endeavour to form in his mind a pifture or
reprefentative image of the objea ? Let us iiiten to
the anfwers given by different philofophers to this
queflion. k
Tile Peri- The fentiments of the Peripatetics, as exprelfed by
patetics ai d Alexander Aphrodi/ienfis, one of the earlieft commenta-
Platomfts tors on Ariftotle, are thus t ran Hated by Mr Harris in
his Hermes.—11 Now, what fancy or imagination is,
we may exn1ain as follows : We may conceive to be
formed within us, from the operation of the fenfes
about fenfible fubjeas, fome impreffion (as it were),
II Y S I C S.
Part I.
or piaure in cur original fenforiivai, being a relict of Retcnt-on
that motion caufed within us by the external oDjeri j ' .
a relia which, when the external objed is no_longer
prefent, remains, and is frill prefevved, being as it w7ere
its image j and which, by being thus preferved,
comes the caufe of our having memory. Now' fuch
a fort of relia, (and as it were) impreffion, they call
fancy or imagination (e).” A pafiage frqm Aixi-
NOUS of the doctrines of Plato, as rendered into Eng-
liffi by Dr Reid +, ffiows, that in this theory, as in thatt^g^a
of perception, the Platoniits agreed with the . Peri- ie^tuai
paterics. “ When the form or type of things is im- p0ciL:ers of
printed on the mind by the organs of the fenfes, Alan.
and fo imprinted as not to be deleted by time, but
preferved firm and lafting, its prefervation is called
memory A
Mr Harris, who was deeply read in the ancient
philofophy, and who confidered the authority ©f Ari-
ffotle and Plato as fuperfeding all reafoning and all
inquiry, after juftly obferving, that if the foul had no
other faculties than the fenies, it could never acquiie
the leaft idea of time, thus exprefies himfelf on the
fubjedf before us :—“ But happily for us wre are not
dclerted here. We have, in the firfl place, a faculty
called imagination or fancy; which, however as to its
energies it may be fubfequent to fenfe, yet is truly prior
to it both in dignity and ife. This it is which retains the
fleeting forms of things, when things themfelves are gone,
and allfenfation is at an end. That this faculty, how¬
ever connected with fenfe, is {fill perfectly different,
may be feen from hence. We have an imagination of
things that are gone and extinft ; but no Inch things
can be made objects of fenfation. We have an eafy
command over the objects of our imagination, and can
call them forth in almoft what manner we pleafe ; but
our fenfations are neceffary when tneir objects are pre-
fent, nor can we controul them but by removing either
the objects or ourfelves. As wfax would^ not be ade¬
quate to its bufinefs of fignature, had it not a power
to retain, as well as receive 5 the fame holds of the
SOUL, with refpeft to fenfe and imagination. Sense is
its receptive power : imagination its retentive. Had
it fenfe without imagination, it would not be as wax
but as wTater j where, though all impreffions may be
inftantly made, yet as foon as. made they are entirely
loft. Thus then, from a view of the two powers
taken together, we may call sense (if we pleafe), a
kind of tranfient imagination ; and IMAGINATION, on the
contrary, a kind of permanent fenfe A $6
Great part of the office which is here given to ima-diftinguifh
gination, is in common Englifh attributed to me-Fope^y
mory *, but between thefe two faculties, as well as be- iinag;oa.
tween them and recolledlion, the author accurately and
diftingufthes thus When we view fome rehdi ofmemoiy,
fenfation repoied within us, without thinking of its rife,^-^'
or referring it to any fenfible objeSl, this is FANCY or IMA¬
GINATION- When we view fome fuch rehB, and re¬
fer it withal to that fenfible object which in time pafl wets
its
,f \ The original is as follows : T< rwyw erio « <pcty\(t<rict vh m yvuerreuyiv ou vouv 2v reev rm rsgi ret
asXrx, eiov tvttcv rivet ev r* irgafl* lyr.-flctMiuy*. r, rm otto too xiBfov yivopm? khWS, 0 xcti
wnri rev carhrov ■xoteovUi v r^ivu n r.cti raiftrcti, ov cco'.r‘g uxcov ri? xflcv,jv kxitk ftv^ r^iv a^oyivov xiUovymrcci
w rcitvlev tyx.x\xM‘pf*x, rev roiovrtv rvvcv, (ptevlxruiv xaMvnv. Alex. Aphrod. de Anma, p. 135. hdit. A
E T A P
LalUy, The
. 57.
Objections
to their
theory.
Chap. IL M
Retention its caufe and originalt this is memory. ^,
and Ideas. r0ad which leads to memory through a feries of ideas how-
1 ^ ever conneBed, whether rationally or cafually, this is re-
colleftion.”
Of this theory we (hall only remark, that if we
could underhand the words piclurc and form in a meta¬
phorical fenfe, as candour obliges us to underhand
Locke’s images in the mind, the doctrine of Alexan¬
der Aphrodifienjis would be very little wide of the truth.
Experience teaches us that memory as well as percep¬
tion depends upon the hate of the brain ; and as it is
undeniable, that when a man to-day contemplates an
objeft which he perceived yeherday, or at any former
period, he has a view of it in all refpedts fimilar to
the original perception, only fainter and lefs dihindt,
jt is extremely probable, that an impreflijn ab extra.,
which produces a feniation and perception, leaves be¬
hind it fome tendency in the brain, to vibrate as in the
adlual fenfation, and that this tendency is carried into
ejfeEl by the internal energy of the mind itfelf. But
in the Peripatetic philofophy, pictures and form? in the
fenforium were confidered as real things, and by no
means as metaphorical expreflions. I his is evident
from their being conhantly compared to the impref-
fion of a feal upon wax, and from their converting the
materia prima from fomething, which can neither be
feen nor felt, into vifible and tangible body, of. which
we (hall treat afterwards. Now it being certain that
on a being immaterial, no corporeal form can be im-
prelfed, and repeated diffedfions having flaown that no
fuch forms are in fadl impreffed on the brain, this
whole theory is at once overturned.
H Y S I C S.
57.
Modern philofophers having denied that there are
S8   
doctrine real images or forms in the mind during the imme-
concerning diate adt of perception, cannot conliilently with them-
memory feives admit fuch images in the adl of retention, or
when thofe things which were formerly oojedls ot
perception are recalled to the mind by the power of
memory. Mr Locke’s dodfrine is, “ that the mind
retains thefe fimple ideas which it firft received from
fenfation or reflection, two ways : firfl, by keeping the
idea, which is brought into it, for fome time adlually
in view, which is called contemplation : and fecond-
ly, by the power which we have to revive again in
our minds thofe ideas, which, after imprinting, have
difappeared, or have been, as it were, laid -out of
fight j as when we conceive heat or light, yellow or
fweet, the objedt being removed. Ibis (he fays) is
MEMORY ; which is, as it were, the ftorehome of our
+ May, ideas f. ,, ,
book ii. To explain this more fully, he immediately adds the
chap. 10. following obfervation :—“ But our ideas being no¬
thing but adtual perceptions in the mind,.which ceafe
to be any thing when there is no perception of them,
this laying up of ®ur ideas in the repofitory of the
memory, fignifles no more than this, that the mind
has a power, in many cafes, to. revive, perceptions
which it has once had, with this additional percep¬
tion annexed to them, that it has had them, before.
And in this fenfe it is, that our ideas are laid to be
in our memories, when indeed they are adlually no¬
where } but only there is an ability, in the mind, whbn
it will, to revive them again, and, as it were, paint
them anew on itfelf, though fo/ne with more fome
with lefs difficulty, fome more lively and others more
obfeurely. And thus it is, by the affiflance of this Retestion
faculty, that we are faid to have all tnole ideas in ‘l‘u ^
our underftandings, which, though we do not adtualiy
contemplate them, yet we can bring in light, and
make appear again, and be the objedls ot our thoughts,
without the help of thofe fenlible qualities which firft
imprinted them there.”
To attempt a defence of the accuracy of this lan¬
guage would be vain , but as the author’s meaning is
fufficientiy obvious, his expreflions may be eaflly and
certainly corredled. Had Locke laid—But our
ideas being nothing but feenes or appearances in the
mind, which ceafe to be any thing when there is no
perception of them, this laying up ol our ideas in the
repolitory of the memory fignines no more but this,
that the mind has a power, in many caies, to revive
feenes which it has once viewed, with this additional
perception annexed to them, that it has viewed them
before j” there would have been no room for the many
petulant remarks which have been made upon the pal-
fage. _ <j9
But againfl this account of memory, a much heavier t0<
charge has been brought than that which regards the
propriety of the language. It has been Lid, that the
addicional perception, which, according to Locke, at¬
tends the revival of our ideas by the power of. me¬
mory, “ would be a -fallacious perception, if it led
us to believe that we had them before, iince they can¬
not have two beginnings of exiHence : nor can we
believe them to have twro beginnings or exiftence ; we
can only believe that we had formerly ideas or percep¬
tions very like to them, though not identically the
fame.” Let us examine this queflion fomewhat nar¬
rowly : for if it be really true, that in the fenfe in
which the word fame is here ufed, we cannot twice
contemplate the lame idea, all conlidence in memory
would feem to be at an end.
Suppofe a man to Hand on feme of the rifinS The objec-
grounds about Edinburgh, the Caltonhill for inftance, tiCri obvi-
and from that eminence to view the glorious pro!pe6l ated;
of the coaft of Fife, the ocean, the frith of Forth,
and the little iflands fcattered in the frith. Let him
go away, and return next day to the fame place, and
look ihe lame way : we would afk whether ne has
the fame view or perception which he had the day be¬
fore ? The man mull furely be very captious who
would fay that he has not : and yet it is certain that the
energy of mind by which he perceives on one day can¬
not be identically the lame with that by which he
perceived on another j nor are the rays of light which
fall upon his eyes on the lecond day, identically tne
fame with thefe which fell upon, his eyes and occa-
fioned vifion on the firft day. Let the fame man now
(hut his eyes, and contemplate the various obje£ls at
which he had been juft looking. Ihey will appear
to him in all re(pe£ts the fame as when viewed by
means of his organs of light, only fainter and leis di-
ftinfl, with this additional convidtion, that the imme¬
diate objefls of his piefent contemplation are not real
external things, but ideas or mental reprefentations of
thofe things which had io lately been the objetls of his
fight. Let him think no more about the matter for
fome days, and then exert his powers of memory. We
have no helitation to fay, that in the fenle of the word
fame, as ufed by Mr Locke, the very fame ideas will
6o
574
Retenticr r~
and Ideas i.
61
The opi-
nion of
Hiune.
. °° Preient to his intellect vvlJch were pre-
— t0 7 at the forraer contemplation. The ftcond
of memory or imagination, or whatever it may
be called, is not indeed identically the lame with the
^ ’ II7r .1.S tha7 a?itation oc motion, or whatever
Other ahehtion of the brain is neceffary to memory,
icenticady the fame at the fecond time as at the fir it :
but the mind exc. ting it (elf in the very fame manner
st t'le one time as at the other, produces the .ame
K-nd ot agitation m the brain, and is itfelt affected in
the very fame way at the fecond as at the frit exer¬
tion Whence it follows, that the lecond ideal fcene
wrl be as much the fame with the firlt, as the fecond
tidualperception is the fame with the firit ; and the two
uea. icenes, and the two adtual perceptions, are re-
fpeci ively faid to be the fame with each other, only
becaufe tney imprefs the mind with a conviftkn that
tney were occafioned by the fame external objeas.
-Tut though we think Locke’s doarine, with re-
Ipect to memory, may he thus eafily vindicated from
t.ie charge of fallacioufnefs, w^e muft acknowledge that
to us it appears not to be of much value. It teaches
nothing, but that the mind has a power to retain ideas
o thofe o >jeas which it formerly perceived, and in
many mftances to recal them as occafion may require.
Lut thefe are truths known to all mankind, to the
clown as well as to the philofopher.
Philofophers in general have paid lefs regard to the
retentive faculties of the mind than to its original
powers of perception. Perhaps they imagined, that
as memory depends upon perception, and in fome re-
Iped s appears to referable it, a competent knowledge
°1 the nature of the former faculty would lead to that
of the fecond. Be this as it may, Mr Hume, who was
^ !0m7,Pr,S \°. detai1 his notions of perception, has
m his 1 hilofophical Eflays only dropt concerning me¬
mory and imagination a few hints, fo loofely thrown
together, that, if he had not elfewhere expreffed him-
ieit with more precifion, it would have been difficult
to ddcover his real meaning. According to him, that
which ,s commonly called the perception of an external
otjett is nothing but a ftrong impreffion upon the
mind ; and that which is called the remembrance of a
pajl objeEl is nothing but a prefent impreffion or idea
weaker than the former. Imagination is an idea weak-
,77 . f the ,dea or impreffion which he calls memory
1 im leems to be a wonderful abufe of language. Im-
preffions are not perceptions • and, if poffible, they can
1 .e s ke called ideas, which are but fecondary per¬
ceptions.^ It is likewife far from being true, that an
idea of imagination has necelTarily lefs vivacity than
an idea of memory. We have feen Mr Hume, and
have at tne prefent moment an idea of his form and
j S i We,Can llkevviire imagine to ourfelves a centaur ;
and though a centaur was never feen, and therefore
M E T A P H Y S I C S.
Part I.
car,nut be an imprefion repeated bij memory, our Idea of Retention
the monller is much more lively and dhiind: than that ani! Wtas.
of the philoiopher. ■““-x-——^
. Dr Reld having obferved of memory *, that it is by of tx
it we have an immediate knowledge of things paft : Reid,
that it muft have an objed ; that in this refpeft it a ^ E-Jays on
grees with perception, but differs from fenfation which the I'‘tel'
has no objeeff but the feeling itfelf; and that every ^
man can diffinguiffi the thing remembei td from the Mare ' ^
remembrance of it—proceeds to inquire what memory
ts. And, “ Firft (fays he), I think it appears that
memory is an original faculty given us by the Author
or our being, of which we can give no account but
tnat we are fo made. The knowledge (continues lit)
which I have of things paft by my memory, Teems to
me as unaccountable as an immediate knowledge would
be of things to come (F)j and I can give no reafon
why I mould have the one and not the other, but that
luch is the will of my Maker. I find in my mind a
dnfinct conception and a firm belief of a ferits of paft;
events ; but how this is produced I know not. I call
it memory ; but this is only giving a name to it ; it is
not an account of its caufe. I believe moft firmly what
, dlftln<% remember; but I can give no reafon of this
he.ief. It .is the infpiration of the Almighty which
gives me this underftanding. When I believe the truth
of. a mathematical axiom or of a mathematical propo-
inon, I fee that it muft be fo : every man who has the
lame conception of it fees the fame. There is a ne-
ceffary and an evident connexion between the fubieft
and the predicate of the propofition ; and I have all
the evidence to fupport my belief which I can poffibly
conceive. When I believe that I walhed my hands and
face this morning, there appears no neceffity in the
truth of the propofition. It might be or it might not
be.. A man may diftinaiy conceive it without be-
leving it at all. How then do I come to believe it ?
I remember it.diftinaiy. This is all I can fay. This
remembrance is an atft of my mind. Is it impoflible
that this aeft ftiould be, if the event had not happened ?
I confefs I do not fee any nectffary connexion be¬
tween the one and the other. If any man can ffiow
Inch ,3 neceffary connexion, then I think that belief
whicn we have of what we remember will be fairly ac¬
counted for : but if this cannot be done, that belief is
unaccountable ; and we can fay no more but that it is
the refult of our conftitution. Our original faculties
aie all unaccountable : Of thefe memory is one. He
only who made them comprehends fully how they are
made, and how they produce in us not only a concep¬
tion, but a firm belief and affurance, of things which
it concerns us to know.”
On this account of memory we {hall make no re¬
marks. There.is a certain fenfe of the words, in which
every thing which the author has faid on the fubjeff is
undoubtedly
toLrVtoange%otn7SrrLteS%lltn7in,r " ^ beCT, l»# P-ceptlom, this appear*
able to us, ,h« ilapreffions on the brain ftoUef0" n0thJlng1 morc'. than tl’»t unaceount.
caufe remembrance, as how the mind mipht no, Y !un’ :"IC t le veiliges of thofe impreflions lliould
Cons on the brain. If this be hi, m a,S no m '° Tt ^ intervention of impref.
of that relation which fubiilis belwlen an fmTeffinn sort fo' “ is, •<> <«feo»«r the nature
from experience. --i. an im, re ion and perception; but that there is fuch a relation, we know
w
Chap. II. IW E T A P
^TrtUlde0ltcd'yjU,l; ^ !t, "““W ^ very uncandid ,o
  V  „ 1,15 ”0.rds1.'" a"y linfe. But thou..!, me.
ntory, M ,t ,s the refult of that conflitution whfch was
given us by God, and not the offspring of habit or
human contrivance, is unqueftionably. an original fa-
for k fotk “T n ,S theief°re imp°ffible Account
for it lo fully as to filence every inquiry which may be
made vet we could wilh that Dr Reid had beftowed
a little more pains upon it, in order to difbover if pof-
hble in what refpeas it refembles or differs from per-
ep ion. He has well obferved, that there are lawf of
lated^ ^ WnCh / ^ °Peratlons of the mind are regu-
ated as weH as laws of nature which govern the ma-
iionf tS the ratter are the ultimate conclu-
hons which the human faculties can reach in the phi-
lofophy of bodies, fo the former are the ultimate con¬
cisions which we can reach in the philofophy of
minds. I he more general that thefe laws are in both
ca.es, the more ufeful they are and the more fatisfac-
tory ; for as they are themfelves inexplicable, the
fewer they are in number, and the more comprehenfive
eacn, the fewer will thofe phenomena be for which we
can give no account. Thus, as we know not what
makes the planets tend to the centre of the fun, or
heavy bodies tend to the centre of the earth, we can
give no other account of thefe phenomena, but that
as they appear to be of the fame kind, it is reafonable
to.conclude that they proceed from limilar caufes. What
tne cade is of this tendency of bodies towards each
other, we know not. We call it gravitation, and em¬
ploy it to account for all phenomena of the lame kind
In like manner it is univerfally allowed, that as we
know not how mind and matter operate upon each
other, there is fomething in perception wholly unac-
countaole. . That perception follows fenfation : and
that there is no fenfation which is not occafioned by
iome affedion of the brain, proceeding from fome im-
pieihon ab extra ; we have the evidence of experience *
but how a particular affedtion of the brain ihould ex¬
cite a lenfation in the mind, we know not 5 though we
may here, as in the corporeal fyftem, attribute limilar
ctlecls to the lame or limilar caules. Thus, if when
we exert an adt of memory we have the fame appear¬
ance of things as in the original adf of perception, the
rules of philofophizmg authorize us to refer both phe¬
nomena to the fame general law ; juft as they autho¬
rize us to refer the motion of the planets and of pro-
jedliles to the fame general law. On the other hand
if we perceive no fimilarity between memory and per¬
ception, we have made no progrefs in the philofophy
of mind ; for in that cafe we have difeovered two phe-
nomt-na proceeding from two caufes totally different
from each other, and both inexplicable. Although we
fcarcely hope to throw, any light upon a fubjedf which
Dr Reid has not attempted to illuftrate, we (hall ftate
a few fadls refpedling the memory, and fubmit to the
H Y S I C S.
reader the concluftons to which we think thefe fadh
1. Objedfs once perceived by the lenfes, when re-
palled to the mind by the pouer of memory, appear
f ^ fa™e as ln the original perception, only
nA u hna ; 1'0r.examPle, having feen yefterday a
fpreadmg oak growing on the bank of a river, and
having heard a fhepherd play, and handled a fquare
Itone we endeavour to recal to our mind thefe obiedls
W drn^^r- H°Wis operation 'per¬
formed . Do we endeavour to form in our minds pic-
inTeTffdf 'r'01 °r, rePrefentative ^ages ? or, does our
to A ‘ft Purvey the types or forms which, according
to. Anftotle, thofe objeas left in the imagination when
onginally perceived ? Neither of thefe things is done.
conceive ourfelves as Handing in the fame place
where we flood yefte.day ; upon gwhich we haveper-
ceptions of the objeaS (imilar in all rebpeds to the
perceptions which we had when we employed our eyes
our ears, and our hands. The tree appears, as it were’
• eA°re u-S i famt indeed» hut attended with all the ob-
jefts which we obferved around it yefterday : we feem
to hear the found of the pipe confifedly, Ld at a di-
tance j to move our hands over the ftone, and to feel
the fame, furfaces and the fame angles which we felt in
. the original perception. In this recolledion we are
not confcious of pidures or images more than in the
original Purvey. The perceptions feem to be of the
,fee and .r'v.err themfelves, of the found itfelf, and of
the ftone itfelf, exadly as at the firft ; and yet we are
atisfied that in. the ad of remembrance we perceive
no uch objed as a real tree, pipe, or ftone. That
t efe are fads, every man mull be convinced who at¬
tends to the energies of his own mind when exertino-
the powers, of retention : and therefore it is, in our
opinion, with no impropriety that Mr Harris fays we
may call sense. ,f we pleafe, , kind of tranftent inaUna-
ton, and imagination, on the contrary, a kind of per¬
manent fenfe ; for if thefe two faculties, as far as the
mind or inteiled is concerned, be not the fame, they
leem to relemble each other much. 7
2. The primary perception of a vifible objed is more
complete, lively and diitind, and remains longer in
iie fen for turn, than that of any other obied. We
know like wife by experience, that an idea ox fecondary
perception of a viiible ebjed is as much more complete,
kvely, and d.ftmd, than the idea of any other obied
as. was the primary perception ; and that we remember
things which we have feen for a longer time than
founds which we have heard, or than tangible objeds
which we have only handled. Yet there feems to be
a conflant decay of all our ideas, even of thofe which
me ft ruck (g) deepeft and in minds the moil retentive-
fo that ,f they be not frequently renewed by repeated
exercife of the fenfes, or by reftedion on thofe objeds
w nch at hrft occaiioned them, the print (g) wears
cut.
575
Retention
and Ideas.
6.1
1 he ap¬
pearance of
ienfible ob¬
jeds when
recalled by
the power
ot memory.
* Appendix
to Ele- '
merits of
Criticifm,
64
What ideas
remain
longed in
the me¬
mory.
(g) T nefe expreftions, which mention ideas as things which are Aaeti a, 1 1
out, are the expreflions of Locke. We hope it is needlefs to warn ^ refers thl/tT' ^
us, as they were by him, in a metaphorical fenfe. On thefe fubieds it is ’ ' (rn th 7 are uied bY
which, while the nteanmt; is obvious, no ,„a„ will Setn who T wo^d'’'’1’,' f'"
objects.lvcre nut ‘"vtIltcd by me,aphync,ans’ and th= r-t taS.
575
Ref-ration
stn1 Tc'c-f-s,
6$
Memory a
kind of ha¬
bit.
■* Rad’s
E/Jays cn
th- Intel-
Uclual
Powers of
Mar.,
Eocke's Ef~
fay, &c.
and Har¬
ris's Her¬
mes.
66
In recellec
tion one
idea fug-
gefts ano¬
ther, and
Why.
META?
out, and ai laft tnere remains nothing to be feen.
Concerning ideas, it is eafy to remark, that thoie re¬
main longed and cleared in the memory which are
derived from two or more fenfes, efpecially it the ienie
of fight be one of the number, or which are ortenelt
refreshed by a return of the objeds which produced
them. Hence a man has a longer and more dntma
remembrance of what he has feen than of what he has.
only heard, of what he has both feen and felt than ot
what he has only feen ; and the ideas which we have
of heat and cold, of hunger and third, and of ah t o e
things which mod frequently aflba our fenfes are ex¬
tremely clear, and are never quite led whiift the mind
retains any ideas at all. _ u* 1 *
a. Memory appears to be a kind or habit, which is
not always in exercife with regard to things we re¬
member, but is ready to fugged them when there is
occafion. The mod perfea degree of this habit is,
when the thing prefents itfelf to our remembrance
fpontaneoufly, and without labour, as often as there
is occafion. A fecond degree is, when the thing is
forgotten for a longer or fiiorter time, even when there
is occafion to remember it, and yet at lad iome inci¬
dent, fuch as a violent paffion *, which agitates the
whole mind and fenforium, tumbles the idea, as it
were, out of its dark corner, and brings it into view
without any fearch. A third degree is, when we cait
about and learch for what we would remember, and
after fome labour find it out. This (earthing faculty
of the foul is by Aridotle called uuumrH, by Dr Reid
and others rcmitiifccnce, and by Mr Harris recollection.
Should it he faid, that what we will to remember we
mud already conceive, as we can will nothing ot w m
we have not a conception •, and that, therefore, a uu
to remember a thing, feems to imply that we remember
it already—we anfwer, with Dr Reid, that when we
will to remember a thing, we mud indeed remember
fomething relating to it; but we may have no pohtive
idea or conception of the thing itfelf, but only ot t.ie
relation which it bears to that other thing whlc“'ve do
remember. Thus, one remembers that a rtend char-
ged him with a commiffion to be executed at iuch a
place, but he has forgotten what the commifiion was.
He applies himfelf to difeover it*, and recollecis \MzX. .it
was given by fuch a perfon, uyonfuch an occafion, m
confequence of fuch a converfation : and thus by a train
of thought he is led to the very thing which he had
forgotten and wifhed to remember. To this operation
it is not always neceffary that the relations between t ic
various ideas which the mind turns over be very clo.e,
or have their foundation in nature*, for. a cafual con¬
nexion is often fufficient. Ihus, from feeing, a garment,
we think of its owner •, thence of his habitation •, thence
of woods •, thence of timber •, thence of (hips j thence
of admirals •, thence of cannons, iron, furnaces, and ror-
ges,” &c. # •, a. u
That, in the procefs of recolledhon, one idea mould
fugged another, may be eafily accounted for. . When,
in perception, our minds are expofed to the influence
of external objeas, all the parts and properties,, and
even the accidental variable ndjunas of thele .objeas,
are perceived by full-grown men at the fame time •, fo
that the whole group makes but one imprefljon upon
our organs of fenfe, and confequently upon tne mmd.
H Y S I C S. Part1.
By thefe means all the parts of the fimultatieous im- Retention
predion f, and confequently of the perception occa-
iioned by that imprellion, are fo intimately aiiociated .
or linked together, that the idea of any one ot thtm^
recurring at any future period, generally introduce^,
the ideas of all the refl. But as the neceffary parts
and properties of any thing are more clofely linked
together, and occur more frequently than any parti¬
cular variable adjun&s, it is obvious, that by the idea
of any one of thefe properties, the idea of the red,
and of the objea itfelf, will be more readily introdu¬
ced than by the idea of any variable adjundf. It
feems, however, to be certain, that we have no power
of calling up any idea at pleafure, but only (ucn as
have a connexion, either in nature or by means of
former ail ciations, with thofe that are at any time
preient to the mind. Thus the fight, or the idea, of
any particular perfon, generally enables us to recol¬
lect his name, becaufe his name and his perton have
been condantly affociated together. If that tail to
introduce the name, we are at a lols and cannot re¬
collect it at all till fome other affociated circumitance
help us. In naming a number ol words in a lenience,
or lines in a poem, the end of each preceding word or
line being connected with the beginning of the word
or line which lucceeds it, we can eafily repeat them
that order ; but we are not able to repeat them
backwards with any eafe, nor at all till after many
fruitlefs efforts. By frequent trials, however, we ac¬
quire at lad a facility in doing it, as may be found by
making the experiment on the names oi number fiom
to twenty. It is, indeed, probable, that in the
one  j -
wildeft flights of fancy, no Angle idea occurs to us
fuch as had a connexion with fome other idea,
or notion, previoufly exiiting in the
(hall be ihown more fully in a fubfequent
but
perception,
mind, as
chapter. 5y
4. “ Memory appears to depend entirely or chiefly ^era -y
upon the itate of the brain *. For difeaffs, concuffions Jp^on
of the brain, fpirituous liquors, and fome poifo.ns, t^e brdn.
pair 01 dedroy it j and it generally returns again with Hartley
the return of health, from the ufe of proper medicines o« Mis.
and methods. It is obfervable, too, that in recovering
from concuflions and other diforders of the brain, it is
ufual for the perfon to recover the power of remem¬
bering the then prefent common incidents for minutes,
hours, and days, by degrees ; alfo the power of recal¬
ling the events of his life preceding his illnefs. At
length he recovers this lad power perfectly j and at the
fame time forgets aimed all that pad m his illnefs,
even thofe things which at fird he remembered for a
day or tveo. ^Jow the reafon of this ieems to be, that
upon a perfect recovery the brain recovers its natural
date, and all its former affe&ions and tendencies *, but
that’fuch affedions or tendencies as took place during
the preternatural date, i. e. during the patient’s illnels,
are obliterated by the return of the natural date.”
All this we are induced to believe •, becaufe, though
it is a fad incontrovertible, that in certain difea.fes the
memory is impaired, and recovers its vigour with the
return "of health, it is not conceivable that the mind
itfelf (hould fuffer any change by difeafes, concuflions,
or fpirituous liquors, &.c.
From thefe fads we are ftrongly inclined to con¬
clude,
3
Chap. II.
METAPHYSICS.
Retention elude, that the power of the mind, ox'immaterial (it)
,antI fdeas- principle, by which it remembers paft events, differs not
63 from that by which it perceives prefent objedffs. In
External perception, impreffions are made upon the organs of
objects ope-fenfe, which are communicated to the brain; and, by
™tinS fome unknown means, occafion fenfations which are
leave tonre followed by the perception of the external objeft.
permanent When by the power of memory we recal paft objedts
effedl in the of fenfe, the mind has the fame view of them as in the
bram. original perception, except that they appear fainter,
lefs diftineft, and generally more diffant. We have,
therefore, reafon to conclude, that in the a£t of re¬
membrance the brain is affedled in the fame way,
though not fo forcibly, as in perception. That me¬
mory depends as much as perception upon the ftate of
the brain, is confirmed by daily experience ; and
therefore there cannot be a doubt but that external
objefts, operating upon the fenfes, nerves, and brain,
leavre fome permanent effeft behind them. What that
effedl: precifely is we cannot know, and we need not
defire to know; but that they leave fame effedl: we
have as good evidence as that the planets are moved
round the fun by forces of the fame kind with thofe
by which projedliles are moved on the earth. Could
we fuppofe that they leave real prints or imprejjions be¬
hind them, which we confefs to be very little probable,
memory would feem to be nothing but the perceptive
power ol the mind turned to thofe impreflions. If the
permanent effedl of impreflions by external objedls be,
as Dr Hartley fuppofes, only a tendency in the brain
to vibrate as in the original perception, remembrance
will refult from the mind’s operating upon the brain
as in adlual perception ; and the reafon that ideas of
memory are fainter than perceptions pf fenfe, is, that
the former are produced by a fingle, and the latter by
a double, operation.
This theory appears to be greatly confirmed by the
following well known fadls, that children foon com-
6q
Why the
inemory
advances to mlt to their memory any thing w'hich they under-
and ohen11’ ^an<^> an^ as ^oon f°rget it ; that the powers of me-
gradually mory gradually advance to perfedlion, and then gra-
decays. dually decay ; and that old men remember more di-
ftindfly what they perceived in their youth, than what
they perceived a year ago. For if the memory be¬
longed wholly to the pure intelleft, and had no de¬
pendence upon the brain, it is not eafy to conceive
how it fhould advance towards a flate of perfedlion
and afterwards decay. A being which is unextended
and indivifihle, can fuffer no change either in its ef-
fence or in its faculties : the ideas which it had once
retained, it would retain for ever. But if memory be
occafioned by fome relidl of fenfe left in the braur, it
is eafy to fee how all thofe changes fhould take place :
and therefore, though wre have the weight of -Dr
Reid’s authority againft us, we cannot help thinking
that Ariftotle was in the right, when he imputed the
ffiortnefs of memory in children to this caufe, that
Vol. XIII. Part'll.
their brain is too moift and foft to retain impreffions
made upon it ; and that he w'as like wife in the right,
W'hen he imputed the defedl of memory in old men to
the hardnefs and rigidity of the brain, which hinders
it from receiving any durable impreflion.
Another argument to prove, that in remembrance
the mind adls upon fomething left in the brain by
the impreflions of fenfe, is this, that nothing can aft
but where it is prefent. The truth of this axiom is
acknowledged by Dr Reid, and we believe by all man¬
kind except Dr Prieftley and one or two others,
whofe paradoxes we fliall confider afterwards. Now'
it is confeffed, that in recolleftion at leait the m’nd is
aftive; and therefore it muff aft, not upon an objeft
which has now perhaps no exiftence, and certainly no
immediate exiffence, hut upon fomething left by that
objeft in the brain or fenforium, to which the mind is
intimately prefent.
But if this be fo, we may be afked how it comes'
to pafs that men never confound memory with per¬
ception, nor fancy that they perceive things which
they only remember ? If perception be an inference
drawn from certain fenfations excited by an impref-
fion on the brain, and if remembrance refult from the
mind’s operating upon relifts of thofe impreflions, one
would think it natural to fuppofe, that in both cafes
we have aftual perceptions, though in the one cafe
the perception muff be more vivid and diftinft than in
the other. To this we anfwer, That previous to all
experience, perception and memory are very probably
confounded ; and that we believe a man brought into
the world with all his faculties in their full natu¬
ral perfeftion, would not inftantly be able to diftin-
guifh what he remembered from what he perceived.
This we know to be the cafe with refpeft to imagi¬
nation, a faculty which ftrongly refembles memory ;
for in dreams, and femetimes even in waking reveries,
we fancy that we aftually perceive things which it is
certain wre can only imagine. A very fhort experi¬
ence, however, would enable this newly created man
to make the proper diftinftion between remembrance
and perception. For let us fuppofe him to be brought
into a dark room, and foon afterwards a candle to be
introduced. The candle would give him a vifible fen-
fation, though not at firft the perception of an exter¬
nal objeft:. Let the candle after fome time be car¬
ried out : the man would retain a vifible idea, which
he might confound wuth the aftual fenfation. But if,
whilft this idea remained in his mind, the candle wTere
brought back, he would inftantly feel a difference be¬
tween the real fenfation and the idea, when both were
together prefent to his mind. And having, in fome
fuch manner as wre have already deferibed, acquired
the power of perceiving external objefts by means of
his fenfes, he would foon difeover, without any effort
of his own, the difference between aftual perceptions
and the ideas treafured up in his memory.
4 D The
577
Retention
and Ideas.
7°
Ey what
means we
never con¬
found me¬
mory with
perception.
(h) Through the whole of this and the preceding chapters, we have taken it for granted, that the fentient
principle in man is not material. This is the common, and, as fttall be ftiown afterwards, the moft probable opi¬
nion ; but whether it be abfolutely certain or not, makes no difference on the theories of fenfation and percep¬
tion. Thefe are obvioufly neither figure nor, motion, and therefore hot fubjeft to the laws which govern the
material world.
objects re¬
cur to the
memory.
578 M E T A P
Re tent: on The only remaining difficulty which feems to en-
,and Meas. cumber this theory of remembrance, is, to account for
'r _^ the order of fucceffion in which objects recur to the
The order merac>ry, and to which we give the name of time.—
of lucceffion But this difficulty will vaniffi when we have afcertain-
in which ed what time is. At prefent it is fufficient to oblerve,
that our perceptions of external objebts remain a cer¬
tain fpace of time in the mind ; that this time is differ¬
ent, according to the ftrength and other circumffan-
ces of the impreffion which occafioned the percep¬
tion j and that traces of thofe perceptions, i. e. ideas,
may be recalled after the intervention of other trains
of ideas, and at very different intervals. If one look
upon a houfe, and then fhut his eyes, the impreffion
which it made upon his mind will not inftantly va-
nilh : he can contemplate the houfe almoft as long as
he pleafes j and, by the help of various afibciated cir-
cumffances, he may recal the idea feveral years after-
wards, and refer it to the original perception.
Brutes have Before we difmifs the fubjedl of retention, it may
memory, not be improper to take notice of the retentive powers
aftd 0f inferior animals. Ariftotle, Locke, Dr Reid, and
almoft every philofopher of eminence both among the
ancients and moderns, have maintained, that inferior
animals have memory as well as men j and indeed we
do not perceive how the faff can be denied of the more
perfedf animals, and thofe with whofe operations we
are beft acquainted. A dog knows his mafter again
after a long abfence ; a horfe will trace back a road
which he has but once travelled, often with more ac¬
curacy than his rider j and it is wrell known that many
fpecies of finging birds have a capacity to learn tunes
from the human voice, and that they repeat the notes
again and again, approaching nearer and nearer to
perfection, till at laft they ling the tune correCtly.
Thefe phenomena can be accounted for only by fup-
pofing, that in the brains of the feveral animals traces
are left by perception, of the fame kind with thofe
which perception leaves in the brain of paan, and which
are the caufe or occafion of his remembrance. With
refpeCt to this point, the learned author of jdncient
Metaphysics differs from his mafter Ariftotle. He al¬
lows that brutes have imagination, but denies that
they have memory : for (fays he) “ memory necefla-
rily implies a fenfe of time, and what is JirJi and htji;
but brutes have no idea of time, or of firit and laft j
and it is certain that they have not confcioufnefs or
reflection, by which only they could review their owm
operations. At the fame time he admits, that imagi¬
nation in the brute ferves the purpofe of memory in
us j for whenever he fees the objeCt that is painted on
his phantajia, he knows it again, but without any per¬
ception of the time when he firft faw it.” But that
a brute, when he fees the objeCt which is painted on
his phantafia, fliould know it again without referring
it to a former perception, is plainly impoffible. The
recognifance of any thing confifts in a confcioufnefs
of its having been perceived before ; and nothing more
than fuch recognifance is effential to memory. The
author’s miftake feems to lie in fuppofing that me¬
mory neceffarily implies a fenfe of fome determinate
portion of paft time \ but wTe furely remember many
things of which we can only fay that w^e h,ave former¬
ly perceived them, without being able to afcertain
the precife period ift which we ha4 perceptions.
H Y 5 I e s.
Part I.
A child has the ufe of memory fooner than he ac- Retention
quires the faculty of fpeech ; but he muft have fpoken anc^ Meas.
and even reafoned belore he can have an accurate no-
tion of time, which, as {hall be Ihown afterwards,
arifes from comparing the fleeting fucceffion of our
own ideas with the permanence of ourfelves and other
objeCls. The author’s diftinClion between memory
and imagination feems to be on all accounts impro¬
per. Ariftotle has faid, and faid truly, that there is
memory of ideas as well as of fenfible objects ; mean¬
ing by ideas general conceptions or propofftions : but
this reviver of his philoiophy is inclined to fay, “ that
memory is only of ideas, confequently belongs only to
man \ and that imagination is only of fenfible objedls,
and confequently belongs both to man and brute.”—
But furely man remembers what he has feen and felt as
wrell as what he has conceived or thought ,• and if imagi¬
nation and memory be properly diiiinguiftied by Mr
Harris, the reverie of this writer’s doblrine muft be
true, viz. that imagination belongs only to man, and
memory of fenfible objebls both to man and brute.—
We can contemplate in imagination the idea of a cen¬
taur or a golden mountain ; but we cannot be faid to re¬
member them, for they w'ere never perceived. That a
dog can contemplate in his imagination the idea of a
centaur or of a golden mountain, we have not the leafi:
reafon to fuppofe ; but were he not capable of viewflng
relidfs of fenfe repofed wflth him, and referring them to
their original caufes, he could not poffibly recognife his
mafter after a day’s abfence.- ^
Dr Reid and the fame author agree w'ith Ariftotle, the power
in thinking it probable that brutes have not reminif-of reco^ec~
cence, or the powTer of recolleblion ; but there aret,on'
many well-attefted fabls which feem to prove the con¬
trary. We fliall mention one which fell under our
own obfervation. One of the perfons concerned in
this work was, wffien a young man, abfent for five
months from the houfe of his father. Upon his re¬
turn, a dog of that fpecies wffiich is commonly called
the Jhephera'ls cur, and which had been in the poffeffion
of his father only a few months before his departure,
gazed at him for a few minutes as at any other ftran-
ger. The animal then began to walk round him with
looks which foon attrabled his notice. This made him
call the dog by the name which he bore in the family,
and ftretch out his hand to carefs him, when the crea¬
ture inftantly leaped upon him with all that appearance
of attachment which thefe animals fo commonly exhibit
upon the return of their mafter after a few days abfence.
If this was not recolle&ion, we ftiould be glad to know
what it was, for we cannot diftinguiffi it from recollec¬
tion in men. Indeed, if dogs and fome other animals
poflefs, as Ariftotle, Locke, and others, allow them to
poflefs, the power of memory, and fomething of ratioci¬
nation 5 and if, as Dr Reid exprefsly fays *, “ they ex- * zjays m
pe6l'events in the fame order and fucceffion in which rtf
they happened before j” it is not conceivable that they
can be wholly deftitute of reminifcence, or the power ilopwers °f
ofrecolkaion.
74
That memory is a faculty of the firft importance, Memory
cannot be denied j fince it is obvious, that, without the capable of
power of retaining the ideas and notions which we re_imProve-
ceive by the fenfes and other faculties, we never couldRlcRt'
make any progrefs in the acquifition of knowledge,
but Ihouldl begin every day, nay every hour, in the
faipe
Cliap. III.
METAPHYSICS.
75
Ideas oi
fenfation
the fivft ma
terials of
human
knowledge
v
Simple ap-
prehenfion
of ideas
Of Simple fame Plate of Ignorance In which we are born. That
Apprehen- ;t js a facuity capable of improvement by exercife, and
fion a”0n that there are fome methods of exercife better adapted
■ ' -J- for this purpofe than others, has been ftiown elfewhere.
See Memory.
Chap. III. Qf Simple Apprehension and Con¬
ception.
The ideas received into the mind by the fenfes,
and treafured up in the memory and imagination, are
■the original materials of human knowledge. It is by
comparing thofe ideas with one another, or by analyz¬
ing them into their firll: principles, that we acquire
all our knowledge in mathematics and philofophy,
and indeed all the knowledge which regulates our
conduft through life. It mult, therefore, be of im¬
portance to trace the progrefs of the mind in her vari¬
ous operations upon thefe materials ; beginning, as die
certainly begins, with that which is molt fimple, and
proceeding regularly to thofe which are more com¬
plex and difficult.
Now the fir ft operation of the mind about her
ideas appears plainly to be that wffiich logicians term
Jimple apprehenjion. Having yeftcrday obferved a tree
or any other object, if we contemplate the idea of that
tree to day as it remains in the imagination, without
comparing it with any other idea, or referring it to
any external objedf, we perform the operation which
is called Jimple apprehenjion. We confider fimple ap-
prehenfion as an operation, becaufe the mind in the ap-
prehenfion of her own ideas is certainly aftive \ Ihe
turns them, as it were, round and round, and views
them on every fide.
Simple apprehenjion is a phrafe which is common¬
ly taken to be of the fame import with the word con¬
ception ; and in tire ordinary affairs of life no confufion
can arife from an indifcriminate ufe of the two words:
but in this article we think it expedient to employ the
phrafe Jimple apprehenjion, to denote the view or con¬
templation of thofe ideas only which the mind by fen-
fation has adlually received from external objedls ; and
the word conception to denote the, view, not only of
thofe ideas, but alfo of fuch as the mind fabricates to
herfelf. Thus, a man may conceive a centaur, but we
would not choofe to fay that he may apprehend a cen¬
taur : not that there is any impropriety, perhaps, in this
laft expreffion •, but as there is certainly a difference
between apprehending the idea of what has been feen or
felt, and conceiving that which never exifted, perfpicuity
requires that thefe different operation^ be expreffed by
different names.
We have faid that the mind may conceive what
never exifted: and every man may eafily fatisfy him-
felf that what we have faid is true: but though this has
been frequently called the creative power of the mind,
it has in fa£t no refemblance to creation. Ihe mate¬
rials of all our molt complex ana fantaftic conceptions
are furniftred to our hands by fenfation and refletfion •,
nor can we form one fimple idea which was not origi¬
nally received by fome of our fenfes fiom external ob-
iefts, or, as {hall be drown afterwards, one intellectual
notion which was not acquired^ by reflecting on the
operations of our owm minds. . lo explain the pro-
cefs of fantaftic conception, it is to be obferved, that
77
different
from con¬
ception.
78
In what
fenfe it is
true that
<Vve can
conceive
objects
which ne¬
ver exifted
579
in every fenfible objeCt we perceive at once feve- Of Simple
ral things, fuch as colour, figure, exlenfion and mo-
tion or ref, &c. Thefe are the objefts of different Co“ception>
fenfes: but they are not, at leaft by full-grown men,' 
perceived in fucceffion, but all at once $ whence it
comes to pafs that the memory, or the imagination, re¬
tains not feveral diftinCt and disjointed ideas, but the
idea of one coloured, figured, and extended objeEl. But
when we compare various objeCts, or the ideas of va¬
rious objeCls, together, we find that in fome refpe&s
they agree and in others difagree } i. e. that feveral ob¬
jects affeft fome of our fenfes in the fame way, and
other fenfes differently. Thus one globe is black, and
another white one black fubftance is circular and
hard, and another fquare and loft. In the firft in-
ftance, the two globes affeCt our fenfe of touch in the
fame way, and our fenfe of leeing differently ; in the
fecond, the two black fubftances affeCt our fenfe of
fight in the fame way, and our fenfe of touch different-
ly.
From obferving this difference among objeCts by
means of the different fenfations received from them,
the mind learns to analyze its original ideas, which are
copies of thofe fenfations, into their firft principles,
and to combine thofe principles in (uch a manner as to
form complex ideas of objeCls which were never ac¬
tually perceived by the fenfes. Of the fimple and un¬
mixed principles which compofe thofe complex ideas,
there is not indeed one w'hich was not originally re¬
ceived by fome fenfe ; fo that the whole difference be¬
tween complex ideas fabricated by the mind, and
thofe wffiich are the relidhs of fenfation, conlifts in the
order in wffiich the cOnftituent fimple ideas of each are
put together. Thus, no man ever faw a mountain of
pure gold ; and therefore the idea of fuch a mountain
can be in no human mind as a rel:£l of fenfation ; but
wre have all feen pieces of gold of different fizes, and
we have all feen mountains} and nothing is more eafy
than to conceive a piece of gold extended on all fides
to the fize of a mountain, and rifing out of the earth.
Again, Though no perfon ever faw a centaur, yet it
is eafy to conceive the upper parts of a man joined to
the breaft and ihoulders of a horfe. In thefe inftances,
the complex conceptions are of things which it is in the
higheft degree probable never had a real exiftence, and
which it is certain ure never perceived as exifting : but
the fimple ideas of wffiich they are compofed are the
relifts of aftual fenfations} for every one has per¬
ceived as really exiffing the body of a horfe and the
upper parts of a man, and when conceiving a centaur
he only perceives them to exift united. That wre have
not in the imagination one fimple and unmixed idea
which was not left there as a relift of fenfe, every man
will be convinced wffio {ball try to conceive a fimple
colour or tafte wffiich is totally different from all the
colours and taftes, and all the (hades and varieties of
them, which he has received by fenfation} but his
fimple ideas, though all received from without, he may
put together in numberlefs manners, differing from
any order in which he has ever aftually perceived the _ 79
qualities of external objefts exifting. ofcencep^
Yet even this power of the mind Is limited. It
impoffible to put together a number of and ed to pof-
inconffent ideas, in luck a manner as to form of them Able exift-
one complex conception. No man, for inftance, can£nce*
4 D 2 conceive
5S0 M E T A P
vVr ehtn conceive a to at or‘Ce white and black, round
fion and1' aTU* Jlarcl and fortj in motion and at reft.—
Conception. Hence it is a maxim among philofophers almoft uni-
verfally received, that though we can conceive many
things which never aEually exiited, yet we can form
no ideas but of fuch things as might poJJibhj exi/i. A
centaur never exitted, but it may be conceived j for it
is by no means impoflible that the head of a man might
be joined to the body of a horfe : but black fnow can-
uol lie conceived; for in the complex idea denoted by
the word fnoxv whitenefs is an ellential part, and no¬
thing can be conceived to be botli black and w-hite at
the fame time. From this undoubted fail, that we
cannot conceive impoffible exiftence, the power of con¬
ception has by fome writers in certain inftances been
made a teJf ot truth. “ In every idea is implied (fays
* Review Dr Price*) the poffibility of the exiftence of its object ;
fitl 9 ^f- n0tbinS being.c.learer> than that there can be no idea
‘tioiu and' ^ an ’ppoffibility, or conception of what cannot exift.”
Difficulties “ ^ 's an eftabliflied maxim in metaphyfics (fays
in Morals. Hume), that whatever the mind conceives, includes
the idea of poffible exiflence ; or, in other words, that
f XJays. nothing rve imagine is abfolutely impofhble fIn a
word, it has been admitted by all philofophers, from
Pythagoras to Dr Reid, to be an axiom as evident and
undeniable as any in Euclid, that whatever we can
didindlly conceive is poffible, though many things may
be poffible, nay, may really exift, of which we can
So form no conception.
The fingu- This axiom has been denied by the author of the
on> Reid Eflays on the Intellectual Powers of Man ; who af-
refpedting hfpts, that “ any two f.des of a triangle may be con¬
cur power ceived to be equal to the third,” as diftindlly as u any
of concep- two fides of a triangle may be conceived to be greater
tion than the third.” This alfertion from fuch a man fur-
prifed us as much as any paradox which we ever read :
for nothing is more certain, than that we ourfelves can
form no conception of a triangle of which two of the
fides are only equal to the third. We can, indeed, re-
folve the propofition into its different parts, and form
the diftimft and independent ideas of a triangle, two
Jides, and onejide; and we can likewife form the general
notion of equality : but to combine thefe ideas and this
notion into one individual complex conception, we find
to. be abfolutely impoffible. A man who knows no¬
thing of triangles, if fuch a man there be, might be¬
lieve Dr Reid that it is a figure of which one of its
Tides is equal to the other two ; but fuch a perfon
H Y S I C S. parj; p
would have no conception of the Jigure itfelf, but only a Of Simple
confidence in the dodlor’s veracity. Appreiien-
What is it to conceive a corporeal thing to exift ? Isf fion aild
it not to fancy that we view it on all fides, as what
may be feen, or felt, or fmelt, or tailed ? The dodor, Si
indeed, repeatedly reprobates as the fource of much controvert-
error the notion of ideas as images in the mind ; and^’
if ideas be taken as real material figures, he is certain¬
ly in the right : But we appeal to the common fenfe
of mankind, whether every peribn who diftindly con¬
ceives a triangle, is not at the time confcious that his
mind is aftebted in a manner fimilar, though not fo for¬
cibly, as when he a&ually views a triangle with his
eyes ? What other men may feel, they know belt; but
we are as certain that this is the cafe with refpebl to
ourfelves, as we are certain of our own exiftence. That
this affeblion of the mind is occafioned by fome agita¬
tion in the brain, or the fame kind with that which
occafions aftual perception, is highly probable ; but
whatever be the caufe, the fad is undeniable.
The dodor’s words, indeed, taken by themfelves,
would lead one to think, that by conception he means in
this cafe nothing more than the underftanding of the
terms of a propofition : but if that be his meaning
there was no room for controverfy ; as the great philo-
fophers 6 vdworth, Clarke, Price, and Hume, vvhofe opi¬
nion he is combating, would have been as ready as
himfelf to allowq that when a man is thoroughly mafler
of any language, he will find no difficulty in under¬
ftanding the meaning of any particular words in that
language, however abfurdly thefe words may be put
together. When Dr Price fays, that “ in every idea
is implied the poffibility of the exiftence of its objed,
nothing.being clearer than that there can be no idt-a of
impoffibility or conception of what cannot exifi,” his
meaning evidently is, that we cannot mentally contem¬
plate or fancy ourfelves viewing any thing corporeal,
wffiich we might not adually view with our eyes, or
perceive by fome other fenfe (k). This is the true
meaning of conception, which is fomcthing very different
from underftanding the feparate meaning of each word
in a propofition.
"I he learned profeffor, however, appeals to the
pradice of mathematicians for the truth of his opi¬
nion : and if they be on his fide, wTe muft give up the
caufe } for in no fcience have wre fuch clear ideas, or
fuch ab.olute certainty, as m mathematical reafonings.
But it is to be obferved, that the word conception \s
' with
(K) Dr.Price may be thought by fome to have contradided in this paffage what he had afferted in a for
raer He is a ftrenuous advocate for abftrad and general ideas even of material objeds: but thofe amone the
moderns who contend the moft zealoufly for thefe, contend for them only as conceptions of the mind which
can have no poflible exiftence out of it. Were this likewife the opinion of Dr Price, he would certainly have
fallen into a aired contradidion ; but this is not his opinion. His notion of abftrad ideas feems to be the
ame. with that of Plato, who confiders ideas not only as the poffibilities of exiftence, but as things aduallv
exift mg from eternity, uncreated and independent even of the Supreme Mind. That Dr Price carries the
matter thus far, we are unwilling to believe ; but he certainly confiders general ideas as real exiftences indepen-
d n°n rndS’ th°U8h th? immedlate obieas our underftanding. That in this notion be is miftaken
T , VruVe Cha-Pt1er' 11 18 en°Ugh for our Prefent PurP°fe to have frown that he
does not contradid himfelf; and that he might with great propriety affirm on his own principles, as well as
its objed pnnCip 65 °f thofe wh° adnut not of univerfal ideas, that in every Idea is implied the poffibility of
Chap. Til. M E T A P
C)t ;<1' wi:h nc propriety applied to ahftraB truth, but to real
Arpro:hen- or p0JJl\jle exiitence *, nor can we be faid to conceive
('or ce ticr diftinitly a real or pojjihle objeft, unlefs we be able to
— turn it round and round, and view it on all Tides.—
The faculties which are converfant about abJlraB truth
aie the judgement and the reafon •, and truth itfelf con-
fifts in the agreement, as falfehood does in the difa-
greement, of two or more ideas or terms compared to¬
gether. * If thofe ideas about which the judgement is to
be made can be immediately brought together, without
the intervention of a third idea, it is impofiible that we
fhould judge, or, if Dr Reid will have it fo, conceive
that to be true which is realhj falfe. If the two ideas
cannot be immediately brought together, it is impof-
lible that we Ihould form any judgement or conception at
all about their agreement or di/agreement: but we may
fuppofe or admit, for the fake of argument, that they
agree or difagree } and if that fuppolition condufl to
a manifeft abfurdity, we then knave that the fuppoli¬
tion was falfe* It is, therefore, perfe&ly agreeable to
the maxim of Price and Hume, that mathematicians
Ihould . in many cafes prove fome things to be poffible
and others impoffible, which without demonflration
would not have been believed 5 becaufe if the ideas
compared cannot be immediately brought together, no
judgement previous to the demonftration can be formed
of the truth or falfehood of the propofition j and if
it concern not real or poffible exidence, it is a propo-
fition with which conception has nothing to do.
“ But (fays Dr Reid) it is eafy to conceive, that,
in the infinite feries of numbers and intermediate frac¬
tions, fome one number, integral or fraflional, may
bear the fame ratio to another as the fide of a Iquare
bears to its diagonal.” We are fo far from thinking
this an eafy matter, that if the word conceive be taken
in the fenfe in which it is ufed by the philofophers
whole opinion he is combating, we muft confefs that
we can form no adequate conception at all of an in¬
finite feries. When w*e make the trial, we can only
bring ourfelves to conceive the real numerical figures
1, 2° 3, &c. or the fraflional parts 4, 4, &c->
and even here our conception reaches but a fmall way.
We have reafon to believe, that minds ef a larger grafp
can conceive at once more of the feries than wTe can 5
and that the Supreme Mind conceives the wffiole of it,
if the whole of a mathematical infinity be not a contra-
didlion in terms: but furely no man wall fay that he
can conceive an infinite feries as he conceives a centaur,
and have an adequate and diftinft view ot it at once. If,
by conceiving that in an infinite feries fome one num¬
ber may bear the fame ratio to another that the fide
of a fquare bears to its diagonal, the dodlor only
means that fuch a fuppojition may be made, his onfer-
Vation is not to the purpofe for which it is brought 5
for the queftion is not about our power to make fup-
pofitions of this kind, but about our power to raife in
our imaginations an adequate and dillimfl mental view
of poffible or impoffible exifience. “ To fuppofe
(fays Johnfon), is to advance by way of argument or
jlluftration, without maintaining the truth of the po-
fition.” In this fenfe a man may fuppofe that in an
infinite feries there may be fome one number which
bears the fame ratio to another that the fide of a fquare
bears to its diagonal : but fuch a fuppofition contains
in it nothing that is poJitive} which conception always
H Y S I C S. 581
does j it is only admitting, for the fake of argument, Simple
a pofition, of the truth or falfehood of which the -^Pprehen-
perfon who makes the fuppofition knowrs nothing.— Conception
He is only talking of ratios as a blind man may talk 1 ^
of colours. A man born blind .may be made to com¬
prehend many of the lawrs of optics, and may make
fuppofitions about colours, and reafon from fuch fup-
pofitions to a certain extent, as clearly and juflly as
oue who fees j but will any perfon fay that a man blind
from his birth can conceive red or green ? It is much
the fame with relpedl to an infinite feries. We can
follow fuch a feries fo far, and may know the ratio by
which it increafes or decreafes, and reafon from what
we know with the utmoft certainty : but no man ever
conceived the whole of an infnitc feries as he conceives
an individual ohjecl ; nor can any reafonings upon the
nature of it be applied to the queftion of conceiving
impoffible exiftence.
But “ mathematicians often require us (fays Dr
Reid) to conceive things that are impoffible, in order
to prove them to be fo. This is the cafe in all their
demonftrations ad abfurdum. Conceive (fays Euclid)
a right line drawn from one point of the circumference
of a circle to another, to fall without the circle. I
conceive this, I reafon from it, until I come to a con-
fequence that is manifeitly abfurd, and from thence
conclude that the thing which I conceived is impof¬
fible.” If it be indeed true, that Euclid defires his
readers to conceive a mathematical circle with a line
drawn from one point of its circumference to another,
and that line lying without the circle—if he really de¬
fires them to form fuch a complex conception as this,
we have no hefitation to affirm, that he requires them
to do wdiat is manifeftly impoffible. The writer of this
article has not in his cuftody any copy of the Elements
in the original Greek, and therefore cannot fay with
certainty what are Euclid’s words, nor is it of much
importance wrhat they be ; for on a queftion which
every man may decide for himfelf, by looking into his
own mind, the authority of Euclid is nothing.—The
propofition to which the doftor refers, is the fecond
of the third book ; and, in the edition of Simpfon, is
exprefied thus: “ If any two points be taken in the
circumference of a circle, the ftraight line which
joins them Ihall fall within the circle.” Every ma¬
thematician who can form an adequate conception of
a circle and a ftraight line, perceives the truth of
this propofition inftantly, for it refults neceffarily
from his conception ; but he who has not an adequate
conception of a circle, may ftand in need of a demon¬
ftration to ffiow him the truth: for it is to be ob-
ferved, that demonftration does not make truth ; it on¬
ly points it out to thofe who cannot perceive it intui¬
tively, juft as a microfcope does not make the hairs on
a mite’s back, but only brings them within the field of
vifion.
Were a man who never examined a mite through
a microfcope, and who has no adequate, ideas of the
infecl kingdom, to be alked whether there be hairs on
a mite’s back ? he would probably anfwer that he did
not know, but he could conceive no fuch hairs. In like
manner, were a man who has no adequate conception of
a mathematical circle, to be alked whether a ftraight line,
which joins any two contiguous points in the circum¬
ference, could lie without the circle ? he would pro¬
bably ■
582 M E T A P
A^i bably anfwer that he did not know. Now it is to be
fionVnd" remembered, that the reader of the Elements can have
Conception. no veiT adequate conception of a circle when he comes
 Y—— to the fecond propofition of the third book. The de¬
finition of a circle was indeed given him in the intro-
dudlion to the firfl book j but of that definition lie has
hitherto had occafion to make very little ufe, fo that
his idea of a circle will be little more accurate than
that of an illiterate clown, who has no other idea
of the figure than what he takes from a halfpenny or
f See Lord a diilling. Dr Reid himfelf has elfewhere * well ob-
Kames's ferved, that “ when a youth of moderate parts begins
Sketches of to fludy Euclid, every thing at firft is new to him.
Vf Man'■ 'V aPPrehenfion is unfleady $ his judgement is feeble,
Appendix an^ re^s Partly upon the evidence of the thing, and
to the firfl; partly upon the authority of his teacher: but every
Sketch on time he goes over the definitions, the axioms, the
fhe Scien- elementary propofitions, more light breaks in upon
him ; the language becomes familiar, and conveys
clear and ffeady conceptions.” In this date he cer¬
tainly is when he reads for the firft time the fecond
propofition of the third book : his conception of a
circle can then be neither clear nor fteady. Our young
geometrician, however, muft hllow, that the propofition
is either true or falfe ; and if he has read the preced¬
ing books with any advantage, he muft have clear and
fteady conceptions of angles and triangles, and be able
to demonftate many of their properties. “ Well (fays
Euclid), though you have no adequate conception of
a circle, you are well acquainted with plane angles
and triangles, and many of their properties: let us
fuppofe, if that be poffible, that my propofition is
falfe, and I will fhow you that the fuppofition is abfo-
lutely inconfiftent with what you know to be demon-
ftrable or felf-evident truth.” This is all which Euclid
can be fuppofed to require, when, in the words of his
excellent tranflator, he fays, “ If it (viz. the ftraight
line) do not fall wuthin (the circle), let it fall, if pof¬
fible, without.” He could rtot poflibly defire a man
who has an adequate idea of a circle, to form the pofi-
tive and complex conception of that figure, with a
ftraight line touching twro points of the circumference,
and yet lying on the outfide of the circumference j be-
caufe all his figures and lines are mere conceptions,
H \ S I C S. part j
and not real material things ; and fuch a requeft wxmldOf Abftrac-
have been the fame thing as if he had faid, Conceive tion ari^
what cannot be conceived (l). general
We have infifted the longer on this point, b^nG. Ij^as' ,
we think it of the higheft importance : for were it in¬
deed true, that w’e could conceive impoffible exiftence,
the confequences would be very melancholy. Thefc
confequences it is needlefs to enumerate. Qur read¬
ers will perceive, that if w-e could put together incon¬
fiftent ideas of fenfible obje£b, and view’ them fo unit¬
ed as one confident whole, nothing is clearer than that
our faculties would be contrived to deceive us, and we
would be doomed to cbeerlefs and univerfal fcepticifm.
Chap. IV. Of Abstraction and general
Ideas.
Every fenfible objeft is an individual, and differs Ever* 2fen.
in many refpefts from every other objeft. As fuch "objeft
it is perceived by the fenfes 5 and ideas beihg nothing ?nd every
more than relifts of fenfation preferved in the imagi-^^6,in"
nation or memory, every idea muft of courfe be an*m Ua °
individual, as much as the objeft to which it refers.
But all fcience, whether mathematical, moral, or me-
taphyfical, is converfant about general truths 5 and if
truth confift, as we have already obferved, and ftiall
more fully evince afterwards, in the agreement or co¬
incidence of ideas, how, it may be alked, can gene¬
ral truth refult from the comparifon of particular ideas?
To get rid of this difficulty, many philofophers, both
ancient and modern, pretend that the mind is furnifli-
ed with general ideas, from a comparifon of which re¬
fult general propofitions applicable to many individuals.
Philofophers, indeed, have differed in opinion refpeft-
ing the fource of thofe ideas, fome of the ancients
deriving them immediately from the Supreme Mind
to the human, whilft almoft all the moderns fays that
they are framed by abftraftion, and therefore call them
abJlraB ideas. _
'The doftrine of abfraB ideas has been fo fairly The doc-
ftated, and, in our opinion, fo completely overturned trine ab-
by Biftiop Berkeley, that we (hall content ourfelves ?ra<^ideas
with abridging what he has faid on the fubjeft, and tatCd’ ^
obviating
(L) Principal Campbell, treating of the commonly received doftrine of abftraftion, and havino- fhown
that though Locke has in one paffage of his immortal work expreffed himfelf on the fubjeft in terms unintel¬
ligible, his fentiments on the wffiole differed little from thofe of Berkeley and Hume, adds, “ Some of the
greateft admirers of that eminent philofopher feem to have overlooked entirely the preceding account of his
entiments on this fubjeft j and, through I know not what paffion for the paradoxical (I ftiould rather fay the
impoffible and. unintelligible), have ffiown an amazing zeal for defending the propriety of the hafty expreffions
which appear in the paffages formerly referred to. Has not the mind of man (fay they) an unlimited power
in mou.dmg and combining its ideas ? The mind, it muft be owned, hath an unlimited pow’er in moulding
and combining its ideas. It often produces wonderful forms of its own out of the materials originally fupplied
y erne } forms indeed of which there is no exemplar to be found in nature :—centaurs and griffins,
.a
Gorgans and hydras, and chimeras dire.
But ftill it muft not attempt abfolute impoflibilities, by giving to its creature contradiftory qualities. It muft
not attempt to conceive the fame thing to be black and white at the fame time j to be no more than three
inches and yet not lefs than three thoufand ; to conceive tw’o or more lines to be both equal and une-
qua , the lame angle to be at once acute, obtufe, and right;” or, we may add, the two fides of a triangle
be not greater than the third. See Vhilofophy of Rhetoric, vol. ii. p. 108, &c.
Chap. IV. M E T A P
Of Abftrac-obviating feme cavils v, luch have lately been urged
non and aga;nft reafoning. “ It is agreed on all hands
SIdeas. (lays that learned and ingenious prelate f), that the
< v  qualities or modes of things do never really exitl each
•f Introduc- of them apart by itfelf and feparated from all others ;
tioii to the but are mixed, as it were, and blended together, feve-
hf Hun'cii ra^ t^e ^ame objeft. But, we are told, the mind be-
Know- ing able to confider each quality fingly, or abftrafted
ledge. from thole other qualities with which it is united, does
by that means frame to itfelf abftradl ideas. For ex¬
ample : There is perceived by fight an object extended,
coloured, and moved : this mixed or compound idea,
the mind refolving into its fimple conllituent parts, and
viewing each by itfelf exclufive of t4ie reft, does frame
the abftraft ideas of extenfion, colour, and motion. Not
that it is poftible for colour or motion to exift without
extenfion j but only that the mind can frame to itfelf
by abjlraElion the idea of colour exclufive of extenfion,
and of motion exclufive of both colour and extenfion.
Again, The mind having obferved, that in the particu¬
lar extenfions perceived by fenfe, there is fomething
common and alike in all, and fome other things pecu¬
liar, as this or that figure or magnitude, which diitin-
guifti them from one another; it confiders apart, or
Singles out by itfelf, that which is common, making
thereof a moll abftraft idea of extenfion, which is neither
line, furface, nor folid,nor has any figure or magnitude,
but is an idea entirely prefeinded from all thefe. So
likewife the mind, by leaving out of the particular co¬
lours perceived by fenfe that which diftinguhhes them
one? from another, and retaining that only which is com¬
mon to all, makes an idea of colour in abftrad, which
is neither red, nor blue, nor white, nor any other deter¬
minate colour. And as the mind frames to itfelf abftrafl
ideas of qualities or modes, fo does it by the fame preci-
fion or mental feparation attain ab ft raft ideas of the
more compounded beings, which include feveral coex-
iftent qualities. For example : The mind having ob¬
ferved that Peter, "James, and John, refemble each other
in certain common agreements of lhape and other qua¬
lities, leaves out of the complex or compounded idea it
has of Peter, James, and any other particular man,
that which is peculiar to each, retaining only what
is common to all, and fo makes an abftraft idea
wherein all the particulars equally partake, abftrafting
entirely from and cutting off all thofe circumftances
and differences which might determine it to any par¬
ticular exiftence. After this manner, it is faid, we
come by the abftraft idea of man, or, if you pleafe,
humanity or human nature, in which, it is true, there
is included colour, becaufe there is no man but has
fome colour ; but then it o*m be neither b/ack, nor
white, nor any particular colour, becaufe there is no
one particular colour wherein all men partake. So
likewife there is included ftature ; but then it is nei¬
ther tall ftature, nor low ftature, nor middle ftature,
but fomething abftrafted from all thefe j and fo of the
reft. Moreover, there being a great variety of other
creatures that partake in fome parts, but not all, of
the complex idea of man ; the mind, leaving out thofe
parts which are peculiar to man, and retaining thofe
only which are common to all the living creatures,
frameth the idea of animal; which abftrafts not only
from all particular men, but alfo from all birds, beafts,
fifties, and infefts. The conftituent parts of that, ab-
533
H Y S I C S.
ftraft idea of animal, are body, life, fenfe, and fpon- Of AbftraV-
tanteous motion. By body, is meant body without any taon and
general
Ideas.
84
of controvert*
particular ftiape or figure, there being no one fhape or
figure common to all animals, without covering either
of hair or feathers or feales, &c. and yet not naked :
hair, feathers, feales, and nakednefs, being the diitin-
guiftiing properties of particular animals, and for that
reafon left out of the abJlraB idea. Upon the fame
account, the fpontaneous motion muft be neither
walking, nor flying, nor creeping: it is neverthdefs
motion j but what that motion is, it is not eafy to
conceive.
“ Whether others have this wonderful faculty
abjiraciing their ideas (continues the bilhop), they befted; ind
can tell ; for myfelf, I find indeed that I have a facul¬
ty of imagining or reprefenting to myfelf the ideas
of thofe particular things which I have perceived, and
of varioully compounding and dividing them. I can
imagine a man with two heads, or the upper parts of
a man joined to the body of a horfe. I can confider
the hand, the eye, the nofe, each by itfelf abftrafted
or feparated from the reft of the body. But then,
whatever hand or eye I imagine, it muft have fome
particular fhape, and fome particular colour.—Like¬
wife the idea of man that I frame to myfelf, muft
be either of a white, or a black, or a tawney, a-
Itraight or a Crooked, a tall or a low, or a middlc-
fized man. I cannot by any effort of thought con¬
ceive the abftraft idea above deferibed. To be plain,
I own myfelf able to abftraft in one fenfe, as when I
confider fome particular parts or qualities feparated
from others with which, though they are united in
fome objefts, yet it is poftible they may really exiifc
without them. But I deny that I can abftraft one
from another, or conceive feparately thofe qualities
which it is impoflible ftiould exift fo feparated j or that
I can frame a general notion by abftrafting from par¬
ticulars the manner aforefaidj and there are grounds
to think snoft men will acknowledge themfelves to be
in my cafe.”
To think this, there are indeed fuch good grounds,
that it is probable fome of our readers, little conver- be abiurd*
fant with the writings of modern metaphyficians, are
by this time difpofed to fufpeft, that the biihop in
his zeal may have mifreprefented the doftrine of ab-
Jlraflion ; as no man in his fenfes, who. is not perverted
by fome darling hypothefis, can fuppofe himfelf ca¬
pable of tagging together fuch monftrous inconfiften-
cies, as magnitude which is neither large nor fmall,
and colour which is neither white, red, green, nor
black, &c. But that the ingenious prelate, in his
account of this procefs of lopping and pruning, as Mr
Harris contemptuoufty, but moft properly, terms it,
has not exaggerated in the fmalleft degree, is apparent
from the following account of abJlraBion given by Mr
Locke. “ AbJiraB ideas (fays that writer) are not la
obvious or eafy to children, or the yet unexercifed
mind, as particular ones. If they feem fo to grown
men, it is only becaufe by conftant and familiar ufe
they are made fo : for when we nicely refleft upon
them, we (hall find that general ideas are fiftions and
contrivances of the mind that carry difficulty with
them, and do not fo eafily offer themfelves as we are
apt to imagine. For example, does it not require
fome pains and Ikill to form the general idea of a
5^4
METAPHYSICS.
Part I
general
Ideas.
86
Abftradl
Of Abflrac-triangle (which is yet none of the mofl abftra6V, com-
tiun and prelienfive> anc} dithcult) ? for it muft be neither oblique
nor reftangle, neither equilateral, equicrural, nor fca-
lenon, but all and none of thefe at once. In effeft, it is
fomething imperfect that cannot exift, an idea wherein
feme parts of feveral different and inconjijlent ideas are
put together.” “ Surely (to ufe the words of Prin-
* Philofo- cipal Campbell *) the bare mention of this hypothefis
phy of Rhe- is equivalent to a confutation of it, fince it really
toric. confutes itfelf.” But if any man has the faculty of
framing in his mind fuch an idea of a triangle as is
here defciibed, it wcr.’d be vain in us to difpute
with him $ for we are poffeffed of no fuch faculty,
and therefore would fight on unequal terms. All
wre have to defire is, that the reader would fully and
certainly inform himfelf whether he has fuch an idea
or not •, and this can be no hard talk to \perform.
What is more eafy for any one than to look a lit¬
tle into his ow7n thoughts, and there try whether he
has, or can attain to have, an idea of colour feparated
from all extenfion; of extenfon, which is neither great nor
fmall; of tafe, which is neitherfweet nor bitter, nor
acid, nor agreeable, nor difagreeable; or the general idea
of a triangle, which is neither oblique nor re&angle, equi¬
crural, equilateral, nor fealenon, but all and none of thefe
at once (m) ?
Dr Reid having denied that there are or can be
conceptions in the mind any ideas of fenfible objects, rejefts of
the fame courfe the doftrine of abfradi general ideas, whilft he
Y-IYyT maintains in faft the fame thing, only fubftituting the
1,1 Kcas'w,ord conception for the word idea. “ What hinders
me (fays he) from attending to the whitenefs of the
paper before me, without applying that colour to
any other objeft ?” We know nothing indeed which
can hinder any man from performing this operation,
which is daily and hourly performed by infants ; but
will the dodfor fay, that he can attend to colour, or
conceive it, abfiradted from the pfiper and every other
furface ? We are perfuaded he will not, though he
immediately adds, “ the whitenefs of this * individual
-object is an alflraB conception^ Now we fhould ra¬
ther have thought, that, confiftent with his own no¬
tions of colour, he would have called the whitenefs of
the paper a concrete quality, and his own conception of
it a particular and concrete conception. If he conceives
the whitenefs as feparated from the paper, it is no
longer the wdiitenefs of that individual objedt : and he
muff either conceive it as abffradted from all objedts,
which is plainly impoflible : or he muft conceive it as
inhering in fome other objedtj and then neither the
quality of whitenefs, nor his conception of it, is ab-
ftradl: in general, but concrete and particular. He
affirms, however, “ that in abftradtion, ftridlly fo call-
-ed, he can perceive nothing that is difficult either to
be underftood or pradtifed.” This is going much
"farther into the dodlrine than Mr Locke went; for
general
Ideas.
he. owned (hat tifere was much difficulty in it. Let Of Abftrac-
us fee how it becomes fo eafy to Dr Reid. “ What tl0s
can be more eafy (fays he) than to diftinguiftr the
different attributes which we know to belong to a fub- <.
jedt ? In a man, for inftance, to diftinguilh his fize,
his complexion, his age, his fortune, his birth, his pro-
feffion, and twenty other things that belong to him.”
All this indeed, and much more, we can do with the
utmoft eafe •, but this is not abftradHon, ftridtly fo
called, nor any thing like abftradlion. We diflinguifh
the fize, the complexion, the age, &c. of the man, from
one another : but ftiil we conceive them all as lu's qua¬
lities ; nor is it poffible, at leaft for us, to abjlrafl them
from him, without comceiving them as the qualities of
fome other man ; fo that our conceptions are all con¬
crete and particular. “ It ought likewife to be ob-
ferved (fays the Profeffor), that attributes may with
perfedt eafe be diftinguilhed and disjoined in our con¬
ception, which cannot be aBually feparated in the fub-
jedf.” They may be fo in his conception, but cer¬
tainly not in curs j for 'cue can conceive nothing which
may not adlually exift. “ Thus (continues he) I can
in a body diftinguifti its*; folidity from its extenfion,
and its wmight from both. In extenfion, I can dh
ftinguifti length, breadth, and thicknefs ; yet none of
thefe can be feparated from the body, or from one
another. It is therefore certain, that attributes, which
in their nature are abfolutely infeparable from their
fubjedt and from one another, may be disjoined in our
conception ; one cannot exift without the other, but
one can be conceived without the ether.” So far is
this from being a matter of certainty, that in every
poffible fenfe in which we can underftand the word
conception, it appears to us as evidently falfe, as that
three and two are equal to nine. It is indeed not dif¬
ficult to diftinguifh in a body its folidity from its ex¬
tenfion, and its weight from both : but can we diftin¬
guilh them out of the body ? or, to fpeak in plain
language, can we conceive folidity as feparated from
all extenjion and all weight ? Unlefs this can be done,
and by us it cannot be done, there is no abftraBion
JlriBly fo called. It is indeed eafy to conceive folidity
or extenfon abftradled from any one individual objedt :
but how is it done ? Why, by transferring your at¬
tention to fome other individual objeB. Thus, we can
eafily conceive folidity or extenf on feparated from a
guinea, for inftance ; but it is only by transferring our
thoughts to another body, a piece of fiver, or a ball of
lead, &c. and out conceptions in both cafes are parti¬
cular and concrete.
As we think this opinion of Dr Reid’s refpedling
abstraction both ill-fout?ded and of dangerous con-
fequences, we have expreffed our diffent from it in
ftrong terms; and in doing fo we have only followed
the example fet us by himlelf when diffenting from the
theories of Hume and Berkeley. But we are fo tho-
, roughly
(m) “ If fuch an extraordinary faculty (abftradlion) were poffible, I cannot for my part conceive what purpofe
it could ferve. An idea hath been defined by fome logicians, the form or refemblance of a thing in the maid j
and the whole of its power and ufe in thinking is fuppofed to arife from an exadt conformity to its -archety pe.
'What then is the ufe or power of that idea, to which there neither is noi can be any archtetype In nature, which
is merely a creature of the brain, a moniier that bears net the likenefs of any in the univerfe f” Plulofophy of
Jfthetoric, vol. ii. p. HO,
2
8?
Terms,
how they
are
.Man.
Chap. IV. M E T A P
Of Abftrac-roughly convinced that the do&or’s acutenefs is fu-
an| perior to our own (m), that we are not without our
iera fears that we may have millaken his meaning. We
are confcious that we have not wilfully tnifreprefented
it j and to enable our readers to judge for themfelves
between him and us, we (hall lay before them his defi¬
nition general conceptions in his own words.
That there are in every language general terms, is
known to all mankind ; for fuch are all fubitantives,
proper names excepted ; and all adje&ives. But “ it is
(fay* the dodlor*) that words can have a
leElual general fignification, unlefs there be conceptions in the
Powers of mind of the fpeaker and of the hearer, of (n)
that are general. It is to fuch that I give the name of
general conceptions ; and it ought to be obferved, that
they take this denomination, not from the aft of the
mind in conceiving, which is an individual a£l j but
from the objedl or thing conceived, which is general.”
Now, whatever is Conceived, muft be either external to
the mind, or prefent with it. But the do&or himfelf
acknowledges, “ That all the objefts we perceive are
individuals. Every objeft of fenfe, of memory, or of
confcionfnefs, is an individual objeft. All the good
things we enjoy or defire, and all the evils wre feel or
fear, mufl come from individuals ; and I think I may
venture to fay, that every creature which God has
made in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or
in the waters under the earth, is an individual.” If this
be fo, and no man can call it in queftion, it is obvious
that w!e can have no general conception of any thing ex¬
ternal. The aB of conceiving is an individual aB ; and
therefore the only thing which can be general, muft be
fomething prefent with the mind, and different from the
mere act of conceiving : But what can this be, if not what
Berkeley and others call an idea ? and how can wre have
an idea of w;hich we are not confcious ? yet every thing
of which we are confcious Dr Reid himfelf acknow¬
ledges to be an individual.
But if the doiffrine generally received refpe&ing ab-
ftraft ideas be fo very abfurd as it has appeared in our
reprefentation, how comes it to be fo prevalent among
the acuteft philofophers ? To this we anfwer, that thofe
philofophers have certainly in this inftance been im-
pofed upon by the ftrusfture of language. Every ad¬
jective and every fubftsrhtive, proper names excepted,
are words of general fignification ; and all fcience is
converfant about general truth j but as w7ords are fakl
to be fignificant, not of things, but of ideas •, and as
truth refults from the agreement or coincidence of
ideas; it has been haftily iuppofed, that without gene¬
ral ideas there could have been neither general terms
nor general truth. This is plaufible, but it is not folid.
Every objeft w'hich affefts our fenfes is an individual
objeff ; but we perceive that ttvo or more objefts which
affeft fome of our fenfes very differently, affe£t others
of them in precifely the fame wray. T hus, the paper
upon which one writes, the fnowr which he perceives
from his windowq and the milk which he may ufe at
VOL. XIII. Part II.
general
Ideas.
S8
of general
fignifica-J
lion.
H Y S I C S. 585
breakfaft,affe£lhis fenfes oftouchandtafte very differently, Of Abftrac -
but they prefent the fame appearances to his eye. This t'on(aainf
diverfity in the one cafe he believes to proceed from
different powers or qualities in the feveral objedls; and*,
the famenefs of appearance in the other, from fimilar qua¬
lities in thefe objects. To the fimilar qualities, though he
can frame no idea of them abftra£led from every indi¬
vidual objedt, he gives one common name ; and calls
every objedl which prefents the fame appearance to his
eye that fnow does, a white objedl ; where the word
white does not Hand for an abftradt idea, but for a
quality inherent in one or more objedls. Hence the
origin of adjedtives in language, which denote more
than can be expreffed by any dais of fubftantives j for
every adjedlive, befides the power of a name, includes
in iti'elf the force of a conjundlion. See Grammar.
The other clafs of general terms comprehends fub¬
ftantives j of which the origin is as follows : The ob-
jedfs about which wre have occafion to fpeak or write
are fo numerous and fo fludluating, that if every indi¬
vidual had a proper name, a complete language could
never be formed. But as there are not perhaps in na¬
ture two objedls that appear to us fimilar in all re-
fpedfs, fo are there not in nature two objedls which
aftedt all our fenfes differently. The mind, therefore,
either adtually perceiving two or more objedls at once,
or contemplating the ideas left by two or more objedls
in the memory, perceives, by its intelledlive powrer, in
wThat refpedls they agree and in what they difagree.
If the agreement be linking, and in more qualities
than one, it combines the feveral individuals into one
clafs or Ipecies, giving to the whole a common name,
which equally denotes the fpecies and every individual
belonging to it. Thus, obferving that Peter, James,
and John, agree in having the fame eredl form, in
walking on tw’o legs, in having hands, &c. and in be¬
ing endowed with reafon, w'e combine thefe three, and
all other individuals which we perceive to agree in the
fame ftriking and important qualities, into one fpecies,
to w’hich we give the name of man—a word which
equally denotes the w'hole fpecies and every individual
of it. Again, Contemplating feveral figures, which all
agree in the circumftance of being bounded by three
ftraight lines meeting one another fo as to form three
angles, we call the wThole clafs of figures and each indi¬
vidual by the name of triangle—though it may be im-
pofiible to contemplate any number of triangles with¬
out perceiving that all the angles of one are acute ;
that one angle of another is a right angle j and that in
the third there is one angle obtufe ; but the wmrd tri¬
angle, unlefs it is limited in its fignification by the ad¬
dition of an adjedlive, is equally expreflive of an acute-
angled triangle, a right-angled triangle, and an obtufe-
angled triangle. By thus arranging individuals ac¬
cording to their moft confpicuous qualities, we may
combine all the objedls exifting into fo many claffes or
fpecies, which fhall be afterwards known by as many
names ; but of each fpecies we neither have, nor can
4 E have,
(m) Notwithftanding this declaration, which is made with the greateft fincerity, we do not apprehend that we
are guilty of prefumption when w’e examine the dodlor’s opinions. Berkeley and Hume wTere certainly as acute as
any metaphyfician who has fucceeded them 5 yet their opinions have been canvaffed without ceremony, and to
much advantage. Aliquando bonus donnitat Homerus.
(n) He tells us foon afterwards, that there are no things general. How is the one paffage to be reconciled
with the other ?
general
Ideas
586 M iL
Of Abftrac*have, any other idea than that of a multitude of fimhar
tiop and individuals.
As our acquaintance with nature enlarges, we dif-
1 cover refemblances, linking and important between one
fpecies and another, which naturally begets the notion
of a higher clafs called a genus. From comparing man
with bealls, birds, filhes, and reptiles, we perceive^ that
they are all alike poffeffed of life, or a principle of fen-
fation and action, and of an organized body : hence we
rank them all under a higher clafs or genus, to which
we give the name of animali which equally denotes the
whole genus, each fpecies comprehended under the ge¬
nus, and every individual of every fpecies. Ihus, ani¬
mal, is n genus $ man, bcajl, bird, are io many
comprehended under that genus; and Peter, James, and
John, are individuals of the fpecies man. Peter, James,
and John, are proper names, denoting each an indivi¬
dual; man, beef, bird, arefpccifc terms, denoting each
a whole fpecies compriling many individuals; and ani¬
mal is a general term, became it denotes a whole genus,
comprehending under it feveralfpecies, of which each
confifis of manij individuals; and the general term
denotes either the whole genus, all the fpecies, or any
individual of all the fpecies. ihis is the whole.my fiery
of ahfraBion : they are merely terms, that in ftridl-
nefs of fpeech are general and abfracx ; and even thofe
are general only as fgns, of which the full fignification
cannot always be reprefented by any conceivable idea.
“ It is a received opinion (fays Biibop Berkeley),
Names arj(lt}iat language has no other end but the communicating
ideas often cf oiir *^eas anc[ t]la1- every fignificant name Hands for
uled as mere    - ■ • vi i —
METAPHYSIC S.
Part I.
figns,
an idea. This being fo •, and it being withal certain,
that names, which yet are not thought altogether infig-
nincant, do not always mark out particular conceivable
ideas ; it is ftraightway concluded that they Hand for
abftradl notions. That there are many names in ufe a-
mongft fpeculative men, which do not always fuggeft
to others determinate particular ideas, is what nobody
will deny : and a little attention will difeover, that it
is not neceffary, even in the fliitlefl reafonings, that
figmficant names, which Rand- for ideas, fliould every
’ime they are ufed excite in the underftanding the ioeas
they are made to Hand for. In reading and ducouii-
ing, names are for the moil part ufed as letteis in al¬
gebra; in which, though a particular quantity be mark¬
ed by each letter, yet to proceed right, it is not re¬
quisite that in every Hep each letter fuggeli. to our
thoughts that particular quantity it was appointed to
Hand for.'” 1 he fame thing is true of ideas, which
as well as names are often ufed merely as figns repre-
fenting a whole clafs ; and on that account they may
be called general, though every idea is in itfelf llriclly
particular. Thus, “ An idea, which confidered in
itfelf is particular, becomes general by being made to
reprefent or Hand for all other particular ideas of the
fame fort. To make this plain by an example, fuppofe
a geometrician is dernonftrating the method of cutting
a line in two equal parts : He draws, for inftance, a
black line of an inch in length : this, which in itfelf is
a particular line, is neverthelefs, with regard to its fig¬
nification, general; fince, as it is there ufed, it repre-
fents all particular lines whatfoever : fo that what is
demonftrated of it is demondrated of all lines, or, in
other words, of a line in general. And as that parti¬
cular line becomes general by being made a fign, fo
the name line, and the idea of a line in the imagination, Of Abftrac-
either of which taken abfolutely is particular, by being
iigns are made general likewife. And as the former j(jeaS.
owes its generality, not to its being the fign of an ab- ^ —..j
ftrafl or general line, but of all particular right lines
that may poflibly exitl ; fo the latter, the name and
the idea, mull be thought to derive their generality
from the fame caule, namely, the various particular
lines which each of them indifferently denotes.'” A-
gain, When one demonftrates any propofition concern¬
ing triangles, it is to be fuppofed that he has in view
to demonftrate an univerfal truth ; yet the particular
triangle which he confiders muff be either equilateral,
ifofceles, or fealenon ; for a plain triangle, which is
none of thefe, can neither exilt nor he conceived. But
whether it be of this or that fort is of no importance,
as any of them may equally Hand for and reprefent all
reftilineal triangles, and on that account be denomr-
Yi'eXziP univerfal.
This doftrine refpefting names and ideas being ufed
merely zs figns, has been adopted by almoft every fub-
fequent philofopher; and by Principal Campbell it
has been illuHrated with perfpicuity and acutenels
every way worthy of the author of the HriTertatron on
Miracles. “ In confirmation of this do£lrine (fays
he *), it may be obferved, that we really think by * PhUofo-
figns, as well as fpeak by them. All the truths mVich.phy of Rhe-
conftitute fcience, which give exercife to reafon, and tonc'
are difeovered by philofophy, are general ; all our
ideas, in the ilridlefl fenfe of the word, are particular.
All the particular truths about which we are conver-
fant are properly hitlorical, and compofe the furniture
of memory. Nor do I include under the term hifort-
cal the truths which belong to natural hillory; lor even
thefe too are general. Now, beyond particular truth
cr hiftorical falls, firft perceived and then remembered,
we Ihould never be able to proceed one frngle Hep in
thinking any more than in converfing, without the uie
of figns.
“ When it is affirmed that the whole is equal to all its
parts, there cannot be an affirmation which is more
perfeclly intelligible, or which commands a fuller :| af-
fent. If, in order to comprehend this, I recur to
ideas, all that I can do is to form a notion of fome in¬
dividual whole, divided into a certain number of parts
of which it is conilituted ; fuppofe of the year, divided
into the four feafons. Now all that I can be faid
to difeern here is the relation of equality between this
particular whole and its component parts. If I recur
to another example, I only perceive anotner particular
truth. The fame holds of a third and of a fourth.
But fo far am I, after the perception of ten thoufand
particular fimilar inftances, from the difeovery of the
univerfal truth, that if the mind had not the power ox
coniidering things as figns, or particular ideas as re-
prefenting an infinity of others, refembling in one cir-
cumftance though totally diffimilar in every ^other, .1
could not fo much as conceive the meaning or an uni- ^
verfal truth. Hence it is that fome ideas, to adopt the
expreffion of Berkeley, are particular in their nature, though par
but general in their reprefentation.” Ihemfelves
But if in univerfal propcfitions, ideas particular m ^ ^
themfelves be ufed only as the figns of others, it may
be demanded, how we can know any propofition to be general,
true of all the ideas which are reprefented by the-ruths; be-
fign >caufe
Chap. IV. M E T A P I
Of Abftrac-fign ? For example, having demonftrated that the
tion and t})ree angles Gf an ifofceles reftantjular triangle are
Ideas equal to two right ones, how can we conclude that
<«—-y—this afFe&ion. therefore agrees to all other triangles
which have neither a right angle nor two equal fides ?
To this queflion Biihop Berkeley and Principal Camp¬
bell give the following anfwer : Though the idea we
have in view whilft we make the demonftration be that
of an ifofceles reftangular triangle, whofe Tides are of
a determinate length, we may yet be certain that the
demonflration extends to all other rectilineal triangles
of what fort or bignefs foever} for this plain reafon,
that neither the equality nor determinate length of the
fides, nor the right angle, are at all concerned in the
demonftration. It is true, the idea or diagram we
have in view includes all thefe particulars ; but then
there is not the lead mention made of them in the
proof of the proportion. It is not faid the three
angles are equal to two right angles, bccanfe one of
them is a right angle, or becaufe the fides comprehend¬
ing it are of equal length j which fufKciently {hows
that the right angle might have been oblique and the
iides unequal ; and for all that the demonflration have
held good. In every one of Euclid’s theorems, a par¬
ticular triangle, and a particular parallelogram, and a
particular circle, are employed as figns to denote all
triangles, all parallelograms, and all circles. When a
geometrician makes a diagram with chalk upon a
board, and from it demonftrates the property of a
ftraight-lined figure, no fpeftator ever imagines that
he is demonflrating a property of nothing elfe but that
individual white figure, five inches long, which is before
him.—Every one is fatisfied that he is demonflrating
a property of all of that order, whether more Or lefs ex-
tenfive, of which it is both an example and a fign •,
all the order being underflood to agree with it in cer¬
tain charafters, however different in other refpeCts.
Nay, what is more, the mind with the utmofl facility
extends or contraCls the reprefentative power of the
fign as the particular occafion requires. Thus the
fame equilateral triangle will with equal propriety
ferve for the demonftration, not only of a property of
all equilateral triangles, but of a property of all ifo¬
fceles triangles, or even of a property of all triangles
whatever. Nay, fo perfeClly is this matter underftood,
that if the demonflrator in any part fhould recur to
iome property belonging to the particular figure he
hath conflruCled, but not effential to the kind men¬
tioned in the propofition, and which the particular
figure is folely intended to reprefent, every intelligent
obferver would inflantly deteft the fallacy : So entire¬
ly for all the purpofes of fcier.ce doth a particular ferve
for a whole fpecies or genus. Now, why one vijbble
individual fhould in our reafonings ferve without the
: Y S I C S. 5»7
fmallefl inconvenience as a fign for an infinite number,
and yet one conceivable individual, or a particular idea generap
of imagination, fhould not be adapted to anfwer the Tdeas.
fame end, it will, we imagine, be utterly impoflible to f—*
fay (n).
It muff, however, be confeffed, that there is a con-
fiderable difference in kind, between ideas ufed as figns
and the general terms of any language. Amongif all
the individuals of a fpecies, or even of the higheft ge¬
nus, there is ftill a natural connexion, as they agree
in the fpecific or generic charaCler $ and when the
mind makes ufe of any pofitive idea as the fign of the
fpecies or genus, that idea appears in the imagination
as an exaft refemblance of fome one individual. But
the connexion which fubfifts between words and things,
or even between words and ideas, is in its origin ar¬
bitrary ; and yet its effeCt upon the mind is much the
fame with that of the natural connexion between ideas
and things. For having often had occafion to obferve
particular words ufed as figns of particular things, and
fpecific terms ufed as figns of a whole fpecies, we con-
trad a habit of affociating the fign with the thing fig-
nified, infomuch that either being prefented to the
mind necefiarily introduces or occafions the appre-
henfion of the other. Cultom in this inlfance ope¬
rates precifely in the fame manner as natural refem¬
blance in the other ; fo that certain founds, and the
ideas of things to which they are not naturally relat¬
ed, come to be as thoroughly linked in our concep¬
tions as the ideas of things and things themfelves.
Nay, fo completely are they linked together, that we
often ufe, through long chains of reafoning, certain
founds or words, without attending at all to the ideas
or notions of which they are figns. “ I believe (fays
tbe author of A Treatife on Human Nature), that every
one who examines the fituation of his mind in reafon--
ing will agree with me, that we do not annex diflind
and complete ideas to every term we make ufe of j
and that in talking of government, church, negotiation,
conquefl, we feldom fpread out in our minds all the
fimple ideas of which the compound notions fignified
by thefe terms are compofed. It is, however, obferv-
able, that notwithftanding this inlperfeftion, we may
avoid talking nonfenfe on thefe lubjeffs, and may per¬
ceive any repugnance among the ideas as well as if
we had a full comprehenfion of them.” This remark
generally holds true ; but then it is to be obferved, that
all the words ufed as figns, and which yet do not denote
any one conceivable determinate idea, muff be capable
of definition. Thus, in matters that are perfe&ly fa¬
miliar, in fimple narration, or in moral obfervations on
the occurrences of life, a man of common underfland-
ing may be deceived by fpecious falfehood, but is hard¬
ly to be gulled by downright nonfenfe or a repug-
4 E 2 nance
(n) Were it poffible to frame an aljlraB general idea of a triangle, which is neither equilateral, ifofceles,^ nor
fcslenon, even that idea muft be ufed merely as a fign as much as any particular triangle whatever ; and the
queflion’might ftill be afked, How we can know any propofition to be true of all the triangles reprefented by
the firm ? For example : having demonftrated that the three angles of an ideal triangle, which is neither equi¬
lateral, ifofceles, nor fca1enon, are equal to two right angles, how can we conclude that this affedbion agrees
to triangles which are equilateral, &c. ? To this queftion it is not eafy to conceive what anfwer could be
given other than that of Berkeley and Campbell, in the cafe of ufing particular and conceivable triangles as
figns.
/)88
Of Abftrac-
tton and
general
Ideas.
51
it is not
the matter
but the
f ower of
the fign
that is ic-
garded by
the mind.
92
A continu¬
ed train of
thought in
the mind.
'* BJfays.
METAPHYSICS.
Part I,
nance of idea*. Almoft all the poffible applications
of the terms (in other words, all the acquired rela¬
tions of the figns) Miave become cuftomary to him.
The confequence is, that an unufual application of any
of them is inflantly detailed : this detection breeds
doubt, and this doubt occafions an immediate recourfe
to definition; which, proceeding through fpecies and
genera, refolves complex terms into others lefs complex,
till it ends at laft in fimple ideas and relations, which can
neither be defined nor mifunderftood (o). See Logic.
Thus then we fee, that though there are no ideas,
properly fpeaking, general and abftraft, a man may,
by terms and particular ideas, ufed as Jigns, arrive at the
knowledge of general truth. In neither cafe is it the
matter, if we may be allowed the expreffion, but the
power of the fign that is regarded by the mind. We
find, that even in demonftrative reafonings, figns the
rnoft arbitrary, or mere fymbols, may be ufed with as
little danger of error as ideas or natural figns. The
operations both of the algebraifl and arithmetician are
ftriftly of .the nature of demonftration. The one em¬
ploys jigns the letters of the alphabet, the other cer¬
tain numerical charadlers. In neither of thefe arts is
it neceffary to form ideas of the quantities and fums
iignifkd 5 in fome inftances it is even impoffible vrithout
refolving the quantity or fum into parts, in a manner a-
nalogous to definition •, and then the mind comprehends
not the whole quantity or number at once, but the fe-
veral parts of which it is compofed, which it ccnnedls
(p) by the relation of junction or addition. Yet with¬
out this refolution, the equations and calculations car¬
ried on by means of the letters and figures fignificant
of the whole quantity or the whole fum, are not the
lefs accurate or convincing. And fo much for abjlrac-
tion, generalization, and the power oiJigns, whether na¬
tural or artificial.
Chap. V. Of the Association Ideas.
Every man whilfl awake is confcious of a conti¬
nued train of thought fpontancoufiy arifing in his
mind and parting through it \ nor could a fingle now
or inftant be pitched upon in which fome idea is not
prefent in his memory or imagination. No one idea,
however, unlefs detained by a voluntary exertion of
the mind, or unlefs produdlive of intenfe pleafure or
pain, remains long in the imagination ; but each haf-
tens off the ftage to make way for another, which
takes its turn and is fucceeded by a third, &c. We
are not to imagine that this train of thought is alto¬
gether fortuitous and incoherent. “ It is evident
(fays Mr Hume*), that there is a principle of con¬
nexion between different thoughts or ideas of the
mind ; and that, in their appearance to the memory
or imagination, they introduce each other with a cer¬
tain degree of method and regularity. In our more Aflbciation
ferious thinking or difeourfe this is fo obfervable, that ot _
any particular thought which breaks in upon the re- v U
gular track or chain of ideas is immediately remarked
and rejected. Even in our wildeft and moft wandering
reveries, nay, in our very dreams, w’e (hall find, if we
refledf, that the imagination ran not altogether at ad¬
ventures, but that there was dill a connexion upheld
among the different ideas which fucceeded each other.
Were .the loofefl and freeft converfation to be tran-
feribed, there would immediately be obferved feme-
thing which connedled it in all its tranfitions : Or,
where this is wanting, the perfon who broke the
thread of difeourfe might ftill inform you, that there
had fecretly revolved in his mind a fucceflion of
thoughts, which had gradually led him from the fub-
jefl of converfation. Among different languages,
even where we cannot fufpeft the leaft connexion or
communication, it is found, that vrords exprertive of.
ideas the moft compounded, do yet nearly correfpond
to each other \ a certain proof that the iimple ideas
comprehended in the compound ones, were bound to¬
gether by fome univerfal principle, which had an equal
influence on all mankind.”
That thefe obfervations are wTell founded, every
man maybe fatisfied by looking attentively into his "Ymiples
own thoughts; but when the author reduces the prin- ot affocia-
ciples of this affociation of ideas to three, viz. refem-noD'
blance, contiguity in time and place, and caufe or ejfedl,
he certainly contracts them wdthin too narrow' a com-
pafs. That thefe principles often ferve to connect
ideas, will not indeed be denied. A pidlure leads our
thoughts to the original : the mention of one apart¬
ment in a building introduces an inquiry or difeourfe
concerning the others: and if we think of a wound,
wTe can hardly forbear refledling on the pain which fol¬
lows it. But furely ideas fometimes fucceed each
other without refemblance, without contiguity in time
or in place, and without being connedled by the rela¬
tion of a caufe to its effeB. Befides all this, there are
other affociations than of ideas. Ideas are affociated
with paflions and emotions, and paflions and emotions
are affociated together. A particular idea is afioci-
ated with a proper name, and often with the general
name of the fpecies. General conceptions, fuch as thofe
which Mr Locke calls mixed modes (fee Mode), are
aflociated wfith figns both audible and vifible, and figns
are affociated with each other. Surely virtue, as it
confifts in adlion and intention, does not refemble the
found virtue, is not contiguous to it in time or in place,
and is neither its caufe nor its effeB ; nor is it conceiv¬
able, that the arbitrary figns of different things fliould
have any natural relation to one another.
But w7ere the enumeration complete, the bare men¬
tion of thefe principles does not account for the phe-
(o) For a farther view of this fubjedt, fee fome excellent obfervations on the common dodlrine concern¬
ing abftradtion by Profeffor Dugald Stewart of Edinburgh. Elements of the Philofophy of the Human
Mind.
(p) No man, we think, will pretend that he can perceive at one view a million of individual men,
or that he can imagine or conceive at once a million of ideal men: yet he may divide the million into
parts, vyhich, in the one cafe may be eaiily viewed, and in the other may be eafily conceived, in fucceffion.
Thus, 1.00+100-}-100, &.C,
Chap. V.
METAPHYSICS.
5$9
94
How they
operate.
Afl'onationnomena : For, granting tlie faft, it may ftill be afk-
ot Ideas Why does a picture lead our thoughts to the ori-
'""v ginal •, or the mention of one apartment in a building
introduce an inquiry concerning the others ? To thefe
queftions our author has given no anfvver ; nor are we
acquainted with any writer who can be faid to have
attempted it, except Dr Hartley and his ingenious edi¬
tor. There may be fome of our readers whom the
names of thefe men will prejudice againft their theory 5
but, doubtlefs, the greater part are willing to adopt
truth, or to examine an ingenious fpeculation, from
whatever quarter it comes. To fuch as feel them-
felves otherwife difpofed, wTe beg leave to fay, that if
they allow the name of Priejlley to difgull them at
what follow's, they will furnilh him with a nevv proof
of the truth of the doftrine which they rejefl.
That ideas fhould be affociated together, feems to
be inevitable from the manner in wdiich the mind ac¬
quires them. All our ideas, properly fpeaking, are
of feniible objects, and by far the greater part of them
of vifible objects. But every fenlible oj^jedt conveys
at once various fenfations and perceptions to the mind,
which appear not only united in fadf, but infeparable
in imagination. Thus, wdien a man looks at any par¬
ticular objedl, a tree for inftance, he perceives the
trunk, branches, leaves, Jize, Jhape, and colour, &c. of
the whole at once: he does not firft perceive the figure
of the trunk, then its fs&e, then its colour, then the
branches, &c. all in fucceihon ; but a perception of the
whole is conveyed to the mind by one fimultaneous
impreffion (q_). We have already feen, that the
fenfes, in fa£t, convey nothing to the mind but their
refpedlive fenfations j and that the perception of the
external objedt inftantly follows the fenfation. We
have likewife feen, that fenfation is occafioned by
feme impreffion, concuffiion, or vibration, given to
the nerves and brain, and by them communicated to
the mind or percipient being. We have likewife feen,
that memory depends as much upon the brain as ori¬
ginal fenfation, and is always attended or occafioned
by flmilar concuffiions or vibrations, &c. Thefe are
fadls proved by univerfal experience, and which, we
believe, no thinking man has ever called in queflion.
it follow’s, therefore, that every adtual fenfation mufl
leave fome effedl in the brain, either an adlual print,
which feems to be impoffiible, or a tendency to vibrate
or be agitated in the fame way as when the original
impreffion was made. This being the cafe, it is na¬
tural to conclude, that when any part of the original
perception is revived in the memory, the whole per¬
ception fliould be revived at once, fo as that we cannot
have an idea of the trunk of a tree without perceiving . oi Ijea*' .
the ideas of the branches affociated with it. This is
indeed not merely natural, but the contrary feems to
be impoflible 5 for as the original agitation or vibra¬
tion w7as occafioned by the whole tree, it is evident,
that whatever effeft or tendency that agitation or
vibration left behind it, mufl be left by the whole vi¬
bration, and therefore be equally related to the whole
tree.
But no objefl {lands fingle in nature. When we
view a tree, or any thing elfe, we always notice, how¬
ever tranfiently, the field where it grows and the ob-
je£ls around it. Thefe too leave effe£ls in the brain
at the fame time that the tree does fo 5 and therefore
make their appearance with it in the memory or ima¬
gination : but if the tree was the objefl to which we
principally attended during the a£lual fenfation, the
idea of it will be much more vivid than the idea of its
adjun£ls, and remain much longer in the imaginatiorr
or memoi'y ; becaufe the original fenfation by which it
was perceived, was flruck much deeper than the fen¬
fations by which its adjunfts were perceived. All
this mufl be intelligible to every one who attends to
what we have already faid of fenfation, perception, and
memory.
Thus we fee why a piclure leads our thoughts to
the original, and why the mention of one apartment
in a building introduces an inquiry concerning the
others, r It is not merely becaufe the piflure refernbles
the original, and becaufe the apartments of a building
are contiguous. Between a plain furface, varioufly co¬
loured and fhaded, and the contour of the human
face, there is certainly very little real refemblance, as
any man may be convinced who places his eye with¬
in fix inches of a good pi6lure. But the painter, hav¬
ing by his fkill in perfpeflive, contrived to lay his
colours on the plain canvas in fuch a manner as that
they refleft the fame rays of light with the original,
provided the fpeflator fland at the proper diflance j
thefe rays proceeding from the piflure fall upon the eye
in the fame dire&ion, and therefore give to the nerves
and brain the very fame impulfe which was given by
the driginal. When one apartment of a building is
mentioned, we inquire concerning the others from the
very fame caufe that, when we think of the trunk of
a tree which we have feen, we cannot avoid thinking
likewife of its branches. 9$ _
But the principle of affociation takes place among • ,
1 it t gives mean-*'
things not naturally connected, as the apartments oiing-totiie
a words of
language;
(q) This is certainly the cafe with adults, but it may be doubted whether it be fo with very young chil¬
dren. It has been fhown already, that the fenfation communicated by the eye from any vifible objerft, has
not the leaft refemblance to that obje6t ; and that in looking at a tree or any thing elfe, a full-grown man
pays not the leall attention to the appearance which the tree really makes to his eye j nay, that he is not even
confcious of that appearance farther than as it confills in colour. It is by the fenfe of touch only that we
acquire ideas of figure, even of plain figure ; and we imagine that we perceive them by the eye only be¬
caufe different figures, as dillinguilhable by touch, are fo clofely aiTociated with their correfponding vi¬
fible fenfations, that long before we are capable of inquiry, thefe two things are infeparable in the imagi¬
nation. It is otherwife v.'ith children, who, when they firfl begin to diftinguilh obje6ls by the fenfe of fight,
appear to do it, with great deliberation, as if they firft felt the proper fenfation of light and colour fo or fo
modified, and afterwards acquired, by fomething like a mental inference, a notion of the figure at which they
m'e looking.
M £. i A P
Affociatlon a building and a fubdance and its attributes and ad-
of Ide^s. junLqS- it js affociation which is the original fource
0f all the general or complex conceptions which we
have, and which even gives meaning to the words of
every language. Between founds conlidered in them-
felves, and things, or the ideas of things, every one
knows that there is no natural connexion •, yet the
idea of every known object is in the mind of every
man fo (lri611y aflociated with the name that it bears
in its native tongue, that the prefence of the one
always fuggefls the other. It cannot indeed be other-
wife/ if we attend to the manner in which a child
learns to affix a meaning to the words which he hears.
 A child knows his mother and nurfe, and indeed al-
moft every vifible object in the family, long before ne
acquires the power of articulation. I he imprefhons
made by thefe objecls, and repeated daily and hourly
on his brain, every one of which excites a fenfation,
mull !oou become fo deep as not to be ealily eiiaced.
Numbers of them too are ahociated together, fo that
the prefence of one introduces the other. It has been
already obferved, that ideas oi fight are the mofl vi¬
vid and the moil lading 5 but the child hearing the
fame found olten repeated, even that found comes in
time to leave in his memory a, permanent idea. He
then hears the found nurfe, for inilande, uttered at the
time when he is looking earneflly at the perfon of the
nurfe, with whom he is well acquainted, and to whom
he is flrongly attached 5 and having the two ideas re¬
peatedly excited together, they foon become fo af-
fociated, that the one neceflarily excites the other :
the word nurfe calls into view the idea of the woman
treafured up in his imagination.
But we need not have recourfe to children for the
proof of our affertion. It is obvious that the name of
every fimple and uncompounded idea can be lignificant
only by affbeiation. Of a complex conception tbe
name may be made intelligible by a definition ; but
fimple ideas cannot be defined, and between ideas and
founds there is no natural connexion, fb as that the
one previous to aflbeiation fhould fuggell the other.
Even of complex conceptions and mixed modes, the
meaning of the names is generally acquired by af¬
fociation •, for though it is certainly time, that all fuch
names are capable of definition, they are yet ufed with
fufficient propriety by thoufands wdio know not wxist
a definition is. Were a plain unlettered man afked to
define virtue, it is not probable that he could do it fo
as to make himfelf underflood ; yet having ideas of
the practice ofjujlicc, charity, fortitude, Sec. Unfitly ai-
fociated in his mind with the word vinue, he may
know the general meaning of that word as well as the
moft acute grammarian or the moft profound philofo-
pher.
An alms is a donation to a poor man •, but a child
who never heard of this definition knows perfefitly
what an alms is, from having often feen his parents
give money to a beggar, and call what they were do¬
ing by the name alms. The found of the word, after
having feen the firft alms given, will excite in his mind
an idea of the individual objefit who received it, and of
the aBion of him by whom it wms given •, but after
having feen feveral poor men relieved, he comes to
aflbeiate with the word alms any thing given to any
perfon ivho needs it or appears to be in want.
H Y S I C S. Part 1
So completely does this aflbeiation take place be-Aflbciation
tween ideas or cinders of ideas, and the words by lde''AS- ,
which they are exprefled, that even men of letters near
and underfland perfefilly many words witheut reviewr-
ing in their minds all the.ideas and relations of which
they are the figns. It has been already obferved, that
in talking of government, church, negotiation, conquejl,
we feldom fpread out in our minds all the fimple ideas
of which the compound notions fignified by thefe terms
are compoied *, and we now add, that the terms may
be ufed with fufficient propriety, and be perfefilly un¬
derflood by thofe who never attempted to analyze the
notions of which they are fignificant into their pri¬
mary and conflituent parts. Every man has read num-
berlefs details of the tranfafilions of one court with
another 5 he has heard fuch tranfafilions univerfally
called by the term negotiation. The term and the
tranfafilions fignified by it are fo clofely affociated in
his mind, that they are in a manner infeparable } and
by this aflbciation he knows the meaning of the term
better than he could have done by the mofl complete
definition •, which, perhaps, he would find it difficult
to give, or even to comprehend. 97
We have laid that the meaning of the yvord virtue ™
is acquired by affociation, by having often heard that 0lir no^
found applied to certain aBions; but it is extremely tions of vii>
probable, that the very notion of virtue, fimple andtue.
uncompounded as it appears to be, is acquired in the
very fame manner. The firjl rudiments of the notions
of right and wrong and obligation feem to be acquired by
a child when he finds himfelf checked and controuled
by fuperior power. At firft he feels nothing but mere
force, and confequently has no notion of any kind of
reftraint but that of neceffity. He finds he cannot
have his wall, and therefore he fubmits. Afterwards he
attends to many circumftances which diftinguifh the
commands of a father, or of a mafer, from thofe of any
other perfon. Notions of reverence, love, efeem, and
dependence, are connefiled with the idea of him who
gives thofe commands j and by degree's the child ex¬
periences the peculiar advantages of filial fubjefilion.
He fees alfo that all his compamons, who are noticed
and admired by others, obey their parents; and that
thofe who are of a refrafilory difpofition are univerfal¬
ly difliked. Thefe and other circumftances now begin to
alter and modify the notion of mere neceffity, till by de¬
grees he confiders the commands of a parent as feme-
thing that muf not be refitted or difputed, even though
he has a power of doing it ■, and all thefe ideas coa-
lefcing, form the notions of moral right and moral cb~
ligation, which are eafily transferred from the com¬
mands of a parent to thofe of a magiftrate, of God,
and of oonfcience. This opinion of the gradual for¬
mation of the ideas of moral right and wrong, from
a great variety of elements aflociated together, per¬
fefilly accounts for that prodigious diverfity in the
fentiments of mankind refpefiling the- objecls of moral
obligation ; nor do we fee that any other hypothefls
can account for the fafils. If the notion of moral ob¬
ligation w:ere a fimple uncompcunded idea, arifing
from the view of certain afilions or fentiments; or were
it acquired, as it certainly might be, by a chain of
reafoning from the nature of God and the nature of
man 5 why ihould it not in the one cafe be as invaria¬
ble as the perception of colours or founds, and in tbe
other
Chap. V.
Aflbciaticn other as our judgements of mathematical or phyfical
of Idea1;, truths ? But though the fhape and colour of a flower
appear the fame to every human eye; though eve¬
ry man of common underflanding knows, that if a
biiliard ball be ftruck by another, it will move from its
place with a velocity proportioned to the force of the
impuife •, and though all mankind who have but dipt
into mathematics, perceive that any two fldes of a
triangle mud be greater than the third fide ; yet one
man praftifes as a moral duty what another looks upon
with abhorrence, *^d reflects on with remorfe. Now
a thing that varies with education and inftruction, as
moral fentiments are known to do, certainly has the
appearance of being generated by a feries of dilferent
impreflions and aflociations in fome fuch manner as
we have endeavoured to defcribe. Let not any man
imagine that this account of the origin of moral fen¬
timents endangers the caufe of virtue ; for whether
thofe fentiments be inflinftive or acquired, their ope¬
ration is the very fame, and in either cafe their refli-
tude muft often be tried by the teft of reafon, fo that the
interefls of virtue are equally fafe on this as on any
other fcheme. See Moral PhUofopIn/.
This principle of affbciation has fo great an in¬
fluence over all our aflions, paflions, reafonings, and
judgements, that there is not perhaps any one thing
the edu- which deferves more to be looked after in the educa-
cation of tion of youth. Some of our ideas—fuch as thofe of
youth. a fubftance and its attributes, a genus and the fpecies
contained under it, a fpecies and its feveral individuals,
have a real connexion with each other in nature.
Thefe it is the office of our reafon to trace out and
to hold together in that union and order in which na¬
ture prefents them to the view of the mind ; for fuch
afl'ociations conftitute perhaps the greatefl: part of ne-
ceflary and of ufeful truths. But there are others
formed by cuflom and caprice,' which are too often
the fources of error, fuperflition, vice, and mifery—
of errors the more dangerous, and of vice the more
deplorable \ that if the affociations have been long
formed without an attempt to diffolve them, they ge¬
nerally become at lafl too flrong to be broken by the
moft r igorous effort of the beft-difpoied mind. I bus,
# , let a foolilh maid * amufe or rather frighten children
rav and ^ov'es ghofls appearing in the dark, let her
METAPHYSICS. 591
fophy and religion ; for we cannot imagine every in- Affociation
97
It ought,
therefore,
to be at¬
tended to
hi^Condiia repeat thefe ficlions till they have
of the Un- preffion on the young minds, and the
derfiand
ing.
nade a deep im-
notion of ghofls
will in time become fo clofely affociated with the
idea of darknefs, that the one fliail always introduce
the other; and it may not be in the power of the
.children, after they have become me--\ and are con¬
vinced in their judgements of the falfehood and ab-
furdity of the tales which originally frightened them,
to feparate entirely the notion of ghofls from the
idea of darkneff, or with perfect eafe to remain alone
in a dark room. Again, Let the idea of infaliibilinj be
annexed to any perfor. or fociety, and let thefe two
infeparably united conflantly poffefs the mind •, and
then one body in ten thoufand places at once fliall, un-
examined, be fwallowed for an Incontrovertible fa£l,
whenever that infallible perfon or fcciety dictates or de¬
mands affent without inquiry.
Some fuch wrong and unnatural combinations of
ideas will be found to eflablifli the irreconcilable op-
pofition that we find between different feds in philo-
dividual of any fed to impofe wilfully on himfelf, and , °flfleas-
knowingly to rejed truth offered by plain reafon. '
That which leads men of fincerity and good fenfe
blindfold, will be found, when inquired into, to be
fome early and wrong affociation. Ideas independent
and of no alliance to one anothe*, are by education,
cuflom, and the conflant din of their party, fo linked
together in their minds, that they can no more be
feparated from each other than if they wrere but one
idea 5 and they operate upon the judgement as if they
really were but one. This gives lenle to jargon, the
force of demon ft rati on to abfurdities, and conftftency
to nonfenfe : it is the foundation of the greateft and
moft dangerous errors in the world ; for as far as it ob¬
tains, it hinders men from feting and examining.
Before we difmifs the fubjedt of aflociation, it may
be proper to inquire, how far it is agreeable to the ac¬
count which we have given of the maimer in which
external objeils are perceived by means of the fenfes,
and the ideas of fuch objefts retained in the memory.
— It has been proved, we third;, by arguments un-,^ 9s _
anlwerable, that by the organs of fenie nothing is pij ot-
conveyed immediately to the mind but fenfationsdation ope-
which can have no refemblance to external objefls, and rates in our
that the perception of an objeft may be refolved intoPercePtl0n
a procefs of reafoning from effeefts to caufes.—But ^fx^srna^
children, it will be laid, do not reafon from eftecls *
to caufes, and yet they foon acquire the faculty of
perceiving and diftinguifhing the objects with which
they are furrounded. This is an undoubted truth,
and it can be accounted for only by the principle of
affociation. A child has as much the ufe of his fenfes
as a full-grown man. By his eye he has the fenfa-
tion of colour •, by his nofe, that of fmell $ by his
ear he has the fenfation of found \ and by his hand he
feels heat and cold, reftftance and bounded refiftance.
Every objeft which is prefented to him, impreffes his
mind with various fenfations : and thefe fenfations
combined together are probably all that he perceives
for fome years ; for there is no reafon to imagine that
a boy of one or two years old has the flighted: notion
of what we mean by folidity, hardnefs, foftnefs, or
indeed of that which is termed fub/Jance. Yet when
two or more objeffs are prelent, he may eafily diftin-
guifh the one from the other, becaufe the fenfations.
excited by the one muft differ from thofe excited by
the other, as much as the real qualities of the one
are different from the real qualities of the other j and
by dill inguiftr’ng between his own fenfations, he in
effeft diftinguifhes between the objefls which produce
thefe fenfations. His fenfations too being frequently
excited, leave behind them ideas in his memory or
imagination 5 and thofe ideas, from having been im¬
printed together and never feparated, become in time
fo clofely affociated, that whenever one of them is
called into view, the others neceffarily make their ap¬
pearance with it. Thus a child has a fet of combined:
fenfations excited in his mind by the prefence of his
nurfe ; he has a different duller excited, fuppofe, by
tl;e prefence of his mother. I he fe are often repeated,,
and leave deep traces behind them j fo that when the
mother or t*,e nurfe makes her appearance, fhe is im¬
mediately recognifed as a known objeft 5 or, to {peak
mere correffly, the child feels the very fame fenfa¬
tions
592 M E T A P
Aflbciation tions which he has felt before, from which he has expe-
of Ideas, j-jenced pleafure, and of which he has the ideas trea-
* fared up in his memory or imagination. A ftranger,
on the other hand, muii affeft him with a fet of new
fenfations, and of courfe will be diftinguifhed from a
known objeft as accurately as if the child were pof-
fefled of the notions of folidity, fubftance, qualities,
and diftance. A man born blind, who knew not that
fuch things as fire and fnow had ever exiiled, would
yet diltinguilh the one from the other the moment
that he fhould be brought within their influence. He
could not indeed apply their names properly, nor fay
which is the fire and which the fnow, nor would he
at fir ft have any notion of either of them as a real, ex¬
ternal, and diftant object 5 but he wmiild certainly di-
ftinguilh his own fenfations, the fenfation of heat from
that of cold. It is juft fo with a child : At firft he
perceives nothing but different fenfations. Ihefe he
can diftinguifh ; and as they are caufed by differ¬
ent objedls, in diftinguifhing betweeh the fenfations
he will appear to diftinguifh between the objefts
themfelves. In a fhort time, however, he acquires,
by the following procefs, fome inaccurate notions
of diftance. He looks, for inftance, earneftly in his
nurfe’s face, and at the fame time touches her
cheek perhaps by accident. He repeats this opera¬
tion frequently, till the fenfation communicated by
his eye comes to be affociated with that of his touch,
and with the extending of his arm •, and being all
treafured up as affociated ideas in the memory, the
fight of his nurfe makes him ever afterwards ftretch
out his hands with a defire to touch her. All this
while there is not the flighteft probability that the.
child has any notion offubjlaiice or qualities, or of any
thing beyond his own fenfations, and the means by
which he has experienced, that fenfations which are
pleafant may be obtained, and that fuch as are pain¬
ful may be avoided. The precife time at which a
child begins to think of external things we cannot
pretend to afcertain •, but we are perfuaded that it is
later than many perfons imagine, and certainly not
till he has made confiderable progrefs in the exercife
of reafon. Prior to that period the things which men
"know to be bodies, are known to children only as fen¬
fations and ideas ftrongly bound together by the tie
of affociation.
But if affociaticn be of fuch importance in the aifl
of fenfation, it is of ftill greater in that of retention •,
for it feems to conftitute the whole difference that
mory from there is between imagination and memory. By many
of the ancients, as well as by fome modern philofo-
phers, thefe two faculties feem to have been confound¬
ed with each other; but between them there is cer¬
tainly a great difference, though they likewife refem-
ble each other in fome refpe&s. An idea of memory,
confidered by itfelf, makes the very fame appearance
to the intelled! as an idea of imagination. We con¬
template both as if they were a£tual, though faint and
diftant perceptions : but the one is attended with the
-convi&ion, that it is the idea of on objedt which has
really been perceived at foroe period of paft time ;
whilft the other is attended with no convidlion, except
that the idea itfelf is adlually prefent to the mind.
Air Hume has faid, that ideas of memory differ from
■thofe of imagination only in being more vivid and di-
2
H Y S I C S.
ftindl j but certainly this is not always the cafe.
Part I.
99
and ieems
to diftin-
juifli me
imagina¬
tion :
ber.
An Affociation
idea of imagination has fometimes been taken for a oi Ideas. ^
real perception, which an idea ot memory can never
be. The difference between thefe two kinds of ideas,
we are perfuaded, aviies chiefly, it not wholly, from
affociation. Every idea of memory is affociated with
many others, and thole again with others down to the
very moment of the energy of remembrance ; where¬
as ideas of imagination are either the voluntary
creatures of the fancy at the moment of their ap*
pearance, in which cafe we fhould call them concep¬
tions 5 or they are ideas which we have a&ually receiv¬
ed from fenfation, but which, on account of fome
link being broken in the vaft chain of affociation, we
cannot refer to any real objefts. What gives probabi¬
lity to this conjeflure is, that ideas often appear in the
mind which we know not whether to refer to the me¬
mory or imagination, nothing being more common than
to hear a perfon fay, I have in my head the idea of fuel;
or fuch an objeff •, but whether I remember or only
imagine the objeft, I am very uncertain. Afterwards,
however, by turning the idea over and over in the
mind, he finds other ideas make their appearance, till
at laft clutters of them come into view, and affociate
fo clofely with the principal idea, which was the ob¬
ject of doubt, as to convince the judgement that it is
an idea of memory. _ _
It has been alked, Why we believe what we diftimff- *hg g°ound
ly remember ? and to that queftion it has been fuppofed 0f our be-
that no anfwer can be given. But it appears to us, lief of what
that affociation is the ground of belief in this as it will w'e remem-
be found to be in other inftances •, and that a man
believes he wafhed his hands and face in the morning,
becaufe the idea of that operation is fo ftrcngly linked
in his mind to the whole train of ideas which have
arifen in it through the day, that he cannot feparate
the firft from the laft, that which was a fenfation in
the morning from the fenfations which are prefent at
the inftant of remembrance. As thofe ideas are affo¬
ciated by nature, each; muft pafs in review in its pro¬
per order \ fo that in fo fhort a fpace of time there is
no danger, and hardly a poflibilfty, of taking the firft
for the laft, or the laft for the firft. Nay more, we
will venture to hazard an opinion, that every paft
event of a man’s life, which he diftimftly remember?,
is tied by the chain of affociation to his prefent per¬
ceptions. That this is poftible is certain, fince it is
not difficult to conceive how it may be done. The
principal events of a fingle day may furely be fo linked
together as to be all diftinftly reviewed in a clufter
of ideas on the morrow. Of thefe events fome one or
other muft be the moft important, which will there¬
fore make its appearance as an idea more frequently
than the reft, and be more clofely affociated with the
events of next day. Some event of that day will, for
the fame reafon, be more clofely affociated with it
than the others •, and thefe two, dropping perhaps all
the reft of their original companions, will pafs on to¬
gether to the third day, and fo on through weeks, and
months, and years. In the compafs of a year, feveral
things muft occur to make deep impreffions on the
mind. Thefe will at firft be affociated together by
events of little importance, like the occurrences of a
fingle day. Whilft thefe feeble chains, however,
continue unbroken, they will be fufficient to link the
Chap. V.
M E T A P
Afibciation one important event to the other, and to brin? them
ot Ideas, both into view at the fame time, till at laft thefe two,
v from appearing fo often together, will in time unite
of themfelves, and the intermediate ideas be complete¬
ly effaced. Thus may two or three important events
of one year be affociated with fuch a number of limi-
lar events of another year, fo that the ideas of the
one (hall always introduce to the mind the ideas of the
other ; and this chain of alfociation may pafs from the
eaiheil event which we diftimflly remember through
all the intermediate years of our lives down to the in-
ftant when memory ;v exerted.
To this account of memory it may perhaps be ob-
je&ed, tnat it gives us no diftinfl notion of time,
iwe.y tning tnat is remembered is necelfarily believed
to have be;n prefent in fome portion of paft time ;
but aifociation brings into view nothing but a feries
of events. This objeftion will be feen to have no
weight when we have inquired into the nature of time,
and afcertained what kind of a thing it is. It will
then perhaps appear, that duration itfelf, as appre¬
hended by us, is not diftinguilhable from a feries of
events ; and that if there were no train of thought
palling, through our minds, nor any motion among
the objeels around us, time could have no exilfence.
Meanwhile, whatever become of this opinion, we beg
leave to obferve, that our theory of remembrance is
per re til y confident with the commonly received no¬
tions refpetting time ; and indeed, that it is the only
theory, which can account for numberlefs phenomena
refpetling pad duration. It is univerfally allowed,
that if motion or a fuccedion of events, do not condi-
tute time, it is the only thing by which time can be
meafured. Now it is a fatl which no man will deny,
that the didance of time from the prefent now or in-
flant to the earlied period which he diilimflly remem¬
bers, appears to his view extremely fliort, much diort-
er than it is faid to be in reality ; and that one year,
when he looks forward, appears longer than two, per¬
haps longer than ten, when he looks backward. Upon
our principles this fadt is eafily accounted for. We
remember nothing which is not linked by a chain of
affociations with the perceptions of the prefent mo¬
ment 5 and as none but a few of the mod important
events of our lives can be linked together in this man¬
ner, it hence follows, that events which, in the order
of fucceflion, were far dijlant from each other, mud
thus be brought together in the memory, and the whole
chain be contradled within very fliort limits. But
when we figure to ourfelves a feries of future events,
wc employ the aftive power of fancy indead of the
padive capacity of retention •, and can therefore bring
within the compafs of one periodical revolution of the
fun a longer feries of imaginary events fucceeding
each other, than is preferved of real events in our me¬
mory from the earlieft period of our exidence : So
perfeflly does our theory accord with this well-known
fact. On the other hand, if memory be an original
faculty of the mind totally independent of alfociation,
Vol. XIII. Part II.
H Y S I C S. *
and of which.no other account is to be given than OfConfci-
that it necelfarily commands our belief, why is it a fg.^-dhefs and
cnlty which, with regard to duration, thus uniformly Rpfl^ionl
deceives us ? and how comes it to pafs, that to a man V
whofe memory is tenacious, who has read much, feen
many countries, and been engaged in various occur- N
rences, any determinate portion of pad time always
appears longer than to another man whofe memory'is
feeble, .and whofe life has been waded in eale and idle-
nefs ? To thefe quedions we know not what anfwer
can be given upon any other principle than that which
makes the evidence of memory depend upon alfocia-
tion. But if we remember nothing but what is link¬
ed to the perception or idea which is prefent until us
at the time of remembrance, and if duration be mea¬
fured by the fuccedion o! events, it is obvious that any
portion of pad time mud neceflarily appear longer to
him who has many ideas affociated in his mind than to
him who has but few.
There is not perhaps a Angle fa cl of greater import-ThJfmport-
ai^e.ln. tle P^oiophy of the human mind than the ance of af-
a[fociatio7i of ideas ; which, when thoroughly underdood fociation m
accounts for many of thofe phenomena which fome latetlie Philof°-
writers of name have, with injury to fcience and with
danger to morality, attributed to a number of diftinamind,
and independent indinas. It is for this reafon that we
have'confidered it fo minutely, and dwelt upon it fo
long ; and in addition to what we have faid on the fub-
jea, we beg leave to recommend to our more philofo-
phical readers the diligent dudy of Hartley’s Obferva-
tions on Man (r). In that work we think feveral
things are taken for granted which require proof j and
fome which, we are perfuaded, have no foundation in
nature : but, with all its defeas, it has more merit
than any. other, treatife on the fenfitive part of human
nature with which we are acquainted.
Chap. VI. Of Consciousness and Reflection.
Sensation, remembrance, Ample apprehenfion, and Confdouf-
conception, with every other aaual energy or paflionnefs, whit
of the mind, is accompanied with an inward feelingit:s» an-1
or perception of that energy or paffion; and that feel- wJiaJ1are its
ing or perception is termed confeioufnefs, Confcioufnefs° J
is the perception of what paffes in a man’s own mind
at the infant of its palling there ; nor can we fee, hear,
tafe, fine 11, remember, apprehend, conceive, employ our
faculties in any manner, enjoy any pleafure, or fuffer
any pain, vrithout being confcious of what we are do-
ing, enjoying, or differing, Confeioufnefs is only of
things prefent* ; and to apply it to things paf, is to* ,-,-
confound confcioufnefs^ with memory or refeclion. One fays on the'
cannot fay that he is confcious of what he has ken InteUe£h*ai
or heard and now remembers : he is only confcious Powers of
the aa of remembrance ; which, though it refpeas a^*'
pad: event, is itfelf a prefent energy. It is likewife to
be. obferved, that conlcioufnefs i,s only of things in the
mind, or confcious being, and not of things external.
It is improper in any perfon to fay that he is confcious
4 T of
(R ) Since this was written Mr Stewart’s El'menu of the Philofiphy of the Human Mind hint been pub-
princlnle0 r'ader find ma"y CJCcUent reInarks on the nature and influence of the affociating
METAPHYSICS.
£94
Of Cotrfci- of the table before him : he perceives it,hey^.r it , and
©ufnefs and may vvjt]1 great propriety fay that he is confcwus he
Kc fie chon. percejves or fees ;t . but he cannot fay that he is con-
"""v fcious of the table itfelf, for it is only his immediate
energy of perception that can be the object of con-
fcioufnels. All the operations of our minds are at¬
tended with confcioufnefs} which is the only evidence
that we have or can have of their cxiftence. Should
a man take it into his head to think or to fay that his
confcioufnefs may deceive him, and to require a proof
that it cannot, we know of no proof that can be given
him : he mull be left to himfelf as a man that denies
hrft principles, without which there can be no reafon-
ing. Every attempt to prove this point, or to fet it in
a clearer light, would only ferve to render it more dark
and unintelligible. I think, I feel, I exijl, are firft
103 , truths, and the bafis of all human knowledge.
JDes Cartes’s ^ given rife to the queftion, whether Des
from^on- Cartes did not fall into an abfurdity when, inferring
fcioufnefs his oum exiftence from his aftual thought, he faid,
for his own Cngito, ergo fum. This argument has been called a pi-
emftence. tjful fophifm, and a petitio principii; becaufe, before a
man take it for granted that he thinks, he muft alfo,
it is faid, take it for granted that he exills, fince there
cannot be thought w’here there is no exiftence. Now
it muft be confeffed, that if Des Cartes pretended by
this argument to give us a frefti conviftion of our own
exigence, his endeavours were ufelefs and puerile j be¬
caufe a man capable of being convinced by the argu¬
ments of another, muft have a previous conviflion of
his own exiftence : but the argument itfelf is certainly
neither a fophifm nor a petitio principii. Thofe * who
defend Des Cartes affert, jand there is no reafon. to
doubt the truth of their affertion, that his only view
in urging fuch an argument was not to prove the
truth of our exiftence, but to exhibit the order of
that procefs by which we arrive at the knowledge of
the faft } and this he has very clearly done by analyz¬
ing the truth into its firft principles. A ftone exifts
as well as the human mind j but has the ftone any
knowledge of its owm exiftence ? No man will fay that
it has ; neither ftiould we have any knowledge of ours,
did we think as little as the ftone. We certainly might
cxift without thinking, as it is probable W’e do in very
found fleep j and in that ft ate our exifience might be
known to other beings, but it could not poflibly be
known to ourfelves : for the only things of which the
mind is confcious, or has immediate knowledge, are
its own operations. 1 exifi is therefore a legitimate
inference from the propofition I think ,* and the obfer-
vation that it is fo may be ufeful to ftiow us the pro¬
cedure of the mind in the acquifition of knowledge 5
but it has little merit as an argument, and ftill lefs as
a dlfcovery, though, being ftriflly true and juft, it
ftiould never have been expofed to ridicule.
It is t<5 be obferved, that we are confcious of many
things to which we give very little attention. We
can hardly attend to feveral things at the fame time j
ancl our attention is commonly employed about that
tom confci- ^ch is the objeff of our thought, and rarely about
the thought itfelf. It is in our power, however,
when we come to the years of underftanding, to give
attention to our own thoughts and paflions, and the
various operations of our minds. And when we make
thefe the objeds of ?uj; attention, either while they
Part 1.
.» See Buf¬
fer's Firji
Truth.
J04
Refledtion,
what it is,
and how
different
©ufnefs.
are prefent, or when they are recent and frefu in our OfConfd-
memory, we perform an a& of the mind which is Pr°-Refledflon
perly called reflection. 1 his reflection ought to be di- ^ .
ftinguifhed from confcioufnefs * ; with which it is con-■*/£?id'sEf.
founded fometimes by Locke, and often by the learn-y&jv on the
ed author of Ancient Metaphyfics. All men are con-
fcious of the operations of their own minds at all times
while they are awrake, nor does it appear that brutes
can be wholly deftitute of confcioufnefs; but there
are few men who reflect upon the operations of their
minds, or make them the objects of thought 5 and it
is not probable that any fpecies of brutes do fo.
From infancy, till we come to the years of under¬
ftanding, we are employed folely about fenfible objeds.
And although the mind is confcious of its operations,
it does not attend to them j its attention is turned
folely to the objeds about which thefe operations are
employed. Thus, when a man is angry, he is confcious
of his paflion 5 but his attention is turned to the perfon
who offended him and the circumflances of the offence^
while the paflion of anger is not in the leaft the objed
of his attention. The difference between confcioufnefs
and reflection, is like the difference between a fuperficial
view of an objedt which prefents itfelf to the eye, while
we are engaged about fomething elfe, and that atten¬
tive examination which we give to an objed when we
are wdrolly employed in furveying it. It is by con¬
fcioufnefs that we immediately acquire all the know¬
ledge which we have of mental operations } but atten¬
tive refledion is neceffary to make that knowledge ac¬
curate and diftind. Attention is a voluntary ad j it
requires fome exertion to begin and continue it ; and
by great exertion it may be continued for a confider-
able time •, but confcioufnefs is involuntary, and of no
continuance, changing wdth every thought. ^ d-he
powder of refledion upon the operations of their own
minds does not at all appear in children. Men muft
have come to fome ripenefs of underftanding before
they are capable of it. Of all the powers of the hu¬
man mind it feems to be the laft that unfolds itfelf.
Moft men feem incapable of acquiring it in any con-
fiderable degree 5 and many circumftanCes confpire to
make it to all men an exercife of difficulty. 1 he dif¬
ficulty, however, muft be conquered, or no progrefs
can be made in the fcience of our own or of other
minds. _ # 105,.
All the notions which we have of mind and of its our
operations are got by refledion ; and thefe notions are tions of
by Mr Locke called ideas of reflection. This term we ^ &
think extremely ill chofen 5 and we believe it has been
the fource of much error and confufion among Locke’s tion.
followers. A man, by attending to the operations of
his own mind, may have as diftind notions of remem¬
brance, of judgement, of will, of defire, as of any objed
whatever : but if the fecondary perception of a fcnfible
objed, that appearance which it has to the mind when
viewed in the memory or imagination, be properly call¬
ed an idea, it is certain that of the operations of the
mind itfelf there can be no ideas j for thefe operations,
when refleded on, make no appearance without their
objeds either in the memory or in the imagination.
Nothing is more evident, in fad, than that we have no
ideas, in the original and proper meaning of the word,
but of fenfible objeds upon which the mind exerts its
firft operations. Of thefe operations we have jndeed a
confcioufnefs y
Chap. VI. M E T A P
Of Gonfd- confcioufnefs 5 but abAi'afted from their obie&s vve
Can;ot ^ of them any idea or refemblance.' We ar,
-—r— ^ ourfelves of w///WJj remembering
djcerningy reafonwg, judging, &c. but let any ode
look into himielf, and try whether he can there find
any tdeaoi thinking or 'willing, &c. entirely feparate
aiid abftrafted from the objeB of thought or will,
^very man who has feen a tree or houfe, will find in
h.s mind ideas of thefe objefts, which he can contem¬
plate by themfelves, independent of every thing elfe ;
but no man can contemplate the idea of thinking or
oennne- without tskmrr .1
H Y S T C Y. 5;9 -
compared with aflual fenfatious, the iutellea is not fo OfConfci,
.° y engrofled by them, as it was by the original oufnefs and
objedls, nor is it fo rapidly carried from idea to idea Refl(xW
as it was from fenfation to fenfation. It is thus at V
leilure to attend to its own operations, and to know
what they are ; though to form ideas of them as fepa¬
rate from their objeas, is abfolutely impoflible. Every
man capable of paying attention to what paffes with¬
in himfelf when he fees, hears, and feels, &o. may have
very accurate notions of feeing, hearing, and feeling, &c.
hercan7not have ideas of them as he has of the ob-
thinking, willing, and defring, with all their various our f ^ ^ WUh lefpea t0 the exertion of
modifications, are not themlelves ideas, or capable of and cleaTTf fatCU tleS; A man muft bave d‘pm6l
communicating ideas to be apprehended as the WeL of k/L 3 / / t0. uPon» but be can have no
bodies are apprehended byP the pure intelleft The ^7 ^ ^°nWg 1.tfeIf» tbougb he muft be confcious
are the atfions and workings of the inre//e# itfelf unnn ,7 ’7^ by atte,)lt,°n ma7 know what it is. When a
Hea, which we receive W, the owlis of fof arf k ^ Vi”" '° Yk f“ “ P^oiitic.
which are treafured up in the memory or innomntmr. n-T • ^ ^mei)lts Euclid, he certainly employs his
&>r the very purpofe of furnilhing the intellett with °n.lnS acu]ty, and is confcious that he is doing fo;
materials J 7ork upon. Eet7!en U7r and the fore hL T" tUnied to the diagram be!
energies of thinking there is as great and as obvious a fuggefts. ’ After ward's "vhenhe^h ' '7 t**™™
--"*• -=£3
Will onlv C r 1 6
the energies of thinking are the operations of the
agents. Ideas are relids of fenfation, and have a
neceffary relation to things external ; the energies of
thinking arejrelids of nothing, and they are wholly and
originally internal. J
W«kZrei*Thabr Can “• n° r!",fe of tl,e Word be raid t0
operations f °f '!? 0Pera,'<>n »f the mtellea, will be ftili more
ofintelledl " we confider by what means we acquire the
immediate, knowledge which we have of thofe operations. It has
anrl nnt Utr nlt-coAf* 1 . 1 r
106
, r> — w! trie uicigram. xie
W,U only exert that faculty a fecond time, and perceive
one trunk linked to and depending upon another in
luch a manner that the whole taken together forms a
complete dernonftmion. In a word, the operations
ot our own minds, when attention is paid to them, are^
known immediately by co.nfcioufnefs; and it is as im-
poffible that we ftiould have ideas of them, as that a
living man fliould be a pifture upon canvas. He wha
and not by been already obferved, that when our thoughts are attlndsTo" ^3 Up0a CanVaS' He wb®
2^ed uP°n a"r >b™gh we are confciou, of Sve" libers “aL^’orTrih Yl ^ Y
thinking yet our MeMwn is commonly emnloved unon 1 Z ’J3 °nS’ °T "llls’ ma.a kn»w by
tfCntion of fe-‘l *' 1 J7"’ wc itre conicious or
thinking yet our attention is commonly employed upon
the °f our thought, and not upon the thought
itiell; and that if we would give attention to our
thoughts and paflions, we muft do it by a reflex aft of
the mind, whilft the aft of thinking is ftili recent and
trefti m our memory. Thus, if a man wifhes to know
what perception is, it is not the time to make the in-
quiry while he is looking at fome rare or beautiful ob¬
ject ; tor though he is confcioits of the energy of perceiv¬
ing, the objeB of perception^ employs all his attention.
tlme t0 rnake tb‘s in(luiry is either when the
object has become familiar to him, or prefently after it
is removed from his fight. In the former cafe, he can
took upon it without emotion, pay attention to every
hep in the procefs of perception, and be immediately
conicious what perception is. In the latter cafe, by
turning his attention inwards, and refleding on what
he did or felt when the objed was before him, he will
nnd clear and vivid ideas of every thing which he per-
mved by his fenfe of fight ; but he will find no idea of
the act of feeing ox perceiving. On the contrary, if he
be capable of fufficient attention, he will obferve that
tus intelled is_ employed in the very fame manner upon
the ideas that it was upon the original fenfations ; and of
that employment, and the manner of it, he will be
equally confcious as he was of the original energy exert¬
ed in fenfation. There is indeed this difference between
the two, without which refledion could make no dif-
coyenes, that the moft vivid ideas being ftili feint when
ceives, remembers, reafons, or wills, muft know" by
confcioufnefs what thefe operations are, and be capable
ot forming very accurate notions of them, as conned-
cd with their objeds; and he who does not attend to
what paffes m his own mind will never acquire any
notions of them, though he were to read all that has
een written on the fiibjed from the days of Pytha¬
goras to thofe of Dr Reid. 7
oftmr?!reJideaS-°f “t'raaI .objeas br means ThcSb,
fences, and notions of perceiving, remember-th‘nzs
mg, realomng, and willing, &c. by refleding on thewhich
operations of our own minds; fo there are otherfTV*?’
things ol which we acquire notions, partly by fenfa ?by TV
'.on P;«,y b n (t[on; d par:iyp b; b^fa“
mat faculty of which Jt is the more peculiar office to refle<5lion>
compare ideas and to perceive truth. Such are bub.&c’
/idll/iP- avtimjsl 4.1—-.r.. P   1 • **
In the latter enfe, b, ^
md refleding on what and relation, r rb,, ’ a.aJun<its,
and relations t ike knowledge of wbi\ as has bTn ai-’
ready obferved, conftitutes what in ftridnef* of foeech
cnnfi7e^ the fcience f metaPhUf”t- Thefe fhall be
confidered in order, after we have inveftigated the na¬
ture of truth, and inquired into the feveral fources of
evidence ; but there is one notion, about the origin
and reality of which there have been fo many dilpufes
will heV " 7 f° SrCat imP°rtance, and which
1 be fo intimately conneded with all our fubfe-
quentinquiries, that it may not be improper to confider IoS
it here,—T he notion to which vve allude is of power. Our notion
chancT011^ V6 0lJE“C^S around us we perqeive frequentofpower
ges, and one e;ent regularly fucceeding another h°wacquit
F 2 e0id‘ed‘
59^
M E T A P
OfConfci- Gold thrown into the fire is changed from a fohd to
oufnefs and a'Huid body. Water expofed to a certain degree ot
Reflection. cold Js changC(j from a fluid to a folid body. Night
fucceeds to day, and fummer fucceeds to winter. W e
are confcious of new fenfations in ourfelves every hour.
We are likewife confcious of reafoning,. willing, and
deliring ; and we know that by an exertion of will we
can rife or fit, Hand ftill or walk, call one idea into
view, and difmifs others from our contemplation. Ex¬
perience teaches us, that it is not occafionally, but al¬
ways, that gold is changed into a fluid by being
thrown into the fire, and water into a folid body by
being expofed to a certain degree of cold •, that night
fucceeds to dav, and fummer to winter. Thefe changes
have regularly taken place fince the creation ot the
world ; and it has never once been obferved.that water
was made folid by fire, or gold rendered liquid by cold.
Were we not affured by experience that our own vo¬
luntary motions are produced by exertions of our
minds, of which we are confcious, and that without
fuch exertions thofe motions would never have taken
place, we ihould probably have confidered the “d115'
faction of gold as an event equally independent pt . hrc,
thouoh uniformly conjoined with it, as night is inde¬
pendent of day, and day of night. But having expe¬
rienced that we can move or not move our bouies as
we pleafe 5 that when it is our will to fit, we ne-
PI Y S I C S. t art I.
We learn by obfcrvation, that the minute particles of ^OfCor,
fire or heat infinuate themfelves between the particle:, Relle6lioru
of gold, and, if we may ufe the expreflion tear them  /
afunder ; but whether they do this 111 confequence ol
a power inherent in themlelves, or only as mftruments
impelled by another power, is a quellion which o. jer-
vation cannot enable us to answer.
Were we not confcious of the exertion of our own
powers, it feems not conceivable that we could ever
have acquired any notion of power at all 5 for power
is not ah'objea of fenfe, nor, independent oi its ope¬
rations, it is indeed an objeft of conkioufneis. In ex¬
ternal operations, all that we perceive is one thing, m
which we fuppofe the power to refide, followed by
another, which is either the change or that on which
the change is produced; but the exertion of the power
itfelf we do not perceive. Thus we perceive gold,
after it has been fome time in the fire, converted from
a 1'olid to a fluid body ; but we perceive not by our
fenfes either the power or the energy of the power
which operates to this converfion. In the exercile
of our own powers, the cafe is otherwife. When a
man puts his hand to his head, and afterwards thjrurts
it into his bofom, he not only perceives by his enies
the change of pofition, but. is alfo conlcious oi the
energy or exertion by which the change was pro¬
duced.
ver get up to walk-, and that when we wish to
walk, we ‘ always do it except prevented by ex¬
ternal violence : having likewite experienced, that by
a thought, by fome internal and. inexplicable ex¬
ertion of our minds, we can call up in our memoiy or
imagination one idea and difmifs others from our men¬
tal view ; we are led to believe with the fulleft con-
vi&ion, that all thofe motions of our bodies which m
common language are termed voluntary, and that iuc-
ceflion of ideas which follows a confcious exertion ot
the mind, depend upon ourfelves. In other words,
we are neceflitated to believe that we have * power to
move or not move our bodies in many cafes, and a
power to turn our attention to one idea in preference to
others. .
It is thus that we acquire the notion oi power m.
ourfelves, which we eafily transfer to other objetts.
Knowing that the various motions of our bodies thus
effe£led proceed from power, we are naturally led to
inquire whether the changes which we perceive, m
other bodies may not proceed from power likewile, 1. e.
from fomething analogous to that power, ot the ex¬
ertions of which we are confcious in ourfelyes. Mow
uniform experience teaching us that gold is liquefied
by being thrown into the fire, and that water is made
folid by being expofed to cold ; we infer with the utmoft
certainty that there axe powers in fire and cold to pro¬
duce thefe changes, and that without the exertion of
fuch powers thefe changes would not be produced.
We cannot indeed fay of external powers, as we can
of our own, in what fubftance they inhere. Me
know with the utmoft certainty that the voluntary
motions of our hands, &c. are produced by a power
not inherent in the hands but in the mind, for of the
exertion of that power wfe are confcious ; but we do
not know whether the power which liquefies gold be
inherent in that fenfible objeft which we call/re, or
in fomething elfe to which fire is only an inftrument.
“ Suppofe (fays Mr Hume*) a perfon, though * EJfays.
endowed with the ftrongeft faculties of reaion and re¬
flexion, to be brought on a fudden into this world ;
he would indeed immediately obferve a continual iuc-
ceffion of objeXs, and one event following another,
but he would not be able to difeovev any thing far¬
ther. He would not at firft by any reafomng be able
to reach the idea of caufe and effeX; fince the parti¬
cular powers by which all natural operations are per¬
formed never appear to the fenfes. I ne impulie of
one billiard ball is attended with motion m the le-
cond. This is the whole that appears to the outward
fenfes. The mind feels no fentiment or inward im-
preffion from this fucceflion of objeXs -, confeqnently
there is not, in any Angle particular inftar.ee of caufe and
effeX, any thing which can fuggeft the idea of power
or neceflary connexion. From the firft appearance
of an objeX, we never can conjeXure what effea will
refult from it j but, were the power or energy of any
caufe difcoverable by the mind, we could fereiee the
effeX even without experience 5 and might at firft
pronounce with certainty, concerning it by the mere
dint of thought and reafoning. It is impofiible, theie-
fore, that the idea of power can be derived from the
contemplation of bodies in fingle inftances of then
operations 5 becaufe no bodies ever difeover any power
which can be the original of this idea.”
There is a fenfe in which this reafoning is unque-
ftionably juft. A man who had never been confcious
of exerting power in himfelf, would certainiy not ac¬
quire the notion of power from obferving a continual
fucceflion of external objeXs. The impulfe of one
billiard ball being followed by the motion of another,
would no more lead him to the notion of power in the
former, than the fucceflion of night to day would
lead him to the notion of a power m light to produce
darknefs. When Mr Hume fays, “ that from the/ry?
appearance of an objeX we can never conjeclute what e -
Chap VI.
METAPHYSIC S.
.W
fca’-u ”**■frcra^Tw'^1 ctio,r"
. ufnefs and 0-Uous, and utters an alTevtion which is either true or
Reflection. ^alVe recording to the fenfe in which it is underftood.
jf jt be meant, that after having relieved on the_ope¬
rations of our own minds, and learned by experience
that motion is communicated by impulfe from one
ball of ivory to another, we could not conjeaure whe¬
ther a fimilar cited would be produced by the impulfe
of balls made of other hard bodies which we had ne¬
ver before feen, the affertion is manifellly falfe. A
man who had but once feen motion communicated m
this manner from one ivory ball to another, would cer¬
tainly conjedure that it might be communicated from
one wooden ball to another ; and if he had fetn it re¬
peatedly communicated from one ball to another ot
cifferent fubftances, he would infer, with the utmod
confidence, that it might be communicated from ball
to ball of whatever fubftance compofed, provided that
fubilance be hard, or of a fimilar texture with the
balls to the impulfe of which he had fotrnerly paid
attention. If by this ambiguous phrafe tire author only
means, as is probably the cafe, that from the firft appear¬
ance of an objed to which we had never before obferv-
ed anv thing in any relped fimilar, w’e could not con-
icdure what effed would refult from it j or if his mean¬
ing be, that a man fuddenly brought into the world,
who had never acquired fuch a notion of power as may
be had from attention to the energies and operations
of our own minds, would not, by obferving an effsd
to refult from one body, conjedure from the firfi ap¬
pearance of another fimilar body what effed would
refuit from it; in either of thefe cafes his affertion is
certainly true, and tends to prove, that without the
confcioufnefs of the operations of our own minds we
could never acquire a notion of power from the changes
perceived by our fenfes in exteinal objeds. .
,c9 But Mr Hume, not contented with denying, which
Mr Hume ^ • ht • ftl do that we could ever have denv-
prcvVthat0 ed the idea of power merely from obfervmg the con-
we can tinual fucceffion of external objeds, labours hard to
have none- prove Brat \ve have no notion of powrer at all, and
that when we ufe the word power, we do nothing
more than utter an infignificant found. To pave the
wav for the arguments by which fo extravagant a pa¬
radox is to be fupported, he lays it down as a “ propo¬
rtion which will not admit of much difpute, that all
cur ideas are nothing but copies of our imprelhons ;
or, in other words, that it is impoffible for us to think
of any thing that we have not antecedently felt eitner
by our external or internal fenfes.” As this propo-
fition, however, will admit, it feerns, oi fame dilpute,
be takes care, before he applies it to the purpole ot
demolithing all power, to fupport it by two argu¬
ments. “ Firft (fays he), when we analyze our
thoughts or ideas, however compounded or. fubhme,
we always find that they refolve themfelves into uch
fimple ideas as were copied from a precedent tee mg
or fentiment. Thofe who would affert, that this pofi-
tion is not univerfally true nor without exception, have
tion what¬
ever of
power,
no
producing that idea, which, in their opinion, ^
derived from this fource. . Secondly, It it happen,^
from a defeitt of the organ, that a man is not fufeep-
tible of any fpecies of fenfation, we always find that
he is as little fufceptible of the correfpondent ideas.
A blind man can form no notion of colouis, a deaf
man of founds. And though there are fewT or no in-
ftances of a like deficiency in the mind, where a per-
fon has never felt, or is wholly incapable of a fenti-
ment or pallion that belongs to his Ipecies } yet we
find the fame obfervation to take place in a lefs de¬
gree. A man of mild manners can form no. idea ot
inveterate revenge or cruelty 3 nor can a felfilh heait
eafily conceive the heights of friendthip and gene-
rolity.” .1 1 • o u
As thefe propofitions are the engines by which all his reason-
power is baniihed from the world, k may not be im-ing fophffti-
proper, before we proceed to inquire by what .meansCiU-
they perform fo arduous a talk, to confider their own
inherent ftrength } for if they be weak in themfelves,
their work, however dexteroufly they may be em¬
ployed, can have no liability. We have already no¬
ticed the perverfenefs of this writer’s language, when
it confounds fenfations with imprefions ; but here it is
Hill more perverfe, for paflions, fentiments, and even
confcioufnefs, are ftyled imprejjions. When fenfations
are confounded with impreflions, the effeft is only mu-
taken for the caufe, it being univerfally known that
fenfations proceed from impretuons made upon the
organs of fenfe. When confcioulnefs is confounded
with an imprefiion, one thing is mifiaken lor. another,
to which it is univerfally known to have neither ic-
femblance nor relation. But, not to waite time upon
thefe fallacies, which, though dangerous if admitted,.*
are yet too palpable to impofe upon a reader capable ot
the flighted; attention, let us examine the propofitions
themfelves. The molt important, and that lor the
fake of which alone the others are brought forward,
is, that it is impolfible for us to think ot any tiling
that we have not immediately either by our exter¬
nal or internal fenfes.” Did Mr Hume then never
think of a mathematicalor a mathematical line?
Neither of thefe things is ^apable oi beingy^// eitaer
by making an impreflion upon the organs cl.fenfe. Oa
as an objedt of confcioufnefs \ and theretoie it is im-
polfible that he fhould ever have had ideas of them
fiich as he doubtlefs had of fenfible objecls ; yet in
the moll proper fenfe of the word think (s), he cer¬
tainly thought of both points and lines; for he.appears
to have made confiderable progrels in the icience Oa
geometry, in which he could not have proceeded a
fingle Hep without a perleft knowledge of.thefe things,
on which the whole fcience is built. It is not there¬
fore true, that our thoughts or ideas, when analyzed,
always refolve themfelves into luch fimple ideas as
were copied from a precedent feeling or fentiment;
for every mathematical figure of which we can think
refolves itfelf into a point and motion ; and a point
having
0)
ideas w
Lockc.
Tt in the nropriety of the Englifli tongue, fignifies that fort of operation of the mind about its
herein the mind h adive ; where it, with fome degree of voluntary attention, conuders any timg.
59®
HI
Things of
which we
can have
»o ideas
"J P?rtf ^ "0 magnitude, cannot poffibly be
Refledlion. !-he obJ^ feeling to any of our fenfes. If, there-
0'e’ jdC^ alone be the objefts °f thought, we have
r<7U^d, ^ Hume’s pofition by the very method
which he Htmfelf lays down ; for w'e have produced
an idea which is not derived either from a precedent
feeling or a precedent fentiment. By fentiment, we
luppole to be here meant that which by other philofo-
phers is denominated confcioufnefs •, and of confciouf-
nds it is undeniable that nothing is the objeft but the
actual energies of our own minds.
But ideas are not the only objeaS of thought. We
have already given our reafons for reftriaing the word
—a ihat aPPearance wbich an objed of fenfe, when
S, bee”\ eaedc°1’ mak'S eitl,er :n "’e memory or imagina-
the objea, "“"V .s,!lch wa! undoubtedly its original f.gnification ;
*f thought. Jnd had ^ "ever been ufed to denote other and very dif¬
ferent objeas, much error and perplexity would‘have
been avoided which now difgrace the fcience of me-
taphyfics. Things may themfelves be the obieas of
thought; and when that is the cafe, to think of their
■taeas, were it poflible to do fo, would be worfe than
uieleis; for We may cfcrtainly know a man better by
looking at himfelf than by looking at his piaure. Of
things which are themfelves the objeas of thought, we
have either a chreB or a relative knowledge. We know
oireaiy the aaual operations of our own minds by
the moft complete of all evidence, that of confciW-
. ’ and w.e nave a relative notion of mathematical
points and lines : but neither of mental energies nor
TI2 °f thefe external things (t) can we poffibly have any
We have f .
only rela- It is well obferved by Dr Reid *, that our notions
tive notions both of body and mind are nothing more than rela-
Sr “Fu • Wh“ “ My > It is, fay ^hilofopbers,
*E£ayon ^ extended> fohd, and divifible. Says the que-
the AElive [ut’ 1 “n.not aik what the properties of body are
Powers of but what js the thing itfelf ? let me firft know direft-
Man. ly what body is, and then confider its properties.
l_o this demand I am afraid the querift will meet
with no fatisfa&ory anfwer j becaufe our notion of
body is not direft, but relative to its qualties. We
know that it is fomething extended, folid, and divi-
libfe and we know no more. Again, If it ffiould be
afked what is mind ? It is that which thinks. I afk
not what it does, or what its properties are, but what
METAPHYSICS.
It’.ls ? /T? this I can nua no amwer} our notion of OfConfci-
mind being not direft, but relative to its opera- oufaefs and
tions, as our notion of body is relative to ife RfflecHon.
Part I.
can find no anfwer ; our notion of OfConfci-
a - _ ■> ~ut relative to its opera¬
tions, as our notion of body is relative to its quali¬
ties (u).” 1
Our notion of a mathematical point is of the very about-3
la™e, k’nd- What ls a Point ? It is, fays Euclid, that which,
which hath no parts and no magnitude. Replies thehowever’
querift, I afk not either what it has or what it has not T CanIrea’
le'meMknowwha. it is ? To this fecond qucftio^S ^
mig p^ihaps be anfvyered, that a mathematical pwcifion:
point is that which by motion generates a line. But
rejoins the querift, I am not inquiring what it gene’
ratesj give me a direft idea of the point itfelf? or if
that cannot be done, as furely it cannot, tell me what
its offspring a line is ? A line, fays Euclid, is length
without breadth. I have no idea, replies the querift,
o- length without breadth. I never felt an imbreflioti
from a fenfible c>bje& which did not fuggeft length,
breadth, and thicknefs, as infeparably united j and I
can have no idea which is not the copy of a former im-
To affift the querift’s conception, it may be
laid that lines are the boundaries of a fuperficies, and
that luperficies are the boundaries of a folid body •
but of a folid body every man has a clear and direft
idea, in the moft proper fenfe of the word. Here then
are feveral things, viz. points, lines, and fuperficies, of
not one of which is it poffible to form a direft notion ;
and yet. we know them fo thoroughly, from the rela¬
tion which they bear to other fubjefts, that wte can rea-
ion about them with a precifion and certainty which
only the mathematical fciences admit.
The great advantage of thefe fciences above the a Jr4 u
moral, Mr Hume himfelf exprefsly admits: but heispow^
attributes it to a wrong caufe, when he fays it confifts
m this, that the “ ideas of the former being fer/ible
are.always clear and determinate for we fee that the
notion of a point or of a line is merely relative, and
cannot poffibly be the copy of a fenfation, or, in his
language, of a fenfible impreffion. If then we have
clear and determinate notions of points and lines, and
may reafon about them without ambiguity, as he ac¬
knowledges we may, what is there to hinder us from
having an equally clear and determinate notion of
power or from reafoning about it with as little ambi¬
guity (v) ; Why fays he, we are not confcious of
power. And to prove this pofition, which needs no
proof,
(T) By calling mathematical points and lines external thino-e
corporeal exiftence. We know well that thev are mer 1 V C ^° ,not iPean to attribute to them any
mind, they could have no exifterce. But ,wJn« 7 of ^ M that if there were Jo
and the fame points ; and therefore thefe lines and ooints W ^ ^ -a™6 in.ft j"1 have a nGtion of the ^me lines
T mind, a, leaft to any one w/mtd^ ^ ^ external to, any
whatever external, for they are prefen, to no human mind but hil own man 'S COnfC1°USl ^ m "0 fcnfe
^ f ttafterf^Irrquoting'lfom^IIr Reid^'n^fiother'iMi^ ^ ^ .^dcred more
which will be found to be not more modeft than juft. u Je ’ we ave been obliged to anticipate his opinion,
con(c'elrj„1'lrouTndTenthtgl0„\wandWoCand';!‘r audirea a"d Native conception. I can direflly
whether I fee fuch an 0^3° or di^at"!^ mv3^' ^,h T ^ it ^ ^ f«„. SZ
multitude of men, or of a great heap of monev •’an/ f °jjX't:-IS lndldi!n<B > *s only that of a great
;tn„^ ”Te Te,t;LT7i,iCf 1//“ ^
that the relative notion is dihinfl and feientific ; for^radtoVof “ a'^le potdj T'tl
of
Chap. VI. META P
Of Confci- proof, he makes 'many obfervations that, however juft,
oufncisand m;gbt certainly have been fpared. Of thefeone is, that
.ve “ a man fuddenly (truck with a palfy in the leg or arm,
or who had now loft thefe members, frequently endea¬
vours at firft to move them, and employ them in their
ufual offices. Here he is as much confcious of power
to command fuch limbs, as a man in perfe6t health is
confcious of power to actuate any member which re¬
mains in its natural ftate and condition. But confci-
oufnefs never deceives. Confequently, neither in the’
one cafe nor in the other are we ever confcious of any
power.” 1 his is true j we never are confcious of any
power but we are frequently confcious of a£tual
energies: and the man who, after being fuddendy
ftruck with a palfy, endeavours in vain to move his
leg or arm, is as confcious of energy as he who in
health makes the attempt with fuccefs. Nor let it be
imagined that his confcioufnefs deceives him ; for, as
Mr Hume juftly obferves, confcioufnefs never deceives.
He is certain of the energy, but finds by experience
that the injlrument of this energy has fuddenly become
difordered and unfit for its ufual office. In this and
this alone confifts the difference between the paralytic
and the man whqfe limbs »re found. The one may be
as confcious of energy as the other, and his confci¬
oufnefs may be equally infallible. What then is this
energy ? Mr Hume will not fay that it is an idea, for
it is not the copy of any antecedent impreffion ; be-
fides, he has fomewhere allowed that ideas are never
a&ive. Is it then a fubftance ? Impoffible ! for it is
not permanent : and we believe no man will ven¬
ture to affirm, or even to fuppofe, that the fame fub¬
ftance can be repeatedly annihilated, and as often
created. Is it then the occafional exertion of fome
fubftance ? This muft be the truth ; for no other fup-
pofition remains to be made. If fo, that fubftance
muft be poffelfed of power; for a capacity of exert¬
ing aftual energy is all that is meant by the word power.
—“ Wherever there is a capability of energy or exer¬
tion, there muft be power; for though there can be
no exertion without power, there may be power that
*ReitTs Ef-\s not exerted *. Thus a man may have power to fpeak
fays on the when he is filent; he may have power to rife and walk
“pcnvers of vv^len ^ts ^ut though it be one thing to fpeah
Alan. and another to have the power of fpeaking, we al¬
ways conceive of the power as fomething which has a
certain relation to the effedt; and of every powTer we
form our notion by the effedl which it is able to pro¬
duce. Nor is it only in fpeaking and moving his
limbs that a man is confcious of energy. There is as
much energy, though of a different kind, in thinking
as in aSling. Hence the powers of the hutnan mind
H Y S I C S. 599
have been divided into active and fpeeulative. By the OfConfei-
former w’e move the body ; and 'by the latter we fee, 0llfnefs and
hear, remember, diftinguiffi, judge, reafon, and per- Reflea:iort;
form upon our notions and ideas every other opera¬
tion which is comprehended under the general word
to thinks ^
Mr Locke f has introduced into his theory of power Locke’s paf-
another diftindtion than that which we have made be-five Power
tween adtive and fpeculative powers. Obferving byan imPr0Per
our fenfes, under which on this occafion memory isf^!^!)011"
certainly included, various changes in objedls, we col-bAokii.'
ledt, fays he, a poffibility in one objedt to be changed, chap. it.
and in another a pofhbility of making that change,
and fo come by that idea which we call powder. Thus
we fay that fire has a power to melt gold, and that gold
has a power to be melted. The firft he calls atlive, the
fecond paffive, power. But to fay that the pojfibility of
being changed is power, feems to be a very improper
mode of fpeaking, and fuch as may lead to confequencesf
which the excellent author certainly held in abhor¬
rence. It tends to make unwary readers imagine that
the paffive fubjedt is as neceffary to the exiftence of
power, as the ad^ve being of which power is an at¬
tribute j but if the univerfe had a beginning, and if
its Creator be immutable, two propofitions which Mr
Locke firmly believed, there certainly \^as power when
there was no change, nor any thing exifting which was
capable of change. He owns, indeed, that adlive power
is more properly called power than the other ; but we
fee no propriety at all in paffive power. “ It is (in the
language of Dr Reid) a powerlefs power, and a contra-
didlion in terms.” Itjy-
But though Locke* here ufes improper terms, he Juft obfer-
has other obfervations with which we have the honour vations of
fully to agree, and which lead to confequences the re-tl?e]fame
verfe of that impiety which feems to follow from the fpeVting6'
notion oi pajfive power. He obferves, that “we have power as
from body no idea at all of thinking, nor any idea of ^e*onging
the beginning of motion. A body at reft affords usto.bot,y 0E:
no idea of any adlive power to move ; and when ’it jsmmd~
fet in motion itfelf, that motion is rather a paffion
than an adtion in it. For when the ball obeys the
ftroke of a billiard flick, it is not any adlion of the ball,
but a paffion : alfo, when by impulfe it fets another
ball in motion that lay in its way, it only communi¬
cates the motion it had received from another, and
lofes in itfelf fo much as the other received ; which
gives us but a very obfcure idea of an adlive power of
moving in body, whilft we obferve it only to transfer,
but not to produce any motion. So that it feems to¬
me, we have from the obfervation of the operation of
bodies by our fenfes but a very imperfedt obfcure idea
of
of a penny, is eafily perceived. In like manner, I san form a diredt notion of a polygon of a thoufand equal
fides and equal angles. This diredt notion cannot be more diftindt when conceived in the mind, than that
which I get by fight when the objedt is before me ; and I find it fo indiftindf that it has the fame appearance to
my eye, or to my direEl conception, as a polygon of a thoufand and one, or of nine hundred and ninety nine
fides. But when I form a relative conception of it, by attending to the relation it bears to polygons of a
greater or lefs number of fides, my notion of it becomes diftindt and fcientific, and I can demonftrate the pro*
perties by which it is diftinguifhed from all other polygons. From thefe inftances it appears, that our relative
conceptions of things are not always lefs diftindt, nor lefs fit materials for accurate reafoning, than thofe that are
diredt; and that the contrary may happen in a remarkable degree.”
R&d's Tjjay\ on the afiive Powers of Mem
6oo M E T A P H Y S I C S. Fart I.
OfConfct- of active power, fince they afford us not any idea in
oufnefs and themfelves of the power to begin any ahlion either of
rUdkeaon. rr)0tjon or t^oughjt.” He thinks it evident, however,
ii that ax find in ourfelves a power to begin or for¬
bear, continue or end, feveral affions of our minds and
motions of our bodies, barely by a thought or pre¬
ference of the mind ordering, or, as it were, command¬
ing, the doing or not doing fuch or fuch a particular
aftion. This power which the mind has thus to order
the confideration of any idea, or the forbearing to con-
ficler it, or to prefer the mot'on of any part of the
body to its reft, and vice verfa in any particular in-
fiance, is that w'hich we call will. T he actual exer-
cife of that power, by direfling any particular aflion,
or its forbearance, is that which we call volition or
TIf, willing.
Whence it According to Mr Locke, therefore, the only clear
follow?, notion or idea we have of power, is taken bom the
i\i?h bein s Power u vve find in ourfelves to give certain motions
<as have willto our or certain direflions to our thoughts 5
and under- and this power in ourfelves can be brought into aflion
Handing only by willing or volition. This is exaftly our doc-
can podefs trine. where wx have endeavoured to prove, that
rea without the confcioufnefs of aftual energy in ourfelves,-
wx never could have acquired any notion at all of
power from obferving the changes which t>ike place
among external objefls. But if this be fo, if the power,
of which alone wx know any thing, can be brought
into aflion only by willing or volition', and if will ne-
ceffarily implies fome degree of underftanding, as in
us it certainly does, it comes to be a queftion of the
firft importance, whether any being which poffeffes not
"will and underftanding can be poffeffed of real power,
or be the efficient caufe of any aflion. This queftion
we feel ourfelves compelled to anfwer in the negative.
If we had not will, and that degree of underftanding
which will neceffarily implies, it is evident that wx
could exert no power, and confequently could have
none : for power that cannot be exerted is no power.
It follows alfo, that the power, of which alone we
can have any diftinfl notion, can be only in beings
that have underftanding and will. Power to produce
any effeft, implies power not to produce it *, and we
can conceive no way in which power may be deter¬
mined to one of thefe rather than the other in a being
that has not will. We grow from infancy to man¬
hood } we digeft our food, our blood circulates, our
heart and arteries beat •, we are fometimes fick and
fometimes in health : all thefe things mult be done by
the power of fome agent, but they are not done by
our power. And if it be afked how we know this ?
the anfwer is, becaufe they are not fubjefl to our will.
This is the infallible criterion by which we diftinguiftr
what is our doing from wffiat is not ; what is in our
power from what is not. Human power can be ex¬
erted only by will : and we are unable to conceive any
aflive power to be exerted without will. If, therefore,
any man affirms that a being may be the efficient caufe
of an aflion which that being can neither conceive nor
will, he fpeaks a language which wx do not under-
iland. If he has a meaning, he muft take the words
power and efficiency in a fenfe very different from ours-,
for the only diftinfl notion, indeed the only notion
which we can form, of real efficiency, is a relation be¬
tween the caufe and the effeft fimilar to that between
2
us and our voluntary aftions. It feeros therefore moft Of Confci-
probable, that fuch beings only a have Ionite degree
of underftanding and will can poflefs aflive power,
and that inanimate beings mult be merely pailive.
Nothing which we perceive without us affords any
good ground for aferibing aflive power to any inani¬
mate beinsr ; and wx can as little conceive fuch a being
poffeffed of power as we can conceive it capable of feel¬
ing pain. On the other hand, every thing which we
difeover in our own conftitution, leads us to think
that aflive powxr cannot be exerted without will and
intelligence : and to affirm that it can, is to affirm
© . ....
what to us at leaft is a contradiftacn in terms. nS
To this reafoning, which is Dr Reid’s *, and which An objec-
to us appears unanfwerable, we have heard it objefted,^21 ouviat-
that a man born blind has the fame evidence for the
non-exiftence of colour that is here urged for the im-
poffibility of power being exerted without will and five Powers
underftanding. If the objeftion had not been made
by a verv acute man, we (hould have deemed it alto¬
gether unworthy of notice \ for betwxen the two cafes
fuppofed to be fimilar there is hardly any analogy. A
man born blind has no notion whatever of colour. If
you deferibe it to him in the heft manner you can,
and refer it to any of the fenfes which he poffeffes j
if you fay that it is the objeft of feeling, and that by
feeling it one may perceive things at the diftance of
many miles 5 the blind man has reafon to fay that you
are uttering a propofition which he knows with the
utmoft certainty cannot poffibly be true. But if you
tell him that colour is the objeft of the icn!e of fight,
a fenfe which he poffeffes not j that it has not the leaft
refemblance to the objefls of the other fenfes ; and
that perfons endowxd with the lenfe of fight perceive
coloured objefls at the diftance of many miles ; the
blind man cannot know1 whether what you fay be true
or falfe, becaufe he has no idea or conception of the
things of which you fpeak. This is not the cafe with
refpeft to power for every man who has retlefted on
the operations of his owm mind has a very diftinfl no¬
tion of power, and knows perfeftly, that to the aftual
exertion of the only power which he can conceive, wall
and underftanding are neceffary. Should it be faid
that there may be power altogether different from that
of xvhich wx have a diftinfl conception, we think it
fufficient to reply, that of a thing which cannot be
conceived nothing can be either affirmed or denied :
that aftivity exerted without will and underftanding
ought not to be called an exertion of power, becaufe
power is the name already appropriated to the attri¬
bute of a being by w'hich he can do certain things if
he wills; that as we can form no notion ol a real effi¬
cient caufe which has not will and underftanding, fo
wx have no reafon to believe that fuch a caufe any¬
where exifts •, and to fry that power, fuch as wx can
conceive, may be exerted without wall and underftand¬
ing, is as great an abfurdity as to fay that there may
be velocity without fpace.
But if aflive power, in its proper meaning, requires
a fubjefl endowed with will and intelligence, what
(hall we fay of thofe aflive powers which philofophers
^teach us to afciibe te matter, the powers of corpufcu-
lar attraflion, magnetifm, eleftricity, gravitation, and
others ? Thefe powxrs, as they are called, {hall be con-
fidered when we treat of the nature and fource of cor¬
poreal
Chap. VII. ME TAP
Of Truth, poreal motion. In the mean time, it is fufficient to
obferve, that whatever the agents may be in the ope¬
rations of nature, whatever the manner of their agency
or the extent of their power, they depend upon the
Firft Caufe, and are all under his controul.
Chap. VII. O/’Truth, and the different Sources
c/" Evidence.
Sect. I. Of Truth.
By purfuing thefe inquiries in the order which to
us appears moll natural, we are now led to the contem¬
plation of thofe faculties of the human mind of which
truth is properly the objeft. But what is truth ? This
w7as a famous queftion among the Greek fophifts *,
which had been fo often agitated, and to which fo
many abfurd anfwers had been given, that it came at
, laft to be doubted by men of the world whether a
fatisfadlory anfwer could be given, or indeed whether
the matter w’as worthy of inveftigation. It is w'ell
known, that among the ancient philofophers there
wras a feft called from their principles Sceptics^ and from
their founder Tyrrhenians, who openly avowed their
opinion that truth, like virtue, is nothing but a name j
- that all things are equally true, or rather equally doubt-
Vol. XIII. Part II.
H Y S I C S. 6ot
ful; and that it is in vain for man to hope for certain- Of Truth.^
ty in any inquiry in w’hich he can be engaged. Such ""_v ""
fcepticifm as this no modern philofopher has profefled $
but many have had enough of it to make fober men
hefitate about defining truth, and even infinuate that
of truth no definition can be given. This furely is a
miftake. If truth cannot be defined, it mil wanders
at large and in difguife, and vain mult be the purfuit '
of every man who endeavours to obtain it j he is pur¬
fuing he knows not what. ** 119
So obvious and fo folid is this reflection, that almolt Truth dip.
every philofopher of merit who has lately written on^ne^*
the nature of evidence has begun his work, if not
with a formal definition, wfith fomething at lealt equi¬
valent to a definition of the objeCt of his purfuit. To
repeat all thefe definitions could ferve no other pur-
pofe than to fwell this article to a difproportioned
bulk, and to perplex perhaps the mind of the reader.
We fliall therefore content ourfelves wTith that which
is given by Mr Wollafton. “ Thofe propofitions (faya
he) are true which reprefent things as they are : or,
truth is the conformity of thofe w7ords or figns by
w'hich things are exprefled to the things themfelves.”
Notwithftanding the objections of a very learned and
acute writer (wj, this is the heft definition of truth
which we have met with in any language. It is con-
(vv) Dr Tatham having alked, with a contemptuous air, How imperfeCt and illogical is the definition of
truth given by Wollafton ? proceeds, though not to define, to deferibe or characterize it himfelf. “ Truth
(fays he) is of the nature and effence of God, like him incomprehenjible in the whole, and ineffable in its fub-
limer parts. For theie and other sieafons it cannot admit of an adequate definition. And who, in the beginning
of his refearches, thould prefume to define that which, after all his longeft and belt conduCled labours, he
can only hope partially, and often imperfeCtly, to comprehend ; and of which arr important part can neither
be direEily expreffed nor direEily underftood ? We may indeed efteem ourfelves highly favoured by the Author
and Finiftier\of all truth, if, at the end of our refearches, we ftiall be able any way to underhand, to define,
and to apply, a few particular portions and detachments of it, and to guard them from error and corrup¬
tion, When upon a folemn occafion the queftion was put to our Lord by a Roman governor, What is truth ?
though it was what he fully and perfectly knew, and what he came purpofely and profeffediy to teach, he did
not define it. He knew that definition was never the belt method of inftruCtion 5 and that in its common ufe
and application it was feldom the friend of truth. Philofophically viewed, words do not copftitute truth j
they are only the vocal inftruments by which it is communicated, or the written figns by which it is recorded.
By an inquirer, therefore, things are to be examined rather than words defined. By a teacher, things are to be
conveyed by wrords in fome form or other, which are doubtlefs to be explained to the underftanding, if not
fufficiently underftood before. But explanation is one thing, and defnition quite another. Explanation is the
frjl office of a teacher : Definition, if it be good, is the laf of the inquirer, after the truth be fou»d ; and .is
then the moft advantageoufy employed by the teacher, when his previous inftruCtions have prepared him for it.
God is a mind, and truth is confequently an attribute of MIND. To the sun, declaring at his rifing a marvel¬
lous inftrument, He, by whom all things were made, hath delegated the power of enlightening the materialfyftem;
whilft he hath referved to HIMSELF the office which is more fuitable to his nature, of giving light and
knowledge, by his eternal truth to the mind of man. But whether he ads through the inftrumentality of
his creatures, or more immediately from himfelf, he is uniform and confiftent in his operations j fo that one part
of his divine economy is always illuftrative of another. As the SUN fheds his light over the material creation
to be apprehended by the eye, TRUTH is the light fhed down from heaven to be apprehended by the intelleCl,
given to illumine every fubjeCl, natural and moral, corporeal and fpiritual, fo far as they are qualified by their
different natures to convey it to the human mind, or rather perhaps fo far as the human mind is qualified to
receive it from them.” The Chart and Scale of Truth, vol. i.
This paffage, of which fome parts are certainly not remarkable for perfpicuity, feems to be deferiptive, not
of truth in the common acceptation of the word, but of all knowledge human and divine, of which indeed no
adequate definition can be given. Truth, as here ufed, feems to be oppofed to ignorance ; as ufed by Mr Wol¬
lafton and others, it is oppofite to falfehood. In this laft fenfe it may certainly be explained, if not defined ; and
if the learned lefturer will allow that Mr Wollafton has given a good explanation of the word truth as oppofed to
falfehood, we Ihall not quarrel with him or any man about the propriety of an exprefliorn We have called it a
definition of truth 5 becaufe it was fo called by the author from whom it is taken.
120
Every pro-
pofition ei.
I t!:er true
or fa lie.
121
Every liu-
man faculty
concerned
in the
acquifition
of truth.
122
Riverfity of
belief af-
fefts not
the truth
of what is
believed.
cile and perfpicuous.. It comprehends all kinds of
truth, as well that which is merely mental, the fubjeft
of filent contemplation, as that which is communicated
cither by written language or by the living voice : and
it makes tiuth itfelf immutable, as depending not upon
the arbitrary conftitution of this or that individual,
or even of the whole human race (x), but upon the
nature of things as eftablilhed by their Almiohtv
Creator. b ^
According to this definition, every propofition which
can oe expreffed or apprehended is neceffarily either
true or falfe, whether its truth or falfehood be perceiv¬
ed or not either by him who hears or by him who ut¬
ters it. All propofitions are either affirmative or nega¬
tive ) but before any thing can with certainty be af¬
firmed or denied of another, we muft knowthofe things
as they are in themfelves, as well as the eftabliffied
ufe of the figns by which they are expreffed. He who
affirms or denies without this knowledge, fpeaks at ran¬
dom, and has no diftindl meaning.
^ Every faculty which we pofiefs is in fome way or
other an inftrument of knowledge; for we know by
our fenfes, by our memory, and by our intellett.
E/ery one of our faculties, therefore, is concerned in
the acquifition of truth, and furniffies the mind with
the materials of propofitions. Thefe propofitions are
indeed of various kinds •, but they are all certainly true
or certainly falfe, though the certainty of the truth or
falfebood of every one it is not always in our power to
perceive.
When a man affirms that red is a quality inherent
in a foldier’s coat, he utters a propofition which every
one of the vulgar firmly believes to be true, but which
every, philofopher knows to be falfe. This diverfity
of belief, however, affeas not the truth of the propo¬
fition itfelf. All mankind know that it is either true
or fahe, independent of them or their perceptions}
and it is.eafy, by a few optical experiments and by an
explanation of terms, to convince them all, that what
the} have agreed to call red is no quality inherent in
external objea*, but only a fenfation caufed by the
impulfe of certain rays of light refleaed from certain
objeas to the eye of the percipient. The contrariety
therefore in this cafe of vulgar to philofophical belief,
does not refult from any ambiguity in the nature of
truth itfelf, but from the different means of perception
which the clown and the philofopher poffefs.
METAPHYSICS.
Again, Were a man looking at a red and a green ob-
jea, to affirm that they are both of the fame colour,
he would affirm what in one fenfe may be true, what
in another is undoubtedly falfe, and what in a third
may be either true or ialie. If it be his meaning that
the two objeas give to him the fame fenfation, he may
know with the utmoft certainty that what he fays is
true } if he mean that they affe6f all mankind precife-
!y as they aiiea him, he utters what all mankind with
the moil absolute certainty know to be falfe ; if he
mean that the texture of the two bodies (that parti¬
cular difpofition of parts oh their furfaces which makes
them relied certain rays of light and abforb others) is
exadly fimilar, fo as that the one mult relied the very
fame kind of rays with the other, he utters what all
mankind muft believe to be falfe, though Hill it is pof-
fible that what he affirms may be true. This diverlity
of belief affeds not the truth itfelf. The two objeds
are what they are by whomfoever perceived, or whe¬
ther perceived or not; the rays of light refieded by
each are what they are, whether they fall upon this,
upon that, or upon any eye j and the fenlation com¬
municated to this lingular man is certainly what he is
confcious it is, as thofe of the reft of mankind are with
equal certainty what they are confcious of. T his be¬
ing the cafe, it is obvious and undeniable, that the or¬
gans of light in this individual of the human race are
fomehow differently formed from thofe of other men :
and the only queftion which can occafion a doubt in
tne mind of the fceptic is, whether his or their eves
be fo formed as to reprefent things falfely ? for that
by the one or the other things are falfely reprefented,
is as evident as that two contradidory pro'pofitions
cannot both be true. Now, though, for any thing we
know it is certainly pofiible, as to us it appears not to
imply any contradidion, that the eyes of but one man
are formed in a manner fuitable to their objeds, whilfl
the eyes of all other men are formed to deceive them j
yet the contrary .is fo highly probable, that no man
really doubts of it any more than he doubts whether
three and two be equal to five.
This laft propofition is indeed faid to exprefs a truth
aofolutely certain, whilfl: the former expreffes a truth
which is called morally certain : not that there is any
difference or degrees of certainty in the nature of truths
themfelves; the only difference is in our power of per¬
ceiving them. That three and two are equal to five,
is
fan I.
Of Truth.
123
Why lome
truths are
faid to be
abfolutely
and others
morally
certain.
mm Be?tie’ In !"S elegant effay’ haS SIven a definition of truth very different from this thourffi it is
whVh th dh mean7§ may bC j1" fame Whh Mr Wollafton’s. “ I account that to ffie Hays he
which the conftitution of our nature determines us to believe j and that to be falfehood which the conftftution
h muftln^d erraintbS " ^ ^ T*” But,if truth be ^abf afhe teaches or wilhes to teach"
i raitrd ffi uTnt nature_5^ thln§s, and not upon the inftindive impulfe of any particular conftitution.
the bind ^f r d1’ a l 7P°fflble’ .t0 diftinguilh between the conftitution of our nature, as it came from
owmh A fiLS * is m°ulded ^ arbit^ry and capricious affociations of our
hemav^fo dhenChUrCh x°/r R°me certainl)r believes the dodrine of tranfubftantiation. How
e may do fo we have already fhown. Were all mankind flneere members of that church, it would be faid
which "thomffi it ^ AC^nKItUt-?r °f homan nature determines men to believe tranfubftantiation a dodrine
' c ’} ^gb ! ^ reJe(^ed by millions Pere Buffier has.laboured hard to reconcile with common fenfe. Yet It
wioatztSi -ij™ as-   »■*J
Chap. VII. M E T A P
Of Truth, is faid to be an abfolute truth j becaufe we perceive
u'"'v~ ' the whole of it as it is in itfelf, and are convinced that
every intelligence from the higheft to the lowed: who
underRands the terms in which it is exprefled perceives
it as we do : whereas of moral ox physical truths, as they
are called, we only perceive a part, and may therefore
miftake for want of evidence. Thus, in the cafe of
the two objects exhibiting the fame colour to one man,
whilft they exhibit different colours to all other men,
could we fee into the objefts themfelves, and compre¬
hend them immediately with our intellect as we com¬
prehend our own ideas, it might, and no doubt would,
appear as palpable a contradiction to fay that the par¬
ticular difpofition of the parts on their furfaces, which
reded the rays of light, are the fame in both, as it is
now to affirm that three and two are not equal to five.
Between truth and falfehood there is no medium. All
truths are in themfelves equally certain j and to the
Supreme Being, who knows the nature of every thing
more fully and intimately than we know our own
ideas, they all appear equally certain : but yet we may
without abfurdiiy fpeak of probable truth as well as of
certain truth, provided always that we make the dif¬
ference to refult, not from the nature of things, but
from the power of our underdanding, which compre¬
hends the one kind of truth wholly and the other only
partially.
There is another divifion made of truth into that
which is eternal and neceffary, and that which is tem-
eterrml and Porary and contingent. Though we do not approve
neceflary, aPPty*uo t^le ephhets temporary and eternal to any
thing but real exiftences, yet as this manner of fpeak-
ing has been ufed by all philofophers, we {hall give in-
flances of each kind of truth, and endeavour to afcer-
tain in what the diftinClion confifts. “ The three
anglos of a plain triangle are equal to two right angles,”
is a propofition expreffrve of a neceffary and eternal
truth. “ The world exifts,” is a contingent and tem¬
porary truth. Here it is obvious, that if both thefe
propofitions be true, there is no diftinClion between
them, fo far as mere truth is concerned ; for truth ad¬
mits not of degrees of comparifon. It is however faid,
that the firff propofition depends not upon time, or
will, or any thing elfe *, and that the Supreme Being
hirafelf could not make it falfe : whereas it is certain¬
ly poflible, that he who created the world could anni-
hi'ate it, and thus reduce what is now a truth to an
abfolute falfehood. This difference between the two
propofitions is thought a fufficient ground for calling
the former a neceffary and eternal truth, and the latter
a temporary and contingent truth. But is the difference
itfelf real ? In the prefent inflance rve cannot think
that it is : for if the right angles and triangles, which
conflitute the materials of the former propofition, be real
corporeal things, they may be annihilated as well as the
red of the world j and then the truth of the propofition
will ceafe, for there can be neither equality nor inequa¬
lity between nonentities. If the angles and triangles be
merely ideas in the mind of a rational being, it is not
to be denied that the propofition mull be true, inde¬
pendent of all voill, whenever thofe ideas exift, i. e.
whenever right angles and triangles are thought upon ;
124
Why fome
truth" are
whilft
others are
confidered
as tempo¬
rary and
contingent
H Y S I C S. 603
but if all reafonable creatures were to be annihilated, Of Truth.'
and the Supreme Being never to think of triangles, v J
the propofition would unqueflionably ceafe to be ei¬
ther true or falfe. The world may indeed be annihi¬
lated j but it certainly is not annihilated whilft any ^
one creature exifts to contemplate even that which is
called neccffary and eternal truth : and therefore whilft
any truth exifts in a mind not divine, it muft be necef-
farily true that the world exifts; for the individual
being by which truth is perceived would then confti-
tute the whole world.
But if in a fomewhat different manner we compare >
the former of thefe propofitions with this, “ The
folar fyftem confifts of the fun and at leaft feven pri¬
mary planets,” we fhall at once perceive the difference
between neceffary and contingent truths. Both pro¬
pofitions we know to be true at this moment : but
there is this difference between them, that a plain tri¬
angle can neither actually exift at any period of dura¬
tion, nor be conceived by any one mind divine or hu¬
man, of which the three internal angles are not pre-
cifely equal to two right angles ; whereas the folar
fyftem may eafily be conceived, and might certainly
hi^ve been formed, with a fmaller number of primary
planets rolling round the central fire. This needs no
proof; as it is well known, that till very lately we
conceived the fyftem to confift of the fun and only fix
primary planets; and it has been already fliown, that
whatever we can pofitively conceive may poffibly exiit.
Thus, then, every propofition, of which the contrary
is clearly and diftinftly perceived to be impoffible, is a
neceffary truth ; and it may likewife be faid to be eter¬
nal, becaufe at every period of duration it muft of ne-
ceflity when thought upon be perceived to be true :
On the other hand, every propofition of which the
contrary may be clearly and dillindlly conceived, is, if
true, only a contingent truth, becaufe its contrary might
have exifted ; and it may likewife be called temporary,
becaufe what might have been falfe in time paft may
yet be falfe in time future. I2-
Though all our faculties (our fenfes, our memory, Truth per-
and our intellect), fumifh materials for propofitions,ceivei1
and are therefore all fubfervient to the inveftigation of
truth ; yet the perception of truth, as it is in itfelf, is which fT(i
commonly aferibed to our rational faculties; and thefecommor-ly
have by Locke and others been reduced to two—tea- to be
fon and judgement. The former is faid to be conver-
fant about certain truths, the latter chiefly about pro-j^y' 0
babilities. 126
Some late philofophers of great merit, diffatisfied To which
with this analyfis of the intelledt, have added to rea-
fon and judgement a third faculty, to which they have ye ad(je(|
given the name of common fenfe, and of which the pro- a xhird ta¬
per obj eft is fuch truths as neither admit nor ftand inculty, viz.
need of evidence. By common fenfe they mean, “ that common
degree of judgement which is common to men with^wA’
whom we can converfe and tranfaft bufinefs.” Whe¬
ther the introduftion of fucb a term into metaphyfics
■was proper or improper, we do not think it of impor¬
tance to inquire. According to this definition: of it,
which is Dr Reid’s, it differs not from the reafon (y)
and judgement of Locke; agreeing with the former when
4 G 2 its
(y) This is exprefsly acknowledged by Dr Reid.
“ It is abfurd (fays that able and candid writer) to
conceive
604
M E T A
Of Intuitive Its obje£t Is certain truth, and with the latter when it
^ruf DeT conver^ant about probabilities. Nothing indeed is
aionftration more evident, than that in the aflent of the mind to
i——y—every propolition, fome energy of the judgement is ex¬
erted $ and upon every propofition not felf-evident,
reafoning of fome kind or other muft be employed to
procure that aifent. Inftead therefore of perplexing
ourfelves and our readers with various analyfes of the
human underftanding, or rather with various names to
what after all is perhaps but one individual power, it
will furely be of more importance to the caufe of
truth to examine the different fources of evidence by
which the affent of the reafon, or judgement, or com¬
mon fenfe, is determined.
Under the article Logic it was obferved, that in¬
tuition, experience, and tejlimony,- are each a fufficient
ground of judgement; but they are not the only grounds.
Confcioufnefs is certainly one fource of evidence, per¬
haps the moft complete of any *, and, in a low degree,
analogy is another. Of confcioufnefs we have already
treated, but of analogy we have yet faid nothing : and
though we might (for an account of intuition, experience,
and tefimomf) refer our readers to the article Logic,
where they are accurately though concifely explained,
we (hall, without repeating what has been already faid,
add a few words on each, as well to complete the pre-
fent article as to fupply the deficiencies of the for¬
mer.
Sect. II. Of Intuitive Evidence and Demonflration.
Intuitive evidence is that which arifes from the
comparifon of two or more ideas or notions when their
agreement or difagreement is perceived immediately,
without the intervention of any third idea or notion.
Of this kind is the evidence of thefe propofitions: One
Camp- and f°ur make five * ; things equal to the fame
bell's Phi- thing are equal to one another j the whole is greater
lofophy of
Rhetoric.
PHYSICS.
Part I.
127
Intuitive
evidence,
what.
than any of its parts 5” and in a word, all the axioms Of Intuitive
in arithmetic and geometry. All thefe are in reality Evidence
propofitions in which the fubjedt and predicate -appear
upon comparifon to be nothing more than the fame if'" >
thing taken in different views or expreffed by different
terms. In fa6t, they are all in fome refpedl reducible
to this axiom, “ Whatever is, is.” We do not fay
that they are deduced from it •, for they have in them-
felves that original and intrinfic evidence which makes
them, as foon as the terms are underftood, to be per¬
ceived intuitively. And if they be not thus perceived,
no deduction of reafon wall ever confer on them any
additional evidence. But though not deduced from
the general axiom, they may be confidered as particu¬
lar exemplifications of it j inafmuch as they are all
implied in this, that the properties and relations of
our clear and adequate ideas can be no other than
what the mind clearly perceives them to be.
It may perhaps be thought, that if axioms were pro-Ev.ery
pofitions perfeftly identical, it would be impoffible by monfcration
their means to advance a fingle (lep beyond the Ample a feries of
ideas firft perceived by the mind. And it wmuld in- propofitiom
deed be true, that if the predicate of the propofition^-^^
were nothing but a repetition of the fubjedl under the
fame afpeft, and in the fame or fynonymous terms, no
conceivable advantage could be made of it for the fur¬
therance of knowledge. Of fuch propofitions as thefe,
for inftance, “ feven are leven, eight are eight, the
three angles of a triangle are the three angles of a tri¬
angle, two right angles are two right angles,” it is ma-
nifell that we could never avail ourfelves for the im¬
provement of fcience i But when the thing, though
in effedt coinciding, is confidered under a different af-
pe£t; when that which is fingle in the fubjedt is di¬
vided in the predicate, and converfely j or w'hen what
is a whole in the one is regarded as a part of fome-
thing elfe in the other j fuch propofitions lead to the
difeovery
conceive that there can be any oppofition between reafon and common fenfe. It is indeed the firff-born
of reafon ; and as they are commonly joined together in fpeech and in writing, they are infeparablp in their
nature. We aferibe to reafon twyo offices or two degrees : the firff is to judge of things felf-evident ; the
fecond to draw' conclufions that are not felf-evident from thofe that are. The firft of thefe is the pro¬
vince, and the foie province of common lenfe •, and therefore it coincides with reafon in its whole extent, and
is only another name for one branch or one degree of reafon.” Pere Buffier talks nearly the fame language j
but Ur Beattie exprefles himfelf very differently. “ That there is a real and effential difference between
thefe. two faculties j that common fenfe cannot be accounted for by being called the perfeBion of reafon,
nor reafon by being refolved into «wzOT<3//ye.'y'e; wffll appear (he thinks) from the following remarks: 1. We
are confcious, from internal feeling, that the energy of underftanding, which perceives intuitive truth, is
different from that other energy w'hich unites a conclufion with a firft principle by a gradual chain of
Intermediate relations. 2. We cannot difeern any neceffary connexion between reafon and common fenfe.”
Nay, he fays, “ That we often find men endued with the one who are deftitute of the other ;” and he in-
Ibances dreams and certain kinds of madnefs where this is the cafe ; adding, that a man who believes him¬
felf made of glafs, (hall yet reafon very juftly concerning the means of preferving his fuppofed brittlenefs
from flaws and ffaftnres.” Surely thefe are ftrange remarks. Dreams and madnefs have hhherto been fup-
pofed to originate in the imagination, or, as it was denominated by the ancient philofophers, the ohantafia :
and when the ideas or forms w'hich are there treafured up are difarranged or abfurdly compounded, a dream¬
ing fane man or a w'aking madman, if he reafon at all, muft reafon from abfurd principles: not, however,
through any defeeft of common fenfe, but from a diforder in that region of the brain, upon which the phanta-
fia more immediately depends. Of his firft remark, wre can only fay, that to us it appears to he the reverfe
of truth. In every propofition which admits of demonftration, we are confcious that the conclufion is united
with the firft principle by a repetition of the very fame energy of the underftanding which perceives intuitive
truth. That this is the cafe in every one of Euclid’s demonftrations, we appeal to every mathematical reader y
and why it muft be fo, we lhall by and by endeavour to evince.
Chap. VII. M E T A P
Of Intuitive difcovery of innumerable and apparently remote rela-
Evidence tJgns. It is by the aid of fuch limple and elementary
and De‘ principles that the arithmetician and the algebraift pro-
monftration ^ ^ moft aftoni{hing difcoveries.^ Nor are the
operations of the geometrician effentially different :
for to this clafs belong all propofitions relating to
number and quantity ; that is, all which admit of ma¬
thematical demonftration. If the truth of a mathe¬
matical propofition be not felf-evident •, in other words,
if the fubject and predicate do not appear at firft fight
to be different names for the fame thing, another term
muff be found that (hall be fynonymous to them both.
Thus, to prove that the three internal angles of a right-
lined triangle are equal to two right angles, I produce
the bafe of the triangle •, and by a very ihort proce s i
difcover that the exterior angle fo formed is equal to
the two interior and oppofite angles. By a procds
equally plain and fhort, I perceive that the exterior
angle and the interior adjacent angle are equal to two
right angles: But I have already feen, that the ex¬
terior angle is neither more nor lefs than the avo in¬
terior and oppofite angles under a different afped ;
whence it appears that the three internal angles of the
x triangle are nothing elfe than two right angles under
a different afped. In a word, all demon ft ration is
founded on firft principles or primary truths, which
neither admit nor ftand in need of proof, and to which
the mind is compelled to give its affent by a bare in¬
tuition of the ideas or terms of which thefe primary
truths are compofed. Nothing is fufceptible of de¬
monftration, in the rigid fenfe of the word, but gene¬
ral, neceffary, and eternal truths ; and every demon-
ftration is built upon intuition, and confifts m a lenes
of axioms or propofitions of the very fame kind with
the firft principle or truth from which the realomng
proceeds. That propofitions formerly demonftrated
are taken into the feries, doth not in the leal- mva.i-
date this account ; inafmuch as thefe propofitions are
all refolvable into axioms, and are admitted as links in
the chain ; not becaufe neceffary,. but merely to avoid
the ufelefs prolixity which frequent and tedious repeti¬
tions of proofs formerly given would occafion. But
it is obvious that fucb truths only as refult from the
comparifon of ideas and notions are neceffary 5 and oi
courfe that fuch truths only are'capable of ftntt de¬
monftration. The truths which relate to real exig¬
ences are all contingent, except that which affirms tne
exiftence of the Supreme Being, the Parent of ail
U The mathematical fciences, categorical logic and
that part of metapbyfics which demonftrates the being
of God, are therefore the only branches of human
knowledge which admit of ftria demonftration. 1 he
longeft dvsmonftration in the mathematical fciences may
be traced to this general and neceffary truth, “ \\ hat-
ever is, is,” or to fome particular exemplification of
it : the longeft train of categorical fylloghms terminates
in this general principle, “ What is affirmed Or denied
of a whole genus, may be affirmed or denied of all the
fbecies and all the Individuals belonging to that genus :
and the metanhyficai demonftration of the being o
God refts upon this foundation, “ Whatever had a be¬
ginning, had a caufe.” That thefe are truths ablo-
liitelv certain, which can neither be proved nor called
in queftion, every man may be fatisfieu, merely by at-
H Y S I C S.
605
tending to the ideas or notions which the terms of °efn^1^'
each propofition exprefs. The two firft. are merely Anaiogy#
identical propofitions, of the truth of which no man—y "J
has ever pretended to doubt ; and though the laft is
not identical, it is a neceffary and felf-evident truth,
as its contrary implies, that in the fame thing there, is
power and no power, change and no change, action
and inaafon, at the fame inftant. . . ^9.
Before we difmifs the fubjed of intuition, it may It is by m-
not be improper to obferve, that it .is .by this faculty ^
or power of the mind contemplating its ideas., and com-^ our no_
pwring one idea with another, that we acquire all our tions of re¬
notions of relation ; fuch as identity and diverfiiy, relation.
femblancc, coexjlence, relations oi/pace and time, rela¬
tions of quantity and nutnber, of a caufe to its ejfeEl, and
many more which it would be ufelefs as well as tedious
to enumerate.
Sect. III. Of Experience and Analogy,
130
It has been iuft obferved, that intuition and demon- Experience,
ftration are applicable only to general and neceffary
propofitions, of which the contrary are not only ialle,ohferva_
but abfurd and impoffible. The great buiinets ol hie,ti0IJS.
however, is with fadts and contingent truths, which
admit not of demonftration, but reft upon other evi¬
dence. The fenfes, external and internal, are the in¬
lets to all our knowledge of facts ; and the memory is
the ftorehoufe where that knowledge is preferved. Of
what a man fees or feels, he can at the inftant of. fee-
ino- or feeling entertain no douot j and whilft the ideas
of what he has feen or felt, with all their affociated.
circumftances, remained vivid and diftindt in his memo¬
ry ? he is confcious that he poffeffes lo much real know¬
ledge. But all our knowledge, as it is derived from
the fenfes, is of particular fadts or particular truths;
and the man who has in certain circumftances obferved
one particular phenomenon, for the exiftence of which
he perceives no neceffity, has not fufficient ground to
conclude, that in fimilar circumftances fimilar pheno¬
mena will always occur. Milton, who furpaffed the
greater part of his cotemporaries in philofopbical
fcience almoft as far as he has furpaffed all fucceeding
poets in the fublimity of his genius, reprelents Adam,
when firft falling afieep, as under, apprehenfions that
he was about to fink into his original ftate of infenfi-
bility :
Gentle fleep
“ fir ft found me, and with foft oppreffion feiz’d
“ My droufed fenfe, untroubled ; though I thought
“ I then was paffing to my former ftate
“ Infenfible, and forthwith to diffolve.”
Apprehenfions fimilar to thefe would take place in his
mind when he firft perceived that darknefs had over-
fpread the earth. In his circumftances, he could have
no ground to expedf that the fun when once fet would
rife again to relume the wmrld, as he had not then ex¬
perienced the alternate fucceffion of light and dark¬
nefs, and probably knew not whence light proceeds.
After fome time, however, having obferved day and
night regularly fucceed each other, thefe two. ap¬
pearances, or the ideas of them, would be fo affociated
in his mind, that each fetting fun would fuggeft the
idea of next fuuriung, and lead him to expect that-
glorious
6o6
M E T A P
phyfks,
even thofe
which we
think in¬
tuitively
certain.
'* Camp¬
bell'’s Phi-
Retd, &c.
Of Expen- glorious event witli tlie utmoft confidence. He would
Arnlo™1 confider the alternate fucceffion of day and night
■ as a law of nature, which might be affirmed in a pro-
131 polition expreffive of a certain truth.
Is the only T'his continued obfervation of the fame event hap-
th;itCnCe Fen’ng ’n fame or fxmilar circumftances, is what
have for all we ca^ experience ; and it is the only evidence which
the general we have for all the general truths in pbyfics, even for
truths in thofe which we are apt to think intuitively certahi *.
Thus, that rni/h is white, and that gold is yellow, are
fuppofed to be univerfal and neceffary truths : but for
any thing that we know, they mav be particular
truths 3 and they are certainly contingent, as the con¬
trary to either of them may be fuppofed without ab-
furdity. We have indeed always obferved the milk
'lofopbVof a™™3!8 every fpecies while ; and therefore the
Rhetoric; idea of white becomes a neceflary part of our idea of
and Priejl- the fubftance milk, of which we call whitenefs an ef-
^mar^on Pr0Perty* This, however, refpefts only the milk
the Drs animals with which we are acquainted. But
fince the milk of all the animals with which we are ac¬
quainted, or of which we have heard, is white, we
can have no reafon to fufpeft that the milk of any
new and flrange animal is of any other colour. Alfo,
fince, wherever there has been the fpecific gravity, duc¬
tility, and other properties of gold, the colour has al¬
ways been.we conclude that thefe circumftan¬
ces are necefiarily united, though by fome unknown
bond of union, and that they will always go toge¬
ther.
The proper proof, therefore, of fuch univerfal pro-
pofitions as “ that milk is white,” “ that gold is yel-
that a certain degree of cold will freeze
water,” confifts in what is called an induftion of parti¬
cular faBs of precifely the fame nature. Having found,
by much and various experience, that the fame events
never fail to take place in the fame circumftances, the
expeBation of the lame confequences from the fame pre¬
vious circumftances is neceflarily generated in our minds;
and we can have no more fufpicion of a different event
than we can feparate the idea of whitenefs from that of
the other properties of milk. When the previous cir¬
cumftances are precifely the fame, we call the pro-
cefs of proof by the name of indu&ion, and expert the
event from experience: but if they be not precifely the
13a
Difference
between
experience j „
and analo
gy-
H Y S T C S. Part T.
fame, but only bear a confiderable refemblance to the OfExperi-
circumftances from which any particular appearance en;;e ar,d
has been found to refult, wTe call the argument ana- Alia!ugy-,
logy ; and it is ftronger in proportion to the degree of
refemblance in the previous circumftances. Thus the
milk of all the cow’s that wre have leen, or upon which
we have, made the experiment, having been found
nourilhing, we confidently expe£t that the milk of
all other cows will prove nourifhing likewife 3 and this
confidence of expectation is the refult of uniform ex¬
perience. But if, from having found the milk of all
the animals with which w'e are acquainted to be nou-
rifhing, however different the nature of thefe animals 3
we infer that the milk of any ftrange animal will like¬
wife be nouriftiing 3 the inference is drawn by analogy,
and by no means carries with it the conviction of expe¬
rience. A proofs from real experience can leave no
doubt in the mind (z) 5 an argument from analogy al¬
ways muft. In the one cafe, we only infer that two
events of precifely the fame nature, and in precifely the
fame circumftances, have been produced by the fame kind
of caufe 3 in the other, we infer that two events fimilaf
in moft refpefts, though for any thing that we know
diffimilar in others, have been produced by the fame
kind of caufe ; and it is obvious that between thefe
cafes the difference is great.
Thus, after having obferved that all the projeClilesTh^evi-
to which we have paid any attention—a ftone thrown dence of
from the hand, a ball from a gun, and an arrow from analogy m-
a bow’—deferibe a certain curve, and are impelled in
that curve by two powers aCling in dift'erent lines ofperience. *
direction which form with each other a certain angle,
we infer that all projectiles which on the furface of
the earth deferibe the fame curve are impelled by the
fame or fimilar powers aCting in the fame or fimilar
lines of direction. This inference is the refult of ex¬
perience, and carries with it the failed: conviction to
the mind. But when, from having obferved that the
curves deferibed by the planets are of the fame kind
with thofe deferibed by projeCtiles on the earth, Sir
Ifaac Newton inferred that thefe vaft bodies are im¬
pelled in their orbits by forces of the very fame kind,
and aCting in the fame manner with the forces which
impel a ball from a cannon or arr arrow" from a bow,
his argument was founded only on analogy 3 and even
that
(z) We fay from real experience 3 becaufe what is often taken for experience, and to human eyes has that ap¬
pearance, is in faCt nothing more than analogij. Thus a phyfician may have preferibed to ninety-nine patients la¬
bouring under tlm feme difeafe the fame remedy, and always with the fame fuccefs. If fo, he will think that he
has experience of its utility, and will preferibe it again with the fullelt confidence. Yet in thb cafe he may be
difappomted 3 for though the medicine be the fame and the difeafe the fame, there may be fomething in the con-
ftitution of the hundredth patient fo different Irom that of the ninety-nine, that what was falutary to them may be
pernicious to him. Ihis does not detraCl from the evidence of experience 3 it only ftiows, that the circumftances
of the cafe in which the medicine failed were different from thofe in which it fucceeded. In fuch conclufions as
are founded on a complete induction and uniform experience, every man expeCts the event with the laft degree of
affurance, and regards his part experience as a full proof of the future exiftence of that event : In other cafes,
wffiere experience has been variable—or apparently variable—he knows that the induction has been incomplete,
and therefore proceeds vyith caution. He weighs the oppofite experiments 3 takes as complete a view as he can of
the circumftances in which they were made 3 confiders wffiich fide is fupported by the greater number of experi¬
ments, and inclines to that fide with doubt and hefitation. And when at laft he fixes his judgement, the evi¬
dence exceeds not w’haf is calledAll probability, then, funpofes an oppofition of experiments and
©bfervations, where the one fide is found to overbalance the other, and to produce a degree of evidence propor¬
tioned to the fuperiority,
& • I
Chap VII. M E T A P
Of T. fti- that analogy is very remote. We know by experience
. mor|y- that all projectiles which fail under our immediate cog¬
nizance are of the very fame kind and in the very fame
circumftances •, that every one of them has a tenden¬
cy, from whatever caufe, to the centre of the earth,
and is preferved from falling by the force of projec¬
tion ; we know likewile that they are all moved through
the medium of the atmofphere, which at the furface
o: the earth is confrderably denfe, and that a denfe
medium muft occalion much refrftance : But we do
not know that the planets have a tendency to the
centre of the fun, that they are preferved from falling
into that luminary by a projeftile force, or whether
they move through a medium or in vacuo ; fo that we
are not certain that the motion of the planets is per-
feftly fimilar to that of terretlrial projeftiles in any
other circumftance than the form of the curve which
they all defcribe ; and from this Angle cafe of coinci¬
dence no inference can be drawn which carries to the
mind abfolute conviftion.
When a man reafons from experience, he infers, that
what has uniformly happened hitherto, wait happen al¬
ways in the very fame circumftances ; or that what is
known to be the caufe of various phenomena of the fame
kind is the -caufe of every other phenomenon in all re*
fpedls fimilar to thefe. Such an inference is founded on
the united and complete evidence of fenfe, memory, and
reafon. When a man reafons from analogy he infers,
that what has generally happened hitherto, will happen
again in circumftances; or that what is
known to be the caufe of various phenomena of the
fame kind, is the caufe of other phenomena in fome re-
fpeEls limilar to thefe. This inference is likewife found¬
ed on the united evidence of fenfe, memory, and rea¬
fon : but here the evidence of fenfe is not complete,
and it can be ftrengthened only by finding more fa£ts of
the fame or of a fimilar nature.
Sect. IV. Of Tefimony.
t.H
Markind The iaft fource of evidence which we propcfed to
reaey to confider is tefimony, or the report of men concerning
tiftimony0 events which have fallen under the obfervation of'their
of each ^ fenfes. That we are all ready to believe the informa-
other. tion wTich wTe receive from the teftimony of our fellow
creatures is undeniable ; and indeed without fuch belief
every man’s knowledge of facts and events would be
confined to thofe only of which he himfelf had been a
perfonal witnefs. In that cafe, no man who had not
travelled would believe that there are fuch cities as
Rome and Conftantinople •, and no man whatever could
now believe that fuch heroes as Hannibal and Caefar
had ever exifted.
Between words and things there is no natural con¬
nexion ; and though we are all accuftomed to give to
things the names by which they are known in the lan¬
guage that we fpeak, and to exprefs their mutual rela¬
tions by the words appropriated for that purpofe ; yet it
is obvioufly impoflible to denote one thing by the name
H Y S I C S. 607
of another, and to exprefs by words relations that have Of Teiti-
no exiftence. This being the cafe, it may be alked up- mony-
on what principle we give credit to human teftimony ? '
To this queftion various anfwers have been given,
which have produced much controverfy on one of the
moft important fubje&s which can employ the mind of
man.
“ V/e may obferye (fays Mr Hume *), that there is Th/r/afon
no fpecies of reafoning more common, more ufeful, and affigned by
even necefiary to human life, than that which is deri- tor
ved from the teftimony of men and the reports of eye-
witnefies and fpeclators. This fpecies of reafoning per- * EJhy on
haps one may deny to be founded on the relation oiMiracles.
caufe and effedl. I fhall not difpute about a word. It
will be fufficient to obferve, that our aifurance in any
argument of this kind is derived from no other princi¬
ple than our obfervation of the veracity of human tefti¬
mony, and of the ufual conformity of fadts to the re¬
ports of witneffes. It being a general maxim that
no (a) objedls have any difcoverable connexion toge¬
ther, and that all the inferences which we can draw
from one to another are founded merely on our experi¬
ence of their conftant and regular conjundlion ; it is
evident that we ought not to make, an exception to this
maxim in favour of human teftimony, whole connexion
with any event feems in itfelf as little neceffary as any
other. Were not the memory tenacious to a certain
degree ; had not men commonly an inclination to truth,
and a principle of probity ; were they not fenfible to
lhame when detedled in falfehood : Were not thefe, I
fay, difeovered by experience to be qualities inherent in
human nature, we Ihouid never repofe the leaft confi¬
dence in human teftimony. And as the evidence de¬
rived from witneffes and human teftimony is founded on
paft experience, io it \ aries with the experience, and is
regarded either as a proof or probability, according as the
conjundlion between any particular kind of report and
any kind of objedl has been found to be ccnftant or va¬
riable. There are a number of circumftances to be ta¬
ken into confideration in all judgements of this kind ;
and the ultimate ftandard by which we determine all
dilputes that may arife concerning them, is always de¬
rived from experience and obfervation. The reafon
why we place any credit in witneffes and hiftorians, is
not derived from any connexion which we perceive a
priori between teftimony and reality, but becaufe we are
accuftomed to find a conformity between them. But
when the fad attefted is fuch a one as has feldom fallen
under our obfervation, here is a conteft of two oppofite
experiences ; of which the one deftroys the other as far
as it goes, and the fuperior can only operate on the
mind by the force which remains. The. very fame
principle of experience which gives us a certain degree
of affurance in the teftimony of witneffes, gives us alfo,
in this cale, another degree of affurance againft the
fad which they endeavour to eftablilh from which
contradidion there neceffarily ariies a counterpoife, and
mutual deftrudion of belief and authority.”
J his account of the origin of faith in teftimony has confuted,
been unc*
(a) Is there then no difcoverable connexion between a tree and the field in which it grows j between a man
and his clothes *, between an author and his work •, between a feeptk and paradoxes ? Surely all thefe are corre¬
lates, and neceifarily fuggeft the ideas of each other.
6oS
CfTeftU
niony.
* TiijTerta-
tion on Mi¬
racles, and
The Phi-
lofophy of
Khttonc,
f Inquiry
into the Hu
ftian Mind,
J&c.
M E T A P
been controverted with mucb fuccefs by the Doftors
Campbell and Reid. “ That the evidence of teftimony
is derived folely from experience (fays the former ot
thefe writers *), is at leaft not fo inconteftable a truth as
Mr Hume fuppofes it *, that, on the contrary, teftimo-
ny hath a natural and original influence on belief ante¬
cedent to experience, will, I imagine, eafily be con¬
ceived. For this purpole, let it be remarked, that the
earlieft affent which is given to teflimony by children,
and which is previous to all experience, is, in faft, the
moft unlimited ; that by a gradual experience of man¬
kind, it is gradually contraaed, and reduced to nar¬
rower bounds. To fay, therefore, that our diffidence
in teftimony is the refult of experience, is more philo-
fophical, becaufe more confonant to truth, than to lay
that our faith in teftimony has this foundation. Ac¬
cordingly, youth, which is unexperienced, is credulous;
age, on the contrary, is diftruftful. Exa&ly the re-
verfe would be the cafe were this author’s doanne juft.
This is a complete confutation of the reafonmg of Mr
Hume : but in order to prevent all cavilling, it is to be
wiftied that the very acute author had explained more
fully what he means by faying, that teftimony hath a
natural and original influence on belief } for thele words
may be taken in different fenfes, in one of which what
he affirms is true, and in another falfe.
Dr Campbell’s omiffion is. amply fupphed by Dr
Reid, who gives f the following account of teftimony,
and of the credit which it obtains. “ The wife and
beneficent Author of nature, who intended that we
ftiould be focial creatures, and that we ftiould receive
the greateft and moft important part of our knowledge
by the information of others, hath, for thefe purpofes,
implanted in our nature two principles that tally with
each other. The firft of thefe principles is a piopenfity
to fpeak truth, and to ufe the figns of language fo as to
convey our real fentiments. This principle has a pow-er-
ful operation even in the greateft liars 5 for where they
lie once, they fpeak truth a hundred. times. Truth is
always uppermoft, and is the natural iftue of the mind.
It requires no art or training, no inducement or tempta¬
tion, but only that we yield to a natural impulfe. Ly¬
ing,' on the contrary, is doing violence to our nature,
and is never pra&ifed even by the worft men without
fome temptation. Speaking truth is like ufing our .na¬
tural food, which we would do from appetite, although
it anfw7ered no end but lying is like taking phyfic,
which is naufeous to the tafte, and which no man takes
but for fome end which he cannot otherwife attain.—
When we are influenced by any motive, we muft.be
confcious of that influence, and capable of perceiving
jt upon reflexion. Now, when I refleft upon, my ac¬
tions rnoft attentively, I am not confcious that in {peak¬
ing truth I am influenced on ordinary occafions by any
motive moral or political. I find that truth is always
at the door of my lips, and goes forth fpontaneoully it
not held back, 'it requires neither good nor bad in¬
tention to bring it forth, but only that I be artlefs and
undefigning. There may indeed be temptations to
falfehood, which would be too ftrong for the natural
principle of veracity, unaided by principles of honour
or virtue •, but where there is no fuch temptation,
we fpeak truth by inJlinB. By this inftina, a real con¬
nexion is formed between our words and our thoughts}
H Y S I C S. Fart T-
and thereby the former become fit to he figm of the OfTeft.-
latter, which they could not otherwdfe be. . . ... i
Such is the account which Dr Reid gives of the
truth of human teftimony : and he adds, that there^ is
another original principle implanted in us .oy the ou-
preme Being, to tally with it, viz. a difpofition to
confide in the veracity of others, and to believe what
they tell us. “ This (he fays) is the counterpart to
the former ; and as that may be called the principle of
veracity, we ffiall, for the want of a more proper name,
call this the principle of credulity. It is unlimited m
children, until they meet wfith inftances of deceit and
falfehocd 5 and retains a very confiderable degree oi
ftrength through life.”
It is ever with extreme reludlance that we contro¬
vert the opinions of this able writer ; and that reluc¬
tance cannot be leffened in the prefent inftance, when
we are confcious that great part of what he fays is un-
anfwerable. That truth is always at the door ot the
lips ^ that it requires no effort to bring it forth \ that m
ordinary cafes men fpeak truth uninfluenced by any mo¬
tive moral or political •, that the greateft liars (peak
truth a hundred times where they lie once *, air-, tnat
lying is never praftifed by the worft men without fome
temptation, are pofttions which daily experience ren¬
ders it impoffible to queftion : But notwithftandmg
this, we do not think that truth is fpoken by an in-
f waive principle •, becaufe it is inconceivable that m-
fti„a ffiould teach the ufe of arbitrary and artificial
figns, fuch as the words of every language undoubtedly
are ; or that between fuch figns and ideas, any wJhnBive
connexion ffiould ever be formed. “ Truth (as we
have defined it) is the conformity of thofe. words or
figns by which things are exprefled to the things them-
felves and things themfelves are what they are, in¬
dependent of us, our inftinas, and perceptions When
we have precife and adequate ideas of objects, and
when thofe ideas are related to one another as the ob-
jefts themfelves are related, we are in poffeffion ot men¬
tal truth j and in this cafe there is a real and natural
connexion between the figns and the thmgs fignified:
for we cannot frame original and fimple icieas which
have no archetype in nature j nor can one objett, di-
ftinaiy perceived, generate in our minds the ideas that
are generated by other objedls. Here externa t ings
are the obi efts, and ideas are the ligns,. which, when
they are in conformity to the things fignified by them,
conflitute truth.
nil 1 tute trutn. . , . , fT. „
But in human teftimony, the ideas in the mind of fon ^
the fpeaker are the things fignified, and the words otfigne(k
language are figns by which they are exprefled j an
when thefe things and figns 'are in conformity to each
other, the words uttered exprefs fo much truth.—
Now, though in this cafe there is no natural connexion
between the fign and the thing fignified, yet it is ob¬
vious, that without a violent effort of the fpeaker to the
contrary they muft always be in conformity with each
other; becaufe, in every language, there are words ap¬
propriated for the purpofe of denoting every idea and
relation which can be expreffed 3 and m the mind ot
every man thefe ideas, relations, and words, have been
conftantly affociated from the time that he learned to
fpeak. So intimate is this affectation, and.fo impoffible
to be broken, that whoever will pay fufficient attention
to '
3
Chap. VII. METAPHYSICS. 609
OfTefti- to the operations of his own mind, will find that he affociation between words and ideas, that the truth Of Tefti-
mony. thinks as well as /peaks in fome language 5 and that in wall at times break out in fpite of all their endeavours mony* .
cogitation he fuppofes and runs over, filently and habi- to fupprefs it ; fo that the end or middle of a falfe
tually, thofe founds which in fpeaking he a&ually ut- narrative, if it be of any length, is commonly incon-
ters (b). If this be fo, it is impfoffible that a man with- fiftent with the beginning. We entertain a fufpicion
out fome effort fhould ever fpeak any thing but truth : concerning any matter of fa£f, when thofe who relate
for the ideas of what he has feen or heard, &c. are it contradift each other—wThen they are but few in
not of his manufacture \ they are generated by external number, or of doubtful character—when they have
objeCts; and till they be effaced from the memory, an intereft in what they affirm—when they deliver
they muff ahvays, by the law of affociation, make their their teflimony with helitation—or, on the contrary,
appearance there with all their mutual relations, and in with too violent affeverations 5 becaufe thefe Eire circum-
their proper drefs. In the very aCl of learning to fiances which we have generally experienced to ac-
fpeak, we neceffarily learn to fpeak the truth: for were company falfe witnefs. It is likewife with reluftance
we not to employ words exaCfly as they are employed that we admit a narrative of events entirely different
by thofe with whom urn converfe, our language (if lan- from every thing which hitherto we have feen or heard j
guage it might be called) would be unintelligible •, and becaufe we may not be certain that the narrator is not
we could neither declare our w^ants nor afk relief with under fome influence to deceive us in matters concern-
any hopes of fuccefs. Children beginning to fpeak, ing which we have nothing but his tefiimony on which
may indeed utter untruths without any motive, and to ground our judgement. But in every cafe where the
merely from miftake •, becaufe the ideas and words of fact recorded is in itfelf poflible,. and attributed to an
children have neither been long nor clofely affociated : adequate caufe ; where a competent (c) number of wit-
but it is impoflible that a man, however wicked, fhould neffes had fuflicient means of information, and are cer-
habitually and without motives lie on ordinary occa- tainly under no inducement to deceive ; teftimony is
fions, unlefs the fundamental principles of his nature complete evidence, however extraordinary the fact
have been totally altered ; unlefs his brain has been dif- may be ; becaufe no fa£t which is known to have an
ordered by difeafe ; unlefs his ideas have been difarran- adequate caufe can be fo incredible, as that a number of
ged, and all his original affociadons broken. men of found underftandings fhould ad contrary to the
We know indeed by woful experience, that irnmo- fundamental principles of human nature, or be able, if
ral men occafionally utter falfehoods with a view to fo difpofed, to diiTolve affociations which had been
deceive. But on thefe occafions they are influenced by formed in the mind of each from his infancy, and form
fome motive either of hope or terror : the falfehood new ones, all agreeing exa&ly with one another, but
is always uttered with an effort : and fo firong is the all contrary to truth.
PART II. OF BODY WITH ITS ADJUNCTS.
1
Chap. I. Of the Composition of Bodies ; or, of
Matter and Form.
HITHERTO wre have contemplated only the
powers of our minds by which we acquire a flock of
ideas, and the various operations of the intelledfi upon
thofe ideas, as treafured up in the memory or imagina¬
tion. In the courfe of the inquiry we have found, that
every idea and notion which we have was fuggefied by
fomething independent of us j and in order to difeover
what thofe things are, we have inveftigated the nature
Vol. XIII. Part II.
of each fenfe, as it is by the fenfes only that we have
any communication with the external world. By touch
we perceive heat and cold, hardnefs and foftnefs, fi¬
gure, folidity, motion, and extenfion ; by the organ of
fmell, we perceive odours j by the tongue and palate,
taftes by the ear, founds •, and by the fight, colours.
We have likewife feen, that heat and cold, odours,
taftes, founds, and colours, are mere fenfations which
have no exiftence but while they are perceived. On
the other hand, hardnefs and foftnefs, figure and folidi¬
ty, motion and extenfion, are neither fenfations, nor
like fenfations ; but are conceived to be fomething ex-
q. H ternal
(b) This feems to have been Plato's opinion 5 for he calls thinking Aoyov «v ocvln ccvlvv i /v%>i h tfeg#£r«<
ay uv £r;c«7r»), “ the language by which the foul explains itfelf to itfelf when it conliders any thing.” And
Plotinus fays, ‘O iv Aoya? ftiftripx. rev tv ■J'vx*, “ the vocal w'ords are an imitation of thofe of the foul.” To
fay that vocal words are an imitation of thofe of the foul, is to fpeak inaccurately, and to reverfe the procefs
of affociation 5 but it affords fufficient evidence, that in the opinion of Plotinus men think as wTell as fpeak in
words.
(c) Should it be afked what number we call competent, we beg leave to fay, that it will be greater or lefs
according to circumftances. In cafes where they are not liable to the deceptions of fenfe, two men of integrity
and intelligence deferve equal credit with two thoufand ; but where there is particular occafion for good organs,
whether of fight, hearing, or touch, the greater the number the greater is our fecurity. To this mull; be added,
that as one man is influenced by that which to another would be no motive, a great number of witneffes concur¬
ring in the fame teftimony is always an additional fecurity that they are net under the influence of any latent
bias.
6io
M E T A P H Y S I C S.
Part II.
Of the
Corripufi.
ti’on of
Bodies.
138
Of things
perceived
by the
fenfes the
greater
ternal and independent of our faculties, which may ope¬
rate in a defert wildernefs as well as in a populous city,
though, for want of fentient beings to operate upon, it
cannot in the wildernefs produce the fame effedts as in
the city.
Of things perceived by the fenfes we find the great¬
er part always united ; for wdten a man perceives a
piece of fealing wrax, if he makes ufe of all his fenfes,
he perceives at once cold, tafie, colour, hardneis,
part always roughnefs or fmoothnefs, figure, folidity, motion or
united. reft, and extenfion. That the powers or qualities,
which in this inftance produce the fenfations of heat
or cold, tafte, odour, and colour, are fo united to the
hardnefs, figure, folidity, and extenfion of the wax,
as that they cannot exiit alone, is evident ; becaufe it
is impoffible to remove any one of thefe things, or to
conceive it removed, wuthout removing with it all the
reft. What then is the bond of this union ? Do thefe
things neceffarily accompany one another, fo as that
one of them cannot exift without bringing all the reft
along with it ? No •, there is no neceffary connexion
among them ; for by the operation of fire the wax may
be rendered liquid, when the hardnefs and cold are gone,
though every thing elfe remains the fame, or nearly
the fame, as it was before. By a ftill further opera¬
tion of fire the appearance may be entirely changed j
and that which was formerly a piece of hard red wax,
may be reduced to fmoke and allies, in which there is
neither hardnefs, colour, odour, nor figure ; at leaft
there is not in the fmoke and allies fuck hardnefs, co¬
lour, odour, or figure, as w as in the wrax. The foli¬
dity and extenfion, however, remain j for we perceive
allies and fmoke to be extended and folid as much as
wax or an adamant ; nor is it poflible to do any thing
with the wax, ot with any other lenfible objedt, which
(hall deprive it of extenfion or folidity.
Some of Thus, then, extenfion and folidity may exift and
thefe.things t>e perceived when feparated from hardnefs, colour,
and odour ■, but none of thefe can exift, or be con-
termed ac¬
cidents, and
why.
ceived to exift, independent of extenfion and folidity.
H ardnefs, colour, odour, tafte, and figure, or the
things which fuggeft thefe notions to us, have with
great propriety been termed accidents or qualities j
becaufe they cannot exift or be conceived to exift by
the.mfelves, but require for their fupport one common
fubjeft. Extenfion and folidity can exift independent
of them, but they cannot exift independent of folidity
and extenfion.
Is then folidity the bafis of thefe qualities, fo that
they neceffarily refult from it ? No 5 there are many
things folid and extended which are neither hard, nor
coloured, nor odorous, nor fapid •, which could not be
if thefe qualities were the neceffary effect of folidity.
fubje<ft call-Befides, all mankind conceive of folidity and exten-
ed matter, fion as qualities of fomething elfe 5 for wre never lay
that folidity is extended or coloured, or hard or odo¬
rous, but that fomething folid has thefe qualities :
whence it is evident that we confider folidity as a
quality itfelf. In w'hat then does folidity and all the
other fenfible qualities inhere, fince they cannot exift
140
Things per¬
ceived by
the fenfes,
( ualities,
which in-
her
feparately, and do not fupport each other ? This is Of the
a queftion which modern pbilofophers pretend not to
anfwer : but fome of the ancients were not fo modeft. p0(|:f S
Ariifotle and his followers refolved every bodily fub-1 - t - ■ *
ftance into matter and form, making matter the bafis
vr fubjlratum, and under form comprehending all len¬
fible qualities.
As attempts have been lately made to revive this
philofophy, it may not be improper to give a ftiort
view of the doefrine of tsiatter and. form, if it were only
to difeover wdiether the fpeculations of Ariftotle and
his adherents on this fubjedft deferve to be preferred to
thofe of Newton and Locke.
The moll perfpicuous, and by far the moft elegant
writer among the moderns who has adopted the an¬
cient philofophy, is Mr Harris y and left we Ihould be
accufed by others of doing injuftice to a fubjedf above
the reach of ordinary comprehenfion, we lhall tran-
feribe fo much of what he has laid of matter and form
in his Philofophical Arrangements as feems neceffary to
make our readers underftand his meaning as far as it
is intelligible. x^j
“Matter (fays this waiter) is that elementary con-The Peri-
ftituent in compofite fubftances which appertains inpatetic doc-
common to them all, without diftinguifliing them fromtnne con'
one another. Every thing generated or made, whe-^™1"^.
ther by nature or art, is generated or made out of
fomething elfe ; and this fomething elfe is called its
fubjeft or matter. Such is iron to the faw 5 fuch is
•timber to the boat. Now thisfubjeB or matter of a thing
being neceffarihj previous to that thing’s exiftence, is ne-
cejfarily different from it, and not the fame. Thus iron,
as iron, is not a faw ; and timber, as timber, is not
a boat. Hence, then, one cbaxacter of every fubjeB
or matter, that is, the character of negation or privation.
[He means negation or privation of what is to be made
out of it.] 142
“ Again, Though the fubjeB or matter of a thing be which is
not that thing, yet, were it incapable of becomingdef(nbed
fo, it could not be called its fubjedt or matter. Thus ^ e^erylUe
iron is the fubjeB or matter of a fawj becaufe, though attiibute or
not a fawr, it may ftill become a faw. On the contrary, quality,
timber is not the fubjedf or matter of a faw \ becaufe
it not only (as timber) is no faw, but can never be
made one from its very nature and properties. Hence,
then, befides privation, another character of every fub¬
jeB or matter, and that is the character of aptitude or
capacity. [He means aptitude or capacity to be that
which is made out of it.]
“ Again, When one thing is the fubjeB or matter of
many things, it implies a privation of them all, and a
capacity to them all. Thus iron being the lubjedt or
matter' of the fawq the axe, and the chiffel, implies
privation and capacity with refpedt to all three. A-
gain, We can change a faw into a chiffel, but not
into a boat; wTe can change a boat into a box, but
not into a faw. 1'he reafon is, there can be no change
or mutation of one thing into another where the two
changing beings do not participate the fame matter (d).
But even here, were the boat to moulder and turn to
earth,
(d) In a note he fays : This reafoning has reference to what tke ancients called vAjj the immediate
matter, in oppofition to vM the remote or primary matter.
Chap. I. M E T A P
Of the earth, and that earth by 'natural procefs to metallize
Co7£ and become iron 5 through fuch progreflion as this vve
Bodies. migh‘t fuppofe even the boat to become a faw. Hence
v——y——- therefore it is, that all change is by immediate or me¬
diate participation of the fatne matter. Having advan¬
ced thus far, we mult be careful to remember, firlt,
that every fubjehl or matter implies, as fuch, privation
and capacity ; and next, that all change or mutation of
beings into one another is by means of their participating
the fame common matter. This we have chofen to illuf-
trate from works of art, as falling more eafdy under
human cognizance and obfervation. It is, however,
no lefs certain as to the productions of nature, though
the fuperior fubtlety in thefe renders examples more
difficult. The queftion then is, whether in the world
wffiich w'e inhabit, it be not admitted from experience,
as well as from the confeffion of all pbilofophers, that
fubltances of every kind (e), whether natural or arti¬
ficial, either immediately or mediately, pafs into one
another : and whether, in that cafe, there mud not be
fome one primary matter common to all things. I fay
fome one primary matter, and that common to all things,
fince without fome fuch matter, fuch mutation would be
wholly impoflible. Eut if there be fome one primary
matter, and that common to all things, this matter muih
imply, not (as particular and fubordinate matters do)
a particular privation and a particular capacity, but, on
the contrary, univerfal privation and univerfal capa¬
city. If the notion of fuch a being appear flrange
and incomprehenfible, we may farther prove the ne-
ceffity of its exilfence from the following confiderations :
Either there is no fuch general change as here fpoken
of; which is contrary to faft, and wmuld deftroy the
fympathy and congeniality of things: Or, if there
be, there mull be a matter of the charaCler here elta-
hlilhed j becaufe without it (as we have faid) fuch
change would be impoffible. Add to this, however hard
univerfal privation may appear, yet had the primary
matter, in its proper nature, any one particular attri¬
bute, fo as to prevent its privation from being unli¬
mited and univerfal, fuch attribute would run through
all things, and be confpicuous in all. If it wrere wffiite,
all things would be white ; if circular, they would be
circular; and fo as to other attributes ; wffiich is con¬
trary to fadt. Add to this, that the oppofite to fuch
attribute could never have exiltence, unlefs it wrere pof-
fible for the fame thing to be at once and in the fame
inllance both white and black, circular and redtilineal,
&c. fince this infeparable attribute would neceffarily
be every where ; becaufe the matter, which implies it, is
itfelf every where, at leall may be found in all things
that are generated and perilhable.
and to be “ Here then we have an idea (fuch as it is) of that
aPPrehen(l- lingular being vM irgdlti, the primary matter ; a being
abftradtion w^'c^ philofophers who are immerged in fen-
and analo- °bjedls know not well how to admit, though they
gy. cannot well do w ithout it; a being which flies the
H Y S I C 3. 611
perception of every fenfe, and which is at bell, even Of the
to the intellefl, but a negative objedt, ■ no otherwife Compofi-
comprehenfble than either by analogy or aiflraElion. We
gain a glimpfe of it by abflraBion, when we fay that the ’■ T—^ ■ <
firfl manner is not the lineaments and complexion which
make the beautiful face ; nor yet the flefh and blood
which make thole lineaments and that complexion j nor
yet the liquid and folid aliments which make that flelh
and blood ; nor yet the Ample bodies of earth and wa¬
ter wffiich make thofe various aliments ; but fomething,
which being below all thefe, and fupporting them all,
is yet different from them all, and elTential to their ex-
iflence. We obtain a fight of it by analogy, when we
fay, that as is the bra's to the ftatue, the marble to
the pillar, the timber to the flfip, or any one fecondary
matter to any one peculiar form ; fo is the firfl and ori¬
ginal matter to all forms m general}'1
Such is the dodtrine of the Peripatetics concerning
the primary matter or the bafis of bodily fubftances.
We forbear to make any remarks upon it till we have
feen what they /ay of form, the other effential part
of every body ; for wffiat is meant by matter and form
will be moil completely ften when they are viewed to¬
gether. 144
“ Form (fays the fame elegant writer) is that ele-The Ptripa-
meat ary confituent in every compofte fulflance, by which
it is distinguished, characterized, and hnown, fromCf.xn\nct'
every other. Eut to be more explicit : The frf and form,
moil fimple of all extenfons is a line: this, when it ex-
ifls, united with a fecond extenfion, makes a fuperfetes i
and thefe two exiiiing together w'ith a third, make a
folid. Now this laft and complete extension we call
the frf and fmplef form ; and when this firji and
fmplef form accedes to the frf and fmplef matter, the
union of the two produces body ; which is for that rea-
fon defined to be matter triply extended. And thus we
behold the rife of pure and original body (f) It muft
be remembered, however, that body, under this charac¬
ter, is fomething indefnite and vague, and fcarcely to
be made an objeB of fcientific contemplation. It is ne-
ceffary to this end that its extenfion ihould be bounded;
for as yet w-e have treated it without fuch regard.
Now, the bound or limit offmple body is figure; and thus
it is that figure, with regard to body, becomes the next
form after extenfion. .
“ But though the boundary of body \>y figure is one The three
flep towards rendering it definite and knowable, yet isor>g‘nal
not this fufficient for the purpofes of nature. It is ne-^*/^ acj j
ceffary here, that not only its external fhould be dulycci t0
bounded, but that a fultable regard fhould likewife be ter, confti-
had to \x.s internal. This internaladjufiment, difpofition,tute bo(ly
or arrangement (denominate it as you pleafe^), is called Pbyiicab
organization, and may be confidered as the third
form wffiich appertains to body. By its acceflion we
behold the rife of body physical or natural 5 for
every fuch body is fome way or other organised. And
thus may we affirm, that thefe three, that is to fay,
4 H 2 extenfion.
(e) He muft mean only bodily fubftances; for it is not admitted by fuch philofophers as make a diftindlion be¬
tween mind and body, that the one ever pafles into the other.
(f) “ Original body (he fays), when we look downward, has reference to the primary matter, its fubftratum :
when we look upwards, it becomes itfelf a matter to other things ; to the elements, as commonly called, air, earth,
water, &c. and in confenuence te all the variety of natural productions
METAPHYSIC S.
Part II.
extenjion, figure, and organisation, are the three original
forms to body pln/sicalor natural} figure having reipefl
to its external, organization to its internal, and extenfion
being common both to one and to the other. It is
more than probable, that from the variation in thefe
univerfal and (as I may fay) primary forms, arife mod
of thofe fecondary forms ufuaily called quantities fenfiblc,
becaufe they are the proper objects of our feveral fen-
fations. Such are roughnefs and frnoothnefs, hardnefs
and foftnefs j the tribes of colours, favours, odours
not to mention thofe powers of charadter more fubtle,
the powers electric, magnetic (g), medicinal, &c.
“ Here therefore we may anfvver the quedion, how
natural bodies are difiinguifhed. Not a fingle one
among them confifts of materials in chaos, but of ma¬
terials wrought up after the' mod exquifite manner,
and that confpicuous in their organization, or in their
figure, or in both.—As therefore every natural body is
didinguiihed by the differences jud deferibed, and as
thefe differences have nothing to do with the original
matter, which being everywhere fimilar can afford no
didineiion at all ; may we not here infer the expe¬
diency of ESSENTIAL FORMS, that every natural fub-
fiance may De effentially chara&erized ? Thefe forms,
though they differ from matter, can yet never fub-
fifi without it; but united with it, they help to produce
every compojite being, that is to fay, in other words,
every naturalfulfiance, in the vifible wmrld. It mud
be remembered, however, that it is the FORM in this
union which is the fource of all difiinclion. It is by
this that the ox is didinguiihed from the horfe, not
by that grafs on which they lubfid, the common mat¬
ter to both. . To which alfo may be added, that
as figures and fenfible qualities are the only obje&s of
our fenfations, and tbefe are all parts of natural form ;
fo therefore (contrary to the fentiment of the vulgar,
who dream of nothing but of matter) it is firm, which
is in truth the whole that we either hear, fie, or feel;
nor is mere matter any thing better than an obfeure un-
perfiB being, knowable only to the reafimng faculty
by the two methods already explained, I mean that of
analogy and that of ahfiraBion. Here therefore we con¬
clude with refpedd \o fenfible forms, that is to fay, forms
immerged in matter and ever infeparable from it. In
//ig/f’and we place the elements OF natural
SUBSTANCE.”
If this extract appear long, let it be remembered Of the
that it contains the fulled and mod perfpicuous detail
which is to be found in the Englilh language, of a doc- Jodies,
trine of which the author of Ancient Metaphyfics fup-——v /
pofes I.ocke to have been ignorant } and for vvhicn
ignorance he affects to treat the Englidi philofopher
with fupercilious contempt. Had Locke really been ig¬
norant of the ancient doftrrne of matter form, it is
probable that mod people will be of opinion, that the con¬
tempt exprefled by his cenfurer might have been (pared ;
but if it ihould appear, that, as far as this theory is intel¬
ligible, it differs not, except in words, from the dodhine
laid down in the Effay concerning Human End erf an ding,
what (hall we think of that zeal for ancient phrates,
which had influence fufficient to make one reipeclable
philofopher pour contempt upon another who was an
ornament to his country ? r4<>
What Mr Harris has (aid of matter and form re-^^'can-
fpecling works of art, is futficiendy intelli^iole, an^r° teo/f0.
extremely jud. Nor fhould we bbjcdl to the account
which he gives of the origin of natural body, if l*e
had not diveded his firft matter of every power and
every quality, iolidity and extenfion not excepted.
But though we can iuppofe body diveded of any one
particular figure and of every ienfible quality, iuch as
colour, odour, tades, &c. and the fubflratum or ba-
fis or matter of it dill to remain, yet it ieerns impof-
fibie to conceive it divefled of fohdity without luppo-
fing it totally annihilated. Nay, if we have any jud
notion at all of folidity, it is evidently infeparable
from the fubdratum of body, whatever that fubdra-
tum be and indeed though IVIr Harris diveds his hid
matter of every attribute, the argument by which he
proves the neceflary exiflence of fuch a being does
not require its privation to be fo univerfal. “ Had
the primary mafter (fays he), in its proper nature, any
one particular attribute, fo as to prevent its privation
from being unlimited and wxixxnxi-A, fuch attribute would
run through all things and be confpicuous in all.” d his
indeed is obvious and undeniable : buX. folidity and ex¬
tenfion do in fiB run through all tilings into which the
fubfratum o'r matter of body is ever formed or ever' can.
be conceived to be formed and therefore there is no
neceflity for fuppofing the fird matter diveded of tnefe
attributes (h).
Mr Harris fays, that both Timseus and Plato drop
expreflions
(g) That it is from the extenfion, figure, and organization of bodies, that tneir medicinal powers anfe, feems
to be undeniable.; for medicines operate by contact : but it is not fo clear that the forms, to me the au¬
thor’s language, are the fource of maynetical powers. If the magnet be furrounded with an atnoofphere ex¬
tending to a certain didance, fuch may be the cafe ; but if not, the author’s conjedture mud be ill founded. See
Magnetism.
(h) Nor does it appear that it was diveded of them by all the ancient philofophers. Me learn from Cud-
worth, that “ the atomical phyfiology, the mod ancient perhaps of any, teaches that body is nothing elfe but one-
exlov ecvhlvTer, extended bulk ; and that nothing is to be attributed to it but what is included in the nature and
idea of it, viz. greater or lefs magnitude, with divifibility into parts, figure, and polition, together with motion
or red, but fo as that no part of body can ever move itielf. And confequently, this philofophy fuppofes,
that there is no need of any thing elfe befides the fimple elements of magnitude, figure, fite, and motion,
(which are all clear'y intelligible, or different modes of extended fubdance), to folve the corporeal phenomena
by ; and therefore not of any fubdantial forms didinfl from the matter; nor of any other qualities, really ex-
iftmg in the bodies without, befides the refults or aggregates of thofe fimple elements, and the dilpolition of
the infenfible parts of bodies in refpect of figure, fite, and motion ; nor of any intentional^^zvA ox (bows
p ropt gated froca the objetls to our fenfes : nor, laitly, of any other kind of motion or aiftion really didinet
Chap.
Of th2
Compofi-
tion of
Bodies.
147
Some firft
matter com
mon to all
bodies;
j ' M E T A P
expreflions as if tlisy confidered matter to be fi/ace;
but plac?, as will be feeu afterwards, can be the ba-
fis of nothing. He Hkewife quotes ^ Paffa^e bom
, Ammonius on the predicaments, m which t is
' “ that there never was in aBuolity either matter with¬
out bodv, or body without quality *, and we appeal
to our readers if it be not abfolutely tmpoffible to
contemplate fuch a being even in idea. ^ ^
ftion Whether the firft matter has a Separate exuftence
by itfelf, diftina from all the qualities of body, ne
author of Jncient Meiaphjf.es anfwers thus:— We
have no idea of it exifting feparately becaufe we find
no fuch thing in nature, from which we draw all om
ideas: but whether there may not be n^h < . h
exifting in the regions of infinite fpace as matter wnn-
out form and dimenjions ; is what I think no man can
take upon him to decide.” But with all fubmiflion,
if a man cannot decide this queftmn with the mmo
certainty, his three ponderous vommes are not
better than ufelefs paper: for the fubjeft of them r
things ex flag ; and concerning exiftence w. know o-
thing with greater certainty, than. that a bemg of
whidi nothing pofitive can be affirmed, cannot poftm y
^TVatf “*orld which we inhabit, bodily fub-
ftances of every kind, whether natural or artificial e -
ther immediately or mediately pafs into one another
a truth which cannot be denied : and therefore u fol¬
lows that there muft be fome one primary inatter.com
mon^o all things. In modern philofophy this primary
matter is confidered as folid, and as xhe fubfratum of
H Y S I C S.
613
men are
quaity ig-
all bodieh aiwTalfthofe tilings wblcS In the language
of Mr Harris are comprehended under the appe a ton tjon 0f
: f L are c lied ^ : to that on this fub,=a the Bo(lics.
»fcnd modern^ philofophy differ noth.ng but n —v-
the latter ufing the word qmh.os mdead ofthe »ord
philoi ]45
fOPOyf r‘.ture of StoftmfV.ll
in truth qualities, which are the whole that we ei e c
Lear, ordee erther t^aor norant.
oneCwdlTe"‘amine himfelf concerning hb notion ot pure
Stance in general, he will find that he ha, no other
idea of it at all, but only a Ihnpoliuon o, he know, not
what fupport of fuch quaht.es as are capaolt o. prodn
cing fimple ideas in us.” , ,i,pHo'vwe
But how, it has been afked, ao we kno t know ^at
things which we perceive are qualities, and cannot exist. things
without a fu1 iedt ? We anf ver, Becaufe every one of linmediate-
ThS, Sie'f folidity, may be changed or delhoyed hpe-wed
and the fubjeeft in which they inhere (till re™ain- / ^’ues.
though wax may be melted or burnt, and be no long 1
a hard red fubftance of fuch a figure and fuch a lured,
the matter which fupported the hardnefs, figure, co¬
lour, and fmell, Hill remains •, for melted wax ^ames
is as much a folid fubftance as is that which may
ufed for the fealing of letters, &c.
It has been faid that folidity (1) is the>^«^ of
from local motion (fuch as generation
ed together *, in the fame manner as fyl.ables and « d g ^ „ oreal parts of fenlauon and
and conitmaions of a few letters, or the fimple eWr tsoi pee ^ by corpOTeal e(H vla
particularly that of vifron, may be folved only ^ "to1 ^ the furface ttle cbjefts, or rather
(called Jimulacra, membra, and llreammg yfroin ,|,e objeft to the eye by means ot
a, the later and more refined atom.Hs conce.ved by preflure ^ ^ the lenfe tafang cogm-
light in the mediuA. So that « 5.* ”” V ;S f aIlcf (lretched (thrufling every way from
zance of the obieft by the fubtle mterpoied medium, t at Generation and corruption
i, "rpon the opth nerves), doth by that, aS ‘td ^^ tcal motion, without fubfianml forms and qua-
may1 be fuffieiently explained by concretion and ifret , coldj fweet and bitter, as they are dininA
lities. And laftly, Thofe fenfible ideas of hgnt ’* of bodies> feem plainly to be nothing elie but^ our
things from the figure, and motion of - vulgarly miftaken for qualities in the bodies without us.
own fancies, paffions, and fenfations, however they be vu g y .
Cudworths Inte/leBual Syfem, Boo.* i. chap. . Locke, and all their followers : and that it is the
This, as will be feen by and by, is the phi o op k ’b d 0f the author whom we have quoted ;. for
genuine philofophy of the ancient atom.i s, - completely matter of their language or has given
would banith is more ancient than that winch they mttoouee,
and we appeal to our readers B it be not more mtehigi..^ ^ opinion are, Dr Watts ; the author of the
(0 The philofophers of moft em neuce woo have . ^ ■ biftiop of Carlifle, who m a note
Trlf„re, Le,„, r/.e Hnwn, and w find by exper,-
unon Khz's Origin of Evil gives the opinion ot ; r reffiefts though it admit of changes in others :
ence, that a thing will always exhibit the ^e appearance ^ ^ ,‘^qAtly together, whereas fome others do
in Thett?ofTr:g:;*caUC5eV>»«, thing,' or whil'be „°g
^eceffarily ™ ™ ^
6ll M E T A P
CompoL r°dy ’ and llave been probably led into this notion
tion of [rom. a convidion that fuch fnbjbatmn, whatever it
Eoj.es. be is and muft be folid ; but that lolidity is only a
^ quality inseparable from the firlt matter, and not that
n f’- Tft be evident frotn this consideration,
that Solid,ty iS> the Same in all bodies, and incapable of
producing by itfelf any other effed than that of exclud¬
ing from the place occupied by it every other Solid
Subfiance. It could not of itfelf be the fubjlratum of
colour, tafle, or Smell, otherwiSe all bodies would be
coloured, Sapid, and odorous ; and as, according to
all our notions of it, it is incapable of any change, it
couM not by itielf be fo modified as to excite in us thefe
j.0 lenlations.
Our notion The things then immediately perceived by us. or of
rdativeTnd ^ 1 We have any adequate idea or conception, are
obfcure. °, ly qualities which mull belong to a fubjed : and all
that we know about this fubjed is, that it is that to
which Such qualities belong. From this it is evident
that our notion of matter, as diftinguifhed from its
qualities, is a relative * and obfcure notion, and mull
remain obfcure till men have other faculties. In this
tlie philosopher Seems to have no advantage above the
vulgar ! fnr pc tVi^ i i
H Y S I C S.
Part IJ.
Of the
Compoli-
tion of
Bodies,
* Rci/l's
Efays on
the Intel-
heclual
vci-ruai . * i  — duvamage aoove tne
Powers of vulgar : for as they perceive colour, and figure, and
JMfUn* mofinn Kxr E«i»-   ii i i
v.^iuui, ana ngure, ana
motion, by their Senfes, as well as he does ; and as both
are equally certain that there is a fubjed of thofe qua¬
lities ; So the notions which both have of this fubied
are equally obfcure ; or, to Speak more properly, they
nave no fio/ttjve notion of it at all. When a philofopher
calls it the>y/ matter, afubflratum or a fubjecl of inhe-
Jion, thole learned words convey n© meaning but what
every man underftands and expreffes, by faying in
common language, that it is a thing extended, folid
and moveable. ’
I hey are therefore qualities, or in the language of
andent philofophy, forms alone, about which' incor¬
poreal lubllance,^ we can reafon with preci'fion and
certainty j and it is Sufficient for all the purpofes of
life that we have of them an adequate knowledge,
for as the/iiy? matter or original fubjlratum of all bo¬
dies Seems to be the Same, though we know not what
it is; and as one body is distinguished from another
only by its qualities or powers; a knowledge of the
nature of the'e is all that can be neceffary to dired our
condud with refped to the various objeds with which
we are Surrounded.
Qualities thus confidered in bodies, are, firft. Such OpaMes,
as are utterly mSeparable from the body, in what ftate1'1?3^
wVfUCh aS;n a11 the chanSes alterationsand
which it buffers, and under all the force which can be
employed upon it, it conftantly keeps. Thus, in the
nftance already given, a flick of Sealing wax may, by
the operation of fire, Oe rendered liquid or reduced to
moke and allies; and when it has undergone thefe
changes it has loft many of the Senfible qualities which
it had when a long round fubftance fit for the purpofe
o Sealing letters ; but other qualities which were then
perceivable in it ft,11 remain ; for not only liquid wax
but every particle of Smoke and allies, is Solid and ex¬
tended as well as the hardeft or largeft body; and
every Such particle has likewife Some figure, and is ca¬
pable of motion or reft. Again, If a grain of wheat
or any other corporeal fubftance, be divided into two
paits and each part be again divided without end, ftill
the fmallefl; particle of it will be Solid, extended, of
W figure, and capable of further divifion. Solidity,
exlenjion, divijibihty, and motion or rejl, are therefore
qualities inseparable from body, and have on that ac¬
count been with great propriety called its original ov
primary qualities. &
• T 0tner qUa]itieS’ whIch in tr»th are nothino-fcco^darv
in the bodies themlelves, but powers arising from the
magnitude, figure, texture, and motion, of their in-
Senfible parts to produce m us various Senfations; Such
are colours,founds, tafles, and odours. Thefe have been
denominated fecondary qualities; and to them may be
added
c:rf Us; fe ^figure>
lelves cannot be fopjofed to exirt trithoS ft. iWgh they tfeml
aa,Hg, which likewiSe admit of various modifications con^^ in tbe powers of thinking and
nature of things from observation and experience Tn’i ^ t0 be al ?3t WC Can Iearn concerning the
together, or to attest .«erp™Vj; •"hich "'e A-
the vioxdfubflance for a representation of it, is faying nothin? • it U ’ °f ^ 18 ,m va'n* To a{bgn
any idea of nor occafion for. Indeed if we confider thefifprimLv mCre f°r What WC have neithger
^e obliged to Seek for fomething to Support tLm a^
lomething elfe to Support that other Something, and So on • and at kft (hall%W7 °f We raaV f^k for
but the caufe which produced it.” “ Dr Watts fcontinues the Ri 1 ^ fupP°rt for the whole
needlefs fcholafiic notion into the real na^re ^ 18 T™*’ that il is introducing a
p. 14.) The author of the Procedure Extent Xr Iff ’ 7, f r^1"8 U. t0 have a real ^ipence (f0^
of any Subftance, fo far we have a direB knowledge of the fubftance3 Ae/T^and^f ^ efen.tial ProPerties
all the effential properties of any Subftance we ffonlct V ance ifelj and if we had a direft knowledge of
if there be any meaning i„ ° „Z he know J a^v Ain hi" fubftance ; for fLly
of its very fobftance.” 8 ’ 'h'"g “f the effenttal properties of a thing is knowing/, mu]l
anyi^ifafaZ^tnToftl^ a"d n°,hi"8 d^™d upon
whoever ufes the word impenetrability certainlv ™ 'fu ',Llr conception, is nothing but impenetrability; but
real thing or being different ^ impenetrable.. That there i/ffime
extended, is Self-evident to all mankind -^f ft en 10n» which impreffes us with the notion that it is folid and
the immediate agency of the Deity which feems to l”™ T’ 1 ConceP^lons murt be communicated to us by
•his differs no. Zm theory iSZ ^fc^»br “ ^ ^ ^
4 .
Chap. I.
METAPHYSIC S.
Of the added a third fjrt, which are univerfally allowed to be
^Tof' bareh />owers> though they are in fadl: as much real
Bodies. (lua’ities in the fubjed as thofe we have juft mention-
i..—~ ed- Thus the po;ver in fire to produce by its primary
qualities a new colour or confiftency in w>ax or clay,
is as much a quality in the fire as the power which it
has to produce in us a new fenfation of warmth or
burning. That colours, tnfles, founds, and odours, as
they are perceived by us, are mere fenfations, has been
already proved : and that the powers in the bodies
which produce tliefe fenfations are not, like fo/idihj and
extenficn, infeparable from the body to which they may
belong, is evident $ becaufe a piece of r?d wax may be
reduced to blach allies ; and becaufe by pounding an
almond w'e may change its clear white colour into a
dirty hue, and its pleafant taite into one that is oily
and rancid 5 and a Tingle rent through the body of a
bell deftroys its found.
The primary qualities of body have a real exiftence
independent of us and of every other creature. Thus
the particular bulh, number, figure, and motion, of the
parts of fire or finow are really in the fire or finow, whe¬
ther any man’s fenfes perceive them or not; and there¬
fore thefe may be called real qualities, becaufe they
really exift in the bodies : But light, heat, whitenefis, or
cold (as they are perceived by us), are no more really
m fire orfinow, than ficknefs is in tartar or pain in a
fiword. T ake away the fenfations of them : let not
the eyes fee light or colours, nor the ears hear founds j
let not the palate tafte nor the nofe fmell j and all co¬
lours, taftes, odours, and founds, as they are fuch par¬
ticular fenfations, vanifti and ceafe, and are reduced to
their caufes, i. e. to the bulk, figure, and motion of
the parts of the body.
Bodily qua- The qualities then that are in bodies, rightly con-
lities are of fidered, are of three forts, x. The bulh, figure, number,
three forts, fituation, and motion or refi, of their filid parts. Of
thefe, as they are in themfelves, we have clear and
diftimft: notions. We know that they are in the body
whether we perceive them or not, and we call them
primary or efienlial qualities. 2. The power that is
in any body, by reafon of its internal texture and
infenfible primary qualities, to operate upon our fenfes
in a peculiar manner, producing in us the different fen¬
fations of colours, founds, tafies, or finells, &c. Thefe
W'e have called fecondary qualities, but they are often
Xtrmtd fcnfible qualities. 3. The power that is in any
body, by reafon of the particular conftitution of its
615
primary qualities, to make fuch a change in the hull, Of the
figure, texture, and motion ol another body, as to make it c,'mpoti-
operate on our fenfes differently from what it did be- Bodies*
fore. Thus, the fun has a power to make w7ax white, « -y <
and fire to make lead fluid. Thefe are univerfally
called powers; but we have no fuch notions of them
as we have of the primary qualities of bodies. We know
that they exift, but we know not what they are. It
has indeed been difcqvered, that the fenfation of fmell
is occafioned by the effluvia of bodies* j that of found * Reid's
by their vibration. The difpefition of bodies to re- ^Jfays on
fled a particular kind of light occafions the fenfation
of colour ; and the operation of the minute parts of Powers of
bodies upon the nerves of the tongue and palate is the Man, and.
caufe of taftes. Very curious difeoveries have been Locke's Ef~
made of the nature of heat and its manner of operat-A’> ^c'
ing, and an ample field ftill remains. We are like-
wiie intuitively certain, that body can operate upon
body only by impulfe •, but how certain impulfes up¬
on certain organs ihould produce fenfations in us to
which there is nothing fimilar in the impelling body,
is equally unknown to the clown and the philofo-
Pher*    154
Such is the diftindion which in modern philofophy The doc-
is made between primary and fecondary qualities j buttrine of the.
it is a diftindion which svas likewife well known to
that fed of ancient philofophers wrho were denominated fpe(qinYe*
atomifis. At the head of thefe w'ere Thales and Py-qualithTs.
thagoras (k) ; and we may infer from Ariftotle, that
the fed comprehended almoft all the phyfiologifts wffo
taught before himfelfand Plato: for he faysf, A>ifc»y^t]o( f Lib. de
r.a.i ot TrXtidlci r&iv pvTtoXoyuv citottmthtov ti irotowri, Travrct ^enJu ef
ra xicfidix. ct7r\» ttoiovo-i, kcci us trg/iy,cc\ct, xvxyowTi revs cap^q^'
Xvpevs : “ Democritus, and mofi of the phyfiologifis, fall
into a great abfurdity ; for they make all fenle to be touch,
and refolve lenfible qualities into tire figures of inlen-
fible atoms.” And he adds, that “ the lormer phyfio¬
logifts (without exception) laid not w'ell, that there is
no black and white without the fight, nor bitter and
fweet w'itbout the tafte.” He elfiewhere J tells us, j p,e Gene.
that thofe philofophers explained generation and alte- ratione et
ration without forms and qualities, by figures and local Corrup-
motion.” Aivx.i7r7ros orowitretvns eypiy.cilet l1!3, **
TJjv uXXtudrw kou tjiv yaurw s>£ rotflaiv Trotva-i, dixicgaru ‘ ^
text o-vfyx.g'Uru ymriv y,xi (piogxv rx^u dz xxi 'dzm xXXomfiy.
“ Democritus and Leucippus having made figures (or
varioufly figured atoms) the firft principles, make ge¬
neration and alteration out of thefe ; namely, genera¬
tion
(k) This is denied by Biftrop Warburton, who thinks nothing better fettled than that Democritus and Leu¬
cippus were the authors of the atomic phyiiology. We highly refped the learning and ingenuity difplayed in the
Divine Legation of Mofes; but on this point w'e are convinced that its author is miftaken. Strabo exprefsly
affirms, that Mofchus the Phoenician was the author of the atomic phyfiology j and Cudworth has proved, by
arguments which to us are perfectly fatisfaftory, that Thales and Pythagoras were both atomifts, and that they
derived the do&rine from Phoenicia or Egypt. T hey did not, indeed, fpeculate in phyfics, but delivered their
dodtrines as they had received them from tradition, and they referred all motion to mind as its caufe. Leu¬
cippus and Democritus, we believe, were the firft fpeculative atomifts: but though they refined upon, and
perhaps improved, the mere mechanical pan of the phyfiology of their mafters, they unhappily dropt the better
part of it ; and, baniftiing mind from their fyftem of the univerfe, they became materialifts and atheifts.
With the fober and pious part of philofophers this brought the atomic theory \ to difrepute ; and Plato and
Ariftotle, who were theifts, when they oppofed that theory, always pointed their arguments againft Leucip¬
pus and Democritus, which is probably what led the learned Bifhop to confider thefe atheifts as the authors of the
atomic phyfiology.
616
Of the
Compac¬
tion ot
Bodies.
META P ]
lion togetlicr wltli corruption from the concretion ?.nd
fecretion of them, but alteration from the change o
their order and pofition.” By the atomic phyfiom-
pifts the name of fi/a/tfy was generally applied only to
thofe things which we have called fecondary qualities.
•The primary being confide red ns ejfential to matter, v\Tere
feldcm, if ever, called qualities. That the atoms,
which they held to be the firft principles of ^ bodies,
were figured, folid, extended, and moveable, is appa¬
rent, not only from the fiiort view of then- fyftem which
vve have given from Cudworth, but likewife from tae
paffagcs which we have juft quoted from Anftotle:
but the quefticn debated between them and their anta-
gonifts was, whether thofe atoms had fmell, tajle, and
colour} or, as it was commonly expreffed, whether they
had qualities ? Democritus, Leucippus, and the other
•atomifts, we fee, maintained that they had not •, and
the following account of the dodlnne of Protagoras,
another philofopher of th_ ‘ fchool, ftiows that on this
luhiect at leaft the ancient advocates for the atomic
fyilem reafoned as juftly as any of the moderns, and
much more juftiy than the Peripatetics and Flatomfts
by whom they were cppofed. Plato having in his
Theoetetus firft faid in general that the philofophy of
Protagoras made all things to confift of a commixture
of atoms and local motion, reprefents his doftrine
concerning colours in particular, after this mannei :
a jr;rlq to that which belongs to the light, ^you
muft conceive what is called a white or black colour,
not to be any thing abfolutely exifting either without
your eyes or within your eyes; but black and white,
end every other colour, is caufed by different motions
made upon the eye, from objeas differently modihea ;
fo that it is nothing either in tne agent or patient ao-
folutely, but fomething which anfes from^ between
them both (l).” From this paffage it is plain, that
Protagoras thought of colours exaaiy as. Mr Locac
thought, that they are not real qualities exifting in bo-
-dies but merely fenfations excited in our minds ; and
indeed he is prefently after reprefented as. having call¬
ed them e» nguv tpetrpctl*, certain fancies or appeal-
«nces in us. But there is in the Theoetetus anotner pa.l-
fage in which a fuller account is given, of the atomic
philofophy, to this purpofe; “ The principle upon which
all thefe things depend is this, That the whole um-
yerfe (m) is motion of atoms and nothing elle : which
piotion is confidered two ways, and is accordingly call¬
ed by two names, aBion and pajjion. I rom tne mu¬
tual congreff, and, as it were, attrition.of thele to¬
gether, are begotten innumerable, offsprings, which,
though Infinite in number, yet may be reduced to two
1 Y S I C S. Part II.
general heads, fenfibles and fenfations, which are both of th®
generated at the fame time, ihe fcnfations are feeing, 0f
hearing, and the like ; and the correfponding fenfibles pjod:es_
are colours, founds, &c. Wherefore, when the eye and —^ - 1
its proper object meet together, both the aurdiflev and
the cu<r6w;, the fenfible idea of white and black, and
the fenfation of feeing, are generated together, neither
of which would have been produced if thofe two had
not met. The like is to be conceived of all other^-
Jibles, as hot and cold, Sec. None of thefe are abfo-
lute things in themfelves, or real qualities in external
objects ; but they are begotten from the mutual con-
grefs of agent and patient, and that by motion. So
that neither the agent has any fuch thing in it before
its congrefs with the patient, nor the patient before
its congrefs with the agent. But the agent and pa¬
tient meeting together, and begetting fenfation and
fenfibles, both the"objeft and the fentient are forthwith
made to be fo and fo qualified ; as when honey is
tafted, the fenfation of tailing, and the quality, of
fweetnefs, are begotten together, though the fenfation
be vulgarly attributed to the tafter, and the quality, of
fvveetnefs to the honey.” The conciulion of all which
is fummed up thus, tvb sv sjvjk avlo y-ato cwlo, aXXcc rm am
yiyvirdai : “ Not one of thefe fenfible things is any thing
abfolutely in the objeft without, but they are all ge¬
nerated or made relative to the fentient (n).”
The language of ancient philofophy‘was defective
in precifion ; terms were ufed vaguely and improperly,
fo that the meaning of the author is often to be
colle&ed only from the context. When Protagoras
is here made to fay, that when the agent and patient
meet together, both the object and the fentient are
forthwith made to be fo and lo qualified; as when ho¬
ney is tafted, the fenfation of tailing and the quality
of fweetnefs are begotten together.; it could not be
his meaning, that any real change is made upon the
external objedt merely by our tailing it, but only
that the adlual fenfation and the fenfible idea of fweet¬
nefs are produced at once; juft as he had faid before,
that the fenfible idea of white or black, and the fen¬
fation of feeing, are generated together. If his words
be thus interpreted they exprefs a noble truth ; and
the whole paffage ftiows, that the ancient atomic
theory differed not from the theory of Des Cartes,
Newton, and Locke, being the molt rational, as well
as the earlieft fyftem of phyfics with which we have
any acquaintance. By divefting body of ejfentialforms
diftindl from matter and motion, and by giving to the
fit ft matter extenfion and folidity, it renders the cor¬
poreal world intelligible ; and accounts for thole ap¬
pearances
™ ^ ^ cvliroHc^aXX6V cdh to ^cdZaXXcpw, aXXa rs
t0iW(m^7 Protagoras was a follower of Leucippus and Democritus in every thing, and of courfe an atheift.—-This,
however does not hinder him from having been a correft phyliolcgift with refpea to the compofition of body ,
and as fuch only is he quoted by us. It is, indeed, melancholy to think, that there was hardly a fed of ancient
nhilofoohers in which there were not many atheifts. v _ v
fxl A.ya h K a vv» iXiyo^v -raila ^rai * h xvlav, to iray »v *XXo roJJo cvlv, rn J
alfo Cudwortlds InteUeBual System, Book 1. cnap. 1,
3
Chap. II.
M E T A P
Of the
Ell'ences of
Bodies.
pearances which are called fecondary qualities, in a
manner perfe&ly fatisfaftory. Ariftotle indeed op-
pofed the atomic philofophy, and had influence e-
nough to bring it into difrepute for many ages; but
when he inlifted that the two conftituent principles of
body are matter and form, both independent of if11’
tient beings, and which may be conceived as exifting
diltinft from each other, he fubftituted for a fimple
and fublime theory an abfurd and inccmprehenfible
fi£tion.
Chap. II. Of the Essences c/’Bodies.
Having treated of the fubftance, qualities, and
from tffen-
tial forms;
x55
«s of bodies powers of body, we may feem to have exhaufted this
refultjjj part of our fubjecl ; but there is ftill more to oe done.
Metaphyficians, ancient and modern, have introduced
another term into the feience, to denote that which
diftinguifhes one fpecies or fort of bodies irom all
other fpecies or forts ; and this term we fhall briefly
explain. Gold is apparently different from lead, and
from every other fpecies of metal ; a horfe is appa¬
rently different from an ox, and from every other
fpecies of animals; and all animals apparently dif¬
fer from all vegetables, as vegetables difter irom
ls6 It is only with the bodies, not the minds of animals,
to the Peri-that we are at prefent concerned: and we have feen
patetics and that all bodies are compofed of the lame matter.
Platojrifts, \\n]at tpen is it that makes different bodies exhibit
to us fuch different appearances ; or, in other words,
how come they to be poifeffed ol fuch different qua¬
lities and powers? It is (fay the followers of Plato
and Ariltotle) from their having different effential
forms, by which every natural fubttance is effentially
Charaaerized ; for of every animal, vegetable, or me¬
tal, &c. there is a form conceived, as exihing before
the individuals in which it is incorporated, from which
refult all the properties of that animal, vegetable, or
metal, fuch as figure, fixe, colour, and the other quali¬
ties perceptible by our fenfes : but this internal and
effential form itfelf, from which all other forms refult,
is not perceptible by our fenfes, nor even by our un-
derftanding direaiy and immediately, nor otherwife
than by the analogy formerly mentioned. Thefe ef¬
fential ’forms, we are told, mean fomething, which,
though different from matter, can^ yet never fubfift
without it; fomething which, united with it, helps
to produce every compofite being, that, is to fay, in
other words, every natural fubltance in the vilible
world; .
157 This affertion Mr Harris fubmits with deference to
?l‘t his contemporaries ; becaufe (fays he) I Ipeak per-
tonns nave ^ of ^ fhocking to feme philolophers as
thole were to JEneas which he met in his way to
p,ell Terribiles vfuformal The elegant author’s un-
willingnefs to frighten his contemporaries, was a proof
of his amiable and benevolent difpofition ; but he need¬
ed not to have fuffered from any fuch apprehenfion.
Thofe fpe&res, apparently fo dreadful, had long before
been laid to reft by the incomparable Cudworth, who
has demenftrated, that efifentialforms different from mat¬
ter and motion, as they have no real exiftence, had no
place in the moft ancient philofophy.; and that the dif¬
ferent appearances or fenfible qualities which different
Vol. XIII. Part II.
H Y S I C S. - 6i7
bodies exhibit, are the refult of the different coutex-
ture of their infenfible parts. Thus, gold and lead are Bodies
compofed of the fame primary matter, but the atoms ——v 1
or minute parts of that matter a>2 in the one fubftance
differently combined from what they are in the other ;
and this different combination is the foie caule that
gold is fpecifically heavier than lead, more duftile,
and of a different colour, &c. For the very lame
reafon, iron is harder than either gold or lead, fpeci¬
fically lighter, and poffeffed of many other fenfible
qualities which are not found in either of thefe fub-
ftances. One vegetable differs from another exter¬
nally in fize, colour, tafte, fmell, rapidity of growth,
and proportion of parts, &c. : but all vegetables are
compofed of the fame matter ; and the external dif¬
ference which prevails among them is the reiult of a
different ftruaure and motion of their infenfible parts.
The fame is to be laid of the differences which pre¬
vail among the bodies of animals; they all refult from
internal organization and motion, and from nothing
elfe, whatever be the immediate caufe of that.motion.. t5g
no exist¬
ence.
This particular internal texture and motion of in-The real ef-
fenfible parts, is that which makes one fort of bodies jenceso^
differ externally from every other fort of bodies; and known t©
it is by modern metaphyficians called the real ejjencell5i
of bodies. Thus, that internal texture of minute
parts, which mSkes gold of a bright yellow, extreme¬
ly dudtile, fpecincally heavier than all other metals,
and foluble in aqua regia, is the real effence of gold ;
but what that effence is in itfelf no man can tell, as
we perceive only the qualities which, refult from it.
We are, however, certain, that it is different from the
real effences of lead and iron, becaufe it produces dif¬
ferent effects from thofe which are produced by thefe
effences; and different effects are never produced in the
fame circumftances by the fame caufe. # 1^9
We have called the internal texture and motion of Nominal
the infenfible parts of bodies their real cffences, to di-efftnees,
ftinguilh them from other efifeilces which are only
naf and with which we are perfe&ly acquainted, be¬
caufe they are the fabrication of our own minds.-—
Thus, a beautiful bright yellow, a certain fpecific gra¬
vity, extreme ductility, and folubility in aqua regia,
are the qualities by which we diftinguilh gold from
all other metals. Of thefe qualities we frame a fort ol
general conception, which we call the effence of gold ;
and every fubftance in W’hich we find this eflence, we
clafs under the fpecific name gold. For though it is
obvious that our conceptions cannot be the real effences
of things external, yet are they fufficient guides to
thefe effences, as we ’know that bodies which, being aL.
formed of the fame matter, have the very fame fenfible
qualities, muft likewife have the fame internal organiza- #
tion or texture of parts, becaufe it is only in that orga¬
nization or texture that one body can differ from another.
 And fo much for bodily fubftance, qualities, and ef¬
fences.
Chap. III. O/^ Existence Matter.
W^E have endeavoured to prove, that all corporeal Berkeley
fubfiances confift of minute atoms, folid and extended ; t0
and that the fenfible qualities of every body icfuit h"om ftrate that
the combination and motion of the atoms of which that matter has
body is compofed. Ihe celebrated Berkeley, bilhop of no exift-
4 I Cloyne,ence*
6i8 M E T A P
r .(if the rC^°7ne» however, attempted to demonftrate that thefe
Matter.0 at<.>rns have no ival exiftence ; and that the very fuppo-
fition of a foil'd, extended, and inert fubftance, being
the archetype of our ideas, involves in it an ablurdity
and contradiction.
It is umverfally allowed, that all our knowledge of
matter is derived through the fenfes, either immedi¬
ately in the very a& of fenfation, or mediately by an
aflbciation which is refolvable into a procefs of rea-
- foning. According to the principles which we have
ftated, and laboured to eftablifh, matte^itfelf is no
immediate objeft of the fenfes j and as thefe are the
principles upon which the biihop eredted his demon-
itration, it will be incumbent upon us to confider his
theory, becaufe it has been reprefented as in the
higheft degree pernicious, and as leading to univerfal
161 fcepticifm.
The view The author of the Efay on the Nature andlmmu-
n r'iUnby tabiIitlJ °f Truth, reprefents Berkeley as teaching us,
liis antago- “ tbat external objefts (that is, the things which we
aills. take for external objedls) are nothing but ideas in
our minds y in other words, that they are in ever// re-
fpeSi different from what they appear to be j that mat¬
ter exifts not but in our minds j and that independent
on us and our faculties, the earth, the fun, and the
Harry heavens, have no exiftence at all; that, a light¬
ed candle hath not one of thofe qualities which it <7/>-
pears to have; that it is not wTite nor luminous, nor
round, nor divifible, nor extended ; but that, for any
thing we know, or can ever know to the contrary, it
may be an Egyptian pyramid, the king of Pruflia, a
mad dog, the ifland of Madagafcar, Saturn’s ring,
one of the Pleiades, or nothing at all.” With refpedf
to the confequences of this theory, he affirms, that “ it
is fubverfive of man’s moft important interefts, as a mo¬
ral, intelligent, and percipient being ; and not only fo,
but alfo, that if it were univerfaliy and ferioufly adopt¬
ed, the diffolution of fociety, and the deftruftion of
mankind, w^ould neceffarily enfue within the compafs
of a month.”
The diffolution of fociety and the deftru&ion of
mankind are indeed difmal confequences—enough to-
make a man ffiudder in his clofet. But do they really
flow from Berkeley’s fyftem ? They certainly do, if it
be the aim of that fyftem to prove that a candle has
not any one quality which it appears to have, and that
it may be a mad dog; for ffiould all philofophers, by
iome means or other, become converts to the theory
of Berkeley, as we know that the bifhops Sherlock
Smallidge, and others, aftually did, the diffolution of
fociety and the deftrudtion of mankind would indeed
l e inevitable. 'J he fcribbling race, by ufing mad dogs
for candles, would all become infeefted with the hydro¬
phobia ; and having their natural irritability augmented
by the canine rabies, they would bite and tear till not
T(j2 a human being wTere left alive.
A view of But to drop this ludicrous ftyle, fo unfuitable to
his theory philofophical inveftigation and calm inquiry, w-e beg
Hmfclf7 1CaVe t0 a^rn1’ t^at ^)e t1:ieory of Berkeley is here
,ut“ totally and grofsly mifreprefented, and that not one
of thofe dangerous confequences which flow from that
mifreprefentation can be fairly deduced from any thing
. taught in The Principles of Human Knowledge and the
Dialogues on the Ex fence of Matter. So far is Berke¬
ley from teaching that external things are nothing but
IT Y S T C S. Part IE.
ideas in our minds, and that they are in every refpeft Of the
different from what they appear to be, that he. teaches -hxilteneeof
the very reverfe of this in the plaineft language pof- Matter- ,
Able. I am of a vulgar caft (fays he), fimple enough
to believe my fenfes, and leave things as I find them.
It is my opinion, that the real things are thofe very
things I fee and feel and perceive by my fenfes. That
a tiling ftiould really be perceived by my fenfes, and
at the fame time not really exift, is to me a plain con¬
tradiction. When I deny fenfible things an exiftence
out of the mind, I do not mean my mind in particu¬
lar, but all minds. Now it is plain they have an ex¬
iftence exterior to my mind, fince I find them by ex¬
perience to be independent of it. There is therefore
fome other mind wherein they exift during the inter¬
vals between the times of my perceiving them • as
likewife they did before my birth, and would do after
my annihilation. And as the fame is true with regard
to all other finite created fpirits, it neceffarily follows
there is an omnipotent eternal mind, which knbws and
comprehends all things, and exhibits them to our view
in fuch a manner, and according to fuch rules, as he
himfelf hath ordained, and are by us termed the laws
of nature.”
So far is Berkeley from teaching that, independent
on us and our faculties, the earth, the fun, and the
ftarry heavens, have no exiftence at all, and that a
lighted candle has not one of thofe qualities which it
appears to have, that he over and over affirms the di-
red contrary ; that the univerfe has a real exiftence
in the mind of that infinite God, in whom, according
to the feriptures, we all live, and move, and have our
being; that a lighted candle has not only all thofe qua¬
lities which it appears to have, but that, with reiped
to us, it has nothing elfe 5 that fo far from being con¬
tinually deceived by our fenfes, we are never deceived
by them ; and that all our miftakes concerning mat¬
ter are the refult of falfe inferences from true fenfations»
The biffiop makes the fame diftindion that we have
made between ideas and notions j reftraining the ufe
of the former term to denote the relids of fenfation,
and employing the latter to denote our knowledge or
conception of fpirits and all fuch objeds as are not
perceived by fenfe. He likewife affirms, that we can
have no idea of an external inert fubftance j becaufe
an idea can be like nothing but another idea, or the
fenfation of which it is a relid : and as all mankind
admit that ideas and fenfations can have no exiftence
but in the mind of a percipient being, he therefore
infers that we can have no idea of any thing exifting
unperceived, and by confequence can have no idea of
matter in the philofpphical fenfe of that word. So¬
lidity, extenfion, divilibility, motion, figure, colour,
tafte, . and all thofe things which are ufually called
qualities primary and fecondary, being according to
him mere ideas, can have no exiftence but in a mind
perceiving them ; but fo far is he from fuppofing their
exiftence to depend upon the perception of our minds,
that he fays exprefsly, “ When in broad day-light I
open my eyes, it is not in my power to choofe whe¬
ther I {ball fee or no, or to determine what particular
objeds fliall prerent themfelves to my , view j and fo
likewife as to the hearing and other fenfes, the ideas
imprinted on them are not creatures of my will. There
is therefore fotne other will or fpirit that produces
them.
Chap III.
Oi the them. The queftlon between the matei ialiils and me
EMatter ° ^ n0t> Wllether ^ave a real exiftence out of
■ ' the mind of this or that perfon ? but, Whether they
have an abfolute exiftence, diftinft from being perceiv¬
ed by God, and exterior to all minds ? I affert, as well
as they, that fince we are affeded from without, we
muft allow powers to be without in a being diftind
from ourfelves. So far we are agreed. But then we
differ as to the kind of this powerful being. I will
have it to be fpirit j they matter, or I know not
what third nature. Thus I prove it to be fpirit :
From the eflfeds 1 fee produced, I conclude there are
adions; and becaufe adions, volitions (for I have no
notion of any adion diftind from volition) j and be¬
caufe there are volitions, there mult be a will. Again,
The things I perceive mult have an exiftence, they or
» their archetypes, out of my mind : but being ideas,
neither they nor their archetypes can exift otherwife
than in an underftanding : there is therefore an under-
ftanding. But will and underftanding conftitute in
the ftrideft fenfe a mind or fpirit. The powerful
caufe, therefore, of my ideas is, in ftrid propriety of
163 fpeech, a fpirit.”
That theo- _ This is a faithful abftrad of Berkeley’s theory given
ry, however in his own words. Matter, according to him, can-
cmainl'k'6’ n°t be the pattern or archetype of ideas, becaufe an
poffible,7 ^ea ?an relemMe nothing but another idea, or the
and ’ fenfation of which it is a relid. Matter, he thinks,
cannot be the caufe of ideas j for every caufe muft be
adive, and matter is defined to be inert and incapable
of adion. He therefore infers, that all our fenfations
of what we call the qualities of body are the effed of
the immediate agency of the Deity upon our minds j
and that corporeal fubftance has no exiftence, or at
leaft that we have no evidence of its exiftence. That
fuch may poffibly be the origin of our fenfations, no
man will deny who refleds upon the infinite power and
wifdom of the Agent from whom they are faid to pro¬
ceed. Dr Reid himfelf, the ableft of all Dr Berke¬
ley’s opponents, frankly acknowledges that no man
“ can (how, by any good argument, that all our fen¬
fations might not have been as they are, though no
body or quality of body had ever exifted.”
in its confe- 1° its confequences we do not perceive that this
quences theory can be hurtful either to religion, to virtue,
harmlefs. Gr to the bufinefs of common life ; for it only ex¬
plodes the notion of a fubftratum, which, though
it may have a real exiftence, was never thought of by
the generality of mankind in any nation under hea¬
ven. Dr Beattie indeed affirms, that in “ lefs than a
month after the rion-exiffence of matter Ihould be uni-
verfally admitted, he is certain there could not, with¬
out a miracle, be one human creature alive on the
face of the earth. But this affertion muft be the
coniequence of his miftaking Berkeley’s non-exiftence
of matter for the non exiftence of fenfible objeds, the
reality and exiftence of which the bilhop never denied.
On the contrary, he exprefsly fays, “ We are fure
that we really fee, hear, feel ; in a word, that we are
affeded with fenfible impreffions j and how are we
concerned any farther ? I fee this cherry, I feel it, I
tafle it ; and I am fure nothing cannot be feen, or felt,
or tailed : it 5- therefore real. Take away the fenfa-'
tions of foftnefs, moifture, rednefs, tartnefs, and you
All this is equally true and
METAPHYSICS.
619
take away the cherry.”
equally conceivable, whether the combitied I fenfations Of tke
which indicate to us the exiftence of ‘the’ cherry beExiftt;nce
the effed of the immediate agency of Go'd or of the lV!:utei>
impulfe of matter upon our minds ; and to the lives
of men there is no greater danger in adopting the for¬
mer than the latter opinion. '
But it has been faid, that Berkeley’s dodrine necef- A confe-
farily leads to fcepticifm in religion, as the fame kind ofT1611^
reafoning which he employs to prove the non-exiftence 3
of matter, operates equally againft the exiftence of mind, ’
and confequently againft the poflibility of a future Hate
of rewards and punilhments. “ The rational iffue of
this fyftem (we are told) is fcepticifm with regard to
every thing excepting the exiftence of our ideas and
their neceffary relations. For ideas being the only
objeds of thought, and having no exiftence but when
we are confcious of them, it neceffarily follows, that
there is no objed of our thought which can have a
continued and permanent exiftence. Body and fpi¬
rit, caufe and effed, time and fpace, to which we were
wont to afcribe an exiftence independent of our
thought, all are turned out of exiftence by this fhort
dilemma : Either thofe things are ideas of fenfation
or refledion, or they are not : If the/ are ideas of
fenfation or refledion, they can have no exiftence,
but when wre are confcious of theny: If they are not
ideas of fenfation or refledion, they are words without
any meaning.”
This fophifm was advanced as a confequence from
Berkeley’s principles by Mr Hume ; and upon thefe
principles it has been deemed unanfwerable by fubfe-
quent philofophers of great merit. But is it really
a part of Berkeley’s fyftem, or can it be fairly infer¬
red from the principles on which that fyftem is built >.
Thefe queftions it is fit that Berkeley ftiould anfwer
for himfelf: and we fhall venture to affert, that his
anfwer will be perfedly fatisfad®ry to every reader who
attends to the diftindion, which, after the bilhop, w'e
have ftated between ideas and notions.
1 hough wc believe this dangerous inference from that au-
Berkeley’s principles is commonly attributed to Hume thor fore'
as its author, it did not efcape the 1'agacity of the bi-laW and
ihop himfelf. In the third dialogue, Hylas, who pleads
for the exiftence of matter, thus objeds to the reafon¬
ing of his antagonift. “ Notwithifanding all you have
faid, to me it lee.ns, that according to y7our owrn w7ay
of thinking, and in confequence of your own principles
it Ihould follow, that you are only a fyftem of float¬
ing ideas, without any fubftance to fupport them.
Words are not to be ufed without a meaning. And as
there is no more meaning in fpiritual fubftance than
in material fubftance, the one is to be exploded as well
as the other. ^
To this P hi Ion us anfwers : “ How often muft I re_ obviated,
peat, that 1 know or am confcious of my own being ; but
and that I myfelf am not my ideas, but fomewhat
el|e ; a thinking adive principle, that perceives, knows,
wills, and operates about ideas: I know that I, one*
and the fame felf, perceive both colours and founds j -
that a colour cannot perceive a found, nor a found
a_ colour ; that I am therefore one independent prin¬
ciple, diftind from colour and found ; and, for the
fame reafon, from all other fenfible things and inert
ideas. Tut I am not in like manner confcious either of
the extftcnce or eflence of matter. Farther, I know
4*2 ’ what
620 '
Of the
E.-ilftence
Matter.
METAPHYSICS.
Part II.
wLat I mean, when I affirm that there is a Spiritual
ofiubftance or fupport of ideas-, i. e. that a fpmt knows
and >perceives ideas. But I do not know what is
meant, when it is faid that an unpercemng fubdance
hath inherent in it, and fupports, either ideas or^ the
archetypes of ideas. In the very notion or definition
of material fubftance there is included a manifeft re¬
pugnance and inconfiftency. But this cannot be faid
of "the notion of fpirit. That ideas ftiould exift in
what doth not perceive, or be produced by wbat doth
not act, is repugnant. But it is no repugnancy to
fay, that a perceiving thing fiioulo be the iuoject o
ideas, or an aclive being the caufe of them. lhat
1 vvho am a fpirit or thinking fubilance, exm, I
know as certainly as 1 know that my ideas exift. I
know likewlfe what I mean by the terms I and
wyfe/f; and I know this immediately or intuitively
though I do Hot perceive it as I perceive a triangle
a colour, or a found. Ideas are things inaaive and
perceived ; and fpirits a fort of beings altogether dif¬
ferent from them, by which they are perceived. 1 do
not, therefore, fay, that my loul is an idea, or like
an idea. However, taking the word u/ea in a large
fenfe' my foul may be faid to furnifh me with an idea,
that is, an image or likenefs of God, though inueed
extremely inadequate. For all the notion I have of
God is" obtained on refie&ing on my own foul,
heightening its powers, and removing its impenec-
tions. I have, therefore, though not an inaffive idea,
yet in myfelf fume fort of an atlive thinking image
of the Deity. And though I_ perceive him not by
fenfe, yet I have a notion of him, or know him, .by
reflexion and reafoning. My own mind and my own
ideas I have an immediate knowledge of; and by the
help of thefe do immediately apprehend the pofiibihty
of the exigence of other fpints and ideas. Farther,
from my being, and from the dependency I find in
myfelf and my ideas, I do by an a£t of reafon necef-
farilii infer the exiftence of a God, and of all created
things in the mind of God. It is granted that we
have neither an immediate evidence, nor a demonftra-
tive knowledge, of the exiftence of other finite fpirits ;
but it will not therefore follow, that fuch fpirits are
on a footing with material fubftances : if, to fuppo e
the one be inconfiftent, and if it be not inconfiftent to
fuppofe the other ; if the one can be inferred by no
argument, and there is a probability of the other ; if
we’ fee figns and effeds indicating diftincl finite a-
gents like ourfelves, and fee no fign or fymptom what¬
ever that leads to a rational belief of matter. I fay,
laftly. That I have a notion of fpirit, though I have
not,' ftri&ly fpeaking, an ided of it. . I do not per¬
ceive it as an idea, or by means of an idea ; but know
it by refleftion. Whereas, I neither perceive matter
obie&ively as I do an idea, nor know it as I do myfelf
by a reflex aft ; neither do I mediately apprehend
it by fimilitude of the one or the other, nor yet
collect it by reafoning from that which I know
immediately. All which makes the cafe of mat¬
ter widely different from that of the Deity and all
fpirits.”-
' Thus far we think Berkeley’s theory temble, and
its confequences harmlefs. That by the immediate
a ency of the Deity all our fenfatjens might be what
they are, though matter had no exiftence, we think he
has proved by arguments unanfwerable; and we are Of the
likewife of opinion, that by admitting the evidence
of fenfe, confcioufnefs, and reafon, in their fulleft ex-  ,
tent, and by diftinguiftiing properly between thofe x6S
things of which we have ideas, and thofe of which wenotfatif-
have notions, he has fufficiently fecured the exiftence^
of fpirits or percipient beings, and obviated the u're- deavours
ligious fophiftry of Hume before it was conceived by pr0ve the
that author. But the good biftiop ftops not here, exilienee of
Not fatisfied with proving that all our fenfations lead rc;^t^in1'
us immediately to the Deity, and that, for aught vve -
know, matter, as defined by philofophers, may have
no fe par ate exiftence, he proceeds farther, and en¬
deavours to prove that matter cannot( poffibly exift.
This appears even in the extrafts which we have quot¬
ed from his book, in which he talks of the repugnance
and inconfiftency of the notion. In this part of his
fyftem, we think he errs greatly, and advances an
opinion altogether inconfiftent with his own juft prin¬
ciples. 169
The repugnance of which he fpeaks, arifes folely His reafon-
from confidering folidity and, extenfion as reliefs ofinS
fenfation, or ideas of the fame kind with thofe of heat
and cold, taftes and founds. “ Light and colours,
heat and cold, extenfion and figures ; in a word, the
things we fee and feel ; what are they (fays his lord-*
fhip), but fo may fenfations, notions, ideas, or im-
preflions, on fenfe ? and is it pcflible to feparate even
in thought any of thefe from perception ? Some there
are who make a diftin&ion betwixt primary and fie-
condary qualities: by the former, they mean extenfion,
figure, motion, reft, folidity or impenetrability, and
number : by the latter, they denote all other fenfible
qualities, as colours, founds, taftes, and fo forth.—-
The ideas vve have of thefe they acknowledge not to
be the refemblances of any thing exifting without the
mind, or unperceivcd ; but they will have our ideas 01
the primary qualities to be patterns or images of
things which exift; without the mind, in an unthink¬
ing fubftance which they call matter. But it is. evi¬
dent that extenfion, figure, and motion, are only ideas
exifting in the mind ; that without extenfion folidity
cannot be conceived ; that an idea can be like no¬
thing but another idea ; and that confequently nei¬
ther they nor their archetypes can exift: in an unper¬
ceiving fubftance. Hence it is plain, that the very ,
notion of what is called matter, or corporealfubfiance, in¬
volves a contradiffion in it.”
This account of extenfion and folidity
linking inftance how much the moft vigorous and up
right mind is liable to be warped by prejudice in be¬
half of a darling theory, and how apt the cleared under-
ftanding is to be blinded by the equivocal ufe of terms.
That Biftiop Berkeley poffeffed a vigorous and perfpi-
cacious mind, his tnoft vehement antagonifls are eager
to admit ; and that his intentions were good, is known
to all Europe. Yet by the equivocal ufe of the word
idea, which the writings of Locke had then introdu¬
ced into the language of philofophy, he has here dif¬
fered himfelf to lofe fight of a very proper and accu¬
rate diftinffion, which, fo far as we know, was among
the moderns firft made by himfelf between ideas and
notions. According to the biftiop, “ vve have a notion
of power and a notion of fpints, but vve can have no
idea either of the one or the ether ; for all ideas being
paflive
170
affords a fallacioui.
L/l'lrtp- I
Llap -
Of the paffive
Exideiiceof0f j,,,.
ture of
M E T A P
Matter.
Spirit
srt, they cannot renrefent unto us by way
ikenefs that which afts. 'Such is the na-
, „ or that which ails, that it cannot, be of
itfeli £ ; cived, hut only by the effects which it pro-
duceth. dt mu ft be owned, however, that we have
fome notion of foul, fpirit, and the operations of the
mind, fuch as willing, loving, hating, inafmuch as we
know or underffand the meaning of thefe words,”
Now we beg leave to affirm, that what is here faid
of fpirits, and of which we readily admit the truth,
is equally true of material or folid fubftances. We
have no ideas of folidity and extenfion, becaufe thefe
things are not originally inipreffsd upon tne femes ,
but °we have very diftind though relative notions of
them, for they are clearly perceived by the eifeefs
which they produce, lhat this is at lean poffible, .we
have the acknowledgement of Siffiop Berkeley
felf: for he “freely owns, that from a caufe, efteil,
operation, fign, or other circumftance, there may rea-
fonably be inferred the exiftence of a thing not imme¬
diately perceived j and that it were abfurd for any man
to argue again!! the exiftence of that thing, from his
having no direft and pofitive notion of it.” This is.
exadlly the cafe with refpecl to folid fubftances. J.hefe
fubftances we do not immediately perceive; but we in¬
fer their exiftence from effects, figns, an4 other circum-
llances, and we have of them very clear though relative
notions. Thus a man can open and flout his empty
hand ; but when he grafps an ivory ball of three or
four inches diameter, he feels, that though tne fame
power be exerted, his band cannot then be fhut. He
is confcious that there is no change in him felf; and
being intuitively certain that every effeft muft have^ a
caufe, he infers with the utmoft: confidence, that the
caufe which prevents his hand from (hutting is in the
ball; or, in other words, that the thing which com¬
municates to his eye the fenfation of colour, and ini-
preffes upon his hand a fenfation of touch, muft be
folid or impenetrable. Solidity, however, is not. the
fenfation itfelf; it is only the cauie of the feniation ;
and therefore it is fo far from being an idea in our
minds, that we are confcious our notion oi it is of a thing
totally different from ail our ideas, of a.thing external,
at lead to our minds. Indeed the notion itfelf is not
pofitive ; it is only relative, and inferred from, the effects
which are produced on our fenfes. That it is dnt fatne
thing which communicates to our eye the fenfation. of
colour, and has the power of refilling the compreflion
of our hand, is evident : becaufe, when tne hall Js
thrown away, the refiftance as well as the actual fenfa¬
tion vanifli at once.
The idea of From this faff, which a lefs acute man would think
colour and a proof tnat the refiftance was not occafioned by the
the notion immediate agency of the Supreme Being, but by the
ot fo!idlty, impenetrability of a folid fubftance of fmall dimen-
Ivinfepa- ’fions, the biffiop argues thus againft the pojjibihty of
/able. fuch a fubftance : “ They who affert that figure, mo¬
tion, and the reft of the primary or original qualities,
do cxill without the mind in unthinking fubflances,
do at the fame time acknowledge, that colours, founds,
heat, cold, and fuch like fecondary qualities, do not;
which they tell us are fenfations exifting in the mind
alone, that depend on and are occafioned by the dif¬
ferent fize, texture, and motion, of the minute par-
tHes of matter. This they take for an undoubted
h y s i c s.
truth, which they can demonftrate beyond, all exeep- Of ^
tion. Now if it be certain, that thofe original qua- ^a^r_
lities are infeparably united with the other ienh.hle ,i
qualities, and not even in thought capable of being
abftrafled from them, it plainly follows, that they
exift only in the mind. But I defire ary one to re-
flea and try whether he can by any. abftraaion of
thought conceive the extenfion and motion of a body,
without all other fenlible qualities. lor my own
part, I fee evidently that it is not in my power to
frame an idea of a body extended and moved, but I
muft withal give it fome colour or other fenftble qua¬
lity which is acknowledged to exift only in the mind.
In ftiort, extenfion, figure, and motion, abftracted
from all qualities, are inconceivable. Wire re, therefore^
the other feniible qualities are, there rouft be tbele
alfo, to wit, in the mind, and no where elfe.”
In this reafoning, though plaufible, there is an un¬
intended fallacy. It is indeed true, that we cannot
contemplate in imagination a fohd fuDiftance uithou*-
conceiving it to have fome colour ; but there is fufti-
cient rcafon to believe, that this- union ol colour anct
folidity in our minds is not the effeft ol nature as it
operates at firft upon our fenfes, but merely, the con-
lequence of early and deep-rooted affociation. . Bi-
Ihop Beikeley himfelf has taught us, that, the objeft-r
of fight are not at a diftance ; and that if a man born
blind were fuddenly made to fee, he would conceive
the objefts of his fight as exifting either in bis eye or
in his mind. This is a truth which no man will con¬
trovert who has dipt into the fcience of optics, or who
has even paid the flighteft attention to the perceptions of
infants ; avid if fo, it follows, that to a man bom blind
and fuddenly made to fee, colour and folidity would
- not appear united. Were fuch a perfon to lay hold
of an ivory ball and raife it to the elevation of bis eye,
be would perceive whitenefs as a new fenfation exift¬
ing in bis eye or his mind, but be would feci refift¬
ance at the extremity of his arm. He would not have
the leaft reafon to conclude, that this whitenefs was
infeparably united to the caufe of this refiftance.; and
he would, in fa£t, draw no fuch concltnion, till ex¬
perience had taught him, that by removing the bail
or caufe of refiftance from bis hand, he at the fame
time removed the (enfation from his eye. Alter ic-
peated experiments, he would indeed ducover, tnat
the caufe of colour to the eye, was likewife by fome
means or other the caufe of reftftance to the hand ; and
he would fo afibciate thefe in his mind, that the one
would never afterwards make its appearance as an
idea or a notion without bringing the other along with
it. The whole difficulty, therefore, in this cale, is-
to break an early and deep-rooted afibciation ; for
it is plain that the* affociated ideas were not originally
united, and that folidity and colour were at firft con¬
ceived as feparate.
If the reader perceive not the force of this rea¬
foning, we beg leave to recommend to him the fol¬
lowing experiment, which, if we miftake not, will
carry convi£lion to his judgement, that in the lad-
quoted paffage Bifhop Berkeley has argued.fallaciouf-
ly, and that extenlion and colour are not infeparabhj
united as ideas in the mind. Let him go into a daik
room, containing a number of fpherical bodies.ol vari¬
ous colours; let him take one»of them into his hind ;
and
62*2
Or the anxi lie will inflantly feel refiilance, and have a notion
^ Matter 0f°^ exten^on an<^ folidity ; but will he likewife have
i ' , the idea of colour infeparably united with this notion }
The bifhop fays he will : and if fo, it mult be the idea
of fome particular colour \ for his lordfliip has taught
us, that the abJlraB and general idea of colour, which
is neither m/5 nor green, nor blue, &c. cannot poffibly
be formed. The man, then, we lhall fuppofe, whilil
he feels retiflance, conceives the refilling body to be
green ; and holding it ftill in his hand, walks into the
light of day. The rejijlance, and confequently the caufe
ot refillance, remains unchanged 5 but what becomes of
the infeparable union of thofe with colour, when the
body, upon being a6fually feen, proves to be black, i. e.
to have no colour at all ?—It appears, therefore, un¬
deniable, that folidity and colour are not united in na¬
ture •, that the one is an effential quality of fomething
external to us, of which we have no idea, but a very
diftindl though relative notion ; and that the other is
an adlual fenfation in our minds, caufed by the im-
preflion of fomething external on the organ of fenfe,
■which leaves behind it in the memory or imagination a
pofitive and direct idea that exills no where elfe.
Matter ex- Solid fubftance, therefore may exift, for though it
Ms, but is not immediately perceived by the fenfes, and is a
thing of which w7e can have no idea, we acquire a clear
and diftinft notion of it, by the very fame means which
Bilhop Berkeley thinks fufficient to give us dillindl
notions of power and of fpirits ; arid, therefore, that
notion can involve in it no contradidlion. Still, how*
ever, we would not fay with Dr Beattie, “ that we
could as eafily believe, that twro and two are equal to
ten ^ or, that whatever is, is not j as that matter has
no feparate exiftence for it is certainly pofjible, that
the Supreme Being, without the inftrumentality of
matter, could communicate to our minds all the fen-
fations and notions from which we infer the reality
of folid fubftance. All that we contend for, as having
the evidence of demonftration, is the pojfibility of folid
and extended fubftance ; and if the thing be pofjible, the
general voice of mankind proclaims its probability.-—
We are confcious of our aftual fenfations, and we know
by experience that they are caufed by fomething di-
ftinft from ourfelves. When a man grafps an ivory
ball, he feels that he cannot fhut his hand, and he
knows'that the refiftance which prevents him pro¬
ceeds not from himfelf. Thus far all mankind are a-
greed. But Bilhop Berkeley fays, that the refiftance
proceeds immediately from the Supreme Being or
fome other fpirit; whilft we, without pretending that
Ids fcheme is impoflible, think it more natural to fup¬
pofe that the man’s hand is kept from (Shutting by
the refiftance of a folid fubftance of four inches dia¬
meter ; of which fubftance, though w7e have no idea of
it, w7e have as diftinf! a notion as Berkeley had of fpi¬
rits. From one or other of thefe caufes this effe£t
muft proceed; and it is of little importance to life
or happinefs which of them be the true caufe, fince
it is with the effeift only that we are immediately
concerned. Still, however, a philofopher would choofe
to adopt the eafieft and moft natural -fide of every
alternative ; which, if our notion of folidity be juft,
is certainly, in the prefent cafe, the exiftence of mat¬
ter.
.After treating fo largely of.the compofition of bo-
Part II.
dies, and fhowing the general agreement of metaphy- Of the
ficiaris, ancient and modern, with refp, 61 to the notion ■ExiftenCe
of their folidity, it will appear ftrange to the lefs phi- Matter' ,
lofophical part of our readers, that we Ihould now ex-
prefs a doubt of that notion’s being well-founded.—is by fotne
We have ourfelves no doubt, but on the contrary are Philofo'
fully convinced, that folidity is efiential to matter. This, d^'
however, has of late been denied by philofophers of folid. ^
great merit. Dr Prieftley, after Mr Mitchell and Fa¬
ther Bofcovich, affirms that matter is not folid or im¬
penetrable to other matter ; and that it has, in fa6f, no
properties but thofe of attraBion and repuljion * The * Difquifi-
proofs of this pofition, which appears fo paradoxical, hetions on
draw7s from optical experiments, from electricity, andMatter. . '
from the effedts of heat and cold upon fubitances ufual-and Torref-
ly conceived to be folid. pondence
The appearances from which the folidity of matter Dr
is inferred, are nothing more, he fays, than fuperficial Price'
appearances, and therefore have led to fuperficial and TheIa7rL
falfe judgments, w7hich the real appearances will not au-ments ufecl
thorize. “ Refflance, on which alone our opinion ln PuPPort
concerning the folidity or impenetrability of matter,of th’s h^'
is founded, is never occafioned by folid matter, but by pothefls
fomething of a very different nature, viz. a power of
repuljion, always adting at a real, and in general an
affignable diftance, from what we call the body itfelf.
When I prefs my hand againft the table, I naturally
imagine that the obftacle to its going through the taole
is the folid matter of which it conlifts ; but a variety of
philolophical confiderations demonftrate that it gene¬
rally requires a much greater power of preffure than I
can exert to bring my fingers into adlual contadl with
the table. Eledlrical appearances ftiow that a confi-
derable weight is requifite to bring into feeming con-
tad! even the finks of a chain hanging freely in the
air, they being kept afunder by a repulfive power be-
longing to a very fmall furface, fo that they do not
adlually touch, though they are fupported by each
other. It has been ihown, from optical confiderations,
that a drop of water rolls upon a cabbage leaf without
ever coming into adlual contadl with it ; and indeed all
the phenomena of light are moft remarkably unfavour¬
able to the hypothefis of the folidity or impenetrabi¬
lity of matter. When light is refledled back from a
body on which it feems to ftrike, it was natural to fup¬
pofe that this was occafioned by its impinging agairrft
the folid parts of the body ; but it has been demon-
ftrated by Sir Ifaac Newton, that the rays of light
are always refledled by a power of repulfon adting at
fome diftance from the body. Again, When part of
a beam of light has overcome this power of repulfion,
and has entered any tranfparent fubftance, it goes on
in a right line, provided the medium be of a uniform
denfity, without the leaf! interruption, and without
a fingle particle being refledled, till it comes to the
oppofite fide, having met with no folid particles in its
way, not even in the denfeft tranfparent fubftances, as
glafs, cryflal, or diamond ; and when it is arrived at
the oppofite fide, it is folely affedled by the laws of
attradlion and repulfion.
“ Nay, that the component particles of the hardeft
bodies themfelves do not adlually touch one another,
is demonftrable from their being brought nearer toge¬
ther by cold, and by their being removed farther from
each other by heat, ihe power lufficient to overcome
thefe
M E T A P H Y S I C S.
Chap.
Of the
IIT; metaphysic
thefe internal forces of repulfion, by which the ulti-
S.
Exigence of  • . , . uy wnicn the ultx-
Matter. Pate Part,cles °f bodies are prevented from coming
mto aciual contadt, is what no perfon can pretend to
compute. The power requifite to break their cohe-
iion, or to remove them from the fphere of each other’s
attradhon, may in fome meafure be eftimated ; but
this affords no data for afcertaining the force that
would be neceffary to bring them into aftual contaft,
which may exceed the other almoff infinitely ”
From thefe fads, Dr Prieftley infers, that the mu¬
tual refiftance of bodies proceeds in all cafes from
powers of repulfion adiing at a diftance from each
,?,.y : t^lat t^le huppofition of the folidity or impenetra¬
bility of matter is deftitute of all fupport whatever ; and
tnat matter itfelf is nothing but powers of attradlion
and repulfion, and feveral fpheres of them, one within
another. As other philofophers have faid, “ Take
away folidity, and matter vaniftiesfo he fays ex-
prefsly, “ Take away attradion and repulfion, and
matter vanifhes.”
-^'0 illuftrate this ffrange notion, “ Suppofe (fays
t) t iat the Divine Being, when he created matter^
only fixed certain centres of various attraaions and re-
extending indefinitely in all direftions, the whole
effedt of them to be upon each other: thefe centres
approaching to, or receding from each other, and con-
iequently carrying their peculiar fpheres of attradfion
and repulfion along with them,, according to certain
definite circumftances. It cannot be denied that thefe
Ipheres may be di-verfified infinitely, fo as to corre-
ipond to all the kinds of bodies that we are acquaint¬
ed with, or that are poflible. For all effedls in which
bodies are concerned, and of which we can be fenfible
y our eyes, touch, &c. may be refolved into attrac-
tmn .or repulfion. A compages of thefe centres, placed
within the fpheres of each other’s attraaion, will con-
1 litute a body that we term compaB j and two of thefe
bodies will, on their approach, meet with a repulfion or
refiftance fufficient to prevent one of them from occu-
pying^the place of the other, without a much greater
iorce 'than we are capable of employing j fo that to us
they will appear perfedly hard.
As in the conftitution of all aaual bodies that
we are acquainted with, thefe centres are placed fo
near to each other, that in every divifion that we can
make we fiill leave parts which contain many of thefe
centres; we, reafoning by analogy, fuppofe that every
particle of matter is infinitely divifible ; and the yW
it occupies is certainly fo. But, ftritfly fpeaking, as
thole centres which conftitute any body are not abfo-
lutely infinite, it muft be naturally poflible to come by
dmfion to. one Angle centre, which could not be faid
to be divifible., or even to occupy any portion of
jpace, though its fphere of a£Hon ftiould extend ever
0 .lar ’ a.ncl had only one fuch centre of attraction, &c.
cxifted, its exiftence could not have been known, be-
c.aule there would have been nothing on which its ac-
tion could have been exerted j and there being no efeB,
caife ”C°Uld haVC beCn an)? 8rouRcl fuppofing a
‘his rearf!"g ^gainll the folidity of
matter Dr Prieftley w'as frequently afked by his can,
did and mafterly antagonift *, “ What it is that at-
tradts and repels., and that is attrafted and repelled ?”
But to the queftion he was never able to give a fatis-
fadtory anfwer. Indeed, how could he have been able r
for. T' T' ‘ “ ‘ ~
62
Of the
tiveefi Dr
Price and
P'r Priett-
ky.
as Dr Price argues, “ Exclufive of attradlion and Exiftence‘of
repulfion, he affirms matter to be abfolutely nothing : , Matt{r; ,
and therefore, though we were to allow' it the power of * '
attradling and repelling, yet as it is nothing but this
power, it muft be the power of nothing, and the very
idea of it be a contradidlion.”
If there be any clafs of truths intuitively certain,
that clals comprehends the tw7o following propofitions :
Power cannot be without a subject ; and No¬
thing can ACT WHERE it is not. If, therefore,
there be powers of attraftion and repulfion, (which
lhall be confidered afterwards in the Chapter of Mo¬
tion), there muff be a fubjedf of thofe powers ; and
if matter, whether folid or unfolid, be the fubjedt, it I>7
cannot poffibly attradl or repel at a dijlance. Sir Ifaac founded on
Newton, in his letters to Dr Bentley, calls the notion ^afiaci°us
that matter poffeffes an innate power of attradfion or aPPeaiances
that it can ad . upon matter at a diftance, and attradf «
and repel by its own agency, “ an abfurdity into tuitive and
which, he thought, no one could poffibly fall.” Hence noceffary
it follows, that the appearances from which Dr Prieft- trutb*
ley infers the penetrability of matter muft be fallaci¬
ous appearances, fince they contradidt an intuitive and
necefiary truth. The fadfs which he inftances are, in-
deed, fuch as would make moft other men fufpicious
o.t fallacy, and in his reafonings from them he fome-
times takes for granted the truth to be proved. The
links of a chain ufed for eledtrical purpofes, fuppofing
them to be in contadf with each other, can touch only
with, very fmall furfaces. The eledtrical fluid is of
confiderable denfity, and incapable of being abforbed
within, a very narrow compafs. This is evident, be-
caufe it pafles not. through paper and other porous
bodies without making a paflage for itfelf, and leaving
a vifible aperture behind it j and though it aflimilates
with metals, and paffes through them more eafily than
through other bodies, yet is it plain that it requires
a certain quantity of metal to condud it; for when
t le condudlor falls fliort of the neceffary quantitv, it
is melted or diffipated by the force of the fluid. This
being the cafe, it follows that the links of a chain may
be m adfual contadt (w'e do not pofitively affirm that
they are), and yet the fluid become vifible in pafling
from link to link ; for if the point of contadl be too
Imall to abforb the whole fluid, part of it muft pafs
without any metallic condudtor through the atmo-
iphere, and thus become apparent to the eye of the
ipediator.
With refpedt to light, it is obvious that there can¬
not poflibly be any demonf ration, in the logical fenfe
of the word, that it is refleded by a power of repul¬
fion adting at fome diftance from the body ; for in
tne opinion of all mankind, the primary and folid
atoms of matter are too minute to fall under the cog¬
nizance of. our fenfes, however affifted by art • and
therefore, if light appears to be refledted at a diftance
from the furface of the body, we muft conclude, either
that between the point of refiedion and the apparent
furface of the body, there ve folid atoms unperceived
bypUS’f iVb31 Jlfht 1S refle£ted by the agency of fomo
other fubftance than matter. One of thele conclufibns
we fay mujl be drawn, becaufe they are both pofjibie
and there is no other alternative but to admit one of
tnern, or. to fuppofe that a thing may ad where it i».
ne t i
624-
Of the
Exigence
Matter,
metaphysics.
Part 11.
X76
Our mo ft
adequate
notion of
matter.
nx)t • wVich Is as clearly abfurd and itnpoffible as that
^whatever is, is not. Again When part ot a beam o
liaht has entered any tranfparent Jubilaiice how does
~ I3r Prieftley know that it goes on m a right line, wit -
out the lead interruption, till it comes to the oppohte
f,de ? This he can know only by ms fenfes , but th
beam may meet with ten thoufand interruptions from
obi efts which the fenfes cannot perceive and may de-
fcribe a zig-zag line, of which the defleftions are fo
{mail as to elude the keenelt eye aided by the mod
P°Thatf tfte^component particles of the harded bodies
do not a// aflually touch one another, is indeed evi¬
dent from the effects of cold and heat upon thofe bo¬
dies : but it does not therefore follow that thofe bo¬
dies have no component particles ; but only, that they
are fewer in number than we are apt to imagine 5 that
all the folid matter in the umverfe might podibly be
comoreffed within a very narrow fpbere ; and that it
is held together in different bodies and different lyi-
tems by a power foreign from itielf. Theie are tmtbs
which all philofophers have admitted who have thong
fufficiently on the fuhjedl j but who will admit D-
Priedley’I propodtion, when it is trandated into com¬
mon Englifh : “ That the component nothings oi the
harded bodies do not aftnally touch one another, is
demondrable from their being brought nearer toge¬
ther by cold, and by their being removed farther from
each other by heat ^ . 11
Dr Priedley owns, that if matter be folid it could
aft upon ether matter by impulfe. We are certain,
that, whatever it be, it can ad upon nothing in tee
manner which he deferibes •, and therefore, to ufe the
WOrds of Dr Price, “ matter, if it be any thing at all,
mud confid of folid particles or atoms occupying a
certain portion of fpace, and therefore extM, but at
the fame time Jimp/e and uncompounded, and incapable o
being refolved into any other fmaller particles. I
mud^ like wife be the different form of thefe primary
particles, and their different combinations and arrange¬
ment, that conditute the different bodies aad kinds of
matter in the univerfe.” This is exadly «gjeeable to
the dodrines of Newton*, ivho, after confidermg^the
ouedion in evfery point of view, concludes, that m
the beginning God formed matter in folid maffy, bard,
impenetrable, moveable particles, of fuch fixes and fi¬
gures, and with fuch other properties, as mod condu¬
ced to the end for which he formed them *, and that
thofe primary particles being folid, are incomparably
harder than any porous bodies compounded of them *,
even fo very hard as never to wear or break in pieces
no ordinary power being able to divide what Gcd
himlelf made one in the creation. _ To talk, as Dr
Priedley does, of matter’s being certain centres oj vari¬
ous attrcBions andrepulfions extending indefinitely in all
directions, and to deferibe thefe centres as not being
phyfical points or folid atoms, is either to fay, that no¬
thing attraas and repels *, or it is to introduce the di¬
vine agency as the immediate caufe of all our fenfa-
tions The former of thefe alternatives Dr Pnedley
difclaiitis *, the latter he feems willing to admit. But
if if be his meaning that all cur fenfatiops are cau tc
bv the immediate agency of God or created [pints
his feheme differs not from that of Berkeley, except
in being lefs elegantly expvefied and lefs ingemoully
2
fupported. Berkeley’s _ fcheme is etndently pojfjbh^
r \ ™ 1 . . jyi0£Jes
The commonly received Icheme is hkewiie poffib.e
It remains therefore with the reader, whether he will,
adopt the fydem of the Bidiop of Cloyne ; or admit,
with all other philofophers, that matter exids j that
it confids of parts adually didind and parable*, and
that each of thefe parts is a monad or loljd atom, which
requires no foreign agency to keep it united.
Chap. IV. Of Space and its Modes.
. 177
Having confidered bodies in their fubdance, ef-xhenecef-
fences and qualities, and proved that they have afa.Tad-f
real exidence independent of us and our conc^Pt,onsr-uocjy) what,
we proceed now to inquire into the nature oi Jpacc,
motion, number, and duration. Thefe are commonly
called the adjun&s of body, and are fuppofed to be ab-
folutely infeparable from its exidence. It does not
indeed appear that aBual motion is a necefiary adjunct
of body, confidered as a mere folid, extended, and
figured fubdance j but it is certainly neceffary to the
exidence of organized and animated bodies, and the
capability of being moved enters into our conceptions
of all bodies whatever. Of thefe adjunSs, that which
fird demands our attention is /pace: tor without a
knowledge of its nature we could not have an adequate
idea of motion, and without motion we could have
“Everybody is extended > and between bodies^
not in atlual contaft, we perceive that a third bodyquired>
may be caddy introduced. That which admits of the
introduaion of.the third body is what we call /pace:
and if it be totally void of matter, it is called pui e
fpace. Whether there be any fpace abiolutely pure,
has been difputed ; but that fuch fpace is poliible, au-
mits of no difpute. Were any one body (a cannon
bail for infiance) to be annihilated, and the circumam¬
bient air, with every other material iubftance, kept
from ruffling into the fpace which the ball had occu¬
pied, chat portion of fpace, with refpea to matter,
would be empty or pure Ipace: whether it would ne-
ctffarily be filled with mind (hall be confidered after¬
wards. Pure Ipace, therefore, is conceivable j and it
is conceived as having three dimenfions, length, breadth,
and depth, which are generally called the three fimple
modes of fpace. In this refpea it agrees with body;.-
but the agreement proceeds no farther; for Ipace is
conceived as defiitute of folidity, without which the
exiftence of body is inconceivable. It has been lormer- ,
ly obferved, that whatever may be diftinclly conceived
may poflibly exift ; but with refpea to the exiftence
of pure fpace, whatever is poffible is real : for it {hall
be ft)own in the next feeftion, that were there no fpace
abfolutely pure or void of matter, there could be no
motion. Our bufmefs at prefent is to inquire what the
nature of fpace is, and what notion we ought to have ot
pWlofophors confickr fpace as fcme.Spa«;r
thing entirely diftina both from body and mmd . fume
of them aferibe to it no lefs than four of the attributesdifferent
of the eternity, immobility, infinity, and necc/jary from body
ex-^ce; and a few of them gone fo far
call infinite jpace the fienfionum of the Duty. 1^eeternai anr
fuppolal of the exiftence of any thing whatever Gays Di iutL,ite>£ic
Chap. IV. META P
Of Space Clarke*) neccffarily includes aof the ex-
and its iftence of [pace. Nothing can poflibly be conceived to
. M°des- exiit without thereby prefuppohng fpace \ which, there-
* Demon- fore, I apprehend to be a property or mode of the felf-
flration of exiftent Subftance ; and that, by being evidently necef-
the Being fary itfelf, it proves, that the fubftance of which it is a
anti Anri- property rauft be alfo neceffary.” Elfewhere he fays,
Gael and that “ fpace is a property or mode of the felf-exiftent
Correfpond- Subfiance, but not of any other fubftances. All other
ence with fubftances are in fpace, and are penetrated by it; but
a Gentle- ^ felf.exiftent Subftance is not in fpace, nor penetrated
"cToZjler'M it, but is itfelf (if I may fo fpeak) the fubjlfatum
fhire, paf- of fpace, the ground of the exiftence or Jpace itlelt.
fiai. He acknowledges, however, that fuch expreftions as
“ the felf-exiftent Subftance is the fubjlratym of fpace,
or fpace is a property of the felf-exiftent Subftance, are
«£>/, perhaps, very proper : but what I mean (fays he),
is this : The idea of /pace (as alfo of time or duration)
is an abftraht or partial idea } an idea of a certain qua¬
lity or relation, which we evidently fee to be neceffarily
exifling j and yet (which not being itfelf nfubflance)
at the fame time neceffarilya fubftance, with¬
out which it could not exill.”
Thefe opinions refpe&ing fpace have been adopted
by fucceeding philofophers of great merit, and particu¬
larly by Dr Price * who fays, that “ it is a maxim which
connot be difputed, that time and place are neceffary to
the exiftence of all things. Dr Clarke ("continues he)
has made ufe of this maxim, to prove that infinite fpace
and duration are the efiential properties of the Deity }
and I think he was right.”
Had authority any weight in philofophy, we know
not what modern writers we could oppofe to the cele¬
brated names of Clarke and Price, unlefs it were .Biftiop
Berkeley, Dr Law late bilhop of Carlifle, and the author
of Ancient Metaphyfics. But the queftion is not to
iSo, be decided by authority. Learned and acute as Dr
This fappo-Clarke was, his affertions refpe&ing fpace are contra-
fnion con- diftory and inconfiftent.. If nothing can poflibly be
traverted. conceived to exift without thereby prefuppofing the ex¬
iftence of fpace, how can fpace be a property or mode
of the felf-exiftent Subftance ? _ Are properties prior
in the order of nature, or even in our conceptions, to
the fubftances in which they inhere ? Can we frame
an abftrasft: idea of figure, or extenlion, or folidity, be¬
fore we conceive the exiftence of any one figured,
extended, or folid fubftance ? Thefe are queftions
which every man is as capable of anfwering as the
Dodlors Clarke and Price, provided he can look atten¬
tively into his own mind, and trace his iceas to tneir
fource in fenfation: and if he be not biaifed by the
weight of great names, we are perfuaded he will find,
that if it be indeed true, that the fuppofal of the exift¬
ence of any thing whatever neceffarily includes z prefup-
pofition of the exiftence of fpace, fpace cannot poflibly
be a property or mode of the ielf-exiilent oubitance, but
lSl muft of neceflity be a fubfance itfelf.
Space ne- It is, however, not true, that the fuppofal of the ex-
ceffary to iftence of any thing whatever neceffarily includes a pre-
the exift- fuppofition of the exiftence of fpace. Ihe idea of ipace
enccof ,*s Hdeed fo clofely affociated with every vifible and
every thing. tangjkle 0^-e(q.? tfiat we cannot fee the one nor feel
the'other without conceiving them to occupy fo much
of fpace. But had we never polleffed the fenfes of fight
and touch, we could not have fuppofed the exiftence
Vol. XIII. Part II.
H Y S 1 C S'. 62s
of fpace neceffary to the exiftence of any thing what- Of Space
ever. The fenfes of fmelling, tailing, and hearing, to-
gether with our internal powers of confcioufnefs and . »
intelledl, would certainly have compelled us to believe
in our own exiftence, and to fuppofe the exiftence of
other things ; but no object either of confcioufnefs,
fmelling, tailing, or hearing, can be conceived as occu¬
pying fpace. Space and every thing which fills it are
conceived as of three dimenlions} but who ever fuppofed
or can fuppofe an odour, tafte, or fund, to have lengthy
breadth, and depth ; or an object of confcioufnefs to be
an ell or an inch long ?
Let us fuppofe that body and all the vifible world
had a beginning, and that once nothing exifted but
that Being which is alone of neceffary as well as eter¬
nal exiftence j fpace, fay the followers of Dr Clarke,
would then exift likewife without bounds or limits.
But we defire to know of thefe gentlemen what fort
of a being this fpace is. It certainly is not fubfance;
neither is it a property; for we have feen that the very
notions of it, which lead men to fuppofe its exiftence
neceffary, render it impoflible to be a property of the
felf-exiftent Being. Is it then nothing ? It “ is in one
fenfe * : it is nothing aSlually exifting •, but it is fome-^ ^nc'tent
thing potentially; for it has the capacity of receiving Metaphy-
body whenever it (hall exift. It is not, and cannot,
become any thing itfelf, nor hath it any actual exift¬
ence ; but it is that without which nothing corporeal
could exift.” For this reafon it was that Democritus
and Epicurus made fpace one of the principles of na¬
ture j and for the fame reafon Ariftotle has made pri¬
vation one of his three principles of natural things,
matter and form being the other two. But though the
privation of one form be doubtlefs peceffary before
matter can receive another (for a piece of wax or clay
cannot receive the form of a globe before it lofe the
form of a fquare), yet Ariftotle never dreamed that
the privation of the fquare was any property of the
globe, or that privation itfelf was to be reckoned a real
being. On the contrary, he exprefsly calls it to ^ ev,
or the no being. In this way, if we pleafe, we may
confider fpace, and call it the privation of fullnefs or of
body. We hav» indeed a pofitive idea of it, as well as
of lilence, darknefs, and other privations: but to argue
from fuch an idea of fpace, that fpace itfelf is fome-
thing real, feems altogether as good fenfe as to fay,
that becaufe we have a different idea of darknefs from
that of light, of filence from that of found, of the ah-
fence of any thing from that of its prefence; therefore
darknefs, filence, aifence, muft be real things, and have
as pofitive an exiftence as light, found, and body: and
to deny that we have any pofitive idea, or, which is the
very fame thing, any idea at all, of the privations above
mentioned, will be to deny what is capable of the moil;
complete proof (fee N° 19.), and to contradifl com¬
mon fenfe and daily experience. There are therefore
ideas, and Ample ones too, which have nothing ad ex¬
tra correfpondent to them *, no proper idiatum, arche¬
type, or obje&ive reality : and we do not fee why the f See
idea of fpace may not be reckoned of that number, on King's
To fay that /pace muft have exiftence, becaufe it has Origin of
fome properties (for inftance, penetrability, or the capa-
city of receiving body), feems f to be the fame thing ^ qUir\< into
to urge that darknefs muft be fomething becaufe it has the Ideas
the capacity of receiving light; filence the property of °f Space, *
4 K admitting &c'
62?
METAPHYSICS.
Part II:.
Of Space admitting found; and abfence the property of being fup-
phed by prefence. To reafon in this manner is to afiign
ij . abfolute negations j and fuch as, in the fame way, may
be applied to nothing, and then call them pofitive pro-
perties; and fo infer that the chimera, thus clothed
jSa with them, rouft needs be fomethng.
Space no- But it is faid, that as we cannot conceive fpace to
thing but ke annihilated, it muft be fome real thing of eternal
cxiftence''6 anc* necefr'ary exigence. If this argument had not
®f body. been ufed by waiters of great merit, and with the beft
intention, we fhould not have fcrupled to call it the
moft contemptible fophifm that ever difgraced the page
of philofophy. Whatever now has an aEiual exiftence,
muft from eternity have had a pojfible exiftence in the
ideas of the Divine mind. Body, as an extended fub-
ftance, has now an aEiual exiftence $ and therefore it
muft from eternity have had a pojjible exiftence in the
ideas of the Divine mind : but the pofjible exigence of
body is all that we can conceive by fpace; and there¬
fore this argument, upon which fo much ftrefs has
been laid, amounts to nothing more, than that what
has from eternity been poflible, can at no period have
been impoflible. It is evident that the capacity or po¬
tentiality of every thing exifting muft have been from
eternity ; but is capacity or potentiality a real being ?
All the men and women who ftiall fucceed the prefent
generation to the end of time, have at this moment
a poftibility of exiftence, nor can that poflibility be
conceived as an impofTibility j but is it therefore any
thing aftually exifting either as a fubftance- or a qua-
lity ?
It has been urged, that fpace muft be fomething
more than the mere abfence of matter 5 becaufe if no¬
thing be between bodies, fuch as the wralls of a room,
they muft neceffarily touch. But furely it is not felf
evident that bodies muft neceffarily touch if nothing be
between them ; nor of the truth of this propofition
can any thing like a proof be brought. It is indeed
intuitively certain, that “ things, when they are in
contaifl, have nothing between them and hence it
has rafhly been inferred, that things, when they have
nothing between them, are in contact 5 but this is an
illegitimate converfion of the propofttion. Every lo¬
gician knows, that to convert a propofition, is to infer
from it another whofe fihjeB is the predicate, and whofe
predicate is the fubjecl, of the propofition to be convert¬
ed : but we are taught by Ariftotle and by common
fenfe, that an univerfal affirmative can be converted
only into a particular affirmative. “ Things, when they
are in contadf, have nothing between them,” js an utn-
verfal affirmative propofition •, and therefore it can be
converted only into the following particular affirmative :
“ Some things, when they have nothing between them,
are in contaft f a propofition which by no means in¬
cludes in it the contafl of the walls of an empty room.
The jeafon why the walls of an empty room do not
totfhh, is that they are diflanl; but is diflance, in the
abftra£I, anv thing really exifting ? Two individuals
differ, or there is a difference between them ; but is
diference'wdtM any real external thing ? Bodies are long,
broad, thick, heavy ; but are length, breadth, denfity,
weight, properly any thing ? Have they any real fepa¬
late archetypes or external idiata ? Or can they exift
but in fome fubftance ?
The reafon why fo many philofophers have confi-
dered fpace as a real external thing, feems to be this :
Every bodily fubftance is extended ; but fpace is con¬
ceived to be that which contains body, and therefore
to fpace we likewife attribute extenfion. Extenfion
is a quality which can have no exiftence but as united
vvith other qualities in fome fubftance j and it is that
of which, abftradfed from all fubftances, we can, pro¬
perly fpeaking, form no idea. We underftand the
meaning of the word, however, and can reafon about
that which it denotes, without regarding the particu¬
lar fubftance in which extenfion may inhere 5 juft as
we can reafon about whitenefs without regarding any
one white objedl, though it is felf-evident that white¬
nefs, abftra&ed from all objefls, cannot figure in the
mind as an idea. Qualities confidered in this manner
are general and relative notions, the objects of pure in-
telledl, which make no appearance in the imagination,
and are far lefs, if poffible, to be perceived by fenfe :
OfSpace
and its
Modes.
183
The fallacy
which led
to the fup-:
pofition
that fpace
is a real
thing.
but it is extremely painful to the mind to dwell upon
fuch notions \ and therefore the ever-a6Hve fancy is
always ready to furniffi them with imaginary fubfrata,
and to make that which was a general and invifble no¬
tion be conceived as a particular ideal objeB. In the
cafe of extenfion this is the more eafily done, that the
notion which we have of a realfubfratum or fubftance,
the fupport of real qualities, is obfeure and relative,
being the notion of fomething we know not what.
Now, by leaving, if wTe can, folidity and figure out of
our conception, and joining the notion of fomething with
the notion of extenfion, we have at once the imaginary
fubfratum of an imaginary quality, or the general notion
of extenfion particularized in an imaginary fubjedt; and
this fub}e<ft we call fpace, vainly fancying that it has a
real external and independent exiftence. Whether this
be not all that can be faid of fpace, and whether it be
not abfurd to talk of its having any real properties,
every man will judge for himfelf, by refledling upon
his own ideas and the manner in which they are acquir¬
ed. We ourfelves have no doubt about the matter. We
confider pure fpace as a mere notion relative to the ex¬
iftence of corporeal fubftance, as nothing more than the
abfence of body, where body is poffible 5 and we think
the ufual diftindfion between abfolute and relative fpace,
if taken as real, the groffeft abfurdity. We do not
however, pretend to didlate to others j but recom¬
mend it to every man to throw away all refpeft for
great names, to look attentively into his owm thoughts,
and on this as on all metaphyfical fubjetfts to judge for
himfelf.
Having faid fo much of fpace in general, we need 184
not wafte much time upon its modes. Indeed the only P^ce> what-
mode of fpace, after confidering it with refpedt to the u li"
three dimenfions of body, which now demands our at¬
tention, is that which we call place. As in the fimpleft
mode of fpace we confider the relation of diftance be¬
tween any two bodies or points j fo, in our idea of
place, we confider the relation of diftance betwixt any
thing, and any two or more points, which, being con¬
fidered as at reft, keep the fame diftance one from
another. Thus, when we find any thing at the fame
diftance now at which it was yefterday from two or
more points with which it w’as then compared, and •
which have not fince the comparifon was made changed
their
Chap. IV. • M E T A P
Of Space their dittance or pofition with refpe£t to each other,
we fay that the thing hath kept its place, or is in the
fame place; but if it hath fenfibly altered its dift'ance
from either of thefe points, we then fay that it hath
changed its place.
From this view of the nature of place, wre need not
obferve that it is a mere relation ; but it may be wmrth
while to advert to this circumflance, that a thing may
without falfehood be faid to have continued in the
fame place, and at the fame time to have changed its
place, according to the different objefts with which it
is compared. Thus, if two perfons find a company of
chefs-men {landing each upon the fame fquare of the
chefs board where they left them, the one may wnth
truth affirm that they are all in the fame place, or un¬
moved ; and the other may with equal truth affirm- that
they have all changed place. The former confiders
the men only with refpetl to their difiances from the
feveral parts of the chefs-board, w’hich have kept the
fame difiance and pofition with refpe£t to one another.
The latter muff confider the men with refpeft to their
diftance from fomething elfe : and finding that the
chefs-board, with every thing upon it, has been remov¬
ed, we {hall fuppofe from one room to another, he can¬
not but fay that the chefs-men have changed their place
with refpeft to the feveral parts of the room in w7hich he
formerly faw them.
This modification of dillance, however, which uTe call
place, being made by men for their common ufe, that
by it they may defign the particular pofition of objefts
where they have occalion for fuch defignation, they
determine this place by reference to fuch adjacent things
as beft ferve their prefent purpofe, without regarding
other things which, fora different purpofe, would better
determine the place of the fame obje£f. Thus in the
chefs-board, the ufe of the defgnat ion of the place of
each chefs-man being determined only within that che¬
quered piece of w7ood, it wmuld crofs that purpofe to mea-
fure it hy any thing elfe : but when thefe very chefs-
men are put up in a box, if any one fliould alk w7here
the black king is, it wmuld be proper to determine the
place by reference to fomething elfe than the chefs-board ;
luch as the parts of the room or clofet which contain
the box.
That our idea of place is nothing but fuch a rela¬
tive pofition of things as we have mentioned, will be
readily admitted, when it is confidered that wTe can
have no idea of the place of the univerfe. Every part
of the univerfe has place ; becaufe it may be compared
with refpect to its difiance from other parts fuppofed
to be fixed. Thus the earth and every planet of our
fyfiem has a place which may be determined by afeer-
taining its diftance from the fun and from the orbits
of the other planets ; and the place of the fyftem it-
felf may be afeertained by comparing it with twm or
more fixed ftars : but all the fyfiems taken as one whole
can have no place; becaufe there is nothing elfe to
which the difiance and pofition of that whole can be
referred. It is indeed true, that the word place is fome-
times ufed, w7e think improperly, to denote that fpace
or portion of fpace which any particular body occu¬
pies •, and in this fenfe, no doubt, the univerfe has
place, as w7ell as the earth or folar fyfiem : but to
talk of the place of the univerfe in the other and pro¬
per fenfe of the word, is the groffefi nonfenfe.
627
i35
The uni¬
verfe has
ko place.
Of Mo¬
tion.
1S6
H Y S I C S.
Chap. V. 0/'Motion.
Mobility, or a capacity of being moved, is effen- AJobflny
tial to every corporeal fubfiaiice j and by adtual mo-eflentiai
tion are all the operations of nature performed. Mo-toeveiy
tion, therefore, if it may be called an adjunEl of body,
is certainly the moft important of all its adjuncts ; and
to afeertain its nature and origin demands the clofeft tural mo-
attention of the metaphyfician, as w7ell as of the me-tural.
chanic and aftronomer. With the laws of motion, as
difeovered by experience, we have at prefent no con¬
cern : they are explained and fully efiablifhed in other-
articles of this work (See Mechanics, Motion, &c.)
The principal queftions which we have to confider are :
“ What is motion ? and, By what power is it carried
on ?”
For an anfwer to the firft of thefe queftions, the
modern metaphyfician refers every man to his own
fenfes j becaufe, in his apprehenfion, the word mo¬
tion denotes a fimple idea which cannot be defined.
Among the ancients, the Peripatetics were of a differ¬
ent opinion; and Ariftotle, whole love of dialedfic
made him define every thing, has attempted to give
two definitions of motion. As fome learned men are
at prefent labouring to revive this fyfiem, w^e fliall,
out of refpedt to them, mention thofe definitions,
and make upon them fuch remarks as to us appear
pr?Per’ . . . 1S7
lire author of Ancient Metaphijsics having obferved,The Peri-
that both nature and art propole fume end in all their Patet‘G de¬
operations; that when the end is obtained, the thing ^n'tions
operated upon is in a ftate of perfebfion or comple-mJtlJ i
tion ; and that in the operations of both nature and
art there is a progrefs, and by confequence a change,
from one thing to another 5 adds, that this change is
motion. Motion, therefore, according to him, is a
change or progrefs to the end propoffd, or to that
ftate of perfection or completion w7hich Ariftotle calls
iv\ite%ua. It is not enough, however, that w7e know
to what the change or progrefs is made : to have an
adequate idea of motion, we muft likewiie know from
what it proceeds. Now it is evident that every thino-
exilting, whether by nature or art, was, before it ex-
ifted, poftible to exift ; and therefore, adds the fame
author, things do in fome fort exift even before they
exift. This former kind of exiftence is faid by Ari¬
ftotle to be that is, in power or capacity. In
this way, plants exift in their feeds; animals in the
embryo ; works of art in the idea of the artifts and the
materials of which they are made 5 and, in general,
every thing in the caufes which produce it. From this
power or capacity there is a progrefs to energy or ac¬
tual exiftence ; fo that we are now able to anfwer the
queftion, “ from what, and to what, motion is a
change for it is univerfally true of all motion, that it
is a change from capacity to energy.
“ Having thus difeovered that motion lies betwixt
capacity and energy, it is evident (he fays) that it muft
have a connexion with each of them : and from this
double connexion Ariftotle has given us two definitions
01 it ; one of them taken from the energy, or end to
which it tends; the other from the capacity from which
it begins. Ihe firft is expreffed in two words, viz.
intyux xTiXYi;, or irnperfeB energy ; the other is
4 K 2 T9j,
628
Of Mo-
tion.
iSS
unintelli¬
gible.
M E TAP
5. ^vvufiii * 5V dvvotpil *, wliich may be tranflated thus,
The pcrfeBion of what is in capacity, conjidered merely as
in capacity. The meaning of the laft words is, that
nothing is confidered in the thing that is moved but
merely its capacity; fo that motion is the perfection
of that capacity, 'but not of the thing itfelf. It is
fomething more (adds the learned author) than mere
capacity ; for it is capacity exerted, which when it has
attained its end, fo that the thing has arrived at that
ftate to which it is deftined by nature or art, ceales,
and the thing begins to exift sregysi*, or aBualliy. <
By all the admirers of Ariitotle, this latter defini¬
tion has been preferred to the former 5 for what rea-
fon, it is difficult to fay. They both involve in the
thickeft obfcurity that which, viewed through the
fenfes, is ver* eafily underftood *, and on this, as on
many other "occafions, Ariftotle was certainly guilty
of darkening counlel by words without knowledge.
The author,°whofe comment on this wonderful defini¬
tion we have faithfully abridged, admits that it is not
intelligible till we know what chan ye and progrefs are •,
but is it poffible to conceive any change to take place
in bodily fubftances without motion? or, if we were
called upon to exolain what progrefs is, could we do
it better than by faving that it is motion/rw; lome-
thing to fomething ? It is likewilb very obvious, that
before we can have .an adequate idea of motion, we
muft, according to this definition, know perfectly
what the words capacity, energy, and perfeBion denote ;
and yet nothing can be more, true than that perfeBion
denotes a complex conception, which may be eafiiy
defined by refolving it into the fimple ideas and no¬
tions of which it is compounded, whilft motion is iuU
ceptible of no fuch refolution. The perfedlion ot a
knife is compounded of the temper of the Heel and
the ffiarpnefs of the edge : the perfeftion of a fyllem
of philofophy confifts of the importance of the lub-
ieas treated, the ftrength of the author’s arguments
and the perfpicuity of his flyle and manner j but ol
what is the motion of a ball, or an atom, or any thing
elfe, compounded ? We are aware that to. this queftion
the modern Peripatetics will reply, That it is not the
motion of a hall, or- an atom, or any one thing, that
their mailer has fo learnedly defined, but motion ab-
11 rafted from all individuals, and made an objeft ol
11 Y s I C S. Part n-
pure intelleft j and they will likewife affirm, that by Of.Mo'
the word perfeBion ufed in the definition, he does not
mean any one hind of perfection as adapted to any par¬
ticular objeB or end, but perfection abhrafted fiora
alt ohjcBs and all ends. The perfection of nothing and
the motion of nothing, for fuch lurely are that motion
and that perfection which are abftrafted from all ob-
jeBs and ends, are itrange expreffions. To us they
convey no meaningand we have reafon to think tna.
they are equally unintelligible to men of greater acute-
nefs (o). In a word, motion muft be feen or felt ; for
it cannot be defined. To call it the aB of changing
place, or a pajfage from one place to another, gives no
information ; for change and poffage cannot be conceiv¬
ed without previoufly conceiving motion (p). 1S9 .
The Peripatetics having idly.attempted to define mo- ^ Pen-,
tion, proceed next to it into four kinds or claf-^
fes. This divifion was by the father of . the . fchool motion ab-
pretended to be made from the effefts which it pro-fmd.
duce^, and was faid by him to belong to three cate¬
gories, viz. quality, quantity, and where, (ice C.APLGO-
Ry). The firft kind is that well-known motion from
place to place, which falls under the category laft men¬
tioned ; the fecond is alteration, by which the quality
of any thing is changed, the fubftance remaining the
fame. This belongs to the category ol quality. 1 he
third is increafe, and the fourth diminution, both be-
longing to the category ol quantity. I fie ancient
atomifts, and all the modern metaphyficians of .emi¬
nence, have with great propriety rejefted this divifion,
as being nothing but a colleftion of abfurd dillinftions
A’here there is in nature no difference. It has been
already ftiown, that body lias no other leal quffiitfts
than folidity, extenjion, and figure: but of thefe the
firft cannot be altered without deftroying the lubftance ;
for every thing which is material is equally folid. The
extenfion of a body may indeed be enlarged, and its
figure may be altered, while the fubftance remains the
fame •, but that alteration can be made only by moving
from tbeir places the folid atoms of which the body is
compofed. Ariftotle’s fecond kind of motion there¬
fore differs not from the firft 5 nor do the thiid and
fomdi differ from thefe two. For a body cannot.be
increafed without acquiring new matter, nor dinumlh-
ed without loling fome of the matter of which it v as
originally
SrioL Hnjufmodi fun, definitions ill*
ex.
plicate : fed qua ratione abflraaa ilia motus quinteffentia (ut ita d.cam) mtelligi poffit non video^^ ^ ^ ^
fp) “ Multi etiam per tranfltnm motura defimunt, obbtt fcilicet tranfitum tplum fiTiemotuintelngiio p .
feultaubus, quas ut pluiimum ipft peperiffent, impheavere. Id. m ,
Chap.
Of Mo¬
tion.
190
Whether,
if but one
body exift
ed, there
Could be
motion ?
vr.
META PHYSIC S.
62$
originally compofed : but matter can neither be added
nor taken away without motion from place to place 5
for there is now no creation de novo ; and we have no
reafon to imagine that, fince the original creation, a
{ingle atom has been ever annihilated. It is therefore
pail difpute, that local motion is the only motion con¬
ceivable ; and indeed, as far as we are capable of judg¬
ing from what we know of body, it is the only motion
^°Xhis has given rife to a queftion which has been
debated among modern philofophers, though, as far
as we know, it was never agitated among the an-
cients viz. “ Whether, if there were but one iohd
body ’exifting, that body could poffibly be moved/’
Bilhop Berkeley fetms to be of opinion that it could
not; becaufe no motion can be conceived but_ what
has a direction towards fome place, and the relation ot
place neceffarily fuppofes the exigence of two or more
bodies. Were all bodies, therefore, annihilated ex¬
cept one globe, it would be impoflible (he thinks) to
conceive that globe in motion (qJ. With refpetl to
the origin of our ideas of motion, his reafonmg appears
unanswerable •, but we do not perceive how it con¬
cludes againft the poffibility of motion nfelf as exit¬
ing in a tingle body. It has been already drown in
the chapter of Simple Apprehenfion a,A Conception, that
though nothing can be conceived which may not pol-
fibly exift, yet many things may be poffible which we
have not faculties or means to conceive.. In the pre-
fent inftance, were this folitary globe animated as our
bodies are, were it endowed with all our fenles and
mental powers, it certainly would not acquire any idea
of motion though impelled by the greateft force. I he
reafon is obvious •, it would have no objefts with which
to compare its place and fituation at. different periods
of time: and the experience of a ftiip at fea in calm
weather, affords fufficient proof that motion which is
equable cannot be perceived by any other means than
by fuch a comparifon. When the waves fwell and
the ftiip pitches, it is indeed impoflible that thole
who are on board ftiould not perceive that they are
atf ually in motion *, but even this perception aides from
comparing their pofttion with that of the waves nung
and falling around them: whereas in the regions of emp¬
ty fpace the animated globe could compare its pohtion
with nothing*, and therefore, whether impeded by
equal or unequal forces, it could never acquire the idea Of Mo-
of motion. It may perhaps be thought,. that if this ^
folitary globe were a felf-mo\'mg animal, it mighw ac¬
quire the idea of motion by inferring its exiftence from
the energy which produced it. But how*, we would
alk, could" an animal in fuch circumftances be^^-mov-
ing ? Motion is the effect of fome caufe *, and it has
been already ftiown (fee N* 1x7. of this article), that
we have no reafon to fuppbfe that any being can be
the real and primary caufe of any effect which that be-
imr can neither conceive nor will : but as motion can
be perceived only by the fenfes, a folitary animal could
have no idea of motion previous to its own. exertions ;
and therefore could neither conceive, nor will, an exer¬
tion to produce it. Let us, however, fuppofe, that
without any end in view it might fpontaneoufty exert
itfelf in fuch a manner as would produce fenfible mo¬
tion, were it furrounded with other corporeal .objefts $
ftill we may venture to affirm, that fo long _as ^ fhould
remain in abfolute folitude, the being itfelf would ac¬
quire no idea of motion. It would indeed be coajcious
of the mental energy, but it could not infer the^ exiit-
ence of motion as a confequence of that energy 5 ior the
idea of motion can be acquired only by fenle, and by
the fuppofltion there are no objects from which the
fenfes of this fpherical animal could receive tkofe im-
preffions, without which there can be no perception,
and of courfe no ideas. . , , , a
Let us now fuppofe, that, while this animated globe ^ ^
is under the influence either of external impulle or ltsmatjve.
own fpontaneous energy, other bodies are fudden }
brought into exiftence : would it then acquire, the idea
of motion ? It certainly would, from perceiving ns
own change of place with rcfpeih to thofe bodies j
and though at firft it would not perhaps be able to
determine whether itfelf or the bodies around it were
moving, yet a little experience would decide this que¬
ftion likewife, and convince it that the motion was
the effe-a either of its own mental energy, or that ex¬
ternal impulfe which it had felt before the other, bo¬
dies were prefented to ijs view. But it is obvious,
that the creation of new bodies at a diftance, can
make no real alteration in the ftate of a body which ,
had exifted before them : and therefore, as this ani¬
mated globe would now perceive itfelf to be moving,
vve may infer with the utmoft certainty that it was
J moving
. (S-.) Hav:nS ,hmh"cyckeriut» afpareat, ammadvertendum
piaster corpm motum, noftram et.am corpus a '^“VelToue alhua fuudamur, et neceffario cor-
deorfum, ftmftrorfum, dextrorfum, omne que p ag* v g rc]iquis corporibus in nihilum redaftis, globus,
u-, — — -
fuenmus. ^ rnrnor^uTP cxiftcrc* Concipisntur dcindc vncSj cjug-
“ Concipiantur porro duo g-obg e pr^ - s- • „ virium intelUeamus, motus circularis duorum
modocunque applicari : quicquK tar cm per coiidpi. Supponamus delude caelum fixarum
S,0b-Umf.Sr?e”k“ )Tb)ura7f;r cTli Iftius^partes "Ltm coucipierur Scilicet cunr
nioUis natura fua fir relativus. cmjpi non uotuit priufquam darentur corpora correlata. ^-.emrcmo UPX-
nec alia relatlo alia fine corrclatis concipi poleft.” De Mom.
METAPHYSICS.
Part II.
UJZ
Whether
motion
would be
poffible in
fpace abfo
lutely lull
W3
Bodies e-
qually in¬
different to
motion and
reft.
moving before ; and that the motion of a Angle body,
though not perceivable by the ienles, might poffibly be
produced in empty fpace.
Having thus feen that a Angle body is capable of
motion in empty fnace, the next queAion that occurs
on this fubjeft is, Whether it would be poflible to
move a body in fpace that is abfolutely full ? Such
? are the terms in which this quellion is ufually put j
and by being thus expreflfed, it has given rife to the
difpute among natural philofophers about the exillence
of a vacuum. Perhaps the difpute might have been
avoided had the queAion been more accurately Aated.
For inflance, had it been afked, whether motion would
be poffible, could matter be fuppofed abfolutely in¬
finite without any the lead intcrftice or vacuity among
its folid parts ? We apprehend that every reflecting
man would have anfvvered in the negative. At any
rate, the queftion ought to be thus ftated in meta-
phyfics ; becaufe we have feen that fpace, though a
poAtive term, denotes nothing really exifling. Now it
being of the very efl'ence of every folid fubitance to ex¬
clude from the place which it occupies every other folid
fubftance, it follows undeniably, that not one particle
of an infinite folid could be moved from its place
without the previous annihilation of another particle
of equal extent j but that annihilation would defiroy
the infinity. Were matter extended to any degree
lefs than infinity, the motion of its parts rvould un¬
doubtedly be poffible, becaufe a fufficient force could
feparate thofe parts and introduce among them va¬
cuities of any extent ; but without vacuities capable
of containing the body to be moved, it is obvious
that no force whatever could produce motion. This
being the cafe, it follows, that however far we fup-
pofe the material univerfe extended, there muft be
vacuities in it fufficient to permit the motion of the
planets and all the other heavenly bodies, which we
plainly perceive to revolve round a centre ; and if fo,
the next queftion to be determined is, What can in
vacuo operate upon fuch immenfe bodies, fo as to pro¬
duce a regular and continued motion ?
That all bodies are equally capable of motion or
reft, has by natural philofophers been as completely
proved as any thing can be proved by obfervation
and experience. It is indeed a faft obvious to
the moft fuperficial obferver; for if either of thefe
ftates were effential to matter, the other would be
abfolutely impoffible. If reft were effential, nothing
could be moved; if motion were effential, nothing
could be at reft, but every the minuteft atom would
have a motion of its orvn, which is contrary to uni-
verfal experience. With refpedl to motion and reft,
matter is wholly paffive. No man ever perceived a
body inanimated begin to move, or when in motion
flop without refiftance. A billiard ball laid at reft
on the fmootheft furface, would continue at reft to
the end of time, unlefs moved by fome force extrinfic
to itfelf. If luch a ball were ftruck by another ball,
it would indeed be moved with a velocity proportioned
to the impetus with which it wa's ftruck j but the impell¬
ing ball would lofe as much of its own motion as was
communicated to that upon which the impulfe was
made. It is evident, therefore, that in this inftance
there is no beginning of motion, but only the communi¬
cation of motion from one body to another ; and we
may ftili afk, Where had the motion its origin ? If the
impelling ball was thrown from the hand of a man, or
ftruck with a racket, it is plain that by a volition of
the man’s mind the motion was firft given to his own
arm, w >ence it proceeded through the racket from
one ball to another j fo that the ball, racket, and arm,
were mere inftruments, and the mind of the man the
only agent or firft mover. That motion can be begun
by any being which is not poffeffed of life, confciouf-
nefs, and will, or what is analogous to thefe, is to us
altogether inconceivable. Mere matter or inanimated
body can operate upon body only by impulfe : but
impulfe, though from the poverty of language we
are fometimes obliged to talk of its agency, is itfelf
merely an effeft -, for it is nothing more than the con¬
tact of two bodies, of which one at lead: is in motion.
An infinite feries of effe£ls without a caufe is the
groffeft abfurdity •, aad therefore motion cannot have
been communicated from eternity by the impulfe of
body upon body, but muft have been originally pro¬
duced by a being who adds in a manner analogous to
the energies of the human will.
But though motion could not have been begun Motion
but by the energy of mind, it is generally believed Prod,,,ed
that it might be continued by the mere paffivity of^1^^3
body; and it is a law of the Newtonian philofophy,be in
that a body projeefed in empty fpace would continue ftraight
to move in a ftraight line for ever. The only reafon ^ne•
which can be affigned for this law is, that fince body
continues to move at all after the impetus of projec¬
tion has ceafed, it could not of itfelf ceafe to move
without becoming aftive ; becaufe as much force is
required to flop a body in motion as to communicate
motion to the fame body at, reft. Many objeftions
have been made to this argument, and to the law of
which it is the foundation ; but as we do not perceive
their ftrength, we ffiall not fill our page with a formal
examination of them (r). If a Angle body could ex-
ift and have motion communicated to it in vacuo by the
force
(r) By much the ftrongeft and beft urged of thefe objections which we have feen, is made by Dr Horfley, a
man equally learned in mathematics and in ancient and modern philofophy. “ I believe with tlm author of An¬
cient Metaphyfics (fays he), that fome active principle is neceffary for the continuance as well as for the beginning
of motion. I know that many Newtonians will not allow this: I believe they are mifled, as I myfelf have for¬
merly' been milled, by the expreffion ajlate of motion. Motion is a change; a continuance of motion is a farther
change ; a farther change is a repeated effect; a repeated effeft requires a repeating caufe. State implies the
contrary of change ; and motion being change, a fate of motion is a contradiction in terms.” See Ancient Meta-
phyfes, vol. ii.
If our readers think this reafoning conclufive, they may be in the right; and in that cafe they will fee the
tieceffity of admitting, even for the continuance of redilineal motion, theplafic nature, or fomething equivalent
1 to
Chap. V.
METAPHYSICS.
refiftance of even the rareft medium would in time Of Mo-
overcome the farce of the greateft impetus : but if tlon'
they move in vacuo, how can they be attracted by the ' " v
fun or by one another ? It is a felf-evident truth, that
nothing can aft but where it is prefent, either imme¬
diately or mediately j becaufe every thing which ope¬
rates upon another, muft perform that operation either
by its own immediate agency or by means of fome in-
ftrument. The fun and planets are not in contaft ;
nor, if the motion of thefe bodies be in vacuo, can any
thing material pafs as an inilrument from the one to
the other. We know indeed by experience, that every
particle of unorganized matter within our reach has a
tendency to move towards the centre of the earth \
and we are intuitively certain, that fuch a tendency
mull have fome caufe ; but when wre infer that caule
to be a power of attraftion inherent in all matter,
which mutually afts upon bodies at a diltance, drawr-
ing them towards each other, we talk a language which
is perfeftly unintelligible (s). Nay more, we may
venture to affirm that fuch an inference is contrary to
faft. The particles of every elaftic fluid fly from each
other •, the flame of a fire darts upwards with a velo¬
city for which the weight of the circumambient air
cannot account j and the motion of the particles of a
plant when growing, is fo far from tending toward
the centre of the earth, that when a flowerpot is in¬
verted, every vegetable in it, as foon as it is arrived at
a fufficient length, bends itfelf over the fide of theThe}wa-
pot, and grows with its top in the natural pofition. venly bo-
Senfible of the force of thele arguments againft the <hes cannot
poffibility moverd!
•'by two for-
   ces impref-
- fed ab ex~
to it, without which we have endeavoured to prove, that the heavenly bodies could not revolve round their re- tra">
fpeftive centres in elliptical curves.
(s) A different opinion on this point is held by Profeffor Stewart in his Elements of the Phi/ofophtj
sf the Human Mind ', a work of, which the merit is luch as to make it painful to us to differ in
in any important opinion from the ingenious author. We ffiall, however, claim the fame liberty of diffenting
occafionally from him that he has claimed of diffenting from NewTon, Locke, Clarke, and Cudw’orth, from
whom he differs widely in thinking it as eafy to conceive how bodies can aft upon each other at a diftance,
as how’ one body can communicate motion to another by impulle. “ I allow (fays he, p. 79.) that it is
impoffible to conceive in wffiat manner one body afts upon another at a diftance through a vacuum ; but I
cannot admit that it removes the difficulty, to fuppofe that the two bodies are in aftual contaft. That one
body may be the efficient caufe of the motion of another body placed at a diftance from it, I do by no means
affert j but only that we have as good reafon to believe that this may be poffible, as to believe that any one
natural event is the efficient caufe of another.”
If bv efficient caufe be here meant the firjl and original caufe of motion, wre have the honour to agree with
the learned profeffor ; for we are perfuaded that body inanimated is not, in this fenfe of the word, the caufe
of motion either at hand or at a diftance : but if he mean (and we think he muft, becaufe fuch wTas the
meaning of Newton, from whom he profeffes to differ), that we can as eaiily conceive one body to be the in-
ftrumental caufe of the motion of another from which it is diftant, as we can conceive it to communicate mo¬
tion by impulfe, we cannot help thinking him greatly miftaken. We wdll not ind'ed affirm, with the writer
whom he quotes, “ that although the experiment had never been made, the communication of motion by
impulfe might have been predifted by realoning a prion f becaufe we are not certain, that without fome
fuch experiment we il ould ever have acquired adequate notions of the folidity of matter : But if all corporeal
fubftances be allowed to be folid and poffeffed of that negative power to which philofophers have given the
name of vis inertice, we think it may be eafily proved a priori, that a fufficient impulfe of one hard body upon
another muft communicate motion to that other; for when the vis inertice, by which alone the one body is kept
in its place, is lefs than the vis impetus with which the other rufties to take pofleffion of that place, it is evi¬
dent that the former body mujl give way to the latter, which it can do only by motion, otherwife the twTo
bodies would occupy one and the fame place, which is inconfiftent with their folidity. But that a fubftance
poffeffed of a vis inertue ftiould make another fubftance poff.ffed of. the fame negative power quit a place to
which itfelf has no tendency, is to us not only inconceivable, but apparently impoffible, as implying a diredb
contradiftion.
195
Tke New¬
tonian doc -
trine ref-
pefting the
caufes of
venly bo¬
dies.
force of projeftion, we are perfuaded, that from the
very paffivity of matter, that motion wmuld never have
an end but it is obvious that it could be moved only
in a ftraight line, for an impulfe can be given in no
other direftion.
The heavenly bodies, howTever, are not moved in
ftraight lines, but in curves round a centre *, and there¬
fore their motion cannot have been originally com¬
municated merely by an impreffed force of projeftion.
the motion This is admitted by all philofophers } and therefore
of the hea- the Newtonians fuppofe that the planets are moved
in elliptical orbits by the joint agency of two forces
afting in different direftions. One of thefe forces
makes the planet tend direftfy to the centre about
which it revolves: the other impels it to fly off in a
tangent to the curve defcribed. The former they call
gravitation, which fome of them have affirmed to be a
property inherent in all matter *, and the latter, which
in. a projeftile force, they confider as impreffed ab extra.
By the joint agency of fuch forces, duly proportioned
to each other, Sir Ifaac Newton has demor>ftrated, that
the planets muft neceffarily defcribe fuch orbits as by
obfervation and experience they are found aftually to
defcribe. But the queftion wdth the metaphyfician is,
Whether fuch forces be real ?
With refpeft to projeftion, there is no difficulty 5
but that bodies ffiould mutually aft upon each other at
a diftance, and through an immenfe vacuum, feems at
firft fight altogether impoffible. If .the planets are
moved by the forces of gravitation and projeftion,
they muft neceffarily move in vacuo >• for the continual
196
Mutual at¬
traftion a-
mong the
heavenly
bodies im-
poffible.
.198
nor by the
agency of
any mate-
ridj fluid.
METAPHYSICS. Partll.
poffibility of an attra^tve power in matter which ope¬
rates at a diftance, other phikfophers have fuppofed
that the heavenly bodies are moved in elliptical orbits
by means of two forces originally imprefled upon each
planet impelling it in different direQions at the fame
time. But if the tendency of the planets towards the
centre of the fun be of the fame kind xvith that of
heavy bodies toxvards the centre of the earth (and if
there be fuch a tendency at all, xve have no reafon to
fuppofe it different), it cannot poflibly be the efteft of
i.mpulfe. A body impelled or projefted z« vacuo w’ould
continue to be mo\red xvith an equable velocity, nei¬
ther accelerated nor retarded as it approached the ob-
jeft towards xvhich it was direfted •, but the velocity
of a body tending toxvards the centre of the earth is
continually accelerated : and as we cannot doubt but
that the fame thing takes place in the motion of a
body tending towards the centre of the fun, that mo¬
tion cannot be the efftft of impulfe or proje&icn.
Some of the Nexvtonians therefore have fuppofed,
“ That all kinds of attra&ion confift in fine imper¬
ceptible particles or invifible effluxfia, w'hicb proceed
from every point in the furface of the attra&ing body,
in all right-lined diredlions every way ; xvhich in their
progrefs lighting on other bodies, urge and folicit them
toxvards the fuperior attra&ing body ; and therefore
Tfay they) the force or intenfity of the attrafting
power in general muff always decreafe as the fquares
of the diftances increafe.” The inference is fairly drawn
from the faft, provided the fatff itfelf were real or pof-
fible : but it is obvious, that if fine imperceptible par¬
ticles or invifible effluvia xvere thus iffued from every
point in the furface of the fun, the earth and other
planets could not move in vacuo ; and therefore the
proje&ile motion would in time be flopped by the refift-
ance of this poxverful medium. Befides, is it not alto¬
gether inconceivable, nay impoffible, that particles
iffuing from the fun fhould draw the planets towards
that centre ? would they not rather of neceffity drive
them to a greater diftance ? To fay, that after they
have reached the planets, they change their motion
and return to the place whence they fet out, is to en-
-due them wfith the powers of intelligence and will, and
to transform them from pafflve matter to a£live mind.
Thefe difficulties in the theories of attra&ion and
impulfe have fet philofophers upon fabricating rsum-
berlefs hypothefes: and Sir Ifaac Newton, himfelf,
who never confidered gravitation as any thing more
than an effeft, conje&ured that there might be a very
fubtile fluid or ether pervading all bodies, and produ¬
cing not only the motion of the planets, and the fall
of heavy bodies to the earth, but even the mecha¬
nical part of mufcular motion and fenfation. O-
thers (t) again have fuppofed fire, or light, or the
ele&ric fluid, to be the univerfal agent j and fome
few (u) have acknowledged, that nothing is fufficient to
produce the phenomena but the immediate agency ofmind.
With refpeft to the interpofition of any material
fluid, whether ether, fire, light, or electricity, it !s
fufficient to fay that it does not remove any one dif¬
ficulty which encumbers the theory of innate attrac- Of Mo¬
tion. All thefe fluids are elaftic ; and of courfe the , tl,’n' ^
particles of xvhich they are compofed are diftant from
each other. Whatever motion, therefore, xve may
fuppofe to be given to one particle or fet of particles,
the queflion flill recurs, How is it communicated from
them to others ? If one body can act upon another at
the dirtance of the ten-thoufandth part of an inch, xve
can perceive nothing to hinder its action from ex¬
tending to the diflance of ten thoufand millions of
miles. In the one cafe as well as the other, th; body
is acting where it is not prefent 5 and if that be admit¬
ted to be poffible, all our notions of a£tion are fubvert-
ed, and it is vain to reafon about the caufe of any phe¬
nomenon in nature. r99
This theory of the intermediate 1 agency of a fubtile
fluid differs not effentially from the vortices of Des °Ar;_
Cartes j which appeared fo very abfurd to Cudworth, ftotle, and
that xvith a boldnefs becoming a man of the firft genius Gudwortk,
and learning, he rejedled it, and adopted the plaftic na¬
ture of Plato, Ariftotle, and other Greek philofophers.
That incomparable fcholar obferves, that matter be¬
ing purely pafiive, the motion of the heavenly bodies,
the groxvth of vegetables, and even the formation ot
animal bodies, muft be the effect either of the immediate
agency of God, or the agency of a plajlic nature ufed
as an inftrument by Divine Wildom. That they are
not the effedt of God’s immediate agency, he thinks
obvious from feveral circumftances. In the firft place,
They are performed ilowly and by degrees, xvhich is
not fuitable to our notions of the agency of almighty
Power. Secondly, Many blunders are committed in
the operations of nature, fuch as the formation of
monfters, &c. which could never be were things
formed by the immediate hand of God. He is there¬
fore of opinion, that, after the creation of matter, God
employed an inferior agent to give it motion and form,
and to carry on all thofe operations which have been
continued in it ftnce the beginning of the world. This
agent he callsnature ; and confiders it as a being
incorporeal, which penetrates the moft folid fubftance,
and, in a manner which he pretends not to explain
otherwife than by analogy, afluates the univerfe. He
does not look upon it as a being endued with percep¬
tion, confcioufnefs, or intelligence ; but merely as an
inftrument which a£ls under Divine Wifdom according
to certain laWs. He compares it to art embodied j
and quoting from Ariftotle, fays, E« emv tv
o/Actas av t>) (pw/tt tTrout. If the art of the flip-
wright were in the timber itfelf, operativehj and effeBual¬
ly, it would there atljuf as nature doth. He calls it a
certain loxver life than the animal, which a£ls regularly
and artificially for ends of xx'hich it knows nothing. It
may be, he fays, either a lower faculty of fome confci-
ous foul, or elfe an inferior kind of life or foul by itfelf,
but depending in either cafe upon a higher intelleft.
He is aware with what difficulty fuch a principle will
be admitted by thofe philofophers who have divided all
being into fuch as is extended and fuch as is cogita¬
tive : but he thinks this divifioa improper. He would
divide
(t) The feveral followers of Mr Hutchinfon.
(T) Cudworth, Berkeley, and the author of Ancient Metaphyfics.
3
*
Chap. V. M E T A P
divide beings into tliofe which are folid and extended,
and thofe which have life or internal energy. Thofe
beings 'which have life or internal energy he would
again divide into fuch as aft with confcioufnefs, and
fuch as aft without it : the latter of which is this
plailic life of nature. To prove that fuch an inftru-
ment is poffible, or that a being may be capable of
operating for ends of w’hich it knows nothing, he in-
flances bees and other animals, who are impelled by
tn/hnft to do many things necefl'ary to their own pre-
fervation, without having the leafit notion of the pur-
pofe for which they work. (See Instinct.) He ob-
ferves, that there is an effential difference between rea-
fon and inftinft, though they are both the attributes
of mind or incorporeal fublfance : and that therefore,
as we know of two kinds of mind differing fo widely,
there is nothing to hinder us from inferring a third,
with powers differing as much from inftinft as inftinft
differs from reafon. Mankind are confcious of their
own operations, know for what purpofe they generally
aft, and can by the power of rejleBion take a retrofpec-
tive view of their aftions and thoughts, making as it
were the mind its own objeft. Brutes are confcious of
their own operations, but they are ignorant of the pur-
pofes for which they operate, and altogether incapable of
refeHling either upon their paft conduft or paft thoughts.
Between their intelleftual powers and thofe of man,
there is a much greater difference than there is be¬
tween them and a plaftic nature, which afts as an in-
ftrument of Divine Wifdom without any confcioufnefs
of its own operations. Ariftotle, from whom principally
the learned author takes his notion of this plaftic na¬
ture, compares it, with refpeft to the Divine Wifdom
which direfts and fuperintends its operations, to a mere
builder or mechanic wmrking under an architeft, for
the purpofe of which the mechanic himfelf knows no¬
thing. The words of the Stagyrite are: Tovi
TUclovxs exflss-oy Tt^iinojs^tvg x.oa /xotXXoy aciwxt vopi^o/zip
Tivv %U(>iP.i%vek»i, xxt o-o(f>6)]t^ovi olt rae? ctflicts rup Trotovpivm
trct<np ot uo-TTig xxi t&iv ec^v^uv sv<ae, 7re<£< ^tjy, ovx. itdojcc
2s Train, otov xxttt to ttv^' tx [aiv ovv ctfvfcct tyvni tipi Tramp
*Metaphyf.Tov\up t>txrov revs iSo? *. “ We account
lib.heap i.the architefts in every thing more honourable than the
mere workmen, becaufe they underftand the reafon of
the things done ; whereas the other, as foire inanimate
things, only work, not knowing what they do, j'uft as
the fire burns : the difference between them being only
this, that inanimate things aft by a certain nature in
them, but the wmrkman by habit.”
fhowifto Sill further to prove that a being may be endow-
poifible. ed with fome vital energy of a fubordinate kind, and
yet be deftitute of confcioufnefs and perception, the
learned author obferves, that there is no reafon to
think that the fouls of men in found deep, lethargies,
or apoplexies, are confcious of any thing ; and ftill lefs,
if poflible, to fuppofe that the fouls of embryos in the
womb are from the very firft moment of their arrival
there intelligent and confcious beings: neither can we
VOL. XIII. Part II.
H Y S I C jS .
fay, how we come to be fo differently affefted in our
fouls by the different motions made upon our bodies,
nor are wre cohfcious always of thofe energies by
which we imprefs fantaftic ideas on the imagination.
But if it be poflible for the fouls of men to be for one
inftant void of confcioufnefs and intelligence, it fol¬
lows, that confcioufnefs is not abfolutely neceffary to
thofe energies and motions by which life is preferved.
To this it may be added, upon the beft authority f,, Gre 0 ,
that vyhere animal or vegetable life is concerned, Philofophi-
there is in every cafe a different relation between cal and Li-
caufe and effeft, and feemingly depending upon \.h.eterary fy-
concurrence or influence of fome farther principle oi^ay,‘
change in the fubjeft, than what fubfifts in inanimate
matter, or in the caufes and effefts that are the objefts
of mechanical and chemical philofophy.” Now to this
principle of vegetable life, without which, in a feed or
in a plant, vegetation will neither begin nor continue,
though light, heat, air, earth, and w^ater Ihould concur
in the utmoft perfeftion, Cudworth exprefsly compares
his plaftic nature in the univerfe. It is fo far (fays
he) from being the firft or higheft life, that it is in¬
deed the laft and loweft of all lives, being really the
fame thing with the vegetative. iar
Thefe arguments, if the phenomena of eleftive at- Arguments
traftions in chemiftry be added to them, demonftrate ^orJtstrutlu
we think, the pofjibihty of fuch a principle: and to^ut
thofe wTho are inclined to affirm that no fuch thing
can exift, becaufe, according to the defeription of it
given by Cudworth and the ancients, it is neither
body nor fpirit, in the proper fenfe of the words ; we
beg leave to afk in the words of Locke, “ who told
them that there is and can be nothing but folid be¬
ings which cannot think, and thinking beings that
are not extended ? which is all that they mean by the
terms body and Ipirit.” All the Greek philofophers
who were not materialifts, and even the infpired wri¬
ters of the Old and New Teftaments, conftantly di-
ftinguifn between the fpirit and the foul of a man, call¬
ing the former fometimes and fometimes Trnvpx,
and the latter J and St Paul, who before he was
a Chriftian, was learned in philofophy, deferibes the
conftituent parts of man as three, Trvivpx, rupax,
fpirit, foul, and body. This diftinftion, fetting aftde
the authority writh wffiich it comes to us, feems to be
well founded ; for there are many operations carried
on in the human body without any confcious exer¬
tion of ours, and which yet cannot be accounted for
by the laws of mechanifm. Of thefe, Cudwoith in-
ftances the motion of the diaphragm and other
mufcles which caufe refpiration, and the fyftole and
diaftole of the heart j neither of which, he thinks, can
be the effeft of mere mechanifm. But, as we are not
confcious of any energy of foul from which they pro¬
ceed, even while we are awake, and ftill lefs, if pof-
fible, while we are afleep ; he attributes them, not to
the intelleft or rational mind, but to this inferior vital
principle called (v) 5 which, in his opinion, afts
4 the
(v) The exiftence of this plaflic nature was warmly debated between Monfieur Le Clerc and Mon-
fieur Bayle. Moftieim, who was inclined himfelf to admit fuch a principle, gives the following view of Le.
Clerc’s fentijnents from Bibliotheque^ Choife, tom. ii. p. 113. “ Refpiratio, inquit, et motus cordis, aftiones
funt, quorum nihil ad animajn pertinet. Interim mechanice eas fieri, nullo modo probabile eft. In volun-
Uriis
soa
whether it
be true or
not, the
motions of
the heaven¬
ly bodies
4\re car¬
ried on by
the con-
ftant agen¬
cy of fome-
thing in¬
corporeal.
M E T A P
die fame part in die fyftem of die human body which
the plaftic nature a&s in the fyftem of the world.—
To make the refemblance more ftriking, he obferves,
that even the voluntary motion of our limbs, though
it proceeds ultimately from an energy of will, feems
to be the effedl of that energy employing fome injlru-
ment which pervades the ftncws, nerves, and mulcles
of the body ; and if the human fpirit or tth-jux, em¬
ploy the inftrumentality of a plaftic nature or
in moving the fmall machine of the body, it feems to
be far from incredible that the Divine Wifdom fhould
employ the inftrumentality of a plaftic nature in moving
the great machine of the univerfe.
But we need not infift further on the pojfibihty of
fuch an inftrument. Whatever may be thought of
the arguments of Cudworth, oi which fome are, to
fay the leaft of them, plaufible, though others appear
to us to have very little ftrength, Dr Clarke has
proved, with a force of reafoning not inferioi to ma¬
thematical demonftration, that the motions of the
heavenly bodies are carried on by the agency of fome-
thing very different from matter, under every pofiible
form. “ For, not to fay that, feeing matter is ut¬
terly incapable of obeying any laws in the proper
fenfe of the word, the very original laws of motion
themfelves cannot continue to take place, but by
fomething fuperior to matter, continually exerting on
it a certain force or power according to fucb certain
and determined laws: it is now evident beyond que-
ftion, that the bodies of all plants and animals could
not poflibly have been formed by mere matter ac¬
cording to any general laws ot motion. And not
only fo, but that moft univerfal principle of gravita¬
tion itfelf, tbe fpring of almoft all the great and regu¬
lar inanimate motions in the world, anfwering not at
H Y S I G S. Part II.
all the furfaces of bodies, by which alone they can aft Of Mo-
upon one another, but entirely to their Jolid contents, f
cannot pofiibly be tbe refult of any motion originally
impreffed upon matter.” For though it is true, that
the moft folid bodies with which we are acquainted
are all very porous, and that, therefore a fubtile ma¬
terial fluid might penetrate the bodies of the planets,
and operate upon them with a force exerted inter¬
nally j ftill it is felf-evident, that the greatejl quanti¬
ties of fuch a fluid could not enter into thofe bodies
which are leajl porcus, and where the greateft force
of gravitation refides : “ and, therefore, this motion
muff of neceflity be caufed by fomething which pene¬
trates the very folid fubfance of all bodies, and conti¬
nually puts forth in them a force or power entirely
different from that by which matter afts upon mat¬
ter Which is, as the fame able wiiter obierves, an * E vidence
evident demonftration, not only of the world’s being of Nat. and
originally made by a fupreme intelligent Caufe •, but
moreover, that it depends every moment upon fomeAt
fuperior Being, for the prefervation of its frame ; and
that all the great motions in it are caufed by fome
immaterial power perpetually and aclually exerting it¬
felf every moment in every part of the corporeal uni¬
verfe. This preferving and governing power, whe¬
ther it be the immediate power and aftion of the
fame Supreme Caufe that created the world, or the
aftion of fome fubordinate inftruments appointed by
him to direft and preftde refpeftively over certain
parts thereof, gives us equally in either way a very
noble idea of Providence. We know with certainty,
that real and original power can belong only to a be¬
ing endowed with intelligence and tvill •, and, there¬
fore, if the exiftence of Cudworth’s (w) plaftic nature
be admitted, (and we fee not why it ftiould be
called
tariis commotionibus nefciunt animi noftri, quid fafto opus fit, ut membra commoveantur : imperant nh tan-
tum Eft vero aliud nefcio quid, quod fideliter, ft modo organa refte fmt affefta, mandata ejus exleqmtur.
Ouidni igitur fufpicemur, effe naturam in corpore noftro viventem, praeter ammam noftram, cujus lit ammas
praeceptis et juflis morem gerere ? quamquam potcntia ejus ita fit defmita, ut obedire nequeat ammo mft refte
fefe habeant organa. Eadem forte natura, corporis noftri motibus impulfa, ammam edocet, quid iaftum
fit ut ille poftit praecipere, quae ad confervationem .corporis neceffaria judicat. Annua, pergit, fit hae^ vera
effe nutes fimilis erit domino, fibimet ipfi fervire nefcio, nec ulla .acultate aba, quam imperandi et jubendi
inftrufto * Htec vero natura fiftrix non diflimilis erit mancipii cui nihil eorum, quae dommus meditatur,
notum eft, quodque nihil aliud facit, quam ut juflis pareat, et dominum de lifts rebus admoneat, quae ad
falutem ipfius pertinent.” Moftieim proceeds,—Si quis huic loco fic occurrat, Haec ratione tna hngi m
homine principia; refpondet vir doftus: “ Nullis conftares argumentis, bints tantum hommem partibus
conftare Eos, qui bominem ex binis tantum partibus component, nulla ratione explicate poiie naturam
coniunftionis animi et corporis, nifi ipfum Deum ftatuant cunftis aftionibus hommum mtervemre : hoc vero
Divina Maieftate pforfus indignum effe. Definitionem accuratam mediae hujus naturae poftulantibus le.e talem
dare non poffe definitionem refpondet: Hoc unum fefe fcire : effe earn naturam mterion agendi virtute-inftruc-
tam quae ex fe et animam et corpus afficere queat > naturam, quae doceat ammam quid rerum geratur m cor¬
pore ; naturam denique, quae animi mandatis, quorum tamen cauffas nefciat, fideliter obtemperet.
quce illuftrandae hujus rei cauffa Clericus affert, praetereo. Satis copiofa eft m ilhs, quae produximus, meditandi
materia. Mofheim. ed. Sust. IntelleB. p. xyi,. , r , . f •
Such a principle aftuating the univerfe, if it be divefted of intelligence, and confidered as a .econd or m.enor
caufe, under the direftion of the Supreme, is acknowledged by a very able judge to be a rational hypotkefis ; an
fuch, if properly purfued, would certainly open a moft entertaining fcene of natural philolophy. See jopus j
ydnFwer to an Ejay on Spirit. „ „ . .. 7 r , ,,
(w) Befides Cudwotth, we have mentioned Berkeley and the author of Ancient Metaphyjics, as ho ding a
motion to be an effeft of the immediate agency of mind or incorporeal fubftance. 1 he opinion of t e a °*
thefe philofophers is not effentially different from Cudworth’s •, and therefore it is needleis to quote rrom um .
Berkeley was better acquainted with the principles of the Newtonian philofophy} as well as an abler mat e-
v> M E T A P
called In (x) queftlon), It can be confidered only as an
inftrument employed by Divine Wifdom, as a chil-
fel or a faw is employed by the wifdom ot the me-
Tbiftheory Cn Nor let it be imagined^ that this ancient theory of
notincon- motion is in any degree inconfiftent with the mathe-
f.ftent with raatical principles of Sir Ifaac Newton’s aftronomy, or
t'ne prin- ^ the calculations raifed from thofe principles.
Having founded his aftronomy on analogy between the
phenomena of proje&ile and planetary, motions, he ai-
ligned the fame or fimilar forces exifting m nature as
the efficient caufes of both. And indeed, both m
the aft of deriving his principles from the projettile
phenomena, and afterwards for the purpofe of apply¬
ing them to the planetary, it was neceffary to analyze
ciples of
Newton.
H Y S I C S.
the elliptical motion of the heavenly bodies into a com¬
pound of two Ample motions in right lines, produced
* by the a ft ion of thefe different forces; and this mi g it
alfo be ufeful for the purpofes of teaching and demon-
ftration, juft as we find it neceffary, in all parts ot
fcience, to feparate what in nature is infeparable, for
the convenience and affiftance of the underftandmg.
The planetary motions, however, are very probably
Ample and uncompounded, for no experiments can os
tried in thofe diftant regions •, and the aftronomy of
Newton, which is only the application of his mathe¬
matical principles to their menfuration from their ana¬
logy to projeflile motions, does not at all require tha.
the7forces of gravitation and projeftion be affigned as
their real exiftent caufes (y). It is fnijicient for the
4 L 2 analogy
matician, than either of thefe pupils of the ancients ; and bdng
for himfelf, it may be worth wh.le to lay before our rei^"5 cU Mmen corMr irdidimus, nihil in fe con-
origin of motion. His words are ' Vi’,, gravity, attraaio, et hujufmodi voces, utiles
tinet quod motus principium feu caula efficiens elle po fed non ad intelligendam fimplicem ipfius motus
funt ad ratiocinia et computationes de motu et corpo Attraftionem certe quod attinet, patet illam ab New-
naturam, vel ad qualitates totidem diftinftas c 1gn' lpe4 folummodo ut hypothefin mathematicam.
tono adhiberi, non tanquam quahtatem veram e p y ’:moetu diftinguens, fatetur ilia entia non re ipfa
Quin et Leibnitius, nifum elementarem eu °.‘!C’ al°”em c;mjbs ratio eft compofitionis et refolu tionis virium
inveniri in rerum natura, fed abftraaione facienda e e. ; SimM^ ra parallelogrammi. Haec mechanices
quarumcunque direftarum in quafcunque o iqu » P t&demonqrationibus matbematicis infervire, ahud rerum
et computationi infervmnt : fed almd eft computation vel motus vel qmetis. Ifta vero perfeverantia
naturam exbibere. Revera corpus aeque perfeverat m utrov^s fta ^ 1 Cteterum refiftentiam quam ex-
non magis dicenda eft aftio corporis, quam exiftentia ejuWem aam^10^ Revera .fta rerift
perimur in fiftendo corpore moto, ejus aaionem effe g 1 . ft t tj e nos idem paffuros fuiffe,
■ • am fentimus, paffio eft in nobis, neque argmt corpus a§ re’ fed dicuntur effe in corporibus •, nec
^ Srr, idemetiem de illis i,
telligi debet, et ob eandem rationem. ■ rP™nphit nihil Sed qualitates iftae funt ad motum
“ Auferantur ex idea corporis extenfio, foliditas flgu ’ ; $ Hoc ex ip{is ideis noftris perfpicuum
indifthren.es, nec in fe quidquam haber.t, quod conilat Me non peti poffe principium mo.us : pars
arisis" — >--- •• ■**
propria e.tpcricntia didicimus, quando qmdem animm, eamque proinde baud
r^^^^S^Wdiuatum, quodque ipfum depeudeat, a primo et
UDilt'aEXfeaum eft eos qui vim aftivam ris jfg^Ms ^
rvetTrlT^ifghr Eern.“!
munitam preferunt, hominumque omui a vo tloainimorum ^“ria'im'primeret: quam quidem fententiam
“ Primus Anaxagoras ™ .ntrodux.t, qu, “a“^um Lvens effe immobile, indivifibile, et
probat etiam Ariftoteles, plunbufque confirmat, aPert® P e|e mobile reae animadvertit idem effe ac
nullum habens magnitudmem. IJcere,.a"teJ1’ 0mpl„tn ;nruner in Timseo tradit machinam hanc corpoream,
fiquis diceret, omne .dificativum effe tedihcabile omnem fugiat. Et Newtonus paffim nec ob-
feu rnundum vifibilem, agitan et amiqan a. men c, 1 profe&um effe, verum adhuc fyftema mundanum
fcure inuit, non lolummodo motum a m fchalafticorum calcula comprobatur.”
ab eodem aBu moveii. Hoc facns Utens confonum eft . hoc ichaialt.corum ^
<x) This we fav upon the received opinion, that there are things wholly incorporeal. The truth of the opt-
et terrain totam circumire, poteft et luna.
636
Of \Tum
ber.
* Taiham's
Chart and
Scale of
Truth*
204
Unity, as
an idea,
cannot
^tyTay,
book ii.
Chap. xtj.
0n •vUch the whole philofophy is founded,
that the phenomena of motion are known from ex¬
periments and obfervations to be the fame in both in-
cz'T^il Lrn tJJ<:Princ-plcs ox general laws mathemati-
rAJ\ ef,abl!?ed frora ^forces of the are transfer-
tea to the phenomena of the other; and that the proofs
and operations deduced from thefe principles in the lat-
ter cafe are confirmed by >57, and experience, the fir ft
and final tell or truth*. ’
M £ T A P H Y S I C S. Part
that occurred to the mind, that it is certainly the re- OfNiini-
C' rA rva 1 -»o r-1 i. ^ „ 1  * 1 • 11
Chap. VI. O/'Number.
*FirJl
Truths.
205
fee abdraifl
ed from
every indi¬
vidual.
Amongst all the ideas that we have, as there is
none (fays Mr Locke f) fuggefted to the mind by more
ways, fo there is none more fimple, than that of unity
or one It has no ihadow of variety or compofition in
it. Every objea our fenfes are employed about, every
idea m our underftandings, every thought of our minds
brings this idea along with it : and therefore it is the
moll intimate to our thoughts, as well as it is, in its agree¬
ment to all other things, the moft univerfal idea we
have; or number applies itfelf to men, angels, actions
thoughts,,every thing that either doth exit! or can be
imagined He feems likewife to be of opinion that
we have the idea oiunity before that oitnany; and that it
s by repeating the fimple idea of unity in our own minds
thac we come by the complex ideas of two, three, &c
In this opinion he is joined by Pere Buffer* : who ob-
ferves that it is .mpoffible to explain the natur^ of unUy,
hamUJV 13 the ,rinoft/imPle idea» and that which per-
mysjitfl occurred to the mind. - ^
I hat unity is a fimple idea, miff be granted ; but it
certainly d,d not firtf occur to the mind, nor can it be
“ [r°mr ^ nidividuals, and apprehended in
Locke s fenfe of the word as a general idea. Let any
man look into his own mind, and then fay whether
e has a general idea of one ox unity as abraded from
f. r.y individual objea mental and corporeal. In par¬
ticular, when he thinks he has completely abftraLd
w from body and mind, fenfations, ideas, a&ions and
paffions, &c let him be fure, before he pronounce it
a general abJlraB idea, that he is ¥ot all the while
contemplating the idea of its name, or of that nume-
swxA figure, by which it is marked in the operations of
arithmetic. Both thefe idea, are in
cular and become general in their import, only as
reprefenting every individual objea to which unity is
m any fenfe applicable. But in the chapter of Abjrac¬
tion we have faid enough to convince every perfon ca-
dafe0„fC„Ve& " ‘ ‘hey ^ Ur'd aS r'8nS fOT"’h“le
f be,ni? an _ abftraa general idea, unity, as
the bafis of number, is in faa nothing but a mere
7, 5'hlch ca"not be conceived without the re-
-a.ed objeas; and fo far is it from being the firfl idea
“    ***'**vx? wide Jt 13
11 t » comparifon, made by the intellea, of Iwo
or more objeds. The ideas which firld occur to the —
mind are, beyond all doubt, thofe which are called
t ens oj Jetij at ion ; •a.nd many fuch ideas every child re¬
ceives before he is capable of comparing objeas and Unity, a
forming to himfelf notions of number. Unity, or theP^Ihular
idea of one, is indeed the element of the fcience ofreIat‘or1,
arithmetic, jull; as a mathematical point is the ele-
- ment Or the fcience of geometry ; but accurate notions
r ,r eiem.ents are’ in the progrefs of knowledge
lublequent to ideas of many and of'furfaces. There is’
reafon to believe that perfons totally illiterate have no
notion at all of mathematical points ; and we think it
poilible to conceive an intelligent and confcious b-in-
in fuch a fituation as that he could not acquire a no^
tion of unity ox one. Were a child never to fee or feel
two objeds of the fame hind, we doubt if he would
think of numbering them, or of making fuch a com¬
panion of the one with the other as would fugneft to
Ins mind the relations of one and two ; for thefe rela-
tions imply both a famenefs and a difference of the
objeds beyond the power of a child to afcertain.
ne difference indeed would be perceptible to the
Ien.es, but the fenfes would perceive no famenefs or
agreement. A guinea, a ffilling, and a ball of lead
imprefs upon the mind different fenfations; and there-
lore a child undoubtedly diftinguiffes thefe obieds
trom one another : but what could make him derive
from this his firft idea of the relation of number >
A guinea, a ffilling, and a ball of lead, are not one
two, three, in any fenfe which a child can comprehend’
Jo be convinced of this, let any man throw a guinea
a ffillmg, and a ball of lead upon a table, and alk a
, ” ??hat 1S their "umber. From being accuftomed
o retail the names of number as frgns, without affix¬
ing to them any idea of the things fignified, he will
probably aniwer with quicknefs three, or perhaps one,
two, three : but if he be further afked in what refpeUt
' are °ne> tw°, three, we believe his anfwer will not
be io ready : 'I hey are not one, two, three guineas, or
fallings or balls of lead. A philofopher knows them
to be three pieces of the fame firft matter under dif-
erent forms, and can. therefore apply to them the
relation of number with truth and propriety : but
o the firft matter a clown is entirely ignorant, and
of courfe cannot call them one, two, three, in any fenfe
which is at once.true and to him intelligible.
Io make it ftill more evident, that it is only by com¬
paring together things of the fame hind that oox frfl
ideas of unity and number are formed, let us fuppofe
no. created being to have hitherto exifted except the
animated and intelligent globe mentioned in the laft
c apter, and. we think it will be granted that fuch
a being in folitude could never acquire the idea of unity.
Let
vel vi gravitatis, f modo gravis lit vAI alio „ •
Mneo terram verfus et in orbem fuum flefli ^ab wTirvi"! “U"" “rSe?tur> retral,i a curfu reffi-
&juJl,mmor diet, non fatis H.cterrt lunam a curfu refl lineo’-T "V"""' • ° rfune/i."01' Po'eft. Hac vis,
terram verfus deduceret. Requiritur quippe ut fit/X ^ PIus ri,tls ac de orbe
cotpus in dato quovis orbe data cum velocitate achate'' « eft invenire vim, qua
ln-rxqram COrpus e dato quovis loco data cum f •!” Poffit5 et Viciffm invenire viam curvili-
Mathem. Def. V, 1 d^ta cum ^elocitate egreiTum data vi fl^dlatur.”. Principia.
1
Chap. VI.
METAPHYSIC S.
rc>7
Men muft
have made
feme pro-
grefs in
clafling
things ac¬
cording to
genera and
fpecies, be¬
fore they
acquired
any notion
#f number.
Let us next fuppofe a cubi c.l body to be created and
exhibited to the fenfes of this fpherical man ; the con-
fequence would be a fenfation or feeling entirely new :
Lut that feeling would not be of unitij ; for, as the au¬
thor of Slncient Metaphifjics has fomewhere well ob-
ferved, unity is no objeft of fenfation. The fenfation
would be of colour, hardnefs, foftnefs, roughnefs or
fmoothnefs, &c. for beyond thefe the empire of the
fenfes does not reach. Again, Let another body be
created of a colour and figure totally different from
the colour and figure of the cube, and the fpherical
man 'would then experience new fenfations having no
agreement with thofe which he had formerly felt.
Thefe different kinds of fenfations might be compared
together j but the refult of the comparifon wmuld not
be the ideas which are denoted by the words one and
tvoo, but merely that which is expreffed by dijj'erence
or dijjimllarity. Were another cube, howrever, of ex-
aftly the fame fize and colour writh the former to be
brought into exiftence, and both to be at once pre-
fented to the view of the fpherical man, the rudiments
of the idea of number wmuld then be generated in his
mind, becaufe he could not but perceive the cubes to
be in one refpedl different and in another the fame j
different as being diftiniff from each other, and agree¬
ing in their effects upon the organs of fenfation.
It appears, therefore, that mankind muft have made
fome progrefs in clafling things according to their
genera and fpecies, before they acquired any correct
ideas of the relation of number, or thought of ufmg
numerical names or figures as general and diferimi-
nating figns : for we fay one, two, three, &c. only with
refpeff to the fpecies or genus of which each of the
things denoted by thefe numbers is an individual; and
if there be any thing wui h has no genus or fpecies,
neither number nor unity can, in the original fenfe of
the words, be predicated of it (z). We fay indeed that
there is one God ; but perhaps we do not always at¬
tend to the meaning of the expreflion. Language
was formed to anfwer the common purpofes of life j
and thofe1 purpofes are beft anfwered by denoting in¬
dividuals by the name of the fpecies or genus to which
they’belong : but God belongs to no fpecies or genus,
unlefs he be faid improperly (a) to be of the univer-
fal genus of Bemg ; and therefore the true meaning of
the word one, when joined to the verb is, and tranf-
ferred from the creature to the Creator, in fuch a
6.J7
fentence as—(i there is one God”—fee ms to be nothing Of Time,
more than an affirmation that God exifts, and that
to him the relation of number cannot be applied. In
a word, unity and number are merely relations between
the individuals of the fame fpecies or genus of being;
and men acquire ideas of thefe relations at the fame
time and by the fame means that they are led to clafs
things into fpecies and genera. As to the proceffes
of addition and fubtraftion, and the various purpofes
to which number is applied, thefe things belong to
the feience of arithmetic, and fall not under the pro¬
vince of the metaphyfician, whole foie objett is to
afeertain the real nature and caufes of things. It
may, however, be worth while to obferve, that Locke,
whofe notions of number feem to have been different
from ours, owns, that a man can hardly have any
ideas of numbers of which his language does not fur-
niftr him with names. But if units were either real
things, or even pofitive ideas, we fee not how names
could be neceffary to their exiftence ; whereas, if they
be nothing more than mere relations, it is obvious
that they cannot be conceived but as relative either to
beings actually exifting, or to names which are the
figns of aftual beings.
Chap. VII. O/Time.
208
When St Auguftiwe was alked what time is ? he Time, a
replied, “ Si non roges, inte/ligo.'" An anfwer from which mode of du-
it may be inferred, that Be thought the nature of /fw<fratlon !?
could not be explained by a logical definition. Ti’wze
and eternity are commonly confidered as the twm modes eternity,
of duration ; and if duration be taken in what Locke
thinks its true and original fenfe, to denote permanence-
of exiftence, with a kind of refiftance to any deftrudfive
force, the diftindtion feems to’be fufficiently proper.
It is indeed the beft that we can make or compre¬
hend ; for duration, time, and eternity, are fubjedts
which have perplexed philofophical minds in all ages,
and of which, if we have adequate notions, it is
very difficult to exprefs thefe notions in language. In-
ftead of attempting it by previous definitions, the me¬
thod in which the ancients generally began their in¬
quiries, wre ftiall purfue the better courfe of indudtion
recommended by Lord Bacon, and endeavour to fhow
by what means we acquire the notion of that mode
of duration which is called time in contradiftindlion-
to
(z) We are happy to find our notions on this fubjedt confirmed by an authority fo refpedtable as that of
Profeffor Stewart. “ Without the power of attending feparately to things which our fenfes prefent to us in
a ftate of union, we never (fays this able writer) could have had any idea of number : for before we can con-
fider different objedts as forming a multitude, it is neceffary that w^e Ihould be able to apply to all of them
one common name ; or, in other words, that we Ihould reduce them all to the fame genus. The various ob-
jedls, for example, animate and inanimate, which are at this moment before me, I may clafs and number in a
variety of different ways, according to the view of them that I choofe to take. I may reckon fucceffively the
number of Iheep, of cows, of horfes, of elms, of oaks, of beeches ; or I may firft reckon the number of ani¬
mals, and then the number of trees; or, I may at once reckon the number of all the organized fubftances which->
my fenfes prefent to me. But whatever be the principle on wffiich my claffification proceeds, it is evident that
the objedls numbered together muft be confidered in thofe refpedb only in which they agree with each other 5.
and that if I had no power of feparating the combinations of fenfe, I never could have conceived them as*
forming a plurality.” Elements of the Philofophy of the Human Mind, chap. iv.
(a) We fay improperly, becaufe beings which w7ere created can have nothing in coototot? with that .Being,
which is fefeyifent, and upon whofe will and power all other things depend,
63S
M ETAPHYSICS.
Part II.
Of Time.
209
Wliilft the
mind is oc¬
cupied by
one idea or
notion,
there is no
perception
of time;
which
2ie
arifes from
comparing
the i'uccei-
fion of our
ideas with
the perma¬
nence of
other ob¬
jects.
to eternity. We begin with time •, becaufe we our-
felves exitt in it, and it is in Tome fenfe familiar to us.
If w7e be able to trace our notions of this mode of du¬
ration to their fourre, w-e may then give a definition
of it founded on fa£t and univerfal experience, and
afterwards proceed to confider the other mode in con-
jundfion with infinity, to which it is nearly allied.
It has been already obferved (fee N° 92 of this ar¬
ticle), that every man, while awake, has a train of
fenfations and ideas confiantly pafiing through his
mind in fuch a manner as that the one fucceeds the
other in a regular order. It is not poffible, either, by
detaining in the mind one idea to the exclufion of
all others, to flop the courfe of this fucceflion en¬
tirely ; or, by hurrying fome ideas off the ftage, and
calling others in their place, to quicken its progrels
beyond a certain degree. One man indeed has naturally
a quicker fucceffion of ideas than another ; and all
men can, by great exertions, accelerate or retard in
a fmall degree the natural flow of their thoughts. A
ftudious man lays hold, as it w7ere, of a particular
idea, which he wilhes to contemplate, and detains it
in the imagination, to the exclufion of all others *, a
man of wdt calls remote ideas into view with a rapidi¬
ty of which a cool and phlegmatic reafoner can form
no conception j and a forcible fenfation takes full pol-
feflion of the mind, to the exclufion of all ideas what¬
ever. Whilft the attention is wholly occupied by one
idea, or by one fenfation, the mind has no notion
whatever of time ; and were it poflible to detain fuch
idea or fenfation alone in the mind till the hand of a
clock (hould move from the number of one hour
to that of another, the hour, as marked on the dial-
plate and meafured by the motion of the hand, would
appear but as one inftant abfolutely void of duration.
For the truth of this affertion we appeal to the expe¬
rience of our readers. Such of them as have ever
been engaged in deep ftudy muff often have had their
attention fo fixed upon one objeft, that large portions
of time, as meafured by the clock, have paffed away
wholly unheeded ; and every man who has feen a very
ftriking and uncommon object, muff remember, that
when the fenfation was firft impreffed upon his mind,
all other objefts, ideas, and notions, and among the
reft the notion of time, were for a while excluded.
No fenfation, however, keeps poffefiion of the whole
mind after it has ceafed to be new 5 nor can the moft
vigorous exertions long preferve any one idea from be¬
ing driven off the ftage by the fucceeding train. Now
this fucceflion of ideas appearing and difappearing in
their turns, is that which, when compared with the
permanency of ourfelves and other things, gives us
our firft and jufteft notion of time : for whilft we are
thinking, or whilft a feries of ideas is fucceflively paf-
fing through our minds and vanHhing, we know that
we ourfelves and the things around us exift *, and this
exiftence, or continuation of exiftence, commenfurate
with the train of our fleeting ideas, is what we call the
duration of ourfelves and the things around us.
We are aware that our firft notions of time have
been often faid to be derived from motion as perceived
by our fenfes in the objecls around us. It is obferved
by Euclid, that “ if there were no motion, there could
be no found, nor any fenfe of hearing.” “ He might
Eave added {fays the author of Ancient Metaphyfics),
2
nor any other perception of fenfe. Further, Without Of
motion there would have been no vifible world, nor
generation or produftion of any kind here below7;
and, among other things, time could have had no ex¬
iftence.” All this is certainly true; but that corpo¬
real motion, though the original fcurce of all our
ideas, is not that which immediately fuggefts to us the
notion of time, will be readily granted by him who
confiders that motion itfelf -is perceived by ms only
when it excites or accompanies a conftant fucceflion ot
perceptions and ideas. Motion, when equable and
very flow, fuch as that of the hour hand of a com¬
mon watch, is not perceived by us in its courfe 5 nor
can we difeover that the thing has moved at all, till
after we have been fenfible of the lapfe of a confider-
able portion of what is commonly called time; when
we difeover that the hand of the watch has changed
its place with refpeft to other objects which we know
to be fixed. The fame is true of motion remarkably
quick : “ Let a cannon ball (fays Locke) pafs through
a room, and in its way take with it any limb or fleftiy
parts of a man j it is as clear as any demonftration
can be, that it muft ftrike fucceflively the two fides of
the room \ it is alfo evident that it muft touch one part
of the flefh firft, and another after, and fo in lucceftion :
and yet I believe nobody who ever felt the pain of fuch
a fhot, or heard the blow againft the two diftant walls,
could perceive any fucceflion either in the pain or iound
of fo fwift a ftroke.”
Of thefe tw7o phenomena a fatisfafiory account may
be eafily given j from which w7e think it will at the
fame time be apparent, that the fucceflion of the train
of ideas in the mind is the meafure and ftandard of
— -'■*—“ — - - -    2 t 1
all other fucceflions. We know that the energy of The fuccef-
mind which reviews a train of fenlible ideas is of the fion of ideas
very fame kind with that which attends to a feries of^6^^1,6
palling fenfations (fee N° 68.) j and therefore it is na'fueceffionSv
tural to fuppofe that we can pay attention to fenfations
and ideas pafting with nearly equal velocities. But it
has been ftiown, that every fenfation remains in the
mind or fenforium for a very Ihort fpace after the
objeft which excited it is taken away : whence it
follows, that a body communicating to the organs of
fenfe a feries of fimilar impreflions fucceeding each
other with remarkable rapidity, cannot excite a train
of fimilar and diftindt fenfations j becaufe the effedls
of the firft and fecond impreflions not having vanilhed
when thofe of the third and fourth arrive, the whole
train of effedls muft neceffarily coalefce into one uni¬
form fenfation. This reafoning is confirmed by expe¬
rience. Similar founds fucceeding each other at con-
fiderable intervals, are all diftindlly perceived \ and if
the motion be accelerated gradually, it may be carried
to a great degree of velocity before the founds be con¬
founded and coalefce into one. “ Mr Herfchel having,
by means of a clock, produced founds or clicking
noifes, which fucceeded each other with fuch rapidity
that the intervals between them were, as far as could
be judged, the fmalleft poflible, found that he could
evidently diftinguifti one hundred and fixty of them in
a fecond of time ; but beyond that he could by no
effort of attention diftinguilh one found from another.
The fame philofopher tried another experiment on vi¬
fible fenfations. By means of the fame handle and
work of the clock, he caufed a wheel in it to turn
till
Chap. VII. M E T A P
Of Time, till it acquired the velocity of once in a fecond. He
 v   continued to increafe the velocity, and oblerved it
while revolving at the rate of twenty times round in
thirteen feconds, and could ftill diftinguilh the teeth
and fpaces from each other ; whence it appears (by a
computation given at length), that he had twTo hun¬
dred and forty-fix diftindl vifible fenfations generated
by equable motion in a fecond of time. 'I he teeth
of the wheel, he owns, were not fo far vifible as to Ihow
their fliape diftinbtly, much lefs could they have beea
counted : but he very plainly diftinguilhed the circum¬
ference to be divided into teeth and fpaces ; and he
fuppofes that the lame divifion might ftill have been
feen though the motion had been a little fafter, as far
perhaps as two turns in a fecond, equal to three hun-
% Watfon's dred and twenty fenfations The reafon that the
Treatife on divifion could not be feen whilft the wheel moved more
lime. rapidly than twice round in a fecond of time, w?as
doubtlefs the continuance of that agitation in the brain
from which each fenfation proceeded, until a new im-
preffion caufed a new agitation, which coalefced with
the former and removed all diftindlion. Hence it is
plain, that no external fucceflion can be perceived which
moves with a greater velocity than that of which the
internal train of fenfations and ideas is capable. On
the other hand, an external fucceffion which moves
ft ith lefs rapidity than that to which the internal flow
of ideas may be reduced, either has not fufficient force
to generate fenfations at all, or the fucceftive imprel-
fions from which the fenfations proceed follow one
another at fuch difiances as to permit the natural train
of ideas to intervene between them, and thus deftroy
the perception of the fucceftion entirely.
To us, therefore, it feems evident, that the con-
ftant and regular fucceflion of ideas in the mind of a
waking man, is the meafure and ftandard of all other
fuccefllons *, of which, if any one either exceeds the
pace of which our ideas are capable, or falls fliort of
it, the fenfe of a conftant and continued fucceflion is
loft, and wre perceive it not but with certain intervals
of reft between. So that it is not motion, but the
conftant train of ideas in our minds, that fuggefts to us
our firft notion of time ; of which motion no other-
wife gives us any conception, than as it caufes in our
minds a conftant fucceflion of fenfations: and we
have as clear a notion of time by attending to the
train of ideas fucceeding each other in our minds, as
by a train of fenfations excited by conftant and percep¬
tible motion.
That it is merely by comparing the permanent ex-
i[fence of things with the fleeting fucceflion of ideas
in our own minds that we acquire our notions of
time, may perhaps be ftill more evident from the fol-
fE/7?.”' on lowing narrative quoted by Dr Beattie f, from L"'Hif-
Truth. J toire de P Acade?nie Roija/e des Sciences pour I'annee 1719.
“ A nobleman of Laufanne,. as he was giving orders
to a fervant, fuddenly loft his fpeech and all his fenfes.
Different remedies were tried without effeiff. At
laft, after fome chirurgical operations, at the end of
fix months, during all which time he had appeared to
be in a deep fleep or deliquium, his fpeech and fenfes
were fuddenly reftored. When he recovered, the fer¬
vant to whom he had been giving orders when he
was firft feized with the diftemper, happening to be
in the room, he alked whether he had executed his
H Y S I C S. 6^,9
commiffion, not being fenfible, it ieems, that any in- Of Time,
terval of time, except perhaps a very fhort one, had ^
elapfed during his illnefs.” If this ftory be true, here
was a man, who, by the train of ideas vanilhing at
once from his mind, loft the perception of what was
to others fix months of time \ and had all mankind
been in his ftate, the fame portion of time would
have been irrecoverably loft even to the annals of chro¬
nology.
We are aware of an obje&ion to any inference
which may be drawn refpeding the prefent queftion
from the cafe of this nobleman. It may be faid, that
he had loft, together with the perception of time, the
perception of every thing befides ; and that, therefore,
motion may ftill be the caufe from which a wakmg
man derives his notions of time. But in reply to this
objection, we beg leave to alk, Whether it a ball had
been put in motion on a table, and the nobleman had
been told, that a body moved with the velocity of that
ball would have been carried over io many thoufand
miles of di dance during the time that he lay in a ftate
of infenfibility, he could from fuch information alone
have formed any tolerable notion of the length of
time in which he was infenfible ? He certainly could
not, for want of a ftandard by which to meafure the
rapidity of the motion. He would, indeed, have
known inftantly that he had been infenfible for a con-
fiderable length of time, becaufe he had the evidence
of former experience that a body carried by perceptible
motion over a great extent of diftance would have
generated in his mind a vaft train of fucceffive fenla-
tions-, but till he had attended this ball during part
of its courfe, and compared with the permanency of
other objects the feries of fenfations which it gene¬
rated in his mind, he would not have been able to
guefs with any thing near to accuracy the length of
time it would take to pafs over a thoufand miles.—-
The fame infenfibility of duration happens to every
man in found fleep. From having notions of time,
fuch as they are, formed in our minds, wre never in¬
deed fuppofe, however foundly we have flept, that the
moment at wFich we awake in the morning is conti¬
guous to that in which w7e fell afleep at night I he
reafon is obvious; every man has been awake whilft
others were fleeping, and has known by experience,
that if they had been awake likewife a train of ideas
would have paffed through their minds which muft have
fuggefted to them the notions of time. Moft men, too,
have been frequently awake whole nights, and have
thus acquired a notion of time as going on inceffantly,
whether perceived by them or not j and this notion be¬
ing clofely affociated with our ideas of night and morn¬
ing, w7e inevitably fuppofe a portion of time tb^ have
elapfed between them, though unperceived by us in our
fleep. But w7ere a man to fleep without dreaming from
Sunday night till Tuefday morning, and then to awake
athisuiual hour as marked ou the clock, there are num-
berlefs inftances on record to convince us, that he would
not of himfelf fuppofe, nor perhaps be very eafily
perfuaded, that more than one night had elapled be¬
tween his falling afleep and the moment at which he
awToke.
It being thus evident, that our notion of time is -
fuggefted by that comparifon whicn wTe inevitably
make of the exiftence of things permanent with the
/ traiun
^4° M E T A P
.0t Time' tram °f ideas inceffantly paflting through our minds j
we may now perhaps be able to anfwer the queftion,
“ What is time ?” It mull of neceflity be one of three
things, viz. either the ideal fucceffion itfelf; a certain
quality inherent in all objects ; or merely the relation
of coexiftence between things that are permanent and
the trains of fleeting ideas which fucceed each other
on the theatre of the imagination. It is not the firft
of thefe ; for in every train of thought, the appearance
of any one idea in the mind occupies no more of the
extenfion of time, than a mathematical point occupies
of the extenfion of diftance. Ten thoufand mathe¬
matical points added together would make no part of
a line $ and ten thoufand ideas made to coalefce, if
that were poffible, would occupy no part of that mode
of duration which is called time. A point is the
boundary of a line, but no part of it: the appearance
of an idea in the mind is inftantaneous ; and an inftant
is the boundary, but no part of time. Hence it fol¬
lows, that were every thing inftantaneous like ideas in
a train, there could be no fuch thing as time, fince
nothing could be faid to have in that fenfe of the
word any duration. That time is not a quality inhe¬
rent in all objects, is likewife plain j for we have feen,
that, were ideas as permanent as obje&s, the notion
of time could never have been acquired. Succeflion,
though it does not itfelf conftitute time, is eflential
to its exi.ftence; and W’ere all motion to ceafe, and
the attention of men to be immoveably fixed upon one
A12 invariable objeft or clufter of objedts, time would ceafe
mererela- 11 remains, therefore, that time can be
bon of co- not‘:‘Ing elfe than the relation of coexiftence appre-
exigence, hended between things that are permanent and thofe
trains of fleeting ideas which inceffantly fucceed each
other on the theatre of the imagination. Thus whilft
a man is fteadily looking at c.ie objedt, which, from
its being common, does not occupy his whole mind,
Tie may be confcious of a thoufand ideas ftarting up
in his imagination, and each in its turn vanifhing the
inftant in which it appeared. Every one of thefe
ideas had an exiftence as well as the objedf at which
he is looking ; but the exiftence of each of them was
inftantaneous and in fucceflion, whilft the exiftence of
the external objedf is permanent. The objedf, there¬
fore, as contrafted with the train of ideas, is faid to
endure or to exift in time, whilft each idea is deftitute
213 duration, and exifts in no time.
Objections To this theory fome’objedfions occur, which it will
be incumbent upon us to obviate. It may be faid,
that though each idea confidered by itfelf is inftan¬
taneous, and occupies no time -, yet the wdiole train
when taken together, without being compared with
any thing external, is perceived to occupy a confider-
able portion of that mode of duration }- and that,
therefore, time itfelf muft be fomething more than a
mere relation between a fleeting fucceffion of ideas
and objedts of more permanent exiftence. But how,
we beg leave to afk, is the wdiole train perceived to
occupy any portion of time ? Is it not by being com¬
pared with our own exiftence ? A man, whilft a train
of ideas is paffing through his mind, may be fuddenly
deprived of all his external fenfes, and then indeed it
will be impoffible for him to compare the fleeting ex¬
iftence of this internal fucceflion with the more per¬
manent exiftence of external things j but, whilft he
4
H Y S I C S. part II.
thinks at all, he muft be confcious of his ouw exiftence, Of Time.
and cannot avoid perceiving, that whilft his ideas pafs v—
in conflant fucceffion, each making an inftantaneous
appearance in his' mind, he himfelf remains unchanged.
Now, what is it that this perception fuggefts to the
mind ? Evidently nothing more than the relation of
coexiftence between a fleeting fucceffion and a per¬
manent objedt j for were it poffible that the man could
be deprived of memory as well as of his fenfes, and
ftill have ideas fucceeding each other in his mind, he
would then think all objedls equally fleeting j he would
indeed be himfelf a mere fucceffion of inftantaneous
diftindl perfons, and could have no notion whatever
of time. His exiftence, though it fhould feem to
endure half a century as eftimated by others, muft
to himfelf appear to pafs away like a flafti of light-
ning.
It may be ftill further objedfed to our theory, that
time is meafured by motion ; and that it feems very
abfurd to talk of meafuring a relation, efpecially a
mere ideal relation, by a real external thing. In an¬
fwer to this objedlion, which at firft fight appears for¬
midable,, we beg leave to obferve, that all relations are
equally ideal j and that yet many of them may be faid
to be meafured by real external things, with as much
propriety as time can be faid to be meafured by mo¬
tion. . When a man willies to afcertain the relation of
quantity which one body bears to another, though he
knows that fuch a relation has no other than an ideal
exiftence, and cannot be conceived but in conjundtion
wdth the related bodies, he applies to them fucceflively
fome. common ftandard $ and having difcovered the
relation -which each bears to that, he compares the
one relation with the other, and thus afcertains the
relation fought. Juft fo it is with refpedt to motion
meafuring time. That which to each individual con-
ftitutes real time, is the relation of coexiftence be¬
tween the fleeting fucceflion of his own ideas and other
tilings of a more permanent nature. But a man has of¬
ten, occafion to afcertain the time of things external
which fall not under the infpedtion of his fenfes; and
in fociety all men have tranfadlions with one another to
be performed in fome determinate portion of time,
though there are not, perhaps, tw^o men exifting whofe
ordinary trains of thought flow with precifely the fame
rapidity. To remedy thefe inconveniences, it was ne-
ceffary to invent fome common ftandard, by means of
which men might afcertain the duration of adtions per¬
formed at a diftance, and be able to keep appointments
made with each other. The only ftandard proper for thefe
purpofes is fuch a conftant and equable motion as has
fuggefted a flux of perceptions common to all men in
all ages and countries; and hence the motions of the
heavenly bodies have been univerfally made ufe of for the
common regulators of time. Thefe motions, however,
do not conftitute real and natural time, any more than a
foot or a yard applied to two diftant bodies conftitutes
the relation of quantity which thefe bodies bear to each
other. They are merely ftated meafures, to be different¬
ly applied according to the different purpofes which we
have in view.
Thus, if a man in Europe wifhes to know what
would to him have been the real and natural time of
an adlion performed in the Eaft Indies, he has only
to be told, that it was co-exiftent, we (hall fuppofe,
with
Chap. VIII. M E T A P
Of Time, with a diurnal revolution of the earth*, and by com-
u—v ' paring this common meafure with his ufual liow of
thought, he can form fome notion of the extent of that
train of ideas, which, had he been prefent, would to
him have been fucceflively co-exiftent with the aftion
in queftion. But when perfons have an appointment to
keep, this common meafure of motion muft be differ¬
ently, or rather partially, applied. In fuch cafes, it
is no part of their intention to compare their own ex-
iflence with that of the whole train of ideas which
may pafs in the mind of each ; for the refult of fuch
a comparifon, wdiich alone conflitutes true and natu¬
ral time, would not be the fame in perhaps any twm
men : but their purpofe is, to compare their owm per¬
manent exiftence only with that train of fenfations
which fhall be excited in the mind by the perceptible
motion of the fun, or any other body fixed upon which
moves equably j and fuch a train muft confift of an
equal number of inftants in all men. Neither the
fun, nor the hour hand of a common watch, moves
with fuch apparent rapidity as to keep pace with the
internal flow of thought of w'hich the moft phlegma¬
tic man is confcious. That thefe bodies move at all,
is known only by their vifible change of place during
the lapfe of a confiderable portion of real time j and
as there is in their courfe a certain number of places
diftinftly marked, to which alone it is agreed that
the attention is to be turned, it is impoflible that of
time fo computed two men can have different notions.
Such time, however, is but partial j and the method
of afcertaining it, when compared with that by which
we afcertain real time, has a ftriking refemblance to
that by wdiich we afcertain the relation of partial
quantity between turn diftant bodies. When it is
our purpofe to afcertain the relation of real quantity
which one body bears to another, w^e apply the com¬
mon ftandard to each in every dimenfion of length,
breadth, and depth 5 but when wre have no other view
than to afcertain the relation of length which the one
bears to the other, we apply the common ftandard to
each in that dimenfion only. Juft fo it is with regard
to real and partial time. When an individual wiflies
to afcertain what would to him have been the dura¬
tion of any aftion which he did not fee performed,
he applies the common ftandard to the exiftence of
that action, and to the ufual flow of his own thoughts:
but when two men talk of the duration of any ac¬
tion, or agree to meet on fuch a day, they compare
the exiftence of the aftion, or the diftance interven¬
ing between the prefent moment and the day of
meeting, only with that partial train of fenfations
which by the common ftandard is generated in an
equal number, and in the fame order, in the minds
214 of both.
Time muft It will be faid, that if time be nothing more than a
have had a mere relation fubfifting between trains of ideas or
eginning, fleeting objects, and things of a more perma¬
nent exiftence *, and if the univerfe had a beginning ;
either time muft hare had a beginning likewife, or the
Deity cannot be immutable. We allow the force of
VOL. XIII. Part II.
H Y S I C S, 641
the argument ; but inftead of an obje&ion, we confider Oflnfmity
it as a confirmation of the truth of our theory. The an(l.Eter-
Deity, who is immutable, exifts not in time, but in nity' _f
eternity ; and that thefe, though from the poverty of
language they are both called modes of duration, are yet
^•ery different from each other, we (hall endeavour t*
prove in the next chapter.
Chap. VIII. 0/ Infinity and Eternity.
215
As corporeal fubftance is certainly not infinite, and Why we
as the prefent material fyftem has in itfelf every evi-treat ot in"
deuce of its not being eternal, it may feem ftrange, ^
perhaps, to the reader, that we ftiould treat of infinity among^he
and eternity among the adjunfts of body. But in adjuxufts of
modern metaphyfics thefe words are ufed in a vague btxly*
fenfe to denote the extent of fpace and time; and in
this chapter it is our intention to dp little more than
afcertain their meaning, and to fhow, in oppofition to
fome celebrated names, of what fubjecls they may not
be predicated. There is a mathematical and a meta-
phyfical infinity, which, though often confounded,
ought to be kept diftinft. In mathematics, extenfion
is faid to be divilible ad infinitum, and number is fome-
times confidered as infinite : but in metaphyfics thefe
modes /of expreflion are extremely improper. A pofi-
tive and metaphyfical infinite is that which has no li¬
mits, and to which no addition can be made 'y but it is
obvious that there is no number vrhich may not be en¬
larged, nor any pofitive idea of extenfion which has not
limits, and which may not be either increafed or dimi-
nifhed. The infinity of the mathematician is termed
infinity of power, and that of the metaphylician abfolute
infinity. The firft confifts in this, that a being, how¬
ever great or fmall it be fuppofed, may ftill be con-
ceived to poffefs more greatnefs p>r minutenefs than we
can form an idea of, even after the utmoft ftretch of
human thought. Thus when it is faid, that all exten¬
fion as fuch is infinitely divifible, it is not meant that
every extended fubftance contains an infinite number
or real parts'; for then the parts of an inch would be -
equal to thofe of a league : but the meaning is, that
in ideal extenfion we can never reach the end of ideal
divifion and fubdivifion. la like manner, when it is
faid that number is infinite, the meaning is not that
any pofitive number is without limits, or the poflibi-
lity of increafe, but that we might go on for ever,
adding unit to unit, without approaching nearer to the
end of the procefs. If, therefore, the mathematician
would fpeak properly, and without the affe&ation'of
paradox, he ought to fay that all extenfion as fuch is
indefinitely divifible, and that unit might be added to
unit i*ithout end; but thefe phrafes fuggeft notions
very different from that of a metaphyfical infinite,
which is fomething pofitive to which nothing can be Space and
added fs). ^ . timefuppo-
That there is fomething pofitively infinite, has been fed to be,
very feldom queftioned ; but it has been w'armly dff.tkeone infi-
puted among metaphyficians what fubjedts are infinite.
4 Ur eternal:
(b) 'Ov ya£g ov uXX ov xu to nP.i, revlo xttu^ov id]t. Arifi. Phyf. Anfcult. lib. ix. cap. 9, page 492.
tom. i. Oper.
v
64:
M E T A P
Of Infinity
and Eter-
r ky.
* I)enio?t-
Jlration of
the Being
and Attri¬
butes of
God, and
Correfpon-
dence with
a Gentle-
man of
Gloucejlcr-
Jhire.
217
but impro
perly.
Neither
fpace nor
Dr Clarke and his adherents have contended that fpace
and time are real things ; that they are both of necei-
fary exigence *, that the former impreffes us with the
idea of its infinity, and that the latter is pofitively
eternal. “ Time and fpace (fays the doftor *) are
the fine qua non of all other things, and ol all other
ideas. To fuppofe either of them finite, is an exprefs
contradiBion in the idea itfelf. ISo man does or can
poffibly imagine either of them to be finite j but only
either by non-attention or by choice he attends perhaps
to part of his idea, and forbears attending to the remain¬
der. They who fuppofe fpace to be nothing but a
relation between two bodies are guilty of the abtnrdity of
fuppofing that which is nothing to have real qualities:
For the [pace which is between two bodies is always unal¬
terably juft what it was, and has the very fame dimen-
fions, quantity, and figure, whether thefe or any other
bodies be there or any where elfe, or not at all. Juft as
time or duration is the fame, whether you turn your
hour-gitfs or no, or whether the fun moves or ftands
ftill, or whether there was or was not any fun, or any
material world at all. To fet bounds to fpace is to
fuppofe it bounded by fomething which itfelf takes up
fpace, and that is a contradiBion; or elfe that it is
bounded by nothing, which is another contradidfion. lo
fuppofe fpace removed, defrayed, or taken away, amounts
to the abfurd fuppofition of removing a thing away
from itfelf; that is, if in your imagination you annihi¬
late the whole of infinite fpace, the whole of infinite
fpace will ftill remain ; and if you annihilate any part
"of it, that part will ftill neceffarily remain, as appears
by the unmoved fituation of the refi ; and to fuppole
it divided or divifible amounts to the fame contradic¬
tion.”
The abfurdity 01 confidering fpace as a real external
thing has been already evinced in Chap. IV. p. 624,
where it was ftiown how we acquire the notion, and what
kind of notion it is. Space, as was there obferved, may
be conceived either as the mere abfence and poflibili-
ty of body •, or as ideal extenfion, united to, and in¬
hering in, an ideal fubftratam. laken in tne former
fenfe, it is an objedl of pure intefledl •, in the latter, it
is an idea or form in the imagination. That the ab¬
fence of body or matter is xFefine qua non of all other
things, and all other ideas, Dr Clarke was not dif-
pofed to affirm, when he made the divine fubftance, to
' pervade every material atom in the univerfe : and to
talk of the abfence of body being infinite is a palpable
contradidfion, unlefs Berkeley’s dodtrine be true, that
the material world has no exiftence. To fay that the
pojjibility of matter is infinite, is to ufe language which
has no other meaning than that, however far the mat-
terial wmrld be on all fides extended, its extenfion may
ftiil be conceived greater and greater ad infinitum. T his
is a pofition which no philofophcr ancient or modern
has ever denied 5 but it is fo far from implying that
we have a pofitive idea of the infinity of the material
world, or of any adjundl of the material world, that it
is abfolutely inconfiftent with fuch infinity. Whatever
is capable of perpetual increafe muft certainly have
limits, and every new addition is the limit of that to
which the addition w’as made.
Taken in the fecond acceptation as an ideal extenfion
united with an ideal fibfiratum, fpace is fo far from
being infinite in any fenfe of the word, that we will
II Y S I C S. Tart II.
venture to affert no man ever contemplated fuch 2. form Of Infinity
in his own imagination, without conceiving it to be an'1 ^ter'
bounded. Of this, at leaft we are certairq that when  i~—u
we have attempted to frame a pofitive idea of pure
fpace, it has not been in our power to diveft that idea
of limits. Thofe who can frame in their minds real
and pofitive ideas wholly abftrafted from every indi¬
vidual objedf, may indeed perform in this way many
feats above our abilities; but as we pofiefs no fuch
powers of abftratftion, every thing which we can call
an idea is limited in the fame manner that the object
itfelf is limited from which the idea was derived.-—
Thus, the largeft expanfion that ever we beheld is the
concave hemisphere } and when we try to form the
largeft pofitive idea of pure fpace, all that we can do
is to figure to ourfelves that concave empty of body.
We may, indeed, fuppofe its diameter to be either a
million or ten thoufand millions of miles \ and we may
go on enlarging it ad infinitum: but w'hen we return from
this procefs of intellect to the contemplation of the
ideal forms of the imagination, none of thele forms ap¬
pear to us larger or more extended than the hemilphere,
which is the object of fenfe, and they all appear to be
beunded, and bounded in the very fame way.
With refpeft to the eternity of time, we think Dr
Clarke equally miftaken as with refpedt to the infinity
of fpace. Of time, indeed, we cannot, properly fpeak- 219
ing, have any idea or mental form. Time, as we have tirne^can be
feen, is a mere relation, and is in itfelf the creature of
the mind which has no external idiatum. It is fuggeft- aml
ed, however, by the fleeting fucceffion of our ideas,
compared with the mole permanent exiftence of other
objects: and therefore fucceffion is effential to it. But
nothing which has parts, w’hether coexifteht or in
fucceffion, can be pofitively infinite. For, “ in an in¬
finite feries of fucceffive generations of men, for in-
ftance, there will be feveral infinites that are parts of
one another ; and by confequence one greater than an¬
other: which (as has been well argued *) is an *Dr Law ’s
exprefs contradiction, fince the greater muft neceflari- Inquiry in-
ly bound the lefs, and exceed its limits by fo much ^to tne uieas
it is greater than it •, that is, muft make it not infinite,
Infinite generations contain an infinitely greater infi- menfity,and
nity of particular men. An infinite number of men Eternity.,
muft have twice as many hands, and ten times as many See alio the
fingers, and fo on. Infinite time has an infinity of e
ages j thefe a much greater infinity of years, days,tranflat;on
hours, &c. Space likewife (according to Dr Claikfe) of ICmj-V
has three dimenfions, all infinite. It muft therefore, Origin of
contain an infinity of furfaces, an infinitely greater in- Evl1-
finity of lines, and a ftill infinitely greater infinity of
phyfical points. The cafe is the fame in number it¬
felf, which, if we fuppofe it to contain an abfolute in¬
finity of thoufands (and we may as well do that as
imagine it to comprehend an infinity of units), it will
contain ten times as many hundreds, fifty times as
many fcores, and fo on. All this is only the indefi-
nitenefs of number, which we in vain attempt to turn
into a pofitive infinite with which it is totally incom¬
patible. For let us add one to any of thefe infinite
feries of generations, ages, lines, or numbers, which
we know to be always in our power, and it it was ab¬
folutely infinite before, here is one more than infinite.
If it only becomes infinite now, then one finite added
to another finite makes infinity, if it .be no larger af¬
ter
Chap. VIII.
Of Infinity
METAPHYSIC S.
64
   ter the addition than it was before, then one part
ami Eter- EClded to another adds nothing •, all which are abfurdi-
n'tv’ ties. The fame will appear, if we fubtradf a part from
' * *" this fuppofed abfolute infinite, which may be done in
any of the ferementioned fubje&s, as well as in every
thfng which admits of parts, or may be taken in pieces
no by the mind.”
The ufua.1 ' ^'0 tbJs bind of reafoning Dr Clarke replies as fol-
fcre-d-'?6 Iows : To endeavour to prove that there cannot pof-
reafoning fibly be any fuch thing as infinite tune ox/pace, from
fliown ^ the impofiibility of an addition of finite parts ever com-
pofing or exhaufting an infinite ) or from the imagi¬
nary inequality of the number of years, days, and hours,
that would be contained in the one j or of the miles,
yards, and feet, that would be contained in the other,
is fuppofing infinites to be made up of numbers of
finites •, that is, it is fuppofing finite quantities to be
aliquot or conJHtuent parts of infinite, when indeed they
are not fo, but do all equalhj, whether great ox final/,
whether many or few, bear the very fame proportion
to an infinite, as mathematical points do to a line, or
lines to a fuperficies, or as moments do to time, that
is, none at all. No given number or quantity can be
any aliquot or conJHtuent part of infinite, or be compa¬
red at all with it, or bear any kind of proportion to it,
or be the foundation of any argument in any queftion
concerning it.”
If it be indeed true, and it is that for which we
contend, that no given number or quantity can be any
aliquot or conftituent part of infinite, or be compa¬
red at all with it ; then it undeniably follows, not that
miles, yards and feet, are no conlfituent parts of fpace;
or years, days, and hours conftituent parts of time;
-Wt'that fpace and time cannot poflibly be pofitive in¬
finites. This, we fay, follows undeniably : for no¬
thing is more evident, than that all quantities of the
fame kind, from the largeft to the leaft, bear a certain
proportion to each other ; and upon the fuppofition
that fpace is a real extending thing, miles, yards, and
feet are included in it, and bear to it the relation of
parts to a whole. The fame is true of time, days,
and hours. To affirm (for no proof is offered), that
all finite quantities, whether great or fmall, whether
many or few, do equally bear the very fame proportion
to an infinite, as mathematical points do to a line, or as
moments do to time, is plainly to beg the queftion——
“ that fpoce conlidered as a real extended thing is
infinite and to beg it, too, in oppofition to the com¬
mon fenfe and reafon of mankind. Mathematical points
we all know7 to be nothing real, but merely negations
of extenfion ; but fuppofing fpace to be fomething real
and extended, can any man perfuade himfelf that a mile
or a million of miles of this fpace is likewife a mere
negation of extenfion ? With him who can bring him¬
felf to this perfuafion, w7e pretend not to argue. He is
poffeffed of faculties, whether true or falfe, of which we
are deftitute.
That finite quantities, whether great or fmall? do
all equally bear the fame proportion to an infinite m
power, is indeed true ; but it is no great difeovery : for
fuch an infinite, as w7e have feen, is nothing but the
continued poffibility of repeating the fame mental pro-
cefs of addition or multiplication; and he who can go
on for ever adding, in his own imagination, foot to
foot, or hour to hour, will find it equally eafy to add,
271
to be a pe-
titio prin-
cipii.
in the fame manner, league to league, or age to age.
If he can perform the one operation, he mull like- anf!jtve
wife have power to perform the other ; and he cannot  y—u
but perceive that it is as impoffible to come to an end,
of adding league to league, or age to age, as of add¬
ing foot to foot, or hour to hour ; but then he muft
know that thefe leagues, feet, ages, and hours, are not
real external things, but mere ideas and notions in his
mind. If fuch powers of ideal multiplication and ad¬
dition be what Dr Clarke means by the ideas of fpacc
and time, it is indeed a contradiflion to fuppofe either
of them limited ; for that is to fuppofe our powers
different from what we know them to be by conlcxoul-
nefs and experience. But to confound powers with the
objeeh of thofe powers, is ceVtainly very inaccurate ; and
to fuppofe, becaufe we can go on for ever adding one
portion of ideal fpace or time to another, that therefore
our ideas of fpace and time are in themfelves pofitively
infinite, is a contradiction : for to an idea pofitively
infinite, it is obvious that nothing can be added. Di¬
ther, therefore, fpace and time do not imprefs us with
the ideas of their pofitive infinity ; or we cannot have
the power of adding league to league, and age to age,
without end.
“ But (fays the do£tor), to fuppofe fpace removed,
deftroyed, or taken wholly aw7ay, amounts to the ab-
furd fuppofition of removing a thing from itfelf; that
is, if in your imagination you remove the whole of fpace,
the whole of fpace will ftill remain.” True, every
man has ideas of fpace treafured up in his imagination,
which the found of the very word fpace will at all
times bring into his immediate view ; and vvhilft he
has fuch ideas, it is xmpofiible that he ffiould not have
them ; which is all the myftery of the matter, and
amounts to nothing more than that a thing cannot be
and not be at the fame inftant. When the dodlor
affirms, that if “ you annihilate any part of fpace, that
part will neceflarily remain, as appears by the unmoved
fituation of the reft,” we are not certain that w7e per¬
fectly underftand him. A man may furely think of
a cubical inch without thinking of a foot or a yard ;
and he may fuppofe the inch taken away from the foot
or the yard, and thefe ideal quantities fo much leffen-
ed by the fubtradion. But if the dodor be here
again confounding the powers of the mind with the
pofitive ideas of fpace, the fentence when explained
will be feen to contain nothing to his purpofe. Every
man has the power of contemplating in idea millions
of miles, and millions of ages, and of adding mile to
mile, and age to age, without end ; and if he try to
deprive himfelf of any part of this power, or. to fix
a limit to the mental procefs of addition, he will find
that in fpite of himfelf his imagination will ramble be¬
yond the limit affigned, and that he has attempted an
impoffibility. This, however, is fo far from being a
proof that his ideas of fpace and time are .pofitively
infinite, that, as we have already obferved, it is a proof
of the contrary. 222
But (fays this great man and h:s followers) “ fpace space and
and time are the fine qua non of all other things and time are
all other ideas. The fuppofal of the exiftence of any^fn^ua
thing whatever includes neceffarily a prefuppofition ^ n0no{-2\ *
exiftence offipnee and time f1 and therefore, if there be0ther
any thing infinite and eternal, fpace and time muft things; but,
likewife be fo.
4 M 2 To
Of infinity
and JLter- fubft.
nity.
223
there are
things
which have
M E T A P
I o every corporeal fubftance, and every Idea of fucli
fpace and time are indeed neceffary : for
_ every body has extenfion and duration ; and every idea
ot a particular body, being nothing but a fecondary
perception in the imagination or memory, mufi: have the
fame relation to imaginary extenfion, that the objeft
from which it was derived has to extenfion which is real,
dhvery idea, too, which remains in the imagination
Vvlnlft a train of other idea^paffes fuceeflively in view,
or whilil external things are perceived to change, has
real time. But will any man fay that confcioufnefs, our
notion of power, our afts of willing, or even tajles,
relation j and fmells, are extended, or that the fuppofal of
whatever to their exiftence neceffarily implies a prefuppofition of
fpace, or the exiftence of fpace? We acquire our ideas of ex¬
tenfion and fpace by means of our fenies of touch and
fight; and we learn from experience, that things ex¬
ternal and extended are the caufes of our fenfations of
tafle, found, and fmell. The effefts are in our minds
clofcly affociated with the ideas of their caufes ; and
it is not perhaps eafy to think of a particular
found, tafie, or fmell, without at the fame time
thinking of the object by which it was at firit excited
in the mind ; but had we been originally formed with
the powers of confcioufnefs, thinking, and willing,
and with no other fenfes than thofe of tailing, fmell-
ing, and hearing, it is obvious that we never could
have had the idea of fpace; and therefore, that idea
cannot poffibly be necelTary to the prefuppofition of
every thing elfe. To confcioufnefs, thinking, and will-
ing, fpace is fo far from being neceffary, that we
cannot perceive any the moll diftant relation between
them. It is not more difficult to conceive a part
greater than the whole, than it is to conceive an ell of
confcioufnefs, of thought, or of will; nor is it in the
power of any man to make fpace and fweetnefs coalefce
in his mind fo as to form of the two fimple ideas one
complex conception. The very reverfe is the cafe
with relpeft to the objefls of fight and touch. The
idea of every thing which w7e fee and handle neceftari-
ly coalefces in the mind with the idea of fpace, nor
can we poffibly feparate the one from the other ; but
the things -which we fee and handle are neither infi¬
nite nor capable of infinity.
With refpedl to time, the fame obfervations will be
found to be juft as with refpedl to fpace. Whatever
is liable to change, exilts in time and cannot be eter¬
nal ; but if there be any being immutable, and who
views at once all things which to us are part, prefent,
and to come, the exiftence of that being is not com-
menfurable with time. That fuch a being is poffible
no man can doubt, who refledls, that if w7e had one
permanent idea invariably in the mind, we ffiould ne¬
ver have acquired the notion of fucceffion or of time; and
that if there were aUlually no change in nature there
could not poffibly in nature be any fuch thing as time.
Every man, therefore, wrho can conceive exigence
without change, muft be convinced, that “ the fup-
pofa1 of the exiftence of any thing whatever does not
neceffarily include the pfefuppofition of the exiftence
of time ; and that there may be an eternity diftindt
from time, as well as an infinity diftindl from fpace ;
nav, that nothing which is properly infinite and eternal
can poffibly occupy either fpace or time.
II Y S I C S.
Part II.
224
t® time.
I f it be alked, What kind of infinity and eternity Of Infinity
they are which have no relation to fpace and time ? and.Eter-
Cudworth, treading in the footfteps of the ancients, , nity‘ f
has long ago anfwered, That they are “ abfolute per-
feftion, and neceffary exiftence. For (fays he), in- Infinity and
finite underfunding and knowledge is nothing elfe but eternity,
perfeB knowledge, which hath in it no defect or mix- wlut tiieJF
ture of ignorance, but knows whatfoever is know'able. ‘
In like manner, infinite power is nothing elfe but perfeB
powder, which hath in it n@ deleft or mixture of im-
potency—a power which can do every thing which is
poffible or conceivable. Laftly, Infinity of duration, or
eternity, is really nothing elfe but perfeBion, as includ¬
ing in it necejfary exifience and immutability ; fo that it
is a contradiction to fuppofe fuch a being to have had
a beginning, to ceafe to be, or to fuffer or be aftefted
by any change whatever. And becaufe infinity is
perfeftion, therefore nothing which includes in its
idea or effence any thing of imperfeBion, as every po-
fitive idea of number, ccrporeal magnitude, and fuc-
ceffive duration, evidently does, can' be truly and pro¬
perly infinite*.” ^ * InteUee-
It muft indeed by confefled, that the idea of fuccef- tui*l Sfitiru
fion fo infinuates itfelf into our ufual ideas of exiftence,
and is fo clofely copnefted wdth the exiftence of all
finite beings, that we find it extremely difficult to ima¬
gine the eternal exiftence of God, any otherwife than
as an eternally continued feries or fucceffion. Our
conftant converfation with material objefts, and the
affociations thence arifing, make it almoft impoffible
for us to confider things abftrafted from time and
fpace ; yet w7e have the evidence of experience and
confcioufnefs, that an idea may be conceived without
relation to fpace and time, and that fpace and time
cannot be made to coalefce with fome of our notions.
The fame muft be true with refpeft to infinity and
eternity ; for we have feen that neither fpace, time,
nor any thing elfe which confifts of parts, whether
continuous or fucceffive, can be fuppofed to be pofi-
tively infinite, as the fuppofition implies the moft pal¬
pable contradiftion. But that there may be perfeft:
power, perfeft knowledge, and permanent invariable
exiftence, is fo far from implying any contradiftion,
that even we, whofe faculties are fo very narrow, can
yet make lome advances towards the conception of
fuch perfeftions. Thus, every man of common un«
derftanding knows that fome things are in themfelves
poffible, and others impoffible, to be performed by
any power. Of thefe poffibilities and impoffibilities
a philofopher knows more than an illiterate man ; and
one philofopher knows more than another. An intel-
left more perfeft knows more of them than any man j
and that intelleft which knows them all muft be abfo-
lutely perfeft, and incapable of improvement, becaufe
it knows every thing which is to be known. The
fame is true of perfeft power :—but we ffiall treat of
real infinity and eternity more at large when we come
to demonftvate the being and attributes of God. At
prefent it is fufficient to have fhown that nothing can
be pofitively infinite but a being abfolutely perfeft ;
which never was not, wffiich can produce all things
poffible and conceivable, and upon which all other
things muft depend.
PART
METAPHYSICS,
Chap. I.
Of Mind
in general.
^45
Mind
in general.
PART III. OF MINDS AND THEIR POWERS.
226
Mind di-
ftinguiflied
from body.
227
Probably
minds of
different
orders.
228
The abfurd
hypoihefis
of Hobbes
refpebtiny
mind.
229
Othei hypo-
thefes.
Cnap. I. Of Mind in General.
THE fcience of met&phyfics comprehends every
thing, into the exiftence, nature, or caufes of which
any inquiry may be made. But all things of which
we have any notion or idea may be divided into
mind and body, with their various powers, qualities,
and adjunfts. By body is meant that which is folid,
extended, inert, and divifible j and its feveral adjuncts
are fpace, motion, number, and time. The only mind
with wdiich we are intimately acquainted is our own j
and we know that it is pofl'eiled of the powers of fen-
fation, perception, retention, confcioufnefs, refledlion,
reafon, and will. Thefe are totally different from ex-
tenfion, folidity, divifibility, and motion •, and there¬
fore it is proper to diflinguilh the being of which they
are powders by another name than that of body.
Of bodies there are various kinds poffefling various
fenhble qualities •, and from analogy it is reafonable to
conclude, that there may be various claifes of minds
endowed with different kinds or degrees of power.
For this indeed we have ftronger evidence than that of
analogy. Brute animals evidently poflefs the powers
of perception and fpontaneity with fome degree of
confcioufnefs ; but as they appear not to retle6t upon
their own conduft, or to have their adfions influenced
by motives, their minds are inferior to ours, though
ftill perfe&ly diftinff from mere extended, inert, and
divifible fubllances. Mind, therefore, confidered with
refpeft to its powers, is evidently different from body
confidered with refpeft to its qualities. This is indeed
a truth which has feldom if ever been controverted ;
but it has been long and warmly difputed, Whether
mind and body be not both compofed of the fame firft
matter ?
Hobbes fuppofed, that every material atom is en¬
dowed with the faculty of fenfation (c) 5 but that for
wTant of memory each fertfation is momentaneous, be¬
ing inftantly and wholly effaced as foon as its caufe is
removed. Though this hypothefis is too abfurd to re¬
quire a formal and laboured confutation, it may not be
improper to obferve, that, if it were true, the hairs of
a man’s, head would feel extreme pain when pinched
by the hot iron of the hair-dreiTer ; and that the nails
of his fingers would be feverely tortured wdien under
the operation of the knife or'the rafp.
Others have fuppofed that each atom of matter has
a tendency towards fenfation and perception ; and that
when a fufficient number of thefe atoms are brought
together in a certain order, the united tendencies pro¬
duce the actual powers which diftinguifli mind from
grofs body. This fuppofition is if poffible more ab¬
furd than that of Hobbes. Senfation and perception
are of fuch a nature, that a mere tendency towards them
is inconceivable. A thing mult either be fenfible and
percipient, or infenfible and inert : there is evidently
no medium. Or if we could fuppofe each individual
atom to have 2. tendency towards fenfation, it wTould by
no means follow that & number of fuch atoms brought
together in any poffible order would become one fen-
tient, thinking, and active being. A number of bodies
laid upon an inclined plane have each a tendency to roll
downwards ; but if the declivity of the plane be not
fuch as that their feparate tendencies may overcome 1
the refiltance oopofed to each individual body by fric¬
tion, the united tendencies of all the bodies when brought
together will not be able to overpower the refiitance
of their united frictions. Juft fb is it with refpedt to
fenfation and perception : If the tendency of one atom
cannot overcome one degree of inertnefs, the tendency
of a thoufand atoms will not overcome a thoufand de¬
grees of the fame inertnefs.
We have juil mentioned thefe abfurd fuppofitions Only twa
that our article might be complete : but it is proper opinions at
to inform the reader, that, fo far as vve know, neither
of them has for thefe many years been maintained by “ “ •*
any philofopher of eminence either at home or abroad.
The opinions on this fubjedl, which at prefent divide
the republic of letters, are two •, and thefe alone are
worthy of examination. One party maintains, That
perception, memory, reafon, and will, &c. are the
powers of a being which muft be immaterial and indi-
vifible : The other alleges, That as we know nothing
of thefe powers but from our own confcioufnefs, and
as we ca'n tracedhem in ourfelves to the brain and no
farther, we have no reafon to fuppofe that they are
the powers of any fubllance diftinft from matter. Both
parties, however, diftinguifh that which in man is the
fubjedl of thought from his external organs of fenfe,
and agree to call it by the name of mind; though the
one coniiders it as compofed ot the fame firft matter
with the dull: of the ground \ whilft the other^believes
it to have no property whatever in common with that
matter.
Were we to adopt fome of the ancient methods of
- philofophizing, this important queftion might be foon
decided. A moft refpe&able writer, who has labour¬
ed to reftore the metaphyfics of Plato and Ariitotle,
hopes to confute the materialifts, by laying down what
they muft think arbitrary definitions of mind and mat¬
ter, and then fhowing that the one is not the other.
“ In
(c) Scio fuifle philofophos quofdam, eofJemque viros doBos, qui corpora omnia fenfu praedita effe fuftinuerunt:
Nec video, ft natura fenfionis in readdione fola collocaretur, quomodo refitaripojjint. Sed etfi ex readlione etiam
cornorum aliorum, phantafma aliquod nafceretur j iilud tamen, remoto objedlo, ftatim ceffaret. Nam nifi ad re-
tinendum motum impreffum, etiam remoto objedlo, apta habeant organa, ut habent animalia ; ita tantum fentf nt,
ut nunquam fenlilfe fe recordentur. Seniioni ergo, qute vulgo ita appellator, necHTario adhaeret memoria aliqua.
Hobbes'1 s Physic, ca^. xxv. feet. 5.
I
646 M E T A F
Of Mind a Tn tlie parts of the material worl-d (fays he) there
in general. js a perpetuai motion : For the celeftial bodies move
conftantly in one refpeft or another ; and all here be¬
low is in a continual viciffitude of generation and cor¬
ruption, which cannot be without motion. Novv, where
there is motion, there mull be fcmething that moves: -
What is moved I call body; what moves I call mindP
From this definition he undertakes to prove, that mind
mult be immaterial. “ That there is a relation be¬
tween moving and being moved (lays he), nobody can
deny •, and the relation is no other than that of action
and paflion. But the nature of relation is fuch, that
it mull neceffarily be between two things at lealt ; and
it is further neceffary, that the two things related
finould exift together. Hence, if there be that which
moves, there muft be a different thing that is moved;
and wherever the one is, the other muft neceffarily be ;
fo that nothing can move itfelf. This being eftablilh*
ed, I fay that what moves muft be either material or
immaterial : for the one of thefe being the negation
of the other, there can be no middle betwixt them •,
becaufe a thing muft neceffarily be, or not be. If then
it be immaterial, there is an end of the queftion : but
if it be laid to be material, then I fay that it muft be
moved itfelf before it can move any thing elfe •, for it
is only in that way that body can move body. If
then it muft be firft moved itfelf, but cannot itfelf
move itfelf, wrhat is it that moves itfelf ? It it be an-
fwered, That it is another material mover, then I re¬
peat the fame queftion, to which the lame anfwer muft
be given : and fo we have an infinite feries of material
movers, without any beginning or principle of motion.
Now this is abfurd, and contradi&ory to this firft prin¬
ciple of natural philofophy, admitted by all philofo-
phers ancient and modern, ihat nothing can be produced
* Ancient without a caufe *.
Metaphy- For the immateriality of the human mind, and. of
Jics. every being endowed with the powers of perception
and thought, the learned writer has better arguments j
but it is upon this chiefly that he refts his perfuafion,
that mind is the only mover in the univerfe. It is
needlefs to obferve, that in the very, definitions and
axioms upon which this reafbning is built, the thing to
be proved is taken for granted : for if it be felf-evi-
dent, that wThat moves is, dn the author’s feme of the
w’ord, mind, that what is moved is body, and that no¬
thing can move itfelf, all reafoning on the fuojeft is fu-
perfluous. This, however, is fo far from being felf-
evident, that a materialift may reply, “ every animal
moves itfelf, and yet every animal is nothing more
than a fyftem of matter.” This pofition, whether
true or falfe, can neither be proved nor confuted by
arguments a priori founded on general definitions.
That animals move themfelves, and that to the fenfes
they appear to be nothing elfe than fyftems of matter,
are fadts which cannot fce controverted.. If we would
knowT whether they have in them a principle of motion
H Y S I C S. Part HI.
which is not material, wTe muft fubmit to the laws °f'(j ^ie Syb-
indudlion (fee Logic) ; and by inveftigating.the ef- t*|“k\eu(fan
fential qualities ot matter, endeavour to afeertain whe-
ther a material fyftem can be rendered adlive. I bat
we ourfelves have adtive powers, we know by the moft 231
complete of all evidence, viz. confcioufnefs of their -y ('I
energies ; and it has been already fhown, that luch 1Rve£^, a°l
powers as we experience in ourfelves cannot exift but t;ng
in a fiib'ed! poftefled ot will and underftanding. 1 he nature of
queftion therefore to be firft decided between the ma- au:.d.
terialifts and immaterialifts is, Whether the powers ot
confcioufnefs, underftanding, and will, can refult from,
the particular organization of a fyftem ot matter ^ It
they can, wre have no reaton to attribute them in man
to any other fource : If thefe powers appear neceiTa-
rily' to require an immaterial principle for their tup-
port, it will probably be granted, that an immaterial
principle is the fource of every power and every mo¬
tion in the univerfe j and the dodtrine of mind, in the
ftricteft fenfe of the word, will be fufcficientJy efta-
blifhed.
Chap. II. Of the Substance of the Human
Mind.
The moft celebrated materialift of this or perhaps Arguments
of any other age is Dr Prieftley ; who having in his for the im-
own imagination divefted matter of folidity, and
duced it to mere centres of attradlion and repulfion,m.in min^
obferves, that “ if one kind of fuhjlav.ee be capable of
fupporting all the known properties of man 5 that is, it
thofe properties have nothing in them that is abfolute-
ly incompatible with one another ; we fhall be obliged
to conclude (unlefs we openly violate the rules of phi-
lofophizing, which will not authorize us to multiply
caufes or kinds of fubftance without neccjpty), that no
other kind of fubftance enters into his compofition j
the fuppofition being manifeftly unnece/fary, in order to
account for aiyy appearance whatever.—All the pro¬
perties that have hitherto been attributed to matter,
may be comprifed under thofe of attradtion and repul-
fion. Befides thefe, man is poffeffed of the powers of
fenfation or perception, and thought. But if, without
giving the reins to our imaginations, we fuffer ourfelves
to be guided in our inquiries by the fimple rules of —
philofophizing above mentioned, wre muft neceffarily
conclude, that tbefe powers alfo may belong to the
fame fubftance that has alfo the properties of attrac¬
tion, repulfion, and extenjion (d), which I as well as
others call by the name of matter. The reafon of the
conclufion is fimply this, that the powers of fenfation
or perception and thought, as belonging to man, have
never been found but in conjundtion with a certain
organized fystem of matter ; and therefore that thofe
powers neceffarily exift in and depend upon fuch a
fyftem. This at leaft muft be our conclufion, till it
can be Ihown that thefe powers are incompatible with
the
(D) When Dr Prieftley mentions the extenfon of corporeal fubftance, it muft be remembered that he does not
mean the extenfion of any real thing poffeffed of an independent exiftence. The extenfion belongs wholly to the
fphere or the combination of fpheres of attraBion and repuljion. The centre itfelf, which attradls and repels., he
'repeatedly affirms not* to have the dimenfions even of a phyfical point 5 and he fometimes feerns to entertain 3
doubt whether it be any thing more than a mere relative notion.
2
Chap. II. M E T A P H Y S I C S. 647
Oi ihe Sub-the other known properties of the fame fubftance ; and
ft ante of for this I fee no fort of pretence.”
the Human jhis is what Dr Prieflley calls the proper and di-
■ *nt ’ , reft proof that the fentient principle in man is the ma¬
terial fubftance of the brain •, and he enforces it by the
following obfervations : “ Had we formed a judgement
concerning the neceifary feat of thought by the cir-
tumliances that univerfally accompany it, which is our
rule in all other cafes, we could not but have conclud¬
ed that in man it is a property of the nervous fy lcrn,
or rather of the brain •, becaufe, as far as we can judge,
the faculty of thinking, and a certain date of the brain,
always accompany and correfpond to one another 5
which is the very reafon why we believe that any pro¬
perty is inherent in any fubftance whatever. There
is no inftance of any man retaining the faculty of
thinking when his brain was deftroyed ; and whenever
that faculty is impeded or injured, there is fufficient
reafon to believe that the brain is difordered in pro¬
portion j and therefore we are neceffarily led to con-
fider the latter as the feat of the former. Moreover,
as the faculty of thinking in general ripens and comes
to maturity with the body, it is alfo obferved to decay
with it ; and if, in fome cafes, the mental faculties
continue vigorous when the body in general is en¬
feebled, it is evidently becaufe in thofe particular cafes
the brain is not much aftefted by the general caufe of
weaknefs. But, on the other hand, if the brain alone
be affected, as by a blow on the head, by aeffual pref-
fure within the fkull, by fleep, or by inflammation,
the mental faculties are univerfally affedted in propor¬
tion. Likewife, As the mind is affedted in confequence
of the affections of the body and brain, fo the body is
liable to be reciprocally affe6ted by the affeCtions of
the mind, as is evident in the vifible effects of all ftrong
paflions, hope or fear, love or anger, joy or forrow,
exultation or defpair. Thefe are certainly irrefragable
arguments, that it is properly no other than one and
the fame thing that is fubjedt to thefe affedtions, and
that they are neceffarily dependent upon one another.
In fadt, there is juft the fame reafon to conclude, that
the powers of fenfation and thought are the neceffary
refult of a particular organization, as that found is
the neceffary refult of a particular concuflion of the
air. For in both cafes equally the one conftantly ac¬
companies the other •, and there is not in nature a
ftronger argument for a neceffary connexion of any
caufe and any effebl. To adopt an opinion different
from this, is to form an hypothefis without a Angle
*nifqui]ri- fa& to fupport it
tions on Though the ingenious author thinks, that if there
'sp!r!t.rand be any foundation for the eftabliihed rules of philofo-
phizing, this reafoning ought to be conclufive, he yet
fubjoins, for the greater fatisfadlion of his readers,
fome additional arguments, or rather, as he fays, di-
ftindt illuftrations of the great argument. They are
as follow :
' I, “ That the faculty of thinking neceffarily de¬
pends, for its exercife at leaft, upon a flock of ideas,
about which it is always converfant, will hardly be
queftioned by any perfon. But there is not a Angle
idea of which the mind is poffeffed but what may be
proved to have come to it from the bodily fenfes, or to
have been confequent upon the perceptions of fenfe.
The notion, therefore, of the poffibilvy of thinking in
man, without-an organized body, is pot only deftitute Of the .Sub-
of all evidence from adtual appearances, but is directly /' yf2 01
1 . , r ’ , J the Human
contrary to them ; ana yet tneie appearances ought a- Mind.
lone to guide the judgement of phiiofophers. <
2. “ The only reafon why it has been fo ear-
neftly contended for, that there is fome principle
in man that is not material, is, that it might fubAft,
and be capable of fenfation and adlion, when the body
is dead. But if the mind was naturally fo independ¬
ent of the body, as to be capable of fubAfting by it-
felf, and even of appearing to more advantage, after
the death of the body •, it might be expected to dif-
cover fome Agtis of its independence before death, and
efpecially when the organs of the body were obftrufl-
ed, fo as to leave the foul more at liberty to exert
itfelf \ as in a ftate of fleep ox fwooning, which muft re¬
ferable the ftate of death j in which it is pretended
that the foul is moft of all alive, moft aflive, and vi¬
gorous. But judging by appearances, the reverfe of
all this is the caie.
3. “If the mental principle was, in its own nature
immaterial and immortal, all its particular faculties
would be fo too ; whereas w7e fee that every faculty
of the mind without exception is liable to be impair¬
ed, and even to become wholly extimft, before death.
Since, therefore, all the faculties of the mind, fepa-
rately taken, appear to be mortal, the fubftance or
principle in which they exift muft be pronounced to be
mortal too.
4. “ If the fentient principle in man be immaterial,
it can have no extenflon ; it can neither have length,
breadth, nor thicknefs; and confequently everything
within it, or properly belonging to it, muft be Jimple
and indiviftble. Let us now’ confider how this notion
agrees with the phenomena of fenfation and ideas. It
will not be denied, but that fenfations or ideas pro¬
perly exift in the foui, becaufe it could not otherwife
retain them, fo as to continue to perceive and think
after its feparation from the body. Nowr, whatever
ideas are in therafelves, they are evidently produced
by external objefls, and muft therefore correfpond to
them ; and Ance many of the objects or archetypes
of ideas are diviAble, it neceffarily follows, that the
ideas themfelves are diviAble alfo. But, howr is it pof-
Able that a thing (be the nature of it what it may)
that is diviflble, ihould be contained in a fubftance, be
the nature of it likewife what it may, that is indivijible?
If the archetypes of ideas have extenflon, the ideas
which are exprefftve of them, and are actually produ¬
ced by them according to certain mechanical law’s,
muft have extenflon likewife 5 and therefore the mind
in which they exift, whether it be material or imma¬
terial, muft have extenflon alfo. But how any thing
can have extenflon and yet be immaterial, without .
coinciding with our idea of mere empty /pace, I know’
not.”
To the argument, which is here chiefly inflfted on
as being agreeable to the eftabliflied rules of philofo-
phizing, a very able reply has been made, which we
fhall give in the w’ords of its elegant and fpirited au¬
thor. But before we attempt to dig up the founda¬
tion of the doftor’s fyftem, it may not be improper
to demolifh, if poflible, the additional buttreffes by
which it is ftrengthened. An experienced general,
before he ftorm a citadel which he knowa to be ftrong-
ly.:
648 ' M E T A P
Qtthe SuS-ly fortified and fliilfully defended, will take care to
tl'e^Hirnanraze every lefs important redoubt from which the ene-
mind. might annoy him in his rear.
“*“v—' Becaufe the faculty of thinking in general ripens,
^83 comes to maturity, and decays with the body, and
Ainweicd. Jj0(:jy on t}ie 0t]ier hand is AfFedted by the affec¬
tions of the mind, the dodtor affirms that we have
the fame reafon to conclude, that the powers of fen-
fation and thought are the necefiary refult of a parti¬
cular organization, as that found is the neceflary re¬
fult of a particular concuffion of the air. This argu¬
ment is conclufive only upon the fuppofition that there
is no pvfitive evidence whatever for the immateriality
of the being which is the fubjecff of thought. If the
other reafonings for the materiality and immateriality
of the mind be of equal weight, this argument ought
doubtlefs to turn the balance \ but if there be the
fmalleft preponderancy in behalf of the immaterialifts,
it is a mere begging of the quefticn to attempt to
counteradl it by any inference which can be drawn
from the mutual affeftions of the body and mind. If
two fuch heterogeneous beings as an immaterial mind
and an organized body can be fuppofed united in one
perfon, they muff neceffarily affedt each other 5 and
to affirm, on account of this reciprocal affe&ion, that
they are one an4 the fame, is equally abfurd as to fay
that an ele6trician and his apparatus are one and the
fame. Dr Prieffley himfelf did not at firft perform
his eledlrical experiments with fo much eafe as after
he had acquired facility by long practice, nor could
he even yet perfdrm them fo neatly with a bad as with
a good apparatus.
That which the do£for calls the firft illuftration
of his argument might be admitted, and the force of
the argument itfelf be confiftently denied. Some kind
of organized body may be neceflary to the mind as an
inftrument without wffiich it could not exert its fa¬
culties ; but it would certainly be rafh to infer that
the mind muff therefore be a fyftem of matter. An
anvil and a hammer are neceffary to the exercife of
the blackfmith’s art 5 but what Nwrould be thought of
him w'ho ftiould from this fa6t conclude, that the
blackfmith himfelf muff be a fyftem of iron ! This,
therefore, inftead of illuftrating the great argument,
feems to be wholly foreign from the queftion in de-
* Corre- bate *, and it has in fa£t been admitted by Dr Price *,
fpondence and thoufands of others who reject the doctrine of
material^m> as an impious abfurdity. The fecond il-
‘ * luftration, however, is more to the purpofe j and as it is
not new, we ftiall give it an old anfwer.
Why do not we perceive external objefts in our
f Religion f-eeP or m a fivoon ? “ Becaufe (fays Mr Woliafton f),
tf Nature the paffages are become impracticable, the windows
delineated, fhut, and the nerves being obftructed, or fomehow ren-
H Y S I G S. Part IIL
dered for the time ufelefs, can tranfmit no informa-Of the Sub*
tion to if. Why, however, does it not reafon and |i:ailce °*
think about fomcthir.g or other ? Becaufe, all the marks 11^^nan
by which things are remembered, being for the pre- 1 - y <
lent choked up or difordered, the remembrance of
thofe objects about which it is wont to employ itfelf,
and even of the words (or other ftgns) in which it ufes
to reafon, and to preferve the deduiftions and conclu-i
fions it makes, is all fufpended at leaft for the time :
and fo its tables being covered, its books clofed, and
its tools locked up, the requifites for reafoning are
wanting, and no fubjedl offers itfelf to exercife its
thoughts, it having yet had little or no opportunity
to take in higher objects and more refined matter for
contemplation. And, to conclude, if it be demand¬
ed, Why any one Ihould imagine that the foul may
think, perceive, aft, after death, when it doth not do
this in lleep, &c. ? the anfwer is, Becaufe thofe enclo-
furcs and impediments which occafioned the foremen-
tioned intermiffions, and thofe great limitations under
which it labours at all times, will be removed with its
enlargement out of the body. When it ffiall in its pro¬
per vehicle be let go, and take its flight into the open
fields of heaven, it will then be bare to the immediate
impreffions of objefts: And why ihould not thofe im-
preffions which affefted the nerves, that moved and
affefted the vehicle and foul in it, ajfeB the vehicle im¬
mediately when they are immediately made upon it,
without the interpofition of the nerves ? The hand
which feels an objeft at the end of a faff, may cer¬
tainly be allowed to feel the fame much better by im¬
mediate contaB without the ftaff.”
The opinion, that the foul is united to fome fine ve¬
hicle, which dwells with it in the brain, and goes off
with it at death, was not peculiar to Mr Woliafton.
It was thought extremely probable by Dr Hartley,
and (hall be fhown afterwards to have been a very an¬
cient opinion ; but we do not quote it at prefent as
either well or ill founded, but only as fufficient, in
conjunftion with the reafoning of its author, to ob¬
viate the force of Dr Prieftley’s fecond iiluftration of
his argument for the materiality of mind, provided
the argument itfelf be not more powerful than any
wffiich the immaterialifts can bring againft it.
The doftor’s third iiluftration _ we have already ob¬
viated, when we accounted for the mind and the body
mutually affefting each other j and we might refer to
Dr Price’s anfwer (e) to the fourth, as being, in our
opinion, a full confutation of it. But as that au¬
thor’s notions of mind and ideas differ is* fome refpefts
from our own, we ffiall examine this objeftion to the
doftrine of the immaterialifts upon principles which we
believe Dr Prieftley more inclined to admit.
That the fentient principle in man, if it be imma¬
terial,
(e) In Difquiftions, p. 37 and 102, it is afferted, that ideas are certainly divifible. “ This feems to me very
abfurd. It would be as proper to affert ideas to be hard or round. The idea of an objeft is the apprehen-
fion, view, or notion of it •, and how can this be divifible ? Perception is a fingle and indivifible aft. The
objeft perceived may be divifible ; but the perception of it by the mind cannot be fo. It is faid in page 95, that
if ideas are not things dfiinB from the mind, a mind with ideas and a mind without ideas would be the fame.—I
maintain, that ideas are not diftinft from t,he mind, but its conceptions 5 or not things themfelves, but notions of
tilings. How does jt follow from hence, that a mind with or without ideas is the fame ? It would feem that
this follows much more from the contrary aflertion.” Correfpondence between Dr Price and Dr Priefleij.
3
Chap. II. ME TAP
Ofthe Sub-terial, can have no extenfion, is a truth which we
fiance of cannot be controverted ; and if fo, every thing
the Human- i • • i n i__  i j:~.: cli ~ rPi 
Mind
m that principle muft be fvnplc and indivijible. Thus
far we agree with Dr Priellley •, but with refpeft to
what follows we differ from him entirely. The agi¬
tation in the brain, which is the immediate caufe of
fenfation, muft indeed correfpond to the impreflion
cb exira by which it is produced, and therefore muft;
have the property of extenfion j but that agitation,
whatever it be, is not itfelf fenfation any more than
a bludgeon is a blow, or a fword is a wound. Dr
PrielUey, indeed, in anfwer to Dr Price, affirms, that,
according to Hartley’s theory, ideas are only vibra¬
tions in the brain; but whoever (hall take the trouble
to examine that theory himfelf, will not find that its
author ever advances fuch an opinion, or confiders
vibrations as any thing more than the inftruments by
which fenfations and ideas are excited in the fentient
principle. A real and proper idea, as we have often
repeated, is nothing elfe than a fainter fenfation but
no fenfation, from whatever caufe it may proceed, is it¬
felf extended 5 nor could we, without memory, the
reafoning faculty, and the power of local motion, have
acquired from mere fenfe any notion of extenfion at
all : (fee feci. 3. Chap. 1. Part I.) Senfations and ideas
are thofe appearances (if we may fo fay), which vibra¬
tions or forne other motion in the brain excite in the
mind ; but a half appearance is an abfurdity. A man
may view half a tree with his eyes, and he may con¬
template the idea of half a tree in his mind j but he can¬
not have half a view or half an idea of any thing. Sen-
fiitions and ideas refult from the mutual agency of the
VoL. XIII. Part II.
H Y S I C S. . ., 649
brain and fentient principle upon each other ; and if Of the Sub-
the agency of the brain be vibration, more of it may ^
vibrate at one time than at another : but furely the ’viind.
mere relation between its agency at any time and the ——
agency of the mind, can neither have extenfion nor
be divifible; for who ever thought of extending or
dividing relations ? On this fubjedl it is extremely
difficult to write with perfpicuity and precifion 5 and
what w’e have faid may very poffibly be mifunderftood.
Our notion is to ourfelves clear and determinate ; but
language, wffiich was not invented by metaphyficians,
wants words in which it may be properly exprelfed.
Perhaps the reader may underftand what we mean,
when we fay that a fenfation or an idea is the inftanta-
neous effeft of the mutual agency of the brain and
fentient principle. Of this we think every man, by
a little attention, may be perfectly convinced, though
it may be impoffible ever to difeover the precife na¬
ture of this agency } and it fo, it is plain that ienfa-
tions and ideas cannot be divided, for no inftantaneous
effe& of any kind is divifible. A fenfation, and of
courle a fimple and original idea, neither has extenuon
itfelf, nor fuggefts the notion of extenfion ab extra.
By running the hand or any other member along a fo-
lid body, wre feel continued refiftance : this feeling, ov
the idea of this feeling, becomes in time fo clofely affo-
ciated with all our fenfations of touch and fight, that
the one cannot be feparated from the other ; and iffiefe
afibciations are what Dr Prieftley calls extended ideas.
Upon the whole then, w^e think it apparent, that our
fenfations, and the relidts of our fenfations, are unex¬
tended and indivifible (f) ; and that though they fug-
4 N geft
(¥') We affirm this only of human fenfations and ideas, becaufe thefe are the only fenfations and ideas of
which we are confcious, and about which we can reafon. Other animals are fentient as well as man, and
appear to have their fenfations excited by impreffions ab extra; but whether m every fpecies o ani¬
mals a Angle impreffion excites but one fenfation common to the whole animal, or different fenfations
which are felt each by a different faculty or fentient principle, is a queftion which we are not sole to aniwer.
We make this remark, becaufe from the phenomena of fenfation in the earthworm and other reptiles, ome
philofophers of eminence having fuppofed, that in thefe creatures the fentient faculty belongs to the mate¬
rial fyftem, and is divifible with it ; have thence concluded, we think r^ffily, that all arguments fo t e
immateriality of the human mind are founded merely on our ignorance. We call this condufionraffi, be¬
caufe, though we know perfedly what a human fenfation is, we have fo little knowledge of the nature of
fenfaticn in worms, that what may be true of the one principle of fenfation may be falfe of the other. In¬
deed, if we are to judge from the phenomena, this is adually the cafe. It appears from experiments^ made
by Abbe Spallanzani and others, that if a certain number of rings be cut off either from the anterior or
pofterior part of a worm, or even from both, the remainder will not only continue to live and be fentient,
but will alfo regenerate a new head and a new tail, and become again a complete worm. Nothing like this takes
place in man or in the higher orders of animals j and therefore, were it certain that the fentient principle m
the worm is diffufed through the whole fyftem, and divifible with it, we could not infer that the principle
of fuch fenfations as we are confcious of, is likewife extended and divifible. It is, however, fo far rom being
certain that the fentient principle is diffufed through the whole worm, that nothing neceffanly follows from
this fa61, but that its feat is at fome diftance from either extremity. Nay, were it true, as perhaps it is,
that a worm may be fo divided, as that each of the two feaions ftiall retain life, fenfation, and this repro-
duflive power, we would not therefore be authorized to conclude that the fcntient principle is coex¬
tended and divifible with the material fyftem. The earthworm, like many other reptiles, being an herma-
phrodite, which unites in itfelf both fexes, may poffibly confift of two animated fyftems 5 which, though unit¬
ed by fome bond of connexion, by which fenfation is communicated from the one to the other, aie yet in
themfelves perfeaiy diftina. Should this, upon proper inveftigation, be found to be the cafe j and ffiou d it
likewife be found, that when a worm is divided into three or more parts, only one or two of thele parts con¬
tinue to live, there would be no room whatever for fuppofing that even m thefe creatures the principle of len-
fation is extended and divifible. In the mere power of reproducing amputated parts, when that power is
confidered by itfelf, there is nothing more wonderful than in the growing of the naib of our fingers, or the
650
things ab extra,
lentient being may be unextended and indiviiible.
having thus examined Dr Prieftley’s auxiliary ar-
Of the Sub- geft tc us the exigence of extended
nance of
the Human T:r
Mind. -H3'' w ^ —-
guments for the materiality of mind, we now proceeed
to confider his main and direfl proof. To this, as we
have obferved, fo able a reply has been made, that it
would be injufiice to our readers not to lay it before
them, in the words of its author. I readily ac-
* EJays, knowledge (fays this fpirited elfayift that the power
^en^at‘on or perception never having been found but
rical, and conj«n61ion with a certain organized fyftem of matter, ^
Literary, we ought, as philofophers, to conclude that this power
vol. ii. neceffarily exifts in, and refults from, that organized
fyftem, unlefs it can be (hown to be incompatible with
other known properties of the fame fubftance. On the
other hand, it muft be admitted, that conftant con-
jundlion implies necejjary connexions only when reafons
cannot be difcovered to grove the conjunction to be ac¬
cidental and arbitrary. In the prefent inftance, it is
alleged, that difcerptibility is a property of matter ab-
folutely incompatible with the property of fenfation
M E T A P H YS 1 C SL
Part III.
or perception ; or in other words, that fenfation is a Of the Sub¬
power or property incapable of divifion. But as the ftance of
power of the entire fyftem is clearly nothing more thantheA'hrnan
the fum or aggregate cf the powers of all the parts,' ' ,
it neceflarily follows, tnat the primary particles of W'hich 234
the fyftem is compofed muft, upon the material hypo-Kire^
thefis, polfefs diftinft powers of fenfation j and that pf00ffth.at
thofe powers combined conftitute the indivifible power
of fenfation belonging to the fyftem 5 or, in other man cannot
words, that the indivifible power of fenfation is a dhi-be a fjftem
fible power, nay, an infinitely divifible power, if mat-of matteT*
ter be, as philofophers in general allow, an infinitely
divifible fubftance—a conclufion obvioufly and grofsly
ridiculous. We are then compelled to acknowledge,
that fenfation or perception is not the property of a
material fubftance ; i. e. if the common mode of ex-
prefiion be retained, it is the property of an immate¬
rial fubftance ; or, to avoid verbal contention, it is a
property not refulting from, or neceffarily connefted
with, the organical fyftem, but a property wholly fo¬
reign, fuperinduced, and adventitious (g).
' “ In
hairs of our heads. The only thing which feems to militate againft the fimplicity of the principle of fen-
fation m. worms, is the continuance of life, &c. with both parts of a worm when cut into two by a knife or
pair of feiflars ; but if a worm be found to have two feats of fenfation analogous to the brain in higher ani¬
mals, and if it be likewife found that life continues only in fuch fedlions as retain at leaft one feat of fenfa¬
tion, the fentient principle in the worm may be as fimple and indivifible as in any animal whatever. We nei¬
ther wifh nor expea much ftrefs to be laid upon thefe hints and conjedures. Should they induce anv of our
phyfiological readers, who have leifure, and are at the lame time Ikilled in philofophy, properly fo called, to
inft/tute a fet ot experiments upon worms and fuch reptiles, and to trace apparent effeds to their hio-her
caufes, they might eventually lead to important difeoveries. In the mean time, it is lufticient for our purpofe
to obferve, that whatevfcr be the fentient principle or principles in the earthworm, it is obvious that the whole
animal cannot in. any cafe be confcious, as man undoubtedly is, of one individual fenfation; and that therefore
no arguments built upon the. phenonjena accompanying fenlation in worms, can be of any importance in the
coiatroverfy about the materiality or immateriality of the human mind.
(G) This argument is not new. It was long ago urged by Dr Clarke againft Mr Dodwell j and fome of
«ur readers may not be ill pleafed to fee it ftated by lo mafterly a reafoner : “ That the foul cannot poflibly
kf material, is demonftrable from the fingle confideration of bare fenfe or confcioufnefs. For matter being a
divifi.ble fubfiance, confifting always of feparable, nay of adually feparate and diftind parts, it is plain that un-
j j* ;vere dlentially confcious, in which cafe every particle of matter muft confift of innumerable feparate
<md Gidind confcioufneffes, no fyftem of it, in any poflible compofition or divifion, can be an individual con-
jcious being. For iuppofe three or three hundred particles of matter, at a mile or any given diftance one
from another, is it poflible that all thele feparate parts fhould in that ftate be one individual confcious beino ?
Suppofe then all thefe particles brought together into one fyftem, fo as to touch one another, will they there¬
by-, or by any motion, or compofition whatfoever, become one whit lefs truly diftind beings than they w’ere
when at the.greateft diftance ? Flow then can their being difpofed in any poflible fyftem make them one indi¬
vidual confcious being ? If you will fuppofe God by his infinite power fuperadding confcioufnefs to the united
particles, yet ftill thefe particles being really and neceffarily as diftind beings as ever, cannot be themfelves the
Jubjetf m which that individual confcioufnefs inheres 5 but the confcioufnefs can only be fuperadded by the addition
of iomething, which m all the particles muft ftill itfelf be but one individual being. The foul, therefore, whofe
power of thinking is undeniably one individual confcioufnefs, cannot poflibly be a material fubflance.” Clarke's
Letter to Mr Dodwe/l, 2d edition.
i hat the fame mode of reafoning was known to the ancients, Cudwmrth has Ihown by numerous quotations •
and as an argument certainly loles nothing by antiquity, or by having occurred to thinking men in diftant
ages, vve ftiall lay before, our readers two paffages from Plotinus, of which the extrad from Clarke’s letter
(though yvc are per.uaded it was not borrowed by the author) muft be confidered as little more than a para-
phraftical tranflation. T( reivvy Qvsovg-h, «< T»i» rupx uvea Myoyhs, 7rgd]ov piv bcctrrov icieov? rr,; ^vyrif
t«5 sv t«v ctvlu rtipd-U, TTcneoUarTov cicc idU km « oXy, ; rov to ; ovhv to y.Yy'do; <rvn-
Co™o T* 0V!rM ccXXcc km oAov -TroXXa.yyi, ott^ rtopun vxpwm ahvdjcK £v TrXuon to
^'o off* TO (ttggo? 0 *-££ TO oAov, vTrctzxuv u & uctrjov rtov ov (pr.revrtv, s| afvvm fv™ Xv]et? vrctphi.
Jbn. IV. Lib. vn. 5. 5 ’
The fame argument is elfewhere ftated thus : e, k^ov ^ h ^ « t,-
^ *‘0™’ ('Mv b vh'ldlv, wfcarw tyv tryo’&rfai. Ket yovv 7w*v ' Ert. IV.
Jjb, vu. Cap, z. ? '
Chap. II. META?
Of the Sub- <( In oppofitlon to tills reafoning-, the materialifts
ft a nee of a{^rrn? entire fyftems may poffefs, and they think
^ie^™an themfeWes warranted to pronounce that organized fyf-
u-—^   terns of matter actually do poflfefs, powers effentia]!y
different from thofe which inhere in the feveral parts.
Amongft various familiar though ftrikrng illufirations
of this truth, it has been faid, that a rofe poffeffes the
property of fweetnefs or fragrance, a globe the pro¬
perty of fphericity, a harpfichord the property or
power of producing harmony, aqua regia the property
of diffolving gold, &c. though the component parti¬
cles of thefe different organized fyftems are themfelves
totally deftitute of the powers and properties here enu¬
merated.
“ The immaterialifts, in reply, affert, that it is not
only falfe in faff, but a direfl contradiflion, and an
abfolute impoffibility in the nature of things, that a
fyftem (hould poffefs any property which does not
inhere in its component parts. To affert that the
power of the whole is the fum or aggregate of the
powers of all the parts, is an identical and felf-evident
propoiition, the whole and all the parts being terms
precifely fynonymous. Whoever, therefore, calls in
queftion the truth of this axiom, muff maintain that
the power of the whole is fomething different from the
power of all the parts, i. e. that the powTer of the
whole is not the pow’er of the whole.
“ It will be eafy to demonftrate the correfpondence
of faffs wath this plain and fimple theory. For this
purpofe, it is neceffary to obferve, that the properties
of matter, or what are generally denominated fuch,
may be divided into real and nominal, which Locke
and others have called primary and fecondary qualities.
Figure, magnitude, and motion, are qualities really in¬
herent in matter $ but figure, magnitude, and motion,
eternally varied, can produce only different combina¬
tions of figure, magnitude, and motion. There are
alfo powers, or qualities, vulgarly confidered as inhe¬
rent properties of matter organically difpofed, which
are really and truly qualities or affeffions of the men¬
tal or percipient principle, and have no exiftence when
not perceived. Thus the fweetnefs or fragrance of the
rofe, confidered as mere fweetnefs and fragrance, can
be nothing but an affeftion of the mind j confidered
as a quality of the rofe, they can mean nothing more
than a certain arrangement, configuration, and motion
of parts, which in fome irtexplicable manner produces
the fenfation of fweetnefs. In this inftance, therefore,
the power of the whole is plainly the aggregate of the
powers refiding in the parts, by the motion and or¬
ganization of which a certain effeft is produced upon
a foreign and percipient fubftance.
“ But a globe, we are told, poffeffes the property of
fphericity, though not a Angle particle amongft that in¬
finite number of which the globe is conllituted is itfeif
of a fpherical form. The fallacy of this illuffration is,
howrever, as ealily demonftrable as that of the former.
The fphericity of a globe is evidently the fum or aggre¬
gate of the curvilinear or convex parts which compofe
its furface •, and the property of the whole is neither
more nor lefs than the combined properties of all its
parts. No one doubts, that by new compofitions or
arrangement of material particles polfeffing magnitude,
figure, and motion, an endlefs diverfity of phenomena
may be produced, to which it may be neceffary to apply
H Y S I C S. 651
new names. New names, however, do no* conftitute Of the Sab-
new properties 5 and though we give to a globe the ^ance
appellation of an entire fyftem, and afcribe to it the
property of fphericity, we know at the fame time that < _ ^ <
it is really nothing more than a colieftion of thoufands
of millions of particles, aftually feparate and diftinft,
arranged in that particular form which we denominate
fpherical. But this can never be regarded as in the
remoteft manner analogous to the creation of the power
of perception, in confequence of a certain organical
arrangement or difpofition of impercipient particles.
Though fphericity is, indeed, the property of the entire
fphere, yet every part of the fphere, if divided, poffeffes
its lhare of fphericity. But if the percipient principle '
be divided, what would become of the power of percepv
tion ? A fphere equally divided becomes two hemi-
fplieres ; Does a perception, when divided in like man¬
ner, become twm demi-perceptions ?
“ The fame reafonihgs may eafily be transferred, and
applied to the harpfichord. Can any one be abfurd
enough to affirm that the power of harmony refidts in
the harpfichord, as the po-wer of perception does in the
mind ? After the utmoft: fkill of the artificer has been
exerted, we difcover nothing more in the harpfichord
than new modifications of the old properties of figure,
magnitude, and motion, by means of which certain
vibrations are communicated to the air, -which, convey¬
ed by the medium of the auditory nerves to the fen-
forium, produce the fenfation of harmonic founds.
Thefe new modifications are therefore attended, indeed,
with new and very wonderful effects ; but then thofe
effe&s are produced upon, and are themfelves modifica¬
tions of, the fentient or percipient faculty. And though
' it is wholly incomprehenfible to us in what manner
thefe effe&s, that is, thefe fenfations, are produced,
we well know, and perfectly comprehend, that they are
not pew powers belonging to any organized fyftem of
matter j that they have no exiftence but in a mind
perceiving them ; and that they are far from militating
againft that grand and univerfal axiom, that the power
of the whole is nothing more than the united powers of
all the parts.
“ As to the laft inftance adduced, of the power of
aqua regia to diffolve gold, though neither the fpirit of
fait, nor the fpirit of nitre of which it is compounded,
feparately poffeffes that power, it is plain, that from
the union of thefe two fubftances, certain new modes
of configuration and motion refult; and the folution
of gold is the confequence of this new arrangement
and motion of the parts. But the particles of which
the menftruum is compofed were always poflefled of
the properties of figure and motion ; and what is ftyl-
ed a new property, is clearly nothing more than 9
new effeft of the old properties differently modified.
In a word, the advocates for materialifm may fafely
be challenged to produce, in the whole compafs of na¬
ture, a cafe which bears the leaft analogy to that which
thefe inftances are moft unphilofophically adduced to
prove and to illuftrate. It is an abfurdity which tran-
fubftantiation itfeif does not exceed, to maintain that
a whole is in reality any thing different from its com¬
ponent parts: and all nature rifes up in confutation of
an affertion fo monftrous and extravagant. To affirm
that perception can arife from any combination of im¬
percipient particles, is as truly ridiculous, as to affirm
4 N 2 that
6 $2
Of the Sub-
ftance of
the Human
Mind.
Reply by
the niate-
rialifts
fhown
236
to be ab-
furd.
that a combination of the feven primary colours with
the four cardinal virtues may conftitute a planet. It is
equivalent to an aflertion, that an epic poem might be
compofed of parallelograms, cones, and triangles. In
a word, it is an abfurdity not lefs real, and little lefs
obvious, than that of the blind man who thought that
the idea of a fearlet colour refembled the found of a
trumpet.”
If a matter be taken in the common aceptation, to
be a folid, extended, and inert fubitance, this reafoning
for the immateriality of the fentient principle in man
appears to us to have the force of demonftration,
which no difficulties or partial objeftions, arifing from
our inability to conceive the band of union between
two fuch heterogeneous fubftances as mind and body,
can ever weaken, and far lefs overturn. But the mo¬
dern materialifts deny that matter is either folid or
inert. “ All thofe fads (fay they) which led philo-
fophers to fuppofe that matter is impenetrable to other
matter, later and more accurate obfervations have
ffiown to be owing to fomething elfe than folidity and
impenetrability, viz. a power of repulfan, which for
that reafon they would fubllitute in its place. The
property of or repulfion (fays Dr Prieflley)
appears to me not to be properly what is imparted to
matter, but what really makes it to be what it is ; info-
much, that without it, it would be nothing at all;
and as other philofophers have faid,—‘ Take away fo¬
lidity, and matter vaniffies,’ fo I fay, ‘ Take away at¬
traction and repulfion, and matter vaniffies.” If this
be admitted, the ingenious author hopes that we ffiall
not confider master with that contempt and difgult with
which it has generally been treated, there being no
thirjg in its real nature that can judify fuch fentiments
refpeding it.
We know not why, upon any hypothecs, mat¬
ter ffiould be viewed with contempt and difguft.—
Whether penetrable or impenetrable, every confident
theiil confiders it as one of the creatures of God,, per¬
fectly fitted to anfwer all the purpofes for uhich it was
intended : but were it really deftitute of folidity, and
endowed with the powers of attraction and repulfion,
we ffiould flill be obliged to confider it as incapable of
the powers of fenfation and thought. If we have any
notion at all of what is meant by centres of attraction
and repulfion (of which indeed we are far from being
confident), it appears to us to be intuitively certain,
that nothing can be the refult of any poffible combina¬
tion of fuch centres, but new and more enlarged fpheres
of attraction and repulfion. But furely confcioufnefs,
fenfation, and will, are as different from attraction and
repulfion, as a cube is from the found of a trumpet, or
as the lenfations of a felon in the agonies of death are
from the attraction of the rope by wffiich he is hanged.
If this be admitted, and we are perfuaded it will be
denied by no man whofe underltanding is not clouded
by an undue attachment to paradoxes, the fentient prin¬
ciple cannot poffibly be matter: for if, when the powers
of attraction and repulfion are taken away, matter vani-
ffies ; and if confcioufnefs and fenfation are not attrac¬
tion and repulfion j it is not more evident that three
and two are not nine, than that the fubftance which at¬
tracts and repels cannot be that which is confcious and
percipient.
Locke, who was certainly no materialift, as he re-
M E T A P H Y S I C S. Part III.
peatedly affirmed, and indeed demonfirated, thatOitlie Sub'
thought could never be the refult of any combinations
of figure, magnitude, and motion, was yet of opinion, jviuki.
that God by his almighty power might endow fome ——j
fyItems of matter with the faculties of thinking 237
and walling. It is always with reluCtance than
controvert the oninions of fo great a man ; and
Locke’s o-
r r 1 -. ■ pinion hafty
opinions or lo great a man j and iti$ancjl{j_
with fome degree of horror that we venture in any founded,
cafe to call in queftion the power of Omnipotence.—
But Omnipotence itfelf cannot work contradictions j
and it appears to us nothing fliort of a contradiction,
to (uppofe the individual power of perception inhe¬
ring in a fyftem which is itfelf extended and made up
of a number of feparate and diftinCt fubltances. For
let us fuppofe fuch a fyltem to be fix feet long, three
feet broad, and two feet deep (and we may as well fup¬
pofe a fyftem of thefe dimenfions to be percipient, as one
that is fmaller), then it is plain, that every idea mult
be extended, and that part of it muft be in one place,
and part in another. If fo, the idea of a fquare inch
will be fix feet long, three feet broad, and two
feet deep •, and what is ftill harder to be digeft-
ed, the feveral parts of this idea will be at a great
diftance from each other, without any bond of
union among them. The being which apprehends
one extremity of the idea, is, by the fuppoiition, fix
feet diftant from the being which apprehends the ether
extremity; and though thefe two diitinCI beings be¬
long to one fyftem, they are not only feparable, but
aClually feparated from each other as all the particles of
matter are. What is it then that apprehends as one the
whole of this extended idea ? Part of it may be appre¬
hended by one particle of matter, and part of it by ano¬
ther ; but there is nothing wffiich apprehends, or can
apprehend, the whole. Perhaps it will be faid, the
power of apprehenfion is not divided into parts, but
is the power of the one fyllern, and therefore appre¬
hends at once the whole idea. But a power or facul¬
ty cannot be feparated from its fubject, power which
inheres in nothing being confeffedly impoffible ; and
a material fyftem is not one fubjedt in which any indi¬
vidual power or faculty can inhere. There muft,
therefore, be united to the fyftem fome one being,
which is the fubject of thought, and which is unex¬
tended as wTell as indivifible. This, we fay, follows
undeniably. For, let us fupgofe, that an extended
being without feparable parts is poffible, and that
fuch a being is percipient; it is obvious, that the
whole of any one of its perceptions could not be in one
place. Nowt, though we ftrould grant to Dr Prieft-
ley and other materialifts, that every idea of an ex¬
tended fubftance has itfelf three dimenfions, and is in¬
corporated and commenfurate with the whole perci¬
pient fyftem ; what, upon this fuppofition, fhall we
think of confcioufnefs and of the perception of truth ?
Is confcioufnefs or truth extended ? If fo, one fide or
fuperfices of confcioufnefs, or of a truth, may be greater
or lefs than another, above or below, to the right or
to the left; and it will be very proper and philolophical
to fpeak of the length, breadth, and depth, of con¬
fcioufnefs or of truth. But furely to talk of the
place, or the extenfion of thefe things, is as abfuid
as to talk of the colour of found, or the found of
a triangle; and we might as well fay, that confci-
oufneffi is green or red, as that it is an ell or an inch
Chap. H.
M E T A P
ed.
Of the Sub- long *, and that truth is blue, as that it has three
fiance of dlmenfions. t -
the Human reafoning is fomewhat differently hated by
Cudworth ; who obferves, that if the foul be an ex-
,;S tended fubftance, “ it muff of neceflity be cither a
hecaufe the phyiical point (i. e. the leaf! extenfion poflible, it there
fentlent be-ijg any fuch kail extenfion), or elfe it muff confift or
i»g more ‘ fuch phyfical points joined together. As for
be extend- ^ former 0f thefe, it is impoffible that one jingle atom,
or fmallejlpoint of extenfion, fhould be able to perceive
diiiinaiy all the variety of things, i. e. take notice of
all the diftinB and different parts of an extended abjett,
and have a defeription or delineation of the whole of
them upon itfelf (for that would be to make it the
lea ft, and not the leaft, poflible extenfion at the fame
time: Befides, to fuppofe every foul to be but one
physical point, or the fmalleft poffible extenfion, is to fup¬
pofe fuch an effential difference in matter or exten¬
fion, as that fome of the points thereof fliould be natu¬
rally devoid of all life, fenfe, and underflanding ; and
others again, naturally fenftive and rational. And
even fhould this abfurdity be admitted, it would yet
be utterly inconceivable how there fhould be one, and
but one,fenftive and rational atom in every man ; how
H Y S I C 3. 65.5
this atom of fo finall dimenfions fliould actuate theOfthe Sub-
whole fyftem *, and how it fliould conftantly remain ^ Human
the fame from infancy to old age, whilft ah the other jviind.
parts of the fyifem tranfpire perpetually, and are iuc- '
ceeded by new matter (h).
“ But'if, according to the fecond hypothefis, fouls
be extended fubftances confifling of many points one
without another, and all concurring in every fenfa-
tion 5 then muft every one of tbde points perceive
either a point only of the object, or elfe the whole.
Now, if every point of the extended foul perceivesonly
a point of the objeB, then is there no one thing in us
that perceives the whole, or that can compare one
part of the objeft with another. On the other hand,
if every point of the extended foul perceive the whole
ohjeEi at once, then would there be innumerable percep¬
tions of the fame objeft in every ienfation •, as many,
indeed,- as there are points in the extended foul. -
And from both thefe fuppofltions it would alike fol¬
low, that no man is one Jingle percipient or perfon, but
that in every man there are innumerable perci¬
pients ov perfons; a conclufion dircffly contrary to the
infallible evidence of ccmfcioufnefs (t).”
Cogent as thefe arguments for the immateriality
of
fr, \ Should it be faid that this effential difference between the atoms of matter is not fortuitous j that fome
of f}m are created intelligent for the exprefs purpofe of animating fyftems of others whmn are unintelligent *,
ti^fihduy, or extenjion, of matter^ut by ho energies o, » = the quality of ex.eniion » It is
alleged, ,“rfc1)' ‘b been akeah En, a rd fl»U bT mote fully (Itou-u aL-.va'rds, that by our „o-
evidently of no ufe •, and it ^ are^ fo far from beinix led to fuppofe the fubjedf of thefe powers
tions of confcioufnefs and betvveen tgem and extenfion. But if thefe intelligent
aSms be’divefleT of their quality of extenfion, they vvill be transformed from matter to mind, and become the
"Ztf'ifthr^e'aMrklrvolttT^udice the public againft the motion of an unextended foul by re-
Kd • • nf r)a,f Cartes altogether unknown to the ancients, it may not be impioper to give
prefenting it as a ndio . , • ’f themfelves how far this reprefentation is juft.—PiW/j, xeafoning
fenfalion, express himfelf in thefe words i_„r, ^
h hj ov xXXc h xXXce rxv.ov cfxov
«V " 'wiiTpbklks frus, murof neceffity be one .Jng, and by one and the fame
HdildfibkVerceive all; and that whether they be more things entering through feyeral organs ot fenfe,
inuiviiible perceive , fubftance or one various and multiform thing, entering through the lame
as the many qualities of one lubftance, or one ^ ^ ^ thin in u° tllat perceives the nofe, and
organ, as the countenance an g ^ ^ ^ felf.fame th;ng that perceiveth all. And when one thing enters
another thing the eyes , bu , both thefe alfo muft of neceflity come at laft ta one mdmfible ;
r^^of them be affirmh to be different from the other,
otherwile ney co^a a nowhere in one place.” Purfuing the fame argument, and having obferved,
that if what perceiveth in us be extended, then one of thefe three things mult of neceflity be affirmed, that either
that it wtiat perceivei • , on]v 0f the objea, or every part of it the whole object;
oreUcP that0 all'comes'to fome one point, which alone perceives both the feveral parts of the object ami me
whole : he obferves of the firlt of tliefe fuppofitions.-^fc- •'1‘
^ fouimuftVdve
oiThrobjea,'and "another0 another; and nothing in it, the whole fenfible ; juft as I ffiould have the fetife of
one thin", and you of another.” Of the fecond fuppofition he writes in tins manner : « at
i b ^ ^ , n ■ fix.rvxc ‘ “ But if every part of the extended foul perceive the whole ienhole object:,
■’ g rrr±ST. d" fibie there mull be h, every man infinite fenfatlons and images of one objea.”
'“‘Aitrrim th tffir ntl t pa^’of tiL dhjunaion, Plobius by affer.ing the infinite divifibiiity of body, here
lows to thVfuppofition of an/one phyfical point is in itfelf an abfurdity. But tf ft were not, he agmes^
<554
* Tracis
Ethical,
Theologi¬
cal, and
Political,
Vol. i.
°ft2ceSofb’uf the fentIent Principle appear to be, they have
the Human ^een *ateJy treated with the moft fovereign contempt
Mind. by. a writer who profeffes to be a difciple of Dr
' v  Prieflley’s, but who feems not to have learned the
modefty or the candour of his mailer. Dr Prieftley
labours to. prove, that to account for the phenomena
of perception and volition, &c. it is not neceffiiry to
fuppofe ap immaterial principle in man. IMr Cooper
witli greater boldnefs affirms, and undertakes to de-
monflrate with all the parade of mathematical preci-
lion , that fuch a principle is impoffible. Though
the authority of this philofopher in fuch inquiries as
depend not immediately upon the retort and the fur¬
nace, is certainly not great, he yet utters his dogmas
with fuch confidence, that it may not be improper
*39 t0 exam*ne tbe chief arguments upon which they reft.
An attempt “ Suppofe (fays he) the foul to have no common
to prove property with matter j then, no thing can aft upon
^tT an^ otber but by means of fome common property,
immaterial thJs we have not only all the proof that inducftion of
fubftance known and acknowledged cafes can furniffi, but that
additional proof alfo which arifes from the impoffibi-
lity of conceiving how the oppofite propofition can
be true. But by the fuppofition, the foul has no
property in common with matter $ and therefore the
foul cannot a£t upon matter. But by the fuppofition
of every fyftem of immaterialifm (except thofe of
Malebranche, Berkeley, and Leibnitz), it is deemed
an efl'ential property of the foul, that it a&s upon the
body, or upon matter j therefore the foul can and
cannot aft upon matter at the fame time, and in the
fame refpeft. But this is a contradiftion in terms ;
and as two contradiftions cannot both be true at
the fame time, the fuppofition of the exiftence of an
immaterial foul cannot be true j that is, the foul does
not exift.”
This reafoning, the reader will obferve, is carried
on with all the pomp of mode and figure. The pro-
pofitions hang upon each other like the feveral fteps
of an algebraic procefs; but as in fuch proceffes one
error unwarily admitted produces a falfe refult, fo in
demonftrative reafonings one unfound argument admit¬
ted into the premifes is neceflarily produftive of error
in the conclufion. When the author affirms, “ that
no thing can aft upon any other but by means of fome
common property,” he affirms without the fltadow of
proof what is certainly not felf-evident. He fays, in¬
deed, that of this we have all the proof that induc¬
tion of known and acknowledged cafes can furniffi ;
but unlefs confcioufnefs be calculated to deceive us,
this is unqueftionably a miftake. Matter, he repeat¬
edly affirms, has no other properties than thofe of at-
traftion and repulfion : but a man moves his arm by
a mere energy of will j and therefore, according to
this demonftrator, an energy of will muft be either
material attraftion or material repulflon. If fo, it is
reafonable to conclude, that when a man draws his
hand towards his head, the centre of his brain exerts
its power of attraEiion ; and that when he extends his
metaphysics.
Part III.
240
Siown to
be futile.
arm at full length before him, the fame centre exerts Of the Sub-
its power of repulfion. We beg pardon of our readers for *tarice of
detaining them one moment upon fuch abfurdities astht I;Iuma«
thefe : yet we cannot difmifs the argument without ta- ^
king the liberty to alk our all-knowing author, How it
comes to pals that the fame centre lometimes attrafts
and fometimes repels the fame fubftance at the fame
diftance j nay, that it both attrafts and repels fubftan-
ces of the fame kind, at equal diftances, and at the
very fame inftant of time ? This muft be the cafe,
when a man puts one hand to his head, and thrufts
another from him ; and therefore, if thefe operations
be the effieft of attraftion and repulfion, it muft be
of attraftion and repulfion to which induftion of
known and acknowledged cafes furniffies nothing fimi-
lar or analogous, i. e. of fuch attraftion and repulfion
as, according to Mr Cooper’s mode of reafoning, does
not exift. The truth is, that rve are not more certain
that we ourfelves exift, than that an energy of will is
neither attraftion nor repulfion ; and therefore, unlefs
all matter be endued with will, it is undeniable, that,
whatever be the fubftance of the foul, one thing afts
upon another by a property not common to them both.
In uffiat manner it thus afts, we pretend not to know :
but our ignorance of the manner of any operation is
no argument againft the reality of the operation itjclf
when we have for it the evidence of confcioufnefs and
daily experience ; and when the author fhall have ex¬
plained to general fatisfaftion how material centres at-
traft and repel each other at a diftance, we {hall under¬
take to explain how one thing afts upon another with
which it has no common properties. „^T
Sufpicious, as it ffiould feem, that this reafoning has A fecond
not the complete force of mathematical demonftration atternP* of
the author fupports his opinion by other arguments. fame
“ Whatever we know (fays he), we know by means^
of its properties, nor do wTe in any cafe whatever cer¬
tainly knowT any thing but thefe ; and w>e infer in all
cafes the exiftence of any thing which we fuppofe to
exift from the exiftence of its properties. In ffiort
our idea of any thing is made up of a combination of
our ideas of its properties. Gold is heavy, duftile,
tenacious, opaque, yellow, foluble in aqua regia, &c.
Now, let any one luppofe for an inftant that gold is
deprived of all thefe, and becomes neither heavy, duc¬
tile, tenacious, opaque, yellow, foluble, &c. what re¬
mains, will it be gold ? Certainly not. If it have other
properties, it is another fubftance. If it have no pro¬
perties remaining, it is nothing.^ For nothing is that
which hath no properties. Therefore, if any thing
lofe all its properties, it becomes nothing ; that is, it
lofes its exiftence. Now, the exiftence of the foul is
inferred, like the exiftence of every thing elfe, from its
luppofed properties, which are the phenomena of
thinking, fuch as perception, recolleftion, judgement,
and volition. But in all cafes of perfeEl fleep, of the
operation of a ftrong narcotic, of apoplexy, of fwoon-
ing, of drowning where the vital powers are not ex-
tinguiffied, of the effefts of a violent blow on the
back
Anftotle in afking 7rws r» to ftiprlor—-thereby plainly indicating, that the fentient principle is totally fe-
jsarated from extenfion, and can neither be confidered as extended like a fuperficies or folid, nor unextended as a
pnyiical point.
4
Chap. II. M E T A P
Of the Sub- back part of the head, and all other leipothymic affec-
thfHumantIOnS’ therc ^.neither perception, recolkaion, judge-
Mind. ment, nor volition j that is^ all the properties of the
* v / foul are gone, are extinguiihed. Therefore, the foul
itfelf lo;cs its exi Hence for the time. If any man (hall
lay, that tbefe properties are only fujpended for the
time, I would defire him to examine what idea he an¬
nexes to this fuipenfion j w hether it be not neither
more nor lefs than that they are made not to exijl for the
time. Either no more is meant, or it is contradiaory
to mattei ot faft i and moreover, if more he meant, it
may eafily be perceived to involve the archetypal ex’ift-
ence of abftraft ideas, and to contradict the axiom, im-
242 poffibile ejl idem effe et non efleP
fiiown to # ■f'or tf*6 benefit of Ihort-fighted inquirers, it is to be
be equally wilhed that the author had favoured the public with
weak. this proof which might have been fo eafily brought j
for we can difeern no connexion whatever between
the fufpenfion of the exercife of the powers of the
mind, and the archetypal exiftence of abftraft ideas,
or the abfui‘d propofition that it is pofible for the fame
thing to be and not to be. We think, however, that wTe
underftand enough of this reafoning which he has given
us to be able to pronounce wdth lome confidence that
it is nothing to the purpofe. For, in the firji place,
W e beg leave to obferve, that between the properties
of gold and the powers of thinking, &c. there is no
fimilarity; and that what may be true when affirmed
of the one, may be falfe when affirmed of the other.
i.he powers of the mind are all more or lefs aCHve j
the enumerated properties of gold are all paffive. We
know by the moll complete of all evidence, that the
exerciie of pow'er may be fufpended, and the power it¬
felf remain unimpaired; but to talk of the fufpenfion
of the energies ot what wras never energetic, if it be
^*®t to contradict the axiom tmpojjibile efl idem effe et non
efj'e, is certainly to employ words which have no mean¬
ing. Yet even this argument from the properties'of
gold might have led the author to fufpeCt that fome-
thing elie may be meant by the fufpenfion of the ex¬
ercife of powers, than that thofepowers are made not to
exift for the time. In a room perfectly dark gold is not
yellow ; but does it lofe any of its effential properties,
and become a different fubftance, merely by being car¬
ried from light to darknefs ? Is a man while in a dark
room deprived of the faculty of fight, and one of the
powers of his mind made not to exift for the time i1
I he author will not affirm that either of thefe events
takes place. He will tell us that gold exhibits not its
yellow appearance, merely becaufeffie proper medium
of light paffes not from it to the eye of the percipi¬
ent, and that it is only for want of the fame medium
that nothing is feen by us in perfeCt darknefs. Here,
then, by his own confeffion, is a power of the mind,
and a property of an external objeCl, both fufpended
in their energies, without being annihilated ; and no
proof has yet been brought that all the powers of the
mind may not in the fame manner be fufpended in
their energies without being made not to exift. As
light is neceflary to vifion, but is not itfelf either the
thing which lees or the thing which is leen ; fo may
the brain be neceffary to the phenomena of thinking,
without being either that which thinks, or. that which
js thought upon : and as aftual vifion ceafes when light
is withdrawn, though the eye and the objeCl both con-
H Y S I C S.
tinue to exift ; fo may the energy of thinking ceafe Of the Sub-
when the brain is rendered unfit for its ufuar office, ftance of
though the being which thinks, and the power oftIieM^l(l]'nan
thought, continue to exift, and to exift unimpaired. ^ - »
l hat this is aClually the cafe every man mull be con¬
vinced who believes that in thinking he exerts the
fame pow'ers to day that he exerted yefterday 5 and
therefore our author’s fecond demonftration of the
nonexiffence of mind is, like Ins firft, founded upon
aflertions which cannot be granted. 243
Another of thefe pretended demonftrations is as A third at-
follows: “ If the foul exift at all, it muff exift fome-temPtof
where j for it is impoffible to frame to one’s felf an^e[ame
idea of any thing exifting, which exifts nowhere.
But if the foul exift fomewhere, by the terms it oc¬
cupies fpace, and therefore is extended; but whatever
has extenfion, has figure in confeqnence thereof. The
foul then, if it exift, hath the properties of extenfion
and figure in common with matter. Moreover, by the
luppofition of every immaterial hypothefis (except
thofe of Malebranche, Berkeley, and Leibnitz), it
ads upon body, i. e. upon matter j that is, it attraCls
and repels, and is attracted and repelled, for there is
po conceivable affedion of matter but what is founded
on its properties of attraction and repulfion; and if
it be attracted and repelled, its reaction mult be at¬
traction and repulfion. The foul then has the pro-
perties of extenfion, figure, attraction and repulfion,
or folidity. But thefe comprife every property which
matter, as fuch, has ever been fuppofed to poflefs,
Therefore the foul is matter, or material. But by
the fuppofition it is immaterial j therefore it dpes not
exift. For nothing can exift whole exiftence implies
a contradiction.” 244
Mr Cooper, we fee, ftiU proceeds in the direCt roadfhown to
of mathematical demonftration ; but in the prefent in- ^”tute ^
fiance we beg leave to flop him in the very beginningk ‘
of his courfie, and to afk where the univerfe "exifts ?
\Vhen he fliall have given fuch an anfwer to this quef-
tion as men of common fenfe may be able to compre¬
hend, we may perhaps attempt to tell him where an.
unextended foul exifts. If this demonftration be not
a collection of words without meaning, the exiftence
of fpace as a real thing is taken for granted. Space,,
therefore, has extenfion, and of courfe figure} but
we believe Mr Cooper will find fome difficulty in afeer-
taining the figure of infinite fpace. The mind certainly
aCts upon body. For this wTe have the evidence of
confeioufnefs and experience ; but we have no evidence,
whatever that it muft therefore attract and repel, and
be attracted and repelled. It has been already ob-
ferved, that the mind, whatever be its fubftance, aCts
upon the body by energies of will. What thefe are-
every man knows with the utmoft certainty and preci-
fi°n 5 whilft we may venture to aflert, that no man
knows precifely what corpufcular attraction and repul¬
fion are, fuppofing the exiftence of fuch powers to be
poffible. When w^e fpeak of attraction and repulfion,
we have fome obfeure notion of bodies aCting upon
each other at a diftance ; and this is all that we know
of the matter. But when we think pf an energy of
the human will, the idea of diftance neither enters nor
can enter into our notion of fuch an energy. Thefe
are faCts which we pretend not to prove by a mathe¬
matical or a chemical prccefs. Every man muit be*-
sonvincea
6 5 6
Of the Sub-
ftance of
the Human
Mind
METAPHYSICS.
Part IIP
. , .24S
Objeclions
to the doc¬
trine of im-
materialifm
ftated and
anfwered.
convinced of their truth by evidence more complete
than any proof, viz, immediate confcioufnels ot his
own thoughts and volitions. This being the calc, we
may turn' Mr Cooper’s artillery againft himielt, and,
becaufe mind ads upon body by powers different from
attraaion and repulfion, argue that body neither -at-
tra&s nor repels •, and were it true, as it is certain y
falfe, that nothing could aft upon another but by
means of feme property common to both, we_ might
infer that every atom of matter is endowed with the
powers of volition and intelligence, and by confequence
that every, man is not one but ten thoukmd commons
beings, a conclufion which our philofopher feems not
inclined to admit. . . A ,
Having finifhed his demonjlrations, the author ftates
other obieftions to the doarine of unmatenalilm,
which, as they are not his own nor new, have greater
weight. “ It appears no more than reafonable (lays
he), that if the doftrine of materialifm be rejefted as
inadequate to explain the phenomena, thefe latter fhomd
at leaf! be explained in fome manner or other better
upon the fub/lituted the rejected hypothelis ; io that
it is reafonable to require of an immatenalift that his
fuppofition of a diftina foul' fhould explain the ra¬
tionale of the phenomena of thinking. But, ftiange
to fay. To far from attempting to explain thefe phe¬
nomena on the immaterial hypothefis, it is acknow¬
ledged on all hands that even on this hypothefis the
phenomena are inexplicable.” This objeaion it would
certainly be no difficult talk to obviate ; but from that
trouble, fmall as it is, we are happily exempted by
the obieaor. “ I would have it underflood (fays he),
that no materialift ever undertook to % ^ percep¬
tion refults from our organization. What a mate-
lialift undertakes to affert is, that perception, whatever
it be, or however it refults from, does a&ually refult
from our organization.” According to Mr Cooper,
then, the rationale of thinking is equally inexplicable
by materialifts and immaterialifls ; and the truth is, that
we know the rationale of hardly any one operation in
nature. We fee that the ftroke of a racket produces
motion in a billiard ball; but how it does fo, we be¬
lieve no man can fay. Of the f3a, however we are
certain : and know that the motion us produced by
fome power, about the effiefts of which we can rea-
fon with precifion. In like manner we know with the
vitmoft certainty, that we ourfelves have the powers of
perception and volition-, and that thefe powers can¬
not be conceived as either an ell or an inch long. How
they refult from the mutual agency o, an immaterial
and material fub(lance upon each other, we are in¬
deed profoundly ignorant’, but that fuch is the faft,
and that they are not the refult of mere organization,
we mull neceffarily believe, fo long as it is true that
the power of the entire fyftem is nothing more than
thefum or aggregate of the powers of all its parts.
The immaterial hypothefis contains in it fomething
inexplicable by man : The material hypothefis like-
wife contains, by the confeffion of its advocates, fome¬
thing that it equally inexplicable^ and is over and
above burdened with this contradiction, that the whole
is fomething different from all its parts. It is there¬
fore no “ lingular phenomenon in literary hikory,
that one hypothefis fhould be rejeted as inadequate
to account for appearances, and that the hypothefis
2
fubftituted fhould, even by the acknowledgment
its abettors, be fuch as not only not to explain the
rationale of the appearances, but from the ’’Mure ci
it, to preclude all hopes of
This is exactly the cafe with
iuch an explanation.”
refpeM to a vacuum in
does not in the lead,
of the motions of the
of Of the Sub-
ftance of
the Unman
Mind.
aftronomy. That hypothefis
tend to explain the rationale
planets; but yet it mull be admitted in preference to a
plenum, becaufe upon this Lift hypothefis motion is im-
poffible. . .
“ Suppofmg the exiftence of the foul, it is an un- vt nether a*
fortunate^ cirLaltance (fay, Mr Cooper), that we
cannot properly affert pofxtively any tiling ot it ?-t lerted ,lf
all ” Were this the cafe, it would indeed be a very the foul as
unfortunate circumftancebut can we not affert po-of the body,
fitively as many things of the foul as we can of the
body ? Can we not fay with as much propriety and
certainty, that the foul has the powers, of perception
and volition, &c. as that the body is fohd and extend¬
ed, or as that matter has the powers of attradlion
and repulfion ? We know perfectly what perception
and volition are, though we cannot have ideas oi men¬
tal images of them-, and if our author knows what
attradlion and repulfion are, we believe he will not
pretend to have of them ideas entirely abftraaed from
their objeas. “ But granting the foul’s exiftence, it
may be afked (fays hej), Of what ufe is an hypothefis
of which no more can be afferted than its exiftence ?
We have juft obferved, that much more can be afferted
of the foul than its exiftence, viz. that it is fometmng
of which perception and will are properties ; and he
himfelf afferts nothing of matter but that it is fome¬
thing of which attraaion and repulfion are proper¬
ties. . .
“ This foul, of which thefe gentlemen (the imma-
terialifts) are confcious, is immaterial effentially. Now,
I deny (fays our author), that we can have any idea
at all of a fubftance purely immaterial.” He elfe-
where fays, that nothing can exift which is not extend¬
ed or that extenfion is infeparable from our notions
of’exiftence. Taking the word idea, in its proper
fenfe, to denote that appearance which external ob-
iedts make in the imagination, it is certainly true tnat
we can have no idea of an immaterial fubftance; but
neither have we, in that fenfe, any idea or matter ah-
ftrafted from its qualities. Has Mr Cooper any idea
of that which attrafts and repels, or of attraftion and
repulfion, abftrafted from their objefts ? He may, per¬
haps, have, though we have not, very adequate ideas or
bodies afting upon each other at a diftance j but as he
takes the liberty to fubftitute alfertions for arguments,
we beg leave in our turn to affert, that thofe ideas nei¬
ther are, nor can be, more clear and adequate than our
notion of perception, confcioufnefs, and will, united in
one being. r t-
That extenfion is no otherwife infeparable from our Extenfion
notions of exiftence than by the power of an early and
perpetual affociation, is evident from this circumUance, aI1 notjons
that, had we nev#r poffeffed the fenfes of fight and 0f ex;ft.
touch, we never could have acquired any idea at all ofence.
extenfion. No man, who has thought on the fubjeft,
will venture to affirm, that it is abfolutely impoffible
for an intelligent being to exift with no other ienles
than thofe of fmell, tafte, and hearing. Now it is ob¬
vious that fitch a being rauft acquire fome notion ol ex-
illtnce
Chap. II. M E T A P
0,tanceScfb'menC,I f,'0m hh 0wn : but into that notion
tl,e «l,n,exr r°n n°“!d n0t V**1? «»«« ! for neither founds.
Mind. Imells, nor coniciouhiefs, are extended ; and it is
‘    a fundamental article of the materialiils creed that all
our ideas are relifts of fenfation. Since then exiftence
may be conceived without extenfion, it may be inferred
that they are not infeparable from each other: and
iince cogitation cannot be conceived with extenfion, we
may realonably conclude, that the being which thinks
is not extended.
Mr Cooper indeed, with his mailer, talks of extend¬
ed ideas and extended thoughts : but we mull afi'ert, in
the words of Cudworth, that “ we cannot conceive a
thought x.o be of fuch a certain length, breadth, and
thichnejs, meafurable by inches, feet, and yards; that we
cannot conceive the half, or third, or twentieth part of
a thought 5 and that we cannot conceive every thought
to be of fome determinate/^,-,, fuch as round or ar%u-
lar, f>hencal, cubical, cylindrical, or the like. Where¬
as if extenfion were infeparable from exiilence, thoughts
mult either be mere nonentities, or extended into length,
breadth, and thicknefs ; and confequently all truths in us
(being- nothing but complex thoughts) mull be long
bioad, and thick, and of fome determinate figure. The
fame mud likewife be affirmed of volitions, appetites, and
paliions, and of all other things belonging to cogita-
t.ve beings ; fuch as knowledge and ignorance, wif-
dom and folly, virtue and vice, &c. that thefe are ei¬
ther all of them abfolute nonentities, or elfe extended in¬
to three dimenfions, and meafurable not only by inches
and feet, but. alfo. by folid meafures, fuch as pints and
quarts. But if this be abfurd, and if thefe things belono-.
ing to foul and mind (though doubtlefs as great realities
at leaf! as the things which belong to body) be unex¬
tended, then mull the fubllances of fouls or minds be
themfelves unextended, according to that of Plotinus,
vau; 00 (hadicts mvtov, and therefore the ■ human foul
cannot be material.”
Mr Cooper employs many other arguments to prove
the materiality of the fentient principle in man j but
the force of them extends no farther than to make it
m the.higt‘eft Probable, that the mind cannot
but in u- exert faculties but in union with fome organized
oion with corPoreal fyllem. This is an opinion which we feel
fome cor- n°t ourfelves inclined to controvert ; and therefore we
poreai fyf- lhall not make any particular remarks upon that part
pimotfpro- ^^ ai?thor’s .reafonings. That an immaterial and
kable and joodcerptible being, fuch as the foul, is not liable to
be diffolved with the body, is a faft which cannot be
controverted : for what has no parts can perifh only
by annihilation ; and of annihilation the annals of the
world afford no inllance. That an immaterial being,
endowed with the powers of perception and volition *
&.c. may be capable of exerting thefe powers in a Hate
of feparation from all body, and that at leal! one im
material Being does a&ually fo exert them, or other
powers analogous to them, are truths which no man
whofe arrogance does not furpafs his judgement will
venture to deny 5. but the queftion at prefent between
the moll rigid immaterialills and their opponents, is
whether there be ground to think that the human foul
is fuch a being ?
Now, when Mr Baxter and his followers confident¬
ly- affirm, that human perception mull necejfarily fubfiff
alter the difiblution of the prefent mortal and perilhable
Vol. XIII, Part II.
248
That the
human
mind can
not exert
H Y S I C S. 6.
t,hat ^hs wlien disencumbered of Of the Sub-
a °“lh "hi have its faculties greatly enlarged; they of
affirm what to us appears incapable of proof. ' Thatthe H: man
a difembodied. foul may perceive, and think, ' and
. ’ and that lts powers of intelleaion man have a
wider rang-e than when they were circumfcribed by a
corporeal fyHem, which permitted their ailion upon
external objefts only through five organs of fenfe, is
certainly^/,; and the argument by which the ma-
tenalills pretend to prove it not poffible, is one of the
molt contemptible fophifms that ever difgraced the
fPh,lofoPhy* To affirm, that becaufe our in¬
tellectual powers, in their embodied Hate, feem to de¬
cay with the fyftem to which they are united, the
mind, when fet free, mult therefore have no fuch
powers at all, is equally abfurd as to fay, that becaufe
a man ffiut up in a room which has but one window
lees objeds lefs and lefs diltinaiy as the glafs becomes
more and more dimmed, he mull in the open air be
deprived of the power of vifion. But becaufe the hu¬
man loul may, for any thing that we fee to the con¬
trary , fubfift, and think, and ad, in a feparate Hate
it does not therefore neceffarily follow that it will do’
lo ; and every thing that we know of its nature and
its energies leads us to think, that without fome kind
of body by which to aa as by an inllrument, all its
powers w-ould continue dormant. There is not the fha-
dow of a reafon to fuppofe that it exifted and was con-
Icious in a prior Hate; and as its.jnemory at prefent
unqueftionably depends upon the Hate of the brain
there is all the evidence of which the cafe will admit’
that if it Ihould fubfilt in a future Hate divelled of all
body, though it might be endowed with new and en¬
larged, powers oiperception, it could have no recollec¬
tion of what it did and fuffered in this world, and there¬
fore would rurt be a fit objeft either of reward or of
pumffiment. This confideration has compelled many
thinking men, both Pagans and Chriftians, to fuppofe
that at death the foul carries with it a fine material
vehicle, w-hich is its immediate fenforium in this world
and continues to be the feat of its recollection in the
,Sucb» we have feen> was the opinion of Mr
VVollaflon and Dr Hartley; it was likewife the opinion
of Cudworth and Locke, who held that the Supreme
Being alone is. the only mind wholly feparated from
matter; and it is an opinion which even Dr Clarke
one of the ablefl advocates for immaterialifm, w-ould not
venture pofitively to deny.
Nor is this opinion peculiar to a few moderns. Cud- anciem
worth, after giving a vaff number of quotations from
i ythagoreans and Platonifls, which prove to a demon-
ffration that they held the Deity to be the only mind
winch perceives and afts without the inffrumentality
of matter, obferves, “ from what hath been faid
it appeareth, that, the moff ancient affertors of the
incorporeity and immortality of the human foul, yet
1 up poled it to be always conjoined with fome body.”
ms Hierocles plainly : « Aoyi**, ovnot <rvy.<pvis iY,ov<rcc
ruy.*, ov!*> rov hfuov^yov u5 ro uvea TrunXhv,
PVTS TO Mftx uvx, xvlnv, f*r,TS xnv rupcAos’ xXX xo%v uiv
czrayuTov, oovoMct roorixi dt ii? Ta 'Aov ^
J ,le ratl™“‘ ™ture having always a kindred body, fo
proceeded from the demiurgus, as that neither iifelf is
body, nor yet can it be without body ; but though itfelF
be incorporeal, yet its whole form is terminated in a
4 ^ body.
6 >5
M E T A P
Agreeably to this the definition which he gives
Of the Sub-Z'O^?/.    ~
fiance of Df a nian is, ^ci ^cv; *e«VK7BV
the Human fl ratw!lal fou^ together with a kindred immortal body ,
, &1ll d‘ . and he affirms, that our prefent animated terreftrial
body, or mortal man, is nothing but s^Aav
■ the image of the true man, or an acceffion from which
it may be feparated. Neither does he affirm this only
of human fouls, but alfo of all other rational beings
whatfoever below the Supreme Deity, that they always
naturally actuate forae body. Wherefore a demon or
anoel (which by Hierocles are ufed as fynonymous
words), is alfo defined by him after the fame manner,
' iW»i AeyiKJ] yM* (pcSlsivtv s-^dlos, a rational foul, together
with a lucid body. And accordingly Froclus upon l la¬
ta's ‘Timtens ajfirmeth, nccnot, ruv yuTgu*
Tvym, xxi mexv t&‘>, xxi : \hat
every demon, fuperior to human fouls, hath both an intel-
ItSlualfoul and an ethereal vehicfe, the entirenefs thereof
bein'? made up or compounded of thefe two things. So
that there is hardly any other difference between de¬
mons or angels, and men, according to thefe philmo-
phers, but only this, that the former are Jap.a de into
aerial bodies only, and no further but the latter into
terreftrial alfo. Now, Hierocles pofitively affirms this
to have been the true cabala, and genuine doAnne of
the ancient Pythagoreans, entertained afterwards by
Plato : xcu rovro tuy Tlv6xy6^iuv b £>/«■*. « « nXxrm
vdheov 4i<pWY, xvuxx'TXi Zvptpo™ dvrxy.ii vTrorft^v
Bvyov? re bio^v ; *X<txy 6uxi ts xxi xyG^ttwy
llnd this was the docinnc of the Pythagoreans, which
Plato afterwards declared; he refembhng every both
human and divine foul (i. e. in our modern language,
every created rational being) to a winged chariot, and a
driver or charioteer both together : meaning by the cha¬
riot, an animated body *, and by the charioteer, the in¬
corporeal foul afluating it. . .
That this Pythagorean opinion of the Deity s be¬
ing the only mind which thinks and a£ls without ma¬
terial organs was very generally received by the an¬
cient Chriftians, might be proved by a thoufanc! quo¬
tations : We {ball content ourfelves with producing
two from the learned Origen. “ Solius Dei (laith this
philofophic father of the church), id eft, Patiis, Fidi,
et Spiritus SanSi, naturae id proprium eft, ut fine
* Teri Ar- material! fubftantia, et abfque ulla corporese adjeftio-
chon, lib. x. n;s f0cietate, intelligatur fubfiftere “ Matenalem
fubftantiam opinione quidcm et intelleftu iolum fepa-
rari, a naturis rationalibus, et pro ipfis, vel pofl: ipfas
affedlam videri j fed nunquam fine ipfa eas vel vixiffe,
vel vivere : Solius namque Trinitatis incorporea vita
exiftere putabitur f ” Should Mr Cooper and his
friends afk, What is the ufe of a foul wffiich cannot
aft without the inftrumentality of matter ? or why we
fhould fuppofe the exiftence of fucb a fubftance ? we
beg leave,1 in our turn, to a(k thefe gentlemen, What
?c tfip ufe of a brain which cannot fee without eyes ?
H Y S I C S. Part II1-
tionmuft refl. Previous to this inquiry, l.mvcver, if
is neceffary to enter upon another, which is ot the  
firfl: importance, and which every mate nail ft has en¬
deavoured to perplex *, we mean that which concerns
perfonal identity : for if, as has been often find, no man
is the lame perfon two-days fucceffively, it is of no
importance to us whether the foul be mortal or im¬
mortal.
Chap. III. 0/Personal Identity.
. . 25®
in a future ftate, as it is Perfonal
which can poliibly be identity*
251
tap
,7 Lib.
Lap. 2.
is the ufe of a brain which cannot fee without eyes ?
and why they ffiould fuppofe all our fenfations to ter¬
minate in fuch an internal fyftem, fmce the vulgar
certainly fuppofe their lenfations to fubfift in their re-
fpeftive organs ? How this ancient notion, which
makes body fo effential a part of man, is confident
with the immortality of the human foul, we ffiall in¬
quire in a fubfequent chapter •, in which we ffiall en-
etavour to afcertain what kind of immortality we have
reafon to expeft, and upon what evidence our expetffi-
Wh ETHER we are to live
the molt important queftion which can _
afked, fo it is the moft intelligible one which can be
expreifed in language. Yet ftrange perplexities have
been railed about the meaning of that identity or fame-
nefs of perfon, which is implied in the notion of our liv¬
ing now' and hereafter, or indeed in any two fucceffive
moments •, and the folution of thefe difficulties hath
been ftranger than the difficulties thernielves. io re¬
peat all that has been faid on the fubjeft would fvvell
this chapter to a difproportionate bulk. We thall there¬
fore content ourfelves with laying before our readers
the fentiments of Rithop Rutler, and the fancies ai!tI
dcmonftrations of the philolopher of Manchefter. ^ v\ t.
are induced to adopt this courfe, becaufe we think the
illuftrious bithop of Durham has exhaufted the tub-
ie&, by dating fairly the opinions which he contro¬
verts, and by eftablilhing his own upon a foundation
which cannot be ftiaken, and which are certainly not
injured, by the objedlions of Mr Cooper.
“ When it is affied (fays this philofophical prelate *) though it
in what perfonal identity confiils ? the anfwer Ihould be«nn^
the fame as if it were alked in what confifts fimliltude unjer-
or equality? that all attempts to define wmiild butft00ti an{i
pernlex iu Yet there is no difficulty at all in afcer-afcertained
taining the idea or notion : For as, upon two triangles by confer-^
being compared or viewed together, there antes to memory,
the mind the notion of fimilitude •, or, upon twice two * Differta-
and four, the notion of equality: fo likewife, upon/;* 1/,
comparing the confcioufnefs of one’s felf or one’s ovmfubjomedto
exiftence in any two moments, there as immediately ^ 0j-Reii.
arifes to ffie mind the notion pf perfonal identity ’gion, ike.
And as the two former comparifons not only give us
the notions of fimilitude and equality, but alio ffiow us
that two triangles are fimilar, and that twice two and
1 four are equal f fo the latter comparifon not only gives
us the notion of perfonal identity, but alio Inows us the
identity of ourfelves in thefe two moments the
prefent, iuppofe, and that immediately pall, or the
prefent and that a month, a year, or twenty years paft-
In other words, by refletiing upon that whicn is mylelf
now, and that which was myfelf twenty years ago,
I difeern they are not two, but one and the lame
felf.
“ But though confcioufnefs of what is prefent and^fe,^
remembrance of what is paft do thus alcertain our Pei-(]0I.0t
fonal identity to ourfelves} yet, to fay that remem- make per-
brance makes perfonal identity, or is neceffary to our ibnal idefi-
being the fame perfons, is to fay that a peifon has not tlty*
exifted a fingle moment, nor done one adion, but what
he can remember •, indeed none but what he reflects
upon. And one ffiould really think it felf-evident, that
conicioufnefs of pcrlonal identity prefuppofes and there-
Identity.
Chap. HI. MET^haf
’^rr«uth)
which it prefuppofes. , r „ •
“ The inquiry, what makes vegetables the fame in
the common acceptation of the word, does not appear to
have any relation to this of perfonal identity •, becaufe
the word fame, when applied to them and to per fen, is
not only apPlied to different ^bjefts, but is alfo ufed
in5 different fenfes. When a men fwears to the fame
tree, as having flood fifty years m the fame place, he
means only the fame as to all the purpofes of property
and ufes of common life, and not that the tree has been
all that time the fame in the ftria philosophical feme of
the word: For he does not know whether any one par-
tide of the prefent tree be the fame with any one Parti¬
cle of the tree which flood in the fame place fifty years
aao And if they have not one common particxe ot
mat'ter they cannot be the fame tree in the proper and
philofophic fenfe of the word fame; it being evidently
a contradiction in terms to fay they are, when no par
of their fubftance and no one of their properties is the
fame • no part of their fubftance, by the fuppofition ,
no one of their properties, becaufe it is allowed that
the fame property cannot be transferred from one fub¬
ftance to another: And therefore, when we.fay that
the identity or famenefs of a plant confifts in a con¬
tinuation of the fame life, communicated under he
fame organization to a number of particles of matter
whether the fame or not ; the word W, when applied
to life and to organization, cannot poffibly be under-
ftood to fignify what it figmfies m this very fentence^
when applied to matter. In a loofe and popular fenfe,
then the life, and the organization, and the plant, are
iuftly faid to be the fame, notwithftandmg the perpetual
change of the parts. But, in a And and philofophical
manner of fpeech, no man, no being, no mode of being,
no any thing, can be the fame with that with which .
has indeed nothing the fame. Now famenefs is.lj-ed J"
this latter fenfe when applied to perfons I he identity
of thefe, therefore, cannot fubfift with diverfity of mb-
fta«CThe thing here confidered, and demonftraUvely as
I think, determined, is propofed by Mr Locke in t e e
• Whether it f i. e. the fame felf or perfon) he the
'fame identical fubf ale ? And he has ^which
a much better anfwer to the queftion than that which
he gives it in form : For he defines perfon a thinking
iJlige* being, &c. and perfonal is WheTlf
of a rational being; and then the queftion is, M hether
the fame rational being is the fame fubftance ? which
needsno anfwer, becaufe being and fubftance are m
this olace fynonymous terms. The ground of the
cfoub? whether ?he fame perfon be the fame fubftance,
is faid to be this, that the confcioufnefs o. our own ex-
fience in youth and in old age, or in any two joint
fucceffive Joments, is not the fame individual athon,
i e! not the fame confcioufnefs, but different facceflive
- onfcioufneffes. Now it is ftrange that this ftiould have
occafioned fiich perplexities: for it is furely conceivable
that a perfon may have a capacity of knowing fome
obied o? other to be the fame now which it was when
heJcontemplated it formerly , yet m this cafe, where,
by the fuppofition, the objed is perceived to be the
fame the perception of it in any two moments cannot
be one and the fame perception. And thus, though
*5? .
What it is.
H Y S I C S. *>59
the fucceffive confcioufneffes which we have . our
own exiftence are not the fame, yet are they confciouf-
neffes of one and the fame thing or objed , of the fame
perfon, felf, or living agent 1 he perfon of whofeex¬
iftence the confcioufnefs is felt now, and w a 1
hour or a year ago, is difeerned to be, not two penons,
but one ami the fame perfon , and therefore is one and
“ Mr "Locke’s obfervations upon this fubjed appear Fa!fe n0.
hafty ; and he feems to profefs Ihmfclf diffatisfied
fuppofitions wTich he has made relating 01. identity
fome of thofe hafty obfervations have , been carried to
a ftrange length by others, whofe notion, when traced
and examined to the bottom, amounts, ^ think, t
this: ‘That perfonality is not a permanent, but a
tranfient thing : That it lives and dies, begins and
ends, continually : That no one can any more remain
one and the fame perfon two moments together, than
two fucceffive moments can be one. and the fame mo¬
ment • That our fubftance is indeed continually .
changing : but whether this be fo or not is, it feems,
nothfng tothe purpofe ; fince it is not fubitance but
confcioufnefs alone, which con ft it utes perfonality,
which confcioufnefs, being fuccefiive, cannot be the
fame in any two moments, nor confequently the per¬
fonality conftituted by it*.” Hence it muft follow,*^,
that it is a fallacy upon ourfelves to charge our ^cnUoDr^
felves with any thing we did., or toimagme ou P third Be_
fent felves interefted in any thing which e.e y ' fenceofhis
terdav or that our prefent felf will be interefted Letter t0
in what will beM '0;ro0r™™’ tt° felfUof yefterl
and miftaken for Mow fo‘ AT
ceed to-morrow. 1ms, l ray, muu iuhuw
felf or perfon of to-day and that of to-morrow are not
the fame, but only like perfons; the perfon of to-day
is really no more interefted in what will be al the per
fon of to-morrow, than m what will befal any other
perfon. It may be thought, perhaps, that this is not
a iuft reprefentation of the opinion we are fpeakmg
of; becaufe thofe who maintain it allow that a peifon
is the fame as far back as his remembrance reaches :
And indeed they do ufe the vtoxds identity ^d fanie
perfon ; nor will language permit thefe words to be laid
afide. But they cannot, confiftentiy with themfelve
mean that the perfon is really the fame : For it is felf-
evident, that the perfonality cannot be really the fame
if, as they exprefsly aflert, that in which it comifts is
not the fame. And as, confiftentiy with tlie™feive^
they cannot, fo I think it appears they do not’ ™a’‘
that the nerfon is really the fame, but only that he is .0
in a Si,Ms fenfe, in fuch a fenfe only ns they affert :
for this they do affert, that any number of penons
whatever may be the fame perfon. Ihebare unfo
ing this notion, and laying it thus naked and ope
feems the beft confutation of it. Howe^r’f /
great ftrefs is faid to be put upon it, 1 add the fol ow
This notion is abfolutely contradiaory toov£5
that certain conviaion, which neceffartly and every mo-th.own.
ment rifes within us, when we turn our thoughts upon
ourfelves, when we reflea upon what is pan, and 00k
forward to what is to come. All imagination, of a da y
change of that living .agent which each man calls him-
M E T A P
^Sr^f tr anrther’rf0r .of' an>’ fuch change throughout our
ral fenfe of things. Nor is it poffible for a perfon in his
' V ter h,1Sr C0.ndu£J with regard to his health or
auairs, from a fufpicion that though he (hould live to-
to°davW hC fil°U^ however be the ^me perfon he is
^Secondly, It is not an idea or abdracf notion, or
quality, but a being only, which is capable of life and
aaion, of happmefs and mifery. Now all beings con-
Jadiy continue the fame during the whole time of
their exiltence Confider then a living being now ex¬
iling and which has exifted for any time alive : this
living be,ng mull have done, and filtered, and enjoyed,
/this r 38 K0-e’ r and enj°yed’ formerly
(this living be,n(T, I fay, and not another), as really al
does, and fuffers, and enjoys, what it does, and fuffers,
and enjoys, this infant. AH thefe fucceffive adions
lufermgs, and enjoyments, are adions, enjoyments and
p“tn.nog:n0fthr,'amt livin/. bel"S> J "hey ale fo
prior to ail confiderations of its remembering or forget-
ing mce remembering or forgetting can make no al¬
teration in the truth of pall matter of fad. And fup-
led! L g ead\e<l With lim!ttd P°wers of kno»v-
ledge and memory, there is no more difficulty in con¬
ceiving^ to have a power of knowing itfelf to be the
fome of^ flhlCh 'Y* .fometimeag° of remembering
ome of its adions, fuffenngs, and enjoyments, and for
6 1!!g ^hers, than in conceiving it to know or re
member, or forget, any thing elfe. ^ ’
the f is confcious that he is now
he fame perfon or felf he was as far back as his re-
n n^ftTdi reaCfCu-: fl‘1Ce Then an^ o'm refleds upon
a paf adion of his own, he is juf as certain of the
pei on who did that adion, namely himfelf (the per-
lon who now refleds upon it), as he is certain that the
adion was at aU done. _ Nay, very often a perfon’s af-
mance of an adion having been done, of which he is
° fe ar!res whoI1y from the confcioufnefs
th.t he himfdf did it: and this he, perfon, or felf
Jlancelt5 If / " ?r ther ProPerty of fome fub-
r r u y.1fperf°n> be afubflance: then confci*
hety y her1S, n1' fame Perfon» is confcioufnefs that
i*e is the fame fubflance. If the perfon, or be the
property of a fubftance, Hill confcioufnefs that he is
- ie fame property is as certain a proof that his fub-
mahr thT f ^ ' A t™’ ** COnfcioufners that he re¬
main, the fame fubftance would be j fmce the fame
another^ CaHn0t ^ transferred fr°m one fubftance to
“ But though we are thus certain than we are the
W agents hving beings, or fubftances, now, which
- . "y back as our remembrance reaches : yet
” rn"e mi,y"0t po{r,bly Se deceived
, And th!s qoeftion may be afked at the end of
7 demonftration whatever ; becaufe it is a queftion
concerning the truth of perception by memory: and
e Jh° can doubt whether perception by memory can
m this cafe be depended upon, may doubt alfo whether
perception by dedudion and reafoning, which alfo in"
dude memory, or indeed whether intuitive perception
j.feif can be depended upon. Here then we can go
■o fai^Jei :c for I1 15 ridiculous to attempt to prove
ffie truu o: our faculties, which can no otherwHe be
1 Y ^ 1 C S- Part III
ttmrelves1;' "k °r raeam °f ,ll0rt fufpc£!ed
This reafoning which we believe will to moft men
appear unanfwerable, Mr Cooper hopes to overturn bvoK-2^
the following obfervations * • “ Tf Qii . • •• ^bjedion
dailv rt.Qr.rre ; u k • II all imagination of a to the fore-
r b . n us be borne down by our natural fenfe £oing rea-
of tbing< then (lays he) does our natural fenfe ofL-i
tmngs pofittvely contradid known fad: for a daiiv Traas>
a momentaneous change in us, i. e. in our bodies’^*
does adually take place.” True, a daily change in
our bodies does take place, and fo likewife does a
daily change ,n our clothes; but furely no man was
ever led by his natural fenfe of things to fuppofe that
his limos or externa! organs were the feats of fenfation
and will, any more than that his coat or his ffioes were
any real parts of his trunk or of his feet. But it is
only that which thinks and wills than any man con
fiders in this cafe, as himfelf or his perlbn and ^f '
our natural fenle of things, or confcioufnefs/ tell us
that what thinks and wills has continued /he fame
rom a diftance ol time as far back as we can remem-
er, it is certain, that, whether it be material or imma¬
terial, it has continued from that period, otherwife we
can be certain of nothing. « But (fays our philofo-,
pher) other known and afcertained fads are frequent
ly borne down by our natural fenfe of things : for how
many thoufand years before the days of Copernicus Z
t ie motion of the earth round the fun entirely borne
down by our natural fenle of things, which made us
give ffil credit to the motion of the fun round the-
earth . Do not the generality of mankind believe up¬
on the evidence of their natural fenfe of things ’that
every part of their body remains exadly the fame to
day as it was yefterday ?” J °
To the former of thefe queftions we anfwer pofi a r257 ,
imfly, that before the days of Copernicus the modon '
nJ^ fun WaS not borne down by our
natural fenfe of things, but by ill-founded hy pothecs
and mconclufive reaionings. By the natural Life of
ngs, nothing can be meant, in this place, but the evi-
the %° /COn,CI °r °f external fenfation ; but
the atlual motioned of the fun or of the earth is not
perceived either by confcioufnefs or by fenfation. Of
eLrgiefLl'fe P gfiS ^ but the internal
gies and feelings of our own minds : and with re
gard to the motion of the fun or of the earth, nothing
is perceived by the fenfe of fight but that, Jfter colf-
iderable intervals of time, thefe two great bodies havp
repeatedJj^hanged their places in the heavens with re-
ped to each other. I his is all that on this fubied
our natural fenfe of things leads us to believe; and is not
this infalJihly true ? Afterwards indeed, by’taking for
g anted the truth of propofitions, for which neither
fenfe nor confcioufnefs affords the ffiadow of evidence •
he vulgar. now, and all mankiad formerly, reafoned
and^b °p,ni0n’ that tlle earth dands ftil]
and that the fun moves round it. In vulgar philo-’
ophy it is taken for granted, that in the univerfe'
there is not a relative but an abfolute upwards and an
abfolute downwards ; that our heads are abfolutely up-
. d, and our feet downward ; and that were the Lrth
to revolve round its axis, thefe pofitions would be re
feci and tLr,r be plaCed beneath our
’ and that we ourfelves would fall from the eartb
into
Chap. III.
Of Perfonalinto empty fpace. Upon thefe falfe hypotheies the
. Identlty- vulgar reafon correaiy. They know that bodies can-
not change their place without motion ; they know
that in the time of their remembrance the fun and
the earth have been perpetually varying their places
with refpea to each other ; they know that they them-
felves have never fallen, nor had a tendency to fall,
into empty fpace ; and hence they infer that it is the
lun and not the earth that moves fK). But will any
man fay that the abfurd fuppolitions from which this
conclufion is logically deduced, have the evidence ei¬
ther of fen fat ion or of confcioufnels, as the perma¬
nency of that living agent which each man calls him-
felf has ?
To our author’s fecond cjueflion we likewife reply
with confidence, that the . generality of mankind do
mt believe, upon their natural fenfe of things, that
every part of their body remains exactly the fame
to-day as it was yefterday. It would be ftrange in¬
deed if they did, after having repeatedly experienced
the wade of increafed perfpiration or Iweating ; after
having witneffed men emaciated by ficknefs, and again
reitored to plumpnefs in health; and after having
perhaps loft whole limbs, which certainly their natural
fenfe of things teaches them to confider as . parts of
their body. In all thefe cafes, the generality of man¬
kind are as fenlible of changes having taken place in
their bodies as he who has attended ever fo clofely to
phyfiological inquiries, though not one of them has
the leaft imagination of a change having taken place
in the living agent which each man calls himfelf.
Bifhop Butler obferves, that if the, living agent be
perpetually changing, it is a fallacy upon ourielves to
charge our prefent felves wdth any thing we did, to
imagine our prefent felves interefted in any thing which
befel us yeiferday, or that our prefent felf will be in¬
terefted in what will befal us to morrow. To this ju¬
dicious obfervation our daring philofopher replies,
44 that as the man of to-morrow, though not in all
points the fame with, yet depends for his exiftence up¬
on, the man of to-day, there is fuftkient reafon to care
about him.” Could he have faid, that as the man of
to-day depends for his exiftence on the man of to-
morr®w, there is fufficient reafon for the prefent man
to care about the future man ; or that as the man of
to-morrow depends for his exiftence on the man of to
day, there is to day fufficient reafon for the future man
to care about the prefent man •, we ffiould in either cafe,
if the anachronifm had been kept out of fight, have
feen the force of his argument. Every man has fuffi¬
cient reafon to care about the ox upon which he is to
be fed ; but we cannot fo clearly perceive what reafon
the ox has to care about the man.
Not fatisfied, it would feem, with this reply, our
author proceeds to affirm, “ that the man of to-mor¬
row, pofleffing a reminifcence of the acfb'ons of the man
of to-day, and knowing that thefe adftions will be re¬
ferred to him both by himfelf and others (which is
metaphysics.
66 r
certainly knowing that both himfelf .and others areOf Perfonar
moft iniquitous wretches), they cannot be indifferent Ic)ent;ty.
to the man of to day, who looks forward to the pro¬
perties of the man .of to-morrow i, e. the remi-
mfcence and knowledge of a future man conftitute all
the relation that fubfifts between a prefent man and his
adfions; a difcovery worthy of an original genius.
But as on the _ fubjeft of perfonal identity we pretend
to no originality, we ftiall leave this propofition to the
meditation of our readers, and take the liberty to afk
our author a queftion or two refpedfing this fame re¬
minifcence, which he is gracioufly pleafed to acknow¬
ledge for a property.
He defines identity, “ the continued exiftence of
any being unaltered in fubftance or in properties j”
and he repeatedly acknowledges that no identical qua¬
lity or property can be transferred from one fubjed to
another. Let us now fuppofe, that a man has a remi¬
nifcence of an individual a&ion performed a month
ago, and that this reminifcence is accompanied with a
confcioufnefs that the aftion was performed by him¬
felf. This fuppofition, whether true or falfe, may cer¬
tainly be made ; for it implies nothing more than what
every man firmly believes of himfelf in every ad of re¬
membrance. Let us again fuppofe, that, at the di-
ftance of ten or twenty years, the man known by the
fame name has a reminifcence of the fame adion, with
a confcioufnefs that he himfelf performed it. Is this
reminifcence the fame wnth the former l or is it a dif¬
ferent reminifcence ? If it be the fame, either the per¬
son remembering at the diftance of ten or twenty years
is the fame with him who remembered at the diftance
of a month, or there is an identical quality transferred
from one fubftance to another, which is admitted to
be impoflible. If reminifcence be itfelf a real and im¬
mediate quality of any fubftance, and not the mere
energy of a power, and if the one reminifcence be
different from the other, the fubjeds in which thele
two different qualitie'- inhere muft likewife be dif¬
ferent. Yet the man who has the reminifcence at
the diftance of a month, has the evidence of confciouf¬
nefs that the adion was performed by him ; and the
man who has the reminifcence at the diftance of ten
or twenty years, has likewife the evidence of confci¬
oufnefs that the fame adion was performed by him
and not by another. By the confeflion of Hume and
of all philofophers, confcioufnefs never deceives ; but
here is the evidence of one confcioufnefs in dired op-
pofition to another j and therefore, as two contradic¬
tory propofitions cannot both be true, either the one
reminifcence is the fame with the other, or reminifcence
is no real quality. That one ad of reminifcence fhould
be numerically the fame with another, which followed
it at the dittanee of twenty years, is plainly impoffible j
whence it fhould feem, that reminifcence itfelf is no
real and immediate quality of any fubftance. But if
this be fo, what is reminifcence ? We anfwer it is
plainly neither more nor lefs than the energy of a power,
' W’hich
(k) This inference too has been fo often drawn, that it comes in time to coalefce in the mind with the
fenfations, from which the motion either of the fun or of the earth is deduced with infallible certainty ; and
hence it is confidered as part of that truth which fenfatiqn immediately difcovers. See our Chapter of Associ- ■
JT10N. 4 - J
META PHYSIC S.
662
Of Perform! which tliougli dormant between Its energies, remains
identity. unchanged from the one to the other, and which be-
u—jrrj itfelf the real and immediate quality o( a fubjeft,
that fubie£t muft likevvife remain unchanged. Ihat
powers "may remain dormant, and yet unchanged,
every man rouft be convinced •, who having (truck any
thing with his hand, knows that he has power to re¬
peat the flroke, and yet does not actually repeat it.
Two blows with the hand immediately following each
other are numerically different, io that the one can¬
not with truth be faid to be the other $ but we have
the evidence of external (enie, that they are both (truck
by the fame member. In like manner, two energies of
remmifcence directed to the fame objeft, and fucceed-
ing each other at any interval of time, cannot poffibly
be one and the fame energy j but as the latter ener¬
gy may include in it the former as well as tne ob-
jea remembered by both, we have the evidence of con-
feioufnefs that both are energies of the fame power j
and we have feen, that to fuppofe them any thing elfe,
may be demonllrated to involve the groiieft abfurdities
•and contradiftions.
Mr Cooper has other arguments to obviate the
force of Bifliop Butler’s demonftration of perfonal
identity ; fuch as, that a “ high. degree, of Similarity
between the two fucceeding men is fufficient to make
the one care about the other j” and, that “ a good
man, knowing that a future being will be punHhed or
rewarded as the aaions of the prefent man deferve,
wdll have a fufficient motive to do right and to ab-
ilain from wrong.” But if there be any one of our
readers who can fuffer himfelf to be perfuaded by fuch
affertions as thefe, that the living agent which he calls
himfelf is perpetually changing, and at the fame time
that fuch change is confident with the expectation of
future rewards and punifhments, he would not be re¬
claimed from his error by any reafoning of ours. We
(hall therefore truft fuch trifling with every man’s
judgement, and proceed to examine our author’s de¬
mon (Iration, that perfonal identity has no exiftence.
But here it is no part of our purpofe to accompany
him through his long chemical ramble, or to contro¬
vert his arguments for the nonidentity of vegetable
and animal bodies. The only thing to which, after
Biffiop Butler, we have aferibed identity, is that which
in man is fentient and confcious •, and the nonidentity
of this thing, whatever it be, Mr Cooper undertakes
to demonftrate from the known properties of fenfations
and ideas.
This demonftration fets out with a very ominous
circumftance. The author, after conduCiing impref-
fions ab extra, from the extremities of the nerves, to
the brain, affirms, that fenfations and ideas are nothing
but “ motions in the brain perceived j” i. e. when
a man thinks he is looking at a mountain, not only
at reft, but to appearance immoveable, he is grofsly
deceived : for he perceives nothing all the while but
motion in his bram ! Were not the defire of advancing
novelties and paradoxes invincible in fome minds, we
fhould be aftonilbed at finding fuch an aflertion as
this fall from the pen of any man who had paid the
flighted attention to the different energies of his own
intelleCl. Motions in the brain, as we have repeatedly
©bferved, are the immediate caufes of our fenfations,
Part Hi.
45s
A pretend,
ed detnon-
ftration
that per*
fonal iden¬
tity is iio-
poffible.
but is it conceiveable, is it poflible, that any thing
fhould be the caufe of itfelf ? The motion of a fword
through the heart of a man, is the immediate cauie of
that man’s death ; but is the (word or its motion death
itfelf, or can they be conceived as being the fenfations
of the man in the agonies of dying ? But fenfations and
ideas, whatever they'be, exift in fucceffion j and there¬
fore, argues our demonftrator, no two (enlations or
ideas can be one and the fame fenfation or idea. The
conclufion is logically inferred j but what purpofe can
it poflibly ferve ? What purpofe ! why it feems “ fenfa¬
tions and ideas are the only exijlcnces whefe ex fence
we certainly know (a charming phrafe, tne. exyleiice of
ex fences, and as original as the theory in which it
makes its appearance) j and, therefore, fiom the na¬
ture of fenfations and ideas there is no fuch thing as
permanent identity.” Indeed ! what then, we may be
permitted to a(k, 'is the import of the word we in this
fentence ? Does it denote a feries of fenfations and ideas,
and does each fenfation and each idea certainly know
not only itfelf, but all its anceftors and ail us descen¬
dants ?" Unlefs this be admitted, we are afraid that Come
other exiftence befides feidations and ideas muft be al¬
lowed to be certainly known, and even to nave iome-
thing of a permanent identity. Nay, we think it has
been already demonftrated (fee Chapter oi JLiMe), that
were there not fomething permanent, there could be no
time, and of courfe no notion of a firft and laft, or in¬
deed of fuccefiion, whether of fenfations or ideas. And
therefore, if we have fuch a notion, which the author
here takes for granted, and upon which indeed his de-
monftration refts, it follows undeniably that tneie is
fomething permanent, and that w7e know there is fome¬
thing permanent, which obferves the fuccefiion of fen-
“ All this, indeed, Mr Cooper in effea grants j for Showntt)
he is not much (lartled at the appearance of contradic- Jndvidku-
tions in his theory. “ I find (fays he), by perpetually lous>
repeated impreflions which I perceive, that my hands,
body, limbs, &c. are conne&ed, are parts of one
whole. I find, by perpetually repeated perceptions
alfo, that the fenfations excited by them are conftantly
fimilar, and conftantly different from the fenfations ex¬
cited by others.” He has then repeated perceptions :
but how can this be poflible, if he be not different
from the perceptions, and if he do not remain unchanged
while the perceptions fucceed each other at greater or
lefs intervals of time ? A (hiking objedt pafllng with
rapidity before the eyes of a number of men placed be-
fide each other in a line of battle, would undoubtedly
excite a fucceffion of fenfations j but finely that fuccei-
fion would not take place in the mind of any individual
in the line, nor could any fngle man in this cafe (ay
with truth that he had repeated perceptions of the ob¬
ject. In like manner, were that which is fentient per¬
petually changing, no man could poffibly fay or fup¬
pofe that be had repeated perceptions of any thing ;
for upon this fuppontion, the man of to-day would have
no more connexion with the man who bore his name
yefterday, or twenty years ago, than the man in the
line had with the fifft.
Upon the whole, we cannot help thinking that Bi-
(hop Butler’s demonffration of perfonal identity remains f
unffiaken by the batteries ox Mr Cooper.—It refts; in¬
deed,
3
Chap. HI.
M E T A ?
Of Perfonal deed, upon the folid balis of confcioufnefs and memory 5
Identity. anc[ if implicit credit be not given to the evidence of
*" ^ thefe faculties, v?,e cannot proceed a Tingle ftep in any
inquiry whatever, nor be certain of the truth even of a
,,50 mathematical demonftration.
A difficulty But as w’e have ourfelves fuppofed, that to fenfation,
removed, reminifcence, and every adlual energy of the mind of
man, the inftrumentality of fome material fyftem is ne-
ceffary, it may perhaps be thought incumbent on us to
fbow how the perpetual flux of the particles of matter
which compofe the brain, as w'ell as all the other parts
of the body, can confifl: with the identity of the perfon
who perceives, remembers, and is confcious. If this
cannot be done, our hypothelis, ancient and plaufible
as it is, muft be given up j lor of perfonal identity it is
impoflible to doubt. lit this cafe, however, we per-
ceive no difficulty 5 for if there be united to the brain
an immaterial being, wdiich is the fubjefl of fenfation,
confcioufnefs, and will, &c. it is obvious, that all the
ixtelleEiual powers which properly conflitute the ner-
fon, mu ft be inherent in that being. The material fy¬
ftem, therefore, can be neceflary only as an inftrument
to excite the energies of thofe powers ; and frnce the
powers themfelves remain unchanged, why fhould w^e
fuppofe that their energies may not be continually ex¬
erted by fucceffive inftruments of the fame kind, as
well as by one permanent inftrument ? The powers of
perception and volition are not in the material fyftem,
any more than the fenfation of feeing is in the rays of
light, or the energy of the blackfmith in the hammer
with which he beats the anvil. Let us fuppofe a man
to keep his eye for an hour fteadily fixed upon one ob-
je61. It wall not furely be denied, that if this could
be done, he would have one uninterrupted and unvaried
perception of an hour’s duration, as meafured by the
clock. Yet it is certain that the rays of light which
alone could occafion that perception would be perpe¬
tually changing. In like manner, a blackfmith, whilft
he continues to beat his anvil, continues to exert the
fame power whether he ufes one hammer all the time,
or a different hammer at each ftroke. I he reafon is
obvious ^ the eye, wdth all its connexions of brain and
mind in the one cafe, and the perfon of the fmith in
the other, remain unchanged ; and in them alone^ re-
fide the faculty of fenfation and the power of beating,
though neither the faculty nor the power can he ex¬
erted without material inftruments. But were it pof-
ftble that millions of men could in the fpace of an
hour take their turns in rotation with each new ray
of light, it is felf-evident, that in this cafe, there
would be nothing permanent in fenfation ; and, t ere-
fore. there could not be one uninterrupted and unva¬
ried perceotion, but millions of perceptions, during the
hour, totally diftinfl from and unconneft d with each
other. Let us now fuppofe a man to fix his eve upon
an objeft for the fpace of a minute, and at the diftance
o^ a day or a month to fix it upon the fame obteft a e-
cond time. He would not indeed, in this cafe, have
one uninterrupted and unvaried perception, but he
would Be confcious of the energy of the very fame fa¬
culty the fecond time as at the firft. Whereas, were
ono man to view an objeff to day, and another to view
the fame objeft to-morrow, it is obvious, that he who
ftmuld be laft in the fucceftion could know nothing of
the energy of that faculty by which the object was per-
H Y S I C S. 66.5
ceived the firft day, becaufe there would be nothing W the ^Im-
common to the two perceptions. _ ^heVou!^
Thus then we fee, that perfonal identity may with - ^ -■ >
truth be predicated of a compound being, though the
material part be in a perpetual flux, provided the im¬
material part remain unchanged •, and that of fuch a
being only is a refurreftion from the dead poffible.—
For fince the motions of the brain do nothing more
than excite to energy the permanent powers of the
mind, it is of no fort of confequence to that energy,
whether thefe motions be continued by the fame nu¬
merical atoms, or by a perpetual fucceffion of atoms
arranged and combined in the very fame manner. We
ftiall, therefore, be the fame perlons at the refurrec-
tion as at prefent, whether the mind be united to a
particular fyftem competed of any of the numberlefs
atoms which have in fucceffion made parts of our pre¬
fent bodies, or to a fyftem compofed of totally dif¬
ferent atoms, provided that new fyftem be organized
in exactly the fame manner with the brain or material
vehicle, which is at prefent the immediate inftrument
of perception. This (we fay) is ielf-evident j but
were the immaterial part to change with the changing
body, a refurreftion of the fame perfons would be
plainly impoffible.
a5r
Chap. IV. Of the Immortality of the Soul.
WHEREVER men harm been in any degree civilized, The immor*.
and in fome nations where they have been in the moft t^e_
favage ft ite, it has been the general perl'uafion, that^j
the mind or foul fubfifts after the diffolution of the in all mi-
body. The origin of this perfuafion, about which tions.,
difputes have been raifed, no Ciriftian beiitates to
attribute to revelation. The Egyptians, from whom
the Greeks derived many of their theological and phi-
lofophical principles, appear to have taught the im¬
mortality of the foul, not as a truth difeovered by the
exertions of human reafon, but as a dogma derived
to them from the earlielt ages by tradition. This
indeed may be confidently inferred from the charac¬
ter arid condudl of their firft Greek difciples. Thofe ■
early wife men who fetched their philofophy imme¬
diately from Egypt, brought it home as they found
it, in detached and independent pheits. Afterwards,
when fchools were formed, and when man began to
philefophize by hypothefis and fyftem, it was eagerly
inquired upon what foundation in nature the belief of
the fbu’’s immortality could reft ; and this inquiry
gave rife to the various difquili'.ions concerning the
fubftance of the foul, which have continued to exer¬
cise the ingenuity of the learned to the pretent day.
It was clearly perceived, that if confcioufnefs, thought, >
and volition, be the refute of any particular modifica¬
tion of matter and motion, the living and thinking
agent muft perith with the diffolution 01 the fyftem;
and it -was no lefs evident, that if the being which
perceives, thinks, and wills, be not material, the mind
of man may fubfift after the refolution of the body
into its component particles. The difeovery of the
immateriality ftf the mind was therefore one fep to-
wards the proof of its immortality ; and in the opinion
of many phitefophers, whofe hopes ought to reft on a
furer bafi', it was alone a complete proof.—“ They
who hold feniitive perception in brutes (lays a pious
writer!
pre-exift-
ence
6f4 • M E T A P
O' llie Inl writer *) to be an argument for the immateriality of
rnortaUy of j.^eir fou]s flnc] themfelves under the neceflity of allovv-
u—-mg thole iouls to be immortal.”
* See the The philofophers of ancient Greece, however, felt
Procedure, not thernfelves under any fuch neceflity. Whatever
FLirihsTfdwere t^ie'r 0F'‘n'ons refpefling tlie fouls of brutes,
the Under- t^ley clearly perceived that nothing which had a be-
Jlanding. ginning of exiftence could be naturally immortal, wlie-
26z ther its fubllance were material or immaterial.—
The philo- « There never was any of the ancients before Chri-
anaent° ftianity (fays the accurate Cudworth), that held the
Greece be- foul’s future permanency after death, who did not like-
lie ved like-wife affert its pre-exiitence ; they clearly perceiving,
Wile nmts jJ-jjjj. jf jt were once granted tliat the foul was gene¬
rated, it could never be proved but that it might be
alfo corrupted. And, therefore, the alfertors of the
foul’s immortality commonly began here, firft to prove
its pre exiftence, proceeding thence to eftablilh its per¬
manency after death. This is the method of proof
ufed in Plato : Hv ttov vifiuv « if/vycy Trgiv ip ru tvi
TCtPU Zieil yiPiC&Xl, U<f\i KOU TCCvIyi xSxpxIov Tl iOlKiV yi
uvoti. Our foul was fomewhere before it came to exfl in
this human form, and thence it appears to be immortal,
and as fuch willfubff after death.
To give this argument for immortality any ftrength,
it muft be taken for granted, not only that the foul
exifted in a prior ftate, but that it exifted from all
eternity; for it is obvious, that if it had a beginning
in any ftate, it may have an end either in that ftate
or in another. Accordingly, Plato afferts in plain
terms its eternity and felf exiftence, which, as we learn
from Cicero, he infers from its being the principle of
motion in man. Quin etiam caeteris, quae moventur,
hie fons, hoc principium eft movendi. Principii autem
nulla ef origo. Nam ex principio oriuntur omnia : ip-
fum autem nulla ex re alia nafei poteft : nec enim eftet
id principium, quod gigneretur aliunde fThis, it
muft be acknowledged, is very contemptible reafon-
ing •, but the opinion which it was intended to prove
was held by all the philofonhers. They were unani¬
mous in maintaining the fubfance of the foul, though
not its perfonality, to be eternal a parte ante as well as
ad partem pof ; and Cicero, where he tells us that this
opinion paffed from Pherecydes Syr us, to Pythago¬
ras, and from Pythagoras to Plato, expreffes their
| YufcUi. not'on °f the foul’s duration by the word fempiternus
lib i which, in its original and proper fenfe, is applicable
only to that which has neither beginning nor end.
Indeed none of the philofophers of ancient Greece
appear to have believed a creation (fee Creation) pof-
fible : for it was a maxim univerfally received among
263
and abfo-
Inte eter¬
nity.
f Tufcul.
lib. i.
cap. 23.
H Y S I C S. Part III.
them, De nihilo nihil fit, in nihilum nil pojfc reverti ;Oi the Im-
that nothing san come from nonentity, or go to nonentity, mortality of
This maxim, as held by the theiftical philofophers, the tlie i
learned Cudworth labours to interpret in a fenfe agree¬
able to our notions of the origin of the world; but the
quotations urged by himfelf muft convince every com-
petent reader that on this occaiion he labours in vain.
For inftance, when Ariftotle writes of Parmenides and
Meliil'us, that ovhip avbi yiviriai ipatriv (p6ii(i(r6ou tmp
ofUov, they fay that no real entity is either made or de¬
frayed ; what can be his meaning, but that thofe phi¬
lofophers taught that nothing could be either created ox-
annihilated P He teftifies the fame thing of Xenophanes
and rLeno, when he fays that it was a fundamental prm-
ciole of their philofopby—ipbi-giTbou ex
yfivos—that it is impofiible that any thing /hould be
made out o f nothing. And of Empedocles, when he re¬
lates ccTrt/Xce, Txvlct, xatxsoa? ey,oXoyu o]i ex re y.v) op]o$
aiAyiftxvov ef< yivia-ditt to ti op i^oXXvtrQca mpyipvs-ov kou a^jjx-
lov—/ hat he acknowledges the very fame thing with other
phtlofophers, viz. that it is impofiible that any thingfihould
be made out of nothing, or penfh into nothing. But it is
needlefs to multiply quotations refpedfing the opinions ^
of fingle philofophers. " Of all the phyfiologers before
himfelf and Plato, Ariftotle fays, without exception,
TactiTijj oy.oyvwy.opov<ri rjj? mgi on to
yiypopipop ex optup yiypir^ou o^vpxtop L hat they a- ^ -p^^,
gree in this opinion, that it is impoffble that any thing lib. i. cap. $,
Jhould be made out of nothing 1 and he calls this the
common principle of naturalifts $ plainly intimating,
that they considered it as the greateft abfurdity to fup-
pofe that any real entity in nature could either be
brought from nothing or reduced to nothing.
The author of the IntelleElual System, in order, per¬
haps, to hide the impiety of this principle, endea¬
vours to perfuade his readers, that it was urged only
againft the hypothelis of forms and qualities of bodies
confidered as real entities, diftindl from matter. But
how it could be fuppofed to militate againft that parti¬
cular opinion, and not againft the poflibility of all
ci-eation, is to us perfectly inconceivable. The father
of the fchool which analyzed body into matter and
form, together with by far the greater part of his fol¬
lowers, taught the eternity of both thefe principles (l)j
and therefore maintained, as ftrenuouflv as any atomift,
the univerfal maxim, De nihilo nihilft. Even Plato
himfelf, whofe doftrine of ideas is fuppofed to wear a
more favourable afpedf than Ariftotle’s forms to the
truths of revealed religion, taught the eternity of mat¬
ter ; but whether as a felf-exifting fubftance, or only
as an emanation from the Deity, is a queftion which
has
(l) Arifotelem, et plerofque Peripateticorum, in vulgus notum eft, in hac fuifle fententia—nec natum
efle, nec interiturum unquam hunc mundum. Vid. Petrus Gjssendvs Physic, fedft. i. lib. i. cap. 6. "Jac.
Thomasius de Stoica mundi exufiione, Diff. 4. et alii. Plures ita baud dubie fenferunt philofophorum veterum.
Hinc video Man ilium in Afronomico, lib. i. inter philofophorum de mundo fententias hanc, ac ft praecipua ef-
fet, primo commemorare loco :
ffuem five ex nullis repetentem femina rebus,
Natali $uo£jje egkreplacet, femperque fuisse,
Et fore, principio pariter EAToque carentern.
Mofhewds edition of Cudwcrill’s IntelleSlual System, lib. i. cap. 3. fe61. 33. note 60. On this fubjeft fee alf©
Ancient Metaphysics.
1
torn. 11.
p. 1014.
hap. IV.
Of the Im-has been difputed. That be admitted no proper crea-
piortahty oitjon^ may confidently inferred from Plutarch; who,
. the^lju" writing upon the generation of animals, according to
the doftrine laid down in the llmceus, has the follow¬
ing paflnge : BtXriov dvv, n^aruvi TiiCopzvovs tsv jwsv nocr-
[/.av iiTTis Stew 'yiyovivxi Xiyuv oiOuv' 0 [Aiv y«g x.xXXiTOg
rut ycyavera/v ei^s oc?t<?os rut ctirtuv rrit os OT2IAN *.cti
YAHN s| ns ysyotiv ov yivopcii/riv, e&XXa. vTroxsiu-tvtt au ru
^tlfxtov^yu tig $ict$-riv r-eu rcc^it ctvrrig, xxi grpog t^ofZiiutrivf
a; ovvxtsv tit Trxptxc-y'iiv’ ov yx^ zx. rov {,•.?, otrog q ytvzrig,
otXX.’ e» rov y.r\ KxXatg, /xri^ txxvug t^ovrog, ug oixixg xxi
* Pint. Op. tocxnov, xxi xt^oix-reg *. It is therefore better for us to
follovs P/ato, and to fat/ and fing that the world was
made by God. For as the world is the bcjl of all works^
fo is God the befl of all caufes. Neverthelcfs, the sub¬
stance or matter out of which the world was made,
was not itfelf made, but was always ready at hand,
and fubjecl to the artificer, to be ordered and difpofed by
him. For the making of the Vborld was not the produc¬
tion of it out of nothing, but out of an antecedent bad
and dfiorderly fate, like the making of a houfe, garment,
or fialue.
If, then, this be a fair reprefentation of the fenti-
ments of Plato, and furely the author underftood thofe
fentiments better than the mold accomplilhed modern
fcholar can pretend to do, nothing is more evident,
than that the founder of the academy admitted of no
proper creation, but only taught that the matter
which had exifted from eternity in a chaotic ftate, was
in time reduced to order by the DemiurgUs or Supreme
Being. And if fuch wrere the fentiments of the divine
Plato, we cannot hefitate to adopt the opinion of the
excellent Mofheim, which the reader wall probably be
pleafed to have in his own words : “ Si a Judteis difee-
das, nefcio an ullus antiquorum philofophorum mundum
negaverit ceternum effe. Omnes mihi ftternum profeffi
videntur efle mundum : hoc uno vero disjunguntur,
quod nonnulli ut Arijloteles, formetn ct materiam fimul
hujus orbis, alii vero, quorum princeps facile Plato,
materiam tantum ccterna??i, formam vero, a Deo com-
paratam, dixeruntf.”
^ Notes on ]t is a fa(cj. fQ generally known, as not to ftand
Intelle5lualm need of being proved by quotations, tnat there was
Sgftem. not among them a fingle man wdio believed in the
exiftence of mind as a being more excellent than mat¬
ter, and effentially different from it, who did not hold
the fuperior of at lead equal antiquity with the infe¬
rior fubftance. So true is this, that Synefius, though
a Chriflian, yet having been educated in one of the
fchools of philofophy, could not, by the hopes of a
bilhopric, be induced to diffemble this fentiment : xy.z-
f Epiji. 105 **< T>)i> ovk a.\iuru iron ruparog va^oym vcpfini J.
—7 fhall never be perfuaded to think my foul younger
than my body. This man probably believed, upon the
authority of the feriptures, that the matter of the vifi-
ble world was created in time ; but he certainly held
with his philofophic mailers, that his own foul was
as old as any atom of it, and that it had confequently
exifled in a prior Hate before it animated his prefent
body.
Thofe w'ho maintained that the world was uncreated,
maintained uppn the fame principle that their fouls
were uncreated likewife ; and as they conceived all bo-
emanations dies to be formed of one firfl matter, fo they conceived
from the au fou]s to be either emanations from the one firfl Mind,
firft mind; Vol. XIII. Part II.
METAPHYSICS.
264
They fup-
pofed all
fouls to be
665
or difeerpted parts of it. Ariflotkq who diftinguifhes Ofthe lm-
between the intellectual and fenfitive fouls, fays exprefs-ot
ly of the former, that it “ enters from without, and is t  ' 1
DIVINE adding this reafon for his opinion, that “ its
energy is not blended with that of the body—Xan-irxi
tov vow povov 6vgx ev tTriKrtzvxt, r,xi dziov itvxt y.cvov’ ovos
yag xvrov rvi zvi^yux xotvuvti cruy.xriKYi mgySiet*. As to the * jye Gene*
Stoics, Cleantkes held (as Stobseus informs us f), that ratione
“ every thing was made out of one, and wTould bz Animali-
again refolved into one.” But let Seneca ipeak forum' u*
them all: “ Qqid eft autem, cur non exiflimes in eo
divini aliquid exiflere, qui Df.i PARS ctl ? Totum hoc, p/^y; c. 20j
quo continemur, et unum eft, et Deus : et focii ejus fu-
mus, et membra %—Why jhoutd you not believe fome-1 E-pijl, 92,
thing to be divine in him, who is indeed part op God ?
That ivhole in which we are contained is one, and that
one is God ; we being his companions and members.
Bpidletus fays, The fouls of men have the nearefl rela¬
tion to God, as being parts or fragments of him, dis-
cerPted and torn from his substance ; a-wxQug ru
Qzu, airs avrov ovrxi xti X7ro<r‘Xxiry,xrx. Plato writes
to the very fame purpofe, when, without any foften-
ing, he frequently calls the foul God, and part of
God. And Plutarch fays, that “ Pythagoras and Pla¬
to held the foul to be immortal j for that, launching
out into the foul of the univerfe, it returns to its parent
and original—ITv^ya^j, UXxluv, xptxgla* uvxi rvv
s^iovrxv yxa sig rw rov vrxvlog K^og r* ouo-
ysvig ||.” Plutarch declares his own opinion to be, thatjj De pia.
“ the foul is not fo much the wTork and production oicitis Philo-
God, as a part of him ; nor is it made BY him, b\stfiPh?rum'>
FROM him, and out of him : il h °‘JK ^ ^ ' lv‘ ca^’
vov, xXXx kxi ys^og’ ovT Yn’ xv}ov, atAA* AH xvrov, y-x EE
xvrov ysyovit §.” But it is needlefs to multiply quota-J T/,7^
tioris. Cicero delivers the common fentiments of his^?-
Greek mailers on this head, when he fays “ A na- De Divi-
tura deorum, ut doCliffimis fapientifilrnifque placuit,lib.
HAUSTOS animos et libatos habemus.” And again ca^'49'
“ Humanus autem animus decerptus EX mente di-
vina : cum alio nullo, nifi cum ipfo Deo (fi hoc fas ell
diClu), comparari potefl.”
Whilfl the philofophers were thus unanimous in But-differ-
maintaining the foul to be a part of the felf-exiflented in opi-
Subftance, they differed in opinion, or at lea.fl expref-™®0^^,.
fed themfelves differently, as to the mode of its fepa-jhgi,-repa¬
ration from its divine parent. Cicero and the Stoics ration,
talk as if the Supreme Mind were extended, and as if
the human foul were a part literally torn from that
mind, as a limb can be torn from the body. The Py¬
thagoreans and Platoniils feem to have confidered all
fouls as emanations from the divine Subftance rather
than as parts torn from it, much in the fame way as
ravs nf light are emanations from the fun. Plato, in
particular, believed in two felf-exi!lent principles, God
and matter. The former he confidered as the fupreme
Intelligence, incorporeal, without beginning, end, or
change ; and dillinguiihed it by the appellation of r<r
xyx6ov, the Good. Matter, as fubfiiling from eternity,
he confidered as without any one form or quality what¬
ever, and as having a natural tendency to diforder. Of
this chaotic mafs God formed a perfeCl world, after the
eternal pattern in his own mind, and endowed it with
a loul or emanation from himfelf. In the language of
Plato, therefore, the univerfe being animated by a foul
which proceeds from God, is called the fan of God;
4 P and
666 M E T A P
Of the Im- and feveral parts of nature, particularly the heavenly
mortality ofboc]|eSj are gods. The human foul, according to him,
, tnc Soul. ^ derived by emanation from God, through the inter¬
vention of this foul of the world 5 and receding farther
from the firft intelligence, it is inferior in perfection
to the foul of the world, though even that foul is de-
bafed by fotne material admixture. Io account more
fully for the origin and preient (late of human iouls,
* EidelcTs Plsto fuppofes that “ when God formed the uni-
Abridge- verfe, he feparated from the foul of the world infe-
ment of rior fouls, equal in number to the ftars, and affigned
Bructer s j.0 eacp1 jts proper celeftial abode; but that tbofe
'f/'h'hfvpb ■ f°a^s> (by what means, or for what reafon, does not
J appear), wTere fent down to the earth into human bo¬
dies, as into fepulchres or priions.” He afcribes to
this caufe the depravity and mifery to which human
nature is liable ; and maintains, that it “ is only by
difengaging itfelf from all animal paffions, and rifing
above fenfible objeCls, to the contemplation of the
world of intelligence, that the foul of man can. be pre¬
pared to return to its original ftate.” Not inconfift-
ently with this doftrine, our philofopher frequently
fpeaks of the foul of man as confiding of three parts :
or rather he feems to have thought that man has three
fouls; the firft the principle of intelligence, the fe-
cond of paflion, and the third of appetite (m) ; and
to each he affigns its proper place in the human body.
But it was only the intelleClual foul that he confidered
as immortal.
Aridotle taught, in terms equally exprefs, that the
human foul is a part of God, and of courfe that its fub-
fiance is of eternal and neceflary exidence. Some of
his followers, indeed, although they acknowdedged two
firji principles, the aClive and the paffive, yet held, with
the Stoics, but one fubjiance in the univerfe ; and to
reconcile thefe twro contradiftory propofitions, they
were obliged to fuppofe matter to be both a Clive and
pafiive. Their dodrine on this fubjeft is thus deliver¬
ed by Cicero : “ De natura ita dicet/ant, ut earn divide-
rent in res duas, ut altera effet efficiens, altera autem
quafi huic fe prsebens, ea quae efficeretur aliquid. In eo,
H Y S I C S. Part III.
quod edlceret, vim effe cenfebant; in eo autem quod effi- Ot the Im-.
ceretur, materiam quandam ; in utroque tamen u-
TRUMQUE. Neque enim materiam ipfam coherere po-   ,
tuifle, li nulla vi contineretur, neque vim sine ali^J’A
materia ; nihil ed enim, quod non alicubi eiTe coga-
turf.” They divided nature into two things, as the firji \ Academi-
principles ; one whereof is the efficient or artificer, the other clumT1'0-
that which offers itfelf to him for things to be made out '
of it. In the efficient principle, they acknowledged a time
force; in thepafjive, a certain matter; butfo, that in
EACH BOTH OF THESE Jl'F.RE TOGETHER l foraftHUck CS
neither the matter could cohere together unlefs it were
contained by fame atilive force, nor the active force
SUBSIST OF ITSELF WITHOUT MATTER >' bccaife that IS
nothing which may not be compelled to be fomewhere.
Agreeably to this drange doCtrir.e, Arrian, the inter¬
preter of EpiCletus, fays of himfelf, tifii
r&iv TTctyluv, cog coect. “ I am a man (a part ot U.e
to -,txc or univerfe), as an hour is part of the day.”
Aridotle himfelf is generally fuppoled to have be¬
lieved in the eternal exidence of two fubftances, mind
and matter; but treating of tbe generation of animals,
he fays, to jrwvli Q'gp.bl'ns a? t^cttcp tipcc iruflec,
upcct TrXner, ciic o-vpivtcc-tcci Tcixzug ottotxv -UTregiMpfa t• f Dc Gene*
In the univerfe there is a certain animal heat, Jo as that, aticne
after a manner all things are full of mind; wherefore
they are quickly completed for made complete animals) X)1'cai>-
when they have received a portion of that heat. J his
heat, from which, according to Cicero ||, the Stagyrite \\ Tufcul.
derived all fouls, has, it mud be confefled, a very ma-lll). 1. c. 3.
terial appearance ; infomuch that the learned Molheim
feems to have been doubtful whether he admitted of
any immaterial principle in man ; but for this doubt
there appears to us to be no folid foundation. Aridotle
exprefsly declares, that this heat is not fire nor TiTiy fuch
power, but a fpirit which is in the feeas or elementary
principles of bodies ; tc-jto cv 7rvg, reiavryi ovpautg
imp, ctXXa to ifiTriQiXc'p.Gxpoyivov ip to Tm^fMCTi *mi ip to)
ettp^u Trpivpx § . And as the excellent perfon himfelf $ De Gene-
acknowledges (n), that Aridotle taught, the exidence
of twTo principles, God and matter, not indeed fubfift-^ ri,, ir.
in8c. 3.
(m) “ Plato triplicem finxit animam ; cujus pnneipatum, id ed, rationem, in capite, ficut in arce, pofuit : et
duas partes feparare voluit, iram et cupiditatem, quas locis difcludt; iram in peClore, cupiditatem fu’oter pioecor-
dia locavit.” Ciceronis Ttfc. Quejl. lib. i. cap. 10.
This hypothefis has been adopted by the learned author of Ancient Metaphyfics :. but. it cannot be proved by
argument, and is in direCl oppofition to confcioufnefs. Were there three didinCl. minds in each man the princ i¬
ples of intelligence, of paflion, and of appetite, it is obvious that each man would three perfons, and that none
of thefe perfons could know any thing of the powers and properties of the other two. The intelligent perfon could
not reafon about paffion or appetite; nor could the perfons who know nothing but paflion and appetite reafon
about intelligence, or indeed about any thing elfe. The very quedion at iffue, therefore., furnifbes. the mod com¬
plete proof podible, that the fame individual which each man calls himfelf, is the principle of intelligence, of
paffion, and of appetite ; for if the Platonic hypothefis were true, that quedion could never have been darted, as
no one individual of the human race could have underdood all its terms. It may be jud wmrth while to mention,
that the author of Ancient Metaphyfics, attributing all motion, and even the coherence , of the minute particles
of body, to the immediate agency of mind, of courfe furniflres every human body with at. lead four minds.
This fourth mind differs not from the plajlic nature of Cudworth, and is likewdfe a Platonic notion apparently ^bet¬
ter founded. That there are in our bodies motions perpetually carried on by the agency ci fomething which
is not the principle of either our intelligence, our paffions, or our appetites, is a fact wjnc.h cannot be denied ;
but if thofe motions proceed immediately from mind, it mud either be from dnt fupreme mind., or from {oroefub-
ordinate mind, a£ting under the fupreme, but wholly diflinU from and independent of that which each man calls
himfelf. ...
(n) “ Non cum illis componi prorfus noted: Aristoteles, qui Lina rerum ferarataque datuunt pnncipia,
' y * Deum
Chap. IV.
M ETAPHYSICS.
667
Ofthelna-ing feparately, but eternally linked together by the
mortality ofci0jTeft union • vve think it follows undeniably, that this
, tne ^0ut' heat, from which he derived all fouls, muft be that
mind which he called God, and which he confidered as
the ailuating foul of the univerfe.
Upon thefe principles neither Ariftotle nor the
Stoics could, believe with Plato, that in the order of
nature there was firft an emanation from the Supreme
Mind to animate the univerfe, and then through this
univerfal foul other emanations to animate mankind.
The Stagyrite believed, that the Supreme Mind him-
felf is the foul of the world, and that human fouls are
immediately derived from him. The genuine Stoics,
acknowledging but one fubilance, of neceflity confi¬
dered both the fouls and bodies of men as portions of
that fubilance, which they called to ev ; though hill
they affe&ed to make fome unintelligible diftinftion
between body and mind. But however the various
fchools differed as to thofe points, they were unanimous
as to the foul’s being a part of the felf-exifting Sub-
itance ; and Cicero gives their whole fyftem from Pa-
cuvianus in words which cannot be mifunderftood :
Quicquid efl hoc, omnia animat, format, alit, auget,
creat,
Sepelit, recipitque in fefe omnia, omniumque idem
efl Pater :
Indidemnue eadem, quae oriuntur de integro, atque
eodem occidunt.
265 To thefe verfes he immediately fubjoins the following
Upon thefe qUery . « Qu;d eil igitur, cur, cum domus fit omnium
theTmain- una> ea(lue communis, cumque aninn hominum semper
tainedthe rvERiNT, futuri£WE sint, cur ii, quid ex quoque eve-
neceffiiry niat, et quid • quamque rem fignificet, perfpicere non
exiftence of p0fl-nt * >11 And upon the fame principle he elfewhere
*1<Z)!=0'zL'w- arRues» not merely for the immortality, but for the
nations,^ eterniiij and necejfary exijlence of the foul: “ Animo-
lib. i. p. 57. rum nulla in terris origo inveniri potefl : His enim in
naturis nihil inefl, quod vim memoriae mentis, cogitati-
onis habeat quod et praeterita teneat, et futura provi-
deat, et complefti poffit praefentia j quae fola divina
funt. Nec invenietur unquam, unde ad hominem ve¬
nire poffint, nifl a Deo. Ita quicquid ell illud, quod
fentit, quod fapit, quod vult, quod viget, caelefle et di-
t Fratr. de vifium efl ; OB EAMQUE REM STERNUM SIT NECESSE
Confola- est fThis was indeed fecuring the future perma-
tione. nency of the foul in the moil effeflual manner ; for it is
obvious, that what had not a beginning can never
have an end, but muft be of eternal and neceffary e'xift-
. ence.
'5Ut"°t But when the ancients attributed a proper eternity
and perfo- to the foul, we muft not fuppofe that they underflood
nal capa- it to be eternal in its di/h'nfl zndperfonal exijlence. They
city- believed that it proceeded or was difcerpted in time^ from
the fubftance of God, and would in time be again re-
folved into that fubftance. This they explained by a
clofe veffel filled with fea water, which fwimming a
while upon the ocean, does, on the veffel’s breaking, flow
in again, and mingle with rhe common mafs. They the Irn-^
only differed about the time of this reunion; the
greater part holding it to be at death ; but the Pytha-  y—-^
goreans not till after many tranfmigrations. The Pla-
tonifts went between thefe two opinions; and rejoined
pure and unpolluted fouls immediately to the Univerfal
Spirit; but thofe which had contrafted much defile¬
ment, were fent into a fucceflion of other bodies, to be
purged and purified, before they returned to their pa¬
rent fubftance
A dodlrine fimilar to this of Plato has been heldL‘ga_
from time immemorial by the Bramins in India, whole tion.
facred books teach, “ That intellea is a portion of 268
the GREAT soul of the univerfe, breathed into all^^Uj^1'
creatures, to animate them for a certain time ; that af-he^d by the
ter death it animates other bodies, or returns like aBramins.
dro[) into that unbounded ocean from which it firft arofe ;
that the fouls of men are diftinguifhed from thofe of
other animals, by being endowed with reafon and with
a confcioufnefs of right and wrong ; and that the foul
of him who adheres to right as far as his powers ex¬
tend, is at death absorbed inuo that divine es¬
sence, never more to re-animate flefli. On the other
hand, the fouls of thofe who do evil, are net at death
difengaged from all the elements; but are immediate¬
ly clothed with a body of fire, air, and abafh (a kind
of celeftial element, through which the planets move,
and which makes no refiftance) in which they are for a
time punilhed in hell. After the feafon of their grief
is over, they reanimate other bodies : and when they
arrive through thefe tranfmigrations at a ftate of purity,
they are abforbed into God, where all passions are ut¬
terly UNKNOWN, and where CONSCIOUSNESS IS LOST
IN BLISS f_ t See Ar-
Whether the Greeks derived their notions of the^^'O'
divinity and tranfmigration of fouls from the eaft, or ^
whether both they and the Bramins brought the fame ^0W'5 mf-
do£l rines at different periods from Egypt, it is foreign tory of In¬
born the purpofe of this article to inquire. Certain it dq/lan.
is, that the philofophers of Greece and India argued
in the very fame manner, and upon the very fame prin-trine ;n_
ciples, for the natural immortality of the foul ; and compatible
that the immortality which they taught was wholly with a fu-
------- - ^ 1,^ ture ftate of
incompatible with God’s moral government of the ^
world, and with a future ftate of rewards and punin. qj^ (ndl_
ments. That this is true of the dotftrine of the Bra- ments, and
mins, is evident from the laft-quoted fentence : for if
the foul, when abforbed into the Divine effence, lofes
all confcioufnefs of what it did and fuffered in the
body, it cannot poftibly be rewarded for its virtues
praftifed upon earth. That the philofophers of Greece
taught the fame ceffation of confcioufnefs, might, be
inferred with the utmoft certainty, even though we
had not Ariftotle’s exprefs declaration to that purpofe :
For as they all believed their fouls to have exifted be¬
fore they were infufed into their bodies, and as each
muft have been confcious that he remembered nothing
of his former ftate (o), it was impoffrble to avoid con-
4. P 2 eluding,
Deum et materiam. Araiffime enim utrumque hoc initium conjunxit Stagyrita, atque ipfa naturae neceffrtate
Deum cohserere cum mole hac corporea putavit.” Cudworth's Intellectual System, Book i. Chap. iv. Sea. 6. •
1 0(o) This is exprefsly acknowledged by Cicero, though he held with his Greek mafters the eternity of the foul.
668
METAPHYSIC S.
Part III.
* De Ani-
tna, lib. iii.
cap. 6.
o
fSrofsly ab-
furd in it-
feif;
Of the Im- eluding, that in the future ftate of his foul as little would
mortality of remembered of the prefent. Accordingly Ariftotle
oie Sou . teacj)es^ u agent intelledl only is immortal and
eternal, but the paffive corruptible,”—revlo jwsvsv eidavoilov
x.x' xi^ay 6 2z TrxQtiUneg vow; Cudvvorth thinks
this a very doubtful and obfeure paffage } but Warbur-
ton, whole natural acutenefs often difeovered the fenfe
of ancient authors when it had efcaped the fagacity of
abler fcholars, has completely proved, that by the agent
intelleEl is meant the fubjfancc of the foul, and by the
pajjive its particular perceptions. It appears therfore
that the Stagyrite, from the common principle of the
foul’s being a part of the Divine fubilance, draws a con-
clufion againft a future ftate of rewards and puniftiments’,
which though all the philofophers (except Socrates)
embraced, yet all were not fo forward to avow.
That the hypothefis of the foul’s being a part of the
Divine fubftance is a grofs abfurdity, we furely need
not fpend time in proving. The argument long ago
urged againft it by St Auftin muft ere now have occur¬
red to every reader. In the days of that learned father
of the church, it was not wholly given up by the philo-
lophers ; and in his excellent work of the City of Goel,
he thus expofes its extravagance and impiety : “ Quid
infelicius credi poteft, quam Dei partem vapulare, cum
puer vapulat ? Jam vero partes Dei Seri lafcivas, ini-
yuas, impiaSy atque omnino damnabiles, quis ierre poteft
^ nift qui prorfus infanit ?
yet the on- ^ut though this hypothefis be in the higheft degree
% principle abfurd and wholly untenible, we apprehend it to be the
from which only principle from which the natural or effentialimmor-
the foul can taqty 0f fou| can poffibly be inferred. If the foul had
to be eflen- a beginning it may have an end; tor nothing can be more
tially im- evident than that the being which had not exiftence of
mortal. itfelf cannot of itfelf have perpetuity of exiftence. Hu¬
man works, indeed, continue in being after the power
of the workman is withdrawn from them ; but between
human works and the Divine there is this immenfe dif¬
ference, that the former receive from the artift nothing
but their form •, whereas the latter receive from the
Creator both their form and their fubftance. Forms
are nothing but modifications of fubftance; and as
fubftances depend upon God and not upon man, human
lyorks are continued in being by that fiat of the Crea¬
tor, which made the fubftances of which they are com-
pofed fufceptible of different forms, and of fuch a nature
as to retain for a time whatever form may be impreffed
wpon them. Human works therefore are continued in
being by a power different from that by which they
are finiftied \ but the works of God depend wholly
upon that power by which they were originally brought
into exiftence ; and were the Creator to withdraw his
fupporting energy, the whole creation would fink into
273 nothing.
Baxter's r-r- Self-evident as this truth certainly is, fome eminent
thTimnral P^Efophers feem to have queftioned it. “ No fub-
o efiential ftance or being (lays Mr Baxter*) can have a natural
immortali¬
ty of the
foul.      * 
into the In anfwer to fome very foolifti affertions concerning the evil of death, he fay s, “ Ita, qui nondum nati funt, miferi
Nature of jam funt, quia non funt : et nos ipfi, fi poll mortem miferi futuri fumus, miferi fuimus antequam nati. Ego aut< m
the human nQn commemini^ antequam fum natus, me miferum. Tufcul. lib. i. cap. 6,
vo . 1. gee Stillingfleet’s Origines Sacree, where this queftion is treated in a very mafterly manner by one of the
ableft metaphyficians of the 17th century. See alfo our article Providence.
the Soul.
27.5
tendency to annihilation, or to become nothing. That Of the Im-
a being which once exifts fliould ceafe to exift is a mortality of
real effeft, and muft be produced by a real caufe
But this caufe could not be planted in the nature of
any fubftance or being to become a tendency of its
nature ; for it could not be a free caufe, otherwife it
muft be a being itfelf, the fubjeft of the attribute free¬
dom, and therefore not the property of another being ;
nor a neceffary caufe, for fuch a caufe is only the effect
of fomething iaipoling that neceflity, and fo no caufe at
all.”
That the author’s meaning in this argument is good,Inconclii«*
cannot, we think, be controverted j but he has not ex-hvfo
prefied himfelf with his ufual accuracy. He feems to
confound caufes with the abfence of caufes, and the
effects of the former with the confequences of the latter.
The vifible world wras brought into exiftence by the
a6hial energy of the power of God j and as the vifible
world had nothing of itfelf, it can remain in exittence
only by a continuance of the fame energy. This energy
therefore is at the prefent moment as real a caufe as it was
fix thoufand years ago, or at any period when it may
have been firft exerted j and the vifible world is its real
and permanent effeB. But would the ceafing of this
energy be likewife a caufe ? It would certainly be
followed with the annihilation of the vifible world,
juft as the withdrawing of the fun-beams would be
followed with darknefs on the earth. Yet as no one
has ever fuppofed that darknefs, a nonentity, is a po-
ftive effect of the fun or of his beams, but only a mere
negative confequence of their abfence ; fo, we think,
ne one who believes in creation can confider that
deftnnftion which would inevitably follow the with¬
drawing of the energy by which all things are iup-
plied, as Cc.e pofilive tjfeB of a contrary energy, or as
any thing more than a negative confequence of the ceaf¬
ing of that volition or energy of power by which
God at firft brought things into exiftence. For
“ where Cue. foundation of exiftence lies wholly in the
power of an infinite Being producing, the ground of the
continuance of that exiftence muft be wholly in the fame
power conferving; which has, therefore, with as much
truth as frequency, been ftyled a continued cre-
atien (p) ” < _ 274
The force of this reafoning Mr Baxter certainly faw,and in e£-
when he faid, that “ a tendency to perfevere in theFfol given
fame ftate of nature, and a tendency to change it, are hinv
contradictories, and impolTible to be planted in the fame
fubjeft at once : or, not to urge the contradiction, if
the laft prevailed, the remaining in the fame ftate for
any given time would be hnpoffible. We forget the
true caufe of all thefe tendencies, the will of God,
which it is abfurd to fuppofe contrary to itfelf. The
tendency in matter to perfevere in the fame ftate of
reft or motion, is nothing but the will of the Creator,
who preferves all things in their exiftence and manner
of exiftence ; nor can we have recourle to any other
caule
Chip. V.
METAPHYSICS.
punifh
ments.
Of the fm- caufe for the prefervation of immaterial fubihmce in
mortality of jts exigence. Therefore thefe tendencies are to be
the Soul. accr-bej to the will of God, and it is abfurd to fuppofe
, ' _^ them contrary.”
2,75- , AH this is unqueftionably true. The exiftence or
evidence"of nonexiftence of matter and of created fpirits depends
the immor- wholly upon the will of God ; and we cannot fuppofe
tality of him t0 he willing to-day the reverfe of what he willed
the foul, yefterday, becaufe we know that all his volitions are
rainproof direffcd by unerring wifdom. We have likewife the
of a future evidence of experience, that nothing is ever fuffered to
Hate of re- perifh but particular fytlems, which perilh only as jy~
wards and jjans by a decompofition of their parts. A being,
",,n,n'' which like the foul has no parts, can fufFer no dccom-
pofition ^ and therefore, if it perilh, it mult perilh by
annihilation. But of annihilation there has not hi¬
therto been a fmgle inflance ; nor can we look for a
{ingle inflance without fuppofing the. volitions of God
to partake of that unfteaainefs which is characleriltic of
man. Corporeal fyftems, when they have ferved their
purpofe, are indeed refolved into their component parts •,
butrthe matter of which they were compofod, fo far
from being /&/?, becomes the matter of other fyjletns in
endlefs fucceflion. Analogy, therefore, leads us to con¬
clude, that when the human body is difiblved, the. im¬
material principle by which it was animated continues
to think and aft, either in a date of feparation from all
body, or in tome material vehicle to which it is inti¬
mately united, and which goes off with it at death j or
elfe that it is preferved by the bather of Ipirits, 101^ the
•purpofe of animating a body in fome future Hate.. When
we con fider the different dates through which that
living and thinking individual, which each man calls
himfelf, goes, from the moment that it fird animates an
embryo in the womb, to the diffolution of the tn&t1 °f
fourfcore •, and when we reflect likewife on the wifdom
gnd immutability of God, together with the various
diffolutions of corporeal fydems, in which we know that
?. {Ingle atom of matter has never been lod the pre-
fumption is certainly drong, that the foul lhall nib hit
after the diffolution of the body. But when we take
into the confideration the moral attributes of God—-
his iudice and goodnefs, together with, the unequal
didribution of happinefs and mriery in the prelent
world ; this nrefumption from analogy amounts to a
complete moral proof that there lhall be a future date
of rewards and puniflunents (^) (fee Moral Fkdo-
frjphu and Religion) : and if we edimate the duration
of the rewards by the benevolence, of Him by whom
they are to be conferred, we cannot imagine tuem iaoi-
ter than eternity.
276
Freedom of
agency im¬
plied in ac-
In the p-eceding chapter we have adverted to that
Chap. V. C>r Necessity and Liberty.
669
great moral proof iox a iuture date, and the immortality
of the foul, aridng from the relation in which man, as Liberty,
a being accountable for his condudf, dands to a God i ■ — J
of almighty power, infinite wifdom, and perfect
judice. But the circumdance of accountablenels im¬
plies freedom of agency j for it is contrary to all our
notions of right and wrong (fee Moral Philofop/iy),
that a man fhould be either rewarded or punilhed lor
adtions which he was neceditated or compelled to
perform. 277
Human a&icns are of three kinds : one, where we Every man
a& by inllindt, without any view to confequences j one, hasdPGJ“'
where we aft by will, in order to obtain fome end ; ^ wins •_
and one, where we aft againlt will. It is the fecond
kind of aftions only which confers upon the agent
merit or demerit. With refpeft to the fird, he afts
blindly (fee Instinct), without deliberation or choice j
and the external at! follows from the indinftive
impulfe, no Ids neceffarily than a done by its gra¬
vity falls to the ground. With refpeft to toe lad,
he is rather an indrument than an agent } and it is uni-
verfally allowed, that were a drong man to put a
fword into the hand of one who is weaker, and then
to force it through the body of a third perfon, he nha.
held the fword would be as guiltlefs of the murder as
the fword itfelf. To be entitled to rewards, or liable
to punidiment, a man mud aft voluntarily \ or in other
words, his aftions mud proceed from that energy of
mind which is termed volition; and, we believe, it
has never been denied, that all men have power to do
whatfoevcr they ’ivill, both with refpeft to the ope¬
rations of their minds and the motions of their bo¬
dies, uncontrouled by any foreign principle or caufe.
“ Every man (fays Priedley) is at liberty to turn his,
thoughts to whatever fubjeft he pleales, to confider
the reafons for or againd. any fcheme or piopufiti.on,
and to refieft upon them as long as he lhall think
proper} as well as to walk wherever he pleales, and
to do whatever his hands and other limbs are capable
of doing.” Without fuch liberty as this, morality is
inconceivable. _ 27S
But though philofophers have in general agreed Put differ*-
with refpeft to the power which a man has to per-entopini-
form fuch aftions as he wills, they have differed wide-
ly in opinion refpefting the nature of his volitions. tjie free_
That thefe are the refult of motives, has feldum if ever dom of vo*,-
been quedioned j but whether that refult be neceffary dtion.
fo as that the agent has no felf-determining power to
decide between different motives, has been warmly dis¬
puted by men equally candid, impartial, and inteid-
pent. The principal writers on the-fide of necefiity
are, Hobbes, Collins, Hume, Leibnitz, Lord Karnes,
Hartley, Edwards, Priedley, and perhaps Locke. On
the other fide are Clarke, King, Law, Reid, Butler^,
Price, Bryant, Wolladon, Horfley, Beattie, and Gre¬
gory,
for It tvas by (beb arguments that Socrates reefoned Mmfelf into the belief of t, future Kate of ^yrds anti
(QJ It was by me g already obferved, in this belief; and he was as fingular m confining
punidrments He-as fingula ; Cotd be the caufe’ of this be!ief/but this reftraint, of. which his belief
him ed to the u j ?' ^ bav;ng confined himfelf to morals, he had nothing to miflead him ; whereas the -
was a natural comeque ^ T . h^. ^ & kind of {anatic;r:n to phyfes and metaphyfes, had drawn a
number 'otbLd, though lubtle, couduhons, whie, direaiy oppofed the -^-cesdtbofe motd ■
670
279
Scheme of
neceffity,
according
to Lord
Kames.
* Sketches
Mati, Book the
iii. Sketch
2. part i.
fedt. 8.
i
a g01^’ ^c‘ r^° §^ve a ^10r*: view of this celebrated
^Liberty" (lue^ion> ig that our limits will permit; and as
we do not think ourfelves competent to fettle the dif-
pute, it were perhaps a thing defirable to give the op-
pofite reafonings in the words of thofe eminent authors
themfelves. It muft, however, be obvious to the
reader, that the ftyle and manner of fo many different
writers are extremely various, and that to introduce
them all into our abftrafl, would make the whole a mafs
of confufion. We (hall, therefore, feledl one writer to
plead the caufe of neceffity, fupplying his defefts
from thofe wTho, though inferior to him on the whole,
may yet have argued more ably on fome particular
points which the queflion involves : and to this com¬
bined reafoning we fhall fubjoin fuch anfwers as to us
appear moft conclufive. Hartley, Hume, and Prieft-
ley, are perhaps the moll profound reafoners on the
fide of neceffity; but there is fo much more perfpi-
cuity in the arguments of Lord Kames, that we can¬
not help preferring them, as being on the whole bet¬
ter calculated to give the ordinary reader a fair view
of the fubjeft.
“ Into aflions done wuth a view to an end (fays
his lordfhip *), defire and will enter : defire to ac-
compliffi the end goes firft ; the wrill to aff, in order
to accompliffi the end, is next ; and the external act
follows of courfe. It is the wall then, that governs
of the Hif- every external aft done as a mean to accompliffi an
tory of end ; and it is defire to accomplilh the end that puts
the wdll in motion ; defire, in this view, being com¬
monly termed the motive to aft. But what is it that
raifes defire ? The anfwer is ready : It is the profpeft
of attaining fome agreeable end, or of evading one
that is difagreeable. And if it be inquired, what
makes an objeft agreeable or difagreeable i* the anfwTcr
is equally ready : It is our nature that makes it fo.
Certain vifible objefts are agreeable, certain founds,
and certain fmells : other objefts of thefe fenfes are dif¬
agreeable. But there we muft flop ; figr we are far
from being fo intimately acquainted with our own
nature as to affign the caufes.
“ With refpeft to infiinftive aftions, no perfon,. I
prefume, thinks that there is any freedom. With refpeft;
to voluntary aftions, done in order to produce fome
effeft, the neceffity is the fame, though lefs apparent
at firft view. The external aftion is determined by
the will: the will is determined by defire; and defire
by what is agreeable or difagreeable. Here is a chain
of caufes and effefts, -not one link of which is arbi¬
trary, or under command of the agent: he cannot will
but according to his defire ; he cannot defire, but ac¬
cording to what is agreeable or difagreeable in the
objefts perceived : nor do thefe qualities depend on his
inclination or fancy ; he has no power to make a
beautiful woman ugly, nor to make a rotten carcafs
fmell fweetly.
“ Many good men, apprehending danger to mora¬
lity from holding our aftions to be neceffary, endea¬
vour to break the chain of caufes and effedfs above
mentioned ; maintaining, that whatever influence d*e-
fire or motives may have, it is the agent himfelf who
is the caufe of every aftion ; that defire may advife,
but cannot command ; and, therefore, that a man is
ftill free to aft in contradiftion to defire and to the
•ftrongeft motives.
3
M ETAPHYSICS.
Part 111.
“ That a being may exift which .in every cafe afts Of Xe-
blindly and arbitrarily, without having any end in cefikyan'd
view, I can make a ffiift to conceive : but it is diffi- ^ib-nty.
cult for me even to imagine a thinking and rational"""
being, that has affections and paffions, that has a de¬
firable end in viewq that can eafily accompliffi this
end ; and yet after all can fly off or remain at reft, with¬
out any caufe, reafon, or motive, to fway it. if fuch a
whimiical being can poffibly exift, I am certain that
man is not that being. There is not perhaps a per-
fon above the condition of a changeling, but can fay
why he did fo and fo, what moved him, what he in¬
tended. Nor is a angle faft ftated to make us be¬
lieve that ever a man afted againft his own will or
defire, fvhq wTas not compelled by external force.—
On the contrary, ^onfiant and univerfal experience
proves, that human aftions are governed by certain
inflexible laws ; and that a man cannot exert his
felf-motive power but in purfuance of fome defire or
motive.
“ Had a motive always the fame influence, aftions
proceeding from it would appear no lefs neceffary
than the aftions of matter. The various degrees of
influence that motives have on different men at the
fame time, and on the fame man at different times,
occafion a doubt, by fuggefting a notion of chance.
Some motives, however, have fuch influence as to leave
no doubt : a timid female has a pbyfical power to
throw herfelf into the mouth of a lion roaring for
food ; but ftie is withheld by terror no lefs effectual¬
ly than by cords: if fhe ffiould ruth upon a lion, would
not every one conclude that fhe was frantic ? A man,
though in a deep fleep, retains a phyfical power to
aft, but he cannot exert it. A man, though defpe-
rately in love, retains a phyfical power to refufe the hand
of his miftrefs ; but he ca’nnot exert that power in
contradiftion to his own ardent defire, more than if
he were faft afleep. Now, if a ftrong motive have a
neceffary influence, there is no reafon for doubting,
but that a wreak motive miuft alfo have its influence,
the fame in kind, though not in degree. Some ac¬
tions indeed are ftrangely irregular ; but let the wild-
eft aftions be ferutinized, there will always be dif-
covered fome motive or defire, which, however whim-
fical or capricious, was what influenced the perfon to
aft. Of two contending motives, is it not natural to
expeft that the ftronger will prevail, however little
its excels may be ? If there be any doubt, it muft
arife from a fuppofition, that a weak motive may be
refifted arbitraiily. Where then are we to fix the
boundary between a weak and a ftrong motive ? If a
weak motive can be refifted, why not one a little
ftronger, and why not the ftrongeft ? Between two
motives oppofing each other, however nearly balan¬
ced, a man has not an arbitrary choice but muft vield
to the ftronger. The mind, indeed, fluftuates for
fome time, and finds itfelf in a. meafure loofe : at laft,
however, it is determined by the more powerful mo¬
tive, as a balance is by the greater weight after many
vibrations.
“ Such, then, are the laws that govern eur volun¬
tary aftions. A man is abfolutely free to aft accord-
ing to his own will ; greater freedom than which is
not conceivable. At the fame time, as man is made
accountable for his conduft to his Maker, to his fel-
• 3-ow
♦
Chap. V.
Liberty.
a8o
Mr Hume,
and
* Inquiry
Of Ne- low creatures, and to hitrsfelf, he is not left to a£l ar-
eeffity and bitrarily ; for at that rate he would be altogether un¬
accountable : his will is regulated by defire j and de-
lire by what pleafes or difpleafes him.—Thus, with
regard to human condufl, there is a chain of laws
edablilhed by nature j no one link of which is left
arbitrary. By that wife fyllein, man is made ac¬
countable ; by it he is made a fit fubjeft for divine
and human government : by it perfons of fagacity
forefee the conduct of others ; and by it the prefcience
of the Deity with refpeft to human aftions is clearly
cfhblithed.’>
Of the doftrine of neceflity, a more perfpicuous
or plaufible view than this is not to be found in any
work with which we are acquainted. It is indeed
defeflive, perhaps, as his lordthip only hints at the
nature of that relation which fubfifts between motive
and affion ; but from his comparing the fluftuations
of the mind between two contending motives, to the
vibrations of a balance with different weights in the
oppofite fcales, there is no room to doubt but that
he agreed exa&ly in opinion with Mr Hume and Dr
Priellley. N»w% both thefe writers hold, that the
relation of motives to volition and aflion, is the very
fame with that which fubfifts between caufe and ef¬
fect in phyfics, as far as they are both known to us.
“ It is univerfally allowed (fays Mr Hume*), that
matter, in all its operations, is actuated by a neceffary
force ; and that every natural effeft is fo precifely de-
concern ng terrn:nec| foy energy of its caufe, that no other
dctftald-n‘ ,n fuch particular circumltances, could poffibiy
ing, feet. 8. have refulted from it. The degree and direction of
every motion is, by the laws of nature, preferibed
with fuch exadtnefs, that a living creature may as foon
arife from the (hock of two bodies, as motion in any
other degree or direction than what is actually pro¬
duced by it. Would we, therefore, form a jult and
precife idea of necejjity, rve mult confider whence that
idea arifes, when we apply it to the operation of bo¬
dies, But our idea of this kind of neceffity and cau-
fation arifes entirely from the uniformity obfervable
in the operations of nature, where fimilar objects are
ccnftantly conjoined together, and the mind is deter¬
mined by cuflom to infer the one from the appear¬
ance of the other. Thefe two circumftances form
the whole of that neceflity which we aferibe to mat-
!er. Beyond the con/lant conjunBion of fimilar objects,
and the confequent inference from one to the other, we
have no notion of any neceflity or connexion.” He then
gives a pretty long detail to prove a great uniformity
ameng the a&ions of men in all nations and ages ; and
concludes that part of his argument wuth affirming,
“ not only that the conjunflion betvveen motives and
voluntary a&ions is as regular and uniform as that
between the caufe and effeft in any part of nature ;
but alfo, that this regular conjunftion has been uni-
verfrdly acknowledged among mankind, and has never
been the fubiecl of difpute either in pfiuofophy or
common life.” He afterwards obferves, “ I hat men
begin at the wrong, end of this queflion concerning
liberty and neceflity, when they enter upon it by ex¬
amining the faculties of the foul, the influence of the
underflsnding, and the operations of the will. Let
them firfl: difeufs a more Ample queftion, namely, the
operations of body,, end of brute unintelligent matter,
METAPHYSICS. 671
and try whether they can there foiTn any idea of cau- Of Ne-
fation fand neceflity, except that of a conftant con- ceiihty and
junftion of obje&s, and fubfequent inference of the , ^ y~ ,
mind from one to another. If thefe circumftances
form in reality the whole of that neceflity which we
conceive in matter, and if thefe circumftances be alfo
univerfally acknowledged to take place in the opera¬
tions of the mind, the difpute is at an end j at leaft
muft be owned to be thenceforth merely verbal. When
we confider how aptly natural and moral evidence link
together, and form only one chain of argument, we
ftiail make no fcruple to allow that they are of the
fame nature, and derived from the fame principles.—
Between a cennefled chain of natural caufes and vo¬
luntary atftions, the mind feels no difterence in paf-
ing from one link to another ; nor is lefs certain of
a future event which depends upon motives and voli¬
tions, than if it were connected with the objefts pre-
fent to the memory and fenfes by a train of caufes,.
cemented together by what we are pleafed to call a
physical neceffity. The fame experienced union has
the fame eftedl on the mind, whether the united ob¬
jects be motives, volition and aflion, or figure and mo¬
tion. We may change the names of things, but their
nature and their operation on the underftanding never
change.” . _ - 2Sf.
Dr Prieftley, in words a little different, teaches the Dr Pridt-
very fame doftrine which was taught by Mr Hume.— ky.
“In every determination of the mind (fays he *), * V36 ^f:C'
or in cafes where volition and choice are concerned, phiiojlphi-
all the previous circumftances to be confidered are the Cal Need-
fate of mind (including every thing belonging to the will fay Uluf
itfelff and the vievjs of things prefented to it; the lat-trated''
ter of which is generally called the motive, though un¬
der this term fome workers comprehend them both.
To diftinguiih the manner in which events depending
upon will and choice are produced, from thofe in which
no volition is concerned, the former are faid to be pro¬
duced voluntarily, and the latter mechanically. But the
fame general maxims apply to them both. We may
not be able to determine a priori how a man will afl in
any particular cafe ; but it is becaufe we are not par¬
ticularly acquainted with his difpoftion of mind, precife
ftuation, and views of things. But neither can we teli
in which way the wind will blow to morrow, though
the air is certainly fubjedl to no other than neceffary
laws of motion.
“ It is univerfally acknowledged, that there can
be no effedft without an adequate caufe. This is
even the foundation on which the only proper argu¬
ment for the being of a God refts. And the neceffa-
rian afferts, that if, in any given ftate of mind, with
refpeft both to difpoftion and motives, two different
determinations or volitions be poffible, it can be fo
on no other principle, than that one of them ffvall
come under the defeription. of an effeB without a caufe ;
juft as if the beam of a balance might incline either
way, though loaded with equal weights. It is ac¬
knowledged, that the mechanifm of the balance is of
one kind, and that of the mind of another j and,
therefore, it may be convenient to denominate them
by different words 5 as, for inftance, that of the ba¬
lance may be termed a phyfical, and that of the mind
a moral mechanifm. But ftill, if there be a real me¬
chanifm in both cafes, fo that there can be only one
refult
672
..Of Nc-
ceffity and
L beity.
.282
View of
■human li-
43crty.
M £ T A P
refult from the fame previous clrcumftances, there will
be a real neceflily, enforcing an abfolute certainty in
the event. For it mufl be underftood, that all that
Js ever meant by nece[j-ity^ m a caufe, is that winch piO-
duces certainty in the effeSl.'1'
Such is the nature of human volitions, according
to every neceffarisn of eminence who has written on
the fubjeft fince the (lass of Hobbes : and if this theo¬
ry be juft, if there be a conftant and infeparable con-
jundlion of motives and adlions fimilar to that of cau e
and effeft in phyfics, it is obvious, that in volition the
mind is as inert as body is in motion.
This confequence is indeed avowed and infilled^ upon
by Flume, Prieftley, and their adherents \ whilft tne ad¬
vocates for human liberty, on the other hand, contend
for an abfolute exemption of the will from all internal
neccjjity, ariling from its own frame and confiitution,
the impulfe of fuperior beings, or the operations ot
objefls, reafons, or motives, &c. By this they do not
-mean, that between motives and volitions there is no
relations whatever, or that a man can ever choofe evil
as evil, or refufe good as good. Such an aftertion
would be contrary to ponfcioufnefs and univerfal expe¬
rience. But what they endeavour to prove is, that
the conjuuflion of motive and volition is not infepa¬
rable, like that of caufe and effect in phyfics *, that a
man may in moft cafes choofe according to any one ot
two or more motives prefented to^ his view } that by
• choofmg any thing, he may make it in fome meafure
agreeable by his own aft, or, to fpeak more properly,
may bend his defire to it •, that in volition, the imnd
is not inert ; and that, therefore, we are under no ne-
*cej/ity to afl: in a particular manner in any given cale
vvhatever. ^
That the conjunction of motive and action is not
conftant like that of caufe and effba in phyfics, and
that by confequence the mind in forming volitions is
not inert, has been evinced by Dr Gregory with the
force and precifion of mathematical demonilration.——
Former writers on the fide of liberty had often ob¬
served, that upon the fuppofition of the inertia of
mind, a man, with equal and oppofite motives pre¬
sented at once to his view, would, during their conti¬
nuance, remain perfe£lly at reft, like a balance.equally
loaded in both fcales. The obfervation is admitted to
be juft by all the advocates for neceftity j but they
contrive to evade its confequences, by denying that in
any given cafe a man can be at once affiyled by two
equal and oppofite motives. Thus, when it is faid
that a porter, ftanding with his face due north, muft
remain in that pofition at perfeft reft, as long as equal
motives (hall at once be offered to him for travelling
eaftward and weftward, the neceffarians admit the
force of the argument •, but when it is added that a
guinea, offered for every mile that he ftiould travel in
each of thefe oppofite direftions, ought therefore to
fix him at reft till one of the offers be withdrawn, they
deny that the defire of gaining the guineas is the
whole of the motives which operate upon his mind. Fie
mav have, fay they, fome fecret reafon which we can¬
not" difcern for preferring the one direftion to the
other *, and that reafon, added to the guinea, will make
him go eaftward or weftward, juft as an ounce thrown
into either fcale of a balance poifed by equal weights
will make that fcale preponderate. Though we thitik
3
H Y S I C S. ^rt 111.
that this folution of the difficulty can fatisfy no man ^Of Ne-^
who is not already biafled to the neceffarian fyftem } Liberty,
and though, even were it to be admitted, it feems to .
militate againft the conftant conjunction of motives and
adlions, unltds it can be proved that toe porter muft
travel the road which he has been neceffhated to
choofe with reluftance and a heavy heart j yet as it
may admit of endlefs quibbling upon ambiguous
words, the philofophical world is much indebted^ to
Dr Gregory f for an argument which, in our opinion, f EJfay on
can neither be*overturned nor evaded, and which de- the Rein..
monftrates that the conjuncTon of motive and aaion ^^-^
cannot be conftant and infeparable, like that of caufe tive aud
and effect in phyfics. ■■Action.
His reafoning is to this purpofe : Suppofe a porter 283
to be offered a guinea for every mile that he ffiaU Demo^ftfa-
travel diredlly eaftward. If there be no phyfical caufe.^” cona_
or moral motive to keep him at reft, or to induce himjun(q:;on
to move in another direclion, there cannot be a doubt,-motive and
upon either hypothefis, but he will gladly embrace the adtion is
propcfal, and travel in the direction pointed cut t0conitar;t-
iftna, till he ftmll have gained as much money as to fa¬
tisfy his moft avaricious defires. i he fame thing would
have happened, if a guinea had been offered for every
mile that he fliould travel due fouth. In thefe two
cafes taken feparately, the relation between the man s
motions and his adlions would be ftrikingly analogous
to that between a fingle impulfe and motion in phyfics.
Let us now fuppcfe the two offers to be made at the
Tame inftant, and the man to be affured that if he tra¬
vel eaftward he can have no part of the reward pro*
mifed for his travelling to the fouth, and that if he
travel fouthwrard he can have no part of the reivard
promifed for his travelling to the eaft. What is he to
do in this cafe ? If his mind be inert in volition, and
if the two motives operate upon him with the fame
neceftity that caufes operate in phyfics, it is obvious
that the man could travel neither towards the. eaft nor
towards the fouth, but in a diagonal direftion .fi.om
north-weft to fouth-eaft ; and this he muft do willing¬
ly, although perfedtly fatisfied that he could gain no¬
thing by his journey. As this inference is contrary
to fa ft and univerfal experience, the doftor.very
juftly concludes that the premifes, from which it is de¬
duced by mathematical reafoning, muft be falfe and
abfurd ; or, in other words, that the relation between
motive and aftion cannot be that of conftant conjunc¬
tion, like the relation between caufe and effect in phy¬
fics.
He ufes many arguments of the fame kind, and
equally convincing, to prove the abturdity of iuppof-
ing the inertnefs of mind, and only an occafional con-
junftion of motives and aftions j but we forbear to
quote them, both beciaufe we wifti his book to be read,
aud becaufe we think the fingle argument which we
have borrowed from him fuftrcient to demoliftr the
theory of Prieftley and Hume, which refts wholly up¬
on the hype'.hefis of the conjlant conjunftion of mo¬
tive and aftion.
But is it then not really true, that the external ac¬
tion is determined by the will, the will by defire, and
defire by what is agreeable or difagreeable ? That the
external aftion is univerfally determined by the will, is
certainly true but that the will is neceftitated and uni¬
verfally determined by the defire is as certainly falfe. It
Potiphar’s
Chap. V. M E T A P
OfNe- Potiphar’s wife was handfome, and made her propofal
°Libertm ^ ''J'th an-v ^eSrec °f female addrefs j and if
i ids coniri,, on was like that of other young men;
there cannot be a doubt but that he felt a defire to do
what flie requeued of him : yet we know that he ■willed
to do otherwife, and in direft oppofition to his defire
lied from the room. Perhaps it may be faid, that his
volition to dee was the effe£t of a contrary and ftronger
defire not to fin againft God ; but this is confounding
the reader, by calling two energies of mind, between
which there is little or no fimilarity, by the fame
name. He perceived, or knew, that to comply with
his miftrefs’s requeft would be to fin againft God ; he
knew that he ought not to fin againft God, and there¬
fore he chofe or determined himfelf not to do it. We
can eafily conceive how the prefence, attitudes, and
addrefs, of the lady might be agreeable to him, and
excite defire. There may very poltibly be more than one
of our readers, who, during the courfe of their lives, have
experienced fomething of the fame kind : but could ab-
ffrafl truth be in the fame way agreeable, fo as to excite
in his mind a defire of virtue fufficient to annihilate or
baniih the defire of the woman ? As well may it be faid
that one fenfation can annihilate another, that the
beautiful colours of the rainbow7 can remove the fenfa¬
tion of ftench from the mind of him who is plunged
into the midft of a dunghill, or that the fmell of a rofe
can make a man infenfible to the pain of a ftroke in¬
flicted by a bludgeon. Senfitive defire, and the percep¬
tion of duty, are things fo totally different, that to
b -confider them as operating againft; each other, like
different w eights in the oppofite fcales of a balance, is as
ablurd as to fuppofe that found can operate againft co¬
lour, or colour againft fmell. A man may prefer
iound to colour, or colour to fmell, and aft accordingly;
but the determination mult be wholly his own, unlefs
theft: tw7o fenfations be themfelves either agents or pbyfi-
cal caufes of x\\e fame hind, like the weights in the op-
r polite fcales of the balance.
Men do advocates for liberty do not pretend, that in
not always matters of importance a man ever a£ts without fome
determine motive or reafon for his condnfh All that they infill
uPon ^s’ t^iat between two or more motives of differ-
ftrongeft ent kinds he has a liberty of choice, and that he does
motive. not always determine himlelf by that which be "knows
to be the greateft. Without fuch freedom, they
think men might be often brought into lituations
where they could not aft at all, and where inaflion
would at the fame time be in the higheft degree ab-
furd. Thus, were two bags of gold containing each
a thoufand or ten thoufand guineas, to be placed on
the fame tabic, before a man whofe family is perilhing
for want, and were the man to be told that he might
take either of them, but not both, is it conceivable
that he w’ould be held in perpetual fufpence between
the two ? No; he would inftantly and with alacrity
take up one of them, without feeling the lead; regret
for the want of the other. This aflion would, indeed,
be the confequcnce of a very powerful motive, the
defire to obtain honeftly that wealth of w7bich he and
his family Hood fo much in need. That motive, how¬
ever, being general, would draw him equally to both
bags ; and it remains with the neceffarians to fay by
■what elfe than a felf-determining power he could take
either the one or the other. When it is affirmed, that
Vol. XIII. Part II,
H Y S I C S. (J73
fuch felf-determinaticn would be an effefl without a OfN>-
caufe, the advocates for liberty cannot help thinking ancl
that their antagonifts are guilty of advancing as an ar- , Ll^rty- f
gument a petitio pnncipii; for the affirmation is true,
only if the mind in volition be inert, and the inertia of
the mind is the foie queftion at iffue. If the mind be
not inert, it is plain, that in confequence of a man’s
felf-determination, no effedl wTould be produced without
a fufficient caufe. At any rate, motives cannot be
caufes. In the proper fenfe of the word, a caufe is
that which produces an effefl; but the production
of an effeCl requires aCtive pow7er ; and power being
a quality, muft be the quality of fome being by whom
it may be exerted. Power may be dormant, and
therefore power without will produces no eft eel.
Are motives, then, real beings endowed with power
and will ? No ; they are only views of things or
mental conceptions, which in the ftridteft fenfe cf the
word ate paffive ; and between two motives the mind
determines itfelf, without receiving an impulfe from
either.
Nor is it only between motives of eqrnl force that
men have the power of determining themfelves. Who¬
ever believes in a future ftate of rewards and punilh-
ments, and yet ads in a manner which he knows to
be offenfive to Him who is to be the future and final
judge, unqueftionably prefers to the ftrongeft of all
motives, another which even to himfelf appears to
have comparatively but very little ftrength. Whether
there be men who occafionally aft in this manner, is a
queftion which can be decided only by an appeal to
every one’s confcioufnefs. That there are, we can have
no doubt; for we never met with a fingle individual,
not biafied by fyftem, who was not ready to acknow¬
ledge, that during the courfe of his life he had done
many things, which at the time of aftion he clearly
perceived to be contrary to his true intereft. Without
a felt determining power in the mind, this could never
be the cafe. Did motives operate with the neceffity
of phyfical caufes. it is obvious that in every pcffible
fitua'cion the ftrongeft muft conftantfy prevail; and that
he who in certain circumftances had in time paft done
any particular thing, would on a return oftthe fame cir¬
cumftances do the very fame thing in every time future.
Dr Prieftley, indeed, willies to perfuade his readers
that this is actually the caie. “ In every determination
of the mind (fays he), or in cafes w’here volition and
choice are concerned, all the previous circumftances
to be confidered are \\\t fiate of mind (Including) every
thing belonging to the veili itfelf), and the various views
of things prefented to itand he affirms, that “ when¬
ever the fame precife circumftances occur twice, the
very fame determination or choice will certainly be
made the fecond time that was made the lirft.” This
is an affertion of which no man can controvert the
truth ; for it is an identical propofition. If in the
circumftances previous to the determination of the
mind, every thing belonging to the will iifdf muft be
included, it is felf-evident that he w7ho in any given
circumftances has afted a particular part, will on a re¬
turn of thefe circumftances aft the fame part a fecond
time ; for this is only faying, that he who on two dif¬
ferent occafions lhall exert volitions of the fame ten-
dency, will not on thefe occafions exert volitions of
which the tendencies are different. But the queftion
4 0. to
674
world.
M E T A P
Of NTe- to be decided Is, Whether a man, in the fame general
ceffity and ^aj-e Qf mind, polTelied of the fame degree of health,
^ l-i^euy. anj confcious ol the fame appetites, mud, in external
circumdances perfectly alike, neceffarily exert at all
times the fame volitions. That the human mind is
under no fuch neccffity, we think every man’s confci-
oufnefs and experience may abundantly fatisfy him j
for there are, perhaps, but very few who have not at
one time refilled temptations, to which at another they
have chofen to yield.
If they did. That there is a relation between motives and aftions,
folly as well mud be confeffed ; but that relation is neither
aS nor condant conjundfion. If it were, all adlions
Ht would would be perfedlly rational j and folly, as well as merit
be banillied and demerit, would be banilbed from the condudl of
from the men. What is the particular nature of that relation
wdrich fubfifis between the voluntary adlions of men,
and the motives from which they proceed, can be
known to every individual only by an attentive and
unbialYed refledtion on the operations of his owm mind.
Without this rededtion, no man can be made to un-
derdand it by the reafonings of philofophers, and with
it no man can need the aid of thofe reafonings. That
a felf-determining powTer, fuch as that for which we
plead, contributes to the fum of human happinefs, has
been fhowm by Archbilhop King and his ingenious
tranflator 5 who have proved, with the force of demon-
llration, that the mind can take pleafure in the object of
its choice, though that objedt be in itfelf neither
agreeable nor difagreeable to our natural appetites }
and that if it could not, it would be in vain in fuch
a world as ours to hope for any portion of felicity.
Into that detail our limits will not permit us to
enter : but to the reader wdio wilhes for further infor¬
mation, we beg leave to recommend the lad edition
of King’s Origin of Evil, by Dr Law late bilhop of
Carlille ; without, however, vouching for the truth
of all the opinions advanced by either of thofe learned
writer'.
Before we conclude this chapter, it may be proper
to obferve, that it is only in volition that we are con¬
fcious of anyr original adlive pcuver in ourfelves, and
that without fuch confcioufnefs we could never have
acquired the notion of active power. In our defires
and appetites, we neither are adtive nor fuppofe our-
felves aclive. Lord Karnes, and mod neceffarians,
confound defire with volition j but that they are per-
fedlly didindt is plain from this circumdance, that we
daily dejirc many things which we know to be wholly
out of our own power*, whereas no man ever willed
what he did not believe to be in his own power. We
Powers of all define or wifh that our children may be virtuous,
wife, and happy; and though we are confcious that
it is not in our power to make them fo, we cannot
baniih the delire from our breads. But madmen only
have ever willed virtue, wifdom, and happinefs, to
any perfqn ; and if there was ever a man fo extrava¬
gantly mad as to exert fuch a volition as this, he has,
at the time fancied himfelf a divinity, and therefore
believed that the objedl of his volition depended upon
himfelf. When the adroncmer, vvhofe charadter is fo
admirably drawn by our great mader of moral wif-
dom f, fancied himfelf the regulator of the weather
and the didributor of the feafons, he might will either
rain or finjkine as he thought proper, becaufe he con-
^ Reid's
Ejfays on
the Active
Man.
1 Ratfelcis
Prince of
Ahvfnia.
H Y S I C S. Partlll.
fidered the objedt of his volition as depending upon a Of the Be-
powTer imparted to him from heaven ; but though heancl Ajr
might defire he could not will, the rifing or the falling riQ0Cp °
of winds, for thefe he confeffed were not fubjedted to »
his authority. In a word, without freedom in voli¬
tion, power is inconceivable ; and therefore it is as
certain that we are free agents, as that we have any
notion of adtive powers.
Chap. VI. Of the Being and Attributes
of God.
It has been already obferved, that as of bodies
there are various kinds, endowed with various proper¬
ties ; fo the probability is, that ok minds endowed
with different powers, or different degrees of power,
the variety may be as great, or perhaps greater. The
exidence and powers of our own minds are made known
to us by confcioufnefs and retledtion ; and from our de¬
pendent date, and the mutability of the objedts around
us, we are neceffarily led to infer the exiftence of another
mind, which is independent, unchangeable, eternal,
and the caufe of all things which have a beginning of
exiftence. Between that mind and our owm, we can
hardly avoid believing that there are many orders of
“ thrones,, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers j”
but as we have no intuitive knowledge of fuch inter¬
mediate beings, and cannot from any thing which we
perceive difeern the necef[itytj&l their exiftence, they are
not properly the objedt of fcience. The exiftence how- *S6
ever, and many of the attributes, of One Firft Caufe, The exift-.
are capable of the ftridteft demonftration ; “ for the in-
vifible things of Him from the creation of the world are pa^le 0f)(je_
clearly feen, being underftood by the things which aremonftra-
made.” tion.
Of this great truth, the moft important by far which
can occupy the mind of man, many demonftrations have
been given both by divines and by philofophers. We
fhall lay before our readers fuch a one as to us appears
perfedtly conclufive, being founded on the intuitive
knowledge which we have of our own exiftence, and
therefore independent of all theories about the nature
and reality of the material world.
Every man, whether he adopt the common theory
or that of Berkeley refpedfing matter, is confcious
that he himfelf exifts, and muft therefore grant that
fomething now exifts. But, if any thing exifts wott;*see
then muft fomething have always exifted ; otherwife to King's
that thing which noxv exifts, muft either have been Origin of
created by nothing, i. e. have been coifed by no caufe, Eo,lf
or elfe it muft have created itfelf, adting before it ex- some one
ifted. Both thefe fuppofitions are fo palpably abfurd,independ-
that no atheift has avowed them, either among the ent: Being
ancients or the moderns. We muft therefore admit,
either that there is fome one independent being, wdfich njty_"
now exifis, and always has exifted ; or that the things
which we know to exift at prefent (every man’s^^/’
for inftance), were produced by fomething which had
its exifence from fomething elfe, which alfo depended
upon fame other caufe, and fo on in an infinite fries of
caufed or fuccejfive beings. But this laft fuppofition,
though it has been often made, is as grofsly abfurd as
either of the two former. For of this infinite feries,
either fome one part has not been fucceilive to any other,
or
& See an
EJay to¬
wards an
l6$$'
Chap. VI. ^ ^ J ^ ^
Of the Be- or elfe a// the feveral parts of it have been fuccettive.
ing and At jf feme one part of it was not fuccejfrcc, then it had
tributes of ^rn part . which dehroys the fuppohtion ot its infi-
, n;ty It all the feveral parts of it have been fuc-
ceflive, then have they all once future; but if they
have all been future, a time may be conceived when
none of them had exiftence : and if fo, then it follows,
either that all the parts, and confequently the whole ot
this infinite feries, mud have arifen from nothing, which
is abfurd •, or elfe that there muft _ be fomething in the
whole befides what is contained in all the parts, which
is alfo abfurd. _ # . . r
As the poffibility or impofiibility of an infinite le-
ries of dependent beings is the main queftion at ilfue
between the atheifts and us, we thall date the preced¬
ing reafoning in a manner fomewhat different, lor
this purpofe, let us fuppofe fome one to affirm, that the
courfe of generation has had no beginning, and conte-
quently that the number of fucceffive births has been
infinite. We ivould afk fuch a perfon, Whether be¬
fore the birth of Abraham, for example *, there had
paft an infinite feries of generations or not ? If not,
feSr./the courfe of generation muft have had » beK'"n,"g'
the Being which is the conclufion for which we contend. Jiut
and Attri- Jf the feries paft was infinite, then at the birth ot Jo-
butes of p h the great-grandfon of Abraham, it is evident,
%ard that more generations were paft, and that the number
 Printed then was greater than that which was fuppofed to be
at Oxford, infinite •, fo that upon this fuppofition we have a num¬
ber that is both infinite and not infinite, which is a
manifeft contradi&ion. Should it be faid that the
number of generations was infinite, as well at the birth
of Abraham as at the birth of Jofeph $ it will then fol¬
low, that one infinite may be greater than another of
the very fame kind ; and confequently that an infinite
may be bounded, i. e. be finite. But fliould it be al¬
leged, that the number of births at Abraham’s was fi¬
nite, and became infinite when it reached to Jo.ep s,
it will then follow, that one finite number added to
another may make an infinite number, which is direft-
ly contrary to every poffible notion of infinity. ™e
might argue in the fame manner againft an infinite fenes
of every kind, the very fuppofition of which involves
the moft palpable contradiftions. See Chap. Uj
nity Eternity. . . „ .
From the impoffibility of an infinite fenes it necelian-
ly follows, that there exills, and muft have exifted from
eternity, fome one independent being, whole duration
cannot be commenfurate with fucceffion, and to whom
the relation of time is not applicable. Here wall iome
atheifts prefently imagine, that by the fame mode of rea¬
foning they may difprove the exiftence of God: for do
not they who thus deftroy the eternity o the world,
deftrov at the fame time the eternity of the Creator r
If time itfelf be not eternal, how can the Deity or any
thing elfe be fo ? # 1 f .
In urging thefe queftions, it muft be ta.ten for grant*
ed that time is effential to all exiltence, and that God
cannot be eternal otherwife than by a fucceffive dux of
infinite time. But it has been already ftiown (N 224.),
that fucceffive duration is not effential to exiftence j
that we can even conceive exiftence without fuccemon 5
233
whole du¬
ration is
not com¬
menfurate
with fuc-
eeflion,
and
H Y SICS. „ fjl
and it may here be added, that ft vve fuppofe a pencft , ^t.
being alone in nature, we ftiall find it nope 5 e 0 tributes of
imagine any fucccffion of ideas, zny flux of moments, or Gcd
anv alteration or increafe whatever in his knowledge and ——v-
effence. Such duration as we are acquainted with can,
have no relation to an immutable Being, while iuppol-
ed to exift alone •, but as loon as he determined to ex-
ercife his feveral attributes in the produftion of iome-
thing diftinft from bimfelf, then, and not till then,
have we reafon to think that tmc,fucceJfion, and increaje,
began. Thefe atheiflical queftions, _ therefore, mftead
of containing an objeffion to the exiftence of a Deity,
afford a plain demonftration of it: for ftnee ft is not
more evident that fomething now exifts than that lome-
thing muft have exifted from eternity *, and fmee it has
been ffiown, that neither the world in its prefent ftate,
nor time, nor any thing capable_ of change or iuccel-
fton, can poffibly be eternal-, it follows, that there
muft neceffarily be fome Being who, in the order of
nature, is before time, and who, in the liability and
immutable perfection of bis own intelligence, c0™Pr^“
hends at once his yeferday, to-day, and for cvei. e
atheifts (fays the excellent Cudworth ») can here only «W«-
fmile, or make wry faces, and (how therr l.ttle w.t m
quibbling upon nunc-fans, or ^/landing nowoj etermy , cjiap ^
as if that funding eternity of the Deity (which with o
much reafon hath been contended for by the ancient
genuine theifs) were nothing but a pitiful /mail moment
of time funding fill, and as if the duration of all beings
whatfoever muft needs be like our own : whereas the
duration of every thing muft of neceffity be agreeable
to its nature ; and therefore, as that whofe imperjett
nature is ever flowing like a river, and confifts in contl~
nual motion and changes one after another, mult needs
have accordingly a /uccejflve flowing duration {\\Avag
perpetually from prefent into pafl, and always halting
on towards the future, expeding fomething of ittelt
which is not yet in being fo muft that wffiofe per ec,
nature is effenlially immutable have permanent and un¬
changing duration, never lofing any thing o^ it ei. one,
prefent, nor yet running forward to meet fomething o.
itfelf which is'not yet in being.” _ 289
From the eternity of the Supreme Being we neceila- wji0 js
rily infer his independence or felf-exiftence; for that exiftent,
which never had a beginning of exiftence cannot poffi- and
bly have any caufe of that exiftence, or in any
depend upon any other being, but muft exift of itfelf, or
be felf-exiflent. . 29°
Eternity ad partem pofl, or neceffary exiflence, or thecannot
impoffibility of ever ceafing to be, follows from mde-ceaeto e.
pendence : For to the nature of that which exifts with¬
out any caufe, exiftence muft be eflentiab But. a be¬
ing whofe exiftence is of itfelf and effential to its na¬
ture, cannot be indifferent to exiftence or nonexiilence,
but muft exift neceffarily. And here it may be proper
to obferve, that the word neceffity, when applied to ex¬
iftence, may be taken in two acceptations very different
from each other f j either as it arifes from the. relation \ Notes to
which the exiftence of that being, of which it is affirm- 'f ’f
ed, has to the exiftence of other things ; or from the re- Lafls
lation which the aSiual exiftence of that thing has to quiry into
the manner of its own exiftence. the Ideas
4 O 2 In of Space,
n ^ 6cc.
(r) Ta'» <«5reie«y ev»t er<y rr^cf.oy, Arfl. Dhyf lib. vhi. cap. 5. fed. 4*
6;6
M E T A P
jWandAt ,rn- the fcrraer fcnfc'’ vvhen ftcceflity of exiitcnce has
trfbmesV ^!ati<?n f° th^ exiftence of other things, it denotes
God. <nat the luppontion of the »o;;-exiftence of that thin<
291
What is
meant by
neceffary
exiftence.
a. - . 11 ^ ^ * 11 ^41 tlJciL liiJ11 tr
’-Ot which necetTity is affirmed, implies the nonexiilence
of things which we biow to exiji. Thus, fome inde¬
pendent being does neceJfarUy exij}; becaufe, to fup.
pofe no independent being, implies that there are no de¬
pendent beings ; the contrary of which we know to be
true.
In tiiC fecond fenfe, when the neceffky of exiftence
diiies from the relation which the adfual exiftence of
any thing has to the manner of its own exigence ne-
eelTity means, that the thing, of which it is affirmed,
exifls after fuch a manner as that it never could in
time pajl have been nonexi/Jent, or can in time future
ceafe to be. I has, every independent being, as it exilts
without a caufe, is neeffarily exifting 5 becaufe exift¬
ence is effential to fuch a being •, fo that it never could
iiegm to exift, and never can ceafe to be: For to fup-
pofe a being to begin to exift, or to lofe its exiftence, ‘is
to fuppofe a change from nonentity to entity, or vice
verfa; and to fuppofe fuch a change is to fuppofe a
caufe upon which that being depends. Every being,
-therefore, winch is independent, i. e. which had no
caufe of its exiftence, muft exift necejfarily, and cannot
potnbly have begun to exift in time part, or ceafe to be
m time future.
Wifty one 1 hefe two kinds of neceffity as applied to exiftence
neceffarily- though they have been often confounded, are in them’
g^ ftlmpo'IWUy dlliina: For though , being cannot
-S U be ncceffanly exiftent in the former fenfe without be¬
ing fo m the latter alfo ; yet may it be neceffarilv ex¬
iftent in the latter fenfe without being fo in the for¬
mer. For any thing that we know to the contrary, '
there may be two or more beings exifting necefTarihi
in the latter fenfe of the word nectfity. i. e. W1fh re.
gnrd to independence and the manner of their own exift¬
ence : but in the former fenfe of the wmrd, i. e. in rela¬
tion to this fystem, there can be but one necejfarily ex¬
iftent being ; for it is obvious that no more are neceffa-
ry to account for the prod aft ion of the dependent beings
w-hich we know ta exift. To fuppofe the nonexifter.ee
of all independent beings, implies the nonexillence of
all dependent beings, oprfelves, and every thinp- elfe •
but to fuppofe the nonexiftence of all independent be¬
ings except one, involves in the fuppofition no fuch ab-
furdity.
Thus the phenomena of nature lead us, by the
tributes of
God.
29 z
0idy one
former
fenfe • and
though
there misrlitn -VT r ' 1 nature lead us, by the
bemore5 ftnaerfl to one firft caufe, which is fuffi-
cient .or their production ; and therefore none but one
firft caufe can in thi\ fenfe of the word be neccjfary:
And though feveral more independent beings might pof-
fibiy exift, yet they would be no gods to us : they
wmuld have no relation to us demonftrable by reafon
nor we any tiling to do with them. For if the fup-
pofition. of their exiftence were not requifite to the
production of this fyftem, which it obvioufly would
not be, we could perceive no neceflity for it at all ; we
could never difeover it by our own faculties, and there-
be more
than one
in the lat¬
ter, they
would be
no gods to
4js,
H \ SICS. par{- jjj
religious or moral relations to us j and we fhould have Of the 1k-
no reaion to call more than one of them our creator ir-g ^
prelerver, and governor, which is the proper fenfe of "c
the word God.
To fimw in this manner that there is only one eter¬
nal lelf-exiftent Being which bears the relation of God
!/S\rT t011b^ 8°ing as as is neceffary, or as 294
na tual light will lead us. Thofe who endeavour to ImpGhlffe
demonf rate that there cannot pojfibly be more than one 1°
felf-exiftent Being, either reafon in a circle, or proceed fw ^
upon principles which their antagonifts cannot be be but one
compelled to_ grant. When they deduce the Divine ftlf-exillertt
Unity from independence or omnipotence, they evi-£e‘nS*
dently prefuppofe it in their definition of thefe attri¬
butes ; and when they infer it from the nature of fpace
and duration, which they confider as modes of the
ieft-exiftent Being, they take it for granted, that fpace
ana duration have a real exiftence, independent of us
and our thoughts ; and that the one is infinite and the
other eternal, contrary to what has been already prov¬
ed, we think, with the force of demonftratiom The
celebrated Dr Clarke made much ufe of fpace and du¬
ration in his attempt to demonftrate that there can be
but one felf-exiftent Being; but he argues for the
lame thing from the nature pf neceflity as applied to
exiftence. r "
“ (fays he *), abfolute in itfelf, is Dr alrke-,
and uniform and umvrrfot, without any poffible dijir-fo/t demon.
enceJl''J>ormitlh or variety, whatfoever : and all variety ftration of
or difference of exiffence muft needs arife from fome ex-the unity
ternal caufe, and be dependent upon it, and proportionable *, Dancn~
to the efficiency of that caufe, whatfoever it be SlbAl^T- ^
flute neceffity, in which there can be™ variation in any anAAufi-
im. o\ degree, cannot be the ground of exiftence of a iutcs °f
number of beings, however Jimilar and a greet nr : be-
caufe, without any other difference, even number is itfelf
a mamfeft dijformity or inequality (if I may ffi fpeak > of
efficiency or caufclity” J
Such is this great man’s firft argument from necef- examined
^ ° £r°Ve tha^ the!1e cannot be mure than one felf- and (hown
exiftent Being.^ But what is this nccejftty which provest0 be in.
10 much ? It is the ground of exiftence (he fays) ofooncIufivt^
tnat which exifts of itfelf; and if fo, it muft, in the
order of nature and in our conceptions, be antecedent
to that being of whofe exiftence it is the ground. Con¬
cerning ffich a principle, there are but three fuppofi-
tions which can poffibly be made ; and all of them may
be ffiown to be abfurd and contradictory. We may
luppofe either thefubfflance itfelf, fome property of that
lujitance, or fomething extnnjic to both, to be this
antecedent ground of exiftence prior in the order of na¬
ture to the frf caufe.
One would think, from the turn of the argument
winch here reprefer.ts this antecedent neceflity as efR-
cient' and caufol, tliat it were confidered as fomethin?
extnnfoc ,o the firft caufe f. Indeed if the word, hav? , .
any meaning in them at all, or any/ore, of argument,
t ey muft be lo underftood, juft as we underftand Argument
em Or any external caufe producing its effedf T3nt apriori,
or, ^ ■ - ■ * - ’ -0111 added to
fore it could be nothing to us. And thoimh t-wn *c o-r ... > • “a cuccr< -But ‘7
three fuch beings fhould exift, and aft in the*’formation rejeaei by^D^ Clarke ‘whorls0 ,lfe!i?n<1 I*
uncr government^ of their refpeBive fyftems, ox agree in the thino whir!-, rlrriJL l ?xpr^s ft’ 1 iat “ 0‘ quiry into
one; yet till their exiftence and operations were made
s\nown to us, and a natural relation difeovered, nothin'*
tj-ould be due from us to them. They would have no
the thing which derives not its being froft any other
^ this neceffity or ground of exiftence muft be in si'acei
tne thing idelf,” we need not fay 2 word more of the Timei lm'
lait of thefe fuppofmpns. menfity,
Eei.
Letter.
Chap. VI. M E T A P
cftlie Be- Let us then canfider the firft ; Jet us take the fub-
Tnbutes ^ance itfelf5 ^ try whether it can be conceived hsprior
God. or antecedent to itfelf in our conceptions or in the order
u—-v-P-' of nature. Surely we need not obferve that nothing
can be more abfurd or contradictory than fuch a fup-
pofition. Dr Clarke himfelf repeatedly affirms, and it
would be ftrange indeed if he did not affirm, that no
bang, no thing whatever, can be conceived as in any
refpeCi prior to the firft caufe.
Ihe only remaining fuppontion is, that fome attri¬
bute ox property of the felf-exiftent Being may be con-
ceived as in the order of nature antecedent to that being.
But this, if poffible, is more abfurd than either of the
two preceding fuppofitions. An attribute is attributed
to its fubjeci as its ground or fupport, and not the fub-
jtd to its attribute. A.properti/t in the very notion of it,
is proper to the fubftance to which it belongs, and fub-
fcquent to it both in our conceptions and in the order
of nature. An antecedent attribute, or antecedent pro-
perty, is a folecifm as great, and a contradiciion as flat,
’ an antecedent fubfeyuent or fukfequert antecedent, un¬
derflood in the fame fenfe and in \he fame fyllogifm.
Every property or attribute, as fuch, prefuppofes its
lubjen. ; and cannot otherwife be underftood. This is
R truth fo obvious and fo forcible, that it fometimes
extorts the aflent even of thofe who upon other occa-
fions labour to obfeure it. It is confeffed by Dr
t^lat fcholaftic way of proving the ex-
n J ifience of the felf-exiftent Being from the abfolute per-
feffion of his nature, is vtrj^er Tr^oheev. For all or any
perfections (fays he) p efuppofe exiftence j which is
a pet it 10 prir/cipiid'' li therefore properties, modes, or
attributes in God, be confidered as perfections (and it
is i in poffible to confider them as any thing elfe), then,
by this confeffion of the great author himfelf’ they
muft all or any of them prefuppofe exiflence. It is in¬
deed immediately added in the fame place, “ that bare
neceflity of exiilence does not prefuppofe, but infer
exiftence j” which is true only if fuch neceffity be fup-
pofed to be a principle extrin/ic, the abfurdity of which
has been already fhown, and is indeed univerfally con-
feffed.^ If it be a mode or property, it muft prefuppofe
the exiftence of its fubjeCi, as certainly and as evident¬
ly as it is a inode ox 21 property. It might perhaps a
pofleriori infer the exiftence of its fubjeCI, as effeCls
may infer a caufe ; but that it thould infer in the other
way a priori is altogether as impoffible as that a tri¬
angle flmuld be ?ifyuare, or a globe a parallelogram.
  Doubtful, as it would feem, of the force of his firft
tlemonlfra- argument, which even thofe who pretend to be con-
famYau-^ v!nce(^ acknowledge to be obfeure, the doCtor
thor * * gives, a fecond, which we muft coafefs appears to us to
be ftill more obfeure, and if poffible lefs conclufive.
.To fuppofe two or more diJlir.Sl beingy exifting of
themfelves neceffarily and independent of each other, im¬
plies (he fays) this contradillion, that each of them be¬
ing independent from the other, they may either of
them be fuppofed to exift alone; fo that it ’will be no
contradiftion to. fuppofe the other not to exift ; and
confequemly neither of them wall be neceflarily exifting.
Whatfoever therefore exifts neceflarily is the one fim-
ffl* eflfence of the felf-exiftent Being; and whatfoever
diffiers from that is not neceflarily exifting, becaufe in
abfolute neceffity there can be no difference or diverfty
of exiftence.
297
A fe . ond
H Y S I C S. 67-
‘‘ Neceffity is ufed here in two different femes*, Of the Be-
both as abfolute and relative. In the former, neither ofin? and Aty
the two beings can exift without the other, i. e. with- tri^ntesof
out our fuppofing the other to exift alfo, fince that is
equally neceffary.. In the latter, either of them may*JW.rI«-
exift alone, i. e. without the help of the other, or with- qub'y into
out the fuppofition of the other as requifite to its own^f ldeaf °f
exiftence. The confequence, therefore, tliat either ofchaY’e C'
them may exift alone, and fo neither of them is necef¬
fary is a mere equivocation on neceffity, ufing it both inexa^neiJ
an abfolute and relative fenfe.at the fame time.” But and fbowA
as tms is a queftion of the higheft importance, and ast0 ^ e<lual-
the author was a man of great worth, we ffiall confiderIy inconcIu'
his argument upon the. fuppofition that the rvord ne-^'
fjfty has from the beginning to the end of it the. fame
invariable meaning.
It has been already obferved, that there are only two
feti.es in which that word can be applied to the exift¬
ence of any being ; and whether it be here ufed in the
one or the other of thefe fenfes, the reafoning, if re-
folved into a fyllogifm, will appear to be inconclulive.
If.the word be taken in that fenfe of neceffity which
arfles from the relation that dependent beings w’hich
vve knew to exift bear to fome one independent Being,
the argument wall ftand thus :
From a. known effeft no more caufes can be neceffa-
rlly inferred than what are fufficient to account
for that effeCI: but
One felfexiftent and independent Being is fufficient'
to account for all the phenomena of nature : there¬
fore, from the phenomena, &o. \
No more than one fuch Being can be necejfarilv infer¬
red to exift.
But ttrough no more than one independent being
can in this fenfe of the word necejfarily exift, it by no
means follows from this fyllogifm, that two or more
Inch beings may not pojfbly exift. It is, indeed, a plain
contrad’Cfion to fay, that two or more felf-exiftent
beings are in this fenfe neceffary; but furely tliere is
no. contradiClion in faying, that twx> or twenty fuch
beings are poffble. We could not, therefore, by this
argument conviCl a perfon of abfurdity, who ihould
affirm that two or more independent beings aBuallv
exift. We might, indeed, deny the exiftence of them
ail but one, becaufe one is lufficient to account for
thofe phenomena, from which alone we know that
any independent being exifts : but becaufe one of them
might be i.up.pofed to exift alone, fo that it would be
no contradiciion to fuppofe the other not to exift ;
w-e know not how the doclor came to affirm, in direcF
oppofition to his own demonftration, that not one of<
them would be necefiarily exifting.
Neceffity, as applied to exiftence, in the other fenfe
O’ the word, arifes, as we have 1'een, from the relation
which the exiftence of the being, of which it
iray be affirmed, has to the manner of that being’s ex-
iftence.. It is the fame neceffity, we are told *, with * 4,ir .
t. at which is the caufe of the unalterable proportion to theShth
between two and four; and it is confidered as thetram
jarmat came or ground of the exiftence of an independ-!l GentJe-
ent being Were it not for the ftrange expreffions™" inn
formal canfe and ground of exigence, we ffiould' have no
objedion to this account of that neceffty by which a
being independent undoubtedly exifts ; but this kind •
of-
678
Of tlie Ec of neceflity Isa principle which will not fupport the
inir and At-puperpru(c}ure which the learned author labours to
upon it. The fame necejfitij which is the caufe
 ef the unalterable proportion between two and four,
•is likewlfe the caufe of the unalterable proportion be¬
tween three and fix, between four and eifiit, and be¬
tween fivf and ten, &c. But if it can be the caufe of
fo many different proportions of the fame kind, why
may it not be the formal caufe or ground of exiftence
to as many independent beings of the fame kind as well
as to one ? The following fyllogifm, we apprehend, to
be legitimate both in mode and figure, and its conclu-
fion is dire&ly contrary to the propofition which the
doctor deduces from the fame notion of neceffity.
If neceffity, confidered as a formal caufe or ground
of exiftence, be in one infiance of its caufality the
formal caufe or ground of exiftence to many
things of the fame kind, it may like wife in every
other infiance of its caufality, be the formal caufe
or ground of exiftence to many things of the fame
kind.
But fuch neceflity, in that inftance of its caufality
where it is the formal caufe or ground of exift¬
ence to the unalterable proportion between two
and four, is the formal caufe or ground of ex¬
iftence to many proportions of the fame kind.
Therefore, the fame neceflity in that other inftance
of its caufality, where it is faid to be the formal
caufe or ground of exiftence to one independent
being, undoubtedly may be the formal caufe or
ground of exxftence to many independent beings of
the fame kind.
Neceffity, Thus it appears, that necefftty, in any fenfe in which it
a danger- can be properly affirmed of exiftence, cannot be the
ous pnn- foun(]ation of any argument to prove the impoffibility
C,I)e‘ of more than one felf-exiftent being. It is indeed a.prin¬
ciple from which we apprehend that no pofitive con-
clufion whatever can be deduced by reafon'mg a priori.
That neceffity of exiftence may be predicated of a
being which is independent and uncreated, is felf-evi¬
dent ; becaufe to the nature of fuch a being ex¬
iftence is effential. But vehilft that nature itfelf re¬
mains wholly incomprehenfible by us, it is impoffible that
we ffiould difeover, by our own unaffifted reafon, whe¬
ther it can be the nature of only one or of more than one
independent being. To argue from neceffity, as if it
were the caufe .or ground of exiftence to fuch a being,
Part III.
is certainly abfurd, if it be not impious ; for if that Of the Be-
to which exiftence is effential, does not exift without ^
any caufe efficient or ,formal, we ffiall be obliged to Go(j
inquire after a caufe or ground of this caufe, and thus y 111 J
be involved in all the abfurdities and contradictions of
an infinite feries. We hare infilled the longer on
this point, becaufe necefftty, as the foundation of the
argument a priori, has fometimes been employed to
very bad purpofes. Attempts have been made from
the notion of neceffary exiftence, to prove that the
Supreme Being cannot ‘ be a free agent, and to fet
the firft principles of the religion of nature at variance
with thofe which are revealed in the Scriptures. . 30® _
But though we are firmly perfuaded that the di Tlie unlt3r
vine unity cannot be demonfirated a priori, we are far^.^j , ^
from thinking it incapable of any proof. On the con pabie>
trary, the common arguments a pofienon drawn from
the order and harmony ot the world, have always la-
tisfied us, and in our opinion muft fatisfy every per-
fon capable of proportioning his affent to evidence,
that the Creator and Preferver of fuch a fyftem
has but one will and one intelligence, and therefore is
him felf but one being. But proof is one thing, and
demonfiration is, in the proper fenfe of the word, ano¬
ther (g). And if we cannot arrive at abfolute certainty
concerning this important truth by the light of nature,
we ought to be the more thankful for that revelation,
which has put the unity of God paft dilpute to all who
believe the holy Scriptures. _ 30I
The being wffiich is felf-exiftent and independent God omni-
muft be alfo omnipotent. That fuch a being has aBive potent.
power in fome degree, is ftiown at the fame time and
by the fame medium that we prove his exiftence j
and fince he depends upon no caufe for his exiftence
or his power, he cannot depend upon any for the ex¬
ertion of that pow'er, and confequently no limits can be
applied to it. Limitation is an effeR of fome fuperior
caufe, wffiich in the prefent inftance there cannot be :
confequently to fuppofe limits where there can be no
limiter, is to fuppofe an effeR without a caufe. For a
being to be limited or deficient in any refpeft *,. is* Notes to
to be dependent in that refpeft on fome other being on
which gave it juft fo much and no more •, confequent-Lvl ’
ly that being wffiich in no refpeR depends upon any
other is in no refpeR limited or deficient. In all beings
capable of increafe or diminution, and confcquently
incapable of perfeRion or abfolute infinity, limitation or
defeR is indeed a neceffary confequence of exiftence,
and
METAPHYSIC S.
fG) John Gerhard and John Voffius both cite.Gabriel Biel as acknowledging the unity of God to be incapable
of rigid demonftration 5 and with the fentiments of that fchoolman, thofe two learned divines profefs their own
Sed Biel IT. Sant. Dift. 2. Q. 10. Art. 3.), ftatuit “ quod tantum unum effe Deum, fit creditum et non-demon-
firatum ratione natural! nobis in via poffibili.” Id nos ita interpretamuretiamfi ex naturce libro rationes non
contemnendee pro imitate divinse effentise afferenda erui poffint, eas tamen ad fidei cordibus noitris m-
eenerandam, non fatis efficaces effe. Ergo mens prius confirmanda eft ex verbo Dei, et illuftnbus teftimonns in
quibus fe Deus generi humano patefecit : Poftea utiliter poteft addi conftderatio philofophicarum demonftrationum.
Gerhard. Loc. Comm. tom. i. p. 106. r . T r t •
Diffentit Gabriel Biel, qui ante annos kofee 140 Tubingenfi Gymnafio prsefuit. Is cenfet probabiles magis ra¬
tiones effe quam evident es et cert as.—Verunf efto fane, ut folae non fint : At magnum ns pondus ad-
dit traditio vetus : turn autem quod argumenta ifthsec, fi non prorfus ce?re^<>sW, faltem ufque adeo probabi/ia lint,
ut tjk ntXvteicis patroni nihil ullius momenti adferre vale a cur plufquam unum ftatuere deum potius conveniat.
Vpff. de Idol atria, lib. i. c. 2.
1
Chap. VI.
M E T A P
Of the Be- and is only a negation of that perfe&ion which is w'holly
Trfbutes^of incomPat^ie thei1' nature ; and therefore in thefe
Gocl_ beings it requires no further caufe. But in a being
—v naturally capable of perfection or abfolute infinity, all im-
perfeEhon orfinitenefis, as it cannot flow from the nature
of that being, feems to require fome ground or reafion ;
which reafon, as it is foreign from the being itfelf, mult
be the effefl of fome other external caufe, and confe-
quently cannot have place in the firfi caufe. That the
felf-exiftent being is capable of perfeftion or abfolute
infinity muft be granted, becaufe he is manifeftly the
fubjeft of one infinite or perfedt attribute, viz. eter¬
nity, or abfolute invariable exigence. In this refpedl
his exiftence has been ftiowm to be perfedt, and there¬
fore it may be perfedt in every other refpedt alio. Now
that which is Jthe fubjedl of one infinite attribute or
perfedfion, muft have all its attributes infinitely or in
perfedlion ; fince to have any perfedtions in a finite
limited manner, when the fubjedl and thefe perfec¬
tions are both capable of ftridt infinity, would be the
forementioned abfurdity of pofitive limitation without
a caufe. To fuppofe this eternal and independent
being limited in or by its own nature, is to fuppofe fome
antecedent nature or limiting quality fuperior to that be¬
ing, to the exiftence of which no thing, no quality, is
in any refpedt antecedent or fiuperior. And to fuppofe
that there is no fuch thing as aflive power in a being
which is evidently the fountain of all powTer, is the
groffeft of all abfurdities. The fame method of rea-
foning will prove knowledge and every other per-
fedtion to be infinite in the Deity, when once we have
proved that perfedtion to belong to him at all j at leaft
it will fliow, that to fuppofe it limited is unreafonable,
fince wTe can find no manner of ground for limitation
in any refpedt ; and this is as far as we need go, or
perhaps as natural light will lead us.
Of the omnipotence of the fupreme Being fome
philofophers, as well theifts as atheifts, have talked very
thing which abfurdly. Hobbes *, with a view to make this attribute
imply a.1 aPPear impoflible and ridiculous, affirms “ that God
contradic- his omnipotence or infinite power could turn a
tion, tree into a fyllogifm.” And Des Cartes f, though
*Leviath. certainly no atheift, childilhly aflerts, that all things
. whatever, even abftradl truth and falfehood, do fo de-
erf Objec- Pend upon the arbitrary will and power of God, as
ttones Sex- t’113* if he had pleafed, “ twice two ftiould not have been
tas, § 6. four, nor the three angles of a plain triangle equal
to two right ones.” But the true notion of Omnipo¬
tence, fo far from implying a power to turn a tree into
a fyllogifm, or to make twice two not equal to four, im¬
plies only that the being poffeffed of it can actually
perform whatever can be conceived by the moft per-
fedl underftanding •, conception in this cafe being the
meafure of poflibility. Now every thing may be con¬
ceived by a mind fufficiently enlarged which does not
involve in it a diredl contradidlion 5 but what we clear¬
ly difcern to imply a contradidlion, fuch as that a thing
may be and not be at the fame inftant, cannot be con¬
ceived by any intelledl, or made to exift by any power.
301
Omnipo¬
tence can
do every
H Y S I C S. g79
And thus has this attribute of the Divinity been always Of tneBe-
ftated, not only by the wifer Chriftians, but alfo by molTno,an^ At"
of the ancient philofophers thesnfelves, who exprefsly G“jS
admit that “ nothing is exempted from the divine power, t— /
but only to make that which hath been done to be un-
done (H).” _ 30J
And here it may be alked, Whether creation, in Creation
the proper fenfe of the word (fee Creation), bePoffib.le t(>
within the compafs of infinite power. All the an-0mnif°'
cient philofophers, who were unenlightened by the*seg'^0,
pys of divine revelation, held that it is not * ; ground-/teim’s Lif-
ing their opinion upon this maxim, Ex nihilo nihilfit.firtation on
But the maxim will fupport no fuch conclulion.— this Subject,
I he ancients, or at leaft the Peripatetic fchool, with^/^f^’
the metaphyfics of which we are beft acquainted, con-Cudworth's
fidered four kinds of caufes, the efficient, the material, IntelleElual
the formal, and the final 1 and though they extended .
the maxim to the firil two, if not to all thefe caufes,
it is a felf-evident truth only when applied to the effici¬
ent caufie. Without the adlual exertion of power, it
is indeed moft certain that nothing could be brought
into exiftence 5 but it is fo far from being clear that
pre-exiftent matter, or, as Ariftotle chofe to exprefs
himfelf, a material caufie, muft be fuppofed for infinite
power to operate upon, that, we think, every man
may find complete evidence of the contrary in him- r
fell. I hat fenfation, intelligence, confcioufnefs, and
volition, are not the refult of any modifications of fi¬
gure and motion, is a truth as evident as that confci¬
oufnefs is not fwift, nor volition fquare. If then
thefe be the powers or properties of a being diftind
from matter, which we think capable of the com¬
pleted. proof, every man who »does not believe that
his mind has exifted and been confcious from eter¬
nity, muft be convinced that the power of creation
has been exerted in himfelf. If it be denied that there
is any immaterial fiubfianee in man, ftill it muft be con-
felfed, that, as matter is not eflentially confcious, and
cannot be made fo by any particular organization^
there is fome real thing or entity, call it what you.
pleafe, which has either exifted and been confcious
from eternity, or been in time brought from non-entity
into exiftence by an exertion of infinite power.
To this perhaps fome one may objed, that upon
our own fuppolition of the inability of the human
mind to exert its faculties but in union with fome
material and organized fyftem, the mind of every man
may have exifted from eternity without being confci¬
ous of its own exiftence ; and that, therefore, we have
in ourfelves no evidence of creation, but only of the
union of two felf-exiftent fubftances, which in their
prior ftate had been diftind and feparate from each
other. But fuch an objedion as this, wm beg leave
to reply, can arife from nothing but mifapprehenfion
our hypothefis, and of the reafons by which we
think it fupported. We fuppofe, that to the exer¬
tion of the human faculties, a body of fome kind or
other may be neceifary as an inftrument, not merely
from what we obferve of the dependence of percep-
tioa.
(ll) To h ytyovog ovk tyh^rxi pv ymirSxi’ Sio AyxBuv,
M.ovov cevrov xcu heg fggjcotSTtfe/,
Ay iv at a, ttoiuv, cird xv a niTr^xypiix, Arifi. cd Licomach. lib. vi. cap.
6So
or the Be tion atu.1 Tnemoi'y on the flate of the brain, but be¬
ing and At cauie we cannot conceive a Creator of infinite wildom
°f and doodneft to immcr(e in fyftems of matter, minds
i y -i to which he knows that fuch fyRems mult be alwrays
ufelefs and often hurtful. We believe, therefore, that
cur fouls and bodies were created and formed for each
other } but as our prefent adverfaries admit not of a
Creator, we mult a(k them, How their felf-exiilent
fouls have been difpofed of from eternity, and by what
power they have all in due fuccefhon been united each
to its proper body ? A.s before the union they were
not confcious, they could not unite themfelves •, and
to fuppofe them united by foine fuperior intelligence,
is to fuppofe them in fume refpedls dependent on that
intelligence, which feems not to accord with their
felf-extllence. Whatever is felf exiftent and eternal
mull be independent ; and if poffeiled ol any power,
cannot be conceived to have that power limited. ^
We repeat, therefore, that every man has in himfelf
fufficient evidence that creation is poffible 5 for if in¬
finite power can create an immaterial and percipient
being, it may finely be fuppofed capable of creating
dead and unintelligent matter.
But the creation of the material fyftem may be
fhown to be in the higheft degree probable by other
arguments. The fame reafoning which proves the
impoffibility of an infinite feries and of eternal time,
proves that the univerfe cannot have exifted from eter¬
nity in its prefent ftate. But if it has not exilled from
eternity in its prefent ftate, it belongs to the oppo¬
nents of creation to fay what ivas its former. We
talk indeed of chaos ; but fuch language, when a Crea¬
tor is not admitted, is moft unphilofophical trifling.
Baxter's It appears from the moft accurate inquiries that have
Inquiry in- been maje ;nto tl-,e fubfiance and effence of body *,
yj-eofthe that the atoms of which each mafs is compofed are
Human " held together by a foreign force. If by chaos be
Soul. meant matter, when this force is fuppofed to be re¬
moved, we muft beg leave to fay, that of fuch a fub-
ftance we have neither idea nor notion, and cannot
diftinguiih it. from nonentity. The original atoms
-of mat.er, v;e believe indeed to require no other
agency to keep each entire than that fiat by which
st°was created 5 but ftill, as tbofe atoms are conceiv¬
ed to be folid and extended, they muft be capable
of divifion by infinite power •, and if that fat or influ¬
ence which makes them foiid and extended were re¬
moved, they wrould lofe folidity and extenfion, and of
•courfe become nothing. So far is it, therefore, from
Part nr.
being true, that the creation of matter appears to be Of the Be-
impoftible, that we are compelled by every thing that
we know of it to believe that matter cannot poftibly God.
be felf-exiftent. _ ' . - /—
“ Becaufe it is undeniably certain, concerning our-1
felves (fays Cudworthf), and all imperfea beings,
that none of thefe can create any new fubfance, men Book i.
are apt to meafure all things by their own fcantling, cbaP- 5*
and to fuppofe it univerfiilly impoflible for any power
whatever thus to create. But fince it is certain, that
imperfefl beings can themfelves produce fame things
out of nothing pre-exifting, as new cogitations, new
local motion, and new modifications of things corporeal,
it is furely reafonable to think that an abfolutely per-
fecl Being can do fomething more, i. e. create new fub-
fiances, or give them their whole being. And it may
well be thought as eafy for God or an Omnipotent
Being, to make a whole w-orld, matter and all, ovx.
cfiuv, as it is for us to create a thought or to move a
finger, or for the fun to fend out rays, or a candle
light ; or laftly, for an opaque body to produce an
image of itfelf in a glafs or water, or to projedl a fna-
dovv°: all tbefe imperfeft things being ijut the ener¬
gies, rays, images, or Jhadows, of the Deity. For a
fubftance to be made out of nothing by Crod, or a be¬
ing infinitely perfisdi, is not for it to be made out of no¬
thing" in the impoflible fenfe, becaufe it comes from
him who is all. Nor can it be find to be impoflible
for any thing whatever to be made by that which
hath not only infinitely greater perfection, but alfo infi¬
nite a Hive power. It is indeed true, that infinite
power itfelf cannot do things in their own nature im¬
poflible 5 and, therefore, thofe who deny creation,
ought to prove, that it is abfolutely impoftible for a
fulfiance, though not for an accident or modification, to
be brought from nonexiftence into being. But no¬
thing is in itfelf impoflible, which does not imply a
cont.-adi&ion : and though it be a contradiction for
a thing to be and not to be at the fame time, there
is furely no contradiction in conceiving an imperfect
being, which before was not, afterwards to be.” To
call in queftion the poflibility of creation, becaufe we
have no adequate conception how a thing can be brought
into exiftence, would be in the higheft degree abfurd j
for it may be doubted, whether we have adequate con¬
ceptions of any thing except our own ideas and their
various relations (l). -0^
The Being which is felf-exiftent, omnipotent, and God a free
omnifeient, is not a necejfary, but ifree agent ; for tfc-agent; but
live
METAPHYSICS.
(1) “ Ridicula foret et inepta ejus temeritas, qui corporum ideo creationem fibi duceret negandum efie,
quod ejus creationis clarum et perfipicuam notionem eftingere cogitatione nobis baud licet. Infinita emm eft rerum
copia, quarum perfpicuis et apertis caremus notionibus. Et fi omnia neganda continuo nobis effent, quorum
confufam tantum et imperfeClam confequi pofiumus notionem, omnia fere nobis client neganda, exceptis rela-
tionibus, quas inter notiones quafdam abftraftas effe intelligimus. Ouis interiorem fibi naturam rerum, tam cor¬
porum, quam fpirituum, cognitam efie dixerit ? Et efle tamen has naturas, omni plane dubitatione vacat.
Quis quemadmodum altera harum naturarum agat in alteram, fefe feire, aflirmet ? Q,ujs caufas fibi patere,
propter quas hi vel Lili elTeclus, quos videmus quotidie contingere, a certis veniant corporibus, jure glorietur ?
Nec tamen quifquam eft, qui vel illam animee in corpus operationem, vel bos efieClus in dubium revocare aufit.
Teneamus igitur ea, qua; certo novimus, nec idcirco nos ab illis dimoveri patiamur, quod multa rurfus funt,
<juorum naturam ignoramus ; contra multa nos fugere et cognitionem noftrarn fuperare, icquo at tranqu’dlo fe-
ramus animo. Joannis Clerici contra cos qui negant, ex nihil<2 ulla rationefieri pojfe chquid, obfervationesin M»-
Jbemii edit. Inlellcc. Syst.
3
METAPHYSICS.
tributes of
God.
* Demon-
and Attri¬
butes of
Cod.
f Cooper's
Tracts.
Chap. VI.
Of the Be- tlve power implies freedom, and infinite power infinite
itig and At free(]om. What, therefore, hath no bounds fet to its
power, what can have no oppofition made to its will,
nor rellraint laid on its aflions, muft both will and
aft freely. “ If the Supreme Caufe were not a be¬
ing endowed with liberty and choice, but a mere ne-
ceffary agent, then would it follow, as Dr Clarke well
Jlration ‘of obferves *, that nothing which is not, could pofiibly
'the Being have been ; and that nothing which is, could pojfibly
not have been •, and that no mode or circumftance of
the exillence of any thing could pofiibly have been in
any refpeft otherwife than it now’ aftually is. All
which being evidently moft falfe and abfurd \ it follow’s,
on the contrary, that the Supreme Caufe is not a mere
neceffary agent, but a Being endued with liberty and
choice.”
To this reafoning it has been lately replied-f-, that
“ Clarke muft have knowm, that all thofe who con¬
tend againft the free agency of the Deity, do of courfe
acknowdedge, that nothing could have happened, or
does happen, or wmli happen, but what aftually has
happened, or doth happen, or will happen ; and that
it is moft falfe and abfurd to deny it.” It is, there¬
fore, according to the neceffarians, absolutely impof-
ftble, that at prefent there could exift upon this earth
more or fewer perfons than are nowT aftually alive \
that the earth could move in any other direftion than
from weft to eaft j or that there could be more or
fewer planets in the folar fyftem. Yet is it moft cer¬
tain, that there have been fewer perfons on the earth
than there ar^ now; that there is not a cultivated
country in Europe which could not contain more peo¬
ple that? now inhabit it ; that the comets move in very
different direftions from that of weft to eaft ; and that
as, till very lately, wTe conceived only ftx primary pla¬
nets in the fyftem, it is evidently pofiible that the fyftem
might contain no more. Upon the fuppofition, there¬
fore, that the Supreme Being afts under a phyfical
neceflity, the fame things are poffible and not poflible
at the fame time, which is the grofl'eft of all abfurdiues.
It might have been objefted with much more plaufi-
bility, that the Firft Caufe cannot poftibly be free, be-
caufe he muft needs do always what is beft in the
whole ; but it will be fcen by and by, that among dif¬
ferent created lyftems, there is no reafon for liippofing
any one abfolutely befi.
But though this Being be free, and as fuch the au-
changeablc. thor of change in other beings, yet he muft himfelf be
unchangeable; for all changes have a beginning, and
confequently are effefts of fome prior caufes. But there
can be nothing prior to the exiftence of this Being,
as he is eternal; neither any caufe of it, as he is inde¬
pendent; nor confequently any change in it, except we
could fuppofe him to change himfelf, which is the fame
abfurdity as to produce himfelf, i. e. to be at the fame
time both efeci and caufe.
Omnifcience, as well as fome of the foregoing attri¬
butes of the Supreme Being, may perhaps be more
eafily deduced thus J. We find in ourfelves fuch quali¬
ties as thought and intelligence, power and freedom, &c.
for w'hich w’e have the evidence of confcioufnefs as
much as for our own exiftence. Indeed it is only by
our confcioufnefs of thefe that our exiftence is known
to ourfelves. We know7 likewife that thefe are per-
feBionx, and that to have them is better than to be
Vol. XIII. Part II.
681
305
himfelf un-
*06
©mnifci-
ence, &c.
proved in
a different
manner.
I Notes to
King on
Evil.
without them. We find alfo that they have not been Of the Bc-
in us from eternity. They muft, therefore, have had1”^^^'
a beginning, and confequently fome caufe, for the very Go(p
fame reafon that a being beginning to exift in time re- v——'
quires a caufe. Now this caufe, as it muft be fifperior
to its ejfeB, muft have thofe perfeftions in a fupenor
degree ; and if it be the firfi caufe, it muft have them
in an infinite or unlimited degree, fince bounds, or limi¬
tation without a limiter, would, as w’e have already
Ihown, be an effeB without a caufe.
It is indeed obvious, that the omnifcience of the Su¬
preme Being is implied in his very exiftence. “ For
all things being not only prefent to him, but alfo en¬
tirely depending upon him, and having received both
their being itfelf and all their powers and faculties from
him, it is manifeft that as he knows all things that are,
and penetrates every part of their fubftance with his all-
feeing eye, fo muft he likew’ife know allpofiibihties of
things, that is, all effects that can be. For, being alone
felf-exiftent, and having alone given to all things all
the powers and faculties with which they are endued,
it is evident that he muft of neceflity know perfectly
what all and each of thefe pow’ers and faculties, which
are derived wholly from himfelf, can poftibly produce.
And feeing at one boundlefs view, or more proper¬
ly in his own ideas, all the poflible compolitioris and
divifions, variations, and changes, circumftances and
dependencies of things, all their poflible relations one
to another, and their difpofitions or fitneffes to certain
and refpedlive ends, he muft without poftibility of
error know exaftly what is beft and propereft in every
one of the numberlefs poflible cafes, or methods of dif-
pofing things ; and underftand perfectly how to or¬
der and diredft the refperftive means to bring about
what be fo knows to be in its kind, or on the whole,
the beft and fitteft in the end. This is w’hat is meant
by infinite wifdom, or omnifcience-f-and it \ias \ Clarke's
been readily admitted by every man w’ho has believed Etemonflra-
in the exiftence of a God as the creator and preferver ^c‘
of all things. 307
Doubts, however, have been entertained by theifts, God fore-
and pious tbeifts, w'hether omnifcience itfelf can certain- knows the
ly foreknow what are called contingent events, fuchf^'a'Vnt;
as the a£fions of free agents j and fome few there are .
profefting to be even Chriftians, who have boldly pro¬
nounced fuch knowdedge to be impoflible. That we
have no adequate notion how events, wdiich are called
contingent, can be certainly foreknowm, muft indeed
be granted •, but w’e are not, therefore, authorized to
fay that fuch knowledge is impoflible, unlefs it can be
clearly fhown to imply a contradiction. They who
fuppofe that it implies a contradiction, muft likewife
fuppofe, that, w’here there is not a chain of neceffary
caufes, there can be no certainty of any future event;
but this is evidently a miftake. “ For let us fuppofe
that there is in man a power of beginning motion, and
of acting with what has been of late called philofophical
freedom ; and let us fuppofe farther that the aCtions of
fuch a man cannot poffibly be foreknown 5 will there
not yet be in the nature of things, notwithftanding this
fuppofition, the fame certainty of event in every one of
the man’s aCtions, as if they were ever fo fatal and ne¬
ceffary ? For inftance, fuppofe the man, by an internal
principle of motion, and an abfolute freedom of mind/
to do fome particular aCtion to-day, and fuppofe it
4 R was
682
OftheEe- was not poiTible that this aclion Aiould have been fore-
y''J^cr'‘a'ji was there not neverthelei’s the
God." ^ certainty of event as if It had been forefeen, and abfo-
lately neceflary ? 'That is, would it not have been as
certain a truth yefterday, and from eternity, that this
action was in event to be performed to-day, notwithftand-
ing the fuppoied freedom, as it is now a certain and
infallible truth that it is performed ? Mere certainty of
event, therefore, does not in any meafure imply neccf
t Clarke s fity And furely it implies no contradiction to
femonjira- fuppofe, that every future event which in the nature
ot things is noxv certain, may now be certainly known
by that intelligence which is omnifeient. The manner
how God can foreknow future events, without -a chain
of necejfary caufes, it is indeed impoffible for us to ex¬
plain : yet fome fort of general notion of it we may con¬
ceive. “ For, as a man who has no influence over an¬
other perfon’s aCtions, can yet often perceive before¬
hand what that other will do ; and a wifer and more
experienced man, with $W\ greater probability will fore¬
fee what another, with whofe difpofition he is perfect¬
ly acquainted, will in certain circumflances do \ and
an angel, with frill lefs degrees of error, may have a
further profpeCl into men’s future aClions : fo it is
very reafonable to conceive, that God, without in¬
fluencing men’s wills by his power, or fubjeCting them
to a chain of neceffary caufes, cannot but have a know¬
ledge of future free evepts, as much more certain than
men or angels can poffibly have, as the perfeBion of his
nature is greater than that of theirs. The diftinB man¬
ner how he forelees thefe things we cannot, indeed, ex¬
plain ; but neither can we explain the manner of num-
berlefs other things, of the reality of which, however,
* Clarke's no man entertains a doubt We muft therefore
rnr'adrait’ ^ori£ as we perceive no contradiction in it,
that God always knows all the free aCHons of men, and
all other beings endued with liberty ; otherwife he
would know many things now of which he was once
ignorant, and confequently his omnifcience would re¬
ceive addition from events, which has been already
fhown to be contrary to the true notion of infinity.—
Jn a being incapable of change, knowledge has no¬
thing to do with before or after. To every purpofe of
knowledge and power, all things are to him equally
prefent. Fie knows perfeCIly every thing that is, and
what to us is future he knows in the very fame manner
as he knows what to us is prefent.
Thus have we demonftrated the neceffary exiflence
of a being who is eternal, independent, unchangeable,
omnipotent, free in his aBions, and omnifeient; and this
is the being whom we worlhip as God. Eternity, in¬
dependence, immutability, omnipotence, liberty, and om¬
nifcience, which feem to be all the natural attributes
which we can difeover in the divine nature, as they are
conceived to be differently combined, make us fpeak of
him in different terms. His enjoying in an abfolute
manner every conceivable power or perfedfion, makes
us call him a Being infinitely perfeB. His being capa¬
ble of no want, defedf, or unhappinefs of any kind, de¬
notes him to be allfuffleient in Idmfelf; and the unlimit¬
ed exe^fcife of his knowledge and power, demonftrates
him to be omniprefient. That fuch a Being muff be in-
comprehenfible by us, and by every creature, is a truth
felf-evident j and yet in all ages men of the beft inten¬
tions have been vainly attempting this impoffibility.
M E T x\ P II Y S I C S. Part IIL
The manner of his omnifcicnce, for inftance, has been Of the Be-
3eS
God infi¬
nitely per-
fedr, all-
fufiicient,
and emni-
prefent.
ame the fubjeft of ranch deputation among thofe who ,n£anc*At*
ought to have reflefted that they know not how their
own minds were prefent to their own bodies.—The ce¬
lebrated Dr Clarke and his adherents, who confidered
fpace as the fine qua non of all ether things, infilled,
that God muft be infinitely extended •, and that, as
wherever his fubftance is, there his attributes muft be,
it is thus that his knowledge and power are prefent
with every creature. But this notion labours under in-
fuperable difficulties. ^
For “ if the Divine fubftance be infinitely extend-The man¬
ed, then will there be part of it in this place and part ner°f tbs
in that. It muft be commenfurate with all particular otIN
beings, fo that fome will occupy more and fome lefs [I'comnre!
of its dimenfions. By this account it will be very pro- henfibie.
per and pbilofophical to fay, that God is not in heaven,
but only a part of him 5 and that an elephant or a
mountain, a whale or a wicked giant, have more of the
effence or prefence of God with them, than the holiefi
or befi man in the world, unlefs he be of equal fize :
all which, as has been well obferved are at leaft harfti} Watt's
and grating expreffions. As the attributes of the Di- Effays, ami
vine Being muft be confidered in the fame manner with Law's In-
Mis fubftance, we ftiall likevvife, upon this notion o^e LTas
omniprefence, have a part of his knowledge and power Space,Time,
in this place, and a part of them in that 5 and of thefe Immenfity,
parts the one' muft be greater or lefs than the other, &-c-
according to the dimenfions of the place with which
it is commenfurate*, which is a fuppofition that appears
to us harfher, if poffible, than even the former.
“ Should it be faid that the divine attributes are
not to be confidered as having parts (though we fee
not how they can be confidered otherwife than as their
fubjedl), they muft then exift completely in every point
of this immenfe expanfion. Be it fo ; and what
follows ? Why, every point of this infinitely expanded
being will be omnifeient and omnipotent by itfelf;
an inch of it will have as much wifdom and power as
a yard, a mile, or the whole ; and, inftead of one in¬
finite wifdom and power, we (hall have millions : For
as thefe parts of the fubftance are conceived difiinBly,
and one individual part is not another, fo muft the
attributes be likewife conceived, and the individual
power and knowledge of one part be diftindl from that
of another.” And if fo, it follows, that one point of
this expanded being has equal power and intelligence
with the whole 5 fo that the notion of extenfion being
neceffary to God’s prefence with every creature, in¬
volves in it the moft palpable contradidlion. That
God is at all times and in all places fo prefent with
every creature as to have an abfolute knowledge of
and power over it, is indeed capable of the ftridleft
demonftration 5 but we think it great prefumption to
affign the particular mode of his prefence, efpecially
fuch a one as is neither agreeable to the nature of an
abfolutely perfeft Being, nor in the leaft neceffary to
the exercife of any one perfedlion which he can be
proved to poffefs. Philofophers and divines have of¬
fered feveral names for the manner in which God is
prefent with his works; but we choofe rather to con-
fefs, that the manner of his prefence is to us, and pro¬
bably to every creature, wholly incomprehenlible. Nor
need we be furprifed or ftaggered at this, when we
reflett that the manner in which our own minds are
prefect
Chap. VI.
M E T A P
Unity, &c.
page ixo.
31°
God’s mo¬
ral attri¬
butes re-
fult front
OftlX- ptefent with our boiies is to us os incomprehenfible
in;, a„.l At- „ the manner in which the fupreme Mmd is prefent
tributes of wltll ey thing in the umverfe. I hat our minds
. have a power over our limbs, we know by experience :
but that they are not extended or fubftantially dntu.ed
through them, is certain ; becaufe men daily lole arms
and legs, without lofing any part of their underftand-
ing, or feeling their energies of volition in the imm e
degree weakened. But we need purfue this iubjeftno
farther. It has been confeffed by one of the.moft bre-
# Mr Jack- nuous advocates * for the extenfion ol the Deity and all
fan's Exijl- minds, that “ there is an incomprehenliblenels m the
ence and manner 0f every thing, about which no controveriy can
or ought to be concerned.” j r. _
The moral attributes of God may be deduced fro
his natural ones, and are immediate confequences ol
them when exercifed on other beings. 1 hey may be
•ry-: - termed his fecondary relative attributes, as they leem
hi nSal to be the perfeftion of his external aBs rather than any
„cw internal perfeaions. And .though the ex.lW
of any moral quality or a£Uon is not capable ot line
demonjlration, becaufe every moral aaion or quality, as
fuch, depends upon the will of the agent, which muit
be abfolutely free yet we have as great affurance that
there are moral qualities in God, and that he will al-
~ ways aft according to thefe qualities as the nature of
the thing admits 5 and may be as well iatisfied of it, a
if it were capable of the moft rigid demonftration.
This important point, however, cannot be lo ciearly
or fo firmly eftablilhed by abltradf reafomng as by tak¬
ing a fcientific view of the works of creation, which
evince the goodnefs, holinefs, and juftice, of their
Author, as well as his perfeft wifdom and infinite
power. The confideration, therefore, of the moral
attributes of God, together with his providence, and
the duties thence incumbent on man, is the proper
bufmefs of other articles (fee Religion, Theology,
and Moral Philofophy). r .
At prefent we {hall only obierve, that by reafomng
d priori from his exilfence and his natural pertetlions,
r n , . his affions are the reiult
3”
How they ^ priori irom ms * .
ought to.^ muft neceffanly infer that his aftions are the reiult
be conceiv
ed.
of unmixed benevolence. Every wife agent has fome
end in view in all his actions; it being the very effence
of folly to aa for no end : but there cannot be an end
of aaion which is not either felfilh ot benevolent.
Selfifhnefs is the offspring of want and imper-ettion,
•and is therefore the fource of moft human aaions ;
becaufe men are weak and imperfea beings capable
of daily additions to their happmefs. \\ hen the thief
• plunders a houfe at midnight, when the highwayman
robs a traveller on the road, and even when the a -
faffin murders the man who never injured him •, it will
be found that their aaions fpring not irom an innate
defire to inflia mifery upon others but from a pro-
fpeft of reaping advantage to themfelves. _ The object
of the thief and the robber is obvious : it is to gam
money, which is the mean of procuring the comforts
of life. Even the affaflin has always the fame felfifh
end in view : either he is bribed to commit the murder,
or he fancies that his horrid deed will remove znob-
(lade from the way to his own happinefs. But they
are not vicious men only who ad from felhfti confidera-
tions: much of human virtue, when traced to its
fource, will be found to have its origin m the delire
H Y S I C 8. 683
of happinefs. When a man gives Ws money to
he hungry and to clothe the naked, he believes E at tributesof
be is aaiii agreeably to the will of Him to whom he cod.
and the poor ftand in the fame relation j and he locks —v
for a future and eternal reward. By continuing tne
practice, he loon acquires the habit of benevolence j
after which, indeed, he looks for no further reward,
when performing particular aaions, than the imme¬
diate pleafure of doing good. This ielhlnnefs of man
is the neceffary confequence of his progrethve date.
But the Being who is independent, omnipotent, om-
-nifeient, and, in a word, poffeiied of every poinbm
perfection, is incapable of progreflion, or ox having
any acceflion whatever made to his happinels. He is
immutable ; and muft of neceflity have been as happy
from eternitv, when exifting alone, as alter the crea¬
tion of ten thoufand worlds. When, therefore, he
willed the exiftence of other beings, he could have no¬
thing in view but to communicate fome refemblance ot
his own perfections and happinefs. That he had Jome
end in view, follows undeniably from his infinite wii-
dom. That he could not have a feljijh end, follows
with equal certainty from his own infinite periections j
and as there is no medium, in the actions oi a wile Be¬
ing, between felfilhnefs and benevolence, we muft ne-
ceilarily conclude, that the creation was the relult ol
unmixed benevolence or perfeCt goodnefs. 1 he other
moral attributes of the Deity, his juftice, mercy and
truth, ought therefore to be confidered only as io
many different views of the fame goodnefs m the
Creator, and various fources of happmefs to the crea¬
ture. Thefe are always fubordmate to and regulated
by this one principal perfection and bnghteft ray of the
Divinity. . ,
“ Thus we conceive his jujhce to be exerted on any
being no farther than his goodnefs neceffanly requires,
in order to make that being, or others, of the
heinous nature and pernicious efftEls of fin *, and there- * Notes to
by to bring them to as great a degree of happinefs ^ King on
their feveral natures are capable of. His holinefs hates — ' •
and abhors all wickednefs, only as its neceffary con e-
quences are abfblute and unavoidable mifery ; and his
veracity or fa' hfulnefs feems to be concerned for truth,
only becaufe it is connected with and productive or the
happinefs of all rational beings •, to provide tne properett
means for attaining which great end is the exercife of
of his wifdom” Such is the view of God s moral attri¬
butes, which the abftraCt contemplation of his natural
perfections neceffarily gives j and vyhether this way of
conceiving them be not attended with lefs difficulty than
the common manner of treating them under the notion
of two infinites diametrically oppofite, mult be left to
the judgement of the reader. . oIJ. .
But if the Creator and fupreme Governor °f a11 ^ ^
things be a Being of infinite power, perfeCt wifdom
and pure benevolence, how came evil into the works
of creation ? This is a queftion which has employed
the fpeculative mind from the firft dawning or pynlo-
fophy, and will continue to employ it till our facul¬
ties be enlarged in a future ftate, when philofophy
{hall give place td more perfeCt knowledge I. o thefe qohnfns
meditations, as has been well obferved J, humanity is
not equal. Volumes have been written on the _u 'qui^inta
ied ; but we believe that the following extraCt from
J > . d x Dr of Euit.
684
Of the Be¬
ing and At
tributes of
G-d.
f T) 6711011-
ft ration of
the Being
and Attri
bates of
God.
315
Whether
the prefent
be the bed
fyftem pof-
fible.
.3M
Origin of
that que-
ilion.
M E T A P
. 'Dr Clar?ce contains all that can be advanced with cer-
tainty and all that is neceffary to vindicate the ways
of Lrod to man. J
. ,A11 that ,7e cal1 evil (lays that able reafoner+Y
is either an tvil of wferfcaion, as the want of certain
acuities and excellencies which other creatures have •
or natural evi/, as pain, death, and the like; or moral
£Vl' as aJ H!nd*of Vlce- of thefe is not pro-
peny an evil : for every power, faculty, or pericc-
tion which any creature enjoys, being the free gift
of God, which he was no more obliged to bellow
than he was to confer being or exiftence itfelf, it is
plain, tnat the want of any certain faculty or perfec¬
tion m any kind of creatures, which never belonged
to their nature, is no more an evil to them, than their
never having been created or brought into being at all
could properly be called an evil.” To this we may
add, that as no created being can be felf exiftent and
indepenuent, imperfection is unavoidable in the cre-
ation fo that the evil of defeft (as it is molt abfurdly
ca ied) mult have been admitted, or nothing could
ever have exiited but God. “ The fecond kind of evil
whicn we call natural evil, is either a neceffary confe-
quence_ of the former, as death to a creature on whofe
nature immortality was never conferred ; and then it is
no more properly an evil than the former : Or elfe it is
counterpoifed in the whole with as great or greater
good, as the aphthous and/offerings of good men : and
then aho it is properly no evil : Or elfe it is a punilh-
rnent ; and then it is a neceffary confequence of the
urd and laft fort of evil, viz. moral evil. And this
anfes wholly from the abufe of liberty, which God gave
0 his creatures for other purpofes, and which it was
reafonable and fit to give them for the perfedion and
order ot the. whole creation : only they, contrary to
Gods intention and command, have abufed what was
neceiTary for the perfection of the whole, to the cor¬
ruption and depravation ofthemfelves. And thus have
all forts of evils entered into the world, without any
diminution to the infinite goodnefs of its Creator and
Governor.”
But though evil could not be totally excluded from
the umverie, are we not authorized to infer, from the
infinite power, wifdom,.and goodnefs of the Creator,
nat the prefent fyltem is upon the whole the very bed
lyftem poffiole ? Undoubtedly w>e are, if of poflible
lyItems there can be a be/: but this is fo far from be-
ing evident, that we think it implies a contradidion.
A bed of beings there is, viz. God, who is pofTeffed
ot infinite perfedions ; but there Cannot be a bed of
creatures or of created fydems. To prove this, we
need only.refled, that wherever creation dops, it
mud dop infinitely Ihort of infinity; and that how
perred foever we conceive any creature or fydem
of creatures to be, yet the didance between that
and God is not leffened, but continues infinite. Hence
it follows that the nature of God and his omnioo-
tence is fuch, that whatever number of creatures he
has made, he may dill add to that number ; and
that however good or. per fed the fydem may be on
the^whole, he might dill make others equally good and
The difpute, whether a being of infinite power
wildom, and benevolence, mud be fuppofed to have’
created the be/p/fikle fyflem. and the embarraffment of
H Y SICS. Fait III.
£rrderll?ndiUlS ab°Ut h’ feem t0 have arIfen Of the Be.
mi their taking the words gW, better, and be/L for mg and At-
ablolute qualities inherent in the nature of things tribl‘tes°f
whereas m truth they are only relations arifing from GocL
certain appetites. 1’hy have indeed a foundation, as V
all relations.have, m fometh.ng abfolute, and denote the
hmg ,n which they are founded ; but yet they them-
eives imply nothing more than a relation of com-ruity
between torne appetite and its objeds. This is evi¬
dent; becaufe the fame objed, when applied to an
appetite to which it has a congruity, is good ; and
bad, waen applied to an appetite to which it has no
congruity. Thus, the earth and air to terredrial ani¬
mals are good elements, and neceffary to their prefer-
vation : to thofe animals the water is had, which yet
affords the. bed receptacle to filhes. Good, therefore
being relative to appetite, that mud be reckoned the’
bed creature by us which has the dronged appetites
and tne fured means of fatislying them all, and fecu-
ringits own permanent bappinefs. And though the
Jubjrance of creatures is chiefly to be regarded as con¬
tributing to their perfedion, yet we have no way of
meafunng tne perfedion of different fubdances but by
their qualities, 1. e. by their appetites by which they are
ienfiffe of good and evil, and by their powers to pro-
cme thofe objeds from which they receive that lenfe of
tilings which makes them happy.
It is plain, theiefore, that whatever fydem we fup-XT
pofe in nature, God might have made another equal
it; his infinite wildom and power being abff tobefT ^
“a];e °;ner creatures equal in every refped to any
tnat we know or can conceive, - and to give them equal
ironger appetites, and as certain or more certain
ways of fat,sfymg them. We fee in many cafes, that
ery different means will anfwer the fame end. A cer¬
tain, number of regular pyramids will fill a fpace ; and
yet irregular ones will do it as well, if what we take
from tne one be added to another; and the fame
thing may be done by bodies of the mod irregular and
ifferent figures in the fame manner : and therefore
we may very well conceive, that the anfwering of ap¬
petites, which ,s all the natural good that is in the world
may as well be obtained in another fydem as in this ’
provided we fuppofe, that where the appetites of the
entient beings are changed, the objects are 2Iff ffit-
e to them, and an equal congruity among the parts
of he Whole introduced. This is fa enfily conceived,
hat m an indefinite number of poflible worlds, we do
not. fee .why it may not be done in numberlefs ways
by infinite power and wifdom. 1
If then it be plain, that there might have been manyrfJA
other worlds, or even but one, equal to this in
e pefts as to goodnefs, there could be no neceffity, by hisgeod-
dther phyfical or moral, that God fiiould create thenefs to cre-
one rather than the other; becaufe nothing could rYthe I're'
:,£°nh teh-r’ °r t0r h\mOK 'I-nSjeT
her, but his own free choice. Either, there- all other
iore, God mud be poffeffed of abfflute freedom or worlds,
among a number of poffibilities equally perfect’ he
courd not have made a choice, and fo nothing would
ever have been created. It is not, then, as Leibnitz
and otners argue, the natural and neceffary goodnefs
of feme particular things, reprefented by the divine ideas,
wnich determines God to prefer them to all others if
underflood of his fir/ a& of producing them; but it
Chap. vrI. M E T A P
Ol the Be. is Ms own free clioice which, among many equal po-
T£n,ial «oods5 makes fome things afiuaily good, and de-
God termines them into exitlence. When thofe are once
‘ v  fuppofed to exift, every thing or aftion becomes good
wnicn tends to their happinefs and prefervaiion j and
to fuppofe their all-perfect Author to have any other
end in view than their prel'ervation and happinefs, is
the fame abfurdity as to fuppofe that knowledge may
produce ignorance 5 power, vveaknefs j or wifdom
folly.
\Ye have now finiflied what we propofed under the
article Metaphylics. It has fwelled in dur hands to
a large extent j and yet it can be conlidered as little
H Y S I C S. . 6S5
more tnan an introduction to that fcience, which corn- Of the Be-
prebends within its wide grafp every thing exiftim>-. i,1gand Al'
The reader who willies to pifrfue thefe intereliimr tndutfSof
fpeculations, thould ftudy diligently the authors whom - ^<
ue nave comuited, and to whom we have been care¬
ful to refer in the margin. Were we to make a felec-
tion, we thould without hefitation recommend Aritlotle
and Plato among the ancients ; and Cudworth, Locke,
Hartley, and Reid, among the moderns. Thefe pbilo-
fophers, indeed, on many points, differ exceedingly from
one anothei j but,he who willies not to adont opinions
at random, thould know what can be faid on both tides
of every queftion.
MET
Mctaplaf- MET APLASMUS, in Grammar, a tranfmutation
mus or change made in a word, by adding, retrenching, or
Metaftafio alter5nS a ^y^able or letter thereof.
1 -Y*—; METAPONTUM, or Metaponttum, in Ancient
Geography, a town of Lucania, on the Sinus Tarenti-
nus, to the weft of Tarentum -, built by the Pylians
who returned from Troy; and where Pythagoras is faid
to have taught in the time of Servius Tullius. Meta-
pontini, the people ; who pretended to tliow, in a temple
of Minerva, the tools with which Epeus built the wood¬
en horfe, (Juftin). Now a tower, called Torre diMare,
in the Balilicata of Naples.
ME 1 ASTASIO, L’Abbe Pierre Bonaven-
1URE, a celebrated Italian poet, whole real name
was TrapaJJi, was born at Aflife, on January 3d.
1698. His talent for poetry was firft unfolded
by the reading of lalfo ; and he began to compofe
verfes at ten years of age. “ A prodigy of this
nature (fays Metaftatio) made fuch an impreffion on
my matter, the celebrated Gravina, that he thence¬
forth confidered me as a plant worthy of being culti¬
vated by his own hands.” Metaftafio was only four¬
teen years of age when he compofed his tragedy en¬
titled II GiuJHno; in which he appears too clofe and
fcrupulous an imitator of the Grecian drama. Our
young poet unfortunately loft his patron in 1717 ;
who left him his heir, “ as being a young man of the
mort promifing abilities.” Metaftafio, at the age of
nineteen, being, in confequence of this inheritance,
fuperior to thofe wants which reprefs the exertions of
genius, and to which men of abilities are too often
fubjeft, gave full fcope to his inclination for poetry,
lie began his dramatic career with the Didonne Aban-
donnata, which was afled at Naples in 1724 ; the mu-
fic was compofed by Sarro. Pie foon acquired fuch
celebrity, that in 1729 he was invited to Vienna, by
the emperor Charles VI.; who appointed him impe¬
rial poet, and granted him a penfion of 4000 florins.
From that time fome of his works were prefented at
every court feftival ; and notwithftanding the extreme
magnificence of thefe entertainments, they wTould now
be forgotten were it not fqr the verfes which he com¬
pofed upon the occafion. The courts of Vienna and
Madrid vied with each other in the prefents which they
conferred upon him. From Maria Therefa he receiv¬
ed a fnuft’box and a pert-folio fet with diamonds, and.
MET
a golden candleftick with a fereen. Ferdinand VI. Metaftafio.
kmg of Spain, informed of the great merit of Meta-  
italic by iarmelli, of whom he was a paflionate ad¬
mirer, lent him a prefent of a cafket mounted with
gold, and, furnithed with the different implements of
writing. This favourite of kings and of the mutes
was of a cheerful temper, and was exceedingly tempa-
rate : to this he was probably indebted for the unin¬
terrupted health which he enjoyed, and for the entire
poffetlion of his fenfes and faculties' to the moft advanced
period of old age. He took his meals, arofe, and went
to bed, always at ftated hours. This exaffnefs and
order were fcrupuloufly obferved even in the moft trif¬
ling adfions of his life. Pie ufed to fay in jell, that
he dreaded hell for no other reafon but becaute it
was a place ubi nullus ordo, fed feriipitcrnus horror in-
habitat. He had even his ftated hours for making
verfes; to which he fcrupuloufly adhered, without
waiting for the moment of poetical enthufiafm. He
was equally regular in the duties of the Chriftian as in
the labours of the fcholar. His behaviour was that of
a true philofopher : his ambition extended no farther
than the attainment of literary fame ; and he defpifed
every civil mark of diftindlion.. When Charles VI. of¬
fered him the titles of Count or of Baron, which add no
real worth or dignity to the poffeffor, but frequently
make him appear in a more ridiculous light, he in-
ftantly begged the favour that he would allow him ftiU
to continue Metafafio. The emprefs Maria Therefa
afterwards withed to bellow upon him the fmall crofs
of St Stephen ; but he excuted himfelf on account of
his age, which would prevent him from aflifting at the
feflivals of the order. He was attacked ,by a fever on
the 2d of April 1782; and he died on the 12th of
the fame month, at the age of 84. Before his death
he received the facrament according to the form of the
Romith church; and Pius VI. who was then at Vienna
ffnt him his apoftolical benediction in articulo mortis.
He left about 150,000 florins. He compofed a great
number of tragic operas, and feveral fmall dramatic
pieces which have been fet to mufic. We have dif¬
ferent editions of them in 4to, 8vo, and i2mo; and
M. Richelet has publifhed a tranflation of them into
French, in 12 vols, fmall i2mo.
The greateft part of Metaftafio’s writings will con-
aCT immortality on their author. His dialogue is na- •
tural,,
MET [
^Tetartalio. tural, fimplc, and eafy j liis ftyie is always pure and
-'“■y- -ri' e]egan^^ rometimes fublime and pathetic. His
fubjefts are noble, interefting, and excellently adapt¬
ed for reprefentation. He was perfectly acquainted
with the refources of Ills art, and has lubjefted tne
opera to rules. He dripped it of its machinery,
and of the marvellous, which was fitted to ex¬
cite the gaze of auonifhment, but which gave no in-
llru&ion to the underftanding, and made no impref-
fion on the heart. His defcriptions are copied from
nature j the fituations of his characters never fail to
raife an intereft in the reader, and often excite the
tear of pity. His fables are celebrated j his charac¬
ters are noble and well fupported} his plots are ex¬
cellently conduced, and happily unravelled. “ I here
are fcenes (fays Voltaire) worthy of Corneille when
he does not declaim, and of Racine when he is not
feeble,” His operas, in point of the pathetic, may
be compared with our fined tragedies ; and may be
read with great pleafure, independent of the charms
of the mufic. We mud not, however, expeft to find
in Metadafio that exa£t regularity, and that fertile
fimplicity, which ccnditutes the excellence of fome
of our tragic poets: But though he fometimes tranf-
grefies the unities of time and place, he always pre-
ferves the unity of intered. Notwith dan ding all
thefe advantages, fome critics will not allow him the
merit of invention, which is the fird qualification of
a poet. They confider him only as a fuccefsful imita¬
tor of the French tragic writers, from whom a great
part of his beauties are borrowed, and place him at
the head of the fined wits in Italy, but deny that he
poffeffed genius. He was a fond admirer of the an¬
cients ; and this admiration, increafing with the foli-
dity of his underdanding, continued to the lad period
of his life. He recommended reading them, as he
himfelf had done, in a chronological order. His me¬
mory was excellent, and continued unimpaired even in
old age. Horace was his favourite author, and he
could repeat almod the whole of his verfes. Metadafio,
who, as we have obferved, was the pupil of the cele¬
brated Gravina, added a gentlenefs of chara&er pecu¬
liar to himfelf to the accuracy of thinking and great
erudition of his mader. His abilities and fame were
refpe&ed by the critics in general j and whereas the
life of mod men of letters is one continued warfare,
his days happily glided away in tranquillity and peace.
The circumdance which occafioned the change of his
name is thus related in a late anecdote : “ Gravina’s
barber, who, like mod of his profedion, was a great
talker, one day informed him, that in Place de la
Valle el la, where he had his drop, a young boy came
every evening, and fung extempore verfes of his own
compofition, fo harmonious and elegant that all the
paflengers dopped to liften to them. Gravina, upon
this information, added one to the number of the
young poet’s audience, and found the verfes fo fupe-
rior to the idea which he had formed of them from
the account of the barber, and fo much above the ca¬
pacity of a child of ten or eleven years of age, that
he ifidantly determined to undertake the cultivation of
fo promifing a plant. His fird care was to put the
young Trapajfi (which was the boy’s name) to fchool j
but apprehending that the ordinary methods of edu¬
cation might check the progrefs of fo uncommon ta-
' . • ' ' i 3
II.
Metelin.,
686 ] MET
lent®, he took him home to his own houfe, and chan- Metaftafis
ged his name into Metajlqjio, which fignifies the fame
thing in Greek. In diort, by a plan of education and ,
by inftrudlions fulted to his genius, Gravina laid the
foundation of that reputation which he predi&ed, and
which Metadafio now enjoys.” Vies cles Hommes 11-
lujires d'ltalie, tern. i. p. 187.
"METASTASIS, in medicine, a tranfpofition or
fettlement of fome humour or difesfe in fome other
part ; and fometimes it fignifies fuch an alteration of a
difeafe as is fucceeded by a folution.
METATARSUS beyond, and the
tar/us), in anatomy, that part of the human Ikeleton
containing the middle of the foot. See Anatomy,
Index.
METATHESIS, in grammar, a fpecies of the
metaplafmus 5 being a figure whereby the letters or
fyllables of a word are tranfpofed, or ftfifted out of
their ufual fituations, as pi/In's for prlflis, Lybia for
Libya, &c.
This word is, by phyficians, ufed with refpefl to
morbific cwifes, which when they cannot be evacuat¬
ed, are removed to places- where they are lefs injuri-
METELIN, the modern name of the ifland of Lef-
bos. See Lesbos and Mitylene.
In the Iridi Philefophical Tranfaftions for 1789,
we have a defeription of this ifiand by the earl of
Charlemont, in which he fpeaks with raptures of its
beauties. “ The mountains, whofe rugged tops ex¬
hibit a pleafing interfperfion of rocks and fine groves,
have their green fides, for many miles along the coad,
covered with olives, whofe lefs agreeable verdure is
corre&ed, embellilhed, and brightened by a lively mix¬
ture of bays and laurels afpiring to the height of
foreft trees, of myrtles and pomegranates, of ar-
butes rich at once in bloffom and in berry, of mulber¬
ries growing wild and laden with fruit, &c. Winter is
here unknown, the verdure is perpetual, and the fre¬
quency of evergreens gives to December the colour of
June. The parching heat of dimmer is never felt •, the
thick fhade of trees, and thoufands of crydal. fprings
which everywhere arife and form tbemfelves int*. un¬
numbered rivulets, joined to the refrediing fea breeze,
the confiant corre£five and .companion of noontide heat,
qualify the burning air and render the year a never-
ending May. The houfes are condrufted in fuch a
manner as to have the bed'view of thefe natural beauties.
Each is a fquare tower neatly built of hewn done, fo
high as to overtop the trees, and to command a view of
the fea and neighbouring idands. The lower dories
are granaries and dorehoufes 5 and the habitable apart¬
ments are all at the top, to which you afeend by a
done dair, built for the mod part on the outfide, and
furrounding the tower 5 fo that from the apartment the
trees are overlooked, and the whole country is feen ;
while the habitations themfelves, which are very numer¬
ous, peering above the groves, add life and variety to
the enchanting profpeft, and give an air of human popu¬
lation to thefe woodlands, which might otherwife be
fuppofed the region of Dryads, of Naiads, and of
Satyrs.”
The mod remarkable thing, however, in this ifland
is a cudom by which the w®men have here openly
ufurped thofe rights of fovereignty which in other
countries
M E T
Mctelin.
countries are fuppofed to belong elTentially to the men.
“ Contrary (fays his lordfhip) to the ufage of all
other countries, the eldeft daughter here inherits; and
the fons,^ like daughters everywhere elfe, are por¬
tioned oiF with fmall dowers, or, which is ftill worfe,
turned out pennyiefs to feek their fortune. If a man
-have two daughters, the eldeft, at her marriage, is en¬
titled to all her mother’s pofleflions, which are by far
the greater part of the family eftate, as the mother,
keeping up her prerogative, never parts with the
power over any portion of what fhe has brought into
the family, until flie is forced into it by the marriage
ef her daughter ; and the father alfo is'compelled to
ruin himfelf by adding whatever he may have fcraped
together by his induftry. The fecond daughter in¬
herits nothing, and is condemned to perpetual celi¬
bacy. She. is ftyled a ca/ogria, which fignifies pro¬
perly a religious woman or nun, and is in effed a
menial fervant to her filler, being employed by her
m any office fhe may think fit to impofe, frequently
ferving her as waitingmaid, as cook, and often in em¬
ployments ftill more degrading. She wears a habit
peculiar to her fituation, which Ihe can never change ;
a fort of monaftic drefs, coarfe, and of a dark brown.
One advantage, however, ffie enjoys over her filler,
that whereas the elder, before marriage, is never allow-
cd to go abroad, or to fee any man, her neareft re¬
lations only excepted, the calogria, except when em¬
ployed in domeftic toil, is in this refped at perfect
liberty. But wffien the filter is married, the fituation
of the poor calogria becomes defperate indeed, and
is rendered hill more humiliating by the companion
between her condition and that of her happy miftrefs.
The married fifter enjoys every fort of liberty ; the
whole family fortune is hers, and {he fpends it as fhe
pleafes; her huiband is her obfequious fervant, her fa¬
ther and mother are dependent upon her, (lie drefles
in a moil magnificent manner, covered all over, ac-
coiding to the fafhion of the ifland, with pearls and
with pieces of gold, which are commonly fequins j
thus continually carrying about her the enviable
marks of affluence and fupeiiority, while the wretch¬
ed calogria follows her as a fervant, arrayed in fimple
homefpun brown, and without the moil diftant hope
of ever changing her condition. ‘Such a difparity
may. feem intolerable, but what will not cuftom re¬
concile ? Neither are the misfortunes of the family yet
at an end. 1 he father and mother, wuth what little is
left them, contrive by their induftry to accumulate a fe¬
cond little fortune ; and this, if they iliould have a
third, daughter, they are obliged to give to her upon her
marriage ; and the fourth, if there ihould be one, be¬
comes her calogria ; and fo on through all the daugh¬
ters alternately. Whenever the daughter is marriage¬
able, ffle can by cuftom compel the father to procure
her a huiband ; and the mother, fuch is the power of
habit, is. fooliffl enough to join her in teafing him
into an immediate compliance, though its confequen-
ces muft be equally fatal and ruinous to both of them.
Trom hence it happens, that nothing is more common
than to fee the old father and mother reduced to the
Uimoft indigence, and even begging about the ftreets,
while their unnatural daughters'are in affluence j and’
we ourfelves have frequently been ffiowm the eldeft
daughter parading it through the town in the greateft
[ 68; ]
M E T
fplendour, while her mother and fifter followed her as Metel
ieryants, and made a melancholy part of her attendant '—’■“'V
train.
“ I he fons, as foon as they are of an age to gain a
livelihood, are turned out of the family, fometimes with
a imall prefent or portion, but more frequently with-
out any thing to fuppoit them ; and thus reduced,
they either endeavour to live by their labour, or, which
is more ufual, go on board feme trading veiTel as fail-
ors or as fervants, remaining abroad till they have got
together iome compentency, and then return home to
marry and to be henpecked. Some few there are who,
taking advantage of the Turkith law, break through
tins whimfical cuftom, who marry their calogrias, and
retain to themfelves a competent proviiion: but thefe
are accounted men of a lingular and even criminal dii-
.poiition, and are hated and defpiied as conformifts to
Turkifti manners, and deferters of their native cuftomsj
fo that we may fuppofe they are few indeed who have
the bofflnefs to depart irom the manners of their coun¬
try, to adopt the cuftoms of their detefted mailers, and
to brave the contempt, the derifion, and the hatred,
of their neighbours and fellow-citizens.
Of all theie extraordinary particulars I wras in¬
formed by the French conful, a man of fenfe and of
mdifputable veracity, who had refided in this ifland
for feveral years, and who folemnly affured me that
every circumftance was true : but indeed our own ob-
fervation left us witnout the leaft room for doubt, and
the Angular appearance and deportment of the ladies
fully, evinced the truth of our friend’s relation. In
walking through the town, it is eafy to perceive, from
the whimfical manners of the female paffengers, that
the women, according to the vulgar phrafe, wear the
breeches. They frequently flopped us in the ftreets,
examined our drefs, interrogated us with a bold and
manly air, laughed at our foreign garb and appearance;
and (bowed fo little attention to that decent modefty
which is or ought to be the true charaaeriftic of the
fex, that there is every reafon to fuppofe they would,
in fpite of their haughtinefs, be the kindeft ladies up¬
on earth, if they were not ftridly watched by the
lurks, who are here very numerous, and would be
ready to puniih any tranfgreffion of their ungallant
laws with arbitrary fines. But nature and native man¬
ners will often baffle the efforts even of tyranny. In
all their cuftoms. thefe manly ladies feem to* have
cnanged fexes with the men. The woman, rides
aftride, the man fits fideways upon the horfe ; nav, I
have been affured. that the hufiband’s diftingtiiihing ap¬
pellation is his wife’s familv nan-ip. Ttif. i,,—
peilation is his wife’s family name. I he women have
town and country houfes, in the management of which
the oufband never dares interfere. Their gardens, their
fervants, are all their own 5 and the huiband, from eve¬
ry circumftance of his behaviour, appears to be no other
than his wife’s firft demeftic, perpetually bound to
her fervice, and Have to her caprice. Hence it is that
a tradition obtains in the country, that this iiland was
formerly inhabited by Amazons j a tradition, how¬
ever, founded upon no ancient hiftory that I know of.
Sappho indeed, the moil renowned female that this
ifland has ever produced, is faid to have had manly
inclinations $ in which, as Lucian informs us, ihe did
but conform with the lingular manners of her country¬
women ; but I do not find that the mode in which
ihe
MET [ 688 ] MET
Metelin. fae cliofe to (how thefe inclinations is imitated by tbe
 prefent female inhabitants, who feem perfeftly con¬
tent with the dear prerogative of abfolute fway, with¬
out endeavouring in any other particular to change
the courfe of nature ; yet will this circumftance ferve
to fhow, that the women of Lefbos had always fome-
thing peculiar, and even peculiarly mafculine, in their
manners and propenfities. But be this as it may, it
is certain that no country whatfoever can afford a more
perfect idea of an Amazonian commonwealth, or bet¬
ter ferve to render probable thofe ancient relations
which our manners would induce us to efteem incre¬
dible, than this ifland of Metelin. Thefe lordly ladies
are for the mofl: part very handfome in fpite of their
drefs, which is fmgular and difadvantageous. Down
to the girdle, which as in the old Grecian garb is
raifed far above what we ufually call the waift, they
wear nothing but a (hift of thin and tranfparent gauze,
red, green, or brown, through which every thing is
vilible, their breafts only excepted, which they cover
, with a fort of handkerchief; and this, as we were in¬
formed, the Turks have obliged them to wear, while
they look fupon it as an encumbrance, and as no in-
confiderablf portion of Turkilh tyranny. Long fleeves
of the fame thin material perfectly fbow their arms
even to the fhoulder. Their principal ornaments are
chains of pearl, to which they hang fmall pieces of
gold coin. Their eyes are large and fine j and the
note, which we term Grecian, ufually prevails among
them, as it does indeed among the women of all thefe
iflands. Their complexions are naturally fine 5 but they
fpoil them by paint, of which they make abundant
ufe ; and they disfigure their pretty faces by (having
the hinder part of the eyebrow7, and replacing it with
a ftraight line of hair neatly applied wdth fome fort of
gum, the brow being thus continued in a ftraight and
narrow line till it joins the hair on each fide of their
- face. They are wrell made, of the middle fize, and
for the moft part plump •, but they are diftinguilhed
by nothing fo much and fo univerfally as by a haughty,
difdainful, and fupercilious air, with which they feem
to look down upon all mankind as creatures of an in¬
ferior nature, born for their fervice, and doomed to
be their flaves ; neither does this peculiarity of coun¬
tenance in any degree diminifh their natural beauty,
but rather adds to it that fort of bewitching attraftion
which the French call piquant?''
His lordlhip has been at great pains to inveftigate
the origin of fuch a fingular cuftom •, but is unable to
find any other example in hiftory than that of the Ly-
cians, who called themfelves by the names of their
mothers, and not of their fathers. When afked by their
neighbours who they were ? they deferibed themfelves
by their maternal genealogy. If a gentlewoman fhould
marry a (lave, the children by that marriage w'ere ac¬
counted noble ; but ftiould the firft man among them
marry a foreign woman, the children would be ac¬
counted ignoble. This cuftom is mentioned by feveral
ancient authors. A difficulty of no little magnitude
occurs, however, in accounting for the derivation of
the inhabitants of Lefbos from the Lycians. This is
folved in the following manner : In times of the moft
x-emote antiquity, the ifiand of Lefbos was peopled by
the Pelafgi, wffio, under their leader Xanthus, the fon
of Trioppas king of Argos, firft inhabited Lefhos;
2
previous to that time they had dwelt in a certain part of MeteHus
Lyeia which they had conquered ; and in this country (.
we may fuppofe they had learned the cuftom in que- ch0fis5
ftion. _ —
METELLUS, the furname of the family of the
Csecilii at Rome, the moft known of whom were /
 A general who defeated the Achceans, took
Thebes, and invaded Macedonia, &c.-—(,). Cteci-
lius, who rendered himfelt illuftrious by bis fucceffes
againft Jugurtba the Numidian king, from which he
was furnamed Numidicus. Another who faved from
the flames the palladium, when Vella’s temple was
on fire. He was then high prieft. He loft his fight
and one of his arms in the adlion ; and the fenate, to
reward his zeal and piety, permitted him always to
be drawn to the fenate houfe in a chariot, an honour
which no one had ever before enjoyed. He alfo gamed
a great vi£lory over the Carthaginians, &c. CL Ca>
cilius Celer, another' who diftinguilhed himfelf by his
fpirited exertions againfl Catiline. He married the
lifter of Clodius, who dilgraced hirq by her incontU
nence and iafcivioufnefs'. He died 57 years before
Chrift. He was greatly lamented by Cicero, who
ffied tears at the lofs of one of his moft faithful and
valuable friends. L. Cafecilius, a tribune m the civil
wars of J. Ceefar and Ponopey. He favoured the cauie
of Pompey, and oppofed Coefar when he entered
Rome with a viftorious army. He refufed to open
the gates of Saturn’s temple, in which were depofited
great treafures •, upon wffiich they were broke open by
Csefar, and Metellus retired when threatened with
death. Qn Caecilius, a warlike general who conquered
Crete and Macedonia, and was furnamed Macedonian'.
He had four fons, of whom three were confuls, and
the other obtained a triumph, all during their father’s .
lifetime. A general of the Roman armies againft the
Sicilians and Carthaginians. Before he marched, he
offered facrifices to all the gods except Vefla ; for
which negledl the goddefs was fo incenfed, that Ihe
demanded the blood of his daughter Metella. When
Metella was going to be immolated, tbe goddefs placed
a heifer in her place, and carried her to a temple at
Lanuvium, of which ihe_ became the prieftefs. Ano¬
ther, furnamed Dalmaticus from his conqueft over Dal¬
matia, A. U. C. 634.—Cimber, one of the confpira-
tors againft J. Caefar. It was he who gave the fignal
to attack and murder the didlator in the fenate houfe.
—Pius, a general in Spain, againft Sertorius, on vyhofe
head he fet a price of 100 talents and 20,000 acres of
land.
METEMPSYCHOSIS, (formed of pm* be¬
yond,” and “ I animate or enliven”), in the
ancient philofophy, the paffage or tranfmigration of
the foul of a man, after death, into the body of fome
other animal.
Pythagoras and his followers held, that after death
men’s fouls paffed into other bodies, of this or that
kind, according to the manner of life they had led.
If they had been vicious, they were imprifoned in the
bodies of miferable beafts, there to do penance for ie-
veral ages : at the expiration whereof, they returned
afrelh to animate men. But, if they lived virtuoufty,
fome happier brute, or even a human creature, was to
be their lot.
What led Pythagoras into this opinion was, the
perfualion
MET [ 689 ] MET
Metempfy- perfuafion he had that the foul was not of a perifhable
chofis, nature : whence he concluded that it muft remove in-
Metemp- to forne other body upon its abandoning this. Lucan
tofis' , treats this doftrine as a kind of officious lie, contrived
^ to mitigate the apprehenfion of death, by perfuading
men that they only changed their lodging, and only
ceafed to live to begin a new life.
Reuchlin denies this do£lrine; and maintains that
the metempfychofis of Pythagoras implied nothing
more than a fimilitude of manners, defires, and Hudies,
formerly exifting in fome perfon deceafed, and now
revived in another alive. Thus when it was faid that
Euphorbus was revived in Pythagoras, no more was
meant than that the martial virtue which had (hone
in Euphorbus at the time of the Trojan war, was now,
in fome meafure, revived in Pythagoras, by reafon of
the great refpeft he bore the athletce. For thofe peo¬
ple wondering how a philofopher ffiould be fo much
taken with men of the fword, he palliated the matter,
by faying, that the foul of Euphorbus, i. e. his genius,
difpolition, and inclinations, were revived in him. And
this gave occafion to the report, that Euphorbus’s foul,
who perifhed in the Trojan war, had tranfmigrated into
Pythagoras.
Ficinus afferts, that what Plato fpeaks of the migra¬
tion of a human foul into a brute, is intended allegori¬
cally, and is to be underftood only of the manners,
affections, and habits, degenerated into a beaftly na¬
ture by vice. Serranus, though he allows fome force
to this interpretation, yet inclines rather to underltand
the metempfychofis of a refurrection.
Pythagoras is faid to have borrowed the notion of a
metempfychofis from the Egyptians 5 others fay, from
the ancient Brachmans. It is ftill retained among the
Banians and other idolaters of India and China j and
makes the principal foundation of their religion. So
extremely are they bigotted to it, that they not only
forbear eating any thing that has life, but many of
them even refufe to defend themfelves from wild beafts.
They burn no wood, left fome little animalcule fhould
be in it j and are fo very charitable, that they will re¬
deem from the hands of ftrangers any animals that they
find ready to be killed. See Pythagoreans.
METEMP FOSIS (from pofti and TriTmo
cado “ I fall,”) a term in chronology, expreffing the
folar equation, neceffary to prevent the new moon
from happening a day too late. By which it ftands
contradiftinguifhed from proemptojis, which fignifies the
lunar equation, neceffary to prevent the new moon from
happening a day too foon.
The new moons running a little backwards, that
is, coming a day too foon at the end of 312 years and
a half 5 by the proemptofis, a day is added every 300
years, and another every 2400 years: on the other
hand, by the metemptofis, a biffextile is fuppreffed each
134 years •, that is, three times in 400 years. Thefe
alterations are never made but at the end of each cen¬
tury •, that period being very remarkable, and render¬
ing the praftice of the calendar eafy.
There are three rules for making this addition or
fuppreffion of the biffextile day, and, by confequence,
for changing the index of the epafts. 1. When there
is a meiemptofis wfithout a proemptofis, the next fol¬
lowing, or lower index, muft be taken. 2. When
there is a proemptofis without a metemptofis, the next
VOL. XIII. Part II.
preceding or fuperior index is to be taken. 3. When
there are both a metemptofis and a proemptofis, or
when there is neither the one nor the other, the fame <, — .
index is preferved. Thus, in 1600, we had D : in
1700, by reafon of the metemptofis, C was taken:
in 1800, there was both a proemptofis and a me¬
temptofis ; fo the fame index was retained. In 1900,
there will be a metemptofis again, wdien B will be
taken ; which wall be preferved in 2000, becaufe
there will then be neither the one nor the other. This
is as far as we need compute for it: But Clavius has
calculated a cycle of 301,800 years; at the end of-
which period, the fame indices return in the fame order.
See Epact.
METEOR, (by the Greeks called q. d.
fublima or “ high raifed by the Latins imprejjiones
as making figns or impreffions in the air), commonly
denotes any bodies in the air that are of a tranfitory
nature. Hence it is extended to the phenomena of
hail, rain, fnow, thunder, &c.; but is moft commonly
confined to thofe unufual and fiery appearances named
falling Jlaj'S, ignes fatui, aurora boreales, &c. See
Meteorology.
METEOROLITE. This term is derived from the
Greek a meteor, and Xidog, %Jlone ; and denotes
a ftony fubltance, exhibiting peculiar charafters, and
whofe defcent to the earth is ufually accompanied by
the appearance and explofion of a five-ball.
Luminous meteors have, in all ages, been obferved
in the atmofphere. It is alfo well known that their
difappearance has frequently been attended with a loud
noife ; but. that they ffiould moreover terminate in the
fall of one or more folid bodies to the earth’s furface,
is a pofition fo repugnant to our ordinary conceptions
of the tenor of phyfical events, that w7e cannot admit
it as a fa£t on flight or fcanty evidence. With due de¬
ference, however, to fome philofophers of name, we
are' not prepared to affert, that it implies impoffibility.
For who has explored the higher regions oi the at¬
mofphere ? or who knows wffiat may take place beyond
its precimfts ? If a folid refult from the combination of
two aeriform fubftances, as muriatic acid and ammonia-
cal gafes; if oxygen, the properties of which are moft
familiar to us in the ftate of gas, can undergo fixation,
and if fluids can pafs into cryftalline forms, is it too
bold to prefume, that the fame, or fimilar proceffes,
effected in the grand laboratory of the atmofphere, may
be within the range of poffible occurrences ? At all
events, the fame Being who called into exiftence thofe
fublime and countlefs maffes of matter which revolve in
fpace, may, to ferve purpofes unknown to us, create
bodies of dimenfions infinitely fmaller, and deftined to
impinge on fome planetary orb. The reafoning of an
angel may not convince us, that a part is greater than
the whole, or that the value of two and two is equiva¬
lent to fix •, but a very ordinary logician may prove to
our fatisfa&ion, that the contaft of particles of matter
in portions of fpace which lie beyond our globe, is no
chimerical fuppofition. Every thing around us pro¬
claims, that matter is fubjeft to inceffant change. New
forms and new modifications are ever fpringing into be¬
ing : and can we doubt, that the'fame particles, as
they may happen to be affeded or influenced by vari¬
ous circumftances, may exift in the ftate of gas, of aque¬
ous vapour, or of a concrete mafs ?
4 S
Again,
Mcteoro-
lite.
MET f 6qo ]
Again, it furely will not be ferioully maintained, fometimes
_ that, from the rarity of a phenomenon, we are war¬
ranted to infer its nonexiftence. The appearance of a
comet is a rare, but not a fitfitious, occurrence. Nay,
we may fafely advance a tfep farther, and aflert, with¬
out fear of confutation, that the exiftence of a pheno¬
menon, if otherwife well attefted, cannot be difproved
by our inability to explain it. How multiplied, in
fa61, are the fubjefts, even of our daily and hourly ob-
fervation, which we canryat fatisfa6lorily expound ? We
cannot fay why a fmall feed Ihould gradually unfold in¬
to a large tree, why flame fhould produce heat, why
the hand Ihould a6t in immediate fubferviency to the
will, or why a contufion of the brain fhould induce
flupor, alienation of mind, or death. It is one thing
to prove a faft, and it is another to account for it.
Frem thefe premifes it follows in courfe, that we are
not entitled to reje6t the exiftence of meteoric flones,
provided it be eflablifhed by valid teftimony. Should
the hirtorical evidence, on a fair and difpaflionate re¬
view, be deemed conclufive, we may afterwards ex¬
amine the theories which have been propofed for the
folution of the appearance.
From the Scriptures of the Old Teftament we are
not aware that any paffage can be cited in diredl cor¬
roboration of the defcent of ftones from the atmofphere.
The ingenious and fanciful Mr Edward King, indeed,
in his “ Remarks concerning ftones faicfto have fallen
from the clouds, both in thefe days, and in ancient
times,” adverts to the 13th verfe of the 18th Pfalm.-r.
The Lord alfo thundered out of heaven, and theHigheft
gave his thunder : hail-ftones and coals ofjire” This
laft expreffion has, no doubt, been conje6tured to de¬
note real hard bodies, in a, ftate of ignition $ and the
term , employed by the cautious Seventy, rather
favours luch an interpretation. The fame expreflion,
however, occurs in the preceding verfe, without ad¬
mitting this interpretation j and the phrafe feems to be
only a figurative mode of defcribing lightning. In the
fober latitudes of the north, and even in colloquial
language, we talk of balls of fire and thunderbolts,
without any reference to folid matter, Mr King like-
wife quotes the 11 th verfe of the 10th chapter of Jo-
flma.—“ And it came to pafs, as they fled from before
Ifrael, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that
tne Lord caft down greatfiones from heaven upon them
unto Azekah, and they died : they were more which
died with hail-ftones, than they whom the children of
Ifrael flew with the fword.” Here, the expreffion,
great fiones, is lefs equivocal than coals offire; yet the
context hardly allows us to doubt, that the great ftones
were really hail-ftones, or rather, perhaps, lumps of
ice, confolidated in the atmofphere, fuch as occafionaL
iy fall in hot countries, and fuch as alarmed the whole
o! Paris and its neighbourhood in 17SS. At any rate,
the {laughter of the Canaanites is reprefented as refult-
ing from the fpecial interpofition, of divine power 5
and the conftderation of miracles is irrelevant to our
prefent purpofe.
If from facred, we turn to the early period of pro¬
fane hiftory, we fhall find the annals of public events
very copioufly interfperfed with notices of ftrange ap¬
pearances, many of which may be fafely afcribed to the
afcendancy which fuperftition long obtained over the
human mind. The fcepticifm of the learned is, however,
MET
not lefs injudicious and indifcriminate than
the credulity of the favage j and he who Ihould refolve
eveiy extraordinary event, which is recorded by the
writers of Greece and Rome, into a “ cunningly devifed
fable,” would not be lefs reprehenfible for want of can¬
dour, than the untutored ruftic, who yields his affent to
every alledged miracle, is to be taxed with want cf
difcernment.
Although thefe general pofitions can fcarcely admit
of difpute, it becomes extremely difficult, after a lapfe
of many ages, and in the collation of marvellous
records, to feparate truth from falfehood. In our at¬
tempts to profecute this analytical procefs, we may
fometimes advance a certain length with perfe6I fecu-
rity, without being able to trace uniformly the precife
lines of demarcation. Thus, in regard to the topic
of our prefent difcuflion, we know, that in various pe¬
riods of the world the vulgar have afcribed a celeftial
origin to ftones of a peculiar configuration, as to certain
modifications of pyrites, to belemnites, orthoceratites
&c. which the fubfequent obfervations of naturalifts
have proved to be of mineral formation, and to the
heads of arrows and ftiarpened flints, which have been
faftnoned by the hand of man, and which, accordingly
we are authorized to exclude from the ex-terrertrial ca¬
talogue. But when fubftances diflimilar from thefe,
and coinciding in any one charader or circumftance,
with modern fpecimens of atmofpheric ftone, are report¬
ed by the ancients to have fallen from the clouds, the
diftance of ages and the lamenefs of the documents
may powerfully affeft our appreciation of the reputed
evidence.
When, therefore, we ftiortly touch on a few of the
many inftances which might be quoted from the an¬
nals of antiquity, we mean not to vouch for the truth
even of thefe particular inftances; but merely to admit
their probability, and the weight which the mention
of them may be confidered to add to that of fubfequent
and recent narrations.
Through the mift of fable which envelopes the hiftory
of the bcetuli, we difcern fome chara61ers which corre-
fpond with thofe of meteorolites. Thus, in the AiSautf
a poem fafely afcribed to Orpheus, the adtigiTtn, which
M. Falconet properly claffes with the bsetuh, is faid to
be rough, heavy., and black. Damafcius, in an extraft
of his life of Ifidorus, preferved by Photius, relates that
the baetuli fell on Mount Libanus, in a globe of fire.
A fragment of Sanchoniathon, preferved in Eufebius,
(Praepar. Evangel, i. 10.), moreover informs us, that
thefe ftones were fabricated by the god Uranus (or
Heaven), one of whofe four fons was named Bcetul.
May not this mythological genealogy be regarded as
merely emblematical of their defcent from the upper
regions of the atmofphere ? In the fame chapter we are
told that Aftarte found a fiar which had fallen from
heaven, and honoured it with confecration in the city of
Tyre. . The ftone denominated “ the mother of the
gods,” if we can believe Appian, Herodian, and Mar-
cellinus, fell from heaven. Ariftodemus, cited by the
Greek fcholialt on Pindar, aflerts that \\.fell encircled
by fire, on a hill, at the feet of the Theban bard. It is
faid to have been of a black colour, and of an irregular
ftiape.. Herodian (lib. v.) exprefsly declares, that the
Phoenicians had no ftatue of the fun, polilhed by the
hand ; but only a certain ftone, circular below, and/
terminated
Meteoro-
lite.
met - [ 691. ] MET
^lite'0" ^:cjrm'na^e!^ acutely above, in the form of a cone, of a celebrated ftone of Enfifheim. The following account Meteoro-
- —^ - black colour, and that, according to report, it fellfroi7i accompanied this very fingular mafs, when it was fuf- ^te‘
heaven, and was regarded as the image of the fun. pended in the church. v
Among various inftances which might be fekaed “ In the year of the Lord 1492, on Wednefday,
from Livy, is that of a Ihower of Hones on Mount which was Martinmas eve, the 7th of November, there
Alba, in the reign of 1 ullus Hoftilius, or about happened a fingular miracle: for, between eleven o’clock
fix hundred and fifty-two years before the birth of and noon, there was a loud peal of thunder, and a
Chrift. When the fenate were told, that it had vain- prolonged confufed noife, which was heard to a great
edJlones, they doubted the fa£t, and deputed commif- diftance, and a ftone fell from the air, in the jurifdiflion
fioners to inquire into the particulars. They were then of Enfifheim, which weighed 260 pounds, and the
affured, that (tones had really fallen, hand aliter quam confufed noile was, moreover, much louder than here.
quum gi andinem venti glomeratam in terras agunt. On There a child faw it ftrike on a field, fituated in the
this occafion, the hiftorian mentions, that fimilar events upper jurifdi£Hon, towards the Rhine and Inn, near
were celebrated by a feftival of nine days. Manjit fo- the diftrift of Gifgard, which wras fown with wheat,
lemne, ut quandocumque idem prodigimn nuntiai'etur, and did it no harm, except that it made a hole there :
fence per novem dies agerentur. and then they conveyed it from that fpot j and many
. Eut one of the moft remarkable cafes which occurs pieces w7ere broken from it, which the landvogt forbade,
in the records of antiquity, is that which is mentioned They, therefore, caufed it to be placed in the church,
in the 58th chapter of the fecond book of Pliny’s Na- with the intention of fufpending it as a miracle \ and
tural Hiftoiy, of a large ftone which fell near Egofpo- many people came hither to fee this ftone. So there
tamos, in I hrace, in the fecond year of the feventy- were remarkable converfations about this ftone: but the
eighth Olympiad, or, according to our chronology, about learned faid, that they knew not what it was } for it
four hundred and fixty-feven years before the Chriftian was beyond the ordinary courfe of nature, that fuch a
era. Pliny allures us, that this extraordinary mafs was large mafs fhould finite the earth from the height of the
(till (hewn in his day j and that it was as large as a air j but that it was really a miracle of God j for, before
cart, and of a burnt colour. The Greeks pretended that time, never any thing was heard like it, nor feen,
that it \\?l& fallen from the fun, and that Anaxagoras nor defcribed. When the people found that ftone, it
had predicted the day cf its arrival on the earth’s had entered into the earth, to the depth of a man’s
furface. According to Plutarch, in the life of Lyfan- ftature, which every body explained to be the will of
der, the inhabitants of the Cherfonefus held the Jhra- God, that it (hould be-found, and the noife of it was
cian ftone in great veneration, and exhibited it as a heard at Lucerne, at Villing, and in many other places,
public (how. His account of its firft appearance is fo loud, that it was believed that houfes had been
chiefly extracted from the relation o( Daimachus of overturned : And as the king (Maximilian) was here,
Plataeae, and may be thus tranfiated. “ During feventy- the Monday after St Catherine’s day, of the fame year,
five fucceflive days before the ftone fell, a large fiery his royal excellence ordered the ftone which had fal-
body, like a cloud of flame, was obferved in the hea- len to be brought to the caftle, and after having con-
vens, not fixed to one point, but wandering about with verfed a long time about it with the noblemen, he faid
a broken, irregular motion. By its violent agitation, the people of Enfiftieim (hould take it, and order it to
leveral fiery fragments were forced from it, impelled in be hung up in the church, and not allow any body to
various directions, and darted with the velocity and take any thing from it. However, his excellency took
bnghtnefs of fo many (hooting ftars. After this body two pieces of it, of which he kept one, and fent the
had fallen on the Cherfonefus, and the people had af- other to the duke Sigifmund of Auftria $ and they fpoke
fembled to examine it, they could find no inflammable a great deal about this (tone, which they fufpended in
matter, nor the llighteft trace of combuftion, but a real the choir, where it Kill is j and a great many people
(tone, which, though large, by no means correfponded came to fee it.”
to the dimenfions of the flaming globe which they had Trithemius, in his Hirfaugienfian Annals, employs
jeen m the (ky? but feemed to be only a piece detached language to this efFeft.—“ In the fame year, on the 7th
rom it. Daimachus, it is true, may, on this occafion, day of November, in the village of Suntgaw, near-
have given way to his reputed love of the marvellous j the townlet of Enfilheim, not far from Bafil, a city of
and we can eafily believe that the feventy-Jive continuous Germany, a ftone, called a thunder-ftone, of a prodigi-
days are either an error of the copyift, or an original ous fize, for we know from eye-witneffes that it weighed
exaggeration 5 yet, from the. marked coincidence of 255 pounds, fell from the heavens. Its fall was fo
ome of the circumftances with thofe more fully de- violent, that it broke into two pieces. The moft con-
tailed in the fequel, there arifes the prefumption that a fiderable is ftill exhibited at the door of the church of
rmteorolite really feb at the place and period above Enfiftieim, fufpended by an iron chain, as a proof of
aiiigned. . , . t^’e fa# which we have mentioned, and to preferve it in
from this period, till near the clofe of the fifteenth the public recolleftion.”—We learn alfo from Paul
century, any Inftoncal notices which we have been en- Lang that there arofe a furious ftorm on the 7th of
abkd to collect, are fo vague and fcanty, that, in this November 1492, and that-while the thunder roared,
abridged view of the fubjefl, we may pafs them over in and the heavens appeared all on fire, a ftone of enorm-
"* C-^Cer /r -r> r i r , r ous ^ze near Enfiftieim. “ Its form w’as that of
roieflor Bantenfchoen, of the central fchool of Col- the Greek delta, with a triangular point. They (lilt
mar, firft directed the attention of naturalifts to fome (how it at Enfiftieim as an aftonilhing phenomenon.”
ot the old chronicles, wnich commemorate with much It is worthy of obfervation, that thefe chronicler?
naivete, and m the true fpmtof the times, the fall of the lived at the period which they aftign to the defeent of
4 S 2 the ,
M E T
Meteoro- the ft one ; and that, though their names are haftening
^tc~ to oblivion, Trithemius yielded to few of his contem-
potaries in labour and learning 5 while Lang, a Ger¬
man Benedidline as he was, travelled in fearch of
hiftorical monuments, arraigned the licence of the
catholic clergy, and applauded the ' independence of
Luther and Melandlhon.
Of the Enfifneim ftcne, which has been tranfported
to the national library at Colmar, and which, notw'ith-
ftanding vaiious dilapidations, ftill weighs 150 pounds,
1’ome interefting fpecimens may now be leen in the
cabinets of the curious. Robert Fergufon, Efq. younger
of Raith, has, in the molt polite and obliging manner,
gratified us wuth the fight of a fmall fragment, which
belongs to his valuable colle£lion of minerals at Raith
honfe in Fifelhire, Scotland."
We are fully awTare, that M. Barthold has laboured
to convince his readers (Journal de Phyfique, Ventofe,
year 8.) that the far-famed mafs of Enfilheim is
merely argillo-ferrugineous, of fecondary formation,
detached from an adjacent mountain, and conveyed to
the fpot on which it was found by feme torrent or
land-flood. In this, opinion, w7e might partially acqui-
efee-, did not the artleffnefs of contemporary and concur¬
ring records militate again!! it, and had not the more
accurate analyfis of Vauquelin dete&ed the fame con-
ftituent parts as in the other ftony and metalline fub-
flances denominated meteoric. “ It is certainly com-
pofed of filica,” obferves this celebrated chemift, “ of
magnefia, of iron, of nickel, of fulphur, and of a fmall
quantity of lime.—Particular trials have convinced me
of the prefence of fulphur and nickel in the grains of
malleable iron, and in the pyrites, though in different
proportions. This ftone, then, in every refpedf, re-
fembles others which have fallen from the atmo-
. fphere.”
In the Commentary of Surius, a Carthufian monk of
Cologne, mention is made of a fhower of large ftones
in Lomba» ly, in 1510. Thefe ftones were harder
than flint, and fmelled of fulphur. The heavieft weigh¬
ed 1 20 pounds.—The fame event is more particularly
related by Cardan, in his work intitled de Rerum Varie¬
tals (lib xiv. c. 72.) According to this author, near
the river Adda, not far from Milan, and at five o’clock
in the evening, about 1120 ftones fell from the air, one
of them weighing 1 20 pounds and another 60 pounds.
Many w’ere prefented to the French gorernor, and his
deputy. At three o’cloc k P. M. the fky appeared as if
in a general blaze; and the paflage, though fome-
what ambiguous, would lead us to infer, that the me¬
teor was vifibl for two hours. Like many of the learn¬
ed and unlearned of his day, Cardan inftantly con-
neds the extraordinary appearance wdth the political
tranfadions of his diftrid.
We next pafs to an interefting extrad from the me¬
moirs of the emperor Jehangire, written in Perfian, by
himfelf, and tranflated by Colonel Kirkpatrick,
“ 4. H. 10^0, or 16th t/ear of the reign.—The fol¬
lowing is among the extraordinary occurrences of this
period.
M E T
“ Early on the 30th of Furverdcen of the prelent Meteoro-
year (1620), and in the eaftern quarter of the heavens,, ^te‘
there arofe in one of the villages of the purgunnah of ^ i
Jalindher, fuch a great and tremendous noife, as had
nearly, by its dreadful nature, deprived the inhabitants
of the place of their fenfes. During this noife, a lu¬
minous body was obferved to fall from above, on the
earth, fuggefting to the beholders the idea that the fir¬
mament was raining fire. In a ftrort time, the noife
having fubfided, and the inhabitants having recovered
from their alarm, a courier was difpatched to Mahom-
tned Syeed, the aumil of the aforefaid purgunnah, to
advertife him of this event. The aumil, inftantly
mounting his horfe, proceeded to the fpot. Here he
perceived the earth, to the extent of a dozen of yards
in length and breadth, to be burned to fuch a degree,
that not the leaft trace of verdure, or a blade of
grafs remained j nor had the heat yet fubfided en¬
tirely.
“ Mahommed hereupon direfted the aforefaid
fpace of ground to be dug up ; w'hen the deeper it
was dug, the greater was the heat of it found to be.
At length a lump of iron made its appearance, the heat
of which w7as fo violent, that one might have fuppoied
it to have been taken from a furnace. After fome time
it became cold : when the aumil conveyed it to his
owm habitation, from whence he afterwards difpatched
it in a fealed bag to* court.
“ Here I had this fubftance weighed in my prefence.
Its weight was 160 tolahs (a). I committed it to a Ikil-
ful artiian, with orders to make of it a fabre, a knife,
and a dagger. The workman reported, that the fub¬
ftance was not malleable, but ftiivered into pieces under
the hammer.
“ Upon this I ordered it to be mixed wdth other
iron. Conformably to my orders, three parts of the
iron oj lightning (b) wrere mixed with one part of com¬
mon iron j and from the mixture were made two fabre's,
one knife, and one dagger.”
Our limits will not permit us to give the whole of
the extradft, nor the remarks of the Right Hon.
Charles Greville and Colonel Kirkpatrick, wdnch were
read before the Royal Society of London, on the 27th
January, 1803. We feel, however, no hefitation in
attaching to this document fomething very nearly ap¬
proaching to direft evidence of the fa£t in queftion.
The celebrated Gaflendi relates, that, on the 27th
of November, 1627, about 10 o’clock A. M. during
a very clear fky, he faw a flaming ftone, of the appa¬
rent diameter of four feet, fall on Mount Vaifion, an
eminence fituated betw een the fmall towns of Feme and
Guillaumes, in Provence. This ftone was furrounded
by a luminous circle of different colours, nearly refemb-
ling the rainbow, and its fall was accompanied with a
noife like the difeharge of artillery. It weighed 59
pounds j and its fpecific gravity was to that of common
marble as 14 to 11. It was of a dark metallic colour,
and extremely hard. Though it was not fubjefted to
chemical analyfis, and is not now7 to be found, the circum-
ftances which have been ftated by the philofopher are
fufficiently
[ 692 ]
(a) A tolah is about 180 grains, Troy weight.
(b) This expreffion is equivalent to our term thunder-bolt.
M E T
Meteoro-
lite.
fufFiclently minute to operate on til
who are willing to be convinced. _ ,
From a curious book printed at Paris in 1672, and
now become very fcarce, entitled Converfations drees
de l\Academic de M. P Akbe Bourdelot, contenant diver-
fes recherches et obfervadons phyfiques, par le Sieur
Legallois, we make the enfuing extra#.
“ A member prefents a fragment of two {tones which
fell near Verona, one of which weighed 300, and the
other 200 pounds. Thefe {tones,” fays he, “ fell dur¬
ing the night, when the weather was perfectly mild and
ferene. ’I'hey feemed to be all on fire, and came from
above, but in a flanting direction, and with a tremen¬
dous nolle. This prodigy terribly alarmed 300 or 400
eye-witneffes, who were at a lofs what to think of it.
Thefe {tones fell with fuch rapidity, that they formed a
ditch, in which after the nolle had ceafed, the fpe#a-
tors ventured to approach tnem, and examine tnem
more clofely. They then fent them to Verona, where
they were depofited in the Academy, and that learned
body fent fragments of them to different places.
That which accompanied the above intimation was of a
yellowilh hue, very eafily pulverized, and fmelled of
fulphur.—In the courfe of examining one of thefe Hones,
M. Laugier, profeffor of pharmacy at Paris, has re¬
cently detedled the prefence of chrome, by means
of the cauftic alkali.— I he date of the Veiona
phenomena, if we have been correctly informed, is
1663.
In the Bornian colle#ion there is a fubftance which
is defignated Ferrum retra&orium, granuhs mtentibus,
T7iatrice virefcenti immixtis {Ferrum virens Lind), cujus
fragmenta ab unius ad vigind ufque librarum pandas,
cortice nigra fconaceo circumdata, ad Plann, prope
. Tabor, circuit Bechinenjis Bohemia, pajjim reperiuntui.
The following note is fubjoined. fragmenta
3 Julii anni 1753, inter tonitrua, e ccelo pluiffe credu-
liores quidam ajferuntd) 1 he expreffion credulioi es
quidam, it may be alledged, at once deftroys the evi¬
dence of this memorandum. It deferves, however, to
be noted, that,' in regard to our prefent fubje#, what
was formerly accounted the credulity of tne vulgar, may
now, on feveral occafions, be conftrued into probabili¬
ty, if not into matter of fa# j and that Mr Gievihe
has found the identical fragment to have the fame com-
pofition with other meteoric Hones. Hence, wTe are com¬
pelled either to admit its ex-terreflrial origin, or the ex-
ifience of a fubHance, originally belonging to the earth,
and yet agreeing in charafter with thole deemed at-
mofpberic. The former part of the alternative is per-
fe#ly cpnfonant with well-authenticated fa#s; whereas
of the latter, w7e are not warranted to pronounce, ^that
afingle cafe has hitherto been eflablifhed^to the latis-
fa#ion of any chemift or mineralogifl.^
But we have now to turn our attemion to a report of
M. de la Lande, inferted in the Hifforical Almanack
of Breffe, for 1756.
In the month of September, 1753, about one-o clock
P. M. wrhen the weather was very hot, and very fe¬
rene, without the leaff appearance of a cloud, a very
loud noife, like the difcharge of two or three cannons,
was heard within the circumference of fix leagues, but
was of very fiiort duration. This noife w7as loudeff in
the neighbourhood of Pont-de-\ elle j and at Liponas,
a village three leagues from the laft-mentioned place,
[ 693 ] M E T
couvifllon of thofe it was even accompanied with a hiding, like that of a
cracker. On the fame evening there were found at
Liponas and at Pin, two blackilh maffes, Oi a form
nearly circular, but very uneven, which had fallen on
ploughed ground, and funk, by their own weight, to
half a foot below the furface. One of them weighed
about twenty pounds $ and a fragment of one of them
weighing ix-^lb. was preferved in the cabinet of M.
Varenne de BeoH, at Dijon. The bafis of thefe maffes
refembled a grayith whinflone, and was very refra#ory j
and fome ferrugineous particles were diffeminated in
grains, filaments, or minute maffes, through the fub-
flance of the Hone, efpecially in its fiffures. This iron,
when fubje#ed to a red heat, became obedient to the
magnet. The black coating on the furface, M. de la
Lande aferibes to fufion, induced by violent heat. This
gentleman’s acknowledged refpe#ability and accuracy of
obfervation, combined with the circumflances which he
has adduced, circumHances, too, which, if miHated, lay
fo open to public inveHigation, powerfully plead in fa-
Meteoro
lite.
vour of his teHimony.
On the 15th of September 1760, according to the
abbe Bachelay, about half palt four o’clock P. M.
there appeared near the chateau de Chevabrie, in the
neighbourhood of Luce, a fmall town of the province
of Maine, a flormy cloud, from which proceeded a
loud peal of thunder, like the difcharge of cannon, and
followed by a noife wdiich was miflaken by feverai
people for the lowing of oxen. This found was
hoard over a fpace of about two leagues and a hali,
but unaccompanied by any perceptible flame. The
reapers in the panlh of Perigue, about three leagues
from Luce, on hearing the fame noife, looked up, and
faw an opake body, which defcribed a curve, and fell
on foft turf, 'bn the high road from Mons, near which
they were at work. They all quickly ran up to it, .
and found a fort of ftone, nearly half of which was
buried in the earth, and the whole fo hot that it could
not be touched. At firfl they ran away in a panic ;
but on returning to the fpot fome time after, they found
the ftone precifely in the fame lituation, and lufticiently
cooled to admit of being handled, and narroivly ex¬
amined. It weighed feven ounces and a half, and was
of a triangular form, prefenting, as it were, three
rounded horns, one of which, at the moment of the
fall had entered into the ground, and was of a gray or
afti colour, while the rett, which was expofed to the
air, was very black. When the abbe prefented this
{tone to the academy, that body appointed three of its
number, namely, Meflieurs Larvoifier, Fougeroux, and
Cadet, to examine and analyie it. Ibis talk they
performed with more care and accuracy than IVI. de
la Lande had done on the preceding occaiion ; but their
trial was confined to an integral part ot the w7hole, con-
fidered as a homogeneous lubftance, in place of being re¬
peated on each of the conftituent parts. The fubHance
was of a pale cinereous hue, fpeckled with an infinite
number of fmall and {billing metallic points, vilible
through a magnifying glafs. lhat part of the outer
furface which remained above ground was incrufled with
a thin black coating, which feemed to have under¬
gone fufion, and which gave a few Iparks when ftruck
with Heel. The fpecific gravity of the mafs was 3535.
—Two other Hones, nearly of the fame chara#ers,
the one reported to have fallen at Aire, in Artob, a.id
Meteoro
lite.
M E T
the other in the Cotentin, in Normandy, xvere prefented
_ to the academy in the courfe of the fame year by M.
Gurfon de Boyaval, honorary lieutenant-general of the
bailliage of Aire, and the younger M. Morand. Ac¬
cording to the academical report, thefe three ftones,
when compared, prefented no difference to the eye
were of the fame_ colour, and nearly of the fame grain!
exhibiting metallic and pyritous particles, and covered
with a black and ferrugineous incruftation. Although
the coincidence of fads and circumftances, in three
places fo remote from one another, did not convince the
academy that thefe itones had been conveyed to the
earth by lightning, yet it induced them to invite na-
turalius to profecute the examination of the fubjeft.
On the 2°th of November 1768, a ftone tell at
Mauerkircken near the Inn, in Bavaria, that weighed
381b. was of a triangular form, and only eight inches
m thiccnefs. Its fall was accompanied by a hiding
none, and great darknefs in the atmofphere. This me-
teorohte penetrated two feet and a half into the foil.
I art of it is now in the mufeum of the right honourable
Charles Greville, and a fragment may be feen in Mr
xerguion s colle&ion quoted above.
The next remarkable cafe on record occurred on the
120th of Auguft 1789, at Barbotan, near Roquefort, in
the Landes of Bordeaux, and is thus related by Citizen
Comet, who was known to feveral members of the in
ftitute, and happened to be at Agen when the meteor
appeared.
“ !t was a very bright fire-ball, luminous as the fun,
of the fize of an ordinary balloon, and, after infpiring
the inhabitants with confternation, burft and difappear-
u- AfeWrda/r fome Peafants brought ftones,
which they faid fell from the meteor ; but the philofo-
phers to whom they offered them laughed at their af-
fertions as fabulous. The peafants would have now
more reafon to laugh at the philofophers.” One of
thefe ftones broke through the roof of a cottage, and
killed a herdfman and fome cattle. Vauqudin, who re¬
ceived a proces-verbal of the circumftances, alfo cx-
ammed one of the fpecimens. The fragment procured
by Mr Fergufon has vifibly all the charadlers^f a ge¬
nuine meteorolite. *
A much more remarkable phenomenon, however
ol the lame defcnption, occurred near Agen, on the
24th of July 1790. An inhabitant of St Severe com¬
municates the following particulars to M. Darcet the
chemift, who was then relident at Paris.
“ Our towns-people were yefterday very much alarm-
«d. ADout a quarter paft nine o’clock, in the evening
there fuddenly appeared in the air a fire-ball, dragging
a long tram, which diffufed a very vivid light over the
horizon. This meteor foon difappeared, and feemed to
tall at one hundred paces from us. It was quickly fol¬
lowed by an explofion louder than that of cannon or of
thunder. Every body dreaded being buried under
the rums of his houfe, which feemed to give wav from
the concuflion. The fame phenomenon was feen
and the report heard, in the neighbouring towns as
Mont de Marfan, Tartas, and Dax. Theweather in
other relpecls was very calm, without a breath of wind
or a cloud, and the moon Ihone in all her brightnefs ”
M. Darcet’s brother, a clergyman in that part' of
the country, fent him a fmall ftone, which was picked
up. on the morning after the explofion, and the hiftory
[ 694 )
U E T
of which he was fcrupuloufly anxious to inveftigate.
wnh refpefl to all the particular?, he
at length difpatched it to Paris, accompanied with fome
cunous remarks “ When thele ftones fell,” fays he
they had not their prefent degree of hardnefs. 'Some
of them tell on ftraw, bits of which ftuck to the ftones
and incorporated with them. I have feen one in this pre!
dicament It is at prefent at la Baftide j but I cannot
perluade the owner to part with it * * *. Thole which
tell on the houfes produced a noife, not like that of
ones, but rather of a fubftance which had not yet ac*
quired compadnefs.” 7
tic^^f the />roces~verbal~-* fimPlc but authen-
“ In the year one thoufand feven hundred and nine-
ty, and the 30th day of the month of Auguft, we, the
Sieur Jean Duby, mayor, and Louis Mauilon, procura-
torot the commune of the municipality of La Grange
de Juillac, and Jean Darmite, refident in the parifti of
-La Orange de Juillac, certify in truth and verity that
on Saturday the 24th of July laft, between nine and
ten o clock in the evening, there paffed a great fire
and after it we heard m the air a very loud and extra!
1 inary noife ; and, about two minutes after, there fell
tones from heaven, but fortunately there fell only a very
few, and they fell about ten paces from one another in
tome p aces, and in others nearer, and finally, in fome
other places farther, and falling, moft of them, of the
of 1 bht aif°Ut half a ^uarter of a Poand each ; fome
of about haif a pound, like that found in our panth
or -La Grange; and on the borders cf the parifli of
Creon, they were found of a pound weight; and in fall-
. g hey feemed not to be inflamed, but very hard and
thank 3nd ^thinJof the colour of fteel j and,
thank God, they occafioned no harm to the people, nor
the h^f bUt °?ly t0nfor^e trees which were broken on
e houfes j and moft of them fell gently, and others
wti Th A7, / hlffing n°,fe ’ andfome were found
which had entered into the earth, but very few. In
vitnefs xvhereof we have written and figned thefe pre-
(Signed) Duby, Mayor—Darmite.”
Meteoro¬
lite.
Monfieur Baudm mentions, that, as M. Garris of Bar¬
botan and he were walking in the court of the caftle of
Mormes about half paft nine o’clock, in the evening of
24th of Joly I79°> when the air was perfedly cflm
and the Iky doudlels, they found themfelves fuddenly
furrounded by a pale clear light, which obfcured that
of the moon though the latter was nearly full. On
looking up, they obferved, almoft in their zenith, a fire¬
ball of a larger apparent diameter than that of the moon
dragging a tail, which feemed to be five or fix times longe!
than the diameter of its body, and which gradually tapered
to a point, the latter approaching to blood-red, though the
reft of the meteor was of a pale white. This luminouf body
proceeded with great velocity from fouth to north, and
in two feconds fplit into portions of confiderable fize, like
the fragment of a burfting bomb. Thefe fragments
thevTVT8^ ^ ^ the air’ and fome°ftbem, as
they fell, affurned that deep red colour, which had been
afterM R Two ^ three minutes
,ter M- Baudin and his friend heard a dreadful ex¬
plofion, like the fimultaneous firing of feveral pieces
of ordnance 5 but they were not fenfible of any tre¬
mulous motion under their feet, though the concuf-
fion
Meteoro-
lite.
, met [ 69 5 ]
fon of the atmofphere fhook the windows in their iftence
. James, and threw down kitchen utenfxls from their
(helves. When thefe gentlemen removed to the gar-
den, the noife flill continued, and feemed to be direft-
ly over their heads. Some time after it had ceafed,
they heard a hollow, found rolling, in echoes, for fifty
miles, along the chain of the Pyrenees, and at the end
of about four minutes gradually dying away in didance.
*hfjame ti™6* a drong fulphureous odour w'as
diffufed in the atmofphere. The interval which occur-
red between the difruption of the meteor, and the loud
report, induced M. Baudin to conje&ure, that this fire¬
ball mud have been at lead eight miles from the earth’s
t^lat 11 about f°ur mJles from Mormes.
I he latter part of my conjetdure, fays he, was foon
MET
fchonl profeiror of n Jural hidory in the central Meteors
Ichool of Agen renounces his former fcepticifm : Van- hte.
famlinbna-yftS?[PoeCimen’ and finds h f° contain the *  
neTrlv trr1 fubfbnc<:S as other meteorolites, and in
nearly the fame proportions j and fllall we be fo un-
reafonable as to withhold our affent, merely becaufe
ticulars^ 001 ^ ^ demonJlration of the alledged par-
to SeViVTr081"!1 ferIeS of cafes has now brought us
cular! If °,f.f"veral meteorolites near Sienna, the parti-
and Si/wni^’ W,reTted by the late earl of Briflol
and Sir William Hamilton, are recorded in the fird
part of the Philofophical Tranfaftions for lyor fpaae
103). Mr King, likewife i„ the traa which wehafe
already quoted, communicates feme interefting circum.
dances relative to this nhpnnmo..^.^ . r-. .
r iie, was icon
confirmed by an account which we received of a great dances' relar,’™ lumc mtcreinng circum-
many dones having fallen from the atmofphere aUuil- from an IrZ l f h*1S chiefly extra<3ed
lac and in the neighbourhood of Barbotan.” It ap- While we refer0 ° ^ Pub l^jd by Profeffor Soldani.
pears, indeed, from*the concurring tedimony of intl omit mltLllL thaT t0 ^ WC Cannot
ligent perfons worthy of credit, that the meteor reallv fition ^ ^ m re8ai’d t0 afpeft and compo-
exploded at a little didance from Juillac, and JhaTits ^ logons to others
fragments were found lying in an almod circular fpace, in Tufcany. " As^hemYteof?601 "7 that °CCUr
of nearly two miles m diameter. Some of them weiVh rWr^ ^ As the meteor from wkich they were dif-
ed eighteen or twenty, and a few, it is alleged, even of vffuvim^h^
fiftv nnnnrlc 1VT  j ~i ^ o’.tney were at hrlt‘uPP0fed to be volcanic till
fifty pounds. M. de Garris procured one of iSlbs.
which he tranfmitted to the Parifian Academy of Sci¬
ences. . lhat examined by M. Baudin was fmall, but
heavy m proportion to its fize, black on the outfide,
grayiih within, and interfperfed with many minute
lining metallic particles. Thefe lad circumdances
periecuy accord with the fragment of a Barbotan done
prelerved in Mr Fergufon’s colledHon.
In one of his letters to Profeffor St Amand, M. Goy-
on d Arzas remarks, that thefe dones, though generally
imooth on the outfide, prefented feme longitudinal
cracks, or fiffures, while their interior parts exhibited
lymptoms of metallic veins, efpecially of a ferrugineou*
complexion When yet red-hot, and fcattered in various
directions, they formed that magnificent fire-wwk, that
mower of dame, which enlightened the horizon over a
-arge tract of country; for this extraordinary meteor
was feen at Bayonne, Auch, Pan, Tarbes, and even at
Bordeaux and Touloufe. At the lad mentioned place
it excited little attention, on account of its great di-
dance, and its appearing only a little brighter than a
mooting ftar.. It, moreover, deferves to be noted, that
tfie meteorolites in quedion were found on a bare
moor, of an extremely thin foil, on wdiich no fuch
dones, or indeed dones of any defeription, had been
obferved in the memory of man. They who are felici¬
tous of additional information on this part of our fub-
jea, may confult N°*. 23 and 24 of the ^
jnc7[ .ytdef:°^ JfmUpelier, for 1790, and the Tte-
caae rfnlofophique for February 1796.
When all the circumdances- of the cafe are duly con^
-idered, we need not be furprifed, that they fhould pro¬
duce conviftion on the minds of many men of fcience,
who, till then, poffeffed “ an evil heart of unbelief.”
M. de St Amand mgenuoufly confeffed to M. Pidet of Ge¬
neva, that he had treated this novel topic with unmerited
contempt, and that the evidence deduced from the fimi-
lar charaaers of the dones Ihould not be ralhly reieaed.
Ihe learned and the unlearned of the didria in which
the phenomenon is dated to have occurred, atted its ex-
rnnl J iu ue volcanic, tiH
cool redeaion and examination betrayed the extrava¬
gance of fuch a hypothefis. The precife number of dones
which were colleaed on this oceadon is not fpecified
but many of them were fmall, weighing from a^uarter
of an ounce to two ounces. A pretty entire fpecimen
occurs in Mr Fergufon’s colleaion.—The datl of the
Sienna meteor is the 16th of June, 1794.
On the 13th of . December of the following year
a out three o’clock in the afternoon, another of fhefe’
fingular dones,_ weighing 56 pounds, fell near the
country houfe of Captain Topham, in Yorkfhire. The
captains report, which is inferted in the Gentleman’s
Magazine for 1796 ,s didind and fatisfaftory ; while
the chenrical exammation of the mafs, defiled t
for i8o2 affTr’ Phil°ropbical Tranfaftions
1802, affords a dill more decifive proof of its
atmofphenc origin. M. de Dree, alfo, found it to cor.
refpond exadly in afpeft and charaaer, with fragments
of meteor dones from Benares and Ville-franche. The
origina mafsps in the poffedion of Mr Sowerby author
of Eiighdi Botany, &c It is larger than a man’s head!
Mr Southey, m his letters from Spain and Portugal
tmnfcnbesthe authenticated relation of another indance
of the defeent of a done from the clouds on the 19th of
February 1796. But we pafs to fome of the mod im
portant details relative to the done which is affirmed
to have fallen near Ville-franche, in ,he depart “enTof
t e Rhone, on the 12th of March, 1798. When it
was tranfmitted to Profeffor Sage, member of the Na¬
tional Inditute, he. confidered it at fird, as only a
pyritous and magnetical ore of iron,-although it bore no
refemblance to any known fpecies of ore of that metal
llnce it contained nickel, fifica, magnefia, and native
iron, which fhone like deel when polifhed. “ It i^
fpeckled wh^ C0l0ui.f?>'s M- Sage, granulated and
points f ,nmg’- a”d PyritOUS
points. One of its furfaces is covered with a dingy,
back enamel, about the third of a line in thickneff!
This done aids very powerfully on the magnetic needlel
When the fenator Chaffet tranfmitted k to me, it,
: • . ' waa-.
- 'Tvicvforo.
Hte.
M E T [
was accompanied with an kiftorica! notice oi nmilar
import with that which M. Dehevre, of V.lle franche,
' who faw and defcribed the phenomenon on the loot.
At fix o’clock in the evening, a round oody, which
diffufed the tnoft vivid light, was obferved h the vicim-
ty of Ville-franche, moving weftward, and producing
a biffing, like that of a bomb which traverfes-the air.
This luminous body, which was feen at the fame time
at Lyons and on Mont-Cenis, marked its path by a
red track of fire, and exploded, about 200 toifes from
the earth, with a tremendous report and concullion.
One of the flaming fragments fell on the vineyard of
696 ] MET
gravity could not he eafiiy afcertained. One hundred
parts of the mafs gave, according to Vauquelin, 46 of ^
filica, 38 oxide of iron, 15 magnefia, 2 nickel, and
2 lime. ' The excefs of this refult was afcribed to the
abfarption of oxygen by the native iron during the pro-
cefs. A fmall fpecimen of this mafs belongs to Mf
Fergufon’s colleflion.
On the 19th of December 1798, about eight o’clock
jn evening, the inhabitants of Benares and its
neighbourhood obferved in the heavens a very lumi¬
nous meteor, in the form of a large ball of fire, which
exploded with a loud noife, and from which a number
Meteoro-
lite.
One of the naming traf■”e"ts/e“ f t of'fWs were precipitated near Krakhut, a village
Peter Crepier, an .nhabrtant of Sales. On the Ipot , ^iles from the city of Benares. Mr
where this portion of the meteor was ieen to tail, ana
. r....ft, ...—evf oKnnt inches in depth, and
,n a frefli opening of about 20 inches in depth, and
j8 in width, was found a black mats, 15 inches m
diameter, and rounded on one fide. _
Ad account of the fame meteor was publilhed m the
JournaldePhyfiqup, forFloreal, year ix, by M. de Dree.
From his minute and deliberate inveftigation, it appears
that the fire ball had fcarcely fixed the attention of the
inhabitants of the Sales and of the adjacent villages, when ^
its rapid approach, accompanied by a ternb.e whizzing
noife * like that of an irregular hollow body, traverfing
tV,e air with unufual velocity, infpired the whole com¬
mune with alarm, efpecially when they obferved it
paffing over their heads, at an inconfiderable elevation.
It left behind a long train of light, and emitted, with
an alrooft unceafing crackling, fmall vivid ^a™es> lilvef
little ftars. Its fall was remarked, at the difiance of
only to paces, by three labourers, one of whom, named
Montillard, let fall his coat and bundle of flicks that he
might run the fafter, while the other two, Chardon
mid Lapoees, fled with equal precipitation to Sales,
where the alarm had become general. Ihefe three
witnefies atteft the.afionifhing rapidity of the meteor’s
motion, and the biffing which proceeded from the fpot
where it fell. So terrified was Crepier at the explofian,
*hat he lacked himfelf up with his family, firfi in his
cellar, and then in his private apartment, nor ventured
abroad till next morning, when, in the company of M.
Blandel, Chardon, Lapoces, and many others, he
repaired to the opening which had been made.by the
fire-ball. At the bottom of this opening, which was
j8 inches deep, including the entire thicknefs of the
mould, they found a large black mafs, of an irregularly
ovoid form, having a fanciful refemhlance to a calf’s
head. Though no longer hot, it fmelled of gun-powder
and was cracked in feveral places. When the obfervers
broke it, and difeovered nothing but Hone, indifference
fucceeded to curiofity, and they coolly afcribed its ap¬
pearance to caufes more or leis whimfical and fupernatu-
The original weight of this Hone was about twenty
pounds. Its black vitrified furface gave fire with fteel.
Its interior was hard, earthy, afh coloured, of a granular
texture, prefbnting different fubftances fcattered through
it, namely, iron in grains, from the fmallefi iize to a
line or even more in diameter, fomewhat malleable,
but harder and whiter than forged iron j white pyrites,
both lamellated and granular, and in colour approach¬
ing to nickel •, fome gray globules, which feemed to
prefent the charaiiers of trapp, and a very few and
Small particles of fteatkes, inclining to an dive hue.
Ou account of its heterogeneous compofitiou, its fpecific
3
about fourteen miles from the city of Benares. Mi
Davis, the judge and magiftrate of the diftrifl, affirmed
that its brilliancy equalled the brighteft moonlight.
Both he and Mr Erlkine, the affiftant cofledlor, were
induced to fend perfons in whom they could confide to
the fpot where this ffiower of ftones was afferted to have
taken place, and thus obtained additional evidence of
the phenomenon, and feveral of the ftones, which had
penetrated about fix inches into fields recently w ater-
ed. Mr Maclane, a gentleman who refided near Krak-
prefented 3VIr Howard with part of a ftone, which
had been brought to him the morning after its defeent,
by the wTatchman who wras on duty at his houfe, a^nd
through the roof of whofe hut it had paffed, and buiied
itfelf feveral inches in the floor, which was of confoli-
dated earth. Before it was broken, it muft have weigh-
ed upwards of two pounds.
At the time that this meteor appeared, the Iky was
perfectly ferene ; not the fmalleft veftige of a cloud
had been feen fince the nth of,the month, nor was
any obferved for many days after.
“ Of thefe ftones (fays Mr Howard,) I have feen
eight nearly perfe£l, befides parts of feveral others,
which had been broken by the poffeffors, to diftribute
among their friends. The form of the more perfett
ones appeared to be that of an irregular cube, rounded
off at the edges j but the angles were to be obferved
on moft 'of them. They were of various fixes, from
about three to upwards of four inches in their largeft
diameter j one of them, meafuring four inches and a
quarter, weighed two pounds twelve ounces. In ap¬
pearance they wTere exaftly fimilar j externally they
were covered with a hard black coat, or incruftation,
which in fome parts had the appearance of varnilh. or
bitumen ; and on moft of them were fra&ures, which,
from their being covered with a matter fimnar to that
of the coat, feemed to have been made in the fall, by
the ftones ftriking againft each other, and to have
paffed through fome medium, probably an intenfe heat,
previous to their reaching the earth. Internally they
confifted of a number of fmall fpherical bodies, of a
{late colour, imbedded in a whitiffi gritty fubftance, in-
terfperfed with bright Ihining fpiculae, of a metallic or
pyritical nature. The fpherical bodies were much
harder than the reft of the ftone : the white gritty
part readily crumbled, on being rubbed with a hard
body •, and, on being broken, a quantity attached it¬
felf to the magnet, but more particularly the outfide
coat or cruft, which appeared almoft wholly attraftable
by it.” . .
Hete we are furnifned with another circumftantial
and authenticated narrative, by individuals above the
rank
MET [ 697 ] M E T
Mcteoro- rank of fufpicion, and who were prompted folely by
luc. motives of curiofity. to examine with due deliberation
"" ^ ~~ the particulars which they have reported.
The hiltory of the extraordinary fhower of ftones
which fell near I’Aigle, in Normandy, on the 26th
of April 1803, firit appeared in the enfuing artlefs let¬
ter, addrdfed by M. Marais, an inhabitant of the place,
to his friend in Paris.
‘ At PAigle, the 13 th Ylor cal, year 11.
“ An aftonithing miracle has juft dccurred in our
diilri£t. Here it is, without alteration, addition, or
diminution. It is certain, that it is the truth itfelf.
“ On Friday laft, 6th Floreal (26th April), between
one and two o’clock in the afternoon, we were roufed
by a murmuring noife like thunder. On going out
we wrere furprifed to fee the tky pretty clear, with the
exception of fome fmall clouds. We took it for the
noife of a carriage, or of fire in the neighbourhood.
We were then in the meadow, to examine whence the
noife proceeded, when wTe obferved all the inhabitants
of the Pont de Pierre at their windows, and in gardens,
inquiring concerning a cloud, which pafled in the di¬
rection of from fouth to north, and from which the
noife iiTued, although that cloud prefented nothing ex¬
traordinary iu its appearance. But great was our
aftonidiment when we learned, that many and large
ftones had fallen from it, fome of them weighing ten,
eleven, and even feventeen pounds, in the fpace between
the houfe of the Buat family (half a league to the
north-north-eaft of I’Aigle) and Glos, pafling by St
Nicolas, St Pierre, &c. which ftruck us at firft as a
fable, but which was afterwards found to be true.
“ The following is the explanation given of this
extraordinary event by all who witneffed it.
“ They heard a noife like that of a cannon, then a
double report ftill louder than the preceding, followed
by a rumbling noife, which lafted about ten minutes,
the lame which we alfo heard, accompanied with hif-
fings, caufed by thefe ftones, which were counterafted in
their fall by the different currents of air, which is
very natural in the cafe of fuch a fudden expanfion.
Nothing more was heard j but it is remarkable, that
previoully to the explofion, the domeitic fowls wrere
alarmed, and the cows bellowed in an unufual manner.
All the country-folks were much difmayed, efpecially
the women, who believed that the end of the world
was at hand. A labourer at la Sapee fell proftrate'- on
the ground, exclaiming, ‘Good God ! is it pofiible that
thou canft make me perilh thus ? Pardon, I befeech
thee, all the faults I have committed,’ &c. The moft
trilling obje&s, in faiff, might create alarm, for it is
not improbable, that hiftory offers no example of fuch
a Ihower of ftones as this. The piece which I fend
was detached from a large one, weighing eleven
pounds, which was found between the houfe of the
Buats and le Fertey. It is faid, that a colle&or of
curiofitlej purchafed one of feventeen pounds weight,
that he might lend it to Paris. Every body in this
part of the country is delirous of poffefling a whole
ftone, or a fragment of one, as an objeft of curiofity.
The largeft were darted with fuch violence that they
entered at leaft a foot into the earth. They are black
on the cutfide, and grayifh, as you fee, within, foeming
Vol. XIII. Part II.
to contain fome fpecies of metal and nitre. If you
know before us of what ingiedients they are compofed,
you will Inform us. One fell near M. Bois de la Ville,
who lives near Glos. Pie was much afraid, and took
fhelter under a tree. Pie has found a great number
of them of different fixes, in his court-yard, his wheat
fields, &c. without reckoning all thdfe which the
peafants have found elfewhere. Numberlefs ftories,
more or lefs abfurd, have been circulated among the
people. You know that our country is fertile in fuch
tales. Coufin Moutardier fends one of thefe ftones to
Mademoifelle Hebert 5 and he is not lefs eager than
we are, to know how thefe fubftances can be compref-
fed and petrified in the air. Do try to explain the pra-
cefs.
“ The perfon who gave me the largeft ftone which
I fend to you, went to take it at the moment that it
fell, but it was fo hot that it burned him. Several of his
neighbours ftrared the fame fate in attempting to lift it.
“ The elder Buat has juft arrived, and defires us to
add, that a fire-ball w’as obferved to hover over the mea¬
dow. Perhaps it was wild-fire.”
At the fitting of the inftitute, on the 9th of May,
Fourcroy read a letter, addreffed from I’Aigle to
Vauquelin, and which fufficiently corroborates the pre¬
ceding ftatements. But we pafs to the fubftance of
M. Biot’s letter, addreffed to the minifter of the inte¬
rior, and publiflied in the ’journal des Debats, (14th
Thermidor, year 11.). The writer, who is advan-
tageoufly known for his fcientific attainments, was de¬
puted by government to repair to the fpot, and collect
all the authentic fafts. The contents of his letter have
been fince expanded into the form of a memoir, which
manifefts the caution and good fenfe which guided his
inquiries, and which, w7e are furprifed to learn, has not
appeared in an Englifh tranflation.
M. Biot left Paris on the 25th of June, and in place
of proceeding diredly to I’Aigle, went firft to Alen^on,
which lies fifteen leagues to the wTeft-fouth-weft of it. He
was informed on his w7ay, that a globe of fire had been
obferved moving towards the north, and that its ap¬
pearance w7as followed by a violent explofion. From
Alen^on he journeyed through various villages to
I’Aigle, being diredted in his progrefs by the accounts
of the inhabitants, who had all heard the explofion on
the day and at the hour fpecified. Almoft all the in¬
habitants of twenty hamlets, fcattered over an extent
of upwards of two leagues fquare affirmed that they
were eye-witneffes of a dreadful Ihower of ftones which
was darted from the meteor. The following is his
fummary of the whole evidence.
“ On Tuefday, 6th Floreal, year n. about one
o’clock, P. M. the weather being ferene, there was
obferved from Caen, Pont d’Audemer, and the environs
of Aleiujon, Falaife, and Verneuil, a fiery globe, of a
very brilliant fplendor, and which moved in the at-
mofphere with great rapidity. Some moments after,
there was heard at I’Aigle, and in the environs of that
town, in the extent of more than thirty leagues in
every diredfion, a violent explofion, which lafted five
or fix minutes. At firft there were three or four re¬
ports, like thofe of cannon, followed by a kind of
difeharge which refemhled the firing of mufketry ;
after which there was heard a dreadful rumbling like
4 T the
M E T [ 698 ] MET
the beating of a drum. The air was calm, and the
Iky ferene, except a few clouds, fuch as are frequently
obferved.
“ This noife proceeded from a fmall cloud which
had a rectangular form, the largelt fide being in a di¬
rection from eaft to weft. It appeared motionlefs all
the time that the phenomenon lafted ; but the vapours
of which it was compofed, were projected momentarily
from different fides, by the efteCt of the fucceflive ex-
plofions. This cloud wTas about half a league to the
north-north-weft of the town of 1’Aigle. It was at a
great elevation in the atmofphere, for the inhabitants
of two hamlets, a league diltant from each other, faw
it at the fame time above their heads. In the wdiole
canton over which this cloud was fufpended, there was
heard a hifiing noife like that of a ftone difcharged
from a fling, and a great many mineral maffes exaClly
fimilar to thofe diftinguiflred by the name of meteor-
J^ones were feen to fall.
“ 1 he diftriCI in which thefe maffes were proieCIed,
forms an elliptical extent of about twm leagues and" a half
in length, and nearly one in breadth, the greateft di-
menfion being in a direction from fouth-eaft to north-
w'eft, forming a declination of about 2 2 degrees. This
direction, which the meteor muft have followed, is ex¬
actly that of the magnetic meridian, which is a re¬
markable refult. The greateft of thefe ftones fell at
the fouth-eaftern extremity of the large axis of the el-
lipfe, the middle-fized in the centre, and the fmaller
at the other extremity. Hence it appears that the
largeft fell firft, as might naturally be fuppofed. The
largeft of all thofe that fell weighs feventeen pounds
and a hall. X he Imalleft which I have feen w'eighs
about two gros (a thoufandth part of the laft), The
number of all thofe which fell is certainly above two
or three thoufand.”
As we cannot make room for an analyfis of M.
Biot’s more extended communication, wx ftiall be con¬
tented to feleCt only two faCls.
The cure of St Michael declared, that he obferved
one of the ftones fall, with a hilling noife, at the feet of
his niece, in the court yard of his parfonage, and that
it rebounded uprvards of a foot from the pavement.
He inftantly requefted his niece to fetch it to him j
but as fhe was too much alarmed, a woman who hap¬
pened alfo to be on the fpot, took it up ; and it was
found in every refpeCl to refemble the others.
As one Piche, a wire-manufaClurer belonging to the
yillage of slrme'es, was working with his men in the open
air, » ftone grazed his arm, and fell at his feet j but
it was fo hot, that, on attempting to take it up, he in¬
ftantly let it fall again.
He who compares the various accounts of the 1'Aigle
meteor, with a critical eye, may deteCI fome apparent
contradictions, which, however,, on reflection, are found
to be ftriCtly conformable to truth. Thus, according
to fome, the meteor had a rapid motion, others believed
it ftationary ; fonae faw a very luminous ball of fire,
others only an ordinary cloud. Spectators, in faCt,
viewed it in different'-pofitions with refpeCt to its direc¬
tion. They who happened to be in its line of march,
would fee it ftationary, for the fame reafon, that wm
fancy a Ihip under full fail to be motionlefs, when we
are placed in its wake, or w hen we view it from the
harbour to vyhich it is approaching in a ftraight line.
They, on the other hand, who had a fide view of the
meteor, wmuld reckon its progrefs the more rapid, in
proportion as their pofition approached to a right angle
with its line of paffage. They, again, w'ho faw it from
behind, as the inhabitants of I’Aigle, wmuld perceive
only the cloud of vapour, which it left in its train, and
which, in the dark, would figure like a blazing tail, in
the fame manner as the fmoke of a volcano appears
black during the day and red at might. Laftly, they
who were placfed in front of the meteor, would reckon
it ftationary, but brilliant and cloudlefs.
It deferves to be remarked, that the I’Aigle ftones
were very friable for fome days after their defcent,
that they gradually acquired hardnefs, and that after
they had loft the fulphureous odour on their furface,
they ftill retained it in their fubftances, as was found by-
breaking them. Profeffor Sage fubmitted them to fe-
veral comparative trials with thofe of Ville-franche j and,
though the PAigle fpecimens prefent fome globules of
the fize of a fmall coriander feed, of a darker gray
than the mafs, and not attraClable by the magnet, yet,
in refpeCl of granular texture and general afpeCl, the
coincidence was fo linking as to lead one to fuppofe
that they w?ere all parts of the fame mafs.
The I’Aigle ftones, according to Fourcroy, are ge¬
nerally irregular, polygonal, often cuboid, fometimes fub-
cuneiform, and exceedingly various in their diameter
and weight. All are covered with a black gravelly
cruft, confining of a fufed matter, and filled with fmall
agglutinated grains of iron. The greater part of them
are broken at the corners, either by their Ihoek againft
each other, or by falling on hard bodies. The inter¬
nal parts refemble thofe of all the ftones analyzed by
Me firs. Howard and Vauquelin, being gray, a little
varied in their ftiades, granulated, and as it were fcaly,
fpljt in many parts, and filled with brilliant metallic
points, exaClly of the fame afpeCl as thofe of other ftones
of a like defcription. The proportions of their con-
ftituent materials are ftated as nearly, 54 filex, 36 oxi¬
dated iron, 9 magnefia, 3 nickel, 2 fulphur, and 1 lime,
the five per cent, of increafe arifing from the oxidation
of the metals produced by the analyfis.
Of the twm fpecimens w hich M. Biot prefented to
the celebrated Patrin, one was lefs compaCl, and of a
lighter gray than the other, and likewife prefented
fmall patches of a ruft colour. When immerfed in
water, it gave a hifiing found, like the humming of a
fly, which is held by one wing. As it began to dry, it
was obferved to be marked by curvilinear and parallel
layers. Ihe more compaCl fpecimens, when moiftened,
prelented no fuch appearances, but affumed the af¬
peCl of a gray porphyry, with a bafe of trap, mot¬
tled with fmall white fpots, and fpeckled with metallic
points.
Two fine fpecimens of the I’Aigle ftone, one of them
nearly entire, may be feen in Mr Fergufon’s colieClion,
which we have already repeatedly quoted.
Previoufly to the explofion of the 26th of April
1803, no meteorolites had been found by the inhabi¬
tants of the PAigle diftriCI, nor in the rnincralogical
colleClions of the department ; nor the flighted mention
of them made in the geological documents of this por¬
tion of Normandy : the mines, founderies, and forges,
had produced nothing fimilar, in the form of drofs or
ore, nor had the country exhibited any trace of vol¬
canoes.
MET [ 699 ] MET
Meteoro- canoes. The meteor at once appears, and a multitude
Jlt^ i of flones of the peculiar character noted above are feen
fcattered on a determined fpace of ground, in a man¬
ner, and accompanied with circumflances, which could
not formerly have efcaped obfervation. Let us like-
wife refledl, that the young and the old, fimple peafants
dwelling at a dillance from one another, fagacious and
rational workmen, refpedlable ecclehaftics, young fol-
diers' devoid of timidity, individuals, in fliort, of vari¬
ous manners, profeffions, and opinions, united by no
common ties, ail agree in attefting a fa£l, which con¬
tributed neither diredtly nor indirectly to promote their
own intereft, and they all aflign the manifeftation of
this fadt to the fame day and hour,. They, more¬
over, point to exifting veftiges of the defcent of folid
fubftances, and they declare, in terms unfufceptible
of mifconftruction or ambiguity, that they faw the
malfes in queftion roll down on roofs, break branches
of trees, rebound from the pavement, and produce
fmoke where they fell. Thefe recitals, and thefe vef¬
tiges, are limited to a trad of territory wrhich has been
accurately defined; while beyond the precinCls of this
trad, not a Angle particle of a meteorolite has been
found, nor a Angle individual who pretends that he faw
ftone fall.
Having now, we prefume, advanced ample and fa-
tisfaClory evidence of the exiilence of meteorolites,
we fhall forbear to enlarge this article by dwelling on
inftances of inferior notoriety to thofe wdrich we have
recounted, and fhall merely note the dates of fubfe-
quent examples.
On the 4th of July 1803, a fire-ball flruck the
White Bull Inn at Eaft-Norton, and left behind it
feveral r»eteoric fragments.-^-On the 13th of Decem¬
ber of the fame year, a fimilar phenomenon occurred
at the village of St Nicholas, in Bavaria.—At Pof-
Al, near Glafgow in Scotland, a meteor-ftone fell,
with a loud and hilling noife, on the 5th April 1804.
—The next inftance which w7e have to mention occur¬
red near Apt, in the department of Vauclufe, on the
6th of OClober of the fame year •, and the laft which
has come to our knowledge happened at half paft five
o’clock, in the evening of the 15th March 1806, near
Alais in Languedoc.
It feems reafonable, however, to fuppofe, that the
fall of meteoric fubftances takes place more frequently
than is commonly fuppofed, fince feveral foreign col-
leClions of foflils contain fpecimens of reputed celeftial
origin, and exhibiting the genuine atmofpheric phyfi-
ognomy. It is likewife worthy of remark, that many
relations of the phenomenon may have funk into ob¬
livion, from the contempt wuth which they were heard
by the learned, and that, on a fair computation of
chances, meteors may have fometimes exploded on de-
fert traCls of land, and ftill more frequently over the
pathlefs expanfe of the waters.
That fome of the relations to which we have alluded
are vague and unfatisfaClory, cannot be denied, But the
circumftantial teftimony conveyed by others is more
pointed and pofitive j and the whole mafs of hiftorical
proof, efpecially when combined wfith the argument
deduced from the identity of the phyfical and chemical
conftitutiori of the ftones, appears to us to be altogether
irrefiftible.
Ip the courfe of our inquiry into this novel and inte-
refting fubjeCl, we have afcertained a variety of cirCum- Meteort*.
fiances which render it highly probable, if not indubi¬
table, that thofe detached mafies of native iron, whofe
hiftory has fo often daggered and perplexed the geolo-
gift, are only modifications of meteoric depofitions.
The Tartars, for example, afcribe the defcent of the
Siberian mafs delcribed by Chladni, Pallas, Patrin, &c.
to a period that is loft in the remotenefs of antiquity j
and while tradition thus favours our hypothefis, the ana¬
logy which is obvioutly obfervable in point of texture
and chemical characters with thofe of other folid bo¬
dies, whofe fall is no longer queftioned, ftrengthens
tradition. According to the difcoveries of Prouft and
Klaproth, native iron, reputed meteoric, differs frogn
that which occurs in a foflil ftate by the prefence of nic¬
kel. The former of thefe celebrated analyfts obtained
50 grains of fulphate of nickel from 100 of the South
American mafs, and his refults are corroborated by Mr
Howard and the Count de Bournon.
Of the two pieces of Siberian iron poffeffed by Me
Greville, one, which w’as tranfmitted by Dr Pallas,
weighs feveral pounds; and another prefects a cellu¬
lar and ramified texture, analogous to that of fome
very light and porous volcanic Icoriae. When atten¬
tively examined, there may be perceived in it not only
empty cells, but alfo impreflions or cavities of greater
or lefs depth, and in fome of wdiich there remains a
tranfparent fubftance, of a yellowilh green colour. The
iron itfelf is very malleable ; and may be eafily cut with a
knife, or flattened under the hammer. The fpecific gra¬
vity is 6487, which is obvioufly inferior to that of unfor¬
ged iron that has undergone fufion,and maybe partly ow¬
ing to the oxidizementof the furface of the iron, and partly
to the many minute cavities in its fubftance, which are of¬
ten rendered vifible by fracture, and which have their fur-
face alfo oxidized. The fraflure is ihining and filvery,
like thatof white caft iron ; but its grain is much fmoother
and finer; and it is .much more malleable when cold.
The heavier fpecimen is more folid and compaft,
exhibiting no cavities or pores, though its furface is
ramified and cellular. So blended and incorporated is
its compafl part with the yellowifti-green fubftance
mentioned above, that if the wdiole of the latter could
be fubtrafted, the remainder wmuld confift of iron in
the metallic ftate, and would difplay the fame cellular
appearance as the preceding fpecimen, or as the fuper-
ficial portion of that now deferibed. This ftony part
of the compofition ufually affumes the appearance of
fmall nodules, generally of an irregular, ftiape, but
fometimes nearly globular, with a fmooth, ftrining, and
glafly furface. This fubftance, which is always more
or lefs tranfparent, is hard enough to cut glafs, but
makes no impreflion on quartz. It becomes eleftric
by fri&ion, is very refraftory, and varies in fpecific
gravity from 3263 to 3300. Of all fubftances hither¬
to known, it approaches moft to the peridot, or Wer¬
nerian chryfolite, which yielded to Klaproth nearly the
fame refults which this fubftance did to Howard. In
the mafs of iron, it is liable to decompofition, changing
to an opake white, and crumbling into a gritty dry
powder, when lightly preffed or fqueezed between the
fingers.—“ I cannot help obferving (fays the count de
Bournon), that there appears to exift a very interefting
analogy between thefe tranfparent nodules and the
globules I deferibed as making part of the ftones faid
4 T 2 to
r f
Mcteoro-
lite,
M E T , [ 7
to have fallen on the earth. This analogy, though not
a very ftrong one, may lead us to fuppofe, that the
two fubftances are fimilar, in their nature, but that the
globules are lefs pure, and contain a greater quantity of
iron.”
The native iron from Bohemia is compact:, like the
large fpecimen from Siberia, in Mr Greville’s collec¬
tion, and like it contains nodules, but not fo numerous.
They are befides quite opake, and very much referable
the globules in atmofpheric Hones. This iron contains
nearly five per cent, of nickel. Between five and fix
per cent, of the fame metal feems to exift in a piece of
jiative iron brought from Senegal.
Though our limits will not permit us to dwell with
minutenefs on the phyfical and chemical chara&ers of
mcteorolites, we fhall Ihort'y Hate thofe which the
count de Bournon found to appertain to the fpecimens
from Benares, and which may ferve as no unfair Handard
of the afpecl and compofition of the others.
Like all of the fame origin which were fubjedled to
the count’s examination, the Benares Hones are covered
over the whole extent of their furface, with a thin cruH,
of a deep black colour, fprinkled over with fmall afperi-
ties, which make it feel fomewhat like lhagreen or fith
fkin. Their fra&ure exhibits a grayiHr alh colour, and
a granulated texture, like that of coarfe grit-flone.
By help of a lens, they are perceived to be compofed
of four different fubffances. One of thefe occurs in
great abundance, in the form of finall bodies, fome of
which are perfeffly globular, others rather elongated
or elliptical, and all of various fizes, from that of a
fmall pin’s head to that of a pea, or nearly fo. Thefe
fmall globules are ufually gray, fometimes inclining
much to brown, and always opake ; they are eafily
broken in any diredlion, have a conchoidal fra&ure,
and a fine, fmooth, compaft grain, with a flight degree
of luflre, approaching to enamel ; laflly, they can de-
Hroy the polifii of glafs without being able to cut it,
and fparkle faintly when Hruck with Heel. Another
of thefe fubflances is martial pyrites, of an indeterminate
form, and reddifli yellow colour, Hightly verging to
the nickel tint, or to that of artificial pyrites j of a
fomewhat loofely granulated texture, and irregularly
difiinguifhed in the mafs, being black when reduced to
powder, and not attra&ible by the magnet. The
third .of thefe fubflances confifls of final! particles of
iron, in a perfectly metallic Hate, fo that they may be
eafily flattened or extended under the hammer. Though
in a much fmaller proportion than the pyrites jufl men¬
tioned, they impart the magnetic attra&ion to the
Hone. When a piece of the latter was pulverized, and
the particles of iron feparated from it as accurately as
poflible, by means of a magnet, they appeared to com-
pofe about 200 parts of the weight of the Hone. Thefe
three fubflances are united by means of a fourth, which
is nearly of an earthy confiflency, and of a whitifh gray
colour.—-The black crufl, or outward coating, thoueh
of very inconfiderable thicknefs, emits bright fparks
when flruck with Heel, may be broken by the hammer,
and feems to poffefs the fame properties with the black
oxide of iron, though, like the fubflance of the Hone,
\t is occafionally intermixed with fmall particles of
iron in the metallic Hate. Thefe are eafily diflinguifh-
ed, by paffing a file over the crufl, which reveals their
Htftre. The fpecific gravity of the Benares Hones is 3352.
co ] MET
None of them, when breathed on, emit the argillaceous Meteor»-
odour. iite.
In confequence of various experiments, M. Sage ~Y~
infers that meteorolites are compofed of native iron
fulphuret of nickel, quartz or filica, alumina, and mag-
nefia; that the proportions of iron and nickel vary 3 that
the quartz feems to form at lead the half of the Hone,
the alumina and magnefia the fixth, and the fulphur the
3Cth part. Thefe general refults pretty nearly accord
with the more fpecial reports of Howard and Vauquelin,
except that the latter makes no mention of alumina, the
exiflence of which in atmofpheric Hones is by no means
diflincfly afcertained.
We fliall only beg leave to add, on this part of our
fubjecfl, that Laugier, an ingenious chemifl, by employ¬
ing the cauflic alkali, has deteCfed a fmall portion of
chrome. The refults of his experiments, which are
Hated in the 58 th volume of the Ann ales de Chimie, are
ifl, I hat the five Hones from Verona, Barbotan, En-
fiflieim, 1’Aigle, and the neighbourhood of Apt, befides
the principles already recognized, contain about one
per cent, of chrome, zdly, That it is very probable,
that all meteorolites contain this principle, fince they
all refemble one another in their phyfical and chemical
properties, and have all, apparently, the fame origin j
and, . 3dly, That in many cafes, the perfeclion of
chemical analyfis requires, that the fame fubflance
fliould be treated both by acids and alkalies, fince
experience has fir own, that a principle which elud¬
ed the former method, has been revealed by the lat¬
ter.
Having now, as we apprehend, fufficiently eftablifhed
the exiflence and nature of meteorolites, we hope our
readers will excufe us from enlarging on the various
caufes which have been affigned for their origin, as thefe
ftem to lie beyond the reach of our prefent Hate of
knowledge. After a candid and patient review of the
principal theories, we conceive that they are at befi ora-
tuitous, and that mofi of them are open to many ^and
formidable objeftions.
The ter re ft rial hypothefes, we believe, begin already
to be generally abandoned, as untenable. Until the
phenomenon of exploding meteors had been diflindly
obferved and recorded, Lemery and others could main¬
tain, with fome degree of plaufibility, that lightning
might tear up the ground, and convert foil into a com-
paci mafs. But the appearances of a thunder florni
and of a fire-ball are now' afcertained to differ in
various important refpeds. Speftators worthy of credit
have feen the latter terminate in the fall of iohd bodies \
and the ccmpofition of thefe folid bodies has been found
to differ fi om that of all the known fotTil fubflances
on the furface of the globe. It is in vain, then, to
allege, that they are formed on the ground oy com¬
mon lightning, which has often produced very extraor¬
dinary effedfs, but which never generated thoufands of
Hones in fine calm weather. The fuppofition, that
fuch Hones have been projefted from ’fome of out-
volcanoes, is hardly lefs conceivable. The aihes which
accompany a violent eruption of A£tna or Vefuvius have,
from their levity, been carried to a very confiderable
diflance ; but we are totally unacquainted with any pro¬
jectile force which could dart folid maffes many hundred
miles, through fuch a denfe medium as the atmofphere.
1 he compact lavas of burning mountains are never
found
MET r 7
Metedro- found remote from the fcene of their formation, and
 none of them prefent the characters and afpecd of the
~v-—^ones we have deferibed. M. Bory de St
Vincent, indeed, in his Voyage dans les quatre Princi-
pales I/Jes des Mers d"1 Afi’ique, very pompoufly expounds
a do&ripe, which, in our opinion, carries its confutation
along with it. According to this writer, meteorolites
were projected from immenfe depths, in an early ftage
of the earth’s exiftence, ■when ignivomous mountains
were endued with propelling forces fufficient to drive
muffes of matter into the regions of fpace, where they
weie conftrained to obey, for ages, the combined laws
of impulfe and gravitation, until, in the progrefs of
time, their fpiral revolutions at length terminated on
the furface of their native earth. Before we can adopt
fuch an extravagant hypothefis, we muft be convinced,
that at one period of the hilfory of our globe, the
agency of fubterraneous fire was adequate to communi¬
cate planetary motion to fplinters of rock, wdthout
heaving up the rocks themfelves, and that the rotatory
movement, though once eftabliihed, muft gradually
diminiih and ceafe. The demonftration of thefe pofitions
is furely not lefs arduous than the explanation of the
phenomenen which they are intended to folve.
Of thofe who contend for the atmofphcrical formation
of meteorolites, fcarcely any two agree in regard to the
manner by w’hich fuch formation is effefted. Patrin,
who is folicitous to extend and illuftrate his darling
theory of volcanoes, labours at great length to main¬
tain the exiftence of a regular circulation of gafeous
fluids between the primitive fchiftofe ftrata of the globe,
and its furrounding atmofphere, and, from this fancied
circulation, which he flatters himfelf he has demonjlra-
ted, he deduces, quite at his eafe, the occafional igni¬
tion and concretion of portions of thefe fluids in the
higher regions of the air. This ingenious mineralogift
and geologift is fo extremely tenacious of thefe ideas
that we Ihall not attempt to difturb his felf compla¬
cency ; but he unll excufe us if we refufe our affent to
refults which reft on imaginary foundations. The ce¬
lebrated Mufchenbroeck, in one part of his wuitings,
aferibes the defeent of ftones from the air to earth¬
quakes and volcanic eruptions, an opinion which later
obfervations have difproved. In other paffages, how¬
ever, he feems to incline to a modification of the atmo-
fphericai hypothefes, and endeavours to trace the origin
of (hooting ftars to an accumulation of the volatile mat¬
ters which are fufpended in the air. It is extremely
probable, that (hooting ftars and fiery meteors have an
intimate relation to one another, if they are not identi¬
cal appearances j but it is certain that the former move
at a much greater diftance from our earth than fire¬
balls, and only occafion a tranfient luminous appear¬
ance in their paffage through the upper regions of the
atmofphere. Perhaps they are analogous to thofe telef-
copic fparks of light which were obferved by M, Schro-
ter. Mufchenbroeck, however, adopts the vulgar no¬
tion of their falling to the earth, and feems to con¬
found their reudue with tremella nojloc. M. Salverte
lias given extenfion to the theory of formation from va¬
pours, by having recourfe to the agency of hydrogen
gas. According to him, in confequence of the dccom-
pofition of water, which is conftantly going on at the
furface of the earth, immenfe quantities of hydrogen
gas are continually riling into the e,tmofphere. and af-
01 ] M E T
cending to its higher regions. 'As this gas is capal.l
of diffolving metals, it carries along with U a portion of
iron and nickel. During thunder ftorms this gas is
kindled by eleflricity ; the metals are depofited, redu¬
ced, melted, and vitrified \ in other words, meteors
are produced and (tones formed. This hypothens is
fcarcely more fatisfaclory than the others. It does not
account for the prefence of magnefia and (ilica, nor
does it explain why the ftones are always compofed of
the fame materials. Befides, the exiftence of hydrogen
gas in the atmofphere has not been proved, far lefs that
it forms a feparate atmofphere, which is contrary to all
experience ; and it is well known, that a little hydro¬
gen, mixed with a large portion of atmofpheric air,
cannot be fired by eleftricity. In general, we may
obferve, that if the origin of meteorolites be really at-
mofpherical, the matters of which they are compofed
mutt have exifted in one of two dates, namely, in very
attenuated particles or concretions of the matters them¬
felves volatilized and held in folution in the air, or
only in the elements of thefe matters. In the firft cafe,
when abandoned by their menftruum to their reciprocal
tendencies, they would unite by aggregation only ; in
the fecond by chemical combination. Now, we can
hardly fuppofe that difengagement of light and violent
detonation fliould refult from the mere affinity of ag¬
gregation, whereas they are ftriflly fymptomatic of the
affinity of compofition. This, and various other confi-
derations which might be dated, if we could make
room for them, induce us to regard the do&rine of
combination as the moll plaufible. M. Izarn, who has
publiffied a treatife on Atmofphenc Lithology, has en¬
tered into a tedious and fomewhat obfeure expofition of
his own theory, founded on this principle. We (hall
give the fummary, as nearly as we can, in his own
words.
“ Gafeous fubftances, arranged in fpherical mafles
in the upper regions of the air, being admitted, the va¬
rious agitations of the atmofphere (hould naturally waft
fome of thefe mafles from their infulating medium into
one capable of combining with them. If the combina¬
tion begins, the difengagement of light is explained.
In proportion as the combination advances, the fpecific
gravities are changed ; and, confequently, a change of
place will commence, and that in the quarter which
prefents lead refiftance, or where the medium is moft
rarefied, in courfe rather towards the fouth than the
north. Hence, moft fire-balls are obferved to move
from north to fouth, or from north-eaft to fouth-weft.
Motion being once impreffed, the mafs traverfes other
media, capable of fupplying new principles, which
(till increafing the weight, determine the curve ; and
when at length the principles which are at work, and
which ifllie in all direfHons, have attained the requifite
proportion for extinguilhing the elements in the birth
of the compound, the grand operation is announced by
the explofion, and the produdt takes its place among
the folids.”—-That the ftones in queftion are produced
by chemical combination in the higher regions of the
atmofphere, and that they are thus formed from their
own elements, are fuppofitions fully as probable as any
that have been advanced on the fubjeft j but whether
the union of their parts be effedted in the manner de¬
tailed by M. Izarn, we are unable to. determine, both
)YS uncertain if we perfe&ly comprehend
2 his
Mcteoi#-
lite.
» If-
MET [ 702 ] MET
Vcteoro. his meaning, and becaufe our range of data is as yet
i‘te' too circumicribed, to warrant any fpecific or deciiive
conclufions.
A much bolder theory has been fuggefted, and its
poffibility demonflrated by the celebrated French aftro-
nomer, La Place, who (hews, that meteorolites may be
the products of lunar volcanoes. As this romantic
view of the fubjeft has obtairred the fuffrages of fome
men of fcience, and has excited the ridicule of others,
we lhall prefent the reafoning on which it is founded
in the popular and perfpicuous language of Dr Hutton
of Woolwich.
“ As the attraction of gravitation extends through
the whole planetary fyftem, a body placed at the fur-
face of the moon is affefred chiefly by two forces, one
drawing it toward the centre of the earth, and another
drawing it toward that of the moon. The latter of thefe
forces, however, near the moon’s furface, is incomparably
the greater. But, as we recede from the moon, and ap¬
proach toward the earth, this force decreafes, while the
other augments \ till at laid a point of ftation is found be¬
tween the two planets, where thefe forces are exaflly e-
qual, fo that a body placed there mull remain at reft *, but
if it be removed A ill nearer to the earth, then this planet
would have the fuperior attraclion, and the body muft
fall towards it. If a body then be projected from the
moon towards the earth, wdth a force fufficient to carry
it beyond the point of equal attraction, it muft necefla-
rily fall on the earth. Such then is the idea of the
manner in which the bodies muft be made to pafs from
the moon to the earth, if that can be done, the poffibi-
lity of which is now neceffary to be confldered.
“ Now, fuppofing a mafs to be projected from the
moon, in a direCt line towards the earth, by a volcano,
or by the production of iteam by fubterranean heat ; and
fuppofing for the prefent thefe two planets to remain at
reft; then it has been demonftrated, on the Newtonian
eftimation of the moon’s mafs, that a force projecting
the body with a velocity of (2,000 feet in a fecond,
would be fufficient to carry it beyond the point of equal
attraction. But this eftimate of the moon’s mafs is
now allowed to be much above the truth •, and on M.
la Place’s calculation, it appears that a force of little
more than half the above power would be fufficient to
produce the effeCt, that is, a force capable of project¬
ing a body with a velocity of lefs than a mile and a
half per fecond. But we have known cannon balls
projected by the force of gunpowder, with a velocity
of 2500 feet per fecond or upwards, that is, about half
a mile. It follows, therefore, that a projeCtile force,
communicating a velocity about three times that of a
cannon ball, wmuld be fufficient to throw the body
from the moon beyond the point of equal attraction, and
caufe it to reach the earth. Now there can be little
doubt that a force equal to that is exerted by volcanoes
on the earth, as well as by the production of fleam by
fubterranean heat, when we confider the huge maffes of
rock, fo many times larger than cannon balls, thrown
on fuch occafions to heights alfo fo much greater. We
may eafily imagine, too, fuch caufe of motion to exift
in the moon as 'well as in the earth, and that in a fupe¬
rior degree, if xve may judge from the fuppofed fymp-
toms of volcanoes recently obferved in the moon by
*he powerful tubes of Dr Kerfchel y and ftill more, if
we confider that all projections from the earth fuffer an
enormous refiftance and diminution, by the denfe at-
mofphere of this planet; while it has been rendered
probable, from optical confiderations, that the moon
has little or no atmofphere at all, to give any fuch re¬
fiftance to projeCtiles.
“ Thus then we are fully authorized in concluding,
that the cafe of pnjjibility is completely made out ; that
a known power exifts in nature, capable of producing
the foregoing eflfeCt, of detaching a mafs of matter from
the moon, and transferring it to the earth in the form
of a flaming meteor, or burning ftone ; at the fame time
we are utterly ignorant of any other procefs in nature
by which the fame phenomenon can be produced. Ha¬
ving thus difcovered a way in which it is poffible to
produce thofe appearances, we lhall now endeavour to
(how, from all the concomitant circumilances, that thefe
accord exceedingly well with the natural effeCIs of the
fuppofed cziiife, and thence give it a very high degree
of probability.
“ This important defideratum will perhaps be beft
attained, by examining the confequences of a fubftance
fuppofed to be projected by a volcano from the moon
into the fphere of the earth’s fuperior attraClion ; and
then comparing thofe with the known and vifible phe¬
nomena of the blazing meteors or burning ftones that
fall through the air on the earth. And if in this com-
parifon a ftriking coincidence or refemblance fhall al¬
ways or moftly be found, it will be difficult for the hu¬
man mind to refift the perfuafion that the affumed caufe
involves a degree of probability but little fhort of cer¬
tainty itfelf. Now the chief phenomelia attending
thefe blazing meteors or burning ftones, are thefe:
1. That they appear or blaze out fuddenly. 2. That
they move with a furprifing rapid motion, nearly hori¬
zontal, but a little inclined downwards. 3. That they
move in feveral different direftions with refpedl to the
points of the compars. 4. That in their flight they
yield a loud whizzing found. 5. That they common¬
ly burft with a violent explofion and report. 6. That
they fall on the earth with great force in a Hoping di-
reflion. 7. That they are very hot at firft, remain hot
a confiderable time, and exhibit vifible tokens of fufion
on their furface. 8. That the fallen ftony maffes have
all the fame external appearance and contexture, as
well as internally the fame nature and compofition.
9. That they are totally different from all our terre-
ftrial bodies, both natural and artificial.
“ Now thefe phenomena will naturally compare with
the circumftances of a fubftance projected by a lunar
volcano, and in the order in which they are here enu¬
merated. And firft, with refpeft to the leading cir-
cutnftanee, that of a fudden blazing meteoric appear¬
ance, which is not that of a fmall bright fpark, firft feen
at an immenfe diftance, and then gradually increafing
with the diminution of its diftance. And this circum-
ftance appears very naturally to refult from the affumed
caufe. For, the body being projedled from a lunar
volcano, may well be fuppofed in an ignited ftate, like
inflamed matter thrown up by our terreftrial volcanoes,
which palling through the comparatively vacuum, in
the fpace between the moon and the earth’s fenfibl& at¬
mofphere, it will probably enter the fuperior parts of
this atmofphere with but little diminution of its origi¬
nal
Meteor#-
life.
3
Meteoro-
Jite.
MET [ 7
nal heat j from vyhich circumftance, united with that
 > 0^Jts violent motion, this being 10 or 12 times that of
a cannon ball, and through a part of the atmofphere
probably confiding chiefly of the inflammable gas riling
from the earth to the top of the atmofphere, the body
may well be fuppofed to be fuddenly inflamed, as the
natural effedl of thefe circumflances j indeed it would
be furprifing if it did not. From whence it appears
tnat the hidden inflammation of the body, on entering
the earth’s atmofphere, is exactly what might be ex¬
pected to happen.
“ 2. I o trace the body through the earth’s at-
mofphere 5 we are to obferve that it enters the top
of it with the great velocity acquired by defcending
from the point oi equal attradlion, which is fuch as
would carry the body to the earth’s furface in a very
few additional feconds of time if it met with no obftruc-
tion. But as it enters deeper in the atmofphere, it
meets with ftill more find more refiftance from the in-
creafing denfity of the air, by which the great velocity
of fix miles per fecond muft foon be greatly reduced
to one that will be uniform, and only a fmall part of
its former great velocity. This remaining part of its
motion will be various in different bodies, being more
or lefs as the body is larger or fmaller, and as it is
more or lefs fpecifically heavy ; but, for a particular in-
liance, if the body were a globe of 12 inches diameter,
and.of the fame gravity as the atmofpheric ftones, the’
motion would decreafe fo as to be little more than a
quarter of a mile per fecond of perpendicular defcent.
Now while the body is thus defcending, the earth itfelf
is affecfed by a twmfold motion, both the diurnal and
the annual one, with both of which the defcent of the
body is to be compounded. The earth’s motion of ro¬
tation at the equator is about 17 miles in a minute, or
two-fevenths of a mile in a fecond ; but in the middle
latitudes of Europe little more than the half of that,
or little above half a quarter of a mile in a fecond 5 and’
if we compound this motion with that of the defcending
body, as in mechanics, this may caufe the body to ap¬
pear to defcend obliquely, though but a little, 'the mo¬
tion being nearer the perpendicular than the horizontal
dirediion. But the other motion of the earth, or that
in its annual courfe, is about 20 miles in a fecond,
which is 80 times greater than the perpendicular de¬
ment in the inflance above-mentioned ; fo that, if this
motion be compounded with the defcending one of the
body, it muft neceffarily give it the appearance of a
very rapid motion, in a diredtion nearly parallel to the
horizon, but a little declining downwards. A circum-
ftance which exactly agrees with the appearances of '
thefe meteoric bodies, as ftated in the fecond article of
the enumerated phenomena.
“3* Again, with regard to the apparent dire&ion of
the body ; this will evdently be various, being that
compounded of the body’s defcent and the diiedlion of
the earth’s annua] motion at the time of the fall, which
is itfelf various in the different feafons of the ye’ar, ac¬
cording to the diredlion of the feveral points of the ec¬
liptic to the earth’s meridian or axis. Ufuaily, how¬
ever, from the great excefs of the earth’s motion above
that of the falling body, the diredfion of this muft ap¬
pear to be nearly oppoUte to that of the former. And
in fadl this exadtly agrees with a remark made by Er
03 ] MET
Halley, in his account of the meteors in his paper
above given,, where he fays that the diredfion of the
meteor’s motion was exadliy oppofite to that of the
earth in her orbit. And if this {hall generally be found
to be the cafe, it will prove a powerful confirmation of
this theory of the lunar fubftances. Unfortunately
however, the obfervations on this point are very few’
and moftly inaccurate 5 the angle or diredion of the
tallen ftones has not been recorded; and that of the
flying meteor commonly miftaken, all the various ob-
iervers giving it a different courfe, feme even diredily
the reverfe of others. In future, it will be very ad-
vifable that the obfervers of fallen ftones, obferve and
record the diredfion or bearing of the perforation made
by the body m the earth, which will give us perhaps
the courle of the path nearer than any other obferva-
tion.
“4. In the flight of thefe meteoric ftones, it is com¬
monly obferved, that they yield a loud whizzing found.
Indeed it would be furprifing if they did not. ^ For if
the like found be given by the fmooth and regularly
formed cannon ball, and beard at a confiderable dis¬
tance, how exceedingly great muft be that of a body
io much larger, which is of an irregular form and fur-
tace too, and linking the air with 50 or 100 times the
velocity.
. 3* ';^ey>commf)nly burft and fly in pieces in
their rapid flight, is a circumftance exceedingly likely
to happen, both from the violent ftate of fufton on their
unace, and from the extreme rapidity of their motion
through the air. If a grinding {tone, from its quick
rotation, be fometimes burft and fly in pieces, and if
the lame thing happen to cannon balls when made of
ftone and difcharged with confiderable velocity, merely
by the fridion and reftitance of the air; how much-
morels the lame to be expefted to happen to the at-
moiphenc ftones, moving with more than 50 times the
velocity, and when their furface may well be fuppofed
to be partly loofened or diffolved by the extremity of
tne heat there, J
6. That the ftones ftrike the ground with a great *
force, and penetrate to a confiderable depth, as is ufu-
aiiy oderved, is a circumftance only to be expe&ed
from the.extreme rapidity of their motion, and their
great weight, when we conlider that a cannon ball or
a mortar (hell,, will often bury itfelf many inches' or
even lome feet in the earth.
“ 7. That thefe ftones, when foon fought after and
ound, are not, and exhibit the marks of recent fufion ,
are alio the natural confequences of the extreme degree
of inhammatipn in which their furface had been put -
during tneir flight through the air. J
“ 8. That thefe ftony maffes have all the fame ex--
ternal appearance and contexture, as well as internally
the lame nature and compofition, are circumftances that
ftiong^y point out an identity of origin, whatever may
be the came to which they owe fo generally uniform a
conformation. And when it is confidered,
l/! 9 in t!l°re refPeas differ ’ totally fronv
ad terreftnal compofitions hitherto known or difeover-
e2 tney • . tfe mind ftrong!y to aferibe them to fome
o.ner ongm than the earth we inhabit; and none fo
Iixeiy as coming from our neighbouring planet.
Upon the whole then (continues Dr Hutton), it:
appears •
Meteoro-
lite.
MET [ 7°4 ] _ M E T
tliat tlio flaming meteors, and bined and modified in a very diffever.t^manner.
appears liigbly prqbabl ,
the burning (tones, that fall on the eart’j, are one and
the fame thing. It alfo appears impofiibie,^ 01. in the
extreme!! degree improbable, to aicribs tnei^ either to
a formation in the fuperior parts of the atmoiphere, or
to the eruptions of terreftrial volcanoes, or to the gene¬
ration by lightning finking the earth. But, on the
other hand, that it is pofhbie for fiich mafics to oe pro-
iected from the moon fo as to reach the eartli j and that
all the phenomena of theie meteors or falling (tones,
having a lurpnfing conformity with tne circumltances
ot maffes that may be expelled from the moon by na¬
tural caufes, unite in forming a body of itrong evi¬
dence, that this is in ail probability and actually the
cafe- • • 1
M. Poiffon, an ingenious French mathematician, has
fhown by an algebraical calculation, the poflibility of a
projectile reaching our planet from the moon. His
calculation, however, which may be found in the work
of Izarn, quoted above, (p. 238. et feq.) proceeds on
the fuppofition that our fatellite has no atmofphere, or
next to none. There are, no doubt, appearances w hich
feem to favour this fuppofition, but they do not amount
to pofitive proof of the faft. Even could the latter be
eitabliflied, the combuftion of a volcano, without the
prefence of atmofpheric air, would remain to be explain¬
ed. But, granting this difficulty too to be furmounted,
there are other circumltances which we cannot eafily
reconcile to the lunar hypothefis. I he occafional ar¬
rival of fragments of lava on the earth s furface, wTould
argue, on a fair computation of chances, luch a copious
difcharge of volcanic matters, that the moon, by this
time, would confilt of hardly any thing elfe. Again,
if we may be allowed to reafon from analogy, the
volcanic productions of the moon fhould exhibit varieties
of afpeft and compofition like thofe with which we are
acquainted, and not a definite and preciie number of
the fame ingredients. We may alfo remark, that the
foft and incoherent ftate of feveral of the recent fpeci-
mens of mcteorolites can ill accord with their fuppofed
paflage through any confiderable portion of fpace ; and
that the 1’Aigle phenomenon, which is fo diftinCtly
recorded, evidently fuggefts the notion of inftantaneous
formation in the atmofphere. And, though this view
of the fubjeCt may be regarded by fome as inexplicable,
we cannot conceive that it is more fo than the doctrine
of cryftallization, or than many of the refults of chemi¬
cal combination, whofe exiftence it is impoffible to
deny. Thefe and other arguments may, we apprehend,
be fairly urged again!! any theory which attempts to
explain the hiftory of meteors by the agency of lunar
The hypothefis of Dr Chladni, which likewife boafts
of its advocates, though ftill m»re extravagant than the
preceding, deferves to be ftated. As earthy, metallic,
and other particles form the principal component parts
of our planet, among which iron is the prevailing part,
other planetary bodies, he affirms, may confilt of fimilar,
or, perhaps, the fame component parts, though com-
    ^ There
may alfo be denfe matters accumulated in fmaller maf¬
fes, without being in immediate connexion with the lar¬
ger planetary bodies, difperfed throughout infinite (pace,
and which, being impelled either by fame projecting
power or attraction, continue to move until they ap¬
proach the earth, or fome other body ; when, being
overcome by attractive force, they immediately fall
down. By their exceeding great velocity, ftill mcrear-
ed by the attraction of the earth and tne violent friction
in the atmoiphere, a ftrong eleCtricity and heat mu ft
neceflarily be excited, by which means they are reduced
to a flaming and melted condition, and great quantities
of vapour and different kinds of gaies are thus often-
gaged, which diltend the Jiquid mafs to a monftrous
fize, till, by a (till farther expanficn of thefe elaftic
fluids, they rayft at length difplode. That portions of
cofmical matter are allowed to revolve in Ipace, and to
terminate their career on the iitnace ot a planet, is a
pofition too gratuitous and vague, to be readiiy admit¬
ted, but the belief of which involves no principle of
atheilm or impiety, as fome of Dr Chladni's ant agon iits
have very unhandfomely infinuated. It worlds disap¬
pear and others fpring into exiftence, a iportive imagina¬
tion may be permitted to indulge in the innocent mp-
pofition, that fragments of their materials are detached
from their fraftured maffes, and obey, thole laws of
attraction wrhich feem to extend their influence to the
remoteft corners of the univerfe.
Such of our readers as are felicitous or obtaining
more ample information on the fubjeCt of this article,
may confult Imam's Lithologic Atmofphenqut; Biot T
Relation d'un Voyage fait clans le debartement de ROrne,
pour confater la reahte d'un Met core obferve a l Aigle;
Bottiger’’s Obfervations on the Accounts given by ancient
authors of Stones faid to have fallen from tne £!ouds ;
Fulda’s 'Memoir on Fire-balls $ Cavallo's Elements of
Natural Philofophy ; Klaproth on Meteoric Stones ; Sol-
dani')s Account of the Tufcan Meteor ; Chladni’s Treat ife
on the Siberian Mafs of Iron; Mr b.dward King s
Remarks concerning Stones faid to have fallen from the
Clouds\; and feveral of the more recent tranfadions of
learned focieties and periodical feientifle communica¬
tions, as thofe of the Royal Society 01 Lonuon, of the
Inftitute at Paris, the Journal de Phyfique, Annales de
Chimie, Bibliotheque Britannique, Decade Philofophi-
que. Journal des Mines, Philofophical Magazine, Ni-
cholfon’s Journal, &c. &c.
METEOROLOGICAL, fomething belonging to
meteors.
Meteorological Journal, is a table recording the
daily ftate of the air, exhibited by the barometer,
thermometer, hygrometer, anemometer, and other me¬
teorological inftruments. We have many journals of
this kind, kept at the houfe of the Royal Society,
and by different obfervers in other places, in the Pni-
lofophical TranfaCtions, the Memoirs of the Academy
of Sciences, and fimilar publications.
METEOROLOGY.
Introduc¬
tion.
/
t 7°5 ]
M E T E O R O L O G Y.
Introduc¬
tion.
INTRODUCTION.
Object of ^.JETEOROLOGY is that part of natural fcience
meteoro- IVx which treats of the changes that take place in our
^ atmofphere, as they are perceptible to our fenfes, or as
they are indicated by certain inftruments which the in¬
genuity of man or accident has difcovered to anfwer
that purpofe. In as far as it defcribes the phenomena
produced by fuch changes, meteorology is a depart¬
ment of natural hiltory but in its attempts to account
for the appearances, it is almoft entirely dependent on
2 Natural Philosophy and Chemistry.
Its connec- The connedion of METEOROLOGY with CHEMISTRY
tion with jg fufficiently evident to thofe who take only a luper-
chemiftry. fic;aj view 0f the fubjeft, though it has only of late at¬
tracted the notice of philofophers. That the air is
fometimes hotter and fometimes colder than ufual 5 that
it is at one time much rarefied, and at another greatly
condenfed $ now uncommonly dry, and now furcharged
with moilture—are circumftances that daily meet the
fenfes of the moft cafual obferver, as they are circum¬
ftances that powerfully, and often unpleafantly, arreft
his attention. That thefe changes are the refult of de-
compofitions and combinations that are continually go¬
ing on in the atmofphere, and of new modifications of
its component principles, is manifeft to him who is ac¬
quainted merely with the firft elements of modern che-
miitry.
. Indeed to modern chemiftry this fcience is indebted
for the progrefs it has made within the lad 50 years j
a period which may be confidered as the fecond epoch
of meteorology. In fad, this fcience is ftill in its in¬
fancy 5 but from the ardour with which it is now culti¬
vated, from the abilities of the philofophers who are en¬
gaged in the ftudy, and from the progrefs that is daily
making in the kindred fciences, we may reafonaWy
look forward to a period, at no great diftance, when it
(hall pleafe the great Author of nature to unveil many
of thofe wonders which are now involved in darknefs
and obfcurity, and permit us to controul the Jarring
elements, as he has allowed us to exercife dominion over
the beads of the earth, the fowls of the air, and the
fifties of the fea. # .
Means of A late ingenious writer on the climate of Britain has
improving fuggefted fome ufeful hints for the improvement of me-
meteoro- teorology, which we (hall here extraft, “ With this
logy' view, our firft ftep mud be t/iat recommended by Mr
Kir wan and others, to eftablifti correfponding focieties
in different parts of the world ; thefe focieties muft be
fund lived with fimilar apparatus, equally adjufted, and
graduated in their conftru&ion, for making obfervations
on the weather. In our own ifland it will be neceffary
to procure regifters, carefully kept, from the different
parts of the fea coaft, and from thofe parts of the coun¬
try fituated in the interior. The various dates of the
barometer, thermometer, hygrometer, and eleftrofcope,
Ihould be carefully noted ; with the variations and the
degrees of wTind, as well as the diuinal and ncCturnal
Vol. XIII. Part II.
afped of the heavens difciiminately marked j the ap¬
pearance of the Iky j and in familiar language, fuch as
might be underftood by the refpedtive and diftant ob-
fervers j for inftance, whether the fun is totally or par¬
tially obfcured by vapourwhether the clouds are
mottled, or fieaky •,—whether they affume the appear¬
ance of horizontal ftreaks, or appear in radii apparently
from a centre—or in maffes of denfe vapour 01
loofe and fleecy—or thofe familiarly known by the
name of mare-tail clouds—with any other new or ac-
cuftomed phenomena. J he common terms^/azr, cloudy.^
or ioe/, are infufficient for forming a judgement of the
weather j as the term fair is generally at prefent ex-
preffed only in oppofition fo raifi, without diftinguilh-
ing whether the atmofphere is obfcure, dull, or bright.
The appearance of the ftratum of air on the earth’s furface,
that is, the /pace between the clouds and the earth, ftvould
be always accurately defcribed. Isthereabluehaze, white
mill, and denfe fog ? or is the air tranfparent ? which is
the cafe when diftant objedts appear more than com¬
monly diftindl and near to the eye of the obferver: the
temperature of the ocean at full tide ftvould be frequent¬
ly afcertained, as it wdll be found to have confideraMe
influence in thefe refpedls on an infular country. By
the remarks of obfervers, ftationed in various parts of
our coafts, we ftiould foon be enabled to difcover when
vapour is wafted in from the fea, or generated by the
aqueous and vegetable furface of our ifland. During a
north-w'eft wind, w’hich is frequently attended with
ft or ms of hail and rain, and ufually experienced in the
fpring, an obferver ftationed on the coaft of Sligo in
Ireland, or Denbighflvire in Wales, might afcertain
whether the difpcfition of the atmofphere to ftorm and
cloud came in with the air from the Atlantic ocean,
or was generated by the vapours of our own ifland. It
would be defirabie alfo again, that the temperature and
blue hazy appearance of the atmofphere during the
north-eaft winds, fo common in May and June, fliould be
noticed by obfervers on the north-eaft coaft, in the coun¬
ties of York, Lincoln, Effex and Kent ; and by others,
on the oppofite weftern coafts of Pembroke, Devon, and
Cormvall, fo as to determine what changes in tempera¬
ture this wind undergoes in its paffage over the ifland j
and whether or not the degree of haze increafes or di-
minifhes by its progrefs from either quarter j and w’he-
ther the vapour is more or lefs difpofed to produce ftorms ?
By fuch comparative obfervations on the coaft, con¬
joined with thofe made by others in the central parts
of the kingdom, we might rapidly proceed in meteo¬
rological fcience, or, as it is commonly called, a know¬
ledge of the weather. The obfervations made in the
interior of the country would enable us at all times to
trace the origin and progrefs of ftorms : in fituations
where tillage or pafturage is moft attended to, the ef-
fcfts of fpring frofts and blights fliould be particularly
noticed, as well as the firft appearance of the aphis and
coccus, the caterpillar and larvae of other inleffs, on
fruit trees, and particularly thefe peculiar to the hop
plantations. The firft opening of the vernal foliage on
4 U trees
/
M
E
E 0 R O L O G Y.
trees and hedges in tlie fpring, (liould likewife be re¬
marked, and compared with the ftarting up grafs on
the highly manured paftures in the neighbourhood of
towns, and on tbofe alfo aflifted with manure, as well
as the natural herbage on the commons and wades.
Some attention fhould be paid to the effects of thunder
dorms, in deftroying the aphis and other deftruclive in-
fe£ls, the peft of fruit and hop plantations ; and the fir ft
appearance of the mildew or ruft on wheat ftiould be par¬
ticularly obferved, and remarks made to afcertain, whe¬
ther or not the moifture, which occafions the difeafe in
its commencement ivas attended with wind and rain, or
a clofe damp date of the air. The different kinds of
* Williams foil, where the crops, from the dileafe, fuffered mod,
on the Cli- fhould be noticed, and the fituation of the land for ven-
7Brit alt tilation, with the height of the fences, fize of inclofures,
/l a™' and vicinity to coppices, trees, or hedge-rows
Importance The importance of the ftudy of meteorology requires
of the fci- little elucidation. In climates where the fucceflion of
ence' feafons is nearly dated and regular, where the periods
of parching drought or deluging torrents, of the tern-.
peftuous hurricane or the refrediing breeze, are fixed
and afcertained, mankind has little to do, but expedf
the dreaded changes, and provide againft their devafta-
tions} but in countries like our own, where all the vi-
ciffitudes of feafons may take place in the courfe of a
few hours, it is of the higheft confequence to invefti-
gate the nature of the change, and the circumftances
that precede or accompany it. To the farmer, the ma¬
riner, the traveller, the phyfician, meteorology is in
fbme meafure a ftudy of neceffity •, to the philofopher it
is a ftudy of intereft and delight ; and to the obferver
of nature it affords obje61s of grandeur and fublimity
not to be found in any other department of his favourite
fcience. Surely nothing can contribute more to elevate
the mind of man, to raife it “ from nature up to nature’s
God,” than the contemplation of the fweeping whirl¬
wind, the dazzling lightning, or the awful thunder.
Our limits will not admit of our entering into a hif-
torical detail of the progrefs of meteorology ; but it
may be proper in this place to enumerate the principal
writers on this fcience both in our own country and on
the continent.
In this country, we may reckon Dr Kirwan, (in his
“ Eftimate of the Temperature of different Climates,”
his “ Effay on the Variations of the Atmofphere,” and Introduc.
in the “ Irith Tran factions”), Mr John Dalton (chieliy bon.
in the “ Manchefter Memoirs”), Col. Capper (in his Y"
“ Obfervations on the Winds and Monfoons”), Mr writers o&
Williams (in his “ Climate of Great Britain”), and meteoro-
Mr Luke Howard (in the Philofophical Magazine), *°S)r-
as the principal cultivators of meteorological know¬
ledge 5 and on the continent, the names of Cotte
(u Traite de Meteorologies and Journal de Physique),
Sauffure ('“ EJfai fur PHytirometrief and Voyage aux
MlpeP’’), De Luc (a) (“ Recherches fur les Modifca~
lions de PAtmofphere'1 ’, Idees J'ur la Meteorologief and
other works), and Lamarck ('See Journ. de Phyf paf-
fim) Hand moft conspicuous in this branch of natural
fcience.
In confidering the fubjedl of meteorology, we may
properly divide it into feven general heads : i. of the
changes which take place in the gravity of the air ; 2.
of the changes of the temperature of the air j 3. of the 7
changes produced by evaporation and rain 5 4. of the
changes produced by winds 5 5. of atmofphericai ele61rl-
cityj 6. of meteors or thole viiible phenomena accompa¬
nied with light, which take place in the atmofphere or
near the furface of the earth ; and 7. the application of
the principles of meteorology to the ufeful purpofes of
life. Of thefe heads, the fifth has been already fully con-
fidered under Electricity, and much of the fixth has
been exhaufted under Meteorolite. The remaining
circumftances will form the fubje&s of the following
chapters.
Chap. I. Of the Changes ’which tahe place in the
Gravity of the Air.
Many of the fa£ls relating to this part of our fub-
jecJ have been already anticipated under the article
Barometer, and feveral circumftances fall to be con-
fidered more properly under Pneumatics than in this
place. We lhall here confine ourfelves to a general
view of the changes in the gravity of the atmofphere, as
indicated by the barometer, in various lituations on or
near the lurface of the earth, and briefly examine the
conclufions that may be drawn from them. g
The moil: general fa£l indicated by the barometer is, Mercury
that this inftrument fhews us the weight of a column of Hands
air higheft «
tlie level
 — — - of the fea»
(a) In again mentioning the name of a philofopher fo refpedable as M. de Luc, we embrace the firft oppor¬
tunity of dqjng him juftice, and of vindicating his character againft an unfortunate mifconception of the late Pro-
feffor Robifon, a miftake which we have inadvertently contributed to diffoninate, by quoting Dr Robifon’s ftate-
ment in our account of Dr Black, where M. de Luc is accufed of having arrogated to himfelf Dr Black’s difco-
very of latent heat.
M. de Luc’s vindication of hirrfelf (as printed in the 12th number of the Edinburgh Review) is before the
public. We owe it to candour and juftice to acknowledge our convi&ion that Dr Robifon was too hafty in his af-
fertion, and that M. de Luc, fo far from arrogating to himfelf the do&rine of latent heat, has, in various parts of
his numerous writings, expreisly mentioned Dr Black as the author of that do&rine. This will appear from the
following citations. In his “ Introduction a la Phyfique terreftre,” p. 102, M. de Luc thus expreffes himfelf.
“ Ne connoiffant point le feu latent, dans la vapeur a toute temperature, dont la premiere dccouverte ef due au Dr
B! ack, &c. Again, p. 232 of the fame work. “ Ce qui developpoit 1’itlee de chaieitr latente par laquelle le
Dr Black avoit defignd ce phenomenef-—and at p. 385, “ Le Dr Black aya t decouvert qu’une certaine quantite de
chaleur dilparoit quand la vapeur de 1’eau bouillante fe forme, notnmace phenomene cha/eur ‘cute dans la vapeur.”
We truft that thefe quotations, wfith M. de Lu^’s own juftification of himfelf abo e rer rred to, will be fuffici-
ent to exc^pate him from the charge of literary felony fo warmly brought againft him Proffffor Robifon }
and we have no doubt the Profeffor himfeif, were he Itill alive, would under fuch evidence sctraCl his accufatiorv
the Air.
9
Medium
height 3®
inches.
Chap. I. METEOR
Gravity of air whofe bafe is equal to the diameter of the mercury
in the tube, and whofe height is equal to the extent
of the atmofphere above the place of obfervation. As
the height of this column muft vary in different fitua-
tions, and mull, cceteris paribus, be greateft, at the level
of the fea, the mercury in the tube will, under the
fame circumftances, Hand higheft in fuch a fituation.
The medium height of the barometer at the level of
the fea is 30 inches, as has been found by obfervations
in the Britilh channel, and in the Mediterranean fea,
at the temperatures of 550 and 6o° j on the coaft of
Peru at the temperature of 84°, and in latitude 8o°.
As we afcend above the furface of the earth, the me¬
dium height of the mercury dimini fives j and fome late
obfervations made in balloons at a confiderable diftance
above the tops of the higheft mountains, have (hewn
that in the higher regions of the air, the column of
mercury is very confiderably fhortened. This faff, as
we have feen (fee Barometer), has been ufefully ap¬
plied to the meafuring of heights and depths that can¬
not be afeertained by the ufual geometrical methods.
As the abfolute gravity of the atmofphere is cenftantly
varying, even in the fame.place, the column of air pref-
fing on the furface of the mercury without the tube,
muft prefs with more or lefs force, in proportion as
thefe changes are greater ^ and hence the barometer
points out thefe variations, falling when the atmofphere
is lighter, and riling when it is heavier than ufual.
For an account of the obfervations that were made on
the rife and fall of the barometer by the earlier philo-
fophers, and the attempts which were made by them to
explain thefe phenomena, fee Barometer.
It will be of advantage here to conlider the varia¬
tions of the barometer, as they take place in different
fituations, in order, if pofiible, to point out the caufe
by which thefe variations are produced, as this caufe
muft have confiderable influence on the changes of the
weather.
It is found, that between the tropics the variations
of the baro-0f barometer are exceedingly fmall, and it is re-
tween^the ir,ar^a't)^ej that in that part of the wrorld it does not de¬
tropics very feend above half as much for every 200 feet of elevation
fmaii. as it does beyond the tropics *. In the torrid zone,
* Jcur. de too, the barometer is elevated about 4 of a line twice
■0^2681^9°’every ’ ant^ this elevation happens at the fame time
with the tides of the fea f.
As the latitude advances towards the poles, the range
of the barometer gradually increafes, till at laft it
amounts to two or three inches. This gradual increafe
* Kir-u appear from the following table.
Irifj Tranf.
vol. iii. 47. Table of the Range of the Barometer.
f AJlatic
Refe arches,
vol. ii. Ap¬
pendix.
^ Manchejl.
JVLem. vol.
iv.
§ Edin.
Tranf. vol.
ii.
|| Tranf.
Philadelph.
vol. ii.
** Edin.
Tranf. vol.
h. p. 22p.
10
Variation
P
f Ibid.
Latitude.
O0
22
40
51
53
53
59
23/
55
8
T3
23
56
Places.
Peru
Calcutta
Naples
Dover
Middlewick
Liverpool
Peterfburgh
R ange of the Barometer.
Greateft.
0.20 *
O.77 f
I.OO J
2.47 $
3.00 $
2.89
3-45
* #
Annual.
I.80
I.94
I.96
2.77
O L O G Y.
There is, however, fome exception to this general
rule, as in North America the range of the barometer
is much lefs than in the correfponding European lati¬
tudes.
The range of the barometer is greater at the level
of the fea than on mountains, and in the fame degree
of latitude the extent of the range is in the inverfe
ratio of the height of the place above the level of the
fea.
‘ It appears probable that the barometer has a ten¬
dency to rife during the day from morning to evening,
and that this tendency is greateft between 2 and 9
P. M. the greateft elevation being at this laft period.
The elevation at 2 differs from that at 9 by while
that at 2 differs from the morning elevation only by
5 and that in certain climates the greateft; elevation
takes place at 2 o’clock *.
The range of the barometer is greater in winter than
in fummer, as appears from fome obfervations made at
Kendal during five years; the mean range from 0<ffo-
ber to March being 7.982, and that from April to
September being only 5.447 f.
When the atmofphere is ferene and fettled the mer¬
cury is generally high j and in calm weather, when it
is inclined to rain, the mercury is low. On the ap¬
proach of high winds it finks, as it does with a fouther-
ly wind, but rifes very high on the approach of eafter-
ly and northerly winds. It is found, however, that at
Calcutta the mercury is higheft; with north-wefterly
and northerly, and loweft with fouth-eaftcrly winds.
The mercury fuddenly. falls on the approach of tem-
pefts, and during their continuance undergoes great of-
cillations.
To thefe general faffs that have been obferved on
the rife and fall of the barometer, we fhall annex the
following axioms by M. Cotte.
1. The greateft changes of the barometer commonly
take place during clear weather, with a north wind 5
and the fmall rifings during cloudy, rainy, or windy
weather, with a fouth, or nearly fouth wind.
2. The ftate of the mercury changes more in the
winter than in the fumraer months; fo that its greateft:
rifing and falling takes place in winter j but its mean
elevation is greater in fummer than in winter.
3. The changes of the ftate of the barometer are
nearly null at the equator, and become greater the
more one removes from it towards the poles.
4. They are more confiderable in valleys than on
mountains.
5. The more variable the wind, the more changeable
the ftate of the barometer.
6. It is lower at midnight and noon than at other
periods of the day ; its greateft daily height is towards
evening.
7. Between 10 at night and 2 in the morning, and
alfo in the day, the rifing and falling of the mercury
are lefs; the contrary is the cafe between 6 and 10 in
the morning and evening.
8. Between 2 and 6 in the morning and evening it
rifes as often as it falls; but in fuch a manner that it
oftener rifes about that time in the winter months, and
falls oftener in the fummer months.
9. The ofcillations are lefs in fummer, greater in
winter, and very great at the equinoxes.
4 U 2
?°7
Gravity of
the Air.
* four, de
Phyf 1790.
f Manchejl.
Mem vol.
iv. p. 547.
12
Cotte’s axi¬
oms on the
barameter.
10. They
t
70S
Gravity of
the Air.
METEOR
greater alfo in tlie daytime than dur-
*3
Atmo-
fphere
forms two
Inclined
planes
meeting at
the equa¬
tor.
* Irifi-
Trcmf- voh
ii. p. 43,
Sic.
10. They ar
ing the night. . ...
U. The higher the fun rifes above the horizon, the
lefs are the ofcillations; they increafe as he approaches
the vvefjern fide of the horizon, and are exceedingly
great when he comes oppofite to the ealfern part of the
horizon. .
12. They are, to a certain degree, independent ot
the changes of temperature.
j o. The mercury generally rifes between the new
and the full moon, and falls between the latter and the
new moon. • .
14. It rifes more in the apogee than the perigee j
it ufually rifes between the northern luniftice and the
fouthern, and falls between the fouthern luniftice and
the northern. . . .
15. In general, a comparifon of the variations ot
the mercury with the pofitions of the moon gives nothing
certain; the refults of N° 13. and 14. are the moft
conftant.
16. In the neighbourhood of Paris the barometer ne¬
ver continues 24 hours without changing.
I<7. The barometers in the weftein diftrifts rife and
fall 1'ooner than tho e in the more eaftern.
18. When the fun paffes the meridian, the mercury,
if falling, continues to fall, and its fall is often haftened.
19. When the mercury at the fame period is rifing,
it falls, remains ftationary, or rifes more flowly.
20. When the mercury, under the lame circum-
ftances, is ftationary, it falls, unlefs before or after it
becomes ftationary, it has been in the a£l of riling.
21. The above changes commonly take place be-
tween 11 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon, but
oftener before than after noon.
2 2 Before high tides there is alnqoft always a great
fall of the mercury ; this takes place oftener at the full
than the new moon. _ . ,
Such is a general view of the variations in the gra¬
vity of the air, as far as they have been obferved by the
barometer ; and we lhall now endeavour to give fome
plaufible theory of them.
It is evident that the denfity of the atmofphere is
leaf! at the equator, and greateft at the poles; for at
the equator the centrifugal force, the diftance from
the centre of the earth, and the heat (all of which
tend to diminifti the deniity of the air), are at their
maximum, while at the poles they are at their mini¬
mum. The mean height of the barometer at the level
of the fea, all over the globe, is 30 inches ; the weight
of the atmofphere, therefore, is the fame all over the
olobe. This weight depends on the denfity and height
of the air ; where the denfity is greateit, its height
m'uft be leaft ; and on the contrary, where its denfity is
leaft, its height mult be greateft. I he height of the
atmofphere, therefore, muft be greateft at the equator,
and leaft at the poles ; and it muft decreafe gradually
between the equator and the poles, fo that its upper
furface will refemble two inclined planes, meeting above
the equator their higheft part*.
During fummer, when the fun is in our hemifphere,
the mean heat between the equator and the pole does
not differ fo much as in winter. Hence the rarity of
the atmofphere at the pole, and confequently its height,
will be increafed. The upper furface of the atmo¬
fphere, therefore, in the northern hemifpnere, ■'.sill be
o L O G Y. cl'aP- L
lefs inclined; svhile that of the fouthem hemifphere, J0'
from contrary caufes, will be much more inclined.
The reverfe will take place during our winter.
The denftty of the atmofphere depends in a great
meafure on the preffure of the fuperincumbent column,
and therefore decreafes according to the height, as the
preffure of the fuperincumbent column conftant ly de¬
creafes. But the denfity of the atmofphere in the tor¬
rid zone will not decreafe fo fait as in the temperate
and frigid zones, becaufe its column is larger, and be-
caufe there is a greater proportion of air in the higher
part of this column. This accounts for the obfeivation
of Mr Caffon, that the barometer, finks only halt as
much for every 200 feet of elevation in the torrid as
in the temperate zones. The denfity of the
fphere at the equator, therefore, though at the iurtace
of the earth it is lefs, muft at a certain height equal,
and at a ftill greater muft exceed, the denfity of the
atmofphere in the temperate zones and at the poles. I4
We {hall prefently endeavour to prove, that a quan- why the
tity of air is conftantly afeending at the equator, and merrury^3.
that part of it at leaft reaches and continues in the high-
er parts of the atmofphere. From the fluidity of air,
it is evident that it cannot accumulate above the equa-latitudes,
tor, but muft roll down the inclined plane which the
upper furface of the atmofphere affumes towards the
poles. As the furface of the atmofphere of. the
northern hemifphere is more inclined during our winter
than that of the fouthern hemifphere, a greater quan¬
tity of the equatorial current of air muft flow over upon
the northern than upon the fouthern hemifphere ; fo
that the quantity of our atmofphere will be greater du¬
ring winter than that of the fouthern hemifphere ; but
during fummer the reverfe will take place. . Hence
the greateft mercurial heights take place during win¬
ter, and the range of the barometer is Jefs in fummei
than in winter.
The denfity of the atmofphere is in a great meaiure
regulated by the heat of the place ; wherever the cold is
greateft, there the denfity of the atmofphere will be
greateft, and its column Ihorteft. High countries, and
ranges of lofty mountains, the tops of which are covered
with fnow the greateft part of the year, muft be much
colder than other places fituated in the fame degree
of latitude, and confequently the column of air over
them much fhorter. The current of fuperior air will
linger and accumulate over thefe places in its paflage
towards the poles, and thus occafion an irregularity in
its motion, which will produce a firailar irregularity in
the barometer. Such accumulations will be .formed
over the north-weftern parts of Aha, and over North
America; hence the barometer utually ftands higher,
and varies lefs there, than in Europe. Accumulations
alfo are formed upon the Pyrenees, the. Alps, the
mountains of Africa, Turkey in Europe, 1 artary, and
Tibet. When thefe accumulations have gone on for
fome time, the denfity of the air becomes too great. to
be balanced by the furrounding atmofphere ; it rufhes
down on the’neighbonring countries, and produces cold
winds which raife the barometer. Hence the rife of
the barometer which generally attends north-eaft winds
in Europe, as they proceed from accumulations in the
north-weft of Afia, or about the pole ; hence, too, the
north-weft wind from the mountains of I ibet rakes the
barometer at Calcutta.
meteorology.
Chap- L , -1
Gr vity of We fliall prefently endeavour to drew, that coniider-
the Air. .ahle quantities of air are occafionaliy deftroyed in t e
  north polar regions. When this happens, the atmofpaere
to the fouth rufhes in to fupply the deficiency. Hence
fouth-wetl winds take place, and the barometer Hlls. _
As the mean heat of our hemifphere differs in dif¬
ferent years, the denfity of the atmofphere, and conle-
quently the quantity of equatorial air which flows to¬
wards the poles, muft alfo be variable. Does this
ranpe correfpond to the mean annual heat -, that is to
lav Is the range greateft when the heat is lead, an
lead when the heat is greateft ? Income years greater
accumulations than ufual take place in the. mountainous
parts in the fouth of Europe and Afia, owing perhaps,
to earlier falls of fnow, or to the rays of the fun having
been excluded by long-continued fogs. When this
takes place, the atmofphere in the polar regions will
be proportionably lighter. Hence the prevalence of
foutherly winds during fome winters more than others.
As the heat in the torrid zone never difters much,
the denfity, and confequently the height, of the atmo¬
fphere, will not vary much. Hence the range of the
barometer within the tropics is comparatively imal *
and it increafes gradually as we approach the poles,
becaufe the difference of the temperature, and conie-
quently of the denfity, of the atmofphere, increates with
the latitude; . . .,
The diurnal elevation of the barometer in ™e torrid
zone correfponding to the tides, obferved by Mr Caffon
and others, muft be owing to the influence of the moon
on the atmofphere. This influence, notwithftanding
the ingenious attempts of D’Alembert and feveral other
philofophers, feems altogether inadequate to. account
for the various phenomena of the winds. It is not o
eafy to account for the tendency which the barometer
has to rife as the day advances. Perhaps it may be ac¬
counted for by the additional quantity of vapour added
to the atmofphere, which, by increafing the quantity
of the atmofphere, may poflibly be adequate to produce
The falls of the barometer which precede, and the
ofcillations which accompany, violent ftorms and hurri¬
canes, fliew us that thefe phenomena are produced by
very great rarefaffions, or perhaps deftruaions of air,
in particular parts of the atmofphere. Ihe falls of the
barometer, too, that accompany winds proceed from
the fame caufe. The obfervation made by Mr Cop¬
land '■hat a high barometer is accom tamed by a toff1-
perature above the mean, will be eafily accounted lor
by every one acquainted with Dr Black’s theory of la¬
tent heat The higher the mercury Hands, the den.er
the atmofphere muft be-, and the denfer it becomes,
the more latent heat it muft give out. It is well known
that air evolves heat when condenfed artificially. I he
falling of the barometer, which generally precedes ram,
remains ftill to be accounted for -, but we know too lit¬
tle about the eaufes by which rain is produced, to be
able to account for it in a fatisfaftory mannei.
It lias been for fome time fufpeaed that the varia¬
tion of the barometer is affeaed by the changes of the
moon. The theory of lunar influence has been difcuf-
fed on the continent chiefly by Lamarck and Cotte,
(fee Journal de Phyfique, pofim) ; and in this country
by Mr Luke Howard. Mr Howard’s fufpicions.of this
influence on the barometer were firft conceived, in con-
fequence of the printed charts, of which he made me
in keeping a regifter of the barometer having the
phafes of the moon marked on them, and oi ms.obfery-
ing a remarkable coincidence between thefe and certain
ftates of the mercury. This coincidence confifts m the
depreflion of the barometrical line on the approach ot
the new and full moon, and its elevation on that of the
quarters. ■ In above 30 out of the 50 lunar weeks m
the year 1798, the barometer was found to have chan¬
ged its general direftion once in each week, m iuch a
manner as to be either riling or at its maximum, tor the
week preceding and following, about the time ot each
quarter : and to be either falling or at its minimum, tor
the two weeks, about the new and full. It is remark¬
able, that the point of greateft depreflion during the
year, viz. to 28.67, was found about 12 hours after
the new moon on the 8th of November j and that at
its greateft and extraordinary elevation to 30.89, on
the 7th of February, at the time of the lait quarter.
Moreover, this coincidence appeared to take place molt
regularly in fair and moderate weather} and, in gene¬
ral, when the barometer fell, during the interval be¬
tween the new or full moon and the quarters, an evi¬
dent perturbation in the atmofphere accompanied j ot
which may be inftanced February 15. to 23. when the
barometer, after an uncommon rife, continued to tall
rapidly after the new moon, with fevere cold, which
ended fuddenly in ftormy and wet weather; again
June 14. to 20. when two weeks of fair weather ended
in a thunder itorm. In'the greater part of December
the ufual coincidence difappeared, and the converle
took place -, the barometer being low at the quarter
and high at the full, amidft continual alternations, ot
rain, froft, and fnow, and, for part of the time, high
winds. On the two days preceding the laft quarter,
the barometer rofe rapidly, and rain followed.
On the whole, Mr Howard thought there appeared
fufficient ground, on the evidence of the year 1798, to
fuppole that the gravity of our atmofphere, as indicated
by the barometer, may be fubjeft to certain periodical
changes, effefted by a caufe more Heady and regular
than either change of temperature, currents, or lolution
and precipitation of water, to which he believes the
whole variation has been heretofore attributed.
The mean of the regifter at large appeared to be
29.89, whence it appears that the depreffion at the new
and full moon either amounted to more, on the whole,
. than the elevations at the quarters, or that they tell
out nearer to the time. Fie was quite fatisfied, m pal¬
ling through this regifter, that if he had allowed him-
felf to choofe the higher rotations about the quarters, and
the lower about the new and full, with a latitude ot 24
or 36 hours, it would have made the refults as much more
favourable to his conclufions as in her. tormer cale.
Now, to-omit the confideration of other proofs for
the prefent, it appeared to him evident, that the atmo-
fphtre is fubjea to a periodical change of gravity,
whereby the barometer, on a mean of ten years, is de-
preffed at leaft one-tenth of an inch while the moon is
paffing from the quarters to the full and new ; and ele¬
vated, in the fame proportion, during the return to the
quarter. To what caufes fhall we attribute this peiio-
dical change, other than the attra&ion of the fun and
moon for the matter compofing.the atmofphere.?
The atmofphere is a gravitating fluid, diilcnng, in a .
phyncal k
^ TO
Temp'-rs
tme of
the Air,
^ Phil.
Plug. vol.
vii- P- 355-
■ pliyficai feme, from tire water, chiefly in poffefling lefs
gravity ; and it is denicnflrated a priori on the princi-
x pies of the Newtonian phiiofophy, that it ought to have
its tides as well ns the ocean, although in a degree as
much lets perceptible as is its gravity.
^ He fuppofes, therefore, that the joint attractions of
the xun and moon at the new moon, and the attraction of
the moon predominating over the fun’s weaker attrac¬
tion at the full, tend to deprefs the barometer, by tak¬
ing off from tne gravity of the atmofphere, as they
produce a high tide in the waters, by taking off from
tne:r gravity ; and, again, that the attraction of the
moon being diminilhed by that of the fun at her quar¬
ters, this diminution tends to make a high barometer,
together with a low tide, by permitting each fluid to
prefs with additional gravity upon the earth *.
Chap. II. Of the Changes which take place in the
Temperature of the Air.
It Is obvious to the moft carelefs obferver, that the
temperature of the air varies confiderabiy even in the
fame place, and at the fame feafon. This conftant va¬
riation mu'l be attributed to the refleded rays of the
fun, which communicate heat from the furface of the
earth to the furrounding atmofphere. As from this
caufe the heat of thofe places' which are fo fituated as
to be mod warmed by the fun’s rays is always greateft,
and as this temperature varies in every place with the
feaion of the year, and diminifhes. according to the
height of the air above the furface ; and as the earth
at the equator is expofed to the moft perpendicular
rays of the fun, the earth is there hotteft, and its heat
dimmifhes gradually from the equator to the poles. Of
courfe, the temperature of the air muft vary in the
iame manner, being hotteft over the equator, and di-
miniftiing in temperature towards the poles, where it is
coldeft. Though it it hotteft at the equator, its heat,
as in ad otner fituations, gradually diminffhes there, as
we a;cend above the furface of the earth.
METEOROLOGY. Chap. II.
Though there is a confiderable difference in every Tempera-
part of the world betrveen the temperature of the at- ture °f
the Air.
n!ofphere in fummer and in winter; though in the fame ^
feafon the temperature of almoft every day, and even
every hour, differs from that which precedes and fol¬
lows it; though the heat varies continually in the moft
irregular and feemingly capricious manner—ftill there
is a certain mean temperature in every climate, which
the atmolphere has always a tendency to obferve, and
which it neither exceeds nor comes fhort of beyond a
certain number of degrees. What this temperature is,
may be known by taking the mean of tables of obferva-
tions kept for a number of years ; and our knowledge
of it muft be the more accurate the greater the number
of obfervations is.
I he mean annual temperature is greateft at the equa- Mean an-
tor (or at leaf! a degree or two on the north fide of it),nual teitl-
mrd it diminiftres gradually towards the poles, where itp^^e
is leaft. ^ This diminution takes place in arithmeticalfheequa-
progrefiion, or, to fpeak more properly, the annual tor.
temperatures of all the latitudes are arithmetical means
between the mean annual temperature of the equator
and that of the pole. This was firft afeertained by Mr
Meyer ; and Dr Kirwan improving on Meyer’s hint, has
calculated in the following table the mean annual tem¬
perature of every latitude between the equator and
the pole. It muft be remarked, however, that this
table is calculated only for a particular part of the
earth’s furface, viz. that part of the Atlantic ocean
which lies between the 8o° of northern, and the 450 of
fouthern latitude, extending weflward as far as the Gulf
ftream, and to within a few leagues of the coaft of A-
merica, and for all that part of the Pacific ocean that
reaches from 450 of north latitude to 40° of fouth lati¬
tude, and extending between the 20th and 275th de¬
gree of longitude eaft from London. This part of the
ocean is called by Dr Kirwan the ftandard, and was
heft fuited to his purpoie, as the reft of the ocean is
lubjeft to irregularities, which will be noticed pre-
fently (d).
Lat,
jTempe
90
89
88
3?
86
85
84
83
82
8 [
80
79
3T-
3r,04
21.10
31.14
31.2
3M
3'-7
32.0
32.2
22.6
32.9
33*2
Lat.Temper.
77
76
75
74
73
72
71
70
69
68
67
66
65
33- 7
34*r
34- 5
35- o
35-5
26.0
26.6
37-2
37- 8
38- 4
39- 1
39-7
40.4
Lat. Temper.
64
63
62
61
60
59
53
57
56
55
54
53
52
41.2
41.9
42.7
43- 5
44- 3
45.09
45- 8
46.7
47-5
48.4
49.2
50.2
51*1
Lat.
Temper.
5i
5°
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
52.4
52.9
53- 8
54- 7
55- 6
56.4
57-5
58.4
59-4
60.3
61.2
62.0
63.0
,at.
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
3°
29
28
27
26
Temper.
63-9
64.8
65-7
66.6
67.4
68.3
69.1
69.9
70.7
7I-5
7 2-3
72.8
73-8
Lat.
jTemper.
25
24
23
22
21
20
*9
18
*7
16
*5
l3
74- 5
75- 4
75-9
76.5
77.2
77.8
78- 3
78.9
79- 4
79-9
80.4
80.8
81.3
Lat.
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
o
Temper.
81.7
82.0
82.3
82.7
82,9
83.2
83-4
83.6
84.0
Dr
J eUrb'etti It,“he pole “A*. L« -an annuel beat a,
tude will be m—«Xfin. <pa. V therefore tbVternnemt ^ f ’ t.he.mt;an lan"ual temperature of that lati-
Inaj bC fCUnd' N°W’ the temperature of north latitude 40° has been foundry the berobfertatbnsIq0 62^1 ”
3 and
Chap. II. METEOROLOG Y.
Tempera-
the Air. ^‘f vVan ,;1JS ai^° calculated in the following table the mean monthly temperature of the fame idanuard (e).
Lath.
Jan.
Feb.
March
April
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
oa.
Nov.
Dec.
8o°
22.
23-
27.
3 2.6
36-5
51*
5°*
39-5
33-5
28.5
23-
22.5
79
22.5
23-
27-5
32-9
36-5
51-
5°-
40.
34-
29.
23-5
23-
78°
If
23- 5
24.
28.5
33-7
37-5
52.
51*
4x-5
35-
3°*
24- 5
23-
23-5
28.
33- 2
37-
5x-5
5°-5
41-
34- 5
29-5
24.
23.5124. 24.5‘25.
76°
24.
24-5
29.
34-x
38-
52.
5X-
•42.
I35-5 36.
3°-5 31
15°
24- 5
25-
29-5
34-5
38.5
52.
51*
42.5
74°
25. 125.5 26
25-
25*5
3°-
35*
39-
52.5
51’5
43-
36.5
3x-5
25-5
73c
25-5
26.
3°-5
35-5
39-5
53-
52.
43-5
37-
32.
26.5
26.
7 2°
71
26.
26.5
31*
36.
40.
53-5
32-5
44.
38.
32.5
27.
26.5
26.5
27.
SM
36.6
40-5
54-
53-
44-5
38.5
33-
27-5
27-
7oc
27.
27-5
32.
37-2
41-
54-
53-5
45-
39-
33-5
32-5
37-8
4T-5
54-5
53-5
45*5
39-5
34-
28.5
27.5 |28.
6gc
21'5
28.
Lath.
Jan.
Feb.
March
April
May
June
July
Aug.
ept.
oa.
Nov.
Dec.
6i° i 6o°
32-
34-
39*
43-5 ,
48-
SP¬
SS’S
52-
47-
33*
35*
4°.
44-3
49.
56.
56.
53-
48.
40. ;4I.
35- !36.
S3- 134-
68°
67°
66°
65°
64c
63'
62c
27*5
28.
33-
28.
28.5
33-5
38-4 39-1
42. 42.5
54-5 !'54-5
53-5 54-
46. 47.
40.
34*
29.
28.
41.
35-
3°-
29.
28.
29.
34-
3°-
35-
29.
31*
36.
39.7 40.4 41.2
43-
55-
44.
55-
54-5 54-5
48.
42.
36
31*
30.
48.5
43-
37-
32.
30-5
59
34-
36-
41.
58c
35-
37-
42.
57° | 56°
36- 37-
38. |39*
43. '44.6
45.0945.8 46.7 47.5
5°-
56.5
56-5
54-
49.
42.
j37*
35-
51*
57-
57-
55-
5°-
43*
38.
36-
52-
57-
53-
57-5
57-5 ji8-
56. 57-
51-
44.
39-
37-
52.
45-
40.
38.
55
39-
41.
46.
49.2
55-
58-5
38.
40.
45-
48.4
54-
58.
59-
58.
53*
46.
4r.
39. 40.
54
53
40.
42.
48.
5°'
56.
59-
do. jd 1.
59. do.
54-
47-
42.
55-
48.
43-
41-
45-
55-5
55-
49.
44.
37-5
32.5
31-
\n-
4x-9
46.
55-5
55-
5°-
45-
38.
33-
3X-
52°
Lath.
Jan.
Feb.
March
April
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
oa.
Nov.
Dec.
42c
49.
58.5
60.3
66.
69.
7°.
70.
68.
58.
54-
52.
4xt
46.5
5°-
59-5
61.2
67.
7°.
7°.
7°.
69-5
59-
55-
53-
40^
49-5
53-
60.
62.1
68.
7°-5
7X-
7X-
7°-5 !7X
60. 61.
39
5X-
38° j 37°
52-
56-5 58-
60.5 6x.
63-
69.
7X-
7X-
7X-
53-5
60.
62.
63.9 64.8
56.
54-
57-
55-
70.
7X-
72-
72.
7x-5
62.
58.
56.
7°-5 7X
36°
55-
61.
63-
65-7
71-
72.
72.
72.
63-
59-
57-
7x-5
72-5
72.5
35
34l
56.5
62.
64.
66.6
7x-5
7x-5 72
72.5
72-5
59-5 63.
63-
65.
67.4
72.
4X-
43-
49.
5X-X
57-
59-
62.
61.
56.
49.
44- 5
42.
31*
33-
38.
42.7
47-
56.
55-5
5X-
46.
39-
34-
32.
51
50° 490 48
47° 46a | 45° : 44° I 43°
42.
44-
5°-
52.4
58.
60.
63<
62.
57-
5°-
46.
44- 144-5
42-5 43-5 ;43-
44-5 44-5 :45-
5°-5 |5X- .'52.5
52-9 ;53-8 |54-7
58.5I59- 6o-
61. 162. 63.
63-5 64. 65.
63.5164. 65.
58.5 I59. 60.
5°-5l5I- 52.
46.5 47. 48.
45. 46.
33c
32l
72-5
72.5 72-5
64-
do.
58.
65.
61.
59-
64-5
66.5
68.3
72.5
72-5
72.5
63-
67.
68.5
72.5 72.5
72-5 '72.5
66. 67.5
62.
6of
63-
61.
63-
66.
67-5
69.1
73-
73-
73-
73-
73-
68.5 [69.5
64- 5 65.5
3X
3°
29c
63-5 63.5
68.5 -
69.9 70.7
73- 173-5
73-
73-
73-
73-
62.5
63-5
73-5
42.5 44-
45-5 46.
53- '53-5
55-6 56.4
ox. 62.
64. 65.
66. 67
44-5 45- 45-5
46.5 47. 48.
54-5 55-5 I56.5
57-5:58.4 59-4
163- !64. 65.
60. 67. ’68,
66.
61.
53-
49.
47-
67.
62.
54-
5°-
48.
168. 69.
j68. I69.
63. '64.
56.
52.
5°-
55-
5X-
49-
69-5
69-5
66.
57
53
5X
28° 270 26° 250 I 240
69.5 71.
7x-5
63-5 164.
68.5 69.5 ,69.5
72. |72.5
74-5
74-5
73-5 74-5
73-5 ^ r
73-5
7°-5
66.5
64.5
64-5 j65-5 67
72.
7°-5 71
, o 73* 73-5 74-5
72.3 |72-8 73-8 I74-5 75-4
74-5
74- 75-5
7X- 72.5
68. 69.
66. I67.
75-5 |76.
75-5 176'
75-5 I76'
75-5
yd.
76.
72-5 .
69-5 j7
76.5 j77-5 I?8-
76.5 '78. 78.5
76.5 .78.
76.5 '78.
76.5 77-5
73- |73-5
x-5 72.
7°-5
7b-5
78.
74-5
73-5
67.5 j68.5 .69.5 ,70
7r 1
Tempera¬
ture of
the Air.
Lath. ~
and that of latitude 50°, 52.90. The fquare of the fine of 4o° is nearly 0.419, and the fquare of the line of eo°
is nearly 0.586. Iherefore, " 2
tn—0.41 »~62.i, and
m—0.58//rzy 2.9 ; therefore,
62.1+0.41 /?—52.9+058//,
as eacn of them, trom the two firfl equations, is equal to //?. From this laid equation the value of n is found to 1
be nearly 53 j and m is nearly equal to 84. The mean temperature of the equator, therefore, is 84°, and tnat of
the po.e 31 . lo find the mean temperature for every other latitude we have only to find 88 arithmetical means
between 84 and 31.
(E) In calculating the table of mean monthly temperature, Dr Kirwan proceeded on the following principles. .
ihe mean temperature of April feems to approach very nearly to the mean temperature of the whole year and
as far as heat depends on the aaion of the folar rays, the mean.heat of each month may be confidercd as propor¬
tional
7 l 2
M E T E O R O L O G Y.
Tempera¬
ture of
the Air.
16
J7
Tempera-
ture de-
creafes as
we afcend
in the air.
Lot it. 230 22° 21
Jan.
P'eb.
March
April
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
oa.
Now
Dec.
72.
75-
75-9
78- 5
79-
79-
79-
78-5
75-
74-
71*
69.
72-5
75-5
76*5
79-5
79-5
79-5
79-5
79.
75-5
74-5
7T*5
74*
76.
77.2
80.
80.
80.
80.
79-5
77-
75-
72.
20
72.
75-
77-
77.8
80.5
80.5
80.5
80.5
80.
78*
75-5
72-5
!9
72>5
76.
77- 5
78- 3
81.
73-
76-5
78.-
78.g
81.5
A7
16°
81.5 182.
81.5 ,82. -
1.5 !82.
81.' 181.5
79-
76.
73-
80.
77-
74-
5 74-
|77-5
179*
l5
74*3
78.
79*5
r4
4 179.9 '8o,4
82.5 83.
5 !83*
83*
83*
82.1;
83*5
83*5
83*5
83.
81.5 82.
78.5 *79.
75*5|76*
7.5*
78*5
80.
80.8
83*
3*8
53.8
83.8
83.
82.5
79*5
76-5
!3
6.
79*
80.8
81.3
83*5
84.
84.
84.
83*5
83*
80.
77*
12"
76*5
79*5
1.
i-7
84.
84*3
84*3
84*3
84.
83*5
80.5
77*5
77*
79.8
i*5
82.
84.
84.6
84.6
84.6
84*3
83.8
80.8
78.
77*5
80.
81.8
82.3
84*3
84.8
84.8
84.8
84.6
84-
Si.
78*5
It appears from the above table that January is the
coldeft month in every latitude *, that July is the war¬
med month in all latitudes above 48° ; that in lower
latitudes Auguft is generally the warmed
that the difference between the hotted and colded
months increafes according to the didance, of the place
from the equator. All habitable latitudes are found
to enjoy a medium heat of 6o° for at lead 2 months,
which is a very favourable circumdance, as probably no
corn could be produced under a lower medium tempera¬
ture. The temperatures within io° of the poles differ
very little, nor do they differ much within io° of the
equator. Hence it was unneceffary to note thefe lati¬
tudes in the table. The temperatures of different years
vary but little near the equator, but this difference in¬
creafes more and more as the latitudes approach the
poles. .
It is well known that the temperature ot the
atmofphere gradually diminifhes according to the height
of the place above the level of the fea. It was found
Pjy j)|- Hutton of Edinburgh, that a thermometer kept
on the top of Arthur’s feat, a height of about 800 feet,
ufually ffood 30 lower than one kept at the foot of this
hilly and Bouguer obferved that on the top of Pinchin-
cha, a height of about 15564 feet, a thermometer dood
540 lower than it did at the level of the fea in the fame
latitude.
We are indebted to Dr Kirwan for a very ingenious
method of determining the rate of the diminution in the
temperature in particular cafes, having the temperature
of the furface of the earth given. _ The temperature of
the atmofphere condantly diminiihing as we rile above
the level of the fea, we mud at a certain height anive
at a point where a perpetual congelation, takes place.
This point mud vary in height according to the la¬
titude, being highed at the equator, and coming gra¬
dually nearer the earth as we approach the poles ; it
mud vary alfo with the ieafon, being highed in dimmer, iS
and lowed in winter. The cold on the top of Pin- Term of ^
chincha was found by M. Bouguer to extend from. 7‘>p^pee\"ai
to 9* below the freezing point every morning juft ^e*a-
before funrife j hence he concluded that between the
tropics the medium height of the term of congelation.
(where it freezes at feme part of the day all the year
round) diould be fixed at 15577 feet above the level
of the fea *, but in latitude 28°, and during the dimmer,
’ at 13440 feet. If we take the difference between the
temperature at the equator, and the freezing point, this
difference will bear the fame proportion to the term of con¬
gelation at the equator, that the difference between the
medium temperature at any other latitude and the freezing
point bears to the term of congelation at that latitude.
Suppofe the medium heat at the equator to be 84°, the
difference betrveen wffiich and 3 2° is 52° *, and luppofe
the medium heat of latitude 28 to be 72-ror 3 the
difference between which and ^zc is 4^x0^ • Phen by
the following proportion, 520: 15577=40^ : .12.72°
gives us the term of congelation at 28°. In this way
Dr Kirwan proceeded in calculating the following
table.
Lat.
tional to the mean altitude of the fine, or rather to the fine of that altitude. If, therefore, we have the mean
heat of April, and the fine of the fun’s altitude given, the mean heat of May be found by the following propor-
ti0 As the fine of the fun’s mean altitude in April : the mean heat of April = the fine of the fun’s mean alti-
feme of June, July, and Auguft may be found ; but for the temperature of the
fucceeding months we mud take into confideration another circumftance, fince the above rule would make the
temperature of thefe months too low, as it does not take in the heat derived trom the earth, which is nearly equal
to the mean annual temperature. The real mean heats of thefe months muft be confidered as an arithmetical
mean between the aftronomical and terreftrial heats. Thus, for latitude 51°, the aftronomical neat of beptem ei
being 44.6°, and the mean annual heat 5 2.40, the real heat of September ought to be —   = 4»*5* -Ur
Kirwan however, after going through a tedious calculation, found the refults to correfpond fo little with a^ual
obfervation, that he drew up the table partly from calculating from principles, and partly from an examma.ion 0
feveral fca journals.,
I
Chap. II.
Tempera¬
ture of
the Air.
METEOR
Lat.
o”
5
10
*5
20
25
3°
35
40
Mean height
of the term of
congelation,
in feet.
1SS11
I5457
15067
1449S
13030
11592
10664
9016
Lat.
45
5°
55
60
65
70
75
80
Mean height
of the term of
congelation,
in feet.
7658
6260
491 2
3684
2516
*557
748
120
This laft height of 120 feet M. Bouguer called the
lower term of congelation. He alfo diilinguhhed an¬
other term of congelation above which no vifible va¬
pour rifes, and this he called the upper term of congela¬
tion. This line is confldered by Kirwan as much lefs
variable during the fummer months than the lower line,
and it has therefore been adopted by him to determine
the rate of diminution in the temperature as we
afcend into the atmofphere. He has calculated its
height for every degree of north latitude in the follow¬
ing table.
N. Lat. Feet. IN'.Lat.
O
5
6
7
8
' 9
10
11
12
13
*4
J5
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
28000
27784
27644
27504
27364
27224
27084
26^80
26676
26472
26268
26061
25781
25501
25221
24941
24661
24404
24147
23890
23633
23423
26
27
28
29
3°
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
Feet.
22906
22389
21872
21355
20838
2049
20146
19800
J9454
19169
18577
I7985
I7393
16801
16207
I5712
15217
14722
14227
1373°
13235
2740
N Lat
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
Feet.
1224 C
II75°
11253
10124
8965
7806
6647
5617
5533
5439
5345
52 5i
5x48
5068
4989
4910
4831
4752
4684
4616
4548
4480
N. Lat.
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
8?
88
89
90
Feet.
44*3
4354
4295
4236
4I77
4119
4067
4015
3963
3911
3861
3815
3769
3723
3677
3631
3592
3553
35I4
3475
3432
(F)
Vol. XIII. Part II.
O L O G Y. 715
From the modes of eftimating the diminution of tem- Tempera-
perature now given, which agree extremely well with t^ere^-r
obfervation, we find that the temperature diminilhts in ^' 1
arithmetical progreflion, and hence we infer that the 19
temperature of the air at a diftance from the earth is Tempera-
owing to the conducing power of the air, and not tl;re5)^,;iie
to the afcent of hot air from the furface of the ^ earth
earth. owing t»
It is however found that in winter the upper ft rata the con-
of the air are often warmer than the lower 5 and this^u^nS^
fuperior heat, almoft conftantly oblerved in wdnter, is
attributed by Dr Kirwan to a current of warm air from
the equator, roiling towards the north pole during our
winter *. * Iri/b
We have now given the general method of finding Tranf. vol.
the medium annual temperature all over the globe ; but P-iTS-
there are feveral exceptions to our general inferences
which muft be particularly mentioned, 20
That part of the Pacific ocean which lies between
north latitude 5 2° and 66° is no broader at its northern North Pa-
extremity than 42 miles, and at its fouthern extremity cific oceaau
its breadth fcarcely exceeds 1300 miles : it is reafon-
able to fuppofe, therefore, that its temperature will be
confiderably influenced by the furroundiog land, which
confifts of ranges of mountains, covered a great part of
the year with fnow ; and there are befides a great many
high, and confequently cold, iflands fcattered through
it. For thefe reafons Dr Kirwan concludes, that its
temperature is at leaft 40 or 50 below the ftandard. But
we are not yet furnifhed with a fufficient number of
obfervations to determine this with accuracy.
It is the general opinion, that the fouthern hemi-Of the
fphere beyond the 40° of latitude is confiderably colder fouthern
than the correfponding parts of the northern hemifphere.
See America. aa
Small feas furrounded with land, at leaft in temperate fo>ad
and cold climates, are generally warmer in fummer and ^as*
colder in winter than the ftandard ocean, becaufe
they are much influenced by the temperature of the
land. The gulf of Bothnia, for inftance, is for the
moft part frozen in winter ; but in fummer it is fome-
times heated to 70°, a degree of heat never to be found
in the oppofite part of the Atlantic. The German fea
is above 30 colder in winter, and 5° warmer in fummer,
than the Atlantic. The Mediterranean fea is, for the
greater part of its extent, warmer both in fummer and
winter than the Atlantic, which therefore flows into it.
The Black fea is colder than the Mediterranean, and
flows into it.
The eaftern parts of North America are much colder
than the oppofite coaft of Europe, and fall {hart of the
4 X ftandard
(f) Dr Kirwan has given us the following rule for afcertaining the temperature at any required height, fuppo-
ling we know the temperature of the furface of the earth.
For the temperature obferved at the furface of the earth, put m; for the given height and t for the height
of the upper term of congelation at the given latitude ; then 2— zr the diminution of temperature for
100 1
every 100 feet of elevation j or it is the common difference of the terms of the progreflion required. Let this
common difference thus found be denoted by c; then c X gives us the whole diminution of temperature
100
from the furface of the earth to the given height. Let this diminution be denoted by d, then m—d is obvioufly
the
M E T E O R Q L O G Y. Chap. III.
'.tempera- fiandstt-d by about to® er 12°, as appears from
1jurc4f:1 Avneikan meteorological tables. The caufes of this
. remarkable difterence are many. The higheit part of
North America lies between 40° and 50° of north lati¬
tude, and 1 og° and HO° of longitude weft from
London, for there the greateft rivers originate. The
very height, therefore, makes this fpot colder than it
would otherwile be. It is covered with immenfe forefts,
and abounds with large fwamps and moraffes, w’hich
render it incapable of receiving any great degree of
hea- 5 fo that the rigour of winter is much lefs tempered by
the heat of the earth than in the old continent. To the
<eaft He a number of very large lakes, and farther north,
Hndfon’s bay } about 50 miles on the fouth of which
there is a range of mountains which prevent its receiv¬
ing any heat from that quarter. This bay is bounded
on the eaft by the mountainous country of Labrador and
by a number of illands. Hence the coldnefs of the
north-weft winds and the lownefs of the temperature.
But as the cultivated parts of North America are now
much warmer than formerly, there is reafon to expedl
that the climate will become Hill milder when the coun¬
try is better cleared of woods, though perhaps it will
never equal the temperature of the old continent.
Ofiflancjs. Wands are warmer than continents in the fame de¬
gree of latitude ; and countries lying to the windward
of extenftve mountains or forefts are warmer than thofe
lying to the leeward. Stones or fand have a lefs capa¬
city for heat than earth has, which is always fomewhat
moift ; they heat or cool, therefore, more rapidly and
to a greater degree. Hence the violent heat of Arabia
and Africa, and the intenfe cold of Terra del Fuego.
Living vegetables alter their temperature very flowly,
but their evaporation is great 5 and if they be tall and
clofe, as in forefts, they exclude the fun’s rays from
the earth, and Ihelter the winter fnow from the wind
and the fun. Woody countries, therefore, are much
colder than thofe which are cultivated.
We ftiall conclude this chapter with a feriesof meteo¬
rological axioms refpe&ing the temperature of the air,
24 by M. Cotte.
Cttte’saxi- 1. The extreme degrees of heat are almoft every
emsrefpe<ft-where the fame ; this, however, is not the cafe in re-
ratutCm^e" gard t0 t^le e-xtreme degrees of cold.
18 2. The thermometer rifes to its extreme height
oftenet in the temperate zones than in the torrid zone.
3. It changes very little between the tropics ; its
variations, like thofe of the barometer, are greater
the more one proceeds from the equator towards the
poles.
4. It rifes higher in the plains than on mountains.
5. It does not fall fo much in the neighbourhood of
the fea as in inland parts.
6. The wind has no influence on its motions.
7. Moiflure has a peculiar influence on it, if follow- Evapora-
ed by a wind which difperles it. tion and
8. The greateft heat, and the greateft cold, take a'n’ .
place about fix weeks after the northern or fouthern
folftice.
9. The thermometer changes more in fummer than
in winter.
10. The coldeft period of the day is before fun-
rife.
11. The greateft heat in the fun and the ftiade fel-
dom takes place on the lame day.
12. The heat decreafes with far more rapidity from
September and Oiftober, than it increafed from July to
September.
13. It is not true, that a very cold winter is the
prognoftic of a very hot fummer.
Chap. III. Of the Changes which take place in the
Air with refpecl to Evaporation and Rain.
25
There feems no reafon to doubt that water exifts in Qualities of
the atmofphere in an intermediate ftatc between that ofvaPour-
a fluid and that of abfolute fleam. This is the ftate of
vapour, of the qualities of which it is proper that we
(hould here take a general view.
We are indebted to the experiments of Sauflfure and
de Luc for much of our knowledge of the qualities of
vapour. It is an elaftic invifible fluid like common
air, but lighter; being to common air, according to
Sauflure, as 10 to 14, or, according to Kirwan, as 10 to
12*, it cannot pafs beyond a certain maximum ofdsnfity,
otherwife the particles of water which compofe it unite
together, and form fmall, hollow, viiible vcficles, cal¬
led vefcular vapour; which is of the fame fpecific
gravity with atmofpherical air. It is of this vapour
that clouds and fogs are compofed. This maximum
increafes with the temperatureand at the heat of boil*
ing water is fo great, that fleam can refift the
whole preffure of the air, and exift in the atmofphere in
any quantity.
After what has been ftated under Chemistry with re-
fpeft to the nature and properties of vapour, we have
nothing here to add on that fubjed, except to give the
refult of obfervations that have been made on the ftate
of vapour in the atmofphere. a{j
It is found that the evaporation of water into the airEvapora-
is confined entirely to the furface, and hence it is alwaystl0n ronfin-,
proportional to the furface expofed to the aflion of the
air. Accordingly, obfervation ftiows that in maritime
countries, and in marlhy fituations, in the neighbour¬
hood of lakes, rivers, &c. the evaporation is much
greater than in inland countries,, and dry fituations,1 27
It is found that evaporation is greateft in hot weather 5 ProportIqb*.
whence it muft depend, in fome degree, on the tempera-t0 t5,e
*ure ture of tie
the temperature required. An example will make this rule fufficiently obvious. In latitude 56° the heat below
being 540 ; required the temperature of the air at the height of 803 feet ?
■pjrj  5 2 2 i Jl
Here 7/2=54, '=5533*   =——=0404=^ and cx——0.404 X 8.03 = 3.24= d, and m—d—
_£ j 54-33 100
100
^4 3.24=50.75. Hence we fee that the temperature of the air at the height of 803 feet above the lurface^
is 5°° -75•
Chap. III.
Evapora- ture of the ah*. This was afcertained by Mr Dalton
tion and from a£tual experiments, the refult of which was, that
, Ratn* the quantity evaporated per minute from a given furface
of water at a given temperature, is to the quantity
evaporated from the furface at 2*2°, as the force of
vapour at the given temperature is to the force of va¬
pour at 212°. By means of the table exprefling the
force of vapour at various temperatures given under
Chemistry, p. 468, we may difcover by the above rale
the quantity, of water at a given temperature loft by
evaporation.
There are feveral circumftances that affeft the quan-
7r5
tity of vapour riling from water, even at the fame tem- EvaP^ra-
perature. Thus, we find that evaporation is lead in
calm weather, increafes when there is wind, and is >
greater in proportion as the wind is ftronger. ^Lhis
evidently arifcs from the agitation of the water, .by
which a new ftfrface is perpetually expofed to the aftion
of the air.
We (hall here iftfert a table by Mr Dalton, exprefs-
ing the quantity of vapour raifed in various atmofpheric
temperatures, from a circular furface fix inches in dia¬
meter.
METEOROLOGt.
The firft column of the above table expreffes the tem¬
perature *, the fecond, the correfponding force of va¬
pour ; the other three columns give the number of
grains of w'ater that wmuld be evaporated from a fur¬
face of fix inches in diameter in the refpe£tive tempe¬
ratures, on the fuppofition of there being previoufiy no
aqueous vapour in the atmofphere. Thefe columns
prefent the extremes and the mean of evaporation likely
to be noticed, or nearly fuch ; for the firft is calculated
upon the fuppofition of 35 grains lofs per minute from
the vefiel of three inches and a quarter in diameter j
the fecond 45, and the third 55 grains per minute.
As yet we have ftated only the degree of evapora¬
tion that would take place under various circumftan¬
ces, provided that the atmofphere were, at the time,
entirely free from moifture j but as this can fcarcely
happen, it becomes neceffary to afcertain the rate of
evaporation when qualified by the vapour already exift-
ing in the atmofphere. This is readily done by firft
finding the force of the vapour already in the atmo¬
fphere, as above diredded, and fubtrafting it from the
force of vapour at the given temperature. The re¬
mainder is the adtual force of evaporation, from which,
by the laft table, we find the required rate of evapora-
4X2 tion.
^i5
Erapora* tion. Suppofe, for Snflance, it be required to know the
rate of evaporation at the temperature of 59*. From the
1. . lail table wre fee that the /force of vapour at 590 is
about 0.5 or -g- its force at 21 2°. Now, fuppofe that by
trials we find the force of the vapour which already
exifls in the atmofphere to be 0,25 or i of
Subtracting the latter from the former, we have for a
remainder o.25rrthe force of evaporation required,
which is therefore juft the half of what it would be
if the atmofphere were entirely free from vapour.
The force of vapour exifting in the atmofphere is
Scarcely ever equal to the force of vapour of the tempe¬
rature of the atmofphere. Hence evaporation may,
with a few exceptions, be confidered as going on with¬
out intermiflion. Attempts have been made to afcer-
tain the quantity of evaporation that takes place in the
courfe of a year •, but the inveftigation of this problem
is fo ditficult, that thefe attempts have fucceeded only
in obtaining approximations towards the truth. Mr
Dobfon of Liverpool, from a courfe of experiments made
in 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775, concludes that the
mean annual evaporation from the furface of water,
amounted to 36.78 inches. The proportions for each
month are as follows.
Inches. Inches.
January 1.50 July j.ii
February 1.77 Auguft 5.01
March 2.64 September 3.18
April 3.30 OClober 2.51
May 4-34 November 1.51
June 4.4 x December 1.49
The experiments of Mr Dalton fhew that the evapo¬
ration from the furface of water in a very dry and hot
fummer day, was rather more than two tenths of an inch.
Several experiments have been made on- the quantity
of evaporation from land, efpecially by Mr Williams in
America, and Dr Watfon, Mr Dalton and Mr Hoyle
in Britain.
Mr Williams’s experiments appear to fhew that the
evaporation from the furface of fuch land as is covered
with trees and other vegetables is about one third
greater than the evaporation from the furface of wa¬
ter, though much reliance is not laid on thefe experi¬
ments, •
Chap. III.
From an experiment made by Dr Watfon during Evapora-
fummer, when the earth had been parched by a month’s tion ^nd
drought, it appeared that 1600 gallons of water were ^ain-
evaporated from a Angle acre in 12 hours *. Dr Wat-
fon’s experiment, however, was of a nature that did notEvapora-
admit of great precifion. tion from
The experiments made by Mr Dalton and Mr Hoyle ^aiK^
in the years 1796, 1797, and 1798, are the moft exaCts
that have been made on this fubjeCt, and we lhall there- EJfays, vol.
fore confider them more at large. They were madeiii. 54.
with the following apparatus. Having procured a cy- 29
lindrical veffel made of tin plate, three feet deep and ExPeri-
ten inches in diameter, they inferted into it two pipes jjalton and
direCled downwards, fo that water might pafs through Hoyle,
them into two bottles. One pipe was fixed near the
bottom of the veffel, and the other about an inch from
the top. The veffel was filled up for a few inches with
gravel and fand, and all the reft with good frefh foil.
It was then put into a hole in the ground, and the
fpace around filled up with earth except on one fide, for
the convenience of putting bottles to the two pipes j
then fome water was poured on the earth to fadden it,
and all that would drain off was fuffered to efcape.
Hence the earth may be confidered as faturated with
moifture. The foil was kept for fome weeks above the
level of the upper pipe, but after that it was conftantly
allowed to be a little below it, thus preventing any wa¬
ter from running off through that pipe. The top of
the foil for the fir ft year was bare ; but for the two laft
years it was covered with grais like other turf. The
apparatus being thus prepared, a correCl; regifter was
kept of the quantity of rain water which ran off from
the furface of the earth by the upper pipe, as long as
that was below the earth, and alfo of the quantity of
water which paffed through the three feet of earth, and
ran off by the lower pipe j and a rain gauge of an equal
diameter with the cylinder was kept near it, for the
purpoie of meafuring the quantity of rain which fell in
any correfponding time. Then, by fubtraCling the
quantity of water which paffed through the pipes from
that in the rain gauge, the remainder was confidered as
equal to the quantity evaporated from the furface of the
earth in the cylinder. The mean annual refult of thefe
experiments is fliewn in the following table.
METEOROLOGY.
30
EeCuitc
Water through the two pipes.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
Auguft
September
OClober
November
December
Rain
Evap.
1796.
Inch.
1.897-
1.778-
•431-
.220-
2.027-
.171-
•153-
.200
6.877-
30.629-
1797.
Inch.
.680—
.918—
" .070—
•295—
2.443 +
.726
.025
.976
.680
I.044
3-Q77
10.934—
38.791—
1798.
Inch.
I*774 +
1.122
•335
,180
.0X0
.504
M94
1.878 +
7-379
3r-259
23.725— 27-857— 23.862
Mean.
inch.
1.450 +
1.273
*279
•232
M93 +
•299
•059
.168
•325
.227
.879
1.718 +
8.402
Mean Mean
Rain, i Evap.
Inch.
2.458
1.801
.902
1.717
4-I77
2.483
4*I54
3-554
3-279
2.899
2 934
3.202
33-56o
Inch.
1.008
.528
.623
1.485
2.684
2.184
4.095
3-386
2-954
2.672
2-055
1.484
25-158
\
1;
Chap. TIL
METEOR
31
Mean an¬
nual eva¬
poration
over the
gloke.
, 33
Clouds al¬
ways form
at fome
Height.
* De Luc
la Mete-
trol. vol. ii
ICO.
34
The forma
tion of
clouds and
vain as yet
tmexplain-
It appears from tliele experiments, that at Man-
chefter the mean annual evaporation of water is above
25 inches 5 and if we add to this wnth Mr Dalton 5
inches for the dew which falls, the whole quantity eva¬
porated in a year will be 30 inches. On the whole,
wre may perhaps eftimate the mean annual evaporation
from the whole furface of the globe at 35 inches from
every fquare inch of furface, making the whole water
annually evaporated over the whole globe equal to
94,450 cubic miles.
\Vere this prodigious mafs of water all to fubfill in
the atmofphere at once, it would increafe its mafs by
about A, and raife the barometer nearly 3 inches.
But this never happens, no day paffes without rain in
fome part of the earth j fo that part of the evaporated
water is continually precipitated again. Indeed it w7ould
be impoflible for the whole of the evaporated wrater to
fubfift in the atmofphere at once, at lead in the (late of
vapour.
The higher regions of the atmofphere contain lefs
vapour than the ftrata near the furface of the earth.
This was obferved both by M. de Sauffure and M.
de Luc.
At fome height above the tops of mountains the at¬
mofphere is probably dill drier, for it was obferved by
Sauflure, that on the tops of mountains the moifture of
the air was rather lefs during the night than the day.
And there can be little doubt that every ftratum of air
defcends a little lower during the night than it w'as
during the day, owing to the cooling and condenfing of
the ftratum neared the earth. Vapours, howrever, mud
afcend very high, for we fee clouds forming far above
the tops of the highed mountains.
Rain never begins to fall wThile the air is tranfparent j
the invifible vapours fird pafs their maximum, and are
changed into veficular vapours} clouds are former!,
and thefe clouds gradually diffolve in rain. Clouds,
however, are not formed in all parts of the horizon at
once; the formation begins in one particular fpot,
while the red of the air remains clear as before} this
cloud rapidly increafes till it overfpreads the whole
horizon, and then the rain begins.
It is remarkable, that though the greated quantity
of vapour exids in the lower drata of the atmolphere,
clouds never begin to form there, but always at fomecon-
fiderable height. It is remarkable too, that the part of the
atmofphere at which they form has not arrived at the
point of extreme moidure, nor near that point, even a
moment before their formation. They are not formed
then becaufe a greater quantity of vapour had got into
the atmofphere than could remain there without palling
its maximum. It is dill more remarkable, that when
clouds are formed, the temperature of the fpot in which
they are formed is not always lowered, though this
may fometimes be the cafe. On the contrary, the heat
of the clouds themfelves is fometimes greater than that
of the furrounding air*. Nor is the formation of
clouds owing to the capacity of air for combining
with moidure being leflened by cold ; fo far from that,
we often fee clouds which had remained m the atmo*
fphere during the heat of the day, difappear in the
night, after the heat of the air was diminifhed.
The formation of clouds and rain cannot be account¬
ed for by a fingle principle with which we are acquaint¬
ed. It is neither owing to the faturation of the at-
O L O G Y.
mofphere, nor the diminution of the heatj nor the
mixture of airs of different temperatures, as Dr Hut¬
ton fuppofes: for clouds are often formed without any
wind at all either above or below them j and even if
this mixture condantly took place, the precipitation,,
indead of accounting for rain, would be almod imper¬
ceptible.
It is a very remarkable faff, that evaporation often
goes on for a month together in hot weather without
any rain. This fometimes happens in this country ; it
happens every year in the torrid zone. Thus at Cal¬
cutta, during January 1785, it never rained at all 5
the mean of the thermometer for the whole month
was 66[0; there wras no high wind, and indeed during
great part of the month little wind at all.
The quantity of water evaporated during fuch a
drought mud be very great j yet the moidure of the
air, indead of being increafed, is condantly diminidi-
ing, and at lad difappears almod entirely. For the
dew, which is at fird copious, diminifhes every night;
and if Dr Watfon’s experiment formerly mentioned
be attended to, it will not be obje&ed that the quan¬
tity of evaporation is alfo very much diminidied. Of
the very dry date to which the atmofphere is reduced
during long droughts, the violent thunder-dorms with
which they often conclude is a very decidve proof.
Now what becomes of all this moidure ? It is not ac¬
cumulated in the atmofphere above the country from
which it was evaporated, otherwife the whole atmo¬
fphere would in a much lefs period than a month be
perfe&ly faturated with moidure. If it be carried up
daily through the different drata of the atmofphere,
and wafted to other regions by fuperior currents of air,
how is it podible to account for the different eleftrical
date of the clouds fituated between different drata,
which often produces the mod violent thunder-dorms ?
They could not have remained in the lowrer drata of
the atmofphere, and been daily carried off by winds ta
other countries 5 for there are often no winds at all
during feveral days to perform this office j nor in that
cafe would the dews diminifh, nor could their prefence
fail to be indicated by the hygrometer.
It is impodible for us to account for this remarkable
fa£t upon any principle w'ith which we are acquainted.
The water can neither remain in the atmofphere, nor
pafs through it in the date of vapour. It mud there¬
fore alfume fome other form j but what that form is,
or how itaffumes it, we know not. There are, therefore,
two deps of the procefs which takes place between eva¬
poration and rain, with which wTe are entirely unac¬
quainted } fird, the date of the vapour after it enters
into the atraofphere, and fecond, the caufe by which it
is made to lay afide the new form which it affumed, re¬
turn to its date of vapour, and defeend in form of rain.
Several theories have been contrived to account for
this phenomenon, but they are all untenable on the pre-
fent known laws of chemical aftion.
The mean annual quantity of rain is greated at the
equator, and decreafes gradually as wre approach the poles*.
Thu& at Granada, Antilles, 1 2° N. Lat. it is 126 inches.
Cape Francois, St Domingo 190
Calcutta - 22
Rome - - 41
England - 33
Peterfburgh » 59
717
Evapora¬
tion and
Rain.
46'
23
54
o
i£
120
81
39
S2
16
Gits
3)
Rainy days
often moie
numerous in
'''.•inter.
7»S . METEOR
fionPand" t^C cont!'ar3r* t^ie dumber of rainy days is fmall-
Rain'^ e? at *:^e e(luator> and increafes in proportion to the
— , diitance from it. From N. Lat. 12° to 430 the mean
number of rainy days is 78 ; from 430 to 46° the mean
number is 103 ; from 46° to 50° it is 134 ; from 510
to 6o°, 161 days.
The number of rainy days is often greater in winter
than in fummer; but die quantity of rain is greater in
fummer than in winter. At Peterfhurgh, the number
of rainy or fnowy days during winter is 84, and the
quantity which falls is only about 5 inches j during
fummer the number of rainy days is nearly the fame,
but the quantity which falls is about 11 inches.
More rain falls in mountainous countries than in
plains. Among the Ancles it is faid to rain almoft
perpetually, while in Egypt it fcarcely ever rains at all.
If a rain-gauge be placed on the ground, and another
at fome height perpendicularly above it, more rain will
be collecled into the lower than into the higher; a
proof that the quantity of rain increafes as it defcends,
owing perhaps to the drops attrafting vapour during
their paflage through the lower ffrata of the atmofphere
where the greateft quantity reiides. This, however,
is not always the cafe, as Mr Copland of Dumfries
difcovered iu the courfe of his experiments. He ob-
ferved alio, that when the quantity of rain collefted in
the lower gage was greateft, the rain commonly con¬
tinued lor fome time; and that the greateft quantity
was collecled in the higher gage only either at the end
of great rains, or during rains which did not laft long.
Thefe obfervations are important, and may, if followed
out, give us new knowledge of the c.aufes of rain.
They ieem to Ihow, that during rain the atmofphere
is fomehow or other brought into a ftate which induces
it to part with its moifture ; and that the rain continues
as long as this ftate continues. Were a fufficient
number of obfervations made on this fubjeft in different
places, and were the atmofphere carefully analyfed du¬
ring dry weather, during rain, and immediately after
rain, w^e might foon perhaps difcover the true theory of
rain.
Rain falls in all feafons of the year, at all times of
day than in tlle ^ and durIng tlie ™ght as well as the day;
the night, though, according to M. Toaldo, a greater quantity
falls, during the day than the night. The caufe of rain,
then, whatever it may be, muft be fomething which
operates at all times and feafons. Rain falls alfo du¬
ring, the continuance of every wind, but ofteneft when
the wind blows from the fouth. Falls of rain often
happen likewife during perfeft calms.
It appears from a paper publiihed by M. Cotte in
the 'Journalde Phyjique for Otftober t79i, containing
the mean quantity of rain falling at 147 places, lituat-
ed between N. Lat. ii° and 6o°, deduced from tables
kept at thefe places, that the mean annual quantity of
rain falling in all thefe places is 34.7 inches. Let us
fuppofe then (which cannot be very far from the truth),
that the mean annual quantity of rain for the whole is
34 inches. The fuperficies of the globe confifts of
170,981,012fquare miles,or 686,401,498,471,475,200
fquare inches. The quantity of rain therefore falling
annually will amount to 23,337.650,812,030,156,800
cubic inches, or fomewhat more than 91.75 1 cubic miles
36 .
More rain
fails in the
37
Mean an¬
nual quan¬
tity ofrain
in Great
Britain.
Rain.
O L O G Y. Chap. III.
bable therefore, if the imperfe&ion of our data war- Evapora-
rant any conclufion, that fome of the vapour is actually tl0n anc^
decompofed in the atmofphere, and converted into >
oxygen and hydrogen gas.
The dry land amounts to 52,745,253 fquare miles ;
the quantity of rain falling on it annually therefore
w’ill amount to 30,960 cubic miles. The quantity of
water running annually into the lea is 13,140 cubic
miles ; a quantify of water equal to which muft be fup-
plied by evaporation from the fea, otherwife the land
would loon be completely drained of its moifture.
The quantity of rain falling annually in Great Bri¬
tain may be feen from the fallowing table.
Years of
obfervation.
3
5
8
8
45
5
8
18
7
5
H
10
5
5
20
8
Places
Dover
Ware, Hertfordfhire
London
Kimbolton
Lyndon
Chatfworth, Derbyfhire
Manchefter
Liverpool
Lancafter
Kendal
Dumfries
Branxholm, 44 miles S. W.
Berwick
Langholm
Dalkeith
Glafgow
Hawkhill
Mean
Rain in
Inches.
of
37-52
23.6
*7-5
23-9
2 2.21
27.865
43-1
34-41
40-3
61.223
36.127
3i-26
36.73
25.124
31-
28.966
32-532
of water. This is 16,191 cubic miles of water lefs
than the quantity of water evaporated. It feems pro-
Mr Dalton Las eftimated the quantity of rain that
falls in England at 21 inches; but as no account is
taken of what falls in Wales and Scotland, this efti-
mate probably falls much fliort of the real annual quan¬
tity. In this country it generally rains lefs in March
than in November, in the proportion at a medium of
7 to 12. It generally rains lefs in April than Oflober,
in the proportion of 1 to 2 nearly at a medium. It
generally rains lefs in May than September; the
chances that it does fo are at lead: at 4 to 3 : but when
it rains plentifully in May, it generally rains but little
in September; and when it rains one inch or lefs in
May, it rains plentifully in September.
The degree of moifture that is prefent in the atmo¬
fphere at any given time, is meafured by the hygrome¬
ter, Under the article Hygrometer we have amply
defcribed feveral of the moft important inftruments of
that kind ; but there is one hygrometer, viz. that of
Mr Leflie, which remains to be deferibed in this place.
Figures of the inftrument are given in Plate CCLXXVI.
%• r3> I4- . . . -
I he principal part of the inftrument is compofed of£efl;e-sj,„
two glafs tubes terminated by hollow balls, one tranf-grometer,
parent and the other opaque. The tubes are feleded, as
regular as poffible, from 4 to 8 inches long, and about
tV 315 inch thick., or as flender as thofe employed
‘ ‘ for
Chap. HI. METEOROLOGY.
Evapora- for thermometers, bat with a much wider bore. This,
tRair)nt! ^ 0116 tU^e’ mU^ ^r0m t0 t^le ^ an *nc^ in
in‘ diameter, and an exaft calibre, at leaft not differing
by between both its extremities. To the end of it
a fmall piece of black enamel is attached, and blown
into an opaque ball, from 4 to ^ of an inch diameter.
The correfponding tube may have its bore of the fame,
or rather a greater width, but its uniformity is not &t
all effential. Near the extremity it is fwelled out into
a thin cylinder, almoft of an inch wide, and from
to to To long '> the inner cavity only being enlarged,
without altering the exterior regularity of the tube.
1 he fhort bit o£ glafs where this cylinder terminates,
is now blown into a thin pellucid ball, as nearly of
the fize of the former as the eye can judge. The ex¬
act equality of the balls wrould be unattainable, and
fortunately the theory of the inflrument does not re¬
quire it. Whervtfcdark and a bright obje£! are viewed
together, the latter, from an optical deception, appears
always larger than the reality ; and for this reafon, fays
Mr Lellie, I prefer making the clear ball a flight de¬
gree fmaller than the black one. In the mean time
a coloured liquor is prepared by diffolving carmine in
concentrated fulphuric acid, in a phial with a ground
Hopper, taking care to avoid heat, as by this the colour¬
ing-matter would be charred, and the beauty of the
♦ liquor deftroyed.
The tubes are now cut to nearly equal lengths, and
the end of each fwelled cut a little, to facilitate their
junftion. Clofe to the black ball, the tube is bent by
the flame of a candle into a (boulder, fuch, that the
root of the ball fhall come into a line with the inner
edge of the tube. This ball, being then warmed, the
end of the tube is dipt into the acid liquor, and as
much of it allowed to rife and flow into the cavity, as
may be gueffed fufficient to fill both tubes, excepting
the cylinder. The two tubes are then, by the help of a
blow-pipe, folidly joined together in one ftraight piece,
Without having any knot or protuberance. About
half an inch from the joining, and nearer the cylinder,
it is gently bent round by the flame of a candle, till
the clear ball is brought to touch the tube inch
direflly below the black one. The inftrument is now
to be graduated ; and the fcale chofen by Mr Lellie is
th&t which correfponds to the centigrade thermometer.
Mr Leflie thus deferibes the mode of graduating the
infirument.—The inftrument is held in an oblique
pofition, that the coloured liquor may collect at the
bottom of the black ball, into which a few minute
portions of air mult, from time to time, be forced
over, by heating the oppofite ball with the hand.
In this way, the interpofed liquid will gradually be
made to defeend into the tube, and aflame its pro¬
per place ; and ic fhould remain for a week or two
in an inclined pofition, to let every particle drain
out of the black ball.. If any trace of fluid collets in
rings within the bore, they are eafily difpelled with
a little dexterity and manipulation, which, though it
would be difficult to deferibe, is moil readily learnt
and pra&ifed. I he fmail cavity at the joining facili¬
tates the re&ification, by affording the means of fend-
ing a globule of air in either diredfion. In fixing the
zero of the fcale, Mr Leflie fet the inilrument in a re¬
mote corner of the room, or partly elofed the window-
fhutters. When completely adjulfcd, the top of the Evapora-
coloured liquor, if held upright, fhould Hand nearly ti0n .an<'
oppofite to the middle of the cylindrical refervoir. . R'^n' f
In this Hate of preparation, the inftrument is ready
for being graduated. The clear ball and the conti¬
guous part of the parallel tube are therefore covered
with two or three folds of thin bibulous paper, moiften-
ed with pure water, to make it aft as a hygrometer;
and there is attached to the fame tube a temporary
fcale, by means of a loft cement compofed of bees-wax
and rofin. A flat round piece of wood being provided
with four or five pillars that ferew into it, the inftru¬
ment is fixed to one of them in an ereft pofition, and
on each fide is difpofed a fine corresponding thermome¬
ter, inverted, and at the fame height, the one having
its bulb covered with wet bibulous paper. Then half
a yard of flannel is dried as much as poflible without
fingeing, before a good fire, and rolling it up like a
fleeve, it is lapped loofly round the lower part of the
pillars, and the whole is inclofed under a large bell-
glafs. The flannel powerfully abforbs moiflure from
the confined air, and creates an artificial drynefs of 80
or too degrees. In the fpace of a quarter or half an
hour, the full effeft is produced, and the quantities
being noted at two or three feparate times, the mean
refuits are adopted. The defeent, meafured by the
temporary fcale, being then augmented in the propor¬
tion of ten to the difference of the two thermometers,
will give the length that correfponds to ioo°. After
the ftandard inftrument is conftrufted, others are thence
graduated with the utmoft eafe ; the firft being planted *
in the centre, and the reft, with their temporary feales,
ftuck to the encircling pillars. For greater accuracy,.
the obfervation fhould be made in a room without a -
fire, or a fereen ought to be interpofed between the
fire and the apparatus.
The flips of ivory intended for the feales are divided
into equal parts, and fhould contain from too0 to 150°.
The edges are filed down and chamfered, to fit eafily
between the parallel tubes j and they are fecured in
their place by a ftrong folution of iiinglafs- The
lower ball and its annexed cylinder, are covered with
thin filk of the fame colour as the upper ball, and a
few threads are likewife lapped about that part of the
tube which it touches. The inftrument is laftly ce¬
mented into a piece of wood, either end of which ad¬
mits a cylindrical cafe that ferves equally to proteft or
to hold it. On other occafions, the hygrometer is in-
ferted into the focket of a round bottom piece where it
Hands vertical.
The above defeription refers particularly to fig. 14.
Fig. 13. differs from this, only in having the balls of aa
equal height, and bended in oppofite direftions, which
Mr Leflie conliders as more convenient for feme purpoles
to which the inftrument is applied, to be mentioned
he reafter, but which renders the inftrument lefs portable.
The aft ion of this hygrometer depends on the follow-theory of
ing principle 5 1 hat the cold produced by evaporation the mitru-
will accurately denote the degree of drynefs orfthe air, meat.
or us dijlance from the point of faturamn. To difeover
the drynefs or humidity of the air, therefore, we have
only to find the change of temperature induced in a
body of water infulated, or expoled on all fides to eva¬
poration. 1 he fteps which led Mr Leflie from thefe
72o METEOROLOGY.
JEvapora- £mple principles to tlie conftruction of the prefent in¬
genious inftrument, are detailed by him in a paper
publilhed in Nicholfon’s Journal for January 1800, to
which we muft refer our readers for the particulars,
contenting ourfelves with the following fummary
Chap. IV.
Wind.
Chap. IV. Of the Changes produced in the Air by
Winds.
If two thermometers be filled with any expanfible
fluid, and having the bulb of the one wet and the
other dry, they will, by their difference, denote the
ftate of the air in refpedt to humidity. Mr Lellie’s
objeft was to combine two fuch inftruments, fo that
they fliould indicate merely their difference of tempera¬
ture $ and this objeft he has completely attained by the
prefent Jnftrument. In ordinary cafes, the intermediate
liquor would continue ftationary •, for the air in both
balls having the fame temperature, and confequently
the fame elafticity, the oppofite preffures would precifely
counteraft each other j but if, from the aftion of the
external ajr on the moiftened furface, one ball became
colder, it is manifeft the liquor would be pufhed to¬
wards it by the fuperior elaflicity of the air included in
the other ball, fo as to mark, by the fpace of its ap¬
proach, ,the depreflion of temperature induced by eva¬
poration.
This inllrnment does not merely point out the drynefs
of the air ; it enables us to determine the abfolute quan¬
tity of moifture which it is capable of imbibing •, for
the converfion of water into fleam is found to confume
524* of the centigrade divifion j and evaporation, ana¬
logous in its effeifls, may be prefumed to occafion the
fame wafte of heat. If, therefore, air had the fame
.capacity as water, for each degree of the hygrometer
it would depofit as much heat as it wmuld abftraft by
diffolving the Part °f weight of humidity.
But the capacity of air is to that of water as 11 to fix,
and confequently it would require in that proportion a
greater evaporation to produce the fame effeft. We
may hence conclude, that, for each hygrometric degree,
the air would require y X ttto or tyV? Part by
weight of water to effect faturation.
Stri&ly fpeaking, the degrees marked by this hygro¬
meter do not meafure the drynefs of the air at its adlual
temperature, but only its ftate of drynefs when cooled
down to the ftandard of the wet ball. The law, how¬
ever, being known of the difiblving power of air as
affe&ed by heat, it is eafy, from the difpofition of the air
with refpeft to humidity at one temperature to derive
that at any other. It will fuffice to mention the refult
of a number of careful experiments :—Suppofing air at
the freezing point to be capable of holding 50 parts
of moifture j at 10° centigrade, it will hold 1005 at
20°, 200; at 30°, 400 j thus doubling at eachincreafe
of io°. Hence a table may be conftrufted by which
thefe converfions will be eafily made.
To omit nothing that tends to elucidate the theory
of the inftrument, we muft obferve that the air. in its
contact.with the humid furface is not abfolutely cooled
to the fame temperature \ the air and water really
meet each other at an intermediate point determined
by their compounded denfity and capacity. Con¬
fequently the indications of the hygrometer ought to
be augmented _ by . the Part> or V + tto •
But this quantity is too fmall in any cafe to be re¬
garded.
In confidering the fubjefl of winds, wTe fhall firft 40
briefly detail their natural hiftory, fo far as it has not
been already anticipated, and ftiall then endeavour to
trace the laws by which they are regulated, or explain
the manner in which their varieties are produced. As
the direction of the winds is of the greateft confequence,
efpecially in a commercial view, we (hall firft point out
the direction of the moft prevalent winds in various
quarters of the world. ^
Between the tropics the winds are the moft regular. Trade-
In thofe parts of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans which winds,
lie neareft the equator, ther^is.a regular wind during
the whole year called the trade-wind. On the north
fide of the equator it blows from the north eaft, varying
frequently a point or two towards the north or eaft j
and on the fsuth fide of it, from the fouth-eaft, chan¬
ging fometimes in the fame manner towards the fouth or
eaft. The fpace included between the fecond and fifth
degrees of north latitude is the internal limit of thefe
two winds. There the winds can neither be faid to
blow from the north nor the foutk j calms and violent
ftorms are frequent. This fpace varies a little in lati¬
tude as the fun approaches either of the tropics. In
the Atlantic ocean the trade winds extend farther north
on the American than on the African coaft j and as we
advance weftward, they become gradually more eafter-
ly, and decreafe in ftrength. Their force diminilhes
likewife as we approach their utmoft boundaries. It
has been remarked alfo, that as the fun approaches the
tropic of cancer, the fouth-eaft winds become gradually
more foutherly, and the north-eaft winds more eafterly:
exa611y the contrary takes place wdien the fun is ap¬
proaching the tropic of capricorn.
The trade-wind blows conftantly in the Indian ocean Monfoons.
from io° fouth latitude to near 30°^ but to the north¬
ward of this the winds change every fix months, and
blow dire&ly oppofite to their former courfe. Thefe
regular winds are called monfoons, from the Malay
wmrd moofjin, which fignifies a feafon. When they
ftiift their direftion, variable winds and violent ftorms
fucceed, which laft for a month, and frequently longer j
and during that time it is dangerous for veflels to con¬
tinue at fea.
The monfoons in the Indian ocean may be reduced
to twro } one on the north and another on the fouth fide
of the equator *, which extend from Africa to the lon¬
gitude of New Plolland and the eaft coaft of China,
and which fuffer partial changes in particular places
from the fituation and inflexion of the neighbouring
countries.
Between 3® and io° of fouth latitude the fouth eaft
trade-wind continues from April to Oddober j but dur¬
ing the reft of the year the wind blows from the north-
weft. Between Sumatra and New Holland this
monfoon blows from the fouth during our fummer
months, approaching gradually to the fouth-eaft as we
advance towards the coaft of New' Holland ; it changes
about the end of September, and continues in the op¬
pofite direidion till April. Between Africa and Mada-
gafear its dire&ion is influenced by the epaft j for it
blows
4
Chap. IV. METEOR
Winds, blows from the north-eaft from O&ober to
during the reft of the year
from the
April,
fouth-
the year.
44
Of raon-
foons.
and
Weft.
Over all the Indian ocean to the northward of the
Direction third degree of fouth latitude, the north-eaft trade-wind
of the blows from Oftober to April, and a fouth-weft wind from
trade-winds April to Ottober. From Borneo, along the coaft of
t0^°Ut Malacca, and as far as China, this monfoon in fummer
blows nearly from the fouth, and in winter from the
north by eaft. Near the coaft of Africa, between
Mozambique and Cape Guardafeu, the winds are
irregular during the whole year, owing to the different
monfoons which furround that particular place*—Mon-
foons are likewife regular in the Red fea j between
April and Oflober they blow from the north-weft, and
during the other months from the fouth-eaft, keeping
conftantly parallel to the coaft of Arabia.
Monfoons are not altogether confined to the Indian
ocean 5 on the coaft of Brazil, between Cape St Au-
guftine and the ifland of St Catharine, the wind blows
between September and April from the eaft or north-
eaft, and between April and September from the fouth-
wreft. The bay of Panama is the only place on the
weft fide of a great continent where the wind ftrifts re¬
gularly at different feafons : there it is eafterly
between September and March j but between March
and September it blows chiefly from the fouth and fouth-
weft.
Such in general is the direflionof the winds in the tor¬
rid zone all over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans j
but they are fubjett to particular exceptions, which we
(hall now endeavour to enumerate. On the coaft of
Africa, from Cape Bayador to Cape Verde, the winds
are generally north-weft j from thence to the. ifland of
St Thomas near the equator they blow almoft perpendi¬
cular to the ihore, bending gradually as vre advance
fouthwards, firft to the weft and then to the iouth-weft.
On the coaft of New Spain likewife, from California
to the bay of Panama, the winds blow almoft conftantly
from the weft or fouth-weft, except during May, June,
and July, when land-winds prevail, Called by the
Spaniards Popogayos. On the coaft of Chili and
Peru, from 20° to 30° fouth latitude, to the equator,
and on the parallel coaft of Africa, the wflnd blows
during the whole year from the fouth, varying accord¬
ing to the direflion of the land towards w'hich it in¬
clines, and extending much farther out to fea on the
American than the African coaft. The trade-wdnds
are alfo interrupted fometimes by wefterly winds
in the bay of Campeachy and the bay of Hon¬
duras.
As to the countries between the tropics, we are
too little acquainted with them to be able to give a
fatisfadlory hiftory of their winds,
In all maritime countries between the tropics, of any
extent, the wind blows during a certain number of
hours every day from the fea, and during a certain
number towards the fea from the land 5 thefe winds are
called the fea and land breezes. The fea breeze gener¬
ally fets in about 10 in the forenoon, and blowTs till fix
in the evening ; at feven the land breeze begins and
continues till eight in the morning, when it dies aw’ay.
During funjmer the fea breeze is very perceptible on all
the coafts of the Mediterranean fea, and even fometimes
as far north as Norw’ay.
Vol. XIII. Part II.
45 ,
Of fea and
land
breezes.
46
O L O G Y.
In the ifland of St Lewis on the coaft of Africa,, in
160 north latitude, and 160 w^eft longitude, the wind
during the rainy feafon, which lafts from the middle of
July to the middle of Oftober, is generally between
the fouth and the call : during the reft of the year it
is for the moft part eaft or north-eaft in the morning j
but as the fun rifes, the wind approaches gradually to¬
wards the north, till about noon it gets to the weft of
north, and is called a fea breeze. Sometimes it ftiifts
to the eaft as the fun defcends, and continues there dur¬
ing the whole night. In February, March, April,
May and June, it blow^s almoft conftantly between the
north and weft. In the ifland of Bulama, which like¬
wife lies on the weft coaft of Africa, in ix° north la¬
titude, the wind during nine months of the year blow's
from the fouth-weft \ but in November and December,
a very cold wind blows from the north-eaft.
In the kingdom of Bornou, which lies between *6°
and 20° north latitude, the warm feafon is introduced
about the middle of April by fultry winds from the
fouth-eaft, which bring along with them a deluge of
rain. In Fezzan, in 250 north latitude, and 350 eaft
longitude, the wind from May to Auguft blows from
the eaft fouth-eaft, or fouth-weft, and is intenfely hot.
In Abyflinia the winds generally blow from the Winds in
weft, north-w!eft, north, and north-eaft. During theAbyffinia’
months of June, July, Auguft, September and October,
the north and north-eaft winds blow almoft conftantly,
efpecially in the morning and evening j and during the
reft of the year they are much more frequent than any
other winds. _ 47
At Calcutta, in the province of Bengal, the wind Calcnt-
blow'S during January and February from the fouth-ta’
weft and fouth ; in March, April, and May from the
fouth 5 in June, July, Auguft and September, from
the fouth and fouth-eaft *, in October, November, and
December, from the north-weft. At Madras the moft
frequent winds are the north and north-eaft.—At Ti¬
voli in St Domingo, and the ifles des Vaches, the wind
blows ofteneft from the fouth and fouth-eaft. From
thefe fads it appears, that in molt tropical countries
with which we are acquainted, the wind generally
blows from the tieareft ocean, except during the cokleft
months, when it blows towards it. . _ 4S
In the temperate zones the diredion of the wind isthe tem-
by no means fo regular as between the tropics. EvenP^ate
in the fame degree of latitude, we find them often
blowing in different diredions at the fame time, while
their changes are often fo fudden and capricious, that
to account for them has been hitherto found impoflible.
When winds are violent and continue long, they* ge¬
nerally extend over a large trad of country ; and this
is more certainly the cafe when they blow7 from the
north-eaft, thanS’rom any other points. By the multi¬
plication and comparifon of meteorological tables, fome
regular connedion between the changes of the atmo-
fphere in different places may in time be obferved,
which will at laft lead to a fatisfadory theory of the
winds. It is from fuch tables chiefly that the following
fads have been colleded. ^
In Virginia, the prevailing winds are between the Iri-Virginia.
fouth we/l, w fl, north, and north-wejl; the moft fre¬
quent is the fouth-weff, which blows more conftantly
in June, July, and Auguft, than at any other feafen.
The north-weft winds blow moft conftantly in Novem-
4 Y her,
1
5°
In pt.
M E T E 0 R
her, December, January, and February. At Ipfwich
in New England, the prevailing winds are alfo be¬
tween the fouth-weft, weft, north, and north-eaft j the
moll frequent is the north weft. But at Cambridge, in
the fame province, the moft frequent wind is the fouth-
eaft. The predominant winds at New York are the
north and weft. In Nova Scotia north-weft winds
blow for three-fourths of the year. The fame wind
blows moft frequently at Montreal in Canada, but at
(Quebec the wind generally follotvs the diredlion of the
river St Lawrence, blowing either from the north-eaft
or fouth -weft. At Hudfon’s bay wefterly winds blow
for three-fourths of the year-, the north-weft wind oc-
calions the greateft cold ; but the north and north-eaft
are the vehicles of fnow.
It appears from thefe fadls, that wefterly winds are
moft frequent over the whole eaftern coaft of North
America ; that in the fouthern provinces fouth-weft
winds predominate, and that the north-weft become
gradually more frequent as we approach the frigid
zone.
In Egypt, during part of May, and during June,
July, Auguft, and September, the wind blows almoft
conftantly from the north, varying fometimes in June
to the weft, and in July to the weft and the eaft -, dur¬
ing part of September, and in O&ober and November,
the winds are variable, but blow more regularly from
the eaft than any other quarter^ in December, January,
and February, they blow from the north, north-weft,
and weft 5 towards the end of February they change Jo
the fouth, in which quarter they continue till near the
end of March 5 during the laft days of March and in
April they blow from the fouth-eaft, fouth, and fouth-
weft. end at laft from the eaft ; and in this direction
they continue during a part of May.
diterr n ■^•ec^terranean wdnd blows nearlv three-
ariean'fourths of the year from the north; about the equi¬
noxes there is always an eafterly wind in that fea,
which is generally more conftant in fpring than in au¬
tumn. Thefe obfervations do not apply to the gut of
Gibraltar, where there are feldom any winds except
the eaft and the w^eft. At Baftia, in the iftand of Cor-
fica, the prevailing wind is the fouth-weft.
In Syria the north wind blows from the autumnal
equinox to November; during December, January,
and February, the winds blow from the weft and fouth-
weft ; in March they blow from the fouth, in May
from the eaft, and in June from the north. From this
month to the autumnal equinox the wind changes
gradually as the fun approaches the equator; firft to
the eaft, then to the fouth, and laftly to the weft. At
Bagdad the moft frequent winds are the fouth-weft and
north-weft; at Pekin, the north and the fouth; at
Kamtfchatka, on the north-eaft coaft of Alia, the pre¬
vailing winds blow frcm the weft.
In Italy the prevailing winds differ confiderably ac¬
cording to the lltuation of the places where the obfer¬
vations have been made. At Rome and Padua they
are northerly, at Milan eafterly. All that we have
been able to learn refpe&ing Spain and Portugal is,
that on the weft coaft of thefe countries the weft is by
far the moft common wind, particularly in fummer;
and that at Madrid the wind is north-eaft for the
greateft part of the fummer, blowing almoft conftantly
from the Pyrenean mountains. At Berne in Switzer-
51
In tl>e SVTe-
52
In Syria
S3
In Italy.
O L O G Y. Chap. IV.
land, the prevailing winds are the north and weft ; at Winds.
St Gothard, the north-eaft ; at Laufanne the north-weft “v
and fouth-weft. ^
M. Cotte has given us the refult of obfervations madeRefult of
at 86 different places of France, from which it apN'L*-otte’s
pears, that along the whole fouth coaft; of that empire
the wdnd blows moft frequently from the north, north- re(ft10n Gf
weft, and north-eaft : on the w*eft coaft, from the weft, the winds
fouth-weft, and north-weft ; and on the north coaftinFrance.
from the fouth-weft. That in the interior parts of
France the fouth wTeft wind blowcs moft frequently in j 8
places; the w’eft wind in 14; the north in 13; the
fouth in 6 ; the north-eaft in 4 ; the fouth eaft in 2 ; the
eaft and north-weft each of them in one. On the weft
coaft of the Netherlands, as far north as Rotterdam,
the prevailing winds are probably the fouth-weft ; at
leaft this is the cafe at Dunkirk and Rotterdam. It is
probable alfo, that along the reft of this coaft, from
the Hague to Hamburgh, the prevailing winds are the
north-wTeft, at leaft thefe winds are moft frequent at
the Hague and at Franeker. The prevailing wind at
Delft is the fouth-eaft, and at Breda the north and the
eaft. _
In Germany the eaft wind is moft frequent at Got-Direction
tingen, Munich, Weiffemburg, Duffeldorff, Saganum,of the winds
Erford, and at Buda in Hungary ; the fouth-eaft at*n(-'erma'
Prague and Wirtfburg ; the north-eaft at Ratifbon,ny‘
and the w^eft at Manheim and Berlin. ^
From an average of 10 years of the regifter kept by At London,
order of the Royal Society, it appears, that at London
the winds blow in the following order :
Winds.
South-w^eft
North eaft
North-weft
Weft
Dmjs.
11 2
58
50
53
Winds.
South-eaft
Eaft
South
North
Days.
3Z
26
18
16
It appears from the fame regifter, that the fouth-weft
wind blows at an average more frequently than any
other wind during every month of the year, and that it
blows longed in July and Auguft; that the north eaft
blows moft conftantly during January, March, April,
May, and June, and moft feldom during February, Ju¬
ly, September, and December ; and that the north-well
wind blow's oftener from November to March, and
more feldom during September and Chftober, than any
other months. The fouth-weft winds are alfo moft
frequent at Briftol, and next to them are the north-
eaft- . 57
The following table of the winds at Lancafter has Table of
been drawn up from a regifter kept for feven years at winds at
that place. Lancafter.
Winds. Days. Winds. Days.
South-weft qz South eaft 33
North-eaft 67 North 30
South 31 North-weft 26
Weft 41 Eaft 17
The following table is an abflrafl of nine years ob-At Dum-
fervations made at Dumfries by Mr Copland. fries.
Winds. Days, Winds. Days.
South 82-J North 36F
Weft 69 North-weft 25^
Baft 68 South-eaft
South-weft; jo~- North-eaft; 14F
The
Chap. IV.
M E T E O
Wind?.
59
At Cam-
buflang.
The following table is an abftrafl of feven years
obfervations, made by Dr Meek at Cambullang, near
Glafgow.
Winds.
South-weft
North-weft
Days.
174
40
Winds.
North-eaft
South-eaft
Days.
104
47
It appears from the regifter from -which this table
was extracted, that the north-eaft wind blows much
more frequently in April, May, and June, and the
fouth-wed in July, Auguft, and September, than at any
other period. We learn from the Statiftical Account
of Scotland, that the fouth-weft is by far the moft fre¬
quent wind all over that kingdom, efpecially on the
weft coaft. At Saltcoats in Ayrftiire, for inftance, it
blows three fourths of the year) and along the wdiole
coaft of Murray on the north-eaft fide of Scotland, it
blows for two-thirds of the year. Eaft winds are com¬
mon over all Great Britain during April and Ma\r;
but their influence is felt moft feverely on the eaftern
coaft.
The following table exhibits a view of the number of
days during which the wefterly and eafterly winds blow
in a year, at different parts of the illand. Under the
term wefterly are included the north-wTeft* wTeft, fouth-
weft, and fouth 5 the term eafterly is taken in the lame
latitude.
Years of
obferva-
tion.
Places.
10
7
51
9
10
7
8
London
Lancafter
Liverpool
Dumfries
Branxholm
Cambuftang
Hawkhill near Edin.
Wind.
Wefterly Eafterly
233
216
190
227.5
232
214
229.5
Medium j 220.3
132
149
*75
133
I5I
J35G
144.7
61
At Copea
Direction Ire^anci t^ie fouth-weft and weft are the grand
of the winds trade-winds, blowing moft in fummer, autumn, and
in Ireland, winter, and leaft in fpring. The north-eaft blows
moft in fpring, and nearly double to what it does in
autumn and winter. The fouth-weft and north-weft
are nearly equal, and are moft frequent after the fouth-
weft and weft.
At Copenhagen the prevailing winds are the eaft
hagen,' and and fouth-eaft ; at Stockholm, the weft and north. In
piRuflia. Ruffia, from an average of a regifter of 16 years, the
w inds blow from November to April in the following
. order.
W. N.W. E. S.W. S. N.E. N. S.E.
Days 45 26 23 22 20 19 14 12
And during the other fix months,
W. N.W. E. S.W. S. N.E. N. S.E.
Days 27 27 19 24 22 15 32 18
The w7eft wund blows during fhe whole year 72 days j
the north-weft 53, the fouth-weft and north 46 days
each. During fummer it is calm for 41 days, and du¬
ring winter for 21. In Norway the moft frequent
62
E O L O G Y.
winds are the fouth, the fouth-weft and fouth eaft.
The wind at Bergen is feldom diieclly w'eft, but gener¬
ally fouth-weft or fouth-eaft 5 a north-weft, and espe¬
cially a north eaft wind, are but little known there.
From the whole of thefe fails, ic appears that the
moft frequent winds on the fouth coafts of Europe are
the north, the north eaft and north-weft, and on the
weftern coaft the fouth-weft j that in the interior parts
which lie moft contiguous to the Atlantic ocean, louth-
weft winds are alfo moft frequent j but that eafterly
winds prevail in Germany. Wefterly winds are alfo
moft frequent on the north-eaft coaft ol Afia.
It is probable that the winds are more conftant in
the fouth temperate zone, which is in a great meafure
covered with water, than in the north temperate zones,
where their direition muff; be frequently interrupted and
altered by mountains and other caufes.
M. de la Bailie, who was fent thither by the French Main winds
king to make affronomical obfervations informs us, aj. ^jaPe
that at the Cape of Good Hope the main winds are the
fouth-eaft and north-weft ; that other winds feldom lait
longer than a few hours; and that the call and north-
eaft winds blow very feldom. The fouth eaft wind
blows in moft months of the year, but chiefty from
OUober to April ; the north-weft prevails during the
other fix months, bringing along with it rain, and tem-
pefts, and hurricanes. Between the Cape of Good
Hope and New Holland the winds are commonly
wefterly, and blow in the following order : north-weft,
fouth-weft, weft, north. 63
In the great South fea, from latitude 30° to 40°^ the Pa-
fouth, the fouth eaft trade-wind blows moft frequently, S1^c ocean*
efpecially wftien the fun approaches the tropic of Capri¬
corn j the wind next to it in frequency is the north-
weft, and next to that is the fouth-weft.
Thus it appears that the trade-winds fometimes ex¬
tend farther into the fouth temperate zon; than their
ufual limits, particularly during fummer; that beyond
their influence the winds are commonly wefterly, and
that they blow in the following order : north-weft,
fouth-weft, weft. ^
We have now confidered pretty much at large the Theory of
dire&ion of the winds in different parts of the earth’s the winds,
furface. Another very curious part of the hiftory of
the winds relates to their violence, and the effedls with
which they are attended, or to the hiftory of hurricanes,
whirlwinds, tornadoes, &c. Of fome of thefe we have
already treated under the articles Hurricane and
Harmattan •, and the confined lim ts of this article
oblige us to refer our readers tor more particulars to
Capper’s Obfervations on the Winds and Mon-
foons. 55
As to the velocity of the wind, its variations, are al-Velocity of
moft infinite, from the gemleft breeze, to the hurricane t^e v^‘nc^
which tears up trees and blows down houfes. Our
moft violent winds take place when neither the heatous-
nor the cold is greateft •, violent winds generally ex¬
tend over a large trail of country, and they are accom¬
panied with fudden and great falls in the mercury
of the barometer. The wind is fometimes very violent at
a diftance from the earth, while it is quite calm at its
furface. On one occafion Lunardi went at the rate of
70 miles an hour in his balloon, though it was quite
calm at Edinburgh when he afeended, and continued
fo during his whole voyage.
4Y2 A
METEOR
A pretty good idea of the velocity of the wind,
' under different circumftances, may be formed from the
Velocity of following table, which was drawn up by Mr Smeaton.
the winds.  
67
Miles
per
Hour.
3
4
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
5°
60
80
100
Feet
per
Second.
I.47
2-93
4-4
5.87
7-33
14.67
22.
29.34
36.67
44.01
5I*34
58.68
66.01
73-35
88.02
117.36
M6*?
Perpendicular force on one fquare foot,
in Avoirdupois pounds and Paris.
.C05
.0 20
49-200
/ Hardly perceptible,
f Juft perceptible.
Gently pleafant.
Pleafant, brilk.
Very brifk.
High wind.
| Very high wind.
Storm or tempeft.
Great ftorm.
Hurricane.
f Hurricane that tears up trees
< and carries buildings before
Lit.
For the means of afcertaining the velocity of the
winds, fee Anemometer and Anemoscope.
We {hall now endeavour to explain the phenomena
that we have been defcribing, or to form a plauftble
theory of the winds.
The atmofphere is a fluid furrounding the earth, and
extending to an unknowm height. Now all fluids tend
invariably to a level : if a quantity of water be taken
out of any part of a veffel, the furrounding water will
immediately flow in to fupply its place, and the furface
will become level as before j or if an additional quan¬
tity of water be poured into any part of the veffel, it
will not remain there, but diffufe itfelf equally over the
whole. Such exaftly would be the cafe with the at¬
mofphere. Whatever therefore deftroys the equilibrium
of this fluid, either by increafing or diminifliing its
bulk in any particular place, muft at the fame time
occafion a wind.
Air, befides its qualities in common with other fluids,
is alfo capable of being dilated and compreffed. Sup-
pofe a veffcl filled with air : if half the quantity which
it contains be drawn out by means of an air-pump, the
remainder will ftill fill the veffel completely j or if
twice or three times the original quantity be forced in
by a condenfer, the veffel will ftill be capable of hold-
ing it.
Rarefied air is lighter, and condenfed air heavier
than common air. When fluids of unequal fpecific
gravities are mixed together, the heavier always defcend
and the lighter afcend. Were quickfilver, water,
and oil, thrown into the fame veffel together, the quick-
filver would uniformly occupy the bottom 5 the w^ater
the middle, and the oil the top. Were water to be
thrown into a veffel of oil, it would immediately
defcend, becaufe it is heavier than oil. Exa&ly the
iRme thing takes place in the atmofphere. "Were a
O L O G Y. Chap. IV.
quantity of air, for inftance, to be fuddenly condenfed Winds,
at a diftance from the furface of the earth, being now
heavier than before, it would defcend till it came to
air of its own denfity; or, w'ere a portion of the
atmofphere at the furface of the earth to be fuddenly
rarefied, being now lighter than the furrounding air, it
would immediately1'afcend. 68
If a bladder half filled with air be expofed to the^^eofthfc
beat of a fire, the air within will foon expand, andwind’
diftend the bladder ; if it be now removed to a cold
place, it will foon become flaccid as before. This
fheu'S that heat rarefies, and that cold condenfes air.
The furface of the torrid zone is much more heated by
the rays of the fun than the frozen or temperate zones,
becaufe the rays fall upon it much more perpendicularly.
This heat is communicated to the air near the furface
of the torrid zone, which being thereby rarefied, afcends,
and its place is fupplied by colder air, which ruflies in
from the north and fouth.
The diurnal motion of the earth is greateft at the
equator, and diminifties gradually as we approach the
poles, where it ceafes altogether. Every {pot of the
earth’s furface at the equator moves at the rate of 15
geographical miles in a minute ; at 40° of latitude it
moves at about 11 miles and a half in a minute, and at
the 30° at nearly 13 miles. The atmofphere, by mov¬
ing continually round along with the earth, has ac¬
quired the fame degree of motion, fo that thofe parts
of it which are above the equator move fafter than
thofe which are at a diftance. Were a portion of the
atmofphere to be tranfported in an inftant from latitude
30° to the equator, it would not immediately acquire
the velocity of the equator j the eminences of the earth,
therefore, would ftrike againft it, and it would affume
the appearance of an eaft wind. This is the cafe in a
fmaller degree wuth the air that flows towards the equa¬
tor, to fupply the place of the rarefied air which is con¬
tinually afcending } and this, when combined with its
real motion from north to fouth, muft caufe it to affume
the appearance of a north-eafterly wind on this fide the
equator, and of a fouth-eafterly beyond it.
The motion weftward occafioned by this difference
in celerity alone, would be very fmall j but it is in-
creafed by another circumftance. Since the rarefaftion
of the air in the torrid zone is owing to the heat de¬
rived from the contiguous earth, and fince this heat is
owing to the perpendicular rays of the fun, thofe parts
muft be hotteft where the fun is a£hially vertical; and
confequently the air above them muft be moft rarefied j
the contiguous parts of the atmofphere will therefore be
drawn moft forcibly to that particular fpot. Now, fince
the diurnal motion of the earth is from eaft to weft, this
hotteft fpot will be continually (hifting weftwards, and
this will occafion a current of the atmofphere in that
direction. That this caufe really operates, appears
from a circumftance already mentioned : When the
fun approaches either of the tropics, the trade-wind on
the fame fide of the equator affumes a more eafterly di-
redtion, evidently from the caufe here mentioned, while
the oppofite trade-wind being deprived of this additional
impulfe, blows in a dire&ion more perpendicular to the •;y{iaffn_
equator. . . creates the
The wefterly direftion of the trade-wind is ftill wefterly di-
farther increafed by another caufe. Since the attrac-re<^on °f
lion of the fun and moon produces fo remarkable anthe trade-
* cfFeaW“4-
Chap. IV. METEOR
winds, effeft upon the ocean, we cannot but fuppofe that an
4——y—effeft equally great, at leaft, is produced upon the at-
mofphere. Indeed as the atmolphere is nearer the
moon than the fea is, the effe&s produced by attraction
upon it ought to be greater. When we add to this
the elaflicity of the air, or that difpofition which it has
to dilate itfelf when freed from any of its preffure, we
cannot but conclude, that the tides in the atmofphere are
confiderable. Now fince the apparent diurnal motion
of the moon is from eaft to weft, the tides muft follow
it in the fame manner, and confequently produce a con-
ftant motion in the atmofphere from eaft to weft. This
reafoning is confirmed by the obfervations of feveral
philofophers, particularly of M. Cafion, that in the tor¬
rid zone the barometer is always two-thirds of a line
higher twice every 24 hours than during the reft of
the day •, and that the time of this rife always cor-
refponds with the tides of the fea $ a proof that it pro¬
ceeds from the fame caufe.
All thefe different caufes probably combine in the
production of the trade-winds; and from their being
fometimes united, and fometimes diftinCt or oppofite,
arife all thofe little irregularities which take place in
the direction and force of the trade-winds.
Since the great caufe of thefe winds is the rarefaCtion
of the atmofphere by the heat of the fun, its afeenfion
and the confequent rulhing in of colder air from the
north and fouth, the internal boundary of the trade-
winds muft be that parallel of the torrid zone which
is hotteft, becaufe there the afeenfion of the rarefied air
muft take place. Now fince the fun does not remain
ftationary, but is conftantly (hifting from one tropic
to the other, we ought naturally to expeCt that this
boundary would vary together with its exciting caufe }
that therefore, when the fun is perpendicular to the
tropic of Cancer, the north-eaft trade-wind would extend
no farther fouth than north latitude 230 30'; that the
fouth-eaft wind would extend as far north j and that,
when the fun was in the tropic of Capricorn, the very
contrary would take place. We have feen, however,
that though this boundary be fubjeCt to confiderable
changes from this very caufe, it may in general be
confidered as fixed between the fecond and fifth degrees
of north latitude.
Though the fun be perpendicular to each of the
tropics during part of the year, he is for one half of it
at a confiderable diftance, fo that the heat which they
acquire, while he is prefent, is more than loft during
his abfence. But the fun is perpendicular to the equa¬
tor twice in a year, and never farther diftant from it
than 23%° ; being therefore twice every year as much
heated, and never fo much cooled as the tropics, its
mean heat muft be greater, and the atmofphere in
confequence generally moft rarefied at that place.
Why then, it will be alked, is not the equator the
boundary of the two trade-winds ? To fpeak more
accurately than we have hitherto done, the internal limit
of thefe winds muft be that parallel where the mean
heat of the earth is greateft. This would be the
equator, were it not for a reafon J:hat fhall now be ex¬
plained.
It has been fhewm by aftronomers, that the orbit
of the earth is an ellipfis, and that the fun is placed in
one of the foci. Were this orbit to be divided into two
parts by a ftraight line perpendicular to the tranfverfe
O L O G Y. 725
axis, and paffing through the centre of the fun, one of Winds.
thefe parts would be lefs than the other j and the earth
during its paffage through the frnall part of its orbit,
would conftantly be nearer the fun than while it moved
through the other portion. The celerity of the earth’s
motion in any part of its orbit is always proportioned
to its diftance from the fun ; the nearer it is to the fun
it moves the fafter; the farther diftant, the flower.
The earth paffes over the fmaller portion of its orbit
during our wdnter, which muft therefore be Ihorter
than our fummer, both on account of this part of the
orbit being fmaller than the other, and on account of
the increafed celerity of the earth’s motion. The dif¬
ference, according to Caflini, is 7 days, 23 hours, 53
minutes. While it is winter in the northern, it is fum¬
mer in the fouthern hemifphere ; wherefore the ium-
mer in the fouthern hemifphere muft be juft as much
ftiorter than the winter, as our winter is ihorter than
our lummer. The difference, therefore, between the
length of the fummer in the tw o hemifph^res is almoll
16 days. The fummer in the northern hemifphere
confifts of 190^- days, while in the fouthern it confifts
only of 174^-. They are to one another nearly in the
proportion of 14 to 12.8 j and the heat of the two
hemifpheres may probably have nearly the fame pro¬
portion to one another. The internal limit of the
trade-winds ought to be that parallel where the mean
beat of the globe is greateft j this would be the equa¬
tor, if both hemifpheres wTere equally hot; but fince
the northern hemifphere is the hotteft, that parallel
ought to be fituated fomewhere in it; and fince the
difference between the heat of the two hemifpheres is not
great, the parallel ought not to be fo far diftant from
the equator.
The trade-wind would blow regularly round the
whole globe if the torrid zone wrere all covered wdth
wrater. If the Indian ocean w7ere not bounded by land
on the north, it wTould blow there in the fame manner
as it does in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The
rays of light pafs through a tranfparent body without
communicating any, or at leaft but a fmall degree of
heat. If a piece of wood be inclofed in a glafs veffel,
and the focus of a burning-glafs dire&ed upon it, the
w'ood will burn to allies, while the glafs through which
all the rays paffed is not even heated. When an opaque
body is expofed to the fun’s rays, it is heated in pro¬
portion to its opacity. If the bulb of a thermometer
be expofed to the fun, the mercury will not rife fo high
as it would do if this bulb were painted black. Land
is much more opaque than water ; it becomes therefore
much warmer when both are equally expofed to the in¬
fluence of the fun. For this reafon, when the fun ap¬
proaches the tropic of Cancer, India, China, and the
adjacent countries, become much hotter than the ocean
which wra(hes their fouthern coafts. The air over them
becomes rarefied, and afeends, while colder air nifties
in from the Indian ocean to fupply its place. As this
current of air moves from the equator northward, it
muft, for a reafon already explained, affume the ap¬
pearance of a fouth-welt wind j and this tendency ea£-
ward is increafed by the fituation of the countries to
which it flows. This is the caufe of the fouth-weft
monfoon, which blows during fummer in the northern
parts of the Indian ocean. Between Borneo and the
coaft of China, its direction is almoft due north, be¬
caufe
726 METEOROLOGY. Chap. IV
Winds, caufe tlie country to which the current i> directed nes
v rather to the tv eft ot north j a circumftance which
counterafts its greater velocity.
In winter, when the fun is on the fouth fide of the
equator, thefe countries become cool, and the north-
eaft trade-wind refumes its courfe, which, had it not
been for the interference of thefe countries, would have
continued the whole year.
As the fun approaches the tropic of Capricorn, it be¬
comes almoft perpendicular to New Holland ; that
continent is heated in its turn, the air over it is rarefied,
and colder air rufhes in from the north and weft to
fupply its place. This is the caufe of the north-weft
monfoon, which blows from Oftober to April, from
■ 30 to 10® foutb latitude. Near Sumatra its direction is
regulated by the coaft : this is the cafe alfo between
Africa and Madagafcar.
The fame caufe which occafions the monfoons, gives
rife to the winds which blow on the well coafts of A-
frica and America. The air above the land is hotter
and rarer, and confequently lighter than the air above
the fea j the fea air, therefore, flow's in, and forces the
lighter land atmofphere to afcend.
The fame thing will account for the phenomena of
the fea and land breezes. During the day, the cool
air of the fea, loaded with vapours, flows in upon the
land, and takes the place of the rarefied land air. As
the fun declines, the rarefadfion of the land air is dimi-
niflied ; thus an equilibrium is reftored. As the fea is
not fo much heated during the day as the land, neither
is it fo much cooled during the night, becaufe it is con-
ftantly expofing a new furface to the atmofphere. As
the night approaches, therefore, the cooler and denfer
air of the hills (for where there are no hills there are
no fea and land breezes) falls down upon the plains,
and preffing upon the now comparatively lighter air of
the fea, caufes the land breeze.
The rarefied air which afcends between 20 and 50
north latitude, has been fhewn to be the principal
caufe of the trade-winds. As this air afcends, it muff
become gradually colder, and confequentlv heavier *, it
would therefore defeend again if it were not buoyed up
by the conftant afeent of new rarefied air. It muft
therefore fpread itfelf to the north and fouth, and gra¬
dually mix in its paffage with the lower air ; and the
greater part of it probably does not reach far beyond
30°, which is the external limit of the trade-wind.
Thus there is a conftant circulation of the atmofphere
in the torrid zone ; it afcends near the equator, diffufes
itfelf toward the north and fouth, defeends gradually as
it approaches 30°, and, returning again towards the
equator, performs the fame circuit. It has been the
opinion of the greater part of thofe who have confider-
ed this fubjeft, that the whole of the rarefied air
which alcends near the equator, advances towards the
poles and defeends there. But if this were the cafe, a
conftant wind would blow from both poles towards the
equator, and the trade winds would extend over the w hole
earth *, for otherwife the afeent of air in the torrid zone
would very foon ceafe. A little refledlion muft con¬
vince us that it cannot be true. Rarefied air differs in
nothing from the common air, except in containing a
greater quantity of heat. As it afcends, it gradually
lofes this fuperfiuous heat. What then fttould hinder it
from defeending, and mixing with the atmofphere be-
2
1 w ? mat there is a conftant current of fuperior air, Wirds.
however, towards the poles, cannot be doubted ; but it
contifts principally of hydrogen gas. We (hall imme¬
diately attempt to affign the reafon why its accumula¬
tion at the pole is not always attended with a north
wind.
If the attradlion of the moon and the diurnal motion
of the fun have any eftedl upon the atmofphere, and
that they have fome effedl can hardly be difputed, there
mult be a real motion of the air weft-wards within the
limits of the trade-winds. When this body of air reach¬
es America, its further paffage weftwards is ftopt by
the mountains which extend from one extremity of that
continent to the other. From the momentum of this
air, when it ftrikes againft the fides of thefe mountains,
and from its elafticity, it mud acquire from them a
confiderable velocity, in a diredlion contrary to the
firft, and w7ould therefore return eaftwards again if this
were not prevented by the trade-winds. It muft there¬
fore rufh forwards in that direction w'here it meets with
the lead refiftance ; that is, towards the north and
fouth. As air is nearly a perfectly elaftic body, when
it ftrikes againft the fides of the American mountains,
its velocity will not be perceptibly diminifhed, though
its direction be changed. Continuing to move, there¬
fore, with the velocity of the equator, when it arrives
at the temperate zones it will affume the appearance of
a north-eaft or fouth'eaft wind. To this is to be af-
cribed the frequency of fouth-weft winds over the At¬
lantic ocean and weftern parts of Europe. Whether
thefe winds are equally frequent in the northern Pacific
ocean, we have not been able to afeertain ; but it is
probable that the mountains in Afia produce the fame
effect as thofe in America.
It is not impoftible that another circumftance may
alfo contribute to the produdtion of thefe winds. The
oxygen, which is rather heavier than common air, may
mix with the atmofphere •, but the hydrogen (a cubic
foot of w'hich weighs only 41.41 grains, while a cubic
foot of oxygen weighs 593.3 2 grains) may afcend to
the higher regions of the atmofphere.
By what means the decompofition is accomplifiied
(if it takes place at all) wre cannot tell. There are
probably a thoufand caufes in nature of which we are
entirely ignorant. Whether heat and light, when long
applied to vapours, may not be able to decompound
them, by uniting with the hydrogen, which feems to
have a greater attraftion for heat than oxygen has, or
whether the ele&rical fluid may not be capable of pro¬
ducing this effeift, are queftions which future obferva-
tions and experiments muft determine. Dr Franklin
filled a glafs tube with water, and paffed an electrical
(hock through it 5 the tube was broken in pieces, and
the whole w'ater difappeared. He repeated the experi¬
ment with ink inftead of wrater, and placed the tube
upon white paper : the fame effeCts followed, and the
ink, though it difappeared completely, left no (tain on
the paper. Whether the water in thefe cafes wras de-
compofed or not, it is impoflible to fay $ but the fuppo-
fition that it was, is not improbable. An experiment
nught eafily be contrived to determine the point.
This decompofition w’ould account for the frequency
of fouth wTeft winds, particularly in fummer ; for this
new air is furni(hed fo fupply the place of that which
is forced northwards by the caufes already explained.
Perhaps
■ IV. M E T E O
Is. Perhaps it may be a confirmation of this conje&ure,
~ that the fouth-vveit winds'generally extend over a great¬
er traft of country than moft other winds which blow
in the temperate zones. What has been faid of fouth-
weft winds holds equally with regard to north-weft
winds in the fouth temperate zone.
After fouth weft winds have blowm for fome time, a
great quantity of air will be accumulated at the pole,
at leaft if they extend over all the northern hemifpherej
and it appears, from comparing the tables kept by fome
of our late navigators in the northern Pacific ocean
with fimilar tables kept in this ifland, that this is fome-
times the cafe fo far as relates to the Atlantic and Pa¬
cific oceans. When this accumulation becomes great,
it muft, from the nature of fluids, and from the elafti-
city of the air, prefs with a conflderable and increafing
force on the advancing air j fo that in time it becomes
ftronger than the fouth-weft wind. This will occafion
at fir ft a calm, and afterwards a north wand, which
will become gradually eafterly as it advances fouth-
wards, from its not afluming immediately the velocity
of the earth. The rcafs of the atmofphere will be in-
creafed in all thofe places over which this uorth-eaft
\yind blows ; this is confirmed by the almoft conftant
rife of the barometer during a norch-eaft wind.
Whatever tends to increafe the bulk of the atmo¬
fphere near the pole, muft tend alfo to increafe the fre¬
quency of north-eaft winds ; and if there be any feafon
wdien this increafe takes place more particularly, that
feafon w-ill be moft liable to thefe winds. During win¬
ter the northern parts of Europe are covered with fnowq
which is melted in the beginning of fummer, w;hen the
heat of the fun becomes more powerful. Great quanti¬
ties of vapour are during that time raifed, which will
augment both the bulk and weight of the atmofphere,
efpecially if the conjecture about the converfion of va¬
pour into air has any foundation. Hence north-eaft
winds are moft prevalent during May and June.
But it will be laid, if this hypothefis were true, the
fouth-weft and north-eaft winds ought to blow' alter¬
nately, and continue each of them for a ftated time;
whereas the fouth-weft wind blows fometimes longer
and fometimes fliorter, neither is it always followed by
a north-eaft wdnd.
If the conjeClure about the decompofition of vapour
in the torrid zone be true, the hydrogen which formed
a part of it will afcend from its lightnefs, and form a
ftratum above the atmofpherical air, and gradually ex¬
tend itfelf, as additional hydrogen rifes, towards the
north and fouth, till at laft it reaches the poles. The
hghtnefs of hydrogen is owing to the great quantity of
heat which it contains ; as it approaches the poles it
muft lofe a great part of this heat, and may in confe-
quence become heavy enough to mix with the atmo¬
fphere below. Oxygen makes a part of the atmo¬
fphere ; and its proportion near the poles may fome¬
times be greater than ordinary, on account of the addi¬
tional quantity brought thither from the torrid zone.
Mr Cavendilh mixed oxygen and hydrogen together in
a glafs jar ; and upon making an ele&rical fpark pafs
through them, they immediately combined and formed
water.
That there is eleCtric matter at the poles, cannot be
doubted. The abbe Chappe informs us, that he faw
thunder and lightning much more frequently at Tobol-
R O L O G Y. 72‘
Iki and other'parts of Siberia, than in any other part Winds.
oi the world. In the north of Europe, the air, during ——'
very cold weather, is exceedingly elecfric ; fparks can
be drawn from a perfon’s hands and face, by comb¬
ing his hair, or etmn powdering him with a putF. JE-
pinus was an eye-witnefs to this faft, and to ftill more
aftonifiling proofs of the eleilricity of the atmofphere
during great colds.
May not the appearance of the aurora borealis be
owing to the union of oxygen and hydrogen by the in¬
tervention of the electric fluid ? That it is an electrical
phenomenon, at leaft, can hardly be doubted. Artifi¬
cial electricity is much ftrengthened during an aurora,
as M. "V olta and Mr Canton have obferved 5 and the
magnetic needle moves with the lame irregularity dur¬
ing an aurora that has been obferved in other eledlrical
phenomena. Ehis fa£t we learn from Bergman and
De la Lande. Many philofophers have attempted to
demonllrate, that aurorae boreales are beyond the earth’s
atmofphere ; but the very different refults of their cal¬
culations evidently prove that they were not pofieffed of
lufficient data.
If this conjeaure be_ true, part of the atmofphere
near the poles muft at times be converted into water.
This would account for the long continuance of fouth-
weft winds at particular times j when they do fo, a de¬
compofition of the atmofphere is going on at the pole.
It would render this conjeaure more probable, if the
barometer fell always when a fouth-weft w-ind continues
l0ng' • 70
If this hypothefis be true, a fouth-weft wind ought South-weft
alwTays to blow after aurora; boreales 5 and we are in-winds very
formed by Mr Winn, that this is adhially the cafe.c0m'T,0,i af“
This he found never to fail in 23 inftances. He ob- jf' au.,orae
ferved alio, that when the aurora was bright, the gale ^ ^
came on within 24 hours, but did not laft long •, but if
it was faint and dull, the gale was longer in beginning,
and lefs violent, but it continued longer. This looks’
like a confirmation of our conje&ure. Bright aurorse
are probably nearer than thofe which are dull. Now,
if the aurora borealis be attended with a decompofition
of a quantity of air, that part of the atmofphere which
is neareft muft firft rufti in to fupply the diftant parts.
Juft as if a hole were bored in the end of a long veflel
filled with water, the water neareft the hole would flow
out immediately, and it would be fome time before the
natei at the other end of the veffel began to move.
The nearer we are to the place of precipitation, the
fooner will we feel the fouth-weft wind. It ought
therefore to begin fooner after a bright aurora, becaufe
it^is nearer than a dull and faint one. Precipitations
of the atmofphere at a diftance from the pole cannot be
fo great as thofe which take place near it; becaufe the
cold will not be fufficient to cendenfe fo great a quanti¬
ty of hydrogen ; fouth-weft winds, therefore, ought not
to laft fo long after bright as after dull aurora;. Winds
are more violent after bright aurorse, becaufe they are
nearer the place of precipitation ; juft as the water near
the hole of the yeffel runs fwifter than that which is at
a confiderable diftance.
. If thefe conjedtures have any foundation in nature, Probable
there are two iources of fouth-weft winds; the firft has c aiu’es of
its origin in the trade-winds, the fecond in precipita-'0Ul^'weft -
tipns of the atmofphere near the pole. When they ori-vvinds-
ginate fiom the firft caufe^ they will blow in countries 1
farther.
723
Wind*.
It
Winds com
manly be¬
gin at the
place to¬
wards
M E T E O
farther fouth for fome time before they are felt in thofe
which are farther north ; but the contrary will take
place when they are owing to the fecond caufe. In
this laid cafe, too, the barometer will fink confiderably j
and it a&ually does fo conftantly after aurorae, as we
arc informed by Mr Madifon, who paid particular at¬
tention to this fubjefl. By keeping accurate meteoro¬
logical tables in different latitudes, it might eafily be
dtfcovered whether thefe confequences be true, and pf
courfe whether the above conje&ures be well or ill
grounded,
■ It appears that winds generally commence at that
point towards which they blow *, and hence they muff
arife from a rarefaction and confequent difplacing of the
air in feme particular place, by the aCtion of heat, or
which theyfomc other caufe. Perhaps, according to the idea, of
blew, ]yj;r Williams, this caufe may be an increafed precipita¬
tion of the fuperior ftrata of air, rendered unufually
denfe from its being furcharged with moilture in the
place where the wind begins to blow, or from an in-
creafed evaporation from a humid furface in the oppo-
fite direction. v ,
Hurricanes are conffantly preceded by a great de-
preffion of the thermometer; and in thefe cafes the
wind often feems to blow from every direction towards
the quarter where this fall of the barometer is ob-
ferved.
Violent wm^s from the north*eaft have repeatedly
been obferved to begin at the quarter towards which
they blow. In 1740 Dr Franklin was prevented from
obferving an eclipfe of the moon at Philadelphia by a
north-eaff fform, which came on about feven o’clock
jn the evening. He was furprifed to find afterwards
that it had not come on at Bolton till near 11 o’clock;
and, upon comparing all the accounts which he recei¬
ved from the feveral colonies of the beginning of this
and other ftorms of the fame kind, he found it to be
-always an hour later the farther north-eaff, for every
100 miles, “ From hence (fays he) I formed an idea
of the courfe of the Harm, which I will explain by a
familiar inftance. I fuppofe a long canal of water flop¬
ped at the end by a gate. The water is at reft till the
gate is opened then it begins to move out through the
gate, and the water next the gate is firft in motion,
and moves on towards the gate, and fo on fucceflively,
till the water at the head of the canal is in motion,
which it is laft of all. In this cafe the water moves
indeed towards the gate ; but the fucceflive times of
beginning the motion are in the contrary way, viz.
from the gate back to the head of the canal. Thus to
produce a north-eaft ftorm, I fuppofe fome great rare-
faCtion of the air in or near the gulf of Mexico ; the
air riling thence has its place fupplied by the next more
northern, cooler, and therefore denfer and heavier
air a fucceflive current is formed, to which our coaft
and inland mountains give a north-eaft direftion.”
Several inftances of a limilar kind have occurred.
In 1802, Dr Mitchell obferved a ftorm which began
at Charleftown on the 21 ft of February, at two o’clock
P, M. but was not obferved at Walhington, feveral
hundred miles to the north-eaft, till five o’clock ; at
New York till to, nor at Albany till daybreak of the
following morning. Hence it appears that it muft have
moved a* the rate of 1100 miles in 11 hours, or 100
miles an hour.
R O L 0 G Y. Chap, iv
A remarkable ftorm of this kind, in which the wind Winds.
w7as eafterly, and attended wdth a heavy fall of fnow,
was obferved in Scotland on the 8th of February 1799 j
but the motion of the wind was much flow’er. It began
to fnow at Falkirk on the 7th of February at fix in the
evening, but at Edinburgh not till one o clock A. 1M.
on the 8th ; and the fnow7 was not obferved at Dunbar
till feven hours after. The ftorm continued 11 hours,
during which time it did not travel more than 100
miles. *
Currents of air from the poles naturally affume a
north eaft dire&ion as they advance fouthwards, be-
caufe their diurnal motion becomes lefs than that of the
earth. Various circumftances, however, may change
this di redd ion, and caufe them to become north, or even
north-weft winds. The fouth-weft winds themfelves
may often prove fufficient for this , and violent rains,
or great heat, by leffening or rarefying the atmofphere
in any country, wull produce the lame effedt in coun¬
tries to the weftwards, when north winds happen to be
blowdng.
In North America, the north-weft winds become
gradually more frequent as we advance northwards.
The eaft coaft of this continent, where the obfervations
were made from which this conclufion wras drawn, is
alone cultivated ; the reft of the country is covered
with w7ood. Now cultivated countries are generally
confidered as warmer than thofe which are uncultivated,
though Mr Williams is of a different opinion j and on
this circumftance founds his hypothefis of the climate
of Britain being much deteriorated during the laft 50
years. The air, therefore, in the interior parts of the
country ftiould be conftantly colder than the eaft coaft.
This difference will fcarcely be perceptible in the.fouth-
ern parts, becaufe there the influence of the fun is very
powerful} but it wdll become gradually greater as we
advance northwards, becaufe the influence of the fun
diminifhes, and the continent becomes broader. Hence
north-weft winds ought to become more frequent upon
the eaft coaft as we advance northwards } and they
will probably ceafe to blow fo often as foon as the
whole continent of North America becomes cultiva-
ted. _ 73
There is one curious circumftance which deferves 2t-
tention. One current of air is often obferved to blow at currents of-
the furface of the earth, while a current in the contrary ten appear^
direflion is flowing in a fuperior part of the atmofphere, at
T'v Thomfon on one occafion obferved three currents^ pame
Dr
of this kind blowing all at the fame time in contrary time,
directions. It has been affirmed that changes of wea¬
ther commonly commence in the upper ftrata, and that
they are gradually extended by the current ot air that
commences above, proceeding towards the lower parts
of the atmofphere. __ 74
Befides thefe more general winds, there are others Partial
which extend only over a very fmall part of the earth.win S*
Thefe originate from many different caufes. . The
atmofphere is principally compofed of three different
kinds of air, oxygen, azote, and carbonic acid, to which
may be added water. Great quantities of each of thefe
ingredients are conftantly changing their aerial form,
and combining with various fubftances; or they are
feparating from other bodies, affirming the form of air,
and mixing with the atmofphere. Partial deficiences,
therefore, and partial accumulations, muft be continu¬
ally
3
Chap. V. 'fh
Meteors, ally taking place in different parts of the atmofphere,
-Y--— which will occafion winds varying in direaion, violence,
and continuance, according to the fuddenne_s and
the quantity of air deftroyed or produced. Behdes
thefe, there are many other ingredients conftantly mix¬
ing with the atmofphere, and many partial cautes o
condenfation and rarefaftion in particular places. io
thefe, and probably to other caufes hitherto unknown,
are to be afcribed all thofe wands which blow in
any place befides the general ones already explained ;
and which, as they depend on caufes hitherto at lea
reckoned contingent, will probably for ever prevent
uniformity and regularity in the winds. All the e
caufes, however, may, and probably will, be difcover-
ed : the circumilances in which they will take place,
and the effefts they will produce, may be known 5 and
whenever this is the cafe, the winds of. any place may
in fome meafure be reduced to calculation.
Chap. V. Of Meteors.
75
Meteors.
7 <5
Falling
ftar.
The principal luminous phenomena denominated
meteors, have been fblly confidered under Atmo¬
spheric Electricity. Thofe meteors that built in
the air, and are followed by the falling of ftones or
other mineral fubftances, have been fully defcribed and
accounted for under Metegrolite. We have here
only to notice briefly the meteors called
and ignes fatui.
The falling or (hooting ftar is a very common pheno¬
menon, and takes place more efpecially at thole fea-
fons and in thofe fituations where the aurora borealis is
moft frequently obferved. Indeed they are confidered by
moft philofophers as modifications of the fame pheno¬
menon, and depending on the fame caufe. We have
feen good reafon to conclude that the aurora borealis is
an elearical meteor •, and if the falling ftar is fo nearly '
allied to the aurora as is fuppofed, it muft alfo be pro¬
duced bv elean'city. Mr G. Morgan feems to have
no doubt of the elearical nature of this meteor, and
remarks that if what appears as an undulating flafli m
the aurora, could be concentrated, or confined within
fmaller dimenfions, it would probably affume the ap¬
pearance of a falling ftar. He founds this opinion
chiefly on the following experiment.
Into a tube 48 inches long, and |- inch diameter,
Mr Morgan conveyed as much air, as under the com¬
mon preffure of the atmofphere, vvould fill two inches in
length of the fame tube. (The tube we prefume
was previoufly exhaufted of air.) One extiemity
of the tube he connefted with the ground by means of
good conductors, and faftened to the other a metallic ball.
Through the tube thus filled with rarefied air, he fent
eleRric fparks of different magnitudes, by bringing the
ball within the ftriking diftance of different fixed con-
duaors. When the fparks were fmall, a flafli like that
of the aurora borealis, feemed to fill the whole tube ;
but when the fpark was what might be made to ftnke
through 10 inches in the open air, it appearea to llrike
through the whole length of the tube, with all the
brilliancy and firaightnefs of a falling fiar. If, how¬
ever, he extraaed part of the air out of the tube, by
the air-pump, he could never make the elearic fluid
affume any form excepting that of flafli •, but . by
exchanging the tube for another with a thermontetrical
• ‘ Vol. XIII. Part II.
o It o L O G Y. 729
ball, and treating it in the fame manner as . the prece^-
ing, the flafli never appeared, but the fluid in its pillage
affumed all the brilliancy of a falling ftar.
It is eafy to trace the fimilarity ot circumftances t iat
take place in this experiment, and in the natural pheno¬
menon of the falling ftar. Both take place in rarefied
air •, both are remarkable for the bnghtnels of their
light, and for the ftraightne.fs of their diretfron. That
falling ftars are frequently, if not always., the concen¬
tration of an aurora borealis, may be inferred from
their being the conftant attendants of a very electrical
ftate of the atmofphere •, and from their frequent appear¬
ance near that portion of the heavens which, is illum¬
ined by the northern lights at the time of their appear-
ance. • 1 1
Mr Morgan was riding towards Norwich late at
night, when to the north call of the town he beheld a
fine conical ttream of the aurora borealis. The whole
body every now and then flaftied, as if an additional
quantity of elearic fluid were thrown into it, and
nearlv at the fame inftant he perceived what is vulgarly
called a falling ftar, darting from its fummit. 1 his
appearance he obferved twice fucceftively. _ . .
The ignis fatuus, or will-with the-wifry that. ap-Igms la-
pears fo often in boggy, marftiy and damp .fituations,  
decoying the unwary traveller, and terrifying the
fuperftitious vulgar, feems to be rather of a pnofphon.c
than an eleftric nature, fimilar to the light vvhic.i is
emitted by ftale filh, rotten wTood,. and. other putrelcent
fubllances. Sir Ifaac Newton defined it to be a vapour
Ihining without heat.
A remarkable ignis fatuus was ooierved by 1 Ir
Derham, in fome boggy ground, between two rocky
hills. He was fo fortunate as to be able to approach it
within two or three yards. It moved with a.bnlk and
defultory motion about a dead thiftle, till a flight.agita-
V
tion of the air, occafioned, as he fuppofed, by his near
approach to it, occafioned it to jump to another place ;
and as he approached, it kept flying .before hjm- He
was near enough to fatisfy himfelf, that it could not be the
fhining of glow-w7orms or other infefts—it was one uni¬
form body of light.
M. Beccaria mentions two of thefe luminous appear¬
ances, which were frequently obferved in the neigh¬
bourhood of Bologna, and which emitted a light equal
to that of an ordinary faggot. Their motions were
unequal, fometimes rifing, and fometimes finking to¬
wards the earth; fometimes totally difappea.nng, though
in general they continued hovering about fix feet from
the ground. They differed in fize and figure ; and. in¬
deed, the form of each was fluauating, fometimes
floating like waves, and dropping fparks of fire. ^ He
was affured there was not a dark night m the whole
year in which they did not appear •, nor was their appear¬
ance at all affeaed by the weather, whether cold or
hot, fnow or rain. They have been known to change
their colour from red to yellow 5 and generally grew
fainter as any perfon approached, vanifhing entirely
when the obferver came very near to them, and appear-
ing again at fome diftance. _ .
Dr Shaw alfo defcribes a fingular ignis Jatuus,
which he faw in the Holy Land. It was fometimes
globular, or in the form of the flame of a -candle ; and
immediately afterwards fprea.d itfelf fo much, a_s to
involve the whole company in a pale inoffenfive light,
4 Z arid
730
M £ T E 0
^ind tllen was obferved to contra^ itfelf again, and
mddenly difappear. In lefs than a minute, however,
it would become vifible as before, and run along from
one place to another j or would expand itielf over more
tnan three acres of the adjacent mountains. The atmo-
fphere at this time was thick and hazy.
All theie lumi^ ms appearances are probably owing
’o the extrication of hydrogen gas fo flightly impreg¬
nated with phofphorus as to continue emitting a faint
light, without producing that brilliant flaflr which
follows the fudden extrication into the air, of the com¬
mon phofphorated hydrogen gas obtained in the ufual
chemical experiment of throvving phofphuret of lime
into water.
Chap. VI. Of the ' Application of Meteorology to
Prognoficating the Weather.
11 has ever been a principal objedl among mankind,
to roretel the changes of weather that are likely to fol¬
low particular appearances in the Iky, among, the
heavenly bodies, &c. ; and it has been often alleged,
that in this refpeft the philofopher is far behind the
1 uibandman and the diepherd. Were the former, how¬
ever to add to his fcientific refearches the obfervations
to which the latter are indebted for their judgement of
the weather, he would foon be far fupenor to them in
7$ this refpedh
> ,1?r ha* lately endeavoured to difcover pro-
onthewea-^abrIc ruIes f°r prognodicating the weather in different
Cter, lefa,°nrs> as. as regards this climate, from tables
pf obfervation alone j and. from comparing a number of
he f 0^‘erVatlons made ,n England, from 1677 to I789»
1. I hat when there has been no ftorm before or after
the vernal equinox, the enfuing fummer is generally
ary, at lead five times in fix.
2. That when a ftorm happens from an eafterly
point, either on the 19th, 20th, or 21ft of May,
the lucceeding fummer is generally dry four times in
3. That when a ftorm arifes on the 26th, 27th
or 29th of May (and not before), in any point, the
fucceeding fummer is generally dry four times in five.
4. It there be a ftorm at fouth-weft or weft-fouth-
weft on the 19th, 20th, 21ft, or 22d of March, the
iucceeding furamer is generally wet five times in fix.
In this country winters and fprings, if dry, are moft
commonly cold 5 if moift, warm : on the contrary dry
fummers and autumns are ufually hot, and moift fummers
cold, bo that if we know the moiftnefs or drynefs of a
ture0n’ WC C3n J*UdSe pretty accurately of its tempera-
Erom a table of the weather kept by Dr Rutty, in
Dublin, for 41 years. Dr Kirwan endeavoured to cal-
f 11 au pru°bablh^es of particular feafons being
followed by others Though his rules relate chiefly £
the climate of Ireland, yet as probably there is not
much difference between that ifland and Britain, in the
general appearance of the feafons, we Ihali mention his
conclufions here.
In 41 years there were fix wet fprings, 22 dry, and
*3 variable ; 20 wet fummers, 16 dry, and five varia-
OOLOGY. chap. VI.
ble; 11 wet autumns, n dryland 19 variable. A Weather,
leamn according to Dr Kirwan, is counted wet, when
it contains two wet months, dn general, the quantity
of rain which falls in dry feafons is lefs than five inches •
in wet feafons more. Variable feafons are thole in
which there falls between 30 and 36 pounds, a pound
being equal to .157637 of an inch.
The order in which the different feafons fucceeded Prqbahl*
each other, was as in the following table. fucceffion
of feafens.
- . 0 yC
fummer
A dry fpring and w
fummer
A dry fpring
A wet fpring
A variable fpring
A dry fummer
A wet fummer
A variable fummer
[
1
{
i
1
r
A dry fpring and dry
A wet fpring and dry
fummer
A wet fpring and wet
fummer
A wet fpring and va¬
riable fummer
A dry fpring and va¬
riable fummer
et f -a
) «
1
{
1
A variable fpring and ^
1
dry fummer
A variable fpring and C
wet fummer
A variable fpring and
variable fummer
1
f dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
< dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
w’et
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable
dry
wet
variable^
Times
T r
c
P3
- 2 <
<1
fn
8
3
o
5
1
5
7
1
5
5
6
5
3
1 2
1
3
1
3
4
4
2
o
6
o
o
o
2
1
2
1
O
o
o
2
1
2A
O
2
I
I
5-
o
1
o
Proba
bility
TT
3
TT
z
it
TT
7
TT
I
TT
S
To
To"
1 1
W
I
T
1
T
3
TT
4
TT
4
TT
1
■ff
o
6
T
O
7T
o
T
4
o
I
ZT
o
that
Chap. VI.
82'
Signs of
rain from
birds.
Weather'.tl]at a dr7 Summer will follow a dry fpring is * * • that
V a. ZT rUmmer wi.U follow a dry fPring, tt } that’a va-
nable fummcr ■ml! fbHow a dry fpring, TV, and fo on.
Inis method of Dr Kirwan, if there is Inch a con¬
nexion between the different feafons that a particular
kind of weather in one has a tendency to produce a par¬
ticular kind of weather in the next, as it is reafonable
to expea from theory, may in time, by multiplying ob-
iervations, come to a great degree of accuracy, and
may at laft, perhaps, lead to that great defideratum,
a rational theory of the weather. As we with to throw
as much light as polfible on this important fubieft, we
Ihall add to thefe a few maxims, the truth of which
has either been confirmed by long obfervation, or
✓ whicn the knowledge we have already acquired of the
caufes of the weather has eflablifhed on tolerably eood
grounds. J 6
1. A moift autumn with a mild winter is generally
followed by a cold and dry fpring, which greatly retards
vegetation. Such w’as the year 1741.
2. If the fummer be remarkably rainy, it is proba-
b e that the enfuing winter will ba fevere 5 for the un-
ulual evaporation will have carried off the heat of the
earth. Wet fummers are generally attended with an
unulual quantity of feed on the white thorn and dog-
rofe buflies. Hence the unufual fruitfulnefs of thefe
fiirubs is a fign of a fevere winter.
3* The appearance of cranes and birds of paffage
early m autumn announces a very fevere winter • for
it is a fign it has already begun in the northern
countries.
4. When it rains plentifully in May, it will rain but
little in September, and wee verfa.
5. When the wind is fouth-weft during fummer or
autumn, and the temperature of the air unufually cold
for the feafon, both to the feeling and the thermo¬
meter, with a low berometer, much rain is to be ex-
peaed.
6. Violent temperatures, as ftorms or great rains
produce a fort of crifis in the atmofphere, which pro¬
duces a conflant temperature, good or bad, for fome
months.
7. A rainy winter predicts a fteril year: a fevere au¬
tumn announces a windy winter.
I o the above we fhall add the following maxims,
drawn from obfervation, and with thefe fhall conclude this
article. Sea and frefh water-fowls, fuch as cormorants,
lea-gulls, muir-hens, &c. flying from fea, or the frefli
waters, to land, fhew bad weather at hand • land
fowls flying to waters, and thefe fhaking, wafhing, and
noily, efpecially in the evening, denote the fame •
geefe, ducks, cats, &c. picking, fhaking, wafhing!
and noifyj rooks and crowds in flocks, and fuddenly
““appearing; pyes and jays in flocks, and very noify-
the raven or hooded-crow crying in the morning, with
an interruption in their notes, or crows being Verv
clamorous at even ; the heron, bittern, and fwallow fly¬
ing low ; birds forfaking their meat and flying to their
neifs; poultry going to rooft, or pigeons to their
dove-houle ; tame fowls grubbing
clapping their wings; fmall birds
and wafh in the fand ; the late and
the cock, and clapping his wings;
of wood-larks ; the early chirping
meteorology.
pearance of robin-redbreaft near houfes ; peacocks and Weather,
owls unufually clamorous. ^ f v—1,.«
Sea and frefh-water fowls gathering in flocks to the w- 53f
banks, and there fporting, efpecially in the morning ; S ®
wild-geefe flying high, and in flocks, and direding
their courfe eaftward ; coots reftlefs and clamorous j
the hoopoe loud in his note; the king’s-fifher taking
to land ; rooks darting or fhooting in the air, or
iporting on the banks of frefh waters; and laflly, the
appearance of the malefigie at fea, is a certain forerun¬
ner of violent winds, and (early in the morning) de¬
notes horrible tempefts at hand. s4
Halcyons, fea-ducks, &c. leaving the land and wea“
flocking to the fea; kites, herons, bitterns, and fwal-,the.rfrom
ows flying high and loud in their notes ; lapwings reft-
lels and clamorous; fparrows after funrife reftlefs and
noify ravens, hawks, and keftrils (in the morning),
loud in their notes; robin-redbreaft mounted high
and loud in his fong ; larks foaring high, and loud in
their longs; owls hooting with an eafy and clear note ;
bats appearing early in the evening.
Afles braying more _ frequently than ufual; hogs Rain fr*»
playing, Icattering their food, or carrying ftraw inbeafts*
their mouths ; oxen fnuffing the air, looking to the
outh, while lying on their fides, or licking their
hoofs; cattle galping for air at noon; calves run¬
ning violently and gamboling ; deer, iheep, or goats,
leaping, fighting, or pufhing; cats wafliing their face
and ears ; dogs eagerly feraping up earth ; foxes bark¬
ing, or wolves howling ; moles throwing up earth
more than ufual ; rats and mice more reftlefs than
u.md ; a grumbling noife in the belly of hounds. S<>
Worms crawling out of the earth in great abund-Ra‘n
ance; fpiders falling from their webs; flies dull andinfeas
reftlefs ; ants haftening to their nefts; bees haftenincx
home and keeping clofe in their hives; frogs and
•toads drawing nigh to houfes;, frogs croaking from
catches; toads crying on eminences; gnats finginp-
more than ufual ; but, if gnats play in the open air, or
it hornets, wafps, and glow-worms appear plentifully
in the evening, or if fpiders webs are feen in the air or
on the grafs, or trees, thefe do all denote fair and warm
weather at hand.
Sun riling dim or waterilh ; riling red with blackifh Rain hoai
beams mixed along with his rays ; riling in a mufty ortlie fun*
muddy colour ; rifing red and turning blackifli; fet-
ting under a thick cloud ; fetting with a red fky in the
ealt. J
. N' B- Sudden rains never laft long 5 but when the
a.r grows thick by degrees, and the fun, moon, and
itars ihine dimmer and dimmer, then it is like to rain
fix hours ulually. cs
Sun rifing pale and fetting red, with an iris; rifing Wind fro*
large in furfaefe; rifing with a red iky in the north •
ting of a bloody colour ; fetting pale, with one or more
daik circles, or accompanied with red ftreaks; feeming
concave or hollow; feeming divided, great ftorms;
paihena, or mock funs, never appear, but are followed
by tempefts.
5un rifing clear, having fet clear the night before ; Fair wea¬
ning while the clouds about him are driving to the ^ier *rom
m the duft, and
feeming to duck
early crowing of
the early finging
of fparrows ; the
- -  ijjrtuuws ; me
eariy note of the chaffinch near houfes; the dull ap-
weft; rifing with an iris around him; and that iris
wearing away equally on all fides, then expect fair and
ettied weather; rifing clear and not hot; fetting in
red clouds, according to the old obfervation : °
4 Z 2
the fun.
The
732
Weather.
90
Xai’"' from
the moon.
METEOR
The evening red and morning gray,
Is the fare fign of a fair day.
9\
Wind from
the moon.
9a
Fair wea¬
ther from
-the moon.
- 93
Weather
from the
ftars.
94
Rain from
the clouds.
95
Wind from
the clouds.
96
Rain from
a rainbow.
Moon pale in colour, rain •, horns blunt at firft nfing,
rain : horns blunt, at or within two or three days alter
the change, denotes rain for that quarter • an ms with
a fouth wind, rain next day } wind fouth third night
after change, rain next day ; the wind fouth, and the
moon not feen before the fourth night, rain molt ol
that month ; full moon in April, new and full moon
in Auguft, for moll part brng ram •, mock moons are
the forerunners of great rains, land floods, and inun¬
dations. , • r
Moon feeming greatly enlarged j appearing of a red
colour horns {harp and blackilh ; if included with a
clear and ruddy iris •, if the ins be double or feem to
be broken in parts, tern pells. , n. . ^
N. B. On the new moon, the wind for tne moil part
Ch wTen the moon, at four days old, has her horns
fharp, (lie foretels a tempell at fea, unlefs the has a
circle about her, and that too entire, becaufe, by that
fire thews that it is not like to be bad weather, till it is
■ Moon feeming to exhibit bright fpots ; a clear ms
with full moon •, horns tliarp fourth day, lair till lull',
horns blunt at firfl rifmg, or within two or three days
after change, denotes rain for that quarter -, but hur
weather the other three quarters ; moon clear three
days after change and beforer full, always denotes lair
weather. After every change and full, rains lor the
moft part, fucceeded by fair fettled weather-, moon
clear and bright, always fair weather.
Stars feeming large, dull, and pale of colour, ram -,
or when their twinkling is not perceptible, on! encom-
paflfed withan ir is. In fummer, when the wind is at call,
and ftars feem greater than ufual, then expeft hidden
rain; ftars appearing great in number, yet clear am
bright, feeming to (hoot or dart, denote fair weather m
fummer, and in winter froft. . . . f .
In cloudy weather, when the wind falls, ram fol¬
lows 1 clouds growing bigger, or feeming like rocks or
towers fettling on tops of mountains j coming from the
fouth, or often changing their courfe-, many in number
at north-weft in the even -, being black in colour from
the eaft, rain at night j but out of the weft, rain next
day being like fleece of wool, from the eaft,. ram lor
two or three days -, lying like ridges about mid day m
the fouth-weft, ftiews great ftorms both of wind and
rain to be nigh. Clouds flying to and fro ; appearing
fuddenly from the fouth or weft -, appearing red, or ac¬
companied with rednefs in the air,, efpecmlly m the
morning -, being of a leadilh colour in the north-well ;
finale clouds denote wind from whence they come ; but
if 'at funfet, clouds appear with golden edges or di-
minifti in bulk, or fmall clouds fink low, or draw a-
gainft the wind, or apnear fmall, white, and icattered
in the north-weft (fuch as are vulgarly called macke¬
rel) when the fun is high, thefe aie figns ol lair
It is often obferved, that though the macke¬
rel fky denotes fair weather for that day, yet for the
moft part, rain follows in a day or two after.
After a long drought, the rainbow denotes ludden
and heavy rains > if green be the predominant colour, it
o l o g r; chaP' vl-
denotes rain, but if red, wind witb rain ; if the clouds
grow darker, rain -, if the bow feems broken, violent
ftorms j if appearing at noon, much ram -, it m the
weft great rain, with thunder. , . „
N. B. It is obferved, that if the laft week in Fe¬
bruary, and the firft fortnight of March, be mouly
rainy, and attended with frequent appearances ol tne
bow, a wet fpring and fummer may be expedec . F ■ 9Jea
The rainbow appearing alter ra.ns, denotes f-r wea-F™ wea.
ther at hand, if the colour* grow hghtei, a-i 1 1 rain¬
bow fuddenly difappears, fair -, if the bow appear in the bow.
morning, it is the fign of fmall rains, followed by lair
weather j and if appearing at night, fair weather-, 1
appearing in the eaft in the evening, fair-, if the bow
appear double, it denotes fair weather at. prelent but
rain in a few days j if in autumn, it continues fair for
two days after the appearance of the aurora borealis,
exped lair weather for at leaft eight day8 more- . 98
If mills be attracted to the tops of hills then exped Ram horn
rain in a day or two ; if, in dry weather, they beob-^s.
ferved to afcend more than ulual, then.expect ludden
rain : mifts in the new moon forelhew rain m toe. old j
mills alfo in the old moon denote ram to happen in the
new j a mifty white fcare, in a clear Iky m the louth-
eaft, is always a forerunner of rain. • .Fair9w9ea-
If mifts diffipate quickly, or defcend after raip, it 'SThoca
mifts.
ir muis uiuipun,   ’ ther from
a fare fign of fair weather a general mi l before lu -]
rifing near the full moon, denotes fair weather for about
a fortnight running. If after funfet or before funnle,
a white mift arife from the waters and meads, it denotes
warm and fair weather next day. A mifty dew on tne
infide of glafs windows Ihews fair weather lor that
rh ° IC°
ftvood fuelling, or Bones Teeming to feat; lute orR.»fro,„
viol firings breaking-, printed canvas or paLed maps
relaxing ; fait becoming moift ; rivers linking, or Hoods
fuddenly abating-, remarkable halo about the candle ;
great drynefs of the earth ; pools feeming troubled or
muddy ; yellow fcum on the furface of ftagnant waters-,
dandelion or pimpernel (hutting up ; trefoil iweftmg m
ftalk, while the leaves bow down.
N. B. A dry fpring is always attended with a rainy
Wind drifting to the oppofite point; fea calm, with a Wind from
murmuring noffe ; a murmuring noife from the vvoods^ate
and rocks when the air is calm; leaves and leathers
feeming much agitated; tides high when the. ther¬
mometer is high; trembling or flexuous burning, of
flames ; coal burning white with a murmuring nolle ;
thunder in the morning with a clear Iky ; thunder hom
the north. . n-r -u
N. B. Whenfoever the wind begins, to flint, ^ wiU
not reft till it come to the oppofite point ; and it the
wind be in the north, it will be cold ; if in the north-
eaft colder ; if in the fouth ; it brings rain ; but it m
the fouth-weft more rain. i©2
The hidden doling of gaps in the earth ; the remark. Signs of
able rifmg of fprings or rivers ; if the ram begins an ram cea
hour or two before lunnfe it is like to be lair eie
noon ; but if an hour or two after funnfe; it lor the
moft part happens to continue all day and then to
ceafe when it begins to rain from the fouth with a
high wind for two or three hours, and that the wind
falls, and it ftill continues raining, it is then like to
continue for 1 2 hours or snore, and then to ceale.
meteorology.
’33
104
Signs of
hail.
I0S.
Signs of
thunder.
ic6
Signs of
cold and
frofty wea
ther.
107
Signs of
thaw.
AT. B. Thefe long rains feldom hold above 24 hours,
or happen above once a year. . , > r r
A hally Ihower alter raging winds is a lure lign ot
the ftorm being near an end. If the water ruckles anc
frequent bubbles arife, or if the halcyon or king s-filher
attempts the fea while the ftorm lafts, or moles come
out of their holes, or fparrows chirp merrily, thele are
all certain figns of the ftorm ceafing.
Both fea and frefti water fillies by their frequeiw n-
fing and fluttering on the furface of the water, foretel
the ftorm nigh over, but efpecially dolphins fpouting
up water in a ftorm foretel a calm. _
N. B. Let the wind be in what quarter it will, upon
the new moon, it prefently changes:
Clouds white, inclining to yellow, and moving
heavily though the wind be high, is a hire fign of hail ;
if the eaftern Iky before funnfe be pale, and refradted
rays appear in thick clouds, then expeft great ftorms
of hail: white clouds in fummer are a fign of hail,
but in winter they denote fnow, elpecially when we
perceive the air to he a little warm; in fpnng or winter,
when clouds appear of blueifti white, and expand much,
expea fmall hail or drizzling, which properly is no
other than frozen mifts. . .
Meteors ftiooting in the fummer’s evening, or chops
and clefts in the earth, when the weather is lultry,
always foretel thunder is nigh ; in fummer or harveft,
when the wind has been fouth two or three days, and
the thermometer high, and clouds rife with great wW
tops like towers, as if one were upon the top of another,
and ioined with black on the nether fide, exped rain
and thunder fuddenly ; if two fuch clouds arife, one on
either hand, it is then time to look for flicker, as the
thunder is very nigh. . , . » • , o
N. B, It is obferved that it thunders moft with a
fouth wind and leaft with an eaft. .
Sea-pyes, ftarlings, fieldfares, with other mtgra ory
birds, appearing early, denote a cold ieafon to enfue,
the early appearance of fmall birds in flocks, and o
robin-redbreafts near houfes; fun in harveft iettmg
in a mift or broader than ufual; moon bright, with
(harp horns, after change; wind fl)iftmg ^the ea^ or
north after change ; Iky full of twinkling ftars ; fina l
clouds hovering low in the north ; fnow falling fmall,
while clouds appear on heaps like rocks. . ,
N. B. Frofts in autumn are always fucceeded with
^Snow falling in large flakes while the wind is at
fouth ; cracks appearing in the ice ; fun looking water-
i(h ; the moon’s horns blunted ; ftars looking dull,
wind turning to the fouth ; wind extremely ftufting. It
is alfo obferved, that, if Oclober and November be
froft and fnow, January and February.are like to be open
and mild.
Fair weather for a week together, while the wind is
all that time in the fouth, is, for the moft part follow- io8
ed by a great drought ; if February be for moft rainy, Signs of
fprins and fummer quarters are like to be fo too ; but drought.
if it happen to he altogether fair, then expeft a
drought to follow ; if lightning follow after 24 hours of
dry and fair weather, drought will follow, but ft with¬
in 24 hours, expeft great rains. 109
Amoift and cold fummer, and mild autumn, areS^gnsof a
fure figns of a hard and fevere winter: ftore of hips hard win
and haws denote the fame ; the hazel-tree flowering is
ever obferved to foietel the fame; acorns found
without any infed is a fure prognoftic of a hard win¬
ter 110
er*A dry and cold winter with a foutherly ^^d; a Signs of
very rainy fpring, ficknefs in fummer ; ft fummer bejg^t
dry with the wind northerly, great ficknefs is like to
follow ; great heats in fpring time without winds; roots
having a lufeious tafte, while the wind has been long
foutherly without rain ; and laftly, great quantities ot
ftinking atoms, hfteas or animals, as flies, frogs, makes,
locutts &c«
Inclofe the leech worm in an eight ounce l>Uf
glafs, three fourths filled with water, covered w'th ^ ^
a bit of linen ; let the water be changed once a
week in fummer, and once a fortnight in winter. .
If the leech lies motionlefs at the bottom in a
fpiral form, fair weather; if crept to the top, rain;
if reftlefs, wind ; if very reftlefs, and without the water,
thunder ; if in winter at bottom, froft ; but ft m the
winter it pitches its dwelling on the mouth of the phial,
fnow. See Helminthology (f). .
In calm weather, when the air is .ndmed to rain Sr^of th.
the mercury is low ; but when tending to fair, ^vvlllfrom the
rife • in very hot weather when falling, it torelhews \)arometer,
thunder; ft rifmg in winter, /roll ; but if falling m
froft, thaw ; if rifing m a continued froft, fnow ; ft foul
weather quickly on its falling, foon over ; if fair wea¬
ther quickly on its rifing, foon over ; alfo if rifmg high
in foul weather, and fo continuing for two or three days,
before the foul weather is over, then exped a con¬
tinuance of fair weather; but, if in fair weather the
mercury fall low, and fo continue for two or three
days, then exped much ram, and probably high
WU\r B In an eaft wind, the mercury always rifes and
falls loweft before great winds. * jour¬
nal, Feb.
It was intended to infert in this article a fummary 1304,
view of the opinions of Toaldo, Cotte, and Lamarck, p. 149.
refpeding the influence of the moon in producing
changes in our atmofphere ; but peculiar circumftances
render it neceffary to poftpone this view till w<; come to
the article Moon.
ther-judging faculties of that worm.
L‘ 734 ]
I N D E X.
BIOSPHERE, denfity of, leaft at
the equator, and great-
eft at the poles, N° 13
weight of, the fame all over
the globe, ib.
forms two inclined planes,
meeting at the equator, ib.
in the northern hemifphere
lefs inclined in our fum-
mer, and v. v. ib.
AuguJ}, the warmeft month in the fou-
thern latitudes, 16
E.
Barometer, ftands higheft at the level
of the fea, 8
medium height there, 30
inches, ^
varies very little in the tor¬
rid zone, 10
tropical daily variation cor-
refponds to the tides, ib.
table of the range of, ib.
range of, much lefs in N.
America, ib.
feems to have a tendency to
rife towards evening, ib.
range of, greater in winter, 11
high in ferene weather, and
on the approach of eafter-
ly and northerly winds, ib.
low in calm weather, on the
approach of rain, high
winds, or with a fouther-
ly wind,
axioms on, by Cotte, j 2
variation of, accounted for, 13
why higheft in winter in
northern latitudes, 14
whether aftedled by the fun
and moon, ib
c.
Capper on the winds, g
Clouds, always form at fome height
above the earth, 33
theory of, uncertain, 34
Congelation, perpetu d term of, jg
tables of, . P- 7*5
Co tie's writings on meteorology, N° 6
axioms on the barometer, 12
on the thermometer, 24
Currents of air, different, in the atmo-
fphere at once,
D.
Dalton's waitings on meteorology, 6
table of the quantity of vapour
at various temperatures, p. 71 c
and Hoyle’s experiments on
evaporation, 2p
Drought, figns of,
E.
N* 108
Evaporation, confined to the furface, 26
proportional to the tem¬
perature of the air, 27
rate of, how eftimated, p. 715
goes on continually, 7x6
mean annual, at Liver¬
pool, / ib.
over the globe, N° 31
from land, 28
experiments on by Dal¬
ton and Hoyle, 29
/ may go on for a month
together without rain, oa
F.
Failing ftar probably of an eledlrical
origin, 7<5
analogous to the aurora borea-
lis> ib,
H.
Hail, figns of, ^ I04
Howard's (Luke) waitings on meteo-
rology* 6
remarks on the influence of
the fun and moon on the
barometer, x4
Hygrometer, Leflie’s, deferibed, 38
I.
January, the coldeft month in all lati-
. . „ tu<^es, x6
Ignis ^.atuus, probably a phofphoric
phenomenon, 7y
July, the warmeft monjh in northern
latitudes, A
K'
Kirwan's writings on meteorology, 6
mode of calculating the mean
annuax and monthly tempe-
ratureofthe air, p. 710,note
(d), and p. 711, note (e).
mode of eftimating the rate
of diminution of the air’s
temperature, xy
conclufions on the weather, 70
L.
Lamarck's writings on meteorology, 6
Leech, experiments with, as to its pow¬
ers of prognofticating the wea¬
ther, 111
Lcjlie's hygrometer deferibed, 38
r , on
Luc, de, vindicated from the charge of
plagiarifm, P-706, note (a)
Meteors, v '
Meteorology, objeft of, ,
connexion of wuth chemi-
ftry» . 2
ftill in its infancy, o
3
Meteorology, means of improving, N0
importance of,
writers on,
divifxon of, y
Monfoons, _
dire&ion of, 44
Moon, effedf of, on the barometer, 14
Morgan's remarks on the falling ftar, >]6
R.
Rain never begins in a clear iky, 32
theory of, uncertain, 34
mean annual quantity of, greateft
at the equator, ib.
in Great Britain, 37
falls moft in the day, 35
proportional quantity in different
months,
often moft frequent in winter, 3 c
figns of from birds, 82
from beafts, 85
from infefts, 86
from the fun, 87
from the moon, 90
from the clouds, 94
from a rainbow, 95
from mifts, 98
from inanimate bodies, 100
figns of its ceafing, I02
S.
Saujfure's writings on meteorology, 6
Seajons, probable fuccefiion of, 79
peftilential, figns of no
T.
Temperature of the atmofphere tends
towards a mean in all
climates, p. yjQ
mean annual greateft at
the equator, N® j 5
table of, ib.
how calculated, p. 710,
note (d),
mean monthly table of p. 711
how calculated, ib. note (e),
of the air diminifhes as we
afeend above the earth,
   N® 17
diminifhes in arithmeti¬
cal progreffion, 19
owing to the air’s con¬
ducing power, ib.
of the north pacific 0-
cean, 20
of the fouthern hemi¬
fphere, 2r
of fmall leas, 22
of North America, ib.
of iflands, 2^
of open plains, ib.
of woody countries ib.
Thaw,
C\Cri
Index.
Thaw, figns of, _ N* 107
Thermometer, axioms on by Cotte, 24
Thunder, figns of, ' IOC
V.
Vapour, qualities of, 25
quantity of, raifed at various
temperatures, table of, p. 715
ftate of, in the air unknown, N° 34
w. ^
Weather, conclufions refpefling by Kir
wan,
rules for prognoflicating,
figns of from birds,
from the fun,
from the moon,
from the rainbow, 97
from raids, pq
from the ftars, 93
iigns of, from the barometer, 112
cold and frofly, figns of, iq6
Williams's hints for improving meteo-
rol°gy» . 4
work on the climate of Britain, 6
79
81
84
89
92
meteorology.
Winds, hifiory of, N° 40—63
trade
now produced,
tropical,
dire&ion of,
fea and land breezes,
in Bornou and Fezzan,
in Abyflinia,
at Calcutta,
in the temperate zones,
in Virginia and N. America,
in South America,
in Egypt,
in the Mediterranean,
in Syria,
in Italy,
in France,
in Germany,
at London,
at Lancafter
at Dumfries,
near Glafgow,
in Britain, table of, p,
68
42
43
45
ib.
46
47
48
49
ib.
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
723
rr~ ^ • T 735
Winds in Ireland, g0
at Copenhagen and in Rufira, 61
at the Cape of Good Hope, 62
in the Pacific,
theory of, 64—72
velocity of, extremely variable,
table of, g-
produced by difiurbing the e- **
quilibrium of the air, ib,
fouth-weft, very common after
aurorae boreales,
probable caufes of, 71
commonly begins at the place
towards which it blows,
partial,
Wind, figns of from birds,
from the fun,
from the moon,
from the clouds,
from inanimate bodies,
ceafing, figns of, -
Wig ter, hard, figns of,
72
74
83
88
9l
95
i©i
103
109
M E T
Meteoro
mancy
ME i EOROMANCY, a fpecies of divination by
meteors, principally by lightning and thunder. This
Methodifts rth°d °f Paffed fro® the Tufcans to the
Romans with whom, as Seneca informs us, it was
held in high efteem.
ME TESSIB, an officer of the eaftern nations, who
has the care and overfight of all the public weights and
meaiures, and fees that things are made juftly according
to them. 6
METHEGLIN, a fpecies of mead j one of the mod
pleafant and general drinks which the northern parts of
Europe aflord, and much ufed among the ancient in¬
habitants : (See Mead). The word is Welffi, W-
W*, where it figmfies the fame.—There are divers
ways of making it ; one of the bed whereof follows •
Put as much new honey, naturally running from the
comb, into fprmg water, as that when the honey is
thoroughly diiTolved an egg will not fink to the bot¬
tom but be jud fufpended in it ; boil this liquor for
an hour or more, till fuch time as the egg fwim above
the liquor about the breadth of a groat; when very
cool, next morning it may be barrelled up; adding to
each 15 gallons an ounce of ginger, as much of mace
and cloves, and half as much cinnamon, all grofsly
pounded; a fpoonful of yeafl may be alfo added at
the bung hole to promote the fermentation. When
it has done working, it may be clofely Hooped up;
and after it has Hood a month, it fhould be drawn off
into bottles.
MEiHOD, the arrangement of our ideas in fuch
a regular order, that their mutual connexion and de¬
pendence may be readily comprehended. See Logic
Part iv. ’
METHODISTS, in ecclefiaHical hidory, is a de-
Protcflants ^ ^ b°th PaPids and
L The Po/’i/7j Methodi/ls were thofe polemical doc-
M E T
tors of whom the moff eminent arofe in France to- vr 3-n
wards the middle of the 17th century, in oppo^
froi^J U5T0tS °r Proteftants- '1'hofe MethodiHs,
fy w h1^ ereM ma""er °f treat‘nS the comrover-
rfr °P,>onent5> may b' divided into two
f r L,Le, °?e comprehend thofe doftors
vthofe method of difputing with the Proteflants was
difingenuous and unreafonable, and who followed the
examples of thofe military chiefs, who Hmt up their
troops in mtrenchments and Hrong holds, in order to
cover them from the attacks of the enemy. Of this
number were the Jefuit Veron, who required the Pro.
teflants to prove the tenets of their church by plain
paffages of fcripture, without being allowed the fiber- '
y of illufirating thofe paffages, reafoning upon them
or drawing any conclufions from them ; Nihufius an
apolxate from the ProteHant religion ; the two Wa-
lenburgs, and others, who confined themfelves to the
bufmefs of anfwering objeaions and repelling attacks •
and Cardinal Richelieu, who confined the loh conl
troverfy to the fingle article of the divine inftitution
and authority of the church. The MethodiHs of the
fecond clafs were of opinion, that the mod expedient
manner of reducing the ProteHants to filence, was not
to attack them by piecemeal, but to overwhelm them
at once, by the weight of fome general principle S
prefumption, fome univerfal argument, which compre-
hended or might be applied to all the points conteLd
bet,yeen the ,w„ churches: thus imitatin' the con^
u-t of thefe military leatlers who, inftead of fpemiinv
their time and ftrength in fieges and IkirmifliL en°
deXraa‘onPUtThefd Th-e '''V5' a Seneral
ecilive action. J hefe polemics refled the defence of
Popery upon prefcnption ; the wicked fives of Pro!
teflant princes who had left the church of Rome • the
enme of religious fchifm; the variety of opim'on'
mong . ru,e.lants with regard to doctrine andP difci-
pbne y
MET r
Meilioliifts. pline; and the uniformity of the tenets and "“^'P
‘ V of the church of Rome. To this daft belong N.colle
the Janfenift doaor, the famous Boffuet, &C-
II. The Proteflant Methodifts form a very conhden¬
able body in this country. The feft was founded m
the year 1729 by one Mr Morgan and Mr John Wet-
ley In the month of November that year, the latter
being then fellow of Lincoln college began to fpend
fome evenings in reading the Greek New Tettament,
along with Charles Wefley ftudent Mr Morgan com¬
moner of Chrift church, and Mr Kmcharn or Merton
college. Next year two or three of the pumls of Mr
John Wetley, and one pupil of Mr Charles Wetley, ob¬
tained leave to attend thefe meetings. I wo years af¬
ter they were joined by Mr Ingham of Queen s col¬
lege, Mr Broughton of Exeter, and Mr James Her-
vey ; and in 1735 they were joined by the celebrate
Mr Whitefield, then in his i8tli year.
At this time it is faid that the whole kingdom ol
England was tending fall to infidelity. “ It is come
ffays Biftiop Butler), I know not how, to be taken
for granted by many perfons, that Chnftiamty is not
fo much as a fubjed of inquiry, but that it is now at
length difcovered to be fiditious; and accordingly
they treat it as if in the prefent age . this were an
agreement among all people of difcernment, and no¬
thing remained but to fet it up as a principal lubjed
of mirth and ridic ule, as it were by way of repnials,
for its having fo long interrupted the pleafures of the
world.” The Methodifts are faid, with great proba¬
bility' to have been very inftrumental in ftemmmg
this' torrent. They obtained their name from the
exad regularity of their lives 5 which gave occa-
fton to a young gentleman of Chrift church to fay,
“ Here is a new fet of Met ho. ':Jh fprung up J allud¬
ing to a fed of ancient phyficians which went by that
name. This extreme regularity, howeyer, foon brought
a charge againft them, perhaps not altogether without
foundation, of being too fcrupulous, and carrying
their fandity to too great a height. In particular it
was urged, that they laid too much ftrefs upon the
rubrics and canons of the church, infifted too much
rUUlTCJ) tun-i ^   7 . ,
on obferving the rules of the univerfity, and took the
fcriptupes in too literal a fenfej and to the name ot
Methodifts two others were quickly added, viz. thole
of Sacrafnentarians and the Godly Club.^ . .
The principal perfon in this club while in its intan-
ey appears to have been Mr Morgan, and next to him
Mr John Wefley. They vifited the fick, and mftitut-
ed a fund for the relief of the poor ; and the better
to accomolilh their benevolent defigns, Mr Wefley
abridged himfelf of all bis fuperfiuities, and even ot
fome of the neceffaries of life j and by propofing the
fcbeme to fome gentleman, they quickly increased
their funds to Sol. per annum. This, which one (home!
have thought would have been attended with prafle
inflead of cenfure, quickly drew upon them a kind of
perfecution •, fome of the feniors of the umverfitv be¬
gan to interfere, and it was reported “ that the college
* See Wcf- cenfors were goino to blow up the Godly C mb .
ley's Life, Jh y found themfelves, however, patromied and en-
p'105. couraved bv (bme men eminent for their learning and
virtue ; fo that the fociety ftill continued, though they
had fuffered a Lvere ofs in 1730^0 the death or Mr
Morgan, who had indeed been the founder 01 it. In
^726 1 MET
~ the month of Oaober 17 3 ^ J°hn and Cliarles ^ef'
lev, Mr Ingham, and Mr Delamotte fon to a merchant
in London, embarked for Georgia along with Mr O-
glethorpe, afterwards General Oglethorpe. The de-
flgn of this voyage w'as to preach the go.pel to t ie
Indians. By this time, however, it appears that Mr
Wefley had embraced fuch notions as may without
the leaft breach of charity be accounted fanatical.
Thus in a letter to his brother Samuel, he conjures
him to banifli from his fchool “ the daffies with their
poifon, and to introduce mftead of them luch Ghri-
itian authors as would work together with him m
“ building up his flock in the knowledge and love o*
During the voyage fuch a profufion of worftup was
obferved, as we cannot help thinking favoured more 01
a Pharifaical than Chriftian behaviour j an account 01
which, as a fimilar ftridlnefs would certainly be incul¬
cated upon the difciples, and confequently muft give a
juft idea of the principles of the eaAy Method.fts, we
fhall here tranferibe from Mr Wefley s 3ne. Fiom
four in the morning till five, each of us ufed private
prayer: from five to feven we read the Bible together,
carefully comparing it (that we might not lean to our
own underftandings) with the writings of the earheit
ages; at feven we breakfafted •, at eight were the pub¬
lic prayers; from nine to twelve learned the lan¬
guages and inftrudted the children •, at twelve we met
to give an account to one another what we had done
fince our laft meeting, and what we defigned to do be¬
fore our next *, at one we dined *, the time from dinner
to four we fpent in reading to tbofe of whom each ot
us had taken charge, or in (peaking to them feparate-
ly as need required j at four were the evening prayers,
when either the fecond leffon was explained (as it al¬
ways was in the morning), or the children were cate-
chifed and inftrufted before the congregation ; irom
five to fix we again ufed private prayer; from fix to
feven I read in our cabin to two or three ot the pal-
fengers, of whom there were about 80 Englifh on
board, and each of my brethern to a few more m
theirs : at feven T joined with the Germans in their
public fervice, while Mr Ingham was reading between
decks to as many as delired to hear ; at eight we met
aaain, to inftruft and exhort one another; between
mne and ten we went to bed, when neither the roar¬
ing of the fea nor the motion of the ftnp could take
away the refrelhing deep which God gave us.” _
As they proceeded in their paffage, this auftenty
inflead of being diminifhed was increafed. Mr Wefley
difeontinued the ute of wine and flefh *, confining him¬
felf to vegetables, chiefly rice and bifeuit. He ate no
flipper ; and bis bed having been made wet by the
fea, be lay upon the floor, and flept foundly till morn¬
ing. In his Journal he fays, “ I believe I (hall wot
find it needful to go to bed, as it is called, any more ;
but whether this was really done or not, we cannot
fay •
The miffionaries, after their arrival, were at firft very
favourably received, but in a fhort time loft the affections
of the people entirely. This was owing to the behaviour
of Mr Wefley himfeffi, who appeared not only capri¬
cious but frequently defpotic. He particular y gavu
offence by infifting upon the baptjfm of children by
immerfion ; and bis exceffive auftenty with regard to
MET
MethaJjfts. hlmfelf did not tend to give his hearers any favourable
opinion either of the fuperior fan6Hty or wifdom of their
teacher. At laft, on account of a difference with Mr
Caufton the ftorekeeper and chief magiftrate of Savannah
which ended in a law-fuit, he was obliged to return to
England.
i hus the caufe of INdethodifm feerned to be entirely
loft in Georgia. But Mr Wefley was foon fucceeded
by a more popular and fuccefsful champion, viz. Mr
George Whitefield $ who having fpent his time during
the voyage in converting the foldiers with whom he
failed, arrived at Savannah in Georgia on the 7th of
May 1738- Here he was received by Mr Helamotte,
was joined by feveral of Mr Wefley’s hearers, and be.
came intimate with fome other minifters. Mr Ingham
had made fome progrefs in converting a few runaway
Creek Indian^, who had a fettlement about four miles
from Savannah j but being obliged to return to Eng¬
land in a few months, this defign was fruftrated, and
the Indians in a few years feparated. During the
fliort timefthat Mr Whitefield refided at Savannah, he
became extremely popular ^ and indeed the inftances
of his fuccefs in the way of making converts are very
furprifing.. However, he was obliged to return to
England in the autumn of that year, that he might
receive priefts orders. On his return to America in
Odlober 1739, he landed at Philadelphia, and inftantly
began his fpiritual labours as in other places 5 being
attended with aftonifhing fuccefs not only there but
wherever he went. Palling through the colonies of
Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, the
number of converts continually increafed ; but on his ar¬
rival at Savannah, he found the colony almoft deferted.
He now refumed the fcheme he had formerly projeft-
ed of building an Orphan-houfe j and for this he made
the firft colledion at Charleftown in South Carolina,
amounting to about 70I. fterling. His zeal in the
caufe of religion, or of the colony, were not, however,
fufficient to procure him the favour of thofe in power!
On his return to Philadelphia, after a fhort ftay at Sa¬
vannah, the churches were denied him ; but he was
made ample amends by the fuccefs which attended his
field preachings and private efforts. Religious focie-
ties were everywhere fet up, and many were convert¬
ed with fymptoms of enthufiafm, different according
to. their various tempers and conftitutions. During
this excurfion, he was io fuccefsful in his colleflion for
the Orphan-houfe, that on his return to Savannah he
brought along with him money and provifions to the
value of 500I. fterling.
The fuccefs in Georgia was now greater than ever j
but the many charities which it was neceffary to fup-
ply, rendered it neceffary in a fliort time for him to
undertake another journey to Charleftown. Here his
principles met with the greateft oppofition. He had
loft the favour of the commiffary by his field-preach¬
ing, and was denied the facrament. The oppofition,
however, was altogether fruitlefs; the number of con-
veits mcreaied wherever he went, and he now under¬
took a voyage to New England. In this place alfo
the eftabliflied clergy were his enemies ; but the ufual
iuccefs attended his other endeavours, and procured
500I. more for the ufe of the orphans in Georgia.
I rom the year 1741 to 1.743 -A-tuerica was deprived
of Mr Whitefield’s preaching, he having fpent that
Vol. XIIL Part II.
[ 737 1
MET
interval in England; but in 1744 he again fet out forMethodiih.
the weftern continent. The remarkable fuccefs which ~'v  
had hitherto attended his labours now7 ftirred up many
opponents ; and thefe had met with the greater fuc¬
cefs, as none of the Methodift preachers whom he
had left were poffeffed of fuch abilities either to gain
the favour of thofe who heard them, or to defend their
do&rines againft obje&ions. Mr Whitefieid’s fuccefs,
however, was the fame as before : he even found
means to infpire the military clafs with fuch fentiments
of devotion, that Colonel Pepperell could not under¬
take his expedition againft Louilhourg without firll
confulting Mr Whitefield ; and great numbers of New-
Englanders went volunteers, confident of victory, in
confequence of the difeourfes of their teacher.
From the continent of America Mr Whitefield
took a voyage to the Bermudas iflands ; and here, as
everywhere elfe, he met with the moft furprifing fuc¬
cefs. Here alfo colledlions were made for the Or¬
phan-houfe in Savannah, which were tranfmitted to
that place.
Suppofing it to be better for his caufe to vifit dif¬
ferent countries, than to take up a permanent refi-
dence in one, Mr Whitefield left Bermudas in a few
months, and did not return to America till 1751,
when the Orphan houfe was found to be in a very
flourifhing fituation. After a ftiort ftay, he fet fail
again for Britain. Here he remained two years, and
then fet out on another vifit to America, landing at
Charleftown on the 27th of May 1754. His prefence
conftantly revived the fpirits and caufe of his party,
and added to their numbers wherever he went. Next
year he returned to England ; but after labouring in
the ufual manner, and meeting with the ufual fuccefs
there till the year 1763, he fet fail again for America,
and arrived at Virginia in the latter end of Auguft. Pie
now vifited all the colonies, and found that great pro-
grefs had been made in converting the Indians. On
his arrival at Georgia, matters were found in a very
flouriflung fituation, and he received the thanks of
the governor and principal people for the great bene¬
fit he had been to the colony ; which fhows, that the
ftories which had been fo induftrioufly propagated,
concerning the avarice of him and other Methodift
preachers, were, partly at leaft, unfounded. In 1765
he returned to England ; and in 1769 made his fe-
venth and laft voyage to America, landing at Charlef¬
town on the 30th of November the fame year. He
was ftill attended with the fame fuccefs ; and indeed
it fis impoflible to read, without admiration, an ac¬
count of the efforts made by himfelf and Mr Wefley,
to propagate their tenets in the different parts of the
world.
For a very confiderable time Mr Whitefield was
the . only Methodift who paid any attention to A-
merica; and in that country he was more popular
than even in Europe. Towards the end of his life,
feveral Methodifts having emigrated from Britain
formed diftina focieties in New York and Philadel-’
pbia.. Thefe quickly increafed in number ; and, about
the time that the war with Britain began, their numr
bers amounted to about 3000 in Virginia, Maryland,
New York, and Pennfylvania. They would pro¬
bably have increafed much more, had it not been for
the imprudence of fome of their preachers, who in-
5 -A- produced
M E
ethodifts. troduced politics into thei
T
       difcourfes,
dered themfelves obnoxious to the people among whom
they lived. Among thofe who hurt the caufe in this
manner was Mr Wefley himfelf, who, by writing a
piece entitled A Calm Addrefs to the American Colo¬
nies, would in all probability have ruined it, had not a
gentlemen, with whom he was connetted, deftroyed or
fent back to England the whole impreffion as foon as
it arrived in America, fo that its exiftence was fcarce
known in that continent. At the conclufioti of the
war, Dr Coke, who in 1776 had left a curacy in Eng¬
land in order to join MrWelley, paid a viljt to his
friends in America } though it had been imagined that
a total feparation had taken place between the Ameri¬
can and European Methodifts. This breach was, how¬
ever, made up by a manoeuvre of Mr Wefley ; tor no
fooner had the Americans obtained their independence,
than he, who had hitherto branded them with the name
of rebels, fent a congratulatory letter on their freedom
from the “ State and the Hierarchy,” and exhorting
them to “ Hand fall in that liberty with which God had
fo flrangely made them free.” Eo fhow his zeal in
their fervice ftill farther, he gave ordination, by laying
on of hands, to feveral preachers who were to embark
for America, and confecrated Dr Coke one of the bilhops
of the Methodift Epifcopal church in that country. He
extraaed alfo from the liturgy of the Englifli church one
for the American Methoditts, taking particular care to
expunge every expreflion that had a particular reipea
to the regal authority.
Such proceedings in one who had formerly profef-
fed fuch extraordinary attachment to the Englilh
church, could not but require an apology^ and this
•was accordingly made in a paftoral letter tranfmitted
to the American focieties, and addreffed “ to Dr
Coke, Mr Aftbury, and our brethren in North Ame¬
rica.” In this letter he makes the following defence
of his condudd. “ Lord King’s account of the pri¬
mitive church convinced me, many years ago, that
bifliops and prelhyters are the fame order, and con
fequently have the fame right to ordain. For many
years I have been importuned, from time to time, to
exercife this right, by ordaining part of our travelling
preachers. But I have ftill refufed, not only for the
fake of peace, but becaufe I was determined, as little
as poflible, to violate the eftabliftied order of the na¬
tional church to which I belonged. But the cafe is
widely different between England and North Ameri¬
ca. Here there are bifliops who have a legal jurif-
didlion •, in America there are none, neither any pa-
rifh minifters : fo that for fome hundred miles toge¬
ther, there is none either to baptize, or to adminifter
the Lord’s fupper. Here, therefore, my fcruples are
at an end ; and I conceive myfelf at full liberty, as I
violate no order, and invade no man’s right, by ap¬
pointing and fending labourers into the harveft. It
has indeed been propofed to defire the Englilh bifliops
to ordain part of our preachers for America •, but to
this I objetft. 1. I defired the bilhop of London to
ordain only one, but could not prevail. 2. If they
confented, we know the flownefs of their proceed¬
ings j but the matter admits of no delay. 3. If they
would ordain them now, they would likewife expedl
to. govern them; and how grievouflv would- that en¬
tangle us. 4. As our American brethren are now to
[ 738 ] MET
and thus ren- tally difentangled, both from the ftate and the En- Methodtfh.
glifti hierarchy, we dare not entangle them again either v
with the one or the other. They are now at full li¬
berty limply to follow the fcripture and the primitive
church ; and we judge it beft, that they Ihould ftand
fall in that liberty wherewith God has lb ftrangeiy
made them free.”
Dr Coke, on the confecration of Mr Aftbury to the
office of a biffiop, made another apology. “ The church
of England (fays he), of wdiich the fociety of Me¬
thod! 11 s in general have till lately profefled themfelves
a part, did for many years groan in America under
grievances of the heaviell kind. Subjected to a hierar¬
chy which weighs every thing in the fcale of politics,
its moft important interefts were repeatedly facrificed to
the fuppofed advantages of England. The churches
were in general filled with the parafites and bottle-com¬
panions of the rich and great. The humble and moft
importunate entreaties of the oppreffed flocks, yea the
reprefentations of a general aflembly itfelf, were con¬
temned and defpifed. Everything lacred muft bow
down at the feet of a party ; the holinefs and happinefs
of mankind be facrificed to their views; and the drunk¬
ard, the fornicator, and the extortioner, triumphed over
bleeding Zion, becaufe they were faithful abettors of
the ruling powers. The memorable revolution has
ftruck off thefe intolerable fetters, and broken the anti-
chriftian union wffiich before fubfifted between church ^
and ftate. And had there been no other advantage
arifing from that glorious epoch, this itfelf, I believe,
would have made ample compenfation for all the cala¬
mities of the war; one happy cosfequence of which was
the expulfion of moft of thofe hirelings, who “ ate the
fat, and clothed themfelves with the wool, but {Length¬
ened not the difeafed,” &c. The parochial churches
in general being hereby vacant, our people were de¬
prived of the facraments through the greateft part of
theie ftates, and continue fo ftill. What method can
we take in fo critical a junfture ? God has given us
fufficient refources in ourlelves ; and, after mature de¬
liberation, we believe that we are called to draw them
forth.
“ But wffiat right have you to ordain ?” The fame
right as moft of the churches in Chriftendom ; our or¬
dination, in its lowed view, being equal to any of the
prelbyterian, as originating with three preffiyters of
the church of England. “ But what right have you
to exercife the epifcopal office ?” To me the moft
manifeft and clear. God has been pleafed to raife up,
by Mr Wefley, in America and Europe, a numerous
fociety well known )?y the name of Methodijls. The
whole body have invariably efteemed this man as their
chief pallor under Chrift. He has conftantly appoint¬
ed all their religious officers from the higheft to the *
lowed, by himfelf or his delegate. And wre are fully
perfuaded there is no church office which he judges
expedient for the welfare of the people intrufted to his
charge, but, as effential to his ftation, he has power to
ordain. “ But, do not you break the fucceffion ?”
The uninterrupted fucceffion of biffiops is a point that
has long been given up by the moft able Proteftant de¬
fenders of epifcopacy. Bifhop Hoadley hrmfelf, in his
celebrated cont rover fy with Dr Calamy, allows it to be
unneceffary. His words are, ‘ To the 13th queftion I
aniwer, that 1 think not an uninterrupted line of fuc-
ceffion
MET
[ 739 1
M E T
Methodifts. ccflion of regularly ordained bidiops nece^fary., He al-
  v  fo giants the authenticity of the anecdote given us by
St Jerome, which informs us, that the church of Alex-
andria had no regular fucceffion from the time of St
IVLuk the evangelilt, the firft bifliop of that church, to
the time of Dionyfius, a fpace of 200 years ; but the
college of prefbyters, on the death of a bifhop, elefted
another in his dead. We are alfo informed, from the
e pi die of St Clement to the Corinthians, written foon
after the death of St Paul, a writer whofe works are
next in precedence to the canon of fcripture, and pro¬
bably written by immediate infpiration, that the chuich
of Corinth was then governed only by a college of
prefbyters. And from the epiftle of Polycarp to the
church of Philippi, written in 116, we alfo find that the
Chrittian Philippians were then governed only by a
college of prefbyters. So that the primitive Chndians
were fo far from edeeming the regular fuccefhon
as effential to the conflitution of a Chridian church,
that, in fome indances, epifcopacy itielf was wholly
emitted. , .
Such was the defence urged by Mr Wefley for this
extraordinary affumption of epilcopal powers : a con-
duft, however, of which he afterwards repented, as
tending to make a final feparation betwdxt his fol¬
lowers and the church of England. Yet it does not
appear that this had any bad effeft on the minds of
his American brethren*, for Dr Coke, on his arrival
On the weitern continent, found the focieties numerous
and fiouiidling. His fird efforts were diredled againd
the flave trade j and not only the abolition of that
traffic, but the releafe of all thofe who were actually
(laves at the time, feem to have been his favourite ob-
iecls. By interfering in this matter, however, pei-
haps with too much zeal, he involved himfelf in dan¬
ger. Some riots took place, and a lady offered the
mob 50 guineas if they would give the Doclor 100
ladies. This piece of difcipline would have been in-
fMed had it not been for the interpofition of a durdy
colonel ; and the Doftor had not only the fatisfadhon
of efcaping the intended punilhment, but of feeing
his doArine fo far attended to, that fome daves were
emancipated. „ , r
Mr Hanfon, in his Memoirs of Mr Wefley, obferves,
that “ the colonids, in the infancy of Methoddm,
condu&ed themfelves with more propriety than the
Englifh. There was little or no perfecution, nor any
thing like a riot, except in one or two indances which
have been mentioned as the confequence of the ani-
madverfions on flavery *, and even thefe were produc¬
tive of no mifchief. Not a creature was materially
injured *, no bones were broken, nor any lives lofl ;
which was not the cafe in this country.^ Here many
thoufands of innocent people were fubjeAed to the
groffed indignities, and feveral w’ere eventually facn-
ficed to the fury of their perfecutors.. ‘
“ While wre commend the Americans for their be¬
haviour in oppofition to the brutality of Englifh mobs,
it may be proper to inquire into the fources of this
didinAion. Something of this may have arifen from
fimilarity of fentiment. The Americans, from the fnfl
beginnings of colonization, had been accuflomed to
the doArines of the old puritans and nonconformifls,
wdiich in many refpeAs have a near affinity to the PTe-
thodidic tenets. The origin of Methodilm in Ame¬
rica was feldom, if ever, attended, either under the Methodilh,
difcourfes of PTr Whitefield’s or Mr Wefley’s preach-
crs, with thofe ridiculous effeAs with which it was
accompanied in thefe kingdoms. Moil of the preach¬
ers, who went over to the continent, having laboured
fer’ fome years in Europe previous to their having
eroded the water, had exhauded their wildfire *, fo
that their difcourfes were more fcriptural and rational
than thofe of the primitive Methodids. Another reafon
may be found in the education of the Americans. As
a people, they are better cultivated than the body of
the Englifh $ they are chiefly compofed of merchants
and a refpeAable yeomanry 1 and there is but a. final!
proportion of thatclafs, fo fuperabundant here, which we
diftinguifh by the name of mob.
“ The only exception we have heard, to their ex¬
emption from the extravagancies which in this coun¬
try marked the infancy of Methodifm, is a cuftom
they have introduced in Maryland and Virginia. Fre¬
quently, at the conclufion of a fermon, the whole
congregation begin to pray and to praife God aloud.
The uproar which this mud create may eafily be con¬
ceived. Some we are told, are great admirers of this
fpecies of enthuflafm, in which every man is his own
minider, and one fings and another prays, with the
mod difeordant devotion. But we will not dignify
fuch indecency with fuch a name. Its proper appel¬
lation is fanaticifm. We hope, that, for the future,
religion will never appear in this country under fo
odious a form 5 and greatly is it to be lamented, that,
among the friends of Chridi.anity, any fuch abfui di¬
ties fhould arife, to furnidi infidels with occafions of
triumph.”
Our author informs us, that the occupation of the
Methodid preachers in America was very laborious.
In the courie of the day they frequently rode 20 or
30 miles, preaching twice or thrice, and fometimet
to confiderable congregations. Notwithdanding this
labour, however, few or none of them ever thought
of returning to Britain. Several reafons may be ai*
figned for the pleafure they took in this laborious ex-
ercife. “ Their excurfions (fays Mr Hanfon) through
Jmmenfe forells abounding in trees of all f >rts and
fizes, were often highly romantic. Innumerable ri-
vers’and falls of water*, villas opening to the view,
in contrail with the uncultivated wild *, deer now fhoot-
ing acrofs the road, and now fcouring through the
woods, while the eye was frequently relieved by the
appearance of orchards and plantations, and the houfef
of gentlemen and farmers peeping through the trees \
formed a feenery fo various and piAurefque, as to
produce a variety of redeAion, and prefent. we will
not fay to a philofophic eye, but to the mind of every
reafonable creature, the molt fublime and agreeable
images. ... T
“ Their worfhip partook of the general fimplicity. it
was frequently conduAed in the open air. The woods
refounded to the voice of the preacher, or to the finging
of his numerous congregations } while their horfes, fai-
tened to the trees, formed a fingular addition to the fo-
lemnity. It was indeed a driking piAure *, and might
naturally imprefs the mind with a retrofpeA of the an¬
tediluvian days, when the hills and valleys re-ecnoed
the patriarchal devotions, and a Seth or an Enoch, 111
the diadow of a projeAing rock, or beneath the foliage
5 ik 2 nf
I
MET . [ 74© ] MET
Methodifts. of fome venerable oak, delivered bis primeval lec-
"v ~ tures, and was a “ preacher of righteoufnefs to the
% people.”
'J'he American hofpitality is fuppofed by Mr Han¬
lon to have been another reafon for the afliduity of the
Methodill teachers, as well as the confcioufnefs of
being well employed, and the fatisfadlion refulting
from confiderations of public utility. As many of
the preachers were men of fervent piety, this reflec¬
tion would have its full weight 5 and the inftrudlion
of the ignorant and the reformation of the profligate
would be confldered as the befl: recompenfe of their
labours. Spreading themfelves through the continent,
they took in Nova Scotia, Georgia, with the princi¬
pal places in both Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland,
Delaware, Pennfylvania, New Jerfey, and New York ;
numbering upwards of 43,000 members of their fo-
ciety, exclufive of about 80 itinerants, and a con-
liderable number of local preachers, who took no cir¬
cuits, but aflilled occafionally in the neighbourhood
of their refpedlive refidence.
The large and expenfive buildings which the co-
lonifls have erected for public worfhip, almoft exceed
credibility ; and feveral colleges are founded for the
inftru&ion of youth. How far the propofed plan of
uniting genuine religion and extenfive learning will
be carried into execution, time only can difcover. It
mull materially depend on the chara&er of the pre-
fldents and tutors, and the provifion that fhall be made
for their fupport. Men of real erudition will never
be procured at low falaries $ and it is in vain to at¬
tempt eftablifhments of this fort without a liberal pro¬
vifion for the profeflbrs in every branch of fcience.
Tw’o of thefe places are called CokeJbunj and WeJleij
Colleges. How they are endowed, or whether they
propofe to obtain authority to confer degrees, we are
not informed. But perhaps they are rather fchools
than colleges 5 which indeed is a circumftance to be
wifhed, as good grammar fchools are of the utmoft
fer vice to the progrefs of literature.
The great fuccefs which attended the Methodifl:
preachers in America naturally determined Mr Wef-
ley to try the Weft India iflands. The Moravians
had already attempted to eftablilh their principles in
fome of thefe iflands; and in 1786 fome preachers
were fent from the Methodifts in England to the Weft
Indies. In many of thefe they met with fuccefs. So¬
cieties were formed in Barbadoes, St Vincent’s, Do¬
minica, St Chriftopher’s, Nevis, Antigua, St Eufta-
tius, Tortola, and St Croix, amounting in all to near
5000 perfons. At this time the whole number of
Methodifts in America and the Weft Indies amounted
to about 48,302. Thefe focieties confifted both of
whites and blacks: on the continent they wrere moftly
whites, but in the iflands negroes. “ But it is to
be obferved (fays Mr Hanfon) that the fubjeftion of
the negroes, and the obedience in which they are
trained, muft inculcate a docility peculiarly favour¬
able to the purpofes of a miflion.” Some of the mif-
fionaries went alfo to St Vincent’s, where they met
with fome fuccefs, and have eftabliflied fome fchools,
in which their children are carefully inftru&ed in the'
principles of religion.
“ In January 1789 (fays our author), Dr Coke
paid, a yifit to Jamaica, and gave them feveral fer-
mons. As he made but a fliort ftay, it could hardly be Methodifts.
confidered as a fair trial. Should a miflion beeftablilhed 1 1' v'“ 'J
here, as well as in the other iflands, which will proba¬
bly be the cafe, it is hoped it will be the means of
corre&ing one vice at leaft, ami that is duelling ; a fa-
vage relied: of Gothic barbarity, by which all the
iflands have for many years been diftinguifhed. Per¬
haps too it will give fome check to the fpirit of luxu¬
ry and diflipation ; and teach the planters, if it be
found impradlicable to emancipate their flaves, at leaft
to treat them with humanity.”
It has been debated among the leading men of the
Methodiftical profeflion, whether the caufe might not
be ferved by fending miffionaries to the Eaft Indies
and to Africa ; but thefe projedls w^ere dropped, as-
there was no invitation, nor any profpedl of fuccefs
if it had been adopted. A miflion has been formed to
the new fettlement called Kentucky, on the confines of
the Indian territories, near the Mifliflippi. The dan¬
ger of the miflionaries at the time they undertook this
fervice was certainly very great; yet fuch was their
zeal for the caufe, that they voluntarily offered them¬
felves : but we are not yet informed what fuccefs they
have met with.
While Methodifm was thus making rapid progrefs
in America, its teachers were equally indefatigable
in Britain. A moft remarkable particular, however,
occurs with regard to Mr Wefley himfelf; for though
he had gone to Georgia, as has been already related,
to convert the Indians to Chriftianity, yet on his re¬
turn to England in 1738, he took it into his head
that he, their teacher, was not yet converted : the rea¬
fon wras, that he had not the faith of affurance. This,
however, was not long wanting. He arrived in Eng¬
land on the firft day of February, and was bleft with
the affurance on the fixth of March following. This
was immediately announced to the public; and the
confequence, if we may believe him, was, that God
then began to work by his miniftry, which he had
not done before. Being joined by one Kinchin, a
fellow of Corpus, they travelled to Manchefter, Holms
Chapel, Newcaftle in Staffordfliire, and other places,
where they preached, exhorted, and converfed on re¬
ligious fubjedls, in public houfes, ftables, &c. fome-
times meeting with fuccefs and fometimes not. Du¬
ring this peregrination Mr Wefley certainly difplayed
a great deal of fuperftition, which we muft undoubt¬
edly fuppofe to have been communicated to his hear¬
ers, and to have caufed them adf on many occafions
in a very ridiculous manner. An inflance follows :—
.The next day (fays he), March 11th, we dined
at Birmingham, and, foon after wye left it, were re¬
proved for our negligence there (in letting thofe who
attended us go without either exhortation or inftruc-
tion) by a fevere (bower of hail!” About the lat¬
ter end of March or beginning of April he and his
companion began to pray extempore, leaving off en¬
tirely the forms of the church of England, to which
he had formerly been fo devoted. The do&rine of
inftantaneous converfion, which his imagination had
fuggefted to him as a work performed on himfelf,
was greedily received by fome of his hearers; and all
the converts to the new dodlrine confirmed themfelves,
and contributed greatly to perfuade others, by decla¬
rations of their expericnces% as they called them : how¬
ever
MET [74
Methodifts. ever, though a knowledge of the faving affurance had
 1 been given on March 6th, he does not date his conver-
lion fooner than May 24th of the fame year.
This new do&rine of an inftantaneous, and in fa£l
miraculous impulfe, though greatly reliflaed by the
enthufiaftical part of the fociety, was very much dif-
liked by others, particularly Mr Charles Wefley his
brother, who warned him of the mifchief he was do¬
ing ; though he himfelf was foon converted, and,
wrhat is very aftonifhing, two days before John Wef¬
ley himfelf. The particulars related of thefe mira¬
culous converlions are truly difgraceful, and could not
but bring into contempt the lociety which confided
©f fuch enthufiafts. “ Many (fays Mr Hanfon) are
reprefented as falling fuddenly to the ground, in hor¬
ror and agony not to be conceived, and rifing again
with equal expreflions of peace and confolation.”—
Their converfions were ufually attended with thefe
violent fymptoms ; and, for feveral years, few meet¬
ings occurred where Mr Wefley prefided, without one
or more inftances of the fame kind. It was not pof-
fible that fuch tranfa&ions ftiould pafs without notice.
The confufion that too often prevailed, the emotions
of the perfons affedted, and the exultations of the reft,
which were feverally animadverted upon, gave great
and general offence. Many infilled, that it muft ei¬
ther be occafioned by the heat of the rooms, and
the agitation of the animal fpirits under difcourfes
of the moft alarming nature j or that it was mere ar¬
tifice and hypocrify.
In the mean time, tw’o of the fons of a Mrs Hut¬
ton in London, happening to become converts to the
new doctrine, this lady was fo much offended, that
fhe wrote to Mr Samuel Wefley, informing him, that
fhe wTas of opinion his brother John had loft his fenfes *,
and requefting, that the next time he came to his houfe,
he, Mr Samuel, vcould either confine or convert him.
All that could be done, however, to prevent the pro-
grefs of the new dodtrine was infufficient ; and the firft
Methodift fociety was formed in London on the firft
of May 1738, when about 50 agreed to meet together
once a-week, for free converfation, begun and ended
with finging and prayer.
All this time, however, it feems that the conver-
fion of Mr Wefley was far from being fo complete as
that of many of his hearers. He had preached and
converted others, while he himfelf was abfolutely un¬
converted. The knowledge of the true faving faith
was only revealed to him on the 6th of March, and
he did not experience its power till the 24th of May ;
and even after this, his doubts and fears were ftill fo
great, that on the 13th of June he undertook a
voyage to Germany, where, in the company of Count
Zinzendorff, his faith feems to have been thoroughly
confirmed.
On Mr Wefley’s return, September 16th, 1738*
he applied himfelf with the greateft afliduity and fuc-
cefs to the propagation of his doftrine. Multitudes
of converts were made in various parts of the king¬
dom ; and the reproaches poured upon him by his
opponents, feemed to have rendered his zeal more fer¬
vent if poffible than before. It is remarkable, how¬
ever, that fome of his old friends were now fo much
offended with his conduct or his principles, that they
abfolutely refufed to keep company with him. His
i ] MET
original plan feems to have been, to make an union of M-tWlifts.
clergymen, and diffeminate his principles by their ' -V"*”-'
means. But in this he fucceeded fo ill, that in a letter
written in 1742, he wiftred for a clerical afliftant, were
he only in deacons orders : but adds, “ I know of
none fuch, who is willing to call in his lot with us*,
and I fcarce expedl I (hall, becaufe I know how fall
they are rivetted in the fervice of the devil and the
world before they leave the univerfity.”—Finding at
laft that nothing could be done with them, he was ob¬
liged to have recourfe to lay preachers 5 and eafily fe-
ledled thofe who appeared to have the greateft talents
for prayer and exhortation in the private meetings ap¬
pointed for that purpofe. Thus he at once raifed
himfelf to be the head of a fe£l; as the lay preachers
w’illingly yielded obedience to him who had the ad¬
vantages of fuperior learning and abilities, and was be-
fides in orders as a clergyman j and this obedience he
did not fail on every occafion to exadl.
If his dodlrine had formerly given offence to the-
eftabliihed clergy, the appointment of lay preachers
was reckoned much wrorfe 5 and their being appointed’
without any form of ordination whatever, which al-
moft all of them were, fubjefled them to contempt
and reproach, which their want of learning, and very
often of natural abilities, did not contribute to re¬
move. Thus finding the churches (hut againft him
and his followers, he was obliged to preach in the
fields, and made his firft effay in this way on the fe-
cond of April 1739, in the neighbourhood of Brif-
tol j Mr Whitefield having fet him an example the
day before.
The fuccefs of thofe ignorant and itinerant preach¬
ers, with their abfurd and uncharitable difcourfes and
behaviour, fo provoked their adverfaries, that a per-
fecution was foon commenced againft them. Mr
Wefley himfelf vvas calumniated in the harfheft man¬
ner, being fometimes faid to be a Jefuit, fometimes
an illiterate enthufiaft, as the people took it into their
heads. Many pretended to anfwer him in writing,
without being able to do fo : the confequence was,
that their deficiency of argument was fupplied by
inveSive, and the moft fcandalous performances made
their appearance. Some of the Englifh clergy fo far
forgot themfelves as to inftigate the mob againft them,
and the moft cruel outrages were committed upon,
them in various places. For fome time the perfecuted
party adhered to the doflrines of paffive obedience and
nonrefiftance, which their inhuman adverfaries did
not fail to take the advantage of.—The lefs they were
oppofed, the more inlolent they became. The Me¬
thodifts were frequently in danger of their lives.
Men, women with child, and even children, were
knocked down and abufed with the fame undiftin-
guifhing fury. Houfes were dripped of their furni¬
ture, vaft quantities of furniture carried off, feather¬
beds cut in pieces and ftrewed over the ftreets, feveral
reputable people were forced into the army, &c. To
the difgrace of magiftracy alfo it was found, that when
application was made to the juftices of the peace, re-
drefs was commonly denied $ nor was a Hop put to
thefe fhameful proceedings without a royal mandate
for the purpofe.
From the year 1738 to 1747 Mr Wefley and his
itinerants were employed in various parts of England,,.
’ Itu •
MET [ 742
Method ids. In 1747 lie went over to Dublin, where a fociety had
' been formed by one Mr Williams a clergyman.—
Here they proved fo fuccelsful, notwithitanding the
number of Papifts, and the violence of their other op¬
ponents, that in 1750 they had ere^ed meeting-
houfes in every part of the kingdom, and had formed
29 circuits, which employed 67 itinerants, befides a
coniiderable number of local preachers. An invita¬
tion was given to Mr Wt fley, in 1751, to vifit Scot- ever
land, by an officer in quarters at Muffelburgh. He
accordingly took a journey thither the fame year j
but left the place, after preaching in it once or twice.
In 1753 he returned to Scotland, and viffted Glaf-
go . Societies were at length formed in that city,
as well as at Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inver-
neis, and a few other places : but his fuccefs was by
no means equal to what it had been in other parts ;
for in 1790 the number of circuits in Scotland was
no more than eight, which were fupplied by 20 iti¬
nerants.
Mr Whitefield, the other great labourer in the
vineyard, was equally indefatigable, and probably
more fuccefsful than Mr Well y. Before entering
into orders, he had formed a fociety of religious per-
fons at Glouceffer: here he preached his firlt fermon
on the Neceflity and Benefit of Religious Society $
here he became extremely popular, as well as at
Briftol and London, while preparing to fet fail for
Georgia for the firlt time ; and in all places to which
he came, large colle&ions were made for the poor.
He maintained the fame doftrine with Mr Wcfley
as to the new birth ; wffiich likewdfe gave offence to
the clergy when delivered by him, as it had done with
Mr Wefley. In the various intervals of his voyages
to America, he employed himfelf with the very fame
afliduity in Britain and in Ireland, which we have al¬
ready taken notice of in the weftern continent. His
fuccefs was everywhere prodigious. In 1741 he was
invited to Scotland, and preached his firft fermon
there at Dunfermline. From thence he went to E-
dinburgh, and preached in feveral of the eftablithed
churches, but differed with Meffrs Ralph and Ebene-
*er Erfkine ; fo that he, as well as Mr Wefley, prov¬
ed Unfuccefsful in forming a coalition with any other
religious party. In the private way, however, his
fuccefs was very confiderable, at Edinburgh, Glaf-
gow, Aberdeen, Dundee, and other places. In 1742
he paid a fecond vifit to Scotland, and a third one
in 1748. In 1751 he vifited Ireland for the firft
time ; and preached to great multitudes, without be¬
ing moleffed, even in places where others had been
mobbed. From thence he returned to Scotland the
fame year, and fpeaks in very favourable terms of the
attention the people there paid to their Bibles. In
1752 and 1753 he again vifited the fame kingdom, and
the laft time diftinguifhed himfelf by preaching againft
the playhoufe in Glafgow. In 1756 he returned ;
and by his animated difcourfes at Edinburgh againfl:
Popery and arbitrary power, was owmed to have con¬
tributed very much to the increale of courage and
loyalty in this country. Next year he again vifited the
Scottifh capital during the time that the General Af-
fembly fat, and his fermons w'ere attended by feveral
of the members. At Glafgow he made a large col-
ledlion for the poor of that city, and from thence took
1
] MET
a voyage to Ireland. Pie was received with the ufual Mettfodifts*
affection by the lower claifes of Proteffants •, but the v *
Popifh rabble, exafperated at his fuccefs, ahnoft mur¬
dered him wdth ftones. After pafiing through a great
part of Ireland, vifiting England and Wale , he paid
another vifit to Scotland, where four clergymen now
lent him their pulpits. His lall viiit was in the ham¬
mer of 1758, when his congregations were as large as
and it is to his endeavours principally that tve
are to afcribe the great number of Methodill focieties
now exifling in Scotland.
With regard to the religious principles of the Me-
thodiffs, we cannot enter into any particular detail j
neither indeed are there any dodrines peculiar to all
included under that name, except the fingle one of
Univerfal redemption. In March 1741, Mr Whitefield
being returned to England, entirely feparated from 'M.x Methodifm,
Wefley and his friends, “ becauie he did not hold the&-c*
decrees.”—Here was the firft breach, which warm men
perluaded Mr W^hitefield to make, merely for a dif¬
ference of opinion. Thofe indeed who believed uni-
verfal redemption, had no defire at all to fepara’e : but
thofe who held particular redemption, would not hear of
any accommodation, being determined to have no
feilowlhip with men that “ were in fuch dangerous
errors.” So there were now two forts of Methodifts
fo called *, thofe for particular, and thofe for general,
redemption.
Not many years paffed, before William Cudworth
and James Rtftly feparated from Mr Whitefield  
Thefe w7ere properly Antinomians, abfolute avowed
enemies to the law of God, wftiich they never preach¬
ed or profefiVd to preach, but termed all legalifts who
did. With them, preaching the law was an abomina¬
tion. They had nothing to do with the law. They
would preach Chrift, as they called it j but without
one word either of holinefs or good woiks. Yet
thefe w^ere flill denominated Methoclijis, although dif¬
fering from Mr Whitefield both in judgement and
pratlice, abundantly more than Mr WTiitefield did
from Mr Wrefley.
In the mean time, Mr Venn and Mr Romaine be¬
gan to be fpoken of: and not long after Mr Madan
and Mr Berridge, wdth a few other clergymen, who,
although they had no connexion with each other,
yet preaching falvation by faith, and endeavouring to
live accordingly, to be Bible Chriftians, were foon in¬
cluded in the general name of Methodjjls. And fo
indeed were all others who preached lalvation by
faith, and appeared more ferious than their neigh¬
bours. Some of thefe were quite regular in their
manner of preaching : fome w ere quite irregular,
(though not by choice ; but neceffity was laid upon
them, they muff preach irregularly, or not at all) : and
others were between both y regular in moft, though
not in all particulars.
In 1762, George Bell and a few other perfons be¬
gan to fpeak great words. In the latter end of the
year they foretold that the world w7ould be at an end
on the 28th of February. Mr Wefley, with w-hom
they wTere then connedfted, withftood them both in
public and private. This they would not endure :
fo, in January and February 1763, they feparated from
him, under the care of Mr Maxfield, one of Mr Wef¬
ley’s preachers. But ftill Mr Maxfield and his adhe
rents,
MET [ 743 ] MET
M^thodifts. rents, even the wildeft enthufiafts among them, go
under the general name of Metfiodi/ls, and fo bring
a Icandal upon thofe with whom they have no con¬
nexion.
At prefent, thofe who remain with Mr Wefley
are moftly Church of England men. They love her
articles, her homilies, her liturgy, her difcipline, and
unwillingly vary from it in any inftance. Mean time, all
who preach among them declare, we are all by nature
children of wrath, but by grace we arefaved throughfaith:
faved from both the guilt and from the power of fin.
They endeavour to live according to what they preach,
to be plain Bible Chriftians •, and they meet toge¬
ther at convenient times, to encourage one another
therein. They tenderly love many that are Calvinifts,
though they do not love their opinions. Yea, they
love the Antinomians themfelves j but it is with a love
of compafiion only, for they hate their do&rines with
a perfedt hatred j they abhor them as they do hell fire :
being convinced nothing can fo effedlually deftroy all
faith, all holinefs, and all good wmrks.
We (hall conclude this article with the words of Mr
Hanfon, which mufi: certainly be accounted juft, what¬
ever objedlions may be made to fome parts of the prin¬
ciples or behavour of the Methodifts. “ If they pof*
fefs not much knowledge, which, however, we do not
know to be the cafe, it is at leaft certain, they are not
deficient in zeal: and without any paflionate defire to
imitate their example, we may at leaft commend their
endeavours for the general good. Every good man
will contemplate with pleafure the operation of the
fpirit of reformation, whether foreign or domeftic j
and will rejoice in every attempt to propagate Chri-
ftianity in the barbarous parts of the world. An at¬
tempt which, if in any tolerable degree fuccefsful, will
do infinitely more for their civilization and happinefs,
than all the united energies of thofe boafted benefac¬
tors of mankind, the philofophic infidels.”
The minutes of the laft conference of the Methodifts
held at Leeds in Auguft, 1806, reprefent the numbers
of that fociety to be as follows :
In Great Britain, - - 1
In Ireland,
Gibraltar,
Nova Scotia, New Brunfwick, and Newfound¬
land, - |L
Weft Indies, whites 1775, coloured people
i>i65,
United States, whites 95,628, coloured people
24,316, - . 1
10,802
*3,773
40
1.418
14,940
I9,945
Total, 270,919
Methodists (Methodici), in the hiftory of medi¬
cine, a fed of ancient phyficians, who reduced the
whole art of healing to a few common principles or ap¬
pearances. The Methodifts were the followers of
Thrffalus ; whence they ware alfo called Theffalici.
They were ftrenuoufly oppofed by Galen in feveral of
his writings; who fcrupled not to affert, that the me¬
thodical herefy ruined every thing that was good in the
art, According to Quincy, the Methodi/ls {Methodici)
are thofe phyficians who adhere to the dodrine of
Galen, and the fchools ; and who cure with bleeding,
purges, &c, duly applied according to the fymptoms,
c rcumftances, &c. in oppofition to empirics and chc-Methufelah-
mifts, who ufe violent medicines, and pretended fecrets II
or noftrums. Metre.
MEiHUSELAH, the fon of Enoch and father of
Lamech, was born in the year of the world 687, begat
Lamech in 874, and died in 1656, being the very year
of the deluge, at the age of 969, which is the greateft
age that has been attained to by any mortal man upon
earth (Gen. v. 21, 22, &c.) According to the text
of the feptuagint, Methufelah muft have lived 14 years
after the deluge; and according to other copies, he
died fix years before it : but it is generally agreed on,
that thefe copies, as well as the feptuagint, are cor¬
rupted in this place.
METHYMNA, in Ancient Geography, a town of
the ifland of Lefbos. It was the fecond city of the
ifland in greatnefs, population, and opulence. Its terri¬
tory was fruitful, and the wines it produced excellent.
It was the native place of Theophraftus, and of Arion
the mufician. When the whole ifland of Lefbos revolt¬
ed from the power of the Athenians, Methymna alone
. remained firm to its ancient allies.
METGECI, a name given by the Athenians to fuch
as had their fixed habitations in Attica, though fo¬
reigners by birth. The metceci were admitted by the
council of Areopagus, and entered in the public re-
gifter. They differed both from the wxDxi and $
becaufe the pohtx or “ citizens” were freemen of A-
thens, and the xeni or “ ftrangers” had lodgings only
for a Ihort time ; whereas the metceci, though not free¬
men of Athens, conftantly refided upon the ipot whi¬
ther they had removed.
METONYMY, m Rhetoric, is a trope in wh 1 ch one
name is put for another, on account of the near relation
there is between them. See Oratory, N* 51.
METOPE , in Architecture, is the interval or fquare
fpace between the triglyphs of the Doric frieze, which
among the ancients uled to be painted or adorned with
carved work, reprefenting the heads of oxen or utenfils
ufed in facrifices.
MET OPOSCOPY, the pretended art of knowing
a perfon’s dil'pefitions and manners by viewing the
traces and lines in the face. Giro Spontoni, w'ho has
written exprefsly on metopofcopy, fays, that feven lines
are examined in the forehead, and that each line is
confidered as having its particular planet : the firft is
the line of Saturn, the fecond of Jupiter, the third of
Mars, &c. Metopoicopy is only a branch of phy-
fiognomy, which founds its conjeftures on all the parts
of the bodv.
METRE, piT^ix, in Poetry, a fyftem of feet of a
juft length.
The different metres in poetry, are the different
manners of ordering and combining the quantities, or
the long and ihort fyllables; thus hexameter, pentame-
ter, iambic, fapphic verfes, &c. confift of different me¬
tres or meafures. See Hexameter.
In Englifti verfes, the metres are extremely various
and arbitrary, every poet being at liberty to introduce
any new form that he pleafes. The moll ufual are the
heroic, generally confifting of five long and five ftiort
fyllables, and verfes o- four feet, and of three feet, and
a caelura or Angle fy 11 able.
1 he ancients, by varioufly combining and tranfpof-
ing their quantities, made a vait variety of different
meafures*
MET
[ 744 ]
M E U
Metz.
"Metretes meafure, by forming fpondees, &c. of diiTerent feet.
See Poetry.
METRETES, a Grecian meafure, containing fome-
tbing more than nine Englifti gallons. See Mea¬
sure.
METRICAL VERSES, are thofe confiding of a de¬
terminate number of long and flrort fyllables } as thofe
of the Greek and Latin poets.—Capellus obferves, that
the genius of the Hebrew language is incompatible with
metrical poetry.
METROCOMIA (from pHng mother, and nupntown
or village), a term in the ancient church-hiftory, fig-
nifying “ a borough or village that had other villages
under its jurifdi&ion.”—What a metropolis was among
cities, a metracomia was among country towns* The
ancient metrocomice had each its choriepifcopus or rural
dean, and here was his fee or refidence. See METRO¬
POLIS and tnoRlEPiscoPUS.
METRONOMII, the name given by the Athe¬
nians to five officers in the city and ten in the Pirceus,
whofe duty it was to infpeft all forts of meafures ex¬
cept thofe of corn. The Pirceus tvas the greateft mart
in Attica.
METROPOLIS (from piTjjg mother, and zreMs city),
the capital of a country or province ; or the principal
city, and as it were mother of all the reft.
The term metropolis is alfo applied to archiepif-
copal churches, and fometimes to the principal or mo¬
ther-church ef a city. The Roman empire having
been divided into 13 diocefes and 120 provinces, each
diocefe and each province had its metropolis or capi¬
tal city, where the proconful had his refidence. To
-this civil divifion the ecclefiaftical was afterwards
adapted, and the biftiop of the capital city had the di-
reftion of affairs, and the pre-eminence over all the
biffiops of the province. His refidence in the metro¬
polis gave him the title of metropolitan. This eredlion
of metropolitans is referred to the end of the third
century, and was confirmed by the council of Nice.
A metropolitan has the privilege of ordaining his fuf-
fragans j and appeals from fentences paffed by the fuf-
fragans are preferred to the metropolitan.
Metropolis, in Ancient Geography, a town of Acar-
nania, a little to the fouth of Stratos.—Another, of
Lydia j fituated between Colophon and Priene, near the
Cayfter.—A third, of Phrygia 5 facred to the mother
of the gods, who was here worfhipped.—A fourth Me¬
tropolis of Eftiotis, a diftrift in Theffaly, to the eaft of
Gomphi, and the laft town of that diftrift. Metropo-
litce, the people.
METULLJM, in Ancient Geography, a confiderable
city of Liburnia, at the fiege of which 0<ftavius Caffar
was wounded. Said to be the metropolis, and fituated
on two eminences, interfered by a valley (Appian.)
Now generally thought to be Methng in Carniola. E.
Long. 16. N. Lat. 46. 5.
METZ, an ancient, large, and ftrong town of
France, and capital of the territory of Meffin, with a
citadel and a biffiop’s fee, whofe bifliop ufed to hold
the title of a prince of the empire. The cathedral
church is one of the fineft in Europe, and the fquare
called Cojlin and the houfe of the governor are worth
feeing. The Jews live in a part of the town by
themfelves, where they have a fynagogue. The fweet-
meats they make here are in high efteem. It is feated
at the confluence of the rivers Mofelle and Seille. E. ___
Long. 6.16. N. Lat. 49. 7.
MEVANIA, in Ancient Geography, a town of the
Cifapennine Umbria-, feated at the confluence of the Tina
and Clitumnus, on the Via Flaminia, famous for its
herds of white cattle brought up there for facrifice j
the white colour faid to be owing to the waters of the
Clitumnus (Virgil). Mevania was the country of Pro¬
pertius. Mevenates the people. Now faid to be Be*
va^na, in the territory of the Pope.
MEURSIUS, John, a learned and laborious writer,
was born at Lofdun, near the Hague, in 1579. He
early difcovered a fondnefs for polite literature and
the fciencesand went to ftudy law at Orleans with
the fon of Barneveldt, whom he accompanied in his
travels. In 1610 he was made profeffor of hiftory at
Leyden, and afterwards Greek profeffor. In the fol¬
lowing year, the magiftrates of the United Provinces
proved how high their opinion was of his abilities, by
fixing on him to write the hiftory of his country.
Meurfius married in the year 1612. His wife, Anna
Catherina Bilberbeccia, defcended from a very ancient
and noble family in Angermond a city of Pomerania,
poffeffed many amiable qualities, and rendered his do-
meftic life remarkably happy, while he difc^iarged the
duties of his profefforfliip with an affiduity equal to his
abilities. At the fame time the republic of letters did
not lofe the advantages to be derived from his labours j
for during the fourteen years of his refidence at Ley¬
den, the works which he publilhed were more numer¬
ous than thofe which had been prefented to the world
by the whole body of profeffors from the original foun¬
dation of the univerfity in 1575.
Meurfius’s writings had now fpread his reputa¬
tion in every part of Europe j nor was the fame of
his diligence and talents as a profeffor lefs known.
In fo high a rank, indeed, did he ftand among his
literary contemporaries, that Chriftian IV. king of
Denmark conferred on him the place of hiftoriogra-
pher royal, and invited him to undertake the profef-
forfhip of hiftory and politics in the academy of Sora,
which was founded by King Frederick II. although
the revival of its honours and dignities may be dated
from this period, when it feemed to be again found¬
ed under the aufpices of Chriftian IV. Meurfius and
his family left Leyden in the year 1635. On his
arrival at Sora, he was received with the moft friendly
tokens of regard by his majefty and the Danifti nobi¬
lity, and more particularly by Chancellor Rofenkrantz,
on whom he has beftowed very ample praifes in one of
his letters. Here he refided, equally beloved and ad¬
mired, for above twelve years. His pupils were not
very numerous, but his exertions never relaxed. Thofe
hours likewife which were not devoted to the duties of
his profefforlhip, he employed in reviling the works of
the ancients and in philological difquilitions.
His health did not fuffer by the intenfenefs of ap¬
plication, till in the year 1638 he had a violent at¬
tack of the ftone, from which diforder he had fuffered
feverely. In a letter to Voffius he thus defcribes his
melancholy condition : “ The ftate of my health du¬
ring the whole of the laft winter has been truly de¬
plorable. My fufferings from the ftone have been
really
Mevania,
Meurfius.
M E U [ 7
^ really dreadful. I have voided fo many, that the re¬
peated difcharges brought on a wound which emit¬
ted blood for above four months. I was next attacked
by a teitian fever, which increafed conftantly, and
produced an univerial laflitude of body, a dejedlion
ot fpirits, and a total lofs of appetite. But, thank
heaven, I have now in fome meafure recovered my
ilrength, and gotten the better of thefe complaints.”
. e recovered from this attack j but in the follow¬
ing year the diforder returned with redoubled Vio¬
lence, and brought on a confumption which termi¬
nated his exdlence on the 20th day of September 1639.
Pie left behind him a fon who was named after him,
end one daughter.
So. mild .were the difpolitions of Meurfius, that in
all his writings he conlfantly avoided literary difputes.
He was fometimes unavoidably drawn into them ; but
conftantly endeavoured to promote a reconciliation
rather than widen any breach, by his replies to the
attacks of his adverfaries. In his fxiendftrips he was
firm and affe&ionate. Of his domeftic life, whatever is
known has been gathered from his letters. The fame
eafy tranquillity feems to have attended him in every
fituation. In his family he was particularly fortunate.
In his fon, to whom he gave his own name, he feemed
to behold his own youth renewed. The fame applica¬
tion, the fame eagernefs in the purfuit of knowledge,
marked the condudl of this promifing young man j who
did not long furvive his father, but died foon after he
had recommended himfelf to the notice of the learned
world by his publications. They were only three in
number 5 but difplayed fo much folid learning, that they
have been afligned to the father, John Meurfius, by
I’Abbe Beughem and others. This miftake was occa-
fioned as much by the fimilitude of their names, as by
the nature of their works, and their manner of treating
philological fubje&s. 6
His works may be divided into four claffes, of which
each might form a feparate volume if they were ever
to be republiftied. Meurfius himfelf indeed, in one of
his letters to Voflius, propofes fuch a divifion. From
that epiftle, and from another which the younger
Meurfius fent to G. I. Voftius, who ftrongly advifed
him to republifli the whole of his father’s writings, and
from the colle&ions of his pofthumous works which
have appeared from Struvius, Grofchupfius, Moller
and fome others, a catalogue of his works might be
formed. Some afliftance will alfo be derived from the
indexes publifhed in their refpeaive works, by Hank¬
ins, Defielius, Wettenius, and Bartholinus. The plan
which Meurfius recommends for publifhing his works,
is to. infert in the firft volume all that he has written
relative to .Athens 1 in the fecond, his hiftoncal pieces •
in the third, his mifcellaneous diftertations ; and in the
fourth, the various authors which he publiftied, with
his notes and correflions.
A fcandalous and indecent work, which is entitled
Meurfti e/egantic? Latinifermonis, and has Aloifue Si-
ge<e Satyrs Sotadicce annexed to it, is very falfely attri¬
buted to Meurfius; nor indeed are the Satires with
more reafon afligned to Aloifia Sigea, who was a
Spatufli lady eminent for her piety and virtue. The
real author of thefe infamous produ&ions was Weftre-
nius, an advocate at Copenhagen, who probably afium-
«d the name of Meurfius, in order to fliield himfelf
Vox., XIII. Part II.
MeW •
II
Mexico.
45 ] M E X
from the difgrace which would naturally have attended
the wniter of fuch a performance.
MEW, Sea-mew, or Sea-mall. J See Larus, Orki-
Winter Mew, or Coddy-jnoddy. \ THOLOGY Index.
MEWING, the falling off or change of hair, fea¬
thers,. Ikin, horns, or other paits of animals, which hap¬
pens in fome annually, in others only at certain ftaues
of their lives j but the generality of beafts mew in die
'Pr^ng* An.old hart calls his horns fooner than a younn
one, which is commonly in the months of Feoruary and
March, after which they begin to button in March or
April : and as the fun growls ftrsng, and the feafon of
the year puts forth the fruits of the earth, fo their heads
grow, and are lammed full by the middle of June. It
is to be obferyed, that if a hart be gelt before he has
a head, he will never have any ; and if he be gelt after
he has a head, he will never call his horns ; again, if
he be. gelt when he has a velvet head, it wall always’be
lo, without fraying or burnilhing.
MEXICO, a province of the Spanilh empire in
America, once a celebrated kingdom, the moil power¬
ful and civilized in the new world j lying between the
14th and 21ft degrees of north latitude, and between Tolteeam
91 and 103 degrees weft longitude ; being near 2000 the firlt™.
miles in length, and in fome places 600 miles inhabitants,
breadth.
The Toltecans are the molt ancient Mexican nation
of which we know any thing. They were expelled
as we are told, from their own country (fuppofed by
Clavigero to have been Tollan, to the northward of
Mexico) in the year 472; and for fome time led a
wandering life. In whatever place they determined to
refide for any confiderable time, they ereaed houfes
and cultivated the ground. Thus their migrations were
extremely flow, and it was not till 104 years after they
fet out that they reached a place about 50 miles to the
eaflward of the city of Mexico, where they fettled for
20 years, giving to their new place of refidence the
name of Tollant%inco. From thence they proceeded n •
about 40 miles farther to the weft, where they built afiol-y ~
city called, from the name of their country, Tollan or
Tula. ’
After the final fettlement of the Toltecans, the govern¬
ment was changed into a monarchy. Their firft king be¬
gan his reign in 667, and their monarchy lafted 384
years, during which time they reckon juft eight princes.
We are not, however, to imagine that each of their
kings lived long enough to make up this fpace. It
was a cuftom among them that the name of the king
ftiould be continued for 52 years, and no longer, from
the time he afcended the throne. If he died within
that period, the. government was carried on in his name
by a regency ; if he furvived, he was obliged to refign
his authority. During the four centuries that the
1 oltecan monarchy continued, they had increafed very
confiderably. in number,, and had built many cities-
but when in the height of profperity, almoft the
whole nation was deftroyed by a famine occaftoned by
drought ; and a peftilence, probably the confequence
o the former. “ According to Torquemada (favs
our author), at a certain feftival-ball made by the Tot-
tecans, thtfad-looking devil appeared to them of a gigan¬
tic fize, with immenfe arms, and in the midft of the en¬
tertainment he embraced and fuffocated them ; that then
he appeared in the form of a child with a putrid head
5 B and
M E X
[ 746 , ]
M E X
Mexico, end brought the plague ", and, finally, at the perfua-
' v-— fon of the fame devil, they abandoned the country of
Tula.” _ . , v
c „ 3i 1 They were fucceeded by the Chichemccas, a much
by the Chi- more barbarous people, who came from an un -.nov. n
chemecas. country called Amaquetnecan, where they a or a
long time refided *, but of which no traces of remem¬
brance can be found among any of the American na¬
tions known to Europeans *, fo that Clavigero fuppoies
it muft have been very far to the northward.
The motive which the Chichemecas had for leaving
their own country is not known. I hey were eighteen
months on their journey, and took poffeffion ot the
defolate country of the Toltecas about an hundred
years after the former had left it. They were much
more uncivilized than the Toltecans*, but, however,
had a regular form of monarchical government, and
in other refpefts w'ere lefs difgufting in their manners
than feme of the neighbouring nations. L he lalt
king who reigned in Amaquemecan befoie the depar¬
ture of the Chichemecas, had left his dominions between
his tw'o ions Auchcauhtli and Xolotl, and the latter
condufled the newr colony. Having proceeded riom
the ruins of Tula towards Chempoalla and I epepolio,
Xolotl fent his fon to furvey the country. The prince
crolfed the borders of the lakes and the mountains
which furround the vale of Mexico •, then afeending
to the top of a very high one, he viewed the whole
country, and took pofleflion of it in tne name of his
4 father, by (hooting four arrows to the four winds.
Xolotl their Xolotl being informed by his fon of the nature of
firltkirig. t]ie country? chofe for the capital of his kingdom Te-
nayuca, about fix miles to the northward ot the city
of Mexico, and diftributed his people in the neigh¬
bouring territory} but as mod of them went to the
northward, that part obtained the name of the coun¬
try of the Chichemecas, in diftindtion from the reft.
Here a review of the people was taken, ana theii num¬
ber, according to Torquemada, was more than a mil¬
lion.
Xolotl finding himfelf peacefully fettled in his new
dominion, fent one of his officers to explore the fources
of fome of the rivers of the countryWhile perform¬
ing this talk he came "to the habitations of fome 1 ol-
tecans, who it (eerps had ((ill kept together, and were
likely once more to become a nation. As them peo¬
ple w'ere not inclined to war, and greatly efteemed for
5 their knowledge and (kill in the arts, the Chicbe-
His people entered into a ftridf alliance with them, and
the Tolte- Prince Nopaltzin, who had firft furveyed the country,
married a Toltecan princefs. The confequence of
this alliance w'as the mtrodudfion of the arts and
knowledge of the Toltecans among the Chichemecas.
Till now the latter had fubfifted entirely by hunting,
and fuch fruits and roots as the earth fpentaneoufly
produced. They were clad in the (kins of w ild beads,
and, like thefe beafts, they are faid to have fucked
the blood of the animals they caught *, but after their
connexion with the Toltecans they began to fow corn,
to learn the art of digging and w’orking metals, to
cut ftones, manufa&ure cotton, and, in every refpea,
to make great improvements.
When Xolotl had reigned about eight years in his
Vain fettle- new’territories, an embaffy of fix.perfons arrived from
gjmts. a diftant country not far from Amaquemecan, exprefling
cans.
6
Ifeiv inha¬
bitants ar¬
rive and ob-
a defire of coming with their people to rende in the Mexico.
country ot the Chichemecas. Tne king gave them ^
a gracious reception, and ailigned them a aiftrift j
and, in a few years after, three other princes, with a
great army of Axolhuans, w*ho w'ere likewife neigh¬
bours of Amaquemecan, made their appearance. The
king was at that time at Tezcuco, to which place he
had removed his court : and here he was accofted by
the princes, who, in a fubmiflive and flattering man¬
ner, requefled him to allow them a place in his hap¬
py country, where the people enjoyed fuch an excel¬
lent government. Xolotl not only gave them a fa¬
vourable reception, but offered them his two daugh¬
ters in marriage, expreffing his concern that he had
no more, that none might have been excluded from,
the royal alliance. On the third prince, however, he
beftowed a noble virgin of Chaleo, in whom the XoC
tecan and Chichemecan blood were united. The nup¬
tials were celebrated wuth extraordinary pomp; and
the two nations, after the example of the fovereigns,
continued to intermarry. As the Acolhuans were the
more civilized nation of the two, the name of Chi¬
chemecas began to be appropriated to the moie rud-
and barbarous part, who preferred hunting to agricul¬
ture, or chofe a life of favage liberty in the mountains
to the reftraints of focial law's. X hete barbarians afto-
ciated with the Otomies, another favage nation who
lived to the northward, occupying a trad of more than
three hundred miles in extent j and by their defeend-
ants the Spaniards were haraffed for many years after
the conqueft of Mexico. 7
As foon as the nuptial rejoicings wrere over, Xolotl Qivifion of
divided his territories into three parts, afligning oKethedomi-
to each of the princes. Acolhuatzin, who had mar-^^
ried his eldeft daughter, had Azcopazalco, 18 miles"
to the w’eftward of Tezcuco ; Chiconquauhtli, who
married the other, had a territory named Xaltocan *,
and Tzontecomatl, who married the lady of inferior
rank, had one named Coatlichan. The country con¬
tinued for fome time to flouriih, population increafed
greatly, and wflth it the civilization of the people;
but as* thefe advanced, the vices of luxury and ambi¬
tion increafed in proportion. Xolotl found himielf
obliged to treat his fubje&s with more feverity than
formerly, and even to put fome of them to death.—
This produced a confpiracy againft him, which, how¬
ever, he had the good fortune to efcape ; but while
he meditated a fevere revenge on the confpirators, he
was feized with the diftemper of which he died, in
the fortieth year of his reign, and in a very advanced
age. . 8
Xolotl was fucceeded by his fon Nopaltzin, who at Nopaltzin
the time of his acceffion is fuppofed to have been fecund
about fixty years of age. In his time, the tranquilli- km£’
ty of the kingdom, which had begun to fufter difturb-
ance under his father, underwent much more violent
(hocks, and civil wars took place. Acolhuatzin, the
only one of the three princes who remained alive,
thinking the territory he poffeffed too narrow, made
war upon the lord of a neighbouring province named
Tapotzotlan, and deprived him of his territory. Huet-
zin, fon to the late Prince Tzontecomatl, lord of
Coatlichan, fell in love with the grand-daughter of
the queen, a celebrated beauty, but was rivalled by a
neighbouring lord, who determined to fupport his
nrptpnfiOTK*
9
Quinatzin
a luxurious
prince.
TO
Difturban-
ces in va¬
rious parts.
M E X [
Mexico, pretenfians by force of arms. Huetzin, however.
the better, defeated and killed his adverfary, and then
poffeffed himfelf of the lady and his eftate. This was
followed by a rebellion of the whole province of Tol-
lantzinco, fo that the king himfelf was obliged to take
the field. As the rebels were very numerous, the
royal army was at firft defeated } but having at laft
received a ftrong reinforcement, the rebels were over¬
come, and their ringleaders feverely puniihed. The
king did not long furvive the reftoration of tranquilli¬
ty to his dominions. He died in the thirty-fecond
year of his reign, and ninety-fecond of his age, leaving
the throne to his eldeft fon Tlotzin, who was an excel¬
lent prince, and reigned thirty-fix years.
Quinatzin, the fon and fucceffor of Tlotzin, proved
a vain and luxurious prince. His acceflion to the
throne wras celebrated with much greater pomp than
any of his predeceflbrs. Xolotl had removed his court
from Tenayuca to Tezcuco*, but being difgufled with
this laft place, on account of the confpiracy formed
againft him there, he had returned to Tenayuca.—
There the court continued till the reign of Quinatzin,
who removed it back to Tezcuco.
The reign of Quinatzin, though tranquil at firft,
was foon difturbed by dangerous revolts and rebellions.
Thefe firft broke out in two ftates, named Maztillen
and Totopec, fituated among the northern mountains.
The king, having collefted a great army, marched
without delay againft the rebels, and challenged their
leaders to come down and fight him in the plain.—
This challenge being accepted, a furious engagement
enfued, in which, though great numbers fell on both
fides, no decifive advantage w’as gaint d by either
party. Frequent engagements took place for the
fpace of forty days, until at laft the rebels, perceiving
that their own numbers wrere daily diminifhing, with¬
out any poflibility of being recruited like the royal
army, made a final furrender to the king, who pu-
niftied the ringleaders with great feverity. Tranquil¬
lity, however, was not yet reftored : the rebellion
fpread to fuch a degree, that the king w-as obliged
not only to take the field in perfon, but to employ fix
other armies, under the command of faithful and ex¬
perienced generals, to reduce the rebels. Thofe proved
fo fuccefsful in their enterprifes, that in a Ihort time
the rebellious cities were reduced to obedience, and
the kingdom enjoyed the bleflings of peace during the
long reign of Quinatzin, who is faid to have fat on
the throne for no lefs than fixty years. He wras fuc-
ceeded by his fon Techotlatla •, but as the affairs of
the Acolhuans now began to be connefted with thofe
of the Mexicans, it will be proper to give fome account
j! of that people.
Migrations The Mexicans, called alfo the Aztecas, dwelt till
eftheMexi-the year 1160 in a country called Aptian, fituated to
V
U.S.
Mexico.
the north of the gulf of California, as appears by the
route they purfued in their journey ; but how far to
the northward we are not certainly informed. Betan¬
court makes it no lefs than 2700 miles, and Boturini
fays it was a province of Afia. The caufe of their
migration is faid to have been as follows :
Among the Aztecas was a perfon of great autho¬
rity, named Huizti/in, to whofe opinion every one paid
the utmoft deferbnee. He had conceived a defign to
perfuade his countrymen to change their refidence ; and
747 ] ME
got to effect this he fell upon the following ftratagera. Ha- t
ving heard, while meditating on his fcheme, a little
bird fingihg on the branches of a tree, the notes of
which refembled the wmrd Tihui, w7hich in the Azteca
language fignified “ let us go,” he took that opportu¬
nity to work upon the fuperftition of the people. W ith
this view, he took along with him a refpeftable perfon,
and made him attend to the note of the bird. “ What
can it mean (fays he), but that we muft leave this
country, and find ourfelves another ? Without doubt it
is the warning of fome fecret divinity who w'atches over
our welfare : let us obey, therefore, his voice, and not
draw his anger upon us by a refufal.” Tecpaltzin, ior
that was the name of his friend, readily agreed to the
interpretation ; and both of them being perfons of
great influence, their united perfuaiions foon gained
over to their proje61 the bulk of the nation, and they
accordingly fet out. 11.
The Aztecas, when they left their original habita-^P^atl0tt
tions, were divided into fix tribes •, but at Culiacan thetrjbes.
Mexicans were left with their god * by five of them, viz.*si wood-
the Xochimilcas, Tepanecas, Chalcefe, Tlahuicas, and<?»
Tlafcalans. The caufe of this feparation is not known,
but it was probably occafioned by fome difagreement
among tbemfelves •, for the remaining tribe was divided
into two violent factions, which perfecuted one aivather:
neither did they afterwards conHnnft any more edifices.
However, they always travelled together, in order to
enjoy the-company of their imaginary god. At every
place wftiere they flopped an altar was eredled to him ;
and at their departure they left behind them all
their fick, and probably alfo fome others to take care
of them, or fucb as were not willing to endure the
fatigue of farther journeys. They flopped in Tula
nine years, and eleven more in the neighbouring parts.
At laft, in 1216, they arrived at Zumpanco, a conli-
derable city in the vale of Mexico, where they were
received in a very hofpitable mariner by the lord of
that di(lri6f. He not only afligned them proper ha¬
bitations, but became very much attached to them j
and even demanded from among them a wife for his
fon Ilhuicatl. This requeft was complied with 3 and
from this marriage all the Mexican kings defeended.
The Mexicans continued to migrate from one place
to another along the lake of Tezcuco. Xolotl, who
was then on the throne of the Acolhuans or Chiche-
mecas, allowed them to fettle in whatever places of
his dominions they thought proper 3 but fome of them
finding themfelves haraffed by a neighbouring lord,The Mexi-
were obliged, in 12^5, to retire to Chapoltepec, acansPei‘fc“
mountain on the weftern borders of the lake, fcarcelycute^’
two miles diftant from the fite of Mexico. This took
place in the reign of Nopaltzin, when difturbances be¬
gan to take place in the Acolhuan dominions. The
Mexicans, however, did not find themfelves any more
fecure in their new place of refidence than formerly :
they were perfecuted by the neighbouring lords, and
obliged to take refuge in a number of fmall iflands,
named Acocolco, at the fouthern extremity of the lake
of Mexico. Here for 52 years they lived in the moft
miferable manner, fubfifting on fill), infefts, roots, &c.
and clothing themfelves with the leaves of the amoxtli,
which abounds in that lake.
In th is miferable plight the Mexicans continued till »nd en-
the vear 1214., when they were reduced to a ftate of^a,ve(!*
'5 B 2 the
Mexico
'5
Regain
HEX [7
the mo(t abfolute flavery. This was done by the king
of a petty ftate named Colhuacan, vvho, it is faid, be¬
ing unwilling to allow the Mexicans to maintain them-
felves in his territories without paying tribute, made
wrar upon them, fubdued and enflaved them. Others
affirm that, pretending compaffion for their miferable
lituation, he offered them a more commodious place of
refklence.' The Mexicans readily accepted the offer j
but had fcarcely fet out to take poiTeffion of their new
place of relidence when they were attacked by the Col-
huans, made prifoners, and carried off for Haves.
After fome years a war broke out betwixt the Col-
their liber- huans and Xochimilcas, in which the latter gained
oy cruel-pU(ffi advantages, that they rvere obliged to employ
their Haves to aflift them. They accordingly ordered
them to prepare for war, but without furniffiing them
with arms neceffary for a military enterprife ; fo that
the Mexicans were obliged to content themfelves with
long Haves, having their points hardened in the fire ;
they alfo made knives of the Hone itztli, and fluelds of
reeds woven together. They agreed not to wafie their
time in making prifoners, but to content themfelves
with cutting off one ear of their enemies, and then
leaving them without farther injury. They adhered
punctually to this refolution •, and rulhing furioufly up¬
on the Xochimilcas, cut off an ear from as many as
they could, killing thofe who Hruggled to fuch a de¬
gree that they could not effeCt their purpofe. In ffiort,
fo well did the Mexicans acquit themfelves in this en¬
gagement, that the Xochimilcas fled, and took refuge
among the mountains. After the battle, the Colhuan
foldiers prefented themfelves before their general with
the prifoners they had taken, by the number of which
alone they judged of their valour. The Mexicans had
taken only four, and thefe they kept concealed for the
abominable purpofe of facrificing them. The Colhuans,
therefore, feeing no trophies of their valour, began to
reproach them with cowardice ; but the Mexicans, pro¬
ducing their baflcets of ears, defired them to judge
from thefe how many prifoners they might have taken,
had they not been unwdlling to retard their viClory by
taking up time in binding them.
Notwithftanding the valour difplayed by the Mexi¬
cans in this engagement, it doth not appear that their
haughty maflers were in the leaft inclined to afford them
eaiier terms than before. Having ere&ed an altar to
their god, they demanded of their lord fomething pre¬
cious to offer in facrifice to him; but he in difdain fent
them a dirty cloth, enclofing the filthy carcafs of a vile
bird. This was carried by Colhuan priefts ; and with¬
out any ceremony laid upon the altar. The Mexicans,
with apparent unconcern, removed this filthy offering,
and put in its place a knife made of itztli, and an odo¬
riferous herb. On the day of confecration, the Col¬
huan prince attended wdth his nobility j not with a
view to do honour to the feffival, but to make a moc¬
kery of the Mexicans. Their derifion, however, w'as
foon changed into horror, when the Mexicans, after a
folemn dance, brought forth the four Xochimilcan pri¬
foners they had taken ; and, after having made them
dance a little, cut open their breafts with the knife
which lay on the altar, and plucking out their hearts
offered them, while yet palpitating with life, to their
diabolical idol. This had fuch an effedl upon the fpec-
tators, that both king and fubjeils defired the Mexicans
48 ]
M E X
The fir ft
human fa¬
crifice in
Mexico.
immediately to quit their territories and go where they Mexico,
pleafed. This order was inftantly obeyed : the whole ’“v
nation took their route towards the north, until they
came to a place named /]cat%h<z,intlan, fituated betwixt
two lakes, and afterwards named Mcxicaltzinco; but
for fome reafon or other, being difcontented with this
fituation, as indeed they feem very often to have been,
they proceeded to Ixtaca/co, ftill nearer to the fite of
Mexico. Here they formed the image of a little moun¬
tain of paper, and danced round it a whole night,
finging their vidfory over the Xochimilcas, and reunit¬
ing thanks to their god for having freed them from the
yoke of the Colhuans. Clavigero is of opinion, that by
this mountain they reprefented Calhuacan, as in their
pidlures it was always reprefented by a hunch-backed
mountain ; and this is the literal iignification of the
name. 17
The city of Mexico was founded in the year 12 25, c‘ty °^
in the moll: incommodious fituation we can imagine,
viz. on a fmall ifland named Tenochtitlan, in the mid¬
dle of a great lake, without ground to cultivate for
their fubfifleuce, or even room fufficient to build their
habitations. Their life wTas therefore as miferable here
for fome time as it had been when they were on the
iilands at the end of the lake, and they were reduced
to the fame Ihifts to maintain themfelves. To enlarge
the boundaries of their illand, they drove palifades in¬
to thofe parts of the water which were moll ftiallow,
terracing them with flones and turf, and uniting to
their principal ifland feveral other fmaller ones which
lay in the neighbourhood. To procure to themfelves
afterwards Hones, wmod, &c. for conHru£Hng their
habitations, as wrell as clothing and other neceffaries,
they inllituted a commerce with the people who dwelt
on the borders of the lake, fupplying them with filh,
waterfowl, and other more minute inhabitants of the
lake and marffies, which they contrived to render eat¬
able ; and in return for all this they received the necef-
faries above mentioned. The greateft effort of their
induHry, however, w'as the conftru&ion of floating gar¬
dens, by means of buflies and the mud of the lake j and
thefe they brought to fuch perfeflion that they produced
maize, pepper, chia, French beans, and gourds. l8
For thirteen years that the Mexicans had to Hruggle The two
with extreme difficulty, they remained at peace j but
no fooner did they begin to profper and live comfort-parate*
ably, than the inveterate enmity betwixt the two factions
broke out in all its fury. This produced a feparation ;
and one of the parties took up their refidence on a fmall
ifland at a little diftance to the northward, which, from
a heap of fand found there, they at firft named Xaltilol.
co, but afterwards Tlatelolco, from a terrace conftru&ed
by themfelves. This ifland was afterwards united to
that of Tenochtitlan.
About this time the Mexicans divided their city into
four parts, a divilion which ftill fublifts; each quarter
having now its tutelar faint, as it had formerly its tute¬
lar god. In the midft of their city was the fan&uary
of their great god Mexitli, whom they conftantly pre¬
ferred to all the reft. lo him they daily performed
a<ft$ of adoration : but inftead of making any progrefs
in humanity, they feem to have daily improved in the 19
moft horrible barbarities, at lealt in their religion. Monfti;ous
The dreadful facrifices made of their prifoners, could b]ar.ban!^o£
only be exceeded by that which we are now about to gj^re ^
relate*
M E X
Mex'eo. relate. Being now on a more refjie^lable footing than
formerly, they fent an embafly to the petty king of
Colhuacan, requeuing him to fend them one of his
daughters, that (lie might be confecrated the mother
of thek- protecting god. The unfufpecting prince
readily complied with their defire.—The unfortunate
princefs was conduced in great triumph to Mexico ;
but no fooner was (lie arrived, than (he was facrificed
in a (hocking mnnner ; and, to add to the horror of
the deed, the body was flayed, and one of the braved:
young men of the nation drefled in her (kin. Her fa¬
ther, ignorant jaf this dreadful tranfaclion, was invited
by the Mexicans to be prefent at the apotheofis of his
daughter, and went to fee the folemnity, and to wor-
Ihip the new divinity. He was led into the fanfluary,
where the young man flood clothed in the bloody {kin
of his daughter ; but the darknefs of the place prevent¬
ed him from feeing what was before him. They gave
him a cenfer in his hand, and fbme copal to begin his
wmrfhip ; but having difcovered by the flame of the co¬
pal the horrible fpecfacle, he ran out in a diftrafted
manner, calling upon his people to revenge the injury ;
but this they were not able to do at that time nor ever
after.
In the year 1352 the Mexican government was
changed from an ariftocracy to a monarchy. At firft
they were governed by 20 lords, of whom one had
an authority fuperior to the red. This naturally fug-
gefted the idea of monarchy ; and to this change they
were alfo induced by the contemptible ftate in which
their nation dill continued, thinking that the royal
dignity would confer upon it a degree of fplendour
which other-wife it could not enjoy •, and that by
having one leader, they would be better able to op-
40 . pofe their enemies. Proceeding, therefore, to eleft
zin the firft a t^le ch°ice fell upon Acamapitzin, a man of
king of great eftimation among them, and defcended from
Mexico. Opochtli, a noble Aztecan, and a princefs of the royal
family of Colhuacan. As he was yet a bachelor,
they attempted to negociate a marriage, firft: with
the daughter of the lord of Tacuba, and then of
the king of Azcapozalco : but thefe propofals being
rejefled with difdain, they applied to Acolmiztli
lord of Coatlichan, and a defcendant of one of the three
Acolhuan princes 5 who complied with their requeft,
and the nuptials were celebrated with great rejoicings.
21 In the mean time, the Tlatelolcos, the natural ri-
lolcos^alfo" Va^S t^e ^ex*cans» refolved not to be behind them
choofe a any which had the leaft appearance of aug-
ling. menting the glory of their ftate. They likewife,
therefore, chofe a king ; but not thinking proper to
choofe him from among themfelves, they applied to
the king of the Tepanecas, who readily fent them
his fon j and he was crowned firft king of Tlatelolco
in 1353. In this the Tlatelolcos feem to have had
a defign of humbling their rivals, as well as render¬
ing themfelves more refpe&able ; and therefore it is
probable, that they had reprefented the Mexicans as
wanting in that refpefl due to the Tepanecan mo¬
narch, as having elefted a king without his leave,
22 though at the fame time they were tributaries to
Mexicans him. The confequence of this was, that he took a
©pprefled. refolution to double their tribute. Hitherto they
had paid only a certain number of fifti and water-
fowl 5 but now they were ordered to bring alfo feve-
E X
willow plants to be fet in the Mexico,
roads and gardens of Azcapozalco, and to tranfport
to the court a great floating garden, which pro¬
duced vegetables of every kind known in Anahuac.
This being accompliflied with great difficulty, the
king commanded them next year to bring him another
garden, with a duck and fwan in it both fitting un-
on eggs •, but fo, that on their arrival at Azcapozal- -
co the brood might be ready to hatch. This was alfo
done ; and the prince had the fatisfa&ion of feeing the
young birds come out of the eggs. The third year
they were ordered to bring a live (lag along with a
garden. This was more difficult than any of the for¬
mer tafks } becaufe they w^ere obliged, in order to
hunt the flag, to go to the mountains of the conti¬
nent, wffiere they were in danger of falling into the
hands of their enemies j however, this alfo was ae-
compliflied, and the deftre of the king gratified.
In this manner the Mexicans wTere opprefled for no
lefs than 50 years. They freed themfelves, however,
from all their difficulties by vigorous exertions, abfurdly
alcribing to the proteflion of that malevolent being
whom they worlhipped the glory of every deliverance.
Acamapitzin governed this city, wffiich at that time
comprehended the wffiole of his dominions, for 37 years
in peace. His queen being barren, he married another
wife, but without abandoning the firft ; and thefe two,
inftead of being rivals to one another, lived together in
the utmoft harmony 5 the firft: wife taking upon herfelf
the charge of educating Huitzili/iuitl, the fon of the
fecond. He had, befides, feveral children by other
women, and one named It%coatl, who afterwards proved
one of the beft and moft renowned kings who fat on the
throne of Mexico. He is faid alfo to have conquered
four confiderable cities; but Clavigero thinks he muft
in this only have been an auxiliary, it being very im¬
probable, that while he could fcarce maintain his own
territories, he (hould think of foreign conquefts.
Acamapitzin died in 1389, greatly lamented by
the Mexicans, and his death w7as followed by an in¬
terregnum of four months. As the deceafed mo¬
narch had formally refigned his authority into the
hands of his nobles, it was neceffary that a new elec¬
tion ftiould take place ; and when this was done, the 23
choice fell upon Huitzilihuitl, the fon of Acama- .
pitzin. As he was ftill unmarried, it was refolved,
if poflible, to procure him an honourable and advan¬
tageous match. With this view, a deputation of
nobility was fent to the king of Azcapozalco, re-
quefting, in very humble terms, an alliance with one
of his daughters. The expreffions made ufe of by
thefe ambafladors are faid by our author to have
been particularly elegant in the Mexican language :
but it is difficult to underftand how a fpeech made
among a people ignorant of the art of w’riting could
be particularly recorded at the interval of fome hun¬
dreds of years after. They are as follow : “ We be-
feech you, with the moft; profound refpedl, to take
ccmpaffion on our mafter and your fervant Huitzili¬
huitl, confined among the thick rufhes of the lake.—
He is without a wife, and wre without a queen.—
Vouchfafe, Sir, to part with one of your jewels or
moft precious feathers. Give us one of your daughters,
who may come to reign over us in a country which be¬
longs to you..”
[ 749 1
M
ral thoufands of fir and
This
M E X [ 7:
Tffes'af*. This piece of oratory bad fucb an effecl upon the
king, that he granted their requeft, and a Tepanecan
princefs was conducted in great, triumph to Mexico,
daughter ofwhere the marriage was folemnized with the utmoit
the king of joy. Though this princefs brought him a ion the
the Tepa- {irit year of their marriage, the king, m order to
tiecacs. ftrenpthen himfelf by freth alliances, man led alfo the
daughter of another prince, by whom he had Monte-
zuma Ilhnicamina, the raoft celebrated of all the Mexi¬
can kings.
As the Mexicans advanced in wealth and power,
fo did their rivals the inhabitants of Tlatelolco.—
Their iirft king died in 1399, leaving his. iubiefts
nreatlv improved in civilization, and the city much
enlarged and beautified. The rivalfhip which iun-
iiiied between the two cities had indeed greatly
contributed to the aggrandizement of both. The
Mexicans had formed fo many alliances by marriage
with the neighbouring nations, had fo much improv¬
ed their agriculture and floating gardens on the
lake, and had built fo many more vtffels to fupply
their extended commerce and fifhmg, that they were
enabled to celebrate their fecular year, anfwering to
A. D. 1402, with greater magnificence than they
had ever done fmee they left their original country of
25 AtZtlan.
Unfortu- All this time Techotlala, the fon of Quinatzm, con-
re^n tinned to reign in Acolhuacan, and for 30 years enjoy-
Lila s fon!”* ed uninterrupted tranquillity ; but. being now very far
advanced in years, and finding his end approach, he
called to him his fon Ixtlilxochitl, and recommended
to him to beware of the ambitious difpofition of the king
sof Azcapozalco, as he was apprehenfive that he might
attempt ‘ fomething againft the peace of the empire.
His fufpicions rvere verified ■, for on the death of 1 e-
chotlala, which happened in 1406, the king of Az-
capozalco, without making the ufual fubmifiions to the
new king, to whom he was a feudatory, fet out for his
own territories, with a view to ftir up the other feu¬
datory princes to rebellion. Having caned to him
the kings of Mexico and Tlatelolco, he told them,
that Techotlala, who had long tyrannized over that
country, being dead, he defigned to procure freedom
to the princes, fo that each might rule his own terri¬
tory entirely independent of the king of Acolhuacan ;
but for this purpofe he needed their affiflance, and
trufted to their well-known fpirit to take part with
him in the enterprife. He informed them likewife,
that in order to enfure fuccefs, he would find means
to unite other princes in the confederacy.
The new king of Acolhuacan, in the mean time,
was employed in fettling the affairs of his kingdom,
and endeavouring to gain the good will of his iubjefds.
The combination againft him was foon difeovered :
but though Ixtlilxochitl was defirous of heading his
army in perfon, he was diifuaded from fo doing by
his courtiers •, fo that the conduct of the war was
committed to his generals. To weaken the enemy,
they ravaged the territories of fix revolted Hates.: but,
no twit lift an din g this, and the fuperior difeipline of
the royal armv, the war was carried on by the rebels
with great obftinacy, their armies being conftantly re¬
cruited by frefh troops in proportion to their Ioffes.
At laft, after three years of a ruinous war, the king
of Azcapozalco, finding that his refources would at
3
o ] M E X
laft fail him, fued for peace ; but with a defign of ac- _ Mexico. ^
complifiling by treachery wdiat he had ncyt yet been
able to do by force. His adverfary, equally reduced
with himfelf, confented to a peace, though he knew
very well that the Tepanecan prince intended to ob-
ferve it no longer than fuited his purpofe. .
In the year 1409 died Huitzilihuitl king of Mexi- Ciiimalpo- 1
co, who likewife left the right of eleding a fucceffor poca third |
to the nobility. They made choice of his brother^gof.
Chimalpopoca 5 and from thence it became an efta-
blifhed lavv to choofe one of the brothers of the de-
ceafed king, or, if he had no brothers, to elect one of
his grandfons. While the new prince was endeavour¬
ing to fecure himielf on the throne, the treacherous
Tezozomoc ufed all means in his power to ftrengthen
the party he had formed againft the king of Acolhua¬
can. In this he wras attended with fuch fucceis, that
the unfortunate prince found himfelf reduced to the
neceffity of wandering among the neighbouring moun¬
tains, at the head of a fmall army, accompanied by the
lords of Huexotla and Coatlichan, who remained al¬
ways faithful to him, T he I epanecans diftrefled him
to fuch a degree, by intercepting his provifions, that
he was forced to beg them of his enemies. One of Diftr*7s J
his grandfons was fent to Otompan, a rebel ftate, to 0f
requeft them to fupply their king with the provifions he king of
flood in need of, and to exhort them to abandon the A.colhua-
caufe of the rebels, which they had efpoufed. No can.
tafk could be more dangerous } yet fuch was the mag¬
nanimity of the young prince’s difpofition, .that he
readily fet out on the journey •, nor was he deterred by
the information he got that there were in the place cer¬
tain Tepanecans who had come on purpofe to publifti a
proclamation from Tezozomoc. He went boldly to the
moft public place of the town, and in prefence of thofe
who publiftied the proclamation made known his re¬
queft. This heroifm, however, did not meet with
the fuccefs it deferved. His propofitions were derided
from the moment they were made 5 but the people did
not offer any farther infult, until one of the meaner
fort threw a ftone at him, exciting others of the fame
ftamp to put him to death. The Tepanecans, who
had hitherto continued filent, perceiving their oppor¬
tunity, joined in the general cry to kill the prince,
and began alfo to throw ftones. The prince attempted
fir ft to° defend himfelf, and afterwards to efcape by
flight j but, both being equally impoflible, he fell un¬
der a (bower of ftones. The Tepanecans exulted in
this ail of treachery, and foon after cut off* Ixtlixo-
chitl himfelf, after having treacherouily perfuaded him
to a conference with two of their captains. This per¬
fidious act was committed in fight of the royal army,
who were too weak to revenge it 5 the royal corpfe
was faved with difficulty ; and Nexahualcojotl, heir ap¬
parent to the crown, was obliged to (belter himielf
among the buffies from the fury of his enemies. 2g
Tezozomoc having now in a great meafure gained ^coi},ua.
his point, proceeded to pour down his troops upon can con-
thofe cities and diftricts which had remained faithful quered by
to the late unfortunate monarch. The people made
a moft defperate defence, and killed vaft numbers of
their enemies; but at laft being themfelves reduced by
the calamities of war, and in danger ot total extermi¬
nation, they were obliged to quit their habitations and
fly to other countries. The tyrant, then, finding him¬
felf
29
His tyran¬
ny and
death.
HEX [ 75
Mexico, felt fuperior to all his adverfaries, gave Tezcuco in fief
y—Chirnalpopoca king of Mexico, Hue.xotla to 1 la-
cacotl king of Tlatelolco *, placing faithful governors
in other places, and appointing Azcapozalco, the capi¬
tal of his own territory, the royal refidence and capital
of Acolhuacan.
Prince Nezahualcojotl rvas prefent in dhguife at this
difpofal of his dominions, along with feveral other per-
fons of diftindfion who w7ere enemies of the tyrant j
and fo much w7as he tranfported with paffion, that it
was with difficulty he could be reftrained from killing
Tezozomoc on the fpot, though this would certainly
have been done at the expence of his own life. All
the reft of the Acolhuacan empire fubmitted *, and
Nezahualcojotl faw himfelf for the prefent deprived of
all hopes of obtaining the crown.
Tezozomoc had now attained the fummit of his am¬
bition : but in Head of conciliating the minds of his
new fubjedls, oppreffed them with new taxes 3 and be¬
ing conicious of the precarious lituation in which he
flood, and tormented with remorfe on account of his
crimes, fell into melancholy, and was conftantly haunted
with frightful dreams. He was now become fo old,
that his body no longer retained its natural heat.
He was therefore obliged to be covered up with cot¬
ton in a great cradle, not being able to fit ere6l
in a chair. In this miferable condition, however, he
never forgot his tyranny or cruelty. From his cradle
he iffued oppreffive Jaws relating to the Acolbuacans •,
and almoft with his laft breath renewed his com¬
mands with regard to Nezahualcojotl. At laft he ex¬
pired in the year 1422, leaving the crown to his fon
Tajatzin.
j ne mrore Tezozomoc was no fooner dead than Maxtlaton,
ufurped by without paying the leaft regard to his father’s will, be-
Maxtlaton. gan to exercife the funflions of a fovereign. Though
it was the right of Tajatzin to invite to his father’s
funeral whom he pleafed, Maxtlaton took that upon
himfelf. Nezahualcajotl, though not invited, came
among the reft ; but though Teuflzintli, brother to
Maxtlaton, infilled upon his being put to death, the
latter oppofed it, as it could not then be done private¬
ly, and he hoped to find another opportunity. No
fooner were the funeral ceremonies over, however,
than Maxtlaton behaved in fuch a manner to his bro¬
ther Tajatzin, that the prince thought proper t® re¬
tire to Chimilpopoca king of Mexico, to whom he
had been particularly recommended by his father, in
order to have his advice. This monarch, agreeable to
the charafter of that age and people, advifed him to
invite his brother to an entertainment, and then mur¬
der him. Unluckily for them both, this difcourfe was
overheard by a fervant, who in expeJation of a reward
informed the tyrant of what he had heard : but in-
flead of this, Maxtlaton, pretending to di{believe his
jftory, drove the informer from his prefence rvith igno¬
miny. Notwithftanding this pretence, the tyrant had
not the leaft doubt of the truth of what was told him •,
and therefore determined to rid himfelf of his brother
without delay. This he foon accomplilhed in the very
fame way that had been proje&ed againft himfelf.
Tajatzin, along with the kings of Mexico, Tlatelolco,
and fome other feudatory princes, were invited by
Maxtlaton to an entertainment. The king of Mexico
prudently excufcd himfelf, but the unfuipeeting Ta-
3°
The throne
i ] M E X
jatzin fell into the fnare. He came to the place of i ,
entertainment, and was inftantly put to death. The .t
company were greatly alarmed j but Maxtlaton, having Tajafzin
explained to them his reafons for fo doing, they not murdered,
only excufed him, but proclaimed him king j to which
it is not to be doubted that their fears greatly contri¬
buted.
Though the king of Mexico efcaped a fudden death
by his abfence at this time, it was only to perilh in a Miferable
more flow and ignominious manner. The vengeance fate of the
of Maxtlaton firft appeared by fending him a woman’s
drefs in return to the prefent he lent him as a feuda¬
tory j which being a reflection upon his courage, was
the higheft affront that could be offered him. This
infult, however, was quickly followed by one of a
much higher nature. Having heard that one of the
Mexican^ prince’s wives was an extraordinary beauty,
he enjoined fome Tepanecan ladies, who were accu-
ftomed to vifit that princefs, to inyite her to fpend
fame days with them at Azcapozalco. This being
complied with, the tyrant ealily got an opportunity
of raviffiing her, and then fent her back to her hui-
band. Chimilpopoca was lo much affe£ted by this
misfortune, that he refolved to offer himfelf up a fa-
crifice to his god. Maxtlaton, however, was refolved
that he ffiould not have even this fatisfa&ion. At
the very time of the ceremony, therefore, he fent a bo¬
dy of troops •, who entering Mexico without refiflance,
carried off the king alive, to the aftoniftiment of the
multitude •, and who probably were fo much confound¬
ed by this unexpected adventure, that they did not
think of making any refiftance.
Chimilpopoca being carried priioner to Azcapozal¬
co, was confined in a ftrong wooden cage, the com¬
mon pnfon for criminals. Maxtlaton ilill was not fa-
tisfied : he wiffied to get into his hands Nezahual¬
cojotl ; and with this view fent a meffage to him, pre¬
tending that he was willing to come to an agreement
with him refpefting the kingdom of Acolhuacan.
Though the prince was well affured of the tyrant’s
treacherous intentions, he went boldly to his palace,
prefented himfelf before him, and told him that he
had heard.of the imprifonment of the king of Mexico;
he had heard alfo that he wiffied to take aw7ay his
own life ; he defired him to do fo, and to gratify his ^ .33^
malice. Maxtlaton w7as fo ftruck with this fpeech, ed°T Aj1'
that he affured the prince he had not formed any de-fonbyNe-
fign againft his life, and that he neither had put tozahualco-
death the king of Mexico, nor would do fo. Hej°l1-
then gave orders for his being properly entertained,
and even allowed him to pay a vilit to the king of
Mexico in prifon. The unfortunate Chimilpopoca,
after reciting his misfortunes, requefted the prince not
to return to court, where they would certainly fall
upon fome project for taking away his life ; and ha¬
ving pathetically recommended to him the care of his
fubjedls, made him a prefent of a gold pendant and
fome other jewels he w’ore ; after which they took a *
laft farewell. 34
In the mean time, the Mexicans railed to the throne
Itzcoatl, the fon of Acamapitzin by a Have, and wffio thr0ne
w7as accounted the moft prudent, juft, and brave, of all Mexico,
the Mexican nation. His eledlion was no lefs pleafingwho a (lifts
to Nezahualcojotl and his party, than it was offenfive
to Maxtlaton. An alliance was quickly concluded
, between
M E X
.Mexico, between tbe exiled prince and tbe king of Mexico j
’v ^ and this was foon followed by the commencement of
hoitilities on the part of the former. His firft enter-
prife was againft the city of Tezcuco, which he de¬
termined to take by affault, but was prevented by the
fubmiffion of the inhabitants. He put to death, how¬
ever, all the officers eftabliffied by the tyrant ; and all
the Tepanecans he found there. The very fame day
another large city named Acolman was furioully at¬
tacked by a detachment of his army great numbers
put to the fword, and among the reft the governor,
who was brother to Maxtlaton •, and the fame day alfo
Coatlichan was taken by the Chalcefe.
The Mexican monarch, hearing of the fuccefles of his
ally, fent an embaffy to congratulate him upon them.
His ambaffiidor was a fon of king Huitzilihuitl, named
Montezuma, who for his invincible courage and great
35 qualities was furnamed the man of great heart and the
Dangerous arc]lcr 0Jheaven. The journey was extremely danger-
undertaken cus > ^ut Montezuma undertook it without any fear,
by Monte- accompanied by another nobleman. They got in fafety
;inma. to the place where the prince was $ but had the misfortune
to be taken prifoners, and were carried to Chaleo j the
lord of which city, named Toteotzin, was an inveterate
enemy to the Mexicans. By him he was immediately put
in clofe confinement, under the care of one Quateozin,
who was inviolably attached to the Mexican intereft.
Orders were given to the latter to provide no fufte-
nance for the prifoners but what was preferibed by his
lord, until the mode of death which they wrere to fuftbr
fhould be determined. Toteotzin then fent his pri¬
foners to them, that they might be facrificed there if
they thought proper. Thefe people, however, rejedled
the propofal with difdain j on wffiich Toteotzin, think¬
ing to regain the favour of Maxtlaton, informed him of
the prifoners he had in his pofleffion. But Maxtlaton
called him a double minded traitor, and commanded
him inftantly to fet the prifoners at liberty. Before
this anfwer arrived, however, Quateozin had inftru&ed
the prifoners how to make their efcape, and diredted
them alfo not to return by land left they fhould again
be intercepted, but to embark at a certain place, and
proceed «by water to Mexico. They followed his ad¬
vice exactly ; and having got to the place to which
they w-ere diredted, arrived fafely at their city, to the
great furprife and joy of the inhabitants.
Toteotzin, enraged at the lofs of his prifoners, put
Quateozin to a cruel death, deftroying alfo all his fa¬
mily excepting one fon and a daughter ; of wffiom the
latter fled to Mexico, where fire was highly honoured
on her father’s account. Maxtlaton, too, notwith-
Maxtlaton ftanding his generofity to the prifoners (which Clavi-
declares gero derives from mere oppofition to Toteotzin), pre¬
war againft parec{ to w7age a formidable war with the Mexicans,
•who had agreed to unite their troops with thofe of the
prince. The Mexican populace, terrified at engaging
fo powerful an enemy, demanded that their king fhould
fubmit and beg for peace. So great was the tumult,
that the king himfelf was obliged to confent ; and
it required the utmoft exertions of Montezuma’s elo¬
quence to perfuade the people to agree to a com¬
mencement of hoftilities. This being done at laft, the
king next called together the chief nobility, and afked
which of them would have the courage to carry an
embaffy to the king of the Tepanecans ? This adven-
M E X
ture appeared fo hazardous, that all of them kept a Mexico,
deep filence, until Montezuma declared himfelf willing
to undertake the arduous enterprife. He wTas ordered
to propofe peace to Maxtlaton, but to accept of no
diflionourable conditions ; to which he punctually ad¬
hered. Maxtlaton refufed to give any immediate an¬
fwer, but promifed to give one next day, after he had
confulted his nobility. Montezuma, dreading fome
treachery if he ftaid all night, promifed to return next
day ; which he did, and was told that Maxtlaton had
determined upon war. Montezuma then performed
the ceremony of challenging him, by prefenting him
with certain defenlive wreapons, anointing his head,
and fixing feathers upon it, as was cuftomary to do
with dead perfons. Laftly, He protefted, in the name
of his mailer, that as Maxtlaton would not accept of
the offered pdace, he and all the Tepanecans wrould in¬
fallibly be ruined. Maxtlaton fhowed not the leaft
fign of difpleafure, but gave Montezuma arms in like
manner to prefent to the king of Mexico •, and direct¬
ed him, for his perfonal fecurity, to return in difguife
through a fmall outlet from the palace. Montezuma
followed his advice 5 but as foon as he found himfelf
out of danger, began to infult the Tepanecan guards j
and though they rufhed violently upon him, he not
only efcaped from their attacks, but killed one or twTo
of them.
On his return to Mexico, the populace were again
thrown into the utmoft: conflernation by the new’S
that wrar was inevitable, as the chiefs of the two na¬
tions had challenged one another. They now requeft-
ed the king to allow them to retire from their city, of
which they fuppofed the ruin to be certain. The king
encouraged them wdth the hopes of victory. “ But if
wre are conquered (replied they), what will become
of us ?” “ If that happens (anfwTered the king), wre
are that moment bound to deliver ourfelves into your
hands, to be made facrifices at your pleafure.” “ Be it
fo (replied they), if we are conquered j but if we ob¬
tain the victory, we and our defeendants are bound to
be tributary to you 5 to cultivate your lands and thofe
of your nobles 5 to build your houfes 5 and to carry
for you, w'hen you go to war, your arms and bag¬
gage.”
Matters being thus fettled, intelligence w^as fent to
Prince Nezahualcojotl to repair with his army to Mexi- feate(j ai'(j
co, which he did without delay \ and the day after his killed,
arrival a furious engagement took place. The Tepa¬
necan army was commanded by a general named Ma-
%atl; Maxtlaton himfelf not judging it proper to quit
his capital. The foldiers on both fides fought wflth
the utmoft bravery; but towards night the Mexicans,
diftreartened by feeing the army of their enemies con¬
tinually increafing in number, began once more to
lofe their courage and talk of furrendering. The
king, g-reatly concerned, afked Montezuma what fhould
be done to diffipate the fears of the people ? That
brave prince replied, that they muit fight till death ;
that if they died with their arms in their hands, it
would be honourable; but to furvive their defeat,
w^ould be eternal ignominy. Nothing could be more
falutary than this advice at fo critical a junCture : for
the Mexicans were already begun to implore the mer¬
cy of their enemies, and to promife to facrifice their
chiefs, whofe ambition had brought the whole nation
into
[ 752 1
EX [ 753 1 M E X. , , .
On hearing this, the whole body them thither; and Montezuma perceiving that they in
The Tepa-
necans en
M
Mexico, into fuch a dilettima. — o • . .
 ^  or nobility, with the king and Montezuma at their
head, affuuited the enemy io fuvioufly, that they re-
pulicd them from a ditch of which they had taken
poffeflion ; after which, Montezuma, happening to en¬
counter Mazatl the Tepanecan general, ftruck him
fuch a blow on the head that he fell down lifeleis.
Thus the Mexicans were inipired with frefh courage,
and their enemies uroportienally diipirited : however,
they retired for that night to the city, in tome hopes
of being able to retrieve their fortune next day. Max-
tlaton encouraged them by every method in his power;
but fortune proved ftili more unfavourable than the day
before. The Tepanecans were now entirely defeated,
, and the city of Azcapozalco taken. Maxtlaton, who
feems not to have had the courage to fight, had not
now the prefence of mind to dy. He attempted in¬
deed to hide himfelf; but being quickly difcovered,
he was beaten to death with (licks and ftones. 1 e
city was plundered, the inhabitants butchered, and the
houfes deftroyed by the vigors. .
This viftory proved decifive in favour of the conte-
derates. Every other place of ftrength in the country
tirely redu- was qu;c^ly reduced, until the Tepanecans, finding
ced' themfelves on the verge of dellruftion, fent an humble
embaffy to tbe king of Mexico, requefting to be taken
under his protedflon, and to become tributaries to him.
Itzcoatl received them gracioufly } but threatened them
with total extirpation if they violated the fidelity they
had fwmrn to him.
Itzcoatl, after this extraordinary fuccefs, took care
to have the above-mentioned contraft ratified between
the nobility and common people, by which the
were bound to perpetual fervices. Thofe who had
difcouraged the foldiers in time of battle were anith-
ed for ever from the (late of Mexico ; while Monte¬
zuma and others who had diftinguiftied themfelves by
their bravery, wrere rewarded with lands, as was uiual
,, with other conquerors.
Nezahuad- Itzcoatl, now finding himfelf firmly feated on t ie
cojot', made throne of Mexico, fet about performing his engagements
king of A- to the Acolhuacan prince, by feating him on the throne
colhuacan. of ^ anceftors> Having a^in joined their armies
they marched againft Huaxotla, a city which retuied
to fubmit even though terms of pardon wxre ottered
them. Inllead of this, they rafhly ventured a battle, in
which they were entirely defeated ; and were then rain
to fend a deputation of their old men, pregnant women,
&.c. as was cudomary in cales of ditlreis, to move tne
enemy to compaffion. At laft all obifacles being ie-
moved, Nezahualcojotl was feated on the throne of
Acolhuacan, the auxiliary troops were difmiffed, and
Itzcoatl left at liberty to purfue his cohquefts, in which
he was dill aflided by the king of Acolhuacan The
fird expedition was againd Cojohuacan, and other two
Tepanecan cities, who had not only redded fubmiffion
themfelves, but excited others to diake off the yoke al-
fo. The wTar againd them proved bloody. Three battles
were fought, in which Itzcoatl gained no other advan¬
tage th*n making the enemy retreat a little •, but in the
fourth, while the two armies were hotly engaged, Mon¬
tezuma, with a body of cbofen troops, which he had
placed in ambufcade, attacked the rear-guard of the re¬
bels with fuch.vigour, that they were foon ddordered,
and obliged to fly to the city. The conquerors purfued
Vol. XIII. Part II.
Mexi:/0-
40
Conquefts
of the
Mexicans.
tended to fortify themfelves in the greater temple, huf-
trated their defign by getting poffeflion of it and burn¬
ing the turret. By this difafter they w^ere fo much ter¬
rified, that they fled to the mountains fouth of Cojohu¬
acan • but even there the royal army overtook and pur¬
fued them more than 30 miles, till they came to ano¬
ther mountain, where, quite exhauded with fatigue, and
feeing no means of efcape, they were obliged to lurren-
der at difcretion.
Having thus happily accomplidied the conqued of
Cojohuacan and the other rebellious cities, the two
kings returned to Mexico. Itzcoatl gave great pa’-t
of the Tepanecan country, with the title^ of king of
Tacuba, to Totoquihuat%in, a grandlon of Tezozomoc,
but who does not appear to have been any way con¬
cerned in his projetfs againd the Mexicans. An al- ^
fiance was then formed among the three kings^ on the Alliance
following terms : The king of Tacuba held his crown between
on condition of ferving the king of Mexico with allthejongs^
his troops, at any time when required ; for winch he ^coqlua. ’
was to have a fifth part of the fpoils taken from the can, and
enemy. The king of Acolhuacan was likewife to af-Tepaneca.
fid the kimr of Mexico in war } and for this he was to
have a third part of the plunder, after deduding the
(hare of the king off Tacuba and the remainder was
to belong to the king of Mexico. T he kings of Pa-
cuba and Acolhuacan were both declared honorary
eledfors of the kings of Mexico •, the real eleftors be¬
ing four nobles : and the king of Mexico was hk wife
bound to a did in the wars of his allies whenever it was
demanded.
After having thus fettled matters among themlelves,
and rewarded their foldiers, Itzcoatl fet out with Ns-
zahualcojotl for Tezcuco, where the Acolhuacan king
was crowned with all poffible ceremony. H re the
new king took every method which prudence could
fugged to edablilh his authority on a permanent ba¬
ds ; but while he was thus employed, the Xochi-
milcas, fearing led the Mexicans might conquer their
country as they had done that of the Tepanecans, held
a council on what was to be done to prevent iuth a
diigrace. In this council it was determined to com¬
mence hodilities againd that rifing date, before it ^
fhould become more formidable by conflu^fts#Other C«n*
I zcoatl was no fooner informed of this determina-qUeft6.
tion, than he fent Montezuma with a. great army
againd them. I he Xochimilcas met him v\ii.h one
dill more numerous \ but being worie diiciplined, they
were quickly defeated, and their city taken in a very
dmrt time after. This conqued was followed by the
reduftion of Cuitlahuac, fituated on a imall idand in
the lake of Chaleo. Their infubr fityation gave them
confidence to attack the formidable power of the
Mexicans. The king was fo fenfible of the difficulty
of this enterprife, that he propofed to attack them
with the whole force of the alliance : Montezuma,
however, with only a fmall number of meft of his own
training, whom he furnilhed with proper veffels, re
duced them in feven days. j 43
Itzcoatl died in the year 1436, at a very advanced Montezu-
age, in the height of profperdv, and was Succeeded wa l king
by Montezuma I. the greated monarch that ever fatot iVlexico*
on the Mexican throne. Before his _ coronation, in
order to comply with the barbarous rites c* his lea-
t c
gion,
Mexico.
44
Glialco ta¬
ken.
4S
Tlatelolco
reduced,
find Mo-
quihuix
made kin?.
M E X [7s
g.o.i, oe made war upon the Chalcefe, in order to pro¬
cure the priToners who were to be facrificed at his
and fcarce was this ceremony over, when
■coronation
a new war commenced, which terminated in ' the de-
f'ruction of that city. This quarrel happened be¬
tween the Chalcefe and the Tezcucans. Two of the
toy d pn'nces of 1 czcuco having gone a-hynting on
the mountains which overlook the plains of Chaleo,
while employed in the chafe, and feparated from their
retinue, wuth only tnree JMexican lords, fell in with
a troop of Chalcefe foldicrs ; who, to gratify the
cruelty of their mailer, carried them all prifoners to
Chaleo. The cruel and inconiiderate tyrant who com¬
manded there inftantiy put them all to death : after
rvhich he caufed their bodies to be kilted, dried, and
placed in an hall of his palace, where they ferved as
Supporters to the pine torches burned there for lights
every evening. {lie king of Tezcuco, overwhelmed
vita grief, and to the laft degree exafperated at fuch
an inhuman ail, called for the affiftance of the allied
kings.^ The city was attacked at once by land and wa¬
ter. The inhabitants, knowing that they had no mer¬
cy to expedf, fought like men in defpair. Even the
old tyrant who commanded them, though unable to
wa.k, earned himfelf to be carried in a litter am on- the
combatants ; notwithftanding which they were totally
ce.eated, and the moft fevere vengeance executed upon
them. ' r
Montezuma, cn his return, found himfelf obliged
to encounter an enemy more formidable on account
ot ius vicinity, than more powerful ones at a diflance.
1 his was the king of Tlatelolco, who had formerly
conrpired agamit the life of Itzcoatl; and finding him-
!eIf uilappomted in this, had tried to reduce his power
by entering into a confederacy with feme of the
neighbouring lords. At that time his defigns proved
abortive, but he refumed them in the time of Monte¬
zuma ; the confequence of which was, that he was
defeated and killed. One Moquihuix was chofen in
Ins room ; in whofe eledion it is probable that Mon¬
tezuma had a confiderable .feare. This was follow¬
ed by conquefls of a much more important nature.
Ine province of Cmhixans, lying to the feuthward,
was added to his dominions, comprehending a traft
ol country more than i5o miles in breadth : then
turning to the weft ward, he conquered another named
1 %ompahuacan. I his fecceft, however, was for a fhort
time interrupted by a war with Atonaitzin, lord of a
territory m the country of the Mixtacas. This prince
puffed up on account of the great wealth he pofleffed,
took it into his head that he would allow no Mexican
to trave! through his country. Montezuma fent am-
baffaders to know the reafon of fuch ftrange conduft •
but Atonaltzm gave them no other anfwer than thow-
mg them feme part of his wealth, making a prefent to
the king, and defiring him from thence to obferve how
much the mbjetls of Atonaitzin loved him: and that
l,e w, 11,.accepted of war, wj,ich was to determine
whether he mould pay tribute to the Mexicans or the
Mexicans to him. Montezuma having informed his al¬
lies of this mfolent anfwer, fent a confiderable army a-
gainft Atonaitzin, but had the mortification to be in¬
formed of its defeat; m confequence of which the pride
ol Atonaitzin was increafed to a great degree. Monte-
4 ] M E X
zuma, greatly chagrined at this fir ft check, determined
to head his next army in perfen ; but before he could
Mexico.
44
Atonaitzin
d.
call together another, Atonaitzin had drawn into a
confederacy with him the Huexotzincas and Tlafca-
lans, wno tvere glad of the opportunity, as they fup-
pofed, of reducing the power of the Mexicans. Their
numbers, however, availed but little ; Montezuma in
the very firft engagement totally defeated the confe¬
derate army. The allies of Atonaitzin were particu-rffeT
larly unfortunate ; for fuch of them as were not kill-and the’
ed in the field of battle, were deftroyed by their own Mexican
party out of revenge for the unfortunate event of thcV! milrons
battle. ' tub _
^ By this victory the Mexican monarch became ma¬
iler not only of the dominions of Atonaitzin, but of
many other neighbouring princes, again!! whom he
made war. on account of their having put to death
feme Mexican merchants or couriers without any juft
caufe. The conqueft of Cuetlac/it/an or CotaJIa,"how-
ever, which he attempted in 1457, proved a much more
difficult talk. This province lies on the coaft of the
Mexican gulf, and had been formerly inhabited by the
0,mccans, whom the Tlafealans had driven out. The
inhabitants were very numerous ; but dreading the
power of Montezuma, called in thofe of Tlaicala,"toge¬
ther with the HuexotZjincas, to their affiftance. Along
with thefe the allies drew the Cholulans aifo into the
confederacy ; fe that this feems to have been the moft;
formida! le combination that had yet been formed a-
gamft the Mexican power. Montezuma collecfed an
excellently equipped army ; which, however, he did
not on this occaiion command in perfon. It contained
a great number of perfens of very high rank, among
whom were three princes of royal blood, and Mogul
nmx king of I lateloko already mentioned. The com¬
bination of the three republics again!! Mexico was not
known at court when the army fet out ; but Montezu¬
ma, being informed of it foon after, fent an order to his
generals to. return. This accorded fo ill ifeth the ro¬
mantic notions of valour entertained by the Mexicans,
that a confultation cf the generals was held whether
they ffiould obey it cr not. At laft it was determined
that the king’s order ftiould be obeyed ; but no feoner
was this agreed to than Moquihuix accufed them all of
cowardice, and threatened, with his own troops, unaf-
fifted, to go and conquer the enemy. His fpecch had
inch an effed upon them all, that they went to meet
the confederates. T.he Cdtaftefe fought with great va-
lour, but were unable to refill the royal forces 5 and
their allies were almoft totally deftroyed. Six thoufand
two hundred ol them were taken prifoners, and foon af¬
ter facrificed to the Mexican god of war in the barba¬
rous manner already deferibed. The victory was find
to have been owing principally to the valour and p-ood
conduft of Moquihuix, infomuch that to this day a fong
made in his praife on that occafion is known in Mexico!
Montezuma was fo well pleafed with the victory, that
he not only forgave the difobedience of his orders, but
beftowed upon Moquihuix a princefs, one of his’own
coufins, to wife.
. during the reign of this great monarch a violent Inundation
inundation happened in Mexico. The lake, fwelledaric^"niine
by the exceffive rains which fell in the year 1446, pcur-at Mexico-
ed its waters into the city with fo much violence that
many
M E X r 755 1 M E X
Mexico.
4S
Axayacatl
fucceeds
Montezu¬
ma.
many lioyfes were deftroyed, and the flreets inundated
to iuch a degree that boats were everywhere made
uie of. I he inundation ivas foon followed by a famine,
d his was occahoned by the Hinting of the crop of
maize in 1448 5 the ears while young and tender being
dedroyed by irold. In 1450 the crop was totally loft
for want of water ; and in 1451, befides the unfavour-
aole feafons, there was a fcarcity of feed. Hence, in
1452> t‘ie necefiities of the people became fo great, that
they were obliged to fell themfelves for Haves in order
to procure fubfiftence. Montezuma permitted them to
go to other countries for fupport ; but being informed
that many iold themfelves for a few days provihon, he
ordered, by proclamation, that no woman Ihould fell
herfelf for lefs than 400 ears of wheat, nor any man for
lefs than 500. lie opened alfo the public granaries for
the relief of the lower claffes j but nothing was able to
flop the progrefs of the famine.
Montezuma v/as fucceeded by Axayacatl, who like
his predeceffbr inftantly commenced a war, for no o-
ther reafon than that he might have prifoners to facri-
fice at his coronation. He purfued Montezuma’s plan
of conqueft ; in which, however, he was Ids fuccefsful,
many of the provinces reduced by that monarch having
revolted alter his death, fo that it was neceffary to re¬
conquer them. On his returning fuccefsful from one
of theie expeditions, he built a new temple, to which
he gave the name of Coatlon; but the Tlatelolcos,
whole ancient rivalthip feems to have revived on the
death of Montezuma, built another in oppolition,
which they called Coaxo/otl. Thus the former ha¬
tred between the tv/o aiations was renewed, and a dif-
cord took place which ended in the ruin of the Tlate¬
lolcos.
1 he Mexicans fuftained an irreparable lofs in 1469
and 1470 by the death of their allies the kings of Tacu-
ba and Acolhnacan.
i he king of 1 acuba was fucceeded by his fon Chim-
alpopoca, and the Acolhuacan monarch by his fon Neza-
hualpilli. A ftiort time after the acceffion of the latter,
the wai^broke out between the Tlatelolcos and Mexi¬
cans, which ended in the dellrucfion of the former.
King Moquihuix had been married by Montezuma to
a fiftpr of Axayacatl, now on the throne of Mexico ;
but it appears that this princefs never was greatly the
object of his affeftion. On the contrary, he took all
methods of expreffing his diflike, either out of enmity
to herfelf, or envy of the fuperior greatnefs of her bro¬
ther. Not content with this, he entered into an alli¬
ance w ith a great number of the neighbouring ftates, in
order to reduce the Mexican greatnefs. His wife,
however, being informed of this fcheme, communicated
the particulars to her brother ; and foon after, being
impatient of the ill ufage Ihe received, came to Mexico
with her four fons to claim the protection of her brother.
This uncommon accident exafperated the Mexicans and
Tlatelolcos againft each other to fuch a degree, that
wherever they met, they fought, abufed, and murder-
Tlate'ol o e(^ eac^ 0^ier' I he king of Tlatelolco prepared for
reduced, war many horrid ceremonies, of wdiich the drink-
and the big of human blood was one. A day was appointed
kingkdled. for attacking Mexico. Xiloman, lord of Colhuacan,
wras to begin the attack, a terwards to pretend flight,
in order to induce the Mexicans to follow' him ; after
which the Tlatelolcos were to fall upon their rear.
49
Death of
the kings
of Acolhu¬
acan and
Tacuba.
For fome reafon, however, with which we are not ac- Mexico,
quainted, the Tlatelolcos began the auack without v'~““
waiting for Xiloman ; the confequence of which was,
that he retired in difguft, leaving them to fi .ifli their
battle the beft way they could. The engagement lait-
ed till night, when the Tlatelolcos were obliged to
retire. Axayacatl, during the night, difpofed of his
troops in all the roads which led to Tlatelolco, ap¬
pointing them to meet in the market-place. The Tla-
telolcos, finding themfelves attacked on all (ides, retir¬
ed gradually before the Mexicans, until at laft they
w'ere forced into the market-place, where they found
themfelves worfe than ever on account of its narrownefs,
which did not allow them room to a6f. The king flood
on the top of the great temple, encouraging his men to
exert themfelves againft the enemy. His wrords, how¬
ever, had now loft their ufual influence. He not only
was not obeyed, but was reproached with cowardice
becaufe lie did not come down and fight among the reft.
At laft the Mexicans arrived at the temple, and af-
cended to the balcony where the king was. He ma le
a defperate defence for a little •, but by a violent pufh
in the breaft was thrown backwards upon the fteps
of the temple, and ftunned or perhaps killed by the
fall.
The Tlatelolcos being thus reduced, Axayacatl next
fet out on an expedition againft the Matlazincas, a
tribe in the vale of Toluca, who ftill refufed to fub-
mit to the Mexican yoke. Having proved fuccefsful
in this expedition, he undertook to fubdue alfo the
northern part of the valley, now called Valle d1 Ix-
tlahuacan, particularly Xiquipilco, a confiderable city
and ftate of the Otomies, wThofe chief was much re¬
nowned for llrength and braveiy. Axayacatl, who
likewife valued himfelf on thefe qualities, encounter-
ed him in fingle combat. In this, however, he was Axayacatl
overmatched, and received a violent wound in the wounded
thigh 5 after wdiich he would have been taken prifon- anga[ncjan
er, had not fome young Mexicans made a defperate gg^
effort for his refcue. Notwithftanding this difafter,
Axayacatl’s army gained a complete victory, carrying
oft 1 1060 pr’.foners, among whom was the chief of
the Otomies himfelf, and two of his officers who had
attacked the king. Thefe chiefs were put to death at
an entertainment of the allied kings, the fight of their
agonies not interrupting in the lead: the mirth of the *
fealt ; fo much were they familiarized to the fliedding
of human blood. . ^
He was fucceeded by his elder brother Tizoc. Is fucceed-
He intended to have built a larger temple than anyedbyTi-
that had yet been feen in Mexico, though that origi-zoc‘
naily built had been greatly enlarged by fome- of his
predeceffors. For this purpose he collefled a great
quantity of materials ; but before he could bring his
proj'effts to bear, he was taken off by a confpiracy of
his fubje&s. During the reign of Tizoc, the Acol-
huacans made war upon the Huexotzincas, ruined
their city, and conquered their territory. Nezahual-
pilii alio, the Acolhuacan monarch, though he had
already feveral wives, had not made any of them
queen, having wifhed to confer that honour upon one
of the royal family of Mexico. Tizoc readily gave
him one of his grand daughters, who had a fifter of
Angular beauty named Xecotein. The friendfhip be¬
twixt thefe two ladies was fuch, that t!>e one could
5 C 2 not
■ - . . -
M • E X [ 75<5 ] M E X
not think of being feparated from the other; for nobles came to pay court to him. I hey faffed the
v which realon the new queen iought and obtained per-
miffion to take her fitter along with her to lezcuco.
Xocotzin had not been long there before the king fell
in love with her, and married her with the title of
queen likewife. Soon after this fecond marriage, the
firtt queen brought forth a fon named Cacamatxm, who
fucceeded him in the throne, and was afterwards taken
53 piifoner by the Spaniards.
Ahintzatl Ahuitz >tl, the brother of Tizoc, fucceeded him in
dedicates l^ingdorfl of Mexico. His firft objeft was to finith
wmi^ muiAhe great temple begun bv his predeceffor; and fuch
trt ide of was the number of workmen, that it was completed in
h- i^n vie- four years. During the time that it was building, the
tims. king employed himfelf in making war with different
nations, referving all the prifoners he took for victims
at the dedication of the temple. Ihe number of pri¬
foners facrificed at this'dedication is faid by 1 ornue-
mada to have been '72.3245 by other hittorians 64>o6o.
The miferable victims were ranged in two files, each
a mile and an half in length, terminating at the temple.
The fame year another temple was built by a feuda¬
tory loid, in imitation of the great one built by the
king } at the dedication of which a vaft number of
priloners wrere a1fo lacrificed. Hhefe temples weie de¬
dicated in i486 In 1487 happened a violent earth¬
quake j and Chimalpopoca king of Acolhuacan died,
who was fucceeded by Totoquihuatzin II.
Ahuitzotl died in 1502, of a diforder produced by
a contufion in his head. At the time of his death, the
Mexican empire was brought to its utmoft extent. His
fucceffor, Montezuma Xocojovzin or Montezuma Ju¬
nior, was a perlon of great bravery, befides w'hich he
was likewife a prieft, and held in great eflimation on
account of his gravity and the dignity of his deport¬
ment. His elefhon w7as unanimous j and the nobles
congratulated themfelves on the happirtefs the coun¬
try was to enjoy under him, little thinking how fhort
the duration of their happinefs or of their empire was
to be. ,
54 The firft care of the new monarch, as ufual, v-as
Montezu- ^ procure vi&ims for the barbarous facrifices to be
made at his coronation. The people of Atlixco, who
had again Ihaken off the Mexican yoke, were the
fufferers on this occafion, being once more reduced,
though not without great lofs on the part of the Mexi¬
cans^ fome of whole braveft officers periffied in the
war/ The ceremony of coronation was performed
with fuch pomp as had never been feen before in
Mexico ; but no fooner was this ceremony over than
Montezuma began to difeover a pride which nobody
had fufpe&ed before. All his predeceiTors had been
accuftomed to confer offices upon perfons of ment,
and thofe who appeared the moft able to difeharge
them, without any partiality as to birth or wealth.
Montezuma, however, difapproved of the conduct of
his predeceifors, under pretence that the plebeians
ffiould be employed according to their rank ; for that
in all their aaions the bafenefs of their birth and the
meannefs of their education appeared : and m confe-
quence of this maxim he deprived all the commoners of
the offices -they held about the court, declaring them
incapable of 'holding any for the future. AU the
royal fervants now were people o^ rank. Befides
thofe who lived in the palace, 600 feudatory lords and
wnoie any in tuc “ .
fervants were permitted to enter; converfing in a low
voice, and waiting the orders of their fovereign.—
The fervants of thefe lords were fo numerous that they
occupied three frnall courts ot the palace, and many
waited in the ftreets. 55
In every refpeft Montezuma kept up, as far as was Magnifi-
poffible, an extravagant appearance of dignity. His cence^dif-
kitchen utenfils were of the finett earthen ware, and
his tablecloths and napkins of the finett cotton ; but 51
none of thefe ever ferved the emperor more than once,
being immediately made a prefent ot to fome noble¬
man. The veffels in which his chocolate and other
drinks from cocoa were prepared, were all of gold, or
fome beautiful fea-ftvttl, or naturally-formed veffels,
curioufly varnithed. He had alto gold plate, but it
was ufed only on particular occalions in the temple.
The number and variety of h s diihes attonilhed the
Spaniards. He took great delight in the cleanlinefsof
his own perfon, and of every thing about him. He
bathed regularly every day, and had baths in all his
palaces. Every day he wore four dreffts, never ufing
again thofe which he had put off, but referving them
as largeffes for the nobility, o thofe who had diftin-
guithed themfelves in war. The expence of all this
rendered him very difagreeable to a great number of
his fubje£ts; though others were pleafed with the
readinefs he ffiowed to relieve the neceffities of indivi¬
duals, and his generofity in rewarding his generals and
miniffers wffio deferved it. Among other adlions
worthy of imitation, he appointed the city of Colhuacan
as an hofpital for all invalids, who after having faithful¬
ly ferved the crown either in the civil or military line,
required a provifion on account ot tneir age and in¬
firmities. In this place they were maintained and at¬
tended at the expence of the king.
The reign of Montezuma, even before the arrival
of the Spaniards, was far from being fo glorious with
regard to his fucceffes in war as thole of his predecef- ^
fors had been. He reduced indeed one rebellious pro-His unfuc~
vince, and conquered another which had never before cefsful war-
been fubjugated ; but in his^ war with TIafcala he was^" llai*
by no means fuccefstul. T his was but a fmall repu¬
blic at no great diffance from the capital, but the in¬
habitants were remarkable for their bravery and inde¬
pendent fpirit. 1 he neighbouring ftates, however,
who had been reduced by the Mexicans, envious of
their liberty and profperity, exafperated the Mexicans
againft them, hy reprpfenting that the Tlafcalans were
defirous of making themfelves mafters of the maritime
provinces on the Mexican gulf, and that by their com¬
merce with thefe provinces they were increafing their
wealth and power, and gaining the hearts of the peo¬
ple with whom they wTere to traffic- In confequence
of this reprefentation, ffrong garrilons were placed on
the frontiers of Tlafcala, to obftruft the commerce of
the inhabitants, and thus to deprive them of the means
of obtaining fome of the neceffaries of Ike. The lla-
fcalans complained; hut received no other anfwer than
that the’ king of Mexico was lord of all the world, and
that the Tlafcalans muff fubmit and pay tribute to him.
The Tlafcalans returned a fpirited anfwer to this in-
folent fpeecb, and began to fortify their frontier.
They had already encloled all the lands of the repu¬
blic
M E X [7:
Mexico, blic with intrenchments •, and to tbefe they now add-
\ ed a wall of fix miles in length on the weft fide, where
an invafion was moft to be apprehended ; and fo well
did they defend themlelves, that though they were
frequently attacked by the neighbouring ftates in al¬
liance with Mexico, or fubjed to it, not one of them
was able to wreft a foot of ground from them. 1 hus
a continual feries of wars and engagements took place
between the ftates of Mexico and this republic, which
continued till the arrival of the Spaniards.
During the remainder of Montezuma’s reign the
fionsenter- empire was difturbed by various rebellions, of which
rained by the accounts are not iufficiently interefting to merit
the Mexi- a particular detail j but in the year 1508, Monte-
cans °f the zuma began to entertain apprehenfions of that fatal
a'new event which at length overtook him. An expedition
people. having been undertaken againft a very diftant region
named Amatla, the army in marching over a lofty
mountain were attacked by a furious north wind, ac¬
companied with fnow ; which made great havock in tne
army, many of them perifhing with cold, and others
being killed by the trees rooted up by the wind. The
remains of the army continued their march to Amat¬
la, where they were almoft all killed in battle. By this
and other calamities, together with the appearance of
a comet, the Mexicans were thrown into the utmoft
confternation. 'Montezuma was fo terrified by thefe
omens, that having in vain confulted his aftrologers,
he applied to the king of Acolhuacan, who was re¬
ported to be very fkilful in divination. Nezahualpilh
having conferred with him upon the fubjeft, told
Montezuma that the comet prefaged fome calamity
which was about to befal their kingdoms by the arrival
of a new people : but this being unfatisfacftory to t e
emperor, the king of Acolhuacan challenged him to
a uame at foot-ball, flaking the truth of his prediaion
on the iffue of the game. Montezuma loft the game,
but did not yet acquiefce in the truth of nis prednftion.
He therefore applied to a celebrated aftrologer, whom
it feems he had not yet confulted •, but he confirmed
the interpretation of N -zahualpilli : for which the e5n'
peror caufed his houfe to be pulled down, and himfelr
® buried in the ruins.
topnueft of Mexico itfelf was firft difcovered, though imper-
Mexico un-feaiy, by a S award named Nunez de Balboa ; but m
dertaken by j - j g tge conqUv ft of it was undertaken by a celebrat-
^Cortesi. e(1 3(iV(,n1.urer named Ferdmando Cortes. On the 10th
of Februa-y 1519, he fet fail from the Havannah in
Cuba ; and foon landed on the illand of Cozumel, on
the coaft of Yucatan, difcovered the preceding year.
H »re he joined one of his officers named Pedro d'Al-
varedo, who had arrived fome davs before, and colle&ed
Lrne booty and taken a few prifoners. But the gene¬
ral feverely cenfured his conduft ; and the prifoners
were difmiffed, after they had been informed by an
Indian interpreter named Melchior, that iuch injuries
were entirely difagreeable to the intentions and wiffies
of Cortes. Here he muftered his army, and found
that it amounted to 508 foldiers, 16 horfemen, and
109 mechanics, pilots, and mariners. Having encou¬
raged his men by a proper fpeech, and releaied, by
means of fome Indian ambaffadors, a Spaniard named
'Jerom de Aguilar, who had been detained a prifoner
for eight years, he proceeded to the river 1 abafco,
where lie hoped to be received in a friendly manner,
7 ] M E X
as one Grijalva had been a ffiort time before ; but, Hextcn, ^
from fome unknown caute, he was violently attacked
by them: however, the fuperiority of the Spanifh
arms foon decided the victory, and the inhabitants
were obliged to own the king of Catiile as their lo-
vereign.
The Spaniards then continued their courfe weft-
ward, to the harbour of St Juan de Ullua ^ wheie they
were met by two Mexican canoes, which carried two
ambaffadors from the emperor of that country, and
ftiowed the greateft figns of peace and amity. Iheir
language was unknown to Aguilarbut one ot the
female prifoners above mentioned underftood it, and
tranflated it into the Yucatan tongue*, after which
Aguilar interpreted the meaning in Spanifti. Fnis
Have was aftervvards named Donna Marina, and proved
very ufeful in their conferences with the natives. 59
At this time the Mexican empire, according to Dr Si at of the
Robertfon, was arrived at a pitch of grandeur 10 time-,
which no fociety had ever attained in fo fhort a pe¬
riod. Though it had fubfifted only for 130 years,
its dominion extended from the north to the fouth
fea, over territories ftretching about 500 leagues from
call to weft, and more than 200 from north to fouth j
comprehending provinces not inferior in fertility, po¬
pulation, and opulence, to any in the torrid zone.
Though by nature Montezuma pcffelTed a good deal
of courage and refolution ; yet from the firft moment
that the Spaniards appeared on his coaft, he ddicover-
ed fymptoms of timidity and emharraffment, and all
his fubjefts w7ere embarraffed as wTell as himielf. I he
general difmay which took place on this occalion was
partly owing to the ftrange figure the Spaniards made,
and the prodigious pow*er ol their arms j but partly
alfo to the following circumftance. An opinion pre¬
vailed almoft univerfally among the Americans, that
fome dreadful calamity impended over their heads,
from a race of formidable invaders wffio (hould come
from regions towards the riling fun, to overrun and
defolate their country.
By means of his two interpreters, Donna Marina
and Aguilar. Cortes learned that the chiefs of the
Mexican embaily were deputies from Pilpatoe and.
Teutile *, the one governor of a province under the
emperor, and the other the commander of all his
forces in that province : the purport of their emhaffy
was to inquire what his intentions were in vifiting
their coafts, and to offer him what afliftance he might
need in order to continue his voyage. Cortes, in his
turn, alfo profeffed the greateft friendftvp ; and in¬
formed the ambaffadors, that he came to propole mat¬
ters of the utmoft confequence to the welfare of the
prince and his kingdom *, which he would more fully
unfold in perfon to the governor and the general.
Next morning, without waiting for any anfwer, he Cortes land*
landed his troops his horfes, and hh artillery *, began
to ereft huts for his men, and to fortify his camp. is tamp.
The next day the ambaffadors had a fo:mal audi¬
ence*, at which Coites acquainted them, that he came
from Don Carlos of Auftria, king of Caftile, the
greateft monarch oc the eaft, and was intrufted with
propofitions of fuch moment, that he would impart
them to none but the emper. r h: rule If, and heieffire
required to be conduced imrnediatclv *0 the capi¬
tal. This demand produced the greateft unealineis j
P.lex!co.
61
Tlie Indi¬
ans endea¬
vour todif-
fu ide him
from going
to the capi
tal, but in
vain.
62
Montezu-
m r made
acquainted
with his
defi;jn.
63
Sends an
xinfavour-
able an-
fwer, but
accompa¬
nied with
rich pre-
fents.
<4
Cortes ftill
infifts on
his de¬
mands.
M E X , [ 7
and the ambafladors did all in their power to dif-
iuade Cortes from his deiign, endeavouring to con¬
ciliate his good will by the prefents fent him by
Alontezuma. T heie they introduced with, great pa¬
rade, and confided of fine cotton cloth, ol plumes of
various colours, and of ornaments of gold and fliver
to a confiderable value, the workmanfhip of which ap¬
peared to be as curious as the materials were rich.
But thefe prefents ferved only to excite the avidity of
the ^ Spaniards, and to increafe their defire for be¬
coming mailers of a country which abounded with fo
many precious commodities. Co tes indeed could
fcarcely reftrain himfelf ib far as to hear the argu¬
ments made u!e or by the ambaffadors to diffuade
him from going to the capital •, and, in a haughty,
cetermined tone, infilled on his former demand of
being admitted to a perlonal interview with their fo-
vereign.
During this converfation, fome painters in the re¬
tinue of the Mexican chiefs had been diligently em¬
ployed in delineating, upon white cotton cloths, fi¬
gures of the fiiips, horfes, artillery, I'oidiers, and what¬
ever efie attracled their eyes as Angular.
^ While exerting their utmoft efforts in reprefenting
ad thefe Wonder ml things, meflengers were immediate¬
ly del’patched to Montezuma with the pictures, and a
full account of every thing that had paffed fince the
arrival of the Spaniards, together with fome European
curiofities to Montezuma ; which Cortes believed
would be acceptable on account of their novelty. The
Mexican monarchs had couriers polled at p oper fta-
tmns along the principal roads 5 and as thefe were
trained to agility by a regular education, they convey¬
ed intelligence with furprifing rapidity. Though the
city in which Montezuma refided was abov'e 180 miles
from St Juan de Uilua, Certe^s prefents were carried
thither, and an anlwer returned to his demands, in a
few days. As the anfwer was unfavourable, Montezu¬
ma had endeavoured to mollify the Spanilh general by
the richnefs of his prefents. J hefe confided of the
manufactures of the country } cotton Huffs fo fine, and
oKuch delicate texture, as to referable fi!k j pictures of
anipials, trees, and other natural objebls, formed with
featheis or diuerent colours, difpoled and mingled
with fucb Ikill and elegance as to rival the works of
the pencil in truth and beauty of imitation. But
what chiefly attracted their attention, v\ere two large
plates of a circular form ; one of maffive gold repre¬
senting the fun, the other of filver reprefenting the
moon. ] hefe were accompanied with bracelets, col¬
lars, rings, and other trinkets of gold ; and that no¬
thing might be wanting which could give the Spaniards
a complete idea of what the country afforded, fome
boxes filled with pearls, precious Hones, and grains of
gold unwrought, as they had been found in the mines
or rivers, were fent along with the refl. Cortes re¬
ceived all with an appearance of the mofl profound
refpedl for Montezuma ; but when the Mexicans,
prefuming upon this, informed him, that their tnader,
though he deiired him to accept of what he had fent
as a token of his regard for the prince whom he re-
prefented, would not give his confent that foreign
troops Ihould approach nearer to his capital, or even
allow' them to continue longer in his dominions, Cortes
declared, in a manner more refolute and peremptory
58 ] M E X
than formerly, that he mud infiH on his firH demand 5 Mexico,
as he could not, without dilhonobr, return to his own v—“-J
fov«-reign until he was admitted into the prefence of
the prince whom he was appointed to vifit in his name.
1 he pufillanimity of the Indian monarch afforded
time to the Spaniards to take meafures which would
nave Deen out of their power had they been vigoronHy
attacked on their firH refulal to obey his orders.
Cortes ufed every method of fecuring the affeblions of
the loldiers.j which indeed was very neceffary, as
many of them began to exclaim againfl the ralhnefs
of his attempt in leading them againH the whole force
of the Mexican empire. In a ihort time Teutile ar-Montezu-
rived with another prefent from Montezuma, andm • '■ enp-
together with it delivered the ultimate orders of thattoriI3'co n*
monarch to depart indantly out of his dominions; and^’j'-we ig1-
when Cortes, inflead of complying with his demands,dominions^
re nerved his requefl cf audience,1 the Mexican imme¬
diately left the camp with Hrong marks of i'urprife and
refentment. Next morning, none of the natives ap¬
peared ; all friendly correfpondence feemed to be at an
end, and hoflilities were expebled to commence every
moment. A ludden ccnHernation enfued among the
Spaniards, and a party was formed againH him by the
adherents of Velafques; who took advantage of the oc-
cafion, and deputed one of their number, a principal of¬
ficer, to remonflrate, as if in name of the whole army,
againfl his rafhnefs, and to urge the neceflity of his
returning to Cuba. Cortes received the roeilage with¬
out any appearance of emotion ; and as he welf knew
the temper and wiflies of his foldiery, with much com¬
placency he pretended to comply with the requefl now
made him, and iffued orders that the army fliould be
in readinefs next day to embark for Cuba. Upon
hearing this, the troops, as Cortes had expected, were
quite outrageous : they pofitively refufed to comply
with thefe orders, and threatened immediately to choofe
another general if Cortes continued to infill on their
departure.
Our adventurer was highly pleafed with the difpo-
fition which now appeared among his troops : fiever-
thelefs, diffembiing his fentiments, he declared, that
his orders for embarking had proceeded from a per-
fuafion that it was agreeable to his feliow-foldiers, to
whole opinion he bad facrificed his own; but now he
acknowledged his error, and was ready to refume his
original plan of operation. This fpeech was highly
applauded ; and Cortes, without allowing his men
time to cool, fet about carrying his defigns into exe- gg
cation. In order to give a beginning to a colony, he Villa Rica
ah enabled the principal perfons in his army, and by founded,
their fuffrages elecled a council and magistrates, in
whom the government was to be vefled. The perfons
chofen were moil firmly attach’ed to Cortes ; and the
new fettlement had the name of V/Z/a Rica de la Vera
Cru-z ; that is, the rich town of the true crofs. ^
Before this, court of his own making, Cortes did The go-
not hditate at refigning all his authority, and wasvernrnent 1
immediately re-eleiied chief.juflice of the colony,0* tm'J ne™
and captain-general of his army, with an ample com-^ ^"cortes".
million, in the king’s name,* to continue in force till
the royal plealure fliould be farther known. The
fiddlers eagerly ratified their choice by loud acclama¬
tions ; and Cortes, now conlidering himfelf as no
longer accountable to any fubjeft, began to affume a
much
Mexico
M E X
as
Character
of Monte
zuma give
by 'rfie ca¬
cique.
mucl: greater degree of dignity, and to exercife more
exteniive rowers than he had done before.
C rteS> having thus ftrengthened himfclf as well as
ie coi,Id re.olved to advance into the country : and
to tins he was encouraged by the behaviour of the
cac.que or petty prince of Zempoalla, a confiderable
own at no great dillance. Here he was received in
the molt friendly manner imaginable, and had a re-
ped paid towards him almoft equivalent to adora-
ti n. i he cacique informed him of many particu-
n a 1 j \chtmS the charader of Montezuma.—He
told_ him that lie was a tyrant, haughty, cruel, and
lulpicious j who treated his own fubjeds with arro¬
gance, ruined the conquered provinces by his extor¬
tions, and often tore their fens and daughters from
tnem by violence j the former to be offered as vidims
to his gods, the latter to be referved as concubines
I - hlrafelf and favourites. Cortes, in reply, artfully
[ 759 1
M E X
Mexico.
infinuated^ tha, one great'objeft of t^L^ S
vili. ng a country fo remote from their own was to
reorefs grievances, and to relieve the oppreffed r and
having encouraged him to hope for this interpofi-
tion in due time, continued'his march to Quiabiflan, the
territory m another cacique, and where, by the friendly
aid of the Indians, a Spanilh colony was foon formed.
^ -Luring tae refidence of Cortes in tbefe parts, he fo
mr wrought on the minds of the caciques of Z~m-
poaua and Ouiabillan, that they ventured to infult
ne Mexican power, at the very name of which they
had been formerly accuftomed to tremble. Same of
Montezuma’s officers having appeared to levy the
n.ual tribute, and to demand a certain number of hu¬
man vie.ims, as an expiation of their guilt in nre-
fuming to hold mtercourfe with thofe ftrangers whom
ne emperor had commanded to leave his dominions :
inftead of obeying his orders, they made them nri-
foners treated them with great indignity, and, as
tt.eii fuperdition was no lefs barbarous than Montezu-
ma s they threatened to facrifice them to their gods
i hough Cortes had now taken fuch meafures as in
a marner enfured his fuccefs ; yet as he had thrown
olr all dependence on the governor of Cuba, who was
his lawful fupenor, and apprehended his intereft at
court he thought proper, before he fet out on his in¬
tended expedition, to take the moll effeaual meafures
again ft the impending danger. With this view he
perfuaded the rnagifirates of his colony to addref- a
;;^oto lfe klng’ r°?aining a pomp°us acc°unt of
cl ' , f"V[CeS’ o£. the country they had difeovered,
ttrow rV,l I!01''''5 ,ich 1,ad induced them ‘o
throw off their allegiance to the governor of Cuba "
in tww f °ny dePendent the crown alone,’
n whmh the fupreme power, civil as well as military
/■ ' .eei1 'eted 111 ^°ites ; humbly requefting their
luIS;. -0 had ^ by his royal
Some foldiers and bailors, fecretly difaffeaed to
tines ’ '7™ a defg.n °f feizin? one of the brigan¬
tines and making their efcape to Cuba, i;» order to
give fuch intelligence to the governor as might en¬
able him to intercept the veffel which was to carry
the treafure and despatches to Spain. This confpiracy
as cooduaed with profound fecrecy ; but at the mo-
lTc"et W3S read^ f°r ^^ution, the
ecret v\as discovered by one of the affiociates,. The la¬
tent fpint or difafft-aion which Cortes was now too well
convinced had not been extinguifhed amon ft his —v-
troops, gave him very great uneafinefs. The only me- ^
f .0d .uhl5h ,he 50uld think cf to prevent fuel) con-Cortes
ipiracies for the future was to defiroy hisfi et, and thus
depiive his mldiers of every refource except that of con- eCt'
quell • and with this propofal he perfuaded his men to
comply. With umverfal confent therefore the ihips
vseie drawn afliore, and, after being firipped of their
nf S’r ngiglng’ O'051 work, and whatever elfe might be
or ufe, they were broke in pieces.
Cortes having thus rendered it neceffary for his
troops to follow wherever he chofe to lead, began 1 is
march to Zempoalla with 500 infantry, 15 hoffie, and
no, Id pieces. J be reft of his troops being lefs fit
_r adive fervice, he left them as a garrifon in Villa
Kica, under the command of Efcalante, an officer of
merit, and warmly attached to his intereft. The ca-
cioue of Zempoalla fupplied him with provifions 3 and
vvuh 200 of thofe Indians called 7amo:;es, whofe of-
C’ ln a coun,tr-V ,whcre tame animals were unknown,
was to carry burdens, and perform all manner of fer-
vile labour. He offered likewife a confiderable body
of troops 3 but Cortes was fatisfied with 400 3 taking
care however, to choofe perfons of fuch note, that they
might fense as hoftages for the fidelity of their mailer/
rsothing memorable happened till the • Spank, ds
arrived^ on the confines of the republic of Tlafcala.
5 Cohabitants of that province were warlike, fierce
.and avengeful, and had made confiderable proofs
m agriculture and fome other arts. rJ'hey vvere"im-
p acable ehemies to Montezuma ; and therefore Cortes
toped that U would be an eafy matter for him to pro¬
cure their friendftnp. With this view four Zem e 5°
c2‘hdS a‘J"sK™t TK r'"t ‘o •nrf.SfcSW
’ /lth ad tbe badges of that office ufu.]tV'(>>!' -
among the Indians. The fenate were divided in their of Tialcala*
opinions wnh regard to the propofals ofCon| S: ' ut
at laft Mag.fcatzin, one of the oldeft fenators, and a
peil°n of great authority, mentioned the tradition of
Uieir anceftors and the revelations of their pnefts .
nat a race cf invincible men, of divine origin, who
eaft toOVfe>HOVer U dementS> illouId ^me from the
eaft to fubdue then- country. He compared the re-
emblan.ee vvhich the ftrangers bore to the perfons
oveTthe1/ tr1rnS °f Mexico’ their dominion
over the elements cf fire, air, and water 3 he reminded
T/10i1their.pr°d,gies’ 0mens» aild fignals
f h fad lately terrified the Mexicans, and Indicated
fome very important event ; and then declared his
pinion, ^that it would be raftinefs to oppofe a force
pparentiy aflifted by heaven, and men who had al
icady proved, to the fad experience of thofe who op-
l ofeu them, that they were invincible. This orator
that The f S ^ XJC°tenCaI’ Wh° endeav°ured to prove
cians thaTra I616 at bdl but P°^rful magi-
caam. that hey had rendered themfelves obnoxious
to the gods by pulling down their images and altam
(which indeed Cortes had very imprudently done at
:iP0‘ijla)> and of confequence, that they might eafily
be overcome as the gods would not fail to refent fuch
the°cr /)ge* Pei tbe.reforf voted for war> and advifed
the ciulhing of thefe invaders at one blow.
Ihe advice of Xicotencal prevailed 5 and in confe-
quence 0. it, the ambaffadors were detained 3 which
£ivi;:£ .
M E X
[ 760 ]
M E X
Mexico, pivlnrr Cortes tile alatoi, he drew iieaier t,.e c.ty of
■—Xlafcala. 'I'bey fuffered him with his army drawn up
in pood order, to pafs a ftrong wall between two moun¬
tains, which might have been very advantageouily de¬
fended againft him. He had not advanced far beyond
this pafs, however, before a party of 1 lafcalans vvith
plumes were difeovered, which denoted that an aimy
was in the field. Thefe he drove before him by a de¬
tachment of fix horfe, obliged them to join another
party, and then reinforcing the advanced detaenment,
charged the enemy with fuch vigour that they began to
retire. Five thoufand Tlafcalans then ruthed out ot
71
The flaf-
c.alans re-
folve on
war.
ascertain the nature of thefe furprifiag beings, or whe-
ther they were really of a benevolent or malignant dil-
pofition. There were circumdances in their behaviour
which feemed to favour each opinion. On the one
hand as the Spaniards conftantly difmifled the pri-
foners whom they took, not only without injury, but
often with .prefents of European toys, and renewed
their offers of peace after every viftory j this lenity a-
mazed people accuftomed to the exterminating fyltem
of war known in America, and who facnficed and de¬
voured without mercy all the captives taken in battle •,
and difpofed them to entertain femiments favourable
icuic. x.v^-     . tr. tbpir hnmanitv. But, on the other hand, as Cortes
£ t l rd«d j co^ ^ ^
ro-
tacked with the utmpll fury: but were fo much dif-
concerted bv the firft difeharge of the fire arms, that
they retreated in confufion, furnifhing the Spaniards
with an opportunity of purfuing them with great
{laughter. Cortes, however, fuppofing th.at this cou d
not be their whole force, advanced with the utmoft
caution, in order of battle, to an eminence, from whence
he had a view of the main body of the Tlafcalan army
commanded by Xicotencal, confiding of no fewer than
40,000 men. By thefe the fmall army of Cortes was
entirely furrounded : which Xicotencal no fooner per¬
ceived, than he contrafted the circle with incredible
diligence, while the Spaniards were almoft overwhelm¬
ed with (bowers of arrows, dirts, and (tones.. It is im-
poffible but in this cafe many of the Spaniards muft
have periflied, had it not been for the infufficiency of
the Indian weapons. This circumftance gave the
Spaniards a prodigious advantage over them; and
therefore the Tlafcalans, notwithftanding their valour
and fuperiority in number, could accompbib no more
in the prefent inflance, than to kill one horfe and (light¬
ly wound nine foldiers.
The Tlafcalans being taught by this, and fome (ub-
fequent encounters, bowr much they were inferior to
the Spaniards, began to conceive them to be really
what Magifcatzin had faid ; a fuperior order of beings,
againft whom human power could not prevail. In this
extremity they had recoude to their priefts, requiring
them to reveal the caufes of fuch extraordinary events,
and to declare what means they (hould take to repel
fuch formidable invaders. The priefts, after many fa-
crifices and incantations, delivered their refponfe, That
thefe ftrangers were the offspring of the fun, procreat¬
ed by his animating energy in the regions of the eaft:
that, by day, while cherifhed with the influence of his
parental beams, they were invincible ; but by night,
wftien his reviving heat was withdrawn, their vigour
declined and faded like herbs in the field, and they
dwindled down into mortal men. In confequence of
this, the Tlafcalans afted in contradiftion to one of
their mod eftablilhed maxims in war, and ventured to
attack the enemy in the night time, hoping to deftroy
them when enfeebled and furprifed. But the Spanifti
centinels having obferved fome extraordinary move-
72 ments among the Tlafcalans, gave the alarm. . Imme-
Eut are: de- troops were under arms, and fallying out,
feated ?nd dej-eated t'he;r antagonifts with great (laughter, with¬
out allowing them to approach the camp. By this dif-
after the Tlafcalans were heartily difpofed to peace;
but they w^ere at a lofs to form an adequate idea of
the enemies they had to deal with. They could not
vifions to their camp, and cut off their heads ; this
bloody fpertacle, added to the terror occafioned by
the fire-arms and horfes, filled them with dreadful ideas
of their ferocity. Accordingly they addrefftd them
the following manner : “ If (faid they) you are
73.
fue for
peace.
in tJi«- xv/iw   - v w ' ’ r
divinities of a cruel and favage nature, we preient to
you five (laves, that you may drink their blood and eat
their flefti. If you are mild deities, accept an offer¬
ing of incenfe and variegated plumes. If you are ^
men, here is meat, bread, and fruit, to nounlh you. ’ Which i»
After thisaddrefs, the peace was foon concluded, to granted,
the great fatisfaftion of both parties. I he I lafcalans
yielded themfelves as vaffals to the crown of Caftile,
and engaged to affift Cortes in all his operations; while
he took the republic under his prote&ion, and promifed
to defend their perfons and poffeflions from injury and
violence. t . . ,
Cortes left no method untried to gain the favour and
confidence of the Tlafcalans ; which, however, he had
almoft entirely loft, by his untimely zeal m deftroying
their idols as he had done thofe of Zempoalla. But he
wTas deterred from this rafti adtion by his chaplain
Father Bartholomew de O'medo; and left the Flafca-
lans in the undidurbed exercife of their fuperftition
requiring only that they (hould defift from their horrid ^
pra&ice of offering human victims. As foon as his Cortes cob
troops were fit for fervice, he refolved to continue his tinues j«
march towards Mexico, notwithftanding the remon-™^
ftrances of the Tlafcalans, who looked upon his dettruc-
tion as unavoidable if he put himfelf into the power of
fuch a taithlefs prince as Montezuma. But the emper*
or, probably intidimated with the fame of his exploits,
had refolved to admit his vifit ; and informed Cortes that
he had given orders for his friendly reception at Cholula,
the next place of any confequence on the road to Mrxico. . ?5
Cortes was received with much feeming cordiality ; Treacher?
but 6000 Tlafcalan troops who accompanied him were of Monj
obliged to remain without the town, as the Cholulans ^ ^
refufed to admit their ancient enemies within their pre- lans>
cinas. Yet two of thefe, by difguifing themfelves, got
into the city, and acquainted Cortes that they obf.ryed
the women and children belonging to the principal citi¬
zens retiring every night in a great hurry, and that fix
children had been facrificed in the great temple ; a fign
that fomd warlike enterprife was at hand. _ At the fame
time Donna Marina, the interpreter, received informa¬
tion from an Indian woman of diftinaion, whole con¬
fidence (he had gained, that the deftruaion of the Spa¬
niards was concerted ; that a body o( Mexican troops
lay concealed near the town; that fome of the ftreets
were barricaded, in others deep pits or trench?? were
dug,
Mexico.
M E X [ 76t 1
dll!; and flinlitly covered over, as traps into which the faces, as unworthy
M E X
i6
Severe pu-
niflunent of
the Choiu-
fefis.
77 .
Difaffe&son
of Monte¬
zuma’s fub-
jedls.
78
Meeting of
Cortes and
Montezu¬
ma.
hori’e might fall j that ftones and miffive weapons ..ere
collected on the tops of the temples, with which to
overwhelm the infantry ; that the fatal hour was already
at hand, and their ruin unavoidable. Cortes, alarmed
at this news, fecretly arrelled three of the chief priefts,
from whom he extorted a confeiiion that confirmed the
intelligence he had already received. As not a mo¬
ment was to be loft, he inftantly refolved to prevent his
enemies, and to inflia on them fuch dreadful vengeance
as might firike Montezuma and his fubjeas with terror-
On a fignal given, the troops rulhed out, and fell
upon the multitude, deftitute of leaders, and fo much
afionithed, that the weapons dropped from their hands,
and they ftood motionlefs, and incapable of defence.
While the Spaniards attacked them in front, the Tlaf-
calans did the fame in the rear •, the ftreets were filled
with flaughter; the temples, which afforded a retreat to
the priefts and fome leading men, were fet on fire, and
they peri (bed in the flames. At length the carnage
ceafed, after the flaughter of 6000 Cholulans, without
the lofs of a Angle Spaniard. Cortes then releafed the
magiftrates; and reproaching them bitterly for their
intended treachery, declared, that as juftice was now
appeafed, he forgave the offence 5 but required them
to recal the inhabitants who had fled, and re-ettabhth
order in the town.
From Cholula, Cortes advanced direflly towards
Mexico ; and throughout the whole of his journey was
entertained with accounts of the oppreffions and cruel¬
ty of Montezuma. This gave him the greateft hope
of accomplifhing his defign as he now perceived that
the empire was entirely divided, and no fort of unani¬
mity prevailed among them. No enemy appeared to
check his progrefs. Montezuma was quite irrefolute ;
and Cortes was almoft at the gates of the capital be¬
fore the emperor had determined whether to receive
him as a friend or oppole him as an enemy. But as
no fign of open hoftihty appeared, the Spaniards, with¬
out regarding the fludluations of Montezuma’s fenti-
ments, continued their march to Mexico, with great
circumfpeflion and the ftriaeft difcipline,. though with¬
out feeming to ftifped the prince whom they were about
to vifit. _ r
When they drew near the city, about 1000 peuons,
who appeared to be of diftfoaion, came forth to meet
them, adorned with plumes, and clad in mantles of fine
cotton. Each of thefe, in his order, paffed by Cortes,
and faluted him according to the mode deemed molt
refpeafol and. fubmiflive in tbeir country. They an¬
nounced the approach of Montezuma himfelf, and foon
after his harbingers came in fight. I here appeared
firft.200 perfons in an uniform drefs, with large plumes
of feathers, alike in fafhion, marching two and twro,
in deep filence, barefooted, with their eyes fixed on the
ground. Thefe were followed by a company of higher
rank, in their moft fhowy apparel : in the midft of
whom was Montezuma, in a chair or litter richly or¬
namented with gold and feathers of various colours.
Four of his principal favourites carried him on their
(boulders, others fupported a canopy of curious work-
m an (hip over his head. Before him marched three
officers with rods of gold in their hands, which they
lifted up cn high at certain intervals •, and at that fig¬
nal all the people bowed their heads, and hid their
Vol. XIII. Pftrt II.
to look on fo great a monarch. Mexico.
When he drew near, Cortes difmounting, advanced
towards him with officious halle, and in a refpedtful
pofture. At the fame time Montezuma alighted from
his chair, and leaning on the arms of tw>o of his near
relations, approached with a flow and (lately pace, his
attendants covering the ftreet with cotton cloths, that
he might not touch the ground. Cortes accofted him
with profound reverence, after the European fafliion.
He returned the falutation, according to the mode of
his country, by touching the earth with his hand, and
then kiffing it. This ceremony appeared fuch amazing
condefcenfion in a prbud monarch, who fcarcely deign¬
ed to confider the reft of mankind as of the fame fpecies
with himfelf, that all his fubjefts firmly believed thofe
perfons, before whom he humbled himfelf in this man¬
ner, to be fometbing mere than human. Accord¬
ingly, as they marched through the crowd, the Spa¬
niards frequently, and with much fatisfaclion, heard
themfelves denominated leules, or divinities* Nothing
material palled in this firft interview. Montezuma con-
dudted Cortes to the quarters which he had prepared
for his reception •, and immediately took leave ot him
with a politenefs not unworthy of a court more refined.
“ You are now (fays he), with your brothers, in
your own houfe j refreffi yourfelves after your fatigue,
and be happy until I return.” Ihe place allotted to
the Spaniards for their lodging was a houfe built by
the father of Montezuma. It was furrounded by a
(lone wall, with towers at proper diftances, which ferv-
ed for defence as well as for ornament ; and its apart¬
ments and courts were fo large as to. accommodate
both the Spaniards and their Indian allies. . Ihe firft
care of Cortes was to take precautions for his fecunty,
by planting the artillery fo as to command the dif¬
ferent avenues which led to it, by appointing a large
divifion of his troops to be always on guard,, and. by
pofting centinels at proper ftations, vvkh injundhons
to obferve the lame vigilant difcipline as if they were
within fight of an enemy’s camp.
In the evening Montezuma returned to vifit his
guefts with the fame pomp as in their firft interview j
and brought prefents of fuch value, not only to Cortes
and to his officers, but even to the private men, as
proved the liberality of the monarch to be fuitaole to
the opulence of his kingdom. A long conference en-
fued, in which Cortes learned what was the opinion ot
Montezuma with refpeft to the Spaniards. It was an
eftabliffied tradition, he told him, among the Mexicans,
that their anceftors came originally irom a remote re¬
gion, and conquered the provinces now fubje<ft to hE
dominion ; that after they were fettled there, the great
captain who conduced this colony returned to his own
country, promifing, that at fome future period his de-
feendents (hould ' vifit them, affume the government,
and reform their conftitutions and laws ; that, from
what he had heard and feen of Cortes and his follow¬
ers, he was convinced that they were the very perfons
whofe appearance their prophecies taught them to ex-
pe£l ; that accordingly he had received them, not as
ftrangers, but as relations of the fame blood and pa¬
rentage, and defired that they might confider t^cra*
felves as mailers in his dominions •, for both himfelf and
his fubjefts (hould be ready to complv with their will,
and even to prevent tneir wfiffies. Cortes made a re-
5 d v piy
-Mexico.
7$ .
®efcription
M E X [ 76
ply in his ufual ftyle with refpecl to the dignity and
power of his fovereign, and his intention in fending
him into that country 5 artfully endeavouring fo to
frame his difcourfe, that it might coincide as much as
poffible with the idea which Montezuma had formed
concerning the origin of the Spaniards. Next morn¬
ing, Cortes and fome of his principal attendants were
admitted to a* public audience of the emperor. The
three fubfecjuent days were employed in viewing the
city; the appearance of which, fo far fuperior in the
order of its buildings and the number of its inhabi¬
tants to any place the Spaniards had beheld in Ame¬
rica, and yet fo little refembling the ftru£lure of an
European city, filled them with furprife and admira¬
tion.
®f the city Mexjco is fituated in a large plain, environed by
•f Mexico. mountains of fuch height, that though within the torrid
zone, the temperature of its climate is mild and health¬
ful. All the moifture which defcends from the high
grounds is colle&ed in feveral lakes, the two largeft of
which, of about 90 miles in circuit, communicate with
each other. 1 he waters of the one are frelh, thofe of
the other brackilh. On the banks of the latter, and
on fome fmall iflands adjoining to them, the capital of
Montezuma s empire was built. I'he accefs to the city
was by artificial caufeways or ftreets, formed of ftones
and earth, about 30 feet in breadth. As the waters of
the lake, during the rainy feafon, overflowed the flat
--try, thefe caufeways were of confiderable length,
d bat of 1 acuba on the weft a mile and a half; that of
Tezcuco on the north-weft three miles ; that of Cuoya-
can towards the fouth fix miles. On the eaft there was
no caufeway, and the city could be approached only by
canoes.. In each of thefe caufeways were openings at
proper intervals, through which the waters flowed 5 and
over thefe beams of timber were laid, which being co¬
vered.with earth, the caufervay or flreet had everywhere
an uniform appearance. As the approaches to the city
were Angular, its conftruflion was remarkable. Not
only the temples of their gods, but the houfes belonging
to the monarch, and to perfons of diftinaion, were of
luch . dimenfi.ons, that in comparifon with any other
buildings which had been difcovered in America, they
might be termed magnificent. I'he habitations of the
common people were mean, refembling the huts of
other Indians. But they were all placed in a regular
manner, on the banks of the canals which paffed through
the city, m fome of its diftrids, or on the fides of the
Itreets which interleded it in other quarters. In feve-
tuI places were large openings or fquares, one of which,
aLotted for the great market, is faid to have been fo
spacious that 40,000 or 50,000 perfons carried on
traffic there. In this city, the pride of the New
W or Id, and the nobleft monument of the induftry and
art of man, while unacquainted with the ufe of iron
the Spaniards, who are moft moderate in their computa¬
tions, reckon that there were at lead 60,000 inhabi¬
tants.
But how much foever the novelty of thofe obieas
might amufe or aftonifti the Spaniards, they felt the
Utmoft folicitude with refpeft to their own fituation.
From a concurrence of circumftances, no lefs unexpeft-
cd than favourable to their progrefs, they had been
allowed to penetrate into the heart of a powerful king¬
dom, and were now lodged in its capital, without hay-
2 h M E X
ing once met with open oppofition from its monarch. Mexico.
The llafcalans, however, had earneftly difluaded them '    v~“—"
from placing.fuch confidence in Montezuma as to en¬
ter a city of luch a peculiar fituation as Mexico, where
that prince would have them at mercy, ftmt up as it
W'ere in a fnare, from which it was impoftible to efcape.
They a flu red them that the Mexican priefts had, in
the name of the gods, counfelled their fovereign to ad¬
mit the ftrangers into the capital, that he might cut
them oft there at one blow with perfect fecurity.
The Spaniards now7 perceived, too plainly, that the
apprehenfions of their allies were not deftitute of foun¬
dation 5 that, by breaking the bridges placed at certain
intervals on the caufew7ays, or by deftroying part of
the caufeways themfelves, their retreat would be ren¬
dered impradticable, and they muft remain cooped up in
the centre of a hoftile city, furroundsd by multitudes
fufficient. to overwhelm them, and without a poflibility
of receiving aid from their allies. gr
Before he let out from Cholula, Cortes had received ^ome hofti-
advice from Villa Rica, that Qualpopoca, one of thelitiesbe-
— -1 r .• i • — - - tween the
So
Vneafinefs
ef the Spa-
mards.
Mexican generals on the frontiers, having affembled ans™^
army in order to attack fome of the people whom the and Meal
Spaniards had encouraged to throw off the Mexican cnas.
yoke, Efcalante had marched out with part of the oar-
rifon to fupport his allies; that an engagement had en¬
ured, in which, though the Spaniards were vi&orious,
Efcalante, with feven of his men, had been mortally
wounded, his horfe- killed, and one Spaniard had been
jurrounded. by the enemy and taken alive 5 that the
head of this unfortunate captive, after being carried in
triumph to different cities, in order to convince the
people that their invaders were not immortal, had been
ent to Mexico. Coites, though alarmed wdth this
intelligence, as an indication of Montezuma’s hoftile
intentions, had continued his march. But as foon as he
entered Mexico he became fenfible, that, from an excefs
01 confidence in the fuperior valour and difeipline of his
troops, as well as from the difadvantage of having no-
thmg .to guide him in an unknown country but the
defefhve intelligence which he received from people
with whom his mode of communication w7as very im-
perfeft, he had pulhed forward into a fituation, where
it was difficult to continue, and from which it was dan¬
gerous to retire. Difgrace, and perhaps ruin, was the
certain confequence of attempting the latter. The fuc-
cefs of his enterprife depended upon fupporting the
high opinion which the people of New Spain had form¬
ed with relpeft to the irrefiftible power of his arms.
Upon the fir ft fymptom of timidity on. his part, their
veneration would ceafe, and Montezuma, whom fear
alone reftramed at prefent, would Jet loofe upon him
the whole force of his empire. At the fame time, he,
knew7 that the countenance of his own fovereign was to
be obtained only by a feries of viftories j and that no¬
thing but the merit of extraordinary fuccefs could fereen
his conduft from the cenfure of irregularity. From all
thefe confiderations, it was neceffary to maintain his
itation, and to extricate himfelf out of the difficulties in
which one bold ftep had involved him, by venturing
upon another ftill bolder. The fituation was trying
but his mind was equal to it 5 and after revolving the 82
matter with, deep attention, he fixed upon a plan no,C?rtes rc-
left extraordinary than daring. He determined to feize“™M°<,r
Montezuma in his palace, and carry him a prifoner to«“L“ta
his palace,.'.
Mexico
M E . X [ 763 ]
^ the Spanifti quarters. From the fuperftitious veneration ceeded
of the Mexicans for the perfon of their monarch, as well
as their implicit fubmiflion to his will, he hoped, by
having Montezuma in his power, to acquire the fupreme
direflion of their affairs; or at lead, with fuch a facred
pledge in his hands, he made no doubt of being fecure
from any effort of their violence.
_ This he immediately propofed to his officers. The
timid flartled at a meafure fo audacious, and raifed ob-
jeffions. Fhe more intelligent and refolute, confcious
that it was the only refource in which there appeared
any profpeft of fafety, warmly approved of it, and
brought over their companions fo cordially to the fame
Opinion, that it was agreed inftantly to make the at¬
tempt. At his ufual hour of viliting Montezuma,
Cortes went to the palace, accompanied by Alvarado,
Sandoval, Lugo, Velafquez de Leon, and "Davila, five5
of his principal officers, and as many trufty foldiers.
Thirty chofen men followed, not in regular order, but
fauntering at fome diftance, as if they had no objeft
but curiofity j fmall parties were polled at proper in¬
tervals, in all the ftreets leading from the Spaniffi quar¬
ters to the court ^ and the remainder of his troops,
with the Tlafcalan allies, were under arms, ready to
fally out on the firil alarm. Cortes and his attendants
were admitted without fufpicion 5 the Mexicans retir¬
ing, as ufual, out of refpeft. He addreffed the mo¬
narch in a tone very different from that which he had
employed in former conferences; reproaching him bit¬
terly as the author of the violent aiTault made upon the
Spaniards by one of his officers, and demanding public
reparation for the lofs which he had fullained by the
death of fome of his companions, as well as for the in-
fult offered to the great prince whofe fervants they
were. Montezuma, confounded at this unexpected ac-
cufation, and changing colour either from the confci-
oufnefs of guilt, or from feeling the indignity with
which he was treated, afferted his own innocence with
great earneilnefs ^ and, as proof of it, gave orders
inffantly to bring Qualpopoca and his accomplices pri-
foners to Mlexico. Cortes replied, with feeming com-
plaifance, that a declaration fo refpedlable left no doubt
remaining in his own mind 5 but that fomething more
was requifite to fatisfy his followers, w’ho would never
be convinced that Montezuma did not harbour hoftile
intentions againft them, unlefs, as an evidence of his
confidence and attachment, he removed from his own
palace and took up his relidence in the Spanifh quar*
te.rs, where he fhould be ferved and honoured as be¬
came a great monarch. The firft mention of fo ftrange
a propofal bereaved Montezuma of fpeech, and almoft
of motion. At length he haughtily anfvvered, “ That
perfons of his rank were not accuftomed voluntarily to
give up themfelves as prifoners ; and were he mean
enough to do fo, his fubjefts would not permit fuch an
affront to be offered to their fovereign.” Cortes, un¬
willing to employ force, endeavoured alternately to
foothe and intimidate him. The altercation became
w7arm : and having continued above three hours, Ve¬
lafquez de Leon, an impetuous and gallant young man,
exclaimed w’ith impatience, “ Why wafte more time
m vain ? Let us either feize him inffantly, or flab him
to the heart.” 1 he threatening voice and fierce gef-
tures wfith which thefe words wrere uttered, ffruck Mon¬
tezuma. ihe Spaniards, he was fenfible, had nowpro-
M E X
fo far, as left him no hope that they would Mexico,
recede. His own danger was imminent, the neceffity v J
unavoidable. He faw both j and abandoning himfelf
to his fate, complied with their requeff, 3-,
# TLs officers were called. He communicated to them The exnpe-
his refolution. Though aftonifhed and afflided, theyror carrie<1
prefumed not to queffion the will of their mafler, but tcLthe Sp!U
earned him in filent pomp, all bathed in tears, to the ters.^”'
Spanifh quarters.
T. hey at firft pretended to treat Montezuma with
great icfpedt 5 but foon took care to let him know
that he w’Rs entirely in their power. Cortes wifhed
that the ffiedding the blood of a Spaniard fhould ap¬
pear the moft heinous crime that could be commit¬
ted 5 and therefore not only took a molt exemplary
vengeance on thofe who had been concerned in the af¬
fair of Villa Rica, but even put the emperor himfelf in 3.
chains till the execution of the Mexican general was Cortes
over. By thefe, and other infults, he at laft gainedrules tk®
entirely the afeendant over this unhappy monarch jemFre“
and he took care to improve his opportunity to the
utmoff. He fent his emiffaries into different parts of
the kingdom, accompanied w’ith Mexicans of diffinc-
tion, W'ho might ferve both to guide and to proted
them. _ They vifited molt of the provinces, viewed
their foil and productions, furveyed with particular"
care the diflrids which yielded gold or filver, pitched
upon feveral places as proper for future colonies, and
endeavoured to prepare the minds of the people for
fubmitting to the Spanifh yoke : and while they were
85
thus employed, Cortes, in the name and by the
thority of Montezuma, degraded fome of the principal
officers in. the empire, whofe abilities or independent
fpirit excited his jealoufy; and fubftituted in their
place perfons who he imagined would be more obfe-
quious.. One thing, however, was (fill wanting to com¬
plete his fecurity. He wiffied to have fuch a command
or the lake as might enfure a retreat, if, either from
levity or difguft, the Mexicans fhould take arms againft
him, and break down the bridges or caufew'ays, in or-v.
det to enclofe him in the city. In order to obtainfiV'ha
this without giving difguft to the emperor or his court, obtains ^
Cortes artfully inflamed the curiofity of the Indians *eave to
with accounts of the Spanifh (hipping, and thofe float-bu.ild tw®
ing palaces that moved with fuch velocity on the wa- bn^nt.in,es
ter, without the affiftance of oars; and when he found
that the monarch himfelf was extremely defirous of
feeing fuch a novelty, . he gave him to underftand,
that nothing was wanting to his gratification befides
a few neceffaries from Vera Cruz, for that he had
workmen in his army capable of building fuch veflels.
J.he bait took with Montezuma j and he gave imme¬
diate orders that all his people fhould affift Cortes in
whatever he flrould' direct concerning the (hipping
By this means, in a few7 days, tw7o brigantines w7ere
got ready, full rigged and equipped 5 and Montezuma
w7as invited on board, to make the firft trial of their
failing, of which he could form no idea. According¬
ly he embarked lor this purpofe, and gave orders for
a great hunting upon the water, in order that all his
people might be diverted with the novelty prefented
by the Spaniards. On the day appointed, the royal
equipage was ready early in the morning ; and the
lake was covered with a multitude of boats and canoes
loaded with people. -1 he Mexicans had augmented
5 ^ 3 the
M E X
[ 764 ]
M E X
Mexico.
85
Mo,it' 7.11
nv* owns
hi nfelr' a
vafl'al to
the king of
Spain.
87 .
The Spani¬
ards divide
their trea-
iure.
the number or their rowers on board the royal barges,
with an intention to difgrace the Spanifh veffels, which
they regarded as clumiy, unwieldy, and heavyT. But
they were foon undeceived •, a frefti gale ftarted up,
the brigantines hoifted (ail, to the utter aftonifhment of
all the fpeflators, and foon left all the canoes behind •,
while the monarch exulted in the victory of the Spani¬
ards, without once confidering that now lie had effectu¬
ally rivetted his own chains.
Cortes having obtained this important point, refolv-
ed to put the condefcenfion of the emperor to a trial
flil! more fevere. He urged Montezuma to acknotv-
ledge him (elf a vaffal to the crown of Caftile ; to hold
his crown of him as fuperior, and to fubjedt his domi¬
nions to the payment of an annual tribute. With this
requifition, humiliating as it was, Montezuma com¬
plied. He called together the chief men of his em¬
pire, and, in a folemn harangue, reminded them of the
traditions and prophecies which led them to expect the
arrival of a people fprung from the fame (lock with
themfelves, in order to take poffelfion of the (upreme
power; he declared his belief that the Spaniards were
this promifed race } and that therefore he recognifed
the right of their monarch to govern the Mexican em¬
pire, would lay his crown at his feet, and obey him as
a tributary. While uttering thefe words, Montezuma
difeovered how7 deeply he w7as affedled in making fuch
a facrifice. Tears and groans frequently interrupted
his difeourfe. The firft mention of fuch a refolution
llruck the affembly dumb with aftonifhment. This
was followed by a fullen murmur of forrow mingled
with indignation ; which indicated Tome violent erup¬
tion of rage to be near at hand. This Cortes forefaw,
and feafonably interpofed to prevent it, by declaring
that bis mafter had no intention to deprive Montezuma
of the royal dignity, or to make any innovation upon
the conftitution and laws of the Mexican empire. This
affurance, added to their dread of the Spanifti arms, and
the authority of their monarch’s example, extorted the
confent of the affembly 5 and the a& of fubmiflion and
homage was executed with all the formalities which the
Spaniards pleafed to preferibe.
Montezuma, at the requeft of Cortes, accompa¬
nied this profeflion of fealty and homage with a mag¬
nificent prefent to his new fovereign ; and, after his
example, his fubje^ts brought in very liberal contri¬
butions. The Spaniards then collefted all the trea-
fure which had been either voluntarily beftowed up¬
on them at different times by Montezuma, or had
been extorted from his people under various preten¬
ces } and having melted the gold and filver, the va¬
lue of thefe amounted to 600,000 pefos. The fol-
diers were impatient to have it divided ; and Cortes
complied with their defire. A fifth of the whole was
fet apart as the tax due to the king. Another fifth was
allowed to Cortes as commander. The fums advan¬
ced by the governor of Cuba who had originally fit¬
ted out the expedition, were then deduced. The re¬
mainder was then divided among the army, including
the garrifon of Vera Cruz, in proportion to their dif¬
ferent ranks j and after fo many deductions, the (bare
of a private man did not exceed 100 pefos. This fum
fell fo far below their fanguine expettations, that it re¬
quired all the addrefs, and no fmall exertions of the li¬
berality of Cortes, to prevent an open mutiny. How-
Mexico.
88
ever, be at laft reftored tranquillity •, but had no (boner
efcaped this danger, than he involved hirnfelf, by his
imprudent zeal for religion, in one much worle. Mon¬
tezuma, though often importuned, had obftinately re-
fufed to change his religion, or abolifli the luperfti-
tious rites which had been for fuch a long time praCii-
fed throughout his dominions. This at laft tranfport-o>rt:s at-
ed the Spaniard with fuch rage, that, in a Tally ofternpts to
zeal, he led out his foldiers in order to throw down the^^y ^he
idols in the great temple by force. But the priefts an
taking arms in defence of their altars, and the people
crowding with great ardour to fupport them, Cortes s
prudence over ruled his zeal, and induced him to defift
from his rafti attempt, after diftodging the idols from one
of the (brines, and placing in their (lead an image of tne
Virgin Mary-. _ . 89
From this moment the Mexicans began to meditate vvhtch pr®-
the expulfion or the deftruffion of the Spaniards. The duces a ge-
priefts and leading men held frequent meetings with ^raUifaf-
Montezuma for this purpofe. But as any vioient at¬
tempt might have proved fatal to the captive raonaich,
it was thought proper firft to try more gentle means.
Having called Cortes into his prefence, he ooferved,
that now, as all the purpofes of his embaffy were ruity
accomphthed, the gods had declared their will, and the
people fignified their defire, that he and his iodoweiS 90
(houid inftantly depart out of the empire. With this The Spji-
he required them to comply, or unavoidable deft rue-
tion would fall luddenly on their heads. This unex-e.j t0 c}e.
peffed requifition, as well as the manner in which it part,
was delivered, alarmed Cortes. However, he fuppofed
that more might be gained by a feigned compliance
than by open refiftance j and therefore replied with
•great compofure, that he had already begun to prepare
for his return } but as he had deftroyed the veflels in
which he arrived, fome time was requifite for building
other drips. Tins appeared reafonable } and a number
of Mexicans were fent to Vera Cruz to cut down tim¬
ber, and fome Spanifti carpenters were appointed to fu-
perintend the work. _ pT
Cortes flattered himfelf, that, during this interval, he An anna-
might either find means to avert the threatened danger, ment fent
or receive fuch reinforcements as would enable him ^°a10^n^Uja
defend himfelf. Nine months had now elapfed fince
Portocarrero and Montejo had failed with his defpatches
to Spain ; and he daily expe&ed a return, with a con¬
firmation of his authority from the king, without which
all that he had done ferved only to mark him out as an
object of puniftiment. While he remained in great
anxiety on this account, news were brought that (ome
ftiips had appeared on the coaft. Thefe were imagined
by Cortes to be a reinforcement fent him from Spain :
but his joy wras of thort continuance, for a courier very
foon arrived from Vera Cruz, with certain information
that the armament was fitted out by Velafquez, the go¬
vernor of Cuba} and inftead of bringing fuccours,
threatened them with immediate deftruftion.
Velafquez had been excited to this hoftile meafure
chiefly through the indiferetion, or rather treachery,
of the meffengers of Cortes j who, contrary to his ex-
prefs injunctions, had landed on the ifland of Cuoa,
and given intelligence of all that had paffed : and Ve¬
lafquez, traiTported with rage at hearing of the. pro¬
ceedings of Cortes, had now fent againft him this ar¬
mament j confiding of 18 ftnps, which carried 80 horfe-
men.
Mexico.
M E X [765]
men, 800 infantry, of which 80 were mulkctecrs, and red partly by the
Mexico.
9*
Which is
i defeated
by that
general*
93
Dangerous
fituation of
the Spa¬
niards left
at Mexico.*
120 crols-bowmen, commanded by a brave officer named
Pamphilo de Narvaez; whofe indwcVions were, to
feize Cortes and his principal officers, to fend them
prifoners to him, and then to complete the dilcovery
and conqueft of the country in his name. This proved
a moft affiicling piece t>f news to Cortes.
Having now no refource but in war, he kit 150
men under the command of Pedro de Alvarado, an
officer of great bravery; and much refpe&ed by the
Mexicans, to guard the capital and the captive em¬
peror ; while he himfelf marched with the remain¬
der, to meet his formidable opponent, who had ta¬
ken poffeffion of Zempoalla. Even after being re¬
inforced by Sandoval his governor of Vera Cruz, the
force of Cortes did not exceed 250 men. .He hoped
for fuccefs chiefly from the rapidity of his motions
and the poffibility of furprifmg his enemies . and as he
chiefly dreaded their cavalry, he armed his foldiers
with long fpears, accuftoming them to that deep and
compaft arrangement which the ufe of this foimidable
weapon enabled them to anume, As he advanced,
however, he repeated his propofals of accommoda¬
tion 5 but thefe being conftantly rejeifled, and a price
fet upon his head, he at laft attacked Narvaez in
the night-time, entirely defeated and took him pri-
foner, obliging all his troops to own allegiance to him-
feif. ,
Nothing could be more feaionable than this vidtoiy*
by which Cortes found his army very confiderably in-
creafed; for moft of the foldiers of Narvaez chofe
rather to follow Cortes than to return to Cuba, whi¬
ther the conqueror had offered to fend them if they
chofe. Plis affairs at Mexico, in the mean time,
were in the utmoft danger of being totally ruined ;
and had this decifive viftory been delayed but a few
days longer, he muft have come too late to fave his
companions. A fliort time after the. defeat of Nar¬
vaez, a courier arrived from Mexico with the difagree-
able’intelligence that the Mexicans had taken arms ;
and having feized and deftroyed the two brigantines
which he had built in order to fecure the command
of the lake, had attacked the Spaniards in their quar¬
ters, killed feme, and wounded many more,. burnt
their magazine of provifions, and, in fhort, caiiied on
hoftilities with fuch fury, that though Alvarado and.
his men defended themfelves with undaunted refo-
lution, they muft either be cut off by famine,, or fink
under the multitude of their enemies. . This revolt
was excited by motives w’hich rendered it ftill moie
alarming. On the departure of Cortes for Zempo-
alla, the Mexicans flattered themfelves,. that the. long-
expeffed opportunity of reftoring their foveieig.n to
liberty, and driving out the Spaniards, was arrived 5
and confultations were accordingly held for bringing
about both thefe events. 1 he Spaniards in Mexico,
confcious of their own weaknefs, fufpe6fed and dread¬
ed thefe machinations; but Alvarado, who had nei¬
ther the prudence nor the addrefs of Cortes, took the
worft method imaginable to overcome them.. Inftead
of attempting to foothe or cajole the Mexicans, he
waited the return of one of their folemn feftivals, when
the principal perfons in the empire were dancing, ac¬
cording to cuflom, in the court of the great temple •,
he feized all the avenues which led to it) and? ally-
94
M E X
rich ornaments wdiich they wore in
honour of their gods, and partly by the facility of
cutting off at once the authors of that confpiracy
which he dreaded, he fell upon them, unarmed and
unfufpicious of danger, and maffacred a great num¬
ber j none cfcaping but fuch as made their way
over the battlements of the temple. An a£!ion fo
cruel and treacherous filled not only the city, but the
whole empire, with indignation and rage •, and the
Mexicans immediately proceeded in the manner above
mentioned.
Cortes advanced with the utmoft celerity to the re¬
lief of his diftreffed companions: but as he pafled
along, had the mortification to find that the Spa¬
niards were generally held in abhorrence. The princi¬
pal inhabitants had deferted the towns through which
he paffed ) no perfon of note appeared , to meet him
with the ufual refpeft ; nor u’ere provifions brought
to 1ms camp as ufual. Notwithftanding tneie figns of ^
averfion and horror, however, the Mexicans were ai-
ignorant of the military art., that they again permitted r,jturn t0
him to enter the capital without oppofition ; though .
it was in their power to have eafily prevented him,
by breaking down the bridges and caufeways wmch led
to it. . .
Cortes was received by his companions with the
utmoft joy j and this extraordinary luccefs fo far in¬
toxicated the general himfelf, that he not. only ne-
glefted to vifit Montezuma, but expreffed himfelf very 95
contemptuoufly concerning him. I hefe expreffions ^ b at_
being reported among the Mexicans, they all at oncetackedby
flewr to arms, and made fuch a violent and fudden tjie na.
attack, that all the valour and fkill of Cortes were tives.
fcarce Sufficient to repel them. This produced great
uneafinefs among the foldiers of Narvaez, who had
imagined there was nothing to do but to gather the
fpoils of a conquered country. Difcontent and mur-
murings, howTever, wTere now of no avail; they were
enclofed in a hoftile city, and, without fome extra¬
ordinary exertions, were inevitably undone. Cortes
therefore, made a defperate Tally ; but, after exerting
his utmoft efforts for a whole day, was obliged to
retire with the lofs of 12 killed, and upwards of 60
wounded. Another Tally was attempted with the like
bad fuccefs, and in it Cortes himfelf was wounded in
the hand.
The Spanifh general was now thoroughly convinced
of his error ; and therefore betook himfelf to the on- ;
ly refource which was left ; namely, to try what ef-
feft the interpofition of Montezuma would have to
foothe or overawe his fubjetls. When the Mexicans
approached the next morning to renew the affault,
that unfortunate prince, at the mercy of the Spaniards,
and reduced to the fad neceflity of becoming the in-
ftrument of his own difgrace, and of the flaveiy of his
people advanced to the battlements in his royal robes,
a»d with all the pomp in which he ufed to appear on
folemn occafions. At the fight of their fovereign,
whom they had been long accuftomed to reverence al-
mofl as a god, the Mexicans inftantly fotebore their
hoftilities, and many proftrated themfelves on ^ the
ground : but when he addrefled them in favour of the
Spaniards, and made ufe of all the arguments he could
think of to mitigate their rage, they teftified their re-
fentment with loud
niurmurings ; and at length broke
'Mexico
97 .
A terrible
engage¬
ment be¬
tween the
Spaniards
and Mexi¬
cans.
M EX [7
forth with fuch fury, that before the foldiers, appoint¬
ed to guard Montezuma, had time to cover him with
their iliields, he was wounded with two arrows, and
a blow on his temple with a ftone (truck him to the
ground. On feeing him fall, the Mexicans inftantly
tied with the utmoif precipitation : but the unhappy
monarch, now convinced that he was become an ob-
jeft of contempt even to his own fubje&s, obltinately
refufed all nourilhment} and thus in a ihort time ended
his days.
On the death of Montezuma, Cortes having loft all
hope of bringing the Mexicans to any terms of peace,
prepared for retreat. But his antagonifts, having
taken poffeflion of a high tower in the great temple,
which overlooked the Spanifh quarters, and placing
there a garrifon of their principal warriors, the Spa¬
niards were fo much expofed to their miffile weapons,
that none could ftir without danger of being killed or
wounded. From this pott, therefore, it was neceifary
to ditlodge them at any rate ; and Juan de Efcobar,
with a large detachment of chofen foldiers, was order¬
ed to make the attack. But Efcobar, though a valiant
officer, and though he exerted his utmoft efforts, was
thrice repulfed. Cortes, however, fenfible that not
only his reputation, but the fafety of his army, de¬
pended on the fuccefs of this affault, caufed a buckler
to be tied to his arm, as he could not manage it with
his wounded hand, and ruffied with his drawn fword
among the thickeff of the combatants. Encouraged
by the prefence of their general, the Spaniards re¬
turned to the charge with fuch vigour, that they gra¬
dually forced their way up the ffeps, and drove the
Mexicans to the platform at the top of the tower.
-Fhere a dreadful carnage began ; when two young
Mexicans of high rank, obferving Cortes, as he ani¬
mated his foldiers, refolved to facrifice their own lives
in order to cut off the author of fo many calamities
which defolated their country. They approached
him in a. fuppliant pofture, as if they intended to lay
xlown their arms *, and feizing him in a moment, hur-
Tied him towards the battlements, over which they
threw themfelves headlong, in hopes of dragging him
along with them. . But Cortes, by his flrength and agi¬
lity, difengaged himfelf from their grafp ; fo that the
two Mexicans, perilhed alone.
As foon as the Spaniards became mailers of the •
tower, they let fire to it, and without further mole-
llation continued the preparations lor their retreat.
This became the more neceffary, as their enemies
altonifhed at this lalt effort of their valourj had now
entirely changed their fyftem of hoftility ; and, infiead
•of inceffant attacks, endeavoured, by barricading the
llreets, and breaking down the cauleways, to cut off
the communication of the Spaniards with the conti¬
nent, and thus to llarve an enemy whom they could
not lubdue. The firil point to be determined, was
whether they Ihould march out openly in the face of
day, when they could difcern every danger, or whether
they Ihould endeavour to retire fecretly in the night,
fne latter was preferred, partly from hopes that the
fuperllition of the Mexicans would prevent them from
attacking them in the night, and partly from their
own fuperllition in giving credit to the predictions of
a private foldier, who pretended to allrology, and
allured them of fuccefs if they retreated in this manner.
66 ]
M £ X
Towards midnight, therefore, they began their march, Mexico,
in three divifions. Sandoval led the van ; Pedro Al-'—-rV—*
varado and Velafquez de Leon had the conduct of the
rear; and Cortes commanded in the centre, where he
placed the prifoners, among whom were a fon and
two daughters of Montezuma, together with feveral
Mexicans of diltinction, the artillery, baggage, and
a portable bridge of timber intended to be laid over
the breaches in the caufeway. They marched in
profound filence along the caufeway which led to
Tacuba, becaufe it was Ihorter than any of the reft,
and, lying moft remote from the road towards Tlafca-
la and the fea coaft, had been left moft entire by the
Mexicans.
They reached the firft breach in the caufeway with-Cort^re-
out moleftation, hoping that their retreat was undif-treats witk
covered. But the Mexicans had not only watched aligre:it l01'5-
their motions, but made preparations for a moft for¬
midable attack. While the Spaniards were intent up¬
on placing their bridges in the breach, and occupied
in conducing their horfes and artillery along it, they
were fuddenly alarmed with the found of warlike in-
ftrumenfs, and found themfelves affaulted on all Tides
by an innumerable multitude of enemies. Unfortu¬
nately the wooden bridge was wedged fo fall in the
mud by the weight of the artillery, that it was impof-
fible to remove it. Difmayed at this accident, the
Spaniards advanced with precipitation to the lecond
breach. The Mexicans hemmed them in on every
fide 5 and though they defended themfelves with their
ufual courage, yet, crowded as they were in a narrow
caufeway, their difcipline and military Ikill were of
little avail ; nor did the obfcurity of the night allow
them to derive much advantage from their fire-arms
or the fuperiority of their other weapons. At laft the
Spaniards, overborne with the numbers of their ene¬
mies, began to give way, and in a moment the confufion
was univerfal. Cortes, with about 100 foot foldiers,
and a few horfe, forced his way over the two remain¬
ing breaches in the caufeway, the bodies of the dead
ferving to fill up the chafms, and reached the main
land. Haying formed them as foon as they arrived, he
returned with fuch as were yet capable of fervice| to
altift. his friends in their retreat. He met with part
of his foldiers who had forced their way through the
enemy, but found many more overwhelmed by the
multitude of their aggreffors, or perilhing in the lake ;
and heard the grievous lamentations of others whom
the Mexicans were carrying off in triumph to be fa-
crificed to the god of war.
In this, fatal retreat more than one half of Cortes’s
army penlhed, together with many officers of diftinc-
tion. All the artillery, ammunition, and baggage,
were loft ; the greater part of the horfes and'above
2000 Tlafcalans were killed, and only a very fmall part
of their treafure faved. The firft care of the Spanilh
general was to find fome Ihelter for his wearied troops ;
for, as the Mexicans infefted them on every fide, and
the people of Tacuba began to take arms, he could
not continue in his prefent ftation. At laft he difco-
vered a temple feated on an eminence, in which he
found not only the Ihelter he wanted, but fome provi-
fions ; and though the enemy did not intermit their
attacks throughout the day, they were without much
difficulty prevented from making any imprellion. For
3 fix
Mexico.
hex
99
fix days after they continued their march through z
barren, ill cultivated, and thinly peopled countrv where
they were often oW^d ^ feed on berries, roots and
harafh?5 °.^reen maiZC 5 at the famc they’were
haralled without intermiffion by large parties of Mexi
cans who attacked them on all fiLf On the fixth
day they reached Otumba, not far from the road be
began told™ and 1Iaf?la' Early "ext morning they
ftil hanZ06 ^ parties of th^
Sk l-t 8l g °n their rear ’ and the infults
with which they accompanied their hoftilities Donna
"or“td’ t‘ ,heyoften -'=-ede4h 3!
nl,? ’ • ,cf° on’ ro,bbers 5 go to the place where you
quic y meet the vengeance due to your crimes ”
pr hTT„filltbiS thr; th' Span!ardsydid ^2.
before tL' reaC5ed .the fummit ™inence
neiore them, d here a fpacious valley opened to their
reach C The M “ ^ 17* “ - ^e eye could
. ihe Mexicans, while with one body of their
troops they haraffed the Spaniards in their retreat had
arembled their principal fLe on the other ^
to Tlflfr f marCAh!Jn? alonS ^ road which led diredfly
eWe W
but toWa!n,ng theI" briefly that no alternative remained
hot to conquer or d.e, led them inflantly to the charoe
titude I" rrch’a‘tedfht,ler!r ^Ch ™,h “"ufual f-
• r ' ucb was tbe fupenonty of the SuariiHi dif
new combatants advanced from another ; and the si’
niards, though furrefsfnl i a 116 ^Pa*
to fink nndS ,!,CJelshl1 ,n every attack, were ready
ih under. thefi; repeated efforts, without feeing
tiX^ t0 thur t0iI’ °r any hope of vJftory. At thaf
^e Cortes obferved the great ftandard of rte emoire
'Vh,ch was earned before the Mexican general aXn
on ^fae^Td^Td11^'0 ha'" ^ ^
ep , °‘ 11 depended the event of every battle
were flTn 'toaab!W °f f'5 •braV£'1 °fficCrS' ^ bor es’
the r head ip- and’ pIac!n« hi"'felf at
petooflty tkt t b J ,be fland:,rd With ruch
A rhor7 l j rbore dewn every thing before him
ofen body of nobles, who guarded' the ftandard’
rnadefome^ft but were
neral3 an Wb ^ !|‘S Iance’ wo"nded the Mexican ge-
lowers Sr CW m t0 the gr°Und-. bis fol-
of th • & •1 puP an t0 bis life, and laid hold
?ef„,h Z'hr dnd?d- The moment ibat their leader
eye? difa* a"dard> tf,"'ar<1'' which all dlr.-cted their
cans’- a„H flear-fd,ian,Un,V'rril1 panic llrKk the Mexi-
had been ’dived ''hjcb heId ,hei" 'og«her
foldierthrew a^v’h'VCry en%n ''aS ’—ed,0 each
Bilari,„, , “l, y h,s. weaP°ns, and fled with preci.
5e them farurtams; Tbe SPa"iards. n"able to
be.d” bedmthf:r; :bc Kei,he
MTofl/l ,?heWealtb "bicb ,b'y bad
waris'SS.Sn'Sr1^^
r 767 i
M E X
Mexico..
a ns
jcI.
v™ye.ntS’ 35 lf they had been marching to affured
8 Ic2o1aythfteq th-S ;mp0rtant aftIon (being July
to'riefwhere A pama the T1^alan terri-
friendfhiDh ^7 teCeiVe? with the cordial
j-r r . P‘ urtes endeavoured to avail himfelf of this
diftribTd38 much,as P°ffible ; for which purpofe he
diftnbuted among them the rich fpoils taken at Otum
ofob1ttaliUChfa hbT1 hand’ that he made himfdf fore
fire b He Sdfr°m thre T,purblic whatever be foould de-
two’or ^ -fma I /Upply of ammunition, and
He d r hrei! 5e d'p,tces’ from bls ftore8 at Vera Cruz
He defpatched an officer of confidence with four ffiips‘
o Narvaez’s fleet to Hifpaniola and Jamaica, to en-
gage adventurers, and to purchafe horfes, gunpowder
wouldte" m,1‘tary ft°reS- And 35 he knewTafft
unlefs he1" attCTPt tHe reduaion of Mexico,
unlefs he could fecure the command of the lake he
gave orders to prepare, in the mountains of Tlafcala
mieht'be /or.bpl^!nS ^ brigantines, fo that they
might be earned thither in pieces, ready to be put to
t au-ncb,ed "hen ¥ floo<i in need of their
a, X ,l , ‘n,t!'‘c mean tlme> hii foldiers, alarmed
rccmd tbmegbtSOr "p® eXp°red ,0 fuch ^^ties a
econd time prefented a remonftrar.ee to their eeneral
n whlch th reprefented the imprudence oAttack- '
fofmallvTeo * IT™ ^ hiS f°TCes> and
formally required him to return back to Cuba. AH
hem t^d TC u C°uId n0W onIy Prevail with '
them to delay their departure for feme time, when he
promifed to difmifs fuch as ffiould defire it. How *
ever this was only a pretence; for Cortes, in fa&
had the conqueft of Mexico as much at heart as ever.
hng there?,hlS/°.ldlers an opportunity of cabal-
peognle ofthere’-hl!Kda,-y empl°yed them the
P P °f the neighbouring provinces, who had cut off
me etachments of Spaniards during his misfortunes
tended °’Karnd V ^ich’ as he was co"ft-tly at-
h,s men roon refumed thEir
=vat\ad tbh: f:ru„tpSirob.baVHbeCn-0ff1,tt,e0’--
ment’nf -n n-• P y obtained a reinforce-ceives an
memfLSf . ! ^7™- lheie belonged to an arma.
mem fitted out by Francifco de Garay, governot of Ta -
.re,c5o;hoabdad lo',gf almed at di;idi-"
g ory and gam of annexing the empire of Mexico
to the cr0M;n of Caftile. They had, however unTd!
Ve y maoe their attempt on the northern provinces
and rt C0,unt!"y VVaS p00r and the inhabitants fierce
and warlike; fo that, after a fucceffion of difafters they
were now obliged to venture into Vera Cruz, and caft
. cmfelves upon the mercy of their countrymen ■ and
bem they alfo were foon perfuaded to throw off their
alleg^nce to their mafter, and to enlift with CorteT
About the fame time a ffiip arrived from Spain freight’
ed by fome private adventurers, with military S :
and the cargo was eagerly purchafed by CorteS whTle
It TSa °mng thi “arapk “f'>■' j0mcJhim
. •Frora there various quarters, the army of Cortes
which 'Vlth l8° men and 20 borfes; by
die s of W "S '■VaS e"ab!ed t0 difn,ifs f“ch »f «bf feu .
ten d “j "'ere mc¥ tfoublefome and difeon-
tented , a.ter the departure of whom he ftill muftered
550 infantry, of whom 80 were armed with mufkets or r
' crofs-s-
]
M
Mexico.
102
He lets out
again for
Mexico.
103
Cortes
makes
great pro-
£rels-
III Ucivc   ^ , r U
vitable deftruaion. Three months elapfed before the
materials for conftrua'mg the brigantines vveie fhnib-
S and before he heard any thing wrth refpea to the
fuccefs of his negotiation in Hifpamola. I h h
ever was not a feafon of maaion to Cortes, rte at
tacked fucceflTively feveral of the towns fituated around
he lake and though all the Mexican power was ex¬
erted to’obftrua his operations, he either comPe ®
them to fubmit to the Spanilh crown, or reduced
them to ruins. Other towns he endeavoured to con¬
ciliate by more gentle means*, and though he cou
not hold7 any intercourfe with the inhabitants but y
of "he cities adjacent to Mexico were ong.nally the
capitals of fmall independent Hates; and fome of them
having been but lately annexed to the Mexican en'P're,
Pill retained the remembrance of their anc.ent liberty,
and bore with impatience the rigorous yoke of them
a Cortes having early obferved fymptoms
oftheir difaffeftion, availed KimMi ot this knowledge
to gain their confidence and friend fin p. By offer g
with confidence to deliver them from the odious do¬
minion of the Mexicans, and by liberal protyifes of
•more indulgent treatment if they would unite with
him againft their oppreffors, be prevailed on the peo¬
ple of*feveral confiderable difinds not only to ac¬
knowledge the king of Caftile as their fovereign but
- to fupply the Spanifii camp with provifions and to
ffrengtheu his army with auxihary troops. Guattmo-
E X
ain "on the firft appearance of defeaion among Ins
quired new allies, a empire thofe very hands
Cortes arming againft his emp _ .lefence and
ready1 to tdvance'againft^h^ cjpital at the head of a
numerous body of his own fubjeas. ^
While by thefe various methods, Cor g
neither to be uncertain nor remote all his Ichemes
” e‘e well nigh defeated by a confp.racy aga.nft h.s
own perRm, and which was difcovered “"‘y '
- J i^Li »p^?S^h:r
the^eturn^of^'mutinous fpirit, he determined^ „U
forth his troops immediately to aflion. 7
a proper occafion for this occurred, his feem g
to court it. He received mtelhgence, that the mat
rials for building the bngantmes were « Ijg* c0“
pietely (inilhed and watted on ^ or a body o^
niards to conduft them to I ezcuco. x
of this convoy, confliling of 200 foot “iters. IS
horfemen, and two field pieces, he gave to S.ndova,,
who by the vigilance, aftivity, and cou!”^- ., • hj
manifelled on "every occafion, was f ow.ng datly m h
ronfidence and in the eftimation of his lellow mm e
The Tlafcalans furniftied 8000 'lamenes, an m er.or
o^der of men dePlned for fervil. cart, the m -
terials on their <Wders and W-^vdml
riors to accompany and defend the _ proork ty,
the difpofition for their progrefs with great pt“Pt^y
placing the Tamenes » f centre one body f
riors n tbe front, another m the rear, w
able parties to cover the flanks. 1 ° each »f thel. be
joined fome Spaniards, not only to affift them m da
ier but to accuftom them to regular, y and iubcd.-
natjon. Parties of Mexicans frequently appeared ho
veriim around them on the high grounds . but peiceiv
ingno profpea of fuccefs in
't'hey didlt "en?u"re to moleft him ; and Sandoval had
the glory of conduaing fafely to Tezcuco a convoy
on which all the future operations of his countrymen ^
dePConf,^determined to attack the city
ferent ouarters t from Tezcuco on the eaft fide ol the
lake from Tacuba on the weft, and from Cuayocan to¬
wards the fouth. Thofe towns were fimated on the
principal caufeways which led to the capttal, and m-
tended for their defence. He appointed Sandoval to
command in the firft, Pedro de Alvara o m the fecond
and Chriftoval de Olid in the thud •..a"ot'ln| to
a numerous body of Indian aux.l.ar.es, tog*h« wfth
an equal divifion of Spamaids, who, y j
of the troops from Hirpaniola, amounted now to 86
horfemen, and 8.8 foot foldters ; »f wh ” V8J'r'
armed with mufkcts or crofs bows. Their tram or
tillery confifted of three battering cannon, and 5 ^
M E X [768
£BS5*pfli§
on the 28th of December, fix months after his
,rlsf7o”n "at Cmies entered the enemy’s territories,
he difcovered various preparattons to
arefs But bis troops forced their way with little ou
lout and took poffeffion of Tezcuco, the fecund
City oyf the empire, fitua.ed on "tl
fidence there more fecure, he depofed the cacique or
by this benefit, the new cacique and h s adherents
■ved the Spaniards with inviolable ndeut) .
’ As tlm conftmaion of the brigantme, advanced
flowly under the unfkilful hands ot
Sl’olm fortunately to
^ his f-dce and a ^ ^ - y^recc^d ^
'^ nof^'a conditionlo'tu^ his arms direffly againft
, “th^^Jv^^^ge fch he
months^ elapfedTfore the manifefted e’ery occata wasjrow.ng^m
M E X
Mexico.
105
The Spa¬
niards de¬
feat the
Mexicans,
and become •
pieces. He referved for liimfelf, as the flation of great*
eft importance and danger, the conduct of the brigan¬
tines, each armed with one of his fmall cannon, and
manned with 25 Spaniards.
As Alvarado and Olid proceeded towards the pofts
afligned them, they broke down the aquedu&s which
the ingenuity of the Mexicans had eredted for convey¬
ing water into the capital, and, by the diftrefs to
which this reduced the inhabitants, gave a beginning
to the calamities which they were deftined to fuller.
Alvarado and Olid found the towns, of which they
were ordered to take pofleftion, deferted by their in¬
habitants, who had fled for fafety to the capital, where
Guatimozin had colledled. the chief force of his em¬
pire, as there alone he could hope to make a fuccefsful
ftand againft the formidable enemies who were ap¬
proaching to aflault him.
The firft effort of the Mexicans was to deftroy the
fleet of brigantines, the fatal effedls of whofe opera¬
tions they forefaw and dreaded. Though the brigan¬
tines, after all the labour and merit of Cortes in form-
mafters of were incojnfiderable bulk, rudely con-
thelake. Unified, and manned chiefly with landmen, hardly pof-
feffed of Ikill enough to conduff them, they mull have
been objefts of terror to a people unacquainted with
any navigation but that of their lake, and poffeffed of
no veffel larger than a canoe. Neceflity, however, ur¬
ged Guatimozin to hazard the attack ; and hoping to
fupply by numbers what he wanted in force, he affem-
bled fuch a multitude of canoes as covered the face of
the lake. They rowed on boldly to the charge, while
the brigantines, retarded by a dead calm, could fcarce-
ly advance to meet them. But as the enemy drew
near, a breeze fuddenly fprung up ; in a moment the
fails were fpread, and the brigantines with irrefiftible
impetuofity broke their feeble opponents, overfet many
canoes, and diffipated the whole armament with fuch
flaughter, as convinced the Mexicans, that the pro-
grefs of the Europeans in knowledge and arts ren¬
dered their fuperiority greater on this new7 element
than they had hitherto found it by land.
From that time Cortes remained mafter of the lake $
and the brigantines not only preferved a communica¬
tion between the Spaniards in their different ftations,
though at a confiderable diftance from each other j but
were employed to cover the caufeways on each fide,
and keep off the canoes, when they attempted to an¬
noy the troops as they advanced towards the city. He
formed the brigantines in three divifions, allotting one
to each ftation, with orders to fecond the operations
of the officer who commanded there. From all the
three ftations he puflied on the attack againft the city
•• writh equal vigour j but in a manner fo very different
from that by which fieges are condufled in regular war,
as might appear no lefs improper than fingular to per-
fons unacquainted with his fituation. Each morning his
troops affaulted the barricades which the enemy had
erefted on the caufeways, forced their wray over the
trenches wffiich they had dug, and through the canals
where the bridges were broken down, and endeavoured
to penetrate into the heart of the city, in hopes of
obtaining fome decifive advantage, which might force
the enemy to furrender, and terminate the war at once;
but when the obftinate valour of the Mexicans rendered
the efforts of the day ineffeftual, the Spaniards retired
VOL. XIII. Part II.
[ 7S9 1
M E X
in the evening to their former quarters. Thus their toil Mexico,
and danger were, in fome meafure, continually renew¬
ed, the Mexicans repairing in the night what the Spa¬
niards had deftroyed through the day, and recovering
the pofts from which they had driven them. But ne-
ceffity preferibed this flow and untoward mode of ope¬
ration. The number of his troops was fo fmall, that
Cortes durft not, with a handful of men, attempt to
make a lodgement in a city where he might be fur-
rounded and annoyed by fuch a multitude of enemies.
The remembrance of what he had already fuffered by
the ill-judged confidence with which he had ventured
into fuch a dangerous fituation, was ftill frefli in his
■mind. The Spaniards, exhaufted with fatigue, were
unable to guard the various pofts which they daily
gained •, and though their camp was filled with Indian
auxiliaries, they durft not devolve this charge upon
them, becaufe they were fo little accuftomed to difei-
pline, that no confidence could be placed in their vi¬
gilance. Befides this, Cortes was extremely folicitous1
to preferve the city as much as poffible from being de¬
ftroyed, both as he deftined it to be the capital of his
conquefts, and wiftied that it might remain as a mo¬
nument of his glory. From all thefe confiderations,
he adhered obftinately, for a month after the fiege was
opened, to the fyftem wffiich he had adopted. The
Mexicans, in their ow7n defence, difplayed valour
which was hardly inferior to that with which the Spa¬
niards attacked them. On land, on water, by night
and by day, one furious conflidl fucceeded to another.
Several Spaniards were killed, more wounded, and all
were ready to fink under the toils of unintermitting
fervice, which were rendered more intolerable by the
injuries of the feafon, the periodical rains being now
fet in with their ufual violence.
Aftohiihed and difconcerted with the length and dif¬
ficulties of the fiege, Cortes determined to make one
great effort to get poffeffion of the city before he re-
linquilhed the plan which he had hitherto followed,
and had recourfe to any other mode of attack. With
this view he fent inftruftions to Alvarado and Sando¬
val to advance with their divifions to a general afiault,
and took the command in perfon of that ported on the
caufeway of Cuyocan. Animated by his prefence, and
the expectation of fome decifive event, the Spaniards
puftied forward with irrefiftible impetuofity. They
broke through one barricade after another, forced their
w^ay over the ditches and canals, and having entered
the city, gained ground inceffantly, in fpite of the mul¬
titude and ferocity of their opponents. Cortes, though
delighted with the rapidity of his progrefs, did not
forget that he might ftill find it neceflary to retreat ;
and in order to fecure it, appointed Julian de Alderete,
a captain of chief note in the troops which he had re¬
ceived from' Hifpaniola, to fill up the canals and gaps
in the caufeway as the main body advanced. That of¬
ficer deeming it inglorious to be thus employed, while
his companions were in the heat of a&ion and the ca¬
reer of victory, negleCted the important charge com¬
mitted to him, and hurried on inconfiderately to mingle
with the combatants. The Mexicans, whofe military
attention and flcill were daily improving, no fooner ob-
ferved this, than they carried an account of it to their
monarch.
Guatimozin inftantly difeerned the confequences of
' J E the
Mexico.
106
Cortes re-
M E X [
tlie error which the Spaniards had committed,
with admirable prefence of mind, prepared to take ad¬
vantage of it. He commanded the troops polled in
the front to dacken their efforts, in order to allure the
Spaniards to puih forward, while he defpatched a large
body of chofen warriors through different llreets, fome
by land, and others by water, towards the great
breach in the cauleway, which had been left open.
On a fignal which he gave, the priells in the great
temple {truck the great drum confecrated to the god
of war. No foonet did the Mexicans near its dole¬
ful folemn found, calculated to infpire them with con¬
tempt of death and with enthufiaftic ardour, than they
ruthed upon the enemy with frantic rage. 1 he Spa¬
niards, unable to refill men urged on no lefs by reli¬
gious fury than hope of fuccefs, began to retue, at
firll leifurely, and with a good countenance ; but as
the enemy prefled on, and their owm impatience to
efcape increafed, the terror and confulion became lo
general, that when they arrived at the gap in the
caufeway, Spaniards and T lafcalans, horfemen and in¬
fantry, plunged in promifcuoufly, while the Mexicans
rulhed upon them fiercely from every fide, their light
canoes carrying them through Ihoals which the bn-
gantines could not approach. In vain did Cortes at-
pulfed in an tempt to Hop and rally his flying troops; fear render-
attack. gd them regardlefs of his entreaties or commands.
Finding all his endeavours to renew the combat fruit-
lefs, his next care was to fave fome of thofe who had
thrown themfelves into the water 5 but while thus em¬
ployed, with more attention to their fituation than to
his own, fix Mexican captains fuddenly laid hold of
him, and were hurrying him off in triumph *, and though
two of his officers refcued him at the expence of
their own lives, he received feveral dangerous wounds
before he could break loofe. Above 60 Spaniards pe-
rilhed in the rout j and what rendered the difafl^r
more afflidfing, 40 of thefe fell alive into the hands
of an enemy never known to Ihow mercy^to a cap¬
tive.
The approach of night, though it delivered the de-
jefled Spaniards from the attacks of the enemy, uiher-
ed in, what was hardly lefs grievous, the noife of their
.barbarous triumph, and of the horrid fellival with
which they celebrated their vidlory. Every quarter
of the city was illuminated ; the great temple Ihone
.with fuch peculiar fplendour, that the Spaniards could
plainly fee the people in motion, and the priells bufy
in hafiening the preparations for the death of the pri-
foners. Through the gloom they fancied that they
difcerned their companions by the wffiitenefs of their
fkins, as they were llripped naked and compelled to
dance before the image of the god to whom they were
to be offered. They heard the Ihrieks of thofe who
were facrificed, and thought they could dillinguiffi each
unhappy victim by the well known found of his voice.
Imagination added to what they really faw or heard,
and augmented its horror. 'The moll unfeeling melt¬
ed into tears of compaffion, and the Houteft heart
trembled at the dreadful fpedtacle which they be¬
held. - ,
Cortes, who, befides all that he telt in common with
his foldiers, was opprefled with the additional load of
anxious reffe6lions natural to a general on fuch an un¬
expected calamity, could not like them relieve his mind
Mexico.
107
77o ] HEX
and, by giving vent to its anguiffi. He was obliged to af»
fume an air of tranquillity in order to revive the fpirits
and hopes of his followers. The jundlure, indeed,^ re¬
quired an extraordinary exertion of fortitude. The The Mexi-
Mexicans, elated with their vidtory, fallied out next^^d^J
morning to attack him in his quarters. But they did Aeth
not rely on the efforts of their own arms alone : they fury.
fent the heads of the Spaniards whom they had ihcri-
ficed to the leading men in the adjacent provinces, and
affured them that the god of war, appeafed by the blood
of their invaders, which had been Ihed fo plentifully on
his altars, had declared with an audible voice, that in
eight days time thofe hated enemies ffiould be finally
deilroyed, and peace and profperity re-eftatfliffied in the
empire.
A predidlion, uttered with fuch confidence, and in
terms fo void of ambiguity, gained univerfal credit
among a people prone to fuperllition. The zeal of
the provinces which had-already declared againll the
Spaniards augmented, and feveral which had hitherto
remained inactive took arms with enthufiaffic ardour to
execute the decrees of the gods. The Indian auxiliaries
who had joined Cortes, accuftomed to venerate the
fame deities with the Mexicans, and to receive the re-
fponfes of their priells with the fame implicit faith, aban¬
doned the Spaniards as a race of men devoted to certain
dellruftipn. Even the fidelity of the Tlafcalans was >
lliaken, and the Spanilh troops were left almoil alone in
their llations. Cortes, finding that he attempted in
vain to difpel the fuperllitious fears of his confederates
by argument, took advantage, from the imprudence of
thofe who had framed the prophecy in fixing its accom-
pliffiment fo near at hand, to give them a linking de-
monllration of its falfity. He fufpended all military-
operations during the period marked out by the oracle.
Under cover of the brigantines, which kept the enemy
at a diltance, his troops lay in fafety, and .the fatal term
expired without any difaffer.
His allies, affiamed of their own credulity, returned
to their llation. Other tribes, judging that the gods,
who had now deceived the Mexicans, had decreed
finally to withdraw their protedlion from them, joined
his flandard ; and fuch was the levity of a-Ample rcS
people, moved by every flight impreffion, that, in a Cortes atl-
Ihort time after fuch a general defedtion of his confe-°Pts a rnore
derates, Cortes faw himielf, if we may believe his own
account, at the head of 150,000 Indians. Even vvith 1)rocee(ijns>
fuch a numerous army, he found it neceffary to adopt
a new and more wary fyftem of operation. Inllead of
renewing his attempts to become mailer of the city at
once, by fuch bold but dangerous efforts of "valour as
he had already tried, he made his advances gradually,
and with every poffible precaution againlt expofing his
men to any calamity fimilar to :hat which they Hill be¬
wailed. As the Spaniards pulhed forward, the Indians
regularly repaired the caufeways behind them. As foon
as they got poffeffion of any part of the town, the houfes
were inllantly levelled with the ground. Day by day,
the Mexicans, forced to retire as their enemies gained
ground, were hemmed in within more narrow limits.
Guatimozin, though unable to flop the career of the
enemy, continued to defend bis capital with obllinate
refolution, and difputed every inch of ground. But the
Spaniards, having not only varied their mode of attack,
but, by order of Cortes, having changed the weapons
with
M E X [ 77
Mexico, with which they fought, were again armed with the
 * long Chinantlan fpears, which they had employed with
fuch fuccefs againft Narvaez j and, by the him arraj
in which this enabled them to range thermelves, tiiey
repelled, with little danger, the loofe aflhult ot the
Mexicans; incredible numbers of whom fell in the con-
fii£ts, which they renewed every day. While war
wafted without, famine began to confume them within
the city. The Spanfth brigantines, having the entire
command of the lake, rendered it impofiible to receive
any fupply of provifions by water. I he vaft number
of his Indian auxiliaries enabled Cortes to ftiut up the
avenues to the city by land. The ftores which Guati-
mozin had laid up were exhaufted by the multitudes
which crowded into the capital to defend their fovereign
and the-temples of their gods. Not only the people,
but perfons of the higheft rank, felt the utmoft diftrefles
of want. What they fuffered brought cn infeaious and
mortal diftempers, the laft calamity that vifits be-
• lieged cities, and which filled up the meafure of their
T09
Guatimo-
zin refufes
to fubmit
on any
terms.
woes.
But, under the preffure of fo many and mch various
evils, the fpirit of Guatimozin remained firm and un-
fubdued. He rejefted with fcorn every overture of
peace from Cortes 5 and, difdaining the idea of fubmit-
ting to the oppreflbrs of his country, determined not
to furvive its ruin. The Spaniards continued their
progrefs. At length all the three divifions penetrated
into the great fquare in the centre of the city, and
made a fecure lodgment there. Three-fourths of the
city were now reduced, and laid in ruins. The re¬
maining quarter wTas fo clofely prelTed, th^t it could
not long withftand affailaints who attacked it from their
new ftation with fuperior advantage, and more affured
expeftation of fuccefs. The Mexican nobles, feli¬
citous to fave the life of a monarch whom they rever¬
ed, prevailed on Guatimozin to retire from a place
where refiftance was now vain, that he might roufe the
more diftant provinces of the empire to arms, and
maintain there a more fuccefs fill ftruggle with the pub¬
lic enemy. In order to facilitate the execution ot this %
meafure, they endeavoured to amufe Cortes with over-
tu.es of fubmiftion, that, while his attention was em¬
ployed in adjuiling the articles of pacification, Gua¬
timozin might efcape unperceived. But they made this
attempt upon a leader of greater fagacity and ducern-
ment than to be deceived by their arts. Cortes lulpea-
ing their intention, and aware of what moment
to defeat it, appointed Sandoval, the officer on whole
vigilance he could moft perfedly rely, to take the
command of the brigantines, with ftnft mjundtions to
watch every motion of the enemy. Sandoval, atten¬
tive to the charge, obferving feme large canoes crowd¬
ed with people rowing along the lake with extraordi¬
nary rapidity, inftantly gave the fignal to chafe.
Gracia Holguin, who commanded the fieeteft brigan¬
tine, foon overtook them, and was preparing to fire
on the foremoft canoe, which feemed to carry fome
perfon whom all the reft followed and obeyed. At
once the rowers dxopt their .oars, and all on board,
! ] M E X
throwing down their arms, conjured him with ends , ^
and tears to forbear, as the emperor was there. Hoi- ^
guin eagerly feizedjds prize *, and Guatimozin, with a fje ;s take*
dignified compofure, gave himfelf up into his hands, prifoner.
requefting only that no infult might be offered to the
emprefs or his children. When condudled to Cortes,
he appeared neither with the fullea fiercenefs of a bar¬
barian, nor with the dejedtion of a fupplicant. . I
have done,” faid he, addreffing himfeli to the Spanifh
general, “ what became a monarch. I have defended
my people to the laft extremity. Nothing now re¬
mains but to die. Take this dagger,”, laying his
hand on one which Cortes wTore, “ plant it in my
breaft, and put an end to a life which can no longer
be of ufe.” ITt
As foon as the fate of their fovereign was known, Mex-ot
the refiftance of the Mexicans ceafed j and Cortes took
paffeffion of that fmall part of the. capital which yet
remained undeftroyed. Thus terminated the fiege of
Mexico, the mol} memorable event in the conqueft of
America. It continued 75 days, hardly one of which
paffed without fome extraordinary effort of one party
in the attack, or of the other in the defence of a city,
on the fate of which both knew that the fortune of
the empire depended. As the ftruggle here was more
obftinate, it was likewife more equal, than any be¬
tween the inhabitants of the Old and New Worlds.
The great abilities of Guatimozin, the number of his
troops, the peculiar fituation of his capital, fo far
counterbalanced the fuperiority of the Spaniards in
arms and difeipline, that they muft have relinquifhed
the enterpnfe, if they had trufted for fuccefs to them-
felves alone. But Mexico was overturned by the jea-
loufy of neighbours who dreaded its power, and by
the revolt of fubje<fts impatient to ffiake off its yoke.
By their effetiual aid, Cortes was enabled to accom-
plifti what, without fuch fupport, he would hardly
have ventured to attempt. How much toever this
account of the reduction of Mexico may detratl, on
the one hand, from the marvellous relations of fome
Spanifh writers, by aferibing that to fimple and ob¬
vious caufes which they attribute to the romantic \ a-
lour of their countrymen, it adds, on the other, to. the
merit and abilities of Cortes, who, under every difad-
vantage, acquired fuch an afeendant over unknown na¬
tions, as io render them inftruments towards carrying
his fcheme into execution.
The exultation of the Spaniards, on accompliffiing
this arduous enterprife, was at firft exceffive. But this
was quickly damped by the cruel difappointment of
thofe fanguine hopes which had animated them amid ft
fo many hardfhips and dangers. Inftead of the inex-
hauftible wealth which they ex petted from becoming
mafters of Montezuma’s treafures, and the ornaments
of fo many temples, their rapacioufneis could collett
only an incon fiderable booty amidft ruins and defla¬
tion (a). Guatimozin, aware of his impending fate,
had ordered what remained of the riches amaffed by
his anceftors to be thrown into the lake. 1 he Indian
auxiliaries, while the Spaniards were engaged in con-
5 E 2 .
(a) The gold and filver according to Cortes, amounted only to 120,000 pefos, fRelat.
inferior to that which the Spaniards had formerly divided in Mexico.
:8o, A.) a fum far
Mexico.
M E X
na
Guatimo-
zin tortur-
; with the enemy, had carried off the mod valuable
part of the fpoil. The fum to be divided among the
conquerors was fo fmall, that many of them difdained
to accept of the pittance which fell to their {hare, and
all murmured and exclaimed; fome again!! Cortes
and his confidants, whom they fufpe&ed of having fe-
cretly appropriated to their own ufe a large portion of
the riches which fhould have been brought into the com¬
mon dock ; others againd Guatimozin, whom they ac-
cufed of obdinacy, in refufin^ to difcover the place where
he had hidden his treafure.
Arguments, entreaties, and promifes, were employ¬
ed in order to foothe them ; but with fo little effedt,
that Cortes, from folicitude to check this growing
fpirit of difcontent, gave way to a deed which dained
the glory of all his great adlions. Without regardine
a:— • r ° o
C 772 ]
M E X
a ole of thefe, according to Clavigero, now fcarcely Mexico
; I U1;U1 V1S Srfeat acT.Ions*. VVltfut regarding The province of the Otomies began in the northern
the former dignity of Guatimozin, or feeling any re- part of the vale of Mexico, extending through the
erence for thofe virtues which he had difplayed, he mountains to the north to the diftnnr*.
”3
The Spa¬
niards be¬
come ma¬
ilers of the
whole
Mexican
empire.
”4.
Ancient
divifions of
Mexico.
verence for thofe virtues which he had difplayed, he
fubjetded the unhappy monarch, together with* his
chief favourite, to torture, in order to force from them
« difcovery of the royal treafures, which it was fup-
pofed they had concealed. Guatimozin bore what¬
ever the refined cruelty of his tormentors could inflidf,
with the invincible fortitude of an American warrior,
xlis fellow-fufferer, overcome by the violence of the
anguifh, turned a dejefted eye towards his mader,
which feemed to implore his perraidion to reveal all
that he knew. But the high-fpirited prince, darting
on him a look of authority mingled with fcorn, check¬
ed his weaknefs, by alking, “ Am I now repofing on
a bed of flowers ?” Overawed by the reproach, he per-
ievered in his dutiful filence, and expired. Cortes,
afliamed of a fcene fo horrid, refcued the royal vi£tim
nom the hands of his torturers, and prolonged a life
referved for new indignities and fufferings.
The fate of the capital, as both parties had fore-
een, decided that of the empire. The provinces fub-
mitted one after another to the conquerors. Small
detachments of Spaniards marching through them
without interruption, penetrated, in different quarters,
to the great Southern ocean, which, according to the
ideas of Columbus, they imagined would open a fliort
as well as eafy paffage to the Eaft Indies, and fecure
to the crown of Caflile all the envied wealth of thofe
fertile regions; and the adive mind of Cortes becran
already to form fchemes for attempting this important
dilcovery. In his after-fchemes, however, he was dif-
appointed ; but Mexico hath ever fince remained in the
hands of the Spaniards.
The ancient kingdom of Mexico, properly fo called
was divided into feveral provinces, of which the vale*
of Mexico itfelf was the fineft in every refpea:. It is
furrounded by verdant mountains, meafuring upwards
of 120 miles in circumference at their bafe. A great
part of this vale is occupied by two lakes, the upper
one of frefli water, but the lower one brackifli, com¬
municating with the former by means of a canal! All
the water running from the mountains is collefted in
this lower lake, on account of its being in the bottom
ot the valley; hence it was ready, when fwelled by
. —uj wiavjgeiu, now icarceiy
retain one-twentieth part of their former magnificence.
1 lie principal inland provinces to the northward were
the Otomies; to the fouth-weft the Malatzincas and
Cuulatecas; to the fouth the Tlahuicas and Cobu-
ixcas; to the fouth eall, after the flates of Itzocan
J auhtepac, Quauhquecollon, Atlixco, Tehuacan, and
others, were the great provinces of the Mixtecas, the
/Lapotecas, and the Chiapanecas ; towards the eaff
were the provinces of Tepayacac, the Popolocas, and
iotonacas. The maritime provinces on the Mexican
gulf were Coatzacualco and Cuetlachtlan, called by
the Spaniards Cotajia. On the Pacific ocean were
thofe of Cohman, Zacatollan, Tototepec, Tecuantepec,
and Zoconochco. r *
The province of the Otomies began in the northern
mountains to the north to the diftance of 90" miles
from the city of Mexico ; the principal cities being
lollan or Tula, and Xilotepec : the latter made the
capital of the country by the Spaniards. Beyond the
iettlements of the Otomies, the country for more than
a thoufand miles in extent was inhabited only by bar¬
barous and wandering favages.
The Malatzinca province contained the valley of
iolocan, and all the country from Taximaroa to the
fronuer of the kingdom of Michuacan. The valley
of lolocan is upwards of 40 miles long from fouth-
eaft to. north-weft, and 30 in breadth where broadeft.
Its principal city, named alfo Tolocan, is fituated at
the foot of a high mountain covered with fnow, 20
miles diftant from Mexico.
The country of the Cuitlatecas extended from north,
eaft to fouth-weft, upwards of 200 miles, extending as
far as the Pacific ocean. Their capital was named
Mexcaltepec, once a great and populous city, fituated
upon the fea-coaft ; but of which the ruins are now
fcarcely vifible. That of the Tlahuicas was named
(^uauhnahuac, and fituated about 40 miles to the fouth-
ward of Mexico. The province extended almoft 60
miles louthward, commencing from the fouthern moun¬
tains of the vale of Mexico.
1 he country of the Cohuixcas extended on the
louthward as far as the Pacific ocean, through that
part where at prefen^ the port and city of Acapulco
rl'-i h dmdcd into the ftates of Tzompanco,
Ghilapan Tlapan, and Tiftla ; the latter a very hot
and unwholefome country. To this province belong¬
ed a place named Tlachco, celebrated for its filver
mines.
1 he province of the Mixtecas extended from Acat-
ian, a place di.ftant about 120 miles from Mexico, as
tar as. the Pacific ocean towards the fouth eaft. The
inhabitants carried on a confiderable commerce, and
had feveral well inhabited cities and villages; To the
caft of the Mixtecas were the Zapotecas, fo called from
their capital Teetzapotlan. In their diftrid was the
valley of Huaxyacac, now Oaxaca or Guaxaca.
The province of Mazatlan lay to the northward of
the Mixtecas ; and jto the northward and eaftward of
extraordinary mins, to overfl^ The ci7of Mexico" £ Zan T? > ^ ^ T" and. of
as has been already obferved. This delightful region the famT ^ ^lt,Pa.ntla* h.aving their capitals of
"litTSLTpanT^fifto ot^rwith tnt
KCrable vlUagcs hamIets 5 but the ^ co„fider: mouS h It
M E X [7
Mexico, of which the moft confiderable were Cholallan and Ku-
1—v ' exotzinco. Thefe two having, with the afliftance of
the Tlafcalans, fhaken off the Mexican yoke, re-efta-
blilhed their former ariftocratical government. The
Cholulans poffeffed a fmall hamlet called Cuitlaxcoa-
pan, in the place where the Spaniards afterwards
founded the city of Angelopoli, which is the fecond
©f New Spain.
To the eaftw'ard of Cholula lay a confiderable ftate
named Tepeyacac ; and beyond that the Popolocas,
whofe principal cities wTere Tecamachalco and Que-
cholac. To the fouthward of the Popolocas wTas the
ftate of Tahuacan, bordering upon the country of the
Mixtecas ; to the eaft, the maritime province of Cuet-
lachtlan ; and to the north the Totonacas. The ex¬
tent of this province wras 150 miles, beginning from
the frontier of Zacatlan, a ftate diftant about 80 miles
from the court, and terminating in the gulf of Mexi¬
co. Befides the capital, named Mi'zquihuacan, this
country had the beautiful city of Chempoallan, fitu-
ated on the coaft of the gulf; remarkable for being
that by which the Spaniards entered the Mexican em¬
pire.
Coliman was the moft northerly of the provinces on
the Pacific ocean •, the capital, named alfo Coliman,
being in lat. 19. long. 92. W. Towards the fouth-eaft
was the province of Zacotlan, with its capital of the
fame name $ then came the coaft of the Cuitlatecas j
after it that of the Cohuixcans, in which was the cele¬
brated port of Acapulco. The Jopi bordered on the
Cohuixca coaft ; and adjoining to that the Mixteca
country, now called Xicayan; next to that wTas the
large province of Tecuantepec 5 and laftly, that of
Xoconochco.
This province, the moft foutherly of the Mexican
empire, wras bounded on the eaft and fouth-eaft by the
country of Xochitepec, which did not belong to Mexi¬
co ; on the weft by Tecuantepec •, and on the fouth
by the ocean. The capital, called alfo Xoconochco, was
fituated between two rivers, in 14 degrees of latitude
and 103. W. longitude. On the Mexican gulf there
were, befides the country of the Totonecas, the pro¬
vinces of Cuetlachtlan and Coatzacualco ; the latter
bounded on the eaft by the ftates of Tabafco and the
s peninfula of Yucatan. The province of Cuetlachtlan
comprehended all the coaft between the rivers Alva¬
rado and Antigua, where the province of the Totone¬
cas began.
The climate of this vaft country varies very much
according to the fituation of its different parts. The
maritime places are hot, unhealthy, and moift. The
lands which lie in the neighbourhood of high moun¬
tains, the tops of which are always covered with
fnow, muft of neceflity be cold ; and Clavigero in¬
forms us, that he has been on a mountain not more
than 25 miles diftant from the city of Mexico, where
there was white froft and ice even in the dog-days.
11 All the other inland countries (fays our author),
where the greateft population prevailed, enjoy a climate
fo mild and benign, that they neither feel the rigour
of wfinter nor the heats of fummer. It is true, in
many of thefe countries, there is frequently white froft
in the three months of December, January, and Fe¬
bruary, and fometimes even it fnows ; but the fmall
inconvenience which fuch cold occafions continues on-
"s
Climate.
73 1 M E X
ly till the rifing fim : no other fire than his rays is ne- Mexico,
ceffary to give warmth in winter •, no other relief isv "
wanted in the feafon of heat but the ftiade : the fame
clothing W'hich covers men in the dog-days defends
them in January, and the animals fleep all the year un¬
der the open Iky. ug
“ This mildnefs and agreeablenefs of climate under Caufes of
the torrid zone is the effe£l of feveral natural caufes m‘ldnefs of
entirely unknown to the ancients, who did not believe ^ c*unatei’
it to be inhabited ; and not wrell underftood by fome
moderns, by whom it is believed unfavourable to thofe
who live in it. The purity of the atmofphere, the
fmaller obliquity of the folar rays, and the longer ftay
of this luminary above the horizon in winter, in com-
parifon of other regions farther removed from the
equator, concur to leffen the cold, and to prevent all
that horror which disfigures the face of nature in
other climes. During that feafon a ferene fky and
the natural delights of the country are enjoyed j where¬
as, under the frigid, and even for the moft; part under
the temperate zones, the clouds rob man of the pro-
fpeft of heaven, and the fnow buries the beautiful pro-
du£tions of the earth. No lefs caufes combine to tem¬
per the heat of fummer. The plentiful (bowers which
frequently water the earth after mid-day from April
or May to September or Ovftober j the high moun¬
tains, continually loaded with fnow, fcattered here and
there through the country of Anahuac j the cool wdnds
which breathe from them in that feafon 5 and the fhorter
ftay of the fun above the horizon, compared with the
circumftances of the temperate zone, transform the
climes of thofe happy countries into a cool and cheer¬
ful fpring. But the agreeablenefs of the climate is
counterbalanced by thunder ftorms, which are frequent
in fummer, particularly in the neighbourhood of. the
mountain of Tlafcala 5 and by earthquakes, which are
at all times felt, though with lefs danger than terror.
Storms of hail are neither more frequent nor more fe-
vere than in Europe.” ny
One undoubted inconvenience which Mexico has IsMexicaR
that of volcanoes. One named by the Spaniards %/. volcanoes*^
can d'Orizaba is higher than the peak of Teneriffe, ac¬
cording to the Jefuit Tallandier, who meafured them
both. It began to fend forth fmoke in the year 1545,
and continued burning for 20 years, but has not dif-
covered any fymptoms of eruption fince that time. It
is of a conical figure •, and may be feen at 50 leagues
diftance. The top is always covered with fnow, but
the lower part with woods of pine and other valu¬
able timber. It is about 90 miles to the eaftward of
the capital.
Twro other mountains, named Popocatepec and I%~
taccihuatl, which lie near each other, at the diftance of
33 miles to the fouth-eaft of Mexico, are likew’ife
furprifingly high. Clavigero fuppofes the former-'
to be higher than the higheft of the Alps, con-
fidering the elevated ground on w’hich the bafe of
it Hands. It has a crater more than half a mile wide 5
from which, in the time of the Mexican kings, great
quantities of fmoke and flame iffued. In the 17th
century it frequently threw out great (bowers of afties
upon the adjacent places ; but in the 18th century hard¬
ly any fmoke has been obferved. This mountain is
named by the Spaniards Vo/can, and the other Sierra
Nevada. The latter has alfo fometimes emitted flames.
Both -
M E X [ 774 ] M E X
Mexico. Both of them have their tops always covered with fnow
v ~ in fuch quantities, that the maffes which fall down upon
the neighbouring rocks fupply the cities of Mexico,
Gelopoli, Cholula, and all the adjacent country to the
diftance of 40 miles, with that commodity $ of which
the confumpt is fo great, that in 1746 the import up¬
on what was confumed in the city of Mexico amount¬
ed to 15,222 Mexican crowns 5 home years after it d-
mounted to 20,000; and is now in all probability a
great deal more.
Befides thefe volcanoes, there are others in Mexico
of a very remarkable height. The great chain of
mountains called the Andes is continued through the
iftbmus of Panama and through all Mexico, until
they are loft in the unknowm mountains of the north.
The moft confiderable of that chain is knowm in Mexi¬
co by the name of Sierra Madre, particularly in Cina-
loa and Tarahumara, provinces no lefs than 1200 miles
ug diftant from the capital.
Rivers and Mexico is wTell watered by very confiderable rivers,
lakes. though none of them are comparable to thofe of South
America. Some of thefe run into the gulf of Mexi¬
co, and others into the Pacific ocean. The Alvarado
has its principal fource among the mountains of the
Zapotecas, and difcharges itfelf by three navigable
mouths into the Mexican gulf, at the diftance of 30
miles from Vera Cruz. The moft celebrated of the
rivers which run into the Pacific ocean is that called by
the Spaniards Guadalaxara or Great River. It rifes in
the mountains of Toloccan *, and after running a courfe
of more than 600 miles, difcharges itfelf into the ocean
in 2 2? latitude.
There are likewife in this country feveral lakes of
very confiderable magnitude j but thofe of Nicaragua,
Chapallan, and Pazquaro, which are of the greateft
„ extent, did not belong to the ancient Mexican em¬
pire. The moft remarkable were thofe in the vale of
Mexico, upon wThich the capital of the empire was
founded. Of thefe, the frelh water one, called the
lake of Chaleo, extended in length from eaft to wTeft
12 miles, as far as the city of Xochimilco j from
thence, taking a northerly direftion, it incorporated
itfelf by means of a canal with the lake of Tezcuco ;
but its breadth did not exceed fix miles. The other,
named the lake of Tezcuco, extended 15, or rather 17
miles from eaft to w'eft, and fomething more from
fouth to north ; but its extent is now much lefs, by
reafon of the Spaniards having diverted the courfe of
many of the ftreams which run into it. This lake is
fait, which Clavigero fuppofes to arife from the nature
5>f the foil which forms its bed.
Befides thefe, there are a number of fmaller lakes,
fome of which are very delightful. There is a vaft
variety of mineral waters, of the nitrous, fulphureous,
and aluminous kinds, fome of them fo hot that meat
may be boiled in thegi. At Tetuhuacan is a kind
of petrifying water, as well as in feveral other parts
of the empire. One of them forms a kind of fmooth
white ftones, not difpleafing to the tafte ; the ferap-
ings of which taken in brcih are celebrated as a dia¬
phoretic, probably without any good reafon. The
dofe for a perfon not difficult to be fw'eated is one
dram of the ferapings. Many of the rivers of Mexi-
£0 afford furprifing and beautiful cafcades ; particularly
;he great river Guadalaxara, at a place called Temphque,
4
\
15 miles to the fouthward of that city. Along a deep Mexico,
river called Atoyaque is a natural bridge, confifting of
a vaft mound of earth, along wffiich carriages pafs con¬
veniently. Clavigero fuppofes it to have been the frag¬
ment of a mountain thrown down by an earthquake, and
then penetrated by the river. irp
The mineral productions of Mexico are extremely Natural
valuable, fuch as gold and filver in abundance, two productions,
fpecies of copper, tin, lead, mercury, fulphur, alum,
vitriol, amber, and afphaltum. It alfo produces dia¬
monds, amethyfts, cats-eyes, cornelians, and fome green
ftones refembling emeralds, as alfo quarries of jafper
and marble of various colours. There are faid to be
whole mountains of loadftone, and a fine white talc
which may be burnt into an excellent plafter.
The foil is capable of producing all the neceffaries,
and even the luxuries of human life. Hiftoiians men¬
tion no fewer than 1200 plants which are all indige¬
nous, or natives of the country but as thefe are laid
to be chiefly medicinal, we muft conclude that provi¬
dent nature has furniffied them with many more which
are intended for nouriffiment.
This country abounds with a great variety of flowers,
numbers of which are peculiar to itfelf, while many
exotics even rival them in luxuriance, fuch in particular
as are imported from Europe. Water-melons, apples,
pears, peaches, apricots, figs, &c. are among the exo¬
tics, which thrive in a manner equal to any of the indi¬
genous produdfions. All the maritime countries abound
wdth cocoa-nut trees, of which Hernandez mentions
four kinds, the fmalleft of wdiich is moftly ufed for cho¬
colate and other drinks.
Prior to the introduftion of corn from Europe, maize
was the principal grain of Mexico, and of which there
wTere feveral fpecies. It was brought from America to
Spain, and from thence to the other countries of
Europe. The principal kind of pulfe ufed by the
people was the French bean, the different fpecies of
which exceeded in number thofe of the maize j and
one of them in particular not only fupported the poorer
clafs, but even the Spaniflr nobility deemed it a luxury.
Hiftorians enumerate five fpecies of efculent roots, ex-
clufive of many culinary vegetables imported from the
Canaries, Spain, and other European countries. This
country produces a variety of palm trees, from the
fibres of the leaves of one fpecies of which the Mexi¬
cans manufacture thread. The timber trees are numer¬
ous, and, in refpeft of quality, faid to be inferior to
none in the world. There are whole woods of cedars
and ebonies, and fome trees mentioned by Clavigero
are of a moft ftupendous magnitude. This author
mentions one that meafured 107 Paris feet in height j
and Acofta fpeaks of one that was 16 fathoms in cir¬
cumference. A remarkable fir tree hollowed by
lightning, contained within ft IQO young men, ac¬
cording to the teftimony of the archbiftiop of Toledo,
who went to view it in the year 1770.
This country abounds alfo with aromatic and me-Medicinal
dicinal trees, producing gums, refins, &c. From one and aroma-
of thefe a halfam is produced not in the leaft inferior gums'
to the celebrated balfam of Mecca, It is of a reddifh
black or yellowiih white, of a ffiarp bitter tafte, and
of a ftrong but moft grateful odour. It is common in.
the provinces of Panuco and Chiapan, and other warm
epuntries.
The
M E X
T 775 ]
M E X
Mexico.
121
Mexican
animals.
The tree producing liquid amber, the liquid florax
of the Mexicans, is of a large fize, the leaves fimilar
to thofe of the maple, indented, white in one part
and dark, in the other, difpofed of in threes 5 the fruit
is thorny and round, but polygonous, with the furface
and the angles, yell^v ; the bark of the tree partly
green and partly tawny. By incifions in the trunk
they extradl that valuable fubftance named liquid am¬
ber, and the oil of the fame name, which is Hill more
valuable. Liquid amber is likewife obtained from a
decodtion of the branches, but it is inferior to that
obtained from the trunk.
The name copalli in Mexico is generic, and com¬
mon to all the refins; but efpecially fignifies thofe
made ufe of for incenfe. There are ten fpecies of
thefe trees yielding relins of this kind ; the principal
of which is that from which the Copal is got, fo
well known in medicine and varnilhes. A great quan¬
tity of this was made ufe of by the ancient Mexicans,
and is flill ufed for limilar purpofes by the Spaniards.
The tecopalli or tepecopalli is a 'reiin fimilar to the in¬
cenfe of Arabia $ which diftils from a tree of mode¬
rate fize that grows in the mountains, having a fruit
like an acorn, and containing the nut enveloped in a
mucilage, within which there is a fmall kernel ufeful
in medicine.
The mi-zquitl, or mezquite, is a fpecies of true aca¬
cia, and the gum diftilling from it is faid to be the true
gum arabic. It is a thorny fhrub, with branches ir¬
regularly difpofed, the leaves fmall, thin, and pinnat¬
ed j 'the fl®wers being like thofe of the birch-tree.
Of the elaftic gum, which is found in plenty in Mexi¬
co, the natives were in ufe to make foot-balls, which,
though heavy, have a better fpring than thofe filled
with air. With this they varnifh their hats, cloaks,
boots, and great coats, in a manner fimilar to what is
done in Europe with wax ; and by which means they
are rendered all water proof.
The^quadrupeds found in Mexico at the arrival of
the Spaniards, were lions, tygers, wild cats, bears,
wolves, foxes, the common flags, white flags, bucks,
wild goats, badgers, polecats, weafels,.martins, fquir-
rels, polatucas, rabbits, hares, otters, and rats. All
thefe animals-are fuppofed to be common to both con¬
tinents. The white flag, whether it be the fame fpecies
of the other or not, is undoubtedly common to both,
and was known to the Greeks and Romans. The
Mexicans call it the king of the fags. M. Buffon
imagines the wdrite colour of this creature to be the
effect of captivity ; but Clavigero fays, that it is found
wild, and of the fame white colour, on the mountains
of New Spain. In many other points, he alfo contro¬
verts the opinions of this celebrated naturalift, who will
not hllow the lion, tyger, or rabbit, to be natives ©f
America.
Clavigero enumerates the quadrupeds common to
New Spain with the reft of the continent of America.
Among thefe he will not allow a place to the Peru¬
vian fheep, the huanaca, and doth •, all of which are
peculiar to South America. Hernandez indeed makes
mention of the Peruvian fheep, and gives a drawing of
it ; but this wTas only on account of a few individuals
brought thence from'Peru, which the Mexicans called
by that name, in the fame manner as he defcribes fe-
veral animals of the Philippine ifles j not that they
had ever been bred in Mexico, or found in any country
of North America, unlefs it wasfome individual carried
there, as they are carried as a curiofity from Europe.
The animals which he allows to be common to both
countries are, the Mexican hog, the mcufete, the
opoffum, the armadillo, the techichi, a fmall animal re-
fembling a dog •, which being perfeftly dumb, gave
occafion to a report that the Mexican dogs could not
bark. The flefh of this animal w^as eaten by them, and
w'as efteemed agreeable and nourifhing food. After
the conqueft of Mexico, the Spaniards having neither
large cattle nor fheep, provided their markets with
this quadruped ; by which means, the fpecies loon
came to be extimft, though it had been very numer¬
ous. The land-fquirrel is very numerous in the king¬
dom of Michuacan, has great elegance of form, and
is extremely graceful in its movements j but it cannot
be tamed, and bites moft furioufly every perfon who-
approaches it,
Befides thefe, there are fea lions, ratoons, and that
voracious animal named the tapir. Oviedo informs
us, that he has feen it at one bite tear off twm or three
hand-breadths of fkin from a hound, and at another
a whole leg and thigh. The flefh is eatable, and its
fkin is valued on account of its being fufficiently ftrong
to refift mufket-balls. There are likewife great num¬
bers of monkeys of many different kinds j fome of
which have heads refembling thofe of dogs. Some of
them are ftrong and fierce, equalling a man in ftature
when they ftand upright.
Among the animals peculiar to Mexico, is one na¬
med coyoto, which appears to have been inaccurately
deferibed by natural hiftorians j fome making it one
fpecies and fome another. It is about the fize of a
maftiff, but more flender. The eyes are yellow and
fparkling, ears fmall, pointed, and eredl ; the fnout
blackilh, ftrong limbs, and the feet armed with large
crooked nails. The tail is thick and hairy, the fkin
a mixture of black, brown, and white j and the voice is
compounded of the howl of the wolf and the bark of
the dog. It purfues the deer, and will fometimes even
attack men. Its ufual pace is a trot, but fo quick that
a horfe at the gallop can fcarcely overtake it. The
tlalcojotl or tlalcoyoto is about the fize of a middling
dog, and the largeft animal that lives under the earth.
Its head has fome refemblance to that of a cat ; but
in colour and length of hair it refembles the lion.—-
It has a long thick tail, and feeds upon poultry and
fmall animals, wdrich it catches in the night-time.
The tepeizuintli, or mountain-dog, though it is but of
the fize of a fmall dog, is fo bold that it attacks deer,
and fometimes kills them. Its hair and tail are long,,
the body black, but the head, neck, and breaft, white.
M. Buffon reckons this animah the fame with the
glutton, but Clavigero denies it. Another animal,
larger than the two foregoing, is called the xoloil-zcumt-
li. Some of thefe are no lefs than four feet in length.
It has a face like the dog, but tufks like the wolf,
with ereft ears, the neck grofs, and the tail long.-—
It is entirely deftitute of hair, excepting only the
fnout, where there are fome thick crooked briftles.
The whole body is covered with a fmooth,Toft, afh-
coloured ikin, fpotted partly with black and tawny.
This fpeices ©f animals, as well as the two former,
are almoft totally extinft, A Lyncean academician
named
Mexico.
W«Eli?<5.
Mexican
birds.
M E X [7
named Criovanni Fabri, has endeavoured to prove that
the xoloitzcuintii is the fame with the wolf of Mexico }
but this is denied by Clavigero.
A curious animal of the mole kind is called to'zan
or tui&a. It is about the fize of an European mole,
but very different otherwife. The body is about fe-
ven or eight inches long, and well made; the fnout
like that of a moufe, the ears fmall and round, with
the tail fhort. The mouth is armed with very llrong
teeth, and its paws are furnifhed with ftrong crooked
nails, with which it digs its habitation in the earth.
It is extremely dellruSive to the corn fields by the
quantity of grain it fteals, and to the highways by
the number of holes it makes in them ; for when,
on account of the dimnefs of its fight, it cannot find
its firft hole, it makes another, and fo on. It digs
the earth with its claws and two canine teeth which
it has in the upper jaw.
The birds are fo numerous, and of fuch various ap¬
pearances and qualities, that Mexico has been called
the country of birds, as Africa is of quadrupeds. Her’
nandez deferibes above 2co peculiar to the country.
He allows to the eagles and hawks of Mexico a
fupeviority over thefe of Plurope ; and the falcons of
this country were formerly efieemed fo excellent, that,
by the defire of Philip II. a hundred of them were
lent every year over to Spain. The largeft, the meft
beautiful, and the moft valuable kind of eagles, is
called by the Mexicans it%quauhtli, and will purfue not
only the larger kinds of birds, but quadrupeds, and even
xnen.
The ravens of Mexico do not, like thofe of other
countries, feed upon carrion, but fubfift entirely by
Healing corn. The carrion is devoured by the birds
called in South America gal/imz^i, in Mexico zopi-
fois and aure. By Hernandez they are faid to be a
fpecies of ravens j but, according to Clavigero, they
are very different, not only in their fize, but in the
ihape of their head, their flight, and their voice.
The aquatic birds are very numerous, and of great
variety.—-There are at lead 20 fpecies of ducks, a
vaft number of geefe, with feveral kinds of herons,
great numbers of fwans, quails, water rails, divers,
king’s fifliers, pelicans, &c. The multitude of ducks
is fometimes fo great, that they cover the fields, and
appear at a diftance like flocks of flreep. Some of
the herons and egrets are perfectly white, fome afh-
coloured $ others have the plumage of the body
white, while the neck, with the tops and upper part
of the wings, and part of the tail, are enlivened with
a bright fcarlet, or beautiful blue.
Numbers of the other claffes of birds are valuable
for their flefh, plumage, or fong, while fome dre
remarkable for their extraordinary inftinft or other pro¬
perties. Clavigero enumerates more than 70 fpecies
of thofe which afford an agreeable and wholefome
food. Befides the common fowls which were brought
from the Canaries to the Antilles, and from thefe to
Mexico, there were, and ftill are, fowls peculiar to
the country itfelf. Thefe partly referable the common
fowl and partly the peacock, whence they had the
name of gallipavos from the Spaniards. From Mexi¬
co they were imported into Europe, where they have
multiplied very faft, efpecially in Italy, though the
common fowls have multiplied much more in Mexico.
3
^6 ] M E X
There are great numbers of birds valuable on ac- Mexico,
count of their plumage, which was made ufe of by v——■
the Mexicans in their excellent mofaic works; an art
which feems now to be totally loll. Peacocks have
been carried from the old continent to Mexico j but,
not being attended to, have propagated very flowly.
The birds remarkable for their fong are likewife very
numerous j among which that called the centxonitl, by
Europeans the mocking-bird, is the moft remarkable, on
account of its counterfeiting naturally the notes of all
others it hears. There are great numbers of beautiful
parrots ; and there is a bird which counterfeits the
human voice, but in a kind of burlefque tone, and will
follow travellers a great way. The tzacua is remark¬
able for its- inftinft. Birds of this kind live in fociety,
every tree being a village or city to them, having great
numbers of nefts in the neighbourhood of each other,
all hanging from the boughs. One of them, whofe
office it is to be the head or guard of the village, re-
fides in the middle of the tree $ from which it flies
about from one neft to another, vifiting them all, and
after finging a little, returns to its place, while the reft
continue perfeftly filent. If any bird of a different
fpecies approaches the tree, he flies to it, and with
his bill and wings endeavours to drive it off; but if
a man or any large animal comes near, he flies feream-
ing to another tree j and if at that time any of his
fellows happen to be returning to their nefts, he meets
them, and, changing his note, obliges them to retire
again-; as foon as he perceives the danger over, he re¬
turns to his wonted round of vifiting the nefts.
Mexico, like all other American countries, aboundsR
with reptiles, many of them of an enormous fize. ^
The crocodiles are not lefs to be dreaded than thofe of
Africa or Afia, and there are likewife fome of thofe
monftrous ferpents met with in the Eaft Indies and in
South America ; though happily the fpecies of thofe
terrible creatures feems to be nearly extinft, as they
are feldom to be found but in fome folitary wood, or
other remote place. There are great numbers of liz¬
ards, forae of which the people luppofe to be poifon-
ous ; but Clavigero thinks this opinion ill founded.
There are feveral kinds of poifonous ferpents, of which
the rattlefnake is one.
The aquatic animals are innumerable. Clavigero AqJai'u.
mentions a fpecies of frogs fo large that a fingle one animals,
will weigh a pound, and which are excellent food.—
Of filh proper for food, he fays that he has counted up- *
wards of 100 fpecies, without taking in the turtle,
crab, lobfter, or any other cruftaceous animal. The
fnarks are well known for their voracity. A whole
fheep’s ikin, and even a large butcher’s knife, has been
found in the belly of one of them. They are accuftom-
ed to follow veffels, to devour any filth that is thrown
overboard ; and, according to Oviedo, they have been
known to keep up with Ihips failing before a fair wind
for no lefs than 500 miles. The bottetto is a fifti about
eight inches in length, but exceflively thick. While
this filh lies alive upon the beach, it fwells whenever it
is touched to an enormous fize, and boys often take
pleafure in making it burft with a kick. The liver is
fo poifonous as to kill with ftrong convulfions in half
an hour after it is eaten.
Of flying and other minute infects, the number isinfe&s5.
prodigioufly great. There are a variety of beetles :
forae
M E X
t 777 ]
M E X
Mexico, fome o£ a green colour make a great noife in flying j on
—-v 8 which account children are fond of them. There
are' great numbers of fhining beetles, which make a
delightful appearance at night, .as well as the lumi¬
nous flies which abound in the country. There are fix
kinds of bees and four kinds of wafps ; of which
laft, one colle&s wax and honey of a very fweet
tafte ; another is called the wandering wafp from
its frequent change of abode j and in coniequence. of
thefe changes, it is conftantly employed in colle&ing
materials for its habitations. The lake of Mexico
abounds with a kind of fly, the eggs of which are
depofited upon the flags and rufhes in fuch quantities
as to form large mafies. Thefe are collefted by the
fifhermen, and carried to market for fale. Ihey are
eaten by both Mexicans and Spaniards, and have much
the fame tafte as the caviare of fifh. There are abund¬
ance of gnats in the moift places and lakes } but the
capital, though fituated upon a lake, is entirely fiee
from them. The butterflies are in vaft numbers, and
their wings glow with colours far fuperior to thofe of
Europe ; the figures of fome of them are given by Her¬
nandez. But notwithftanding its beauties and advan¬
tages, Mexico is fubje£t to the dreadful devaftations oi
locufts, which fometimes occalion the moft deftruftive
famines.
There are fome of the worms of Mexico made ufe
of. by the inhabitants as food-, others are poifonous.
There are great numbers of fcolopendrae and fcor-
pions, fome of the former growing to an immenfe
fize. Hernandez fays, that he has feen fome of them
two feet long and two inches thick. The fcorpions
are very numerous 5 and in the hot parts of the coun¬
try their poifon is fo ftrong as to kill children, and
give terrible pain to adults. Their fling is moft dan¬
gerous during thofe hours of the day in which the fun
is hotteft. There is a mifehievous kind of tick, which
in the hot countries abounds among the grafs. From
thence it eafily gets upon the clothes, and from them
upon the fkin. There it fixes with fuch force, from
the particular figure of its feet, that it can fcarcely be
got off. At firft it feems nothing but a fmall black
fpeck, but in a fhort time enlarges to fuch a degree,
from the blood which it fucks, that it equals the fize of
a bean, and then affumes a leaden colour. If it is not
fpeedily removed, a w'ound is made fimilar to that
Il6 which the nigera or chegoe makes.
Silk and Mexico produces filk-w7orms : and the manufacture
cochineal, of filk might be carried on to great advantage, were
it not prohibited for fome political reafons. Befides
the common filk, there is another found in the woods,
very white, foft, and ftrong. It grows on the trees in
feveral maritime places, particularly in dry feafons.
Unlefs by poor people, however, this filk is not turned
to any ufe, partly from inattention to their interefts,
but “ chiefly (fays our author) from the obftru&ions
which would be thrown in the way of any one who
fhould attempt a trade of that kind. We know from
Cortes’s letters to Charles V. that filk ufed to be fold
in the Mexican markets 5 and fome pictures are ftill
preferved, done by the ancient Mexicans upon a paper
made of filk.” .
Cochineal is one of the moft valuable prodsCts of
Mexico, and great care is taken to rear the infeCt in
Vol. XIII. Part II.
Mexico.
different parts ; but the belt is that which comes fxom
the province of Mizteca. Some have reckoned that
more than 2500 bags of cochineal are fent every year
from Mizteca to Spain ; and the trade in that article
carried on by the city of Oaxaca is computed at
200,000 crowms value. . . 127
Though Mexico was originally inhabited by a General
number of different nations, yet all of them refembled defeription
each other pretty much, not only in charafter, but m a*
external appearance. “ They generally rather exceed
(fays Clavigero) than fall under the middle fize, and
are well proportioned in all their limbs. Ihey have
good complexions, narrow foreheads, black eyes, clean,
firm, white, and regular teeth •, thick, black, goarfe,
gloffy hair j thin beards, and generally no hair upon
their legs, thighs, and arms, their Ikin being of an
olive colour. There is fcarcely a nation no. earth in
which there are fewer perfons deformed ; and it would
be more difficult to find a fingle hump-backed, lame,
or fquint-eyed man among a thoufand Mexicans, than
among a hundred of any other nation. Ihe unpleafant-
nefs of their colour, the fmallnefs of their foreheads,
the thinnefs of their beards, and the coarfenefs of their
hair, are fo far compenfated by the regularity and fine
proportion of their limbs, that they can neither be
called very beautiful nor the contrary, but feem to hold
a middle place between the extremes. Their appear¬
ance neither engages nor difgufts •, but among the
young women of Mexico, there are many very beauti¬
ful and fair, whofe beauty is at the fame time rendeied
more winning by the natural fweetnefs of their manner
of fpeaking, and by the pleafantnefs and natural
modefty of their w'hole behaviour. 1 hey. become gray¬
headed and bald earlier than the Spaniards j and al¬
though moft of them die of acute cuieafes, it is not
very uncommon among them to attain the uge of a
hundred. They are now, and ever have been, mode¬
rate in eating, but their paflion for ftrong liquors is
carried to the greateft excefs. Formerly they were
kept within bounds by the feverity of the laws; but
now that thefe liquors are become fo common, and
drunkennefs is unpuniftred, one half of the people feem
to have loft their fenfes 5 and this, together with the
poor manner in which they live, expofed to all the
baneful impreffions of difeafe, and deftitute of. ta.e
means of corre£ting them, is undoubtedly the piinci-
pal caufe of the havock which is made among them by
epidemical diforders.
“ Many perfons allow the Mexicans to poffefs a
great talent of imitation, but deny them that of in¬
vention } a vulgar error, which is contradicted by the
ancient hiftory of that people. I heir minds aie af¬
fected by the fame variety of paflions with thofe of
other nations, but not to an equal degiee. Ihe
Mexicans feldom exhibit thofe tranfports of anger, or
frenzies of love, which are fo common in other coun¬
tries. They are flow in their motions •, and fhow a
wonderful tenacity and fteadinefs in thofe works which
require time and long-continued attention. They are
moft patient of injury and hardfhip 5 and where they
fufpeCt no evil intention, are moft grateful for any
kindnefs Ihown : but foijie Spaniards, who cannot di-
ftinguifli patience from infenfibility, nor diftruil from
ingratitude, fay proverbially, that the Indians are alike
b r F infenfible
Mexico.
HEX
^—v   ”!|f“nflb!,e t0 or benefits. ±„al naoitual antrult
which they entertam of all who are not of their nation,
prompts then, often to lie and betray; 1„ that Rood
aito certainly has not been refpedled among them fo
much as it deierves. They are by nature taciturn, fe-
nous, and auftere; and fhow more anxiety to puniili
crimes than to reward virtues. f
Generohty and perfect difintereftednefs are the
piincipal features of their character. Gold with the
iUextpans has not that value which it enjoys elfewhere.
Ihey ftem to give without reludance what has colt
t eem the utmolt labour to acquire. The neglect of
eeL.fli intereils, with the dillike which they 'bear to
r' f fr,uler'’ and confequently their averfion to per¬
form the talks impeded by them, feem to have been
he on y grounds of that much exaggerated indolence
w w nch the Americans have been charged : and
ter all, there is no fet ot people in that country who
labour more or whofe labour is mare neceffary. The
reipcd paid by the young people to the old, and by
children to their parents, feem to be feelings that are
born with them. Parents are very fond of their chil¬
dren ; but the affedicn which hufbands bear to their
tTeirShntbCedtaInIy •han tHat Which vvIves hear to
then hufbands j and it is very common for the men to
love their neighbours wives better than their own.
_ Lourage and cowardice feem alternately fo to affed
neir mmds, that t is often difficult to determine whe-
/ e °.n,e .or thf other predominates. They meet
^angers with intrepidity, when they proceed from na¬
tural caufes, but are eafily terrified by the Item look
of a Spaniard. That flupid indifference about death
rem in'tT7, l7aUth°rS have thought inhe-
rent m the charader of every American, is peculiar
i hale n 'f ° f' yet/° rude and uninformed as to
na\e no iaea of a future Hate.”
“'■CoS:ir' 'vho vf i,”\abi,ed Mex:c°>
counted much more pohfiied than thofe who came af
ter them, infomuch that in after ages it was cuftomary
to d.ftingmfii people of ingenuity and learning by the
.Tolte?as* They always lived in fociety
coJ eded into cities, under the government of kinrj
.and had regular laws. They w ere more addicted ^to
the arts of peace than of war 5 and it was to them that
he. fucceeding nations owned themfelves indebted for
their knowledge of the culture of grain, cotton pep
Peu C‘ T f7 underftood the art of calling Lfd
and filver, and. melting them in whatever fornfs they
plea fed , acquiring alfo great reputation from their fkiU
m cutting gems of all kinds 5 and they were befid s we
verfed m the fciences ofaftronomy and7 chronoW dI
Acc°rdlng to the ancient hifiories of thefe people
.bey obferved about a hundred years befofe tbe’
Omit,an era horv far the folar year exceeded the ci!
■ one , fupp.ymg the defeft, as we do, by the addi
tmn of a day once in four-years. In the year 6fo
w lie their monarchy continued in Tula, a celebrated’
kin^rSenr^fthf^r^’ “ofThe'n
with their alMance painted a famous book" named
TWWi, or ‘ divine book,” in which were renre
[f ed’ V^ry P‘fu figures, the origin 0f the Indians
thew difperfion after the confufion of tonaUes at Ba
’ tlieir J0Urf!ey m Afiai ^eir fir ft fettlemeuts in
ChicHeme-
eas.
-n, n n- , [ 778 1 M E X
al d,flrUl1 $rn'*’ f '>2 ?f *0 kingdom of Tula, and Mexico.
their progrefs till that time : but thefe, and other ac- v—
cournf, of their great knowledge and accuracy, favour
toomuch ofexoggeratmn, or perhaps invention, from
ti which it is impoffible to clear the Spaniards w hen
fpeaking of American affairs.
The Chichemecas derived their knowledge of agri--r- 129
culture from the ioltecas, and of confequence the Mexi frpr0'
cans a, „ Being defiitute of plough’s
fuflmient ftiongth to aflift them in their labour, they
made ufe of an inftrument of hard copper, which they
called coatl or coa but differing in fhape either from
trfes th0erfimatt0Cf* U P M C°mi ^ t0 cut
tiees the figuce of which was the fame with ours-
pnly that they.put the axe into the eye of the handle’
mftxad of putting the handle into the eye of the axe as
we do. They had feveral other iuftmken.s of anri!
cu ture, but the forms ot them are not mentioned°by
hiftonans. I hey watered their fields by means of the
rners and fmall torrents which came from the moun-
tmns , faumg dan s to collecl: them, and forming ca¬
nals to conduct them properly to the places which re-
quired monlure. They ufed enclofures of ftone, as
u,U as hedges for the fields, ufing for their hedges the
aid"what'’ ■ ‘S WClIcalculated for the purpofej
and what reparations were neceffary they gave in De¬
cember. 1 hey dibbled their maize : a° method of
Wing more flow indeed than the ordinary one, but
Indi certainly repays the trouble by a vaftly krg€r
Wn raS by frin§ a confiderable quantify
, • Slo|e t0, the newly lov/n fields they com-
kept watlh^^ 3 I™311 rCr °f WOOd’ where a man
kept watch, in order to drive aw-ay the birds that came
S/spa„Tds! gra"’ ' 3 CUli0m fl!1' Ptefe"'Cd air‘onS
J: e^mdfiX.°faIidtfet
ntiir °"!fflk!tchtn hTbs>
al herbs, and flowers, with great tafte and regularity
Some „f the royal gardens excited the admiration &
the Spaniards la much, that Cortes, in a letter m
Charles V informed him that the garden at Huax
moftCdT W I110? enfive» the beautiful, and
moft delightful, that had ever been beheld. It was fix
miles in circumference, and watered by a beautiful
river whmh crofted it ; and there were pLfure houfe!
ereded at proper aiftances from one another. It was
for many years preferved by the Spaniards The
plants moft cultivated, next to maize, were cotton
cocoa, and aloe j which laft r ’ ’
ful purpofes. See Aloe.
Though they had not the
quadrupeds, as horfes, oxen, or fheep, they bred "ubTame a“
an immenfe number ofquadrupeds unknown l EuropcP'
Prtvate perfons brought up the fmall quadrupeds al-'
eady mentioned, refembling little dogs; a" we 1 as
urkeys quads, geefe, ducks, and other'kind, of fowl!
In the houfes of the great men were bred fifii dee-
rabbits, and a variety of birds; and in the royal na’
limb ml of quadrupeds and SgPed
weU a a Lat i ^ k.in2d“ms were kept! as
well as a great number of aquatic animals and reptiles
the kh,es,Sint0tl ,gu°’- M1°.ntczama U- htrpafl'ed all
the kings m the world in this kind of magnificence ;
and
kvcie cotton,
lerved a great many ufe-
advantage of the larger , I3I
or fheep, they bred up ^ K
T7* kmals.
M EX [ 779 ] M E X
and there never was a nation equal to the Mexicans
in the care they took in taming animals.
Painting was an art in great requeft among the
Mexicans, and one of very great ufe ; as it was only
by means of paintings that they recorded their hitlories.
This art th^y derived, like others, from the Toltecas.
Some of thefe paintings were mere images of their
gods, kings, heroes, or of terreftrial objefts. Others
were hiftcrical, containing an account of particular
events ; others mythological, of which a volume is
preferved in the great library of the order of Bologna :
others were codes of law, civil and religious; while
fotne were chronological, aftronomical, or alirological;
in which were reprefente'd their calendar, the polition
of the liars, changes of the moon, eclipfes, and prog-
nollications and variations of the weather. Great
numbers of thefe were burned by the fuperftitious
Spaniards, who imagined that they contained fome
emblems of heathen worfhip. They had likewife geo¬
graphical paintings, which ferved not only to fliow the
extent and bpundaries of their poffeffions, but likewife
the fituation of places, the direction of the coalts,
and the courfe of the rivers. In his firft letter to
Charles V. Cortes fays, that having made inquiries if
there was any fecure harbour for veffels on the Mexi¬
can coaft, Montezuma prefented him with a painting
of the whole coaft, from the port of Vera Cruz, at that
time called Chalchiuhu^can^ to the river Coatzacualco.
Another author informs us alfo, that Cortes, in a long
and difticult voyage which he made to the bay of Hon¬
duras, made ufe of a chart prefented to him by the
lords of Coatzacualco, in which all the places and ri¬
vers were marked from the coaft of Coatzacualco to
Huejacallan.
The cloth on which paintings were done was made
of the thread of the aloe or a kind of palm ; or they
painted on iheep’s fkins or upon paper. This laft
was made of the leaves of a certain kind of aloe, fteep-
ed like hemn, and afterwards walked, ftretched, and
fmoothed. They ufed alfo the bark of other trees,
prenared with gum : but we are ignorant of the me¬
thod they ufed in the manufacture. This paper is 13-
mikir in thicknefs to the European pafteboard, but
fofter, fmoother, and more eafy for writing. In ge¬
neral it was made up in very long Iheets, wdiich they
preferved in rolls, or folded like bed ikreens. The
volume of Mexican paintings, preferved in the library
of Bologna, is a thick {kin, ill dreffed, compofed of
different pieces painted all over, and folded up in that
manner. The beautiful colours which they employed
both in their paintings and in their dyes, were obtain¬
ed from wood, leaves, and the flowers of different
plants, as well as from various animal fubftances.
Their white was made.from a kind of ftone which burns
into a fine plalter ; or from a mineral, which after being
made into a pafte worked like clay, and formed in¬
to fmall balls, turns white in the fire like Spanifh
white. Their black was got from another mineral,
which has a difagreeable fmell, or from the foot
of a kind of pine collefted in fmall earthen veffels.
They obtain blue and a%ure colours from indigo ; but
their mode of obtaining thefe was very different from
that uftd by the moderns. They put the branches of
the plant into hot, or rather lukewarm, water ; and
after having ftirred them about for a fufficient time
with a flick or ladle, they paffed the water, when Mexico,
impregnated with the dye, into certain pots or cups, ^ v
in which they let it remain until the lolid part of the
dye wTas depofited ; after which they poured off the
water. This fediment wras firft dried in the fun, and
afterwards put between two plates before a fire until
it grew hard. They had another plant which likewife
afforded a blue colour, but inferior to the indigo.
Red was obtained from the feeds of the achiot or
rocou, and purple from cochineal. Their yellows were
ochre, and a colour extracted from the beautiful flower
of a plant refembling artemifia. With nitre thefe
flowers afforded a fine orange colour ; and by means
of alum they extradited other colours.
The Mexican painters were by no means arrived at
much perfection in the knowledge of light and lhade,
or of defign ; neverthelefs, in fome of the ancient paint¬
ings, particularly in the portraits of their kings, the
proportions were exaCtly obferved. Befides paintings, They .lid
however, the Mexicans are faid to have employed hiero not ufe hie-,
glyphics and characters ; but this is abfolutely denied mglyphics
by Clavigero ; who tells us, that “they reprefented ^hdra( "
material things by their proper figures ; but, in order
to fave labour, paper, and colours, they contented
themfelves with reprefenting part of an objeCt, which
wTas fufficient to make it underftood. But as we can¬
not underftand the writings of others till we have learn¬
ed to read them ; in like manner thofe American
authors, who fay that the Mexicans made ufe of charac¬
ters, required to have been firft inftrufted in the Mexican
manner of reprefenting objefls, in order to have been
able to underftand the paintings which ferved them in
place of writing, When they would reprefent any per-
fon, they painted a man, or a human head, and over it
a figure expreffing the meaning of his name, as appears
in the figures of the Mexican kings. To exprefs a
city or village, they painted in like manner a figure
which fignified the fame thing, with its name. To
form their hiftories or annals, they painted on the.
margin of the cloth or paper the figures of the years
in fo many fquares, and at the fide of each fquare the
event or events which happened that year : and if, on
account of the number of years, the hiftory of which
they meant to relate, they could not all be contained
in one canvas, they were continued on another. With
refpeCl to the order of reprefenting the years and
events, it was at the liberty bf the hiftorian to begin
at whichever angle of the piece he pleafed ; but at the
fame time conftantly obferving, that if the painting
began at the upper angle of the right-hand, he pro¬
ceeded towards the left ; but if it began, as it mofl
commonly did, at the upper angle of the left hand,
he proceeded ftraight downwards. If he painted the
firft year at the lower angle of the left, he continued
towards the right ; but if he began at the lower angle
of the right, he painted ftraight upwards: fo that on
the upper part of his canvas he never painted from left
to right, nor ever on the lower part from right to left ;
never advanced upwards from the left, nor downwards
from the right. When this method of the Mexicans is
underftood, it is eafy to difcover at firft fight which is
the beginning and which the ending of any hiftorical
painting. Their paintings, however, ought net to be
confidered as a regular full hiftory, but only as monu¬
ments and aids of tradition. We cannot exprefs too
5 F 2 ftrongly
Mexico.
!34
Careful to
preferve
thei,r tra¬
ditions.'
^ 135
Preferved
the memo¬
ry of events
by knotted
threads.
13S
Their
knowledge
in fculp-
ture.
T37
Excelled in
the art of
calling me¬
tals.
M E X [7
llrongly the care which parents and matters took to in-
ttm6l their children and pupils in the hiftory of the na¬
tion. I hey made them learn fpeeches and dilcourfes
which they could not exprefs by the pencil ; they put
the events of their anceftors into verfe, and taught them
to ling them. This tradition difpelled the doubts and
undid the ambiguity which paintings alone might have
occattoned ; and, by the affittance of thofe monuments,
perpetuated the memory of their heroes and of virtu¬
ous examples, their mythology, rites, laws, and cuf-
ftoms.
“ Nor did that people only make ufe of tradition,
paintings, and fongs, to preferve the memory of events,
but alfo of threads of different colours and differently
knotted. This curious method of the reprefentation
of things, however much ufed in Peru, does not appear
to have been employed in the province of Anabuac, if
not in the mott early ages ; for no traces of fuch mo¬
numents are now to be found. Boturini fays, that
after the moft diligent fearch, he with difficulty found
one in a place in I lafeala, the threads of which were
already wafted and confumed by time. If thofe who
peopled South America ever patted the country of A-
nahuac, they poffibly might have left there this art,
which was afterwards abandoned for that of painting,
introduced by the jloltecans or fome other nation ftill
more ancient.”
The Mexicans arrived at greater perfection in fculp-
ture, catting of metals, and mofaic works, than in paint¬
ing. Sculpture was likewife one of the arts exercifed
by the ancient Toltecans j but the Mexicans had fculp-
tors among them when they left their native country
of Atztlan. Several of the Toltecan ftatues, however,
were preferved till the time of the conqueft, particularly
that of the idol Tlaloc, placed upon the mountain of
the fame name, and fome gigantic ftatues in one of their
tempies. Stone and wood were the ufual materials of
their ftatues : the former was worked with a chiffel
made of flint; and, in fpite of the unfitnefs of the inftru-
ment, fuch was the phlegmatic nature of the people,
that they furmounted every difficulty arifing from the
tedioufnefs of the work. In their ftatues they learned to
exprefs all the attitudes and poftures of which the human
body is capable. They obferved the proportions exadly,
and could when neceffary execute the moft delicate
llrokes with the chiffel. They not only made entire
11 atues, but cut out in wood and in ftone figures in baffo
relievo j of which kind are thofe of Montezuma II.
and one of his fons, recorded with praifes by Acofta.
They alfo made ftatues of clay and wood, employing
for tnefe a chiffel of copper. The number of their fta¬
tues was in proportion to that of their idols ; but fo
aidve were the Spanilh priefts in deftroying thefe, that
there is now fcarce any vefttge of them remaining,
i jte foundation of the firft church in IVIexico was laid
with idols ; on which occaflon many thoufand ftatues of
their gods were neceffarily broke in pieces. In calling
of metals, however, the Mexicans greatly excelled their
works either of painting or fculpture. “ The miracles
they produced of this kind (fays Clavigero), would not
be credible, if, befides the teftimony of thofe who faw
them, a great number of curiofities of this kind had
not been fent from Mexico to Europe. The works of
gold and filver fent in prefents from the conqueror
Cortes to Charles V. filled the goldfmiths of Europe
SO
1
Mexico,
M E X
w.th aftonilhment $ who, as fevered authors of that pe¬
riod atteft, declared that they were altogether inimi¬
table. The Mexican founders made both of gold and
lilver the moft perfect images of natural bodies. They
made a filh in this manner,' which had its feales alter¬
nately one of filver and the other of gold ; a parrot
with a moveable head, tongue, and wings $ and an ape
with a moveable head and feet, having a fpindle in its
hand m the attitude of fpinning. They fet gems in
gold and filver, and made moft curious jewellery of
great value. In ftiort, thefe fort of works were fo
admirably finifhed, that even the Spanifti foldiers, all
ftung with the fame wretched thirft for gold, valued the
workmanftfip above the materials. This wonderful art,
formerly praftifed by the Toltecas, the invention of
which they aferibed to one of their gods, has been en¬
tirely loft by the debafement of the Indians, and the
indolent negleft of the Spaniards. We are doubtful if
there are any remains of thofe curious wmrks j at leaft
we apprehend that it would be more eafy to find them
in fome of the cabinets of Europe than in all New
Spain. Covetoufnefs to profit by the materials muff un-
queftionably have conquered all defire to preferve them
as curiofities.” The wmrks of the Mexicans in gold
and lilver, executed with the hammer, were much in¬
ferior to thofe of the Europeans.
But of all the works executed by the ancient Mexi- Beautiful
cans, thofe of mofaic were the molt curious, as well as1110^-
moft highly valued by themfelves. Thefe were made-
of the feathers of birds 5 and for procuring them they
reared a great number of thofe birds of line plumage,
with which the country abounded, not only in the royal
palaces, but alfo in private houfes ; and at certain fea-
fens they carried off the feathers for thefe purpofes, or
to fell them at market. They valued particularly the
feathers of the humming birds, on account of their
fmallnefs, finenefs, and various colours 5 and in thefe,
as well as other birds of tine plumage, nature fupplied
them not only with all the colours producible by art,
but likewife with many which art cannot imitate.
T heir mofaic works, as well as indeed all others of the
Mexicans, required infinite patience. At the under¬
taking of every work of this kind feveral artifts affem-
bled ; and having agreed upon a delign, and fixed their
meafures and proportions, each artift charged himfelf
with the execution of a certain part of the image, and
exerted himfelf fo diligently in it, that he frequently
fpent a whole 'day in adjufting a feather ; lirft trying
one and then another, viewing it fometimes one
way, tnen another, until he found one which gave his
part that ideal perfection propofed to be attained.
V, hen the part which each artift undertook was done,
tiiey affembled again to form the entire image from
them. If any part happened to be in the leaft de¬
ranged, it was wrought again until it was perfectly
finiffied. They laid hold of the feathers with fmall
pincers, that they might not do them the leaft injury,
and palled them on the cloth with fome glutinous
matter j then they united all the parts upon a little
table or a plate of copper, and flattened them foftly
until tftey left the furrace of the image fo equal and
fmooth, that it appeared to be the work of a pencil.
Thefe works were prodigicufiy admired by the Spa¬
niards. . 139
The Mexicans were Ikilled in architeaure even be-
fore
them.
M E X [ 781 ]
Mexico, fare they left their native country j and many edifices miles.
    ftill remain which were conftrudted by them during
their frequent journeys from one place to another.
At their firfl: arrival on the lake, they had no other
materials to build their houfes with but reeds and mud,
until the lucceis of their commerce allowed them to
purchafe better materials. When the city came to
its perfe&ion, the houles of the principal people w7ere
conftrudfed of Hone and lime : they confided of two
floors, having halls, large court-yards, and chambers
fitly difpofed : the roofs were •flat and terraced *, the
walls fo wrell whitened, polifhed, and fhining, that they
appeared to the Spaniards when at a diflance to have
been conflructed of filver. The floor was paved with
plafler, perfectly level, plain, and fmooth. Many of
their houfes were crowned with battlements and tur¬
rets j and' their gardens had fifh ponds, and the walks
of them fymmetrically laid out. The large houfes
had in general two entrances, the principal one to the
ftreet, the other to the canal : they had no wooden
doors to their houfes, but covered the entrance with
fmall reeds, from whence they fufpended a firing of
cocoa fhells, or fome other materials which would make
a noife, fo as to awake the attention of the family
when any perfon lifted up the reeds to enter the houfe.
—The houfes of the poorer fort were conftru£led of
reeds, unburnt bricks, flone, or mud 5 and the roofs
made of a kind of a long hay which grows plentifully
in the fields, particularly in the warm parts t f the
country. For this purpofe they ufed alfo the leaves
of the aloe placed in the manner of tiles, to which
they bear fome refemblance both in thicknefs and
(hape. One of the columns or fupports of thefe
houfes was generally a tree in the vigour of its
growth 5 by which means, befides the pleafure derived
from its foliage and fhade, they faved themfelves fome
labour and expence. Thefe houfes had one or more
apartments according to the circumflances of the fa¬
mily.
The ancient Mexicans underflood the method of
conflru61ing arches or vaults, as appears from fome re¬
mains of their buildings as w’ell as from their paintings.
L hey had likewife cornices and other ornaments of
architecture. They had alfo fquare or cylindrical
columns j but it is not known whether they had any capi¬
tals or not. They frequently adorned them with figures
in bajjb relievo •, but their great ambition was to have
them all made out of one done. The foundations of
the large houfes in the capital were laid upon beams of
cedar driven into the ground, on account of its want ef
folidity 5 and the fame method is flill pra&ifed by the
Spaniards. The roofs of thefe were made of cedar, fir,
cyprefs, pine, &c. In the royal palaces the columns
were of marble or even of alabafler, which the Spaniards
miflook for jafper. In the reign of Ahuizotl a new
kind of flone, named tetKontli, was difcovered in the
Mexican lake, which was ever afterwards made ufe of
for building. It is hard, light, and porous like a
fponge j by which means the lime adheres very firmly
to it. It is valued likewife on account of its colour,
which is a blood red. Some of the pavements were
chequered with marble and other valuable flones.
The moft remarkable pieces of Mexican architedlure
were their aqueducts. There were two which con¬
veyed the water to the capital from the diftance of two
Mexico-
M E X
Thefe were conflruifled of ftone and cement
five feet high, and two paces broad, upon a road for
that purpofe upon the lake ; by which the water was
brought to the entrance of the city, from whence it
w7as fent forth in fmaller channels to fupply the diffe¬
rent fountains. The famous aqueduft of Chempoallan,
which was done in the 16th century, is worthy of be¬
ing ranked among the greateft in Europe. The con-
duftor of this work was a Francifcan millionary named
Tembleque; and it was executed with great Ikiil by
the Chempoallefe. The water was brought from a
great diftance, and the country through which it mult
pafs was mountainous and rocky ; but every difficulty
was overcome by the induftry of the Mexicans. The
aqu#dudt, including all the turnings and windings,
exceeded 30 miles in length. The principal difficulty
confifted in croflmg three great precipices, over which
they were obliged to conftruft three bridges, the firfl
of 47, the fecond of 13, and the third of 67 arches.
The largeft arch was 100 feet high, and 61 broad 5
fo that a large velfel could have palled under it. It
muft, however, be obferved, that, in executing this un¬
dertaking, the Mexicans were undoubtedly aflifted by
European tools, and the diredlions of European work¬
men 5 fo that we cannot with Ariel propriety call it one
of their works. ^
They were expert jewellers, and underflood the art Excellent
of cutting and poliffiing the flones, as well as of fetting jewellers,
"1 T he gems moll common in their country were
the emeralds, amethyfts, carnelians, turquoifes, and
fome others. Emeralds were fo common, that no
lord or noble wanted them ; and none of them died
without having one fixed to his lip, that it might ferve
as they imagined, in the other wmrld, inflead of
hi
140
Remark¬
able aque-
dudls.
a heart. When Cortes returned the firft time to Spain,
he brought with him five emeralds, valued, by the
jewellers there, at 100,000 ducats. The firft was in
the form of a rofe ; the fecond of an horn ; the third
of a little fiffi with eyes of gold 5 the fourth in the
form of a bell, with a fine pearl for a clapper. The
fifth was a fmall cup with a foot of gold, and four little
golden chains which united in a pearl in the form of a
button. For this alone the Genoefe merchants offered
40,000 ducats, in order to fell it again to the grand
fignior. Befides thefe, he had two emerald vafes va¬
lued at 300,000 ducats 5 but thefe lafl were la ft by ffiip-
wreck in the unfortunate expedition of Charles V.
againft Algiers. There are no fuch gems wrought at
prefent, nor is it even known where the emerald mines
are filtrated; though it is faid there are ftill fome large
pieces of this precious flone, in fome of the churches ;
but the priefts take care to fecure them with iron chains,
left they ihould be carried off.
In other more common manufactures the Mexicans
were by no means deficient. The earthen v/are of tures of dit-
Chplula was much praifed by the Spaniards ; and they ferent
had the art of ornamenting this kind of ware with va-
rious colours, though they did not underftand the
making of glafs. Their carpenters wrought with in-
ftruments of copper ; and there are ftill remains of
their labours w’hich difplay a tolerable fkill. Almoft
every one was acquainted with the method of making
cloth. Being deftitute of wool, common filk, lint,
or hemp, they were obliged to fupply the deficiency
by other materials. For wool they fubftituted cotton,
for
M E X
[ 73
M3
Their her-
lible reli¬
gion.
^Mexico, for filk they ufed feathers, the wool of the hare or
y-""- labhJt j and InOead of lint and hemp, they uied the fi¬
brous part of the leaves pf the aloe. From thefe laft
they obtained a thread as fine as irom lint 5 and Tom
fome fpecies t'hev had a courier fort refembling hemp.
To obtab this thread they foaked the leaves in wa¬
ter, cleaned them, expoled them to the fun, and then
beat them till they were fit to be fpun. Sometimes
they interwove with their cotton the fineft down on
the belly of the rabbits or hares, after having fpun it
into thread •, and of thefe they made nioft beautiful
cloths, which were particularly ufed for winter waift-
coats for the lords. Their cotton manufaftures ivere
equal to any produced in Europe; they wove them
with different figures and colours, reprefenting different
animals and flowers. Of feathers interwoven with cot¬
ton they made mantles and bed-curtains, carpets, gowns,
&c. Thefe were exceedingly beautiful; but this kind
of manufadlure is now loft, though there are ftill fome
of thefe garments in the pofieftion of the principal lords,
who wTear them upon folemn occafions.
All thefe advances towards civilization, however, in
the ancient Mexicans, were much more than counter¬
balanced by the horrible barbarities they committed in
their religious ceremonies, and in which they exceeded
every nation on earth. Human facrifices were indeed
in ufe among all the ancient heathens ; but fuch pro¬
digious maffacres at the dedication of their temples are
unheard of in hiftory. Whether they ufed thefe bar¬
barous facrifices in their own country, or whether the
praflice began with that of the four Xochimilca
prifoners, is not known *, but as they only ufed their pri-
foners or flaves whom they bought in this way, it is im-
poflible that, during the infancy of their ftate, the num¬
ber of human vi&ims could have been very great.
Moft of thofe unhappy creatures perifhed by having
their breafts opened, and their hearts pulled out •, fome
were drowned, others ftarved to death with hunger ;
and femetimes they were burnt. Prifoners of high
Gladiatori ran^ were allowed to die by what Clavigero calls the
an facrifice, which was performed in the fol¬
lowing manner : Near to the greater temple of large
cities, in an open fpace of ground fufticient to contain
an immenfe number of people, was a round terrace
eight feet high, upon which was placed a large round
ilone refembling a millftone in fhape, hut much larger,
almoft three feet high, well polxftied, and having figures
cut upon it. On this ftone, which was called temal-
catl, the prifoner was placed, armed with a (hield and
ftiort fword, and tied by one foot. Here be was en¬
countered by a Mexican officer or foldier better armed
than himfelf. If the prifoner was vanquiftied, he was
carried, dead or alive, to the temple, where his heart
was taken out and offered in the ufual manner ; but if
he conquered fix combatants, he gained his life and li¬
berty. An inftance, however, is given in which this
cuftom w’as infringed ; for the Huetzotzincas having
taken the principal lord of Cholula, a man of lingular
bravery, he overcame feven combatants j notwithftand-
ing which he was put to death 5 but on this account
the Huetzotzincas wxre rendered for ever infamous
Number of among thefe nations.
human vie- Hiftorians differ concerning the number of viflims
tims annu- who petiffud annually in thele facrifices: Clavigero
ally facn- inciines think it was 20,coo, but others make
ificed. _ 7
Mexico.
T44
146
which they pra&ifed up-Their mon-
were accuftomed to treat ftrousau-
2 ] M E X
it much more. Zumarraga, the firft bilhop of Mexico,
fays in a letter of the 12th of June 1531, addreffed to
the general chapter of his order, that in that capi¬
tal alone there were above 20,000 viflims annually fa-
crificed. Some authors, quoted by Gomara, fay that
10,000 were annually facrificed in the various parts of
the empire. Acofta fays, that there was a certain day
of the year on which they facrificed 5000 viciims, and
another on which 20,000 were facrificed. According
to others they facrificed, on the mountain Tepeyacac
only, 20,000 annually to one of their female deities.
On the other band, Bartholomew de jas Cafas reduces
the number of human vidtims to 50 or at moft to 100.
“ We are ftrongly of opinion (fays Clavigero), that
all thefe authors have erred in the number 5 Las Cafas
by diminution, and the reft by exaggerating tire truth.”
Befides the cruelties
on others, the Mexicans
themfelves with the moft inhuman aufterities, think-^enties*
ing that the diabolical rage of their deities would
be appeafed by human blood. “ It makes one Ihud-
der (lays Clavigero), to read the aufterit’es which
they pradlifed upon themfelves, either in atonement
for their tranfgreffions, or in preparation for their
feftivals. They mangled their flelh as if it had been
infeniible, and let their blood run in fuch profufion as
if it had been a fuperfluous fluid in the body’. The
effufion of blood was frequent and daily with fome
of their priefts. They pierced themfelves with the
fharpeft fpines of the aloe, and bored feveral parts of
their bodies, particularly their ears, lips, tongue, and
the fat of their arms and legs. Through the holes
which they made with thefe fpines they introduced
pieces of cane, the firft of which were fmall ; but every
time this penitential fuffering was renewed, a thicker
piece was made ufe of. The blood which flowed from
them was carefully collefled in the leaves of the plant
ac^ojatl. They fixed the bloody fpines in little balls of
hay, which they expofed upon the battlements of the
walls of the temple, to teftify the penance which they
did for the people. Thofe who exercifed fuch feverities
upon themfelves within the enclofure of the greater tem¬
ple of Mexico, bathed in a pond that was formed there,
and which, from being always tinged with blood, was
called e%apan?''
The drefs of the Mexicans was very fimple; that Their drefs.
of the men confifted only of a large belt or girdle, the
two ends of which hung down before and behind; the
women wore a fquare mantle, about four feet long ;
the two ends w^ere tied upon the breaft or upon one
ftroulder. The Mexican gown was alfo a piece of
fquare cloth, in which the women wrapped themfelves
from the waift down to the middle of the leg. They
wore alfo a fmall under veft or waiftcoat without fleeves,
named huspil/’i.
The drefs of the poorer fort was made of the thread
of the mountain palm, or of coarfe cotton ; but thofe
of better ftation wmre the fineft cotton embellifhed
with various colours, and figures of animals Or flowers ;
or woven with feathers, or the fine hair of the rab¬
bit, &c. 1 he men wore two or three mantles, and
the women three or four vefts, and as many gowns,
putting the longeft undermort, fo that a part of each
of them might be feen. Their {hoes were only tales
ot leather, or coarfe cloth of the mountain palm tied
with
Mexico.
M E x r 7S5
' 'T thf°fe ?'"*&>»' P»Pk were adorn,
ed with_ nhljaods of gold and jewels. Thev all wore
long hair and though): themfelves dllhonoured by be¬
ing 1 raved, or having their hair clipped, except the con-
fecrated virgins m the temple. The women wore it
loo.ej but the men tied it up in different forms, and
acorned their heads with fine feathers, both when they
danced and went to war. With this fimplicity, however
Mey mixed no fmall quantity of extravagance. Befides
featners and jewels, with which they ufed to adorn their
as well as^ VV°re ear-rings pendants at their upper lip,
t" e hW ^7 ^ ^ bracelets for
Me hands and arms, as well as certain rings like col-
ars which they wore about their legs. The ear-rinos
of tne poor were ftiells, pieces of cryftal, amber, &C.S-
but the rich wore pearls, emeralds, amethyfls, or other
gems fet m gold. J ’
r *n:]ead 7of ;he Mexicans ufed a kind of fruit
caked copalxocotl; the pulp of which is white, vifcous
and very bitter, makes water white, raifes a froth and
will mean linen like foap. Thev ^ ' "* - -
*—e* -1 “vy ufed alfo a kind of
tc,4ero edto^ »•*-
1. M E X
.rapenzed their nation. A barbarous luxury thame-
fol plealures, and romantic intrigues, have 'eu-rvaTetl
. the vigour of their minds j and fupernitiou hath
completed the rum of their virtues. Blindly devoted
to pnefls too ignorant to enlighten them byhh-ir in
tniaions too depraved to edify them by theh e”
ample and too mercenary to attend to both thefe dii’
ties 0 their funf,ion, they have no attachment toat.
nd I f Ahi relIglon but that which enfeebles the.
what ‘^ht
kn0m‘ ‘ha,t ,h>= “ttt of Madrid, in order to rel„7(h
cru7tv „f ,td‘eadful ”*?* Whkh avaricVaS
> oi the. conquerors had occafioned and- to rr
gam the confidence of thofe who had efcaped their
c y’. '"cotiraged as much as poffible the marriage of
Spaniards wtth Indian women. Thefe alliances Ihich
became pretty common throughout all America were
particularly frequent in Mexico, where ,l7 womln
T4S
Modern in
jLabitants,
&.C.
1 r ruot which dyes the
t^V^ C,0l0ur’,aild that he has been witnefs to
this eficct on the hair ot an old man.
The principal inhabitants of Mexico, in modern
times are .Spaniards fent thither by the court, to fill
the polls of government. They are obliged, like thofe
in the mother country who afpire to any eccldiaftical
c.vil, or military employments, to prove that there
have been neither heretics, Jews, Mohammedans, nor
any per (on m their family who has been called be-
ore tne mquifition for four generations. Merchants
who are defirous of going to Mexico, as well as to
other parts of America, without becoming colonifts
are coddled to ^ve die fame forms. They are
3l ° t* !rr^ ‘t /wear that they have 300 palms of
merchkndi e, their own property, in the fieet fn which
fj e'Tll'ark, and that they will not carry their wives
witu them. On thefe abfurd conditions they become
he principal agents of the European commerce with
he Indies. Though their charter is only to continue
mote yvar> a?d 3 httl.e lon^er for c°untries more re¬
mote, it is of great importance. To them alone be¬
longs the right ot felling, as commiffioners, the maior
part of the cargo. If thefe ]aws were obferved the
fTnM^rA^'r0116? 'V116 nCW W°rld would be con-
f ed to d.lpofe of what they have received on their
own account. cir
• ^ bo predileftion which adminiftration has for Sna-
niarcis born m Europe, has reduced the Spanifh CreoVs
to acquiefce ,n fubordinate ffations. The defeendants
of the companions of Cortes, and of thofe who came
a.ter them, being conftantly excluded from all places
of honour or of truft that were any way confiderable
cave /ecn the gradual decay of the power that fun-
ported their fathers. The habit of being obliged to"
,b r that unjuft contempt with which they have been
‘ ed, has at lafi made them become really con¬
temptible. i hey have totally lod, in the vices which
originate from indolence, from the heat of the climate
and from a fuperfluous enjoyment of all things, that
fiimncfs ana that fort of pride which have rTV’Ci- cha-
„ , 1 , * i.ransrerrea to this mix
ed progeny the contemptuous flight they received from
•e Europeans. 1 heir condition, equivocal at firft i,T
procefs of tune was fixed between the whites and ’th"
I hefe Hacks are not very numerous in Mexico
the natives are more intelligent mo’-e rnh-ifl- a
more induftrious, than thofe of the oiher
t iey have hardly introduced any Africans except filch
WrAeTre: V the caprice, or per-
form the domeftic fervice, of rich people. Thefe
haves, who are much beloved bv their mailers on
wnom they abfulutely depend, who" purchafed them at
fters of3 tlgant fT’ ,VVh° m3ke them ^e mini-
r s of their pleafures, take advantage of the hiah
from having any amorous correfpondence wfith^T"1
Authority has no need of this fupnort, at lead in
form;";, "rhe ^ c "1
£
m.°gnifiacgefceato1 iheTtriump""^^0 " eMlt ,he
WM.OU, examination:'1 "’thTiu “ I'Z^’
nefs, asit rendered them the more odious. We ne^d
only trace with attention the provrefs of n
wheat firft defolated thefe Je cCtrfs' • ^ h!51"5
b= convniced that they had not fucceed’ed in tiM-
P ymg men at Mexico and the adjacent nirrs hn-
epopnlating the centre of the empire j and’that tha
provinces which are remote from the canital rliff m
nj nothing from the other ^ferts of South and North
America;,
Mexie®.
M E X
[ 784 ]
M E X
Mp'iT'O.
T49
Mexicans
cruelly
freated by
the Spani¬
ards.
150
Jkrtholo-
. mew de las
Cafas takes
their part.
tSi
Their con¬
dition ren-
Amcnca. It is making a great conceOion to allow
that the population of Mexico has omy been exag
gerated one-half: for it does not now much exceed
2,000,000. r
It is generally believed, that the firft conquerors mai-
facred the Indians out of wantonnefs, and that even the
priefls incited them to thefe afls of ferocity. Undoubt¬
edly thefe inhuman foldiers frequently flied blood with¬
out even an apparent motive; and certainly their fana¬
tic miffionaries did not oppofe thefe barbarities as they
ought to have done. This was not, however, the real
caiffe, the principal fource of the depopulation of Mexi¬
co ; it was the work of a flow tyranny, and of that ava¬
rice which exacted from its wretched inhabitants more
j-igv-pus toil than was compatible with their conflitution
and the climate. n r *1
This oppreflion was coeval with the conqueft of the
the country. AH the lands were divided between the
crown, the companions of Cortes, and the grandees
or minifters who were moft in favour at the court o
Spain. The Mexicans, appointed to the royal do¬
mains, were deftined to public labours, which origi¬
nally were cpnfiderable. The lot of thofe who were
employed on the eftates of individuals was ftill more
wretched, AH groaned under a dreadful yoke ; they
were HI fed they had no wages given them j and fer-
vices were required of them, under which the molt ro-
buft men would have funk. Their misfortunes ex¬
cited the compafiion of Bartholomew de las Galas.
This man, fo famous in the annals of the new
world, had accompanied his father in the firft voyage
made by Columbus. The mildnefs and fimphcity of
the Indians affbaed him fo flrongly, that he made
himfelf an ecclefiaftic, in order to devote his labours
to their converfion. But this foon became the leaft
cf his attention. As he was more a man than a
priejl he felt more for the cruelties exercifed agamft
them’than for their fuperftitions. He was continually
hurrying from one hemifphere to the other, in order
to comfort the people for whom he had conceived an
attachment, or to foften their tyrants. This con-
dua, which made him be idolized by the one and
dreaded by the other, had not the fuccefs he expeaed.
The hope of {hiking awe, by a charafter revered
among the Spaniards, determined him to accept the
bifhoprick of Chiapa in Mexico. When he was con¬
vinced that this dignity was an infufficient barrier
againft that avarice and cruelty which he endeavoured
to check, he abdicated it. It was then that this
courageous, firm, difinterefted man, accufed his coun¬
try before the tribunal of the whole univerfe. In his
account of the tyranny of the Spaniards in America,
he accufes them of having deftroyed 15,090,000 of
Indians. They ventured t© find fault with the acri¬
mony of his fiyle ; but no one conyi&ed him of
exaggeration. -His writings, which indicate the ami¬
able ^turn of his difpofition, and the fublimity of his
fentiments, have ftamped a difgrace upon his barba¬
rous countrymen, which time hath not, and never will,
efface.
chains of the Mexicans. Their liberty was now only ^
conftrained by the foie condition, that they ftiould
not quit the territory where they were lettled. Inis
precaution owed its origin to the fear that was enter¬
tained of their going to join the wandering favages to
the north and fouth of the empire.
With their liberty their lands ought alio to have
been reftored to them •, but this was not done. _ This
iniuftice compelled them to work foleiy for their op-
preffors. It was only decreed, that the Spaniards, in
whofe fervice they laboured, fhould ftipulate to keep
them well, and pay them to the amount of 5I. 5s. a-
From thefe profits the tribute impofed by govern¬
ment was fubtrafted, together withes. 4^. for an
inftitution which it is aftoniftiing the conquerors thould
have thought of eftabliftring. This was a fund fet a”
part in each community, and appropriated to the teller
of fuch Indians as were decayed or indilpofed, and
to their fupport under private or public calamities.
The diftribution of this fund was committed to
Mexico.
The court of Madrid, awakened by the reprefenta-
^    tlons of the virtuous Las Cafas, and by the indigna-
dered fome-tioji 0f the whole world, became fenfible at laft, that
what eafier. t^e tyranny ft permitted was repugnant to religion,
to humanity, and to policy ; and refolved to break the
3
their caciques. Thefe were not the defeendants of
thofe whom they found in the country at the time of
the conqpeft. The Spaniards chole them from among
thofe Indians who appeared the moft attached to their
interefts j and were under no apprehenfions at making
thefe dignities hereditary. Their authority was li¬
mited to the fupporting the police in their diftnCt,
which in general extended eight or ten _ leagues ; to
the collecting the tribute of thofe Indians who la¬
boured on their own account, that of the others being
ftopt by the mafters whom they ferved ; and to the
preventing their flight by keeping them always under
their infpe&ion, and the not fuffering them to contract
any engagement without their confent. . As a rev\ai
of their fervices, thefe magiftrates obtained from go
vernment a property. They were permitted to take
out of the common ftock 2^d. annually for eveiy In¬
dian under their jurifdhftion. At laft they were em¬
powered to get their fields cultivated by fuch young
men as were not yet fubject to the poll tax •, and to
employ girls, till the time of their marriage, _ m
fuch occupations as were adapted to their fex, vyit
dut allowing them any falary except their mamte-
nance. ,
Thefe inftitutions, which totally changed the con¬
dition of the Indians of Mexico, irritated the Spa¬
niards to a degree not to be conceived. Their pride
would not fuffer them to confider the Americans as
free men *, nor would their avarice permit them to
pay for labour which hitherto had coft them nothing.
They employed themfelves fucceflively, or in combi¬
nation, craft, remonftrances, and violence, to effect
the fubverfion of an arrangement which fo ftrongly
contradifted their warmeft paflions •, but their efforts
were ineffectual. Las Cafas had raifed^ up^ for his
beloved Indians protectors who feconded his defign
with zeal and warmth. The Mexicans themfelves,
finding a fupport, impeached their oppreffors before
the tribunals ; and even the tribunals that wrere either
weak or in the intereft of the court. They carried
their refolution fo far, as even unanimoufly to refu'e
to work for thofe who had treated any of their .coun¬
trymen with injuftice. This mutual agreement, more
than any other circumftance, gave folidity to the re¬
gulations
I
M E X [ 785 ] > M E X
Mexico, gulations which had been decreed. The other, pre-
{bribed by the laws, was gradually eflablilhed. There
was no longer any regular fyftem of oppreflion ; but
merely feveral of thofe particular vexations which a
vanquilhed people, who have loft their government,
can hardly avoid from thofe who have fubdued it.
Tbefe clandeftine abls of injuftice did not prevent
the Mexicans from recovering from time to time, cer¬
tain detached portions of that imm@nfe territory of
which their fathers had been defpoiled. They pur-
chafed them of the royal domain, or of the great pro¬
prietors. It was not their labour which enabled them
to make thefe acquifitions: for this they were indebt¬
ed to the happinefs of having difcovered, fome of them
mines, others treafures which had been concealed at
the time of the conqueft. The greateft number de¬
rived their refources from the priefts and monks, to
whom they owed their exiftence.
Even thofe who experienced a fortune lefs propi¬
tious, procured for themfelves, by the foie profits of
their pay, more conveniences than they had enjoyed
before they underwent a foreign yoke. We ftrould
be very much deceived, were we to judge of the an¬
cient profperity of the inhabitants of Mexico by what
has been faid of its emperor, its court, its capital,
and the governors of its provinces. Defpotifm had
there produced thofe fatal effefts which it produces
everywhere. The whole ftate was facrificed to the
caprices, pleafures, and magnificence, of a fmall num¬
ber of perfons.
The government drerv confiderable advantages from
the mines which it caufed to be worked, and ftill
greater from thofe which were in the hands of indivi¬
duals. The fait, works greatly added to its revenue.
Thofe who followed agriculture, at the time of har-
veft paid in a kind of a third of all the produce of the
lands, whether they belonged to them as their own
property, or whether they were only the farmers of
them. Men who lived by the chafe, fifherraen, pot¬
ters, and all mechanics, paid the fame proportion of
their induftry every month. Even the poor were
taxed at certain fixed contributions, which their la¬
bour or their alms might put them in a condition to
pay.
The Mexicans are now' lefs unhappy. Our fruits,
our corn, and our cattle, have rendered their food
more wholefome, agreeable, and abundant. Their
houfes are better built, better difpofed, and better
furnilhed. Shoes, drawers, ihirts, a garment of wool
or cotton, a ruff, and a hat, conftitute their drefs.
The dignity which it has been agreed to annex to
thefe enjoyments has made them better economifts,
and more laborious. This cafe, how'ever, is far from
being univerfal 5 it is even very uncommon in the vi¬
cinity of the mines, towns, and great roads, where
tyranny feldom fleeps; but wre often find it with fa-
tisfa&ion in remote parts, where the Spaniards are
not numerous, and where they have in fome meafure
become Mexicans.
The employments of this people are very various.
The moft intelligent, and thofe who are in eafy cir-
cumftances, devote themfelves to the moft neceffary
and moft ufeful manufaftures, which are difperfed
through the whole empire. The moft beautiful ma¬
nufactures are eftabliftied among the people of Tlaf-
Vol. XIII. Part IL
cala. Their old capital, and the new one, which is Mexico,
called Angelos, are the centre of this induftry. Here y~~“-
they manufacture cloth that is pretty fine, callicoes
that have an agreeable appearance, certain flight filks,
good hats, gold lace, embroidery', lace, glaffes, and a
great deal of hardware.
The care of flocks affords a maintenance to fome 152
Mexicans, whom fortune or nature have not called to
more diftinguilhed employments. America, at the procfuce 0f
time it was difcovered, had neither hogs, ftieep, oxen, the coun-
horfes, nor even any domeftic animal. Columbus try.
carried fome of thefe ufeful animals to St Domingo,
from whence they were generally difperfed 5 and in
Mexico, more than in any other place, thefe have
multiplied prodigioully. They count their horned
cattle by thoufands, whofe %ins are become an objeft
of confiderable exportation. The horfes are degene¬
rated, but the quality is compenfated by the number.
Hogs lard is here fubflituted for butter. Sheep’s
wool is dry, coarfe, and bad, as it is everywhere be¬
tween the tropics.
The vine and olive tree have experienced the fame
degeneracy. The cultivation of them was at firft pro¬
hibited, with a view of leaving a free market for the
commodities of the mother country. In 1706, per--
mifficn w'as given to the Jefuits, and a little afterwards '
to the marquis Del Valle, a defeendant from Cortes,
to cultivate them. The attempts have not proved
fuccefsful. The trials, indeed, that have been made,
have not been abandoned j but no perfon has folicited
the liberty of following an example which did not
promife any great emoluments. Other cultures have
been more fuccefsful. Cotton, fugar, filk, cocoa, to¬
bacco, and European corn, have all thriven in fome
degree. The Spaniards are encouraged to profecute
the labours which thefe cultures require, from the
happy circumftance of their having difcovered iron
mines, which were entirely unknown to the Mexicans,
as well as fome mines of a kind of copper that is hard
enough to ferve for implements of hulhandry. All
thefe articles, however, for want of men and induf¬
try, are merely confirmed within the country.—
There is only the vanilla, indigo, and cochineal,
which make part of the trade of Mexico with other
nations.
New Mexico, fo called becaufe of its being difco¬
vered later than Old Mexico, a country of America,
is bounded on the north by high mountains, beyond
which is a country altogether unknown } by Louiliana
on the eaft j by New Spain on the fouth •, and on the
wreft by the gulf of California, and the Rio Colorado j
extending, it is faid, above igoo miles from eaft to
weft, and about 900 from fouth to north j but the
twentieth part of the country within thefe limits is nei¬
ther cultivated nor inhabited either by Spaniards or
Indians. As it lies in the midft of the temperate
zone, the climate, in general, is very pleafant j the
fummers, though very warm, are neither fultry nor
unw’holefome ; and the winters, though pretty lharp,
are far from being infupportable, and, for tbe moft
part clear and healthy.
The greateft encomiums are lavilhed on the fertility
of the foil, the richnefs of the mines, and the variety
of valuable commodities produced in this country. It
is faid to be beautifully diverfified with fields, meadows,
5 G rifing
M E Z
[ 786 ]
M E Z
Mexico, rifing grounds, and rivers ; abounding with fruit and
Mezeray. t;mber
trees, turquoifes, emeralds, and other precious
flones, mines of gold and filver, a great variety of wdld
and tame cattle, fifh and fowls. Upon the whole,
rve may fafely affirm, that New Mexico is among the
pleafanteft, richeft, and mod plentiful countries in
America, or any other part of the world. There are
few great or navigable rivers in it: the moft confrder-
able are, the Rio Solado and Rio del Norte, wffiich,
with feveral fmaller dreams, fall into the gulf of
Mexico. On the coait of the gulf are divers bays,
ports, and creeks, which might be eaftly converted into
excellent harbours, if the Spaniards were pofleffed of
any portion of that commercial fpirit which animates
the other maritime nations of Europe.
The Spaniffi writers tell *.s, that New Mexico is in¬
habited by a great variety of Indian nations or tribes,
totally unconnected with each other j but the princi¬
pal are the Apaches, a brave, warlike, refolute people ;
fond of liberty, and the inveterate enemies of tyranny
and oppreffion. About the clofe of the 17th century,
thinking themfelves aggrieved by the Spaniffi govern¬
ment, they made a general infurredlion, and did a
great deal of mifchief 5 but were at laft obliged to
fubmit, and have fince been curbed by ftronger garri-
fons. Moft of the natives are now Chriftians. When
the Spaniards firrt entered this country, they found the
natives well clothed, their lands cultivated, their villa¬
ges neat, and their houfes built with ftone. Their flocks
alfo were numerous, and they lived more comfortably
than moft of the other favages of America. As to re¬
ligion, they were idolaters, and worlhipped the fun and
moon •, but whether they offered human facrifices, wre
are not fufficiently informed.
The number of provinces in this country is not
well afcertained : fome writers making them only
five, others 10, 15, 20, and 25 ; but adding no
defcription, either of them or the towns contained
in them, excepting the capital, Santa Fe, which
w^e are told ftands near the fource of the Rio del
Norte, in 36° of north latitude, and about 130
leagues from the gulf: that it is a well built, hand-
fome, rich town ; and the feat of the biffiop, fuffragan
of Mexico, as w-ell as the^ governor of the province,
who is fubordinate to the viceroy of Mexico or New
Spain.
MEZERAY, Francis Eudes de, an eminent
French hiftorian, the fon of Ifaac Eudes a furgeon, was
born at Rye, in Lower Normandy, in 1610 5 and took
the furname of Me%eray, from a hamlet near Rye.
Having performed his ftudies at Caen, he difcovered a
ftrong inclination to poetry ; but going to Paris, he,
by the advice of one of bis friends, applied himfelf to
the ftudy of pC’tics and hiflory, and procured the
place of commiffary at war, which he held for two cam¬
paigns. He then fhut himfelf up in the college of St
Barbe, in the midft of books and manufcripts 5 and, in
1643, pubiiffied the firft volume of the Hiftory of
France, in foh'o 5 and fome years after, the other two
volumes. Mezeray in that work furpaffed all who had
written the hiftory of France before him, and was re¬
warded by the king with a penfion of 4000 livres. In
1668, he publiffied an Abridgement of his Hiftory of
France, in three volumes qto, which was well received
by the public 5 but as he inferted in that work the ori¬
gin of moft of the taxes, with very free reflexions, M. Metiers,
Colbert complained ol it, when Mezeray promiied to •^ezir'ac.
correX what he had done in a fecond edition ; but thofe ' v
correXions being only palliations, the minifter caufed
half cf his penfion to be fuppreiied. Mezeray com¬
plained of this in very fevere terms; when he obtained
no other anfwer than the fuppreffion of the other half.
Vexed at this treatment, he refoived to write on fub-
jeXs that could not expofe him to fuch disappoint¬
ments 5 and compoled his treatile on the origin of the
French, which did him much honour. He was eleX*
ed perpetual fecretary to the French academy \ and
died in 1683. have been a man extreme¬
ly negligent in his perlon, and fo carelefs in his drefs,
that he might have paffed for a beggar rather than
for what he was. He was aXually feized one morning
by the archers des pauvres, or parifti officers j which
miftake was fo far from provoking him, that he was
highly diverted with it, and told them, that he was
not able to walk on foot, but that as foon as a new
wheel was put to his chariot, he would attend them
wherever they thought proper.” He ufeu to ftudy
and write by candle light, even at noon-day in fum-
mer ; and, as if there had been no fun in the world,
always waited upon his company to the door with a
candle in his hand. With regard to religion, he affeX-
ed Pyrrhonifm ; which however was not, it feems, fo
much in his heart as in his mouth. This appeared
from his laft ficknefs ; for having lent fur thofe friends
who had befen the moft ufual witneffes of his licentious
talk about religion, he made a fort of recantation,
which he concluded with defiling them “ to forget
what he might formerly have faid upon the fubjeX of
religion, and to remember, that Mezeray dying was a
better believer than Mezeray in health.” Befides his
hiftory, he alfo wrote, 1. A continuation of the hiftory
of the Turks. 2. A French tranflation of John de Sa-
lifbury’s Latin treatile on the vanities of the court.
3. There are attributed to him feveral fatires againft
the government j and in particular, thofe that bear the
name of Sandricourt.
MEZlERS, a ftrong town of France in the depart¬
ment of Ardennes, with a citadel. It was befieged
with a powerful army by Charles V. who was obliged to
raife the fiege in 1521. It is feated on the river Maefe,
partly upon a hill, and partly in a valley, in E. Long.
4. 48. N. Lat. 49. 46.
MEZIRIAC, Claude Caspar Backet Sieur de,
one of the moft ingenious men of the 17th century, was
born at Ereffe, of an ancient and noble family. He
was a good poet in French, Italian, and Latin ; an ex¬
cellent grammarian, a great Greek fcbolar, and an ad¬
mirable critic. He was well verfed in the controverfies,
both in philofophy and religion ; and was deeply fkill-
ed in algebra and geometry, of the former of which he
gave proof by publilhing the fix books of Diophantus,
enriched with a very able commentary and notes. In
his youth he fpent a conliderable time at Paris and at
Rome; at which laft place he wrote a fmall colleXion
of Italian poems, in competition with Vaugelas, who
was there at the fame time ; among which there are
imitations of the moft beautiful limiles contained in
the firft eight books of the iEneid. He alfo tranflat-
ed Ovid’s Epifties \ a great part of which he iiluftrat-
ed with very curious commentaries of his own. Whilft
he
M E Z [ 787 ]
Mezuzotli, lie was at Paris, they talked of making him preceptor ted 1658.
of Louis XIII. upon which he left the court in great
hade, and afterwards declared that he had never felt fo
much pain upon any occafion of his life ; for he feemed
to have already upon his fhculders the important
weight of the whole kingdom. He undertook the
tranflation of all Plutarch’s works, with notes ; which
he had brought nearly to a conclufion, when he died
at Bourg, in Breffe, anno 1638, at 45 years of age.
He left behind him feveral: finifhed works, that were
not printed.
MEZUZOTH, in the Jewilh cufloms, certain
pieces of parchment which the Jews fix to the door-
pods of their houfes, taking that literally w’hich Mo-
fes commands them, faying, “ Thou dralt never for¬
get the laws of thy God, but thou (halt write them
upon the pods of thy houfe, and on thy gates.”
This expreffion means nothing elfe, but that thou
dialt always remember them, wdrether thou corned
into thy houfe or goed out. But the Hebrew doc¬
tors imagined, that the lawgiver meant fomething
more than this. They pretended that, to avoid mak¬
ing themfelves ridiculous, by writing the command¬
ments of God w’ithout their doors, or rather to avoid
expofing themfelves to the profanation of the wick¬
ed, they oughtf at lead to write them on a parchment,
and to enclofe it in fomething. Therefore they wrote
thefe words upon a fquare piece of parchment prepa¬
red on purpofe, with a' particular ink, and a fquare
kind of chara&er. Deut. vi. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. “ Hear,
O Ifrael, the Lord o'ur God is one Lord,” Sec.—
Then they left a little fpace, and afterwards w?ent on,
Deut. xi. 13. “ And it diall come to pafs if thou
dialt hearken diligently to my commandments,” &c.
as far as, “ Thou dialt wTrite them upon the door-
pods of thy houfe,” Sec. After this they rolled up
the parchment, and put it into a cafe of reeds or other
matter ; they wrote on the end of the cafe the w’ord
Shaddai, which is one of the names of God ; and they
put it at the doors of their houfes, chambers, and all
places mod frequented j they fixed it to the knockers
of the door, on the right fide ; and as often as they
entered in or went out they touched it in this place,
with the end of their finger, which they afterwards
killed out of devotion. The Hebrew word tne%ucza
properly fignifies the door-pods of a houfe $ but it
is alfo given to this roll of parchment now men¬
tioned.
MEZZOTINTO, a particular manner of reprefent-
ing figures on copper, fo as to form prints in imitation
of painting in Indian ink. See Engraving.
The invention of this art has been ufually attribut¬
ed to Prince Rupert. But Baron Heinikin, a very
judicious and accurate waiter upon the fubjeid: of en¬
graving, afferts, with great appearance of truth, that
it was a lieutenant-colonel de Siegan, an officer in the
fervice of the landgrave of Hefle, who fird engraved
in this manner; and that the print which he produ¬
ced was a portrait of the princefs Amelia Elizabeth
of Hefie, engraved in the year 1643. Prince Rupert
learned the fecret from this gentleman, and brought
it into England when he came over the fecond time
with Charles 11. Prince Rupert’s print of An Exe¬
cutioner holding a Sword in one Hand and a Head
in the other, a half length, from Spagnoletto, is da-
JV1 ik Z
This art has never been cultivated with fuc-
cels in any country but England.
The prince laid his giounds on the plate with a
channelled roller : but one Sherwin, about the fame
time, laid his grounds with a half round file, which
was prefled down wdth a heavy piece of lead. Bath
thefe grounding tools have been laid afide for many
years ; and a hand tool, relembling a (hoemaker’s cut¬
ting board knite, with a fine crenelling on the edge,
was introduced by one Edial, a fmith by trade, who
afterwards became a mezzotinto painter.
It is very different from the common way of en¬
graving. To perform it, they rake, hatch, or punch,
the furface of the plate all over with a knife, or in-
ftrument made for the purpoie, firft one way, then the
other, acrofs, &c. till the furface of the plate be thus
entirely furrowed with lines or furrows, clofe and as
it were contiguous to each other ; fo that, if an ira-
preffion was then taken from it, it would be one uni¬
form blot or fmut. This done, the defign is drawn
or marked on the lame face ; after which, they proceed
with burniffiers, ferapers, &c. to expunge and take
out the dents or furrows, in all the parts where the
lights of the piece are to be ; and that more or lefs as
the lights are to be ffronger or fainter ; leaving thofe
parts black which are to reprefent the fhadows or
deepenings of the draught.
As it is much eafier to ferape or burnilh away parts
of a dark ground correfponding with the outline of
any defign Iketched upon it, than to form lhades upon
a light ground by an infinite number of hatches,
llrokes, and points, which muff all terminate with ex-
atffnefs on the outline, as well as differ in their force
and manner ; the method of feraping, as it is called,
in mezzotinto, confequently becomes much more eafy
and expeditious than any other method of engraving.
The inftruments ufed in this kind of engraving are
cradles, ferapers, and burnifhers.
In this engraving, the plate muff be prepared and
poliffied in the fame manner as for other engraving ;
and afterwards divided equally by lines parallel to
each other, and traced out with very foft chalk. 
The diffance of thefe lines fliould be about one-third
of the length of the face of the cradle which is to
be ufed, and thefe lines ffiould be marked wfith capi¬
tal letters, or ftrokes of the chalk. The cradle is
then to be placed exadlly betwixt the two firft lines,
and paffed forwards in the fame dire&ion ; being kept
as fteady as poffible, and preffed upon with a moderate
force. The fame operation muft be repeated with re-
fpedf to all the other lines ; till the inftrument has thus
paffed over the whole furface of the plate.—Other lines
muft be then drawn from the extremities of the other
two fides, in the fame manner; which, interfering the
firft at right angles, will with them form fquares; and
the fame operation muft be repeated with the cradle as
in the cafe of the firft. New lines muft then be drawn
diagonally, and the cradle paffed betwixt them as be¬
fore ; and when the firft diagonal operation is perform¬
ed, the lines muft be croffed at right angles as the for¬
mer, and the cradles paffed betwdxt them in the fame,
manner—The plate having undergone the adlion of the
cradle, according to the difpofition of the firft order of
lines, a fecond fet muft be formed, having the fame di-
ftances from each other as the firft. But they muft be
5 G 2 fo
Mezzo*
tinto.
M E Z [ 738 ] M E Z
Mezzo- fo placed as to divide thofe already made into fpaces
-tmto. one-third lefs than their whole extent; i. e. every one
—w afler £ri| on eacia f1(le wiH take in one-third of that
before it, e. g. beginning at A, of which the firft third
muft be left out • a third of B will confequently be
taken in, and fo of the reft. Thefe lines of the fecond
order muft be marked with fmall letters, or Idler ftrokes,
to diftinguifh them from the firft : and the fame treat¬
ment of the plate muft be purfued with refped to them
as was pra&ifed for the others. When this fecond
operation is finifhed, a third order of lines muft be
made •, the firft: of which, e. g. in A, muft omit two-
thirds of it, and confequently take in two-thirds of
B, &c. By thefe means, the original fpaces will be
exadly divided into equal thirds; and the cradle muft:
be again employed betwixt thefe lines as before.—
When the whole of this operation is finiftied, it is
called one turn ; but in order to produce a very dark
and uniform ground, the plate muft undergo the re¬
petition of all thefe feveral operations for above
twenty times *, beginning to pafs the cradle again be¬
twixt the firft lines, and proceeding in the fame man¬
ner through all the reft. When the plate is prepared
with a proper ground, the {ketch muft be chalked on
it, by rubbing the paper on the backfide with chalk.
It is alfo proper to overtrace it afterwards with black
lead or Indian ink. The fcraping is then performed,
by paring or cutting away the grain of the ground
in various degrees ; fo that none of it is left in the
original ftate except in the touches of the ftrongeft
(hade. The general manner of proceeding is the fame
as drawing with white upon black paper. The mafies
of light are firft begun with j and thofe parts which go
off into light in their upper part, but are brown belovc:
the reflexions are then entered upon ; after which the
plate is blackened with a printer’s blacking-ball made
of felt, in order to difcqver the effeX : and then the
work is proceeded with ; obferving always to begin
every part in the places where the ftrongeft lights are
to be.
The art of fcraping mezzotintos has been applied
to the printing with a variety of colours, in order to
produce the refemblance of paintings. The inventor
of the metl *-d of doing this was J. C. Le Blon, a na¬
tive of Frankfort, and pupil of Carlo Marata, between
the years 1720 and 1730. It was eftabliftied by the
inventor on this principle, that there are three primi¬
tive colours, of which all the reft may be compofed
by mixing them in various proportions j that any two
of thefe colours being mixed together, preferve their
original power, and only produce a third colour fuch
as their compound muft neceffarily give 5 but if tranf-
parent colours be mixed, and three primitive kinds com¬
pounded together, they deftroy each other, and produce
black, or a tendency to it, in proportion to the equa¬
lity or inequality of the mixture j and that if, there¬
fore, thefe three colours be laid, either feparately or
upon each other, by three plates, engraved correfpond-
ently on thefe principles to the colouring of the de-
fign, the whole variety of teints neceffary may be pro¬
duced. The requifites, therefore, to the execution of
any defign in this method of printing are as followTs :
1. To fettle a plan of the colouring to be imitated-,
ihowing where the prefence of each of the three
iknple colours is neceffary, either in its pure ft^te or
combined with feme other, to produce the effeX re- M?zzo-
quired j and to reduce this plan to a painted {ketch of tmt0- |
each, in which not only the proper outlines, but the
degree of ftrength (liould be exprefled. 2. To en¬
grave three plates according to this plan, which may
print each of the colours exaXly in the places where,
and proportion in which, they are wanted. 3. To
find three tranfparent fubltances proper for printing
with thefe three primitive colours. The manner in
which M. Le Blon prepared the plates was as fol¬
lows : The three plates of copper were firft well fitted
with refpeX to fize and figure to each other, and
grounded in the fame manner as thofe defigned for
mezzotinto prints : and the exaX place and boundary
of each of the three primitive colours, conformably
to the defign, were fketched cut on three papers,
anfwering in dimenfions to the plate. Thefe {ketches
■were then chalked on the plates; and all the parts of
each plate that were not to convey the colour to which
it was appropriated to the print, were enth-ely feraped
away, as in forming the light of mezzotinto prints.
The parts that were to convey the colours were then
w7orked upon *, and where the moft light or diluted
teints of the colour were to be, the grain in the
ground was proportionably taken off; but where the
full colour was required, it was left entire. In this
regard was had, not only to the effeXs of the colour
in its fimple ftate, but to its combined operation, ei¬
ther in producing orange colour, green, or purple, by
its admixture with one alone j and likewife to its
forming brown, gray, and fhades of different degrees,
by its co-operation with both the others. But though
the greateft part of the engraving was performed in
the mezzotinto manner, yet the graver was employed
occafionally for ftrengthening the [hades, and for cor-
reXing the outline where it required great accuracy
and fteadinefs. It was found neceffary fometimes to
have two feparate plates for printing the fame colour,
in order to produce a ftronger effeX : but the fecond
plate, which was ufed to print upon the firft, was in¬
tended only to glaze and foften the colours in parti¬
cular parts that might require it. With refpeX to
the black and brown teints, which could not be fo
conveniently produced in a due degree by the mix¬
ture of the colours, umber and black were likev.ife
ufed.
With refpeX to the order in which the plates are to
be applied, it may be proper to obferve, that the colour
which is leaf! apparent in the piXure fhould be laid on
firft ; that which is betwixt the moft and leaf! apparent
next 5 and that which predominates laft ; except where
there may be occafion for two plates for the fame co¬
lour, as was before mentioned ; or where there is any
required for adding browns and {hades.
M. Le Blon applied this art to portraits, and {bow¬
ed, by the fpecimens he produced, the poffibility of its
being brought, by farther improvements, to afford imi¬
tations of painting which might have fome value. It is
neverthelefs much better adapted to the fimpler fubjeXs,
where there are fewer intermixtures of colours ; and
where the accuracy of the refteXions, and demi-teints,
are not fo effentially necefiary to the truth of the de¬
fign, from the greater latitude of form, and difpofition
of the colour, as in plants, anatomical figures, and
fome lubjeXs of architeXure. But perhaps plates erv
graved
M I C
[ 789 ]
M I C
graved or ratlier finiflied with the tool, particularly
with refpecl to the outline, would be better accommo¬
dated in fome of thefe cafes than thofe prepared only by
f'craping.
M. Cochin remarks, at the end of an account he
has given of M. le Blon’s manner, that though this
ingenious artilf confined his method principally to the
ufe of three colours 5 yet, Ihould this invention be again
taken up and cultivated, there wrould be more probabi¬
lity of fuccefs in ufing a greater variety j and that feve-
ral different kinds might be printed by one plate, pro¬
vided they were laid on in their refpedtively proper pla¬
ces by printing-balls, which fhould be ufed for that co¬
lour only. His hint might however be very greatly im¬
proved, by the further afiillance of pencils, accommo¬
dated to the plates, for laying on the colours in the
proper parts.—tor the method of taking off mezzotinto
prints On glafs, fee BAlK-pcnnling.
MIASMA, among phyficians, a particular kind of
effluvia, by which certain fevers, particularly intermit-
tents, are produced-
MICA, Mufcovy glafs, or Glimmer, a fpecies of mi¬
neral lubflance. See Mineralogy Index.
MICAH, or The Book of Micah, a canonical book
of the Old Teftament, written by the prophet Micah,
who is the fixth of the twelve leffer prophets. He
is cited by Jeremiah, and prophefied in the days ot
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He cenfures the
reigning vices of Jerufalem and Samaria, and denoun¬
ces the judgements of God agaxnfl both kingdoms.
He likewife foretels the confufmn of the enemies of the
Jews, the coming of the Meffiah, and the glorious fuc¬
cefs of his church.
MICHAEL, or Michel, (i. e. who is like to God?')
The fcripture account of Michael is, that he was an
archangel, who prelided over the Jewilh nation, as other
angels did over the Gentile world, as is evident of tne
kingdoms of Perfia and Greece, (Dan. x. 13O ?
he had an army of angels under his command (Rev.
xii. 7.) ; that he fought w:ith the Dragon, or Satan
and his angels } and that, contending w’ith the Devil,
he difputed about the body of Mofes, (Jude 9.). As
to the combat between Michael ana the Dragon, fome
authors underftand it literally, and think it means the
expulfion of certain rebellious angels, with their head
or leader, from the prefence of God. Others take it
in a figurative fenfe } and refer it, either to the conteft
that happened at Rome between St Peter and Simon
Magus, in which the apoftle prevailed over the magi¬
cian, or to thofe violent .perfecutions under which the
church laboured for three hundred years, and which
happily ceafed when the powers of the world became
Chriftian. Among the commentators who main¬
tain the former opinion is Grotius 5 and among thofe
who take it in a figurative fenfe are Hammond and
Mede.
The conteft about the body of Mofes is likewife ta¬
ken both literally and figuratively. 1 hofe who under-
ftand it literally are of opinion, that Michael by the
order of God hid the body cf Mofes after bis death ;
and that the Devil endeavoured to difcover it, as a fit
means to entice the people to idolatry, by a fuperfti-
tious worfflip of his relics. But this difpute is figura¬
tively underftood to be a controverfy about rebuilding
the temple, and reftoring the fervice of God among
the Jews at Jerufalem ; the Jewilh church being fitly Michael,
enough ftyled the body of Mofes. It is thought by 1 ~
fome, that this ftory of the conteft between Michael
and the Devil was taken by St Jude out of an apocry¬
phal book called The AJfumption of Mofes.
The Romifh church celebrates three appearances of
Michael, of which no mention is made in fcripture,
and which have happened, they fay, a long time after
the age of the apoftles. The firll appearance of this
archangel was at Coloffhe in Phrygia, but at what time
is uncertain. The fecond is that of Mount Garganus,
in the kingdom of Naples, about the end of the fifth
century. The third is his appearance to Aubert bi-
Ihop of Avranches, upon a rock called the Tomb,
where at this day is the abbey of St Michael. This
was about the year 706. The firft of thefe feflivals is
obferved on the 6th of September, the fecond on the
8th of May, and the lalf on the 16th of Oflober. It
has been fuppofed, that if whs Michael the archangel
who conducted the Ifraelttes in their journey through
the wdldernefs, (fee Exod. xxxii. 20, 23, and xxxiii.
2.) •, that it wTas he who appeared to Mofes in the burn¬
ing bulb •, who appeared to Jofhua in the fields of Jeri¬
cho, and to Gideon and Manoah the father of Samfon;
and, in a wmrd, to him have been imputed the gi-eateft
part of the moft remarkable appearances either in the
Old or New Teftament.
Michael Angelo. See Angelo.
Mount Michael, formerly one of the moft celebrat¬
ed ftate prifons of France, lies about 20 miles from
Granville. It is a rock fituated in the middle of the
bay of Avranches 5 and is only acceffible at low water.
Nature has completely fortified one fide, by its craggy
and almoft perpendicular defcent, which renders it im-
pradticable to mount it by any addrefs or courage,
however confummate. The other parts are furrounded
by wTalls fenced with femilunar towers after the Gothic
manner •, but fufficiently ftrong, together wdth the ad¬
vantage of its fituation, to render it impregnable to
any attack. At the foot of the mountain begins a
ftreet or towm, which winds round its bafe to a confi-
derable height. Above are chambers where ftate pri-
foners are kept, and where there are other buildings
intended for refidence. On the fummit is ere&ed the
abbey itfelf, occupying a prodigious fpace of ground,,
and of a ftrength and folidity equal to its enormous
fize ; fince it has for many centuries withftood all the
injuries of the wreather, to which it is fo much expof-
ed. In an apartment, called the Sale de Ghavalcne,
the knights of St Michael ufed to meet in folemn con¬
vocation on important occafions. They were the de¬
fenders and guardians of this mountain and abbey, as
thofe of the Temple, and of St John of Jerufalem, were
of the holy fepulchre. The hall in which they met is
very fpacious, but rude and barbarous. At one end
is a painting of the archangel, the patron ol their or¬
der 5 and in this hall Louis XL firft inftituted and in-
vefted with the infignia of knighthood the chevaliers
of the crofs of St Michael. There is a miferable dark
apartment, or rather dungeon, in which many eminent
perfons were formerly confined. In the middle of it
is a cage, compofed of prodigious bars of wood $ and
the wicket which gives entrance into it is 10 or 12
inches in thicknefs. T he infide of it compriles about
12.or 14 feet fquare, and it is nearly 20 in height, to¬
wards
M I C
Michael, wards tire latter end of the i^th century, „    
in Holland, who had prefumed to print fome very fe-
vere and farcaitic refleftions on Madame de Maintenon,
was confined in this place. Some months after his pub¬
lication, he was induced, by a peifon fr-nt exprefsly for
that purpofe, to make a tour into French Flanders.
The moment he had quitted the Dutch territories, he
was put under arrert ; and immediately, by his maje-
fly’s exprefs command, conduced to Mount Michael,
where he was fhut up in this cage. Here he lived up¬
wards of 23 years j and here he at length expired.
During the long nights of winter, no candle or fire wTas
allowed him. He was not permitted to have any
book. He faw no human face, except the gaoler,
who came once every day to prefent him, through a
hole in the wdcket, with his little portion of bread and
wine. No inftrument wras given him with which he
could deftroy himfelf: but he found means at length to
draw7 out a nail from the wood, with which he engra¬
ved, or cut on the bars of his cage, certain fleurs de lis
and armorial bearings, which formed his only employ¬
ment and recreation. I hey are very curioufly perform¬
ed confidering the rudenefs of his inftrument.
The lubterraneous chambers in this mountain are
faid to be fo numerous, that the gaolers themfelves do
not know them. There are certain dungeons called
aubhettes, into which they were accuftomed anciently to
let down malefa&ors guilty of very heinous crimes: they
provided them with a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine,
and then they were totally forgotten, and left to perifh
by hunger in the dark vaults of the rock. This punifh-
ment, how’ever, has not been inflitfled by any king in
the laft: or prefent century.
^ Here alfo is a remarkable chamber, in one corner
of which is a kind of window : between this and the
W'all of the building is a very deep fpace, of near 100
feet perpendicular, at the bottom of which is another
window opening to the fea. It is called the Hole of
Montgomeri; and the hiftory of it is as follows : In
the year 1559, Henry II. king of France was unfor¬
tunately killed at a tournament by the count de Mont¬
gomeri *. He was a Huguenot ; and having efcaped
the maffacre of Paris, made head againft the royal
forces in Normandy, fupported by Queen Elizabeth
with arms and money. Being driven from his fortreffes
in thefe parts, he retired to a rock called the Tombe-
* See
France,
.No. 140.
. r 790 ] mic
a newfwriter the top, they were defpatched, each in turn, without
noife. Montgomeri, who followed laft:, difcovered
the perfidy, and efcaped with only two of his men,
with whom he regained the Tombelaine. They pre-
ferve with great care the ladders and grappling irons
ufed on this occafion. 'I he count was at laft befieged
and taken prifoner, by the marefchal de Matignonf in,
1574, at Domfront, in Normandy ; and Catharine de
Medicis, who hated him for having been, though in¬
nocently, the caufe of her hufoand’s death, caufed him
to be immediately executed.
The church of Mount Michael is a great curiofity.
It ftands on nine pillars of moft enormous dimenfions,
built on the folid rock. Each of them appears to be’
about 25 feet in circumference : befides thefe, there are
two others much inferior in fize, on which the centre
of the church refts, and over which is the tower. The
following is the legendary account of the origin of this
church . In the reign of Childibert II. there was a
bilhop of Avranches named St Aubert. To this holy
man the archangel Michael was pleafed to appear one
night, and ordered him to go to this rock to build a
church. St Aubert treated this as a dream j upon
which the angel appeared a fecond time ; and being ftill
ch fob eyed, he returned a third time, when, by way of
imprinting his command upon the faint’s memory, he
made a hole in his Ikull, by touching it with his thumb.
The Ikull is ftill preferved in the treafury of the church. •
It is enclofed in a little fhrine of gold, and a cryftal,
which opens over the orifice, admits the gratification
of curiofity by the nunuteft examination of it. The
hole is of a fize and ftiape proportionable to the thumb
faid to have produced it; but it is impoflible to deter¬
mine whether it has been really made by a knife or
any other way. It is not to be fuppofed that the faint
would forget fuch a fenfible mark of the angel’s dif-
pleafure ; he therefore immediately repaired to the
rock, and conftru&ed a fmall church, as he had been
commanded. Here, however, true hiftory fupplies the
place of fable; and informs us, that it xvas in 966
when Richard the fecond duke of Normandy began to
build the abbey.. It was completed about the year
1070, under William the Conqueror, though many
other additions were made by fucceeding abbots.
In the treafury of the church are innumerable other
relics : among which fome few have a real and intrin-
fic value. There is a fine head of Charles VI. of France,
St Mi¬
chael’s.
lm„e This is another f.milar to Mount Michael ; only „o ...uc , nere ,s a nne Bead ot Charles VI
LenSnfrk^,kr^.i™'kr!0I„n,earIye<)U?1 a V* reprefentation of
dimenfions. At that time there xvas a caftle upon it,
which has fince been demolifhed, and of which fcarce’
any veftiges now remain. From this fortrefs, accef-
fible only at low-water, he continually made excurfions,
and annoyed the enemy, who never dared to attack
him. He coined money, laid all the adjacent country
under contnbution, and rendered himfelf univerfally
dreaded. Defirous, however, to furprife Mount Mi-
diael, he found means to engage one of the monks re-
hdent in the abbey ; who promifed to give him the fig-
nal for his enterprife by difplaying a handkerchief.
The monk having made the fignal, betrayed him, and
armed all his aifociates, who waited IMbntgomeri’s ar-
rival. The chieftan came, attended by 50 chofen
foldiers, all defperate, and capable of any attempt.
They croffed the fand ; and having placed their fcal-
ing-ladders, mounted one by one. As they came to
2
ftidl in gold, weighing many pounds, given by Rich¬
ard II. duke of Normandy, when he founded the ab¬
bey. There is an arm faid to belong to St Richard
'mg of England j but who this faint was it mufl: be
very difficult to determine. Such is the hiftory of the
pnlon, abbey, and church of Mount Michael previous
to the revolution; they have probably undergone fome
changes fince that period. '
Si MICHAEL’S, a borough town of Cornwall,
between St Columb and Truro, 247 miles from Lon¬
don. Though one of the oldeft boroughs in the coun¬
ty by. prefcription, and of great note in the Saxon
times, it is a mean hamlet in the pariffies of Newland
and St Emdore ; yet it is governed by a portreeve,
chofen yearly by a jury of the chief inhabitants, out
ot the fix chief tenants, called deputy lords of the
manor, becaufe they hold lands in the borough. Here
M 1
(M!chaeK'. is no market, but two fairs.
This place was formerly called Modif-
Its lift of members
twice a year
hole, and afterwards Michael,
begins in the 6th of Edward VI.
St Michael's Mount, in the county of Cornwall,
in the corner of Mount’s Bay, is a very high rock’
only divided by the tide from the main land, fo that it
is land and ifland twice a-day. The town here was
burnt by the French in the reign of King Henry VIIL
At tne bottom of this mount, in digging for tin, there
have been found fpear heads, battle axes, and fwords,
of brafs, all wrapt up in linen. The county is con*
tiacKd here into a fort of ifthmus, fo that it is fcarcely
four miles between the Channel and the Severn fea. 
Large trees have been driven in by the fea between this
mount and Penzance.
MICH AELIS, John David, a celebrated biblical
critic, and author of many efteemed works, was the
ddeft fon of Dr Chriftian Benedid Michaelis, profelfor
in the univerfity of Halle in Loxver Saxony, and was
born at that place, Feb. 27. 1717- His father devoted
him at an early age to an academical life ; and with
that view he received the firft part of his education in
a celebrated Pruflian feminary, called the Orphan houfe,
at Glanche, in the neighbourhood of his native place,
He commenced his academical career at Halle in 1733,
and took his mailer’s degree in the faculty of philo-
fophy in 1739. I74I be made an excurfion to this
country, where his fuperior knowledge of the oriental
languages, which was confiderably increafed by his in¬
defatigable refearches in the Bodleian library at Ox¬
ford, introduced him to the acquaintance, and gained
him the efteem, of our firft literary characfers ; with
feveral of whom, and particularly Bifhop Lowth, he
was in correfpondence for many years. On his return
to Halle, after an abfence of fifteen months, he began
to read {le&ures on the hiftorical books of the Old Te-
flament, which he continued after his removal to Got¬
tingen in I745* *74^ he was appointed profeflor
extraordinary, and foon after profeffor of philofophy,
in that univerfity. The next year he obtained a place
of fecretary to the Royal Society there, of which he
was diredlor in and was foon afterwards made
aulic counfellor by the court of Hanover. In 1764
his diftinguiihed talents, but chiefly a publication rela¬
tive to a journey to Arabia, which was undertaken by
feveral literary men, at the expence of the king of
Denmark, in confequence of his application by means
o! Count Bernfdorlf, procured him the honour of be¬
ing cnofen a correfpondent, and afterwards foreign
member, of the Academy of Infcriptions at Paris, ^f
whom the inftitution admitted only eight j and in the
lame year he became a member of the fociety of Haer-
lem. In I77L Count Hopkin, who eighteen years
before had prohibited the ufe of his writings at Upfal,
when he was chancellor of that univerfity, prevailed
upon the King of Sweden to confer on him the order of
iue Polar Star, as a national compenfation. In 1786
he was raifed to the diftinguilhed rank of privy coun-
lelior of juftice by the court of Hanover ; and in 1788
received his laft literary honour, by being unanimouf-
ly eleded a iellow of the Royal Society of London, 
His gieat critical Knowledge of the Hebrew language,
which he difplayed in a new tranflation of the Bible’
ajiu in o.ner works, railed hun to a degree of eminence
c t . r 791 1 MIC
A court-leet is held here almoft unknown before in Germany ; and his
. .   -j 7   — indefa- Mickael-
tigable labours were only equalled by his defire of com¬
municating the knowledge he acquired to the numerous
ftudents of all countries who frequented his admirable
ledures, which he continued to deliver on various parts
of the facred writings in half-yearly courfes, and on the
Hebrewq Arabic, and Syriac languages, to the laft
year of his life. He was profeflbr in the univerfity of
Gottingen 45 years, and, during that long period, he
filled the chair with dignity, credit, and ufefulnefs.
He died October 22. 1791, aged 74. He is laid to
have left behind him feveral valuable MSS. Of the
works that were publilhed during his life-time, and
which are very numerous, a catalogue, in the order of
their publication, is given in the Gentleman's Magazine
for March 1792.
MICHAELMAS, or Feaji of St Michael and all
Angels, a feftival of the Chriftian church, obferved on
the 29th of September. See Michael.
MICKLE, William Julius, the celebrated trans¬
lator of tne Lufiad, was the fon ox the reverend Alex¬
ander Mickle a Scotifh clergyman, who had formerly-
been a diffenting minifter in London, an affiftant to the
reverend Dr Watts, and one of the tranflators of’Bayle’s
DiHionary. This gentleman having refided a few
years in London, was prefented to the church of Lang¬
holm in Scotland, where he married j and our au¬
thor wTas one of the younger Ions. Fie was born about
the year 1735, and was educated by hi. father. In
his early years his paflion for poetry frequently dif-
covered itlelf; though till the age of 13 he did not
Ihow any particular attachment \o books. At that
time having accidentally met with Spencer’s Faery Queen,
he became enamoured of his manner of writing, and
inftantly began to imitate him. After the death of his
father, he came to Edinburgh to refide wflth an uncle
who was a brewer there, and who admitted him into a
lhare of his bufinefs ; not being qualified to fucceed in
this line, he went to London about the time of the
conclufion of the wmr wEich began in 1755, wflth a
view to procure a commiflion in the marine fervice.
Here he was difappointed ; but introduced himfelf
to the firft Lord Lyttelton, to whom he fent one
of his poems. From his Lordftiip, however, he receiv-
ed no other favour than being admitted to feveral in¬
terview's, and encouraged to perfevere in his poetical
plans.
So clofely did our author cultivate the ftudy of the
mufes, that before he wms 18 years of age he had writ¬
ten two tragedies and half an epic poem 5 but all thefe
were committed to the flames. The firft of his poems
which appeared in print was publilhed in one of the
Edinburgh magazines, and entitled, “ On palling
through the Parliament Clofe of Edinburgh at Mid¬
night.” . This was afterwards inferted in A Collection
of Original Poems by a Scotch gentleman, vol ii
P- *37-
. From the of Mr Mickle’s arrival in London
till the year 1765, it is not known how he employed
his time, though it is probable that he w'as employed
in fome branch of the printing bufinefs} and in 1763 he
himfelf as correiflor to the Clarendon prefs.
This year he publilhed the poem which firft brought
him into notice, entitled, “ Pollio, an Elegiac Ode,
written in the Wood near ft— (Roflin) Caftle,”’
Jvlicklc.
\
MIC [ 79
■ to. Tills was an elegy written oft the death of his
brother ; which, previous to its publication, had been
fhovvn to Lord Lyttelton, and received fome correc¬
tions from him. The latter, in an epiftle to the au¬
thor, fpoke of it as equal to any thing of the kmd in
our language. In 1767 he publitlied a poem called
“ The Concubine, in two cantos, after the mannei ot
Spencer,” 4to ; and in 1769 he publHhed, ‘‘ A Letter
to Mr Harwood, wherein fome of his evafive globes,
falfe tranflations, and blundering criticifms, m iupport
of the Arian Herely, contained in Ins literal tranflatien
of the New Teftament, are pointed out and confuted,
8vo : and next year he publiihed “ Mary (£upen of
Scots, an Elegy •” “ Hengift and Mary a Ballad 5
and “ Knowledge, an Ode in Pearch’s Colle(Elion of
Poems. In 1770 he publidied “ Voltaire in the
Shades, or Dialogues on the Deiftical Coptroverfy
8vo. The Elegy on Mary had been fubmitted to the
judgement of Lord Lyttleton, who declined to criticife
it, not for its deficiency in poetical merit, but bom
thinking differently from the author concerning that
unfortunate princefs.
About this time Mr Mickle was a frequent writer m
the Whitehall Evening Poll; but a more important
work now engaged his attention. When no more than
17 vears of age he had read Caftara’s tranflation of
the Lufiad of Camoens into French, and then projeaed
the defign of giving an Englifh tranflation of it. Fiom
this, however, he was prevented by various avocations
till the year 1771, when he publifhed the firfl book as a
ipecimen : and having prepared himfelf by acquiring
fome knowledge of the Portuguefe language, he deter¬
mined to apply himfelf entirely to this work. With
this view he quitted his refldence at Oxford, and went
to a farm houfe at Foreft-hill, where he purfued his
defign with unremitting affiduity till the year I775>
when the work was entirely finifhed.
During the time that Mr Mickle was engaged
in this work, he fubfifted entirely by his employ¬
ment as correftor of the prefs *, and on hE quit¬
ting that employment he had only the fubfcriptions
he received for his tranflation to fupport him. . Not-
withftanding thefe difficulties, he adhered fteadily to
the plan he had laid down, and completed it in about
five years.
When his work was finifhed, Mr Mickle applied to
a perfon of great rank, with whom hE family had been
connedled, for permiffion to dedicate it to him. Per-
miflion was granted, and his patron honoured him with
a very polite letter •, but after receiving a copy, for
which an extraordinary price was paid for the binding,
he did not think proper to take any notice of the au¬
thor. At laft: a gentleman of high rank in the poli¬
tical world, a firm friend to the author, and who af¬
terwards took him under bis protection, waited on the
patron, and heard him declare that he had not read
the work, but that it had been reprefented not to have
the merit it was at firft faid to poffefs. The applaufe
with which the work was received, however, foon ba-
nifhed from the author’s mind thofe difagreeable fen-
fations which had been occafioned by the contemptu¬
ous negleft of his patron, as well as fome fevere cri-
ticiXms which had been circulated concerning it. A
fecond edition was prepared in 1778, with a plate
2 ] MIC
prefixed to it, executed by the celebrated artift Mor- ^
timer on whom Mr Mickle wrote an epitaph in 1779. v
This year alfo he publiffied a pamphlet, entitled, “ A
Candid Examination of the Reafons for depriving the
Eaft India Company of its Charter, contained in The
Hiftory and Management of the Faff; India Company
from its Commencement to the Prefent Time 5 together
with feme Strictures on the Self-Contradidions and
Hiftorical Errors of Dr Adam Smith, in his Reafons
for the Abolition of the faid Company,” qto. About
this time fome of his friends thought of recommend¬
ing him to the king as deferving of a penfion j but
this fcheme was never put in execution. Dr Eowth
bifhop of London, would have put him into orders,
and provided for him in the church ^ but this was not
agreeable to our author’s difpofition. While he was
meditating a publication of all his poems, in which he
would moil probably have found his account, he was
appointed fecretary to Commodore Johnffone, who
had lately obtained the command of the Romney man
of war. In November 1779 he arrived at Lifhon, and
was named by his patron joint agent for the prizes
which wTere taken. In this capital and its neighbour¬
hood he re Tided more than fix months,, being every
where received with every mark of politenefs and at¬
tention 5 and dyring this period he compofed his poem
called “ Almada Hill,” whicji in 1781 was publiffied
in quarto. He colleCled. alfo many particulars con- ^
cerning the manners of the Portuguefe, which he in¬
tended alfo to have publiihed. During his flay at Lif-
bon the Royal Academy w as opened j and Mr Mickle,
who was prefent at the ceremony of its commencement,
had the honour to be admitted a member under the
presidency of Don John of Braganza, duke of La-
foens. His prefence being thought neceffary in Eng¬
land to attend to the proceedings of the courts, of law
refpefting the condemnation of fome of the prizes, he
did not accompany the Commodore in his.laft expedi¬
tion, nor did he go any more to fea. 10,1782 he pub-
liihed “ The Prophecy of Queen E.mma, an ancient
Ballad lately dlfccvered, written by Johannes Turgot-
tus, prior of Durham, in the reign of William Rufus j
to which is added by the Editor, an Account of the
Difcovery, and Hints towards a Vindication of the
Authenticity, of the Poems of Oflian and Rowley,”
8vo.
In June this year Mr Mickle married Mifs Tomkins,
daughter of the perfon with whom he refided at Fo¬
reft-hill, while engaged in tranflating the Lufiad.
Elaving received fome fortune with this lady, as
w?ell as made fome money himfelf when in the fer-
vice of Commodore Johnltone, he now enjoyed a
comfortable independence. He afterwards fixed his
refidence at Wheatley in Oxfordlhire, and devoted
his time to the revifion of his poetical works, which
he propofed to publilh by fubicription. During the
laft feven years of his life he was employed in
waiting for the European Magazine. Ihe Frag¬
ments of Leo, and fome of the moft approved re¬
views of books, in that periodical W’ork, were of
his produiflion. He died after a ftiort illnefs, on the
25th of Oftober 1788, at Wheatley, leaving one fon
behind him. His poetry pofleffes much beauty, . va¬
riety, harmoqy of numbers, and vigour of imagination :
/ ' his
/
3
MIC I 79
Microcofm his life was without reproach •, his foibles were few
11 and inoffenfive •, his virtues many •, and his genuis very
Mkrome- conflderable.
. MICROCOSM, a Greek term fignifying the /itt/e
world; ufed by fome for man, as being fuppofed an
epitome of the univerfe or great world.
MICROGRAPHY, the defcription of objefts view¬
ed with the affiftance of a microfcope. See Microscopic
ohjedls.
MICROMETER, an aftronomical inftrument, by
which fmall angles, or the apparent magnitudes of ob-
ie£Is viewed through telefcopes or microfcopes are mea-
fured with great exaftnefs.
Microme- u T^ie hr^ TELESCOPIC micrometers were only me¬
ter fir ft in- chanical contrivances for meafuring the image of an
vented by object in the focus of the objedt-glafs. Before thefe
ffiafeoigne. CORtrivatlces were thought of, aftronomers were accu-
ftomed to meafure the field of view in each of their
telefcopes, by obferving how ranch of the moon they
could fee through it, the femidiameter being reckoned
at 15 or 16 minutes j and other diltances were elti-
rcated by the eye, comparing them with the field of
view. Mr Gafcoigne, an Englilh gentleman, however,
fell upon a much more accurate method before the year
1641, and had a Treatife On Optics prepared for the
prefs •, but he was killed during the civil w^ars in the
fervice of Charles I. and his manufeript was never found.
His inftrument, how'ever, fell into the hands of Mr R.
Townly *, who fays, that by the help of it he could
mark above 40,000 divifions in a foot.
2. Mr Gafcoigne’s inftrument being fhown to Dr
f See Phil. Hooke, he gave a drawing and defcription of it, and
Tranf. Abr. propofed feveral improvements f. Mr Gafcoigne divided
TOl.i.p. 217. thg^jpage 0f an objeR in the focus of the objea glafs,
Pofthunions by the approach of two pieces of metal ground to a very
Works, fine edge, in the place of winch i3r riooive would iub-
p.497,498; ftitute two fine hairs ftretebed parallel to one another,
and Phib _ Mr Huygens meafured the apparent diameters of
yyaw/xhiii. ^ planets? by firft determining the quantity of the field
P' 19°' of view in his telefcope •, which, he fays, is beft done by
obferving the time that a ftar takes up in palling over
it, and then preparing two or three long and Render
brafs plates, of various breadths, the fides of which are
very ftraight, and converging to a fmall angle. In
ufing thefe pieces of brafs, he made them Aide in two flits,
made in the fides of the tube, oppofite to the place of the
image, and obferved in vbat place it juft covered the
diameter of any planet, or any fmall. diftance that he
t Syftema wanted to meafure J. It was obferved, however, by
Satumium, Sir Ifaac Newton, that the diameters of planets, meafured
p. 82. in this manner, will be larger than they ftiould be,
as all lucid objefls appear to be when they are viewed
upon dark ones.
Marquis of 4- In the Ephemerides of the Marquis of Malvafia,
Malvafia’s publfthed in 1662, it appears that he had a method of
meafuring fmall diftances between fixed liars and the
diameters of the planets, and alfo of taking accurate
draughts of the fpots of the moon by a net of lilver
wirej fixed in the focus of the eye-glafs. He likevvife
contrived to make one of two (tars pafs along the
threads of this net, by turning it, or the telefcope, as
much as was neceffary for that purpofe ; and lie count-
* Phil.
Tranf.
Nc 25.
p. 190
Huygens’s
microme¬
ter.
Kiicrome
ter.
cd, by a pendulum-clock, beating feconds, the tune
that elapfed in its paffage from one wire to another,
which rave him the number of minutes and feconds
Vol^ XIII. Part II. *
3 ] MIC
of a degree contained between the intervals of the Miercme-
wires of his net, with refpea to the focal length oft teJ;._ t
his telefcope.
5. In 1666, Meffrs Auzout and Picard publilhed a Auzout’s-
defeription of a micrometer, which was nearly the fame microntt*-
with that of the Marquis of Malvafia, excepting theter-
method of dividing it, which they performed with more
exaftnefs bv a ferew* In fome calcs they ufed threans
of filk, as being finer than filver wires. Dechales alfd
recommends a micrometer confiding of fine wires, or
filken threads, the diftances of which were exatfdy
known, difpofed in the form of a net, as peculiarly con¬
venient for taking a map of the moon.
6. M. de la Hire fays, that there is no method more De la Hire!*
fimple or commodious for obferving the digits of anmicrome-
eclipfe than a net in the focus of the telefcope. Thefe,ter-
he fays, were generally made of filken threads } and
that for this* particular purpofe fix concentric circles
had alfo been made ufe of, drawn upon oiled paper *
but he advifes to draw the circles on very thin pieces
of glafs with the point of a diamond. He alfo gives
feveral particular directions to affill perfons in tne tie
of them.
'y. Conjl ruciion of Different Micrometers. I he firft vve Common
fhqdl delcvibe is the common micrometer. Let ABCDmicrome-
be a fe&ionof the telefcope at the principal focus of t1ie tcr,p]afe
objeft-glafs, or where the wires are fituated, which areCCCXXXVi
placed in a fitort tube containing the eye-glafs, and may ri u
be turned into any pofition by turning that tube; mn
is a fine wire extended over its centre; vzo, xy, are two
parallel wires well defined, and perpendicular to mn; vzo
is fixed, and xy moves parallel to it by means of a ferew,
which carries two indexes over a graduated plate, to (how
the number of revolutions and parts of a revolution
which it makes. Now' to meafure any angle, we muft
firft afeertain the number of revolutions and parts of
a revolution correfponding to fome known angle, which
may be thus done: ift, Bring the inner edges of the
wires exaflly to coincide, and fet each index to o ; turn
the ferew, and feparate the wares to any diftance; and
obferve the time a ftar m is in palling along the wire
m n from one vertical wire to the other : lor that time,
turned into minutes and feconds of a degree, will be the
angle anfwering to the number of revolutions, or the an¬
gle correfponding to the diftance. 'I hus, if^/ —cof.
of the liar’s declination, we have if dm, the angle
correfponding to this diftance; and hence, by proportion,
we find the angle anf.vering to any other, fdly, Set
up an object of a known diameter, or two objevls at a
given diftance, and turn the ferew till the vertical wires
become tangents to the objeft, or till their opening juft
takes in the diftance of the two objefts upon the wire
mn; then from the diameter, or diftance of the two
objeifts from each other, and their diftance from tfm
glafs, calculate the angle, and obferve the number ot
revolutions and parts correfponding. ^dhj, Take the
diameter of the fun on any day, lay making the wires
tangents to the oppofite limbs, and find, from the nau¬
tical almanac, his diameter on that day. Here it will
be beft to take the upper and lower limbs of the fun
when on the meridian, as he has then no motion per¬
pendicular to the horizon. If the edges do not coin- '
cide when the indexes Hand at o, we muft allow for
the error. Inftead of making a proportion, it is better
to have a table calculated to (how the angle correfpond-
5 H ing
M 1 C
Microme
ter.
Ficr.
- jng to every revolution and parts of a revolution. But
__ the obfervtr muft remember, that when the micro¬
meter is fixed to teleicopes of different focal lengths, a
new table muff be made. The w'hole fylfem of wires
is turned about in its own plane, by turning the eye-tube
round with the hand, and by that means the wire mn can
be thrown into any pofition, and confequently angles
in any pofition may be meafured. Dr Bradley added a
hnall motion by a rack and pinion to fet the wires more
accurately in any pofition.
8. But the micrometer, as now contrived, is of ufe,
not only to find the angular diflance of bodies in
the field of view at the fame time, but alfo of thofe
which, when the telefcope is fixed, pafs through the
field of view fucceffively 5 by which means we can find
the difference of their right afeenfions and declinations.
Let A tf, B Zq Co, be three parallel and equidiftant
t*ires, the middle one bifecling the Aid of view ;
HOR a fixed wire perpendicular to them paffing
through the centre of the field ; and F/, G two
wires parallel to it, each moveable by a micro¬
meter ferew, as before, fo that they can be brought
up to HOR, or a little Beyond. Then to find the
angular diilance of two objefts, bring them very near
to B b, and in a line parallel to it, by turning about
the wires, and bring one upon HOR, and by the
micrometer ferew make F/ or G g pafs through the
ether ; then turn the ferew till that wire coincides
with HOR, and the arc which the index has paffed
over fhows their angular diilance. If the objedfs be
further remote than you can carry the diilance of one
of.the wires F/, from HOR, then bring one
objedl to Fj'r and the other to G^-; and turn each
micrometer ferew till they meet, and the fum of the
arcs pa{Ted over by each index gives their angular di¬
ilance. If the objedfs be two liars, and one of them
be made to run along HOR, or either of the move¬
able wires as occafion may require, the motion of the
other will be parallel 'to thefe wires, and their differ¬
ence of declinations may be obferved with great exadl-
nefs; but in taking any other diftances, the motion
of the ftars being oblique to them, it is not quite fo
eafy to get them parallel to Bb; becaufe if one ftar
be brought near, and the eye be applied to the other
to adjuft the wires to it, the former {far will have got¬
ten a little away from the wire. Dr Bradley, in his
account of the ufe of this micrometer, publiftied by
Dr Maikelyne in the Philofophical Tranfadlions for
* 772> thinks the bell way is to move the eye back¬
wards and forwards as quick as polfible ; but it feems
to be bell to fix the eye at fome point between,
by which means it takes in both at once fufficiently
well defined to compare them with B b. In finding
the difference of declinations, if both bodies do not
come into the field of view at the fame time, make
one run along the wire HOR, as before, and fix the
telefcope and wait till the other comes in, and then
adjuft one of the moveable wires to it, and bring it up
to HOR, and the index gives the difference of their
declinations. The difference of time between the paf-
fage of the liar at either of the crofs moveable wires,
and the tranfit of the other liar over the crofs fixed
wdre (which reprefents a meridian), turned into de¬
grees and minutes, wall give the difference of right
afcenfjcn. The ftar has been here fuppofed to be bi-
t 794 ]
M I C
feLed by the wire } but if the wire be a tangent to it, Microme-
allowance mull be made for the breadth of the wire, ter-
provided the adjuftment be made for the coincidence —1
of the wires. In obferving the diameters of the fun,
moon, or planets, it may perhaps be molt conveni¬
ent to make ufe of the outer edges of the wires, be¬
caufe they appear molt diftindt when quite within
the limb : but if there Ihould be any fenfible infie&ion
ot the rays of light in pafiing by the wires, it wall be
bell avoided by ufitig the inner edge of one wire and
the outward edge of the other; for by that means
the infledlion at both limbs will be the fame way,
and therefore there will be no alteration of the rela¬
tive, pofition of the rays paffing by each wire. And
it. will be convenient in the micrometer to note at what
divifion the index Hands when the moveable wire co¬
incides with HOR ; for then you need not bring the
wire when a liar is upon it up to HOR, only reckon
from the divifion at which the index then Hands to the
above divifion.
9. With a micrometer thus adapted to a telefcope, Mr Fhe divid-
S. Savery of Exeter propofed a new way of meaTuring ed obie<a_
the difference between the greateft and lealt apparent g!af m'”p-
diameters of the fun, although the whole of the Ijan ed at by Mr
was not vifible in the field of view7 at once. The me- Savery.
thod we lhall briefly deferibe. Place two objedt-glafies
inftead of one, fo as to form two images wihole limbs
lhall be at a fmall diflance from each other; or in-
Head. of twto perfedl lenfes, he propofed to cut a fingle
lens into four parts of equal breadths by parallel lines
and. to place the two fegments with their ftraight fides
againft each other, or the tw7o middle fruftums with
their oppofite edges together ; in either cafe, the two
parts which before had a common centre and axis, have
now their centres and axes feparated, and confequent-
ly two images will be formed as before by two perfedf
lenfes. Another method in refleclors was to cut the
large.concave refledor through the centre, and by a
contrivance to turn up the outer edges vvhilft the
ftraight ones remained fixed ; by which means the axis
of the two. parts became inclined, and formed two
images. Two images being formed in this manner,
he propofed to meafure the diftance between the limbs
when the diameters of the fun were the greateft and
leaft, the difference of which would be the difference
of the diameters required. Thus far we are indebted
to Mr Savery for the idea of forming two images; and
the admirable,ufes to which it was afterwards applied
we lhall next proceed to deferibe.
xo. The divided objedl-glafs micrometer, as notv made, Tmrirnvp,
was contrived by the late Mr John Doilond, and by by Mr John
him adapted to the objefl-end of a refledting telefcope, Dollond.
and has been fince by the prefent Mr P. Dollcnd his fon
applied with equal advantage to the end of an achromatic
telefcope. The principle is this: The objedl-glafs is
divided into two fegments in a line drawn through the
centre ; each fegment is fixed in a feparate frame of
brafs, which is moveable, fo that the centres of the
two fegments may be brought together by a handle
or that purpofe, and thereby form one image of an
objedt;. but when feparated they will form two ima-
ges, lying in a line palling through the centre of each
legment ; and confequently the motion of each image
will be parallel to that line, which can be thrown into
any pofition by the contrivance of another handle to
turn
M I C
[ 795 ]
M I C
The brafs-work
turn the glafs about in its own plane,
carries a vernier to meafure the diftance of the centres
of the tw’o fegments. Nowr let E and H be the cen¬
tres of the twio fegments, F their principal focus, and
PO two dirt ant objefts in FE, FH, produced, or the
oppofite limbs of the fame objeft PBQD ; then the
images of P and Q, formed by each fegment, or the
images of the oppoirte limbs of the objeft PBQ^D,
coincide at F: hence two images zF, « »F of that
object are formed, whofe limbs are in contaft j there¬
fore the angular diftance of the points P and £ is the
fame as the angle which the diftance EH fubtends at
F, which, as the angles fuppofed to be meafured are
very fmall, will vary as EH extremely nearly ; and
Confequently if the angle corresponding to one inter¬
val of the centres of the fegments be known, the
angle correfponding to any other will be found by pro¬
portion. Now to find the interval for fome on< angle,
take the horizontal diameter of the fun on any day,
by feparating the images till the contrary limbs coin¬
cide, and read off by the vernier the interval of their
centres, and look into the nautical almanac tor the di¬
ameter of the fun on that day, and you have the cor¬
refponding angle. Or it greater exaflnefs be required
than from taking the angle in proportion to the diftan-
ces of their centres, we may proceed thus :—Draw
FG perpendicular to EPI, which therefore brfefts it *,
then one half EH, or EG, is the tangent of half the
angle FFH ; hence, half the diftance of their centres
is to the tangent of half the angle correfponding to that
diftance as half any other diftance of the centres is to
the tangent of half the correfponding angle (a). .
11. From this the method of meafuring fmall angles is
manifeft ; for we confider P, either as two ob-
je&s wbofe images are brought together by feparating
the two fegments, or as the oppofite limbs of one ob-
ie£t PBOA, whofe images, formed by the two feg¬
ments E' PI, touch at F 5 in the former cafe, EH
oives the angular diftance of the two objecls ; and in
the latter, it gives the angle under which the diameter
of the objeti appears. In order to find the angular
diftance of two objefts, therefore, feparate the fegments
till the two images which approach each other coin¬
cide ; and to find the diameter of an object, feparate
the ferments till the contrary limbs of the images touch
each other, and read off the diftance of the centres
of the fegment from the vernier (b), and find the
anode as direfted in the laft article. Hence appears Mlcrome-
one great fuperiority in this above the wire microme-
ter •, as, with the one any diameter of an objefl may
be meafured with the fame eafe and accuracy ■, whereas
with the other we cannot with accuracy meafure any
diameter, except that which is at right angles to the di-
retlion of motion.
12. But, befides thefe two ufes to which the inftrument *
feems fo well adapted, Dr Mafkelyne * has ibown,rra^
how it may be applied to find the difference of right 1771.
afeenfions and declinations. For this purpofe, two
wires at right angles to each other, bifedrting the field
of view, muft be placed in the _ principal focus of the
eve-glafs, and moveable about in their own plane.
Let HCR c be the field of view, HR and C c the two
wires 5 turn the wires till the wefternmoft ftar (which
is the beft, having further to move) run along ROPI^Fig. 4.
then feparate the two fegments, and turn about the
micrometer till the two images of the fame ftar lie^ in
the wire Cc; and then, partly by feparating the feg¬
ments, and partly by raifing or deprefling the tele-
fcope, bring the two inner moft images of the two ftars
to appear and run along ROH, as <7, b, and^ the ver¬
nier will give the difference of their declinations •, be-
caufe, as the two images of one of the ftars coincided
with C c, the image of each ftar was brought per¬
pendicularly upon HR, or to HR in their proper
meridian. And, for the fame, reafon, the difference
of their times of pafling the wire CO c will give their
difference of right afeenfions. Thefe operations will
be facilitated, if the telefcope be mounted on a polar
axis. «If two other wires KL, MN, parallel to C c,
be placed near FI and R, the obfervation may be
made on two ftars whofe difference of meridians is
nearly equal to HR the diameter of the field of view,
by bringing the two images of one of the ftars to
coincide with one of thefe wires. Iftvyo ftais be ob-
ferved whofe difference of declinations is well fettled,
the fcale of the micrometer will be knowm.
13. It has hitherto been fuppofed, that the images of
the twm ftars can be both brought into the fieid ot
view at once upon the wire FIOR : but if they can¬
not, fet the micrometer to the difference of their de¬
clinations as nearly as you can, and make the image
which comes firft run along the wire HOR, by elp-
vating or depreffing the telefcope 5 and when the otnei
ftar comes in, if it do not alio run along HOK, alter
5 H 2 the
(A) If the objea is not diftant let / be the principal focus; then F/: FG ^/G : FK (FG being produced
Let a dine joining the apparent places of the two objefls P, £,), d.v.dendo,/G . FG . . Gk . Fk,
GK :: FG : FK :: (by f.milar triangles) EH : PQ., hence therefore the angle
alternando, /"G „
, , , , , v.tt _ ti,e ancrie fubtended by PQ at G ; and confequently, as /G is conftant the angle
fubtended by EH « /- ” ' » rtional „ eT). The inftrument is not adapted to meafure the augular
SLfof bLiL oLL which is nLrLd the other at a diftance, becaufe theirimages would not be formed to-
gCtLr' To determine if there be any error in the adjuftment of the micrometer fcale, meafure the diameter of any
t?
ss? j sp sx
"ay. And it is alfo evident, that half the fitm of the diameters thus meafured gives the true diameter o* tne
objeft.
o
iVlit-rcmc-
ter.
1 v' 1
MIC [ 79
the micrometer till it does, and half the fum of the
numbers fliown by the micrometer at the two feparate
i r . • r i /-» . .    >
■‘'‘g.- 5-
Fig. 6.
ohfervations of the two ilars on the wire HOR will
be the difference of their declinations. Thit this
fhould be true, it is manifeftly neceflary that the two
fegments fhould recede equally in oppofite directions ;
and this is effected by Mr Dollond in his new im¬
provement of the object-glafs micrometer.
14. The difference of right afcenfions and declinations
of Venus or Mercury in the fun’s difk and the fun’s
limb may be thus found. Turn the wires fo that the
north limb n of the fun’s image AB, or the north
limb of the image V of the planet, may run along the
wire RH, which therefore will then be parallel to the
equator, and confequently C c a fecondary to it; then
feparate the fegments, and turn about the micrometer
•till the two images Vv of the planet pafs C c at the
fame time, and then by feparating the fegments,
bring the noitn limb of the northernmolt image V of
the planet to touch HR, at the time the northernmoif
limb n of the fouthernmofl image AB of the fun
touches it, and the micrometer (hows the difference of
declinations of the northernmoft limbs of the planet and
fun, for the reafon formerly given (Art. 11.) we ha¬
ving brought the northernmoft limbs of the two in-
nermoft images V and AB to HR, thefe two being
manifeftly interior to v and the northernmoft limb N of
the image PQ^ In the fame manner we take the differ¬
ence of declinations of their fouthernmoft limbs j and
half, the difference of the two meafures (taking im¬
mediately one after another) is equal to the difference
of the declinations of their centres, without ary re¬
gard to the fun’s or planet’s diameters, or error of
adjuftment of the micrometer ; for as it affeds both
equally, the difference is the fame as if there were no
error : and the difference of the times of the tran-
fits of the eaftern or weftern limbs of the fun and pla¬
net over C c gives the difference of their right afcen¬
fions.
15. Inftead of the difference of right afcenfions, the di-
fiance of the planet from the fun’s limb, in lines pa-
rallel to^the equator, may be more accurately obferved
thus : Separate the fegraents, and turn about the
wires and micrometer, fo as to make both imacres
V, y, run along HR, or fo that the two interfedions
I, T of the fun’s image may Pafs C c at the fame
time. Then bring the planet’s and fun’s limbs into
contad, as at V, and do the fame for the other limb
of the fun, and halt the difference gives the diftance
of the centre of the_ planet frfcm the middle of the
choui on the fun’s d;fk parallel to the equator, or the
difference of the right afcenfions of their centres, al¬
lowing for the motion of the planet in the interval of
the observations, without any regard to the error of
adjufiment, for the fame reafon as before. For if
you take any point in the chord of a circle, half the
0 ] M T C
difference of the two fegments is manifefily the di- Mfcrsme*
fiance of the point from the middle of the chord ; and ter-
as the planet runs along HR, the chord is parallel to
the equator.
In uke manner, tne difiances of their limbs may beFiir. 7.
metdured in lines perpendicular to the equator, by bring- * *
ing the micrometer into the pofition already deferibed,
(Art. 13.), and inftead of bringing V to FIR, fepa¬
rate the fegments till the northernmoft; limbs coincide
as at V ; and in the fame manner make their fouthern-
moit images to coincide, and half the diffimence of
ths two meafures, allowing for the planet’s motion,
gives the difference of the declinations of their cen¬
tres.
Hence the true place of a planet in the fun’s dife
may at any time of its tranfit be found 5 and confe¬
quently the neareft approach to the centre and the
time of ecliptic conjunction may be deduced, although
the middle (hould not be obferved.
16. But however valuable the object glafs micrometer nT, ,
undoubtedly js, difficulties fometimes have been found taS oTthe
in its uie, owing to the alteration of the focus of the object-giafs
eye, which will caufe it to give different meafures of m'c ome*
the fame angle at different times. For inftance, inter’
meafuring the fun’s diameter, the axis of the pencil
coming through the two fegments from the contrary
limbs of the fun, as PF, OF, fig. 3. crofting one ano-
tner in tee focus F under an angle equal to the fun’s
femidiameter, the union of the limbs cannot appear
perfeA, unlefs the eye be difpofed to fee obje&s di-
ilmftly at the place where the images are formed ; for
ir the eye be difpofed to fee objecls nearer to or fur¬
ther off than that place, in the latter cafe the limbs
will appear feparated, and in the former they will an-
pear to lap over (c). I his imperfeflion led Dr Ma-
tvtlyne to inquire, whether fome method nffiffit not
e iound of producing two diftinR images of the fun
or any other objeft, by bringing the axis of each pen¬
cil to coincide, or very nearly fo, before the formation of
tne images, by which means the limbs when brought
together would not be liable to appear feparated from
any afteration of the eye ; and this he found would be
effected by the refraclion of two prifms, placed either
without or within the telefcope j and on this principle,
placing the prifms within, he confirufted a new mi¬
crometer, and had one executed by Mr Dollond, which
upon trial anfwered as he expeded. The conilrudicn
is as follows.
17. Let AB be the objed-glafs; a £ the image, fup- nr ,, r
pofe of tne fun, which would have been formed in £Ws’
ty principal focus ; but let the prifms PR, SR bepriiVnatic
piuced to intercept the rays, and let EF, WG be tworn‘crorrie"
rays proceeding from the eaftem and weftern limbs of^* 0
tne fun, converging, after refradion at the lens, to ^ 8> 2'
and A; and fuppofe the refradion of the prifms to be
fuen, that m fig. 8. the ray EFR, after refradion at
R
diverging from F/are each broughfto Tf^u? on ?>S’ °f .Vvhich Q.F are two axes,
appear to coincide : but if we increafe the refradive power of the »ve " and..ore the two limbs
and they crofs each other before the raws come to the rePm m ‘ien edC^ Pencil is brought to a focus,
over; and if we diminith the refradive power of the eve P ’ n‘yiuently tbe two limbs on the retina will lap
xctina, and not crofting ,11 after they beyond thj
MIC [ 797 ] M I C
JtFcrome- R by the prib-n PR, m ly proceed in the direction RQj
and as all the rays which were proceeding to a fuller
-v (be fame refraction at the prihn, they will all be re¬
fracted to O ) and therefore, inftead of an image a b,
which would have been formed by the lens alone, an
image O c is formed by thofe rays which fall on the
prifm PR ; and for the fame reafon, the rays falling
on the prifm SR will form an image Qd: and in fig.
r). tire image of the point b is brought to Q, by the
prifm PR, and confequently an image £) */ is formed
by thofe rays which fall on PR : and for the fame rea¬
fon, an image Q c is formed by the rays falling on SR.
No v in both calcs, as the rays EFR, WGR, coming
from the two oppofite limbs of the fun, and forming
the point of contact of the two limbs, proceed in the
fame direClion RQb they mud thus accompany each
other through the eye-glafs and alfo through the eye,
whatever refraClive power it has, and therefora to
every eye the images mud appear to touch. Now the
angle t? R is. twice the relraftion of the prifm, and
the angle # C £ is the diameter of the fun ; and as thefe
angles are vety fmall, and have the fame fubtenfe a b,
we have the angle « R £ : angle a C b :: : R£E—
Now as CQ is conftant, and alio the angle a R b being
twice the refradion of the prifm, the angle a C a varies
as Rp. Hence the extent of the fcale for meafuring
angles becomes the focal length of the objeCl-glaP,
and the angle meafured is in proportion to the didance
of the prilms from the principal focus of the objecd-
glafs; and the micrometer can meafure all angles (very
finall ones excepted, for the reafon given in Art. IQ )
which do not exceed the fain of the refractions of the
prifms \ for the angle a C b, the diameter of the objeCl
to be mealured, is always Itfs than the angle a R b, the
fum of the refraClions of the prifms, except when the
prifms touch the objeCl glafs, and then they become
equal. The fcale can never be out of adjudment, as
the point o, where the meaiurement begins, anlwers
to the focus of the objecl-glafs, which is a fixed point
for all diftant objtcls, and we have only to find the
value of the fcale anfwering to fome known angle :
for infiance, bring the two limbs of the fun’s images
into contaCl, and megfure the ditlance of the prilms
from tire focus, and look in the nautical almanac for
the fun’s diameter, and you get the value of the icale.
Fig. S. i 8. In fig. 8. the limb f) of the image Q c, is illu¬
minated by the rays falling on the objeCl glafs between
A and F, and of the image <(> ^/ by thofe falling be¬
tween B and G ; but in fig. 9. the fame limbs are il¬
luminated by the rays falling between B and F, A
and G refnectively, and therefore will be more illumi¬
nated than in the other cafe ; but the difference is not
confiderable irr achromatic telefcopes, on account of
the great aperture of the objeCl glals compared with
the didance FG.
It might be convenient to have two fets of prifms,
one for meafuring angles not exceeding 36', and tnere-
fore fit for meafuring the diameters of the fun and
moon, and the lucid parts and diilances of the cufps
in their eclipfes; and another for meafuring angles not
much greater than T, for the conveniency of mearu-
. ring the diameters of the planets. For as QC : QJd : :
fum of the refraClions of the prifms : angle a C b, the
apparent diameter of the objeCl, it is evident that if
you dinrlnifh the third term, you mud- increafe the fe-
cond in the fame ratio, in order to meafure the fame Micrsme-
angle ; and thus by diminiihing the refraClive angle of t^r' ,
the prifms, you throw them further from £), and con¬
fequently avoid the inconvenience of bringing them
near to f), for the reafon in the next paragraph ; and
at the fame time you will increafe the illumination in
a fmall degree. The prifms mud be achromatic, each
compofed of two - prifms of flint and crown glafs,
placed with their refraCling angles in contrary direftions,
otherwife the images will be coloured.
19. In the condruClion Here deferibed, the angle mea¬
fured becomes evanefeent when the prifms come to the
principal focus of the objeCl-ghifs, and therefore o
on the fcale then begins : but if the prifms be placed
in the principal focus they can have no eflPeCl, becaufe
the pencil of rays at the junclion of the prifms would
then vanilh, and therefoie it is not praClicable to bring
the two images together to get 0 on the fcale. Dr
Malkelyne, therefore, thought of placing another pair
of prifms within, to refraCl the rays before they came
to the other prifms, by which means the two images
would be formed into one before they' came to the
principal focus, and therefore o on the fcale could
be determined. But to avoid the error arifing from
the multiplication of mediums, he, inflead of adding
another pair of prifms, divided the objeft-glafs through
its centre, and Hiding the fegments a little it feparated
the images, and then by the prifms he could form one.
image very diftinftly, and confequently could determine
O on the fcale ; for by feparating the two fegments you
form two images, and you will feparate the two pencils
fo that you may move up the two pnfms, and the two
pencils will fall on each refpedlively, and the two
images may be formed into one. In the inftrument
which Dr M dkelyne had made, o on the fcale was
chofen to be about of the focal length of the objefl-
glafs, and each prifm refraBed I'q'. By this means all
angles are meafured down to o.
20. In the Philofophical Tianfaclions fer 1779, Mr
Ramfden has deferibed two new micrometers, which
lie contrived with a view of remedying the defetls of
the obiecl-glafs micrometer.
21. 1. One of thefe is a catoptric micrometer, which,Ramfden’a
befide the advantage it derives from the principle of reflecting
reflcdlisn, of not being diflurbed by the heterogeneity ™iCrofne'
of light, avoids every defeft of other micrometers,
and can have no aberration, nor any deferit arifing
from the imperfeflion of materials or of execution j
as the ext-erae fimplicity of its conftruflion requires
no additional mirrors or gl dies to thofe required for
the telefcope ; and the reparation of the images being
efifeded by the inclination of the two fpecula, and not
depending on the focus of any lens or mirror, any al¬
teration in the eye of an obferver cannot aflfeil the
angle meafured. It has peculiar to itfelf the advan¬
tages of an adjufiment, to make the images coincide
in a direction perpendicular to that of their motion j
and alfo of meafuring the diameter of a planet on both
Cries of the zero, which will appear no inconfiderable
advantage to obfervers who know how much eafier it
is to afeeriain the contad of the external edges of two
images than their perfedl coincidence.
22. A re prefer, ts the fmall fpeculum divided into two Fig. to.
equal parts ; one of which is fxed on the end of the
ami B; the other end of the arm is<fixed on a fled
axis
Fig. ix.
A- eorrec-
--tion to be
applied to
•the ang’e.
M 1 G
axis X, wliich croffes the end of the telefcope C. The
other half of the mirror A is fixed on the arm D,
which arm at the other end terminates in a focket y,
that turns on the axis Xj both arms are prevented
from bending by the braces a a. Q reprefents a double
fcrew, having one part e cut into double the number
of threads In an inch to that of the part g : the part
e having 100 threads in one inch, and the part g 50
only. The fcrew e works in a nut F in the fide of
the telefcope, while the part g turns in a nut H,
which is attached to the arm B •, the ends of the arms
B and D, to which the mirrors are fixed, are fepa-
rated from each other by the point of the double
icrew preffing againft the itud /i, fixed to the arm D,
and turning in the nut H on the arm B. The two
arms B and D are preffed againft the dire&ion of the
double fcrew by a fpiral fpring within the part r?,
by which means all ftiake or play in the nut H, on
which the meafure depends, is entirely prevented.
From the difference of the threads on the fcrew at
e and g, it is evident, that the progreftive motion of tire
fcrew through the nut will be half the diftance of the
reparation of the two halves of the mirror j and confe-
quently the half mirrors will be moved equally in
contrary dire&ions from the axis of the telefcope C.
23. The wheel V fixed on the end of the double fcrew
has its circumference divided into 100 equal parts,
and numbered at every fifth divifion with 5, i o, &c.
to too, and the index I (hows the motion of the fcrew
with the wheel round its axis, while the number of
revolutions of the fcrew is ftiown by the divifions on
the fame index. The fteel fcrew at R may be turned
by the key S, and ferves to incline the fmall mirror at
right angles to the diredfion of its motion. By
turning the finger head T, the eye tube P is brought
nearer or farther from the fmall mirror, to adjuft
the telefcope to diftindt vifion ; and the telefcope
itfelf hath a motion round its axis for the conveni-
ency of meafuring the diameter of a planet dn any
diredlion. 1 he inclination of the diameter meafured
with the horizon is ftiown in degrees and minutes by a
level and vernier on a graduated circle, at the breech
of the telefcope.
24. Befides the table for reducing the revolutions and
parts of the fcrew to minutes, feconds, &c. it will
require a table for corredling a fmall error which arifes
from the excentric motion of the half-mirrors. By this
motion their centres of curvature will approach a little
towards the large mirror : the equation for this pur-
pofe in fmall angles is infenfible ; but when angles to
be meafured exceed ten minutes, it ftiould not be ne-
gledled. _ Or, the angle meafured may be corredfed
by diminifhing it in the proportion the verfed fine of
the angle meafured, fuppofing the eccentricity radius,
bears to the focal length of the fmall mirror.”
25. Mr Ramfden preferred Calfegrain’s conftru&ion
of the reflefting telefcope to either' the Gregorian or
Newtonian , becaufe in the former, the errors of one
fpeculum are correaed by thofe of the other. From a
property of the refleaing telefcope, not generally
known, that the aperture s of the two fpecula are to each
other very nearly in the proportion of their focal lengths,
it follow s, that their aberrations wall be in the fame pro¬
portion ; and tbe'e aberrations will be in the fame di-
reaion, if the two Ipe cula are concave
2
798 ] M I C
trary direaions, if one fpeculum is concave and the Mierome-
other convex. In the Gregorian- telefcope, both ter“
fpecula being concave, the aberration at the fecond v
image will be the fum ol the aberrations of the two
mirrors j but in the Caffegrainian telefcope one mir¬
ror being concave and the other convex, the aber¬
ration at the fecond image will be the difference be¬
tween the two aberrations. By affuming fuch propor¬
tions for the foci of the fpecula as are generally ufed
in the refledling telefcope, which is about as 1 to 4,
the aberration in the Caffegrainian conftrudlion wall be
to that in the Gregorian as 3 to 5.
26. The other is a dioptric micrometer, or one fuited Ramf-
ap
to the principle of refradh'on. This micrometer is nn. den’seye“
:, or m con-
plied to the eredt eye-tube of a refracting telefcope, '
and is placed in the conjugate focus of the firft eye-
glafs : in which polition, the image being confiderably
magnified before it comes to the micrometer, any im-
perfedtion in its glafs will be magnified only by the re¬
maining eye-glafles, which in any telefcope feldom ex¬
ceeds five or fix times. By this pofition alfo the fize
of the micrometer glafs will not be the part of
the area which would be required if it was placed in
the objedt-glafs •, and, notwithilanding this great dif-
proportion of fize, which is of great moment to the
pradlical optician, the fame extent of fcale is preferved,
and the images are uniformly bright in every part of
the field of the telefcope.
27. Fig. 12. reprefents the glaffes of a refradfing tele-
fcope ; .ry, the principal pencil of rays from the objecl:-CCCXXXVI*
glafs O ; / / and it u, the axis of two oblique pencils $
a, the firft eye-glafs 5 its conjugate focus, or the
place of the micrometer ; b the fecond eye-glafs ; c the
third ; and d the fourth, or that which is neareft the
eye. Let p be the diameter of the objedl-glafs, e the
diameter of a pencil at m, and f the diameter of the
pencil at the eye ; it is evident, that the axes of the
pencils from every part of the image will crofs each
other at the point rn ; and e, the width of the micro-
meter-glafs, is top the diameter of the objedl-glafs, as
m« is to 0, which is the proportion of the mag-
nifying power at the point m ; and the error caufed
by an imperfedlion in the micrometer glafs placed at
m will be to the error, had the micrometer been at O,
as m is to p.
28. Fig. 13. reprefents the micrometer; A, a convex pj
or concave lens bifedfed by a plane acrofs its centre; one
of thefe femi-lenfes is fixed in a frame B, and the other
in the frame E ; which two frames Hide on a plate FI,
and are preffed againft it by thin plates a a: the frames
B and E are moved in contrary diredlions by turning
tne button D : L is a fcale of equal parts on the frame
B ; it is numbered from each end towards the middle
with 10, 20, &c. There are two verniers on the frame
E, one at M and the other at N, for the convenience
of meafuring the diameter of a planet, &c. on both fides
the zero. The firft divifion on both thefe verniers co¬
incides at the fame time with the twm zeros on the fcale,
L ; and, if the frame is moved towards the right, the
relative motion of the two frames is ihown on the fcale
L by the vernier M ; but if the frame B be moved to¬
wards the left, the relative motion is fhown by the ver¬
nier N.—-This micrometer has a motion round the
axis of vifion, for the convenience of meafuring the
diameter of a planet, &c. in any diredlion, by turn-
ing
-ig-
«**
MIC [ 799 ] MIC
Microme- mg an endlefs fcrew F j and the inclination of the
ter- diameter meafured with the horizon is (liown on the
circle g by a vernier on the plate V. The telefcope
. may be adjlifted to diliind vifion by a fcrew, which
moves the whole eye-tube with the micrometer nearer
to or farther from the objeft-glafs, as telefcopes are ge¬
nerally made ; or the lame eftcft may be produced
without,moving the micrometer, by Hiding the part of the
eye tube m on the part n, by help of a fcrew or pinion.
Eifr.dvan- 29. Notwithftanding thefe improvements on microme-
taycs rf the ters, they are ftiH liable to many fources of error. The
common imperfections of the ware micrometer, (which was ftill
rmumoc- t]le mog corre^ inftrument for meafuring (mall angles)
when employed to determine the diftance of clofe
double ftars, have been ably pointed out by Dr Herfchel.
30. Wh en two ftars are taken between the parallel
* Phi. M-ires the diameters muft be included. Dr Herfchel * has
Trdnf- *n vain attempted to find lines fufficiently thin to extend
17S3. them acrofs the centres of the ftars fo that their thick-
nefs might be negleCled. The threads of the filk-worm,
with fuch lenfes as he ufes, are fo much magnified that
their diameter is more than that of many of the ftars.
Befides, if they were much fmaller, the defleflion of
light would make the attempt to meafure the diflance
ol the centres this way fruitlefs ; for he has always found
the light of the ftars to play upon thofe lines and fepa-
rate their apparent diameters into two parts. Now
fince the fpurious diameters of the ftars thus included,
are continually changing with the ftate of the air,
and the length of time we look at them, we are, in
fome refpeCl, left at an uncertainty ; and our meafures
taken at dift'erent times, and with different degrees of
attention, will vary on that account. Nor can we come
at the true diftance of the centres of any two ftars, un-
lefs wTe know the femidiameters of the ftars themfelves;
for different ftars have different apparent diameters,
which, with a power of 227, may differ from each
other as far as two feconds (d).
31. The next iinperfefiion arifes from a deftedion of
light upon the wires wThen they approach very near to
each other ; for if this be owing to a power of repulfion
lodged at the furface, it is eafy to fee that fuch powers
muft interfere with each other, and give the meafures
larger in proportion than they would have been if the
repulfive power of one wire had not been oppofed by a
contrary power of the other wire.
32. Another difadvantage of thefe micrometers'is an
uncertainty of the real zero. The lead alteration in the
fituation and quantity of light will affeft the zero ; and
a change in the pofition of the wires wdll fometimcs
produce a difference. To remove this difficulty Dr Her¬
fchel always found his zero while the apparatus preler-
ved the fituation which it had when Jiis obfeivations
were made j but this introduces an additional obferva-
tion.
33. The next impelfedlion, is that every micrometer
hitherto ufed requires either a fcrewq or a divided bar
and pinion, to meafure the diftance of the wires or the-
two images. Thofe acquainted with wrorks of this kind
are fenfible how difficult it is to have fcrews perfeftly
equal in every thread or revolution of each thread •,
or pinions and bars that fhall be fo evenly divided
as to be depended upon in every leaf and tooth to the
two or three thoufandth part of an inch : and yet, on Microme-
account of the Imall fcale of thefe micrometers, thefe te1,
quantities are of the greateft confequence ; an error of " ~v J
a fingle thoulandth part inducing in moft inftruments
a miftake of feveral ftconds.
34. The greateft imperfe&ion of all is, that the wires
require to be illuminated j and when Dr Herfchel had
double ftars to meafure, one of which was very obfeure,
hs was obliged to be content with lefs light than is
neceffary to make the wires diftimft ; and leveral ftars
on this account could not be meafured at all, though
not too clofe for the micrometer.
_ F)r Herfchel, therefore, w'as led to direft his atten¬
tion to the improvement of thefe inftruments; and the
refult of his endeavours has been a very ingenious /amp.
micrometer, which is not only free from the imperfec¬
tions above fpecified, but alfo poffeffes the advantages of
a large fcale.
35. It is reprefented in fig. 1 4. where ABGCFE is a Dr Her-’
ftand nine feet high, upon which a femieircular board1^’5^?-
qhogp is moveable upwards or downwards, and is held ™crome~
in its fituation by a peg p put into any one of the holes
of the upright piece AR. Ibis board is a fegment of I^*
a circle of fourteen inches radius, and is about three
inches broader than a femicircle, to give room for the
handles r D, <? P, to work. The ufe of this board is
to carry an arm L, thirty inches long, which is made
to move upon a pivot at the centre of the circle, by
means of a firing, which-paffes in a groove upon the
edge of the femicircle pgohq; the firing is faftened to
a hook at 0 (not expreffed in the figure, being at the
back of the arm L), and palling along the groove from
oh to q is turned over a pulley at q, and goes down to-
a fmall barrel <?, within the plane of the circular board,
where a double-jointed handle <?P commands its mo¬
tion. By this contrivance, we fee, the arm L may be
lifted up to any altitude from the horizontal pofition
to the perpendicular, or be fuffered to defeend by
its own weight below the horizontal to the reverie
perpendicular fituation. The weight of the handle P
is fufficient to keep the arm in any given pofition ;
but if the motion ftiould be too eafy, a fridlion fpring
applied to the barrel will moderate it at pleafure.
36. In front of the arm L a frnall Aider, about three
inches long, is moveable in a rabbet from the end L
towards the centre backwards and forwards. A firing
is faftened to the left fide of the little Aider, and goes
towards L, where it paffes round a pulley at m, and
returns under the arm from w, n, towards the centre,
where it is led in a groove on the edge of the arm,
which is of a circular form, upwards to a barrel
(rafted above the plane of the circular board) at r,
to which the handle rD is faftened. A fecond firing
is faflened to the Aider, at the right fide, and goes to¬
wards the centre, where it pailes over a pulley « ; and
the weight w, which is fufpended by the end of this
firing, returns the Aider towards the centre, when a
contrary turn of the handle permits it to add.
37. By « and b are reprefented two fmall lamps, two •
inches high, ii in breadth by li- in depth. The fades,
back, and top, are made fo as to permit no light to be
feen, and the front confifts of a thin brafs Hiding door.
The flame in the lamp a is placed three-tenths of an inch
from
(d) Thefe imperfe&ions are remedied in the inftrymeot deferibed in p. 801*
Microme-
Fig- 15-
f;
16,
Kg. IS.
MIC [So
from tlie left Hde, three-tenths from the front, and half
an inch from the bottom. In the lamp b it is placed at
the fame height and diftance, meafuring from the right
fde. The wick of the flame confifts only of a Angle
very thin lamp cotton thread ; for the fmalleft flame
being fufficient, it is eafier to keep it burning in fo
confined a place. In the top of each lamp muft be a
little flit lengthways, and a fmall opening in one fide
near the upper part, to permit the. a:r to ciicnlate to
feed the flame. To prevent every refleftion of light,
the fide opening of the lamp a fhould be to the right,
and that of the lamp b to the left. In the Aiding door
of each iarop is made a fmall hole with the point of a
very fine needle jail oppofite the place where the wicks
are" burning, fo that when the Aiders are flmt down,
;md every thing dark, nothing (hall be feen but t>vo
fine lucid points of the iize of two flars of the third or
fourth magnitude. The lamp a is placed fo that its
lucid point may be in the centre of the circular board
where it is fixed. The lamp b is hung to tne little
Aider which moves in the rabbet of the aim, fo that its
lucid point, in an horizontal pofition of the arm, may
be on a level with the lucid point in_the centre. The
moveable lamp is fufpended upon a piece of brafs fafien-
ed to the Aider by a pin exa&ly behind the flame, upon
which it moves as a pivot. 1 he lamp is balanced at
the bottom by a leaden weight, fo as to remain up¬
right, when the arm is either lifted above or depreffed
below the horizontal pofition. I he double-jointed
handles rl), <?P, confifl of deal rods, xo feet long,
and the lowed of them may have divifions, maiked
upon it near the end P, exprefimg exadlly the dillance
from the central lucid point in feet, inches, and tenths.
38. Hence we fee, that a perfon at a diflance of 10 feet
may govern the two lucid points, fo as to bring them
into any required pofition fbuth or north preceding or
following from o to 90° by ufing the handle P, and
alfo to any diflance from fix-tenths of an inch to five or
fix and twenty inches by means of the handle D. If
any reflexion or appearance of light (hould be left from
the top or fides of the lamps, a temporary fereen, con¬
fining of a long piece of pafleboard, or a wire frame
covered with black cloth, of the length of the whole
arm, and of any required breadth, with a flit of a half
an inch broad in the middle, may be affixed to the arm
by four bent wires projecting an inch or two before the
lamps, fituated fo that the moveable lucid point may
pals along the opening left fur that purpofe.
Fig. 1 ^ reprefents part of the arm L, half the real
fr/x j S the Aider-, tn the pulley, over which the cord
xtyx is returned towards the centre 5 v the other cord
going to the pulley n of fig. 14. R the brafs piece
moveable upon the pin c, to keep the lamp upright.
At R is a wire rivetted to the brafs piece, upon which
17>is held the lamp by a nut and ferew. Fig. 16. 17. re-
•"prefent the lamps a, /, with the Aiding doors open,
to (how the fituation of the wicks. W is the kadeq
eight with a hole d in it, through which the wire R
of fig. 1 5. is to be paffed when the lamp is to be fatt¬
ened* to" tbe Aider S. Fig. 18 reprefents the lamp a
with the Aiding door flint ; / the lucid point; and ik
the openings at the top, and j- at the (ides, for the ad-
miflion of air.
39. The motions of this micrometer are capable of great
improvement by the application of wheels and pinions,
3
o ] MIC
and other mechanical refources •, but as the principal Mlcrome-
objeT is only to be able to adjuft the two lucid points , ,
to the required pofition and diftance, and to keep them ^ ^ ,
there for a few minutes, while the obferver meafures appiy^g0
their diftance, it v\ill be unneceflary to fay more upon lamp
the fubjeft. % ^ . microme-
40. It is well known that we can with one eye look in- ter.
to a telefcope, and fee an objea much magnified, while
the other eye may fee a fcale upon which the magnified
pi & u re is thrown. In this manner Dr Herfchel gener¬
ally determined the power of his telescopes ; and any
one who has been accuftomed to make fuch obfervations
will fcldom miftake fo much as one in fifty in determin¬
ing the power of an inftrument, and that degree of ex-
achiefs is fully fufficient for the purpofe.
41. When Dr Herfchel ufes this inftrument lie puts it
at ten feet dillance from the left eye, in a line perpendi¬
cular to the tube of his Newtonian telefcope, and raifes
the moveable board to fuch a height that the lucid
point of the central lamp may be upon a level v.itn tbs
eye. The handles, lifted up, are pafi'ed through two
loops fattened to the tube, juft by the obferver, to as to
be ready for his ufe. The end of the tube is cut away,
fo as to leave the left eye entirely free to fee the whole
micrometer.
42. The telefcope being direfled to a double fear, it is
viewed with the right eye, and at tne fame time v\ith
the left it is feen proje&ed upon the micrometer : then,
by the handle P, the arm is raifed or depreffed fo as to
bring the two lucid points to a fimilar fituation with the
two liars j "and, by the handle D, the moveable lucid
point is brought to the fame diftance of the two liars, fo
that the two lucid points may be exactly covered by
the flars.
4 3. With a rule, divided into inches and fortieth parts,
the diftance of the lucid points is thus determined with
the greateft accuracy ; and the meafure thus obtained
is the tangent of the magnified angle under which the
ftars are feen to a radius of ten feet; therefore, the
angle being found and divided by the pow-er of the te-
lefcope, the real angular diftance of the centres of a
double liar -is afeertained. On September 25. 1781,
Dr Herfchel meafured « Herculis with this inftrument.
Having caufed the two lucid points to coincide witn
the ftars, he found the radius or diftance of the central
lamp from the eye 10 feet 4.15 inches 3 the tangent or
diftance of the two lucid points 50.6 fortieth parts of an
inch \ this gives the magnified fmgle 35', and dividing
by the porver 460, xve obtain 4" 34"' for the diftance
of the centres of the two ftars. The fcale of tne mi¬
crometer at this convenient diftance, with the power of
460, is above a quarter of an inch to a fecond ; and by
putting on a power of 932, we obtain a fcale of more
than half an inch to a lecond, without increafing the
diftance of the micrometer j whereas the moft perfect
micrometers, with the fame inftrument, had a fcale
of lefs than the two thoufandth part of an inch to a
fecond.
44. Mr Brewffier has lately direfted his attention to Mr Brew-
the improvement of micrometers, and has invented one in Iter’s mi-
particular wh^ch appears to be highly defirving of no-clometel-
tice in this place. In this inftrument a pair of fixed
wires is made toTubtcnd different angles by varying the
magnifying powder of the telefcope, by Hiding one tube
within another j whereas in all other micrometers with
- wires
MECHANIC S .
Plate CCCXXVII.
M E C H A N T C S
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Plate CCC XXVIII
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3.
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.;
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C ^ ^ T) P I \ t> >
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7VATr'> ^Yi r^.'N. W. ^ • H . u .
N-. H. - H - ^ vV1* a ©•❖
Pk.r.a.o.^^^es
T. T. "1 • » y.
1V‘YP YY t V.p-^ v-
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TUi/W • V< .
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THE •« •
W-
ng-m: .
-N\N • hP •
REX . •
MIC [ So
Microtfte* wires tills effeft is produced by mechanical contrivances,
ter. ]Vlr Brewfter’s method of (hutting and opening the
vvires optically is therefore free from all thofe fources of
error to which other micrometers are fubjedf, and ren¬
ders it particularly ufeful to the pra£lical aftronomer ;
while the mode of changing the magnifying power by
the motion of a fecond objedl glafs affords a length of
fcrde equal to the local diitance of the principal objeft-
glafs. The fame principle is peculiarly applicable to the
Gregorian telefcope ^ for the magnifying power of this
inftrument can be changed by merely increafing ordimi-
• nifhing the diftance of the eye-piece from the large fpe-
culum.
45. In the common micrometer, whicn can manifeftly,
as well as Mr Cavallo’s and Mr Brewfter’s, be ufed in the
raenfuration of diftances, the focal length of the tele-
fcope to which it is attached remains always the lame 5
fo that a correflion computed from an optical theorem
muft be applied to every angle that is meafured : but
in Mr Brewfter’s telefcope and micrometer, the focal
length varies in the fame proportion as the diftance of
the obiedf; and confequently no correfl.on of the
angles can be neceffary. To obviate the receftity of
having a (land for the inftrument, which would prevent
its ufe'ulnefs at fea, Mr Brew ft er divides the fecond or
moveable objea-glafs into two, as in the divided objett-
glafs micrometer. By this contrivance two images are
formed, and thefe images are feparated or made to form
different angles at the eye, by bringing the moveable
objefl-glafs nearer to the fixed one. In determining
the angle, therefore, we have only to bring the two
images of the object into contact ; and fuch contact the
eye is capable of afcertaining even during the agitation
of a carriage, as the two images retain the fame iclative
pofition whatever be their abfolute motion.
This ingenious inftrument, being formed with Hiding
tubes, is very portable and convenient; and will be
found extremely ufeful to military gentlemen, and others
who may wrifh to afeertain diftances without a more cum-
berfome apparatus. Haiiy's Nat. Phil, by Gregory, v. ii.
p. 427.
46. Mr Brewfter, we underftand, {fill continues to di-
reft his attention to the fubjeif of micrometers, keeping
■ in view' the improvement of thefe mftruments, not only m
greater accuracy of contfruflion, but alfo m their more
extenfive application to various practical puipofes. An
account of thofe ufes and improvements is to form the
fubjeft of an appropriate publication; and, if we are
rightly informed, the author deems them of fufticient
importance to fecure to himfelf, by patent, the exclu-
five right to the advantages which he thinks will arife
from ufing them.
47- A- very fimple micrometer for meafuring fmall an-
mother-of- 8^es with the telefcope has been invented by Mr Cavallo *.
pearl micro- It confifts of a thin and narrow flip of mother-cf-pearl finely
meter. divided, and fituated in the focus of the eye-glafs cf a te-
* Ph. Tranf. ]efcopej juft where the image of the objeft is forrhed.
I77I'P-2uo- js imniaterial whether the telefcope be a rcfraclor or
a refleftor, provided the eye-glafs be a convex lens.
The fimpieft way of fixing it is to ftick it upon the
diaphragm, which generally Hands within the tube,, m
the focus cf the eye-glafs. When thus fixed, the divi-
fions of the micrometrical fcale will appear very di-
ftindl, unlefs the diaphragm is not exactly in the focus •,
in which cafe, the fcale muft be placed accurately in
Vol. XIII. Part IT
1
M I C
licrome-
ter.
tp.
the focus of the eye-glafs, either by moving the dia¬
phragm, or by interpofing any thin fubftance, fuch as ^
paper or card between it and the fcale. I his conftruc-
tion is fully fufficient, when the telefcope is always to
be ufed by the fame perfon ; but when different perfons
are to ufe it, then the diaphragm which fupports the
micrometer muft be conftrutted fo as to be eefily moved
backwards or forwards, though that motion need not
be greater than about cf Vo an inch.
The fcale of the micrometer is reprefented in fig. 19.Fi
which is about four times greater than one which Mr
Cavallo has adapted to a three feet achromatic telefcope
that magnifies about 84 times. It is fomething lefs
than the 24th part of an inch broad •, its tbicknefs is
equal to that of common writing paper •, and the length
of it is determined by the breadth of the field of view'.
The divifions are 200ths of an inch, and the lines which
form them reach from one edge of the icale to abom tns
middle of it, excepting every fifth and tenth divition,
which are longer. J wo divifions of the fcale in the te¬
lefcope already mentioned are very nearly equal to one/
minhte •, and as a quarter of one of thofe divifions may
be eafiiy diftinguiftied by the eye, an angle of one-eighth
part of "a minute, or of 7"4, may be meafured with it.
In looking through a telefcope furnilhed with fuch a
micrometer, the field of view appears divided by the
micrometer fcale, the breadth of which occupies about
yth of the aperture ; and as the fcale is femitranfparent,
that part of the objeft which is behind it may be dif-
cerned fufticiently well to alcertain the divifion, with
which its borders coincide. Fig. 20. (hows the appear-^
ance of the field of the telefcope with the micrometer, a
when direfted to the title page of the Philofophical
Tranfasftions, in which it appears that the thicknefs of
the letter G is equal to three-fourths in a divifion, tne
diameter of the O is equal to three diviUons, and fo on.
48. After having adapted this micrometer to the
telelcope, we muft tuen afeertam tiif value Oi tue
divifions. It is hardly neceffary to mention in this-
place, that though thole divifions nleafure the chords
of the angles, and not the angles or arches themfelves,
and the chords are not as the arches, yet in fmall angles
the. chords, arches, fines, and tangents, fo .ow the fame
proportion fo very nearly, that the difference may be
f?Jelv neele&cd : fo that if one divifion of this micro-
meteor is equal to one minute, we may conclude, that
two divifions are equal to two minutes, tnree diviftons
to three minutes, and fo on. In crilei to a.iceitam the
value of the divifions of this micrometer, the following
fimple and accurate method may be adopted.
Mark upon a wall the length of fix inches, by .mak¬
ing two dots or lines fix inches afunder, or by fixing a
fix inch ruler upon a Hand then place the tcieft ope be¬
fore it fo that the' ruler or fix-inch length may be at,
right angles with the diredlion of the telefcope, and
juft 57 feet 3 £-inches diftant from the objeff-glafs of
the lelefcope: this clone, look through the teh feope at
the ruler or other extenfion of fix inches, and obieive
how many divifions of the micrometer are equal to it,
and that fame number of divifions is equal to half a de¬
gree, or 30' as may be fiiewn by plane trigonometry.
49. When this value has been once afeertained, any
other angle meafured by any other number ofdivifions is
determined by firr.ple proportion. 1 bus, if the diameter
or’he fun feen tlircimh the fame telefcope, be equal to
5 1
V
M I C
[ 802 ]
MIC
31'.3, which is the
12 divifions, fay as 11-i- divifions are to 30 minutes,
r /I 2'X 30' \
fo are 12 dsvmons to (   )
\ ii-J J
required diameter of the fun.
Notvvithftanding the facility of this calculation, a
fcale may be made anfwering to the diviiions ot a mi¬
crometer, which will fhow the angle correfponding to
any number of divifions by mere infpedfion, Hhus, for
the above-mentioned (mall telefcope, the fcale is repre-
Fig. 21. fented in fig. 21. AB is a line drawn at pleafure ; it
is then divided into 23 equal parts, and thofe divifions
which reprefent the divifions of the micrometer that are
equal to one degree, are marked on one fide of it. 1 he
line then is divided again into 60 equal parts, which are
marked on the other fide of it j and thefe divifions re¬
prefent the minutes which correfpond to the divifions of
the micrometer ; thus the figure fhows, that fix divi¬
fions of the micrometer are equal to 154- minutes, il|-
divifions are nearly equal to 29 minutes, &c. What has
been faid of minutes may be faid of feconds alfo, when
the fcale is to be applied to a large telefcope.
50. We flrall therefore add fome practical rules to
render this micrometer ufeful to perfons unacquainted
with trigonometry and the ufe of logarithms.
Problem I. The angle, not exceeding one degree,
which is fubtended by an extenfion of one foot perpen¬
dicular to the axis of the telefcope being given, to find
its diftance from the objeft-glafs of the telefcope.
Rule I. If the angle be exprefled in minutes, fay, as
the given angle is to 60, fo is 687.55 to a fourth pro¬
portional, which gives tlae anfwer in inches.— 2. If the
angle be exprelTed in feconds, fay, as the given angle
is to 3600, fo is 687.55 to a fourth proportional, which
expreffes the anfwer in inches.
Example. At what diftance is a globe of one foot
diameter when it fubtends an angle of two feconds ?
3600x687.5c
2" : 3600" :: 687.55 : ^ —'-^-=1237590
inches, or 1031321 feet, which is the anfv/er required.
Problem II. The angle, not exceeding one degree,
which is fubtended by any known extenfion, being gi¬
ven, to find its diftance from the objeft-glafs of the tele¬
fcope.
Rule. Proceed as if the extenfion were of one foot by
Problem I. and call the ftnfwer B 5 then, if the extenfion
in queftion be expreffed in inches, fay, as 12 inches are
to that extenfion, fo is B to a fourth proportional, which
is the anfwer in inches •, but if the extenfion in queftion
be exprefted in feet, then you need only multiply it by
B, and the produft is the anfwer in inches.
Example, At what diftance is a man fix feet high,
when he appears to fubtend an angle of 30".
By Problem I. if the man were one foot high, the
diftance wmuld be 82506 inches •, but as he is fix feet
high, therefore multiply 82506 by 6, and the product
gives the required diftance, which is 49J°3^ inches, or
41253 feet.
For greater conveniency, efpecially in travelling, or
in fuch circumftances in w7hich one has not the op¬
portunity of making even the eafy calculations required
in thofe problems, the following two tableshave been com¬
puted ; the firft of which {hows the diftance anfwering
to any angle from one minute to one degree, which is
fubtended by a man, the height of which has been call¬
ed an extenfion of fix feet 5 becaufe, at^a mean, fuch is
4
the height of a man w’hen dreffed with hat and Mkroaie-
{hoes on. * ,
Thus, if it is required to meafure the extenfion of a
ftreet, let a foot ruler be placed at the end of the ftreet 5
meafure the angle it fubtends, which fuppofe to be 36',
and in the table you wall have the required diftance op-
pofite 36', wdiich is 9 5^-feet. Thus alfo a man who
appears to be 49' high, is at the diftance of 421 feet.
Angles fubtended by an Kxten/ion of one Foot at different
Di/lances.
Angles.
Min.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
16
17
18
*9
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Diftances in
Feet.
An gles.
3437*7
1718,9
IM5*9
859*4
687.5
572>9
491.1
429*7
382,0
343*7
3I2*5
286.5
264.4
245*5
229.2
214.8
202.2
191,0
180.9
i71>8
162.7
156.2
i49*4
M3*2
137.5
132.2
127*3
122.7
118.5
114.6
Min. 31
32
33
34
.35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
• 52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Diltar.ecs in
Feet
110,9
107*4
104,2
IOI.I
98.2
95*5
92,9
9°-,4
88.1
85*9
83.8
81.8
79*9
78.1
76»4
74.7
73.1
71*6
70.1
68.7
67*4
66.1
64.8
63,6
62,5
61,4
60.3
59»2
58.2
58.3
Angles fubtended by an Extenfon of fix Feet at different
Diflances.
Angles.
Min. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
to
11
12
13
Diftancesin
Feet
20626,8
IC3X3,
6875*4
5156*5
4125.2
3437.7
2946.6
2578.2
2291.8
2062.6
1875.2
1718.8
1586.7
Angles.
Diftances in
Feet.
14
15
16
I?
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
1473*3
1375-
I 298,1
1213,3
H45*9
1085,6
i°3I*4
982,2
937*6
896,8
859'4
825.
793*3
Angles.
M I C
[ So
Angles.
Diftances in
Fctt.
Min. 27
28
29
3°
3r
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
763>9
736>6
711.3
687,5
665.4
644.5
625.
6c6,6
589,3
572,9
557.5
542.8
528.9
5t5,6
5°3,1
491,1
479,7
Angles.
Min.
44
45
46
47
48
49
5°
5'
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Diftance in
Feet.
46 88
45 84
44M
438 9
429.7
421.
4l 2,5
■ 4°4,4
396.7
389.2
581.9
375,
368.3
361.9
355.6
349*6
343.7
Mr Brew-
fter’s circu¬
lar mother-
of-pearl mi¬
crometer.
* Phil.
Mag. _
vol. xxix.
p.4S.
3 ] MIC
angles In i1ne heavens and fuch as are fublended by ter- Microme-
reltrial obje£ls, is reprefented in fig. 27. which exhibit's 11 ~1'.. ^
its appearances in the focus ot the fourth eye-glafs. ,.4at;e
The black ring, which forms part of the figure, is theCCCXXXVj,
diaphragm, and the remaining part is a ring of mother- ^ ^
of-pearl, having its interior circumference divided into '
360 equal parts. The mother-of-pearl ring, which ap¬
pears connecled with the diaphragm, is completely fe-
parate from it, and is fixed at the end of a brafs tube
which is made to move between the third eye-glafs and
the diaphragm, fo that the divided circumference may¬
be placed exaftly in the focus of the glals next the eye.
When the micrometer is thus fitted into the telefcope,
the angle fubtended by the whole field of view, or by
the diameter of the innermotl circle of the micrometer,
muft be determined either by meafuring a bale or by
the paffage of an equatoreal flar, and the angles fub¬
tended by any number of divifions or degrees will be
found by a table conftrufled in the following man-
51. The following is the account of a micrometer in¬
vented by Mr Brewfter, of the circumftances which led
to the invention, and of its advantages. We fhall give
it in his own words *.
“ In the winter of 1805 (he obferves), when I was
employed in delineating the furface of the moon, I
wilhed to meafure the diameter of the lunar fpets by
applying Mr Cavallo’s micrometer to a thirty-inch
achromatic telefcope made by Berge. But as the eye¬
piece was moved by a rack and pinion, and confe-
quently could not turn round its axis, the micrometer
mult have remained ftationary, and could only meafure
angles in one direction. This difficulty, indeed, might
have been furmounted by a mechanical contrivance for
turning the diaphragm about its centre, or more fimply
by giving a motion of rotation to the tube which con¬
tains the third and fourth eye-glafies. Such a change
in the eye-piece, however, was both inconvenient and
difficult to be made. Mr Cavallo’s micrometer, there¬
fore, has this great difadvantage, that it cannot be ufed
in refle&ing telefcopes, or in any achromatic telefcope
where the adjuftment of the eye-piece is effe&ed by
rackwork, unlefs the ftrufture of thefe inllruments is
altered for the purpofe. Another difadvantage of this
micrometer arifes from the flip of mother-of-pearl paf-
ling through the centre of the field. The picture in
the focus of the eye-glafs is broken into two parts, and
the view is rendered Hill more unpleafant by the in¬
equality of the fegments into which the field is divided.
In addition to thefe difad vantages, the different divi¬
fions of the micrometer are at unequal diflances from
the eye-glafs which views them, and therefore can nei¬
ther appear equally diftindt nor fubtend equal angles at
the eye.
“ Finding that Mr Cavallo’s inftrument laboured un¬
der thefe imperfeftions, I thought of a circular mother-
of-pearl micrometer which is free from them all, and
has likewife the advantage of a kind of diagonal fcale,
increafing in accuracy with the angle to be mealured.
This micrometer, which I got executed by Miller and
Adie, optical inftrument-makers in Edinburgh, and
which I have often ufed, both in determining fmall
5 2. “ Let A « B, fig. 28. be the interior circumfer¬
ence of the micrometer fcale, and let /»« be theobjeft to
be meafured. Bife<5t the arch m n in y>, and draw7 C w,
C />, C ». The line C p will be at right angles to m ny
and therefore m n will be twice the fine of half the
arch m n. Confequently, AB ; w « =: rad. fine ol
\mpn; therefore vni x R — fin. 4 w/* « X AB, and
fin. 4w/>«xAB fin.
mp n~—
Deg.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
J3
15
16
27
18
29
20
Gonftant
Part of
the
Formula
.0087
•OI74
.0262
•0349
.0436
■0523
.0610
.0698
.°785
.0872
.0958
.i°45
.1132
.1219
•I3°5
.1392
.1478
a 564
.i6co
•I736
Dej
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
S2
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
Conftant
Part;
.1822
.1908
•I994
.2079
.2164
.2250
•2334
•24I9
.2504
.2588
.2672
.2756
.2840
.2923
•30°7
•309°
•3 *73
•3256
•3338
.3420
Deg.
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
5°
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Conftant
Part.
•3502
•3584
•3665
•3746
.3827
•3907
•3987
.4067
•4I47
.4226
•43°5
•4384
.4462
•454°
.4617
•4695
•4771
.4848
.4924
.5000
Deg.
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
Conftant
Part.
•5°75
•5225
•5299
•5373
•5446
•55I9
•5592
.5664
•5735
.5807
•5878
•5948
.6018
.6088
•6157
.6225
.6293
.6361
.6428
Fig. 28.
— x AB ; a for-
R ~ R
mula by which the angle fubtended by the chord of any
number of degrees may be eafily found. The firlt part
of the formula, viz. ^- is conftant, while AB
K-
varies with the fize of the micrometer and with the
magnifying power which is applied. We have there¬
fore computed the following table, containing the value
of the conftant part of the formula for every degree or
divifion of the fcale.
5 1 2
Deg.
I
. M I C [ 80+ ] MIC
53. “ In order to find the angle fubtended by any num¬
ber of degrees, xve have only to multiply the conllant
part of the formula correfponJing to that number in the
table by AB, or the angle fubtended by the whole
field. Thus if AB is 30 minutes, as it happens to be
in the micrometer which I have conlfrudled, the angle
fubtended by 1 degree of the fcale will be 30'X 009=:
j 6|- feconds, and the angle fubtended by 40 degrees
will be 30'X-342—1 o' 15.6"; and by making the cal¬
culation it will be found that as the angle to be mea-
fured increafes, the accuracy of the fcale alio increaits j
for when the arch is only 1 or 2 degrees, a variation of
1 degree produces a variation of about 16 feconds in
the angle $ whereas when the arch is between 170 and
J 80, the variation of a degree does not produce a
change much more than one fecond in the angle. TLhis
is a molt important advantage in the circular icale, as
in Cavallo’s micrometer a limit is neceffurily put to the
fize of the divifions.
“ It is obvious, from an infpedlion of fig. 27. that there
is no occafion for turning the circular micrometer round
its axis, becaufe the divided circumferencfc lies in every
poffible diredion. In fig. 2. for example, if the object
has the direction a b it will be meafured by the arch
aob, and if it lies in the line ccl it will be meafured
bv the arch c r d.
“ In the circular micrometer which I have been in the
habit of uilng, AB, or the diameter of the field of
view, is exad’y half an inch, the diameter of the brals
tube in which it is fixed is one inch, the length of the
tube half an inch, and the degrees of the divided cir¬
cumference 2lAh an inch.'”
54. II. The micrometer has not only been applied to
tele (copes, and employed for altronomical purpofes j but Microme-
there have aifo been various contrivances for adapting ter-
it to microscopical obfervations. Mr Leeuwenhoeck’s App;;catp,n
method of eltimating the fize of fmall obje&s was by 0fthe mi-
comparing them with grains of (and, of which 100 incrometerto
a line took up an inch. Thefe grains he laid upon thern'cro‘coPcs*
fame plate with his objects, and viewed them at the
fame time. Dr .Turin’s method was fimilar to this j for
he found the diameter of a piece of fine iilver wire, by
wrapping it as clofe as he could about a pin, and ob-
ferving how many rings made an inch •, and he ufed
this w ire in the fame manner as Leeuwenhoeck employ¬
ed his find. Dr Hooke looked upon the magnified ob-
ieCt with one eye, while at the fame time he viewed
other objects placed at the fame diftance with the other
eye. In this manner he was able, by the help of a
ruler, divided into inches and fmall parts, and laid on
the pedctlal ef the microfcope, to calf as it were the
magnified appearance of the objeft upon the ruler, and
thus exactly to meafure the diameter which it appeared
to have through the giafs; which being compared with
the diameter as it appeared to the naked eye, (bowed
the degree in which it was magnified.
5 j. Mr Martin * recommended fuch a micrometer for* Martin's
a microTope as had been applied to telefcopes: for he Optics,
advffes to draw a number of parallel lines on a piece P>277’
of giafs, with the fine point of a diamond, at the di¬
ftance of one fortieth of an inch from one another, and
to place it in the focus of the eye-glafs. By this me¬
thod, Dr Smith contrived to take tire exafl draught of
objects viewed by a double microfcope j for he advifes
to get a lattice, made with fmall filver wires or fquares,
drawn upon a plain giafs by the (trokes ot a diamond,
and to put it into the place of the image, formed by
the objebf giafs : then by transferring the parts of the
object, feen in the fquarcs of the giafs or lattice upon
fimilar conefponding fquaies drawn on paper, the pic¬
ture may be exactly taken. Mr Martin alio introduced
into tompound microfcopes another micrometer, con-
filling of a ferew.
65a The mode of adtual admeafurenpent (Mr Adams
ohferves f) is without doubt the mod Ample that can be f- Micro/cc-
ufed •, as by it we comprehend, in a manner, at owz^lcalEdfays*
glance, the different effects of combined glaffes 5 and as15,
it far es the trouble, and avoids the obfeurity, of the
ufual modes of calculation : but many perfons find it
exceedingly difficult .to adopt this method, becaufe they
have not been accuffomed to obferve with both eyes at
once.- To obviate this inconvenience, the late Mr
Adams contrived an indrurnent called the Need/e-Mi~
crotneter, which wras fird: deicrited in his Micrographia
lllujlrala ; and ox which, as now conftructed, we have
the following defeription by his fon Mr George Adams
in the ingenious Effuys above quoted.
This micrometer confids ot a (crew, which has 50
threads to an inch \ this (crew1 carries an index, which
points to the divifions on a circular plate, which is
fixed at right angles to the axis of the ferevv. The
revolutions of the ferew are counted on a fcale, which
is an inch di -ided into 50 parts j the index to thefe di¬
vifions is a (lower-de luce marked upon the aider,
which carries the needle point acrofs the field of the mi-
crofcope. Every revolution of the micrometer ferew
meafures -/6-th part of an inch, which is again fubdi-
vided by means of the divifions on the circular plate,
as
M I C
[ 805 j
M I C
as tills'is divided into 20 equal parts, over which the
index paftes at every revolution of the fcrew ; by which
means we obtain with cafe the meafure of 1000th part
of an inch: for 50, the number of threads on the
fcrevv in one inch, being multiplied by 20, the divi-
fions on the circular plate aie equal to 1000 ; fo that
each divHion an the circular plate Ihovvs that the
needle has either advanced or receded tocoth part of
an inch.
57. To place this micrometer.on the body of the mi-
crofcope, open the circular part FKH, fig. 25. by taking
out the fcrew G, throw back the femicircle FK, which
fig. 25. raoves upon a joint at K ; then turn the Hiding tube of
the body of the microfcope, fo that the fmall holes
which are in both tubes may exadlly coincide, and let
the needle g of the micrometer have a free paffage
through them ; after this, fcrew it fall; upon the body
by the fcrew G. The needle will now traverfe the
field of the microfcope, and meafure the length and
breadth of the image of any object that is applied to it.
But further affidance muft be had, in order to meafure
the object itfelf, which is a fubjeft of real importance j
for though we have afcertained the power of ’ the mi-
crofcope, and know that it is fo many thoufand times,
vet this will be of little affiftance towards afeertaining
an accurate idea of its real fize ; for our ideas of bulk
being formed by the comparifon of one objefl with
another, we can only judge of that of any particular
body, by comparing it with another whofe fize is
known : the fame thing is neceffary, in order to form
an eliimate by the microfcope j therefore, to afeertain
the real meafure of the object, we mud make th* point
of the needle pals over the image of a known part of
an inch placed on the dage, and write down the revo¬
lutions made by the fcrew, while the needle palled
over the image of this known meafure ; by which
means we afeertain the number of revolutions on the
fcrevv, which are adequate to a real and known mea¬
fure on the dage. As it requires an attentive eye to
watch the motion of the needle point as it palfcs over
the image of a known part of an inch on the dage, we
ought not to trull to one fingle meafurement of the
image, but ought to repeat it at lead fix times 5 then
add the fix meahires thus obtained together, and di¬
vide their hum by fix, or the number of trials the
quotient will be the mean of all the trials. This refult
is to be placed in a column of a table next to that
which contains the number of the magnifiers.
Fig. 22,23, ^8. By the affidance of the fedforal fcale, we obtain
with eafe a fmall part of an inch. This fcale is drown
at fig. 22, 23, 24, in which the two lines ca, cb, with
the fide ab, form an ifofceles triangle; each of the
fides is two inches long, and the bafe dill only of
one-tenth of an inch. The longer fidcs may be of any
given length, and the bafe dill only of one tenth of an
inch. The longer lines may be ccnfidered as the line
of lines upon a fe&or opened to one-tenth of an inch.
Hence whatever number of equal parts tv?, cb are di¬
vided into, their tranfverfe meafure will be fuch a part
of one-tenth as is expreffed by their divifions. Thus
if it be , divided into ten equal
the inch into 100 equal parts ;
c will be equal to 100th part of an inch, becaufe it is
the tenth part of one-tenth of an inch. If thefe lines
are divided into twenty equal parts, the inch will be
parts, this will divide
the fird divifion next
by that means divided into 200 equal parts. Ladly, micromi-
if ah, ca, are made three inches long, and divided into , ^
ioc equal parts, we obtain with eafe the 1 oooth part.
The fcale is repreiented as folid at fig. 23. but as per¬
forated at fig. 22. and 24. fo that the light paffes
through the aperture, when the fedloral part is placed
on the dage.
59. To ufe this fcale, fird fix the micrometer, fig. 25.
to the body of the microfcope ; then fit the fedloral
fcale, fig. 24. in the dage, and adjud the microfcope
to its proper focus or didance from the fcale, which is
to be moved till the bafe appears in the middle of the
field of view ; then bring the needle point g, fig. 25.
(by turning the fcrew L) to touch one of the lines ca,
exaidly at the point anfwering to 20 on the fedloral
fcale. The index a of the micrometer is to be let to
the fird divifion, and that on the dial plate to 20, which
is both the beginning and end of its divifions; we are
then prepared to find the magnifying power of every
magnifier in the compound microfcope which we are
ufing.
60. Example. Every thing being prepared agreeable to
the foregoing direftions, fuppofe you are defirous 0:
afeertaining the magnifying power of the lens marked
N° 4. turn the micrometer fcrew until the point of
the needle has paiTed over the magnified image of the
tenth part of one inch ; then the divifion, where the
two indices remain, will Ihow how many revolutions,
and pails of a revolution, the .fcrew has made, while
the needle point traverfed the magnified image of the
one-tenth of an inch ; fuppofe the refult to be 26 re¬
volutions of the fcrevv, and 14 parts of another revolu¬
tion, this is equal to 26 multiplied by 20, added to 14;
that is, 524,000 parts of an inch.—The 26 divifions
found on the ftraight fcale of the micrometer, while
the point of the needle paffed over the magnified
image of one-tenth part of an inch, were multiplied
by 20, becaufe the circular plate CD, fig. 25. is di- Fig. 25-
vided into 20 equal parts; this produced 520; then
adding the 14 parts of the next revolution, we obtain
the 5:4,000 parts of an inch, or five tenths and 3400
parts of another tenth, which is the meafure ot the
magnified image of one-tenth of an inch, at the aper¬
ture of the eye-glaffes or at their foci. Now if vve
fuppofe the focus of the twx> eye glafies to be one
inch, the double thereof is two inches ; or if we reck¬
on in the I oooth part of an inch, we have 2000 parts
for the diftance of the eye from the needle point of
the micrometer. Again, if we take the diitance of
the image from the objeft at the dage at 6 inches, or
6000, and add thereto 2000, double the didance of
the focus of the eye-glafs, we diail have 8000 parts of
an inch for the diftance of the eye from the objebt; and
as the glafies double the image, vve muft double the num¬
ber 534 found upon the micrometer, which then makes
1068 : then, by the following analogy, we ftiall ob¬
tain the number of times the microfcope magnifies the
diameter of the objedl ; fay, as 240, the dillance of
the eye from the image of the objeef, is to 800, the
diftance of the eye from the objedt; fo is 1068, double
the meafure found on the micrometer, to 35^3> or
number of times the microfcope magnifies the diame¬
ter of the objedl. By working in this manner, the
magnifying power of each lens ufed with the compound
microfcore mav be eafiiy found, though the refult will
3 ' be
M I C
Microme- foe different in different compound microfcopes, vary-
, ter~ in^ according to the combination of the lenles, their
diifance from the objeft and one another, &c.
61. Having difcovered the magnifying power of the
microfcope, rvith the different objedf-lenfes that are uled
therewith, our next fubjeft is to find out the real fize
of the objedls themfelves, and their different parts :
this is eafily effedled, by finding how many revolutions
of the micrometer fcrew anfwer to a known meaiure
on the fecfforal fcale or other objedff placed on the
fiage •, from the number thus found, a table fliould be
conftrufted, expreffing the value of the different revo¬
lutions of the micrometer with that objedl lens, by
which the primary number was obtained. Similar
tables muff be conftrudled for each objedt lens. By a
let of tables of this kind, the obferver may readily find
the meafure of any objedl he is examining ; for he has
only to make the needle point traverfe over this objedf,
and obferve the number of revolutions the fcrew has
made in its paffage, and then look into his table for the
real meafure which correfponds to this number of revo¬
lutions, which is the meafure required.
Defcriptlon 62. Mr Coventry of Southwark has favoured us with
of Mr Co- defcnption of a micrometer of his own invention ;
crometers11"t^ie ^ca^e which, for minutenefs, furpafl’es every inilru-
for micro- ment of the kind of which we have any knowledge, and
/copes. of which, indeed, we could fcarcely have formed a
conception, had he not indulged us with feveral of
thefe inftruments, graduated as underneath.
The micrometer is compofed of glafs, ivory, filver,
&c. on which are drawn parallel lines from the 10th
to the 10,000th part of an inch. But an inftrument
thus divided, he obferves, is more for curiofity than
ufe : but one of thofe which Mr Coventry has fent us
is divided into fquares, fo final) that fixteen millions of
them are contained on the furface of one fquare inch,
each fquare appearing under the microfcope true and
diftinft ; and though fo fmall, it is a faft, that animal-
cula are found which may be contained in one of thefe
liquates.
The ufe of micrometers, when applied to micro¬
fcopes, is to meafure the natural fize of the objeft,
and howT much that objedf is magnified. To afcertain
the real fize of an object in the fingle microfcope, no¬
thing more is required than to lay it on the microme¬
ter, and adjuft it to the focus of the magnifier, no¬
ticing how many divifions of the micrometer it covers.
Suppofe the parallel lines of the micrometer to be the
loooth of an inch, and the objeft covers two divifions ;
its real fize is jooths of an inch j if five, 200ths, and
fo on.
But to find how much the objett is magnified,
Is not mathematically determined fo eafily by the fingle
as by the compound microfcope : but the follow¬
ing fimple method (fays Mr Coventry) I have ge¬
nerally adopted, and think it tolerably accurate.
Adjuft a micrometer under the microfcope 0, fay the
locth of an inch of divifions, with a Imall object on
it ; if fquare, the better : notice how many divifions one
fide of the objeft covers, fuppofe 10 : then cut a piece
[ 806 ] M I C
of white paper fomefhing larger than the magnified M
appearance of the objedl : then fix one eye on the ob- ^
jebt through the microfcope, and the other at the fame
time on the paper, lowering it down till the objeft
and the paper appear level and diftinft : then cut the
paper till it appear exaclly the fize of the magnified
objeft •, the paper being then meafured, fuppofe an
inch fquare : Now, as the objeft under the magnifier,
which appeared to be one inch fquare, was in reality
only ten hundredths, or the tenth of an inch, the expe¬
riment proves that it is magnified ten times iii length,
one hundred times in fuperfices, and one thoufand
times in cube, which is the magnifying power of the
glafs •, and, in the fame manner, a table may be made
of the power of all the other glafies.
In ufing the compound microfcope, the real fize of
the object is found by the fame method as in the fingle;
but to demonftrate the magnifying power of each glafs
to greater certainty, adopt the following method.—
Lay a two-feet rule on the ftage, and a micrometer
level with its furface (an inch fuppofe, divided into
100 parts) : with one eye fee how many of thofe parts
are contained in the field of the microfcope, (fuppofe
50) j and with the other, at the fame time, look for
the circle of light in the field of the microfcope, which
with a little prsftice will foon appear diftimff ; mark
how much of the rule is interfeded by the circle of
light, which will be half the diameter of the field.
Suppofe eight inches ; confequently the whole diame¬
ter will be fixteen. Nowr, as the real fize of the field,
bv the micrometers, appeared to be only 50 hundredths,
or half an inch, and as half an inch is only one 32t^
part of 16 inches, it (hows the magnifying power of the
glafs to be 32 times in length, 1024 fuperfices, and
32,768 cube (e).
63. Another way of finding the magnifying power of
compound microfcopes, is by ufing twTo micrometers
of the fame divifions j one adjufled under the magni¬
fier, the other fixed in the body of the microfcope in
the focus of the eye-glafs. Notice how many aivi-
fions of the micrometer in the body are feen in one
divifion of the micrometer under the magnifier, wThich
again muff be multiplied by the powTer of the eye-glafs.
Example : Ten divifions of the micrometer in the bo¬
dy are contained in one divifion under the magnifier ;
fo far the power is increafed ten times : nowr, if the
eye-glafs be one inch focus, fuch glafs will of it-
felf magnify about feven times in length, which, with
the ten times magnified before, will be leven times ten,
or 70 times in length, 4900 fuperficies, and 343,000
cube.
“ If (fays Mr Coventry) thefe micrometers are em¬
ployed in the folar microfcope, they divide the objefl
into fquares on the fcreen in fuch a manner as to ren¬
der it extremely eafy to make a drawing of it. And
(fays he) I apprehend they may be employed to great
advantage with fuch a microfcope as Mr Adams’s lu-
cernal j becaufe this inftrument may be ufed either by
day or night, or in any place, and gives the a6fual
magnifying power without calculation.”
The
(e) It will be neceffary, for great accuracy, as well as for comparative obfervations, that the two-feet rule
fliould always be placed at a certain diftance from the eye : eight inches would, in general, be a proper diftance.
OIMEi T E R
OF THE
i V , , , ^ Jv eo
,^u^r^tj^i1,,t,lr,|,l/l,);i|,,|,,,!,,yi|,i,>i|i^
/ 2 z -t 6 7 s^a iCt, ,2 J2J^
if
Hi
r-
I
MIC [ 807
The cafe with which wre have been favoured by Mr
Coventry contains fix micrometers, two on ivory and
four on glafs. One of thofe on ivory is an inch di¬
vided into one hundred parts, every fifth line longer
than the intermediate ones, and every tenth longer ftill,
for the greater eafe in counting the divifions under the
microfcope, and is generally ufed in meafuring the mag-
nifying power of microfcopes. The other ivory one is
divided into fquares of the 50th and 100th of an inch,
and is commonly employed in meafuring opaque obje&s.
] MIC
Thofe made of glafs are for tranfparent objects, Microme-
vvhich, when laid on them, (how their natural fize.—- ter»
That marked on the brafs 100, are fquares divided to Mlcrol)US-|
the 1 ooth of an inch : that marked 5000 are parallel
lines forming nine divifions, each divifion the 1 oooth
of an inch j the middle divifion is again divided into
5, making divifions to the 5000th of an inch. That
marked 10,000 is divided in the fame manner, with
the middle divifion divided into 10, making the
10,000th of an inch. Example :
The glafs micrometer without any mark is alfo di¬
vided, the outfide lines into 100th, the next into
lOCOth, and the infide lines into the 4000th of an
inch : thefe are again crolfed with an equal number of
lines in the fame manner, making fquares of the
I ooth, 1 oooth, and 4000th of an inch, thus demonftra-
ting each other’s fize. The middle fquare of the 1 oooth
of an inch (fee fig. 26.) is divided into fixteen fquares j
now as 1000 fquares in the length of an inch, mul¬
tiplied by t 000, gives one million in an inch furface j
by the ame rule, one of thofe fquares divided into 16
mull be the fixteen millionth part of an inch furface.
See fig. 26. which is a diminilhed view of the apparent
furface exhibited under the magnifier N* 1. of Wil-
fon’s microfcope. In viewing the fmalleit lines, Mr
Coventry ufes N° 2. or 3. ; and they are all better
feen, he fays, by candle than by day light.
MICROPUS, bastard cudweed : A genus of
plants belonging to the fyngenefia clafs, and in the na¬
tural method ranking under the 49th order, Compojtue.
See Botany Index.
END OF THE THIRTEENTH VOLUME.
A v
ERRATA.
Page. Col. Line.
511
513 —
5*5
5i7
5*8
5.19
520
^2I
523
525
526
521
528
2*c from bottom, nW, It is numbered each way •, from o to 90° towards the eye end for angles
of altitude, and from o to 50° towards the objeft end lor angles ot
depreffion.
10 from bottom,^/’into io°, to every io°. r * r q r 1
In the margin, oppofite Ex. 7. fupply a reference to fig. 10. and oppofite to Ex. 8. iupply a
referencetofig.il.
13 and 14 from bottom, for difiance between, diftance between them.
12 for .7844, read .7854. ^
22 from bottom, read ^-D X (T+L+4 ■^■"h2
5 rt’W F-f-L(:=l'Ii T"Mh)). 4
6 from bottom, for each lines, read fuch lines.
11 from bottom, for cylinder, read pyramid.
1 x^for AE, read RE.
18/or Prob. 3. read Prob. 6.
31 for .5230, read .^2^6, and col. 2. line 7'for CA, read CA*.
26 for .1077, read 1077 ; and in line 34./or .009, &c. read .000928371.
jo from bottom, for as EB at A, read as EB at B.
$for 39*X32% 39X32*, and line 6. for — read ~
in the article Methodists,/>4/w2,/or Hanfon, read Hampfon.
DIRECTIONS for placing the PLATES of Vol. XIII.
Part I.
Plate CCCXVI—CCCXXX. to face
CCCXXXI. CCCXXXII.
Part II.
CCCXXXIII. CCCXXXIV.
CCCXXXV. CCCXXXVI.
page 136
184
528
806
V
*